Game Objective

In Mage Knight, players take on the role of powerful heroes exploring a fantasy world. The main goal is to complete the end‑game conditions described in the chosen scenario, facing enemies, exploring locations, and interacting with local inhabitants. Victory is determined by the final score, following the specific rules of each scenario.

Setup

To set up the game, follow these steps:

• Fame and Reputation Board: Place a Shield token on space 0 of the Fame indicator and another on space 0 of the central Reputation indicator.
• Enemy and Ruin Tokens: Separate the Enemy (round) and Ruins (hexagonal) tokens into seven face‑down piles.
• Offer Decks: Shuffle and place face‑down the Spells, Advanced Actions, and Conventional Units decks. Reveal three Spells and Advanced Actions as the offer. For Units, reveal a number of cards equal to the number of players plus two.
• Other Decks: Prepare the Artifacts deck (face‑down) and the Wounds deck (face‑up).
• Day/Night Board: Start with the Day side up. At the Source, roll a number of dice equal to the number of players plus two (at least half must be basic colors: red, blue, white, or green).
• Map: Place the starting piece (Side A or B) and reveal two or three pieces from the Map Piece Stack, as described in the scenario.
• Player Area: Each player receives:
  • Hero Card (with the Inventory for crystals).
  • Level Token Stack (with the 1‑2 token on top).
  • A Command Token (placed in the Unit Area).
  • Feats Deck: Consisting of 16 Basic Hero Actions cards.
  • Hand: Draw 5 cards from your Feats Deck.
  • Power Tokens: 11 Power tokens of your color (removing the opposite interactive power for the game mode: cooperative or competitive).
  • Hero Miniature and Shield tokens.

Game Flow

The game progresses through Rounds, alternating between Day and Night. Each Round follows this structure:

1. Round Organization:
   • Flip the Day/Night Board.
   • Replenish the Source (reroll mana dice).
   • Replenish the offer of Units, Advanced Actions, and Spells.
   • Collect the Tactics from the previous round and open the new set.
   • Each player prepares their Units, shuffles their Feats Deck, and draws cards up to the Hand limit.
2. Tactic Selection: Players choose a Tactic card. The player with the lowest Fame chooses first. The Round Order is then reorganized based on the chosen Tactic number (lowest number on top).
3. Player Turns: Players take turns in the defined order. If a player's Feats Deck is exhausted at the start of their turn, they may announce the End of Round.
4. End of Game: Check if the scenario conditions or the Round limit have been reached.

Actions and How to Play

On your turn, you can choose to play a Normal Turn or Rest.

Normal Turn

Consists of two optional parts, in this order:

• Movement: You spend Movement points to move your miniature. You can reveal new Map pieces by spending 2 Movement points. Movement cost depends on terrain (see Day/Night Board).
• Action: You may perform only one action per turn.
  • Mandatory Actions: Invasion of Fortified Locations (stronghold, mage tower, or city), combat with Raging Enemies, or player combat (if ending movement on another player's space).
  • Optional Actions: Interaction with Local Inhabitants (in villages, monasteries, etc.), exploring Adventure Locations (ruins, dungeons, etc.), or burning a Monastery.

Rest

You cannot move or perform actions. There are two types:

• Normal Rest: If you have normal cards in hand, discard one (not a Wound) and as many Wounds as you wish.
• Slow Recovery: If you only have Wounds in hand, discard one Wound.

Using Cards and Resources

• Action Cards: Can be used at their basic effect or powered up with Mana for the amplified effect.
• Spells: Powered up with Mana for the basic effect; at Night, can use Black Mana for the amplified effect.
• Artifacts: Basic effect or "discarded" (removed from play) for the amplified effect.
• Cards as Resource: Any card (except Wound) can be played face‑down to provide Movement 1, Influence 1, Attack 1, or Block 1.
• Mana: Can be Pure Mana (Source dice or temporary markers) or Crystals (stored in the Inventory). Gold Mana (Day) replaces basic colors; Black Mana (Night) powers up effects.
• Units: Activated by spending the Command Token. They become Used until the start of the next Round.

Combat with Enemies

Combat occurs in four phases:

1. Siege and Ranged Attack Phase: Pre‑elimination of enemies.
2. Block Phase: Use of Block effects against enemy attacks.
3. Damage Assignment Phase: Assign damage to the Hero or Units.
4. Attack Phase: Final attacks to eliminate enemies.

End of Game and Scoring

Refer to the rulebook for details on this section.

Tips for Winning

• Mana Management: Use the Source strategically, remembering that Black Mana dice are exhausted during Day and Gold Mana dice are exhausted during Night.
• Exploration and Reputation: Be aware that invading Fortified Locations or burning Monasteries reduces your Reputation, which impacts the Influence gained in future interactions.
• Using Units: Remember that newly recruited Units enter Prepared, but if you have no Command Tokens available, you will need to dismiss an old unit to recruit the new one.