Ashes Reborn: Rise of the Phoenixborn
Ashes Reborn: Rise of the Phoenixborn Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Object of the Game
In Ashes, you are a Phoenixborn—a powerful magic wielder battling other Phoenixborn in a duel of wits and magical prowess. Cast spells and summon allies in an effort to destroy your opponents' Phoenixborn and win the game.
Phoenixborn Card
Your Phoenixborn is your most important card. Its battlefield and spellboard values dictate how many units and ready spells you can have in play at a time and its life value is how many wound tokens can be placed on it before you are out of the game. A Phoenixborn is not a unit.
Example: Aradel Summergaard, Phoenixborn of Evermist Valley — Life 16, Battlefield 8, Spellboard 4. Water Blast: [Ceremonial] [Exhaust] 1 [Magic]: Deal 2 damage to a target unit. "Be gone, interloper! This is where your trespass ends."
Phoenixborn Card Key
- Name
- Life Value
- Battlefield Value
- Spellboard Value
- Ability
- Activation Cost
Unit Cards
Allies and conjurations are the two types of units that you will summon to your battlefield. Units on your battlefield are under your control.
Example: Blood Archer (Ally — Battlefield) — Attack 3, Life 3, Recover 2. Blood Shot: [Exhaust]: Place 1 wound token on this unit to deal 1 damage to a target unit.
Example: Butterfly Monk (Conjuration — Battlefield) — Attack 1, Life 1, Recover 0. Unit Guard: This unit may guard a unit that is being attacked. Mend 1: When this unit is destroyed, you may remove 1 wound token from a target unit or Phoenixborn.
Unit Card Key
- Title
- Type
- Placement
- Play Cost
- Attack Value
- Life Value
- Recover Value
- Activation Cost
- Ability
- Inexhaustible Effect
- Conjuration Limit
Spell Cards
Action and reaction spells are discarded for one-time effects whereas ready and alteration spells have longer lasting effects. The spells in your play area are under your control.
Example: Summon Iron Rhino (Ready Spell — Spellboard) — [Magic]: Place an Iron Rhino conjuration onto your battlefield. Focus 1: Reduce the activation cost of this spell by 1 [Magic]. Focus 2: Reduce the activation cost of this spell by an additional 1 [Magic].
Example: Root Armor (Alteration Spell — Unit) — This unit now has the following ability: Armored 1: After this unit is dealt damage, prevent 1 damage from being received. "Life protects life." Life +1.
Spell Card Key
- Title
- Type
- Placement
- Play Cost
- Activation Cost
- Effect
- Inexhaustible Effect
- Value Bonus
Tokens
- Wound — placed on units and Phoenixborn to track damage.
- Exhaustion — placed on cards to show they have been activated.
- Status — a generic marker used by various card effects.
- First Player — marks which player is the first player.
Dice
Dice are the magic that let you cast spells and summon units. You will encounter many types of dice in your battles; four types come in the master set. Each die has three levels: power > class > basic. Higher level dice can be used to pay for lower level costs.
- A power symbol can be used as that die's power, class or basic symbol.
- A class symbol can be used as that die's class or basic symbol.
In addition, each die's power symbol can be spent to activate a dice power effect.
The master set includes four die types, each with its own power, class, and basic symbol: the Natural die, the Charm die, the Ceremonial die, and the Illusion die.
Game Setup
To set up a game of Ashes, each player should do the following:
- Choose a deck to play with (see pp. 18-19 for suggested decks). Or build a deck to play with (see p. 18 for deck building rules). Or draft a deck to play with (see pp. 20-21 for drafting rules).
- Place your Phoenixborn in your play area with the information side face up.
- Place your conjuration pile face down in your play area.
- Place the dice power reference cards that correspond to the dice you are using in your play area and take a phases of play reference card, if needed.
- Place all ten of your dice to the right of your dice power reference cards. This is your exhausted dice pool.
- Choose your First Five by taking five different cards of your choice from your deck. This is your starting hand. You cannot include more than one copy of a card in your First Five. Shuffle the rest of your deck and form a face down draw pile in your play area.
- Make sure you have easy access to wound, exhaustion and status tokens.
Note: Your play area does not need to be organized like the example, but the different sections must be easily recognizable by your opponent.
The example play area is arranged with the Phoenixborn card and a discard pile at left, the battlefield and spellboard at center, and the dice power reference cards, active dice pool, exhausted dice pool, and phases of play reference card along the bottom.
Round Order
Ashes is played over a series of rounds. Each round is divided into three phases that must be resolved in order. Most of the game takes place during the player turns phase.
- Prepare
- Player Turns
- Recovery
1. Prepare Phase
During the prepare phase each player simultaneously resolves the following three steps in order:
- Roll Dice: Roll all of the dice in your exhausted pool and place them to the left of your dice power reference cards. This is your active dice pool. On the first round of the game, the player who rolls the most basic [Basic] symbols chooses who should go first (the First Player), taking the first player token or giving it to their opponent. If there is a tie for most, all players must re-roll all of their dice until there is no tie.
- Discard Cards: You may discard any number of cards from your hand.
- Draw Cards: Draw cards until you have 5 cards in your hand. a. Fatigue Damage: Starting with the First Player, players alternate placing 1 wound token on their Phoenixborn until all players have placed wounds equal to the number of cards they should have drawn but could not.
2. Player Turns Phase
The player turns phase typically consists of many very short turns. Starting with the First Player, each player will take just one or two actions per turn. They will continue taking turns, back and forth, until both players consecutively pass on their turn.
On a player's turn, they must take one main action and may choose to take one side action. These may be taken in either order. Once both players have taken Pass as their main action on consecutive turns, the player turns phase is over and the players move on to the recovery phase.
Main Actions (required)
- Pay a [Magic] cost
- Attack
- Pass
Side Actions (optional)
- Pay a [Side] cost
- Activate a dice power
- Meditate
Main Action: Pay a [Magic] Cost
To take this main action, play or activate a card where the [Magic] symbol appears in the play or activation cost.
