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** The Life essence can be attacked, which forces you to pay that amount in Life, or ''twice'' that amount in other essences. This makes everything that costs Life a pseudo-way of paying HP for stuff even though the main purpose of Life essence is still to be spent on stuff.
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** The Life essence can be attacked, which forces you to pay that amount in Life, or ''twice'' that amount in other essences. This makes everything that costs Life a pseudo-way of paying HP for stuff even though the main purpose of Life essence is still to be spent on stuff. Some of the game pieces have flavour that highlight the fact that you're paying with life, such as the [[MidasTouch Ring of Midas]] letting you exchange Life for Gold, reflecting Midas's curse.
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* SmartPeopleWearGlasses: The male Demonologist wears glasses and is implied to be intelligent -- he's portrayed studying a book, and he's capable of growing demons in PeopleJars.
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* RobeAndWizardHat: The Warlock[[note]]A cosmetic {{Gender Flip}}ped version of the Witch available in the ''Alternative Mages Pack'' for the base game.[[/note]] wears a pointy hat and a cape.
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* GenderFlip: The ''Alternative Mage Packs'' contain gender-flipped re-imaginings of the [[GenderEqualEnsemble gender-equal ensembles of mages]].
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''Res Arcana'' is an engine-building board game where [[AlchemyIsMagic alchemical mages]] use magical items and their own unique powers to gather and manipulate essences, which can be spent on crafting helpful artifacts, summoning dragons, conquering Places of Power and constructing Monuments.
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''Res Arcana'' is an a fantasy-themed engine-building board game where [[AlchemyIsMagic alchemical mages]] use magical items and their own unique powers to gather and manipulate essences, which can be spent on crafting helpful artifacts, summoning dragons, conquering Places of Power and constructing Monuments.
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* SummonMagic: You can spend essences to summon helpful creatures, dragons and demons.
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* BlowThatHorn: The Conch Battle Horn is an example of a destructive horn: its first power creates a bunch of Death essences, and the second ability can destroy any one of your artifacts.
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* PhilosophersStone: The Philosopher's Stone is an expensive artifact that can convert any essence to gold on a 1-for-1 basis, which is the best rate in the game for this kind of effect. It's so powerful that the first ExpansionPack took several steps to {{Nerf}} strategies that revolve around it.
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* DragonHoard: The Dragon's Lair is implied to contain gold hoarded by dragons, as controlling it lets you collect a lot of gold.
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* TheBeastmaster: The Beastmaster is a mage whose use of animals is represented by the ability to turn an animal to generate essences. The original illustration features a woman handling a snake, while the GenderFlip is a man handling a crocodile.
* BloodSport: Implied. The Duelist can generate a Gold essence if you pay 1 Death essence. In other words, they kill their opponent and make money.
* BloodSport: Implied. The Duelist can generate a Gold essence if you pay 1 Death essence. In other words, they kill their opponent and make money.
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* CreepyCrows: The Raven Familiar sits on top of a skull and passively produces Death essence.
* CrystalBall: The male {{Seer|s}} uses a crystal ball.
* CrystalBall: The male {{Seer|s}} uses a crystal ball.
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* DragonTamer: The Dragon Tamer mage, whose control over dragons is represented by the ability to summon dragons at a discount, or straighten an existing dragon to allow it to act again. She is depicted as a woman who wears a dragon-themed outfit and wields a whip. The illustration also has several dragons in the background.
* {{Druid}}: The Druid is a mage whose connection to nature and life is represented by the ability to passively generate a Life essence per round, as well as the ability to straighten (i.e. reverse the exhaustion) of a creature. The original illustration portrays a female druid together with a wolf, while the [[GenderFlip male version]] gets a bear.
* {{Druid}}: The Druid is a mage whose connection to nature and life is represented by the ability to passively generate a Life essence per round, as well as the ability to straighten (i.e. reverse the exhaustion) of a creature. The original illustration portrays a female druid together with a wolf, while the [[GenderFlip male version]] gets a bear.
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* FortuneTeller: The female {{Seer|s}} resembles a FortuneTeller who uses cards to tell the future.
* GenderEqualEnsemble: The mages consist of five men (Scholar, Duelist, Healer, Alchemist, Artificer) and five women (Witch, Necromancer, Seer, Transmuter, Druid). The {{Expansion Pack}}s add two more mages of each gender: ''Lux et Tenebrae'' adds the Bard and the Diviner (male), and the Beastmaster and the Demonologist (female). ''Perlae Imperii'' adds the Infuser and the Seafarer (male) and the Illusionist and the Dragon Tamer (female). Moreover, the ''Alternative Mage Packs'' feature {{Gender Flip|ped}} sets of mages, which are also balanced.
