Realm of Reckoning Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Overview
• Contents
• Core Mechanics
  • Action Cards
  • Pillar Alignment
  • Reckonings
  • Monument Placement
  • End of Age
  • Winning the Game
• Setup
  • Table Setup
  • Player Setup
  • Faction-Specific Setup
    • The Guilded
  • Action Deck Setup
• Gameplay
  • Age Setup
  • Playing an Age
    • During a Round
  • Action Types
  • Tucking Cards
  • Executing a Reckoning
  • Paying Bids with Resources
  • Reckoning Rewards
  • Final Reckoning
  • Gaining Artifacts
    • How to Acquire Artifacts
  • Artifact Abilities
  • Game End
• 2 Player Variant
  • Card and Bag Setup
  • During an Age
  • Reckonings
• Monument Scoring
  • A. From the Ashes Monument
  • B. Influence Track Monuments
  • C. Region Control Monuments
  • D. Resource Monuments
  • E. Warden Monument
  • F. Guidance Icons (Maps and Keys)
  • G. Radiance Icons (Spirits)
  • H. Understanding Icons (Open Eye and Closed Eye)
  • I. Dominion Icons (Collection)
  • J. Equity Icons (Coin Purse)
• Credits

Game Overview

In Realm of Reckoning, you lead 1 of 5 factions competing for influence in an afterlife of shifting powers and alliances. The game unfolds across 3 ages, with players strategically maneuvering to shape the scoring rules and accumulate victory points.

Contents

• 1 Game Board
• 5 Artifact Boards
• 5 Player Dials
• 5 Player Boards
• 75 Acolytes (15 per player)
• 35 Score Trackers (7 per player)
• 10 Claim Tokens (2 per faction)
• 25 Wardens (5 per faction)
• 9 Monuments
• 25 Coins
• 72 Action Cards
• 40 Mercenary Cards
• 15 Reckoning Location Cards
• 5 Final Reckoning Cards
• 36 Reckoning Reward Cards
• 1 First Player Card
• 5 Guide Cards

2-Player Components can be found on page 17.

Core Mechanics

Action Cards

Each round, players draft and play action cards to place acolytes in different regions, gather coins, draw mercenary cards, or recruit wardens.

• Place 3 Acolytes
• Gather 2 Coins
• Draw 2 Mercenary Cards
• Recruit 1 Warden

Pillar Alignment

After resolving an action card, players tuck it under their board, corresponding to 1 of the 5 pillars (Guidance, Radiance, Understanding, Equity, and Dominion) to gain potential scoring benefits and advance on the corresponding influence track.

Example: This action card is tucked under Guidance or Dominion.

Reckonings

During each age, 2 reckoning events will occur in specific regions, triggering competitive bidding wars among players. Each reckoning gives 1 player the chance to place a monument that defines a new scoring rule for the remainder of the game.

Example: A reckoning has occurred in Fragmented Forest.

Monument Placement

Monuments determine how players score points. Each monument placed will have scored during every end-of-age scoring phase for the rest of the game, making early monuments particularly valuable.

Place monuments to enable scoring opportunities.

End of Age

After all action cards in an age have been played, the public final reckoning occurs, followed by placement of the final monument and scoring phase of all constructed monuments.

Winning the Game

The game ends after 3 ages. All monuments will score after each age. By the final scoring:

• The monuments placed in age 1 will score 3 times during the game.
• The monuments placed in age 2 will score 2 times during the game.
• The monuments placed in age 3 will score 1 times during the game.

The player with the most victory points at the end of the third age wins the game.

Setup

Table Setup

1. Place the game board in the center of the table.
2. Place the 9 monuments next to the board.
3. Place the 25 wardens next to the board.
4. Shuffle the mercenary cards and place them face-down in their designated spot on the board next to its discard area.
5. Shuffle the final reckoning cards and place them face-down next to the board, adjacent to the final reckoning space.
6. Shuffle the reckoning reward card deck based on your current player count and place it face-down next to the board below the reckoning cards.
7. Place 2 claim tokens of the matching color in each of the 5 regions.
8. Place the 5 artifacts next to the board.
9. Create a supply of 25 gold coins.

