Description

Journey to the world of Duel Monsters. In this tabletop roleplaying game, take on the role of a Duel Monster's Mage. You have been trained in the ancient art of the Shadow Games and have learned how to call forth their ancient powers. This also allows you to cast spells and set traps for your opponents.  Many ancient threats are inbound to prevent you from succeeding. Can you collect the Millennium Items to safe guard them from Dark Master Zork. Or are you trying to unlock his power and release him into the world. Anything is possible when you delve deep into the ancient arts of Duel Monsters.

If you want more of a Modern feel, but still love the ancient Egypt aspect. You can travel to Battle City and engage in a city wide tournament to collect locator cards to the final. Watch out though as Rare hunters will look to drain your Library of Knowledge for Rare Magic. Following in their masters grand plan to collect the divine magic of the Egyptian Gods.

Or do you wish to play in the modern era without the Egyptian feel and test your skills and knowledge at Duel Academy. Join the school to learn more about duel monsters, take quizzes and tests, and earn the right to be in Ra Yellow dorm. All the while uncovering a mysterious plot about the Sacred Beasts and Shadow Riders.

This game can be set in any game setting, and can be played in both the ancient time period or the modern time period.

Term Changes

There are changes to the Yu-Gi-Oh! terminology to fit the tabletop roleplaying experience. Some examples are included below.
Main Phase: Start of Turn
Battle Phase: Battle
Main Phase 2: Post Battle
End Phase: End of Turn
Graveyard: Shortened to GY
Card: Chnged to Magic
Banish/Remove from Play: The Beyond
Face-Up: Unhidden
Face-Down: Hidden

Character Creation

Creating your mage is based on which direction you choose to take your training in. When you choose a direction, you are granted powers in certain fields and gain certain abilities. When you choose your path, you can follow it until its completion or you can combine paths to open up different possibilities. Check out the Character Creation section to build your character.

Combat

Combat is fairly simple and doesn't really rely on distances but zones (see below). Combat can contain any amount of mages, each team taking one turn and then passing it to the opposing team. Combat starts when anything hostile to you or you commit  to doing something hostile to someone else. On Your Turn, you can summon 1 monster and cast any number of spells as long as you have Magic Points. You can control a number of monsters up to 1 + half your Mind Score Rouned down. You can cast Trap cards or Quick Play Spells at any time as long as you have Magic Points to use. 

Tag Duels or Duels that are not 1v1 have one additional rule. No damage can be inflicted and no monsters can attack until everyone has had at least 1 turn.

Zones

There three zones when in combat. The Attack Zone, Defense Zone and the Field Spell Zone. When your Monsters are in Attack Position, they stand in the Attack Zone. When they are in Defense Position, they are in the Defense Zone. 
When a Field Spell is activated, it is designated in this zone that covers all other zones. A Field Spell affects all players in the Duel. Sometimes you might come across an area that has a Permanent Field Spell. When that happens, any Duels played in this area are affected by it and no other Field Spell's can be activated. To remove this effect from the area, you must use Magic the specifically affects Field Spells.

Damage and Destroy

While in the Attack Zone, a monster uses its Attack Stat while in combat. If you attack a monster that has a lower Attack Stat then yours, you deal the difference in damage to the controller of that monster's Life Points and destroy the monster, sending it to the Graveyard. If the monster you attack has a higher Attack Stat, you instead take the difference in damage to your life points and your monster is destroyed, sending it to the Graveyard. If you attack a monster that has the same Attack Stat, then both monsters are destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. 
If you attack a monster in Defense Position, then you instead attack their Defense Stat. If it is lower, then you destroy their monster. If it is the same as your Attack Stat, then it is a draw and nothing happens. If your Attack Stat is lower then their Defense Stat, you take the difference in damage to your Life Points. If your monster has Piercing, then you deal the difference in damage to that monster's controllers Life Points and destroy the monster.

While in the Defense Zone, a monster uses its Defense Stat while in combat. A monster in the Defense Zone cannot attack, unless they have a special ability to do so. While in Defense Position, you do not take damage to your Life Points from monsters attacking it unless it has a Piercing Effect.

If you have no monsters to defend yourself and it is not the First Turn of combat, then monsters can attack you directly, dealing their Attack Stat, to your Life Points.

When it comes to damage there are two types. Battle danage and effect damage. Battle damage is done from a monster during combat. Effect damage is done from monster effects, spells, traps or other abilities that are not related to Battle damage.

Phases of Combat

There are five phases of combat. The Gain Phase, the Start of Turn Phase, The Battle Phase, Post Battle Phase and the End of Turn Phase. Each one of these phases accomplish a certain task and everyone goes through it when a Duel starts or shifts to anothers turn.

