The Veil

The Veil Rulebook

Table of Contents

Objective

Reduce your opponent's Health total to zero.

Set Up

Each player chooses a Hero card. Every Hero has an accompanying 8 cards for their Starting Deck and 36 cards for their Fate Deck.

Shuffle your Fate Deck, place it to the right of your Hero, and put the top 4 cards from that deck face up. These 4 cards are called your Fate Route. You will purchase cards from your own Fate Route throughout the game.

Separate from your Fate Deck, shuffle your Starting Deck and draw 5 cards.

Who Goes First

The Hero with the lowest Health total goes first and begins the game with one less card on their first turn (4 cards). If both Heroes have equal Health, toss a coin—the winner of the toss decides who goes first.

Mulligan Your Fate Route

Before beginning the first turn, players have an opportunity to mulligan a card once from each of the 4 slots in their Fate Route. Do this by taking a card from your Fate Route, place it on the bottom of your Fate Deck, and replace the empty slot in your Fate Route with a card off the top of your Fate Deck.

The player taking their turn first would be the first player to mulligan any cards in their Fate Route.

All players must have their Fate Routes visible, before the first player mulligans any cards.

After the first player has had an opportunity to mulligan cards from their Fate Route, the player to their left then may mulligan cards from their Fate Route. This process continues until each player has had an opportunity to mulligan cards from their Fate Route.

After all players have decided what cards they are keeping in their initial Fate Route, the player who goes first begins their first turn with one less card in their hand (4 cards instead of 5).

Playing Cards

You may only play cards on your turn. All cards in your Hand may be played in any order and at no cost. (This is because you started with them or you already purchased them from your Fate Route.)

When you play a card from your Hand, the effect of the card is available immediately, but may be used when it most benefits you.

Any cards you do not play from your Hand are discarded into your Discard Pile.

The card diagram labels its parts as follows:

COST to buy this card from your Fate Route.
NAME of this card.
CARD TYPE will specify what category this card belongs to and any relevant subcategories (like Recruit).
CARD ABILITIES allow you to take different actions during your turn. In addition to Damage, Health, Gold, and Synergies, many cards have abilities presented as written text.

The icons on the card-anatomy spread are explained as follows.

Gold Coin- This generates wealth for your Hero, which you use to purchase cards from your Fate Route (Cost is indicated at the top right of a card.). Any gold not spent during your turn is forfeited at the end of your turn.

Damage- Tally up all damage you generated this turn and deal it, as you choose, to Recruits or your opponent's Hero. Any unassigned damage is forfeited at the end of your turn.

Health- Used to heal your Hero or Villain. Your Hero or Villain cannot heal beyond its starting Health. Any Health not assigned to heal Heroes or Villains is forfeited at the end of your turn.

SELF BANISHING- This card can Banish itself. After playing it and using its indicated ability, you may choose to Banish this card to cause the described effect.

When your card is Banished it is sent to your Banished Pile, adjacent to your Fate Deck.

When another player's card is Banished it is sent to their Banished Pile, adjacent to their Fate Deck.

Synergies- There are 3 types of cards you will see with synergy bonuses: Aggro (red dragon), Control (blue lock & chains), and Support (green cornucopia).

If more than one of a type is in play on your turn, all of that type's Synergies may trigger that turn.

You may choose to activate these synergies during your turn, when it most benefits you. Each Synergy is only triggered once per turn.

Any activated synergies that are not utilized during your turn are forfeited at the end of your turn.

Card Abilities

In addition to Gold, Damage, Health, and Synergies, many cards have abilities presented as written text.

Card abilities can be utilized at any point during your turn, once you have played the card from your Hand. You may choose to activate those abilities, once during your turn, when it most benefits you.

Any abilities you do not utilize during your turn are forfeited at the end of your turn.

Restoring Your Deck

When your Starting Deck runs out of cards, shuffle your Discard Pile and place the new Deck face down where your Starting Deck was.

Your Deck is no longer referred to as a "Starting Deck" once there are any Non-Basic cards in it.

Whenever you need to draw a card from your Deck and it is out of cards, shuffle your current Discard Pile. It now becomes your next Deck to draw from. Put your newly shuffled Deck where your old Deck was, opening up your Discard Pile.

Purchasing Cards

When a card is purchased or acquired from your Fate Route, place it into your Discard Pile and replace the empty slot in your Fate Route with the top card from your Fate Deck.

