Aristeia! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Summary
• How to Use This Rulebook
• Contents of the Game
• Setting Up Your First Game
  • 1. Arrange the Scenario
  • 2. Build Your Team
  • 3. Building the Tactics Deck
  • 4. Underdog
  • 5. Deployment
• Fundamental Concepts
  • Range
  • Line of Sight
  • Rolls
  • Switches
• Playing the Game
  • Phase 1: Planning
  • Phase 2: Turns
    • Turn 1 Initiative
    • Turn 2 Initiative
    • Turn 3 Initiative
    • Turn 4 Initiative
  • Phase 3: Objectives
  • Phase 4: Recovery
• Subsequent Rounds
  • Characters on the Bench
  • Characters in the Infirmary
  • Custom Teams
    • 1. Building Your Team
    • 2. Unveil Your Team
    • 3. Building the Tactics Deck
• Reference Guide
  • Who Does What
  • Solving Rules Contradictions
  • When Do Things Happen
  • Digital Version
  • Rules Glossary
    • Actions
    • Action Points
    • Actions Step
    • Activations
    • Adjacency
    • Agility
    • Allies
    • Attacks
    • Attacker
    • Attributes
    • Automatic Skills
    • Barriers
    • Bench
    • Blocked Spaces
    • Brawn
    • Burning
    • Characters
    • Combat Rolls
    • Contender
    • Control Panel
    • Counters
    • Cover
    • Critical Block
    • Critical Success
    • Damage
    • Dazzled
    • Defender
    • Defense
    • Deployment Zones
    • Dice
    • Discard Pile
    • Discarding
    • Disengage
    • Displacements
    • Effects
    • Enemies
    • Energy
    • Face to Face Roll
    • Focused
    • Frag
    • Free Spaces
    • Hand
    • Healing
    • HexaDome
    • Hidden
    • Hit Points
    • Immobilized
    • Infirmary
    • Inflict
    • Initiative
    • Initiative Cards
    • Inside
    • Line of Sight
    • Marked
    • Markers
    • Move
    • Movement Points
    • Nullifying an Effect
    • Nullifying Dice
    • Objectives Phase
    • Obstacles
    • Occupied Spaces
    • Placing
    • Planning Phase
    • Poisoned
    • Preparation Step
    • Range
    • Recovery Phase
    • Rounds
    • Running Order
    • Scenarios
    • Scoring Zones
    • Setup
    • Simple Rolls
    • Smoke
    • Speed
    • States
    • States Step
    • Stunned
    • Swapping
    • Switches
    • Symbols
    • Tactics
    • Targets
    • Taunted
    • Team
    • Turns Phase
    • Underdog

Introduction

175 years into the future, humanity has reached the stars. The nations of old coalesced into federated blocs who proceeded to carve up any star systems found suitable for human habitation. Technology has advanced beyond our wildest dreams, but its benefits are still available only to those who can pay. Synthetic bodies, artificial intelligence, a data network connecting planets light-years apart, miraculous regenerative medicine... The presence of all these technologies has enabled the creation of Aristeia!, the high-stakes contact sport that's sweeping the Human Sphere. A blood sport? Yes, but not as bad as you would imagine. Injuries that not so long ago would have sent you to the morgue can nowadays be healed within minutes. Deadly? Death is certainly on the menu. Tens of millions of fans keep their eyes glued to their holo-screens for the thrill that this match could be the last for their favorite fighters, some of whom enjoy an unprecedented level of celebrity adoration on Maya. Aristeia! is non-stop action and top-level athleticism. Get connected and enjoy!

Summary

In Aristeia!, each player controls a team of four Characters competing in the bloodiest, most exciting spectacle in the Human Sphere. Throughout five game Rounds, players direct their Character's actions to meet the goals of the Scenario, earning Victory Points to win the game. The first player to collect eight Victory Points wins. Failing that, the player with the most Victory Points at the end of the fifth Round wins. If there's a tie, the player with the most Frag tokens wins.

How to Use This Rulebook

Among the contents of this box you will find three booklets: 'How to Play' (which you're reading right now), 'Reference Guide' and 'Access Guide to the Human Sphere'. For the time being, this rulebook is all you will need. Once you've read it and played through the tutorial, you will be familiar with the rules of Aristeia! and ready to play your first few games, consulting the 'Reference Guide' to solve any doubts that might come up. Any capitalized game terms should have their own entry in the 'Reference Guide' for you to look up.

Contents of the Game

These are all the components included in this box:

• 1 Underdog token
• 5 Barrier (Obstacle) tokens
• 5 Tactics markers
• 52 State tokens
• 6 Red/Green counters
• 6 Blue/Orange counters
• 6 Red/Blue counters
• 6 Green/Orange counters
• 1 Team stickers sheet
• 27 "1" Damage tokens & 12 "3" Damage tokens
• 10 Frag tokens
• 11 Victory Point tokens
• 3 Booklets: 'Reference Guide', 'Access Guide to the Human Sphere' and 'How to Play'
• 8 Models (Green Team: hEXx3r, Maximus, Major Lunah and Parvati; Orange Team: Wild Bill, Gata, 8-Ball and Miyamoto Mushashi)
• 14 Custom Dice
• 8 Character Cards, each showing the Character name, Title, Attributes (Initiative, Speed, Energy, Defense, Brawn, Agility, Hit Points), Actions (with Cost, Range, Roll, Switch, Effect and Timing), Automatic Skills, and a Collection Icon & Number
• 52 Tactics, each showing a Character name, Collection Icon & Number
• 8 Initiative Cards, each showing an Initiative number and Character name
• 1 Two-Sided HexaDome, with Deployment Zones, Blocked Spaces, Barriers (Obstacles) and other terrain
• 2 Control Panels, each with a Running Order area, an Infirmary, a Bench, a Round Counter, a Movement Points Counter and an Action Points Counter

Setting Up Your First Game

Before playing a game, you will have to set up a number of game elements, including the game board and your teams, by following these steps:

1. Arrange the Scenario

Aristeia! games are governed by the ruleset of one specific Scenario. Scenarios dictate how to arrange the HexaDome part of the board, what restrictions to observe when drafting your teams, and how to win the game. The 'Reference Guide' includes four Scenarios for you to play, and more Scenarios will be released in the future to add variety to your games.

For your first game ever, you will be using the 'Assault' Scenario. Arrange the game board, the Barriers and all other components as shown in the diagrams in the printed booklet.

In this Scenario, the goal is to control the Scoring Zone by having more Characters inside than your opponent at the end of each Round. The Scoring Zone, marked with a blue Counter, changes positions as the game proceeds, so your Characters will have to chase it around the HexaDome while frustrating your opponent's attempts to do the same.

2. Build Your Team

Each player controls a team of four Characters. At the end of this booklet you will find rules for you to build your own custom teams, but for your first game you will be playing with the two preset teams shown on the previous page. Use team stickers to identify your team.

3. Building the Tactics Deck

Each player has their own Tactics Deck made up of two Tactics for each of their Characters plus the ten Standard Tactics.

For your first game, take the eight Tactics assigned to your team and shuffle them in with your ten Standard Tactics to form your deck.

Standard Tactics: Dodge (009), Dodge (010), Take Aim (011), Take Aim (012), Focus (013), Focus (014), No! (015), Fortune favors the Badass (016), Catch your breath (017), Stick to the plan (018).

Green Team: Block (047), Scram! (048), Holographic Sight (028), Snake Bite (030), Access Denied (045), R@gd0ll (046), Nanoids Cloud (036), Field Analysis (038).

Orange Team: Tsuchi-Do (019), Mizu-Do (020), Block (023), Barrel through (024), Swerve (031), Go All-Out (032), Ace of Diamonds (042), Ace of Hearts (040).

Before shuffling, players put aside these Tactics from their decks, that will form their initial hands:

• Green Player: No! (015), Field Analysis (038), Take Aim (011), Catch Your Breath (017).
• Orange Player: No! (015), Swerve (031), Take Aim (011), Catch Your Breath (017).

Then, shuffle the rest of your Tactics Deck. Use the cards you set aside as your initial hand instead of drawing four Tactics.

Starting Hand: Once your Tactics deck is shuffled, draw a starting hand of four Tactics. Once per game, if you don't like the Tactics you've drawn, you can shuffle your hand again into the deck and draw a new starting hand of four Tactics.

4. Underdog

To decide which player will begin the game as the Underdog, both players add up their Character's Initiative values. The player with the lowest total starts out as the Underdog. In case of a tie, the Underdog card is assigned at random. From this point on, whenever two Characters have tied Initiative values or two or more simultaneous Effects need to be resolved, the Underdog gets to decide the order of activation/resolution.

For your first game, the Green Player starts out as the Underdog.

5. Deployment

In the description of each scenario you will find specific instructions on how to deploy your Characters on the HexaDome.

For your first game, arrange your Characters as shown in the diagram in the printed booklet.

Once all Characters are deployed, the first Round of the game begins.

Fundamental Concepts

Here are a few basic concepts you will need to be familiar with to play a game of Aristeia!

Range

Range is the most commonplace requirement for any Action your Characters might want to perform. There are two values to any Range. The first value is the Minimum Range, the shortest allowed distance—measured in spaces—to the Target. The second value is the Maximum Range, the longest allowed distance to the Target.

To verify you're within Range, count the number of spaces between your Character and their Target, following the shortest route. A Character's space is at Range 0, adjacent spaces are at Range 1, and so on.

Types of Range:

• Line-of-Sight Range: This Range requires the target to be within Line of Sight.
• No-Line-of-Sight Range: Effects with this Range don't need you to have Line of Sight to the target.

