Grimslingers: Advanced Duels Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Important Abbreviations and Terminology
• Spell Cards
  • Elements
  • Signatures
• Discard vs Deactivate
• HP/EP Trackers and Animas
  • Anima Abilities
• Versus Setup
• Versus Duel
  • Starting a Duel
  • How to Duel
    • The Standoff Phase
    • The Draw Phase
    • The Aftermath Phase
    • End Of Turn
  • Element Resolution Example
• Solo/Cooperative Challenge
• Creature Duel
  • Creature Space Setup
  • Difficulty Settings
  • Resolving a Creature Duel
  • Creature Duel Turn
    • The Standoff
    • The Draw
    • The Aftermath Phase
    • End of Turn
• The Witch King's Skills

Important Abbreviations and Terminology

There are a few abbreviations that you should learn in order to better understand what is written in this rule sheet and on the cards within this game.

The most commonly used are:

• Active: Cards that are in your hand are considered active cards - ready to be played or discarded.
• DMG (Damage): DMG dealt reduces HP by the same amount. Note: Unless a card states that it does DMG, its FX are not considered to be damage. For example, "Reduce target's HP to 1" is not damage.
• EP (Energy Points): Both player and creature EP are tracked using an Energy Tracker, and are spent or reduced as a result of a Grimslinger spells, creature skills, or Anima abilities.
• FX (Effects): The FX of a card includes any text written in its FX section. Unless otherwise stated on the card, all of the FX listed on a card occur in the order they are written.
• HP (Health Points): Player and creature HP are tracked using a Health Tracker, and are reduced by taking DMG and occasionally other FX.
• Resolve: This refers to applying a card's FX to its target(s).

Also important, but less common:

• Deactivate: Deactivated cards are essentially discarded, but must be kept in a different, face down pile, and regained separately from your discarded cards.
• Unresolved: Any card that has been played and turned face up (revealed) in the Aftermath phase, but has not been resolved.
• NV (Numerical Value): NV is any number written as a numeral / typographically, as opposed to written out as a word. For example, "3" is considered an NV, but "three" is not.

Example 1: If you play a card with an FX that states, "2 DMG to any two foes of your choosing" along with a combine card that says, "+1 to the NV of the FX of any spell this card is played with," it would result in dealing 3 DMG to any two foes of your choosing, not dealing 3 DMG to any three foes of your choosing. If it were written as "2 DMG to any 2 foes of your choosing" it would then be changed to dealing 3 DMG to any 3 foes of your choosing.

Spell Cards

Although there are many different kinds of cards available to a Grimslinger in the full game, for now you are only concerned with the two types of spells: Elements and signature spells.

Elements

There are six elements: FIRE, WATER, EARTH, WIND, ICE and LIGHTNING. Element spells are the only cards that contain a weakness banner, which shows what elements have an advantage over one another.

Anatomy of an Element Spell

1. Title Banner: The name of the element.
2. Weakness Banner: This describes which elements this card does and does not beat.
3. FX Section: These are the special effects that can happen when playing this card. If a spell's FX are ever mentioned, it is referring to what is written here.
4. Resolution Number: When cards are revealed, this number is referenced to determine in what order they are resolved. Element spells all have an RN of 9, but other spells will have a variation.
5. Target: This states who this card targets. It is either Self, Team, All, All Foes, or Single Target. Unless otherwise stated on the card, if a card targets Team, it also targets Self.

Element spells have special interactions with each other. The easiest way to understand these relationships is to think of the elements as two variations of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

• WEAK: If your element is weak to your target's unresolved element, your element will be discarded without doing any DMG or other FX.
• NEUTRAL: If your element is neutral towards your target's element, both elements will resolve normally.
• STRONG: If your element is strong against your target's unresolved element, their element will be discarded without doing any DMG or other FX.

Signatures

Unlike elements, signature spells are all unique, meaning the ones you choose to use will be yours exclusively. Signature spells do not have a weakness banner, but do have an energy cost indicator in the bottom right corner.

