ARAegis ReignPress
Instrument CodexGrammar

I

How to Read an Instrument

One anatomy, nine suites, no hidden syntax

A working spread. Print standard still requires a production pass; this Codex is the rules text the printer must obey.
A working spread. Print standard still requires a production pass; this Codex is the rules text the printer must obey.

This volume is the Spell Compendium analogue: every written Core card in one place, grouped by suite, with status language left honest. The Player’s Handbook teaches you how a turn feels. The Codex is what is in your hand.

Every card uses the same anatomy. Top-down action rail: Traverse → Command → Gesture, with legal timing highlighted. Left and right cost sockets for Goods, Coin, Order, Influence, Momentum, Clue, and prerequisites. Central instrument field for name, rule, target, range, duration, and values. Bottom UV resonance for blacklight lore or Veiled information.

The 89-card frame

RangeSuiteCountStatus
001–004Champions4OPEN / source recovery
005–020Cohorts16OPEN / source recovery
021–032Conflict12ROUGH DRAFT
033–040Infrastructure8V0.2 PROVISIONAL
041–048Commerce8V0.2 PROVISIONAL
049–056Diplomacy8V0.2 PROVISIONAL
057–064Chaos8ROUGH DRAFT
065–071Discovery7ROUGH DRAFT
072–078Relics7ROUGH DRAFT
079–083Majors5ROUGH DRAFT
084–089Flex modules6ROUGH DRAFT

Card-writing rules you can trust

  • Name the timing. If it is a reaction, say to what.
  • Name the cost. If there is no cost, print an em dash.
  • One effect. A second sentence is allowed only to close a window or name a limit.
  • UV is lore or Veiled information. It never hides a mechanical cost.
  • Draft cards do not override locked systems. Newest LOCKED item controls.
Print standard: the table must be able to resolve the card without opening another book. The Codex exists so that remains true.
Card-writing rules

G/A/I numbers on Infrastructure cards are Guard / Armor / Integrity as written in v0.2. Full Integrity damage destroys the structure and adds +1 Chaos.