Tash-Kalar is the ancient art of magical combat performed in arenas and combat pits throughout the known world.

Tash-Kalar is also the name of the oldest and most famous arena, the place where the game began.
And Tash-Kalar is an exciting board game that confronts players with the same intellectual challenges that dueling mages have faced for centuries.
You can play the game with 2, 3, or 4 players, in teams or individually. Whether you are playing the High Form or a deathmatch, all games of Tash-Kalar
have the same basic rules: Players take turns creating magical stones and placing them in patterns that allow them to summon fantastical beings.
Your beings can move around the arena, disrupt opponents' patterns, and form new patterns that allow you to summon more beings.
Each form of Tash-Kalar has its own means of scoring and deciding on a victor.

ABOUT THE RULES

This GUIDEBOOK is designed to teach you how to play. It has 3 main chapters: ×  FORMS OF TASH-KALAR explains various ways to play. The chapter assumes
× The OVERVIEW introduces you to the game through the perspective of a you have already read the chapter on How to Play.
wizened master. You may read it to get familiar with the components and learn The FULL RULES of Tash-Kalar are printed on a double-sided sheet, separate from
what they represent. this guide. The sheet is more than just an overview. It truly contains all rules for all
×  HOW TO PLAY presents your first game of Tash-Kalar. You can play along as forms of the game, as well as explanations of words used on the cards. If you have
you read through the chapter. any question about any rule, you can find the answer there.

So my young mage-ling, welcome to Tash-Kalar, the arena where the game THE FOUR SCHOOLS
began. I know you've seen it played in small arenas all over the empire, but
until you see it here, you haven't seen Tash-Kalar. No doubt you've seen enough matches to recognize the
different schools.
Use this side of the arena for the
High Form and for your first game. Highland School Sylvan School
H GIANT M
ILL GIANT
HILL MO
OUN
UNTA
TAIN UNICORN FOREST MY
KEEPER IN TR
TROL
OLL STIC
RITUAL NAIAD

The High Form of Tash-Kalar is a

cerebral contest of strategic positions.
The game was thus even in ancient was
ual Keeper square,
times, and the form has proven itself through If the Rit on a greDes
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Southern Imperial School Northern Imperial School

Certain cards may refer to red squares or green squares. CHRONICL
ER
CHAMPION HIGH PRIES
TESS
CHRONICL
ER
CHAMPION HIGH PRIES
TESS

Life and death, creation and destruction –

Use this side a summoner must learn to wield two
for a deathmatch.
forces in opposition. You may
The High Prie
1 stanmo
com dar1ndadjacent
rdestroy mo
stess may do
You may
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Upgrade enemy piece. Chr
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a standard a standard

Deathmatches are straight-forward

contests of destruction. They seem Your first game should be a 2-player game. Each player should take
more primal than the High Form, but they one of these two Imperial decks.
were invented later. Emperor Trago wanted
to make the game more comprehensible to the By tradition, we begin by studying the two Imperial
masses. A boisterous deathmatch presents quite schools. Do you think they are the same? Well, yes,
the spectacle, but do not let yourself be misled – that is true. The two schools have borrowed from each
even a deathmatch requires cunning and finesse. other for centuries, and now they use the same techniques.
That is because they are good techniques. You would be wise
to master them.
1
 PIECES FLARES
Each player should take a full set of pieces in the same color as the chosen deck.
Have you seen what a titan can do? Any mage can have his plans
destroyed in an instant. The masters are those who can turn
catastrophe into victory.
How? By invoking special magical techniques called "flares". You see, my
young mage-ling, kalarite wants to be in balance. When the arena has too
These are pieces of kalarite, the stone created by concentrating much of your opponent's
magical energy. Because you are so bold as to seek my wisdom, I All players share the deck of flares. color, it becomes easy to use
assume you already know how to make it, how to mold it, how to his advantage against him.
imbue it with the fleeting essence of legendary beings. Perhaps someday, Learn these techniques and
2
you will even begin to understand it. learn them well. Even when
You may do 1 standard leap with
1 of your common pieces.

Players place pieces on the board to make patterns for summoning beings. your patterns lie in ruins,
5 victory may yet be within
17 two-sided common/heroic pieces Gain an action.
reach.
common piece heroic piece 3 legendary pieces
Invoke a flare if your opponent's pieces overbalance the arena.

lowest rank middle rank highest rank TASKS

I see your gaze has fallen on the imperial box, where sit the Lords
BEINGS of the Arena. The tasks they assign are displayed on banners, so
that all may see how well the contestants fare.
Consider this painting of an infantry captain from the Southern
non-advanced task advanced task
Empire. Can you feel the sword in his grip? Can you sense his resolve
to lead his soldiers to victory? GREEN CONQUEST GREEN LEGENDS
When you cast a piece of kalarite, you need to do more than create a You have at least 3 pieces on green squares,
and at least 2 of them are upgraded.
You have at least 2 upgraded pieces on green
squares, and at least 1 of them is legendary.

statue. You need to delve into the very essence of the being and summon it into
the stone. Paintings such as this will guide you.

These cards specify how you can score points. They are used in the High Form of
To summon a being, INFANTRY CAPTAIN
This is the rank of the game. In your first game you will use only non-advanced tasks.
you need to have your the being. When you
pieces on the board in summon the being,
These two boards go together to make the task board used in
a certain pattern. the High Form of the game. Use them for your first game.
represent it in the
arena with a new piece
The white framed of the corresponding
square is where the
rank.
being appears.

After summoning,
Do up to 2 combat moves,
using your pieces other than you perform the
the Infantry Captain. being's effect.

An interesting question, little mage-ling. No, I don't think the being

that infuses the kalarite is actually a soul. I suspect, rather, that it
is the psycho-magical essence of all those beings that the painting SCORE BOARDS
represents. But whatever it is, it vanishes within seconds.
But if you should find yourself in a deathmatch, you need to worry
After the being's effect is resolved, it turns into a motionless piece, ready to about pleasing the crowd. They want to see destruction and
be part of future patterns. legendary monsters. As Emperor Trago said: "Bread and circuses
and dragons."
These two boards go together to make the score board for a deathmatch duel.
LEGENDARY BEINGS
All players share the deck of
legends. The patterns of the legendary
beings are challenging to
LEVIATHAN construct. And, as far as I In a deathmatch melee, each player needs his or her own score board.
know, no one has discovered a
new legendary pattern in over a century.
The four schools keep evolving, but most
Choose one: Either downgrade
a connected group of up to 3
legendary techniques are unchanged since
the dawn of Tash-Kalar. They belong to no
upgraded pieces or destroy a
connected group of up to 4
common pieces. (A group may
have multiple colors.)

school.
However, in your first game,
you will not use these cards.
2
 And now that we have come to the end of our tour of Tash-Kalar, show me what you Here we shall leave the wise master and his hopeful student.
can do. There, in that central square, create a common piece of kalarite. Fortunately, you do not have to study the nature of kalarite
... Hm. Not bad. You have talent, my young mage-ling. Of course, that kalarite isn't and the psycho-magical essence of fantastical beings. You
stable enough to endure an entire match, but you show very good form for one so young. do not have to make a pilgrimage to a far-off arena. With
these game boards, pieces, and cards, you can learn to play
Here is my advice: Return home. Explore your talent. Practice every day, until the creation of kalarite
Tash-Kalar right now.
is as natural as breath itself. You and I shall meet periodically so that I can assess your strength and
decide when you are ready for the next level of training. Does that sound good?
Good. I'll meet you right here, on this spot, once every three years. Fare well!

