Quick-Play

Judges’ Kit

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Should I Read the Judge’s Kit?
This quick-play kit comes with two PDFs, one for players and one for the
Judge. If you’re a player, this PDF will contain spoilers for the Rising Stars
adventure, so you should skip this and instead just read the Player’s Kit.

If you’re the Judge, you should be sure to read both PDFs, starting with the
Player’s Kit. This PDF will include everything you need to run a card game
from the opponent’s perspective, as well as a complete ready-to-play
adventure, and some tips for continuing on to a larger campaign.

The Opponent’s Turn

Unlike players, NPCs don’t draw cards and don’t have a hand or staples.
Instead, the Judge will use a series of moves on their turn to create effects,
based on that NPC’s Deck Gimmick.

At the start of the game the NPC will Establish a Plan to Win on their turn,
creating a tangible and difficult threat for the players to overcome. After
that, on each of the NPCs’ turns, the Judge will use Power Card Moves and
Simple Card Moves to put pressure on the player.

Additionally, the opponent has a set of moves they can use in order to
disrupt the protagonists’ plans known as Response Moves; these can
be used to protect the NPC’s plan and prolong the game. Additionally,
depending on the significance of the fight, the NPC may have a number of
Threat Moves that increase the stakes of the battle outside the
game itself.

Any action that a player could take with a

card on the field (such as using a once
per turn effect or attacking with
a warrior) can still be done by
NPCs at the appropriate times.

The goal of the Judge when

using these moves should be
to create exciting fights where
the players always have the
possibility to win, but make
sure that when the players do
win, the fight felt close. The
moves listed below are all
intentionally fairly ambiguous,
so you can always make
more or less optimal decisions to
help guide the fight in interesting
directions.

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Establishing a Plan to Win
On an NPC’s first turn in a card game combat, the NPC will start by
establishing a plan to win. To do this, the NPC will play a card or series of
cards that facilitates their gimmick and establishes a tone for the battle.

Each of the NPCs presented in the Rising Stars adventure include 2

Establish a Plan to Win moves that you can use during play.

Power Card Moves

On each of the NPCs’ turns, after they have established their plan to win,
NPCs will use a Power Card Move each turn instead.

Each of the NPCs present in the Rising Stars adventure have three
Power Card Moves that they can use during card game combat. If
none of the moves that have been presented will work for the situation,
then you can use one of the options listed below. If you use a Power Card
Move in this way, use one of the names listed in the Example Card Names
section or make something up that feels thematic. Power Card Moves
are presented with a roll-table so Judges can randomise what happens if
they’re unsure what to do:

Protect Your Game Plan: Play a {Normal} warrior,
{Normal} item, or Invocation that protects the
deck’s gameplan, such as by making it harder to
remove a key game piece, or harder for the player
to perform a disruptive action. Examples: Giving
1 a warrior you control {Inconspicuous} or {Blocker},
creating a small number of {Weak} warriors to sit in
the way, or anything else that may protect against
the player’s ability to win the game.
Use a Simple Card Move.
Create a New Threat: Play a {Normal} warrior
with 1-2 features that makes it a threat to the
player, such as: It is actually a {Strong} warrior, it
can attack directly, it has some amount of {Piercer}
2 or {Sniper}, or anything else that may make it an
immediate threat.
Use 1 Simple Card Move if you selected 2 features.
Use 2 Simple Card Moves if you selected only 1
feature.
Create an Advantage: Play a {Normal} warrior, or
a {Strong} Item with some form of protection that
creates an advantage for you in some minor but
useful way, such as: Giving a warrior you control a
3 useful keyword once per turn, creating a {Weak}
warrior once per turn, or something else that may
become difficult to deal with over time.
Use a Simple Card Move.
Remove the Immediate Problems:
Play an Invocation that deals with
one or more problems the player has
created, removing those warriors/
items/effects from the battlefield or
immediate gameplay.
4 Use two Simple Card Moves if the
player still has a significant threat.
Use one Simple Card Moves if the
player does not have a significant
threat, but still has some amount of
resources.Otherwise, use no Simple
Card Moves.
Disrupt the Players’ Plans: Play a
{Normal} warrior or {Normal} item
that disrupts the players’ plans
and gives them a disadvantage of
some kind, such as: Giving a warrior
5 {Underwhelm} each turn, weakening
the player’s main gameplan, or
anything else that makes the players
life somewhat more difficult.
Use a Simple Card Move.
Dawdle: Use a Simple Card Move up
6 to 4 times.

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Simple Card Moves
When a Power Card Move or
Establishing a Plan to Win asks
you to use a Simple Card Move,
the NPC may perform one of the
following actions to round out their
turn. NPCs in the Shining Stars
adventure have three simple card
moves listed that are thematic to
their deck and character.

1 Create a {Weak} warrior with {Blocker}.

2 {Strengthen} a warrior you control until the end

of turn.

3 Create a {Normal} warrior.

Sacrifice a warrior you control to destroy a

4 warrior your opponent controls with less or equal
strength.

5 Target warrior your opponent controls loses all

text until the start of your next turn.

6 Give a warrior or item your opponent controls

{Underwhelm}

7 Gain 1 Life.

8 Play an invocation that produces a minor benefit

based on your gimmick/plan to win.

If the NPC feels like they are particularly behind when compared to
the player, it may be worth letting them use an additional Simple Card
Move so they can become more of a threat.

Response Moves
Response moves are a special tool opponents have that lets them
interfere with players’ actions during a card game; this can be used to
snatch away a chance at victory, to protect the opponent’s important
cards, or anything else that helps them win. You can use response moves
at any time in response to a player’s action.

Use A Response Move

When the player does something in a card game and you choose
to use a response move, Counter the effect of a player’s card,
and describe how this happens. The player rolls Protect Against A
Response.

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Response moves are able to be used a number of times depending on the
significance of the battle and whether certain threat moves have taken
place: By default, a threat move can be used one per card game for Filler
battles, twice per game for Significant battles, or up to three times if the
fight is a Finale. If the opponent took advantage of a player’s baggage
when they Lash Out Against Losing they get to use an additional response
move.

