How to play

The goal

Two players duel with their own decks. Each has a Leader, a special Soul that sits at the back of their field. Capture the opposing Leader and you win.

Deck and cards

A deck holds 30 to 80 cards, at most three copies of any card and at least one Leader. Every card has a type, a rank from 0 to 3 and an attribute: Light (the Ethereal) or Dark (the Nefarious). The higher the rank, the stronger the card and the harder it is to bring into play.

When a Soul's HP falls to 0 it is captured: turned face down, it stays on its slot. Damage stays until an effect heals it.

The battlefield

Each player has fourteen soul slots plus the Leader's altar, laid out as a tree with the Leader at its root. The number on a slot is the highest rank a Soul on it may have. The rank-0 slots sit furthest out, at the rift, facing the opponent.

Beside the tree lie three realm slots (ranks 1, 2 and 3), the event slot, the Elysium where spent cards go face up, and your deck.

Chain of command

Every Soul further out in the tree is an Underling of the Souls on its way to the Leader, its Superiors. From this come the lines:

• Front Line: a Soul with no active Underlings.
• Second Line: all its Underlings stand in the Front Line.
• Third Line and further back follow the same way.

Only Front Line Souls attack, can be attacked, cast Events and spring Ambushes. When a Front Line Soul is captured, the Soul behind it steps into the Front Line.

You may recruit onto a slot when it is empty, its rank is at least the Soul's, and the slot directly above it holds an active Soul. You cannot recruit past an empty slot, and a captured Soul blocks its slot and the empty slots behind it.

Setting up

1. Both players choose a Leader from their deck at the same time and place it on the altar.
2. Chance decides who is player A and who is player B.
3. Shuffle. A draws 10 cards, B draws 9.
4. Taking turns, A recruits four Souls and B three (or passes).
5. Each player may shuffle any number of cards back and draw as many new ones.
6. B takes the first turn.

A turn

Every turn has three phases. None may be skipped, but you never have to act.

Preparation

Draw a card. Then, in any order: recruit one Soul, cast Events, invoke Realms, equip Armaments and use activated effects.

Combat

Your Front Line Souls may attack.

Emplacement

Set Ambushes face down under your Souls, one per Soul.

What counts for Events, Armaments and Ambushes is the rank of the slot, not the Soul: a rank-0 Soul on a rank-2 slot may cast rank-2 Events.

Escalation Spiral

In your first four turns only proactive slots may attack, cast, set Ambushes, equip and activate. Recruiting and invoking Realms are always allowed.

Combat

A Soul may attack when it is active, in the Front Line, on a proactive slot, was recruited in an earlier turn and has not attacked yet this Combat Phase. It targets an opposing Front Line Soul or any opposing Realm.

Damage = attacker's ATK − target's DEF, never below 0, rounded down to a multiple of 5.

ATK 35 against DEF 10 deals 25. The attacker takes no damage from a Soul; only a Realm strikes back. Every battle runs in five steps:

1. Declare attacker and target.
2. Respond: fast effects and Ambushes may answer.
3. Fight: damage is dealt.
4. Capture: Souls at 0 HP are captured, Realms at 0 HP shattered.
5. Aftermath: effects that trigger after the battle resolve.

Card types

Events

Cast by a Front Line Soul in your Preparation Phase, if the Event's rank is no higher than the caster's slot. If the caster is no longer active when the Event resolves, nothing happens.

Armaments

Equipped to an active Soul, one each. Their values add to the Soul's. When the Soul is captured, the Armament goes to the Elysium.

Ambushes

Set face down under one of your Souls in the Emplacement Phase. You spring it by turning it over while that Soul stands in the Front Line and the card's condition is met: in your own turn, or in your opponent's turn as an answer to an attack or an effect. An Ambush belongs to the slot, not the Soul.

Realms

Invoked onto a free realm slot. Realms can always be attacked, strike back, and when shattered they block their slot for the rest of the duel.

End of the duel

• Leader captured: that player loses at once.
• Decked out: a player whose deck is empty at the start of their Preparation Phase loses at the end of their third turn from then.
• Surrender is possible at any time.

Keywords

Dual Wielding

Attacks twice each Combat Phase.

Berserk

When this Soul captures its target in battle, it gets the bonus on the card.

Reinforcement

When this Soul is recruited, you may use the effect on the card.

Precision

Ignores the DEF of its target.

Taunt

While this Soul stands in the Front Line, Souls in the given range cannot be attacked.

Defiance

When this Soul is attacked, it deals the given damage to the attacker at the same time.

Moral

Every Underling of this Soul gets the stat bonus on the card.

Unyielding

Immune to the opponent's targeting, Static and Instant effects from sources of equal or lower rank.

Range

May attack from the Second Line.

Frozen

Cannot attack and cannot get Underlings.