Fantasy Fantasy Baseball Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • Anatomy of a Character Card
• Setup
• Playing Fantasy Fantasy Baseball
  • Regular Season (3 Months)
    • 1) Prepare
    • 2) Free Agency (Skip this step in the first month of play)
    • 3) Set Rosters
    • 4) Play Ball!
    • 5) Cleanup
  • End of the Regular Season
  • Championship Series
• No Crying
• Advanced Game Variants
  • Event Cards
  • More Wins
  • Full Season
  • Wild Card Game
  • Solo Rules
  • Alternate Draft Options
• Character Magic Ability Explanations
• Event Card Explanations
• Key Terms
• Reminders
  • Icons / Stat Categories
  • Quick Summary of Game Play

Components

• 5 Wizard Manager minis
• Stat Track Board
• 5 Turn / Waiver Order tokens
• 25 Scoring Pegs
• 5 Team Cards
• 65 Character Cards
• 60 Win Cards
• 30 Event Cards
• Infield Board
• "No Crying / Rain Delay" chip
• FFB Champion trophy token

Anatomy of a Character Card

1. Character name and team name (top-middle).
2. Card number (made of position and jersey number).
3. Character class (top-right, color of striping): Hall of Fame, All-Star, Specialist, Pro or Rookie.
4. Good vs. Evil (blue or red sky, icon bottom-left).
5. Stat categories (left side):
   • hitting stats: average, runs, home runs, RBI, stolen bases
   • pitching stats: ERA, innings pitched, wins, strikeouts, saves
6. Magic ability (below main image, with description).

Setup

1. Place the Stat Track Board and Infield Board in the center of the table.
2. Randomly give each Manager a Team Card and the corresponding color pegs, Turn / Waiver Order tokens, and Wizard mini for that team.
3. Randomly select a first Manager. Place that Manager's token (the little baseball) on the Infield Board at Waiver Order 1 (far right). This Manager is also in charge of updating the Stat Track Board for each month. Continuing clockwise, place each Manager's token on the next spot on the Waiver Order track.
4. Shuffle the deck of Win Cards and place it face down in the middle of the Infield Board on the mound. OPTIONAL: Shuffle the deck of Event Cards and place it face down in front of the Stat Track board. See Advanced Game Variants. We recommend playing your first game without the Event Deck.
5. Separate the Character Cards into the five tiers (Rookie, Pro, Specialist, All-Star and Hall of Fame) and deal each player 3 Rookies, 1 Pro, 1 Specialist, 1 All-Star, and 1 Hall of Fame card.
6. LIVE DRAFT: After receiving their Character Cards, each Manager chooses from their hand one card to keep, and passes the remainder of the hand to the Manager on their left. Continue this process until each Manager has chosen 7 cards.
7. Shuffle the remaining Character Cards and place them face down to the left of the Stat Track Board to form the Character Deck.
8. Once each Manager has chosen 7 cards, have each Manager discard one Character. These Character Cards form the Discard Pile. Place these cards face down to the right of the Stat Track Board, not to confuse them with the Character Deck.

Playing Fantasy Fantasy Baseball

In each game your team will play through a Regular Season and the playoffs. The Regular Season is 3 rounds (3 months in baseball terms). The second and third months have a Free Agency period where you can acquire new players for your team. Each month your team will compete to earn Wins and your position in the playoffs. The playoffs will determine the winner of the game.

Regular Season (3 Months)

Follow these 4 steps each month:

1) Prepare

Deal a Win Card face up to each base around the Infield Board, then place the Wins Deck face down back to the middle of the board (on the mound).

OPTIONAL: deal an Event Card face up and place it on top of the Wins Deck so that all players can see it. See Advanced Game Variants (Event Card).

2) Free Agency (Skip this step in the first month of play)

Flip Character Cards from the Character Deck (equal to the number of Managers plus two) face up on the table. This is the Free Agent pool and these Characters are the available Free Agents for this month.

Beginning with the Manager who is first in the Waiver Order (far right), and continuing in Waiver Order (right to left), each Manager may select a face up Character Card from the available Free Agents.

If a Manager takes a Character Card, they must immediately place a Character Card from their team into the Free Agent pool. Keep in mind, Characters placed back into the Free Agency pool are now available for other Managers to add to their teams.

After each Manager has had one chance to add a Free Agent to their team, all remaining Character Cards are shuffled into the Character Deck.

3) Set Rosters

Managers select four Character Cards to play each month and two Character Cards to remain on the bench. To assign Characters to play in each game, place one Character Card next to each base position around your Team Card (one Character Card at 1st base, one Character Card at 2nd base and so on). When complete, the four Character Card backs will form a diamond shape around the Team Card.