Ending Your Turn

After you have taken all actions you wish to this turn, put all non-Recruit cards into your Discard Pile and draw 5 cards for your next turn.

Let your opponent know they can now begin their turn.

Recruits

Recruits have Health similar to your Hero. They remain in play until they have received damage equal to their Health. At the end of any turn, if a Recruit is not killed by damage, it is fully healed. Killed Recruits are placed in your Discard Pile (to be later reshuffled into your Deck).

When a Recruit uses its abilities, it becomes Exhausted (turn the Recruit sideways). This serves as a reminder that you cannot use that ability more than once per turn. At the end of your turn, Ready any Exhausted cards you have in play (by turning your Recruits and/or Hero right side up).

Recruits still alive from a previous turn are in play at the beginning of your turn. It is possible to trigger Synergies before you have played a single card, if you have at least 2 Recruits of the same type in play at the beginning of your turn.

Some Recruits have the Shield ability. Any damage dealt must be applied to any and all Shield Recruits before damage can be applied anywhere else. This means Recruits with Shield must be killed before any other target can be damaged.

Slaying a Recruit

There are card effects that allow you to slay a Recruit. Slaying a Recruit kills it instantly without damage, putting it into that player's Discard Pile. You CAN slay Recruits without Shield, even when other Shield Recruits are in play.

Banished Cards

Cards that are Banished are gone for good. Place them face up in a Banished Pile adjacent to your Fate Deck.

There are some cards that interact with Banished cards. Other players are allowed to see your Discard Pile and your Banished Pile.

Target Player

Many cards allow you to target a player for a specific action or ability. If the card reads "Target Player", you may select yourself, your teammate, or any opponent as that targeted player for the described effect.

Other Targets

Some cards allow you to target a Recruit, or a Target Fate Route, or a Target Deck, etc.

In all cases, when you target something, you declare what you are intending to target before the effect is resolved.

There are some abilities that can change a target or negate the effect, so it is important to declare your target before resolving the ability.

Editor's note: in the printed rulebook, the "Target Player" page (printed p. 12) ends with the "Other Targets" and "Discard a Card" passages, and the following page (printed p. 13) repeats the "Other Targets" and "Discard a Card" passages word for word. The repeat is shown once here; the text is otherwise as printed.

Discard a Card

When you force another player to Discard a card, unless the ability says otherwise, the player discarding from their Hand is who chooses which card they are Discarding.

Hero Ability

Your Hero card will have an ability that complements its deck and play style. You may only use a Hero ability once per turn (on your turn) by exhausting your Hero in the same way you would a Recruit. There is almost always a condition to using the Hero ability.

Turn Order

The Veil was designed so that a strict adherence to turn order and sequencing is not required in most situations. The turn order is as follows:

Primary Phase

Play any cards from your Hand—tallying Gold, Health, Damage, and activating Synergies. Abilities like Banishing cards, Slaying Recruits, and Drawing cards can be resolved when they most benefit you.

You may Exhaust your Hero or Recruits to activate described abilities during this phase. This may trigger additional Synergies and require you to tally additional Gold, Health, and Damage.

Any cards you do not wish to play are immediately placed into your Discard Pile.

Gold

Purchase any cards you can afford from your own Fate Route, subtracting from your Gold total that you generated this turn.

Any abilities that allow you to acquire cards without purchasing them would be resolved in this phase.

Health

Distribute Health to your Hero's Health total or to any Health total belonging to a Hero or Villain on your team, subtract from the Health tally you generated this turn.

Damage

Deal Damage from your Damage tally first to your opponent's Shield Recruits. Then if any Damage remains and no opposing Shield Recruits are in play, you may deal the remaining damage as you choose to your opponent's Non-Shield Recruits and/or the Health total of opposing Heroes or Villains.

End Phase

Declare your turn is over, Ready any of your Exhausted Recruits and your Hero (or Villain), and draw 5 new cards from your Deck. Any unspent Gold, Health, Damage, or unresolved abilities is lost at the end of your turn.

Traps

Some Fate Decks contain a different card type called a Trap. Upon purchase, place the trap from your Fate Route into an opponent's Discard Pile.

The next time that player shuffles their Discard Pile to create a new Deck, that Trap is included into that Deck.

When your opponent plays that trap from their Hand, later in the game, an adverse effect occurs (as described on the card).

Traps must always be played first, before any other cards can be played that turn.

When a Trap is Discarded from a player's Hand, it is placed into the discarding player's Discard Pile (as if it were their card).

