R&D Journal
Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken, and Un-phased
by Morgan "More Epic than Nate" Stana
;)
With all the build up of last weekʼs R&D by Nate French, lead designer, I feel that the pressure is all on me. How do I ever do the epic phase justice, when an entire article was just written telling you that Iʼm going to do it justice?
I guess Iʼll start by answering a question someone asked: Do we need a new phase? Why no, I suppose we donʼt, but why not give you the option? The epic phase is purely optional, but with something so, you know, epic, why not give it a shot?
Enter the epic phase. The epic phase is triggered by an event card that allows an additional phase between the dominance and standing phases where additional challenges may be initiated. This challenge doesnʼt only give you an extra claim boost, but thereʼs also a nice ability you have access to should you win the challenge.
With the The Viperʼs Revenge, you see the introduction to the new and exciting epic phase. Letʼs break it down.
First, thereʼs the house restriction. Makes sense, I suppose. You donʼt see Sansa Stark running around the novels calling herself a viper and claiming revenge, like some Oberyns I know.
This is followed up by the plot phase restriction. Plot phase? People play things during the plot phase that donʼt effect plotting or card draw? Fancy that! Probably my favorite thing about the epic challenges is the plot phase play window. As much as Iʼm a member of the First Turn Rule by Decree Haters Club, I feel that the plot phase can be so… neglected.
This also makes the epic phase a rather advanced tactic. As itʼs played during the plot phase, but activated after the dominance phase, thatʼs a lot of extra time to be thinking about an extra challenge. It requires pre-planning throughout the round for all players, as theyʼre all able to initiate (and need to defend against) an additional challenge.
Weʼve got an explanation of what the epic phase is. Well, isnʼt that handy! No keywords to worry about here. Just the cold, hard facts about what the epic phase is and what it does. An extra intrigue challenge? Sure thing, sign me up.
;)
But then thereʼs the winning ability. Now thatʼs something pretty cool. With The Viperʼs Revenge, should a player win an intrigue challenge during the epic phase, you get to choose whether or not thereʼs going to be standing this round. An interesting decision, and definitely with those Martell scalawags in mind (the decision will be a lot simpler when someoneʼs got Salladhor Saan hanging out in their character field).
In addition to this, we can look back to last weekʼs R&D Journal to remember Norvos. Already a powerful card, for very Nately reasons (itʼs like Nedly, only more about intrigue-challenge love), but triggered during this newfound phase, it has a bit more oomph. Just in case it didnʼt have enough.
Next week we'll do our best to remain unbowed, unbent, and unbroken in the wake of the first of (lead designer) Nate French's blogs. I'll do my best to remain un-phased.
