Manaforge Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Contents
• Setup
  • Board Setup
  • Item Deck
  • Talent Draft
  • First Player
  • Dice Pool
• Gameplay
  • Round Start (Board Setup)
  • Player Turns
  • Round End
• Actions
  • Spend A Die (up to 4 times per turn)
  • Build an Item OR Gain a Prism (once per turn)
  • Build an Item
  • Gain a Prism
  • Activate an Item Card (unlimited)
  • Upgrade an Item Card (unlimited)
  • Activate a Talent (varies)
• Ending the Game
• Common Questions
• Card Rules
  • Dawn Cards
  • Noon Cards
  • Dusk Cards
  • Talent Cards

Overview

Manaforge is a dice-rolling resource management game for two to four players. Each player takes on the role of a wizard whose specialty is the construction and sale of magic items. Each wizard is attempting to create the most desirable items to sell in their store so that they can attract the wealthiest of adventurers and convince them to part with their riches. At the end of the day, whichever wizard has amassed the most prestigious collection of magical equipment will be declared the winner.

Manaforge is played over a series of nine rounds. At the beginning of each round, six new magic item cards are placed in the center area, and all players simultaneously roll their own set of dice. Then, starting with the player with the first player token and going clockwise, each player takes their turn. A player’s turn includes selecting up to four of their rolled dice and using the mana (element symbols) on those dice to obtain one of the item cards in the center.

Some item cards provide an instantaneous effect and then are discarded, while others stay in play in front of a player and grant additional abilities each turn, such as the generation of additional mana or the ability to turn mana into prestige (victory points). However, a player may only have four cards in play at a time, so the choice of which cards to obtain must be made carefully.

As the game progresses, item cards become both more powerful and more expensive. As such, it is important that players augment the mana generated by their dice with item cards that give access to additional mana, or they may find themselves unable to obtain more cards.

At the end of the ninth round, the player with the most prestige is the winner.

Contents

• 1 game board
• 1 first player marker
• 4 player mats
• 4 player score counters
• 4 player aid cards
• 72 item cards (24 of each type)
• 20 talent cards
• 40 mana dice (8 of each type)
• 56 gem tokens (14 of each type)
• 14 mana prism tokens
• 10 gem cards
• This rulebook

Setup

Board Setup

Place the game board in the middle of the play area. Each player chooses a player color and takes the corresponding player mat and score marker, placing their player mat in front of them and their score marker on the ‘0’ space on the score track.

Item Deck

Separately shuffle the three decks of item cards (Dawn, Noon, and Dusk). Stack eighteen Dusk cards face down in a pile, eighteen Noon cards on top of that, and eighteen Dawn cards on top of those. This is the item deck for this game (which will contain 54 cards). Place the rest of the cards back into the game box; they will not be used this game.

Talent Draft

Shuffle the Talent cards. Deal four of these cards face down to each player. Each player looks at their cards and selects one card to keep, passing the remaining three clockwise. Repeat this process of selecting a card and passing the rest until each player has selected four cards. Each player then chooses two of their selected cards to use for that game and discards the other two. The two chosen cards are turned face up and placed to the left of the player’s board. These cards represent the players’ special powers for this game.

First Player

Randomly determine who will play first. Give the first player marker and two mana prism tokens to the first player. Give three mana prism tokens to all other players.

Dice Pool

Give each player one die of each element (earth, fire, wind, and water), plus the dice indicated at the bottom-right corner of their Talent cards. Players will typically, but not always, start the game with six dice.

