(Version 2.0, 10/18/04)


How to Play

Each player must have a KND: OCG deck in order to play. Games are one match out of one game, however you may make it as many matches as you wish within a game versus a single opponent, as long as he/she agrees to it.

The Deck

A deck must consist of 60 cards. There is no limit as to how many copies of one card exist in your deck however, eventually, there may be a restricted card list if there is abuse of a card or cards.

The Field

Each player has a Deck zone and a Discard pile. Directly to the left of those two spots are the Active Character zone, where one Active Character may be placed, and under that is 5 Reserve Character zones, the Reserve Character area, where characters in Reserve are placed. Later, you may move characters from your Reserve area to your Active Character zone, when it is empty. When you do this, all cards attached to the character are moved with it.
Take a look at how the playfield is set up: [ Click Here ]

Starting a Game

At the start of the game, each player draws 6 cards. After each player draws their opening hand, you and your opponent both place one character on the Active Character zone, and as many character cards as you wish on the Reserve Character area. After this is done, and order is decided, the first player draws their first card from their deck and the game begins. You may use a piece of paper to count you and your opponent's Fallen Character tally, and the game is then underway. If you do not draw a character card on your first draw, show your hand to your opponent, shuffle your hand into your deck and draw 6 new cards. Repeat this process until you draw at least 1 character card in your first draw.

Placing Characters on the Field

Unlike Energy cards (explained later), during your turn you are allowed to place as many characters in your Reserve Character area during your Play Sequence. A player may move a character card from their Reserve Character area to the Active Character zone as long as their Active Character zone is empty. Alternatively, a player play place a character card from their hand directly to the Active Character zone if the player's Reserve Character area is empty.

Fleeing

Fleeing is the process of switching one Active Character with a character in your Reserve Character Area. Each character will have a Fleeing cost on the card. This cost represents what type of attached Energy cards you have to discard from the character and how many. For example, if a character has a Fleeing Cost of 2 Leader Energy, you must discard 2 attached Leader Energy off the Active Character, then switch it with a character in your Reserve Character area.

Character Types

There are five different types of characters to choose from: Leaders, Defenders, Attackers, Spies and Pacifists. It's possible to make a deck around each different type, or make a solid mix of two or possibly more types. Just be creative, and make sure your deck has a good balance of cards otherwise, you could be in trouble. Read down further, to the "Explanation of the Five Character Types" for detailed info on each character type.

Energy Cards

As with some card games, the KND: OCG uses Energy Cards to allow characters to perform Special Attacks and sometimes, Special Effects. There are five types of Energy Cards, to suit each character type. Red indicates Leader Energy. Blue indicates Defender Energy. Green indicates Spy Energy. Gold indicates Attacker Energy. Black indicates Pacifist Energy. There are also "Normal" Energy, which belong to no one character type, but cannot be substituted for another type. You may use it in Special Attacks and Effects that require "Normal" Energy. Alternatively, you can use any other Energy type as a substitute for a Normal Energy. You may only play ONE Energy card per turn, unless the effect of a card states you can play another. When you play an Energy Card, it is placed underneath the character card. This is called "attaching" an Energy Card. You may attach your Energy Card to an Active Character or Reserve Character. Once you have made a choice, you cannot switch an Energy Card to another character once it has been played, unless by the effect of a card. Energy cards are essential to a specific deck type, but if you have two or more types in your deck, remember that you may not always draw the card you need, so if you're a beginner, it's recommended you start out using one type of character in your deck first.

Special Attacks

Every character card has at least one Special Attack. The Special Attack of a character may only be used if it is the Active Character card. Special Attacks may not be activated by characters in the Reserve Character Area (unless stated on the card). To use a Special Attack, you must first fulfill the necessary amount of Energy Cards equipped to your character. Once you have enough, you may activate the character's Special Attack instead of using a Basic Attack. If your character has already attacked with a Basic Attack, it may not use a Special Attack in the same turn. Alternatively, if your character has already used a Special Attack, it may not use a Basic Attack in the same turn.

Special Effects

Special Effect text is located at the bottom of a card. You will see that some characters do not have Special Effects, especially Pacifists, who never have Special Effects. A Special Effect can be activated if the fulfillment to use it has been met. For example, you may activate Numbuh 1's effect, "Follow the Leader" by fulfilling the requirement to discard one attached Leader Energy card. Then, you may use the effect. Sometimes Special Effects will give you the option of being activated while the character is in the Reserve Character Area. Make sure it is noted on the card text before you do this.

Special Cards

Special Cards can be activated when it is your turn, during the Play Sequence. Unlike Energy cards, you may play as many Special Cards as you want per turn. When you play a Special Card, it is placed face-up into the Special Card area, and its effect activates immediately, but ONLY if the requirement to play it has been fulfilled. For example, if you want to play the card, "Power of the KND", you may only play it if you have a "Numbuh 1", "Numbuh 2", "Numbuh 3", "Numbuh 4" and "Numbuh 5" face-up on your side of the field, in the Active Character zone, or in the Reserve Character area. Then, the effect of the card activates.

