Spellbond

Harness the power of the elements to decimate your foes! Using your spells, and those of you opponents, manipulate the flow of battle to your favor to annihilate your enemies.

Spellbond is an easy to learn, single deck, strategy card game for 2-6 players.

Objective

Defeat all your opponents by reducing their life totals to zero.

Items Required

1x Spellbond deck

A way to keep track of life totals.

(D20s recommended, not included.)

Setup

Shuffle the deck of Spellbond cards and deal 5 cards face-down to each player. Each player may look at their cards at any time but should not show anyone else their cards. Place the remaining deck of cards face-down in the center of the table. A face-up spell pile and a face-down discard pile will be placed adjacent to the deck as the game progresses. Determine who will go first and the turn order. Clockwise is always a good choice.

Each player begins the game with 20 life, and at no point can exceed 20 life.

How to Play

At the beginning of each player’s turn, that player draws a card from the top of the Spellbond deck. That player must then preform at least one of the following actions:

1. Cast a spell.

2. Equip an essence.

3. Charge. (see Charged Spells below)

A player may take any number of these actions in any order. During a player’s turn, no other players may take any action.

If a player would end their turn with more than 5 cards in their hand, that player must discard down to 5 cards at the end of their turn.

Playing a Spell

A player casts a spell by placing an elemental card from their hand face-up onto the spell pile. If that spell is the same element as the spell cast before it, those spells “bond” together to form a more powerful one. The primary effect of the element is triggered and multiplied by the total number of bonded spells.

If that spell is an Aether spell, it bonds together with the previous elemental spell to form a more powerful one. The primary effect of the previous element is triggered and multiplied by the total number of bonded spells.

If that spell is a different element than the one played before it, then the alternate effect corresponding to the previous element is triggered. If that spell is the first spell cast or if the last spell cast was an Aether, then that spell’s primary effect is triggered.

Bonded Spells

When two or more spells of the same element are cast consecutively, those spells bond together, resulting in a more powerful spell. These fragile bonds are destroyed by casting an unbonded spell. When casting a bonded spell, multiply all that spell’s effects by the total number of bonded spells.

Aether spells can bond to other elements, gaining the effects of the element it is bonded to. But unlike the other elements, Aether spells cannot be bonded to. This makes Aether great for ensuring huge spells for yourself, while preventing you opponents from bonding their spells to yours.

When a Fire, Water, Air, or Earth spell is cast, multiply its primary effect by the number of consecutive spells of the same element type. When an Aether spell is played, copy the primary effect of the previous element type, and multiply it by the number of consecutive spells of that type plus the Aether spell.

Equipping an Essence

Essences are special cards that modify the way your spells behave. An essence is equipped by placing it face-up in front of you. A player may only have one essence equipped at any time but may discard an equipped essence and equip a new one during their turn.

Each essence card enhances a specific element type, lasts until it is discarded, and must be discarded if specific conditions are met.

Charged Spells

A charged spell is an extra spell that a player may cast during their turn but requires one turn to charge before it may be cast. To charge a spell, a player places an elemental card from their hand face-up in front of themself. This spell may be cast on that player’s next turn or any turn after that. Each player may only have one charged spell at a time. Once a spell has been charged, it cannot be uncharged and must be cast before another spell can be charged. A player cannot charge a spell on the same turn a charged spell was cast. Charged spells function just like normal spells, except they must be charged for one turn prior to use and your opponents can see and plan around them.

Discarding

Discarded cards are placed face-down into the discard pile.

Example 1

Turn 1: Christine starts the game by drawing a card. She then chooses to charge an Aether and cast a Fire spell, dealing 2 damage to George.

Turn 2: George draws a card and casts a Fire spell, dealing 4 damage to Christine. (2 damage x 2 bonded Fire spells)

Turn 3: Christine draws another card and casts another Fire spell dealing 6 damage to George, then casts the Aether spell she charged on her last turn, dealing another 8 damage. (2 damage x 3 bonded Fire spells + 2 damage x 4 bonded “Fire” spells)

Turn 4: George draws a card and hangs his head in shame as he casts an unbonded Fire spell, dealing a meager 2 points of damage to Christine…

Example 2

Turn 1: George starts the game by drawing a card, choosing to charge an Aether, and casts an Earth spell, making Christine discard a card.

Turn 2: Christine also draws a card, equips an Essence of Earth, and casts an Earth spell, making George discard 2 cards while she draws 2 cards. (picking an additional effect and multiplying each effect by the number of bonded Earth spells)

Turn 3: George draws a card, casts an Air spell, drawing 2 cards (equal to the number of bonded Earth spells) and casts his charged Aether spell, drawing four more cards and discarding 2. ([draw 2 + discard 1] x 2 bonded “Air” spells)

Turn 4: Christine draws a card and casts a Fire spell, dealing 2 damage to George…