Character Guide: Bloody Mary

Character Name: Bloody Mary.

Inspired by: Mary Tudor, who took the British throne in 1553, reigning as first queen regnant of England and Ireland. Seeking to return England to the Catholic Church, she persecuted hundreds of Protestants and earned the name "Bloody Mary." The term is now mostly known for the alcoholic drink.

Life Points: 4.

Ability Type: Offensive.

Ability: "Each time your BANG! card is cancelled, draw 1 card from the deck."

Activation: Playing a BANG! card against another player during Bloody Mary's turn.

Cards enhanced by Bloody Mary's ability: BANG!, Bottle, Bandolier, guns (especially Lemat -- converts card in hand to BANG! -- Volcanic, Buntline Special, Shotgun, and Thunderer), Scope, Tornado, Bell Tower, Ace Up the Sleeve, Gun Belt, Gold Pan, Pickaxe

Cards weakened by Bloody Mary's ability: Duel, Aim, Big Fifty

Cards less effective when played against Bloody Mary: Any cards cancelling the BANG! (Missed! family - Missed!, Dodge, Evade, Sombrero, Cappello, Iron Plate, Bible, Duck), Barrel, Horseshoe, Crate, General Store

Cards more effective when played against Bloody Mary: Indians!, Arrow, Duel, Bandidos, Panic!, Cat Balou, Whip, Poker, Lock Pick, Squaw, Saved! in response to her BANG!, Jail, Boots, Beer, Rucksack, Calumet

Ideal Roles: Deputy, Outlaw, Renegade.

Characters Bloody Mary counters:

Calamity Janet (BANG! she plays as Missed! enable Bloody Mary to draw cards), Elen Fuente (cards she discards to play Missed! enable Bloody Mary to draw cards), Jourdonnais (draws cards when his ability cancels her BANG!), Lucky Duke (draws cards when a lucky "draw!" cancels her BANG!), Mick Defender (no benefits defending against BANG! with his ability), Sean Mallory (he may store up defensive cards, but they will not hold her back as much), Chuck Wengam (he may burn health to gain cards, but the canceling cards he plays will be less effective), Pixie Pete (He may draw 3 cards, but she'll be able to deplete his LP's)

Characters who counter Bloody Mary well:

"BANG!/Distance Depleters": Pat Brennan (pull her gun cards to limit her distance and ability to apply her BANG!), Big Spencer (he can take the hits), Jesse Jones (pulling cards from her hand can deplete her BANG!), Flint Westwood (trade a non-BANG! to get 2 of her cards, likely grabbing her BANG!).

"Alt-Defenders" -- Paul Regret (use distance as a defense versus Missed! cards), Bart Cassidy (more likely to just take a hit to draw a card), El Gringo (he can take the hit and then draw a card from her hand), Sid Ketchum (use discards to drink Beer instead of evading her BANG!), Tequila Joe/Lemonade Jim (use Beer as defense versus cancelling her BANG!), Molly Stark (draws a card along with Bloody Mary when she cancels a BANG! out of turn), Teren Kill (his last life point doesn't need as much protection), Julie Cutter (50% chance to make Bloody Mary target of a BANG! when she loses an LP), Ms. Abigail (she ignores the effects of royal BANG!, which is not the same as cancelling them), Madam Yto (she draws cards when Beer is played), Don Bell (more turns = more chance to gain what he needs, Beer or otherwise), Apache Kid (diamond BANG! have no effect)

"Best Defense is a Strong Offense": Slab the Killer, Willy the Kid, Greygory Deck, Lee Van Kliff

2-player value: Good. Keeping the cards coming when your opponent cancels your BANG! helps you maintain your position.

General Strategy: Bloody Mary is one of the 3 gals included in Armed and Dangerous which has universal value outside of the expansion. Her ability is "old school," sliding nicely in with the base game characters and any group of expansions you play with. It feeds her cards when her BANG! or cancelled, which means you really want to use your BANG! and get a gun with proper range so you can reach your intended target with those BANG!. You can use them more freely, as when they're cancelled you'll get to draw another card. You're less prone to Indians! than Slab.

You're still subject to the one BANG! draw limit so finding cards (Volcanic, Bandolier) that extend that BANG! limit, or that stack well with her ability (Buntline Special, Thunderer) are a great pick. Try to keep a Panic! handy as your opponents will try to control you by removing your gun cards and Scope. Use Bell Tower to close the gap if you're given the chance. Tornado and General Store can also be your friend for acquiring the right cards (guns or BANG!). Be careful when you draw a Duel card yourself; unless you can't reach the target you wish and you have lots of BANG!, they are so useful to keep that I wouldn't expend your BANG! in a Duel just to take your chances.

Your real trick will be trying to get folks to cancel your BANG! and not your non-BANG! attacks (Punch!, Tomahawk, Aim, Gatling, Quick Shot, Fanning, Flint Lock) so you still get a bonus. Don't draw attention to your green attacks in play in front of you, but the smart player will use that to determine when they should cancel a card. Of course, you could fake them out so they take the hit from your BANG! and then you don't play a secondary attack.

Playing against Bloody Mary: Since Bloody Mary keeps her cards replenished when you cancel her BANG!, your best bet is to keep her in your range, while keeping yourself out of hers. A trusty Mustang or Hideout should do the job; just try to keep Bloody Mary from getting/keeping a gun or scope (use those steal and discard cards, and pay attention when the General Store is played). She's pretty vicious with a Volcanic or Buntline Special.

If Bloody Mary has you in range and shoots at you, judge carefully when to play cards that would cancel an attack. Since her ability only applies to BANG! cards, you'll have no penalty for cancelling a green card (which you'll be able to see if she has in play), or other brown attack card (i.e. Gatling). You might consider taking the hit from a BANG! to cancel her attack on another card and not give her an extra card. Successful "draws!" from Barrels do enable Bloody Mary, but at least they're entirely effective in cancelling her shot (say, versus Slab the Killer). Saved! is a great card to play against one of the targets of her BANG!. While you'll take the hit, you'll get the benefit of drawing 2 cards, the target won't take the hit and the BANG! isn't cancelled so she doesn't get anything out of it. Calumet is an amazing defense, as the diamond BANG! she plays against you won't be cancelled, but rather will have no effect on you. She'll likely try to discard/buy this away from you.

