wizwar6e/packages/engine/data/rules-notes.md

# Wiz-War 6e — Engine Implementer's Rules Reference

Distilled from `research/rules-6e.md` (verbatim 5th-edition rules text, which the 6e
rulebook lightly revises), `research/official-faq-2002.txt` (Tom Jolly's official FAQ,
Sept 2002), and — **primary source** — `research/official-6e-card-list.md`, the owner's
scanned 6e rulebook and Expansion #1 rules sheet (photos in `research/scans/`,
IMG_4665–4673). The scan's rules-confirmation section verifies that the core rules in
§§1–11 below match the printed 6e booklet. Remaining open questions are collected at
the end — see also `VERIFICATION.md` for the photo checklist.

**6e deltas over the 5e text (confirmed):** "You cannot attack yourself" is stated
explicitly (6e-first rule); deck is 125 cards (5e: 124) — the 125th card is **Dispel
Creation ×1**, moved into the basic set without its text being edited (official card
list); boards have no printed center dots even though the LOS text still references
them (confirmed).

---

## 1. Game setup

- Equipment (confirmed, 6e rulebook): four boards, deck of 125 cards, two counter
  sheets, four plastic bases, one die **numbered 1–4**.
- Each player gets one sector board (chosen face down at random); sectors are assembled
  per the player-count configuration (see `boards.json` → `setups`), then flipped
  simultaneously.
- Player's pawn starts on the center square of his sector = his **home base**.
- Each player's **two treasure chests** start on the two marked circles of his own sector.
- Deal **7 cards** to each player; rest is the draw pile. **If Trap! is drawn on the
  deal, discard it and redraw** (trap cards otherwise fire the moment they are drawn).
- Everyone starts at **15 life points**. 0 = dead and out. **No upper limit** on life
  gained during play.
- Turn order: clockwise, starting with the highest die roll.

## 2. Victory / elimination

Two ways to win:
1. **Kill** all other players.
2. **Treasure**: capture two treasures from opponents (need not be from the same player)
   and drop them, one at a time, on your **own home base(s)**.

Elimination without dying: the moment **both** of the treasures you protect sit on other
players' home bases, you are out (cards discarded, not awarded).

- A dead player cannot win, even posthumously; his home base becomes invalid for
  eliminating others, but his treasures remain valid win-objects.
- FAQ: if a player is eliminated, treasures left on **his** home base no longer count
  toward eliminating their owners.
- Dying while performing a would-be-winning action: death resolves first; the player is
  eliminated (no win).
- Kill credit: the **last attacker** gets all the dead player's cards, then must discard
  down to the 7-card hand limit. FAQ: **second-hand kills** (falling walls, monsters)
  give NO cards; a monster's kill gives its controller nothing.

## 3. Turn structure

Within a turn a player may, **in any interleaved order** (movement is divisible around
other actions):
- **Move** up to 3 spaces (base rate).
- **Attack once** (one ATTACK card, or a punch, or an attack on an inanimate object —
  exactly one attack per turn total).
- Play **any number** of NEUTRAL cards (and COUNTERACTIONs used as neutrals).
- Drop objects (any time during own turn), make deals (requires LOS), etc.
- **Draw up to 2 cards at the END of the turn only.** Hand limit 7 (Brainstone: 9;
  displayed stones/keys count toward the limit). Over-limit: discard immediately.
  Voluntary discarding just to redraw is allowed (own turn only).

Hard turn-enders / restrictions:
- **Picking up ANY object ends the turn immediately** (only card-drawing may follow).
  You cannot pick up objects out of turn (even if a Teleport lands you on one).
  FAQ: you can't pick up two objects at once, even from one space.
- **First round of turns: no ATTACKS.** The 6e rulebook prints "no combat during the
  FIRST round of turns" (confirmed); the FAQ errata says to read it as "no ATTACKS" —
  indirect damage like Destroy Wall on round one is legal; Speed does not circumvent it.
- **You cannot attack yourself** (explicit in 6e) **or your own monsters**.
- **Lost turn**: the player may do NOTHING except play COUNTERACTIONs — cannot move,
  cast, or even **draw cards**. Lost turns accumulate. A lost turn while under a
  duration spell still burns a turn of that duration. If your own reflected attack
  costs you "a turn", it is the CURRENT turn.

**"Turn" for durations/lost turns:** an effect starts when cast and ends at the
*beginning* of one of the caster's turns. FAQ refinement (interaction with Speed):
duration still ends at the start of a caster's turn, but the *count* of turns is based
on the recipient's turns.

## 4. Movement

- Base 3 spaces/turn. May add **one** NUMBER card to the turn's movement
  (e.g. "4" → up to 7). Die is never used for movement. Orthogonal grid movement
  (walls block; door passage requires the door opened).
- Board edges wrap via lettered openings; see `boards.json` `setups` for wrap and
  AUTO WARP rules (warp = adjacency for movement, LOS, and spells).
- Walking past opponents/monsters is safe — no free hits for passing through.

