Skytear
Skytear Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Starter Box Components
- Akhuti, Haburat and 4 minions
- Corjof, Gulbjarn and 4 minions
- Sakoshi, Yami and 4 minions
- Cotlic, Tlakali and 4 minions
- The Outsider
- 65 Power cards
- 8 Hero and 1 Outsider cards
- 10 Victory cards
- 4 Reference cards
- 24 Tower tokens
- 24 Hero tokens
- 12 Faction tokens
- 24 Condition tokens
- 4 Control tokens
- 3 Action tokens
- 1 Skytear token
- 1 two-sided board
- 1 Rulebook
Introduction
In Skytear, players draft heroes from four factions and face each other to destroy the enemy Nexus.
BATTLEFIELDS have two different kinds of areas:
- Lanes connecting players' Towers, which protect the Nexus.
- Domes of Skytear energy with monsters known as Outsiders dwelling inside.
A game usually lasts three to five turns, each consisting of a Heroes Phase and a Minions Phase.
Heroes Phase. During the Heroes Phase, players take turns activating one hero each until all heroes have been activated. During their activation, heroes take up to three different actions such as moving, attacking, skirmishing, leading their minions, or worshipping their gods to use a faction-specific gameplay mechanic. Power cards are representative of powers which heroes can channel during their activation or quick cast anytime during the Heroes Phase.
Minions Phase. During the Minions Phase players count heroes and minions close to each control token on the battleground to determine who is controlling the Lanes and the Domes.
- In the Lanes, the winner will advance upon the enemy, potentially damaging enemy Towers and Nexus.
- Inside the Domes, the winner will temporarily take control of the Outsider dwelling there.
Minions group around control tokens and assist heroes in destroying the enemy Towers and Nexus.
Object of the Game
The primary goal of Skytear is to destroy the enemy Nexus. Some battlefields also have additional victory cards that are randomly drawn at the beginning of the game. As soon as a player destroys the enemy Nexus or completes the condition on one or more victory cards, that player immediately wins the game.
If multiple players complete the condition on one or more victory cards simultaneously, the game is a draw. If the mana counter on the board cannot be increased at the end of the turn, the game is a draw.
Key Areas
- Nexus
- Lanes
- Dome
- Victory cards
- Mana counter
Turn Phases
- Heroes Phase. Players take turns activating one hero each.
- Minions Phase. Players determine who is controlling each Lane and Dome.
Key Concepts
Hero Cards
Each hero has a corresponding card with this structure:
- Skills. Each hero has a number of unique skills, often used through the Worship action.
- Range of Attack and Skirmish action. This can be of two types: Ranged (within 3 hexes) or Melee (adjacent, within 1 hex).
- Attack value. This is how strong their Attack action is.
- Health points. These are the starting and maximum amount of health points (HP). These are tracked on the board with the respective hero token.
- Armor. This reduces all damage taken by one per point of Armor (please note that Armor protects from any source of damage: power cards, attacks, skills, etc.).
- Mana runes. A hero may play power cards which have runes matching those on the hero card. The rune to the right also determines the hero's faction.
- Class. The only class with an associated rule is Mage. Mages have Piercing, meaning they ignore enemy Armor with any effect they generate.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. Mages ignore enemy Armor not just with Attack actions, but also Skirmish actions, power cards, skills, and any other effect they generate.
The back of the hero cards is for the simplified mode (see page 23).
Classes: Mage, Warrior, Tank, Marksman, Assassin, Support, Specialist.
Hero States
Heroes can be in three different states: Ready, Exhausted, or Defeated.
READY. Heroes start the game in this state. Only Ready heroes can be activated during the Heroes Phase.
EXHAUSTED. Heroes become Exhausted after their Activation. Exhausted heroes cannot be activated during the current Heroes Phase (please note: they can still play reaction Power cards). Their hero cards are rotated 90 degrees clockwise to mark this state. They will become Ready at the end of the Minions Phase.
DEFEATED. When a hero is reduced to 0 or fewer HP, they are Defeated:
- The player who Defeated them draws two power cards.
- Place the Defeated hero's miniature on their hero card.
- Place the Defeated hero token on the mana tracker area of the next turn (if the hero was Ready) or the turn after the next one (if the hero was Exhausted).
Defeated heroes will return once the Skytear token reaches their hero token. When this happens, place the returning hero's miniature as close as possible to the friendly Nexus and set their state to Ready (the first player places all their re-spawning heroes first).
EXAMPLE 1: DEFEATED. Sakoshi has been Defeated during the current turn (2) while he was Exhausted. He will be readied again at the end of the next turn (3), as soon as the Skytear token advances on turn 4 reaching his hero token.
Hero Conditions
Conditions are special effects that remain on heroes until the next time they are Exhausted or Defeated.
