Hand Size & Round Refills
V2 status: Approved hand limit and Round-wide refill. Free voluntary Discard and normal activation timing are approved; card-specific exceptions remain to be reviewed.
Maximum hand size
Section titled “Maximum hand size”A player’s normal maximum hand size is 5 Skill cards. Specific Level cards may change this maximum; none of those exceptions has been defined yet.
The hand contains Skill cards drawn from the player’s 30-card Skill deck.
Start-of-Round refill
Section titled “Start-of-Round refill”At the beginning of each Round, all players and the GM draw to their respective maximum Hand sizes, before any unit activates. Cards already in Hand are retained; neither players nor the GM automatically discard their existing Hands.
The player’s usual maximum Hand is 5. The GM’s Hand size and deck operation will be defined separately; importantly, player Fatigue and card Exhaustion do not apply to the GM. See Rounds & Activations.
For example, with a maximum of 5:
| Cards in Hand at Round start | Cards to draw |
|---|---|
| 5 | 0 |
| 4 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 |
| 2 | 3 |
| 1 | 4 |
| 0 | 5 |
This table illustrates a player character’s normal refill amounts when enough cards can be drawn. If a player character cannot make a required draw, apply Fatigue & Recycling — including the possibility of fatal exhaustion. The GM follows separate deck rules.
Choosing to change your hand
Section titled “Choosing to change your hand”A player who wants a different hand must normally use cards from their existing Hand during their own activation, such as by Discarding or Burning them. Keeping an unwanted card means it stays in Hand and occupies space at the next refill.
Cards can also be Played normally under Card Commitment & Burning.
Cards are normally used only during the active player’s own activation, unless the card explicitly provides a different timing. Reactions are an example of that exception. See Activations & Card Timing.
Free Discard: during their activation, players may freely Discard unwanted cards into their Discard pile without an action cost. This grants no Skill or Burn effects, and does not draw replacements immediately. The next normal refill is at the beginning of the next Round.
Payment Discard: a player may also Discard a card to pay for another ability, commonly an attack or Skill granted by Equipment. See Card Commitment & Burning.
There is no automatic end-of-activation or end-of-Round hand discard. Cards held for Reactions or future Rounds remain in Hand.
Closely connected rules
Section titled “Closely connected rules”- Card Commitment & Burning — using cards through Play, Burn or Discard.
- Activations & Card Timing — normal timing and explicit exceptions.
- Rounds & Activations — Round-wide refills, alternating activations and card-funded actions.
- Fatigue & Recycling — required draws, reshuffling, Exhaustion and lethal draw failure.
- Level Cards & Advancement — potential future exceptions to the hand-size maximum.
Open design points
Section titled “Open design points”- Initial hand: the precise draw procedure when a session or encounter begins.
- Outside-turn use: Reactions and card-specific exceptions exist; their timing windows and their effect on Hand management remain open.
- Action requirements: actions are not limited to a fixed number per activation but must be affordable and legal; details for particular Skills, Equipment and movement need review.
- Freeform play: when the Draw step is available without structured Rounds, and how voluntarily cycling/refilling interacts with the reset of temporary Burn modifiers.
- Hand maximum changes: how a Level-card increase or decrease affects an already-held Hand.