Gameplay

Manaforge is played over nine rounds. Each round is divided up into three parts, as follows:

Round Start (Board Setup)

• Deal item cards – Deal the top six cards from the item deck face up onto the item card spaces on the game board
• Recharge – All players recharge (turn upright) all item cards they have in their Workshop (their in-play area)
• Roll – All players roll all of their dice

Player Turns

Starting with the player that has the first player marker and proceeding clockwise, each player takes their turn. During their turn, a player may perform any number of actions, of any types, in any order. The possible types of actions are:

• Spend a die (up to 4 times per turn) – Choose a rolled die and gain its benefit
• Build an item or gain a prism (once per turn) – Choose one of the following effects:
  • Build an item – Select an item card on the game board, pay its cost, and take that card
  • Gain a prism – Take a mana prism from the box
• Activate an item card – Choose a charged (upright) item card in the player’s Workshop and gain its benefit, then exhaust that card (turn the card sideways)
• Upgrade an item card – Choose an item card in play that can accept mana gems, and permanently attach a gem token to the card
• Activate a Talent – Choose a Talent card, pay its activation cost, and gain the listed benefit

Round End

• Check for game end – If the item deck is empty, the game ends immediately
• Board clear – All item cards remaining on the game board are placed face up on top of the discard pile
• New first player – Pass the first player marker clockwise to the next player

Actions

During your turn, you may perform a variety of actions. Each type of action can be performed any number of times (up to the stated limits) as long as you can pay the cost of the action, if any. The various types of actions can be performed in any order, and you may switch between action types freely. The types of actions are as follows:

Spend A Die (up to 4 times per turn)

Spending a die grants you the benefit showing on the top of the die. Once a die is spent, place it off to the side; you may not spend the same die twice during the same turn.

Mana is the magical energy that wizards use to perform their magic. Spending a die with element symbol(s) showing on it grants you mana of the indicated element and amount. (When you spend an arcane die, choose only one of the two mana symbols shown.) All mana is of one of four types, corresponding to the four elements (earth, fire, wind, and water). When you gain mana, it is placed into your reserve, an imaginary storage space that holds mana until it is needed. Mana from many different sources may be accumulated in your reserve in order to satisfy the costs of more powerful effects. Mana obtained from a single source may also be divided among multiple effects. Mana must be spent during the turn which it is obtained; at the end of your turn, any mana left in your reserve disappears.

Mana gems are mana that has been solidified into a more permanent form. When you spend a die with a mana gem symbol showing, you immediately gain a gem token of the indicated element. All mana gems are also of one of the four elements. You may spend a gem token as if it is one mana of its element for any purpose; the token is returned to the box once it is spent. However, unlike mana, mana gems do not disappear at the end of the turn and can be saved until needed. In addition, some cards specifically consume gems, and some cards can have gems attached to them to make them more powerful. You may use newly-gained mana gems immediately.

Each element of die (except arcane) also has one special ability side. This side is unique to the element of die. When you spend a die with one of these sides showing, gain the corresponding effect:

Runestone (earth die) Gain one earth and one wind mana OR one fire and one water mana

Transmute (fire die) Choose one of your other dice and gain its effect (you may choose a die that has already been spent this turn)

Power Surge (wind die) Recharge (turn upright) any one item card in your Workshop

Gem Copy (water die) Select one of your available mana gems; you gain another mana gem of the same element

Build an Item OR Gain a Prism (once per turn)

Upon selecting this action, choose one of two effects:

Build an Item

Select an item card on the game board, pay the mana cost of the item as listed in the top-left corner of the card, and take that card. Mana costs are expressed in amounts of mana of specific element(s); the number indicates the amount of mana, and the symbol indicates the element of mana. A swirled circle symbol indicates mana of any element(s) may be used to fulfill this payment. The cost is paid with any combination of mana from your reserve and your mana gems.

Item cards are of two types, Workshop and Store. Workshop cards stay in play and give you access to new abilities. Place the Workshop card in any open space in your Workshop area. (If there are no open spaces in your Workshop, you must first move one of the cards in your Workshop to the discard pile on the game board.) You may use abilities on newly-gained Workshop cards immediately. Store cards have a one-time instantaneous effect. Apply the effect stated on the card, and then place the card face up on top of your Store pile.

