Soul Master is a board/card game developed and published by KOEI (well-known for Sangokushi and other strategy games) for the Playstation back in 1997. It was re-released as a Playstation The Best title in late 1998. The game has a fantasy setting, many cute monsters, and a good game system.
This document provides a detailed explanation of the game system (i.e. rules of play) mainly for the "multi-player mode", which is the multi-player game. This play mode offers a good "family game", being simple yet interesting, with a nice mix of luck and strategy. This document covers only the basic rules; data for monsters, items and events has not been included. Also, probabilities for various random events are not specified because they cannot be handily collected. Even so, this document is much more detailed than the bare minimal necessity, since it is intended to be read by experienced board game players. The length of the document does not represent the complexity of the game, for the game mechanisms are very intuitive and easy to grasp. If you do not wish to read a long rules document, please ignore this document and read the shorter game review article.
Besides talking about the multi-player mode, there is a section on the story mode at the end. There are also a few isolated references to other play modes in the document.
This document has been composed for review and research purposes, namely, to introduce this game to the Western game-playing community, and perhaps to assist the non-Japanese-reading player who has "imported" this software in playing the game.
The objective of the game is to build up your character and defeat the boss in the center square of the board. Unlike Talisman, the center square is easily accessible, but the building up is more involved. Your character is a summoner, and the bulk of your combat strength lies in the monsters you control. Your primary direction towards victory is to build up and acquire one monster which is strong enough to defeat the boss, though this is not the only one absolute way to go. In order to keep the monster functional, you'll also need to raise your magic levels. Soul Master is a 4-player game, and the players must race to be the first to slay the boss. If there are fewer than 4 human players, the computer takes control of the rest.
The game centers around the four elements of Earth, Water, Fire and Wind. The player character's magic power is represented by 4 level numbers (level numbers in this game range from 1 to 8), one for each element. They all begin at level 1, and the player has to gain "soul power" to raise them, primarily by marking the lands on the board. For every 3 soul power in one element, your magic level for that element goes up by 1.
Most monsters belong to one of the elements. Earth monsters and combat spells are strong against Water monsters, Water strong against Fire, Fire strong against Wind, and Wind strong against Earth. Conversely, Water monsters and spells do little damage to Earth monsters, and so on. If the boss is of one of these elements, it will become especially important to build up in the element which is strong against it.
The game board consists of a square grid of lands, with size ranging from 5x5 to 11x11. Each land is of one of 16 terrain types. Some lands may also contain a dwelling. In particular, the four corners of the board contain the 4 starting Towers, one for each player. The terrain type determines the soul power you receive when you mark the land, and also the type of monsters which may appear in the land. The majority of lands belong to the 8 basic terrain types, which supply the owner with 1 or 2 soul power in one element. The 8 enhanced terrain types supply the owner with a total of 4 or 5 soul power in two or three elements. Five types of dwellings each support the owner with 4 extra soul power in two or four elements. These dwellings, and the player's own starting Tower, can also be visited for certain functions.
The board is not entirely flat, but rather is shaped like a very low and flat pyramid, in a way similar to Talisman. The lands near the center are higher than the lands at the edge of the board, and the boss is at the very top. You can freely move between elevations, unlike in Talisman. But since the height determines the strength of the monsters which appear in each land, in practice there is some tendency for players to move along the same elevation. Climbing towards the high center lands right after the start is a very risky move, and is usually unwise.
| T | 1 | 1 | 1 | T |
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 1 | 2 | B | 2 | 1 |
| 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| T | 1 | 1 | 1 | T |
| Terrain | Soul Power | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earth | Water | Fire | Wind | |
| Woods | 1 | |||
| Stream | 3 | 1 | ||
| Forest | 2 | |||
| Jungle | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Spring | 1 | |||
| Lake | 3 | 1 | ||
| Marsh | 2 | |||
| Swamp | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Wastes | 1 | |||
| Rocks | 1 | 3 | ||
| Mountains | 2 | |||
| Volcano | 1 | 3 | 1 | |
| Grasslands | 1 | |||
| Savanna | 1 | 3 | ||
| Desert | 2 | |||
| Oasis | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
For visiting purposes, Towns and Villages are generally more useful than the others (the Towers aside). But any dwelling provides a handsome amount of soul power, especially the type which provides 3 soul power in the element which is strong against the boss.
