RULES

How to Play

STEP ONE: SETUP

Shuffle the Terra Cards and place them face down, and spread out the Character Cards,

face up.

Begin your quest by rolling one dice to determine who chooses their Character Card first. The player with the highest roll chooses their character first. Then the person to their left chooses next, and so on, until all players have characters.

Once this is done, the Player who chose the first Character card must choose a face down Terra card. That will be the location of the adventure. Discard the rest of the Terra Cards.

TERRA CARDS NOTE: Terra Cards determine the player’s environment. You can only fight in one environment at a time, and each environment will have its own set of struggles, boss, and storyline.

Once the Terra card has been selected, open the Story Booklet to the Planet selected, and choose a corresponding adventure. You can use either the Story Booklet or the Audio Book to begin your journey, and it will guide you through the first stage. It is advised to utilize the audio book for a fuller experience.

The goal of the team is to respond to their distress calls in order to protect the people of the Sult Galaxy. The team will begin with reconnaissance on the planet, find the location of the disturbance, and then stop it.

Terra Cards

Character Cards

6-sided dice

Intro to The Cycle: Maru Story Arc - 5JT3

00:00

STEP TWO: GAMEPLAY

Standard Mode:

The game is divided into three parts: Reconnaissance, Dungeon, and the Boss Battle.

The Reconnaissance Stage details the events leading up to your team’s arrival on the planet, what your mission is, and asks the team to make choices that will lead you to where the Boss is located. While some fighting may ensue, the non-battle skills such as Negotiate, Sneak, Insight, Intimidate, and Chase will be used. Players will be prompted to roll to determine the success of their actions. Each character has a different requirement for a successful roll of each action.

The Dungeon Stage takes place in the lair or hideout of the Main Villain. In this stage, players will work together to battle lesser enemies throughout the dungeon, while trying to get to the boss. The dungeon is randomly configured depending on the boss the Five are facing.

Using hexagonal tiles that either say "Clear" or "Attack" with exclamation points indicating the number of enemies the team must defeat before proceeeding. The Five must choose the least deadly path and make it to the center.

The Boss Stage takes place once the party has found the boss at the center of the dungeon. Now the group must work together to defeat the all the boss’ minions and the boss themselves in order to win the game.

Accelerated Mode: In accelerated mode, the players can skip reconnaissance and go straight for the confrontation with the dungeon and confrontation with the final boss.

FIGHTING

Each character has a specific set of skills that are activated through dice rolls. Each skill on the card indicates the roll required to activate that card.

When the Five are attacked, the enemy always has the initiative, dealing damage first. Then Five must retaliate, all actions on the team are considered one turn, then all the enemies on the field attack again.

When engaged in group combat, all members of the Five must roll one dice to determine the order of their attack for the encounter. They will then use their character's rune to indicate their position of attack.

Players roll two dice to determine if an encounter is successful. If either of the dice is above the rolling requirement, the skill is successful. They must then roll again to determine the strength of the charm or attack. Player cards give instructions on how best to utilize individual character abilities.

Encounter Tile

TERMINOLOGY ON THE CARDS

HP: Health Points

How much health you have or additional health your armor gives you. The number is indicated in the character's shield.

Roll req: Roll requirements

For a successful attack you must roll over the roll requirements. Ex: +3 equals must roll over a three.

Atk: Attack Points

Weapon: Each weapon specifies whether it is useful for ranged or close combat situations. In the reconnaissance or boss stages, these distinctions become useful when making decisions.

Non-battle Skills: Skills that can only be used in the Reconnaissance stage.

Auto: Each player has a skill that will automatically work.

Auto 1 shot: This skill will automatically go through, but it can only be used once per game.

TO USE A WEAK ATTACK: Requires no roll, is an automatic attack.

TO USE A SKILL ATTACK: Players must roll a minimum 3, in order to have a successful hit on enemy targets, and then roll again to determine the attack power. If the roll is unsuccessful, the player must wait a full turn for their next opportunity.

TO USE A CHARM:

To cast a charm, the player must roll a minimum 3. If successful, the charm goes through, but the player must specify how they will use it.

IF THE PLAYER RUNS OUT OF HP:

ON COMA:

The player can no longer talk to their teammates.

If a player’s health drops below zero, they fall into a coma where they can do one of two moves. They cannot discuss their decision with their teammate.

Dead Man’s Grip: After 3 turns. allows the character to use the the last of their strength to deal a blow to the enemy that is double their attack points, and then become inactive for the rest of the game.

Resurrect: After 6 turns. She’s alive! Return from the dead with half your health points and all your attack points.

TO WIN:

The players must find the boss, defeat their minions, and defeat their boss. The game ends when either the boss is dead, or all players are rendered in a coma or inactive.

IF YOU LOSE:

Beginner players can choose to complete the mission again, from the current stage at full HP.
Mid-core players can choose to try the mission again from the previous stage, and start at the HP they originally had going into that stage.
Hardcore players can assume the responsibilities of failure and take a penalty, adding bonus difficulty to the game such as tougher minions, and a player environment handicap (which is determined in the Story Booklet) and start from the beginning at full HP.

NOTE:

For those who dislike reading, all rules are explained in the Audio Book prior to the action being carried out in the adventure. These tutorial style reminders are in the first episode of every Planet.