RULEBOOK LIMITED COLLECTORS EDITION EMPYRNEA Kesh Tir-Duru Vara Aeterna Zhoth Laarsa Kynazarr Zho-Duga Playtesters Jason Allen, Chris Sauerwein, Adam Grinstead, Ryan Waite, Tim Waite, Luke Chavez, Devan Dome, Matthias Schricker, Cassandra Allen, Amanda Allen, Colleen Johnson, Ben Johnson, Vincent Johnson, Jeremy Johnson, Makenna Fish, Neil Carlson, Aubrey Carlson, Adam Niemier, Don Lloyd, Andrew Benedetto, Eric Strickland, Jason Church, Blackwell Hird, Darren White, Torren Friberg, Jacob Anderson, Alex Jensen, Austin Hill, Grant & Ryan Peterson. 1 CONTENTS Welcome to Empyrnea.............................................................................................................1 Contents.........................................................................................................................................2 History of Empyrnea...............................................................................................................3 Game Overview.............................................................................................................................5 Components..................................................................................................................................5 Anatomy of the Character Mat.......................................................................................8 Anatomy of a Focus Card.....................................................................................................9 Anatomy of the Immolation Board............................................................................10 Proximity Rules........................................................................................................................11 Anatomy of the Omega Index..........................................................................................12 Game Setup.................................................................................................................................. 13 Sequence of Play......................................................................................................................14 Gemstone Substitution......................................................................................................15 Latent State................................................................................................................................16 Active State.................................................................................................................................18 Defensive State.........................................................................................................................19 Movement....................................................................................................................................19 Attacking....................................................................................................................................22 Focus Abilities...........................................................................................................................23 Activating an Inscription................................................................................................24 End of Round............................................................................................................................24 Focus Gemstones.....................................................................................................................26 Transmutations......................................................................................................................28 Ylem Abilities..............................................................................................................................30 Instant Powers.........................................................................................................................31 Inscriptions..............................................................................................................................32 Fire Walls.....................................................................................................................................33 Death.............................................................................................................................................34 Last King Standing................................................................................................................36 The Omega War.........................................................................................................................36 Scoring.........................................................................................................................................37 Card Index...................................................................................................................................38 Note from the Designer....................................................................................................43 Credits..........................................................................................................................................44 Notes..............................................................................................................................................45 2 HISTORY OF EMPYRNEA During the age of the Babylonians, a mysterious continent existed far off the coast of Japan, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Few knew of its existence and those who did, dare not travel to it, for rumors spoke of strange beasts and natives of unnatural sorcery. Those hapless souls who came upon Empyrnea by chance, or those foolish enough to seek it on their own accord, were never seen again. With no written record of the land’s location, the continent’s existence passed orally among seamen and travelers. Empyrnea soon became a tale of tradition... One that always ended with a stern warning; Empyrnea was cursed by the gods and to be avoided at all costs. In time, the men who spoke of the mysterious land would be branded fools and lunatics, as the entire continent of Empyrnea vanished from the face of the Earth in 475BC. For it was at this time, that a stranger to Empyrnea—a traveler of the globe and a master alchemist with great power named Apsu—did what no mortal had ever accomplished before in recorded history. Apsu performed a ritual magic using four incredibly powerful bloodstones and ascended the entire continent of Empyrnea. The land and all its inhabitants shifted from the physical realm of Earth (known as Corpus Mundus), to a spiritual plane of existence referred to as Pneuma Mundus. It was here, in this new dimension of time and space, that the continent Empyrnea found itself surrounded on all sides by endless ocean and more miraculously, its people found themselves infused with the energy of Ylem; an underlying energy that formed the very fabric of reality. This infusion of Ylem energy gave the people of Empyrnea new affinities, abilities and insights into things they did not fully comprehend. The frightened masses turned to the great alchemist Apsu to guide them. And so he did. Apsu revealed to the people the concept of the foci. Four main manifestations of the prevailing Ylem energy that now permeated everything around them, and within them. Taking this knowledge, the people of Empyrnea divided into four main kingdoms each reflective of the Ylem energy bound to them. At the center of all Empyrnea, Apsu built the great Capital City Aeterna. From here, bound to the Ylem energy itself, the force that gives power to all other foci, Apsu reigned as High King of the land. As the kingdoms formed around Aeterna, Apsu gifted to each one of his four bloodstones. To the wild lands of Eloden, Apsu gave his bloodstone to Shar-Nasir, a fearsome warrior bound to the focus of Egis; the form of Ylem energy that permeates nature. To the wasteland people of Zhoth, Apsu gave his bloodstone to Khadrius Zhoth, an insightful wanderer with no tribe to call his own, bound to the focus of Dire; the form of Ylem energy associated with destruction. To the great floating plateaus of Vara, Apsu gave his bloodstone to Kariis Vara, the leader of their high church, bound to the focus of Aria; the form of Ylem energy responsible for creation. Among all the influential inhabitants of Empyrnea’s kingdoms, only one questioned Apsu and his motives, Kalea Kynazarr. The Queen of Kynazarr—the largest most civilized city of Empyrnea—called for a high council to rule from the capital city Aeterna, not a single ruler such as Apsu. The queen’s proposal fell on deaf ears and it came as quite a shock when Apsu gifted his last bloodstone to his only voice of opposition... Kalea Kynazarr, bound to the focus of Pyre; the form of Ylem energy associated with willpower. 3 The gift of the bloodstones granted the kings and queen immortality. As long as the stones resided on their body and their heads remain attached to their necks, death would be unknown to them for all time. Over the next fifteen centuries, under the reign of the bloodstone kings, the people of Empyrnea flourished. But all was not well. Contrary to first assumptions, the dimension of Pneuma Mundus was not uninhabited. Massive rock creatures known as Sentinels appeared in Empyrnea’s surrounding ocean. And they were highly aggressive. Their attacks came few and far between at first, but as the centuries wore on and Empyrnea grew, so did their frequency... and size. Only the Magi, masters of all four foci, selected by Apsu and his Ylem Clergy, stood against the sentinels. For a time their power and effort held. The Magi cast back the largest sentinel assault during the great Ten Day Sentinel War. But as with all things, nothing lasts forever. And in the year 1545, the Magi’s protection finally yielded and life in Empyrnea changed for evermore. For on this year, the largest sentinel ever recorded, a massive monstrosity as big as a small mountain appeared in the sea and threatened to attack the Capital City. With the Magi powerless to stand against such a beast, Apsu himself moved to defend Aeterna. And while the High King successfully destroyed the sentinel, he did so paying the ultimate price. The death of the High King shook Empyrnea to its very core. Three years later, Empyrnea is in chaos. The Magi have all but vanished. The power of the four king’s bloodstones has evaporated. While the great kings are forced to come face to face with their restored mortality, a sickness spreads across the land ending it for many. The disease is known as the Affliction. People who become afflicted, become mad—prone to violence and worst of all, die far before their time. Never before has ascended Empyrnea seen such death and violence. As the inhabitants of the four kingdoms struggle to survive, Apsu’s Ylem Clergy form the council known as the Enclave and usher forth a new generation of Magi. But unlike the original Magi who brought order and harmony and helped nourish the people of Empyrnea, the new order only exists to enforce the Enclave’s doctrine... and they do so at any cost. New churches of Ylem have sprung up throughout Empyrnea and the new Magi assure the masses attend under threat of violence and imprisonment. Without the help of the original Magi—the Pariah as they’ve come to be known—the people are helpless. The commoners’ resistance breaks time and time again against the Enclave’s Magi enforcers. With each passing day the affliction sweeps across the land leaving violence and death in its wake. And while the kingdoms deal with a crumbling society, more and more sentinels appear off the coast. They arrive in such number, as to put the great Ten Day Sentinel War to shame. Empyrnea’s utter annihilation is at hand and the people sense their impending doom. The only hope for Empyrnea lies in the four kings and their ability to restore power to their magical bloodstones. Out of the public eye, the Enclave has summoned forth the four kings and revealed to them, the power of their stones may be returned only by blood. Their blood. The kings of Empyrnea have been set with an ultimatum—face each other in combat to the death or let Empyrnea and all they hold dear, fall. While Empyrnea struggles to maintain its last remnants of civilization, the four kings of Empyrnea take to the arena... prepared to decide the fate of all on the outcome of a single battle. 