Demonslayer: Siege of Mt. Kunlun Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Board
  • Peaks
  • Countless Isles
  • Land of Darkness
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • 1. Start Phase
  • 2. Action Phase
  • 3. End Phase
• Continuation and End of the Game
• Victory
• Special Symbols
• Card Types
  • Immortals
  • Spells
  • Meditation Cards
• Heart Eaters
  • Enchanted Creatures
• Artifacts and Alchemy
• Miasmas
• Examples of Play
  • Slaying Heart Eaters
  • Acquiring Cards
  • Artifacts and Alchemy
  • Miasmas
• Frequently Asked Questions

Components

The box contains the following:

• 4 Immortal clans of 11 cards each (44 in total)
• 63 Heart Eater cards, 7 of which are Lords
• 45 Countless Isles cards
• 52 Meditation cards
• 4 Immortals Lists
• 2 game board pieces (Countless Isles and Land of Darkness)
• 75 tokens, 1 die, and the rules

Resource terms used in this rulebook:

• Purity points: used to acquire new cards from the Immortals List and on the Countless Isles.
• Attack points: used to slay Heart Eaters.
• Development points: used only to collect Artifacts and to determine the winner at the end of the game.

Game Board

Read the game boards first: the Peaks, the Countless Isles, and the Land of Darkness.

Peaks

Each Peak of the mountain is controlled by an individual player, or clan: Kunlun, Kichen, Wu, and Kontong.

The Immortals of each Peak are its own. They wait to be deployed (put into play) in the Immortals List until a player acquires them.

Up to three Artifacts (subject to the conditions printed on the cards) may be kept in the Regalia zone.

The Ready deck and the Waiting deck are used to store a player's cards. At the start of a turn, a player draws a hand of five cards from the Ready deck, and when the turn is over, places them in the Waiting deck. When a card is bought or otherwise obtained, it is placed immediately in the Waiting deck, to be used later.

Countless Isles

This area is open to all players. On the Countless Isles, players can acquire cards using their Purity points. However, on his or her turn a player may acquire only one card, even if they have enough Purity points for another purchase. Normally players may make only one purchase, unless special conditions allow them to make more acquisitions.

Meditation cards, which provide the player with Purity points, can also be acquired on the Islands, like any other card in this area.

Land of Darkness

The Land of Darkness is the area where trouble lives and emanates. It is divided into 3 parts: the Heart Eater zone, the Miasma zone, and the Artifact zone.

The Heart Eater zone holds the enemies besieging Kunlun, against whom the Immortals fight to the death. The Heart Eaters (Servants and Lords) rest on the cells of the Heart Eater List and in the Lord zone respectively, until they are laid out in the Heart Eater zone.

The Artifact zone contains the Artifact deck, whose cards players activate using Purity points.

The Miasma zone holds the treacherous Miasmas, which lie in wait for their victims. Whenever a player slays a Miasma-infected Heart Eater, they must take the top card from the Miasma Waiting cell and then, later in the game, discard it into the Miasma Abyss.

Setup

1. Prepare the game area. Players must first prepare the game boards:

   • Place the boards on the table.
   • Divide all Countless Isles cards into separate stacks (face up) on the matching cells.
   • Shuffle the Heart Eater (Servant) cards thoroughly and place them (face down) in the Heart Eater List.
   • Separate the Supreme Villain card from the rest of the Lords and place it in its own cell. Shuffle the remaining Lord cards and stack them face down above it.
   • Shuffle the Artifacts and place them as a deck (face down) in the Artifact zone. Shuffle the Miasma cards and place them on the Waiting cell in the Miasma zone.

2. Determine turn order and clans. Players determine the turn order (a die roll is recommended) and divide the Clans among themselves:

   • In friendly games, player preferences may be taken into account.
   • In tournament games, Clans must be assigned at random.

   Each player then receives their Immortal cards and prepares their own Immortals List. The three types of Immortals (Disciples, Masters, and Sages) are separated and placed in stacks (face up) on their matching cells.

3. Prepare the starting Ready deck. Each player prepares their starting Ready deck, consisting of 2 Disciple cards and 5 Diligence cards. Five cards are drawn from this deck: this is the players' first "hand" of the game.

