Overview

Ascension is a deckbuilding game where players recruit Heroes and Constructs from a shared center row to build their personal deck, while defeating Monsters for Honor points. Starting with a basic deck of Apprentices and Militias, players generate Runes (to recruit) and Power (to fight). The game ends when the shared Honor pool is depleted, and the player with the most total Honor wins.

Components

• Center deck (Heroes, Constructs, Monsters)
• Mystic and Heavy Infantry always-available piles
• Cultist always-available monster
• Starting decks: 8 Apprentices + 2 Militias per player
• Honor tokens (crystal-like tokens)
• Game board (center row display)
• Void pile (defeated monsters/banished cards)

Setup

1. Shuffle the center deck.
2. Deal 6 cards face up to form the center row.
3. Place Mystics and Heavy Infantry in their own piles (always available to acquire).
4. Place the Cultist card (always available to defeat).
5. Give each player a starting deck of 8 Apprentices and 2 Militias. Shuffle each deck.
6. Each player draws 5 cards as their starting hand.
7. Place Honor tokens in a shared pool (based on player count: typically 30 per player).

Turn Structure

On your turn:

1. Play cards from your hand to generate Runes and Power.
2. Use Runes to acquire Heroes/Constructs from the center row (or Mystics/Heavy Infantry).
3. Use Power to defeat Monsters in the center row (or the Cultist).
4. Activate Constructs in play for ongoing abilities.
5. Discard all played cards, acquired cards, and remaining hand cards to your discard pile.
6. Draw 5 new cards. If your deck is empty, shuffle your discard pile to form a new deck.
7. Refill the center row to 6 cards.

Actions

Acquiring Cards (Runes):

• Pay the Rune cost of a card in the center row to add it to your discard pile.
• Mystics cost 3 Runes (always available; generate 2 Runes when played).
• Heavy Infantry cost 2 Runes (always available; generate 2 Power when played).

Defeating Monsters (Power):

• Pay the Power cost of a Monster to defeat it. Gain its Honor reward and any defeat effect.
• The Cultist costs 2 Power (always available; worth 1 Honor).
• Defeated Monsters go to the Void (out of the game).

Card Types: | Type | Effect | |——|——–| | Hero | Play for one-time effects (Runes, Power, card draw, etc.) | | Construct | Stays in play providing ongoing abilities each turn | | Monster | Defeat for Honor points and special effects |

Factions: Cards belong to factions (Enlightened, Lifebound, Mechana, Void). Faction synergies reward playing multiple cards of the same faction.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Game End: When the shared Honor pool is depleted, finish the current round so all players have equal turns.

Final Score:

• Honor tokens collected during the game (from defeating Monsters)
• Honor values printed on acquired cards in your deck

Highest total wins. Tiebreaker: most Honor tokens (from Monsters).

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Banishing: Some card effects “banish” cards, removing them permanently from the game (to the Void).
• Center Row Refresh: When a card is acquired or defeated, immediately replace it from the center deck.
• Constructs: Remain in play until banished. Their effects activate each turn.
• Apprentice (1 Rune) and Militia (1 Power) are the weakest cards; thinning them from your deck improves efficiency.
• If the center deck runs out: No new cards replace those taken from the center row.
• Multi-player: Up to 4 players with the base set.

Player Reference

Starting Card	Provides
Apprentice (x8)	1 Rune
Militia (x2)	1 Power

Always Available	Cost	Provides
Mystic	3 Runes	2 Runes when played
Heavy Infantry	2 Runes	2 Power when played
Cultist (Monster)	2 Power	1 Honor

Turn Sequence
Play cards
Acquire / Defeat
Discard all, draw 5
Refill center row