Mercurial
Mercurial Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 4 Class boards (double-sided)
- 56 Spell cards
- Prestige board
- 24 Elemental dice
- 20 Prestige tokens
- 70 Acuity crystals
- 4 Player aids
- Acuity & Mana discount tokens (1 each)
- 2 Mystrune tokens
- 50 Mana crystals
- 18 Heroic cards
- 3 Arcana boards (double-sided)
- Equilibrium board
- 44 Alteration cards, Consisting of...
- 8 Starter Alterations (grey edge)
- 2 Class Alterations (grey edge with tint)
- 25 Skill Alterations (blue edge)
- 9 Artifact Alterations (purple edge)
Overview
2-4 mages exert control over chaos with their Elemental dice to craft new Spell combinations, explore unknown magicks, and compete with other mages to perform Heroic feats!
Your adventure in Valanyr begins. As a mage, you'll learn magical Alteration techniques to control the chaos of your Elemental dice, and use these Elements to combine Spells into powerful new magicks. Your Spell combinations can either inflict Ruin, grant Restore, or something more — use them to perform Heroic feats, ranging from helping your allies defeat dangerous beasts, to finding a path for stranded travelers lost in the otherworldly land of Valanyr.
During setup, each mage chooses a Class with varying capabilities and starting resources, with their differences offering a unique path to power. Then, you start by rolling your Elemental dice.
Each of your Elemental dice grants you one of six Elements:
Fire, Water, Lightning, Earth, Aether, Void
During your turn, you'll either perform two actions to take or use Alterations that can convert your Elements, allocate your Elements into a Spell, or cast your Spell combination to perform a Heroic feat. Once a player has acquired a certain number of Heroic feats (based on player count), the game ends with all other players casting their Spell combinations. The player with the most Victory Points (VP) wins!
Victory Points! (Found on Heroics, Arcanas, & Prestige tokens)
Delve into the fantastic world of Mercurial, and discover a new age of spellcrafting.
Diagram reference: Alterations
- Primary effect — the main effect shown on an Alteration card, produced from Elemental dice.
- Secondary effect — a further effect shown lower on an Alteration card, produced from a second set of Elemental dice.
- Discard effect (Skill Alterations) — the effect gained by discarding a Skill Alteration.
Diagram reference: Spells
- Spell effect — the effect printed at the top of a Spell card.
- Spell cost — the Elemental dice and/or Mana shown at the bottom of a Spell card, needed to take it.
- Elemental dice, Mana, and Acuity are the resources allocated to take a Spell.
Diagram reference: Heroics
- Sigil — the icon in the corner identifying the Heroic card.
- Victory Points — the VP value printed on the Heroic card.
- Required "Ruin" and Required "Restore" — the Ruin and Restore values a Spell combination must meet to claim the Heroic card.
Setup
Setup for main area (3 player example)
- Shuffle the Heroic cards face down to form the Heroic deck.
- Separate the Skill Alteration cards (blue edge) from the rest of the Alterations. Shuffle the Skill Alterations face down to form the Alteration deck. Place the Starter, Class, and Artifact Alterations aside for now.
- Shuffle the Spell cards face down to form the Spell deck.
- From all three decks (Heroic, Alteration, and Spell), draw 6 cards and place them face up to the left of each respective deck.
- Place the Mana discount token on the space below the leftmost Spell, and the Acuity discount token below the next Spell to the right (2nd leftmost).
- Set out the Mana crystals and Acuity crystals. For each player in the game, place 1 Acuity on the revealed Skill Alterations starting from the left. (There are 3 players in the example here, so an Acuity has been placed on the 3 leftmost cards.)
- Place 1 Mana crystal and 1 Acuity crystal on each face-up Heroic card.
- Above the Mana and Acuity supply, set out the Prestige board and place the Prestige tokens over the top half of the board.
- Set out the Arcana boards and Equilibrium board by placing them in the space above the Heroic cards:
- For the Arcana boards, randomly select a side to be face up.
- Randomly choose 1 of the 2 Mystrune tokens and place it in the slot on the right side of the Equilibrium board. The revealed face does not matter, and players may refer to both faces any time.
Solo play: Prodigy Mode — Setup differs slightly for solo play — full rules are on page 20.
Player Setup
Choose your Class
Each player chooses a Class (Elementalist, Arcanist, Enchanter, or Chaosmancer), then places their chosen Class boards on the space in front of them.
A Class board shows: Sigil, Mana slots, Aetherflow, Acuity slots, and Casting Chart.
Players then take the components stated on their Class boards as starting resources:
A. Starting hand of Starter, Class, and Artifact Alteration cards: For the Starter Alterations (grey edge) and Class Alterations (grey edge with tint), you take the cards shown into your hand. For the Artifact Alteration (purple edge) with a (?), draw a random Artifact Alteration.
The Enchanter Class takes 3 Artifact Alterations and will therefore start with 5 cards in hand, while all other Classes start with 3.
B. Dice, Mana, and Acuity: Stated below the Sigil is the number of Elemental dice, Mana crystals, and any Acuity crystals you start with. Place the correct number of dice beside the Class board to form your Dice pool. Place the Mana on the Mana slots (blue circles), and the Acuity on the Acuity slots (grey circles).
First game: All players may flip their Class boards and use the simplified "Initiate" Class instead. Besides their Sigils and Aetherflow powers, all Initiates' starting resources and cards are identical.
For their Artifact Alterations, Initiates may choose 1 of 4 Artifacts with this icon on the bottom left side of the card.
Arrange your Play Area
Ensure there is enough space around your Class board to store the various components and objectives that you will acquire during the game.
Recommended Layout: Exhausted Alterations | Class board & Dice pool | Acquired Objectives: Heroics, Arcanas, Prestige, Used Spells — with the Spell combination area below.
Example of a player's area during gameplay: Class board with dice pool, hand of Alteration and Spell cards, Heroics, and Used Spells & Prestige tokens.
Determine Play Order
The first player is the one who most recently performed a heroic deed. Play will proceed clockwise. Depending on play order, the other players each start with extra Acuity crystals taken from the supply as follows:
- 2nd player: 1 Acuity crystal
- 3rd player: 2 Acuity crystals
- 4th player: 3 Acuity crystals
All players then roll all the dice in their Dice pool to determine their starting Elements. You are now ready to begin!
Player Turns
Mercurial is a turn-based game, starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise. During your turn, carry out the following actions:
TAKE & PLAY (In any order)
TAKE 1 of any of the following:
- A new Skill Alteration card into your hand.
- A Spell card into your Spell combination.
- A Spell card to be recycled to gain 1 Acuity.
- All exhausted Alteration cards back into your hand.
