But there is yet hope. Absent from the slaughter that destroyed the hearts (and bodies) of the people, KNAVE – a wandering adventurer, returns home at last to discover what has happened. Sneaking into the castle by night, he tracks down and rescues Flick, his friend since childhood, and together they flee into the forests.

Other forces are also stirring in Corel, the balance of the land has shifted and a race has begun to see who can gather the most Spirit Jewels. Through the jewels comes power, and the side that gains more will ultimately rise to victory.

1.                    Have 3 more Spirit Jewels in your victory pile than your opponent has in theirs.

2.                    Have more Spirit Jewels than your opponent does in your victory pile when either you or your opponent decks out and cannot draw any more cards. In the event of a draw the player with the most Spirit Jewels in play is the winner.

3.                    Your opponent is unable to promote a back row character to the front after you kill their current front row character. Without a character in the front row there is no game and so they automatically lose, even if they have more Spirit Jewels than you do at the time.

Event Cards: Used at lightening speed in either your turn or that of an opponent, event cards can radically alter the sway of the game in favour of one particular player or another. Their uses are multiple and often they can be chained together to produce a devastating combo to baffle and destroy an opponent’s defences.

Equip Cards: Attached onto a character in play, equip cards boost the basic statistics of characters as well as adding new skills and attacks to their repertoire.

Jewel Cards: The main source of currency in the game and used to power any attacks and some of the tougher events / equips that you will come across. Without a jewel in hand you’re as good as dead.

The total power generated by a Jewel of any kind is called JP (Jewel Ponts). Your total JP can then be spent to power character actions that turn. Jewels are not destroyed when JP is spent, instead surviving to generate JP in your next turn.

A: The title box, showing the card designation and name.

B: If this symbol is on a card then that card is a UNIQUE.

C: Total starting HP (health points) of the card.

D: The picture or illustration.

E: The cost to retreat this card.

F: The Main Attack and total damage of this character.

G: The Back Row Attack and total damage of this character.

H: The costs of activating these attacks/ events. (see ‘What is a Cost?’)

I: Static abilities and special rules unique to each card will be placed here.

EG: Making a front row attack with a NUTPRIESTESS costs 2 JP. To use this you must have at least 1 Spirit Jewel OR 2 Standard Jewels attached to her. The NUTPRIESTESS also has a healing ability, which can be activated for 2 JP. This works in the same way as described. Each character only gains 1 action per turn, she cannot use both even if she has 4 JP attached.

EG: The Event ANGER! Costs 2 JP to use. When this event is played you must discard either 2 Standard Jewels or 1 Spirit Jewel to your Grave, along with the event. If you only have 1 or zero JP in hand you may not play ANGER!

Costs are played whenever you play a card, however if an event or ability states that you ‘play’ a card, without it having to pass through your hand first, then you play that card for free. Essentially, cards that are not played from your hand do not require you to pay for them. This only counts for event and equip cards, not for characters.

•        14 Standard Jewel Cards.

•        5 Spirit Jewel Cards.

•        11 Varying Event Cards.

In addition to the above, a typical deck will then have a larger selection of themed cards from one or more of the factions. These cards characterise a deck to the user:

•        3 Character1 Cards.

•        3 Character2 Cards.

•        3 Character3 Cards.

•        3 Character4 Cards.

•        1 Unique Character Card.

•        1 Unique Character Card.

•        1 Unique Character Card.

•        1 Unique Character Card.

•        4 or 5 Varying Event Cards.

•        4 or 5 Varying Equip Cards.

On average you are only allowed 3 duplicate copies of any 1 specific card in your deck. However there are exceptions to this rule, you can only have a total of 4 Unique characters in a deck and only 1 of each specific card. Jewels you can have as many or as little of as you see fit, and Spirit Jewels MUST total 5 in order for the deck to be legal for play.

For details on building your own deck visit the CUSTOM DECK RULES section of this site.

(RED) THE REBEL FACTION – When Istar took over the rule of Corel, he killed all of the royal family with the exception of Princess Flick, who he locked in a tower in the hopes of gleaning information from her. However the timely return of Knave, a great hero, led to her rescue and the two of them founding a rag-tag resistance movement with the forest dwelling Nutmen. From the safety of the woodlands they wage a guerrilla war, trying desperately to collect together the Spirit Jewels before Istar can. Rebel decks are well rounded and sturdy, but wise use of equip cards can quickly turn your average joe into a kick-ass fighter.

