Card Game Rules

Jarel Jones ArrowFox at MailAndNews.com
Tue May 23 07:34:59 CEST 2000


Attached to this letter is a small text file (11 kilobytes); my first attempt 
at a guide for the "Sonic the Hedgehog: Official Card Game."  That's a working 
title by the way.

This FAQ is missing quite a bit of stuff though; The Mobian cast and stats 
list must wait until Starfire is done with it.  By the way Starfire, make sure 
you account for all 5 stats for each person, Rings, Speed, Strength, 
Technology, and Armor.  Information about the bonuses and requirements are not 
included because I couldn't understand what Glazius meant by those 
requirements. (Mind enlightening me?)  Permanent Monitor card upgrades aren't 
listed because I have to find out what the Sonic Adventure upgrades are. (I 
forgot and haven't played the game in a while)  Other stuff is missing too, 
stuff that I can't remember to put since it's really late (I just about 
misspelled "missing" as "migging," which is why I'm trying to end this letter 
as quickly as possible so I can hit the hay).

The FAQ is also somewhat confusing as it's a little unorganized.  It would 
make it better simply to bold, italicize, and underline some stuff, but this 
needs to remain in text format.  I'll fix the layout later.  Let me know what 
you guys think or if I need to change or add anything.

------------------------
Jarel Jones 
Freelance Midi Writer
ArrowFox at mailandnews.com
ICQ: 41668681
http://dszone.iwarp.com
-------------- next part --------------
Sonic the Hedgehog: Official Card Game
Rules of Play

-----------------------------------------------------

Section I: General Rules

-----------------------------------------------------

StH:OCG is a 2 player game.  Each person needs a pack of Sth:OCG cards to play.  Each player can 
have a team of 5 Mobians to fight with (more on Mobians in Section II).  The object of the game 
is to defeat your opponent.  Power-ups, such as support characters, shields, monitors, and even 
the Chaos Emeralds, are available to help you take out your opponent by all means necessary.

At the start of a game, both players decide which 5 Mobians they want on their team.  Those 
5 Mobian cards are plaed in front of them.  Seven Chaos Emerald cards are taken from one pack 
and put between the players, upside-down (istructions down).  The seven Chaos Emerald cards from 
the other pack are put completely aside; only one set of 7 are needed for this game.  All other 
cards go into a "draw pile" for each player.

As the game begins, each player draws one card from their pile.  If the card is not a General 
Attack card (more an Attack cards in Section II), the players must put it on the bottom of the 
draw pile and pick another card until they get a General Attack card.  They then lay both their 
cards down; whoever has the highest General Attack card goes first.

Both players then draw 7 cards and begin the battle.  Players may organize their cards any way 
they want, but they can only do one action per turn.  This includes attacking and using 
power-up cards.

If you don't want any of your cards for whatever reason (not everyone wants to go after the 
Chaos Emeralds), you may discard any number of them into your Draw Pile, but you must sacrifice 
a turn to do so if you discard more than one card.

After one player has used their turn (attacking, power-ups, or discarding), the next player 
goes.  You must have 7 cards at the beginning of every turn.  When your turn begins and you have 
less than 7 cards, you may draw enough cards from the draw pile to make 7 before beginning your 
action.

Defeated Mobians and any cards that only allow one use per game can go into a "dead card" pile 
which will not be used anymore during the game.  Once the game is over, the dead card pile is 
mixed back in with the draw pile.

Gameplay ends when all 5 Mobians on one team has been defeated.

-----------------------------------------------------

Section II: Card Descriptions

-----------------------------------------------------

Each pack of StH:OCG cards includes these 7 types of cards:

Mobians
Attack
Support
Monitor
Starpost
Giant Ring
Chaos Emerald

Mobian cards are characters; heroes and villians you've met from the game.  Each Mobian card has 
5 statistics; Rings, Speed, Strength, Technology, and Armor.  The Rings are a life-meter; as the 
other player hits you with attack cards, your character loses rings.  When your character loses 
all the rings they started with, they are defeated.  Speed, Strength, Technology, and Armor are 
usage satistics.  Certain characters require stats of certain levels to use certain cards.

Attack cards come in two forms; Special and General.  Special Attack cards are specific and can 
only be used by certain Mobians.  Each Mobian has 3 Special Attack cards they can use.  Example: 
only Dr. Robotnik can use the "Roboticize" Special Attack card.  However, only Sonic can use 
the "Spin Dash" Special Attack card.  General Attack cards can be used by anybody.  However, 
they require certain stats to use.  A plasma launcher Attack card might take off 5 rings of 
damage, but it could require a 3 in Strength and a 7 in Technology to use.  If you have a 
character with smaller stats in Strength and Technology, like Charmy Bee for example, then you 
can't use a plasma launcher.

Support cards feature minor characters such as badniks, Battle Birds, and Chao.  These cards can 
give you extra rings or enhance your statistics once before going back into the Draw Pile.  
Instructions for what the Support card does are listed on the Support card itself.

Monitor cards are temporary upgrade cards that last for 5 turns, or permanent upgrade cards that 
require certain stats to use.  Temporary upgrades include shields (energy, fire, bubble, 
lightning, gold), a small number of rings, invincibility, and super sneakers.  Permanent 
upgrades include character upgrades from the video game Sonic Adventure for the Sega Dreamcast.

Starpost cards allow you to temporarily enter a bonus stage where you can obtain a temporary 
upgrade.

Giant Ring cards are portals to send a player to the special stage to try to get a Chaos 
Emerald.  There are only 7 of these per deck.  If you manage to draw one, you must choose a 
random Chaos Emerald card out of the 7 between the players and follow the directions.  If all 7 
Chaos Emeralds are already in play, the Giant Ring card gives you 10 rings.

