Note: the feminine pronoun is used as the neuter pronoun here as White Wolf tends to use "she" as the neutral gender.
The rules cards for each expansion can be viewed seperately, though the rules changes are incorporated into the main text here.
| Umbra Rules | Wyrm Rules | War of the Amazon Rules | Legacy of the Tribes Rules |
And here's some handy dandy little hyperliks to jump to frequently referenced sections. They're divided roughly into problems encountered during combat, playing types of sept cards, and into an "other" section.
Pester the webmaster to add more internal links if you can't find something.
Welcome to Rage, the collectible trading-card game based on the storytelling game Werewolf: The Apocalypse. Each Rage player controls a pack of savage and heroic werewolves (called Garou). Garou packs often unite to combat the evil force known as the Wyrm, but equally often battle one another for the ultimate position of pack dominance. A pack achieves victory by conquering the Wyrm, by overpowering rival Garou, or by performing heroic tasks.
If you want to begin playing Rage right away, follow these quick-start guidelines. They provide all the information you need to get a simple game up and running.
The rules of the game are very simple. You design a customized deck (consisting of various combatants, items and special powers) and then battle your opponent(s). By defeating opponents and accomplishing tasks, your pack earns victory points. The game is won when your victory point total equals or exceeds a predetermined level (called the Renown level).
Important Note: These rules describe the general parameters of play. Rules presented on individual cards supersede these general rules.
Separate your cards into three stacks: characters, combat and sept. Your sept and combat cards are shuffled as two separate decks respectively. Position your characters so that each character's breed form (lupus, homid or metis) faces up. As you collect cards that give you victory points, place them in a separate stack of victory cards.
The Renown level of the game determines its scope and length. For a starter game, set the Renown level at 15.
Characters also have Renown (denoted by the number in the top right corner of the character cards). The total Renown of the characters in your pack can not exceed the Renown level of the game. By defeating a rival character, a pack earns victory points equal to the defeated character's Renown.
The Renown level also sets the victory condition of the game. So, for a starter game, the first player to accumulate 15 victory points wins.
A single turn of the game is divided into five phases. In order, these phases are: Redraw, Regeneration, Equip/Ally, Moot and Combat. All players act simultaneously during these phases (unless stated otherwise).
Discard as many cards as you want from your sept hand and redraw up to five cards from your sept deck to form your sept hand (if this is your first turn, simply draw five sept cards). If you run out of sept cards, you can continue playing, but cannot reshuffle or obtain new sept cards.
Each injured character capable of regeneration
may remove the damage card with the lowest damage value. Return the
damage card to its owner. Normally, only shapechangers (Garou, Gurahl,
Ratkin, Bastet, etc.) can regenerate. Allies, spirits and enemies can
regenerate if specified on their card.
Aggravated damage cannot be regenerated.
Equipment cards, ally cards and enemy cards are played at this time. Characters can also trade equipment to any other character during this phase. Allies cannot be traded. Allies become part of your pack; they can act as alpha, equip and (in some cases) use Gifts. However, they cannot vote in moots. Enemies are placed in the center of the playing area (called the Hunting Grounds) and are in no way related to your pack.
Characters can play moot cards during this phase. Any number of moots may be called. Once all moot cards are played, they are voted on in descending order of each moot card's Renown requirement. Each character may cast a number of votes equal to his/her Renown. All successful moots then take effect simultaneously at the end of the current Moot Phase.
The Combat Phase is divided into many different subphases.
Discard any unwanted combat cards in your combat hand and redraw up to five cards from your combat deck (if this is your first Combat Phase, simply draw five combat cards). When you have used your entire combat deck, reshuffle the deck.
Each player selects one of his characters to be pack alpha. Players simultaneously move their alphas forward. An alpha can be any character or ally in the player's pack.
In order of Renown (highest to lowest), each alpha can make one attack or pass and take no attack this phase. An alpha can automatically attack any other pack's alpha or anything in the Hunting Grounds. An alpha can also challenge any character or ally in play who is not an alpha. However, the challenged character has the option to accept or decline this challenge. If the challenge is declined, the challenging alpha forfeits her attack for this turn.
