Q3 Rules Update
Hello, fellow Warlords!
Q3 2025 has been a relatively quiet quarter for the rules, but we did have a handful of items that popped up that needed a little more clarity. We don’t have any true “changes” this quarter like we have had in the past, but there are a few additional rules and clarifications that I want to highlight. As always, you can find an abridged changelog here and the comprehensive rules here.
I’ll start with a couple of clarifications. The steps for performing strikes and actions are two of the most common interactions and something players pay attention to on the rules side to make sure they get them right. Because of this, I want to point out a couple of minor clarifications added to 509.5 and 510.5. First, the wording for step 1c under 510.5 was cleaned up a little and an example was added. The crux of this step is that, in general, you would read a card and perform its effects in the order stated. But some cards like Arcane Attack have adjustments to the effect of the action that are listed after the fact. Because of this it’s important for players to fully read and understand cards before any part of the effect is performed.
In the steps of a strike (509.5) there were also a couple of pieces of information that we felt could benefit from additional clarification. In step 4b we’ve now called out the wording “if a strike hits” as being the same time as “after hitting”, and we’ve added 6c to clarify that things that happen “instead of wounds” do, indeed, happen during step 6, taking the place of wounds.
The remainder of the clarifications and changes this quarter were to add new rules to reinforce old rulings or assumed practices. Before I review the more important ones in depth, here are the minor ones:
401.6.6 clarifies that characters in first ranks can not fall forward, relevant for things like Tail Swipe.
601.6 creates the term “Character Trait” to round out our trait terminology and encompass both Archetype and Background traits.
506.1.1 clarifies how to resolve ongoing effects with multiple targets at the end of the turn, relevant for cards like Seize Life where multiple characters may be dying at the end of turn.
The first additional rule I want to dive a little deeper into is 401.6.7. This one isn’t very complex, and it follows other similar procedures, but it only pops up during awkward situations. In essence this rule will clarify that, in the rare event that players both have an illegal rank at the same time, whoever won initiative will fix all of their illegal ranks first. One of the most common scenarios where this may pop up is with the card Javvyn. If Player A’s character is about to kill Player B’s Javvyn and Player B chooses to attach their Javvyn to that character, the Javvyn does not leave play, but goes straight from Player B’s ranks to Player A’s causing both players to have an illegal rank simultaneously due to Javvyn’s static text. In this scenario, whoever won initiative that turn will fix illegal ranks first.
The other new rule I want to take a look at is 512.9. This one is a little more complex, but should not be a surprise in the way that it works. There are certain cards like Brother Dominy or Tyyphera where an effect is meant to apply only once, regardless of the number of that card that might be generating the effect. But there are also cards like Bascarite Mark or Commanding Presence that have effects tied to whether or not a particular card is providing a bonus. The purpose of 512.9 is to clarify what happens in a scenario when you have, say, two Brothers Dominy in a rank, and some clever play was done to equip one or both of them with a Bascarite Mark. In this scenario, though the bonus from Brother Dominy would only apply once, both Brother Dominy would be considered to be providing that bonus. Because of this, a Bascarite Mark on either of them would increase the bonus.
And that’s really it for Q3 2025 rules updates! A refreshing quarter of light additions that serve to further existing concepts and bring about further clarifications for players. See you next quarter!