* GhostShip: The Ghost Ship is a demon in the form of an abandoned ship. Its abilities let you pay 1 Life essence to place an artifact from your discard pile, or spend 1 Death to get 1 Gold.
* GenderEqualEnsemble: The mages consist of five men (Scholar, Duelist, Healer, Alchemist, Artificer) and five women (Witch, Necromancer, Seer, Transmuter, Druid). The {{Expansion Pack}}s add two more mages of each gender: ''Lux et Tenebrae'' adds the Bard and the Diviner (male), and the Beastmaster and the Demonologist (female). ''Perlae Imperii'' adds the Infuser and the Seafarer (male) and the Illusionist and the Dragon Tamer (female). Moreover, the ''Alternative Mage Packs'' feature {{Gender Flip|ped}} sets of mages, which are also balanced.
* GhostShip: The Ghost Ship is a demon in the form of an abandoned ship. Its abilities let you pay 1 Life essence to place an artifact from your discard pile, or spend 1 Death to get 1 Gold.
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* MidasTouch: The Ring of Midas is a nod to the Midas touch -- it can be turned to make gold, but also references the downside of Midas's power with its ability to turn ''life essences'' into gold.
* {{Necromancer}}: One of the mages is the Necromancer, who passively provides one Death essence per round and can spend 2 Life to get you 3 more Death essences in the next round, which can be spent on death-related stuff like the Crypt or Catacombs of the Dead. The original illustration is a woman holding a skull from which a SicklyGreenGlow comes, and the GenderFlip has a man with creepy grey skin holding two mysterious items.
* {{Necromancer}}: One of the mages is the Necromancer, who passively provides one Death essence per round and can spend 2 Life to get you 3 more Death essences in the next round, which can be spent on death-related stuff like the Crypt or Catacombs of the Dead. The original illustration is a woman holding a skull from which a SicklyGreenGlow comes, and the GenderFlip has a man with creepy grey skin holding two mysterious items.
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* OurHomunculiAreDifferent: The Homunculus is a scaly demon grown in a [[PeopleJars jar]]. Its effects are giving a discount on other Demons and generating essences.
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* PeopleJars:
** The male Demonologist has three jars containing demons on and around his desk.desk.
** The [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent Homunculus]] is a scaly demon grown in a jar.
** The male Demonologist has three jars containing demons on and around his desk.desk.
** The [[OurHomunculiAreDifferent Homunculus]] is a scaly demon grown in a jar.
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* SeaSerpents: The Sea Serpent is a large underwater serpent with scales, fins and a draconic head. It has the unique property of counting as both a Creature and a Dragon, and in the base game it's both the most expensive artifact to play and the one with the nastiest attack.
* {{Seer|s}}: Two mages are themed after the ability to see the future:
** The Seer's power to see the future is represented by the ability to look at the top 3 cards of a deck (your artifact deck or the Monuments deck) and rearrange them. The original illustration resembles a female FortuneTeller who uses cards to tell the future, while the [[GenderFlip male version]] uses a CrystalBall.
** The Diviner has a more aggressive variation: immediately drawing 3 cards then discarding 3, the same as the ability of the Divination magic item. The original illustration resembles a male shaman, while the [[GenderFlip female variation]] appears to use divine inspiration.
* {{Seer|s}}: Two mages are themed after the ability to see the future:
** The Seer's power to see the future is represented by the ability to look at the top 3 cards of a deck (your artifact deck or the Monuments deck) and rearrange them. The original illustration resembles a female FortuneTeller who uses cards to tell the future, while the [[GenderFlip male version]] uses a CrystalBall.
** The Diviner has a more aggressive variation: immediately drawing 3 cards then discarding 3, the same as the ability of the Divination magic item. The original illustration resembles a male shaman, while the [[GenderFlip female variation]] appears to use divine inspiration.
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* ThievingMagpie: A raven's love for shiny objects gets a nod with the Raven Familiar, whose power is triggered by you gaining gold. However, for gameplay reasons, it gives you a wild essence instead of stealing anything.
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* BalanceBuff:
** Both creatures and dragons suffered from being underwhelming in the base game, leading to the expansions making efforts to make them more usable. (In contrast, the Demon type introduced in ''Lux et Tenebrae'' did well and received next to no additional support in ''Perlae Imperii''.):
*** For creatures, ''Lux et Tenebrae'' added the Beastmaster, which can turn itself and a creature to generate two essences, which is helpful because creatures' turning powers tend to be situational, underwhelming or nonexistent. Also, the Gate of Hell lets you sacrifice creatures for Victory Points, which gives them another use (trying to repeatedly sacrifice cheap ones), or just creating an additional payoff at the end of the game. ''Perlae Imperii'' adds an additional creature-centric Place of Power with the Mystical Menagerie.
