Errata/Current Rulings

 

All of this stuff is from the official overpower website.

* Dead Is Dead...Again - Regardless of Special cards in play, Inherent Abilities from either the Character Card or HomeBase, Artifacts in play, or any other source...if a Character is both Spectrum and Cumulative KO'd, then he or she is KO'd.

* Artfact Duration - Unless specifically stated on the card itself - Artifacts that are One Per Deck are considered to have a game length duration, while Artifcats that are not One Per Deck are considered to have a battle length duration.

* HomeBase - Regardless of whether you are playing with a Battlesite or Any-Character Special cards, you may use a HomeBase. While you may now use Any-Character Special cards with a HomeBase, you still may not use Any-Character Special cards with a Battlesite.

* Aspects coded A3 - the phrase "may not be defended" should read "are not affected".

* Four Freedoms Plaza - attacks which are shifted via the FF Plaza Inherent Ability (a) must be blocked and (b) must be blocked by utilizing the character's power grids. This means that it is legal to defend with Power cards, Basic Universe cards, Training cards, DoubleShot cards, etc. but it is not legal to defend with Specials, Activators, etc. which do not have a "To Use" requirement.

* Specials which Target a character can only be played against a character. They cannot be played against non-characters like Specials or Battlesites. If a special acts as an attack and has a secondary condition that targets a character, the attack may be made against a non-character, but the secondary effect does not occur.

* Grunge's Inherent Ability requires that he be hit with some attack that can act as more than one type of attack. It does not require that a MultiPower Power card land on his record. For example, if Onslaught hit him with Mutant Gestalt (which acts as 2 types of attacks), then the condition of Grunge's IA would be fulfilled. Rulings/Clarifications previously established:

* All level 7 Any-Power Power cards are considered One Per Deck

* All versions of Ally cards which state that a teammate MAY make a follow up attack should read MUST.

* "Any-Team" Location cards (like Marvel Universe, Marvel Manhattan, and Omniverse) cannot be used as Battlesite.


Defensive/Offensive Actions

The Best Defense is a Good Offense!
While that may be true, that dosen't mean that you can make an Offensive action in defense of an attack.
What's What?
Cards which directly affect the Opponent or the Opponent's Characters cannot be played defensively. Two of the most often misplayed cards of this nature are Mr. Fantastic's "Object Bounce" (Which reads "Opponent's team may not use Universe cards to attack or defend against Mr. Fantastic") and The Leader's "Twisted Mentality" (Which reads "All attacks by opponent's team must be made against Leader until Leader is KO'd or cannot be attacked"). Think of it like this - The cannon has been fired. The cannonball is in the air, coming right at you. Disabling the cannon at this point doesn't do much toward stopping that cannonball now does it?
Our advice? Read the text of the cards carefully - if it changes your Opponent, it cannot be played defensively.

Invincibility

I Am Invincible! Right?
Not Exactly. Through a series of Special card, Event, and Inherent Ability combinations it is possible to make certain Characters unable to be KO'd by any possible means. The odds of doing this are astronomical and not really worth fretting over, but...you never know. Anything's possible.

More Than One Way To Skin A Cat.
If, through the use Special cards, a Character is prevented from being KO'd in any way, then that Characetr can still be KO'd by accomplishing both a Spectrum and Cumulative KO.
Remember, no matter what Special cards are in play, Inherent Abilities still function. Odds are great that even if a Character may be difficult to KO, they are not impossible to KO. The rule above does not apply to Characters that are difficult to KO. For example: Rogue has the Inherent Ability "Cannot be Spectrum KO'd by Special cards". Through the use of an Activator card, Rogue could play the Vision Special card "Android Endurance" and further make it so that she cannot be Cumulatively KO'd whatsoever. In this case, if she has been hit with a level 8 Strength Power card, a level 7 Energy Special card, and a level 5 Fighting Power card, she would not be KO'd, even though both Spectrum and Cumulative KO have been achieved. This is because her Inherent Ability protects her from being Spectrum KO'd by the Special card.

Negates

I Can Negate That, Right?
Usually. But there are some specific instance when you cannot. They're pretty much common sense, but in doesn't hurt to restate them.
1) You cannot react to a reaction. For example, if you attack with a Power card and your opponent plays an "Avoid 1 Attack" Special card, you cannot then Negate his defense. You can't do two things on your turn. You can't react to his reaction to your inital action. If you could, then he could negate your negate, and then you could negate his negation of your negate and so on and so on. It would be like looking at a reflection in a reflection in a reflection and then all choas would break out! Follow?
2) Any cards which are in play prior to an attack cannot be negated. For example, if Professor X plays his "Telepathic Coordination" Special card and, on a later turn, makes a level 6 attack, "Telepathic Coordination" cannot be negated as part of the defense against the attack.

