Athlas: Duel for Divinity Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• Components
• Important Game Terms
• Component Overview
  • The Game Board
  • Alpha Creation Cards
  • Basic Powers Card
  • Divine Intervention Cards
  • Plastic Figures
  • Relic Tokens
  • Terrain Tiles
  • Life Point Tokens
  • Summoning Cost Tokens
  • Summoning Points Markers
  • Single Use and Duration cubes
  • Condition Markers
• Game Setup
  • Available Summoning Points
• The Creation Phase
  • Creating Alphas
  • Alpha Creation Card Breakdown
  • Alpha Creation Example
  • Divine Intervention Card Breakdown
  • Preparing the Divine Intervention Stack
• The Command Phase
  • The First Turn
  • Summoning Units
  • Summoning Example
  • The Golden Rules
  • Turn Structure
    • Step 1: Upkeep
    • Step 2: Unit Activation
      • Using powers
      • Range
      • Divine Interventions
      • DI Timing Example
    • Step 3: Summoning
• Other Rules
  • Attack, Armor and Damage
    • Attack, Armor and Damage Example
    • Losing life points vs. attacking
  • Terrain
  • Basic movement powers
  • Relics
  • Flying
  • Forced movement
  • Draws
  • Campaign Variant
• A Play-by-Play Example
  • Turn 1 - Brian
  • Turn 2 - Paul
  • Turn 3 - Brian
  • Turn 4 - Paul
  • Turn 5 - Brian
  • Turn 6 - Paul
  • Turn 7 - Brian
• Alpha Presets
  • Aquatic strategy
  • Rush Strategy
• Card Clarifications
  • Genus Cards
  • Equipment
  • Abilities
  • Spells
  • Divine Intervention
• The Seven Outer Worlds
• Quick Reference
  • Creation Phase
  • Command Phase

Game Overview

In Athlas: Duel for Divinity, each player takes on a role of a young Athilian vying to assemble the portal back to Athlas, thus passing the final test to adulthood.

The game has 2 phases. In the first phase, the "Creation Phase", each player uses his cards to create and equip their own Alpha creations. These cards define their abilities, strength, mobility and other attributes.

In the second phase, the "Command Phase", the players summon units from these Alpha creations onto the board. Ordering their units and using their own powerful divine spells, each side attempts to combine two of three ancient relics in order to open the portal and win the game.

The game is for 2 players and takes 45-60 minutes to play. The freeform system enables you to design your own units however you wish, giving you a lifetime of strategies and combinations to explore without having to concern yourself with any luck.

Components

• This Rulebook
• 1 Game Board
• 40 Plastic Figures
  • 2 sets of 5 Celestial Knights
  • 2 sets of 5 Shadow Rangers
  • 2 sets of 5 Spell Binders
  • 2 sets of 5 Forsaken Drakes
• 170 Cards, 2 sets, each consisting of:
  • 9 Genus Cards
  • 30 Equipment Cards
  • 14 Ability Cards
  • 12 Spell Cards
  • 19 Divine Intervention Cards
  • 1 Basic Powers card
• 3 Relic Tokens
• 42 Terrain Tiles
• 54 Life Points Tokens (185 and 361)
• 42 Summoning Cost Tokens (21 per color)
• 6 Summoning Points Markers
• 30 Single Use/Duration cubes
• 12 Condition Markers

Important Game Terms

Alpha Creation (or Alpha): An Alpha Creation is the first creature of its kind, like a prototype. Once created, an Athilian may summon units with all of the powers of the Alpha's cards later, during the Command Phase.

Powers: The game text of each Alpha Creation Card is a list of one or more powers. Some powers are passive and some are triggered at a cost. The powers of an Alpha are the powers on its Creation Cards.

Unit: A plastic figure summoned to the game board. Each unit on the board is a copy of one of the Alpha Creations and thus it has all of its powers.

Movement (m) and Action (a): When a unit is activated it gets one movement, depicted by the m icon, and one action, depicted by the a icon. Units spend their movement and action to trigger powers.

Component Overview

The Game Board

In the center of the game board is the battleground. At the sides are the summoning points trackers for both players. These will keep track of the amount of summoning points spent by players to summon units onto the battleground.

Alpha Creation Cards

Each player has a set of 84 Alpha Creation (AC) cards. During the Creation Phase of the game, the players select some of their AC cards to designate the powers and attributes of each of their Alpha Creations in the game. A breakdown of the different parts of an Alpha Creation card is on page 7.

Basic Powers Card

In addition to the powers of their Alphas, all units in the game also have access to 4 basic powers shown on this card. These describe normal movement and giving a relic to another unit.

On the back side of this card is a useful reference to the terrain rules.

Divine Intervention Cards

Divine Intervention (DI) cards describe the powers of the Athilians themselves. Each player secretly selects a few DI cards at the Creation Phase and may use them during the Command Phase.

Plastic Figures

Summoned units are represented by plastic figures. There are two different color sets, one for each player, with four types of plastic figures each.

Relic Tokens

These represent the parts of ancient relics that the players need to acquire. If one of your units holds two relic tokens, you win immediately.

Terrain Tiles

There are four different types of terrain that make up the battleground. Hill, water and crater hexes are marked with their respective terrain tiles. Plains hexes are hexes with no terrain tile. Terrain tiles are double sided.

Life Point Tokens

These tokens track the amount of life points in each Alpha's life pool.

Summoning Cost Tokens

Each Alpha Creation has a summoning cost, determined by the total creation points of its AC cards. Summoning cost tokens are used to mark this summoning cost when the Alpha is revealed to the opponent.

Summoning Points Markers

Every time you summon a unit to the board, you need to pay its Alpha's summoning cost. The summoning points markers help track the amount of summoning points spent so far by each player.

Single Use and Duration cubes

These cubes have two purposes:

1. Alpha powers may require spending a single use cube as part of their cost (marked by the cube icon).
2. Divine Intervention effects may last over more than one turn. These wooden cubes help track the duration of such effects.

