Chains

Some card abilities cause a player to gain one or more chains. If a player gains chains, that player increases their chain tracker by the number of chains gained. A player cannot have more than 24 chains.

If the active player has at least one chain when refilling their hand during step 5 of their turn and would draw cards based on the number of remaining cards in their hand, they draw fewer cards according to the chart below. After chains prevent a player from drawing one or more cards, that player sheds a chain by reducing the number on their chain tracker by one.

# of Chains	How many fewer cards to draw
1-6	1
7-12	2
13-18	3
19-24	4

Related Topic: Drawing Cards

—KeyForge Master Rulebook v17.3 March 2024

Rulings

• I have 2 chains and 7 cards in hand when moving to my draw cards step. Will I shed a chain during this step?
  No, you will not shed a chain during this draw cards step. Chains are only shed when a player would draw cards during the draw step and the chains prevent them from doing so. Since you already have 7 cards in your hand, you aren’t going to be drawing any cards, and thus don’t lose any of your chains.

  Source: Rulebook

I have 2 chains and 7 cards in hand when moving to my draw cards step. Will I shed a chain during this step?

No, you will not shed a chain during this draw cards step. Chains are only shed when a player would draw cards during the draw step and the chains prevent them from doing so. Since you already have 7 cards in your hand, you aren’t going to be drawing any cards, and thus don’t lose any of your chains.

Source: Rulebook

• I have 2 chains and 5 cards in hand when moving to my draw cards step. Will I shed a chain during this step?
  Yes, you will shed a chain during this step. Chains are only shed when a player would draw cards during the draw step and the chains prevent them from doing so. You only have 5 cards in hand, and normally you would draw a card to refill your hand. However because of the chains you are prevented from drawing that card. Since you would normally have drawn the card and the chain prevented it, you then shed 1 chain.

  Source: Rulebook

I have 2 chains and 5 cards in hand when moving to my draw cards step. Will I shed a chain during this step?

Yes, you will shed a chain during this step. Chains are only shed when a player would draw cards during the draw step and the chains prevent them from doing so. You only have 5 cards in hand, and normally you would draw a card to refill your hand. However because of the chains you are prevented from drawing that card. Since you would normally have drawn the card and the chain prevented it, you then shed 1 chain.

Source: Rulebook

• If by some weird disparity in deck strength, the chain bid auction in Adaptive goes above 24 chains, what happens? Do I continue with the established pattern where every 6 chains is a one card handicap, or is 24 chains a hard limit?
  A deck can never have more than 24 chains.

  Source: FFG Live

If by some weird disparity in deck strength, the chain bid auction in Adaptive goes above 24 chains, what happens? Do I continue with the established pattern where every 6 chains is a one card handicap, or is 24 chains a hard limit?

A deck can never have more than 24 chains.

Source: FFG Live