As combat begins, players have the option of playing any combat events or Gifts that affect combat. Then players select and simultaneously play one combat action card per character involved in the combat (players select and present their cards at the same time). When characters exchange blows and damage each other, the combat action cards played are placed on the injured character to show the damage taken.
When a character takes damage equal to or greater than her Rage, (or Breed form Health, whichever is lower)the player immediately flips over that character's card, revealing the Crinos, or werewolf battle form. The injured character's Health score then equals the Health of the Crinos form minus the damage the character has accumulated. A character will change to Crinos form before dying.
If the damage suffered by a character exceeds her Health rating, the character dies. If a chacter is forced back to Breed form and the damage exceeds her Breed form health, it kills the character. She does NOT automaticaly shift back to Crinos.
The attacker can retreat at the end of any combat round, unless she is frenzied. Otherwise, combat ends when one of the following happens:
At the end of each combat, all players redraw up to five combat cards. They may discard any unwanted cards left in their hand before they redraw.
The alpha with the next-highest Renown declares her attack or challenge. The Combat Phase ends when all alphas have taken their actions. If you lose all of your characters, you are out of the game. You can still win if all the other players are eliminated and you had the greatest number of Victory Points.
All cards that say "last until end of turn" are discarded. Then return to the Redraw phase to start a new turn.
Every time a member or members of your pack defeat an enemy or another character in play, the defeated enemy is placed in your victory pile. Enemies and characters are worth their Renown in victory points. Other cards can provide additional victory points. The game ends when, at the end of a turn, one player's victory points equal or exceed the Renown level of the game. If all players are eliminated, the player with the highest VP wins.
Packs are composed of three different types of cards: character cards, sept cards and combat cards.
Character cards are double-sided. One side depicts the character's breed form, while the other side shows her Crinos, or battle, form. (Cards depicting metis characters have the same picture on both sides.) Unless stated otherwise, characters begin the game in breed form. (with most cards this means the hologram in the lower righthand corner should be face up. Unlimited ed and promo cards have no hologram)
The character's name is just that - her name. The same character can be in more than one player's pack. However, duplicates of a character may not begin the game in the same pack. Experienced versions of characters may not be in the same pack as their inexperienced version. (example King Albrecht can't be in the same pack with Lord Albrecht)
Auspice denotes the phase of the moon under which the character was born. Garou are closely tied to the moon. Their birth moon defines their role in Garou society.
Wyrm characters have Aspects rather than Auspices (Black Spiral Dancers have both).
What were the circumstances of the Garou's birth? A Garou's breed is that werewolf's bloodline.
There are 13 tribes of Garou. These tribes frequently ally (and even more frequently war) with one another. Tribal solidarity is not what it once was, and packs often include werewolves from many different tribes.
The Garou aren't the only party in town, Gaia made many different skinchangers. all of them can frenzy, step sideways, and regenerate unless noted otherwise on their cards.
Each Garou has a Renown level, which ranges from 1 to 10. The higher a Garou's Renown, the more power that Garou has and the more respect he is given in Garou society. The Renown levels of all Garou in a pack are added together to determine the pack's total Renown. The total Renown determines the size and length of the game.
Each character has three statistics on her card: Rage, Gnosis and
Health. Rage determines the character's ferocity and battle fervor.
Gnosis represents the character's inner tranquility and connection to Gaia
(the Earth). Health is the character's ability to withstand physical
damage.
Certain characters have Rivalries with other
characters. A character
will never be in the same pack as one with which he has a Rivalry. If
two characters with Rivalry somehow end up in the same pack, randomly choose
one and discard him. If a character is alpha, and his rival is also
alpha, the rival must be the target of the character's alpha action
attack. The Silver Pack is elected at the grandest of Garou
moots, and they are a representation of the first pack. Usually Silver Packs number
between five and 10 members, but there is always at least one member of
each auspice. Characters who are members of the Silver Pack will
never attack another member of the Silver Pack. Silver Pack characters only appeared
in the Legacy of the Tribes Expansion and are foil cards
Many character cards contain special information. This information
usually describes some unusual weakness or advantage the character has
(such as additional voting power). Some simply have flavor text. If
you are unsure of a characters gender, the card text should give you a hint.