This chapter explains the basic game mechanics of Tash-Kalar. You can play your first game as you read along.
A few rules are simplified so that your first game will be fast-paced. If you want to Author's note: Tash-Kalar is a game with simple rules, but it offers a variety of
begin by playing with the full rules, you can find them on the sheet entitled "Full possibilities and combinations. This variety slows the game down when players
Rules". However, we recommend reading this chapter first because it explains those are learning the rules and reading the cards for the first time. We developed some
rules with helpful examples. simplifications so we could present a quick game at conventions. Once we saw how
We introduce Tash-Kalar as a 2-PLAYER GAME, but there are many ways to play. much new players enjoyed this version of the game, we decided to include it in the
If you want to play your first game with more than 2 players, you should also read Guidebook. The full game offers greater depth and variability, but these rules are
about team play or deathmatch melees. The different forms are explained in the the best and quickest way to begin.
Forms of Tash-Kalar chapter.

SETTING UP YOUR FIRST GAME

destroyed and stops the shot.
A legendary piece cannot be move ont
first 2 pieces in that direction. was emChampion and gaincenant to
o it.adja her.
pty, the Ass action. piece
indicated directions: Destroy the markelegendary,
d squarethen youassalso
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GUN TOWER
action
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The Arena
Set the arena in the center of the table with this side up.
ASSASS
ESS IN
CHAMPION HIGH PRIEST

Shared Deck Tasks

You have at least 3 pieces on red squares,
RED CONQUEST
and at least 2 of them are upgraded.

Shuffle the deck of Put these two boards together to make the task board.
flares and place it For your first game, go through this deck and remove
near the arena. all the cards with this watermark: . Return these
cards to the box.
Shuffle the remaining tasks and place 3 face up on
You summoned at least 2 beings this turn,
GREEN SUMMONING

the task board, as shown. For your first game, we

at least 1 on a green square.

recommend adjusting the tasks so that the first three

are 1-point and 2-point tasks. (Point values are in the
lower right corner.) You should also try to get three
IMPRISONMENT
You have at least 6 pieces adjacent
to the same enemy piece.

The deck of tasks with different symbols in the upper left corner.
These are your CURRENT TASKS.
You have at least 5 pieces on the central squares

legends is not
CENTER CROSS

used in your first Shuffle the deck again and place it face down on the
in a + or × pattern.
/

game. task board. Turn up the top card and leave it on top of
the deck. This will be the NEXT TASK after one of the
current tasks is claimed.

Player Decks
CANNON KNIGHT
LER
CHRONIC MASTER OF INTRIGUE
Plac
e
4
colo 1 comm
r on on
any piece
empt of yo

For your first game, one player takes the Northern Empire (blue deck) and the other
y sq
uare ur
.

Plac
e
colo 1 comm
r the
4 player takes the Southern Empire (red deck).
You mayThe mon1htofmay
Knig
choose on on pi
com
1 of you3 rcom r. an emto ece
doyup

(The two Imperial decks have identical cards, while the Sylvan and Highland decks are
cleDestroy Do up to 3 moves: standard
Upgradeindicated the
ndes
batonimov
directions:
Chr es. You canpty sq of your moves with the Master of
eralltha troy do mon
ycom
mapieces in that not uare
pieces oth tha common
t piecedirection. pieces with . Intrigue and/or combat moves
Then rd mo
thes
ve. e moves.
a standa using non-legendary pieces

unique. In later games, you will be able to test the various schools against each other,
that were used to summon him.

Pieces and you will always have the option to play a symmetric game with identical Imperial
decks.)
Each player takes the pieces in his or her color. You will only use
pieces that have on one side and on the other. The 3 pieces
with the symbol can be returned to the box. Choose a starting player. Both players shuffle their decks, put them in front of
themselves, and draw 3 cards. Each player also draws 1 flare from the shared deck.
Discard Piles Players keep their cards hidden from the opponent.
Each shared deck and player deck will have its own discard pile. THEN THE STARTING PLAYER MAY BEGIN THE GAME.
3
 (If the card does not say something is optional, it is mandatory. The Swordmaster's
GAME PLAY effect says, "You may destroy..." That means you can choose to not do so. However,
Players take turns. The STARTING PLAYER can take only 1 ACTION on his if you do choose to destroy a piece then you must upgrade the Swordmaster.)
or her FIRST TURN. But for the remainder of the game, each player takes This looks like a good play, but you could do something even nastier: A BEING CAN
2 ACTIONS PER TURN. An action can be either putting a common piece on the board BE SUMMONED ONTO A SQUARE OCCUPIED BY A PIECE OF THE SAME OR LOWER
or using pieces already on the board to summon a being. RANK; THIS DESTROYS THAT PIECE.
So you could have played to form the pattern with your opponent's piece in the
Placing the First Pieces summoning square. Then, when you summoned the Swordmaster, she would have
Players start with no pieces on the board, so the first player starts the game by destroyed that piece. This is all part of the summoning, not the effect.
placing one piece. The piece can go on any square. It should be placed with the Next, you can apply the effect and destroy your opponent's other piece. If you do,
symbol up. When that symbol is up, it is called a common piece. then you must upgrade the Swordmaster:
After that, players have 2 actions per turn, so the second player can place 2 common
pieces on the board. The only limitation is that each piece must be placed on an
empty square.
However, you will probably not want to scatter your pieces all over the board. You
are trying to make patterns that will allow you to summon beings from your hand.
Now let's consider some other examples:
Summoning a Being In this case, you cannot summon the Swordmaster.
Each card in your deck represents a being you can She can't be summoned onto the square between your
SWORDMASTER pieces because Blue's heroic piece outranks her.
summon. IF YOUR PIECES ON THE BOARD MATCH THE 
PATTERN SHOWN ON THE CARD, YOU CAN USE AN You are allowed to destroy
ACTION TO SUMMON THAT BEING. your own pieces. In this
Let's suppose you have the Swordmaster in your hand. situation, you can summon the
Her pattern is easy to match. You just need two pieces in Swordmaster. The summoning
a row with one square between them. destroys your common piece in
(The 4 red squares in the corners of the pattern the middle. Then you can apply
You may destroy 1 common illustrate this card's effect. They aren't requirements for the Swordmaster's effect.
enemy piece on a diagonally
adjacent square. If you do, summoning her.) Pieces in the pattern can be
upgrade the Swordmaster.
matched by higher-ranking
Let's say you're the first Your opponent places 2 Now it's your turn. For pieces. In this case, your two
player. On your first on his first turn: your first action, you pieces match the pattern
turn, you place 1 piece: place a piece here: and you can summon the
Swordmaster. However, you
cannot use her effect, because
she can destroy only a common
piece, not a heroic piece.
This is another case where you
can summon the Swordmaster
but you can't use her effect.
Even if you want to destroy your
And now you have matched the pattern shown on the card. For your second action, own diagonally adjacent piece,
you can summon the Swordmaster. the text on the card specifies
Look at the symbol in the upper left corner of the card: that the effect only applies to
That tells you the Swordmaster's rank. Look at the white- an enemy piece (that is, one of
framed square in the pattern: That tells you where she your opponent's pieces).
goes. TO SUMMON A BEING, PUT A PIECE OF THE CORRECT (You should always read the text carefully. If the card had said, "You may destroy
RANK ON THE SQUARE CORRESPONDING TO THE WHITE- 1 common piece on a diagonally adjacent square," then you would have been
FRAMED SQUARE IN THE PATTERN. In this case, the allowed to destroy your piece. And if the card had said, "Destroy 1 common piece on
Swordmaster will be represented by a common piece. a diagonally adjacent square," you would have been required to destroy your piece.)
Of course, you could have used an action to put a common
piece on this square even if you didn't have the card. But After the Being's Effect
you didn't summon the Swordmaster just to get her piece Once you have resolved the being's effect, put the card in your discard pile. The new
on the board. EVERY BEING HAS AN EFFECT THAT OCCURS piece on the board CEASES TO BE THAT BEING. It is now just another piece. Pieces
AS SOON AS THE BEING IS SUMMONED. can be either common, heroic, or legendary, but they don't "remember" whether
The Swordmaster's effect allows you to destroy your they were summoned or just placed. And once a card's effect has resolved, you
opponent's common piece, if it is on a diagonally adjacent don't have to keep track of which piece belonged to that card.
square (one of the 4 squares marked on the card). Your If you summon any beings, draw new cards from your deck at the end of your turn
opponent does have a piece diagonally adjacent to the so that you once again hold exactly 3.
Swordmaster. So you remove it from the board (and
return it to your opponent). In addition, the Swordmaster (Even in the last example, where you would summon the Swordmaster without an
says that if you do destroy a piece, you upgrade the effect, the summoning would still have consequences: At the end of your turn, you
Swordmaster. Flip her piece over so that the symbol is would draw a new card.)
on top. Now you have a heroic piece on the board.

