Pantacle Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Goal of the Game
• The World of Pantacle
• Sanctuary Board
• Power Tokens
• Resolve Bonus
• Keeper Blades
• Curse Cards
• Setup
• Summary of a Game
• Phases of a Game Turn
  • A. Preparation
    • 1) Influence
    • 2) Sacrifice of Powers
    • 3) Sacrifice of Adepts
  • Effects of Each Sacrifice
• Favor Phase
• Change of the Moon
• End of the Game
• Favors
• Curses
• Effects of the PANTACLE
• Quick Reference

Components

• 1 PANTACLE board
• 1 board of Available Favors
• 25 Adepts
• 40 Influence cubes
• 24 Keeper blades
• 5 Quicksheet blades
• 5 sets of 5 Flame discs (1 set per player)
• 5 Sanctuary boards (1 per player)
• Resolve Bonus trackers (1 per player)
• Sets of 5 different Power tokens (1 set per player)
• 27 Curse cards
• 1 Ongoing Favor tracker

Goal of the Game

Like the other players, you are a Sorcerer who petitions the Keepers of the PANTACLE in the hope of unlocking it by placing your 5 Flame discs at its points.

You win if you are the first player to put your 5 Flame discs on the PANTACLE and to receive, or bribe, one last Favor.

The World of Pantacle

Before reading the rules, let's take a look at the game's vocabulary. In the examples, we focus on the blue player.

• Discard area for the Keeper blades. Position each blade so as to leave the Keeper emblems and the Moon Phases of the previous card visible.
• Draw pile for the Curse cards.
• The PANTACLE.
• Draw pile for the Keeper blades.
• Symbol of the instant benefit received when placing a disc in that location.
• Future locations of the Flame discs (1 disc per player and per location, but all the players can have one of their discs in any given location). Empty at the start of the game.
• Ongoing Favor tracker.

Sanctuary Board

Your player board holds seven areas. They come in use during the three phases of your game turn (see Phases of a Game Turn).

• A1 – Influence: Area where you keep your Influence cubes. Empty at the start of the game.
• A2 – Sacrifice of Powers: Area where you keep up to 4 Power tokens. You can use the Power effect of any Power token in this area. Empty at the start of the game.
• A3 – Sacrifice of Adepts: Area where you keep up to 5 of your Adepts. Holds 1 Adept at the start of the game.
• Reminder of the last action on a turn.
• B1 – List of the 4 Favors that enable you to receive a Power token, illustrated by the symbol of the Power effect gained, surrounded by the emblems of its Keepers, under its Moon Phase.
• B2 – Pentagram of the Flames: Area depicting the 5 starting locations for your 5 Flame tokens.
• B3 – List of the 3 Favors that enable you to receive something else than a Power token, illustrated by the symbol of the effect gained, surrounded by the emblems of its Keepers, under its Moon Phase (except for "Indoctrination" which has none).
• C – Resolve Bonus: a 3-position track that displays the bonus received in compensation for having had a Favor bribed away from you by an opponent.

Power Tokens

When you gain a Power token, place it in the dedicated locations in area A2. The effects of these tokens are described on page 17 (see Favors).

Four of the five Power tokens are obtained through one of the Favors in area B1: Bewitchment, Hunt, Protection and Enslavement.

When a Power token is on your Sanctuary A2, you benefit from an effect described on page 17.

The fifth Power, Demonic Discard, is obtained by placing 1 Flame disc at the lower right point of the PANTACLE.

Resolve Bonus

A 3-position track that displays the bonus received in compensation for having had a Favor bribed away from you by an opponent.

Keeper Blades

Front of the card:

• There are as many dots as blades of that Keeper in the game. In this case, 3 blades.
• Emblem of the Keeper.

Back of the card:

• Moon Phase (2 blades of a same Keeper may have different Moon phases).
• Name of the Keeper.

Curse Cards

You are subject to the effects of Permanent Curse cards as long as they are face up in front of you. These cards have red titles.

The titles of Exhaustion Curse cards are gray. See Curses.

Setup

1. Choose a color, then put the following elements of that color in front of you:

   • 5 Flame discs
   • 1 Sanctuary board
   • 5 Power tokens
   • 1 Resolve Bonus tracker

   Then put on your Sanctuary:

   • a) Your Resolve Bonus tracker on the leftmost position of the Resolve Bonus track C.
   • b) 1 Adept on 1 of the 5 locations of your color A3.
   • c) Your 5 Flame discs on their locations, 1 per point of the pentagram at the center of your Sanctuary B2.

