The Mission CCG Online Rulebook

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"The reason for our existence while on earth is to fulfill His will. His will is two-fold: for us it is to be conformed to His image, and for others it is that we bring them to salvation."

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The first section of this rulebook deals with how to play The Mission. In each section the first part is titled "Starter" and the second part "Advanced". If you are using the starter decks then you should skip over any parts that are advanced and come back to them when you are using full range decks. If you get confused there are appendices and a glossary at the back.

The second section is also not necessary for the starter decks. This section deals with deck designing, team games and solitaire.

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The starter decks allow for 2 player games only. Each player should take one of the decks (deck A or deck B) and 7 maturity dice. Each player then separates his/her deck into four smaller decks that differ by the design on the back of the cards. The different decks used are shown, along with their names, below.

Both players then remove the following characters from their decks and put them to one side:

Player A (deck A) - Nicholas, Giles, and Betty

Player B (deck B) -Levi, Chloe and Pauline

After that the character, mission and enemy decks are shuffled thoroughly and placed on the players' right. The set-aside characters (who will begin the game as Christians) are then placed face up in a row alongside them (see "A game in progress" in the appendix section to know where the cards are placed).

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As starter rules except…

Each player uses their own deck of cards and their own dice. When it comes to selecting characters to begin the game as Christians, players may chose any 3 characters from their decks as long as…

They are not all the same gender

Their total heart value does not exceed 15

The next stage of setting up is to place a stronghold of each type below the opponent Christians so that the edge with only 1 icon is visible. Deck A Christians will have Apathy and Pride on them and deck B will have Fear and Anger on them. Lastly place a maturity die on each Christian, somewhere on the card, with the number "2" on the top and the sword pointing downwards. Each Christian should now look something like this:

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Strongholds are allocated to each Christian in turn. The number and strength of strongholds to be allocated to a Christian is determined by the numbers on the castle icon(see below).

The first stronghold is allocated by the person to the left of the Christian and then proceeds in a clockwise direction missing out the owner of the Christian. To allocate a stronghold that player selects a stronghold from his deck and places it under the Christian so that the icons representing the stronghold's level are visible. Players keep allocating, that Christian strongholds until he/she has all the strongholds they should or no more players wish to allocate any more. However a Christians cannot be allocated 2 strongholds of the same type (see example below).

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Again, as with starter games, each Christian is given a maturity die. However the maturity value that the Christian begins on is indicated by the number on the shield icon.

The objective of The Mission is to reach a victory point (VP) total of 19 or more - the first player to achieve this wins. At the end of the turn both players should work out how many victory points they have and if either have 19 points or more they win. If both players pass this value on the same turn the one with the highest total wins, if equal, play another turn.

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Victory Points are gained in 2 ways, having Christians and maturing your Christians. Every maturity point on your Christians is worth 1 VP. Also each Christian in your church is also worth 1 VP. These are occasionally referred to as maturity points and presence points respectively. E.g. If a church has 4 Christians of maturity 4,1,3 and 1 then for the maturity they have, 4+1+3+1=9VP's add to this a point per Christian and you have a total of 9+4=13 VP's.

In The Mission players do not simply take turns. Each turn goes through several phases in which both players participate. The names and order of the phases are as follows…

Disengage phase

Draw Phase

Action Phase

Discard phase

Simply go through each phase in the above order and once the discard phase is complete a new turn begins starting with the disengage phase.

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In this phase each player turns all of the maturity dice on their Christians round so that the sword points downwards. If the sword is downwards already then leave it as it is. This process is called disengaging. Occasionally, as in all of the phases, a card will say "in the disengage phase…" as part of it's effect. If that is the case then the card has the described effect at this time, Phase complete.