PLAY 1 Alteration card from hand to activate its effects.
When your turn ends, Replenish the Alteration and Spell card rows (see page 11).
OR
CAST
CAST your Spell combination to acquire objectives (Heroics, Arcanas, and Prestige) and then reset your play area and resources (see page 12).
Action Order
If you select the Take & Play actions, you may perform them in any order. This is important as Alterations may allow you to perform more Take and Play actions during your turn.
Example of a valid turn:
- You play an Alteration that lets you Play 2 more Alterations this turn.
- You play 1 more Alteration, leaving you with 1 more Play action.
- You expend your Take action to take a Spell into your Spell combination.
- You then use your remaining Play action to play another Alteration, and you end your turn.
Do not reroll your Elemental dice between turns! After rolling your dice at the start of the game, do not reroll them between turns. You only reroll your dice as part of an effect granted when playing Alteration cards, or when you reset your resources after casting your Spell combination.
Take
As you begin your adventure in Valanyr, you will use your Take action to learn new Skill Alterations that can convert your Elemental dice. Your Take action can also be used to add Spells to your Spell combination by allocating your Elements, Mana and Acuity to them.
1. Take a Skill Alteration
As your Take action, you may take one of the Skill Alteration cards from the main area into your hand, leaving an empty slot on the row. If there are any Acuity crystals on the Alteration card you're taking, you gain those for yourself. Place them on an available space on your Class board.
In this example, the 3 Alterations on the left have an Acuity on top, so taking any of those cards also grants you the Acuity.
As you may perform your Take and Play actions in any order, you may use your Play action to play a newly taken Alteration in the same turn if you wish.
Alteration card limit: You may never have more than a total of 10 Starter, Class, Artifact and Skill Alteration cards at a time, regardless of whether they are exhausted or in hand.
However, Skill Alteration cards may be discarded for bonus effects, and to make space for new ones (see page 10).
Empty slots: After taking an Alteration card, an empty slot is left behind. This will be filled at the end of the turn during the Replenish step (see page 11).
2. Take a Spell into your Spell Combination
As your Take action, you may take a Spell card and add it as an active Spell into your Spell combination.
To take a Spell card, you must allocate the requisite Elements as listed on the card's dice slots, using a combination of your Elemental dice, Mana and Acuity. The card's dice slots can be found on the lower half of the card, and there are two types: Fixed A and Flex B.
Flex Dice Slot: Allocate a Fire die to qualify, or 2 Mana. Fixed Dice Slot: Must allocate a Fire die to qualify.
A. Fixed dice slots contain just an Element, and a die with the corresponding Element from your Dice pool must be allocated to it.
B. Flex dice slots have the option of allocating a combination of Mana and Acuity in lieu of a particular element.
Mana & Acuity
Representing your mana reserves and mental clarity respectively, your Mana and Acuity crystals serve as alternate resources that you may allocate to Flex dice slots on Spell cards.
At any given time, you can have a maximum of 10 Mana and 10 Acuity on your Class board. This is signified by there being 10 marked slots of each on the board.
Like Elemental dice, acquired Mana remains yours throughout the game. Allocated Mana return to your Class board after you Cast your Spell combination.
Acuity may be substituted for Mana, with 2 Acuity being equivalent to 1 Mana. Unlike Mana, allocated Acuity crystals are discarded after you Cast. Acuity is also discarded when using certain Alteration cards (see page 9).
Elements & your Elemental dice
Elements are resources granted by your Elemental dice. You possess the Elements shown on the top face of each of your dice.
Fire, Water, Lightning, and Earth are basic Elemental energies, commonly allocated to Spell cards to take them. At the point of casting, unallocated Elements will contribute Ruin or Restore to your Spell combination based on your Class' Casting chart (see page 13).
Conversion: By playing Alteration cards or using the Mystrune (see page 16), you can convert your unallocated Elements to other Elements. When you do this, you rotate the dice holding the Elements that are being converted to the faces showing the new Elements.
Aether is a special Element that empowers all Aethercharged Spells in your Spell Combination. It can also be converted to other Elements through your Class' Aetherflow power (see page 9).
Void is an Element that has no form, but can be converted easily to other Elements using certain Alteration cards (see page 9).
Allocation: To take Spell cards, Elements in your dice pool may be allocated to the card's dice slots with matching Element symbols. While allocated, you still possess that Element, but they are "locked in" and cannot be modified or reallocated.
IMPORTANT: Your Elemental dice are yours for the entirety of the game and are never discarded. Allocated dice will return to your Dice pool after you Cast.
When you take a Spell, place it in your Spell combination area, then allocate the requisite Elements using your dice, Mana, and Acuity by placing them on the Spell's dice slots.
All allocated resources are locked onto the Spell card and cannot be used again until they return to your Dice pool or Class board, which only happens after you Cast.
Discounted Spells: The 2 leftmost Spells on the row of 6 Spell cards are marked by Mana and Acuity discount tokens, signifying a discount to their total cost when you take them. The leftmost Spell is discounted by 1 Mana A, 2nd leftmost by 1 Acuity B.
Making use of the discounts is optional — you can always "overpay" if you choose to. So if a Spell is discounted by 1 Acuity, you can allocate the full cost with your dice and Mana instead, and not make use of the Acuity discount. However, you do not get Acuity in change when you do this.
Example: To take a Spell with 1 Fixed Fire and 2 Flex Fire dice slots, 1 Fire die and 4 Mana (or its equivalent) needs to be allocated. Assuming this Spell is the 2nd leftmost, and so is discounted by 1 Acuity, you can instead allocate 1 Fire die, 2 Mana, and 3 Acuity to it. Here are more combinations that would also work:
- 1 Fire die, 3 Mana, and 1 Acuity.
- 2 Fire dice, 3 Acuity.
- 3 Fire dice (therefore overpaying). ...and so on!
e.g. A Spell taken that has a 1 Acuity discount.
Spell limit: Besides being limited by dice, Mana, and Acuity, there is no limit to the number of active Spells you can possess. Feel free to accumulate as many as you wish to craft the strongest Spell combination possible!
Empty slots: After taking a Spell card, an empty slot is left behind. This will be filled at the end of the turn during the Replenish step (see page 11).
"Hybrid" Spells: Certain Spells can be paid for with a choice of either Fire or Water dice. For these Spells, you can pay with either Element, but all allocated dice on a particular Spell must have the same Element (either all Water or all Fire – they cannot be mixed.)
3. Take a Spell and recycle it for Acuity
As your Take action, you may recycle the leftmost Spell by flipping it face down and returning it to the bottom of the Spell deck, leaving behind an empty slot. Whenever you do this, gain 1 Acuity.