2. Place the Pantacle board at the center of the table.

3. Shuffle the Keeper blades face down into a common draw pile placed on the Pantacle board.

4. Draw your starting hand of 3 Keeper blades.

5. Put the Adepts within reach of every player.

6. Put the Influence cubes next to the Adepts.

7. Shuffle the Curse cards face down into a common draw pile placed on the Pantacle board.

8. Put the board of available Favors either face up or down (as is most convenient for your game table and setup). Both sides display the same information.

9. Put the board of available Favors either face up or down (as is most convenient for your game table and setup). Both sides display the same information.

Editor's note on steps 8 and 9: the printed rulebook repeats the same text for both steps. On the setup diagram, step 8 marks the board of available Favors and step 9 marks the seating positions ("First player", "Last player", and "Starting a 4-player game" for a 4-player game). The text of step 9 is transcribed as printed; it is not a rule the diagram supports on its own.

Summary of a Game

"Recruit or sacrifice adepts. Bewitch your opponents or bolster your troops. The end justifies every means, including the many Sacrifices of adepts. But beware! Attempting to master the PANTACLE is not without risk. You will awake ancient curses in the process." – The Scholar

The game is divided in game turns, with players taking turns clockwise. The player whose turn it is is called the "Active Sorcerer", the other players are called "opponents".

A game turn is divided into three phases resolved in the following order.

A. Preparation (ignore this phase during the first game turn)

During this phase, if at all possible, the Active Sorcerer must carry out 1 Influence action, 1 Sacrifice of Powers and 1 Sacrifice of Adepts (see pages 12-14).

B. Favor

This phase is the core of the game. The Active Sorcerer chooses and announces an available Favor.

One after the other in turn, each opponent may bribe this Favor away, by paying (discarding) 1 Keeper blade for each of that Favor's two Keepers. The first player to bribe the Favor away from the Active Sorcerer ends the bribing round.

If no opponent has stolen the Favor, the Active Sorcerer receives it without discarding any cards. Otherwise, the opponent who bribed the Favor away gets the Favor.

An opponent who bribes a Favor away must discard the 2 Keeper blades (or one Keeper blade and 2 Hounds, see boxed text) corresponding to the announced Favor.

C. Change of the Moon

The Active Sorcerer discards 1 Keeper blade and wins 1 Influence cube if that blade displays the same Moon Phase as the Favor previously announced this turn, whether the Favor was obtained or not.

Once this last phase concluded, the turn of the Active Sorcerer ends. The next player clockwise becomes the Active Sorcerer and a new game turn begins.

Whenever a player must draw a blade and the pile is empty, shuffle all the discarded blades (except the last one) into a new draw pile.

Example: in the above example, if the Active Sorcerer discards the Oracle blade, which displays the same Moon Phase as the "Recruitment" Favor, at the end of their turn then they win 1 Influence cube.

Phases of a Game Turn

A. Preparation

You begin your turn by checking whether you have enough Influence cubes, Power tokens and Adepts on your Sanctuary board, in that order.

You may carry out no more than one of each Influence action (A1), Sacrifice of Power (A2) and Sacrifice of Adepts per turn (A3), and in that order. You keep any unspent Influence cubes, Power tokens and Adepts as you may use them on your next turn.

Note: If a Curse targets 1 unspecified type of "Sacrifice", the Active Sorcerer chooses which (Powers or Adepts). If it targets all "Sacrifices", both types are naturally affected.

1) Influence

The Influence cubes accumulated in this area are used to acquire Adepts. The acquisition cost of an Adept is equal to the number of Flames of your color on the Pantacle board plus 2.

If you have enough Influence cubes to acquire 1 Adept, you must discard the cost number of cubes and immediately add 1 Adept to your area A3.

Cost of an Adept

Flames of your color on the PANTACLE	0	1	2	3	4	5
Cost (Influence cubes)	2	3	4	5	6	7

2) Sacrifice of Powers

If you have at least 3 Power tokens in this area, you must discard the first 3 from your Sanctuary (locations 1, 2 and 3), then place 1 of your Flame discs on the PANTACLE.

It is possible to have a fourth Power token. Only the first three are discarded. The fourth is then moved to location 1.

Whenever a Power token is discarded, its effect no longer applies.

3) Sacrifice of Adepts

If you have at least 3 Adepts in this area, you must discard 3 from your Sanctuary board, then place 1 of your Flame discs on the PANTACLE.

Keep the remaining Adepts.

Effects of Each Sacrifice

When you are the Active Sorcerer and make a Sacrifice, move 1 of your Flame discs from your Sanctuary and to the center PANTACLE.

You can pick any of your discs. However, every disc except the one on top of your pentagram is cursed.

When you move a Flame disc and thus reveal a Curse icon, you must draw at least 1 Curse card (see page 18). Put it face up in front of you, so that all the players may check it at all times. Then apply the immediate effect for the location of the PANTACLE where you placed your Flame disc.

