How to Play Rylio
A quick-start guide for your first session, followed by full rules. Rylio is a dark‑fantasy card RPG where heroes explore fractured realms, manage Time as a shared resource, and master a living combat rhythm built on Forget, Ready, and Cooldown cycles.
Note: Rules below represent the final test build. Minor balance or clarity tweaks may occur before print.
Setup
- Choose Heroes. Core Box: 2 heroes (Elaris & Kael). Deluxe: all 4 (adds Thalrok & Vethra). Take each hero's starting deck, hero board, and tokens.
- Build the World. Place the active Quest card stack, then reveal the starting Realm and Terrain.
- Equip Gear. Each hero may equip:
- 1 Helm (Head)
- 1 Armor (Body)
- 1 Boots (Legs)
- 2 Weapons or 1 Weapon + 1 Shield
- Up to 3 Consumables (discard on use)
Equipped gear begins play already active and does not enter your deck.
- Build Decks. Each hero's deck contains 30 cards. Shuffle decks. Draw a starting hand of 5 cards.
- Set Tokens. Place shared Time Tokens equal to the Quest's Time budget. Place within reach: Mana, Stamina, Spoils, XP, Damage, and Status markers (Forget, Cooldown, Stun, Critical, Miss).
- Begin. The first player starts the round. Play proceeds clockwise.
Goal: Complete the Quest before Time runs out. Earn XP, gather Spoils, recover Relics, and survive the realm.
Turn Structure
- Start of Turn
- Remove 1 Cooldown token from each cooling card
- Remember any Forgotten cards into Ready state
- Draw back up to 5 cards
- Refresh temporary buffs
- Explore / Advance
Spend Time Tokens to reveal or move to the next Terrain or Quest stage.
- Act
Take 1 to 3 actions - Rest, Activate New Card, Remember Forgotten card, or Attack. When attacking, you may draw from the Fate bag to increase chances of a stronger strike.
- Enemies Act
Resolve enemy spawns or attacks for the current Terrain. Apply Damage, Stun, Miss, or Critical markers.
- Camp / Trade (optional)
- Spend Spoils to buy or repair Items
- Rest: recover +1 Mana and +1 Stamina, repair 1 Durability
- End of Turn
- Discard down to 5
- Heroes regain base Regen (1 Mana + 1 Stamina)
- Check if Time = 0 or quest objectives met
- Pass the turn clockwise
Core Actions
- Play Ability: Any player can pay resource cost (Mana/Stamina) for up to 3 cards to play from hand per turn. Alternatively, you can pull from your Ready deck if those cards already went down previously and have no cooldown tokens left on them. Abilities follow a full cycle:
Activate → Free Sustain → Forget (1 turn) → Ready → Cooldown (1–3)
Ready cards are reusable for free until used again. You may maintain up to 3 Ready cards. If a 4th would become Ready, one older card Forgets automatically.
- Trade & Craft: Spend Spoils to gain Items, upgrade gear, or interact with world features.
- Assist (Co-op): Spend Time or resources to aid another hero's attack, defense, or reaction.
- Short Rest: Spend 1 Time → recover 1 Mana and 1 Stamina.
Combat & Cooldowns
Combat Basics
- Attacks resolve by Speed: Fast → Normal → Slow
- Compare Attack vs. Enemy Defense; apply Damage difference
- Abilities may have Combo Tags that trigger extra effects if other cards share the same tag
- Many abilities have Forget (1) and Cooldown (1–3) durations listed
The Cooldown Cycle
- Activate: Pay cost, cost 1 action
- Strike: Resolve effects, cost 1 action
- Cooldown: After resolve, card immediately moves into cooldown with markers
- Ready: Free to use, when last cooldown marker removed
"Power lingers, then forgets before it remembers."
Important: At the end of each round, cooldown tokens are reduced by 1 on all cards except cards that were just played that round.
Status Effects
- Critical: +X bonus damage (as listed)
- Miss: Attack fails; no damage dealt
- Stun: Target skips its next activation; removed afterward
- Attack Modifiers: Can add or subtract damage from attacks
Durability
Weapons and armor have limited uses. At 0 Durability → destroyed (removed from play). Items can be repaired during camp before reaching 0.
Elites & Bosses
Use the Quest card's stage effects. Bosses often have multiple phases and terrain triggers.
Resources & Tokens
| Token | Function |
|---|---|
| Time | Shared turn budget that determines how many rounds players can play. Each round is played simultaneously by all players, with card selections hidden until revealed. Run out → quest fails. |
| Mana / Stamina | Pay for card costs. Regen +1 each end step. |
| XP | Used to level heroes and unlock new abilities. |
| Spoils | Currency for trades, items, and repairs. |
| Damage | HP loss. Hero at 0 = downed. |
| Durability | Tracks weapon/armor wear. Repair during camp. |
| Forget / Cooldown | Show ability state progression. |
| Stun / Critical / Miss | Status modifiers. |
| Attack Modifiers | Provides attack change (enemies always pull from the fate bag). |
Quests & Worlds
- Quest Structure: Each quest lists stages with objectives and a Time budget. Complete stages in order; some allow branching.
- World / Terrain: Each terrain adds rules: hazards, bonuses, enemy spawns, or special actions.
- Relics & Rewards: Completing quests grants XP, Spoils, and sometimes Relics that alter future runs.
- Failure: If Time runs out or all heroes fall simultaneously, the group fails—keep earned Spoils unless the quest says otherwise.
Solo, Co‑op, and PvP Modes
- Solo: Play one Hero (or two for balance). Standard Time budget. Enemy HP = 75%.
- Co‑op: Share the Time pool. Heroes may Assist freely. Enemies scale HP and count by number of players.
- PvP (Duel):
- Shared Time pool (10 Tokens)
- Each round, both players secretly commit 1–3 Time tokens — revealed simultaneously
- Time spent = number of actions that round
- At 0 Time, the player with higher HP wins
- Environmental terrain shifts every 2 rounds
Glossary
- Ability: A card you play by paying Mana/Stamina
- Cooldown: Card recovering after overuse
- Assist: Help another hero's action or defense
- Combo: Chain triggered by shared tags
- Pierce: Ignores enemy armor
- Terrain: The active world modifier
- Overheat: Limit of 3 Ready cards per hero
FAQ
"Power in Rylio is never lost — only cooling, waiting to be remembered."