Objective

A player loses once their parish is empty or if they have four Titan cards in their debris, whichever comes first.  The last player remaining wins.

Players

2-4 (2 is recommended)

Materials

Cards from the Graven catalog.

Setup

Before the game, each player builds their own parish and altar.  Parishes consist of 28 human cards with no more than 4 of any specific human card.  Altars consist of 4 unique Titan cards.

Layout

Each player has a field where cards are played; a hand where cards are retained, drawn into, and played from; a parish from which cards are drawn; an altar, from which Titans can be played; and a debris, where discarded cards are gathered:

Field: Where humans and Titans can be played during the play phase, either in survey orientation (vertical) or effect orientation (horizontal).  Players can only have 8 cards maximum on their field at any time.

Hand: Players start with 4 cards, and draw one each turn, during their Draw Phase.  There is no card limit for a player’s hand.

 Parish: Each player’s 28 humans.  When the parish runs out, a player immediately loses.

Altar: Each player’s 4 Titans, hidden from opponents but viewable by the player.

Debris: Where cards go when they're discarded.

Terminology

Appoint [Game Mechanic/Card Effect]: Move a human to your field from your hand (unless otherwise specified).

Destroy [Card Effect]: Move a card from the field to the debris, except as a Titan sacrifice.

Evict [Card Effect]: Move a card from one player’s field to another player’s field.

Invoke [Game mechanic/Card Effect]: Sacrifice two humans to move a Titan to your field from your altar (unless otherwise specified).

Revive [Card Effect]: Move a human or a Titan from the debris to the field. 

Pitch [Card Effect]: Move a card from the hand or the altar to the debris.

Reorient [Card Effect]: Turn a card from survey orientation to effect orientation or vice versa.

Sacrifice [Game Mechanic/Card Effect]: Move cards from the field to the debris to invoke a titan from the altar (unless otherwise specified).

Search [Card Effect]: Select a card in your parish and move it to your hand.

Stash [Card Effect]: Move a card to its parish or altar of origin from the field (unless otherwise specified).

Tithe [Game Mechanic/Card Effect]: Move a card from the top of the parish to the debris.

Turn Structure

1. Draw Phase: The player may reorder the cards on their field without reorienting any of them.  Then, the player draws one card.  If they have zero cards in their hand when their turn begins, they draw two cards instead.

2. Play Phase: The player may appoint up to two human cards from their hand OR invoke a Titan from their altar by sacrificing two humans from their field.  Humans may be appointed in survey orientation or effect orientation.  Titans may be invoked in survey orientation or effect orientation.  Effects that activate upon appointment/invocation activate if the human or Titan in question enters the field in effect orientation.  If a player appoints a human, they cannot invoke a Titan this turn, except by card effect, and vice versa.

3. Effect Phase: The player triggers card effects for cards on their field in effect orientation with applicable effects.

4. Survey Phase: After the effects for the cards on the turn player’s field resolve, all players add up the survey values of cards on their fields in survey orientation to determine their Survey Score. The players with the highest Survey Score do not tithe any cards.  Players with a Survey Score lower than the highest Survey Score tithe cards equal to the difference.  If a player would tithe 4 or more, they must also select and pitch a Titan from their altar.  Players resolve any effects related to the tithing (or pitching), then the turn ends, all Survey Scores reset to 0 until the next survey phase, and the next player begins their turn.

Card Structure

Survey Value: The number at the top of the card used to calculate Survey Score.  The survey value is not included during the survey when the card is in effect orientation.

Effect: The effect of the card.  This effect is negated while the card is in survey orientation.  There are six types of card effect.

Effect Types

Once per turn: During the effect phase, turn player must activate the effect, if possible (Archer, Slinger).  Only resolve each card’s effect once during the effect phase.  However, if a card leaves effect orientation then returns to effect orientation, consider the effect unresolved.   

Once per game: During the effect phase, turn player can activate the effect, if possible, as long as they have not activated that effect earlier this game, either with that card or a card of the same name (Prophet, Hierarch).

Pitch to Activate: Activated from the hand by pitching the card to the debris at an appropriate moment during any player’s turn.  (Ambassador, Executioner)

Continuous: The effect applies as long as the card is in effect orientation (Barber, Mathematician)

Debris Activation: Activated when a card enters the debris, such as upon being pitched, destroyed, tithed, or sacrificed. (Acrobat, Martyr, Spy) 

Field Activation: Activated when a card enters the field in effect orientation or reorients to effect orientation, depending on the effect. (Bishop, Tax Collector, Libertine)

First Round Rules

• All players draw 4 cards before the first turn player takes their turn.

• Survey Score is only calculated with players who have already had a turn.  The player who goes first only calculates Survey Score against themself.

• Titans cannot be invoked if a player has not had a turn yet, even by effect.

Minutiae

• After searching or stashing, shuffle the parish.

• When an effect is negated, that effect cannot be activated until the end of the turn.

• When a card has been evicted, apply its effects as though the card belongs to the player, and increase or decrease the new player’s survey score accordingly.  Evicted cards are played upside down for visual clarity, and when they leave the field they enter the parish, debris, altar, or hand of the original player, not the new player.

• A player loses as soon as their parish reaches 0, but may still play if their altar reaches 0 as long as they don’t have 4 Titans in their debris.

Constant Effect Resolution

• The timing of effects depends on card position and the turn player.  For continuous effects, apply the leftmost card of the turn player, proceeding to the right.  Then do the same with next opponent, their left to their right.  This will be relevant to effects that modify survey values, and may change between rounds.

Titan Time (Trigger Effect Resolution)

• For effects that trigger at the same time, resolve effects as follows and as applicable:

1. Card effects activated in the hand, starting with the latest activated and proceeding to the earliest activated. Hand effects that have an applicable optional activation are addd to Titan Time. The turn player has the first option to activate hand effects, proceeding clockwise to the next if they activate or decline to activate. Continue until every player has declined to activate a card effect in hand.

2. Field effects are activated from left to right, starting with the field of the turn player, then proceeding clockwise to the field of the next player.  Effects of new cards added to the field during this time do not activate if they enter the field after the sequence (if a card is reoriented on the turn player’s field but the opponents’ fields effects are being resolved).

3. Debris effects are activated from least recent to most recent, starting with the turn player’s debris and proceeding clockwise.

4. Effects can only be triggered in response to the last effect that resolves during Titan Time.

• When a card enters effect orientation, it is played into the rightmost position.  A player can only reposition their cards at the start of their draw phase before they draw any cards.  No effects can be activated during this time.  The debris should not be rearranged.