Relic Knights: Esper

In Relic Knights: 2nd Edition, esper is the driving force which infuses everything in the universe. Accessing and controlling esper is the key to power in the Last Galaxy. Some races harness it through technology, others through meditation and mysticism, while some tap into it on a purely instinctual level.

This pervasive energy is the foundation of Relic Knights' randomised game mechanics. Esper manifests in six varieties and most units align with a single esper type, called their affinity. Esper is balanced so you can predict how each affinity will react with another type, either in sympathy or opposition. Uniquely, Radiant and Void affinities are not sympathetic with any esper type and are in direct opposition to each other.

The Esper Deck is a deck of 42 cards representing the esper that units spend to take their actions.  This deck is made up of three types of cards: standard, void, and wild. Standard cards have a primary type worth two esper and secondary type worth one. Void cards have no esper type and are worth no esper while wild cards have a value of only one esper but of any type.

Players start the game with a hand of cards and throughout the game draw from their deck. Drawing is never optional, and you can never draw cards or look through your deck unless allowed to by a game effect. A player’s hand is secret, and cards are only revealed when the card is spent or if an opponent forces a reveal.

Most actions are resolved with a flip. A game effect will define the number of cards to be flipped, the player turns over this many cards from the top of their Esper Deck and places them face up on the table. Once cards are spent, all the flipped cards go into the discard pile. When the draw deck runs out, the discard pile is reshuffled and becomes the new draw deck. In competitive play, your opponent can cut the deck at this point.

Defining the draw value of cards gives a predictable ebb and flow to the game representing the manifestation of esper. You can use different gameplay elements to change that draw value and give you the sudden surge you need to power through your strategy!

Keeping the deck secret means you can never be sure of what will happen next, but your hand means you have a resource to influence the outcome of actions. In this way esper creates some risk while maintaining an element of resource management so you can have the tactical advantage right when you need it!

Harness the Power of the Last Galaxy!

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