Guardians' Chronicles: Clash of Heroes Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Components
  • Hero miniatures
  • Hero ID cards
  • Power cards
  • Initiative cards
  • MENACE Sheets
  • Double-sided tiles
  • Objects
  • Combat dice
  • Power dice
  • Test dice
  • Super Villain miniatures
  • Super Villain ID cards
  • Route tokens
  • Damage tokens
  • Bonus/Penalty tokens
  • Wound cards
  • Newspaper articles
• Set-Up
  • Setting Up the Heroes
  • Personal Mission
  • Setting Up the Gameboard
  • Newspapers
  • Example of Set-Up
  • TEAM-UP Mode
• End of the Game
• Game Elements
  • ID Cards
  • Power Cards
    • Secret Technique
    • Special Power
    • Weakness Card
  • Rookie and Veteran Heroes
  • Super Villain ID Cards
  • Tiles
  • MENACE Sheets
  • Object Tokens
• Game Round
  • 1. Strategy
  • 2. Activation
  • 3. End of the Round
• Making the Newspapers
• How to Play
  • Move
    • Movement Rules to Follow
  • Making an Attack
    • Attack Targets
    • Resolving an Attack
    • Wound Cards
  • Attempt an Attribute Test
    • Direct Attribute Tests
  • Using a Special Power
  • Example of a Hero's Activation
• Cooperative and Solo Play

Object of the Game

During the game, each player chooses their Hero before dividing into two teams to thwart the evil schemes of a chosen scenario's Super Villain.

Amid this titanic struggle, each team will try its best to complete the scenario's objectives while preventing the opposing team from doing the same.

The game ends when one team fulfils the scenario's objectives and eliminates the Super Villain. However, should the Super Villain successfully enact their dastardly plan, the teams' reputations will be ruined by the fickle media.

Components

• 6 Hero miniatures
• 1 X-Tina miniature
• 5 Emissary miniatures
• 10 No' Dalies miniatures
• 15 ID cards
• 72 Power cards
• 6 Initiative cards
• 16 Wound cards
• 15 Newspaper articles and advertisements
• 6 Double-sided tiles
• 5 Tile Reference cards
• 3 MENACE Sheets
• 28 Bonus/Penalty tokens
• 6 TEAM-UP tokens
• 16 Route tokens
• 32 Scenario tokens
• 26 Damage tokens
• 38 Object tokens
• 6 Double-sided Object Reference cards
• 5 Combat dice
• 5 Power dice
• 5 Test dice
• 1 14 page Scenario booklet
• 1 25 page Rulebook

Hero miniatures

Each player uses their own miniature to depict their Hero on the gameboard.

Hero ID cards

Each ID card summarizes all of the information needed to play that Hero.

Power cards

Each Hero has their own set of Power cards. Play them wisely during each game turn to activate their super powers, special abilities and even weaknesses.

Initiative cards

They are used to determine the order in which a team's Heroes are Activated.

MENACE Sheets

They detail how a Villain will act, any special events that take place and the victory conditions to end the game.

Double-sided tiles

They are used to determine the order in which a team's Heroes are Activated.

Objects

They are placed all over the gameboard. Heroes can use them as described on the corresponding Reference cards.

Combat dice

They are used to make Attack rolls.

Power dice

They are used whenever a Hero uses their Special Powers to enhance an Attack roll.

Test dice

They are used to perform Attribute Tests.

Super Villain miniatures

Each Super Villain controlled by a MENACE Sheet has one or more miniatures to depict them on the gameboard.

Super Villain ID cards

They summarize all the information you need to play the Super Villains.

Route tokens

They are used in some scenarios to indicate a predetermined route.

Damage tokens

They are used to track a Hero's injuries.

Bonus/Penalty tokens

They are used in certain cases to modify a Hero's Attributes or the difficulty of a Test.

Wound cards

They apply a penalty to a wounded Hero and determine whether they are eliminated from the game.

Newspaper articles

Every hard-won victory or crushing defeat is reported on the front pages of Metro City's two competing newspapers. The team with the most positive column inches wins the game.

Set-Up

Setting Up the Heroes

Each player chooses one Hero. They lay their Hero's ID card before them and take their 8 Power cards (careful: there are different cards for when you play Rookie or Veteran versions of your Hero) and their Initiative card.

