Time Warp

Event

Spell. Paradox.

Cost: 1. XP: 2.

Mystic

Fast. Play immediately after an investigator at your location finishes resolving an action during his or her turn.

Undo that action (return the game state to exactly the way it was before that action was performed, except for the playing of Time Warp and its costs).

Stephen Somers
Dim Carcosa #311.
Time Warp

FAQs

(from the official FAQ or responses to the official rules question form)
  • NB: ArkhamDB now incorporates errata from the Arkham Horror FAQ in its card text, so the ArkhamDB text and the card image above differ, as the ArkhamDB text has been edited to contain this erratum (updated January 2022): Erratum: The second part of this card’s ability should read: “Undo that action (return the game state to exactly the way it was before that action was performed, except for the playing of Time Warp and its costs).” - FAQ, v.1.4, September 2018

This card will prompt a lot of crazy rules questions. Here are some answers. The headline, though:

"The fact of the matter is that 99% of the time, this card is going to be used in quite simple situations, like after failing an attack against a retaliate enemy ... The only really important thing to remember is if you can’t return the game state to the way it was before you played Time Warp, the effect fails (i.e. you can’t pick and choose which things to reset, it’s all or nothing)." [emphasis Frank's]

  • Q: What happens if the action that's being undone has (as per special symbols in Rite of Seeking) immediately ended the investigator's turn? A: Even if the action you were performing ended your turn, you can still play Time Warp as a reaction to that action resolving. Time Warp doesn’t say "play only during your turn" nor does it take an action to play, so there’s no reason why you couldn’t play it even if your turn ended. In playing it, you would return the game state to the way it was before your turn "immediately ended"”, so you could then continue to play out your turn, as normal.

  • Q: Can you play Time Warp after an action ends the game? A: Note that you could not play Time Warp in reaction to an action that ended the game, because ending the game is immediate, and no more cards can be played once the game has ended.

  • Q: When returning the game state to 'exactly the way it was before that action was performed': if I use Scrying, and then play Time Warp, do I put back the scryed cards in the order I saw them? More generally, how does this card interact with scrying? What happens if the action I've performed, like Calling in Favors, has shuffled my deck? A: To the extent that cards can be returned in the same order, they should be. So for example, if you use Scrying to reorder the top 3 cards of the encounter deck and then play Time Warp, you should go back and reorder those cards into their original order. Likewise, if I drew a card and then played Time Warp, the card I drew should be returned to the top of my deck. If you are unable to return the game state to exactly the way it was before the action was performed, the effect fails.To the extent that you know the exact order of things, you should return the game state to exactly the way it was. But for cards whose order you did not know, it’s fine to keep them randomized. For example, if I played No Stone Unturned and searched my deck for any card (let’s say Encyclopedia), it was part of my unknown randomized deck, so if somebody then plays Time Warp, I can (and should) just shuffle Encyclopedia back into my deck and that satisfies the effect of Time Warp. But, as previously noted, if I drew a card from the top of my deck and then played Time Warp, the card I drew should be returned to the top of my deck, because I knew that’s where it was.

However, a randomized deck is a randomized deck – there’s no way of knowing the exact order of the cards, so keeping it shuffled is fine. You still don’t know what the order of the deck was, so the game state is effectively the same. [this is another super useful point]

  • Q: How does this card interact with Quantum Flux? Do you need to be able to recall what cards were in your discard pile? Or do you just return the drawn card to the top of your deck and proceed from there? A: If you know exactly what cards were in your discard pile, you should retrieve those cards and place them back in your discard pile in order to return the game state to exactly the way it was before Quantum Flux was played. If you can’t, the effect fails.

  • Q: How does this card interact with, say, playing a card in a free trigger window during a skill test? Minh investigates, and plays Cryptic Research before committing cards? A: Time Warp resets the game state to the way it was immediately before the action was performed. So anything that happened during that action gets reset, as well. That includes the playing of fast cards, the committing of cards to skill tests or spending of resources to boost skills, attacks of opportunity, all of it gets reset.

  • Q: Can I play Time Warp after an action ends with an investigator being defeated? A: If the action eliminated an investigator, another investigator can't play Time Warp in response to the action because the first investigator is no longer at the same location (they've been defeated).

  • Q: Do I get Time Warp back after I play Time Warp? A: Time Warp itself is not reset. It is currently being played while you are resetting things, so it is in an in-between state (not quite in play, not in your hand or discard pile, just sort of in limbo). Then once everything is reset, you discard Time Warp, as normal.

Last updated

Reviews

"It's just a jump to the left

And then a step to the right

With your hands on your hips

You bring your knees in tight

But it's the pelvic thrust

That really drives you insane

Let's do the Time Warp again

Let's do the Time Warp again"

- The Rocky Horror Picture Show

(Someone had to post it...)

AndyB · 943

Neat if not situational card.

Its not a homerun of a card, but it is great at mitigating threat, which Mystic is becoming the best at.

Overall, really cool for a support character or a character who is prone to risky plays. Save yourself and your group. Stitch Wendy back together with a Time Warp after Roland blasts her brains out with the Shotgun.

Be kind. Rewind.

Myriad · 1219
I do have some questions about how this card works. If for example cards were committed to a skill test during that action, are they returned to their owners' hands?? Do I get my ammo/charge/supply back, if I used one? Do I undo damage/horror taken or done?? And, most importantly, do I get my action back?? — matt88 · 3116
*if card were commited* — matt88 · 3116
*cards* — matt88 · 3116
Yes, the full game state — Shiro1981 · 1

After playing with two of these in my Sefina deck, Time Warp is one of my favourite cards in the game! Not because it's particularly super powerful (I think it's good, but not exceptional). It's just that it feels so fun to play.

