Zauberschwert & Drachenei Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Idea and Components
• Setup
• Game Play
  • Phase A (New Adventure Cards)
  • Phase B (Magic Supply)
  • Phase C (Choose Adventures)
  • Phase D (Resolution of the Adventures)
    • Spell (6x) (Fulmentus, Stonex, Addus, Retransformus, Transformus, Harpagarus)
    • Energy Orb (3x)
    • Holy Site (2x)
    • Magical Creature (14x) (Spiders, Goblins, Shadows and Dragons)
      • One wizard faces the magical creature (one-wizard symbol)
      • Several wizards face the magical creature (two-wizard symbol)
  • Phase E (Lay Out Artifacts)
  • Phase F (Change of Start Player)
• End of the Game

Game Idea and Components

A card game for 2 to 4 players, ages 12 and up. Playing time: 45 minutes.

• 28 artifact cards
• 25 adventure cards (A-C on the back)
• 4 wizard sets in 4 colors (wizard, magic indicator, arrow card)
• 1 start player card
• Rules

Setup

• Have paper and a pencil ready for noting power stones.
• Each player receives a wizard set in one color: wizard, magic indicator and arrow card (any sets left over are not needed in this game).
• At the start, each player sets his arrow to 2 magic points (see Illustration 1).
• Sort all 25 adventure cards by the letters A-C and shuffle the three piles separately. Then stack the piles with the letter sides face up so that C is at the very bottom and A on top. These cards form the adventure deck.
• Shuffle all 28 artifact cards and place them as a face-down artifact deck next to the adventure cards.
• A start player is determined. He places the start player card face up in front of himself.

Game Play

The game runs over several rounds, each consisting of 6 phases:

• Phase A: New adventure cards
• Phase B: Magic supply
• Phase C: Choose adventures
• Phase D: Resolution of the adventures
• Phase E: Lay out artifacts
• Phase F: Change of start player

Phase A (New Adventure Cards)

• The start player turns over the top two cards of the adventure deck and places them face up next to each other as the display in the middle of the table. If 1 card was left over from the last round, only 1 adventure card is turned over. If 2 cards from the previous round are still there, no new card is turned over.
• In Phase A no spells may be used.

Phase B (Magic Supply)

• Each player receives 2 magic points (also in the 1st round) and places the arrow under the new total on his magic indicator. A player may never have more than 30 magic points at any time; excess magic points are lost.

Phase C (Choose Adventures)

• Beginning with the start player, each player in turn, clockwise, places his wizard face up on one of the two cards in the display (see Illustration 2). Agreements between players are allowed but not binding.
• A wizard once placed may not be moved.
• If a player does not want to place his wizard on either of the cards, he can pass. For this he receives one magic point (adjust the magic indicator).
• When all players have placed their wizards (or passed), the adventure cards are resolved.

Phase D (Resolution of the Adventures)

• The card with the start player's wizard is resolved first. If he has passed, the adventure card of the next player is resolved first, and so on.
• Afterwards the second adventure card is resolved.
• Adventure cards without a wizard are not resolved. If they are creatures, they remain in the display for the next round. Spells, energy orbs and holy sites that were not chosen are removed from the display.
• Resolved adventure cards are removed from the game immediately. Exception: won spells are laid out face up in front of the player concerned.
• Each card is resolved only once, even if several wizards were placed on the card.
• After a resolution, the wizards on that card are taken back by the players.

Example (see Illustration 2): The players sit in the order Red (start player), Blue, Green and Yellow. First the right card is resolved, because Red is the start player. Since the yellow wizard also lies on this card, he also takes part in this resolution. After the resolution, Red and Yellow take their wizards back into their hands. Then the left card is resolved, because Blue is next in turn. The green wizard also takes part in this.

Description of the adventure cards (see the back of the start player card): There are spells, energy orbs, holy sites and magical creatures. All are resolved differently.

Spell (6x) (Fulmentus, Stonex, Addus, Retransformus, Transformus, Harpagarus)

• If only one player has placed his wizard on a spell, he receives it free of charge and lays it face up in front of himself.
• If two or more players have placed their wizards on the spell, this card is auctioned among the participating players:
  • Bidding is done with magic points. The first bid comes either from the start player (if he is involved in this card) or from the first participating player clockwise. The following player must either raise the bid or pass. In this way the bid can increase over several bidding rounds.
  • A player may never bid more magic points than he can pay.
  • Players who pass may not bid again in this round.
  • The player with the highest bid pays the bid magic points. He receives the spell and lays it face up in front of himself.
  • The other players do not have to pay any magic points.
• Each spell can be used by its owner once in every game round.
• A player may also use several spells in one round.
• Even players who have no wizard on the display (that is, who passed) may use spells.
• If several players want to use a spell at the same time, they are used one after another, beginning with the start player.

Important:

• Spells remain face up in front of the players until the end of the game.

Energy Orb (3x)

• Each player who has placed his wizard here receives the magic points shown on the card.
• The resolved energy orb is removed from the game.

Holy Site (2x)

• Each player who has placed his wizard here receives the number of power stones shown on the card and draws a card from the artifact deck.
• The power stones are noted down as victory points; the artifact cards are taken into the hand.
• The resolved holy site is removed from the game.

Magical Creature (14x) (Spiders, Goblins, Shadows and Dragons)

• These creatures can be defeated by one or more wizards with the help of magic. For this the wizards receive power stones and artifact cards. The power stones are noted down as victory points; the cards are drawn from the artifact deck and taken into the hand.