Line of Sight

Line of Sight determines what a Character in the HexaDome can 'see' at any given time.

A Character has Line of Sight to a Target if you can draw an unobstructed straight line from one vertex of their space to, at least, two vertices of the Target's space. This line is obstructed by spaces Occupied by another Character or Blocked by terrain. Spaces Occupied by an Obstacle don't block Line of Sight.

Important! This imaginary line is also considered obstructed if it crosses two or more vertices of the same Blocked or Occupied space.

There are three possible Line of Sight conditions:

• Clear Line of Sight: You can draw unobstructed straight lines from one of the vertices of your space to every vertex of the Target's space.
• Limited Line of Sight: You can draw unobstructed straight lines from one of the vertices of your space to at least two vertices of the Target's space, but not to all.
• Blocked Line of Sight: You can draw unobstructed straight lines from one of the vertices of your space to at most one vertex of the Target's space.

Rolls

In Aristeia!, you use special dice showing a series of symbols to decide the outcome of your actions. Each symbol has a different in-game meaning:

• Success: Each of these represents one success in your roll. In an Attack, each success inflicts one Damage to the Target.
• Block: In a Face to Face Roll (that is, one in which both players roll dice simultaneously), each of these symbols cancels out one of the opponent's Success symbols.
• Critical Success: This is a Critical Success, and cannot be canceled out by a Block.
• Critical Block: This Critical Block cancels out an entire die from the opponent's Roll, even if it's showing a Critical Success.
• Special: This symbol has no impact on the roll, but might be useful for activating a Switch like the other symbols.

Important! Whatever the type of roll, players cannot roll more than three dice of the same color at once.

Dice colors: There are six colors of custom dice: Red, Green, Orange, Blue, Yellow and Black. Players cannot roll more than one Red die, more than one Green die, or more than three each of Orange, Blue, Yellow or Black dice per Roll.

There are two types of rolls: Simple and Face to Face. Only one player rolls dice for a Simple Roll, but both players roll against each other in a Face to Face Roll.

If you roll a Critical Block in a Face to Face Roll and want to use it to cancel out one of your opponent's dice, you must do so before activating any Switches.

Simple Roll example: Parvati performs her MediKit Action to heal a teammate. She must pass a Simple Roll by rolling at least one Success on her die. She throws the die and it shows a Success and a Special, so she heals successfully.

Face to Face Roll example: Major Lunah uses her Called Shot to perform an Attack on Miyamoto Mushashi. Major Lunah rolls her two dice, meaning she throws those two dice and adds a Success to the result as if it had been rolled on a third die. All in all, she rolls two Critical Successes, two Successes and a Special.

Her target, Miyamoto Mushashi, defends himself by rolling his Defense dice for a result of one Critical Block, one Success and one Special.

Mushashi can use his Critical Block to Nullify one of Major Lunah's dice, so he uses it and takes away the Special. Then, he uses his Block to Nullify one of Major Lunah's remaining Successes. Major Lunah's final result is one Critical Success, and Mushashi's is a Success and Special.

Switches

Activating Switches allows you to spend some of the symbols you rolled to obtain some extra Switch Effects in return.

Switches have a Cost and an Effect. You can only activate Switches immediately after making a roll.

Important! Switch Effects always apply before the Effects of the Action that called for the roll.

Whatever symbols you spend to activate Switches will not be available for the resolution of the roll. That means if you spend one Success to activate a Switch, you will not be able to count that success for the Effect of your Action. Similarly, if you spent one Block to activate a Switch, you will not be able to use it to cancel out one of your opponent's Successes.

Switch Effects apply immediately when you pay their cost. Specifically, they apply before the Effect of the Action that prompted the roll.

During a Face to Face Roll, the player controlling the active Character—the one who performed the Action that prompted the roll—gets to choose which player may activate their Switches first.

If you spend a Critical Success to pay the cost of a Switch, it counts as two Successes. Likewise, a Critical Block counts as two Blocks for the purposes of activating a Switch.

Switches listed inside the text of an Action can only be activated during a Roll for that specific Action. Conversely, Switches listed under a Character's Attributes and before their Actions are called General Switches and may be activated during any Roll made by that Character.

Switch example: 8-Ball rolled a Block, a Special and a Special on his Eat my Fa Jing Attack. Without any Success, he cannot deal any Damage, but he may spend his Special to activate his Switch, thus Displacing his target.

Switch order example: Miyamoto performs his Ken no Sen Attack against Major Lunah, so he rolls a result of two Successes, one Block, one Special, one Block, one Special. She defends herself by rolling a result of one Block, one Special, one Special.

If Miyamoto decides Major Lunah will be the first to activate Switches, she could spend her Specials to Nullify one of Miyamoto's Blocks.

On the other hand, if he decides to go first, he may spend each of his Blocks to add one more Success to his Roll. This way, when it's Major Lunah's turn to activate her Switches, her Specials will be useless without any Block to Nullify in Miyamoto's Roll.

Switches and Criticals example: Maximus performs a Jotum's Shield Attack on Miyamoto Mushashi, so he rolls his Attack dice against Mushashi's Defense.

Maximus rolls two Successes, one Block, two Specials, and Mushashi rolls a Critical Block, one Success, two Specials.

Mushashi decides to keep his Critical Block, and use it on the Switches step instead of Nullifying one of Maximus' dice now. Then, Maximus decides to activate his Switches first, and spends his two Specials to Displace Mushashi.

Finally, Mushashi spends his Critical Block to activate his General Switch twice, giving him an extra two Successes. Mushashi can activate it because Maximus was adjacent when he declared the Attack.

Playing the Game

A game is played throughout five Rounds, and each Round is divided into a number of phases that always play out in the same order.

In this section, we'll delve into the phases of each Round, and these asides will show a sample Round for you to play along as part of your first ever game. Once the second Round starts you'll be prepared to take over your team and act freely for the rest of the game.

Phase 1: Planning

Arrange the order in which your Characters will act however you want by placing their Initiative cards face-down on the Running Order area of your Control Panel. During this Round, your Characters will activate in that order, from left to right. You can change this order at the beginning of every Round.

For our sample Round, place your Initiative cards in this order:

• Green Team: 1. Maximus, 2. hEXx3r, 3. Parvati, 4. Major Lunah
• Orange Team: 1. 8-Ball, 2. Miyamoto Mushashi, 3. Wild Bill, 4. Gata

Phase 2: Turns

This is the main phase of the game, where you get to activate Characters to perform Actions and play Tactics. There are four Turns each Round. Each of those Turns has an Initiative step followed by two Activations, one for each player.

Turn 1 Initiative

Both players simultaneously reveal their leftmost Initiative card, corresponding to the first Turn, and compare their values. The player that controls the Character with the highest Initiative, or the Underdog if both Characters are tied, decides which of those Characters activates first.

In the first Turn of our sample game, the Green Player reveals Maximus' card and the Orange Player reveals 8-Ball's card. Both Characters have the same Initiative value, so the Green Player—as the current Underdog—chooses who will activate first.

Maximus' Activation. At the beginning of their Activation, the Active Character gains a pool of as many Action Points as their Energy Attribute. You will use these Action Points to perform that Character's Actions.

Move. All Characters have access to this Action, even if it doesn't appear on their Character cards. There is a description of the effects of Move on the back of the 'Reference Guide'.

The 6-icon indicates that this Effect happens automatically whenever you perform this Action. By performing Move, the Character gains as many Movement Points as their Speed Attribute. Each Movement Point may be spent to move onto an adjacent Free Space. You can spend Movement Points and Action Points in any order you choose.

Maximus starts by advancing toward the Scoring Zone by performing the Action called Move. Thanks to his Speed 3, Maximus can move up to three spaces each time he spends two Action Points to perform the Move Action. To reach the Scoring Zone, Maximus will have to perform Move twice for a total cost of four Action Points. At the end of their Activation, Characters lose all unspent Action Points and Movement Points.

Space Status. Spaces with a Character or Obstacle on them are Occupied. The Spaces printed black on the HexaDome are Blocked. All other Spaces are Free.

Attacks. Actions with a red background are Attacks. These Actions deal Damage and apply other Effects to enemies.

To resolve an Attack, make a Face to Face Roll, named Combat Roll. The Attacker uses the dice specified by their Attack, and the Defender uses the dice pictured in their Defense Attribute.

Any Success rolled during a Combat Roll—unless they are canceled out by an enemy Block or spent to activate a Switch—inflicts one point of Damage to the enemy.

Important! In a Combat Roll, both the Attacker and the Defender are susceptible to receiving Damage from enemy Successes.

Displacements. Some Characters have the ability to Displace themselves or others, usually by means of an Action or a Tactic. Displacements, unlike Movements, don't trigger Disengage Rolls when the Character vacates a space adjacent to an enemy. All other restrictions on Movement apply to Displacements: only adjacent Free Spaces are valid destinations.

8-Ball's Activation. Like Maximus, 8-Ball gains five Action Points at the start of his Activation, that is, as many as his Energy Attribute.

8-Ball spends two Action Points to Move, approaching the Scoring Zone and putting Maximus inside the Range of his Eat my Fa Jing! Attack.

In this case, 8-Ball rolls a result of two Successes and one Special, while Maximus' is a Block and one Special plus an automatic Special symbol on top of whatever the dice show, so his final tally is a Block.

Since Switches are activated before the Attack takes effect, 8-Ball spends his Special to Displace Maximus out of the Scoring Zone.

Maximus doesn't want to activate his Switch to keep his Block, so without further ado both players apply their results.

