Rage (card game)
Encyclopedia
Rage is a collectible card game
originally published by White Wolf
in 1995 based on the roleplaying game, Werewolf: The Apocalypse
. The game is based around packs of werewolves
battling each other and various evil monsters while trying to save the world.
The game was discontinued by White Wolf after Legacy and the license sold to Five Rings Publishing Group
(FRPG).
(the makers of Magic: The Gathering
), who were in turn bought out by Hasbro
. Hasbro discontinued many of the games it had acquired in the take over, including Rage. The license for the game lapsed back to White Wolf.
Azrael Productions, who produced an online magazine, acquired permission from White Wolf to provide tournament support for both versions of Rage. However, Azrael was unable to acquire the license to bring Rage back into print. While under Azrael's care, there were two notable developments. The first version of Rage came to be called "Rage: Apocalypse" and the second version "Rage: Tribal War" so people would not be confused as to which version people were talking about.
Azrael Productions also assembled a group of dedicated fans to start designing new cards for the game. They started playtesting these cards before Azrael eventually abandoned the project. Azrael gave up rights to the partially tested cards, leaving the path clear for the playtesters to produce fan-made sets of cards.
The first set of these fan made cards, Intermezzo, was released in 2003. A total of five fan made sets for Rage: Apocalypse (Intermezzo, Periphery, Gauntlet, and Coda. They are collectively known as the New England Block. War Council is the fifth set and starts the Ahadi block.) and two for Tribal War (Web of Deceit and Christmas Present '04) have been released since then. The cards are hosted on the official Rage site, River Von, but are considered legitimate by White Wolf and are allowed in regular tournaments and for use in online play. They are not hosted on the main White Wolf server due to copyright issues with the artwork.
Due to complex legal issues, only Rage: Apocalypse is available for online play. Hasbro retained some partial rights to Rage: Tribal War and has been unwilling to license it to CCG Workshop.
A major rules overhaul for Rage's rules was released in March 2006. The update clarified many card interactions and converted rulings about individual cards to global rulings. There was an additional update (Rage's Least Wanted) that errated the 18 most broken cards in the game and introduced new rules for Past Lives that returned them to play.
November 2006 saw the release of the first set in the Ahadi block, War Council. This set introduced updates to the frenzy rules, Moot and Board Meeting rules, changed when the first combat hand was drawn, and allowed some Prey and Allies access to additional Gifts. War Council also introduced a new Wyrm faction to the game, the Unbound. Additional Gaia and Wyrm factions will be introduced throughout the Ahadi block.
September 2007 has a flurry of Rage activity. Rainmakers, the second set in the Ahadi block, was released. It introduced the new Ajaba (werehyena) faction, fleshed out the Pentex Executives and Mokole, and introduced the first of the new Rogue characters. The new Revised rules were introduced. These were largely a reorganization of the old rules book, but also introduced a new timing system. The long overdue rewrite to the rules for Battlefields was also released for Beta testing.
While Rage is currently out of print, it can be played online using a program called LackeyCCG
Instructions on how to get started are at River Von. It runs on both PC and Mac.
Sets/rules changes currently in production, as of January 2011:
Tribal War
Collectible card game
thumb|Players and their decksA collectible card game , also called a trading card game or customizable card game, is a game played using specially designed sets of playing cards...
originally published by White Wolf
White Wolf, Inc.
White Wolf Publishing is an American gaming and book publisher. The company was founded in 1991 as a merger between Lion Rampant and White Wolf Magazine, and was initially led by Mark Rein·Hagen of the former and Steve and Stewart Wieck of the latter. Since White Wolf Publishing, Inc. merged with...
in 1995 based on the roleplaying game, Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Werewolf: The Apocalypse
Werewolf: The Apocalypse is a role-playing game and series of novels from the now defunct World of Darkness line by White Wolf. In the game, players take the role of werewolves known as Garou , as well as other lycanthropes: warriors who are locked in a two-front war against both the spiritual...
