Kosmogonia 2086: Kronos Epilogue – The Card Game! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• When Does a Player Win
• When Does a Player Lose
• Treasure Cards
• Champions' Cards
• Mode: Destiny or Tactics
• Setting Up the Game (4 players)
• Levels of Difficulty
• The Stages of the Rounds
  • The Starting Stage
  • The Gathering Stage
  • Destiny Mode
  • Tactics Mode
  • The Challenge Stage
  • The Deployment Stage
  • The Duels Stage
  • The Harvest Stage
  • The Hunting Stage
  • The Spoils Stage
• End of Round
• Stages of Final Confrontation
  • Revealing Champions
  • Equipping Champions
  • Comparing Keys
  • The Hunt of Kronos
  • Variation for Games of 2-3 Players
  • Tournament Rules (2 Players per match)
• Reinforcements Symbols

Contents

• 60 cards of Champions (12 each of: Gods, Elites, Defenders, Thornbearers, Reinforcements)
• 9 areas of Quests (Monsters): 1st round (Phaistos, Marathon, Ithaca); 2nd round (Delphi, Thebes, Troy); 3rd round (Lake Lerna, Delos, Pelion)
• 1 Olympus-Kronos board card
• 18 Treasure cards (6 per round: 1st, 2nd and 3rd round)
• 4 Citadels (Acropolis) board cards
• 4 Talanton's (coins) cards
• 16 Citadel's banners

When Does a Player Win

When he is the FIRST to BEAT Kronos in the Final Confrontation on Olympus (page 6).

When Does a Player Lose

1. When Kronos PREVAILS in the Final Battle.
2. When Kronos is defeated by ANOTHER player that challenges him first.
3. When the KEYS of the treasure cards stolen by the monsters add up to either the same or a larger number than the written LIMIT on the board card of Kronos.

Treasure Cards

The players are trying to gain Treasure Cards that offer the following Rewards: Reward 1: the "Keys", which allow the player to be the FIRST to confront Kronos. Reward 2: the "Items", that boost the numerical values of the player's Champions in the Final Confrontation. Treasures that don't end up in the hands of the players are transferred to Kronos' treasury and boost his own powers.

Champions' Cards

The most basic part of the game is played with the Champions' cards. We use the term "Hand" to describe the total of cards a player holds. The number of cards you can hold in your hand is variable. When a player plays a card as "open", he places it with the illustrated side visible, with the opposite being "closed". The first card that is lined up on each side of a Quest (and in Olympus) has to be open. It's the choice of the player for the rest of the cards. All cards are marked with three numerical values from zero to ten, that describe the Champion's strength. The Champions of the Reinforcements stack (stack symbol 5) are the only cards that are not marked with values and trigger special powers. ALL cards, when played, are removed from the surface of the game and placed on an inactive pile which we call "discarded pile". The cards from the discarded pile aren't reused unless there is a specific rule.

Source note: the five stack symbols are printed as icons in the source and are not reproduced here. They are numbered 1–5 in the order they appear on the Setting Up line; stack symbols 1–4 are the Champion stacks and stack symbol 5 is the Reinforcements stack (marked with the "╥" symbol).

Mode: Destiny or Tactics

Kronos Epilogue can be played TWO ways:

1. The "Destiny" mode is aimed at players who seek fast-paced games with non-stop action (page 3).
2. The "Tactics" mode is more for players who enjoy a greater level of planning and strategy (page 3).

Setting Up the Game (4 players)

→ Place the board card of Olympus - Kronos on the top of the surface of the game. Then divide the board cards of the Quests into groups (according to the letter - number written in the lower right corner of each board card) and line them up vertically as described in the table below.

Round	Quest groups
1st round	A1-A2-A3
2nd round	B1-B2-B3
3rd round	C1-C2-C3

→ Look among the Treasure cards for the loot that has the name of the same area written, and place them on the matching fields of the Quests (randomly on the left or the right side of them).

→ Shuffle the cards of the Champions and make five closed stacks based on their symbols (stack symbols 1–5).

→ Randomly give each player a Citadel's board card (which they will represent on that game lot) along with the 4 banners that show the same Coat of Arms.

→ Get a piece of paper & a pen to help keep track of the apps.

Levels of Difficulty

• EASY: use the side of the board card of Kronos with the rates 13-13-13, AND all the Quests on the side with ONE category of conflict features.
• MEDIUM: use the side of the board card of Kronos with the rates 13-13-13, AND the Quests A1-A2-A3 on the side with ONE category of conflict features AND the Quests B1-B2-B3 & C1-C2-C3 on the side with BOTH categories of conflict features.
• HARD: use the side of the board card of Kronos with the rates 15-15-15, AND ALL the Quests on the side with BOTH categories of conflict features.

