How to Play

The goal of the game is to build up a big enough force to take your opponent’s god's health down to 0, and be the last player standing. 

The game begins by selecting a god, and a deck. You have been given a pre-built deck to start out with, but players are encouraged to build their own, and discover new combinations and strategies. 

Each god card has written on it the starting resources you will begin the game with, as well as two unique abilities that will be discussed later. Look through your deck for the starting resources listed on your god, and place them in front of you, unless directed otherwise by your card. After this, shuffle the remaining cards in your deck.

The starting resources will typically be some combination of either Temple or Market buildings.
Temple buildings will provide you with Favor at the start of each of your turns, while Markets will provide you with Gold. 

These two resources are what you will use to play the various cards in your deck.

Resources are accumulated, and remain over multiple turns until spent, so even if your economy stays small, you will still have the opportunity to play any card in your deck. Be warned though, you can not accumulate more than 10 of any one resource, so use them or lose them!

Players start the game with 20 Life, 1 Gold and Favor, and then will draw until they have 5 cards in their hand.

Each turn you will make strategic decisions about spending your resources to build more infrastructure to boost your future economy, or to enlist additional troops to defend what you’ve already built, disrupt your opponents, and ultimately take down their god. 

Each card you play costs some combination of Gold and Favor, and while the primary way to earn more is through the construction of additional Market and Temple Buildings, there are other means to obtain these resources as well, through various cards and abilities. 

Units cards make up the main body of your army, and are the only type of cards that can attack other cards. Your goal will be to amass an army strong enough to reduce your opponent’s god’s health to 0, but making attacks directly against their god while they still have an army, can be risky.

Likewise, it is important to have enough military might to keep your own god safe, while still breaking through the enemies defenses.  

All the cards you play will enter what is known as the Battleground, and any card that is removed from the Battleground will go to your Afterlife.

While most cards you play will stay on the Battleground until they receive too much damage or are destroyed, some cards called “Evocations” are one time use cards that do something as they are played, and are then immediately sent to the Afterlife. There are a few different types of Evocations, but we’ll cover that more later. 

You and your opponents will take turns going back and forth, building your forces, and battling your Units against each other. Every card does something special, and finding the ones that work well together will be the key to victory.  

Starting the Game:

Each player begins the game with their chosen God and 50 card deck.

Each player rolls 2 d6, with the person who rolls the highest going first.

Based on the God they have picked, they will set out their starting buildings and resources, and then shuffle their decks. 

Each player starts with 20 Life, 1 Gold and Favor, and will then draw until they each have 5 cards to make up their starting hand.

There are three main steps to each player's turn.

Start of turn, Main Phase, and End of Turn.

At the Start of Turn:

As a player starts their turn, the first thing they will do is look for any cards that say; “At the start of your/the turn”. The player whose turn it is has the first opportunity to activate and resolve any such cards, and may do so in whatever order they choose. 

This also includes the turn players Temple and Market Buildings, and it will be at this time that they add whatever amount of Gold and Favor provided by their Economic Buildings, to their resource pool.

After the turn player has finished resolving their cards, this same opportunity continues around clockwise for every other player.
Once every player has had the chance to resolve their “Start of turn” cards, the player whose turn it is will draw cards from their deck until they have 5 total cards in hand.

Main Phase:

During the main phase, the player whose turn it is, is allowed to play cards at any time, so long as they have the resources to pay for them. A player is able to play cards, and attack with their Units in any order. Units cannot make Attack Declarations the same turn they are played however, and can only make a single Attack Declaration each turn. Units each attack individually, and must choose a single valid target when attacking. Attacking does not prohibit being able to play more cards, and playing more cards does not prohibit making more attacks. It is up to the players own strategy to determine the most optimal order to do things in. 

End of Turn:

Once a player declares that their turn is over, they are no longer allowed to play any additional cards. They will then check to see if they have any cards that say; “As your/the turn ends”. The player whose turn it is has the first opportunity to activate and resolve any such cards, and may do so in whatever order they choose. 

After the turn player has finished resolving their cards, this same opportunity continues around clockwise for every other player.