Playing a Card
Many turns in Ashes consist of playing a card or activating a card that was played on a previous turn. It is common for your entire turn to consist of playing or activating just one or two cards.
To play a card from your hand, first pay its cost, then place it as directed by the card's placement.
Paying Costs
There are 5 different types of costs:
- Main Action: Take your main action for the turn.
- Side Action: Take your side action for the turn.
- Exhaust: Place 1 exhaustion token on this card.
- Discard: Discard a number of cards from your hand equal to the number shown.
- Magic: Exhaust dice of the appropriate type and number by moving them from your active pool to your exhausted pool. That number is known as the magic play cost. Remember that higher level dice can be used to pay for lower level costs.
Parallel Costs
Some cards have two or more connected costs in their play cost or their activation cost. These costs are called parallel costs. To pay a parallel cost, pay one of the options, plus any other costs.
Example: Paying Costs — To play Summon Iron Rhino to your spellboard, take your main action for the turn and exhaust 1 [Ceremonial] or [Illusion] die. To activate its effect, take your main action, place 1 exhaustion token on the card, and exhaust any six dice (any die can be used as [Basic]).
Card Types
There are 5 different types of cards that can be included in a player's deck (ally, alteration spell, ready spell, action spell, reaction spell), and 2 types that can be included in a player's conjuration pile (conjuration, conjured alteration spell).
Ally (Unit)
Allies are a type of unit. Iron Worker is an ally which will be played to your battlefield. To play the Iron Worker, pay its costs, and then place the Iron Worker in an empty slot on your battlefield. The number of battlefield slots is determined by the battlefield value on your Phoenixborn.
- Attack value: how much damage a unit deals in battle.
- Life value: how many wound tokens it takes to destroy a unit.
- Recover value: how many wound tokens are removed from a unit during the recovery phase.
Example: Iron Worker (Ally — Battlefield) — Overtime 2: During the draw cards step, you may draw up to 2 additional cards. Attack 2, Life 2, Recover 1.
Conjuration (Unit)
Conjurations are a type of unit. Conjurations start in a conjuration pile, are brought into play by other card effects, and return to that conjuration pile when they leave play. Their attack, life and recover values work exactly the same as an ally's.
Action Spell
Action spells have a one-time effect. Seal is an action spell which will be played to your discard pile. To play Seal, pay its play cost, carry out its effect, and then discard it.
Example: Seal (Action Spell — Discard) — Choose a ready spell on a target player's spellboard. Place 1 exhaustion token on the chosen spell and on each other copy of the chosen spell on that player's spellboard. "Now do try to keep a civil tongue."
Alteration Spell
Alteration spells modify the units they are attached to. Root Armor is an alteration spell which can be played (attached) to any unit in play on either battlefield. To play Root Armor, pay its costs, and then target any unit in play and attach the spell by placing it underneath that unit. As long as Root Armor remains attached to the unit, its card text and value bonuses modify the unit. In this case, the unit gains the ability Armored 1 and its life value is increased by 1.
Example: Root Armor (Alteration Spell — Unit) — This unit now has the following ability: Armored 1: After this unit is dealt damage, prevent 1 damage from being received. "Life protects life." Life +1.
Conjured Alteration Spell
Conjured alteration spells are considered to be alteration spells, not conjurations, while in play. Conjured alteration spells start in a conjuration pile, are brought into play by other card effects, and return to that conjuration pile when they leave play.
Ready Spell
Ready spells usually do not have an immediate effect, but will remain in play to be activated later. Summon Silver Snake is a ready spell which will be played to your spellboard. To play Summon Silver Snake, pay its play cost, and then place Summon Silver Snake in an empty slot on your spellboard. The number of spellboard slots is determined by the spellboard value on your Phoenixborn.
If you already have 1 or more copies of the same ready spell on your spellboard, place the new one on top of the existing one(s)—it does not take up an extra slot.
On a subsequent turn you can activate Summon Silver Snake by paying its activation cost, taking a Silver Snake conjuration from your conjuration pile and placing it in an empty slot on your battlefield.
Example: Summon Silver Snake (Ready Spell — Spellboard) — [Magic]: Place a Silver Snake conjuration onto your battlefield. Focus 1: Place 1 status token on that Silver Snake. Focus 2: Place 1 additional status token on that Silver Snake. Spell Guard: This spell cannot be affected by an opponent's spell.
Focusing a Ready Spell
If you have placed 2 or 3 copies of a ready spell on top of each other, that spell is focused. Each copy of a ready spell is separate, can have its own exhaustion and status tokens, and can be activated separately, paying all activation costs each time.
Some ready spells have effects that say Focus 1 or Focus 2. A spell's Focus 1 effect becomes active for all copies of that spell when it has been focused at least once (1 additional copy on your spellboard). A spell's Focus 2 effect becomes active when the spell has been focused at least twice (2 additional copies on your spellboard).
Reaction Spell
Reaction spells can be played on any player's turn, when its conditions are met. Reactions can only be played during a player's turn, and each player can only play one reaction per turn. Shadow Strike is a reaction spell which will be played to your discard pile. You have Shadow Strike in your hand when your opponent declares attackers. You respond by playing Shadow Strike, paying its play cost, carrying out its effects, and then discarding it.
Example: Shadow Strike (Reaction Spell — Discard) — You may play this spell after an opponent declares attackers. Deal 3 damage to a target unit that is not attacking. "Your every success furthers my purposes."
Other Reactions
Some cards have reaction abilities or effects on them, indicated by a blue box. These cards may be played from your hand as reactions when their conditions are met.
Using a reaction ability or effect counts toward your limit of 1 reaction per turn.
Example: Shadow Guard (Ally — Battlefield) — Hidden: After an opponent has declared attackers, you may play this unit from your hand without paying its main cost. Unit Guard: This unit may guard even if it has already attacked. Attack 1, Life 1, Recover 0.
