Archmage

Archmage is a euro-thematic hybrid, where players take on the role of fledgling Mages, traveling the lands to recover ancient relics, gather followers, and train apprentices in six spheres of magic and beyond. As the power of their Order grows, they will pit apprentices against each other, and attain unheard of spells and magical powers, building their own Mage tower to watch over the lands and weave their magics.

When the time of reckoning comes, a new Archmage will rule.

Each turn is formed of two phases:

1. The Journey: A Mage travels across the map (formed of hex tiles): discovering new locations; deploying followers to gather relics from Ruins, Libraries, Sacred Glades, and other locations sacred to each of the mythic races; and encountering and dealing with the followers of their opponents.
2. Journey's End: A Mage will finish each Journey in a specific location where they can perform a specific action.
-Ending a Journey on a Town will let the Mage call on their Followers to deliver the relics and resources they have gathered.
-Ending in a Settlement (where the spurned descendants of the Mages fled after the Ending) will let a Mage recruit more Followers to their Order.
-Ending with a Mythic Race will let the Mage train Followers as Apprentices specialising in the magic of that Mythic Race (at a cost of the Relics with which the magic must be weaved).
-Ending in the Wilderness will let the Mage's followers take more physical control over the area.
-Ending in the Mage's Tower (once it has been built), will let the Mage train and test their Apprentices. On the floor of the tower (player board) is a mandala in which the Apprentices stand. Moving apprentices on the mandala will change the sorts of spells the Order has access to. Testing apprentices sees one apprentice advance to a higher level and allows an Order to discover new spells and magics beyond what any of the Mythic Races could individually know, and to add to those magics to their spell library.

Spells provide Mages with a range of options for strategic and tactical play. Archmage has a modular spell system, with 18 spells included in the base game, and expansions planned to add more sets. Spells are used by expending a cost in Relics, the magical currency of the game that is unique to each mythic race.

The game is played over a number of turns, depending on the player count. After the last turn, the Mage with the most powerful Order of Mages, is declared the new Archmage and power is restored to the lands... until the next time!