Gain Phase: This happens when a Duel starts or a Turn shifts to another player. If its the Start of a Duel, you gain 5 Magic Points. If it has shifted to your turn, then you gain 1 Magic Point. No Spells, Monster effects, Traps or abilities can be activated during this phase unless it mentions this phase specifically. 
Start of Turn: Many effects happen on this Phase and it is when you can summon your monsters, cast spells or change position of a monster you control if able to.
Battle Phase: This is when you decide to proceed to combat. When you do this, you cannot summon monsters or cast spells unless otherwise stated. You can attack with any of your monsters in the Attack Zone if able too. Each monster can make one attack choosing to attack directly or if the opposing player has a monster(s), then to choose which one to attack. You cannot attack directly unless stated otherwise if an opposing player has a monster on their side of the field.
Post Battle: During this time, you can perform similar actions as the Start of Turn Phasee, but any effects triggered by Start of Turn are not triggered during this Phase.
End of Turn: This is when you have finished everything you wish to do and choose to pass your turn to the next player. End of Turn effects are activated during this phase and other players can use Magic or effects if capable to during this time.

Magic Points

At the start of combat, each mage gains 5 Magic Points at the start of their first turn. After which, they gain 1 Magic Point at the start of their turn and on subsequent turns. Summoning monsters, casting spells & traps or activating Mage Special Features cost Magic Points to use. You can have a Maximum of Six (6) Magic Points at the end of your turn. If you have more then six at the end of your turn, you lose all additional Magic Points. 

Summoning

On your turn, you can summon a monster to attack and/or defend your Life Points. When you do, choose either to place it in the Attack Zone or the Defense Zone. If you wish to Summon a Hidden Monster, it is done in the Defense Zone. You can only summon one monster on your turn, unless otherwise stated and cost one Magic Point. When a monster is destroyed, it is sent to the Graveyard where it cannot be used, unless otherwise stated. There are spells, traps and monster effects that can bring them back from the Graveyard. All your monsters, spells and traps stay within the Graveyard until you finish a Full Rest (which is between 6-8 hours).  

How powerful a monster you can summon is dependent on your Star Level (see Character Creation). When summoning a monster, you can summon a monster whose Star Level is 4 or less. If you want to summon a monster whose stars are higher you must sacrifice a monster on your side of the field before you do so. This is called Tribute Summoning. Use the table below.

Tribute Summoning Table

Star Level          Number of Tributes
4 or Less           0
5-6                     1
7-8                     2
9-10                   3
11-12                   4

Hidden Monsters

Sometimes you wish to be sneaky and hide your monsters from your opponent or they may have a special effect called a Flip Effect, which happens when they become unhidden. Hidden monsters can only be placed in the Defense Zone and show up as a Clear Shield to identify that a monster exists. 
"Note" When doing this, whisper your GM the name of your hidden monster.

If your monster is attacked, then it becomes unhidden an reveals what it is. If it has a Flip Effect, it is activated before it takes damage. Spells, Effects and Traps do not cause it to become unhidden, unless otherwise stated.

Special Summons

There are special circumstances that allow a Mage to put a monster into play without summoning it the Normal way. This is called a special summon and doesn't require Magic Points to summon them.

Heart of the Cards

Sometimes you need more then what you have available to you. Once per combat, you can roll a d20. If you manage to roll equal to or below your Mind score you activate this effect. When you do so, choose a monster, spell or trap from your Library of Knowledge and use it immediately. You must be able to use it as normal. Example, if you choose a monster, it must be your turn, you must have the Magic Points to summon it, etc. 

Life Points

This is essentially the amount of life your character has. Once it is all gone, you fall unconscious and need to take a Half or Full Rest to Recover. If this happens while you are playing a Shadow Game or in the Shadow Realm, when you drop to 0 your soul is consumed by the Shadows. 

Your Normal Life Points are equal to (1,000 times your Body Score) + 1,000. Your Life Point Cap is equal to (1,000 times your Body & Mind Score) + 2,000. If you finish combat and your Life Points are above their normal value, they return to their normal value.
You also have a Life Point Regen (LPR) that is equal to (100 times your Body & Mind) + 100. 

Resting

Summoning your monsters and casting your spells can become tiresome as well as losing your Life Points. There are two types of resting your character can do. 
Full Rest: This allows you to recover all your missing Life Points up to your normal amount. Additionally, you recover everything that is in your Graveyard & the Beyond. Lastly, you can change your choices of monsters, spells and traps in your Deck of Magic, from your Library of Knowledge. 
Half Rest: This is a shorter duration then the Full Rest. It only takes an hour and when you are finished you recover Life Points equal to your Life Point Regen (LPR). You can take up to three Half Rests per day. Additionally, when you finish your Half Rest, you can return a number of monster, spell or traps from your graveyard to your Deck of Magic equal to your Power and Mind Score.

