Codex: Card-Time Strategy – Starter Set Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Components
• Drawing Cards and Deckbuilding
• Gold and Workers
• Spells and Heroes
• Tech Buildings
  • Requirements for Building Tech Buildings
  • Tech Buildings
• Add-ons
• Combat
  • Patrol Zone
  • Attack
• Turn Structure
  • Ready Phase
  • Upkeep Phase
  • Main Phase
  • Draw Phase
  • Tech Phase
• Game Setup
  • Tokens
• Example of Play
  • First player's first turn
  • Second player's first turn
  • First player's second turn
  • Second player's second turn
  • End of the game
• Upgrade Your Codex
• Factions and Colors
• Other Rules
  • Turning Cards
  • [Cost]: [Effect]
  • Target
  • Helpers
  • +1/+1 and -1/-1 Runes
• Attributes and Glossary
• Quick Reference
  • Player's Turn
  • During your main phase you may
  • Workers
  • Heroes
  • Tech Buildings
  • Add-ons
  • Attack
  • Patrolling
  • Damage

Object of the Game

Destroy your opponent's base — a building with 20 hit points.

Components

• 77 cards:
  • 2 starting decks of 10 cards (identical for both players)
  • 2 hero cards
  • 2 worker cards (4 workers on one side, 5 on the other)
  • 24 Bashing tech cards (2 copies each of 12 cards)
  • 24 Finesse tech cards (2 copies each of 12 cards)
  • 3 double-sided Dancer helper cards (for the Finesse player)
  • 2 small add-on cards
• 2 player boards.
• 2 patrol zones.
• A dial for tracking base hit points (assembly required).
• Tokens for tracking gold, damage, hero experience and built tech buildings, as well as Dancer +2/+2 bonuses and +1/+1 runes.

Cards and gold are your most important resources, so let's look at how to manage them.

Drawing Cards and Deckbuilding

Initially your deck has only 10 cards, and you draw 5 of them — this is your starting hand. In each draw phase you discard your entire hand (yes, seriously!), then draw as many cards from your deck as you discarded, plus 2, but not more than 5.

• You discarded 0 cards: draw 2 new cards.
• You discarded 1 card: draw 3 new cards.
• You discarded 2 cards: draw 4 new cards.
• You discarded 3, 4 or 5 cards: draw 5 new cards.

Note that if you manage to play a lot of cards in one turn, you will not get as many new cards on the next turn. It may take several turns before you fully recover and can again draw 5 cards at the end of your turn.

If you must draw a card and there are no cards left in your deck, shuffle your discard pile, place it in the deck position and continue drawing. In this way even played cards eventually return to your hand.

Note: you can refresh your deck (turn the discard pile into a new deck) this way only once per main phase. If you manage to empty your deck a second time during a main phase, you no longer draw cards from it, because you are surely up to no good...

However, do not think you will play the same cards over and over. In each tech phase you add 2 cards from your codex to your discard pile, face down. The codex is a set of 24 additional cards (2 copies each of 12 cards) that is always available to you during the game. In the base game (sold separately) a special binder is used for codex cards, since you will manage 3 heroes at once, which is 3 times as many cards! When playing with the Starter Set, simply set the 24 codex cards aside.

Each player has their own deck of codex cards. When you add 2 cards from your codex to your discard pile face down, only you know what you are adding. The others do not even guess whether you added 2 copies of one card or 1 copy each of two different cards. The discard pile is a deck with hidden information. This is done on purpose, for secret deckbuilding. Of course, you may look through your own discard pile at any time. Think of it as the fog of war: your opponent cannot see what is happening in your rear, and can only guess what they will face at the front when you play the new cards.

Gold and Workers

Gold is another important resource. It is spent on playing cards, activating abilities and leveling up heroes (more on that shortly). The large number on the gold coin in the upper left corner of a card defines its cost — the amount of gold needed to play it.

You get gold thanks to workers. The first player starts with 4 workers (the worker card with the "×4" side up), and the second with 5 workers (the other side of this card — "×5"). Each turn, during the upkeep phase, you get 1 gold for each of your workers. You can track the amount of gold on your worker card by placing gold tokens, dice or any other markers on it that suit you and your opponent.

