Spells of Doom Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Terminology
• Setup
• Game Play
• Turn Structure
  • 1. Upkeep Phase
  • 2. Hero Phase
  • 3. End Phase
• Scoring
• Death of a Hero
• Special Tokens
• Creature's Special Abilities
• Buildings
• Special Rules for 4 Players
• Card Description
• Token Description
• Full Explanation of Skills and Spell Cards
  • Skill Cards
  • Terrain Skills
• Spell Cards
  • Magie's Spells
  • Byron's Spells
  • Oakheart's Spells
  • Hypnor's Spells
• Tips and Advice for the First Games
• Round Overview

Contents

• 4 x Hero Boards (Byron, Hypnor, Magie, Oakheart)
• 120 x Hero Cards
• Scoring Board (V.P. & Turn Track)
• Game Board
• 29 Creature Tokens
• Special Tokens (3 x Burn, 6 x Stun, 10 x Brain Damage)
• 4 x Hero Miniatures
• 60 x Damage Tokens
• 100 x Magic Crystals
• 12 x Defense Tower Miniatures
• 12 x Mage Tower Miniatures
• 9 x Magic Shrine Miniatures
• 8 x Dice of Doom

Terminology

Active Player: The player currently taking his/her turn.

Character: A Hero or a Creature controlled by a player. Friendly characters are those controlled by you and your allies, while enemy characters are those controlled by your opponents.

HP: The remaining Hit Points of a character. A character's HP may never exceed its starting HP.

Attack X: The action of rolling X attack dice to damage an opponent.

Special Attack X: There are 3 types of Special Attack that can target only Heroes: Burn, Stun, and Brain Damage. When a Hero is targeted by a Special Attack X, the attacker rolls X dice and for each roll of "5" or "6", the target receives an appropriate Special Token (regardless of his/her Armor). For more on Special Tokens see the Special Tokens section.

Damage: The number of dice in an attack that rolled greater than the defender's Armor. If the defender was a Hero, its HP are then immediately reduced by that amount on the Hero's Board. If it was a creature (or building), place that many Damage Tokens under the Creature Token (or beside the building respectively).

Designer's suggestion: When summoning a creature you may prefer to place a number of Damage Tokens equal to its starting HP under it. Then, when the creature is dealt any damage, remove that much Damage Tokens from under it.

Speed: The total number of hexes a character moves each turn. When moving, a character may pass through or end its movement in a hex containing other characters or a building (either friendly or enemy). The base speed of each Hero and creature is 2.

Reserve: The area in which a player can place cards from his/her hand face-down in order to use them later. To place a card in his Reserve, a player needs to spend 1 mana. No more than 3 cards may be held in the Reserve at all times.

Spell Card: To use a spell card, a player first needs to prepare it, i.e. place it face-up in his/her Play Area (below the Hero Board) for free. Once prepared, the spell can be activated (or cast) during the Hero Phase of the same or a later turn by paying its casting cost.

Skill Card: Cards that are activated immediately when revealed either from a player's hand or from the Reserve.

Counter: Some cards have the Counter keyword. These can be activated normally or during another player's turn but only from the Reserve in the latter case.

Terrain: Some cards have the Terrain keyword. In the basic game only Hypnor has Terrain cards. When playing a Terrain Card from your hand, place it face down in your Trap Area at no cost, place a Terrain Token on it, target a hex on the board and place the corresponding Terrain Token (with the same number) on the targeted hex. At any time during your turn or at certain times during an opponent's turn (mentioned on the card Section at the end of this Rulebook), you may reveal the Terrain Card with the corresponding Terrain Token, pay its cost and activate its effect. As soon as the effect is resolved, the card is discarded and the token is removed from the board.

Spell of Doom: Each Hero has a unique and powerful spell called Spell of Doom. These are usually expensive and have game-changing effects.

Range X: How far a target of a Spell can be from the caster, when that Spell is cast. For example, "at Range 1" or "within 2 hexes", both mean "in the caster's hex or in an adjacent hex", while "at Range 2" or "within 3 hexes", both mean "at most 2 hexes away from the caster".

