# ARCOMAGE - TABLETOP RULEBOOK (UGLY FIRST DRAFT)

> Scope note: this book is for the PHYSICAL TABLETOP game only (the printed board, the
> card binder, tokens). It is NOT the rules for the website / digital client - the app
> enforces most of this automatically. Anything here that says "the app does X for you"
> is a physical-play instruction. Draft v0.1, 2026-07-03. Expect rough edges.

A two-player wizards' duel. You are archmages on opposite ends of a contested field.
There is NO luck: no shuffled draws, no dice, no hidden top-deck. Every card in your
book is available to you every turn. You win by out-thinking your rival, not out-rolling
them.

---

## 1. WHAT'S IN THE BOX

- 1 game board (the 24-hex field, 11x17).
- 2 spellbooks (binders). Each holds your whole deck of spell cards. There is no draw
  pile and no hand - your ENTIRE book is castable at all times (see 5.1).
- Spell cards (5x7, in 6-ring binder sleeves).
- Wizard figures (1 per player) + a stand for each.
- Creature tokens (placed on hexes when summoned).
- Resource trackers per player: LIFE, MANA, INT, and the four buildings
  (TOWER, WALL, MOAT, and the worker buildings QUARRY / MAGE TOWER / ALTAR / GRAVEYARD).
- Condition markers (poison, burning, paralyze, lock, trap, etc.).
- 1 60-second sand timer / hourglass (optional; matches the app's 60-second turn and
  response clock - see 4.6).

### 1.1 The dice are counters, not rolled

ArcoMage has NO dice rolls. The 12 custom dice are **COUNTERS** you place on the board and
your character sheet to track values. Each die face shows **0-5**, where the **ouroboros face
is ZERO**. Set a die to show the current value of a thing (a creature's marked damage, a
temporary counter, a small resource) and turn it up or down as the value changes.

For values that climb past 5 (Life, Mana, and Tower go well beyond 5), track those on the
value tracks printed on your character sheet; the dice handle the small, changing counts on
the board. [Large-value representation TBD - confirm with the final character-sheet layout.]

---

## 2. THE BOARD

The field is 24 hexes laid out in rows of 4-5-6-5-4 (a fat diamond). Your wizard starts
on the CENTER ROW at your own end; your rival's wizard starts directly across from you at
the far end. Wizards are FIXED pieces - they do not move unless a Form gives them Speed
(see 10).

### 2.1 The Nexus (the two impassable center tiles)

The two dead-center tiles - the angel-statue hex and the tile directly above it - are the
NEXUS. They are IMPASSABLE terrain. No wizard, creature, or token may ever stand on or
move THROUGH a Nexus tile. Treat them as solid rock.

Because the Nexus plugs the middle of the field, the open ground splits into an UPPER LANE
and a LOWER LANE. A creature crossing from one end to the other must commit to a lane. This
is the heart of ArcoMage board strategy: hold a lane, threaten a lane, punish an
over-committed lane.

### 2.2 Distance

Adjacency is the six hex edges. "Distance N" means N hex-steps along open (passable)
terrain, never counting a Nexus tile or an occupied hex as a step you can pass through.

---

## 3. HOW YOU WIN

There is exactly ONE structural way to win: reduce your rival's **LIFE to 0**. (A handful
of special "alternate win" cards end the game their own way; those cards say so in full.)

There is NO tower-height victory. Your TOWER, WALL, and MOAT are pure damage-soak layers,
not a win counter.

### 3.1 The damage cascade

When damage would reach a wizard, it is absorbed in this fixed order, spilling over only
when a layer is gone:

    MOAT  ->  WALL  ->  TOWER  ->  LIFE

- Overflow past a destroyed layer continues to the next.
- **Flying** damage skips the WALL (goes MOAT -> TOWER -> LIFE). It does NOT skip the moat.
- **Direct** damage (a card that says "directly to Life") ignores all three layers.

Lose your Life and you lose the game immediately, even mid-combat.

