Player's Guide
Welcome, Adventurer to the world of the Four Empires!
The Four Empires Trading Card Game lets you enter the world of Zaia to lead mighty Warriors and equip them with powerful Magic Items to crush your competition.
With the help of this Player’s Guide, you’ll have everything you need to start playing, whether you want to jump in quickly using the Quick-Start Guide or explore the in-depth guide that follows after! This Player’s Guide covers all the basics you need to start playing right away, however, if you can’t find the answer to your question in the Player’s Guide, join our discord! We have a Text Channel specifically for answering any TCG questions, plus we have plenty of other fun things in the Discord for you to check out.
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With so many ways to play, fight for your Empire your way!
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Quick-Start Guide
This Quick-Start Guide is a brief breakdown of how to play the Four Empires Trading Card Game. It covers the basics you need to know to jump right into a game. If you'd like to learn more, following this is the full in-depth breakdown of the rules for the Four Empires Trading Card Game.
Have fun in your adventures!
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Player Hit Points: Each Player starts the game with 50 Hit Points, which can only be lost through direct attacks on the Player. A Player can only be attacked directly when the Player has no Characters or Obstructions on the field.
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Turn Order: The turn order can be decided by a coin flip, dice roll, or mutual agreement.
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Drawing Cards: Players start the game with 5 cards and draw a 6th and 7th on their first turn. Players continue to draw 2 cards on their turn throughout the game.
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First Turn: In a 2-Player match, the Player who goes first cannot play an Obstruction card or more than one Character on their first turn.
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Character Cards: Players can place 2 Characters on their side of the field on their turn, though some cards’ effects allow players to summon more. Players are limited to 5 Characters on their side of the field at any time.
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Summoning Fatigue: Characters cannot attack on the turn they are summoned; this is called Summoning Fatigue. Characters with Summoning Fatigue cannot be Tributed.
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Magic Items: During a player’s turn, each Character they control may equip 1 Magic Item. However, a Character is limited by the equipment slots they have.
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Facedown Cards: Some Magic Item Cards are labelled “Facedown Card” at the top of their effect box and can be placed facedown on the Character they are equipped to. These Magic Items can be revealed and activated as a Reaction to an Opponent's move or revealed during the Owner's turn, without it being a Reaction to something. While facedown, their effects do not activate unless revealed, and the Magic Items do not count towards effects that count specific types of Magic Items.
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Defensive Line Cards: You may place 1 Obstruction, Siege Weapon, or Monument every turn, but you can only have 3 Obstruction, Siege Weapon, or Monument Cards on your side of the field at any time.​​​​
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Instant Cards: Instant Cards don't need to be equipped to a Character to be played and are sent to your Graveyard directly after use. Instants can be used on either your or another player's turn unless otherwise stated in a card's effect. Instant Cards cannot be played on another Player’s FIRST turn.
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Attacking: The player who is attacking chooses which card is attacking and which is defending. When a Character attacks another card, you compare the ATK of the attacking card with the DEF of the defending card. Whichever card has the lower number goes to the owner's Graveyard.
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Multi-Attacks: Multiple Cards can attack at the same time. When this happens, add the ATK stat of the attacking cards together.​
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Exhaustion: After a Character Card has attacked, the card then becomes “Exhausted”. Exhausted cards cannot attack or use some Magic Items. Character Cards stay Exhausted until the beginning of their Owner’s next turn.
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Mulligan Rule: Players can Mulligan the first turn for free and also get another one to use at any point in the game at the cost of one card. To Mulligan, Players return all the cards in their hand to their deck, reshuffle their deck, and pull out a hand with one less card than before. Note: You cannot Mulligan and Blitz in the same turn.
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Winning the Game: If any Player’s Hit Points hit 0, they are eliminated. When all other Players are eliminated, the final remaining Player wins the game!
card breakdown
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1. CARD NAME
2. CARD TYPE
3. EMPIRE
4. EQUIPMENT SLOTS
5. ATTACK STAT
6. DEFENSE STAT
7. CARD EFFECT
8. SET SYMBOL
9. SET NUMBER
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1. CARD NAME
2. CARD TYPE
3. EQUIPMENT SLOT TYPE
4. MATERIAL
5. CLASSIFICATION
6. CARD EFFECT
7. MAGIC ITEM BREAKDOWN
8. SET SYMBOL
9. SET NUMBER
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DECK CONSTRUCTION
Each player must have a Deck with 50 to 70 cards in it. Here are the rules to building a game-ready Deck!*
Duplicate Cards: You may have up to 3 of the same Card in your Deck. Some cards have Alternate Arts; however, if the card has the same Name, Type, ATK, and DEF, then it would be considered the same card when Deck building.
