Culdcept BEGINS how to play comes down to one loop: cast a spell if you want to, roll the dice, move the number of spaces shown, then act on where you stopped. A match is won by reaching the map's target Total Magic and getting your Cepter back to the castle.
Culdcept BEGINS How to Play: The Board and the Goal
A match takes place on a board of coloured territories arranged around a castle.
- Goal: be the first to reach the target Total Magic and return to the castle. Both halves are required — reaching the number while standing on the far side of the map still leaves your rivals time to interfere with the trip home.
- Forts act as checkpoints. Passing all of them completes a circuit, and each completed lap earns more and more magic.
- The board HUD keeps Total Magic and Current Magic apart, shows the goal for the match, and shows a round counter — a standard board runs 25 rounds.
- Inspecting a territory shows its Value, Toll, Level and current Chain, so you can price a land before you commit to it.
The Turn, Step by Step
- Cast a Spell, if you have one worth casting. Spells go before the dice roll, so this is the last moment you can bend the board before you move.
- Roll the dice and move the number of spaces shown. Forts are checkpoints along the way; passing all of them completes a lap, and every lap adds more magic than the last.
- Resolve where you stopped.
- Empty territory: summon a Creature onto it. That land becomes your domain and adds to your Total Magic.
- An opponent's territory: you may start a battle to take it. Win and the domain is yours; lose and you pay the Toll in magic instead. If a fight looks unwinnable, paying the toll is frequently the better play.
- Develop your territory. Level up a land you own to raise that land's value and its toll at the same time, and issue territory commands — move a creature, exchange creatures, or change a land's element.
What Each Action Does and What It Costs
| Action | What it does | What it costs |
|---|---|---|
| Summon onto empty land | Claims the territory, adds to Total Magic, puts a defender on it | The Creature's G cost |
| Invade an opponent's land | Winning the battle transfers the domain to you | The battle, plus the Toll if you lose |
| Pay the Toll without fighting | Leaves the land with its owner and ends your turn there | The Toll in magic |
| Cast a Spell | Changes the board before you roll | The card in your hand |
| Cultivate a land | Raises that land's value and its toll together | G |
| Equip an Item | Bolsters attack or defence in a battle | The Item |
Card Restrictions That Decide If You Can Even Play It
- Deployment restrictions — many Creatures require a matching territory, for example "Fire Territory Required", so they are dead weight until you own the right land.
- Item Limit — some creatures can only equip certain items.
- Discard cost — some of the strongest cards require you to discard a card when you play them.
- Deployment Limit — a hard cap on how many copies of a creature you may have deployed.
Before you commit to a battle, read what the defending creature does. First strike, penetration, regeneration, elemental immunity and land-type triggers decide fights that the raw numbers say you should lose.
Win the Match, Then Take the Land
The two halves of the win condition have to be planned together, because reaching the number does not end the match. How to win a match covers the target numbers, the route home, and when to spend a Spell.
Take Land From Other Players
Taking land is the other half of every turn: summon onto empty ground, invade a rival's Creature, or convert land you already hold with the element Shift spells. How to capture territory breaks down the three routes and how to judge an invasion before you commit an Item.