rec.games.trading-cards.jyhad

Reform Body

17 messages from 6 participants · 28 April 1997 – 06 May 1997
original thread on Google Groups

Charpentier Frederic

Hi everybody , my name is Fred , I m french and I play Vampire since Dark sovereign , I play for the moment a Tzemice deck & I d like to know when I can use My couple of reform Body ? During Combat ? If someone diablerize my Dragos (I love this Guy ) , & the retainer who where on him are they still on him after this ? Thanxsssss...............

L. Scott Johnson

[ quoted text not captured ] Reform Body (since it is a combat card *and* a reaction card) can only be played when: It is not your turn (reaction). The playing vampire is not controlled by the controller of the acting vampire (reaction). The playing vampire is untapped (reaction) and in combat (combat) and being burned (card text). The Reformed vampire keeps all the cards and blood that were on him. -- L. Scott Johnson (vte...@regency.wizards.com) Official VtES Net.Rep for Wizards of the Coast. (*) - Subject to review by Rules Team

Joshua Duffin

L. Scott Johnson (vte...@regency.wizards.com) wrote: : Charpentier Frederic wrote: : > : > Hi everybody , my name is Fred , I m french and I play Vampire since : > Dark sovereign , I play for the moment a Tzemice deck & I d like to know : > when I can use My couple of reform Body ? During Combat ? If someone : > diablerize my Dragos (I love this Guy ) , & the retainer who where on : > him are they still on him after this ? : > Thanxsssss............... : Reform Body (since it is a combat card *and* a reaction card) can only : be played when: : It is not your turn (reaction). : The playing vampire is not controlled by the controller of the acting : vampire (reaction). : The playing vampire is untapped (reaction) and in combat (combat) and being : burned (card text). Hi LSJ, Maybe I'm incorrect to be taking issue with this, but I had been under the impression that cards that have 2 symbols on them are usable as both kinds rather than as either kind. The initial precedent, Ritual of the Bitter Rose, is action modifier/combat, and as far as I know has always been usable whenever you diablerize a vampire either in combat or when acting. The other Sabbat combat/X cards seem to work the same way - for example the obfuscate stealth/maneuver card; it's stealth if you use one version of it, and in that case usable only if you're acting, but as a maneuver it should be usable even if it's not your turn. Is that all wrong? Josh ...and then I play ritual of the bitter rose on the rules team...

L. Scott Johnson

Joshua Duffin wrote: > L. Scott Johnson (vte...@regency.wizards.com) wrote: > : Reform Body (since it is a combat card *and* a reaction card) can only > : be played when: > > : It is not your turn (reaction). > : The playing vampire is not controlled by the controller of the acting > : vampire (reaction). > : The playing vampire is untapped (reaction) and in combat (combat) and being > : burned (card text). > > Maybe I'm incorrect to be taking issue with this, but I had been under the Not at all, I had the same impression when I first saw the card. > impression that cards that have 2 symbols on them are usable as both kinds > rather than as either kind. The initial precedent, Ritual of the Bitter > Rose, is action modifier/combat, and as far as I know has always been usable > whenever you diablerize a vampire either in combat or when acting. > > The other Sabbat combat/X cards seem to work the same way - for example the > obfuscate stealth/maneuver card; it's stealth if you use one version of it, > and in that case usable only if you're acting, but as a maneuver it should > be usable even if it's not your turn. > > Is that all wrong? No. What these cards have that Reform Body doesn't is card text saying that they can be used as one type *or* another. In the absence of such card text (Reform Body), the card would be used as both types (simultaneously). [ quoted text not captured ]

