Core Rules

• 000 Golden and Silver Rules
• 001 Golden Rule
• 002 Card text supersedes rules text. Whenever a card fundamentally contradicts the…
• 050 Silver Rule
• 051 Card text uses different terminology than rules. Card text should be…
• 052 Card, when written in card effects, is shorthand for "Main Deck card." Runes…
• 053 Cards refer to themselves in the first person.
• 054 “Can’t beats Can”
• 055 When executing card text, do as much as you can, ignoring impossible…
• 056 Cards a player owns may never be placed into a non-Board zone belonging to…
• 100 Game Concepts
• 101 Deck Construction
• 102 Riftbound is a Trading Card Game where a player must provide their own cards…
• 103 To play Riftbound, a player must have a Main Deck, a Rune Deck, a Champion…
• 104 Setup
• 105 Spaces
• 106 The Play Area is a collection of logical Zones that are defined by their…
• 107 The Board
• 108 Non-Board Zones
• 109 All Game Objects in the collective Play Areas are Public Information.
• 110 Setup Process
• 111 Each player separates their Champion Legend and places it in the Legend Zone.
• 112 Each player separates their Chosen Champion and places it in the Champion Zone.
• 113 Each player sets aside their Battlefields.
• 114 Each player shuffles their Main and Rune Decks, separately, then places them…
• 115 Determine Turn Order using any fair random method agreed on by all players.
• 116 Players each draw 4.
• 117 In turn order, players perform their Mulligan.
• 118 Begin play with the First Player taking their turn.
• 119 Game Objects
• 120 A Game Object is any game piece that can produce one or more Game Effects or…
• 121 A Game Object does not include nor preclude any inherent properties beyond the…
• 122 A Game Object can be a literal object or a logical object.
• 123 Game Objects include, but are not limited to, the following: Main Deck cards…
• 124 A Game Object that changes zones to or from a Non-Board Zone becomes a new…
• 125 Cards
• 126 Riftbound games are composed of players playing the cards in their respective…
• 127 Ownership
• 128 Privacy
• 129 Back Side
• 130 Front Side
• 131 Cost
• 132 Name
• 133 Category
• 134 Domain
• 135 Rules Text
• 136 Effect Text
• 137 Might Bonus
• 138 Flavor Text
• 139 Illustration
• 140 Units
• 141 Unit is:
• 142 Damage is a marked value that is applied to Units.
• 143 Units have multiple Intrinsic Properties unique to them:
• 144 Units have the Inherent Ability to perform a Standard Move.
• 145 Units may have Activated Abilities.
• 146 Units have a Location.
• 147 Gear
• 148 Gear are:
• 149 Gear have several Intrinsic Properties unique to them.
• 150 Gear can have the Equipment tag.
• 151 Gear may have Activated Abilities.
• 152 Gear have a Location.
• 153 Spells
• 154 Spell is a card type.
• 155 A spell can be played during an Open State outside of Showdowns on its…
• 156 A spell is controlled by the player who played it.
• 157 A spell creates a game effect according to its instructions and is then placed…
• 158 When a spell is successfully played, a player executes the rules text of the…
• 159 Certain Keywords on spells are not executable rules text, but instead…
• 160 Runes
• 161 Rune is a Card Type.
• 162 Runes produce the resources needed to pay costs.
• 163 Runes produce Energy and Power.
• 164 Basic Runes
• 165 Rune Pools
• 166 The Rune Pool is a conceptual collection of a player's available Energy and…
• 167 Every player's Rune Pool empties at the start of each player's Main Phase and…
• 168 All Abilities that include the action "Add" are abilities that are adding…
• 169 Battlefields
• 170 Battlefields are Game Objects.
• 171 Battlefields are not Permanents.
• 172 The number of Battlefields on the Board is determined by the Mode of Play.
• 173 Legends
• 174 Legends are Game Objects.
• 175 Legends are not Permanents.
• 176 Legends may have one or more Domains.