Then, the players form two rival teams which will, unless otherwise stated, start the game on two opposite sides of the gameboard.

Note: If the number of players is not the same in both teams, use the TEAM-UP system (see TEAM-UP Mode below) to balance their forces. You can also use the TEAM-UP system if one player wants to control more than one Hero.

Personal Mission

Before the start of each game, each player rolls one Combat die to see which of the Personal Missions detailed on the back of their ID card they will have to accomplish. Should a Hero complete their Personal Mission, the article reporting their singular feats of heroism is placed on the front page of the team's newspaper blue side up.

Setting Up the Gameboard

Once the teams are ready, the players choose one adventure from the scenario booklet or create their own story.

Place the tiles indicated by the chosen scenario in order to create the gameboard. The scenario can also include a MENACE Sheet, which introduces a Super Villain to deal with and an evil plan to thwart.

Each MENACE Sheet details:

• The starting positions of each Hero team.
• The various tokens to be placed on the gameboard.
• The Special Actions to be made during the game.
• The Special Actions performed by the Super Villain at the end of a round.
• How the Super Villain will act and react.
• The scenario's victory conditions.

Newspapers

Each Team selects the newspaper which will report its feats: The GUARDIANS' CHRONICLES or the MERCURY HERALD.

Each team places their newspaper's title to their side so that they can add any articles they earn during the game.

Example of Set-Up

Legend: 1. ID card; 2. Veteran ID card; 3. Power cards hand; 4. Veteran Power cards; 5. Initiative cards; 6. Discard pile; 7. TEAM-UP token; 8. TEAM-UP Power cards hand; 9. Combat dice; 10. Power dice; 11. Test dice; 12. Damage tokens; 13. Wound cards; 14. Bonus/Penalty tokens; 15. MENACE sheet; 16. Gameboard.

TEAM-UP Mode

When one team has fewer players than the other, they can enlist the aid of an additional Hero who will come and lend a helping hand to the team.

In this case, the players in the team may take control of one or more TEAM-UP Heroes, in addition to their own. The ID card of any additional TEAM-UP Hero is placed beside that of the player's main Hero. Put a TEAM-UP token on the ID card for each additional TEAM-UP Hero to easily identify them.

TEAM-UP Heroes are bound by the following rules:

• The player takes the Weakness card and draws 3 cards of their choice from the TEAM-UP Hero's Power cards.
• During the Strategy phase, players can only assign a Power card to its corresponding Hero.
• TEAM-UP Heroes activate whenever their Initiative card is drawn.
• TEAM-UP Heroes have 3 Actions.
• Just like Super Villains, TEAM-UP Heroes can only take as many Damage tokens as their HEALTH value before they are eliminated from the game.
• During the Strategy phase, place one +1 token on two Attribute values of your choice of each TEAM-UP Hero. These tokens are removed during the End of Round phase.

End of the Game

The victory conditions that must be fulfilled to end the game are detailed on any MENACE Sheet used or by the scenario itself.

Each MENACE Sheet also lists the newspaper articles for the game and how each team can earn them. Once the game is over and the newspaper articles have been collected, each team builds up the front page of their respective newspaper (see Newspaper Front Page below) in order to determine which team has won.

Game Elements

ID Cards

ID cards detail the various Attributes and Powers of Metro City's Heroes and Super Villains. On every ID card, you will find the following information:

Speed. The SPEED value defines the number of Areas a character can travel with one Action.

Attack. The ATTACK value indicates the number of Combat dice a player rolls when making an Attack roll.

Defense. The DEFENSE value indicates the number needed on an Attack roll to deal the character one Damage token. In order for an Attack to succeed, the result of an Attack roll must equal or exceed the target's DEFENSE value. The target receives one Damage token from each successful Attack roll.

Mental. The MENTAL value is used when Heroes attempt to short-circuit traps, reach Objectives or perform Special Actions. The MENTAL value is usually used when making an Attribute Test. Note: Only Heroes have this Attribute.

Actions. This value indicates the number of Actions a character can take during their Activation. Note: Only Super Villains have this Attribute; Heroes always have 3 Actions per Activation.

Health. The HEALTH value indicates the character's stamina. Every time a character is hit, add one Damage token to their ID card.

