Ascension: Delirium Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• New in Ascension: Delirium
  • Insight
  • Dreamborn Cards
  • Recur
  • Fate - Auction
• Delirium Die
  • Effect Orders
• Getting Started
  • Contents
  • Setup
  • Game Layout
• Hero Cards
• Construct Cards
• Monster Cards
• Gameplay
  • General Rules
    • Turn Breakdown
  • Acquiring Heroes and Constructs
  • Defeating Monsters
  • Banishing Cards
  • Ending Your Turn
  • Game End
• F.A.Q.
• Glossary
• Gameplay Variants
  • Team Rules (4-6 Players in teams of 2)
  • Solitaire Rules (1 Player)
• Credits

New in Ascension: Delirium

Insight

Insight (Insight) is gained through card effects and Dreamborn cards (see below). Unlike most other resources, you do not lose unspent Insight at the end of your turn.

In Ascension: Delirium™, players start with different amounts of Insight. The player who goes first starts with zero Insight. The player who goes second starts with 1 Insight, third starts with 2 Insight and fourth starts with 3 Insight.

Dreamborn Cards

Dreamborn cards can be identified by their gold Dreamborn card frame (see Emri Lightbringer pictured on the right).

When a Dreamborn card enters the center row, EACH player gains 1 Insight. Additionally, when a player acquires a Dreamborn card, ONLY THAT player gains 1 Insight.

Recur

When you play a card with Recur, first gain the effect listed above the Recur text. Then, you may spend Insight equal to the number listed for the Recur cost. If you do, gain the effect of the card a second time. You may only use a Recur ability once per card.

For example: When you play Nihil Chemist (pictured on the right), You first gain 1 Power and you may banish a card in your hand or discard pile. After that, you have the option to Recur the effect by paying 2 Insight. If you pay the Recur cost, you would gain an additional 1 Power and would have the option to banish an additional card. You can only Recur this card once when you play it.

Fate - Auction

When a card with Fate Auction enters the center row, players may bid Insight to gain the effect listed underneath the Fate text. Starting with the active player and moving clockwise, each player may bid Insight. To bid, a player must bid at least 1 Insight, must bid higher than the current bid and cannot bid more Insight than they have. If a player chooses not to bid or can't bid, that player is out. Players continue making bids until one person is left in the running. The player that wins the Auction must pay Insight equal to their winning bid and copies the effect of the Auction card immediately.

Delirium Die

The Delirium Die is a special Ascension 6-sided die that can be rolled to gain different effects. During a player's turn, that player may spend 5 Insight to roll the Delirium Die. When the die is rolled, the player gains whatever effect is listed on the side facing up.

Die Face	Effect
Banish symbol	You may banish a card in your hand or discard pile
2 (cards)	Draw two cards
3 (crystal)	Gain 3 Rift
4 (void)	Gain 4 Power
5 (star)	Gain 5 Honor
6 (swirl)	Gain 6 Insight

Effect Orders

When an action in the game results in multiple effects happening simultaneously, here is a reminder of the order that effects should always be resolved.

1 - Any cards that have left the center row are replaced by the top card of the center deck 2 - Any effects from cards you have played take place. 3 - Monster rewards are collected. 4 - Dreamborn and Fate effects take place. If multiple Dreamborn and Fate effects occur at the same time (typically at the start of the game), they resolve in the order that they were flipped from the center deck.

Getting Started

In Ascension: Delirium™, players compete to learn the secrets of the Delirium. Starting with a small group of loyal but untrained followers, you acquire mighty Heroes and powerful Constructs to aid you in your quest to defeat evil Monsters and achieve victory.

Each turn, you will play cards to gain resources. These resources will allow you to acquire new Heroes and Constructs for your deck and defeat Monsters to earn rewards. At the end of the game, the player with the most Honor from cards they have acquired and Monster rewards is the winner.

Contents

• 1 Game board
• 10 Large insight tokens
• 20 Small insight tokens
• 25 Large honor
• 25 Small honor
• 99 Center deck cards
• 4 Personal 10-card starting decks (8 Apprentice & 2 Militia)
• 41 Always available cards (1 Cultist, 20 Mystic & 20 Heavy Infantry)
• 1 Delirium Die

Setup

Ascension: Delirium™ can be played with 2-4 players on its own and can support up to 6 players with additional expansions. Team and single-player variant rules can be found on page 14.

Each player has a white-bordered starting deck consisting of eight Apprentices and two Militias. Everyone shuffles their starting deck and draws five cards (leaving five cards in their deck).

Take the silver-bordered Heavy Infantry, Mystic and Cultist cards and set them to the side in reach of all players. These cards represent characters in your kingdom and are always available to be acquired or defeated on your turn.