| Dwelling | Soul Power | Ruin | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Earth | Water | Fire | Wind | ||
| Tower | (none) | (note 1) | |||
| Village | 3 | 1 | Remains, Ruined Tower (note 2) | ||
| Temple | 1 | 3 | Underground Cemetery | ||
| Castle | 3 | 1 | Ruined Castle | ||
| Arena | 1 | 3 | Cave | ||
| Town | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Ruined Tower, Remains (note 2) |
| Dwelling | Visit | |
|---|---|---|
| Time | Action | |
| Tower | any | Replenish: get "Return", "Challenge", or "Quick Move" global spell |
| Transport: transport to any other land you have marked (note 3) | ||
| Castle | day | Throne Room: send a royal investigation party to clear one level of a ruin (note 4) |
| Library: examine other players' attributes and cards | ||
| night | (closed) | |
| Town | day | Healer: fully heals your hit points and cures bad conditions |
| Coach: transport to any other dwelling (note 3) | ||
| night | Magician: trade an item or equipment for a global spell | |
| Casino: wager an item, equipment or global spell to play a game of "concentration". You win all cards which you match pairs of until you miss 3 times. | ||
| Village | day | Blacksmith: trade an item or global spell for an equipment |
| Wagon: transport to any other land on the same elevation (note 3) | ||
| night | Inn: get a fellow monster according to the local terrain | |
| Bard: change the BGM, and gain a total of 4 attribute points according to the music chosen | ||
| Temple | day | Reincarnate: improve the player character's attributes by processing (consuming) a monster |
| Purify: destroy all monster on the board (except the boss) | ||
| night | (closed) | |
| Arena | day | (closed) |
| night | Train: increases a monster's attributes by +1 each | |
| Match: wager an item on one of the two monsters in a fight. If you win, you get another item. | ||
Notes:
Each player sets up in his starting Tower. He also starts with 4 Jellies (one of each element; Jellies are level 1 elemental monsters), and one each of the 3 common global spells: Return, Quick Move, and Challenge.
Each day of game time consists of 3 sessions: morning, noon, and night. Each player takes a turn in each session. On a player's turn, he can execute 2 commands. The available commands are listed below. If you are in a land with a monster, you will be restricted to only the Move and Mark/Fight commands.
Every player and monster has the following attributes:
The Attack attribute of the player character affects his punching attack, but the attack strength of a combat spell is determined by the spell card. Because the player character usually attacks with combat spells, the Attack attribute is often unimportant, even though the same attribute is usually the most important one for a monster.
Every monster also has a special attack, with Special Attack and Special Agility attributes. The improvements on the normal Attack and Agility attributes are applied to the Special Attack and Special Agility attributes respectively. A monster of which special attack is "regeneration" does not have these attributes; the rate of regeneration is always 20% of the Hit Points attribute.
There are 2 main ways to build up the attributes: battle and processing. Certain other events and dwellings may also raise the attributes.
Each monster has a "score value" of 2 to 9 points total in one or more attributes, depending on its identity. When you defeat an enemy monster in battle, both you and your monster (the monster, if any, which is currently out at the moment the enemy monster is knocked out) gain an increase in attributes equal to the score value of the defeated monster. If you fight another player, you and your monster gain the score value for all enemy monsters defeated in the battle. (You gain only the basic score value, not any attribute improvements the enemy monsters may have gained. The score value of a player character is zero.)
When you perform the Process command, the strengthened monster gains an increase in its attributes equal to the consumed monster's score value, plus all the attribute improvements on the consumed monster. (Some 'law of conservation of attribute improvements' is in force here.)
In this game, all your possessions are represented by cards. There are 4 types: monsters, equipment, items, and global spells. In addition, during battle, combat spell cards will be added to your battle deck according to your magic levels.
Monsters are summoned in battle to fight for you; monster summoning is your most important and most powerful type of magic. You can own up to 12 monsters, but usually you don't want to have too many because that makes it difficult to draw the one you want in battle.
To get a new monster, you simply have to defeat it in battle. (You cannot capture another player's monsters.) If you don't get monster encounters when marking, you may want to seek out monsters with the Search command. Some random events will give you a monster; such events can sometimes be decisive in the end game. You can also get a fellow monster from the Inn in a Village at night. You can get only one copy of each monster; if you process a monster, the same monster normally will not join you again.
Each monster has a level number, from 1 to 8. Monsters don't go up in level. Instead, you build up their attributes.
If you have summoned a monster in battle, it will take the enemy attacks for you (barring special "group" attacks which damage both the monster and the player character). This is important, because player characters are fragile compared to most monsters. For this reason, the special group attacks are often very threatening to a player character.
However, for your monster to attack and defend (cover you) reliably, your magic level in the corresponding element must be equal to or higher than the monster's level. (For undead and guardian monsters, your highest magic level is used.) Otherwise, for each level short of the requirement (up to 4), there is a 20% chance that the monster will not act each time when it should.
After a battle, all sub-critical damage on your monsters are completely healed. However, monsters which have been knocked out cannot be used until the beginning of your turn after your next turn. This can sometimes be rather crippling, as the monster card stays in your battle deck: if you draw it, you can't play it. (You can't even discard it, unless you're discarding all 4 cards in your hand.) Damage on the player character is not recovered automatically; you have to use the Rest command.
