Rules | Terrus

Terrus TCG Basic Rules

Basics of your Clade

Terrus is a game of city building, attack, defense, politics, and construction.

A) Each player's deck of cards represents the center of their city and the DEN of their beasts (Shown here as back of Terrus card). A player may attach structures or beasts to their DEN. Any player's DEN is buried if any damage is done to it, causing them to lose the game. The DEN is not considered a structure for the purpose of actions and abilities. A rule must specify the DEN to be able to choose it.

B) Each player will begin the game with a special CLADE card attached to their Den in the space directly above. These CLADE cards represent your alliance with a particular species and offers special bonuses to those Beasts in your city. The CLADE cards also provide a vital resource (upper right-hand corner) early in the game that helps you get started building your city. CLADEs also protect your Den and can be built on or have beasts attached to it like any Structure. When a CLADE is buried, it transforms into a unique relic printed on the reverse side of the CLADE card.

- See card type CLADE for more info -

Beasts in your City

BEASTs are the protagonists to your civilization's development. They have special abilities, costs for barter at the Market, costs for recruitment, and statistics including Attack, Intelligence, and Defense.

BEASTs can be placed into your city during the Day phase when you "Recruit" them by paying a recruit cost (center of the card) and placing them in any empty space next to either your Den, Clade, or a Structure in your City. If a BEAST is ever not connected vertically or horizontally - "attached" - to a Den, Clade or Structure, it is considered "unmoored" and is immediately discarded.

- See card type BEASTS for more info -

One crucial role for Beasts is the defense of your Den, Clade or the Structure they are attached to. As such, you must place Beasts around your city to provide the most efficient protection. For more info on the mechanics of Battle, go to point 06.

Structures that Shape your Civilization

Your city's shape is a grid of cards (see shape below of 5x5, although a city can extend beyond this shape) with your Den (represented by your deck) in the very center. You may "Build" a Structure by paying its build cost (center of the card) and placing it in an empty space next to your Den, Clade or another Structure. In this way, you can increase the size of your city and the capacity to house Beasts.

As your city grows there are a few rules:

1) You cannot connect cards in the city diagonally. They must be either vertical or horizontal, and can be lined up according to the crystal nodes on Den, Clade, Beast and Structure cards found at each of the cardinal directions.

2) You cannot build or recruit any cards in the discard space. This is meant as a place for your discarded cards which are shuffled back into your Den once it runs out of cards.

3) You cannot move a Structure without a special ability so be extra sure where you want to build! Consider the spiral sequence of skirmish locations and build strategically behind the defense of your Clade or in front of it.

4) Be sure to keep track of how many structures you build in your city. One of the win conditions is arriving at Dawn of your turn with 8 or more structures in your city!

- See card type STRUCTURES for more info! -

Bartering at the Market and the Wilds

In all play formats there is a Market where you have to "Barter" for cards during your day phase to add to your deck. The market consists of 2-3 rows with basic resources on the top, basic structures in the second row, and a third row of cards from the Wilds (shown here with the back of terrus cards - these will be face up during play) that are optional in constructed formats.

The Wilds are a collection of random cards in a face-down deck that you place next to the market. This can be your entire collection of Terrus cards, or a more curated selection.

The Wilds feeds the third row of the market, replacing any empty space with the top card of the Wilds when a card is bartered for. The entire third row is overlayed with cards whenever the ability Activate the Wilds occurs, placing six new face up cards. This can bury cards below it which means you'll have to barter your way to gain access to them again.

When you barter for a card you must pay a market cost, which is designated in the upper-right hand corner of each card (the image of a wreath and a number called Fealty). You pay Fealty by discarding from your hand that many cards or generating Fealty from other sources in your city like Beasts and Structures with special abilities. Any resources generated in your city may also serve to pay Fealty costs. When you discard a card for a fealty cost, it has no effect besides reducing fealty.

When the market cost is paid, that card is added directly to your hand. IMPORTANT RULE! - During the same turn in which you bartered for a card, you may waive fealty costs in that card's recruit, forge, or build cost making it much cheaper!

Important rules for the Market:

1) You may only Barter for one basic resource and one basic structure per turn, so choose wisely!

2) You may Barter for as many cards as you can afford from the third row which are cards taken from the Wilds.

3) Rules for the Wilds: Whenever you barter for a card in the first or second row (basic resource and basic structure rows), place the top card from the Wilds face-up over the card in the third row in the same column from where you bought - effectively blocking what was there! (in the image example, if you buy a bug, or a hive, put the top card of the Wilds in the space below in the same column).