Deck Limits: In your Deck, you must not exceed more than 1 Entity, 3 Paragons, 6 Scouts, and 12 Champions.
Restricted Cards: A few cards are so powerful that they must be limited to one per Deck. The current Restricted Cards are listed below.
Restricted Card List:
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Chain of Abundance
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Ring of Repulsion
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Saint’s Intervention
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The Gray March
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Cortella Al-Shirat
Ritual Deck: Some cards have a tag at the bottom of their effect box that reads “Ritual Card”. Ritual Cards are brought to the field from the Ritual Deck. When they are destroyed, they are not sent to the Graveyard, but are returned to the Ritual Deck. These cards are separated from your standard Deck and are not counted in your Deck card count. Cards in the Ritual Deck are also not subject to the Duplicate Card limit.
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Starting RULES
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Each Player starts the game with 50 Hit Points, a freshly shuffled Deck with 50-70 cards, and a goal to bring their Opponent’s Hit Points to zero. They start the game by drawing 5 Cards from their Deck and adding them to their hand, they then draw a 6th and 7th card on their first turn.
There are six types of cards in the Four Empires Trading Card Game: Characters, Magic Items, Instants, Obstructions, Siege Weapons, and Monuments. You can learn more about these cards in their dedicated sections in the Player’s Guide.
After deciding the turn order (either by calling a Coin Flip, Dice Roll, or through Mutual Agreement), a Player will take their turn. During a Player’s turn, they draw TWO cards from their Deck and add them to their hand. They may place up to two Characters and one Obstruction, Siege Weapon, or Monument onto their side of the Field. Some card effects allow you to bring additional cards to the Field, while others limit the number you can bring. A Player may also equip one Magic Item to each Character they control. After completing all desired actions, the player ends their turn, and the next Player’s turn begins.
Players can only place cards on their side of the field unless a card specifically says otherwise.
Two-Player Match First-Turn Rules: The Player who goes FIRST in a Two-Player match cannot play an Obstruction, and can only play ONE Character on their first turn.
Here are some keywords to keep in mind while learning the Four Empires Trading Card Game:
Deck: To play, each player needs a Deck, which is a personalized collection of 50-70 cards. All Decks must be freshly shuffled before starting the game. To learn more about the rules for creating a personalized Deck, check out the Deck Construction section of the Player’s Guide!
Hand: The cards each Player holds that are ready to use but have not been played yet. As the name suggests, cards in the "Hand" are generally held in a Player's physical hand, hidden from their Opponents. Cards can be added to the hand by Drawing or through Card Effects.
Field: The playing area where active cards are placed during the Game. Generally, Players can only place cards on their side of the field. Each Player’s side of the field has two Major Sections: The Defensive Line (where Obstruction and Siege Weapon cards are placed), and The Battlefront (where Character Cards and Magic Items are placed). To learn more about where cards go on the field, check out the Card Positioning section of the Player’s Guide. You can also find additional information in the respective card’s section of the guide.
Graveyard: The pile where most cards go when they're destroyed during the game. Each Player has an individual Graveyard.
Character Cards: Your main way of attacking in The Four Empires Trading Card Game. Character Cards have an Attack (ATK) stat and a Defense (DEF) stat that determine their strength. On their turn, Players may only place down 2 Character Cards unless a card allows them to play more.
Magic Item Cards: Cards that are equipable and act as modifiers to most Character Cards. Character Cards can only equip one Magic Item Card per turn, and the Character Card must have the Magic Item’s corresponding Equipment Slot available.
Instant Cards: One-time use cards that don’t need a Character Card to be played.
Obstruction Cards: Defensive Line Cards that block their owner’s side of the field from attacks.
Siege Weapon Cards: Defensive Line Cards that are used to attack an opponent’s side of the field.
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Monument Cards: Defensive Line Cards that add bonuses to a specific card type.
CHARACTER CARDS
Character Cards are the primary way to attack your opponent in the Four Empires Trading Card Game. Each Character has both an Attack Stat (ATK) and a Defense Stat (DEF). These are either added to or subtracted from, depending on card effects and what a Character has equipped. During their turn, a player may place on the field up to 2 Characters. Characters brought to the field through another card’s effect are not included in this limit. However, each player is limited to 5 Characters on their side of the field at any time.
