Ember: The Magical Card Game
Ember: The Magical Card Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
Ember is a game for two to five players where players draw cards to form sets which they can then discard to conjure creatures worth Victory Points (VP). The winner is the player with the highest number of VP at the end of the game.
From the Ashes Game Contents
31 x creature cards, 12 x Elemental Dragon cards, 5 x Artifact cards, 7 x Tutor cards (Wizard cards sold in Ember Core Set).
Draw Deck: Wizard Cards
The Draw Deck is a set of 52 cards depicting a silhouette of a magical wizard in one of four elements: Air (white), Earth (green), Fire (red), and Water (blue). Each element is made up of thirteen cards ranked from low (1) to high (13).
The Draw Deck also contains three Archmage cards which have no number and are purple with gold trim.
The Pool: Creature Cards
The Pool is made up of Creature cards: the mythical monsters each player can Conjure during a game of Ember. There are 13 groups of creature cards, each arranged in the Pool in order of VP value from 1 to 13.
Each creature card also contains the following information:
- Creature name
- Victory Point value
- Conjuring Name followed by the number and type of Wizard cards that need to be discarded to Conjure this creature
- Ability name and unique ability
(Figure 2: Creature card aligned in the Ready position.)
Setting Up The Game
- Place the Pool in clear sight of all players sorted in groups according to their VP value. All cards of VP8 form one group while the VP7 creatures make up another. If you own more than three cards in any one VP group - shuffle all the cards in that group and put only three in play.
- Turn the VP7 to VP13 groups face down; the player taking the first turn will reveal them as the game progresses.
- Arrange the Elemental Dragons in piles according to their matching name, with the Head on the bottom, the Body in the middle, and the Tail on top.
- Shuffle the Artifact cards, randomly deal three, and put them to one side of the Pool in clear sight of all players.
- Shuffle the 52 Wizard cards and the 3 Archmage cards to create a Draw Deck. Place the Draw Deck within reach of all players and allow space for a Charred Deck (the face-up discard pile) beside it.
- Dealer deals five cards from the Draw Deck to each player.
- Deal one face down Tutor card to each player (this is kept secret from the other players until the end of the game).
- Play starts with the player to the Dealer's left.
Game Length
Deciding how many VP you have to gain before you make "the Call" is an important part of Ember. You can play a short game (20 VP) all the way to an epic game (100 VP). Don't expect to see many Elemental Dragons unless you play to 60+ VP.
Revealing The Pool
At the start of the game, only VP1 to VP6 creature cards are face up and available for Conjuring in the Pool.
At the start of their turn (except for the first), the player going first turns the next face-down group of 3 cards in the Pool face up until all creature cards are face up in turn 8.
In-Game Terms
- Advance: Turn a creature card one (or more) steps toward being Ready. Unless specified, an Advance is just one step.
- Burn: Turn a creature card face down. Only an Archmage or specific creature ability can Regenerate a Burned card.
- Charred Pile: The (face up) discard pile. When the last card in the Draw Deck is taken, shuffle the Charred Pile into a new Draw Deck.
- Drain: To permanently exhaust an Artifact. Once Drained, it is Burned and its basic per-turn power cannot be used.
- Exhausted / Flip: A card in one of three orientations that is not Ready (see Reviving Creatures).
- Lesser Creature: A lesser creature has a VP score lower than another creature (the Raven VP1 is lesser to the Wraith VP2).
- Ready: a creature that is face up in the Ready position.
- Regenerate: to turn a Burned card face up (and Ready it).
- Regress: to turn a creature back one or more steps (but can never go beyond the Exhausted position).
- Revive: to Advance a creature to the Ready position.
The Game Turn
Each turn has the following steps:
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Advance Creatures: You may Advance (Rotate creature cards 90 degrees to the right) any or all of your non-Ready creatures.
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Recycle / Draw a Card: You may draw one card at the start of your turn if you have fewer cards in your hand than your permitted Hand Size (5 cards, unless modified by other cards). If you have cards equal to or greater than your Hand Size, you must Recycle (discard a card) to draw a card. The Draw Phase is not compulsory; you do not have to draw a card at all. OR:
Refresh: You may discard all of the cards in your hand and replace them with an equal number of cards from the Draw Deck. If you choose to Refresh, you may not Conjure a creature this turn.