---

## 4. ANATOMY OF A TURN

Players alternate whole turns. On your turn, in order:

1. **UNTAP / READY.** Straighten your creatures; each may act again this turn.
2. **UPKEEP.** Resolve start-of-turn triggers and ongoing conditions (poison, burning,
   regeneration, etc. - see 9). Your TOWER workers fire their turn-start attack now.
3. **PRODUCE.** Collect income: MANA from your Altar workers, WALL/bricks from your Quarry
   workers (see 5).
4. **MAIN.** Cast spells and summon creatures in any order you can pay for (see 5, 6). You
   may also MOVE your wizard here if a Form gave it Speed (see 8).
5. **COMBAT.** Your creatures attack (see 7.5).
6. **END.** Resolve end-of-turn triggers; durations tick down; "until your next turn"
   effects expire. Pass to your rival.

There is **no draw step, no hand, no mulligan, and no discard**. Ever. Those concepts do
not exist in ArcoMage. Your book is always fully open to you.

### 4.6 The clock (optional / matches the app)

Your turn - and each time you respond to an opponent's spell - has a **60-second budget**, the
same 60-second clock the online version uses. The game ships with a **60-second sand timer
(hourglass)** so you can play at the app's pace: flip it when your turn begins (or when you
gain priority to respond to a spell), and if the sand runs out, that turn or that response
simply passes. Running low on time is a warning, not a penalty by itself.

**Using the timer is OPTIONAL.** Groups who prefer an unhurried game can set the egg timer
aside and play untimed - the rules are identical either way. The hourglass is there for players
who want the tension (and the tempo) of the video game; leave it in the box if you don't.

---

## 5. RESOURCES

### 5.1 The whole-book rule (NO hand, NO draw)

Your spellbook binder IS your available spells. There is no hand and no draw - every card in
it is available every turn. The only limits: you may cast each spell **ONCE PER TURN**, and
you must be able to pay for it. That once-per-turn limit **resets each turn**, so a spell you
cast this turn is available again next turn. This is why ArcoMage is a game of PLANNING, not
drawing.

There are no "copies" - owning a spell simply means it is in your book and castable once per
turn. (The once-per-turn limit is also what keeps a counterspell war finite: each counter can
only be used once per turn, so the back-and-forth ends when both players run out of distinct
Instants to cast - see 6.2 The Stack.)

### 5.2 Mana

Mana is your spell currency. You gain mana each PRODUCE step (your Altar workers) and spend
it to cast. Unspent mana carries over. Mana is never random.

### 5.3 Int and the cast ceiling

Every spell has a CIRCLE (I-VIII), its "level." You may only cast a spell whose Circle is
<= your **cast ceiling**:

    cast ceiling = INT + (workers stationed on your MAGE TOWER)
                   + Cunning bonus  - Feeblemind penalty  - Stone Form penalty

Raise Int or add Mage Tower workers to reach the higher Circles. A spell above your ceiling
cannot be cast at all, regardless of mana.

### 5.4 Buildings and workers

- **TOWER / WALL / MOAT** - your three damage-soak layers (see 3.1). Cards raise or damage
  them directly.
- **QUARRY** (workers) - produce WALL/bricks each turn.
- **MAGE TOWER** (workers) - raise your cast ceiling (5.3).
- **ALTAR** (workers, start with 2) - produce mana each turn.
- **GRAVEYARD** (workers) - necromancy support.

Workers can be reassigned by cards. A destroyed building is gone until rebuilt.

---

## 6. CASTING SPELLS

### 6.1 Steps to cast

1. Announce the spell and choose its targets (see 6.3). Illegal target = you cannot cast.
2. Check the gates: you have a copy left (5.1), you can pay the mana (5.2), the Circle is
   within your ceiling (5.3), and you are not prevented from casting (silenced, stunned,
   in a no-cast Form, or the spell is LOCKED - see 11).
3. Pay the mana and spend the copy. The spell goes on the STACK.
4. Your rival may respond with an armed reactive spell (a counter, a trap springing, etc.).
5. Resolve the spell (do what it says), then remove it from the stack.

