RULESET // PLAYTEST 1
Reduce the opposing Persona to 0 HP. The server resolves legal actions, hidden information, targets, Recovery, rolls, and damage.
STANDARD uses one Persona plus exactly 12 owned cards. Every Loadout card type is optional, including Monsters and Events. Events have a maximum of three; Monsters, Hexes, and Utilities have no separate maximum beyond the 12-card total.
The same base gameplay card can appear only once, even if you own Standard, Holographic, alternate, or multiple copies. Your Persona cannot share a base gameplay ID with a Loadout Monster.
Attrition is PRLX's deck-format game. Build exactly 25 unique cards plus a separate Persona, with a maximum of 3 Events. Chosen Events begin staged in their hidden Event Zones. All non-Event cards are shuffled into a hidden Attrition Deck; draw a 7-card opening Hand, then draw one card when each of your turns begins. A 3-Event Loadout starts with 22 non-Event cards, so after the opening Hand the draw pile contains exactly 15 cards. Fewer Events leave a slightly larger opening pile.
Before an Attrition room or AI match starts, choose a Base Persona HP of 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, or 50. The normal Persona size adjustment still applies: Small uses the selected base, Medium is base −1, Large base −2, and Giant base −3, while AC remains 12/13/14/15 by size. 45 Base HP is the recommended default. All normal combat, Action, Bonus Action, Reaction, Free Defense, Sacrisummon, Event, Hex, Utility, Recovery, and Buried rules remain intact.
Hard 9-card Hand limit: your Attrition Hand never exceeds 9. If a draw, Recovery, or other return would enter a full Hand, that incoming card waits at the Hand boundary and play pauses for that player. Choose either the incoming card and send it to Buried, or send one of the 9 cards already in Hand to Buried and admit the incoming card. If several cards return at once, resolve them one at a time. Attrition draws still happen at 9, so every full-Hand draw becomes the same keep-or-bury decision instead of freezing the deck.
A Persona is an eligible Monster card representing you. In Standard, every Persona starts from a 26 HP / 12 AC base, then applies its size modifier by subtracting that amount from HP and adding it to AC: Small 26/12, Medium 25/13, Large 24/14, and Giant 23/15. A Persona does not occupy a Field slot and cannot make normal attacks. Persona HP never exceeds its size-derived maximum. Healing beyond the missing HP becomes non-stacking Temp HP; only a larger Temp HP value replaces the current one, and damage removes Temp HP first.
Every Monster designates exactly one of its configured abilities as its Persona Action. That is the only ability available while the card is your Persona, and it still spends its printed Action, Bonus Action, Reaction, or Free cost. The blue P marker shows its recovery by size: Small P0, Medium P1, Large P2, and Giant P3. After use, wait that many completed rounds before it becomes ready again; P0 still cannot be repeated in the same turn.
Both Personas roll a flat d20 with no size modifier. The higher total goes first; tied totals reroll. In Standard, Monsters, Hexes, and Utilities begin in the owner's hidden Hand while up to three Events automatically fill hidden Event Zones; Standard has no shuffled deck or draw phase. In Attrition, up to three chosen Events stage first; all non-Events are shuffled, seven are dealt into the opening Hand, and the Attrition draw happens when each turn begins.
The first player cannot attack on turn one. The second player may attack on their first turn.
Opponent Hand privacy: in normal PvP and player-vs-AI matches, unrevealed enemy Hand cards remain card backs and cannot be inspected. Once a specific physical card is publicly played/revealed, that same instance remains known if it later returns to Hand; newly drawn or never-revealed cards stay hidden. DEV AI-vs-AI spectating and visual replay are intentionally open-table and show both complete Hands.
You receive one Action and one Bonus Action. Click an outlined card to open only that card’s currently legal options. Every Monster can present legal Ability choices under either resource, and any Monster may present Attack choices while an Action, Bonus Action, or granted extra Action remains—even if that Monster is already Fatigued. An Action can Base Summon a Small or Medium Monster, attack, cast an Action Hex, use a Utility, or perform an Action effect. Events use their own once-per-game activation and spend no turn resource. A Bonus Action can attack, activate a Bonus move, or Base Summon a Small Monster.
