Shadows: Heroes & Monsters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • Global Setup
  • Player Setup
  • Reveal Monster
• Game Structure
• TeamUp Phase
• Plan Phase
• Combat Phase
• Monster Action
• Using Skill Cards
• Combat with a Monster
  • Monster-Action Symbols
  • The Race to Defeat the Monster
  • After the Monster is Defeated
  • Rewards
  • Dealing Damage to the Monster
• Damage Management
  • Damage from a Predict or Spell Trait
  • Damage from an Attack Trait
• Example of Play (TeamUp, Plan, Combat Phase)
• BuildUp Phase
• CleanUp Phase
• Refresh Phase
• Victory
• Cards
  • Types
  • Hero Symbols
  • Status Cards
  • Hero Special Cards
  • Skill Cards
  • Item Cards
  • Monster Cards
  • Monster-Action Cards
• Traits
  • Priority
  • Type
• Major Traits
  • Self
  • Attachment
  • Predict
  • Attack
  • Response
  • Creature or Object
• Conditional Traits
  • StartSide (or BackSide)
  • Restricted
  • Attack (Standalone)
  • Auto
  • One (or X) Time(s)
  • X/Round
• Points
  • Stat Points
  • Examples of Requirements
• Shield Points
  • Example of Using Shield Points
  • Recovering Shield Points
• Gaining Rewards
• Play with Another Base Game
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Glossary

Components

• 1 Rulebook
• 3 Player Aid cards
• 11 Monster cards
• 1 Monster's Creature card
• 19 Monster-Action cards
• 1 Market board
• 44 Item cards
  • 7 Basic Item cards
  • 37 Market Item cards
• 1 Leader card
• 5 Bounty cards (double-sided)
• 12 Mission cards
• 4 Hero packs (Akintunde, Rolan, Ahti, Eras)
  • 4 Hero cards
  • 5 Hero Special cards
  • 29 Hero Skill cards
• 1 Beginner Skill cards list (double-sided)
• 80 Neutral Skill cards
  • 20 Beginner Skill cards (Non-randomized 20 Neutral Skill cards)
  • 2 Skill Booster packs (30 Random Neutral Skill cards in each)
• 12 Stun tokens
• 20 Gold tokens
• 20 Experience tokens
• 33 Shadow Stone tokens
• 60 Damage tokens (20 in each of 3 different colors)
• 1 Die (6-sided)

Setup

To prepare for a game of Shadows: Heroes & Monsters, players first perform global setup, player setup and then reveal monster.

Global Setup

1. Prepare Monsters: Draw 1 Monster card from each different level (Level I, Level II, Level III). Place these 3 cards, facedown, in the middle of the table so that the Level I card is at the top, the Level II card is in the middle, and the Level III card is at the bottom. Return the remaining Monster cards to the box. They will not be used this game. Shuffle the 19 Monster-Action cards together and place this deck next to the Monster cards.
2. Configure the Market Board: Place the Market board in the middle of the table. Use the side that matches the number of players.
3. Prepare Item Cards:
   • Basic Item cards: separate the 7 Basic Item cards (green backsides) from the deck of Item cards and shuffle the cards. Draw one more card than the number of players and set these cards aside, faceup, for now. Return the remaining Basic Item cards to the box.
   • Market Item cards: shuffle the remaining Item cards (brown backsides) and place the deck, facedown, next to the Market board. Draw one more card than the number of players. Place the drawn cards faceup, one card per slot on the Market board, starting from the left.
4. Prepare Resources: Place all Gold tokens, Experience tokens, Shadow Stone tokens, Stun tokens, and Bounty cards near the Market board.

Global setup is done! Move on to Player setup.

Player Setup

1. Determine the Leader: Each player rolls a 6-sided die; whoever gets the highest number takes the Leader card and places it in the "Leader" card space of their Combat Field. In case of a tie, roll again.

2. Choose a Hero: Beginning with the Leader and continuing in clockwise order, players select the Hero they wish to play. In the base game, there are four to choose from: Ahti, Eras, Akintunde, and Rolan. Each Hero comes with their own cards comprising their starting deck. A Hero's starting deck is identified by the symbol in the upper right corner of each card. Additionally, the back side of the Hero card lists the Hero Special and Hero Skill cards comprising their starting deck.

   • Place the Hero card faceup in the Hero space of your Inventory Field.
   • Place any Hero Special card(s) faceup in the Hero Special I and II space of your Station Field. (Some starting cards don't follow these rules. Always defer to a card's text when determining where to place it. Also, the number of Hero Special cards varies by each hero.)
   • Place any Hero Skill card that shows an Initiative 0 Step ("Flat-Footed" card) and has a Self, Creature, Object, or Attachment Trait faceup on your Station Field.
   • Place any remaining Hero Skill cards as a facedown deck in the Current Deck space of your Inventory Field.
   • When a player places any double-sided card on their Station Field at the start of the game, the side with the StartSide Trait should be faceup instead of BackSide Trait.

3. Select 1 Mission Card: Shuffle the Mission cards and deal 2 to each player. Each player then chooses 1 to keep, returning the second card to the game box. The Mission card is placed facedown to the left of the Current Deck space of your Inventory Field. A player may look at their own Mission card at any time.

4. Select 1 Basic Item: Starting with the Leader and continuing in clockwise order, each player selects a Basic Item card (green backside). The remaining card is returned to the game box. Place your Basic Item card faceup in the Item space on your Inventory Field.

Player setup is done! Move on to the monster reveal.

Reveal Monster

Flip the Level I Monster card faceup to reveal it and get ready to play!

Game Structure

Shadows: Heroes & Monsters is played over multiple game rounds, with each round consisting of the following 6 Phases:

1. TeamUp Phase
2. Plan Phase
3. Combat Phase
4. BuildUp Phase
5. CleanUp Phase
6. Refresh Phase

Each Phase must be completed before moving to the next one. Over the course of the game, each player will use their Hero's Skills to collect Gold and Experience. These resources are used to get new Items and Skills for their Hero, expanding their capabilities and acquiring Shadow Stones for their efforts. Whoever manages to collect the most Shadow Stones wins the game!

TeamUp Phase

The current Leader completes the following 2 actions:

1. Gain Experience Tokens or Gold Tokens: (Skip this action during the 1st round) The Leader chooses between Experience tokens and Gold tokens. Every player then receives 1 of those tokens. For example, Robert is the Leader and he announces "Experience this round"; every player then gains 1 Experience immediately and adds it to their Inventory Field.
2. Distribute Monster-Action Cards: The Leader draws a number of Monster-Action cards equal to the number of players and looks at all cards privately. The Leader then places one of these cards facedown in front of each player's Combat Field, indicating the first action the Monster will take against that player this round.

Plan Phase

During this Phase, players create their Hand by selecting the Skill cards they wish to use during the Combat Phase. Simultaneously, all players complete the following 3 actions:

1. Determine Hand Size: The Hand Size is how many Skill cards each player is required to hold at the start of the Combat Phase. Each player's Hand Size starts at 3 and increases permanently by 1 each time a Monster is defeated by any player. If unsure what Hand Size you are at, consult the following:
   • If the current Monster's level is I (Level I): Hand Size is 3
   • If the current Monster's level is II (Level II): Hand Size is 4
   • If the current Monster's level is III (Level III): Hand Size is 5
2. Choose Hand: Look through your Current Deck and choose a number of cards equal to your Hand Size. The chosen cards will make up your Hand for this round. If a player cannot meet the Hand Size for any reason, they must choose as many cards as possible.
3. Return Extra Cards to Deck: Return any other cards facedown to the Current Deck space of your Inventory Field.

Combat Phase

The Combat Phase is divided into six Initiative Steps. During each Initiative Step players take turns playing cards from their Hands which match the active Initiative Step. Each Combat Phase begins with Initiative Step 1, and continues sequentially until all players have completed Initiative Step 6.

• Initiative Step 1: The Leader plays all Initiative 1 Skill cards & effects → next player plays all Initiative 1 Skill cards & effects (→ next player plays all Initiative 1 Skill cards & effects)
• Initiative Step 2: The Leader plays all Initiative 2 Skill cards & effects → next player plays all Initiative 2 Skill cards & effects (→ next player plays all Initiative 2 Skill cards & effects)
• Initiative Step 3: Starting with the Leader, each player reveals a Monster-Action card (if one is not yet revealed) and resolves it.
• Initiative Step 4: The Leader plays all Initiative 4 Skill cards & effects → next player plays all Initiative 4 Skill cards & effects (→ next player plays all Initiative 4 Skill cards & effects)
• Initiative Step 5: The Leader plays all Initiative 5 Skill cards & effects → next player plays all Initiative 5 Skill cards & effects (→ next player plays all Initiative 5 Skill cards & effects)
• Initiative Step 6: The Leader plays all Initiative 6 Skill cards & effects → next player plays all Initiative 6 Skill cards & effects (→ next player plays all Initiative 6 Skill cards & effects)

Starting with the Leader and continuing in clockwise order, each player may play any card(s) in their Hand matching the current Initiative Step or they may pass their turn. Cards must always be played into the Field indicated by the card's Traits (For more details on the Traits, see: p.19. For more details on Field, see: p.29.)

If a player chooses to play multiple cards during an Initiative Step, they must organize them in the order they wish to play them, playing the first card faceup and the following cards facedown. These facedown cards may then be used one at a time, with a player either flipping the next card faceup and using it after the previous card's effects have been completely resolved. A player may choose to not flip a card or cards to play the next card in line, or pass their turn instead of using any remaining cards. Players must not rearrange the skill cards once they begin resolving any card's effect.

A player may pass their turn during any Initiative Step of the Combat Phase for any reason. When a player passes, the announcement should be made clear to other players. The next player then continues with their turn. Once a player passes during an Initiative Step, they may not return to that step later in the round, though they may still play their turn during later Initiative Steps as normal.

Once Initiative Step 6 has been completed, continue on to the BuildUp Phase.

Monster Action

It's not just other Heroes you have to be careful of, the Monster gets a turn as well! During the Initiative 3 Step, after the players are finished playing any appropriate cards, the Monster must use their Monster-Action card if they haven't already done so. Starting with the Leader, players reveal the Monster-Action card placed in front of their Combat Field if it is still facedown. They then consult the Monster's Icon Chart to see what effect the Monster-Action has on their Hero.

• If a player's Monster-Action card was revealed earlier in the turn (usually due to the player using an Attack Trait on the Monster), do not draw a new Monster-Action card for that player during Initiative Step 3.
• After all players have revealed their Monster-Action card, continue on to the next Initiative Step.