. The game is based around packs of werewolves
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
battling each other and various evil monsters while trying to save the world.
White Wolf
Rage had five sets of cards:- Limited/Unlimited
- Umbra
- Wyrm
- War of the Amazon
- Legacy of the Tribes
The game was discontinued by White Wolf after Legacy and the license sold to Five Rings Publishing Group
Five Rings Publishing Group
The Five Rings Publishing Group was formed as a spin-out of Alderac Entertainment Group and ISOMEDIA.-History:In 1996, Alderac Entertainment Group and ISOMEDIA divested themselves of their joint operating venture, and created Five Rings Publishing Group...
(FRPG).
Five Rings
FRPG produced a new version of the game with the same card backs and set in the same world, but with completely different mechanics making it incompatible with the first version of the game. The second version of the game had seven card sets. The first 6 were numbered and released once a month. They were known as Phase 1 through 6. The final set, Equinox, combined together three of the smaller numbered sets (7-9) into one larger set.Various producers
FRPG was bought out by Wizards of the CoastWizards of the Coast
Wizards of the Coast is an American publisher of games, primarily based on fantasy and science fiction themes, and formerly an operator of retail stores for games...
(the makers of Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering
Magic: The Gathering , also known as Magic, is the first collectible trading card game created by mathematics professor Richard Garfield and introduced in 1993 by Wizards of the Coast. Magic continues to thrive, with approximately twelve million players as of 2011...
), who were in turn bought out by Hasbro
Hasbro
Hasbro is a multinational toy and boardgame company from the United States of America. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States...
. Hasbro discontinued many of the games it had acquired in the take over, including Rage. The license for the game lapsed back to White Wolf.
Azrael Productions, who produced an online magazine, acquired permission from White Wolf to provide tournament support for both versions of Rage. However, Azrael was unable to acquire the license to bring Rage back into print. While under Azrael's care, there were two notable developments. The first version of Rage came to be called "Rage: Apocalypse" and the second version "Rage: Tribal War" so people would not be confused as to which version people were talking about.
Azrael Productions also assembled a group of dedicated fans to start designing new cards for the game. They started playtesting these cards before Azrael eventually abandoned the project. Azrael gave up rights to the partially tested cards, leaving the path clear for the playtesters to produce fan-made sets of cards.
The first set of these fan made cards, Intermezzo, was released in 2003. A total of five fan made sets for Rage: Apocalypse (Intermezzo, Periphery, Gauntlet, and Coda. They are collectively known as the New England Block. War Council is the fifth set and starts the Ahadi block.) and two for Tribal War (Web of Deceit and Christmas Present '04) have been released since then. The cards are hosted on the official Rage site, River Von, but are considered legitimate by White Wolf and are allowed in regular tournaments and for use in online play. They are not hosted on the main White Wolf server due to copyright issues with the artwork.
Online play
Rage was available for online play for several years via the gatlingEngine, produced by CCG Workshop. They had a licensing agreement with White Wolf allowing them to develop online versions of White Wolf's CCG properties (Rage, Vampire: the Eternal Struggle, and Arcadia: the Wyld Hunt). That platform is now defunct.Due to complex legal issues, only Rage: Apocalypse is available for online play. Hasbro retained some partial rights to Rage: Tribal War and has been unwilling to license it to CCG Workshop.
A major rules overhaul for Rage's rules was released in March 2006. The update clarified many card interactions and converted rulings about individual cards to global rulings. There was an additional update (Rage's Least Wanted) that errated the 18 most broken cards in the game and introduced new rules for Past Lives that returned them to play.
November 2006 saw the release of the first set in the Ahadi block, War Council. This set introduced updates to the frenzy rules, Moot and Board Meeting rules, changed when the first combat hand was drawn, and allowed some Prey and Allies access to additional Gifts. War Council also introduced a new Wyrm faction to the game, the Unbound. Additional Gaia and Wyrm factions will be introduced throughout the Ahadi block.
