Home INTRODUCTION
The Dark Pharaoh has fallen, and the land of Hekumet has plunged into chaos. All
along the Great River, from the upper cataracts to the lower delta, the Great
Houses are vying with each other for control of the realm. In the end, only one
House will claim supremacy over all of Hekumet. Will it be yours?
Scarab
Lords is a
two-player card game in which each player takes on the role of a noble house
trying to control the realm. The land of Hekumet is divided into two regions (upper
and lower Hekumet), and each region is divided into three areas of conflict
called columns (military, religious, and economic). To win the game, you
must have supremacy in two of the three columns in both regions.
You also win the game if your opponent runs out of cards in his or her deck.
•
Board: This is placed between the players.
• Scarab Counters: These are placed on cards when they are cursed,
and removed from cards when they are uncursed. (Cursing and uncursing are
explained below.)
• Pyramids: These are used to keep track of which player has supremacy
in each area of conflict. (Supremacy is explained below.)
• Cards: There are 84 cards, divided into two 30-card game decks and
one 24-card bonus deck (which is only used in the advanced game).
The
board represents the land of Hekumet, and is divided into two regions (upper
and lower Hekumet). Each region is further divided into three columns (military,
economic, and religious) representing the three areas of conflict. There are six
columns on the board: three in upper Hekumet, and three in lower Hekumet.
The
Board
Upper Hekumet Lower Hekumet
Economic
Column – Religious Column – Military Column --- Gods --- Military Column –
Religious Column – Economic Column
The
30 blue cards belong to the House Ankar deck. The 30 red cards belong to the
House Temet deck. The 24 white cards belong to the neutral bonus deck. Before
beginning the game, arrange the cards into their three respective decks. The
cards are divided into five types:
minions, buildings, leaders, gods, and fate.
These
cards represent the people and creatures that help your house in its bid for
supremacy. Each minion card is played into one of the six columns and has a power
rating. If you have the most power in a column, you achieve supremacy in
that column. (Power and supremacy are explained below.) Once played, minion
cards remain in play until removed.
Building
cards represent the places of power in Hekumet. Building cards are played into
columns and have power ratings, just like minion cards, but usually have higher
power ratings and come into play with scarab counters on them. (Scarab counters
are explained below.) Once played, building cards remain in play until removed.
Leader
cards represent the heroes, nobles, and wizards who serve your House. Leader
cards are played into columns and have power ratings like minion and building
cards, but you may only have one leader card in each column. Once played, leader
cards remain in play until removed.
These
cards represent the favor of the gods of Hekumet and are played in the center of
the board instead of a column. You may have no more than three god cards in
play. If you play a fourth god card, you must discard one of your three god
cards in play. Only one player may have god cards in play. If you play a god
card, your opponent must discard all of his or her god cards from play.
Fate
cards represent the will of the gods. When you play a fate card from your hand,
its effects take place immediately and the card is discarded.
1.
Title: The name
of the card.
2. Power: The
power value of the card, which indicates how much it contributes to you
achieving supremacy in its column.
3. Phase: Indicates
which phase (0, 1, 2, or supremacy) this card may be played or activated.
4. Icons: Indicate
into which column(s) — military, religious, or economic — this card may be
played.
The three icons are:
Military
Religious
Economic
5. Card Type: Indicates
whether the card is a minion, building, leader, god, or fate.
6. Card Text: Describes
the card’s special abilities or rules. Card text in italics is flavor
text; it has no game effect, but describes the world of Scarab Lords.
During
the game, cards may become cursed. A scarab counter is placed on that
card to indicate that it is cursed. A cursed card is considered to have no power
rating and no text. It is effectively a blank card. You may curse a card
that is already cursed, and put an additional scarab counter on it, but doing so
has no additional effect. Cursed cards can also be uncursed. When you
uncurse a card, remove one scarab counter from that card. If any other
scarab counters remain on the card, however, it remains cursed and still has
no power rating or text.
SETUP
Place the board in the middle of the playing area, between both players, as
shown in the layout diagram. Place the six pyramids by one end of the board and
the scarab counters by the other end. Randomly choose one player to take the
House Ankar deck. The other player takes the House Temet deck. The remaining 24
cards are placed to one side. (They are only used in the advanced game, which is
explained at the end of these rules.) Both players shuffle their decks, place
them face down in their playing area, and draw six cards each for their opening
hands.
PLAYING
THE GAME
Decide randomly which player takes the first turn. Each player completes his or
her entire turn before play passes to the opponent. Play passes back and forth
in this fashion until one player wins.
Your
turn is divided into four phases, taken in the following order:
Phase 0: You may
take any number of “phase 0” actions
Phase 1: You may
take one “phase 1” action
Phase 2: You may
take one “phase 2” action
Supremacy: Determine,
then exercise your supremacy. During your turn, you must play or discard
at least one card from your. hand. You may choose to “pass” (not take any
actions) during any phase except the supremacy phase. When you have completed
your turn, your opponent begins his or her turn.
