BASICS

REQUIREMENTS

• 2 - 5 players.
• A normal deck of 52 playing cards. (Optionally 1 or 2 jokers.)

BASIC IDEA (anatomy of Mortal Swords)

In a dark room, about 2 - 5 knights fight each other in cyclical motion.

• In the beginning the ace of spades (♤A) is put below the deck to indicate the power suit and each player is dealt 5 hand cards.
  • 5 hand cards represent 4 armored limbs and head. When a hand card turns into a table card, an armor is lost, and body exposed: the player cannot attack with that limb, but can still defend. When a table card is turned face down, the body part no longer functions (= last one lights out).
• The game progresses by sword attacks in which the player with the initiative attacks others in clockwise motion (by a hand card or a random card).
  • The defenders defend one by one by either playing a hand card, random card, table card or a roll & steal (= take damage but steal the attacking card as a table card).
  • The attack is defended with the same number (of any suit) or a higher number of same suit / colour (see Colors & Suits below) - anything else results in damage.
  • The attack continues clockwise until all have defended or there's damage. The damaged one starts the next attack, or otherwise who parried highest.
• Damage is taken by downgrading a hand card to a table card (face up on the table), or turning an active table card face down.
  • After losing all hand and table cards, the fighter drops from the next hit. The game is played until there's only one fighter standing (or none).

LAYOUT & START UP

The players are positioned into a ring, and one player chosen as the first dealer.

• The dealer places the ace of spades (♤A) face up and sideways under the deck (as the power suit) and deals each player 5 hand cards.
  • With just 2 players, you can alternatively play with 6 cards (coupled with Warrior's Vow).
• Optional: With Warrior's Vow, each player puts 1 hand card face down, and when all ready turns it face up as the table card (so each has 4 hand cards).

PLAYING

COLOURS & SUITS

The game has essentially 2 colours: red and black, but the black colour uses 2 suits: a power suit (♤) and a weak suit (♧).

• When an attack starts with a red card it can only be parried by a higher red card - either suit is fine (♥ or ♦).
• Likewise club attacks (♧) can be parried by a higher black card (♤ or ♧), but spade attacks (♤) only by higher spades (♤).
  • Exceptionally, the face cards of spades (♤J, ♤Q, ♤K) cannot be used for attacks with hand cards (only by random).
• Attacks can always be deflected with the same number of any suit (but you can't gain the initiative).

PLAYING OPTIONS

The player with the attacking initiative starts the attack - the very first attack is started by the player on the dealer's left.

• The attacker can either play a hand card and immediately draw a new one, or play a random card (= topmost card of the deck).
  • Exceptionally, aces (A) are number 1 (not 14) in attacks, and using face cards of spades (♤J, ♤Q, ♤K) is only allowed with random cards (never from hand).
• The next player clockwise then defends either by playing a 1. hand card, 2. random card, 3. table card or 4. roll & steal.
  • HAND CARD: Any hand card can be used for defense. After playing a card, the player draws a new hand card from the deck.
  • RANDOM CARD: The defender can also play a random card (= the topmost card of the deck), in which case does not draw a new hand card.
  • TABLE CARD: The player can also defend with an active table card (face up) - the card is replaced by a hand card (and then drawing a new), or a random card.
  • ROLL & STEAL: Or the player can directly take the attacking card as a table card (face up) and start an attack with a legal hand card - and not draw a new one.
• After the attack ends, the played cards are discarded (face down aside). When the deck runs out, it's reshuffled by the knight who picked the last card.

ATTACK OUTCOME

The attacking motion continues clockwise (defender by defender) until all have defended or someone takes damage.

• DEFLECTING: Same number cards (of any suit) deflect the hit: no damage, but cannot gain the initiative. If all deflect, the attacker starts the next attack.
  • If an attack starts with an ace (= 1), it can be deflected by another ace (as if 1), but otherwise aces are number 14 (= highest) for defense purposes.
• PARRYING: Any higher number of the same colour / suit (see power suit above) parries the attack: no damage, and can gain the initiative.
  • If all deflected or parried, the one who parried with the highest number (A = 14  >  K = 13  >  ...) gains the initiative. With two equally high, the first one wins.
• DAMAGE: Playing anything else results in damage. The attack stops, damage is taken and the loser starts the next attack.
  • Damage is taken by either downgrading a hand card to a face up table card or turning an earlier table card face down.

