ASCENSION: ACT I

For a video description of the game, click: https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=NwLkOBRf1iM
STORY
Note: If you want to skip the story-telling phase and simply play the game, go straight to
the introduction section.
There was a time when the Gods of Olympus squabbled to gain favor from the mortals
of the earth. Chaos and war consumed the land as monsters, beasts, and humans fought and
died in the name of their chosen God. With each village that burned and temple that was
destroyed, one Gods favor rose while another Gods favor fell. This never ending cycle of death
and destruction continued to torment the land and its creatures until even Gaia, our mother
Earth, forsook all that she had once loved and fell into slumber. Yet, not all the humans favored
the Gods. Some wished for the death of the Gods. Only a few decided to go and slay the Gods.
This is the story of the Godslayers.
Player 1 and Player 2 are both cousins that lived in one of the small villages on the
outskirts of Athens. Their parents were poor farmworkers who made just enough to last through
Demeters grief (winter).Although they lived a frugal life, Player 1 and Player 2 lived a happy life
with both of their parents and both dreamed of one day finding work in the big city of Athens.
One night, an army of monsters and men attack their village and begin to slaughter its
inhabitants. Their parents usher them to escape through the backdoor while they distract the
raiders.As Player 1 and Player 2 run out the door, they see several monsters crash through the
front of their home. As they continue to run, they can hear their fathers yell and mothers
scream amidst the slash of swords and the tearing of bone.
They stumble into an armory and quickly shut the door behind them. As the children
attempt to grasp their breath, they hear a voice that seems to come from the ground. Children,
the Gods may have forsaken you but we have not. Player 1 wipes away his/her remaining
tears and yells, Whos there? but the voice continues, You have many questions but there is
no time for the answers. We will give you the weapons to fight your enemies. You must choose
whether to die here...or ascend. The armory is suddenly consumed in a blinding flash and the
children instinctively close their eyes. Upon opening their eyes they notice several objects
glowing in the room: a bloodied sword, a shining mace, two black daggers, and a dusty book.
Which item do you choose?
* Lay out the four class decks

If players choose to play the warrior with the deck of clubs: The bloodied long sword
shimmered eerily as player approached it. Perhaps it was a trick of light but player thought he
saw the blood stains move across the dorsal side of the blade. As player grasped the hilt of the
strange sword, he/she felt a hunger that seemed to emit from the sword. A hunger to cut
through the muscle and bone of monsters and men. The same hunger that player had felt for all
his/her life. As the armory door burst open with the first wave of monsters, Player charged
towards them and roared, not with fear but with rage.
If players choose to play the paladin with the deck of hearts: Player picked up the mace
and held it up with one arm. Holy scripture was written all over the weapon, from the hilt all the
way around the dulled edges of the weapon. As player continued to examine the weapon, a
faint glow began to emit from the top of the mace. Player began to feel warmth from the weapon
spread across his/her body. It was not just a physical warmth but a feeling of clarity and
conviction. As the armory door burst open with the first wave of monsters, Player tightly grasped
the mace and moved forward with one goal in mind: justice.
If players choose to play the mage with the deck of diamonds: Player blew dust from the
cover of the old book and opened its pages. The first page had a picture of a person shooting
fire from their hands and burning two black beasts. On the second page there was an
incantation that was placed amidst a scribble of texts and diagrams. As Player recited the
incantation, his/her hands suddenly erupted into flames yet it did not burn. All of players fears
vanished as he/she began to realize the amount of power that he/she had at her fingertips
(literally). Yet, great power is nothing without practice. As the armory door burst open with a
wave of monsters, Player walked calmly forward with flames trailing from his/her hands. It was
time to practice.
If players choose to play the rogue with the deck of spades: Player twirled the two daggers
in his/her hand. The blades were well sharpened at both ends and were light. In fact, Player felt
even lighter as he/she practiced a quick flurry of lunges and slashes. Player felt even faster as
he/she continued to move around and practice attacks with the weapon. Player knew that
nothing would be able to escape the speed of these two blades. As the armory door burst open
with enemies, Player was nowhere to be seen. At least, not yet.
After both players have chosen their decks, draw four cards from the monster deck and
enter gameplay.

INTRODUCTION
This is a two player, cooperative, survival card game that uses two decks of playing
cards. You can add in an additional deck of cards for three to four players. Players have an
opportunity to play as four different classes (warrior, paladin, rogue, and mage) and must work
together to defeat the opposing monster deck before all players take too many wounds and
perish. This game emphasizes teamwork, strategizing, and resource management.

