Keeper of the Cards

Rulebook (11^th Edition)

Keeper of the Cards is a trading card game, loosely inspired by elements from various popular trading card games you may be familiar with. The primary distinguishing factor of Keeper of the Cards, however, is that you don't just trade cards; you create cards.

Unlike other trading card games, there are no official cards for Keeper of the Cards. Instead, there are official effect components that can be used for cards and official rules for calculating the cost of playing any given card. These rules are laid out separately in the Card Building Guide.

This document, on the other hand, serves to explain the rules of the game.

Card Types and Layout

There are two types of cards in Keeper of the Cards: creatures, and spells. Here are some examples of both:

The card on the left is a creature, and the card on the right is a spell. They are visually very similar; the only noteworthy difference is that spells have a pair of triangles instead of the additional elements found on a creature.

The elements marked on the cards are:

1. The name of the card. This is purely cosmetic and has no effect on the game.
2. The card image. This is purely cosmetic and has no effect on the game.
3. The ability text of the card.
4. Edition Indicator indicating the edition of the game the card was designed for.
5. The level of the card.
6. The flavor text of the card. This is purely cosmetic and has no effect on the game.
7. The offensive power (“offense”) of the card.
8. The defensive power (“defense”) of the card.

Setup and Deck Building

Prior to starting a game of Keeper of the Cards, you must assemble a deck and (optionally) a reserves. The deck must contain 40–60 cards, while the reserves can contain up to 5 cards. All cards must look the same from the back (this can be achieved by using sleeves if necessary). Other than that, there are no restrictions on what legal cards you can put in your deck.

You can find preëxisting sets of example cards, as well as instructions for how to print them, in the Starter Set.

Before each game, shuffle your deck. Draw 5 cards from your deck; this will be your starting hand. You begin the game with 35 HP, which you can note on a piece of paper or thru some other counter.

You should have a reasonable amount of six-sided dice (preferably at least 10–20 dice), and some objects such as coins or poker chips to use as counters. You must also determine who goes first. One suggested method is for each player to roll two six-sided dice and for the player with the highest roll to go first.

Keeper of the Cards can be played by 2 or more players. There is theoretically no limit, but it is recommended to keep the number of players small, preferably between 2 and 8. In the case of a game with more than two players, each player works alone with their own HP and field.

Fields

Each player has a field: a designated area where cards are played, divided into several distinct zones which each have a specific purpose. Each zone's contents are classified as either public knowledge, in which case all players are entitled to know what cards are in the zone; private knowledge, in which case all players are entitled to know the number of cards in the zone, but only its owner is entitled to know what cards are in the zone; or restricted knowledge, in which case all players are entitled to know the number of cards in the zone, but no player (not even its owner) is entitled to know what cards are in the zone. The zones are as follows:

• Deck: Typically to the right of the trapfield. The contents of the deck are restricted knowledge.
• Graveyard: Typically to the right of the deck. Any card which is destroyed or sacrificed is immediately sent here, face-down. The contents of the graveyard are private knowledge.
• Reserves: Typically to the left of the trapfield. You can retrieve a card of your choice from your reserves instead of drawing a card from the deck, either when drawing a card during the Resource Phase or when drawing a card due to a card effect. The contents of the reserves are private knowledge.
• Battlefield: Typically above the trapfield. Contains its owner's in-play creatures. The contents of the battlefield are public knowledge.
• Trapfield: Typically to the left of the deck. Contains its owner's in-play traps. The contents of the trapfield are private knowledge.
• Granary: Typically below the trapfield. Contains its owner's resources. The contents of the granary are private knowledge.
• Hand: Typically held in the hand. Contains the cards its owner currently has available to play. The contents of the hand are private knowledge.

Turn Order

Each turn in Keeper of the Cards consists of the following phases:

1. Resource Phase: Place up to two cards from your hand, face-down, onto the granary, unexhausted. Then draw a number of cards equal to two minus the number of cards you placed into the granary. In other words, choose one of the following: (a) draw two cards (no resources placed); (b) place one resource and draw one card; or (c) place two resources (no cards drawn). See Resources, Exhaustion, and Recovery for more information about resource placement.
   • Special exception: on the first turn of the game, the starting player only either places one card onto the granary OR draws one card.
2. Action Phase: You may play any cards from your hand that you are able to, and you may also activate in-play creature abilities and in-play traps which have no activation condition. See Creatures and Casting Spells and Setting Traps for more information.
3. Battle Phase: You may do battle with your unexhausted creatures. See Battles for more information.
4. Recovery Phase: Every in-play card and every resource is unexhausted. Every in-play creature has its offense, defense, and level reset to the respective values printed on the card (reversing any damage or stat changes due to card abilities).

