Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Rulebook: This Rulebook Is A Work in Progress and Is Constantly Improved
Rulebook: This Rulebook Is A Work in Progress and Is Constantly Improved
Rulebook: This Rulebook Is A Work in Progress and Is Constantly Improved
2
Taulot Nupten
Probably the darkest and most Pride in its purest form, enclosed
introverted God - for sure the in a divine being. Each form
most stubborn and grumpy. From of thought, deduction, mental
the beginning, it judged other abstraction, and reasoning falls
Gods’ work under a heavy blanket into Nupten’s absolute dominion
of envy and criticism. Any attempt and control. Each time a living
to collaboration and dialogue did nothing to creature, wild or sentient, atheist or devotee, uses
change its point of view: for its twisted philosophy, its knowledge to face a challenge, it inevitably
other Gods are just rivals and competitors that aims gets closer to Nupten and, unwillingly, comes to
to get over its world and its perfect creations. terms with this God. This makes its power, and
consequently its self esteem, increase dramatically.
In its point of view, each God must mind its own Arrogant and conceited beyond imagination, it
business and count exclusively on its bare energies believes its skills are superior to all other Gods.
to excel and prevail. This idea is somehow shared
and supported by all the Deities of Olan Taa, but Nupten was the first God to teach its
in Taulot it reaches obsession to its apex. Every worshippers to channel and manipulate Skytear,
compromise is a failure, each dialogue risks to creating a brand new race of superior beings that
polluting each side’s beliefs and values, and the ruled above every other creature. Its delusion
only cure for this loss of identity is the complete of grandeur and its over-inflated Ego brought
abjuration of any contact with other Gods. these sentient beings - that named themselves
as Nuptians - to act undisturbed in their magical
The first Outsider arrival and the consequential experiments for centuries. Even when Nuptian’s
disaster that caused the Realms to split and the work went out of control, causing Olan Taa to
Gods to divide were used as a pretext for Taulot to collapse and led most of the living beings to
retire itself from the Pantheon and disappear. In extinction, it never blamed itself for this disaster,
such total isolation, though, it kept creating and and kept developing its plans undisturbed,
developing its projects undisturbed for centuries. dwelling on the Pantheon side by side with other
This caused its people to grow separated with the Gods as this never happened.
rest of the Realms, in a brand new civilization who
absorbed the same grudge and envy that define After all, Nupten has always proven its superiority,
their God. By following their Creator’s philosophy, and only a few times other Gods dared to answer
Taulot’s worshippers are very reluctant to build him back, rarely with effectiveness. Despite the fact
relationships with other Realms and prefer to rely that would only inflate Nupten’s Ego any further,
only to their forces. we all must admit its declaration of supremacy is
still undiscussed nowadays.
3
Starter Box Components
1 Outsider, 8 Hero, 16 Minion Miniatures
1 Double-sided Board
A
A
B C B
B C C B
A
4
Overview
10 Victory Cards The primary goal of the game is to destroy the
enemy base known as Nexus (A).
Some battlegrounds also have additional Victory
Conditions that are randomly drawn at the
beginning of the game and shared between all
players.
5
Your First Game Set Up
This is the set up for your first game of Skytear with
2 players. In the appendix you can see the rules
for 4 or more players and the set up of the bigger
3-lanes battleground.
6
E. Build two decks of Power Cards
Each player shuffles all Power Cards from the two
factions they picked and places their deck to the
side of the battlefield.
D3
All minions share the same characteristics, so as
long as they are from the player chosen factions,
they are interchangeable. Place the remaining
E minions on the Nexus.
7
Winning the game Hero States
Heroes can be in three different states: ready,
As soon as a player destroys the enemy Nexus or
exhausted, and defeated.
accomplishes one or more Victory Conditions, that
player immediately wins the game.
• If multiple players accomplish the same Win Ready
Condition simultaneously, it is discarded and Heroes in this state can be activated during the
Heroes phase. They will become exhausted after
the activation.
Exhausted
Heroes in this state cannot be activated during
the current Heroes phase (please note: they can
still play reaction Power Cards). Their hero cards
are rotated 90 degrees clockwise to mark this state.
They will become ready at the end of the Minions
Phase.
players keep playing. Do not replace the
discarded Victory Condition.
• If multiple players accomplish two or more
different Victory Conditions simultaneously, the
game ends and is considered a draw.
If the mana counter on the battlefield cannot be
Defeated
increased at the end of the turn, the game is a
draw. When a Hero is reduced to 0 or fewer HP, it is
defeated:
1. The opponent who defeated them draws two
Hero card anatomy Power Cards.
All hero cards share the same structure:
2. Place the defeated Hero’s miniature on their
Name Mana Runes Hero card.
