Flip Character Card

Flip Character Card 翻武将牌

By now you would realize that as the card game progresses, new game mechanisms are constantly added. This added complexity gives a lot of replay value (like Mahjong, which is insanely complex) but it also gives beginner players a freaking hard time!

In this part, I shall talk about the new mechanism known as "Flip Character Card 翻武将牌 (翻面)" that is introduced in the Woods Expansion Pack 林包.

Essentially, to Flip Character Card means to lose a turn. That is really all there is to it. Here's a quick breakdown of the steps involved.

1. "Flip Character Card" mechanism activated (voluntarily or otherwise)

2. The player who will miss a turn flips his or her character card over, such that the character portrait is faced down on the table.

(Amended) 3. If the "flip" happens during this player's turn (such as when forced by Cao Pi 曹丕 using his "Banish to Exile" ability or voluntarily such as Demi-God Lu Bu's "Asura's Fury" ability), this player's turn *DOES NOT* end immediately. He or she can continue to take any action as per normal action phase. This player also needs to discard cards (if any) at the end of the turn.

4. When this player's next turn arrives, he or she flips the character card back up, such that the character portrait is facing up as per normal.

5. The turn then skips to the subsequent player. In this way, the player effectively misses one turn.

6. When the turn comes back to the player, normal game play is resumed.

The act of flipping the character card over is not just symbolic. It is a useful way of indicating whether the player has already skipped his turn or not. This being said, it is very important that the player remembers to flip his character card back up once his turn his been skipped.

**Here's a quick test to see if you understood:**

Amongst a round of 8 players, 2 of the players have their character cards face down. How many players will miss their next turn?

*Ans: Two. Those 2 players with character cards faced down will miss their next turn.*

How many players have already served their "miss-a-turn" penalty prior to this?

*Ans: Impossible to tell. Once the penalty has been served, the character card is flipped back up. Any one of the 6 other players may have just finished serving their penalty.*

One of the players insists it is not necessary to flip his character card over and claims he can remember to miss his next turn. Why should you insist that he follow the rules and flip his card face down?

*Ans: Because confusion can very easily happen, especially if more than one player has to "miss a turn". Another big reason for this is the "Revive your turn" side-effect (read below), where Cao Pi 曹丕 can help a character with card faced down to flip back up!*

Ok now for some FAQ:

1. Can Cao Pi use "Banish to Exile 放逐" ability to flip Cao Ren 曹仁's card back over after Cao Ren has used "Entrenched 据守"?

*Ans: Yes! Since Cao Pi is able to dictate any player to Flip Character Card using his "Banish to Exile" ability, he can allow a character who currently has character card faced down to flip his character card back up. I call this the **"Revive your turn"** mechanism. This means Cao Pi can help Cao Ren avoid missing a turn after he used "Entrenched". Not only that, Cao Ren gets to draw additional X number of cards based on the "Banish to Exile" ability instructions.*

*Note that this also applies to Demi-God Cao Cao 神曹操 and Demi-God Lu Bu 神吕布, both of whom can voluntarily use Flip Character Card with their abilities.*

2. Once a character has been forced to Flip Character Card, does the player need to discard any cards?

(Amended) *Ans: Yes! The player will need to discard cards at the end of that turn.*

3. If a player A caused Cao Pi damage, and Cao Pi uses "Banish to Exile" on back on player A, does player A flip his character card after his turn has ended (ie: after discard phase) or must the character card be flipped immediately?

(Amended) *Ans: Player A only Flips his Character Card at the end of his turn after the discard phase. Therefore Player A can continue to attack Cao Pi in that same round.*

4. Building on Question 3, if Cao Pi uses "Banish to Exile" twice on Player A that is attacking him, will this player still have to Flip Character Card at the end of his turn?

*Ans: No. Since there are 2 flips, the character card would have reverted back to facing up. However Player A would get to draw cards from the deck twice (cumulative) based on the description of that ability.*