Ragers: Champions of the Arena
Ragers: Champions of the Arena Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Box Contents
- This rulebook
- 55 cards, including:
- 22 Combat Cards of the Accusers (red)
- 22 Combat Cards of the Defenders (blue)
- 5 Patron Cards
- 6 Cheers Cards
Introduction
Ragers: Champions of the Arena is a game of wits and bluff for 2 players. Each player becomes the head of a team of Ragers – powerful fighters who settle disputes between tribes during the Great Thing that lasts for three days.
During the game, players play cards depicting brave warriors and representing different types of attacks and special actions. This way they gain Glory Points (GP) over three rounds of fighting. Finally, the player who gains the most GP becomes victorious.
Each day of the Great Thing is devoted to a different patron deity and each day bloodthirsty spectators expect daring feats of strength and cunning, so conditions of combat are changing constantly. It is up to the players to choose the best strategy that will appease the crowd and enable them to outsmart their opponent.
Card Description
Combat Cards
Combat cards depict the Ragers, the champions of the Arena bred for war and bloodshed. They are ready to fight in anyone's name as long as he or she can afford service of a true team. Each team is comprised of eight different warriors. Each warrior can step up on the bloodied sand a certain number of times according to the tenets of the Ancient Code.
Combat cards have a combat icon and a Glory Points value printed on the card face.
Combat cards are divided into two identical decks differing only in color and artwork of Ragers. Among combat cards you will find Attack Cards (with a triangle banner) and Special Cards (with a rectangular banner). Additionally, all combat card backs show how particular attacks affect each other.
Patron Cards
Each Great Thing lasts for three days and each day has a different patron deity chosen among the most honored gods. When a new day of fighting starts, a new patron card is drawn and revealed. It changes the conditions of combat.
Patron cards show a patron icon and a card effect.
Cheers Cards
For ages the cheering crowd has been the proverbial ninth warrior of the Arena of the Righteous. Cheers cards give each player a chance to gain additional GP depending on his ability to use skills of certain Ragers.
Cheers cards show required combat icons (cards that must be played to score) and, where applicable, a forbidden combat icon (a card that should be avoided), along with a Glory Points value.
However, the crowd's mood changes more quickly than a whim of a courtesan, so each day of fighting a new cheers card is drawn and revealed. These cards feature combat icons that must be used or the ones that should be avoided in order to win the crowd's favor.
Game Setup
- Separate the cards into the following decks: the Patrons Deck, the Cheers Deck and 2 separate Combat Decks. Shuffle all decks thoroughly and place them face-down on the table so that both players can easily reach them.
- Players choose who will play the Accusers (the red combat deck) and the Defenders (the blue combat deck). Then each player takes his deck and places it within easy reach.
- Each player draws 5 cards from his combat deck. These cards form his hand. Players should keep any cards in their hands secret from their opponent.
Playing the Game
The game is divided into 3 days (rounds) of ritual combat. During each round players simultaneously place combat cards until at least one of them has 5 combat cards (face-up or face-down) in front of himself. At the end of each round the winner of the current round is determined and any GP gained by players are counted.
The final winner is the player to gain more GP than his opponent at the end of the 3rd round or to have at least a 10 GP advantage over his opponent in any earlier round (i.e. the player with cards in his GP stack worth at least 10 GP more than the opponent's cards).
Game Round
Preparation Phase:
- Reveal 1 patron card and 1 cheers card.
- Discard up to 1 combat card and refill your hand to 5 cards.
Combat Phase (repeated until at least one player has 5 combat cards in front of himself):
- Place 1 face-down combat card.
- Draw 1 combat card.
- Reveal and resolve combat cards of both players.
Resolution Phase:
- Determine the outcome of the round.
- Check cheers cards.
- Count GP (if this is the end of the 3rd round, determine the final winner), then set aside all scoring combat and cheers cards.