(GREEN) THE ORDER OF THE JEWELS – For a millennia the secrets of the Spirit Jewels has been suppressed, and their existence kept hidden. Gieve, the last in a long line of Guardians, is charged with the holy task of keeping their power away from mortal hands. With the horrific power struggle tearing the land apart, and Istar gathering together a worrying amount of Jewels for himself, Gieve must see to it that their power is sealed and hidden for another 1000 years. Aided by ancient technologies left from the first Spirit War and a few friendly spirits, he sets out to fulfil this obligation. Tricksters by nature, an order deck comes with a mix of events and equipt to mess up your oppenent's plans as well as characters who can take a lot of damage before going belly up.

(BLACK) THE KINGDOM OF THE DEAD – Deep beneath the waves lies the City of the Dead, populated by an ancient race of fish-people who worship the gods of the old-world and who have not raised their heads above the surface since the first Spirit War. Ruled over by their Pharaoh, and working as a hive mind, they can still feel the presence of troubled souls ripe for the taking somewhere above the waves. Angered by the continued liberty of these spirits, they have taken up arms against all land-dwellers. With mastery over life and death, they hold an army of the living-dead that threatens to destroy even Istar’s rule. Sacrificing a character is not always the end, and can bring about some nasty effects in a deck like this, couple that with a hive mind that boosts your in-play stats and you've got a pretty mean fighting team out on the field.

(YELLOW) THE STAR PEOPLE – At the dawn of time they visited the world of Corel from beyond the stars, and it is written that they created the first of the Spirit Jewels. After all of this time they have at last returned, sensing that their ancient enemy had begun to mass. Arrogant and full of pride, they return to continue a battle that ended only when their enemy retreated into the sea. But much of their former knowledge has been lost since that first battle, and in their ignorance they are unable to realise it. Astral a shining light of heroism amidst the fallen, has come to question his own motivation. Starmen decks are heavy on the healing, as well as being able to utilise their jewels in a much greater way than other factions. However some cards will be just as dangerous to you as they are to your enemy, so waiting for the right moment is essential to winning the game.

(WHITE) TRUE NEUTRALS – Whilst not a faction, there are many character and event cards in the game that can be applied to any of the above groups. These are best viewed as mercenary characters, willing to sell their particular skills to the highest bidder.

The layout of the game should be thus, your maximum of three Back Row characters are sat in front of you in a straight line with your Front Row character above them in the center. On the right, in line but separated by a large gap from the cards is your Deck, and next to this on the right is your Grave.

This should appear thus:

       [A]

[B]  [C]  [D]            [E]  [F]

A = Front Row Character. B – D = Back Row Characters. E= Grave. F = Deck.

GAME PLAY:

Game play is turn based. Each player has his or her own turn. Most of your actions will come only during your turn: Putting cards into play on the field, equipping cards and attacking your opponent. During your opponents turn you will do little more than defend attacks and, play Event type cards and when necessary replace your front row character when he has been sent to the grave.

Game play is not round based, and winners are declared immediately after either player succeeds in achieving at least 1 of the 3 winning objectives. You do not need to wait for your turn to end, or that of your opponents, before declaring a winner.

YOUR TURN:

1)                   If you have no cards remaining in your deck at the end of your turn the game ends, you must be able to draw up to your full hand at the end of every turn. This is called ‘decking out’. If you still have cards to draw from continue to the next players turn.

2)                   You are limited to a maximum of 5 cards in your hand at any time.

3)                   Do any of the following actions in any order that you like. With the exception of attaching a Jewel to an in-play character, you can perform these actions as often as you like for the duration of your turn.

A: Put a Character into the playing field.

•        You are allowed up to 3 back row characters and 1 front row character on the field at any one time (A maximum of 4 in play).

•        You must have a front row character before you can play anything on the back row. This rule will only affect your first turn of play.

•        There is no minimum to the number of characters you have in play, but should you find that you do not have a front row character, you loose the game automatically. Characters from the back row can be selected automatically in the turn that a front row is sent to the grave to replace the character you have lost. But you cannot play a character from your hand straight into the front row. This means that if you have no back row then you cannot replace your main character when killed, and so will automatically loose the game.

•        These rules do not apply during the first turn each player takes.

B: Attaching Jewels to a Character.

•        You may only attach 1 Spirit or Standard Jewel a turn to any 1 of the Character Cards you have in play at the time.

C: Equipping Characters.

•        You can play as many Equip Cards as you can afford onto as many active Character Cards as you like during your turn.