Maximus spends his Block to nullify one of 8-Ball's Successes, so he ends up suffering one Damage. 8-Ball doesn't have any Block to stop Maximus' Success, and suffers one Damage too.

8-Ball has no plans for his last Action Point, so his Activation ends, the Action Point is lost and the Turn comes to a close.

Turn 2 Initiative

Again, both players reveal the Initiative card corresponding to the current Turn.

In our sample game, the Green Player reveals hEXx3r's card and the Orange Player reveals Miyamoto Mushashi's card. Since Mushashi's Initiative is higher, the Orange Player gets to decide who acts first; this time it will be hEXx3r who goes first.

hEXx3r's Activation. At the start of hEXx3r's Activation, she gains 5 Action Points as per her Energy value. She will endeavor to counter 8-Ball's maneuver.

Actions, Requirements and Effects. Unlike Attacks, which are a special type of Action, most Actions are resolved by a Simple Roll and inflict no Damage to their Targets.

Before performing an Action, make sure you meet all necessary requirements for it. The most common requirement is Range.

Since her Actions have a limited Range, hEXx3r spends two of her Action Points to perform the Move Action and approach her teammate Maximus so he falls inside the Range of her Vade Retro. Once in range, she performs Vade Retro to push Maximus back inside the Scoring Zone.

The outcome of an Action as described by its text is called its Effect. Effects may be labeled by a couple of different icons depending on how they apply. As seen on the Move Action, Effects that start with the automatic icon apply obligatorily each time the Action is performed. Conversely, Effects that start with the optional icon apply only if the result of the Roll includes at least one Success after activating any Switches. In addition, these Effects are optional and you may choose not to apply them even if you rolled the required Success. These effects apply at most once per Action, even if the Roll showed several Successes.

This Switch is listed before hEXx3r's Actions on her card because it can be activated during any of her rolls.

hEXx3r spends one Action Point to perform her Vade Retro Action on Maximus, who is within range: between one and four spaces from her. She rolls for a final result enough to apply the Effect and Displace Maximus one space into the Scoring Zone.

Since Maximus is still within Vade Retro range, hEXx3r spends another Action Point and performs the same action again. This time she rolls enough to activate a Switch and still apply Vade Retro's Effect. She spends it to Displace herself one space before Vade Retro Displaces Maximus to the center of the Scoring Zone.

Finally, hEXx3r spends her last Action Point to perform Vade Retro on Maximus once again. She rolls enough successes, so she Displaces Maximus to complicate the opposing team's advance.

Tactics. Each player has their own deck of Tactic cards. You can play your Tactics to gain an edge over your opponent when you need it most. The timing section of the card says when you can play that Tactic. Tactics must be discarded after applying their effects, forming a discard pile. You draw a Tactic every time an Enemy goes to the Infirmary, and at the end of every Round. You can have as many Tactics in your hand as you want, there is no maximum hand size.

Automatic Skills. Some Characters have Automatic Skills listed on their Character cards. Unlike Actions, Automatic Skills may be used at any time and require no expenditure of Action Points.

Miyamoto Mushashi's Activation. It's now Mushashi's go, and he gains five Action Points as per his Energy Attribute. He will attempt to gain access to the Scoring Zone by removing Maximus from the equation.

Since Mushashi's Ken No Sen Attack has Range 1-1, it can only be used on adjacent enemies; this means Mushashi will have to move next to Maximus. After spending two Action Points to perform Move, he runs towards Maximus, drawing his blades.

The Orange Player plays a Tactic named Take Aim to boost Mushashi's next Roll with an extra die, and then spends 3 Action Points for Mushashi to perform a Ken No Sen Attack on Maximus.

Mushashi rolls for an impressive tally of Successes and Specials. Simultaneously, Maximus rolls his Defense dice for a result of Blocks and Specials.

Miyamoto Mushashi activates his Switch to transform his Blocks into Successes, and Maximus uses his Block to nullify that many Successes from Mushashi's Roll. As a result of this Attack, Maximus suffers 3 Damage.

Since Mushashi inflicted 3 Damage on Maximus, he may use his Kaze Tachinu Automatic Skill to Displace himself up to three times, enough to enter the Scoring Zone.

Turn 3 Initiative

Players reveal the Initiative cards on the third slot of their respective Running Orders. The Green Player reveals Parvati and the Orange Player reveals Wild Bill, who has a higher Initiative value. This time, the Orange Player decides to go first.

Wild Bill's Activation. Thanks to his Twin Pistols Attack, Wild Bill can shoot at enemies up to 6 spaces away from him, so he gets behind 8-Ball to open fire on hEXx3r.

After spending two Action Points to Move, Wild Bill positions himself next to 8-Ball. Next, he spends his remaining three Action Points to perform a Twin Pistols Attack on hEXx3r.

In this moment, Maximus could use his Implacable Automatic Skill to Displace himself, but decides to stay where he is and block that route to the Scoring Zone.

Cover. Cover is any element that provides protection against attacks. For Attacks made against a Target further than one space away from the Attacker, either or both Characters may benefit from Cover to maximize their survivability.

A Character is in Cover if they are adjacent to a Blocked or Occupied Space that is partially obstructing the enemy's Line of Sight. Characters in Cover add a Black die to their Combat Rolls.

Obstacles. Obstacles are terrain elements that impede Character movement but provide useful Cover. Spaces Occupied by an Obstacle don't block Line of Sight, but may grant Cover to adjacent Characters.

Both Wild Bill and hEXx3r benefit from Cover for their Rolls for this Attack, so Wild Bill rolls his full dice pool including the Black die from Cover, and hEXx3r rolls her Defense dice including the Black die from Cover.

Wild Bill's result is enough Successes, and hEXx3r's is a lesser result, so hEXx3r will suffer 2 Damage. hEXx3r would survive this damage, so Wild Bill decides to use his Automatic Skill Dead Man's Hand during the Switches step of the Roll to discard the Catch Your Breath Tactic in exchange for another Success, which will cause the third Damage he needs to put hEXx3r out of commission.

Infirmary. The moment a Character accumulates a number of Damage tokens equal to or higher than their Hit Points Attribute, remove that Character from the HexaDome and place them in the Infirmary. Then, discard all Damage tokens and any States on that Character. Each time a Character visits the Infirmary, the opponent draws one Tactic card and takes one Frag token.

After sending hEXx3r to the Infirmary, the Orange Player gains one Frag token and draws a Tactic, ending the activation.

Parvati's Activation. At the start of Parvati's Activation, she gains 5 Action Points as per her Energy value. She intends to use them to gain a foothold in the Scoring Zone.

Parvati starts off by spending two Action Points to Move next to the Scoring Zone. Next, she spends another two Action Points to Move again, hoping to get inside the Scoring Zone.

Disengage. In order to leave a space adjacent to an enemy using a Movement, the Active Character must win a Face to Face Roll using their Agility versus the enemy's Brawn. To pass that Face to Face Roll, the Active Character must have at least one Success after the opponent has used up all their Blocks. If the Active Character fails, they cannot Disengage and must stay on their original space and lose all remaining Movement Points.

If an enemy Character attempts to Disengage from a space adjacent to two or more of your Characters, choose one of them to contest the Disengagement. Your chosen Character gains a Black-die bonus to their Brawn for each other ally adjacent to the Active Character, up to a maximum of three Black dice.

Parvati tries to Disengage from Mushashi in order to enter the Scoring Zone. Since her Agility die shows a Success, she rolls that die and gets a Success. Miyamoto Mushashi's Brawn dice roll a Block.

Mushashi spends his Block to nullify Parvati's only Success, so she won't be able to Disengage and must remain where she was. Furthermore, she loses all Movement Points she had left.

Using her last Action Point, Parvati performs the MediKit Action to heal Maximus. She rolls her die for a Success, so she can remove one Damage from Maximus' Character card. Then, her Activation ends.

Turn 4 Initiative

The fourth slot on the Running Order is revealed, and this time it's Green's Major Lunah versus Orange's Gata. Once again the Orange Player has a higher Initiative, but this time they prefer Major Lunah to go first.

Major Lunah's Activation. When she Activates, Major Lunah gains five Action Points as per her Energy value.

Criticals. Critical results on dice (Critical Success and Critical Block) can have a major impact on a Roll. When you resolve a Face to Face Roll, a Critical Success counts as a Success that cannot be nullified by any Block on the opponent's Roll. Conversely, you may spend a Critical Block to nullify an entire die of your choosing from the opponent's Roll, even if that die is showing a Critical Success. This function of Critical Blocks takes place before any Switches can be activated.

Unlike previous Characters, Major Lunah won't bother to Move. Her Called Shot Attack has a maximum Range of 8, so she's content to hold her ground and try to take Mushashi down from afar.

Her Automatic Skill, Marksmanship, allows Major Lunah to ignore her Target's Cover, so Mushashi won't be able to benefit from that Cover bonus to his Defense Roll. To further complicate things for Mushashi, Major Lunah does have Cover and another Automatic Skill, Veteran Sniper, which allows her to trade the Cover bonus for a more threatening extra die.

All in all, Major Lunah rolls an Attack that provides her with a large result of Successes and Specials.

Miyamoto Mushashi rolls his Defense for a result of a Critical Block, one Success and one Special.

Mushashi is too far from Major Lunah to make use of his Switch, so he decides to use his Critical Block to nullify one of Lunah's dice, depriving her of a Success.

During Switches, Lunah spends her Specials to activate her Switch and remove one of Mushashi's Blocks.