On
his or her very first turn, the first player may only play two of the four
phases. The first player may choose which phases to play.
You
may choose to skip your entire turn (including your supremacy phase) and instead
refresh your hand. To do this, discard any number of unwanted cards from your
hand, then draw cards until you have six cards in your hand.
During
your turn, you may discard any of your cards in your hand or already in play.
Discarding cards does not cost an action. When a card is discarded for any
reason, it is placed face-up in its player’s discard pile.
As
an action, you may do one of the following during your turn:
• Play a Card
• Activate a Card
• Uncurse a Card
You
may use an action to put a card from your hand into play on your side of the
board. You may only play a card during that card’s phase. For example,
you can only play a phase 2 card during phase 2 of your turn.
You
may only play minions, buildings, and leaders into a column that corresponds to
one of their icons. For example, a minion with the economic and religious icons
can only be played into an economic or religious column.
Example:
During
Eric’s turn, on phase 1, he plays “Merchant Caravan,” a phase 1 minion.
This card only has the economic icon, so Eric plays it into the economic column
in the Upper Hekumet region.
You
may only have one leader in each column. If you already have a leader in a
column, you may not play a new leader into that column unless you discard the
first leader.
Example:
During
phase 2 of his turn, Eric wants to play “Shon-Ra the Radiant,” a phase 2
leader. Shon-Ra has all three icons, and can therefore be played into any
column. Eric already has leaders in both military columns, however, so he cannot
play his card into either of those columns unless he discards one of the leaders
already in play and replaces it with Shon-Ra.
Fate
cards have no icons. Fate cards are played, then immediately discarded.
God
cards also have no icons, and are played in the middle of the board. If you play
a god card, your opponent must immediately discard all of his or her god cards
in play. Your god card is then immediately activated (explained below).
Example:
Eric’s
opponent has two gods in play and Eric has none. During phase 2 of his turn,
Eric plays “Khema,” a phase 2 god. Eric’s opponents immediately discards
all his god cards, then Khema is activated. Khema’s card text says, “During
phase 2, you may remove one scarab from any one card. This does not cost an
action.” Because Khema is activated, and it is still phase 2, Eric may remove
one scarab from any one card.
You
may have no more than three god cards in play. If you play a fourth god card,
you must discard one of your three god cards in play.
Many
cards have special game effects listed in their text. Some cards’ text is passive
while other cards’ text is active. Text that begins with “Action:”
is active text; all other text is passive.
Passive
text takes effect immediately when its card is played, and stays in
effect as long as its card remains in play (and free of scarabs).
Active
text also takes effect immediately when its card is played, but it can
also take effect when you spend an action to activate it. You may use an action
to activate the effect of a card, but only during that card’s phase. For
example, a phase 1 card can only be activated during phase 1 of your turn.
You
may only activate one card per action.
Example:
Kevin has
the phase 2 god “Enhu” in play. Enhu has the text, “Action: Your opponent
must choose and discard two cards from his or her hand.” During phase 2 of his
turn, Kevin activates Enhu and forces his opponent to discard two cards.
Kevin’s phase 2 is now complete.
You
may use an action to remove one scarab counter from a card. If there are
multiple scarabs on the card, you may still only remove one for each action. You
may only uncurse a card during that card’s phase. For example, you may only
uncurse a phase 2 card during phase 2 of your turn.
Example:
Kevin has
the phase 2 leader “Khamal the Eternal” in play. Khamal has two scarabs on
him. During phase 2 of his turn, Kevin uncurses Khamal, and removes one of the
two scarabs. Khamal is still cursed, but has one fewer scarabs on him. Kevin’s
phase 2 is now complete.
After
you have taken your phase 0, phase 1, and phase 2 actions, it is the supremacy
phase, and you must determine which player has supremacy in each of the
six columns.
To
determine supremacy in a column, add up the total power (contributed by minions,
buildings, and leaders) on both players’ sides of a column. (Note: Cursed
cards have no power.) The player with the most total power in a column
claims supremacy in that column. Indicate this by placing a pyramid on that
player’s side of the board in that column.
If
both players’ totals are tied, neither player has supremacy in that
column. No pyramid is placed on the board in that column. If there is already a
pyramid on the board in that column, it is removed.
After
you have determined supremacy for all six columns, you may exercise supremacy
for each of the columns in which you have supremacy. Note that because there
are two columns of each type (one in the lower region and one in the upper
region), it is possible to exercise the same type of supremacy twice if
you have supremacy in both columns. You may choose not to exercise supremacy for
a column. (Note that you exercise supremacy during your supremacy
phase. Your opponent does not.)
When
you exercise military supremacy in a column, your opponent must discard the top
card of his or her deck.
When
you exercise religious supremacy in a column, you may curse one of your
opponent’s minions, buildings or leaders in the same region (upper or
lower Hekumet). Place a scarab counter on the cursed card to show that it is
cursed. You may curse a card that already has one or more scarab counters on it.
Cursed
cards have no power rating, and their text has no effect.