All your gold stays with you until you spend it. In other words, if you do not spend gold, there is more of it every turn. There is a limit, however: at any moment of the game you may have no more than 20 gold. If you would receive more, all the excess gold is lost and you are left with 20 gold. (This also means you may want to spend some of your gold.)

You may hire no more than one worker per turn. If you decide to do so, pay 1 gold and place any card from your hand face down next to your worker card (or slightly below it). This face-down card is your new worker.

Whenever possible, try to hire a worker every turn, although sometimes you may simply have no spare gold or card.

Spells and Heroes

You cannot play spells on their own. To play a spell you MUST have a hero in play. After all, it is heroes who cast spells.

Most spells are one-time effects. You play such a card and then put it in your discard pile. There are also spells with continuing effects — after being played they stay in play until something cancels their effect. Spells with continuing effects cannot be chosen as the target of an attack.

A hero is in your command zone (not in your deck), waiting for you to summon them. Thus a hero is always available to you. The level of a newly summoned hero is 1. While a hero is in play, you may level them up by spending 1 gold per level. In one turn you may level up a hero several times (for example, by paying 4 gold you level up the hero 4 times). In addition, if the opponent's hero dies, your hero in play levels up twice, for free.

When leveling up, a hero improves their attack and hit point values and gains new abilities. A hero does not lose the abilities of previous levels. In addition, whenever a hero levels up to the mid-level range or to the maximum level, all damage dealt to them is healed (cool, right?).

Having reached maximum level, a hero can no longer level up. To play an ultimate spell, you must control that hero, and at the start of your turn their level must be maximum (a hero cannot cast an ultimate spell on the same turn they arrived or reached maximum level). Ultimate spells are so powerful that they require some preparation, so plan ahead and do not forget to raise your hero to maximum level before the turn on which they are to cast the ultimate spell.

When your hero dies, they return to your command zone and lose all levels they gained. They also lose all modifiers (such as +1/+1 runes). You can summon this hero again, but only after the end of your next turn. (To avoid forgetting this restriction, you can turn the hero card face down for now.)

Tech Buildings

Tech buildings allow you to play creatures. Initially you have only one tech building — your base, which allows you to play tech 0 cards — the cards from your starting deck. During the game you can build tech I, II and III buildings to play more effective creatures.

To play a tech I card, you need a tech I building.

Requirements for Building Tech Buildings

To build a tech I building you must have at least 6 workers. If this condition is met, you may pay 1 gold and start construction. Construction of a tech building finishes at the end of your turn, so you cannot play tech I cards or build a tech II building until your next turn.

To build a tech II building you must have 8 workers and have a tech I building. To build a tech III building you must have 10 workers and have a tech II building. If your tech building is destroyed, your base takes 2 damage. You may rebuild a destroyed tech building for free, but you still have to wait for construction to finish at the end of the turn, and until then you cannot play cards of the corresponding tech level.

Tech buildings do not allow you to play spells; that requires a HERO. Tech buildings are needed only to produce creatures (as well as upgrades and other buildings that will appear in the base set and expansions).

Tech Buildings

• Your base allows you to play tech 0 cards (cards from the starting deck).
• Tech I building (6 workers required to build) allows you to play tech I cards.
• Tech II building (8 workers required to build and a tech I building in play) allows you to play tech II cards.
• Tech III building (10 workers required to build and a tech II building in play) allows you to play tech III cards.

Add-ons

Your base can have only 1 add-on at a time (small cards with different add-ons on each side). An add-on is not a tech building, but you also have to wait until the end of the turn for its construction to finish, and if it is destroyed, your base takes 2 damage. If you wish, you may sacrifice your add-on (and deal 2 damage to your base) to make room for a new one.

Warehouse — Upkeep phase: Draw a card from your deck. The Warehouse add-on lets you draw one card from your deck in the upkeep phase of every turn. Simple and useful. Build a warehouse if you are more limited in cards than in gold.

