Soul Hunters
Soul Hunters Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Contents
- 84 soul hunter cards
- 28 event cards
- 20 soul cards
- 8 influence cards
- 4 markers
Number of Players
The number of players determines how many souls are used in the game.
In a two player game no souls are removed from the soul deck. In a three player game remove 5 souls (after which there are 15 souls in the soul deck) and with four players remove 10 souls (there should be 10 souls in the soul deck).
| Players | Souls |
|---|---|
| 2 players | 20 souls |
| 3 players | 15 souls |
| 4 players | 10 souls |
Game Start
During the game there are three decks: the soul deck, the game deck and the discard pile.
At the beginning of the game, the souls are separated from the other cards and they form the soul deck. The other cards (soul hunters and events) are shuffled to form the game deck. The discard pile is formed face up during play when cards are discarded.
One positive and one negative Influence card is given to each of the players, who use them to indicate their current influence.
If the game deck should run out before the soul deck (and the end of the game), the discard pile is shuffled to form a new game deck and the game is continued.
Setup
Five souls are drawn from the soul deck and placed on the table face up. Each player draws five cards from the game deck and keeps them hidden in their hand.
The starting player is determined by dealing each player one soul from the soul deck. The player who received the biggest soul starts the game. In case of a tie, deal new souls to the tied players to determine winner. After this the dealt soul cards are shuffled back into the soul deck. Beginning with the starting player, the game proceeds clockwise.
Playing the Game
The game proceeds as follows: during their turn, each player draws one card and makes up to two actions. After every one has had their turn, one of the souls on the table is turned sideways. This is repeated until all the souls are turned sideways and then the players' influence is checked.
Player Actions
During a turn a player draws one card from the game deck, after which he can take two actions – one from hand and one from the table.
Example layout (illustration captions): Player B's cards on the table; Player B's influence; souls on the table (of which four have been turned); soul deck; game deck and discard pile; Player A's cards on the table; Player A's influence; Player A has played an event (discarding two hand cards).
Player A has an alignment bonus of +2 and he has gained +2 influence by using the "Archangel" card once. He has just played the "Change of Mind" card and discards two hand cards to benefit from it. Player B does not have an alignment bonus, since he has characters from two different alignments in play. His influence is –1, because he has used the "Cultist" card once. The actions made by the players totals four actions each, so four of the five souls on the table have been turned sideways.
An action from hand can either be placing a soul hunter on the table or playing an event.
An action on the table means using an ability of a soul hunter already in play (you can use the same soul hunter you just placed on the table).
These actions are voluntary and players can choose whether they do both, one or none of the actions (they can also choose the order in which they take the actions). There is no penalty for not taking actions.
Number of Cards
If any player has more than five cards in their hand at the end of their own turn, they have to discard cards until they have only five left.
Influence
Player's influence can either be positive (+) or negative (–) and it doesn't matter which one you pursue. Only the numeric value of influence matters, not its sign (meaning –4 is better than +3).
When every soul on the table is turned sideways, the player who has the biggest influence takes the soul with the lowest value from the table and keeps it face down. That player's influence is zeroed, but all other players' influence stays the same. If the player's (who won the soul) soul hunters form an alignment, the alignment bonus comes back in effect immediately.
If more than one player have the same biggest influence, the smallest valued soul is discarded and the tied players' influence is zeroed (because nobody can win the soul over, it goes free).
Continuing the Game
When one of the souls has left the table the remaining souls are turned back up and the player, who won the soul, starts the new round. If no one won the soul, the player, who started the previous round, starts the new round.
The game is continued as before, but since the number of souls on the table is less, the players have one less turn to make actions.
When all of the souls have left the table, five new souls are placed on the table from the soul deck and the game continues as before.
Ending the Game
As the last souls of the soul deck are drawn, the game nears its end. When these souls are removed from the table, the game ends.
Winner of the Game
After the last soul is removed from the table, each player counts the total values of their souls (the values can be found at the upper right hand corner of the soul cards). The player who received the biggest score, wins the game.