Casting Spells & Traps

These are what you can use to help boost your monsters ability or ensnare your foes. When casting a spell, you can do so only on your turn unless it is a Quick Play Spell. There are Continuous Spells, Equip Spells, Equip Traps and Field Spells that remain active more then one turn. There can only be One (1) Field Spell active at a time. If a Field Spell is cast while another is active, the active one is destroyed and the new one takes place.

Traps and Quick Play Spells work in a different manner. They cannot be activated on the First Turn. Traps and Quick Play Spells can be activated at any time on your turn or another's turn.

Continuous Spells & Traps: These continue their effect as long as they remain active. Once they become inactive, they are sent to the Graveyard like all others. You can have a number of Continuous Spells & Traps in play equal to Half your Mind score rounded up. 

Equip Spells & Traps: These are used to strengthen or weaken monsters and work like Continuous Spells & Traps. 

Ritual Spells: These work to bring forward stronger Monsters. To activate a Ritual, you must sacrifice the required Monsters or Star Levels on your side of the field. When you do so, you can bring forth your Ritual Monster. from your Extra Magic.

Fusions Monsters: These are two monsters that are combined to create a stronger one. You must sacrifice from your side of the field the required monsters to summon a Fusion Monster from your Extra Magic.

Ritual and Fusion monsters cannot attack on the turn they are summoned.

Chain

A Chain is a stack that determines the order of resolution of activated effects. Monsters, Spells, Traps and effects go on a Chain if and only if they activate.

Chains are used when something is activated before another activated effect resolves. Each player has the opportunity to respond to each activation by activating another effect (this is sometimes called "chaining"). Each activation is placed on the Chain as a Chain Link, with the first activation being Chain Link 1.

If neither player responds to the most recent Chain Link, the Chain resolves, with Chain Links resolving in the opposite order to which they were activated in.

Effects can only be added to a Chain while it is being constructed. Once a Chain starts to resolve, effects cannot be activated until the entire Chain has resolved.

Starting a Chain

Usually, the turn player has the right to start any Chain at any time during his or her turn. However, this right will pass to the opponent under the following circumstances:

• The turn player wants to move to end their turn.
• The opponent has a Flip, Trigger or Trigger-like Effect.

Building a Chain

The effect that started the Chain (the first effect to be activated) is Chain Link 1. The next is Chain Link 2, with each additional Chain Link being numbered incrementally, with these numbers corresponding to when it was activated relative to the other Chain Links.

Effects can only be activated as a Chain Link 2 or higher if they are traps, quick play spells, triggered effect or Mage ability that allows you to. If no one adds to the Chain, the Chain is now complete. Effects cannot be resolved until the Chain is complete.

Resolving a Chain

Once all players have decided not to add to the Chain, the Chain is completed. At this time, the Chain is resolved, starting with the effect which was activated most recently (the highest Chain Link). Each effect in the Chain is then resolved until Chain Link 1 resolves. Effects cannot be activated while the Chain is resolving.

Once the entire Chain resolves, if any of the following effects have not yet been moved to another location, they will be sent to the Graveyard. (This is considered to happen simultaneously with the last part of the resolution of the effect of the last Chain Link that resolved).

End of Combat

Combat ends when all opposing mages have lost their Life Points or have nothing left in their Deck of Magic. The following effects take place when combat ends.

• Life Points: If your Life Points are above their Normal amount, they are changed to their Normal amount.
• Zero Life Points: If you have zero life points you remain unconscious until you recover life points or take a rest.
• Active Magic: If you have any monsters, spells or traps that are still active, they return back to your Deck of Magic.

The Beyond

Sometimes sending things to the Graveyard isn't enough. Sometimes they are removed from the field and sent to the Beyond. If so, they do not count as being in the Graveyard. There are some monsters, spells, traps and effects that interact with the Beyond. When aby of these refer to Key Wording such as "Remove From Play" or "Banish", they are referring to the Beyond. When you take a Full Rest, you regain everything sent to the Beyond.

Outside of Combat

There may be times on your journey where you might need the assistance of your monsters, spells or traps. When using these things outside of combat they have a shorter duration then in combat. All Continuous spell and trap cards only last a number of minutes equal to Half your Body rounded down. Other spells and traps last for the one turn as normal. Whether they are useful or not, if you use one of these, they are sent to the Graveyard afterwards, so be mindful of using them outside of combat. You can control 1 Monster while outside of combat.

Leveling Up

All players start out at level one and through quests, duels and other things; they will receive experience points. Depending on what they do determines how much experience points (XP) they gain.
Under normal circumstances the maximum level is twenty. To reach the next level you must acquire an amount of XP equal to the level times 1000. As an example, to gain enough XP to reach level two, you would need 2000 more XP then you had at level one. To move from level eight to level nine, you would need 9000 more XP then you had at level eight. See Table Below. 