To keep Bloody Mary less prone to attacking you (or your ally), try using BANG!-depleters to remove fire power from his hand. Duels, Indians!, Arrow and Bandidos are especially useful. If she isn't careful with her BANG!, you can do some great damage against her this way. While Jail is always useful to play against an opponent, it is more useful to use against Bloody Mary since her ability is only activated during her turn.

Robbers' Roost Redux POD Proof Arrived

My proof for Robbers' Roost arrived last night, and I was eager to open it up and see the results. Here's my assessment, with lots of photos!

What worked well:

- The size is fantastic as I'd fully expected, but it's still super rewarding to be able to order BANG! cards that are in the card size necessary to fit into the BANG! playing deck on demand. It's a giant leap forward for modders.

- New border designs turned out really well.

- Character design looked really crisp.

- Cards shuffle well.

- Did well on border spacing -- which I was worried with as related to the closeness of the borders to the edge in the BANG! cards v. the game crafter's template. I exceeded their recommended area ever so slightly to limit that design variance. Turned out well.

- The rulebook from game crafter turned out really nice too. I'm happy to offer this alongside the cards that you can print out. I caught a couple typos, but that's what proofs are for, right?

What needs work:

- Colors: These always print differently than you suspect on a monitor v. your home printer v. the POD's. And they also differ slightly on printing runs. You can notice some significant differences between the official BANG! card prints in between the expansions -- Wild West Show character borders are lighter, for instance, and their backs have a more orange hue. So I suspected differences here, and knew they would lack the linen texture that the official cards have. That said, I didn't expect the level of variation I saw in my proof. They're perfectly playable, but I'd still like to get this closer if I can. In general, the cards were darker:

- Borders too dark

- Card backs too dark (see far right cards):

- Bullet life points too dark (and a little small; this is on the front of the character card)

- A couple pieces of card art were darker than I'd like (Q&A, Pay Day, Disarm; only Q&A was really too dark, but I should still lighten all of them up)

Other observations:

- The printing, while pretty good in the quality of the prints, is a little blurry in some print areas. It's not a result of the media files, but the printing process itself. This is a minor quibble, but something I noticed.

- Design side -- I should make my icons slightly bigger. Some of the borders of my character art should be more feathered (gradient to white). Spacing between suit and value should be a little larger.

- Tuckbox definitely needed! This will compliment the cards and rulebook really well, so you can store Robbers' Roost and cart it around easier. I'll want a divider too.

I am pretty sure I can leverage this material:

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/publish/product/SmallProBox

https://www.thegamecrafter.com/parts/box-insert-pro-small

I've got 88 cards (44 to each side) plus a 20-page saddle-stitched booklet, which I think will work great. The 128 card limit for the box (64 to each side) gives me a 20-card thickness for the booklet, so I should be good. The wild card here will be how the divider works with the booklet. I'd hate for the cards to be completely loose, so divider is a must. Time to get cracking on some art. I'll make it pretty generic, but at least somewhat aesthetically pleasing.

Ideally here, you can "build your own" Robbers' Roost with all needed components, even if you have to somewhat assemble them once shipped to you.

- Curious if I can create a standardized way for the POD to print all of the "Dying Ain't Living" and then the "That'll be the Day" modules sequentially, so that no card sorting is needed.

Character Guide: Ms. Abigail

Character Name: Ms. Abigail.

Inspired by: Unknown for now.

Life Points: 4.

Ability Type: Defensive.

Ability: "You may ignore he effects of brown-borders cards with values J, Q, K, and A if you are the only target." She can choose for the effects to occur if she so wishes -- she can, say choose to enter a Duel if she views it as favorable.

Activation: When a brown bordered card that targets only Ms. Abigail is played.

Cards enhanced by Ms. Abigail's ability: Duck (she can save and return it for when she actually needs it, which is less frequent than for other players), Crate (also save up needed Missed!)

Cards weakened by Ms. Abigail's ability: Her optional immunity makes the need for Missed! cards and Escape less relevant; they're definitely still valuable, just less so for her than for many other characters

Cards less effective when played against Ms. Abigail: Here are the list of royal brown bordered cards that target a single player:

• BANG!: K, J, K, Q, A, Q, K, A (28.5% of base + DC game BANG!; 27.5% with A&D)
• Springfield (DC): K
• Backfire (VOS): Q
• Tomahawk (VOS): A
• Flintlock (A&D): A
• Duel: Q, J (2/3; only 1 can necessarily engage her)
• Cat Balou: J, K (2/5 with base + DC; 2/6 with A&D)
• Panic!: J, J, Q, K (4/5 with base + DC)
• Also weakened are Buntline Special (indirectly weaker; royal BANG! she does not cancel, but is rather immune to them she does not have to discard in those cases), Double Barrel (her immunity is not a cancellation, weakening Double Barrel on the diamond BANG! played, of which there are 4 royals), and Volcanic (royal BANG! have no effect); mass discards (Bandidos) are less effective against Ms. Abigail due to her natural defenses. Jail is also less relevant when played on her.

Cards more effective when played against Ms. Abigail: Few cards truly weaken Ms. Abigail (versus just being more relevant to play against her), but some stand out: The Big Fifty, as it cancels the target player's character ability and cards in play (so it can cancel out her optional immunity to brown royals); and the Lemat (since any card in the hand can be played as a BANG!, play non-royal cards as BANG! against her). 

Ideal Roles: Sheriff.

Characters Ms. Abigail counters:

BANG! driven offensive characters: Slab the Killer, Willy the Kid, Bloody Mary, Colorado Bill (she doesn't need to avoid the shot for her immunity to be valid)

"Draw!" driven: John Pain (she is less likely to feed him cards)

Characters who counter Ms. Abigail well:

"Card Depleters": Pat Brennan (pull her gun cards to limit her distance and ability to apply her BANG!), Jesse Jones (pulling cards from her hand can deplete her offenses and Beer), Flint Westwood (trade a royal card to her that you couldn't affect her anyway to get 2 of her cards, likely grabbing relevant cards she has stored), Youl Grinner (her immunity make her likely to have more cards than Youl Grinner and have to hand a card over), Gary Looter (immunity makes her likely to hold on to cards and go over her limit),

"Alt-Offenders": Doc Holyday (discard BANG! have no value), Belle Star (cards she in play in front of her are irrelevant on Belle's turn; her immunity is still relevant), Suzy Lafayette (she can still play her ineffective browns to draw more cards), Lee Van Kliff (he can repeat the effect of a card by discarding a BANG!, the value is no itself repeated, nor the value of the discarded relevant, allowing him to step around her ability), Black Flower (any club she can play as an extra BANG!, so she can more easily play non-royal BANG!), Der Spot-Burst Ringer (She is not immune to Gatling, as it targets more than one player), Evelynn Shebang (draw refusal for BANG! conversion means the BANG! are valueless, and thus Ms. Abigail's immunity is not triggered), Jacky Murieta/Mexicali Kid (resource converted BANG! are valueless, which Ms. Abigail is not immune to)

"Card Converters": Calamity Janet (convert your royal BANG! into Missed! and your non-royal Missed! into BANG!)