Finally, Miyamoto Mushashi suffers Damage and gets sent to the Infirmary. As a consequence of this, the Green Player gains a Frag token and draws one Tactic card. At the same time, Major Lunah suffers 1 Damage from Mushashi's Success.

After putting Mushashi on ice, Major Lunah is still holding onto two Action Points. However, she decides against moving and there aren't any enemies inside her Suppressive Fire Range, so she ends her Activation.

Gata's Activation. This will be the last Activation of the Round. Gata receives her five Action Points, the same amount as her Energy value.

Placing. When you're prompted to Place a Character, you simply take that Character's model and put it on the designated space, disregarding the usual restrictions to Movement and Displacement.

Gata launches off by spending two Action Points to Move, which gives her five Movement Points as per her Speed 5. She uses three of them to move onto a space adjacent to an Obstacle so she can Freerun off it. Freerun is an Action with no Action Point cost, and it allows Gata to spend one of her Movement Points to gain ground in an unusual way: she can be Placed on any Free space adjacent to her Target, which in this case is the Obstacle. Effectively, this means she jumps over the Obstacle and has one Movement Point left to move next to Maximus.

When Gata spends another two Action Points to Move, she receives another five Movement Points. Gata spends one of them to perform Freerun and Place herself on the far side of Maximus, right at the center of the Scoring Zone.

Ordinarily, if Gata wanted to keep moving, she would have to make a Disengage Roll, but this time she plays a Tactic, Swerve, which allows Gata to Displace herself one space, bypassing the Disengage roll and coming to rest next to Parvati.

Using her last Action Point, Gata performs a Misdirection Action to Dazzle Parvati. Note that this is not an Attack. She rolls for a result including Specials. Gata spends her Specials to activate her Switch and Displace herself away from Parvati.

Since she rolled a Success, Gata gets to impose the Dazzled State on Parvati, placing a Dazzled token on Parvati's Character card.

Thus concludes the fourth Turn, and we move on to the next phase of the Round.

States. Some Effects may impose certain States on targets. Each State has been assigned its own token, which you can use to mark the affected Characters. State tokens have two different sides: a red one and a blue one. When a State is imposed on a Character, place that State's token red-side up on that Character's card. At the end of a Character's Activation, remove all blue tokens from that Character's card, and then flip all red State tokens so they are blue-side up. States may have different effects depending on which side their token is currently showing; these effects apply the moment the token is placed or flipped. A Character cannot be under the influence of two or more instances of the same State. If a Character would have a State imposed on them that they already have a token for, remove the existing token before adding the new one, red-side up.

There's a list of all States and their effects on the back of the 'Reference Guide'.

Phase 3: Objectives

At this point in the Round, players track the completion of their Objectives and gain Victory Points for them.

The Assault Scenario has three Objectives:

• Being the only player with one or more Characters inside the Scoring Zone at the end of the Round (3 Victory Points).
• Having more Characters inside the Scoring Zone at the end of the Round than the opponent (2 Victory Points, but only if both players have at least one Character inside the Scoring Zone).
• Having the same number of Characters inside the Scoring Zone at the end of the Round as the opponent (1 Victory Point, but only if both players have at least one Character inside the Scoring Zone).

Since both players have one Character inside the Scoring Zone, they gain one Victory Point each.

If either player has eight or more Victory Points, or if this is the fifth Round, then the game ends. The player who gained more Victory Points, or the one who has more Frag tokens if there's a tie, wins the game. Otherwise, the player with the least Victory Points becomes the Underdog. In case of a tie, the Underdog status changes sides.

The players are tied at one Victory Point, so the Orange Player gets the Underdog token.

The Scoring Zone changes in this step, following the rules of the Scenario. According to the Assault Scenario rules, the Orange player, as the Underdog, now gets to decide the position of the next Scoring Zone by placing the blue counter on any of that Deployment Zone's spaces. Only a Deployment Zone with no Characters inside it in this moment can be chosen as a Scoring Zone.

Phase 4: Recovery

In this phase, Characters in the Infirmary move to the Bench with a -2 Energy State token. Finally, both players draw a Tactic card from their decks. Players who earned at least one Victory Point during this Round draw one additional Tactic.

Both hEXx3r and Mushashi move to their team's Bench and receive a -2 Energy State token. On their next Activation, they will only have three Action Points available. Then, both players draw two Tactic cards each: one because the Round ends, and one for having scored at least one Victory Point.

At the conclusion of this phase, the first Round ends and the second one begins with a new Planning phase.

Subsequent Rounds

After playing this tutorial Round, you're ready to tackle the rest of the game, and in fact any Aristeia! game, by yourself. If any questions pop up during play, feel free to take a look at the 'Reference Guide', where each rule is explained more thoroughly.

Characters on the Bench

Characters that find themselves on the Bench at the beginning of their Activation must return to the HexaDome immediately. To do that, the player Places the Character in any Free Space inside any of the Deployment Zones, except for the Scoring Zone.

Characters in the Infirmary

Characters that are in the Infirmary at the beginning of their Activation don't get to activate at all. Players must skip that Activation step and continue with the Round.

Custom Teams

The next time you play a game of Aristeia! you should construct your own teams and decks using the Characters available and their Tactics. To build your custom teams, choose the Scenario you will play and then follow the steps laid out in this section.

1. Building Your Team

Each player secretly chooses four different Characters to form their team. Two copies of the same Character cannot be on the same team, but they can be on rival teams if both players have a copy of the game.

Optional Rule: Draft. If you choose to apply this rule, players take turns to pick a Character for their team from a pool of all Characters. One randomly-chosen player picks a Character, then the opponent picks a Character. Repeat until both players have a four-Character team.

2. Unveil Your Team

Once both players have chosen their team members, they show each other their Character cards. Make sure you understand the Effects of the Actions and Automatic Skills of your Characters and your opponent's Characters before going any further. Throughout the game, keep your Character cards exposed so anyone can check their contents.

3. Building the Tactics Deck

To build your deck, choose two of each of your Character's Tactics and shuffle them with the ten Standard Tactics to form an eighteen-card deck.

Reference Guide

STOP! READ NO FURTHER. To start playing Aristeia!, first you should acquaint yourself with the How to Play booklet above. You don't need anything else to play your first few games. As rules questions start coming up during those games, go ahead and check this document for in-depth clarification.

This Reference Guide is a detailed list of all Aristeia! rules, presented in a way that makes it easy to look them up during a game or when you're ready to dive into the particulars with a few games under your belt.

Since entries are ordered alphabetically, consider this document a dictionary of game terms.

Who Does What

Throughout the rules, we use the second person ("you") to mean the Character who performs an Action or plays a Tactic. For example, Major Lunah's Automatic Skill says "Ignore your Target's Cover." That means whenever Major Lunah performs an Action with a Target, her player gets to ignore the Target's Cover.

Solving Rules Contradictions

Whenever two or more rules appear contradictory, use this list—ordered from higher to lower priority—to determine which one takes precedence:

1. If a rule says something cannot happen, that restriction always takes precedence.
2. Scenario rules override both this guide's rules and card Effects.
3. Tactics Effects override both this guide's rules and Character cards. If two Tactics clash, the Underdog decides which one takes precedence.
4. Character cards take precedence over this guide's rules.
5. Rules described in this guide take precedence over rules described in the "How to Play" section.

When Do Things Happen

The sequence in which rules are resolved is very important in Aristeia!. You'll find the steps you need to follow for each rule in this Reference Guide. It's mandatory to follow those steps in the specified order, giving your opponent enough time to intervene if he needs to.

Important! If two rules happen in the same step, the Underdog decides the order.

Digital Version

In the future we can find some typos and add new clarifications to this text. Or add new rules appearing in upcoming expansions. To check the most up to date version of this document, please visit: http://wiki.aristeiathegame.com

Rules Glossary

Actions

The active Character may use their Action Points to perform any of the Actions described in their Character card. Scenario rules can add more Actions to a Character's repertoire. Additionally, all Characters may perform the Move Action and the Contender Attack.

All Actions have a name, Type, Cost, Range and Effect.

• Action names are purely descriptive and have no bearing on their Effect.
• Actions are printed on Character cards with a green title.
• Attacks are a special type of Action, and are printed with a red title.
• In order to perform an Action, the character must first pay its full cost in Action Points.
• As long as the Character pays the cost, they may repeat the same Action as many times as they want.
• Characters cannot perform a new Action until they have finished performing their previous Action.
• By default, if an Action calls for a Roll, consider it to mean a Simple Roll.
• Only those Targets inside the Action's Range are considered valid Targets.
• When applying the Effects of an Action, read and carry out each sentence before moving on to the next.
• Effects denoted by the automatic icon always apply, regardless of the number of Successes rolled.
• Effects denoted by the optional icon apply only if you rolled at least one Success.
• Optional Effects are not mandatory, so you may choose not to apply them even if you rolled one or more Successes.
• Regardless of the number of Successes rolled, Effects apply only once per Action.
• In addition to Effects, Actions may permit one or more Switches. These Switches apply to that Action's rolls only.

Sequence of an Action. To resolve an Action, follow this sequence:

Note: The Underdog decides the order. In any given step, the Underdog gets to decide the order of resolution of simultaneous actions.

1. Requirements. As the active player, you choose which Action you want to perform and check that all requirements are met: you have enough Action Points to pay the Cost, the Target is within Range and Line of Sight, and any other special requirements the Action calls for. If all requirements are met during this step, you may move on to the next. If you fail to meet any of the Action's requirements, you cannot perform that Action.

2. Declaration. You declare the Action you intend to perform and pay the necessary Action Points. Now is the time to declare any intended Targets.