The two cards that are not assigned to games for the current month are assigned to the bench. You will have the option to use these Characters' magical abilities during the month. These are placed face down.

When your roster is set for the month, place your Wizard mini on top of your Team Card. This will help players around the table know when everyone is ready to play ball.

4) Play Ball!

Each month begins with the game at 1st base and proceeds around the bases in order. For each of the four games, follow these steps:

1. All Managers reveal their Character Card simultaneously.
2. Beginning with the Manager who is last in Waiver Order (or first in Turn Order), and continuing in reverse Waiver Order, each Manager may activate one of their bench Character's magic abilities. Magic abilities are activated by flipping the card face up. Managers only have one opportunity to use a magic ability per week. A Character's magic ability can only be used once per month, unless another magic ability "revives" or re-activates it.
3. Each Win Card displays a set of requirements based on certain stats. Compare the Win Card's requirements to the stats on each Character Card revealed. Each Manager adds the matching stats to arrive at a total. The Character with the highest stat total wins the game and will claim the Win Card. Be sure to apply any bonuses or penalties from the Character magic abilities (and bonuses or penalties from the Event Card if being used) when comparing stats.
4. As a consolation, each Manager that did not claim the Win Card may be able to advance one or more pegs on the Stat Track board. Each Win Card displays a set of cracked colored banners with a modifier below the word "STAT TRACK". For each stat on the Character Card revealed that matches the colored banner on the Win Card, the Manager may move a peg forward on the matching colored row of the Stat Track Board. This may happen for one stat, no stats, or multiple stats, depending on how many matches are made.
5. In case of a tie during the Win Card battle, a Good Character beats an Evil Character. If still tied, no player receives this Win Card and all players are eligible to move up the Stat Track board.
6. The Manager who claimed the Win Card should place it face up next to his or her cards. If no Manager earned the Win Card, return it to the bottom of the Win Deck.
7. Repeat these steps until all four weeks have been played.

5) Cleanup

The player with the least number of total Wins will be first in Waiver Order (far right) and last in Turn Order. In the case of a tie, all tied players stay in the same order relative to each other, but slide past players with less Wins.

At the end of the month, each Manager collects all Character Cards back into his or her hand. If this was the first or second month of the season, proceed to the next month (if you are using Event Cards, return the Event Card to the bottom of the Event Deck). If this was the third month of the season, the Regular Season is over. Proceed to the Championship Series.

End of the Regular Season

Your team's position on each of the five Stat Tracks may result in extra Wins at the end of the Regular Season. For each of the five Stat Tracks, Managers receive extra Wins based on the chart below.

Stat Track Position	2P	3P	4P	5P
1st	2	2	3	4
2nd	0	1	2	3
3rd	-	0	1	2
4th	-	-	0	1
5th	-	-	-	0

NOTES: To earn a Win Card on the Stat Track, a Manager must have at least one point on that track. Also, ties are friendly; meaning if there is a tie on a track position, both Managers get the allotted Win Cards. The Manager in second place receives third place number of Win Cards, and so on.

Each of the bonus Stat Track Win Cards earned should be dealt face down and are worth one extra Win each. Add these Wins to each Manager's Win Card total. The two Managers with the most total Wins make the Championship Series!

In the event of a tie, tied Managers will play a Wild Card Game, a one-game playoff, with their full roster of Character Cards available for that game. See Wild Card Game under Advanced Game Variants for more details.

NOTE: The Character Card used in the Wild Card Game will not available to the Manager until Game 5 of the Championship Series.

Championship Series

The top two teams compete in the Championship Series. This is a winner-take-all, best-of-seven competition for Wins. The first team to win four games, is the Champion!

In the Chamionship Series, bench player magic abilities are not used. Event Cards are used and are applied through the full series.

Shuffle the entire Win Deck, including all Win Cards from all Managers, and place this deck on the mound on the Infield Board. As in the Regular Season, flip over 4 Win Cards face up around the bases of the Infield Board. Managers select 4 Character Cards to be played for the first 4 games.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: The Manager who finished the Regular Season with the most Wins has home field advantage in the series. This means, in the first game of the series, he or she may wait to see what Character Card the other Manager plays before choosing their Character Card.

As in the Regular Season, Managers will compare the revealed Character's stats against those required by the Win Card to see which Character wins the card. In case of a tie, Good beats Evil. If still tied, flip another card from the Win Deck. Compare the Win Card's requirements against the players already selected and award the Win to the Character with higher stats. Do this until there is a winner.

The Manager whose Character wins that card earns one Win towards the best-of-seven competition for the Championship Series. Continue this for the next 3 cards.