"Card Acquirers" (they have a higher chance of getting cards that will affect Ms. Abigail): Black Jack, Kit Carlson, Sean Mallory, Pixie Pete, Don Bell (when he gets his second turn), Jose Delgado, Tuco Franziskaner, Raddie Snake, Pedro Ramirez (he can see if the discard pile card is a non-royal value, and then draw it if he so chooses), Chuck Wengam/Bill Noface

2-Player Value: Great. Immunity is cards in a 2-player situation really helps.

Armed and Dangerous Value: Solid. Immunity allows her to hold on to cards with Missed! effects and then discard them on her turn when over her hand limit to gather load tokens.

Gold Rush Value: Solid. While she's not great at gathering gold nuggets, she is good at restricting other player characters from gaining gold nuggets by attacking her.

General Strategy: Ms. Abigail is another of the few characters included in Armed and Dangerous which has universal value outside of the expansion. Her ability most resembles Apache Kid, who is immune to the effects of diamonds played by other players. Similarly, she may be immune to the effects of royals (J, Q, K, A) where she is the only target. The may is relevant, or she'd be immune to cards she might play that target herself, or she'd be less able to willingly enter into a Duel. Notice how Apache Kid's ability still protects him from multiple target cards like Indians!, while Ms. Abigail does not have that luxury.

The net effect of this is Ms. Abigail is roughly immune to about 25% of the attack cards in the game (and her ability is easier to plan around than Jourdonnais' as it is guaranteed), and she is especially difficult to remove cards from. It's easier to discard, rather than steal from her, but they are both very difficult. Ms. Abigail should use this to her advantage, looking for blue and orange (dangerous) cards she can get out into play. Green cards are also valuable, especially as allowing her to offload her hand of defensive cards and focus more on offensive options -- she can use them only when needed, applying her immunity to any foolish player using a royal against her. General Store will be very helpful in nabbing these, as well as Tornado.

Duel's are less advantage for Ms. Abigail to participate in. For one, it allows her opponents to actually use royal BANG! against her by discarding them, while prior they would have no effect. She'll also be able to more likely keep high range gun cards in play, so the distance benefits are less relevant.

She should make sure she can counter multiple target attack cards well -- grabbing them when they appear in a General Store, and keeping a BANG! in hand to ward off Indians! and Arrow.

A clever Ms. Abigail player could also card count, and determine which royals have been played, as well as those that are in her hand, so she can get a greater sense of her probabilities of being affected.

Playing against Ms. Abigail: In some ways, knowing that Ms. Abigail is immune to your royal browns that target only her helps orient your behavior -- you don't waste your time playing them against her, say, versus Jourdonnais' where there's just a chance they won't affect him. Use that knowledge to your advantage. Use royals to feed the activation costs for other cards or abilities (Dodge City cards, card conversion abilities). When Indians!, Duel, or Tornado is played, discard the royal. Keep your eye on non-royal browns appearing in the General Store.

Since her ability only protects her for cards targeting only her, multiple target attacks that are royal are very valuable (I'm looking at you, Indians!, which has an A and K of diamonds). Note that when the game drops to 2 players, that immunity will suddenly kick in...

If you're paying attention to the card distribution of royals, you'll notice that is very hard to Panic! and Cat Balou cards from Ms. Abigail. This means that you need to play the cards that do steal/discard cards from her very wisely (Whip, Squaw, Brawl, Ragtime, Bandidos). Don't waste them on a green card; use them on something really meaningful. 

Return to the BANG! Character Guides Portal

October 2020 Updates

I've been working on a new version of Robbers' Roost, which you can print off using the Game Crafter. It will take me over a month to get my copy, so in the meantime I've been cleaning up this website. There's been a lot of cobwebs to dust off, as I'm sure well you know. A list of updates I've done:

- I've re-enabled the forum

- Removed spam from blog and forum

- Updated Fan Expansions section (more to be done here)

- Added more on Director's Cuts, including characters, updated abilities, and event cards

- Updated Community links

- Fixing broken links and images (thanks Google for breaking my images)

- Updated Downloads section (files for many languages, including much needed files for Valley of Shadows, Gold Rush, and Armed & Dangerous)

- Added images for characters and cards from Valley of Shadows, Gold Rush, and Armed & Dangerous in the strategy section.

Work I'll be doing over this next month:

- Continuing to fix broken links and images

- Adding variants that have come out in the past several years

- Examining other fan expansions that have come out

- Looking at new BANG! resources to add to community page

- Give more consideration to digital sources for BANG!

- Review modding tools

Robbers' Roost Redux

It's been 9 years since Robbers' Roost released. BANG! has added new expansions (and spin offs, dice games), forcing a revision of Robbers' Roost if it's to remain compatible and distinct. Some cards are too similar to official expansion cards (Tomahawk), orange borders conflict with the orange borders of Armed and Dangerous cards, other cards or abilities are too devastating when put in conjunction with Gold Rush rules (Bulldog).

Integration elements aside, I've evaluated flaws in Robbers' Roost, both imbalances and confusing aspects of it. This has forced a rehaul of Robbers' Roost.

One positive is that years later we have printer on demand (POD) providers that can print the BANG! card size. Before you had to (a) sleeve extra BANG! cards, and slide the paper print outs inside the sleeves, or (b) arduously get a custom print deck and cut off excess length. Now, I can provide updated files and you can print them off at thegamecrafter.com in the BANG! card format. Yes, the colors won't match 100%, but it shouldn't be much of a problem as you cannot infer much from it (frankly, official BANG!'s own cards between the different expansions have color variances too, and that doesn't make me detect elements unfairly). I consider this an exciting development.

I put my order in today with rehauled Robber's Roost -- it just ships in 1 month (such is wait during COVID-19). I want to see the production quality of it, and see how I did on the borders with the edge of the cards. If all is well, I'll provide a step by step guide with files to create your own project and order a copy.