• Hero Health Values: At the end of a round, every Hero compares the number of Damage tokens on their ID card against their HEALTH value. If the number of Damage tokens equals or exceeds this value, they discard a number of Damage tokens equal to their HEALTH value and add one Wound card into their hand. Any excess Damage tokens remain on their ID card. Whenever a Hero has three Wound cards in their hand, they are knocked out and eliminated from the game.
• Super Villain Health Values: Whenever a Super Villain has taken as many Damage tokens as their HEALTH value, they are immediately knocked out and eliminated from the game.

Power. Until a character is eliminated, their power remains active.

Type. A character's type indicates the nature or origin of their super powers.

Rank.

• Choose your Hero's ID card according to the scenario difficulty: Rookie (Hard), Normal (Normal) and Veteran (Easy). A team may let an opposing player use an ID card of higher rank if there are fewer players than recommended for the scenario.
• Minions: Whenever a Minion ID card is activated, all the characters related to this ID card may be activated.
• Lieutenants: Lieutenants are unique and have higher Attribute values.

Power Cards

Every Hero has their own set of Power cards. They can be used in two distinct ways: Secret Technique modifiers and Special Power.

Any time you play a Power card, indicate which way you are going to use it. Place it to the left of the Hero's ID card in order to use the Special Power. Played in this position, the card's Secret Technique is inactive. Place it to the right of the Hero's ID card in order to use the Secret Technique modifiers instead. Played in this position, the card's Special Power is inactive.

Note: Some cards have only a Secret Technique or a Special Power. In these cases, they can only be played to the corresponding side of an ID card.

Every round, choose up to two cards to play. A Hero must always play at least one Power card per round.

At the end of the round, the cards you played are moved to the Hero's discard pile. During the next round, the Hero has fewer Power cards to choose from.

If, at the start of a round, a player has no more Power cards left in their hand for their Heroes (main or TEAM-UP), they must draw all the cards from their discard pile back into their hand.

Note: Wound cards can only be discarded into the main Hero's discard pile and do not count as Power cards.

Secret Technique

Placed to the right of the ID card, only the Secret Technique is active. The Secret Technique changes the Hero's Attribute values. The modifiers apply until the end of the round.

• Speed Modifier: The SPEED value is increased or decreased by the modifier indicated on the Power card.
• Defense Modifier: The DEFENSE value is increased or decreased by the modifier value indicated on the Power card.
• Attack Modifier: When making an Attack roll, add as many Power dice as the bonus value, or remove as many Combat dice as the penalty value.
• Mental Modifier: The MENTAL value is increased or decreased by the modifier indicated on the Power card.

Special Power

Placed to the left of the ID card, only the Special Power is active. While a Power card is in play to the left of a Hero's ID card, its Special Power remains active. If the words 'Action' or 'Unique Action' are mentioned in its description, the Special Power is only activated when the Hero uses one of their Actions during the Activation phase to do so:

• ACTION: Use one of your Actions to use the Special Power as described. You may use this Special Power each time you use an Action to activate it.
• UNIQUE ACTION: Use one of your Actions to use the Special Power as described, but only once per round.

Pay attention to the Activation order of the Heroes! In order for allies to benefit from a specific Special Power, they may need to be activated after a Hero has used their action to activate their own Special Power.

Next to the card's name, a symbol tells you what kind of Special Power it is:

• Movement: The Special Power affects how the Hero, their allies and/or their opponents move.
• Attack: The Special Power either improves the Hero's attacks or lets them make special attacks under certain conditions.
• Defense: The Special Power either improves the DEFENSE value of the Hero and/or their allies or lets them respond to an attack against them.
• Mental: The Special Power affects the success requirements of Attribute Tests.
• Coordination: The Special Power affects the Hero's allies.
• Weakness: This card has a negative effect on the Hero and/or their allies, but usually gives a Hero time to recover.

Weakness Card

Every Hero has a weakness, a moment of doubt, or a character trait that may hinder their efforts or those of their allies. This is represented by a Weakness card (considered a Power card for rules purposes).

This card can only be used as a Special Power (to the left of the Hero's ID card) and has a negative effect on the Hero and/or their allies. On the other hand, the Weakness card enables most heroes to discard as many Damage tokens as their HEALTH value.

Players will need to coordinate their efforts to compensate for their allies' weaknesses. As Power cards can only be refreshed after ALL the cards in a player's hand have been played, a Hero's Weakness cards will have to be played eventually!

