<><><><><><><><> Runicka Rules <><><><><><><><>

By decree of the Runic Council, who shall remain anonymous and mysterious to the layman, the game of Runicka shall be known to all who wish to gain a further grasp of the world, known to the Council as runekeepers. Let it be known that all the monsters from tales untold and forgotten are hereafter ever true. Myths and legends still come to life when one plays the game of Runicka.

Runicka is relatively young, comparing it to most things within our time. The origins of the game remain shrouded in mystery, just like most of the game itself. The Runic Council believes that the air of intrigue ripens the minds of those who play the game, and wishes for no one runekeeper to ever learn the full truth about how knowledge of the runes came to be. This is for the best, for if any runekeeper knew the whole truth at any given point in time, they would be utterly annihilated by its weight.

~~~~~~~~~~ The Basics ~~~~~~~~~~

Runicka itself is a fast-paced, two-person card game, where two players vie for dominance over the other through various means and strategies. To do this, beforehand, each player constructs a twenty-card deck by any means necessary. The Runic Council is the beginning of organization for tournament-play within Runicka, but holds no authority (by choice) over the acquisition, production, and distribution of Runicka cards. In most cases, a local game shop will suffice. These can primarily be found in the major cities across Gaelaga, such as the Aenkoran capital of Stormwall.

Each twenty-card deck in Runicka is made up of twenty unique cards that represent and can call forth revenants, should the runekeeper wish to summon them. These revenants are unique from each other via various different attributes seen on the face of the card. (Note: if one doesn't see writing on the card, one must learn more about said card. Runes are the text by which these cards are inscribed, and seek to make themselves unknown to all. A mind can compensate and translate runes, but to do so, the mind will need a framework to build off of.)

In addition to their decks, runekeepers may also use a Runic Talisman to augment their turns during play. These Talismans may take many forms and shapes, but always will be comprised of up to three enchanted gemstones paired together in an array. Any gemstones can be socketed into a runekeepers Talisman toward any deck, and each comes with their own benefits and shortcomings.

Finally, the game of Runicka can either be played on top of a table, or the way it's meant to be played: in a battle duel. Unlike using the cards in their typical state, battle duels have runekeepers calling forth the revenants out of their cards. These are highly dangerous, and may even result in death if one isn't careful in both setting up and executing the battle duel. Because of this, battle duels are typically only performed at the highest level of play, and even then, only in the final duels between opposing runekeepers.

~~~~~~~~~~ The Arena ~~~~~~~~~~

The board, which is to say the playing field of Runicka, can be (and is often) referred to as the arena. The arena has no standard method of setup, and instead runekeepers are encouraged to layout their position within the arena as they see fit. This is because during battle duels, the arena is quite literally transformed into its namesake.

That said, there are limitations to the arena that runekeepers should be aware of. In addition to having their twenty card deck, runekeepers are allotted up to three spaces where they may summon revenants. There are exceptions to this rule (such as with Behemoths or Fragments), but generally-speaking, there may be no more than three revenants ever in a single runekeeper's side of the arena.

There is also Oblivion, which is where cards are sent when they've been defeated or removed from play. Played on a table, this can be represented by a pile set off to the side, but in a battle duel, the revenant itself is temporarily obliterated. While runic energies are still channeling, they will not reform unless otherwise forced into doing so. Quickly after a battle duel has resolved, these obliterated revenants will reform to the runekeeper that originally summoned them, though this process takes exponentially longer the further a runekeeper is from wherever their revenant was obliterated.