Anatomy of a Signature Spell

1. Title Banner: The name of the signature spell.
2. FX Section: These are the special effects that can happen when playing this card. If a spell's FX are ever mentioned, it is referring to what is written here.
3. Resolution Number: When cards are revealed, this number is referenced to determine in what order they are resolved. The six element spells all have an RN of 9, but other spells will have numbers 1-10.
4. Target: This states who this card targets. It is either Self, Team, All, All Foes or Single Target. Unless otherwise stated in the card's FX, if a card targets Team, it also targets Self.
5. Energy Cost Indicator: Only signature spells have these. It shows how many energy points (EP) this card costs to use.

For Grimslingers: Advanced Duels, each player will have two signature spells in versus mode, and three signature spells each when facing the solo/co-op challenge against the Witch King. Once taken, signature spells are kept in a player's hand and may be played instead of a normal element spell during the Draw phase.

Discard vs Deactivate

After a spell is used, it will generally end up in one of two piles:

• Discard (Face up): Unless otherwise stated in the FX, spells are discarded after use, into your personal discard pile. The most common way to get discarded spells back is to use your Anima's Reload ability.
  • Note: You only need to have the top card of your discard pile showing, but it must always be your most recent spell played. In a Versus Duel, this puts the onus on your opponents to keep track of what spells you have already played.
• Deactivate (Face Down): Deactivated cards are similar to discarded cards, but are kept in a separate pile. These cards cannot be used, and must be kept face down. During the Standoff phase, you may use a Standoff action to reactivate deactivated cards; deduct 3 EP and return six cards of your choice from your deactivated pile. Spells can be deactivated as the result of many different things, some of which are a card's FX, the Anima Surge ability, or due to certain FX from the Witch King's skills.

HP/EP Trackers and Animas

Players will use their Grimslinger portrait card to track their health points (HP) by placing their portrait card (1) on top of a health tracker card (2). When a player takes damage (DMG) or gains health, they will adjust their HP by sliding their portrait card up, or down, on the health tracker. Likewise, players will use their Anima card to track their energy points (EP) by placing the Anima card (3) on top of an energy tracker card (4).

Grimslingers start with 8 HP and 8 EP, but may go up to a max of 10 HP or EP throughout the course of the duel.

Anima Abilities

Your Anima has three abilities that can be used during the Standoff phase of a duel. Each of these abilities costs one Standoff action. Although you have two Standoff actions during the Standoff phase - you can only use one Anima ability per turn. For example, you cannot Surge and then Reload in the same turn.

• Reload: Pay three EP to take four spells of your choice back from your discard pile. This is the main way to get spells back into your hand if they've been discarded.
• Purge: Discard up to two spells and gain one EP per spell discarded.
• Surge: Deactivate three spell cards and flip your Anima card over to surge. While surged, the next spell you play that turn will gain +1 NV to its FX.

Note: Your Anima's Surge ability mentions a "face-off," this is a feature of the Versus duel that existed in the first and second edition of Grimslingers, but has been removed. Don't worry, surge is still very useful!

Versus Setup

1. Select a Grimslinger and Anima
   • Players may freely pick the Grimslinger or Anima cards they wish to use.
   • Give each player an HP and EP tracker.
2. Set Up Your Character Space
   • Players should arrange their character space as shown above.
   • Set your HP and EP: Each player sets their Grimslinger to 8 HP and their Anima to 8 EP. During the course of the duel, players may go up to a max of 10 HP/EP.
3. Build Your Hand
   • Element Spells: Deal each player their set of six element spells (FIRE, WATER, WIND, EARTH, LIGHTNING, and ICE).
   • Signature Spells: Shuffle the signature spell deck and deal three cards face down to each player. Players then select two of the three to add to their hand, and return the remaining card to the box without showing their opponents.
     • There is no limit to a player's hand size for Grimslingers: Advanced Duels.

Versus Duel

A versus duel is made up of turns that repeat until someone emerges victorious. Each turn consists of three phases: The Standoff, The Draw, and The Aftermath. At the end of each Aftermath phase, if a player's HP reaches zero and they cannot immediately restore it with a card or ability, they are defeated and removed from the duel. A player wins when all other players have been defeated!

Starting a Duel

Randomly determine which player will begin the game with the first player card. The first player card will be used to determine the order in which players take their actions within the Standoff phase, and the order in which cards with the same RN will resolve during the Aftermath phase.