4 GAME OVERVIEW In a game of Ascended Kings, each player takes on the role of a King who must do battle against the other Kings. When a King is eliminated, they drop any Bloodstones they have, which can then be picked up by another player. Once one player has collected all 4 Bloodstones, the Omega Stone appears. The player with all of the Bloodstones may take the Omega Stone and win the game. However, if all 4 Bloodstones are not united before the countdown expires, the Omega Stone appears on its own. After one player has claimed it, the game ends and the winner is determined using a points system. As players engage each other in combat, four walls of fire slowly close in around them. Each round, the fire forces the combatants closer and closer towards the inevitable showdown. Immolation Events also take place randomly on the board, which may help or hinder the players. When a character is killed, they return to battle as an entity known as a Revenant; they can obtain Bloodstones just as Kings do and have the same opportunity to claim the Omega Stone and win the game. GAME COMPONENTS 5 Ascended King Miniatures High King Apsu Dlone Kynazarr Kariis Vara Harromere Eloden Khadrius Zhoth Aria Revenant Egis Revenant Dire Revenant 5 Revenant Miniatures Engur Pyre Revenant 5 GAME COMPONENTS 1 Immolation Game Board 5 Character Mats 4 Fire Walls 1 Omega Index Event Round 6 GAME COMPONENTS Cards 52 Card “Ascendant Deck” 52 Card “Revenant Deck” 4 Quick Reference Cards Gemstones 25 Dire Gems 40 Aria Gems 40 Egis Gems 40 Pyre Gems 35 Ylem Gems Special Elements 4 Bloodstones Dice • 20 Focus Dice (4 each of 5 colors) • 2 Percentile dice (10-sided) 1 Omega Stone 4 Golden Rounds (Crowns) • 1 Immolation Die (4-sided) • 1 Ascended Die ROLLING DICE • This game comes with dice other than normal 6-sided ones. • The percentile dice are always rolled together to generate a number between 0 and 99. Simply add the numbers on the two dice together. For example: If you roll “40” on one die, and “7” on the other, the number you have rolled is 47. If you roll “00” and “0”, the number you have rolled is 00. • To read the number rolled on the 4-sided die, look at the number showing around the point at the top of the die after you have rolled it. LIMITED SUPPLY All components in the game are limited. In the extremely rare case that the supply runs out of a type of Gemstone, no more of that type can be acquired during the game until some are returned to the supply. 7 ANATOMY OF THE CHARACTER MAT 1 2 3 10 7 8 4 5 6 9 A player’s Character Mat is 2-sided. A King on one side and a Revenant on the other. All players start off as Kings and return as Revenants if they are killed. 1 Character Illustration 6 Inscription Slot Any cards you inscribe are placed here. 2 Bloodcrest Any Bloodstones you acquire are placed here. 3 Character Name 7 Ylem Transmutation 3 Ylem Gemstones may be moved into these sockets to unlock new abilities. 8 Ylem Pool Ylem Gemstones are placed here from bottom to top. The exposed number with the highest value is the roll value needed to acquire Ylem (starts at 7+) 4 Level Indicator Golden Rounds (Crowns) are used to mark your current level. Each level increases your Gemstone Pool size by 1 column. 5 Gemstone Pool Core Gemstones (Red, White, Green) you acquire are placed here. Dire Wounds are also placed here, in the first row from left to right. 9 Core Transmutations 3 Gemstones of the color matching the Transmutation may be placed here to unlock Advanced Actions. 10 Prismatic Transmutations The Revenant side of a Character Mat has Prismatic Transmutations instead of Core Transmutations. These require one Gemstone of each of the 3 Core colors to unlock their abilities. 8 ANATOMY OF A FOCUS CARD Focus & Title Instant Powers Shows the Focus Type indicated by the Glyph (Aria in this case) as well as the title name of the card. At any time as a free action, you may discard a card from your hand to acquire the pictured Gems (+ sign), remove Dire Gems (- sign), or immediately roll Focus Dice (+ sign with dice). Ylem Price Ability Text Displays a number between 1 and 3. Th i s i s t h e a m o u n t of Ylem required to execute the Focus Ability of this card from your hand. Describes the target a n d e ff e c t s o f t h e ability executed by the card. Diagrams Visual explanation of the ability text. Note: The colors of the plus (+) and minus (-) signs have no special meaning. Important Note: All Focus Cards that show Gemstones or dice in the top margin have 2 uses. The first use is discarding it for its Instant Power shown at the top of the card. The other use is using the Focus Ability described on the bottom part of the card. ASCENDANT DECK REVENANT DECK Kings draw and play cards from the Ascendant Deck. Revenants draw and play cards from the Revenant Deck. Special Cards: There are 7 Special Cards in each deck which do not have a Focus Glyph. See the Card Index on page 38 for full explanation of these cards. 9 ANATOMY OF THE IMMOLATION BOARD 1 1 2 3 TILE NUMBERS The Immolation Board is made up of 100 tiles, individually numbered from 00 - 99. This allows for the percentile dice to be rolled for random tile selection. 2 STARTING LOCATIONS The 4 Starting locations indicated by the surrounding 3 shapes. IMMOLATION ICONS Each edge of the board contains a Gemstone icon with an immolation number inside. This allows for the Immolation Die to be rolled for random edge selection. KEY TERMS: Adjacent – Tiles that share a common edge line. These tiles would also be known as “orthogonal.” Diagonal – Tiles that share one common corner. Surrounding – Surrounding tiles are all the tiles that are both adjacent and diagonal from a particular tile. A tile that is not on the edge of the board will always have 8 surrounding tiles (4 adjacent tiles and 4 diagonal tiles). 10 PROXIMITY RULES FOR GEMSTONES / BLOODSTONES / ASCENDED DIE Whenever a Gemstone is placed on the board, if the roll of the percentile dice indicates a space within or behind a Fire Wall, place the Gemstone in the nearest tile on the board which is not in or behind a Fire Wall instead. The same rule applies for a Bloodstone or Ascended Die placed on the board when a character is killed in or behind a Fire Wall. FOR REVENANT PLACEMENT Whenever your Revenant is placed on the board (see ‘Death’, p. 34), if the percentile dice roll indicates a tile in or behind a Fire Wall, use the rule above to determine a new tile. You may then place your miniature on that tile OR any surrounding tile that is not “covered in fire.” If the roll indicates a tile occupied by another miniature, choose any surrounding tile that is not “covered in fire” instead. In the rare case that you still cannot deploy because all the tiles are occupied by other characters, you may deploy to any tile surrounding one of those characters. Rolling for Ylem and Immolation Events during the game will call for the spawning of Gemstones directly onto the Immolation Board. When this happens, a roll of the percentile dice is required. The resulting value is the preferred location for the Gemstone to spawn. If this tile is available, place the Gemstone(s) onto that tile and continue the game. If a character miniature occupies this tile, the Gemstone(s) go directly into that player’s Gemstone Pool. However, due to the movement of the Fire Walls, the preferred location may literally be within the fire area. If this is the case, immediately trace your finger from the preferred tile either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally in the most direct path possible toward the arena play area. The nearest possible tile that you arrive to (not in the fire) is now the new target tile location where this Gemstone is placed. Note: All tiles on the board covered by or behind the fire wall are considered to be “covered in fire”. This is highlighted as ‘fire areas’ in the example below. Fire Area Fire Area Fire Area Fire Area Fire Area Fire Area Fire Area Fire Area 11 ANATOMY OF THE OMEGA INDEX FRONT - LIGHTER BLUE (ROUNDS SHOW: 20 - FLIP) Event Round EVENT (LEFT SIDE) ROUND (RIGHT SIDE) • Rotates counter clockwise • Rotates clockwise • Determines the random Immolation Event at the end of each round (p. 25) • Determines the number of rounds remaining before Omega War begins • Number of icons rotated through determined by the Immolation D4 • Begins with 20 and ends with FLIP (flip the index over) BACK - DARKER BLUE (ROUNDS SHOW: 10 - Ω) Event Round EVENT (LEFT SIDE) ROUND (RIGHT SIDE) • Same as front, however it introduces new events (p. 25) • Same as front, however begins with 10 and ends with Ω (Omega War begins) One purpose of the Omega Index is that it acts as a countdown timer for the game (see ‘End of Round’, p. 24). The recommended number of rounds is based on the number of players in the game: 2 Players = 20 rounds, 3 Players = 15 rounds, 4 Players = 10 rounds. However, you can choose to play a different number of rounds if desired (such as a 4 player game at 20 rounds). If playing a game which will last 10 rounds or less, the Omega Index starts off on the back side. 12 GAME SETUP First, place the Immolation Board on the table. Ideally, each player should sit along one of the edges of the board. Next, place the four Fire Walls next to each of the four outside edges of the Immolation Board. The player with the most royal blood is the starting player. Alternatively, determine a starting player randomly and give them the Immolation Die and the Omega Index. Rotate the “Round” dial on the Omega Index to the number of game rounds you are using. Note: If playing with 10 rounds or fewer, the Omega Index will start on the back side. Rotate the “Event” dial to show a random blue fire icon (shown at left). Starting with the last player, each player chooses their King, taking the Character Mat and miniature for that King and Revenant, respectively. Each player places their chosen Character Mat before them, with the King character side facing up. See the example set up diagram for visual reference. Place the two Gemstone Card Trays within easy reach. Remove the 4 “Quick Reference” Cards from both decks and hand one to each player. Take all the cards with ASCENDANT on the back, shuffle them, and place them face down in the left compartment of one card tray. Then take all the cards with REVENANT on the back, shuffle them, and place them face down in the left compartment of the other tray. The right compartment is for the discard pile. Each player takes the Focus Dice matching the color of the Focus Glyph on their Character Mat and places those dice in front of them. Each player takes a Golden Round (Crown) and places it at the Level “1” space of the Level Indicator on their Character Mat. Finally, each player takes 1 Bloodstone and places it on one of the spaces of the Bloodcrest on their Character Mat. If playing with fewer than 4 players, leave the other Bloodstone(s) nearby for now. Place the percentile dice, the Ascended Die, and the Omega Stone nearby as they too will be needed as the game progresses. The starting player deals 3 cards from the Ascendant Deck face down to each player, including themself. The number of cards in a player's hand is always public knowledge. 