• 177 Multiple Types
• 178 Game Objects can have multiple types.
• 179 Tokens
• 180 Tokens are Game Objects created by spells and abilities during play.
• 181 Tokens can be represented by anything. Printed tokens are included in…
• 182 A token's controller is the controller of the spell or ability that created…
• 183 A token's owner is the player who controlled the effect that created it.
• 184 The effect that creates a token may specify the conditions or circumstances…
• 185 Tokens are not cards.
• 186 Tokens are Created on the board or the Chain and cannot exist elsewhere.
• 187 The spell or ability that Creates a token specifies some of its…
• 188 Control
• 189 Control is the concept of a player having influence of a Game Object and…
• 190 Battlefields
• 191 Everything Else
• 192 When a game effect or rules text refers to the Controller of a specific…
• 193 Winning
• 194 Players win Riftbound games primarily through gaining points.
• 195 A player also wins the game if an effect instructs them to do so, or if they…
• 196 When a player wins the game, the game ends.
• 197 Locations
• 198 Locations are the Game Objects and Zones where permanents and runes may be…
• 199 A Game Object that comprises a Location is also a Game Object at that location.
• 200 Locations can be Destinations and Origins for movement. See rule 445. Movement…
• 201 Costs
• 202 Some Game Effects will instruct players to pay resources, spend counters or…
• 203 Costs must be paid in order to get their linked Effect.
• 204 Costs paid in this way might be:
• 205 An instruction that requires a player to pay resources or spend counters or XP…
• 206 Effects that need to determine a card’s cost for any purpose always use its…
• 300 Playing the Game
• 301 The Turn
• 302 Play continues cyclically until one player wins.
• 303 The phases of a turn are rigid, but the actions taken during those steps can…
• 304 The Turn Player is the player taking the current turn.
• 305 When there are no items on the Chain and the Turn Player cannot or chooses not…
• 306 The Turn Player changes when the current Turn Player reaches the End of all of…
• 307 States of the Turn
• 308 At any given time, the turn is in either a Neutral State or a Showdown State.
• 309 At any given time, the turn is in either an Open State or a Closed State.
• 310 These descriptions can be combined, such that the turn is always in one of…
• 311 Priority and Focus
• 312 At any given time, up to one player has Priority.
• 313 At any given time, up to one player has Focus.
• 314 Phases of the Turn
• 315 Start of Turn
• 316 Main Phase
• 317 Ending Phase
• 318 Cleanups
• 319 A Cleanup will be made an Outstanding Task at the following times:
• 320 While a Cleanup is occurring, Chain Items cannot be Finalized or Resolved.
• 321 Similarly, while Chain Items are Resolving, a Cleanup cannot occur.
• 322 If an event occurs during a Cleanup that qualifies for a Cleanup, another…
• 323 When a Cleanup occurs, the following Tasks become Outstanding in the order…
• 324 Special Cleanups are Cleanup steps invoked at specific times that have…
• 325 Chains and Showdowns
• 326 Players can act during the following Windows of Opportunity that occur during…
• 327 Chains
• 328 The Chain is a Non-Board Zone that temporarily exists whenever a card is…
• 329 Cards, tokens, and abilities added to the chain are added as Pending Chain…
• 330 The Chain exists as long as a Chain Item is on it.
• 331 The State of the Turn is partially determined by whether or not the Chain…
• 332 Handling Tasks and Resolving Chain Items
• 333 A Task is one or more steps or processes that one or more Players must perform…
• 334 Whenever a Player takes one or more actions that incur Tasks they should refer…
• 335 If there are no Outstanding Tasks, no pending Chain Items, no ongoing Showdown…
• 336 When there are no outstanding Tasks and there are pending Chain Items on the…
• 337 Step 1: Finalize
• 338 Step 2: Execute
• 339 Step 3: Pass
• 340 Step 4: Resolve
• 341 Showdowns
• 342 A Showdown is a Window of Opportunity in which Players have an Open State in…
• 343 The State of the turn is partially determined by whether or not a Showdown or…
• 344 A Showdown begins when Control of a Battlefield is Contested during a Cleanup…
• 345 As a Showdown begins, the player who applied Contested status to the…
• 346 When the last item on the chain resolves and the turn returns to an Open State…
• 347 During a Showdown, the player with Focus may do one of the following:
• 348 If all players pass Focus without playing a spell or activating an ability…
• 349 Playing Cards
• 350 Playing a card is the act of a player utilizing their cards.