SACRISUMMON ECONOMY: only the Small → Medium Sacrisummon can be Free. Once per turn, you may Sacc one Small to Sacrisummon a Medium without spending an Action. After that Free Small → Medium Sacrisummon is used, another Small → Medium Sacrisummon requires an Action. Medium → Large and Large / 2×Medium → Giant Sacrisummons always require an Action from the start. Using one of those larger Action Sacrisummons does not consume the still-unused Free Small → Medium allowance. The required Fodder is always paid. Bonus Actions cannot pay for Sacrisummons. Base Summons are never Free.
Monster abilities normally require that Monster to be on the Field. Flash only means a Monster ability may be used from the Hand. Reaction is a separate timing/resource designation; Flash and Reaction may appear independently or together.
An Action may pay a Bonus Action cost, but a Bonus Action cannot pay an Action cost. Unused resources do not carry over.
Standard and Attrition use three Field Slots per player; DEV Custom Formats may configure 1–5. Current creature bands are Small: 1–6 HP, 1–10 AC, +3 to +4 AIM, 1d4 or 1d6 DMG; Medium: 5–10 HP, 8–12 AC, +4 to +7 AIM (normally +6; +7 is reserved for unusually accurate low-damage builds), 1d6 or 1d8 DMG; Large: 11–16 HP, 13–15 AC, +6 to +8 AIM, 2d4 or 1d10 DMG; Giant: 17–25 HP, 15–17 AC, +7 to +10 AIM, 2d6 or 1d12 DMG, with 18 AC reserved as the rare 17-HP exception. Small Monsters may be Base Summoned with an Action or Bonus Action. Medium Monsters may be Base Summoned with an Action and no Fodder. A Medium may instead be Sacrisummoned with one Small; that Small → Medium recipe is the only Sacrisummon eligible for the once-per-turn Free payment. Large and Giant Monsters continue upward through their listed size-ladder recipes and always require an Action.
Monsters may attack with an Action or Bonus Action. A Monster may make at most two attacks during one turn. After an attack resolves, that Monster becomes Fatigued—even when the attack misses—but Fatigue does not prevent its second attack. The attack that creates Fatigue uses the Monster’s pre-Fatigue AIM and DMG; a later second attack uses the Monster’s live Fatigued AIM and DMG and makes its roll to hit with Disadvantage. If that attack also has Attack Advantage, the two cancel back to a normal roll. Extra Actions never raise the per-Monster two-attack ceiling. Each Monster’s printed size modifier is its DMG / P MOD: Small +0, Medium +1, Large +2, and Giant +3. The server rolls d20 + the Monster’s independent printed AIM against AC, then rolls Damage Dice + the size-derived DMG modifier on a hit. Size does not add to AIM. Card effects must name AIM, DMG, or AC explicitly; Ward and Temp HP remain separate vitality layers. Fatigue is the sole universal AIM/DMG/AC penalty. While Fatigued, Small, Medium, and Large Monsters receive −2 AIM, −2 DMG, and −2 AC; Giant Monsters receive −3 AIM, −3 DMG, and −3 AC. Damage-roll presentation shows the Fatigue subtraction explicitly and the damage popup always uses that same post-Fatigue result. There is no separate bonus to hit a Fatigued defender. Fatigue created by attacking or choosing Endure Fatigue while defending clears at the beginning of that Monster controller’s next turn. A Monster at 0 HP enters Recovery or returns to Hand according to its size and defeat rules. A Persona at 0 HP loses immediately. Primed: a card with Third Time’s the Harm tracks only its own consecutive attack misses. After its second consecutive miss it becomes Primed; its next successful attack doubles final damage once, then resets. Leaving the Field also clears the streak.
When an attacker rolls a natural 1 against a Monster, that Monster receives a free Counter Window. Its controller may decline or immediately Counterattack the original attacker without spending an Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction. A Counterattack makes its own roll to hit and, on a hit, its own damage roll. The countering Monster becomes Fatigued, and a natural 1 during a Counterattack cannot open another Counter Window.
When your Persona is targeted, the defender chooses a protecting Monster and/or a legal Reaction before the attack roll is revealed. A protecting Monster—even a Fatigued Monster—moves beside the Persona and becomes the target, using its current live AC. Fatigue never gives the attacker a separate accuracy bonus. You may instead allow the attack to reach your Persona.