Shuffle all of the black-bordered cards face down to form the center deck. From the center deck, flip six cards face up in a row between all players. This forms the center row. Place the center deck on one side of the center row, and reserve a space next to it for the void. When a Monster in the center row is defeated or any other card is banished, it goes to the void. (See "Game Layout" on Page 5).

Place 30 Honor tokens in the Honor pool for each player. Randomly determine which player goes first and proceed clockwise from there. For rules on how to distribute starting Insight, see Page 2.

Number of Players	2	3	4
Total Honor Tokens	60	90	120

Game Layout

• Center Deck — the face-down draw pile of black-bordered cards.
• Void — the discard area next to the center deck; defeated Monsters and banished cards go here.
• Center Row — six cards flipped face up from the center deck, available for all players to acquire or defeat.
• Always Available Cards (Mystic, Heavy Infantry & Cultist) — silver-bordered cards set to the side, always available to be acquired or defeated on your turn.
• Honor Pool — the shared supply of Honor tokens.
• Insight Tokens — the shared supply of Insight tokens.
• Personal Deck (10 cards: 8 Apprentice & 2 Militia) — split into your Starting Hand (5 cards) and Starting Deck (remaining 5 cards).

Hero Cards

Heroes are the allies you acquire to aid you in your quest to protect the realm of New Vigil. You can play any number of Hero cards from your hand each turn. When you play a Hero from your hand, gain the effect listed on the card. It stays in front of you until the end of your turn, and then it goes to your discard pile.

A Hero card shows:

• Name — the card's title.
• Cost — number of Runes you must spend to acquire this card.
• Faction — there are four different factions: Enlightened, Lifebound, Mechana, Void.
• Honor — how much Honor this card is worth.
• Effect — what the card does when played or in play.
• Flavor Text — flavor text has no game effect.
• Rarity & Set Icon — each dot represents a copy of the card in the center deck.

Construct Cards

Constructs are the many weapons, magical items, and fantastical devices you may acquire to use in your battles. Unlike Heroes, when you play a Construct, it stays in play and continues to help you turn after turn. However, they can also be destroyed by card effects (usually on Monster cards). When a Construct is destroyed, it is placed into your discard pile from play.

A Construct card shows:

• Name — the card's title.
• Cost — number of Runes you must spend to acquire this card.
• Faction — there are four different factions: Enlightened, Lifebound, Mechana, Void.
• Honor — how much Honor this card is worth.
• Effect — what the card does when played or in play.
• Flavor Text — flavor text has no game effect.
• Rarity & Set Icon — each dot represents a copy of the card in the center deck.

Monster Cards

Monsters represent the forces of evil that are trying to destroy the world of New Vigil. Whenever you defeat a Monster, banish it to the void and you get its reward immediately.

Defeating Monsters gives you rewards, including Honor, which is the victory condition of Ascension: Delirium™. When you earn Honor for defeating a Monster, simply collect the appropriate number of Honor tokens from the Honor Pool and place them in front of you.

A Monster card shows:

• Name — the card's title.
• Cost — amount of Power you must spend to defeat this card.
• Reward — what this monster does when defeated.
• Flavor Text — flavor text has no game effect.
• Rarity & Set Icon — each dot represents a copy of the card in the center deck.

Gameplay

General Rules

At any time, if your personal deck is empty and you need to draw a card or reveal a card from the top of your deck, reshuffle your discard pile to replenish your deck. If the center deck runs out, reshuffle the void to replenish it.

Hero cards played during your turn go into the discard pile at the end of your turn. (In other words, don't reshuffle Hero cards you've played this turn if you need to reshuffle your discard pile in the middle of your turn.)

Cards you acquire during your turn are placed in your discard pile.

Whenever a card leaves the center row, replace it immediately from the center deck. This happens before anything else occurs. Any time a player is making a decision, the center row should be full.

Many cards will have text that contradicts these rules. If card text ever contradicts the rules, follow the card text instead.

Turn Breakdown

1. Play cards from your hand to gain Runes, Power, Insight, and Honor. Acquire Heroes and Constructs, and put them in your discard pile for future turns. Defeat Monsters for rewards and Honor. Spend Insight to roll the Delirium Die, bid on Auctions, and/or pay special costs.
2. Place played Hero cards and cards in your hand in your discard pile at the end of your turn.
3. Draw five cards from your personal deck.

To play a Hero card from your hand, simply place the card face up in front of you, announce its effect, and follow the instructions on the card. Any choices required by the card must be made at that time and any conditionals must be met for additional effects, though any Runes or Power generated can be spent until the end of your turn. You do not have to pay any costs to play Heroes from your hand.

Example: Nihil Chemist says, "Gain 1 Power. You may banish a card in your hand or discard pile." When you play Nihil Chemist, you decide whether to banish a card and gain the 1 Power immediately.