When a Trap is Banished, it is placed into the Banished Pile belonging to the original Fate Deck it was purchased from (back to the player who first purchased the Trap).

Auras

Some Fate Decks contain a different card type called an Aura. Auras create an effect for that player only when they are in the Fate Route. They cannot be purchased or placed into your Discard Pile or Deck.

During your turn, you may Banish an Aura in your Fate Route and replace that slot in your Fate Route with the top card of your Fate Deck.

Reveal Abilities

Some cards have an ability that reads, "On an opponent's turn, reveal this card…"

The Reveal ability can only be resolved on an opponent's turn. If you forget to reveal it during your opponent's turn, you cannot retroactively activate the ability on your turn.

The Reveal mechanic is one of the only abilities in The Veil that is resolved during an opponent's turn.

Preventing Damage

When preventing Damage from an opponent, you are essentially reducing their damage total for that turn.

After you have declared how much damage you are preventing, your opponent then decides how to allocate their total damage.

Raising Maximum Health

There are a few cards that allow you to raise the maximum Health of a Hero (or Villain) while that card is in your Banished Pile. Changing your Hero's maximum Health is a separate function from Healing or Damage.

If your Barbarian (with maximum Health 55) has been damaged down to 46 Health, Banish your Inner Strength card to increase your maximum Health by 2, then your maximum Health would be 57 (and you would remain at 46 Health). You may now Heal beyond 55 Health (up to 59 Health while that card remains in your Banished Pile).

If Inner Strength is removed from your Banished Pile, your maximum Health would be lowered from 59 Health back down to 55 Health.

Remember your Hero can never have more Health than your maximum Health.

Banishing Cards in a Fate Deck

Some cards allow you to "Banish a card from the top of target player's Fate Deck." You do not lose the game if you have no cards in your Fate Deck or your Fate Route.

Ending the Game

A player is eliminated when their Hero or Villain's Health total is less than 1.

Players alternate taking turns (playing cards from your Hand, exhausting your Recruits and Hero to utilize abilities, purchasing cards from your Fate Route, healing, and damaging your opponent) until all opposing Heroes and Villains have been eliminated.

Clean Up

It is recommended that at the completion of each game you return all decks to their starting assortment. Each Fate Deck is composed of 36 cards (Agro, Control, Support, and sometimes Auras or Traps). Each Hero's Starting Deck is composed of 8 Basic cards.

If cards get mixed up, you can always check the back of a Hero's card to see the complete deck list for that particular Hero and its Fate Deck.

Editor's note: the printed rulebook spells the synergy type "Agro" here, while elsewhere it is "Aggro". Transcribed as printed.

Villains

Villains were designed to oppose 2 Heroes. Villains are stronger, faster, and usually more aggressive.

When playing against a Villain, the 2 Heroes combine their Health totals and take their turns simultaneously, coordinating their attack.

For a greater challenge, you may elect to keep your team's Health totals separate.

Suggested Matches

1 Hero VS 1 Hero
1 Villain VS 1 Villain
2 Heroes VS 1 Villain
1 Hero VS 1 Hero VS 1 Hero
2 Heroes VS 2 Heroes
1 Hero VS 1 Hero VS 1 Hero VS 1 Hero
1 Hero & 1 Villain VS 1 Hero & 1 Villain
2 Villains VS 2 Villains
3 Heroes VS 1 Villain & 1 Hero

Multiplayer Matches

When playing in a team game with more than one player, combine the Health of each Hero (and Villain) on your team and take your team's turn simultaneously, coordinating your attack.

Your opponent's team will also have a single Health total, so your Damage will be dealt to Shield Recruits first, then to the remaining Recruits and the opposing team's Health total as you choose.

For a greater challenge, you may elect to keep your team's Health totals separate.

Healing Teammates

Any card that allows you to heal your own character can also be used to heal any Hero or Villain on your team.

Remember that you cannot heal any Hero, Villain, or team higher than their starting Health.

Tips & Strategies

You do not want too many expensive cards in your Fate Route at the start of the game. If you begin the game with several cards that cost 5 or more, consider a mulligan for all of those slots in your Fate Route.

Heroes, with very low starting Health, often need to focus on either Shield Recruits or cards that provide your Hero with Health in order to compete.

The Notoriety and Dispel cards cannot be used to Banish themselves because they are no longer in your Hand once you play their abilities.

Eliminating all your opponent's Recruits each turn is often the best way to make sure you are not overwhelmed.