Each location of the PANTACLE may hold no more than one Flame disc per player! Therefore, each player can receive the immediate effect for a given location only once per game.

Remember: you win by having your 5 Flame discs on the PANTACLE and obtaining one more Favor (during your turn or by bribing a Favor away from the Active Sorcerer).

Remember:

• As the Active Sorcerer, you may carry out no more than one of each Influence, Sacrifice of Power and Sacrifice of Adepts per turn, and in that order.
• As the Active Sorcerer, on each step of this phase, you keep any unspent Influence cube, Power token or Adept on your Sanctuary.

Favor Phase

The Favor phase is the core of the game: as the Active Sorcerer, you will attempt to obtain a Favor, which an opponent may bribe away by paying 2 appropriate Keeper blades, one for each of the Favor's Keepers. When a player receives a Favor, that player either collects that Favor's Power token or gains its immediate effect.

a) Choose one of the 6 available Favors (i.e. unmarked). Declare your choice to everyone and move the Ongoing Favor tracker to your choice. You may not choose the marked Favor nor a Favor that would get you a Power token that you already have on your Sanctuary (see Favors).

b) Once you've declared your choice of Favor, your opponents can bribe it away for themselves. Go around the table clockwise: as soon as an opponent declares bribing the Favor away from you, the round ends. Opponents who haven't spoken yet will be unable to bribe the Favor for themselves this turn.

An opponent who bribes the Keepers for the Favor must discard the 2 Keeper blades (or one Keeper blade and 2 Hounds, see boxed text) corresponding to the declared Favor (as indicated on the Favor board and on each player's Sanctuary board). Discarded Keeper blades are placed on the left side of the PANTACLE board so as to leave the Emblems of previous Keeper blades visible.

If the Favor is bribed away by an opponent, move your Resolve Bonus tracker one step to the right (if you can) on your Sanctuary board and gain 1 Influence cube as a compensation.

c) An opponent who collects the Favor by bribing it away from you gains its benefits (instead of you gaining them). Otherwise you gain the benefits of the declared Favor without having to discard any Keeper blades. Indeed, the opponent who bribes away a Favor is the only one who has to discard the two associated blades: it is the price of bribery!

The Hounds. A pair of Hounds can replace any Keeper blade. The Hounds can come from a "Hound" blade or from the Resolve Bonus track when the tracker is on the rightmost position. If the Hound from this track is used, the Resolve Bonus tracker is returned to its initial position.

Opponent privilege. Opponents may bribe for themselves Favors for Power tokens that they already have! They will not be able to collect a second identical token, but they can still prevent the Active Sorcerer from obtaining the requested Favor.

Change of the Moon

As the Active Sorcerer, if you can, discard 1 of the Keeper blades in your hand, then draw as many cards as necessary to bring your hand back to 3 cards (4 if you have the Enslavement token; the printed text shows this as a token icon, identified here from the Enslavement Favor's effect).

If the Moon Phase of the discarded card fits the phase of the Favor you chose, you gain 1 Influence cube (even if your Favor was bribed away).

If an opponent has bribed away the Favor you announced this turn, this opponent does not draw cards, does not gain an Influence cube for the discarded cards.

Editor's note: the printed sentence above reads "this opponent", but it describes the Active Sorcerer whose announced Favor was bribed away. Transcribed as printed.

End of the Game

The game ends immediately when a player has placed all five Flame discs on the PANTACLE and gains the effect of a Favor (whether on that player's turn, without the Favor being bribed away, or by bribing the Favor away from the Active Sorcerer).

Favors

There are seven Favors. Three are resolved immediately. Four are associated with Power tokens which grant you an advantage as long as they are on your board.

• Bewitchment (Power token): During the Preparation phase, look at another player's hand.
• Hunt (Power token): Whenever you gain at least 1 Influence cube, gain 1 more.
• Protection (Power token): Flip over, face down, 1 of your Curse cards. Ignore its effect as long as it stays face down.
• Enslavement (Power token): At the end of your turn, draw cards until you have 4 cards in hand instead of 3.
• Recruitment (immediate effect): Gain 1 Adept and place it on your Sanctuary.
• Conversion (immediate effect): If possible, steal 1 Influence cube from each opponent's Sanctuary and place them on your own. (If you have the Hunt token, gain only one additional Influence cube from the reserve.)
• Indoctrination (immediate effect): Gain 2 Adepts and place them on your Sanctuary. This Favor is associated with no Moon Phase.

Curses

As the Active Sorcerer, when you reveal the Curse icon upon moving a Flame disc from your Sanctuary to the PANTACLE board, draw at least 1 Curse card (see page 14).

