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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Cáo Pī 曹丕

Posted by Ricky Chua On 10:15 AM 32 comments
Translated description:
"The Dominating Successor 霸业的继承者 (bà yè dè jì chéng zhě)"

Wikipedia link: Cao Pi Wiki

Who is he:
The successor to Cao Cao 曹操, Cao Pi's ascension to the throne of Cao Wei 曹魏 is fraught with controversy. Cao Cao literally had a litter of male children, all of which were eligible to succession. The most promising among them were Cao Ang 曹昂, Cao Zhang 曹彰, Cao Zhi 曹植, Cao Chong 曹冲 and Cao Pi. Cao Ang was killed in action early on at the battle at Wan Cheng 宛城之战. Cao Chong was a child prodigy and reportedly Cao Cao's favorite son. This was where the controversy starts.Cao Chong died mysteriously of an illness at age 13 and it is believed that Cao Pi had something to do with it. After Cao Cao's death, Cao Zhang appeared to be planning to seize power from Cao Pi. Cao Pi promptly sent Cao Zhang back to the frontlines, far from the capital. Cao Pi then crushed many talented staff of Cao Zhi to cripple his power. He even wanted Cao Zhi executed, which led to Cao Zhi's famous "7 step poem". Ultimately, Cao Pi was two extremes of achievements: he dissolved the Han Dynasty 汉朝 became the first Emperor of Wei, yet was quite a failure both domestically and in war.

Character ability 1: "Unnatural Death 行殇 (xíng shāng)"
You can immediately take possession of all the cards (both on-hand and equipped) of any player that dies.

Character ability 2: "Banish into Exile 放逐 (fàng zhú)"
Everytime you suffer damage, you can force any player (except yourself) to draw X number of cards. X being the units of health you have lost (measured from your max health level) after the damage has been taken into account. By doing so, this player will have to "Flip Character Card" (please click on link for more info).

Character ability 3: [Ruler ability] "Exalt the Powerful 颂威 (sǒng wēi)"
Whenever any Wei Character (other than yourself) makes a judgement, if the judgement card that takes effect is the suit of "clubs" or "spades", that character can choose to let you draw 1 card from the deck.

Ability's relation to story:
"Unnatural death" makes for interesting discussion. It definitely has link to the story, but it is not clear in which context. Many characters have died prematurely whose deaths are attributed to Cao Pi, even his own wife Zhen Ji 甄姬. This forms the basis for the game ability to take all the cards, since it implies he was the puppet master behind the scenes and their death is his advantage. However some argue that Cao Pi himself died an "unnaturally early" death at the age of 39.

"Banish into Exile" is significantly mentioned in the story as Cao Pi's preferred punishment for his political opponents. His victims include his (half) brothers Cao Zhi and Cao Zhang, as well as the last Emperor of Han Dynasty.

There does not seem to be any clear link for "Exalt the Powerful". Probably just a generic add-on by the game makers.

Additional info based on story:
1. Most famous achievement - Becoming Emperor of Wei after demolishing the Han Dynasty. Though Cao Cao had this in his sights for years, he decided to let his descendants form the empire and Cao Pi fulfilled that role. In an interesting twist of fate, Si Ma Yi 司马懿 copied Cao Cao by personally building the foundation of the Jin Dynasty 晋朝, but allowing his descendants to follow through. It is ironic that the first of the three kingdoms to fall to Si Ma Yi was Cao Wei.

2. Cause of death - Cao Pi died of illness at age 39. It is believed that his failure to defeat Sun Wu 孙吴 and Shu Han 蜀汉 led to embarrassment, something which Cao Pi severely resented. Unable to swallow his pride, this unhappiness precipitated into illness which killed him.

FAQ and Disambiguation

1. As Ruler, will Cao Pi still be able to draw a card if a Wei's character's judgement for Eight Trigrams card is black?

Ans: Yes. Although the Eight Trigrams judgement failed if it is black, it is still the judgement card that comes into effect.