Here I'll break down the updates in the following order: (1) aesthetic updates, (2) general gameplay updates, and (3) card updates (which includes 2 new cards -- Flee and Duke Out). These updates will carry over into the cards and rulebook.

1. AESTHETIC ADJUSTMENTS

To update and future proof Robbers' Roost, I've reworked the borders of the new card types. Prior orange cards are now called "interrupts", and adopt a gun metal color with the streaks cut through the border to distinguish them. This should keep them from getting confused with Armed and Dangerous cards. Purple cards are now "windups", retain their purple color but have a barbed wire overlay. I'm tempted to make these colorless so I won't have to revisit color again in the future... I updated the icons on the 2 modules, adopting a pocket watch for the windup module ("That'll be the Day"), and a masked bandit for the interrupts module ("Dying Ain't Living"). The pocket watch divider for the windups was also reworked. On many cards, I updated the art and/or the name of the card (if it was used in a different expansion).

2. GENERAL GAMEPLAY UPDATES

a. Windup ("That'll be the Day") module:

No adjustments, but clarifications for windups for existing official characters and cards:

Vulture Sam: If a player is eliminated with windups in play, those cards are drawn into his hand.

Pedro Ramirez: Windups are resolved immediately after the drawing phase, so he cannot pick up his own expired windups with his ability.

Pat Brennan: Can pick up windups before the latent effect is resolved.

Mick Defender: his ability extends to windups, but to their initial effects only. Once in play, he cannot avoid the latent effects.

Ms. Abigail: can ignore the effects of windups with values J, Q, K, and A (royals) if she is the only target.

Lee Van Kliff: May play BANG! to repeat initial effect of a windup. The latent effect is not repeated

Cat Balou/Panic! style cards (inc. Whip/Squaw): Can steal and discard windups.

b. Interrupt ("Dying Ain't Living") module:

Clarifications for interrupt cards for existing official characters and cards:

Jesse Jones/Flint Westwood: Jesse/Flint cannot directly target an extra interrupt card. It is taken into hand, shuffled and randomly selected.

Molly Stark: She gains a card for playing interrupts out of turn. Substitutions used in turn provide no such gain.

Black Flower: Can use interrupts of clubs as extra BANG!.

Elena Fuente/Doc Holyday/Sid Ketchum/Porter Rockwall: Interrupts can fulfill card discard requirements.

Belle Star: Interrupts are not considered in play and so are not affected by her ability.

Suzy Lafayette: So that interrupts do not overly handicap Suzy, she may always use an interrupt’s substitution function. Thus, if she had a Volcanic in play, an interrupt’s BANG! substition could be leveraged.

Gameplay changes:

Interrupts adjust hand size limit rules, so that every player is allowed 1 extra card to their limit, as long as that card is an interrupt. This is indicated by an interrupt card (and only 1) being stored face down in the “in play” area, although still considered part of one’s hand. Once face down, this card is locked until used or discarded, when it is revealed. To consult the card, set the rest of your hand down before reading the interrupt.

The interrupt cannot re-enter the rest of your hand except when your hand is targeted for stealing (Panic!) or discarding (Cat Balou). In that case, add it to your hand, shuffle your cards, and let a card be chosen. If not stolen or discarded, set the interrupt back down.

Substitutions may be used (but are not required) for the following roles at the following times:

• An Outlaw when he is the last of his team remaining.
• A Sheriff when there are no Deputies or Renegades remaining.
• A Renegade when there are no more Outlaws or other Renegades, or only 2 players are remaining.

3. Specific Card Changes 

PLAYING CARDS

Ambush: Reworded and changed requirement to play.

Prior: "When a player attacks someone besides yourself, play this card to bang! the attacker."

Now: "When another player bangs! any other player but you, play this card and discard another to bang! the attacker."

Notes: "Besides yourself" could be confused as adjacent to, which was not the intent. Added activation cost for Ambush to align with the activation cost for Buffalo Rifle for the infinite reach of Ambush.

Artillery: Updated art.

Back Up: Tightened text, same meaning.

Prior: "When another player uses a card or ability to avoid an attack aimed at himself, you may play this card to fire a BANG! at that player if he is in range."

Now: "When another player cancels a bang!, play to fire a BANG! at that player if they're in range. For this card, they're seen at a distance -1."

Notes: Aligned it with current "cancellation" language of BANG!. Made it easier for team mates to work together with slight sight modification. 

Bandage: No change. Added symbol for the card to discard to play it.

Bronco: Slight immaterial rewording and art clean up.

Bulldog: Rebalanced. 

Prior: "You may discard a BANG! and another card to Gatling."

Now: "Once a turn, you can discard BANG! and another card to bang! all players in range."

Notes: "Once a turn" so not too many hits are delivered per turn. With Gold Rush rules, this was getting obscene. "All players in range" further limits it. It's a weaker Gatling, only able to hit by default players seen in distance 2.

Cannon: No change.

Confiscate: Updated art.

Disarm: Rebalanced.

Prior: Initial. Provides a missed! Latent. Discard a card from your attacker.

Now: Initial. Provides a missed! Latent. Discard a random card from the attacker's hand.

Notes: "Random card from the attacker's hand" makes it a more limited, but responsive Cat Balou. It was too powerful before.

**Duke Out: New Card. This card is similar to Duel, but the result is not loss of a life point, but a card in play (which is gained by the victor). The cards discarded are non-BANG! cards (you don't duke it out with gun shots!).

Text: "A target player discards a non-BANG! card, then you, etc. First player failing to discard loses a card they have in play to the victor, victor’s choice."

NOTE: Removed a Panic! from the RR deck as a result of this.

**Flee: New Card. This is a "run away" card; a temporary sight modifier. It gives the Missed! and increases your distance so that subsequent attacks in the round you may be harder to hit. However, as a result on your turn you will find it harder to shoot others as well.

Text: Initial. Provides a Missed!. Others see you at a distance +1 (unit your next turn). Latent. This turn you see all other players at a distance +1.

NOTE: Removed a Missed! from the RR deck as a result of this. 

Fur Trade: Added clearer text, so that there was no question of who would draw the cards.

Prior: Initial. Swap a card in play in front of you for a card in play in front of another. Latent. Both of you draw 1 card.

Now: Initial. Swap a card in play in front of you for a card in play in front of another. Latent. You and that player traded with draw a card.