ENDING

The total number of cards per player is always 5: hand cards + table cards (face up or down). (Alternatively with 2 players the total can be 6.)

• DROPPING OUT: When the last table card is turned down, the knight's lights go out: he still throws one random strike, and is then excluded.
• ENDING: The last knight (if any) wins. Playing for many rounds, the winner (or last knocked out) chooses the one to swap places with who then deals.

EXTENSIONS

WARRIOR'S VOW (recommended)

The only change is that in the beginning each player performs a Warrior's Vow (= to fight until death) by dropping one hand card face up as the first table card leaving each with 4 hand cards. Traditionally each player puts their chosen card face down, and all reveal them simultaneously.

• This variation skips the corteous beginning part of the game and jumps right into action - making the game shorter but more dynamic.

GENTLEMAN'S RULE (recommended)

The very first attacking turn of each player should be played with a non-spade low card: 2 - 10 of clubs (♧), hearts (♥), or diamonds (♦).

• If unable to (or otherwise wants), the attacker can also play a random card - the move is gentleman-like regardless of what the card is.

JOKER'S BLOCK (recommended)

The deck can include 1 or 2 jokers.

• JOKER DEFENSE: Jokers always defend as if the same number as the attacking card. So they defend everything but never give you the initiative.
• JOKER ATTACK: In attacks jokers are number 1 and no colour: They can be defended by any card of any suit - and can thus never damage anyone.

STRATEGY

THE 3 SUITS

It's best to think of the colours and suits in three categories: 1. the power suit (♤), 2. the weak suit (♧) and 3. the red colour.

• The power suit (♤) is the most important attacking channel, as it cannot be protected by its neighbour suit like others can (except for deflecting).
  • As the high cards (♤J, ♤Q, ♤K) can only be used for defense (except by random), the highest of the lower cards (10, 9, ...) are the deadliest weapons.
• Cards of the weak suit (♧) are less important but useful:
  • They can be used for attacking the spades indirectly by eating away the opponent's defensive cards - even low clubs might sometimes be very useful.
  • The weak suit cards are also useful because (unlike the strong spades) you can attack using high cards (♧J, ♧Q, ♧K).
• Half of the deck consists of the red cards, so they are abundant.
  • Accordingly they are the easiest to protect against, but persistent bombing with reds is likely to cause damage - especially in form of high card combos.

NUMBERS FOR PURPOSES

The number of the card tells how powerful it is, and thus what it's good for.

• The higher the number the more powerful the card is. For spades, the face cards (♤J, ♤Q, ♤K) are fixed for defense, but with other suits dangerous attacks can be delivered with them.
• As aces (A) are 1 in attacks and 14 in defense, they are often used for table cards (along with jokers and spade face cards), and are rarely used in attacks.
• The lowest numbers are typically unwanted cards. However, they are sometimes handy for deflecting the strikes with the same number, and even low spades are useful in attacking combinations.

THE ART OF ATTACK

Here are some collected wisdoms that have risen out of many iterations of gameplay.