4. Take back your Exhausted Alterations
As your Take action, you may take back all your exhausted Alteration cards, allowing them to be played from hand again. As part of resetting your resources after you Cast, you will also take back your exhausted Alteration cards. More details about playing Alteration cards in the next section titled "Play" on page 9.
Play
To ensure you have the required Elements and resources for your desired Spells, you can play Alteration cards from your hand to activate effects such as converting Elements in your Dice pool, gaining extra Take or Play actions, or re-rolling your Elemental dice.
Before playing an Alteration card, you first decide whether to execute its primary effect or secondary effect. You then play the card face up in front of you, and execute the chosen effect. Skill Alterations may also be played and discarded with an Acuity to gain a Take Action.
Alteration Card Anatomy
- Sigil bonus — a bonus that applies if you have the matching Sigil.
- Primary effect — (In this example) Convert Lightning to Water and/or Earth. The amount you can convert is 1 + the number of Saviour Sigils you have.
- Operator — Conveys the amount to be converted.
- "And/or" Symbol
- Coloured edge (indicates Alteration type)
- Secondary effect
- Discard effect (only for Skill Alterations)
For a detailed look at what each icon and operator does, see page 23. For full details on Skill and Artifact Alteration effects, see pages 26 & 27.
After you play an Alteration, place it on your exhausted Alterations pile. You cannot use exhausted Alterations again until they are returned to your hand with a Take action or after you Cast.
IMPORTANT: You may choose to skip your Play actions during your turn.
Starter Alterations (Grey edge)
Starter Alterations provide primary effects that all Classes have access to (see "Classes Explained", page 24).
Effect: Take an Acuity, OR Play up to 2 more Alterations this turn.
Effect: Discard '?+1' amount of Acuity. Convert '?' number of Void to any other Elements that you possess (allocated or otherwise).
Secondary effect — Aetherflow: For Starter Alterations, their secondary effect is to trigger your Class' Aetherflow power A, which allows you to convert any number of Aether to an Element as specified on your Class board.
For example, the Enchanter's Aetherflow power allows them to convert Aether to Lightning.
Class Alterations (Grey edge with tint)
Certain Classes start with Starter Alterations with improved effects. These are instead called Class Alterations and have a coloured tint to their grey edges.
Elementalist's Class Alteration Effect: Take 2 Acuity AND play up to 2 more Alterations this turn.
Arcanist's Class Alteration Effect: Discard '?+1' amount of Acuity. Convert '?' number of Aether and/or Void to any other Elements that you possess (allocated or otherwise).
Unlike other Starter and Class Alterations, the Arcanist's Class Alteration does not have the Aetherflow secondary effect, as the Arcanist does not have an Aetherflow power.
Skill Alterations (Blue edge)
Skill Alterations are acquired through the Take action and can be played to exert greater control over your Elemental dice.
Their primary effects are often improved by Sigils found on Heroic cards that you acquire after Casting (see page 18).
Found on Heroic cards, Sigils mark the type of heroic deed portrayed. When the Heroic is acquired, its Sigils improve the primary effects of certain Skill Alterations. For more info, please see page 18.
Secondary effect — Reroll dice A: The secondary effect of all Skill Alterations is to reroll up to 2 of your separate unallocated dice when played, and then you may also play 1 more Alteration this turn.
Using Skill Alterations this way allows you to "chain" rerolls during your turn, where you repeatedly play them from hand to reroll your dice. After doing so, you still retain 1 more Play action, which you may then use to play something else.
When using the secondary effect of Skill Alterations, the Chaosmancer's special power allows them to roll up to 4 separate dice (instead of 2).
Discard effect — Gain a Take action B: As your Play action, you may "seal" a Skill Alteration by discarding it with 1 Acuity. If you do, gain 1 more Take action this turn. Flip the discarded Skill Alteration face down and return it to the bottom of the Alteration deck. Discard the Acuity to the general supply. This discard effect is unique to Skill Alterations.
Tip: When combined with effects that grant you more Play actions, it's possible to seal multiple Skill Alterations in a single turn, granting even more Take actions!
For a reference on Skill Alterations and their functions, see page 26.
Artifact Alterations (Purple edge)
Artifact Alterations provide flexibility over your turn actions. Some allow you to take extra components such as Acuity or Spells, while others offer unique ways of manipulating your dice. Many Artifact Alterations require Acuity to be discarded before they can be used.
Secondary effect — Take Acuity: The secondary effect of all Artifact Alterations is to take 1 Acuity.
For a detailed look at what each Artifact Alteration does, see page 27.
Fine Points
All Alteration primary effects must be resolvable when played. When playing any Alteration for its primary effect, you must be able to activate all its effects in the order shown, top to bottom, to be able to play it. If any portion of the primary effect cannot be executed, that Alteration cannot be played.
Example:
A. This Alteration requires you to have at least 2 active Spells and to discard 3 Acuity. If you do not have at least 2 active Spells and 3 Acuity to discard, you cannot play this Alteration.
B. This Alteration converts up to 2 Fire and/or Lightning to Void, and then allows you to take at least 2 Acuity (more if you have the corresponding Sigil). If you do not have at least 1 Fire or Lightning to convert to Void, you cannot play this Alteration.
Alterations can only modify unallocated dice. Allocated dice remain unchanged and locked to their Spells until after you've Cast.
Example: You play an Alteration that converts Earth to Fire and/or Lightning A. You may apply this effect to your unallocated dice B, but not to the Earth dice that is already allocated to an active Spell C that you've taken in an earlier turn.
When using Alterations to convert Elements, you may convert any amount of specified Elements up to the number listed in the operator, but you must convert at least 1. You cannot choose to convert an amount of 0 and ignore the conversion effect. As such, when the symbol ∞ is listed in the operator, it means any amount as long as it is 1 or more.
- Convert one or two (operator "2")
- Convert at least one with no limit (operator "∞")
Alterations check for allocated Elements. When an Alteration checks whether you possess a certain Element, allocated dice are included in that check.
Example: You play an Alteration A that converts Void to any Elements you already have. As your other Elements include Lightning (unallocated) B and Fire (allocated) C, you can convert your Void D to either or both of those Elements.
Replenish
When you end your turn after choosing to Take & Play, replenish both the Alteration and Spell card rows. To do this, first produce Acuity on the Alteration card row if there is an empty slot on that row, then fill all empty slots in the Alteration and Spell card rows.
1. Produce Acuity on the Alteration card row
If there is an empty card slot A in Alteration card row, place an Acuity crystal from the general supply (NOT from your Class board) on each Alteration card to the left of the empty card slot B. If the empty slot is on the leftmost side of the row C, no Acuity needs to be placed.