You may draw more than one Curse card, at a cost, before choosing the one you will keep in front of you. The first card is "free" but you must spend Influence cubes to draw more (see chart). Unselected Curse cards are put back at the bottom of the Curse card pile.

Additional cards and costs

Additional cards	Cost (Influence cubes)
+1	1
+2	4
+3	9
+4	16

There are two types of Curse cards: Permanent or Exhaustion.

• You are subject to the effects of Permanent Curse cards as long as they are face up in front of you. These cards have red titles.
• The titles of Exhaustion Curse cards are gray. When an Exhaustion comes into play, Influence and/or Adepts from the reserve are placed on it as indicated by the card. Every time you are supposed to gain Influence cubes or Adepts, instead of collecting them from the reserve, you must remove them from one of your Curse cards and put them back in the reserve. When an Exhaustion Curse card has no more resources on it, return it to the bottom of the Curse card pile.

Note: The "Protection" Favor enables you to turn over 1 Curse card and to ignore its effect while it is face down. If it is an Exhaustion card and it still had resources on it, these resources are placed on the flipped card (for when it is flipped back). You gain resources (Influence and Adepts) normally. If you lose the effect of Protection, the Curse card is flipped back face up, the associated cubes or Adepts are put back on it because it is active once more.

Effects of the PANTACLE

A player who makes a Sacrifice moves a Flame disc to the PANTACLE and gains one of the five following effects, depending on the chosen location.

Remember: a player can put no more than 1 Flame disc on any PANTACLE location during the game.

The five effects, in the order printed (each is marked on the PANTACLE board by an icon; the icons are not reproduced here):

• Gain 3 Influence cubes per Flame disc of your color on the PANTACLE, this one included.
• Gain 2 Adepts and put them on your Sanctuary.
• Gain 2 Influence cubes from the reserve and put them on your Sanctuary.
• Demonic Discard: take the corresponding Power token. At the end of your turn, during the Change of the Moon, you can discard as many blades as you want (instead of one), and then draw to a full hand. The last discarded card is the one used to determine whether you gain an Influence cube associated with the Moon Phase.
• Finish your turn, then play an additional one with all the phases.

Note: the printed page shows the five effects beside icons and a "Color of the Active Sorcerer" marker (a colored Flame disc icon); the icon-to-location mapping is not stated in the printed text beyond this list.

Quick Reference

The printed quick reference (page 20) restates the rules above in summary. Its text is transcribed below.

Game turn

A. Preparation (not on the first round)

1. A single Influence expenditure (mandatory if possible).
2. A single Sacrifice of Powers (mandatory if possible).
3. A single Sacrifice of Adepts (mandatory if possible).

B. Favor

Choose an available Favor; the Favor cannot be a Power token you already have.

• Bewitchment: During the Preparation phase, look at another player's hand.
• Hunt: Whenever you gain at least 1 Influence cube, gain 1 more.
• Protection: Flip over, face down, 1 of your Curse cards. Ignore its effect as long as it stays face down.
• Enslavement: At the end of your turn, draw cards until you have 4 cards in hand instead of 3.
• Recruitment: Gain 1 Adept and place it on your Sanctuary.
• Conversion: If possible, steal 1 Influence cube from each opponent's Sanctuary and place them on your own. (If you have the Hunt token, gain only one additional Influence cube from the reserve.)
• Indoctrination: Gain 2 Adepts and place them on your Sanctuary. This Favor is associated with no Moon Phase.

C. Change of the Moon

Discard 1 Keeper blade. If you have DEMONIC DISCARD on your Sanctuary, you can discard more.

The PANTACLE (1 Flame disc per player and per location)

• Gain 3 Influence cubes per Flame disc of your color on the PANTACLE.
• Gain 2 Adepts and put them on your Sanctuary.
• Gain 2 Influence cubes and put them on your Sanctuary.
• Demonic Discard: take the corresponding Power token. At the end of your turn, during the Change of the Moon, you can discard as many blades as you want (instead of one), and then draw to a full hand. The last discarded card is the one used to determine whether you gain an Influence cube associated with the Moon Phase.
• Finish your turn, then play an additional one with all the phases.

Resolving a Sacrifice

1. The Active Sorcerer chooses a Flame disc and puts it on the PANTACLE.
2. The Active Sorcerer draws at least 1 Curse card if a Curse icon is revealed (see page 14).
3. The Active Sorcerer applies the associated effect.
4. The Curse is in effect as long as the card is face up.

Important!

• The Active Sorcerer does not discard Keeper blades for the Favor.
• The Active Sorcerer cannot announce a Favor of which she/he already owns the Power token.
• An opponent can bribe away a Favor even though she/he already has the Power token.
• In order to win, you must obtain a last Favor once your 5 Flame discs are on the PANTACLE.
• A pair of Hounds can replace any blade.