Main Action: Attack
When you Attack, 1 or more of your unexhausted units will enter battle.
- Unexhausted: A card with no exhaustion tokens on it.
- Battle: In battle an attacker deals damage equal to its attack value to a defender. Sometimes the defender will counter. After the battle, 1 exhaustion token is placed on the attacker, and 1 on the defender, if it countered.
- Counter: When a defender counters, it deals damage equal to its attack value back to its attacker. Attack and counter damage occur simultaneously.
To take an Attack action, first target an opponent's PHOENIXBORN or UNIT.
If you target a PHOENIXBORN, do the following in order:
- Declare Attackers: Choose ANY NUMBER of unexhausted units you control to be attackers.
- Opponent Declares Blockers: Your opponent may block each attacker with up to one unexhausted unit they control.
- Resolve Battles: One at a time, resolve each battle in an order of your choice.
- If Blocked: The attacker battles its blocker and the blocker counters.
- If Unblocked: The attacker battles the target Phoenixborn.
Note: Resolution order matters! If a blocker is destroyed before it battles, the attacker it was blocking becomes unblocked.
If you target a UNIT, do the following in order:
- Declare Attackers: Choose ONE unexhausted unit you control to be the attacker.
- Opponent Declares Guard: Your opponent may guard with their Phoenixborn or with an unexhausted unit they control with the Unit Guard ability. Note: A Phoenixborn can only guard once per round, but may guard even if it is exhausted.
- Resolve Battle
- If Guarded: The attacker battles the guard and, if the guard is a unit, the guard counters. If the guard is a Phoenixborn, it is rotated 90° to indicate it is unable to guard again this round.
- If Unguarded: The attacker battles the target unit. If it is unexhausted your opponent may counter with it.
Example of an Attack
- Fernanda takes an Attack action, targeting Isaac's Phoenixborn, Maeoni Viper, and declares both of her Iron Workers and her Iron Rhino as her attackers.
- Isaac blocks an Iron Worker with his Silver Snake and the Iron Rhino with his Gilder. The other Iron Worker's attack will make it through to Maeoni.
- Fernanda decides the order of resolution: (a) The unblocked Iron Worker deals damage to Maeoni and is exhausted. (b) The blocked Iron Worker and the Silver Snake deal damage to each other and are exhausted.
- (c) The Iron Rhino deals damage to and is dealt 0 damage by the Gilder which is destroyed. Then, Isaac triggers Inheritance 1 on his Gilder when it is destroyed, and then Fernanda triggers Overkill 2 on her Iron Rhino after the Gilder is destroyed. Finally, the Gilder is discarded and the Iron Rhino is exhausted.
Main Action: Pass
When you Pass, your main action is to do nothing. You may still take a side action. If your opponent does not Pass on their next turn, then when it is your turn again you may take any main action. If both players Pass on consecutive turns, the player turns phase ends and players move on to the recovery phase of the round.
Side Actions
Pay a [Side] Cost
To take this side action, play or activate a card where the [Side] symbol appears in the play or activation cost.
Activate a Dice Power
For a side action you may exhaust a die that is on its power side to activate its dice power effect. The effect for each type of power symbol is detailed on the dice power reference card corresponding to that die. (To exhaust a die, move it from your active pool to your exhausted pool.)
Meditate
The Meditate side action allows you to raise the levels of your dice. When you Meditate, discard any number of the following, one at a time:
- Cards in your hand
- Cards off the top of your deck
- Ready spells from your spellboard
For each card discarded, you may change a die in your active pool to a side of your choice.
3. Recovery Phase
During the Recovery Phase, each player simultaneously resolves the following three steps in order:
- Recover: Remove a number of wound tokens from each unit you have in play equal to that unit's recover value.
- Remove Exhaustion: Remove 1 exhaustion token from each card you have in play that has 1 or more exhaustion tokens on it. Rotate your Phoenixborn so that it is upright.
- Exhaust Dice: Move any number of dice from your active pool to your exhausted pool.
End of Round
Some effects take place after the recovery phase "at the end of the round." Each player (one at a time, starting with the First Player) resolves all effects they control that occur at the end of the round, in the order of their choice. After all such effects are resolved, the player with the first player token passes it to their opponent and the next round begins.
Winning and Losing the Game
If a player's Phoenixborn has a number of wound tokens on it equal to or greater than its life value, that Phoenixborn is destroyed. Their opponent has won the game!
3-4 Player Game
The preceding rules are for the two player game. Ashes can also be played with three or four players. The rules are identical except that whenever player order matters, start with the Active Player and proceed clockwise. Also, whenever you need to pass something "to your opponent," pass it clockwise. The Active Player is the player whose turn it is or, if it is not during the player turns phase, the player with the first player token.
When a Phoenixborn is destroyed, its controlling player discards all cards on their battlefield or spellboard. That player and their play area are no longer in the game. If any cards they own are in another player's play area, those cards stay in play. The game ends when only one player has a Phoenixborn in play. They have won the game!
Resolving Effects
There are four rules when playing cards or resolving effects:
- Resolve the card text from top to bottom, one effect at a time.
- Resolve as much of each effect as possible.
- Resolve each card completely, even if it is removed from play.
- Card text always supersedes game rules.
A card can have multiple effects, and they will be separated either by periods or by the words "to" or "and." If an effect on a card triggers another effect, pause resolving the current card until all related triggered effects have been resolved.
Example of Complex Effect Resolution
Isaac has one empty battlefield slot and he has the Summon Gilder ready spell in play. He activates the spell, causing two effects.
Summon Gilder — [Magic] [Exhaust] 1 [Side]: Place a Gilder conjuration onto your battlefield. You may deal 1 damage to a target unit.
- Place Gilder: Isaac resolves these effects in order, starting by placing a Gilder onto his battlefield.
