Join the DawnDeck - Players group, touch the Onboarding Pillar (DawnDeck - Onboarding & HUD), choose Register, and pick your Species.
Game Guide
Play DawnDeck in Second Life
Your first DawnDeck loop.
DawnDeck Alpha is played through the HUD inside Second Life. The Portal supports that experience: you use it to read guides, open chests with claim codes, manage your Deck, review match history, and follow official updates.
Accept and wear the HUD, then enter the Activation Code from the Onboarding Pillar.
Open your free Welcoming Chest, review your first cards, and prepare the Starter Deck.
Use Practice to learn your cards, then scan nearby Players and send a challenge for a real PvP match.
Your Species shapes your card costs and match passive.
Every new Player chooses Vampire, Lycan, or Hunter during onboarding. You need a Species before you can start Practice or PvP. Your chosen Species is frozen into each match when it starts, so changing Species later never changes a match already in progress.
The Onboarding Pillar asks for your Species when you choose Register. Repeating onboarding later does not change your existing Species.
The Species Reset Pillar lets you switch Species for 10,000 L$. The backend records the change and future matches use the new Species.
Matching your Species gives you a cheaper play pattern.
A card that matches your Species costs 1 less Arcane when its base cost is at least 2. Universal cards can be played by everyone, but they do not receive this Species affinity discount. Off-Species cards stay playable at their normal cost.
Turns sustained Crystal damage into healing.
Every 4 effective Crystal damage you deal in a match heals 1 Crystal, up to your Crystal overflow limit.Builds extra Arcane during the middle turns.
On your own turns 4, 5, and 6, your turn-start Arcane regen gains +1 extra Arcane when there is room for it.Makes the first combo hit harder.
The first combo you activate in a match doubles only the combo value. The base card effect stays normal.The backend announces Species affinity discounts and passive activations in match chat. You do not need to calculate them manually in the HUD.
Register once, then bind your HUD.
Do this from the official DawnDeck onboarding area in Second Life.
01
Wear the group tag
Join the DawnDeck - Players group and make that group tag active before using the Onboarding Pillar.
02
Choose Register
Touch the Onboarding Pillar, choose Register, and choose Vampire, Lycan, or Hunter. The pillar creates or refreshes your Player account and gives you an Activation Code.
03
Accept the HUD
Accept the HUD copy from the pillar, add or wear it, then use the HUD activation dialog to enter your Activation Code.
04
Recover safely
If you lose the HUD, use HUD Only at the Onboarding Pillar for a fresh HUD and Activation Code. HUD recovery never grants another Starter Deck or Welcoming Chest.
The HUD is your main game client.
The HUD binds to your Player account with the Activation Code. After that, it manages the short player session used for gameplay actions.
Use Play to choose Practice or PvP, Inventory to inspect your cards, Profile to review account status, and Pass during your active turn.
Use the HUD to scan nearby DawnDeck Players, send a challenge, accept or decline challenges, and start a PvP match.
The HUD runs Practice against the computer and PvP against another Player. Card play, pass, surrender, and match updates happen there.
The HUD can request temporary Portal login codes and chest web claim codes when you want browser support.
The HUD shows active System Notice messages in Second Life through a dedicated notice dialog.
Second Life is the game client. The Portal supports it.
Use the HUD for active gameplay, trusted in-world objects for privileged Second Life actions, and the Portal for browser support surfaces.
Active gameplay, Practice, PvP, scan, challenge actions, card play, pass, surrender, match result, profile quick view, inventory quick view, and System Notice display.
Onboarding, HUD replacement through HUD Only, chest opening or direct claim code, Deck editing at the Deck Builder Terminal, Key crafting, Key and chest purchases, deck slot purchase, Species Reset, Same-Opponent Match Cap reset, Ranking Pillar, Ranking Awards Pillar, and Transaction History Pillar.
Guide, catalog, combos, leaderboards, Notices & Updates, dashboard, Ranking Awards claim, Deck Builder, chest opening with a claim code, match history, transaction history, and Report Issue / Suggestion.
Your first cards come from onboarding.
The Welcoming Chest is granted once during onboarding. It does not require a Key and gives you 10 cards to start your collection.
Open it at the Welcoming Chest Terminal (DawnDeck - Welcoming Chest) while wearing your activated HUD. After it opens, your cards are attached to your DawnDeck Player account and can be used in your Starter Deck.
- Wear your activated HUD.
- Touch the Welcoming Chest Terminal.
- Choose the opening option shown by the terminal.
- Review your new cards in the HUD or Portal.
- Use those cards to prepare your Deck.
A match-ready Deck needs at least 7 active cards.
- Your Starter Deck starts with 10 slots and needs at least 7 active cards to be match-ready.
- A Deck can hold at most 2 copies of the same Card, even if you own more.
- Edit your Deck at the Deck Builder Terminal in Second Life (DawnDeck - Deck Builder) or through the Portal Deck Builder. The HUD shows your cards but does not edit the Deck.
