The Apocalypse

Then I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come."

— Revelation 6:1

OVERVIEW

There are Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, which players will be channeling as cards over the course of this game. There are a total of 6 rounds in this game. Round 1 is the opening, Rounds 2-5 are the middlegame, and Round 6 is the endgame.

RULES

In each round, you will select two different cards to use. You cannot pick the same pair that you picked in any previous round.

Each card has four possible abilities:

> Communications: This ability targets a player in the opposing realm, and opens up communications with them in the next round. The pair will be informed that the chat has been opened, but not which specific card it was. You are not allowed to target the same player multiple times (throughout all of your uses of this ability).

> Active: This ability requires a target, and has various effects depending on the card.

> Passive: This ability does not have a target, and has various effects depending on the card.

> Endgame: This ability can only be and must be used in the final round.

During the opening (Round 1), you must use the Communications ability of both cards you choose.

During the middlegame (Rounds 2-5), you must pick one type of ability to use from each card; you cannot pick the Endgame ability, and you cannot pick the same type of ability for both cards.

During the endgame (Round 6), you must use the Endgame ability of both cards you choose.

For all rounds, when you pick an ability, you must use it.

RESULTS

At the end of each round, you are privately told your point total. Additionally, at the end of each round, the number of times each card was used is publicly announced.

At the very end of the game, all point totals are revealed. The winner of each realm is the player with the most points and will be in Heaven for the next episode. Of the non-winners, the player with the most points will also join them in Heaven. The loser of each realm is the player with the least points and they will gain a Mark of Elimination (Heaven) or be the Elimination Candidate (Hell).

At the start of the next episode, there will be 3 players in Heaven and 6 players in Hell.

CARDS

The Four Horsemen are as follows: Pestilence, War, Death, Famine.

Pestilence

> Communications: Open communications with a player from the other realm; if both of you play the same pair in the next round, gain 3 extra points that round.

> Active: Select a card pair; gain 5 points if at least one player plays it in the opposing realm.

> Passive: Gain 2 points for every other player in your realm with this passive.

> Endgame: Guess everyone else's final endgame pair. Gain one point per each you are correct on.

War

> Communications: Open communications with a player from the other realm; steal 3 points from them.

> Active: Select a card; you steal 1 point from each other player with that card.

> Passive: Every time you would gain or lose points this round, gain or lose an extra point.

> Endgame: Select a player and guess their endgame pair; if you are correct, steal 5 points from them.

Famine

> Communications: Open communications with a player from the other realm. This starts an instance of an AB Game; both of you should privately submit either Ally or Betray; the payout table is AA [2, 2], AB [-2, 4], BB [0, 0], given at the end of next round. You Ally by default. If two such games are opened between a pair, you submit the same choice for both of them.

> Active: Select another player in your realm; they gain 3 points. You cannot select a player you selected in a previous round.

> Passive: Your other card's ability must be used twice; you must select a different target for both uses.

> Endgame: Select one player from each realm other than you; they both gain 2 points.

Death

> Communications: Open communications with a player from the other realm; both of you lose 2 points this round, then gain 3 points next round.

> Active: Select a realm; each player in that realm loses a point. You gain 3 points.

> Passive: Gain 1 point for each player in your realm that lost at least 2 points this round.

> Endgame: Gain 1 point per each previous round you lost at least 2 points. Gain a bonus 2 points if this happened every previous round.

TIMELINE

Every round typically lasts 24 hours.

Rules release + Round 1 start: Players should submit one pair of cards. You do not need to select what ability is used on each card, since Communication x2 is required this round.

Round 2-5 start: All card effects from the previous round are processed; communications are opened between players where applicable. Results for the round are announced. In addition to the pair of cards, for this round players should submit for each card which ability is used (and any other choice required, if applicable). If a player has an AB game open, they may submit for that.

Round 6 start: Similar to previous rounds, but note that the Endgame ability applies to both chosen cards.

End of MM: Results are revealed.