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To find out who goes first in a game, each player randomly draws
one card,
noting the last digit of the card number. The player with the highest
number
goes first. Each player the shuffles his deck thoroughly and places
it face
down on the table. Each player has his own draw pile and never draws
cards
from any other draw pile.
Each player then draws five cards to form his starting hand. At the
start of
each turn, each player draws three cards. Play proceeds clockwise
around the
table.
Every player must follow this turn sequence. Phases 1, 5, and 6
must be
performed. Phases 0, 2, 3, and 4 are optional.
Phase 0) Play a rule card.
Perform any other actions that must happen at the beginning of a
player's
turn. For example, Marco Volo allows a player to look at an
opponent's top
card at the beginning of his turn (phase 0).
Phase 1) Draw three cards from the draw pile.
Some cards allow a player to draw additional cards each turn.
Phase 2) Play or rebuild a realm, then play a holding.
Holdings must be attached to realms from the same world. Once
attached
they cannot be rearranged. A player can add a holding to a realm
other than
the one just played or rebuilt.
Phase 3) Play cards into the pool and cast spells.
Artifacts and magical items must be attached to champions. Once
attached,
they may not be rearranged. An artifact can be placed only on a
champion
from the same world; magical items can be attached to any
champion.
To cast a spell, there must be a champion in the pool able to cast
the spell.
Phase 4) Attack one realm of another player.
Once the realm to be attacked is chosen, the attacker cannot switch
the attack
to a different realm, even if he uses different champions. Champions
for the
attack can come from the player's hand or from his pool. For more
details on
attacking realms, see Combat, below.
Phase 5) Cast spells and adjust the hand size.
At this point in the turn, it's no longer possible to place champions
in your
pool, attach magical items, or perform other actions typically done
during
phase 3, unless obtained as a spoils of victory.
A) Cast any spell allowed to be cast in phase 5. To cast a spell
there must be a champion in the pool able to cast the spell.
Players that just defended a realm may not cast spells in this
phase.
B) Discard cards from the hand until only eight cards remain.
Some card powers may allow a player to keep more cards in his hand.
Phase 6) Rap on the table to end your turn.
During phase 4 of the turn, a player can attack one realm of
another player.
All attacks against a single realm are known as a battle; each
champion that
comes forward during the battle constitutes a single round of combat.
An
attack follows this sequence:
A) The attacking player selects a champion from his hand or pool
and
indicates which realm is being attacked.
The target realm must be one that attacking champion is able to
attack, either
because ithe realm is not protected (see Formation, below) or because
the
champion has some special movement power allowing him to attack it.
A
player can choose to attack any a realm of any of his opponents.
The attacking player may not add any artifacts, magical items, or
other cards
to the champion at this time. However, if the attacking champion came
from
the player's pool, he may already have one or more attached cards.
B) The defending player selects a champion from pool or hand.
The player may not add any cards to the defending champion at this
time.
However, if the defender came from the player's pool, he may already
have
one or more attached cards. If the defending player cannot or chooses
not to
put forth a defending champion, the realm is razed.
C) Compare the total levels of each side.
The side with the largest total is winning. A tie means the defender
is
winning.
D) The losing player can play one card.
After playing one more card, return to step C and compare the total
levels
again. The losing player then plays another card. Cardplay goes back
and
forth through steps C and D in this fashion until the player that is
losing
either cannot or chooses not to play another card. The current round
of
combat is then over. The winner does not have the option to play any
more.
E) The player with the highest total level wins the round. The
defender wins
ties. The winner returns his champion to his pool, along with
attached
artifacts and magical items. The losing player discards his champion
and any
attached cards. All allies, spells, psionic power cards, blood
abilities, unarmed
combat cards, thief abilities, and other non-permanent cards are
discarded. If the attacker wins the round, he may select another
champion and attack
the same realm again (returning to step A of the Combat Sequence). He
may
not use the same champion to attack more than once per.
If the attacker lost or the defending realm was razed or discarded,
the battle is
over. The attacker may not continue to attack new realms, even if he
has
champions left who have not participated in battle this turn.
F) Spoils of Victory
Play now moves to phase 5 of the turn sequence. The winner of the
battle
may be entitled to draw one card from his draw pile as
Spoils of Victory.