Play starts with the first player and then proceeds to the second player. During the Draw phase, players will make their choices simultaneously. After each turn of the duel ends, pass the first player card to the next player and continue with the duel.

How to Duel

The following is the order of operation for resolving a single turn in Grimslingers: Advanced Duels.

Note: When using the Grimslingers core game or The Northern Territory expansion, players will have more options during the Standoff and Draw phases than what is listed here.

The Standoff Phase

A player may take up to two Standoff actions during each Standoff phase. The player with the first player card takes their two Standoff actions first, declaring them out loud. Players then proceed taking their Standoff actions, one at a time, in clockwise order from the first player. Below is a list of options players can do for their Standoff actions. It is not necessary to use all your Standoff actions each phase.

• SACRIFICE HEALTH: Sacrifice HP for EP at a 1:1 ratio.
• ANIMA ABILITY: Use either Reload, Purge or Surge. Can only use one per turn.
• ACTION CARD: Some cards designate that they are used in the Standoff phase, at the cost of one Standoff action. In Grimslingers: Advanced Duels, the only Standoff card is the signature spell Recall.
• REACTIVATE: Deduct 3 EP to return up to 6 deactivated cards to your hand.

When all players have finished their Standoff actions, the Standoff phase ends and the Draw phase begins.

The Draw Phase

Step One (Skip if playing a 1v1 duel)

• Starting with the first player and then going clockwise in turn order, each player now chooses a spell and places it face down.
• If you must, or want to pass, do not play a spell on your turn. Instead declare you are passing and gain 2 EP.
• Once everyone has chosen a spell (or passed), all players shout "Draw!" Then players will reveal their cards at the same time. This marks the end of the Draw phase, continue on to the Aftermath phase.

The Aftermath Phase

1. CHECK RN: Players must first check every card's RN (resolution number). The card with the lowest RN will resolve first, followed by the card with the next highest RN and so on.
   • DO YOU HAVE THE SAME RN AS SOMEONE ELSE?: If two or more cards have the same RN, they will be resolved clockwise from the first player card.
   • RESOLVE YOUR CARD: When it is time for you to resolve your card, follow these steps below. Note that at the time your card resolves, all other cards that have not yet resolved are considered "unresolved."
     • DOES YOUR CARD HAVE RESOURCE COSTS?: When resolving your card(s) you must first pay any EP cost it has before resolving its FX. If you do not have enough EP to cover the card's costs, you must deduct what you do have and then deactivate the card you played.
     • APPLY YOUR CARD'S FX: Apply the effects listed on your card to whomever your card targets (Self, Team, All, All Foes, Single Target).
       • Note: A card's FX are applied in the order they are written. If the FX of a card would cause the user's HP to drop to 0, do not resolve the remainder of the FX. However, if a card's target is defeated in the middle of a card's FX, the remainder of the FX will still apply.
     • DID YOU PLAY AN ELEMENT SPELL?: Element spells have additional rules to follow when resolving them, which are:
       • ELEMENT WEAKNESSES: If your target also played an element spell, and that element beats yours, your spell will do nothing and be immediately discarded. It does not matter who your target is targeting for this effect to occur.
       • ELEMENT NEUTRALITY: If your target played an element spell that doesn't beat the element spell you played, nor is beaten by yours, your spell will resolve normally.

End Of Turn

The turn ends when all players have finished resolving their cards. If victory conditions have not been met, pass the first player card clockwise, beginning the next turn.

Element Resolution Example

Zach (1) is ready to go all in to defeat his opponent, Julie (2). During the Standoff phase, Zach uses his Anima's Surge ability (3), deactivating three cards in order to empower the LIGHTNING spell (4) he is going to play that turn. Julie, anticipating that Zach is going for the kill, uses one of her Standoff actions to activate her Anima's Reload ability, and gets EARTH back from her discard pile. During the Draw phase, Zach plays Lightning and Julie plays EARTH (5), both face down. Then, they both shout, "Draw!" and reveal the cards they played.

In the Aftermath phase, the first thing they check is the RN of their cards (6). Both spells have an RN of 9. Because Zach has the first player card, his spell will resolve first. Then they look for elemental strength/weakness (7). Zach played an element that is weak to his target's element, so LIGHTNING is discarded instead of resolving, and doesn't apply its FX. With LIGHTNING out of the way, EARTH is the only card left to resolve, dealing 2 DMG to Zach and healing Julie for 2 HP.