Joshua Duffin

L. Scott Johnson (vte...@regency.wizards.com) wrote: [LSJ wrote, that Reform Body is only usable when:] : > : It is not your turn (reaction). : > : The playing vampire is not controlled by the controller of the acting : > : vampire (reaction). : > : The playing vampire is untapped (reaction) and in combat (combat) and being : > : burned (card text). : > [I asked why this didn't apply to the other combat/type X cards..] : No. What these cards have that Reform Body doesn't is card text saying : that they can be used as one type *or* another. In the absence of : such card text (Reform Body), the card would be used as both types : (simultaneously). Hmmmmm. Well, I see your point that Reform Body doesn't have the text that some of the type X/type Y cards do - example: Rapid Change. Protean: 1 blood: This card can be played as an action modifier or a combat card. inferior: +1 stealth superior: strike:combat ends. Reform Body, by contrast: combat/reaction. Vicissitude: inferior: only usable when this reacting vampire is burned; he or she is sent into torpor instead. superior: As above, and the vampire gains 2 blood from the blood bank. But Ritual of the Bitter Rose, the original card that could be used as two types (as far as I know), reads (on the jyhad version, I don't have a VTES copy): combat/action modifier: All your ready vampires gain the amount of blood from the blood bank that is on a vampire you are destroying by diablerie. Usable in combat if an enemy is burned. Bloodhunt may only be called on the vampire who commited [sic] the diablerie. Maybe the VTES card is worded differently, but by the Reform Body argument, this card is only usable by an acting vampire and only if the opposing vampire is being diablerized (the "usable in combat if an enemy is burned" text doesn't override the "vampire you are destroying by diablerie" text, it only allows you to play the card in combat; therefore a punch for 1/wolf claws/decapitate/ritual combo will not work). Also, the "bloodhunt may only be called" part is unnecessary reminder text - you can never call a bloodhunt on a vampire that's not committing diablerie, and Ritual doesn't say anything about the other vampires being considered diabolists. Reform Body is worded rather poorly, but I'd far rather see errata to it to make it work well rather than rulings that make it completely useless - if you have to be a reacting vampire in combat being burned, it will basically only work if you are Bum's Rushed and don't block and end up being burned. That's awfully narrow. Josh "the rules team diablerizes me? ha! I play reform body! what do you mean, you can only use it if you're untapped??" : -- [ quoted text not captured ]

L. Scott Johnson

Joshua Duffin wrote: > Hmmmmm. Well, I see your point that Reform Body doesn't have the text that > some of the type X/type Y cards do - example: Rapid Change. Protean: 1 > blood: This card can be played as an action modifier or a combat card. > inferior: +1 stealth superior: strike:combat ends. Reform Body, by contrast: > combat/reaction. Vicissitude: inferior: only usable when this reacting > vampire is burned; he or she is sent into torpor instead. superior: As above, > and the vampire gains 2 blood from the blood bank. > > But Ritual of the Bitter Rose, the original card that could be used as two > types (as far as I know), reads (on the jyhad version, I don't have a VTES > copy): combat/action modifier: > > All your ready vampires gain the amount of blood from the blood bank that is > on a vampire you are destroying by diablerie. Usable in combat if an enemy > is burned. Bloodhunt may only be called on the vampire who commited [sic] > the diablerie. > > Maybe the VTES card is worded differently, It is. Now, Ritual of the Bitter Rose is also only usable as a Combat card *and* an Action Modifier, and only usable when the opposing vampire is diablerized (not merely burned) in combat: Ritual of the Bitter Rose Action modifier / Combat This card is both an action modifier card and a combat card. Only usable in combat if an opposing vampire is diablerized. Each ready vampire you control gains an amount of blood from the blood bank equal to the amount of blood on the burned vampire. Blood Hunt can only be called on the vampire who committed the diablerie. > but by the Reform Body argument, > this card is only usable by an acting vampire and only if the opposing > vampire is being diablerized (the "usable in combat if an enemy is burned" > text doesn't override the "vampire you are destroying by diablerie" text, it > only allows you to play the card in combat; therefore a punch for 1/wolf > claws/decapitate/ritual combo will not work). Correct. > Also, the "bloodhunt may > only be called" part is unnecessary reminder text - you can never call a > bloodhunt on a vampire that's not committing diablerie, and Ritual doesn't > say anything about the other vampires being considered diabolists. Correct. But that's always been reminder text - no matter how you fiddle with the mechanics of the card. > Reform Body is worded rather poorly, but I'd far rather see errata to it > to make it work well rather than rulings that make it completely useless - > if you have to be a reacting vampire in combat being burned, it will > basically only work if you are Bum's Rushed and don't block and end up > being burned. That's awfully narrow. Correct (or, you could use it if you didn't tap and/or untapped on the block - with Cat's Guidance or Justine, etc. - or in conjunction with Wakey). Errata is not currently being issued to make "useless" cards useful. This is intentional on the part of the RT. [ quoted text not captured ]