Resources, Exhaustion, and Recovery

Resources are used to summon creatures and cast spells. A resource can be any card. Resources are placed into the granary unexhausted (oriented vertically) during the Resource Phase (as explained above). When you place a resource into the granary, it is always played face-down, as its identity is not public knowledge.

Exhausted, for any card, means that the card cannot currently be used; this is marked by having the card in a horizontal (sideways) orientation. By contrast, unexhausted means that the card can currently be used; this is marked by having the card in a vertical (upright) orientation. To exhaust a card, rotate it to a horizontal orientation. To unexhaust a card, rotate it to a vertical orientation. Cards are only unexhausted during the Recovery Phase. (Players of Magic: The Gathering and some other games may recognize the exhaustion system as functionally identical to what those games call “tapping”.)

To pay a resource cost is to exhaust a number of unexhausted resources equal to a card's level. For example, to pay the resource cost of a level 3 card, exhaust three of your currently unexhausted resources by turning them sideways.

A card's level, and thus the number of resources you must exhaust for its resource cost, can never be less than 1. So for example, if a level 4 creature has its level reduced by 4, it becomes a level 1 creature and you must exhaust 1 resource to summon it.

During the Recovery Phase, all cards in every player's battlefield, trapfield, and granary are unexhausted. In addition, every creature in every player's battlefield has its offense, defense, and level returned to the respective values printed on it. This effectively reverses any stat changes that might have happened, including damage. As such, these stat changes effectively last only for the turn in which they take effect, even thô this is not explicitly stated in card effects.

For example, suppose you control a creature with a printed offense of 3 and a printed defense of 10. You could cast a spell to increase its offense by 4, at which point its offense becomes 7. It could then take 8 damage during a battle with another creature (see Battles), at which point its defense becomes 2. However, during the Recovery Phase, all of this creature's stats are reset to what is printed on its card, so its offense becomes 3 and its defense becomes 10.

Creatures

Creatures are cards which are used to do battle and may also have special abilities. Creatures must be summoned to the battlefield before they can be used, but once they are summoned, they can be used indefinitely as long as they remain on the battlefield.

To summon a creature, pay a number of resources equal to the card's level, and then place it, face-up and exhausted, into the battlefield. (See Resources, Exhaustion, and Recovery for more information about resources and exhaustion.)

Some creatures have caveats, special rules which apply to them. Caveats are always on the first paragraph of the ability text. Most caveats make use of special keywords; see Keywords for a list of explanations for all of these keywords.

Caveats may include such things as extra costs for summoning the creature, costs for attacking or defending, and restrictions on what the creature can do. Creatures with caveats that create requirements for summoning include a silhouette of a padlock behind the ability text (demonstrated by “Mourning a Loss” under Card Types and Layout). Such caveats are also conventionally colored red to make them stand out from the rest of the text.

Creatures can activate abilities, hold counters, and participate in battles; see Abilities, Counters, and Battles for more information.

Spells

Spells are cards that only have a single ability. Spells can be used in two ways: they can be cast from your hand, and they can be set as traps for use later.

To cast a spell, pay its resource cost, reveal the spell to all other players, follow the instructions on the card immediately, and send the spell to the graveyard. Just like with creature abilities, a spell with an activation condition can only be cast (either from the hand or as a trap) at the time that the activation condition says, and a spell with no activation condition can only be cast during your own Action Phase. Spells with activation conditions include a silhouette of a padlock behind the ability text (demonstrated by “Mourning a Loss” in Card Types and Layout). Spell activation conditions are also conventionally colored red to make them stand out from the rest of the text.

Casting a spell starts a chain; see Chains for more information.

Traps function the same way as spells, but the resource cost of a trap is paid when the trap is set and not when it is activated.

To set a trap, pay its resource cost, then place the card into the trapfield, face-down and exhausted.

Only unexhausted traps can be activated. To activate a trap, turn it over to reveal it to all other players, follow the instructions on the card, and then send it to the graveyard. (Do not pay its resource cost.)

See Abilities for more information about abilities in general.