Player Setup

1. Choose a faction (Watchers, Remnants, Archivists, Guilded, or Veil Wardens) and take the corresponding player board.
2. Take the dial, guide card, and acolytes matching their chosen faction.
3. Take all score trackers for their faction.
4. Place 5 small score trackers on the 0 space of all 5 pillar influence tracks on the board.
5. Place 1 large score tracker on the score track at the space marked with their faction icon.
   • 1 remaining tracker is available for use during reckoning reward selection (p.13).

For factions not being played, remove all corresponding colored components from the game.

Faction-Specific Setup

Starting resources and influence for all factions are listed on each player board. Below is an example to follow for the Guilded's player board as well as an icon guide.

Icon guide: Wardens, Coins, Acolytes, Influence, Mercenary Cards.

The Guilded

1. Gain starting influence: 2 on Equity track, 1 on Dominion track, 0 on all other tracks.
2. Take 1 yellow warden (Equity) and 3 gold coins.
3. Place 2 acolytes in Stone Gardens.
4. Place 1 acolyte in Shattered Ward.

Action Deck Setup

1. Assemble the action card deck based on your player count: A. For 2 or 3 players: Use the base deck. B. For 4 players: Add the "4+ player" cards to the base deck. C. For 5 players: Add both the "4+ player" and "5 player" cards to the base deck.
2. Create 3 separate stacks from this action deck:
   • In a 2-player game: 12 cards in each stack.
   • In a 3-player game: 13 cards in each stack.
   • In a 4-player game: 18 cards in each stack.
   • In a 5-player game: 23 cards in each stack.

Any unused cards can be set aside, they will not be used this game.

3. Prepare the reckoning cards: A. Divide the reckoning cards into 3 identical decks, each containing 1 card for each region (5 cards per deck). B. Shuffle each reckoning deck separately. C. Deal 2 cards from the first reckoning deck into the first stack of action cards, then shuffle that stack. D. Repeat this process for the second and third stacks.

These 3 stacks now form 3 age decks. Each deck should contain 2 reckoning cards, and be enough cards for each player to have exactly 5 cards.

4. Give the first player card to the player lowest on the score track.

In the case of a 2-player game, please refer to the additional rules on page 17.

Gameplay

Age Setup

1. Shuffle the final reckoning cards and place 1 face-up on the final reckoning spot.
2. Shuffle and reveal 3 reckoning reward cards.
3. Deal each player 5 cards from the current age deck (no cards should be remaining in the age deck).

The player with the first player card will have 6 cards in hand (5 action cards plus the first player card). Reminder: For age 2 and 3 setup, other than the cards mentioned above, no other components are moved.

Playing an Age

During a Round

Each round of the age follows this sequence:

1. All players simultaneously select 1 card from their hand and place it face-down in front of them.

The first player card cannot be played and remains in hand.

2. All players reveal their selected cards simultaneously.
3. Starting with the first player and proceeding in the drafting order, each player takes their turn (clockwise in the first and third ages, counterclockwise in the second age):
   • If the card is an action card, perform the action in the center of the card (see "Action Types" p.12), otherwise if the card is a reckoning card, initiate a reckoning (see "Executing a Reckoning" p.13).
   • After that is complete, tuck the card (see "Tucking Cards" p.12).
4. After all players have taken their turns, pass the remaining action and first player cards in hand to the next player (do not pass mercenary cards):
   • First Age: Pass clockwise.
   • Second Age: Pass counterclockwise.
   • Third Age: Pass clockwise.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 until all players have played all 5 playable cards from their hand and passed the first player card.
6. After all cards have been played, the player with the least victory points will execute the final reckoning (p.15).

Action Types

When playing an action card, first perform the action shown in the center of the card:

Deploy Acolyte Action Place the indicated number of acolytes from your reserve into any region(s) on the board. If you have no acolytes in your reserve, you may instead move your acolytes already on the board to different regions.