Combat cards all have the word "combat" written on them. They are all
shuffled into a combat deck, which is kept separate from the sept deck and
the character cards. There are two basic types of combat cards: combat
actions and combat events. Combat events are played before a combat
begins or in between combat rounds. Combat actions usually involve
individual Garou and are played by both players simultaneously during a
combat round. Almost all combat actions have a minimum Rage requirement
which a character must meet to use the action at full effect. Most also
have a damage value (even if that value is zero).
Your sept deck comprises the bulk of your noncombat actions. Many
different types of cards compose the sept deck. The rules written on these cards supersede any other rules of the
game. Some card types were introduced in later expansions and are not
present in earlier sets. These card types list at the end what expansions
they appear in.
Action cards can affect combat but do not have to be played during the
normal combat phase. Action cards can be played at any time, unless
otherwise stated on the card.
Allies can work with your pack and aid the pack members. They can
take actions and act as alphas. However, allies are not
truly members of your pack. They have no voting privileges and cannot
remain in the game if all werewolves in your pack are dead. Allies are
played during the Equip/Ally phase. Unless the word
"Regenerates" appears on the card, Allies cannot regenerate like
Garou.
Battlefields represent the actual land upon which your Garou
fight. Battlefields have Renown and list an Attacker and Defender.
During the Alpha phase, an alpha who meets the requirements for an Attacker,
can attack a Battlefield and bring along as many Renown worth of characters
are listed on the card. Any Alpha who meets the Defender
requirements can act as Defender and bring along as much Renown is lsited on
that side. Both sides are effected by the card text listed next to the respective
Attacker/Defender titles. Whichever sides wins gets to place the
Battlefield in their Victory Pile. In addition, both sides can place any
kills made on the Battlefield in their Victory Pile. If no Alpha wishes to defend, the Battlefield can be defended by Enemies or
Victims, as appropriate. Battelfields appear only in the War of the
Amazon expansion. Board Meetings work exactly like Moots, but can only be voted on by Wyrm
characters. Board meetings appear in Wyrm, War of the Amazon and Legacy of the
Tribes. Caerns are mystical places of power for the Garou; they provide doorways between
the physical and the spirit worlds. Every caern has prerequisite tribe; in order to bring
the caern into play, you must have a member of that particular tribe among your pack. Caerns
come into play during the Equip/Ally Phase, and may at this time be discarded and
replaced. A pack can only have one caern in play at a time. Caerns appear
in every set except Limited/Unlimited. Enemies are placed directly into the Hunting Grounds. They represent
the greater evil of the Wyrm. Garou can gain Renown by slaying enemies.
Some enemies have special abilities that affect the game until they are
removed from play. Enemies do not regenerate unless the word
"Regenerates" appears on their card. Enemies are played during the Equip/Ally Phase.
Each equipment card grants a specific ability to its owner. Many
equipment cards have special requirements that must be met before a
character can use them. There are two types of equipment: fetishes and
regular equipment. Fetishes are magical objects with specific Gnosis
requirements. If the character does not have the minimum Gnosis, she
cannot use that piece of equipment. Regular equipment is technological in
nature. Equipment can be played during the Equip/Ally Phase. Some equipment
cards have the text "Bane Fetish". these may only be used by
Wyrm characters. Wyrm characters may not use Fetish equipment, but can use
non-fetish equipment.
Events are usually global circumstances that affect (or could affect)
more than one Garou. However, some events affect only a single character
in play. Events can be played at any time, unless their text indicates
otherwise. Gifts are special abilities that all Garou possess. Most Gifts can
only be used by certain breeds, tribes or auspices. To use a Gift, a
character must meet both the breed/tribe/auspice requirement and the Gnosis
requirement. If a card's requirements are (Lupus, Wendigo, Philodox), the
character must be either a Lupus, Wendigo or Philodox to use the Gift. She
does not have to be all three.