2. If Cao Pi makes a judgement that is a black card, can he draw a card also?

Ans: No. It only applies for Wei Characters other than Cao Pi himself.


3. Can Cao Pi ask one guy to flip his card twice if he suffers 2 units of damage ? Such that the player flipped can draw a lot of  cards and still be able to play the next turn ?

Ans: No. Flipping character card is based on number of instances he receives damage , not on the number of units of damage.


4. Is it compulsory to use Cao Pi's '' Banish into Exile'' ability?

Ans: No. Cao Pi can choose not to use it.


5.  If Cao Pi is a Ruler and mistakenly killed a Loyalist, does he discard all his cards? This means his 1st ability  is useless to acquire the dead person's cards?

Ans: In that scenario the following sequence occurs:

     1. Cao Pi (Ruler) first acquires all the cards from the dead Loyalist .
     2. Then Cao Pi discards all his cards,including those he just picked up from the deal Loyalist , as   punishment for killing his loyalist.

End Result= Cao Pi will still end up with no cards on- hand or equipped.


6. When Cao Pi gets hit and is on the brink of death , could he use his Banish ability on an ally to receive receive cards so that they can use a peach to save Cao Pi?

Ans: No. When ''brink of death'' occurs , every other ability halts untill he is rescued. So only after he is rescued can he use Banish .


7. Does Cao Pi get to gain the Judgement cards awaiting judgement that are placed on a character before that character died (eg, the character still has a lightning on him but he died before his turn)

Ans: I have no firm answer to that. This is still being debated. One one hand ,no, the cards in the Judgement Area are not considered owned by any player. On the other hand, yes, because Si Ma Yi is allowed to grab a card from the judgement area just like using STEAL or DISMANTLE.


8. Can Cao Pi re-flip a character card with his abilty?

Ans: Yes. Cao Pi can re-flip such that the turn will not be missed.

32 comments:

  1. What if the judgment card of spade or club is not the effective card to use, will Cao Pi still able to draw a card? For instance judging for EIGHT TRIGRAMS when receive an ATTACK and get a spade card, which is not effective as to DODGE.

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  2. Ah interesting question! When the judgement card takes effect, I have interpreted it to mean "the final judgement card whose suit or number is used to determine the outcome". The outcome itself is secondary, its the suit or number on the card itself that is important.

    The reason i interpret this way is because of Si Ma Yi and Zhang Jiao, who can switch the judgement card. Therefore the card that takes effect is the card after all the switching has been done and will be used to determine the outcome.

    Therefore to answer your question, if a Wei Character has EIGHT TRIGRAMS and he needs to flip a judgement card for it, a black-suit would allow Cao Pi to draw one card even though the EIGHT TRIGRAMS did not "help" to dodge the attack.

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  3. Whenever any Wei Character makes a judgement

    do this count Cao Pi too ?
    -Jagon-

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  4. That is a typo on my part. It should read "other Wei Characters other than himself".

    Thanks for bringing it to my attention!

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  5. Hey Ricky,

    Are you sure Cao Pi can't draw a card if the judgement card was flipped by him? Because when I read the card, it doesn't say anything about excluding himself. Qi Ta = any, right? I could be wrong though, but just wanted to make sure.

    Thanks again!

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  6. Actually never mind, ignore my last question. Qi Ta = others. Don't know why I thought it meant "any". Sorry about that.

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  7. Woah... got me confused there for a moment. But yeap, 其他 is referring to others. :)

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  8. For Cao Pi's second ability, if he gets hit by 2 damage, can he ask one guy to flip his card twice, effectively allowing him to draw a lot of cards and still be able to play next turn?

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  9. Flipping his card is based on number of times he receives damage, not on the number of units of damage.

    For eg: a wine-attack caused him 2 units of damage, but his card is only flipped over once.

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  10. Banish into Exile from Cao Pi must be used? Or can he not use it in a one-on-one situation?