Rookie and Veteran Heroes

Before they became what they are now, every Hero had to start their career somehow. A Hero lives, fights, and sometimes dies... but above all, a Hero evolves, trains and grows stronger. To represent this aspect of our Heroes' lives, we developed a Rookie/Veteran system. If you choose to play a Hero in Rookie mode, the game will be more difficult. On the other hand, if you play them in Veteran mode, your Hero should repeatedly make the front page of the local newspaper.

Every Hero has two Rookie and two Veteran Power cards, as well as one Rookie and one Veteran ID cards, which can be recognized by their designs and backs.

Rookie: When playing with your Hero's Rookie ID card, remove two random Power cards (except for their Weakness card) and add the two Rookie cards. If playing a campaign, or a series of linked scenarios, at the end of an adventure, you may replace one of your Rookie cards with one of the cards you previously removed. When you have replaced your two Rookie cards with the two original cards, use your Hero's Normal ID card.

Veteran: Once you have become a Normal Hero, add a random Veteran Power card to your Hand at the end of an adventure. When you have two Veteran Power cards in hand, use your Hero's Veteran ID card.

This system lets you watch your Hero evolve over four adventures. However, feel free to adjust these rules and come up with different situations to improve your Heroes.

Rookie and Veteran cards also enable you to balance scenario difficulty if you do not have the recommended number of Heroes. The Rookie/Veteran system can also be used as an alternative to the TEAM-UP mode.

Super Villain ID Cards

Even though they are not controlled by a player, Super Villains each have an ID card, just like those of the Heroes: these ID cards use all the same Attributes (except for MENTAL), and detail their powers, along with a short description of their origins.

In Guardians' Chronicles: Clash of Heroes, these ID cards only serve as a reference for how the Super Villain is managed by the MENACE Sheet system.

• Speed: The SPEED value defines the number of Areas a character can travel with one Move Action. When stated by a scenario, this Attribute is used to move the character.
• Attack: The ATTACK value indicates the number of Combat dice a character rolls when making an Attack roll. When stated by a scenario, this Attribute is used by the character to attack.
• Defense: The DEFENSE value indicates the number an Attack roll must equal or exceed to deal the character one Damage token. When stated by a scenario, this attribute is used by the character to defend themselves.
• Action: This value indicates the number of Actions a character can take when activated. Note: Unless otherwise stated in the scenario, this Attribute is not used in Guardians' Chronicles: Clash of Heroes, but might be used in future expansions or other compatible products.
• Power: A Super Villain's Powers are triggered whenever the conditions mentioned in its description are met. Example: Every time they attack, the NO' DALIES can target one character at range and add 1 Power die to their Attack roll.

Tiles

The tiles are combined to represent the district of Metro City in which a given scenario takes place.

The players choose a scenario and arrange the tiles as indicated or they can create their own combinations for custom scenarios.

A tile is made up of Areas and Spaces.

• Tiles are used to build the gameboard. Some of them have Orange Interaction Spaces allowing the Heroes to make a Special Action described on the tile's corresponding Reference card.
• A MENACE Sheet will detail any tile it is associated with. They also indicate which Super Villain will be at the heart of the latest plot to threaten Metro City and what the Heroes must do to stop them.

A Space, where the Heroes stand, is represented by a light dot: Blue for a Normal Space; Orange for an Interaction Space where the Heroes can Interact with the environment.

An Area is delimited by walls, white lines and the tile's borders. It comprises several Spaces. Characters moving from one Area to another may end their movement on any free Space in the Area.

Tiles that do not have any Orange Interaction Spaces do not have a Reference card.

MENACE Sheets

The MENACE Sheets are associated with one or more tiles. A MENACE Sheet details the following information:

• Starting Positions: While the scenario booklet shows where to place the teams of Heroes on the gameboard at the beginning of the game, this part of the MENACE Sheet details the specific placement of Super Villains and object tokens. The Starting Position also indicates how to place the different elements on the tile.
• End of Round Actions: During the End of Round Phase, until the Super Villain has been eliminated, they will perform a number of Actions in the order in which they are described in this part of the MENACE Sheet. Attention: If the Super Villain has been eliminated, this phase is ignored.
• Victory Conditions: Each teams' objectives are indicated here, along with the way the game ends. The lower part of the text box also indicates how to earn the scenario's different Newspaper articles. The articles earned will let both sides build up their newspaper's front page.
• Super Villain's Reactions: When the Super Villain is subject to an attack or finds themselves in a particular position, they will automatically react as indicated on this part of the MENACE Sheet. Whenever a Super Villain has to perform an Action, refer to their ID card and use the appropriate Attributes.

