Definitions
Absorbing Damage
During game play when your Avatar suffers damage this is recorded on the Attribute Cards. Your Avatar character will quickly die if you don't remove that damage by Absorbing it.
To absorb damage, at the beginning of your turn, before drawing a card, you may reduce by 1 any damage to each of the three Attributes. For each damage point reduced in this way, reduce your Spirit Points counter by 1. You cannot reduce your Spirit Points below 1. See the rules.
Action
Techniques are made up of one or more actions, which are described by the card text, and seperated from other actions by horizontal lines ruled across from the TimeTicks on the left hand side of the card. Usually an action will make a call on a Derived Attribute, which is required to make the Action successful.
Action Techniques
Techniques which consist of only one action, or an action and one or more Ready actions, are often referred to as Actions (even though they are still Techniques, just very short and simple ones). An example of this are the Techniques known as Default Actions. See the rules under Techniques and Actions.
Attribute - Attribute Card
There are up to three (3) Attributes which describe an entity: Electra (nerves), Corpus (body) and Spiritum (soul). Each of these can be represented by an Attribute Card, which rates the Attribute at 3, 4 or 5 and may also provide for special abilities. See Attributes in the Rules.
Avatar
This word refers to the corporeal body of a living sentient being, on the surface of the world of Morphyry, which is used as a host by a Transcendant being, by the power of the Gods - ie your character. This concept has been explored by Fantasy writers in the books of the Avatar Trilogy from TSR/Penguin: "Shadowdale", "Tantras", and "Waterdeep".
The combination of three Attibutes - Electra/Corpus/Spiritum - constitutes your Avatar in the game, which plays host to your immortal soul cast down by the Gods to battle it out for glory.
Bluff card
This is a card from your hand used as a covering-card, so your opponent/s might think it was a technique card, but which is in fact some other kind of card. As such, it cannot be played when a technique card is required to replace the enacted current technique so at that point, or at some stage before, you must swap the bluff card for a technique card in your hand.
See the rules for Changing Plans.
Completing an Action
When advancing a Technique card, if a TimeTick is revealed with a horizontal line dividing an action off from the next action of the technique, that first action is said to be complete. At that time any Skill Calls must be satisfied, and if they are, the effects (if any) of that technique are enacted.
Corpus
This Attribute governs the body of the Avatar character - their main strength, constitution, ability to suffer injury, the suppleness and power of their muscles and limbs. See Attributes in the rules.
Covering-Card
These are cards placed face down onto the tableau over an existing Technique card, covering TimeTicks to show how far it has been advanced. Covering-cards used in this way are called the Planned Action, and will normally be the Technique to follow the current one.
Covering-cards may also be placed face down over an Attribute Card to show Pips of damage. In this case the Covering-card is called an Optional Action. See the rules for Planned and Unplanned Actions.
Counter
There is some scorekeeping involved in the game, and some means of counting the 20 Spirit Points for each player is needed. Pen and paper or small chips could be used, although a 20-sided dice (d20) is probably most convenient.
Any dice (or collection of chips, coins or whatever) used to count the score, or current value of a particular item in the game is called a counter.
Note that the phrase "Add 1 counter" does not mean to put another dice on that item. This is a standard terminology in CCG's which comes from the use of chips to count a value - eg if you want to show a count increasing from 4 to 5 using chips, you have to add another chip. With a dice, you simply turn it so instead of the 4, the 5 is showing on the top face.
Counters are also needed for various effects during the game, eg poisoning, and often a 10-sided dice (d10) is most convenient. Each player may require 3-4 such counters.
Covering Card
This is a face down card placed over the current technique card, revealing the actions which have been completed. The covering card is a technique card, and is the next planned action. When the current action is expended the covering card is turned face up, covered by a new covering card and becomes the current technique card.
d20; d10; polyhedral dice
As well as being rolled to decide chance elements, dice make very convenient Counters for keeping track of various scores during the game. They can be placed on the affected card, and turned so the current value of the score affecting that card shows on the uppermost face of the dice.
Dice with multiple sides come in a huge range, including d4, d6 (the one most widely known) right up to d30 and more - collectively they are called polyhedral dice. d10's and d20's are available at Fantasy Role-playing, Wargaming and other hobby stores.
A d20
Default Actions
Some Techniques and actions are so basic that we assume as a default that all characters can do them, without a thought, and so do not require a Technique Card. These are Default Actions - see the rules for more.
Default Attributes
At the beginning of the game, on your first Avatar only, any empty spaces in the set of Attribute Cards are deemed to be occupied by Default Attributes. Default Attributes are always 3 pips, and have no special abilities. See the rules for more.
Derived Attributes
Specific attributes represent skills which are required in certain specified situations. For example the action of drawing a rune requires drawing skills. These skill attributes are deemed to be the same value as a particular attribute - identified by the background colour. Eg. is the same value as Spiritum - the attribute card which has a light blue background. These are called the Derived Attributes for that particular attribute. See the rules under derived attributes for more.
Defined Attributes
This is just another name for Attributes. The three main Attributes are set by the values of the Attribute cards, and are referred to as Defined Attributes to contrast them with Derived Attributes which take those values by default. See the rules under derived attributes for more.