Base ATK & Base DEF: Base ATK & DEF are the ATK and DEF stats that are written on the card before Effects or Magic Items are added to the stats.
Equipment Slots: You can see the Equipment slots available to each Character above their ATK bubble. Generally, every humanoid Character has 6 Equipment Slots that can be utilized (a Headpiece, Backpiece, Neckpiece, Ring, and 2 Hand Equipment Slots).
Some Characters, like Beasts and Entities, do not have any Equipment Slots.
Summoning Fatigue: Characters cannot attack or be Tributed on the first turn they are summoned due to Summoning Fatigue; however, they can use Magic Item effects as long as the effect doesn’t require the Character to forfeit their attack for the turn.
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Tributes: To summon certain cards, you must Tribute Characters. When Characters are Tributed, they are sent to their Graveyard with all their Magic Items. Generally, when Paragons are Tributed for the Entity of their Empire, the Paragon gives double the bonus that a standard Warrior of the same Empire would give. While Characters cannot be Tributed on the first turn they are summoned due to Summoning Fatigue, they can be Tributed after attacking.
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Exhaustion: After a Character Card has attacked, the card then becomes Exhausted. Exhausted cards cannot attack or use some Magic Items. Character Cards stay exhausted until the beginning of the card’s Owner’s next turn.
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Character Allegiances: Certain cards have effects that interact with Characters from specific Empires. You can find a Character's Empire in the top right corner of the Art frame, and usually in their Type as well.
Card Types: A card's Type can be found underneath the card's name. In the card Type, you can find keywords relevant to certain effects, such as “Golden Bear Champion" or "Jade Eagle Paragon".
An example of an effect that relates to a Card’s Type is Jaiten Bronzeclaw, who gains +4 ATK and +4 DEF for every Champion card on his side of the field.
MAGIC ITEM CARDS
Magic Item Cards are cards that you equip to Characters. They act as modifiers, where you attach them to a Character, and they can add positive or negative effects. The Types of Magic Items are: One-Handed, Two-Handed, Headpiece, Backpiece, Neckpiece, and Ring. You can tell what Equipment Slot a Magic Item fills by the symbol in the top left corner of its art frame; it is also written out in the card Type.
Note: Magic Item Cards have been designed to slide under the Character they are equipped to! Just leave the bottom edge visible after sliding the Magic Item Card underneath the Character Card, and it will still show you some of the most important information.
Facedown Cards: Some Magic Items are labelled “Facedown Card” in the top of their effect box and can be placed facedown on the Character they are equipped to. These Magic Items can be revealed and activated as a Reaction to an Opponent's move- usually in response to an attack. When used in reaction to a Character’s action, these effects take priority over the action; unless it states otherwise, it does not stop that action. These cards can also be revealed during the Owner's turn without it being a Reaction to something. While facedown, their effects do not activate unless revealed, and the Magic Items do not contribute towards effects that count specific types of Magic Items.
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Reactions: Some card effects mention Reactions. A Reaction happens directly after a specified event that is mentioned in the Reaction Card’s effect. If the card is a facedown card and is revealed as a Reaction, the card's effect is activated immediately.
Cooldowns: Some cards have Cooldowns that occur after their effect. Cards with Cooldowns are unable to use their effect for a specified number of turns after their effects are triggered. The turn on which the effect is used is not included in the Cooldown period.
Corax Magic Items and Tekovian Steel Magic Items: Many Magic Items are made with Corax and Tekovian Steel. You can tell if an item is one of these materials by the material's symbol in the top right corner of the art frame, as well as the label in the top left corner of the card's Effect Box. Some cards' effects change depending on how many Corax or Tekovian Steel Magic Items are on the field.
INSTANt Cards
Some cards are played, as the title suggests, instantly. Instant Cards don't need to be equipped to a Character to be played and are sent to your Graveyard directly after use. Instant Cards can be used on either your or another player's turn unless otherwise stated in a card's effect; however, they CANNOT be played on another Player’s FIRST turn. When your opponent declares an attack, you can play an Instant before the attack goes through, potentially stopping or altering the attack. You can tell a card is an Instant Card because it'll say so in its Card Type, located underneath the card's name.