Unless otherwise stated, Gift cards can be played at any time. Gifts are
not "stacked" on a character for later use. They are played out of hand as
indicated by text and then usually discarded. Some Gifts remain on the
character indefinitely. Read the card text to determine which. Wyrm
characters can not use Gaia gifts, and Gaia characters cannot use Wyrm Gifts. Each moot has a Renown cost. A player must have a Garou of that
Renown or greater in order to call that moot. A few have additional
requirements, check the text. Each Garou receives a
number of votes equal to his/her Renown. A moot must have a winning
number of votes in order to pass. Ties fail. Moot cards are played during the Moot
Phase. There must be at least two Gaia packs in play to call Moots.
Quests are special cards that can be played when the conditions listed on
them are met. They can be used to gain additional Victory Points.
Some Limited Edition Events are now considered Quests: Umbral Quest, Scourging
the Wyrm and Reclaiming the Stolen. A Rite is an effect that may be played at any time under certain
conditions (which are specified on the card)
Territories are special places that packs control and benefit
from. They are similar to Caerns, though they are not as spiritual in nature and
not as well hidden. Territories are played during the Equip/Ally
Phase, and claiming a Territory is considered an action. Only one of a
specific Territory may be in play at any time, although a player may have any
number of Territories in play at any point.
Using the special ability of a Territory is not
considered an action, and may be done at any time unless otherwise specified.
Territories appear only in the Legacy of the Tribes expansion.
These victims can be killed by the
Wyrm Creatures for victory points. Gaia alphas have the option of fighting
in the place of a victim, thus defending that victim. Wyrm alphas can
likewise defend the enemies in the Hunting Grounds. Any alpha defending a
target in the Hunting Grounds must declare this right after the inital
attack is declared. In the case of multiple alphas declaring defense, the
privilege of defending goes to the highest Renown alpha among them.
Victims appear in Wyrm, War of the Amazon, and Legacy of the Tribes. Realms are special areas in the Umbra that can be controlled by a
pack. They are brought into play during the Equip/Ally phase. All
realms are foil chase cards. Five appear in Umbra and one in War of the
Amazon. These very rare cards can be played on a werewolf of the appropriate
tribe. That tribe member is then imbued with the spirit of her tribe's
greatest hero. Past Lives can be played before the game begins.
Alternatively, a player can hold a Past Life in his sept hand. All Past
Lives are foil chase cards and appear only in the Limited/Unlimited set.
Rage cards are designed to lay out in a T formation around a
character, making it easy to display all of the equipment a character
possesses, all Gifts or Rites that affect him/her, and any damage cards
that have injured him/her. Gifts, Rites, Equpment to the side, combat
cards below.
The game begins when you decide the game's Renown level. A player's
deck cannot exceed the Renown level of the game. A deck's Renown level
equals the total Renown of all characters in the deck. The standard game
ranges from 15 to 25 Renown.
Rivalries
The Silver Pack
Special Information
COMBAT CARDS
SEPT CARDS
Actions
Allies
Battlefields
Board Meetings
Caerns
Enemies
Equipment
Events
Gifts
Moots
Quests
Rites
Territories
Victims
Realms
Past Lives
LAYING OUT THE CHARACTER CARDS
EXPANDED RULES
STARTING A GAME
| 10 Renown | 30 minutes |
| 15 renown | 30-45 minutes |
| 20 renown | 30-60 minutes |
| 25 renown | 60-90 minutes |
| 30 renown | 90 minutes + |
Note: These times are all approximate and can vary greatly depending on the aggressiveness of game play and the random draw of the cards.
"Tourney legal" is the standard play format used and is considered to be a twenty renown game banning Past Lives and Realms in which you are resticted to playing only one Dreamspeaker Mage, one Gaia's Vengeance, and one Master of the Pack per game, though you may have up to three copies of each in your deck. Most players use this format, so unless some other Renown is agreed on well beforehand, assume "tourney legal" rules.
Once the Renown level of the game has been chosen, players select characters for their packs. Characters' total Renown may not exceed the Renown level of the game.
Your deck includes both combat and sept cards. Separate these two
types of cards into two separate decks. You must play with a minimum of
20 combat cards and 25 sept cards. You may not have more than two of any
single combat card, or more than three of any single sept card in your
deck. Characters which allow you to start with a sept card inplay count
against the number in your deck.
