MONSTER MUTATORS In Monster Mutators, you create hybrid monsters and use them to compete in contests to score points. The first to win 5 contests wins the game! Start by setting up the play area; create three columns, one for "Might", "Agility", and "Style". A game mat works great for this. Then, both players reveal cards from the top of their deck until they reveal 3 monster cards. They put one monster card in each column. Shuffle the non-monster cards back into the deck. Then both players draw 4 cards as their opening hand, and begin play. Also determine who goes first at some point idk. Each turn consists of 4 phases: Draw, mutate, main, and contest. For the draw phase, draw one card from your deck and add it to your hand. During the mutate phase, you can place one monster card from your hand on top of or underneath a monster on the field. This is called "mutating" onto the monster. Whenever you mutate, draw one card afterward. You can only mutate once during this phase. For more details, see the MUTATION section below. During the main phase, you can play any number of stage cards or assist cards from your hand. To play an assist card, put it on the table and follow the instructions printed on it, then put it in your discard pile. To play a stage card, put it on one of the three rows, below your monster card. Its text applies new effects to contests on that row. Many stage cards can only be played on certain rows. Each player can only control one stage card on each row; if you play a second stage, discard your old one. During the contest phase, you can choose one of your monsters to compete in a contest. See the CONTESTS section below. You can only start one contest per turn. If you don't choose to start a contest, you can instead rearrange your monsters, putting them on different columns. If you go first, skip this phase on your first turn. MUTATION A "monster" is made up of one or more monster cards stacked on top of each other. The monster has the abilities (card text) of all monster cards in the stack. Its stats are equal to the stats of the top monster card, plus the bonuses of all monster cards under it (the numbers in parentheses). Whenever you "mutate [a card] onto" a monster, you put the card either on top of the stack or under the stack, your choice. If a card instructs you to "mutate [a card] over" a monster, it means you must put it on top of the stack. Likewise, "mutate [a card] under" means you must put it underneath. Whenever you mutate, whether during the mutate phase or by a card's effect, draw a card afterward. Whenever a card says to "remove a card" from a monster, choose any card in the monster's stack and put it into the discard pile. If the monster's stack has only one card, it cannot be removed. CONTESTS Contests are done between two monsters in a column. When a contest happens, both players roll a six-sided die, then add the relevant stat of their monster in that column; Might stat for the Might column, Agility for Agility, etc. The total becomes that monster's "score". Then, the opposing player (the player who didn't start the contest) can play trick cards to affect the scores. Put any number of them on the table and follow their instructions. After they're done, the active player (the player who started the contest) can play trick cards. Compare the final scores, and whoever has the highest wins. The active player wins ties. The winning player gets 1 point, and if they now have 5 points, they win the game! CARDS Dog Monster M: 2(+1), A: 2(+1), S: 2(+1) Whenever this monster is mutated onto, you can discard a monster card, then draw a card. Bird Monster M: 1, A: 3(+1), S: 2(+1) Whenever you start a contest with this monster, you can move it to another column. (The contest occurs in its new row. Swap its position with the monster already there.) Lion Monster M: 3(+1), A: 2, S: 2 Whenever you start a contest with this monster, you can discard a card. If you do, it gets +1 Agility and +1 Style this contest. Kaiju Monster M: 3(+1), A: 1, S: 1 Whenever you start a contest with this monster, you can discard all stage cards in its column. Dragon Monster M: 2, A: 2, S: 2(+1) Whenever you roll 2 or less in a contest with this monster, change the result to 3. Squirrel Monster M: 1, A: 3(+1), S: 2 Once per turn, during your main phase, you can play a stage card from either discard pile to this monster's column. Peacock Monster M: 2, A: 2, S: 3(+2) During your main phase, you can remove a monster card from a monster you control, then mutate this card onto that monster. Dance Floor Stage Play on the Style column. Contests in this column use both Agility and Style. During your main phase, you can remove this stage to give a monster you control +1 Agility this turn. Trapeze Stage Play on the Agility column. Contests in this column use both Agility and Style. During your main phase, you can remove this stage to give a monster you control +1 Style this turn. Boxing Ring Stage Play on the Might column. Whenever a contest in this column ends, the winner draws a card and each player removes a monster card from their monster that competed. Circus Stage Whenever a contest in this column starts, each player may discard their hand, then draw cards equal to the number discarded. If this card's controller does this, their monster gets +1 score. Triathlon Stage Contests in this column use Might, Agility, and Style. Honorable Duel Stage Trap cards cannot be played in this column's contests. During either player's main phase, the active player can discard a trap card to remove this stage. Remodeling Assist Remove a stage in play. If you controlled it, draw 2 cards. Rapid Evolution Assist Mutate a monster card in your hand onto a monster you control. Last-Minute Cancel Assist Discard a monster card in your hand, then draw 2 cards. Role Swap Assist Switch the positions of two monsters you control. Draw a card. Schedule Sabotage Assist Rearrange your opponent's monsters. Mad Science Assist If you control a monster with 4 or more cards in its stack, draw 3 cards. Unnatural Talent Trick Your monster gets +2 score. Adapted Speed Trick If this contest doesn't use Agility, it now uses Agility (in addition to other stats in use). If it already used Agility, your monster gets +1 score. Objective Judging Trick Both die rolls are treated as 0. Lucky Break Trick Reroll both dice. Draw a card. Miracle Trick Triple the results of both die rolls.