3. Place the HP tracker token on the mana tracker
area corresponding to:
Class THE NEXT TURN, if the hero was ready
THE TURN AFTER THE NEXT ONE, if the hero
Skills was exhausted
Defeated heroes will return once the mana
marker reaches their HP tracker tokens. When this
happens, place the returning hero’s miniature as
close as possible to the friendly Nexus.
8
Heroes Phase Move Action
When a friendly Hero takes a Move action, you
During the Heroes Phase, players take turns
may move that hero in any direction up to 3 hexes.
activating one Hero each until each Hero on the
battlefield is in the exhausted state.
Heroes can move through minions or monsters but
cannot move through hexes containing blocking
Only heroes in the ready state can be activated.
elements, which are:
Whenever a Hero is activated, that Hero gets
• Friendly or enemy Heroes
three Action Points (AP), each of which may
• Friendly or enemy Towers and Nexuses
be used to take one of the following actions:
• Lead
Heroes must finish their movement on a hex
• Move
that does not contain
• Attack
• Blocking elements
• Skirmish
• Outsiders
• Worship
• Minions
A Hero cannot take the same action twice
during the same activation.
Lead Action
When a friendly Hero takes a Lead action, you
Hero A can take a move action to move up to 3 hexes.
may place a Power Card face down on top of
their hero card.
The Power Card can be taken either:
• From your hand
• From the top of your deck, without looking
at the card
9
Line of Sight (LoS) The Target Keyword
Heroes have Line of Sight (LoS) toward any hex Some effects (power cards, hero actions, hero skills)
within 3 hexes, as long as they can draw a path of use the target keyword.
consecutives hexes that does not cross any white
line (therefore heroes always have LoS toward When you declare an action or play a power card
themselves). that requires one or more targets, you must choose
all targets for it.
10
Attack Action Skirmish Action
When a friendly Hero declares an Attack action, When a friendly hero resolves a Skirmish action,
you must choose a target enemy for that Hero’s they may perform any of the following effects in
attack. any order:
Ranged Heroes can target any enemy in LoS. • Move 1 hex
Melee Heroes can target any adjacent enemy • Move 1 hex
in LoS. • Deal 0 damage to an enemy Hero
When resolving the attack, you determine the Ranged Heroes can damage any enemy hero
damage dealt to the target enemy as follows: in LoS.
1. Check the Attack Value of the attacking Melee Heroes can damage any adjacent
Hero on their Hero Card enemy hero in LoS.
2. Flip a Power Card for each icon next
to the attack value. Flip these cards face up You determine the damage dealt as follows:
from your deck into your discard pile. 1. Flip a Power Card from your deck into your
3. Choose one of these flipped Power discard pile.
Cards and add its modifier to the hero’s 2. The enemy Hero loses HP equal to the
Attack value. This is the damage dealt. modifier of the flipped card minus that
4. Subtract the target’s Armor value from enemy’s Armor value.
the damage dealt.
5. The resulting number is the amount of HP
that the target loses.
• He flips 2 power cards and picks the +3 modifier. Often overlooked rules about skirmish:
• The attacking hero deals 7 damage. • You cannot damage minions.
• The defending hero’s Armor value is 1. • You do not have to take all 3 options
• The defending hero loses 6 HP = 4+3-1.
• You resolve the action as a single effect (no
cards can be played during the action)
Attacking a Minion
When the target of the attack action is an enemy Armor and Piercing Heroes
minion, you follow the same process considering
Armor reduces damage taken by one per
that minions have 0 armor and 1 HP.
point of armor.
If a minion is reduced to 0 or fewer HP, it is
Some heroes (mostly mages) have the
defeated: remove it from the battlefield.
Mage (Piercing) icon on their hero card.
This means they ignore enemy armor
with their attacks and skirmish actions,
Power Cards, and any other effect they
generate.
11
Worship Action and Hero Skills
Heroes have unique skills written on their hero
Liothan Shapeshifters
cards.
Skills without any icon next to them are always When a Liothan hero resolves a worship action:
active and you can apply their effects as they are • Apply the SHAPESHIFT condition on a friendly
written. Liothan hero within 3 hexes (LoS is NOT
required and heroes can apply the condition to
Skills with an icon next to themselves)
them must be activated with
the aid of the Worship action. While a Liothan hero has the
SHAPESHIFT condition, the hero’s skill
The Worship action is different for each faction. with the shapeshift icon next to it is
activated.
Kurumo Marks
When a Kurumo hero resolves a Worship action:
• Apply the MARK condition to target enemy
hero (conditions will be explained on page 16).
• Trigger the skill with the worship icon
next to it.
