Wyvern (TM) Rules

Wyvern (TM)
The Game of Dragons, Dragon Slayers, and Treasure
Created by Mike Fitzgerald
Illustrated and Designed by Peter Pracownik
Under the guidance and direction of Terry Donaldson
Revised Edition
U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
Publisher
Stamford, CT 06902 USA

Playtesters: Doug Bissonnette, Gary Miller, John Vivari, Patrick Carey, Vernon Rhode, Steve Rugh, Janine Arents, Steve Jones, Jerry Castro, Bob Morss, Jerry Manning, Andy Madison, Jim Wiley, Thomas Curran, Ted Krum, Mark Ayen, Mark Hilan, Mark McBride, Rich Rosenfeld, Jeff Rider, Bruce Shepard.

ISBN 0-88079-168-3

All rights reserved. The illustrations, cover design and contents are protected by copyright. No part of this booklet may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine or newspaper.

Booklet printed in Belgium

Wyvern (TM)

Wyvern (TM) is a fantasy, collectible, trading card game. You will find that the cards are real works of art you will want to collect. They also make a great card game. Many players keep some cards in binders for their collection and play with the rest. The starter deck contains a random assortment of 60 cards. Cards are either common, uncommon, or rare. YOu can play with each person having their own deck or see the special rules for playing from one player's collection.

Introduction

Wyvern (TM) is a fast-paced card game designed for two players based on the mythological world of Dragons, Dragon Slayers, and Treasure. Each Dragon in the game is an actual Dragon in mythology. You will find the Dragon Slayers, Treasure, Terrain, and many of the Action Cards also come from mythology.

THE CARDS: Look through your cards as you read the rules to familiarize yourself with the content of the cards. You will find that after a couple of games you will not need the rules since most of the game play information is on the cards. Words written in italics on the cards are mythology references and have nothing to do with game play.

There are four basic kinds of cards in the game. There are Dragons (Red), Terrain (Green), Action (Purple), and Treasure (Gold).

LET'S PLAY: You rule over a vast Empire and have an army of Dragons. In mythology, Dragons were first used to guard treasure. Dragons love gold and in Wyvern (TM) you must pay them to fight for you. You start the game with a payroll of 25 Gold Pieces (see Game Setup) and you are trying to defeat your opponent's army while keeping as many of your Gold Pieces as possible.

The game ends when one player has no Dragon or Terrain Cards in his Battlefield. He has lost the game. The winner scores 25 points plus one point for every Gold Piece he has left and one point for each Dragon and Terrain Card in his Battlefield. The loser scores half his remaining Gold Pieces rounded down. The standard Wyvern (TM) match is to play until one player has 100 points. You ucan also play until the winner is the player with the most points after a preset number of hands. We suggest at least two hands to determine a winner.

PLAYING AREA: Because many of the cards in Wyvern (TM) are played face down and then turned face up during play, it is important to play on a clean surface. Many players like to play on some kind of mat or felt. Please refer to the diagram on the previous page to see what each player's playing area looks like.

GAME SETUP: To start the game you must select 15 or more of the Dragon Cards (Red) and/or Terrain Cards (Green) to put in your Dragon Lair Draw Pile. Then you must put 35 or more Action Cards (Purple) and/or Treasure Cards (Gold) in your Treasure Horde Draw Pile.

Each player needs to keep track of his Gold Pieces. Chips or small counters are recommended. Start each player with 25 Gold Pieces and put some extra counters in a Gold Mine Pile shared by both players.

Shuffle each Draw Pile and take the top six cards from your Dragon Lair Draw Pile. Look at the cards and put them face down wherever you want in the six Dragon and Terrain Battlefield positions.

If both players agree, you can take the top card from your Treasure Horde Draw Pile or Dragon Lair Draw Pile and place it face down behind the Battlefield. The winner of the game wins this card.

Draw the top seven cards from your Treasure Horde Draw Pile. This is your hand to start the game.

If this is the first game of a match, determine who goes first by any random method. After the first game the loser of the previous game goes first. Follow the sequence of play as follows:

Phase 1 - Draw Phase
Phase 2 - Treasure Placement or Replacement Phase
Phase 3 - Movement Phase
Phase 4 - Action Phase
Phase 5 - Battle Phase
Phase 6 - Second Action Phase
Phase 7 - Discard Phase

Phase 1 - DRAW PHASE

Draw the top card from your Treasure Horde Draw Pile and add this to your hand.

