A game of divine struggle for 3-6 Players

I n the Age of Myth, gods and goddesses vie for domain over the mortal world. The arenas of these great struggles are the mighty cities of the

ancients. Can you sway mankind to your cause with an awesome display of your divine power? Or will you be just another forgotten myth?

Contents:2 Reference Cards12 gods and goddesses30 City Cards60 Deity Cards60 Mortal Cards264 Domain Tokens

Object of the GameIn Myth: Pantheons, you are an immortal god or goddess of ancient origin. You will muster your divine might to sway the greatest cities of the mortals, using your powers and your followers to win a series of challenges. Each challenge is an opportunity to gain influence in the five domains: Harvest, Weather, the Heavens, Death, and War. Focus the fervent faith of your devoted followers to cement your control of the pillars of civilization. Call upon your special powers to summon a storm or prophecy the skeins of time and war. Marshal your powers well, and rule all of creation!

SetupEach player chooses a god or goddess, and takes all six cards picturing that deity. The portrait card (god card) is played face up in front of you, so all can see which god or goddess you have become. The five numbered cards (called deity cards) form your starting hand.

Shuffle the city cards and create a city deck in the middle of the playing area. Turn over the top city card so all can see where the first challenge takes place.

Shuffle the mortal cards and deal seven to each deity. The remaining cards form a draw deck. Turn over the top card of the deck and place it next to the first city card. This card determines the Ruling Domain for the first challenge.

Randomly determine the first Leading Deity.

The EpochsA complete game of Myth: Pantheons is played over three epochs. During each epoch, you play a series of challenges. The first deity to win the required number of challenges gains control of the current city. After each challenge, the deities invoke special effects from the cards they have played and perform Divine Acts to strengthen their position or harm their rivals. When any deity runs out of mortal cards, the current epoch ends as soon as the current city is claimed. At the end of the epoch, all deities may perform a final Divine Act. All mortal cards are discarded and shuffled together, and seven new cards are dealt to each deity. When the third epoch is complete, the game ends.

ChallengesDuring a challenge, each deity plays one card (mortal or deity) to influence mankind. The most powerful card wins the challenge, and the deity who played it becomes the new Leading Deity and Champion. If you win the required number of challenges, you claim the face up city card.

The Leading Deity plays the first card for the challenge. Choose any card from your hand and play it face up on the table in front of you (this is the ìlead cardi). Every card shows one of the five domains. The lead card determines which domain is the focus of the challenge.

The other deities, in clockwise order, also play one card face up in front of them. On your turn, if you have any mortal cards that match the domain of the lead card, the card you play must show the same domain. If you have no mortal cards that match the lead card, then you can play any card from your hand.

After all deities have played one card, the challenge is resolved. If any cards showing the current Ruling Domain were played, the highest numbered card of the Ruling Domain wins the challenge. If no Ruling Domain cards were played, then the highest numbered card matching the domain of the lead card wins. If two or more cards of the same value would win the challenge, the earliest of those cards played wins the tie.

Claiming CitiesThe Champion counts the number of challenges he has won. If he or she has won challenges equal to or greater than the challenge value shown on the city card, that deity immediately claims the city. Place the number of Followers (Harvest tokens) shown in the upper right corner of the city card onto that card. Turn the next city card face up.

Divine ActsIf you did not win the challenge, take one domain token that matches the domain of the card you played during the challenge. You can use these tokens to take special actions later in the game. Then, starting with the Champion, each deity in turn resolves the effects described on the cards they played during the challenge (unless the effect is a Divine Act). Then the Champion may perform one Divine Act, either from his god or goddess card, or a location he controls, or by spending a domain token. You may choose to pass when it is your turn to act. Some card effects may also allow deities to perform Divine Acts. These actions are taken in turn order. The winner should stack all the cards played in the challenge, and place them in front of him or her, to remember who has won the challenge.

If no deity can claim the city, then a new challenge begins. The winner of the last challenge is now the Leading Deity, and starts the challenge by playing a card from his or her hand.

If you do not possess mortal cards in your hand at the beginning of a challenge, you must announce this. Once a deity runs out of mortal cards, the current epoch draws to a close. As soon as the current city card is claimed by a challenge winner, the epoch ends. If you have no mortal cards on your turn during a challenge, then you may choose to pass or play a deity card. If all deities pass during a challenge, then the current city is discarded, and the epoch ends.

When the last challenge of the epoch has been resolved, collect and shuffle all the mortal cards. Deal seven new cards to each deity. Turn over a new Ruling Domain card and a new city card. Before the new epoch begins, each deity (starting to the left of the Leading Deity) may each perform one Divine Act.

