Before you begin

Read Prelude before reading this section as it will get you characters up and ready for the fight ahead.

Player one

Market Phase:

At the beginning of this phase, place any Value cards on the field. Any buying and selling comes into play here. Use Value Cards, Value at Startup or Rank Values to buy and sell items/weapons, etc. (See Value Cards and See Value at Startup)

To pay for a card to place, the top right hand side of the card will have numbers on balls and symbols. The amount needed of each type of symbol is the number on each of the balls. (So, if a ball has a 6 on it, then is followed by a Brik symbol, then the card costs 6 Brik to place. All of these must be paid for before the card can be placed on the field. Once paid, the card is placed on the field and the Suspend comes into play. See Suspend Phase.)

When a person runs out of Value they can no longer pay to bring things in.

Suspend Phase:

Each player, after buying whatever they are going to buy for this Response, will then place their items, weapons, etc. on the field. Each of these cards will have a Suspend of some sort, even if that is 0. (See Suspend Ball.) Once the cards are set on the field, the player can then begin to use them if they are not suspended.

Note: No one can attack on the first round of play, unless they have an ability, card, etc. that removes this rule.

Declaration Phase:

When done with the Suspend Phase, the player can then go to the Declaration Phase were they declare what each item, weapon, etc. are going to do this Response. If there is no move then they simply announce that their Response is complete and the next player may begin their Market Phase.

All attacks must be declared at this time, save for Immediates. The declaring party states what they are attacking with. After this phase, potions can not be used, so make certain to use them appropriately. (There are exceptions to this rule, but they will either be on the card, or in an ability of the user.)

Attack Phase:

Once declaration phase has ended, all those declared attacks, do so. No other attack phase may be used after this one, save with an override or ability.

All creatures, characters, etc. will have their Suspend which shows how many Actions they have each Response. If a creature uses all their Actions, they are fatigued until the next Response. (See Fatigue.)

Attacks are simply the attack of the card vs. the defense of the defender. (Each attack will show what they have in Physical, Magical, Mental, Energy respectively.) Each attack must be defended from each type of attack, so that a shield can defend physical with physical and energy with energy but can not use its physical defense to defend the energy of an attack.

When attacking, the declaration is made, during the declaration phase and whatever the attacker declared is what they are attacking. If the defender has something to throw in front of the attacker, then the attacker will hit that thing instead, but if not, then the attacker will hit what they were attacking. Barring any avoidances by abilities, or other situations.

Defend Phase:

The Opponent may now choose the defenders of each attack (Minus targeted or Sneak Attacks). To do this, take the attackers physical attack, mental attack, etc. and subtract it from the defender’s physical defense, mental defense, etc. If the amount is higher than the attacker, then the defender takes no damage. (Note: See Reverb) If the attacker’s points are higher than the defenders then the defender will take that damage. (See Attack/Defense , Targeted and Sneak Attack.)

Each defense costs 1 Action, or more if using an ability, and once the character is out of actions they will fatigue. Fatigued, the character can not defend or use abilities, thus all damage goes against their natural defense only. (Certain abilities will make this a bit different, but the abilities will explain that.)

Damage Phase:

All damage dealt to life is reduced from the life total and those that have a life total reduced to 0 or below are removed to the cemetery. (There are certain creatures, characters, etc. that this does not apply to, but their cards, or their abilities will explain as such. In these cases, once reduced to 0, if they can not gain live within 1 rd., they are considered forfeit and thus still lose the game. Also, beware the Crypt Keepers in these cases for each of these players will have to avoid them if they are on the field.) (See Crypt Keepers)

Note: Melaneys play a very different way. (See Melaney)

Counter Attack Phase:

If a player has not taken more than 1/2 life during an attack, they can Counter Attack. (See Counter Attack.) They must have Actions remaining. They must have an ability that allows them to counter attack (This can be in the form of a weapon, an ability, a spell, etc.).

Counter Attacks are 1/2 the attack of the weapon in most cases. There are abilities, weapons, etc. that overcome this rule. Counter Attacks can’t be used from projectile weapons. (This doesn’t mean that the weapon can’t be used to counter, only that it can not be projected into a counter. The Counter Attack must be held in hand, or be an ability, spell, etc.)

Note: Ranged Attacks and Sneak Attacks cannot be Countered save with abilities that state as such.

Oblate Phase:

During this phase, which must not come until the very end of all other phases, the player will sacrifice an offering to their “God, Mald, Supre Mald, Etc.”. This does not have to be observed, but some religions will be able to use their sacrifices to offset things or make things happen within the game (See Religions).

Note: If a person decides to “Sacrifice” to their Gods, Malds, etc. They can say the name of the Divinity before Sacrifice, pay the cost of the creature, item, etc. and pull in the Soulmere from the card for use in their next turn. This can be used for a single attack or to pump into something else they are trying to do, but the boost will only last for a single round and then the Soulmere is lost. (Player must be one with this Divinity for this to work, so if they do not have a Divinity in their history, or a cards showing they are working with a Divinity, then this will not work.) (Some Divinities will actually grant other abilities if this is observed constantly throughout a match. Read the Divinities well.)

Player X [continue for all players.]

Player X (Repeat):

Draw 7 cards and Take the same phases as Player 1. (Repeat this for all players present.)

Player X Round 2 [continue for all players.]

Player X Round 2:

Draw as many cards as your luck allows. (See Luck.)

Note: Use Imbue to gain more cards if needed. Be careful, though, Imbue can be quite costly. (See Imbue.)

Winning the Game:

Run Away:

Run Away

A combatant may run from the battle. To do so, they must declare their intentions to all players. Then they must go unhurt for 2 rounds. (Can’t take even a single point of damage or they must wait another 2 rounds). Once the time has passed, the player declares they are running at the beginning of their round. They cannot draw any new cards this turn. The opponent may “chase” the runner and try to catch them to deal damage. To do so, simply declare chase and put the chaser’s speed against the runners speed. If a single point is dealt, the runner remains in the battle. Should the user be using a projectile weapon and deal a point of damage the runner can still get away. All other weapons deal damage and the runner is stopped. (Note: The runner can use creatures to defend just as before.) If the runner gets away, the game is ended in a draw. (See Stats for using Speed against Speed.)

Quick Play Rules