- Discard the revealed patron card, all remaining revealed combat cards, and, possibly, cheers cards that brought GP to both players.
Game Round in Detail
Preparation Phase
At the beginning of a new round draw the top card from the patron deck, reveal it and place it face-up on the table next to the deck. This card will affect the rules of combat for the whole round.
The detailed description of all patron deities watching over the Arena of the Righteous can be found on pages 18-19.
Next draw the top card from the cheers deck, reveal it and place it face-up on the table. This card indicates what the crowd that came to watch the fight desires. In the 1st round only one cheers card can be in the game, but if its requirements are not met, it will be left on the table and in the 2nd and the 3rd round new cheers cards will appear.
Each cheers card gives both players a chance to gain additional GP and requires playing (or avoiding) certain combat cards. Meeting any requirements shown on cheers cards is checked during the Resolution Phase.
At the end of the Preparation Phase each player can discard 1 combat card from his hand and then draw combat cards so that he has exactly 5 cards in his hand.
Important: A combat card may be discarded even in the 1st round of the game.
Important: If, at any point of the game, any combat deck is exhausted and a player cannot draw a new combat card, he must use cards left in his hand. Combat decks are never reshuffled.
Combat Phase
This phase is repeated until at least one player has 5 combat cards in front of himself.
At the beginning, each player simultaneously chooses 1 combat card from his hand and places it face-down in front of himself in the middle of the table, exactly opposite to the card placed by the opponent (any subsequent cards will be placed in a row to the left or to the right of the first cards). Then each player draws 1 card from the top of his combat deck to refill his hand (players should always have 5 cards in their hands). Finally, each player reveals his combat card and effects of both cards are resolved.
There are two kinds of combat cards: attack cards and special cards. Each of the three attack types defeats exactly one attack type, but yields to another attack type according to the following diagram:
- Basher defeats Slasher, and yields to Prodder.
- Slasher defeats Prodder, and yields to Basher.
- Prodder defeats Basher, and yields to Slasher.
Each type of special card has a unique rule that affects the game in some way. The detailed description of all combat cards can be found on pages 13-16.
Once both combat cards are resolved, the Combat Phase is repeated by placing and resolving the next combat card.
The player commanding the Accusers (the red deck) should place his cards in a row going from right to left, while the player commanding the Defenders (the blue deck) should place his cards in a row going from left to right. The direction of the card placement is additionally indicated by the position of the banner and the facing of each Rager.
The Combat Phase is repeated until at least one player has 5 combat cards (face-up or face-down) in his row. Once this happens, proceed to the Resolution Phase.
Resolution Phase
First, players should check the outcome of the current round. Any round may end in one of the following ways:
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One Winner: A player wins the current round if his last placed attack card defeats the last placed attack card of his opponent. The position of the attack card in the row does not matter, neither does the fact that the card is - or is not - placed directly opposite of the opponent's attack card. The winning player gains GP for each attack card in his row featuring the winning combat icon and for his special cards. The losing player gains no GP for his combat cards (but may still gain GP for cheers cards).
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Draw: If the last placed attack cards of both players are identical (or one player copied the last attack card of his opponent using a Chancer special card), the current round ends in a draw. In this case, each player gains GP for each attack card in his row featuring the drawing combat icon and for his special cards (and, potentially, for cheers cards).
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Two Losers: If no player has an attack card in front of himself, no one gains GP for combat cards or for cheers cards (as each cheers card requires at least one revealed attack card to meet its requirements).
Example of combat resolution – One Winner: This round is won by the Accusers, because the last attack card is a Prodder and she defeats the last Basher of the Defenders.
Example of combat resolution – Draw: This round ends in a draw, because both players placed a Slasher as their last attack card.
Example of combat resolution – Two Losers: No player gains GP because neither has successfully played at least one attack card.
Next, players should check if any of them has met any requirements of the revealed cheers card(s). In order to do this, both players compare the combat icons from all of their placed combat cards with the combat icons shown on the revealed cheers card(s). If any icons match, a given player may gain additional GP.