Level      XP Needed          Current XP
1              0                           0
2             2000                    2000
3             3000                    5000
4             4000                    9000
5             5000                    14000
6             6000                    20000
7             7000                     27000
8             8000                    35000
9             9000                    44000
10            10000                  54000
11             11000                   65000
12            12000                  77000
13            13000                  90000
14            14000                  104000
15            15000                  119000
16            16000                  135000
17            17000                  152000
18            18000                 170000
19            19000                 199000
20           20000                219000

When you win a duel, you gain an amount of XP based on your opponents Star Level. As long as they are equal to or above your Star Level you gain the full amount of XP. You gain XP equal to 100 times their Star Level. If you are above their Star Level you gain 100 times their Star Level then Divided by the amount of Star Levels you are above. Example, if you have a Star Level of 6 and you defeat someone of a Star Level of 4. You are 2  Star Levels above them, so you divide the XP by 2. Therefore you would only gain 200 XP. (4 times 100)/2. 
If you are tag dueling, both teams add up their Star Levels (only ofr XP purposes) to determine amount of XP everyone receives. 

Library of Knowledge

This is what you have to pull from when you craft your Deck of Magic. You can have up to (10 times your Mind score) + 40 memorized. When you finish a Full Rest, you can change your Deck of Magic from your Library of Knowledge. If you reach your Maximum memorized and you wish to learn more, you must forget something you know to make room for something new. There are Special Features and Items that can increase this value. 

Once memorized, they are considered under the term of "Magic"

One star mean it is a common type and can be found easily, you can have 3 copies of the same name in your Deck of Magic. Two Stars means its uncommon and you can only have two copies in your Deck of Magic. Three Stars means its rare and you can only have one copy in your Deck of Magic. Four Stars are Ultra Rare and Five Stars is Ultimate Rare. You can only have 1 copy in your Deck of Magic and your Library of Knowledge.  

Deck of Magic

This is your main source of magic that you pull from when you Duel. This is a combination of all your Monster, Spell and Traps. You can only have one (1) Deck of Magic. You can have a Maximum of 40 of these combined in your Deck of Magic. You regain everything that was sent to the Graveyard when you finish a Full Rest. When crafting your Deck of Magic, as mentioned above, you can only have 40 total in your Deck of Magic and you can only have 3 duplicates of the same name. There are some monsters, spells & traps that are too powerful and have a limited number of duplicates or so strong you can only have one in your Deck of Magic.

Extra Magic

This a small pool of magic that you can pull from when you wish to summon Ritual and Fusion Monsters. Your Extra Magic can contain a number monsters equal to your Body and Mind Score.

Divine Magic

This is the top of the line magic a Mage can acquire. Anything that has the Divine Tag is of the highest rarity and is incredibly difficult to come across. These are things you could center a campaign around to try to acquire them. Some of these monsters will require you to defeat them before being able to acquire their power. This is no easy task.

If you manage to obtain one or more of these and add them to your deck, they are not normally used like the others. Though they follow the same rules, you cannot use them at your leisure like your other Magics. If your Deck of Magic contains one or more, you can roll a 1d20 at the start of your turn. If you roll a 20, you unlock one (1) divine monster, spell or trap of your choice for use during this combat.

Exodia, the Forbidden One is one such of these divine monsters. He comes in five pieces, so it will take time to acquire all of them in your Library of Knowledge. They are the Left & Right Leg of Exodia, Left & Right Arm of Exodia and the Head of Exodia. To unlock all of these for use as mentioned above, you would need to roll a 20 five times during combat. If you manage this feat, you destroy all monsters, spells and traps from all your opponents that are active ignoring all of their abilities and effects. They are also unable to summon, cast any spells & traps and cannot activate any Mage Special Features. You then set their Life Points to Zero. 

Freedom Of The Game

Some cards dont have useful effects or have no effects at all. This does not make them useless by any means. The GM can help assist with certain cards that have usable names or "Flavor Text". Flaver text can be found on the TCG cards with a simple online search. This should be done by players and not the GM if they believe a Monster, Spell or Trap may have a unique ability. These things would serve no combat purpose but have more of a roleplay and adventuring purpose. A quick example would be, "Violent Rain", though it is a weak card with no abilities, it could be used to create a downpour of rain in a selected area. The monster "The Turtle Who Consumes Flames" could be used as a way to get by a wall of fire. GM's use your best judgement on what a name or flavor text could RESONABLY occomplish. "The King of the Seas" flavor text says he could create tidal waves. So this might only be accomplished in certain circumstances over a period of time. "Castle of Dark Illusions" resembles a fortress, but has low stats. This would resemble something small no bigger then a cottage home. If you wish to create a full size castle then multiply is stats to its relative size (likely by 4-5).