If there are multiple empty card slots, then Acuity is placed on Alteration cards to the left of the rightmost empty card slot D.
2. Fill Empty Slots
For both the Alteration and Spell card rows, fill all empty card slots by shifting cards along the row, then reveal new cards from the Alteration and Spell deck to fill the rightmost empty slots.
Example of how cards will shift with empty slots on both the Alteration and Spell card rows.
Cast
Once you are satisfied with your Spell combination and Elemental dice, it's time to Cast your Spells to generate the Ruin or Restore you need to perform Heroic deeds that earn you Victory Points!
The process of Casting involves the following steps:
1. Determine the effect of your Spell combination by doing the following: a. Resolve Links Spells if you have any. b. Calculate Ruin and Restore values. c. Resolve Enchantment Spells if you have any. d. Determine your final Ruin and Restore values.
- A. Spells: In most cases, your active Spells will form the bulk of your Spell combination's effect.
- B. Dice & Acuity: Based on your Class' Casting chart, your unallocated Elemental dice will contribute Ruin or Restore based on their Elements. You may also spend Acuity to increase your Ruin or Restore.
- C. Class Powers: Certain Classes have powers that add effects when you Cast.
IMPORTANT: You must have at least 1 active Spell in your play area before you can Cast!
Ruin & Restore
Ruin is a measure of how destructive your Spell combination is, while Restore is a measure of how curative or fortifying your Spell combination is.
Most Spells produce Ruin or Restore that are used to perform Heroic deeds. Because Ruin and Restore are diametrically opposed energies that cancel each other out, you must carefully select the Spells to take into your Spell combination. Choose poorly, and you may end up with a Spell combination that misfires when Casting!
The exception is if you manage to craft a Spell combination with exactly the same amount of Ruin and Restore. Instead of weakening, you achieve Equilibrium (see page 15).
2. After determining the effect of your Spell combination, check which objectives you qualify for and can claim. Objectives include Heroic cards, Arcana boards, and Prestige tokens (see page 17).
Heroics, Arcanas, Prestige
3. After claiming objectives, you will reset your play area (see page 17). This involves returning all allocated Elemental dice to your Dice pool, returning allocated Mana to your Class board, discarding allocated Acuity, returning all your exhausted Alterations to hand, and placing all claimed objectives in the space you have set aside for acquired objectives. Your used Spell cards will be placed in a single pile alongside your acquired objectives.
Determine the Effect of your Spell Combination
To determine the effect of your Spell combination, follow these steps:
a. Resolve Link Spells: If you have Link Spells, choose which normal Spells to link them to, and resolve the Link Spells' effects.
Spell Card Anatomy
- Element banner (Indicates Spell's Element)
- Spell type icon (Normal spells have no icon)
- Spell effect
- Dice slots
Normal Spells provide a fixed or variable amount of Ruin or Restore and stack additively with each other. Most Spells in the game fall into this category.
Link Spells do not stack additively. Instead, you link them to a normal Spell when Casting and apply their effects accordingly. You may link multiple Link Spells to one normal Spell, and their effects stack multiplicatively.
Example: This Link Spell A doubles the effect of the Spell it's linked to. When you Cast, you pair the Link Spell to a normal Spell B that grants 7 Ruin — it now gives 7×2 = 14 Ruin.
Aethercharged Spells are empowered if you possess at least one instance of an Aether Element. Aethercharged Spells are indicated by the yellow banners at the top A, and a golden alternate value in their spell effects B. When you Cast while possessing an Aether, all Aethercharged Spells use the golden alternate value when determining their effects. Aethercharged Spells can overlap with other Spell types (e.g. Aethercharged Linked Spells).
IMPORTANT: The Aether Element does not need to be allocated to be in effect. Having one Aether in your Dice pool while Casting will trigger improved effects for all your Aethercharged Spells.
Arcanist Class power: The Arcanist Class has the bonus power of always possessing an Aether Element.
b. Calculate Ruin and Restore: Add up the total number of Ruin and Restore given by your normal Spell cards and unallocated Elemental dice. At this point, you may also spend Acuity to increase your Ruin or Restore totals.
If you have any unallocated dice while Casting, they contribute Ruin or Restore depending on their Elements. The Casting chart on your Class board shows what each Element from unallocated dice must produce.
You may also spend Acuity to add Ruin or Restore to your Spell combination, based on the costs specified on your Casting chart. (4 for 1 Ruin, and 3 for 1 Restore)
Certain Spells generate an amount of Ruin or Restore based on the amount of Acuity on your Class board. While Casting, if you spend any Acuity for Ruin and Restore, note that the spent Acuity will not count towards these Spells.
Example: You have a Spell A that gives Restore equal to the number of Acuity on your Class board, which is 8 B. While casting, if you choose to spend 3 Acuity to improve your Spell combination's Restore, the Spell will now consider you to have only 5 Acuity on your Class board, and will therefore contribute 5 Restore.
c. Resolve Enchantment Spells: If there are Enchantment Spells, apply their effect to your Ruin and Restore totals in the order of your choice.
Enchantment Spells apply unique effects across your entire Spell combination.
Example: This Enchantment Spell converts all Restore in your Spell combination to Ruin. If your Spell combination has 5 Ruin and 7 Restore, you end up with 12 Ruin instead of the Ruin and Restore cancelling each other out.
d. Determine your final Ruin and Restore values: As Ruin and Restore cancel each other out, if your combination has both, you must take the greater of the two and subtract the other from it. If your Ruin and Restore are equal and cancel out each other for a net result of zero, you achieve a powerful casting state known as Equilibrium (see page 15).
With the final value of the Ruin or Restore your Spell combination has, you may now check which objectives you qualify for and can claim (see page 17).
IMPORTANT: When Casting, all your Spells and Elements from your unallocated dice must be counted - you cannot choose to selectively omit Spells or unallocated dice.
Spell Combination Examples
Example #1: You have 3 normal Spells and 2 unallocated dice. (The second Spell was acquired with an Acuity discount, so there's 1 less Acuity allocated to it.)
- The first Spell is upgraded by the Aether you have on one of your unallocated dice, so it generates 5 rather than 3 Restore.
- The second is a Fire/Water Spell, and you've chosen for it to contribute 10 Restore.
- The third card simply contributes 3 Ruin, and the single Water die contributes 1 Restore for your class.
The Ruin and Restore of this Spell combination is 3 and 16 respectively. The third Spell giving 3 Ruin cancels out 3 Restore, resulting in a final total of 13 Restore. You would have been better off without the third Spell.
Example 2: You have 1 Link Spell, 2 normal Spells, 1 Enchantment Spell, and 3 Acuity spent for 1 Restore. (The top and bottom left Spells were acquired with an Acuity discount and Mana discount respectively.)