Setup

The ritual before the beginning of a game of Spells of Doom requires the following from each player:

• Select a Hero and take his Hero Board, his Hero Cards, the crystals of the corresponding color, his creatures and his miniatures.
• Place one crystal each in the last space of the HP track, the first space of the Armor track, and the first space of the Attack track. Also place the creature tokens in the corresponding spaces on the Hero Board.
• Place his/her Hero miniature in the starting space on the Game Board and place 7 mana in his/her mana pool.
• Draw 5 cards as his/her starting hand. Then he/she has the option to reshuffle up to 3 of them back in the deck to draw that many new cards (mulligan).
• Finally, roll 7 dice and the player who rolls most "4" gets to play first!

Here you can see the game setup for two players. [Game Setup for 2 Heroes diagram]

Game Play

During the course of the game, each side tries to capture magic shrines and damage their opponents. Each player takes a complete turn before the next player's turn begins. The following rules apply to the two-player game. Special rules for the four player mode can be found at the end of this rulebook.

The game is played in 3 rounds, each round consisting of 6 turns. Each player's turn consists of the upkeep phase, the hero phase, and the end phase. At the end of each round a scoring phase occurs.

The game ends at the end of the turn in which a player reaches or exceeds 12 Valor Points (VP). If no player has reached 12 VP after the end of the 3rd round the game ends. The winner is the player (or team) with the most VP. If tied, the team with the most HP remaining in its Heroes wins. If still tied, count the remaining mana and the mana cost of each building and unit controlled by each team. The team with the largest sum wins. If still tied, the magic unleashed by the fierce battle between Telin and Helloder implodes creating a dimensional rift that engulfs all the Heroes and the entire realm of Shaqua Maertis leaving nothing behind. All players lose.

Turn Structure

1. Upkeep Phase

During the upkeep phase the active player does the following strictly in this order:

• Count the total number of magic shrines and mage towers controlled and gain that much mana plus one.
• Every defense tower belonging to the active player restores 2 HP to each allied character in range (i.e. in the same or an adjacent hex).
• Every defense tower belonging to the active player deals Attack 3 to each enemy character in range. Note: If a character is in the range of more than one tower, it is affected by all towers in range.
• Apply the effects of any Special Token (Burn token or Brain Damage token) already placed on the Hero Board, if any (see also the Special Tokens section). Then, any Special Token remaining can be removed at the cost of 2 mana for every Burn Token and 3 mana for every Brain Damage Token.

2. Hero Phase

This is the most important phase of the turn, during which the active player can play his cards and take actions. Also, at any time during this phase, the active player can move the creatures he summoned on previous turns (if any) and use them to attack. Some actions can be used multiple times, while others can be used only once. The active player can take any or all of the following actions at any order he/she wishes.

Move

The active player can move any character that he/she controls up to its Speed value. The characters can be moved in any order, but a character's movement and attack(s) must be completed before another one is moved. Each character can be moved only once but can pass through or end its movement in a hex containing any number of other characters (friendly or enemy) and/or a building. The Heroes may also temporarily increase their speed by paying 2 mana per point.

Attack

The active player can use any character that he/she controls to attack an enemy character or building in the same or an adjacent hex before, during or after its movement. When attacking, a Hero rolls a number of dice equal to its attack value and deals 1 damage to the opponent for each die that rolls greater than the opponent's armor. A roll of 6 is considered a critical hit and deals 2 damage instead of 1. A Hero can cast a prepared spell instead of attacking. The characters can attack in any order, but they can attack only once per turn each. (In the next example, Byron with an Armor of 3, receives 3 Damage.)

Upgrade

Once per turn, the active player can spend 5 mana to upgrade his/her Hero's stats. An upgrade in Attack allows the Hero to roll one extra die in each attack, while an upgrade in Armor causes the Hero to take less damage from attacks. A Hero's Armor can not be increased above 3, even by temporary effects (such as Skill Cards), unless stated otherwise.

[Diagram: Hero Board stat track showing Speed 2, Armor 1-2-3, Attack 3-4 with the upgrade arrow.]

