How to Play!

TALES FROM TELLIS TCG —   DUEL QUICKSTART RULES.

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Welcome, Divine Duelists!

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These rules will guide you through setup, game play, and victory. You are one of the Five Gods of Tellis, wielding Arcane Weaves, Duelers, Creatures, Relics, and Civ. cards to outmatch your opponent and deplete their Arcane Points. 

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How to Win

• Reduce your opponent’s Arcane Points (starts at 3-5 depending on desired length of Game play) to zero, by....

  • Defeating an opponent's Dueler. (1 Arcane Point depleted)

  • Defeating an opponent's Duo. (2 Arcane Points depleted)

  • Forcing your opponent to discard more cards than they have. (1 Arcane Point depleted)

  • Other in game conditions.

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Deck Building

1. Each player must have a deck of 30 cards.

   • Each deck must contain 12 Dueler cards and 18 SUPPORT cards (Creatures, Arcane Weaves & Events, Relics and Civ. cards). 

   • You may include no more than 2 copies of any card, unless otherwise stated in the card's text. 

   • If a card has the (✪ Unique) tag you may only have one in your deck. This includes alternate art cards. 

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Set-up & First Round Turn Order

Setup:

• Use a pencil and paper to track Arcane Points. Draw four small circles (or more for longer games)  next to your opponent’s name. When you defeat one of their Duelers, reduce the opponent’s Arcane Points by one. If you defeat a Duo, reduce the opponent's Arcane Points by two. Defeated Creatures do not count towards Arcane Points. When all your Arcane Points are lost you lose. 

First Round Turn Order:

1. Shuffle and draw 5 cards.

   • If you do not draw a Dueler, reveal your hand, reshuffle, and draw again until you have at least one.

2. Roll a 1d6. The player with the highest roll goes first.

   • Make sure to track character's health with a pencil and scratch paper or spare dice.

3. First Turn Rules: There is no Combat Phase on the first turn for either player. No attacks or Combat Abilities may be made by either player until the second turn. 

   • Phase 1: Recruit Phase: Play a Dueler. 

   • Phase 2: Support Phase action: Play one SUPPORT card if you wish. Usually players choose to play a Civ. card if available during the first turn. Passive Abilities are active on the first turn. 

   • Skip Phase 3 and go to Phase 4: Draw a card to end your turn. You may not use that card until your next turn. 

   • The player who goes second will do the same for their first turn. 

   • No damage can be delivered or taken during each player’s first turn.

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 Turn Order

Each turn, complete the following four phases:

1. Recruit Phase: Play a Dueler into one of your two available Dueler Zones, if you wish (you may only have two Duelers active at a time or one Duo, (unless otherwise stated). If you have no active Dueler and your opponent attacks, you lose an Arcane Point.
    

2. Support Phase action: Play one SUPPORT card of your choice, if you wish:

   • A SUPPORT card (Civ., Relic, Creature, or Arcane Weave & Event) may be played each turn — but only one total.

   • Civ. card rules: Each player may have one Civ. card active. Your Civ. bonus only affects your active Duelers. If a Civ. card is played during your Support Phase action, the Passive Ability will count towards your Combat Phase action immediately. You may replace your Civ. card using your Support Phase action if you wish. 

   • Each Dueler may only have one SUPPORT card (not counting Civ. cards) attached at one time. If your Dueler has an attached Creature card, they may not have a Relic or Arcane Weaves card attached to them unless otherwise stated in the card's text. 

   • Playing a Creature on a Dueler with Soulbridge is a Support Phase action. Creatures may only attach to Duelers who have Soulbridge or other text indicating they do so. 

   • You may not replace an active Dueler or their attached Creature or SUPPORT unless it is defeated or you have an ability that allows you to do so.
      

3. Combat Phase action: If it is your second turn or later, you may choose one of your active Duelers, Duos or Creatures to attack or use a Combat Ability:

   • Announce which of your Duelers is attacking and which opposing card is being targeted (Dueler or Creature). Always do this before rolling your attack. 

