Adania Cards: Rules
What is Adania?
Adania Cards is a fast-paced card game where two players face off and use 12-card decks of UNITS, SPELLS and ITEMS to do battle with one another. There are 60 cards total split into 5 sets of 12 cards.
Aim of the Game:
CRUSH THE ENEMY! Each player has 20 life. Reduce the enemy player to 0 life to win the game, it’s that simple! We usually represent life with a d20 (20 sided dice). You can keep notes on a bit of paper as a score pad instead if you like!
Before you start:
First you need to choose a set! Each set represents an Adanian group and these are shown by colour on the card background. Humans are blue, Elves are green, Orcs are red, Goblins are yellow, General are grey. Flip a coin to see who chooses a set first, then alternate as you pick each set. Both players choose 2 sets of cards each. Both players then pick 12 cards out of the 24 available in their sets - these will be the cards you play with. When both players have a pile of 12 cards, you are ready to play!
TIP: When starting out, make sure to have an even amount of UNIT/SPELL/ITEM cards. 4 of each is a safe bet. As you play the game more you'll experience different combinations that might be useful in future games!
Starting the game:
Players each split their shuffled 12 cards into 2 piles of 6 cards facedown. The other player chooses which pile becomes the DECK and which is the HAND. Look at your HAND, DECK goes facedown. Flip a coin to decide who has the first turn!
Game Layout:
See the picture! There are 6 cards in the HAND, 6 cards in the facedown DECK to the left side. A d20 represents the life total of each player. Each player will have the board between them, which is made up of 5 rows x 3 lanes. UNITS are played into the Player Reinforcement Area, enemy UNITS in the Enemy Reinforcement Area.
The rows are referred to in this game in the following way from each player's perspective as seen in the image above:
Enemy Reinforcement Area - This is where the enemy will play their UNITS.
Enemy Frontline - This is where your UNITS need to pass in order to damage the enemy player.
No-Man's Land - The middle of the battlefield!
Frontline - The enemy needs to get their UNITS past this point to deal damage to you. You need to prevent this!
Player Reinforcement Area - This is where you play your UNITS.
Turn Order: MOVE > DRAW > PLAY
MOVE - Your units on the board move 1 space forward.
DRAW - Draw cards from your DECK until you have 6 in your HAND.
PLAY - You can play 2 cards in your turn. You can only play 1 of each card type in your turn (UNIT/SPELL/ITEM). Some cards will note any changes to this.
Damage to Players:
When a UNIT moves past the Enemy Frontline, they deal 2x their STR score as damage to the enemy player! This is how you win! There are also a few cards that will deal damage directly to the enemy player, so don't underestimate these cards when they come up!
UNITS
Units are played initially into the Reinforcement area of a player and then can choose to move according to their MOVEMENT SPEED (0-3). When a unit enters the space of another unit, they fight (see COMBAT RULES). See the card details for any bonuses or changes.
SPELLS
Spells played are entirely dependent on the description of the spell. Some spells are single-target, some will affect a ROW, some will affect a LANE. Follow the spell description for best results! Spells are identified by the magic scroll and secret glyphs!
ITEMS
Items can be attached to units currently in play, or played upon the field (where noted). Follow the description of the item card. They're similar to spells, but most of their effects come from an object.
PASS
Once you've played your cards and finished their effects, the turn passes to the next player.
Combat Rules:
When one UNIT moves into a space occupied by another unit, compare their unit STRENGTH against one another.
The following occurs:
> Subtract the smaller strength from the higher.
> The remaining amount is the new strength score for the higher unit.
> The lesser unit is killed. It goes to the bottom of the owner’s deck.
All combat is resolved in a single equation (see pic for example here!): Elves STR 7 - Humans STR 5 = Elves STR 2 (7 - 5 = 2). Elves win, humans die!
Tokens, dice, or scraps of paper can be used to represent when a STR score changes. Sometimes it is boosted by SPELLS/ITEMS, usually it is lowered by combat.
Good Game, Well Played!!
Make sure to shake hands! These games can sometimes get frustrating when your opponent is cunning and clever, but at the end of the day we're all friends. Shake hands, make improvements to your deck and play again!