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obstRUCTION Cards
Obstruction cards are placed on your Defensive Line next to Siege Weapon and Monument Cards. Obstructions are used to protect your side of the field. Your Obstruction Cards must be destroyed before You or any Characters on your side of the field are attacked, or affected by an Enemy Effect.
Each player is limited to a maximum of 3 Defensive Line Cards on their side of the field at a time, and may only play one per turn. Cards brought to the field by another card’s effect do not count toward this limit.
SIEGE WEAPON Cards
Siege Weapon Cards are placed on your Defensive Line alongside Obstruction and Monument Cards. Siege Weapon Cards are used to attack the other side of the field. Some Siege Weapons, similar to the Ballista, can attack through Obstructions as well as Enemy Character Cards to damage an Opponent’s Hit points directly; however, cards similar to Shielding Light will still block its attack.
To attack with some Siege Weapons, Characters with a Hand Equipment Slot must not attack that turn. If a Player has enough Character Cards on the field to attack with their Siege Weapon more than once, they are allowed to do so. Characters with Summoning Fatigue CANNOT attack with a Siege Weapon.
Each Player is limited to a maximum of 3 Defensive Line Cards on their side of the field at a time, and may only play one per turn unless a card effect says otherwise.
Monument Cards
Monument Cards are placed on your Defensive Line alongside Obstruction and Siege Weapon Cards. Monument Cards are used to give bonus effects to specific cards on the field. The Monument will mention which cards it gives bonuses to in its effect box. When the Monument is removed from the field, the bonuses it gives are removed as well.
Each Player is limited to a maximum of 3 Defensive Line Cards on their side of the field at a time, and may only play one per turn unless a card effect says otherwise.
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BATTLE RULES
Players may only attack, equip Magic Items, or use an effect on their turn unless using a Reaction or otherwise stated on a card effect. Instant Cards are the exception to this rule. Generally, each Character that doesn't have Summoning Fatigue gets one attack on their turn. The Player who is attacking chooses which card is attacking and which is defending.
Characters have an Attack Stat (ATK) and a Defense Stat (DEF). When a card attacks another card, you compare the ATK of the attacking card with the DEF of the defending card. Whichever card has the lower number goes to the Owner's Graveyard. If the ATK and DEF are equal, both cards are destroyed.
When a Character is destroyed, it is sent to the Owner’s Graveyard with all of the Magic Items the Character has equipped. Unless stated otherwise in a card's effect, the Owner of the card does not lose any Hit Points.
After attacking, if the Character that attacked has not been destroyed, it becomes Exhausted and cannot attack again until the beginning of the Owner’s next turn.
Direct Attacks: Player Hit Points are generally only lost when a Player is attacked directly. Players can only be attacked directly when they have no Characters or Obstructions on their side of the field.
Attacking with Multiple Cards: Players may choose to attack with multiple Characters at the same time. When you do this, you combine the ATK stats of all the Characters attacking.
Summoning Fatigue: Characters cannot attack or be Tributed on the first turn they are summoned due to Summoning Fatigue; however, they can use Magic Item effects as long as the effect doesn’t require the Character to forfeit their attack for the turn.
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Exhaustion: After a Character Card has attacked, the card then becomes “Exhausted”. Exhausted cards cannot attack or use some Magic Items. Character Cards stay exhausted until the beginning of the Owner’s next turn.
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Ritual Cards: When a card says “Ritual Card” at the bottom of its effect box, it means that the card is brought to the field from the Ritual Deck by another card’s effect. When the Ritual Card is destroyed, it is not sent to the Graveyard, but is returned to the Ritual Deck. These cards are separated from your standard Deck and are not counted in your Deck card count. Cards in the Ritual Deck are also not subject to the Duplicate Card limit.
Banishing: When a card is Banished it is removed from play for the rest of the game. It is not sent to the Owner's Graveyard.
card positioning
The graphic below is an example of how to lay out your card positions while playing The Four Empires Trading Card Game. There are 3 Defensive Line Card positions up front, 5 Character Card positions on the bottom row, and your Deck with a spot for your Graveyard in front of it, on the side. If you have a Summoning Deck, that can be placed next to your standard Deck or Graveyard.
Note: Magic Item Cards have been designed to slide under the Character Card they are equipped to! Just leave the bottom edge visible after sliding the Magic Item Card underneath the Character Card and it will still show you some of the most important information.
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Thanks for playing The Four Empires Trading Card Game!
To learn more about the world of The Four Empires and find our Live-Action Short Films, Live-Play TTRPG, Events, and more, go to: