KeyForge

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• Setup
  • 1. Place all the damage tokens, Æmber tokens, and status cards in a common supply (if you have them).
    2. Each player places their identity card in their play area
    3. Each player places the 3 key tokens, 1 of each color, with the unforged side (grey) face up.
    4. Randomly determine a 1st player.
    5. Each player shuffles their deck
    6. The 1st player draws a hand of 7 cards. The other draws a hand of 6 cards.
    7. Each player, starting with the 1st player, has 1 opportunity to "mulligan" their starting hand by shuffling it back in their deck and drawing a new starting hand with 1 fewer card in it.
• Turn Sequence
  • 1. Forge a Key

    • If the active player has enough Æmber to forge a key, they must do so.

      • The default cost to forge a key is 6 Æmber. Some card abilities may modify this.
      • No more than 1 key can be forged each turn.
  • 2. Choose a House

    • The active player chooses one of their 3 houses to activate, making it the active house for the turn. The active house determines what cards can be played, discarded or used.

  • 3. Play, Discard, and Use Cards of the Chosen House

    • The active player can play, discard or use any number of cards of the active house in any order.

      • 1st Turn Rule: During the 1st player's 1st turn of the game, that player can only play or discard 1 card from their hand.
      • The active player may not play, use, or discard cards of other (non-active) houses unless specified by a card ability.
      • Æmber Bonus: Many cards have an Æmber bonus below the house icon. If the card has this, the 1st thing the player does is gain 1 Æmber per icon.
      • Play Abilities: Some cards have a "Play:" ability. These resolve after the Æmber bonus is collected (if any) and immediately after the card is played.
      • Discarding Cards: The active player can discard from their hand any number of cards from the active house.
  • 4. Ready Cards

    • The active player readies each of their exhausted cards

  • 5. Draw Cards

    • The active player draws from their deck until they have 6 cards in hand.

      • If the active player has more than 6 cards, they do not discard down to 6
      • If a player needs to draw cards (at any time) and cannot because their deck is empty, that player shuffles their discard pile to form a new deck.
      • When a player's turn ends, if that player has enough Æmber in their pool to afford a key, the player announces "Check" so their opponent knows they can forge next turn.
• Card Types

  • There are 4 types of cards in the game.

  • Action Cards

    • When an action card is played, the player resolves the card's "Play:" ability. After resolving as much of the ability as possible, the card is placed in the discard pile.

  • Artifacts

    • Artifacts enter play exhausted and are placed in a row in front of the player, but behind the battle line. Artifacts remain in play from turn to turn.

      There are 2 types of abilities that enable a player to use an artifact: "Action:" and "Omni:" abilities.

      • When a player uses an artifact, they exhaust the card and then resolve its abilities.
      • A player can only resolve an "Action:" ability if it is on a card that belongs to the active house.
      • A player can resolve an "Omni:" ability even if it is on a card that does not belong to the active house.
      • Some artifacts require that they be "sacrificed" as part of the cost of using them. When an artifact is "sacrificed", it is discarded. A player must still exhaust such an artifact when using it.
      • Artifacts cannot be used to reap or fight.
  • Creatures

    • Creatures enter play exhausted and are placed in the front row of the active player's play area (in front of any artifacts, if any). This row is known as the "battle line". Creatures remain in play from turn to turn.

      When a creature enters play, it must be placed on a flank (at the far right or left of the battle line). When a creature leaves play, shift the battle line inward to close the gap.

    • Using Creatures

      • When using a creature, the player exhausts it. The player has the option to reap, fight, or trigger the creature's "Action:" ability.

        • REAP: Any ready creature of the active house may reap. When a creature is used for reap, the controller gains 1 Æmber for their pool. Any "Reap:" abilities also resolve.
        • FIGHT: Any ready creature of the active house may fight. When a creature is used to fight, the controller selects a target of the attack. Each of the 2 creatures deals an amount of damage equal to its power. Damage is dealt simultaneously. If the attacking creature survives, all "Fight:" abilities on the creature activate.
        • ACTION: Any ready creature of the active house may trigger its "Action:" ability, if it has 1. When a creature is used to trigger its "Action:" ability, the creature exhausts and all "**Action:" abilities the creature has resolve.
    • Damage and Armor

      • When a creature takes damage, place the an amount of damage tokens equal to the damage dealt on the it. If the amount of damage is greater than or equal to the creature's power, it is destroyed and discarded.