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  11. He can choose not to use it. It is not compulsory.

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  12. Wouldn't that make him too strong? Because he on one-on-one be able to beat the last guy easily, making the opponent lose a turn every other turn...

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  13. Not really. Every time the opponent loses a turn, he gains cards. Plus the opponent can unleash a lot of damage in his active turn till the turn ends before he needs to lose the next turn. A lot can happen in that one turn.

    Also, in 1-to-1, once Cao Pi flips the opponent for 1 damage, he will not flip the opponent back again (bcos it cancels the "lose-a-turn").

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  14. If Cao Pi is a Ruler and mistakenly killed a Loyalist, does he discard all his cards regarding his 1st ability useless to acquire the death person's cards. Or otherwise?

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  15. In that scenario, the following sequence occurs:

    1. Cao Pi (Ruler) first acquires all the cards from the dead Loyalist.

    2. Then Cao Pi discards all his cards, including those he just picked up from the dead loyalist, as punishment for killing his loyalist.

    End result = Cao Pi will still end up with no cards on-hand or equipped.

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  16. When Coa Pi gets hit and is on the brink of death, could he use his Banishment on an ally to receive cards so that they can use a peach on Cao Pi to save himself?

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  17. When "brink of death" occurs, every other ability halts until he is rescued. So only after he is rescued can he use Banish.

    The person targeted for banish can pick up 3 cards (if not ruler) since it is calculated from the moment he receives damage and not after he is rescued.

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  18. Could you change the front of the page to reflect that flipping a card does not immediately end a turn? Just to clear up further confusion in the future.

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  19. Thanks for that heads-up Danny. I made that change in "Game Rules Part 6" but did not realize that the old version of the rule is still on this page. Duly updated!

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  20. Does Cao Pi get to gain the Judgement cards awaiting judgement that are placed on a character before that character died? (e.g. the character still has a Lightning on him but he died before his turn)

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  21. No, the cards in the Judgement Area are not considered owned by any player.

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  22. Can Cao Pi re-flip a character card with his ability?

    ex : a player is due to miss his next turn, can cao pi re-flip it so that the player doesn't miss his next turn

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  23. Yes Cao Pi can re-flip such that the turn will not be missed. This works well with Cao Ren, Demi-God Cao Cao, and Demi-God Lu Bu.

    See Cao Ren's post for more info on this.

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  24. From the chinese description, other Wei Characters that undergone judgment can choose not to allow Cao Pi draw a card even when the judgment card is black suited. correct me if i'm wrong.

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  25. Yes you are right! I'll make the changes accordingly. Thank you!

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  26. If Cao Pi is the ruler (and thus has the ruler ability, Song Wei), and Zhen Ji (other Wei character) flips cards for her ability, Luo Shen, does Cao Pi get to draw a card for every black judgment Zhen Ji flips? And if so, when does Cao Pi draw for his ability, Song Wei? Right after each card Zhen Ji flips, or after Zhen Ji flips a red judgment and ends her ability?

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  27. yeah, husband and wife is a sick combo if they are allies, but of course if zhen ji chooses not to let cao pi draw, he's letting his role be pretty damn obvious

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  28. just wanted to mention that you should rename his description to "the conqueror's successor" instead of the dominating successor. "ba ye" refers to his father, not to himself.

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  29. Is it just me, or does this guy seem a little girly? Was he kind of... girly in the book? I imagine him as being very flamboyant.

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  30. "Exalt the Powerful" perfectly fits with his wife,Zhen Ji

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  31. When Cao pi kills Ma Su, what comes first? He takes Ma Su's cards first or he loses his cards then takes Ma su's cards?

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  32. So...when Zhēn Jī 甄姬 uses her ability to "choose to flip a judgement card" does this mean that Cáo Pī 曹丕 can ask to draw for each black suite that she flips or does the red suite count as the final effect for Cáo Pī 曹丕?

    ReplyDelete

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