~ FLOATING WORLD ~
Rules v.2012.10.3

"Kitsune, the fox spirits, carve worlds out of chaos. At the same time they try on identities and powers to seek an identity for themselves and prove their own greatness. Sometimes they gather enough power to seal off the world's fringes and make it safe for mortals... and sometimes the demons from outside tear it all apart."
Players: 1-4
Playing time: ~15 min/player

1.0. PARTS
Kitsune (pawns)
Villages (4/color)
Praise tokens (white=1, black=5)
Land cards/tiles -- Available online
Dream cards -- Cards aren't made yet; virtual card dealer at http://kschnee.xepher.net/cgi-bin/floatingworld_deck.py ; reload to get new cards.
Demon tokens (4/color, red/green/blue)
1.1. You'll also need six-sided dice (D6), preferably 4-5, and pencil and paper.

2.0. SETUP
2.1. Find the Land card labeled "Gateless Gate" and place it face-up. Shuffle the others and put them face down.
2.2. Shuffle the Dream cards and put them face down.
2.3. Pick a color for each player and put your Kitsune on the Gate.
2.4. Give 6 Praise tokens (1 black, 1 white) to each player.
2.5. For each Kitsune, write down their stats: 2D Body, 2D Mind, 2D Spirit.
2.6. Write "Demon Strength:" and leave a space.

3.0. HOW TO WIN
3.1. You are Kitsune, shapeshifting fox spirits trying to create a new world and protect it. Demons are trying to tear it (and you) apart.
3.2. You win by casting the Spell of Sealing. To attempt it, you need to stand at the Gate, spend 10 Praise, and roll a 15 or higher on your Mind stat.
3.3. On a success, the demons will never trouble this world again... probably. All players win, and the Kitsune with the most Praise, Dreams, Legends and high stats get bragging rights.
3.4. If demons destroy the Gate or kill all Kitsune, this world is doomed and all players lose.
3.5. A Kitsune dies by having as many Wounds as they have Body dice. 2D (or up to 2D+2) means that 2 Wounds=death.

4.0. YOUR TURN
4.1. Each player does a Dream Phase followed by a Nightmare Phase, then passes to the next player.

5.0. DREAM PHASE
5.1. Collect 1 Praise for every Village you control.
5.2. Move to an adjacent Land (optional). Diagonals don't count.
5.3. You may now take as many actions as you want, no more than one of each type, in any order:
5.4. Create new Land: Spend 3 Praise. Draw a Land card. Place it face up next to your current Land in an empty space.
5.5. Create a Village: Spend 3 Praise. Place a Village of your color (ie. your control) on your Land. You may only do this if there are no Villages on this or any adjacent Land.
5.6. Take Over a Village: Roll any of your stats. If you roll 12 or higher, replace the Village here with one of your own. Jerk.
5.7. Attack One Demon: Roll any of your stats versus the demon's matching stat. If you roll higher, you've slain the demon. Remove it from the board and gain +1 to the stat you used. Three +1s become another die, so a 2D becomes 2D+1, 2D+2, then 3D, 3D+1...
5.8. Attack One Kitsune: As with fighting a demon. If you win with Body, inflict a Wound. With Mind, steal any Item. With Spirit, steal up to 3 Praise.
5.9. Harvest Dreams: In a Village, see the people's dreams and shape them into reality. Draw (Spirit dice, ie. 2 at first) cards from the Dream Deck and "buy" none, or one, using Praise.
5.9.1. Items are carried with you and may be traded as a free action with any Kitsune on the same Land. If the Dream card doesn't specify, it's an Item.
5.9.2. Village Upgrades apply to all your Villages.
5.9.3. Legends are aspects of your character.
5.10. Heal: At a Village, lose 1 Wound if you didn't move this turn.

6.0. NIGHTMARE PHASE
6.1. Demons attack! Handle them in any order. Each demon attacks one Kitsune if present on the same Land, choosing the current player if possible, or the next player clockwise. Otherwise they attack the Land itself.
6.1.1. Demon vs. Kitsune: The demon rolls its highest stat vs. the Kitsune's matching stat. If the demon rolls higher, the Kitsune takes 1 Wound and might die.
6.1.2. Demon vs. Land: The demon rolls its highest stat vs. 10. If the demon rolls higher, the Land is shredded back into chaos! The Land vanishes along with anything on it. The demon moves to another Land as determined by its type.
6.2. Any Kitsune who are somehow on a destroyed Land may move for free to an adjacent Land.
6.3. Any Land no longer connected to the Gate by any path (diagonals don't count) is also destroyed.
6.4. Roll Spawn Dice. Divide the number of existing Lands by 4 and round up to decide how many. (1-4 Lands: 1D, 5-8: 2D.)
6.4.1. If all Spawn Dice come up 6, the demons grow stronger! Mark "+1" next to "Demon Strength", or change +1 to +2, to +1D, to +1D+1, and so on.
6.4.2. Any Spawn Dice that come up 1 or 2 mean demons appear! Note that they don't attack this turn.
6.4.3. What kind of demon? Roll a die: 1-2=Oni, 3-4=Tengu, 5-6=Gaki. Place a matching colored token (red, green, blue) on any Land that has an empty border and no Kitsune. If no valid destination exists or no demon tokens of that type are available, you're in luck; the demon doesn't appear.

7.0. THE DEMONS
7.1. Oni (Red): Ogres with iron clubs. 3D Body, 1D Mind, 2D Spirit. Moves straight toward the Gate. "Oni Smash!"
7.2. Tengu (Green): Clever bird-men who can grudgingly respect their foes. 2D Body, 3D Mind, 1D Spirit. Moves to a Land on the map's edge, if possible.
7.3. Gaki (Blue): Vampiric ghosts. 1D Body, 2D Mind, 3D Spirit. Moves toward the nearest Village.

8.0. HINTS
8.1. Demons will crush you with their superior stats if you let them. Attack them first so you can choose the type of contest. Outwit the Oni, impress the Tengu, and bust the Gaki.
8.2. The longer you wait to expand the map, the stronger the demons will grow, because few Spawn Dice means more frequent upgrades.
8.3. Seeing Lands destroyed isn't the end of the world. Protect the Gate and come back stronger!

9.0. SUGGESTED VARIANTS
9.1. Difficulty: Vary the Spawn Dice formula, eg. 1 die for every 3 or 5 Lands existing. Or make the demon vs. Land roll harder, or let Kitsune survive more Wounds.
9.2. Allow Kitsune to spend 1 Praise to add 1D to any roll. This stacks with specific powers.
9.3. Quick start: Begin with enough Praise to quickly build and buy more things.
9.4. Final Fox Destination: After casting the Spell of Sealing, the Kitsune duel for supremacy. (Don't worry; they use non-lethal decapitation and explosions for this.) You may want to refund some or all of the 10 Praise that the caster spent, or give some other reward.
9.5. Vengeful Spirit Doctrine: A defeated player may control all demons of one type each turn, moving them before they attack, then spawn one demon of any type. Defeated players win if the world is destroyed.
9.5. Scoring: Give 1 point each for highest total stats (1D=+3), most Praise, most Dreams including Legends, most Legends, and most Villages, to declare a winner.