MENACE Sheets apply special rules to their indicated scenario. Some adventures in the Scenario booklet do not use a MENACE Sheet and use their own scenario specific rules to tell an epic or funny story.

Object Tokens

What would a city be without its urban furniture? And what would a clash between Super Heroes be if they did not destroy everything at hand? In order for Heroes to use and destroy the various objects at their disposal, place the object tokens as indicated in the description of the scenario and on the Starting Position section of the MENACE Sheet in play.

Each type of object token has a Reference card explaining how to use it. Every object can usually be used in one of two ways: traditionally and offensively.

• Traditional Use: A character on an object token's Orange Interaction Space may attempt a Direct MENTAL Test (see Attribute Tests) to use its Special Action.
• Offensive Use: A character on any of an object token's Spaces can use it as a weapon to attack an opponent. To do so, the attacker must make a successful Direct ATTACK Test (see Attribute Tests). When used offensively, the object does not block the attacker's Line of Sight.

Attention:

• Any object token blocks Lines of Sight.
• When placing an object token, make sure the Space indicated on the token corresponds to the Space indicated on the gameboard.

Examples: During his activation, Rage chooses to use 1 Action to move onto the Hot Dog Stand's Orange Interaction Space, and 1 Action to attempt a Direct MENTAL test to heal himself. He rolls 6 Test dice and gets a total of 5. Because Rage's result is higher than his MENTAL value of 2, his attempt fails.

During her activation, Ultrawoman decides to use the car to make a ranged Attack against La Duchesse. Her Line of Sight is clear, so she uses 1 Action to roll 4 Test dice and gets a total of 3. Because Ultrawoman's result is lower than her ATTACK value of 4, her attempt succeeds and she immediately makes her Attack roll!

Game Round

A game round comprises the following phases:

1. Strategy (simultaneously)
2. Activation (in turns)
3. End of Round

1. Strategy

Both teams develop their strategies simultaneously, but they will perform their actions in turns during the Activation phase.

The Heroes' Strategy. During the Strategy phase, the Heroes of each team discuss and choose the order in which they will activate. As they discuss, the Heroes choose whether they will use a Secret Technique and/or a Special Power, playing Power cards face down to the sides of their ID cards accordingly.

Each Hero MUST play at least 1, but no more than 2 Power cards during the Strategy phase.

Once the Power cards have been played, their effects will last until the end of the round. Remember, Power cards played to the right of your Hero's ID Card represent Secret Techniques that modify their Attribute values. Power cards played to the left of your Hero's ID card represent Special Powers. If you choose a Power card's Secret Technique, you cannot use its Special Power. Similarly, when you play a Power card for its Special Power, you gain no benefit from its attribute modifiers.

Once the Heroes have played their Power cards, they secretly choose the Activation order by stacking their Initiative cards face down to create an Initiative deck. The card on the top of the Initiative Deck will be the first Hero the team activates during the coming Activation phase.

The TEAM-UP Heroes' Strategy. At the same time as a player plays their main Hero's Power cards, they also play Power cards for their TEAM-UP Hero(es). Attention: A Hero can only be assigned their own Power cards.

The Initiative cards of any TEAM-UP Heroes are put into the Initiative deck so that they can be activated at the chosen point during the coming Activation phase.

2. Activation

At the beginning of the Activation phase, all the Heroes on both teams reveal their Power cards.

Determine Initiative. Both teams add the SPEED values of all the team's Heroes, including the modifiers of any Secret Techniques that they may have played. This combined total indicates each team's Initiative value for this round (Group Initiative).

If the Initiative of both teams is tied, add up the teams' MENTAL values.

The team with the highest Initiative value flips the first card of its Initiative deck, revealing the first of its Heroes to be activated.

