Dragoborne: Rise to Supremacy Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective of the Game
• The Power of the Dragoborne (Using Your Dice)
• Card Types
• Parts of a Card
• Parts of a Playmat
• Preparation
  • Deck Regulations
  • Building a Deck
  • Setup
• Turn Flow
  • Start Phase
  • Main Phase
  • Combat Phase
  • End Phase
• Icons & Abilities
  • Abilities
  • Dice Icons
  • Others
• Keyword Abilities
• FAQ

Objective of the Game

The objective of the game is to destroy all of your opponent's forts. At the end of each turn, if a player has no remaining forts, that player loses the game. Alternatively, a player loses when he/she is required to draw more cards than there are left in the deck.

The Power of the Dragoborne (Using Your Dice)

Dragoshield. Dragoshields are the first line of defense against an opposing creature's attack. If a dragoshield exists, it will block all opposing creature attacks until it is destroyed. To assign it as a dragoshield, place a die in front of a fort with the same color as the die. The die then becomes a 0/X defender for that fort where X is the current value of the die. Abilities and spells may use the icons on the left to refer to dragoshields of a specific color. (White specifies any color.)

Dragocross. Dragocrossing is to use a die to augment a creature on your field. To dragocross a creature card, place a die at its top right hand corner. All creatures get a +1/+1 boost when dragocrossed. However, some creatures will gain even more abilities or stats when dragocrossed with a die of a specific color. Just follow the card text to strengthen your creatures! Abilities may use the icons on the left to refer to dragocrossing with a specific color. (White specifies any color.)

Card Types

Creatures. Summon creatures to your forts and they will both destroy your enemies and defend your forts when there are no Dragoshields in place!

Spells. Spells are powerful single-use cards and may affect both players or the entire field. They are put into the discard pile after being played.

Banners. Each player has 3 banners and each of these are placed behind a fort at the beginning of a game. The color of a fort is defined by the banner placed behind them. Banners also act as resources and can be used to pay for costs.

Parts of a Card

Creature

• Cost: The number of resources needed to summon the creature. One of the resources used must match the color of the creature. Cards with a "-" as the cost may not be played normally from hand.
• Dragocross: Place a die here to strengthen the creature and/or augment its abilities.
• Card Name: Name of the card.
• Card Type: Type of the card.
• Card Text: The abilities of the creature.
• Nation Symbol: Indicates the nation this card belongs to.
• (ATK) Attack: Attack power of the creature.
• (EDR) Endurance: Endurance of the creature. A creature is destroyed when it has taken damage equal to or higher than this value.

Spell

• Cost: The number of resources needed to play this spell. One of the resources used must match the color of the spell. Cards with a "-" as the cost may not be played normally from hand.
• Card Name: Name of the card.
• Card Type: Type of the card.
• Card Text: The abilities of the card.
• Nation Symbol: Indicates the nation this card belongs to.

Banner

• Nation Symbol: Indicates the nation this card belongs to.
• Card Name: Name of the card.
• Card Type: Type of the card.

Parts of a Playmat

Zones

• Field: The field refers to all creatures, ambushes, and dragoshields in play.
• Dragoshield: A die placed here that matches the color of the fort behind it, becomes a 0/X defender to protect your fort. X is the current value of the die placed.
• Ambush: Use the ambush ability of a card to play it face-down here. Only one may be placed in front of each fort.
• Fort: Face-down cards placed here are barriers that protect your fort! If a fort has no barriers, it is considered destroyed. A fort is also where you place your summoned creatures face-up. A maximum of 2 creatures can be placed at a fort. (Including destroyed forts.)
• Dice Zone: Place your unassigned dice here.
• Deck: Place your deck here face-down.
• Discard Pile: Creatures that have been destroyed and spells that have been played are placed here face-up. Destroyed dice are also placed here.
• Resource: Each of your three banners are placed in this area, behind a fort. You may choose how to arrange your banners before the game starts. Resources gained during the game are also placed in this area.

Preparation

Deck Regulations

A player must prepare:

• A deck consisting of 50 or more cards. (Not including banner cards.)
• A deck may have up to 4 cards with the same card name.
• 3 dice.
• 3 banner cards with the same color combination as your dice. (E.g. If a player has two red dice and one green die, that player must have two red banner cards and one green banner card.)
• A deck may include cards that do not match the color of the banner cards.