Deity CardsYour deity cards represent your ability to directly influence mere mortals, within one of the five domains. You can play a deity card any time a mortal card of the same domain could legally be played. But, once played, deity cards are discarded for the rest of the game, so use your deity cards wisely! Unlike mortal cards, you are never forced to play deity cards. It is always optional.

Deity cards always have effects that you can invoke at the end of the challenge. If the deity card refers to the ìnext challenge,i it applies even if the next challenge is at a new city or even a different epoch. If a deity card ever contradicts these rules, the deity card is always right!

Domain TokensDomain tokens represent the influence a deity has accumulated within a domain. When you gain a token, place it in front of you face down (you can examine your own tokens at any time).

A deity may use tokens to perform a variety of Divine Acts during the game. If a token is attached to a city, then that token cannot be used or spent or moved (unless a card effect or Divine Act says otherwise). The effect of a token depends on the domain it represents:

HArvEST is the provenance of deities with an interest in life. Those who oversee birth, fertility, food, farming, plants, and animals are represented by the Harvest domain.

Sow Grain: Spend one Harvest token to draw one or two mortal cards

Followers: Attach one or more Harvest tokens to one of your cities. A city with no Harvest tokens cannot use any abilities printed on it.

Important: The deity with the most Followers in his cities wins the game!

WEATHEr can be harsh, mild, helpful, or harmful, in almost any endeavor of life. Whether it is farmers praying for the right mix of sun and rain for their crops, merchants seeking a break in a blizzard to continue their caravan, or divine winds destroying an invading fleet, mortals see the hand of the gods in the sea, clouds, and storms.

Change the Winds: Spend one Weather token to change the Ruling Domain to any domain of your choice (use a domain token to show your choice).

Protective Storm: Attach one or more Weather tokens to one of your cities. This protects your Followers in that city from invading armies.

THE HEAvEnS encompass the sun, moon, stars, planets, the eternal cosmos, and time itself. In many mythologies, the gods live and act within the heavens, so rulership of the gods is included here as well.

Prophesy: Spend one Heavens token to look at the top five cards of the city deck. Put any number of them on the bottom of the deck and the rest on top in any order you choose.

Protection: Attach one or more Heavens tokens to one of your cities. This protects your Followers there from the plague.

DEATH comes to all mortals over time. The realm of death includes not only the moment of departure from life, but also what comes just before - such as plagues and famine - and the judgment and afterlife which follow.

Purging: Spend one Death token to discard up to two mortal cards from your hand.

Plague: Spend any number of Death tokens to remove the same number of Harvest or Heavens tokens from a single city of your choice. If there are Heavens tokens on that city, they must be removed before any Harvest tokens.

WAr is a very human activity, but one which has always been divinely influenced. Through all the ages, warriors have called upon the gods for their blessing before marching into battle.

Hero: Spend one War token to add +3 to a mortal or deity card’s value. Use this ability as you play a mortal or deity card. This does not count as a Divine Act.

Invasion: Spend a number of War tokens equal to the challenge value of an opponent’s city plus the number of Weather tokens attached to it. Discard the city and all tokens on it.

Note: Any time you are spending tokens you may trade in three of the same token for one of any other token.

The godsAmaterasuThe Japanese goddess of the sun illuminates the heavens and rules over the higher celestial plain, just as her descendants rule over Japan. From her place in the heavens she sees all, and uses this knowledge to guide and protect her people.

AnansiThis west African trickster is central to dozens of stories of trickery and deceit. He excels at throwing the plans of others into complete disarray.

AnubisThe Egyptian god of the underworld passes judgment over the dead and guides them into the afterlife. With his intimate knowledge of death and rebirth, he is able bring others to an early rest and salvage victory from what has already passed.

AthenaThe Greek goddess of righteous warfare and protector of Athens guides heroes with wit and wisdom, and inspires the tactician planning his campaign. As an intelligent soldier, she brings strategy to warfare and conquers the unrighteous.

GaneshThe Hindu Lord of Obstacles raises and removes barriers while overseeing beginnings, arts and sciences. He blockades the unworthy as he breaks down barriers in the paths of his followers.

JupiterThe grandfather of Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome, is the king of the Roman pantheon, ruling over law and order. As a king and conqueror, he strikes down his foes with bolts of lightning while using his wisdom to adjudicate difficult situations.

MorriganThe Celtic mistress of battlefields prophesies death in battle and dooms her enemies. Her followers bring death and destruction to Ireland’s foes.

Quan YinThe Chinese goddess of compassion teaches the way to Nirvana on the path of mercy and aid to others. She brings peace, healing, and tranquility to all, turning aside death and letting abundance enter in its place.

