The Ward is played in the moment (rules rev 31)

'When a player picks up one of your treasures, you may play at that
time (out of turn) this card on him' — the owner read the card and is
right: no arming ahead. When a treasure whose owner holds WARD is
grabbed, the grab hangs (new wardPending phase, outranking all other
input) and the owner alone answers: spring it (3 damage, card spent)
or let them go (card kept, silence). Automatons always spring it on a
thief of their gold. The arming mechanic is refused at rev 31 and its
button hidden; rev 3-30 games keep their armed wards and rev 1-2 keep
the automatic spring, replaying unchanged. The window does reveal that
the owner holds SOMETHING - as it would at any real table when the
room turns to look at them.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Fable 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_0138A8CjeQRpvzKxuMfz1Bqc

packages/web/src/App.svelte

@@ -1206,6 +1206,25 @@
     </div>
   {/if}
 
+  {#if view?.wardPending}
+    {#if view.wardPending.ownerId === view.you}
+      <div class="scrim attack-scrim" role="alertdialog" aria-label="your treasure is taken">
+        <div class="attack-notice">
+          <div class="attack-title">{view.wardPending.takerId} grabs your treasure!</div>
+          <div class="attack-power">
+            "When a player picks up one of your treasures, you may play at
+            that time (out of turn) this card on him." Three points, and the
+            Ward is spent.
+          </div>
+          <div class="attack-actions">
+            <button class="stamp primary" onclick={() => dispatch({ type: "wardChoice", play: true })}>Spring the Ward!</button>
+            <button class="hint-cancel" onclick={() => dispatch({ type: "wardChoice", play: false })}>let them go</button>
+          </div>
+        </div>
+      </div>
+    {/if}
+  {/if}
+
   {#if prefsOpen}
     <div class="scrim attack-scrim" role="button" tabindex="-1"
       onclick={() => (prefsOpen = false)} onkeydown={() => {}}>
@@ -2043,7 +2062,7 @@
               onclick={() => dispatch({ type: "pickUpObject", instanceId: obj.instanceId })}>
               Pick up {cardDef(obj.cardId).name}</button>
           {/each}
-          {#if holdingWard}
+          {#if holdingWard && view.deckRev < 31}
             <button class="stamp" onclick={() => dispatch({ type: "armWard", armed: !view.yourWardArmed })}>
               {view.yourWardArmed ? "Stand down the ward" : "Set the ward"}</button>
           {/if}

packages/web/src/local.svelte.ts

@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ class LocalGame {
       seed,
       sets: expansion ? ["basic", "expansion1"] : ["basic"],
       ...(colors ? { colors } : {}),
-      deckRev: 30,
+      deckRev: 31,
     };
     const { state, events } = createGame(config);
     for (const e of events) {

packages/web/src/net.svelte.ts

@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ export function humanize(e: GameEvent): string | null {
     case "wallDestroyed": return e.wasDoor ? `A door is blasted to rubble!` : `A wall crumbles!`;
     case "warpOpened": return `The outer wall breaches clean through — a new warp opens across the maze!`;
     case "extraTurnGranted": return `${e.player} speeds up — extra turn banked.`;
+    case "wardWindow": return `The grab hangs in the air — ${e.owner} clutches something…`;
     case "trapSprung": return e.cardId === "gift-from-below"
       ? `${e.player} draws GIFT FROM BELOW — it bites for 3, then deals again!`
       : `${e.player} walked into an old TRAP! Lose a turn.`;