Chain of command

Superiors and Underlings, the lines from the Front Line backwards, and where a Soul may be recruited.

CodexChapter 5 of 18Rules for game version 0.4.0

Contents

5.1Superiors and Underlings

  1. 5.1.1

    Every Soul on a slot further out in a branch of the tree is an Underling of each Soul on its way to the Leader. Those Souls are its Superiors.

  2. 5.1.2

    "Underlings" always means the whole branch, not only the next slot out.

    ExampleOn the left branch, Souls on L1 and on L1·0 are both Underlings of the Soul on L2, so Moral on L2 strengthens both.

  3. 5.1.3

    A Soul's Direct Superior is the nearest active Soul on its way to the Leader. Empty slots and captured Souls in between are passed over.

  4. 5.1.4

    A Soul's Direct Underlings are the nearest active Souls further out in its branch, one per path; again, empty slots and captured Souls are passed over.

  5. 5.1.5

    The Leader is a Superior of every other Soul of its player. It has no Superior itself.

  6. 5.1.6

    Only active Souls command and are commanded. A captured Soul is no one's Direct Superior and holds no one in the Second Line, but it still blocks its slot (5.3.3).

5.2Lines

the riftLeaderaltar · 3L2rank 2C3rank 3R2rank 2L1rank 1L0rank 0C2rank 2Cm1rank 1Cr1rank 1R0rank 0R1rank 1L1·0rank 0C2·0rank 0Cr1·0rank 0R1·0rank 0
The lit Souls stand in the Front Line: none of them has an active Underling. C2 is in the Second Line, C3 in the Third Line (one behind C2), the Leader in the Fourth.
  1. 5.2.1

    Every active Soul stands in a line. A Soul without active Underlings stands in the Front Line (line 1).

  2. 5.2.2

    Any other Soul stands one line behind the furthest-back of its Direct Underlings: its line is 1 plus the highest line among them. A Soul whose Direct Underlings all stand in the Front Line stands in the Second Line (line 2), and so on through the Third Line and further back.

    ExampleC3 has two Direct Underlings: Cm1, which stands alone (line 1), and C2, which has a Soul on C2·0 in front of it (line 2). C3 is in line 3.

  3. 5.2.3

    Line numbers count from the front. "The Second Line or lower" means line 1 or 2; "or higher" means further back.

  4. 5.2.4

    Lines change at once as the field changes. When a Soul is captured or leaves, the Soul behind it may step into the Front Line.

    ExampleLeader, C3 and Cm1 are taken. Cm1 is in the Front Line, C3 in the Second Line and the Leader in the Third Line. When Cm1 is captured, C3 steps into the Front Line; when C3 is captured too, the Leader stands in the Front Line and can be attacked.

  5. 5.2.5

    The Front Line matters most. Only Souls in the Front Line attack (except with Range), can be attacked, cast Events and spring Ambushes, and most effects may only target Souls in the Front Line (11.4.2).

5.3Where a Soul may be recruited

the riftLeaderaltar · 3L2rank 2C3rank 3R2rank 2L1rank 1L0rank 0C2rank 2Cm1rank 1Cr1rank 1R0rank 0R1rank 1L1·0rank 0C2·0rank 0Cr1·0rank 0R1·0rank 0
The lit slots are open: each hangs directly under an active Soul. The captured Soul on L2 closes L1 and L0, and L1·0 waits behind the empty L1; C2·0, Cr1·0 and R1·0 wait for a Soul on the slot directly above them.
  1. 5.3.1

    A Soul may be recruited onto a soul slot when all of these are true:

    1. the slot is empty (a captured Soul fills it);
    2. the slot's highest rank is at least the Soul's rank;
    3. the slot directly above it holds an active Soul;
    4. no Superior of the slot forbids it (see Frozen).
  2. 5.3.2

    A Soul can't be recruited past an empty slot. To recruit on L1·0, a Soul must stand on L1; to recruit on L1, one must stand on L2.

  3. 5.3.3

    A captured Soul blocks its own slot, and so every empty slot hanging directly under it, for as long as it lies there. Slots further out stay open as long as the slot directly above them holds an active Soul: with a captured Soul on L2 and an active Soul on L1, L1·0 is open but L0 is closed, and so is L1 once it is empty. Only an effect that removes the captured Soul, such as exiling it, opens its slot again.

  4. 5.3.4

    Frozen forbids recruiting Underlings of the Frozen Soul. Because Underlings are the whole branch, no Soul can be recruited anywhere further out on that branch while it is Frozen.

  5. 5.3.5

    In your turn you may recruit one Soul, in your Preparation Phase (7.2.2). Setting up has its own recruiting rounds (6.4).

  6. 5.3.6

    A recruited Soul remembers the turn it arrived. It may attack only in a later turn (9.1.1).

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