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Elementia Rules Reference
Some folks have been asking for specific details on the rulesets governing Elementia. So without further ado:
ACTIONS
Every turn, you can take up to five actions. Each of the following is an action:
Place
Buy and place an element marble. This costs energy, which you receive more of each turn (from your character marble and from any Aether marbles you've played). The energy cost increases with the number of marbles of the same element you currently control. You can place a new marble only directly adjacent to marbles you already control.
Claim
Claim uncontrolled marbles. You can only claim marbles that are not connected to any player's character marble. This action will take control of all uncontrolled marbles connected to the one you claim, and restore them to full health.
Heal
Heal one (or several, in the case of Mercury) of your existing marbles. This restores the marble to full health.
Attack
Launch an attack. The energy of your attack travels from your character marble to the marble you chose to attack with, gathering power as it goes. Any marble along this path which of the same element as the attacking marble adds attack power, as does any Aether marble.
Primes
Use a prime (salt or sulfur). Primes are activated as you accumulate certain conditions in-game, and affect all marbles you control of a single element; using them resets these counters for all elements.
Sulfur increases the attack power of every marble of that element by 2 for this turn and the next. Elements other than Aether also receive +10 to the next attack you make with them. Finally, the range of all your attacks is increased by 1 for the rest of the current turn. Sulfur becomes available when you destroy enough enemy pieces.
Salt heals all marbles of the Salt becomes available when you place or claim enough marbles (regardless of element). Salt increases the defense of all marbles of the selected element by 2 for two turns, and restores all those marbles to full health.
Special Abilities
Use a character's special ability. Every character has two special actions available (though some are only usable in cooperative and/or single-player games); these are described under the characters, below.
ACTIONS
Every turn, you can take up to five actions. Each of the following is an action:
Place
Buy and place an element marble. This costs energy, which you receive more of each turn (from your character marble and from any Aether marbles you've played). The energy cost increases with the number of marbles of the same element you currently control. You can place a new marble only directly adjacent to marbles you already control.
Claim
Claim uncontrolled marbles. You can only claim marbles that are not connected to any player's character marble. This action will take control of all uncontrolled marbles connected to the one you claim, and restore them to full health.
Heal
Heal one (or several, in the case of Mercury) of your existing marbles. This restores the marble to full health.
Attack
Launch an attack. The energy of your attack travels from your character marble to the marble you chose to attack with, gathering power as it goes. Any marble along this path which of the same element as the attacking marble adds attack power, as does any Aether marble.
Primes
Use a prime (salt or sulfur). Primes are activated as you accumulate certain conditions in-game, and affect all marbles you control of a single element; using them resets these counters for all elements.
Sulfur increases the attack power of every marble of that element by 2 for this turn and the next. Elements other than Aether also receive +10 to the next attack you make with them. Finally, the range of all your attacks is increased by 1 for the rest of the current turn. Sulfur becomes available when you destroy enough enemy pieces.
Salt heals all marbles of the Salt becomes available when you place or claim enough marbles (regardless of element). Salt increases the defense of all marbles of the selected element by 2 for two turns, and restores all those marbles to full health.
Special Abilities
Use a character's special ability. Every character has two special actions available (though some are only usable in cooperative and/or single-player games); these are described under the characters, below.
THE BOARD
Stats
Every piece (marble or Plague) has three stats: Health, Defense, and Attack.
- Health indicates how much damage the piece can take before being destroyed.
- Defense is a percentage that is removed from all attack damage (an attack that would deal 20 damage to a piece with 0% defense would only deal 10 to a piece with 50% defense).
- Attack is how much damage the piece adds to any attack in which it participates.
Marbles
Your character marble cannot be damaged, but must be protected from Plague, as you will lose if it is touched by Plague on two sides. It provides a small amount of attack power for attacks of any element, and provides you with a quantity of energy each turn.
Aether marbles add their power to attacks of any element, but their power is lower than that of other marbles. They also provide 1 extra energy each turn.
The other four marble types only add damage to attacks of their own element, but they provide a special benefit to your other marbles near them.
Fire marbles increase the attack power of any marble within 1 space.
