A House player may discard cards, draws back to five, revives their stunned pawns and advances the Dark Arts Marker one space. Dark Arts instead revives its stunned pawns and draws to five, without the optional discard. Do not apply the House procedure to both sides.
Based on the publisher’s rulebook ↗House Replenish: follow this order
Draw to five.
stunned pawns.
Marker one space.
The refill helps you, but also advances Dark Arts.
House vs Dark Arts at a glance
| Question | House | Dark Arts |
|---|---|---|
| May I discard unwanted cards? | Yes, any number. | No optional discard during Replenish. |
| Which happens first? | Discard / draw, then revive. | Revive, then draw. |
| What is the target hand size? | Five cards. | Five cards. |
| Advance Dark Arts for this action? | Yes, one space. | No advance from Replenish itself. |
Example: you still have two cards
House player
Keep both and draw three; or discard one and draw four. Then revive your stunned pawns and advance the Dark Arts Marker.
Dark Arts player
Revive your stunned pawns, keep the two cards and draw three. You cannot cycle them away using Replenish.
If the House player’s advance reaches an Event Space, resolve the event procedure. Refilling is therefore a change to the shared game state, not just your hand.
Official rulebook · printed pp. 22–23 ↗Does every card draw advance Dark Arts?
No. Drawing through an event, Library Book effect or Bonus Space does not by itself advance the Dark Arts Marker. The advance belongs to the House Replenish action; resolve any other instructions on the effect separately.
If your draw deck runs out, shuffle your discard pile to make a new draw deck. Drawing to five means a total hand of five, not five additional cards.
Official rulebook · printed pp. 12–13 ↗When is refilling worth it?
Editorial advice: compare your best legal action now with the benefit of new cards or revived pawns. Check where the next Dark Arts step lands before deciding. There is no universal “always wait until empty” rule.
Endgame exception: at the final Dark Arts Path space, players draw up to five and cannot Replenish again. Card effects and draw spaces are treated separately by the rulebook.
Official rulebook · printed pp. 22–23 ↗