Each element is associated with one of the 4 attributes. Monsters of one element tend to be good in that attribute, and their score values tend to be concentrated in that attribute too, though there are many exceptions. Earth monsters tend to be strong in Defend, Water in Hit Points, Fire in Attack, and Wind in Agility. In particular, the Jelly of each element has a score value of +3 in the corresponding attribute.
There are 5 main types of monsters. Each basic, fellow and elemental monster belongs to one of the 4 elements. Guardian and undead monsters do not belong to any element.
Equipment cards are nice: just owning them gives you some persistent benefit, such as more soul power, better attack or defense strength in battle, etc. You can have up to 8 of them.
| Type | Lv | Pow | Special Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bracelet | 1 | 3 | none |
| Weapon | 2 | 1 | more damage by punch attack against the inferior element |
| Amulet | 3 | 0 | immune to a certain bad status |
| Emblem | 4 | 1 | increases your monster's attribute in battle |
| Accessory | 5 | 1 | halves damage on player character in one element |
| Scepter / Rod | 6 | 2 | 30% double damage by combat spells of one element |
| Wand | 7 | 0 | punch attack 30% inflicts a certain bad status |
| Artifact | 8 | 6 | none |
| Bell / Balance | 8 | 0 | "better" draws when you discard all 4 cards in battle |
Item cards are one-use cards played in battle; once used, they are removed from play. You can hold up to 8. The following is a partial list.
| Type or Name | Lv | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Soul Stone | 1 | raises one attribute, and improves monster control in one element |
| Smoke Ball | 1 | terminates battle |
| Attack | 2 | level 5 combat spell attack |
| Bad Status | 3 | 100% inflicts a certain bad status |
| Catnip | 4 | fully heals player character's hit points, but paralyses him |
| Flower of Hope | 4 | cures bad status (beware of fakes) |
| Unsummon Bell | 4 | unsummons opponent's monster (vs. player battle only) |
| Wonder Egg | 5 | summons a random monster |
| Guardian Essence | 5 | summons guardian corresponding to your level |
| Black Cat's Bun | 5 | capture enemy monster (no effect in vs. player or boss battle) |
| Exorcist Token | 6 | destroys undead monster (beware of fakes) |
| Swap Ring | 6 | exchange Hit Points with enemy (forward characters) |
| Revenge Mirror | 6 | inflicts damage equal to wounds on your player character |
Global spells are cast using the Magic command. You can carry only 4 global spells at a time. You start the game with three level 1 global spells: Return, Challenge, and Quick Move. These spells can be easily replenished at your Tower, so I call them the common global spells. Their effects are listed below:
Here are some of the other global spells. Some high level global spells are quite powerful, but they are quite rare.
From everyday common monster encounters to the final boss battle, battles play a central role in Soul Master.
In a battle against another player, card plays are chosen simultaneously. When choosing the initial summoned monster or when choosing the play for each battle round, even though you can see what plays are available to your opponent, you do not know what he will be playing. The guesswork involved is sometimes interesting.
When fighting a monster, the player enjoys an 'unfair' advantage, in that he is fighting 2-on-1. He can also replace a wounded monster with a fresh one mid-way through a fight. For these reasons, the player can often win a battle against a stronger monster. On the other side of the balance, the player has the burden of having to raise his magic level in order to keep his monster in control.
Unlike in Talisman, a player who is knocked out does not start over from scratch. He merely returns to his starting Tower, keeping all his monsters and possessions. (If he is defeated in a battle resulting from the Talk command, his opponent loots him for an equipment/item/spell.) However, he restarts with only 1 hit point, so there is often some time loss as he needs to rest. Also, when playing the story mode, getting knocked out reduces one's ranking.
There are two kinds of battles. Encounters with common basic monsters generated by the (outdoor) terrain are 5 rounds long. If you fail to defeat the monster within 5 rounds, the monster remains in the land. You can fight it again when you execute a further command, but the monster recovers 8% of its hit points per player turn. The boss fight too is a 5-round battle.
All other battles, including battles which occur when investigating a ruin, battles caused by random events, and battles with another player, are fought for 10 rounds. In case of a battle against a monster, if you fail to defeat the monster within 10 rounds, it goes away; you cannot repeat the fight at will.
There is actually a third kind of battle, but it does not occur when playing the board game. During exams in the story mode, and when playing the vs. mode, battles (against another player) are fought for an unlimited number of rounds.
When you enter combat with a monster, you are sometimes ambushed. An ambush is more likely to happen if you try to mark a land at night. If you are ambushed, you do not get to summon a monster to start the battle with.
When marking or searching, if you are lucky, you will be offered the chance to ambush a monster. If you accept, the monster will not act in the first battle round. If you reject, the fight is avoided and the marking (if applicable) is automatically successful.