Joshua Duffin

L. Scott Johnson (vte...@regency.wizards.com) wrote: : Joshua Duffin wrote: : > Maybe the VTES card is worded differently, : It is. Now, Ritual of the Bitter Rose is also only usable as a : Combat card *and* an Action Modifier, and only usable when the : opposing vampire is diablerized (not merely burned) in combat: : Ritual of the Bitter Rose : Action modifier / Combat : This card is both an action modifier card and a combat card. : Only usable in combat if an opposing vampire is diablerized. Each ready vampire : you control gains an amount of blood from the blood bank equal to the amount of : blood on the burned vampire. Blood Hunt can only be called on the vampire who : committed the diablerie. So this wording indicates that Ritual is usable (1) if you're diablerizing as an action, and also (2) if you're diablerizing in combat while you were an acting minion? Or only (2)? It's certainly a rewording though. : > Reform Body is worded rather poorly, but I'd far rather see errata to it : > to make it work well rather than rulings that make it completely useless - : > if you have to be a reacting vampire in combat being burned, it will : > basically only work if you are Bum's Rushed and don't block and end up : > being burned. That's awfully narrow. : Correct (or, you could use it if you didn't tap and/or untapped on the : block - with Cat's Guidance or Justine, etc. - or in conjunction with : Wakey). : Errata is not currently being issued to make "useless" cards useful. : This is intentional on the part of the RT. Well, the thing is, I'm inclined to see this less as making useless cards useful (eg Arcanum Investigator) as it is errataing a card to work as it was intended (eg Hidden Lurker). A naive reading of Reform Body is liable to yield the conclusion that it can be played any time the Reforming vampire is burned by any cause, and the less discerning players might also forget that it can't be played from torpor or while tapped as a reaction card. But it certainly looks to me like the card was meant to at least be usable in the same ways that the Sabbat action mod/combat cards are usable. Not to be offensive, but it surprises me that a Rules Team even exists for VTES any more. Wizards doesn't seem interested in producing any more expansions for the game in the foreseeable future; they don't cover it in The Duelist; there's not even much in the way of updates on their web page. Yet they pay people to meet at least once a week to make rulings on the game? Rulings that seem completely unresponsive to what the players on the net want? Who exactly is meant to be served by this Rules Team? I don't know how anyone *not* on the net could be getting current RT rulings, so I can't understand why they would be trying to cater to those (evidently presumed less sophisticated) players over those on the net. But clearly they're not trying to respond to what we newsgroup players are looking for. Maybe I'm just getting disillusioned by what seem to be progressively deteriorating rulings emanating from the Team, I don't know. Or maybe it's just that none of the expansions (not even the VTES release of the game) have been as well balanced as the original Jyhad set, and it's finally gotten to me. Well anyway, sorry to spout off like this at you, LSJ; it's not you that I'm upset with. Josh ...considering the possibility of staging a coup and instating some actual Jyhad players as the new Rules Team... : -- [ quoted text not captured ]

L. Scott Johnson

Joshua Duffin wrote: > > L. Scott Johnson (vte...@regency.wizards.com) wrote: > : Joshua Duffin wrote: > : > Maybe the VTES card is worded differently, > > : It is. Now, Ritual of the Bitter Rose is also only usable as a > : Combat card *and* an Action Modifier, and only usable when the > : opposing vampire is diablerized (not merely burned) in combat: > > : Ritual of the Bitter Rose > : Action modifier / Combat > : This card is both an action modifier card and a combat card. > : Only usable in combat if an opposing vampire is diablerized. Each ready vampire > : you control gains an amount of blood from the blood bank equal to the amount of > : blood on the burned vampire. Blood Hunt can only be called on the vampire who > : committed the diablerie. > > So this wording indicates that Ritual is usable (1) if you're diablerizing > as an action, and also (2) if you're diablerizing in combat while you were > an acting minion? Or only (2)? It's certainly a rewording though. It looks like the intention was (1) or (2) or (3): in combat when you are not the acting minion, but that the wording in lteral form (with the ruling on Reform Body) yields only (2). And, since intentions are not considered any more when issuing errata, just (2) is what it shall remain. > : Errata is not currently being issued to make "useless" cards useful. > : This is intentional on the part of the RT. > > Well, the thing is, I'm inclined to see this less as making useless cards > useful (eg Arcanum Investigator) as it is errataing a card to work as it was > intended (eg Hidden Lurker). Hidden Lurker errata came when the rules for issuing errata were looser. "Work as intended" is no longer a consideration, as shown by the lack of errata on Code of Milan Suspended. > Not to be offensive, but it surprises me that a Rules Team even exists for > VTES any more. [...] Maybe I'm > just getting disillusioned by what seem to be progressively deteriorating > rulings emanating from the Team, I don't know. Or maybe it's just that none > of the expansions (not even the VTES release of the game) have been as well > balanced as the original Jyhad set, and it's finally gotten to me. Well > anyway, sorry to spout off like this at you, LSJ; it's not you that I'm > upset with. No problem. It's always nice to hear from players who are concerned for the game. But, and not to accuse, merely observing that there is a problem is not very useful, from a WotC point of view. But solutions which are feasible from a business standpoint are hard to come by, I know. [ quoted text not captured ]