Talismans can and should be placed onto the table when the game begins. In a battle duel, it is considered common courtesy to reveal the Talisman that one is playing with (though not necessary, should it not be mentioned by either runekeeper). A working knowledge of Talisman gemstones (also known as ley-crystals) is highly recommended for any aspiring runekeepers, for no runekeeper is obligated to relate the abilities of their socketed gemstones.

~~~~~~~~~~ Elements of a Runicka Card ~~~~~~~~~~

(a. Cost) b. Card Name c. Revent-type d. Card Effect e. Aura f. Attunement and Power

a) Cost: The cost of each revenant is always displayed in the bubble at the top left of a card, which will always contain a number. The number indicates how much Life a runekeeper was pay in order to call forth their revenant. Typically, runekeepers start with 100 Life, and the cost of a revenant will be somewhere below that. It should be noted that while paying a revenant's cost, a runekeeper's Life can never been reduced below 1 (even if the Cost would bring them to 0 or lower).

b) Card Name: Each card has its own unique name that it only shares with duplicate copies of the same card, and no other. Other cards in Runicka may reference card names in their own text, and if they do so, will have the word capitalized as to show that it's referring to another card name.

c) Revenant-type: There are five common types of revenants, and many more rarer types which are still being discovered to this day. Revenant-type influences how a revenant has to be summoned into the arena and what other revenants it can fuse with (more on this later).

d) Card Effect: These are one-time or ongoing abilities that are specific to the card, and do not carry over into fusions. There are countless different card effects in Runicka (almost as much as there are cards in Runicka).

e) Aura: Auras are one-word, permanent traits that revenants possess. These traits are the same regardless of whichever revenant possesses them, and are carried through fusions (though do not typically stack).

f) Attunement and Power: The bottom of the Runicka card is where one can find a number and one to three arrows pointing to either the left or right. The number itself is the revenant's base Power. The arrows represent both its alignment and the attunement required to summon it. For instance, if there are two arrows pointing to the right, the card requires a runekeeper attuned to Order 2 to summon it. If there are three arrows to the left, the runekeeper must be attuned to Chaos 3.

~~~~~~~~~~ How to Play ~~~~~~~~~~

As a card game between two people, runekeepers alternate taking turns. Traditionally, the runekeeper who takes the first turn is decided by chance. This might be accomplished with the toss of a coin, or by some other means, but the result is always the same. One runekeeper will start.

Both runekeepers will begin the game of Runicka by shuffling their decks, from which they will they draw five cards to form their starting hand. After hands have been drawn and turn order has been decided, the game may begin.

The only restriction to the first turn of the game is that there can be no attacks declared. Other than that, once both runekeepers agree on who begins, the one who goes first can proceed with their Draw Step.

Runekeepers start the game with 100 Life each. Their Life totals may, at times, exceed 100 Life as well. Once one runekeeper's Life total reaches 0, the game instantly ends and the remaining runekeeper is declared the winner.

Draw Phase

The Draw Phase consists mainly of two crucial steps, that being a Resolution Step and the Draw Step, which happen in that particular order. The Resolution Step occurs to resolve any revenant effects that trigger on the beginning of a turn. If there are none of these triggers, proceed then to the Draw Step.

During the Draw Step, only one thing will ever occur: Once per turn, including on the first turn, a runekeeper must draw one card from their deck.

If a runekeeper has no cards in their deck to draw from, then they instantly forfeit the duel.

Main Phase

Immediately following the Draw Phase, is where most of the game of Runicka occurs, the Main Phase. In this phase, a runekeeper can take a myriad of actions to influence the outcome of a game in their favor. These include:

- Attuning (once per turn)

- Summoning revenants

- Invoking Talismans

- Activating effects

- Declaring combats

A runekeeper can take any number of these actions per turn, so long as their hand and cards allow it, and they may do so in any order that they choose. There is no ordering to the game of Runicka aside from the three phases by which a turn proceeds by.

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Attunement

Attunement is the process by which a runekeeper either aligns themselves either more toward Order or more toward Chaos. Attunement is the action, and may only be taken once per turn (starting with the first turn). Alignment is the level at which the runekeeper as attuned themselves to. There are three levels of alignment for both Order and Chaos (Order/Chaos 1, Order/Chaos 2, Order/Chaos 3).

Attuning to the first level of Order or Chaos is free, and will probably be done on the very first turn. A runekeeper begins the game with no alignment. (It should be worth noting that this is the only time a runekeeper can have no alignment. Once attunement is declared in either direction, a runekeeper cannot return to no alignment. For instance, if a runekeeper wanted to unalign from Order 1, they'd attune themselves into Chaos 1.)

For both levels beyond level 1, attunement requires runekeepers to pay a card cost. This is called investment. To reach Order/Chaos 2, a runekeeper must invest one card. To do this, they may place the card facedown on the table in front of them. Doing this will bring them to the next level of their alignment (Order/Chaos 2) and will also gain them 10 Life. This invested card will remain on the table, facedown, until the runekeeper unattunes themselves from that alignment (in this case, they'd have to unattune back to Order/Chaos 1). If they were to do that, they'd recollect their invested card and add it back to their hand.

