Welcome to the Kipuka!

I am glad you are here and want to play by the rules. We have put a lot of time into organizing our rules to make viewing pleasurable on a variety of devices and still look good on paper. Before we dive in, let's go over navigating the rules. Click the down arrow to continue reading this section.

Please Note: Kipukas uses many small game pieces to keep track of play. All pieces should be treated as CHOKING HAZARDS and the game content is for people 14+ years of age. Do not let children under or pets play with the pieces. At all times, it is the responsibility of the legal guardians to keep all pieces out of reach of children and pets.

By continuing to play with our products, you acknowledge that Kipukas accepts no liability for damages incurred by the misuse of our products.

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When you are ready you can click the right arrow to advance to the first part of the rules. We would like to show you one quick thing first, so kindly click down again.

When you see our logo you can click it to take you to the binder homepage.

Also when you click the book icon, it will take you back the table of contents for the rules. Now click right to proceed to the next section.

Game Forward

You may skip if you prefer

Kipukas is a game which draws the best concepts from creature card games and melds them with land conquering play. While I have personally enjoyed playing in other competitive card based games, I grew frustrated with becoming attached to certain characters, styles, and strategies only to have them become re-released, competitively invalidated by the latest deck release, or banned due to corporate oversight. On top of this, game companies tend to produce very poor quality cards which are not meant to last, yet some manage to reach unfathomable prices not worthy of the underlying paper. Kipukas seeks to be different. I want Kipukas, both as a game and a durable good, to outlast myself. By making cards which are updatable without new releases, we keep all the cards we produce competitively relevant. Additionally, with most cards produced at low rates, Kipukas challengers are much more diverse. The durability of our cards as game pieces are protected by the fact that we can update a broken card mechanic POST SALE. This protects your value from being wasted due to our short sightedness or oversight. While most land conquering games are enjoyable as well as strategically challenging, I was dissatisfied with the amount of pure luck the games hinge on. By combining with the complex card v. card mechanics, Kipukas battles feel more engaging, all the while retaining the larger scale strategies of the land conquering play. While complex and entertaining play is great, I want Kipukas to take on deep meaning and help spread it to many wonderful people in this world. Kipukas will set industry standards for innovative play, company interaction, and support of all whom make Kipukas awesome. Lastly, I hope many find Kipukas as enjoyable as I have found my competition. Better yet, more so.

Background

May also be skipped

Kipukas is a visualization of a world where society creates new worlds as they see fit. Each of these worlds are known as kipuka, which comes from the Hawaiian word for 'land between lava flows', and is symbolic of the destruction and rebirth of worlds. Cloning and genetic manipulation are the preferred methods of populating, expanding, and manipulating the worlds. In the game, the kipukas are represented by the 3D game map and the souls take life in the cards. The game represents the strife to control the world, while the players provide the motivation for the strife. The companion book series, Conscious Territory, which takes a deep dive into these concepts, is in progress with the first three chapters released and ready for reading. I have personally enjoyed working the concepts and hope you will enjoy contemplating them as well.

Required Game Pieces

Let's go over the pieces for a 2 player game

These are ALMOST all provided in the starter kit for 2 players

Personal Player Devices

Practically any Android or Apple Phone, or laptop computer will work with our game. If you want to use our QR codes (highly recommended) it will need a camera (ideally front-facing). This one is up to you to provide; we are not Oprah.

Token Sets (Per Player)

Set includes 10 Soul tokens, 11 Base Camp tokens, and a Capital token

Capital: The hardest area to take

Base Camp: The standard base of operations

Soul Token: Reveals a soul's position on the map

Dice Sets (Per Player)

Set includes 2 six sided dice, a 20 sided die, and a Diel Die

D6: A die with 6 faces

Diel Die Controls the day, night and storm cycle

D20: A die with more faces!

3D Kipuka Map

This is the field of play where the souls move, battle, and claim

Field Mat

This organizes the play by keeping track of which cards are in which territory

Card Decks

One deck per player. Both must be built with 30 cards and should meet the criteria listed at Building Decks.

initiative Token

The player whom holds this token holds the power to play first next round.

Phone Stands

These make scanning the QR codes nice and easy

Game Rules

You are here. These are avaliable on the card binder, kipukas.cards, for your digital viewing or printing pleasuring.

Mini Dry Erase Boards (and Pens)

These are for used for aspects of attack and defense

Friend

We can’t provide this one. We measured, they don’t fit in the box.
Even if we succeeded, “Friend” would be a strong word.

Familiarizing Game Play Concepts

Our Conventions, Courtesy, and Quarks

Pieces

Kipukas relies on oversized cards, 3d printed game pieces and game boards, and a mat for play organization. We currently make all of these as a batch process in-house. The cards we produce do not include the play mechanics on the card as, to my knowledge, all other card companies do. Instead, we let the artist’s work be as big and beautiful as possible. In fact, we do not even let the name of the card get in the way of showcasing artistic talent. Instead, we have made the play data for every card we produce accessible from the QR code printed on each card's back. Technically, this means the back of every kipukas card is wholy unique and identifible. However, unless you can scan a QR code with your eye it probally won’t help you much. Additionally, the card art on the back helps camouflage the QR from cameras at a distance making remote cheating quite difficult to say the least.

Example Card

(above) Front and back of a the Kipukas card ”Hilbert: King of Avian Frogs”. Creating a card boarder was the artist's choice.

QR Codes

In order to make this process as user-friendly as possible, we have included a private QR scanner which runs locally on your device through our web app. We, nor any other interested party, will be able to see footage caught on the QR scanner because it is never stored and never touches the internet. The same cannot be said about that random QR app you installed on your phone... If you prefer to install an app we recommend the open source Android app called Binary Eye as is uses the same code library as we do and is tested to work as well with some default settings changed. Cognex bar code scanner is OK for iphones.