Using Skill Cards

Skill cards make up the majority of cards each player uses during the Combat Phase. At the beginning of the game, each player starts with only their Hero Special and Hero Skill cards. As the game progresses, players may add Neutral Skill cards from their Library to their Current Deck.

In order to use a Skill card, a player's Hero must have the same Hero Symbol of that card or meet the Stat Requirements of that card. (For more details on the Hero Symbol, see: p.16. For more details on Stat Requirements, see: p.22.)

In the below image, the "Seven Crypto Sword" skill card requires a Strength Stat of 3, a Tech Stat of 3, and a Magic Stat of 3 on the player's Hero. If their Hero meets or exceeds those Stat Requirements, including the benefits granted by Skill or Item cards, they may play the card from their Hand during the appropriate Initiative Step in the Combat Phase (Initiative 6 in this case). Should a player's Hero not meet the Stat Requirements of a Skill card for any reason, the player may not play that card.

• If you play a card targeting another player, they may use a Skill with the appropriate Response Trait immediately. Carry out the effects of both cards simultaneously. Only one Response Trait card may be used per effect targeting a player. (For instance: if a card has multiple Attack Trait effects, one Response Trait card may be used for each separate Attack.)
• If a player (or an entity the player controls) uses an Attack that targets a Monster, the player reveals the facedown Monster-Action card in front of the player's Combat Field. If the facedown Monster-Action card has already been revealed, draw and reveal a new Monster-Action card from the deck. A Monster-Action card must be resolved every time the Monster is targeted by an Attack. (Note: A card with an Attack X2 Trait, generates two separate Attacks, so if a monster is targeted by both, two different Monster-Action cards are need to be revealed and resolved to each Attack.)
• If a Skill card causes Damage tokens to be applied, they are assigned simultaneously to all damaged entities. If a player assigns any Damage tokens to their Shield Points, they may not flip their "Flat-Footed" card.
• Some Skill cards gain Stun tokens after they're used. Once you have completely resolved the effects of a card with the Delay keyword, place an amount of Stun tokens on the card equal to the Delay amount.

To Use the Effects of Skill Card from the Station Field: A player's Hero must meet or exceed Stat Points in order to use a Neutral Skill card.

To Use a Skill Card from your Hand:

1. Check Initiative: Most Skill cards have an Initiative number indicating the Initiative Step they may be played in. Some cards have multiple Initiative Step numbers, and may be played in either step.

   • If a Predict Skill is used against a player holding a card with multiple Initiative Step numbers, it counts as both of those numbers and may be Predicted more than once. (For example, Jack has a "Search" card in his Hand this round, and may use it during Initiative 4 or Initiative 5 Step in the Combat Phase, but Olivia has two Predict Trait Skill cards she wants to use. She guesses he has both a Initiative 4 and a Initiative 5 card, which he does!)

   Some cards, once played, remain on your Station Field. These cards may be used during the Initiative Step listed in their "Active Abilities" card text box. (For more details on Active Abilities, see: p.17.) The controlling player may choose to use any applicable card before, during, or after playing any card(s) during that Initiative Step. If a card does not have a listed Initiative in its text, it may only be used when its conditions are met.

   • Some Skill cards may only be used a few times per round, indicated by the "X/Round" Trait. Each time a player uses a card with this Trait, they should place a Damage token on the "X/Round" text to indicate that it has been used this round. Once a card has as many Damage tokens as it has number of uses, it cannot be used again during that round, but it will regain its uses during the CleanUp Phase.
   • If a card has an "X Times" Trait, place a Damage token on the "X Times" Trait text to keep track of its uses. Do not discard these tokens during the CleanUp Phase.
   • Some Initiative numbers have a colored background. This is only used by other cards requiring a specific Initiative number of that color (such as a "Red Strength Initiative 2" or a "Blue Magic Initiative 2").
   • If a card has an Initiative of 0, it is immediately placed in a player's Station Field when it enters their Current Deck, so long as their Hero meets the cards Stat Requirements. If a card has an Initiative of "?", it may only be played according to the card's Traits and effects.

2. Play to Field: Each Skill card has Traits indicating where it is placed (usually in your Combat or Station Field). Once you play a Skill card, place it in the appropriate Field and follow the card's text. (For more details on the Field, see: p.29.)

Skill cards on the Station Field always have Active Abilities.

Combat with a Monster

Monster-Action cards are usually triggered by one of two situations:

• When Targeting a Monster with an Attack Trait: When an entity uses an Attack Trait on a Monster, the controlling player reveals a Monster-Action card. If this is the first time a player reveals a Monster-Action card this round, they flip the card in front of their Combat Field faceup and resolve its effects. If this is not the first time a player reveals a Monster-Action card this round, they draw and resolve a Monster-Action card from the top of the deck.
• During Initiative 3 Step: If a player hasn't used an Attack Trait on a Monster this round (or hasn't flipped a Monster-Action card yet), they flip the Monster-Action card in front of their Combat Field faceup and resolve its effects. Just because you didn't harm the Monster doesn't mean it will act nice!

The damage from an Attack Trait does not take effect on the Monster until after the Monster-Action card is resolved. For Example: If your Ally deals just enough damage with its Attack Trait to defeat a Monster, but the Monster-Action that revealed has the effect of "[Spell]: Monster recovers 1 health.", the player must resolve the Monster-Action card before determining if the Monster is defeated. In this case, the player who used Attack didn't defeat the Monster, because the Monster recovers 1 health right after the Attack.

Monster-Action Symbols

Each Monster-Action card has either one or two icons on it which correspond to that Monster's Icon Chart. When resolving these, check the current Monster's Icon Chart to see what effect the icon has on the triggering entity. The targeted player of the Monster-Action card gets to decide how any resulting effects are resolved. When resolving two icons in one card, follow the Monster's Icon Chart in the indicators (1st and 2nd) order. There are three basic types of Monster-Action abilities:

• MxAttack / MxxAttack [Attack] X: This causes the triggering entity to take the listed amount of damage, caused by an [Attack] Trait. A player may use an appropriate "Response" Skill immediately. (For more details on Damage Management, see: p.10.)

• MxResponse / MxxResponse [Response] Block X: This causes the Monster to cancel the listed amount of damage. This counts as a [Response] Trait for Skill rewards.

• MxSpecial / MxSpell / MxxSpell: If you see this icon, follow the effect listed on the current Monster's Icon Chart. Depending on the Monster, this can result in "No Effect", a [Spell], an [Attack] or a [Response].

• If the Monster-Action that revealed has the effect of "[Attack]", the player must resolve the Monster-Action card even though the Monster will be defeated.

The Race to Defeat the Monster

Each Monster has their own reward, and damage is not shared among players. Remember that each player has their own color of Damage tokens, and it is used to track their progress towards defeating the Monster. A Monster is only defeated when it has Damage tokens of one player's color equal to its Health Points.

After the Monster is Defeated

A new Monster card is only revealed during the Refresh Phase. If any player defeats the Monster, immediately discard all unrevealed Monster-Action cards in front of their Field. When players reach Initiative Step 3 and there is no active Monster, any Monster-Action cards cannot be revealed or resolved in the same round.

Rewards

The player who defeated the Monster collects the Monster card (place it aside) and immediately receives all rewards. If the reward is Gold, Experience, or Shadow Stones, the player should make sure to keep those tokens on the collected Monster card until the BuildUp Phase to remind everyone how those tokens were gained. The Monster card remains with the player who defeated it for the purposes of completing Mission cards.

• +1 Random Item: There is a special reward from the monster which lets the player draw 2 Item cards from the top of the Item deck and choose 1 to equip immediately. Discard the other Item. An Item gained this way does not reward the player with a Shadow Stone.

[Figure: An example of the Monster's rewards.]

Dealing Damage to the Monster

The three major Traits that can cause damage to a Monster are Predict, Spell, and Attack. Some Item cards may also add damage to Monsters. However, only the Attack Trait causes a Monster-Action card to be revealed. After resolving a player's Predict, Spell or Attack and the retaliatory Monster-Action card, total the amount of damage and place that many Damage tokens on the Monster card matching that player's color. If, after the player's Skill and any Monster-Action cards have been resolved, the Monster has acquired Damage tokens of any one color equal to its Health Points, the Monster is defeated and its rewards are given to the player who landed the final blow.

Some Monsters summon Creatures. These are represented by a named Ally card indicated on the Monster's Icon Chart, and count as a separate entity from their Monster. Certain Monster-Action cards will activate Creature's card instead of the Monster's, and they may even act independently! For the base game, if Vaendiss is revealed as the Level III Monster, pull the "Vazbuk" card out of the game box and keep it nearby. When the Monster is defeated, their Creatures are discarded and give the separated rewards. A Monster's Creature does not count as a Monster for any card effects.

Damage Management

Any time an entity takes damage from any source, the controlling player gets to decide how that damage is applied. In all instances when a player takes damage, they track the result with their own colored Damage tokens.

Damage from a Predict or Spell Trait

Some Predict or Spell Traits cause damage. When a card with these Traits indicates that a target "...loses X health.", place Damage tokens as appropriate on that target directly. This damage cannot be blocked with Shield Points, and won't cause a Monster-Action card to be revealed. However, a player may still use an appropriate Response (Predict) or Response (Spell) card or any card on their Field that might counter the effects.

Damage from an Attack Trait

The Attack Trait is the most common form of dealing damage to an entity. Any time an Attack Trait is used against a player's Hero or one of their Ally cards, they may choose how to assign that damage in the following ways:

• No Response: If the player cannot choose to use the other options for any reason, the entity takes the damage. The player assigns Damage tokens to the entity equal to the amount of damage received. If the entity was a Hero, they may then flip their "Flat-Footed" card to its "Dodge" side.
• Using the "Dodge" Skill: Sometimes, getting out of the way works wonders. All Heroes have access to this Skill as part of their Starting Deck. This card stays in a player's Station Field, starting on the "Flat-Footed" side, and is flipped faceup after a player uses "No Response" as part of an earlier Attack used against their Hero that round. When used, "Dodge" counts as a Response and reduces the damage that Hero takes by the specified amount. Afterwards, the "Dodge" card is flipped back to the "Flat-Footed" side. This card may only be used to prevent Damage targeting a player's Hero; it has no effect on a player's Allied entities (such as Creatures or Objects). Any excess damage may be blocked with Shield Points, otherwise it must be assigned to a Hero's Health Points.

! IMPORTANT TIP !

