Boost
She is better at one named attribute — sometimes only attacking, only defending, or only in certain fights.
+20 Attack when attacking.
Boost her Attack and a Greed fight ignores it entirely.
Carried by FLINT — UNDER FOUR WEEKS
Form SH-9 · Dept. of Extraordinary Powers
EVERY WITCH
CHEATS DIFFERENTLY.
Special Powers are the only place Five Fights gets complicated. They bend an attribute, curse the next fight, steal a point, or make losing useful.
Her lore chooses the theme. The game decides what is legal. Learn the glyph and you will know the trick when it fires at the table.
Section 01 · Where they fit
THE BASIC IDEA
Play a Witch, call an attribute, they answer with one of theirs. Powers resolve, then the numbers are compared.
No power fires whenever it likes. Each acts at a fixed moment, and the order never changes — so two powers meeting always resolve the same way.
01 · Cancel
A Block takes the other Witch's power off the table first.
02 · Set the terms
A Switch moves the duel; a Copy takes their number.
03 · Take away
Last fight's curse, then Reduce and Leech.
04 · Add
Boosts land, coins are flipped, a wager surges.
05 · Compare
Higher wins. A tie goes to Win ties, then to Witchcraft.
06 · The point
A Void stops it landing, a Steal takes one of theirs, Keep lead decides who calls next.
07 · Afterwards
A new curse is cast, the hand grows, a Reveal looks at their cards.
Section 02 · The taxonomy
THE FIELD GUIDE
Fourteen families that fire by themselves, grouped by what they do to you. The sentence in each box is the rule exactly as a card prints it, and the Witch named underneath is really carrying it.
Change the fight
The two numbers about to be compared, which attribute they are, and whether the other power happens at all.
Reduce
The opposing Witch is worse at one named attribute for this duel.
The opposing Witch loses 20 Delusion this duel.
Same catch as a boost: it must name the attribute being contested.
Carried by OVERDRAFT — SOMATIC RESET
Leech
She takes points off the opponent and keeps them, so the gap moves twice.
Drains 15 points of the contested stat from the opposing Witch and adds them to this Witch.
No named attribute, no conditions. Whatever was called, she drains it.
Carried by SEVERANCE — RECLAIM INNER POWER
Lucky
A coin, flipped fresh every duel. On heads, the biggest bonus in the game.
Flip a coin each duel: on heads, this Witch gets +30 to the contested stat.
Answering her is a bet.
Carried by HISS — DESIRE FREQUENCY
Switch
Defending only, and optional: she may drag the duel onto another attribute.
When defending, this Witch may switch the duel to Greed.
Declining is legal, and sometimes right.
Carried by AVIARY — UNLOCK EACH CAGE
Copy
She takes the opponent's printed number instead of her own.
This Witch copies the opponent's value of the contested stat.
Equal numbers, so the duel usually falls through to the Witchcraft tiebreak.
Carried by HUSH — EVERYTHING IS A MIRROR
Block
The opposing Witch's Special Power does not happen this duel.
Cancels the opposing Witch's special power this duel.
The whole power, aftermath included. Two blocks cancel each other.
Carried by VOLTAGE — ENERGETIC CONTRACT
Change what the win is worth
The comparison happens as normal. What it costs, and who leads next, does not.
Win ties
On an exact tie she wins outright, before Witchcraft gets a word.
If the contested stat ties, this Witch wins the duel outright.
Nothing in most fights. A real play on the attribute you both have nothing in.
Carried by VELVET — DEFINITELY ONE THOUSAND
Void
She can lose the duel without the point being scored against you.
If this Witch loses, the point is not scored. The winner still takes the lead.
You buy back the point, never the tempo. Narrower versions cover only a defeat by 5, 7 or 10.
Carried by ONCE — ONE TRANSMISSION
Steal
Winning with her also takes a point off their score.
When this Witch wins her duel, the opponent also loses 1 point.
Only on a win that scored, and only if they have a point to lose.
Carried by PATENT — REVENUE INCREASES
Keep lead
Win or lose, her owner calls the next fight.
Win or lose, her owner leads the next fight.
Losing on purpose with her is a plan.
Carried by FRACTAL — FRACTAL FIELD ANCHOR
Leave something behind
Both cards are spent either way. These three outlive the duel that spent them.
Haunt
A curse follows the opponent into the next fight, on whatever it contests.
After this duel, the opponent's next Witch fights at −15 on whatever stat is contested.
Cast win or lose, and public — so they can feed it a Witch they were losing anyway.
Carried by MERIDIAN — 10X QUANTUM LEAP
Grow
When she leaves the table, every Witch still in your hand is permanently better.