- Resolve Link Spells: You choose to apply the Link Spell to your first normal Spell, which grants 2 Ruin for every Spell in your combination. By itself it grants 8 Ruin, so applying the Link Spell's x2 effect doubles it to 16 Ruin.
- Calculate Ruin and Restore: These components add up to 16 Ruin and 5 Restore.
- Resolve Enchantment Spells: This Enchantment converts all Restore to Ruin, resulting in 21 Ruin and 0 Restore.
- Determine your final Ruin and Restore values: There's nothing to cancel out, so you're still left with 21 Ruin.
Equilibrium
The mercurial nature of magic in Valanyr manifests in the strangest ways. One such manifestation is a spellcasting phenomenon called Equilibrium.
Where traditional spellcrafting teaches that a mage should always avoid mixing Ruin and Restore, doing so in Valanyr in equal measure has the potential of creating a unique property called Myst. Little is known about Myst, except that it allows for the creation of new forms of magicks, and its conjurer is briefly given an unknown power that many have named the Mystrune.
Equilibrium Board
To achieve Equilibrium, your Spell combination needs to have the exact same number of Ruin and Restore. When this happens, each point of Ruin and Restore combine to form one unit of Myst. Based on the amount of Myst generated, your Spell combination gains the effect as written on the Equilibrium board:
| Myst | Ruin / Restore | Bonus |
|---|---|---|
| 6-7 | 11 Ruin / 15 Restore | — |
| 8-9 | 16 Ruin / 21 Restore | 1 Acuity |
| 10-11 | 20 Ruin / 28 Restore | 2 Acuity |
| 12+ | 24 Ruin / 34 Restore | 2 Acuity, 1 Prestige |
A. Amount of Myst required.
B. The resulting effect of your Spell combination, where you may choose between the Ruin or Restore.
C. These bonuses are gained after Casting, which includes the Mystrune D and other potential bonuses such as Acuity or Prestige.
Mystrune
When you Cast and achieve Equilibrium, you gain the Mystrune from the Equilibrium board and place it on your Class board. If the Mystrune is currently held by another player, you instead take the Mystrune from that player.
If you have it, you may use the Mystrune during your turn as a free action — it does not consume a Take or Play action. The Mystrune offers two effects to choose from, with each one listed on the front and back faces of the Mystrune token.
Mystrune: Vyl'nari
- Front: Convert any 1 die to Fire or Lightning.
- Back: While Casting, gain +3 Restore.
Mystrune: Tes'kora
- Front: Convert any 1 die to Water or Earth.
- Back: While Casting, gain +2 Ruin.
You keep the Mystrune until you choose to use it, or until another player takes it from you. Keep a lookout for other players trying to achieve Equilibrium, for you may lose your Mystrune before being able to use it!
After using the Mystrune, return it to the Equilibrium board.
If you use the Mystrune while Casting and achieve Equilibrium again, you retain the Mystrune instead of returning it to the Equilibrium board.
Example: With Spells granting 8 Ruin, 3 Ruin, 12 Restore, and unallocated dice contributing 1 Ruin, you Cast a Spell combination that grants 12 Ruin and 12 Restore. Equilibrium is achieved, and you gain 1 Myst for each point of Restore and Ruin, giving you 12 Myst.
Based on the Equilibrium board, your Spell combination of 12 Myst can be used to claim a Heroic otherwise needing 24 Ruin or 34 Restore, and you collect the Mystrune, 2 Acuity, and 1 Prestige.
Reset
After you Cast your Spell combination and claim all the objectives you qualify for, your turn ends and you must reset your play area:
i. Return all your dice to your Dice pool and reroll them. A The next player can begin their turn while you continue resetting your play area.
ii. Discard allocated Acuity B and regain Mana. C Discard all Acuity crystals that were allocated on your Spell cards. Move all allocated Mana crystals back to your Class board. Unlike Acuity, your Mana is not depleted and is reusable between Casts.
iii. Take all your exhausted Alterations back to your hand. D This allows them to be played from hand again starting from your next turn onwards.
iv. Collect and place all used Spell cards into a single pile and place it near your Heroic cards in the space you have set aside for acquired objectives. These Spell cards may contribute to your Victory Point total if you have acquired certain Arcanas.
Objectives
Heroics
Once you have the Ruin or Restore value of your Spell combination, choose one Heroic card to acquire. Your Spell combination total must meet or exceed the Ruin A or Restore B requirement as shown in order to take a particular Heroic card.
When you take a Heroic card, take all Mana and Acuity on the card and add it to your Class board.
Then, take the Heroic card and place it in the designated space set aside for your acquired objectives. Whenever you collect more Heroic cards, stack them on top of the previous Heroics, but with the Sigils on the top right visible A, so that they can be referenced easily.
IMPORTANT: You can take only 1 Heroic card per Cast.
Empty slots: After taking a Heroic card, refill its slot by drawing a card from the Heroic deck and placing it on the slot, and then place 1 Mana and 1 Acuity on the card.
IMPORTANT: You may also Cast without acquiring a Heroic card. This is usually done when you make a mistake and craft a Spell combination that does not have enough Ruin or Restore to qualify for any available Heroics. Be sure to still collect any other objectives you qualify for, such as Prestige tokens and Arcanas (see next page).
Sigils
How will you be remembered? Sigils mark the type of heroism you'll be known for in song and legend.
Most Heroic cards have one or two Sigils. Each Class board will also have a Sigil that the player using that Class starts the game with A.
There are 4 Sigils, each representing a category of heroic deeds:
- Beastslayer: Deeds that involve the slaying of aggressive and dangerous beasts.
- Saviour: Deeds that involve saving the lives of your fellow adventurers and settlers.
- Pathfinder: Deeds that involve finding or cutting open a path for explorers to move forward.
- Runebreaker: Deeds that involve discovering and disabling the dangerous, malfunctioning runaliths across Valanyr.
Sigils on your Class board and on Heroic cards you acquire grant bonuses to certain Skill Alterations, allowing you to activate their effects with improvements for the rest of the game. At the end of the game, these Sigils and those featured on your Skill Alteration cards may also provide bonus Victory Points (see page 19).
Prestige
As indicated on the Prestige board A, you also collect 1 Prestige token for every 3 Ruin or 4 Restore beyond the target number required when you acquire a Heroic card. Place any acquired Prestige beside your collected Heroic cards.
If you wish to, you may also Cast to collect Prestige tokens without acquiring a Heroic card.
Prestige limit: There is no limit to the number of Prestige tokens any player can have. If the general supply of Prestige tokens is exhausted, simply track any extra amounts acquired through other means.