## 5. The five card kinds (printed taxonomy)

1. **ATTACK** — max one per turn. May carry `L.O.S.` tag (the 6e rulebook documents
   both **ADJACENT** and **L.O.S.** corner markings — confirmed).
2. **NEUTRAL** — unlimited per turn; **cannot be counteracted** (but see Negate Neutral,
   a special/counteraction that cancels a neutral at cast time).
3. **COUNTERACTION** — the only cards playable **out of turn**; may also be played
   during one's own turn as a neutral.
4. **NUMBER** (2–6 only; no 1s) — three uses: movement boost, spell DURATION (turns),
   or spell POWER (damage). **One number card per action.** Any card played without a
   number card has power **1**.
5. **MAGIC STONES** — permanent objects granting a reusable power; name contains
   "STONE", text prefixed "POWER". Displayed face-up after first use but still count in
   the hand. FAQ: may be discarded even after display.

Other classes on cards (expansion-era): TRAP (fires when drawn), SPECIAL (out-of-turn
cards like Interrupt/Opportunity Fire), INSTANT (Gift from God), OBJECT, ARTIFACT,
dual types (NEUTRAL/COUNTERACTION etc.). FAQ: cards printed "SELF" in early sets were
relabeled "LOS" in later printings (you are always in your own LOS) — a SELF-type spell
still cannot be cast on others. Cards marked ATTACK-NEUTRAL are Neutral cast on self,
Attack cast on others.

- Cards are used once then discarded face-up (discard pile is public; Deja-Vu searches
  it). Exceptions: physical objects (stones, Dagger, Large Rock, Wizardblade, Master
  Key, sticks…) stay in hand until dropped/thrown/discarded.
- If cards are to be randomly lost/taken from a hand, displayed cards are first taken
  back into the hand before the choice.
- Physical actions (pick/remove/jam locks, throwing daggers) are **not spells**
  (immune to spell-only counters like Absorb Spell / Full Shield).

## 6. Combat, damage, life

- An attack automatically hits unless counteracted. A spell that misses **dissipates** —
  it never hits something behind the target.
- **Punch**: no card, counts as the turn's attack, 1 damage, same square required
  (adjacent square if the target fills its square).
- Inanimate objects: only walls, doors, and thornbushes are attackable. Wall = 20 hp,
  door = 15 hp. Attacking one consumes the turn's attack.
- **Physical vs magical damage** both reduce life; distinction matters only where cards
  say so. Physical: rock, dagger, punch, falling wall. Magical: spell-caused (firewall
  crossing, Wizardblade, Lightning Blast…).
- You cannot physically attack through any wall, firewall, or bush.
- Deals/trades of any kind are legal while in LOS.

## 7. Counteraction timing (resolution order)

- Played immediately after the attack, by the target. Counteracting is always optional.
- **Counteractions resolve BEFORE the attack takes effect.** (Bloodstone reduces
  Fireball damage before the Fireball destroys the stone; Absorb Spell beats Card
  Erasure.)
- Multiple counteractions may stack against one attack, sequentially or added; the
  defender picks their own ordering. (Two Blunts on 5: 5 → 3 → 2, round up each time.)
- Counteractions can themselves be counteracted (Anti-Anti…), bouncing before coming
  to rest.
- Fractional damage from halving: **round UP**.
- **If ALL damage from a spell is stopped, its secondary effects are stopped too**
  (e.g. Lightning Blast's stun). (Known FAQ conflict on Create Wraith's card-steal —
  the fan DB sides with the rule; flag for house ruling.)
- A counteraction is instantaneous and affects only the one attack it answered
  (Absorb does not pool across attacks; Slow Death is countered one tick at a time).
- If a spell is counteracted, its accompanying NUMBER card is discarded with it.
- Hit by an out-of-turn source during your own turn (e.g. Fire Imp): you may respond
  only with counteractions.
- Escape-type responses (Teleport, Blink, Invisible, Shrink) make the attack miss
  entirely; Anti-Anti does NOT work against escapes, only against direct counters.