- After a unit comes into play: Fernanda reveals the Ice Trap reaction spell in her hand, which was triggered after the Gilder came into play. Fernanda plays the Ice Trap, destroying the Gilder. Ice Trap (Reaction Spell — Discard): You may play this spell after a unit with a life value of 2 or less comes into play. Destroy that target unit.
- When this unit is destroyed: The Gilder's Inheritance 1 ability now triggers. Gilder (Conjuration — Battlefield): Unit Guard: This unit may guard. Inheritance 1: When this unit is destroyed, you may place 1 status token on a target unit.
- After a unit is destroyed: Now Isaac reveals the Summon Sleeping Widows reaction spell in his hand, which was triggered after his Gilder was destroyed. He plays it, placing one Sleeping Widow conjuration onto his battlefield. He cannot place the second one because his battlefield is now full, but he resolves as much as possible. Summon Sleeping Widows (Reaction Spell — Discard): You may play this spell when a unit you control is destroyed. Place 2 Sleeping Widow conjurations onto your battlefield.
- Deal damage: Now that all effects that triggered off of placing the Gilder have been resolved, Isaac resumes resolving the next effect on Summon Gilder by dealing 1 damage to a target unit.
Damage, Wound Tokens and Destruction
When a unit or Phoenixborn is dealt damage, place a number of wound tokens on it equal to the amount of unprevented damage it received. After a unit or Phoenixborn has a number of wound tokens equal to or greater than its life value, destroy it.
- When a unit is destroyed, it is discarded.
- When a Phoenixborn is destroyed, its controlling player loses the game.
Note: A card's life value is not reduced when wound tokens are placed on it.
Note: Deal damage ▶ Place wounds ▶ Destroy. An effect that "deals damage" places wound tokens and destroys, but an effect that "destroys" does not deal damage or place wound tokens.
Discarding Cards
When a card in play is discarded or otherwise removed from play, set it aside along with any cards underneath it that are attached or face down. After resolving any triggered effects, return any tokens on any of these cards to the supply, discard the cards that are underneath, and place that card in its final destination. Discarded cards go to their owner's discard pile.
Exception: Discarded conjurations and conjured alteration spells do not go to a discard pile but return to their owner's conjuration pile.
Exhaustion Tokens
Some game effects place exhaustion tokens on cards. When a card has 1 or more exhaustion tokens on it, it is considered to be exhausted. An exhausted card has no ability or effect text though it retains everything else including attack, life, and recover values (on units), and value bonuses (on alteration spells). In addition, exhausted units cannot attack, block, guard or counter.
Some cards have inexhaustible effects or abilities, indicated by a yellow box. These effects or abilities remain even if the card is exhausted. In this example, an exhausted Butterfly Monk does not have the Unit Guard ability but it retains the Mend 1 ability as well as its attack, life, and recover values.
Example: Butterfly Monk (Conjuration — Battlefield) — Mend 1 (Inexhaustible effect): When this unit is destroyed, you may remove 1 wound token from a target unit or Phoenixborn. Attack 1, Life 1, Recover 0.
Status Tokens
Status tokens can have various effects based on the cards that are in play. Those cards will detail how the status tokens are to be used.
The above rules will suffice for your first several games, but some players will be interested in the exact timing of various game effects. These can be found on the next page.
Advanced Timing Considerations
The rules in this section deal with the precise timing of certain game effects. Ashes can be enjoyed in a casual setting without reading these rules. In certain settings, however, the precise order of resolution is important.
Attack Resolution
During an Attack action that targets a Phoenixborn, an attacker or blocker may be exhausted or destroyed before their battle begins to resolve.
- If an attacker is exhausted or destroyed, it leaves battle and does not attack.
- If a blocker is destroyed, the attacking unit is no longer blocked and will deal its damage to the target Phoenixborn.
- If a blocker is exhausted, it still blocks but cannot counter (deal damage) and does not receive an exhaustion token.
Damage Resolution
Whenever damage is dealt, wound tokens are placed, or units are destroyed, enter the process below at the appropriate step. If damage of 0 is dealt, do not enter the process and do not trigger any effects.
Step 1: Deal Damage.
- Effects that trigger "after damage is dealt" may now be used. Most of these effects will prevent 1 or more damage from being received in step 2.
Step 2: Receive Damage and Place Wounds. Place wound tokens equal to the damage received.
- If a unit has wound tokens on it equal to or greater than its life value, it will be destroyed in the next step.
- If a Phoenixborn has wound tokens on it equal to or greater than its life value, its controlling player immediately loses the game.
- Effects that trigger "after 1 or more wound tokens are placed" may now be used.
Step 3: Destroy Unit. Remove unit from play.
- Effects that trigger "when this unit is destroyed" may now be used.
- After all of the above effects have resolved, effects that trigger "after a unit is destroyed/leaves play" may be used.
Step 4: Discard the Destroyed Unit.
Simultaneous Effects
Sometimes game effects will seem to occur simultaneously. Here is how to properly order those effects.
Effects with the same trigger timing
If players have 1 or more responses to the same triggering game event, each player (starting with the Active Player—the player whose turn it is) has one opportunity to play any cards and activate any effects they wish to in response to that trigger, resolving them one at a time and then passing the opportunity to their opponent.
Effects that trigger "when" a game event occurs
Some effects occur "when" a game event occurs, e.g. "When this unit comes into play, you may deal 1 damage to another target unit." In this case, complete the triggering game event ("unit comes into play") and then resolve the triggered effect ("deal 1 damage") along with any other effects with the same trigger timing as detailed above. After all "when a unit comes into play" effects are fully resolved, "after a unit comes into play" effects can now trigger.
Example: An Anchornaut with the above example ability comes into play. You may then deal 1 damage to a target unit. After that damage is fully resolved, and no player chooses to activate any other "when" effects, your opponent could play the reaction spell Ice Trap ("after a unit... comes into play") and destroy the Anchornaut.