Actions define the scope and pace of the game. A character can take
as many actions as she has cards to play. There are two types of
actions: automatic and card.
Automatic actions are actions that any character can take, but
usually only at specific times of the game. Automatic actions include:
regeneration, trading equipment (if you have something to trade), voting
in a moot, defending in combat, and attacking in combat (if the character
is alpha).
Card actions include: using Gifts, calling a moot vote, invoking
Rites, performing special actions, equipping, and recruiting allies.
Certain actions can take place at any time during the turn sequence.
Gift cards, event cards and Rite cards may be played by a character at any
time (unless the card specifies otherwise). Event cards are not
considered to be actions, but rather circumstances that affect characters
in the game.
As mentioned in the quick-start rules, combat cards are selected and
played simultaneously during each round of combat by all players involved
in the combat. If more than one character is on a side, the controlling
player must decide which character is playing each combat card and which
opponent is receiving each combat card. During pack actions it is not
necessary for every member of the pack to play a combat card each round. A character can play any combat card of any Rage. However, when a
character plays a combat card with a Rage requirement higher than her
own Rage, the action might not succeed. A combat card higher than a
character's Rage will take effect only if: a) your opponent also bluffs;
or b) your opponent cannot or did not play a card. The bluff is a risky
stunt, but allows a character to perform extraordinary combat actions.
Some cards cannot be bluffed and say so on the card.
The character's Crinos form resembles the legendary man-wolf of
horror films. The Crinos form stands around nine feet tall and weighs in
at several hundred pounds - much of which consists of teeth, claws and
muscle. A character switches into this form when her wounds exceed her breed form's Rage. If a character takes damage that exceeds both
her Rage
and his Health, she will still change into Crinos form before she dies.
Once in Crinos form, she will die when her wounds exceed her Crinos Health.
Wounds from a breed form transfer to Crinos form; it is possible for a
character to be hit so hard that she immediately changes to Crinos form and
dies. Certain cards may force a Crinos character to revert to breed form.
If the character's breed form Health is less than the damage she has
suffered, she dies.
Due to the spiritual nature of some attacks such as fire, silver, and
fetish weapons, Garou sometimes suffer damage which they cannot normally
regenerate. Any card which causes aggravated damage may not be removed
during the Regeneration Phase.
When a werewolf enters frenzy, she goes berserk. She
immediately switches into her Crinos form (if she isn't already in
it) and draws a number of additional combat cards equal to her Rage.
These additional combat cards become the character's frenzy hand and are
only usable by the character in frenzy. Combat then continues until
either the frenzied character is out of playable cards, or one side or the
other plays an escape card - an attacker cannot automatically withdraw
from a combat in which a character is frenzied. When a combat involving
one or more frenzied characters ends, all cards remaining in the
characters' frenzy hands are discarded.
A character in frenzy will not die immediately if her wounds
exceed her Health. She will continue to fight until either the
combat or her frenzy ends. Only then will she die.
Normally, any spirit in the Hunting Grounds can be
bound into service. To Bind a spirit, you must first attack it from within the
Umbra, declaring your intentions at the beginning of the fight.
Combat proceeds as normal. If at the end of combat the damage you inflict
is equal to or greater than the spirit's Health, the spirit will be bound,
not destroyed. Remove all damage cards played on it. Bound spirits
are worth half their Renown in victory points (round up) and are treated as
allies for the rest of the game. Bound spirits who are later killed
are no longer worth any victory points to the pack that bound them.
An enemy is any creature in the Hunting Grounds. When a character or
characters attack a creature in the Hunting Grounds, any other player in
the game may play cards for that enemy. An enemy can never have more than
one card played for it per combat turn (unless the enemy description
specifically states otherwise). If two or more players both wish to play
cards for an enemy, decide randomly who will play cards. (Rock, Paper, Scissors
works well) If no one wants to play cards for the enemy, then the enemy is defenseless and the
attacking player gets an easy kill. Under no circumstances can a player
both attack an enemy and play cards in the enemy's defense. Characters
killed by an enemy are discarded and worth no victory points.
