HOW TO PLAY
Are you ready to step into a world of strategy, creativity, and beautifully illustrated battles?
Shards of the Artisan is a tactical card game where two or more players face off in fast-paced duels, aiming to deplete their opponent’s deck before their own runs out.
​​Check out our playtest video below, where we walk you through a basic game.
Videos Tutorials will be released soon.
OBJECTIVE OF THE GAME
​In Shards of the Artisan, players engage in tactical duels, aiming to deplete their opponent’s deck.
The first player to empty their opponents Shard Deck, is the winner.
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Each player begins with a carefully constructed deck of cards, featuring a variety of unique characters, magical traits, and helpful allies. As duels are won and lost, cards are expended, slowly whittling down the players' resources, until depleted.
STARTER DECK
There are 5 different pre-built Start Decks, that contain all the cards you need to start your first duel. As you collect more cards you can customize your own Shard Deck with characters, traits and allies from your favorite artists.
STARTER DECKS CONTAIN 54 CARDS:
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3 x Persona
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9 x Signable Character
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2 x Twin Character
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18 x Standard Character
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5 x Ally (+1)
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5 x Ally (+2)
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5 x Ally (+3)
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7 x Trait
HOW TO BUILD A SHARD DECK
A Shard Deck is made from 1 Persona and a combination of Character, Trait and Ally cards, up to the deck maximum of 52.
EXAMPLE:
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1 x Persona
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29 x Character
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15 x Ally
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7 x Trait
Shard Decks may contain no more than:
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9 x Signed Character
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5 x Ally (+1)
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5 x Ally (+2)
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5 x Ally (+3)
CARD TYPES
There are 4 different types of cards in a Shard Deck.
PERSONA
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The Persona card is the hero/commander of your deck, and features a unique Trait.
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Each Persona represents one of the many artists who have brought SOTA to life.
CHARACTER
Character cards are the fighters in your Shard Deck, that duel to protect your Persona.
There are 3 variants of the Character cards, Standard, Signed & Twin.
Standard Character
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Standard Character Cards do not have any special bonus, but can be assigned Traits and be bolstered by Ally cards during a duel.
Signed Character
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Signed Character cards have a special bonus (indicated by the pen icon), that can be added to your Stat Total during a duel, if the card has been signed by the artist.
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You can get your card signed by artists at conventions.
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Signed Characters can also be assigned Traits and be bolstered by Ally cards.
Twin Character
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Twin Character cards act like Standard Characters, on their own. However, if you have both matching Twin Characters in Duel Positions, you can combine their stats and perform a Twin Character Duel.
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If you lose a Twin Character Duel, both Twin Character cards are moved to the Fractured Shards pile.
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Twin Characters are indicated by matching halves of a crystal icon.
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Twin Characters can also be assigned Traits and be bolstered by Ally cards.
ALLY
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Ally cards can be used to bolster the stats of your Persona or Character cards, during a duel.
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The stat that can be bolstered is indicated on the card.​
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If you have 1 of each Ally card type (Agility, Vitality, Luck, Magic, Charisma) in play, you may perform a R-Ally Bonus.
TRAIT
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Trait cards allow you to assign special abilities to any Character card in a Duel Position.
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Only one Trait can be assigned to a Character at a time.
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If a Character card with an assigned Trait loses a Duel, both the Character card and Trait card are moved to the Fractured Shards pile.
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If a Character card is returned to the bottom of the Shard Deck, the attached Trait card is also returned.
STATS
Each Character and Persona card has 5 stats it can use in a duel:
AGILITY
VITALITY
LUCK
MAGIC
CHARISMA
HOW TO PLAY
CARD PLACEMENT
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Shard Deck (Deck)
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Duel Positions
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Persona
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Fractured Shards (Discard)
5. Ally (Agility)
6. Ally (Vitality)
7. Ally (Luck)
8. Ally (Magic)
9. Ally (Charisma)
SETTING UP
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Before the game begins, choose a Persona card to represent you in the game. Persona cards are the hero/commander of your deck. They are more powerful than a standard Character card, and feature a special Trait. Place the Persona card in the Persona position.
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Players must shuffle their Shard Deck and draw 5 cards into their hand. - (Each player may redraw their hand one time, if they are not happy with it. To do this, they may put any number of cards from their hand on the bottom of their Shard Deck, then draw from the top until they have 5 cards again.)
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After cards have been drawn, players roll a D6 in order to decide who will start the first turn. If there is a tie, players roll again to determine the winner.
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The highest roll becomes the active player and starts the first Turn Phase.