13 GAME SETUP Place your king miniature in the starting tile nearest you. Next, each player chooses 3 Core Gemstones (see ‘Focus Gemstones’, p. 26) and places them in their Gemstone Pool. Players may look at the cards in their hand before choosing their Gemstones. Finally, using the percentile dice, the starting player “Rolls for Ylem”. The resulting value determines which tile on the Immolation Board the first Ylem Gemstone is placed onto. If a tile is rolled where there is a miniature, re-roll until you get a tile that does not contain a miniature (this only applies to this initial “Roll for Ylem”). The game is now ready to begin and the starting player now takes their turn. SEQUENCE OF PLAY Beginning with the starting player and proceeding in clockwise order around the table, each player takes a turn. On your turn, you carry out the 4 steps as shown below. Once all players have taken a turn, the round ends and certain steps are carried out (see ‘End of Round’, p. 24). This process repeats in the same order until the Omega War begins (p. 36). 1. Generate Focus At the start of your turn, if you have one or more completed Transmutations (all 3 sockets filled with Gems), you automatically generate one Gemstone for each completed Transmutation. Ylem and Core Transmutations generate one Gemstone of the same color as the Transmutation. A Prismatic Transmutation (p. 29) allows you to take any Core Gemstone. Take any Gemstones you generate from the supply and place them in the appropriate Pools (Gemstone Substitution rules apply, p. 15). 1 2 For example: If you have the Ylem and Pyre Transmutations completed at the beginning of your turn, you generate 1 Ylem Gemstone and place it on the lowest available space of your Ylem Pool (1). You also generate 1 Pyre Gemstone and place it in your Gemstone Pool (2). 2. Choose a State Next, you must declare aloud your choice to enter either the Latent or Active state. LATENT STATE: Prepare for battle by making strategic choices. ACTIVE STATE: Take actions by making tactical decisions. 3. Perform the steps according to your chosen state LATENT STATE 1) Draw a card 2) Roll Focus Dice 3) Acquire Focus Gems 4) Transmutation 5) Inscription ACTIVE STATE 1) Roll for Ylem 2) Perform Actions (see pages 16 - 18) 14 SEQUENCE OF PLAY 4. Discard down to 5 cards At the end of your turn, you cannot have more than 5 cards in hand. If you have more than 5 cards, you can discard them for their Instant Power (see below). If you are unable or unwilling to use Instant Powers to discard the excess cards, you must simply discard them instead. After you complete your turn you automatically enter the Defensive State (p. 19) and remain in that state until the start of your next turn. The core gameplay of Ascended Kings consists of understanding the three states: Latent, Active, Defensive, and knowing when and/or how to use them. INSTANT POWERS Many cards have a series of icons (Gems or dice) displayed in the top part of the card. These cards may be discarded at any time to gain the benefit shown in that part of the card. This can be done even when it is not your turn as a free action, or when you are being attacked (see ‘Instant Powers’, p. 31). COLLECTING GEMSTONES At any point during the game, if your miniature is on a tile with any type of Gemstone on it, you immediately acquire that Gemstone. If it is an Ylem Gemstone, and your Ylem Pool is full, the Ylem stays on the tile. If it is a Core Gemstone, and you have no space, either use Gemstone Substitution or discard it. If it is a Dire Gemstone, you must pick it up, even if it leads to your character’s death. THE GEMSTONE POOL The number of Gemstones you can have in your Gemstone Pool is determined by your current level (indicated by the position of your Golden Round/Crown). At level 1, this space is a 3x3 grid, or 9 Gemstones. At level 2, this space is a 3x4 grid, or 12 Gemstones. At level 3 this space is a 3x5 grid, or 15 Gemstones. You can organize your Gemstones in the grid space however you like, so long as they are within the grid space defined by your current level. However, Dire Gemstones are placed on the top row (from left to right) so that it is easier to see how close you are to death. Gemstones in your Pool may be rearranged at any time to accommodate this. GEMSTONE SUBSTITUTION During the game, the amount of Core Gemstones you could acquire may be more than you are allowed to have in your Gemstone Pool. If this happens, you may still acquire new Gemstones, but for each new one you want to add to your Pool, you must give up one of your existing Core Gemstones. If you do not want to substitute any of your Gemstones this way, the extra Gemstones are discarded or simply not acquired. You cannot exceed the maximum number Gemstones for your level (depicted by the level columns) at any time. Gemstone Substitution does not apply to the Ylem Pool. Notes: This does not apply to Gems in Transmutations as they are outside your Gemstone Pool. Dire Gemstones are special. If you ever acquire a Dire Gemstone when your Gemstone Pool is full, you must remove a Core Gemstone to make room for it. You also cannot choose to give up a Dire Gemstone using Gemstone Substitution when your Pool is full. You are not allowed to arbitrarily remove Gemstones from your Pool at any time unless doing so by expending them or through Gemstone Substitution. 15 LATENT STATE In this state you will prepare for battle by making strategic choices. The first three steps are performed in order and are mandatory. Steps 4 and 5 are optional and can be done in any order after completing Step 3: Step 1: Draw a card Draw a card from the appropriate deck and add it to your hand. If you are a King, draw from the Ascendant Deck. If you are a Revenant, draw from the Revenant Deck. Step 2: Roll Focus Dice Roll a number of your Focus Dice equal to one more than your level. For example: If you are level 2, you would roll 3 Focus Dice. Some cards may be played for their Instant Power effect to increase the number of dice rolled in this step (see ‘Instant Powers’, p. 31). These cards can be played before or after your normal roll, or even at any other time during the game. For example: You are level 1, you roll 2 Focus Dice. After you have rolled, you may choose to play a card from your hand which allows you to roll 2 more Focus Dice, which are then available to be combined with the previous roll. Note: It is possible to roll more dice than your current level +1 using Instant Powers i.e. more than 4 total dice. For example: You are level 3 and you will roll 4 Focus Dice during this step. However, you choose to play an Instant Power which adds dice that will be combined with these 4 Focus Dice, so you will have to temporarily borrow some dice from another player to complete the roll. Note that if you are the Last King Standing (p. 36), you receive the Ascended Die—an additional die rolled with your Focus Dice. Step 3: Acquire Focus Gems Use the results of your Focus Dice to acquire new Gemstones from the supply and place them into your Pools on your Character Mat (see ‘Focus Gemstones ’, p. 26-28.) Step 4: Transmutation (optional) You may “transmute” Gemstones from your Pools to unlock new actions and abilities. To complete a Transmutation, you must have the required 3 Gemstones in your Pool and then you move them together onto the Transmutation. You cannot move some Gemstones on one turn and then complete it on the next. If you have enough Gemstones, you can complete multiple Transmutations on the same turn. If you are a King, you may only have a number of completed Core Transmutations (Pyre, Aria, Egis) equal to your current level. For example, if you are level 2, you can have two completed Core Transmutations. If you are a Revenant, all Prismatic Transmutations are always available to be completed, irrespective of your level. The Ylem Transmutation may always be completed by any character. 16 LATENT STATE For example: On your turn, you could complete your Ylem Transmutation by moving 3 Ylem as shown above. You could also complete your Pyre Transmutation by moving 3 Pyre. Since you are level 2, you could have a second Core Transmutation, so if you had 1 more Aria or Egis Gemstone, you could also complete that Transmutation at the same time. Full details on the additional actions and abilities of the Transmutations can be found in the Transmutations chapter (p. 28). During this step, you can also untransmute any completed Transmutations, moving the Gemstones back to their appropriate Pools. If there is not enough space in the Pool, see Gemstone Substitution (p. 15). Step 5: Inscription (optional) You may place a card from your hand face down onto the Inscription slot of your Character Mat. To do so, the card’s Focus Glyph must match that on your Character Mat. Inscriptions allow you to execute the Focus Ability on that card without expending the Ylem price, but only when you are in the Active State. You may look at your face down card at any time, but it is kept secret from other players. You can only have one card inscribed at any time. Inscriptions can also be “uninscribed” during this step by returning your inscribed card back to your hand. When you uninscribe a card, you must reveal it to the other players before putting it back in your hand, and if the Glyph did not match, you must discard the card instead. The reason for revealing it is to prove to the other players that it was a legal placement, and if it wasn’t, you discard the card. It is possible to both uninscribe a card and inscribe a new one on the same turn (see ‘Inscriptions’, p. 32). Each King has a different Focus Glyph and there are a total of 9 Focus Ability cards for each King’s Focus in the Ascendant Deck. A player in Revenant form can inscribe cards from the Revenant Deck with the Ω symbol. There are 3 special inscription cards included in the Ascendant Deck called “Prismatic Inscription.” These cards are placed face up when inscribed instead of face down. When a “Prismatic Inscription” card is uninscribed, or the Gemstones on it are untransmuted or discarded, place the card in the discard pile instead of returning it to your hand (see ‘Prismatic Inscription Card’, p. 32). 