*** To mitigate the dragons' status as AwesomeButImpractical outside of Dragon's Lair strategies, both expansions bring in new game pieces to help them: ''Lux et Tenebrae'' gives them a new Place of Power with the Dragon Aerie. ''Perlae Imperii'' adds the Dragon Tamer, a mage tailored for them with one power that makes them cheaper and one power that straightens them.
** The attack mechanic is underwhelming in the base game. With the exception of the Elvish Bow, each attack power is tied to an AwesomeButImpractical expensive dragon that has no additional ability as a fallback in case your target has a protection effect, or is just capable of exploiting the "ignore" clauses on the Dragon attacks. In contrast, the attacking ''Lux et Tenebrae'' demons have decent fallback abilities and no "ignore" clauses.
** Both creatures and dragons suffered from being underwhelming in the base game, leading to the expansions making efforts to make them more usable. (In contrast, the Demon type introduced in ''Lux et Tenebrae'' did well and received next to no additional support in ''Perlae Imperii''.):
*** For creatures, ''Lux et Tenebrae'' added the Beastmaster, which can turn itself and a creature to generate two essences, which is helpful because creatures' turning powers tend to be situational, underwhelming or nonexistent. Also, the Gate of Hell lets you sacrifice creatures for Victory Points, which gives them another use (trying to repeatedly sacrifice cheap ones), or just creating an additional payoff at the end of the game. ''Perlae Imperii'' adds an additional creature-centric Place of Power with the Mystical Menagerie.
*** To mitigate the dragons' status as AwesomeButImpractical outside of Dragon's Lair strategies, both expansions bring in new game pieces to help them: ''Lux et Tenebrae'' gives them a new Place of Power with the Dragon Aerie. ''Perlae Imperii'' adds the Dragon Tamer, a mage tailored for them with one power that makes them cheaper and one power that straightens them.
** The attack mechanic is underwhelming in the base game. With the exception of the Elvish Bow, each attack power is tied to an AwesomeButImpractical expensive dragon that has no additional ability as a fallback in case your target has a protection effect, or is just capable of exploiting the "ignore" clauses on the Dragon attacks. In contrast, the attacking ''Lux et Tenebrae'' demons have decent fallback abilities and no "ignore" clauses.
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* {{Nerf}}: ''Lux et Tenebrae'' nerfs strategies that revolve around Monuments in multiple ways. The most notable are reducing the number of them in play and adding more ways to get gold, which makes it more likely that your opponent will grab enough good ones to make it impossible for you to win through Monuments alone.
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* {{Nerf}}: ''Lux et Tenebrae'' nerfs two common strategies from the base game:
** It weakens strategies that revolve around Monuments in multiple ways. The most notable are reducing the number of them in play (at least for 2 players) and adding more ways to get gold, which makes it more likely that your opponent will grab enough good ones to make it impossible for you to win through Monumentsalone.alone.
** Thanks to the addition of the affordable attack card Fire Demon, it's now riskier to be a Witch player who just aims to grab the Dragon's Lair or Catacombs of the Dead as soon as possible, and then straighten them over and over with the Witch's power. If you try to do that now, resources are tight enough that a Fire Demon's attacks can screw you over.
** It weakens strategies that revolve around Monuments in multiple ways. The most notable are reducing the number of them in play (at least for 2 players) and adding more ways to get gold, which makes it more likely that your opponent will grab enough good ones to make it impossible for you to win through Monuments
** Thanks to the addition of the affordable attack card Fire Demon, it's now riskier to be a Witch player who just aims to grab the Dragon's Lair or Catacombs of the Dead as soon as possible, and then straighten them over and over with the Witch's power. If you try to do that now, resources are tight enough that a Fire Demon's attacks can screw you over.
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* SymmetricEffect:
** The Warrior's Hall has a power that gives every player one Elan essence. It's a fairly weak ability, but it can be worth using if you really want that essence and know your opponent(s) can't do much with it.
** The Catherine Wheel has a unique attack that hurts every player ''including'' its user. Its main use is to set up the Wheel's second ability, which grants three wild resources whenever you use a protection ability to ignore an attack.
** The Warrior's Hall has a power that gives every player one Elan essence. It's a fairly weak ability, but it can be worth using if you really want that essence and know your opponent(s) can't do much with it.
** The Catherine Wheel has a unique attack that hurts every player ''including'' its user. Its main use is to set up the Wheel's second ability, which grants three wild resources whenever you use a protection ability to ignore an attack.
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* LatinIsMagic: It's an alchemy-themed game with the Latin title ''Res Arcana'' ("Arcane Things"). Its {{Expansion Pack}}s ''Lux et Tenebrae'' ("Light and Darkness") and ''Perlae Imperii'' ("Pearls of Power") have Latin names as well.
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* DigitalTabletopGameAdaptation: The game is available on Board Game Arena.