Units that deal damage to each other
Units that deal damage to each other, most commonly when attacking and countering, deal damage simultaneously. The Active Player then chooses which damage to resolve first, using the damage resolution process.
Effects that affect multiple units or other game elements (e.g. spells, cards, etc.)
Some effects can affect multiple units at once, e.g., "Deal 1 damage to all units." In these cases, the player who controls the effect:
- Selects all units to be affected.
- Resolves the effect for one unit at a time in the order of their choice.
The resolution process may cause a selected unit to no longer fit the selection criteria, or may cause new selectable units to appear. In all cases, the original selection cannot change.
Example: Fernanda plays Mist Typhoon and deals 1 damage to each unit controlled by an opponent. She destroys one of Isaac's units and he reacts with Summon Sleeping Widows and places 2 Sleeping Widow conjurations into play. These new units will not be dealt damage from Mist Typhoon.
Deck Building
To build a deck, you must do the following:
-
Choose a Phoenixborn.
-
Choose exactly 30 cards to be included in your deck. You may only include up to 3 copies of any 1 card in your deck.
Do not include conjuration and conjured alteration spell cards in your deck. These cards are only brought into play by the effects and abilities of other cards.
You can only include Phoenixborn unique cards in your deck if you chose the associated Phoenixborn. The Phoenixborn unique icon is located in the lower right corner of cards unique to that Phoenixborn.
-
Choose 10 dice to be included in your dice pool. You may choose a variety of die types to be in your dice pool.
Example: [Natural] x 3, [Ceremonial] x 3, [Illusion] x 2, [Charm] x 2 — 10 total dice
-
Assemble your conjuration pile as follows: Some effects or abilities can bring conjurations and conjured alteration spells into the game. Each conjuration or conjured alteration spell has a conjuration limit placed in the lower left corner of that card. Identify all such cards your deck is capable of producing and collect a number of copies of each card equal to the conjuration limit of that card.
Deck Suggestions
Here are lists of deck builds we suggest. One copy of each highlighted card is suggested for your First Five.
The Iron Men
Phoenixborn: Coal Roarkwin
Dice Pool: Ceremonial x 5, Illusion x 5
Cards:
- 3 x Expand Energy
- 3 x Strengthen
- 3 x Cover
- 3 x Chant of Revenge
- 3 x Summon Iron Rhino
- 3 x Anchornaut
- 3 x Iron Worker
- 3 x Hammer Knight
- 3 x One Hundred Blades
- 3 x Close Combat
Conjurations: 1 x Iron Rhino
"Bring the merciless punishment of Coal Roarkwin to the battle, and slay your foes with the fury of 100 slashing blades!"
The Snakes in Silver
Phoenixborn: Maeoni Viper
Dice Pool: Charm x 5, Natural x 5
Cards:
- 3 x Call Upon the Realms
- 3 x Summon Silver Snake
- 3 x Refresh
- 3 x Empower
- 3 x Hypnotize
- 3 x Open Memories
- 3 x Molten Gold
- 3 x Transfer
- 3 x Golden Veil
- 3 x Summon Gilder
Conjurations: 2 x Gilder, 1 x Silver Snake
"Unleash your superior technique with Maeoni Viper, and use it to shield your warriors. Conjure magical pets and watch them grow!"
The Mist Guardian
Phoenixborn: Aradel Summergaard
Dice Pool: Natural x 5, Illusion x 5
Cards:
- 3 x Shifting Mist
- 3 x Summon Mist Spirit
- 3 x Summon Blue Jaguar
- 3 x Reflections in the Water
- 3 x Mist Typhoon
- 3 x Out of the Mist
- 3 x Root Armor
- 3 x Steady Gaze
- 3 x Massive Growth
- 3 x Summon Butterfly Monk
Conjurations: 2 x Blue Jaguar, 10 x Mist Spirit, 2 x Butterfly Monk
"Conjure a horde of creatures to fight for you, then strike from out of the swirling mists with Aradel Summergaard!"
The Cloudsea Siren
Phoenixborn: Saria Guideman
Dice Pool: Charm x 5, Illusion x 5
Cards:
- 3 x Purge
- 3 x Abundance
- 3 x Summon Three-Eyed Owl
- 3 x Summon Seaside Raven
- 3 x Hidden Power
- 3 x Seal
- 3 x Strange Copy
- 3 x Sympathy Pain
- 3 x Rose Fire Dancer
- 3 x Enchanted Violinist
Conjurations: 3 x Three-Eyed Owl, 1 x Seaside Raven
"Veil your true power behind charity and hospitality, then crush your enemy's psyche with Saria Guideman's mental magic!"
The Bloodwoods Queen
Phoenixborn: Jessa Na Ni
Dice Pool: Charm x 5, Ceremonial x 5
Cards:
- 3 x Fear
- 3 x Blood Transfer
- 3 x Summon Blood Puppet
- 3 x Cut the Strings
- 3 x Undying Heart
- 3 x Redirect
- 3 x Final Cry
- 3 x Blood Archer
- 3 x Living Doll
- 3 x Blood Shaman
Conjurations: 5 x Blood Puppet
"Rule the battlefield through fear! Jessa Na Ni's blood magic protects her own warriors while terrorizing her opponent!"
The Shadows of Viros
Phoenixborn: Noah Redmoon
Dice Pool: Illusion x 5, Ceremonial x 5
Cards:
- 3 x Small Sacrifice
- 3 x Summon Masked Wolf
- 3 x Summon False Demon
- 3 x Sleight of Hand
- 3 x Bound Soul
- 3 x Resummon
- 3 x Summon Sleeping Widows
- 3 x Shadow Strike
- 3 x Fade Away
- 3 x Stormwind Sniper
Conjurations: 5 x Masked Wolf, 2 x False Demon, 6 x Sleeping Widow
"Show your disdain for humanity with Noah Redmoon. Call wolves from the shadows and make deadly pacts with vile fiends!"