17 ACTIVE STATE In this state you make tactical decisions by executing actions and/or facing off with opponents. Follow these steps: Step 1: Roll for Ylem You must “Roll for Ylem” at the beginning of your Active State. Roll the percentile dice and place 1 Ylem Gemstone on the board on the tile indicated by the roll. Use the Proximity Rules (p. 11) if the roll indicates a tile in or behind a Fire Wall. If the tile where the Ylem is placed contains a miniature, that player immediately acquires the Ylem. However, if that player’s Ylem Pool is full, the Ylem Gemstone is placed in the tile with their miniature. Note: This step is skipped once the Omega War (p. 36) begins. Step 2: Performing Actions This list of possible actions may be executed in any order and as many times as you wish, as long as you have the Focus Cards and/or Gemstones to do so. The exception to this is the Activate Inscription action which can only be performed once per turn. When a Gemstone is expended, return it from your Character Mat back to the general supply. Level Up: To increase your level, you must expend the same amount in Ylem as the value for the next level. To level up from 1 to 2, you must expend 2 Ylem. Then, to level up from 2 to 3, you must expend 3 Ylem. If you have enough Ylem, you can go from level 1 to level 3 in the same turn, using 2 actions. Place your Golden Round (Crown) onto the new level number in the Level Indicator on your Character Mat. Each level increases your Gemstone Pool size (p. 15). Draw 1 Card: Expend 1 Ylem to draw 1 card from the appropriate deck (Ascendant Deck for Kings, Revenant Deck for Revenants). Movement: Spend Aria to move your miniature on the Immolation Board. Movement must be orthogonal unless you are a Revenant or have unlocked the Advanced Action which allows you to move diagonally (see ‘Movement’, p. 19). Attack: Spend Pyre to attack another player. You can only attack an orthogonally adjacent player unless you are a Revenant or have unlocked the Advanced Action which allows you to attack diagonally (see ‘Attacking’, p. 22). Cast Focus Ability: Most cards have a Focus Ability described on the card. This ability can be cast from your hand by expending the Ylem displayed on the left of the card (see ‘Focus Abilities’, p. 23). Activate Inscription: Cast the Focus Ability from your inscribed card without expending any Ylem (see ‘Activating an Inscription’, p. 24). Activate Ylem Ability: If you have a completed Ylem Transmutation, you can use any of the Active State Ylem Abilities by expending the corresponding Gemstones (see ‘Ylem Abilities’, p. 30). 18 DEFENSIVE STATE You automatically enter the Defensive State at the end of your turn and remain in that state until the start of your next turn. As the name suggests, in this state you defend yourself with Egis Gemstones against rival players. DEFENDING AGAINST A FOCUS ABILITY If another player successfully targets you with a Focus Ability, you must suffer the effects described on the card. Focus Abilities cannot be mitigated or cancelled by any means, with the following exceptions: You can cancel incoming Dire Gems with the Instant Power (p. 31) of a card (depicting a minus sign and black Gemstone icons), or You activated Ylem Shield (p. 30) at the beginning of this turn. DEFENDING AGAINST AN ATTACK If another player attacks you and you have Egis Gemstones in your Gemstone Pool, you must expend them to cancel as much of the attack as possible. More details on this are in the Attacking chapter (see ‘Defending’, p. 22). MOVEMENT One of the actions available to you when you are in the Active State is to move your miniature on the Immolation Board, positioning yourself according to your play style and strategy. To move, you must expend 1 Aria Gemstone from your Gemstone Pool to move to an adjacent tile. This is called Aria Movement. MOVEMENT RESTRICTIONS: Movement is restricted to adjacent spaces (horizontal and vertical) unless you have completed your Aria Transmutation which allows you to also move to a diagonal tile (see ‘Transmutations’, p. 28). Note: Revenants are always able to move diagonally without restriction. You cannot move into or through a tile occupied by another character miniature using Aria Movement. You cannot move into a Fire Wall using Aria Movement. The only exception to this is if you are already in a Fire Wall and are blocked from re-entering the arena (see ‘Fire Walls’, p. 33). ESCAPE Note: Revenants are always immune to the Escape Cost. This section does not apply to Revenants as they have the advantage of Narrow Escape unlocked at all times. If you are adjacent to an opponent and want to move out of adjacency, you must first Escape from them. For each opponent adjacent to you, you must expend 1 Egis to successfully Escape. You must then pay 1 Aria to move as normal. This Escape Cost occurs each and every time you move out of adjacency from an adjacent opponent. There is no Escape Cost associated with moving away from an opponent that is diagonal to you. If you cannot pay the Escape Cost, you cannot use Aria Movement this turn (see the exceptions to this in the notes on page 20). 19 MOVEMENT Escape Example: You are adjacent to two characters. If you wish to move out of adjacency from both of them, by moving to the tile above you, you must first expend the Escape Cost of 2 Egis, then expend 1 Aria to move onto that tile. Escape Example: You are adjacent to only one opponent; the other is on a tile diagonally from you. If you wish to move out of adjacency by moving to the tile above you, you must first expend the Escape Cost of 1 Egis, then expend 1 Aria to move onto that tile. Note: If you have a completed Aria Transmutation, or you are a Revenant, you may move around an opponent diagonally without expending Egis Gemstones. Escape Costs are only required when you move out of adjacency with an opponent. Example: You have the Aria Transmutation completed, meaning you are permitted to move diagonally. An opponent is adjacent to you. You could expend 1 Aria and move to the tile diagonally up and to the right without expending the Escape Cost because you are still adjacent to the opponent i.e. you never moved out of adjacency from them while moving onto the new tile. Example: This is similar to the example above, except now there is another opponent adjacent to you and moving diagonally will move you out of adjacency from the opponent directly below you. Therefore, you must expend 1 Egis to Escape from this second opponent. Note: A completed Egis Transmutation makes you immune to Escape Costs by granting you the passive effect of Narrow Escape. Having Narrow Escape, you may move freely out of adjacency from other characters without spending Egis Gemstones. Note: You are immune to Escape Costs while you are standing in fire, regardless of whether you have a completed Egis Transmutation. This prevents players from being hopelessly trapped in fire. Note: Players affected by Ylem Bridge or Focus Abilities that cause you or your target to move somewhere on the board are immune to Escape Costs. 20 MOVEMENT MOVEMENT IN FIRE You are not allowed to voluntarily move into or beyond a Fire Wall when moving. If you choose to move while you are in a Fire Wall, you must move back onto a non-Fire tile if you are able. If you are currently blocked from doing this (a tile with a Dire Gemstone is not a blocked tile), you may move along the Fire Wall until you are able to successfully move back into the arena. When moving within the Fire Wall, you must take 1 Dire Wound per tile moved. Note: If you are in a Fire Wall, these rules only apply if you choose to move. You are not forced to move, you can choose other actions as normal. For example: You are on tile 57, in a Fire Wall, and blocked by two opponents. The shortest path (resulting in the lowest damage) for you to get out of the fire is shown (assuming you don’t have diagonal movement). You are immune to the Escape Costs, so to perform the movement depicted, you must expend 3 Aria to move the 3 tiles, taking 2 Dire Wounds from entering 2 burning tiles. Alternatively, to avoid moving into any additional burning tiles you could attempt to kill one of your opponents first and then re-enter the arena. CLAIMING GEMSTONES, BLOODSTONES, OR THE ASCENDED DIE. During the game, various events can cause Gemstones and Bloodstones to appear on the board. If you enter such a tile, purposely or involuntarily, you must claim the items by placing them in the appropriate areas on your Character Mat (Gemstone Substitution rules apply, p. 15). When moving onto a tile with 1 or more Bloodstones, you must claim them all and place them in your Bloodcrest. When claiming Pyre Gemstones from tiles, if you do not have any space in your Gemstone Pool and you are unwilling to acquire the Gems on the tile by Gemstone Substitution, they are simply discarded. When claiming Ylem Gemstones from tiles, if you do not have any space in your Ylem Pool, the Ylem remains on the tile. If you are forced onto, or through, a tile containing Dire Gems, you must acquire them, substituting them for other Gemstones in your Pool if needed. If Dire Gems claimed from a tile would kill you (and you are unable to cancel them using an Instant Power), death is the result. If your character dies this way, your death occurs on the tile which contained the Dire Gem(s) (see ‘Death’, p. 34). If you are fortunate enough to claim the Ascended Die from a tile, it is added to your Focus Dice and you now have all the benefits of using the Ascended Die (see ‘Last King Standing’, p. 36). Note: The rules above apply if you are ever on a tile containing one of these items at any time. For example: If you begin your turn with an Ylem Gemstone on your tile, but you are unable to acquire it due to your Ylem Pool being full, you could just expend 1 Ylem to draw a card, and then you could instantly acquire the Ylem from the tile. 21 ATTACKING You may use this action to attack another miniature on an adjacent tile. If you have a completed Pyre Transmutation, or you are a Revenant, you may attack a miniature on any surrounding tile. To perform an attack, you must have at least 1 Pyre Gemstone in your Gemstone Pool. Decide how many Pyre Gemstones you wish to expend on the attack, taking them from your Gemstone Pool and holding them in your hand for the target player to see. Then, discard them into the supply. DEFENDING If the defending player has any Egis Gemstones in their Gemstone Pool, they must expend as many of them as needed to cancel as much of your attack as possible. Each Egis Gemstone expended cancels one Pyre Gemstone. For example: You attack an opponent with 4 Pyre Gemstones. Unblocked, this will deal 4 Dire Wounds. However, your opponent has 3 Egis Gemstones in their Gemstone Pool (which they were planning to use on their next turn to complete their Egis Transmutation). Instead however, they must expend all 3 to cancel 3 of the Pyre Gemstones, reducing the damage they receive to only 1 Dire Wound. If they only had 1 Egis to expend, they would receive 3 Dire Wounds. Note: Remember that Instant Powers (p. 31) can be used at any time, so the defending player may use an Instant Power to gain Egis Gemstones by placing them in their Gemstone Pool, and then expend them immediately. Note: The effect of some Instant Powers can also cancel Dire Wounds. DIRE WOUNDS Each time you take a Dire Wound, take one Dire Gemstone from the supply and place it in your Gemstone Pool. If there is not enough space, you must move any Core Gemstones from your Pool back to the supply to fit the Dire Wound. Note: Dire Gemstones must be placed on the top row of your Gemstone Pool from left to right (see ‘The Gemstone Pool’, p. 15). CHARACTER DEATH Once you have at least a certain number of Dire Wounds in your Gemstone Pool, you are killed. This number is equal to 3 Dire Wounds at level 1, 4 Dire Wounds at level 2, and 5 Dire Wounds at level 3. When your character dies (p. 34), your miniature is immediately removed from the board and all Bloodstones you have are placed according to Proximity Rules (p. 11). ECHO OF YLEM – KILL BONUS AND OVERKILL BONUS Anytime you have killed a target, you acquire 1 Ylem Gemstone as a Kill Bonus. Also, if you caused more Dire Wounds than was needed to kill the target, you draw 1 card (no matter how many excess Dire Wounds you caused). This is the Overkill Bonus. For example: You attack a level 2 King who has already suffered 3 Dire Wounds from a previous attack. Only 1 more Wound is needed to kill them. They also have no Egis to defend themselves with. However, you suspect they have a Wound cancelling card in hand, so you attack them with 3 Pyre just in case. They do not play any Instant Powers to cancel any Wounds, so you deal 3 Wounds in total, although only 1 is needed to kill them. For this, you acquire 1 Ylem from the supply (for the kill) and draw 1 card (for the overkill). 