Game Concepts

To make these rules easier to understand, defined game terms used throughout these rules are highlighted the first time they appear in each paragraph.

There are 3 types of cards: Creatures, Wizards and Spells.

Creature cards have a Clan symbol and a Power number. There are 6 Clans, with 10 Creatures in each Clan: two with Power 4 and 1, and three with Power 3 and 2. Each Clan has an opposing Clan (see diagram).

Wizard cards represent the player. They are not Creatures and are always in play. A Wizard may only Recruit and may never perform any other Actions. A Wizard's Minions may have any Power (see The Pattern below). Each Wizard has an associated Clan, and all Creatures of that Clan that the Wizard Controls have +1 Power. Note that the Wizard is not a member of this Clan.

Spell cards allow a player to perform special Actions. Each Spell requires certain Components to cast.

• The Clan Rule: A Creature may never be located adjacent to a Creature from an opposing Clan. A Creature is considered adjacent to its Leaders, its Minions and Creatures next to it on the same tier.
• The Leader Rule: A Creature must always have at least one Leader.
• The Power Rule: A Creature must have less Power than its Leader. If a Creature has two Leaders, a legally placed Creature must have less Power than their sum.

When removing Creatures, a Creature will often be left in an illegal position. In addition, player error can result in illegal placements. An Action is considered final when another Action is started. If a player mistake resulting in an illegal placement is caught during the turn in which it occurred, take back the entire Action. However, the player does not get to perform an alternative Action — losing the Action is the penalty for the mistake. If the illegal placement is not caught during the turn it happens, resolve it like any other illegal placement using the procedure below. Remember, an Action is not final until the next Action begins. An illegally placed Creature must be dealt with prior to anything else happening in the game.

Pattern Diagram:
This diagram shows all the available Positions in a Pattern, with the empty positions shown by dotted lines. If every dotted position contained a creature, this pattern would be complete. In this incomplete pattern, the Troll is the Ogre's Leader. The Troll has two Minions, the Ogre and the Ghost. The Goblin has two leaders, also the Ogre and the Ghost, while the Orc has only one (the Ogre). The Ogre is adjacent to every card but the wizard. The Goblin is adjacent to the Ogre, the Ghost and the Orc, but not to the Troll.

To resolve an illegal Pattern, first move Leaderless Creatures up to an adjacent location, one at a time in any order, until every Creature has a Leader. Then, if there are Creatures still in illegal positions (because of the Clan Rule or the Leader Rule), remove Creatures, one at a time in any order, until there are no more illegal placements. Removed Creatures are placed in the discard pile. If this creates a new Leaderless Creature, start over.

For example, if Atrophy is cast on the Troll in the Pattern Diagram, causing it to lose one Power, the Pattern would become illegal, since a Minion (the Ogre) would not have less Power than its Leader (the Troll). The player could remove either Creature. If the Troll were removed, it would create two Leaderless Creatures. The Ghost can be moved up to either Tier 1 spot, but it does not have enough Power to support the Ogre. Instead, the Ogre is moved up. This creates another Leaderless Creature, the Orc, which is also moved up, leaving the Pattern in a legal state.