Galatune Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Setup
• Game Play
• Champion Cards
• Element Wheel
• Action Cards
• Action Functions
• Important Game Rules
• Oh No! I Died! What Now?
• Key Terms

Game Setup

1. Set Victory Point (VP) Goal a. First player to 3VP = 20min game
2. Choose Your Champion Character (page 3-4) a. HP = Health Points b. AP = Action Points c. Character Alignment: Light, Dark, or Unaligned d. Character Element: War, Mystic, Technology, or Nature c. Special Actions in Red are unique Champion moves d. Special Abilities are passive buffs for each character
3. Ready HP - Use HP stones as HP counters
4. Sit in a Circle, with each Champion Card on the table.
5. Place Action Card (AC) Source Deck in the center
6. Deal out Action Cards from top of Source Deck a. Each Player draws a number of AC equal to their Champion's Action Points (AP). b. All Players may view all cards as they are drawn.

Game Play

1. Plan Phase a. While keeping your hand hidden, look through your Action Cards and decide what Action you will play. Once you know what you plan on playing, say "Ready!" b. The Plan Phase ends after all players say "Ready!"
2. Action Phase a. Once all players have said "Ready!", one player counts down, "3-2-1-GO!". b. On "GO!" all players take action simultaneously! Place your Action Card onto the Target it will effect. Ex, place an Attack on an Opponent's Champion to damage that Champion. Place a Shield on your Champion to protect him for one turn, or Place a Shield on an Opponent to protect that Opponent. c. "Trap" type cards can't be played during Action Phase. d. Do NOT resolve damage during the Action Phase.
3. Trap Phase a. After all Action Phase cards are placed, players may choose to activate a Trap Action Card to cancel another Action Card. Simply place the applicable Trap card onto the Action you wish to cancel. Trap cards activate sequentially, instantly in the order that they are played. Traps may be used to trap other traps. Each player my play as many Traps as desired per trap phase.
4. Resolve Phase a. Use the Element Wheel (page 5) to calculate damage. b. Place each card played into a Used Pile next to each Champion Card.
5. Respawn a. If a Player's HP fell to 0, award one Victory Point to each player who successfully damaged this Fallen player on this turn. b. All Cards from the Fallen Champion's Used Pile return to his hand. c. Reset the Fallen Champion's HP back to what's stated on the Champion Card d. The Fallen Champion gives his hand to the Opponent(s) who defeated him. Each Opponent may choose to either take 5AC from this hand, or take 5AC from the Deck instead. e. After Opponent(s) have taken their prizes, the Fallen Champion may either draw up new cards from the Deck until their hand equals their Action Points again –OR the Player may discard his hand to and reset f. Anytime that cards are awarded or taken, all players have the chance to view them. Once cards are placed into a player's hand, that player may conceal them.
6. Repeat a. Return to step one and repeat until the first player reaches the Victory Point Goal and wins the game. b. In the case of a tie, continue the game for a tie-breaking point.

Note on the source: Game Play step 5.e is printed as an incomplete sentence ("...or the Player may discard his hand to and reset"). It is transcribed as printed; the object of "discard his hand to" is missing in the manual itself. See the "Oh No! I Died! What Now?" section for the full rules on discarding and resetting a hand after a Champion falls.

Champion Cards

Each Champion Card (CC) shows the following:

• Alignment (top-left gem): Light, Dark, or Unaligned. Example: Eron is Light. Immune to Light Harm, Weak x2 to Dark Harm.
• Element (top-right gem): War, Mystic, Technology, or Nature. Example: Eron is Tech Element. Immune to Tech Harm, Weak x2 to Mystic Harm.
• Health Points (HP): Determines how much damage a Champion can receive before Falling in battle.
• Action Points (AP): Determines the number of Action Cards that start in a Player's Hand.
• Character Cost (CC): Determines how many Action Cards an Opponent Wins when delivering a Finishing Blow to your Champion.
• Special Action (red): Special Actions are signature moves unique to a Champion that can be played on an Action Turn instead of an Action Card.
• Special Ability (black): Special Abilities are unique power buffs always in effect that do not use up an Action Turn.

