Mana Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Contents
• Setup
• Gameplay
• The Use of Mana
• Mana Exceptions

Game Contents

• 1 6x6 leather Gameboard. There are 36 spaces on the board: 12 single, 12 double and 12 triple.
• 10 Ronin: 5 red & 5 yellow.
• 2 Damyo: 1 red & 1 yellow.
• 1 Mana

Setup

The red player positions the gameboard in front of him choosing which one of the 4 edges he will face. Then he places his 6 pieces in any spaces of his choice located in his first two lines. Yellow places his own pieces in the same manner.

Gameplay

Starting with the red player each player in turn moves one of his pieces.

• A piece starting movement on a single square must move one square, a piece on a double square must move two squares and a piece on a triple square must move three squares.
• A piece can move horizontally or vertically but not diagonally.
• A piece can change direction during movement. (Example: a piece located on a triple square must move 3 squares. It may move forward 1 square, then 1 square to the left and finally 1 square forward).
• A piece can not pass over an occupied square.
• A piece can not cross the same square twice during its movement.
• A piece ending its movement on a square with an opponent's piece captures that piece (the piece is removed from the gameboard). NOTE: If the captured piece is the opponent's Damyo the game ends!

The Use of Mana

Mana is used to restrict the opponent's movement. When the red player finishes his first move he places the Mana on his just moved piece. The yellow player must then move a piece (Ronin or Damyo) located on the same type of square as the red player's Mana carrying piece. When the yellow player finishes his move he places in turn the Mana on his just moved piece restricting red's next move, and so on. (So each piece that has just moved becomes a Mana carrier.)

Mana Exceptions

There are two exceptions:

1. No pieces are located on the same type of square as the Mana carrying piece, or...
2. Pieces are located on the same type of square as the Mana carrying piece but they can not move their full movement (because they are blocked by other pieces).

In both of these cases the player has two choices:

• Move another piece (in that case that piece will move according to the type of square that it occupies), or
• Take one of his captured Ronin and place it on a square (player's choice) of the same type as requested by the Mana carrying piece. (Returning a captured Ronin to the gameboard ends the player's turn).