Build

Once per turn, the active player can spend 5 mana to build one of his/her buildings (Mage Tower or Defense Tower) in the hex occupied by his/her Hero if it does not contain another building or a Magic Shrine. All buildings (and controlled Magic Shrines) have 1 Armor and 7 HP.

Capture Magic Shrine

A Hero in a hex containing a Magic Shrine not controlled by another player may spend 2 mana to take control of it by placing on it one of his/her mana crystals from the supply. The crystal on a Magic Shrine controlled by another player must be destroyed before it can be converted. Attacking an enemy controlled Magic Shrine is the same as attacking an enemy building and after dealing 7 damage in total the magic crystal on top of it is destroyed and returned to the opponent's supply.

[Diagrams: a Hero adjacent to a Magic Shrine with a crystal being placed on it; a Magic Shrine with an enemy crystal being destroyed.]

Play Cards

The active player can play any number of cards from his/her hand. Spells are prepared by being placed in the Spell Area. Skill cards are resolved immediately and can be played on any character the player controls. Any card can be placed face-down in the player's Reserve for later use by paying 1 mana. Any number of cards may be placed in the Reserve each turn but there can never be more than 3 cards there at any time.

[Diagram: Player play area layout showing the Terrain Area, the Hero Board of Hypnor, the Reserve Area and the Spell Area with its Brain Malfunction cards, Decoy cards, Hypnor Pile and Discard Pile.]

Magic Recharge

The active player may discard two cards (from his/her hand, Reserve, Terrain Area or Spell Area) to gain 1 mana. This action may be used more than once per turn.

3. End Phase

The active player discards all remaining cards in his/her hand and then draws 5 new cards. If the deck is depleted before 5 cards are drawn, the discard pile is shuffled forming the new deck and the player keeps drawing until he/she has 5 cards.

Scoring

At the end of each round (after the 6th, 12th and 18th turn) a scoring phase occurs.

Each player scores 1 VP for each Magic Shrine he/she controls.

Note: This is not the only time the players score VPs. They also score 4 VPs each time they kill an enemy Hero.

Death of a Hero

If a Hero is reduced to 0 HP, he/she is killed. The opponent scores 4 VPs and the Hero's figure is removed from the board. The Hero's Health is restored to maximum and any Special Tokens on the Hero Board are removed but all the cards in the Spell Area, Terrain Area and the Reserve remain. At the end of the current Phase, the Hero is respawned and is placed on his/her starting space.

Special Tokens

Burn Token

Burn Tokens are sometimes placed on a Hero's Board. At the Upkeep Phase of each turn, if there are any Burn Tokens on the active player's Hero Board, the Hero rolls one die for each Burn Token. For each roll of 5 or 6, a Token is discarded. For each Burn Token remaining the Hero suffers 1 damage. Afterwards they may be discarded by paying 2 mana for each Token discarded.

Brain Damage Token

Brain Damage Tokens are sometimes placed on a Hero as a result of a special attack. They have the same effect as the Burn Tokens with the following differences:

• The Hero's Armor is reduced by one (to a minimum of 1) for each Brain Damage Token on his/her Hero Board.
• 3 mana (instead of 2) are required in order to discard a Brain Damage Token.

Stun Token

A Hero with a Stun Token on his/her Hero Board may either move or attack/cast a spell during the Hero Phase but not both. If the Hero chooses to attack/cast a spell, he/she may not move during the same turn by using Special Cards. If the Hero plays the "Fast Attack" Skill Card, he/she may either move and attack/cast a spell or attack twice without moving or attack and cast a spell without moving. The Stun Token is removed at the end of the player's Hero Phase. A Hero may never have more than one Stun Token on the Hero Sheet.

Creature's Special Abilities

• Ready to Fight: This creature may move and/or attack in the same turn that was summoned.
• Fast: This creature has speed 3 (instead of 2).
• Burn Attack: When this creature attacks it also deals a Burn Attack 1.
• Stun Attack: When this creature attacks it also deals a Stun Attack 1.