Arcanas
Arcanas are bonus objectives you may collect if your Spell combination fulfills their requirements. Once acquired, keep them for the rest of the game. When the game ends, they grant 2 Victory Points plus bonus Victory Points based on the Spells you've Cast and collected throughout the game A.
When acquired, place the Arcana board beside your acquired Heroic cards.
IMPORTANT: You can acquire only 1 Arcana per Cast.
"Hybrid" Spells: For the purposes of qualifying and scoring for Arcanas, hybrid Spells count for both Elements that they are associated with.
Example: This Spell is associated with Fire B and Water C, and therefore counts as both a Fire and a Water Spell.
For a detailed look at what each Arcana requires and provides, see page 25.
Game End
The end of the game is triggered when any one player has collected a number of Heroic cards, based on the player count:
- 2 Players: 5 Heroics
- 3 Players: 4 Heroics
- 4 Players: 3 Heroics
For a more epic game between skilled players, you can increase the required number of Heroic cards by 1!
When this occurs, all other players with any Spell cards active must Cast them (in turn order) and acquire whatever objectives they can. The game then ends, and players move to final scoring.
Final Scoring
All players add up the following to determine their final Victory Point (VP) scores:
- Heroics: Score the VPs as listed on your Heroic cards.
- Arcanas: Score the VPs as listed on your Arcana boards. Arcana boards grant 2 VPs plus bonus VPs based on the Spells in your pile of used Spell cards.
- Prestige: Score VPs as listed on your Prestige tokens.
- Sigils: Referring to your Heroic cards, your Class board, and your Skill Alteration cards, score 1 VP for every pair of identical Sigils that appear on the components. For every set of 3 or more identical Sigils, score 1 VP per Sigil for that entire set instead.
The player with the highest VP score wins!
TIEBREAKER: If there is a tie, the player with the most points gained from Arcanas wins. If there is still a tie, the tied players share victory!
Scoring example in a 3 player game
VPs from Heroics: 44 — four Heroic cards worth 6 VP, 11 VP, 12 VP, and 15 VP.
VPs from Arcana: 4 — two Arcana boards each worth 2 VP.
VPs from Prestige tokens: 3 — three Prestige tokens worth 1 VP each.
VPs from Sigils: 8 — a Sigil count across Heroic cards, Class board, and Skill Alterations of 2 (=1 VP), 1 (=0 VP), 3 (=3 VP), and 4 (=4 VP).
(Used Spell pile that contains 5 Water, 3 Fire, 2 Lightning, and 2 Earth Spells. Arcana grants 1 bonus VP for every 2 Water Spells, so that's 2 bonus VP.)
Final VP Score: 59
Solo Play: Prodigy Mode
In Prodigy Mode, you play as a solo prodigious mage exploring Valanyr, performing heroic deeds and mastering your elemental prowess. After each turn, the rows of Alteration and Spell cards shift to the left, with the leftmost card being discarded from the third turn onwards.
The game ends when all available Spell cards are discarded, signaling the retirement of your life as an adventurer.
Setup
- Place all the Spell cards with the solo-icon on the bottom right corner back into the box – these will not be part of solo play. Shuffle the remaining 42 cards face down to form the Spell deck.
- Shuffle the Heroic cards face down to form the Heroic deck, then draw 6 cards and place them face up in a row to the left. Starting from the left, place a die and 2 Acuity on the first 3 Heroic cards. Place 2 Mana and 2 Acuity on the last 3 Heroic cards.
- Shuffle the Skill Alteration cards (with blue edge) face down to form the Alteration deck.
- For the Alteration and Spell decks; draw and place out only 3 cards to the left, resulting in the three leftmost spaces remaining empty. Set aside space for one more column of cards; this will be used for discard piles later in the game.
- Set out the Mana and Acuity crystals, the Arcanas (random side), Equilibrium board, and the Mystrune as normal.
- Place the Mana discount token on the space below the leftmost space on the row of Spell cards, and the Acuity discount token on the space below the 2nd leftmost space.
Player Setup
Similar to the steps listed on "Player Setup" section on page 5, you'll choose a Class to play and collect components as stated on the Class board as your starting resources. However, for Prodigy Mode you'll start with 2 less Mana but 6 more Acuity.
You must then roll your dice to determine your starting Elements. You are now ready to begin!
Gameplay
Rules of play in Prodigy mode remain the same as the standard mode of play, with the following modifications:
Moving Alteration and Spell Rows
The Alteration and Spell card rows now start with a size of only 3 cards A, instead of 6 as in the standard mode of play.
When you end your turn after choosing to Take & Play, perform the Replenish step as normal to fill empty slots on the Alteration and Spell card rows to bring them back to their current size, but do not produce Acuity on the Alteration card row.
As an additional step after ending your turn, regardless of whether you chose to Take & Play or Cast, you must shift both cards rows to the left by 1 card B, with the rightmost empty slot being filled with a card from the respective deck. For the first 3 turns, this causes the size of both card rows to grow by 1 card.
After your 3rd turn, the rows would have reached the maximum size of 6 cards. When shifting both card rows in later turns, the leftmost card will be placed face-down into a discard pile on the left side C. These cards are removed for the rest of the game. Because the Alteration deck has fewer cards, it will be fully discarded before the Spell deck.
Skill Alteration Discard Effect
When playing and discarding a Skill Alteration for its discard effect, rather than returning it to the bottom of the Alteration deck, place the card directly onto the Alteration discard pile.
Taking a Spell and recycling it for Acuity
The Take action of recycling the leftmost Spell to gain an Acuity has been replaced with a simpler one: you may now simply use your Take action to take an Acuity.
Heroic Rewards
As reward for acquiring them, the initial 6 Heroics grant either 1 Elemental die and 2 Acuity A or 2 Mana and 2 Acuity B.
Whenever you acquire any of these Heroics, refill the empty slot with a new card from the Heroic deck as normal. Instead of the usual 1 Mana and 2 Acuity, place 3 Acuity on the newly revealed Heroic cards.
Here's an example of how the row of Heroic cards may look as the game progresses: By the middle of a game session, you've acquired second, fourth and fifth Heroics starting from the left. Your total reward for doing so was 1 Elemental die, 4 Mana, and 6 Acuity. The newly revealed Heroics now have just 3 Acuity for their rewards.
Game End
When all available Spell cards on the row enter the discard pile, you spend a final turn Casting what Spells you still have active, and then the game ends. Count your Victory Points the same way you would for the standard mode to see how well you did on your journey. Try to acquire as many objectives before the Spell deck runs out! A decent score is 60 VPs, while 90 VPs or more is considered excellent.
