KUNG CHI By Stone Mage Games RULES There are 15 Chi Markers per player, a 4 sided die, 15 Scroll Skrypt cards, 15 Sword Skrypt cards, and 15 Army cards.
GAME COMPONENTS
GAME SETUP The object of Kung Chi is to force your opponent to spend all of his or her Chi Markers or Army Cards before you spend all of yours. Each Player must manage 3 locations on the table. 1) The Chi Core : This is a pile where all of your Chi Markers begin play. If your Chi Core ever reaches 0 Markers you lose the game. 2) The Battlefield : This is where players take turns laying down Army Cards in the middle of the table. If you run out of army cards or run out of moves, you lose the game. 3) The Chi Discard Pile : This is where you place your Chi after it has been discarded as a result of losing in combat or other conditions. Proper management of all 3 locations will help insure victory over your opponent. Chi markers are not out of play when they enter the discard pile. GAME RULES (SETUP) Players draw 3 army cards and 2 Skrypt cards at the beginning of the game and at the beginning of their turn. 3 Army cards and 2 Skrypt cards are the maximum amount a player can have in their hand at any given time. If you carry the maximum you may not draw but you may Cycle. Do not reveal these cards OVERVIEW OF A TURN (Card Cycling) At the beginning of your turn you may shuffle your army deck and the Skrypt Card decks then discard 1 Army Card and 1 Skrypt Card to the bottom of their respective draw decks. You may then draw the maximum amount of cards allowed. This is called Cycling the cards. It allows players to have a chance to get cards that are playable. Players must commit to discarding before they draw if they want to cycle. Player 1 may place as many army cards as he or she wants on the battlefield as long as there is at least 1 matching symbol on each card that is touching. (See example 1)
Any time an army is placed on the battlefield with a Yin Yang Symbol, you may place a Chi Marker either from your Chi Core or your Chi Discard Pile on that symbol (this move is optional). You may use that Chi to add +1 to your die roll by placing it on an army card symbol that enters combat. The movement of the Chi Marker can happen at the same time that the Army card with the Yin Yang Symbol was placed on the battlefield. When a player matches two army card symbols on the same card with his or her own army cards they may draw a card from either Skrypt Deck as well as place a Chi from either your core or your Chi discard pile on a matching symbol anywhere on the battlefield or on an unoccupied Yin Yang Symbol. In example 2, if this was the opening move, player 1 would have the option of drawing 2 Chi to the battlefield because a Yin Yang Symbol was played, and 2 Army Card Symbols were matched. (Example 2). Player 2 started with 2 Skrypt Cards so in this situation he or she would not be able to draw additional Skrypts. Only 1 scroll Skrypt may be played when it is a players turn. Only one sword Skrypt may be played per battle for offense or defense if it directly effects the die roll in a combat round. Skrypt Cards in play count as part of the card limit. After a Skrypt is used and resolved, it may be discarded to the bottom of the draw deck.
COMBAT When Player 1 finishes all of his or her possible moves, Player 2 may begin by matching a symbol of player 1. This is considered an attack. Let s take a look at Player 2 attacking Player 1 in example 3 using example 2 as the battlefield. (Example 3) In this example Player 2 initiates an attack against Player 1 by matching the weapon symbol. The army of Player 2 has a Yin Yang symbol so a Chi marker is brought into play and moved into position to raise the level of the weapon symbol to +1. Player 1 moves a Chi Marker off the Yin Yang symbol and places it into combat to raise the level of the symbol in play to +1 as well. The Army Card is level 1 as well so player 1 has a +1 advantage over Player 2. Player 2 decides to play a Scroll on his or her turn which provides an additional +2 to the die roll. Now Player 2 has a +1 advantage over player 1. Player 1 then decides to play a Sword Ability which grants a +1 to the die roll in turn balancing the battlefield. DAMAGE Both players will roll against each other with the 4 sided die. Player 1 rolls a 4 and Player 2 rolls a 1. That is a difference of 3. Damage = ½ the result of the difference of the die roll + all bonuses rounded up for uneven results. Player 2 must discard 2 Chi from losing this attack. Always discard Chi played on the Army Cards used in combat first starting with the Symbol in play. Then discard Chi from the battlefield followed by the Chi Core. If the battle had been a tie the attacker would have won, which in this case would have been Player 2 so Player 1 would have to discard the Chi Marker used in combat. If there were no Chi Markers used in combat then Player 1 would have to discard 1 Chi from his or her Chi Core if there were no Chi on the battlefield.