Note: If a creature's Attack has a * (like Magie's Pyromancer), the creature may use the Special Attack instead of its normal attack.

Buildings

• Magic Shrines: If neutral, they can be captured by a Hero for 2 mana. If controlled, they can be attacked and have 1 Armor and 7 HP. If they are destroyed, the crystal on top is removed and the Shrine stays on the board and reverts to its neutral state.
• Mage Tower: They cost 5 mana, have 1 Armor and 7 HP. They increase the Armor of all allied characters within 2 hexes by 1 and they generate 1 mana at each Upkeep Phase of their controller.
• Defence Tower: They cost 5 mana, have 1 Armor and 7 HP. During their controller's Upkeep Phase they restore 2 HP to each allied character within 2 hexes and also deal Attack 3 to each enemy character within 2 hexes. Whenever an enemy moves into the range of a Defence Tower nothing happens, but if he tries to move out of its range in the same turn the tower deals Attack 2 to it before he moves out.

Special Rules for 4 Players

The game is similar to the one with 2 players, but with the following changes:

• During setup, the players are first divided into 2 teams, Telin's team and Helloder's team.
• Place the 4 Heroes on the board as shown in the image below. [Diagram: 4-player setup on the Game Board.]
• Each team shares its score, meaning that only two crystals should be placed on the VP track, one for each team. Every time a player gains VPs, they are awarded to the team instead.
• Teams take their turns alternately. For example if Bob and Gary are in Helloder's team and Sandy and Patrick are in Telin's team and Bob has rolled the most "4"s out of 7 dice, then the players should take their turns in the following order: Bob, Sandy, Gary, and Patrick.
• Each player gains mana separately at the beginning of his/her turn as per the rules for 2 players.

Card Description

[Diagram: Sample card "Mental Slap" labelled with Casting Cost (4), Skill/Spell icon, Card Name, Range (0-2), Card Text ("Attack 5 & Brain Damage Attack 1"), and Emblem (Spell of Doom).]

Token Description

[Diagram: Sample creature token (bear) labelled with Special Ability, HP (10), Armor (2), and Attack (2).]

Full Explanation of Skills and Spell Cards

Skill Cards

• Mana: Gain 1 mana.
• Run: Give a character you control +1 Speed until the end of the turn.
• Magic Shield [Counter]: Give a character you control +1 Armor until the start of your next turn (max 3).
• Heal: Restore 2 HP to a character you control (can not exceed starting HP).
• Fast Attack: Choose a character you control. That character is allowed to attack twice this turn. A Hero may instead attack once and cast a spell. Can not be played more than once per turn on the same character.
• Tower Conjuration: Construct a building paying 1 less mana.
• Accuracy: Choose a character you control. The next time he/she attacks or casts a spell this turn, roll (but not keep) one extra die.
• Strong Attack: Give a character you control +1 Attack for its next Attack this turn (not from Spell).
• Counter Attack [Counter]: May only be activated from the Reserve. Reveal when an opponent declares an attack or a spell cast against one of your characters. The defending character may immediately attack the opponent before the original attack or spell resolves. If the opponent dies as a result of the Counter Attack, the original attack or spell is canceled.
• Summoning: You may summon one or more available creatures from your Hero Board on the game board, paying each creature's cost in mana. Creatures can not move or attack on the same turn they are summoned.

Terrain Skills

• Friendly Area [Terrain]: May be activated at any time. When revealed, immediately restore 3 HP to a friendly character in this or an adjacent hex.
• Exploding Area [Terrain]: May be activated during your turn, or on another player's turn when an enemy character is moved in this or in any adjacent hex. When revealed, immediately deal Attack 3 to the selected character.

Spell Cards

Don't forget! You may never cast more than one Spell per turn!

Magie's Spells

Magie's special ability: When attacking, Magie can pay 1 mana to roll 1 extra die (Fire Attack).