Abilities

A card's abilities are indicated in the ability text. Spells have only a single ability, while creatures can have multiple abilities; where multiple abilities are available, each ability is contained in a separate paragraph. A creature ability may be given a name, designated in all caps at the beginning of the respective ability paragraph, followed by a colon. You can activate an ability of an unexhausted creature by exhausting it. You can only activate one ability at a time.

Some abilities have an activation condition indicating when to activate the ability. Activation conditions are followed by a colon (:) and appear at the very start of an ability's text. If an ability has an activation condition, you may only use the ability when the activation condition is met. If an ability has no explicit activation condition, you may only use it during your own Action Phase.

Some abilities also have an activation cost, which is a special cost (such as removing a certain number of counters or sacrificing one of your cards) that you must pay upon activation of the ability. Activation costs are followed by a semicolon (;) and appear toward the start of an ability's text. If you activate an ability you are unable to fully pay the activation cost for, the ability has no effect.

Activating a creature ability starts a chain; see Chains for more information.

Many abilities make use of special keywords; see Keywords for a list of explanations for all of these keywords.

Counters

Some abilities manipulate or utilize counters. A counter is a special marker which can be placed on an in-play creature (but not a trap or resource). Any available object can be used as a counter. Counters stay on the creature they are placed on until either the creature leaves the battlefield, or an ability removes them.

The simplest counters are generic counters. On their own, generic counters have no effect. These are typically removed from creatures as activation costs, enabling more powerful effects, or simply required for targeting. No player is permitted to remove generic counters from any card unless an ability does so.

However, some abilities can also place special named counters, which in addition to being usable as normal counters, can be voluntarily removed to trigger special effects. The following rules apply to all named counters:

• These counters can be removed (and their effects triggered) literally at any time, that is to say, during any phase of any player's turn, even immediately after placing them, triggering the stated effect.
• With the exception of Dice Counters and Immortality Counters, removing a named counter to trigger its effect starts a chain or, alternatively, you can remove a named counter to trigger its effect in response to an existing chain. See Chains for more information.
• Removing counters for their effects does not require exhausting the creature it is on since the effect is that of the counter, not of the creature.
• The player who placed a counter is considered to be the counter’s “owner” and “controller” and is the one who can remove it for its effect, regardless of who the controller of the creature is. For example, if you place one of these counters on a creature controlled by an opponent, it is you who can then remove the counters to trigger the effect, and the opponent cannot do so. Note that this restriction only applies to the effect of the counter itself; there is no restriction on how any counter, including a counter with an effect, can be removed for an activation cost or by a card effect.
• For timing purposes, note that when an opponent activates an ability, that ability’s activation cost is paid and its target is selected immediately, meaning that e.g. you cannot remove counters for an effect to render an activation cost impossible unless you do so before the opponent indicates their intention to activate the respective ability. As such, to avoid conflict, if you intend to prevent an opponent from using an ability by removing a named counter during the Resource Phase, you should announce this intention prior to the start of that turn.

Battles

To battle, go thru the following steps (only during the attacking player's Battle Phase):

1. The attacking player exhausts any number of their unexhausted creatures, which become the attacking team, and declares one target: a player, or a creature. Any given player or creature can only be targeted once per Battle Phase. The attacking player selects and announces the defending order of the attacking team (the order in which these creatures will be damaged).
2. The target player, or the owner of the target creature, may exhaust any number of their own unexhausted creatures (which may or may not include the target itself), which become the defending team. If they do this, they then select and announce the defending order of the defending team (the order in which these creatures will be damaged).
3. The attacking player rolls a number of six-sided dice equal to the total offense of the attacking team, and the defending player rolls a number of six-sided dice equal to the total offense of the defending team.
4. Each player must take each of their dice, one at a time (in any order), and inflict the result as damage to the next surviving creature in the other player's team (based on the respective defending order selected) until either all dice are used or all creatures in the respective team are destroyed.
5. If the target and any of the attacking team's dice remain, inflict the total result of these remaining dice as damage to the target.
6. If the target was a player and any of the defending team's dice remain, inflict the total result of these remaining dice as damage to the attacking player.

For the purposes of timing, steps 4–6 are considered to happen simultaneously. This can matter for certain abilities, and it also means that if both players' HP reach zero during a battle, both players will lose simultaneously. To facilitate this, any action which starts a chain cannot be taken during this time frame and must wait until step 6 is completed.