Phase 2 - TREASURE PLACEMENT OR REPLACEMENT PHASE

You may place one Treasure Card from your hadn face up in one of the four Treasure Card positions in your Battlefield, provided there is at least one Dragon or Terrain Card in that row, or you can discard a Treasure Card from your Battlefield and replace it with one from your hand. If the Treasure Card from your hand has any Gold Piece Symbols on it you must pay that amount as you bring the card into play. This Gold is placed in the Gold Mine Pile shared by both players. Many Treasure Cards will affect Dragons in the row that the Treasure Card is placed and will require additional Gold payments to do ceratin things. Any additional payments are noted in the Game Information Section of the card.

Phase 3 - MOVEMENT PHASE

You may change the positions of one or two cards in your Battlefield, including Treasure Cards. You may move a card into a previously vacant position and you can change rows freely. Treausure Cards must always be in one of the Treasure Card positions in a row that has at least one Dragon or Terrain Card, and Dragons and Terrain Cards must always be in the Dragon and Terrain Card positions.

Phase 4 - ACTION PHASE

Both players may play as many Action Cards as they wish starting with the player whose turn it is. They are played one at a time until neither player wants to play any more. If the Action Card has any Gold Piece Symbols on it the player must pay as the card is played. Place the Gold Pieces in the Gold Mine Pile. Action Cards only last until the end of the Action Card Phase or Battle Phase unless the card says differently.

There are four kinds of Action Cards:

Action Cards are the standard Action Cards you play during this phase of your turn.

Battle Action Cards are only played during the Battle Phase (Phase 5).

Dragon Slayer Action Cards can only be played on your turn during this Action Phase (Phase 4). YOu can only play a Dragon Slayer on a face up card that the Dragon Slayer can affect. For example, Beowulf (Dragon Slayer) kills any Dragon of 0 or less Strength. You cannot play Beowulf on any Dragon that is not currently 0 or less Strength. You can only play St. George (Dragon Slayer) to get rid of a Treasure Card. You can only play one Dragon Slayer Action Card per turn and it must be on your turn. If you play a Dragon Slayer Action Card you skip the Battle Phase (Phase 5). When a Dragon Slayer kills a dragon it is not considered a Battle for game purposes. Treasures that increase a Dragon's Strength on defense would apply since the Dragon is defending against the Dragon Slayer. Treasures that give something to the winner or loser of a Battle do not apply when a Dragon Slayer is played.

Reaction Cards or Battle Reaction Cards are played in response to the play of certain cards. The Game Information Section of the card explains when to use the card and what happens.

The abilities of Treasure Cards are used as actions during your Action Phases. Your opponent has a chance to play Action Cards after you have used a treasure ability. Treasure abilities that pertain to battles are used as Battle Actions. Unless stated on the card treasure abilities can be used more than once a turn.

Phase 5 - BATTLE PHASE

In your Battle Phase you must either attack with a Dragon, or discard a Dragon or Terrain Card from your Battlefield and replace it with the top card from your Dragon Lair Draw Pile. You can only attack once per Battle Phase.

You select one of the Dragons in your Battlefield. If it is face up you simply announce the card that is attacking. Dragons can attack any card one row away. Flying Dragons can fly over one row to make their attacks. Your Subterranean Dragons can attack any card one row away. There are Treasure and Action Cards that let your Subterranean Dragons attack any card on the Battlefield. If the Dragon you select is face down, you turn the Dragon face up and pay Gold Pieces equal to the Strength number in the Game Information Section of the card and any Gold Piece Symbols on the card. For example, if you want to battle with Pan Lung you must pay his Strength, which is 0 and 1 Gold Piece for the one Gold Piece Symbol on his card for a total of one Gold Piece. If you want to use the Wyvern in this battle you turn Wyvern face up and pay 4 Gold Pieces for his Strength. Since Wyvern doesn't have any Gold Piece Symbols on his card the total is 4 that you would pay. Place the Gold Pieces in the Gold Mine Pile. You will notice that many Scouts are free to turn face up since they are 0 Strength and have no Gold Piece Symbols on their cards. Any Dragon taht starts the Battle Phase face down is considered to be attacking or defending "from face down." Dragons battling from face down are not considered to have been face up this turn.