• Fireball: Fireball deals a lot of damage to a single enemy character or building. It also gets stronger if you activate several Fireball cards together while its cost remains the same. When you cast Fireball, target an enemy character or building within 3 spaces of Magie, pay 2 mana and discard one or more Fireball cards from your Spell Area:
  • 1 Fireball card: Attack 3
  • 2 Fireball cards: Attack 5
  • 3 Fireball cards: Attack 7 & Burn Attack 1
• Fire Blast: Nova Blast deals minor damage to many opponents at once. Pay 2 mana to target a hex within 2 hexes of Magie and deal Attack 3 to all enemy characters and buildings in that hex and Attack 2 to all enemy characters and buildings on all adjacent hexes.
• Fire Arrows: Fire Arrows deals minor damage to one target character, has a chance to give it multiple Burn Tokens if it is a Hero, and also deal additional minor damage to all enemies in an adjacent hex. When activated, pay 2 mana to target an enemy character within 2 hexes of Magie and one of the three adjacent hexes behind the target where the Collateral Attack will be dealt and discard one or more Fire Arrows cards from your Spell Area. (The card text, X-number of Fire Arrows roll 3X dice: [X] max → Burn Attack X; [X] mid → Attack X; [X] min → Collateral Attack X, is only partly legible in the printed card image and is transcribed as shown on the card.)
• Dragon Spirit (cost 4, range 0-1, Spell of Doom): Summon the Dragon.

Fire Arrows resolution:

• 1 Fire Arrows card: Roll 3 dice and place them in ascending order. The highest die is a Burn Attack on the target, the middle is an Attack on the target (deals damage if the die result exceeds the target's Armor), while the lowest die is an Attack on all enemy characters and buildings in the adjacent hex (compared to each enemy's Armor individually).
• 2 Fire Arrows cards: Roll 6 dice and place them in 3 groups of ascending order (for example, a roll of 6,4,4,3,2,1 will be grouped in pairs [6,4] [4,3] and [2,1]). The highest group is a Burn Attack 2 on the target, the middle group is an Attack 2 on the target, while the lowest group is an Attack 2 on all enemy characters and buildings in the adjacent hex.

[Diagram: Fire Arrows example with a burn attack, an attack and a collateral attack group of dice.]

• Dragon Spirit [Spell of Doom]: When you cast Dragon Spirit immediately summon the powerful Dragon creature within two hexes of Magie for 4 mana. If the Dragon is already in play you can immediately relocate it in Magie's hex or in an adjacent hex, with full HP as if you had just summoned it.

Byron's Spells

• Rock Throw: Rock Throw deals a lot of damage to a single enemy character or building. It also gets stronger if you activate several cards together while its cost remains the same. When you cast Rock Throw, target an enemy character or building within 3 spaces of Byron, pay 2 mana and discard one or more Rock Throw cards from your Spell Area:
  • 1 Rock Throw card: Attack 3
  • 2 Rock Throw cards: Attack 5
  • 3 Rock Throw cards: Attack 8
• Stoneskin [Counter]: Stoneskin is a Counter Spell, which means that it can be cast either on your turn or on another player's turn (from the Reserve) immediately after an attack or spell targets Byron, to increase Byron's Armor by 2 until your next upkeep Phase by paying 2 mana. With Stoneskin Byron's normal maximum limit of 3 Armor is increased to 5 for the duration of the Spell (for example, if he has 2 Armor and casts Stoneskin, his Armor will be 4 until the beginning of your next upkeep phase).
• Earthquake: Earthquake deals minor damage to multiple enemy characters and buildings surrounding your Hero, and also has a chance to stun enemy Heroes. When you cast Earthquake, pay 2 mana to deal Attack 2 to all enemy characters and buildings in your Hero's hex and all adjacent hexes and also Stun Attack 1 to all enemy Heroes in those hexes.
• Overpower [Spell of Doom]: Overpower deals major damage to an opponent and also significantly increases Byron's odds of surviving for the following round. When you cast Overpower, pay 4 mana to deal Attack 6 to an enemy character or building within 2 hexes of Byron, restore 5 HP to Byron and increase his Armor by 2 until your next upkeep phase. With Overpower Byron's normal maximum limit of 3 Armor is increased to 5 for the duration of the Spell.

Note: Stone Skin and Overpower are the only two ways to increase a character's Armor above 3.