From now on we will assume that you trust us and use the QR scanner on kipukas.cards. Here, click the QR button in the tool bar, accept the privacy statement, then a camera will pop up. Give the beautiful face presented a gracious smile and show a card to the scanner. It will take you to that cards play data page. If for some reason you need to cancel scanning, you can click the eye icon on the top left of the scanner to close it. This scanner only works for QR codes which pattern match against Kipukas playing cards. The scanner will work best during a game if your device does not sleep during the play through. It is optional, but recommended to use or install a caffine mode app for this purpose. I hope you don't mind terrible selfies, because on the following page I screenshot one to show how this works. BTW I am holding the card way too far away on purpose for the shot. The QR code should take up most of the camera frame.

QR Codes cont.

The QR scanner on hilbert's kipukas.cards page running on a 1080p laptop. If you are curious, I am scanning "Shard's Desert"; the first card commissioned for Kipukas.

A last note about the cards. The center of the edge on the cards is colored to reflect their archetypal adaptation. This is a unique feature that allows players to see what type of card is on its way. Take advantage!

The following image shows an example of our game board, a.k.a. the map or kipuka. For your convenience, it is labeled with token placement and boundary line nomenclature.

Note the numbers on each territory stand. This is the reference for that territory. The following is an example of a mat that would be paired with the above map.

The slot numbers reference the territory numbers on the board. When cards are played, they are played on these slots. Once a soul token moves between territories, their corresponding card is moved from the old territory slot to the new territory slot on the mat.

Diel Cycle and Turn Advancement

If you followed along up to this point, you should now be ready to play the game! Let’s go! The first 3 turns are predetermined to always be day, then night, then day to jump start the game. After these, the first thing the players need to do before every turn is roll the diel die. It has faces that show a sun (day), a moon (night), and lighting/wind (storm). This roll dictates the actions you can take over the course of this turn, as is detailed further in this section. If present, the numbers indicate the order actions are taken.

While it may seem counter intuitive for night not to follow day, don't think of the diel cycle die a being directly attached to hours of a day. Rather think of the roll as dictating the productivity of that day.

Each diel roll, and its actions, apply to all players for that turn.

Day Actions (Blazing Sun)

1. If enemies are in your territory, choose to attack or retreat. See Attack, Defense, Retreat, and Healing as well as Maps (The Kipukas): Claiming Territories: Contention
2. Once you have resolved contention, if any, in your territory you may take initiative. Remember, you forego your ability to take any more actions for this day by taking initiative. Be prepared for whatever your opponent might throw at you!
3. After addressing contention, the player with initiative may place one card into play. Cards available for play during day are terrain features, traps, and souls in revealed or unrevealed position on a territory you control. See Card Variations.
4. The player with initiative may also reveal anor move 1 soul to adjacent spaces within their movement range. See Maps (The Kipukas): Movement
   • Upon movement into a territory where your opponent has unrevealed cards, your opponent will have you roll a D20 for trap activation/detection. If one of these cards becomes activated, deal with the consequences. See Card Activation Sequence and Trap Cards.
   • If the movement or territory stand that you moved onto is occupied, then attack the soul(s) in that space. See Attack, Defense, Retreat, and Healing
   • If the space occupied is a territory stand, and it is not under contention, place or replace a base camp token on the territory. See Maps (The Kipukas): Claiming Territories.

Day Actions cont.

5. After any new contention is resolved (i.e. keal means bout was won or put on pause due to loss) play moves to the other player. Now they resolve any existing conflicts (choosing to fight or retreat), then optionally play a card, then optionally move a card and resolve any resulting contention.
6. This continues between players until one player decides they have no moves left. At this point they can call for initiative, taking the initiative token on the timing of step 2. At this point the other player makes as many moves as they want moving souls within their movement limits, playing cards from their hand, creating contention, and taking territories.
7. Once both players have exhausted the moves they want to make, either player may roll for the next diel cycle.

Night Actions (Cresent Moon)

Like day, initiative applies to night. Each player can take one of the following actions before the other player takes an action. Each player may only perform each action once per night, but can choose the order the actions are taken

• If you so desire, you can move your hand to the bottom of the deck.
• You may draw cards to fill your hand back to 3 cards if your hand is diminished.
• You may choose to craft any items, then play or hide them. See Item Cards: Crafting.
• You may play a sabotage card. See Sabotage cards.
• You may take initiative for the next diel cycle

Once both players have exhausted the moves they want to make, either player may roll for the next diel cycle.

Storm Actions (Lightning / Wind)

Take Shelter! If a storm is rolled, any card caught in it (not within a capital or base camp) will take KEAL means damage and any downed cards will be removed from play. See KEAL Means Damage, Healing, and Tolerance.

Storm rolls apply to both players at the same time.

Initiative does not apply to storm rolls. It carries over from the previous day/night to the next day/night.

Once both players have applied damaged to all applicable souls, either player may roll for the next diel cycle.

Card Variations Used in Game Play

In Kipukas there are several types of cards that compose a deck which are listed below. Each variation has a section in these rules to describe their role in the game. Click or scan the QR codes to see a representative member of each card type. Every card, regardless of type specifies what variation it is (Card Variation), how it modifies game play (Game Effects), a class associated with the number of cards that were produced (Scarcity), and a flavourful anecdote blending the card into the world (History).

Character and Species Cards

Take and defend territories. a.k.a. soul cards

Terrain Feature Cards

Modify play within a territory

Trap Cards

Act as passive defenses

Sabotage Cards

Interfear with your opponent at night

Item Cards

Build or bolster cards

Personal Effect Cards

Grant players an effect for the duration of the game

Allele

These are the slight variations between cards. Some variations are planned, while others are spontaneous. These may include changes in presentation, play characteristics, etc.

Character and Species (Collectively Soul) Cards

These cards are the soul of Kipukas. Species cards tell the story of a species as a whole, while characters tell the story of an individual within a species. Until tameability is fully implemented, no playable differences between character and species cards exist. Throughout this guide, we refer to these as souls or soul cards when the context applies to both characters and species. Most souls have the ability to move and interact with traps and items, unless otherwise stated. Each soul has an Archetypal Gene and 1 or more KEAL means made up of Archetypal Adaptations. Additionally, each soul specifies how many movement/territory stands it can traverse in a day (Movement Range), a damage tracker for KEAL means and Final Blow (Card Status), additional play rules (Game Effects), which dice it rolls for attack and defense (Die Rolls), prefered territory type (Habitat), and a tie breaking sequence (Brawl Power).