Drafting
Instead of playing with a pre-built deck or bringing a custom built deck to a game of Ashes, you and your friends may draft your decks. 2 - 4 players can participate in a draft using this master set. By adding additional Ashes sets more players can join in on a draft.
To participate in a draft, do the following steps in order:
Set-Up
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Gather each Phoenixborn in your collection and place each into a separate pile along with 3 copies of its corresponding Phoenixborn unique card.
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Gather 10 copies of each die type in your collection and place them in separate piles.
If drafting with 5 or more players you will either need to have a number of die types in your collection equal to the number of players drafting, or you will need to have more than 10 copies of each die type so that there are enough dice available so that each player drafting can draft a full 10 dice.
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Gather 1 copy of each remaining card in your collection and shuffle them into one big draft deck.
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Gather all of the conjuration and conjured alteration cards in your collection and put them to the side for later use.
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Randomly determine a first player and give them the first player token.
Draft
- Starting with the first player and continuing clockwise around the table, each player chooses 1 Phoenixborn along with its corresponding Phoenixborn unique cards. Then the first player passes the first player token to their left.
- Deal each player 9 cards from the draft deck. Each player will choose 1 of the cards they were dealt and pass the other 8 cards to the player on their left. Each player will then choose 1 of the cards they were passed and pass the remaining 7 cards to the player on their left. Players will continue choosing and passing in this way until each player has chosen 9 cards.
- Starting with the first player and continuing clockwise around the table, each player chooses 2 dice at a time, of any type, until all players have chosen 10 dice. Then the first player passes the first player token to their left.
- Reveal a number of cards from the draft deck equal to the number of players drafting and place them face up. Starting with the first player, each player may take 1 of the face up cards, putting 1 of their cards face up in its place so it is available to be chosen by another player.
- Each player collects 2 additional copies of each of the 9 cards they drafted.
- Each player assembles their conjuration pile as follows: Some effects or abilities can bring conjurations and conjured alteration spells into the game. Each conjuration or conjured alteration spell has a conjuration limit placed in the lower left corner of that card. Identify all such cards your deck is capable of producing and collect a number of copies of each card equal to the conjuration limit of that card.
- Each player should now have 1 Phoenixborn, 10 dice, 30 cards and, if applicable, a conjuration pile—everything they need to play!
- Players can now use their drafted deck in a game or tournament.
Glossary
Ability: A named effect on a unit or Phoenixborn. A unit ability with a number after its name will stack if the unit receives an additional copy of that ability. See Stacking Abilities.
Activate: Use an activated effect on a card in play or on a die on its power side. To activate an effect, announce it, pay the associated costs, and then resolve it.
Activated Ability/Effect: A card effect or dice power that only resolves when you pay its activation cost, which will always include a main or side action.
Active Dice Pool / Active Pool: The place where you keep dice that are available to spend.
Active Player: The player whose turn it is or, if it is not during the player turns phase, the player with the first player token.
Affect: A card or dice power affects a spell if it does any of the following to that spell: places or removes tokens/dice, adds or removes effects, causes the spell to be attached to a different card, or moves it in or out of play.
Attach: The process of placing an alteration spell underneath a target unit and applying its effects and value bonuses to that unit. Attaching an alteration spell to a unit targets that unit.
Attack: The rules for attacking are on p. 10. Some additional clarifications:
Attackers deal attack damage and blockers/guards/targets can deal counter damage.
A unit with 0 attack value that attacks or counters does not deal damage, but still receives an exhaustion token. (Dealing 0 damage = not dealing damage.)
Precise timing for attack resolution is found on p. 16.
Attack Value: The damage a unit deals when attacking or countering. Attack value can be negative, but whenever it is used in resolving a game effect or battle, the minimum is 0.
Attacker: An unexhausted unit that has been declared to be attacking when taking an Attack main action.
Attacking Player: The player that is taking an Attack main action.
Battle: An attacker is in battle with the unit or Phoenixborn it is dealing attack damage to.
Battlefield: The part of your play area where units are placed. The number of units on your battlefield cannot exceed the battlefield value on your Phoenixborn. When playing an ally with placement = Battlefield from your hand, you can only play it to your battlefield. All face up cards on your battlefield are in play under your control.
Blocker: Unexhausted units you control may be declared as blockers when your Phoenixborn is targeted with an Attack action. Up to one unit may be declared as a blocker per attacking unit. Blocking is not the same as guarding. Blockers must counter.
Cancel: When an effect is canceled, immediately stop resolving that effect and all remaining effects that are in the process of being resolved on the canceled effect's card.
Choose: Some effects ask players to choose something, e.g. targets, options, or other game elements. Choosing a card or other game element does not, by itself, affect or target it, but may cause an effect to affect or target it.
Conjuration: A type of unit that starts the game in a conjuration pile and can be brought into play by a card effect.
Conjuration Limit: The number of copies of a conjuration or conjured alteration spell that you must put into your conjuration pile before the game begins. It is located in the lower left hand corner of those cards.
Conjuration Pile: A face down stack of all the conjurations and conjured alteration spells that your deck is capable of producing. The number of cards in any conjuration pile is public information.
Conjured Alteration Spell: A type of spell that starts the game in a conjuration pile and can be brought into play by a card effect. Conjured alteration spells are considered to be alteration spells while in play.
Control: The following are under your control: your Phoenixborn and its abilities, any face up cards on your battlefield or spellboard and their abilities and effects, and any action or reaction spells, dice powers, attacks, or counters that you are resolving. Alteration and conjured alteration spells are under your control while you are attaching them and then are under the control of the player who controls the card they are attached to.
Counter: Countering is when a defender deals counter damage equal to its attack value back to the attacking unit. Blockers and unit guards must counter.
Current / Currently: The words "current" and "currently" in an effect refer to the game state before the effect resolves.