The Stages of the Rounds

Starting – Players take one coin card each. The one who finds the side with the crown chooses who plays first.

Gathering – Take the cards of Champions you are entitled to.

Challenge – Send forces to Olympus.

Deployment – Send Champions to the Quest Areas.

Duels – Follow the steps for the battles between players: - Ambush - Reinforcements - [Fist, Awe, Cunning] - Battle Report.

Harvest – The winners collect the hard won treasure of your side.

Hunt – Players that remain undefeated in the duels fight the monster of the area: - Reinforcements - [Fist, Awe, Cunning] - Battle Report.

Spoils – The winners of the Hunt get the treasure you are entitled to.

The Starting Stage

Shuffle as many Coin cards as there are participants in the game. Make sure that the card with the side with the Crown (helmet) is among them. The player who picks this card can then choose the first player for the next stages, the rest of the players follow him clockwise. The same player is NOT allowed to play first in two rounds in a row.

The Gathering Stage

Collect the cards of the Champions you are entitled to according to the game mode you have chosen. If you have chosen the Tactics mode, before you place the Quests Areas, use the available surface to place the Champions' cards by following the instructions. As you end the Gathering stage, place the Quest areas of the round, underneath Olympus as normal.

Destiny Mode

The first player deals each other player 1 card from EACH deck (total of 5 cards). Those cards are dealt OPEN so that all the players can assess the forces each opponent holds in his hand.

Tactics Mode

Place the 5 stacks of Champions lengthwise and reveal from each stack as many cards as the number of the players involved.

For 4 players, the card layout is 5 columns of 4 lines of cards, for 3 players 5 columns of 3 lines and for 2 players 5 columns of 2 lines.

The participants start selecting their characters with the first player choosing their first card from the last Champions of each column (i.e. the last cards opened from each stack – see pic. 1A).

The process is repeated until each player has 5 new cards in his hand (1x of each stack symbol). Make sure you keep your cards open in front of you until the procedure is completed, and you will add the new cards into your hand.

Example in Tactics Mode (pic. 1A): the player who starts choosing characters can't pick the card of Odysseus before another player decides to pick the card of Jason.

Example in Tactics Mode (pic. 1B): the first player's choices at that given moment are among the cards of Hermes, Narcissus, Jason, Icarus and Pythagoras. In the picture 1B, where every player has picked one card each and the first player's turn comes again, he can claim Odysseus, as well as Hestia, Narcissus, Icarus and Asclepius from the other stacks.

The Challenge Stage

EVERYONE places a card (of stack symbols 1–4) to Olympus (with the blue banner of your Citadel). The team who finally challenges Kronos must include at least one Champion of stack symbol 1.

The Deployment Stage

Deploy your chosen Champions on the free spots of the Quests areas in turns and one at a time (on the left or the right side of the board card) with the banner of your Citadel. The card limit per region is 3 cards on each side (stack symbols 1–4). If there is no opponent when you line up your first card, place your Citadel's Coat of arms with the blue banner background. Otherwise place it with the red banner background.

You are NOT allowed to place a Champion:

• On the same side as another player.
• On the opposite side of yourself.

The deployment stage is completed when everyone declares END (PASS), i.e. there are no cards (of stack symbols 1–4) in their hand or there are no free positions to deploy.

You can willingly declare END (PASS) earlier, to save cards for the next round, as long as you have lined up at least ONE Champion on a Quest's area of this phase. This DOES NOT apply on the round before the confrontation with Kronos. It is then mandatory to play all of your Champions if there is space for them to line up.

The Duels Stage

Fight the battles for the dominance of each area, starting from the Quest nearest to Olympus. If there are two players claiming the dominance of the location, the conflict process begins by following the steps as described below:

First step of Duel: Ambush. The closed cards of the area are simultaneously revealed by both players.

Second step of Duel: Reinforcements. Play a (Reinforcements stack) card each, taking turns (up to three special symbols for each player) and apply their powers. The player with the blue-banner Coat of arms is the first to start the procedure. The reinforcements are NOT mandatory. When one declares PASS, he cannot add any other cards on this specific duel.

Third step of Duel: "Fist". If the Quest area you are battling in contains the symbol (fist icon), add the corresponding values of your lined up cards (otherwise skip the whole step). The deployment with the highest total (taking into account the factors off the Reinforcements symbol) wins the EXCELLENCE in Fist. If the total is equal, the players are EQUIVALENT.