Electra
This Attribute is associated with nerves, reactions, dexterity, poise and so on. A character with Brilliance (high Electra) will move quickly, reacting almost instantaneously, and executing difficult manouvres with speed and confidence.
It also measures the Character's ability to take shock and blood loss type battle damage. See the rules under Attributes.
Enacting - Techniques and Effects
When a technique has run its course, had its effects go off, and advanced past the last of its TimeTicks, that technique is said to be enacted.
At this time it is placed face-up, just to the side of the tableau, where it may be used again.
Techniques often have effects such as causing an attack on another character, or discharging a spell. When that effect "goes off" or is successfully performed, it is also said to be enacted.
Inertia
Inertia refers to the fact that when you are building up to a fairly powerful technique, your mind and body are not able to switch instantly to another techique. In fact there is a delay in being able to stop the current techique which depends on two things: your reactions and the power invested in that current technique.
For example if you are launching a big haymaker punch, and the opponent ducks out of the way, you will not be able to totally stop the punch, and in fact you will probably over-reach and open yourself up for counters.
See the rules on Inertia and Changing Techniques.
Invoking - Invoke
Each Attribute Card has a number of Pips representing its Potential. A Technique or other game requirement will call for that Potential, eg. Rune 'Summoning of Earth' on the Ground.
Here Draw is a Derived Attribute of Spiritum (shown by the blue background) so Invoking Spiritum will supply that Draw Potential, fulfilling the requirement, and allowing the Technique to continue.
Potential can only be Invoked once per turn. So if for example a character has Prescience (Spiritum 4) and a technique requires Draw, but there's +1 (for a Hazard on a Scenario square) then all 4 Pips will be Invoked, and no more Derived Attributes of Spiritum may be invoked that turn.
Miniature
A token will be required to represent the players Avatar during the game. The token must be capable of representing a facing direction - a fantasy Miniature is ideal for this, althought the cap of a pen or any other suitable token may be used.
Fantasy Miniatures are small figurines depicting heroic characters. They are made of plastic or metal and are available at Fantasy Role-playing, Wargaming and other hobby stores. They may be painted to add realism and enhance your gaming.
Pips
On each Attribute Card, a number of Pips is shown equal to the value of the Attribute; ie a Prescience Attribute Card (Spiritum 4) will have 4 pips on it. The Pips are in the form of small symbols or icons representing the Attribute ie: is the Pip representing Corpus.
Damage done to the character is shown by covering over a number of Pips with a Covering-Card; or by putting a Counter on the card to show the damage amount. The uncovered Pips, or those remaining after subtracting the counter, define the amount which may be Invoked to advance techniques.
Planned Action
See Covering-card
Polyhedral Dice
See d20, above
Sequence - enacting Techniques in Sequence
Techniques that are commonly repeated one after the other, or commonly used before or after other techniques, may provide for a time saving for being enacted in Sequence.
Imagine a character walking. Obviously it would be unnatural to come to complete halt before continuining on the next step. The steps flow one after the other.
The Default Action Move Up enacted in Sequence models the character walking. If the character does not have to come to a complete stop at the end of the Move Up, and instead continues into another Move Up - the 1-3) Ready to move up actions of the subsequent techniques are omitted.
Techniques where this applies will list on the card what actions may be omitted and which other techniques (if any) the in Sequence applies to.
Skill Call - Derived Attribute Check
When an action is completed as part of a technique, usually one or more key words of the action will appear on a coloured background, eg . This signifies that that action is testing the characters skill in drawing. (Skill is another term for derived attribute).
We have to ensure that prior to the call being made (at the end of phase 3), sufficient points have been Invoked to satisfy the call, or otherwise the action will fail - the amount is always 2 points, unless modified. The background of the keyword will tell which Attribute the Derived Attribute or Skill comes from. The light blue background here tells us we must invoke from Spiritum.
See the rules under Attribute Check.
Spiritum
This attribute represents a character's morale, wisdom, and knowledge of arcane and fighting techniques, and resistance to pain and fear. A character with Divinity (high Spiritum values) has broad life experience, is capable of knowing a range of spells, and he or she fights with serenity, seeming to predict their opponents every move.
This attribute also measures the character's ability to take pain and pounding, morale crushing battle damage. See the rules under Attributes .
Spirit Points
In terms of the plot of the game, when your character comes into being at the beginning of play, she or he occupies their Avatar. The Avatar is an entity with it's own ability to take Damage.
However as the immortal soul of a warrior martyr, you have your own much larger incorporeal ability to take damage by Absorbing damage from your Avatar. This damage is counted off your Spirit Points, which start at 20, and diminish as you "heal" damage to your Avatar. See Damage in the rules section.
Technique
A technique is a number of actions in order, which by training are linked in sequence in the characters mind, so that they can be performed smoothly and without delay, one after the other. By playing a technique card, a player indicates that her character (Avatar) is going to perform those actions in that order, usually to attack her opponent. Techniques come in a vast number of different types, such as Spell Techniques and Combat Techniques.
Unplanned Action
See Covering-card
Utilising an Artifact or Weapon
When you have an artifact card in your hand, it may be put into play during phase 3 of gameplay. Putting the card into play like this is referred to as Utilising the card. In game terms the Weapon or Artifact is now in the hands of your Avatar character, or close at hand, ready to be used.
See the rules under Artifacts.