HIGHLANDER Card of The Week #12 Week of 29 January 1996 Copyright 1996, Jeff Barnes (barnejd@wkuvx1.wku.edu) --------------------------------------------------------------------------- LUCK Event (Reserved by Richie -- Restricted to 2) "You may search through your Endurance and retrieve 1 card. You have 20 seconds to accomplish this." ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Impossibly, he dodges my blow. But then, he always has been fortunate. Everything seems to fall in place for Erickson. Not this time. I grimly turn aside his blow and return a swipe of my own, narrowly missing as he jumps out of its way. Though we have battled before, this time it is different. This time it is for real. He has betrayed me. I took him in, taught him everything I could about what it means to be immortal. And this is my payment. When my back is turned -- just for a moment -- he attacks. As ever, Hassan's advice rings across the decades: "Do not trust mortals, boy. And never turn your back on another of your own kind." Had he but followed his own advice... We circle, slowly, each taking the measure of the other. Why has he turned against me? Why does he wear his smile proudly? I try an old trick, one he never could stop. I slash at his legs, and, as ever, he parries the blow. I follow the feint with a thrust. Never has he been able to defeat this manuver. Until now. In a flash, he spins away from my blow and flanks me. I feel a shocking, burning sensation as his sword knifes across my side. My blade falls from my fingers to the ground as I topple. He stands above me, unholy fervor in his eyes, blade raised high. Before he delivers the blow, he speaks words that chill my soul and explain everything. "Taylor gives his regards." Yes, he has always been lucky. But I have a little luck of my own. As his blade descends, I roll aside at the last second, hearing the ringing of steel on concrete. In an instant, my sword is in my hand, and I rise to meet my challenger. "My turn," I say. "Give *my* regards to Taylor. In hell." ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Of all the cards Richie has access to, few have the flexibility of LUCK. With this card, a player can search through his endurance for 20 seconds for any card, then place that card in his ability. However, this card does have some limitations worth noting. First, only one special may be played per turn. If this card is played to go after a special card, it cannot be played until the turn after, which may be a minor inconvenience. Second, in a large deck, finding one particular card within the 20 second time limit may be a problem. Luck is best used for attacks and defenses, then. In a Richie deck with Xavier's Stalk, the Stalk should normally be given as the target for a Luck, provided you do not already have it in hand. A first turn Stalk becomes three times more probable when placed in a deck with two Lucks. Having a Carl in play also negates the possibility of a Holy Ground stopping this damage. A similar strategy can be used to go after Masters' Attacks and other special attacks. Luck is also good to use for defense as well. Is there a Head Shot coming your way, and you can't stop it? Play Luck and go after a Dodge or Back Away. It can also be used to acquire Richie's Masters' Block and thus gain a hidden attack for the turn. There are also blocks and guards to serve as targets for Luck in tight spots. Luck can sometimes prove very useful to go after specials, most notably when those specials are to be used in combinations. Do you have two-thirds of a plot down, but seem unable to draw the closing part? Go after it with Luck and finish it next turn. Have Amanda's Seduce, but no Thrust to go with it? Use Luck for it. Need to stop the Pedestrian: 5 Turns before it expires next turn -- or need to play a Pedestrian of your own? Have the card you need, but need a Darius to play it? Want your Masters' Advice out a bit quicker than usual? Luck provides a simple solution to all these situations. In short, Luck makes an already flexible Richie deck even more able to respond to most anything with its ability to call up any card that may be needed at a moment's notice. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Highlander is a protected trademark of Gaumont Television, used under license by Thunder Castle Games. The card text is copyright 1995 by Thunder Castle Games. All rights reserved. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------