DM Deckbuilder Rules

Rules for Destiny Machinist. Main page here.

The game is normally played with 2-4 players. More players are possible (if people get more cards), the rules for that will be provided later on.

1. Will Power Counters
( The life counter might come in card form or fancy spinner form or token form; I'm not sure yet. Just make sure there's some kind of life tracking. Life is called Will Power in this game, its max value is 30 )

2. Separate The Basic Cards
Take note of specific cards provided by the game. They are cards called : 'Lethal Force', 'Recruitment', 'Obstruct', 'Power Focus' and 'Hindrance'. Make a deck for each of these named cards. (All hindrance cards are in one stack, power focus in another, etc)

All other cards are called nonbasic cards.

3. Arrange the Nonbasic Cards according to their Significators.
The significators are the characters whose capabilities the cards represent. Their names are written below the name of the cards they 'own'. Make a deck for each significator consisting of these cards. Each significator deck has 15 cards.

(As the game grows, it is possible for a significator's name to be used again, with a different major arcana/faction. For the purpose of organization, a significator deck must consist of cards with the same significator name and major arcana.)

Highlander Game Setup
This is the game setup for the basic game, HIGHLANDER MODE. ("THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE")

1. Get some friends.
Of course you need friends. This game hasn't been designed for solo play (yet). You're playing the wrong game otherwise.

2. Give each Player their Starter Deck.
A starter deck consists of 7 Recruitment, 3 Lethal Force and 1 Obstruct. Each player must have a total of 11 cards in their starter deck. These decks are placed next to a player's field.

3. Set all Will Power Counters to 30
Self-explanatory. Each player must have a life counter of some kind to represent their WP.

4. Set up the Destiny Deck
Each player selects a significator he/she wishes to use in the game. This represents an 'actor' chosen by the Destiny Machinist to enact their mysterious Games of Fate.

Then, the entire group may either vote on a last significator, or use an expansion-specific generic significator deck.

All significators chosen this way are shuffled into one big pile called the Destiny Deck. This destiny deck is placed face down in the center of the table, where it can be easily accessed by all players.

5. Set up the Omens.
For each player, take one card from the Destiny Deck and place it face down in front of the stack, arranging them side by side where all players can view and access them easily. Then, take two more cards and place them down in the same manner.

These cards are called omens, their space is called the omens section.

6. Set up the Hindrance and Power Focus Stacks.
Place the Power focus stack next to the omens, and the Hindrance cards wherever (Working on visual something something).

7. Decide the Turn Order
DO SOMETHING TO DECIDE I DUNNO.

For 4 players, the first player draws three cards, the second player draws four cards, the third and fourth player draw five cards.

For 3 Players, the first player draws three cards, the second player draws four cards, the third player five cards.

For 2 Players, the first player draws four cards, the second player draws five cards.

8. Start the First Player's Turn
Now, the game begins.

Highlander Turn Phases

 * 1) TURN BEGINS

=> NEXT PLAYER'S TURN BEGINS
 * 1) ACTIVE PHASE
 * 2) CLEANUP PHASE
 * 3) DRAW PHASE
 * 4) END PHASE

(Special Section : REACTIONS)

1. TURN BEGINS
Normally, nothing happens here - but some triggers and effects utilize this phase. "At the beginning of the turn" effects happen here.

2. ACTIVE PHASE
The active phase is when you play cards and do most of your actions for the turn.

During the active phase, you can do the following actions: You can do these actions repeatedly and in any order, provided you have the means to do so. You can't keep playing cards if you don't have any, for example.
 * Play a Card
 * Declare an Attack
 * Acquire an Omen

However, they must be resolved one at a time - never simultaneously. Certain actions also require that a preceding action has been performed before they are possible. For instance you cannot acquire if you do not have acquisition points, which you (normally) only gain by playing cards.

Each action is detailed in its respective sub section. You must resolve all its steps before moving to the next action.

PLAY A CARD
1. Check if you have cards you can play

To play a card, you must first have it in your hand. While a card is in your hand, it is called a 'ready card'.

Any of your ready cards can be played, except for 'Reaction cards'. Reaction cards require a condition to be met before they can be played. Reaction cards have their own section below.

2. Put the card on the field

When you put a ready card on the field from your hand, you are 'playing' the card. A card that enters the field any other way is not being 'played'.

When the card is on the field, it ceases being a 'ready card' and is now an 'active card'.

3. Resolve Card Effects

There are three main sections to keep track of when a card becomes active:
 * Arcana
 * Abilities
 * Damage Potential (DP)
 * Acquisition Points (AP)

ARCANA
Arcana are the symbols seen in the upper lefthand corner of the card. These arcana represent the classification of the card. They are discussed in detail in their own section below. These Arcana usually trigger the abilities of other cards.