Threat Moves
Threat moves act as a tool by which antagonists can raise the emotional
and narrative stakes of a card battle mid-game. While they aren’t
mandatory for the Judge to use, they can help increase the
drama and provide narrative twists in the midst of card
game combat.

Lash Out Against Losing

In a Filler, Significant or Finale battle,
when it looks like you might lose,
lash out against that possibility:
increasing the stakes of the
battle, damaging something
important, revealing new
information about yourself, or
putting something the player
cares about at risk. Define new
consequences for the game. In a
Finale battle, you may do this twice.

If you lashed out in a way related to a

participating player’s baggage, you can use
an additional response move this game.

NPCs in the Rising Stars adventure each

have two options for Lash Out Against
Losing listed with them.

Reveal Your Backup Plan

In a Significant or Finale battle,
when your first plan has
been dealt with, reveal
your new plan or the way in
which you’ve been tricking
the player this whole time.
You may Establish a Plan to
Win again next turn.

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Running a Card Game
When running a card game, your goal as the Judge (and thus person
in charge of playing the opponent) isn’t necessarily to win; rather, it’s
to present a challenge that encourages players to make the game
exciting, both from a mechanical and character perspective. This doesn’t
mean you should necessarily pull your punches if the players are losing
though, as you’re still representing a character that wants to win. This
game has been designed so that if players are prepared and willing to
make sacrifices, they can almost always find a way to win. As the Judge
however, you have a power to react and change things on the fly that
players don’t.

Using Establish a Plan to Win

When your character establishes their plan to win, this should set the
tone for the battle or at least the next few turns until they reveal their
backup plan. When choosing which of the Establish a Plan to Win options
you want an NPC to use from the two presented, consider
which order would make the players most excited.

Using Power Card Moves

In general, Power Card Moves should be used
to keep pressure on your opponent. Once you’ve
established your plan to win, each power card
move is a chance to present new complications
to impede the players’ attempts to win.
Remember that the moves presented in an
NPCs decklist aren’t the be all and end all; you
can use the options presented in the Power
Card Moves section to mix up the fight and
complicate the game.

Using Simple Card

Moves
Simple Card Moves are smaller
effects that accompany other,
more significant actions. Though they are
lesser in scope, they act as the way to bridge
between more major plays and respond to
the player. These shouldn’t make a significant
impact on their own, but should help build
tension in conjunction with Power Card
Moves and Establishing a Plan to Win.

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Using Response Moves
Response Moves are the primary way you can keep players on their toes
and interact with them outside of the opponent’s turn. Try to use your
response moves when not doing so would ruin the tension of the card
game; for instance, if a player is about to destroy the warrior most key to
the opponent’s strategy, it’s a good time to use a response move to foil
their plans in some way.

Using Threat Moves

Threat Moves are designed to keep the card game interesting in longer,
more significant fights, and to create tension that exists outside of the
card game. These moves can activate under certain conditions and
are available depending on the fight’s significance. They interact more
closely with the narrative of the fight, and help to remind players of the
stakes. Try to use Threat Moves as a way to raise the stakes of the battle
and potentially get players not directly involved in the game into peril.
When the enemy Lashes out Against Losing, for instance, they may try
to put one of the players not in the card game in danger to convince the
other player to give up.

Rules Resolution
Perfect Draw! allows players to create almost any card effect that a card game could
simulate. This has the potential to cause problems when certain effects interact. For
instance, one card may return a warrior the player controls to that player’s hand, and
in response, the opponent’s effect may activate that forces that player to discard their
hand and redraw that amount of cards. The order of operations here could mean that
the warrior returns to hand either before or after the foe’s effect triggers, depending
on how you interpret the effects.

When rules conflicts arise in this way, lean into the most narratively exciting option; if a
player did something intentionally to counter an opponent’s play, it’s not fun if it doesn’t
work because of a rules conflict. Otherwise, consider the existing card game that the
players at the table know best. If the rules can be resolved in a way similar to that card
game, it will be easiest for players to understand.

Player vs Player Battles

When two players are in combat against each other, or when two
players fight together in a Free for All, the rules of card game combat
change slightly to accommodate multiple players. These changes are:

 The attacker rolls when clashing: When two cards Decide the
Outcome of a Clash, the player that was attacking makes the roll
and adds their combat tension.
 Players cannot Protect against a Response: The player rolling to
Counter the Opponent’s Play is the one taking the risk to see if they
are successful.

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Adventure: Rising Stars
Perfect Draw! is a very open-ended game with a narrative that is largely
moved forward by the choices and actions of the players. Because of
this, the adventure presented here doesn’t enforce any specific events
or encounters. Instead, we’ve provided a starting point and a toolbox of
potential hooks and complications for the players.

This adventure has been designed for three players, each using one of
the three pre-designed playbooks included with the pdf. You can play
this adventure in a single session or as a longer campaign, depending on
how many battles you decide to include.

The next section covers the background of the adventure and is all
information you can freely give out to the players. After that we cover
running the adventure, some places that the characters could go, and
the various forces that could get in the players’ way as they try and
achieve their goals.

Shuffle City Invitational Tournament

Card games are extremely popular across the entirety of Shuffle City,
but no day makes that any clearer than the day of the Shuffle City
Invitational Tournament. This highly-celebrated yearly event has quickly
become a tradition, marking the end of the school year and drawing the
attention of not just the whole city, but much of the world.

Hosted by card game industry leader Dimensional Mechanics, the

invitational brings together some of the strongest gamers from across
the globe. People invited to the games are put into three unique divisions:
 The Main Division: This is the main event of the whole tournament
and the most popular internationally. Anyone who’s made a name for
themselves as a skilled card gamer has likely been invited, and this
is largely considered the opportunity for those skilled competitors to
settle scores and prove who’s the best.
 The Youth Division: This portion of the event is dedicated to
skilled card gamers who haven’t graduated highschool yet. While
some of the people in this division are generally considered as strong
or stronger then those in the Main Division, they’re segmented out
so that young people always have a chance to shine next to more
experienced competitors.
 The Rising Star Division: This slightly newer division was designed
to give newcomers in the card game scene a chance to make their
mark. People who don’t have the renown of Main Division and are
too old for Youth Division can be nominated by someone who was
previously in the Main Division or by popular demand. Generally
those that make it high up in the ranks of this division will be given the
chance to enter the Main Division next year.

