Wiz-War (9th Edition) Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• How to Win
• Setup
• The Turn
  • Movement
  • The Board
  • Going Around the World
  • Rearranging the Board
• Cards
  • Numbers
  • Spells
  • Keeping Track of Spell Duration
  • Targeting
• Objects
  • Creating Objects
  • Picking Up Objects
  • Discarding Objects
  • Treasures
  • Throwing Objects
  • Magic Objects
  • Terrain
• Attacks
• Death

Components

This box contains:

• These rules
• Six square gameboard "sectors." These are two-sided; either side can be used.
• 119 cards
• Two sheets of tokens, including wizard standies
• Eight colored bases for wizards
• Six black bases for Portals
• Six Life Counters
• One eight-sided d4 die
• Six six-sided dice

How to Win

The winner is the first to have two victory points. You win at the moment you score your second point. There are two ways to score a point:

Treasure. If you have an enemy Treasure on your Lair, you have a victory point. But note that if the Treasure is removed, you lose that point again!

Kills. If you kill an enemy, you get one victory point. To kill a foe, you must take away their last life point. This can be direct (with a fireball, for instance) or indirect (destroying a wall next to them).

Thus, you can win the game with two stolen Treasures, two kills, or one of each.

You can lose Wiz-War before the end of the game. If your life points go to 0, you are dead (see Death, p. 5.)

You also win if all your foes are out, even if you did not get two victory points.

Setup

First, build the board. Choose, randomly or by agreement, as many sectors as there are players. Put them together in the starting pattern for your number of players, from 2 to 6 (see p. 2). This is now the playing board. Remember to place the colored Portals at the edges of the board, as shown in the starting pattern.

Each player now picks a color and takes the wizard, the round Lair marker, and the two Treasures of that color.

Each player puts their Lair marker into the hole in the center of the sector closest to them. Put your wizard on the marker. That square is now your Lair. Put your two Treasures on the Treasure chest images.

Now shuffle the cards and deal seven, face down, to each player. Set the rest aside as a draw deck, and leave room for a face-up discard deck. If you run out of cards, you will reshuffle the discards.

Give each player a Life Counter, with the dial set at 15. It can go no higher than 20 - your life is capped at 20.

To determine who goes first, roll a die. The highest roller goes first, and play continues clockwise.

No attacks are allowed on the first turn. You may still play an Attack card, but only to use its number.

The Turn

On your turn, you may move, play one Attack card if you wish, and play as many Neutral and Counter cards as you like. You may do these things in any order, dividing the movement between them as you choose.

You may also pick up a single object. Your turn ends the moment you pick it up.

For instance, you could start your turn by playing a "3" card, giving you 6 Move (see Movement, below). You say "I'm moving six squares this turn." Then you move two squares, cast an attack spell, let your target play their Counter (if any), move back three squares, drop a Treasure on your Lair, create a wall, and move your last square.

At the end of your turn, after you take your last action, discard as many cards as you like and draw up to seven. Note that objects you have in play, like the Master Key, count toward this seven.

Optional rule: For a longer and more strategic game, limit players to two cards per turn when drawing.

Movement

You have a base movement of three squares per turn. Movement is always up, down, right, or left - never diagonal. At the start of your turn, you may play a Number to increase your Move. For instance, if you play a "4" card, you would start by saying "I am moving seven squares."

You may move through other characters and even end your turn on their square.

If a magic spell makes you move randomly, use the d4 to determine direction. If random movement makes you bump into a wall or other terrain, lose one movement point and roll again.

You may use cards before, after, or at any time during your move (except that if you pick up an object, your move is now completely over - no more cards can be played).

The Board

The board has one sector for each player. Each sector is divided into 25 squares. A colored Lair is at the middle of each sector.

The sectors are set up according to the diagrams to the right (Two Players, Three Players, Four Players, Five Players (no Portals), Six Players).

The sectors show two kinds of terrain: Walls and Doors. (New terrain may be added during play, as described under Objects.)

Walls are heavy and black. You cannot cross them without magic, nor can a Line of Sight (LOS) cross a wall. Walls can be destroyed or added; there are tokens for this.