ABILITY
For the purposes of order, Abilities are resolved before both Damage Potential and Acquisition Points, as some abilities modify these values. The abilities' actual effects are usually written on the card, and these vary. Abilities may also override the game's basic rules; in which case they do take precedence over the rules they override.

Some abilities have an arcana preceding the ability section. This means that the ability can only be triggered if a card with the arcana icon is currently active in your field.

Unless a card is persistent, this ability can only be triggered with prior instances of the arcana existing on 'active' cards at the moment of playing. They also only trigger once, unless otherwise specified.

DAMAGE POTENTIAL
The Damage Potential number represents the card's generated Damage, which you can use to hurt opponents or any pesky persistent cards they have on field. At this point, the damage is merely generated by the card - it hasn't been used yet. See Declare Attack later on to utilize this.

ACQUISITION POINTS
The Acquisition Points number represents how much AP is generated by the card, which you can later use to acquire omens. At this point, the card's AP hasn't been used yet, merely generated. See Acquire Omens later on to see how to use this.

SPECIAL SECTION : PLAYING PERSISTENT CARDS
Some cards are called 'Persistent Cards'. These are cards that remain on field after cleanup phase and typically continue to stay active even between turns. Playing them per se is no different from playing any other card; But they are affected differently while they are active and other cards are played.

Any arcana trigger action on an active persistent card immediately takes effect when its owner plays a corresponding card, once per turn. This means that a persistent card may trigger an effect after it has been played.

In addition, merely having a persistent card active on the field fulfills any corresponding arcana trigger conditions on any played card.

This special rule does not carry over to a persistent card's non-ability Damage Potential and Acquisition Points sections (which strictly only trigger when played)

DECLARE AN ATTACK
1. Check if you can deal damage

To attack, you need to be able to deal damage. Damage is generated by active cards with damage potentials, or abilities that generate damage. The number written is how much damage has been generated by each card or ability.

You must keep track of the damage generated and used thus far. For example, if you've generated 5 damage, attacked once with 2 damage, you can attack again with 3 damage.

2. Select a target

There are two types of targets you can attack: In the case of a player with at least one active persistent barrier card, you may only target that player's barriers. You may not target any other persistent active card or the player itself until all that player's barriers are disabled.
 * A player
 * A persistent card with a threshold or a barrier.

When you've decided, declare your target.

3. Declare how much damage you're dealing.

Self explanatory.

Note that you can attack multiple targets for as long as you have generated enough damage. Certain persistent cards have different thresholds or barriers, so the amount of damage you deal is important.

The damage you declare is reduced from the damage generated this turn.

4. Resolve Damage on Target

Damage is resolved depending on target. Note that if a persistent card is damaged but not disabled, it will recover its threshold during cleanup phase.
 * If the target is a player, reduce its will power by 1 for each damage dealt.
 * If the target is a persistent card with a threshold or a barrier, reduce that value by 1 for each damage dealt. If this value reaches 0 or below, the persistent card is disabled - it is moved to its owner's discard pile.

ACQUIRE AN OMEN
1. Check if you can acquire anything

To acquire, you need acquisition points. Acquisition points are generated by active cards and/or abilities that generate AP. Similar to damage generated, they are pooled and reduced whenever you perform an acquisition.

2. Select an Omen or Power Focus

Each omen has a value with a  with a number on the upper left - this is its cost. You need to be able to pay this much AP in order to acquire the item. You may select one omen which has a cost less than or equal to your current AP.

Alternatively, you can acquire a power focus from the power focus stack. It has a cost of three and generates 2 AP.

3. Pay the selected card's cost.

Reduce your AP by the card's cost amount.

4. Put the acquired card in your discard pile.

Unless an ability says otherwise, all acquired cards go to their acquirer's discard pile.

5. Replace the Omen

Draw a new card from the Destiny Deck and replace the acquired omen with that card.

3. CLEANUP PHASE
Cleanup phase is when all active, non-persistent cards are discarded.

All unused damage and acquisition points are lost.

All thresholds and barriers are restored to their maximum values.

A player may discard any number of ready cards from his/her hand.

4. DRAW PHASE
The player draws cards until he/she has 5 ready cards. Some abilities my change this number.

'''NOTE: If a player must draw a card and his/her player deck(potencies) is empty, he immediately shuffles his/her discard pile face down and makes it his deck. This rule takes effect at any time the player must draw, not only during the draw phase.'''

5. END PHASE
The player's turn ends, and nothing else happens during this phase, other than its transition to the next player's turn.

However, some cards use the "End of the turn" as a condition for their abilities or triggers, so those take effect here.

SPECIAL SECTION : REACTIONS
Reactions are a special card type that cannot normally be played during the active phase; Instead they require specific conditions before they can be played. This section details the step-by-step way in which reactions are resolved.