The purpose of the "Dodge" is deterrence! It can block a lot of damage (5 + extra Shield Points) from an Attack Skill, reducing the other players' desire to use an Attack on your Hero. Most Attack Skill cards have a reward such as "If the target didn't use a Response, +1 XP", so when the opponent uses an Attack with this reward, they may change targets because it is not beneficial to them. But be careful! Even if your "Dodge" is ready, you aren't invincible! There are quite a lot of ways to do more than 5 damage in a single Attack!

• Using Shield Points: If a player has cards in any of their Fields with unbroken Shield Points on them (such as the Leader card), they may mark off Shield Points with Damage tokens to reduce the incoming damage. Any excess damage must be assigned to the entity's Health Points. Shield Points act as temporary extra Health, and last until they're used completely. Unless otherwise noted, Shield Points do not recover. (For more details on Shield Points, see: p.24.)
• Using a Response (Attack) Trait: This Trait is the ultimate counter effect for any matching Trait. If a player holds a card with this Trait in their Hand during the Combat Phase, they may play it immediately when the matching Trait is used against an Allied entity. There are a few different types of abilities that may appear as part of a Response.
  • "Block X damage without any Shield Points": The player reduces the damage the targeted entity receives by the listed amount. If there is still damage left from the Attack, the player may not use any Shield Points to block this damage.
  • "Block X damage and use Shield Points": The player reduces the damage the targeted entity receives by the listed amount and may then block any remaining damage using any Shield Points they may have.
  • If you are KnockedDown, you get a penalty: lose 1 resource & discard all Bounty card(s) & recover full health.

In all instances, any unblocked damage must be assigned to the targeted entity's Health Points.

If, after a Skill card or Monster-Action is completely resolved, a player's Allied entity (Creature or Object) has Damage tokens equal to or exceeding their Health Stat Points, the entity is defeated. All Damage tokens are removed from the card, the Allied entity is discarded back to the player's Current Deck (unless otherwise noted), and all effects the entity granted are immediately lost.

If a player's Hero has Damage tokens equal to or exceeding their Health Stat Points, they are KnockedDown. For more details on Gaining Rewards, see: p.25.

• If the Monster KnocksDown your Hero, all other players gain 1 Gold token as a reward.
• If the other player KnocksDown your Hero directly, the other player gains 1 Experience token, 1 Gold token, 1 Bounty card, and extra Gold token(s).

Some Skill cards are triggered by the KnockDown condition (such as Ahti Hero's "Stay Behind" or "Bounty Collector" Skill cards).

! IMPORTANT TIP !

There is no elimination between players. The penalty of being KnockedDown is not the end of the game.

Example of Play (TeamUp, Plan, Combat Phase)

Robert and Olivia are playing against each other. Robert is playing as "Akintunde" and Olivia is playing as "Eras".

[Figure: Robert's Hand, Robert's Hero card (Akintunde), Olivia's Hero card (Eras), Olivia's Hand.]

TeamUp Phase: The round starts with the TeamUp Phase. Since Robert is the Leader this round, he needs to resolve the Leader's actions. First, he chooses "Each player gains 1 Experience" instead of "Each player gains 1 Gold" and both players add 1 Experience token to their Inventory Field. Second, he draws 2 Monster-Action cards and checks the icons. He has drawn "MxAttack" and "MxResponse" cards.

With that finished, both players now move to the Combat Phase, the central focus of the round.

Combat Phase: Initiative Step 1 (Robert & Olivia)

He can see on the Monster's Icon Chart of the Monster card that "MxAttack" says "[Attack]: Deal 2 damage" and "MxResponse" says "[Response]: Block 2 damage". Robert wants to KnockDown Olivia's Hero (Eras) rather than defeat the Monster, so he places the "MxAttack" card in front of Olivia so that her Hero might take more damage this round. He places the "MxResponse" card in front of his Combat Field facedown, because now he knows the Monster will not use an "[Attack]" against him. With this information, Robert can use the Plan Phase to choose his Hand more efficiently.

Plan Phase: The Plan Phase comes next. Since the monster's level is Level I, each player picks 3 skill cards from their Current Deck and adds them to their Hand. (Determine Hand Size) Robert chooses the "Initiative 2 Sword Strike", the "Initiative 2 The Fist" and the "Initiative 4/5 Search" cards. Olivia chooses the "Initiative 1 Lightning Touch", the "Initiative 2 Magic Missile" and the "Initiative 5/Response (Attack) Mystical Cloak" cards.

Starting with the Leader, both players go through the Initiative Steps in sequential order, meaning Robert can play his Initiative 1 Skill cards first. Since he doesn't have any Initiative 1 skill cards in his Hand, he announces "Skip" and passes his Initiative 1 Combat Phase turn. Olivia is next, using her turn to play a Initiative 1 Skill card, "Lightning Touch". She places the card faceup on her Combat Field. (Note that "Lightning Touch" has a Predict Trait which belongs in the Combat Field, not the Station Field.) Following the Predict (Initiative 4/5) Trait rules (for more details on the Predict Trait, see: p.19.), she calls "Five!" as her prediction. Since Robert has the "Initiative 4/5 Search" card in his Hand, Olivia's guess is correct because a card that has both Initiative 4 and Initiative 5 steps counts as both when targeted by a Predict. So Robert answers "Yes, I have a Five (Initiative 5 Step number)". As stated in the card text for "Lightning Touch", Olivia gains 1 Experience token from the Market and Robert's Hero (Akintunde) loses 2 health.

[Figure: Olivia puts 1 Experience token on the Skill card as a reward. Robert puts 2 Damage tokens of his color here.]

Then, both players move to the next Initiative Step.

Combat Phase: Initiative Step 2 (Robert)

Robert takes a turn to play his Initiative 2 skill cards. He has 2 Initiative 2 skill cards, so he places one of them ("The Fist") faceup on his Combat Field and the other ("Sword Strike") facedown next to "The Fist". This lets Olivia know how many Initiative 2 skill cards Robert may use in this round.

Still, Robert knows that the Monster has an "MxAttack" card ready for Olivia. His goal this round is to try and KnockDown her Hero, so he decides to use "Sword Strike" against Eras to hoping Olivia will use her "Dodge" card so that the Monster can damage Eras later.

[Figure: "The Fist" is shown faceup while "Sword Strike" is facedown on Robert's Combat Field.]

[Figure: After Robert finished "The Fist", he decides to use "Sword Strike", so he flips the card faceup and announces the damage (3) and the target.]

As his cards must be used in the order he placed them, Robert resolves "The Fist" first. The card says "Deal 1 damage to a target. If the target lost health by this Attack, gain 1 Experience token". In order to gain 1 Experience token, he wants to use this card on a target that will take damage without blocking it. Robert knows the Monster-Action is "MxResponse" for his first Attack action, so he declares "Eras" as the target of the Attack. As there are no Shield Points on Olivia's Field, her Hero will take 1 damage from this Attack unless she has a Response! (For more details on Damage Management, see: p.10.) She knows Robert has one more Initiative 2 skill card he can use, and it may be another Attack. She wants to minimize the damage "Eras" will take this round, but she also needs to restrict how many resources (Experience or Gold) Robert may gain as well. In the end, Olivia decides to take the 1 damage and flips her "Flat-Footed" card to the "Dodge" side. She takes one of her Damage tokens and places it on Eras' Hero card.

Now Olivia needs to decide how to manage this damage. She decides to use her "Mystical Cloak" as a "Initiative 5/Response (Attack)" and places it on her Combat Field faceup.

The card says "Block (Tech Stat) damage and use Shield Points for an Ally. If used as Response, gain 1 Gold token". Currently, Eras' Tech Stat is 2. Looking at the two cards, "Sword Strike" does 3 damage and "Mystical Cloak" blocks only 2. Olivia then takes one of her Damage tokens and puts it on Eras. Between "The Fist" and "Sword Strike", Eras has now taken 2 damage. Not bad! Since Olivia used "Mystical Cloak" as a Response instead of using it during the Initiative 5 Step, she gets to put 1 Gold token on "Mystical Cloak". Unfortunately for Robert, this means, he does not gain 1 Experience token from his use of "Sword Strike".

[Figure: Olivia satisfies the [Spell] effect of the "Flat-Footed" card, so she flips the card.]

[Figure: Olivia puts 1 Damage token of her color here.]

Olivia could have played "Mystical Cloak" as a Response, but she decides to save it to block another potential Attack against "Eras" later. Robert gains 1 Experience token and puts that resource on his "The Fist" card because "Eras" took damage.

Now that Robert's "The Fist" is resolved, he still has "Sword Strike" facedown on his Combat Field. This card says "Deal (Strength Stat) damage to a target. If the target didn't use a Response, gain 1 Experience token". Currently, Akintunde's Strength Stat is 3. (For more details on stat points, see: p.22.) In order to gain this 1 Experience token, Robert wants to use the card on a target who will not use a Response. Since Olivia has her "Dodge" card ready, and since the Monster has the "MxResponse" card placed in front of him, Robert is unlikely to gain anything by using "Sword Strike". In fact, if he uses it on Olivia, and she's been saving a Response card, he may even give her an additional resource!

[Figure: Olivia uses "Mystical Cloak" as a Response and gains 1 Gold token.]

[Figure: Olivia used a Response, so Robert cannot gain 1 Experience token.]

Combat Phase: Initiative Step 2 (Olivia)

Since Robert has now finished his Initiative 2 Step, it's Olivia's turn to use her Initiative 2 card. Olivia has "Magic Missile" "Deal (Magic Stat) damage to a target." and places it faceup on her Combat Field. She announces the target of this Attack is the Monster. Since the Monster was targeted by an Attack, a Monster-Action card needs to be resolved. (For more details on Combat with a Monster, see: p.9.) She flips the Monster-Action card that Robert placed in front of her in the TeamUp Phase, revealing a "MxAttack" icon. Looking at the Monster card, this icon's effect is: "[Attack]: deal 2 damage".

Combat Phase: Initiative Step 3 (Robert & Olivia)

Robert then starts the Initiative 3 Step. Usually, Initiative 3 is the monster's turn (for more details on Combat with a Monster, see: p.9.), so starting from the Leader (Robert), the Monster needs to resolve the Monster-Action cards that were given to each player. Since Robert didn't flip his Monster-Action card this round, he must do so now. Once revealed, the card shows a "MxResponse" icon, which says "[Response]: block 2 damage". As Robert isn't currently making an Attack against the monster, this does nothing. Olivia is next, but she's already resolved her Monster-Action card earlier in the round, so nothing happens (she doesn't reveal a new one).