When
you exercise economic supremacy in a column, you may draw a card.
Note:
Once you have
claimed supremacy in a column, you will continue to have that supremacy
unless you lose it during a subsequent supremacy phase. Supremacy can only change
during supremacy phase, and does not change at any other time during the game.
GAME
END
You win the game if you have supremacy in two of the three columns in both
the upper and lower regions of the board at the beginning of your turn.
You
also win the game if your opponent has no cards left in his or her deck at
the beginning of your turn.
EXAMPLE
OF SUPREMACY
In the layout diagram, Eric is the top player and Kevin is the bottom player.
Supremacy would be resolved, from left to right, as follows:
Economic:
Eric has a minion
with 3 power, while Kevin has two minions with 2 power apiece, for a total of 4
power. Kevin claims economic supremacy. (When he exercises this
supremacy, he will draw a card.)
Religious:
Eric has a minion
with 3 power. Kevin has no minions, but a leader with 2 power. Eric claims
religious supremacy. (When he exercises this supremacy, he will curse his
opponent’s minion, building, or leader in the lower region.)
Military:
Eric has a minion
with 3 power. Kevin has a 1 power minion and a 2 power leader, for a total of 3
power. Because the players are tied for power, neither player claims military
supremacy.
Military:
Eric has a leader
with 6 power. Kevin has no minions, buildings, or leaders in this row, so Eric
claims military supremacy. (When he exercises this supremacy, he will
discard the top card from his opponent’s deck.).
Religious:
Eric has a minion
with 3 power and a leader which, because it has a scarab on it, has no power.
Kevin has a building with 6 power. Kevin claims religious supremacy. (When he exercises
this supremacy, he will curse his opponent’s minion, building, or leader
in the upper region.)
Economic:
Neither player
has any cards in this column, so no neither can claim economic supremacy.
ADVANCED
RULES
The advanced rules are the same as the basic rules except that players must win
two out of three games, and are allowed to modify their decks after each game.
After
the first and second games, both players simultaneously remove up to five cards
from their decks and place them into the bonus deck.
Then
the loser of the previous game replaces each of his or her discarded cards with
an equal number of cards of his or her choice from the bonus deck. (Note that
the replacement cards may include cards that either player has discarded.)
Next,
the winner of the previous game replaces each of his or her discarded cards with
an equal number of cards of his or her choice from the bonus deck.
After
both player’s decks have been customized, the next game begins. The loser of
the previous game is the first player in the next game.
EXAMPLE
OF PLAY
Eric is playing House Temet, and Kevin is playing House Ankar.
Phase 0: Eric
plays the phase 0 minion “Blacksand Mercenaries” into the military column of
lower Hekumet. He then plays the phase 0 leader “Khamal the Eternal” into
the economic column of upper Hekumet. (Players can take any number of phase 0
actions.)
Phase 1: Eric has
no phase 1 cards, so he passes.
Phase 2: Eric
plays the phase 2 god “Khema” into the middle of the board.
Supremacy: Eric
has 1 power (from the mercenaries) in the lower military column, and 2 power
(from Khamal) in the upper economic column. Kevin has no power in either column.
Eric claims supremacy in both columns. He places pyramids in those columns on
his side of the board. Neither player has supremacy in any of the other columns.
Eric exercises his military supremacy and forces Kevin to discard the top card
from his deck, then exercises his economic supremacy and draws a card.
It
is now Kevin’s turn.
Phase
0: Kevin plays
the phase 0 minion “River Merchant” into the economic column of upper
Hekumet.
Phase 1: Kevin
plays the phase 1 building “The Seven Sphinxes” into the religious column of
lower Hekumet. Following the text on the card, he then places a scarab on the
Sphninxes.
Phase 2: Kevin
plays the phase 2 fate card “Mass Purification.” Following the text on the
card, he removes all the scarabs in one region (namely, the scarab on “The
Seven Sphinxes”), then discards the fate card.
Supremacy: Kevin
has 1 power (from the River Merchant) in the upper economic column and 4 power
(from the sphinxes) in the lower religious column. Eric still has 2 power in the
upper economic column, and 1 power in the lower military column, so he retains
supremacy in these columns. Eric has no power in the lower religious column, so
Kevin claims supremacy in that column. At the end of his supremacy phase, Kevin
exercises his religious supremacy and curses “Blacksand Mercenaries.”
Kevin’s
turn is over, Eric’s turn begins, and the game continues.
CREDITS
Designer: Reiner
Knizia
Developers: Iain
Adams, Eric M. Lang, and Darrell Hardy
Editing: Christian
T. Petersen and Jen Kalish
Graphic Design: Brian
Schomburg
Cover Art: Thomas
Denmark
Art: V. Shane
Colclough, Marco Djurdjevic, Tobias Mannewitz, John Moriarty, and Gregory Price
Coloring: Ben
Prenevost
Playtesting: Eric
M. Lang, Iain Adams, John Garrett, Tom McClelland, Kevin Wilson, and Darrell
Hardy
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