Thief

AMBUSH


With no cost, AMBUSH grants +1 GUILE when played. AMBUSH then stays in play, until the players next turn, when it then grants +1 ATK until the end of that turn. Many players like to hold their cards until the last possible moment to try and surprise their opponent with a huge combo, but AMBUSH does not allow for this. Because the actual effect of AMBUSH takes a full round to take place, an opponent can easily see there is a potential attack incoming. This provides the player of AMBUSH the opportunity to bluff.

DISARM
2 GUILE

EQUIPMENT cards are usually some of the most powerful cards in a players deck, and being able to remove EQUIPMENT can be equally as powerful. DISARM forces an adjacent target to discard a currently equipped card of the user's choice. Is a pesky PLATE getting in your way? Did your opponent leave their BOW equipped? Use DISARM to make them regret it.

HIT


The most commonly used card in all of BATL is HIT, because it is the easiest way for a player to increase their ATK. Having no cost, the user gains +1 GUILE, and then gains +1 ATK until the end of the user's turn. This ATK increase stacks with all other ATK increases.

MUG
2 GUILE

Whenever a player is forced to discard cards from their hand, it's pretty rough, but when a player is forced to discard several cards from their hand, that's brutal. MUG allows the user to force the recipient of any instance of DMG to discard a card from their hand, until the end of the user's turn. MUG allows the user to score DMG, while simultaneously forcing discard, and for a cost of only 2 GUILE. Because MUG applies to all instances of DMG dealt by the user, it can be used in combination with attacks or direct DMG cards to decimate a target. However it is for this reason that MUG would not apply to DMG from sources that are not directly the user, such as cards as like FLAME or BEAR. MUG applies on every instance of DMG by the user, causing a single card to be discarded per instance of DMG. As an example, two different attacks, each hitting for for 2 DMG, are still only two separate instances of DMG, despite dealing 4 DMG total.

PUSH


PUSH has no cost, granting +1 GUILE, and then shifts an adjacent non-land target directly back 1 square. The direction of the PUSH must be a straight line from the user, through the target, to the end destination square. If the square a target would be pushed onto is occupied, or is in another way invalid, the target remains in their original location. The description of PUSH intentionally uses the integer "1", allowing it to be targeted by BLESS.

SNAP TRAP
2 GUILE - HIDDEN

 Players will often try to bait their opponents onto their set SNAP TRAP, and pounce once they take the bait. SNAP TRAP costs 2 GUILE and contains the tag "HIDDEN", meaning it is played facedown while other players cover their eyes, and replaces a board square while the board square it replaced is placed to the side. Once a trap is placed, it continues to remain in play until triggered, even if revealed by a search. Traps do not occupy a square however, meaning they allow people to occupy the same square, and they do not prevent a square from being searched. SNAP TRAP is triggered when an opposing target steps on it, dealing 2 DMG and reducing the triggering target's MS by -1, until the start of the user's next turn. If multiple traps happen to be played on the same square, they all trigger independently under each of their own parameters, but could be triggered simultaneously if the parameters line up. Like all other cards, only one SNAP TRAP can be in play by the user at a time.

SNEAK
COMBO - 3 GUILE - HIDDEN

What may appear as a straight forward text description, quickly becomes a tangled complicated miracle. SNEAK may create more unique circumstances than any other card in BATL, and it is because of this we choose to incorporate it as a fundamental core card. It can however become quite tricky, so let's go over some examples of how it works.

When a player initially plays SNEAK, it becomes active and the user then places his character card facedown unobserved and becomes HIDDEN. At this point all opposing players must cover their eyes to obscure their vision of the board. Then, the user shifts to an adjacent square. This order is important down the road. Once the user of SNEAK has shifted, the user would then place the facedown unrevealed board card to the side of the field, and replace it with their facedown character card. The goal of this is to obscure the position of the user. By shifting one square while opposing players cannot see, the range of possible movement options is limited, but the actual position is still unknown.  SNEAK then remains in play until broken, or is in some other way removed (e.g. CANCEL). The square above the player using SNEAK, remains unoccupied. If another player enters the same  square that someone is using SNEAK in, nothing happens. This is often referred to as a "Scooby Doo." Because of this displacement it is possible for multiple occupants to occupy the same square when one is in a HIDDEN state. In all cases, when a board card is put to the side due to SNEAK or HIDDEN, it is returned to its original location once no longer displaced. Whenever a player using SNEAK takes a move action, all opposing players hide their eyes just like when SNEAK is initially played. Also, whenever a player using SNEAK takes a move action, the player must flip their facedown character card face up  and check to make sure their character card has not been displaced since the player's previous turn.  This character card check is extremely important, but only happens when a player decides to take move action. The specific implications of this will be further elaborated upon down below.

