Mageling Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• The Standard Game
• Setup
  • Your Spirit Crystal has 5 basic sections
• Gameplay Overview
  • Roll Phase
  • 5 Schools of Magic & Their Runes
  • Action Phase
    • Scroll & Spirit Effect
    • Spirit Card Sections
    • Scroll Card Sections
    • Location Cards Sections
  • Refresh Phase
• Contest Mode
  • Changes to Setup
  • End Game
• Co-op Mode
  • Changes to Setup
  • Co-op Gameplay
• Quick Reference
  • Turn Phases
  • Symbols
  • 5 Schools of Magic & Their Runes
  • Types of Scrolls

Components

1. (x4) Spirit Crystal Player Sheets & Tracking Tokens
2. (x4) Ancient One Cards (used in the cooperative game)
3. (x5) Location Decks
4. (x24) Spawn/Damage Tokens
5. (x4) Action Cards
6. (x40) Mana
7. (x75) Nexus Cards
8. (x4) Standees
9. (x5) Rune Dice

The Standard Game

The Standard Game is the competitive version of Mageling. The goal of the game is to be the first player to conquer the final location, The Cloud Chamber. Once a player does this, they have won the game. For information on the other game modes, see the Contest Mode and the Co-op Mode sections.

Setup

Setting up the Nexus - Shuffle all the Nexus cards. Place the Nexus deck facedown on the table within reach of all players. Draw the top 5 cards and place them face up in a row to the right of the Nexus deck. This row of cards is referred to as the Nexus. There should always be 5 cards in the Nexus. Whenever a card is removed from the Nexus, immediately replace it.

(Setup diagram labels: 1. Mana 2. Discard Pile 3. Locations 4. Spawns 5. Nexus Deck 6. Nexus)

Setting up the Adventure - Randomly choose 1 card from each of the 5 location decks (for example, Grimthorn Forest). Place them facedown without looking at them in order from Location 1 to 5 in a row above the Nexus. Reveal the first location card, applying any Reveal effects it may have.

Player Setup - Each player takes 1 of the 4 Spirit Crystals (turned to the side without text at the bottom), the pawn of the corresponding color, and a tracking token. Place the tracking token on the 0 space of the energy track at the top of the Spirit Crystal. Next, place the pawn on the first location card.

(Player area diagram labels: 1. Grimoire 2. Spirit Crystal & Tracking Token 3. Action Card 4. Mana)

Starting Player - Choose the start player randomly. Turn order will proceed around the table to the left (clockwise).

Starting Mana - Each player begins the game with mana equal to their place in the turn order +3. In this way the first player starts with 4 mana, the second player starts with 5 mana, and so forth. Mana is stored energy and can be spent at any time during your Action Phase.

Grimoire - The area in front of each player where players put scrolls that they will acquire during the game. Scrolls are Spells, Relics, Creatures, or Allies. The Grimoire can hold up to 8 scrolls. Each player's Grimoire is empty at the start of the game.

Action Cards - A double-sided action card is provided for each player. The side labeled 'Spirit Crystal Actions' lists all actions that utilize your Spirit Crystal. The side labeled 'Basic Actions' lists all other actions that can be taken during the Action Phase. Action cards are used as a quick reference and are optional.

Spirit Crystal - Use your Spirit Crystal during your Action Phase to gain energy and mana, search the Nexus, reroll dice, and trigger unique effects throughout the game.

Your Spirit Crystal has 5 basic sections

1. Energy Track - The energy tracker keeps track of the energy that you collect and spend during your turn.
2. Gather - The Gather section is used to gather mana and energy. 2 dice may be placed in each space. When placing, gain 1 mana if the dice match or 1 energy if they don't.
3. Animate - You may place a die set to Finesse into the Animate section of your Spirit Crystal. This allows you to either discard a card from the Nexus, reroll any number of dice, or trigger an Animate card effect indicated by the Animate symbol.
4. Focus - Choose 1 of the 5 runes. Each die set to that rune and each Finesse die placed in the Focus section generates 1 energy. These dice can no longer be used to activate scrolls. Spent dice are considered in play. If a rune is placed into the focus section, that rune is considered to be 'focused'.
5. Animate Effect - An effect that is unique to your Spirit Crystal and can be activated by using the Animate section. This side of your Spirit Crystal is used only during Co-op Mode. If you are playing in Standard Mode, flip your Spirit Crystal to the side without an Animate effect.