Amass Wealth Action Take the indicated number of coins from the supply. If the supply is empty, take coins from other players of your choice.

Hire Mercenary Action Draw the indicated number of cards from the mercenary deck. If you have more than 8 cards in hand, you must discard down to 8. Shuffle and form a new mercenary deck from the discard pile if the deck is ever empty.

Recruit Warden Action Take 1 warden of any color from the general supply and place it in front of you. If the supply is empty, this has no effect.

Tucking Cards

Example: This action card can tuck under Guidance or Dominion.

After performing your chosen action or reckoning, you must align your card with a matching pillar:

1. Choose whether to tuck the card under the top or bottom of your player board.
2. Tuck the card under the corresponding pillar of power (Guidance, Radiance, Understanding, Dominion, or Equity) on your player board.
3. Gain the benefits shown on the visible portion of the tucked card: influence and icons. A. Advance on the corresponding track per arrow icon. If you alone have the most influence on that track, gain that pillar's artifact (see "Gaining Artifacts" p.18). B. Icons shown on the card may score victory points if the corresponding monument is chosen.

Example: After placing 3 acolytes, you tuck your card under the Dominion pillar. This allows you to advance twice on the Dominion influence track and gain 1 stone icon.

Executing a Reckoning

When a player has played a reckoning card, the reckoning for that region will occur when it is their turn (after the red Dominion artifact ability if it is in play p.18), which triggers a bidding war:

1. The player who played the reckoning card: A. Selects 1 of the available reward cards to use for this reckoning. B. Takes 1 claim token (any color) from any other region and moves it to the region where the reckoning is occurring.
2. All players secretly dial in a bid according to what they can pay with their available resources (see "Paying Bids with Resources" p.14). You may not overbid.
3. All players simultaneously reveal their bids.
4. In highest to lowest bid order, players choose an available reward row on the reckoning reward card, placing their tracker to mark it as taken.

Ties in bid order are broken in favor of the player with the lower score. If still tied, resolve the tie in drafting order starting with the first player.

A. Immediately after choosing, a player must pay resources equal to their bid (see "Paying Bids with Resources", p.14). However, the player who chooses (or is forced to choose) the last place reward does not have to pay their bid. B. When a player chooses and pays for the monument reward, they must immediately place their monument on a scoring space. This monument will score at the end of the age. C. Once all players have selected and paid for their rewards, the player who selected the last place reward must lose the listed resources. If they cannot lose the full amount, they must pay 1 victory point per remaining resource they cannot discard. D. Then, all other players gain their non-monument rewards in order from top to bottom.

Each reward may only be selected by 1 player, and all players must select a reward. If a player accidentally bids more than they can afford, their bid is immediately reduced on reveal to the maximum amount they can pay, even for the player who chooses the last place reward.

5. The player who revealed the reckoning card keeps the reckoning card and tucks it under the corresponding pillar.
6. Play continues with the next player in turn order.

Paying Bids with Resources

Players may spend the following resources to pay their bid:

Acolytes in the reckoning region.

• 1 bid per acolyte.
• Spend by removing from board back to your supply.

Gold Coins

• 1st bid = 1 coins, 2nd bid = 2 coins, 3rd bid = 3 coins, etc.
• Spend by discarding back to main supply.

If coins are stolen from you during the resolution of a reckoning, they can still be counted towards your upcoming bid payment.

Pillar Influence on tracks that match the claim tokens in the region.

• 1 bid per influence.
• Spend by moving down.

Mercenary Cards that match claim tokens in the region.

• 1 bid for 1 match, 2 bids for 2 matches.
• Spend by discarding.

Wardens matching a claim token in the region.

• 1 bid if kept OR 3 bids if instead discarded back to main supply.

If there are 2 of the same claim token in a region, it does not double the bid effects of pillar influence, mercenary cards, and wardens.

