Thematic Questions About Cards *contains mild SPOILERS on S.T.*

Hello everyone!

I always loved this game also because the card title, the art on the card and the flavour text all make perfectly sense with the mechanics stated on the card.
Of course, at first we didn't have art nor flavour text for the environment cards, and had to use our imagination a bit more to understand what was going on. I, for instance, didn't get what was "Targeting Innocents" and had 10 hp in Megalopolis until the art came out ("Ooooooh... so THAT's targeting innocents. Makes more sense now.") But now we have plenty of art, text and lore to fully appreciate the great storytelling behind each card, which makes me enjoy the game even more!

The fact is, there are a two cards in the new decks (and an old one) I do not fully understand. I would greatly appreciate if someone could help me grasp what's going on exactly and how that is reflected in the mechanics of the card.


1) La Capitàn Character cards, Flip side. What happens when she flips? In the first part of the fight, she steals a bunch of the hero's equipment and ongoings (she steals power too, I guess) ... and then? Is she running away from the heroes across time, to stop only when the team takes back their stuff from her? Or is some some sort of temporal anomaly/power of hers taking place? The art confuses me, the "Split Across Time" description doesn't tell me much and unfortunately there is no flavour text on character cards, so I really need some opinions here.


2) "Misplaced Memo" card from Miss Information's deck. The art and flavour text suggest that something similar to the "Isolated Hero" card is happening. Bunker is alone with a mummy from the Tomb of Anubis to deal with and Miss Information apparently didn't forward Bunker's request for support to the team. Ok, but what about the effect of the card? "The non-hero target with the lowest hp is immune to damage.", which will probably make an Environment or DIversion target immune to damage, and which makes sense with the art. (Bunker can't deal with it until the team arrives, I think) Then, at the start of the villain turn, every hero deals himself Psychic damage, which has been seen in other cards to represent mental stress, desperation and similar things. So... what's exactly going on here? The team is still united game-wise, as opposed to the "Isolated Hero" card, but one target is immune to damage, and everyone is stressed... dunno. Help please!


3) "Ambitious Racketeer" from Rook City environment deck. What always baffled me about this card is how strong this single man is. He has no apparent sign of superpowers or genetic mutation going on, so what does its hp, healing and damage represent? A vast criminal organization? This seems to contrast with the art and text. So maybe he indeed has genetic induced powers, as many in Rook City seem to have, but if that is the case, only deduction can tell it. Or maybe he's just hard to get to and deal with directly. I would like to know what you think about this one too.

Well, here are my questions. I look forward to reading your feedback on these cards. And please, if you have any similar doubts of your own, feel free to share them here!

I can (probably) answer #3 for you: HP is not representative of physical strength, but doesn't have to represent a large organisation behind him either. I'd see it as him simply being rather difficult to get rid of.

1) At a very abstract level, this is definately inspired by the idea of a pirate hoarding treasure.  I think it's fine to have something to suggest that theme to players, even if the actual gameplay isn't a great model of her doing that.

More specific to the gameplay, I think it just feels like alternating hit and run tactics.  She strikes directly for awhile, then when she feels like she's done some damage she goes on the run again, focusing on protecting herself and restoring her crew until the heros have recovered and caught up to her.

2) I think this isn't an isolated hero, but rather witheld intel on a threat to the heros.  The Heros aren't able to hurt that threat, and the psychic damage is confusion and possibly distress over the hints that someone they trust is working against them.

3) Both Rook City and the Chairman deck seem like a mess to me thematically.  In general these decks seems more like they were made for a more abstract game representing on ongoing campaign over a period of months or years.  Unfortunately the other decks seem more built for a game representing a direct confrontation and battle.  (Our drama opens with the Operative recruiting a network of agents secretly working within the Rook City police force.  Ra shoots fire at them.)

But I agree, the best way to think about these cards is that they are working around the city to indirectly cause trouble for the heroes.  The HP is either the trouble it takes to face them directly, or possibly even an inability to fight them directly without proof of their criminal activity.

Thanks for your opinion, BlueHairedMeerkat and dypaca!

I would like to hear more about these cards, though.

Regarding card #2, I accept the depiction you give dypaca, though you must admit that art and flavour text are a bit confusing, if that's what happened. (that is, bad intel about an enemy and that's all.)

Card #3 is apparently part of the most "abstract" expansion and as such I shouldn't bother a lot asking myself why it is so strong and durable.

But, coming back to #1, La Capitàn's flip side, I still don't get what "Split Across Time" means... really, I don't understand. I understand the whole concept of getting back stuff/chasing her, but the card isn't called "Fleeing throug the ages" or "Escaping Pirate"! Look at the art... what happened to her? Is she divided in 4 different times?

On my oversized cards, I give names to the abilities and try to add flavor text which describes what's going on, so I had to decide what I thought was happening when she flipped, just like you.  I decided that when she flipped, you were essentially fighting multiple timesliding versions of the boss.

When she uses a plundered card to deflect some damage, I'm calling that "Walk The Plank", since she's sacrificing a card.  When she flips back because she's out of plundered cards, that's called "Why Is The Rum Gone?" ;)

I guess I was originally thinking of "split across time" with split being slang for run off.  But I suppose the card art really does suggest she is split into multiple versions.  One interesting possibility is that she can travel not just from THE future but from multiple possible futures and fight side by side with alternate versions of herself.  Then each time you discard the card under her you are eliminating one of her possible futures to get down to just one of her again.

It's a cliche that comic characters never stay dead, but the time traveling ones really never stay dead because you can always run into some past or alternate version of them.

Okay guys, you got me convinced! I feel much better now :) Thank you

Grand Warlord Voss is also like that. Certain cards of his, such as Forced Deployment and the warships, all seem like they should have an issue or more devoted to them and just like the Chairman, on his front side, he isn't even at the battlefield. I always felt that a game of Sentinels was expected to span multiple issues, and that a lot of the investigation, character development and so on would get abstracted in the process.

Thematically, I'd say the Ambitious Racketeer might well be part of, or subordinate to, the Organisation. After all, the Villains never attack him (indeed the Chairman plays more Environment cards), and he never attacks the Villains.

And yet he is still a target, because he has HP. Immune to all damage, sure, but still a target.

Unlike Miss Information, who also is clearly not on the battlefield until she flips.

I wonder if there's a thematic reason behind that or if the guys just didn't think about the "no HP" techonology until Miss Information (or the fan that submitted her).

I think it makes sense: You can launch all the attacks you like at the Chairman (in a broad campaign-like sense), but they won't reach him. With Miss Information, meanwhile, you don't even realise she's there.

I've heard that during playtesting for Rook City, The Chairman didn't have HP, but was later given HP to make him a target. The heroes already know there's a leader to The Organization, but can't reach him yet, whereas with Miss Information, they don't even know that she's a threat yet. I assume the gathering of clues and the diversions would span multiple comics as well until they finally uncover her plot. They are still going about their regular duties fighting crime and such while it's happening though.

The flavour text on her cards is almost all from Administrative Assassin issues #1-5 and Freedom Five Annual #21. None of the flavour text from AA shows the Heroes being aware of what she's up to, while she unmasks* herself in Freedom Five Annual #21. It's not 100% clear whether one follows or the other, or if one of them is a retelling of the same story.

  • More like disrobes.

It is true that Chairman wasn't initially a target during earlier playtesting, as to why they switched it i'm not 100% sure. Maybe they didn't really care for the not a target thing at the time? I don't recall I discussion on why the change. I think Koga might be onto the right track with it though.