We encourage you to develop story lines for your favorite cards to make the game more imaginative and personal. These should be pliable details developed through situational game play in order to form the soul's personality. Additionally, if some detail of game strategy, like increasing the power of a dragon with a stick, seems janky, you can call out the move as ridiculous even if the move is otherwise valid. If you learn by example better than explanation, read the Contention Resolution Example in Attack, Defense, Retreat and Healing first then reference this section as needed. As interest grows, I plan on publishing play-through videos to kipukas.cards.

Archetypal Adaptations Overview

Typing for KEAL means and Archetypal Gene

Cenozoic

Conform to modern era evolutionary norms

Decript

Barely held together, hardly alive

Angelic

Beautiful, graceful, heavenly beings

Brutal

Tend towards excessive violence

Arboreal

Look as if they live among the trees

Astral

Look as if they live among the stars, carrying interesting adaptations

Telekinetic

Physical traits tend to receed in favor of greater mental control

Glitch

Genetic mishaps. Favor Fringe, goth, angsty, punk, anor techie flair

Magic

Spiritually adept with abilities to sense or manipulate the ’supernatural’

Endothermic

Excessively cold blooded and require outside heat to sustain bodily reactions. Many steal enough heat to freeze their surroundings

Avain

Of, relating to, or characteric of birds

Mechanical

Some call them robots, but these souls are as dependent on their chassis as people are as dependent on their bodies.

Algorithmic

Machine sentient intelligence comes in many forms, but these are not dependent on any particular chassis.

Energetic

Bodies consist of highly energized matter. The total of their body might be split between dimensions or planes

Entropic

Embody chaos in one of its infinte forms, life is mearly an empirical quantitation

KEAL Means

Each card has a unique set of qualities used in attack and defense called KEAL means. These must be injured or broken to defeat the card. See Attack, Defense, Retreat, and Healing. Each part is composed of a material with archetypal qualities and is influenced by the habitat of the card. By the way, KEAL stands for Keep Everyone ALive and emphasizes the importance of every card you play.

Archetypal Material

KEAL means represent some physical trait or object that helps represent the soul it belongs to. These are all made of some manner of matter or energy, and can be thought of as materials. These materials share the same archetypal adaptations presented by the Archetypal Adaptations Overview which are also used for the card's Archetypal Gene. The major difference between these qualities is that an Archetypal Gene represents its general adaptation, where KEAL means detail the card's individual preferences/traits. Where each card only has one archetypal adaptation representing its Archetypal Gene, each KEAL means may be represented by 3 archetypal adaptations. These bonuses stack and counteract each other, where each archetypal adaptation of the attacking KEAL means interacts with each adaptation of the defending KEAL means. Use the fists tool in the tool bar on kipukas.cards to determine the roll modifier between KEAL means for a given attack.

Habitat

Whether by God or by man, this is where the soul was created to live. Group effects might be applied based on habitat. Bonuses are applied to KEAL means bouts. See the next page for habitat types and effects. Also see Maps (The Kipukas): Geography.

Habitat Effects

Mountain

Primary Effect: Add 2 to mountain dweller rolls
Secondary Effect: Take two from plains dweller rolls

Forest

Primary Effect: Add 2 to forest dweller rolls
Secondary Effect: Take two from plains dweller rolls

Plains

Primary Effect: Add 3 to plains dweller rolls
Secondary Effect: Heal revealed souls in territory 1 KEAL Means per 2 turns rested, when not under contention

Water

Primary Effect: Aquatic dwellers move in water without boats or rolling to swim
Secondary Effect: Other souls swim by rolling 2 D6 and obtaining 2+2. A boat card may also be used.

Heavens

Primary Effect: Heavens dwellers may fly over spaces without interacting with the cards in the territory below.
Secondary Effect: Typically have high movement ability

Volcanic

Primary Effect: Volcanic dwellers are immune to volcanic area damage
Secondary Effect: Souls take 1 KEAL means damage once per diel cycle

Underground

Primary Effect: Underground dwellers can travel through underground tunnels
Secondary Effect: Undergroud dwellers can make underground tunnels

Digital Cloud

Primary Effect: Occupy no space in territory
Secondary Effect: Are unable to take or hold base camps or capitals

Nomad

Primary Effect: Habitat effects do not apply to battles with nomads
Secondary Effect: Nomads swim by rolling a D6 with the result of 1 or 2

Archetypal Gene (Final Blow)

This is the predominate structure of the soul. After inflicting the necessary number of injuries on the card, you must best the card in a crushing final attack. This pits the inner-self of each soul against one another. Each soul possesses a core archetypal adaptation and a motivation which effects the roll of a Final Blow attack. Group effects, from a personal effect for example, might be applied based on the soul.

Motivation (Final Blow)

This is the other type considered for the Final Blow attack. Motivation reflects the soul's purpose and drive. Motivation is broken into several groups, the first three show what the soul will fight to preserve and have bonuses as follows:

Motivation Anagram

This shows the bonuses on the previous page overlayed on the additional attack bonus which motivation provides. If there is an interaction between the motive types it add an additional 10 to the attack roll in the direction of the arrow. For example, if a soul card with the corporal (worldly) Service motivation attacks a soul card with the worldly Satisfaction motivation it gains 10 to its original attack roll. Likewise if the Spectral Possessor motivation attacks the Spectral Conscience motive it gains 10 for its attack. Worldly and Spectral motives do not interact. The fists tool also works for determining motive typing bonuses. Just remember to set the archetype to a single archetypal gene not a KEAL means.

Fists Tool

Use the fists tool on kipukas.cards to determine the typing match-ups for KEAL means and Archetypal Gene. It can be accessed on the side tool bar on the home page or on any card page.