• 351 Cards have different behaviors when played.
• 352 Cards have different states during the process of being played.
• 353 The Process of Play
• 354 1. Move the card from its current zone to the Chain.
• 355 2. Make relevant choices.
• 356 3. Determine Total Cost.
• 357 4. Pay the card's costs.
• 358 5. Check legality.
• 359 6. Finish finalizing this card and proceed with the card's category of Play.
• 360 Abilities
• 361 An Ability is the structured rules and capabilities of Game Objects or Spells.
• 362 A card can have more than one Ability and more than one type of Ability.
• 363 Passive Abilities
• 364 Conditions, rules, constraints, or statements that affect the course of…
• 365 Presence on Permanents
• 366 Presence on Card outside of the Board
• 367 Replacement Effects
• 368 An ability that alters the application of another game effect or game rule.
• 369 Replacement Effects intercede during the execution of a Game Effect and alter…
• 370 A Replacement Effect can alter the typical flow of play, including other…
• 371 Some Replacement Effects will begin with “once each turn,” or “N times each…
• 372 If more than one Replacement Effect applies to the same event being executed…
• 373 If more than one event occurs simultaneously that Replacement Effects could…
• 374 A Replacement Effect’s controller is the player that controls the source of…
• 375 If an event that a Replacement Effect applies to would be modified by the Game…
• 376 Activated Abilities
• 377 Activated Abilities are repeatable effects with a cost. They follow a process…
• 378 The controlling player chooses when and whether to activate an Activated…
• 379 Activated abilities are present on Game Objects and some Spells.
• 380 Can primarily be activated while on the Board.
• 381 All Activated Abilities can only be activated on the Controlling Player's Turn…
• 382 Triggered Abilities
• 383 Triggered Abilities are repeatable effects that happen when a Condition is met.
• 384 Presence on Permanents
• 385 Presence on Cards outside of the Board
• 386 Reflexive Triggers
• 387 Reflexive Triggers are a type of Triggered Ability that create one or more…
• 388 Reflexive Triggers use the Chain.
• 389 Delayed Abilities
• 390 Delayed Abilities are a type of Ability that specifies a window of…
• 391 Delayed Abilities will resolve or be active just like the ability they…
• 392 Delayed Abilities are not associated with Units or Gear; they are created by…
• 393 Linked Abilities
• 394 Linked Abilities are a set of Abilities with one or more of the component…
• 395 In order for a set of Abilities to be Linked, they must be present in the…
• 396 Linked Abilities can contain component Abilities of any type.
• 397 A component Linked Ability that references a Game Object affected by another…
• 398 Playing or Activating Abilities
• 399 Playing or activating Abilities follows the same steps of playing cards.
• 400 Abilities when added to the Chain become Pending Items until they complete the…
• 401 1. Activate or trigger the Ability
• 402 2. Make relevant choices
• 403 3. Determine Total Cost
• 404 4. Pay Costs
• 405 5. Check Legality
• 406 6. Proceed with Play
• 407 Game Actions
• 408 Game Actions are actions players may perform at any given time during the game.
