Looking at the last 99 games, there are several designers that have been covered a few times - Reiner Knizia (7), Alan R. Moon (5), Wolfgang Kramer (4), the Brunos (Cathala and Faidutti, 4 each).  All are well-respected designers, and rightfully so.  But with this series, my first dedicated to one specific designer, we're going to look at one that is the hottest in the industry right now, and whose games intrigue me like no one else.  I talked about him way back in Expansion #3, pointing him out as a rising star.  That's right, it's Vlaada Chvátil.


(BGG image by user Sentieiro)

Vlaada Chvátil is a designer from the Czech Republic who has made a name for himself by creating games with blended mechanics, entertaining themes, and a good mix of luck and strategy.  His first published game, Arena (Morituri te salutant), came out in 1997.  It's a tactical combat game, and a reprint is supposed to be coming from Z-Man at some point.  Chvátil's next game is the one I'm going to be talking about in this post - Prophecy.


(BGG image by user Werbaer)

Prophecy was originally released in 2002.  It is a game for 2-5 players, was designed by Reiner Knizia (JUST KIDDING), and features art by Jana Žlžková, Michal Vrondráček, and Milan Vavroň.  In 2007, a US edition was produced by ZMan.  The game is a fantasy adventure game where players are traveling around a world, collecting items, battling creatures, and ultimately attempting to collect ancient Artifacts.

This game comes with rules for a basic game and a standard game.  I'm going to be describing the standard game.


(BGG image by user Werbaer)

In the game, you'll get 211 cards, 40 strength/health cubes, 40 willpower/magic cubes, 35 gold tokens, 35 experience tokens, 10 standup figures, 10 character cards, 5 reference cards, 5 plastic bases, and two six-sided dice.  You also get a board, seen above.  There are 20 spaces around the track.  Each location allows you to gain certain skills, abilities, items, gold, experience, health, or magic.  There are also five whirlpool things around the perimeter of the world.  These are the Astral Planes, and you must go there to acquire Artifacts.

  
(BGG images by users willdesigns, JYoder, and Zman)

At the start of the game, each player will get a character.  The way you choose is by drafting - each player is dealt two characters.  You may look at the two, choose one, and pass the other to the left.  You'll receive one from your right, which you can either keep or pass.  If you keep it, you pass the one you kept the first time.  You'll be passed one more character from your right, which you can either keep or discard.  If you keep it, discard the one you had kept previously.  Once everyone has chosen their character, everyone reveals.

To start, each player gets three gold and three experience tokens, which are kept in their appropriate boxes on the character chard.  Each player will also get cubes according to their strength/health and willpower/magic.  Take the appropriate number of strength cubes (red) and willpower cubes (blue) and place them in the appropriate box.  So, from the example above, the Ranger has 5 strength and 2 willpower, the Spellblade has 4 strength and 4 willpower, and the Druid has 3 strength and 6 willpower.  These cubes all go on the right side of the card - when spend or lost, cubes will be moved to the left.

Each player will take their character piece, put it in a stand, and put the character in the top Guild listed on their board.  The Ranger and Druid both start in the Forest Camp, and the Spellblade starts in the Fortress.


(BGG image by user greglios)

Cards are separated by type - chance (marked with a question mark), adventure (scroll and dagger), common item (axe) and rare item (sword) cards are placed in their appropriate place at the corners of the board, while the abiltiies cards go on their spots in the center.  To speed the game along, you should go through the chance deck until you draw a forest, mountain, or plains card.  Place one adventure card face up next to each terrain space of that type.  Reshuffle the Chance cards, but discard the terrain card you just used.  Also, turn the top ability card from each deck face up.

Each Astral Plane will contain three cards - one Artifact (on the bottom), one Greater Guardian (in the center), and one Lesser Guardian (on top).  There are five of each of these cards, and they should be randomly assigned to piles and to Planes.

Choose a start player, and you're ready to go.  Each player's turn is referred to as a round.  Each round follows this sequence: draw a Chance card, take your turn, end the round.

At the end of the round, you'll discard down to your limit - you can't have more than 15 gold, 15 experience, 7 items, and 7 abilities.  You can choose which to keep.  Play will go to your left after you're done.  I tell you that now so you keep it in mind later.


