Mage Knight: Ultimate Edition
Mage Knight Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Basic Game Concepts
Deed Cards
Your deck is made of Deed cards: Basic and Advanced Action cards, Spells, Artifacts, and Wounds. Each turn you play cards from your hand into your Play area for their effects. A card can be played:
- For its basic effect (an Action card played normally), or powered by one mana of the depicted color for its stronger effect.
- A Spell is powered by one mana of its color (at Night, additionally one black mana for its strong effect).
- An Artifact for its basic effect, or thrown away (removed from game) for its strong effect.
- Sideways — any non-Wound card can be played sideways for Move 1, Influence 1, Attack 1, or Block 1 (never Ranged/Siege or elemental).
Cards providing similar effects combine cumulatively (stack them). At end of turn, all played Deed cards go to your discard pile; unplayed hand cards remain. Wound cards can never be played (except played into the Wounds pile only when explicitly allowed), discarded, or thrown away.
Units, Skills, Mana
- Units (recruited from the Unit offer) are placed in your Unit area, each needing a Command token. Ready units (token above) can be activated by putting the token on them (making them Spent until end of Round). Units auto-Ready at the start of each Round. Wounded units cannot be activated.
- Skills are Skill tokens gained on even Fame levels. Types: once-per-Round, once-per-Round with lasting effect (placed in the center for all players), or once-per-turn.
- Mana comes in four basic colors (red, blue, white, green) plus special gold (usable as any basic color, Day only) and black (Night only). Mana is either pure mana (a die or token, used before end of turn) or crystals (stored in your Inventory, max 3 per color, convertible to pure mana anytime). The Source (mana dice) provides pure mana — one die per turn.
Effects and "Gain" Effects
Effects use shortcuts like "Move X" (gain X Move points) or "Heal X". Rules-modifying effects last until end of turn unless stated. "Gain a mana token / crystal / card" places it as described. Combat rewards and Artifacts are gained at end of turn.
The Round: Tactics and Day/Night
The game alternates Day and Night Rounds. At the start of each Round, players choose Tactic cards in reverse Fame order (this also sets turn order via Round Order tokens). Players then take turns until the End of the Round is announced. A Round ends when a player's Deed deck is empty and they announce End of Round (mandatory if they also have no cards in hand); each remaining player then takes one last turn. Then players Level Up for any Fame lines crossed, refresh units, and begin the next Round (flipping the Day/Night board).
A Player's Turn
On your turn you play a Regular turn or Rest.
Regular turn has two voluntary parts: movement, then action (one action per turn). First you may move (revealing map tiles). Your movement may force a mandatory action: ending on another player's space forces Player vs. Player combat; entering an unconquered fortified site (keep, mage tower, city) forces combat with its garrison; being attacked by rampaging enemies forces that combat. If no mandatory action, you may choose one voluntary action: interact with locals (at inhabited sites), explore an adventure site (usually combat), challenge adjacent rampaging enemies, or burn a monastery. You must play or discard at least one card each turn.
Resting: you cannot move, fight, or interact. Standard Rest (with at least one non-Wound card) discards one non-Wound and any number of Wounds; Slow Recovery (only Wounds in hand) discards one Wound.
Movement
During a Regular turn you spend Move points (from cards, Move Skills, Units) to move space by space across accessible terrain (costs depend on terrain and Day/Night). You may reveal new map tiles by spending 2 Move points while adjacent to an empty tile position; tiles are placed in fixed orientation. Entering an unconquered fortified site (or another player's keep) ends movement and forces an assault. You cannot enter a space with a rampaging enemy until it's defeated, and moving directly between two spaces both adjacent to a rampaging enemy provokes it.
Interacting with Locals
At villages, monasteries, your own keeps/mage towers, and any conquered city, you may spend Influence points (modified by your Reputation track position — a negative or positive modifier). Uses: recruit a Unit from the offer (paying its Influence cost, if the site matches its type); buy Healing (villages 3, monasteries 2); learn an Advanced Action at a monastery (6 Influence); learn a Spell at a mage tower (7 Influence + one matching mana). Conquered cities have their own interaction options by color (buy Artifacts, buy Spells, recruit all Unit types, or buy Advanced Actions).