   Important! From this step onwards, the Action is completed even if some of the requirements are no longer met. For example, an opponent could play a Tactic that Displaces the Target of your Action out of its Range, but that wouldn't stop the Action from taking Effect.

3. Roll. If the Action calls for any Rolls, either Simple or Face to Face, make them now. Check the Roll against your Character's Switches and decide whether you will activate any of them.

4. Effects. If the Action called for a Roll, you may apply optional Effects as long as you got at least one Success in your Roll. Conversely, automatic Effects are mandatory and always apply. If the Action didn't call for any Rolls, apply its Effects now.

5. Resolution. At the end of this step, the Action is completed.

Related topics: Action Points, Activations, Attacks, Characters, Effects, Range, Symbols.

Action Points

Characters spend Action Points to perform Actions during their Activation.

• At the beginning of their Activation, the active Character gains a pool of as many Action Points as their current Energy Attribute.
• The value of this Attribute is only relevant when it creates the pool of Action Points during the Preparation Step. Even if the Character's Energy value is altered later during their Activation, their pool of Action Points for that Activation is not affected.
• Any unused Action Points are lost at the end of the Activation. Action Points cannot be transferred.

Related topics: Actions, Attributes, Energy.

Actions Step

This is the main step of a Character's Activation. In it, you perform Actions, play Tactics and spend Movement Points to move.

1. At the beginning of this step, remember to apply any Effects that apply 'at the beginning of the Actions Step'.
2. During this step, you can spend Action Points to perform the active Character's Actions, spend Movement Points to move the active Character around the HexaDome and to play Tactics.
3. You can spend your Action Points and Movement Points in any order you want, but you must finish resolving the current Action or movement before you move on to the next.
4. You don't have to spend all your Action Points or Movement Points, but any remaining points are lost at the beginning of the next step.
5. At the end of this step, remember to apply any Effects that apply 'at the end of the Actions Step'.

Related topics: Actions, Action Points, Activations, Movement Points, Tactics.

Activations

The bulk of any Aristeia! game is a series of Character Activations. During their Activation, Characters can perform Actions and play Tactics to fulfill the goals of the Scenario and win the game.

• A Character's Activation has three steps: Preparation Step, Actions Step and States Step. This order is maintained throughout the game.
• Whenever a Character is in the Infirmary, don't resolve any of their Activation steps.

Related topics: Actions, Actions Step, Preparation Step, States, States Step, Tactics, Turns Phase.

Adjacency

Two spaces are Adjacent if their sides (and not just one of their vertices) are touching. Adjacent spaces are at Range 1 for each other.

• Two Characters are Adjacent only if their spaces are Adjacent.
• A space cannot be Adjacent to itself.
• You can always draw Clear Line of Sight between two Adjacent spaces.

Related topics: Range, Line of Sight.

Agility

This Attribute indicates the number of dice you use for Disengage Face to Face Rolls whenever you attempt to leave a space Adjacent to an Enemy.

Related topics: Attributes, Disengage, Face to Face Rolls.

Allies

All Characters in the same team are Allies of each other.

• Allies cannot be chosen as the Target of an Attack.
• Characters are Allies of themselves.

Related topics: Attacks, Enemies.

Attacks

Attacks are a type of Action indicated by a red title in the Character card.

• You cannot chose your Allies as Targets for an Attack.
• The Character that declared an Attack is the Attacker, and its Target is the Defender.
• During an Attack, the Attacker becomes the Defender's Target.
• To resolve an Attack, make a Face to Face Roll. The Attacker uses the dice specified by their Attack, and the Defender uses the dice pictured in their Defense Attribute.
• As per the Cover rules, the Attacker, the Defender or both might be able to add one Black die to their Roll.
• In the Effects step of the Attack, both Characters may use their unblocked Successes to cause the other that amount of Damage.
• The Defender cannot use their Successes to cause Damage in a Combat Roll if there's no Line of Sight to the Attacker during the declaration of the Attack.

Related topics: Actions, Attacker, Cover, Defender, Face to Face Rolls, Switches.

Attacker

The Attacker is whichever Character declared the current Attack Action.

Related topics: Attack, Defender.

Attributes

Characters have seven distinct Attributes that represent their various proficiencies.

These are: Agility, Brawn, Defense, Energy, Hit Points, Initiative and Speed.

• Apply any relevant active States to the Character's Attributes when calculating their value.
• The value of an Attribute cannot drop below zero.
• If the text of an Effect shows the icon of an Attribute, consider that icon to mean the current value of that Attribute.

Related topics: Agility, Brawn, Defense, Energy, Initiative, Hit Points, Speed.

Automatic Skills

In addition to Actions, some Character cards include Automatic Skills, indicated by their orange title. Automatic Skills' Effects are always active, even during an Enemy's Activation, or when the Character is in the Infirmary or the Bench.

Related topics: Effects.

Barriers

Barriers are Obstacles deployed on the HexaDome to provide Cover and hinder the Character's movement.

• Barriers cannot suffer Damage or receive States.

Related topics: Cover, Obstacles.

Bench

During the Recovery Phase at the end of each Round, as part of the Nanotherapy step, move any Characters currently in the Infirmary to the Bench and give each of them a -2 Energy token.

• Characters in the Bench go back into the HexaDome at the end of the Preparation Step of their Activation. To do this, place your benched model on a Free space in any of the Deployment Zones other than the Scoring Zone, and continue its Activation normally.
• Benched Characters are not in Range or Line of Sight of any of the HexaDome's spaces.

Related topics: Energy, Infirmary, Recovery Phase.

Blocked Spaces

Some spaces inside the HexaDome are colored black to indicate they're Blocked. Blocked spaces have the following rules:

• Characters cannot move or be Displaced through them.
• They obstruct Line of Sight.
• They provide Cover.

Related topics: Cover, Displacements, Free spaces, Line of Sight, Movement Points, Range.

Brawn

Use the dice indicated by this Attribute to make Face to Face Rolls when an Enemy attempts to perform a movement from a space Adjacent to yours.

Related topics: Attributes, Disengage.

Burning

Targets affected by this State suffer a random quantity of Damage when the blue side of this State token is revealed.

When one or more Burning State tokens are flipped blue-side up, roll one die for each flipped token:

• For each Success: The Character suffers 1 Damage.
• For each Special: Impose a new Burning State token to the Character.
• Remove the Burning State token immediately after showing its blue side.
• Unlike other States, Characters can suffer more than one instance of Burning at the same time, gaining one Burning token for each such instance.
• No Character makes this roll and, because of that, players cannot modify it by playing Tactics, or activating Switches. Also, as it's not a Roll, the limitation of three dice per color doesn't apply.

Characters

The models that form each Aristeia! Team are called Characters.

• Any text that mentions a Character refers to both their model and their Character card.
• Characters can be the Target for any Action, Attack or Tactic, unless otherwise stated.

Related topics: Attributes, Effects, Initiative cards.

Combat Rolls

Attack and Defense Rolls are collectively called Combat Rolls.

Related topics: Attacks, Defense.

Contender

All Characters have access to this Attack, even if it doesn't appear on their Character cards.

Related topics: Action Points, Attacks, Range.

Control Panel

Each player has a Control Panel board. You can use your Control Panel to manage your Action Points and Movement Points pools for the active Character, and setup your Running Order.

Related topics: Action Points, Movement Points, Running Order.

Counters

Counters are the colored tokens included in the Core box. They don't have any specific Effect in the game, but are used as reminders.

• To designate the Scoring Zone, place a Green Counter.
• To count the Action Points with your Control Panel, use a Red Counter.
• To count the Movement Points with your Control Panel, use a Blue Counter.
• Some Scenarios or Effects may require the use of some Counters.

Related topics: Action Points, Control Panel, Movement Points, Scoring Zones.

Cover

Both the Attacker and the Defender can add one Black die to their Combat Rolls if they are Adjacent to a Blocked or Occupied space that is partially obstructing the Enemy's Line of Sight.

Note: Adjacent Characters never benefit from Cover when they Attack one another.

Related topics: Adjacency, Attacks, Blocked Spaces, Line of Sight, Occupied Spaces.

Critical Block

One of the possible results on a green die is the Critical Block.

• In a Face to Face Roll, before Switches take place, you may use a Critical Block to Nullify any one of the opponent's dice.
• Otherwise, you may use it to activate Switches, where it counts as two Blocks.
• If you don't use the Critical Block in either of those two ways, it counts as a single Block during the Roll's resolution.

Related topics: Nullifying dice, Symbols.

Critical Success

One of the possible results on a red die is the Critical Success.

• In a Face to Face Roll, a Critical Success cannot be Nullified by any Block results on the opponent's Roll.
• The only way to Nullify a Critical Success is by using a Critical Block to Nullify the entire red die.
• You may use a Critical Success to activate Switches, where it counts as two Successes.

Related topics: Critical Block, Symbols, Switches.

Damage

Results of Successes on Combat Rolls and certain Effects inflict Damage to Targets.

• When any Action, Tactic or Automatic Skill 'causes' or 'inflicts' an amount of Damage on a Target, or whenever a Target 'suffers' Damage, place that many Damage tokens on that Character's card.
• Characters cannot receive more Damage tokens than their Hit Points value. Players will ignore the exceeding Damage.
• When you 'heal' a Target's Damage, remove as many Damage tokens from the Character's card as the value of the heal.
• When there are as many Damage tokens on a Character card as that Character's Hit Points, move that Character to the Infirmary immediately and then remove all Damage and State tokens from their card.
• There are two types of Damage tokens. A '3' Damage token has the same value as three '1' Damage tokens, and so on.

