Six Direct Intervention Tenets

The guide is structured in five basic points about Direct Intervention (DI) (and consequently, any card that cancels other cards):

1. DI cancels the card text, but the canceled card was still played.


2. DI doesn't supersede/replace the basic rules of the game, such as the limitations on action modifiers/reactions played by the same vampire in the same action. It is important considering the first point, since the canceled card was still played.


3. Actions canceled as played didn't even 'start' (or more technically, never reached resolution, as LSJ pointed out), so they don't trigger NRA-like clauses. This ties with the second point, since the rules about non-repeatable actions are in the rulebook now.


4. Check out card-playing restrictions on each card canceled, especially for limitations like "only one [card X] can be played per [turn/round/combat/game]"; the text has been canceled, but a second copy still has the text and the first copy was still played.


5. "As played" means "as played (from hand in the normal fashion)" save explicit text on the contrary, so you can't DI/cancel a card brought to play via other means (such as "Vast Wealth" or "Concealed/Disguised Weapon"). So, you can DI a "Concealed Weapon" card but not the weapon, it is about to bring to play.


6. This holds for "Sudden Reversal" as well: Cards are not replaced in the "as played" window, but rather wait until after they are played. Other card-moving effects (like all other effects, by default) are also unable to sqeeze into the "as played" window. The "as played" window for card X thus restricts all players to the cards they have in hand at the time the card X is played. Specifically, you cannot tap "The Barrens" or "Erciyes Fragments" to go fishing for a DI or a "Sudden Reversal" in response to the play of card X (although you could use a DI that was already on your Fragment).

Once the player understand these six 'tenets', he'll be able to handle DI play smoothly no matter what card has been canceled with it. Of course, the text has examples on all points to illustrate them.

Originally written by Fabio 'Sooner' Macedo and LSJ in the VtES Usenet Newsgroup on October 13th, 2006.