### 6.2 The stack (last in, first out)

If multiple effects are waiting, the LAST one added resolves FIRST. A countered spell is
removed before it resolves - but you still paid for it (it was cast).

### 6.3 Targeting

A spell hits what it says: an enemy creature, any creature, an empty hex, a building, a
player, or a spell in a book. If, at resolution, a target has become illegal (e.g. the
creature died), the spell does as much as it still legally can and ignores the rest (see
12.3).

### 6.4 "Nearest," Defined

Some effects target the **Nearest** creature or wizard - a Blade Spirit strikes the Nearest
thing each turn; other autonomous seekers advance on it. Distance is counted in hexes (2.2).
When two or more legal targets are tied for Nearest, the tie is broken by **board position** -
never by a player's choice, never by chance:

> **Sweep clockwise from twelve o'clock.** Picture a clock face centered on the acting piece,
> with 12 o'clock pointing to the top of the board. The effect takes the tied target you reach
> **first going clockwise** (12 -> 1 -> 2 ...).

Position is the only property guaranteed unique: two creatures can share every stat, but never a
hex. So a tie always resolves, identically, for both players - no dice, no arguments. *(See diagram.)*

---

## 7. CREATURES

### 7.1 Stats

Each creature token tracks **Power / Toughness / Health / Speed** (P/T/H/S):

- **Power** - damage it deals in combat.
- **Toughness** - resistance; also the "-1/-1" target for creature damage-over-time.
- **Health** - hit points; at 0 the creature dies and (usually) leaves a corpse in the
  graveyard.
- **Speed** - hexes it may move per turn (see 8). Speed 0 = Rooted (never moves).

### 7.2 Summoning

Summon a creature onto an EMPTY, PASSABLE hex (never a Nexus tile, never an occupied hex).
A summoned creature is "summon-sick" the turn it enters: it cannot attack or move until it
has been through one of your Untap steps.

### 7.3 Keywords / evasion (imported MTG-style, ArcoMage-tuned)

- **Flying** - its combat damage skips the enemy WALL; can only be blocked by a flyer or a
  creature that "blocks air."
- **Shade** - CANNOT BE BLOCKED. (Every Ghost has Shade; Wraiths and the Vengeful Spirit
  also carry it. See 7.6.)
- **Invisible** - cannot be blocked AND cannot be targeted. Beats Nightsight (see 7.6).
- **First Strike, Haste, Taunt, Rooted, Vampiric, ...** - as printed on the card.

### 7.6 Shade, Nightsight, and "as-though" (an important interaction)

- **Shade** means "this creature can't be blocked."
- **Nightsight** (a wizard enchantment) reads: "Your creatures can block enemy creatures
  AS THOUGH they did not have Shade." An "as-though" permission specifically overrides a
  "can't" (this is the one place a permission legally beats a prohibition - see 12.2). So
  a Nightsighted defender CAN block Shade creatures.
- **Invisible** still can't be blocked even against Nightsight - "can't be targeted OR
  blocked" is absolute and Nightsight only speaks about Shade.

### 7.5 Combat

On your Combat step, each of your ready (untapped, non-summon-sick, non-paralyzed)
creatures attacks. For each attacker:

- The defender may assign a legal blocker (subject to Flying / Shade / Invisible rules).
- **Blocked:** attacker and blocker deal their Power to each other simultaneously; apply
  deaths (see 12.4).
- **Unblocked:** the attacker's Power hits the enemy wizard through the cascade (3.1),
  Flying skipping the Wall.

**Marking damage (like Magic).** Damage is MARKED against a creature's Toughness - it is
NOT a permanent subtraction. A creature with Toughness T that has taken D damage this turn
fights on as long as D is LESS than T (with T - D effective health left); it is destroyed
the instant D reaches T. Example: a 3/3 and a 2/4 trade blows - the 3/3 deals 3 to the 2/4
(4 - 3, survives with 1 left), the 2/4 deals 2 to the 3/3 (3 - 2, survives with 1 left).
Neither is destroyed; both simply carry marked damage.