Tower — Once per turn, the Tower add-on lets you detect 1 stealth or invisible card. The detection effect lasts until the end of the turn. Normally, stealth and invisible attackers ignore your patrollers (see "Combat" below), but if you have a tower, the first of them to attack you on that turn cannot use stealth or invisibility to ignore your patrollers. On your turn the tower (if you wish) lets you detect one invisible card of your choice, which lets you attack it and choose it as the target of spells and abilities. Finally, the tower deals 1 combat damage to each enemy attacker that is visible (that is, not stealth or invisible). This counts as combat damage, and is dealt at the same moment the attacker deals combat damage. The tower has the Anti-air attribute, so it also damages creatures with flying. Build a tower if you need extra defense.

Combat

During your main phase you may attack as many times as you want. Each attack is a one-on-one clash involving one attacker (the aggressor) and one defender. You may attack anything of your opponent's that has hit points: any creature, hero or building. Your opponent does not need to make any decisions during your attacks, because on their own turn they have already prepared for defense.

Patrol Zone

The patrol zone is your main line of defense against your opponent's attacks. It consists of 5 slots, each of which can hold 1 creature or hero. Turned (exhausted) creatures and heroes cannot patrol (so normally you cannot attack with a creature and also send it on patrol in the same turn).

The five slots, left to right: Squad Leader (+1 armor / Taunt), Elite (+1 attack), Scavenger (Dies: +1 gold), Technician (Dies: +1 card), Lookout (Resist 1).

During your main phase you may move heroes and creatures into and out of the patrol zone, and between slots of the zone, any way you like and as many times as you like. For now they are not locked into slots and do not count as patrollers (and do not even count as being in those slots). When you end your main phase, your patrollers lock into their slots until your next turn. Patrollers protect the rest of your military force, because your opponent must deal with your patrol first.

The Squad Leader has a particularly important role: your opponent is required to deal with it before getting the chance to reach the other patrollers.

Each of the 5 slots of the patrol zone provides a certain bonus during your opponent's turn:

• Squad Leader: gets 1 armor while patrolling; the opponent must attack it first.
• Elite: +1 attack while patrolling.
• Scavenger: brings you 1 gold if it dies while patrolling.
• Technician: you draw a card from your deck if it dies while patrolling.
• Lookout: has the attribute "Resist 1" while patrolling (the opponent must spend 1 gold to choose it as the target of a spell or ability).

The armor the Squad Leader gets absorbs the first point of damage it receives during your opponent's turn (that is, the Squad Leader takes 1 less damage), which makes it a decent defender.

Attack

You may attack with any hero or creature that was under your control at the start of your turn. (Troops that arrived this turn mostly rest for the entire turn.)

To attack, turn your attacker and declare who (or what) it attacks. The attacker may attack anything under your opponent's control that has hit points: any creature, hero or building. However, if it CAN attack the opponent's Squad Leader, it MUST attack that card. If it is not possible to attack the Squad Leader and the attacker CAN attack any other opposing patroller, it must attack one of them (you choose which patroller you attack).

If your attacker CANNOT attack a particular patroller, it may ignore it. For example, a ground creature without the Anti-air attribute cannot attack a creature with Flying, so when it faces a patroller with the Flying attribute it is not required to attack it. However, if the attacker can attack some other available patroller, it must attack that patroller.

The attacker deals damage equal to its attack value to the hit points of the attacked card, and at the same time the target of the attack counterattacks the attacker (even if it is turned), dealing damage equal to its attack value to the attacker's hit points. If anything dies (by receiving damage equal to or exceeding its remaining hit points, or by losing hit points through some other effect), its card is put face down into its owner's discard pile.

Damage received persists from turn to turn, so track how much damage your heroes, creatures and buildings receive using damage tokens.

(Diagram labels: Attacker; Defender.)

Turn Structure

Ready Phase

Ready all your turned cards (turn them upright).

Upkeep Phase

Get 1 gold for each of your workers.