Doors are skinnier than walls, and are colored brown. At the beginning of the game they are all locked, and automatically relock themselves when you pass through. You unlock a door by standing in the square on either side of it and playing an appropriate card. The door is now open - it will close when you move away from it. If you end the turn next to the door, you must specify whether you are holding it open! If it is left open, spells and other players may pass through. Sometimes this is a good thing.

Exception: locked doors in the sector with your Lair are yours, and you may pass freely through them. You must still say whether you are holding your own door open for others. Doors created between sectors belong to no one.

The Remove Lock card can leave a door permanently open.

If you destroy a wall containing a door, the door is also gone!

Going Around the World

Each sector has one wall gap at the center of each side. You may pass through this to the next sector. If you go through the gap at the edge of the gameboard, you will re-enter the board on the opposite side.

If you destroy a wall (or pass through it with magic) at the edge of the board, you will likewise re-enter the equivalent square on the opposite side of the board. The half-wall shown on the other sector does not stop your movement.

The exception to all this is Portals. There are three pairs of Portals: two each of red, green, and blue. They are set up outside the board, as part of the initial layout, and do not move if the board is rearranged. If you go out a green Portal, you come in the other green Portal. If you go out a red Portal, you come in the other red Portal.

See diagram on p. 2. Note that the two- and four-player boards use only two pairs of Portals, and the five-player board uses none at all.

Rearranging the Board

There are two magic spells that can rearrange the board.

Rotate Sector: Choose any one sector and rotate it 90 or 180 degrees. Leave all tokens in place. Portals are off the board and not affected! If a wall has been created or destroyed on an internal edge of the sector being rotated, roll the die. On a high result, the alteration stays with the sector being rotated. On a low result, the alteration stays with the rest of the board.

Swap Sectors: Choose any two sectors and exchange their places. Do not rotate them. Resolve created or destroyed walls as described above.

Cards

The cards overrule the rules. If you have a card that contradicts the rules, follow the card.

Card types include:

Numbers

A Number card is no use by itself, but can give you extra movement, and when played with a magic spell, it gives that spell extra power or duration, as described on the Spell card. Only one number can be played for each action, but if you take multiple actions in a turn, each could be given its own number.

If a Spell card is played without a number, it has power or duration of 1. There are no "1" cards in the deck.

Number cards for 2 and 3 are also Spell cards (see below). They can be played either as numbers or as spells. They cannot be played as both at once!

Number cards for 4, 5, and 6 are only numbers - they have no alternate use.

Spells

Spell cards indicate magic spells you can cast or magic objects you can bring into play. The keywords on the top left corner of a Spell card describe its nature.

Attacks. Most (but not all) of these cards represent magic spells. Only one attack can be played per turn. See p. 5 for more about attacks!

Neutral cards are neither offensive nor defensive in nature. Some (such as Shrink) could be played on a foe, and in that case they are treated as attacks. You may only play Neutral cards on your own turn.

Counters are cards that counteract attacks. They are played by the player who was attacked, immediately after the attack. You cannot counter a neutral action unless it is used as an attack on you, nor can you counter an attack on another player. You can counter a Counter, and so on. You can also use multiple Counters against an attack. Anti-Anti is a special card that counters a Counter, and is played on your own turn.

Neutral/Counter. Can be used in either way - as a neutral effect, or as a Counter.

Object cards let you bring Objects into play (see Objects, below).

Keeping Track of Spell Duration

When you cast a spell with a protective effect, you may place the Spell card in front of you as a reminder. It is no longer part of your hand. Discard it when it expires.

If a spell has a duration of more than one turn, use a d6 to keep track of it on the Spell card. The die starts on the face representing the beginning duration of the spell. At the end of your NEXT turn, and all your subsequent turns, reduce the number on the die by 1. If the count reaches zero, remove the card and the die.

Targeting

Attacks, and some other cards, have a Targeting indicator in the top right corner. This shows where the effect can be targeted.

Any - The spell can be targeted anywhere.

LOS (Line of Sight) - If a straight line can be drawn between the center of the caster's space and the center of the target space, without crossing a wall, closed door, or terrain, the spell can be used. Otherwise, it is blocked.