If the realm being attacked is razed or discarded during combat,
the attacker
gets to draw one card from his draw pile. This card can then be
played
immediately.
If the attacker is defeated and discarded during combat, the defender
gets to
draw one card from his draw pile. Once again, this is true even if
the defense
itself did not cause the champion to be discarded, but some other
cardplay.
When the combat round begins, cards activate in a particular
order. Most of
the time, all of the attacker's cards activating in the order that
they are
attached doesn't cause any questions to arise. Sometimes, however,
the
precise order that cards activate can be important.
The battle ends if the defender's realm is razed or discarded, or
if one of the
attacker's champions is defeated or discarded. However, there are
some
special circumstances. All possible results for a round of combat are
listed
below.
There are two ways a SPELLFIRE game can end. The most common is
when
one player has six realms in play and none of them are razed. He has
built
himself an empire. The first player to do this wins.
The second way in which a game can end is when one of the players
runs
out of cards in his draw pile. That player is allowed to finish his
turn, but the
game ends when he raps (knocks to signal the end of his turn). The
player
with the most unrazed realms wins. If two or more players have
equal
numbers of unrazed realms, count the number of razed realms to break
the
tie. If further tie breakers are needed, count holdings. If this
still results in a
tie, the game is truly a draw.
Realms represent places that are loyal to the player. They are the
focus for
attacks and defenses. Each realm is a kingdom, nation, city-state, or
empire
found in one of TSR's AD&D role-playing worlds.
During phase 2, a player can play one new realm. This new realm is
played
into the foremost empty space in the formation or on top of a razed
realm; it
can't replace an active (face-up)realm. Arazed realm is discarded if
a new
realm is played over the top of it.
Empty places in the formation must be filled in a certain order.
The tip of the
pyramid (card A) must have a card, even if it is razed, before
playing one in
the middle (cards B and C) or last row (cards D, E, and F). The
middle row
must have cards in both of its positions before a card can be played
in the last
row. It doesn't matter which card in a particular row is played
first.
If a player has no realms on the table, razed or unrazed, all
champions in his
pool are discarded at the end of the current turn. A player who has
earned
spoils of victory and draws a realm can save his champions from
being discarded as long as he plays the realm into his formation.
As realms are played, they form a triangle with its base toward
the player.
The first realm played is the top point of the triangle. The second
row must
be filled before any realms may be played in the third row.
If cardplay forces a realm to be discarded, it is possible to have
an empty spot
in the lead position when there are realms in the second row, or an
empty
spot in the second row when there are realms in the third row. In
those
cases, new realms must be played into the empty spots first.
For example, if realms A through E are filled, but A and B have
been
discarded by events, the player must lay down his next realm into
position
A. He cannot lay it down into position B or F.
Each realm protects the two realms directly behind it by shielding
them from
attack. A realm cannot be attacked if it is behind another unrazed
realm. A
razed realm offers no protection. Realms that are exposed by a razed
realm
can be attacked normally.
A razed realm is turned face down. It is not removed from its
position in the
formation or discarded. If a holding is attached to that realm, it is
discarded
when the realm is razed. During phase 2, a player can replace a razed
realm
with a new one. The razed realm is then discarded.
Once a realm has been razed, any special power the realm provided
is
eliminated. A razed realm can be rebuilt (flipped up) if the player
discards
three cards from his hand or pool during phase 2. The player can
only
rebuild one realm each turn, and by doing so forfeits play of a new
realm.
When the rebuilt realm is flipped back over, its special power is
reactivated.
In the formation, realm A protects realms B and C. If A is razed, B
and C
can be attacked. If A and B are razed, C and D can be attacked.
Realms E and F
are still protected. A realm retains its position in the formation
even if other
realms are discarded. For example, if realms A, B, and C are all
discarded,
realms D, E, and F do not move up to fill the empty spots.
Most cards have some sort of special ability that is bestowed upon
them by
their particular icon. Wizards, for instance, gain the ability to
cast wizard
spells, psionicists gain the ability to use psionic power cards,
regents can use
blood abilities, and so on. Any card that removes a champion's
special power
does not negate the champion's icon ability.
All spells are either offensive (meaning that they directly affect
the opposing
card) or defensive (only affect the casting champion or other
friendly cards).