**CLEANUP clears damage.** At the end of every turn (the Cleanup step) all marked combat and
spell damage is wiped from every creature - each returns to its full Toughness for the next
turn. Only PERMANENT changes carry over: a "-1/-1" that lowers Toughness itself, death, or a
lasting condition. Spells may read AND change both a creature's Power/Toughness and its
current marked damage, so combat tricks (pump, shrink, direct damage) all work mid-fight.

Paralyzed / asleep / silenced-from-attacking creatures are skipped as attackers.

---

## 8. MOVEMENT AND ZONE OF CONTROL

Movement matters for creatures that advance and for a wizard that a Form has given Speed.

### 8.1 Basic movement

A piece may move up to its Speed in hexes per turn, one step at a time along adjacent,
PASSABLE, UNOCCUPIED hexes. You may not enter or pass through:

- a Nexus (impassable) tile (2.1),
- a hex occupied by any creature or the enemy wizard.

### 8.2 Zone of Control - creatures GUARD lanes (a core rule)

A creature exerts a **Zone of Control** over the six hexes around it. If a mover is
ADJACENT to an enemy creature (i.e. standing in that creature's zone), it may move **at
most ONE hex this turn** - it cannot sprint away or blow past the guard.

Likewise, a mover that walks INTO a guarded hex must STOP there; it may take that one step
into the zone but cannot continue THROUGH it the same turn.

Net effect: park a creature in a lane and it GUARDS that lane. An enemy can technically slip
past - but only one tile at a time, giving your guard a chance to trade with it. One
well-placed blocker can hold a whole lane. (A friendly creature never restricts your own
movement - only ENEMY creatures guard against you.)

### 8.3 Teleport and other "blink" effects

Effects that TELEPORT a piece ignore Zone of Control and intervening pieces (they don't
"walk"), but they still cannot land on a Nexus tile or an occupied hex.

---

## 9. CONDITIONS

Conditions are on/off flags (they do NOT stack; re-applying just refreshes). Magnitudes are
fixed by the card / this book, not by how many times you applied them. Common ones:

- **Poisoned / Burning** - damage over time. On a WIZARD it chips LIFE each upkeep; on a
  CREATURE it is a permanent -1/-1 that can kill it.
- **Paralyzed / Asleep / Stunned** - the piece cannot act (a paralyzed creature is skipped
  in combat; a stunned/silenced wizard cannot cast).
- **Regenerating** - heal each upkeep.
- **Blessed / Strength / Cunning / Agility** and **Weakened / Feeblemind / Clumsy /
  Frail / Vulnerable** - stat and ceiling swings, per card.
- **Nightsight, Reactive Armor, Protection, Magic Reflection** - defensive wards (see the
  cards; Reactive Armor REFLECTS melee damage back at the attacker).

---

## 10. FORMS (wizard self-transformations)

Some Necromancy/Bushido spells transform your wizard into a FORM (Wraith Form, Lich Form,
Horrific Beast, Stone Form, Reaper Form, Animal Form). Rules:

- A wizard is in **AT MOST ONE Form at a time** - taking a new Form ends the old one.
- A Form may grant SPEED (letting your fixed wizard actually move and maul - see 8), armor,
  or damage riders, and some Forms **prevent casting** until dispelled (you are a beast,
  not a mage).
- Forms end when dispelled or when the card's duration runs out; your saved stats return.

---

## 11. LOCKS AND TRAPS (the spellbook as a battlefield)

Your rival can attack your BOOK, not just your board.

### 11.1 Magic Lock / Unlock

- **Magic Lock** (Circle III): seal ONE of the enemy's spells shut. A locked spell CANNOT
  be cast until it is freed. Mark that card in their binder with a Lock token.
- **Unlock** (Circle III): the victim casts this to FREE one of their own locked spells
  (remove a Lock token). A general Dispel also removes a lock.