Oakheart's Spells

• Dogs: When you cast Dogs immediately summon two Dog creatures within two hexes of Oakheart.
• Hawks: When you cast Hawks immediately summon a Hawk creature within two hexes of Oakheart for 2 mana.
• Healing Ward: Healing Ward is a spell that heals allies and also allows you to cast another spell. When Healing Ward is cast, pay 1 mana to restore 2 HP to Oakheart and all allied characters within 2 hexes of him. This does not count as your spell cast this turn, which means that you may also attack or cast another spell this turn.

Note: This is the only case where you can play more than one spell in the same turn.

• War Bear [Spell of Doom]: When you cast War Bear immediately summon the powerful War Bear creature within two hexes of Oakheart for 4 mana. If War Bear is already in play you can immediately relocate it Oakheart's hex or in an adjacent hex, with full HP as if you had just summoned it.

Hypnor's Spells

• Brain Malfunction: Brain Malfunction deals damage to an enemy hero and forces your opponent to discard some of his/her cards. When you cast Brain Malfunction, target an enemy character within 3 spaces of Hypnor, pay 2 mana and discard one or more Brain Malfunction cards from your Spell Area:

  • 1 Brain Malfunction card: Attack 2 and if the target is a Hero force the Hero's controller to discard one card from his/her hand at random.
  • 2 Brain Malfunction cards: Attack 4 and if the target is a Hero force its controller to discard two cards from his/her hand at random.

• Decoy [Counter]: Decoy allows Hypnor to avoid an incoming Attack/Spell, while dealing some damage to the attacker! Since it is a Counter Spell, you may cast it immediately when an opponent targets Hypnor with an Attack/Spell but before any dice are rolled. Roll a die: on a roll of "4+", pay 2 mana, discard the Decoy card, attack the opponent with Hypnor if he/she is within 2 spaces of him, and then you may move Hypnor to an adjacent hex. The original Attack/Spell is canceled if the opponent dies as a result of Hypnor's Attack or if Hypnor is now out of its range. If the Decoy roll failed, then the Attack/Spell continues normally, but you do not discard the Decoy card and do not pay its cost.

  Note: This is the only case where you get to keep a Spell Card after you attempt to cast it.

  [Diagram: Hypnor casts Decoy successfully (roll of "4") and therefore he attacks and moves.]

• Ensnare [Counter]: Ensnare deals minor damage to multiple characters and buildings in an area. Since it is a Counter Spell, you may cast it either on your turn or in another player's turn for 2 mana to target a hex anywhere on the board containing a Terrain Token or an adjacent hex and deal Attack 2 to all enemy characters and buildings in that hex and Attack 1 to all enemy characters and buildings in the surrounding hexes.

Tips and Advice for the First Games

• If this is your first game, you should try the 2-player game with Magie and Byron, since they are the most strategically straightforward Heroes.
• Mana is very important so make sure that you gain enough each turn (either by Magic Shrines or Mage Towers).
• Don't be afraid to attack early! You might catch your opponent off guard and kill his Hero scoring 4 precious points and then build up your defense to keep the difference.
• Towers are very powerful! A few strategically built towers from the early game can give you a significant advantage but they need a lot of mana, so be careful: if you concentrate only on building you might be vulnerable to surprise attacks.

Round Overview

Each turn a player can take any of the following actions in any order:

• Move a character up to its speed.
• Attack with a character on his hex or on an adjacent hex - once per round.
• Upgrade a Hero's ability - once per turn.
• Cast a spell from the Spell Area - once per turn and counts as the Hero's Attack for the turn.
• Build an available building in the Hero's hex.
• Capture a neutral Magic Shrine in the Hero's hex.
• Play cards from hand in any of the following ways:
  1. Activate a Skill card immediately (then put it in the discard pile).
  2. Prepare a Spell card (in the Spell Area).
  3. Place a Terrain card face-down (in the Terrain Area).
  4. Reserve a card face-down for later use (1 mana) (in the Reserve).
• Magic Recharge - discard any 2 cards for 1 mana.