4
 onto empty squares or onto squares occupied by common pieces. The common
More Examples piece can move only onto empty squares. There is no lesser-ranked piece that a
We have already seen one way to get a heroic piece on common piece can trample.
KNIGHT
the board – upgrade a common piece using a being's A COMBAT MOVE IS A MOVE ONTO AN EMPTY SQUARE
effect. Another way is to directly summon a heroic being OR ONTO A SQUARE OCCUPIED BY A PIECE OF THE SAME
(one with the symbol in the upper left corner). RANK OR LOWER. So a combat move is just a standard
Look at the Knight. You need 4 pieces to match his move with the additional option of moving onto a square
pattern. They have to be in some sort of L-shape, but all occupied by a piece of the same rank. A heroic piece doing
orientations and even mirror images count as a match. a combat move can go onto any of the 8 adjacent squares
In each of these configurations, the Knight can be – except those occupied by legendary pieces. A common
The Knight may do up to summoned on the white-framed square: piece doing a combat move can move onto any empty
3 combat moves. You cannot
destroy common pieces with
square or any square occupied by a common piece.
these moves. Two pieces can never occupy the same square. Moving onto an occupied square
(either with a standard move or a combat move) destroys the piece that was there.
You can destroy your own piece or an opponent's piece with a move. Whenever a
piece is destroyed it returns to its player's supply of pieces.
If a piece can do multiple moves, then you take each one in turn, destroying any
pieces on the squares that it moves through.
Some cards put additional restrictions on the types of moves they allow. For
example, the Knight does combat moves, but he is not allowed to destroy common
Note that in the last example, squares which are shown as empty in the pattern on
pieces. This means he can only move onto empty squares or squares occupied by
the card do not have to be empty. To match a pattern, you just need to match each
heroic pieces (of either color).
piece shown on the card with one of your pieces on the board. And remember, a
piece of higher rank can match a lower-ranked piece depicted on the card. A LEAP IS LIKE A MOVE, BUT IT IS NOT LIMITED TO ADJACENT SQUARES. So to do
a standard leap, you pick up the piece and put it down on any other empty square,
Recall that you can summon a being into a square occupied by a piece of the same
or on a square occupied by a piece of lesser rank. And a combat leap can go onto
rank or lower. That is why, in these examples, you are allowed to summon the Knight
any other square except one occupied by a piece of higher rank. As with moves, a
onto a square occupied by a common or a heroic piece. This destroys that piece and
leaping piece destroys the piece it lands on. (But it doesn't destroy any pieces in
you place a new piece (of yours) on that square with the symbol up.
between, because it didn't "move through" those squares.)
Not only is destroying your own piece possible,
CANNON As with moves, sometimes a card will specify additional limitations on where you
sometimes it is even required. Look at the Cannon. To
can leap.
summon it, you need to have one of your common or
heroic pieces in the white-framed square – that is, in the These and other effects of cards are explained on the Full Rules sheet.
square into which the Cannon will be summoned.
(Note: In the full game, if you had a legendary piece in Invoking a Flare
the white-framed square, it would technically match Each player has a flare in his or her hand. Your flare represents
the pattern, but you would be unable to summon the 4 power you can draw from your opponent's pieces when the
Cannon because a being cannot be summoned over top Gain an action. arena is out of balance. If your opponent's pieces significantly
You may choose 1 of the
indicated directions: Destroy of a higher-ranked being.) outnumber yours, you gain options you normally don't have.
all common pieces in that
direction. This picture indicates 3 squares A flare has two possible effects. YOU CAN INVOKE THE
onto which the Cannon could be 5 FLARE IF YOU MEET THE CRITERION FOR EITHER EFFECT.
summoned. In each case, the piece would be replaced by Place 1 common piece of your
color on any empty square.
You meet the UPPER CRITERION if your opponent's
a new heroic piece, and you would be able to use the Cannon's upgraded pieces exceed yours by at least a certain
effect. number – the number printed on the card. (Legendary
(Note that the Cannon's text says, "You may choose one of the and heroic pieces count as "upgraded" pieces.
indicated directions..." If you decide to not choose a direction, Of course, in your first game, you only count heroic pieces because you
then you cannot destroy pieces "in that direction". In other are playing without legends.) For example, if your opponent has at least
words, you can choose to not use the Cannon's effect. However, if you do choose 4 more heroic pieces than you do on the board, you can play the card shown here.
a direction, then you must destroy all common pieces in that direction, including You meet the LOWER CRITERION if your opponent's total number of pieces
your own.) exceeds yours by at least a certain number – again, the number is printed
on the card. So you can play this example card if your opponent has at least
Moves and Leaps 5 more pieces on the board than you do. (Count all pieces, regardless of rank.)
You cannot use either of your 2 actions to move your pieces. MOVES ONLY COME Each criterion comes with its own effect. If you meet the upper criterion, you may
FROM THE EFFECTS OF CERTAIN BEINGS OR FLARES. play the card to get the upper effect. If you meet the lower criterion, you may play
the card to get the lower effect. If you meet both criteria when you play the card, you
A move is always onto one of the 8 ADJACENT SQUARES. The 4 squares on the
get both effects, in order, first the upper, then the lower. (Don't worry if the upper
sides are called ORTHOGONALLY ADJACENT. The 4 squares on the corners are
effect changes the number of pieces on the board; you check the lower criterion
DIAGONALLY ADJACENT.
before you resolve the upper effect, not after.) IF YOU MEET NEITHER CRITERION,
In general, there are 2 types of moves: standard moves and combat moves. YOU CANNOT INVOKE THE FLARE.
A STANDARD MOVE IS A MOVE ONTO AN EMPTY SQUARE INVOKING A FLARE IS NOT AN ACTION. You can invoke a flare BEFORE OR AFTER
OR ONTO A SQUARE OCCUPIED BY A PIECE OF LESSER ANY ACTION, but not while an action is resolving. You put it on the table, resolve one
RANK. Moving onto an occupied square destroys the piece or both effects, and then discard it to the flares' discard pile. At the end of your turn,
that was there. (The higher-ranked piece just tramples it.) you draw a new flare to replace it. (So you will always start your turn with a flare, and
You can destroy your own piece or your opponent's piece it is never possible to play more than 1 in a turn.)
with a move.
This illustration depicts the possible standard moves for
2 pieces. Note that a heroic piece can do a standard move
5
Let's look at an example:
Blue has 2 more upgraded pieces
TASKS
than Red and 2 more pieces total. 3 The task board always has 3 current tasks – these are the ones you can try to
RED DOES NOT MEET EITHER Place 1 common piece of your accomplish. You are also able to see the top card of the deck – the next task that will
color on any empty square.
CRITERION and cannot play this flare replace any task that is claimed.
at this time. YOU CAN CLAIM A TASK ONLY AT THE END OF YOUR TURN, after you are done using
actions. The text on the card describes what you need to have done to claim the
Blue has 3 more upgraded pieces 4
task. YOU CAN CLAIM ONLY 1 TASK PER TURN.
than Red. So RED MEETS THE UPPER You may do 1 combat move or
2 standard moves, using your
CRITERION. Red can play this flare to non-legendary pieces. There are several types of tasks. (The type is identified by the symbol in the upper
place 1 common piece on any empty left corner.)
square. This does not cost Red an GREEN CONQUEST Some tasks can be accomplished by having pieces of yours
You have at least 3 pieces on green squares,
action. on colored squares. If the task requires an "upgraded"
and at least 2 of them are upgraded.