TURN PHASE
Each turn phase is comprised of 6 steps:
GATHER > POSITION > BOLSTER > CHARACTER DUEL > PERSONA DUEL > END TURN PHASE
GATHER
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​Each player may draw cards from the top of their Shard Deck, up to the maximum hand size of 5. Players may choose not to draw cards if they wish. - (Skip this step for the first Turn Phase of the game.)​​​
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POSITION
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​Each player chooses a Character card to play from their hand, and places it in an open Duel Position. - (If a player has no open Duel Positions, they may return a Character card in play to the bottom of their Shard Deck and replace it with a Character card from their hand.)
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If a player does not have a Character card to play, they skip this step.
BOLSTER
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Players choose one of the following options:
OR
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If a player has an Ally card in their hand, they may place it into the corresponding Ally Position (Agility, Vitality, Luck, Magic or Charisma). - (Only one Ally card can be placed per turn, but Ally cards can be stacked in a position if one is already there.)
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If a player has a Trait card in their hand, they may assign it to any Character card currently in a Duel Position, by placing it underneath. - (Only one Trait card can be assigned per turn, and a Character card may have no more than 1 Trait card assigned to it.)
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If a player does not have either of these card types in their hand, they skip this step.​​
CHARACTER DUEL
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The active player chooses a Character card from one of their Duel Positions, and selects one of the five stats for the Dual. (Agility, Vitality, Luck, Magic, or Charisma). - (Each stat can be used once per Turn Phase, unless a Trait says otherwise. If all stats have been used, the active players Turn Phase ends.).
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If the active player does not have any Character cards in a Duel Position, they may Duel with their Persona. - (See Persona Vs Character Duel.)
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If the opponent does not have any Character cards in a Duel Position, the game moves onto the Persona Duel.
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If neither player has a Character card in a Duel Position, the game moves onto the Persona Duel. - (See Persona Vs Persona.)
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The active player then challenges one of their opponent's Character cards in a Duel Position, to a Duel.
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Both players roll 2 six-sided dice (2D6) and add the total to the chosen stat. This is their Stat Total.
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If either player has a Trait card assigned to their Character card, they may use its ability.
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If either player has any additional bonuses, they may add them to their Stat Total. - (See Bonuses & Traits)
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Whoever has the highest Stat Total wins the Character Duel.​
Example:
Player 1 is the active player and selects the stat Agility, which is a 6. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 3. Player 1’s Stat Total is 9.
Player 2’s Agility stat is 3. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 6. Their card is signed, so they can add the Signed Bonus of 1. Player 2’s Stat Total is 10.
Player 2 wins the Duel!
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The loser moves their Character card and any attached Trait cards to their Fractured Shards pile. - (If the active player lost, this ends their Turn Phase. )
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If the active player wins, and their opponent still has Character cards in Duel Positions, they must start a new Character Duel or end their Turn Phase. Otherwise, the game moves onto the Persona Duel.
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If the Character Duel is tied, both players return their Character cards to the bottom of their Shard Deck, and move the top card into the Fractures Shards pile. If the active player still has unused stats, they may start a new Character Duel or end their Turn Phase.
TWIN CHARACTER DUEL
If a player has both Twin Character cards in Duel Positions, they may perform a Twin Character Duel. - (A Twin Character Duel can be initiated during a Character Duel or Persona Duel, but only once per Turn Phase.)
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When performing a Twin Character Duel, the player may combine the chosen stat of both Twin Character cards, to calculate their Stat Total.
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If the active player targets one of their opponents Twin Character cards in a normal Character Duel, the opponent can choose to perform a Twin Character Duel or a normal Character Duel in responce.
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If a player with Twin Character cards loses the Twin Character Duel, they must move both Twin Character cards to their Fractured Shards pile.
Example 1:
Player 1 is the active player. They have both Twin Character cards in Duel Positions and decide to perform a Twin Character Duel. They select the stat Magic, and combine both cards stats for a total of 11. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 3. Player 1’s Stat Total is 14.
Player 2’s Magic stat is 6. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 6. Player 2’s Stat Total is 12.
Player 1 wins the Duel!
Example 2:
Player 1 is the active player. They have both Twin Character cards in Duel Positions and decide to perform a Twin Character Duel. They select the stat Magic, and combine both cards stats for a total of 11. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 3. Player 1’s Stat Total is 14.
Player 2’s Magic stat is 6. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 6. They add an Ally Bonus of 3. Player 2’s Stat Total is 15.
Player 2 wins the Duel!
