History TabletopGame / AscensionChronicleOfTheGodslayer

'''Ascension''' is a fantasy DeckbuildingGame created by Stone Blade Entertainment (formerly Gary Games), first released in 2010. The game itself's official title is simply "Ascension," though the "Chronicle of the Godslayer" subtitle was the name of the first set and frequently added to help distinguish the game from the myriad of other games and works called "Ascension."

* MultipleHeadCase: Lifebound's Honiskrot and Arha's Askara. The Honiskrot are a race of two-headed [[CatFolk lion-men]], while the Askara often have additional limbs in addition of having two heads (or sometimes two faces on either sideof a single head).

* PowerOfTheVoid: The Void faction. Most of them revolve around gaining power to kill monsters or banishing cards -- the area designated for this is ''called'' 'The Void', after all.

* RedBaron: Ubiquitous; it's one of the most common naming conventions for Hero cards besides having some sort of title or job description. There is Aaron [[TitleDrop The Godslayer]], Dartha [[EnlightenmentSuperpowers The Enternal]], and Emri [[IHaveManyNames collects these like it's going out of style]], having ones like 'One With The Void', 'Soulslayer', 'Demonsbane' and 'The Unmaker'.

* RapunzelHair: Nairi, especially as seen in Dawn Of Champions. Her hair is so long it carpets the forest floor.

** Pasythea, the Aegis is the second hero to be counted of all factions, and her ability gives three of each runes, power and honor.

[[folder:''Valley of the Ancients'']]A large set that introduces Temples. Certain cards, when the right conditions are met, give you Life or Death "keystones" that allow you to take control of the Temple of Life or Death, respectively. Temples stay in play like constructs, although they can be taken away by the other play. If you gain a Life or Death keystone while you already control the corresponding Temple, you gain a benefit depending on the Temple, and also take control of the Temple of Immortality. Controlling the latter Temple allows you to automatically acquire a card when it enters the center row if its faction matches the previous card that you just acquired. This set also includes cards with two new trigger conditions: Echo, which triggers when you have a card of the same faction in your discard pile, and Serenity, which triggers when you have ''no'' cards in your discard pile.

As is the case with many deckbuilding games, its principle designer, Justin Gary, was formerly a highly-regarded ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' player, best known for winning Pro Tour Houston in 2002. Ascension was Gary Games first product, and the only product released under that name. (They changed their name to Stone Blade Entertainment in time for their second product, ''VideoGame/{{SolForge}}'', to get a beta release.)

* Lorewise, the Realm of Vigil, otherwise isolated from the gods, is trobled by the avatar of the fallen god, Samael. various heros gathered armies to defeat him in the hopes of becomgin the prophecied Godslayer. Interestingly, the winner isn't the one who kills the enemy, but the one who gets most fame and can successfully ''claim'' to be the Godlsayer.[[/folder]]
[[folder:''Return of the Fallen'']] A small set that introduces the Fate mechanic (cards that have an effect when they enter the Center Row). It's boss is Samael, the Fallen (which was a prototype for Trophy monsters).
* In the lore, Samael escapes the Void by unbinding Kithis the Gatekeeper, god of death, from his duties to prevent the dead from returning to Vigil. (Samael was originally one of the gods who bound him there.)[[/folder]]

* The shades of the dead are returning from the Void, and the embodiement of the strom of souls maifests as a great serpent made of ghosts, referred to only as Nemesis. But what could cause this?[[/folder]]
[[folder:''Immortal Heroes'']] A small set that continues the existing mechanics and adds Soul Gems (reprints of cards from ''Chronicles'' and ''Return'' that are gained randomly and do not enter the player's deck) and Ongoing Trophy Monsters. Its boss is Kithis, Rebel Godling.
* Yes, Kithis is behind the Storm of Souls, and has captured the spirits of past heroes in soul gems.[[/folder]]

* After long years of peace, odd crystals radiating energy fall from the Void, empowering those around them. Sadly, the energies which are ehancing the power of the factions also warp some wildlife into mosnters.[[/folder]]
[[folder:''Darkness Unleashed'']] A small set that adds Dark Energy Shards which have the effect of allowing all plays to banish a card from the hand or discard pile when they first are put into play in the center row. It also adds Transformations, used here when the player has enough energy to Energize an applicable hero. Its boss is Erabus the Exiled.
* The shards are revealed to be the fragmets of the crystal cage that once held Erebus, son of Samael and Nyx, goddess of the void. His father's death let him break free and he's not happy.[[/folder]]

* Adayu the Dreamer, the RealityWarper, is suffering from nightmares that are becoming real and unravelling reality.[[/folder]]
[[folder:''Dawn of Champions'']] A large set that continues to use the multi-faction mechanics and add special champion identity cards for players. These champions can earn reputation, which unlock rewards, first being the champion in card form, and later an ongoing ability at maximum reputation, and acquiring or defeating cards that share a faction with these champions help speed up the process. Introduced in this set is Rally mechanic, which when a player acquires or defeats a card of a specific faction in the center row, if the card replacing it shares a faction, the player gets to acquire or defeat the cards immediately for no cost. Also introduced are monsters with factions, which thus can trigger effects such as Rally and reputation. Its boss is Xeron, Lord of Deofol.[[/folder]]

[[folder:''Gift of the Elements'']]A new set that introduces Empower mechanic, where when a player acquires a card with Empower, they may banish a card they have played this turn (that they have used to obtain the runes to acquire the Empower card, for example) as opposed to banishing a card from hand or discard pile like some other previous cards. There are also the Gremlin monsters, who, upon defeat, can be put into another player's discard pile to mess up their draw, seeing that these monsters normally have no effect when played. However, some other cards do depend on monsters being played or in hand. Finally, Event cards make a return, and this time, a player may spend 8 runes for each of said events to transform them into a hero and acquire them.[[/folder]]

* DarkIsNotEvil: The Void faction are somewhat obsessed with death and destuction, but they fight against monsters to protect others.

As is the case with many deckbuilding games, its principle designer, Justin Gary, was formerly a highly-regarded ''MagicTheGathering'' player, best known for winning Pro Tour Houston in 2002. Ascension was Gary Games first product, and the only product released under that name. (They changed their name to Stone Blade Entertainment in time for their second product, ''VideoGame/{{SolForge}}'', to get a beta release.)

* WaveMotionGun: The Hedron Cannon is a construct that gives you one power per Mechana construct you control; they are [[IncrediblyLamePun geared]] towards obtaining more constructs and putting them in play quickly, so it will become powerful very fast. Controlling the Hedron Link Device makes ''all'' constructs be counted [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill as if they also belong to Mechana]].

''War of Shadows'' brings a new mechanic of Day and Night. All cards in this set are either Day or Night, and if there are more Day cards in the center row than Night cards, the game is treated as Day and vice versa. If the number is equal or there is no Day or Night card at all, then it's neither. Cards not in the center row don't affect whether it's Day or Night. Several cards have effects that change depending on whether you play them during Day or Night. This set also introduces cards that require both Runes and Power to buy. The boss is Aklyss the Scourge.