### 11.2 Magic Trap / Untrap

- **Magic Trap** (Circle II): rig ONE of the enemy's spells. The NEXT time they cast that
  spell, the trap springs: they take **6 damage** (through their cascade) and are
  **poisoned**, then the trap is spent. The trapped spell still resolves - they just got
  burned casting it.
- **Hidden information:** the victim is told THAT one of their spells is trapped (keep a
  face-down Trap marker on their side, or the app shows a trap COUNT) but NOT which card.
  Finding out means casting into it. This is the one place ArcoMage keeps a secret.
- **Magic Untrap** (Circle II): the victim casts this to sweep their OWN book clean -
  remove EVERY trap on all their spells at once.

---

## 12. THE GOLDEN RULES (imported from Magic: The Gathering, adapted)

When the board and a card seem to disagree, resolve it with these, in order. (These mirror
the M:tG Comprehensive Rules; only the ones that actually apply to ArcoMage are kept -
nothing about hands, drawing, mulligans, libraries, or discarding, because ArcoMage has
none of those.)

### 12.1 The card beats the rulebook (CR 101.1)

If a card's text directly contradicts a rule in this book, the CARD wins for that
interaction. This book is the default; cards are the exceptions.

### 12.2 "Can't" beats "can" (CR 101.2)

If one effect says something CAN happen and another says it CAN'T, the "can't" wins.
Example: if you "may cast an extra spell this turn" but another effect says you "can't cast
spells this turn," you can't. **Exception / the one nuance:** ADDING or REMOVING an ability
is handled by the layer system, not this rule (see 12.6) - which is exactly why Nightsight's
"block AS THOUGH it had no Shade" (a granted ability, not a raw "can") legally lets you
block an un-blockable Shade creature (7.6).

### 12.3 Do as much as you can; ignore the impossible (CR 101.3 / 608)

If part of an instruction is impossible (target gone, resource missing), do every part you
still legally can and ignore the impossible part. Never let an impossible clause cancel the
whole effect unless the card says "if you can't, ...".

### 12.4 Simultaneous / state-based checks (CR 704)

After anything resolves, immediately check the automatic conditions and apply them all at
once: a creature at 0 (or less) Health dies; a player at 0 Life loses; a building at 0 is
destroyed; a creature with lethal damage marked is destroyed. If two creatures kill each
other in combat, both die simultaneously.

### 12.5 Turn order for simultaneous choices: APNAP (CR 101.4)

If an effect makes BOTH players do/choose something at the same time, the ACTIVE player
(whose turn it is) decides and acts first, then the non-active player. Then the results
happen together.

### 12.6 Continuous effects apply in layers (CR 613, simplified)

When several ongoing effects modify the same creature, apply them in this order so the
result is always the same regardless of cast order:

1. Copy effects
2. Control-change effects (mind control)
3. Text-changing effects
4. Type / subtype changes
5. Ability adding or removing (this is where Shade / Nightsight / Flying grants live)
6. Power / Toughness changes: first the "set to X" effects, then the "+N/-N" bonuses,
   then counters.

Within the same layer, apply effects in the order they were created (timestamp order).

### 12.7 Last-known information (CR 608.2h)

If an effect needs info about something that has left the board (a creature that died),
use its LAST-KNOWN values at the moment it left.

### 12.8 Once it's resolved, it's resolved

A resolved effect doesn't "un-happen" if the situation later changes. Ongoing effects keep
applying; one-shot effects are done.

---

## 13. QUICK GLOSSARY

- **Cascade** - MOAT -> WALL -> TOWER -> LIFE damage-soak order (3.1).
- **Cast ceiling** - the highest spell Circle you may cast (5.3).
- **Guard / Zone of Control** - a creature restricting enemy movement in adjacent hexes (8.2).
- **Nexus** - the two impassable center tiles that split the field into two lanes (2.1).
- **Shade** - "can't be blocked" (7.6). **Nightsight** beats it; **Invisible** beats
  Nightsight.
- **Whole-book** - every card in your binder is always available; no hand, no draw (5.1).

*(End of ugly first draft. TODO: worked combat examples with pictures; a one-page turn
reference card; a full keyword appendix; art passes.)*