12
Taulot Pillars Nupten Illusions
When a Taulot hero resolves a worship action: When a Nupten hero resolves a worship action:
• Optionally, remove a friendly pillar • Move their friendly illusion token up to 3
token on the battlefield to trigger their hexes.
skill with the worship icon next to it. This movement starts from the owner of the
• Place a friendly pillar token on a illusion or from the illusion’s current position.
target hex without heroes, minions, outsiders, Illusions ignore blocking elements during
tower tokens, illusions, or other pillars. movement and must end their movement in a
The maximum number of friendly pillars on the hex without heroes, minions, outsiders, tower
battlefield is equal to the number of friendly tokens, pillars, or other illusions.
Taulot heroes on the battlefield.
While a Nupten hero has LoS toward
While a Taulot hero has LoS toward a friendly illusion token, that hero
a friendly pillar token, the hero’s skill gains the skills of that illusion token’s
with the pillar icon next to it is activated. owner with the Illusion icon next to
them.
13
Power Cards
Restriction
(Akhuti Only) When can Heroes play them
There are two types of Power cards which may
Mana cost (3) be played at different times during the heroes
Rune color (Yellow)
phase.
Actions: Heroes may play these Power Cards only
Type (action) during their activation.
14
Effects keywords
Effects, unless otherwise specified, last until the
Movement Effects
end of the current hero activation.
Any effect which moves a hero or a minion is
The caster: The hero generating the effect. considered a movement effect. The most common
are:
The flip icon : Whenever you see one or more
flip icons, flip into your discard pile one power card Move X: Move the target up to X hexes following
for each icon, and pick a modifier to add to the the same rules as the move action.
base value (see example of attack action on page
11). Place: Place the target in a chosen hex that does
not contain any minion, outsider, or hero.
Adjacent: Within 1 hex (therefore including the
caster’s current hex). Push X hexes: Move the target X hexes away from
the caster, one by one. Each hex they are pushed
Deal X damage: Deal X damage to the target into must be farther away from the caster and free
(please note: armor reduces damage from any kind from minions or heroes. Stop the push if the target
of effects, Power Cards included) cannot get farther away at any point.
15
Area of Effect (AoE) Hero Conditions
Some effects hit multiple hexes at the same time. Conditions are special effects that remain on
On these effects descriptions you can see a diagram heroes until the next time they are exhausted
of hexes hit by the effect. If there is a highlighted or defeated.
hex, it indicates the position of the Caster.
AoE diagrams can be flipped and rotated as long When a Hero gains a condition, place the
as each hex on the diagram matches a hex on the Condition token on their Hero card and apply the
battlefield. effects below.
SLOW The hero’s Move actions’ total
movement value is reduced by 2
hexes.
16
Advanced rule: the Stack
The stack is an advanced rule used to
determine in which exact order the effects are Example of the Stack
generated and resolved.
17
Minions Phase
In this phase, players check who is controlling
Lanes only:
each control token on the battlefield. Control
tokens are numbered and must be checked in order
Winner applies the damage
from lowest to highest. The difference between Control Values is
For control tokens in the lanes, repeat the equal to the amount of damage that the
following steps: winning player gets to apply as follows:
1. Determine the Winner, if any 1. Distribute the damage to enemy Minions
2. Winner damages Minions and Towers 2. If and when there are no enemy Minions left,
3. Winner advances the Control Token apply the remaining damage to an enemy
4. Players spawn new Minions Tower or Nexus within 3 hexes from the
For control tokens in the domes, follow these control token
steps instead:
1. Determine the winner, if any Damaging Towers and Nexuses
2. Winner activates the Outsider
Health Points of towers and nexuses are
represented by a stack of that many Tower tokens.
Determine the winner, if any When a player deals one or more damage to an
Each friendly Hero and Minion who has enemy Tower or Nexus, that players draws one
LoS of the control token provides +1 control, Power Card.
determining the starting control value. When a Tower is reduced to 0 or fewer HP, that
Then, each player: Tower is destroyed.
1. Reveals any face down power card on
the top of the hero cards contributing to the When the first Tower of a player is destroyed,
control value (usually placed with the Lead place 5 Tower tokens on that player’s Nexus. From
action) now on, that player’s Nexus can be damaged as
2. Select at most one of these cards to well.
increase the control value by the power card’s When a Nexus is reduced to 0 or fewer HP, the
mana cost. game immediately ends and the player that has
destroyed the Nexus wins the game.