Starter and Advanced - The draw phase

The first thing that players do in this phase is turn the top character from their characters deck over and place him/her above their Christians as a "bound soul". This is called introducing a character. This character is not yet a Christian but if you evangelize him/her then he/she can become a Christian. Next players draw their hand for the turn. Each player draws 4 cards from their Mission deck and 3 cards from their Enemy deck. Occasionally cards in play will affect the number of cards drawn. Phase complete.

In the action phase players take alternate actions. The player with the lowest VP total takes the first action. If the total are equal then whoever went last the previous turn takes the first action. For the first turn of the game player B goes first.

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In a players' action they may do 2 things in this order…

Play a Mission card

Play an Enemy card

After that is the other player's action. Once neither player can play a card the phase ends.

Again as in the starter rules whoever has the lowest VP takes the first action but then play passes clockwise. If more than one player has the same low VP total then whoever went later last turn takes the first action. If it is the first turn of the game and more than one player has the same low VP total then toss a coin or roll a die to see who takes the first action.

In a player's action they may do 3 things in this order…

Activate Mission cards

Play a Mission card

Play an enemy card

If all players have consecutive actions without playing a card the phase ends.

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The first thing that players can do in their action is activate as many Mission cards as many times as they wish. Mission cards that can be activated will have a burst of light in the text box and look similar to this…

To activate a Mission card the player must declare that he/she is activating it. Then he/she must pay the activation cost, in this case by engaging the Christian. If he/she cannot pay the activation cost then he/she cannot activate the card. Once the cost then has been paid the activation effect takes place. Note that the activation effect does not occur when the card is played but only when the card is activated icon. In those cases the effect above the icon happens automatically when the card is played but the activation effect only occurs when the card is activated.

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To be able to play a card you must first be able to understand the icons at the top of the text box. These icons tell you whether or not you can play the card and if you can, where to play it. The first icon, the one on the left tells you where to play the card. It will be on of the following…

The other icons that may or may not be on the card are situated in the middle and are the conditions of that card. Only cards that are played on Christians may have conditions.

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These conditions restrict which Christians the card can be played on. The possible icons and there meaning are described below…

Once it has been determined that a card can be played then follow the text written underneath in the text box and resolve the cards effect. If at the end of the text the card says [Discard] then the card is discarded once the effect is resolved. It may instead say to discard the card at a certain time or in a certain phase; if no such discard instruction is present then the card remains in play having a continued effect on the game.

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Same as Starter with the addition of a few other icons. These are…

Also in the full range of cards gifts and strongholds are not restricted to just level 1. If more than 1 gift/stronghold of that level or more before the can be played. Basically for every icon visible on the stronghold that is the level of the stronghold. For every gift icon the Christian has in the gift box that is the level of the Christian's gift. The highest level possible. Please not that card conditions only need to be met once the card is played. The other that may appear on the card is the Kairos icon (see below).

Some processes are described in the effect of a card. The ones described here are the ones you will likely come across when playing with starter decks.

Maturing - If a Christian gains maturity simply turn the maturity die on them over so that the new maturity level is shown on the top of the die (no Christian can mature beyond 5). This does not engage the Christian unless stated.

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Evangelizing - Evangelism plays a big part in The Mission. It is by evangelism that players get more Christians in their church and also is a great way to gain victory points. If a mission card allows a Christian to make an evangelism attempt then follow the process outlined below…

4. If this total is equal to or greater than the heart value on the bound soul chosen the attempt is successful, if not the attempt is unsuccessful.
5. Either way the overturned card is discarded.

If the attempt fails then nothing further occurs, proceed with the action as normal. If the attempt was successful then the bound soul is saved. Move him/her into the church area, allocate him/her strongholds as in "set-up" and give him/her a maturity die. It is very important to note that new Christians always start on 1 maturity and engaged.

All other effects should be self-explanatory. If you are struck, the glossary and appendices in the back should help.

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You will come across many more game terms in the full range of cards. Here is a list and what they mean…

Maturing - Same as starter but if a Christian loses their last maturity point they become "shaky" (see below) and on 1 maturity.