Gain a Prism

Take a mana prism token from the box. A mana prism is a special item that can be exchanged for one mana gem of any element from the box at any time during your turn. Mana prisms do not count as gems and are not affected by abilities that work on gems. Newly-gained mana prisms may be used immediately.

Activate an Item Card (unlimited)

Activating an item card lets you use the ability of a card in your Workshop. In order to activate a card, that card must be charged (facing upright). Using a card’s ability exhausts it; turn the card sideways to indicate that it has been used this turn. The card may not be used again until the next round (all cards in your Workshop recharge at the start of the round) unless you have a way to recharge the card during your turn.

The cost to use a card’s ability is listed to the left of the arrow, and the benefit of the ability is to the right. Some item cards have costs in addition to exhausting the card. When an ability cost includes mana, you must pay that cost with some combination of mana from your reserve and your mana gems. A few item cards will have more exotic costs, such as consuming gems or other resources directly.

Some item cards will have gem symbols listed next to some or all of their abilities. This means that those abilities are not available until they are ‘unlocked’. Unlocking abilities is done with the Upgrade an Item Card action, explained below. When an item card is activated, any of its unlocked abilities may be used.

Upgrade an Item Card (unlimited)

Upgrading an item card allows you to permanently attach one or more gems to an item card in your Workshop. Some item cards can be made more powerful in this way, and a few item cards won’t function at all until they have been upgraded.

Each item card that can be upgraded has one or more gem symbols listed at the far left of the card’s rules area. These symbols indicate what element(s) of gems are used to upgrade the card. When a card has multiple levels of upgrades, you must perform the upgrades in order, starting with the top level and moving down.

To upgrade an item card, take the appropriate element of gem token from those you currently own and place it on the item card. This unlocks the ability to the right of the gem, making it available for use. Once a gem is attached in this way, it cannot be recovered. Once you attach a gem to a card, you are no longer considered to own the gem, and you may not spend the gem to pay a cost or use it as the target of an ability.

If the upgraded item is discarded for any reason, all attached gems are destroyed.

Activate a Talent (varies)

Activating a talent means to use one of the special powers on your Talent cards. Not all Talent cards have powers that can be activated in this way; a few cards only have an effect at the beginning of the game, and others are activated automatically when the proper conditions occur.

Talents that can be activated have the same format as regular item cards: a cost to activate the ability, listed to the left of the arrow, and the benefit of the ability (usually prestige) listed to the right of the arrow. However, unlike item cards, you do not exhaust a Talent card when you use it and you may activate them any number of times in a turn, subject to any restrictions and/or costs listed on the card.

Ending the Game

A game of Manaforge takes nine rounds. At the end of the ninth round, the item deck will be empty, signaling the end of the game. The player that has accumulated the most prestige is the winner. If there is a tie for most prestige, then the player with the most remaining mana gems (including mana prisms) wins the tie. If there is still a tie, then the players share the victory.

Common Questions

Q: When building an item or using an ability with more than one ‘any’ mana (swirled circle) in its cost, can I use mana of different elements to pay that part of the cost? A: Yes. Mana spent as ‘any’ mana does not need to all be of the same element.

Q: Can I use the water dice ability Gem Copy to duplicate a mana prism? A: No. A mana prism does not count as a gem and cannot be used where a gem is needed. Instead, try exchanging the mana prism for a gem, and then use the Gem Copy ability on that.

Q: Can I use Gem Copy to copy a mana gem that is attached to one of my item cards? A: No. A mana gem that has been used to upgrade an item card is no longer considered owned by the player and cannot be used as a target for special abilities.

Q: Can I use Gem Copy to copy a mana gem that I just obtained from somewhere else? A: Yes. It is perfectly legal to, for example, spend a die to gain a mana gem, use Gem Copy to gain a duplicate of that gem, and then immediately spend one or both gems as mana or to upgrade item cards.

Q: If I upgrade an item card to make new abilities available, can I still activate the previous abilities? A: Yes. Unlocking new abilities on an item card does not prevent you from using the old ones.

