Ability: Any named rule modifier printed in the text box of a troop. All troops have at least one, often two and occasionally three.

Aftermath: The stage that immediately follows conflict. Any effect contingent on being “victorious” or “defeated” and anything else specified as happening “after conflict” happens during this stage.

Ally: A troop card of the second rank. Allies get −2 offense and defense unless they are supported by a henchman.

Attacker: The player or team playing the first card. Attackers use their troop’s offense to determine its combat power.

Avatar: A card you reveal at the start of the game and that remains in play throughout it. You must have exactly one in your deck.

Base Hand Size: A number of cards equal to the number of sorties remaining in a battle. During each sortie’s draw stage, each player with fewer cards in his hand draws cards until he has this many.

Base Offense And Defense: The offense and defense values printed on a troop. Some effects change a troop’s base offense or defense; its current offense and defense are then recalculated as if its modifiers had been applied to the new values.

Battle: A set of seven sorties resulting in the award of one or more prestige.

Battle Line: The row of troops created during a battle, consisting of the troop from each sortie positioned to show whether it was victorious, defeated or turned face-down. Each player has a battle line, and they are used for scoring and to determine the effect of certain cards.

Champion: A troop card of the third rank. Champions get −4 offense and defense unless they are supported by a henchman and an ally.

Conflict: The stage during a sortie after all troops have been played when the victorious troop is determined.

Deck: The face-down stack of cards comprised of no less than seventy cards including exactly one avatar. Each player has his own deck unless both players in a two-player game are using the same core deck.

Defeated: Any troop that loses a sortie is considered defeated and is inverted at the start of aftermath. Effects contingent on being defeated happen during aftermath.

Defender: All players except the attacker or attacking team. A defender uses his troop’s defense to determine its combat power.

Defense: The value used by defending troops during conflict.

Discard: To put a card in your discard pile, whether from your hand or from play.

Discard Pile: The face-down stack of cards that have been played or discarded. Each player has his own discard pile unless both players in a two-player game are using the same core deck.

Draw: To put the top card of your deck in your hand.

Face-Down: Some effects will cause a troop to be turned face-down, revealing the card back. Face-down cards have no suit, race, rank, abilities or other values, are neither inverted nor upright, are not counted during scoring, and are only affected by things that specifically target face-down cards. After the battle is scored, any face-down troops in the battle line are removed from the game rather than discarded.

Face-Up: The standard position of troops, where the card art is revealed.

Facing: The orientation of a card: either face-down, inverted or upright.

Follow Suit: For a defender, to play a troop from the same suit as the attacker’s troop. Suit must be followed whenever possible.

Game: A series of battles ending when one player gains seven prestige.

Hand: The cards drawn by each player at the start of each sortie.

Henchman: A troop card of the first (lowest) rank. Henchmen are always considered to be supported.

Influence: A type of card that lasts a single sortie. At the end of aftermath, all influences are discarded.

Invert: To turn a face-up, upright card such that the top edge is toward the card’s player, making it inverted. Inverted troops are not counted during scoring.

Karma: Magical energy or raw luck. All players begin each game with four karma. Karma does not refresh itself during the game. Any player may use karma to rally, and it is also required for many cards and effects.

Lead: The player with the first turn in a sortie. The leader of the first sortie of the first battle is determined randomly. In later battles, it is the player to the left of the first leader of the previous battle. The second and following sorties within any particular battle are led by the victor of the prior sortie.

Led Suit: The suit of the troop played by the leader (typically the attacker). All other players must follow suit if possible, even if doing so would result in defeat.

Legend: A troop card of the fourth (highest) rank. Legends get −6 offense and defense unless they are supported by a henchman, an ally and a champion.

Offense: The value used by attacking troops during conflict.

PK: A special combat to break a tie not settled by trump. Each involved player reveals the top card of his deck and compares their combat values. In case of a tie during PK, PK is repeated until one player wins.

Power: A type of card that remains in play from sortie to sortie. You may only have one power card active at any given time. Should you play a second power card, your first is automatically discarded.

Power Suit: The subtypes of power cards: Coin, Cup, Shield, Sword or Wand. Power suit has no direct effect of its own, but some avatars, powers, influences and troop abilities affect only powers of certain power suits.

Prestige: A tally of your score. A player starts with zero and tries to reach seven before his opponents in order to win the game.

Race: The subtypes of troop cards: Beast, Chitinoid, Construct, Fey, Fiend, Giant, Halfblood, Human, Reptile, Shapechanger, Transcendent or Undead. Race has no direct effect of its own, but many avatars, powers, influences and troop abilities affect only troops of certain races.

Rally: The act of spending one karma to discard two cards and draw two cards; or the stage after the draw stage of a battle’s first sortie, during which it is legal to rally.

Rank: A measure of the overall power of a troop: Henchman, Ally, Champion or Legend. Troops of higher rank get a penalty to offense and defense unless supported by cards of each lower rank in their player’s battle line.

Rarity: A measure of a card’s scarcity: Common, Uncommon, Rare or Exotic. Cards of lesser rarities appear more frequently in booster packs.

Right: To turn a face-up, inverted card such that the bottom edge is toward the card’s player, making it upright.

Sortie: One round in a battle, including the draw and possibly rally stages, one turn by each player, conflict and aftermath. There are seven sorties in each battle.

Suit: The mystical element a particular troop represents: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water or Wood. Troops must follow suit if possible.

Support: For a troop of ally or higher rank, to have at least one troop of every lower rank face-up in your battle line. Unsupported troops get a penalty to offense and defense: −2 for allies, −4 for champions and −6 for legends.

Troop: A card that has an offense and a defense. Playing one ends a player’s turn.

Trump: The first tiebreaking resource in PK Cards. Each suit trumps the next diagonally clockwise across the ring of suits.

Turn: The period during which a player may play cards or activate effects. Each player has one turn per sortie, ending when he plays a troop or runs out of cards.

Upright: A face-up card whose bottom edge is turned toward the card’s player. Only upright troops count during scoring.

Victorious: Whichever troop wins a sortie, and its player, are considered victorious. Effects contingent on being victorious happen during aftermath.