Shadowfist

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shadowfist
Shadowfist logo
Players	2 or more
Age range	13 and up
Setup time	5-10 minutes
Playing time	variable
Random chance	Some
Skills required	Card playing Arithmetic Diplomacy

Shadowfist is a collectable card game that was created by Robin Laws and Jose Garcia and released in 1995. It shares the same background as the Feng Shui role-playing game, which was also created by Laws and Garcia and released the following year. Shadowfist is a multiplayer asymmetrical strategic game, the design of which is influenced by games such as Cosmic Encounter, Dune by Avalon Hill, Magic: The Gathering and its direct predecessor, On The Edge.

Shadowfist was primarily inspired by Hong Kong action and wuxia films of the late 1980's and 1990's, and by action films in general. In the game various factions from across time battle for control of the world's Feng Shui sites in a conflict known as the "Secret War." Time travel takes place through an alternate dimension known as the Netherworld which opens to various junctures. The current open junctures are A.D. 79, 1860, 1936, 2006, and 2066.

[edit] Game Play

Players create a deck of cards (typically 40-80 total) and draw blind from a randomized stack, playing cards when possible and discarding unneeded cards. Card types include: Sites, Characters, Events, Edges and States. Sites are considered locations that stay in play permanently until removed or destroyed. Characters are used to attack and defend locations or other characters or generate effects and stay in play until 'smoked' or 'toasted', Events are played at any time and generate a specific effect and are then discarded. Edges are permanent cards that generate effects. States are played on characters and sites, and generate some sort of effect until removed from play.

The goal of Shadowfist is to accumulate five Feng Shui sites. These can be played from a player's hand, or taken from other players. However, in order to win the game, a player's fifth Feng Shui site must be taken from another player via an attack rather than played from their respective hand. Attacking and attacking to win the game are very different events during the game. The former will draw a response from the defending player, the latter will draw a response from all the other players in the game.

Attacks are made by character cards that are played from the hand at a certain cost in power and resources. Power is derived from Site cards, Feng Shui sites and other power generating cards and can be accumulated. Resources are generated by characters and sites aligned with one of the nine factions in the game and can only be accumulated by controlling more cards that provide that resource. Players must spend power to play a card's cost, and have the resources required.

Another aspect of Shadowfist gameplay that simplifies the timing of effects is the concept of "first in, last out." When a card is played, or attack declared, players that respond after that play have their effects generated before the original effect. Therefore the final card in a series of effects is resolved first. Shadowfist has a very open format when playing cards (only sites, characters, and states cannot be played when it is not your turn), and the first in, last out format creates a logical, easy to follow hierarchy of effects in what, at times, seems a chaotic array of cardplay.

Shadowfist, released in 1995, differs from its CCG contemporaries in that its focus is on multiplayer gameplay rather than dueling. A key factor in Shadowfist gameplay is that players must team together to stop the player who is poised to win the game. All players can play cards that effect any other player's cards, even if they are not directly involved in attacking or being attacked. One of the most important skills in the game is judging when and how to use resources for defense against other players in lieu of attacking power.

[edit] Factions

There are currently ten factions involved in the secret war.

• The Eaters of the Lotus are a cabal of evil eunuch sorcerers from ancient China who have usurped power in the Imperial court using black magic and demons.
• The Architects of the Flesh are scientists from the future who have figured out how to combine magic and technology into a perverse new form of science called Arcanotechnology, which they use to convert captured demons into creatures known as abominations. The Architects formerly controlled the future, but a civil war split them in half, and then a critical shift in 1934 essentially wiped them out of the timestream. The faction now exists in two forms: Johann Bonengel, the former political leader of the Architects, has taken over Nazi Germany from within, and Dr. Curtis Boatman, the Architects' chief scientist, now heads a multinational corporation in 2066.
• The Dragons are a rag-tag collection of mavericks and heroes from across time who've banded together to fight against evil and tyranny in the name of freedom and justice.
• The Guiding Hand are a secret society composed of monks, revolutionaries, and martial artists who seek to drive all foreign influences out of China in 1859 and extend their vision of a world based on neo-Confucian principles across time.
• The Ascended are animals who achieved human form long ago and who once controlled the world both in 1860 and 2006 from the heart of a vast conspiracy. They still have control of 1860, but have lost much of their power and influence in 2006 following the critical shift in 1934.
• The Jammers are a loose organization of rebels, malcontents, anarchists, and cyborg monkeys. Originally a rebel group in opposition to the Architects of the Flesh, they believe that the only way to free humanity from tyranny and oppression is through the destruction of every feng shui site in existence.
• The Four Monarchs are two brothers and two sisters who once ruled the world in an alternate timeline. Their version of reality was erased by the Ascended, forcing them into exile in the Netherworld.
• The Seven Masters are a group of legendary warrior-monks who live in isolation and practice a philosophy of non-intervention, except in the most dire of situations.
• The Purists are former scientists from the Architects of the Flesh who secretly took up the study of "pure" sorcery and combined it with their scientific knowledge to create a new and unusual form of sorcery known as Paradox Magic. Having recently lost their stronghold in the future, they've quietly re-established themselves in 1936.
• The Syndicate is a secretive organization which rules the world in 2066 through control of all the major criminal organizations and corporations. They came into existence after the critical shift in 1934 which erased the Architects' version of reality.