Important: Requirements of some cheers cards can only be met if a player has not placed a certain special card during the current round, as indicated on the particular cheers card. Additionally, even if a player involuntarily copies his opponent's card with a Chancer special card and that card's combat icon should be avoided, such player cannot meet the requirements of a given cheers card.
If only one player meets the requirements of a given cheers card, he sets such card aside – GP provided by this card will be added to his GP total. If both players meet requirements of the same cheers card, such card brings no GP and should be discarded at the end of this phase.
Any player may meet requirements of any number of cheers cards in one round as long as his placed combat cards feature proper combat icons. Players may use the same combat icon more that once when checking requirements of different cheers cards.
Example of scoring GP for cheers cards – 1 player scoring: The player commanding the Defenders meets the requirements of the cheers card shown because he has placed a Basher and a Deadeye this round while avoiding a Veteran. It means that this player additionally gains 3 GP.
Example of scoring GP for cheers cards – No additional GP: Both players have placed 2 Bashers this round. It means that both meet requirements of the revealed cheers card. It also means that neither of them gains additional GP.
Next step is to count GP for the current round. Players do this by setting aside combat cards and cheers cards that have brought them GP in the current round (thus forming their GP Stacks) and they add their GP values to obtain their scores. Then they check the difference in their scores. All GP gained during the 1st round are kept for the following rounds. Players should remember about their GP when counting scores for the following rounds.
Important: If, after counting GP at the end of any round, one player has at least a 10 GP advantage over his opponent, such player immediately wins the game!
Example of scoring for a round: The player commanding the Defenders wins the round thanks to Prodders. He gains 3 GP for his last Prodder placed and another 3 GP for the second Prodder in his row. Additionally, he has managed to meet the requirements of the cheers card worth 2 GP because he has successfully played 2 Prodders this round. All in all, he gains 8 GP, while the player commanding the Accusers gains 0 GP. The winning player forms his GP stack: he sets aside both Prodders and the cheers card thus recording his current score.
At the end of the round all used cards should be discarded from the game:
- The revealed patron card should be returned to the box.
- If the requirements of any cheers card have been met by both players, such card should be returned to the box.
- Each player takes his combat cards that have not brought any GP and places them on his discard pile next to the combat deck so that only the top discarded card is visible.
Any player may look at his discarded combat cards at any point of the game to check the number of card copies he has used, but he cannot look at his opponent's discard pile.
After the current round ends, if no player has the advantage of 10 GP or more over his opponent, players should proceed to the next round. If the last, 3rd round has just ended, players should count the final score and determine the winner of the game.
Winning the Game
The game is won by the player who has at least a 10 GP advantage over his opponent at the end of any round. If such situation does not happen, at the end of the 3rd round both players should count their GP totals - the winner is the player who has more GP.
In case of a tie, the winner is the player who has more cheers cards in his GP stack.
If there is still a tie, the winner is the player who has more combat cards left in his combat deck.
If there is still a tie, the winner is the player who is the commander of the Defenders (the blue team) – the Accusers have not managed to exact their revenge in three days, so whoever hired them must suffer the painful consequences of his false accusation.
Other Rules
Combat Cards
There are two kinds of combat cards in the game:
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Attack Cards (3 types, 4 copies each): They can be recognized by a special icon set in a triangle banner. These are basic cards enabling a player to win a round of combat. If, at the end of a round, a player does not have at least one face-up attack card placed in front of himself, he automatically loses a given round. Each attack type has its own combat icon, defeats one other attack type and yields to the other attack type. Combat card backs show how attack types affect each other.
Important: When determining the outcome of a given round of combat only the last attack card placed by a player is taken into consideration no matter when and where it was placed. However, when counting GP, all copies of the attack card that brought a victory or a draw count.
