Mystic Vale: Conclave Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Equinox Variant
  • Equinox Setup
  • Turn Activation
  • Equinox Gameplay
  • Equinox End of Game
  • Equinox Example Setups
  • Equinox: Small Table
• Conclaves
  • Advancement and Vale Dividers
  • Conclave Cards
  • Conclave Setup
  • Conclaves with the Equinox Variant
• Totems
  • Totem Setup
  • Using Your Totem
  • Totem Clarifications
• 5-6 Player Games
• Spirit Counters
• Conclave Quick Reference
  • Setup

Components

Your game of Conclave should include the following. If it does not, contact [email protected] for assistance.

• 6 Spirit counter sets
• 12 Totem cards
• 34 Dividers
• 14 Conclaves
• 40 Starting cards divided into 2 decks
• 2 Night tokens
• 2 Day tokens
• 1 Night border
• 1 Day border
• 2 Mana tokens
• 20 VP tokens
• 100 card sleeves
• Rulebook

Equinox Variant

This variant hastens gameplay and reduces downtime by allowing two turns to be played at once. While the variant works well with any number of players, we highly recommend using it with 5 or more players.

Equinox Setup

When playing with 5 or more players, also use the additional setup rules on page 10.

Follow all of the base game setup rules with additions to the steps listed below.

The Commons. Set up a row of advancements and vales following the base game rules. This is now referred to as the Day Commons.

Set up another row of advancements and vales following the base game rules. This is referred to as the Night Commons.

Place the night and day borders along each of their respective Night or Day Commons to indicate which side is which.

Determine Starting Player. After determining the starting player, give the starting player the large and small night token. Give the player sitting across from the starting player the large and small day token. The large night and day tokens should show the Active side face up.

Turn Activation

The large night and day tokens are each double-sided, with one side labeled Active and the other side labeled Waiting.

Once both night and day tokens have been passed and are showing the Waiting side, they are flipped over to show the Active side and the players take their turns (see below).

Equinox Gameplay

Gameplay with the Equinox variant follows all of the base game rules with the following exceptions.

Taking a Night Turn. While you have the large night token in front of you with the Active side showing, it is your night turn. Take your turn as normal, but you may only buy advancements and vale cards from the Night Commons (you may always buy a Fertile Soil). If any of your effects and abilities interact with cards in the commons, you may only interact with cards in the Night Commons.

During your Discard Phase, you must replenish any vales and advancements in the Night Commons. Then flip the large night token so it is showing the Waiting side and pass it to the next player clockwise ; they must wait until both the night and day tokens are showing the Waiting side before flipping them to the Active side and taking their turn. After passing the night token you then complete your Prep Phase and wait for the day token to be passed to you.

Taking a Day Turn. Taking a day turn follows the same rules as a night turn except you use the day token and Day Commons.

The day and night tokens continue to be passed around the table in this manner allowing for two turns to be being played at the same time.

Timing. If there is ever a dispute as to which player must act first (the player with the night token or the player with the day token), the player with the night token must act first.

Targets. If an effect you play targets all players or allows you to choose a player, only the players sitting directly to your left and right can be targeted.

Equinox End of Game

The small day and night tokens are used to remember which player started with which turn token. As in the base game, once the tokens in the pool run out the game end has been triggered. Players continue taking turns until each player has taken the same number of night and day turns.

Equinox Example Setups

In the first example setup, all cards to the left of the decks make up the Night Commons and all the cards to the right of the decks make up the Day Commons. (Diagram omitted.)

The previous example setup works best for circular or square tables, while the following setup works best for narrow rectangle tables. All cards to the left of the decks make up the Night Commons and all the cards to the right of the decks make up the Day Commons.

Place half the level 1 vales and half the level 2 vales in face down decks on both the night and day sides. If a deck on one side runs out, simply add more vales to it from the other deck; vales should be considered coming from one deck. (Diagram omitted.)

Equinox: Small Table

This variant is recommended if players have a small table without enough room to use the standard Equinox setup.