•        There is no maximum amount of Equips that can be attached to any 1 Character.

•        Any Equips with a stated cost must have jewels discarded from your hand from the grave in order to be played. Once you have discarded the total JP required the Equip takes effect.

D: Retreating a Character.

•        A character in the front row can be retreated by paying its retreat cost (as shown in the bottom right of the picture box) Jewels adding up to this total JP cost must be discarded from the character you wish to retreat before he can do so. A character from your back row is then selected to replace him in the front and your character takes that Char’s back row spot.

•        If you have no Back Row characters you cannot retreat.

E: Character Actions.

•        First check to see if you have the correct amount to Jewel Points (JP) to perform an action with any of your characters. If a character does not have enough JP they cannot act.

•        Declare what each of your characters will do this turn. Each character can only perform 1 task once a turn. The sum total of your attack for front and back row Characters is then declared as the attack on your opponent’s front row Character.

•        Attacking ends your turn.

•        Should any Character’s HP drop to zero that character is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. Any cards attached to that Character also are sent to the Grave, with the exception of the opponent’s Spirit Jewels, which instead go into your Victory pile instead. Spirit Jewels never go to the Grave.

•        Damage counters

F: Playing Events.

•        Events can be played at any time in any player’s turn unless it is otherwise stated.

•        ‘Cost to play’ rules for Events are the same as those of Equips.

G: Discard.

•        Once per turn, at any time you may discard 1 card from your hand to the grave.

H: Draw.

•        At the end of your turn you draw back up to a total of 5 cards into your hand from your deck. If you are unable to do this then you have ‘Decked Out’ and the game ends.  Drawing cards signals the end of your turn and passes playing priority to your opponent.

It is best to have three types of counter available, to use. These should each be a different colour to make tallying up the total damage easier for you. The following is suggested.

15x Blue Counters – Representing 10 damage each.

5x Red Counters – Representing 30 damage each.

3x White Counters – Representing 50 damage each.

Counters should be kept in a small pile within easy reach of both players and when a card with a counter on it is sent to the grave it should be returned to this pile.

EG: A fresh (undamaged) Nutman had 20 damage dealt to him last turn, so he has 2 Blue counters already on his card. This turn he takes an additional 20, so you remove 1 Blue counter and place 1 Red counter on the card. It now totals 40 damage. Next turn he is struck for 20 again and is killed. The Nutman is sent to the grave, but the counters on him are removed and replaced into the counter pile.

For those who don't want to buy (or cannot be bothered to find) counters of their own, a complete set for use in-game can be downloaded here: DAMAGE COUNTERS.zip

TRIGGERED: These require you to equip and use JP to the card and are used in the same way as a standard back or front row attack. These abilities counts towards that card's action for the turn. You can recognise a triggered ability easily because it will specify a cost after the text in the same way as an attack does.

STATIC: These abilities have no cost and activate when the conditions specified in the text are met automatically. They do not count towards the card's action for the turn.

POWERED: These abilities work in the same way as static abilities do, but require a certain amount of JP to be attatched to a character before they begin to work. The cost for this ability to begin to work will be specified somewhere in the text.

COSTS: If you can’t pay the required cost to do something, be it attacking, retreating or playing an Event, then you cannot do it. Once you have an adequate supply of JP you can do anything, but until that point your character is nothing more than a target.

HEAL: The act of removing damage from a character. This does not apply to Shields as they cannot be healed at any time.

SUMMONED: The act of laying a character into one of the backrow slots (or on the first turn your front row position). Some characters have abilities that trigger when this happens.

FRONT ROW: Characters in the front row can only use their Main Attack (displayed on the left of the card next to the arrow pointing in that direction) and any special abilities that are not back-row specific. Main attacks are generally much stronger and cheaper than those in the back.  The character in the front row is the principal focus of the opponent’s attacks.

BACK ROW: Characters in the back row can only use their Back Row Attack (displayed on the right of the card next to the arrow pointing in that direction) and any special abilities that are not front-row specific. Back Row attacks may cost more to play, but for the most part characters at the back are safe from damage.

STATIC ABILITIES: These are wildly varied and can be Back Row / Front Row or Non Specific, unlike attacks they will generally not deal damage to an opponent’s front row character, but will have an equally useful effect.

ACTIVATED ABILITIES: (Those abilities in the text box below the attack stats of a character with a cost shown). These require the use of JP and count as that character’s action for that turn.

