Arcane Codex — Rules of Play

Overview

Two players share a single shuffled deck of 52 playing cards. You summon creatures, cast spells, and wield mystical artifacts to reduce your opponent from 20 life to 0.

Cards drawn from the deck become your resources, your threats, and your answers.

What You Need

One standard 52-card deck
Two players
A way to track life (each player starts at 20)
A way to track the round (the game progresses in numbered rounds, with both players taking one turn per round)
A way to track sage essence (each sage enters with 5 essence, which changes as abilities are used or damage is taken)

Both players draw from the same shared deck.

Setup

Initial Draw: Shuffle the deck. Each player draws 4 cards.
Arcane Reprieve: If your opening hand has no lands, draw 2 additional cards. If it has exactly 1 land, draw 1 additional card.

Card Suits

Suits matter only for creatures. Each suit grants a unique combat ability:

♠

Spades — VenomAny damage this creature deals to another creature destroys it instantly.

♥

Hearts — SwiftThis creature may attack the same turn it enters the arena.

♦

Diamonds — SentinelThis creature does not exhaust when it attacks, so it may still block that turn.

♣

Clubs — CrushExcess combat damage beyond the blocker's toughness is dealt to the defending player.

Card Types by Rank

A card's rank determines what it is:

Rank	Type	Notes
A	Land	Produces power each turn; free to play
3, 5, 7, 9	Creature	Stays on arena; fights for you
2, 4, 6, 8, 10	Spell	One-time effect; discarded after use
J	Relic	Your creatures get +1 power
Q	Charm	Your creatures get +1 toughness
K	Sage	Powerful ally with special abilities

Lands (Aces)

Play an Ace face-up on your arena as a land. You may play one land per turn at no power cost.
Lands contribute to your power each turn (see Power below).
Lands remain on your arena for the entire game unless banished.

Power

Power is your resource for playing cards. It is generic — there are no colours or types.

At the start of your turn, your power renews. The total power you have is the power from your lands (1 for each land you've played), combined with the round bonus. The round bonus increases by 1 every 2 rounds: round 1 has no bonus, rounds 2-3 have a bonus of 1, 4-5 have a bonus of 2, and so on. You can calculate this as the round number divided by two, rounded down.
Lands are free to play.
Unspent power disappears at end of turn.

A card's power cost follows card value:

Card	Cost	Card	Cost
2	2	7	7
3	3	8	8
4	4	9	9
5	5	10	10
6	6	J / Q / K	5 / 5 / 10

Creatures (3, 5, 7, 9)

Creatures enter your arena and fight for you. Their stats come from their rank:

Power = rank ÷ 2, rounded down
Toughness = rank ÷ 2, rounded up

Examples
5 → 2 power / 3 toughness | 9 → 4 power / 5 toughness

A creature is destroyed when damage dealt to it equals or exceeds its toughness. Damage resets at end of turn.

Relics (+1 power) and Charms (+1 toughness) buff all your creatures while on your arena.

Spells (2, 4, 6, 8, 10)

Cast a spell for its instant effect, then place it in the discard pile.

2

Arcane Bolt

Deal 2 damage to an opponent target — an opposing creature, sage, or player.

4

Destruction

Choose an opponent creature and place it into the discard pile.

6

Revelation

Draw 3 cards from the top of the deck into your hand.

8

Mind Drain

Your opponent chooses and discards 2 cards from their hand.

10

Oblivion

Choose an opponent permanent on the arena (including lands) and banish it entirely — it does not go to the discard pile and cannot return.

Permanents (J, Q, K)

Jack — Relic

While on your arena, all your creatures gain +1 power.

Queen — Charm

While on your arena, all your creatures gain +1 toughness.

King — Sage

Enters the arena with 5 essence. You may activate one ability per turn:

+1 Draw a card.
−2 Destroy an opponent creature.
−5 Deal 10 damage to your opponent.

When a sage takes damage it loses that much essence. At 0 essence it is discarded.

Playing the Game

Each round is played in turn order until the game ends.

At the start of each round, Player 1 updates the round number.
At the start of each turn, draw 1 card from the deck. The player who goes first skips this draw on their first turn.
During your main phase, spend power to play cards from your hand (lands, creatures, spells, and permanents).
Combat is optional on your turn. If you attack, your opponent may react by choosing blockers.
On your opponent's turn, be ready to react to their attacks by choosing blockers for your creatures.
At the end of your turn, if you have more than 7 cards in hand, discard down to 7.

Combat

Choose which of your creatures attack. Each attacker targets the opposing player or one of their sages.
An attacker exhausts and cannot block on the next turn — unless it has Sentinel. Tilt the card sideways to mark this.
The defending player assigns blockers, placing each blocking creature in front of an attacker it will block.
Attackers and blockers simultaneously deal damage equal to their power.
Any creature with damage ≥ its toughness is destroyed and placed in the discard pile.
Unblocked attackers deal their damage to the defending player (or the targeted sage).

Damage does not carry between turns — all surviving creatures heal at end of turn.

Blood Debt Draw: if a player takes combat damage from creatures during a turn, they draw 1 card at the end of that turn.

Running Out of Cards

If the deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile and it becomes the new deck. The game continues without interruption.