Forging Items

During your Day phase you may also "Forge" an item from your hand by paying the Forge cost (center of the card). The item must be attached to a Beast in your city. Items can be valuable assets for your Beasts, giving them special abilities, or increasing their statistics.

Items can be transferred from one Beast to another but only once per turn during your Day phase. A Beast can have any number of items unless otherwise noted.

Items do not take up a space in your city.

- See card type ITEMS for more info! -

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Battle for Supremacy and Survival!

A key element of Terrus is the survival of the fittest. Species have banded together to create different societies and many of them have developed bellicose tendencies! As such, you must master the arts of Battle, which includes attacking other cities and defending your city.

When you go to Battle, you may choose any number of Beasts in your city to make up the Army. Then, beginning from the top-left corner of your opponent's city (25 on the grid) and moving in a clock-wise spiral direction you will start a skirmish at the most outlying location. Depending on the configuration of their city, this may be a Structure, their Clade, or even their Den. Before a skirmish at a location begins, the defending player may choose to have any beast attached to that location to guard (participate in the battle). If a beast does not guard, then it does not participate in the battle and will be discarded (unmoored) if the location is buried - unless they can be attached to another adjacent structure, clade or den. Once decided, the skirmish begins with the defending player having the choice to first play a Dusk effect or action. Actions that say "Battle: " can only be played during these skirmishes. Abilities that say "Battle: " can only be activated if the Beast is guarding or attacking the location.

Priority to play actions and abilities is passed back and forth from defender to attacker. Once all desired effects and actions are taken, the attacking Army will add up their total Attack (ATK) and compare it to the defender's total Defense (DEF), which includes the DEF of each Beast guarding the Structure and the innate DEF of the Structure itself.

Each player player may then choose to distribute the the total ATK of their army in the form of wounds to the beasts in the opposing army. Beasts that take wounds equal to their defense are Buried in the Ravine. If the total ATK of the attacking army is equal to or more than the total defense of the defending army plus the defense of the Structure, then the Structure is also Buried.

A Counter-Attack is also calculated with the Defender's total Army ATK, dealing damage to the Beasts in the Attacking Army, distributing wounds however the Defender chooses.

Once both attack and counter-attack have been calculated in a skirmish, the Defending player may choose to "Fatigue" any Beast in the attacking army that has not been buried. Fatigued Beasts are removed from battle and must wait to return to their controller's city until their ruler's next Dawn phase.

If there are any beasts left in the attacking army after the resolution, that ruler may choose to continue the battle and move on to the next most outlying location in the city in a clock-wise direction, beginning another skirmish (see grid for descending order of locations). If the attacking ruler chooses to stop the Battle, all of the Beasts in the remaining army are fatigued until their ruler's next Dawn phase.

When an army reaches a city's Den, they only have to have 1 attack over any defending beasts or bonuses to bury the Den and remove that ruler from the game!

Voting Mechanics

The pen can be just as mighty as the sword! In Terrus there is a Voting mechanic that allows those Beasts of higher intelligence to dominate the game play.

Voting actions and abilities (called Conclave Votes) can be found on Beasts, Structures, and Actions, but there is also the Dominion Vote that can be called without any special ability or action (more below). Most votes have an inherent risk to failure, although some are more forgiving than others!

All Voting operates in the same way. At Dusk, a Vote is called by the player whose turn it is, choosing between either a Conclave vote or a Dominion vote. Then opponents have their turns to increase the total Intelligence (INT) in their cities. At the next Dawn of the player who called vote, add up the INT of all Beasts in their city and compare it to the total INT of Beasts in each Opponent's city. If the player that called the vote has the highest, they Win. Win and Loss consequences are then triggered before moving on with the next step of the Dawn phase. If there is a tie, then the vote is nullified and there is no effect.

The Dominion Vote can be initiated by any player during their Dusk phase as long as they have at least one Beast in their city. If the player that called the Dominion vote wins, they draw 1. If the player that called the Dominion vote loses, they discard 1. If a player calls and wins a Dominion Vote and has a total of 15 or more INT in their city, they immediately win the game!

Duels

A Duel is a contest of strength, wits, and/or fortitude between two Beasts. A normal Duel has three rounds based first on ATK, then on INT, then on DEF. The winner must win best two out of three. In the case of a tie, the duel is nullified and all effects are cancelled.