James B. Floate

Joshua Duffin wrote: <big snip> > Yet they pay people to meet at least once a week to make rulings on the game? Once a week? generous... > Rulings that seem completely unresponsive to what the players on the net > want? Who exactly is meant to be served by this Rules Team? I don't know > how anyone *not* on the net could be getting current RT rulings, so I can't > understand why they would be trying to cater to those (evidently presumed > less sophisticated) players over those on the net. But clearly they're not > trying to respond to what we newsgroup players are looking for. Maybe I'm > just getting disillusioned by what seem to be progressively deteriorating > rulings emanating from the Team, I don't know. Or maybe it's just that none > of the expansions (not even the VTES release of the game) have been as well > balanced as the original Jyhad set, and it's finally gotten to me. Well > anyway, sorry to spout off like this at you, LSJ; it's not you that I'm > upset with. > > Josh > > ...considering the possibility of staging a coup and instating some actual > Jyhad players as the new Rules Team... While I think you are becoming disillusioned, its perfectly reasonable. Your points are right on the money, through LSJ we have good contact with the latest 'state' of the errata and rulings, and people without access to this mailing list and email simply have no access, as I didnt up until a month ago. If the rules team aren't here to repond to us then what are they doing? Some kind of bizzarre Richard Garfield worship ceremonies? Whose vision of how the game works are they following? Should we have a say in it? (Rules Team member shouts 'This isnt a democracy son!') Do WoTC actually give a rats-butt about their customers? Or do they have their heads *expletive deleted*? We should all vent some steam, its healthy. Its getting to the stage where Im just simply not going to use the latest errata verbatim. I will go through and decide for myself what to use and what not to use. Sad. Kind of on this point, I went to the WoTC page and got the DCI rules for jyhad, these dont mention the NRA rule. I went to The Corrupters page and got the SPTR (sensible players tournament rules), which features the 2 golden tennants of jyhad. I then went to his deck archive and noticed that mailing list notables like Peter Bajika, James Hamblin, Robert Goudie use these golden tennants, what do you use at tournaments? Now I have been convinced of the extreme good taste of the SPTR, but I was wondering what the official take was on tournament rules? Of course, given what I said above, it really isnt that big an issue, you just decide for yourself. James B. Josh equips with a bomb and takes a D action at the rules team, waiting till they were tapped so they couldnt play reform body. (??????????)

Eric Pettersen

"L. Scott Johnson" <vte...@regency.wizards.com> wrote: > Hidden Lurker errata came when the rules for issuing errata were > looser. "Work as intended" is no longer a consideration, as shown > by the lack of errata on Code of Milan Suspended. How dispiriting. I realize that you probably argue vehemently for sensible RT rulings, but I have to express my aggravation. As I understand it, the rationale for the RT's "errata only for overpowered cards" is to "minimize the amount of errata that regular players have to know". I imagine that the reasoning is that less errata makes the game more playable and thereby more popular. Has the RT considered that making scores of cards wallpaper is likely to piss off the average gamer? And disgust them? Hardly likely to boost the game's popularity. I could perhaps sympathize if we were talking about radical errata to a card -- we're not. We're talking trivial errata for cards such as Code of Milan Suspended (Meth who has edge when vote is _called_) and Reform Body (two type symbols defaults to _"or"_ if no overriding card text). Do the people on the RT even play VTES as their primary game? Or is it "yeah I played a game back in December"? How could you make their recent ruling on stealth for unblocked actions if you care about the game at all? Sorry Scott, I know you care. --- Eric Pettersen pe...@diderot.ucsf.edu (NeXTmail capable)

