Just started playing the game and noticed that some of the cards have keywords like Melee and Joust on them. There is no mention of these keywords in the Core rule book. What are they for?

Also what/when is the Epic phase?

1. Joust means that when a character with the Joust keyword is attacking alone, the defending opponent cannot declare more than 1 character as a defender.

And Melee means that when a character with the Melee keyword is participating in a challenge, it gets +1 STR for each participating character controlled by an opponent.

2. Epic Phase: Basically you have to have a card first that allows you to have an epic phase! It takes place after the dominance phase but before the standing phase. Normally each player can initiate one additional challenge with normal claim.

For more info about epic phase have a look here

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=18&efcid=4&efidt=571541

Thanks for the quick reply. Good to know in my future games!