Some Heroes have natural advantages over others. If you are having difficulty defeating a particular Hero, consider altering what types of cards you purchase from your Fate Route.

You can play cards from your Hand in any order, but look closely at the abilities and synergies. Triggering synergies in a particular order can sometimes be advantageous to you.

There are a few cards in the game that permit you to interact with Banished cards. However, they are rare.

Alternate Play Modes

Solo Opponent Cards

Now that you understand how to play THE VEIL, you may wish to play against an automated Solo Opponent. Solo Opponent play instructions are printed on a distinct card. These cards are designed to function with any Hero (or Villain), their accompanying Starting Deck, and their accompanying Fate Deck.

You may either select the Solo Opponent card of your choice or randomly choose it by shuffling all Solo Opponent cards into a small deck and drawing one of these cards.

Separately shuffle your Hero's Fate Deck and Starting Deck from your Solo Opponent's Fate Deck and Starting Deck. Flip the top 4 cards from each Fate Deck to create each player's Fate Route, then play a normal game of THE VEIL with the Solo Opponent card providing the instructions for how your opponent plays. (Hero with lowest Health goes first. Any time a Hero has less than 1 Health, it loses the game.)

Due to the final instructions on each Solo Opponent card, you will want to track how many turns have elapsed during a game. The third turn begins after both players have completed their second turn, and the same occurs for each additional round.

If the Solo Opponent card instructs you to perform an action and you can't, simply move on to the next part of the instruction.

Many of the Solo Opponents will not activate their Hero's ability, will have some unused actions during their turn, or may not be able to purchase any cards from their Fate Route. Don't be too concerned about this.

Each opponent becomes significantly more powerful at around turn 7. The Solo Opponent ability that unlocks around turn 7 is treated as that player's final instruction on each turn (after completing all other instructed actions that turn).

In most instances your Hero's survival is far less likely beyond turn 9, so try to defeat that Solo Opponent before the Solo Opponent becomes too powerful.

The Reward Card Fate Route

In this mode of play, each player would select their own Hero (or Villain) character as normal, with their own distinct Fate Deck and Starting Deck. The yellow-colored Reward cards are shuffled into their own deck and positioned between the two or more players. Put the top 4 cards from this Reward Deck face up, this new "community" Fate Route can be purchased from by any player.

You may combine multiple Reward cards from different Veil sets and different player's Veil cards to create this Reward Card Fate Route.

On their turn, each player could purchase from their own Fate Route (like a normal game of THE VEIL), and they can also purchase from this Reward Fate Route.

During any player's turn, Auras in the Reward Fate Route may be utilized or Banished from that Fate Route as if they were in your own Fate Route. Any card, that allows you to Banish a card in your Fate Route, may be used to Banish a card in the Reward Fate Route. Any card, that allows you to Banish a card in an opponent's Fate Route, may be used to Banish a card in the Reward Fate Route.

The Reward Draft

In this alternate mode of play, after selecting their Hero (or Villain), each player would take turns selecting a card of their choice from the pool of available Reward cards. The Hero with the lowest Health would draft a Reward card first.

After the drafting phase is concluded, each player shuffles their drafted Reward cards into their Hero (or Villains) Fate Deck and plays the game following standard rules.

You may combine multiple Reward cards from different Veil sets and different player's Veil cards to create this pool of Reward cards to draft.

During the Draft phase of your game, there are some limitations to your adjusted decks:

Each player can only select 1 Reward card that costs 7 Gold.
Each player can only select 2 Reward cards of the same cost. (Example: Up to two cards that cost 4 Gold could be selected, up to 2 cards that cost 6 Gold could be selected, etc.)
Each player cannot select more than 10 Reward cards to be included in their Fate Deck.

Campaign Mode

This mode of play involves individualized missions, which can be played solo or with a cooperative group of players.

Basic set-up remains the same (Fate Deck, Starting Deck, Hero, etc.), however, each mission will provide a different challenge and objective.

Each Campaign Book starts a new adventure, and you are not required to play Campaign 1 before playing Campaign 2 or 3 (However, there are elements of backstory and lore that would benefit from playing the Campaigns in order.)

The game is still turn-based, and the campaign enemy will have an automatic action taken on their turn. When you are playing with allies, you and your allies will take your turn simultaneously.

If the mission says you take your turn first, remember that your first turn begins with one less card in your hand (4 instead of 5).

If you are victorious in the mission, you may each receive the reward and then continue to the appropriate page of the adventure.