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* VanillaUnit:
** All Monuments have a power. The exception is the Great Pyramid, which compensates by being the only one worth 3 points instead of 1 or 2. Additionally, the Obelisk is a virtual vanilla that gets you 6 essences when you buy it, but does nothing after that point.
** The Nightingale is a creature that's worth a Victory Point, but has no power.
** All Monuments have a power. The exception is the Great Pyramid, which compensates by being the only one worth 3 points instead of 1 or 2. Additionally, the Obelisk is a virtual vanilla that gets you 6 essences when you buy it, but does nothing after that point.
** The Nightingale is a creature that's worth a Victory Point, but has no power.
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* FirstPlayerAdvantageMitigation: For the first round, magic items are drafted in the opposite of the play order. This gives the later players the chance to grab a good one, which helps compensate for how they're at risk of falling behind in the race for Places of Power and Monuments.
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** The Mystical Menagerie's card draw ability has a "your deck has card" clause to shut down an infinite loop with Guard Dog.[[labelnote:explanation]]Tap Guard Dog and spend a Calm to draw a card. Discard the card you just drew for one Calm and one Elan. You can now spend the Elan to untap the Dog, and the Calm to draw another card.[[/labelnote]]
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** The Mystical Menagerie's card draw ability power has a "your deck has card" cards" clause to shut down an infinite loop with Guard Dog.[[labelnote:explanation]]Tap Guard Dog and spend a Calm to draw a card. Discard the card you just drew for one Calm and one Elan. You can now spend the Elan to untap the Dog, and the Calm to draw another card.[[/labelnote]]
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* ObviousRulePatch: The Ancient Dragon, a particularly expensive dragon in the ''Perlae Imperii'' ExpansionPack, says that it can't be placed by Dragon Teeth[[note]]which normally lets you pay three essences to play a dragon for free[[/note]] or discarded with Sacrificial Dagger.[[note]]which would get you a burst of 12 essences, a net gain of 5 in just two actions[[/note]]
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* ObviousRulePatch: ObviousRulePatch:
** The Ancient Dragon, a particularly expensive dragon in the ''Perlae Imperii'' ExpansionPack, says that it can't be placed by Dragon Teeth[[note]]which normally lets you pay three essences to play a dragon for free[[/note]] or discarded with Sacrificial Dagger.[[note]]which would get you a burst of 12 essences, a net gain of 5 in just twoactions[[/note]]actions[[/note]]
** The Mystical Menagerie's card draw ability has a "your deck has card" clause to shut down an infinite loop with Guard Dog.[[labelnote:explanation]]Tap Guard Dog and spend a Calm to draw a card. Discard the card you just drew for one Calm and one Elan. You can now spend the Elan to untap the Dog, and the Calm to draw another card.[[/labelnote]]
** The Ancient Dragon, a particularly expensive dragon in the ''Perlae Imperii'' ExpansionPack, says that it can't be placed by Dragon Teeth[[note]]which normally lets you pay three essences to play a dragon for free[[/note]] or discarded with Sacrificial Dagger.[[note]]which would get you a burst of 12 essences, a net gain of 5 in just two
** The Mystical Menagerie's card draw ability has a "your deck has card" clause to shut down an infinite loop with Guard Dog.[[labelnote:explanation]]Tap Guard Dog and spend a Calm to draw a card. Discard the card you just drew for one Calm and one Elan. You can now spend the Elan to untap the Dog, and the Calm to draw another card.[[/labelnote]]
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* KingmakerScenario: If you play at three or more players, you may sometimes find yourself in situations where you can't win, but will decide which one of your opponents will win. Example scenario: Alice currently has ten points and no way to gain more. Bob has eight, but his engine can get him to twelve if the round is allowed to continue. You are too far behind to catch up, but you do have a Place of Power with a "check victory now" power. So, do you use the power and hand the victory to Alice, or pass and allow Bob to catch up and win during the end-of-round victory check?
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* YellowEarthGreenEarth: Among the [[ColorCodedElements colour-coded essences]], Life is the green-coded one. It's associated with cards related to animals and nature, such as the Druid, Beastmaster, Tree of Life, Sacred Grove, Mystical Menagerie and many creature cards.
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* GreenMeansNatural: Among the [[ColorCodedElements colour-coded essences]], Life is the green-coded one. It's associated with cards related to animals and nature, such as the Druid, Beastmaster, Tree of Life, Sacred Grove, Mystical Menagerie and many creature cards.
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* YellowEarthGreenEarth: Among the [[ColorCodedElements colour-coded essences]], Life is the green-coded one. It's associated with cards related to animals and nature, such as the Druid, Beastmaster, Tree of Life, Sacred Grove, Mystical Menagerie and many creature cards.