Gaping Wound: Slight wording change. Now titled "Bleed Out."

Hit Me: No change.

Investment: Changed symbol in initial effect to remove confusion.

James Dougall: No change. This card is still sufficiently differentiated from other shotgun type cards that have come out since in Valley of Shadows and Armed and Dangerous.

Join Arms: Reworded.

Prior. "When a player fires a BANG!, play this card and discard another to shoot a BANG! at his target if he is in range. If you kill that player, split the potential spoils: both draw 2 cards."

Now. "If a player plays a BANG!, and their target’s in range, play this card and discard another to shoot a BANG! at the target. If you kill that player, split any spoils: both draw 2 cards."

Loan: Added clarificatory text.

Prior: Initial. Give a card from your hand to another player. Latent. Take 2 cards from that player's hand.

Now: Initial. Give a card from your hand to another player. Latent. Take 2 cards at random from that player's hand.

Molotov Cocktail: Renamed as Molotov.

Moonshine: Rebalanced.

Prior: Initial. Lose a life point. Latent. Gain 2 life points and draw a card.

Now: Initial. Lose a life point and draw a card. Latent. Gain 2 life points.

Notes: Offset the initial sacrifice and risk one took while one could have the card swapped/stolen/discarded by having the player draw the extra card in the initial phase.

On the House: Updated art.

Pay Day: Convert symbols in latent effect to text to clearly mean, "All other players draw a card" (It's not a mass Panic!).

Push: Significantly reworked. Defensive or offensive card depending on context.

Prior: When a player seen within distance 2 is about to take a hit, you may play this card to push him out of harm’s way.

Now: When another player is banged!, play Push to draw a card and either provide a missed! if they're adjacent; or have a player to you and them get banged! instead.

NOTES: In the latter case, this means the original bang! is redirected to hit the pushed play (you pushed them into the way of the bullet). Adjacency and next to was meant to circumvent some of the distance constraint impacts from Hideout, Mustang and Bronco.

Q&A: Rebalanced.

Prior: Initial. Provides a missed!. Latent. Your attacker is banged!.

Now: Initial. Provides a missed!. Latent. If the attacker is in range, they are banged!.

NOTE: The attack is still affected by sight constraints.

Quick Draw: Reworded to clarify what does contribute to the hand limit.

Prior: Play after a player uses a card. Unless he discards a BANG!, he must place the card sideways in front of him and cannot use it until his next turn. It does contribute to his card limit.

Now: Play when a player uses a card. Unless he discards a BANG!, he must set the card aside, unable to use it until his next turn. If a hand card, it still contributes to his card limit.

NOTE: The intent was not for cards in play to suddenly contribute to a hand limit.

Rob: Clarified to original intent.

Prior: Steal a card from a player's hand.

Now: Steal a card at random from a player’s hand.

NOTE: Intent was not for card to be of robber's choice.

Dive: Renamed as Get Down! with new art. Didn't make sense to me that you could dive distance 2, so rethemed it to you warning someone of danger with no distance constraints. That no longer made sense for taking a hit, so that function was moved to the Push card instead.

Prior: "When a player you see within distance 2 is going to take a hit, play Dive to take the hit for him. Draw a card from the deck."

Now: "When a player is about to take a hit, you may play this card and discard another as a Missed! on their behalf."

NOTE: Functions as a Missed! for another player.

Standoff: No change.

Taunt: Reworked to restrict cheating possibilities.

Prior: "Force the player whose turn it is to attack you if he can."

Now: "Force the player whose turn it is to attack you if he can. If he cannot, retain Taunt."

NOTE: Taunt as written before led itself too much to cheating to waste the Taunt. While I recognize all board gaming has some reliance on an honor system, it's good to reduce the reliance on it. Now the player can retain Taunt, and if the target draws a card in the middle of the turn, he can play it again, so he can't "claim he had no BANG!, but does have it now" and so shoots another player. 

Tomahawk: Renamed as Kick with new art. Tomahawk exists as its own card in Valley of Shadows.

Toss: Slight changes.

Prior: Give a card you have in play or in your hand to a player seen within distance 2.

Now: Give a card you have in play or in your hand to a player seen within distance 3. You cannot toss a Jail in play.

NOTE: Cannot use Toss to put someone else in Jail when it has been placed on you. Lengthened distance of Toss.  

Track Down: Added clarificatory text.

Prior: "Play on top of a player’s Mustang, Hideout, or other defensive sight modifier. Its effect is negated until that player discards 2 cards during his turn to remove Track Down."

Now: "Play in front of any player to decrease the distance by which they are seen by 1. The target may discard 2 cards during their turn to remove Track Down."

NOTE: Sight modification was intended regardless of whether or not a sight modifier was in play. Now it's an inverse of Bronco.

Warpath: No change.

CHARACTER CARDS

Anne Rogers: Reworded.

Original: "At the start of her turn, Anne can copy the effect of a blue card in front of another player, so that it is as if she possesses its benefit. At the start of her next turn, this benefit disappears."

Now: "At the start of her turn, Anne copies the effect of a blue or orange card in front of another player, as if she now has it in play. This lasts until her next turn."

NOTE: Broadened to incorporate Dangerous cards.

Crazy Wolf. Changed to Crazy Bull -- nothing wolf-like about the ox mask. Slightly nerfed.

Original: "When attacked he may discard a card from his hand to avoid the hit. Add the value of the card played against him with the value of the card he discards. If this value is greater or equal to 13, it counts as a Missed!; 17, a Dodge; 20, a Missed! and a BANG! against his attacker."

Now: "When attacked he may discard a card from his hand. Add the card’s value played against him with the card’s value he discarded. If ≥ 13, it counts as a Missed!; 17, a Dodge; 20, a Missed! and a BANG! against his attacker (if in range)."

NOTE: Rulebook clarifies values are blackjack rules -- K, Q, J = 10; A = 11. BANG! against attacker requires attacker be in range.

Eva Place: Rebalanced.

Prior: 4 LP. "She may lay a trap once on her turn: put a brown or green card face down in front of Eva and turn it sideways. If a player acts against Eva, she must flip a trap over and the card immediately affects that player. She may have 2 traps out, but only 1 trap activates at a time, her choice."

Now: 3 LP. "She may lay a trap once on her turn, placing a brown or green attack card face down in front of her and turning it sideways. 2 traps can be out at a time. If a player acts against Eva, she may reveal 1 trap. Use and discard it."