- Editing a Deck cancels pending challenges that used it. It never changes a match already in progress.
- Cards left outside your Deck never enter a match, even if you own them.
Extra deck slots buy more options, not a bigger hand.
The reveal schedule is fixed. You start with 5 revealed cards, then up to 5 more cards can appear from the hidden part of your Deck during your own turns.
The first 5 cards in your Deck order start revealed and playable. Put cards you want early in these slots.
The rest of your Deck is shuffled once when the match starts. One card is revealed from that hidden queue on each of your own turns 2 through 6.
You can buy one deck slot at a time in Second Life, up to 15 total slots. The first extra slot costs 750 L$, and later slots cost more.
A larger Deck gives the reveal queue more possible cards. It does not increase the number of revealed cards you can see in one match.
Choose how you want to play from the HUD.
Practice is a match against the computer using your active Deck. It gives no rewards, no XP, and no valid-match progression. Use it to learn cards, test combos, and get comfortable with the reveal rhythm.
PvP is a real match against another nearby Player. Use the HUD to scan, choose a Player, send a challenge, and wait for the response. Challenges expire after 90 seconds.
Both Players need a match-ready Deck with at least 7 active cards. Normal PvP challenges also require the two Decks to be within ±1000000 DPR.
10
Starting Crystal
Reduce your opponent's Crystal to zero to win immediately. Healing can bank you up to 12.
7
Starting Arcane
Spend Arcane to play cards. You regenerate +1 Arcane from your second turn onward, up to 10.
45s
Turn Timer
Each turn gives you 45 seconds to play a card, pass, or surrender.
7
Turns Each
Each Player gets up to 7 turns. If no Crystal reaches zero, tiebreak rules decide the winner.
Visible cards and hidden cards
- You can play only revealed cards.
- Hidden cards belong to the frozen Deck for that match, but their identity is never sent to any client until revealed.
- Mind Break discards only revealed opponent cards. It cannot discard from the hidden queue.
- The reveal order is decided once when the match starts, so re-opening or re-polling the HUD never re-rolls it.
Every Alpha card uses one of five active effects.
Cards have an Arcane cost, a Species or Universal owner, and an effect. Some target you, some target the opponent, and some become stronger when a combo triggers.
Crystal Strike
Damages the opponent's Crystal.Use it to push the opponent closer to zero Crystal.
Crystal Mend
Restores your own Crystal.Use it to survive longer and bank healing into Crystal overflow.
Arcane Spike
Drains the opponent's Arcane.Use it to make stronger cards harder for the opponent to play.
Arcane Renewal
Restores your own Arcane.Use it to recover resources and keep card options open.
Mind Break
Discards revealed opponent cards.Use it to reduce the opponent's current choices. It never reaches hidden cards.
Combos reward playing certain cards in order.
- A combo is a specific two-card sequence.
- The second card in that sequence triggers the bonus effect.
- Combo bonuses can affect Crystal, Arcane, or hand pressure depending on the configured cards.
- Hunter gets extra value from planning combos because Combo Focus doubles the first combo value in a match.
- The Portal Combos page is read-only and helps you plan which sequences to keep in your Deck.
A match must be valid before rewards apply.
If a Player's Crystal reaches zero, the opponent wins immediately.
After 7 turns each, the winner is decided by Crystal, then Arcane, then Crystal damage dealt, then Arcane damage dealt, then revealed cards still in hand.
A Player can surrender. Three consecutive automatic passes ends the match as abandon.
A match is valid only after at least 3 turns and 60 seconds.
On a normal victory, both Players can receive valid-match progression. On a valid surrender or abandon, only the winner receives valid-match progression and rewards.
Valid PvP matches advance your account.
Practice gives no rewards. PvP rewards apply only to valid matches and may be blocked by the Same-Opponent Match Cap.
| Reward | Winner | Loser |
|---|---|---|
| Experience Points | +12 XPevery valid match | +10 XPwhen there is no surrender or abandon |
| Key Fragment milestone | +1every 5 valid matches | +1every 5 valid matches |
| Reward Chest milestone | +1every 20 valid matches | +1every 20 valid matches |
| Alpha Chest milestone | +1every 50 valid matches | +1every 50 valid matches |
| Eclipse Chest milestone | +1every 100 valid matches | +1every 100 valid matches |
| Key Fragment win bonus | 6.5% chanceon each valid win | No win bonus |
| Reward Chest win bonus | 1% chanceon each valid win | No win bonus |
| Alpha Chest win bonus | 0.25% chanceon each valid win | No win bonus |
| Eclipse Chest win bonus | 0.1% chanceon each valid win | No win bonus |
Milestones count valid matches, not matches played. If you surrender or abandon, that match does not count for you, so it does not advance your milestones either.
Weekly and monthly ranking winners can claim extra rewards.