Related topics: Attacks, Defense, Hit Points, Infirmary.

Dazzled

Targets affected by this State cannot draw Line of Sight beyond No-Line-of-Sight Range 0-1 or use their Defense Roll's Successes to inflict Damage to Attackers outside Range 1-1.

Related topics: Line of Sight, Range, Recovery Phase, States.

Defender

The Defender is the Target of an Attack.

Related topics: Attacks, Defense.

Defense

When a Character is the Target of an Attack, they can make a Defense Roll against the active Character's Attack Roll. The type and quantity of dice used by each Target on their Defense Rolls are indicated by the Defense Attribute.

Related topics: Attacks, Attributes.

Deployment Zones

Certain clusters of spaces around the HexaDome are colored differently; these are the Deployment Zones. The rules of each Scenario indicate how to use these areas.

• A Character is inside a Deployment Zone only if that Character is on one of the spaces that form the Deployment Zone.

Related topics: Scenarios, Scoring Zones, Setup.

Dice

Aristeia! uses a series of special color-coded dice. Across the rules, you will see colored icons indicating these dice.

• Several dice are represented by more than one die icon in a row. For example, two Orange dice and one Blue die.
• Any Symbols listed among dice are added to the Roll as if they were the result of an additional imaginary die. For example, one Orange die plus a Success means you roll one orange die and add one Success to the result.
• Effects that Nullify a die may be used to Nullify a Symbol added to the Roll instead.
• Red die: Players cannot roll more than one red die per Roll.
• Green die: Players cannot roll more than one green die per Roll.
• Orange dice: Players cannot roll more than three orange dice per Roll.
• Blue dice: Players cannot roll more than three blue dice per Roll.
• Black dice: Players cannot roll more than three black dice per Roll.
• Yellow dice: Players cannot roll more than three yellow dice per Roll.

Related topics: Symbols.

Discard Pile

See Tactics.

Discarding

When an Effect forces you to Discard a Tactic, choose one of the Tactics in your Hand and place it face-up on your discard pile.

• If the Effect specifies that you are to Discard a Tactic at random, shuffle your Hand and allow your opponent to choose one of your Tactics face down, then Discard that Tactic.

Related topics: Effects, Hand, Tactics.

Disengage

When a Character uses a movement to leave a space Adjacent to an Enemy, both Characters make a Face to Face Disengage Roll. To Disengage, follow this sequence:

1. Make a Face to Face Roll using the active Character's Agility and the Enemy's Brawn. If there are several Enemies Adjacent to the active Character, the opponent chooses only one of their Characters to make the Roll, but that Character adds one Black die to their roll for each additional Enemy Adjacent to the active Character. Only the Character that makes the Roll can activate Switches.
2. If the active Character has at least one Success when the Roll is resolved, they have successfully Disengaged and may resume their Activation. If the active Character fails to Disengage, they stay on their original space and lose all remaining Movement Points.

• The active Character cannot abandon his space until after resolving the Disengage Roll. Thus, the moving Character doesn't need to declare the space where he wants to move to.
• The active Character must move to a new space if the Disengage Roll is a success.
• Displacing and Placing Characters doesn't require Disengage Rolls.

Related topics: Agility, Brawn, Face to Face Rolls, Move, Movement Points.

Displacements

Displacements allow you to change the position of a Target, and don't count as a movement.

• To Displace a Target, place that Target on an Adjacent Free space.
• Unlike a Movement, a Displacement doesn't trigger Disengage Rolls and doesn't cost any Movement Points.

Related topics: Disengage, Free spaces, Movement Points.

Effects

An Effect is the text of an Action, Tactic or Automatic Skill.

• Effects preceded by the automatic icon in the text of an Action always apply.
• Effects preceded by the optional icon apply only if you rolled at least one Success on the Action Roll. Remember that any Successes traded in for Switches are spent and do not count.
• Switch Effects only apply if you pay the relevant cost.
• Effects affect only the Targets of the Action, Switch, Tactic or Automatic Skill.
• When you apply an Effect, read each sentence in order and apply it before moving on to the next.
• Effects that last 'until the end of the Round' have Markers associated to them. When you apply one of these Effects, place the Marker on the Target's Character Card as a reminder.
• Unless otherwise stated, Allied Characters, Enemy Characters and Obstacles are all valid Targets for any Effect.

Related topics: Actions, Automatic Skills, Markers, Switches, Tactics.

Enemies

Characters controlled by the opponent are Enemies.

Related topics: Allies, Characters.

Energy

This Attribute indicates the amount of Action Points the Character has available during Activation.

• At the beginning of the Preparation Step of a Character's Activation, that Character's Energy value produces that same amount of Action Points. Even if the Character's Energy value is altered later during their Activation, their pool of Action Points for that Activation is not affected.

Related topics: Action Points, Activations, Attributes, Preparation Step.

Face to Face Roll

Face to Face Rolls pit two Characters against each other, so they are slightly more complex than Simple Rolls. To resolve a Face to Face Roll, follow this sequence:

1. Tactics: After declaring a Face to Face Roll is needed, both players may play Tactics to modify the Roll. If both players want to play Tactics, the Underdog chooses who does so first.
2. Roll the dice: Both players roll their dice.
3. Critical Block: If a player rolled a Critical Block, they may use it to Nullify one die from their opponent's Roll.
4. Switches: Both players, in turn, may activate Switches using the Symbols they rolled. The active player decides which player gets to activate Switches first.
5. Results: After activating any Switches, both players nullify one Success from the opponent's Roll for each Block Symbol they rolled. Any Successes and Blocks spent to activate Switches do not count for this purpose. If the Action being resolved is an Attack, each Character suffers as many Damage as Successes remain on their opponent's Roll.

Related topics: Actions, Dice, Symbols.

Focused

Targets affected by this State may remove this State before making a Roll to add a Yellow die to that Roll.

Frag

Each time a Character is sent to the Infirmary, the opposing player gains a Frag token. In most Scenarios, the player with the highest number of Frag tokens at the end of the game wins in case of a tie in Victory Points.

Related topics: Infirmary, Scenarios.

Free Spaces

Spaces inside the HexaDome that are neither Occupied nor Blocked are Free spaces.

Related topics: Blocked Spaces, Line of Sight, Occupied Spaces, Range.

Hand

Each player has a Hand of Tactics.

• The cards in your Hand are secret, so don't allow your opponent to see their content. However, the number of cards in your Hand at any given moment is not secret.
• There is no limit to the number of Tactics you can have in your Hand at the same time.

Related topics: Discarding, Tactics.

Healing

See Damage.

HexaDome

The HexaDome is the area of the game board divided into hexagonal spaces for Characters to move around.

• Neither the Infirmary nor the Bench are part of the HexaDome.

Related topics: Blocked spaces, Free spaces, Obstacles, Occupied spaces.

Hidden

You cannot have a Line of Sight to Targets affected by this State, except within Range 1-1.

• Targets affected by this State cannot benefit from Cover.
• Remove this State token immediately after performing an Attack, after the end of the Action.
• Neither Enemies nor Allies can have Line of Sight to this Target.
• Targets affected by this State still block Line of Sight.

Remember: Defenders with no Line of Sight to the Attacker cannot use their Defense Roll's Successes to cause Damage.

Hit Points

This Attribute signifies the maximum amount of Damage that the Character can withstand before being forced to visit the Infirmary.

• Place a Character in the Infirmary the moment they accrue a number of Damage tokens equal to or higher than their Hit Points value.
• Characters cannot receive more Damage tokens than their Hit Points value. Players will ignore the exceeding Damage.

Related topics: Damage, Infirmary.

Immobilized

Targets affected by this State cannot spend Movement Points.

• This State doesn't prohibit the Target from being Displaced or Placed somewhere else.

Related topics: Displacements, Movement Points, Placing, States.

Infirmary

When a Character has accrued a number of Damage tokens equal to their Hit Points Attribute, take that Character's model and Place it on the Infirmary section of the Control Panel. When you move a Character to the Infirmary, remove all tokens (State tokens, Damage tokens, Markers...) from their Character card.

• Whenever an Enemy Character is moved to the Infirmary, draw a Tactic and gain a Frag token.
• Characters in the Infirmary are not in the HexaDome, so they cannot be the Target of any Effect.
• Whenever a Character is in the Infirmary, don't resolve any of their Activation steps.

Related topics: Damage.

Inflict

See Damage.

Initiative

The Initiative Attribute of a Character indicates how likely they are to react faster than their Enemies.

When Initiative cards are revealed at the beginning of each Turn, the player who controls the Character with the highest Initiative gets to decide which Character activates first. In case of a tie, the Underdog gets to choose.

Related topics: Attributes, Initiative Cards, Turns Phase, Underdog.

Initiative Cards

Each Character has an associated Initiative card. The number printed on that card is the Character's Initiative value.

• A Character's Initiative is subject to changes caused by States; keep track of these when you reveal their Initiative card.

Related topics: Initiative, Planning Phase, Running Order.

Inside

A Character is 'in' or 'inside' a zone if they are on one of the spaces that form that zone.

Related topics: Deployment Zones, Scoring Zones.

Line of Sight

Line of Sight determines what a Character in the HexaDome can "see" at any given time.

A Character has Line of Sight to a Target if you can draw an unobstructed straight line from one vertex of their space to at least two vertices of the Target's space.

Important! This imaginary line will be obstructed if it crosses two or more vertices of a Blocked or Occupied space.