Fourth step of Duel: "Awe". If the Quest area you are battling in contains the Awe symbol, add the corresponding values of your lined up cards (otherwise skip the whole step). The deployment with the highest total (taking into account the factors off the Reinforcements symbol) wins the EXCELLENCE in Awe. If the total is equal, the players are EQUIVALENT.

Fifth step of Duel: "Cunning". If the Quest area you are battling in contains the Cunning symbol, add the corresponding values of your lined up cards (otherwise skip the whole step). The deployment with the highest total (taking into account the factors off the Reinforcements symbol) wins the EXCELLENCE in Cunning. If the total is equal, the players are EQUIVALENT.

Sixth step of Duel: Battle Report. The player with the EXCELLENCE in the most battles wins the duel. If there is no winner, then the opponents are considered tied. Send all the Reinforcements cards (played by both players) to the discarded pile, along with all the Champions cards of the defeated player (if there is one). Return to the defeated player his Banner.

Example: Sparta had lined up Aphrodite & Harmony against Corinth that has Minoas, Jason & Demetra. The Quest area defines Awe and Cunning as conflict categories. Sparta totals 14 Awe and 8 Cunning, and Corinth 15 Awe and 8 Cunning. Corinth wins the Excellence of Awe and ties in Cunning. Corinth wins the conflict.

The Harvest Stage

Players who have won in the Duels transfer the treasures of their side into their vault. If no one was deployed in a Quest area, the treasures are transferred to Kronos' treasury. If there was ONLY one player's banner, he automatically wins the treasure of his side.

The Hunting Stage

Those who defeated their opponent in the previous stage or found themselves in a draw, fight against their area's monster. If the players were tied in the Duels stage, they will both fight the monster individually (doesn't matter in which order). The steps of the Hunt are as described below:

First step of Hunting: Reinforcements. Play up to three Reinforcements cards against the Monster. The reinforcements are NOT mandatory.

Second step of Hunting: "Fist". If the Monster you are facing has value at the Fist symbol, compare the total value of your lined-up cards (otherwise skip the whole step). If your total (taking into account the factors off the Reinforcements symbol) is equal or bigger than the Monster's, you win the EXCELLENCE.

Third step of Hunting: "Awe". If the Monster you are facing has value at the Awe symbol, compare the total value of your lined-up cards (otherwise skip the whole step). If your total (taking into account the factors off the Reinforcements symbol) is equal or bigger than the Monster's, you win the EXCELLENCE.

Fourth step of Hunting: "Cunning". If the Monster you are facing has value at the Cunning symbol, compare the total value of your lined-up cards (otherwise skip the whole step). If your total (taking into account the factors off the Reinforcements symbol) is equal or bigger than the Monster's, you win the EXCELLENCE.

Fifth step of Hunting: Battle Report. The player who prevails in ALL encounters defeats the Monster. The cards played are sent to the discarded pile and the banners are returned to the players.

The Spoils Stage

The players who defeat the Monster win Treasure. The winners who earlier tied on the Duels win the treasure of their side. Those who had collected the first Treasure ALSO collect the second treasure from the opposite side. The items from the areas that the Monsters haven't been defeated end up in Kronos' treasury.

If the sum total of all the keys of Kronos' Treasures is equal or higher from the number of keys written on the Olympus - Kronos Board card, then all the players LOSE and the game ends there.

End of Round

Next round preparation steps:

• Return to the box all of the previous round's Quests and prepare the next in the same way.
• Keep all the remaining Champions' cards in hand for the next round.
• Keep all the treasure tokens you gathered in the stages of Harvest and Spoils in your Citadel's vault.
• The board card of our Citadel is restored to the side with the 3 available special powers (ONLY IN THE 4 PLAYER GAMES).

Stages of Final Confrontation

Revealing Champions – Reveal all the Cards on Olympus.

Equipping Champions – Give up to ONE item of your vault TO EACH CHAMPION.

Comparing Keys – Calculate the order in which players will confront Kronos, by adding together the keys carried by their Champions.

The Hunt of Kronos – Fight the Titan by following the steps: - Reinforcements, - [Fist, Awe, Cunning], - Victory or Defeat.

Revealing Champions

Reveal the team of the Champions sent onto Olympus at the same time.

Equipping Champions

Each Champion can be equipped with ONE item from his Citadel's vault to fight Kronos.

Comparing Keys

The order in which you invade the Titan's palace results from the highest total of the keys on the Treasure cards held by your Champions.

If there is a tie, we give the lead to: (1) The Citadel with the most treasures in its vault, (2) The player that played last in the previous round.