Example 3:
Player 1 is the active player. They target one of their opponents Twin Character cards (Livaris) and select the stat Magic, which is a 6. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 6. Player 1’s Stat Total is 12.
Player 2 has both Twin Character cards in Duel Positions. They decide to perform a Twin Character Duel in response. They combine their Magic stats for a total of 11. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 3. Player 2’s Stat Total is 14.
Player 2 wins the Duel!
Example 4:
Player 1 is the active player. They target one of their opponents Twin Character cards (Livaris) and select the stat Charisma, which is a 6. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 6. Their card is not signed, so they do not get the Signed Bonus. Player 1’s Stat Total is 12.
Player 2 has both Twin Character cards in Duel Positions, but because their Charisma stat is low, they decide not to risk their 2 cards, and perform a normal Character Duel. Livaris's Charisma stat is 2. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 3. Player 2’s Stat Total is 5.
Player 1 wins the Duel!
(Player 2 only moves Livaris to their Fractured Shard pile.)
PERSONA vs CHARACTER DUEL
In the event that the active player has no Character cards in any Duel Position, they may Duel with their Persona.
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As with a Character Duel, the active player selects one of the five stats to begin the Dual. (Agility, Vitality, Luck, Magic, or Charisma). - (Each stat can be used once per Turn Phase, unless a Trait says otherwise. If all stats have been used, the active players Turn Phase ends.). ​
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The active player then challenges one of their opponent's Character cards in a Duel Position, to a Duel.
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Both players roll 2 six-sided dice (2D6) and add the total to the chosen stat. This is their Stat Total.
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The active player may use their Persona's Trait ability.
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If the opponent has a Trait card assigned to their Character card, they may use its ability.
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If either player has any additional bonuses, they may add them to their Stat Total. - (See Bonuses & Traits)
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Whoever has the highest Stat Total wins the Persona vs Character Duel.
Example:
Player 1 is the active player. They have no Character cards in Dual Position, and decide to Duel with their Persona. They select the stat Charisma, which is a 6. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 6. Player 1’s Stat Total is 12.
Player 2’s Charisma stat is 1. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 6. Player 2’s Stat Total is 7.
Player 1 wins the Duel!
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If the opponent loses, they must move their Character card and any attached Trait cards to their Fractured Shards pile.
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If the active player loses, they must move a number of cards from the top of their Shard Deck into their Fractured Shards pile. This number is determined by the difference between each player's Stat Total, from the Dual. This then ends their Turn Phase.
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If the active player wins, and their opponent still has Character cards in Duel Positions, they must start a new Persona vs Character Duel or end their Turn Phase. Otherwise, the game moves onto the Persona Duel. - (See Persona Vs Persona.)
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If the Persona vs Character Duel is tied, the opponent returns their Character card to the bottom of their Shard Deck, and both players move the top card of their Shard Deck into the Fractures Shards pile. If the active player still has unused stats, they may start a new Persona vs Character Duel or end their Turn Phase.
Example:
Player 1 is the active player. They have no Character cards in Dual Position, and decide to Duel with their Persona. They select the stat Luck, which is a 1. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 6. Player 1’s Stat Total is 7.
Player 2’s Luck stat is 1. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 10. Player 2’s Stat Total is 11.
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The difference between Player 1 & Player 2's Stat Total is 4.
Player 2 wins the Duel!
(Player 1 must move 4 cards from the top of their Shard Deck to their Fractured Shard pile.)
Signed Bonus
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Some Character cards have a Signed Bonus that can be added to any stat during a Duel, if the card has been signed by the artist.​ - (Signed Bonus can be added when calculating your Stat Total.)​
Ally Bonus
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Ally cards allow a player to add a bonus to the Stat Total of a Persona or Character card, during a Duel. The Ally card indicated which stat it gives a bonus too. - (You may use multiple Ally Cards at a time.)
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Once Ally cards has been used, they are moved to the players Fractured Shards pile.​
R-Ally Bonus
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If a player has at least 1 of each of the 5 Ally card types (Agility, Vitality, Luck, Magic, Charisma) in play, they may use them to add +5 to any stat, during a Duel. Once a R-Ally Bonus has been used, all 5 Ally cards are moved to the player's Fractured Shards pile.
Traits
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Trait cards are used to assign special abilities to Character cards.
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A Character card may only have one Trait assigned to it.
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If a Character card with an assigned Trait loses a Duel, both the Character card and Trait card are moved to the players Fractured Shards pile.
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If a Character card is returned to the bottom of the Shard Deck, the attached Trait card is also returned.
Example:
Player 1 is the active player. They select the stat Magic, which is a 6. However, Player 2 uses their Trait card to reduce it by 2. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 6. Player 1’s Stat Total is 10.