22 FOCUS ABILITIES Focus Abilities can be compared to what is commonly referred to as spells. Most of the cards in both decks have a Focus Ability on them, shown in the middle of the card, with an Ylem Gemstone icon to the left. The number inside the icon is the Power Level of the card and ranges from 1 to 3. When in the Active State, you can use an action to cast the Focus Ability of a card in your hand. To do so, expend the Ylem indicated on the card to play it from your hand face up in front of you and resolve its effect. Then, it is placed on the appropriate discard pile. Focus Abilities can also be cast by Activating an Inscription (p. 24). Any character (King or Revenant) can cast any Focus Ability if they expend the Ylem price to do so. For example: Kariis Vara is attuned to the focus of Aria, however a player controlling Kariis can still cast a Pyre Focus Ability if they expend the required Ylem price. CASTING A FOCUS ABILITY To cast a Focus Ability, follow these steps: 1. Play the card from your hand to the table in front of you. 2. Announce your target, which must meet the target requirement described in the text and shown in the bottom left diagram of the card. If you cannot meet the target requirements, the action is cancelled; place the card back in your hand. 3. Expend a number of Ylem Gemstones from your Ylem Pool equal to the Power Level of the card (the number inside the Ylem Gemstone icon). 4. Resolve the effects of the card as described in the text and shown in the bottom right diagram of the card. 5. Place the card face up on the appropriate discard pile. For example: It is your turn and you have decided to enter the Active State. You have 3 Ylem in your Ylem Pool and you have in your hand the card “Sun & Sky.” On the board, your miniature is 2 tiles away from an opponent in one cardinal direction. You meet the target requirement and decide to play this ability. Placing the card face up in front of you, you announce that you are casting “Sun & Sky” and declare your target. You now remove 2 Ylem Gemstones from your Ylem Pool and discard them back to the supply. You pick up your miniature and your opponents miniature, placing your miniature on their tile, and their miniature on your tile. As you have now switched places with the target opponent, the Focus Ability has successfully been cast and you discard the “Sun & Sky” card to the appropriate discard pile. 23 ACTIVATING AN INSCRIPTION If you have previously inscribed a card onto your Character Mat, you can use an action when in the Active State to cast the Focus Ability on that card. This is very similar to casting a Focus Ability from your hand, with a few exceptions, most notably that it does not cost any Ylem to cast. To activate an Inscription, follow these steps: 1. Turn over your Inscribed card. 2. Announce your target, which must meet the target requirement described in the text and shown in the bottom left diagram of the card. If you cannot meet the requirement, flip the card back face down. 3. Resolve the effects of the card as described in the text and shown in the bottom right diagram of the card. 4. Place the card face up on the appropriate discard pile. Remember, you can always look at your inscribed card before you activate it, so it is advisable to double check your Inscription. Otherwise, if you turn it over and you do not meet the target requirements, the other players now know what card you have. END OF ROUND After all players have taken a turn, and after any killed characters have been returned to the board, it is the end of the round. The current starting player must perform a series of steps before play continues. 1. Rotate the “Round” dial on the Omega Index 2. Fire Wall Progression 3. Rotate the “Event” dial on the Omega Index 4. Resolve the Immolation Event 5. Change the starting player 1. Rotate The Round Dial The right dial on the Omega Index is rotated clockwise to the next lowest number. Upon reaching FLIP, turn the dial over to reveal “10.” Upon reaching Ω, immediately advance to the Omega War (p. 36), skipping the rest of the steps in this section. Note: If you choose to play the game without a countdown timer, begin the game with 20 rounds (regardless of the number of players), and still countdown the rounds, flipping the Omega Index after 10 rounds so that you utilize both “Event” sides of the dial. In this case, you no longer need to advance the “Round” dial once the Omega Index is flipped. 2. Fire Wall Progression First, roll the Immolation Die to determine which of the Fire Walls moves (p. 33). Any character standing in any Fire Wall after Fire Wall Progression takes 1 Dire Wound now. This cannot be blocked by Egis, but can be cancelled with Instant Powers that cancel Dire Wounds. If this causes your character to die, see the rules on Death (p. 34). If you are in a Fire Wall and that Fire Wall moves so that you are now behind the Fire Wall, this causes instant death (see ‘Death by Immolation’, p. 34). 24 END OF ROUND 3. Rotate The Event Dial Use the same result of the Immolation Die to rotate counter clockwise through that number of icons of the “Event” dial shown by the “Event” dial window (left side). For example: If a 3 is rolled, rotate the “Event” dial counterclockwise past the first and second icon, and then stop on the third. 4. Resolve The Immolation Event The Event now showing on the Omega Index is resolved. For these 4 Events (shown left), roll the percentile dice and then place the appropriate Gemstones shown: (1 Ylem, 1 Pyre, 2 Pyre, 1 Ylem & 1 Dire) on the tile of the number rolled (Proximity Rules apply, p. 11). For this event (shown left), each player standing in or directly adjacent to at least one Fire Wall immediately takes 1 Dire Wound. If you die from this, see Death (p. 34). 5. Change The Starting Player The current starting player passes the Immolation Die and the Omega Index to the next player in the turn order. This means that the player who was the starting player will now take the last turn in the next round. For example: In the first round, the turn order was Player 1, then Player 2, then Player 3. At the end of the first round, the starting player passes to Player 2 who takes the first turn in the next round, followed by Player 3, and then Player 1. Upon reaching the Omega War (p. 36), this step is no longer performed. 2-PLAYER GAMES If you are playing a 2 player game, do not change the starting player. Turns simply go back and forth between the two players for the entire duration of the game. However, you may choose to split the responsibilities of resolving the End of Round steps. 25 FOCUS GEMSTONES Focus Gemstones harness forms of power that derive from Ylem, the original substance of the universe from which all things are made. Collectively they are referred to as “Foci” (foe-si). THE CORE FOCI: ARIA, EGIS, AND PYRE ARIA |ahr-ee-uh| – The Force of all Creation The white Gemstones are called “Aria,” which by itself represents movement. Each Aria Gemstone you have in your Gemstone Pool during your Active State may be expended to move 1 tile. EGIS |Ee-jis| – The Innate Force of the Natural World The green Gemstones are called “Egis,” which by itself represents defense. Each Egis Gemstone you have in your Gemstone Pool during your Defensive State may be expended to block 1 Pyre Gemstone from an opponent’s attack. PYRE |pie-ur| – The Burning Force of Men’s Willpower The red Gemstones are called “Pyre,” which by itself represents attack. Each Pyre Gemstone you have in your Gemstone Pool during your Active State may be expended to attack an opponent. Each Pyre Gemstone that is not blocked by the target player with an Egis Gemstone results in 1 Dire Wound of damage. DIRE |die-ur| The Energy Associated With Death and Destruction The black Gemstones are called “Dire,” which represent wounds. Dire Gemstones are taken for each Pyre Gemstone that cannot be blocked with Egis. Once a player has accumulated the maximum amount of Dire Gemstones allowed for their level, they are killed. YLEM |ahy-luh m| The Underlying Energy of All Things The blue Gemstones are called “Ylem,” which represents magical power. The more Ylem you have, the easier it is to acquire. During the Active State, it can be expended by itself for leveling up, drawing more cards, casting Focus Abilities, or expended in combination with other Core Gemstones to use Ylem Abilities. 26 FOCUS GEMSTONES ACQUIRING NEW GEMSTONES FROM FOCUS DICE If you choose the Latent State on your turn, roll your Focus Dice and use the results to acquire new Gemstones. On each quick reference card there is a list to help you learn the values associated with each of the Foci. There are two ways to use values on the dice to acquire Gemstones: The first way is simply matching the values rolled with the values on the chart. A 6 allows you to take any Core Gemstone. For example: If you roll a 3 and 4, you acquire 1 Egis Gemstone and 1 Pyre Gemstone and place them in your Gemstone Pool. Alternatively, you can add the values of two or more dice together to establish a new single result. For example: If you roll a 2 and 3, you could acquire 1 Pyre Gemstone with the added result of 5. You can choose to use the values on some dice and add others together however you choose. Each die can only be used once, either by itself or in combination with other dice. For example: If you roll a 1, 3 and 5, you have many choices. You could use all the dice on their own, taking 1 Aria, 1 Egis, and 1 Pyre. Or, you could add the 1 and the 3 together to make a 4, then take 2 Pyre (one for the 4 and another for the 5). Or, you could add the 5 and the 3 to take an Ylem, and then use the 1 to take an Aria, and so on. ACQUIRING YLEM On the reference card you will notice the number shown to acquire Ylem is “X+”. The actual value you need to acquire Ylem changes during the game. On your Character Mat, your Ylem Pool is a vertical column of spaces with the numbers 7+, 6+, 5+, 4+, and 3+ from bottom to top. The largest visible number shows the current value you need to acquire Ylem. Note: The Ylem Pool must be filled from the bottom to the top, and when expending Ylem, it must be taken from top to bottom. For example: If you have 2 Ylem in your Ylem Pool, you only need 5+ to acquire another Ylem using Focus Dice. The more Ylem you have, the easier it is to acquire. Any excess beyond the number you need is lost. For example: If you combine 3 and 4 to make 7 when you