SET UP
Players will need two decks, preferably with different color backsides (i.e. red and blue).
One deck will be used by the players while the other deck will be set up as the monster deck.
Player Decks
Players divide the player deck into four piles, each with one suit. Each of these same
suit decks represent the attacks of a class. Clubs represents the warrior, hearts represents the
paladin, spades represents the rogue, and diamonds represents the mage. Players choose a
deck as their class for this Act. Players must choose classes of different colors (i.e. red and
black suits). If players desire to play as two classes of the same color suit (i.e. warrior and
rogue, mage and paladin), one player must remember to identify as the opposite color of their
suit. Once both players have chosen their class, they must take the opposite color deck as their
wound deck.
The wound deck is the players health points. Each time a player takes damage from a
monster, the player will place a wound card into their discard pile. These wound cards will stay
in the players decks unless they are healed. These wound cards cannot be used to attack or
defend (except for warriors, who can use it for attacking). If a player runs out of cards from their
wound deck, that player dies.
Monster Deck

Players must specifically construct the monster deck for Act I. First, take out all the
Jacks, Queens, and Kings from the deck and organize them into three piles, with each pile
consisting of the same face cards. Shuffle the remaining deck. Next, place a King facedown
from the King deck and put three cards on top of the King from the remaining deck. Place a
Queen facedown from the Queen pile and put three cards on top of the Queen from the
remaining deck. Place a Jack facedown from the Jack pile and put three cards on top of the
Jack from the remaining deck. Repeat this until you run out of cards from all piles. There should
be three cards between each royal card and each royal card should be in subsequent order (J,
Q,K). To begin the game, draw four cards from the deck and line them up to the right of the
deck. There must always be a line up of four monsters throughout the game.

GAMEPLAY
During gameplay, players will be using cards from their decks to combat various monsters.
Each time a card is used, it is placed in the players discard pile. Once the players deck runs
out, the player shuffles their deck only when they need to draw additional cards.
Draw phase

Monster cards are added to the monster line up until there are four monsters in the line
up. Players each draw cards until they have three cards.
Discard phase
Players may choose to discard one card from their hand of their choice. This allows
players to not accumulate low value cards in their hands as well as give them the opportunity to
destroy these cards after slaying a monster.

Attack phase
Players have the opportunity to attack the monsters in the lineup. Players may only play
one card to attack any of the monsters in the lineup once. If their card is equal or higher than the
monster, that monster is defeated. Defeated monsters are placed in the monster discard pile to
the left of the monster deck.
Rule: Before their attack phase, players may choose to discard their whole hand to draw one
card. This is usually done when players have wounds and/or low cards that reduce their overall
effectiveness in combat.
Defend phase
Monsters have the opportunity to attack the players. Surviving monsters from the attack
phase will attack players whose class matches their color (i.e. black monster will attack
warrior/rogue, red monster will attack paladin/mage). Players have an opportunity to play one
card to block one attacking monster. If the players card is equal or of higher value than the
attacking monster, they take no damage. However, if they have no effective cards to defend or
choose not to defend, the player will take one wound.
Monsters that are not blocked remain in their lane. Monsters that are successfully
blocked are placed in the unblockable zone, which is the space between the monster line-up
and the player. Monsters in this zone can never be blocked but can be killed by either
player. Monsters in the unblockable lane count towards the maximum amount of monsters that
can be out (four).
MONSTERS
All non-royal cards are called mobs and deal one wound to players. Royal cards are
called bosses and deal two wounds to players. If a player kills a monster of their suit, that player
may destroy a card from their discard pile by either 1) taking any wound card from their discard
pile and placing it in the wound discard pile or 2) remove a class card from their hand from the
game permanently .This gives the players a choice of healing themselves by destroying wounds
or strengthening themselves by destroying class cards. Destroyed wounds are placed in the
wound discard pile next to the wound deck. The wound discard pile counts as part of the
players wound deck and total hit points. A player may only proc ONCE per turn. Once a player

draws all the wound cards from their wound deck, they may shuffle the cards in the discarded
wound pile back into their wound deck. Destroyed class cards are permanently removed from
the game.
CLASSES
The game consists of four classes: the warrior, paladin, mage, and rogue. Each class
has an ability that they can only use during the attack phase. These abilities shape the play
style of each of the classes and their roles within a team.
Warrior (clubs)
Bloodlust: Can use wound cards as attack cards
Rogue (spades)
Assassinate: Instead of attacking, can discard two class cards to instantly kill one monster in the
line-up.
Paladin (hearts)
Righteous fury: After attacking, Paladin can heal one wound card from hand.
Mage (diamonds)
Firestorm: Can attack twice. First attack can target any monster. The second attack can only
target monsters in the blocked lanes.