18
Lanes only: Domes only:
Winner advances the Control Token Winner activates the Outsider
The winner advances the Control token a The winner of a Dome control:
number of hexes equal to the difference 1. Repositions the Outsider following the rule
between the Control Values. The Control token written on its card.
must be moved directly towards the closest enemy 2. Activates the Outsider by spending up to 3
tower token and it stops as soon as it is adjacent to Action Points using move, skirmish, or attack
one. actions or the Outsider skills written on its
The Control token ignores blocking elements while card.
moving and can end its movement in the same hex Each skill costs 1 AP and cannot be taken more
as a Hero, Minion, Outsider, illusion, or pillar. than once.
After the Control token has been moved, the Once the activation is over, leave the Outsider
players (starting from the winner) reposition where it is. The next turn, the winner of the Dome
their existing Minions on this lane. Control, if any, will activate it again.
Lanes only:
Both players spawn Minions
The winner spawns up to two of their Minions,
then the loser spawns up to two of their own.
In case of a tie, the second player places first. Remember that:
Minions do not spawn for players who already • The Outsider, like Minions, does not block
have 8 minions on the battlefield, or with no Tower Heroes’ movements
Tokens left in the lane. • Heroes cannot cast Power cards during the
Minions phase
End of turn
The Minions Phase ends with some upkeep
activities where all players:
• Discard all Power Cards from their hero cards
• Draw 2 new Power Cards
• Discard cards from their hands until they are
For example, both players must spawn their 2 new below 7 cards
minions on hexes 1 and 2, because the other hexes are
• Ready all exhausted heroes
blocked by heroes.
• Increase the mana counter token and finally
spawn defeated heroes. (see page.8)
19
Rules for four or more players
Teams Defeating Heroes
When a player defeats an enemy hero, they draw
Players split into two teams controlling a number
only 1 card. Then, they choose a teammmate that
of heroes that depends on the battleground being
will draw another card.
played.
Heroes controlled by teammates are considered
friendly hereos for all the effects. Damaging Towers
When a team damage an enemy tower, they must
Decks choose a player who is going to draw 1 card.
Lead Cards
Two-lanes battleground rules
Players cannot show to their teammates the lead
cards they play. Follow these different rules when playing the two-
lanes battleground with 4 players:
Heroes drafted per player 2
Heroes activation order
Starting Power Cards per player 3
Teammates can decide freely in which order they
Each player draw at the end of turn 1
want to activate their heroes as long as they take
turns with their opponents.
Minions Phase
Each team can count at most one Power Card
per control token (the ones played with the lead
action).
20
Three-lanes Battlefield
The three-lanes battlefieled supports 2, 4, 6 and 8
C. Draft heroes
players. To play with this battlefield you need
at least 24 minions, and 10 heroes. Refer to the Drafting Heroes section in the
appendix to choose your preferred method.
The number of heroes, starting power cards, and
cards drawn per turn depends on the players count: D. Build the decks of power cards
PLAYER COUNT 2 4 6 8 Refer to the Deck-building section in the appendix
Heroes per player 5 3 2 2 to choose your preferred method.
Starting Power Cards per 5 3 3 3
player E. Build six towers
Cards drawn at the end 2 2 1 1
Each team places five Tower Tokens on each of
of the turn, per player
their three friendly tower hexes.
G
F
21
Drafting and Deck-building
Drafting Heroes Customizing your heroes
Once you master the basics, you can draft your The deckbuilding system is designed to give you
heroes following this order: a way to specialize your heroes based on possible
• 1st team picks one winning conditions, enemy heroes and synergies
• 2nd team picks two with your team.
• 1st team picks two Just to give you an example, Tanks are usually
• 2nd team picks two defeated by Mages who ignore their armor.
• 1st team picks one Knowing this in advance, you could prepare a set
Players can pick any hero from those available to of damage-dealing Power Cards for your tank in
them and different teams can pick the same hero, order to surprise your opponent.
as long as they have their components. On the Skytear website (www.playSkytear.com)
you will find community made decks and a place to
discuss them.
Deck-building
If you grow your collection of heroes and Power If you do not like deckbuilding...
Cards with expansions, deck-building will provide
...you can follow the method below to quickly
an endless source of unique and interesting
build decks that will work well with your heroes.
matches.
1. Each team picks a different mana rune and will
Deck-building in Skytear is more dynamic compared
only draft heroes having that rune
to most other card games, because you build the
2. Each team shuffles all Power Cards available
deck as you draft your heroes.
with that rune, except for the ultimates
3. Each team split this deck into even multiple
Instead of building a finished deck, you
decks (one deck per player on the team)
prepare a pile of 8 cards for each of the
4. Each player adds the ultimates of their heroes
heroes you are going to draft from.
5. You are now ready to play!
Each pile must contain the Ultimate of that hero,
and 7 other cards of your choice.
Then, as you draft your heroes, you will put
together your deck of Power Cards.
22
23