Condition Markers

Condition markers are used to track individual units that are under the effects of specific powers.

Game Setup

1. Each player chooses a color and receives a deck of Alpha Creation cards, a deck of Divine Intervention cards, a Basic Powers card and the plastic figures of their chosen color.
2. Place the game board in the center of the play area and orient it such that each player faces their chosen color on the board and the summoning points trackers are to the sides.
3. Place the Summoning points markers on the zero values of the summoning points tracker.
4. Separate the life tokens, summoning cost tokens, single use cubes and condition markers into piles. Place each pile close to the board so it can be easily accessed by both players.
5. Place the relic tokens and the terrain tiles on the board according to the following diagram: [diagram of the hex board showing the starting positions of the 3 relic tokens and the hill and water terrain tiles; not reproducible in text]

Available Summoning Points

Before the Creation Phase begins, both players must agree upon the amount of summoning points that will be available to them during the Command Phase.

It is recommended to use 250 summoning points for each player. This amount of points creates a satisfying and a balanced game experience. However, if the players wish to try higher values, for a longer game with more powerful units, they can do so, but a maximum limit of 500 summoning points is highly recommended.

The Creation Phase

Each game of Athlas: Duel for Divinity consists of 2 phases: the Creation Phase and the Command Phase. This section describes the Creation Phase.

The Creation Phase is played simultaneously. Once both players have secretly created three Alphas and prepared their Divine Intervention card stack, the Creation Phase ends.

Creating Alphas

Both players choose their Alphas' powers and summoning cost by combining Alpha Creation cards. The more cards an Alpha has, the more powers it can use. However, the more cards an Alpha has, the higher the cost of summoning each unit from this Alpha will be.

Later, in the Command Phase, you summon units from your Alphas onto the board. Each unit on the board has access to all the powers bestowed upon its Alpha during the Creation Phase. When summoning a unit a player must pay its Alpha's summoning cost, which is the sum of the creation points of all its AC cards.

There are 4 types of Alpha Creation (AC) cards: Genus, Ability, Equipment and Spell cards. Each type has its unique symbol in the lower right corner and a different color, as described in the "Alpha Creation Card Breakdown" below. When creating their Alphas, players can combine any AC cards they like, with the following restrictions:

1. Each Alpha must have exactly one genus card. This is the base AC card and it defines basic attributes such as life points, number of hands, etc.
2. An Alpha can't have a total of red hand symbols greater than the total of green hand symbols displayed on its AC cards. For example, an Alpha with 2 hands (green hand symbols) cannot carry an Axe of Lorios (2 red hand symbols) and an Obsidian Shield (1 red hand symbol).
3. The total creation points of all the spell cards in an Alpha cannot exceed the total spell points of this Alpha. For example, a Shadow Ranger (5 spell points) can't have both a Fire Strike spell (5 creation points) and a Magic Bolt spell (4 creation points), but he can have one of them.

After secretly selecting cards for your 3 Alpha Creations, arrange each Alpha's creation cards in a face down stack in your play area. Thus, you should have 3 stacks of face down cards, each describing one of your Alphas. You can look at your face down cards at any time you wish, but once the Command Phase begins, you cannot replace, remove or add cards to these stacks.

Alpha Creation Card Breakdown

1. Card name.
2. Card type: There are 4 types of AC cards. Each type has its own symbol and a distinctive graphic frame. The AC card types are Genus, Ability, Equipment and Spell.
3. Creation cost: This number indicates how expensive the card is in terms of summoning cost. The summoning cost of a unit is the sum of the creation cost of all its Alpha's AC cards.
4. Powers: AC cards may list one or more powers. Powers are either passive or triggered at a cost. A power's cost can be any combination of movement (m), action (a) and single use cube (c). Each unit gains all the powers on its Alpha's AC cards.
5. Statistics: Near the right edge of the AC cards are the vital statistics. Once an Alpha is revealed during the Command Phase, its AC cards are arranged such that the card names and vital statistics are always visible. Here is a list of all the icons:
   • Life points.
   • Range of this card's powers.
   • Melee, ranged and magical attack values, or modifiers. Modifiers have a "+" next to the value.
   • Physical and magical armor values.
6. Magic Points: This value relates to the amount of spells an Alpha can have. This is explained under "Creating Alphas" above.
7. Hands: Green hands indicate available hands for this Alpha. Red hands indicate the required number of hands for an AC card. An Alpha can't have more red hands than green ones on its AC cards.
8. Flavor text: Descriptive information from the lore of Athlas. This text has no effect on game play.

Alpha Creation Example

Brian wants to create a tough, powerful, ranged combat Alpha.

First he picks a Genus AC card, with the Genus symbol. Each Alpha must have one, and only one of these cards.

He picks the Shadow Ranger because it has a +1 ranged combat value modifier.

Genus cards define the basic attributes of an Alpha. In this case it shows that the Alpha has 10 points of life in its life pool, 2 hands and can have 5 points worth of Spell cards.

Next, he adds the Ability card Marksmanship, to get another +1 ranged combat value modifier.

For a weapon he takes an Etynian Crossbow. The Etynian Crossbow has a range of exactly 2 and a ranged combat value of 4. It requires the available 2 hands of this Alpha, indicated by the red hand symbols.

As for armor, Brian chooses the Full Plate Armor equipment card, protecting the Alpha with a physical armor of 2.

To make units from this Alpha even tougher to kill, Brian uses the 5 point of Spell cards allowed by the Genus to add Drain Life.

Summoning a unit from this Alpha will cost 32 (10+4+8+5+5) summoning points. Brian can add many more cards to his Alpha, making it more powerful and more expensive. However, he cannot add another Genus card, because he already has one.

He cannot add another spell, unless he takes an AC card which gives him more spell points, like Magic Staff.