Examples:

• 6 Coins Spent: 3 Bids
• 2 Acolytes Removed: 2 Bids
• 4 Influence Spent: 4 Bids
• 2 Discarded Matching Cards: 3 Bids
• 3 Matching Wardens, 1 Discarded: 5 Bids

Reckoning Rewards

After bidding is complete, players select rewards available on reckoning reward cards. Possible rewards are listed below:

• Place a Monument
• Gain Victory Points
• Gain Coins
• Take a Warden
• Place an Acolyte
• Draw Mercenary Cards

Don't Forget: Negative rewards must be removed or discarded. The number of items that are unable to be discarded are converted to a loss in victory points instead.

Final Reckoning

After all cards have been played in an age:

1. The player with the least victory points executes the final reckoning following the steps on p.13. Only one reward card will be available.
   • A tie for least points is broken by drafting order, starting with the player currently holding the first player card.
2. The player who selects the monument reward in the final reckoning (rather than the player who executed it) takes the final reckoning card and tucks it under their player board. They also take the first player card for next age.

After the final reckoning is complete, proceed to monument scoring (p.18). After scoring monuments in age 1 or 2, reset for the next age (p.10).

Gaining Artifacts

There are 5 artifacts in the game, each corresponding to 1 of the 5 pillars of rule. These powerful items provide special abilities to the player who controls them.

How to Acquire Artifacts

You gain an artifact when you are at position 3 or higher on that track and you have the outright lead on the corresponding influence track. Ties do not count.

• If there is ever a tie for the lead on an influence track, the artifact is immediately returned next to the gameboard.
• You keep the artifact until someone else takes the lead or ties with you on the track.

Example: Purple owns the Yellow Artifact.

Artifact Abilities

Each artifact grants a unique ability that enhances specific actions. The artifact benefits apply anytime you are taking the corresponding action, not just when playing action cards.

Understanding Artifact (Blue) Ability: Whenever you draw mercenary cards, draw 2 additional mercenary cards.

Radiance Artifact (Pink) Ability: Whenever you deploy acolytes, deploy 2 additional acolytes.

Guidance Artifact (Teal) Ability: Whenever you gain any wardens, advance 1 space on an influence track that matches 1 of those the wardens' colors.

Equity Artifact (Yellow) Ability: Whenever you gain an amount of coins from a single source (amass wealth), gain 2 additional coins.

Dominion Artifact (Red) Ability: Each time a reckoning occurs, you may choose 1 of the following actions right before a player selects a reckoning reward card. These actions can trigger the effect of another artifact you control.

• Draw 1 mercenary card
• Gain 1 coin
• Place 1 acolyte in any region

Remember: You perform the action on action cards before you gain it's influence, so an artifact won't affect the card you used to gain the artifact.

Game End

The game ends after playing through all 3 ages and completing the monument scoring phase after Age 3.

The player with the most victory points is the winner!

Ties are broken in drafting order starting with the first player.

2 Player Variant

After following action deck setup on page 9, follow the remaining rules below:

Card and Bag Setup

1. Each player draws 5 cards from the current age's action deck.
2. Place the remaining 4-card stack between both players as a middle stack, this is referred to as the table hand.
3. The player sitting to the right of the table hand receives the first player card.
4. Take the 2-player bag and place all 2-player tokens within the bag.
5. As noted on page 6, use the 3-player reckoning reward cards.

Setup reference: 5 Card Draw / 4 Card Stack / 5 Card Draw — Play 1 / Pass Clock-wise / Play 1, Discard 1; 1 Two Player Bag; 6 Two Player Tokens (numbered 0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6).

During an Age

Card play and drafting occur normally with these exceptions:

A. After both players have drafted their cards, but before revealing them, the player to the right of the table hand discards one non-reckoning card from their hand back to the box. B. All remaining cards are passed to the left (clock-wise), including the table hand which does not play any cards.

If the first player card is in the table hand, the player to the left of that hand goes first.

In the second age, these directions reverse. After cards are drafted, the player to the left of the table hand will discard a card from their hand. Cards pass to the right (counter clock-wise). Finally, if the first player card is in the table hand, the right player goes first. The third age returns to original directions.