Neither kind of ambush would occur when you fight an existing monster on the map, or when you fight another player.
At the start of the battle, you are randomly dealt 4 monster cards from among the ones you own. Unless you are being ambushed, you may choose one of them to start the battle with. Do summon a monster: the player character is physically weak, and will be knocked out quickly without the protection of his monster. Because you are randomly given 4 monsters to choose from, it is advisable to cut down excess monster cards by processing them. If you have too many monster cards, it may become difficult to draw the one you need.
The other monster cards are returned to your battle deck. Your battle deck consists of 16 combat spell cards (4 in each element, with strength corresponding to your magic levels) and all your monster cards (up to 12) and item cards (up to 8). You are then randomly dealt 4 cards from your deck. In each battle round, you may perform one of the following actions:
If you play a combat spell card, you attack the enemy with the spell. If you play a monster card, you summon the monster, and the current monster (if any) is unsummoned. If you play an item card, you use the item.
Once card plays have been chosen, the characters in the battle take turns acting. The turn order is according to the characters' agility attributes.
You do not directly control your monster. It randomly performs its normal attack or its special attack on its turn. If your magic level is lower than your monster's level, it may do nothing instead.
A monster's normal attack or special attack (except for "regeneration"), and the player's punching attack, may hit or miss depending on the agility attributes of the attacker and the defender. When it hits, it may be a normal hit, a guarded hit (for half damage), or a critical hit (for double damage). A combat spell always hits for normal damage.
Many monsters' special attacks cause a bad status. If such special attack hits, it will 100% cause the bad status unless the target is immune to the bad status in question. A player can also inflict a bad status on the enemy by using a level 3 item or by punching with a level 7 equipment. Elemental monsters, guardian monsters and undead monsters are immune to all bad status effects. All basic monsters and fellow monsters, and the player character are vulnerable to all bad status effects unless the player has the corresponding level 3 equipment.
A character afflicted with a bad status has some chance of recovering from it at the end of each battle round. (In the case of poison, successful recovery also means that the poison damage is avoided.) However, a petrified character cannot recover this way. A sleeping character may also wake up whenever he is hit by an attack. (But if the attack is one which causes sleep, he will be put immediately back to sleep again.) When a bad status is successfully applied, it replaces any old bad status. All bad status effects go away at the end of a battle.
Bad status in this game is very crippling. Even the least among them, paralyse, can turn a close victory into a defeat and a sound victory into a draw. The others can turn a sound victory into a defeat, and the worst ones, sleep and petrify, can even turn an otherwise overwhelming victory into a defeat. When immunity is not available, try to have a spare monster for replacing one afflicted by bad status.
Note that if your player character is put to sleep (or petrified) in a battle round before you take your turn, any card you have selected to play will be discarded. Keep this in mind: this can be very bad if it is an important monster card. The Siren, with her special "group + sleep" attack, is very dangerous!
The boss starts at the pinnacle in the center of the board and remains there throughout the game. The level of the boss depends on the size of the map. The player who defeats the boss wins the game. You fight normal 5-round battles with the boss; in order to prevent other players from conveniently finishing off a boss which you have damaged, it is best to build up to be strong enough to defeat the boss within 10 battle rounds (since you can battle twice on your turn). The only way to wound the boss is to travel to the center land and enter battle with it; it cannot be damaged by global spells or random events.
In the story mode, the player attends the Magic Academy for 1 year. If his results are good, he will be able to become a Soul Master.
The story mode consists of 4 chapters. Chapter 1 is the entrance exam, which serves as a tutorial and warm-up. In each of the following chapters, you play 2 to 3 games as "field training". There is also an examination at the end of each chapter (except the first). In an examination, you use cards collected from the board games to fight your classmates in a tournament.
Your play in the board game will be rated according to whether you won, how many turns you spent, how many ruins you cleared, and how many times you were knocked out. Your result in an examination is determined by how many rounds you won. These are averaged to arrive at term marks, and eventually your final grade.
Monster cards, equipment cards and item cards (but not global spell cards) you are holding at the end of a board game are added to your card stock for the examinations. (You cannot use them in further board games.) For your player character, and for duplicate monster cards which you already have in your stock, you will be asked to choose between the new attributes in the last game or the old attributes in a previous game.
If a monster is knocked out during an exam, you will not be able to summon it in the (one) following battle. If you use an item, it will be taken out of your battle deck, so that you cannot use it again for the rest of the exam.
You will be asked to select story branches at the start of chapters 3 and 4. Thus there are a total of 4 routes, but 2 of them share the same scenario in chapter 4 and give the same ending.
Your card stock data can be used for the vs. mode after the first examination.
Copyright 27 Sep 1999 Alan Shiu Ho Kwan
Alan Kwan / tarot@netvigator.com / created 27 Sep 99