Elemental Rift Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Set Up
• Playing the Game
• A Turn in Elemental Rift
  • Step 1: Accolade Flip
  • Step 2: Elements
  • Step 3: Draw
  • Step 4: Play Spells
  • Step 5: Discard or Receive an Accolade
• Elements
  • Decaying
  • Linked Elements
• Playing Spell Cards
• Spell Effects
• Trigger Effects
• Effects and Elements
• One Final Word on Elements
• Accolade Cards
• Winning the Game
• Accolade Variant

Object of the Game

The object of the Elemental Rift is to control the four elements in the Rift. Skillful players gain Accolades for their accomplishments. The first player to gain two Accolades wins the game.

Set Up

Place one earth, one fire, one water, and one air Elemental Card in the middle of the play area forming a square, and place the remaining cards off to the side of the play area. Give each player a reference card, and place the five Accolade cards face up to the side of the play area. Shuffle together the Spell cards and deal two cards to each player, face down. The oldest player takes the first turn, and play continues clockwise.

Playing the Game

Players attempt to harness the ever changing elemental powers in the Rift. As players use the elements, the elements decay into other elements. In attempts to control the Rift, players cast spells, in the form of cards. While these spells may have powerful effects, they aren't very stable.

A Turn in Elemental Rift

A turn in Elemental Rift is broken up into five steps. Once a player has completed the fifth step, his turn is over.

Step 1: Accolade Flip

The player flips any Accolade cards he has earned face up.

Step 2: Elements

If there are less than ten (10) elements in the Rift, the player adds any two (2) elements to the Rift. If there are already ten (10) or more elements in the Rift, the player chooses any element and decays all of that element in the Rift.

Step 3: Draw

The player draws cards until he has three (3) cards in his hand.

Step 4: Play Spells

The player plays cards from his hand. A player may play as many cards as he is able to.

Step 5: Discard or Receive an Accolade

The player discards up to 2 cards from his hand or takes an earned Accolade card.

Elements

There are four different types of Elements: earth, wind, fire, and water. Each element is represented by a card. Throughout the game, these cards will be placed into the Rift, and taken away from the Rift.

Any card placed in the Rift must touch at least one other card. In the event that two or more groups of cards are no longer connected, the player who caused the split chooses one of those groups, and removes the remaining group of cards from the Rift.

In the event that an action requires a player to add an element to the Rift, and there are not enough element cards of that type available to be played, the player places all cards of that type that he can.

Decaying

When an element decays, it is taken away, and is replaced with half of its decay element, rounded up. These elements must be placed in spaces that were occupied by the decayed element, but do not have to be touching each other.

Diagram caption: "Three fire elements decay."

Linked Elements

Linked Elements are elements of the same type that are connected to each other, side to side, chain style. In order to be linked, the elements do not have to be touching each other, but rather, form a constant connection, with one element touching another element of the same type, without interruption.

Example (diagram): In the example, five water elements are shown as linked. However, the two earth elements are not linked, since they are not touching sides.

Playing Spell Cards

During a player's turn, he may play Spell cards from his hand. To play a Spell card, the player places the spell in front of him, and decays a number of linked elements of the spell's type, equal to the spell's decay value, and then carries out the spell's effect. This is a one time effect that happens immediately. The spell will remain in front of the player until its triggers.

A spell triggers when a number of the spell's trigger elements equal to the spell's trigger value are linked in the Rift. When a spell triggers, its trigger effect is carried out and then the Spell card is placed in the discard pile.

Card diagram labels: Spell Element, Decay Value, Spell Effect, Trigger Effect, Trigger Element, Trigger Value.

Spell Effects

Spell effects happen one time, when a player plays the Spell card. Spell effects have various affects, and are explained on the card.

Trigger Effects

Trigger effects occur once. It is possible for more than one Spell to be triggered at once. In the event that this happens, the Spell with the highest Spell Value triggers first. A spell's Spell Value is equal to its Decay Value plus its Trigger Value. If two or more spells would trigger with the same Spell Value, the player whose turn it is chooses which will trigger first. Spells trigger whenever the trigger elements are at the trigger value, regardless of whose turn it is.

Effects and Elements

Many of the Spell and Trigger effects deal with adding in or taking away elements from the Rift. In the event that a player must add a certain type of element to the Rift, and there are not enough of the required element cards to add, the player adds all of the cards of that element that are available to be added.

One Final Word on Elements

The placing of one or more element(s) into the Rift is treated as a single action.

Accolade Cards

At the end of a player's turn, if that player played at least one spell, he may be eligible for an Accolade. There are five different Accolade cards, requiring different feats. Regardless of how many Accolades a player could take, a player may only earn one Accolade per turn. If a player earns an Accolade, but at the end of his next turn no longer has the requirements of the Accolade, the player still keeps the Accolade.

When a player earns an Accolade, it is placed face down in front of him in his play area. Face down Accolade cards still count towards the two required to win the game.

Additionally, if a player has met the requirements of a face up Accolade held by another player, he may take that Accolade from that player.

Winning the Game

The first person to begin his turn with two Accolades wins the game.

Accolade Variant

A more chaotic and challenging game of Elemental Rift is possible by making one small change to the Accolade rules above. Instead of placing an earned Accolade face down, the player places the Accolade face up. This grants other players the opportunity to take the Accolade from the other player a full round sooner. It is recommended that two player games of Elemental Rift make use of this Accolade variant.