The last card that is passed to the table hand will not be played, this can possibly result with only 2 reckonings each age.

Reckonings

The bag will be used in reckonings by drawing an amount of tokens that match the current age number from the included 2-player bag:

• Draw 1 token during reckonings in Age 1.
• Draw 2 tokens during reckonings in Age 2.
• Draw 3 tokens during reckonings in Age 3.

The sum of all tokens drawn will be the table hand's bid. When this bid is resolved, it will remove the highest available reward on the card (ties broken by drafting order). Play continues as normal.

Monument Scoring

When monuments score at the end of each age, they provide points based on different game elements. Monuments affect all players, not just the player who placed it. Below are all possible monument scoring options:

Ties that occur during monument scoring are always "friendly," unless otherwise noted. Tied players will receive all the points or the entire penalty. It is possible to have a negative score by receiving a penalty at 0 points (move your tracker below 0 to 99, 98, etc.).

A. From the Ashes Monument

Scored first in a scoring phase. Points for the player with the least victory points:

• Age 1: 5 points
• Age 2: 10 points
• Age 3: 15 points

B. Influence Track Monuments

Each of the 5 pillars has a corresponding monument that scores based on your position on that influence track:

• Bottom Zone (0-2): -2 points
• Middle Zone (3-5): 3 points
• Top Zone (6-8): 8 points

C. Region Control Monuments

• Southern Regions: 8 points for each region (Fragmented Forest, Stone Gardens, and Shattered Ward) where you have more acolytes than any other player.
• Northern Regions: 8 points for each region (Colossal's Marsh and Weeping Cliffs) where you have more acolytes than any other player.

D. Resource Monuments

• Coin Monument: 12 points for the player with the most coins.
• Mercenary Monument: 2 points for each mercenary card in your hand (max of 8 cards).
• Balanced Stacks Monument: 8 points for each of your cards under the pillar with the fewest tucked cards (scoring 0 is possible).

E. Warden Monument

This monument has 2 possible scoring options. Only one option can be chosen when placed. The option cannot be switched later in the game.

• Top Option: 5 points per set of Radiance (pink) and Guidance (teal) wardens.
• Bottom Option: 8 points per set of Understanding (blue), Equity (yellow), and Dominion (red) wardens.

Each pillar has a corresponding icon monument:

F. Guidance Icons (Maps and Keys)

Score points equal to your number of Maps multiplied by your number of Keys.

G. Radiance Icons (Spirits)

• Gain 6 points for each neighbor who has fewer Spirit icons than you.
• Lose 2 points for each neighbor who has more Spirit icons than you.

In case of a tie, no points are awarded. In a two player game, treat your opponent as both neighbors.

H. Understanding Icons (Open Eye and Closed Eye)

This monument has 2 possible scoring options (when placing this monument, choose only one, and the other can't be chosen later):

• Open Eye Option: 3 points per Open Eye icon you have.
• Closed Eye Option: 3 points per Closed Eye icon you have.

I. Dominion Icons (Collection)

Score based on how many unique Dominion icons you've collected:

• 0 icons: -6 points
• 1 icon: -1 point
• 2 icons: 2 points
• 3 icons: 5 points
• 4 icons: 9 points
• 5 icons: 16 points

You can only score each type of symbol once.

J. Equity Icons (Coin Purse)

• Most Coin Purse icons: 10 points
• Least Coin Purse icons: -5 points

Wild Reckoning icons can be any one matching color icon.

Credits

Game Design: Zac Dixon, Austin Harrison, Max Anderson

Creative Director: Zac Dixon

Illustration: Reece Parker

Graphic Design: Zac Dixon, Reece Parker, Dane Baudoin

Production: Samuel Cowden, Kirk Dennison, Dane Baudoin

Community Management: Lilly Quach

Editor: Anna Martin

IV Studio: Zac Dixon, Samuel Cowden, Austin Harrison, Max Anderson, Kirk Dennison, Lilly Quach, Dane Baudoin, Pauline Comar

Lead Playtester: Aaron Quintanilla