Ark Age

[yudencow]

Components

Cards

Heroes represent your leaders on the battlefield. They have the highest statistics. Each hero has 3 abilities: light, medium and heavy.

Dogmas represent your tactics. Each dogma has 2 effects, offensive effect and defensive effect. You can activate the first on your or your side-mates cards' attack, and the second when your opponents' cards' attack. After any effect activation, charge the dogma.

Your deck is constructed mostly be familiars, guardians and colossi which are light, medium and heavy units respectively. You may place as many minion cards as you want of the same name to benefit from synergies. Lieutenants card are extremely strong and there can be only 1 copy of each one in the deck.

Tokens
   
Tokens are coin-like components representing different status alignments, both good and bad. They usually come along with a black die to count backwards how much time the effect lasts. If there is no black die, it is permanent.

Mania

The Mania stones are clear blue. You begin the game with 1 Permanent Mania stones. Every turn you add another until you have 5.

Every time you are attacked you gain Optional Mania Stones according to these guidelines. In the end of your turn all Optional Mania Stones are removed.

The amount of mania stones in the active pool signifies how much available mana you have. You move stones out of the pool next to the incubator to signify they have been used.

Dice

Dice are not rolled in Ark Age, but they keep record of the unit cards' Health and token cooldown and the players' Pride and Glory.

All dice are 10 sided between 0 and 9 or between 10 and 100 (00) with jumps of 10 to count bigger numbers.  The number color of all dice is white.

The Golden Rules

Card over Rules: effects written on the cards take precedence over what is written in the rulebook.

Unable over Able: if a card says you cannot do it and another says you can do it, you cannot do it.

First over Others: in anything the player that started this round goes first.

Owner over Controller: when a card is removed is sent somewhere it is sent to the owner's designated area not the controller's.

Victory Conditions

Pin Fall = gather 20 Glory.
Submission = gather 30 Pride.
Frame = specific, overrides the other victory conditions.

Elimination Conditions

Count Out = your deck is empty for 3 turns.
Disqualification = you have 15 cards imprisoned.
Withdrawal = opponent has quit.

Build Creation

A build has 1 hero, 3 dogmas and a 60-card deck comprised of minions, familiars, guardians, colossi and lieutenants. All cards in the build have the same nebula and morality. 2 dogmas and 40 cards in the deck must have the same emotion as the hero.

Player Statistics

Glory is your victory points. The most common way to win the game is by collecting 20 Glory. Every time you successfully make a breakthrough attack you gain 1 Glory.

Pride is your aggro. Every time you kill a card you gain 1 Pride. The secondary way to win is to gather 30 Pride.

Mania is your economic strength. Mania is spent to recruit new cards and to activate effects.

Charging

Charging is the method to use the card's attack or to block and counterattack. You charge it on your turn to attack and on your enemies' turns to counterattack. Charged cards can't do anything. You charge a card by turning it sideways to the right (clockwise).  Some effects may require you to charge the card.

Discharging

This is the opposite of charging. All cards are discharged in the beginning of anyone's ready phase. Discharged cards can do everything.
Targeting

Basic attacks and effects can only target cards on the same column or row unless specified otherwise. Area of effect does not count, just its center.

Invading

If there are no cards, or they are all charged, cards can attack other cards out of their range. If there are no cards or they are all charged, you can attack the player himself.

Summoning

You summon a card by paying its Mania cost. It is summoned charged.

Reviving

You may summon cards from the incubator to the playmat if they were in your hand every turn on your set phase. You still have to pay their mania cost. They are always revived charged anywhere you want on your playmat.

Every turn you can revive:
      *. All of your heroes for 5 Mania each
      *. 2 minions of the same name for every card name
      *. 1 other card





Stats

Health is the measurement of how much damage a card can take before it is killed and subsequently sent to the incubator.

Might is the amount of damage you inflict every time you attack. You can only attack once a turn, and it costs to charge the card.

Speed is how fast the attack is executed, and how much hard is to counter it.

Range is how many spaces afar the attack can hit, it can avoid or even get through things in the way.

Tags

There are 2 different types of Tags: Emotion and Nebula. There are 9 each type, and every card as one each. The Emotion tag decides the play style and the Nebula tag decides the keywords. Every card has 1 Emotion, and 1 Nebula.

Effects

Safe effects are effects that are triggered when the card does something or affected by something. They have the same speed and range of their cards.

Semi effects are effects that are activated on will only on that card's play. Its speed and range are written in the effect.

Auto effects are effects that can be used at any time during the go phase, usually meant for supporting on continuing a friendly card's attack. Its speed and range is always 5, the highest.

Alts effects are effects that cost 1 Mania every turn, so it would remains active. As long as it is active, its effect is taken into account. Its speed is always 1, the lowest. The range is written on the effect.