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The winner of each division is generally given a trophy, a large cash prize,
and the recognition of the whole world. This year, for reasons the public
aren’t quite sure of, Dimensional Mechanics has also added that the
winner has the opportunity to challenge any one person in the whole city
to a battle.

Each year, the Shuffle City Invitational Tournament Main Division is

hosted at the Grand DM Arena near the Dimensional Mechanics
headquarters. The other two divisions will take place in a different one of
Shuffle City’s various smaller arenas and tend to change locations each
year. This year the Youth Division is taking place on the prestigious Royal
Flush Cruise & Arena, while the Rising Star Division takes place in the
Topdeck ArenaMall.

The adventure should start with all

three of the player characters at the
Topdeck ArenaMall. Elena and Conrad
both have an invitation to the Rising Star
Division Tournament, and Agathe has a
press pass due to her popularity online.
Before the adventure starts, the players
using each playbook should answer the
following question:
 Elena: The only reason you made
it into this tournament is because
Agathe gave you her invite. No one
watching knows who you are and
yet you still need to prove yourself.
What did you do to stand out as the
tournament started?
 Conrad: You’re well known and
skilled enough to have easily
made it into the Main Division, and
yet you used your connections
to get into the Rising Stars Division
instead. Why did you do this and how
does the public see you for it?
 Agathe: You had the chance to be
a part of this tournament but gave it
away to help a friend. You were lucky
enough to get a press pass so you
could still join in on the fun, but you’ve
given up something for this. What can’t
you do as a non-competitor?
Each of the players should take baggage
related to their answer.

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Running the Adventure
Perfect Draw! works best when players are the ones driving the action
forward. The format of a tournament means that most players will
always have at least one thing they need to do (battle their next
opponent), but you should always be trying to give the players
opportunities to do more than just that.

Each of the included pre-made playbooks have a few things that the
character wants to achieve:
 Elena: Get recognition from the world, improve her grades, pay
back Agathe for giving her the invitation
 Conrad: Overcome Dimensional Mechanics, understand his
Prometheus, defeat Elena in a card game
 Agathe: Make their fans happy, find their sister, learn why
Conrad’s company sponsors AggieWins
If a player is interested in achieving any of these goals for their character,
you should give them the opportunity to follow up on it. If they become
interested in something else instead, you should ideally find a
way to let them follow up on that as well.

Later we’ll present a number of possible

opponents for players in the tournament. You
have complete control over who the players’
opponents are, so you should try and choose
opponents that will make things interesting.
You should choose the total number of
opponents left in the tournament based on
how long you want this adventure to go
for. If you want things to be especially
quick, you could have it be that the only
fight left is the finale.

Comparatively, if you want the campaign

to take longer, you can increase the number
of battles in the bracket as much as you like.
Assume that the game will take a minimum of 2
or 3 hours, and then will take an additional hour
for each battle after the first you plan for.
It’s very likely that the players playing Elena
and Conrad are going to want to fight one
another at some point in the campaign - it
may be worth planning this as a part of the
bracket, or otherwise just planning for the
possibility within the time you have.

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It’s notable that Agathe doesn’t start the game as
part of the tournament. If she wants to be, or if you
want her to be, you should give her the opportunity
(maybe another player was injured and a slot
has opened up). Either way, you should select
one of the complications from the examples
included later to make the tournament more
interesting, and give the players something to
do besides just fighting the next battle in the
bracket.

While running the game, try to

give the players the chance
to use each general move at
least once, and be
sure to leverage
the characters’
baggage against
them. When
you ask each
player the question
presented in the Shuffle
City Invitational Tournament section,
this is a great chance to explain baggage
and ask them to review their playbooks. After
this, it can be helpful to start the session
in media res - maybe one of the players’
opponents are confronting them before their
match, or maybe something strange about the
tournament is coming to light. Be careful not to hold
your punches when it comes to combat - a good card
game in Perfect Draw! is one where the player had to
extend a little bit more than they would have liked to win,
and created some permanent consequences in doing so.

Rising Star Division

Competitors
The six people listed here are some of the competitors
within the Rising Stars tournament - there are other
competitors, but these are the ones that might stand
out against the rest. You can use them as opponents in
the tournament, allies to help the players get by, or as
complications that stop things being too easy. Consider
which ones your players might find most interesting and try
to create an opportunity for them to interact.

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Roland Garfield (He/Him)
Roland teaches Card Game Design at Shuffle City University; Elena is one of his students.
As one of the people who discovered the rules of ancient card gaming, he’s rather well
known - even if he’s not generally considered a skilled gamer himself.
More knowledgeable about the secrets of Shuffle City than he may appear, Roland has
decided to focus on teaching a new generation rather than make much of a fuss himself.
While he’s received invitations for the Rising Stars Tournament for a number of years, he’s
accepted it for the first time only now. It’s possible he’s come across an opportunity to
covertly teach Elena while pretending to try and win the tournament. Alternatively, he
may have caught wind of something strange happening and be trying to put a stop to it
before it causes any larger problems.

Archeology Automatons
Clunky old robots that perform archeology across ancient ruins. The Ancient History
Mechadragon is their greatest discovery.
Gimmick: Use your opponent’s graveyard to your advantage
Lash Out Against Losing: Pretend to put someone in real danger, Put the burden of
solving a problem on the players
Example Card Names: A.A. Surveyor, A.A. Explorer, Historic Discovery

Establish a Plan to Win

Archeology Automaton
Excavation Zone
Item | {Strong}
Whenever a card enters the
opponent’s graveyard, gain
1 life.
Use a Simple Card Move.
Ancient History
Mechadragon
Warrior | {Strong}
This warrior cannot die due
to the effects of any cards
with card types matching
those in the opponent’s
graveyard (Warrior, Item,
Invocation).
Use a Simple Card Move.

Power Card Moves

A.A. Retrofitter
Warrior | {Normal}
This card has the same
strength and effects of
a warrior or item in your
opponent’s graveyard.
A.A. Identifier Dawdle
Warrior | {Normal} Use 4 Simple Card Moves.
Target opponent discards
a card.
Use a Simple Card Move.

Use a Simple Card Move.