need 5+ to acquire Ylem, you must use all 7, you do not get 2 “change” to use on something else. 27 FOCUS GEMSTONES All Focus Dice must be allocated before any Gemstones are placed in your Pools (you can place Gemstones nearby your Character Mat as you decide). Therefore, it is not allowed to use some dice to acquire an Ylem Gemstone and then use the new lower value for Ylem to acquire another one on the current roll of the dice. For example: At the start of your turn, you have 1 Ylem. This means that the current cost to acquire Ylem is 6+. First, you Generate Focus and because you have a completed Ylem Transmutation, you acquire 1 Ylem. Now the cost to acquire is 5+. Let’s assume you choose the Latent State for your turn. After you have drawn a card, you decide to play an Instant Power that gives you 1 Ylem. Now the cost to acquire Ylem is 4+ . You then roll your Focus Dice, the cost to acquire Ylem is fixed at 4+ for that roll. Let’s say you acquire 1 more Ylem from your Focus Dice roll. The cost to acquire Ylem will be 3+ after all Gemstones for this roll have been placed in your Pools. Later in your turn, you play another Instant Power which allows you to roll 1 Focus Die, which you roll separately. If you roll a 3 or more, you can use that roll to acquire 1 Ylem (assuming you had not used 3 Ylem to complete your Ylem Transmutation during your turn). ECHO OF YLEM – MIRROR BONUS Another way to acquire Ylem is by rolling all the same values with your Focus Dice. Because you roll more dice as you level up, this bonus is easier to achieve at lower levels. If all of your dice have the same value, you acquire 1 bonus Ylem, but do not place it on your Character Mat until the end of this Step, when you place your other acquired Gemstones (i.e. it does not reduce the cost to acquire Ylem immediately). After taking the Echo of Ylem bonus, proceed to acquire Gemstones using the dice as usual (using the duplicate values on the dice). TRANSMUTATIONS Completing Transmutations on your Character Mat unlocks the Generate Focus step (p. 14, p. 29) and Advanced Actions. Note that Revenants have the advantage of Diagonal Attack, Diagonal Movement, and Narrow Escape unlocked at all times. Transmutations are color specific. Each socket within a Transmutation determines what color Gemstone is required. To complete a Transmutation, you must have all 3 required Gemstones in your Pool to fill the desired sockets. During Step 4 of the Latent State, you may move the Gemstones from your Pool and place them into the sockets of the Transmutation. All Gemstones required for a Transmutation must be moved at the same time. Also, during Step 4 of the Latent State, you may untransmute, moving the Gemstones back from the Transmutation to your Pool. If you do not have enough space in the appropriate Pool to place the Gemstones, Gemstone Substitution applies (p. 15). Although there is no limit to how many Transmutations you can complete during your turn, while you are a King, you may only have a number of completed Core Transmutations (Pyre, Aria, Egis) equal to your current level. Revenants have no such limitation with Prismatic Transmutations. 28 TRANSMUTATIONS GENERATING FOCUS At the start of your turn, you acquire 1 Gemstone of the corresponding color for each of your completed Transmutations. For a completed Prismatic Transmutation, you acquire any one Core Gemstone of your choice. Gemstone Substitution applies as normal if your Gemstone Pool is full (p. 15). ADVANCED ACTIONS Aria Transmutation – Force of Creation Having a completed Aria Transmutation unlocks Diagonal Movement. When moving, you may choose to move to any surrounding tile rather than only adjacent ones. Egis Transmutation – Force of Nature Having a completed Egis Transmutation unlocks the passive effect of Narrow Escape. This allows you to move out of adjacency from opponents without expending Egis for the Escape Cost. Pyre Transmutation – Force of Man Having a completed Pyre Transmutation unlocks Diagonal Attack. When attacking, you may choose to attack an opponent on any surrounding tile rather than only adjacent ones. Ylem Transmutation – Force of Existence Completing an Ylem Transmutation unlocks the 4 Ylem Abilities (p. 30). Prismatic Transmutation – Force of Transformation Having a completed Prismatic Transmutation allows you to activate a special ability called “Ylem Prism.” To do so, you must be in your Active State and discard the 3 Core Gemstones from the Prismatic Transmutation and take 1 Ylem Gemstone which you must place into any Revenants Ylem Pool, anywhere on the board (including your own). There must be space enough in the target Pool to do so. If every Revenant’s Ylem Pool is full, you may not use this ability. Note: A King player may perform Ylem Prism from a completed Prismatic Transmutation if they have the “Prismatic Inscription” card inscribed and completed. However, they must only place 1 Ylem in their own Ylem Pool. If their Ylem Pool is full, this ability may not be used. Once done, the “Prismatic Inscription” card is discarded. 29 YLEM ABILITIES After completing an Ylem Transmutation, you generate 1 Ylem during the Generate Focus step (p. 14), and you unlock 4 Ylem Abilities: 3 Active State Abilities and 1 Defensive State Ability. These Ylem Abilities are available to both Kings and Revenants. The Active State Abilities are activated by using one of your actions when in the Active State. All Ylem abilities can be activated as many times as your Gemstone Pools allow. Ylem Bridge (Active State Ability) Expend 1 Ylem Gemstone and 1 Aria Gemstone to immediately move your miniature to any tile on the board containing an Ylem Gemstone. You immediately then acquire that Ylem as well as any other Gemstones and/or Bloodstones on the tile. You are immune to the Escape Cost while executing Ylem Bridge. Heal Wound (Active State Ability) Expend 1 Ylem Gemstone and 1 Egis Gemstone to remove 1 Dire Gemstone from your Gemstone Pool. Pyrokinesis (Active State Ability) To activate this ability, your miniature must be on a tile directly adjacent to a Fire Wall, or in a Fire Wall itself. Expend 1 Ylem Gemstone and 1 Pyre Gemstone and slide the Fire Wall strip you are in/adjacent to, one position away from your miniature (toward the outside edge). This ability cannot be used on Fire Walls that are on the line of spaces on the edge of the board (i.e. once a Fire Wall is on the board, it cannot be pushed off using this ability). Ylem Shield (Defensive State Ability) You may activate this Ability during an opponent’s turn to render you immune to being targeted by any Focus Abilities or Special Cards during that turn. You must announce you are activating this ability during the active player’s Generate Focus step, before they choose a state. To activate the Ylem Shield, you must remove all 3 Ylem Gemstones from your Ylem Transmutation socket and return them to the supply. The Ylem Shield prevents the current player from targeting you with any Focus Abilities or Special Cards this turn. It does not prevent you from being attacked by Pyre Attacks. Note: Ylem Shield only lasts for the turn that it was activated. On the next players turn, you can be targeted by Focus Abilities and Special Cards again as normal. 30 INSTANT POWERS Most cards depict an Instant Power section at the top of the card. You may play a card from your hand to use the Instant Power at any time during the game, regardless what state you are in, and even when it is not your turn. To do so, play the card from your hand onto the table, resolve the Instant Power effect only, then place the card on the discard pile. There are 3 types of Instant Powers: Cards that increase Focus Gemstones EGIS BOUND These cards depict a plus symbol and one or more Gemstone icons. These powers allow you to immediately acquire all the Gemstones displayed in the top part of the card. Gemstone Substitution rules apply if your Pool is/becomes full. For example: An opponent declares a Pyre attack on you, you respond by using an If you possess 1 or more Dire, you Egis Gemstones to defend yourself. Instant Power that gives 2 add up to 4 Egis to your gemstone pool. Important Note: Gemstones acquired using Instant Powers must be fitted into the Target Pool before Effect appropriate they can be expended (Gemstone Substitution rules apply, p. 15). SELF Cards that remove Dire Wounds These cards depict a minus symbol and one or more Dire Gemstone icons. These Instant Powers can be used in two different ways. You can play them to either: dire transfer Remove up to the indicated number of Dire Wounds from your Gemstone Pool. Cancel up to the indicated number of Dire Wounds that you are about to take. Remove 1 Dire from your gemstone pool and give it to any 3 A combination opponent or tile onof the the board. above. For example: You areEffect targeted by a Focus Ability which deals you 1 Dire Wound. You Target could play a card which depicts 2 Dire Wounds on it to cancel one of those incoming WoundsANY and to remove a Dire Wound from your Pool. Cards that provide Focus Dice Some cards depict a plus symbol and one or more dice icons. These can be used to immediately roll the depicted number of dice to acquire Gemstones following the rules for rolling Focus Dice (p. 27). transfer Importantdire Note: If a card is inscribed in your Inscription Slot during your Active or Defensive State, you may not use its Instant Power. Only cards in your hand can Remove 1 Dire from your be used for their Instant gemstone pool and give it to aPower. 2 surrounding opponent or tile. Note: Whenever an Instant Power is executed, the effect must be resolved Target before Effect immediately play can continue. 31 INSCRIPTIONS Inscriptions are used as a special way of casting Focus Abilities without having to expend Ylem. First, when in the Latent State, you must inscribe the card by playing it onto the inscription slot of your Character Mat. You can only have 1 card inscribed at any time. On a later turn when you are in the Active State, you may reveal this card to your opponents and cast the Focus Ability without expending any Ylem! REQUIREMENTS FOR KINGS Inscription To inscribe a card, the Focus Glyph on the card must match the Focus Glyph displayed on your Character Mat Inscription Slot. If the card has a Focus Glyph that does not match your Character Mat, or if the card does not have a Focus Glyph on it at all, you cannot inscribe the card. The only exception to this is the Special Card “Prismatic Inscription” (see below). REQUIREMENTS FOR REVENANTS Any card with an Omega Glyph on it (most cards from the Revenant Deck) can be inscribed. If a card does not have an Omega Glyph on it, you cannot inscribe the card. Inscription PRISMATIC INSCRIPTION CARD The Kings have a Special Card available in the Ascendant Deck called Prismatic Inscription. This card is inscribed face up rather than face down. You must have 1 Aria, 1 Egis, and 1 Pyre in your Gemstone Pool before inscribing this card, and immediately after inscribing it, you move those Gemstones onto the sockets on the actual card. An inscribed Prismatic Inscription gives you access to a Prismatic Transmutation that follows the same rules as it does for the Revenants, including Ylem Prism (see ‘Prismatic Transmutation’, p. 29). Note: When this card is uninscribed, or the Gemstones on it are untransmuted or discarded, place this card in the discard pile instead of returning it to your hand. 