Game Description.

Introduction.

The game Astral Masters combines the best features of the computer game called Astral Tournament and collection card games. Two players compete in this turn-based game. Each of them fights against the opponent casting various spells and summoning fantastic creatures. You can play either against the computer (both in single games and in tournaments) or against other people.

The game is easy to learn and does not require skills acquired in other games.

1. Main game parameters.

Each player has three main parameters.

The first of them is the player's life. Each mage begins a duel having a certain Life number which changes for a higher or lower value. If at any moment the player's life equals to zero or less he is considered to be defeated.

The second main parameter is Astral Power. This parameter carries two functions. Firstly, at the beginning of each turn each player receives a certain amount of Mana which is equal to his amount of Astral Power. Secondly, the efficiency of many cards depends on it. Each player begins the game with amount of Astral power equal to zero. As a result of the players' actions this parameter can also change, but it can't reach a negative value. Also it does not influence the player's win or loss (of course, not considering the fact that you won't be able to play efficiently having a low value of it).

The third main parameter is Mana. As it has already been mentioned, its amount directly depends on the player's Astral Power amount. Basically any action of the player requires him possessing a certain amount of Mana which is consumed as a result of his actions. If there isn't enough Mana for the action it can not be performed. In no way the enemy can change your amount of Mana. At the beginning of each turn Mana is restored to the value of the player's Astral Power even if he has received it in large excess as a result of his actions in the last move.

2. Cards and their use.

Each player carries a deck of cards and at the beginning of the duel he gets seven cards from it. In the process of playing he gets one more card at the beginning of each turn. Also the player can receive cards as an effect of different spells and some creatures' abilities. Maximum number of cards you can have in the hand is 8.

Cards can be of two types: creatures and spells. Creatures summoned by the player to the battlefield fight on his side, and spells cause a certain impact on the game situation. Each card has a cost number, and if it is equal to X the player has to spend X of Mana for using it. When the player uses a card for summoning a creature or for a spell it disappears from his hand. During his move the player has an opportunity of summoning any creatures available to any slots on the field, and it is limited only by the amount of Mana available.

Besides using cards for summoning creatures/spell casting players can sacrifice cards (no more than one card per turn). In this case the card sacrificed disappears from the hand and both Astral Power and Mana increases by 1. I.e. during the duel the player constantly makes a choice which cards to sacrifice for restoring Astral Power and which to use for destroying the enemy.

3. Creatures, slots and attack process.

Each creature has two stats: Attack Strength and Life Number. If the creature attacks any opposing creature, that defending creature's life is reduced by the attack strength of the attacking creature. If the creature's life is reduced to 0, the creature dies. Each player has 6 creature slots that can hold summoned creatures. If all the slots are full the player can't summon any more creatures - he can only cast spells.

Each turn after the player's spellcasting the creatures he controls attack the enemy. Each creature attacks separately. Creatures in slots act as the first line of defense. If the creature attacks an empty slot, the attack directly injures the opponent. If there is a creature in the slot defending, it takes the brunt of the attack.

4. Creatures' abilities.

Many creatures possess various abilities. There are three kinds of abilities:

• Permanent abilities. For example, Wall of Peace decreases the attack of all enemy's creatures by 1. This effect is active all the time while Wall of Peace remains in the game.
• Abilities which work themselves in some situations. For example, Astral Chaneller increases Astral Power of the master by 1 each time when he summons a creature with the cost of 4 and hither into the game.
• Abilities which the creature's owner can use if he pays a necessary amount of Mana for activating the ability. Such abilities can be used only once per move for each creature. For example, for 1 Mana Elven Archer can injure any creature in the game by 4 points.