While some champions are immune to offensive spells, very few are
immune to defensive spells.
Spells can be cast only in the phases listed on the card during
your
turn, unless otherwise specified on the card. In addition, all spells
must have
a target. For example, you can't have your champion cast Dispel Magic
if
there is no spell or effect he is negating by casting it.
A champion whose special ability grants him an immunity to any
card is
immune only to the offensive powers of that particular card unless
a
defensive immunity is noted. For most cards, this is a simple matter
of
glancing at the card's notation (Off/Def) and making the
necessary
adjustment to the battle.
Artifacts (and some magical items and other cards) complicate
matters by
granting their attached champion an immunity or special movement
powers in addition to the card's other special powers. In these
instances, any
level bonus gained from the item is lost, but the special movement
power
and immunity remains. In short, if the power or ability only affects
the
attached champion, it is not negated by an opposing champion's
immunity.
A champion's immunities are always active, regardless of the order
in which
cards activate (see "Activation" in the definition of terms, below).
A
champion immune to offensive magical items is always immune to
such
items, regardless of whether attacking or defending.
Most event cards can be played at any time, even during another
player's
turn. Those that cannot state specifically when they can be played.
In general,
events take effect in the order they are played. If another player is
drawing a
card from his hand to play, it is considered rude to quickly whip out
an event
before he can finish playing his card.
Event cards are either harmful or helpful. A harmful event can be
negated
for a particular player by the Calm event or by discarding Delsenora
from his
hand or pool. Events can be negated completely by a Limited Wish or
by
discarding Helm from his pool. A Wish can only negate an event that
has a
duration stated on the card; it can't typically be used like Limited
Wish.
Event cards are placed in the Abyss when discarded; they can never
be
returned to a player's hand. Some cards, such as Myrmidons, allow a
player
to reshuffle his discard pile into his draw pile. Since event cards
are in the
Abyss, the Myrmidons have no effect on them.
During the first turn of play, no player can play the Caravan event.
After
everyone has had their first turn, this event can be played normally.
The moment an event is played, the event-player gives other
players a
chance to do one of the following actions:
1) Negate the event - Limited
Wish, Helm
2) Duplicate the event - Bell of
Might
3) Calm the event - Calm,
Delsenora, Dragon Calm
An event that has been negated cannot be duplicated by use of Onad
theWeasel,
the Bell of Might, or similar cards.
The decision to Calm or negate an event begins clockwise from the
event -
player. Once the player has been passed, he can't choose later to
negate or
Calm an event, he suffers the effects of it.
Once an event has been played, the first action a player does must
apply to
the event or the event occurs normally. For example, a player with
the Bell
of Might in his pool is the subject of a Cataclysm event. The player
can either
choose to Calm or negate the event, thereby nullifying it, or choose
to
duplicate the event against someone else. He can't do both; he's only
entitled
to a single action.
An event that is Calmed still exists for other players. For
example, If player A
Calms the Bronze Dragons event, then the Bronze Dragons have no
effect on
him. The Bronze Dragons still prevent other players from
attacking,
however.
Many realms, champions, and allies have special combat powers.
These take
effect only when that card is involved in a round of battle, unless
the card
states otherwise. Realm and holding powers take effect when that
realm is
the target of attack.
Occasionally there is a direct conflict of powers, where one
ability completely
contradicts the other. In most cases, careful thought by the players
can figure
out what the results should be. If no solution presents itself, the
first card
played gets to use the power first. In the case of champions in
combat, the
attacker gets first use since he is pushed forward into combat first.
The same
is true of the attached magical items and artifacts that are brought
into
combat from the player's pool.
For example, a player attacks a realm with the Lovely Colleen. The
defender
puts forward the Living Scroll. Colleen immediately destroys any
monster
champion. The Living scrolls immediately defeats any hero. However,
since
Colleen was put into play first, the attacking player gets first use
of his power.
For more information, refer to the Order of Activation section.
Duplicated events and spells
Spells and events that are duplicates of just-played cards are
treated like
normal spells and events. They can be dispelled, spell-turned,
calmed, and
negated as usual. Treat each effect as a separate card for the
purposes of
counter-effect cards.
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