Building a Deck

• A deck is recommended to contain 3040 creatures and 1020 spells.
• A deck should have an even distribution of cards based on the colors of the deck. While you may rely solely on your banner, it is better to make sure that colors of the cards being placed into your resource are varied.
• It is recommended to spread the cards across different costs, and have more cost 1~3 cards to play early in the game. Cards with Ambush can be considered as cost 2 cards for deck building.

Example:

Cost	Number
Cost 1	10
Cost 2	12
Cost 3	10
Cost 4	10
Cost 5 or more	8

Setup

1. Decide which player goes first with a random method. (Suggested: Each player rolls a die, and the player with the higher die value goes first.)
2. Each player places their banner cards face-down behind their forts. The position of the banner cards may not change for the remainder of the game.
3. Both players shuffle their decks and draw 5 cards from the top of their deck to form their starting hand. Each player may mulligan once. To mulligan, players choose any number of cards from their hand, shuffle it back into their deck, then draw that many cards to their hand from the top of the deck. When performing a mulligan, it is a good idea to keep at least one to two low cost creatures that you can summon on your first turn. High costing creatures/spells or cards with the fort burst ability should be shuffled back into your deck.
4. The players then place 2 cards from the top of the deck face down on each fort from left to right, without looking at them. These are the barriers that protect your forts.
5. Turn the banner cards face-up to begin the game.

Turn Flow

A turn consists of a Start Phase, a Main Phase, a Combat Phase and an End Phase, in that order.

Start Phase

The Start Phase consists of four steps, performed in this order:

• Stand Step: Put all of the turn player's cards from rest to stand.
• Dice Step: Call upon the power of the dragons and materialize it by rolling all your dice.
• Draw Step: Draw a card from the top of your deck and add it to your hand.
• Resource Step: Prepare for battle by putting the top card of your deck into your resource area face-up in reverse orientation. The nation symbol at the bottom of the card will be right side up in this case. This action is optional, and the player who starts first skips this step for their first turn.

Main Phase

The active player may perform the following actions in any order.

Play Cards from Hand. To play a creature or spell, pay its cost by resting the same number of resources as the value stated on the card. At least one of the resources used to pay for the cost must be of the same color as the card being played.

• Summon Creatures. Summon creatures to fight for you. Up to two creatures can be placed at each fort at any time. If a creature is summoned to a fort that already has two creatures, place one of those creatures into the discard pile. The creature is not considered destroyed, and does not trigger effects that activate upon destruction.
• Play Spells. Sway the tide of the field with your arsenal of spells. Once played, the card will go to your discard pile.
• Set up Ambushes. Outwit your opponent by setting up ambushes and be ready for any attack. Pay two resources of any color to place the card with the ambush ability face-down and in rest position in front of a fort. The ambush can be used only if you have a banner of the same color and when the condition is met.

Assigning Your Dice. You may assign each of your dice either as a dragoshield or use it to dragocross your creatures. This may only be performed once per die.

• Dragoshield. A die placed in front of a fort will be referred to as a dragoshield. Its attack is always 0 and its endurance is the value of the dice. Once it has blocked damage equal to or exceeding its value, it will be destroyed and sent to the discard pile.
• Dragocross. A die placed on a creature will dragocross it. The creature will get +1/+1. Some creatures may also gain additional abilities.

Activating Abilities. You may play [ACT] abilities of your creatures.

Moving Your Creatures. You may switch the position of creatures, or move a creature from one fort to another fort with an opening (a fort with less than two creatures).

Combat Phase

Attacking. Command your creatures to attack your opponent one at a time. To do so, put the attacking creature to rest and declare the fort you are attacking. [AUTO] abilities with "when this creature attacks" and "when this fort is attacked" resolve here.

There is no combat phase on turn 1.

Defending. Only one creature can be chosen to block an attack.

If the fort has a dragoshield, the dragoshield will automatically be chosen to block the attack. If a fort does not have a dragoshield, the defending player may choose to block with a standing creature at that fort. When a creature is chosen as a defender, put it to rest. [AUTO] abilities with "when this creature blocks" and "when this creature is blocked" resolve here if the attack is blocked.