        If the creature has an armor value, the armor prevents that much incoming damage each turn.

        • When a creature leaves play, any Æmber on that creature is gained by the opponent.
  • Upgrades

    • Upgrades enter play attached to a creature. Each upgrade remains in play from turn to turn continually modifying the card it is attached to.

      • If the card to which an upgrade is attached leaves play, the upgrade is discarded.
      • If an upgrade cannot attach to a card in play, the upgrade cannot enter play.
• Card Abilities

  • When resolving a card ability, resolve as much of the ability as can be resolved, and ignore the rest. Unless otherwise specified, the active player makes all decisions while resolving an ability.

  • Using Cards Via Other Card Abilities

    • If a card ability allows a player to play/use another card (or fight or reap with a card), the chosen card can belong to any house unless the ability specifically states otherwise.

      • When using a card via a card ability, any other requirements of using the card must be observed, or the card cannot be used.
      • Players can only use cards they control, unless a card ability states otherwise.
  • The Rule of 6

    • Sometimes a situation will arise when a card may be played or used repeatedly during the same turn. A player cannot play and/or use the same card and/or other copies of that card (by title) more than 6 times during a given turn.

  • Constant Abilities

    • If a card has an ability that does not have a bold precursor, then the ability is a constant ability that is active while the card is in play (and meets any conditions specified on the card).

      • Constant abilities on a card are active even while that card is exhausted.
      • Applying the effects of a constant ability is not considered using a card, and therefore, does not cause the card to exhaust.
• Chains

  • Chains reduce the amount of cards a player can draw. The chain tracker (in the starter set) breaks this down.

    Each time (including during setup) a player with one or more chains would draw 1 or more cards to refill their hand, that player draws fewer cards (based on their current chain level, below) and then reduces the chain counter by 1.

    Chains	Draw Reduction
    1 - 6	1 fewer card
    7 - 12	2 fewer cards
    13 - 18	3 fewer cards
    19 - 24	4 fewer cards

• Glossary
  • Ability, Card Ability

    • An ability is the special game text a card adds to the game.

      Unless an ability explicitly references an out-of-play area (such as the discard), that ability can only interact with cards that are in play.

  • Action Ability

    • To use an "Action:" ability, the active player must exhaust the card. The ability then resolves.

  • Active House

    • The active house is the house that the active player has chosen for the current turn

  • Active Player

    • The active player is the player taking the current turn. The active player makes all necessary decisions for all card abilities or timing conflicts that need to resolve.

  • Æmber

    • Æmber is tracked with Æmber tokens, and is used to forge keys.

      See also: Capture, Keys, Reap, Steal.

  • Archives

    • A player's archives is a facedown game area in front of that player's identity card. Card abilities are the only means by which a player is premitted to add cards to their archives. During step 2 of a player's turn, after they select an active house, the active player can pick up all cards in their archives and add those to their hand.

      • Cards in a player's archives are considered out of play.
      • A player may look at their archives at any time. A player is not permitted to look at an opponent's archives.
      • If the ability instructing a player to archive a card does not specify where the card is archived from, the archived card comes from that player's hand.
  • Armor

    • Some creatures have an armor value to the right of the card title. Armor prevents an amount of damage equal to the armor value that the creature would take each turn.

      • If a creature gains armor, the gains are additive and accumulate on top fo the creature's printed armor value.
      • If a creature gains armor during a turn, the gained armor does not absorb damage already dealt that turn. If a creature loses armor during a turn, it is not retroactively dealt damage that was already absorbed.
      • If a creature has "~" symbol in its armor field, the creature has no armor. These creatures may gain armor through card effects.
  • Assault (X)

    • When a creature with the assault (X) keyword attacks, it deals damage equal to its assault value (i.e. "X") to the creature it is fighting before the fight resolves. The active player chooses whether this occurs before or after other "Before Fight" effects and keywords. If this destroys the other creature, the rest of the fight does not occur.