Main Phase

This is the main phase of your turn. You may do the following (in any order and any number of times):

• hire a worker (no more than one per turn);
• build a tech building and/or an add-on;
• summon a hero from the command zone;
• level up a hero in play;
• play cards from your hand and use the abilities of cards already played;
• fight any number of battles (one at a time);
• lock cards into the patrol zone. This ends your main phase.

Draw Phase

Put the cards from your hand into your discard pile face down. Then draw from your deck as many cards as you discarded, plus 2 cards, stopping as soon as you have 5 cards in hand.

Tech Phase

Choose 2 cards from your codex and set them aside. Just before the start of your next turn, put them into your discard pile face down.

You may choose either 2 copies of the same card or 2 different cards. Your opponent does not need to wait for you to make your choice; they may begin their turn as soon as you finish your draw phase. You are not required to make the choice before the start of your next turn, but if everyone plans their actions during the opponent's turn, it will speed up the game significantly.

Adding 2 cards to your discard pile each turn is mandatory until you have 10 or more workers. From that moment you may add 0, 1 or 2 cards. (If you do not want to clutter your deck, adding 0 cards may be a good option.)

Game Setup

Each player places components in front of them as follows (layout diagram: the patrol zone with its five slots at the top; the player board with the command zone and tech buildings on the left; the hero card, e.g. Troq Bashar, Bashing hero, in the hero slot; the worker card in the worker area; the deck and the discard pile; the 24 codex cards to the side).

Take the deck of 10 starting cards — these are the cards with a brown dot in the upper left corner. Shuffle it and draw 5 cards. These cards are your starting hand.

Place the player board with your tech buildings on the left side of your play area and put your hero card on the "hero" slot on the board. This is your command zone; here the hero waits for you to summon them. Place the worker card in the workers area (the lower part of the board). The card is a reminder that you start the game with 4 workers (or 5 if you are the second player), and a place to keep your gold.

Place the patrol zone in the upper part of your play area. Below it is your battlefield, where you put played cards that do not become patrollers.

Place the deck of 24 codex cards to the side. If you are playing the Bashing hero, all 24 of these cards must be either Bashing tech or Bashing magic (see the bottom of the cards). If you are playing the Finesse hero, all 24 cards of your codex are either Finesse tech or Finesse magic. (The Finesse player also gets 3 Dancer helper cards, which are set aside for now. You cannot play Dancers as ordinary cards; they are summoned by your spell "Harmony".)

Tokens

• Gold — use these tokens to track how much gold you currently have.
• Damage — use these tokens to track how much damage creatures, heroes and buildings have received.
• Experience — use these tokens to track the current levels of heroes (immediately after summoning, a hero's level is 1).
• +1/+1 and -1/-1 runes — some spells let you place these on creatures and heroes. (The "+" and "-" runes cancel each other out.)
• Built tech buildings — use these tokens to track the construction of tech buildings I, II and III.
• Dancer +2/+2 bonus — the Finesse spell "Pair Dance" gives this bonus to a pair of creatures. Use tokens of one color for each pair.
• Base hit points — these dials track the hit points of both players' bases.

Example of Play

Find a worthy opponent and determine at random which of you will be the first player.

First player's first turn

Skip the ready phase, since none of your cards need to be readied. Get 4 gold in the upkeep phase.

Play a creature from your hand, but save 1 gold for a new worker (note that creatures and heroes without the Haste attribute cannot attack on the turn they were played; see p. 17). The cost of each card is shown in its upper left corner; do not forget to pay the required amount of gold when playing creatures. If you wish, instead of a creature you may summon a hero from the command zone; this costs 2 gold. Move the played creature or hero to the Squad Leader slot in the patrol zone. If you have another played creature (or hero), put it in the Elite or Technician slot of the patrol zone.

Be sure to hire a worker: pay 1 gold and place any card from your hand face down next to the "×4" worker card (or partly beneath it). Although you must spend gold on this action, the new worker will bring you 1 gold on each of your subsequent turns. This is a very profitable investment!

End the main phase. If you have gold left, it carries over to the next turn. Discard the cards from your hand face down and draw as many new cards plus 2, stopping at 5 cards. (At the end of the first turn you will most likely draw 5 cards into your hand.)

