Mana Burn
Mana Burn Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Equipment
You need the SOUL BURN Board. You also need Pawns for each player, two 12-sided dice, and a SOUL BURN Deck.
The SOUL BURN Deck is composed of eight copies of five Monsters: Heroes, Sprites, Skeletons, Merfolk, and Goblins; plus twelve copies of each of five Spells: Armor!, Embiggen!, Resurrect!, Counter!, and Flame!
Setup
Shuffle the deck and deal a starting hand of three cards to each player. Place the rest of the deck face down next to the Codex Square. All players' Pawns start on the Codex. Discards will go next to the Crypt.
Winning
The object of the game is to collect one of each of the ten different cards. You win as soon as you do this, even if it is not your turn. It is possible, though very unlikely, that more than one person will win at the same time. If this happens, everyone must play again from the beginning. (Cruel joke.)
On Your Turn
Movement: First, roll one die and move with the arrows. If you stop exactly on another's Pawn, you get to draw a random card from their hand. Do this immediately, BEFORE resolving the square. Then, follow the instuctions on the square where you land.
When you pass the Codex (technically, when you walk INTO the space) draw the top two cards of the deck. You can always change which path you go down whenever you step into the Codex.
If you are jumped to an "Enter" or "Re-Enter" space, it doesn't count as going past the Codex or Crypt.
If you land on a SOUL BURN square, check the SOUL BURN pile. If there are fewer than four cards in it (or there is no power at all) you must add a card from your hand to the pile. If the pile already has four cards in it, you get to take the entire pile.
Playing Cards
After moving your Pawn you may play one Monster or Spell from your hand. You may only play one of these cards per turn (not each, either or).
However, you may play the three "fast" effects (Flame!, Embiggen!, and Counter!) at any time, and as many as you like as well.
Any cards which you play are no longer part of your collection, even if they are sitting in front of you. You must have one of each card in your hand to win, after all, cards you play have lost their "collector's value".
Game Terms
Playing for Ante
Choose an opponent. Both players choose a card from their hand, and lay it face down. They each roll one die, and the highest roll takes both cards. If the game is a tie, players retain their own cards. Players with no cards cannot play games for Ante.
Cards which affect Ante: A Heroes card can add +2 to ANY player's die roll, once per Ante Game. Embiggen! cards can add +3. Goblins make your opponent Ante at RANDOM rather than choose. Extra Goblins cards make them ante extra cards.
Trading
Choose one player and swap one card with them, face down. Both players may choose which card they give away, but neither knows what the other is offering.
Cards which affect Trading: If you have Goblins in-play, your opponent must choose their card RANDOMLY rather than selecting. Extra Goblins cards make them Trade extra cards.
Auctioning Cards
When you are directed to "Auction X Cards," take X cards off the Codex and turn them face up. Starting with the player to your left, players may "bid" for all the cards (together) by discarding one card from their hand to the Crypt, or they may pass. Once a player passes, they cannot re-enter the auction and will be skipped over any time this auction comes back around to them. The last player to bid (IE: the last player to discard) takes all the cards being acution.
Cards which affect Auctions: If you have Skeletons, you can make one "false bid", once per Skeletons card, per Auction. These "false bids" count as a bid, but do not require you to discard a card.
Going Fishing
Choose a player, and ask them if they have a particular card. If so, they must give it to you. They have several, you only get one of them. If they have no such card, they get to "fish back," asking you for a card in the same fashion. Then, weather or not you are forced to give them a card, the fishing session ends.
Cards which affect Fishing: If you have Merfolk, you get all copies of a card you Fished for rather than just one. This also counts if you fish back when you have Merfolk.
What the Cards Do
Heroes: Players who have Heroes in play may add +2 to any player's Ante roll, once per Ante per Ante game. If you have multiple Heroes, you may add +2 for each of them.
Armor!: Play Armor! on a Monster. That Monster can't be destroyed by an Flame! However the Armor! itself can be destroyed by an Flame!. You may play multiple Armor! on the same Monster.
Sprites: You may re-roll your movement die once per tunr for each Sprite you have in-play. You must use your most recent roll; you can't change your mind and go back to an old one.
Embiggen!: (Fast, play anytime) – Adds +3 to any player's movement roll, Ante roll, or any other dice roll.
Goblins: Players with Goblins, when playing for Ante or Trading, may select their opponent's card randomly rather than the opponent selecting it. Furthermore, if you have more than one Goblin in play, your opponent must contribue an extra card for each extra Goblin you have. For example, if you play a game for Ante and you have 3 Goblins, your opponent must contrube a total of three cards, at random. Also, players with Goblins may take the top cards of the Crypt when they pass it, even if they did not land there exactly.
Flame!: (Fast, play anytime) – Destroy one Monster not wearing Armor!, or one Armor! card currently equipped on a Monster.
Skeletons: If you have Skeletons in-play, you may always switch paths at the Crypt, whether or not you land directly on it. Also, you may make one 'false bid' per auction. False bids count as bids, but you don't have to discard a card. Multiple Skeletons give you multiple false bids for the same auction.
Resurrect!: This spell takes any card out of the Crypt into your hand. (It does not have to be a Monster.)
Merfolk: When a player with Merfolk goes fishing and guesses correctly, they get all such cards in the fished player's hand. For example, if you ask for Armor!, and your opponent has two, you get to take them both. This is even true when you are "fishing back." Also, if you have more than one Merfolk when you pass the Codex, you get to draw one extra card for each additional Merfolk you control. In other words, one Merfolk gives you a normal draw of 1, but two Merfolk give you one extra card for a total of 2, and so forth.
Counter!: (Fast, play anytime) – Counter the playing of any other card. You must play this card right after the other one is played; you can't change your mind and counter something later on.
Other Rules
Distributing Cards "Randomly": To distribute a set of cards randomly, as you will sometimes be asked to do, assign the faces on the 12-sided die equitably among all players, re-rolling any unclaimed numbers. Roll a random owner for each card. Yes, this is horribly unfair.
"May" vs. "Must": Unless a rule or board says you "may" do something, you must do it. However, players can't be forced to do something that makes no sense, like player for Ante when they have no cards, drawing for an empty Crypt, and so on.
Strategy Tips
- Sometimes people will work very hard to control your movement roll. After the die is cast, everyone needs a chance to cast Embiggen! and Counter! Wait for the dust to settle before you move. If you give everyone the chance to act, and they don't, then the roll stands. This trick is expecially useful when you're abount to move across the Codex and have your choice of destinations.
- You can use your re-roll ability (Sprites) in response to a string of Embiggen!s like this, so tease them all out of your opponents' hands before you re-roll.
- You get Codex cards as soon as you enter the square, so don't forget to draw. The cards you get may help you decide which way to go when you leave. If you're a hardcore timing nut, then you should pause while passing the Codex, take your cards, then decide how to finish your move.
- When you choose a path, pick the one that plays your strongest suit. For example, if you have Skeletons in play, choose the real world path, which is loaded with Auction squares.
- Don't fish for Flames. Since they are Fast, the player who is being fished can just throw them all at your Monsters instead of giving them to you.
- Do your best to keep track of which players have what. The more you know about everyone's hand, the better you would do.
- Roll high. Guess correctly. Draw the right cards.