Starting Town NPC

Playtest cards use a modified version of game symbols, such as {T} and {W}. These modified symbols should be treated as the standard symbols during play.

Casting a card as an Adventure isn’t casting it for an alternative cost. Effects that allow you to cast a spell for an alternative cost or without paying its mana cost may allow you to apply those to the Adventure.

If a spell is cast as an Adventure, its controller exiles it instead of putting it into its owner’s graveyard as it resolves. For as long as it remains exiled, that player may cast it as a permanent spell. If an Adventure spell leaves the stack in any way other than resolving (most likely by being countered), that card won’t be exiled and the spell’s controller won’t be able to cast it as a permanent later.

You must still follow any timing restrictions and permissions for the permanent spell you cast from exile. Normally, you’ll be able to cast it only during your main phase while the stack is empty.

When casting a spell as an Adventure, use the alternative characteristics and ignore all of the card’s normal characteristics. The spell’s color, mana cost, mana value, and so on are determined by only those alternative characteristics. If the spell leaves the stack, it immediately resumes using its normal characteristics.

Playtest cards aren’t legal for play in any tournament format other than Mystery Booster Limited formats. On the other hand, we expect they will spice up a wide variety of non-tournament games (as long as everyone’s on the same page about using them!).

If Starting Town NPC leaves the battlefield while one or more creature cards you own are exiled after they’re sent to Fetch Herbs, those creature cards can still be cast from exile. Similarly, if Starting Town NPC leaves the battlefield while Fetch Herbs is on the stack, that card will still be exiled after the spell resolves, and you’ll still be able to cast it later from exile.

For many playtest cards, you’ll need to make a generous assumption that basic game rules would be updated to allow them to work. The Mystery Booster 2 Playtest Card Notes section (reproduced here in individual Gatherer rulings) provides guidance for fitting these cards into the existing rules structure.

If you cast an adventurer card as an Adventure, use only its alternative characteristics to determine whether it’s legal to cast that spell.