All of the Equinox rules are used except the Night Commons is comprised of a stack of cards that are passed around the table. Set up the Night Commons by drawing a number of cards listed below and place them in a face down stack:

• Two level 1 vale cards
• Two level 2 vale cards
• Three level 1 advancements
• Three level 2 advancements
• Two level 3 advancements

During your Discard Phase, you must replenish any vales and advancements so the Night Commons contains the number of cards in the list (see left column).

After you finish your Discard Phase, flip the large night token so it is showing the Waiting side and pass it along with the Night Commons (the stack of advancements and vales) face down to the next player clockwise.

Conclaves

Advancement and Vale Dividers

Dividers are provided for each level of advancement and vale to organize the various decks. Alternative deck dividers are provided if players have a certain mix of cards they prefer to use.

Conclave Cards

Each conclave card features a list of advancements and vales. Combining the cards listed on several conclaves allows you to customize the decks for the commons, in order to suit the group's play style. You can further tweak the decks by adding or removing conclaves to find the perfect mix.

Conclave Setup

At the start of The Commons setup (see page 4 of the base game rulebook), select 6 conclaves (randomly or otherwise). Take all of the advancements and vales from the 6 conclaves and shuffle them into their respective decks. From the level 1 advancement deck, keep only a certain number of random level 1 cards, as per the normal setup rules. Then follow the standard rules for setting up the commons by turning over the first 3 advancements of each deck.

When the game is finished, you can either save the current set of decks by using the advancement and vale dividers or further customize the decks by adding or removing conclaves.

Note: In order to ensure players have enough options to gain and trigger the end of the game, we recommend you include at least 2 of the following conclaves in the set:

• Early Harvest
• Eternal Dawn
• Homeland
• Open the Gateway
• Natures Vitality
• Mythic Beasts
• Nesting Peaks
• Staying Power
• Taming the Wild

Conclaves with the Equinox Variant

If you use the Equinox variant to play a 5-6 player game, we recommend adding 2 more conclaves in the set (so you use 8 conclaves total).

Totems

Totems offer players extremely powerful abilities that can be used on each of their turns during the game. Since players start the game with greater power, using totems will impact the pacing and balance of the game. Playing with totems is optional and players should agree upon whether or not to use them at the start of the game, as some players may prefer to use Gaia's natural blessings instead of dabbling with such potent relics. We don't recommend using totems for official tournament play or with new players.

Totem Setup

An additional "Totems" step is added to the base game setup, after setting up vale cards is finished.

Randomly deal two totems to each player. Each player chooses one of the two totems, then puts the other one back in the box.

Each player places their totem in front of them face up. Totems remain in play during the entire game and are not shuffled into your deck.

Using Your Totem

Abilities and symbols on your totem work the same as all other effects, and are used during each of your turns.

Important: You cannot sleeve advancements on a totem.

Totems are a new type of card, and are not considered an advancement or vale for abilities and effects. Totems are not considered to be a "card" for abilities and effects that refer to a card. Totems are not considered to be part of your deck, discard, or in your field.

Totem Clarifications

Beast Totem. Up to 4 total cards can be placed on the totem in any combination of advancements and vales. For example, you could have 1 advancement and 3 vales, or 4 advancements and no vales, or no advancements and 4 vales.

The advancements and vales placed on the totem are not considered to be in the commons or in play, so any effects and abilities that interact with cards in the commons do not affect cards on the totem. Buying an advancement or vale on the totem follows all of the normal rules except it is not replenished during your Discard Phase.

Growth Totem. Resleeving advancements is not considered buying the advancement, therefore, it does not trigger "When Bought" or "When Played" effects. In doing this, you must follow normal sleeving rules (i.e. you cannot cover non-eclipse effects already on a card).

Guardian Totem. You may use all Harvest abilities on the totem and choose to resolve them in any order you wish. Typically, you should use the first ability to add a guardian to a card in your field before you use the second ability to gain mana for each guardian.

Healing Totem. If you do not have any shield tokens you cannot use the totem's Planting ability. Since the Planting Phase comes before the Harvest Phase in which you would gain a shield token from the Healing Totem, you cannot use the ability during the first turn of the game.

Editor's note: the printed Healing Totem text refers to the teal shield icon, which the printed rulebook does not name in words; it is transcribed here as "shield token" as the nearest term for that icon.