Constructs are played just like Heroes, except Constructs remain in play and can be used every turn. If a Construct has multiple abilities, each one may be used.

Example: The Dragon's Eye says, "When you play this, gain 1 Power. Serenity: Once per turn, gain 1 Power." You may choose to gain 1 Power when you play it, and still gain 1 Power if you have Serenity later that same turn.

Acquiring Heroes and Constructs

You need Runes to acquire Heroes and Constructs. Runes come from Heroes played from your hand or from Constructs you have in play. You may acquire any number of cards as long as you have enough Runes. To find out how many Runes you get from a card, look in the text box of the card. If a card provides Runes, there will be a Rune icon with a number.

Example: Dream Guide, a Lifebound Hero, costs 4 Runes to acquire. Its text reads, "Gain 2 Runes and 1 Insight." You gain 2 Runes and 1 Insight by playing Dream Guide.

You may acquire any Hero or Construct in the center row as well as Mystics and Heavy Infantry, which are always available. When you acquire a card, place it in your discard pile and replace the card in the center row with the top card of the center deck.

Defeating Monsters

To defeat a Monster, a player must have enough Power (generated by cards with a Power icon in their text box — e.g., Heavy Infantry). The amount of Power a card generates is found in its game text box represented by the Power icon with a number.

The Defeat Cost of a Monster is listed in the upper-right corner of the card. This cost has a Power icon behind it.

When you defeat a Monster, you gain a Reward. Most rewards include Honor, and how much Honor you gain is equal to the number indicated on the Honor symbol. If the Monster has another effect as part of its reward, that effect occurs immediately after the card is replaced in the center row.

After defeating a Monster, place it in the void and replace it in the center row. You may defeat any number of Monsters as long as you have enough Power.

The Cultist is always available to defeat and is never banished to the void. There is no limit to how many times you can defeat the Cultist in one turn.

Example: Delirium Pixies requires 4 Power to defeat. Its reward reads "Gain Honor and Rift." Heavy Infantry generates 2 Power each.

Banishing Cards

Some cards allow you to banish cards in either the center row or your own deck. When a card tells you to banish from the center row, put the card into the void, then place the top card of the center deck into the center row. If a card instructs you to banish multiple cards from the center row, place all of those cards into the void, then put that many cards from the center deck into the center row.

When a card tells you to banish a card in your hand and/or your discard pile, you may put a card from that zone into the void. If a card allows you to banish a card in your hand, you may not banish a card that you've already played that turn, as that card is no longer in your hand. Banishing your weaker cards allows you to draw your more powerful cards more frequently, so make sure to banish your Apprentice and Militia cards whenever you get the opportunity.

Ending Your Turn

After you are done playing cards from your hand, acquiring Heroes and Constructs, and defeating Monsters, place any remaining cards in your hand and any Heroes played during your turn into your discard pile. You lose all unspent Runes and Power.

Draw five cards to replenish your hand. If you run out of cards in your deck and need to draw more, simply reshuffle your discard pile into your deck. When you end your turn, play passes clockwise around the table.

Game End

The game ends when a certain amount of Honor has been earned, based on the number of players.

Number of Players	2	3	4
Total Honor Tokens	60	90	120

Set this much Honor aside in Honor tokens before starting the game. When the final Honor token is earned, the game ends at the end of the current round (after the last player to start the game takes a turn). Thus, each player will play the same number of turns during the course of the game. Players can still gain Honor even when the set number of Honor tokens is gone. Use additional Honor tokens left over to track any Honor earned by players before the game ends.

Cards in each player's deck are also worth Honor, indicated by the number in the Honor symbol on the bottom left corner of the card. When the game is over, count the Honor from Heroes and Constructs (this includes your hand, deck, discard pile, and played Constructs), along with all Honor tokens acquired during the game. The player with the most total Honor is the winner!

If multiple players have the same number of Honor Points, the last player to start wins (i.e., the starting player loses all ties, the second player loses to third and fourth, etc.).

F.A.Q.

Q: I defeated Dream Reaper (Reward: Gain Honor. Take 2 Insight from each opponent.), and my opponent had no Insight. A Dreamborn card entered the center row when I defeated the Dream Reaper. When does a player get the Insight exactly? A: Players don't gain the 1 Insight from a Dreamborn card until after any effects, such as Monster rewards, are finished resolving. So in this case, you wouldn't get Insight from the Dream Reaper's reward effect since your opponent didn't have any when the effect resolved.

Q: Where does the Mystic / Heavy Infantry acquired by Aegis Knight's effect go? A: It goes wherever the banished card was. If the banished card was in your hand, the Mystic / Heavy Infantry goes to your hand but if the banished card was in your discard pile, the Mystic / Heavy Infantry goes to the discard pile.