September 2007 has a flurry of Rage activity. Rainmakers, the second set in the Ahadi block, was released. It introduced the new Ajaba (werehyena) faction, fleshed out the Pentex Executives and Mokole, and introduced the first of the new Rogue characters. The new Revised rules were introduced. These were largely a reorganization of the old rules book, but also introduced a new timing system. The long overdue rewrite to the rules for Battlefields was also released for Beta testing.
While Rage is currently out of print, it can be played online using a program called LackeyCCG
LackeyCCG
LackeyCCG is a computer program used to play virtually any collectible card game against online opponents or for building and testing of CCG decks offline in a solitaire mode. It also allows for the searching of cards within each CCG. LackeyCCG currently has Mac and Windows versions but it has...
Instructions on how to get started are at River Von. It runs on both PC and Mac.
Sets/rules changes currently in production, as of January 2011:
- Something Old, Something New (Tribal War)- abandoned due to legal issues
- Battlefields update (Apocalypse)- Open beta testing Rules available here
- Ahadi block (Apocalypse)- This is a block with multiple sets. The other sets in the block are currently in closed Alpha testing. Information on becoming an Alpha tester is available through central Rage site, River Von. The block is currently designed to hold 7 sets; three have been released, one is currently in final production, the other two are in closed Alpha testing. The other sets in production are tentatively titled Hellcats, Curse of Set, We Are Legion, and Gaia's Army. These are working titles. They may change. Hellcats is currently undergoing final testing and plating for release in February/March 2011
- Sea Dogs (Apocalypse)- Sometime after the Ahadi block is finished. This will be a bridge set between the two large blocks and deal with underwater horrors and pirates.
- Beast Courts (Apocalypse)- This is a block with multiple sets. It deals with the Far East.
- Rite of Passage (Apocalypse)- Tentative. A set dealing with low renown characters and showcasing low Gnosis/Low rage items suitable for weenies (which is clearly a very professional term).
Game sets and expansions
Apocalypse- Rage LimitedRage LimitedRage Limited was a limited edition print run of the base set for the Rage CCG. It contained 321 cards total, in common, uncommon, rare, and "chase" rarities. The chase cards were available only in the Booster boxes...
(1995) - Rage Unlimited (1995)
- The Umbra (1995)
- The Wyrm (1995)
- The War of the Amazon (1996)
- Legacy of the Tribes (1996)
- Intermezzo (fan set- New England block 2003)
- Periphery (fan set- New England block 2004)
- Gauntlet (fan set- New England block 2004)
- Coda (fan set- New England block 2005)
- Rage's Least Wanted (virtual reprint/2nd edition- reprints of the 18 most broken cards with total redone wording to fix all mechanical problems- 2006)
- War Council (fan set- Ahadi block 2006)
- Rainmakers(fan set- Ahadi block 2007)
- Rainfall (fan set- Ahadi block 2008)
- Sahel (fan set- Ahadi block 2009)
Tribal War
- Rage across Las Vegas: Phase 1 (1998)
- Rage across Las Vegas: Phase 2 (1998)
- Rage across Las Vegas: Phase 3 (1998)
- Rage across Las Vegas: Phase 4 (1998)
- Rage across Las Vegas: Phase 5 (1998)
- Rage across Las Vegas: Phase 6 (1998)
- Rage across Las Vegas: Equinox (1999)
- Web of Deceit (fan set 2004)
- Christmas PresentChristmas Present- References :*...
(fan set 2004)
List of card artists
Apocalypse
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Tribal War
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Fansets
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External links
- River Von Central Rage website, includes downloads of the fan made sets, tournament schedule, and card lists
- Rage Forum Rage Forum including strategy articles, play by post games, trading, and playtesting of future sets.
- Rageinfo Mailing list/discussion group for Rage.
- Unofficial White Wolf Wiki article
- Rules book Online rules book for Rage: Apocalypse
- Twitter Feed Twitter feed of Rage news and players looking to set up a game
- Facebook Fan page for Rage
- Livejournal Community for Rage