Tameability

α mechanic that applies only to species cards. Some species are easy to work with while others are quite persnickety. The tameability scale represents this phenomenon. Other souls and equipment may need to be played in order to wrangle these species. ∞ means the species is untameable (no amount of bonuses will tame them), those with 10 are the most difficult to tame, while 0 means the species does not require taming. A species becomes tame once player affinity and card effects stack equally with the species tameability. At this point, the soul will be under the full control of the player. If the player chooses to play the creature untamed or the opponent reduces your control of the creature below its tameability then the creature becomes under its own influence, rouge. Additionally, some cards will specify an ability to be played at a lower tameability rating without going rouge. In exchange, certain KEAL means or play effects will be unavaliable. These can be made avaliable by staking effects equal to the tameability after the species enters play.

Rouge Species

Each day, before either player's turn, you must roll for the rouge species' movement. Assign the paths connected to its current movement/territory stand, numbers 1-6. Roll a D6, then move the species along the appropriate path. Repeat until it has moved its entire Movement Range. Movement is the responsibility of the of the person whom originally played the rouge. If the territory it moves into is occupied by souls you or your frenemy controls, it must attack all souls (for both players) in the territory until it looses once. Rouges can move into and attack souls within either players capital.

Players engage in contention actions (attack, retreat, or reinforce) against rouges like they do against their opponent. You can also enter an agreement with your opponent to attack rouges in a certain order anor obstain from attacking each other until the rouge is defeated. Trading cards in hand is acceptable for these negotiations (You hand cannot have more than 3 cards, no exceptions!) Dishonesty in these agreements is entirely possible, so be careful. Souls on the top of the card stack will be attacked first.

If a rouge defeats all soul cards in the territory, remove the claim token on the territory. Rouge species must roll against trap and terrain feature cards when applicable, then reap consequences as well as benefits. Rouges must be revealed. Failure to do so will result in an immediate victory for the opposite player. If a rouge manages to defeat a player by defeating all souls in their capital while they control no base camps, the other player must defeat or tame the rouge soul. Failure to do so will result in a dual defeat.

Taming Rouge Species

Either player can attempt to tame a rouge soul and bring it under their control. This will require boosting player affinity higher than the tameability of the species card using items and the player’s base affinity level. This is the same manner that species which require taming are placed normally. Taming will occur at the begining of the day before contention is resolved. It is first avaliable to the player with initiative. The player who attempts taming must have a fully controlled soul already in the same territory as the rouge soul.

Imprisoned Souls

In certain circumstances, i.e. loitering (more than 1 day) in your opponent's capital, and under the effect of certain cards, souls can be taken prisoner. In this state the souls resides in the basecamp/capital in the territory where the prison is located and is unable to be played by the card's owner. Territories can support a max of 3 prisoners. This is in addition to the 3 souls per player normally supported. It will remain in the imprisoned state until it is liberated by meeting the conditions listed on the prison play effect or (if unspecified) the basecamp/capital is taken from the opponent. And yes, that means your loitering soul will likely be imprisoned in the capital for the entire game. However, some cards will have play mechanics that allow for imprisoned souls to be sprung.

Affinity and Loyalty

The ultimate goal of affinity is to be a long term game play strategy alongside loyalties attached to the soul cards. When we attach a game server to the Kipukas binder , you will be able to track your affinity for playing with Archeptypal Adaptations. As you declare them at the start of a game, your affinity for them will grow. Likewise, loyalty will increase a with the number of times that you play the specific card soul card. (Both will be limited to once per day, except at tournaments, which will be once per match.) Loyalty will also increase if you came to own the card through an incubation card. When loyalty, affinity, and play effect bonuses stack greater than the species card's tameability, the card will be tamed. Until our webapp is further developed, there will not be a loyalty or affinity tracker. In its place, players will add 1 to attack and defense rolls made for their declaired Archetypal Affinity.

Attack, Defense, Retreat, and Healing

Defeating a Soul

In order to defeat a soul, you must first weaken them by injuring or breaking their KEAL means. This is accomplished by attacking with your soul’s KEAL means. Each soul has a certain KEAL means tolerance that it can take before becoming vulnerable to a Final Blow. Modifiers are applied based on the KEAL means being used. See Character and Species (Soul): KEAL Means. After an unsuccessful blow, the player loses their ability to attack with that card for this diel cycle. On the defender's next turn, they must choose to attack or retreat. If an effect says souls take X damage, then the damage will apply to either the KEAL means or the Final Blow. If it applies to the Final Blow, the card becomes wasted and is discarded without a Final Blow.

KEAL Means Damage, Healing, and Tolerance

As souls accrue injuries (lose KEAL means), their tolerance for new injuries becomes smaller. Injuries usually occur one at a time, but some can inflict multiple at once. See below for an example. Some can even defeat souls without contest under the correct conditions. Injuries should be noted on the KEAL Means Damage Tracker on the card's page on kipukas.cards. When any card's KEAL means count reaches the last number, they become downed. This means they can't take any more punishment and become vulnerable to being engaged in a final attack. If the card either survives a Final Blow or is not engaged in a final attack, it won't be able to engage in attacks. As well, its movement speed is halved until it is healed. See Maps (The Kipuka): Movement: Moving Downed Souls. If a soul is caught exposed during a storm they will lose one KEAL means or if they are downed they will be wasted.

Souls can be healed by other souls, terrain features, or items with a healing ability. The soul must be within the same territory as the healing entity or within its specified healing range. Healers can only heal a certain number of KEAL means with in a certain number of diel cycles. Most healers have the ability to heal themselves under the same conditions mentioned above, unless they are downed.

KEAL means tracker on kipukas.cards

Toolbar option to reset the KEAL state of the cards (use after your game is complete)

Methods of Attack Against KEAL Means

• The default will be dice based attacking. The attacking die (dice) will be determined by the attacking card. Archetypal Material and Habitat bonuses may apply. Check the typing tools and guides for applicable bonuses.
• Some cards will support mini-games where appropriate, i.e. a thief themed card may involve a timed lock picking competition.

Methods of Defense Against KEAL Means

• The default will be dice based defending. The defending die type will be determined by the defending card. Archetypal Material and Habitat bonuses may apply. Check the typing guides for applicable bonuses.
• When defending against mini-games there are a few options
  1. Beat them at their own game
  2. Attack them before they can attack you
  3. Engage them with terrain features, traps, and items to defeat them without playing the mini-game

Final Blow

Once a soul’s KEAL means count is maxed, it may be engaged in a final attack. This must be won in order to waste the soul under attack. This attack uses the same dice as the cards use for KEAL means, but compares the cards' Archetypal Gene rather than a chosen KEAL means. Additionally, each cards' fundamental motivation may help them conquer or live to see a new day. If the attack is lost, then the attack against the downed soul comes to a close. If the attack is won, the defender is wasted. See Discarding Cards and Deck Runout.