4. Prepare the Heart Eater zone. This honour falls to the player who takes the last turn. Draw one Lord and place it (face up) in the honoured position at the top of this zone. Then take eight Servants and place them (face up) on the other eight cells of the zone. The position of each Servant does not matter. The nine Heart Eater cards form the so-called "wave".

The game is now ready to play!

Gameplay

Players take their turns in order, going around the table. Each turn consists of three separate "phases", carried out in strict order. Each phase contains actions that can be performed only during that phase.

1. Start Phase

The start of the player's turn. The player begins with 5 cards "in hand". During this phase the player may choose one of two options:

• a. Proceed directly to the "Action Phase". However, if a Miasma card is in hand, it must be resolved first. Some Miasma card effects must be resolved immediately in this phase, while others continue to affect the whole current turn.
• b. Discard 1 card from hand (return it to the Countless Isles, to the Immortals List, or to the Miasma Abyss) and proceed directly to the "End Phase". If the card discarded in this way is a Miasma, its effect does not trigger. However, if more than one Miasma card is in hand, the effect of the remaining Miasma card triggers before the End Phase begins.

2. Action Phase

During this phase the player may perform 4 actions (they are not mandatory, and the order does not matter):

• a. Use a card's ability from hand. For example, Disciple and Spell cards can supply Attack points; Meditation cards supply Purity points; Artifact cards can be placed into the Regalia zone and produce their effect. Some cards require the player to turn them (TURN) sideways for their property to take effect.

• b. Slay a Heart Eater. Only one Heart Eater may be slain per turn. However, each Frenzy effect (on Countless Isles cards, or from special effects on defeated Heart Eaters) gives the player the opportunity to slay one more. The player's Attack strength must be greater than or equal to the Attack strength of all attacked Heart Eaters, and they must be slain with a single blow, otherwise nothing happens to them.

  Each Heart Eater has its own special properties and effects. Some require you to meet certain conditions before you can fight them. Sometimes the effects of Frenzy take effect after Heart Eaters are slain, and some properties allow the player to affect other players.

  Once a Heart Eater has been defeated, the player receives a reward of Development tokens (the amount is shown at the bottom of the Heart Eater's card), and keeps the card itself as a trophy.

• c. Acquire cards. Each turn the player may acquire only one card from the Countless Isles or from the Immortals List. For each Fortune effect, the player may make one more Acquisition. The player's Purity points must be equal to or greater than the "cost" of all cards acquired during the turn. Cards acquired during the turn are placed immediately in the Waiting deck and may be used when they come into hand later in the game.

• d. Use Alchemy. This process is needed by a player seeking an Artifact card. There are two types of Alchemy: Ordinary and Risky. Each turn the player has only one opportunity to obtain an Artifact through Alchemy (see the section "Artifacts and Alchemy" below).

3. End Phase

All cards in the player's hand (used or not) are placed in the Waiting deck. The player draws the top 5 cards from their Ready deck (this is the hand for the next turn). If there are not 5 cards in the Ready deck, the player draws what is there, and then, after shuffling the Waiting deck (which becomes the new Ready deck), draws the remaining cards. The same happens when, during a turn, cards must be drawn and the Ready deck has run out.

Continuation and End of the Game

A Lord is an especially powerful demon. The Attack strength of all Servants in the wave is added to its own strength. When a Lord is defeated, all other Servants still present in the Heart Eater zone also die, and the lucky slayer receives Development points from all of these cards (from the Lord and from the Servants). In this way the wave of demons is swept away, and the player who slew the Lord lays out the cards for the next wave (see step 4 of "Preparing the Game Area" above).

Victory

At the end of the seventh wave, players count and add up everything that can bring them victory:

• the Development values on all Artifacts (in their Regalia zone, and in their Ready and Waiting decks)
• all Development tokens
• Development points spent to acquire a Sage are not counted.

The player with the most Development points is declared the winner. In the event of a tie, first place goes to the player who took the last turn.

Special Symbols

Leadership A card bearing this symbol may be combined with other cards to gain an additional effect.

Frenzy When a card with the Frenzy symbol is in the player's hand or in their Regalia zone, the "excess" Attack strength may be used for a secondary attack. In this case, any excess Attack points left over from the first attack and slaying of a Heart Eater (for example, if a Heart Eater's Attack strength is 3 and the player's is 9, 6 remains) may be applied against a second Heart Eater. This strength can be cumulative. The player may make an additional attack for each Frenzy symbol in their hand. These additional attacks still draw on the same common pool of the player's Attack strength.

