Mekhane
Mekhane Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Players
3-8 players, age 14+, 30 minutes.
Components
- 7 Destiny Cards
- 15 Character Cards
- 15 Location Cards
- 15 Danger Cards
- 106 Tale Cards
Overview
Fate and Gods will tell a story involving the available characters, using the Tale Cards.
The Destiny Cards tell each God which characters should survive (the numbers on the Destiny Card refer to the position of the Character Cards).
The story is divided in rounds called chapters. At the end of each chapter, Fate will freely decide which character will die, based on how the story has developed.
At the end of the game, one of the Gods wins the game if their favorite character survived.
Setup
Divide all cards in their corresponding decks. Shuffle all decks separately.
Choose who will play Fate. All the other players will play Gods.
Fate player draws 1 Location Card, 1 Danger Card and 7 Character Cards and places them face up on the table (the Character Cards must be placed in a line. The Character Cards are virtually numbered from 1 to 7 from left to right).
Each God player draws 1 Destiny Card and 6 Tale Cards without showing them to other players. Every God also draws 3 Tale Cards, which must be placed face down in front of them.
Gameplay
At the beginning of the game, Fate player introduces the story by telling something about the available characters and how they ended up in the available Location and how they are threatened by the Danger Card.
Each game is divided into 6 rounds called Chapters. Each Chapter is played following these steps.
- In a clock-wise order, each God player must play 1 Tale Card from their hand below a Character and develop the story by telling something about that Character and the Tale Card they used. Make sure to place the Tale Card below the Character Card (in the same column but on a different row). They can play a card over a card played by another God. For each Chapter you will create a new row of Tale Cards.
- After all the Gods played cards below characters, Fate player will draw 1 Tale Card for each Character Card with no Tale Cards below it. Then, Fate must play one Tale Card below those Characters telling something about them.
- Fate player must decide which Character will die, developing the story by telling how that character is going to die. Flip the Character Card face-down.
Gods can play Tale Cards when it's not their turn, if they want to add something to the story. To do so, they must draw 1 card from their personal deck of Tale Cards facing down and then play a card from their hand (even the same card they have just drawn). If they don't have any face-down Tale Cards left in front of them, they cannot perform this special action.
After each Chapter, you will have one less surviving Character and a new row of Tale Cards.
Tale Cards cannot be played below a dead character.
End of the Game
The game ends at the end of the sixth chapter, when only one character has survived.
If the surviving character's number is the same as the top-most number of a God's Destiny Card, that God is the winner. If no God wins this way, check the second number on the Destiny Cards. If no God wins, then Fate is the winner. But remember, it doesn't matter who wins, the important thing is to have fun and tell great stories!
Examples
During the first chapter, Liz plays a Tale Card below Character Card n° 4 (she has n.4 as her first goal on her Destiny Card). She says: "Sergej finds an old gun in a closet. It's loaded!".
After all Gods have played, 3 Character Cards have no Tale Cards below them. Fate draws 3 Cards and plays them below those characters. Then, Fate decides that Character 6 dies, flipping that card.
From now on, Tale Cards cannot be played below that Character.
During the second chapter, Liz wants to play another Tale Card. She still has 3 cards face down in front of her. She draws the first card and plays the "baseball bat" below a character she wants to hit...
At the end of the sixth chapter, Character n° 4 is the only survivor. Liz, who has the Destiny Card with n° 4 on top, is the winner.