COME INTO PLAY: Some characters have specific abilities that are only activated the turn they come into play. These are free of cost and do not count as any of your actions for that turn.

THE GRAVE: Any card used, spent or killed in play is sent to the Grave. This counts cards that have been countered as well as those that have not. Cards in the grave are essentially out of play, but can sometimes be brought back by the use of some events and abilities. When a card is sent to the grave all cards attached to it are also sent there. The only exception to this is if a card has a Spirit Jewel attached, in which case the jewel goes to your opponent for his Victory Pile.  If a spirit jewel would be sent to the grave from a player’s hand, deck or from play it goes to the victory pile of the opposing player instead.

VICTORY PILES: Basically a pile of Spirit Jewels you have taken from your opponent, this should be kept somewhere out of the game but where your opponent can see clearly the number of you have.

TAKING A LOOK: At any time in play you can look at your opponent’s grave, cards in play and victory pile. However you cannot look at their deck or hand at any time.

SHIELDS: A Shield-type card is played onto a character in the same manner as an equip. Shields then act as a barrier for damage between the attacker and the character it has been equipped to, taking any damage aimed at that character in his stead. Each shield has its own HP total which is the maximum of damage that it can take before being destroyed, when this total reaches zero the shield card is sent to the grave, but any over spilling damage from that attack is not dealt to the character it was equipped to. You can not heal a shield like you can a character. Multiple shields can be played on a character, but only the last one to be attached takes damage.

AUTO SHIELDS: A character with the text 'Auto Shield X' counts as having a shield of X HP already equipt when summoned.

HEAL: The removal of damage from a character (damage is marked with counters) A character may not be healed above their starting HP. Heal is also an activated ability, the word ‘Heal’ will always be followed by a specific amount of damage which can be removed from a character you control.

DAMAGE RESISTANCE: Toughness is an innate ability on some characters, and is essentially a damage reduction device. From every individual attack (not the sum total of this turn) reduce the damage dealt by 10. This is not a cumulative ability.

TARGET DAMAGE: Damage that can be inflicted onto any target of the owner's choice.

PROMOTIONS: A Character Card capable of promotion will always state the name of the card that it can promote into and where you must search for that card. Essentially, when you promote a character, you search for the Character Card from the specified area and replace it with the original card on the field. Jewels and Equip Cards attatched to the original automatically equip to this new card, as does any damage that the card possessed. The original card then goes to the Grave.

ADDITIONAL HP or ATTACK: Equip cards will sometimes contain a HP + stat. This total is added onto the total HP possessed by the target character and is cumulative. This new total HP replaces the old one and must be reached before that character is killed and sent to the grave. When a card specifies + Attack to either the front or back row, that character’s total attack is boosted by that much. These effects are permanent unless the equip card is destroyed.

SPINEY: Characters with Spiney inflict the specified damage to any Front Row Character that successfully attacks it, this does not count as an action, and only triggers when being attacked, NOT when attacking.

HP or ATTACK REDUCTION: This is essentially the same as the above rules, but reversed. Max HP is reduced by the specified amount and damage dealt is reduced by said amount.

LEGAL TARGETS: Some cards specify that they must be played on either you or your opponent, however if the card reads ‘a’ instead of ‘you’re’ or ‘you’re opponent’s’ then it can be played on either of you to varying effects as stated.

NON-STARTER: Cards with ‘Non-Starter’ marked upon them are not permitted in the starting hand.

UNIQUE: A Character Card bearing a small circular image in the top right hand side of the art-box is a Unique character. Uniques cannot be present in a starting hand, and you will never find more than 1 of the same type in a deck.

SACRIFICE: To sacrifice a character card is to send it to the grave by choice in your turn. This can be a requirement or cost to trigger effects or to keep stronger cards in play. You can only sacrifice a character in your turn.

ABBREVIATIONS: Opps = opponents / F.W = Front Row / B.W = Back Row.

SHIFT: Shift allows you to take a set amount of damage from one of your characters in play, and place it onto another on your side of the field. In this manner a character with 30 damage and a Shift ability of 20 can remove 20 damage and place it onto another card owned by the same player, leaving it with only 10 damage.

REDIRECT: Damage that is redirected is sent from the target character to any one of that player's opponent's characters. Working in a similar way to Damage Resistance, instead of that damage being removed from a total and negated, it is instead placed onto an opponent's character.This does not work against Event, Equip or Spiney damage.

Any questions on these rules (or anything else) please feel free to contact us at www.corelonline@gmail.com