He cannot add another card which requires a hand, unless he takes an AC card which gives more green hands, like Extra Hand.

Divine Intervention Card Breakdown

1. Card name.
2. Divine Points: Each DI card has a Divine Points value. The DI stack of each player is made up of up to 4 DI cards with a total Divine Points of 8 or less.
3. Effect: The game play effect that this card has when it is cast by a player.
4. Duration: DI effects may last over several player turns. The number of turns an effect lasts is indicated by this value.
5. Highlighted Statistics: DI cards may have similar icons to those which appear on the AC cards. These highlight values described in the effect text for easy referencing.
6. Flavor text: Descriptive information from the lore of Athlas. This text has no effect on game play.

Preparing the Divine Intervention Stack

Divine Intervention (DI) cards are different from the Alpha Creation cards. These powerful cards reflect some of the abilities of the Athilians themselves, as they try to influence and turn the tide of battle in their favor.

During the Creation Phase, each player may select up to 4 DI cards with a combined Divine Points value of 8 or less (see the "Divine Intervention Card Breakdown" above). When selecting your DI cards, set them in a face down stack in your playing area. The order of the cards is important; during the Command Phase you will use these cards in the order they were placed, starting from the topmost card and ending with the bottommost card. The order of the DI cards may prove crucial to supporting your strategy.

After both players have finished setting up their Alphas and DIs (and are staring suspiciously at their opponent's face-down stacks of cards) it's time to randomly select the first player and start the Command Phase.

For your first game you can skip the Creation Phase and instead use the "Alpha Presets" on page 24 (reproduced below).

The Command Phase

The Command Phase is played over a series of alternating player turns. Each player completes their own turn, before the other player begins theirs. This continues until the win condition is met or the players declare a draw.

The First Turn

The first turn of each player is different than a regular turn. While other turns have a 3 steps structure, the first turn is all about summoning your first units onto the game board.

During each player's first turn, that player can summon either a single unit with any summoning cost or up to 3 units, with a total summoning cost of 60 or less.

Summoning Units

When a player summons a unit from an unrevealed Alpha Creation, this sequence is followed in order:

1. Give the AC cards of the revealed Alpha to their opponent so they can read their powers and validate the creation restrictions of hands/spell-points/genus card. If it is not valid, the opponent may remove any AC cards that violate the creation rules until a valid Alpha Creature is created.
2. Sum up the creation points of all the creation cards of this Alpha. Mark that value using the appropriate summoning cost tokens. This will be the summoning cost of units of that Alpha.
3. Sum up the life points on all the AC cards, ignoring values with a "+" sign. This will be that Alpha's total life points pool. Create the life points pool near the Alpha cards using life point tokens.
4. Arrange the AC cards one on top of the other. Leave the name and vital game statistics, appearing on the right of each card, visible.
5. Select a plastic figure of your color, from the 4 available types, that you think fits best the powers of that Alpha. For example, a winged figure for a flying Alpha, or a figure holding a crossbow for a ranged Alpha. This plastic figure IS your Alpha creation. It will stay near its Creation cards and will never go on the board. Each of a player's Alphas must have a different figure type.
6. Pay that unit's summoning cost by increasing your summoning points tracker by the unit's summoning cost (displayed near the Alpha cards). If paying the costs causes you to exceed your maximum summoning points, then you cannot summon that unit.
7. Place a plastic figure, of the same type as its Alpha creation plastic figure, on one of the summoning hexes. This is the summoned unit. Summoning hexes are the row of 6 hexes at the edge of your side of the board.
8. Add any single use cubes (c) to the appropriate AC cards, if needed.

When summoning a unit from an already revealed Alpha, you only need to perform steps 6-8 of the above sequence. See the "Summoning Example" below.

Summoning Example

Brian wants to summon the very first unit from the Alpha he has created at the "Alpha Creation Example". This Alpha has 5 AC cards: Shadow Ranger, Marksmanship, Etynian Crossbow, Full Plate Armor and Drain Life.

First, he reveals the cards and lets Paul inspect them, learning their powers and checking for the validity of the Alpha.

Then he sums up the creation points on all 5 cards for a total of 32. This is the summoning value of units from this Alpha. Brian marks that value using summoning value tokens.

Now he lays down cards so that the important information on the cards remains visible throughout the game.

Next, he sums the life points on all his cards. There are 2 cards with the life points symbol on them, Shadow Ranger and Drain Life, but Drain life has a "+" in its value, so it is ignored. Thus Brian places a total of 10 life points tokens near the cards.

It's time to select a figure type. Although Brian can choose any figure type, he chooses the ranged weapon type, because he thinks it best describes this Alpha. He puts a figure next to the AC cards.

The type he chooses has no effect on game play, but choosing wisely makes it easier to mentally connect between the units on the board and their Alpha cards.

Brian adjusts the summoning point markers to pay for its summoning price.

Then he puts a unit on the board on one of the hexes of his summoning row.

Finally, he adds a single use cube (c) to Drain Life.

The Golden Rules

The following are highly important basic rules that players should always keep in mind:

1. A hex can hold no more than a single unit at any time.
2. A relic can NEVER move more than one hex in a turn.
3. When a power effect conflicts with the rules, the power effect takes priority, unless it conflicts with the first two golden rules above.
4. When one power effect allows something and another power effect forbids it, comply with the power effect that forbids it.

Turn Structure

Each player turn, excluding the first, has the following 3 steps:

1. Upkeep
2. Unit Activation
3. Summoning

Step 1: Upkeep

This step is two-folded. First, the player checks for power effects that end during their upkeep step and removes their condition markers.

For example, the power of the spell card Levitate is "Mark the target unit. The target unit is a flying unit until your next upkeep step". If one of your units received the benefit of this power in your last turn, it was marked and became a flying unit for both your turn and your opponent's turn. During this step, the unit will lose its flying attribute and the condition marker.