TEAM ATTACK A Team Attack is played when the attacker places an army card on each side of the opponents army with matching symbols gaining an attack bonus equal to +1 including any other army level, Chi, or Ability card modifiers. This type of attack can only be played when both attack cards are laid down at the same time. (See example 4) In example 4 Player 2 has a +1 advantage over player 1 with a level 2 army and a +1 bonus for the Team Attack. Players defending may also add to this combat build by placing an Army card in hand, or a Dead Army Card (see Moving Armies), with a matching symbol on the other side of an attacking army as seen in example 5 using example 4 as the battlefield. (See example 5)
SPECIAL MANEUVERS In Kung Chi you are rewarded by creating patterns on the battlefield. These patterns only reward the player that completes the design. They symbolize a unique form used in combat. The design must not be directly joined along any face of an army card outside of the pattern. The only exception to this rule is a Closing Strike. If there is a card outside of the pattern that is lined up along the face of a card within the pattern, it may be removed by the player completing the pattern only if it belongs to that player and it is a dead card. The card must be placed into another active position or it will remain and the player will not be rewarded for the maneuver. If it is the defending player moving the dead card, it may only be moved into a non aggressive position. Players may claim a Special Maneuver if they lay down the last card to complete it but may only do so during an attacking or defending action. Below are a list of all of the Special Maneuvers.
A CLOSING STRIKE A Closing Strike is obtained when players place enough Team Attack armies for both offense and defense to complete a closed circle. (See example 6). When this happens the player that laid down the last army to close the Hex is awarded 1 Chi Marker from the discard pile by placing it back into his or her core. In addition that player may pick 1 of his or her armies from the battlefield to be placed back into the army draw pile by placing it on the bottom of the deck. Just because a player creates a Closing Strike does not mean he or she has won the battle. You must still calculate all of the modifications between both players and roll the combat dice.
A PYRAMID STRIKE A Pyramid Strike is obtained by a player placing the last Army on the battlefield which completes a Pyramid. (See example 7). When this happens the player that laid down the last army to complete the pyramid gains an immediate +2 advantage to the die roll. If another army card is played in a Team Attack or Defense that obscures the shape of the pyramid, there will be no die roll bonus. The Pyramid Strike must contain an army in the middle and may not be connected to any other armies on the battlefield.
DRAGON STRIKE The Dragon Strike delivers a direct hit to your opponent that sends 3 Chi Markers directly into his or her discard pile from their players core. This happens before the normal battle sequence. (See example 8).
SNAKE STRIKE The Snake Strike delivers a blow that brings Chi back onto the battlefield to fill every empty Yin Yang Symbol from the Discard Pile. Since the resolve of this strike takes place before the actual resolve of combat, Chi may immediately be moved right into position. (Example 9)
THE IRON FIST The Iron Fist offers the player the ability to search out two Yin Yang Symbol Army Cards from the draw deck. The player may then replace two Army Cards on the battlefield with those two cards. They may be placed anywhere other than attached to the Iron Fist and do not need to match any symbols. They are not offensive or defensive but offer 2 Chi which can instantly be used in combat on the Iron Fist Resolve. The 2 Chi come from the opponents core. (Example 10) The player must reshuffle his Army draw deck. If the Iron Fist contains 1 Closing Strike the player will be rewarded 4 Chi from the opponents core instead of 2. If the Iron Fist contains 2 Closing Strikes, the player will be rewarded 6 Chi from the opponents core. The opponent does not get his or her Chi back.