Effect Chain

Whenever an effect is activated it can be responded with another effect. The latter chained effect is activated first and so on. It can only be chained with effects with equal or higher speeds than it. This works for both friendly and enemy effects. All effects work in their range.

Extra Range Bonus

When you activate an effect on your or side-mates' turn, for every extra point of range you have that you do not need, effects cost 1 less Mania. This does not include the invade-able slots.

Extra Speed Bonus

When you activate an effect on opponents' turn, for every extra speed you have over your attacker, counter effects cost 1 less Mania.

Flight

A card is summoned to the ground when its face up, and it is summoned to the air when its face down. When a card is in flight and it is attacked it lands, meaning it is flipped face up. A card may fly, meaning it is switched from the ground to the air, which can only be done through effects or by charging it.

Cards in flight receive +1 might for counter-attacks and receives -1 damage.

Unity

Cards on the same row can attack together on the same turn. If so they are both charged and attack in-range targets for each one. Each attack receives +1 bonus to its might. You don't receive Pride or Glory from it.

Diplomacy

At any time all players on the field can openly speak with each other. They are not allowed to show them things which are to remain hidden for example their hands, but they can lie. If 2 sides are in combat, they can decide to end it and settle it with favors, which of course may be broken.

Setup

A. Choose your hero and 3 dogmas.
B. Make a 60-card deck.
C. Shuffle the deck.
D. Determine Order*.
E. Set your permanent mania to 1.
F. Draw 7 cards.
G. Place your hero anywhere on your playmat.
H. Make a gambit*.

*. Determine Order:
A. Draw the first card of the deck.
B. Higher cost wins.
C. Put it in the bottom of your Deck.
D. Retry ties.

*. Gambit:
A. Pick any cards from your hand up to a cost of 5 Mania.
B. Place them airborne anywhere on your playmat.

Ready Phase

A. All players discharge all of their cards.
B. All players recover the permanent mania.
C. Add 1 permanent mania to yourself until you got 5.
D. Draw 1 card from your deck if possible.
E. Discard 1 card if your hand is bigger than 12 cards.

Set Phase

A. Play cards from your Hand charged in flight or not.
B. You may revive cards charged if possible.
C. Go up to 1 space with every discharged card.
D. You may turn a card in flight by charging it.

*. First Turn & Round Penalties:
A. If you are the first one, skip the Go Phase.
B. In the first round, target only ones who had played.

Go Phase

A. Pick an uncharged card.
B. Attack* with your cards in any order.
C. You may activate effects at any time.
D. Apply extra range bonus.
E. Counter-effects must have greater speed.
F. Apply extra speed bonus.
G. You may continue until all cards are charged.
H. You may charge your dogma cards at any time.
I. Remove all optional mania stones.

*. Attack:
A. Choose an in-range or invade-able target.
B. Declare attack.
C. Charge attacker.
D. Apply Safe effects from attacker and defender.
E. Players may use Auto Effects from their cards.
F. Calculate*.
G. Enemy may charge defender to counterattack.
H. If so, apply attacker and defender Safe effects.
I. Players may use Auto Effects from their cards.
J. Calculate*.

*. Calculate:
A. Apply airborne.
B. Apply unity.
C. Assign damage, optional mania, tokens and others.
D. If unity not used, gain 1 Glory for a breakthrough.
E. If unity not used, gain 1 Pride for card kill.
F. Dead cards are removed to the Incubator.

*. Last Chance:
A. If someone is declared victorious, finish that round.
B. If the victorious had been eliminated, continue.
C. If others are also victorious, they enter sudden death.
D. Sudden death is first player to gain 1 Glory wins.

[mappel6]

Wait, wait, wait. Back up.

Elimination Conditions

Count Out = your deck is empty for 3 turns.
Disqualification = you have 15 cards imprisoned.
Withdrawal = opponent has quit.

This is something I noticed. Something bad. I think you need to fix this up. Someone looking at this might think, "I lose for my opponent quitting? I don't like this game." Always, always, always write stuff in the same template. Either move Withdrawal to Victory Conditions or change the wording to "You quit." I don't think ANYONE would play a game where they lose because of their opponent's follies.

But either way, this game looks interesting. I might want to look into it when it reaches a later stage.

[Kevashim]

Just a quick thematic note, you have that "charged" creatures can't act and "discharged" creatures are ready to act. Wouldn't it make more sense that creatures are charged when they are ready to go and then they discharge their energy and become discharged in order to perform actions?

[yudencow]

Thank you for reading.

To mapple6, yesh, that was a typo. I think it is clear, you are eliminated if you quit.

To Kevashim, my point of view was that chraged is tapped and untpped is discharged. You may think of it as charged as you are loaded up with the action you just done. Emptions are a great theme in this game, being emotionally charged makes you unbalanced and requires some time out. Does it now seem okay to you?

[yudencow]

Anyone wishes to comment about the mechanics and the flow of the game? I need to know if I can start making cards.