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* YellowEarthGreenEarth: Among the [[ColorCodedElements colour-coded essences]], Life is the green-coded one. It's associated with cards related to animals and nature, such as the Druid, Beastmaster, Tree of Life, Sacred Grove, Mystical Menagerie and many creature cards.cards.
* WaterIsBlue: Cards that portray water (Hypnotic Basin, Mermaid, Sunken Reef, Seafarer, Diving Cord, Blood Isle, Pearl Bed) have it drawn in blue. Additionally, the [[BlueIsCalm blue Calm essence]] resembles a drop of water.
* WaterIsBlue: Cards that portray water (Hypnotic Basin, Mermaid, Sunken Reef, Seafarer, Diving Cord, Blood Isle, Pearl Bed) have it drawn in blue. Additionally, the [[BlueIsCalm blue Calm essence]] resembles a drop of water.
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* DraftingMechanic:
** Players choose magic items from a common pool. When they pass for a round, they have to return it and take another one.
** All players buy Places of Power from a shared pool. They also have a shared pool of Monuments, which use the "shared deck and open display of a few cards" approach.
** The draft variation has players use the "select and pass" method to draft their artifact decks instead of just being dealt eight random artifact cards to use as their deck.
** Players choose magic items from a common pool. When they pass for a round, they have to return it and take another one.
** All players buy Places of Power from a shared pool. They also have a shared pool of Monuments, which use the "shared deck and open display of a few cards" approach.
** The draft variation has players use the "select and pass" method to draft their artifact decks instead of just being dealt eight random artifact cards to use as their deck.
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* BlueIsCalm: Among the ColorCodedElements, Calm is the blue-coded one. It's associated with cards with less intense flavour, such as the Seer, Healer, Nightingale, Mermaid, Hypnotic Basin and Sunken Reef.
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* BlueIsCalm: Among the ColorCodedElements, [[ColorCodedElements colour-coded essences]], Calm is the blue-coded one. It's associated with cards with less intense flavour, such as the Seer, Healer, Nightingale, Mermaid, Hypnotic Basin and Sunken Reef.
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* DarkIsEvil: Among the ColorCodedElements, Death is the black-coded one. It's associated with many evil-flavoured cards, like the Corrupt Altar, Gates of Hell, Cursed Forge, and almost everything related to Demons.
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* DarkIsEvil: Among the ColorCodedElements, [[ColorCodedElements colour-coded essences]], Death is the black-coded one. It's associated with many evil-flavoured cards, like the Corrupt Altar, Gates of Hell, Cursed Forge, and almost everything related to Demons.
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* RedIsViolent: Among the ColorCodedElements, Elan is the red-coded one. While there's more to it than just violence, it's associated with many violence-flavoured game pieces such as the Duelist, Fire Demon, Elvish Bow, Dancing Sword, Possessed Demon Slayer and dragon-related cards.
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* RedIsViolent: Among the ColorCodedElements, [[ColorCodedElements colour-coded essences]], Elan is the red-coded one. While there's more to it than just violence, it's associated with many violence-flavoured game pieces such as the Duelist, Fire Demon, Elvish Bow, Dancing Sword, Possessed Demon Slayer and dragon-related cards.
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* TakingTheBullet: Implied with ThePhoenix, whose card lets you ignore an attack at the cost of destroying the Phoenix.
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* TakingTheBullet: Implied with ThePhoenix, whose card lets you ignore an attack at the cost of destroying the Phoenix.Phoenix.
* YellowEarthGreenEarth: Among the [[ColorCodedElements colour-coded essences]], Life is the green-coded one. It's associated with cards related to animals and nature, such as the Druid, Beastmaster, Tree of Life, Sacred Grove, Mystical Menagerie and many creature cards.
* YellowEarthGreenEarth: Among the [[ColorCodedElements colour-coded essences]], Life is the green-coded one. It's associated with cards related to animals and nature, such as the Druid, Beastmaster, Tree of Life, Sacred Grove, Mystical Menagerie and many creature cards.
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* BlueIsCalm: Among the ColorCodedElements, Calm is the blue-coded one. It's associated with cards with less intense flavour, such as the Seer, Healer, Nightingale, Mermaid, Hypnotic Basin and Sunken Reef.
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* ColorCodedElements: The essences are colour-coded: Calm is blue, Elan is red, Life is green, Death is black, Gold is yellow, and Pearls are white.
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* ColorCodedElements: The essences are colour-coded: [[BlueIsCalm Calm is blue, blue]], [[RedIsViolent Elan is red, red]], Life is green, Death is black, Gold is yellow, and Pearls are white.
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* DarkIsEvil: Among the ColorCodedElements, Death is the black-coded one. It's associated with many evil-flavoured cards, like the Corrupt Altar, Gates of Hell, Cursed Forge, and almost everything related to Demons.