Simple Card Moves

 Create a {Weak} warrior with {Blocker}.
 Sacrifice a warrior you control to destroy a warrior your opponent controls with less
or equal strength.
 Your opponent puts the top card of their deck into the graveyard.

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Orvis Goddard (They/Them)
No one quite knows how Orvis got into the tournament. While clearly not bad at card
games, they aren’t exactly well known or well connected. As a person, they come off as
hotheaded and belligerent to a fault, but also deeply invested in doing what matters
to them and holding an undue amount of confidence in their beliefs. If you asked them
about their past, they’ll be happy to explain you’ve never seen them because they
apparently lived their life off the grid.
The thing that makes Orvis stand out from the rest of the competitors, aside from their
mysterious origin, is that their deck contains the Burdened Titan - Atlas. This card is a
counterpart to Conrad’s Chained Titan - Prometheus and is another Greek Titan sealed
away within a card to keep the world safe. It is said that if all three of the Sealed Titans
were to meet in card game combat, they would be released and wreck total havoc on
the world. They were given the card by a family member and told to search for others
who have sealed titans. While unaware of the dangers, it’s likely they pushed their way
into the tournament to get connected and complete their goal.

Titan Weapons
Huge-sized weapons that are wielded by the Burdened Titan - Atlas while he holds up
the earth. Each is the size of whole islands.
Gimmick: Equip Atlas with items that make him even stronger
Lash Out Against Losing: Reveal a sad history about why they’re doing this, Do
something risky that puts them in harm’s way
Example Card Names: Cave Slider, Sky Carver, With the Weight of the World

Establish a Plan to Win

Burdened Titan - Atlas
Warrior | {Strong}
{Piercer} 2, {Overwhelm}
Warriors clash with this lose
{Overwhelm}.
Use a Simple Card Move.
World Let Loose
Invocation
Destroy all cards your
opponent controls. They
discard their hand.
Use a Simple Card Move.

Power Card Moves

Mountain Buster
Item | {Normal}
Target warrior - equip this
card to it - that warrior can
attack an item once each
turn in addition to its other
attacks. Additionally it gains
{Blocker}.
Ocean Parter
Item | {Normal}
Target warrior - equip this
card to it - that warrior can
attack directly and gains
{Inconspicuous}
Use a Simple Card Move.
Acolyte of Atlas
Warrior | {Normal}
Return any items put into
the graveyard onto the
field and equip them to
this card if possible.
Use a Simple Card Move.

Use two Simple Card

Moves.

Simple Card Moves

 {Strengthen} a warrior you control until the end of turn.
 Target warrior your opponent controls loses all text until the start of your next turn.
 Create a {Weak} Item with “Target warrior - equip this card to it - that warrior gains
{Sniper} 1”

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Lightning Bolt (She/Her)
While a masked and hooded woman by the name of “Lightning Bolt” appears on the
brackets, she doesn’t seem to be coming to any of her actual fights. She definitely
entered the building, but since then no one has seen her. This is because she’s secretly
on a mission for an underground organisation called NETDECK that seeks to control
dangerous things related to card games.
With an analytical and zealous mindset, agent Lightning Bolt does her absolute best to
stay hidden. Despite this, if Agathe had the chance to see her in person, it’s likely that
she would quickly recognise Lightning Bolt as her sister Lisandra Stamatis, having left her
sister to join NETDECK after discovering their parents’ death was due to supernatural
means. If Agathe notices Lisandra, her new number one mission will be to get her
younger sibling off her tail. Most likely, Lisandra’s mission is related in some way to
whatever complication you choose to include for this adventure.

Ghosts in the Machine

Malicious programs that stop the players doing what they want. While most of these
are aspects of the game, the opponent is also actively hacking the player.
Gimmick: Set traps that disrupt the opponent’s gameplan
Lash Out Against Losing: Create a distraction to try and escape, Reveal that she
really is Agathe’s sister
Example Card Names: Ghost Program Social Engineer, Ghost Program Overwrite,
Ghost Program Malware

Establish a Plan to Win

Battle Disk Disabling
Program
Item | {Strong}
Disable the opponent’s
battle disk so they can’t play
the game in X turns (X is
equal to starting life total).
Spirit Samurai Kojiwraith
Warrior | {Normal}
{Overwhelm}
Whenever you lose a clash,
target opponent discards
a card.

Use a Simple Card Move. Use a Simple Card Move.

Power Card Moves

Ghost Program Trojan
Item | {Normal}
{Inconspicuous}
When an opponent plays a
card, you may sacrifice this
to counter the play of that
card.
Use a Simple Card Move.
Ghost Program Ghost Program
Counterhack Living Code
Item | {Normal} Item | {Normal}
{Inconspicuous} At the end of each of your
turns, create a {Normal}
When a player Decides the warrior with {Blocker}
Outcome of a Clash, you
may sacrifice this to make it Use a Simple Card Move.
so they fail.
Use a Simple Card Move.

Simple Card Moves

 Sacrifice an item you control to destroy a warrior your opponent controls with less
or equal strength.
 Create a {Weak} warrior with {Blocker}.
 Gain 1 Life.

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Patricia Albrecht (She/Her)
Second in line to inherit the Albrecht family’s fortune and shipping empire, Patricia
has had an extremely charmed life. Having been given lessons by some of the world’s
best card gamers since she was as young as 6, she’s a veteran of both the Youth and
Rising Stars Divisions of the Shuffle City Invitational Tournament. The fact that she
has never made it into the Main Division despite all this has given her a severe case of
imposter syndrome, something she actively covers up by pretending to be cocky and
overconfident.
A student at Shuffle City University, Patricia has quickly gained a reputation as a bully
among the students. In particular, she’s known to target people that are well known in
the card gaming scene or confident in their gaming abilities - both Agathe and Elena
have likely become targets for this reason. Nothing would insult her more than losing to
someone she’s called weak in the past, so she’ll do anything she needs to so as to get the
upper hand.