The Hunt of Kronos

Each player that challenges Kronos adds the values of his Champions (ALSO adding the values of the items they carry) in all 3 categories of the confrontation. The Duel with the Titan follows the same rules as the HUNT stage in the previous Quests. The only difference is that the values on the board card of Kronos are increased by the factors written on the treasure cards (over the keys / back side of the card) that ended up in his Treasury. If a player tries to encounter Kronos and fails, the turn passes to the next player.

Variation for Games of 2-3 Players

Skip the first round and return the board cards A1-A2-A3 to the box (along with their treasures). Before moving to the Deployment stage, all players complete 2 Gathering Stages (instead of 1), collecting 5 + 5, total of 10 cards per round.

In the first Challenge stage, send 1 Champion to Olympus and 2 more to the next Challenge stage. You can use 1 of your Citadel's special powers, only ONCE during the entire game (and not on each round).

Tournament Rules (2 Players per match)

Here the opponents, before challenging Kronos, fight each other in only ONE round.

The available Quests are 4 and consist of the areas C1-C2-C3 and a random area among the board cards B1-B2-B3 which is placed last. In the Gathering stage, 3 cards of each stack are dealt to each player (Destiny Tournament) or 6 cards per column are opened (Tactics Tournament).

From the 15 cards in hand, the players send 3 cards to Olympus and, at the end of the Deployment, 1 card must be discarded.

Reinforcements Symbols

The cards of the Reinforcements stack (stack symbol 5) don't exactly fight like the rest of the Champions and they are ONLY played in the Reinforcement stage. The special symbols that are activated when played affect the balance of the conflict each one in a unique way.

On each Citadel, there are three of the symbols of this specific category marked on the one side of the board card. During a round, each player can, only ONCE in the Reinforcement stage, flip their card from the side that lacks the symbols and activate 1 of these 3 symbols (just as he had played a reinforcement card from his hand). A player is NOT allowed to activate the same symbol TWICE in the same encounter. The only difference on the symbols of the Citadels and the Reinforcements stack cards is that the first can ONLY be used in the Duels between the players & the Hunt of the Monsters, but NOT against Kronos in the Final Confrontation.

The twelve Reinforcement symbols (numbered 1–12 in the printed table, with the effect of each) are:

1. At the END of the DUEL or the HUNT choose a Champion (of stack symbols 2, 3 or 4) and the value of his Fist is doubled.
2. At the END of the DUEL or the HUNT choose a Champion (of stack symbols 2, 3 or 4) and the value of his Awe is doubled.
3. At the END of the DUEL or the HUNT choose a Champion (of stack symbols 2, 3 or 4) and the value of his Cunning is doubled.
4. IMMEDIATELY steal a card (of stack symbol 3) from the opposing line up, negating all its powers in this Duel. If there are more than one (stack symbol 3), the choice is random. You can use the card in the following rounds as if it was yours.
5. IMMEDIATELY steal 1 card (of stack symbol 4) from the opposing line up and place it on your side of the DUEL. If there are more than 1 (stack symbol 4), the choice is random. The stolen card is allowed to exceed the 3 card limit. At the end of the DUEL the stolen card goes to discarded pile.
6. IMMEDIATELY pull 1 random card from the discarded pile and deploy it as reinforcement on your side (it is allowed to exceed the 3 card limit). If the random card is a stack symbol 1 card, return it to the discarded pile and pull a new one until you get a card from any other category. If you pull a Reinforcements card, you normally activate the new symbol.
7. IMMEDIATELY replace 1 of the conflict CATEGORIES (Fist, Awe, Cunning) required by the DUEL (not the Hunt) with 1 that was not written on the board card of the Quest.
8. IMMEDIATELY terminate the DUEL between the players and change the result to tie. Against Kronos, cancel a factor of 1 of his Treasure cards (of your choice).
9. IMMEDIATELY terminate the HUNT and change the result to your Victory. Against Kronos, add to the factors +1 / +1 / +1.
10. At the END of the confrontation add the factors +3/+2/+1 to the values of 1 Champion (of stack symbols 2, 3 or 4), in any order* you wish.
11. At the END of the confrontation, add the factors +4/0/+0 to the values of 1 Champion (of stack symbols 2, 3 or 4), in any order* you wish.

*Example: you can add the 1st factor to the value of Awe, the 2nd factor to the value of Cunning and the 3rd factor to the value of Fist of your Champion.

Source notes for this section: the twelve Reinforcement symbols are printed as icons with their effects; the table's icon cells do not all reproduce as text, so the stack-symbol numbers above are read from the printed icons (see the stack-symbol note under Champions' Cards) and the effect wording follows the numbered text on the same page. The table lists the factors for symbols 10–12 in the order 1/2/3, 0/0/4 and 0/2/2; the numbered text gives the same three values "in any order". The printed word "reinforecement" has been corrected to "reinforcement".