The North: Provenance
The North: Provenance Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
Players will take turns Reprogramming (acquiring) Ancients from The Wastes (middle of the play area) to form their decks. Those cards are played multiple ways to acquire more cards and gain Effects. Each card a player has in their Zone (play area) and deck is worth various points at the end of the game, depending on how it is played. When the game ends, the player with the most points wins.
Set Up
Players will need to provide a point keeping method. Each player begins the game at 40. Separate the cards by type: 48 Ancient | 2 Node | 2 Reference | 1 Second Player | 1 Turn Sequence.
Take the Ancient/Facility cards and remove all Value 0 Ancients. Give each player a set of 4 Ancients (indicated by the dots at the bottom of each card - one player gets • cards, the other player gets •• cards) to form each player's Deck. Players may look at their cards. Each player places their Deck (Ancient side down) in their play area, forming their Zone.
Shuffle all remaining Ancients together and place them in a Facility side up deck in the middle of the play area forming the Wastes Deck. Place the top 4 cards of the Wastes Deck beside the Wastes Deck, Ancient side up, forming The Wastes.
Each player takes a Node card, set to Level 1, and a Reference Card. These cards go in the player's Zone. Each player shuffles their deck and draws three cards, forming their Hand.
Determine a Start Player. They take the Turn Sequence card (set to the front side). The other player takes the Second Player card and places it in their Zone. The game begins.
Layout: the First Player's Zone holds their deck, Reference, Node, and Turn Sequence cards; the Second Player's Zone holds their deck, Reference, Node, and Second Player cards; the Wastes Deck and The Wastes lie between them.
Ancient & Facility Cards
All Ancient cards feature these 4 things:
- Ancient's Value (0, I, or II)
- Ancient's Name
- Protocol Effect
- Spark Effect
The back of each Ancient card is a Facility. Like Ancients, each Facility has a Protocol.
Spark & Protocol Effects
A player may discard an Ancient from their hand to Reprogram an Ancient in The Wastes of a different Value. When an Ancient is Reprogrammed, it is moved from The Wastes to the player's Discard. Then, the player uses the reprogrammed Ancient's Spark Effect.
When an Ancient or Facility is played to a player's Zone, by any means, its Protocol is used. If a card in a player's Zone is flipped, the other side is treated as being played to their Zone. Protocol and Spark Effects are mandatory and must be completed to the best of the player's ability. An Ancient or a Facility card can never be exchanged for a card of the same name. Cards in a player's Zone remain there until the end of the game, unless moved.
Overloaded: During a player's turn, if the Protocol Ability of a card, or a card of the same name, would be used for the third time, its effect is ignored.
Node Cards
Each player has a Node card. The front side of a Node has 4 different Levels. As a Node is Charged, it is rotated clockwise to the next Level. Each side/lit light denotes the Node Level, with the top left corner denoting the Node's Current Level.
When a player's Node is Discharged, it is flipped to the other side and they gain a variety of abilities, depending on the Level of their Node when it was Discharged.
When a Node is Reset, it is flipped face up and set to Level 1.
Turn Sequence, Second Player, & Reference Cards
The majority of game play for this game can be found on the double sided Turn Sequence card. This card outlines what the player can and must do during their turn, and is passed back and forth between the two players. The Turn Sequence card begins the game with the First Player.
When a player has the Turn Sequence card, it is their turn. They follow the text (in order) on the Turn Sequence card. When their turn is over, the Turn Sequence card is passed to the other player.
The Second Player card denotes the Second Player, who is the Second Player for the entire game.
When a player uses their three ACTIONS for the turn, there are four options, and a single option cannot be selected more than twice during a turn. A player must use three ACTIONS.
Each player has a double sided Reference Card outlining key game concepts and scoring.
Ending the Game & Scoring
Each player begins the game at 40 points. Throughout the game, each player will do things to cause the other player to lose points. Players can only lose points during the game; they cannot gain points until the end of the game. Players cannot go below 0 during the game.
The game ends at the end of the Second Player's turn if either condition is met: either player has 0 points and/or there are 4 or fewer cards in the Wastes Deck. When the game ends, players gain points.
Each player gains 1 point for each card in their Zone. Each player moves their Hand and Discard to their Deck and gains points equal to the combined Value of all cards in their Deck. This is added to their Score.
The player with the most points wins. In the event of a tie, the player with the most cards in their Deck and Zone wins the tie.
Things to Remember
- Players may look at both sides of cards in their Zone, Discard, and Hand.
- Value 0 Ancients have no Value listed on their card.
- A Discharged Node cannot be Charged. It must first be Reset.
- Discarded cards always come from the player's Hand. Unless otherwise stated, drawn cards come from the player's deck.
- Cards in The Wastes are always set to the Ancient side. Players may not look at the other side of these cards unless they are prompted to do so.
- Cards taken from The Wastes are not replenished from the Wastes Deck during the player's turn, unless otherwise stated.
- Each player has a Discard, located next to their Deck.