## 8. Walls, doors, LOS, map changes

- **LOS** = straight segment from the center of the attacker's square to the center of
  the target's square (for Create Wall: center of the wall to be created). ANY wall
  clip breaks it — FAQ: "barely nicking a corner" is NOT LOS; a corner counts as
  passing two walls (matters for Visionstone). 6e boards have no printed center dots;
  eyeball centers.
- Movable objects generally don't block LOS; fixed objects (walls, firewalls, illusion
  walls, thornbushes, doors, solid stone) do.
- **Doors**: locked at all times; opened only via cards (Pick Lock, Master Key…);
  auto-relock after passage. You may cast through an opened door without stepping
  through. You cannot tailgate unless the opener states he is holding the door; only
  Remove Lock keeps a door permanently open; Jam Lock beats Master Key.
- **Map-changing cards** place tokens. Creation constraints: nothing may be created on a
  home base or on an occupied square (walls exempt — they live between squares; walls
  never diagonal, only on lines between spaces). FAQ: teleports/swaps may drop things
  on home bases as long as *immobile* objects (Solid Stone, Thornbush) never end up
  there; cards override rules where explicit (Waterwall on a Wall of Fire).
- Wall/door destroyed at a sector junction, then Rotate Sector: 50/50 die roll decides
  which sector keeps the alteration.
- Thrown objects land in the targeted square, or immediately before an intervening
  barrier. FAQ: objects (never treasures) may be thrown; thrown objects deal no damage
  unless the card says so.

## 9. Objects and treasures

- Dropping: any time during own turn; token goes on the pawn's square, the object's
  card sits beside the board; the next taker must take the card into hand.
  FAQ: discarding a physical object needn't place it on the board (discard pile is
  fine); own turn only. Cursed objects (Load Stone) can't be discarded.
- **Treasures: carry at most ONE** (own or opponent's — FAQ kills the 7e wording that
  implied one-of-each). Not a hand card, cannot be thrown, may carry any number of
  other objects alongside. You may re-steal your own treasure off an enemy home base.
- Objects can only be taken from a living player via cards that explicitly remove/
  destroy objects (Drop Object etc.) — Medusa-then-loot is illegal. (Artifacts are the
  exception: walking into the holder's square and declaring the take — one per turn,
  not an attack; see below.)
- FAQ: Wizards and monsters are generally NOT "objects" for object-targeting spells
  (Teleport Object, Animate Object) — badly defined pre-8e; Drag explicitly DOES work
  on wizards/monsters. House-rule the rest.

## 10. The die

d4 — the 6e equipment list confirms "one die numbered 1–4". Never for movement.
Random direction: pick the intended direction's number, then roll. 50/50 checks:
1–2 low / 3–4 high, assignment declared beforehand.

## 11. Expansion-layer rules (Exp1/Exp2, verbatim source in rules-6e.md §3)

The monster and magic-wand rules below are confirmed by the owner's scanned
Expansion #1 rules sheet ("Expansion Set #1, Third Edition Rules"). Note: this
Chessex-era printing calls the charged items **magic wands** (Blaster/Shift/Sticky/
Warp WAND on its card list), where the 5e-era card database says "Stick" — same
mechanics.

**Monsters** — obey creator (Imp excepted), move during controller's turn (slaved to
extra/lost turns), cannot hurt their creator, can't carry/cast/use hand cards unless
their card says so, permanent until killed. Attack once per turn; cannot attack on
their creation turn (creation itself is the attack that turn; later turns wizard +
monster both attack). Monsters can attack monsters; you can't attack your own. Monster
kills award no cards. No NUMBER cards on their movement, but neutrals (Mist-Body,
Speed) may be cast on them. Monsters suffer floor hazards and count as "Opponent"/
"Anyone" targets. Running past a monster is safe (Buck/Fire Imp excepted). "Monster" =
damage-dealing creations: Alter Ego, Shadow, Familiar, Killer Ooze count; Slime,
Animate Object, Decoy, Buck do not. If the controller dies, his monsters vanish.
A monster's attack is not YOUR attack (doesn't break Buddy).

**Flying/levitating** — immune to ground effects (Tacks, Killer Ooze, Waterwall).

**Magic Sticks / Wands** — "Stick"/"Wand" in the name; charges set by NUMBER card at first use
(number card is discarded — FAQ); max one use per turn regardless of Speed/Adrenaline
(limit is on the object); no recharge; transfer carries remaining charges; Amplify/Add
work when setting charges; sticks don't burn; count in hand; Absorb Spell can't touch
them (objects, not spells). FAQ: needn't stay displayed (refines expansion text).

**Artifacts** (Exp2 only) — steal by entering the holder's square and declaring it
(NOT an attack, one per turn, no stealth protection prevents it); turn continues after
a steal (but picking one off the floor ends the turn as normal). Any player may at any
time WISH one out of existence: cost 4 life (irreversible) + discard entire hand
(cursed cards excepted). Attack-artifacts limited to once/turn; others unlimited.
Discarding (crushing) artifacts is legal on your own turn.

**Transformations** (Ghost/Vampire/Werewolf) — you remain a Wizard, not a monster.

**Multi-attack effects** (Adrenaline, Claw of Mars) — never let a once-per-turn object
fire twice; extra attacks must come from other sources.

