Balance Elemental Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Objective of the Game
• Start of the Game
• Game Flow
• Balance Counter
• Scoring
  • Scoring Example (2-player game)
• End of the Game
• Rule Variants
  • Forte Elementis (Random Elements)
  • Bet Elementalium (Elemental Bet)
  • Perfectum Elementis (Perfect Elements)

Components

• 32 Tokens
• 1 Scorepad "Balance Counter"
• 1 Rulebook

The 32 tokens are marked with the four elements: Fire, Air, Water and Earth.

• 5 Fire tokens
• 5 Air tokens
• 5 Water tokens
• 5 Earth tokens
• 1 Fire + Air
• 1 Air + Water
• 1 Water + Earth
• 1 Earth + Fire
• 1 Fire + Water
• 1 Air + Earth
• 1 Fire + Air + Water
• 1 Air + Water + Earth
• 1 Water + Earth + Fire
• 1 Earth + Fire + Air
• 2 Fire + Air + Water + Earth

Objective of the Game

Have the most points at the end of the game. Points are obtained each turn by writing down the correct number of tokens matching the elements in play.

Start of the Game

The person who has most recently been in contact with any of the four elements will be the first Ceremonial Guide. The rest of the players will be the Aspirants. The Ceremonial Guide will play the first turn and will deal a Balance Counter sheet to each Aspirant.

Game Flow

During each turn, the Ceremonial Guide will conduct the following Ritual for the Aspirants, in their search to invoke the power of the elements:

1. All Aspirants must close their eyes while the Guide selects 15 to 20 tokens from the box, which they will then keep hidden in their hands.
2. The rest of the tokens go back to the box, which should be closed immediately.
3. Then, the Guide drops all the tokens on the table and says, "Elemental!" At that moment, Aspirants will open their eyes, while the Guide counts down from 5.
4. During the countdown, Aspirants must observe and memorize the number of tokens for each kind of element.
5. When the countdown reaches 0, the Guide will say, "Balance!" All Aspirants will close their eyes, and the Guide will hide the tokens under the (still closed) box.
6. The Guide then says, "Concentration!" All Aspirants will open their eyes again and start writing down the amounts of each type of element in their score sheet (see "Balance Counter").
7. As Aspirants finish writing, they will put their hands on the box, in the center of the table.

Once all hands are together, the Guide will move the box over, revealing the tokens underneath. Then, scoring is performed (see Scoring).

The Aspirant on the left of the current Guide becomes the new Guide, and a new turn starts.

This will go on until each Aspirant has taken a turn as Guide the following number of times, according to player count:

• 2 players: 3 times each
• 3 players: 2 times each
• 4, 5 or 6 players: 1 time each

Balance Counter

When it's time to write on your Balance Counter, each Aspirant will write down the information they could gather during the turn.

The Balance Counter is divided into:

1. Element columns: Each column represents the tokens of each element type in play (Fire, Air, Water and Earth). In the "observed" column (eye symbol), you will write down the amount of tokens you observed during the turn, and in the score column (yellow diamond symbol), you will write down the corresponding score (see Scoring).
2. Elemental Balance: In the "BE" (Balance Elemental) column, you will write down the sum of scores obtained for each element during the turn, and the final scoring.
3. Summary of Scoring: A table at the foot of the sheet lists the score for each result (see Scoring).

The sheet has six numbered rows (I to VI), one for each turn.

Scoring

Each Aspirant will compare what they observed on their Balance Counter with the tokens revealed by the Guide.

Each element is scored in the following way:

• 5 points (diamond) if the value written for the element matches the number of tokens of that element on the table.
• 3 points if the value written is exactly 1 lower than the correct number of tokens of that element on the table.
• 1 point if the value written is exactly 2 lower than the correct number of tokens of that element on the table.
• 0 points if the value written is greater than the correct number of tokens of that element on the table.
• 0 points if the value written is 3 or more lower than the correct number of tokens of that element on the table.

Important: The Guide will score 1 point (diamond) for each Element for which an Aspirant has scored 5 points. This is recorded in the BE Column.

Scoring Example (2-player game)

The Ceremonial Guide puts down 17 tokens on the table:

• 4 Fire
• 2 Air
• 3 Water
• 4 Earth
• 1 Earth + Fire
• 1 Water + Earth
• 1 Water + Earth + Fire
• 1 Fire + Air + Water + Earth

The Aspirant writes down:

• Fire: 7
• Air: 2
• Water: 7
• Earth: 5

They will score:

• 5 points (diamond) for Fire, as they matched the number of Fire tokens (7).
• 3 points (diamond) for Air, as they wrote down 1 less than the correct amount (3).
• 0 points (diamond) for Water, as they wrote down more tokens than the correct amount (correct amount: 6).
• 0 points (diamond) for Earth, as they wrote 3 tokens less than the correct amount (correct amount: 8).

The Balance score for the Aspirant is 8.

Then, the Guide scores 1 point (diamond) for the exact match for Fire.

End of the Game

Once all turns are taken, each Aspirant will add up all their scores in their BE Column. Whoever has the most points wins, achieving Elemental Balance and becoming one with the elements.

In case of a tie, the Aspirant with the single highest score in their BE Column wins. If still tied, the Aspirant with the most 5-point elements wins. If still tied... Congratulations! In an unexpected turn of events, the Higher Powers deem all tied Aspirants worthy of achieving Elemental Balance.

Rule Variants

Forte Elementis (Random Elements)

On each turn, instead of choosing 15-20 tokens, the Guide will take a random number of tokens from the box, without looking. Play proceeds normally. This variant increases randomness and reduces strategy but also reduces playtime.

Bet Elementalium (Elemental Bet)

In addition to the normal rules, when the Guide says "Concentration!", any player can respond by saying "Stop!" and take a guess for the exact number of tokens in the box. When tokens are revealed, also reveal the tokens inside the box. If it matches the player's bet, they score 5 points. Otherwise, they lose 5 points (or all points if they have less than 5). Only one bet can be made per turn and per player. This variant increases speculation and risk.

Perfectum Elementis (Perfect Elements)

Instead of normal scoring, Aspirants score 5 points for each exact match. In other words, there is no 1 or 3-point scoring. The Guide still scores 1 point per exact match. This variant makes the game harder and more unforgiving.

All of these variants may be implemented separately or together. We recommend playing at least one regular game to familiarize yourself with the rules.