Evangelising - This is same process as starter rules but you may find a card that allows you to take multiple evangelism attempts. If this occurs then resolve each on individually in any order the player with the card chooses.

Countdown - This means that the card is a countdown card. When a countdown card is played it is placed 90 degrees clockwise to normal. In the phase that the card becomes upright any effect described after the "countdown:" takes place. If several of these cards activate at the same time the player with the lowest VP total selects one of his to activate first and then proceed clockwise (skipping as necessary) till all are activated and resolved.

Shaky - Certain things may cause a Christian to become shaky. This is bad news for that Christian as it means that they are in a state of indecision about their faith. A shaky Christian is overturned and does not count towards your VP total. No cards may be played on them (unless stated). It is as if that Christian was not there. All cards on them "freeze" as they are,

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and do not affect other Christians. If a Christian loses his/her last maturity point while being shaky then he/she backslides (place him/her and all cards on him/her in their relevant discard piles). There is hope though. Some cards cause Christians to become steady (the opposite of shaky). If this occurs, turn the Christian back face up and they are on whatever maturity level they were on before and engaged.

Banish - Discarded cards may be retrieved in various ways but a banished card may not. I fa card effect ends with [Banish] or a card effect banished a card, it is not placed in the discard pile. Instead it is removed from the game altogether. Place the card to one side and return it to the deck once the game is over.

Optional discard - Occasionally a card will have [Optional discard] after the effect. This means that card's owner has the option of discarding the card in the discard phase.

Min 1 - This may appear after a loss of maturity is indicated. It means that the effect will not cause Christians to become shaky. If they would otherwise go shaky they are instead on 1 maturity and steady.

Dormant - A dormant Christian literally does nothing. They cannot have Mission card played on them nor will they engage or perform any other activity. They may be affect by other cards as long as it requires nothing on their behalf, such as engaging or using their gifts. Enemy cards maybe played on them affect them a normal.

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In this phase players discard any cards remaining in their hand, check victory point totals and then, assuming no winner, begin a new turn.

In this phase players may choose up to one Mission and one Enemy card from their hand to hold on to. The rest are discarded. If a player decides to keep cards they draw that many of the same king less in the next drawing phase. E.g. if you decide to keep an Enemy card then you draw 4 Mission and 2 Enemy cards in the next draw phase. If you keep one of each then you draw 3 Mission and 2 Enemy cards. Also as with starter rules, victory points are checked and a new turn begins.

…I run out of characters - Nothing, you just don't introduce any more in the draw phase and play on as normal.

…I run out of mission/enemy cards - Just shuffle the discard pile of that deck and reuse them.

…I run out of strongholds - If this happens then you cannot allocate any more strongholds. Try to have enough stronghold cards for any game you play.

…Someone plays a cards on a Christian when they already have that card on them - This is not allowed. Only one copy of any

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card is allowed on a Christian unless stated otherwise. This goes for both Mission and Enemy cards.

You know enough to play with the starter sets. Once you are ready to collect and build your own deck and use the full rules then you can read the rest of this rulebook, but until then enjoy you game!!!

Same as starter except where noted.

…I run out of Mission/Enemy cards - Player may if they wish have another deck of side cards that are kept to one side during the game. In this side deck a player may have to 5 Enemy cards and 5 Mission cards. The first time the deck runs out a player may banish up to 3 cards from his discard pile and replace them with the cards in their side deck, reshuffle and re-use the cards. The second time a deck runs out that player loses.

…I have no more Christians - If all your Christians are either backslidden or shaky in the discard phase, then you lose. Remaining players may continue on but all you cards are removed play.

…Due to cards in play I end up drawing no Mission cards - This is a rare occurrence. If this happens then you may draw one Mission card assuming you did not keep one back from the previous turn.