Joshua Duffin

L. Scott Johnson (vte...@regency.wizards.com) wrote: : Joshua Duffin wrote: : > : > Not to be offensive, but it surprises me that a Rules Team even exists for : > VTES any more. [...] Maybe I'm : > just getting disillusioned by what seem to be progressively deteriorating : > rulings emanating from the Team, I don't know. Or maybe it's just that none : > of the expansions (not even the VTES release of the game) have been as well : > balanced as the original Jyhad set, and it's finally gotten to me. Well : > anyway, sorry to spout off like this at you, LSJ; it's not you that I'm : > upset with. : No problem. It's always nice to hear from players who are concerned for : the game. But, and not to accuse, merely observing that there is a problem : is not very useful, from a WotC point of view. But solutions which are : feasible from a business standpoint are hard to come by, I know. Well, I can certainly understand that. But what solutions *are* feasible from a business standpoint? I don't feel that I have any information on what Wizards considers feasible - do you? Does anyone? (serious request - if we knew what's feasible, maybe we can try to come up with some real solutions.) But admitting that there's a problem is a good first step, don't you think? Josh ...oh, de agony of denial...

Joshua Duffin

James B. Floate (jfl...@tpgi.com.au) wrote: : Kind of on this point, I went to the WoTC page and got the DCI rules : for jyhad, these dont mention the NRA rule. I went to The Corrupters : page and got the SPTR (sensible players tournament rules), which : features the 2 golden tennants of jyhad. I then went to his deck archive : and noticed that mailing list notables like Peter Bajika, James Hamblin, : Robert Goudie use these golden tennants, what do you use at tournaments? : Now I have been convinced of the extreme good taste of the SPTR, but I : was wondering what the official take was on tournament rules? : Of course, given what I said above, it really isnt that big an issue, : you just decide for yourself. Well, I'm sure Peter and James are flattered to be "mailing list notables" (both are in my play group). Yeah, we use the so-called Golden Tenets here; we have for something like a year now, ever since we gave up our four-card- limit ways. I don't know if what you found was the most current DCI rules or not - it's my understanding that the current DCI is basically no card limits, no repeat actions, and a vote-push fix that involves not replacing political-action- cards burned for votes until the end of the current (turn or minion phase, I forget which), with a banned list that includes Monocle of Clarity, the ante cards, and the paralyze cards. That was what we used at the UBCon tournament (University of Buffalo) a few weeks ago; it's not what we use locally. Our banned list is a little different (and probably more extensive) and we also have errata-ed a number of cards that we consider broken. But we aren't exactly playing tournaments. Josh ...hell with the bomb, I think a nice femur of toomler would be more appropriate...

L. Scott Johnson

James B. Floate wrote: [Many comments to which it is not my place to offer opinion] > Kind of on this point, I went to the WoTC page and got the DCI rules > for jyhad, these dont mention the NRA rule. http://www.wizards.com/Leagues_and_Tournaments/DCI/VTES_Rules.html includes the NRA rule (under section IV:SPECIAL FLOOR RULES) [ quoted text not captured ]

James B. Floate

L. Scott Johnson wrote: > > James B. Floate wrote: > > [Many comments to which it is not my place to offer opinion] :) Very diplomatic LSJ. > http://www.wizards.com/Leagues_and_Tournaments/DCI/VTES_Rules.html > > includes the NRA rule (under section IV:SPECIAL FLOOR RULES) > Thanks. Always read the fine print. La la la, James B.

salem christ....

James B. Floate wrote: > James B. > > Josh equips with a bomb and takes a D action at the rules team, waiting > till they were tapped so they couldnt play reform body. (??????????) can a tapped vampire in combat being burned during someone else's turn play a wakey and then a reform body? watch out, the rules team might try that one..... salem christ.....

L. Scott Johnson

salem christ.... wrote: > James B. Floate wrote: > > Josh equips with a bomb and takes a D action at the rules team, waiting > > till they were tapped so they couldnt play reform body. (??????????) > > can a tapped vampire in combat being burned during someone else's turn > play a wakey and then a reform body? > > watch out, the rules team might try that one..... Yes, you can play a Wakey to play Reform body. I didn't use to think that Reaction cards were playable in combat, but the ruling on Reform Body clearly shows that they are. [ quoted text not captured ]

James B. Floate

salem christ.... wrote: > can a tapped vampire in combat being burned during someone else's turn > play a wakey and then a reform body? > > watch out, the rules team might try that one..... > > salem christ..... Heh, they might at that. I think that the answer is no, unless you pull out the Thick Black Texter (TM) and draw a combat symbol on WWEF. However, the rules team might tap Heidelberg Castle to allow them to issue errata while in combat and change reform body back to a useful card. A difficult target. James B. 'Such friends as the Butcher and Beaver became, have seldom if ever been known, In winter or summer it was always the same, you could never meet either alone.' Lewis Carrol, The Hunting of the Snark