The first time I played this card after buying it, I did an action that caused the Act deck to flip, and then I failed a resulting test which directly dealt me a permanent trauma. Not only did Time Warp undo that trauma, the fact that it fully reverted the Act back to the previous Act felt SO powerful, being able to manipulate such an important game aspect. (Note, however, that I think being able to timewarp the Act or Agenda is probably pretty rare, since those don't often flip due to an investigator action.)

It was also really funny to me that after traveling back in time to undo that action and unflip the Act, I just immediately went back in and did it again. If I had got the trauma on the second attempt... at that point I would have deserved it. I just needed to succeed at that check though, and I did the second time!

Especially in multiplayer, playing this on another player's action to help them fix the mess they caused from their action is just delightful. "Oh something went wrong? No it didn't." Especially if other players aren't expecting it, and they get all their commited cards back in hand, unexhaust assets they used, etc. Just remember you can't use it after a player is defeated on their action, because then Time Warp can no longer target them.

Sometimes it can be hard to remember all of those details of what changed during a complex action, which in my opinion is part of what makes this card fun, but I can see it as a reason not to play Time Warp. It can be a bit of a headache. I definitely recommend reading through the FAQ here about undoing effects such as shuffling a deck. Sometimes you simply can't play Time Warp if you can't get the game state exactly back to how it was, but in many cases it's fine. "A randomized deck is a randomized deck." It doesn't necessarily have to go back into the exact same unknown order.

Also note, however, that Time Warp can sometimes let you know at least what the top card of a deck is. I once played Time Warp after taking a simple draw action where I drew my weakness. I went back in time, putting the weakness back on top of my deck, and then if I didn't have a way to shuffle my deck, I simply would have drawn the weakness at the end of the round. Thankfully, I had a Quantum Flux ready to go.

Having Time Warp in hand feels good too, even before you play it. It's like a defensive trump card, similar to Ward of Protection, but for player actions instead of treachery draws. It feels like a backup in hand similar to a Lucky, though Time Warp is more situational.

quilynn · 4
Now I am interested in which act you advanced. — AlderSign · 236
Just a guess, but it does seem to match an act from the Dunwich Legacy where a lot of investigators can be derailed ;) — bee123 · 31
An underrated card. Team-wide (or I suppose location-wide) autofail protection for 1 resource / fast / 2 XP is really good, even if limited to player phase. And then there will occasionally be times where all that other text on the card does something. I think it's underrated just because it's so complex that the primary use of the card is kind of hidden. — CaiusDrewart · 3125
@bee123 that's a good guess ;) — quilynn · 4

As the FAQ say, the game state is not "exactly reset", since Time Warp itself is not reset. However, the cost in ressources of Time walk should be reset, making it technically free.

(Though you can't use it if you don't have any ressources)

Another interesting fact is that if it cannot prevent an investigator from killing itself (FAQ: a defeated investigator is no longer in your location), it can prevent an investigator from accidentally killing another one (for example by missing an attack, or by using Delve too Deep)

An important restriction is that you have to wait the end of the action. Which means that you can Time Warp in the middle of the resolution of Delve too Deep, etc ...

Anyway, this card is probably very strong in high difficulty, where the chaos bag has a lot of variance. And it will be quite fun to use.

MoiMagnus · 63
Add another card to the troll decklist... — CecilAlucardX · 10
I'm pretty sure it still costs 1; paying its cost occurs after the action you reset, and is therefore not in the card's effect. — SGPrometheus · 809
Using this card to Delve Too Deep safely is a great thought. Often towards the end of the scenario you're hoping to Delve, but worried about one or two encounter cards that could be fatal. Time Warp in hand would totally eliminate that risk. — CaiusDrewart · 3125
@SGPrometheus Paying cost occurs AFTER the action to be reset but BEFORE Time Warp resolves. This creates a timeline of Initial State > Relevant Action > Pay Cost > Resolve Time Warp. Thus when you reset to the Initial State, you go back to the amount of resources you had then - effectively recovering the paid resource. — Death by Chocolate · 1440
To anyone reading this recently, the card was eratta'd since my last post, so it no longer recovers the cost. — Death by Chocolate · 1440
Does this trigger Dianas abillity? — Doomwing · 1
@Doomwing im also looking for that answer — arvendor · 26
No, it would have to say cancel or ignore on it, this is an "undo". — Zerogrim · 292

This card is too strong for Parallel Agnes. Playing this with Soothing Melody and Heirloom of Hyperborea, I felt like Dr. Strange who repeatedly tried to bargain for my teammates to pass critical skill tests.

Together with at least one copy of Ward of Protection, Alter Fate, and Deny Existence in draw loop engine, our team was unstoppable in The Blob scenario.

ichinokata00 · 452
How exactly? Time warp would just undo the heal and the card draw? — broccolio · 1
|| Agnes' ability allows recursion, and with proper card draw management, you can easily trim down your deck to 5-6 Spell Event cards that you really need. Trimming down is easy to do on a 25 card deck if you have Soothing Melody, Scroll of Secrets and Agnes' Heirloom. — ichinokata00 · 452
Afterwards, you can play those 5-6 Spell event cards with great consistency. Time Warp, Soothing, Ward(2), Read the Signs and Spectral Razor are good targets for recursion. Just ensure that you don't deck out or you'll have to reshuffle the discard pile to your deck. — ichinokata00 · 452