   • Resolve the attack by rolling the appropriate die, calculating damage and subtracting the damage from the target’s Health. You can keep track of this on a piece of paper or using dice as damage counters.

   • Passive Abilities are always applied automatically.

   • Combat Abilities can be played instead of attacking.
      

4. Draw Phase: Draw one card from your deck to end your turn. Drawing a card is the last thing you should do. 

Note: If you miss a Passive Ability, for example, blocking Melee damage or dispelling an Arcane Weave card, you do not get to go back and apply it. It is the player’s responsibility to keep track and apply these buffs when necessary. 

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And that is it! Play until a player has no Arcane Weaves left!

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Combat and Card Types

Duelers: are your main combatants. Each has Health and either a Melee Attack and/or Arcana Attack. They may also have Combat or Passive Abilities. Dueler’s may be partnered or bonded to other cards for bonuses. Only when a Dueler is defeated do you lose an Arcane Point. If a Dueler has both Melee Attack and Arcana Attack, choose one to use. 

• Some Duelers have abilities that allow them to receive half damage. Always round damage up. If your Dueler receives 3 damage total and a half damage modifier is active that Dueler would receive 2 damage.
   

Creatures: Can only be played through a Dueler’s Soulbridge ability, Passive Ability, or another card allowing them to do so. Defeating a Creature does not count towards victory. When a Creature is defeated, they are discarded and no Arcane Points are taken from the player. Make sure your Dueler can have the specified Creature attached before trying to play it.
 

Civ.: These grant a Passive Bonus or Combat Ability while in play. Each player may only have one Civ. card active each at a time. You may use your Support Phase action to replace your current Civ. Some players have an ability that destroys your opponent’s Civ. card. Your Civ. bonus is not applied to the other team unless a Rift card is played. Civ. cards do not attach, therefore do not take the SUPPORT slot for your Duelers/Duos.
 

Relics and Arcane Weaves & Events: Powerful one-use cards. Use them wisely! Unless stated otherwise, discard these cards after playing or their effects expire. Sometimes you must attach one of these SUPPORT Cards in order to play it on your Dueler or Duo or an opponent. Only one SUPPORT may be attached to a card at once unless otherwise stated. This includes Creatures. 

Defeated cards (Duelers, Duos, Creatures, Civ., Arcane Weaves & Events and Relics) go to the discard pile.

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Key Glossary

• Combat Ability: A fist symbol that denotes a Combat Phase Ability. If you want to use a Combat Ability it takes up your Combat Phase action. 

• Passive Ability: A P. symbol: This is always active and does need any action to come into play. Read your Dueler’s Passive Abilities carefully and remember to use them when necessary. 

  • An example of a Passive Ability: 

    • Duel Partner: If the listed card is active in play, a Dueler gains a specific bonus (example, +1 damage).

  • Soulbridge: A keyword that allows a Dueler or Duo to attach a Creature card. Unless an ability states otherwise, attaching a Creature to a Dueler will take the Support Phase Action. The Soulbridge Bond card allows almost any Dueler or Duo to have a Creature. You may not replace a Creature once it is attached. 

  • If you miss the application of a Passive Ability, there is no backtracking. 

• A Melee/Arcana attack : Using a Melee or Arcana attack consumes the Combat Phase action of your turn.  

• Health: When this is reduced to zero or lower your Dueler or Creature is discarded. If you heal with an ability you may not exceed your Dueler’s maximum health. 

• IMMEDIATE ACTION: Some cards have an ability allowing them to be used as an Immediate Action. These do not take a Phase to use and happen as soon as the player uses them.

🌙 Good Luck, God of Tellis.

Protect your Arcane Points. Choose your champions wisely. Let the light of Seluna guide your rolls.

🖋️ Visit ChristopherCarlone.com | © 2026 Tales from Tellis: Trading Card Game 

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