Q: I changed my mind. Am I allowed to take back a move I made? A: Yes. As long as you have not declared that your turn is over, you may choose to undo any or all of the actions you have taken during your turn. However, once the next player takes any action on their turn, anything you did during your turn becomes permanent.

Q: Can I spend mana gems as mana to activate the abilities of cards in my Workshop? A: Yes. A mana gem can be spent as one mana of its element for any purpose.

Q: I have spare mana left over at the end of my turn. Do I gain gems for that mana? A: No. While gems can be used as mana, the reverse is not true. At the end of your turn, any unspent mana left in your reserve is lost. You only gain gems when a die or card ability explicitly says that you do.

Q: One of my Talent cards says to gain a gem when I build an item of a certain element. How do I know which items the card is referring to? A: An item card’s element is indicated by the color and shape of the bars and borders on the card. Merely having mana of that element in the item’s build cost is not enough. See The Five Elements illustration on Page 4 for examples of each element.

Q: I just picked up a Workshop item. Can I use it during the same turn? A: Yes. Newly-built Workshop items may be upgraded and activated immediately. Q: How many times can I upgrade a Workshop item in one turn? A: There is no limit to how many times you may upgrade something in the same turn. If you have the correct gems available, you may upgrade an item in your Workshop from its lowest level to its maximum in one turn.

Q: Once I’ve upgraded a Workshop item, can I use it right away? A: Yes. You may upgrade and activate the same Workshop item during the same turn.

Q: I have four cards in my Workshop and I just got a fifth Workshop card. What do I do with it? A: You must choose a card in your Workshop to destroy to make room for the new item. Move any card in your Workshop to the discard pile on the game board, placing any gem tokens attached to that card back into the game box. Then place the new item card in the open Workshop space.

Q: I’m supposed to gain a mana gem, but there aren’t any left. Do I still get one? A: Yes. There is no limit to the number of gems in the game. If you run out of gem tokens, you can use the cards with gem symbols on them to represent some of the gems you own. If that’s not enough, you can also substitute coins or other tokens.

Card Rules

Dawn Cards

Cards 1 – 12 (Stone Circle, Sun Fragment, Wind Catcher, Reflecting Pool, Verdant Haven, Hellforge, Lightning Spire, Glacial Spike, Glittering Cavern, Phoenix Egg, Steam Vents, Sacred Fountain) These cards provide mana when activated. Exhaust the card to gain the indicated mana.

Card 13 (Gem Amplifier) This card provides two mana when activated. You must attach two gems to the card before you can activate it. The element(s) of mana produced are exactly equal to the element(s) of the two attached gems. For example, if you attach an earth gem and a fire gem to the card, then you gain one earth mana and one fire mana when you exhaust it.

Cards 14 – 18 (Earth Boots, Fire Bracers, Wind Circlet, Water Pendant, Arcane Gloves) These cards give you one prestige, plus an additional die for the rest of the game. Dice gained in this manner are rolled immediately and can be used this turn (provided you still have dice you can spend this turn). This does not affect the number of dice you may spend each round. If there are none of the specified element of die remaining, then you do not gain a die.

Cards 19 – 23 (Excavation Wand, Spark Wand, Levitation Wand, Extinguishing Wand, Illuminating Wand) These cards give you one prestige, plus one additional prestige for each card with “Wand” in its name already your Store pile. The number of wand cards you already have does not include this card. For example, if you already have one wand card in your Store, then this card is worth two prestige, one for this card and one for the card you already have.

Card 24 (Mana Prisms) When you build this card, you immediately gain two mana prisms. The prisms may be used that same turn.

Noon Cards

Card 25 – 32 (Cavalier Shields, Blazing Axes, Feather Cloaks, Healing Potions, Hunter’s Arrows, Mithril Shirts, Lightning Spears, Frostbite Maces) These cards give prestige when activated. Exhaust the card and pay the indicated mana to gain the prestige.

