How to play Eminence TCG
Take on the role of a Soulbound, one of many powerful guild leaders seeking to overthrow the others. Deploy units to claim areas and build your renown – can you beat the game of fame?
In Eminence, two players compete to be the first to reach 10 Fame – gained through claiming Areas and defeating the opposing Leader – or have the most Fame once all Areas are claimed.
For the experienced TCG player and newcomers alike, Eminence is welcoming of players of all experience levels. After all, beings from all different realms find their way into Eminence whenever the Portals open.
Eminence TCG Rulebook
Download Rulebook (PDF)Equipment needed to play:
a set of Eminence cards including (Leader Card, Plots [Area deck], and Bank [main deck].)
(6) six-sided dice
Optional equipment:
misc. dice
generic counters
paper & pencil
Cards
There are 4 types of cards in Eminence: Leader, Unit, Support, and Area
Leader cards are the characters which the Soulbound player represents. Consider them like your king or queen in a game of chess. Unit cards are of creatures that can attack the opposing player's deck, or defend your deck or Area.
Support cards are special effects, such as items, skills, and spells. If the Unit card is the action, the support card is the adjective- a Unit card could do the job on it's own, but having some gear in a fight never hurts.
Area cards are the locations the players comete for control over. Each player includes area cards from their own deck to a game, for a total of 5 area cards per game.
(player one contributes 2 Area cards + player two contributes 3 Area cards = both players are fighting for 5 Areas)
Here's the layout for your cards:
Game Set-Up
The 5 Area cards pulled by both players are placed face-up between both players. Any additional Area cards can be placed to the side, as they will not be used this game.
Place your leader card face-up to your bottom left, in your Leader space, below your Cache space.
Shuffle your remaining Unit and Support cards together, and place this deck face-down in your bottom right Bank space, below your Crypt space. There should be no additional cards at this time.
The space between your Leader/Cache left side, and your Bank/Crypt right side will be for your Guild Hall. Your Guild Hall is where cards actively being played/used will go.
Draw 7 cards from your Bank deck and hold them in your hand, making sure the opposing player does not see them.
Looking at the cards in your hand, determine which of those you would like to keep to start your game with.
Any cards you do not wish to play, set them aside, draw as many cards as you set aside, then shuffle those cards that were set aside into your Bank.
Examples:
Player one draws 7 cards, and decides to keep 5 of them to start this round with. Player one sets aside 2 cards. Player one then draws another 2 cards from the top of their Bank, so their round begins with the 5 cards they kept + the 2 cards they replaced at random = 7 cards in their hand, then shuffle the set aside cards back into their Bank.
Player two draws 7 cards, and decides to only keep 1 of them to start their turn with. Player two sets aside 6 cards. Player two then draws another 6 cards from the top of their Bank, so their round begins with the 1 cards they kept + the 6 cards they replaced at random = 7 cards in their hand, then shuffle the set aside cards back into their Bank.
You are now ready to battle for the future of Eminence!
How to Play
Each turn is composed of 3 phases: the Start Phase, the Main Phase, and the End Phase.
Starting Phase
At the beginning of your turn, perform the following steps in order:
Resolve Start-of-Turn Effects:
Check for any effects on face-up cards that trigger at the start of your turn. These may come from Units, Support cards, Leaders, or Areas. Apply any effects that reference start-of-turn timing, including lingering effects from the previous round.
Refresh Exhausted Cards:
Turn all of your exhausted cards upright to return them to their ready state. A card is considered exhausted when turned sideways, indicating it has been used and cannot act again until refreshed.
Note:
On the very first turn of the game, no cards will be exhausted yet. Start-of-turn effects are still checked, but are often not present until later rounds.
Generally at the beginning of a new game, only new start-of-turn effects will be applicable, if at all.
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Main Phase
During your Main Phase, you may perform any of the following actions, in any order, and as many times as you'd like — unless a specific card states otherwise. Costs must be paid before an action is resolved.
Guild Hall Actions:
→ Play a Card Face Down to the Guild Hall
Place a card from your hand face down in your Guild Hall. These cards are locked and cannot be used until revealed or exhausted for Prestige.
→ Play a Card Face Up to the Guild Hall
Play a card face up to your Guild Hall by paying its level. These cards can be used for Prestige and may provide additional effects.
Unit Actions:
→ Deploy a Unit to an Area
Pay the Unit’s level and deploy it face up into any Area. Newly deployed Units cannot be exhausted this turn.
→ Move a Unit
Move a Unit:
From your Guild Hall to any Area, or
Between adjacent Areas or back to the Guild Hall
Exhaust the Unit after it moves. (Units can only move to directly adjacent Areas — e.g., Area 3 can move to Area 2 or 4, but not 1 or 5.)
→ Attack with a Unit
Exhaust a Unit in an Area to declare an attack against either:
An enemy Unit in the same Area, or
The opposing Leader (unless blocked by a Unit)
Resolve damage and defense as per standard combat rules.
Support & Spell Actions:
→ Play a Support Card
Play a Support card from your hand by paying its level. Follow its effect text as instructed.
→ Cast a Spell
Spells may be cast using either your Leader or a Unit that shares a class with the Spell:
If using a Unit: it must be in the same Area as the target. You may pay the Spell's level or exhaust the Unit if its level is equal to or higher.
If using a Leader: pay the Spell’s level. (Defeated Leaders cannot cast Spells.)
Renown & Skills:
→ Gain Renown in an Area
Exhaust one of your Units in an Area to gain +1 Renown in that Area.
→ Activate an Area’s Renown Effect
If you have a non-exhausted Unit in an Area, you may exhaust it and pay the Renown cost shown on the Area card to activate its effect.
→ Claim an Area
If you are the only player with Units in an Area (Uncontested), you may exhaust a Unit there and spend the required Renown to claim the Area:
Move all Units from that Area to the Guild Hall or an adjacent Area.
Add the claimed Area to your collection and gain its Fame value.
→ Activate a Skill
Exhaust a Unit to activate one of its Skill effects. If the effect has a level cost, it must also be paid.
End Phase
After completing your actions during the Main Phase, proceed through the following steps in order:
Cache a Card (Optional):
You may place up to one card from your hand face down into your Cache.
The Cache allows you to protect cards from discard and set them up for future use.
During your turn (excluding the End Phase), if you have three or more cards in your Cache, you may play one from it as if it were 1 Level cheaper.
Resolve End-of-Turn Effects:
Check for any effects on cards in play that trigger at the end of your turn. These may come from Units, Support cards, or other lingering card abilities. Follow each card's text precisely.
Draw Two Cards:
Draw 2 cards from your Bank (deck) into your hand.
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There are countless options and strategies to build within Eminence!
Winners and Losers
The Game ends and a Soulbound is crowned ruler of Eminence when one of 2 conditions are met: When one player gains 10 Fame from claiming Areas and defeating the Opposing player's Leader, or If all Areas have been claimed, the player with the most Fame wins.
If you're playing Competitive (best of 3 rounds), the player who lost the previous round chooses the player to go first next round. Area cards set aside from the previous round.
Unused Area cards from a player's Plots (or Area Deck) are drawn from to start the next game.
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