Second, both players remove a duration cube from each of their active Divine Intervention effects. If an effect is left with no duration cubes on it, the DI card is discarded along with any condition markers related to its effect.

For example, one player cast Athilian Strength a few turns ago, while the other has cast Stasis Field. Both players remove a duration cube from their DI Cards. If this was the last duration cube on Athilian Strength or Stasis Field, that card is removed from the game and the condition marker around the affected unit is removed as well.

Step 2: Unit Activation

In this step, the player activates each of his units, one after the other. When a unit is activated it receives one movement, depicted by the m icon, and one action, depicted by the a icon. A unit can spend its m and a in order to trigger any of their Alpha or basic powers.

Moving a unit on the board is usually done by using the basic movement powers on the basic powers card. These powers are available to any unit in the game, as described later in "Basic movement powers".

A unit must end its activation before the next unit is activated. For example, a unit is not allowed to use its m, wait for another unit's actions and then use its a.

Using powers

There are two types of Powers: passive and triggered. Passive powers, such as Regeneration or Explosive Genes, are always on. Triggered powers, such as Elixir of Healing or Heroic Inspiration, have a cost, which a unit must pay before using the power's effect.

A triggered power's text has the following structure:

Cost: Effect.

The cost can have any combination of m, a and c. Spending a movement (m) or an action (a) requires a player to simply declare that this unit spends its movement or action for this activation. Spending a c requires the removal of a single-use cube from the power's card. Single-use cubes are added when summoning units from this Alpha, as described in "Summoning Units".

The available single-use cubes are shared by all units of the same Alpha. If a unit was just summoned and single-use cubes were added, another unit may use these cubes during its activation. For example, a unit in the front line has already used all of the single-use cubes of Magic Bolt. A new unit is summoned and a single-use cube is added to Magic Bolt. The front line unit can now use that cube to trigger Magic Bolt once more.

Range

When a power is used, check for the range on the card, under the green range symbol. If a range is specified, the target hex or unit of the powers on this card must be at exactly that number of hexes away from the activated unit.

For example, a Sands of Athlas has a range of exactly 2. Therefore, you can use this power on a target hex which is exactly two hexes away from your unit. A Throwing Axe has a range of 1-2, so the target unit can be in an adjacent hex or in a hex exactly two hexes away from the activated unit.

[An illustration shows which hexes are at what range from the activated unit.]

Terrain may also affect the range of powers as explained under "Terrain". For example, powers with a range of 1 cannot target a hill hex from a crater hex, or a crater hex from a hill hex.

Divine Interventions

Each player can use a single DI card each turn - even during their opponent's turn.

DI cards are stacked in a specific order, determined at the creation phase. A player can only cast the upper DI in the stack. If a player wishes, he can discard any number of cards from the top of the stack at any time, thus reaching lower cards in the stack. Discarded cards are removed from the game without any effect.

The timing of DIs is somewhat fluid and is decided by the casting player in the time frame of one unit's activation. A player can decide that he casts his DI before or after any power used by a unit, even after seeing its effect. If a DI takes place before a power is used, the activated unit can choose a different power to use according to the results of the interrupting DI.

Once another unit begins its activation, a DI cannot affect the previous unit's activation anymore. However, this is not a game of dexterity, and a player should get enough time to respond to his opponent's actions.

If a player casts a DI and the other reacts with a DI, then the second DI will resolve before the first, overriding the timing rules above. See the "DI Timing Example" below for this delicate issue.

Divine Intervention effects may last for several turns, as indicated by their duration value (near the duration icon, see "Divine Intervention Card Breakdown"). If a DI has a duration value, place as many duration cubes as the value on the card. These cubes will be removed, one at a time, at the upkeep step of each player.

When a DI's effect is resolved, or when its duration has ended, it is removed from the game.

DI Timing Example

Paul activates one of his units; he spends his m to move it one hex and then spends his a attacking one of Brian's units. Brian casts the DI Unnatural Force. Brian can decide that Unnatural Force takes place before Paul's unit movement, and in that case this unit can spend its entire activation in a different way, based on the impact of Unnatural Force. Brian can decide that Unnatural Force is timed after the unit's movement and before its attack.

This means that Paul's unit has spent its m, but he can decide on a different power to use its remaining a, according to the effect of Unnatural Force. Brian can even decide that his DI happens after the attack, if he wants to, but that hardly seems a good option for him at this point.

Step 3: Summoning

After a player activates all of their units, a player may summon one new unit onto the game board, following the summoning procedure described under "Summoning Units".

Other Rules

The following sections contain additional rules for playing Athlas: Duel for Divinity.

Attack, Armor and Damage

Alpha powers may allow a unit to attack other units. When this happens, the target unit might sustain damage.

There are 3 types of attack: melee, ranged and magical. An attack value modifier is only relevant if it has the same attack type as the triggered power.

There are 2 types of armor values: physical armor and magical armor. Physical armor is always relevant. Magical armor is only relevant vs. magical attacks. Each unit can use each point of armor only once per turn.

Damage is calculated by reducing the target unit's armor value from the attacking unit's attack value.

First, total the attack value on the card of the power used and all relevant modifiers from other cards of that Alpha, active effects and terrain (explained under "Terrain").

Then, total the relevant armor values of all the cards of the target unit. If the armor value is higher than the attack value, the extra armor points are not used in this attack and can be used later that turn.

The damage done is equal to the attack value minus the armor value. If damage is done, remove as many life points as the damage dealt from the target unit's Alpha life pool.

If the life pool is emptied, the target unit dies. When a unit dies, it is removed from the board and the life pool of its Alpha is replenished to its fullest.

If more than one unit attack the same target unit, it is recommended to execute these attacks one after the other to avoid the need to remember which unit has unused armor points left this turn.

If several units from the same Alpha are attacked at once (by Fire Strike, for example), and a unit dies, the defender decides which of the targeted units die, and the Alpha's life pool is replenished to its fullest, ignoring any further damage to that Alpha by that attack.