The first unique example deals with taking DMG while sneaking. In many instances and with most cards, trying to target something that is unknown, does not work. However with attack actions, and cards that have a specific target with DMG, a player may choose to target an unsearched square. Normally a player would choose to use an action to search a square, rendering that board square permanently revealed, but in some cases where a player is certain they know the position of a target using SNEAK, they may target the unsearched board square with an attack or DMG card to do a check. It is the attack trying to determine DMG on the target that forces the check. The attacked board card is then flipped to reveal what it is, and then flipped back facedown and returned, since it was not properly searched. Even in the case of a trap like a SNAP TRAP, it would flip back facedown. The exception is when a player hits a target using SNEAK. SNEAK breaks when the user takes DMG, and therefore when a player attacks a board card that is actually a player using SNEAK,  the player using SNEAK would then take DMG, breaking SNEAK, and revealing the player.  In an event such as the one described above, if the player using SNEAK has enough DEF to nullify any incoming ATK when checked, the player using SNEAK would flip to reveal, and then return facedown, as no DMG was ever dealt, and therefore SNEAK would never be broken. Some thieves will use a PLATE, which can feel strong, but SNEAK can be removed by CANCEL, and a direct DMG card like BOLT would also bypass PLATE in the case of a check. A card like FLAME which does not have a specific target, does not check the squares it affects, and this means that anyone using SNEAK on the squares affected by FLAME, is not revealed.

Sometimes when multiple players are using SNEAK and other HIDDEN cards, the cards played upside down can end up in puzzling situations, and in some extreme circumstances there are some additional rules that must be applied. If a player uses SNEAK and ends on a certain square, and then an opponent uses SNEAK and unknowingly enters the same square, the original player who used SNEAK will become displaced, with their character card ending up on the side of the board. At this point in the game, the original player of SNEAK does not know that they have been displaced. Technically, the displaced character is still considered to be inside the square they were occupying, but due to multiple HIDDEN cards being on the same square, their character card is displaced to the side of the board. In a situation like this, the displaced player would continue to remain displaced until either they or their opponent move away. The problem incurs when the player decides to take a move action. Whenever a player is using SNEAK and they decide to take a move action, that player must flip their character card face up to check and make sure their character does truly remain where it was, and has not been displaced. If upon this character card check the player discovers that their character is not where they had previously left it, it is because a HIDDEN card has displaced their character card to the side of the board. Upon seeing that the flipped card is not the player's character card, SNEAK breaks and the player returns to the square they were occupying before displacement. If the revealed card was some sort of trap card that does not occupy the square, the player would return to their pre-displacement square, right on top of the trap, activating it. If the revealed card was another player using SNEAK, the SNEAK of both players would break, and the displaced original player using SNEAK would return to his rightful original square, and the secondary player would be forced to shift to an unoccupied adjacent square of their choice. If all adjacent squares are occupied, the secondary player shifts one square further out, to an unoccupied square of their choice.  This dilemma is often referred to as the SNEAK paradox.

If at any point a player who is using SNEAK goes to check their character card at the start of their turn, and checks the wrong card, as punishment the player's SNEAK breaks, and they lose both actions on their turn. If a player continues to make this mistake before finding their character card, they lose both actions on a following turn for each mistake.  Each card that was revealed as a mistake is returned facedown.

SNIPE
COMBO

SNIPE requires a thief COMBO, but has no cost and thereby grants +1 GUILE. Normally when a player goes to use an action, the actions they can choose from are,

but when a player plays the card SNIPE, the player effectively gets a 6th available action, "SNIPE", that they can then use until the end of their turn. When a player uses an action to perform SNIPE, the player then deals 1 DMG to any target; and this is direct DMG, which ignores all DEF. When used in combination with other cards like SCHEME, or abilities like BLESS, the card SNIPE can feel like a bullet.

SPRINT


SPRINT is the most reliable way to increase the user's MS, while also granting +1 GUILE. With an increase of just +1 MS, the user's potential movement range doubles. This increase to MS stacks with all other active MS increases.

WALLOP
COMBO

Just like the card HIT, but with requirement of a COMBO.  WALLOP increases the user's ATK by +1 until the end of the user's turn, and grants +1 GUILE as it has no cost. This ATK increase stacks with all other active ATK increases. HIT into WALLOP is the most common COMBO in BATL.

WISPS


With no cost, WISPS grants the user +1 GUILE, and then allows the user to select any target. Once selected, the target must discard 1 card from hand at random. The sheer randomness of WISPS can throw players for a loop, often forcing the discarding of much needed cards, allowing the user to press the advantage. The description of WISPS intentionally uses the integer "1", allowing it to be targeted by BLESS.