Energy - Is a resource that can be used to buy scrolls, defeat spawns, and defeat locations. All energy is discarded at the end of your turn.

Mana - Functions the same as energy except that mana stays between turns.

Gameplay Overview

Each player's turn consists of 3 phases: Roll, Action, and Refresh. After a turn is complete, play proceeds clockwise around the table until the game ends. The player who defeats the final location wins.

Roll Phase

At the start of your turn, roll all 5 dice. You have 1 opportunity to reroll any of these dice during this Roll Phase. Once this second roll is complete, your Roll Phase ends and your Action Phase begins.

Finesse - Finesse is a symbol on the dice that can be used to Animate, Gather or to gain energy by focusing.

5 Schools of Magic & Their Runes

• Hedge - The magic of nature focused on creatures.
• Dream - The magic of the mind focused on allies.
• Aether - The magic of chaos focused on spells.
• Divination - The magic of symmetry focused on relics.
• Death - The magic of decay focused on discarded cards.

Action Phase

You may take any of the following basic actions in any order as many times as your resources will allow in addition to Spirit Crystal actions described above (Spirit Crystal sections).

• Activate a Spirit - If your focused school (see Spirit Crystal Focus Section 4) matches a spirit in the Nexus, you may activate that spirit card, triggering the effect in its text section. The spirit card is then immediately discarded.
• Buy a Scroll - You may gain a scroll from the Nexus by paying energy equal to its cost. Then add it to your Grimoire or discard it. Scrolls may not be activated on the turn they are acquired.
• Activate a Scroll - Each scroll corresponds to 1 of the 5 schools of magic and can be activated by placing a die of the corresponding rune on it. Then execute the text section of the card. Once activated, a scroll remains activated until the end of the Action Phase and cannot be activated again during this turn.

Scroll & Spirit Effect

• Text Section - If a spirit or scroll is activated and has a gray area at the top of the text section, you gain all resources displayed in that section. Then follow any instructions in the text section.

• Activating Other Scrolls - If a scroll is activated by another card (rather than being activated by a die), turn the scroll 90 degrees to show that it is activated.

• Recover Dice Effects - If a die is recovered from an activated scroll, turn the scroll 90 degrees to show that it is activated.

• Mimic Effects - Cards that mimic other cards gain their resource and text sections. Mimicking does not affect the other parts of the card, including the cost, the type, and the school.

• Discard a Scroll - You may discard a scroll from your Grimoire. If you buy a scroll and your Grimoire is full (8 scrolls), you must either discard a non-activated scroll from your Grimoire to make room for the new scroll or discard the scroll you have purchased.

Spirit Card Sections

1. Title
2. Text Section
3. Flavor Text - It provides insight into the story behind the card but has no effect on gameplay.
4. Type - This symbol indicates it is a spirit.
5. Focus Rune - Each spirit has a Focus Rune which corresponds to 1 of the 5 schools of magic. See Spirit Crystal Section 4.

Scroll Card Sections

1. Title
2. Text Section
3. Flavor Text - See above.
4. Activation Rune - This shows the scroll's school of magic and which rune a die must be set to in order to activate it.
5. Cost
6. Type - Indicates 1 of 4 types of scrolls: Ally, Relic, Creature, Spell.

• Discard a Spawn - Players may spend 2 energy to discard a spawn token from their area.

Spawn Tokens: Spawn tokens represent otherworldly beings that will block a mage's path. Spawn are represented in the card text by the spawn symbol. Some conditions in the game will force players to gain spawn. In this event the player takes a spawn token from the reserve and places it in their area. A player may not defeat their current location until all spawn in their area have been discarded.