It is very important to understand that an Alpha's life pool is a shared life pool. Unlike armor, there is no separate life pool for each unit. When a unit takes damage, life points are removed from the shared life pool of its Alpha.

Read carefully the "Attack, Armor and Damage Example" below, as it helps clarify the rules of combat.

Attack, Armor and Damage Example

It's Brian's unit activation step and he has 2 ranged units ready to attack Paul's heavily armored units. Brian's relevant AC cards are Shadow Ranger, Etynian Crossbow and Marksmanship. Paul's relevant AC cards are Raider of the Deep, Rakios Battle Suit and Celestial Shield. [The draft's illustration of the unit positions is a placeholder and is not reproduced.]

Brian's unit 1 is activated first, and he uses its a to attack Paul's unit 3 with the Etynian Crossbow.

The ranged attack value of the Etynian Crossbow is 4. Both Marksmanship and Shadow Ranger have a +1 ranged attack value modifier, which match the attack type of the Etynian Crossbow. Moreover, this unit has a +2 attack value modifier, as it is on higher ground; it attacks from a hill hex and the target is on a plains hex.

The total attack value is 4+1+1+2=8.

The armor value of Paul's unit is 5. 3 physical armor from the Rakios Battle Suit, 1 from Raider of the Deep and 1 from Celestial Shield. The magical armor from Celestial Shield is not added because it is only good vs. a magical attack type. If Brian was attacking with a spell, Paul's unit would have an armor value of 6, because physical armor is applied in both cases.

So the damage done is 8-5=3 and Paul removes 3 from its Alpha's life pool. It's time to activate Brian's unit 2. If it attacked Paul's unit 4, it will deal 3 damage as well. But if it attacks Paul's unit 3 again, it will deal 8 points of damage, because this unit has already used its physical armor for this turn (8-0=8).

Taking 8 damage, the life pool of Paul's Alpha is reduced to zero. He takes unit 3 off the board and refills its Alpha's life pool to its maximum. If unit 3 would still be alive at the end of the turn, its armor points would be available again in the next turn.

Losing life points vs. attacking

When a power states that a unit loses life points, simply remove that many life points from that unit's Alpha life pool. There is no need to calculate armor or damage. If the life pool has emptied, that unit dies. It is removed from the board and the life pool is replenished to its fullest.

Terrain

Terrain gives a strategic meaning to the different hexes on the board. Hills provide an offensive advantage, craters are an obstacle to be avoided, and water can only be crossed safely by certain units. Players can alter the terrain of the battleground to their advantage, using various powers. Terrain is marked on the board using terrain tiles. A hex with no terrain tile is a plains hex.

Each hex belongs to one of three terrain height levels according to its terrain. Hill hexes are at the highest level, plains and water hexes are at the medium level, and crater hexes are at the lowest level.

Flying units ignore terrain completely. For non-flying units, the following effects of terrain apply.

Height advantage provides an attack value bonus. When attacking a unit in a lower level hex, a +2 modifier is added to the attack value.

When a crater and a hill are adjacent to one another, an impassable cliff is created. Only powers with a range of more than 1 can be used across these cliffs. For example, A Magic Bolt with a range of 1-2, or a Etynian Crossbow with a range of 2 can be used while a Karoos Blade, with a range of 1, cannot be used.

Moving over an impassable cliff is not possible for non-flying units.

A crater hex adjacent to a water hex is flooded and automatically becomes a water hex (replace the terrain tiles appropriately).

A unit loses 5 life points, due to drowning, in the following 3 cases:

1. Immediately upon entering a water hex
2. When its hex becomes a water hex, as a result of a power or Divine Intervention.
3. When it starts and ends its activation in a water hex.

Some cards remind you to apply damage due to drowning.

Terrain may also be used as a cover from ranged attacks. An activated unit may not use powers on a target hex or unit, if a hex between them has a terrain level higher than both hexes of the activated and target units.

[Illustrations demonstrate cover: the archer can hit the hexes marked with one symbol (provided his power has the required range), but the hexes marked with the other symbol have cover.]

Basic movement powers

Some basic powers are available to all units in the game. These powers are described on the Basic Powers card, as follows:

m: If non-flying, move to an adjacent hex of the same terrain height level.

m + a: If non-flying, move to an adjacent hex of a terrain level higher or lower by one.

In short, when a land unit moves, it can spend its m to move one hex on the same terrain height level (from hill to hill, from water to plains, etc.), or it can spend both its m and a to climb up or down one terrain height level (from hill to plains, from crater to plains, etc.)

Relics

When a non-flying unit is in a hex with a relic, the unit has that relic. When a unit with a relic is moving, it can move with the relic, or it can leave the relic behind and move without it.

If a unit wants to transfer a relic to another unit, it needs to spend its a. This is described in the Basic Powers card by the following power:

a: Move a relic, held by the activated unit, to an adjacent friendly non-flying unit.

Pay attention to the golden rules ("The Golden Rules") that prohibit moving a relic more than one hex in a turn.

Flying

A flying unit is a unit with a power which grants flying, like the passive power of Forsaken Wings or the temporary effect of Levitate. A flying unit may not stop flying at will; the only way to lose or gain flying is through the use of powers.

Flying units ignore terrain completely. They can move up to 2 hexes at a time and can skip over other units, including other flying units. Flying units cannot move after spending a a, thus they cannot trigger some powers (like attacking) and then retreat to safety. This is described in the Basic Powers card by the following power:

m: If flying, move up to 2 hexes, ignoring any terrain and skipping over units. A unit cannot use this power if it already spent its a for this activation.

Ignoring terrain also means that when a flying unit uses powers, or is the target of powers, there are no terrain height level bonuses and no cover.

A flying unit cannot hold, receive or move a relic. It can be in the same hex as a relic, but the relic is never in its possession. This means that if a flying unit is hovering over 2 relics in the same hex, its owner did not win the game just yet, because a unit must hold 2 relics in order to win.