Solo/Cooperative Challenge

Wake up Grimslinger. It's about time you made yourself useful to me. First off, you need to learn a thing or two before I send you out into the fray. You'll likely die regardless, but at least this way you'll have a small chance to not be totally useless.

Icarus, your master and mentor, has a laundry list of dangerous tasks for you to accomplish out in the Forgotten West. Among the many death sentences is a quest to defeat the self-proclaimed Witch King. To prepare you for the challenge, the Iron Witch has created a simulation based on rumors of the Witch King's abilities, and a few others thrown in for good measure, in order to better train you in the ways of magic.

Creature Duel

A creature duel is made up of turns that repeat until either the players, or a creature, emerge victorious. A creature is defeated when either its HP or its EP reach 0. Just like the versus duel, each turn of the duel consists of three phases: The Standoff, The Draw, and The Aftermath.

Creature Space Setup

1. Place portrait card: Take the creature portrait card, the card that depicts the creature itself, and place it, in the middle of the game area.
2. Place and Set HP and EP Trackers: Set its HP and EP to the amounts listed for the appropriate player count on the back of the creature portrait card, and place them as shown. For example, if playing with two players, set the creature to 20 HP and 20 EP. Creature HP and EP tracker cards are rotated and/or flipped over to the correct number as the duel progresses. The front of the trackers are for numbers 1-20, while the back of the trackers are for numbers 21-40. Note that you will need enough space around the trackers to rotate them.
3. Shuffle and place the creature skill deck: Shuffle the creature skill deck and place it face down as shown. Cards in this deck are considered active and the creature's hand.
4. Played creature card: During the Draw phase of a creature duel, creature skill cards will be placed here.
5. Discard and deactivate piles: Discarded and deactivated creature skill cards will be placed in the positions shown. Typically creature skills are discarded after use.

Difficulty Settings

The back of the Witch King's portrait card features several difficulty settings of increasing challenge. It is recommended that even players with delusions of grandeur begin with the easiest setting before working up to the harder challenges. Players with The Northern Territory expansion are encouraged to use the full rules and repertoire of skills, spells, and items to attempt victory on the impossible difficulty setting. Though Grimslingers: Advanced Duels is for two players, you are free to face the Witch King simulation with up to four players, on any difficulty setting you choose.

Resolving a Creature Duel

Important notes to review before you begin:

• VICTORY CONDITION: Reduce the HP or EP of the creature to 0.
• FIRST PLAYER CARD: The creature is always considered to be the first player where resolution order and other tie-breakers are needed. Likewise, the creature will take its Standoff phase before the players.
• CREATURE ACTIONS: If a card requires the creature to perform an action, such as discarding an active card, or playing a card from their hand during the Draw phase, a player (any player) must do this on the creature's behalf.

Aftermath phase example: Becca and Erin are in their first turn against The Witch King. Not knowing what they 're in for, the duo decides to use Paralyze to avoid the first creature skill, and FIRE to deal a little damage and learn about another card by discarding it. In the Aftermath phase, they reveal the Witch King's Mirrorer skill card. First they compare RN - the Witch King has an RN of 5, meaning his skill will resolve after Paralyze (RN 4) but before FIRE (RN 5). Paralyze resolves first, causing Mirrorer to be discarded before it resolves. With Mirrorer out of the way, FIRE hits the Witch King, reducing it's HP to 18, and forcing it to discard 1 random active card. To do this, Erin will take all of the creature's active cards, shuffle them and then randomly choose one active cards on the creature's behalf. After Erin has put the random card face up into the creature's discard pile, she will put the remaining cards back into the creature's active card pile.

Creature Duel Turn

The following is the order of phases in which a creature duel turn resolves. Follow these steps when you are ready to begin a duel.