Attuning to Order/Chaos 3 is the highest level of attunement, and is a similar process to Order/Chaos 2. The main difference is that a runekeeper must invest a total of two additional cards to reach this alignment. That means they'll have a total of three cards invested at Order/Chaos 3. They'll also gain another 15 Life at this point. If the runekeeper unattunes from Order/Chaos 3, they'll recollect their invested cards. (Note that these have to be the same cards they invested to get to Order/Chaos 3. They may not collect the single card they invested to get to Order/Chaos 2, as they're still at Order/Chaos 2.)

Runekeepers are encouraged to play around with their alignment and attunement process as they see fit. Some decks will desire a runekeeper to stay at Chaos 3, while others will encourage attuning and then unattuning many times to maximize their Life gained from the process.

Summoning Revenants

To summon a revenant, a runekeeper must ensure that they have attuned themselves to the same alignment as they revenant they wish to summon. A runekeeper can find a revenant's alignment by checking the arrows either to the left or to the right of the revenant's Power (displayed at the very bottom of the card). Arrows to the left (<, <<, <<<) represent Chaos 1, Chaos 2, and Chaos 3. Arrows to the right (>, >>, >>>) represent Order 1, Order 2, and Order 3.

After ensuring that the runekeeper is either attuned to or attuned beyond the revenant's alignment, they may then pay the revenant's cost in order to summon it. The cost comes directly from the runekeeper's Life total, and can be found just to the left of their name, displayed as (??). (It's worth noting too that a runekeeper can never bring themselves below 1 Life while summoning a revenant. This means that so long as a runekeeper is at 1 Life, they may summon revenants of any cost, so long as they've attuned themselves properly.)

When summoning a revenant, it's important to note that there are typically only three spaces in the arena that a revenant can occupy. This means a runekeeper may only control a maximum of three revenants (usually). A runekeeper may get around this via fusion.

Revenants can be summoned either on their own in a blank space in the arena, or fused on top of an existing revenant. Revenants that are fused together are considered to be one revenant by game rules, and thus continue to occupy only one space. A revenant that fuses on top of a card is considered the Fusion Addition. The revenant being fused on top of is considered the Fusion Base. There are, however, restrictions to summon that are determined by revenant-type. These are listed as follows:

- Stable: Can be summoned by itself, or as either a Base or Addition.

- Unstable: Can be summoned by itself, or as an Addition. May not be used as a Base.

- Surging: Cannot be summoned by itself. Can only be played as a Fusion. May be used as either a Base or Addition.

- Bursting: Cannot be summoned by itself. Can only be played as a Fusion Addition. Cannot be used as a Base.

- Latent: Can be summoned by itself. May be used as a Fusion Base. Cannot be played as an Addition.

- Inert: Can only be summoned by itself. Cannot be used in any fusions.

Once a revenant has been summoned, unless it happens by effect, it cannot be transferred into a fusion (unless its being used as a Fusion Base). There are several other types of lesser-known revenants, and as more details become known about them, their summoning requirements will be documented above as well.

Invoking Talismans

Runic Talismans are used in Runicka to lessen a deck's given weaknesses. They consist of three different gemstones of magical ability, known as ley-crystals. Any three different ley-crystals can be used as part of a Talisman, and Talismans may come in any shape and form, so long as it bears three ley-crystals.

Ley-crystals may be used any time during a runekeeper's Main Phase, and will cost anywhere from 0 to 15 Life to do so. When a ley-crystal is used, an effect will occur, after which the Talisman will need to recharge. Different ley-crystals will incur different recharge times for the Talisman. For instance, a ley-crystal that has a recharge time of @2 will incur a two-turn recharge time for the whole Talisman. During this time, a runekeeper may not use their Talisman again until it has completed its recharge. Recharge time ticks down during the Draw Phase's Resolution Step.

Activating Effects

In addition to play more revenants, a runekeeper may utilize effects of revenants they already control. These may have either come into the arena during the current Main Phase or during previous Main Phases, but regardless, so long as a runekeeper controls a revenant with an activated effect, they may choose to activate it during their Main Phase.