A flying unit cannot be the target of powers, except for the following 3 cases:

1. The power has a range of more than 1.
2. The activated unit is also a flying unit.
3. The flying unit has used a power which targeted a hex or a non-flying unit during its last activation.

This means that a flying unit cannot be the target of a non-flying unit with a close range power, unless the flying unit acted first.

Forced movement

Alpha powers or DIs, like the power of the Telekinetic Sphere, may force other units to move.

If a unit is holding a relic and is forced to move, it can carry the relic with it, as decided by its controller, unless the relic has already moved that turn. In order to not break the golden rules, the relic is left behind and the unit moves without it.

A unit forced to move into a hex with another unit, out of the board, or into a higher terrain level, does not move but it loses 3 life points due to being crushed into an obstacle.

A unit forced to move into a lower height level terrain, executes the movement and loses 3 life points due to falling.

For example, a unit is forced to move from a hill into water. It loses 3 life points due to falling and 5 life points for drowning. This deadly action has cost the unit 8 life points in total!

Some cards remind you to apply damage due to forced movement.

Draws

In some cases, both players can't win the game. For example, if both players have only flying units left (flying units can't hold relics) and not enough points to summon another unit.

When a player thinks this is the case, he can offer a draw to his opponent. If his opponent agrees, the game ends in a draw. If not, the game continues.

Campaign Variant

A campaign is a series of normal games with the following change:

Each player prepares 4 Alphas to the first game, but can still reveal only 3 of them as usual. The creation phase of each game after the first allows the redesign of exactly one Alpha.

This variant provides a strategic continuum between games, while enabling backup plans and a way to react to your opponents' plans.

A Play-by-Play Example

To demonstrate the rules of the game, we follow the deciding turns of a battle between two Alphas: the Forsaken Drakes of Brian, and the Savage Warriors of Paul.

The Savage Warriors are a basic and simple Alpha created by Paul. Their genus card is Savage Warrior and they carry a Karoos Blade in one hand, and an Obsidian Shield in the other. They are wearing an Obsidian Breast Plate and keep a Throwing Axe for long range attacks.

The Forsaken Drakes are a strong Alpha, designed for a variety of tactical situations. The units from this Alpha are flying units thanks to their Forsaken Drake genus card. They are equipped with explosive bombs (Mining Tools) and protected by iron feathers (Rakios Battle Suit). If the need arises, they also have limited self healing ability (Elixir of Healing).

The current state of the battlefield is shown in an illustration [not reproduced; it shows warriors, drakes, craters, a relic and hills].

The Savage Warriors can have a maximum of 12 life points in their Alpha's life pool and 2 physical armor each. The Forsaken Drakes can have a maximum of 8 life points and 3 physical armor. Currently there is just one cleft on Throwing Axe and Elixir of Healing. The warriors have 2 life points left in their Alpha's pool, and the drakes have their full 8.

Both Athilians have already used all their summoning points, and after a glorious battle only two drakes and three warriors are left on the board. Paul has two Divine Interventions left, and Brian has only one DI left. As for Brian, the battle is almost lost; his drakes can not carry relics, so he cannot win. In order to defend himself he's trying to destroy his enemies, and ensure Paul does not win as well. If he is successful, they will draw, and both Athilians will leave the battlefield unharmed. Paul is in a better position; he already holds one relic, and he's trying to put the relics together and win the battle.

Brian plays first.

Turn 1 - Brian

Drake 1 uses its m to advance, using the basic movement power of flying units. Then, it uses its a to trigger the Mining Tools power to create a crater under warrior 3. The warrior falls and loses 3 life points. There were only 2 life points in the Alpha's life pool, so the warrior dies. It is removed from the board and the life pool of the warriors is reset to a full 12 life points. Brian hopes that the crater he created under the relic will delay the joining of the relics. Note that passing directly from the hill to the crater is impossible, so the warriors will have to take a long detour, and spend their a climbing up and down on their way to the relic.

Drake 2 uses its m to advance as well, and its a to attack warrior 2 on the ridge. Its attack value is 5, with no modifiers, and the warrior has an armor value of 2. The warriors lose 3 life points and are left with a total of 9. The drakes block the passage from the ridge towards the relic.

Turn 2 - Paul

Warrior 1 spends its m to move towards the adjacent relic, takes it, and attacks drake 1 with his only ranged weapon - the Alpha's last Throwing Axe. The cost of this attack is the unit's a and the last c on the card. The attack value is 3 (2 points from the Throwing Axe itself and a +1 modifier from the Savage Warrior card). The armor value is also 3 (Rakios Battle Suit), so no damage is done, but drake 1 has used up all his armor points for this turn.

The warriors may also attack both drakes with the melee attack type, because both drakes have used a power which targeted a hex or a non-flying unit during their last activation. Warrior 2 spends its a to attack the drake whose armor has already absorbed damage this turn. Its Karoos Blade's attack value is 5 and the genus card provides a +1 modifier for a total attack value of 6. The armor value is now zero and thus the damage is 6 life points. The drakes have 2 life points left. The warrior cannot move to the adjacent hill hex, because it is blocked by drake 1, and cannot climb down from its hill hex, because climbing requires both m and a (as described by basic movement powers).

It seems that the warriors are still favorites. They have more life points, comparable offensive capabilities, and more divine interventions.

Turn 3 - Brian

Drake 1 chooses not to move, because in its current position it blocks the movement of the warriors. To save a unit from dying next turn, Drake 1 spends a a and the last c to drink an Elixir of Healing. The drakes' life pool now has 7 left. Drake 1 is immune to attacks for the next turn, because it has not used a power on a non-flying unit or on terrain during its activation, and because the enemy does not have flying units or ranged attack capabilities.

The other drake spends a a and attacks warrior 2, causing 3 points of damage (5-2=3). The drake would like to use its m to retreat, but as a flying unit it cannot spend its a and then move. If it had moved before attacking, it would have been outside its attack range. The warriors have 6 life points left in their life pool.