Turn Such a card has a special property that activates when the card is turned sideways. This function may be used only once per turn. Note that "turning" a card does not mean that its Attack points are not counted (it is merely an indication that the special property is in use).

Shadow A Heart Eater bearing the Shadow symbol cannot be attacked until all other Heart Eaters on the board have been destroyed; it must be slain last.

Guardian A Heart Eater bearing the Guardian symbol must be the first target of an attack, and no other Heart Eater may be attacked while a Guardian is on the board. This is overridden by the Frenzy property: for example, if there are two Guardians on the board, a player with Frenzy is not obliged to defeat one of them and then attack a third, unrelated Heart Eater; instead, they may attack both Guardians.

Serenity A card with this symbol may return a card from the player's hand to the Countless Isles or to the Immortals List. When a player slays a Heart Eater with this symbol, they are forced to discard a card from their hand.

Fortune When a player has a card with this symbol in hand, they may make one more Acquisition (for each card with this symbol), either from the Countless Isles or from the Immortals List. The main requirement is that they have enough resources.

Miasma A Heart Eater marked with this symbol infects the player who slew it with a Miasma (see the section "Miasmas" below).

Card Types

Immortals

Immortals are the main attacking cards in the game, and each has an Attack strength (made up directly of its Attack points and any special properties of the card). Each turn the player must total the Attack points from all cards in hand, and use this power to utterly destroy a Heart Eater.

If Immortals are not in the Ready or Waiting deck or in hand, you may acquire them from the Immortals List. Players may spend Purity points and obtain a card only from their own Immortals List, moving it to their Waiting deck.

Each Peak has one Sage with astonishing abilities! In addition to their Purity cost, Sages also require Development points to acquire, but unlike Artifacts, the Development points spent to bring in a Sage are not counted in the final scoring. If a player discards a Sage and later wishes to acquire it again, they must pay its full acquisition cost once more.

Spells

Spell cards are acquired on the Countless Isles and sent to the player's Waiting deck. When they appear in the player's hand, the player may use their useful properties.

Meditation Cards

When Meditation cards appear in the player's hand, they provide a small amount of Purity points.

The total amount of Purity is made up of the Purity points from Meditation cards and other sources in the player's hand. The player may spend this pool to bring in new Immortals from the Immortals List of the same name, or to acquire new Meditation cards and Spells on the Countless Isles. Apart from the exceptions, a player may acquire only one card per turn for themselves (either from the Countless Isles or from the Immortals List).

The total Purity spent by a player on their turn must be equal to or less than the amount of Purity in that player's turn pool. For example: if a player has 5 Purity points, they cannot spend 5 on the Countless Isles and then spend 5 more on a new Immortal.

Heart Eaters

The goal of the game is simple: defeat all the Heart Eaters, clearing the game board of them seven times. Each Heart Eater has an Attack value, and to defeat it, players must confront it with an Attack value equal to or greater than its own. The Heart Eater's card also shows the number of Development tokens the player receives for slaying it. All Heart Eaters have a special technique, or a condition (which must be met when fighting them), or a posthumous curse that takes effect when they fall.

Whatever the case, victory never comes easily.

Enchanted Creatures

Heart Eaters are not the only opponents an Immortal may encounter on the battlefield. Five Enchanted Creatures may also be met there. These creatures are not necessarily hostile, and they are certainly not friends of the Heart Eaters. Having defeated them in an honest duel, you earn their respect and a loyal companion on the battlefield.

A defeated Enchanted Creature is placed immediately in the player's Regalia zone, but does not occupy one of the three slots there (it is placed beside them). While there, the Creature assists the player in the same way as an Artifact. If the player defeats a second Creature, they may choose to replace the old one (the previous Creature does not go to the player's discard; it leaves the game, departing this world).

Artifacts and Alchemy

A player may use Alchemy once per turn. When a player wishes to obtain an Artifact through Alchemy, they draw 3 cards from the Artifact deck and MUST pay for one of these Artifacts with Development tokens. Normally players may pay the full cost, after which the other two Artifacts are shuffled back into the deck.

If a player wishes, they may "risk" it and pay a reduced cost in Development tokens through Risky Alchemy. To do so, they make one roll of the die and add the missing Development tokens to the number rolled. If they still do not have enough to pay for the Artifact, they do not receive it, and in any case lose the Development tokens spent. Moreover, a roll of "1" always means failure. When the target is reached, the Artifact card is sent to the Waiting deck, and when it comes into hand, it is moved to the Regalia zone (its properties take effect immediately).