Jewelcasters
Spellcasters that use life-energy holding jewels for magic. The jewels have since
grown into their body.
Gimmick: Gain life and get effects whenever I gain life
Lash Out Against Losing: Insult the players in a cutting way, resolve to put yourself in
danger if they let you lose
Example Card Names: Jewelcaster Diamond, Jewelcaster Emerald, Jewelcaster
Signature Spell

Establish a Plan to Win

Jewelcaster Amber
Warrior | {Normal}
If this card is destroyed, gain
2 life.
Whenever you gain life,
create a {Weak} warrior
with {Teamwork}.
Use a Simple Card Move.
Jewelcaster Refinement
Invocation
Pay all but 1 life. For each life
spent, give a Jewelcaster
one of the following effects:
- {Strengthen} them.
- Give them {Piercer} 1. This
can stack.
- Give them {Sniper} 1. This
can stack.

Power Card Moves

Jewelcaster Ruby
Warrior | {Weak}
Gain 1 life at the end of each
turn. (opponents included)
Use a Simple Card Move.
Jewelcaster Ritual
Item | {Normal}
At the start of your next
turn, deal damage to
your opponent equal to
the amount of life you
gained the turn you played
Jewelcaster Ritual, then
destroy this item.
Jewelcaster Sapphire
Warrior | {Weak}
Whenever you gain life,
{Strengthen} this card
permanently.
Use a Simple Card Move.

Simple Card Moves

 Gain 1 life.
 Give a warrior or item your opponent controls {Underwhelm}
 Create a {Normal} warrior.

15
Malo Peleke (He/Him)
The popular front-runner for winning the Rising Stars Tournament, Malo made a name
for himself online by battling famous and successful people from across Shuffle City -
including some people from the Main Division. Sponsored directly by Dimensional
Mechanics, Malo earnt his online handle “TheInvincibleGamer” by never once losing a
match on stream. Both Conrad and Agathe have been challenged by him in the past
and for one reason or another haven’t accepted. With both of them around during the
tournament, Malo intends to settle this score and prove he can beat them to his fans.
An entertainer at heart, Malo is forwardly charismatic and kind. He’s a good sport and
generally fairly excited when his opponent does something interesting. What Malo
doesn’t know is that his sponsor Dimensional Mechanics has been rigging many of his
fights. It’s true that he is very good at card games, but since he’s become famous, they’ve
been setting him up to ensure his opponents never beat him. Even in this tournament, the
bracket has been designed to give him the edge in a fight - and if one of the players was
to be set up against him, it’s likely Dimensional Mechanics staff may try and sabotage
them.

Dracodancers
The Dracodancers are made up of Half-human, half-dragons with a love for all forms
of dance. They mix in their elemental breath with impressive choreography.
Gimmick: Friendly universal effects that I take the most advantage of
Lash Out Against Losing: Dimensional Mechanics tries to sabotage the game,
Dimensional Mechanics tries to force the player into giving up.
Example Card Names: Dracodancer Disco, Dracodancer Folk, Dracodancer Jazz

Establish a Plan to Win

Dracodancer Stage
Item | {Strong}
When a warrior would
die, it instead stays on the
field and its owner takes 1
damage.
Use a Simple Card Move.
Dracodancer Ballroom
Warrior | {Normal}
At the start of each player’s
turn, that player creates a
{Weak} warrior.
Other warriors you control
are {strengthened} and
have {Overwhelm}.
Use a Simple Card Move.

Power Card Moves

Dracodancer Ballet
Warrior | {Weak}
Destroy target warrior or
item the opponent controls.
Use a Simple Card Move.
Dracodancer HipHop
Warrior | {Normal}
Warriors must attack if
possible.
Dracodancer HipHop can
attack directly.
Use a Simple Card Move.
Dracodancer Tap
Warrior | {Normal}
{Overwhelm}
All warriors and items
except for Dracodancer
Tap gain {inconspicuous}
Use a Simple Card Move.

Simple Card Moves

 Create a {Normal} warrior.
 Sacrifice a warrior you control to destroy a warrior your opponent controls with less
or equal strength.
 {Strengthen} a warrior you control until the end of turn.

16
Veronika Rasputin (She/Her)
A local dockworker for one of Shuffle City’s many shipyards, Veronika made a name for
herself by ranking highly in smaller tournaments across the city. What most don’t know
is that 4 years ago, Veronika gained the psychic ability to lift things almost 6x her weight.
With only fuzzy memories left, Veronika was kidnapped by Dimensional Mechanics and
returned with changes that she to this day doesn’t quite understand. Her hope is that by
winning today’s tournament run by the company, she’ll be able to reveal the truth while
the whole world watches.
Very afraid of both getting hurt and hurting others, Veronika quickly comes off as quiet,
standoffish, and cautious in almost all things. As competitors in the tournament run by
Dimensional Mechanics, both Elena and Conrad are likely to make Veronika nervous
at first blush. If she was bracketed to fight them, she may even assume by default that
they’re working with Dimensional Mechanics. That said, both kindness and mutual hatred
towards the same company could very easily lead her to making lasting friendships with
either or both of them.

Military Battlefish
Fiercely swimming through the ocean, the Battlefish are the military’s secret weapon -
fish with chassis to give them the capability of battleships.
Gimmick: Dealing damage whenever my opponent does certain actions.
Lash Out Against Losing: Explain why you can’t lose this, Put something the players
care about at risk
Example Card Names: Dolphinship Frigate, Turtleship Seawall, Octoship Bomber

Establish a Plan to Win

Mantaship Carrier
Warrior | {Normal}
When a warrior an
opponent controls attacks,
deal 1 damage to the
opponent.
Use a Simple Card Move.
Sharkship Destroyer
Warrior | {Normal}
When your opponent draws
a card, deal 1 damage to
them.
Use a Simple Card Move.

Power Card Moves

Whaleship Command
Warrior | {Strong}
{Blocker}
Puffership Submarine Fleet Schooling
Warrior | {Normal} Invocation
{Inconspicuous} Create four {Weak}
{Underwhelm} warriors.
This warrior can attack the Use a Simple Card Move.
opponent directly.
Use a Simple Card Move.

Simple Card Moves

 Create a {Normal} warrior.
 Sacrifice a warrior you control to destroy a warrior your opponent controls with less
or equal strength.
 {Fumble} target opponent. If the opponent does the described action, instead of
Veronika using a response move, she deals that player 1 damage.