Blue has 8 more pieces than Red, so RED MEETS THE LOWER piece, that means a heroic or legendary piece. (So
CRITERION. Red can play this flare to do 1 combat move or 2 "upgraded" just means "heroic" in your first game.)
standard moves. This does not cost Red an action. CENTRAL DOMINANCE Some tasks can be accomplished by having your pieces in
You have at least 5 pieces on the nine central
a certain configuration on the board. Some of these also
squares, and at least 2 of them are upgraded.

require upgraded pieces.

Blue has 4 more upgraded pieces and 4 more pieces total. So
RED MEETS BOTH CRITERIA. Red can play this card to get both
effects. First, Red places a common piece on an empty square. IMPRISONMENT Some tasks can be accomplished by getting into a certain
You have at least 6 pieces adjacent
Then Red can do 1 combat move or 2 standard moves. As configuration in relation to an opponent's piece.
to the same enemy piece.

always, this does not cost Red an action. (After Red uses the (To claim any of the 3 tasks above, you have to be in the
upper effect, Blue outnumbers Red by only 3 pieces. This correct configuration at the end of your turn.)
does not matter. Red will get to use the lower effect because the criterion was met
RED SUMMONING Some tasks can be accomplished by summoning beings.
when the flare was played.) You summoned at least 2 beings this turn,
The "summon a being" action is the only way to summon a
at least 1 on a red square.

(Note that order is important: In this last example, Red can place a common piece being. Pieces that come onto the board because of card
and then move it. But Red cannot move a piece and then place a common piece on effects or "place a piece" actions are just pieces, not
the vacated square. The upper effect must be resolved first.) summoned beings.
Here Red meets the lower criterion. If HEROIC DESTRUCTION Some tasks can be accomplished by destroying your
she invokes the flare at the start of her 4 You destroyed at least 3 enemy pieces this turn,
opponent's pieces. Pieces can be destroyed by summoning
at least 1 of them upgraded.

turn, she will gain an action, but she Place 1 common piece of your
color on any empty square. beings over top of them, by moving onto their squares, and
won't be able to use the "upgrade" part by effects such as "destroy" and "convert".
of the lower effect. However, she can
(If a task like this is among the current tasks, set destroyed pieces aside to help you
use her first action to place a common
6 keep track. Return them to your opponent at the end of your turn.)
piece. Blue's pieces still outnumber hers by 6, so she can Upgrade 1 of your common
invoke the flare to upgrade the common piece and gain an pieces. Gain an action. If you meet the criteria of one of the tasks, you may claim it. If you meet the criteria
action. This leaves her with 2 actions (her usual second of more than 1, you may claim only 1. (But you might be able to claim another one
action plus the one she gained from the flare). next turn.)
(When a card tells you to "gain an action", that just means you add 1 to the number To claim a task, take the card and keep it in front of you, next to your deck. The
of actions you have left this turn. For example, if Red had gained an action after number in the lower right corner tells you how many points you earned. Take the
using her second action of the turn, she would be able to take one more action top task from the deck and put it in the empty space. It becomes one of the current
before ending her turn.) tasks. Turn the new top card face up so that you can see what the next task will be.
(Don't think of a flare as something weak players use when they have been out-
played. A flare is a game mechanic that clever players use to their advantage. If your ENDING THE GAME
opponent is focused on destroying your pieces, you may be able to use your flare to Your score is the TOTAL POINTS OF ALL THE TASKS you have claimed so far.
accomplish the tasks your opponent is ignoring.) The game ends when a player draws the last card from his or her deck, or when
either player has 6 or more points. The winner is the player with the most points.
Take Backs
Suppose you use your first action to place a common piece so you can summon a SUMMARY OF YOUR FIRST GAME
being with your second action ... and then you realize that you can't summon the × Players take turns. The first player can take only 1 action on his or her first turn,
being, or that summoning the being wouldn't have the effect you were counting on. but after that, each player has 2 actions.
Unless you and your opponent have agreed to play by other rules, you can take back × Your possible actions are place a common piece on an empty square or summon
your action and do it differently. This applies even to decisions in more complicated a being.
situations, e.g., while resolving the effect of a being or a flare.
× When you use an action to summon a being, you put a piece of that rank on
(You might think that allowing take backs slows the game down. Actually, it makes the board (destroying any piece that was already there), resolve the effect, and
the game move more quickly because you don't have to figure out everything in your discard the card.
head before you see how it plays out on the board.)
× You can also invoke a flare if you meet one of its criteria. This does not cost an
Of course, once you end your turn or start drawing cards or claim a task, it is too late action. Resolve the effects of any criteria you meet and discard the card.
to take anything back.
× At the end of your turn, you may claim 1 of the current tasks, if you meet its
criteria.
× Then draw cards, if necessary, so that you once again have 3 beings and 1 flare.
After you draw, it is your opponent's turn.
× The game ends when either player has 6 points or when either player draws the
last card from his or her deck.