Sometimes Dragons get turned back face down during a game. If this happens be sure to put a counter on the Dragon so you know you have already paid that Dragon to fight. You only pay once for each Dragon. This happens the first time the Dragon is turned face up. You can attack face down or face up cards. If you attack a face down card it is turned face up. If it turns out to be a Dragon, the owner of that card must pay the Gold Pieces required to pay that Dragon to battle.

BATTLE POSSIBILITIES

Replacing Dragon or Terrain Cards: If you don't have any Dragons to attack with or do not wish to attack y ou must take one card from your Battlefield (not a Treasure Card). Place the card from your Battlefield on your Dragon Lair Discard Pile and replace it with the top card from your Dragon Lair Draw Pile. All Discard Piles in Wyvern (TM) are face up. when you discard a card from your Battlefield that is face down you do not have to pay any Gold Pieces if it is a Dragon Card and you do not get any Gold Pieces if it is a Terrain Card. If you run out of cards in your Dragon Lair Draw Pile and cannot attack, then you must discard a card from your Battlefield (not a Treasure Card) without replacing it. This will cause you to lose the game if it is the last Terrain or Dragon Card in your Battlefield.

Dragon vs. Dragon: Compare the Strength Numbers of each Dragon. Include any Treasure Card effects that might alter their Strength. The Dragon with the lower number plays Battle Action Cards first. (If both numbers are the same the defending Dragon is losing the battle and plays Battle Action Cards first). Battle Action Cards can continue to be played until neither side wants to play anymore. If there are any Gold Piece Symbols on the Battle Action Cards you are playing you must pay that amount to play the card. Place the Gold Pieces in the Gold Mine Pile. After all Battle Action Cards have been played and Treasure Card effects used, the Dragon with the highest Strength (or the attacker in the case of a tie) wins the Battle. The winning Drdagon goes back to his attacking position, face up, while the losing Dragon is discarded to the owning player's Dragon Lair Discard Pile and is not replaced.

Dragon vs. Terrain: Look to see if the Dragon is a Scout. If the Dragon is a Scout, the Terrain Card is immediately discarded to the owning player's Dragon Lair Discard Pile and has no effect and is not replaced. Remember that no matter what it says on a Terrain Card, a Scout always destroys a Terrain Card. This is the only rule that takes precedence over what the cards say. If the Dragon is not a Scout, see if the Terrain Card applies to the Dragon. Some Terrain Cards apply only to Flyers or Non-Flyers. Other Terrain Cards will only work if the Dragon is within a certain Strength range. If the Terrain Card does not apply to the Dragon, the Terrain Card is discarded to the owning player's Dragon Lair Discard Pile and is not replaced. If the Terrain Card does apply to the Dragon, follow the instructions on the card. If the Terrain Card reduces the Strength of the Dragon, or makes it suffer some game penalty, place the Terrain Card on the Dragon as it returns to its Battlefield Position. The player who owns the Terrain Card takes Gold Pieces from the Gold Mine Pile equal to the Gold Piece Symbols on the Terrain Card. Terrain Cards are the only cards that allow you to gain the Gold Pieces equal to the Gold Piece Symbols on the card instead of paying them. You only get the Gold Pieces if the Terrain Card applies to the Dragon attacking it. The owner of the Terrain Card then takes the top card from his Dragon Lair Draw Pile and places it face down where the Terrain Card was located. Again you can only do this if the Terrain Card applies to the Dragon who attacked it. If the Terrain Card kills the Dragon, both the Terrain Card and the Dragon are discarded. The Terrain Card is replaced. No Battle Action Cards can be played when a Dragon attacks a Terrain Card. This is not consdiered a Battle for game purposes.

DRAGONS CAN HAVE LESS THAN 0 STRENGTH. DRAGONS ARE ONLY KILLED WHEN THEY LOSE A BATTLE WITH OTHER DRAGONS, OR ARE KILLED BY A DRAGON SLAYER OR KILLER TERRAIN.

Help in Battle: Some cards allow more than one of your DRagons to fight in a battle. When this happens you add the current Strength of all Dragons in the Battle. If you lose the Battle, all the Dragons that fought in the Battle for you are killed. If you bring a face down Dragon into the Battle, you must pay the required Gold Pieces at this time.