Attacking

Only Active Characters can attack, and can only target the opposing Active Character. You cannot attack characters in Reserve unless the card specifically says so. Alternatively, characters in Reserve may not attack, unless the card specifically says so. You may choose to declare a Basic Attack or a Special Attack, but not both. When you declare a Basic Attack, your Active Monster will inflict damage to the opposing Active Character card equal to its AP. When this happens, subtract the opposing Active Character card's DP from your card's AP to get the amount of battle damage that is subtracted from the opposing Active Character's HP. For example, if your character has 10 AP, and your opponent's character has 5 DP, your opponent's card loses 5 HP. When you declare a Special Attack, follow the instructions on the card and have the required amount of energy when you perform the attack.

Damage Calculation

If a character attacks another character with an AP higher than the DP of the attacked character, the target character will lose HP equal to the difference.

If a character attacks another character with an AP lower than the DP of the attacked character, the attacking character will lose HP equal to the difference.

If a character attacks another character with an AP equal to the DP of the attacked character, neither character will lose HP and neither character is defeated.

Defeating and Destroying Characters

When two Active Characters battle, a character is defeated when their HP reaches zero. Then, they are sent to the discard pile. However, defeating and destroying a character are two different things. Defeat means their HP has reached 0 by the attack of an opponent's character. Destroy means the character was sent to the discard pile by the effect of a card. Cards such as "Power of the KND" fall into the category of destroying.

Fallen Characters

When a character defeats another character, the owner of the defeated character adds one to their Fallen Character tally. Once a player accumulates 5 tallies on their Fallen Character total, they will lose the game. Please note that the effects of cards do not add to the Fallen Character total. For example, if you activate "Power of the KND" to destroy 3 characters on your opponents field, all of your opponent's characters are destroyed, but not defeated in battle, so your opponent does not gain any tallies to his/her Fallen Character total.

Turn Sequences

At the start of your turn, you immediately enter the Draw Sequence. Draw 1 card from your deck in this Sequence.

After your Draw Sequence, enter the Play Sequence. Here, you may play an Active Character card (as long as there isn't one already), and play as many character cards in the Reserve Character area (as long as there is space). Also, you may play as many Special Cards as you want, but only ONE Energy card this turn.

After your Play Sequence, you can enter your Attack Sequence. Here, you may attack with your Active Character and calculate damage.

Once you end your Attack Sequence, your turn is over. It is now your opponent's turn.

Winning the Game

Each player starts the game with a clean Fallen Character tally. Fallen Character tallies increase for every character defeated in battle. You will win the game if...

...your opponent's Fallen Character tally reaches 5.

...it is your opponent ends their turn without a character in the Active Character slot.

...your opponent has no more cards in his/her deck when it is their turn to draw.

Explanation of the Five Character Types

Leaders

Leader's usually have the ability to negate and bypass other character types effects, making them very useful against all other types. Leader's are well-rounded, with a solid amount of HP, but more than likely have somewhat mediocre AP and DP.

Defenders

Defender's do as their name suggests: Defend. They're very good for stalling to get a combo or plan going. As to be expected, Defender's have a high DP, but poor AP, and mediocre HP.

Spies

Spies are cunning and effective. They do not excel at anything, but usually have a fair amount of HP, mediocre AP and poor DP. The highlight of Spies are hand and deck destruction tactics. Spies can force your opponent to discard from their hand or deck, show you their hand or give you free cards to draw. However, they are somewhat weak, and can be taken out quickly.

Attackers

Attacker's do as their name suggests: Attack. They have extremely high AP, poor DP and mediocre HP. They're good for a simple beatdown/speed deck, and effective in racking up Fallen Character totals, essentially giving you the win. Their only drawback is their poor ability to defend, and their HP makes them subject to be taken out as quickly as they come in.

Pacifists

Pacifist's are, naturally, non-attacking characters. Their HP, AP and DP are usually all very poor, but their upshot is the ability to stall, in their own way. Pacifist's are great for stalling. They can stop a character from attacking, prevent themselves from being defeated, and can temporarily remove themselves from the battle to avoid attacks. Pacifist's biggest upshot is their great ability to never be destroyed by opponent's card effects, they can only be defeated in battle, where they can stall like there's no tomorrow.



If you're looking for strategies, here's a quick cheat sheet.

Pacifist's are great against Attackers, because of their ability to block attacks.

Attacker's are great against Spies, because of Spies' weak AP and HP. They're also sometimes good against Leader's because of Leader's generic stats.

Defenders are good against Attacker's as well, because their high DP may prevent Attacker's from even touching their HP.

Spies have the ability to turn the table's on Defender's high DP, and have a variety of Special Cards to bypass their defense.

And, if played right, Leader's are great against ANY other character type.


There you have it, the rules of the game. You can find an RTF version of the rules in the download package in the Download section. Now then, if you have a question or comment about a rule, or if you think a certain area may be messed-up or broken, please e-mail me and I'll get back to you on it. Thanks!