17
Complications
for the Tournament
There’s something strange going on at the Rising Stars Tournament; for
whatever reason, winning this tournament won’t be as simple as just
winning the bracket. Whatever it is, you should take your time to reveal
this to the players - hint at them that something is wrong, and use it to
complicate the players’ ability to complete their goals. We’ve presented
three possibilities for what could be going on with the tournament
- choose the one which you think the players will find
most interesting.

An Ancient Artefact is Making

Card Games Real
When the laws of ancient card gaming
were sealed beneath the Parthenon in
Athens, seven Olympian Artefacts were
sealed at the very same time. These
artefacts each hold power over card
games in one way or another, making
them incredibly dangerous now that
card games have spread across the
world. Most of these artefacts were
uncovered long before the laws
of ancient card games and have
since found their way to Shuffle
City through the black market.
One of these artefacts is The
Golden Fleece, a sheet of golden
fabric that transforms all nearby
card games into real and physical
supernatural fights - posing real danger
for anyone that participates in them.

Early on the players may notice strange

things happen whenever they’re
involved in a card game - maybe
they feel real pain when they take
damage, maybe a stray warrior’s
attack somehow deals real damage
to something in the arena. This “real
world card games” effect should
only get worse as the event goes on
until it becomes a real threat to the
players’ lives.

18
The person who holds The Golden Fleece
should be one of the competitors already
in the tournament. Choose someone from
the competitors list that you think would be
an interesting choice - that competitor has
brought The Golden Fleece to the tournament
to achieve some goal. It’s possible they don’t
understand the true risks involved in using the
Olympian Artefact, but they definitely do know
that it has some way to make card games real.
 If Roland Garfield is using The Golden
Fleece, it’s likely he believes there’s some
way to destroy the Fleece that involved
bringing it to this tournament. Otherwise,
it’s likely Roland is working to combat the
Fleece and get it out of the owner’s hands.
 If Orvis Goddard is using The Golden Fleece, it’s likely
that they are using it to turn their Burdened Titan - Atlas into
a real force onto the world - unaware of the danger. Otherwise,
it’s possible that Orvis may know some history about The Golden
Fleece they may be able to infodump to the players.
 If Lightning Bolt is using The Golden Fleece, it’s likely as a last
resort against something they see as more dangerous. You could
choose another complication that she’s trying to combat with the
fleece. Otherwise, it’s likely her mission is to find the fleece and take it
into safe keeping.
 If Patricia Albrecht is using The Golden Fleece, it’s likely she’s
completely unaware of the greater scope of the fleece’s power.
Instead, she just sees it as a tool to make herself stronger in battle
and overcome her opponents. The power is likely to go to her head.
Otherwise, Patricia is likely to try and escape once The Golden
Fleece reveals itself.
 If Malo Paleke is using The Golden Fleece, it’s likely not a plan of
his own but rather a plan by Dimensional Mechanics. As an excuse
to extend their power in the city, the company may be using Malo as
a fall-guy to imply there is some kind of significant danger that only
Dimensional Mechanics can overcome. Otherwise, Malo is likely to try
and fail to overcome The Golden Fleece.
 If Veronika Rasputin is using The Golden Fleece, it’s likely a part
of her revenge plan against Dimensional Mechanics. She hopes to
use the company’s most public yearly event to attack the company
directly. Otherwise, it’s possible Veronika sees this as either meddling
by Dimensional Mechanics or an opportunity to ruin the tournament
publicly.

19
Dimensional Mechanics
wants to Kidnap the
Competitors
The secret to the success of
Dimensional Mechanics
is the development of
their “New World Portal”
technology. This powerful
device allows them to
quickly make powerful
cards by absorbing and
copying alternate universes
into their cards. To power this
device, the company kidnaps
people from across Shuffle
City and uses their latent
psychic potential to create
incredible amounts of
energy.

Early on in the tournament,

players might notice that
communications outside of
the TopDeck ArenaMall have been
cut off. What they don’t know is that
the tournament isn’t even being broadcast
at all. Maybe the players have been invited to a “fake” tournament, or
maybe technical issues are being used as an excuse to cut broadcasting.
Instead, Dimensional Mechanics has used the Rising Stars Tournament
as an excuse to kidnap many of the less well-known but still strong card
gamers from across the city and experiment on them. They believe that
using people with more willpower might allow them to overcome certain
barriers with their New World Portal technology - possibly even letting
them invade alternate universes and enslave the inhabitants.

If you select this complication, be sure to include Veronika Rasputin as one

of the competitors. She might be one of the first to notice what’s going on
and can give the players information they couldn’t get otherwise.

To overcome the situation, the players will either need to find a way
to escape the securely locked TopDeck ArenaMall, or they’ll need to
overcome the CEO of Dimensional Mechanics Peter Crowley who is hiding
in the arena and ensuring everything goes to plan.

20
Peter Crowley (He/Him)
Maybe the singular most well known man in all of Shuffle City, Peter is generally
considered charismatic and theatrical, if somewhat cold-hearted as a businessman. A
genius in his own right, he holds an extreme interest in the occult and has dedicated his
life to the funding and study of strange technologies so that he can control it.
He is cocky above all else, and seems to always know the answer to any question
he might have. This is because he holds the “Shield of Achilles”, an ancient Olympian
Artefact that lets him answer any question that someone on earth knows the answer to.

Occulto Dell’arte
Corrupted from the archetypes of the Commedia Dell’arte, these faceless puppets
take their place on stage surging with occult energy.
Gimmick: Control your opponents actions, forcing them to do what you want
Lash Out Against Losing: Ensure the loser of this match will die a terrible death,
Reveal how something close to a player is now owned by Dimensional Mechanics
Example Card Names: Spell of Il Dottore, Magick Pulcinella, Gnostic Colombina

Establish a Plan to Win

Tragic Script
Item | {Strong}
In X turns, take control of
each of your opponent’s
next turn. You choose
everything that they do
during this turn. (X is equal
to that player’s starting life
total - 1)
Use two Simple Card
Moves.
Comedic Script
Item | {Strong}
If a warrior an opponent
controls deals damage to
you, you gain control of that
warrior.
Use a Simple Card Move.

