You are a group of adventurers who have accepted a Royal request to retrieve the kingdom’s dearest artifact, a soothsaying device, from the top of a Tower. You must scale five floors, slaying dark servants, beasts, and supernatural beings. Will you survive and earn glory and the gift of prophecy, or fall and be claimed by the darkness?

Overview

• Players take turns playing minor arcana cards from their hand to deal damage to a series of increasingly-powerful foes. They must heal themselves and supply card draw, while also quickly defeating enemies that counterattack each time you play a card.
• Defeat all five foes and be rewarded with a tarot card that holds important information for your party. What could it mean? Only your party can decide.

Setup

• Separate the the Fool, the remaining Major arcana, the court cards (Pages, Knights, Queens, Kings), and the remaining Minor arcana.
• Select a character from among the Court cards, and name your adventurer. The rank determines your Class, and the suit determines your Gift. Any character not selected by a player is placed back into the box and will not be used.
• Classes give a special effect when playing a card.
  • King: Paladin. The stalwart Paladin stands at the ready to shield their allies from any foe. When you play a Pentacles card, place it in front of any player. The next time that player is attacked, reduce the damage by the amount of the card and discard it.
  • Knight: Rogue. The crafty Rogue is adept at finding openings in combat. When you play a Swords card, you may immediately play another Swords card once per turn.
  • Page: Mage. The Mage combines the elements to craft spells with surprising results. When you play a Wands card, you may play another card alongside it. You receive the result of both cards’ suit, in the rank of the Wands card (e.g., a 3 of Wands and 6 of Pentacles would deal 3 magical damage and draw 3 cards).
  • Queen: Priest. Pure of heart, the Priest can provide sanctuary to those who swear to uphold peace. When you play a Cups card, place that card in front of the player you healed. If they do not attack on their turn, they are not damaged by the Foe. Discard the Cups card at the end of their turn regardless of whether they attacked.
• Gifts provide an enhanced effect when playing a specific suit.
  • Scholar. Wands adds 1 to the result of any Wands card played. For the Mage, this applies to the effects of both cards played.
  • Tactician. Swords adds 1 to the result of any Swords card played. For the Rogue, this applies to both Swords cards played.
  • Devout. Cups adds 1 to the result of any Cups card played. Players may be healed above 20 health points by this player.
  • Merchant. Pentacles adds 1 to the result of any Pentacles card played. For the Paladin, this also applies to the defense provided by Pentacles cards.
• Shuffle the Minor arcana and draw 5 treasure cards. Arrange these cards in a vertical column in the center of the table. Then, shuffle the Fool into the Minor Arcana deck. The Fool plus the Minor arcana constitute the deck.
• Each player draws a full hand of cards.
  • For 2 players, the maximum hand size is 7 cards
  • For 3 players, the maximum hand size is 6 cards
  • For 4 players, the maximum hand size is 5 cards
• Shuffle the Major arcana and draw 5 cards. Place one on top of each of the 5 treasure cards. These mighty Foes guard the treasure on each floor. Place the rest in the box. They will not be used.

Gameplay

• The players decide which of them would lead their party on an adventure. That player goes first, and play passes clockwise after each player’s turn.
• Flip over the bottom-most card of the Tower. This is your first foe.
• On their turn, a player may take either of these three actions.
  • Play a card from hand. Resolve the effect of the suit in the amount of the card’s rank.
    • Wands: cast a spell, inflicting damage in the amount of the card’s rank.
    • Swords: lash out with your weapon, inflicting damage in the amount of the card’s rank.
    • Cups: whisper a prayer to your god, healing one character in the amount of the card’s rank.
    • Pentacles: resupply the party by drawing cards from the deck in the amount of the card’s rank, up to the maximum hand limit. Draw cards one at a time and distribute them to any player you wish. You may not look at the cards before they are distributed. Players may not exceed the maximum hand size and may not draw if they are at the maximum hand size.
  • Focus. Draw two cards from the deck.
  • Rest. Heal 3 health. You are still counterattacked.
• After you take one of these actions, the Foe counterattacks. Roll a six-sided die. Your health is reduced by that amount. Each player begins with 20 health and their health may not exceed that amount unless healed by a Devout character (aka, a Queen).
• Foes have increasingly powerful protective wards and have increasing health. While one or more wards are in effect, a foe cannot be damaged. Other effects of a card, such as healing or drawing cards, still occur.
  • Foe 1 has 10 health and 1 ward.
  • Foe 2 has 15 heath and 2 wards.
  • Foe 3 has 20 health and 3 wards.
  • Foe 4 has 25 health and 4 wards.
  • Foe 5 has 30 health and 5 wards.
• You may dispel one Ward by playing a card that corresponds to the Foe’s type. A Foe may have multiple types. Once you dispel a ward, keep the card you played nearby the Foe to track how many have been dispelled.
  • Human: if a Foe card shows a human in the illustration, you may dispel 1 Ward by playing a Pentacles card.
  • Celestial: if a Foe card shows an Angel or demon, you may dispel 1 Ward by playing a Wands or card.
  • Beast: if a Foe card shows an animal, you may dispel 1 Ward by playing a Swords card.
• Once you reduce a Foe’s health to zero, it is defeated. The Foe does not counterattack on the turn it is defeated. Flip it upside down, discard all cards next to it, and place the treasure card beneath it faceup in a designated space in front of the players.