AT

BLADE’S
END
Two rivals and their last encounter

RULES BOOK

an adventure card game

by Ethan Hudgens
 DECKS
This is a brief description of all the decks.

Strife - The reasons for your Rivalry

Traits - Unique ays you can affect the game
Props - When a card gives you something, it is here
Rivalry Deck

Conflict - A flashback montage of your misadventures

Duel - Your final struggle with your Rival
You ask your Rival the Stakes.
You stand before your Rival.
At Blade’s End

VS - Cards you hold and play during VS tests

RIVALRY DECK SETUP

Before beginning play, shuffle each individual deck. Place
At Blade’s End face down. Then place eight Duel card face down
on top of them. The place the You stand before your Rival card
face down on top of the deck. Then eight Conflict cards. Then
place the You ask your Rival the Stakes card on top. This is your
Rivalry Deck.

In addition to this deck, you should have the Strife and

Traits decks ready for when you play.

On your character card, take 2 of each of the Attribute

tokens and 3 Bonus tokens. Rivals start with 0 Mercy tokens.
You are ready to begin!
 BEGINNING PLAY
This game requires standard six-sided dice. You may want
to use a Virtual Tabletop or consult the DECKS PDF to use a
20-sided die or a standard deck of cards.

Begin play by drawing three cards from the Strife deck

and laying them face up. You and your Rival pick one together
and follow the instructions, discarding the rest. Then draw
five Trait cards, laying them face up. You and your Rival each
pick one, and discard the rest.

Do this again, but only draw two Strife and 3 Trait cards
to choose from. You should have two Strife cards that you and
your Rival share, and 2 Trait cards that are your own.

Then you begin drawing through the Rivalry Deck.

“You” vs “They”
Whenever you read a Rivalry card that says “You,” it
means the player who drew the card should answer the
questions or follow the rules. Questions that include “They”
should be answered by your Rival.

It should be noted that while this game pits two Rivals

against each other, it is still a cooperative story experience.
You are playing a game with a friend, a fact you should
remember if the heat of competition bleeds into you.
 DEFINITIONS
Attribute - Tokens representing strength in a field.
Attributes cannot go below 0 or above 10. These Attributes are:
STEEL - Courage & Battle / +1 v Grace / +2 v Fire
HEART - Compassion & Endurance / +1 v Steel / +2 v Wits
GRACE - Poise & Deftness / +1 v Wits / +2 v Heart
WITS - Cleverness & Trickery / +1 v Fire / +2 v Steel
FIRE - Emotion & Destruction / +1 v Heart / +2 v Grace

Any - Choose which attribute applies.

Tested - The attribute you used for the last Test.
Bonus - Can be lost in order to roll an extra die. You
may only ever have 5 Bonus at one time.
Mercy - A unique token that is shared and is only used
in the At Blade’s End Pact.

Solo Test - Choose one of the available Attribute choices.

You roll a number of dice equal to the number of matching
tokens. You must get a number of matching (or greater) dice
than those listed. So if you roll 4, 6, 6 on a (4) (5) (4) challenge,
you would succeed, but a roll of 4, 5, 3, 3 would fail.

Versus Test - Both players take their Attribute cards and

take one that matches the available Attributes and reveal
them at the same time. Each card reacts with the others,
granting Affinity dice to one of the players. Then the players
both roll dice equal to their Attribute tokens plus Affinity dice.
The player who drew the card succeeds the Test if they
have the most of the highest rolled value.
 TIES
In the case of a tie, the rivals may accept each other as
equals and take Mercy instead of success or failure.
Otherwise, you Test again. Any Bonus spent is not returned.

The exception to this is if a tie is achieved on the

At Blade’s End card, the active player fails the test and follows
the instructions for failure.

t y C ha rt
Affi n i +1 die in vs
STEEL +2 dice in vs

GRACE HEART

WITS FIRE
 4

EXAMPLES
A solo Test.
How do you answer this question?

Roll either Heart or Grace.

TE
ST
4 5 4
If you rolled at least two
4’s and one 5, you follow
these instructions.

Else you follow these

instructions.
VS

Player who drew Their Rival can

the card can choose between Iron
choose between and Heart.
Wits or Fire.

Player 1 plays Wits (3), and Player 2 plays Heart (2). Player 2
gets two Affinity dice. Then Player 1 rolls 3 dice, and Player 2
rolls 4 dice.

4 1 6 3 2 5
Player 1 5 Player 2

Player 1 wins the VS test because they have the most of the
highest rolled
4 dice (6). Had Player 1 had rolled a 5 instead of 6,
Player 2 would have won because they rolled two 5’s.
 Else, enter Pact X.

PACT
Some cards allow the Rivals to enter into a numbered
Pact. If a card’s Pact says “Else, enter Pact X,” if you decide to
enter the pact, you do not do the card’s Test. Otherwise, you
need to meet the conditions of the Pact before you can enter it.

In order to enter a Pact, one player must say “I would like

to enter the Pact.” The other player then chooses to either
enter the Pact, or refuse the Pact.
If together you enter the Pact, turn to the appropriate Pact
and read those instructions. If they refuse, they take Bonus
and the card needs to be played as normal.

Mercy is a resource shared between players.

PACT 1 PACT 3
You both leave yourselves This meeting was to be a
open. Both take Fire. secret. You Test.
Take Mercy. 4 4
TEST
The secret is kept. Both take
PACT 2 Heart or Fire. Take Mercy.
They give you a gift in
return. You both take You are found out.
A Gift card. Both lose Heart.

PACT 4
When you fell, they
turned to help you. They
take Grace. Take Mercy. Do
not lose Heart.
PACT 5
They helped you escape.
They Test.
TEST 44
Pass - You now owe them a
favor. They take A Favor.
Take Mercy.
Fail - You both end up back
in prison. Both lose Wits.
PACT 9
After the test, they test.
TEST 44
Pass - You recover one lost
Attribute. Take Mercy.
Fail - They only make it
worse. You lose Heart.
Lose Mercy.

PACT 10
PACT 6 They reveal a secret in kind.
They test. Take Mercy.
TEST 4 54
Pass - They help you.
Take Mercy.
PACT 11
You try and redirect the
power at the last moment.
Fail - You are put into more You Test.
danger. Lose Heart and
all Bonus. TEST 5 5 5
Pass - Take 2 Mercy.

PACT 7 Fail - They lose all of an

You test. attribute of your choice.
TEST 5 5
Pass - You give ground.
Take Mercy.
PACT 12
You try to cast aside
your Rivalry. You test.
Fail - You twist the knife.
Lose Grace. TEST 5 6 5
They lose Heart. Pass - You go your
separate ways,
or become inseparable.
PACT 8 Fail - You cannot forgive
They confess a secret, and
you relent. Take Mercy. them. Lose Mercy.
They take Bonus. You must test on the
At Blade’s End card.