Once every player has had the chance to resolve their “End of turn” cards, the player whose turn it is may then discard any amount of cards from their hand to the Afterlife.

The turn then passes over to the next player on the left, and they repeat this process from the top.

Gods: These cards represent you! Each God has a list of starting resources, a Pantheon Ability, and a God Blessing. Your Starting Resources determine what cards you will begin the game with. Typically this will be some combination of Markets and Temples, but there can be exceptions. Your Pantheon Ability is a unique effect that you always have access to, and has some connection to cards that share a Pantheon type with your chosen God. Your God Blessing is also an effect you have access to at any time, but is not limited to cards within your Pantheon. The combination of these abilities is what sets each God apart from each other, and is the foundation that the rest of your deck will build around.
Your God is always considered to be on the Battleground, and while they cannot attack, they can offer protection to your other Units by redirecting attacks towards themselves. Remember though, you only have 20 life to lose before your God falls in battle, so choose when to offer your protection wisely. 

Units: These are the Cards that represent your army. Units are the only type of card that can declare attacks. They have a Power stat indicated by the number on the bottom left of the card, and a Health stat, shown on the bottom right. Units are divided into 3 main Classes; Mortal, Mythical, and Heroic. There are also a  number of Sub-classes, such as Soldier, Warrior, Beast, Ruler, etc...
Both Classes and Sub-classes have no inherit properties to them, but many of the card interactions will specify different classes in their text. 

Evocations: These Cards represent the powerful abilities and tactics provided by your God. Evocation Cards primarily use Favor to play, and are also split into 3 main Classes; Binding, Ceremonial, and Combat.

Binding: These Cards are played directly onto a player, and provide either a Blessing or a Curse to them. These Cards will stick around on the Battleground until they have been actively removed by another Card or Ability. 

Ceremonial: These Cards can only be played on the turn of the player playing them, and cannot be played during a Battle. Once played, they have an ability that will resolve, and then the Card will be sent to the Afterlife. 

Combat: These Cards can be played on any Player's turn, but only during a Battle. They have effects that can change the course of a Battle, and are sent to the Afterlife once they have finished resolving.

Buildings: Cards that represent your infrastructure. Markets and Temples are Buildings, and will be the main way for gaining resources.

Supplies: These Cards represent the items used by your Gods to strengthen those who serve them. Supply Cards stay on the Battleground, and have passive or active effects that can be used. 

During a player's turn, they can declare combat with any Unit they have, so long as they have controlled it since the start of their turn. 

Each Unit can only attack a single time per turn, baring any other abilities or effects in play.

There are 6 phases that take place when an attack is made, that make up the Battle;

Declaration > Pre-Combat Abilities and Combat Evocations > Pre-Combat Health Checks > Combat > Post-Combat Abilities and Combat Evocations >  Post-Combat Health Checks

Declaration:

A Battle is first started when a player declares an attack with one of their Units, targeting either an opponent's God, or one of that opponent's Units. 

Whenever an Attack Declaration is made against a Unit, the controller of that Unit may choose to redirect the attack to their God instead. 

Any abilities that take place on declaration activate now, starting with the attacking player, and then moving clockwise.

Pre-Combat Abilities and Combat Evocations:

After the target of combat has been declared, the defending player may choose to play any Combat Evocations they have, or to pass on the opportunity. After that, the attacking player gets the same choice. If either player chose not to pass, then this process repeats again, with the defending player having another opportunity to make a choice. If the attacking and defending players choose to pass back to back, then proceed to resolving the Combat Evocations in the reverse order they were played. 

Only after both players have passed, do any of the Combat Evocations abilities trigger.

Pre-Combat Health Checks:

After all Abilities and Combat Evocations have resolved, a Health Check is performed, where any Unit that is seen to have an amount of Damage Counters on it equal to or greater than its health, is sent to the Afterlife. If after the Health Check is performed, either the attacking or defending side no longer has any Units involved in the Battle, the Battle is over, and you do not proceed to the Combat step.

Combat:

Combat damage is applied at the same time to all Units in a Battle. Each Unit places Damage Counters on the opposing Unit equal to its Power, plus any additional modifiers or bonuses that may be in effect. 