Power Card Moves

Chaos Harlequin
Warrior | {Normal}
Opponents that can Decide
the Outcome of a Clash on
their turn must Decide the
Outcome of a Clash at least
once during each of their
turns.
Use a Simple Card Move.
Summoned Zanni
Warrior | {Weak}
{Blocker}
At the end of the
opponent’s turn, if Zanni
died this turn, return it to
the battlefield.
Use a Simple Card Move.
Esoteric Pantalone
Warrior | {Normal}
At the end of your turn,
choose target warrior
or item an opponent
controls; it loses all text
until the end of your next
turn.
Use two Simple Card
Moves.

Simple Card Moves

 Gain 1 Life.
 Give a warrior or item your opponent controls {Underwhelm}.
 Target warrior your opponent controls loses all text until the start of your next turn.

21
A Cult Plots the End of the World
When Melania Phobose birthed the Neo Athenian Cult, she didn’t do it with
real belief for what the cult preaches. Thousands of years old, in her youth
Melania discovered the Locked Titan Cronus - one of the three sealed
titans that, when put together, can bring about the end of the world. With
two of the other holders of the sealed titans in the Rising Stars tournament
already, Melania hopes to use the tournament as the catalyst for freeing
the titans.

Early on in the games, the players may notice something strange radiating
from Conrad’s deck in particular. His Prometheus may glow or spark;
maybe it’s hot to the touch. If Conrad ends up in a fight against Orvis and
both of the sealed titans are in the same game at
once, their power may do something catastrophic to
the area surrounding the game.

Once Melania makes her presence clear, it’s likely

she’ll do so under the guise of another goal. The
Neo Athenian Cult is known to collect supernatural
objects and people, so she might say her plan
is to take the sealed titans from the competitors.
Alternatively, she could join the tournament herself
while saying it’s a simple attempt to advertise the
good will of her organisation. Her ultimate goal
will be to get all of the titans in one battle - on the
battlefield at the same time.

If you choose this complication it’s likely you’ll

want to include Orvis as one of the competitors.
With that said, you want to make absolutely
sure that the players always take the spotlight
here - Conrad will naturally take some spotlight
due to having his Prometheus, but finding
ways to give the other players Sealed Titans
and involve them in the confrontation is ideal.
Maybe it’s Elena who is set up against Orvis
in the tournament, and after the battle they
give Elena their Atlas out of respect. Maybe
Melania gives Agathe a way back into the
tournament but asks her to use the Sealed
Titan Cronus in her deck in return. If you
choose not to include Orvis, you could
simply have one of the other players come
across the sealed titan Atlas during the
tournament for mysterious reasons.

22
Melania Phobose (She/Her)
Thousands of years ago, Melania came across the Locked Titan Cronus. In return for
granting her immortality, Melania promised to help Cronus free himself. Wise and patient
in a way that belies her age despite her youthful appearance, Melania started the
modern-day Neo Athenian Cult as a way to achieve her goals. With hundreds of believers
across Shuffle City, she’s an extremely influential person.
Originally Melania may have just been a kind and normal person - however, years of
being manipulated by Cronus has led her to becoming something of a bigot. Today, she
only believes in the value of people with supernatural abilities of some kind - she might
use normal people like most of her believers for the sake of gaining more power, but she
does not respect them. She believes that only those with powers will survive when the
titans are free, and that allowing this to happen will “set the world right”.

The Inevitable Cronus

The impact of Cronus onto the world despite being sealed away. Cloaked in death
itself, the strongest of the titans ensures victory through time simply passing.
Gimmick: Huge effects happening after several turns.
Lash Out Against Losing: Cast dark magic over the game, Use the opponent’s
inadequacies against them
Example Card Names: Encounter the Inevitable, Move Forward Despite It All,
Rot and Succumb to Time

Establish a Plan to Win

Locked Titan - Cronus Time Simply Passes
Warrior | {Strong} Item | {Strong}
{Overwhelm} {Inconspicuous}
If Cronus deals damage to At the start of your
an opponent, you win the opponent’s turn, they take 1
game. damage.
Cronus is treated as an item Use a Simple Card Move.
until X turns have passed. (X
is equal to your opponents
starting life total -1)
Use two Simple Card
Moves.

Power Card Moves

All Things Die Every Moment at Once Dawdle
Invocation Warrior | {Weak} Use 4 Simple Card Moves.
Destroy up to three target At the end of your turn,
warriors. decide whether this warrior
is {Weak} and has {Sniper}
Use 0-2 Simple Card Moves. 2, {Normal} and has
{Piercer} 1, or {Strong} and
can’t attack.
Use a Simple Card Move.

Simple Card Moves

 Create a {Weak} warrior with {Blocker}.
 Gain 1 Life.
 Target warrior your opponent controls loses all text until the start of your next turn.

23
Locations in
Topdeck ArenaMall
The TopDeck ArenaMall was once a normal mall in the middle of Shuffle
City. However, just as the city’s love for card games began to blossom,
the mall began to change. It started with a few designated battle areas
being made to encourage fans to visit the mall. Soon after, game stores
flooded the mall looking to take advantage of the ongoing games -
even non-game stores were encouraged to include products that card
gamers were more likely to buy. Eventually, the owners of the mall
noticed the opportunity and began hiring out the location as a space for
tournaments during the times when the mall would otherwise be closed.

Usually while being used as an arena, some amount of mall staff would
be present, as well as a number of employees from shops around
the mall. For the purposes of the Shuffle City Invitational Tournament
however, Dimensional Mechanics has ensured that only competitors and
their staff are present. Any damages done to the shops are to be paid
back in double by the company and competitors have been encouraged
to use anything they want to in the arena.

The stores and locations within the mall are generally split up into two
types - game stores and non-game stores. Some game stores that the
players might encounter include:
 DMCards: The official card store of Dimensional Mechanics -
this store has packs of every card currently being printed by the
company as well as state-of-the-art battle spaces.
 Mainphase Network Live: While Mainphase Technologies largely
focuses on digital sales of their products, they have a number of
extremely high end stores present in important places.
One of these takes up a large part of the TopDeck
ArenaMall.
 Shuffle On: Well known for their stock of
rare and unique cards from across the world,
this local game store is one of the few non-
franchise stores that can compete with the
big names.
 Custom Arena Services: With the
goal of making customised arena
experiences available to all, Custom
Arena Services offers the ability for
customers to rent out modular card
game spaces. Using holographic
technology and practical effects,
it’s possible to simulate battles in
a number of locations.
24
While game stores generally outnumber the non-
game stores at this point, the non-game stores are
still important for people that live
nearby. Here are some non-
game store locations that
players may encounter:
 Food Court: With a
number of popular fast food
brands available and seating areas
that are more comfortable then you’d
expect, this is a popular resting space
within the mall.
 Albrecht Convenience: Owned by the
Albrecht family, this convenience and grocery store has just about
everything you’ll need on a daily basis within Shuffle City.
 Clubs Theatre: Available at the top floor of the mall, this theatre
is popular with people across Shuffle City for live showings of
worldwide card gaming events. Today, different screens are showing
live streams for the three Shuffle City Invitational Tournament
divisions.