When a hero gains a condition, place the condition token on their hero card and apply the effects below. If a condition would be applied on a hero that already has it, the condition is not applied.
- SLOW. The hero's Move action's total movement value is reduced by 2 hexes.
- FAST. The hero's Move action's total movement value is increased by 2 hexes.
- FRENZY. The hero can declare the Attack action twice during their activation (using 1 AP for each Attack action).
- DISARM. The hero's Attack and Skirmish actions deal half of the damage rounded up (before applying armor).
- MARKED. Kurumo heroes have skills that benefit from Marked enemy heroes.
- SHAPESHIFTED. Liothan heroes activate the skills with the Shapeshifted icon when they have this condition.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. If a hero gains a condition when they are already Exhausted, they will keep it until the next time they become Exhausted again.
Minions, Outsiders, and Towers
Minions. Minions group around control tokens and support heroes in damaging enemy Towers and Nexus. Minions share the same characteristics across all factions: 1 Health Point (HP), 0 Armor. If a minion is reduced to 0 or fewer HP, it is Defeated: place it on the friendly Nexus.
Outsiders. Outsiders are elementals that cannot be damaged and dwell in Domes made of Skytear energy. During the Minions Phase, a player taking control of a Dome may immediately spawn and activate the Outsider related to that Dome.
Towers and Nexuses. Towers defend your Nexus from enemy minions and heroes. The Health Points (HP) of Towers and Nexuses are represented by a stack of tower tokens. Each tower token is worth one or two HP depending on the number of towers on it.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. Heroes cannot attack Towers and Nexuses directly. The only way to damage them is to win the lead of control tokens during the Minions Phase.
Line of Sight (LoS)
A hero, minion, or outsider has Line of Sight (LoS) to a target if there is a path to the target of up to three consecutive hexes that does not cross any white lines.
EXAMPLE 1. Hero A cannot see hero B and vice versa, because the white line is blocking the LoS.
EXAMPLE 2. Hero A can see hex 1.
The basic requirement when choosing targets is Line of Sight and therefore the default range is within 3 hexes. If you do not meet the targeting requirements, you cannot declare the action or play the power card. For example, a power card effect that reads "Deal 2 damage to target enemy" can only be played if there is an enemy in LoS and within 3 hexes from the hero playing the power card.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. Heroes can always draw LoS to themselves. Heroes can see through other heroes, minions, and outsiders.
Cover Hexes. Certain hexes of the battlefield (usually bushes and ruins) have the cover icon and are called Cover Hexes. A friendly hero has LoS toward an enemy in a Cover Hex only while there is a friendly hero adjacent and with LoS to the same Cover Hex.
EXAMPLE 3. Hero A can see the Cover Hex where hero B stands but cannot see hero B. Note that hero C is adjacent to the Cover Hex, but he does not have LoS to that same Cover Hex because of the white line. Hero B can see hero A.
EXAMPLE 4. Hero A can now see hero B, because hero C is adjacent and has LoS to the same Cover Hex.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. Heroes can see a Cover Hex even when they cannot see the target inside the Cover Hex (e.g. if they are using a power card targeting hexes instead of heroes). Heroes can see through Cover Hexes, as only white lines block LoS.
The Target Keyword
When you declare an action or play a power card that requires one or more targets, you must choose all targets for it.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. If an effect reads "Deal 2 damage to an adjacent enemy" it does NOT require LoS. Conversely, if an effect reads "Deal 2 damage to TARGET adjacent enemy" it does require LoS.
Advanced targeting conditions. After you choose the targets for an Attack action or power card, the effect does not happen right away and some other effects might resolve and alter the situation. For example, the enemy you are targeting might move away using a power card to dodge your attack. Once it is time to resolve the effect you must check all the requirements again (like Line of Sight and range) and if they are not met anymore, the effect is ignored (but the action point or power card is still spent). On page 11, we will explain this situation in detail with an example explaining the advanced rule of the Stack.
Resolving Effects
Resolving an effect just means that its effect happens. Unless noted otherwise, effects last until the end of the current hero activation.
Effect Keywords
- Flip [icon]: flip one power card from the top of your deck into your discard pile and add the card modifier to the base value (see example of the Attack and Skirmish action on page 13).
- +X ATTACK / ARMOR: modify the Attack or Armor value by X.
- +X SKIRMISH DAMAGE: modify the damage dealt with Skirmish actions by X.
- ADJACENT: within 1 hex (therefore including the caster's current hex).
- CASTER: the hero generating the effect.
- DEAL X DAMAGE: deal X damage (please note: Armor reduces damage from any kind of effects, power cards included).
- DEFEAT A MINION: remove the minion from the battlefield (note that it does not take any damage. E.g. Tlakali's skill cannot prevent this effect).
- HALF: divide a value by two rounding up.
- HEAL X HP: increase the HP by X (heroes cannot go over their starting HP).