Defense has its own once-per-enemy-turn resource. Free Defense lets one fresh Monster protect your Persona without spending Reaction and without gaining Fatigue. Your separate Reaction may still be spent on a legal Hex, Ward, buff, or other Reaction ability during that same Enemy Defense window. After Free Defense has been used, you may instead spend an unused Reaction on a Reaction Defense with a fresh Monster; it also avoids new Fatigue and, when another different fresh Monster remains, earns one Defensive Follow Up for the rest of that enemy turn. Defensive Follow Up is one later free no-Fatigue defense with that different fresh Monster, costs no additional Reaction, cannot use the Monster that created it, cannot chain into another Defensive Follow Up, and expires when the turn changes. Endure Fatigue is always available to a protecting Monster and applies Fatigue after that defense resolves; a Monster already Fatigued simply continues defending with its current Fatigued state.
After the defense position is committed, the attack roll is shown. A natural 20 bypasses the staged protector and strikes the Persona directly. That defended-Persona natural 20 guarantees the hit but does not grant Damage Advantage. Otherwise, a protector that began the defense ready uses its current live AC, takes the full attack, and prevents all damage to the Persona even when the roll exceeds its AC. A protector that was already Fatigued before defending uses its reduced live AC after subtracting its own printed MOD; when a hit roll is strictly higher than that AC, it still takes the full damage, but half that damage (rounded down) also spills through to the Persona. The DEFEND YOURSELF flash appears only when an actual defense option exists.
Medium Monsters can be Base Summoned with an Action and no Fodder, or Sacrisummoned by Sacc’ing one Small. Once per turn, that Small → Medium Sacrisummon may be Free; another Small → Medium Sacrisummon in the same turn requires an Action. Large Monsters require one Medium and always spend an Action. Giant Monsters require either one Large or two Medium and always spend an Action. Valid Field Monsters are visibly marked as Fodder while you choose; selected Fodder enters Recovery rather than being defeated or destroyed.
Defeated Small Monsters return immediately to Hand but must use an Action for their next summon and enter Fatigued. Medium, Large, and Giant Monsters normally remain in Recovery for one, two, or three rounds respectively. Reusable Hexes and Utilities also use the shared Recovery Zone according to their configured values.
Each player has one Reaction. It may be used during either player’s turn, including Enemy Defense, and it is separate from the Action, Bonus Action, and Free Defense. During Enemy Defense you may spend Reaction on a legal Reaction Hex/ability and still use your independent Free Defense afterward. If Reaction remains unused after Free Defense is gone, it may instead pay for a Reaction Defense; that clean second defense is the route that can unlock Defensive Follow Up for a different fresh Monster. Spending Reaction on an ability therefore trades away the Reaction Defense → Defensive Follow Up branch, not your basic right to Free Defend. A Reaction spent during the opponent’s turn stays spent through your next turn and refreshes only when that turn ends.
Follow Up — Reaction: after one of your Monsters fully resolves an attack paid with an Action or Bonus Action, an immediate Follow Up window opens if your Reaction is still available and you control another unfatigued Monster. You may spend the Reaction to make one normal attack with a different unfatigued Monster, or decline and keep the Reaction. If that first Follow Up resolves and you still control a third different unfatigued Monster, a Secondary Follow Up window opens. Secondary Follow Up costs no additional Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction, must use a Monster that made neither of the first two attacks, and cannot chain again. Both Follow Ups use normal targeting, defense, hit, damage, Nat 20, and Fatigue rules. Individual card abilities may explicitly break the universal different-Monster restrictions.
The defender commits their block and/or Reaction before seeing the roll. A revealed natural 20 against a Persona is unblockable and hits the Persona directly. A natural 20 against a Monster or an undefended Persona also grants Damage Advantage for that attack; a natural 20 that bypasses a defending Monster only forces the Persona hit through and rolls damage normally. Attack Advantage rolls two d20s and keeps the higher; Disadvantage keeps the lower. Damage Advantage rolls the full damage dice twice and keeps the higher result; Damage Disadvantage keeps the lower. Inspired rolls non-d20 dice twice and keeps the higher result, while Cursed keeps the lower. Matching Advantage/Disadvantage cancel, including critical Damage Advantage against an existing Damage Disadvantage.
Events begin hidden, are once per game, and contain exactly one ability. Each player may activate or trigger only one Event per round. A manual Event uses its own EVENT activation and spends no Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction. A Triggered Event reveals and resolves automatically when its printed condition occurs and likewise spends no resource; if an Event already resolved for that player during the round, later Event triggers wait unused. Events are deliberately match-warping cards, not minor utility: their effects may wipe an opposing Field, swing the entire Field to Advantage or Disadvantage, fully restore a battle line, evacuate an opposing Field, reclaim Recovery, or create an explosive resource turn. Because each Event is once per game, timing it well is part of its power. An effect that grants an additional Action adds a separate Action for the current turn rather than merely refreshing the normal one.
