u/ZenShrugs

I recently asked AJ Porfirio (co-designer of Final Girl) how the Double Up and Combo cards work. They're optional Signature Action cards that can be used in any game. Double Up comes in the Box of Props, while Combo comes with Guest Stars. AJ kindly gave me permission to share his responses here.

tl;dr

- I asked whether Double Up and Combo can be played in the Killer phase, on Reaction cards. AJ says yes (in his view).

- I also asked what happens when you play Combo with two Action cards and the first one has a red STOP / X icon. AJ says you should stop at the STOP (in his view).

Details

AJ gave me some guidelines, but refrained from giving official rulings because it seems other designers at VRG disagree about how to interpret these cards:

>Feel free to use ROA in these cases, that is what they are for to be honest. We never wanted FG to be something that gets bogged down by technical rule questions and we knew as it grew exponentially that it wouldn't even be possible to keep up with every possible interaction. Having said that, here is my two cents... I'd call this guidance, not an official ruling as there is some disagreement on these internally.

"1. Can Double Up (Box of Props) be played in the Killer phase, e.g. to get a Reaction card back right after you played it?"

>Yes, Reaction cards are Action cards.

>We do think that the regained card should not really be able to be used again immediately, but that is our preference and again, not an official ruling.

"2. Can Combo (Guest Stars) be played in the Killer phase, e.g. to roll once for two Reaction cards?"

>Yes, Reaction cards are Action cards. I don't think this often provides much benefit (unless also using other Sig action cards) as an effective Retaliate nullifies all the damage so would render the Guard sort of useless, although I guess with one success it could matter in a desperate situation)

"3. When playing Combo, if the first card you resolve has a red STOP icon, does that end the Action phase before the second card is resolved? Or do you ignore the STOP because you're still in the middle of resolving the Combo action? e.g. can you Combo with Furious Strike and Critical Blow on a single success?"

>There is some disagreement internally on this one. My strong opinion is that STOP means STOP. This is one of the major reasons why selecting the ORDER of the cards is important. If you don't want to get stopped after the first one then play that card second in order. If you play a STOP card first, well then that is the risk you take.

Notes

For questions 1 and 2, I wasn't really asking if Reaction cards are Action cards, but rather if Double Up and Combo themselves are the kind of Action card you can play in the Killer phase. Looks like they can be played outside the Action phase all right (in AJ's view at least). But I haven't pinned down exactly why yet. Are they a special kind of card similar to Close Call, since they have the same look? If so, we don't have a name for that kind of card yet.

For question 3, several people here on the subreddit agree with AJ that STOP means STOP. But I've also heard the opposite. Apparently someone on Discord said the STOP wouldn't kick in until you'd finished resolving Combo?

There's a bigger question here about what exactly 'immediately end the phase' means in Final Girl. In some contexts you finish resolving the current action before you end the phase (e.g. if your Time goes into the red and hits the STOP icon) or the game (if you flip a final Health token and it's blank). But there are also times when the phase stops instantly and interrupts everything, like the Pepper Spray at Camp Happy Trails.

I'm not entirely happy with the idea of using ROA for understanding Double Up or Combo, because it's not about two cards interacting weirdly. It's basic stuff about what a single card means, what type of card it is, and how it's intended to be used. I wish this sort of thing were clarified in the rules pamphlets or the FAQ, similar to the commentaries for the vehicle cards in the zombies vignette.

Anyway, I hope the guidelines above help anyone scratching their heads over these cards.

Thanks heaps to AJ for taking the time to respond in the middle of all the Series 4 fulfillment madness.

Here are four more custom Final Girls I'm currently working on. Spot the references!

Like the last batch I posted about a few months ago, these are designed to use the components from the Box of Props and Guest Stars. I rarely use the Signature Action cards or the Ultimate Dice because I feel they make the game a bit too easy. Instead I thought they might work well as ultimate abilities to unlock. This also let me theme each final girl around a particular Signature Action.

Of these four, only Gina has been playtested so far. (I've also been playtesting and refining some of the characters in the previous post.) If you have any suggestions for improving them, I'd love to hear it.

Some of these might be better called Initial Girls, heh. But now they get a chance to survive the movie. How come the most interesting characters always get bumped off early?

I didn't use VRG's online create-a-card tool for these; I used my own Photoshop templates. I made the portraits by taking film stills and running them through some basic filters for a simple comic-book effect. Callie's portrait hasn't come out too flattering and I might need to redo it. Actually it's really hard to find a good reference photo for Callie with the proper grim and serious look, because the film character she's inspired by is always smiling ...

The names are legally distinct knock-offs in traditional Final Girl style. The special items are based on existing Final Girl items where possible, though Callie's Note is original.

Gina

Location: Maple Lane

Power: Prescience signature action card, or if she already has it, ability to roll the Search die and ignore heart slashes if she rolls a cross

Item: Gina's Crucifix

A bit of a wild child with a knack for picking dodgy boyfriends, Gina's faith is her rock in an otherwise chaotic life. Last night she had a horrible nightmare in which she and all her friends died (and there were kids skipping rope involved for some reason). Clearly a warning from God that something bad is coming.

Callie

Location: Camp Happy Trails

Power: Double Up signature action, or if she already has it, it now costs 0

Item: Callie's Note (a 'meet me at you-know-where for a good time' message, which gives you various ways to move Victims around)

Not a happy camper, Callie is relentlessly bitchy and boy-crazy. Even she doesn't really know why she's angry with the world, but her behaviour is going to make it hard to get anyone to listen now that there's a maniac on the loose. But getting murdered tonight isn't on her wish list.

^(Callie has a permanent penalty: one fewer Victim will follow her. She's intended as a kind of 'expert mode' for The Happy Trails Horror, but of course can be used anywhere. If the Stubborn Kids event comes out she might find herself unable to get anyone to follow her at all!)

Skye

Location: USS Konrad

Power: Will to Live signature action, or if she already has it, she can move herself and the Killer around (still working on this)

Item: Skye's Thermal Visor

Hailed as a heroine for making a successful crash-landing years ago and saving a handful of crew, Skye has a guilty secret. She only managed to land the starship by ditching the passenger hold on the way down. Still haunted by what she did, she now finds that the Killer has a certain strange fascination with her.

^(Skye has a couple of penalties on her Victim Saved slots, including having to kill someone (again).)

Val

Location: Falconwood

Power: Bribe signature action, or if she already has it, can roll the Search die and stop Enemy movement if she rolls a cross (a bit like the Crucifix item)

Item: Val's Enchanted Spear

Valerie got a little too obsessed with her D&D character, a girl disguised as a boy to keep her from being fed to the local dragon. She made her own costume and soon started talking about a past life as an actual girl from the Dark Ages. Her parents had an attack of Satanic Panic, especially when they discovered that her homemade prop spear had magically become incredibly sharp. Val ran away from home and is now sleeping rough in her period clothes while she prepares to slay evil once again.

^(Val was originally meant for the Storybook Woods without the role-play/reincarnation stuff, but I had too many Series 2 characters so I rewrote her for Series 3.)

Legal bit: These are unofficial fan-made cards for personal non-commercial use only.

Double Up and Combo Signature Actions - Rules guidelines from AJ Porfirio (designer)

More custom Final Girls who use the Signature Actions and Ultimate Dice (WIP)