Your opponent may start their turn while you look through your codex cards and choose 2 of them: you will add these to your discard pile face down. Take 2 copies of a spell or 2 copies of a tech I creature — the choice is yours.

Second player's first turn

Do the same as the first player did, but do not forget that you start your turn with 5 workers (not 4).

Place the played creature or hero in the Squad Leader slot, and if you have another creature, put it in the Elite slot. Discard your hand, draw cards (probably 5), and proceed to choose 2 cards from the codex to add to your discard pile. Your opponent begins their next turn.

First player's second turn

In the upkeep phase you get gold. You should have 5 workers, so you get 5 gold. Be sure to hire a sixth worker this turn; this will let you begin construction of a tech I building. Spend 1 more gold and begin construction. The tech I building will be ready only by the next turn, but if you draw tech I creature cards next turn, it will be useful to have the building built.

You have 3 gold left (and possibly gold from the previous turn). Use it however you like: play a spell if you have a hero in play, level up a hero, or play a creature. Make an attack if you see that it will bring results. But that is up to you. Remember that you attack your opponent's Squad Leader first, and that the first point of damage dealt to it is absorbed by its armor. All remaining damage persists through all subsequent turns. If you manage to kill the Squad Leader, you may then attack another patroller. Once there are no patrollers left, you may attack anything you wish. Attacking heroes and tech buildings will certainly affect your opponent, but to win you must attack their base.

When you have finished your attacks (if you made any), place one of your creatures or your hero in the Squad Leader slot. Only a READY card can be put in the patrol zone. If you attacked with a hero or creature, its card is turned sideways. This means it cannot be sent on patrol this turn. Remember: if you have no patrollers, your opponent may attack anything they like.

Discard the cards from your hand, draw as many new cards plus 2, stopping at 5 cards. Add 2 codex cards to your discard pile face down.

Second player's second turn

Ready your hero and creatures. In the upkeep phase get 1 gold for each of your workers (probably you have 6 now). In all other respects follow the instructions for the first player's second turn.

Decide what to spend your money on: spells (do not forget that they need a hero in play) or tech I creature cards (they require a fully built tech I building). If your hero has been dealt damage, think about raising them to the mid-level range: this removes all damage from them.

End of the game

Continue playing until one of you reduces the opponent's base hit points to 0. If you manage to play a tech III creature, it will most likely be you.

Upgrade Your Codex

If you enjoyed this introductory game, take a look at the base version of Codex, which includes the Blood Anarchs (red) and the Moss Sentinels (green) factions. That version lets each player play with three heroes at once. You will have far more tech choices, and in addition you will be able to mix the Bashing and Finesse decks with the decks of the new factions. You will also get 2 new add-ons, the Lab ("Laboratory") and the Hero's Hall, as well as great codex binders that make it easier to store and browse your cards.

Factions and Colors

In addition to the starter faction, other sets contain 6 main factions, each with its own color. Each color is associated with 3 specs.

Renegades (neutral). The Renegades do not consider themselves part of any single faction. In their view, Flagstone is mired in corruption, the Blood Anarchs have gone completely mad, and the monks of the Whitestar have become unbearably dull. River Montoya leads a group of nimble dancer-swordsmen and performers, and Troq Bashar belongs to a motley brotherhood of monsters and other unpleasant characters. Specs: Bashing, Finesse.

Blood Anarchs (red). The Blood Anarchs are a shaky alliance of pirates, thieves, bandits and cutthroats. Everything they have is either second-rate junk or stolen goods. They exploit captured monsters and mercenaries of various races. The Blood Anarchs' favorite tactic is to crash down on the enemy with all their might, without caring about defense. They have no single leader, but the most feared of all is perhaps the unpredictable Captain Zeno Zane, nicknamed Zane the Insane. Specs: Anarchy, Blood, Fire.

Moss Sentinels (green). The Moss Sentinels revere the beauty and power of nature. They protect nature from those who destroy and pollute it. Both small creatures and huge beasts living in swamps and forests always come to their aid, and sometimes even the trees come to life. Whoever's help the Sentinels win, be it a legion of squirrels or a werewolf-dinosaur, they are always an aggressive and strong opponent. Their chief is Calamandra Moss, the tiger magus. Specs: Balance, Feral, Growth.

