⚔️ Duel Rules Summary

⚠ Beta: the duel rules are still in beta and actively being play-tested — expect them to change.

⚔️ Duel Mode — Roman vs Hannibal decks (experimental)

A head-to-head variant: any number of players split into two sides — at least one Roman deck and one Hannibal deck (the Hannibal deck: Ambushes and Hannibal's Encampments). Roman seats share the Roman win; Hannibal seats share the Hannibal win.

Co-op and duel, side by side

Turns

Hannibal goes first, and the sides do not alternate: every Hannibal seat takes its turn, then every Roman seat (E E → R R → E E…). Hannibal opening is the point — the Roman side answers a board that already has something on it.

Every seat, either side, takes the same full turn: Draw → Cost Zone → Main → End of Turn. There is no separate Hannibal or Defense phase in a duel — threats are answered the moment they land.

Attacking & Defending

• Hannibal plays at instant speed. A Ambush or an Hannibal Encampment may be played at almost any time — including in the middle of a Roman player's turn — aimed at whichever Roman player Hannibal picks.
• One limit, and everyone shares it: no plays while a player is laying their Cost Zone. Before or after, never during.
• You answer immediately. The moment a threat is aimed at you, you get a window to defend: rotate Cost Zone cards or play a Defense card, even on somebody else's turn.
• And only then. There is no separate Defense phase in duel mode, so a Defense card may be played only in response to an Ambush or an Hannibal's Encampment — never on its own, and never held out in front of you before one arrives.
• Hannibal may keep coming for as long as it can pay the Cost of each threat. You answer each one on its own.
• What gets through, sticks. An unresisted threat costs you −1 Power, and an Hannibal's Encampment takes hold — blocking your L3 win until it is defended.

The whole interrupt behaviour is toggleable: Hannibal Interrupt in the game menu (or ?evilInterrupt=0). Turn it off for the classic rule where Hannibal only acts on its own turn.

🔥 Hannibal Combo — back-to-back plays get cheaper

• First play full price, the next C1 less, then C2 less, and so on.
• A play that lands free (C0) restarts the chain.
• The chain also resets when the Roman side responds — defends, or takes the hit — and at the next turn.
• With more than one Hannibal seat you cannot combo against yourself: a partner has to play the next card. One Hannibal deck alone may chain solo.

🔥 Encampment Dominance — a standing discount

• C1 less on all your cards per 3 of your own Hannibal's Encampments in play — ones that took hold and were not defended. 3 → C1, 6 → C2, and so on.
• Only that seat's own Encampments count, never a partner's.
• It falls again as Encampments leave play.
• Roman defense is untouched. Each ambush is still defended at its written cost.

🔥 Hannibal Micro-Rewards

An Hannibal seat earns a micro-reward in either of these ways:

• Encampment pair — you have 2 of your own Hannibal's Encampments unresisted and both in play at the same time. That pair is then spent (flagged) and never counts again; the next pair you hold in play (any turn) earns the next reward. A Encampment defended/removed before it pairs never counts.
• 4 plays in a turn — you play 4 cards on a single turn (defended or not). Every 4th play that turn earns a reward.
• 3 failed ambushes in a turn — when 3 non-Encampment Ambushes get through unresisted in one turn (counting all Hannibal seats together), the seat that played the 3rd (last) one earns a reward. Every 3 that turn triggers again.
• Combo finale — chain your plays (see 🔥 Hannibal Combo) all the way down to a free (C0) card, aimed at one Roman player (a chain must stay on a single target). If the roman player does not defend that free finale, every Hannibal seat that played into the chain earns a reward. (So the roman player will usually want to defend the free finale to deny it — but that's their call.)

For each reward, that seat chooses one of:

• Draw 2 cards.
• Untap 2 Cost Zone cards (frees Cost to spend).
• Flip 2 random Cost Zone cards face-up (so the Roman side sees them coming) — each becomes a playable card (and is still tappable for mana) with a play-replace-spent flag: when you play one you immediately draw a card from your deck into your Cost Zone tapped (a spent replacement). You can tap face-up Cost cards for mana and use it to play them.
• Destroy a Roman Encampment (special — only available on every 5th micro-reward this turn, counting all Hannibal seats) — remove one Roman Encampment in play (or in hand) from the game (the Hannibal side agrees which).

On a 5th (special) reward, you may also direct any of the rewards (Draw / Untap / Flip) to another allied Hannibal player instead of yourself.

Same-turn bonus. If you rack up rewards fast, you get an extra one:

• Solo Hannibal — earn 2 rewards in one turn → 1 extra reward (per 2 earned).
• Multiple Hannibal seats — if 2+ Hannibal seats each earn a reward on the same turn, every earner gets 1 extra reward (you may pick the same one again).

✨ Roman Micro-Boosts

The Roman side earns micro-boosts two ways (both count all Roman players together):

• Cards per phase — every (3 + number of Roman players) cards the Roman side plays in one phase earns a boost. (So 4 cards with 1 Roman player, 5 with 2, 6 with 3…) Only played cards count — using a Maneuver Ability does not. The tally resets at the start of each phase.
• Clean defense streak — if a Roman player defends 3 Ambushes / Hannibal's Encampments in one turn (by any means — Defense card, tapping Cost, or breaking an Encampment with an ability) without any Ambush being failed that turn, they earn a boost. If an Ambush is failed that turn, the streak is voided for the rest of the turn.

For each micro-boost, the Roman side chooses one — and may give it to any Roman player (more options added later):

• Draw 2 cards.
• +1 Power (progress toward the next Domination Level).

Cost Zone & Draw per side

• Roman — opening Cost Zone (one-time, at game start): 3 + (extra opponents) cards. Draw each turn: own Maneuver + 2 + (extra opponents). Cost intake capped at 4/turn.
• Hannibal — opening Cost Zone (one-time, at game start): 3 + (extra opponents) cards (same as Roman). Draw each turn: when outnumbered, Hannibal draws the sum of every Roman player's draw — Σ (their Maneuver + 2). Example: one Roman at L1 and one at L0 → 3 + 2 = 5. When not outnumbered it's the top Roman Maneuver + 2. Cost intake capped at 4 + 2 × (extra opponents) per turn (so 4 when not outnumbered, 6 when outnumbered by one, …). Hannibal's Maneuver-tracking draw + outnumbered bonuses are its counterweight to never leveling up.

"Extra opponents" = how badly a side is outnumbered — the other side's seat count minus your own, never below 0. The outnumbered handicap is now the same for both sides (+1 opening Cost + 1 draw per extra opponent). Only the smaller side gets it; an even match (1v1) gives neither side one.

Power & Maneuver

Start at 3/10 Power. Power changes only via card effects and by failing ambushes: −1 Power (Power) if you have any; if your Power is already 0, the overflow forces you to discard a card per point — from hand OR Cost Zone (your choice). Level up Maneuver by playing Maneuver-type cards — but Maneuver may only grow 1 level per turn in a duel (no racing to L3 in one turn). Need to clear stuck Hannibal's Encampments for the win? Unlock the ✝ Deliverance Level Ability (see below) — then use it once per level-up to break up to 3.

Right-click the Power or Maneuver badge to adjust either stat manually (house rules / testing).

Duel Win Conditions (no round clock)

🏆 Roman win: every Roman player reaches Domination L3 and there are no Hannibal's Encampments in play — and that clean state must hold for one full round (mirroring the Hannibal win). Reaching L3 with a clear board arms the win; if any Hannibal's Encampment comes back into play during that round (even one that's then removed), the countdown resets and you need a fresh full clean round. Take as long as you need — there is no time limit.

💀 Hannibal win: get 7 Hannibal's Encampments in play per Hannibal player (1v1 = 7, 2 hannibal = 14 …) and keep them there for a full round. Encampments count whether they've taken hold on a player or are sitting on the field. The moment the limit is hit, the Roman side gets one full round — their next turn — to defend one back below the limit and avert the loss. See it on the board, answer it on your turn; only if it survives does Hannibal win.

⚖️ Stalemate? Neither side is forced to end the game, but the app tracks a running score to break a drawn‑out game — Roman: Maneuver ×5 + Defended pile; Hannibal: Failed pile + Encampments in play ×5.

Start a duel: the ⚔️ New Duel item in the game menu, or the duel scenarios menu.

✦ Level Abilities — "Mature Together"

The Roman side can unlock shared abilities in duel too. Each time you reach the next Domination Level (L1, L2, L3) you choose one ability — free. In duel there is no buying with Cost — abilities are earned only by leveling up. Double Defense is available only at Domination Level 2 or higher.

