Card Anatomy
NOTE: Card border colors are a strong hint as to what factions of the game might like to use them, but technically they have no effect on the mechanics of the game; you are free to include in your full deck whatever bizarre mix of border colors you can conceive of.
Likewise, italicized flavor text at the bottom of Game Text boxes and visual art pieces have no mechanical consequence.
Most cards, in the top left corner, have a Fortune Bubble, governing whether they represent success or failure when revealed as part of Venturing. This bubble can also be dark-colored to indicate that it has an additional effect when Ventured into.
All cards have a card type at the top center, followed by the card Name. A star by the Name indicates card Uniqueness. Non-Unique cards are assumed to represent characters who play generic roles in the story, generic places with common characteristics, etc.
Any card type can have bolded Keywords before its main Game Text. These Keywords usually only have an effect when named by other cards’ Game Text, but see the Keywords & Miscellaneous Chapter for exceptions.
All cards have general Game Text that explains what they uniquely can do to affect game state—generally as an ACTION, REACTION, or INTERRUPT effect, although some cards have ongoing effects while they are in a certain state too.
Heroes, and occasionally other cards, have Honor, Skill, and Might scores or modifiers in the bottom right corner. These are used primarily to determine the outcome of a Contest of Honor, Skill, or Might.
There are seven Types of cards in Udacha. The types with unique anatomical elements are described below.
These cards have either a Banner Icon, Routine Icon, or Climactic Icon in their top left. Banners start the game in play and are the basis for a deck. Secrets get revealed from their Secrets Vault in the course of a game, when your foe completes Quests, starting with at least one Secret with the Routine Icon.
Banners or Secrets also have a Category Icon in their lower left, which is important to consider when deckbuilding. There are seven Category icons in the game:
- Banners get their own Category Icon.
- A red sword, representing Battle-related Secrets,
- an orange hunting trap, representing Secrets that Thwart your foe,
- a yellow chalice, representing Questing-related Secrets,
- a green boot, representing Movement-related Secrets,
- a blue quill and inkwell, representing Diplomatic Secrets,
- and an abstract purple symbol, representing Miscellaneous Secrets.
A full deck (with 5 Secrets and a Banner) must choose them from six different Categories, never repeating the same Category Icon twice.
Heroes often have a Subtitle beneath their name, which can indicate variants of the Hero. Regardless of what variants exist, you can only have three of a Hero in your deck, but some cards may interact with variants in interesting ways.
Heroes have a Faction Icon in their mid-left area, declaring their main affiliation within the world of the story. Usually, effects that let you Play a Hero are restricted to particular Factions, which means you will mostly want to play Heroes with a common Faction Icon that you have ways to play.
As mentioned earlier, Heroes always have Honor, Skill, and Might scores.
Places have a Geography Line just below their Name, detailing where they are located geographically (Region and Locale, separated a colon). Region and Locale have an effect on the mechanics of the game only when they are referred to by Card Text.
Places have a Faction Icon like Heroes in their mid-left area (although it might be a plain circle, indicating neutrality), but unlike Heroes, this seldom comes into play and can often be ignored.
These card types have a different layout (with the picture at the bottom) and are played in different ways, but have only the standard card anatomy elements.