At any moment of the game, there may be only three unique Artifacts in a player's Regalia zone, but the deck may contain as many as you like! At the end of the game, the Development values on all Artifact cards in the player's deck are counted in the final scoring and in determining the winner.

Miasmas

When setting up the game, players must shuffle the Miasma cards thoroughly and place them in a face-down stack in the Miasma zone. Whenever a player slays a Miasma-infected Heart Eater, they must take the top card from the Miasma Waiting cell and place it on their Waiting deck. When a Miasma card comes into a player's hand, the instructions printed on it must be carried out.

The aim of any player who has received a Miasma card is to get rid of it. The most obvious way to do this is to refrain from one turn and discard it from your hand. A Miasma is also vulnerable to a Spell. There is an Artifact that can discard Miasmas, even if they have seeped into the Regalia zone.

Examples of Play

Slaying Heart Eaters

We join our friends Nikki, Frank, Megan, and Greg. By rolling the die, the players determined that Nikki (Kunlun clan) will go first.

In the Heart Eater zone, presided over by the Hungry Ghost Sage, demons are soon lined up, one of which is the Spider Vanguard, whose Attack strength is only 3. Nikki decides to draw first blood.

Her first hand consists of three Diligence cards and two Disciple cards. The Attack strength of the Disciples is only 1, but they have a lucky property: their Attack strength increases by 1 if there is another such Disciple in hand. Thus the total Attack strength of the two Disciples is 4, which is more than enough to eliminate the Spider Vanguard and collect the reward due.

Acquiring Cards

Nikki's first turn is not over yet. She still has her two Diligence cards, which provide her with 2 Purity points. Nikki decides to acquire one more Diligence card to increase her Purity points, so that she is able to acquire new Immortals.

Artifacts and Alchemy

Megan (Kontong clan) has in hand 2 Diligence cards, 2 Disciple of the Alembic cards, and 1 Sage of Esoteric Swordplay (her Immortal Sage). This is a good hand for attacking, since the Attack strength is 15! Unfortunately, no card bears the Frenzy symbol, so all the power must be directed at just one opponent. Among the Heart Eaters there is no Guardian, so she is free to choose any victim.

She chooses the Vermillion Bird and tears it to shreds, placing its card on her pile of trophies and receiving 3 Development tokens as a reward, which she intends to invest immediately.

She takes 3 cards from the Artifact deck, among which she finds the Pearl of Ten-Thousand Years (its cost is 8), and decides to acquire it through Risky Alchemy. Her Sage adds "1" to all Risky Alchemy rolls (even a roll of "6"), so to her existing 4 tokens she needs to roll a "3" on the die. Megan rolls the die and... it is exactly a "3"! She receives the coveted Artifact and places it in her Waiting deck. Soon it will be in her hand, and she will be able to make full use of its properties.

Miasmas

Frank (Wu clan) two turns earlier managed to strike down a Miasma Master. The victory brought him 5 Development tokens, but he was infected with Corpse-Breath Miasma. On the next turn his Ready deck ran out, and when he drew from the newly formed deck, this very Miasma came into his hand. Its property reduces his Attack strength by 3 Attack points on each turn it comes into hand. Frank decides to skip his turn, and gets rid of the abomination by returning it to the Miasma Abyss.

Frequently Asked Questions

Question 1: What is the difference between Attack strength, Purity, and Development?

Purity is used to acquire new cards from your own Immortals List and from the Countless Isles. Attack strength is used to slay Heart Eaters. Development is used only to collect Artifacts and to determine the winner at the end of the game.

Question 2: How many Acquisitions can be made in one turn?

One, unless you have cards with the Fortune symbol. Each such card allows the player to make one more Acquisition, but the total cost of the purchases cannot exceed the Purity points of that turn: if you have 6 Purity points, you may acquire cards only up to that sum. For example, a 3-point Immortal and a 3-point Meditation card.

Question 3: How many Attacks can be made in one turn?

In most cases, one. If you have any cards with the Frenzy symbol (in hand or in your Regalia zone), you may make one additional Attack for each of them.

Question 4: What is the difference between Servants, Lords, and Creatures?