Example Champion card: Eron Roarsonbeard (Race: human; Gender: male; Class: knight; Age: 17). Alignment Light, Element Tech.

• Special Action: Starcalibur (Attack -4. Penetrates defenses.)
• Special Ability: Living Armor - If Eron's HP is 8 or higher at the start of a turn, Eron's HP cannot fall below 1 on that turn.

Element Wheel

Use the Element Wheel to calculate type bonus damage. Every Champion has an Elemental Type on the Outer Wheel and a Moral Type on the Inner Wheel.

A Champion is immune to damage from their own typing, and weak against the type that comes before it on the wheel. Weakness x2 is only applied to DAMAGE, not to LIFE or other effects.

War is immune to War and weak to Nature. Light is immune to Light and weak against Dark. Dark is immune to Dark and weak against Light. An Unaligned Champion is not weak or immune to Light or Dark damage.

EX: Eron is a Light-Tech Champion, he is immune to Light Damage, immune to Tech Damage, weak x2 to Dark Damage, and weak x2 to Mystic Damage.

Every Action has one Type and one Property. Action Type determines the type bonus damage. Property describes the physical properties of the action as either a Normal physical action or a non-physical Energy action.

EX: Starcalibur is a Light Normal Attack.

The Element Wheel graphic is printed on the last page of the manual. It shows the outer ring of elements (War, Mystic, Tech, Nature), the inner ring of alignments (Light, Dark, Unaligned), the multipliers "x2" and "Self x0", and the property icons Normal and Energy. The rules text above is the authoritative description.

Action Cards

• Element (top-left gem): War, Mystic, Tech, Nature, Light, or Dark. Determines Type Bonus Damage. Example: Starcalibur is a Light action.
• Property (top-right gem): Normal or Energy. Describes the physical properties of the action. Example: Starcalibur is a Normal action.
• Function: Attack, Shield, Life, Boost, Trap, or Other. Describes how the action affects a Target.
• Rating: A number controlling the power of the Action. EX: Attack -4 inflicts 4 damage to the Target. Shield +4 blocks up to 4 damage for the Target.
• Effects: Text describing the effects to the Target. EX: Starcalibur penetrates all defenses, and if played by Eron, its Rating changes to infinity.

Action Functions

Attack Actions function to damage your Opponents. When an Attack is placed on a Target, that Target takes damage based on the Rating of that Attack. No Player may Target his own Champion with an Attack.

Shield Actions function to protect a Champion. When a Shield is placed on a Target, that Target is protected against damage by an amount equal to the Rating of that Shield. A Player may Target his own Champion to protect his Champion or Target another Champion in order to protect another Champion. A Shield is only Active during a Turn that it is placed, and afterwards goes into the Used Pile. In addition to blocking damage, Shields also block all effects associated with blocked attacks. Shields block the sum of Attacks during a Turn. For example, if a Shield with a Rating of 5 is hit by two simultaneous Attacks, one Attack Rating of 4 and another Attack Rating of 2, then the total Attack of 6 succeeds to exceed the Shield's Rating, Breaks the Shield and damages the Target Champion -1HP. When a Shield is Broken, the Target is affected by all effects of all Actions Targeting that Champion.

Life Actions function to add HP to the Target. When a Life Action is placed on a Target Champion, that Target's Current HP increases by an amount equal to the Rating of that Life. There is no limit to HP. Life Actions simply add to the Target's current HP. When a Champion Falls, he respawns to the amount of HP stated on his Champion Card. Life actions do not take Element Wheel immunity or weakness. Ex, a Dark Champion is not immune to a Dark Life action. A Light Life action does not do x2 to a Dark Champion.

Boost Actions increase a named statistic for the Target Champion by the intensity of their Ratings. For example, Unchained is a Boost that Boosts the Rating of the Target's Actions for the next turn. Unchained has a Rating of x2, and so Unchained Boosts the next action x2. Lucky Day Boosts the Target's Victory Points by a Rating of 1.

