Seeker Chronicles Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
  • Arena setup
• Core mechanics
  • Seekers
  • Modules
• Linking & Hyperlinking
• Activating Seekers & Seeker-modules
• Before You Start
  • Draft your Seekers
  • First Game
• How to Play
  • Preparation
  • Turn structure
    • Starting phase
    • Main phase
    • Research phase
    • End phase
• Special Mechanics
• Constructed Decks
  • Construct your own deck
  • Free constructed
• Keywords
• Content

Overview

Welcome to Seeker Chronicles, where epic and strategic duels await. As a Scientist, you have a library of cards available. Your goal is to move cards from your library into your archive, which you do by researching with your Seekers. To win the game, be the first to cycle through your library three times, which completes the three stages of science:

1. Formulate a hypothesis.
2. Gather evidence.
3. Reach a conclusion.

Use the stage cards to indicate which stage you are in.

This is the arena, where you challenge your opponent and hone your skills. Learn the basics of the game from this rulebook or discover more at seeker-chronicles.com/rules.

Arena setup

Each player's side of the arena has: a Library (30 cards), an Archive, Seekers, Linked modules, and Memory. The opponent's side is mirrored opposite. Opposing Seekers and opposing modules face each other across the arena.

Core mechanics

In Seeker Chronicles there are two types of cards: Modules and Seekers.

Seekers

Seekers do research for you and challenge your opponent to slow them down. Command them to awaken the powers of your modules (see Linking & Hyperlinking) and activate new Seekers at your side (see Activating Seekers).

A Seeker card shows: card name, domain, type, and flavor text.

Modules

Modules are the core element of the game. Each turn, you can play one module from your hand ready into your memory. Each module in your memory can be exhausted to produce one resource, which can be used to link or hyperlink other modules to your Seekers (see Linking & Hyperlinking). A module is either ready (upright) or exhausted (horizontal).

A module card shows: chronicle of origin, card name, domain, type, link cost, hyperlink cost, base power, ability, and flavor text.

Linking & Hyperlinking

Modules can be assigned to any of your active Seekers. When you do, their power is transferred to the Seeker and their ability is resolved. To assign a module, you can:

• link it (if it is ready in your memory)
• hyperlink it (directly from your hand)

This is how linking and hyperlinking work step by step:

1. Pay Cost — Linking and hyperlinking each have separate costs, which represent the number of resources you need to pay. A module is hyperlinkable if it has a hyperlink cost.
2. Assign Module — Move the module under the Seeker. The module is now considered linked, no matter if it was linked or hyperlinked.
3. Add Power — Add the module's power to that of the Seeker. Check if you can activate your next Seeker (see Activating Seekers). If you can, activate your Seeker now!
4. Resolve Ability — Resolve any linked ability that is written on the module.

Example: Ultraviolet Filter can be linked (left) and hyperlinked (right) by paying the corresponding costs.

Activating Seekers & Seeker-modules

During a game, you have three Seekers at your command. Each Seeker comes with a unique Seeker-module, and the capacity to assimilate the power of all your modules. The first time your first or second Seeker reaches total power 7 (ignoring modifiers), immediately activate your next Seeker.

You choose which Seeker is activated next. When you activate a Seeker, add their Seeker-module to your hand and place the Seeker next to the last one you activated.

Example: Total power 2+5=7. When a Seeker (here: Feynman) reaches power 7 or more, choose and activate your next Seeker (here: Newton) and add their Seeker-module to your hand.

Before You Start

Form 6 piles of cards corresponding to the 6 Seekers and their Chronicles.

Each Chronicle contains 1x Seeker-module (see Activating Seekers) and 10x modules (see Modules), which can be identified by the image of the Seeker in the upper left corner.

Draft your Seekers

Roll a die. Starting with the winner of the roll, players take turns picking one pile until both players have picked 3 Seekers with their Chronicles.

On the backside of each Seeker card you can find additional information about their strengths and weaknesses.

First Game

If this is your first game, a great way to get started is by playing with Feynman, Newton and Maxwell vs Noether, Wu and Hawking in that order.

How to Play

Preparation

The starting player is chosen by the player who was second during the draft (see Draft your Seekers). Before you start the match, prepare as follows (your opponent does the same):

1. Activate one of your Seekers. Then, put their Seeker-module into your memory.
2. Set aside your two remaining Seekers and Seeker-modules. Shuffle the other 30 modules (this is your library).
3. Draw 2 cards from your library.
   • Mulligan — Once per game, you may now reshuffle your hand into your library and draw a new opening hand.
4. If you don't start this match, draw one additional card.