**Variants (official, optional):** Team play (4p: seats 1+3 vs 2+4; 6p: 3 teams of 2;
win = kill or 3 opponent treasures on team bases; no attacking teammates; card
reveals/trades only in LOS). Two-player crossed-exits variant (see boards.json).
Doors variant: a wizard may open the doors of his own sector without a key.

## 12. Notable per-card engine gotchas (from the FAQ — full text in cards.json)

- Reflection works on non-LOS spells and "numbers of things" (Thought Steal → both
  players lose a card to each other); reflected Around-the-Corner spells retain the
  corner-bend.
- Power Drain + Reflection cancels; Power Drain + Blunt still drains the full amount
  (blunting damage-taken, not the spell).
- Ugly is instantaneous (no duration), works on invisible/shrunken (self-cast, no
  to-hit), not on Blinded players; forced retreat happens out of the victims' turns.
- Fear is self-cast (uncounterable), forces card-based escape if available, beats Go
  Away and Ugly; measured 3 spaces by walking distance.
- Teleport: counteraction-mode dodges outright; destination must be a vacant space;
  Swap-before-Teleport ok, not after; Reuse Spell allows double Teleport but not
  double Swap ("replaces movement").
- Illusion Wall: belief rolled per player at first sight; a believer's destruction of
  it is private; even knowledge of fakeness doesn't grant LOS through it.
- Medusa: total lockout (no spells/sticks/stones/artifact use), immune to damage,
  TRAPs, Slow Death, It — but still Swappable; carried gear petrifies except artifacts.
- Area spells count ranges through Permawarp/Door-to-Door warps (count to the warp
  mouth, continue from the far end).
- Lost-turn + reflected Lightning Blast: lose the rest of the CURRENT turn incl. draws.

---

## RESOLVED by the owner's scans (official-6e-card-list.md)

- **The 125th card**: Dispel Creation ×1 in the 6e basic deck (AND ×2 in Exp1). CLOSED.
- **Per-card quantities**: fully documented for the 6e basic deck (91 + 34 numbers)
  and Expansion #1 (61 + 14 of its OWN number cards, no 6s). CLOSED.
- **Number-card distribution**: base 2×12/3×10/4×7/5×4/6×1; Exp1 2×5/3×4/4×3/5×2. CLOSED.
- **Bomb**: on NEITHER official list — not in the owner's 6e+Exp1 collection; the DB
  commentary's "6th edition card" guess is wrong for this printing. Presumed Exp2/7e-era.
- **Trap! / Speedstone**: confirmed in the 6e basic deck (×1 each). CLOSED.
- **"FORCE FIELD"**: mystery closed — it is an official Expansion #1 card (×1); text
  recovered from the FAQ's verbatim quote.
- **The die**: equipment list confirms "one die numbered 1–4". CLOSED.
- **First-round wording**: the 6e rulebook prints "no combat during the FIRST round";
  the FAQ's "no ATTACKS" reading is errata, not rulebook text. CLOSED.
- **Core rules wording** (punch 1 dmg / wall 20 / door 15, pick-up-ends-turn, door
  auto-relock, 50-50 junction rule, AUTO WARP details, hand/draw limits, LOS
  center-to-center incl. the dot reference): all confirmed as written in §§1–11.
- **Exp1 card-count conflict**: 75 is correct (61 + 14); Jolly's-site figure of 84 is
  wrong for this printing. CLOSED.

## OPEN QUESTIONS — still needs verification

1. **BUTT-HEAD and MEGA-MONSTER** (official Exp1 list): no text, type, or LOS info
   exists anywhere — photograph the cards.
2. **Presumed renames** need card-face confirmation: GIFT FROM ABOVE (= DB "Gift From
   God"?), DIMENSIONAL WARP (= "Permawarp"?), REDIRECTION (= "Rewarp"?); wand vs
   "Stick" card titles; SKELETON/TROLL/WRAITH vs "Create Skeleton/Troll/Wraith".
3. **Verbatim card text**: all `text` fields come from the 5e-era card database, not
   from 6e card faces — spot-check wording (and the ADJACENT/L.O.S. corner markings)
   against the physical cards.
4. **Boards**: door positions on Layouts D and F; which 4 layouts are in the base box;
   which layout was replaced before 7e; board dimensions/backs. (A separate agent is
   verifying boards against photos — see boards.json.)
5. **Expansion #2** (owner does not own it): membership, quantities, and the
   85-cards-vs-88-names / 106-per-Jolly's-site arithmetic remain unresolved; Bomb's
   true home (Exp2 vs 7e) with it.
6. **Errata sheet**: check the box for one (the 5e shipped one).
7. **7th-edition delta** (130 cards vs 125): still undocumented.
8. **Torquemada** is a joke entry in the FAQ, not a card. Ignore.