Current Value: The attack, life, and recover values of a unit after modifiers have been applied. When an effect references the current values of a unit it refers to the values before the effect resolves.
Damage: Dealing damage is what starts the damage resolution process. Dealing damage is not the same as placing wounds, but usually leads to placing wound tokens. Dealing 0 damage does not start the damage resolution process and therefore is considered not dealing damage.
Damage Resolution Process: The process by which damage becomes wounds and then destruction. It is covered in detail on page 16.
Defender: A unit or Phoenixborn that has been declared as a blocker or guard, or is the target of an attack.
Defending Player: The player whose Phoenixborn or unit has been declared the target of an Attack action.
Dice Power: An effect that can be activated by spending a side action and a die on its power symbol side. Each die type has a different dice power.
Discard Pile: The place in your play area where you place discarded cards. Cards are placed face up, and the contents are public information.
Draw Pile: The face down pile of cards that you draw from during the game. The number of cards is public information.
Effect: An effect is any text that is resolved from a spell or ability. Attack and counter damage are not effects.
Exhaust: The process of placing exhaustion tokens on a card OR the process of moving dice from an active pool to an exhausted pool.
Exhausted: A card that has 1 or more exhaustion tokens on it OR a die that is in your exhausted pool. An exhausted card has no ability or effect text (except for inexhaustible ones) though it retains everything else including attack, life, and recover values (on units), and value bonuses (on alteration spells). Exhausted units cannot attack, block, guard or counter.
Exhausted Dice Pool / Exhausted Pool: The place where you keep dice that have already been exhausted/spent this turn.
Face Down: A card that is face down underneath a card in play is not considered to be attached to that card and is not considered to be in play.
First Five: When setting up a game of Ashes, select 5 different cards from your deck to become your starting hand. You cannot include more than one copy of a card in your First Five. In a competitive setting, find a non-player to verify that the cards are unique.
First Player: The player who currently possesses the first player token. The First Player takes the first turn of each round.
Focus: When multiple copies of a spell are on your spellboard, it is focused. Some ready spells modify existing effects or grant additional effects when they are focused. Any additional effects must be resolved in order as usual. See Focusing a Ready Spell on p. 9.
Game Event: Anything that could occur in the game as a result of following the rules or resolving effects. Examples: a unit comes into play, an alteration spell is attached, a player declares attackers, wound tokens are placed on a Phoenixborn, etc.
Guard: Your Phoenixborn or an unexhausted unit you control with the Unit Guard ability can be declared as a guard when a unit you control is targeted with an Attack action. A Phoenixborn may only guard once per round, indicated by rotating a Phoenixborn 90° after guarding. Guarding is not the same as blocking. A guarding unit must counter.
Inexhaustible Effect: An effect on a card that remains even if that card is exhausted.
A card may grant a unit an ability in an inexhaustible box. In this case, the granted ability is inexhaustible on that unit. However, if the effect that grants it ("This unit now has the following ability") is not inexhaustible, the ability can be removed by exhausting the granting card.
Level: Dice have 3 levels: basic, class, and power. When an effect raises a die one level, basic dice turn to class sides, and class dice turn to power sides. When an effect lowers a die one level, power dice turn to class sides, and class dice turn to basic sides.
Life Value: The number of wound tokens that a Phoenixborn or unit can have on it before it is destroyed. A card's life value is constant unless modified by a game effect. It is not reduced when wound tokens are placed on it.
Magic Play Cost: The magic play cost of a card is the total number of die symbols that must be spent to play the card from your hand. Action, exhaust, and discard costs are not included and "X" equals "0" for the purpose of calculating magic play costs. The magic play cost of a card with a parallel cost is the maximum number of symbols that could be spent to play that card.
Example: Living Doll (Ally — Battlefield) — Pain Link 1: Move 1 wound token from this unit onto a target Phoenixborn. "Some shelters are for comfort. I dye these dolls in blood." Attack 0, Life 3, Recover 1. This card has a magic play cost of 2.
Main Action: You must take one main action on each of your turns. The possible main actions are: Pay a [Magic] cost, Attack, or Pass. See pp. 7-12.
Move: When a game element (e.g. token) is moved from one location (e.g. card) to another, it is removed from the first location and placed on the second location in a single resolution. If a move effect is canceled, leave the game element in the first location.
Owner: A card's owner is the player whose deck or conjuration pile that card started the game in.
Parallel Costs: Some cards have two or more connected costs in their play cost or their activation cost. These costs are called parallel costs. To pay a parallel cost, pay one of the options, plus any other costs.
Passive Effect: A card effect that is active just by being in play. It may always be active or it may only be active while a certain game state exists. Example: "While this unit is attacking" is a passive effect whereas "When this unit is declared as an attacker" is a triggered effect.
Phoenixborn: Each player controls a Phoenixborn which is not a unit. When your Phoenixborn is destroyed, you lose the game.
Placement: Direction on where a card goes when it is played. Note that when played from your hand, a card with placement of Battlefield, Spellboard or Discard must go to your own Battlefield, Spellboard or Discard, but a card with placement of Unit may be played to any unit in play.
Play / In Play: A card is in play if it is any player's Phoenixborn or if it is face up on any player's battlefield or spellboard.
Printed Value: These are the values printed on the card for attack, life, and recover values. Example: You have a Blue Jaguar (printed with Attack 1; Life 2) with Root Armor attached (Life +1) so it is currently Attack 1; Life 3. You play an effect that swaps the printed attack value and the printed life value. The Blue Jaguar is now Attack 2; Life 2.
Reaction Ability/Effect: Some cards have reaction abilities or effects on them, indicated by a blue box. These cards may be played from your hand as reactions when their conditions are met. Using a reaction ability or effect counts toward your limit of 1 reaction per turn.
Recover Value: The number of wound tokens that are removed from a unit during the recover step of the recovery phase. If the recover value is larger than the number of wound tokens, remove them all. Recover value can be negative, but whenever it is used in resolving a game effect, the minimum is 0.