Card 33 (Protection Scarabs) This card gives prestige when activated. You must exhaust the card and pay the indicated amount of mana to activate it. This mana may be of any element or combination of elements.

Card 34 (Aether Bombs) This card gives prestige when activated. Exhaust the card and consume the indicated number of your dice expenditures to gain the prestige. This reduces the number of dice you may spend that turn. For example, if you can spend three more dice on a turn, and you activate the top level of this card, then afterward you can only spend one more die that turn.

Card 35 (Enchanting Runes) This card gives prestige when activated. You must exhaust the card and exhaust the indicated number of other cards in your Workshop to activate it. You do not gain the normal benefit from other cards that are exhausted in this way.

Card 36 (Gemstone Gloves) This card gives prestige when activated. You must exhaust the card and pay the indicated number of mana gems to activate it. These gems may be of any element or combination of elements.

Card 37 (Illusion Globes) This card gives one prestige when activated.

Card 38 (Clockwork Companions) This card gives four prestige when activated. You must exhaust this card and pay one mana of each element to activate it.

Card 39 (Runed Obelisk) This card provides two mana when activated, your choice of either one earth and one wind mana, or one fire and one water mana.

Card 40 (Aether Geyser) This card increases the number of dice you may spend by one on the turn you activate it. This effect is cumulative if you are able to recharge the card on the same turn. This does not allow you to spend the same die multiple times during a turn.

Card 41 (Mana Accelerator) This card allows you to recharge another card in your Workshop when activated. This card may not recharge itself.

Card 42 (Mana Condenser) This card converts one mana into two mana gems of the same element when activated. When you activate this card, you must exhaust the card and pay one mana, then gain two mana gems of exactly the same element as the one mana paid.

Cards 43 – 47 (Barricade Wand, Immolation Wand, Thunder Wand, Geyser Wand, Blinding Wand) These cards give you two prestige, plus one additional prestige for each card with “Wand” in its name already your Store pile. The number of wand cards you already have does not include this card. For example, if you already have three wand cards in your Store, then this card is worth five prestige, two for this card and three for the cards you already have.

Card 48 (Mana Prisms) When you build this card, you immediately gain three mana prisms. The prisms may be used that same turn.

Dusk Cards

Cards 49 – 56 (Instant Castle, Dragon Scepter, Flying Carpet, Aquatic Trident, Plant Soldiers, Invulnerable Armor, Skywrath Bow, Blizzard Orb) These cards all give the specified amount of prestige when built.

Card 57 (Spellblock Armguards) When you build this card, you may spend up to eight mana in addition to the card’s build cost. This additional mana may be of any combination of elements. Gain one prestige for each mana spent in this way, to a maximum of eight prestige.

Card 58 (Shapeshifter Mask) When you build this card, look at all of your dice. This card gives prestige based on the symbols currently face up on your dice. For each element, if you have at least two of that element’s symbol face up on your dice, then you gain two prestige. This counts all instances of that element symbol; this includes symbols in mana gems, and both symbols on arcane dice. Both available dice and spent dice are counted. The only dice that do not count are dice with special ability symbols showing. This check is performed separately for each element, meaning that this card can give up to eight prestige, two for each element.

Card 59 (Truesight Blindfold) This card gives prestige based on if the cards in your Workshop are charged or exhausted. Gain two prestige for each charged card in your Workshop, one prestige for each exhausted card in your Workshop, and zero prestige for each empty space in your Workshop. This card is worth up to eight prestige, if you have four charged cards in your Workshop.

Card 60 (Elemental Rod) When you build this card, you may choose to spend up to four mana gems. The gems spent must all be of different elements. For each gem spent in this way, gain two prestige. This card is worth up to eight prestige, if you can spend one gem of each element.