There are three possible Line of Sight conditions:

• Clear Line of Sight: You can draw unobstructed straight lines from one of the vertices of your space to every vertex of the Target's space.

• Limited Line of Sight: You can draw unobstructed straight lines from one of the vertices of your space to at least two vertices of the Target's space, but not to all.

• Blocked Line of Sight: You can draw unobstructed straight lines from one of the vertices of your space to at most one vertex of the Target's space.

• Measure Line of Sight from the Character's space to their Target's space.

• Characters and Obstacles do not obstruct Line of Sight to the vertices of their own spaces when they are the Target.

• Adjacent Characters always have Clear Line of Sight to one another.

• The line between two Adjacent Occupied or Blocked spaces does obstruct Line of Sight.

• For a Target to be within Line-of-Sight Range, you must have Clear or Limited Line of Sight to them.

• In a situation in which the conditions for more than one type of Line of Sight can be applied, players will use the less restrictive Line of Sight.

• Effects with a No-Line-of-Sight Range ignore the Line of Sight and Cover rules.

Related topics: Blocked Spaces, Occupied Spaces, Range.

Marked

Targets affected by this State may be targeted even with no Line of Sight.

• Targets affected by this State cannot Benefit from Cover.

Remember: Defenders with no Line of Sight to the Attacker cannot use their Defense Roll's Successes to cause Damage.

Markers

A Marker is a type of token that helps keep track of Effects whose duration is longer than the Activation in which they were played.

• There is no limit to the amount of Markers a Character can have on them at the same time.

Related topics: Effects, Recovery Phase.

Move

All Characters can perform an Action called Move at the cost of 2 Action Points.

• When used, this Action gives the active Character as many Movement Points as their current Speed value.
• This Action doesn't imply any actual movement and in fact doesn't alter the position of the Character at all; it simply generates Movement Points for the Character to spend during their Activation.

Related topics: Actions, Movement Points, Speed.

Movement Points

During their Activation, Characters may spend their Movement Points to move around the HexaDome.

• Spending one Movement Point allows the active Character to move to an Adjacent Free space.
• Characters start their Activation with zero Movement Points.
• The Move Action produces as many Movement Points as the Character's current Speed value.
• Speed is only relevant when applying the Effects of the Move Action. Even if the Character's Speed value is altered later during their Activation, their pool of Movement Points for that Activation is not affected.
• Movement Points are spent one at a time, even if you plan to continue moving afterwards.
• You may distribute your Movement Points and Action Points as you see fit during your Activation. For example, you could make two movements, Attack, and then make a further movement.
• Movement Points gained outside a Character's Activation are lost, and they cannot be saved up for the next Activation.
• You don't have to spend all your Movement Points, but any remaining points are lost when the Activation ends.
• There's no need to perform a Move Action to spend the Movement Points gained by other means (Tactics, Actions, Switches…).
• For a Character to use a movement to leave a space Adjacent to an Enemy, first they must win a Face to Face Disengage Roll. If the active Character fails to Disengage, they stay on their original space and lose all remaining Movement Points.

Related topics: Activations, Blocked spaces, Free spaces, Move, Occupied spaces, Speed.

Nullifying an Effect

When an Effect is Nullified, ignore all its text, including automatic Effects, optional Effects, and Switches.

Related topics: Switches, Effects.

Nullifying Dice

When an Effect Nullifies a die, remove that die from the Roll. Ignore all Symbols in nullified dice.

Related topics: Dice, Symbols.

Objectives Phase

The Objectives Phase is the third phase of a Round. The Objectives Phase sequence goes like this:

1. Check Objectives. Each Scenario has a list of Objectives that give Victory Points. During this step, check whether any of the players achieved any Objectives this Round, and give them the appropriate Victory Points if they did.
2. Check End-Game. During this step, check whether the end-game conditions for the current Scenario are met. If they are, the game ends. If they aren't, proceed to the next step.
3. Assign Underdog Status. Give the Underdog token to the player with the fewest Victory Points. If both players are tied, the Underdog token changes Hands.

Related topics: Rounds, Scenarios, Underdog.

Obstacles

Obstacles are elements that occupy HexaDome spaces like Characters, but don't block Line of Sight.

• A space with an Obstacle on it is Occupied, and as such obstructs movements and Displacements and provides Cover.
• Obstacles and the spaces they're on don't block Line of Sight.
• Actions, Attacks and Tactics can Target Obstacles unless otherwise stated.

Related topics: Barriers, Cover, Line of Sight, Movement Points, Range.

Occupied Spaces

Spaces with either a Character or an Obstacle on them are Occupied. Occupied spaces have the following rules:

• Characters cannot Move or be Displaced through them.
• They obstruct Line of Sight if they contain a Character.
• They provide Cover.

Related topics: Cover, Displacements, Free spaces, Line of Sight, Movement Points, Obstacles, Range.

Placing

Some Effects ask you to Place a game element on a HexaDome space. These Effects specify which criteria you must follow, but the chosen space must be Free. If none of the designated spaces are Free, Place the game element on a Free space Adjacent to one of the designated spaces.

• When Placing a game element that was already deployed on the HexaDome, ignore all the intervening spaces.

Related topics: Adjacency, Effects, Free spaces.

Planning Phase

This is the first phase of each Round, wherein both players place their Initiative cards face-down on their Running Order slots, ordered from left to right. Throughout the Round, Characters will activate following that same order. The first turn will have the leftmost Characters activate, then the second turn will have the next leftmost Characters activate, and so on until all Characters have activated.

Related topics: Rounds, Running Order, Turns Phase.

Poisoned

Targets affected by this State suffer 1 Damage when the blue side of the State token is revealed.

• Remove the Poisoned State token immediately after showing its blue side.
• Unlike other States, Characters can suffer more than one instance of Poisoned at the same time, gaining one Poisoned token for each such instance.

Preparation Step

This is the first step of each Character's Activation. During this step, Action Points are generated and benched Characters return to the HexaDome.

• At the beginning of this step, the Character has zero Action Points and zero Movement Points, and becomes the active Character for the remainder of the Activation.
• Then, apply any Effects that apply 'at the beginning of the Preparation Step'.
• During this step, the active Character gains as many Action Points as their Energy Attribute.
• If the Character was benched, at the end of this step Place the Character's model on a Free space in one of the Deployment Zones that isn't currently the Scoring Zone.
• At the end of this step, remember to apply any Effects that apply 'at the end of the Preparation Step'.

Related topics: Action Points, Activations, Bench, Energy.

Range

An Effect's Range indicates the minimum and maximum distances at which it can be applied.

There are two types of Range: Line-of-Sight Range, and No-Line-of-Sight Range.

• Line-of-Sight Range: You need Line of Sight to your Target for that Target to be in Range.

• No-Line-of-Sight Range: There's no need to have Line of Sight to the Target. In an Attack, Cover rules are ignored.

• A Character's own space is Range zero, all Adjacent spaces are Range one, spaces Adjacent to those are Range two, and so on.

• To measure the distance between any two spaces, count the spaces in the shortest route between them, including the final space but not the first.

• Ranges have two values. The first is the Minimum Range, the second value is the Maximum Range.

• For a Target to be in Range, it must be no closer than the Minimum Range, and no further than the Maximum Range.

• Any Effect with Minimum Range zero may affect the Character that played it.

• Line-of-Sight Range measurements must avoid both Occupied and Blocked spaces.

• Effects with a No-Line-of-Sight Range are unaffected by Occupied or Blocked spaces.

Related topics: Actions, Attacks, Effects, Line of Sight, Range, Tactics.

Recovery Phase

The fourth and last phase of each Round. After completing the following steps, the Round ends and the Planning Phase of a new Round begins.

1. Terminate Effects. All Effects that last 'until the end of the Round' end at this point.
2. Nanotherapy. Move all Characters in the Infirmary to the Bench, then impose each of those Characters a -2 Energy State token.
3. Draw Tactics. Each player draws one Tactic from their deck. If you scored at least one Victory Point this Round, draw one additional Tactic.

Related topics: Bench, Infirmary, Rounds, Tactics.

Rounds

The game is played in a series of Rounds, and each Round is divided into four Turns. Each Turn, both players activate one of their Characters.

• Each Turn, players activate the Character whose Initiative card they have assigned to that Turn.
• The first Round begins once Setup is complete.
• Each Round is divided into these steps: 1. Planning Phase; 2. Turns Phase (Turn 1 Initiative/Activations, Turn 2 Initiative/Activations, Turn 3 Initiative/Activations, Turn 4 Initiative/Activations); 3. Objectives Phase; 4. Recovery Phase.
• After the Recovery Phase, the Planning Phase of a new Round begins.

Related topics: Objectives Phase, Planning Phase, Recovery Phase, Setup, Turns Phase.

Running Order

Each player has a Running Order area with four slots for their Character's Initiative cards. During the Planning Phase, you use your Initiative cards to plot the order in which your Characters will activate this round.

Related topics: Planning Phase, Rounds.

Scenarios

Scenarios are special sets of rules and goals that alter the basic Aristeia! games.

• Before the game, players must agree on which Scenario to use.
• Scenario rules may put certain constraints on the way teams and Tactics decks are built.
• All Scenarios specify how to arrange the HexaDome, how to deploy the teams and the victory conditions for that game.

Related topics: HexaDome, Setup.

Scoring Zones

The Scoring Zone is a specific Deployment Zone where players can score Victory Points. The rules governing the Scoring Zone depend on the Scenario being played.

• Characters cannot deploy or return from the Bench onto the Scoring Zone.
• Use a Blue Counter to keep track of which Deployment Zone is the Scoring Zone this Round.
• The Scenario rules indicate which Deployment Zone is the Scoring Zone at the start of the game and whether it changes during the game.