Ranking Awards are based on valid PvP match statistics. They are separate from normal match rewards, milestones, and chest openings.
Weekly periods run from Monday 00:00 UTC to the next Monday 00:00 UTC. Each weekly category pays 2 Reward Chests and 2 Keys.
Monthly periods run from the first day of the month at 00:00 UTC to the first day of the next month at 00:00 UTC. Each monthly category pays 3 Reward Chests, 1 Alpha Chest, 1 Eclipse Chest, and 5 Keys.
Most Matches counts valid matches. Most Wins counts valid wins. A Player can win more than one category in the same period.
The highest value wins. If Players tie, the winner is the Player whose latest contributing match finished most recently, then avatar name, then Player ID.
Open the Portal Dashboard to claim Ranking Awards you have won. Awards do not expire. The Ranking Awards Pillar shows the current Top 5 and whether you have a pending award, but claims happen only in the Portal.
Chests add cards to your collection. Keys open most reward chests.
All chest openings are resolved by the backend. The HUD and Portal show the result, but they do not choose which cards you receive. Every pool and its per-card drop rate is public on the Cards and Combos page.
Your free onboarding chest. No Key required. It opens 10 times over a compact starter pool, so you finish onboarding with enough cards to build a match-ready Deck.
Earned from milestones or win bonuses, and can be bought in-world. Requires 1 Key to open.
Earned from Alpha milestones or win bonuses, bought in-world, or granted by admins. Requires 1 Key to open.
Earned at the 100-valid-match milestone, from a small win bonus, or bought in-world. Requires 1 Key to open.
Craft 1 Key from 5 Key Fragments at the Key Craft Pillar (DawnDeck - Key Craft), or buy Keys in-world.
Second Life chest terminals can open the chest directly or issue a temporary chest web claim code for Portal chest opening.
Paid actions happen through trusted Second Life objects.
Purchases use a quote-then-pay flow. The object gives a price, you pay the exact L$ amount, and the backend grants the item or action. You can review completed payments in Transaction History.
1,500 L$ each at DawnDeck - Buy Keys.
2,500 L$ each. Choose Buy at the DawnDeck - Reward Chest terminal.
5,000 L$ each. Choose Buy at the DawnDeck - Alpha Chest terminal.
6,000 L$ each. Choose Buy at the DawnDeck - Eclipse Chest terminal.
Buy one slot at a time at DawnDeck - Buy Deck Slots. The first extra slot costs 750 L$, and prices rise until the 15-slot ceiling.
10,000 L$ at the Species Reset Pillar (DawnDeck - Species Reset) to switch to another Species.
1 L$ at the Cap Reset Pillar (DawnDeck - Reset Cap) to lift one Same-Opponent Match Cap early.
Free in-world boards you can check any time.
These pillars cost nothing. Touch one while wearing your bound HUD and it prints the answer in private Second Life chat. None of them grant rewards or change your account.
One pillar per ranking type (DawnDeck - Ranking: Most Wins, Most Matches, Top Damagers and so on). Each prints its own board. The same boards are on the Portal Ranking page.
DawnDeck - Ranking Awards shows the current weekly and monthly Top 5, the deadline, the reward for each period, and whether you have an award waiting. Claiming still happens in the Portal.
DawnDeck - Transaction History prints your paginated L$ purchase history.
The Portal supports your Second Life account.
- Use Portal Login from the Onboarding Pillar to get a temporary web login code. You must be wearing a bound HUD.
- Use the Dashboard to review XP, valid matches, cards, unopened chests, Keys, Key Fragments, and chest opening history.
- Use the Deck Builder to edit your Starter Deck from a browser.
- Use Chest Opening with a temporary chest web claim code from a Second Life chest terminal.
- Use Match History and Transaction History to review finished matches and L$ purchases.
- Use Report Issue / Suggestion when you need support or want to send player feedback.
- The Portal supports Second Life; it does not replace the HUD during an active match.
DawnDeck rewards are protected by backend rules.
The backend validates Player identity, Deck ownership, chest ownership, match state, and reward eligibility. The HUD is a client, not the source of truth.
After 7 rewarded valid matches against the same opponent in a rolling 24-hour window, you cannot start another PvP match against that opponent until the window clears. Short or invalid matches do not count toward the cap. Because the match never starts, matches, milestones, and rankings cannot be farmed with a single partner.
The Cap Reset Pillar can lift the match cap for one opponent pair early after a quoted payment of 1 L$, letting you play them again right away.
If your turn timer expires, the backend records an automatic pass. After 3 consecutive automatic passes, your opponent wins by abandon.
Repeated surrender or abandon offenses can temporarily block challenge actions. Read-only HUD and Portal surfaces remain available.
Short window (24h)3 offenses -> 2h PvP timeout
Medium window (7d)7 offenses -> 12h PvP timeout
Long window (30d)15 offenses -> 48h PvP timeout