In Shadowfist, power comes from attunement to natural and man-made places that have good chi, known as "feng shui sites." The concept is essentially a turbo-injected version of the traditional practice of Chinese Geomancy known as feng shui. The goal of the game is to be the first player to control a certain number of feng shui sites (usually five). The final feng shui site must be taken from an opponent. Shadowfist was originally published by Daedalus Games and then moved to Z-Man Games who brought the game back into publication in 2000. It is now being published by Shadowfist Games.

[edit] What's good about Shadowfist?

• Multiplayer - the game is especially well suited to three or more players.
• No eliminations - all players have a stake in the game until a player takes the final feng shui site for victory.
• Dynamic play - card flow is a very important aspect to the game, the more cards a player can play, typically the better they are doing in the game. This prevents turtling issues.
• Unique Backstory - the Shadowfist milieu encompasses elements of just about any action movie genre, including kung fu, wuxia, Hong Kong bullet ballet, Western, police drama, arcane horror, science fiction, military/war, gangster/mafia, pulp, and chambara.

[edit] Set History

• 1995 - Release of the first Shadowfist 'Limited' set. Consisted of randomly-packed 60-card starter decks and 13-card booster packs. Included the original five factions: Architects, Ascended, Dragons, Hand, and Lotus, and a few cards from the Four Monarchs and Jammers. These cards bear a gold foil Ting Ting logo in the upper right hand corner.
• Late 1995 - Shadowfist 'Standard' set. Identical to the Limited run, except for certain Unique characters that were said to have "died" (though some copies of these cards made it into Standard boxes anyway). Cards from this set bear no foil stamp or other set logo. So many Limited and Standard cards were printed that they are relatively easy to find online today.
• 1996 - Netherworld. This booster-only set included cards from the first five factions and also fleshed out the Monarchs and Jammers, though they would remain the less well-rounded of the seven. These cards also bear the gold foil Ting Ting logo. Netherworld boxes are practically extinct.
• 1996 - Flashpoint. Another booster set, with a focus on the Architects and Dragons (though still including cards for all seven factions). Cards from this set bear a gold foil rifle logo. Flashpoint had a very annoying rarity distribution scheme and was the last expansion printed by Daedalus. Boxes of Flashpoint can still be found online with relative ease.
• 2000 - Year of the Dragon. This set marked the beginning of the Z-Man Games era and consisted of a brand new set of 50-card fixed starters, one for each of the original five factions. Many of these were Daedalus reprints but the starters also included quite a few new cards. YotD cards bear a white, non-foil, dragon's-head-in-profile logo.
• 2000 - Throne War. Booster-only. Focused heavily on the Lotus, who got 1/4 of the cards in the set, bringing them into line with the power level of the other four original factions. Throne War cards bear a white pagoda logo.
• 2001 - Netherworld II: Back Through The Portals. This booster expansion focused on the Monarchs, who got 1/3 of the cards in the set. Despite this their power level would remain a bit below the other factions until later. N2 cards have a black-and-white vortex logo.
• 2001 - Shaolin Showdown. The cards in this booster expansion focused somewhat on the Ascended and Hand. This set generated some complaints about low power level, but still included quite a few important cards. SS cards have a white crossed-swords logo.
• 2002 - Dark Future. This booster expansion introduced the Purists as a new faction and also emphasized the Architects. Boxes of DF are now hard to find because they contain most of the foundation cards for the Purists; without foundations they are, of course, hard to play. Dark Future cards have a three-diamond logo that is white, gray, or black if the card is rare, uncommon, or common, respectively. (This rarity color coding has continued in every booster expansion since.)
• 2002 - Boom Chaka Laka. A small (91-card) booster expansion that generated some controversy based on its '70s theme. BCL had a very short print run. Cards from this expansion have a nunchuks logo.
• 2002 - 10,000 Bullets. A fixed 50-card starter expansion with one deck for each of the eight factions. 10kB cards have a row-of-bullets logo that is overlaid with the faction symbol of the deck it came from. There is no rarity coding since all the cards are fixed.
• 2003 - Red Wedding. Generally held to be the best booster expansion to date for reasons of playability, balance, and art. Naturally, RW sold out quickly; another, smaller run was reprinted in 2006. Red Wedding cards have a knife-through-the-heart logo.
• 2004 - Seven Masters vs. the Underworld. This booster expansion introduced the Seven Masters mini-faction, bringing the faction total to nine. 7M cards have a scroll logo.
• 2004 - Two-Fisted Tales of the Secret War. Another 'themed' booster expansion, this time based on pulp fiction; gave fairly equal weight to the first eight factions. Last of the Z-Man Games expansions. 2FT cards have a 'dime' logo.
• 2006 - Shurikens & Six-Guns. This booster expansion is the first to be printed by Shadowfist Games. It, too, is themed, based on Westerns; there has been some controversy as to the prudence of releasing two themed expansions back-to-back. Also introduces a new faction, the Syndicate. SSG cards have a sheriff's badge logo.

[edit] The Future

Critical Shift - the next booster set, due in early summer 2007. The set will be 128 cards with only a few reprints. Shadowfist Games had originally planned to produce a new "core set" using mainly reprints, but announced in October 2006 that the plan had changed.

Dark Future or Seven Masters extended run - Shadowfist Games plans to "extend the run" (i.e., reprint) either Dark Future or Seven Masters along with the Critical Shift print run.

[edit] External links

• Home page