Wands is a fast-paced fantasy card battle for two to five players, combining elements of Uno and Magic: The Gathering.
Hi,
Sorry for the lack of updates. We had a personal tragedy, followed by a cross-country move.
Most folks should have received their orders by now.
There were five (5) orders that didn't get shipped when they were supposed to. If you are one of those folks, I have reached out directly to you via KS. Your orders will ship this week.
There are some other folks who still haven't given me your phone number. I've reached out via email, Backerkit, and KS repeatedly. If I don't have your number, I can't have the company ship it; they won't ship without a phone number. If you've complained to me directly, I've responded directly. Either way, I still need your phone number to ship your stuff :)
If you haven't received your order and you haven't heard from me recently, it's likely either a missing phone number or missing payment for shipping. Please let me know and I can check into it. I'd like to make sure you get your stuff!
I delivered the data file to the shipping company today!
So everybody who:
-Filled in all your info (address if you're getting physical copies of the game; phone number if you're outside the US and getting physical copies) by EOD last Friday...
-Doesn't owe money for shipping or made up anything owed via BackerKit...
-Whose credit card was successfully charged this weekend if BackerKit tried to charge you...
...should be getting their game in this first batch. It will take a couple of days for the shipper to process orders. And then 6-10 days on average and 10-21 days on average for US orders and Canadian/international orders, respectively.
That's 448 orders being shipped via the shipper. I am taking care of a few additional orders (see below) myself.
I am waiting to hear back from BackerKit on distributing the Print 'n' Play. Everyone who backed at the $5 level and/or who is getting their games shipped out in the first batch will be getting the P'n'P distributed via BackerKit. Hopefully in the next day or so.
For higher-tier rewards: giclees are being printed now, and decks have gone out to Lindsey to be signed. Most likely you will receive those items directly from me rather than the shipper. I'll update on those when I have those items back (I'm estimating about a week roundtrip on the signed decks and probably two weeks to get the giclees from the printer).
Thanks for all the comments/questions on the rules. They're extremely helpful to figure out what's unclear and what needs work.
I'll post some clarifications here. I'm also working on an FAQ and a "living" set of rules online that will evolve as more feedback comes in. When I have a link for that, I'll post it.
In the meantime...
Q: What does "next player" mean?
A: "Next player" is the player after the player casting the Spell or Counter-Spell. If there are three players, Albert, Billy, and Clarice, and play proceeds clockwise... Albert casts Draught of Life (Gain two life points.), and nobody plays a Counter-Spell. Albert gains two life points and his turn ends. Billy plays Magic Mirror {Last Spell cast and any resolved effects from Counter-Spell(s) occur again to next player (and only that player).}. If nobody counters, Clarice would gain two life points -- because the effect of the last Spell cast (Draught of Life) occurs again to the "next player" from Billy.
Q: Do Counter-Spells work on Blasts? What about Magic Mirror?
A: Counter-Spells only work on Spells. They do not work on Blasts. Blasts are un-counterable. Magic Mirror also does not work on Blasts. If there are several Blasts played and someone casts a Magic Mirror, you would go through the discard pile in order until you find the last Spell played.
Q: How does turn order work for Counter-Spells? If a player passes on playing a Counter-Spell and others play Counter-Spells after, and play goes back around to her, can she play a Counter-Spell then?
A: Yes, she sure can. Counter-Spells work in that everyone gets a chance to play one, in order. If anyone plays a Counter-Spell on a turn, then everyone gets a chance to play a Counter-Spell in response. This continues until either everyone passes or runs out of cards to play. Part of the strategy in Wands is knowing when to hold and when to play your Counter-Spells to the most advantage.
Q: Can you Worsen Vampiric Gaze (Swap life points with next player.)?
A: Short answer - no. Playing a Worsen triggers the original Spell effect again, in this case, swap life points with next player. So the person who played Vampiric Gaze would swap life points with the next player, and then he would swap back to no real effect. You can use a Worsen as basically an alternate Dispel on a Vampiric Gaze.
You could in theory play a Worsen on a Vampiric Gaze, and then someone else could play a second Worsen on that turn. That would then take effect, with the end result being that the person who played Vampiric Gaze would swap life points with the next player from the person who played the second Worsen (jeez Louise)! That really doesn't happen too often, however. And of course, someone can always Dispel a Worsen played on a Vampiric Gaze to have the Vampiric Gaze take effect as the first player intended.
Q: Can I Worsen a beneficial Spell?
A: Yes. The effect of Worsen is to add on the original spell effect again and shift all the active Spell and Counter-Spell effects to the next player. So you can do things like Worsen a Draught of Life or a Bountiful Spellbook. Keep in mind that this won't give you the beneficial effect -- it will go to the next player. But you may want to prevent someone in the lead from gaining four cards or help out someone who's low on life points.
Q: What happens if Albert, Billy, and Clarice are playing, turn order is clockwise, and... Albert plays Bountiful Spellbook (Draw 4 cards.); Billy skips; Clarice plays Dispel (Cancel last Spell or Counter-Spell cast.); Albert skips; Billy plays Worsen {Add original Spell effect again. Shift all active Spell and Counter-Spell effects to next player (and only that player).}; and Clarice plays Worsen?
A: Whew! A couple of things may make this easier to figure out. Spells and Counter-Spells are resolved in a last-in-first-out order, and a stack (like in Magic: The Gathering). So we can look at the effects as they'd be resolved as:
1. Worsen (Clarice)
2. Worsen (Billy)
3. Dispel (Clarice)
3. Bountiful Spellbook (Albert)
So that would mean -
1. Original spell effect again (Draw 4 cards, and everything gets shifted to next player from Clarice, which is Albert);
2. Original spell effect again (Draw 4 cards, it would get shifted to next player from Billy, which is Clarice, but she cast Worsen as well...)
3. Albert's Bountiful Spellbook is Dispelled.
Pro-Tip: I find it helpful to play Spells and Counter-Spells in an actual stack, and to remove Dispels and the cards they cancel as you resolve them. In this case, you'd be left with two Worsens, and you'd check the original card to see what the effect is that gets played again.
The end result would be that the next player from Clarice -- Albert -- would draw 8 cards (Worsen and Worsen on his original Bountiful Spellbook, which was Dispelled).
Q: What happens if I cast Magic Mirror on a dispelled Spell? For example, Albert casts Eldritch Flames and Billy casts Dispel; then Clarice casts Magic Mirror on her next turn?
A: In short, nothing. The resolved effect is that Albert's Eldritch Flames was canceled. Clarice would be Magic Mirroring a dead spell.
Keep in mind Magic Mirror takes into account all resolved effects from the last Spell and any Counter-Spells played. So, for example, if Albert played Eldritch Flames, Billy played Dispel, and Clarice played Dispel, the resolved effects would be for Albert to hit Billy for two damage. And if Billy then played Magic Mirror on his turn, he would hit Clarice for two damage.
And to Phillipe Laroche - thanks for all the comments. Those could make a cool rules variant. I haven't tried something like land enchantments. That might be fuel for an expansion set!
The P'n'P was distributed via BackerKit last night. So if you backed at the $5+ tier, you should have received an email with a link. You can then download the P'n'P on BackerKit.