Just bought the starter set, and have only played a few games. Have a couple points of contention in my gaming group, so I figured this is the place to clarify.

1) In the Expert Rules section, they use the following phrase: "You are only allowed to play characters, locations, and attachments from your hand by paying their printed gold cost during your turn of the marshalling phase." This can be taken 2 ways (which it has in my group). First, it could be said that the only TIME you play the listed cards are during your turn, or that the only ACTIONS you can take during your turn are the ones listed... which one is it?

2) Cards that reference a Character's STR; do they reference base STR, or do they take into account modified STR from Atachments, Events and the like?

3) Cards that ask for a player with the most X or a Character with the most X (ie: the player with the most cards in hand must discard...); in case of a tie, does the First Player decide the tie breaker, or does nothing happen, since there is no player with the MOST?

Thanks in advance for your help. I have always loved the support forums of this type provide

MrDudeguy said:

First of all, welcome to the game! Hope you're enjoying it

1) It's establishing the player action window during which cards can be "played". You can take other player actions in the marshalling phase, even when you are not the active player (the one currently allowed to "play" cards). The opportunity to take a player actions goes clockwise, starting with the first player, until all have no further actions.

2) Unless specified with "printed strength" in the text, it refers to the modified strength.

3) Nothing happens.

I appreciate the response, but I guess I need to rephrase my first question, since I don't feel it was answered.

During the marshalling phase, can I take actions other than "Paying the Gold cost to put a character, attachment, or Location into play?" The rules made it seem as though it was the ONLY thing you could do while it was your turn. Other Marshalling actions (ie: abilities or events) could not be played until it was someone elses turn...

I also have some new questions

1) Is House Lannister broken in the starter set, or have I just been lucky? Haven't lost a game with them yet...

2) When a player falls behind (in character numbers, gold production, etc...) is there any strategies for pulling themselves out, or are they just doomed since they fell behind? Remember the starter set is limited in card selection, so I would hope that expansions would remedy this issue somehow.

MrDudeguy said:

That's okay, but what about "You can take other player actions in the marshalling phase, even when you are not the active player (the one currently allowed to "play" cards). " did not answer your question? Anyhow, let me try again. There's a window in the marshalling phase in which all players may take player actions (i.e. playing events, triggering" Any Phase:" or "Marshalling:" abilities on their cards). Opportunity to take a player action begins with the first player and then goes clockwise, until all players have no further actions. IN ADDITION to such actions, the ACTIVE player can "play" cards from his hand by paying their gold cost. This is what makes this action player window special, it is the only window in which cards can be played this way. The first player is the first active player. After he or she has no more marshalling specific actions, the player to their left becomes the active player.

If you could only play cards and not take any other player actions while you are the active player, you couldn't ever trigger your cost reducing locations as the first player.

If you're interested in reading more about the nuts and bolts of the timing structure, have a look at the FAQ, available in the Support section on this website. It is intimidating at first, but after you play the game for a while, it is a useful reference.

MrDudeguy said:

1) I think it's luck to some degree. Every new player experiences a different house as overpowered. So luck of the draw definitely comes into play here. It also depends if you're playing heads-up (joust) or multiplayer (melee), as Lannister will traditionally do better in joust than it does in melee. Also, perhaps you're just playing better?

If you're playing joust, you can try and swap some plots around to even out the decks.

2) If you're falling too much behind in character, you'll usually want to play a reset plot (ie Valar Morghulis or Wildfire Assault). Of course, with only one core set, this option is not available to everyone. There's also the event Westeros Bleeds, but you gotta have the influence for it. There's not much anyone can do in the middle of a game about having less gold than the opponent. Lannister will usually have more gold than other houses, just like in the books.

The general consensus is that if you want to expand your card pool, buying a second core set is the way to go. You'll already be familiar with the cards, and have a good idea of how they affect the game as your customize your decks. There was a recent thread in the deckbuilding forum, where Darksbane from cardgamedb.com posted four example decks using cards from two core sets. You should definitely have a look if you decide to buy a second core set.

The Lords of Winter and Kings of the Storm (and the soon to be released Queen of Dragons) expansions are excellent additions to boost their respective houses, and should probably be your following purchase. They include example deck lists using only cards from the expansion box and the core set, so you can build nice decks right away, then modify them to your taste.

MrDudeguy said:

Awesome, you guys rock. I meant no disrespect in my re-stating of the question. As long-time Magic players, my group has become overly zealous in their "semantic dissection" of game rules

No worries, you weren't being disrespectful. I only had hoped that I explained it well the first time, but apparently not. No biggie

This is my first card game, so I never know or understand what "baggage" other players bring from playing other card games. Also, English is not my first language, so I might not make sense sometimes. Ktom is the resident rules guru, by the way, so be sure to read his posts carefully )

MrDudeguy said:

As long-time Magic players, my group has become overly zealous in their "semantic dissection" of game rules

You'll also really want to look at the detailed timing in the FAQ because the "Last in, First out" construction of M:tG does not hold up here.