Card Terminology

[Kael Hate]

A glossary of terms that are used during reference to a card to describe things about that card in the short form. Please add ones that you have seen or you wish to know. Elements is an English Language game played internationally so if a Term appears confusing due to language conversion, feel free to point it out. I will as Curator conglomerate the terms in this post.

CARD TERMINOLOGY

Basic Pillar - A free pillar that is of one of the 12 elements that creates 1 quanta of its own element and nothing more. When referenced as a card type it includes the Tower upgrade of the Pillar.

Cluster - A grouping of cards of the same type appropriating the same space when deployed on the table. Pillars, Towers and Bone Shield are examples of a Cluster. Referenced on Trident and Earthquake.

Cumulative - An informative statements detailing that the effect of the card is applied for each instance of a given effect. Sometimes refered to as "Stacks" stating that internally to the game engine the effect is listed as a seperate instance on the Calculative stack. Things in Elements are Cumulative by Default. Examples of non-cumulative cards are Nightfall and the Flooding Effect. Examples of Cumulative effects are Feral Bond and Floodings cost to stay in play.

[Lanidrak]

In Play - The section of the board that is between your hand and the section showing your quanta supply. Cards that are in play are visible to your opponent and vulnerable to any cards he may have.

Creature - Any card that when played is add to the board's In Play section, and has a statistics.

Creature Statistics - The Offence and Defence rating of a card.

Hit Points - Your Life, when this reaches 0 you lose the game. This can also refer to the Defence rating of a Creature Card.

Spell - Any card that when played, has an immediate effect and then is removed from the game entirely. Such as Firebolt or Lightning.

Permanent - A card that when played is added to your In Play section. Permanent's act differently to creatures in that they do not have Offence or Defence ratings, they instead, offer a prolonged ability. In that sense they are a cross between a Creature and a Spell. Some permanent's expire, such as Sundial, which offer their ability only for a certain duration.

[Lanidrak]

Thought this might come in handy. Made it myself in Paint. Yeah, I've got the mad paint skillz.



A1 - 8 = Top Row creatures.
B1 - 7 = Central Row creatures.
C1 - 8 = Bottom Row creatures.

Yellow Shading = Permanent Bank
Quantum Bank = Your stock of quanta.
Red Shading = Your weapon.
Blue Shading = Your shield.
Purple Shading = Your deck, when this reaches 0 and you end your turn. It is game over.
Blank White Square = Your Mark, acts as a pillar for your chosen element.

In Hand = Cards in your hand, faced up to yourself, faced down to your opponent.
Life = Hitpoints, when this reaches 0 it is game over.

[Essence]

That's really good, Lanidrak -- except that there's 3 more permanent slots in front of your weapon/shield/mark slots. 

But seriously, that's some cool stuff.  Good terminology idea.

[Lanidrak]

Hehe, yeah Essence I know... But the image was designed more for clarity instead of factual accuracy

Have a look at this topic: Stacking Permanents (http://'http://elementscommunity.org/forum/index.php/topic,5806.msg65904#msg65904')

[Hyroen]

Destroyed -

• Card is completely destroyed.  Destroying creatures trigger "death" effects, destroying permanents trigger nothing thus far.

Removed -

• Card is removed from play. Essentially the same as Destroyed, however does not trigger Destroyed effects. Almost as if it was picked up from the field, and put somewhere far, far away.

Overpowered -

• In essence, a card that is unreasonably powerful for the Elements environment. This can manifest itself in several forms: no vulnerabilities and powerful, having its power not worth its playing cost, its upkeep or a combination of the two and several other ways.
• Known short forms: OP

Underpowered -

• In essence, a card that is unreasonably weak for the Elements environment. This can manifest itself in several forms: too many vulnerabilities and weak, expensive and far too specific, having its power not worth its playing cost, its upkeep or a combination of the two and several other ways.
• Known short forms: UP

Field Position (X) -

• A spot on the field that specifically, creatures take up. A total of 23 field positions.
• (When specified by X, it refers to a particular field position that is figured out by the order creatures are summoned. e.g. The first spot creatures normally take is Field Position 1, the second, Field Position 2, etc. Has not yet been proven to function properly)

Target -

• A creature or permanent that you select. You may naturally only Target cards In Play.

Poison Counter -

• Refers specifically to the cumulative damage represented by the number in the symbol that appears by your Hit Points. The amount of Poison Counters you have applied on you is represented by the number.

Summoning Sickness -

• Not necessarily an "official" term.
• The 1 turn that a creature or permanent has to wait after being put in to play in order to use its ability

Passive Skill -

• An innate skill that cannot be removed by Lobotomize.
• The Passive Skill generally deals with the logical nature of the card. E.g. eating a puffer fish might poison you, a flying weapon is... Airborne?

Upkeep -

• A cost such as 1 that is asked of by a card, normally from a Creature or Permanent, that is removed once per turn. Thus far there is no choice whether to pay it or not. If an Upkeep cannot be met, the card is Destroyed.

Playing Cost -

• In the case of Creatures and Permanents the Playing Cost is the amount of quanta required to initially place the card In Play from In Hand.
• In the case of Spells, the Playing Cost is the amount of quanta required to initially use its effect in the match.
• Thus far all Spells are automatically Destroyed upon having payed their Playing Costs

Just a couple I threw in..
Will be adding more as I think of more...

Kael Hate, could it be possible to standardize Elements language and have it stickied somewhere around the Card Suggestion area?
People could vote on terms and stuff