Combat Phase: Initiative Step 4 (Robert & Olivia)

Both players then move to the Initiative 4 Step. Robert is the only player left with any cards in his Hand, so while he could play his "Search" card at either the Initiative 4 or Initiative 5 Step, he decides to use it now. As the card is a Spell, the effect triggers directly. After this, both players are out of playable cards, so the Combat Phase ends and both Robert and Olivia move on to the BuildUp Phase.

[Figure: Robert's Combat Field: he gained 1 Experience token and 1 Gold token in this round.]

[Figure: Olivia puts 3 Damage tokens of her color on the Monster.]

As the damage wasn't blocked, Olivia's "Magic Missile" does 3 damage to the Monster. She places 3 of her Damage tokens on the Monster card's art. Olivia also gains 1 Experience token and places it on her "Magic Missile" card since it states "If the target didn't use a Response, gain 1 Experience token". (An Attack isn't a Response.) However, she still must resolve the Monster's "MxAttack". Olivia once again needs to decide how to manage damage. Luckily, she still has her "Dodge" card's Response ready to use. She announces her use of the "Dodge" card and flips it back to the other side in order to block the Monster's 2 Attack damage. (For more details on Dodge, see: p.10.)

[Figure: Olivia's Combat Field: she gained 2 Experience tokens and 1 Gold token in this round.]

[Figure: Eras has 5 health (2 Damage tokens and 7 Health Stat Points) & Akintunde has 7 health (2 Damage tokens and 9 Health Stat Points).]

[Figure: The "Dodge" card has a "Response (Attack)" Trait as an Active Ability. (For more details on Active Abilities, see: p.17.)]

All players have now finished their Initiative 2 Step Combat Phase.

[Figure: Robert needs 5 more damage to defeat the Monster. Olivia needs 2 more damage to defeat the Monster.]

BuildUp Phase

The BuildUp Phase consists of three steps: Collect, Purchase, and Study. The Collect step is required; both the Purchase and Study steps are optional.

1. Collect: Each player gathers all the resources (Gold tokens, Experience tokens, and Shadow Stones) they earned during the Combat Phase and place them in their Inventory Field.

2. Purchase: During this step, players may buy Items from the Market with Gold. Starting with the Leader and continuing in clockwise order, players may spend Gold tokens to buy Item cards from the Market. Only one Item may be bought before moving to the next player's turn. A player may pass instead of buying, but once they do they immediately end their Purchase step. Continue until there are either no Items left in the Market or all players have passed.

   • Once an Item is purchased, it is immediately placed in the player's Inventory Field to the right of their Hero card. Item cards are intended to stack overlapping so their effects can be seen. Any Item with the "Restricted" Trait should always be kept on top of any other Items.
   • Heroes may only have one "Restricted" Item at a time. If a player receives a "Restricted" Item while they already have one, they must discard one of their "Restricted" Items.
   • For each Item card a player purchases during this step, they also earn a Shadow Stone.
   • Empty Market slots are only refilled during the Refresh Phase. For more details on Item Card, see: p.17.

   [Figure: An example of overlapping Market Items and placing "Restricted" Item on top of others next to the Hero card in the Inventory Field.]

3. Study: During this step, players may earn Skill cards from their Library by using the Experience they've gained. All players may perform this step simultaneously.

   • For every 3 Experience tokens a player spends, they may select a Skill card from their Library and add it to their Current Deck. If a card has an Initiative 0 step number, it is immediately placed in a player's Station Field when it enters their Current Deck.
   • A player's Hero does not have to meet the requirements of the Skill card to add it to their Current Deck.

! IMPORTANT TIP !

A player may look through their Library at any time. It can be helpful to plan ahead before you start this step. A player may Study any Skill card with 3 Experience tokens from their Library and add it to their Current Deck in order to gain a Shadow Stone. But it is highly recommended to Study Skill cards that your Hero meets the requirements of in order to use that Skill card next round. (For more details on Requirements, see: p.22-23.)

CleanUp Phase

All players simultaneously complete the following steps in the following order:

1. Check End Game triggers: The End Game is triggered if one of the following occurs:

   • A player has 9 or more Shadow Stones.
   • The Level III Monster has been defeated.

   If either of these conditions are met, immediately move to the "Victory" section. If not, continue to the next step.

2. Remove all Damage tokens from cards on the Combat Field and from X/Round Trait cards: Do not discard Damage tokens from any cards located on your Station or Inventory Field unless they're on a card with an "X/Round" Trait (such as Once/Round or Twice/Round)!

3. Remove all Skill cards from the Combat Field and return them to your Current Deck:

   • If any cards in the "Stunned Area" has no Stun tokens, return it to that player's Current Deck.
   • Move any cards with a Stun token on them to the "Stunned Area" instead.

4. Remove 1 Stun token from each card in the "Stunned Area".

5. Resolve "Dodge" card: If a player's "Dodge" card is faceup, they follow the text on the card and flip it to the "Flat-Footed" side.

6. Discard the revealed Monster-Action Card(s):

   • All revealed Monster-Action cards should be placed in a pile faceup next to the Monster-Action deck.

! IMPORTANT TIP !

The players never need to shuffle their Current Deck or Library in Shadows: Heroes & Monsters. Players always have the choice to select the Skill cards they like to use!

Refresh Phase

Make sure all players have finished their CleanUp Phase. Then perform these two steps:

• If there is no active Monster, reveal the next Monster card in the stack and shuffle all discarded Monster-Action cards back into the deck.
• Refill any empty slots in the Market with new Item cards from the Item deck. If there are more cards in the Market than there are slots as a result of Monster or Skill effect, discard the most recently drawn card(s). If the Item deck is empty, shuffle all discarded Item cards to a new deck.

Victory

After the game end is triggered at CleanUp Phase, it is time to determine the winner. Each player reveals their Mission card and, if the card's condition has been satisfied, adds its reward to their final Shadow Stone total. Each player then announces their total amount of Shadow Stones.

The player with the most Shadow Stones wins!

In the case of a tie, the player with the most total equipped Items' cost is the winner. If the game is still tied, the player with the most unspent Experience tokens is the winner. Otherwise, the tied players share the victory and revel in a battle well fought!

Cards

Types

Hero cards represent the major characters players control in their attempt to win the game. Each player controls 1 Hero who can earn resources (Experience tokens, Gold tokens, and Shadow Stones), equip Items, and study new Skills. Each player chooses 1 Hero card and starts the game with all cards marked with the chosen Hero's unique Symbol.

There are 6 different types of cards in this game:

1. Status
2. Hero
3. Hero Special
4. Skill
   • Hero
   • Neutral
5. Item
   • Basic
   • Market
6. Monster
   • Monster
   • Monster-Action

Hero Symbols

Each Hero has a unique Symbol. Hero Symbols are located in the upper right corner of every Hero, Hero Special card(s), and Hero Skill card. These cards make up a player's initial deck.

The following sections describe each of these different types of cards.

Status Cards

These cards change the status of Skill cards, entities, or players. There are 3 Status cards in this base game:

• Leader card: The Leader card serves as the first player marker. Each round, this card rotates to the next player in clockwise order. The player who holds this card gets 1 extra Shield Point and performs all actions in the TeamUp Phase for the round.
• Bounty cards: The Bounty card (S.R symbol used on some cards) is given to a player who caused another player's Hero to be KnockedDown. It gives a bonus reward if that player's Hero is later KnockedDown. (For more details on KnockDown, see: p.25.)
• Mission cards: Mission cards give an extra Shadow Stone at the end of the game to a player if they fulfill the card's requirement.

[Figure: Each Hero card has two sides.]

Hero Special Cards

Hero Special cards have a special Initiative icon (star) on the upper left corner of the cards. Hero Special cards grant a unique Skill to each Hero and the Traits on these cards work differently than on Hero and Skill cards, so carefully read the card's text!

[Figure: Some Heroes have multiple Hero Special cards.]

Skill Cards

Skill cards make up the majority of cards that players use during the game. Most Skill cards are designed to be used during the Combat Phase according to their Initiative Step number. There are two different types of Skill cards:

• Hero Skill cards: Hero Skill cards come with the Hero the player chooses at the beginning of the game. All Hero Skill cards have that Hero's Symbol in the upper right corner of the card and are listed on the back of the Hero card. These cards make up a player's Current Deck at the beginning of the game.
• Neutral Skill cards: Neutral Skill cards are those listed on the Beginner Skill cards list and contained in Skill Booster packs. A Skill Booster pack gives a player 30 unique Neutral Skill cards. These Skill cards may be used with for any Hero so long as the Hero meets or exceeds the required Stat Points. (For more details on Requirements, see: p.22-23.)

[Figure: Hero, Neutral Skill, Status, & Item Card Attributes.]

• a. Card Title: name of the card.
• b. Card Type: card type symbol or Initiative Step number.
• c. Card Traits: defines the rules of how to use the card.
• d. Epithet: descriptive term that is added to Hero's name.
• e. Requirements (or Hero Symbol): Stat Points that are needed for using this skill.
• f. Basic Deck List: identifies the Basic Skill cards for the Hero.
• g. Hero Play Tips & Story: the Hero's play tips & background story.
• h. Item Cost (Value): the Gold tokens cost to buy the card.
• i. Stat Points: the innate characteristics of a Hero or benefits granted by an Item.
• j. Shield Point(s): the extra Health Point(s) for preventing [Attack] damage.
• k. Card Abilities: the card's special capabilities.
• l. Active Abilities: some Skill cards have a yellow box under the "Card Abilities"; this box is separate from the "Card Abilities". When a card is used, the "Card Abilities" (or effects) are immediately resolved, and then any "Active Abilities" (listed in the box) are available until the card is discarded or destroyed. As long as the card stays on the Field, this effect is available and may be used as listed. (Even if the card is Stunned or in the Stunned Area, the effect is available.) Item card Abilities are considered "Active Abilities".

Item Cards

Item cards are enhancements Heroes may use to increase their Stat Points and/or grant them unique bonuses. Usually they're purchased from the Market during the BuildUp Phase, each Item costing a certain amount of Gold to equip to a Hero. Some effects may give Items at reduced price. Increases in Stat Points from an Item happen immediately, which may allow a Hero access to Skill cards they may not have previously qualified for. Be careful though! Certain Items are incredibly powerful or dangerous, as noted by the "Restricted" Trait on the card. Each Hero can only equip one Restricted Item at a time.

There are two types of Item cards:

• Basic Item cards: Basic Items have a green back and are not a part of the Market. Basic Items have no cost, and each player receives 1 Basic Item card during Game Setup. In this base game, all Basic Item cards have the Restricted Trait.
• Market Item cards: Market Items have an orange back, and always cost a certain amount of Gold to buy. Any Hero can equip a Market Item after buying it with Gold tokens during the BuildUp Phase.

