PRE FACE <br >Welcome to the Kingdom of Wyvern<br >W~ vern was released in January of I995， and has had a tremendous response<br >from the gaming community. This Insider s Guide came out of players requests<br >to get more information on the mythological background of the cards in the<br >game， as well as a detailed discussion of the rules and strategy .<br >The collectible card game genre started in August of I993 with the release of<br >Magic: the Gathering ~ by Wizards of the Coast. As soon as I saw Magic， I realized<br >that this new game format had tremendous possibilities. I immediately went to<br >work on what is now Wvvern. I wanted to explore a very different approach to<br >the genre; I started with a card game I had worked on in the 70 s using a regular<br >deck of cards. It was influenced by Stratego "， in that the cards started face<br >down and they interacted in various ways with each other. My goal was to<br >create a game that gave players a sense of being in a battle， where they would<br >have to probe into the other players territory to find out what they were<br >up against.<br >Two of my favorite game elements are surprise and bluffing. Wyvern has plenty<br >of both. Many collectible card games put a lot of restrictions upon play; they<br >are designed so that you must have certain cards in play in order to use other<br >cards. I decided to approach the market with a game where most every card<br >could be played at any， time. This makes Starter decks a lot of fun to play with，<br >and also gives players unlimited options when they are building their own<br >theme and tournament decks.<br >On the surface， Wyvern is a simple game in terms of mechanics of play. The<br >strategy of Wyvern is as deep or deeper than any other collectible card game.<br >What makes it so skill-oriented is that you start the game with all the power<br >you will ever have; you must decide when and how to use it. Deciding which<br >battle is the key battle separates the great players from the good players of<br >Wyvern. It is compa<br >win the game. You c<br >advantage later.<br >The Kingdom of ~ ~<br >artwork by Peter Prac{<br >depicting dements of<br >this kind of game bec~<br >lore. Some myths sho<br >versions; for example，<br >European， Mexican an<br >that rule over all form<br >these traditions will<br >of Wyvern.<br >While playing Wyvern<br >As you play， you will bec<br >You will hear players bc<br >battles the dragon has w{<br >an instance in early playI<br >the first turn， taking out<br >become legendary and is<br >scout Pan Lung defeated<br >a Poison Chalice and H~<br >After much playtesting<br >truly unique and great<br >This play universe will<br >new cards. As a game ，<br >Systems， Inc. for giving rr<br >the highest quality game<br >Reading this book sHoul，<br >W] vern. Let us know ab<br >Kingdom of "VVyvern.<br >