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Quick Guide

Welcome to The Journey TCG!

Choose your Party of 3 Adventurers!

An Adventurer's Class determines what Abilities they can use, and each Class offers a unique advantage in combat!

Select a Faction below and learn about their different Classes!

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Berserker Class -
Strike with Overwhelming Power! While a Berserker is affected by the Berserk status via an effect or Equipment, their Damage stat ( ) becomes equal to their Special ( ) Stat. This means high Basic Attack damage for Berserkers! However, Berserkers can no longer use Abilities after becoming Berserk, so plan your rage accordingly!

Rogue Class -
Strike them while they're weak! When a Rogue makes a Basic Attack, they get a bonus to Damage if their HP is higher than the target of their Basic Attack! Rogues' Damage ( ) becomes equal to their Special ( ) when attacking a lower HP Adventurer.

Strategist Class -
Strategists are more of a support class, who don't rely so much on power, but manipulating the battlefield as well as keeping the plans of the Party in working order! Typically, at the end of a Battle Block, you cycle your hand away and draw 3 new cards. However, if you
have a Strategist in your Party, you can carry cards = to Special into the next Battle Block! A very helpful feature.

Bard Class -
Bards help your Party by playing different songs and melodies! Their [Lasting] Full Abilities trigger when entering play, and gain counters = to their Special Stat. These Abilities re-trigger at the start of each Battle Block and lose a counter. These [Lasting] Abilities will cycle away into your Cycle Pile -after- they trigger if you cant remove a counter from them during the start of a Battle Block.

Exorcist Class -
Exorcists excel in voiding Abilities and control. Exorcists are often fast, but lower HP targets. Lower HP or not, as long as they can make a move first, they can seriously hinder an opponents battle plan! Exorcists are blessed with divinity, and regain HP = to Special at the end of any Battle Block that they took damage to their HP, which will keep them in control for much longer!

Ascendant Class -
Ascendants have control over the Battle as well in different ways than the Exorcist. They specialize more in healing and sustainability! For the cost of 1 Focus, an Ascendant may heal any member of your Party = to their Special and then Exhaust. A small cost to rejuvenate your party!

Dark Mage Class -
Dark Mages utilize powerful spells and magic to overcome opponents! By utilizing Focus counters, they build power and use that Focus to cast overwhelming Abilities! When a Dark Mage Adventurer uses the "Focus" option during their Action, instead of gaining 1 Focus by default like all other Classes, they gain Focus = to their Special stat! (Not in addition to!)

Spellweaver Class -
Spellweavers use Abilities and Items quickly and efficiently! They are not bothered by an Item or Abilities' Speed, whether it's Full (Yellow) or Quick (Grey), they may use as many Items or Abilities as they have Special during their Action! If your Spellweaver has 3 Special, use any mix of 3 Full (Yellow) or Quick (Grey) Items or Abilities! These Items and Abilities are "woven" into the field though, and dont cycle until the end of the Battle Block, so keep them out on the field, woven into the fight!

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After choosing your Party of 3 Adventurers, it's time to build a deck to compliment their strengths! To do that, we have to understand the way Abilities, Items, and Equipment work.

Abilities can only be used by Adventurers from the same Faction / Class!

Abilities

Cards can only be played from the hand by the Adventurer, during their Action!

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Keep an eye on the necessary Class/Faction to use Abilities!

There are 3 styles of Abilities, which are identified on the top left of the card:

Quick Abilities - Identified with a Grey colored symbol. With Quick Abilities, they tend to have smaller but stacking effect which combo into other Abilities or Actions. You may use up to 2 Quick Abilities before a third card or action (Focus, Basic Attack etc.) will Exhaust the Adventurer.

Hidden Abilities - Identified by a Dark symbol. These are played in the shadows, magic that lingers in wait to be triggered at decisive moments of the battle! These Abilities Exhaust your Adventurer after playing just as Full Abilities, but are Played from the hand face down below your party of 3 Adventurers, where their effect is only triggered when you decide!
Tips:
Once a Hidden Ability is in play, it is not "controlled" by any individual Adventurer, so any text such as "Ally" just refers to your Party. There is also no limit to how many Hidden Abilities you can have in play!

There are a couple unique styles of Abilities as well when it comes to Full, Quick, or Hidden.

[Lasting] - An Ability with this tag in the effect text means the Ability card remains in play until removed by a secondary effect, even if the Adventurer who cast it is Knocked Out!

[Enhancement] - Enhancements also remain in play like [Lasting] Abilities, however these are magical buffs attached to your Adventurers. You can have as many Enhancements as you like on a single Adventurer, unlike Equipment which is limited to 1!