NOTE: Several nerfs occurred here as she was a brutal Sheriff. Notably, her health dropped and only attack cards can be laid as traps (more in line with the nature of a trap). BANG! no longer can affect at any distance. However, her trap activation is now her decision, versus necessarily occurring. 

Flint Dixon: added clarificatory language.

Original: "Whenever Flint plays a BANG!, he chooses whether his target must discard a BANG! or a missed! to avoid it. Barrel still may be utilized to avoid his shot."

Now: "Whenever he plays a BANG!, he chooses whether his target must discard cards with bang! or missed! to cancel it."

NOTE: Barrel/Jourdonnais' ability can still cancel it; I just didn't put it on the text. Saved for rulebook.

Job Musgrove. Clarified values of royal cards.

Johnny Pope. Reworded.

Original: "Once per turn, he may lose a life point and either give it to a player or make a player “draw!” On reds, Johnny steals a card from him. On blacks, that player must use 2 cards with missed symbols or lose a life point."

Now: "Once a turn, he may lose a life point and either give it to a player or make a player “draw!” On reds, Johnny steals a card from him. On blacks, that player must supply 2 missed! or lose a life point."

Josey Bassett: adjusted to make her slightly more interesting.

Original: "If Josey does not play any cards during her turn, she can draw 2 extra cards at the end of her playing phase. She can always hold as many cards in her hand as her max health."

Now: "If Josey plays no cards, or only puts cards in play (blue, green, etc.), she can draw 2 extra cards at the end of her playing phase. Her hand size limit always equals her max health."

NOTE: Josey can create a really efficient hand, but it was brutal for her to do nothing and be subject to targeted attacks, cat balous, etc. She was simply too boring to play. This offsets that some. It is a passive turn, but not a necessarily ineffectual one. 

Julie Bulette. Changed slightly.

Original: "Once on her turn, Julie may discard a card that she has in play or in her hand to draw a card. If it is a diamond, she may do so again, but Julie must show the card as proof."

Now: "Once on her turn, Julie may discard a card she has in play or in her hand to draw a card. If a diamond, she may reveal the drawn card to discard and draw 1 more card."

NOTE: Second draw also involves a discard. Her ability is all about hand efficiency. Her diamond bonus only occurs once on a turn.

Laura Billion: Changed when she draws the bonus cards.

Prior: "After she uses a green or brown card, or her purple card expires, place the card in a stack in front of her. At the end of her turn, she bids on a color: red or black. “Draw!” If correct, she selects 2 and draws them into her hand at her next drawing phase."

Now: "Instead of discarding her used green, brown, or purple cards, stack them by her. During her next draw phase, she bids on red or black. “Draw!” If correct, she selects 2 to draw, and discards the rest."

Lela Devere: Slight nerf.

Original: Whenever she would hit a player (except with Indians!), Lela may choose to steal a card from that player instead. The card may either be in that player’s hand or in play.

Now: "When she bangs! and would hit a player(s), she may draw a card from them instead of them taking the hit(s). The drawn card may be from the hard or in play."

NOTE: Doesn't apply with Arrow, Bleed Out, etc.

Lil' Sure Shot: Reworded.

Original: She carries 2 guns by default (2 Colt .45), and can fire both on her turn. She can play 2 gun cards, even if they are duplicates. Once she has 2 gun cards in play, only 1 BANG! is needed to fire both.

Now: She carries 2 guns by default, and can fire both on her turn. She can play 2 gun cards, even duplicates. Once she has 2 gun cards in play, she only needs to play 1 BANG! to fire both.

Maggie Mae. No change. 

Pat Barrett: Changed name and art to "Bill Hickmann", my gunslinger ancestor. Reworded ability:

Original: "Whenever a card is played or used against Pat that targets him alone, and resolved, he may immediately discard a card of the same color to draw that card from the discard pile."

Now: "After a card played exclusively against Bill is discarded, he may immediately swap 1 of his cards of the same color with the card in the discard pile."

Porter Rockwall: Reworded due to confusions.

Original: "He may discard 2 cards to produce a defensive or offensive BANG! directed at any player, regardless of distance. When he creates an offensive BANG!, it does contribute to his BANG! limit."

Now: "He may discard 2 cards to discard a BANG! or play a BANG! at any player, regardless of distance. This BANG! contributes to his BANG! limit."

NOTE: Made it more clear this can be used in Duel or Indians! if he lacks a BANG! card. Offensive/defensive language was confusing to some. 

Turd Ferguson: Slight changes to ease tracking. Adjusted wording.

Prior: "Once per round, Turd has a free Missed! that does not add to his card limit. Turn Turd sideways to indicate when he has this Missed!. When it is used, turn him back to the normal vertical position. These Missed! do not stockpile."

Now: "At the start of his turn, he gains a free Missed! that doesn’t add to his hand size limit. Turn Turd sideways to track if this Missed! is used. On his next turn, orient him vertically to refresh this Missed!. These Missed! do not stack. 

Queen Anne. Rebalanced.

Prior: She may discard a BANG! with another card to discard a card from any player at distance 2.

Now: Once on her turn, she may discard 2 of her cards (in play or in hand) to discard a card from any player.

NOTE: Her ability is now more efficient and in line with Pat Brennan's.

____

These are a lot of changes to soak in. I'm wrapping up a rulebook that you can enjoy soon.

Robbers' Roost News: POD Finally Arriving

I was recently contacted by Superior POD, who due to the success of Death Mesa, are willing to custom cut the Robbers' Roost deck cards for free! This means that much of the hang up on these cards will no longer be a problem. They will also be setting up a Web2Print store online to help with simplifying the POD process. Let me quote from the e-mail I received:

"We have several DM orders that have had to be canceled and refunded because the cards are not set up to our templates and customers are either unable to format the cards properly or unwilling to pay us the design/setup fee to do so. So if you'd like, I would be happy to put all of the decks together so that they are print-ready on our end, and then set up a W2P store for the entire Death Mesa/Robber's Roost/etc lineup for you to direct people to. Again, they will have to upload the matching sets of 'print and play' cards, but this way the players who aren't design savvy enough to set up the cards to our sheets can still get professionally printed high-quality decks. We can even work out your custom sized card deck that isn't part of our standard dimension options. The best part is that we would be happy to set this up for you free of charge. We get so many DM orders ... that everyone here agrees that making the decks more obtainable to the community is the best course of action."

