The Deck of Destiny
The deck of Destiny is comprised of two different piles of cards; the first pile is your inventory pile, which are cards that you have collected. The second pile, (which is the main deck) are vailed cards. These vailed cards, are the cards that are yet to be revealed.
The cards in your inventory are visible to you, and you can choose to play them as you wish, however, once a card from your inventory is played, it must be returned to the main deck. Vailed cards must remain facedown and be shuffled every time a new encounter occurs.
Types of Encounters - Passive & Combative.
Passive encounters have no opponent, however, to win, they require that you make a certain type of hand – which is specified at the time of the encounter.
Combative encounters are slightly different as they do include an opponent; in order to win a combative encounter, you must have a better hand than your opponent. Note: opponents can be dealt anywhere from 1 to 7 cards, depending on the strength of your opponent.
The best hand is comprised of 5 cards, which can be made by using a combination of the communal/board cards and the player/opponent cards. A minimum of one board card must be used to make the hand.
How to Play Encounters:
Both passive and combative encounters are played in a very similar way and are divided into three phases;
Phase 1: The Set Up.
a) Choose 1 card from your inventory, and place it face up in front of you.
b) If playing a combative encounter, deal your opponent their cards, face down.
c) Deal five cards, face down, on the board.
d) Reveal any three of the five cards on the board.
e) Proceed to the next phase, or retreat.
Phase 2: The Assessment.
a) Choose 0 to 5 cards from your inventory and add them face up, to the card in front of you.
b) Reveal one of the remaining face down cards from the board.
c) Proceed to the next phase, or retreat.
Phase 3: The Conclusion.
a) Choose 0 to 5 cards from your inventory and add them to the cards in front of you. Note: at this phase, you may only choose a number that is equal to or less than the amount of cards that were chosen in phase 2. For example, if you only added 3 cards to your hand in phase 2, you may now add 1, 2, or 3 additional cards to your hand, but you cannot add 4 or 5 additional cards.
b) If playing a combative encounter, reveal your opponent’s cards.
c) Reveal the last remaining card on the board to determine the outcome of the encounter.