The Standoff

1. Creature Actions: Creatures, of course, do not make choices during the Standoff phase. However, they will attempt to reactivate their cards if certain criteria are met.
   • RELOAD: When a creature has run out of active cards, it must spend EP to reload discarded cards, at the cost of 1 EP per card. A creature will not reduce its own EP below 1, therefore it will reload as many cards as it can until it has reloaded all discarded cards or until it has only 1 EP left. When a creature reloads discarded cards, it also reactivates all deactivated cards for free (meaning the deactivated cards cost no EP to get back). When discarded cards are reloaded, they are chosen at random, and then shuffled before placing them back in the creature's active pile.
   • PASS: If all of a creature's cards are deactivated, and it has no active or discarded cards, it must pass this turn. If a creature cannot afford to reactivate any discarded skill cards, it will also pass this turn.
2. Player Actions: Each player is allowed to perform two actions during this phase, after the creature has performed theirs (if any). The order in which players resolve their actions is up to the players. It is recommended that players coordinate their actions and tell their teammates what they are doing. Below is a list of options players have for their two Standoff actions:
   • SACRIFICE HEALTH: Sacrifice HP for EP at a 1:1 ratio.
   • ANIMA ABILITY: Use either Reload, Purge or Surge. Can only use one Anima ability per turn.
   • ACTION CARD: Some cards designate that they are used in the Standoff phase, at the cost of one Standoff action. In Grimslingers: Advanced Duels, the only Standoff card is the signature spell Recall.
   • REACTIVATE: Deduct 3 EP to return up to six deactivated cards to your hand.

The Draw

Follow this sequence of events:

1. Creature Action: A player must take the top card from the creature skill deck and place it face down in the "played creature skill card" position of the creature space.
   • If a creature must pass, because they have no active skill cards, they will immediately gain 2 EP and reactivate all deactivated cards. They do not get discarded cards back this way.
2. Player Action: Each player may now choose and play an spell card face up.
   • If you must pass, do not play an action card, but instead declare you are passing and immediately gain 2 EP.
3. Reveal: Once all players and the creature have either passed or played card(s), reveal the creature card and continue to the next phase.

The Aftermath Phase

1. CHECK RN: Players must first check every card's RN. The card with the lowest RN will resolve first, followed by the card with the next highest RN and so on.
   • DO YOU HAVE THE SAME RN AS SOMEONE ELSE?: If any cards have the same RN, resolve them clockwise from the creature.
2. RESOLVE YOUR CARD: Follow these steps.
   • DOES YOUR CARD HAVE COSTS?: When resolving your card(s) you must first pay any EP cost it has before resolving its FX. If you do not have enough EP to cover the card's costs, you must deduct what you do have and then deactivate the card you played.
   • APPLY YOUR CARD'S FX: Apply the effects listed on your card to whomever your card targets (Self, Team, All, All Foes, Single Target). Note that unless otherwise stated, all of a card's FX are applied in the order they are written. If your target is defeated before your card finishes resolving, the rest of the FX still take place.
   • DISCARD/DEACTIVATE: Discard your card(s) once they have been resolved. Skip this step if your card(s) have already been discarded/deactivated by the FX of another card.
     • Resolved creature cards must be put into the creature's discard pile, unless the card was discarded/deactivated before it could resolve.
   • WERE YOU DEFEATED BEFORE YOUR CARD RESOLVED?: If your HP reaches 0 before it is your card's turn to resolve, that card will be deactivated instead of resolving.
3. DID YOU SURGE?: If you surged, flip the Anima card back over.

End of Turn

The turn ends when all players and the creature have finished resolving their action cards.

1. CHECK VICTORY/LOSS CONDITIONS: If the creature's HP or EP were reduced to 0 this turn, the creature is defeated and you are victorious. If a player's HP reaches 0, they are defeated and removed from the game, unless they can immediately restore their HP with a card's FX (such as the Specter spell). If all players are defeated, it is game over.
2. START A NEW TURN: If neither the players nor the creature have been defeated, start a new turn.

The Witch King's Skills

Taking down Icarus' simulation of the Witch King is a bit different than fighting the real deal. Aside from having a few different powers at his disposal, the simulation telegraphs it's abilities in a more obvious way, allowing the Grimslingers to practice syngergizing their strategies.

Unlike the creatures you'll face in the main campaign, the simulated Witch King's skill cards feature a piece of flavor text on the back of each card. There are four categories of flavor text, indicating which type of ability the Witch King will use next. As you become more familiar with the game and the Witch King's cards, these telegraphs will be vital for defeating the simulation's harder difficulty settings.