Turn 4 - Paul

Warrior 1 can only get within attack range of drake 1, but drake 1 cannot be attacked this turn. Therefore he spends his m to advance with the relic towards the hills and the other relic.

The second warrior returns an attack to drake 2, dealing 3 more damage (6-3=3). The drakes have 4 life points left. As in the last turn, the warrior cannot move towards the relic.

It seems that the warrior's advantage has diminished, but still exists.

Turn 5 - Brian

Both drakes attack warrior 2, one after the other. The first causes 3 points of damage (5-2=3) and the second inflicts 5 points of damage (5-0=5). The total damage kills warrior 2, and the warriors' life pool is reset to 12 life points. Both drakes cannot move, because they have already spent their a attacking this turn.

Turn 6 - Paul

Paul is losing his advantage. If he does not destroy a drake this turn, his last warrior will be killed within three turns. Therefore, he has to use his divine interventions. The next spell in his deck is Dispel Magic. This spell is useless right now, and Paul decides to discard it. He casts the following spell, Athilian Strength, which adds 3 points of damage to melee attacks made by warrior 1 for the next 6 turns (Denote by 6 duration cubes, and remove one cube at each upkeep step).

Warrior 1 attacks drake 1, who has attacked a non-flying unit during the last turn. The Karoos Blade, the +1 modifier from the genus card and the +3 from the Athilian Strength form an attack value of 9. The armor value is 3 and the damage done is 9-3=6. The drake is dead and removed from the board. The Alpha's life pool is reset to 8 life points. If it were not for the divine intervention, the drake would only suffer 3 points of damage and survive. The divine intervention keeps Paul's advantage. Now, only his last divine intervention may save Brian.

Turn 7 - Brian

Brian's last divine intervention is Raise Earth. It seems harmless, but Brian comes up with an idea. The drake spends its m to move one hex towards the warrior. Once in range, it uses its a to create a crater under the warrior using its Mining Tools. The warrior falls, and loses 3 life points. Now Brian surrounds the pit with hills, using the last divine intervention.

The warrior is trapped, and cannot climb out, because there is no passage from a crater to a hill. Despite the impassable cliff, he will be able to attack the drake because when attacking fliers terrain is ignored (and the drake did act on terrain during the last turn). Should he kill the drake, he still will be unable to climb out of his prison. Neither Athilian may win now. Brian has achieved the draw, and leaves the battlefield unharmed.

Both Athilians prepare for their next duel.

Alpha Presets

Much of the fun in Athlas: Duel for Divinity comes from inventing new strategies, finding powerful card combinations and creating synergy between your Alphas and Divine Interventions. However, for your first game you might consider using the following preset combinations to get a feel for the game before trying to create ones yourself.

Aquatic strategy

A player with this strategy strives to fill the battleground with water hexes and uses units that move through and above water.

To do so, the player needs the Flood and Tsunami DIs. The first creates 4 water hexes anywhere on the map and the second doubles the size of a body of water. Unnatural Force can either drown an enemy unit or move one of your units faster, and a Lightning Bolt can finish off wounded enemy units.

The first Alpha has the Raiders of the Deep Genus card, which allows movement through water hexes. Adding a Banner of Summoning, an Obsidian Sword and Full Plate Armor creates a unit that can duplicate, attack and defend itself at a cost of 23 to summon.

The second Alpha protects the raiders from above. It has the Forsaken Drake Genus card for flying, an Etynian Crossbow for ranged damage and Paralyzing Venom to limit enemy unit's mobility. Marksmanship and Weapon Lore increase the damage output of these flying bodyguards with a summoning cost of 30.

The last Alpha is a flying Dark Mentalist. It has the Dark Mentalist Genus card and Forsaken Wings enabling it to fly over water and take control of enemy units.

Rush Strategy

With this strategy the idea is to move your units as fast as possible to the relics and cover their retreat afterwards.

The perfect DIs for this mission are Time Warp for an extra move, Temporary Gate for a quick teleportation, Shift Relic to bring a relic closer to your units, and Unnatural Force for pushing your units forward.

The main Alpha is a fast, spell casting and terrain changing creation. It has the Spell Binder Genus card and Pathfinding for fast movement. The Earthquake and Magic Bolt are its damage dealing spells while Heroic Inspiration benefits units around it. Terraforming and Mountaineering help units overcome and create terrain obstacles. This Alpha costs 29 to summon.

The second Alpha can cause massive ranged damage to single targets. It has the Shadow Ranger Genus card for its ranged bonus and a deadly Ballista. Adding Weapon Lore enables one-shot kills of poorly armored units. The total cost of this Alpha is 20.

The last Alpha has a Watch Tower Genus card and Healing Hands, so it can appear in strategic places and heal injured Alphas. It also has an Obsidian Sword for protection. Each unit of this Alpha costs 17 to summon.

Card Clarifications

This section contains extra information and clarifications regarding some of the cards.

Genus Cards

Watch Tower: The limitations on movement and on holding relics for trees are absolute, and can not be over-ridden, even with the use of divine intervention spells.

Dark Mentalist: The target unit of these powers still belongs to its Alpha. Therefore, if a unit is forced to spend a c, the unit's Alpha will lose that c.

As long as a unit is under enemy control, that target unit belongs to the Athilian who is controlling it. This means that if one of your units forces an Undead Horde to summon another unit, you will pay the summoning cost of that unit (which does not belong to you). If one of your units forces a unit to cast the spell Heroic Inspiration, one of your units can enjoy its effect. If the controlled unit is moved into a crater, it will not suffer falling damage, because the unit temporarily belongs to you, and its movement is not forced. The only reservation is, that an enemy unit under your control cannot win the game for you (by joining relics or arriving at a target relic).

