Phantasy Star IV CCG rules and information

Information

Missagh Note: and again, I want to thank kerrek for letting me add this great game at PS Cave.

The Phantasy Star CCG is a fully playable game designed by Kerrek Nalanthi. The cards are unique in layout, function, and design. Each card makes up the set and the set itself would be incomplete without it. Some of the cards are more powerful than others, some have various Skills and Techniques which make them better or equal to other cards in the set. Some cards lend power to other cards or have Skills that relate them to other cards. All in all, the sets and the game itself is very independant and unlike any other game. The rules of play are similar to most CCG's. What follows in these pages is a list of rules of gameplay that can be used to teach you how to play the game, and, if you are already experienced, you can refer to this page as a reference to help you. Without further adieu, here be the official rules for the PSIV CCG.

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The Rules

Overview

Welcome to the Algo Star System! I, Kerrek Nalanthi, sixth generation Lutz, welcome you to this land wizards and magic, warriors and swords, demons and death, and evil and good, where the battle for supremecy of the two is on going. Here, I invite you to join the neverending struggle and help try to conquer evil once and for all. In the PSIV CCG you and your rival are both Esper warriors dueling against one another. At stake is the of the entire Algo Star System. Win or lose, at the end of the battle oen of you will control Algo and the other will not live to see him reign. At your disposal during the fight is an army of monsters and robotic warrriors as well as an array of powerful humans and androids and a few super powerful, super dark fighters. Whatever pattern you choose to go by, take caution as you must always anticipate your opponent's own move before your own. And remember, The fatal flaw in every plan is the assumption that you know more than your enemy.

Keep your wits about you and don't let your own power go to your head. If you keep a steady hand and a steady heart, you will win the day and triumph over your opponent, giving you control of this magical land once and for all.

Basic Rules of Play

You and your opponent each have your own deck of cards. The deck may be no more than 60 cards and no less than 50. Each of you begins by drawing seven cards. This is called the Draw Phase. One way or another decide who takes the first turn. Then you lay out all the basic cards you have in your hand. You may NOT lay a Super Character down on your first turn. This stage of the game is called the Play Phase and it happens once before every Attack Sequence. Once this happens you are ready to begin battling. Whoever goes first gets to attack first. He chooses what card of yours he wants each of his to attack, or all of them depending on whether or not that card posseses that Skill or Technique. Then your cards recieve damage. If the damage would be fatal, they are sent into a discard pile. He then recieves one EXP for killing that card. EXP will be explained later in the How To Win Section. Play then changes over and it is the other players turn to attack. The sequence follows like this until one of two things happens: All cards on one person's side have been killed or a player reaches 30 EXP and wins. These rules will be explained further throughout the page.

Important Game Terms

This game has several terms that make gameplay easier to understand. Most of the terms have corresponding symbols which will be explained in then next section. Here is a list of all the important game terms that a player should know.

Skill
These are abilities that have a set amount of times you can use them. Skills have different uses, whether offensive, defensive, or with other specific purposes, they make the card more powerful in one way or another. Nearly all cards have skills to use at their disposal during the fight.
Techniques
These abilites have no set amount of times you can use them. Instead, they have Technique Points, or TP, which are universally distributed. If a card has two Techniques, they all draw from the Technique Points. Once a card's TP gets too low to use a certain Technique, that card can no longer use it unless TP is restored somehow. Mechs cannot use Techniques. Few monsters can, but not many. Humanoids and Minions can use Tech, as well as Super Characters amd Major Characters. Super Characters tend to have more TP than other cards. You can read more about Super Characters in the Super Character Section.
Defense
This ability normally states a resistance or immunity to a certain type of card, or to Skills and Techniques in general. These are rarely seen in most cards, however.
Items
These cards are played directly by the players themselves. They do not remain in play, rather, they go straight into a discard pile upon being played. They normally have special abilities, like restoring HP or TP or heightening another card's defensive or offensive powers.
Attack
The attack in general is just an amount of damage a card can deal to an opponents card. They have infite uses and can be altered by other cards. This set amount of damage counts as that card's action for the turn.
Unconscious
Some cards have the abilities to cause your opponent's cards to become unconscious. when a card is unconscious, it shoud be rotated 180 degrees. This card cannot deal damage or use and Skills or Techs.
Poisoned
When a card is poisoned it recieves a set amount of damage per turn until the player heals it or it is killed. Poisoned cards are turned 90 degrees clockwise.
Paralyzed
When a card is paralyzed it should be rotated 90 degrees counter clockwise. The card cannot deal damage or use Skills or Techs until healed by the player or until 6 turns pass.
Turn
Every time you attack it is your turn. After you attack and you receive EXP, play passes to the opponent and it becomes his turn. When he is done play continues to you, making it your turn again.
EXP
These are Experience Points that you receive from killing an opponents card. You recieve one EXP for each card you kill.
Card
This simply refers to you and your opponents cards of all types.

Game Symbols

The PSIV CCG has many unique symbols that aren't used by other types of card games and may be unfamiliar to the player. Included here is a brief explanation of the game symbols and the accompanying game symbol. Some of these symbols appear onall cards. Some of them appear only on a few. The meaning of each symbol is explained next to the picture.

