Figure A has the Obsidian Codex and is loaded with 3 Call Familiar Spells
Figure B has the Tome of Brass with 2 Call Familiar Spells.

First Turn:
Figure A declares 3 other Figures as his call familiar and then drops the Obsidian Codex spellbook.
Figure B drops the Tome of Brass spellbook (thus not having to declare any figures as familiar)
Figure A then picks up the dropped Tome of Brass spellbook

Second Turn:
Figure A now the wielder of Tome of Brass spellbook declares the 2 call familiar figures on 2 other figures.

Figure A ends up with 5 Call Familiar figures. - really cool bodyguards.

Unfortunately, that tactic doesn't work; unlike most spells, this spell is triggered only once during the game - at the beginning of "your" first command phase, referring to you as a player. Picking up a Spellbook that contains a Call Familiar does not have any effect - it does not cause the Familiar to become "tied" to the new wielder. The "your" in the text is not referring to the wielder, but to the player, and only as a "when does it happen".

When a Spellbook is dropped, any ongoing effects continue until the condition for the spell's ending is met. Thus, if Figure B drops the Tome of Brass, the "Call Familiar" spell still ties the familiars to Figure B. If Figure A picks it up, nothing changes; the familiars are still tied to Figure B.

I hope this helps.

So wait... the drop-the-spellbook trick won't work, but you can play 3 copies of Call Familiar and get three Familiars?

Yes, unless I'm forgetting something important, there's nothing preventing you from having multiple copies of the same spell in a Spellbook.

Well, I knew you can have multiple copies, I suppose I just never thought about using 3 copies of Call Familiar. Cute.

thanks Sigma for the clarification. Just have a follow-up question:

So that means that beginning of first turn effects like Spirit Armor which "tags" a figure works in the same way? It can only be used "once" and can't be dropped and picked up again to define a different opposing figure? I agree that makes more sense.

What if the opponent is the FIRST player and on his FIRST turn (even before you could declare a figure as a familiar or a target for the spirit armor) he manages to eliminate the 30 point familiar or the spirit armor wielder, does the call familiar come back and the Spirit armor trigger?

ex. Book of Lightning Shooting at Mistral wielding the Spirit armor.

Let me take a look at the cards this evening, and see if I can answer those for you.

Ok, here goes.

One thing to note is there is a difference between spells and relics.

Relic effects immediately end if the relic is dropped. See the entry for Magestone Armor; while the question was referring to a specific case, the answer was intentionally written to be a general answer: "When an item is dropped, all effects granted by that item are immediately cancelled".

Thus, if a Spirit Armor wielder drops the relic, the effects end; the previous wielder is no longer "bound" to the other figure, and if either dies, the other is unaffected.

Spells, on the other hand, are a little different. While spells are contained within a spellbook, they are NOT tied to the status of the spellbook. A spell's effects are self-contained. If the spellbook is dropped, active spells that may have been cast from that book do NOT end. If the spellbook itself had some abilities, those abilities would end, but the spells therein are separate entities. If a glyph is in effect, the glyph remains in effect if the book is dropped (until the normal glyph ending conditions are over).

A spell's "caster" remains the caster regardless of what happens to the spellbook. IE, the "caster" of a spell doesn't necessarily correspond to the current "wielder" of a spellbook. If Figure A casts a glyph and then drops the spellbook, and Figure B later picks up the spellbook, Figure A is still the "caster" of the Glyph; the "wielder" of the book has no bearing (and note that Figure B can't cast the glyph again until it's effect ends).

So where does that leave us? First, back to Call Familiar. "At the beginning of your first command phase, choose a single friendly figure..." Now, note that although you don't actually cast the spell, the "caster" in the context of the spell is whoever is wielding it during the time it's effects take place; Call Famillar is kind of an oddball spell in that regard. Anyway, since spell effects remain in effect even if the book is dropped, the Familiar remains "tied" the the "caster" for the duration of the game. If another figure picks it up, the new wielder does not get the benefit of the spell.

Strictly speaking, Call Familiar's effects never really end. Killing the "caster" ends it for all practical effects, because the caster isn't around to place a killed familiar next to. This is true even if the caster is revived; for game purposes, a reanimated figure is a "different" figure (IE, if you reanimate the caster, it's considered to be a different figure, not the original caster). Anyway, that's just an aside.


Spirit Armor is different, though. The wording is similar, but there is one key difference: "At the beginning of your first command phase during which this warrior has this relic equipped" (emphasis added). This one has an extra clause which makes a BIG difference in application. If the Spirit Armor is dropped, and re-equipped, your next command phase in which that wielder has it equipped will trigger the ability. IE, Call Familiar is just "your first command phase"... period. First ever, none thereafter. Spirit Armor is "your first command phase during which this warrior has this relic equipped". Thus, it's not necessarily just once ever, but can happen more than once. The subtle wording difference is all the difference.

Thus, if you drop Spirit Armor, the tie is broken. (This can be a smart tactic if the original bound figure is about to die). If you pick it up again, then your NEXT command phase, you rebind to another figure.

Finally, regarding Mistral, yes, since the binding doesn't happen until your first command phase, if you killed Mistral before then, there is no binding. So in that situation, if your opponent has BoL, and you have Mistral and Spirit Armor, you may want to consider equipping Spirit Armor to another figure during deployment (if you have another legal wielder). The same would apply to Familiars; if you kill the Familiar before the caster binds to it, it won't take effect (so better do it lickety split!!)

Anyway, I hope that all makes sense!