- LOSE X HP: decrease the HP by X (Armor does not reduce the loss).
- PIERCING: damage caused by this effect ignores Armor.
- PREDICT X: look at the top X cards of your deck and place any number of them on your discard pile or back on top of the deck, in any order.
- SPAWN X MINIONS: the caster must have LoS toward a control token. They may place X minions as close as possible to that control token (see page 19 for rules about placing minions).
- TAKE (an action): Actions generated with effects do not require AP and do not count toward the limit of one type of action per activation.
Example card — Windblast: Place the AoE on target hex. Deal 2 damage to each enemy hit.
Area of Effect (AoE)
Some effects' descriptions have a diagram of hexes hit by the effect. When these effects are resolved, the AoE diagram is placed and it can be flipped and rotated as long as one hex of the diagram matches one hex on the battlefield. If there is a highlighted hex, it indicates the position of the Caster; otherwise, at least one hex of the AoE must be within range. If the effect requires any card to be flipped, they are flipped once for all targets hit.
EXAMPLE 1. Hero A casts a power card targeting hex 1. In order to hit more enemies, he decides to flip the AoE depicted in the diagram on the card. Each enemy in the AoE (two enemy minions and hero B) suffers 2 damage.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. You place the diagram only when you resolve the effect, not when you generate it (you can read the difference on page 11).
Movement Effects
Any effect which moves a hero or a minion is considered a movement effect and follows the same rules as the Move action (see page 12).
The most common movement effect keywords are: Move, Place, and Push.
- MOVE X: move the target up to X hexes.
- PLACE: place the target in the chosen hex.
- PUSH X HEXES: move the target X hexes away from the Caster, one by one. Each hex they are pushed into must be farther away from the Caster and free from miniatures. Stop the push if the target cannot get farther away at any point.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. You cannot decide to push fewer hexes than the ones indicated.
EXAMPLE 2. Hero A is pushing hero B two hexes. Hero B cannot be pushed onto the minions, nor to hex C as it is not further away from hero A. Thus, the only legal hexes on which hero B can be pushed into are the hexes D.
If the effect requires targeting a hex and the Caster is pushed out of range or LoS from the target hex, the effect will not resolve.
Power Cards
There are two types of power cards which may be played at different times during the Heroes Phase.
A power card shows: Runes (mana cost), Name and Effect, Type (action or reaction), and a Modifier (used when flipping).
- ACTIONS. Heroes may play these power cards only during their Activation.
- REACTIONS. Heroes may play these power cards almost anytime (see next page for more details).
Power cards cost one mana for each rune in the top left corner. The mana (and turn) counter on the board indicates the amount of mana in each hero's mana pool at the start of the turn.
Heroes may play a power card if:
- They have enough mana in their mana pool.
- They have the rune colors of the power card on their own hero card.
- They are on the battlefield (i.e. they are not Defeated).
When a hero plays a power card:
- Generate its effect.
- Place the power card on top of that hero card.
Mana equal to the cost of the cards on top of the hero card is currently spent.
EXAMPLE 1. The mana tracker is on the number 3, meaning each hero has 3 mana points in their pool. Sakoshi has consumed all of his 3 mana points by playing a 1 mana card and a 2 mana card.
Drawing Power Cards
These are all the moments when players draw Power cards:
- Beginning of the game: draw 5 cards (6 if first player).
- End of the Minions Phase: draw 2 cards.
- Defeat an enemy hero: draw 2 cards.
- Damage an enemy Tower or Nexus (no matter the amount of damage dealt): draw 1 card.
When your deck runs out of power cards to draw, shuffle your discard pile and create a new deck. The maximum hand size at the end of the turn is six power cards (see end of turn sequence on page 17).
Ultimate Power Cards
Some power cards have the portrait of a hero at the top. They can only be played by that hero and are known as ultimates.
The Skytear Flux Power Card
The first player has a special power card that stays on the board and does not count toward the player's hand limit. Once used, it remains on the board face-down and cannot be used again.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED.
- Playing a power card does NOT require any Action Points.
- Exhausted heroes CAN play power cards.
- Each hero has their own individual mana pool.
- If a power card is removed from the top of a hero card, that hero regenerates mana equal to the mana cost of the cards.
- A power card with no runes, like Skytear Flux, does not require any mana or rune color to be played.
Advanced Rule: the Stack
The Stack is an advanced rule used to determine in which exact order the effects are generated and resolved. Effects are generated in multiple ways, such as when:
- A hero declares an action.
- A hero plays a power card.
- A hero skill triggers.
When an effect is generated, it is not resolved immediately but it is "placed" on top of the Stack instead. The Stack is a game area where all effects are placed on top of each other waiting to be resolved.
The ACTIVE PLAYER, the one taking the current Activation, has priority first. The player with priority may:
- Play one or more reaction power cards.