Wyrm alphas may step in to take the place of Wyrm Enemies. An alpha may engage a Battlefield as his alpha action; Battlefields
may only be attacked during the Combat Phase of the game. In order
to engage a Battlefield, the alpha must meet the requirements for the attacker listed on the card.
An appropriate alpha may defend the Battlefield, provided that alpha meets the requirements listed for the A Battlefield lists Renown requirements, additional cards drawn, and
special circumstances for both the attacker and the defender. The
Renown listed is the maximum total Renown worth of characters that may
participate in the battle, including the alpha. Each player draws
the number of additional combat cards listed on the Battlefield. Special
circumstances may also apply to the Battlefield, and are listed on the
card. Pack tactics may not be used to add participants to a
Battlefield conflict.
When a Battlefield is engaged, the winner of the conflict gains the number of victory
points listed on the card, in addition to the number won
from any kills made. The loser only gains victory points for kills
made, if any. At the end of any combat round either side may withdraw, which
is considered losing the battle; this is known as yielding the
Battlefield. The attacker always declares before the defender whether or not he will
yield the Battlefield. If either side cannot withdraw or is
prevented from withdrawing (due to a frenzy or other effect), a Battlefield may not
be yielded.
If all participants in a Battlefield combat are
killed, the Battlefield remains in play with no decisive winner, and may be attacked
again as normal. Likewise, if combat ends without one side or the
other winning or yielding, the Battlefield will remain in play as well.
If no alpha can or will defend a Battlefield, victims will act as
Gaia defenders and enemies will act as Wyrm defenders, provided their
combined Renown is within 3 of the stipulated Battlefield Renown. If
the Renown does not meet this number, the Battlefield may not be attacked this
Combat Phase. Enemies and victims will never work together in this
manner. One player must draw the additional cards and play for the
creatures defending the Battlefield, though if the enemies or victims win
the Battlefield it is simply discarded and no one gains the victory points
for it. As an alpha action, a character may choose to attack
another pack's Territory. This may only be done during the Combat Phase, and may not
be done as a Sneak Attack or other non-alpha action. That pack's alpha
may choose to defend the Territory, which does not count as his alpha
action. Either side may use pack tactics. If the attacker kills the defender,
or the defender escapes from combat, the Territory is destroyed and
discarded. A Territory is likewise destroyed if the pack controlling
it does not choose to defend it, or if they have no alpha. A character who has been removed from play may take no actions
(unless otherwise stated) until she has returned to the game. She cannot
use or be affected by any Gifts, Rites or actions. The Umbra is the spiritual realm that all Garou have the ability to
access. Spirit allies and enemies can freely access the Umbra. Any
character in the Umbra can freely interact with a spirit or with another
character already in the Umbra. Characters can only step in and
out of the Umbra if they have a caern in play or if they have a card that allows
them to step sideways. To steps sideways, they must have a Gnosis higher
than the Gauntlet, the value of which is listed on the caern. When using a
caern, they may only step back and forth at the begining of the moot phase. Garou
in the Umbra can't call or vote on moots, but cannot be affected by effects that
do not cross the Gauntlet. Spirits are considered to exist in both the
physical world and the Umbra unless it states they exist only in the Umbra.
Characters and enemies whom your pack and allies defeat are placed in
your victory pile and added to your victory point total. The basic game
ends when, at the end of a turn, one player has reached the game's Renown
level in accumulated victory points. In case of a tie the game goes into
sudden death. The game continues on a turn-by-turn basis until one
player has accumulated more victory points than her opponent(s) at the
end of a given turn.
Many terms used in this game are derived from Werewolf: The
Apocalypse. The following is a definition of terms used in Rage.
Actions
Combat
Playing Cards
The Bluff
Changing to Crinos Form
Reversion to Breed Form
Aggravated Damage
Frenzy
Binding a spirit
Attacking an Enemy
Attacking a Battlefield
defender. Defending a Battlefield does not count as an alpha action.
Attacking a Territory
Removed from Play
The Umbra
Victory Points and Ending the Game
LEXICON