Hero: Tales of the Tomes
Hero: Tales of the Tomes Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Getting Started
Every game of Hero begins with each of the players deciding which of the heroes they wish to play as. Unique and powerful, each hero has a playstyle that will appeal to everyone differently.
Your hero is not simply a persona to play as, each one can attack and use powerful abilities that will shape the game. If your hero dies, then you lose. Your goal is to defeat the other heroes and be the last one standing.
Heroes: Scathtassia, Arcanas, Nascha, Darren, Heathanmoore.
Using Your Hero
At the start of every round (the first player's turn) your hero will level up, gaining new abilities, increasing your power and allowing you to play stronger cards.
On even levels your hero will gain new abilities. Ability cards are double-sided, giving you a choice between which ability you want when the time comes. When you reach the appropriate level you will decide which side of the ability you want to use for the remainder of the game.
Any bolded text that is followed by a colon is the cost required to use an active ability. Active abilities can be used at any time on any player's turn.
On odd levels your hero will gain an increase in power. Attributes are covered in the next section, but the most important thing to keep in mind for now is the green symbol.
The green plus symbol shows you your hero's starting health, and when your health reaches 0 your hero will be defeated and you will be out of the game.
Attributes
Level
Level is the requirement to play a Companion or Equipment. At the start of every round each hero will gain 1 level. You cannot play cards that add up to more than your Hero's level in a single turn.
Armor
Armor reduces how much physical damage your Hero takes. Whenever armor prevents damage it is depleted for the remainder of the round. At the start of your turn all of your armor returns to you.
Health
Health is how much damage your Hero or a Companion can take before it's been killed. If your Hero's health drops to 0 you lose the game.
Card Types
There are 4 types of cards you'll come across throughout your games of Hero: Companions, Equipment, Spells and Quests.
Companions are the allies you'll call to your hero's side. Companions can attack and defend as well as have powerful abilities. They will be a key part of any player's victory. Companions can have a variety of different subtypes, but they rarely affect gameplay.
Equipment are the weapons you'll forge to aid you in battle. Equipment go directly onto your hero and will give them bonus attributes and abilities. Equipment have 3 subtypes: armor, weapon, and accessories.
Spells are the magic your hero will cast. Spells have very unique and powerful effects. Spells can have 2 subtypes: buff or quick-cast. Buff spells can only be played on companions and will stay on them until they are killed. Quick-cast spells are special spells that can be used whenever you want and on any player's turn.
Quests are special cards with unique card backs that have no cost involved. When a quest appears at the top of the deck, it immediately activates and all the players take part in it.
How to Read a Card
Cost
All of the non-quest cards have a cost you'll have to meet in order to play them.
Companions and equipments have a level requirement (marked by the crown symbol). Once your hero is equal to/higher than the level of the card, you can play it. You can play as many companions and equipments as you want, as long as their combined level does not exceed that of your hero.
Spell cards have a mana cost (marked by the diamond symbol) that you'll have to pay in order to play. The mana you spend for your spells and abilities goes away until the start of your next turn.
Attack
The sword symbol on your companion marks their attack value. This lets you know how much damage they will deal in combat.
Card Name
The name of the card can be found in the banner at the top of the card.
Artwork
At the center of the card is where you will find the art for the card. While the artwork has no effect on gameplay, it's a good way to identify a card at a glance once you get to know them.
Health
The plus symbol on your companion marks their health value. Once a companion has 0 or less health, it is sent to the graveyard (discard pile). A companion's health is also used when it defends your other cards.
Text Box
The text box contains all of the important information about what the card does. At the top of the text box you'll find the card's type and subtype. The main body of the text box will contain all of the card's effects.
Card types and keyword abilities will be in bold text and card names will be in italics. Any bolded text that is followed by a colon is the cost required to use an active ability. Active abilities can be used at any time on any player's turn.
At the bottom of the card in italics and smaller print you'll find the flavor text (brief story/lore info for the card).
The Shared Deck
One of the most unique aspects of Hero compared to other card games is that all the players play off of one shared deck together. No prior deck building or collecting is required, everything you'll need to play will be available straight out of the box. There are two different decks you'll be using in your games: the Main Deck and the Side Deck.
The Main Deck
The deck of cards you'll draw from as you play. This deck will contain the majority of your cards. Each player draws one card at the start of their turn. You'll start the game by drawing 5 cards each from the main deck.
The Side Deck
The side deck contains all of the specialty cards that are only brought into play through other cards and abilities. You'll never have to draw from the side deck, so you don't have to worry about shuffling it.
Combat
Keep in mind that attacks aren't done instantly, your opponents will be given time to react with quick-cast spells or abilities once you declare an attack. If your attacking hero or companion is killed in response to you declaring the attack, then it will not be able to reach its target and deal the damage.
Defending
One of the key things in combat that will affect how you choose to attack is if your opponents have defending companions. A defending companion acts as a shield, reducing damage you deal equal to its health value. Defending companions are not dealt damage during combat unless they are the original target.
Example: Uprooted Watcher's 3 attack would normally kill Stalwart Knight, but luckily Arcane Wisp defended the knight with its 2 health, making it so that Stalwart Knight only suffered 1 damage. In this example no companions were killed during combat.
At the end of your turn you decide how you want your companions to defend for the upcoming round.
You can choose to defend with as many or as few of your companions as you'd like. When defending with multiple companions their combined health total is what shields whoever they're defending.
When planning your defenses keep in mind that you can't chain defenders together, i.e., you can't have Sun-Hide defend for Arcane Wisp while Arcane Wisp is already defending Stalwart Knight.
Keeping Track of Damage
All damage in Hero is cumulative, so be sure to keep track of damage dealt to your hero and companions. Each copy of Hero: Tales of the Tomes comes with tokens to help keep track of damage, armor and mana.
There are also 2 damage types in Hero: magic and physical. Most spells/abilities deal magic damage, while attacks deal physical damage. Physical damage dealt to your hero is reduced by your armor (marked by the shield symbol). Armor is like temporary bonus health that will refresh at the start of your turn.
Responding to Actions
Responding with Spells and Abilities
Whenever a player plays a card or declares an attack the other players are given a chance to respond to it. Responding to other cards and attacks is a great way to negate their effects before they have a chance to activate.
Whenever you use a spell or ability in response to a card or an attack, your action will activate first.
Here's an example of how to negate the effect of a card coming into play:
Step 1. Your opponent plays Spell Scholar which has an ability that activates when it comes into play.
Step 2. In response you play Fireball, dealing 4 damage to the Spell Scholar and killing it before its ability can resolve.
Step 3. In response to your Fireball, your opponent plays Fracture Mage. Fracture Mage has an ability that allows it to be played in response to something, and when it comes into play it destroys a spell.
Because your Fireball was now destroyed by Fracture Mage's ability, its damage effect was negated and didn't get to kill the Spell Scholar. Nothing is stopping the Spell Scholar from coming into play, so now its ability gets to resolve.