Each round of a duel, both players will place a face-down card from their hand on the table, then both players count to three together and either reveal (fight) or keep face-down (flight) their card. Fight means they commit the card, Flight means returning the card to their hand. Revealed cards add their market cost Fealty value to their relevant statistic for that round. Whichever player's has the highest added value wins that round. The round is considered a tie if the statistics add up to the same number. The committed cards are then placed in their player's discard pile. Once the duel ends, the consequences are triggered. Normally a losing beast of a Duel is buried, although there can be different consequences detailed on the card that initiated the duel.

There are also special Duels that only include one round associated with a particular statistic. This will be designated as a ATKDuel, an INTDuel, or a DEFDuel.

The Path to Victory!

There are numerous ways to win the game, and new conditions will be added as new narratives and mechanics emerge with new sets.

1) Build a city with at least 8 structures and survive until your next Dawn phase.

2) Destroy another player's Den by doing one damage to it during a skirmish.

3) Win a dominion vote with a total INT of 15 or more!

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Terrus TCG Advanced Rules

Actions and Abilities

As seen in the - Sequence - page, each player has a specific set of actions and abilities that can be taken during each turn.

Beasts, Structures, Items, Clades, and Actions all may have the symbols of the different times of day (Dawn, Day, Dusk, Night), which means they can be played during that phase of any player's turn unless otherwise noted. The player who's turn it is has priority to play the first action or ability, then passing in a clockwise direction as a response. Each action or ability resolves before the next one is played unless the ability has a reaction or cancel effect (see images). These effects are often have a special phase symbol, the Anytime, featured on "Gecko Tax Collector"s ability and on "Legal Objection".

Avians and the Aerie

Avian species are Beasts with a few extra rules:

1) Avians cannot be attached to a structure or clade unless otherwise noted. The special ability "Nest" designates a structure or clade where avians can attach like any other beast.

2) Avians are recruited to a special area next to your city called the AERIE, which is a located on the left side of each player's game space. Any number of Avians can be recruited into the AERIE. The AERIE cannot be destroyed and is not considered a structure... but it can be attacked.

3) When a beast attacks an AERIE, they compare their ATK to the total defense of the avians in the AERIE and if they have at least one more ATK (effectively doing 1 wound to the aerie itself) then all avians in the defending AERIE are fatigued until end of season. Defending avians cannot be wounded in the resolution of a battle at their AERIE but they do
counter-attack as normal. After the resolution of the skirmish, the battle is over and all attacking beasts are fatigued. If the attacking ruler succeeds in doing 1 or more wounds to the aerie itself, they draw 1. The defending ruler draws 1 for each avian that was fatigued in the resolution of the battle.

4) Avians may participate in voting and add their stats to any vote just as if they were in the city. Other effects that count beast in a city also include avians in an AERIE.

Seasons and Events

Events are special cards that can dramatically alter the game play with new mechanics, rewards for completing objectives, and collective punishment.

- See Events page for specific details -

At the beginning of the first player's turn, the first event from the top of the event deck is revealed. When an event is revealed, place a number of time counters on it as indicated by the number in the upper right-hand corner. Thereafter, at the beginning of each player's dawn phase, remove one time counter. When the last time counter is removed, resolve the event and then replace it with the next event from the event deck.

Seasons are an important part of Event game play with some specific rules to keep in mind:

1) All events have seasons (spring, summer, fall, winter) in the upper left hand corner. Seasons are also on all Beast cards. If you discard a Beast to pay a fealty cost during its season, it counts as two fealty points. The term used here is that a card is "seasonal". There are other effects or abilities in the game that have different effects during different seasons as well.

2) When an event changes and there is a different season, you must activate the Wilds if it is in play. This can change the market dramatically by filling each space with a new card to barter for!

3) Many effects and abilities say, "until end of season." This means that they last until the season changes. Sometimes an event will end and the next event is the same season, meaning that there is no change and the "until end of season" effect continues.

Relics

Relics are rewards gained from events or other effects and abilities.

- See Relics for more information -

Each player begins the game with their own deck of at least 4 face-down and shuffled relics. When a relic is gained, it goes immediately into play face-up in an area called the Exhibition, on the right side of a player's game space.

Relics have different abilities so the best strategies curate their relic decks to work in synergy with their deck strategy. Having 4 Relics in play at the beginning of a ruler's dawn phase is a win condition.

The Ravine

The ravine is where all cards go when they are buried. It is a communal space used by all players and can be accessed or interacted with using different abilities.

There is a Ravine card (see image) that just serves as a place holder for the Ravine, which can be played next to the market next to the wilds, or the relic and event decks.

Certain species are more adept at interacting with the ravine so look out for unique strategies that have an effect on buried cards!