Trap Cards are unusual Action Cards that can be only be played during the Trap Phase. Unlike other Action Cards, Trap Cards do not take effect simultaneously. Instead, each Trap takes effect immediately once it is played, and trap effects occur sequentially. For example, after an Opponent plays Azure Aegis on a Turn, but before damage is calculated, a Player may Activate the Expose Weakness Trap which functions to Trap Shield Actions. By doing so, the Trap cancels the effect of the Azure Aegis Shield before damage is calculated. If an Opponent then plays the Disarm Trap which Traps other Traps. Disarm occurs AFTER Expose Weakness and cancels all effects of Expose Weakness, and as a result Azure Aegis is Un-trapped and succeeds to take Action. A Player may use as many Trap Actions as desired per Turn. Trap Cards, like all other Action Cards can only be played once and are then placed into the Player's Used Pile.

Other Some unique Actions may have an Other Function. Actions labeled with Other operate in highly unique ways that cannot be accurately described by any of the typical Function labels. To understand how a particular Other Action operates, refer to the details provided on the Action Card itself.

Important Game Rules

Single-Shot Actions: Each Action Card can only be played once. At the end of each Turn, the Player places the Used Action Card on top of a Used Pile to the right of the Player's Champion Card.

Used Pile Rules: At the end of each Turn, any Action Cards played by the User are moved into the Used Pile. Cards in the Used Pile must be stacked in the order used, with the most recently used card on top and visible to all Players. In the case of a dispute, the Judge may look through a Player's Used Pile as a history of the Actions taken.

Draw-View Rule: Anytime throughout a game, whenever a Player draws new cards for any reason, all players are entitled to view the FRONT of these cards as they are withdrawn. After withdrawn cards are placed into a Player's Hand, the Player may then hide his hand from other Players.

Anti-Self-Attack Rule: No Player may aim an Attack Action onto his own Champion.

Ally Rules: Players may create informal alliances with other Players, but all of these are based solely on trust and not enforced by game rules or by the Judge. Feel free to text each other or pass notes in secret, but beware - a trusted ally could betray you at any time!

Earning Victory Points (VP): A Player earns +1VP when delivering a Finishing Blow to an Opponent. A Finishing Blow is any Action that causes an Opponent's Health Points (HP) to Fall to zero.

Earning Prize Cards: In addition to earning Victory Points, each time that a Player delivers a Finishing Blow to an Opponent, the Victor also wins Action Cards from the Fallen Opponent as a Prize. The Victor may look through all of the Fallen's Action Cards and take a number of Action Cards equal to the Fallen Champion's Prize Cost (PC). The Victor then places those Action Cards into his Hand. If the Victor looks through the Fallen's cards and decides that he doesn't want them, the Victor may choose instead to withdraw Prize Action Cards from the top of the Source Deck.

Simultaneous Finishing Blows: It is possible for two or more Players to simultaneously deliver Finishing Blows to the same Opponent in a single Turn. In that case, each player making a Finishing Blow to that same Opponent still each receives +1VP and the full stated number of Prize Cards. However, the Victor that inflicted the most damage has the right to choose his Prize Cards first.

Note on the source: the manual names the Champion Card stat "Character Cost (CC)" in the Champion Cards section and "Prize Cost (PC)" in this section; both are transcribed as printed.

Oh No! I Died! What Now?

If your HP Falls to zero, your Champion Falls in battle and your Opponent wins VP and Prize Cards - BUT do not despair! You may have lost the battle but you have not yet lost the war! Even after your Champion Falls, you continue playing. When your HP Falls to zero you may choose to Continue playing with your current Champion, or you may also take this opportunity to Change Champion and select a different Champion Card.

Continue Champion Rules: If continuing with your Champion after Falling, your Champion's HP resets back to the amount of HP stated on his card and all of your cards in your Used Pile are returned to your hand. After your Opponents have taken their Prize, you may keep any remaining cards in your hand. If after your Opponents have taken their Prize the total number of cards in your Hand is less than your Action Points (AP), you may withdraw new Action Cards from the Source Deck until your hand is equal to your AP - Or, if after your Opponents have taken your Prize and you do not like the cards you have left, you may choose shuffle all of your Action Cards back into the Source Deck and then withdraw Action Cards equal to your Champion's AP.

