The House player to the left of Dark Arts goes first. A House turn has one main action: Explore, Learn or Replenish. Explore uses a card, Learn acquires a card, and Replenish refreshes your hand. Eligible free actions are additional; the three main actions are alternatives.
Based on the publisher’s rulebook ↗Choose one main action
Eligible free actions are additional. These are alternatives, not three consecutive steps.
| Action | Check first | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Explore | Read the card’s movement and effect. | Resolve its movement and/or effect in either order. Discard the played card at turn end. |
| Learn | At least one of your pawns must be outside Protected Areas. | Discard one card for a normal acquisition, or two for an advanced acquisition and one Loyalty step. The acquired card goes on top of your draw deck. |
| Replenish | Compare the new hand with the Dark Arts advance. | Discard any number, draw to five, revive your stunned pawns, then advance Dark Arts once. |
A worked Explore example
ILLUSTRATIVE EXAMPLE · NOT A REQUIRED OPENING
- Choose a card with a single movement value of four.
- Choose one of your un-stunned pawns. Check a legal route before moving: obstacles require the relevant card effect.
- Move that pawn up to four spaces. You do not have to spend all four movement points.
- Resolve the card’s effect before or after movement, as allowed by its text. Finish applicable free actions, then discard the played card.
This is a rules example, not a claim that one opening move is always best. Your hand, locations and board position determine a useful destination.
Official rulebook · printed pp. 16–17 ↗Three mistakes to avoid
Do not take all three main actions. Extra actions need a rule or card effect that permits them.
Do not put a learned card straight into your hand. It goes face-down on top of your draw deck.
Do not treat a “3 + 3” movement value as a freely divisible six. It moves two pawns up to three spaces each, or one pawn up to six—not one by two and the other by four.
Official rulebook · printed pp. 16–17 ↗