• 409 A player, unless otherwise specified or prompted, may only perform actions on…
• 410 There are two types of Game Actions:
• 411 Responsibility
• 412 Types of Actions
• 413 Draw
• 414 Exhaust
• 415 Ready
• 416 Recycle
• 417 Deal
• 418 Heal
• 419 Play
• 420 Move
• 421 Hide
• 422 Discard
• 423 Stun
• 424 Reveal
• 425 Counter
• 426 Buff
• 427 Banish
• 428 Kill
• 429 Add
• 430 Channel
• 431 Burn Out
• 432 Double
• 433 Swap
• 434 Attach
• 435 Detach
• 436 Predict
• 437 Prevent
• 438 Replace
• 439 Create
• 440 Burn
• 441 Empower
• 442 Disempower
• 443 Skip
• 444 Pay
• 445 Movement
• 446 Moving is a Limited Action.
• 447 Moving is defined by the Origin and Destination of the Permanent that is…
• 448 Players may choose to move their Units with the Standard Move. See rule 144…
• 449 Spells, Abilities, or other effects may cause a Move to occur.
• 450 The Destination becomes Contested if it is an Uncontested Battlefield not…
• 451 Units may cause a Non-Combat Showdown when they Move. See rule 341. Showdowns…
• 452 Units may cause Combat when they Move. See rule 459. Combat for more…
• 453 When a Move action is complete, perform a Cleanup.
• 454 Recalls
• 455 A Recall is when a Permanent is relocated from anywhere to its Base without it…
• 456 Recalls are not Moves.
• 457 Gear can be Recalled.
• 458 Recalls do not affect the state of the Permanent being recalled.
• 459 Combat
• 460 A Combat occurs when a Cleanup occurs, there are no items on the Chain, there…
• 461 Combat is considered Staged if there are units controlled by two opposing…
• 462 Combat can only occur between Units controlled by exactly two players.
• 463 The Steps of Combat
• 464 Step 1: The Combat Showdown Step
• 465 Step 2: The Combat Damage Step
• 466 Step 3: The Resolution Step
• 467 Scoring
• 468 Scoring is the act of a Player gaining a point through the process of seizing…
• 469 A player Scores in one of two ways:
• 470 A player may only Score, from either method, once per Battlefield per turn.
• 471 When a player Scores, two things occur:
• 472 When a cleanup occurs and a player has accrued Points greater than or equal to…
• 473 Layers
• 474 Layers are the mechanism in which Game Effects alter the Traits, Intrinsic…
• 475 Layers are an organizational structure.
• 476 The layers are applied repeatedly until all effects operating on objects have…
• 477 Layers are applied in the following order:
• 478 If more than one effect applies to the same Game Object in the Same Layer, or…
• 479 To determine which effect Depends on another, determine which of the prior…
• 480 If more than one effect applies in the same layer but no dependency is…
• 481 Modes of Play
• 482 There are multiple methods of playing Riftbound.
• 483 A Mode of Play must define several variables for the game.
• 484 Sanctioned Modes
• 485 1v1 (Duel)
• 486 1v1 (Match)
• 487 FFA3 (Skirmish)
• 488 FFA4 (War)
• 489 2v2 (Magma Chamber)
• 649 Conceding
• 650 A player may concede at any time.
• 651 When a player concedes, they are removed from the game in progress.
• 652 If the game continues, follow these steps for Removal of a Player.
• 700 Additional Rules
• 701 Buffs
• 702 Buffs are counters placed on Units.
• 703 Each Buff individually contributes +1 Might to a Unit.
• 704 Buffs are Game Objects and may be referenced, counted, or affected by other…
• 705 If a Unit leaves play, remove all Buffs from it.
• 706 Mighty
• 707 Mighty is a description that applies to some units. Other game effects can…
• 708 A Unit "is Mighty" as long as its Might is 5 or greater.
• 709 A Unit "becomes Mighty" at the moment its Might changes from being less than 5…
• 710 Units on the board are evaluated according to their current Might. Example: A…
• 711 Units in Non-Board Zones are evaluated according to their printed Might…
• 712 Bonus Damage
• 713 Bonus Damage is an intrinsic property that can be granted to Deal actions that…
• 714 If more than one instance of Bonus Damage is applied or granted to a Deal…
• 715 Bonus Damage applies to the total damage Dealt by one instance of the action.
