Turn
Each one of the two turns is divided into steps (some are simultaneous, some synchronous):
- Draw Step: each player draws 5 cards from their deck.
- Ritual Step: in turn order, each player during their turn can, as many times as they wish:
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- discard an Ingredient Card to activate its Hex effect;
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- after each effect activation, each player has priority (in turn order) to respond with Counter effects from their hand.
The following steps can be done asynchronously by each player if desired:
- Play Step: as many times as they wish, players will:
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- play cards from their hand to their board, activating Manifest effects;
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- or discard cards from their hand them to activate their Charm effects.
- Propagate Step: propagate any number of slotted ingredient cards through their board.
- Brew Step: players can optionally brew a Potion with the contents of their Cauldron.
- Discard Step: at the end of each turn, players must discard all unused cards from their hand.
The only synchronous step is the Ritual Step; other steps can be performed asynchronously by each player simultaneously.
Detailed Step Descriptions
Draw Step
The Draw Step is the first step of the Turn.
During the Draw Step, each players draws 5 cards from the top of their deck. That is now their hand.
After all players have drawn their starting hands for the turn, the Ritual Step immediately begins.
Ritual Step
The Ritual Step is the interactive step of the Turn, happening right after the Draw Step.
All effects that affect either other players or the global state of the game (such as Fumes) will be activated during this step; namely:
During the Ritual Step, players will act in turn order, essentially having a sub-turn; in each player's sub-turn, they can, as many times as they wish, activate a Hex effect by discarding an Ingredient Card from their hand that has a Hex effect.
Before resolving each effect, players get the opportunity to respond or pass priority, again in turn order, starting with the first player after the sub-turn player.
Typically, this process is vastly simplified because not all players will have or wish to use these types of effects every Turn. A simplified version would be each player declaring "no Ritual effects" in turn order, until say one player activates a Hex, and then players can declare responses simultaneously.
After all players had their sub-turn, the Play Step begins.
Play Step
The Play Step is a Turn step that happens right after the Ritual Step.
During the asynchronous Play Step, players can play cards from their hands in one of two ways:
- play a card (ingredient or coin) into one Slot in their board
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- if the card as a Manifest effect, it triggers immediately and must be resolved
- discard a card with a Charm-type effect to immediately resolve its effects
After each player is happy with their board state, they can proceed to the Propagate Step.
Propagate Step
The Propagate Step is a Turn step that happens right after the Play Step.
During this step, players can propagate symbols through their board of ingredients cards that they have slotted.
For each ingredient card in play that the player wishes to propagate, they will process each symbol through their machine following any desired path until they reach their Cauldron.
Symbols that reach broken paths are voided. Otherwise, symbols cannot be voided and must be propagated all the way (unless a machine voids them).
During propagation symbols can be transformed by the tiles they encounter. For example, a ⬟1 symbol passing through a Catalyst Injector could become a ⬟3.
Players do not need to propagate every ingredient, as they can be saved for the next turn (unless the have the Spoils trait). However, once they decide to propagate a card, they must propagate all symbols on it (unless they have the Fractured trait).
After each player no longer wishes to propagate any more cards or symbols, they can proceed to the Brew Step.
Brew Step
The Brew Step is the penultimate step of a Turn, happening right after the Propagate Step.
During this step, each player can decide (or not) to brew one potion with the current contents of their Cauldron.
Players cannot pick a subset of symbols. Players cannot brew empty potions.
After each player made their decision, they can proceed to the Discard Step.
Discard Step
The Discard Step is the last step of the Turn, right after the Brew Step.
During the Discard Step, each player discards their entire remaining hand.
Players cannot keep cards in their hand between turns.
After the Discard Step is completed, the next phase of the current Round begins.