When this Witch falls in defeat, every Witch in your hand gains +10 Delusion.
Some pay out only when she loses, which makes throwing her away a move.
Carried by FASCIA — CONSISTENT $10,000
Reveal
Once a match, look at part of their hidden hand.
Once per match, look at 2 random cards in the opponent's hand.
Worth most late: by fight three, two cards is most of what is left.
Carried by EPHEMERIS — ASTRO BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
Section 03 · The two that ask a question
RISK&TRAP
The two exceptions, and they ask opposite questions. One is a choice you make on the attack; the other is a condition your opponent walks into on the defence.
Risk
“Do I dare?”
A Risk Witch offers a wager, and only when you lead with her — taken as part of committing the attack, with no taking it back. The upside applies to this duel; lose the comparison and you pay the downside.
An exact tie pays nobody, declining is free, and a Block cancels the whole thing — no surge, no stake, no downside.
The eight wagers
| Take the risk and… | …but if she loses |
|---|---|
| This fight is worth 2 points to you | The opponent scores 2 points instead of 1 |
| This fight is worth 2 points to you | One random unplayed Witch changes hands with the opponent |
| She fights at +25 on the contested attribute | The opponent scores 2 points instead of 1 |
| She fights at +25 on the contested attribute | Every Witch left in their hand gains 10 Witchcraft |
| She fights at +25 on the contested attribute | Every Witch left in your hand loses 10 Witchcraft |
| She fights at +20 on the contested attribute | One random unplayed Witch changes hands with the opponent |
| Losing the duel scores no point against you | Every Witch left in their hand gains 15 Attack |
| Losing the duel scores no point against you | Every Witch left in your hand loses 15 Witchcraft |
Trap
“Did they walk into it?”
A Trap Witch is bait, and matters only when she defends. Nothing to declare, nothing to activate: your whole decision is answering with her. If her condition holds, the trap springs by itself.
Conditions read only public facts — the called attribute, the printed statlines, hand sizes, the score, the fights already played. The table tells you whether she is armed while you are still deciding; the payoff lands after you commit.
The fifteen snares
| Springs when… | …and then |
|---|---|
| The called attribute is her highest | She fights at +20 |
| The called attribute is her lowest | The duel moves to her highest attribute |
| The called attribute is her lowest | The point is not scored if she loses |
| The attacker has already won a fight on the called attribute | The attacking Witch loses 25 on the contested attribute |
| The attacker has already won a fight on the called attribute | The duel moves to her highest attribute |
| The attacking Witch's five attributes total 300 or more | The attacking Witch loses 25 on the contested attribute |
| The attacking Witch's called attribute is 80 or more | The attacking Witch loses 20 on the contested attribute |
| The attacking Witch's called attribute is 70 or more | She fights at +15 |
| She is one of your last two Witches | She fights at +25 |
| She is one of your last two Witches | The point is not scored if she loses |
| She is one of your last two Witches | Her owner leads the next fight, win or lose |
| You are behind on points | The point is not scored if she loses |
| You are behind on points | She fights at +20 |
| The attacker still holds 5 or more Witches | The attacking Witch loses 20 on the contested attribute |
| You hold 3 or fewer Witches | She fights at +15 |
Section 04 · Provenance
WHY DOES SHE HAVE THAT POWER?
Not at random, and not by the AI either. Her verified claims are read for motifs — protection, obsession, certainty, mimicry, control, risk and nine others. Each motif opens a short menu of legal families; the game picks from it, sets the numbers and writes the rule sentence itself.
01 · Claim
One verified sentence from her own public sales page, quoted character for character.
02 · Motif
The theme it carries, from a fixed list. Protection. Obsession. Certainty. Mimicry.
03 · Legal powers
Each motif opens a short menu of families — and nothing outside it.
04 · One power
The game picks one, sets the numbers, and writes the rule sentence itself.
The whole menu · fifteen themes
Seeing and reading
Reveal
Protection and survival
Void
A curse that lingers
Haunt
Obsession and pursuit
Haunt · Steal
Draining and commission
Leech · Steal
Mimicry and mirroring
Copy
Becoming someone else
Switch
Luck and manifestation
Lucky
Certainty and guarantee
Win ties
Dissolving and cancelling
Block · Reduce
Speed and deadlines
Boost
Legacy and teaching
Grow
Control and tempo
Keep lead
Everything on the table
Risk
The condition in the small print
Trap
Evidence creates the stats. Lore picks the family. Code owns the price.
A power the engine cannot execute does not exist, so this page is the whole vocabulary. How the numbers are computed →
Now go and find out which one she is holding.