• 716 Attachment
• 717 Attaching is a limited action that causes cards to become linked to each other…
• 718 Attached is the state of a card being linked to another card in this way.
• 719 A Top-Most Card is a card that has one or more cards linked to it through the…
• 720 Inactive
• 721 Card text can occasionally be assigned to be ignored, disregarded, or…
• 722 Inactive text is still present on cards.
• 723 Rules Text is never Inactive by default.
• 724 Effect Text is Inactive unless the card with the Effect Text is Attached.
• 725 Inactive text can partially cease to be Inactive under specific circumstances…
• 726 Dependent Keywords
• 727 Keywords can be Dependent Keywords
• 728 XP
• 729 XP is a resource that is accrued, spent, or otherwise modified by Players…
• 730 XP can be Gained and Spent.
• 731 XP is not a Game Object.
• 732 XP is not shared between Allies in Game Modes with Teammates.
• 733 There is no limit to an amount of XP a player can accrue.
• 734 Additional Turns
• 735 Certain Game Effects will instruct a player to “take a turn after this.” These…
• 736 Turn order is established when the game begins as a repeating set of players…
• 737 When an Additional Turn is inserted into this queue, it does not change the…
• 738 If multiple Additional Turns are queued, they are added to the queue in the…
• 739 Special Terms
• 740 Card text and this rules document use certain terms in specific ways that are…
• 741 Counters
• 742 Counters are Game Objects generated by and given to other Game Objects on the…
• 743 Counters serve to track semi-permanent effects on Game Objects.
• 744 Counters can have game effects themselves, or serve as the prerequisite for…
• 745 Counters can be spent by game effects.
• 746 Some effects may move a Counter between two Game Objects. The Counter is…
• 747 Counters that leave a Game Object without being placed on another game object…
• 748 Game Objects that change zones to a non-board zone lose all of their Counters…
• 749 Counters do not have a controller.
• 750 Making New Choices
• 751 Some Game Effects will instruct a player to make new choices for a finalized…
• 752 This refers to the choices normally made during finalization, with some…
• 753 When making new choices in this way, a player can choose any subset of the…
• 754 If, as a result of new choices, the spell or ability targets a Game Object it…
• 755 Any costs “to play” the spell or ability that are incurred as a result of new…
• 756 Untargetability
• 757 Some Game Effects declare that a Game Object can’t be chosen by a certain set…
• 758 Untargetable Game Objects are not legal targets for the indicated spells and…
• 759 Naming Cards, Types, and Tags
• 760 Some Game Effects may instruct a player to name or guess a card, type, or tag.
• 761 The act of naming a card in this way may be accomplished in one of two ways:
• 762 When instructed to name a card, a player must name a card that is legal in the…
• 763 When instructed to name a tag, a player cannot choose to name a tag that does…
• 764 Ignoring Effects
• 765 Some Game Effects may instruct players to ignore abilities while performing a…
• 766 Any abilities ignored in this way are treated as inactive for the purposes of…
• 767 Ignored abilities are only treated as inactive for the specific game action or…
• 800 Keywords
• 801 A Keyword is a specific term that appears on Cards that acts as a shorthand…
• 802 A card can have any number of Keywords.
• 803 Similar to other rules text, execute any effects of Keywords in the order…
• 804 Keyword Glossary
• 805 Accelerate
• 806 Action
• 807 Assault
• 808 Deathknell
• 809 Deflect
• 810 Ganking
• 811 Hidden
• 812 Legion
• 813 Reaction
• 814 Shield
• 815 Tank
• 816 Temporary
• 817 Vision
• 818 Equip
• 819 Quick-Draw
• 820 Repeat
• 821 Weaponmaster
• 822 Ambush
• 823 Hunt
• 824 Level
• 825 Unique
• 826 Backline
• 827 Empower
• 828 Empowered
• 829 Flow