So this will help with both Robbers' Roost and Death Mesa in the end. There are some issues still with color-matching, and Superior POD is going to work with me to get the best that POD printing can get. They problem still won't match perfectly, but I am hoping this won't be too problematic. For one, the Dodge City expansion cards are somewhat "off" in their color in comparison to the original game cards, so this is a bit of a problem across the board. Two, several Robbers' Roost cards come from the original game to help with balancing, so you wouldn't be able to tell which card was in a player's hand by noting the color difference. Third, with the orange module, since the orange cards have to be placed in front of you anyway, there isn't much of a card color tip off. We'll have to see how problematic it is once the card prototypes arrive.

So as for getting the POD in place, I will probably need to design the cards in a custom template for the cutting, and then I will try to get a prototype to review and correct. Anyway, I am pretty excited that this will finally be happening.

For a bit more of a news tidbit, I am sorry that I have been away from this blog for so long. I have been busily working away on my own board game, and this has taken a lot of time away from my BANG! projects. I plan on getting back to BANG!, but my own project has in the past few months had priority. Perhaps when I have the instructions book up and some prototypes available, I can get some of you to playtest my game. Finally, I want to keep this blog alive. I think it has some excellent content, and I want to continue building on top of that. Anyone interested in becoming a co-author on this blog? I would like to see some of the content you have written on other sites before I sign you up, but having others to post might be a good transition for this site given how new projects have taken up so much of my time. Thoughts?

Character Guide: Gary Looter

Character Name: Gary Looter. 

Inspired by: Gary Cooper, who starred in numerous famous western, such as when he played as Marshall Will Jane in High Noon. 

Life Points: 5. 

Ability Type: Neutral. 

Ability: "He draws all excess cards discarded by other players at the end of their turn." 

Activation: During other players' discard phases. 

Cards enhanced by Gary Looter's ability: Wells Fargo/Stagecoach/Pony Express (higher card limit makes it easier for him to hold on cards drawn from playing these cards), Duel (higher card limit gives him a greater capacity to hold BANG! to use during Duels), General Store (besides causing greater card selection, it also causes all other players to draw an extra card, making it more likely for them to exceed card limits by their discard phases), and Tequila/Whisky/Springfield/Brawl/Rag Time (higher card limit makes it easier to discard a card from his hand to play these cards). 

Cards less effective when played against Gary Looter: Wells Fargo and Pony Express (extra cards drawn make it more likely that you will exceed your card limit), Dynamite (base 5 life points make Dynamite less likely to eliminate him), Indians! (higher card limit gives him a greater capacity to hold BANG! to respond to Indians!), Duel (higher card limit gives him a greater capacity to hold BANG! to use during Duels), and General Store (card causes all other players to draw an extra card, making it more likely for them to exceed card limits by their discard phases).

Ideal role for Gary Looter: Sheriff (especially in larger games). 

Characters that counter Gary Looter well: Sean Mallory (he is very unlikely to exceed his card limit), Willy the Kid (lack of BANG! limit makes it easier for him to not have to discard during phase 3), Calamity Janet (able to use Missed! and BANG! interchangeably allows her to better manage her hand so that she does not exceed her limit), Sid Ketchum/Doc Holyday (Their abilities allow them to voluntary discard cards during their playing phases to create effects, undercutting Gary Looter's ability to draw cards from them), Lee Van Kliff (BANG! replication ability makes it unlikely that Gary Looter will be able to get cards from him), to some extent Big Spencer (while his life points are high, his high card limit makes him incredibly resistant to phase 3 discards), and Youl Grinner (syphoning off cards from other players makes it less likely that Gary Looter will get cards from those other players). 

Characters that Gary Looter counters well: Clause the Saint/Uncle Will (abilities cause all other players to draw an extra card, making it more likely for them to exceed card limits by their discard phases), Pixie Pete (base 3 card limit in combination with drawing 3 cards a turn makes it difficult for him not exceed his card limit), defensive 3 life point character such as Paul Regret/El Gringo/Elena Fuente/Apache Kid/Teren Kill (defensive stance with 3 life points make it more likely that they will exceed their card limits), Bill Noface (he draws more cards when his life points--and therefore card limit--are lower, making it very difficult not to exceed his card limit), and to some extent Chuck Wengam (dropping life points to gain cards lowers his card limit, creating a greater risk of having to discard during phase 3). 

2-player value: Depends on the amount of life points he enters in with, but all things being equal, his life points give him a nice advantage. Nonetheless, with only 1 opponent it will be difficult to gain cards since they will likely make sure to expend their cards so that Gary Looter cannot get any extras.

General Strategy as Gary Looter: To other players Gary Looter is an annoying character, and depending on his role, also an intimidating character. Players always have to think about whether or not they will go over their card limits. New players will not immediately recognize this, and even seasoned players will forget from time to time. Since Gary Looter is a nuisance, he is more likely to be a target. It is very important that Gary Looter's team mates recognize their ability to almost freely give him cards whenever they are over their limits. This can be used to aid Gary Looter when he is in trouble or to help him achieve strategic objectives, such as eliminating a player that Gary Looter can see but his team mate cannot. One could pass him a Volcanic to use to annihilate one of his adjacent players. 

At the beginning of the game, it is also a useful means of securing a decent card base for Gary Looter if he is having trouble. Gary Looter should try to keep valuable card-feeding allies alive. Of course, if Gary Looter is a Renegade, the chances of him getting high power cards from other players is slim. Gary Looter can play in such a way as to try to maximize his ability to gather other players' cards. For instance, playing General Store has the added benefit of increasing the amount of cards in all players' hands, on top of the better card selection for him. This can help allies pass cards and make it hard for rivals not to discard cards at the ends of their turns. 

Gary Looter should also be mindful of playing/using cards that require discards from all other players, such as is the case with Indians!, Gatling, and Howitzer. Since these cards can create many players to drop in their life points, and therefore card limits, Gary Looter can gain many cards within a round as a result. Of course, there is the possibility that the other players will have the right discards, making it therefore less likely for Gary Looter to draw cards from them during their discard phases. Gary Looter should pay attention to the number of cards in his rival's hands, as well as their playing styles, to judge whether or not playing such cards is momentarily worth it.