Flagstone Dominion (blue). Flagstone is the capital of the kingdom and a place where justice, moral and family values triumph. The city government closely watches over the inhabitants, helping them make the right choices. The laws of Flagstone are strictly enforced, and its army keeps the peace in all the surrounding lands. Flagstone is ruled by the fearless truth-seeker Sirus Quince. Specs: Law, Peace, Truth.

Blackhand Scourge (black). To the north of the kingdom evil arose and began to spread. The Blackhand Scourge sows plague and death wherever it can reach. It resurrects the dead, turning them into slaves. Not long ago the Scourge became even more powerful: its leader Vandy Anadrose, known as the Queen of Demons, made a pact with nightmarish creatures from another world, who for now fight on her side. These demons possess monstrous abilities, but everything has its price. Specs: Demonology, Disease, Necromancy.

Whitestar Order (white). The Whitestar Order is a union of the strongest and most valiant warriors of the kingdom, formed in Morningstar by the stone golem Garus Rook. Their training grounds became home to enlightened monks, unbending barbarians and agile ninjas with their funny pets. Only two things are required of novices: to support one another and to master the art of combat. The Order constantly holds Fantasy Strike combat tournaments that bring together all representatives of the kingdom. The Order hopes this will shake the power of Flagstone. Specs: Spirit, Ninjutsu, Strength.

Vortoss Conclave (purple). The Vortoss are an ancient, half-forgotten race that many consider fictional. They are said to have used technology that seems incredible even in our time. It is suggested that they were masters of history and could travel through time. And indeed, the Vortoss's magic and technology are connected with the control of time. This race's life flows outside of time, and the modern scientist Max Geiger managed to make contact with them. He became their envoy. Specs: Past, Present, Future.

Other Rules

Turning Cards

Turning a card sideways shows that it has already been used this turn. You cannot turn such a card again; first you must ready it. All your cards are readied (turned upright) at the start of each of your turns.

Your creatures and heroes turn when they attack, which means they cannot attack again or patrol this turn (only ready creatures or heroes can be placed in the patrol zone). Activating some abilities also requires turning the card. You cannot turn a hero or creature to send it to attack or to use its abilities on the turn it arrived, unless it has the Haste attribute.

[Cost]: [Effect]

You must pay the full cost to apply the effect. Apply the effect to the fullest extent you can. If an effect has two parts but one of them is impossible to carry out, you must still carry out the second part of the effect.

Target

Spells with a target symbol next to the card type must target something. Heroes and creatures with such a symbol have an ability that applies against some target. This matters because a card in the Lookout slot of the patrol zone has the attribute "Resist 1", which means the opponent must pay 1 gold to choose it as the target of their spell or ability. Also, some creatures cannot be chosen as a target at all (the "Untargetable" attribute).

Helpers

Some cards bring helpers into play. For example, a Finesse hero can use the spell "Harmony" to bring Dancer helpers into play. Helper creatures have all the abilities of ordinary creatures, but their card back differs from that of ordinary cards, because they are never shuffled into the deck and never go to the hand. If a helper leaves play, it is removed. All helpers count as tech 0 creatures.

+1/+1 and -1/-1 Runes

These modifiers change the attack/hit points of the hero or creature on whose card they lie. A hero or creature with 0 hit points dies immediately. A +1/+1 rune and a -1/-1 rune cancel each other out if they end up on the same card.

Attributes and Glossary

Terms follow the English Codex Deluxe Set rulebook where the equivalent term exists.