Before Game 5 of the Series (if necessary) Character Cards played in Game 1 and the Wild Card Game are returned to each Manager's hand. Repeat this process for the remaining games, if necessary. This means in Games 5-7 of the Series, each Manager's hand will have three Character Cards.

The first Manager to claim four Win Cards in the Series is the Champion and winner of Fantasy Fantasy Baseball!

No Crying

As a rule, there is no crying in Fantasy Fantasy Baseball. If one of your opponents is complaining too much or taking too long on his/her turn, feel free to slide the "No Crying / Rain Delay" token to their side of the table.

Advanced Game Variants

Event Cards

Once you've played a few games of Fantasy Fantasy Baseball, you should give the Event Cards a try. Event Cards offer an extra level of decision making to each month of play. Flip over the 4 Win Cards for the month, as usual. Before players set their lineups for the month, flip over an Event Card from the Event Deck. This Event will be active for all 4 weeks of play.

The full explanation of each Event Card is in the companion sheet "Full Explanations of Events" (see Event Card Explanations below).

More Wins

In a 4-5 player game, place two Win Cards, one right side up and one upside down, to create two possible games each week. Managers may choose which Win Card for which they want to compete. The directional placement of the Character Card indicates which Win Card is being contested. For example, an upside down Character is competing for the upside down Win Card.

Full Season

Feel free to play 4 or 5 rounds to simulate a longer season experience.

Wild Card Game

In the case of a tie for second place or simply because you like the Wild Card rule, play a one game wild card playoff match before the Championship Series. The teams with the 2nd and 3rd most wins play in a sudden death playoff where it only takes one win to make it to the Champion Series. Flip a win card. Each Manager in the Wild Card round plays a Character card from hand. The player who wins this game wins the Wild Card and proceeds to the Championship Series. The card played to win the Wild Card game is not available to be played during the Championship Series until after the 4th game in the series.

Solo Rules

For a 1-player game, the solo rules simulate playing against one "Robot" and one "Deck" Manager. During setup, deal 3 Rookies, 3 Pros, 3 Specialist, 3 All-Stars, and 3 Hall-of-Famers to a Robot manager.

Each month, during play, set up the board as you would for a 3-player game. Then, after selecting your own Characters for the month, choose a Character from the Robot Manager's hand to start in each week. You must choose a Character that has at least one shared stat with the Win Card each week. If no match is possible, randomly choose a card for that week.

After assigning a Character Card from the Robot Manager for each week, simulate a third Manager - the Deck Manager - by dealing 3 random cards off the top of the Character Deck for each week. Choose the Character Card of those 3 that have the highest combined stats for that week's Win Card to represent the Deck Manager for that week.

In this way, your Characters compete against the Robot's Characters and the Deck's Characters for each Win each week. Adjust the Stat Track appropriately for these Managers as though they were human players. If they win games, keep their Win Cards in a pile for counting at the end of the season.

Return the Robot's Character Cards to a pile near its hand. The Robot may not re-use Character Cards during the Regular Season, but those cards will be available during the Championship Series.

The Championship Series plays as normal. If you are involved in the Championship Series, continue to resolve the Robot's cards (using its full compliment of Characters) and the Deck's cards as you would during the Regular Season. Remember that you're only playing against one other player in the Championship series (either the Robot or the Deck).

If the Robot and the Deck end the regular season with the most and second-most Wins, sorry but you have been eliminated from the Championship Series.

Alternate Draft Options

Please visit csegames.com.

Character Magic Ability Explanations

Each Character Card's magic ability is explained below, as printed in the rulebook's FFB References section.

Abduct: Swap two Win Cards that have not been resolved yet. If only one Win card remains to be resolved, it cannot be swapped.

Axe Drop: Two different opponents drop by 1 point on Stat Track. In a two-player game, only your opponent drops 1 point on the Stat Track.

Berzerk: One specific stat on this Character Card can be added to another Character Card for each remaining game (or week) yet to be resolved.

Blessing: Use the magic ability of an opponent's Character Card that has already been used. Used magic abilities are placed face up.

Brute Force: Move up one point on a Stat Track of your choice. You must have at least one point on that Stat Track to move up.

Dig: Trade one of the Character Cards in your monthly lineup with one from the Discard Pile. This new card is yours to keep for remaining months.

Flames: Reduce one stat on one of your opponent's Character Cards to zero. This does not refer to the Stat Track.

Focus: Opponents are unable to advance on the Stat Track for this week.

Helper: The active Character Card can use its own magic ability for the current week.

Hibernate: This week, opponents whose Turn Order is after yours cannot use their magic abilities.