Post-Combat Abilities and Combat Evocations:

After all Damage Counters have been placed, there is a second interval of time where Combat Evocations and Card Abilities can be activated, before Health Checks are performed, starting with the defending player, and ending when both players have passed.

Post-Combat Health Checks:

After Combat Damage has been placed, and all Abilities and Combat Evocations have resolved, a final Health Check is performed, where any Unit that is seen to have an amount of Damage Counters on it equal to or greater than its health, is sent to the Afterlife.

This marks the end of the Battle. 

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Whenever a Card is sent to the Afterlife, the Card or Ability that placed the last Damage Counter needed to send it there, is what is considered to have sent that card to the Afterlife for the purpose of Card Abilities.  

Damage Counters remain on Units permanently, unless removed by another Card or Ability.

Gold: One of the two main resources of the game. Used primarily on Units and Buildings. Cards will show their Gold cost to play in a golden banner on the top left of the card.

Favor: One of the two main resources of the game. Used primarily on Evocations, and Mythical Units. Cards will show their Favor cost to play in a silver banner on the top right of the card.

Battleground: The name of the area where cards are placed after being played.

Afterlife: The area that cards go after being removed from the Battleground.

Damage Counters: Tokens that are placed on a card, to show how much damage it has.

Battle: Whenever a Unit makes an Attack Declaration, a Battle is started. The Battle is over once all Damage Counters have been placed, and Health Checks have been performed.

Attack Declaration: The act of having one Unit begin a Battle with another Unit or God. Each Unit can only make a single Attack Declaration a turn.

Health Check: This is the process where players check to see if the Damage Counters on a Unit are equal to or greater than that Units total Health.

Combat Damage: Damage Counters that are placed by Units during the Combat stage of a battle, are considered Combat Damage.

Power: The stat that determines how many Damage Counters will be placed by a Unit during Combat.

Health: The stat that determines how many Damage Counters can be placed on a Unit before being sent to the Afterlife.

Get(s): A temporary bonus that lasts for a specified amount of time, or until the effect providing the bonus is no longer on the Battleground. I.e. Unit X “gets” 1 additional Power as long as condition Y is met.

Gain(s): A permanent bonus that sticks around, or continues to accumulate. I.e. Unit X “gains” 1 additional Power, which will be true until that Unit is sent to the Afterlife.

Play: Cards can be played during your turn(with the exception of Combat Evocations) by paying the cost listed on the card. This is typically from your hand, but can occasionally be from the Afterlife. A card being played from the Afterlife follows all the same rules as if you were playing from your hand, except where it’s being played from.

Return: To return a card, is to move it from the Afterlife to another place, typically either your hand or the Battleground. A card can be returned at any time specified by the effect or ability doing the returning, by paying whatever cost is associated with the ability, unrelated to the cost of the card being returned. I.e. A card that says “Pay 2 Favor, return a card from the Afterlife to the Battleground under your control.” does not care if the card being returned costs 1 Gold, or 10 Favor, and will happen as soon as the ability doing the returning resolves.

Attacking: Any reference to an “Attacking” Unit refers to the Unit making the Attack Declaration. An “Attacked” Unit is the one the Attack Declaration is being made against. 

Engaged: Any Unit that is Attacking or being Attacked is “Engaged” in that Battle, from the time the Attack Declaration is made, until after the Battle has ended.

Prevent: Damage that is “Prevented” is never placed on the target of that prevention. Abilities and Effects that trigger off of damage dealt, or counters placed, look at the total amount after all prevention effects. I.e. A Card with 4 Power gets 1 Gold for every Damage counter it places. It attacks something with Prevent the next 2 damage, and so places a total of 2 Damage Counters, and gains 2 Gold

Each player chooses a God to represent them, to receive their starting buildings and resources.

A player’s deck must contain exactly 50 cards.

Cards of any Pantheon can be included, regardless of the God chosen.

A deck must include any cards listed in their God’s starting list.

Cards with the same name limits by type:

Buildings - None

Mortal Units - None

Mythical Units - 3

Heroic Units - 1

Ceremonial Evocations - 2

Combat Evocations - 3

Binding Evocations - 1

Mythical Supplies - 1

Mortal Supplies - None