Gary Looter can also make it difficult for other players not to discard cards. This can be done by increase his distance from other players, so that unusable BANG! build up in their hands. It can also be done through who Gary Looter chooses to attack. If he has 2 rivals, and 1 is more defensive, ignore that rival and focus on the other. The build up Missed! and other defensive cards in that player's hand will make it hard for him not to exceed his card limit. The same goes with players who only have 3 life points. Finally, if there is clear evidence of a player having far more cards than his card limit, Gary Looter may not want to put that player in Jail, as he will then have no discard phase to pass the excess cards on to him. Besides this, Gary Looter can use his higher number of life points to his advantage to play Dynamite (it exploding on him is far less devastating) and also build strong offensive combos to take out a rival in one turn if possible. If he has a more defensive objective, he should try to make sure he has decent defensive cards in play before he does so. 

Playing against Gary Looter: Always remember how Gary Looter impinges on you. Whenever your discard phase arises, if you have to discard a card because you are over your alotted limit, Gary Looter picks it up. Try, therefore, to use as many cards as are necessary to get you below your card limit before your discard phase. Of course, you will always want to try to have a Missed! and a BANG! in your hand for defensive reasons, but try to make sure your hand is not getting bogged up with cards you can't play.

Make sure you can play many cards before playing a Wells Fargo or Stagecoach. Otherwise, Gary Looter might inherit many of your cards. If you are too defensive, you will start having defensive cards in your hand that you cannot play since (perhaps) no one is attacking you; you will soon have no option but to hand cards over to Gary Looter. Be more offensive, so that your rivals cannot ignore you. Also, make sure that your BANG! are playable. If you cannot see a rival, you will only be able to play BANG! on your allies or likely have to pass a card(s) to Gary Looter on your discard phase. Try to secure a gun or offensive sight modifier, so that does not become an issue. Replace guns, so that gun cards do not get stuck in your hand, unless it very adversely affects your gameplay. Be wary of duplicate cards that can also get stuck in your hand.

If you are playing with Dodge City, you may be able to play a card that requires discarding another to get rid of the duplicate. If you have any abilities that allow you to freely discard cards, use these to circumvent the card limit problem as well. Besides being cautious of your hand, also be careful when playing General Store, and cards that either reduce the card limit or increase the amount of cards in all other players' hands. These could potentially greatly benefit Gary Looter. Gary Looter is rarely a solo opponent. Be aware of his team mates and how they are feeding cards to him. If one ally is feeding him a lot of cards, focus fire on him, and try to play cards that could greatly reduce the amount of cards in his hand. Duel is the best example of that, but many other cards are useful for this (Panic! and Cat Balou when they target his hand). It may be to your advantage to eliminate Gary Looter's team mates before moving on to him, so consider it. All you have left to worry about is Gary Looter's greater number of life points. This is a problem, but not unsurmountable if you play carefully as outlined above. Just put the pressure on Gary Looter and use offensive combos where possible. Dynamite can work to your disadvantage depending on the number of life points Gary Looter has.
Return to the BANG! Character Guides Portal

Adjustments to Accomplice Abilities

Accomplice Ability Adjustments:

Big Nose Nick: Removed Duel Immunity. Now, "You may discard any card from your hand as a BANG! during a Duel." Thus, cards are still depleted during the Duel, even though the person possessing Big Nose Nick has a high probability of winning the Duel.

Ellie Cashman: Simple indicator adjustment, as well as shift from "next turn" to "next draw phase" activation to avoid possible Jail confusion. Now, "If you do not play or use any cards during your turn, you may draw an extra card at your next draw phase. Rotate this card vertically to indicate you will draw an extra card."

Debating over Adjustments:

Albert Boothwell: His ability has read thus, "Once on your turn, you may discard a card to disable a card in play. Flip it face down to show it is disabled. While disabled, the card cannot be used or utilized. On his turn, that card's owner may discard a card to enable it." With more thought, this ability appears to be very powerful, especially depending on turn order. The card disabled is out of play until the affected player's next turn, in which he can get pummelled by you and your allies if it was an essential defensive card (Mustang, for instance). I think this is far too powerful an ability for an accomplice, but how to adjust it for greater balance? Should the cost for disabling be 2 cards? Or should the disabled card's owner not have to pay any card to enable it? Or should the disabled card's owner be able to enable the card by discarding a card at any time? Or should only 1 action be able to be carried out against the disabled card's owner before the card is re-enabled? What do you think?

Lilian Smythe: Her ability reads, "Give up your draw phase to discard 1 card from the hands of 2 separate players." I don't know how often a player would want to do this; he would have to be pretty secure to give up his draw phase, and what if he draw 2.5+ cards a turn? The chances of him using Smythe's ability is quite low. The 2 separate player stipulation also makes it difficult once only 2-3 players are left alive. Thoughts? Perhaps she could forego drawing a card during her draw phase to discard 1 card from another player's hand? That way if Black Jack succeeded on his guess for his second card, he could discard instead of draw a third card, and Pixie Pete/Bill Noface wouldn't be negatively affected.

Jay Bryant: His ability reads, "At the start of your draw phase, call a suit. If any cards drawn are that suit, you may pass 1 with that suit to another player. You must show the card to verify it is of the called suit." My question is whether or not Jay's owner should have to show the card to verify the suit, or simply show the card's suit (masking the rest of the card with his hand/another card if he wanted)? What do you think?

Grue Duck: His ability reads, "If you play a BANG! at a player whose gun range is less than yours, that player cannot play, use, or "draw!" any spades or hearts to avoid your attack." I like using the gun range numbers against each other, but is his ability too powerful or too useless? Should a scope/binoculars augment "gun range," since technically the cards only refer to sight?

Sally Skull: Her ability reads, "Once a turn, you may lose a life point to negate the effect of a card just played or used." Must Sally do her negation immediately when the card is played, or can she witness what its outcome would be and then negate it? We could imagine her seeing what a played Indians! would do, and then choose to negate it, or simply negating it the moment it came into play. Losing a life point is a big deal, so I thought the "foresight" might make the ability more useful. But would it be too useful?

2 New Ideas:

(1) You may discard any card as a BANG! when Indians! is played.

(2) At the end of your discard phase, you set aside the card on top of the deck. This will be the first card you will draw at the beginning of your next turn, but you may look at it at any time before then. NOTE: If this is too weak, perhaps the player at the end of his discard phase could look at the card on top of the deck and choose whether it will be the first card he draw on his next turn. If he chooses that it is not, it returns to the top of the deck. But that seems perhaps too powerful.