6
 To begin a discard action, DISCARD 1 BEING THAT YOU DREW FROM YOUR DECK (not
RULES FOR A FULL GAME the legends deck). It goes on your discard pile.
So far, we have presented a special version of the rules designed to introduce Then you may also RETURN ONE OR MORE CARDS FROM YOUR HAND TO THE
new players to the game. Even experienced players should consider using those BOTTOMS OF THEIR DECKS (face down). If multiple cards are returned to the bottom
rules when teaching the game to a new player. In this section, we will explain the of the same deck, you choose their order. No matter how many cards are returned,
differences between the new-player rules and the full version of the game. These it still counts as one discard action.
rules are common to all forms of Tash-Kalar.
Example: If you want to get rid of 3 beings in your color, 1 legend, and 1 flare, you
must first discard a being that came from your deck. This goes on your discard pile.
Player Decks and Pieces The other 2 beings from your deck go back to your deck on the bottom, in the order
you choose. You put the flare and the legend at the bottoms of their decks, keeping
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In the full version of the game, you can use any of the four player decks. (Each player
can choose a deck or they can be assigned randomly.) You use all the pieces in the
Piece Shortage
DESTROYED PIECES ARE RETURNED TO THEIR OWNER'S SUPPLY OF AVAILABLE
corresponding color, including the 3 legendary pieces.
PIECES, but even so, it is possible that, after many turns of play, you will have all
(We recommend the Imperial decks for your first game because they are identical – your pieces of one type on the board (all your heroic/common pieces or all your
and traditional. But you can play your first game with different decks, if you wish.) legendary pieces). In that case, SOME CARD EFFECTS CANNOT BE DONE. (This
includes convert, upgrade, downgrade, and place a piece effects. See the Full
Legends Rules.) However, IT IS POSSIBLE TO DO A PLACE OR SUMMON ACTION even when no
In the full version of the game, you can summon legends. These come from a deck piece of the correct type is available. See the place action and "Summoning a Being"
that all players share. parts of the Full Rules for details about piece shortage.
(Summoning a legend is not easy, and it may happen that you summon none during (This happens very rarely, and usually applies to legendary pieces, so the piece
the game. When you are learning, fulfilling tasks while fending off your opponent is shortage rules are not necessary for your first game.)
challenging enough. Trying to build legendary patterns at the same time may slow
down the game significantly. That's why we leave legends out of the simplified Ending the Game
rules. In your first game, you stop when someone gets 6 points or draws the last card in
However, if you plan to play your first game as a deathmatch, do not be afraid to his or her deck. In the full game, you have an end-of-game trigger.
include legends. Deathmatches don't have tasks.) Different forms of Tash-Kalar have different end-of-game triggers, but one rule is
BONE CATAPULT
LEGEND CARDS common to all: IF THE END OF THE GAME HAS BEEN TRIGGERED, EACH PLAYER
GETS ONE MORE COMPLETE TURN.
During setup, shuffle the deck of legends and set it next to the deck
of flares. Each player should draw 2 legends at the beginning of the Usually a player will trigger the end by exceeding a certain point value or by drawing
game. the last card from his or her deck. In some situations, it is even possible to trigger
the end by making an opponent exceed the point value during your turn. But the
At the end of every turn, when you draw cards to replenish your way the end was triggered does not matter: THE PLAYER WHO WAS PLAYING OR
hand, you should end up with 3 beings that came from your deck, FINISHING HIS OR HER TURN WHEN THE END WAS TRIGGERED WILL BE THE LAST
2 legends, and 1 flare. PLAYER.
SUMMONING A LEGENDARY BEING Once the end of the game has been triggered, the following things happen in this
Legends are beings. Summoning a legend is just like order:
summoning one of the beings found in your deck. 1. The player finishes his or her turn and announces that the end of the game was
However, legends require heroic pieces on certain triggered. This player will be the last player.
squares in the pattern. If the pattern shows a common 2. Play continues in the usual order, with each other player getting one final turn.
piece, then any of your pieces matches it, but a heroic (In a 2-player game, this just means that the last player's opponent gets a turn.)
piece can be matched only by one of your heroic or 3. Then the last player gets a final turn.
legendary pieces.
4. Then players compare scores, according to the rules for the form they are
You may choose any
LEGENDARY PIECES 1 piece in playing.
any ofWhen
the you
indicated
summon directions:
a legendary being, you put a legendary piece on the board. Of course, if everyone agrees that the outcome of the game has already been
Destroy it andareallranked
These pieces common
higher than heroic or common pieces. decided, you can skip everyone's final turn and go straight to congratulating the
pieces adjacent
Recall that to it. when deciding whether a piece can move onto or
rank is important winner. But sometimes the final turns can provide exciting reversals of fortune.
be summoned onto an occupied square. For example, a legendary being can do a (In the High Form, these reversals usually include summoning and destroying
standard move onto a heroic being's square, but a heroic being cannot do a combat legends. That's why we left this rule out of the first game.)
move onto a legendary being's square.
If a card refers to a NON-LEGENDARY PIECE, that means a common or heroic piece. If Breaking Ties
it refers to an UPGRADED PIECE, that means a heroic or legendary piece. All forms of Tash-Kalar use the same tie breakers. (A deathmatch melee, however,
has special tie breakers that get applied first.)
The Discard Action If players are tied, break the tie in favor of the player with more upgraded pieces
Most of the time, you will use each of your actions to either place a piece or summon on the board. If players are still tied, break the tie in favor of the player with more
a being. In the full game, you can also use an action to discard cards from your hand. pieces on the board.
YOU CANNOT DO MORE THAN ONE DISCARD ACTION PER TURN. If players are tied even after these tie breakers, then they remain tied.
(The discard action is rarely needed. It requires some experience to say whether
your cards are so unsuitable that discarding them is worth spending an action.
That's why we did not include this rule in your first game.)

7
 All forms of Tash-Kalar use the rules for a full game that were explained in the previous chapter.
They differ in the way they are scored, and each has a few special rules.

THE HIGH FORM (2 PLAYERS OR TEAMS) DEATHMATCH DUEL (2 PLAYERS OR TEAMS)

After playing your first game, you already know most of the rules for the High Form The other 2-player form of Tash-Kalar is a deathmatch duel. You can use these rules
of Tash-Kalar. The High Form is different from the deathmatches in that it uses even for a new player's first game. Deathmatches have a straight-forward scoring
tasks. system.

Setting Up for the High Form Setting Up For a Deathmatch Duel

Use the side of the game board with the marked GAME BOARDS
central squares. These are important for certain
tasks. The arena will have no pieces on it when the Use the side of the game board that has the
game begins. squares marked .
You do not use the task cards, nor do you use
the task board. Instead take the other two score
boards and put them together to make the
deathmatch duel score board, with numbers from
0 to 21. This board will measure how much your
performance in the arena is pleasing the crowd.
Tasks
Set up the task board as you did for your first game. PLAYERS
Shuffle all the tasks together. You use all the task cards, even the advanced tasks Each player puts one common piece on the zero space of the score board. Any time
(those with the watermark). the player scores points, advance this piece to represent the new total.
There are two limitations in the full version: there can be NO ADVANCED TASK In a deathmatch, players begin with a piece already in the arena. Choose the starting
AMONGST THE FIRST THREE CURRENT TASKS, and THERE CAN NEVER BE THREE player. The other player takes 1 common piece of each color and puts 1 on each of
OR MORE FACE-UP TASKS OF THE SAME TYPE (denoted by the symbol in the upper the two squares marked . As usual, the starting player begins with one action
left corner). To ensure this: and after that players take full, 2-action turns.
As you turn up the first 3 CURRENT TASKS, discard any that are advanced, so that (Choosing the initial squares is mostly a formality. However, it can have an impact on
you end up with 3 non-advanced tasks. If all 3 tasks have the same type, discard the Highland beings which have effects that depend on red or green squares.)
third one and keep drawing until you get a non-advanced task of a different type.
Then shuffle all discarded cards back into the deck. You should now have 3 face-up
non-advanced tasks of at least 2 different types. Turn up the top card of the task
Game Play
deck. This is the NEXT TASK. The next task might be advanced or it might not. It During play, you can score points as follows:
doesn't matter. The rules only prevent advanced tasks among the first 3 tasks. POINTS FOR DESTROYED PIECES
However, if the next task has the same type as two of the current tasks, you will Instead of claiming tasks, players score points by destroying the opponent's pieces.
need to get a different next task. Put the card (face down) on the bottom of the deck The crowd is here to see destruction!
and turn up a new top card. Repeat until you get a top card that does not match 2
of the 3 current tasks. Follow this rule whenever you turn up a card as the next task During your turn, leave all the enemy pieces you destroy beside the board.
during the game. (Converting an enemy piece to your color also counts as destroying it.) At the end of
your turn, return the pieces and score points for the enemy pieces you destroyed:
Ending the Game × 2 points for each legendary piece;
× 1 point for each heroic piece;
In the High Form, you check for the END-OF-GAME TRIGGER ONLY AT THE END OF
EACH PLAYER'S TURN. × 1 point for each pair of common pieces.
Count up the POINT VALUES OF ALL THE TASKS you have claimed and add 1 POINT If you destroy an odd number of common pieces, you get no points for the unpaired
FOR EACH LEGENDARY PIECE that you have on the board. This is your score. piece.
If either player has 9 points or more, this triggers the end of the game. The end of You get points only for pieces that belong to your opponent. Neither you nor your
the game is also triggered if either player draws the last card from his or her deck. opponent gains or loses points for the pieces of yours that you destroy on your turn.
Each player gets one more complete turn as explained on page 7. Because legendary POINTS FOR SUMMONING LEGENDS
pieces might be destroyed, it is possible that both players will end the game with
If you summon a legend, you get 1 point. The crowd loves to see dragons and
fewer than 9 points. This doesn't matter. The game ends anyway.
elementals.
The player with more points wins. Tie breakers are explained on page 7.
This is different from the High Form, where you scored points for legendary pieces
on the board. In a deathmatch duel, the point is for summoning a being with the
symbol on its card. Legendary pieces that come onto the board some other way
do not score points. Similarly, you don't lose points when your legendary pieces
are destroyed (although your opponent does gain points for destroying them, as
explained above).

