Ice Etin's Cave
| The Ice Etin's Cave | ||
|---|---|---|
| Thalla Thall Rothach | ||
| Players: | 4 | |
| Length: | Long | |
| Complexity: | unknown | |
| Trios per color: | 5 | |
| Number of colors: | 4 | |
| Playing time: | 30 minutes - 40 minutes | |
| Status: Playtesting (v1.0), Year released: 2015 | ||
Overview[edit | edit source]
You are one of four powerful Flamemights captured by the evil Ice Etin. Breaking out of the cave where you were held triggers an alarm within the Etin's frozen mountain lair, and the caverns start filling with deadly icicles! The only way to save yourselves and the world is to open the four Embergates by collecting five runes for each, thereby destroying the mountain and the Etin's power! But will you survive?
Materials[edit | edit source]
- 15 pyramids x 4 colors = 60 pyramids
- 2 playing card decks
- 36 tokens
- 2 six-sided dice in 2 colors
- 1 d-14 die
Setup[edit | edit source]
Decide who shuffles and deals the cards. Each player is given a hand of 3 cards which are dealt face up. The remaining cards are divided into 6 equal stacks and arranged in a circle face up in the center of the playing area, and are numbered 1-6 clockwise. The tokens are place in a pile on the side.
Players pick a color and put their tree on stack 1. One token is placed each on stacks 2-6.
Gameplay[edit | edit source]
Movement and Life Points[edit | edit source]
The number of pips in one's tree determines how far you can move during your turn, at the start of the game, anywhere from 1-6 spaces. Movement can be either clockwise or counterclockwise. Person to the left of the dealer goes first. The pips also represent one's life points, which can be lost if injured by icicles (tokens). When injured, remove a pyramid with the total of points lost and place it next to you, or rearrange your tree with lost pyramids to show the current movement ability/life points of your Flamemight. If you lose all your pyramids you died from your wounds and are out of the game!
Opening Embergates[edit | edit source]
5 cards for each suit (hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs) must be collected and turned in at portal spaces, above/below stacks 1 and 4, in between stacks 5 and 6, and 2 and 3. An Emberune must contain 5 cards of the same suit.
Begin Play[edit | edit source]
Players take turns moving through the 6 caverns and encountering the spaces they land on. Various actions can be performed during your turn:
1. prior to moving you may cast a healing spell on yourself, if you were injured in your last turn. Discard cards from your hand for one point each. Note you can only cast one healing spell per turn.
2. you must move to any stack you want, the pip count of your tree allowing.
3. the cavern must be explored. Different scenarios can play out:
A. if the stack is empty of tokens, collect the rune (take the top card) and add it to your hand (face up), revealing the next card of the stack.
B. if there are tokens present you must cast a flame spell (roll the attack die). Add 1 point for every other Flamemight sharing the stack. If the roll is equal to or greater than the value of the top card of the stack (Ace is 1, Jack 11, Queen 12, King 13), you were able to melt all the icicles (remove tokens to the pile) and can now collect the rune.
If the roll was less than the card value, you may cast battle spells. Discard cards for one point each. If the total is still lower, you were injured by the icicles and lose 1 pip.
C. if there is another Flamemight on the stack you may either:
a. cast a healing spell if you have not done so earlier by discarding cards to heal your companion.
b. give your companion a rune from your hand, so that they can use it later for spells or to help complete an emberune they're working on. If this action completes an emberune it is turned in. Note sharing cards can only happen after an attack has been completed, and you can only share with 1 player, if there is more than one on the stack.
4. you must roll the spawn and location dice together. The spawn die determines how many tokens you take from the pile, and the location die shows where to put them. Note a stack can only hold 6 tokens, if the stack rolled is full, or will be full before you can place all the tokens, spread the spare tokens to other stacks that still have openings.
5. your turn ends and play proceeds to the next person.
6. if all the caverns fill up with icicles you all died and lose the game!-so get those gates open pronto!
Optional Rule
Talent specializations: each color represents a different type of flamemight, based on where they draw their power:
Soot (black), from Coal
Volcanic (red), from Lava
Noon (yellow), from the Sun's Zenith
Abyssal (blue), from Deep Sea Vents
Dawn (pink), from the First Light of Day
Vital (green), from Life
Cinder (grey [I'm sure someone has these]), from Ash
Spark (cyan), from Electricity
Ardor (orange), from Fire
Twilight (purple), from the Last Light of Day
Celestial (clear), from Distant Stars
Forge (white), from Molten Metal
If using this option, prior to shuffling the deck, take 4 cards, one for each suit, shuffle them, and give one to each player. The suit you get determines your talent cards: if you get a club, and use club cards to cast spells, you get 2 points per card instead of 1, and if you're on a stack that matches your talent, add 1 point to you attack roll.