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Conjure a Creature: To Conjure a creature, you must meet its Conjuring Cost with the Wizard cards in your hand. Example: The Phoenix requires a "Spellbook" to Conjure, which is any four of the same wizard (cards with the same picture and number).
If you can meet the Conjuring Cost and the creature is available in the Pool, show your chosen Wizard cards to the group before placing them face up in the Charred Pile, then claim your creature from the Pool and place it face up in your play area in the Ready position. Note: You can only Conjure one creature per turn and you can Conjure any creature in a VP group (you don't have to Conjure the top creature card).
After you have Conjured, replenish your hand (draw a number of cards equal to the number of cards used in that Conjure).
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End Your Turn: You must discard down to your Hand Size.
Creature Abilities
Creatures have one of two types of ability: Exhaust (Flip) and Ongoing:
- Exhaust abilities rotate a Ready card ninety degrees to the right to activate its magical power. Once a creature has been Exhausted, you cannot use its ability again until it is once again Ready (see Reviving Creatures, below).
- Ongoing abilities are always in effect and are disabled only when the creature is Exhausted or Burned (see Burned).
To use an ability, state you are using an ability to the group, then rotate that card 90 degrees to the right and apply its effects to the game. You can use a creature's ability at any time (even outside of your turn) with one exception: You cannot affect a player with an ability once they have announced they are Conjuring.
Reviving / Advancing Creatures
Using an ability drains that creature's magic, but it regenerates over time, allowing you to reuse its powers every few turns. This is reflected in the rotation of each creature as it recovers its essence. An Exhausted card is always put in the Stage 2 orientation (below).
- Creature in Ready position. Abilities may be used at any time.
- Creature in Exhausted position (after using ability).
- Creature orientation at the start of the next turn.
- Creature's final orientation becoming Ready at the start of its owner's next turn.
Burned Creatures
Some creatures (and Archmage cards) have the ability to flip a creature face down. These Burned creatures remain face down until Regenerated (turned face up) again. Only the owner can look at a Burned card.
Spectral Cards
Spectral cards marked with a negative VP cost are played on an enemy player. The Conjuring wizard earns VP tokens for the Conjure (as listed in the Conjuring Cost), while the target player receives a VP penalty while they own that card. Spectral creatures can be Conjured once more (as a standard Conjure) by the owning wizard and transferred to another player, at which point the earned VP are transferred to the most recent Conjuring wizard. Summary: there are only ever one set of VP in circulation for Conjuring a Spectral creature.
Elemental Dragon Gods
Made up of three separate parts, the Dragons are beings of great power. When a player has Conjured all three parts: the Head, the Body, and the Tail, the Legendary ability becomes available to them (so long as at least one part of the Dragon is Ready).
Conjuring: If you control the preceding part of a Dragon, the next part's Conjuring Cost is equal to the lowest numbered sequential part of that Dragon you control. Example: If you control the Tail (1), the Body (2) will cost the same as the Tail. If you do not have the preceding part, each unique part of an Elemental Dragon costs the full Conjuring Cost.
Tutor Cards
Tutor cards are revealed at the end of the game when the final scores are about to be tallied. Each Tutor modifies its owning player's final score with the creatures they control.
Artifact Cards
Artifacts are magical items that have three effects. The first listed ability is always working (as long as the Artifact is Ready).
Exhaust: The Artifact's second ability is activated by Exhausting the Artifact.
Drain: Using an Artifact's Drain ability Burns that Artifact. Thereafter, no card - not even an Archmage - can Regenerate or restore its magical energy. Drain abilities cannot be used once The Call has been made.
The Archmage
The Archmage is a card that gives a player a variety of abilities. Used in the same way as any creature ability, you may use just one of the following effects whenever you play an Archmage:
- Act as a wild card. The Archmage can be used as any other card in the game when used in a Conjuring.
- Advance one of your creatures to the Ready position.
- Burn or Regenerate any one creature in play.
Making The Call
When a player has reached the agreed VP threshold for a game, he can "make the call", bringing the game to an end. All enemy players get one final turn, before, starting with the "caller", each player uses their creature abilities - one at a time - until everyone passes. The final VP totals are then counted and the winner is the player with the highest VP score. In the case of a tie, add up the points value of all the wizard cards in your hand (the Archmage is worth 5 points).
Any in-game timing issues are always resolved by the Active Player.