An example of an activated effect is: "You may have target ally Chaos revenant lose the ability to attack this turn: invert your attunement." Since a runekeeper is choosing when and if to activate this effect during their Main Phase, it's activated effect.

Declaring Combats

The final action a runekeeper can take during their Main Phases is declaring combats. So long as they have a revenant has a Power value that isn't 0, and it doesn't have the Passive aura, a runekeeper may declare a combat with it. Combats are battles either between two opposing revenants, or an attack on an opposing runekeeper. Runekeepers may only be attacked by revenants if they do not control any revenants whatsoever (or if the revenant that's attack has the Flying aura).

Combats between revenants are a winner-take-all system, meaning that when a revenant does combat with another, the one with the highest Power value wins and remains in the arena. The revenant with the lower Power value loses and is obliterated. If both revenants have equal Power values, they are both obliterated.

Each revenant may only engage in a combat once per turn. This carries over, even if the revenant becomes a part of a fusion. For instance, if a revenant defeats another in combat, but then is used as a Fusion Base for another revenant, the newly-fused revenant could not be used to declare combat as part of it already used its combat for the turn. A runekeeper would have to wait until their turn to declare combat with it.

If a runekeeper controls revenants, and their foe does not, they may then use their revenants to declare combat against the opposing runekeeper. The attacked runekeeper subtracts the Power values of the attack revenants from their Life total. This is the main way that games of Runicka come to an end.

End Phase

The final phase of a runekeepers turn is the End Phase, and it takes place in three steps: the Discard Step, the Resolution Step, and the Replenish Step. The Discard Step occurs first, and involves the runekeeper discard down to six cards in their hand, should their hand have grown larger than six cards. Six cards is the maximum hand size in Runicka.

The Resolution Step in the End Phase is exactly the same as it is in the Draw Phase, except that only card effects and triggers that resolve in the End Phase occur here. The Replenish Step occurs when a runekeeper has fewer than three cards in their hand. Three cards is the minimum hand size for a game of Runicka. So, should a runekeeper ever fall below this threshold, during this step, they'd draw back up to three cards.

~~~~~~~~~~ Winning the Game ~~~~~~~~~~

Typically, the game of Runicka is won by having one's revenants attack into one's foe. Board dominance is the key to victory, so the game is often a balance of sacrificing Life to maintain one's presence in the arena. Once one's foe is low enough, their attacks can become more directed toward the opposing runekeeper. But be wary! Runekeepers are at their most powerful when backed into a corner, and at 1 Life, anything is possible. One shouldn't attempt to close out and win the game unless they can be assured of victory.

There are alternative means of winning the game too. Certain card effects will declare winners, and will end the game upon their resolution.

Another not wholly uncommon means of winning is by decking one's foe. This occurs when an opponent goes to draw a card and cannot due to a lack of cards remaining in their deck. This failure to draw results in a loss.

~~~~~~~~~~ Keywords and Auras ~~~~~~~~~~

To minimize space used on certain cards, the Runic Council has authorized and approved the use of certain keywords. These simply take the place of much longer phrases of text. Auras (the abilities that carry over in fusions and are always active) also use this same shorthand. Both can be found referenced in the alphabetical list below.

Amplify - This revenant gains +1 Power for each card fused underneath it.

Barrier - The next time this revenant would be obliterated by a combat your foe declared, it isn't.

Dormant - Whenever this revenant is used as a Fusion Base, trigger the following effect before the fusion resolves.

Echo - When this revenant is sent to Oblivion as part of a fusion, the card with Echo returns to the arena unfused, if possible.

Flurry - This revenant may engage in combat twice per turn.

Flying - This revenant may attack your opponent directly, regardless of if they have revenants in play, so long as they have no revenants with Flying.

Oblivion - Whenever this revenant is obliterated, trigger the following effect.

Passive - This revenant cannot be used to declare combats.

Provoke - Foe revenants must declare combat only against this revenant.

Replenish - Draw an extra card during your Replenish Step during the End Phase.

Shout - Whenever this revenant enters the arena, trigger the following effect.

Uproar - Whenever this revenant enters the arena as a Fusion Addition, trigger the following effect.