Basher – The most heavily armed of all Ragers, he mocks Human weaklings, but cannot stop thrusts made with deadly precision by lithe Elven spear-maidens. Effect: Defeats a Slasher, but yields to a Prodder.
Slasher – Quick and agile, he can easily evade attacks made by long-shafted weapons of Elven warriors, but he is incapable of piercing sturdy armor and thick hides of Orcish brutes. Effect: Defeats a Prodder, but yields to a Basher.
Prodder – She can handle blind fury and heavy swings of Orcs, but seems powerless to stop wild strikes of unpredictable, yet dexterous Human fighters. Effect: Defeats a Basher, but yields to a Slasher.
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Special Cards (5 types, 2 copies each): They can be recognized by a special icon set in a rectangular banner. Each of these cards has a unique ability that affects other combat cards. An ability must be resolved immediately after revealing a special card. All abilities are described below.
Chancer – Nothing can surprise a seasoned Goblin warrior – take out your warhammer or load your crossbow, but expect a swift counterattack. It's a pity no one really appreciates the greenskins' resourcefulness… Effect: Copies a combat icon and all effects of a combat card placed directly opposite as if the player placing a Chancer placed exactly the same combat card as his opponent. It means that when copying a Deadeye, the player using a Chancer would have to place another face-down combat card and when copying a Veteran, he would have to place a new combat card on top of his Chancer. Additionally, a Chancer cannot copy GP – it is always worth 0 GP.
Examples of placing special cards: Negating a card with a Cheater. Using a Stopper (the GP value of the Slasher is doubled and it cannot be negated by the opponent's Cheater). Placing a new card for a Deadeye. Placing a new card on a Veteran.
Patron Cards
Below you can find effects of all patron cards. Players do not need to read the whole section now – once a given patron card is revealed from the deck, check how it affects the game.
Gharan-zul – Gharan-zul was a bloodthirsty and brutal Orcish chieftain who became a legend among his people, thus earning his place in the pantheon. He scorns weaklings who dare to use bows and arrows on the sacred sand of the Arena. Effect: Players cannot place Deadeye special cards this round.
Greybeard – Greybeard, the wise and implacable father of all Dwarves, believes only in cold steel and impenetrable chainmails. Shamans and wizards with their petty tricks are strange to this venerable deity. Effect: Players cannot place Cheater special cards this round.
Solennos – Humans devote their prayers and their victories to Solennos. As the youngest and the shortest-lived of all races, they value intuition and instinct, often ignoring hard-earned experience of their elder cousins. Effect: Players cannot place Veteran special cards this round.
Arianna – Arianna, the Elven queen ruling the Heavenly Spheres, understands the need for justice, yet she averts her eyes from unnecessary bloodshed. When she guards the Arena, all combats end earlier than expected. Effect: The current round ends when at least one player has 4 combat cards placed in front of himself (instead of 5).
The Nameless – No race favors the Nameless. When he watches over the Arena, only the skills and the ferocity of fighters matter. Effect: Nothing happens.
Special Cards Reference
Chancer – Copies a combat icon and all effects of a combat card placed directly opposite as if the player placing a Chancer played exactly the same combat card as his opponent (with all consequences). A Chancer cannot copy GP – it is always worth 0 GP.
Cheater – Negates the opponent's combat card placed directly opposite. The negated card's effect is not resolved and the card should be immediately turned face-down.
Deadeye – Forces a player to immediately place a new combat card from his hand. The new card should be placed face-down next to a Deadeye card (therefore the number of cards placed in front of the player increases by 1), but it is not resolved.
Stopper – Affects a card that will be placed during the next Combat Phase (i.e. the one directly adjacent to a Stopper). Such card's GP value is doubled and additionally it cannot be negated using a Cheater special card.
Veteran – Forces a player to immediately place a new combat card from his hand. A new card should be placed face-up on top of the Veteran card (therefore the number of cards placed in front of the player is not changed) and resolved normally.