Monster Cards

In this base game, there are 11 Monster cards. These Monsters pose a threat to all players, and will target each player every round. All Monsters use Monster-Action cards to determine which ability they will use based on the Monster's Icon Chart.

[Figure: Monster & Monster-Action Card Attributes.]

• a. Card Title: name of the card.
• b. Card Type: card type symbol.
• c. Health Points: indicates the monster's health.
• d. Monster Species: indicates the monster's species.
• e. Monster Level: represents the difficulty of the Monster; there are 3 different levels (Level I, Level II, Level III).
• f. Monster's Icon Chart (abilities): 7 unique icons with corresponding abilities triggered by Monster-Action cards.
• g. Reward: the benefit(s) gained by the player who defeats the Monster.
• h. Edition Symbol: the unique symbol for this edition of the game.
• i. Card Number: uniquely identifies the card.

Each card shows one or more symbols used to determine which ability the Monster will use during their attack. There are 7 unique symbols: MxSpecial, MxAttack, MxxAttack, MxResponse, MxxResponse, MxSpell, MxxSpell. Check the Monster's Icon Chart to see which action corresponds with each icon.

Monster-Action Cards

These purple-backed cards have symbols relating to actions on a Monster card. When a player reveals a Monster-Action card, they should consult the current Monster card to see which action the Monster performs and the reward for defeating the Monster.

Traits

Traits categorize the various effects available on Skill cards. Traits have two defining attributes: priority and type.

Priority

There are two Trait priorities: Main Trait and Sub-Trait. Main Traits must be resolved before Sub-Traits are resolved. Sub-Traits are identified by brackets [ ] (i.e., "[Spell]"). Main Traits never have brackets [ ].

[Figure: Sub-Traits always have brackets [ ]. Main Traits never have brackets [ ].]

If a player didn't activate or use the Main Trait, then any Sub-Traits are not available for activation or use.

Some cards have two Main Traits in which case either or both Main Traits may be resolved.

[Figure: Two Main Trait: 1st Main Trait, 2nd Main Trait.]

Type

There are two Trait types: major and conditional. Conditional Traits have requirements which determine if/when the card's effect applies. If the Trait is not conditional, then it is considered a Main Trait.

Each Trait is outlined in the following sections.

Major Traits

Self

A card with the Self Trait can only be used on a player's own Hero. It cannot be used for the player's Allies (Creatures or Objects), the Monster, or the Heroes, Creatures, and Objects of other players. Cards with this Trait are placed on the Station Field.

Attachment

Cards with this Trait attach to other cards and modify their effects. Place the Attachment on top of the card that it is linked to, unless otherwise instructed by the card's text. The card remains in effect until discarded by an ability or destroyed.

Predict

Cards with the Predict Trait can only be used against another player, and there will always be an Initiative Step number listed next to the "Response" arrow symbol. When a player uses a card with a Predict Trait, they must pick one opponent and announce one of the Initiative numbers listed next to the Response arrow symbol. The opponent must then announce whether or not they have a card matching that Initiative number in their hand. If they do, follow the effects listed in the Predict card's text. If they do not, the Predict card has no other effect unless otherwise noted.

Certain cards, including Items or cards with the Creature or Object Trait, have an effect when a player uses a Predict card. These effects will trigger whenever their controlling player uses a Predict card, regardless of whether or not the prediction was successful.

If a Predict Trait causes a "Monster loses X health" effect, it does not cause a Monster-Action card to be resolved (just like the Spell Trait).

A player cannot Predict the same Initiative number on the same opponent more than once in a given round. In a game with more than two players, a player can only have any given Initiative number predicted once in a given round, regardless of how many Predict cards are played against them that round.

An example in 3-players game: It's Robert's turn. He uses a Predict (Initiative 4/5) Trait card, announcing "Initiative 4" to his opponent, Jack. Whether the answer is yes or no, Neither Robert nor Olivia are allowed to Predict the "Initiative 4" number against Jack for the rest of the round. Olivia's turn is next, and she's holding a Predict (Initiative 4/5) Trait card. She may only try to Predict if Jack has a "Initiative 5" number, or she may try to Predict whether Robert has a "Initiative 4" or "Initiative 5" card in his Hand.

Attack

Cards with the Attack Trait attempt to cause damage to another entity. They may be used against any entity except for an Ally (which is any entity on a player's own Field). When a player uses an Attack, they must first announce their target and then how much damage the Attack will cause. If the target is another player's entity, that player must decide to either accept the damage or use a card with the Response (Attack) Trait. If the target is Monster, reveal a Monster-Action card and follow its instructions. (For more details on Damage Management, see: p.10. For more details on Combat with a Monster, see: p.9.) Unless otherwise noted, both the Attack and the corresponding Response (Attack) or Monster-Action are considered to occur simultaneously.

If the Attack Trait lists a multiplier, the Attack action will repeat a number of times indicated by the multiplier. An Attack X2 Trait means the Attack card's effect will happen twice. An Attack X3 Trait means the Attack card's effect will happen three times. Each time, the player using the Attack may opt or be required to specify a different target for the effect.

Each time a player has an Attack Trait ability used against them, whether it is from the same or different cards, they may respond with a Response (Attack) card of their own. Each time a player uses an Attack against a Monster, that player must reveal a Monster-Action card and follow its instructions.

Remember that a player cannot target their Allied entities with an Attack unless otherwise stated. When a Creature or Object gains Damage tokens greater than or equal to its Health Points, that Creature or Object is discarded back to the controlling player's Current Deck.

A player's Creatures or Objects can be targeted by any non-Allied entity, just like their Hero. When a Creature or Object is chosen as the target of a Skill or Monster-Action, the controlling player may use an appropriate Response Skill card. If a player has any Shield Points on their board, they may use them to reduce the damage of an Attack targeting their Allies.

Response

A card with the Response Trait will always indicate what opposing Trait it is responding to, usually an Attack, Spell or Predict Trait next to the arrow symbol (Response → Trait). A player may use a card with the Response Trait at any moment when targeted by an offending Trait, unless otherwise specified. Carry out the effects of the Response card instantly.

A Response (Attack) Trait ability may be used for an Attack Trait ability. In order to block two Attack Trait abilities, two Response (Attack) Trait abilities are needed.

Response icon: Instead of using the Skill card at the printed Initiative Step (Initiative 1-6), the player may use this card whenever the opponent uses the referenced Trait.

For instance, you are holding a Skill card with the Response icon and the card's Trait is "Response (Attack)". When any opponent uses an Attack Trait targeting one of your entities, you may use this card immediately.

Creature or Object

Cards with the Creature Trait or the Object Trait represent another entity that a player can control, just like their Hero card. These are referred to as an "Allied Entity". Any effect a player uses that refers to "Allies" or "Allied Entities" can target these cards. A Hero is always considered to be Allied to themselves. Cards with the Creature Trait or Object Trait have their own Health Points, can take independent actions, and occasionally use Abilities during the Combat Phase. Read the abilities carefully: some will trigger as you play specific Skill cards, and others are available to use without conditions. In order to use Creature or Object Trait cards, follow these steps:

1. Play the card in its Initiative Step: Just like other Skill cards, a player must add this card to their Hand during the Plan Phase and play it to their Station Field during the appropriate Initiative Step in the Combat Phase.
   • Some Creatures or Objects have an Initiative of 0, which means it is placed to a player's Station Field as soon as that player gains the Skill card in their Current Deck and meets the card's Stat Requirements.
2. A Creature or Object uses its own Skills during the appropriate Initiative Step: After it is placed to the Station Field, a Creature or Object uses its own Ability every round until it is discarded. Some Creatures or Objects have a condition for their Ability (such as a Predict being used). Common examples of Creature or Object Skills include:
   • Initiative 2 [Attack]: During the Initiative 2 Step of the Combat Phase, this Creature uses the listed Attack Trait Ability on a non-Allied entity. If the target is a Monster, the controlling player must resolve a Monster-Action card targeting this Creature.
   • Initiative 4 (or 5) [Spell]: During the Initiative 4 (or 5) Step of the Combat Phase, this Creature uses the listed Spell Skill.
   • Whenever you use a Predict: When the controlling player uses a Predict Trait Skill card, this Creature uses the listed effects even if the prediction was unsuccessful.

Remember that a player cannot target their Allied entities with an Attack unless otherwise stated.

Conditional Traits

StartSide (or BackSide)

The StartSide (or BackSide) Trait means that the card has two sides and identifies which side the player should start with. If you see this Trait on one of two sides, the card enters play with the StartSide Trait faceup. This Trait is only triggered when the game starts.

Restricted

The Restricted Trait is generally found on Item cards. A Hero can never have more than one card with this Trait. If a player has a card with the Restricted Trait and gains a new card with the Restricted Trait, they must choose and discard one of their Restricted cards immediately.

Attack (Standalone)

The Attack (Standalone) Trait restricts a player to using only one Attack Trait that round. In order to play a Attack (Standalone) Trait, a player must not use an Attack Trait before playing the Attack (Standalone) Trait this round and must not play an Attack Trait after it this round. For example, if the player uses the "Flame Spear" Skill card with the Attack (Standalone) Trait, this Attack is the only Attack Trait that the player may use in that round.

Auto

A card with Auto Trait will use its effect automatically when its condition is met. A player cannot decide or change when the card's effects activate; they must use this card as soon as the condition is met.

One (or X) Time(s)

Some cards may only be used a certain amount of times per game. Once used, a player should place a Damage token on the card's Trait text to indicate the effect has been used in that game. Once a card with this Trait has as many Damage tokens on its text equal to the number of allowed uses, the card can no longer be used for that effect.

X/Round

Generally appearing as Once/Round or Twice/Round, this Trait means a player can use the Ability only a specific number of times each round. Each time a player uses a Skill card with the X/Round Trait, the player puts a Damage token on the card's Trait text to signify that the effect has been used that round. Once a card with this Trait has Damage tokens on its text equal to the number of allowed uses, that card can no longer be used for its effect that round. During the CleanUp Phase, the player removes the Damage tokens, readying the card for use in the next round.

! IMPORTANT TIP !

Some cards will have both the X/Round and X Time(s) Traits. Keep the Damage tokens on the "X/Round" text and the Damage tokens on the "X Time(s)" text to keep these trackers separate. Only the "X/Round" tokens are removed during the CleanUp Phase!

[Figure: This indicates that the player used 2 of "3 Times" Trait in that game. This indicates that the player used "Once/Round" in that round.]