Moon Totem. Since you may only spend your mana token during your Harvest Phase, you cannot spend your mana token during the Planting Phase and then use Elemental Totem's ability to turn it back to its active side.

Spirit Totem. You may use both Harvest abilities in any order you wish. However, once you fully resolve an ability you cannot use it again. For example, if you spend 2 mana to gain a sky spirit and then use that to buy a vale that gives you additional mana with its "When Bought" effect, you cannot then use that mana to gain another sky spirit.

Spirit symbols that you spend to gain mana cannot be used to buy another vale or any other purpose. For example, if you have a total of 3 animal spirits and 2 wild spirits, you could spend them to gain 5 mana.

Storm Totem. You may use both Harvest abilities in any order you wish.

Once per turn, you may buy an additional advancement beyond your buy limit.

When you "sacrifice" an advancement, return it to the box (it is no longer used in the game). The advancement you sacrifice must be from a card in your field. When you sacrifice an advancement, you may still use its ability and resources before it's removed from your field.

If the mana cost of the sacrificed advancement is greater than the new advancement you buy, the extra mana is lost (you don't get to make change).

Using the sacrifice ability still counts towards your buy limit for advancements that turn.

Sun Totem. You may sleeve advancements on the card in your field before you place it as your on-deck card. The previous on-deck card is then placed as the next card in your deck face down (do not discard it).

5-6 Player Games

Two additional decks of starting cards are provided, allowing for up to 6-player games. When playing with 5 or more players, we highly recommend using the Equinox variant (see page 4).

Use the following rules for the "Setup VP Tokens" step:

• 5 players: count out 40 VP tokens and leave the rest in the box.
• 6 players: count out 47 VP tokens and leave the rest in the box.

Use the following rules for "The Commons" step:

• 5 players: count out 24 level 1 advancements and leave the rest in the box.
• 6 players: count out 30 level 1 advancements and leave the rest in the box.

Spirit Counters

Spirit counters provide a way for players to track their spirit symbols during their turn. Each player should take a set of spirit counters (animal, forest, sky, wild) and place them in their play area.

When you gain a spirit symbol, rotate the appropriate counter to show the next higher value (your total number of that spirit symbol is always shown on the top edge of the counter).

When you spend spirit symbols (such as when you buy vales), rotate the counter to the lower value to indicate your current total. At the end of your Harvest Phase, reset all of your counters to the zero value (any spirit symbols you did not spend are lost at the end of your Harvest Phase).

Conclave Quick Reference

Setup

1. Player Decks. Each player should shuffle their deck and place it face down in front of them. Each player should take a set of spirit counters (animal, forest, sky, wild) and place them in their play area.

2. The Commons. Take out all the Fertile Soil advancements and place them in a separate deck. Separate all the other advancements into decks denoted by their level symbols.

Shuffle all of the level 1 advancements and count out a number of advancements into a deck based on the number of players:

• 2 players: 12 advancements
• 3 players: 15 advancements
• 4 players: 18 advancements
• 5 players: 24 advancements
• 6 players: 30 advancements

Then turn over the first 3 advancements of the level 1, 2, and 3 deck.

Equinox Variant: After setting up the Day Commons (as described above), set up the Night Commons. Then place the night and day borders along each of their respective Night or Day Commons to indicate which side is which.

3. Vale Cards. Shuffle both vale decks, then turn over 4 cards face up from each deck.

4. Totems (optional). Randomly deal two totems to each player. Each player chooses one of the two totems, then puts the other one back in the box.

5. Setup VP Tokens. Place the VP tokens in a pool based on the number of players:

• 2 players: 23
• 3 players: 28
• 4 players: 33
• 5 players: 40
• 6 players: 47

6. Setup Fields. Each player makes their starting field until they have two Cursed Lands in their field and a third one on-deck.

7. Determine Starting Player. Place the mana tokens so that their active side is face up and shuffle them. Each player takes one token at random and turns it over. The player with the starting player symbol will be the starting player for this game. Players start the game with their token showing the used (gray) side up.

Equinox Variant: Give the starting player the large and small night token. Give the player sitting across from the starting player the large and small day token. The large night and day tokens should show the Active side face up.

Players are now ready to begin the game!