To inflict damage to a creature, subtract the damage amount from the creature's defense, and then if the defense is less than or equal to zero, destroy the creature. For example, if 8 damage is inflicted to a creature with 15 defense, that creature will have 7 defense left and not be destroyed. If 8 damage is inflicted to a creature with 8 defense, however, that creature will have 0 defense left and be destroyed. Note: it is possible for creatures to initially have 0 defense; in such a case, any amount of damage will destroy the creature.

As an example, consider an attacking team with two creatures (Creature A and Creature B) that each have 2 offense and 5 defense plus one creature (Creature C) that has 2 offense and 10 defense, targeting a player. The attacking player declares that they are attacking the defending player, and declares their defending order as “Creature C → Creature A → Creature B”. The defending player then chooses to defend with two creatures (Creature D and Creature E) that each have 1 offense and 10 defense, and declares their defending order as “Creature D → Creature E”. The attacking player rolls 6 dice, and the defending player rolls 2 dice. Suppose the attacking player rolls the following numbers: one, six, five, five, three, six; while the defending player rolls the following numbers: six, two. The defending player applies both the six and the two to the first attacking creature (Creature C), reducing its defense to 2; it survives. The attacking player chooses to apply a six, a three, and the one to the first creature (Creature D), reducing its defense to 0 and destroying it; then apply the two fives to the second creature (Creature E), reducing its defense to 0 and destroying it. Since all of the defending team's creatures have been destroyed and one die is left over, the remaining die (the other six) is applied as damage to the target (in this case, the defending player), so the defending player loses 6 HP.

During your Battle Phase, you may initiate as many battles as you want to as long as you have unexhausted creatures remaining; however, you may not select the same target more than once in the same Battle Phase. For example, you cannot attack a player with one creature and then attack that same player with another creature within the same Battle Phase. However, you can use one creature to attack one of a player's creatures and then use a different creature to attack the owner of that creature, for example.

Chains

Due to activation conditions on abilities and the nature of how named counters work, it is possible for multiple players to simultaneously be able to perform certain actions. Chains exist to clarify what exactly happens in these situations.

The following actions all start a chain:

• Activating a creature's ability (after paying the activation cost).
• Casting a spell (after paying its required cost).
• Removing a named counter to activate its effect.

When a chain starts, the action which started the chain becomes the first chain link. Then, all players, starting with the turn player and then going clockwise, are given an opportunity to respond to the chain in one of the following ways, creating an additional chain link instead of starting a new chain:

• By activating a creature ability or spell with an activation condition that has been met (immediately paying the activation cost).
• By removing a named counter to activate its effect.

If any player decides to respond to the chain, all players are again given the opportunity to respond to the chain. This process is repeated until all players decide not to respond to the chain.

Once all players are done responding to the chain, the chain begins resolving: in reverse order (starting with the most recent chain link and working backwards), each chain link's effects are actually executed, which is referred to as resolving the effects.

For example, when resolving a chain where chain link 1 is an ability with the effect, “Destroy the targets,”, and chain link 2 is the effect of a Weakness Counter, then resolution of the chain goes as follows:

1. The effect of the Weakness Counter removed for chain link 2 resolves, decreasing the offense of the card it was on by 1.
2. The effect of the ability activated for chain link 1 resolves, destroying the cards it targeted.

Only one chain can be active at a time, and no actions which start a chain can be performed while a chain is resolving. If the effects performed within a chain satisfy an activation condition of a creature ability or spell, said creature ability or spell can be activated after the chain finishes resolving, starting a new chain.

Winning and Losing

Any given player can lose in one of three ways:

1. By having their HP reduced to zero.
2. By having an empty deck.
3. By voluntarily forfeiting.

Any player who loses is out of the game and can no longer affect the game in any way. When only one player remains in the game, that player is declared the winner. If all remaining players are eliminated at once (e.g. if all remaining players have their HP reduced to zero at the same time, or by all drawing their last card at the same time), the game ends in a draw.

Keywords

This section lists common keywords used in card text, including any important nuances for said keywords.

Revised and Banned Cards

As the game develops, cards made for old editions become outdated and no longer valid in new editions. This section documents all such cases, as well as cases where card text modifications have been applied that retroactively change the behavior of previously designed cards.

Clean Slate Edition

11^th Edition is considered to be a clean slate edition, meaning that any card not bearing an Edition Indicator, or any card whose Edition Indicator indicates an edition prior to 11^th Edition, is automatically considered to be a banned card (meaning it cannot be used in a game).