Passing

A Passing Game, or A Running Game?
Lately it's come to our attention that some players have been confused as to what is legal and illegal regarding the much used and often overlooked "Pass". After careful consideration and debate, we've come up with the definitive decisions about what you can and can't do once you pass.
To Pass Or Not To Pass...
Currently, the Rulebook says:

Pass —If a player is out of playable cards, or cannot Attack with any cards from his Hand, and does not wish to Concede, he must Pass his turn. It is then his opponent's turn. His opponent may still Attack, play a Special card, or do whatever he wishes, which may be defended, if possible. After the opponent's turn, it is the passing player's turn again; however, once he has Passed, he may no longer Attack for the remainder of the battle. He now has the option to Concede, or Pass again. If he Passes again, his opponent may take a turn as normal. If both players Pass consecutively, the battle is over. (See Ending the Battle.) Remember, a player may have cards he is able to Attack with Placed to one or more of his Character and still Pass, choosing to save these cards for a future battle.

Now, it's pretty clear to everyone that if you can attack with a card from your Hand, you can not Pass. That includes attacking with an Activator/Battlesite combo. It's also pretty clear that once you Pass, you can no longer attack. Where it gets fuzzy is...what if I have an Offensive Card that's not an attack in my Hand? Can I still Pass?
The answer is "Yes".
It breaks down like this:

• If you can attack with a card from your Hand, you cannot Pass.
• If you no longer have any attacks in your Hand, and you do not wish to play a Placed Card or Concede, you may "Pass".
• Once you Pass, you may no longer take any Offensive Actions .
• Once you Pass, you may still take Defensive Actions.
• Once you Pass, on your turn you may only Pass again or Concede.

So, What's Affected?
What is most affected by this are Offensive Specials thatare not attacks, like HQ, GF, and EE, to name just a few. Once you Pass, you may not go back and play cards like these offensively and in some cases not at all! Once you Pass, you may only take defensive actions, Pass again, or Concede.
So choose wisely!

Renege

What is a "Renege"?
A Renege is when one player breaks the rules of the game while the game is in progress. Most of the time a Renege is accidental, but sometimes it's done on purpose. When a Renege is done on purpose it's got another fancy game term. It's called "Cheating", but that's another story. The two most prominant Reneges are:

• Keeping a duplicate card after the Venture Stage.
• Passing your turn when you still have a playable card in your Hand.

So...what about it?
Whether accidental or intentional, a Renege is a serious concern. It affects game play and the potential outcome to a great degree. Because of this, we've come up with a short list of how to handle a Renege, when one is encountered. We've done this so that everyone is playing with the same system of penalties and bonus' and so that everyone can still be considered to be on a level playing field. Primarily this is to be used in tournament situations, but if you want to implement this into your own "house rules" then that's just fine by us.

What To Do.
• First, at the moment the Renege is discovered, the battle ends. Immediately. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

• Second, both players discard any cards remaining in their Hands into the appropriate discard Piles.

• Third, the Offender (the guy that committed the foul) loses the Battle. This means that any Mission Cards he or she Ventured that Battle are moved down into the appropriate Mission Piles. This is done regardless of the current Venture Total.

• Fourth, the Offendee (the guy that didn't commit the foul) wins the Battle. This means that any Mission Cards he or she Ventured that Battle are moved up into the appropriate Mission Piles. This is also done regardless of the current Venture Total.

• Fifth, the Offendee has a choice to make. He can either elect to have the results of the Battle remain as played, or have the results of the battle wiped away as if the Battle had not been played. If he chooses to have the Battle remain as played, then that's it. End of story. Both players draw new cards and continue the game. If he chooses to have the results wiped clean, then both players remove all Hits scored that Battle. Those Hits are then discarded into the appropriate discard piles. Furthermore, any Characters were KO'd that Battle are "resurrected" and returned to the place they were prior to being KO'd. Remember, this is done for both players. It's like the Battle never happened.

• Sixth...there is no sixth. That's it.

Stalling

Um.....Ah.....Um.......
Everyone can agree that an OverPower tournament can be a tense situation, and that tournament players should not be rushed into making rash decisions. That's not what we're talking about here. What we're talking about is those unscrupulous players that stall on purpose. Those villains that purposefully attempt to run out the clock and eat precious game-time away from their opponent. Those players that stall, as a tactic to win.

Quit It!
Stalling in a tournament situation is illegal. If you believe your opponent to be stalling - that is, taking far too much time to make routine decisions - call over the judge. The judge of the tournament has the ability to extend the length of the game beyond the normally appointed stop time, at his descretion, in order to make up for the time lost by the stall. A game should only be extended when there was clearly a case of stalling going on! A game should never be extended if the game was just particularly slow as a result of it being a tough match filled with complex decisions.