Water marbles slightly heal any marble within 2 spaces at the beginning of each turn.
Air marbles increase the defense of any marble within 2 spaces.
Earth marbles increase the health of any marble within 1 space.
Plague
Each turn, before it attacks, the Plague changes element. It always follows the cycle in a counter-clockwise direction: Fire becomes Water, Water becomes Earth, Earth becomes Air, and Air becomes Fire. The Plague never becomes Aether.
Plagued squares go through five stages of growth; only when they reach the last of these can they send out new growth. They speed at which they mature depends on the difficulty level.
Each turn, the Plague will send out one or more strands of new growth from fully matured Plague squares. These strands are blocked by other pieces, be they stones, marbles, or more Plague.
After growing, the Plague attacks all human-controlled pieces within two spaces of its pieces. The damage dealt increases with the number of Plagued squares that can reach any given marble, and is of the Plague's current element.
Stones
The gray stones littering the board are invulnerable obstacles; they cannot be damaged, claimed, or destroyed, and they block the growth of Plague.
Stats
Every piece (marble or Plague) has three stats: Health, Defense, and Attack.
- Health indicates how much damage the piece can take before being destroyed.
- Defense is a percentage that is removed from all attack damage (an attack that would deal 20 damage to a piece with 0% defense would only deal 10 to a piece with 50% defense).
- Attack is how much damage the piece adds to any attack in which it participates.
Marbles
Your character marble cannot be damaged, but must be protected from Plague, as you will lose if it is touched by Plague on two sides. It provides a small amount of attack power for attacks of any element, and provides you with a quantity of energy each turn.
Aether marbles add their power to attacks of any element, but their power is lower than that of other marbles. They also provide 1 extra energy each turn.
The other four marble types only add damage to attacks of their own element, but they provide a special benefit to your other marbles near them.
Fire marbles increase the attack power of any marble within 1 space.
Water marbles slightly heal any marble within 2 spaces at the beginning of each turn.
Air marbles increase the defense of any marble within 2 spaces.
Earth marbles increase the health of any marble within 1 space.
Plague
Each turn, before it attacks, the Plague changes element. It always follows the cycle in a counter-clockwise direction: Fire becomes Water, Water becomes Earth, Earth becomes Air, and Air becomes Fire. The Plague never becomes Aether.
Plagued squares go through five stages of growth; only when they reach the last of these can they send out new growth. They speed at which they mature depends on the difficulty level.
Each turn, the Plague will send out one or more strands of new growth from fully matured Plague squares. These strands are blocked by other pieces, be they stones, marbles, or more Plague.
After growing, the Plague attacks all human-controlled pieces within two spaces of its pieces. The damage dealt increases with the number of Plagued squares that can reach any given marble, and is of the Plague's current element.
Stones
The gray stones littering the board are invulnerable obstacles; they cannot be damaged, claimed, or destroyed, and they block the growth of Plague.
SCORING
If you are eliminated (by time, by contact with Plague, or by loss of your marbles in a versus game), you always receive 0 points. Otherwise:
-You receive 1 point for every turn remaining before the time limit expires.
-You receive 1 point for every 5 marbles you control at the end of the game.
-You receive 1 point for every 5 marbles you've destroyed at the end of the game.
-You lose 1 point for every 2 marbles you've lost over the course of the game.
Scores on Normal are multiplied by 1.5; on Hard, they are multiplied by 2. There is no multiplier on Easy.
In cooperative games, all human players receive a score if the Plague is eliminated.
If you are eliminated (by time, by contact with Plague, or by loss of your marbles in a versus game), you always receive 0 points. Otherwise:
-You receive 1 point for every turn remaining before the time limit expires.
-You receive 1 point for every 5 marbles you control at the end of the game.
-You receive 1 point for every 5 marbles you've destroyed at the end of the game.
-You lose 1 point for every 2 marbles you've lost over the course of the game.
Scores on Normal are multiplied by 1.5; on Hard, they are multiplied by 2. There is no multiplier on Easy.
In cooperative games, all human players receive a score if the Plague is eliminated.