32 FIRE WALLS FIRE WALL MOVEMENT Fire Walls spread further into the arena at the end of each round. This advancing threat forces you and your rivals closer together during the battle. The Immolation Board has four Gemstone shapes along the outside edges of the board with the numbers 1 through 4 inside. These are called the Immolation Numbers. Notice that the Gemstone shapes serve as arrows, showing the direction of the movement of the Fire Walls. At the end of a round, the player in possession of the Immolation Die will roll the die to determine which Fire Wall moves. If no Fire Wall currently burns on that side of the board, place a Fire Wall strip across the tiles directly adjacent to the matching Immolation Number. Every Fire Wall first placed on the board starts on the outer perimeter tiles adjacent to this number. If a Fire Wall is already in place for the Immolation Number rolled, simply advance that Fire Wall strip one tile toward the opposite side of the board. Miniatures are placed on top of a Fire Wall when it crosses the tile they currently occupy (see ‘Fire Wall Progression’, p. 24). FIRE WALL DEADLOCK There are two ways Fire Wall movement can be prevented from advancing; this is called Fire Wall Deadlock. If an Immolation Number is rolled for a Fire Wall in deadlock, there is no Fire Wall movement for that round. Parallel Deadlock: As the game progresses, up to four Fire Walls will be present on the board. Parallel Fire Walls can never be closer than 3 exposed tiles away from each other. Any two such Fire Walls would be considered in Parallel Deadlock. This means that the smallest possible arena size resulting from 4 Fire Walls is a 3 x 3 tile grid. Bloodstone Deadlock: As characters are killed, they drop their Bloodstone(s) onto the tile upon which they were slain. Fire Walls cannot advance into any tile containing a Bloodstone. Therefore it is possible for players to artificially halt the progression of the Fire Walls by allowing Bloodstones to remain unclaimed, but this is an advanced tactic that carries great risk. If you are able to cause Bloodstone Deadlock, use this technique with caution! FIRE CROSSING PATHS WITH GEMSTONES If a Fire Wall strip moves across a tile in which a Dire or Ylem Gemstone resides, the stones are simply removed from the board and placed back in the supply. However, if the Fire Wall crosses a Pyre Gem, the Pyre Gem explodes inflicting 1 Dire Wound to any character on a surrounding tile. This happens for each Pyre Gem that resides in this tile. So if there are 2 Pyre Gems in this tile when the Fire Wall moves across the tile, any character miniature standing in any surrounding tile takes 2 Dire Wounds. FIRE CROSSING PATHS WITH THE ASCENDED DIE If a Fire Wall moves across a tile in which the Ascended Die resides, the Die is removed from the game and put back in the box. 33 DEATH THE KILL – DEATH BY DIRE WOUNDS Dire Gemstones represent wounds. They are placed in your Gemstone Pool and when you have a number of them equal to 2 + your level, you are killed. There are several ways in which Dire Gems (Wounds) are acquired. With the exception of Unblocked Pyre Gems, no other ways can be reduced by expending Egis. Note: Instant Powers depicting (-) Dire Gems can be used to cancel Dire Wounds. Unblocked Pyre Gems: Each Pyre Gem used in an attack against you that is not blocked with an Egis Gem results in 1 Dire Wound. Entering a Dire Tile: If you move onto (by choice or involuntarily) a tile containing a Dire Gemstone, you must pick it up (p. 21). If you are killed in this way, no one receives an Ylem Bonus. Focus Abilities: Some Focus Ability cards deliver Dire Wounds. Special Cards: There is 1 Special Card from each deck that delivers Dire Wounds. These cards are particularly deadly. Fire Walls: If you stand in a Fire Wall after Fire Wall Progression (p. 24), or if you move onto a tile covered by a Fire Wall (p. 21), you take 1 Dire Wound. Immolation Events: The Omega Index has an Immolation Event represented by a blue flame icon. When this event occurs, everyone standing adjacent to, or on top of, a Fire Wall takes 1 Dire Wound. Exploding Pyre: When a Fire Wall moves onto a tile with a Pyre Gemstone, the Pyre explodes and inflicts 1 Dire Wound to all surrounding tiles (p. 33). DEATH BY IMMOLATION If the Fire Wall advances beyond your tile, thereby placing you behind the Fire Wall boundary, the fire overcomes you resulting in your instant death. You immediately return as a Revenant before the beginning of the next player’s turn. If more than 1 player dies at the same from fire, they return in player order. 2 3 1 1: 2: 3: 4: If If If If you you you you are are are are on on on on tile tile tile tile 4 35 14 17 38 when when when when you you you you are are are are killed, killed, killed, killed, your your your your When you are killed, immediately remove your miniature from the board and place all Bloodstones you are carrying on the tile in which you died. If you were on or behind a Fire Wall, place those Bloodstones on the nearest legal tile using the Proximity Rules (p. 11). See examples below using image at left. Bloodstones Bloodstones Bloodstones Bloodstones are are are are placed placed placed placed on on on on this tile. tile 24. tile 26. tile 36. 34 DEATH Note: If a Bloodstone is ever placed onto a tile where there is a miniature, that character immediately gains the Bloodstone. Otherwise, the Bloodstone stays on the tile where it is dropped and any player may move onto that tile in order to acquire it. THE RETURN – COMING BACK AS A REVENANT At the end of the turn during which at least one character is killed, all killed players return to the board as Revenants, following the steps below. This happens immediately after the current player’s turn is over and before the end of the round (should the current player be the last player this round). If multiple characters were killed by a player, they return in the order they were killed. Note: Although coming back as a Revenant happens after the current player’s turn, in order to speed up play, Steps 1-6 below can be carried out whilst the current player continues taking their turn. 1. Discard all of your cards, including any inscribed card on your Character Mat. 2. Move all of your Gemstones from any completed Transmutations and any Ylem Gemstones from your Ylem Pool, off to the side of your Character Mat. Exception: If you die with the “Prismatic Inscription” card inscribed and completed, those Gems and the card are discarded. 3. Return all other Gemstones from your Gemstone Pool (including Dire Gemstones) to the supply. 4. Kings: Take note of your current level, then remove your Golden Round, flip your Character Mat over to the Revenant side and place the Golden Round back on the same level. Remove your king miniature from the game and find the corresponding Revenant matching your focus color. Revenants: Leave the Golden Round where it is. You will continue to use the Revenant Miniature. 5. Pick up all the Ylem and Core Gemstones that you placed to the side earlier. Insert the Ylem Gems into your Ylem Pool from bottom to top. If you completely fill the Pool up with Ylem Gems, discard any surplus Ylem Gems. Do not place any of these Ylem Gems into the Ylem Transmutation. Insert any Core Gems that you had set aside into your main Gemstone Pool. 6. Draw 3 cards from the Revenant Deck to your hand. You may look at these cards before the next step. 7. Roll the percentile dice to determine a tile on the board. Place your Revenant miniature onto either that tile, or one surrounding it. You cannot place your miniature onto a tile occupied by another miniature, or in fire (see ‘Proximity Rules’, p. 11). If you place your miniature onto a tile containing any Gemstones or Bloodstones, immediately acquire them. 8. Acquire any 3 Core Gemstones of your choice (these are in addition to the Gemstones that you carried over). Important Note: In a 3-player game, the first character who dies returns with the 4th Bloodstone that was set aside during setup. This ensures that all 4 Bloodstones are available in the game. Important Note: In a 2-player game, the first 2 characters who die return with the 3rd and 4th Bloodstone respectively. This may even be the same player. 35 LAST KING STANDING As the game progresses, there will eventually be only one King remaining while all other players control Revenants. This player is known as the Last King Standing! When you hold the title of the Last King Standing, take the Ascended Die and add it to your Focus Dice. When rolling your Focus Dice during the Latent State, include this die into your roll. This assists the Last King Standing with acquiring Gemstones to fight off the Revenants. While in possession of the Ascended Die, you must announce at the beginning of each player’s turn (including your own) whether you will be “Absorbing” the die or not. It is only during this time that the die may be absorbed; you cannot absorb the die in response to being attacked! When you choose to Absorb the die, remove the Ascended Die from the game and immediately remove all Dire Gemstones from your Character Mat. DYING WITH THE ASCENDED DIE If your character should be killed while in possession of the Ascended Die, place the die onto the tile upon which you were slain (Proximity Rules apply, p. 11). This allows any player entering that tile (even a Revenant) to take possession of the Ascended Die, benefitting from its effects. The Ascended Die remains in circulation until it is absorbed by a player or destroyed by the Fire Walls (p. 33). THE OMEGA WAR Two possible situations can arise to begin the Omega War: A player has united all 4 Bloodstones into their Bloodcrest. That player completes their turn, and any characters that were killed then return as Revenants. Then, the Omega War begins. If that player took the last turn in this round, do not perform the End of Round steps. During the End of Round steps, the “Round” on the Omega Index displays Ω. In both cases, the Omega War begins. Perform the following steps: 1. Remove the Omega Index, the 4 Fire Wall strips, and Immolation Die from play. 2. Roll the percentile dice for the Omega Stone placement. Find the nearest outer edge tile on the board from the tile that was rolled for and place the Omega Stone on that outer edge tile. If the tile rolled for is an equal distance from both edges, the Omega Stone is placed on the nearest corner tile. If the tile rolled for is a tile on the edge of the board, that is the where the Omega Stone is placed. Note: In the very rare case that the outer edge tile determined for Omega Stone placement is occupied by a character miniature, roll again until the determined outer edge tile does not contain a character miniature. 