Row Changes: If the last Dragon Card or Terrain Card is eliminated in a row, then any Treasure Cards in that row are discarded to the owning player's Treasure Horde Discard Pile and the remaining row automatically becomes the first row.

Phase 6 - SECOND ACTION PHASE

If you have more than seven cards in your hand at this time you must discard into your Treasure Horde Discard Pile until you are down to seven cards.

If you run out of Gold Pieces at some point in the game, then you cannot play any Action Cards that require Gold payment. Also, you cannot pay any Dragon that requires Gold Payment to fight. You can only battle with Dragons you have already paid, or Dragons that will fight for free, like certain Scouts. If one of your face down Dragons is attacked and you do not have enough Gold Pieces to pay him to battle, the Dragon is immediately discarded into your Dragon Lair Discard Pile and you have lost that battle, this Dragon is not replaced. If it's your turn and all you have left are Dragons face down that you can't pay to fight then y ou must discard one and replace it from the top of your Dragon Lair Draw Pile. You will hope for a Terrain Card that could give you some Gold if your opponent attcks it with a Dragon the Terrain Card applies to. It is very hard to win when you are out of Gold Pieces so try to pace yourself during the game.

TIMING NOTE: In Wyvern (TM) every Action Card played takes effect before the next Action Card is played unless the play of the first Action Card is canceled by the play of a Reaction Card or a card that oes not allow the play of the firs Action Card. For example, in a Battle between Wyvern (4 Strength Dragon) and Celestial Dragon (5 Strength Dragon) there aren't any Treasure Cards affectin their Strengths so Wyvern is behind. Wyvern is the attacker, so if he can get to 5 Strength he could win this battle. His owner plays a Fire Breathing Battle Action Card to raise Wyvern's Strength to 5. Now Celestial Dragon is behind so his owner plays Frost Breathing, which does not allow any Fire Breathing in this battle. This returns the Celestial Dragon to the lead 5 to 4. The Wyvern owner then pays one Gold Piece to play the Magnetic Field, which is a Reaction Card that can be played during a Battle. This cancels the play of any Action Card so the Frost Breathing card is canceled and discarded. Even if your card is canceled you must pay for it when you play it and you don't get the cost back. Wyvern now leads 5 to 5 since he is the attacker. Celestial Dragon's owner now pays two Gold Pieces and plays Medea's Spell which makes Wyvern a 0 Strength Dragon. This applies to the Strength Number on the Dragon Card. You can still enhance that Strength with Battle Action Cards. Wyvern doesn't have a card to cancel Medea's Spell so his owner pays threee Gold Pieces to play the Poison Chalice which makes the lower Strength Dragon win the battle. Nothing else is played so Wyvern has won and Celestial Dragon is discarded. This is just one example of the kind of wild card play possible in Wyvern (TM).

THE CARDS TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER THE RULES EXCEPT IN THE CASE OF A SCOUT. A SCOUT ALWAYS DESTROYS TERRAIN CARDS NO MATTER WHAT THE CARDS SAY.

KEEP YOUR CARDS: Since some of your cards may end up in your opponent's battlefield, it is helpful to put counters on these cards so you can get them back at the end of the game.

PLAYING FROM ONE COLLECTION:

You can play Wyvern (TM) using one person's collection. You will have one DRagon Lair Draw Pile and one Treasure Horde Draw Pile for both players. Put at least 30 cards in the Dragon Lair Draw Pile and 70 cards in the Treasure Horde Draw Pile. When cards let you take cards from the Discard Piles you can get any card even if it was played by the other player. All the other rules are the same.

Official Tournament Rules for Wyvern(TM)

You must have 20 or more cards in your Dragon Lair Draw Pile and no more than 1 of any Dragon. You can have up to 4 of any Terrain Card. You can have 50 or more cards in your Treasure Horde Draw Pile and no more than 4 of any card.

We also allow sanctioned Wyvern (TM) tournaments using sealed Starter decks. You can make the National Wyvern (TM) Skill List by playing in official Wyvern (TM) tournaments.

To receive information on how to setup a sanctioned Wyvern (TM) tournament call the Wyvern (TM) support number at the end of this booklet.

Questions or comments should be directed to:

Mike Fitzgerald
U.S. Games Systems, Inc.
179 Ludlow Street
Stamford, CT 06902 USA

Call the Wyvern (TM) Support Line at
(203) 327-4274
for rules, questions, tournament information, or any other comments.