• Heal - To heal a scroll in your Grimoire, place a die of the scroll's school onto the damaged scroll. This die is considered 'used' for the rest of the turn unless it is 'recovered' by another card effect. During the Refresh Phase, remove the damage token from all healed scrolls.

Damage Tokens: If a player gains damage, place that number of damage tokens into their area. During the Refresh Phase, all players place each damage token in their area on an undamaged scroll in their Grimoire, discarding any damage tokens they cannot place. Damaged scrolls remain in your Grimoire, adding to your total number of scrolls, but their text, type, and school have no impact. Damaged scrolls may be discarded as normal, discarding the damage token with it.

Location Cards Sections

Unrevealed location card (top):

1. Title
2. Difficulty Level
3. Life Force: See Co-op Mode.

Revealed location card (bottom): 4. Title 5. Difficulty Level & Location Name 6. Text: See Location Effects. 7. Flavor Text 8. Cost to defeat

Location Effects: Within the text section there are 5 location effect types which trigger as follows.

• Reveal - Reveal effects occur immediately after the location is revealed.

• Enter - Enter effects occur whenever a player enters the location.

• Defeat - Defeat effects occur when a player defeats the location.

• Local - Local effects are conditions that affect the player(s) at that location.

• Global - Global effects affect all of the players regardless of which location they are in.

• Defeat a Location - Players may defeat their current location card by paying the location's cost and moving their pawn to the next location to the right. The first player moving to a location reveals it by flipping the card over before placing their pawn onto it.

Refresh Phase

After you have finished your actions, start the Refresh Phase. Begin by reducing your energy tracker to 0. Energy leftover at the end of the round is wasted. Mana is the only form of energy that persists to the next round. Then remove damage tokens from scrolls that you healed during this round. Last, assign any damage tokens in your area to your undamaged scrolls and discard any that cannot be assigned. Now pass the dice to the player to your left.

Contest Mode

Contest mode is a shorter and faster version of competitive Mageling. In Contest mode the players are attempting to win the contest of the Magelight Festival by impressing the judges. The winner is the first player to collect 8 scrolls and defeat 6 spawn.

Changes to Setup

Remove the location cards from the setup and give each player 6 spawn. Otherwise the setup remains the same.

End Game

Once a player has collected 8 scrolls and defeated all the spawn in their area, that player wins.

Co-op Mode

Co-op Mode requires 1-4 players. In Co-op Mode the goal is for a player to defeat the final location before the Evertree perishes.

In Co-op Mode you will track the Life Force of the Evertree as you race to save it. If you take too long, the Evertree will perish and with it all hope for the realm. However, as players defeat locations, the Life Force of the land will replenish the Evertree.

If the players defeat the last location before the Evertree dies, they have completed the first level in their quest to save the Evertree once and for all. If its Life Force runs out before then, the Evertree dies and the players lose.

Changes to Setup

Setup the game in the same way that you would set up the standard game, with the following exceptions:

1. The Evertree - Place a facedown Evertree card above the starting location.
2. Ancient Ones - Shuffle the 4 Ancient One cards and place them in a row to the right of the Evertree card, facedown.
3. Spirit Crystal - Flip your Spirit Crystal to the side that shows its unique Animate effect at the bottom of the Spirit Crystal. This effect can now be triggered during your Action Phase by utilizing the Animate section of your Spirit Crystal.

Starting Life Force - Co-op Mode happens over the course of a campaign that is made up of 5 sequential chapters starting on Chapter 1 and ending on Chapter 5. Each chapter consists of one game. Follow the chart below by placing mana on the facedown location cards as indicated by the green numbers. The green number represents the Life Force of the land that has been stolen by the Tempest's legion of monsters. As you continue through the chapters, setup proceeds in the same way except that mana is placed on different locations according to the chapter you are on as indicated by the chart. (The chart is a graphic in the printed rulebook and is not reproduced here.)

