Welcome to James’s new How To Play ‘The Details’ video series! This first video takes us back to basics, with a look at While Active and When Fielded abilities, amongst other things. Here are some useful links, and a list of all the rules and rulings references in the video (page numbers refer to the X-Men Forever rulebook):
Wizkids’ Keywords and Glossary
- “When game text says “While _____ is active,” that means “When one or more of this card’s dice are in the Field”” (pg 28)
- “Your cards are considered to be completely different from your opponent’s cards, even if they have the same name” (pg 23)
- “Global Abilities on opposing cards are considered separate from your own, even if they have the same text” (pg 23)
- Unlike “While active” abilities, each of these “When X” abilities triggers per die: “Each die that you field will trigger its “when fielded” effect, even if that is more than once per turn” (pg 28)
- “The term ‘when fielded’ refers to the moment you send a Character Die into the Field Zone” (pg 28)
- …generally from the Reserve Pool by paying its Fielding Cost (pg 28)
- “Some game effects may “field” a character die from a place other than the Reserve Pool (from the Used Pile or bag, for example)” (pg 27)
- “In these cases, the fielding cost should be assumed to be free, and the die should be fielded on level 1, unless the effect says otherwise” (pg 27)
- “effects like Venom… wouldn’t increase the cost” [of such free fielding effects] https://win.wizkids.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=12742&sid=cbbdc46b03bb82fc65aff4d3ccc29f67
- “It does not refer to assigning the die to attack, since the Attack Zone is still considered part of the Field Zone. Likewise, “when fielded” does not refer to character dice returning from the Attack Zone” (pg 28)
- “If the effect says to “move,” “place,” “return,” or “swap” a die into the Field Zone, that will not trigger any “when fielded” effects. Only effects that explicitly use the term “field” trigger “when fielded” or “when a die is fielded” effects” (pg 27)
- “Some keyworded abilities may trigger when a die is fielded. These abilities function in the same way, triggering for each fielded die, however these abilities are not considered to be “when fielded” abilities for card effects that may care about those. This also applies to keyworded abilities that trigger “when attacks” or “when KO’d,” etc.” (pg 28)
- “The damage from Johnny Storm is from a ‘While active’ effect even though it is triggered by fielding other characters” https://win.wizkids.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=4798&p=11459&sid=eccce78d19e3dc8f196f11a173fe6e91#p11459
- “These abilities trigger upon being fielded, but resolve after the character die is in the Field Zone. This means they are a valid target for effects (even their own), and also available for effects that count the number of dice in the Field Zone”. (pg 28)
- https://win.wizkids.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=10663&p=23361&sid=a8161c08cc07b8d576b693c338085f24#p23361 (save civilians/fielding allies)
- https://win.wizkids.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=9042&p=20440&sid=a8161c08cc07b8d576b693c338085f24#p20440 (underdog)
- “Abilities that count the number of “active” characters are looking for characters that are “active”—have one or more dice in the Field Zone. In other words, they count unique characters. If an ability counts opposing dice, it will count each die, but only those in your opponent’s Field Zone” (pg 28)
- “If a card refers to a type of die (for example: any Sidekicks, any dice with the same affiliation, energy type, etc.) then it refers to both players’ (unless the card specifies otherwise)” (pg 23)
- “If a card ability names a specific character/action, it only applies to characters/actions on that player’s team”. (pg 23)
- “As a general rule, Character Dice need to be fielded or in the Field Zone to use their character card’s text. Character Dice that reduce their own purchase cost or fielding cost are an exception to this (sometimes they’ll even be free to purchase or field), so you won’t need a copy of the die in the Field Zone to reduce the energy you pay to purchase or field those dice” (pg 27)
- “Some effects may reduce the purchase cost of your dice, but this can never go below 1 (or the number of different energy types, if more than one)” (pg 12)
- “You may stack discounts unless they say otherwise. You must still pay 1 energy of each type required to purchase dice” https://win.wizkids.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=11612&p=25634&sid=986bc566309b19af6d0e6bb1ca02a486#p25634