Justice: Evil Character Cards (red Evil icon, red sky) can't win this week's battle.

Meow: Send an opponent's Evil Character Card to its owner's bench. This card can't be used for the Win Card battle, but can be used for its magic ability for remaining battles.

Morph: Exchange any one of your Character Cards (active or bench) with a card off the top of the Character Deck. This new card is yours to keep.

Pile On: Add +1 to each stat of your Character Card this week if it is Evil (red icon, red sky).

Power Juice: Add +1 to each stat of your Character Card this week.

Recruit: Draw 3 cards from the Character Deck and keep 1. Place the remaining 2 at the bottom of the Character Deck. You may select this card during the Waiver Wire.

Revive: You may make an already used bench Character Card available for its magic ability. It will be available the following week.

Shapeshift: You may swap this week's Character Card with any other of your cards, including bench Characters and Characters that have already been played.

Summon: Add all stats of this card to your Character Card this week.

Teleport: Replace this card with this week's active Character Card. This card becomes the active Character Card this week.

Translucent: You may rearrange the Waiver Wire Order to your liking.

Note: Abduct Alien Magic Ability. When you play the game for the first time, you may choose to remove the two Alien Character Cards from the game, as their magic ability is chaotic.

Event Card Explanations

Full explanations of the Event Cards are in the publisher's companion sheet, "Full Explanations of Events", which is kept as a separate companion file. The rulebook itself directs players to csegames.com for them.

Key Terms

Here are a few terms that will help you get familiar with the language of fantasy baseball:

Free Agents / Free Agency: After a month of the season has been played, the free agency season begins. In free agency, teams have the opportunity to improve their roster with new Characters.

Head-to-head: Refers to a direct battle with an opponent for specific fantasy statistics. This is a more modern format to play fantasy baseball.

Manager: You, in charge of acquiring Characters and assigning them to games during the season. Can you lead your team to a championship?

Month: A month of play is represented by the resolving of the 4 Character Cards in a player's lineup. Once all 4 cards have been revealed and resolved, the month is complete. The Regular Season is 3 months long.

Roster: Your hand of available Characters. Your roster will always consist of six Characters. Whenever you add a Character, you will immediately remove one from your roster.

Rotisserie: This is the alternate name of the Stat Track board. Refers to overall team stat collection. It is a reference to the original way to play fantasy baseball. It was named after the New York City restaurant - La Rotisserie Française - where the creators of fantasy baseball would meet for lunch to play and discuss the rules of fantasy baseball.

Stats: Numbers that represent how skilled your Character is at the various aspects of hitting or pitching. Stats range from 1-10. If there is no number listed by a stat, that Character doesn't have that skill.

Wins: Your overall score in Fantasy Fantasy Baseball is determined by the combined Wins from cards each week and the rotisserie board in the middle of the table. Remember, as an old bruin once said, "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing!"

Week: A week of play is represented by the resolving of 1 Character Card in a player's lineup. The order of play is similar to running the bases: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Home. Four weeks of play represent a month.

Reminders

Icons / Stat Categories

Pitching stats (white icons): Earned Run Average (ERA), Innings Pitched (IP), Wins (W), Strikeouts (K), Saves (SV).

Hitting stats (black icons): Batting Average (AVG), Runs (R), Home Runs (HR), Runs Batted In (RBI), Stolen Bases (SB).

Quick Summary of Game Play

Follow these steps each month:

1. Prepare: Deal 4 Win Cards face-up around the 4 bases of the Infield Board: 1st, 2nd, 3rd and Home. OPTION: deal an Event Card, place it on top of Win Card Deck on the Infield Board.
2. Free Agency (skip this step in the first month of play): Flip Character Cards (equal to the number of Managers +2) face up on the table. To complete a Waiver Wire transaction, swap one Waiver Wire Character Card with one from your roster (hand of cards). After each team has had opportunity to select a Character Card, place all remaining Waiver Wire Character Cards into Discard Pile.
3. Set Rosters: All players set their 4 Character Card rosters according to the Win Cards on the Infield Board. Assign 2 Character Cards to the bench for magic ability. Place them face down.
4. Play Ball!: Compare each Character Card set for a given week. Highest total stats earns the Win Card; players who did not claim the Win Card for that week may move up on the Stat Track (if Character Card stats match the STAT TRACK banners listed on Win Card). Players may interfere with the Win results using magic abilities of bench Character Cards, in Turn Order. Repeat for all 4 weeks.
5. Clean Up: Update the Turn / Waiver Order on the Infield Board. The Manager with the most Wins is first in Turn Order and last in Waiver Order. Return Character Cards and Win Cards to Managers (and remove Event Card, if applicable).