Co-op Gameplay

All rules are the same as the Standard Game with the following exceptions:

Doom Phase - At the end of each round, the curse drains some of the Evertree's Life Force. The starting player moves 1 mana from the face down Evertree card and places it on the leftmost facedown Ancient One card. When a third mana is placed on the Ancient One card, the Ancient One card is flipped revealing 1 of the 4 Ancient Ones and the 3 mana are returned to the reserve. Resolve the revealed text applying any damage resulting from the effect immediately. If there are no mana left on the Evertree when the Doom Phase begins, the Evertree has died, the game is over, and the players lose.

Saving the Evertree - There are 2 things that will add mana to the Evertree:

• Exploring - Whenever a new location is revealed, move the mana on that location, if any, to the Evertree.
• Closing a Location - When the last player on a location leaves, that location is closed. Flip the card for that location facedown and add a mana to the Evertree.

End Game - If a player defeats the final location, then the players win the current chapter. Players then return all location cards used in that chapter to the box and do not include those cards in later chapters. If players lose a game, they may try the current chapter again any number of times or they may abandon the campaign and begin again at chapter 1. When players repeat a chapter after losing, all location cards remain the same and are not reshuffled during setup. If players win on chapter 5, they have won the campaign.

Building Your Keep - Your Keep is 1 or more facedown Nexus cards in a player's area that represents the spirits and scrolls the player has discovered on the previous chapters of the campaign. After winning each of the first 4 chapters, each player draws 3 cards from the Nexus deck and chooses 1 of those cards to add to their Keep. Players start each game with all of the cards that they have added to their Keep during the campaign until either chapter 5 is completed and the campaign has been won, or until the campaign has been abandoned. A player can interact with cards in their Keep exactly as if those cards were in the Nexus. Cards that affect the Nexus may also affect the cards in your Keep.

Apprentice Mode - This mode is for players who would like a more forgiving experience. During setup, place an additional Life Force on the Evertree.

Legendary Mode - After winning Chapter 5 you may begin again at Chapter 1 with increased difficulty. During setup, move 1 of the starting Life Force from the rightmost location where life force has been placed, to the rightmost Umbral Gate. Now players begin with 5 starting mana and 1 additional spawn.

Scoring - Calculate your score after winning each chapter by adding up the points that you earned from the list below. When the campaign has been completed, add up the points from each chapter to learn your final score.

• +1 point if you won the chapter on your first try.
• +1 point for each life force remaining on the Evertree during the final turn of the chapter.
• -1 point if you are playing on Apprentice Mode.
• +1 point if you are playing on Legendary Mode.

Quick Reference

Turn Phases

1. Roll Phase: Roll the 5 Rune Dice. You may then reroll any number of those dice 1 time.
2. Action Phase: You may take any of the actions listed on your Action Card. These actions may be taken any number of times.
3. Refresh Phase: Assign damage, return cards to their normal positions, pass the dice to the player to your left.
4. Doom Phase (Co-op Mode): After all players have taken their turns. Move a mana from the Evertree to the left-most Umbral Gate. If the Umbral Gate card has 3 mana on it, then flip it over and resolve its effect.

Symbols

• Energy: A resource that is used to discard spawns, defeat locations, and to buy scrolls.
• Mana: A resource that can be discarded to gain 1 energy each.
• Life Force: Mana that is placed onto the Evertree.
• Spawn: You cannot defeat your current location if a spawn is in your area. Spawns can be discarded by spending 2 energy.
• Damage: Makes a scroll unusable until it is healed.
• Animate: Indicates an effect that can be triggered by Animating.
• Finesse: A side of the dice that can be used to Focus or Animate.
• Spirits: A special type of card found in the Nexus that can be activated by focusing its school of magic.

5 Schools of Magic & Their Runes

Hedge, Dream, Aether, Divination, Death

Types of Scrolls

Relic, Spells, Allies, Creatures