8
POINTS FOR FLARES However, you do have mechanisms for coordinating with your teammate.
The crowd loves the spectacle of your flare. However, their applause is not for you, PASSING CONTROL
but for your opponent – the crowd is dazzled by the excess magical energy flaring Before any action or while resolving any card's effect, you can pass control of your
off your opponent's kalarite, and they know that you have decided to invoke a flare turn to your teammate. Announce that you are passing control and hand your
to counterbalance your opponent's dominance. team's legends to your teammate.
Whenever you invoke a flare, your opponent gains one point. It doesn't matter Your teammate must use up all your remaining actions by placing common pieces
whether the flare is used for one effect or both. on empty squares. That is the only type of action your teammate can take on your
(It might seem disadvantageous to invoke a flare and give your opponent a point. turn. Your teammate may not use your actions to discard or to summon a being (not
But it is often necessary. Sure, your opponent will score fewer points if you have even a legendary being). Your teammate may not invoke a flare.
fewer pieces on the board, but you will probably not score at all. It's better to invoke (Why would you want to pass control of your turn? Well, if you aren't planning on
your flare and get back in the game. Maybe you can turn the tables and force your doing anything except placing pieces, maybe it's better to have your teammate place
opponent to invoke a flare.) them. After all, your teammate will have a chance to summon beings before you do.)
Ending the Game If you pass control while resolving the effect of a being or a flare, your teammate
finishes resolving the effect. (And then your teammate uses up any actions
remaining by placing common pieces.)
Once you pass control, you can no longer invoke a flare. You get control of your turn
again only after your teammate has resolved any unresolved effect and used up all
remaining actions.
Example: 
The end of the game is triggered when either player exceeds 17 points. Note that With your first action, you placed KNIGHT
numerals 18 and higher are shaded to differentiate them. Note also the marks on a common piece. For your second
the pillar between 17 and 18. action, you summon the Knight
onto this square. The Knight can
(The pillar has 2 marks because it denotes the end of a game with 2 players or 2
do up to 3 combat moves. For your
teams. A deathmatch melee has different end-of-game triggers for 3- and 4-player
first move, you destroy your
games.)
opponents' heroic piece. But now
The end of the game is also triggered if either player draws the last card from his you don't know what else to do.
or her deck. You aren't sure where your teammate needs the Knight's The Knight may do up to
After each player has had a final complete turn (see page 7) the winner is the one heroic piece to end up. So you pass control to your 3 combat moves. You cannot
destroy common pieces with
with more points. Break ties as explained on page 7. teammate. these moves.
Your teammate resolves the effect by making up to 2
TEAM PLAY more moves. That is all your teammate can do because you already used up your
Four players can play as two teams, competing either in the High Form or in a two actions.
deathmatch duel. Most of the rules are similar to those for a two-player game. (You can pass control at the beginning of an effect. So if you trust your teammate,
you can let him or her make all 3 moves. Your teammate knows that destroying the
Setting Up for Team Play heroic piece is a good move, and if your teammate decides not to do so, there is
probably a very good reason. How much you trust your teammate's judgment is up
GAME BOARDS to you.)
The boards you use depend on whether you are playing the High Form or a (Note that the Knight could have been summoned onto a different square. You are
deathmatch duel. not allowed to summon the Knight and pass control before you have decided which
square it will be on. This decision is part of the summoning action, not the card's
PLAYERS effect. You can only pass control before an action or while resolving an effect.)
Teammates should sit opposite each other. Each player chooses a different deck,
Example:
but use only two colors of pieces, one complete set for each team.
You meet the upper criterion of this flare. You begin your turn
(We recommend that the two Imperial decks be on different teams.) by invoking it. Because you have no way to summon a being 2
After you shuffle your deck, turn the six bottom cards sideways. this turn, not even after the standard leap, you pass control You may do 1 standard leap with
1 of your common pieces.
(The end of the game is triggered if any player draws his or her last non-sideways to your teammate. Your teammate decides how to use the
card. Each team has twice as many cards as a single player, and this is a way to possible standard leap and then uses your two actions to
prevent the game from going on too long.) place common pieces. Then you finish up your turn.
5
Choose the starting player. Each player draws 3 cards from his or her deck and 1 flare. Gain an action.