! IMPORTANT TIP !

If you can remember that you used a "Once/Round" Trait without placing a Damage token, you may skip placing it if all players agree.

Points

There are two types of Points in the game: Stat (Statistical) Points and Shield Points.

Stat Points

These points represent the characteristics of Hero, Item, and Skill cards. There are four basic Stat Points: Strength, Tech, Magic, and Health. These show a Hero's aptitude towards certain Skills and can be increased by Items or Skill cards.

[Figure: Strength (Physical, Aggressive, Fearless, Combative); Tech (Technical, Corporate, Political, Strategic); Magic (Magical, Deathly, Mysterious, Cunning); Health (Defensive, Peaceful, Surviving, Persistent).]

Stat Points on Hero cards: Located on the right side of each Hero card, these represent the character's basic strengths. From this starting point, players can enhance their Hero in different ways to increase their strengths or decrease their weaknesses. Often, a Hero's starting Stat Points indicate what sort of Skill cards would work best in their Library.

Stat Points on Item cards: These are located on the left side of each Item card. When equipped, these enhance a Hero's Stat Points. When a player gains an Item card, the player places it on the right side of their Hero card, boosting the Hero's Stat Points by the amount indicated on each equipped item. These effects are immediate and last until the Item is discarded.

Stat Points for Skill cards: There are two different places a player may see Stat Points referenced on Skill cards:

• Abilities: An Ability may sometimes refer to a Hero's Stat Points to determine the power of its effect. Some Skill cards will have text such as "Deal (Strength) damage to a target". In this instance, the player refers to their Hero's current Strength Stat Points, which is the sum of their Hero's base Strength Stat Points and the Strength Stat Points granted by any Item cards or Skill cards on their Inventory Field that reference a Strength Stat Point increase.

• Requirements: The upper right corner of most Neutral Skill cards lists one or more Stat Point symbols accompanied by a number. These are called "Stat Requirements", and a Hero must meet or exceed these requirements to play that Neutral Skill card from their Current Deck. These requirements are divided into two types:

  1. Strength, Tech, and Magic values must be met or exceeded.
  2. Health values must also be met or exceeded unless a "=<" symbol is present. If a "=<" symbol is present, the Hero's Health Stat Points must be equal or less than the listed value. (For example, if the Requirement lists "Health =< 7", the Hero's Health Stat Points must not be more than 7.)

  A Hero's Health requirement is always calculated by their maximum Health Stat Point total; Damage tokens do not reduce this value.

! IMPORTANT TIP !

If a "0" symbol is present in the upper right corner, the card has no Stat Requirements to be played from the Current Deck.

Examples of Requirements

The player chose the "Eras" Hero card. This Hero's base Stat Points are:

• 1 Strength Stat Point
• 2 Tech Stat Points
• 3 Magic Stat Points
• 7 Health Stat Points

Over the course of the game, "Eras" equipped the "Magic Element" (+1 Magic), "Plasma Generator" (+1 Tech, +1 Shield Point & +1 Health) and "Goblin Wand" (+1 Magic) Item cards. The equipped Items are placed on the right side of the Hero card to show that they enhance Eras' Stat Points.

Currently, Eras' Stat Points are:

• 1 Strength Stat Point
• 3 Tech Stat Points
• 5 Magic Stat Points
• 8 Health Stat Points

There are 3 Damage tokens on the art of the Hero card. This means Eras' current health is 5. (8 Health Stat Points - 3 Damage tokens = 5 health)

Now, let's see how Eras' Stat Points impact her ability to use Skill cards.

• "Magic Missile": This Skill card has Eras' Hero Symbol in the upper-right corner of the card. This means that Eras begins the game with this card, and Eras' player can use this card without checking its Requirements. The card's ability says "Deal (Magic) damage to a target." Currently, Eras' Magic Stat Points are enhanced to 5. When Eras uses the "Magic Missile" card, the player reads the ability as "Deal 5 damage to a target".
• "Mystical Cloak": This Skill card has Eras' Hero Symbol just like "Magic Missile", so Eras' player can use it without checking its Requirements. The card ability says "Block (Tech) damage and use Shield Points for an Ally." Eras' Tech Stat Points are enhanced to 3. When Eras uses the "Mystical Cloak" card, the player reads the ability as "Block 3 damage and use Shield Points for an Ally." The "Ally" part is important, because that means Eras can use the Ability on herself or on a summoned Creature or Object!
• "Meteor Strike": This Neutral Skill card requires 5 Magic Stat Points to play, as indicated in the upper-right corner. Eras has 5 Magic Stat Points, so her player can use this card after adding it to their Current Deck from their Library.
• "Giant Shield": This Neutral Skill card requires 3 Tech Stat Points and Health =< 7 (Health Stat Points less than or equal to 7) to play. Eras currently has 3 Damage tokens, but her Health Stat Points are still 8 (since damage does not reduce your Health Stat Point). Eras' player cannot use this Skill card even though her Tech Stat Points are adequate because she equipped the "Plasma Generator" Item that gave Eras +1 Health Stat Point. If this card were on the player's Station Field already, they must discard it immediately upon the change to Eras' Stat Points. The player would not be able to play "Giant Shield" in the future because Eras' Stat Points cannot meet the Requirements, also the card has the One Time Trait.
• "Seven Crypto Sword": This Neutral Skill card requires 3 Strength Stat Points, 3 Tech Stat Points and 3 Magic Stat Points to play. Eras has 1 Strength Stat Point, 3 Tech Stat Points and 5 Magic Stat Points, so she doesn't have enough Strength Stat Points to play this card. Eras' player cannot use this Skill card yet even if the card is in the Current Deck.

Shield Points

Some cards have a Shield Point symbol with a number on the left side of the card. These Shield Points are extra Health Points for absorbing Attack Trait damage. After playing any Skill cards with Shield Point symbols on them, those Shield Points are available to use immediately. The player can use these Points with the card's ability immediately or use them later with other Shield Points together. Instead of losing Health Points by taking Attack Trait damage, the player may place their Damage tokens on the available Shield Points or use the Response (Attack) Trait ability together.

Shield Point symbol on any cards:

• When another entity (Monster, other player's Heroes or Creatures) uses an Attack Trait ability on your Hero or Allied entities, you may use any available Shield Points to absorb the damage on a point for point basis. As Shield Points are spent, place Damage tokens on the Shield Point symbol to mark their use. Taking this action "breaks" or creates "broken" Shield Points. While Shield Points give extra Health Points, they are not recovered automatically, even when a Hero is KnockedDown.
• When you use a Response (Attack) Trait with the "Block X damage and use Shield Points" ability, you can block X amount, and then use Shield Points from anywhere on your Field to absorb any remaining damage.

Shield Point symbol on Stunned cards: If there are Shield Points on Skill card(s) in the "Stunned Area" space of the Combat Field, those Shield Points are not available to use and may not be broken (even by enemy abilities).

[Figure: Examples of cards that have Shield Points.]

Example of Using Shield Points

Jack uses his Hero Akintunde's Skill card "Sword Strike" targeting his opponent Emma's Hero, Rolan. Jack announces the total damage dealt is 10. Emma uses her "Dodge" card in Response, blocking 5 damage for her Hero. She then uses 4 Shield Points on her Field to absorb an additional 4 damage, picking up 4 Damage tokens of her color and covers the Shield Point symbols.

[Figure: Rolan takes 1 damage after blocking 9 Attack Trait damage.]

Emma announces that the total damage prevented between her "Dodge" skill and Shield Points was 9.

Emma then takes 1 Damage token of her color and places it on her Hero, Rolan.

With all 10 damage resolved, Emma flips her "Dodge" card over, finishing the "Dodge" card's [Response (Attack)] effect.

[Figure: After finishing "Dodge" card's Response Trait effect, the card is flipped back to the "Flat-Footed" side.]

! IMPORTANT TIP !

The Shield Points on Skill cards in the Stunned Area are not available to use. The Shield Points on Stunned Skill cards in the Combat Field are still available to use.

! IMPORTANT TIP !

Shield Points are not available to absorb damage from Spell or Predict Traits abilities. Shield Points are only available to absorb Attack Trait damage.

Recovering Shield Points

Shield Points never recover automatically. If a Shield Point is marked (or broken), you can recover it with the following options:

• When you remove Skill cards from the Field to your Current Deck during the CleanUp Phase, discard all Damage tokens on the Skill cards including any marked Shield Points. Next round, if you play the same cards, they will enter play with no Damage tokens on them and the Shield Points may be used again.
• When a card is moved or flipped, all Damage tokens on the card are discarded. For example, the "Leader" card moves from your Field to the next player's Field during the CleanUp Phase. If there is a Damage token on the Shield Point of the "Leader" card, discard it before handing the "Leader" card to the next player. This Shield Point will be available for them to use next round.
• Some Skill or Item cards have abilities that recover Shield Points.

Gaining Rewards

During the game, players have multiple chances to gain rewards such as Experience tokens, Gold tokens, a random Item, or Shadow Stones. Here is a list of events that may give a player rewards during the game:

• Leader shares Experience tokens or Gold tokens: In the TeamUp Phase, the Leader decides if all players gain Experience tokens or Gold tokens. This occurs every round except the first round.
• Rewards from Skill cards: Most Skill cards grant a reward such as "If the target didn't use a Response, +1 Experience" or "If used as Response, +1 Gold". If the condition is satisfied, you gain the listed reward immediately and place it on the card.
• Buying Items or Studying Skills during the BuildUp Phase: In the BuildUp Phase, a player gains 1 Shadow Stone every time they buy an Item or Study a new Skill card. (For more details on BuildUp Phase, see: p.14.)
• A Monster KnocksDown another player's Hero: If a Monster-Action causes a player's Hero to gain Damage tokens greater than or equal to their Health Stat Points, all other players gain 1 Gold token. Remember to follow all other rules related to Heroes being KnockedDown.
• Mission Card: At the end of the game, during final scoring, players reveal the mission card they chose at the beginning of the game. If a player satisfied the mission's conditions, they gain the reward listed on the card.
• Defeat a Monster: When you defeat a Monster, you gain the Monster's reward listed at the bottom of the Monster card. Each Monster has different rewards. If a Monster's reward is a "+1 Random Item", the player draws two Item cards from the top of the deck and chooses 1 to keep, discarding the other. Restricted Items must be replaced as per normal rules. No Shadow Stones are gained through this reward.
• KnockDown another player's Hero: When you cause another player's Hero to gain Damage tokens greater than or equal to their Health Stat Points, that Hero is KnockedDown. KnockingDown a Hero can be done through actions such as Spell, Predict, or Attack Skill cards, an Attachment's effect, and Allied Creatures' or Objects' Active Abilities. The KnockDown's effects depend on which situation a player finds themself in:

! IMPORTANT TIP !