For a greater challenge, please see the list of possible Achievements on the next page.
Solo Play: Achievements
To qualify for any achievements, you must complete a game of Prodigy Mode with a score of at least 45 VP.
- Adept: Achieve a score of 70+ VPs.
- Expert: Achieve a score of 80+ VPs.
- Master: Achieve a score of 95+ VPs.
- Arcana Whisperer: Acquire all 3 Arcanas.
- Twin Legends: Score 10VP+ across two Sigil types.
- Prodigy: Acquire at least 3 of each Sigil type.
- Polyelemental: Craft a Spell combination that consists of a Fire, Water, Lightning, Earth, and a hybrid Spell (Fire & Water).
- Pacifist: Complete the game without casting a Spell combination that inflicts Ruin.
- Destroyer: Complete the game without casting a Spell combination that grants Restore.
- Accomplished: Acquire 7 or more Heroics.
- Power Overwhelming: Acquire all dice and Mana from Heroics.
- Lifebringer: Craft a Spell combination that grants 48 or more Restore.
- Deathbringer: Craft a Spell combination that inflicts 36 or more Ruin.
- Craglord: Craft a Spell combination that consists of 4 Earth Spells.
- Absolute Control: Start a turn with at least 1 unallocated dice of every Element, then end that turn with all dice (including allocated) having the same Element.
- Spoilt for Choice: Craft a Spell combination that qualifies for 2 Arcanas (although you can still only take one while Casting).
- Manafont: Gain 8 Acuity in a single turn.
OVERACHIEVER: Excluding Adept, Expert and Master, complete a game where you qualify for at least 3 other achievements.
Credits
- Game Design & Creative Direction: David Goh
- Worldbuilding & Writing: Ryan Mennen & David Goh
- Heroic Illustrations: Thomas Tan & Jeannette Wang
- Alteration Illustrations: Chen Wei
- Spell Illustrations: David Goh
- Arcana Illustrations: Yang Shao Xuan
- Class Illustrations: Beverley Yim & David Goh
- Box Cover Illustration: Agus Setiawan
- Character Concept Art: Uenki Yong
- Insert & Organizer Design: Kyle Jaratt
- Consulting & Copy editing: Ryan Mennen, David Digby
- Proofreading: Jared Brayshaw, Melanie Hawkins
- Additional Development, Editing & Consulting: Good Games Publishing
Icon Reference
Sigils: Beastslayer, Pathfinder, Runebreaker, Saviour.
Spell Types: Link Spell, Enchantment Spell.
Elements: Fire, Water, Lightning, Earth, Void, Aether.
Energies: Ruin, Restore, Myst.
Resources: Mana, Acuity, Dice (Any).
Alteration Operators:
- Convert up to 1, +1 per Saviour Sigil.
- Convert any Amount (min 1).
- Convert any amount (min 1). If you have 2 or more Pathfinder Sigil, you may use the reverse conversion.
Alteration Effect Icons:
- Take attached Components.
- All other players may take attached Components.
- Cast.
- Discard 3 Acuity.
- Number of Fire you have.
- Any Element that you possess (allocated or otherwise).
- Alteration.
- Play 2 more Alterations.
- Spell.
- Flip a Die to its opposite face.
- Linked Spell.
- Number of active Spells you possess.
- 3 Active Spells.
- Reroll.
Alteration Secondary Effects:
- Secondary Effect: Take 1 Acuity.
- Secondary Effect: Reroll up to 2 separate dice and play 1 more Alteration.
- Secondary Effect: Use your Class' Aetherflow power.
- Discard Effect: Discard this Alteration and an Acuity to gain 1 more Take Action.
Spell Effect Reference
- 7 Restore = 7 Restore.
- Ruin (?) = Ruin Amount = Number of Acuity on your Class board.
- 6 Ruin; 8 Ruin if you have an Aether.
- Choose: 7 Ruin or 10 Restore.
- Restore = 3 × (active Spells) = Restore Amount = Number of active Spells you have x 3.
- Link Spell ×3 = Triple the effect of Linked Spell.
- Enchantment: All Restore is converted to Ruin.
- Link Spell ×2/×3 = Double the effect of Linked Spell. Triple it instead if you have an Aether.
Classes Explained
Arcanist
A. Starts with 1 Runebreaker Sigil, 5 dice, 6 Mana, and 1 Acuity.
B. Starts with the specific Starter Alteration and Class Alteration shown, and 1 Artifact Alteration chosen at random.
C. Class Power: The Arcanist has the effect of always having an Aether Element active, but does not have an Aetherflow power.
D. Class Alteration: When played, discard '?+1' amount of Acuity. Convert '?' number of Aether and/or Void to any other Elements that you already have.
Enchanter
A. Starts with 1 Saviour Sigil, 6 dice, 5 Mana, and 1 Acuity.
B. Starts with the 2 Starter Alterations shown, and 3 Artifact Alterations chosen at random.
C. Aetherflow: Convert any number of Aether to Lightning.
Chaosmancer
A. Starts with 1 Pathfinder Sigil, 7 dice, 4 Mana, and no Acuity.
B. Starts with the 2 Starter Alterations shown, and 1 Artifact Alteration chosen at random.
C. Aetherflow: Convert any number of Aether to Water.
D. Class Power: Whenever the Chaosmancer uses a Skill Alteration for their secondary effect, they may reroll up to 4 separate dice (instead of 2).
Elementalist
A. Starts with 1 Beastslayer Sigil, 6 dice, 5 Mana, and no Acuity.
B. Starts with the specific Starter Alteration and Class Alteration shown, and 1 Artifact Alteration chosen at random.
C. Aetherflow: Convert any number of Aether to Earth.
D. Class Alteration: Take 2 Acuity AND play 2 more Alterations this turn.
Arcanas Explained
All Arcanas give 2 base VP, plus bonus VP that's counted at the end of game based on the Spell cards in your score pile.
Arcana — Fire/Lightning/Earth: Requirement: Your Spell combination has Fire, Lightning, and Earth Spells. Reward: 2 VP + 1 VP for every 2 Fire Spells cast.
Arcana — Water/Lightning/Earth: Requirement: Your Spell combination has Water, Lightning, and Earth Spells. Reward: 2 VP + 1 VP for every 2 Water Spells cast.
Arcana — 4 or more Spells: Requirement: Your Spell combination has 4 or more Spells. Reward: 2 VP + 1 VP for every 4 Spells cast.
Arcana — 27 Ruin / 38 Restore: Requirement: Your Spell combination either inflicts at least 27 Ruin or grants at least 38 Restore. Reward: 2 VP + 2 VP for every 3 Spells cast that have 4 or more dice slots.