3. The game now proceeds in normal turn order beginning with the player to the left (clockwise) of the player that most recently ended their turn. Play continues in this way with players just taking turns one after another; do not carry out any further “End of Round” steps for the rest of the game. IMPORTANT! “Rolling for Ylem” during your Active State is no longer performed by any player. This step is now skipped for the rest of the game. There should be no new Ylem appearing on the board during the Omega War. 36 THE OMEGA WAR WINNING THE GAME The tile containing the Omega Stone can only be entered by a player holding at least 1 Bloodstone. Note: No Focus Abilities can be cast causing a player without a Bloodstone to be placed on, or pass through, the tile containing the Omega Stone. Once a miniature enters the tile with the Omega Stone, the game immediately ends. If that player had all 4 Bloodstones, they automatically win. Otherwise, points are then totalled (see scoring below), and the one with the most Koru points wins the game. For example: If the Omega War started because the round timer expired, and one player has 1 Bloodstone, and another player has 3 Bloodstones, the game can end in one of two ways. If either player claims the Omega Stone, points are totaled. Or, one player could kill the other, uniting all 4 Bloodstones and then enter the tile with the Omega Stone, winning the game outright. SCORING If the game ended without a single player obtaining all 4 Bloodstones, each player calculates the amount of Koru they have earned; a form of mythical currency in the Ascended land of Empyrnea. Use the following chart to determine how much Koru each player has. The player with the most Koru at the end of scoring wins the game. Omega Stone Claimed Bloodstones You were never killed +25 Koru +15 Koru each +10 Koru Completed Tr ansmutations + 5 Koru each Ylem Gems in Ylem Pool + 1 Koru each If more than one player has the same score, the tied players then earn additional Koru based on the following chart: Level of Char acter + 5 Koru per level Power Level 3 card in hand + 3 Koru each Power Level 2 card in hand + 2 Koru each Power Level 1 card in hand + 1 Koru each Lancea of Aeterna card in hand +15 Koru Revenant Curse card in hand +10 Koru If the resulting score STILL is a tie, the game ends in a draw between the tied players. 37 CARD INDEX The Card Index is a comprehensive guide to more information on specific cards and Focus Abilities. While the cards are self-explanatory, some cards may require further clarification under certain circumstances when playing the game. Not every card in the game appears in this index, only certain symbols, general terms, and cards that may give rise to questions during gameplay will be examined here. POSITION REQUIREMENT SYMBOLS There are 6 different position requirement symbols: SELF Cardinal: Targets an opponent out in an orthogonal line from you Self: Targets yourself Adjacent: Targets an adjacent opponent Surrounding: Targets either an adjacent opponent or a diagonal one ANY all opponents Any: Targets any opponent All: Targets all opponents The seventh position requirement "Line of Sight" does not have a unique symbol. It appears on the Lancea of Aeterna and Revenant Curse cards. Line of Sight: If an imaginary line can be drawn from the center of your tile to the center of the target’s tile without crossing the edge of, or through, another tile currently occupied by another character, the target is considered in your “line of sight.” This imaginary line may freely pass through the diamond shapes created by the corners of tiles occupied by other characters. This means a target is in your “line of sight” when the imaginary line passes directly through the diamond shape between two other characters positioned diagonally across from each other. OTHER GENERAL TERMS Convert: Converted Gemstones are discarded and replaced with the Gemstones specified in the description. On the board: Players killed during this turn are not considered to be on the board and cannot be affected by cards which target opponents on the board (such as Calcination Level 3 or Citrinitas cards). Note: Most Focus Abilities for cards both in the Ascendant Deck and in the Revenant Deck are the same. All card explanations on the following pages apply to both the Ascendant and Revenant versions of the cards unless stated otherwise. For most explanations, the Ascendant version of the cards is shown. 38 CARD INDEX Note: All kills caused by Focus Abilities and Special Cards benefit from the Echo of Ylem Kill Bonus and the Overkill Bonus (if applicable) as normal (p. 22). Dire Transfer Ascendant & Revenant Focus Ability Power Levels 1, 2, & 3 Notes: Dire Gems placed on the board this way can be placed in tiles occupied by other Gemstones, or Bloodstones, but cannot be placed in a tile occupied by the Omega Stone or Fire Wall. Sun & Sky Ascendant & Revenant Focus Ability Power Levels 1, 2, & 3 Notes: This Focus Ability does not require the target to be in your "line of sight.” Both you and the target are immune to the Escape Cost when this Focus Ability is executed. Conjunction Ascendant & Revenant Focus Ability Power Levels 1, 2, & 3 Notes: The target must be in your "line of sight" to use this ability. There must be no other character between you and the target of this Focus Ability in order to execute it. In this card's ability text, "pulled all the way toward you" means the target is placed on the nearest adjacent tile to you in relation to the targets original position. 39 CARD INDEX Calcination Ascendant & Revenant Focus Ability Power Level 3 Notes: Your target must have a card placed in their Inscription slot on their Character Mat in order to execute. This Focus Ability can be used to steal a Prismatic Inscription card, however, discard the Gemstones on the card before placing the card in your hand. IMPORTANT EXCEPTION: If you use this ability as a King targeting a Revenant, or as a Revenant targeting a King, you do not place the card in your hand. If either of those scenarios occur, and you have taken an Inscription card that does not belong to the current deck you are drawing from, you must immediately discard it on the appropriate discard pile. Separation Ascendant & Revenant Focus Ability Power Levels 1, 2, & 3 Notes: If your target would go beyond the fire wall as a result of this ability, the target is stopped on top of the fire wall, resulting in 1 Dire damage. You cannot push an opponent beyond the fire wall. In the extremely rare case that you and your target are on top of the same fire wall when you use this ability, pushing them along the fire wall is permitted, and your target must take 1 Dire wound for each tile entered while being pushed across the fire wall this way. 40 CARD INDEX ASCENDANT SPECIAL CARDS Pneuma Mundus Special Cards Notes: These 3 cards are special Instant Power cards. They can be played from your hand and activated the same way as any other Instant Power. These cards have no focus abilities. Prismatic Inscription Special Cards Notes: These 3 cards are special Inscription cards. They are played in the Latent State by following the special instructions for the card described on page 32 of the rulebook. If you do not wish to take advantage of this, you can discard it from your hand and draw another card as specified. Lancea of Aeterna Special Card Notes: See “Line of Sight” (p. 38). This card is a special zero cost Focus Ability card. A character killed by this card transfers all Bloodstones they have directly to the caster (they are not dropped). 41 CARD INDEX REVENANT SPECIAL CARDS The Traverse Special Cards Notes: These 3 cards are special zero cost Focus Ability cards. They can be played from your hand and are activated the same way as any other Focus Ability (during your Active State), but have no Ylem price. There are 3 different versions of this card, so be sure to read the text carefully (1, 2, or 3 Ylem is discarded by your target). Break Transmutation Special Cards Notes: These 3 cards are special zero cost Focus Ability cards. Break Transmutation forces your target to discard all the Gems from one of their completed transmutations. You declare which transmutation that breaks, regardless of what type (Core, Prismatic, or Ylem). This card can target the “Prismatic Inscription” transmutation, forcing the target to discard those Gems, and the “Prismatic Inscription” card. Revenant Curse Special Card Notes: See “Line of Sight” (p. 38). This card is a special zero cost Focus Ability card. A character killed by this card transfers all Bloodstones they have directly to the caster (they are not dropped). If you suspect a player has this card while you are in possession of several Bloodstones, consider activating “Ylem Shield” (p. 30). 42 NOTE FROM THE DESIGNER A most sincere thank you and welcome to Ascended Kings! Ascended Kings will place you in dire circumstances. As such, I encourage the use of negotiation and diplomacy during the course of the game with your fellow players. Though not required, it is most certainly allowed. While there can be no bartering of Gemstones, or trading of any kind, players may plead their case to one another and/or suggest a course of action. While I don’t condone “backseat gaming” (one player telling another what to do) among experienced players, please don’t hesitate to inform such players of your intent to send them to the Traverse (kill them), for their unsolicited counsel. Contrarily, feel free to heed others’ advice, and even work together by forming temporary alliances; especially as fellow Revenants. Just keep in mind, a player who offers aid, is indeed still your opponent. In the end, the most ultimate victory goes only to the player claiming Omega with all 4 Bloodstones. Players may reveal and/or withhold information to whomever and however they wish (meaning sharing plans, showing cards, etc). Please keep in mind, a courteous session is an enjoyable session. When making recommendations or raising cautions over gameplay, remember the heart of Ascended Kings comes in a player’s ability to make their own decisions. Never be pushy or insulting; always conduct yourself in a polite and friendly manner. Then send them to the Traverse with a smile! It has been a blast creating this game and story literally out of a dream and I hope that you enjoy Ascended Kings as much as I have enjoyed creating it! I would also like to thank all the amazing people who I have met and worked with on this project along the way. Dylan Pierpont, Anthony Benedetto, Andrew Martin, Nick Macari, Ryan Waite, Paul Grogan, Renae De Liz & Ray Dillon, and Elizabeth Leggett, you are all some of the best creators out there, and I am super thankful that I was able to work with you all to create Ascended Kings! Thank you, Steve, without you this wouldn’t have been possible. Let’s kill some Kings! SINCERELY, JASON ALLEN President and CEO Incarnate Games, Inc. 43 Rules Designed and Written by - Jason M. Allen Layout and Design by - Anthony M. Benedetto and Jason M. Allen Edited by - Nick Macari and Paul Grogan (Gaming Rules!) ASCENDED KINGS™ LIMITED COLLECTORS EDITON BOARD GAME Game Designer - Jason M. Allen Lead Concept Artist and Illustrator - Dylan Pierpont Graphic Designer and Illustrator - Anthony M. Benedetto 3D Artist and Sculptor - Andrew Martin ASCENDED KINGS: THE FALL OF EMPYRNEA Graphic Novel Story - Nick Macari and Jason M. Allen Script written by - Nick Macari Pencils - Renae De Liz Ink, Colors and Letters - Ray Dillon Official Seal of the Omega Mundus Universe This symbol verifies that Ascended Kings™ is canonical to the Omega Mundus Series™ Artwork © 2017 Dylan Pierpont. Artwork © 2017 Anthony Benedetto. Incarnate Games Inc, Ascended Kings, the Incarnate Games logo, the Ascended Kings logo and all associated marks, names, foci, characters, models, environments, illustrations and images from Ascended Kings are either ®,™, and/or © Incarnate Games, Inc 2013-2017. All Rights Reserved. 44 NOTES 45 ENJOY A SNEAK PEEK OF TM THE FALL OF EMPYRNEA A Graphic Novel TM
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