Sometimes an Ability with a tag like these will also specify who you can use them on. [Enhancement - Self] is a buff you can only use on the Adventurer that is using the Ability, while [Enhancement - Ally] means you must target a different Adventurer in your Party.

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Items, identified by the Gem icon on the top left of the card, follow the same color structure as Abilities, and are used similarly! Unlike Abilities however, Items are not bound by Faction or Class!

With your 3 Adventurers chosen, and a deck of Abilities, Items, and Equipment of 20-30 cards has been assembled, it's time to set up the field!

Setup

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Turn Knocked Out Adventurers face down. Knocked Out Adventurers are considered removed from play!

After setting up, it's time for battle! At the start of every Battle Block, each player draws 3 cards, and the Adventurer with the highest Agility goes first, regardless of which Party they're in!

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At the end of every Battle Block, you will cycle what cards you still have in your hand face-down into the Cycle pile, and at the start of each Battle Block, you always draw 3! And if you want to carry your cards into different Battle Blocks, recruit a Strategist into your Party!

Check out this Game Setup and Turn order breakdown by community member BigBurnsy!

Now that the first Battle Block has begun, we will look at all the possibilities within an individual Adventurer's Action.

Combat Begin!

Basic Attack

First is the Basic Attack. A straight forward, always available action which Exhausts your Adventurer after declaring. Using an Adventurer's Damage stat, declare your target and begin damage calculation.

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Physical Attack - Deals Physical Damage when performing Basic Attack.

Magic Attack - Deals Magic Damage when performing Basic Attack.

Defense - Prevents Physical Damage

Magic Defense - Prevents all non-Physical Damage (Fire, Ice, Lightning, Arcane, etc.)

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Focus

Next is Focus. All Adventurers can Focus, which allows Adventurers to build power to unlock stronger Abilities or as a cost for the optional Boost; mechanic on certain Abilities to modify their effects!

Any Focus requirement is marked by a blue arrow.
Each Arrow represents one Focus that must be paid to use the following effect text.

To gain Focus, during your Adventurer's Action simply tilt your Adventurer 45° to Exhaust them and add a Focus counter to them. You may also choose to Draw 1 at this time.

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However in this Example, in order to use the Ability Armageddon at all, you must pay 3 Focus first.

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In this Example, you may use Dark Bond as a Full Ability, but it will Exhaust to use it this way. If you have Focus, you may use the optional Boost; effect to pay 1 and make the Ability Quick instead!

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Important: There is a max count of (6) Focus per Adventurer at any given time!

Although Boost; typically has a Focus cost, it is not specifically related to Focus! Boost; can have a variety of costs to pay to activate the Boost; effect, sometimes costing no Focus but destroying the card itself in the process of Boosting.

Step Back

Stepping Back is the last action every Adventurer can perform without additional Abilities, Items, or Effects. Stepping back is a strategic move, allowing the Battle Block to continue in the normal order of Agility without them.

Once all other Adventurers have gone, any Stepped Back Adventurers step forward and take action according to their Agility.

To Step Back, simply move your Adventurer backwards a noticeable amount, and declare you are stepping back.

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You can only step back once per Adventurer per Battle Block!

This sneaky maneuver can be used to utilize different Abilities or Items in case you anticipate certain actions, or want to punish actions when/if they occur.

Equipment

Next is Equipment. To equip an Adventurer with an Equip card, during their Action simply place the Equipment underneath that Adventurer with the name of the card exposed. The opposing player may read the equip when necessary in order for fair play!

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Equipping is a free action, costing nothing and taking no space in your Quick/Full Ability limitations!

You may only have 1 Equip card equipped to an Adventurer at a time. If you equip an Adventurer who already has an Equip, simply replace the Equip with the new one, and Cycle the previous!

Items / Abilities

Lastly are the Abilities and Items your Adventurers have acquired on their Journey, and will likely comprise the majority of your deck. To use Items and Abilities, show the opposing player the card, and exhaust your Adventurer according to the speed of the card. Place face down into your Cycle after use.

A game ends when all 3 Adventurers in a Party are Knocked Out, or if a player attempts to draw, and cannot.

Items and Abilities are the foundations of victory. Find synergy between Special, Agility, Class and overall Stats of your Adventurers when assembling your Party and building your deck.

Whether you are a Barbarian at heart, a disciplined Dark Mage, or a crafty Strategist type; we are all preparing to face off against the Nightking. Knowing the flow of combat, different card types, and how these all synergize will prepare your Party to face off against even the most powerful foes!

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