Q: If I acquire a Hero to the top of my deck with Ogo War Tree but have no cards left in my deck, what do I do? A: The Hero can still go on top of your deck. It would be the only card in your deck once that happens.

Q: Can I acquire two different Heroes when using Evvy's Recur ability? A: Yes. When you play Evvy, you first choose a Hero to acquire to the top of your deck. Once that happens and the acquired card is replaced, you have the option of paying the Recur cost to acquire a second hero to the top of your deck.

Q: Can I put two different Constructs directly into play when using Stealweaver's Recur ability? A: Yes. If you have payed Stealweaver's Recur cost, then you gain a total of 2 Runes. The next two Constructs that you acquire that turn can both be put directly into play.

Q: How many times can I pay 1 Insight to draw a card for Demon Pup's Reward? A: The Reward only allows for you to draw one additional card by paying 1 Insight.

Have questions about Ascension™ strategies and gameplay? Wondering what happens when you combine this set with other cards and expansions? Check out the official Ascension F.A.Q. at www.AscensionGame.com/FAQ.

Glossary

Banish: When a card is banished, it is placed in the void pile. Always Available cards and starting deck cards do not go to the void when banished. Starting deck cards are set aside outside the game and always available cards are put back in their appropriate Always Available zone when banished.

Constructs: Constructs are the many weapons, magical items, and fantastical devices you may acquire to use in your battles. After you play a Construct from your hand, you can gain an effect from it every turn it remains in play.

Delirium Die: The Delirium Die is a special die included in Ascension: Delirium. At any point during a player's turn, they may pay 5 Insight to roll the die and gain whatever is rolled on the die.

Destroy: Destroy means to put into the discard pile from play and generally refers to Constructs.

Echo: Cards with the Echo keyword have additional effects that occur if you have cards in their discard pile that share the same faction as the Echo card.

Heroes: Heroes are the allies you can acquire to aid you in your quest to save the realm of New Vigil. When you play a Hero from your hand, you gain the effect listed on the card, and then it goes to your discard pile at the end of your turn.

Honor: Honor is the key to victory in Ascension. Whoever earns the most Honor wins the game.

Insight: Insight is a unique resource used to roll the Delirium Die and activate other card effects. Unlike other resources, you do not lose unspent Insight at the end of your turn.

Monsters: Monsters are the minions of Deofol that are trying to conquer New Vigil. Defeating Monsters gives you rewards, including Honor that wins you the game.

Power: Power is one of the two main resources in the world of Ascension. Power is used to defeat Monsters and earn rewards.

Recur: Cards with Recur have an option cost when played. If the Recur cost is played, the card gains its effect one additional time.

Runes: Runes are one of the two main resources in the world of Ascension. Runes are used to acquire Heroes and Constructs so you can add them to your deck.

Serenity: Cards with Serenity have additional effects that occur if the player has no cards in their discard pile.

Unite: Cards with the Unite keyword have additional effects that occur if you play them in the same turn as other Heroes that share the same faction.

Gameplay Variants

Team Rules (4-6 Players in teams of 2)

• Set aside 30 Honor tokens per player.
• Teammates sit across from one other.
• Your teammate is not harmed by the rewards from any Monsters you defeat (e.g. if you kill a Mammoth Beetle, your teammate does not have to destroy a Construct they control).
• You may spend one additional Rune when you acquire a card to add that card to your teammate's deck instead of yours.
• At the end of the game, combine your Honor total with that of your teammate's to determine the winning team!

Solitaire Rules (1 Player)

• Set aside 50 Honor tokens.
• Lay out the center row as normal, but whenever a card leaves the center row, the replacement card always enters on the left-hand side and the remaining cards slide over to the right.
• You take the first turn of the game. At the end of each of your turns, the Cult is considered to acquire or defeat the two cards furthest to the right in the center row.
• All cards acquired by the Cult are set aside and only used to determine its Honor total at the end of the game.
• Any Monsters defeated by the cult go to the void, and the Cult receives any Honor from their reward. All other effects are ignored.
• Continue playing this way until the last Honor token is gone, then compare your score to the total Honor earned by the Cult. If you have more Honor, you win!

Credits

Ascension™ Game Engine Design: Justin Gary

Ascension: Delirium™ Lead Design: Gary Arant

Design & Development Team: Justin Gary, Gary Arant, Jason Zila, Mataio Wilson and Benjamin Lundquist

Project Management Lead: Gary Arant

Graphic Design: Peter Wocken Design, Ryan O'Connor

Card Art: Eric Sabee, Aaron Nakahara, Rod Mendez, Thien Nguyen

Creative Lead: George Rockwell III

Creative Team: Gary Arant, Justin Gary, Mataio Wilson