Cactus Game Design Message Boards

During the process of updating the REG, the Judges found that the definition that existed for Heal was lacking and did not match how the ability has been ruled consistently, nor how it is being intuitively played.

Therefore, the new definition that will be found in the updated REG is being released early, and will be used at Nationals 2015.

For most players, this is not a change to the way the game has been played.  However, we are releasing this in advance so that players can be aware of how you will see the ability ruled effective immediately.

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Description of Changes
Each of these changes was to bring this ability in-line with how it was played, how it is intuitive, and how it needs to work in order to make sense in Redemption.  None of these are real 'changes' on how it has been ruled or played by-and-large, but the previous definition did not make sense and has thus been rewritten and the 'way to play' healing has been codified.

• Heal now specifies that it removes all poison, disease, and paralyze abilities from that character, and any abilities tied to them.
• Heal now specifies that a character that has been discarded must be targeted as they were prior to being discarded.  For example, a Paul that is discarded is targetable as Paul, not as Saul; Peter can heal him, but Healing of Namaan or Torment cannot.
• Heal now specifies that a character returns to its previous state, which includes all placed/held cards returning with them.
• Heal now specifies that if a character is healed, all decrease is removed.  This fixes a problem whereby a character discarded by decrease previously could not be healed (since the decrease would remain by the rules).  However, decrease on its own is not "healable," and the character must still have been discarded or be actively poisoned, diseased, or paralyzed to be "healable" for targeting by heal.
• Heal now specifies that you may play a healing enhancement during the Prep/Discard Phase of any player.
• Heal now properly differentiates between regular and Territory-Class characters with heal abilities.

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Change Log
Please see this document for a list of the changes made to the entry.

Anything in purple is added, anything that is purple with a strike-through was removed.

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Final Version
Please see this document for the final version, which will be used in the new REG and moving forward as well.

hey! really glad we have these clarifications but just trying to figure out why decrease doesn't allow for healing?? thanks!

Decrease is not, itself, a "healable" condition.  It hasn't been in the past, and we decided against making it one in the update due to how it would impact the game in other respects and interact with existing cards in ways that we would like to continue avoiding.

If a character is discarded for any reason, including by decrease, they are still "healable" and can be targeted.

Regardless of the reason they are "healable," if a character is healed then they will have all decrease removed.  This is an expansion on the existing rules, which allowed for decrease to be removed when it was tied to a poison or disease.  This is much simpler for one, and allows you to heal characters that were discarded due to decrease as well (which was not possible before, which was not intuitive).

So, non territory class heroes like Guardian Angel can heal unless they go into battle right? Once he does can he heal any character in a discard pile? I never understood how heal works on characters

Heal on a non-TC hero activates at the moment they enter battle.  If a character was already discarded that turn and can be healed, or if they are otherwise "healable," then it can target at that time.  Otherwise, it does nothing.

So if I heal someone that is being discarded in battle does he stay in battle now?

"Being discarded" and "about to be discarded" have been intentionally removed from the definition, except where it is needed in Clarifications to demonstrate that the wording on cards indicates a Heal ability.  In Prep and Discard, you use Heal on an enhancement by playing it on a character of matching brigade in territory or discard (special conditions apply) or by triggering an applicable Heal ability (such as on a TC character).  In Battle, you use Heal on an enhancement following the normal rules of initiative.  You are not playing a Heal "as they are being discarded" or as if they are "about to be discarded."

So it stays in battle or no?

You can't "heal someone being discarded," as in your original question.  If you heal them through the rules allowing you to do so (since a character is still in battle) after they have hit discard, they go to territory (as detailed in the entry).