Once activated, unless otherwise stated, each Hero has up to 3 Actions, which they can use to:

• Move
• Make an Attack
• Attempt an Attribute Test
• Use a Special Power

Once the first Hero of the team with the highest Initiative value ends their Activation, play passes to the opposing team. The opposing team flips the first card of its own Initiative deck, activating the first of their Heroes. This process is repeated until all the cards in the Initiative decks of both teams have been revealed.

3. End of the Round

Once all the Heroes of both teams have been activated, the end of the round divides into three phases:

Super Villain's Activation. Following the instructions on the MENACE Sheet, perform the Super Villain's Actions in the order they are presented (see MENACE Sheets). Depending on the scenario, their Actions will take the story towards its conclusion or let the Super Villain earn one of the Newspaper articles in play.

Cards and Wounds. All Heroes discard the Power cards they played during the Strategy phase to the corresponding Hero's discard pile. If a Hero has a number of Damage tokens on their ID card that is equal to or greater than their HEALTH value, they discard as many Damage tokens as their HEALTH value and draw one Wound card (see Wounds).

A Hero cannot draw more than one Wound card per round.

When a player has no more Power cards for a Hero in their hand, they refresh all the Power cards (including Wound cards) from their discard pile into their hand. Attention: a Wound card is not considered a Power card.

Remember, Wound cards only apply to a player's main Hero. If a player has 3 Wound cards in hand, their main Hero is eliminated from the game. The player of an eliminated Hero can choose one of their team's TEAM-UP Heroes (if any) who will become their new main Hero (taking the remainder of the Hero's Power cards not previously drawn into their hand). The team then adds the article concerning the embarrassing defeat of the eliminated Hero (red side up) to the front page of its newspaper (see Making the Newspapers).

Making the Newspapers

• At the beginning of the game, each group chose the newspaper to report its feats: The GUARDIANS' CHRONICLES or the MERCURY HERALD.
• When an objective detailed by the MENACE Sheet is met by one of the teams, they add the appropriate article to the front page of their newspaper.
• If the Super Villain has been eliminated by one of the teams, add the article describing their defeat to the front page of the team's newspaper.
• At the end of the game, if a Hero has accomplished their Personal Mission without being eliminated, add the article praising them to the front page of their team's newspaper (blue side up).
• When a Hero has been eliminated, add the article ridiculing them to the front page of their team's newspaper (red side up).
• At the end of the game, if there are free spaces left between the various articles, you can insert ads which will support the newspaper!

When the game is over, compare the articles earned by both teams, scoring them as follows: big article 4 points; medium article 2 points; small article 1 point; negative (small) article -1 point.

For example, if the game was to end with a front page of 1 big article + 1 small negative article = 3 pts, and the other with 1 medium article + 1 small article + 1 small negative article = 2 pts, the team represented by the GUARDIANS' CHRONICLES would be the winner.

How to Play

When a character is activated, they can use their Actions in any order they want to move, make an attack, use a Special Power or attempt an Attribute Test. Unless otherwise stated, the same Action can be performed several times in a single Activation.

Heroes may take up to 3 Actions each time they are activated. The number of Actions a Super Villain may make is described on their MENACE Sheet.

Move

For every Action they use to Move, a character can:

• Move through as many adjacent Areas as their SPEED value.
• Exit an Area where an opponent is present. In this case, the movement ends in an adjacent Area, regardless of the character's SPEED value.
• Move to a free Space in an Area they already occupy.

Examples: La Duchesse has SPEED 2, so she can move up to 2 Areas in 1 Action. She can move to any free Space of her choice in the destination Area. Because Redline is on an opposing team and in the same Area, La Duchesse needs 1 Action to exit the Area. For 1 Action, La Duchesse can move to any free Space in her current Area.

Movement Rules to Follow

• A character can only travel through an Area if there are no opponents in it. A character's movement ends whenever they enter an Area occupied by one or more opponents. (Example: La Duchesse can use 1 Action to move to the adjacent Area, but she must stop there because the Area is occupied by both Redline and X-Tina.)
• When all the Spaces in an Area are occupied by allies, a character cannot stop in that Area, but they can pass through it. However, if at least one of the Spaces in the Area is occupied by an opponent, the character cannot pass through it. (Example: All the Spaces in the Area are occupied by opponents. La Duchesse cannot pass through it. On the other hand, Ultrawoman can pass through the Area because she has no opponents in the Area. She can thus stop on any free Space in her final Area.)
• A character can stop on any free Space in the final Area, regardless of the Spaces occupied by miniatures.