Brawl in the Event of a Tie

If an attack results in a tie (the values of the attack and defense dice rolls, after modifiers are applied, are equal) or the mini-game does not result in a clear winner, the souls will engage in a brawl. In order to complete a brawl, both players need to look at their soul's 4 digit brawl sequence. The brawl sequence consists of letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores. In order to determine the victor, players compare the characters from left to right according to the table:

This applies to all tied rolls involving cards in contention, namely KEAL means and final rolls. By the way, brawl sequence are generated for every card at random. So an otherwise strong card can have a very weak brawl and weak cards can brawl hard.

Retreat and Reinforce

If you are in a badly losing fight, retreating might prove beneficial. It can allow you to regroup and redeploy to a more favorable position while minimizing loss. Players may retreat souls individually or as a group to a movement/territory stand(s) after their opponent's attack is stopped or after a soul is wasted, but before launching a counterattack.

The stand must be within the max Movement Range of the slowest card in the group. For example, if you are retreating 2 cards in a group, one with a Movement Range of 3 and the other with a Movement Range of 1, you can only retreat both cards to a distance of 1 away for a group retreat. Once you state where you are retreating to, the opposing player decides if they let you go, or they challenge the escape. If the opposing player wishes to prevent the escape, the escapee must win a roll of 2 D6 against a D20 for the retreating party. If retreating souls individually, you roll for the success of each retreat in the same manner. Also, your opponent might challenge any number of retreats they wish or let some souls go without challenging the retreat.

If successful, move your party to the nearest base camp or movement stand in territory that you control. Partial retreats are allowed. Downed souls may only retreat under escort of a soul with 1 or more KEAL means. For the retreat, they move at the max movement of the escort. Afterwards, they move at the speed of the downed soul. See Moving Downed Souls. If unsuccessful, the retreating soul(s) forgo their ability to attack for the day.

Retreat and Reinforce

Additionally, if the situation is looking grim, but you don't want to lose the fight you can move souls into the conflict. This can occur in two ways. The first requires moving souls from nearby uncontended territory. This occurs with the same timing as a retreat (after an attack or after a wasted soul, but before counter attack) except the they are allowed join the mess without rolling to enter. Additionally, if two territories are under contention near one another you can retreat a soul or group from one conflict to another by executing a successful retreat roll then moving the soul or party of souls into the other contended area.

Contention Resolution Example

This is our old friend hilbert!

Let’s pit him against one of the myrthvither raven species members

Scenario Walkthrough

Territory and Habitat

This bout is taking place in territory 7 (hightlighted with pink) which, as indicated by the log cabin, is a forest territory

Scenario Walkthrough

Card Mechanics Overview

Scenario Walkthrough

Combat Setup

In the above examples, we have our character, Hilbert, locked in battle with a species card called the Myrthvither Raven. The defending card's (Hilbert) archetypal adaptation matches the player's declared affinity, so the card receives a bonus to all rolls made by the card. The first attack launched will be a KEAL means attack. The habitat of this card is forest and the battle, according to the geography, is taking place in a forest. This gives the defender a bonus to each KEAL attack made in this territory. Unfortunately, the defender is a nomad, which neutralizes this bonus. Don't worry we will get back at the opponent. In this case, neither cards habitat's secondary effect kicks in. Next, each player chooses a KEAL means and writes it on their grease board. On the count of three, players reveal their choice to one another at the same time. These will be the keal means used for the remainder of this contention.

Scenario Walkthrough

Defense

Hilbert will use his Majestic Beak to defend against the Raven's Symbiont Barrage. Each KEAL means is chosen by the cards owner, and lasts for all combat between these souls on this day. The bonus will need to be determined using the fists tool on kipukas.cards anor using the provided typing table guide if you perfer an arduous manual check. A key thing to note is that each type has a different effect on the other type's attack power. This adds or subtracts up to three points from the roll PER TYPE INTERACTION. This can really influence the result of the bout. As an extreme example, if a Cenozoic-Decrepit-Angelic KEAL means is pitted against a Decript-Angelic-Brutal KEAL means it will recieve a crushing -13 to its roll. If it only rolls 2 D6 (quite common for cards with effects) it is an instant loss. However, in Hilbert's case the attack die modifier decreases the raven's attack roll by 5. If the attack wins (which it has a miserable chance of acomplishing), the defender’s (Hilbert) KEAL means count is reduced by one and the attacker has the opportunity to push on and attack again. This continues until the attacker loses, chooses to stop the attack, or the defenders KEAL means count drops to 0. Hilbert rolls with 2 D6 dice where as the Myrthvither Raven rolls with only 1 D6. This coupled with the type advantage of Hilbert's KEAL means ensures his victory in this defense. So, the turn ends for the attacker.

Scenario Walkthrough

Retreat, Reinforce, or Counter Attack

Now Hilbert has several options. If he is worried about the raven recieving reinforcements he can opt to retreat by winning a dice throw. Additionally, if Hilbert has friendly souls nearby now would be the time they join in on the fun and reinforce Hilbert's attack. See Retreat and Reinforcement. However Hilbert is feeling his kingly confidence and thinking about all the loving he will recieve as a war hero, so he is going to attack the Myrthvither Raven alone. Normally, this would involve the reverse role of the previous scenario, but the Myrthvither Raven is special. It modifies how the opponent can engauge it at the expense having 0 KEAL means. This means if it losses once, it is wasted. In order to face the Myrthvither, Hilbert must successfully roll the standard trap detection to find the raven. Assuming this is successful the raven will likely be defeaded due to being weak compared to the almighty King Hilbert. The raven is a mear scout in the prescence of greatness after all. If, by some miracle of play and strategy the Myrthvither Raven actually manages to beat Hilbert's roll, the current territory will remain under contention, but the fighting will resume the next day with the player who claims initiative attacking first. Alternatively, either Hilbert or the raven can be attacked by a reinforcing soul moved into the territory during this day.