QuetzalcoatlThe Mesoamerican god of the morning star is also the patron of learning, knowledge, and the priesthood; bestowing on his people such blessings as maize and the calendar. He provides glimpses into the future while continuing the cycle of death and rebirth, allowing his followers to multiply.

ThorThe Norse god of storms rides the skies on his goat-drawn chariot carrying fierce winds, lashing rains, and crashing thunder into the world. With his mighty hammer and the bolts of lightning, he paralyzes his foes and shows the strength of the storm in overwhelming opposition.

TiamatThe Babylonian goddess of chaos and creation stood at the dawn of time giving birth to the earliest deities, eventually becoming the heavens and the earth. She personifies the ever-changing nature of chaos and the sea, and her actions in all realms can not be predicted.

White Buffalo WomanThe Lakota ancestral spirit of peace and prosperity offers food in time of famine, brings the sacred pipe, and teaches rituals. Her way is the path of fertility, prosperity, and growth, eschewing destruction in favor of plentiful bounty.

Winning the GameAt the end of the third epoch, it is time for the reckoning of the gods. The deity with the most Followers (Harvest tokens) on his cities wins the game. Harvest tokens that are not on a city card are not counted. If there is a tie for the most Followers, the tied deity with the most cities wins. If it is still a tie, then the game is a draw.

Example of PlayThor, Anubis, Athena, and Quan Yin have all sat down for a game of Myth: Pantheons (sitting around a big table in the underworld in that order). The face-up city card is Ethiopia. The current Leading Domain is Harvest.

Thor won the previous challenge and is the Leading Deity. He plays the first card and opens with Weather V. Anubis wants to play Death, but still has two Weather mortal cards in his hand, so he must play one of those — and follows the Domain with the Weather III. Athena is out of Weather cards, and plays one of her Deity cards — Discipline of War — which is the War VI. Athena knows she cannot win this challenge, but wants the extra War Tokens. Quan Yin is also out of Weather cards, and plays the Harvest IV.

Title

Card value

Population

Challenge rating

Domain

Special Ability

Now that everyone has played, the Challenge is over and the value of mortal and deity cards are compared.Normally, Thor would win the Challenge, because he has the highest card within the original Leading Domain.

Athena’s VI would not win despite the high number, because it is the wrong Domain. However, Quan Yin’s Harvest card is in the Ruling Domain, so it wins the Challenge.

Since the city’s Challenge Value is only one, Quan Yin claims Ethiopia. Ethiopia has no special ability, so Quan Yin merely places four Follower tokens and places them on the city as she places it next to her god card.

Since the remaining players did not win the challenge, each draws the appropriate token — Thor and Anubis gain one Weather token each, while Athena gains one War Token — before card effects are resolved. Starting with the Quan Yin, each card is resolved and each player that can gains a Divine Act.

In this instance, Quan Yin, moves one of her Weather tokens to Ethiopia. Next, Thor, who played a Weather V, gains a Divine Act as well, playing one Weather token to change the Ruling Domain to Death (he has a lot of this in his hand at the moment). Anubis played a Weather III, but did not win the Challenge, so he does nothing. Athena used a Deity card that gave her two additional War Tokens, which she draws now.

Since no player is out of Mortal Cards, a new Challenge begins, with Quan Yin as the Leading Deity.

Order of Play• Leading Deity plays the first card.

• Other players Follow Domain if they have any mortal cards of that Domain, and play any card otherwise. They are not required to play Deity cards and can pass if they are out of Mortal cards.

• Player with highest Ruling Domain wins the Challenge. If no Ruling Domain was played, the highest card in the original Leading Domain wins.

• If the Champion has won enough challenges, claim the city.

• Each player who did not win takes a token matching the Domain played.

• The Champion may take one Divine Act.

• Each other player who has received the right to do so may play a Divine Act. The Champion is the new Leading Deity. If it is not the end of the epoch, begin a new challenge.

End of EpochIf a city is claimed and any player has no mortal cards, or if all players pass, the Epoch ends.

• Shuffle all mortal cards together.

• Reveal a new city.

• Each player performs one Divine Act, starting to the left of the Leading Deity.

• If the third epoch just ended, the game is over. Otherwise, begin the first challenge of the new epoch.

Credits:Designer: Brent Keith Developer: Jon Hall

eDitor: William Neibling Art: Gonzalo Ordonez

proDuction MAnAger: Dave Lepore grAphic Design: Rodney Saenz, Nate Barnes

plAytesters: David Strutz, Joe Babbitt, jim pinto

Special thanks to Joan Keith, who provided research and inspiration for Myth.