Combat with Enemies
Combat is fought in up to four phases: Ranged and Siege Attack, Block, Assign Damage, and Attack (Melee). Reveal all enemy tokens involved.
- Ranged and Siege Attack: play Ranged/Siege Attacks to try to defeat enemies before they strike. Fortified enemies (or those in fortified sites) can only be targeted by Siege Attacks. Total the Attack value; matching a resistance halves that attack type (round down). If the total meets or exceeds a target's Armor, it's defeated (discarded; Fame scored).
- Block: each surviving enemy attacks; you may Block one enemy at a time with Attacks... rather, with Block effects. Against elemental attacks, only matching Blocks are fully efficient (others count half). A Block equal to or exceeding the enemy's Attack fully stops it (Swift enemies need double Block). Summoners draw a brown enemy to attack in their place.
- Assign Damage: unblocked enemies deal damage equal to their Attack. Assign damage to unwounded Units first (each Wounded by a hit; resistant Units reduce damage by Armor first), or to your Hero (one Wound card per Armor's worth of damage, rounded up). Brutal doubles damage; Poison adds a second Wound (to discard pile too); Paralyze destroys a wounded Unit / makes a Hero discard all non-Wound cards. If Wounds added to your hand reach your Hand limit, you are knocked out (discard all non-Wound cards).
- Attack (Melee): like the Ranged/Siege phase, but any Attack type works and fortifications no longer apply. Defeat remaining enemies.
Combat outcomes: for each enemy defeated at a site you're assaulting, place a Shield token. Defeating all defenders conquers a keep/mage tower/city (mark with a Shield); a mage tower/city grants a Spell/reward; burning a monastery yields an Artifact (and −3 Reputation to attempt). Defeating rampaging enemies gains Reputation.
Wounds and Healing
A wounded Hero takes Wound cards into hand (never discardable). Wounded Units have a Wound across them (can't be activated). Healing points (played or bought at villages/monasteries, not during combat) can throw away a Wound from hand/discard (1 point) or heal a Unit (points equal to the Unit's level). Any unspent Healing disappears when entering combat.
Player vs. Player Combat
If you end movement on another player's space (not portal/city, before End of Round is announced), you may initiate PvP combat as the aggressor. The defender may fully or partially attend the combat. Combat has Ranged/Siege and Melee phases; the defender attacks first in the ranged phase. Attacks need not fully block (attacks are reduced by 1 per 2 points of block). The attacker assigns damage (choosing how, needing damage equal to a target's Armor to wound it, doubled against resistant Units) and may spend damage to steal Artifacts or force the blocker to retreat. When one player is forced to retreat or both pass, combat ends; the victor may gain Fame (based on level difference).
City Assaults
City assaults work like assaulting any fortified site, but each city gives its defenders a color-based bonus (White: +1 Armor; Blue: +Attack for elemental attackers; Red: physical attackers gain Brutal; Green: physical attackers gain Poison). When a city is conquered, the player with the most Shield tokens on its card becomes its leader. Cooperative City Assaults let multiple players jointly assault a city, dividing the enemies among them.
End of the Turn
Complete your turn: first reroll and return the Source die you used. Forced Withdrawal: you must end on a safe space (accessible, no other Hero); otherwise backtrack, adding a Wound per space. Clear your Play area (mana to the bank, cards to discard). Use space benefits (magical glade: throw away a Wound; crystal mine: gain a crystal). Take combat rewards (crystals, Artifacts). Level Up for Fame lines crossed (new Armor/Hand limit and Command token, or Skill + Advanced Action). Finally draw new cards up to your Hand limit (increased by adjacency to your keeps and conquered cities).
Fame, Reputation, and Scoring
Fame (gained by defeating enemies and completing feats) advances you along the Fame track, granting levels (Armor, Hand limit, Skills, Command tokens) and forming the basis of final scoring. Reputation modifies your Influence when interacting and is gained/lost through actions (e.g., −1 Reputation per assault on a fortified site; gains for defeating rampaging enemies). Each scenario in the scenario book specifies its own length, map shape, and scoring (achievements such as conquered cities, greatest knowledge, and greatest loot), with the highest total winning.