Most missions require you to eliminate the Health of your opponent to be victorious. Campaign Enemy Health must be tracked during a mission. Campaign Enemies do not fully heal between turns like Recruits do.

Campaign Rewards

Campaign adventures may take more than one gaming session to complete. To track your character's progress, we recommend making photocopies of the Character Sheet provided in the back of the Campaign book (or print a Character sheet from DeathAngel.online). Use a pencil to mark your starting cards, which you will exchange for better cards as your character progresses.

When you gain a reward that replaces an existing card in your starting deck, remove the replaced card and set it aside. You will usually be replacing Basic cards (your Hero's Starting Deck), however, you may elect to replace Non-basic cards in your Deck. If you do, the replaced Non-Basic card will return to your Fate Deck.

Reward Cards

Many of the Campaign adventures will reward your victories by allowing you to substitute one card from your Starting Deck with another card from your Fate Deck for the remainder of the Campaign.

Instead of selecting a card from your Fate Deck, you may choose to select a REWARD CARD of the appropriate cost.

Reward Cards were first introduced in Set 2- The Veil: Rulers of Darkness.

Between Missions

At the conclusion of each Campaign page (or mission), you will resolve either the Victory or Defeat condition as listed at the bottom of the page.

After collecting any Rewards, you will reset the playing area before continuing to the next designated page.

This reset includes restoring your Hero to full Health, returning any cards purchased from your Fate Route back to your Fate Deck, returning any cards in your Banished Pile back to your Fate Deck, and resetting your Starting Deck.

Your Starting Deck should always be 8 cards. As you collect Rewards throughout the campaign, the 8 cards composing your Starting Deck will change. Therefore, keep track of what Reward cards replaced which basic cards from your Starting Deck.

Once your 8 Starting Cards are shuffled, your Fate Deck is shuffled, and your Hero's Health is restored to full, you are ready to progress to the next mission page.

A Villain's Campaign

You may choose to play your Campaign as a Villain instead of a Hero. If you do decide to play as a Villain, treat your Villain as if it were 2 Heroes.

Many of the Campaign enemies you face will become more powerful against multiple Heroes. You may choose to have a cooperative team of Villains and Heroes--remember to scale your Campaign enemies as the mission indicates (counting each Villain in the party as 2 Heroes).

A Villain still only receives one reward (as listed) upon completing a mission.

Death Options

You (and your teammates) have an important decision to make. Hardcore or Casual?

It is possible you (and your teammates) may die at some point in the Campaign. When you are defeated, you will read the DEFEAT text, often concluding with the dreaded words "game over."

Editor's note: the printed rulebook reads "f you choose to play Hardcore"; the opening letter is missing in the print, and it is transcribed here as "If".

If you choose to play Hardcore, when you (and your teammates) are defeated that is the end. You must restart at page 1 with your original starting deck.

Casual mode is far more forgiving. If you permit your defeated team of characters to replay a particular mission, it is recommended that all players decide how many "tries" your party has at the beginning of the campaign.

In either mode of play, if one player survives and wins the mission objective then the entire party may advance to the next mission.

Allies

Throughout the Campaign, you may be joined by other brave souls inhabiting the world of The Veil. Allies have an ability similar to a Hero and will absorb some damage in battle. You may heal Allies on your team as you would heal any other teammate.

Even if an Ally dies in a mission (if you or one of your teammates survive to the end and fulfill the mission's objective), the slain Ally will return to life in your party for the next mission.

Roster

The Roster is simply the list of Allies in your party. When an Ally leaves your Roster, you may no longer use them on missions.

If the Campaign Reward includes an Ally who joins your Party's Roster, remember that you and other Player's on your team all are in the same Party. You would only add one Ally to your party, not an Ally for each player.

Unslayable

The Unslayable symbol indicates that the Slay mechanic may not be used to instantly kill this particular campaign enemy.

Any campaign enemy that does not have the unslayable symbol may be slain with the Slay mechanic as though they were a Recruit.

Damage Distribution

Most of the campaign enemies deal damage on their turn. Unless the mission states otherwise, ENEMY DAMAGE IS ALWAYS DEALT TO TARGETS IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER:

Shield Recruits
Recruits without Shield
The Hero, Villain, or Ally with the highest Health

Diverging Paths

As your party makes decisions in the Campaign, you may come to a point where some players wish to journey a different path than others. This is permissible, and if you have only one copy of the Campaign book, remember that the PDF and additional content are available at our website.