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* RedIsViolent: Among the ColorCodedElements, Elan is the red-coded one. While there's more to it than just violence, it's associated with many violence-flavoured game pieces such as the Duelist, Fire Demon, Elvish Bow, Dancing Sword, Possessed Demon Slayer and dragon-related cards.
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* AwesomeButImpractical:
** Playing a ton of artifacts is cool, but this method is usually too slow to win you games. Playing efficiently means discarding some cards for essences, especially in the late game when it's too late for essence-generating ones to pay off.
** The Dragons in the base game are worth a point each, and have attacks that can destroy some of your opponents' resources. They are also expensive enough to play that they usually aren't worth it unless you have Dragon synergies (which includes cards that let you play Dragons at a discount) or effects that care about high essence costs. To make matters worse, three of them have attacks that usually don't do much because your opponents can just pay for their cheap "ignore" clauses, and protection effects aren't that hard to come by.
** Windup Man can theoretically generate a ''lot'' of essences, but most games between experienced players end too quickly for it to pay off. The {{Expansion Pack}}s make it more usable, however.
** The Sorcerer's Bestiary has an ability that lets you play a Dragon from an ''opponent's'' discard pile[[note]]It also works on your own discard pile, but you'll often have better options for getting it back from there[[/note]]... by paying its normal cost and four more essences on top of that. Between the high cost (especially considering that most Dragons require a lot of specific essences) and the timing required (if you're too slow, the Dragon's owner might return it to their hand or shuffle their discard pile into a new deck), this is hard to pull off, especially if you don't have any cost reduction effects to offset the additional cost, and it's often not worth it due to the impracticality of the dragons themselves. However, if the stars do align, it's hilarious to steal an opponent's card and get ''three'' points off of it (one from the Dragon itself and two extra from the Bestiary's "two points per Dragon you control" ability).
** Playing a ton of artifacts is cool, but this method is usually too slow to win you games. Playing efficiently means discarding some cards for essences, especially in the late game when it's too late for essence-generating ones to pay off.
** The Dragons in the base game are worth a point each, and have attacks that can destroy some of your opponents' resources. They are also expensive enough to play that they usually aren't worth it unless you have Dragon synergies (which includes cards that let you play Dragons at a discount) or effects that care about high essence costs. To make matters worse, three of them have attacks that usually don't do much because your opponents can just pay for their cheap "ignore" clauses, and protection effects aren't that hard to come by.
** Windup Man can theoretically generate a ''lot'' of essences, but most games between experienced players end too quickly for it to pay off. The {{Expansion Pack}}s make it more usable, however.
** The Sorcerer's Bestiary has an ability that lets you play a Dragon from an ''opponent's'' discard pile[[note]]It also works on your own discard pile, but you'll often have better options for getting it back from there[[/note]]... by paying its normal cost and four more essences on top of that. Between the high cost (especially considering that most Dragons require a lot of specific essences) and the timing required (if you're too slow, the Dragon's owner might return it to their hand or shuffle their discard pile into a new deck), this is hard to pull off, especially if you don't have any cost reduction effects to offset the additional cost, and it's often not worth it due to the impracticality of the dragons themselves. However, if the stars do align, it's hilarious to steal an opponent's card and get ''three'' points off of it (one from the Dragon itself and two extra from the Bestiary's "two points per Dragon you control" ability).
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* HighlySpecificCounterplay: The Possessed Demon Slayer's second ability lets you ignore attacks from Demons. There are only two Demons capable of attacking (three if you're also using the ''Perlae Imperii'' expansion).
* LuckManipulationMechanic:
** The Seer and the Hawk have the ability to rearrange the top three cards of your deck or the Monuments deck.
** The Diviner and the Divination magic item let you draw three cards, and then discard three cards, which can give you a second chance to get something you want.
* LuckManipulationMechanic:
** The Seer and the Hawk have the ability to rearrange the top three cards of your deck or the Monuments deck.
** The Diviner and the Divination magic item let you draw three cards, and then discard three cards, which can give you a second chance to get something you want.
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* ObviousRulePatch: The Ancient Dragon, a particularly expensive dragon in the ''Perlae Imperii'' ExpansionPack, says that it can't be placed by Dragon Teeth[[note]]which normally lets you pay three essences to play a dragon for free[[/note]] or discarded with Sacrificial Dagger.[[note]]which would get you a burst of 12 essences, a net gain of 5 in just two actions[[/note]]
* OutOfTurnInteraction:
** "React" powers can be used out of your turn as long as the required situation happens (such as an attack or a victory check) and you can pay the cost.
** The ''Perlae Imperii'' ExpansionPack introduces pearls, which can be converted into other resources out of turn when using a React power or when responding to a React power condition.
* OutOfTurnInteraction:
** "React" powers can be used out of your turn as long as the required situation happens (such as an attack or a victory check) and you can pay the cost.