Change Champion Rules: When your Champion Falls in battle, you may choose to change to a different Champion Card. If you do this, you MUST Reset your Action Cards. Shuffle all of your Action Cards into the Source Deck and withdraw a number of new Action Cards equal to your new Champion's Action Points.

Action Shortage Rule: If at any time the Player has a total number of Action Cards (including both in Hand and in Used Pile) that is less than the Champion's stated Action Points, the Player may withdraw new Action Cards from the Source Deck until the total number of Action Cards is equal to the Action Points stated on the Champion Card.

Trading Rules: In-between each Turn, each Player has the option to Trade an Action Card with another Player. If a Player chooses to Trade, each Trade must be a one-to-one exchange between two Players. That is, exactly one Action Card must be Traded for exactly one other Action Card. Each Player may only Trade once per Turn. All Trades and negotiations must occur publicly before all Players in the game. All Players must witness the exchange of cards and all Players are entitled to view the fronts of all cards as they are Traded. Only Action Cards in a Player's Hand may be Traded. A Player cannot Trade an Action Card in the Player's Used Pile. A Player cannot Trade cards during a Turn where that Trader Falls in battle.

Key Terms

Player: A Player is a person playing the game.

Champion: A Champion, or Champion Card (CC) refers to the character that a Player is controlling.

VP: Victory Points. Earned for defeating an Opponent. Determines the winner of the game.

HP: Health Points. Determines how much damage a Champion can receive before Falling in battle.

AP: Action Points. Determines the number of Action Cards that start in a Player's hand.

CC: Character Cost. Determines how many Action Cards an Opponent Wins when delivering a Finishing Blow to your Champion.

Action: An Action refers to any move that a Champion makes during the Action Phase, such as playing an Action Card or a Special Action.

Turn: A Turn is a complete round of gameplay spanning from calling Ready, to playing Action Cards, to playing Trap Cards and ending with the damage calculation.

Active: A Card is said to be Active when its effects are actively taking place during a Turn.

Trapped: When a card is Trapped, all of its damage and effects are canceled.

Countered: When a card is said to be countered, all of its damage and effects go to its User's Champion instead of to its intended Target. If this User falls, the Opponent who countered earns a Victory Point.

Penetrates Defenses: An Action that Penetrates Defenses is guaranteed to take full effect, regardless of the Target's active Action effects, Special Abilities, Champion Type, or any other effects. However, an Action that Penetrates Defenses can still be canceled by Traps.

User: A User is the Champion playing an Action.

Target: A Target is the Champion Card that receives the effects of an Action. A Target may be either an Opponent or the User. For example, if you are playing an Attack Action onto an Opponent, you are the User and the Opponent is the Target. As another example, if you are playing a Shield Action on yourself, you are the User and you are the Target.

Opponent: An Opponent is any Champion other than the User.

Source Deck: The Source Desk is the shared unowned deck of Action Cards in the center of the battle that all Players may draw new Action Cards from.

Hand: A Player's Hand is the set of owned and unplayed Action Cards that the Player uses to battle Opponents.

Used Pile: A Player's Used Pile is the pile of used cards placed to the right of the Player's Champion Card. Each time that a Champion plays an Action Card, that Action Card is placed in the Used Pile at the end of the Turn.

Harm: Harm refers to any effect, including damage that would hinder a Player's ability to win. Other examples of Harm include: destroying a Player's Action Card, reducing a Player's stats, stealing a Player's Action Card, stealing a Player's VP, causing a Player to Fall, disabling a Champion's Special, etc.

Fall, Fallen: When a Champion's HP is reduced to zero, that Champion is said to Fall in battle and is a Fallen Champion. When a Champion Falls, Opponents that deal Finishing Blows gain VP and Prize.