In the event of a tie, the player with the most soul cards wins the game. If this doesn't solve the tie, the player who has more souls worth five points, wins. If this doesn't solve it, then check the number of four point souls and so on. If the tie can't be solved in this way, you are equally powerful and you just have to share the lordship of the universe.
Souls
In the game your task is to collect souls. When the free souls run out, the winner of the game and the supreme leader of the universe is the player with the largest number of souls.
Component illustration: a Soul card, with the "Value of the soul" (2) indicated in the upper right corner.
Events
Events can only be used once, so their effect takes place immediately after playing. Played events are placed in the discard pile.
Component illustration: an Event card, with the "Symbol of an event" in the upper right corner and the "Action of an event" in the text box.
Soul Hunters
The name of the soul hunter is at the top of the card. If a card refers to another card, it uses this name. The number at the top right corner of the card tells you how many times you can use the soul hunter's special abilities which require activation (if there is a big black dot where the number should be, the card is an event, not a soul hunter). Listed in the lower part of the card are all the abilities of the soul hunter as well as its alignment.
Every soul hunter has at least one ability, which can affect influence. Usually they also have other abilities, which give different benefits.
Component illustration: a Soul Hunter card, with the "Activations" in the upper right corner, the "Alignment" marked on the card, and the "Abilities" in the lower text box.
Abilities
The abilities of soul hunters which require activation are marked with a • symbol (if the ability doesn't have this symbol, it is always active). Whenever these abilities are activated, the card is turned 90 degrees clockwise (so that everyone sees how many times it has been used).
After the first ability activation the top of the card points right, after the second time it points downwards towards the player and after the third activation it points left. The fourth activation would turn the card back to its normal position, but since no soul hunter has more than 4 activations, they are removed to the discard pile before this happens.
When the card has been activated as many times as it has uses (the number at the top right corner reveals how many times it can be used), it is removed from the table and placed into the discard pile.
If the soul hunter has more than one ability which needs activation, you have to announce which one you're going to use.
Component illustration: two soul hunter cards shown turned 90 degrees clockwise to indicate activations.
Alignment
Each soul hunter belongs to an alignment, which can be found on the card in "Alignment" (alignment is also indicated by the color of the card).
If every soul hunter under one player belongs to the same alignment, that player's influence changes according to the alignment value given on the card.
A single soul hunter cannot form an alignment by itself. At least two soul hunters of the same alignment are required (in the picture on the previous pages, player A has an alignment but player B does not). The alignment bonus can only be received once, no matter how many soul hunters of the same alignment you have in play.
If the soul hunters already in play form an alignment, but they leave the table and now there is only one soul hunter in play, the alignment is not in effect anymore and its bonus is lost. If more soul hunters from the same alignment come into play later, the alignment becomes active again.
Also, if the player places a soul hunter belonging to a "wrong" alignment in play, the alignment is broken and its bonus is lost. If that soul hunter (which broke the alignment) leaves the table for any reason, the alignment is formed again and the player's influence receives its bonus.
Component illustration: several soul hunter cards of different alignments.
Quick Help
The rulebook's Quick Help sidebar, reproduced as printed.
Starting the game. Five souls are drawn from the soul deck and placed on the table face up. Each player draws five cards from the game deck.
Playing the game. When each player has taken an action, one of the souls on the table is turned sideways. When all of the souls are turned sideways, the current influence of each player is checked.
The player with the biggest influence takes the soul of the lowest value from the table and that player's influence is zeroed (if the biggest influence is tied between players, the soul of the lowest value is discarded and the tied players' influence is zeroed).
When one of the souls is removed from play, the remaining souls are turned back up and the game continues.
When the last soul of the table is removed, five new souls are drawn from the soul deck and the game goes on as before.
Player actions. During their turn the players draw a card and can take the following two actions:
- Place a soul hunter from their hand to the table OR play an event.
- Use an ability of a soul hunter which is already in play.
At the end of each players turn if they have more than five cards in their hand, they have to discard cards until they have five left.
Decks running out. If the game deck runs out, the discard pile is shuffled into a new game deck.
When the soul deck runs out, (and all souls are removed from the table) the players count the values of their souls and the one with the biggest score wins the game.