LOS can pass through an open door, and it can only pass through the openings between sectors. It is blocked by terrain, but not by dropped objects, and not by wizards.

To create or destroy a wall, which is not "in" a square, but on the line between squares, you must have LOS to any point on the wall.

Adjacent - For door-related spells, the wizard must be in a square touching the door. For Wizardblade, the wizard must be in the same square as the target, or an adjacent one.

Self - The wizard may only cast the spell upon themself.

Objects

All objects, except the starting Treasures, are brought into play by cards. A carried object is shown by the card - or, in the case of a Treasure, by a token attached to the player standie. A dropped object is shown by a token on the board.

Creating Objects

You create an object by using the appropriate Spell card. Walls of all kinds may be created only along the lines between squares.

Created objects are permanent unless destroyed.

Picking Up Objects

Except for terrain and people, objects can be picked up if they are in your square. This costs no movement, but your turn ends instantly when you pick something up. Pick up the token, and place its card in front of you (for a magic item) or in your hand (for a normal item).

There is no limit to the number of objects you may carry, except for the limit on cards in your hand. However, you may only carry one Treasure at a time.

You may not grab or pick up an object someone else is carrying. You may, however, make them drop it by magic, then pick it up.

Discarding Objects

You may drop an object at any time. Place its token on your square and discard its card. You may also discard the card at the end of the turn and place the object where you end the turn.

Dropping an object does not cost movement or end your turn.

If you discard an Object card before playing it onto the board, the object is not placed on the board. It never came into play.

Treasures

It is vital to be able to tell when someone is carrying a Treasure (and not just standing on it). Each Treasure token has a slot on it and is designed to go on one corner of the player standie to show it is being carried.

Remember, you may carry only one Treasure at a time!

Throwing Objects

The Dagger, the Large Rock, and the Throwing Star can be thrown. This is a LOS attack. Place the object token on the targeted square, even if it somehow "misses" the target. If the target fills the entire square, like a Thornbush, the thrown object "bounces" a square back toward the thrower and falls to the ground. Either way, place the object's card beside the board.

The object can be retrieved by any player on that square by removing the token from the board and placing its card in their hand (or, for a magic object, in front of them).

Magic Objects

Magic stones, the Wizardblade, and the Master Key give you permanent abilities, but you must display them face-up at all times. They count against your hand limit.

Stones all have "stone" in the name.

Terrain

Terrain includes walls of any type, doors, Thornbushes, and Granite Cubes.

You cannot create terrain on a player's Lair, or on top of a player or another object.

Terrain cannot be picked up!

Terrain blocks LOS (while objects do not).

Terrain takes hits from any attack, even a punch. A wall can take 20 hits, a door 10, and a Thornbush 5. (A Granite Cube has infinite hits!) Place dice on damaged terrain to show its remaining hits.

Attacks

Many attacks will do damage to a foe. A wizard whose life reaches 0 is dead and out of the game.

Normally only one Attack card can be played each turn, but if it is nullified by a Counter, another one can be played.

A spell attack can be counteracted to avoid or reduce its effects. If not counteracted, it automatically takes effect. Some objects also protect the owner - e.g., the Heartstone reduces all damage that you take.

When all else fails, you can punch a foe in your own or an adjacent square. This requires no card, and can be Countered normally. It counts as your Attack for the turn. It does one point of damage. You may also punch, and eventually destroy, terrain objects from an adjacent square.

Physical damage (such as Throwing Star, Large Rock, a punch, falling walls) and magical damage (spells) both take life points from a player, but they may be treated differently; see the cards.

You cannot attack yourself.

Should an object or spell miss its target somehow, it never affects things "behind" the target.

Death

At the moment your life goes to 0, you are out of the game. Remove your character. Objects you were carrying are left in that space for others to pick up.

If you take a foe's last point of life, you get all their cards except for the Object cards, but you must discard down to seven before you continue your turn.

If you die while performing an action that would normally win the game, you die first, and you are eliminated. For instance, if you cast a Wall of Water whose effects kill both you and another player, you cannot win, even if technically the water slammed you against the wall last. If there were only two players left in this situation, the other player wins.