- Pass priority to the next player in clockwise order.
Once all players pass consecutively, the top effect of the Stack (the last one generated) is resolved. After an effect is resolved, each player may respond to the next effect on the Stack, once again starting with the active player. This continues until all effects are resolved and the Stack is empty.
With this advanced rule explained, we can introduce more accurate rules:
- Heroes can declare actions or play action power cards only during their Activation and when the Stack is empty.
- Active player can play reaction power cards anytime after an effect is generated or resolved during the Heroes Phase.
Example of the Stack. Hero B declares an Attack action targeting hero A. The Attack action is an effect and goes on top of the Stack. In response, hero A plays the Dodge power card ("Place the caster in target hex within 2 hexes"). The power card generates an effect that goes on top of the Stack. All players pass and the effect of Dodge is resolved, placing hero A in the adjacent Cover Hex marked with 1. All players pass and the effect on top of the Stack, the Attack action, is resolved. The Attack action target is not valid anymore, because hero A is now on a Cover Hex and hero B has no LoS to hero A. The effect of the Attack is canceled but the Action Point is spent nevertheless.
Triggered Effects. Some effects identified by the WHEN keyword are known as triggered effects. As soon as the when clause is met, the effect is immediately placed on the top of the Stack. If multiple triggers are hit simultaneously, the active player places all of their triggers on top of the stack in any order, then the other player does the same.
Heroes Phase
During the Heroes Phase, players take turns activating one hero each until each hero on the battlefield is in the Exhausted state.
Whenever a hero is activated, that hero gets three Action Points (AP), each of which may be used to take one of the following actions: Move, Lead, Attack, Skirmish, or Worship.
IMPORTANT. A hero cannot take the same action twice during the same activation.
When the active player passes, the Activation is over: change the hero's state from Ready to Exhausted.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED.
- Players may use the action token to track how many AP they have spent with the hero being activated.
- You cannot activate the same hero twice during the same Heroes Phase.
- You and your opponent take turns activating one hero each. If some heroes are Defeated, it is possible that a player is taking more than one activation in a row.
- The first player always takes the first activation each turn.
Move Action
When a friendly hero resolves a Move action, you may move that hero up to 3 hexes in any direction.
Heroes can move through minions but cannot move through hexes containing BLOCKING ELEMENTS, which are:
- Friendly or enemy heroes.
- Friendly or enemy Towers and Nexuses.
- Outsiders.
Heroes must finish their movement on a hex that does not contain:
- Blocking Elements.
- Minions.
EXAMPLE 1. Hero A can take a Move action to move up to 3 hexes to the numbered hexes.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. You cannot move through friendly heroes.
Lead Action
When a friendly hero resolves a Lead action, you may place a power card face down underneath their hero card. This power card is now known as a Lead card.
The power card can be taken either:
- From your hand.
- From the top of your deck, without looking at the card.
The Lead card will be revealed during the Minions Phase and will help your minions move toward the enemy Towers, or take control of the outsider in the Domes.
The control value of the hero will be increased by the mana cost of the Lead card (see page 16).
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. You increase the control value of the hero by the MANA COST of the power card, NOT its modifier.
Attack Action
When a friendly hero declares an Attack action, you must choose a target in LoS and range. When resolving the Attack, determine the damage dealt as follows:
- Check the attack value of the attacking hero.
- Flip a power card for each icon next to the attack value. Flip these cards face up from the top of your deck into your discard pile.
- Choose one of these flipped power cards and add its modifier to the hero's attack value. This is the damage dealt.
- Subtract the target's Armor value from the damage dealt.
- The resulting number is the amount of HP that the target loses (if the number is negative, nothing happens).
EXAMPLE 2. The attacking hero has an attack value of 4. He flips 2 power cards and picks the +3 modifier. The defending hero's Armor value is 1. The defending hero loses 4+3-1 = 6 HP.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. If the target is not in range and LoS when it is time to resolve the Attack, the hero still spends 1 AP even though the Attack action has no effect.
Skirmish Action
When a friendly hero resolves a Skirmish action, they may perform any of the following effects in any order:
- Move 1 hex.
- Deal 0 damage to an enemy hero in LoS and range.
- Move 1 hex.
You resolve this action as a single effect (e.g. no power cards can be played during the action).
EXAMPLE 3. Hero A is a ranged hero resolving a Skirmish action to: Move to the hex marked with 1, Deal 0 damage to enemy hero B, Move to the hex marked with 2.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED.
- You cannot damage minions with Skirmish actions.
- You cannot move over minions when moving 1 hex at a time.
- You do not have to take all 3 options (e.g. you can take this action to just move 1 hex twice).
- Unlike the Attack action, the Skirmish action does not require a target.
Worship Action
Heroes have unique skills written on their hero cards. Skills without any icon next to them are always active and you can apply their effects as they are written. Skills with an icon next to them must be activated with the aid of the Worship action. The Worship action is different for each faction.
Kurumo Marks. Kurumo heroes mark their enemies to coordinate deadly attacks. When a Kurumo hero resolves a Worship action, apply the Marked condition to target enemy hero and trigger the skill with the worship icon next to it.
EXAMPLE 1. Yami (hero A) can take the Worship action and target hero B to: apply the Marked condition on hero B, be placed on hex 1, deal 1 damage to hero B. (Yami's skills — Flaming Harbinger: "The first time Yami moves through an enemy minion each Activation, deal 1 damage to it." Shadow of the Reaper (Worship): "Place Yami adjacent to the Marked hero and deal 1 damage to them.")
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. Kurumo heroes can target an already Marked hero with their Worship action just in order to trigger the skill with the worship icon next to it.
Liothan Shapeshifters. Liothan heroes transform into wild animals at will to gain extraordinary powers. When a Liothan hero resolves a Worship action, apply the Shapeshifted condition to a friendly Liothan hero within 3 hexes.
When a Liothan hero resolves the Worship action on themself, you may Exhaust them before applying the Shapeshifted condition (since conditions are removed when heroes Exhaust, this is a way for Liothan heroes to start their next Activation with the Shapeshifted condition).
While a Liothan hero has the Shapeshifted condition, the hero's skill with the Shapeshifted icon next to it is active.
EXAMPLE 2. Gulbjarn (hero A) can take the Worship action to gain the Shapeshifted condition and activate the Ursine Rage skill. Then, he can take a Skirmish action to deal 2 damage to the two enemy heroes in the AoE (note that the AoE diagram is rotated in order to hit as many enemies as possible). The Feral Majesty skill gives Gulbjarn +2 Skirmish Damage as there are two friendly Shapeshifted heroes within 3 hexes (hero B and Gulbjarn himself). (Gulbjarn's skills — Wild Sovereign: "Gulbjarn has +1 Skirmish Damage for each friendly Shapeshifted hero within 3 hexes." Ursine Rage (Worship): "Gulbjarn's Skirmish actions do not hit a chosen hero and hit all enemy heroes in the AoE instead.")
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. LoS is NOT required to apply the Shapeshifted condition.
Taulot Pillars. Taulot heroes create magical pillars connected to each other to fight like a single hive mind. When a Taulot hero resolves a Worship action:
- Remove up to one friendly pillar token on the battlefield to trigger their skill with the worship icon next to it.
- Place a friendly pillar token on a target hex without miniatures or tokens.
The maximum number of friendly pillar tokens on the battlefield is equal to the number of friendly Taulot heroes drafted by the player. While a Taulot hero has LoS toward a friendly pillar token, the hero's skill with the pillar icon next to it is active. Friendly pillar tokens are removed from the battlefield when an enemy hero resolves an Attack action targeting them.
EXAMPLE 3. Cotlic has LoS toward a friendly pillar token (B) and therefore has +1 Armor because of the Taulot's Blessing skill ("Cotlic has +1 Armor"). Cotlic resolves a Worship action to remove two existing friendly pillars on the battlefield (B and C). Then, Cotlic places a new pillar on hex 1 as the last part of the Worship action. Since Cotlic has removed 2 pillars, the Strength of the King skill triggers ("Cotlic may remove any number of friendly Pillars. He gets +1 Skirmish Damage for each Pillar removed this Activation") and he gains +2 Skirmish Damage.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. Pillar tokens do not block LoS. Miniatures can move through them and stop on them.
Nupten Illusions. Nupten heroes summon their illusions to deceive and overwhelm their enemies. When a Nupten hero resolves a Worship action:
- Optionally, place their illusion token to the hero's current hex.
- Move their illusion token up to 3 hexes.
Illusions ignore Blocking Elements during movement and must end their movement in a hex without miniatures or tokens. While a Nupten hero has LoS toward a friendly illusion token, that hero is considered a PROJECTED HERO and gains the skills of that illusion token's owner with the illusion icon next to them. Friendly illusion tokens are removed from the battlefield when an enemy hero resolves an Attack action targeting them or the illusion token's owner is Defeated.
EXAMPLE 4. Akhuti (hero A) resolves the Worship action to move her illusion (B) to hex 1. Now, the illusion grants +1 Armor to both friendly Nupten heroes (A and C) because of the Resonant Light skill ("Projected heroes have +1 Armor"). Then, Akhuti takes an Attack action against minion D and, after resolving it, the Retribution skill triggers ("When Akhuti resolves an Attack action, she may deal 1 damage to an enemy minion adjacent to her Illusion") dealing 1 damage to minion E.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED.
- Illusion tokens do not block LoS. Miniatures can move through them and stop on them.
- If the illusion token is NOT on the battlefield, it must start its movement from the illusion's owner.
- If the illusion token is on the battlefield, it may restart its movement from the illusion's owner.
Minions Phase
In this phase, players check who is winning the lead of each control token on the battlefield. Control tokens are numbered and must be checked in order from lowest to highest.
For each control token in the LANES:
- Determine the winner, if any.
- Winner damages minions and Towers.
- Winner advances the control token.
- Both players spawn minions.
For each control token in the DOMES:
- Determine the winner, if any.
- Winner activates the outsider.
Determine the Winner
Each friendly hero and minion who has LoS to the control token provides +1 Control, determining the base Control Value. Then, each player:
- Reveals each Lead card under friendly heroes with LoS to the Control token (usually placed with the Lead action).
- Selects at most one of these cards to increase the base Control Value by the mana cost of the Lead card.
EXAMPLE 1. The red player has 2 minions and hero A with a 2-mana Lead card, for a total Control Value of 2+1+2 = 5. The blue player has only one minion for a total of 1. Hero B is within 3 hexes but does not have LoS toward the control token because of the white line surrounding the Dome, so it does not count. Red is winning by 5-1=4 points.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. You increase the Control Value by the MANA COST of the Lead card, NOT its modifier. You can choose AT MOST one Lead card per control token per player.
Winner Applies the Damage
In the Lanes, the winning player applies damage equal to the difference in Control Values as follows:
- Distribute the damage to enemy minions first.
- If and when there are no enemy minions left, apply the remaining damage to an enemy Tower or Nexus within 3 hexes from the control token.
Damaging Towers and Nexuses
When a player deals one or more damage to an enemy Tower or Nexus, that player draws one power card.
When a Tower is reduced to 0 or fewer HP, that Tower is destroyed. When the first Tower belonging to a player is destroyed, place 5 tower tokens on that player's Nexus. From now on, that player's Nexus can be damaged as well. A player that destroys a Nexus immediately wins the game.
EXAMPLE 2. The (red) attacking player won by 4 points. First, they defeat the enemy minion A. Then, they deal the 3 remaining damage to the enemy Tower and draw 1 power card. Finally, they move the control token to hex 1 (see the next step: advance the control token).
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. You can only damage Towers and Nexuses within 3 hexes from the control token. When you damage a Tower, you draw 1 power card no matter the amount of damage dealt.
Advance the Control Token
The winner advances the control token a number of hexes equal to the difference between the Control Values. The control token must be moved directly toward the closest enemy tower token and it stops as soon as it is adjacent to one. The control token ignores Blocking Elements while moving and can end its movement in the same hex as another miniature or token, but cannot enter Domes.
After the control token has been moved, the players reposition their existing minions on this Lane, starting from the winner.
Rules for Placing Minions
Minions must be repositioned, or spawn, as close as possible to the control token and with LoS to it (even two or more hexes away, if that is as close as possible). A friendly minion can share a hex with one enemy minion and cannot be placed inside Domes.
Both Players Spawn Minions
- The winner spawns up to two of their minions.
- Then, the loser spawns up to two of their own.
In case of a tie, the second player places first. Players without a Tower in the Lane do not spawn minions.
EXAMPLE 3. Both players must spawn their 2 new minions on hexes 1 and 2, because the other hexes are blocked by heroes and tower tokens.
Winner Activates the Outsider
The winner of the lead of a control token in a DOME:
- Places the outsider following the placement rule written on its card.
- Activates the outsider by spending up to 3 Action Points using Move, Skirmish, Attack action, or the outsider skills.
Each action or skill costs 1 Action Point and cannot be taken more than once. Once the activation is over, leave the outsider where it is.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. Heroes cannot play power cards during the Minions Phase.
End of Turn
The Minions Phase ends with some upkeep activities where all players:
- Discard all power cards from their hero cards.
- Draw two new power cards.
- Discard cards from their hands until they are BELOW 7 CARDS.
- Ready all Exhausted heroes.
- Increase the mana counter and finally spawn Defeated heroes.
Set-up
Setting Up Your First Game
This is the set up for your first game of Skytear with 2 players. In the following pages you can see the rules for 3 or more players and the setup of the three-lanes battleground.
Flip three victory cards. Place three randomly selected VICTORY CARDS face up on the board.
Determine the first player. Toss the Skytear token to randomly determine the first player. They take the SKYTEAR FLUX power card and place it face up on their side of the board.
Set the mana counter to one. Place the SKYTEAR TOKEN in the first row of the mana (and turn) counter.
Draft factions. For your first game we assume you are going to play with the 8 heroes of the Starter Box and we suggest you draft factions instead of heroes. Once you master the basics, you can read in the following pages how to draft heroes and build your own decks of power cards.
- The first player picks a faction.
- The second player picks two factions.
- The first player picks the remaining faction.
When you pick a faction, you take the two related heroes and prepare them:
- Place their HERO CARD on your side of the board.
- Place the hero FACTION TOKEN next to the hero cards (only Nupten and Taulot heroes have a faction token).
- Place the HERO TOKEN on the health points tracker on the board.
- Place the HERO MINIATURE in a free hex adjacent to the friendly Nexus (please note: miniatures are represented by hero tokens in the set-up picture).
Starter deck composition for each hero:
- SAKOSHI: 1x Shuriken Storm, 2x Gank, 2x Lifesteal, 3x Crippling Precision.
- HABURAT: 1x Blades of Lightning, 2x Testudo, 2x Time Warp, 3x Time Glitch.
- YAMI: 1x Kneel Before Me, 2x Dragon Punch, 2x Clear Mind, 3x Combustion.
- AKHUTI: 1x Word of Nupten, 2x Twister of Souls, 2x Redirect, 3x Hurricane Strike.
- COTLIC: 1x My Kingdom, 2x Rampant Hatred, 2x Safeguard, 3x Lord of the Many.
- CORJOF: 1x Featherstorm, 2x Gathering Storm, 2x Icewall, 3x Through the Eyes.
- TLAKALI: 1x The Thousandth Ritual, 2x Mud Flood, 2x Crawling Darkness, 3x Sacrifice.
- GULBJARN: 1x Feral Vitality, 2x Grapple, 2x Unfamiliar Terrain, 3x Presence.
Form two decks of power cards. Each player shuffles all POWER CARDS from the two factions they picked and places their deck to the side of the board. For your reference, you can see the pre-made decks of the starter box above.
Draw power cards and mulligan. The first player draws six cards from the top of their deck of power cards, while the second draws five from theirs. Then, each player may select any number of cards from their hand, discard them, and then draw that many replacement cards. Discarded cards will form a face-up pile next to your decks.
Build four Towers. Each player places three TOWER TOKENS on each of their two friendly tower hexes, using 2 double and 1 single tower token.
Place two control tokens. Randomly place the CONTROL TOKENS numbered 1 and 2 on the hexes marked with the control token icon.
Rally the minions. Each player places two MINIONS MINIATURES on each Lane as shown in the setup picture (please note: minions miniatures are shown as runes in the picture). All minions share the same characteristics, so as long as they are from the factions chosen by the player, they are interchangeable. Place the remaining minions on their friendly Nexus.
Summon the outsider. Place the OUTSIDER CARD on the board and its miniature on top of the card.
Appendix
Rules for Three to Eight Players
Players split into two teams controlling the same number of heroes that depends on the battlefield being played.
Heroes Activation
Heroes activated by teammates are considered friendly heroes for all effects.
WITH 3 OR 4 PLAYERS: Players can only activate the heroes they drafted.
WITH 5 OR MORE PLAYERS: Players can activate any hero of their choice from their team.
Teammates decide freely in which order they activate their heroes as long as they take turns with their opponents.
Power Cards
Each player's hand of power cards cannot be shared with their teammates. Teammates must split as evenly as possible the amount of cards drawn below:
| Players count | 3-4 | 5-6 | 7-8 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting power cards per TEAM | 6 | 9 | 12 |
| Power cards drawn per turn per TEAM | 2 | 3 | 4 |
When a team wins the control of a Dome, they must choose a player who is going to activate the related outsider.
- When a player defeats an enemy hero, that player draws only 1 card. Then, they choose a teammate that will draw another card.
- When a team damages an enemy Tower or Nexus, they must choose a player who draws 1 card.
Drafting and Deck-Building
With 2 to 4 players, each player builds a deck of 8 cards per controlled hero. With 5 or more players, each team builds a single deck of 8 cards per hero in the team.
The Casual Format. This format requires minimal deck-building. After players drafted factions, step (D) of the setup, each team drafts heroes from their chosen factions following this order:
- 1st team picks one.
- 2nd team picks two.
- 1st team picks two.
- 2nd team picks two.
- (only if playing with 6 heroes) 1st team picks two.
- (only if playing with 6 heroes) 2nd team picks two.
- 1st team picks one.
As you draft the heroes, you prepare them as outlined in step (D) of the setup. Then, you replace step (E) with the following step.
Build Decks. When building decks, follow these restrictions:
- You cannot take power cards from factions you did not choose.
- You must include each hero's ultimate, and may not include any other.
- You cannot have more than 3 copies of the same power card.
The Competitive Format. This format is designed for organized play and it assumes each player has their own copy of Skytear.
Prepare the Heroes and their Piles. Before the tournament starts, each team chooses:
- Six different heroes if playing with 4 heroes.
- Eight different heroes if playing with 6 heroes.
