Core Rules

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How to Win

Defeat your opponent by destroying all of their Souls.
A Reaper with 0 Souls immediately loses the game.

Souls

• Souls represent both health and power.

• Souls = Max HP.

• When your Souls reach 0, you lose.

• Monsters or other Reapers can reduce souls.

• Souls are spent to activate abilities and upgrades.

• Souls and HP are interchangeable terms.

If a card references Souls, it means HP.

 

DI Roll

• A DI roll determines which abilities and effects may trigger.

• A single DI roll may trigger multiple abilities and effects.

• Each triggered ability or effect resolves once per activation.

 

Monster Deck Construction

• A player’s monster deck contains 35 cards.

• No monster may appear more than three times.

 

Start of Game:

• Draw 4 cards face up and put them in your open-faced monster pile.

 

Abilities

• Each ability triggers on one specific DI face.

• When you roll a DI face that matches an ability you control, you may activate it.

• Example:

If you have Critical (DI-2) and roll a 2, you may activate Critical.

• On a DI roll of 5 or 6, the attack misses completely and no abilities, riders, or reactions resolve.

 

Ability Rules

• Abilities can stack.

• If an ability triggers on the same DI face, it may activate multiple times, as long as the Soul cost is paid each time.

• Each activation costs Souls.

• Damage does not create additional triggers beyond a new DI roll.

• You may activate any number of abilities triggered by the DI roll, paying each Soul cost separately.

• Example:

On a DI roll of 1, you may activate Follow-Up (1), Critical (1), and Heal (1) — paying each cost.

• A persistent ability must fully resolve or deplete before it can be activated again.

• All persistent ability effects end unless stated otherwise when a battle ends.

• Some abilities are labeled Reaction.

• A Reaction may be activated on any player’s turn, including an opponent’s.

• Reactions may be activated immediately when their trigger condition is met, even outside your turn.

• You may only react once (di roll) per battle. Example opponent fights an open-faced, you may roll once and apply the ability or effect if triggered. You may not roll again until a new battle starts. 

 

Guaranteed Ability:

• An ability that does not require a DI roll.

• Its effects resolve automatically when activated.

 

Harvesting Abilities

• If you kill a monster that has a specific ability, you harvest that ability. Search your ability deck for the ability.

• Defeating a monster restores Souls up to your Max HP; excess Souls are discarded. A monsters souls determines the amount restored.

 

Ability Deck

• Contains all abilities and upgrades.

• You may only retrieve an ability card from the deck by defeating a monster that has that ability.

 

On Your Turn

• You may perform any or all of the following actions, in any order: You can’t act twice. Example - You can’t fight a Reaper, then draw and go back to fighting the same Reaper. Another Reaper is ok.

• Draw one card

• Fight an open-face monster

• Fight another Reaper

 

Attacking & Damage Order

• If you draw a monster and fight it in the same round, the attacker applies damage first.

• If you fight an open-face monster or another Reaper, the defender applies damage first.

 

Fighting Other Reapers

• You may initiate combat with another Reaper at any point on your turn.

• The attacker may end a Reaper-vs-Reaper fight only after a round has fully ended.

• Ending a Reaper fight does not heal either Reaper.

 

Open-Face Monsters

• If you draw a monster and choose not to fight it, you may place it open-face next to the deck.

• Open-face monsters are available targets.

• You may fight open-face monsters in any order.

• You may fight any number of open-face monsters.

• A Reaper may end a monster fight at any time; the monster fully heals.

 

Battle Sequence

• Roll DI

• Monster battles: the player rolls both DI.

• Reaper battles: each player rolls one DI.

• Trigger Abilities

• If allowed, activate any triggered abilities or effects.

• Pay all required Soul costs.

• Resolve abilities or effects and apply Damage

• Follow the correct damage order for the fight type.

• Repeat.

• Continue until the battle ends or a retreat occurs.

 

Decks

• Monster deck requiring a minimum of 35 cards.

• Ability deck containing abilities harvested.

• Only 3 cards max of any monster.

 

Forks

• Fork upgrades can only be purchased outside of combat, after a battle ends.

• Specific monsters let you upgrade fork(s).

• You do not have to choose to upgrade a fork right away and can put the card aside until you decide.

 

Key Clarifications

• A round is one fully resolved attack sequence involving all parties.

• Monster healing only occurs when a monster fight is ended voluntarily.

• No fight may be abandoned mid-round.

• All attacks and effects must fully resolve before a fight can end.

 

Design Truth

Soul Reaper is a game of timing, economy, and choice — not constant aggression.

 

SOUL REAPER — GLOBAL ABILITY RULES (FINAL)

These rules apply to all abilities unless a card explicitly states otherwise.

1. Ability Activation

• An ability may be activated only if:

• Its listed DI face is rolled

• The player controls the ability card

• The player can pay the Soul cost

• Activating an ability is always optional.

 

2. Ability Resolution

• Each activation of an ability resolves once.

• A single DI roll may trigger multiple abilities.

• The activating player chooses the order of resolution.

• Damage does not create new triggers beyond a new DI roll.

 

3. Ability Stacking

• Different abilities triggered by the same DI roll may all be activated.

• The same ability may be activated multiple times on the same DI roll only if:

• Each activation is paid for separately

• The ability does not create a persistent state

• If an ability creates a persistent state, it cannot be stacked or refreshed unless explicitly stated.

 

4. Persistent Abilities

• Persistent abilities create an ongoing effect (shield, aura, buff, mark, prevention).

Persistent Rule

• A persistent ability must fully expire, deplete, or be removed before it may be activated again.

• Persistent effects cannot be refreshed, replaced, or duplicated unless the card explicitly allows it.

• If a player attempts to activate a persistent ability that is already active, the activation fails, and the Soul cost is not refunded.

Example: Soul Shield

• Once created, Soul Shield must be fully depleted before it may be activated again.

 

5. Reactions

• Abilities labeled Reaction may be activated:

On any player’s turn

• Immediately when their trigger condition is met

• Reactions resolve immediately unless the card states otherwise.

• Reaction Chain Rule

Reactions cannot trigger Reactions unless explicitly stated.

• This prevents infinite counters and prevention loops.

 

6. Death Triggers

• Abilities that trigger when a creature is destroyed follow this rule:

• Death-based abilities may trigger at most once per round.

• They may be used multiple times per fight

• They may not trigger multiple times from the same round or chain of deaths

 

7. Healing & Soul Gain

• Healing restores current Souls only, up to Max HP.

• Healing cannot increase Max HP unless the ability explicitly says so.

• If Souls are gained beyond Max HP, the excess is lost.

Monster Reward

• When you defeat a monster, you gain Souls equal to the monster’s remaining Souls, up to your Max HP.

 

8. Counters & Retaliation

• Counter abilities resolve after the triggering attack resolves, unless stated otherwise.

• Counters cannot trigger counters.

• Counter damage does not create new triggers beyond a new DI roll.

 

9. Timing Priority

• When multiple players may activate abilities:

• The active player has priority

• Other players may respond in turn

• Once all players pass, play continues

 

10. End-of-Fight Cleanup

When a fight ends:

• All temporary and persistent effects end unless explicitly stated

Shields, marks, images, and bonuses are removed

• Permanent stat changes remain

 

11. Global Safety Rule

• A single game event cannot trigger the same ability more than once unless explicitly stated.

• This rule overrides all ambiguity.