Scenario Walkthrough

Clutching Victory

Here we could easily assume the raven was wasted on Hilbert's counter offensive. However; let's pretend that the Myrthvither Raven is now equipted with some item that gives it one additional KEAL means to lose. This would mean that it is now downed and vulnerable to the Final Blow. Now Hilbert engages in the Final Blow. Given that both cards have the Avian archetypal adaptation neither is at a disadvantage since adaptations of the same type usualy do not interact. Additionally, neither motive has an advantage against the other. However; the Myrthvither Raven is in the Support preservation triad motivation which would give it a bonus of 3 to it's final defense roll. Hilbert's motivation is in the Self preservation triad, which turns all his final blows engagements, including this one, to best 2 out of 3. So Additionally, Passion and Satisfaction do not interact, Hilbert does not recieve the +10 bonus. If the Final Blow is successful (in this case twice in 3 rolls), (which is likely given the relative power of each) then the defender normally gets wasted and moves out of play. See Discarding Cards and Deck Runout. If at any point the sum of the rolls and bonuses were tied, the battle match would end with a brawl. Let's assume the raven recieves it's final miracle and ties with Hilbert thereby starting a brawl. When we compare the value of Hilbert's HMPU, to the Myrthvither Raven's ZrrD. we see that Hilbert triumps with a capital H over a capital Z. The battle is won, now Hilbert can return to his kingly diggs and reap the spoils of his victory! (or the game will contiune on, just don't tell him that!)

Terrain Features

These cards modify territory either to benefit or hinder souls in the area. Some may be placed at random anywhere on the board, while others may offer controlled placement. These may target your opponent's territory claims, your territory claims, unclaimed territories, or any territory regardless of status. Only one terrain feature can be in play on a territory at a time. Unless otherwise specified, a new terrain feature played in a territory will replace the terrain feature card currently in play on the territory. Some of these cards must be revealed because their effects are instant and continuous. Unless stated otherwise, most terrain features are revealed at the discretion of the claim owner. If a territory is claimed with an unrevealed terrain feature, it becomes revealed to the new owner. These cannot be moved by a soul.

Random Territory Selection

Some cards apply an effect to a territory via a method of random selection. In order to properly select this territory, roll a D20 (or a D12 if you own any). If the number rolled is within the highest number on the board, then apply the effect to that territory. Otherwise, re-roll until the roll is less than or equal to the highest territory number. Alternatively, a random number generator is a good fit here. There are a bunch of free ones that you can use if you prefer

Item Cards

These cards are used in crafting. Crafting provides potions, equipment, and other boosters. A single item will have far less power (or no power) than a crafted item. The more items used in a craft, the more powerful the final crafted item will be. Unless otherwise stated, items can be moved unrevealed by souls. Generally, if an effect or attack with an equipped item fails, you may try that effect or attack again during the next diel cycle. If a crafted item emulates another card type (i.e. trap card, soul card, etc.) please review the respective section on how to play the recipe. Items and crafted items are generally not destroyed, but rather dropped when a soul equipped with them is wasted. If a territory is under contention when this happens, each player chooses a suitable card to attempt to grab the item. A KEAL means bout will ensue where the victor equips the item and the loser takes KEAL means damage. See Attack, Defense, Retreat, and Healing. If only one player has a suitable soul(s), the opponent can only defend the dropped item, not equip it. If neither player has a suitable soul in the territory, the dropped item is ignored until a suitable soul move into the conflict or the contention is resolved.

Crafting

Crafting occurs at night, when a player combines two to three item cards according to a recipe. If a crafting recipe is being guessed (competitors and refs can tell you if you are correct) and the guess is wrong, then immediatly discard the items involved in the guess. Once an item is crafted, you can keep the cards together to represent that item, or if you prefer, you can submit the recipe to Kipukas then purchase a single card representation of the crafted item when available.

Crafted items may enhance cards from other categories or produce cards from other categories. Once applied to a card, an enhancement can be moved or removed, unless otherwise specified. Crafting character cards is the only way to have more than a single copy of a character in your deck, but you can only have one natural character card and one crafted character card. There will be no exceptions to this rule. Once an item is crafted, it either needs to be used according to the recipe's description or hidden on a controlled territory (max 1 per territory). To use hidden items, you simply pull the item from the territory and craft as normal. If a territory is taken which contains hidden items, the items must be revealed unless protected by a different active card. Control of the revealed cards, while in play, is given to the new claim holder. The claim holder must then decide to use, hide the items again, or discard the items to the card owner's discard.

Equip Items to Souls

Items are often able to equip to a soul to increase some aspect of the card's abilities. Items are equipped the night they are crafted or during the day as a part of the movement phase. Equipped items may transfer between souls if they occupy the same territory/movement stand. Equipped items are allowed to be unequipped. If a player decides to do this, the item (crafted or not) stays revealed in the territory which they were unequipped. Unlike hidden items, there is no limit to the number of revealed unequipped items in a territory. If a crafted item is unequipped, the item remains in its crafted state and the cards remain together in a stack. A reasonable soul under the control of either player may pick up and equip these items provided they are in the uncontested territory. When crafted or uncrafted items are equiped to a soul, move all cards together as a stack

Recipes

Crafting recipes must be discovered and kept for reference later. In competition, recipes maybe guessed and confirmed by event refs or competitors. If confirmed, you may use the recipe in the match. Only one recipe can be used in this fashion. Normally, you present the recipe from your recipe deck to the other player to prove you can play the item combo.
During our founders period, we have released all recipe combinations that are possible to make with the founder's deck items. Additionally, we have made a page on kipukas.cards to demonstrate how this mechanic works. You can find it under the menu in the tool bar. In the future, we plan on making these into recipe cards as well for players to incorperate into their broader recipe deck. However, these recipes will always be accepted a competitions as open use and the online demonstration will always reside on the kipukas binder.

Card Placement

All cards played throughout the game will dictate where and how they can be placed.

