Off the Board and Teleportation

Boardhopping

“Disappears” and Boardhopping

Leaving the Board

Being “off the board”

Returning to the Board

Combat-hoppers

Teleportation

Teleporting Across the Board

Spells that Hop

What spells take a minion, group, or structure off the board?

What spells create combat-hopper groups?

What spells or effects teleport a group?

What spells or effects teleport a minion?

Boardhopping

“Disappears” and Boardhopping. Some spells cause a minion, group, or structure to “disappear”. The object is removed from the board, but it doesn't die, and it remains in play. At a later time, the object will “reappear” on the board, with all of its stats and spells intact.

So where do these objects go while they're not on the board? They go to a nameless, locationless place that's called simply “off the board”. The act of leaving the board is called boardhopping, and spells and effects that do this are called boardhops.

Here are some rules of thumb to help you think about boardhops.

• A boardhop is like a container. Every boardhop can contain 1 group or 1 structure. We say that the group is “inside” the boardhop. We can also say that the boardhop “contains” the group.
• Every boardhop is distinct. There can be any number of boardhops active at the same time. Each one is a completely separate container. Groups in different boardhops never contact or conflict with each other.

Leaving the Board. When an object leaves the board, other game actions targeted on that object may be affected.

• Squanders subsequent spells. When a minion, group, or structure leaves the board during the spell execution phase (as the result of a previous spell's execution), then all subsequent individual, group, or structure spells, respectively, that were targeted on that minion, group, or structure, but which execute while the target is off the board, are squandered (fail).

Being “off the board”. Groups off the board obey the following rules.

• Not “on the board”. A group off the board ignores all spells that affect “every ... on the board”.
• No events. A group off the board ignores most game events. Any spells on the group or its members will temporarily cease their effects while they're off the board. This means they won't generate mana, alter costs, block spells, or any other global effect they usually have, until after the group returns.
• Time stops when you're off the board. In particular, a group off the board ignores the “at start of turn” event. This means that conjurations don't decrement their durations while they're off the board. When the group returns, all conjurations on the group and its members will still have the same durations they had when it left.
• Removed if dispelled. If the boardhop spell is dispelled while a group is inside, that group is removed from the game.

Returning to the Board. Most boardhops are temporary. When they expire, the object returns to the board.

• Every object off the board has a unique “exit square”, which is where it will return. Usually, this is the same as its departure square when it entered the boardhop.
• The object returns on the first turn when its exit square is unoccupied.
• Corollary: If you park another group on the landing square, the first object can't return! It will just wait patiently off the board.

Returning to the board is not a normal movement. It does not check any movement events.

• A group can return to the board into a terrain or square it can't normally enter!
  • Exemplar: You can use Will o' the Wisp + Inundate to drown a group that can't enter water.
• A recruit group can return into a structure. If the structure is hostile, the group can capture it.
• A monster group will not return into a structure. It will just wait off the board.

Combat-hoppers. Some spells create a group “off the board”, with the curious property that the group hops onto the board only to pick a fight, and hops off the board when it's done! These spells and groups are called combat-hoppers.

A combat-hopper spell is just like a boardhop, except that it already has a group inside, namely its own recruit or monster group. Combat-hoppers obey the following additional rules:

• When the group dies in combat, the spell is automatically dispelled.

Teleportation

Teleporting Across the Board. Some spells and effects teleport a group to a new square. Teleportation is defined to consist of:

• Hopping the group off the board from its current square;
• Hopping the group onto the board in its new square.

You can think of a teleportation as an instantaneous boardhop. Equivalently, you can think of a boardhop as a slow-motion teleportation!

• Doesn't squander any spells. A teleportation during spell execution (e.g. from Bolt of Somersaults or Ch'tai Exchange) does not squander any subsequent spells. Subsequent spells execute normally on their targeted group or minion, regardless of their new locations! Mnemonic: Spells automatically chase their targets across the board.

Spells that Hop

What spells take a minion, group, or structure off the board?

• Soul Jar, Vision Quest: These spells make 1 recruit leave its group, then take that recruit's new group off the board.
• Encampment, Faerie Circle, Lost Mine, Will o' the Wisp: These spells take 1 group off the board.
• Awaiting: As above, but for all monster groups created while it remains in play.
• Seelie Court: Takes 1 town off the board.

What spells create combat-hopper groups?

• Citizens' Militia: This spell creates a recruit group of 4 Vision swordsmen, which always appear to defend the structure on which the spell was targeted.
• Arboriads, Brown Striders, Firewyrm, Loch Dweller: These spells each create 1 monster group. They can appear in any eligible square on the board, as described in their text.

What spells or effects teleport a group?

• Bolt of Somersaults: This spell teleports 1 group.
• Teleportation: This spell teleports 1 or more friendly recruit groups.
• Gatemouth: This monster teleports all adjacent groups (friendly or enemy) in the “before combat” phase.

What spells or effects teleport a minion?

• Ch'tai Exchange: This spell causes 1 friendly recruit and 1 non-friendly recruit to switch places. It's implemented as having each recruit leave its group, and then teleport into the other recruit's group.

v2.10.01 Last updated 2005/08/15