Side Action: You may take one side action on each of your turns. You may take it before or after your main action. The possible side actions are: Pay a [Side] cost, Meditate, or Activate a dice power. See p. 12.
Spell: Any card that has the word "spell" as a part of its card type.
Spellboard: The part of your play area where ready spells are placed. The number of ready spell slots on your spellboard equals the spellboard value on your Phoenixborn, but multiple copies of the same ready spell only take up one slot. When playing a ready spell with placement = Spellboard from your hand, you can only play it to your spellboard. All face up cards on your spellboard are in play under your control.
Stacking Abilities: A unit ability with a numeral after its name will stack if the unit receives an additional copy of that ability. Add the numerals in the ability names together, and change the corresponding numeral(s) in the ability text to that sum. Focus effects and abilities without numerals after their name do not stack. Example: Blood Ritual 1 reads: "When this unit is destroyed as a result of a spell, ability, or dice power you control, you may remove 1 wound token from your Phoenixborn and then raise 1 die in your active pool one level." If a unit with Blood Ritual 1 receives the ability Blood Ritual 2, it will now have "Blood Ritual 3: When this unit is destroyed as a result of a spell, ability, or dice power you control, you may remove 3 wound token[s] from your Phoenixborn and then raise 3 [dice] in your active pool one level."
Target: An effect targets a game element if it uses the word "target" in relation to that game element or if it is an alteration spell being attached to that game element. Choose the target of a targeted effect immediately before resolving that effect.
Triggered Ability/Effect: A card effect that can only be used when or after a game event occurs, such as "when this unit comes into play" or "after an opponent declares attackers." Some triggered effects are mandatory, some are optional ("you may"), and some require an additional cost.
When: Triggered effects that happen "When" a game event occurs are resolved immediately after the game event completes.
After: Triggered effects that happen "After" a game event occurs are resolved after that game event, and after all related "When" effects.
If players wish to resolve multiple triggered effects off of the same game event, start with the Active Player. For more details, see Simultaneous Effects on p. 17.
Type: Each card has a type. Examples: Ally, Conjuration, Alteration Spell, Conjured Alteration Spell, Ready Spell, Action Spell, Reaction Spell.
Unexhausted: A card that does not have any exhaustion tokens on it.
Unit: An ally or conjuration.
Value Bonus: An alteration spell's modifier for the attack, life, or recover values of the unit it is attached to.
Wound Tokens: Tokens placed on units and Phoenixborn as a result of receiving damage through the damage resolution process. When the number of wound tokens on a unit or Phoenixborn are equal to or greater than that card's life value, destroy that card. If an effect "places wound tokens," begin the damage resolution process at step 2. See Damage Resolution on p. 16.
X: Cards that use X as a value will also feature a definition of X for that card. X = 0 for the purposes of determining magic play cost. Example: Out of the Mist deals X damage to a target unit and X, for that card, is defined as the number of units you have in play.
Credits
Game Designer: Isaac Vega
Game Developer: Nick Conley
Producer: Colby Dauch
Illustrator: Fernanda Suarez
Writer: Mr. Bistro
Graphic Designers: David Richards, Kendall Wilkerson
Editor: Jonathan Liu
Reborn Playtesters: Adam Tarr, Alexander Krohannon, Andrew DiLullo, Angus Paton, Ben Hodgson, Ben Sash, Benjamin Brow, Bill Parousis, Brian Broughman, Carl Burns, Christian Pratt, Ethan Fritz, Ian Beck, Jarret Berman, Jeremy Harris, Joey Cook, Lai Chun Yin, Liam Diacci, Lizzie Hart, Martin Holmstrand, Matt Bauers, Matthew Cozza, Michael Evans, Nathan Fritz, Niall Burton, Phil Ryskamp, Shawn Lee.
Round Summary
1. Prepare Phase (p. 6)
- Roll Dice: Roll your exhausted dice and place them in your active pool.
- Discard Cards: You may discard any number of cards from your hand.
- Draw Cards: Draw cards until you have 5 cards in your hand. a. Fatigue Damage: Wound your Phoenixborn for cards not drawn.
2. Player Turns Phase (p. 6)
Players alternate taking turns until both players Pass on consecutive turns.
Each player takes 1 Main Action [Magic] and may take 1 Side Action [Side] on their turn.
Pay a [Magic] Cost (p. 7) — Play or activate a card with the [Magic] symbol in the play or activation cost.
Attack (p. 10) — Target an opponent's PHOENIXBORN or UNIT.
Pass (p. 12) — Do nothing.
Pay a [Side] Cost (p. 12) — Play or activate a card with the [Side] symbol in the play or activation cost.
Activate a Dice Power (p. 12) — Exhaust a die that is on its power side to activate its dice power effect.
Meditate (p. 12) — Discard cards from hand, deck or spellboard to raise dice levels.
If you target a PHOENIXBORN:
- Declare Attackers: Choose ANY NUMBER of unexhausted attackers.
- Opponent Declares Blockers: One unexhausted blocker per attacker.
- Resolve Battles:
- If Blocked: The attacker battles its blocker and the blocker counters.
- If Unblocked: The attacker battles the target Phoenixborn.
If you target a UNIT:
- Declare Attackers: Choose ONE unexhausted attacker.
- Opponent Declares Guard: Phoenixborn (once per round) or an unexhausted unit with Unit Guard.
- Resolve Battle
- If Guarded: The attacker battles the guard and, if the guard is a unit, it counters.
- If Unguarded: The attacker battles the target unit and your opponent may counter.
3. Recovery Phase (p. 13)
- Recover: Remove wounds from units with recover values.
- Remove Exhaustion: Remove 1 exhaustion token from each card. Rotate Phoenixborn upright.
- Exhaust Dice: May exhaust any number of your dice.
End of Round
Resolve 'end of round' card effects and pass the First Player token.