Arcana — Aethercharged: Requirement: Your Spell combination has at least 3 Spells that are improved by Aether, and you have the Aether Element. Reward: 2 VP + 1 VP for every 2 Spells cast that can be improved by Aether.
Arcana — 12 Myst: Requirement: Your Spell combination achieves Equilibrium and results in at least 12 Myst. Reward: 2 VP + 1 VP for every 3 Spells cast that are not improved by Aether.
Skill Alterations
This reference explains how to read Skill Alteration cards, illustrated with worked examples.
Alteration Primary Effect Guide
A card with a chained primary effect reads as: Requirement (e.g. Discard Acuity (3)) → Effect 1 (an Input Element, an Operator conveying the amount to be converted, an "and/or" symbol, and an Output of one or two Elements) → AND THEN → Effect 2 (a "Take" action, the amount of Acuity taken, and any Sigil bonus that increases it).
A card that offers a choice instead reads as: CHOOSE: Effect 1 (an Input Element, a Sigil bonus that lets you perform the conversion in reverse if its requirement is met, and an Output Element) OR Effect 2 (Flip a die to its opposite face).
Example Skill Alterations
Example A: Requirement: Discard 3 Acuity. Effect 1: Convert any amount of Water to Fire and/or Lightning. — AND THEN — Effect 2: Take Acuity. The amount you take is 2 + the number of Saviour Sigils you have.
Example B: Effect 1: Convert Earth to Fire. The amount you can convert is 1 + the number of Pathfinder Sigils you have. — AND THEN — Effect 2: Take Acuity. The amount you take is 1 + the number of Runebreaker Sigils you have.
Example C: Effect 1: Convert up to 2 Fire and/or Lightning to Void. — AND THEN — Effect 2: Take Acuity. The amount you take is 2 + the number of Pathfinder Sigils you have.
Example D: CHOOSE — Effect 1: Convert Earth to Water. If you have 2 or more Runebreaker Sigils, you may perform the conversion in reverse. OR Effect 2: Flip a die to its opposite face.
Example E: Effect: Convert Earth to Fire and/or Lightning. The amount you can convert is 1 + the number of Beastslayer Sigils you have.
Example F: Requirement: Possess any number of Water elements. Effect 1: Convert up to '?' of any dice to Void, where '?' is your number of Water elements. (You may also convert the Water elements.) — AND THEN — Effect 2: Take Acuity. The amount you take is 2 + the number of Runebreaker Sigils you have.
Secondary Effect: All Skill Alterations may be played for their secondary effect instead, which is to reroll up to 2 separate dice and play 1 more Alteration.
Discard Effect: All Skill Alterations may also be played for their discard effect: Discard the card and 1 Acuity to gain 1 more Take action this turn.
Artifact Alterations
Runic Catalyst: You must have active Spells. Take Acuity equal to number of active Spells you have.
Aeonic Prism: Convert an Aether to an Element that you already have. All other players may take 1 Acuity.
Manafont Glove: Discard 3 Acuity to take 5 Acuity.
Eldritch Codex: Convert any 1 die to Void.
Timewarp Lantern: You must have at least 2 active Spells. Discard 3 Acuity to take a Spell. (Dice, Mana and/or Acuity must be allocated for the Spell as per normal.)
Voidstar Bracelet: Discard an Acuity to flip a die to its opposite face. All other players may take 1 Acuity.
Prismatic Wand: Discard an Acuity to convert 1 Void to either Water or Earth. All other players may take 1 Acuity.
Jewelled Key: Discard an Acuity to convert 1 Void to either Fire or Lightning. All other players may take 1 Acuity.
Azurite Pendant: You must have at least 2 active Spells. Convert any 1 die to an Element you already have.
Secondary Effect: All Artifact Alterations may be played for their secondary effect instead, which is to take 1 Acuity.
Quick Setup & Summary
Quick Setup (Standard)
- Shuffle the decks for the Heroic, Skill Alteration, and Spell cards and set them out.
- From all 3 decks, draw 6 cards and place them face up to the left of each respective deck.
- Place the Mana discount token on the space below the leftmost Spell, and the Acuity discount token below the next Spell to the right (2nd leftmost).
- Set out the Mana crystals, Acuity crystals, and Prestige board with tokens. Place a Mana and an Acuity on each face-up Heroic card.
- For each player in the game, place 1 Acuity on a revealed Skill Alteration starting from the left.
- Set out the Arcanas (random side up), Equilibrium board and a Mystrune token (chosen at random).
Each player chooses a Class to play and sets them out, taking the dice, Mana, Acuity, and Alterations as stated on the Class boards.
After choosing the starting player, all other players take Acuity based on their turn order:
- 2nd player: 1 Acuity
- 3rd player: 2 Acuity
- 4th player: 3 Acuity
All players then roll all the dice in their Dice pool to determine their starting Elements. You are now ready to begin!
Turn Summary
During your turn, choose either: TAKE & PLAY, OR CAST. Your Take and Play actions can be done in any order.
TAKE 1 of any of the following:
- a new Skill Alteration card into your hand.
- a Spell card into your Spell combination,
- a Spell card to be recycled to gain 1 Acuity,
- or all exhausted Alterations back to your hand.
PLAY 1 Alteration card from hand to activate its effects.
When your turn ends, Replenish the Alteration and Spell card rows.
OR
CAST your Spell combination to acquire objectives (Heroics, Arcanas, and Prestige) and then reset your play area and resources.
- When you Cast, add up the effects of all your Spell cards, dice, applicable Class powers, and any Acuity spent to add Ruin or Restore.
- Choose and acquire a Heroic card that you qualify for and collect Prestige for every 3 Ruin or 4 Restore leftover. You may also collect an Arcana you qualify for.
After Casting, reset your play area:
- Reroll your dice and discard all allocated Acuity.
- Return all allocated Mana to your Class board.
- Take back all your exhausted Alterations to hand.
- Place your acquired Heroic, your cast Spells, any Prestige and Arcanas aside in a space reserved for acquired objectives.
Victory Summary
The game ends when a player acquires Heroics based on player count:
- 2 Players: 5 Heroics
- 3 Players: 4 Heroics
- 4 Players: 3 Heroics
For a more epic game between skilled players, you can increase the max number of Heroics by 1!
All other players then take turns casting their Spell combination, and the game ends. Counting Victory Points (VPs):
- Add all VPs on Heroics, Prestige, and Arcanas.
- Gain 1 VP for every set of two identical Sigils, and 1 VP per Sigil for every set of three or more identical Sigils.
The player with the highest VP score wins!
Rulebook Translations
For alternate language translations of this rulebook, please visit: https://hyperlixir.com/rulebooks/mercurial