Getting KnockedDown in the Middle of Card Effects: Some cards have Sub-Traits or extra effects under the Main Trait (such as Attack X2). If you are taking two Attack Traits damage from the opponents' Hero and your Hero is KnockedDown in between resolving two different Trait effects, the later effects aren't wasted! First, resolve the appropriate KnockedDown steps. Then, you must continue to resolve any unfinished Sub-Traits or extra effects.

If your Hero was KnockedDown by a Monster and the Monster had additional Attacks or Spells to resolve against your Hero, those are canceled. The Monster can Attack your Hero again the next time a new Monster-Action card is drawn.

[Figure: An example of the Monster's rewards.]

Play with Another Base Game

If you find other players who have this base game, each player can bring their own customized Skill Pool and play with their own style. Build your Skill Pool using whichever Neutral Skill cards you want. There are only three rules: your Pool must be made before Global Setup of the game, your Pool must have at least 50 cards, and your Pool can't have more than 2 copies of any single card.

After you set up your own Skill Pool, the game setup continues as normal with two different sections in the "Player Setup" (p.4):

Player Setup Step 2: Choose a Hero: Each player should choose a Hero. The Leader selects first, followed by the other players in clockwise order. While a mirror match with two or more players choosing the same hero is possible, it is not recommended.

Player Setup Step 6: Prepare your Library with 10 Neutral Skill Cards:

• a. Shuffle your customized Skill Pool and draw 10 cards from the top of it.
• b. Check your Neutral Skill cards and decide whether to keep those cards or take a mulligan. If you keep your 10 cards, move directly to Step e, otherwise:
• c. If deciding to mulligan: Discard the 10 Neutral Skill cards and draw 9 new Neutral Skill cards from the Skill Pool. If you keep your 9 cards, move directly to Step e, otherwise:
• d. If deciding to mulligan again: Discard the 9 Neutral Skill cards and draw another 8 new Neutral Skill cards from the Skill Pool. The player may not mulligan a third time.
• e. Place the chosen Neutral Skill cards as your Library deck, facedown, in the Library space of your Inventory Field. Return your customized Skill Pool (and your discarded Neutral Skill cards if you mulligan) to your game box.

! IMPORTANT TIP !

Since each player prepares their Skill Pool before Global Setup, they may end up with a Hero that he/she doesn't prefer. Be sure to stock your Skill Pool with Neutral Skill cards that are suitable for multiple Heroes and situations!

Also remember that players cannot use any duplicate Skill cards during the game, but you can put 2 copies of any card into your Skill Pool to increase the probability of getting that card in your Library. For example, if you like the "Thunderstrike" Neutral Skill card and got 2 of them from the Skill Booster Pack and the Beginner Skill cards, you could put 2 "Thunderstrike" Neutral Skill cards in your Skill Pool. Then, when you draw 10 Neutral Skill cards from your own Skill Pool during Player Setup, you have a higher chance to get that card. On the other hand, if you draw both copies at the same time and decide to keep these 10 (or 9 or 8 if you previously took a mulligan or two) cards as your Library, one of the two "Thunderstrike" Skill cards is useless during the game.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: When the opponent uses a Predict Trait Skill card on me, do I have to show the card for the Initiative Step number? A: No, you don't have to show your cards at that time. All you need to do is say "Yes, I have the Initiative Step number you guessed" or "No, I don't have the Initiative Step number you guessed" because you will use the cards in the round anyway. When you use the cards that opponent can check the Initiative Step number. But if you decide not to use some Skill cards from your Hand and do not want to show them, you must at least to show the Initiative Step part of the card to the person who targeted with you with a Predict Trait before the BuildUp Phase begins.

Q: What happens if my Hero gets KnockedDown before a Skill cards' effect is done? A: When an opponent's Hero uses the Attack X2 Trait card on your Hero and your Hero is KnockedDown during the [1st Attack] Sub-Trait, the opponent's unfinished [2nd Attack] Sub-Trait can be continued after you followed the "Your Hero was KnockedDown" (p.25) steps. If the opponent has enough damage to KnockDown your Hero a second time with one Attack X2 Trait card, they can.

Q: The opponent used a card that has an "Attack" Trait with the effect "Deal (Strength) damage to a target" to my Hero. In order to block the damage, can I use a card that has the "Response (Attack)" Trait with the effect "Block (Tech) damage with any Shield Points for an Ally"? A: Yes, you can block the (Strength) damage points with (Tech) blocking points. The "Response (Attack)" Trait is made for blocking any "Attack" Trait anytime. When the effect of the opponent's Attack Trait is "Deal (Strength) damage to a target", that doesn't mean you must block with your Hero's Strength Stat Points. When the opponent used an effect referencing their Strength Stat Points, the power of the attack is the total of their Hero's base Strength plus the Strength enhancements granted by items. Similarly, your blocking power is the total of your hero's Tech plus the Tech enhancements granted by items. Whenever a card effect references Stat Points (like Strength, Tech, Magic), the current Stat Points of the Skill card user's Hero (base plus items) determines the effect and the amount of total points. (For more details on Stat Points for Skill cards, see: p.22-23.)

Q: New Item cards are added to the Market by a Monster's effect or player's Skill card. If a player may replace Items by using the "Search" card's effect, can they discard these additional Items instead of Items in the Market slots? A: Yes, the additional Items in the Market are part of the Market's Items. Any Items drawn by a Monster or Skill card effect can be replaced, moved, or changed by other Skill cards like "Search". The additional Items remain in the Market when the Round ends, however, if there are more Items than the Market slots (3 Items for 2-players & 4 Items for 3-players) during the Refresh Phase, discard the most recently drawn Items.

Q: When I use the Attack Trait to target the Monster's Creature, do I need to reveal a Monster-Action card? A: No, the Monster's Creature is its own separate entity. Vazbuk is the only Monster's Creature included in this base game and only acts when Vaendiss reveals Monster-Action card with the MxxSpell icon.

Q: When I use one Attack Trait like the "Crescent Slash" Neutral Skill card against two different targets, which target gets resolved first? A: The player who uses the Attack Trait decides. If a Monster uses one Attack Trait against multiple targets, the player who reveals the Monster-Action card manage the damages first followed by the next player(s) in clockwise order.

Q: Can I use the Attack Trait with 0 damage in order to gain XP? A: No, you cannot use the Attack Trait if the damage prior to the target managing it is 0. In other words, if your damage announcement is "I'm attacking your Hero for 0 damage" it would not be a valid use of an Attack Trait.

Q: In my Library, I have two "Thunderstrike" Neutral Skill cards, can I study both at BuildUp Phase and use them at Combat Phase? A: No, you cannot study or use the same title Neutral Skill card in one game. (For more details on duplicate Skill cards, see: p.26.)

Q: I spent 3 Experience tokens and placed a new Skill card with the Initiative 0 step number on my Station Field. When I studied the card from my Library, my Hero's Stat points met the card's requirements. I changed a Restricted Item and my Hero's Stat points no longer meet the card's requirements. Can I still use the card's ability? A: No, as soon as your Hero does not meet a card's requirements, all abilities gained from the card cease. The card stays on the Station Field and all players should treat the card as if it were blank. Once your Hero meets the card's requirements again, the card returns to its normal function.

Glossary

Die: When you see this symbol on a card, roll a die and use the result in place of the Die symbol on the card to determine the card's effect. If this occurs to a certain target, you announce the target first and resolve the die.

[Progress track: the heading is printed only as icons in the source.] This represents a progress track. When you use this card, place one of your Damage tokens on the "Start" mark on the card. Whenever you satisfy the card's condition, move the Damage token to the right. Even if you don't finish the whole progress track, the Damage token remains on the card until you reach the final "!" point. Once you reach the "!" point, the card effect is resolved and you move the Damage token back to the "Start" mark.

Attachment: A card with this Trait is attached (or placed) on top of a Field or an entity as indicated by the card's effect. Any effect this card would have only occurs while it is attached to its target.

Attack: This card causes blockable damage to one or more targets. Some cards list multiple attacks, in which case each action must be resolved separately.

Attacker: An entity that just used an Attack. This can be the Hero or Creature of other players, a Monster, or Monster's Creature.

Attack (Standalone): The Attack (Standalone) Trait restricts a player to using only one Attack Trait that round. In order to play a Attack (Standalone) Trait, a player must not use an Attack Trait before playing the Attack (Standalone) Trait this round and must not play an Attack Trait after it this round. For example, if the player uses the "Flame Spear" Skill card with the Attack (Standalone) Trait, this Attack is the only Attack Trait that the player may use in that round.

Ally (or Allies): An Ally is an entity that is in one of your Fields and is under your control. This could be a Hero, Creature, or Object.

Bounty Card: A card gained when a player KnocksDown another player's Hero. This card attaches to a player's Station Field and lasts until that player's Hero is KnockedDown by another player's entity. A player receives additional Gold when they KnockDown a Hero who has one or more Bounty cards. If a player already had a Bounty card and KnocksDown another player's Hero, the player flips the current Bounty card to "Bounty X2" side that represents having two Bounty cards.

Choose One: (X) OR (Y): When a card says "Choose One: X OR Y", the player using the card must choose one of the two options.

Creature: A card with this Trait is a Creature. They may be summoned (placed) by a player's Hero or by a Monster and are considered Allies to that entity. Creatures often have an Active Abilities box at the bottom of their card, indicating that they may perform the listed actions during the appropriate Initiative Step of the Combat Phase. In all cases, their controlling player decides when or if a Creature uses any abilities during the Combat Phase. Creatures may be targeted by appropriate Skill cards and return to their owner's Current Deck (discarded) should they receive Damage tokens greater than or equal to their Health Points.

Discard: Cards are always discarded back to their associated area. If a card does not have a limited number of uses (such as One Time or 3 Times), it is discarded once it is used (with the exception of cards that stay in your Station or Inventory Fields).

• Item cards return to a discard pile next to the Market.
• Skill cards return to a player's Current Deck.
• Monster-Action cards return to a discard pile next to the Monster-Action deck.

Delay I: When you see a Skill card with "Delay I" on it, you must place 1 Stun token on the card after it is used. This means you cannot return the Skill card to your Current Deck during the next CleanUp Phase, preventing you from using that Skill card in the next round. Once a card has any amount of Stun tokens on it, it becomes "Stunned".