      • If a creature with the assault (X) keyword gains another instance of the assault (X) keyword, the 2 "X" values are added together.
  • Attack, Attacker, Attacking

    • See Fight

  • Battleline

    • The battleline is the ordered line of creatures a player controls.

      See also: Creatures

  • Before

    • If the word "before" is used in an ability (Ex: "Before Reap:"), that ability resolves before resolving the game effect of the reap/fight/etc., but after the card exhausts if exhausting is required to use the card.

  • Capture

    • Captured Æmber is taken from an opponent's poll and placed on a creature controlled by the capturing player. Players may not spend captured Æmber.

      When a creature with Æmber on it leaves play, the Æmber is placed in the opponent's pool.

  • Chain, Chains

    • If a player gains chains, the player increases their chain tracker by the number of chains gained.

      If a player has any chains when refilling their hand, they draw fewer cards.

      Chains	Draw Reduction
      1 - 6	1 fewer card
      7 - 12	2 fewer cards
      13 - 18	3 fewer cards
      19 - 24	4 fewer cards

  • Control

    • A player owns the cards that begin the game in their deck. When a card enters play, it is under its owner's control.

      • A player can take control of an opponent's card. When this happens, that card is placed in the new controller's play area. If it is a creature, it is placed on a flank of the new controller's battleline.
      • If a player takes control of a card that belongs to a house not in the new controller's deck, they can make that house the active house during step 2 of their turn.
      • If a card that has changed control leaves play for any reason, it moves to its owner's appropriate out-of-play area.
  • Cost, At Current Cost

    • The base cost to forge a key is 6 Æmber. This cost may be modified by card abilities. The modified cost is referred to as the current cost.

  • Damage

    • Damage a creature has taken is tracked by placing damage tokens on the creature. If a creature has an amount of damage on >= to its power, the creature is destroyed.

      • Damage on a creature does not reduce its power.
  • Destroyed

    • When a card is destroyed, it is placed in its owner's discard pile.

      If a card has a "Destroyed:" ability, the effect resolves automatically when the card is destroyed, immediately before it leaves play.

  • Discard Pile

    • When a card is destroyed or discarded, it is placed on the owner's discard pile. The cards in the discard pile are open information and may be referenced at any time.

      • The order of cards in a player's discard pile is maintained during play, unless a card ability causes this order to change.
      • When a player runs out of cards in their deck, they shuffle their discard pile to form a new deck.
  • Elusive

    • The 1st time a creature with the elusive keyword is attacked each turn, it is dealt no damage and deals no damage to the attacker in the fight.

      • Elusive only stops damage that would be dealt by each creature's power; damage dealt by keywords or abilities still applies.
  • End of Turn

    • End of turn effects are resolved when a player's turn is over, which is after step 5 (the "Draw Cards" step).

  • Enemy

    • If a card ability refers to an "enemy" game element, it refers to an element currently controlled by the opponent.

  • Fight

    • When a player uses a creature to fight, the player exhausts the creature and chooses an opponent's creature. Both creatures deal an amount of damage equal to their power value to the opposing creature in the fight. Both are considered to be "fighting" for the purposes of card effects.

      • A creature used to fight is said to be "attacking" and can be referred to as "the attacker" during the fight.
      • If the attacker is not destroyed, all "Fight:" abilities on the attacking creature then resolve. If either creature in a fight has a constant ability referencing the end of the fight, the creature must survive the fight to resolve the ability.
      • Only the attacker can trigger "Fight:" abilities.
  • Fight With

    • If an ability instructs a player to "fight with" or "ready and fight with" a creature, the ability is granting the player permission to use the designated creature to fight. The fight is resolve following the standard rules for fighting, against a creature controlled by the opponent.

  • Flank

    • The creatures on the far right or left of a player's battleline are on the flanks of the line. A creature in this position is referred to as a flank creature. Any time a creature enters play or changes control, the active player chooses which flank of its controller's battleline it is placed on.

  • Forge

    • See forge a key.

  • Friendly

    • If a card ability refers to a "friendly" game element, it refers to an element currently under the control of the same player.

  • Hazardous (X)

    • When a creature with the hazardous X keyword is attacked, it deals X damage to the attacking creature before the fight resolves. The active player chooses whether this occurs before or after other "Before Fight" effects and keywords. If this damage destroys the other creature, the rest of the fight does not occur.