Equipment

Necromantic Gauntlets: The attacker has no way to avoid or reduce the sacrificed life points. Attack value modifiers do not require life point sacrifice.

Mind Controlling Circlet: The powers on this card are the exact same as the powers of the Dark Mentalist. See Dark Mentalist for clarifications.

Sands of Athlas: The target hex can be occupied by a unit, which is not affected in any other way except from being on a different terrain.

Paralyzing Venom: The target unit may still use its a during its activation.

Abilities

Weapon Lore: This ability is meaningful when a unit is attacked only by units with Weapon Lore during a given turn. In such a case the total damage suffered by the unit will be increased by 1.

Regeneration: No matter how many units of this Alpha are on the board, the Alpha will only heal 2 life points per turn.

Terraforming: The target hex can be occupied by a unit, which is not affected in any other way except from being on a different terrain.

Spells

Rain Burst: Falling to the earth does not allow a flying unit to carry a relic. A target unit, flying above a water hex, will also lose 5 life points due to drowning.

Item: the power does not require a to trigger, so the unit may use it to acquire a weapon and attack with it, or acquire a shield and cast another spell (or otherwise use its a).

Earthquake: To use this spell, the target unit must stand on a non-plains hex, the casting unit must stand next to a hex with that same terrain, and there must be a connected path of the same terrain between the target and the caster. This spell does not enjoy height modifiers, but does require line of sight.

Divine Intervention

Raise Earth: The target hexes can be occupied by units, which are not affected in any other way except from being on a different terrain.

Polymorph Self: This DI cannot target an enemy unit, even if it is under your control.

Paralysis: The target unit can be attacked, pushed, controlled, and so forth.

Stasis: The target unit can be attacked, pushed, controlled, and so forth, but it will not suffer any damage.

Teleport: Using Teleport, a unit may pass any kind of terrain (including cliffs), without spending m, a or c, or losing life points.

Flood: One body of water is a connected group of water hexes. Since you may only add one water hex next to each water hex in the chosen body of water, hexes which are inside the body of water (already surrounded by water) do not multiply.

The Seven Outer Worlds

Draonia: As old as time, Draonia is the only outer world the Athilians did not create themselves. The first Athilian councils used this vast and empty planet to hone their powers of creation. New creatures came to life, some intelligent enough to worship the Athilians as gods. As their divine skills increased in potency, and Draonia became overpopulated, it was time for the monumental effort of creating a new celestial body - Lorios.

Lorios: The creation of this lush and beautiful planet, carefully designed over centuries, was considered by the Athilians their masterpiece. Some of them went so far as to make it their new home. New life forms spread quickly to fill the expansive land areas. Although Athilians and mortals almost never mixed, on some rare occasions demigods were born.

Karoos: As the Athilian powers grew stronger, and thus their potential for uncontrolled damage, the elders constituted the challenge, such that only those who truly understand creation would pass. In order to train for the challenge, a new world was made. Young Athilians roam this realm and lead their armies to battle. Endless wars and vast obsidian plateaus are the trademarks of Karoos.

Mivios: Unlike Karoos, Mivios is a peaceful place. It is a world of magic and psionics. The Athilian council bestowed upon a trio of life forms exceptional supernatural abilities; the Spell Binders are masters of magic, the Dark Mentalists are masters of mind control and the Celestial Knights keep the peace on the planet. Young Athilians need Mivios to enhance their understanding of creation.

Etynia: A contrast of nature and machinery, Etynia has both enormous cities, engineered with state of the art clockwork mechanical devices, and dense rain forests teeming with life. One can study a lifetime about technology, the environment and sustainability on Etynia.

Phytios: A world of water and the nurturing ground of almost all marine creations. The liquid environment allows the existence of the largest creations in the outer worlds. Some intelligent sea creatures can create portals to other worlds and breathe air. Their name outside of Phytios is Raiders of the Deep.

Rakios: The harshest of the outer worlds. This world of silence, cold and death is the furthest and smallest planet made by the Athilians. A fragile equilibrium between living creatures and undead ones is kept in place at all times by a natural cycle of life and afterlife.

Quick Reference

Creation Phase

Restrictions for Creating Alphas

1. Each Alpha must have exactly one genus card.
2. An Alpha can't have a total of red hand symbols greater than the total of green hand symbols displayed on its AC cards.
3. The total creation points of all the spell cards in an Alpha cannot exceed the total spell points of this Alpha.

Preparing the Divine Intervention Stack

Select up to 4 DI cards with a total Divine Points of 8 or less and set them face down. The order of the cards is important.

Command Phase

The First Turn

Summon a single unit with any summoning cost or summon up to 3 units, with a total summoning cost of up to 60.

Turn Structure

1. Upkeep - Remove condition markers from expired effects and both players remove a duration cube from each active DI.
2. Unit Activation - Each unit can spend one m and one a.
3. Summoning - summon one unit.

Summoning

1. Opponent reads and validates AC cards.
2. Mark the summoning cost of units.
3. Create the Alpha's life points pool.
4. Arrange the AC cards on the table.
5. Select a figure that fits best that Alpha.
6. Place a figure, of the same type, on one of the summoning hexes.
7. Pay the summoned unit's summoning cost.
8. Add single use cubes (c) if needed.

When summoning a unit from a revealed Alpha skip steps 1-5.

Terrain

• Flying units ignore terrain.
• Higher ground provides a +2 attack value modifier.
• Moving over impassable cliffs is not possible, and only powers with a range of more than 1 can be used across these cliffs.
• A crater hex adjacent to a water hex becomes a water hex.
• A unit loses 5 life points due to drowning when entering a water hex, when its hex becomes a water hex or when it starts and ends its activation in a water hex.

Forced movement

• A unit holding a relic can carry the relic with it, unless the relic was moved that turn.
• A unit forced to move into an occupied hex, out of the board, or a higher terrain level, does not move and loses 3 life points.
• A unit forced to move into a lower level terrain, executes the movement and loses 3 life points.