Characteristics of the magical creatures:

• Artifact symbol (three different symbols): These symbols show which artifacts give an additional bonus with this creature.
• The strength of a creature is shown by the red number.
• Below it is the reward for one player (one-wizard symbol) or for several players (two-wizard symbol) when the creature is defeated.

One wizard faces the magical creature (one-wizard symbol)

• If only one player has his wizard on a creature, he can defeat it alone.
• To defeat a creature, the player must pay the magic points given as its strength. For this he receives power stones and artifact cards as indicated behind the one-wizard symbol on the creature.
• On success he also receives, for every artifact lying face up in front of him (see Phase E: Lay out artifacts) with the symbol of the creature card, the magic points or power stones shown on the artifact as a bonus. With "Potion" and "Star Sapphire" one decides between power stones or magic points.
• Afterwards the creature is removed from the game.

Note: If the player cannot raise enough magic, the creature stays in the display, and he gets his wizard back. No magic points are deducted from the player, but he is also not entitled to any reward or bonus from the artifact cards.

Example (see Illustration 3): The spiders have strength 4 and show one artifact symbol. Since Blue is the only one who has placed his wizard on this card, he pays 4 magic points and receives 3 artifact cards into his hand for it. These may be laid out in the next phase. From past rounds Blue has the following artifacts lying in front of him: a two-part magic wand with that symbol, a spell book with that symbol and another one, and a Star Sapphire with a different symbol. The symbol of the spiders is found both on the magic wand and on the spell book. Thus Blue additionally receives 2 power stones noted down (magic wand) and 1 magic point (spell book). The Star Sapphire yields no bonus.

Several wizards face the magical creature (two-wizard symbol)

• If two or more players have placed their wizards on the same creature, the players must decide whether they want to face it together or alone.
• If all participating players agree that they want to face it together, the magic points to be paid (strength of the creature) are divided equally among the players. If the number cannot be divided by the corresponding number of players, it is rounded up.
• If one of the participating players cannot raise enough magic, he drops out of the fight. The remaining players must then divide the total magic cost among themselves again. Players who dropped out do not have to pay any magic points, but also receive no reward or bonus whatsoever.
• The remaining players pay the calculated magic points and receive as reward, beginning with the start player (or the first player after him), power stones and artifact cards as indicated behind the two-wizard symbol on the creature.
• On success, all participants receive, for every artifact of their own laid out with the symbol of the creature card, the magic points and power stones shown on the artifact as a bonus.
• If only one player remains, he receives the reward as indicated for one wizard on the creature.
• Afterwards the creature is removed from the game, provided it was defeated.

Example (see Illustration 3): The goblins have strength 5 and show one artifact symbol. Red and Yellow have placed their wizards here. Because they want to face it together, they share the magic points to be paid. Since the number is not divisible by 2, it is rounded up and each pays 3 magic points. As reward, Red and Yellow each note one power stone and receive one artifact card into the hand. In addition they possibly receive a bonus for their own laid-out artifacts with that symbol.

• However, if one of the participating players wants to face the creature alone, a conflict arises among the wizards. The creature is auctioned among the participating players (the wizards must face both the creature and the other wizards). Bidding is done with magic points.
• The first bid comes either from the start player (if he is involved in this conflict) or from the first participating player clockwise. The starting bid must be at least as high as the strength of the creature.
• The following player must either raise the bid or pass. In this way the bid can increase over several bidding rounds.
• A player may never bid more magic points than he has.
• Players who pass may not bid again in this round.
• The player with the highest bid defeats the creature alone and pays the bid magic points. For this he receives power stones and artifact cards as indicated behind the one-wizard symbol on the creature.
• In addition he receives, for every artifact lying in front of him with the symbol of the creature card, the magic points and power stones shown on the artifact as a bonus.
• The other participating players do not have to pay any magic points, but they also go away empty-handed (no reward and no bonus).
• Afterwards the creature is removed from the game.

Example (see Illustration 3): Red and Yellow have placed their wizards on the goblins with strength 5. Red is the start player. He insists on defeating the goblins alone and first bids 5 magic points. Yellow bids 7, Red 8. Now Yellow passes. Red pays his bid, receives 2 artifact cards into his hand for it, notes 3 power stones and possibly the bonus for his laid-out artifacts. Yellow was not involved in the victory over the creature and thus cannot use the advantages of his own artifacts either, so he goes away empty-handed.

Important:

• The magic points needed to defeat a creature must be in the possession of the respective player before the victory.

Note on dealing out artifact cards:

• If the artifact deck is used up, there is no replenishment.
• During the game it can therefore be important in which order cards are given out. The distribution takes place directly after the resolution of an adventure card, in seating order of the players involved (beginning with the start player).

Phase E (Lay Out Artifacts)

• After the resolution of the adventure cards, the players may lay out artifacts.
• Some artifacts are one-part, others consist of two parts.
• Two-part artifacts are often obtained only by trading with fellow players.
• All players who want to trade now negotiate freely about the trading of artifact cards. Only artifact cards that the players hold in their hands may be traded (card for card).
• Magic, spells, power stones and laid-out artifacts may not be traded.
• When no player can or wants to trade any more, all players may lay out any number of complete artifacts.
• These yield a bonus only when the player in the following rounds defeats creatures whose symbol matches that of the artifact.
• Laid-out artifacts remain face up in front of the players until the end of the game and thus are available for several creatures.

Phase F (Change of Start Player)

After the end of Phase E, the start player passes the start player card to his left neighbor. This ends the current round, and the new start player begins the next round with Phase A.

End of the Game

• The game ends immediately when the display can no longer be replenished to 2 adventure cards.
• The player with the most power stones wins. In case of a tie, the greater number of magic points decides; in case of another tie, the number of laid-out artifact cards.