An Event may resolve immediately and be Buried, or remain revealed in its Event Zone for its printed duration. A lasting Event keeps its ability active and displays its remaining rounds; for example, “all friendly Monsters are Inspired for 4 rounds.” Active Events are cards on the Field and may be selected and destroyed by opposing Events, Hexes, or Utilities. Destroying an active Event immediately removes every ongoing effect sourced by it, then moves it to Buried.
Every Hex still spends its printed Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction. A resistance roll happens only when the effect metadata explicitly names a VIGOR Check or SKILL Check; effects with no named Check resolve without one. Every checked ability prints its type and passing number on the card, such as VIGOR 12+. VIGOR is d20 + current DMG and SKILL is d20 + current AIM. An opposing Monster uses its own live stats. A friendly Monster never rolls against a friendly effect. A Persona uses its own stats. Every non-creature card—including an active Event, activated Hex, or activated Utility—uses its controller Persona's DMG for VIGOR or AIM for SKILL. A natural 20 always resists and a natural 1 always fails. On a passed check the effect is prevented, but its cost and normal Recovery/Buried movement still happen.
A Reaction effect may answer an opposing non-creature activation with “destroy it and negate the effect.” The activated card first makes the listed Persona-backed VIGOR or SKILL Check. On failure, its effect never resolves and the activated card is destroyed; on success, the activation continues normally. Persistent Events and attached Utilities may carry this response while they remain on the Field.
Health Costs: an activated effect may pay HP instead of spending an Action, Bonus Action, or Reaction. Its card badge explicitly reads PERSONA -X HP or CREATURE -X HP before the ability text, matching the payer and amount stored in metadata. Health payments use real HP, ignore Ward and Temp HP, and are legal only when the payer will remain above 0 HP after paying. Paying HP is a cost, not effect damage, so it cannot be prevented.
Cleanse: remove every negative effect from the chosen friendly Persona or Monster. This includes Fatigue, Cursed/Hex effects, attack Disadvantage, Snake Eyes, and negative AIM, DMG, or AC modifiers. Cleanse does not remove positive effects, Temp HP, or Ward.
Temp HP and Ward: Temp HP may be placed on a Persona or friendly Monster and remains until damage consumes it. Temp HP never stacks: a new Temp HP value replaces the old one only when the new value is higher. A Monster with Temp HP shows a blue value tag on the card and a blue outline. Ward is separate damage prevention. Multiple Wards may stack, but every Ward lasts only until the next turn begins if it is not consumed first. A Ward created on your turn therefore disappears when the enemy turn begins; a Ward created during the enemy turn as defense disappears when your turn begins.
Events without a lasting duration are normally buried when their effect finishes. Reusable Hexes and Utilities enter Recovery; permanently consumed or destroyed cards are buried. Equipment attaches to a legal Monster or Persona and follows its configured host-leave behavior.
Recovery is temporary. The Buried pile holds defeated Monsters, destroyed cards, used Events, and permanently consumed cards. Buried cards return only through an explicit effect.
For private play, both players choose a valid saved Loadout, enter one room, and mark READY. For solo play, choose your Loadout and one of six AI difficulties. The bot may mirror a saved Loadout or use GENERATE RANDOM, which builds a separate format-legal deck from the current playable card pool according to that difficulty. Standard generators make 12-card Loadouts; Attrition generators make 25-card decks with no more than three Events.
Training may produce intentionally awkward compositions—including no deck Monsters or a 1 Monster / 1 Utility / 1 Event / 9 Hex pile. Higher difficulties increasingly favor coherent, high-value builds; Nightmare rotates among offensive Onslaught, Execution, and Ascension shells, prioritizing projected round damage, Giant pressure, and direct lethal instead of passive control loops. Impossible is different: it has no fixed in-match archetype. It searches the current position, builds a live model of this opponent's tendencies during the match, simulates legal action sequences and the opponent's strongest replies, samples uncertain combat outcomes, and chooses the highest-value line before re-evaluating after each resolved move. Both formats persist authoritative state for refresh/reconnect, and generated AI cards obey the same uniqueness, three-Event maximum, legal actions, costs, rolls, effects, and victory rules as human cards.