Delay II: When you see a Skill card with "Delay II" on it, you must place 2 Stun tokens on the card after it is used. This is one of the only methods by which a card can gain more than one Stun token. Similar to Delay I, this means that you cannot return the Skill card to your Current Deck during the next 2 CleanUp Phases, preventing you from using that Skill card in the next two rounds. Once a card has any amount of Stun tokens on it, it becomes "Stunned".

Destroy: When a card is destroyed, it is removed from the current game. It is recommended that the card be placed in the game box or somewhere safe. If a card is destroyed, it no longer counts for any Victory conditions or other Card Requirements. No player may play that card again for the rest of that game. This doesn't mean physically rip, shred or tear.

Dodge: Every Hero has a "Dodge" card (backside of the "Flat-Footed" card). You may block 5 damage and use additional Shield Points to reduce the damage from an opponent's Attack with this card, but it only works against damage being applied to your Hero (Self Trait). If you use the Response Trait effect on this card, flip the card back to the "Flat-Footed" side immediately. Even if you don't use the Response (Attack) Trait ability until the CleanUp Phase, you still need to follow the Auto Trait effect, "Your Hero recovers 1 health, then flip this card."

[Figure: The "Dodge" card has two Active Abilities: Response (Attack) and Auto.]

Entity: Anything that has Health Points is an entity. This includes Monsters, Heroes, Creatures, or Objects. An "Allied entity" is a card in one of your Fields under your control. If a card specifies "all entities" in its effect, this will affect the entities under your control as well.

Field: Each player has 3 Fields on their board: Combat, Station, and Inventory. The differences between the 3 Fields are listed below.

• Combat Field: This Field contains the Skill cards used during the Combat Phase. These cards only have an effect on the round they are used. The only cards played on the Combat Field are the Leader card and Skill cards with the Predict, Spell, Attack, or Response Traits. The Combat Field also includes a Stunned Area for players to place Stunned cards.
• Station Field: This Field is for Skill cards that stay on your Field and provide a continuous effect. Once you place cards on this Field, the cards stay until a condition of the card is met. The only cards played on the Station Field are Hero Special cards and Skill cards with the Self, Attachments, Object, or Creature Traits. Your pile of Damage tokens should also be placed to the right side of your Station Field.
• Inventory Field: This Field shows what your Hero has and available options for your Hero. The contents of the Inventory Field, from left to right are: your Library, Hero, Items, Resources (Gold, Experience, Shadow Stones), Mission card, and Current Deck.

Hand: A set of Skill cards gathered from a player's Current Deck during the Plan Phase. The cards in a player's Hand are available for use during the Combat Phase.

Hero: A Hero is the main character a player controls. Heroes are asymmetric with varying strengths, weaknesses, and playstyle. Players equip their Hero with Item cards and develop their Skills through the use of Basic and Neutral Skill cards.

Health Stat Points: Health Stat Points represent an entity's vitality and indicate how many Damage tokens can be placed on the entity's card before that entity is either defeated (if it's a Monster), returned to its owners Current Deck (if it's a Creature or Object), or KnockedDown (if it's a Hero). The more Health Points an entity has, the more damage it can take before it's defeated.

Invincible: An entity with this keyword cannot be damaged, targeted, lose health, or recover health. Other notable interactions include:

• Predict cards: Since cards with the Predict Trait are used against another player, you may still gain the effects of an "On a successful prediction:", but any damage the card would cause to an entity with the Invincible Trait is negated.
• Attacks: An Invincible entity cannot be the target of an Attack, no matter the source. No damage will be dealt, and any other effect the card has will be canceled unless it has a valid alternate target. Cards that Attack multiple targets may still affect other, non-Invincible entities.
• Spells: Similar to Attacks, an Invincible entity isn't a valid target for cards with the Spell Trait. Spell Traits with multiple targets may still affect other, non-Invincible entities.

Leader: The Leader is the player who currently has the Leader card on their Combat Field. The Leader card functions as the first player marker, and is passed clockwise to a new player each Round. The Shield Point on the Leader card recovers every time the card is passed to a new player. (For more details on Shield Points, see: p.24.)

Library: The Library holds the Neutral Skill cards that a player drew at the start of the game. During the BuildUp Phase, players may purchase Neutral Skill cards from their Library by spending 3 Experience tokens. If a card effect refers to a player's Library, it only affects cards that are still in the Library, not any card that the player previously purchased from their Library.

Market: The Market is where players may purchase Items during the BuildUp Phase. The Market board provided with the base game comes with two sides, one for 2-player games and one for 3-player games. If a card effect adds more Items to the Market than there are available slots, place these Items next to the Market board; these Items will be discarded during the CleanUp Phase if there are no empty Market slots available to store them.

Mission Card: A card containing a hidden objective for a player. Accomplishing these objectives rewards a player with extra Shadow Stones at the end of the game.

Monster Card: A card representing a dangerous denizen of the Cave of Ederoth. Each Monster card is unique, arranged in levels from I to III to represent how dangerous they will be for a Hero to challenge. Each Monster card has a picture of the Monster, an icon list indicating what the Monster-Action cards will do while this Monster is on the board.

Monster-Action Card: These purple-backed cards have symbols relating to actions on a Monster card. When a player reveals a Monster-Action card, they should consult the current Monster card to see which action the Monster performs and the reward for defeating the Monster.

Object: An entity with this Trait is often a structure or device that provides an ongoing, passive effect for Allies or enemies so long as the card remains in play. It may be targeted by appropriate Skill cards and returns to its owner's Current Deck should it receive Damage tokens greater than or equal to its Health Points.

One Time: A Skill card with this Trait may be used only once per game. During the CleanUp Phase, a card with this Trait is not returned to their owner's Current Deck; it is instead placed back in the game box, removed from play. Item cards may also have this Trait. Once a One Time Item is used, the Item is similarly removed from play, and no longer counts towards the "most total equipped Items' cost" victory condition.

Opponent(s): Another player or other players.

Other: If a card refers to "other" Creatures or Heroes, it is referring to the specified entities of other players.

Predict: Cards with this Trait can only be used against another player, and there will always be an Initiative Step number listed next to the Response arrow symbol. When a player uses a card with a Predict Trait, they must pick one opponent and announce one of the Initiative numbers listed next to the Response arrow symbol. The opponent must then announce whether or not they have a card matching that Initiative number in their hand. If they do, follow the effects listed in the Predict card's text. If they do not, the Predict card has no other effect unless otherwise noted.

KnockDown: Heroes are never defeated in this game, only temporarily thrown off their feet. A Hero with Damage tokens on their Hero card greater than or equal to their maximum Health Stat Points is KnockedDown. (For more details on the effects of a KnockDown, see Gaining Rewards: p.25.)

Recover: If a Skill card says "Recover", remove the specified amount of Damage tokens from the target's Health Points. If a Skill card says "Recover Shield Points", then remove the specified amount of Damage tokens from any Shield Points on your Field. If a Monster-Action card causes a Monster to recover, the player who revealed that Monster-Action card removes Damage tokens of their color from the Monster's card. If a target at full health receives a "Recover" effect, they are not considered to have recovered for any other game effects.

Repeat: If an action has this keyword on it, it may be repeated so long as the player satisfies the condition(s) listed. For example, an action may be repeated so long as its effect KnocksDown another player's Hero; if a Hero isn't KnockedDown by the effect, the action can no longer be repeated that round.

Resources: There are three resources in the game: Experience tokens, Gold tokens and Shadow Stones.

Response: This Trait is the ultimate counter effect for any matching Trait, usually listed in the form of: "Response (Attack)", "Response (Spell)", or "Response (Predict)". If a player holds a card with this Trait in their Hand during the Combat Phase, they may play it immediately when the listed Trait is used against an Allied entity.

X: X on a Skill card is a variable. For example, the "Strike Weakness" Skill card says "Deal (X) damage to an opponent's Hero. where X = the number of Damage tokens on the Hero". If the target Hero has 5 Damage tokens, then X is 5, and "Deal 5 damage to an opponent's Hero." is the card's effect in this case.

Restricted Item: An Item that has the "Restricted" keyword on its card is a Restricted Item. A player may only have one Restricted Item on their Inventory Field at a time. If a player receives a Restricted Item while they already have one equipped (either through the Market or a Monster Reward), they must choose one Restricted Item to keep and discard the other.

Shadow Stone: Shadow Stones represent victory points which are required to win the game.

Shield Points: Shield Points function similar to temporary extra Health Points for entities to mitigate damage from an Attack. When targeted by an Attack, a player may mark any available Shield Points, including an Allied entity's Shield Points to protect their Ally, with Damage tokens before marking a loss of Health Points. Shield Points may not be marked when targeted by a Spell, Predict, or other source of damage, unless otherwise noted. Shield Points do not recover, including when a player receives a full recovery from being KnockedDown, unless a card effect specifically allows it or, in the case of the Leader card, when it passes to a new player. (For more details on Shield Points, see: p.24.)

Skill Pool: The pile of Neutral Skill cards from which a player draws their Library. The players shuffle all Neutral Skill cards from this base game to make a shared Skill Pool or the players make the customized Skill Pool by following the steps in the "Play with Another Base Game" section. (For more details on the customized Skill Pool, see: p.26.)

StartSide/ BackSide: This Trait only shows up on double sided cards, such as Hero Special cards or Initiative 0 Skill cards. These cards are always played at the start of the game. When played, make sure the side showing the "StartSide" Trait is faceup. Only flip this card (so the "Backside" Trait is faceup) when the card's conditions are met.

Stun (or Stun Token): A Stun token prevents a Skill card from being available for use. If a Stun token is on top of a Skill card, then the Skill card is stunned. Stun tokens cannot be placed on top of a Skill card that already has a Stun token unless the token is gained by using a Skill card with the "Delay" keyword.

Stunned: A Skill card is considered stunned if it has at least 1 Stun token on it. Stunned cards are moved into the Stunned Area of the Combat Field during the CleanUp Phase and may not be returned to their player's Current Deck. While in this area, a card may not be used for Shield Points and any of its effects unless the effects from "Active Abilities". During the CleanUp Phase, one Stun token is removed from every card that has one. Any card that cannot remove a Stun token when required to do so is no longer stunned, and is returned to their player's Current Deck during the CleanUp Phase. (For more details on the CleanUp Phase, see: p.15.)

Target: Any entity that is NOT under your control can be a target (such as a Monster, or a Hero, Creature, or Object on another player's Field). For example, when you use an Attack Trait with "Deal 3 damage to a target" as the effect, you may choose anything that has Health Points on the table except for any Hero, Creature, or Object under your control.