Making an Attack

By using an Action to make an attack, a character can:

Make a Melee Attack. A character can make an Attack roll against a target in an adjacent Space (even if they are not in the same Area), so long as there are no walls or closed doors between the attacker and their target. Scenery elements other than walls and closed doors do not block an attacker's ability to attack a target on the other side of them.

Make a Ranged Attack. Some powers allow a character to make ranged attacks. To do so, the attacker must have a clear Line of Sight to their target. In order to determine this Line of Sight, draw an imaginary line between the attacker's Space and that of their target. So long as no walls, closed doors, object tokens or opponents obstruct the attacker's Line of Sight, they can make an Attack roll. Allies and scenery elements other than walls and closed doors do not block Line of Sight.

Mental Attacks. Some powers and Power cards allow characters to make MENTAL attacks. MENTAL attacks follow all of the same rules and are resolved in the same way as ranged attacks; however, when making their Attack roll, the attacker uses their MENTAL Attribute instead of their ATTACK Attribute to determine how many Combat dice they roll.

Attack Targets

Most attacks will target an opponent. Opponents include the Heroes of an opposing team or the minions and villains controlled by a Menace Sheet.

Some attacks may target characters. Characters include a Hero's allies, TEAM-UP Heroes, recruited Sidekicks, as well as opponents.

Resolving an Attack

In order to determine the outcome of an Attack, roll as many Combat dice as the character's ATTACK value.

If a Power card has been played as a Secret Technique, add as many Power dice as the ATTACK bonus. If the ATTACK modifier is a penalty, remove as many Combat dice as detailed.

Roll all the dice simultaneously and add up the total number of hits (the splat symbol on the dice). Each POW result counts as one hit, and can be re-rolled.

If the total number of hits is equal to or higher than the target's DEFENSE value, the Attack is a success. The attacker forces their target to place 1 Damage token on their ID card.

If the Attack roll result contains a POW, but does not eliminate the target, the attacker may move their target to any adjacent free Space of himself.

Example: Fahrenheit makes an Attack roll against Iron Turtle with 3 Combat dice and 4 Power dice. He rolls a total of 6 hits including a POW, which he re-rolls and gets a further 2 hits, for a grand total of 8 hits. Fahrenheit's Attack roll of 8 is higher than Iron Turtle's DEFENSE value of 7, so Iron Turtle takes 1 Damage token. Unfortunately, Iron Turtle already has 3 Damage tokens on his ID card. This fourth token eliminates him from the game.

At the end of a round, every Hero compares the number of Damage tokens on their ID card to their HEALTH value. If the number of Damage tokens equals or exceeds their HEALTH value, they discard a number of Damage tokens equal to their HEALTH value and add one Wound card into their hand. Any outstanding Damage tokens remain on their ID card. If a Hero has fewer Damage tokens than their HEALTH Attribute, they keep them on their ID card. Whenever a Hero has three Wound cards in hand, they are knocked out and eliminated from the game.

When a Villain has as many Damage tokens on their ID card as their HEALTH value, they are immediately eliminated and removed from the gameboard.

Wound Cards

A Wound card may be played as a Power card during the Strategy phase; however while a Hero must always use at least 1 Power card they cannot play 2 Wound cards in the same Strategy phase.

If, at any point, a Hero has three Wound cards in their hand, they are knocked out and eliminated from the game. You can play a Wound card if you have one in your hand. If, at any time, you have three Wound cards in your hand, your Hero is knocked out and eliminated from the game.

Attempt an Attribute Test

In order to resolve some effects, open doors or avoid traps, a Hero must sometimes make an Attribute Test.

As a general rule, a Hero must be on an Orange Interaction Space to make a Test. The nature of the Test is explained in the Reference card corresponding to the object or tile requiring the Test.

To make a Test, a Hero rolls as many Test dice as the difficulty indicated on the object token or tile's Reference card.

The results of all dice are added together and modified by any Bonus/Penalty tokens. If the total is less than or equal to the tested Attribute, the Test is passed successfully. If the total is higher than the tested Attribute, the Test is failed; however, a -1 token is placed on the tile to indicate the Test's new difficulty. The effect of Penalty tokens is cumulative and may lead to an automatic success, but the Hero will still need to use an Action to perform the Test.