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When you want to build your own deck you can include any cards you want as long as they fit within the restrictions outlined below:

1. You must have at least 8 Character, 12 Stronghold, 32 Mission and 28 Enemy cards.
2. You may not have more than 5 Mission and 5 Enemy cards in your side deck.
3. No more than 75% of the characters can be of the same gender.
4. No card may be included more than 3 times except Strongholds, "Prayer" and "Offer of Life".
5. Cards with "~Title~" may be only included once in your deck.

It is possible to play The Mission in teams or by yourself with a little modification.

For 1 player simply pit the Mission deck against the Enemy deck. Allocate strongholds to yourself and play the enemy cards in your hand against the mission cards. In a balanced deck you will end up meeting the objective but playing this way can show areas where your deck can improve.

For team games play like normal mutiplayer except that you

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can play mission cards on your teammate's Christians, if he/she gives you permission you can count his/her Christians as "fellow Christians". Dual-character (enemy as well as mission) cards can span churches in the same team. The objective for team games is to have all members of the team on 15 VP's or more. You will need to sit so that you are not next to teammates and make sure your don't allocate them strongholds.

Attack - If an Enemy card is played on a Christian without being countered then that Christian is said to have been attacked.

Card Types - The card type tells every category that card falls in. E.g. a "lust habit" is both a lust card and a habit card. The card "Lustful intentions" is of type "field wile" therefore it is a field card and a wile card but not a lust card.

Chosen - The term "chosen" simply means "of your choice". E.g. a chosen opponent means "an opponent of your choice".

Countered - A card just played that gets countered is discarded without having it's effect. If a card just activated gets countered it has no effect but remains in play.

Fellow Christian - A Christian from the same church, but not themselves.

Gift cards - Power and anointing cards are both considered gift cards.

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Help - If the term "fellow Christian" appears in the card's effect then the Christian benefiting from that card is classes as being helped by other Christian. If both Christians benefit then they count as helping each other.

Involved - Any Christian who is being affected by the card in question counts as being "involved".

Must… - If the first word of a card's effect is "must then it means that the card can only be played under certain circumstances. These do not count as conditions. If for some reason the circumstance described on the card is not true then the card is immediately discarded.

OR - This is sometime used if a card can have more than one effect. When a card with this is played the player must declare which effect he/she wishes to use.

Prophet/teacher etc. - A Christian with the gift of prophecy at any level is considered a "prophet". The same is true for all the other gifts.

Redirect - If a card is redirected it means that the card is played on a different character ofd the redirecting player's choice. In these instances the cards may be redirected to any character regardless of which church they are in, however the new target must still be able to meet the conditions on the card.

Shared strongholds/gifts - If the Christian both/ all have the same type stronghold/gift, regardless of level, then they

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count as sharing that stronghold/gift.

Temptations - Dart and habit type cards also count as temptation cards.

Use gifts - If a Christian's gift is used to meet the conditions of a power card then they count as using that gift. Also if a Christian activates an anointing then they count as using the gift that anointing card refers to. Note however that playing an anointing card but not activating it does not count as using a gift.

Weakening/strengthening strongholds - If a stronghold is weakened then it's level reduces by one. Simply re-orientate the stronghold card so that the new level is showing. If a stronghold strengthens it's level is increased by one. Level 3 strongholds cannot be strengthened and a level 1 stronghold that is weakened is instead discarded.

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Game Design and concept by Nathan Hawkins

Illustration ideas by Nathan Hawkins

Illustrations by Billy and Virginia Mull

Card design and layout by Nathan Hawkins

Rule book by Nathan Hawkins

Playtesting by Nathan Hawkins, John B Lowe the 3^rd, Matthew Munger, Sam Stringer, Reuben Hawkins, Micheal Batey, Chris Snow, Christian Staggs, Simeon Hawkins and Andrew Franks

Special thanks to Virginia Mull, Simeon Hawkins, Micheal Batey, Sam Stringer, Billy and Ben Stringer for their extra input

© Ezekiel Itd all rights reserved