Card 61 (Mimic Essence) When you build this card, choose another card in your Store pile. This card duplicates the effects of the chosen card; treat this card as if it had the text of the chosen card printed on it, gaining the benefit of the chosen card again. This effect does not change the name of this card; e.g. it does not count as a wand even if its effect was used to copy a wand card. If the effect of the copied card requires a payment of some sort, then that payment must be paid again to gain the effect. If there are no cards in your Store pile, then this card has no effect.

Card 62 (Portal Staff) This card gives seven prestige when built.

Cards 63 – 66 (Replica Plate Mail, Replica Greatswords, Replica Mage’s Robes, Replica Healer’s Rods) When you build one of these cards, first gain six prestige. Then, each other player may give you one single gem token of the specified element. Each player that gives you a gem in this way gains two prestige. Other players may exchange a mana prism for the needed gem token, even though it is not their turn.

Cards 67 – 71 (Earthquake Wand, Conflagration Wand, Tornado Wand, Tsunami Wand, Sunburst Wand) These cards give you four prestige, plus one additional prestige for each card with “Wand” in its name already in your Store pile. The number of wand cards you already have does not include this card. For example, if you already have four wand cards in your Store, then this card is worth eight prestige, four for this card and four for the cards you already have.

Card 72 (Mana Prisms) When you build this card, you immediately gain four mana prisms. The prisms may be used that same turn.

Talent Cards

Cards C1 – C4 (Earth Enchanter, Fire Enchanter, Wind Enchanter, Water Enchanter) The ability of these cards allows you to spend a mana gem of the specified element in exchange for one prestige. You may spend one gem in this way per turn.

Cards C5 – C8 (Earth Crafter, Fire Crafter, Wind Crafter, Water Crafter) The ability of these cards grants you a free mana gem of the specified element whenever you build an item of that element. This includes both Workshop and Store item cards. Take the mana gem only after obtaining the item card and applying its effect, if any.

Card C9 (Arcane Crafter) The ability of this card grants you a free mana prism whenever you build an arcane item. This includes both Workshop and Store item cards. Take the mana prism only after obtaining the item card and applying its effect, if any.

Cards C10 – C13 (Geomancer, Pyromancer, Aeromancer, Hydromancer) The ability of these cards allows you to change which side is showing on one of your dice. When you use this ability, choose a die of the specified element, and flip that die onto one of its mana gem sides. This can be done up to once per turn. Using the fire dice ability Transmute on a die affected by this ability will copy the mana gem effect on the new side. This ability may be used on a ready or a spent die.

Card C14 (Aether Reserve) The ability of this card allows you to place one of your unspent dice on this card at any time during your turn. The card can only have one die on it at a time. Whenever you reroll dice, you do not roll the die on this card. You may remove the die on this card at any time, even if it is not your turn, and you may choose to remove it just before you roll your dice.

Card C15 (Famous) The ability of this card gives you three prestige at the start of the game.

Card C16 (Wizard’s Apprentice) The ability of this card gives you one mana of any element. Using this ability consumes one of your dice expenditures; this reduces the number of dice you may spend that turn by one. This card does not give you a die during game setup, meaning that you will start the game with one fewer dice.

Card C17 (Archmage) The ability of this card gives you an additional die at the start of the game. This occurs only after all players have obtained their dice as normal, including their starting four as well as the dice from their character cards. (You gain an arcane die, as normal, for this card.) After all players have their dice, you may then take one die of any element from the remaining available dice.

Card C18 (Secret Stash) The ability of this card gives you one mana gem of each element at the start of the game.

Card C19 (Precognition) The ability of this card allows you to look at the top six cards of the item draw pile. You may use this ability at any time, even during other player’s turns. Return the cards to the top of the draw pile when finished. The cards do not need to be returned in the same order. You may not look more than six cards ahead in the draw pile.

Card C20 (Scavenger) The ability of this card allows you to build items from the discard pile instead of the items on the board. This ability is optional; you may still build items from the board if you wish. Building an item using this ability still counts as your one item build per turn. Using this ability requires you to pay a mana gem. The gem paid to activate this ability may be of any element and does not need to match the element of the item card that you are building.