Dear All,

I recently picked up a copy of "A game of thrones" the card game and I am having immense trouble trying to understand some of the cards involved in the game. So far we have played a couple of games using the starter packs, specifically House Lannister and house Targaryen. My only point of reference of the rules is the rule book that comes with the primary game and some of the stuff I have read on this website. We are doing quite well but we just don't " get" some of the cards. For example in today's game my wife got the card " flame kissed" into her hand, we cannot understand at all what this card is supposed to do other than reduce the strength of your character - we just do not understand why you would want to do that!!

There is a reference in the rulebook to suggest that some of the cards were from a previous game may have information on them covered on the website, but the website listed merely redirects you here to the fantasy flight games website. So all in all I am a bit lost.

I have read extensively about how great this game is and we really do want to learn and enjoy it so can anyone recommend a resource to help me understand. Searches of the web point me towards many customised card lists and some more advanced resources but I am feeling a bit lost because I think I need something a bit more basic.

A part of me wonders whether we joined this game too lateat a point where the rules are so developed a new player could understand them, but at the same time because this is the starter pack I feel I must be missing something.

If somebody could help explain the "Flame Kissed" card and its best use, and maybe point me towards some better information on how to play I would be eternally grateful!!

many thanks, Kevin.

Ok confession time - i just read again that attachments can be played on your opponants characters as well - that makes MUCH more sense - sorry for the confusion. Kevin.

Welcome to the game! I have to disagree with you -- you've picked a great time to join the game. About a year ago, FFG released the new Core Set package for the game which comes with four premade decks and is designed and packaged with the intent of capturing some of the board game / game in a box crowd as well as the expected customizable/collectible game crowd. So if anything FFG is more interested in making the game more accessible to new players than it is adding layers and layers of rules knowledge for the game's experts. With this release FFG changed the game from a collectible card game to what it calls a living card game (LCG).

Since you use the word "starter", reference two decks instead of four, and mention an old website, I'm guessing you have an older product (which is fine). You might get something out of checking out the rules book for the LCG and FAQ supplement to the rules book which can be found here in the "Support" section: www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp ( http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite.asp?eidm=10 if that didn't work). That link should take you to part of FFG's website that officially supports A Game of Thrones LCG (personally, I think they should give it a more unique URL, but oh well).

It seems like you figured out your question on your own already. If you have more, feel free to post them. You will usually get a pretty quick reply.

kevinsmith121 said:

That is, certainly, the key point in making sense of Flame Kissed. One extra consideration on that particular card: Flame-Kissed has the "Ambush" keyword, which (of course) lets you kneel influence to put it into play at any time , as well as playing it as a normal attachment by paying its gold cost in Marshalling. Because of this, Flame-Kissed is not only an attachment, but it sort of mimics an event, too. That versatility goes a long way in this game (and the flexibility and versatility of a lot of cards is part of what makes this game so great; the adaptability means new things are always happening!).

The other cool thing about Flame-Kissed is that it lowers STR and kills if the character's STR is 0. Normally, if a character's STR is 0, it stays in play (albeit with less effectiveness). So you can kill a 2-STR character with it. Or you can combo it with other effects that lower STR to kill larger characters. Especially grim is that this "kill if the character's STR is 0" is very, very hard to save from because even after the character would be saved, it's STR is usually still 0, so it would still die!

Anyway, there's a lot more information on that card than you probably wanted. Kind of a lot of strategy points from "Ambush. Attached character gets -2 STR and is killed if STR is 0," but that's a lot of the fun of this game.

schrecklich said:

Also, if you go to the website mentioned by schrecklich, you'll find a very helpful video tutorial too.

Welcome to the game!

ktom said:

this is a very critical aspect that I didn't take into consideration...

So, to be really safe, a character should be saved, and immediately after got rid of the attachment?

michel3105 said:

It actually goes deeper than that. Because the "kill at 0" thing is a constant effect, if you save the character and then get rid of the attachment "immediately after," the character would die again between the "save" action and the "remove the attachment" action. So in order to save a character from this kill, you need a single effect that does both things, save the character and removes the attachment (or raises the character's STR or otherwise invalidates the attachment's effect). That's why it is so hard to save from this kind of "burn" kill effect; you need a single effect that both saves the character and takes it out of the "kill at 0" condition at the exact same time. In fact, it you don't have a single effect that does both, you aren't allowed to even try to save the character.

Davos, for example, can survive a burn by saving himself while going back to the hand.