Legends will be shared between teammates. The teammate who plays earlier should FINISHING YOUR TURN
draw 2 legends. The other teammate will have to wait to see them.
Whether you passed control or not, you always finish your
If the game is a deathmatch duel, the player to the right of the starting player is own turn.
the one who puts 1 common piece of each color on the game board, on squares
marked . In the High Form, this is when you may claim 1 task. Keep tasks claimed by your team
in a common pile.
Game Play In a deathmatch duel, this is when you count up points for enemy pieces your team
destroyed. Advance your team's piece on the score board.
Players take turns, clockwise around the table. Because teammates sit opposite
each other, the same team will not get two turns in a row. It doesn't matter which player was in control when the task was fulfilled or the piece
was destroyed. Points scored by either player belong to both of you. You are playing
On your turn, you use your team's pieces just as you would use your own pieces as a team.
in a 2-player game. It doesn't matter which teammate put the piece on the board.
You can only use the cards in your hand. You should not know what is in your After scoring, draw cards so that you are holding 3 from your deck and 1 flare. If you
teammate's hand. have not already passed your team's legends to your teammate, hand them over
9
now. Your teammate should then draw legends so that he or she holds 2. PLAYERS
(Some cards in the Sylvan deck allow you to draw extra cards at this time. If it is Each player chooses a school and takes
an extra card from your deck, you draw it. If it is an extra legend, your teammate the cards, pieces, and score board in that
draws it.) color.
At the end of your turn, play passes to the opponent on your left, even if you passed Take one heroic piece from each other player and place it on the zero space of your
control to your teammate during your turn. score board. Be sure these pieces are heroic side up. This will be important later.
(During play, you will score points in your opponents' colors by moving the piece
Ending the Game of that color on your score board. At the end of the game, your final score will be
The point values that trigger the end of the game are the same as in a 2-player determined by the color in which you scored the fewest points. So you will be trying
game. The end of the game is also triggered when any player draws his or her last to keep your points balanced among all colors.)
non-sideways card. (For more on sideways cards, see the next section.) Choose a starting player, then draw cards in the usual way.
Once the end has been triggered, each player gets one more complete turn, as The player to the right of the starting player (the one whose first turn comes after
explained on page 7. This means each team gets 2 more chances to affect the everyone else has played once) places the initial pieces on the board:
outcome.
× In a 3-player game, this player puts 1 common piece of each color on the game
Final scores are counted the same as in a 2-player game. Teammates win or lose (or board, each on a square adjacent to a different symbol.
draw) together.
× In a 4-player game, this player does the same, except that the piece of the
Sideways Cards player who will play second is left out. (Even in a 4-player game, only 3 pieces
start on the board.)
The six sideways cards at the bottom of your deck are not just taking up space. So for each symbol, the player will have the choice of 2 squares. Each
They actually have a chance to come into play. There are two ways this can happen: symbol will have exactly 1 piece adjacent to it.
YOU CAN DRAW A SIDEWAYS CARD. The end of the game is triggered if you draw (In case you were wondering, this rule is to compensate for the disadvantage of
your last non-sideways card, but the sideways cards are still there for you to draw. being the last player to start. In a 3-player game, the first player has the advantage
For example, if you need to draw 2 and the top card is the last non-sideways card, of going first and the second player has the advantage of being the first to use two
you will draw the top sideways card as well. actions. The third player gets the advantage of placing the pieces.
SIDEWAYS CARDS GET STRAIGHTENED WHEN YOU RETURN CARDS TO THE In a 4-player game, the first player has the advantage of going first. The second
BOTTOM OF YOUR DECK. Recall that, as an action, you may discard one card that player can end his or her turn with just as many pieces on the board as the first
came from your deck and then return any number of the remaining cards to the player, with the advantage of choosing where both of them go. The third player gets
bottoms of their respective decks. When you return a card to your deck in this way, two actions like the second player, with the advantage of already having one piece
it becomes one of the six bottom cards. It should be sideways. And the top sideways on the board. The fourth player's advantage over the third is the choice of where to
card should be straightened so that you still have exactly six. place the first pieces.
Communication In practice, any tiny advantage is overwhelmed by the ebb and flow of the game, but
we like it when the rules are fair – and anyway, somebody has to decide where the
Teammates are not supposed to talk about their strategy. They should communicate initial pieces will be.)
only through the mechanism provided, passing control. It's up to you to decide how
strict you will be about this. Players don't have to be absolutely silent; the game is
a social occasion. But players should definitely not show each other their cards or
Game Play
communicate secretly. Players try to gain points in all opponents' colors.
POINTS FOR DESTROYED PIECES
Take Backs During your turn, leave all the enemy pieces you destroy beside the board.
Once you pass control of your turn to your teammate, it's too late to take back any (Converting an enemy piece to your color also counts as destroying it.) At the end of
decisions you made earlier this turn. your turn, return the pieces and score points for the enemy pieces you destroyed:
× 2 points for each legendary piece;
DEATHMATCH MELEE (3 OR 4 PLAYERS) × 1 point for each heroic piece;
A deathmatch melee allows you to play Tash-Kalar with 3 or 4 players, each fighting × 1 point for each pair of common pieces in the same color.
against all the others. The goal is to destroy your opponents' pieces, with a strong
incentive to spread your destruction evenly. Points are scored separately for each color. Use the pieces on your score board to
keep track.
This form was developed primarily for 3-player games. If you play it with 4, you may
find that the game is longer and the battle is harder – by the time you get your next Example:
turn, all your pieces might have been wiped off the board. If that doesn't bother you,
jump right in and enjoy a fierce battle full of twists and reversals! But if you prefer
a game with less chaos, you should consider team play when you have 4 players. Red has destroyed these pieces during her turn. She scores 3 points in blue and 2
points in green. She scores no points for the unpaired common piece.
Setting Up for a Deathmatch Melee After making same-colored pairs of common pieces, you might have 2 (or 3)
GAME BOARDS unpaired pieces of different colors. If so, you choose one of those colors and score
1 more point in it.
Use the same side of the game board as you would
for a deathmatch duel. Example:
You do not use the task board, nor do you use a
common score board. Instead, each player has his
or her own score board. Red scores 1 point for blue and 1 point for brown. This leaves 1 green common piece
and 1 blue common piece unpaired. Red may either score 1 point in green or score
an additional point in blue.
(Players naturally choose the color in which they are farthest behind. However, part
10
of mastering Tash-Kalar is learning to predict the course of the game and recognize can use only 1 enemy piece. And don't forget that each color can be used only once
which color will be hardest to score on later turns.) per game.
POINTS FOR SUMMONING LEGENDS (Improvised summoning can be used cumulatively
with a card's effect. The War Summoner allows you ofGaintheannext action. For the pattern
being you summon
As in the deathmatch duel, you get 1 point for summoning a legend. You choose the to use one enemy piece as though it were yours. this turn, you may use one
color in which you score this point. Combining this with an improvised summoning would enemy piece as though it were
yours.
(Summoning a legend allows you to score a point in a color that would otherwise be allow you to use 2 enemy pieces, and only one would
difficult to score points in. Use this power wisely.) count against your "once per game" limit.)
POINTS FOR OPPONENTS' FLARES Some patterns require a piece on the square where the being is summoned. Even in
this situation, you may do an improvised summoning.
When a flare is invoked, THE INVOKER DECIDES WHICH OPPONENT is compared
against. This determines whether the invoker can use the upper effect, the lower Example: 
effect, or both. (If the invoker doesn't meet either criterion, the invoker can't choose Red can use the common green CANNON
that opponent.) piece to summon the Cannon on
The player compared against SCORES 1 POINT in the invoker's color. the green square or the heroic
blue piece to summon the
Example:  Cannon on the blue square. Red
Red can invoke her chooses the blue square and the
flare only against 2 summoning destroys the heroic
Blue. If she does, she You may do 1 standard leap with blue piece.
1 of your common pieces.
resolves both effects (Note that the Cannon cannot You may choose 1 of the
and Blue gains 1 be summoned on the square with the legendary green indicated directions: Destroy
point. piece. Heroic beings can never be summoned on squares
all common pieces in that
direction.
5
Example: Gain an action. with legendary pieces, regardless of color.)
In this situation, Red An enemy piece used in an improvised summoning does not change sides. During
can invoke her flare evaluation of the effect, it is still an enemy piece.
against either Blue Example: 
(upper criterion) or Green (lower criterion).
Red may choose either opponent. She can With improvised summoning, Red can CHAMPION
base her choice on which effect she wants summon the Champion onto the
to use or on which player benefits less from a point in her color. She cannot choose green-framed square. The Champion's
them both and use both effects. effect allows Red to destroy the heroic
green piece. Even though it was used
(And one more thing to consider: Sometimes, giving someone a point in your color in summoning, it is still an enemy
has advantages. An opponent who has a lot of points in your color will be more piece.
focused on destroying other players' pieces.)
(On the card, only 5 adjacent squares are marked, but
The choice of opponent determines which effects the invoker can use and who gets that does not prevent the Champion from destroying You may destroy 1 adjacent
the point for the invoker's flare. It does not limit choices that can be made when the green piece. The card says "1 adjacent enemy piece" legendary,
enemy piece. If that piece was
resolving effects. For example, if an effect allows the invoker to do something to you also destroy the
and the card's text has precedence over the illustration. Champion and gain an action.
"an enemy piece", the invoker may choose any opponent's piece, regardless of who However, if the card had said "1 piece on one of the
was chosen for comparison. marked squares", then the Champion could not have destroyed any piece used to
IMPROVISED SUMMONING summon it because those squares are not marked.)
In a deathmatch melee, you have the (limited) possibility of using an opponent's piece
in your summoning pattern. Each opponent's color can be used once per game. Ending the Game
When summoning a being, you can choose one opponent's piece and use it as Each score board has two marked pillars. In a 3-player game, the end-of-game pillar
though it were your piece of the same rank. If you do, flip the piece in that color is the one with 3 marks (the last pillar, after space 11). In a 4-player game, the end-
on your score board from to . This shows that you have used that color. You of-game pillar is the one with 4 marks (after space 9).
cannot use it again during the game. The end of the game is triggered when any player crosses the end-of-game pillar
Example:  with any opponent's color.
Red has not yet done any (In a 4-player game, the end is triggered if any player gets 10 points in any color. In
improvised summoning, so all the
SWORDMASTER a 3-player game, the end is triggered if any player gets 12 points in any color, which
pieces on her score board are moves that piece off the end of the board.)
heroic side up. Red would like to The end of the game is also triggered if any player draws the last card from his or
use an opponent's piece to help her deck.
her summon the Swordmaster. Once the end of the game has been triggered, each player gets one more complete
She can use the lower common green piece and summon turn, as explained on page 7.
the Swordmaster on the green-framed square, but she
decides to use the blue piece and summon the SCORING
You may destroy 1 common
Swordmaster on the blue-framed square. On her score enemy piece on a diagonally Your score is determined by the color in which you have the fewest points. If players
adjacent square. If you do,
board, she flips over the blue piece so that it is common upgrade the Swordmaster. are tied, break the tie according to their second-lowest colors. If players are still tied
side up. She uses the effect to destroy a green piece and (in a 4-player game) break the tie by considering the remaining color. If there is still
upgrade the Swordmaster. a tie, break it as explained on page 7.
(Red cannot summon the Swordmaster on the squares marked with because The number of points you can score in a color is not limited by the size of the score
improvised summoning does not allow her to use more than one enemy piece.) board. If a piece moves off the end, keep track of each additional point scored.
You can summon any being (even a legend) with improvised summoning. You can (Of course, most of the time, it doesn't matter because the final score is determined
use improvised summoning more than once on the same turn, but each summoning by lower-scoring colors.)
11
 Example:

