Card Game: 2What does "Turn" mean?

[shnar]

Played our first game of Paranoia last night and once question that popped out immediately was the definition of "Turn". Most games seem to define this differently, and I couldn't find it mentioned in the rulebook anywhere, it's just on the cards.

Is a "Turn" from when you play a card to the next time you play a card in the Card Phase? Or is a "Turn" the entire Mission phase?

I ask because at first we thought a Turn was when you played a card, so if you layed down the Armor card, it only lasted until the next time you played. But then we thought that sucked, since it didn't last very long, and wondered if the Turn meant the whole missions/debriefing/etc (especially since there's a section in the debriefing that says to discard cards that are face up). So which is it?

-shnar

 

[PaulB]

A Turn is from your go (card, whatever) until your next go (card, whatever). In a game with half a dozen Troubleshooters, that can be a very long time!

Paul

 

[shnar]

That makes the cards that you lay down in front of you pretty lame, since they don't last very long at all. As such, our players tend to keep Noble Sacrifice in their hands until they die, and then use that as their dying action...

-shnar

 

[PaulB]

Something like Asbestos Armor or Gelgernine provide a temporary means of defence, but if you have, say, six Troubleshooters in a team, that's at least half a dozen cards between one Turn and the next. That's enough to end a clone's life or weigh them down with Treason Tokens, leaving them vulnerable as Traitors. The armor or drugs will help keep you alive... but, no tactic in PARANOIA ever lasts forever against wily fellow Troubleshooters.

Paul

 

[MarkIV]

Shnar,

Here's some errata I sent with the expansion set to Mongoose:

Noble Sacrifice – This card was a misprint. Noble Sacrifice lasts for the duration of the entire Card Play phase.

I believe the armor card should also last for the entire Card Play phase.

 

[shnar]

That makes a lot more sense. I wish Mongoose would post the errata online so it wouldn't seem like a "house-rule".

-shnar

 

[PaulB]

Personally, the Asbestos Armor was never intended to be effective for very long. My personal experience of asbestos has been of something crumbly and fragile, that tends to break-up very easily (usually when builders are engaged in demolition of an old school or hospital without adequate safety precautions).

So, from the perspective of the guy that designed the card - I never intended the Armor to last for more than a single Turn.

Still... make it a house rule that it does and you can play the game how it works for you, shnar.

Paul