(BGG image by user Chucklia)

So.  The first thing you do in a round is draw a chance card.  Chance cards can affect anyone.  The possibile Chance cards are:

• Terrain (Mountain, Plains, or Forest) - When you draw one of these, you'll place one face down adventure card on each terrain space of that type, starting with the space you are currently standing on and moving clockwise.  If there's already an adventure card there, place the second one underneath.  If there are already two adventure cards there, don't add a new one - there's a two card limit.
• Guilds (Forest Thieves' Guild, Forest Camp, Monastery, Magic Tower, Open Training) - These cards allow you to reveal a new ability card from the indicated guild.  If there is already one revealed, place the second across the first so both are visible.  If there are already two revealed, discard the older one to the bottom of the ability deck, then place your new one across the one that is left.
• City Merchant or Tradesman - These will allow you to replace all goods in the city or village with three new common items or two new rare items.
• Peaceful Times - When this comes up, you'll get an extra turn, and you won't have to discard or draw a new chance card in between.
• Prophetic Dream - This allows you to reveal one of the guardians of an Artifact.  You'll always start with the Lesser Guardian.  If a Lesser Guardian is already revealed, you may reveal either the Greater Guardian, or reveal another Lesser Guardian.  The Artifact is never revealed until the Guardians are defeated.
• Winds (Refreshing Wind, Kindly Wind, Magical Breeze, Good Times) - These are a benefit to everyone, healing health, recharging magic, giving gold or experience.  The player who drew the card will get a slightly better reward than the others.
• Charity - When this is drawn, the players with the lowest gold, health, and magic will get a boost.
• Economic Crisis - This is the only Chance card to fear, as it costs all players half of their gold.

Once the Chance card has been resolved, it is time for the player to take their turn.  A player's turn follows this sequence: move, fight, use space possibilities.

There are several options for movement:

• Stay put.  Costs nothing.
• Walk one space left or right.  Also costs nothing.
• Rent a horse, allowing you to move two spaces left or right.  Costs one gold.
• Take a boat, allowing you to move from one location with a port to then next location with a port to the left or right.  Also costs one gold.
• Use a magic gate to teleport to any other magic gate on the board.  Costs two gold.
• Use a movement ability or item, such as the Flying Carpet or a teleportation spell.
• Use a possibility or other activity that uses the phrase "Instead of moving..."
• Attack an Astral Plane, which I'll explain later.

(BGG image by user Chucklia)

If you land on a space with one or more adventure cards, flip them over.  Here's a chart for what happens next:

One card - a creature	FIGHT!
One card - an opportunity	Proceed to the possibilities phase (or attack a character)
Two cards - both creatures	FIGHT! You choose the order.
Two cards - both opportunities	Proceed to the possibilities phase (or attack a character)
Two cards - one creature, one opportunity	FIGHT!  If you win, you can proceed to the possibilities phase.

If one or both are creatures, you must fight.  Each creature has an indication of its power.

• Some creatures only have a red strength number, which means there will be a Battle of Strength.  Add in any items that might increase your strength, then roll the dice - one for the creature, one for you.  Add the dice rolls to the strength numbers to find the winner.  If you have the higher number, you win!  Collect your reward, if any.  If you lose, lose one health plus any penalties listed on the card.  Your turn ends immediately - no other fights, no possibilities phase, nothing.  If you draw, nothing happens, except that you also lose your turn.
• Some creatures only have a blue willpower number, which means there will be a Battle of Wills.  Add in items, spells, whatever, that might help, and roll the dice as before.  The same things happen with wins, losses, and ties.
• Some creatures have a strength number and a willpower number.  If the card doesn't tell you how the battle will progress, it goes like this: you will have a Battle of Strength unless you decide to have a Battle of Wills.  If you'd rather have a Battle of Wills, you must pay two magic before the battle even begins.
• Some creatures have three lives.  You must beat each life individually.  If you lose to any of them, you lose.

It is possible to die in this game.  If you run out of strength, you're dead (if you run out of willpower, you just have no willpower).  If you die at the hands of a creature, you lose everything - discard your cards, return your gold and experience to the bank, remove your character from the game.  If you are carrying an Artifact, you drop it on the space where you were - another player can come by to pick it up.  You can draw a new character and start from scratch, minus one health and two experience (you got injured on the journey to the world).

If you are killed by another character, they get all of your stuff.

When you defeat a creature, it gets discarded.  If you lose, the creature stays in the place.

If there are no creatures on the space (either because there weren't any or because you defeated them all), but there are other characters, you can attack one of them (but only one).  Battles go just like with creatures, with a few exceptions.  The attacker first decides if he wants a Battle of Strength or a Battle of Wills.  A Battle of Wills will cost you two magic, and must be accepted by the defender.  A Battle of Strength is free, but the defender can choose to pay two magic to change it to a Battle of Wills.  Next, the attacker announces what he wants to add to the battle, then the defender announces.  Roll, determine the winner.  If there's a tie, nothing happens.  If one player wins, the loser has two either lose one Health or give up an Item to the winner.

If you are in the Monastery, the Forest Camp, or have paid for lodging in the Village, you are safe from attack.  That is, unless you have an Artifact - with an Artifact, you are never safe.

To reiterate - if you lose to a creature, you are done.  However, if you lose to a character, you can still participate in the possibilities phase.  If one or both of the adventure cards were opportunities, you can take them at this time, and you can choose which order you take them in.  If you don't want to (or can't) take the opportunities, leave them where they are.