** The ''Perlae Imperii'' ExpansionPack introduces pearls, which can be converted into other resources out of turn when using a React power or when responding to a React power condition.
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Changed line(s) 23,24 (click to see context) from:
** ''Lux et Tenebrae'': Its biggest additions are the Demons artifact type, support for a 5th player, and the "Inscription" magic item, which has the unique property of giving you scrolls that can be saved up for later rounds. It also tweaks the rules to {{Nerf}} the Monuments strategy a bit.
** ''Perlae Imperii'' adds the valuable Pearl essence to the game and increases the goal to 13 Victory Points. It
** ''Perlae Imperii'' adds the valuable Pearl essence to the game and increases the goal to 13 Victory Points. It
to:
** ''Lux et Tenebrae'': Its biggest additions are the Demons artifact type, support for a 5th player, and the "Inscription" magic item, which has the unique property of giving you scrolls that can be saved up for later rounds. It also tweaks the rules to {{Nerf}} the Monuments strategy a bit.
bit, and adds some new artifacts, mages, etc.
** ''Perlae Imperii'' adds the valuable Pearl essence to the game and increases the goal to 13 Victory Points. It also introduces a new magic item, new artifacts, new Places of Power, etc.
** ''Perlae Imperii'' adds the valuable Pearl essence to the game and increases the goal to 13 Victory Points. It also introduces a new magic item, new artifacts, new Places of Power, etc.
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Changed line(s) 13 (click to see context) from:
* CastFromHitPoints: Downplayed. The Life essence can be attacked, which forces you to pay that amount in Life, or ''twice'' that amount in other essences. This makes everything that costs Life a pseudo-way of paying HP for stuff even though the main purpose of Life essence is still to be spent on stuff.
to:
* BackFromTheDead: A few abilities let you play a cards from a discard pile. There are also effects that let you retrieve cards from it.
* CastFromHitPoints:Downplayed. Downplayed:
** The Life essence can be attacked, which forces you to pay that amount in Life, or ''twice'' that amount in other essences. This makes everything that costs Life a pseudo-way of paying HP for stuff even though the main purpose of Life essence is still to be spent onstuff.stuff.
** The Catherine Wheel from ''Perlae Imperii'' has the unique property that its attack hits ''every'' player including its owner. However, its second power rewards you for using "ignore attack" effects.
* CastFromHitPoints:
** The Life essence can be attacked, which forces you to pay that amount in Life, or ''twice'' that amount in other essences. This makes everything that costs Life a pseudo-way of paying HP for stuff even though the main purpose of Life essence is still to be spent on
** The Catherine Wheel from ''Perlae Imperii'' has the unique property that its attack hits ''every'' player including its owner. However, its second power rewards you for using "ignore attack" effects.
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** ''Perlae Imperii'' adds the valuable Pearl essence to the game and extends . It
to:
** ''Perlae Imperii'' adds the valuable Pearl essence to the game and extends .increases the goal to 13 Victory Points. It
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Added DiffLines:
-> ''"In a high tower, an Alchemist prepares potions, using vials filled with otherworldly fluids. In a sacred grove, a Druid grinds herbs for a mystical ritual. In the catacombs, a Necromancer summons a bone dragon... Welcome to the world of ''Res Arcana''!"''
''Res Arcana'' is an engine-building board game where [[AlchemyIsMagic alchemical mages]] use magical items and their own unique powers to gather and manipulate essences, which can be spent on crafting helpful artifacts, summoning dragons, conquering Places of Power and constructing Monuments.
Mechanically, the goal of the game is to get at least 10 [[ScoringPoints Victory Points]], and then have the most points when a victory check occurs. They usually happen at the end of a round, but there are also some Places of Power that can force them. While some artifacts grant a few points, most of your points will come from Monuments and/or Places of Power.
The game has received two {{Expansion Pack}}s:
* ''Lux et Tenebrae'' (2019)
* ''Perlae Imperii'' (2021)
!! This game provides examples of:
* AlchemyIsMagic: The game features alchemical mages who can perform various feats using essences, and there are several "alchemy" effects that can transform other essences into gold.
* CastFromHitPoints: Downplayed. The Life essence can be attacked, which forces you to pay that amount in Life, or ''twice'' that amount in other essences. This makes everything that costs Life a pseudo-way of paying HP for stuff even though the main purpose of Life essence is still to be spent on stuff.
* ColorCodedElements: The essences are colour-coded: Calm is blue, Elan is red, Life is green, Death is black, Gold is yellow, and Pearls are white.
* ComebackMechanic: Some Places of Power give a quick sum of points when you buy them and have the ability "check victory now!" This means that if buying one of these would put you ahead of everyone else and at 10 or more points, you can activate this ability for an instant win even if your opponents have strong engines that would let them surpass your score had they been allowed to play on.
