Abilities

All Abilities fall into one of two classifications:

• A triggered ability is an ability that waits for a particular event to occur. When that event happens, the effect of the ability resolves immediately.

• An ongoing ability is an ability that changes the rules of the game by continually affecting one or more elements.

Abilities are made of parts that determine their functionality. These parts may be one of three kinds: Conditions, Triggers, and Effects. Abilities may include any number of each of them, with a minimum of the default Condition, zero Triggers, and one Effect.

IMPORTANT: Triggered abilities only trigger at most 3 times per turn.

Conditions

By default, all abilities must meet the condition "Source is on the Board" for their effect to be active. Additional conditions are labeled with a cyan arrow in the card text.

It is important to note that the conditions of abilities are different from the events that trigger them. An ongoing ability never depends on a trigger but may be subject to one or more conditions, while triggered abilities may also be subject to one or more conditions.

For example, Sofia Dunn has 2 abilities. The first one is an ongoing ability and the second one is a triggered ability.

Her ongoing ability depends on 2 conditions: "Loyal" and "Entropy 3". You can find a detailed list of the different conditions an ability may include and what they mean in "Glossary 1: Conditions".

IMPORTANT: Technologies have an additional default condition for their abilities: they must be assigned to a Character to work.

Triggers

Triggered abilities depend on one or more game events to work. Triggers are represented with a silver label, detailing the game event they are waiting for. Multiple triggers may share a single effect. If that's the case, only one of the listed game events is necessary for the ability to trigger.

For example, the second ability of Hired Ops Team is a triggered ability waiting for the "Arrive" event to occur. You can find a detailed list of the different triggers an ability may include and what they mean in “Glossary 2: Triggers”.

Multiple Triggered Abilities Resolution Order

When 2 or more abilities are waiting for the same trigger, the effects of those abilities are resolved in a specific order. This happens according to the following criteria:

• By Column: Cards that are further to the left resolve their effects earlier. Remember that HQs are cards, so they will always be the first ones to resolve.

• By Card Type: When 2 or more cards share a Column trigger, effects born from Character cards resolve first. Only after that do effects whose source is a Technology resolve.

• By Initiative: If 2 cards share a Column trigger and have the same type, the first ability to resolve is the one that belongs to the card whose controller has the Initiative during that turn.

• By wording: If 2 or more abilities trigger from the same card, we face a tie in every criterium described above: position, card type, and initiative. In this case, effects are resolved in the order in which they're written in the card text.

Here's an example of trigger resolution order:

Suppose that a game event has occurred, such as the start of a Step. In this example, the event triggered 6 different cards in play. We've marked them in orange.

The first priority rule says the game resolves from left to right. Since DeathFog's HQ is the leftmost triggered card, that will be the first effect to resolve.

Then, the game moves on to the two cards that share the first Column. In this case, the game applies the second priority rule: by card type. As you can see, the tie is between a Character and a Technology. Therefore, the second effect to resolve will be the one from Judge's Character in Slot 1, followed by DeathFog's Technology in Slot 1.

In the second Column there are also 2 triggers. But this time both cards share the same type. Consequently, the game applies the third prioritization rule: by Initiative. As Judge is the player holding the Initiative in this turn, it is their Character that resolves its effect first, and then DeathFog's.

Finally, if the same card triggers more than one ability, they are resolved in the order in which they are written. If one of the abilities was granted by another card, it counts as if its text was at the bottom of the card's text box.

Effects

The effects of an ability are all those game actions listed after its associated Conditions and Triggers. These game actions may correspond to particular instances of Deviants' Factions Mechanics.

You can find a detailed list of the different mechanics an ability may include and what they mean in "Glossary 3: Mechanics".

Default Conditions

Characters must have 0 Planning points for their abilities to work. The abilities of Technologies, on the other hand, depend on them being assigned to a Character. A Technology is considered to be assigned to a Character when they are compatible, share the same column, and belong to the same player. If these are all the case, the Character becomes the user of that Technology and the abilities of the Technology kick in.

Exceptions

Some Mechanics are exempt from Default conditions. These are:

• Grip

• Toughness

• Automated