Summoning Sickness

Many games have a mechanic where the card that you just played can't attack in the same turn it was played. Kipukas; however, does not as it is in direct conflict with unrevealed cards. Instead, if a card is played unrevealed it is essentially in a liminal state by the player's choosing. By playing it unrevealed, it is of no immediate consequence to the opposing player. If a player chooses to play a soul card revealed, it is free to move and attack in the same turn it was placed.

Building Decks

Decks are built gradually in Kipukas. To keep barriers to entry as low as possible we offer a starter kit that includes a starter map (changes by season), a starter deck or two of your choice (at first only the founder's deck is available, but more archetypal adaptation specific starter decks will be produced), and two sets of tokens. Growing your deck after you purchase a starter kit (or if you are ambitious, before ever purchasing one) involves purchasing other starter decks separately, purchasing individual cards from kipukas.com, purchasing and waiting out the incubation period for incubation cards, or trading with people that you trust. Kipukas cards are valuable pieces of fine art, as such we take their trade and resell seriously. You can request any sell or trade to be brokered through Kipukas. A brokered trade will involve both parties sending their cards to Kipukas. Each card in the trade will be authenticated using our 7 factor authentication process. If all cards involved in the trade are presumed authentic, we will complete the trade and send the cards to their new owners. If any cards are found to be inauthentic the trade will be canceled, the authentic cards will be returned to their owners and the inauthentic cards will be retained by Kipukas. This process protects your information as neither party gets to know the other’s address while protecting you from counterfeit cards. Kipukas will also put cards that you want to trade, sell, or auction on our website and inform you of offers as they are made. Keep watch for Kipukas Trade Deals, where we offer an exceptional trade from time to time (frequency increases as customer base builds).
As for recipes, you can submit a request for the recipe card with your next order. Recipes also act as information that players can trade. Standardly, one recipe is given out with the purchase of three cards or three recipes with the purchase of one starter pack. If a certain recipe is requested in the order notes, it will replace one of the random recipes you would have received.

Incubation Cards

Deck Sturcture

Decks must have 30 cards + 1 optional Personal Effect

No more. No less.

Maps (The Kipukas)

Maps are 3D representations of territory and control. Each map hosts stands that represent traveling time and 8 to 12 territories that represent control. Each territory can host a max of 3 souls. In each territory there are stands for soul tokens and stands for base camp or capital tokens. Soul tokens represent the position of a revealed soul, while square base camps and capitals act as points of entry for new souls, a place for revealed or unrevealed souls to stay, and represent control of a territory Capitals act the same as base camps, but are particularly important to game play because your opponent will not be able to take your capital until they take all other territories on the board. Territories also represent opportunities or dangers for souls which typically dwell in or avoid the geography. See Character and Species (Soul) Cards: KEAL Means: Habitat and Maps (The Kipukas): Geography. For competition purposes, only Kipukas produced boards are allowed. We do encourage adding adornments and personal flair to show off!

Movement

Each territory contains slots for placing base camp tokens and soul tokens. When a card enters the map it starts at one of the player controlled base camps or their capital, either unrevealed or revealed, dependent on the player's choice. Cards cannot be moved in the same day they were played unless stated otherwise. As it becomes strategically advantageous, each player should choose to move their souls in play. This can be done by following the lower lines which connect between the circular movement stands and the square territory stands. Every territory hosts a max of 3 souls (per player), and each soul has a finite number of spaces which it can traverse. When a soul moves, the card is placed on the mat slot with the same number as the territory moved into. In order to move, you must reveal the soul unless the card says otherwise. If an enemy is on the same stand that you moved to, you must engage an attack. Also, you cannot move past an enemy waiting on a movement slot unless a card effect permits doing so. See Attack, Defense, Retreat, and Healing; otherwise, read claiming territories below if you just moved on to a territory stand.

If a revealed soul is in a base camp, then no soul token is used. If the soul is currently on a movement stand, a soul token is used to represent this. If more than one soul is on the same movement stand, stack the individual tokens to represent the group. If you have two souls in the same territory on different movement stands, flip a soul token over and declare which soul is represented by that token. If your soul moves back into a base camp, then keep the card revealed, but remove its soul token from the board. With the exception of being totally destroyed, capitals cannot be taken until all other base camps are taken. However, your opponent's souls can move though capitals without entering contention. If your opponent leaves a soul in your capital for more than 1 day after arriving, the capital takes the soul prisoner. See Character and Species (Souls): Imprisoned Souls

Transit Territories

If a territory only contains movement stands it is a transit territory. This occurs due to the difficulties required building within the territory, figuratively speaking. A good example is a territory filled with water. See Maps (The Kipukas): Geography for more information about water movement. These locations are clearly labeled on the mat as 'transit territory', so cards moved within should be placed accordingly.

Moving Downed Souls

When souls lose a specified number of KEAL means bouts they become downed. Downed souls need an escort when retreating. If their movement is low enough, they need an escort to move at all after becoming downed. See below for the movement penalty to apply to downed souls:

Claiming Territories

In order to win the game, you must first claim territories. To claim territories, you must move at least one soul into the base camp of the territory you wish to claim. If it is empty, congrats, you have a new base camp! Place a base camp token on the square stand, then continue your turn. Otherwise, if the territory has a claim on it, you must oust your opponent by defeating their traps, terrain features, and souls before you can replace their claim with your own. See Contention next. There is no limit to the number of territories that can be claimed in a single day. If you think you can take all territories, including the opposing player's capital, in a single day, go for the win!

Contention

If a frenemy's soul enters territory controlled by opposition (with the exception of the capital), the territory comes into contention. Under contention, players must perform the card activation sequence. See Card Activation. Card effects often activate when you enter frenemy territory and are triggered by a D20 roll, so always roll when entering contested territory. You will need to contend with their traps and terrain features before attacking revealed souls.

In order to claim the territory, you must take the base camp by moving a soul onto the territory stand and alleviate contention on that stand. If your opponent has any revealed souls in the territory you moved into, all opposing souls will need to leave the territory before contention on the whole territory is relieved. This means you will not be able to take possession of the traps and terrain features in said territory until your opponent has no souls remaining in the territory, even if you have taken the base camp. If your opponent has multiple enemies on a stand, you can attack one or all (one at a time) of the enemies on the stand. If you decide to stop your attack or if you lose an attack, your opponent will either choose to counterattack, retreat or reinforce. If their counterattack stops before all your souls are defeated, on the following day, you have the option to continue the fight or retreat and move out of the space. You can also reinforce the conflict. See Attack, Defense, Retreat, and Healing.

