How to Play

Core Concept

Archaic Realms is a faction-locked 1v1 trading card game built around combat in the Realm, Hero swaps, shared neutral Quests, a personal Faction Objective, and Realm Control Point pressure. Your active Hero is your battlefield leader and the primary target for combat.

Both win conditions are active simultaneously. You may pursue either path — or shift between them as the game develops.

Deckbuilding

Each player uses a faction-locked build consisting of a Main Deck, Vault piles, a Hero Lineup, and a single Faction Objective card.

• Main Deck: minimum 60 cards, maximum 100 cards total (including Vault cards)
• Hero Lineup: 3 Heroes chosen during deck construction — outside the Main Deck
• Faction Objective: 1 card, chosen before the game — outside the Main Deck
• Vault piles: Unique ×8, Epic ×6, Legendary ×4

Copy Limits

• Champion / Guardian / Follower: max 4 copies of the same card
• Conjure / Flash spells: max 4 copies of the same card
• Augments: max 4 copies of the same card
• Archaic Energy: no limit

Setup

1. 1 Select the Realm (random by default). Place the Realm card face-up and shuffle its 16 Quest cards into a shared face-down Quest pile.
2. 2 Reveal your 3-Hero Lineup face-up.
3. 3 Reveal your Faction Objective card face-up.
4. 4 Choose 1 Hero from your Lineup as your starting active Hero and place it into the Realm.
5. 5 Shuffle your Main Deck and each Vault pile separately.
6. 6 Fill your Quest slots: draw 1 Quest from the shared pile per slot (2 slots total).
7. 7 Draw your opening hand of 6 cards.
8. 8 You may mulligan up to 2 times — first mulligan redraws 6, second redraws 4.
9. 9 Randomly determine the starting player.

Turn Structure

Each turn follows the same five-phase order:

Energy & Surge

Energy exists in two states: Charged (available to spend) and Discharged (spent, recharges in Ready Phase). To cast a card, Discharge Charged Energy equal to its Tier.

You may normally play 1 Energy from hand each turn.

Surge

Surge N (Type) — Your next matching Type card you cast this turn costs N less. You must still Discharge at least 1 Energy, and the final cost cannot go below 1.

Surge Zone

The Surge Zone is the catch-up mechanic for players who miss an Energy play. You may place 1 Inscription in your Surge Zone (max 3 per game) only if both conditions are true:

• You missed your Energy play this turn
• You control 2 or more fewer Energy than your opponent

Remove 1 Inscription from your Surge Zone to play 1 additional Energy this turn.

Heroes & Realm Control Points

Your active Hero is your leader in the Realm — it can attack, be attacked, and be targeted by Hero-targeted effects. Heroes are not creatures and are not valid targets for "Destroy Creature" unless a card explicitly says Hero.

RCP Sources

Realm Control Points come from three sources:

• Hero HP Thresholds — 1 RCP per threshold crossed, awarded to the opponent. Up to 9 total across all 3 Heroes.
• Faction Objective Conditions — Maximum 2 RCP total. Each condition resolves independently.
• Realm Quests — Variable. 8 of the 16 Realm Quest cards award RCP.

HP Thresholds & Ability Unlocks

Each Hero card has printed HP thresholds. Crossing a threshold does two things simultaneously:

• The attacking player gains 1 RCP
• The defending Hero unlocks its next ability — abilities are locked at game start and unlock sequentially

Hero Swaps

Hero swaps are not voluntary and cannot be performed freely. A swap may only occur at the start of your Main Phase, and only if at least one trigger is active:

• You gained RCP since your last Main Phase
• Your active Hero caused your opponent to gain RCP (crossed an HP threshold) since your last Main Phase

All Hero swaps are optional — having a trigger active does not force a swap. Only one swap may occur per Main Phase per trigger.

Combat

Attacks are directed at the defending player's active Hero. Defending Creatures may be assigned in front of attackers to intercept.

1. 1 Declare Attackers — Choose which ready Creatures and/or active Hero will attack. Attackers exhaust.
2. 2 First Priority Window — Defending player gets priority first, then attacker.
3. 3 Assign Defenders — Defending player assigns Creatures and locks the resolution order.
4. 4 Response Window — Attacker acts, then defender may respond. If both pass, the first exchange begins.
5. 5 Combat Damage Exchanges — Each side deals damage simultaneously equal to its Attack value. If a Creature's Defense reaches 0 it is destroyed. If a Hero's Defense reaches 0 it becomes Staggered and overflow becomes HP loss.
6. 6 Threshold Check — If an HP threshold is crossed during HP loss, the attacking player immediately gains 1 RCP and the defending Hero unlocks its next ability.
7. 7 Continue or End — After each exchange, both players get a priority window. If both pass, resolve the next exchange in the locked order.

Stagger

• Attacking Hero Stagger: the Hero's remaining exchanges immediately end
• Defending Hero Stagger: the Hero stops counterattacking for the rest of that Combat
• Defense +N granted at Flash speed before a Hero's Defense reaches 0 can prevent Stagger
• Once Staggered, there is no recovery mid-Combat — Defense boosts do not restore counterattacks

Quests

Quests are shared neutral cards belonging to the chosen Realm. Both players draw from the same Quest pile and pursue Quests independently.

• Each player has 2 active Quest slots, filled at setup and refilled at the start of each Main Phase
• Quests are hidden from your opponent while active
• Conditions are checked at End of Combat and End of Turn
• Completed Quests are revealed face-up and placed in your scored area

Quest Rewards

• Realm Control Points — Awarded directly (8 of 16 Quests award RCP)
• Vault Reward — Draw the top card of the specified Vault tier (Unique, Epic, or Legendary)

Faction Objectives

Each player's Faction Objective card is chosen before the game and represents the thematic ambition of their faction. It is revealed face-up at the start and visible to both players at all times.

Each card contains multiple independent conditions. Conditions are checked at End of Combat and End of Turn. Each resolves independently — you do not need to complete earlier conditions to unlock later ones.

• Conditions may award RCP, a minor reward, or nothing on their own
• Maximum 2 RCP total across all conditions on a single card
• Completing all conditions is an alternate win condition, regardless of RCP total
• Faction Objective cards cannot be replaced during the game

Keywords & Glossary

Passive Trigger Keywords

Each passive trigger can only be satisfied by the player who controls the card with that effect.

Each faction has a unique passive:

Divine — Occult

Shadow — Curse

Volcanic — Warcry

Ocean — Invoke

Mech — Empower

Life — Regrowth

Core Actions

Hero & Augment Terms