Servants are the infantry and spearmen, 8 cards of which the players place on the board at the start of the game. Lords, or more correctly generals and warlords, are ancient sages with inexpressible power of evil, one of whom the players place on the board at the start of the game. Sometimes, when drawing a card from the Servant deck, players will draw a Creature card. Creatures are not, strictly speaking, Heart Eaters, but they wish to test you in battle and, if defeated by an Immortal, may bestow upon you a special reward in the form of a new Regalia.

Question 5: What does "discard a card" mean?

It means that you get rid of a card from your deck and send it either back to the Countless Isles, back to your Immortals List, or to the Miasma Abyss. A card may be discarded only under certain conditions. Discarding is different from placing a card in the Waiting deck.

Question 6: How can a card be discarded?

There are 4 ways to discard a card. The first is that the player simply refrains from any action during their turn, and this gives them the right to discard one card from hand. The next two both relate to the Pure Heart Spell. Whenever a Pure Heart card comes into a player's hand, they may "turn" it to discard one card from hand. If this proves insufficient, the player may discard the Pure Heart card itself in order to discard two cards (and only two in this case) from hand of their choice. And finally, the least interesting way for the player: sometimes, as a result of defeating a Heart Eater, the player will be forced to discard a card from hand.

Question 7: Can a card be used immediately after it is acquired?

No. A card (whether acquired or received under some condition) must always, without exception, be moved to the player's Waiting deck.

Question 8: What must a player do when their Ready deck runs out?

First, the player must draw the remaining cards, if any, into hand. After that, the player must thoroughly shuffle their Waiting deck and now use it as the Ready deck. At the end of this turn, the cards from hand begin to form a new Waiting deck, and the cycle continues.

Question 9: After cards are played from hand, do they go to the Waiting deck?

Yes. Before a player begins playing their hand, the previous player must place their cards in the Waiting deck. Cards of two players may not be on the table at the same time.

Question 10: Can an Artifact be used immediately after it is activated in the Regalia zone?

Yes, immediately.

Question 11: How can a player receive a Miasma card?

A player takes a Miasma card (placing it in their Waiting deck) by slaying a Heart Eater with a clearly marked Miasma symbol.

Question 12: Does a Miasma's effect activate immediately after it is acquired?

No. A Miasma's property does not activate until it comes into your hand when drawn from the Ready deck.

Question 13: How can a Miasma card be discarded?

Unless stated otherwise, a Miasma may be discarded in the same way as any other card. There is also an Artifact that allows players to cleanse themselves of Miasmas.

Question 14: Is there a special requirement to discard a Disciple of the Flame card?

No, it may be discarded only at will, in order to gain +3 to Attack. This is an exception to the usual rules on discarding cards.

Question 15: After Artifacts are used, do they go to the Waiting deck?

There are three special Artifacts to which "use" truly applies, rather than merely passive activation of their effects: Heart Sutra Flag, Six Demon Bell, and Talisman of Expedition. They must indeed be sent to the Waiting deck after use. Other Artifacts are "always active" from the moment they are activated and are effectively inexhaustible.

Question 16: If a Silver-Tooth Miasma is in your Regalia zone, can it be discarded?

Only the Profane Seal card can rid you of a Silver-Tooth Miasma.

Question 17: Who wins: the Profane Seal Artifact or the Vanishing Truth Miasma?

The Miasma wins. The Profane Seal Artifact can "chisel" a Miasma out of your Regalia zone, but nothing in the entire Universe can dislodge the Vanishing Truth Miasma.

Question 18: After slaying a Lord and clearing the board, can a player use the Frenzy effect to attack a Heart Eater of the next wave?

No. The board is refreshed between players' turns.

Question 19: If a player has enough Purity points, can they buy more than two cards of Disciple of the Scabbard?

No. If a player has enough Purity points, they may buy one Disciple of the Scabbard, or, if they wish, two. However, two cards is the limit.

Question 20: Can the Sage of Esoteric Swordplay raise the result of a die roll of "6" during Risky Alchemy?

Yes. If the player has a Risky Alchemy Sage in hand, a die roll of "6" counts as "7".

Question 21: Do cards of Nine Dragon Standard stack with Golden Harvest Incantation?

No. Multiple copies of these cards do not stack with each other. Two cards are the maximum possible acquisition from the Countless Isles in one turn, and there are no exceptions.