If you are not successful in taking the territory, your opponent is not obligated to reveal entities, traps, or terrain features unused in its defense. Once your opponent has exhausted all of their defense options, and you move a soul into the base camp, you should replace their base camp token with your base camp token. At this point all terrain features and items must be revealed then control of the cards, while they are in play, is transferred to the victor. Traps still roll activation/detection for their original player; however, if detected the new territory owner can take control of the trap instead of disabling it. See Trap Cards.

Geography

Each territory has a geography that corresponds to the map's topography. This geography offers habitat effects for the soul cards in the territory. See Character and Species (Soul) Cards: KEAL Means: Habitat.

In addition to the boat(s) marking the water habitats, Kipukas maps use docks to represent the points that souls can embark onto boats. Boats are played from the hand at docks. Boats can ferry a specified number of souls a given distance over a day. Once launced they can make land and be embarked from the last spot they landed. Either player may use a boat landed in an uncontended spot. Cards may attempt to swim by rolling 2 D6. If you roll 2 + 2 the card has successfully swum. It no longer needs to roll to continue swimming until it exists the water. Attempting to swim does not cost movement, but can only be attempted once per soul per day. You can attempt to swim by traversing any path leading to water.

Representation of Geography on the Kipuka

Mountain Habitat: A-Frame House Geomarker

Forest Habitat: Log Cabin Geomarker

Plains Habitat: Ranch House Geomarker

Volcanic Habitat:Modern House Geomarker

Representation of Geography on the Kipuka

Water Habitat: Boat Geomarker

Underground Tunnel:Connect territories and shorten travel for underground dwellers

Water Habitat: Dock Geomarker (Point of Entry)

Story Challenging Your Opponent

There is a lot going on in this game. Along the way, we will make mechanics that conflict on a reasonability level. My personal favorite example is a dragon wielding a stick to boost its attack. That is all sorts of wrong. If your opponent attempts to make a move that simply makes no sense, you have the right to contest it. The following is how you do so:

1. Call them out before the effect is used in game play
2. Pause the contention and hold convention (have a talk)
3. One player must concede reasonability (either for or against)
4. if required, enlist a tie breaking third individual to make the final call

This Game is Hard!

Yes, it is definitely a lot to learn at first. Kipukas is a game that rewards repeated play with ease. The more you can play the game, the better you will know the card mechanics of your deck, the turn structure, and the interactions between the pieces. The overall plan is to progressively create tools to aid players in keeping track of their game. Either way, we try our best to make this rules set as comprehensive and digestible as possible. When possible, we will post videos to clarify game play aspects and intent of the mechanics. In all, don't worry about capturing every aspect of this game. As I stated, there is a lot going on. Have fun with it, make house rules, and we are always open to suggestions. These rules are geared for a future with competitions where everything will be scrutinized. At this point, don't get too bogged down and just find a way to play that is fun for you and your friends.

Play Style Options

Domination:

Winner controls all territory in the kipuka. (Standard play style covered in this guide)

Mass Contention:

Domination with up to 4 players on a standard kipuka. (8 territories = 2 player max, 9-11 territories = 3 player max, 12 territories = 4 players max) At competitions expedition boards will be available for play and purchase that will accommodate many (read a lot, gross, giant boards) more players. Same rules as Domination, but more contention means a tougher fight and more decks than are available via a starter kit at the moment.

Band together:

Players must work together to defeat a third party (i.e., ref, celebrity player, autonomous party, etc.), The player with the largest number of spaces held wins. If the third party dominates the kipuka then both players lose.

King of the hill:

A territory is selected either randomly or by a ref that must be claimed and held for a certain number of diel cycles to meet the victory condition. Players start with only a capital in adjacent territories.

Captive:

Each player gives the other a soul card, which they shuffle into their deck. Once drawn, the player must play the card unrevealed. The first player to reveal and lead their soul back to their capital wins

Highest body count:

Territory claims do not matter. Capitals cannot be taken. The game ends when either player runs out of cards. The victor is the player that managed to defeat the most soul cards. A number of soul cards and total card limit should be agreed upon except at competition where deck building strategy is a sizable component in this style of play

The ends must justify the means:

The player with the most territory gained to souls lost after a fixed number of diel cycles wins.

The cost is too great:

This uses standard Domination rules, but in addition it imposes a soul defeat limit that if hit removes the player from the game.

Coastal war:

The player to control the most coastline after a fixed number of diel cycles is the victor.

The hunt:

After a fixed number of diel cycles, the player with the most territories plus the hunt bonus (player with most souls with a certain type defeated receives a +3 bonus) wins. Both players must have an agreed number of those types in their decks. The huntable cards must be played and cannot be discarded. Additionally, an overall deck size must be agreed upon.

Find the treasure (Special at competitions):

A ref secretly marks a space on the board with an item card, the first player to claim that space wins the match and receives the item card. Players start with only a capital in adjacent territories.

Explorer (special at competition):

A ref secretly marks a space on the board with a terrain feature, the first player to claim that space and successfully use the card against their opponent wins the match and receives the terrain feature card. Players start with only a capital in adjacent territories.

Trap Springer (special at competition):

A ref secretly marks a space on the board with a trap card, the first player to set off the trap in that space wins the match and receives the trap card. Players start with only a capital in adjacent territories.

Off to the rescue (special at competition):

A ref secretly marks a space on the board with a soul card, the first player to claim that space and usher the survivor back to their capital wins the match and receives the soul’s card. Players start with only a capital in adjacent territories

Cradle Robber (special at competition):

A ref secretly marks a space on the board with an incubation card drawn from a bag, with scarcity proportional to the incubation cards in circulation. The first person to find and take the surrounding sections (thereby protecting the card) wins the match and receives the incubation card. Players start with only a capital in adjacent territories.