      • If a creature with the hazardous (X) keyword gains another instance of the hazardous (X) keyword, the 2 X values are added together.
  • Heal

    • If an ability "heals" a creature, remove the specified amaount of damage from the creature.

      • If an ability "fully heals" a creature, remove all damage from the creature.
  • House Choice

    • Each turn, a player must choose of the three houses indicated by their identity card, if able. Some card abilities may restrict a player's house choice.

      • If a player has gained control of a card that does not belong to one of their 3 houses, that card's house becomes an eligible choice for that player while the player has control of the card.
      • If there is no legal choice of house, the player plays the turn with no active house.
      • If a player is faced with 2 (or more) "must choose" mandates, the player may choose either of those options.
  • "if you do" and "in order to"

    • If an ability includes the phrase "if you do" or "in order to", the player referenced by the ability must successfully and completely resolve the text that precedes that phrase before they can resolve or perform the text that follows the phrase.

  • Keys

    • The 1st player to force all 3 of their keys immediately wins the game.

      • The color of a key has no impact on the game. Future card abilities may reference keys of a specific color.
      • For more info, see forge a key.
  • Least Powerful

    • A reference to the "least powerful" creature refers to the creature in play with the lowest power. If there are multiple creatures that qualify, each is considered "least powerful".

      • If an ability requires the selection of a single least powerful creature, and multiple creatures are tied, the active player chooses one.
  • Leaves Play

    • If a card that is in play leaves play (is returned to hand, deck, destroyed, discarded, archived, or purged), all non-Æmber tokens and status cards on the card are removed, all upgrades on the card are discarded, and all lasting effects applied to the card expire.

      • If a creature with Æmber on it leaves play, the Æmber is returned to the opponent's Æmber pool. If a non-creature card with Æmber on it leaves play, the Æmber is returned to the general token pool.
      • If a card has a "Leaves Play:" ability, the effect happens automatically immediately before the card leaves play.
  • Maverick

    • This symbol indicates that a card is a maverick. A maverick is an extremely rare instance of a card that has left its standard house and is now part of a new house. For all game purposes, treat a maverick as belonging to the house printed on its graphic template.

      

  • May

    • If an ability includes the word "may", the text that follows "may" is optional. If a player chooses to resolve a "may" ability, they must resovle as much of the ability as they are able.

  • Most Powerful

    • See Least Powerful. The rules are the same.

  • Mulligan

    • During setup, each player, starting with the 1st player, has 1 opportunity to mulligan their starting hand. This is done by shuffling the starting hand back into the deck and drawing a new starting hand with 1 fewer card in it.

      • After a player chooses to mulligan, they must keep the new starting hand.
  • Neighbor

    • The creatures to the immediate left and right of a creature in a player's battleline are its neighbors.

  • Omni

    • The active player may trigger any "Omni:" abilities under their control during any of their turns, even if the card with the "Omni:" ability does not belong to the active house.

  • Off House

    • An off house card is any card that belongs to a house that is not the active house.

  • Opposing

    • When a creature is involved in a fight (either because it was used to figh, or because it was attacked by another creature), the other creature in the fight is the opposing creature.

  • Pay

    • If a player must pay Æmber to an opponent, the Æmber is removed from the paying player's poll and added to the opponent's pool.

  • Play

    • When a card has a "Play:" ability, the effect occurs any time the card is played. For creatures, artifacts, and upgrades, the ability resolves immediately after the card enters play. For action cards, the ability resolves, and then the card is placed in the owner's discard pile.

      • If an ability "plays" a card from a source other than hand, "Play:" abilities on the card resolve. If an ability "puts" a card "into play", "Play:" abilities on the card do not resolve.
  • Poison

    • Any damage dealt via the power of a creature with the poison keyword during a fight destroys the damaged creature. This occurs when the damage is successfully applied to the opposing creature.

      • Poison has no effect if all of the damage is absorbed by armor or prevented by another ability. Poison only resolves when 1 or more damage is successfully dealt.
      • Poison refers only to damage that would be dealt by the creature's power, not by damage that is dealt by keywords or other card abilities.
  • Power Counter +1, Power Status Card

    • When a creature is given a "+1 power counter", one such status card is placed on the creature. For each of these cards that is on a creature, that creature's power is increased by 1.