Of course, this has the nasty side effect of delaying the normal advancement of all the other matches in the tournament, making the tournament run later than it normally would have, and thereby making all the other players really angry at the person responsible. But hey...you get what you deserve when you try and get around fair play!

But That's A Legal Play!
Stalling doesn't just include taking a long time to make decisions. There are ways, through the use of card play, to effect a stall. This too is illegal and should be corrected by the judge of the tournament.

For example, a player can stall using two Characters with the BQ Special. This could create an endless series of playing and retrieving cards from the Dead Pile. Play the first BQ to go get the second. Then play the second BQ to go get the first again. Then repeat.

Any player insane enough to try and pull this off should be spun around and around until they're too dizy to see and be made to walk through a cow pasture.

Clones/Variants

First Spider-Man, now OverPower?!
Well, not exactly. As most everyone is aware, in OverPower a clone is a character that is identical to another character in terms of playability. For example, "Wolverine" and "Wolverine: Age of Apocalypse" would be considered OverPower Clones. On the other hand, "Wolverine" and "Albert" would be considered Variants of each other. Wait a second...we didn't make Albert yet. Alright, bad example. How about..."Sentinels" and "Bastion" would be considered Variants of each other. Variant Characters can be on the same team. Clones can not.

What's What?
Clones use the same name as their counterparts while variants use totally different names. For example, "Beast" and "Beast: The Brute" are clones of each other where "Beast" and "Dark Beast" are variants. A variant usuallyhas an Inherent Ability that gives them access to Special cards that can be played.

Ok fine...so what?
So.. this PlayBook clarification is about how Clones and Variants can be used with Battlesites. First, let's talk about Home Bases. Any clone of a character can be on the team of a Home Base. The general rule about clones still applies though - you cannot put multiple versions of a clone on a team. Variants, on the other hand, cannot be substituted on a Home base. Therefore, if you are using the Home Base "The Outback" you can use regular Wolverine or the clone "Wolverine: Age of Apocalypse" on the team. However you could not use the variant Bastion as a character instead of Sentinels.

Now, Battlesites...
It is legal to use any Character cards as Activators so long as the character can appear on the team when used as a Home Base. During the Discard Phase, Clones would count as duplicates as one another. So if you are using "Four Freedoms Plaza" as a Battlesite, you can use both "Invisible Woman: Malice" and "Invisible Woman" as Activators, but if they show up in the same Hand, one must be discarded as a duplicate. The Special cards that get put under the Battlesite must be usable by the Activator cards. Therefore, if you put a Dark Beast Activator into your Draw Pile, you put a Beast Special under the site, since Beast Specials are usable by Dark Beast.

Any Questions?

There's a common question that comes up regarding Storm: Neutralized (who has the Inherent Ability to use Morlock non-OPD Special cards). You can use a Storm: Neutralized Activator to draw (a) any Storm Special card from under the Battlesite or (b) any non-OPD Morlock Special card from under the Battlesite.

Prepare For War!
Here's the general guideline for building a Battlesite.

1) Only one of each coded Special card.
2) Only one One Per Deck Special card.
3) There must be a one to one ratio between Special cards beneath your Battlesite and Activator cards in your deck. (Note: "Beyonder" can be an extra Activator that's put into your Draw Pile and does not count toward this ratio)
4) If a Special card has the ability to be used in your Draw Pile, then it is illegal to put it under the Battlesite.
5) The only Activator cards that can be played are for characters that could normally be played on the Battlesite if it were used as a Home Base.

Show Me.
• Battlesite: Wakanda. It is legal to put Morlock non-One-Per-Deck Special cards under this Battlesite, as long as you have one Storm: Neutralized Activator card for each Morlock non-One-Per-Ddeck Special card. If there are other Storm Special cards, you would still need even more Storm Activators in the Draw Pile (which could be either more "Storm: Neutralized" cards or regular "Storm" Character cards). If all the Battlesite contained was 3 Morlock Special cards and 2 Storm Special cards, then there would need to be 3 "Storm: Neutralized" Activators and 2 other "Storm" Activators (doesn't matter which clone of her was used).

• Battlesite: Onslaught's Citadel. It is legal to use this Battlesite if Beast (or a Clone of Beast) is on your team. However, if you do so, it is illegal to put any Beast Specials in the Battlesite.

Battlesite: Morlock Tunnels. The number of "Morlock "non-One-Per-Deck Special cards must be equal to the number of "Morlock" Activators plus "Storm: Neutralized" Activators that are used. There must then be additional Activators for any regular "Storm" Special cards that are used. If the One-Per-Deck of the site is a "Morlock" Special card, then there must be one more "Morlock" Activator in the Draw Pile.

Battlesite: The Sewer. If you are using "Storm: Neutralized "on your team, then it is illegal to put any non-One-Ped-Deck "Morlock" Special cards in the Battlesite.