Playing After Rising Stars

Once you and your players have completed the
Rising Stars adventure, if you want to continue your
adventures with the same characters, you can!
While this quick-play kit has been designed so that
you can test out the game, you should have all
the tools you need to make a keep playing using
these characters. This section covers the rules for
advancement and some recommendations for
where to go now that you’ve finished the Rising Stars
Adventure.

Please note that this section doesn’t cover

character creation or how to design
NPC encounters; that information is
available in the complete Perfect
Draw! book, alongside more
detailed rules for card
creation, more playbooks,
recommendations for
how to modify your
game, a full guide to Shuffle
City, and more.

25
Advancement
When players fill their experience tracks, they’ll advance. When advancing,
choose one option from the Advancement section on your Playbook and
mark the box. If you can’t mark a box for that option, you can’t choose
that option for your advancement. Once you have made at least three
advancements, you may instead choose advancements from the Major
Advancements section on your Playbook. Each Playbook has the same
advancement options, described here:

Take an ability from your Playbook

You can do this twice at first, and up to a total of three times after you’ve
unlocked your major advancements. When you take this advancement,
you may choose any of the abilities on your Playbook that you don’t
already have, and have your character gain them. Follow any instructions
in that move.

Take an ability from another Playbook

You can do this once at first, and up to a total of twice after you’ve
unlocked your major advancements. When you take this advancement,
you may choose any ability from a Perfect Draw! Playbook and take
it. Add this move to your sheet in whatever way you prefer (copy/paste,
cutouts, writing): it is now a part of your Playbook. Certain moves will
have requirements to take them (For example, The Rogue’s Extra
Prepared move requires A Trick Up Your Sleeve);
to take these moves, you will need the
required move first.

Add a new staple to

your Staple List
You can do this once at first,
and up to a total of twice after
you’ve unlocked your major
advancements. When you take
this advancement, you may
choose any generic staple
from the generic staples
list, and add it to your
staples list in addition to
your other staples. This
means that the first
time you take this, you’ll
have four staples, and the
second time, you’ll have
five.

26
Increase one of your stats by one
You can do this twice at first, and don’t unlock any additional ability to
choose this once you have your major advancements. When you take
this advancement, choose one of your stats (Passion, Skill, or Friendship),
and increase its value by one: it is now permanently increased by that
amount.

Create a new {Ace} card (you may now gain the

benefits of the Play your {Ace} card move twice per
game)
This is a special advancement option that can only be taken once per
character, and only after unlocking your major advancements. When
you take this advancement, you may immediately create a new card
using the card creation rules described in Chapter 3. This card has {Ace}.
Shuffle it into your deck. You do not need to answer why it is important to
you on your sheet, but it may be useful for you to.

You also unlock the ability to use Play your {Ace} card twice in the battle
instead of the usual one time. If you could use it twice by other means,
you can instead use it up to three times.

Complete your character’s final goal. Retire your

character.
This is a special advancement option that can be taken once per
character, and only after unlocking your major advancements. When you
take this advancement, you first “Complete your character’s final goal”;
this means that whatever goal the character currently has (defined by
you) is completed and accomplished successfully. This is your chance
to be bombastic and special, to redefine the world around you in a
significant way, and to leave behind an impact that won’t be forgotten.
Work with the Judge to decide what this means for your character.

You then “Retire your character”. Retiring can mean many things; it could
be that your character died, has been injured enough to put them out of
commision, or has simply moved on past the goals of the other players.

Either way, retiring your character means you are no longer playing as
them. Instead, create a new character. You may create this character as
if they had already advanced once.

If you took this advancement in the middle of a session, it may be

useful to continue playing your character until after the session is over or
another appropriate moment, retiring them once it ends and introducing
your new character in the following session.

27
Where to Go From Here
Depending on how you chose to run this adventure, there are a number
of different ways that you could continue the campaign:
 An Ancient Artefact is Making Card Games Real: Are there
other artefacts that the players need to stop? How did the person
with the Golden Fleece attain it? Is the reason the person felt they
needed to use the Golden Fleece truly resolved?
 Dimensional Mechanics wants to Kidnap the Competitors:
What can players do with knowledge of Dimensional Mechanics’
wrongdoings? What will Peter Crowley do now that he’s been
defeated? What happens now that the players know about alternate
universes?
 A Cult Plots the End of the World: What do you do with the titans
now that you know about their power? Is there anything else this
dangerous out there? What could Melania be planning now given her
ability to be patient?
Otherwise, it’s best to listen to the players and see what they’re
interested in following up on. If Agathe met their sister, it’s likely they’ll
be interested in following up with them. If Conrad discovers some
strange technology, he may try and use it for his company. If Elena won
the tournament, she may be working to prepare herself for the main
tournament.

Without the full Perfect Draw! book you’ll need to use the same
characters and NPCs from this adventure. We recommend leveraging
and rethemeing the decks and gimmicks of NPCs you didn’t use in this
adventure.

Credits
Double Summon Games
Designer: Nora Jean Haynes
Editor: Iris Cassandra Saintclaire
Art Contributions
Character Art: Thunderderder (http://www.fiverr.com/thunderderder)
Logo Design & Layout: Nora Jean Haynes
Special Thanks
Cassandra Rose, Richard Thames Rowan, Jane Kira.
Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker, Meguey Baker
Everway Silver Anniversary Edition by Jonathan Tweet, Richard Thames
Rowan, and Jesse McGatha, published by The Everway Company, LLC
(http://everway.com)

28