In a four-player game, Red has scored 10 brown points. This triggers the end of the
game. Red finishes her turn. Then Blue, Brown, Green, and Red (again) each get one
more complete turn, with the depicted result.
Brown wins. He has 6 points in his lowest-scoring color.
Red and Blue both have 5 points in their lowest-scoring colors. Comparing the next
colors, we see that Blue is second and Red is third.
Green is last. She actually has the highest point total, but that doesn't matter. She
has only 4 points in her lowest-scoring color.
(Note that the player who triggered the end of the game finished in third place. The
end is triggered by one player's highest-scoring color, but it is the lowest-scoring
color that counts. If Red had been able to score a blue or green point in her last turn,
she would have been second. And if she had scored a point in both, she would have
won.)
(Note also that it doesn't matter whether the pieces have the heroic side or the
common side up. That has no effect on scoring.)

When thinking why the Cavalry Captain pattern has nothing to do with other
The Patterns mounted patterns, you may notice the military leaders have patterns recalling the
KNIGHT
For some players, it may be a problem to match the patterns formation of their units: the Cavalry Captain appears in front of a cavalry formation.
with the formations on the board. CAVALRY CAPTAIN INFANTRY CAPTAIN CENTAUR CHIEFTAIN WARLORD
WARLORD
My advice is: do not compare the card directly with the
situation on the board. Instead, take a look at the card and
analyze the pattern, so it is easy to memorize. For example, the
Knight requires four tokens in an L shape. It is much easier to
The Knight may do up to
3 combat moves. You cannot
find an L or mirrored-L shaped group of pieces than a group
destroy common pieces with
these moves.
that matches a certain generic pattern. You may choose 1 of your pieces
other than the Cavalry Captain:
You may do up to 1 combat move
Do up to 2 combat moves,
The Centaur Chieftain may do
1 combat move. If he does,
you may do up to 3 combat moves
Do up to 3 combat moves,
using your pieces. If you do
using your pieces other than
When examining cards this way, you will probably also note and up to 2 standard moves with
it (in any order).
the Infantry Captain. in the same direction, using other
pieces of yours.
all 3, at least one has to be
with the Warlord.

there is some logic behind many of the patterns. Some are graphical and easy to see.
You may try to find your own explanations, or you may learn more info about
Some are more subtle. For example, mounted beings: the Wolf Rider has the same L
patterns, background, and effects of particular beings (as well as some strategy tips
shaped pattern as the Knight. He is just summoned closer to the "head" of the wolf,
and interesting facts related to them) at www.tash-kalar.com.
while the Knight straddles the middle of the back of his horse. Even the Centaur
Spearman (who is
closest to a rider from
WOLF
W OLF RRIDER
IDER CENTAUR SPEARMAN GRYPHON RIDER
The Decks
the Sylvan deck) uses We at CGE playtested the decks very intensively. You can win or lose with any deck,
a similar pattern, and and your skill really matters.
the Gryphon Rider has You may notice the reverse side of all decks are the same, despite the fact that decks
a diagonal L shape, never get mixed. It is for the sake of future features and game modes. Some of them
sitting behind the neck The Centaur Spearman
may do 1 combat move.
The Gryphon Rider may do
a combat leap. If she does, you are posted at www.tash-kalar.com already!
of his gryphon. The Wolf Rider may do up to
2 combat moves.
If he does, destroy the next
piece in the same direction,
may then downgrade her and place
1 common piece of your color on
unless it is legendary. an empty adjacent square.

TESTERS: Vitek, Kreten, Vodka (congrats on winning the playtester tournament!), Rychlik, Filip, Eshu, Tuko, Vytick,
A GAME BY Paul, Alne, Marcela, Jirka Bauma, Hrabinho, Aneken, Roneth, Elwen, Mín, Juraj, Danielka, Eklp, Plema, Tomáš,
Ondra, Dita, Jana Isabella, Honza, Radka, Jacob, Matúš, Dan, Alča, Peťa, Rumun, R.A., Lefi and more from Brno
VLAADA CHVÁTIL Board Game club and many gamers we met at various Czech and foreign gaming events.
ILLUSTRATION: DAVID COCHARD THANKS TO: Miloš Procházka for managing the online playtesting community, Paul Grogan for international support
and presentations, Jason Holt for all the great names and terms, David Cochard for the awesome art and all CGE
GRAPHIC DESIGN: FILIP MURMAK people for making my game happen in this epic form.
ADDITIONAL GRAPHICS: RADIM PECH SPECIAL THANKS TO: My wife Marcela for her double support (the moral support and the programming support for
TRANSLATION: JASON HOLT online playtesting J)
© Czech Games Edition, October 2013.
LEAD TESTERS: VÍT VODIČKA www.CzechGames.com
PETR MURMAK