">"
This basically represents a colon. It is usually placed between a symbol and a block of text. It more or less serves as a pointer that links the symbol to the text.
Attack.jpg (839 bytes)
This represents a cards attack feature. There is no limit to the amount of times a card can attack per game. Only one attack can be done per turn, however, and that counts as the card's action for that turn. Attacks have a set amount of base damage that is dealt when used, but there are other cards and abilities that can act upon the attack's power, making it greater or lesser depending upon the ability.
Skill.jpg (852 bytes)
This represents a card's Skill. Skills are explained above.
Technique.jpg (837 bytes)
This represents a Technique. Cards have a certain number of Technique Points (TP). These points are universally distributed for all Techniques available to that card. A card can only use a Technique until it doesn't have enough TP left to use it anymore. However, there are certain cards and abilities that can restore TP. Monsters and Mechs cannot use Tech. Super Charaters and Major Characters can use Tech. Major Characters usually have a lower amount of TP than Super Characters. More will be explained about both later in the text.
Defense.jpg (831 bytes)
This represents defense. These are usually natural resistances or immunities to certain Skills, Techs, or types of cards in general. Very rare and usually very helpful, you should always have some cards wtih resistances on a side board incase you find an opponent with a card of that type.
Item.jpg (844 bytes)
These are only found on item cards. An Item card has a set amount of times you can use it. Some item cards are only one use, others can be used multiple times before they are discarded. This symbol will always appear before the Item's use in order to verify that it is an item. Using an item counts as a card's turn.
"±"
This symbol appears in the lower left hand corner of a card and represents its rarity. This particular symbol means that a card is "common."
"¡"
This symbol appears in the lower left hand corner of a card and represents its rarity. This particular symbol means that a card is "uncommon."
"Ó"
This symnol appears in the lower left hand corner of a card and represents its rarity. This particular symbol means that a card is "rare."

Phases of the Game

There are five phases to every game. Four of them take place during each players turn. The Attack phase is played longer. That will all be explained shortly. Players should decide who goes first by throwing dice, flipping a coin, whatever. Then the game begins. Each player draws seven cards customarily. This is the opening phase of the game and isn't regarded as a phase at all. Play begins with the Draw Phase

Draw Phase

This is the first phase of every turn. The player may draw one card from the top of their deck unless a card or ability prevents them from doing such. It is during this phase that all recurring damage is dealt to the appropriate cards.

Playing Cards

This phase follows immediately after the Draw Phase. Any basic cards in a players hand may be placed in play upon the table unless a certain card specifies a certain amount of card type that can be in play with it at any given time. Super Characters may not be played during the first turn. No cards can be evolved or upgraded during the first turn. All cards layed on the table are immediately placed in play under control of that player. During the first turn, the opponent may play his cards at the same time as you do, but only during the first turn. The next turn that follows is the Attack Phase.

The Attack Sequence

The Attack Sequence is the most important part of the game. It is this phase that could win or lose the game for you. This phase is the most complex phase of the game. Unlike the other phases, this doesn't last just one turn. The attack phase begins on the first turn. The player who was chosen to go first may use what cards he has to attack. Either by using Skills, Techs, or just Attacks, you choose one of your opponents cards to target with each of your cards. Then, damage is dealt accordingly. If the damage dealt excedes the max HP, then that card is killed. It is flipped over face down so the back is showing. All card statuses are checked before this phase begins. When all damage is distributed and all cards are checked, the attack phase still isn't over. This is the longest phase in the game becasue it continues, turn by turn, until all of someone's cards are dead. Therefore, even though you would continue playing turn by turn as normally, the attack phase would follow through each turn until all of someone's card's are killed. When it comes time for the opponen'ts attack phase, he just attacks to other players cards in the same fashon. Even though this phase is continuous, after you or an opponent's attack is finished, you continue through with the rest of the phases. Whenever a person doesn't have any cards in play, or after a person loses an attack phase, if they were not using a Power Character, they draw seven new cards and play all basic cards as if it were their first turn. The next phase that follows is the Cleanup Phase.

Cleanup

The Cleanup Phase is the fourth phase of the game. In this phase, all cards are checked after an attack. Any card that is flipped over is placed in the discard pile and the person who kill it gains one EXP. EXP should be recorded carefully so that no mistakes maybe made. This is very important! All cards status, i.e. poison, paralyses. blabla, take effect during this phase. And cards with special abilities that are don't happen during an attack take effect during this phase. The final phase of a players turn is the Exp. Phase.

The Exp. Phase

This is the final phase of a turn. In this phase the EXP is simply tallied up and checked on each sides. If a person has over 30 EXP and would win the game, the game doesn't end until this turn, when that EXP is checked. These are the five phases of gameplay. If anyone finds them to be confusing or not well written, please email me and I will work to fix them as soon as possible.

How to Win

Winning the PSIV CCG depends on several things. Your deck, your strategy, your gameplay, and your use of the cards. In order to win you must keep focused and know your next move. There are two ways to win this game as of now, more may follow as the game becomes more elaborate:

  1. Reaching 30 EXP by killing your opponent's cards.
  2. Killing a Super Character. Whenever a Super Character is in play, no other cards can be in play. Since Super Characters are far more powerful than any other card in the game, killing them results in an instant victory without even waiting for the Exp. Phase.

Status of Cards

There are several states that card can be in. For instance, when a card is first played and has no damage, it is in a normal state. Here are other states that cards can occupy during the game:

Paralyses
In this state, a card is completely immobilized. A Paralyzed card is to be turned 90 degrees counter clockwise so other players know it is paralyzed. During paralyses, a card cannot use any Skills or Tech, and cannot attack. While paralyzed, all defenses are still in use and there are no added weaknesses. Innate abilities are useless as well. Paralyses lasts until it is healed or three turns
Unconsciousness
In this state, a card is also immobilized. An unconscious card is turned 180 degrees so it is backwards. While unconscious, a card cannot use Skills, Tech, or Attacks. All defenses are also immobilized. However, innate abilities are still usable. A card remains unconscious until healed or for five turns
Poison
A poisoned card recieves a set amount of damage from the poison every turn. First stage cards recieve 10 HP damage from it. Second stage cards recieve 15 HP damage, and third stage and on recieve 20 HP damage. Poison lasts until healed or until the card dies.

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