Chaos Emerald cards are special stage cards.  Directions for the specific special stage are on 
the card itself.  If you win during the 5-turn stage, you get a Chaos Emerald.  Chaos Emeralds 
increase the stats of a Mobian of your choice.  However, a Mobian can only have two Chaos 
Emeralds at one time.

-----------------------------------------------------

Section III: Mobians

-----------------------------------------------------

Below is a comprehensive list of the Mobians available for your team and their statistics.



-----------------------------------------------------

Section IV: Temporary Upgrades

-----------------------------------------------------

Below is a list of temporary upgrades available through Monitor or Starpost cards.


Energy Shield: A blue shield.  Blocks one attack before dissapating.
Fire Shield: A red shield of fire.  Comes with one Flame Blast attack which takes off 7 rings 
	     if damage.  Blocks one attack before dissapating.
Bubble Shield: A clear bubble shield.  Allows a Mobian to dodge two attacks before dissapating.
Lightning Shield: A yellow shield of electricity.  Magnetically draws in 4 rings per turn.  
		  Blocks two attacks before dissapating.
Gold Shield: Cancels all chances of the opponent blocking if you attack them.  Blocks two 
	     attacks before dissapating.
Rings: Adds 5 to 10 rings to your ring counter.
Invinicibility: Blocks *all* attacks for the next three turns.  Gold shields are ineffective 
		against invincibility.
Super Sneakers: Adds 5 points to Speed for 3 turns.

-----------------------------------------------------

Section V: Special Stages

-----------------------------------------------------

Below are the rules for each of the 7 special stages you may enter when going after Chaos 
Emeralds.  During these stages, the player trying to win the Emerald is referred to as the 
"Emerald player" while the player trying to stop them is referred to as the "Opposing player."  
In all these stages, the two players temporarily put down their cards and draw 5 new ones.  All 
5 cards must be General Attack cards; if they are not, you must put the non-attack cards back 
into the Draw Pile and draw more cards until you end up with 5 General Attack cards.  Any rings 
or power-ups gained in the special stages are purely for the special stage only; you can't keep 
them when you resume the regular game.


Red: Planet of Spheres

The Emerald player lands on a miniature planet with blue, red, yellow, and star spheres 
everywhere.  The Opposing player would  lay down an attack card of his choice (a virtual red 
sphere).  The Emerald player would lay down an attack card of his choice.  If this attack card 
is more than 5 points away from the Opposing player's, then the Emerald player hits the red 
sphere and teleports out of the stage.  The Chaos Emerald (special stage) card would go back 
into the draw pile.  If it's 5 or less points away, the Emerald player dodges the red sphere 
(turns in another direction).  If the two cards are equal, then the Emerald player dodges 
straight into a yellow sphere, bounces forward, and both players skip a turn (they both discard 
one of their 5- cards, thus making the end of the game get closer).  If the Emerald player 
successfully dodges all of the Opposing player's "red spheres," the Emerald player wins and gets 
a Chaos Emerald.


Royal Blue: Pipeline

The Emerald player lands in a giant half-pipe and must race down it, dodging bombs and 
collecting rings.  Both players lay down their highest attack cards.  The difference is 
gathered; if the Emerald player's card was higher, he gains 5 rings.  If it was lower, he hits a 
bomb and loses 3 rings.  The Emerald Player must finish with at least 15 coins by the end of the 
stage to get the Chaos Emerald.


Orange: UFO Rush

The Emerald player lands on a miniature planet with 5 UFO's floating around.  Both players lay 
down their highest attack cards.  If the Emerald player's card is higher, a UFO is destroyed.  
If it's lower, then the Emerald player is "slowed down by water."  The Emerald player must 
destroy 3 UFO's by the end of the stage to get the Chaos Emerald.


Green: Floating Maze

The Emerald player lands in a rotating maze of blocks.  The Opposing player lays down an attack 
card of their choice (a virtual block).  The Emerald player must lay down a card of higher or 
equal value to destroy the block; if the value is lower, the Emerald player falls off the block 
and must try to destroy another one.  The Emerald player gets the Chaos Emerald when he destroys 
3 blocks.


Purple: Drift Race

The course is a virtual highway with a ramp at the end leading to a Chaos Emerald.  The Emerald 
player starts with 35 rings (the more rings you have, the faster you go).  The Opposing player 
lays down an attack card of his choice.  The Emerald player must lay down a card of higher or 
equal value or else he loses 7 rings, thus losing speed.  If the Emerald player manages to keep 
at least 14 rings by the end of the stage, then he has enough speed to make the jump and get the 
Chaos Emerald.


Gray: Rocket Blast

The Emerald player straps on rocket shoes to collect a plethora of rings floating in the sky.  
The Opposing player lays down their highest attack card.  The Emerald player must lay don and 
attack card of higher or equal value to use his rocket shoes and collect 5 rings from the sky.  
If the value is lower, the Emerald player's rocket shoes temporarily malfunction and he loses 
that chance to get 5 rings.  If the Emerald player finishes the stage with at least 20 rings, he 
gets the Chaos Emerald.


Sky Blue: Chaotic Bridge

The Emerald player must travel across a rickety, dangerous bridge full of holes.  The Emerald 
player starts with 25 rings.  The Opposing player lays down an attack card of his choice (a hole 
in the bridge).  The Emerald player must lay down an attack card of higher or equal value to 
jump over the pit; if it's lower, he falls down the pit and loses 5 rings.  The Emerald player 
must make it to the end with at least 15 rings to win the Chaos Emerald.


More information about the sonic-powerzone mailing list