  • Preceeding, Repeat the Preceeding

    • If a card text instructs players to repeat a preceeding effect, the entirety of the effect before the text providing the instruction to repeat resolves again.

  • Purge

    • When a card is purged, it is removed from the game and placed facedown beneath its owner's identity card. Purged cards no longer interact with the game state in any manner.

  • Rarity

    • A card's rarity symbol can be found at the bottom of the card, near the collector number. A card's rarity (common, uncommon, rare, or special) is used by the deck-generation algorithm to determine how frequently it will appear in decks. Special cards have a different type of distribution and do not obey the game's standard rarity rules.

      Symbol	Rarity
      	Common
      	Uncommon
      	Rare
      	Special

  • Reap

    • When a player uses a creature to reap, the player exhausts the creature, gains 1 Æmber for their pool, and then all "Reap:" abilities on the creature resolve.

  • Return

    • When a captured Æmber is returned, it is placed in the opponent's Æmber pool.

  • Sacrifice

    • Whena player is instructed to sacrifice a card, that player must discard that card from play.

      • When a card is sacrificed, that card is considered to have been destroyed, and any "Destroyed:" abilities the card has resolve.
  • Search

    • When a player searches a game area (such as a deck), that player looks at all the cards in the specified area without showing those cards to the opponent. A player may choose to fail to find the object of a search.

      • If an entire deck is searched, the deck must be shuffled after the search.
      • If a discard pile is searched, the cards are kept in the same order.
  • Self-referential Text

    • If a card's ability refers to its own title, that reference is only to itself and not to other copies of the card.

  • Skirmish

    • When a creature with the skirmish keyword is used to fight, it takes no damage from the opposing creature when the damage from the fight is dealt.

      • This applies only to damage that would be dealt by the opposing creature's power, not by damage that is dealt by keywords or other card abilities.
  • Splash

    • When an ability deals damage to a creature "with splash damage", the splash damage is dealt to each of the target creature's neighbors.

  • Steal

    • When an ability steals Æmber, the stolen Æmber is removed from the opponent's Æmber pool and added to the pool of the player resolving the steal ability.

      • If an ability steals more Æmber than a player has remaining in their pool, the ability steals only the amount remaining in the pool.
  • Stun, Stun Status Card

    • When a creature becomes stunned, place a stun status card on it. The next time the creature is used, the only thing that happens is the creature exhausts and the stun card is removed. It does not reap or fight, and any "Reap:", "Fight:", or "Action:" abilities on the creature do not resolve.

      • Constant abilities and abilities that do not require the creature to reap, fight, or be used are still active.
      • If a stunned creature is attacked, it still deals damage to the attacking creature during the fight
      • While a creature is stunned, it cannot become stunned again.
  • Swap

    • If 2 game elements are swapped, they exchange places with one another.

      • When 2 creatures are swapped, they exchange positions. This means that each takes the position in the battleline of the other. The swapped creatures must be controlled by the same player.
      • If cards from 2 distinct game areas are swapped (such as a card in play and a card in hand), the cards switch game areas.
  • Taunt

    • If a creature has the taunt keyword, any of its neighbors that do not have the taunt keyword cannot be attacked by an enemy creature that is being used to fight.

      • In the battleline, taunt creatures are slid slightly forward to indicate their presence to the opponent.
  • "this way"

    • If an ability refers to an effect that occurred "this way", it is referring to an effect that was produced by the same resolution of that same ability.

  • Turn

    • A turn consists of 1 player performing the 5 steps in the game's turn sequence:

      1. Forge a key
      2. Choose a house
      3. Play, discard, and use cards of the chosen house
      4. Ready cards
      5. Draw cards
  • Traits

    • Traits are descriptive attributes (such as "Knight" or "Specter") that may be referenced by other cards. Traits are listed at the top center of a card's text box.

      • Traits have no inherent game effect, but may be referenced by card abilities.
  • Unforge

    • If a previously forged key is "unforged", flip the key token to its unforged side. The key no longer counts toward its controller's victory condition and must be forged again to win the game.

  • Use

    • See Card Types for info on using cards.

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