Erfh: Through the Ages: Gameplay

Gameplay Expectations

Erfh should focus on the competition for lands and completion of heroic epics. As such, various card types on the field can be directly attacked, damaged, and lost. So it behooves players to also diligently protect their own things while attempting to destroy the opponents' stuffs.

Lands, Pop, Power

Lands are the main source of pop and power. You lose if you have no pop on yourself and on all of your lands combined. You start with 6 pop. (You still live if you have no pop on you, as long as your lands have pop.)

Whenever you gain control of a land, including when it enters the field under your control, you may invest pop onto it. To do so, move 2 pop from yourself and put it onto the land.

Lands provide power proportional to the amount of pop on it. A land with more pop on it generates more power.

Lands can also grow pop by paying power or your own pop.

When a land is attacked and dealt damage, it loses pop equal to the damage dealt. (Should it move to the contested zone?) When you have no more pop on all your lands and on yourself, you lose. So you must protect your lands from losing pop. Agents can only protect lands where they are stationed. So use wise strategy to protect some or all of your lands.

Power is used to pay for other cards, including agents, events, objects, agendas, paragons, and scenes. Generally more powerful cards cost more power (naturally). Power is accumulated until you spend it. Players start with 1 power.

Lands also support one or more motifs. Other cards have motif requirements before they can be deployed. Generally cards require 1 to 3 motifs. So if you have 3 lands of a motif type, you can deploy cards that require 0, 1, 2, or 3 of that same motif type. (Of course, you still need to pay their power cost.)

Ideally around 20% of a deck is comprised of lands. (Far from the 40% in Magic decks.) So 48 card deck has around 9-10 lands; 60 card deck has around 12 lands. No point in having more lands if you can't protect it.

Paragon, Scene, Climax

Paragons and scenes together weave a tale of pursuit of masterpiece or of heroic quest. When they approach further into their destiny, they may climax. A climaxed scene is worth 1 point, and a climaxed paragon worth 2 points. When a player earns 3 climax points from their paragons and scenes altogether, they win the game.

So if you don't have a paragon, you can still win this way by climaxing 3 scenes--they may be same or different scenes. Alternatively, 2 paragon climaxes are worth 4 points, and also win you the game.

Paragons and scenes are similar, except for rarity and number of abilities. Scenes have 2 abilities, while Paragons have 3. Scenes can be found at common to epic rare, while Paragons are rare and epic rare only.

Paragons and scenes enter the field with a predetermined amount of fate counters. These fate counters will increase or decrease by activating their abilities. When a high enough fate counter is reached, a player may spend them for a climax. Each card has different fate costs for their climax and other abilities.

Climaxes provide powerful effects in addition to providing climax points toward victory. Players should pay attention to which opposing paragons and scenes are close to climax, and prevent them from doing so.

Players may try to remove fate counters on opposing paragons and scenes via combat using agents or by using their own paragons to interfere.

Agents and other card types

Agents will be used for offense, defense and special abilties. Agents have two primary stats: might and skil. A secondary stat called vigor is the sum of its might and skill values.

Objects and Agendas provide additional support and special effects. Some of them with the Mod type may be attached to other permanents or cards.

Events are one-time effects. They are trashed after use.

Locations and Combat

Plots and Locations

Lands, paragons, and scenes are collectively called plots.

Plots are placed in locations. A single location can hold up to two plots, one behind the other. New locations are created as necessary. Thus, a plot that enters the field or you just gained control of can be placed in a location with one other plot or into a new location.

The player is also a location, but plots can't be placed in this location.

A player's configuration of locations is called a setting.

Agents on the field are stationed at a location. They may move between locations controlled by the same team during their controller's main phase. If a location would lose all plots, all agents at that location move to the player's location.

Combat Phase

During a player's combat phase, e may declare any number of waves of assault. For each wave, the offensive player chooses any number of legal attackers and either an opposing player or plot. Players and plots being attacked thusly are called "marked entity" or the attacker's mark. Each wave in the same combat phase must choose a different marked entity. That is, the same player or plot can't be marked more than once during a single combat phase.

Only agents stationed at a location may defend the player or plots located at that location. A player may choose all, some, or none of the agents at that location to defend against attackers to that location.

One defender blocks one attacker. Multiple defenders can block the same attacker.

Updated on 18 Nov 2018 by amuseum