• Armor — Each point of armor absorbs 1 damage before it takes away hit points, and is then destroyed. (Note: the Squad Leader's armor is restored at the start of the turn.)
• Frenzy X — +X attack on your turn.
• Readiness — This card does not turn when it attacks, but can attack only 1 time per turn.
• Dies: Do X — When this card moves from play to your discard pile, do X.
• Obliterate X — Whenever this card attacks, first destroy X of the defending opponent's lowest-tech creatures. If the card you attacked is no longer there, you may choose a new target of the attack, but the obliterate effect does not trigger a second time.
• Healing X — During your upkeep phase, remove X damage from all friendly heroes and creatures.
• Unattackable — This card cannot be attacked. (If it is patrolling, it can be ignored.)
• Untargetable — This card cannot become the target of spells and abilities.
• Invisible — For opponents without a detector, this card has the attributes "Untargetable" and "Unattackable". It can slip past (that is, ignore) patrollers. If it patrols itself, it can be attacked.
• Unstoppable — This card can ignore patrollers when it attacks.
• Detector — The opponent's stealth and invisible forces become visible to you, i.e. you ignore their stealth and invisibility. (The Tower add-on can detect one card per turn.)

Quick Reference

Player's Turn

• Ready phase. Ready your cards — turn them upright.
• Upkeep phase. Get 1 gold for each of your workers.
• Main phase. Do everything you can!
• Draw phase. Discard the cards from your hand, draw as many cards plus 2 (stopping at 5 cards).
• Tech phase. Put 2 cards from your codex into your discard pile face down. You do not have to do this until the start of your next turn.

During your main phase you may

• Hire a worker (no more than 1 per turn).
• Build a tech building and/or an add-on.
• Summon a hero from the command zone.
• Level up a hero in play.
• Play cards from your hand and use the abilities of cards already played.
• Fight any number of battles (one at a time).
• Lock cards into the patrol zone. This ends your main phase.

Workers

• The first player starts with 4 workers, the second with 5.
• To hire a worker, pay 1 gold, then place any card from your hand face down next to your worker card.
• You may hire no more than 1 worker per turn.
• Destroyed and sacrificed workers are removed; they are not put in the discard pile.

Heroes

• Heroes are not considered creatures.
• They arrive in play at level 1.
• Each level up costs 1 gold. In one turn a hero's level can be raised several times.
• Remove all damage from a hero if you upgrade them to the mid-level range or the maximum level.
• Playing a spell requires a hero.
• Playing an ultimate spell requires a hero at maximum level (as of the start of your turn).
• A dead hero returns to their command zone (they lose all runes, levels, etc.) and can be summoned again only after your next turn.
• Whenever the opponent's hero dies, your hero in play levels up twice, for free. If you have several heroes, the active player chooses which one levels up. They may choose only a hero who has somewhere to level up; that is, a maximum-level hero cannot be chosen.

Tech Buildings

• Their construction finishes at the end of your turn.
• When a tech building is destroyed, your base takes 2 damage. You may rebuild a tech building for 0 gold, but it still takes the whole turn.
• Tech I building. Requires 6 workers to build. Allows you to play tech I cards (with a bronze stripe at the bottom).
• Tech II building. Requires 8 workers to build. Allows you to play tech II cards (with a silver stripe at the bottom).
• Tech III building. Requires 10 workers to build. Allows you to play tech III cards (with a gold stripe at the bottom).

Add-ons

• Add-ons are buildings, but not tech buildings.
• Construction of an add-on finishes at the end of your turn, and its destruction deals 2 damage to your base.
• You may have only 1 add-on at a time. You may sacrifice your add-on to make room for a new one, but your base still takes 2 damage.

Attack

• You may make several attacks in one turn. Each uses its own attacker.
• To attack, turn your attacker and declare whom (or what) it attacks. The attacker must attack the opponent's Squad Leader if it can; otherwise, a patroller of your choice if it can. If the opponent has no patrollers your attacker could attack, you may attack any of their creatures, heroes or buildings.
• You are not required to attack.

Patrolling

• Your patrol zone consists of 5 slots, each with its own bonus.
• Only ready heroes and creatures can patrol.
• Each turn you may arrange your patrollers among the slots as you like. They lock into them at the end of your main phase. During your turn they do not count as your patrollers — only during other players' turns.

Damage

• Damage dealt to you/by you persists from turn to turn. Creatures, heroes and buildings do not heal automatically each turn.
• A hero heals all their damage whenever they level up to the mid-level range or to the maximum level.