Then, each team prepares a pile of 8 power cards for each hero. When building piles, follow these restrictions:
- You must include each hero's ultimate, and may not include any other.
- You cannot have more than 3 copies of a card across all piles.
Then, replace the steps (D) and (E) of the setup with the step below.
Draft Heroes and Shuffle their Piles. Each team drafts heroes from their pool, following the same order used for the casual format. As you draft the heroes, you prepare them as outlined in step (D) of the setup, and you shuffle together the related piles of power cards to form your deck.
About Deck-Building. This deck-building system is designed to give you a way to specialize your heroes based on possible victory conditions, enemy heroes, and synergies with your team. Just to give you an example, assassins are usually defeated by tanks because of their strong armor. Knowing this in advance, you could build a pile of armor-piercing power cards for your assassin to surprise and counter the enemy tanks.
Deck-builder App with Balance Changes. On the Skytear website, you can use the free deck-builder app that will help us keep the Skytear meta-game varied and interesting. In the deck-builder, each hero and card costs an amount of points that we are tweaking on a regular basis with input from the community. This allows us to make sure each hero and card is competitive and used in tournaments.
Three-Lanes Battlefield
The three-lanes battlefield requires six heroes per team and has these additional rules:
- When multiple control tokens are in LoS of the same Nexus, you resolve all of them as a single control challenge.
- The only victory condition is to destroy the enemy Nexus.
Follow these steps to set up the game.
Determine the first player. Randomly determine the first player. The first player takes the "Skytear Flux" power card and places it face up on their side.
Build six towers. Each team places three tower tokens on each of their three friendly tower hexes, for a total of 5 HP per tower (2 double and 1 single tower token).
Rally six minions. Each team places three minions adjacent to the central control token as shown in the setup picture (do not place them on the side Lanes, as they will spawn there only during the Minions Phase).
Place three control tokens. Randomly place the three control tokens numbered 1 to 3 on the hexes marked with the control token symbol.
Summon the Outsiders. Place up to two random outsider cards and miniatures on each short side of the board as illustrated below. Each outsider will be activated by the team controlling the Dome on the same side of the battlefield.
OFTEN OVERLOOKED. You can play even with just one outsider. In this case, winning the control of one of the two Domes will have no effect.
Draft heroes and build decks. Refer to the drafting and deck-building section to choose your preferred method.
New Outsiders. Below you see the additional outsiders available in the first season of Skytear.
Simplified Mode
On your first games, it can be overwhelming to assimilate and use all the hero skills. To ease the learning curve, you can play a simplified game mode with just three rule changes:
- Use the back of the hero cards, without any skills on them (keep in mind, mages still have Piercing).
- The Worship action is not allowed.
- Heroes can play power cards regardless of the rune colors.
Skytear Chronicles
Immerse yourself in the world of Olan Taa with the Skytear Chronicles: fully illustrated hard-cover books to discover the back story of the realms and heroes of Skytear.
But the Skytear war has just begun, and its story has yet to be written. Players all over the world are sharing the results of their games, and the win rate of each faction will shift the boundaries of the realms, and how the war will unfold.
What faction will prevail in the end? Shape the future of Olan Taa, and submit your battle report at: WWW.PLAYSKYTEAR.COM/REPORT
Credits
Thanks to the first 1,201 players that supported the Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign. Without them, Skytear would not exist!
- GAME DESIGN: Riccardo Neri, Andrea Barbari, Giacomo Neri.
- WORLD-BUILDING: Riccardo Parmeggiani, Thomas Foster.
- HERO CONCEPTS: Francesco Gioacchini, Riccardo Parmeggiani.
- GRAPHIC DESIGN: Riccardo Neri, Giacomo Neri.
- LEAD PLAYTESTERS: Andrea Barbari, Fabio D'Astolfo.
- SCULPTING: Rafael Dioli, Francesco Orrù.
- ARTISTS: Kim Van Deun, Jack Kaiser, Bogdan Antoci, Marko Fiedler, Alba Palacio.
- MANUFACTURED BY: Panda GM.
- PUBLISHER: PvP Geeks, Via C. Costa 19/D, 41123, Modena, Italy.
Skytear© all Copyright PvP Geeks Srl 2019. Skytear and all associated logos, illustrations, images, names, characters, and the distinctive likenesses thereof, are either ® or TM, and/or © PvP Geeks Srl.
Continue Your Skytear Journey
- Try New Game Modes. Experiment with different game modes not requiring any additional components.
- Influence Development. Join the conversation and help the designers shape the future expansions of Skytear.
- Join the Community. Use the on-line deck-builder to find ready-made decks, or share and discuss your own.
- Find the Closest Store. Locate the nearest shop stocking Skytear and participate in local tournaments and events.
Register your Free Skytear Account at WWW.PLAYSKYTEAR.COM/REGISTER