ive bought the core set and what expantions my local store had and ive read the core rule book and the expantion rules. but i canot find anything on " winter and summer" there are card effects that say "if its winter the card has this effect" and "if it is summer it has this effect". and i was just woundering what that meant for the game and how do i know what season it is and how does it change from season to season

In short, the cards will tell you when it is summer or winter. There are 6 cards that have this effect:

• Black Raven (A Song of Summer): summer
• White Raven (The Winds of Winter): winter
• Crown of Winter (Lords of Winter): winter
• Crown of Azor Ahai (Kings of the Storm): either
• Crown of Meereen (Queen of Dragons): summer
• Cotter Pyke (Trial by Combat): winter

Note that other effects of these cards are independant and are associated only with the card itself, not the season.

Jajord said:

Also, if there is no card effect in play that is currently making it Winter or Summer it is neither Winter nor Summer. This should be explicitly stated in the core set… But anyway…

So if I play a card, say a character and his effect is one thing if its winter and anouther if its summer, and none of those 5 cards have been played it can't use eaither of its card effects? 

That is correct Jajord.  If there no effect in play telling you what season it is, there is no "default" season - it simply is not Winter or Summer.  Which does mean any cards that require a specific season for their ability will not work without it.

mdc273 said:

ktom said:

A core game concept is the season and you're arguing it shouldn't be in the core rulebook? Just look at all the times this question gets asked on these boards as to why it should be called out there. And actually there is a section of the rulebook that clarifies how character agendas work. It's the agenda section. The character becomes an agenda and is therefore covered by that section. I think the majority of people don't struggle with the idea of a character becoming an agenda. They tend to struggle with some of the oddities that can occur from it. A lot of people seem to struggle with what season it is if they don't know what seasons are to begin with.

mdc273 said:

"Summer" and "Winter" are, for all intents and purposes, traits that the game can gain. Just like other traits, they mean nothing in and of themselves. It is all card driven. And once people see the card, that's how they understand and treat the whole thing. No one who has ever seen Black Raven or White Raven before seeing Knights of the Sun or Ranger of Winter has ever asked this question. That's because they know, as soon as they see the card, that Summer/Winter is not a game mechanic or dynamic. That's also why the answer given every time this question is asked is "look at these 5 cards, then you'll understand."

Now, I can see adding "How do I know if it is Summer or Winter" to the "Frequently Asked Questions" section of the FAQ, but adding it to the Core Rule book is overkill to me. It elevates a card effect to the level of a game mechanic unnecessarily, especially considering there aren't any Summer/Winter cards in the Core Set.

I have a related question: If Crown of Winter is in play and Crown of Azor Ahai is also in play and standing.

Is it Summer or Winter?

It's actually 6 cards with Cotter Pyke (Trial by Combat). Though I haven't seen him played yet, unlike the Ravens and, occasionally, the Crowns.

Industrious said:

It is both Summer and Winter simultaneously.

Khudzlin said:

I used him in GJ NW deck, mostly to jump him in with the wall. Earlier iterations of the deck actually had some marauders in and the surprise winter was fun, but in the end he was just a 1x  that can reliably stop a challenge, and can be played if I really need a character on the board.