• When table cards start popping up, try to aim right above them or through another suit.
• Even though turning down a table card means losing one card, it can still be a better option than taking a new table card (unless you'd really need it).
  • This is because by turning down you don't lose a hand card, and thus have better capabilities for attacking - and give less knowledge to others.
• Use combos of the same suit (often in ascending number) for attacks, don't just attack here and there. In addition with black cards, you can use clubs to set up knockouts with spades, or use spades to open up face card shots for clubs.
• Whenever you have a high card (of other than the power suit), think about attacking with it. Especially with many high cards, because you also have something against counter attacks, and on the other hand, can deliver longer combos.
  • Some players even go with the strategy of never attacking with low cards but instead recycle them away when taking damage (or by lucky deflecting). Often to the extreme of attacking by random cards instead of using off bad cards in attacks.
• In duels, remember to counter attack: When an opponent attacks on a particular suit (especially the higher the number), his/her defences on that suit are also weakened. It's not uncommmon to take a hit and then deliver a hit right back on the same suit (especially in duels).
  • Near the end it might even benefit to take a hit and use the last card (that could have protected) to deliver a hit back instead. This is more favourable if: 1. you know your opponent is weak on that suit, 2. you have many bad cards, 3. you have a high table card of that suit, 4. the opponent has fewer hand cards.
• As the game progresses you might want to protect players not doing well in order to target the player doing best - unless you're the one doing best.
  • This is often done by playing the same number as a table card of a poor player (or lower of same suit/colour) - especially playing spades of that number.
• Openings for attacks come from seeing opponents defending with high cards (J, Q, K and A) or knowing that they cannot have them (not yet shuffled back, you hold them, or turned down). So it's good to keep track of them and when the deck is reshuffled - always scan for openings on the Strong Suit.
• If you can deflect an attack with a very low card (of the same number), it might be a good opportunity to trash it away (especially if not spades) and let the opponent(s) keep the initiative. You might also prefer deflecting when you know you can't get the next turn anyhow (with many players).
• When faced with almost certain damage, it's often best to just take the hit and trash a bad card instead of trying your luck against the odds. You might also consider taking the attacking card as a table card (and thus not pick a new hand card), especially if you're weak on the attacked suit.

THE 4 PHASES OF MORTAL SWORDS

As the largest scale strategical layer, you should orientate yourself and your plans according to the phase of the game.

• The beginning / opening lasts until a few table cards have appeared.
  • The situation is very equal and no long term weaknesses have appeared.
  • It's advantegous to prolong taking your first hit, as you have no table cards and you lose a hand card immediately (unless playing Warrior's Vow). This makes it common to try to stay well protected as long as possible, which in turn can make the beginning phase longer - but nothing's forever.
• The middle game comes after the opening stage:
  • It's characterised by the presence of table cards which bear important strategical meanings (both your own and opponents, see above).
  • There are more hand card weaknesses due to lost hand cards, but not so much as to go crazy: It's better to focus attacking past the table cards.
• The killing game begins when one or two players have only 1 or 2 cards left.
  • The focus of the healthy fighters goes to making sure they'll stand well when the end game starts. Because they'd like to attack the players doing well, they might sometimes help or protect the damaged fighters (until the end game).
  • The focus of the damaged fighters is instead merely in staying alive, as they tend to have very few options anyhow.
• The end game starts when there are only two players left and they have only a few (1 - 3) cards left.
  • Typically this stage is characterized by focus on survival but also on fiercely attacking the potential weaknesses. Obviously the one with more hand cards has an advantage, but things are far from clear, and suitable cards can easily turn the situation around.
  • If possible, the aim is to attack with suits that get past the opponent table cards (if any) while keeping other suits for defense. But of course having hand cards to balance your table card weaknesses is important as well.

HISTORY

v1.5 - Mortal Swords (2024-04-19)

• Reorganized how armors function and dropped 6 cards to 5 cards.

v1.4 - Mortal Swords (2023-10-17)

• Simplified a few details, mostly to better fit multi-player-game (regarding 1. attacking turns, 2. using the attack card as armor, 3. dodging with aces, 4. who reshuffles). Accordingly dropped the variations (as their purpose was to address the multi-player imbalance), and extended the support up to 5 players.

v.1.3.2 - Suit Knights (2021-12-01)

• Last refines to the basic game (mostly regarding the variations).

THANKS

SPECIAL THANKS

To Ville Viitala and Johannes Aho for important game mechanical ideas during the process.

FOR IDEAS, HELP WITH DEVELOPMENT & PLAYING

Johannes Aho, Ville Viitala, Emmi Viitala, Rosanna Viitala, Tomi Laine, Antti Mannila and Akseli Leinonen.