Note: An ATTACK Test may be performed remotely if the character has a clear Line of Sight to the target and the ability to make ranged attacks.

Example: La Duchesse tries to neutralise the Sonic Machine. She uses 1 Action to move to the token's Orange Interaction Space and another Action to attempt a MENTAL test. The difficulty is 7. So she rolls 7 Test dice, getting 0, 0, 0, 1, 2, 1 and 2 = 6. As the result of La Duchesse's roll (6) is higher than her MENTAL value of 4, the Test to neutralise the machine is failed. But La Duchesse is now focused on her task, so the Difficulty for her next attempt will be reduced by -1. That is represented by placing a -1 token on the gameboard. On her next attempt, the difficulty is now 4 (the basic difficulty of 5 indicated on the token -1 as a result of the token placed after her previous failed attempt). With her last Action, La Duchesse makes another Test rolling 4 dice, and gets 0, 0, 1 and 1 = 2.

Direct Attribute Tests

Heroes may sometimes be called upon to make a Direct Attribute Test. Direct Attribute Tests are most common in circumstances where a Hero has no opportunity to prepare for the Test or where their repeated attempts to accomplish a task do not make the Test any easier.

In these cases, if the Test is failed, no -1 token is placed on the tile to reduce the difficulty of future attempts.

Using a Special Power

In order to use a Special Power with the keywords ACTION or UNIQUE ACTION, the Hero must spend one of their Actions. UNIQUE ACTIONS can only be used once per Activation.

Attention: Some powers can benefit a Hero's allies. The Heroes should therefore discuss during the Strategy phase how best to use them in the coming Activation phase.

Reminder: Special Powers which do not contain any mention to Actions or Unique Actions grant their effects for as long as the Power card is in play. They do not require the use of any Actions and remain active for the duration of the round, even if the Hero has not yet been activated.

Example of a Hero's Activation

Rage's Initiative card has just been flipped from the Initiative deck, so it is his turn to be activated.

• For 1 Action, he moves 2 Areas and reaches the No' Dalie.
• For 1 Action, he attacks the No' Dalie. He rolls 3 Combat dice + 2 Power dice (thanks to his Special Technique) and gets 6 hits. The No' Dalie's DEFENSE is 5. She is eliminated from the game.
• For his last Action, Rage moves to the Orange Interaction Space of the Sonic Machine.

On his next Activation, Rage will attempt to destroy the Sonic Machine with an ATTACK Test. The Test will require him to roll 8 Test dice. He will likely need to increase his ATTACK value with a Secret Technique to give him the best chance of destroying the device.

Cooperative and Solo Play

Guardians' Chronicles: Clash of Heroes was designed to pit players and their Hero teams against one another; however, if you want to play alone or cooperatively against the perils set against Metro City, here are some rules to follow:

1. Metro City Needs You! Scenarios that can be played in Solitaire or Cooperative mode display the Solo Mode icon at the top of the page. These scenarios use a MENACE Sheet that will manage the behavior of the Villain, as well as a plan which must be foiled. Choose the danger you are going to fight!
2. Choose your Side. The MENACE Sheet's Starting Position box details the two teams used in a normal competitive game. Choose one of these teams and follow all the instructions for it on the MENACE Sheet.
3. I'll Handle This! In a Solo or Cooperative game, players cannot control any TEAM-UP Heroes. However, they may be accompanied by up to two Sidekicks.
4. This Guy Fights Dirty! In a Solo or Cooperative game, the MENACE Sheet's Super Villain has not only discovered a Hero's secret weakness, but they are actively using it against them. Each Hero may only choose 3 Power cards and their Weakness card to use in this scenario. In addition, a Hero is eliminated when they have 2 Wound cards in their hand instead of 3.
5. They are Stronger than Ever! (Optional). For an even greater challenge, you may choose to increase the DEFENSE value of a scenario's Super Villain or their minions: Easy: Add 1 +1 token - Normal: Add 2 +1 tokens - Difficult: Add 3 +1 tokens.
6. No Half Measures. In a Solo or Cooperative game, Heroes must earn both newspaper articles and achieve a Hero teams' Objective to win the game. But be careful, the game will end immediately as soon as the MENACE Sheet's Super Villain fulfils their own Objective.

Each time a situation is unclear, always choose the solution which is the worst for the player.