When you are the starting player, before the match starts you have one Seeker in play, its Seeker-module in memory, and a library of 28 cards.

Turn structure

Seeker Chronicles is a turn-based card game where players race to research. During your turn, you may play one module, link modules, and research. Each turn consists of the following 4 phases in order.

Starting phase

1. Ready all modules in your memory.
2. Draw 1 card.

Before the main phase begins, all exhausted modules you control are turned into the upright position (they become ready).

Main phase

In this phase you prepare to research. You can:

• Produce resources by exhausting modules in your memory. To produce 1 resource, exhaust a module by turning it into a horizontal position.
• Play up to 1 module from your hand into your memory. Modules enter your memory ready. They can immediately produce resources or be linked to Seekers.
• Link or hyperlink any number of modules. This is when linked abilities resolve (see Linking & Hyperlinking).

Research phase

In this phase, all your Seekers research at once. You can also choose to skip this phase. If you choose to research, follow the steps below in order:

1. Challenge: Your opponent can respond by producing resources to link or hyperlink any number of modules. Their abilities resolve normally (see Linking & Hyperlinking).
2. Each of your Seekers with power greater than their opposing Seeker archives a number of cards equal to the difference in power. When your library is empty, shuffle your archive and place it back as your new library. The third time it is empty, you win the game.

Example: While you research, your opponent challenges you and responds by linking a card. Sum the number of cards that would be archived by each Seeker (e.g. 5 + 4 = 9). Archived cards are moved from the top of your library faceup into the archive.

End phase

• All resources that were produced but not used expire.
• Terminate all effects that last until end of turn.

Special Mechanics

Now that you have discovered the basics of the game, it's time to go through some special abilities!

• Linking vs Hyperlinking – Hyperlinking and linking are two different ways to assign modules to Seekers. If an ability influences one of the two, the other is not influenced!
• Unlink – Links between modules and Seekers can be broken. Unlinked modules return to their controller's memory exhausted.
• Play vs Move into your memory – You can only play 1 module per turn. However, some abilities let you move modules into your memory: this effect doesn't count towards the limit of 1 play per turn!
• (Modified) power vs Base power – Only the base power of a linked module helps you reach the threshold 7 to activate a Seeker. Modifiers do not count for the activation.

Constructed Decks

To spice things up, you can also modify the deck that you drafted (see Draft your Seekers). You need two base games to play this mode.

Construct your own deck

To play constructed, your deck must include:

1. 30 cards from your three chosen Chronicles (0-3 copies of each card).
2. 1 copy of each of your Seeker-modules (set aside).

Free constructed

Feel free to also explore other game modes: For example, instead of drafting, choose any three Chronicles and construct your own deck using the rules above!

Keywords

• Exhaust — Rotate a module in your memory into a horizontal position to produce 1 resource. Exhausted modules cannot be linked.
• Ready — Rotate a module in your memory into a vertical position. Ready modules produce resources and can be linked.
• Play — Place a card from your hand into your memory, ready. You can play up to 1 module every turn.
• Link/Hyperlink — Move a module from your memory / hand to a Seeker, transfer its power to that Seeker and resolve its ability. You can (hyper-)link as many modules as you like by paying their costs.
• Unlink — Return a module that is linked to a Seeker to its controller's memory, already exhausted.
• Opposing — For every Seeker you control, the opponent's Seeker on the opposite side is referred to as the opposing Seeker. Your linked modules and your opponent's linked modules are also opposing.
• Memory — The area into which you play modules from your hand. Modules in the memory produce resources and can be linked.
• Archive — The area where cards are placed when your research is successful, when they are destroyed, or when they are discarded from hand. If a card would be put into an archive from anywhere, it is put into its owner's archive.
• (to) Archive — Move a card from the top of your library into your archive.
• Activate — Put a set-aside Seeker into play, next to the last Seeker you activated. Make sure that they are opposing a Seeker if your opponent had more active Seekers than you.

Content

• 6 Seeker cards
• 6 Seeker-module cards
• 30x2 Module cards
• 1x2 Stage cards
• 1x2 Reminder cards