* ElementNumberFive:
** Gold is more valuable than the other four elements: it's the only one that lets you buy Monuments, and it has the distinction that discarding a card only gets you one Gold, as opposed to the usual 2 essences.
** The ''Perlae Imperii'' ExpansionPack introduces the even better Pearls: not only are they worth a point each, but they can be converted into other essences.
* ExpansionPack:
** ''Lux et Tenebrae'': Its biggest additions are the Demons artifact type, support for a 5th player, and the "Inscription" magic item, which has the unique property of giving you scrolls that can be saved up for later rounds. It also tweaks the rules to {{Nerf}} the Monuments strategy a bit.
** ''Perlae Imperii'' adds the valuable Pearl essence to the game and extends . It
* {{Nerf}}: ''Lux et Tenebrae'' nerfs strategies that revolve around Monuments in multiple ways. The most notable are reducing the number of them in play and adding more ways to get gold, which makes it more likely that your opponent will grab enough good ones to make it impossible for you to win through Monuments alone.
* ThePhoenix: The Phoenix card in ''Perlae Imperii'' can destroy itself to generate four Elan and let you ignore an attack (symbolizing its TakingTheBullet for you and fiery death) and place it on top of your deck (so it can easily be "reborn").
* RandomEffectSpell: Downplayed. If you want to construct a Monument and don't like the two that are available, you can instead choose to buy the hidden top card of the deck.
* ScoringPoints: The goal of the game is to get at least 10 Victory Points, and then have the most points when a victory check occurs.
* TakingTheBullet: Implied with ThePhoenix, whose card lets you ignore an attack at the cost of destroying the Phoenix.
''Res Arcana'' is an engine-building board game where [[AlchemyIsMagic alchemical mages]] use magical items and their own unique powers to gather and manipulate essences, which can be spent on crafting helpful artifacts, summoning dragons, conquering Places of Power and constructing Monuments.
Mechanically, the goal of the game is to get at least 10 [[ScoringPoints Victory Points]], and then have the most points when a victory check occurs. They usually happen at the end of a round, but there are also some Places of Power that can force them. While some artifacts grant a few points, most of your points will come from Monuments and/or Places of Power.
The game has received two {{Expansion Pack}}s:
* ''Lux et Tenebrae'' (2019)
* ''Perlae Imperii'' (2021)
!! This game provides examples of:
* AlchemyIsMagic: The game features alchemical mages who can perform various feats using essences, and there are several "alchemy" effects that can transform other essences into gold.
* CastFromHitPoints: Downplayed. The Life essence can be attacked, which forces you to pay that amount in Life, or ''twice'' that amount in other essences. This makes everything that costs Life a pseudo-way of paying HP for stuff even though the main purpose of Life essence is still to be spent on stuff.
* ColorCodedElements: The essences are colour-coded: Calm is blue, Elan is red, Life is green, Death is black, Gold is yellow, and Pearls are white.
* ComebackMechanic: Some Places of Power give a quick sum of points when you buy them and have the ability "check victory now!" This means that if buying one of these would put you ahead of everyone else and at 10 or more points, you can activate this ability for an instant win even if your opponents have strong engines that would let them surpass your score had they been allowed to play on.
* ElementNumberFive:
** Gold is more valuable than the other four elements: it's the only one that lets you buy Monuments, and it has the distinction that discarding a card only gets you one Gold, as opposed to the usual 2 essences.
** The ''Perlae Imperii'' ExpansionPack introduces the even better Pearls: not only are they worth a point each, but they can be converted into other essences.
* ExpansionPack:
** ''Lux et Tenebrae'': Its biggest additions are the Demons artifact type, support for a 5th player, and the "Inscription" magic item, which has the unique property of giving you scrolls that can be saved up for later rounds. It also tweaks the rules to {{Nerf}} the Monuments strategy a bit.
** ''Perlae Imperii'' adds the valuable Pearl essence to the game and extends . It
* {{Nerf}}: ''Lux et Tenebrae'' nerfs strategies that revolve around Monuments in multiple ways. The most notable are reducing the number of them in play and adding more ways to get gold, which makes it more likely that your opponent will grab enough good ones to make it impossible for you to win through Monuments alone.
* ThePhoenix: The Phoenix card in ''Perlae Imperii'' can destroy itself to generate four Elan and let you ignore an attack (symbolizing its TakingTheBullet for you and fiery death) and place it on top of your deck (so it can easily be "reborn").
* RandomEffectSpell: Downplayed. If you want to construct a Monument and don't like the two that are available, you can instead choose to buy the hidden top card of the deck.
* ScoringPoints: The goal of the game is to get at least 10 Victory Points, and then have the most points when a victory check occurs.
* TakingTheBullet: Implied with ThePhoenix, whose card lets you ignore an attack at the cost of destroying the Phoenix.