Related topics: Counters, Deployment Zones, Scenarios.

Setup

Before playing a game of Aristeia!, you will have to make a few preparations, as follows.

Step 1: Choose the Scenario. In Aristeia!, the specific Scenario you play determines not only the win conditions of the game, but also a number of special requirements you must observe when building your team.

Step 2: Build Your Team. Each player secretly chooses four different Characters to form their team. Two copies of the same Character cannot be on the same team, but they can be on rival teams.

Step 3: Unveil Your Team. Once both players have chosen their team members, they show each other their Character cards and Tactics. Make sure you understand the Effects of the Actions and Automatic Skills of your Characters and your opponent's Characters before going any further. Throughout the game, keep your Character cards exposed so anyone can check their contents.

Step 4: Building the Tactics Deck. Each player has their own deck of Tactics. To build your deck, secretly choose two of each of your Character's Tactics and shuffle them with the ten Standard Tactics to form an eighteen-card deck.

Starting Hand: Before moving on to the next step, both players shuffle their decks and draw four Tactics to form their starting Hand.

Mulligan: Immediately after drawing your starting Hand, once per game, you may return your entire Hand to the deck, shuffle it, and draw a new four-card Hand.

Step 5: Arrange the HexaDome. In the description of each Scenario you will find specific instructions about how to arrange the HexaDome.

Step 6: Underdog. To decide which player will begin the game as the Underdog, both players add up their Character's Initiative values. The player with the lowest total starts out as the Underdog and gets the Underdog token. In case of a tie, the Underdog token is assigned at random. From this point on, whenever two Characters have tied Initiative values or two or more simultaneous Effects need to be resolved, the Underdog gets to decide the order of activation/resolution.

Step 7: Deployment. In the description of each Scenario you will find specific instructions about how to deploy your Characters in the HexaDome. Once all Characters are deployed, the first Round of the game begins.

Related topics: Initiative, Scenarios, Tactics, Underdog.

Simple Rolls

Only one player is involved in a Simple Roll. To resolve a Simple Roll, follow this sequence:

1. Tactics: Before any actual rolling takes place, both players have an opportunity to play Tactics to modify the Roll. If both players want to play Tactics, the Underdog chooses who does so first.
2. Roll the dice: When there are no more Tactics to play, roll your dice.
3. Switches: You may activate Switches using the Symbols you rolled, and apply their Effects immediately.
4. Results: The Symbols remaining after you've activated your Switches are the result of the Roll. If the result includes at least one Success, the Roll is successful.

Related Topics: Dice, Effects, Switches.

Smoke

Smoke tokens affect the visibility in the HexaDome, blocking the Line of Sight but not movement.

• All spaces, even Free Spaces, with a Smoke token block Line of Sight.
• Targets inside a space with a Smoke token cannot draw Line of Sight beyond Range 0-1, or use their Defense Rolls' Successes to inflict Damage to Attackers outside Range 1-1.
• Every Line of Sight to a space with a Smoke token is blocked.
• Free Spaces with a Smoke token don't provide Cover.
• Characters always have a Clear Line of Sight to an Adjacent Target, ignoring Smoke rules.
• Remove Smoke tokens at the beginning of the deploying Character's next Activation. If the Character is in the Infirmary, remove the Smoke tokens when that Activation would have taken place.

Speed

This Attribute indicates the amount of Movement Points the Character gains when they perform the Move Action during their Activation.

Related topics: Attributes, Move, Movement Points.

States

Certain Effects, when applied, impose one or more States. As long as a Target is under the influence of a State, certain rules apply to them.

• Each State is represented by a different token. When a Target is given a State, place the appropriate token red-side up on that Character's card.
• During each Activation's States Step, remove all blue-side up tokens from the active Character's card.
• Then, flip all remaining State tokens so they are blue-side up.
• State names are purely descriptive and have no bearing on their Effect.
• A Target cannot be under the influence of two or more instances of the same State, unless otherwise stated by the State rules. If a Target would be given a State they already have a token for, remove the first State token and add the new one, red-side up.
• State tokens have icons on them to represent their Effects. These Effects apply the moment the Target is imposed the State, or immediately when the relevant icon is revealed when flipping the token. These are all possible icons:
  • -2 Energy / -2 Speed / +2 Initiative / -2 Initiative: As long as the Target is under the influence of this State, their stated Attribute is increased (+) or decreased (-).
  • X Damage: The Target suffers X Damage immediately.
  • Dazzled: The Target is Dazzled.
  • Immobilized: The Target is Immobilized.
  • Poisoned: The Target is Poisoned.
  • Taunted: The Target is Taunted.
  • A blank side has no Effect.

Related topics: Dazzled, Effects, Immobilized, Poisoned, Taunted.

States Step

This is the last step of a Character's Activation, wherein you remove or flip all States on the active Character's card.

• At the beginning of this step, the active Character loses all remaining Action Points and Movement Points.
• Then, apply any Effects that apply 'at the beginning of the States Step'.
• During this step, remove all blue-side up tokens from the active Character's card.
• Then, flip all red-side up tokens from the active Character's card so they are blue-side up.
• At the end of this step, remember to apply any Effects that apply 'at the end of the States Step'.
• Once this step ends, the Character is no longer the active Character.

Related topics: Activations, States.

Stunned

Targets affected by this State must Nullify a Success before the Switches step of each of their Rolls.

Remember: The Critical Success symbol is not affected by this State, as it's not a Success.

Swapping

If an Effect indicates that two Targets Swap their positions, Place each of the Targets on the other's initial position.

Related topics: Placing, Effects.

Switches

Any time you make a Roll, you obtain a series of Symbols as a result. Depending on the Character that made the Roll, you will have a number of Switch options that allow that Character to exchange certain Symbols to obtain specific Effects.

Switches have a Cost and an Effect.

• A Switch listed above a Character's Actions may be used in any of that Character's Rolls.
• A Switch listed inside a particular Action may be used in that Roll only.
• Switches can only be activated during a Roll's Switches step.
• To activate a Switch, spend the Symbols specified by its Cost and apply its Effect. Symbols spent this way cannot be used for any other purpose.
• You cannot activate a Switch until the Effects of the last one have been applied.
• The active player decides which player gets to activate Switches first.
• Each player has only one chance per Roll to activate all their Switches, one after the other. You cannot activate Switches after the turn has ended.
• Any Symbols not spent for Switches are counted as part of the Effect's resolution.
• As long as you can spend the required Symbols, you may activate a Switch more than once.

Related topics: Effects, Symbols.

Symbols

Aristeia! used special color-coded dice with Symbols instead of pips on their sides. There are five different Symbols on Aristeia! dice: Success, Block, Special, Critical Success, and Critical Block.

Related topics: Critical Block, Critical Success, Dice, Switches.

Tactics

Tactics are cards you can play during the game to apply some Effect.

• Each player needs a copy of the ten Standard Tactics to build their deck.
• Each Character has four Tactics associated to them. When you build your deck, you secretly choose two of each of your Character's Tactics and shuffle them with the ten Standard Tactics to form an eighteen-card deck. During the game, you can use your Tactics with any Character as long as their conditions are met, even if they are associated with a different Character.
• At the beginning of the game, players draw four Tactics to form their starting Hand.
• At the end of each Round's Recovery Phase, each player draws a Tactic, plus an additional Tactic if they scored at least one Victory Point that Round.
• Whenever an Enemy Character is moved to the Infirmary, draw a Tactic card.
• Tactics have a timing text that specifies when to play them.
• Players cannot play Tactics during the Activation of a Character in the Infirmary, as there is no Activation for those Characters.
• Once you have applied the Effect of your Tactic, Discard it.
• Players can examine either of the discard piles at any moment.
• Players cannot alter the order of the cards in a discard pile.
• The names of Tactics are purely descriptive and have no bearing on their Effect.
• Tactics that specify a Range measure that Range from the active Character outward.

Related topics: Discarding, Hand, Range, Rounds.

Targets

Most Actions, Attacks and Tactics require you to designate a valid Target for their Effect.

• Unless otherwise stated, all Characters both Allied and Enemy and all Obstacles are valid Targets.

Related topics: Effects.

Taunted

Characters affected by this State can only choose the Character that provoked it as the Target for their Attacks.

• Taunted tokens also help keep track of the Character that provoked the State.
• Should the Character that provoked the State enter the Infirmary, remove the token immediately.

Related topics: Attacks, States.

Team

A team is formed by all the Characters controlled by the same player.

Related topics: Characters.

Turns Phase

During this phase, the second in each Round, players take turns to activate their Characters. Each Round has four turns, and all turns follow the same sequence.

Step 1: Initiative. Both players reveal the leftmost Initiative card in their Running Orders, and compare their values. The player that controls the Character with the highest Initiative, or the Underdog if both Characters are tied, decides which of those Characters activates first.

Step 2: Activations. In the order determined during the Initiative step, both Characters activate in turn.

Related topics: Activations, Running Order, Rounds, Underdog.

Underdog

The player holding the Underdog token gets to decide the order of resolution of any simultaneous Effects and the order of activation in case the two Characters are tied in Initiative.

• At the start of the game, the player with the lowest sum of all their Character's Initiatives gets the Underdog token. In case of a tie, the Underdog token is assigned at random.
• At the end of each Round, the player with the fewest Victory Points gets the Underdog token. In case of a tie, the Underdog token changes Hands.

Related topics: Effects, Initiative, Setup, Turns Phase.