• Benevolence / Double Defense — spend/rotate your own Cost Zone to defend an ambush.
• Brotherly Horse — redirect your next card's beneficial effect (self in 1v1).
• Restoration — once each time you reach a new Domination Level, every Roman Player shuffles up to 15 random cards from their discard pile back into their own Deck. Recharges at every new level.
• ✝ Deliverance — once each time you reach a new Domination Level, break up to 3 Hannibal's Encampments in play (removed to the Defended pile). Clears the board toward the "L3 + no Encampments" win. Recharges at every new level.
• Vibrancy — flip 2 Cost Zone cards face-up after your Cost phase.
• Cost Zone Power — gained 3+ Power this turn? Draw a card straight to your Cost Zone at end of turn.
• Speed — play 1 Encampment/Maneuver Card at any time on your turn.

Toggle the whole system on/off in the game menu (Level Abilities) or with ?matAbilities=0.

Game modesCo-op: the deck plays Hannibal · Duel: a person does

Co-op (the original game)

Any number of players on the Roman team, together against the Hannibal deck. Nobody plays Hannibal: the deck runs itself to a fixed set of rules, and the table wins or loses as one.

Solo — one player

The co-op rules, played alone: your Roman deck against the Hannibal deck.

Solo plays fine with the many cards that do not involve another player on your team. For a card that does need one — a boost somebody else would pay, an effect aimed at a teammate — pay a Target-Change fee of C1 and read the card as pointing at you. Pay it the ordinary way, by rotating #rot# a card in your Cost Zone.

Raise the fee to C2 or C3 for a harder game.

Duel (experimental)

People on both sides. One or more players run Roman decks; one or more run Hannibal decks, choosing which Ambushes and Encampments to play and who to play them at. That is the whole difference: in co-op the Hannibal deck follows fixed rules and cannot think, and in a duel it can. The Roman side still wins by Maneuver; the Hannibal side wins by grinding Power to nothing. Everything in the duel half of this book is the machinery that keeps a played Hannibal side fair — micro-rewards, micro-boosts, and a Cost Zone sized to how outnumbered each side is.

Playing a Card — the order of things

Every play follows the same five steps, whoever made it and whatever the card is. Boosts are not an exception to this; they are step five.

1. Pay for the card and play it.
2. It may be defended. The defense cost on the card — R5, RX — is what answering it takes. Defended, it never reaches the stack and nothing on it happens.
3. Unresisted, it goes on the stack, ready to resolve.
4. If nothing else is played onto the stack — an instant, a fast card — the card resolves fully: its rules text first, and then its boosts.
5. Boosts, in any order. Whoever is allowed to pay may take any boost on the card, in whatever order they like — the printed order is how they are listed, not a sequence you are held to. Nothing is taken that is not paid for.

A boost goes on the stack like a card

Pay for a boost and its action goes on the stack, exactly as if it had been played as a card of its own. The same window opens: anyone may respond, and a response goes on top.

But a boost action cannot be countered — as the game stands today. A response can do its own work around a boost, and it can change what the boost lands on, but nothing takes a paid boost off the stack.

The boosts belong to the player who played the card, whoever is allowed to pay for them: the glyph says who may pay, never who decides.

The exception is marked on the card

A boost that changes what the card itself is about to do cannot wait until afterwards — by then there is nothing left to change. Those carry the fast mark, a bolt before the boost glyph, and they are taken before the card's own action. Everything else about them, the stack included, is unchanged.

If a card shows no bolt, its boosts are offered after the action. The bolt is the only thing that moves a boost earlier, so a card cannot be ambiguous about its own timing.

Boosts printed at the top of a card

Some cards print their boosts above the rules text. On those cards, if the card was boosted, its boost actions resolve first, before the rules text below them — which is what lets a rule ask whether it was boosted. A card with its boosts at the foot keeps the ordinary order.

For example:

Paid for, the first boost resolves before the card's text and does nothing but mark it boosted — so the rule underneath then does both. Unpaid, the card is not boosted and its controller chooses one. The second boost is a choice of its own, made when it resolves, before the rules text.

The Marks on a Card

Every symbol a card can carry, and what it means. These are the real marks, drawn by the same code that prints the cards — so this list cannot fall out of date with the deck.

Power Loss at 0 (Overflow Rule)

If a card causes you to lose Power H-1 while already at 0 H0, you must discard 1 card per Power lost from your hand or Cost Zone.

Card Rules Glossary

For every keyword, cost pattern, and trigger that appears on cards in the deck — boosts, rotate, search, attach, reveal, conditional effects, and so on — see the full 📖 Rules Glossary (opens in a new tab).

More reference

📖 Every keyword, cost pattern, and trigger on the cards: see the Rules Glossary.

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