Damage. If a defender was chosen, both the attacker and the defender will deal damage according to their ATK to each other. Damage is accumulated until the end of the turn. When the accumulated damage dealt to a creature equals or exceeds its EDR, that creature is destroyed and sent to the discard pile. When damage is dealt to a dragoshield, reduce the value of the dice by that amount.

If no defenders were declared for an attack and if the creature's ATK is one or greater, the attacker will deal one damage to the fort being attacked, regardless of the creature's ATK. [AUTO] abilities with "when this creature deals damage to", "when this creature deals damage to a dragoshield" or "when this creature deals damage to a fort" resolve here. If the fort took damage, look at the topmost barrier to check if it has a fort burst ability. If it does and you choose to activate it, follow the text of the fort burst ability. If not, add it to your hand. When a fort has no barriers, it is considered destroyed.

At the end of each attack step, [AUTO] abilities with "at the end of the battle" resolve.

End Phase

If the active player has more than 7 cards in hand, he/she discards cards from hand until 7 cards remain.

Remove all damage on all creatures.

At the end of a turn, if a player has no barriers remaining, that player loses the game.

Icons & Abilities

Abilities

1. ACT. The turn player may choose to use [ACT] abilities during their main phase, by paying the cost written in [ ].
2. AUTO. [AUTO] abilities are automatically played when the written trigger condition is met.
3. CONT. [CONT] abilities are continuously in effect.

Dice Icons

1. Dragoshield. Dragoshields are represented in card text by these icons. The white icon is used when no color is being specified for the dragoshield.
2. Dragocross. These icons are used in card text to represent the act of dragocrossing, as well as to refer to dragocrossed creatures and the abilities they gained. The white icon is used when no color is being specified.
3. Dice X-Y. These icons denote abilities and effects that are gained when you have a die of the specified color with a value within the specified range. The white icon is used when no color is being specified.

Others

1. Fort Burst. When damage is dealt to a fort, if the barrier card being put to hand has the fort burst icon, you may choose to play its fort burst ability.
2. Stand. A creature or banner in stand will be positioned with the text of the card facing the owner. A resource card in stand will be positioned with the nation symbol right side up.
3. Rest. A card in rest will be turned 90 degrees sideways from the stand position.

Keyword Abilities

Ambush. Cards with the Ambush ability can be placed face down in an Ambush zone by resting 2 resources of any color. The card's ability with "if this card is an ambush" can then be played when the specified condition is met, as long as you have a banner that matches the ambush's color. If you choose to play the ability, reveal the card when you declare its play. At the end of the game, or when an ambush is moved outside of the ambush zone, reveal it to your opponent.

Assassin <color/trait>. Creatures with the Assassin ability can choose to attack an opposing creature in rest that matches the color or trait specified. The attacked creature is considered to be blocking, and no other creature or dragoshield may block. The attacking and blocking creatures deal damage normally.

Deadly. When a creature with the Deadly ability deals damage to another creature, that creature is destroyed regardless of how much damage it has taken (creatures with 0 ATK do not deal damage).

Immune <color/trait>. Creatures with Immune cannot be chosen or dealt damage by the spells or abilities of the specified color or trait.

Invade . Creatures with the Invade ability cannot be blocked by creatures when attacking a fort of the specified color. The attack can still be blocked by the fort's dragoshield.

FAQ

1. Can I put cards with colors that don't match the colors of my banners into my deck? Yes, you can do so.
2. Are there any limits to the number of Ambush or Fort Burst cards I can include in my deck? No, there are no limits.
3. Can I have more than 50 cards in my deck? Yes, you can.
4. Do my banners count toward the number of cards in my deck? No, they do not.
5. Can I look at barrier cards on my forts? No, you cannot.
6. Can I freely put creature cards into my discard pile? No, you cannot.
7. What happens when I play a third creature to a fort that already has two creatures? Choose one of the creatures that was there previously, and put it into the discard pile.
8. Can my creature attack a fort that is not directly facing it? Yes, it can.
9. Can I block an attack on one of my forts with a stand creature on another fort? No, you cannot. Only creatures at the fort being attacked can block the attack.
10. Can I choose to attack my opponent's creatures? No, you cannot. You can only designate a Fort as an attack target unless otherwise specified.
11. Can I attack with a creature on the turn it was played? Yes, you can do so.