Player 2 has a Trait card assigned to their Character card. At the begin on the Turn Phase, they choose to use it's ability on their opponents card (Casstia), reducing its Magic stat by 2, and increasing their own by 2. Their Magic stat is now 8. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 5. Player 2’s Stat Total is 13. ​
Player 2 wins the Duel!
PERSONA DUEL
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The active player chooses a Character card from one of their Duel Positions, and selects one of the five stats for the Dual. (Agility, Vitality, Luck, Magic, or Charisma). - (Each stat can be used once per Turn Phase, unless a Trait says otherwise. If all stats have been used, the active players Turn Phase ends.).
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If the active player does not have any Character cards in a Duel Position, they may Duel with their Persona. - (See Persona Vs Persona.)
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The active player then challenges their opponent's Persona card to a Duel.
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Both players roll 2 six-sided dice (2D6) and add the total to the chosen stat. This is their Stat Total.
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If the active player has a Trait card assigned to their Character card, they may use its ability.
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The opponent may use their Persona's Trait ability.
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If either player has any additional bonuses, they may add them to their Stat Total. - (See Bonuses & Traits)
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Whoever has the highest Stat Total wins the Persona Duel.​
Example:
Player 1 is the active player. They select the stat Magic, which is a 6. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 6. Player 1’s Stat Total is 12.
Player 2’s Magic stat is 3. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 6. Player 2’s Stat Total is 9.
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The difference between Player 1 & Player 2's Stat Total is 3.
Player 1 wins the Duel!
(Player 2 must move 3 cards from the top of their Shard Deck to their Fractured Shard pile.)
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If the opponent loses, they must move a number of cards from the top of their Shard Deck into their Fractured Shards pile. This number is determined by the difference between each player's Stat Total, from the Dual.
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If the active player loses, they must move their Character card and any attached Trait cards to their Fractured Shards pile. This then ends their Turn Phase.
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If the active player wins and they still has unused stats, they may either start a new Persona Duel or end their Turn Phase.
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If the Persona Duel is tied, the active player returns their Character card to the bottom of their Shard Deck, and both players move the top card of their Shard Deck into the Fractures Shards pile. If the active player still has unused stats, they may start a new Persona Duel or end their Turn Phase.
PERSONA vs PERSONA DUEL
In the event that neither player has a Character card in any Duel Position, they may Duel with their Persona.
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As with a Persona Duel, the active player selects one of the five stats to begin the Dual. (Agility, Vitality, Luck, Magic, or Charisma). - (Each stat can be used once per Turn Phase, unless a Trait says otherwise. If all stats have been used, the active players Turn Phase ends.). ​
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The active player then challenges their opponent's Persona card, to a Duel.
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Both players roll 2 six-sided dice (2D6) and add the total to the chosen stat. This is their Stat Total.
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Both players may use their Persona's Trait ability.
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If either player has any additional bonuses, they may add them to their Stat Total. - (See Bonuses & Traits)
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Whoever has the highest Stat Total wins the Persona vs Persona Duel.
Example:
Player 1 is the active player. They select the stat Vitality, which is a 2. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 5. Player 1’s Stat Total is 7.
Player 2’s Vitality stat is 4. They roll their 2D6 and get a total of 4. They decide to use an Ally card to add a +3 Ally Bonus to their total. Player 2’s Stat Total is 11.
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The difference between Player 1 & Player 2's Stat Total is 4.
Player 2 wins the Duel!
(Player 1 must move 4 cards from the top of their Shard Deck to their Fractured Shard pile.)
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If the opponent loses, they must move a number of cards from the top of their Shard Deck into their Fractured Shards pile. This number is determined by the difference between each player's Stat Total, from the Dual.
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If the active player loses, they must move a number of cards from the top of their Shard Deck into their Fractured Shards pile. This number is determined by the difference between each player's Stat Total, from the Dual. This then ends their Turn Phase.
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If the active player wins and they still has unused stats, they may either start a new Persona vs Persona Duel or end their Turn Phase.
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If the Persona vs Persona Duel is tied, both players move the top card of their Shard Deck into the Fractures Shards pile. If the active player still has unused stats, they may start a new Persona vs Persona Duel or end their Turn Phase.
END TURN PHASE
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The active player passes their turn to the next player, and a new Turn Phase begins.​
WINNING THE GAME
Once a player's Shard Deck is depleted, they have no Character cards in Duel Position, and their Persona card has been defeated in a final Duel, the Persona is fractured and the game ends.