Battle Mages Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• What's in the Box
• Objective of the Game
• Setup
• Turn Sequence
• Life Points & Specialisation
• Common Spell Cards
• Merging Spells
• Rare Spells
• Announce the Spell
• Take Damage
• Additional Rules
• Ending the Game
• Two Player Game
• Solo Game

What's in the Box

• 6 Mage Hero Life Points & Story Cards
• 6 Mage Hero Lifepoint tokens
• 72 Common Spell Cards
• 28 Rare Spell Cards
• 5 Bonus Hero Cards for Heroes of Thargos
• 5 Bonus Lasting Cards for Heroes of Thargos
• This Rules Sheet

Objective of the Game

In this epic Mage battle your survival depends upon your tactical prowess and timing. Merge your Common Spells to deliver heavy blows and cast your Rare Spells to heal or to defend, to redirect damage, or even to influence your opponents' gameplay.

Be the last Mage standing or have the most Life Points to claim victory!

Setup

1. Choose a Life Points card that represents your Mage and place it in front of you, face-up.
2. Return the remaining Life Points cards to the box.
3. Use your token to set your Life Points according to the following:
   • 1-3 players = 20
   • 4 players = 18
   • 5 players = 16
   • 6 players = 14
4. Shuffle the Common Spell and Rare Spell cards together and deal two cards to each player face down.
5. The remaining cards will form the Spell Deck, which should be placed face down on the side of the table, accessible to all players.
6. Draw the top card from the Spell Deck and place it face up in the centre of the table, where it can be accessed by all players. This will become Centre Card.

Turn Sequence

The wisest Mage, also known as the oldest player, has the honour of taking the first turn. After that, the play continues clockwise unless a Rare Spell specifies otherwise. On your turn, it's important to take the following actions in the specified order:

1. Draw a card from either the Spell Deck or the Centre Card, but if the latter is drawn then it must be replaced from the top of the Spell Deck, if available.
2. If unable to merge or prevent the previous player's incoming spell, take the relevant damage. See later for more information on damage.
3. Play a Spell Card by placing it face up in front of you.
4. Announce the spell and its effects to the target player, including any damage dealt.

Life Points & Specialisation

Each player's Life Points Card displays their Specialisation on the top left. This unique Specialisation grants an advantage to the player's gameplay with a specific type of Common Spell. There is a Fire Mage, a Water Mage, an Air Mage, an Earth Mage, a Death Mage and a Poison Mage. The example below features Sarosha-Zar, a powerful Air Battlemage.

Figure labels: Wizard, Specialisation, Life Points. The example card reads: "+1 Damage when starting a new round with Air Spells." and "-1 Damage inflicted on you by Air Spells."

Common Spell Cards

The Common Spells consist of six types, and their corresponding icons are found on the upper left corner of both the Common Spell card and the Life Points card:

• Air
• Earth
• Fire
• Water
• Death
• Poison

Common Spells have one large Major Spell image and two smaller Minor Spell images. When you use a Common Spell, you use the Major Spell with 1 damage added to it.

Figure labels on the example Common Spell card "Poisoned Blade": Spell Type, Major Spell, Rarity, Spell Name, Minor Spell.

Merging Spells

If the player before you played a Common Spell, you can merge spells by playing a Common Spell of the same colour but with a different Major Spell image. This protects you from all damage, and the damage from the previous card combines with your new card, plus 1 more damage and is instead directed to the next player.

Rare Spells

Each Rare Spell has unique utilities described on each card.

Figure labels on the example Rare Spell card "Fusion": Spell Art, Spell Name, Rarity, Description. The example description reads: "Merge it with any other COMMON SPELL or FUSION to continue the combo attack. Declare the type of spell if it is played as a starting spell. Can be countered by RETALIATE, SHIELD or DODGE."

Announce the Spell

When you use a spell, you need to say the name of the Rare Spell or the colour of the Common Spell, and the amount of damage that it does. This helps everyone know which spell is being used and how much damage has been done.

Take Damage

• Subtract the damage you took from your Life Points and move the Token to the new number. If your Life Points reach zero, you're out of the game.
• If you're assigned damage on your turn, it doesn't hurt you until you play a card. If you can play a spell to counter it, you won't take any damage.

Figure: the Common Spell "Stone Hand" is shown with the caption "+1 Damage"; the Common Spell "Rock Projectile" with "+1 Damage = 2"; and the Common Spell "Rockfall" with "+1 Damage = 3".

Additional Rules

• At the end of your turn, you must have no more than 2 cards in your hand.
• If you have 3 Rare Spells that won't help you, play one and take any incoming damage. It's best to discard the least helpful card.
• You can only play a Spell Card on your turn unless it says otherwise.
• You can't stop damage to other players, except with the CRIPPLE Spell Card.
• The LEECH and HEAL Rare Spells can only be used before you're eliminated. The REBIRTH Rare Spell can be used after you're eliminated.

Ending the Game

The game ends when all cards have been played. There are three ways to win:

• You're the last player remaining.
• You have the most Life Points.
• If there's a tie, shuffle all the played cards to form a Spell Deck and keep playing.

Two Player Game

For a two player game you play the same way as for more players except you must remove: BLAST, DODGE, MIND CONTROL, RAGE, REBIRTH, TORNADO and THUNDER cards from the deck.

Solo Game

• Choose a Mage to play with and take their Life Points Card.
• Place a different Mage card to represent the virtual opponent.
• Set both your life points and the virtual opponent's life points to 20.
• Remove the following Spells: BLAST, BLIND, CRIPPLE, DECEPTION, DODGE, FEAR, ICY HAND, MIND CONTROL, RAGE, THUNDER and TORNADO.
• Only the virtual opponent can play the REBIRTH Rare Spell. Place that card next to their Life Points Card. When the opponent reaches 0 life points, the REBIRTH card activates.
• Shuffle the remaining cards and place them between you and the virtual opponent.
• The virtual opponent plays first.
• On the virtual opponent's turn, draw a card from the Spell deck and play it against you.
• The gameplay continues as in the multiplayer variant, following the turn sequence described earlier.