Gamehelpresarcana

Setup

• The supply has 8 magic items and 5 essences (calm, elan, life, death, gold).
• Place 5 places of power.
• Shuffle the monuments and put 2 of them face up.
• Each player gets 1 of each type of essence, 2 mages and 8 artifacts. Examine the artifacts and select 1 mage.
• In counter-clockwise order, each player chooses 1 magic item, starting from the player to the right of the first player.

Gameplay

Each game usually consists of 4-6 rounds. In each round, do the following:

Phase 1: Collect

• Each player activates their collect abilities, which gives them new essence to use on their turn.
• If there is a number on the essence, take that number of essences; otherwise take 1.
• If there is a +, take all of them.
• If there is a /, choose 1 to take.
• If a pentagon is shown, choose any type of essence, subject to the restrictions.
• You may also take essences off some components (including places of power), but if you take any essence off a component, you must take all of them.
• After collecting, pay the collect costs (if any) and resolve any effects caused.

Phase 2: Actions

• Starting with the first player, each player resolves an action until anyone has passed:

1. Play an artifact: place an artifact from your hand onto the table, paying its cost.
2. Claim a monument/place of power: place the card you claimed in front of you, paying its cost. You may claim the top monument on the deck.
3. Discard an artifact: discard an artifact from your hand into your discard pile, where it will be recycled into your draw pile at the end of the round. Then, gain 1 gold or any other 2 essences.
4. Activate a power: use a power on one of your straightened components or use a reaction.
5. Pass: if you are the first to pass, take the starting player token. Then, swap your magic item for another in the supply and draw 1 card. You need to wait for the other players to finish before you can continue.

• You must pay all of the required cost to use a power.
• If a card is turned, its powers (except reactions) cannot be used.
• Each use of a card's power is a separate action.
• If you have to place essences on a component, take them from the supply.
• Reactions are used on another player's turn, when its activating conditions happen. It can be used if the card is turned, unless turning the card is needed.
• Life loss is only inflicted on opponents that haven't passed. If an opponent cannot pay the loss, lose any other 2 essences instead. If an opponent has no essence, nothing happens.
• Discarding is from your hand into your discard pile, where it will be put into your draw pile at the end of the round, while destroying is to discard from play. When destroying a card, put any essence on it back to the supply.
• If you have no cards in the deck when you need to draw a card, shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.
• If there is an equal sign on the pentagon, you have to pay identical essences.
• If you need to choose any opponent, you can choose an opponent who has passed.
• If the effect produces a mix of essences, total the cost, modify by any modifiers, and take any mix of essences from the supply.
• Once a player passes, he cannot do any actions or be affected by life loss, but can still be affected by other rivals' powers.

Phase 3: Victory

• After all players have passed, check if anyone has 10 or more points.
• If at least 1 player has 10 or more points, the game ends and the player with the most points wins.
• If several players are tied, count the number of remaining essences with gold counted as double. The player with the most essences wins.
• If any players are still tied, they share the victory.
• If nobody has 10 or more points, straighten all components and begin the next round.

Variants

First Game

• Use the beginner sides of the places of power.
• Give each player a pre-setted 3-card hand, with 5 random artifacts in the deck and the matching mage.

Draft

• Instead of drawing 8 artifacts, deal 4 artifacts to each player.
• Each player keeps 1 and pass the rest clockwise. Repeat 4 times.
• Each player draw 4 artifacts again and repeat the passing process 4 times.
• Choose 3 artifacts to be your starting hand and put the rest in a deck.