Small-Time Heroes: The Warrior Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Overview
• Winning and Losing
• Enemy Setup
• Hero Setup (For Each Player)
• Gameplay
  • The Hero Turn
    • Reset (Simultaneous)
    • Fight (Choose Who Goes First)
  • Hero Card Anatomy
  • Dealing Damage
  • Blocking
  • Other Hero Key Terms
  • Potions
  • Status Effects
    • Targeted Status Effects
    • Persistent Status Effects
  • Ending the Hero Turn
• The Enemy Turn
  • Reset (Left to Right Order)
  • Fight
    • The Intent Deck
    • Activating & Spawning Minions
  • Minion Card Anatomy
  • Defeat Reward
  • Minion Ability
  • Minion Key Terms
  • Activating the Horde/Boss
  • Getting Knocked Out
  • Moving From Wave to Wave
  • Adding Minions to a Wave
• Campaign Mode
  • Additional Setup
  • Gameplay (Campaign)
  • Special Rules for Different Days
  • When a Boss Is Defeated
  • Challenges
    • Basic Challenges
    • Advanced Challenges
  • Treasures
• 2-Player Rules
• Bosses
  • The Houndmaster
  • The Goblin King
    • Bombs!
    • Defusing a Bomb
  • The Guardian
    • Crystals!
    • Guardian Boss Setup
    • Rubble
  • The Necromancer
    • Zombies!
• Heroes
  • Joan the Warrior
    • Equipment
    • Other Warrior Key Terms
    • Status Effects (see pg. 11)
  • Lira the Rogue
    • Concealing
    • Other Rogue Key Terms
    • Status Effects (Rogue)
• Quick Reference Guide
  • Hero Turn
  • Enemy Turn
  • End of Wave (All Minions Defeated)

Components

Warrior

• 67 Hero Cards
• 1 Body Card
• 5 Knowledge Cards
• 1 Hero Mat + 2 Boss/Horde Mats
• 24 Houndmaster Minion Cards
• 24 Necromancer Minion Cards

Rogue

• 67 Hero Cards
• 1 Conceal Card
• 5 Knowledge Cards
• 1 Hero Mat + 2 Boss/Horde Mats
• 24 Goblin Minion Cards
• 24 Guardian Minion Cards

Shared

• 4 Minion/Boss Health Cards
• 20 Intent Cards
• 12 Wave Challenge/Reward Cards
• 12 Advanced Wave Challenge/Treasure Cards
• 16 Potion Cards
• 40 Block Tokens
• 22 Strength Tokens
• 6 Protect Tokens
• 6 Exposed Tokens
• 6 Weak Tokens
• 14 Tracker Cubes

Overview

In Small-Time Heroes you will take on the role of 1 of 2 Heroes, and fight your way through several MINION WAVES and one or more BOSS WAVES. You may choose to play a standard 1-Day game, consisting of 3 Minion Waves and 1 Boss Wave, or play a campaign consisting of 3 Days, where you will have to take on multiple Bosses along with their Minions. The game may also be played either Solo or 2-player. In each game, you will use the abilities on your Hero Cards to defeat Enemies, gain rewards, build your Hero deck, and ultimately defeat the final Boss, together or alone!

Winning and Losing

To win a standard game of Small-Time Heroes you must defeat all the Enemies in your path, starting with 3 Minion Waves, and ending with a final Boss Wave. If you can reach the Boss and reduce their health to 0 before your Hero(es) have had their health reduced to 0, then you win!

Note: The rules for playing and winning a Campaign start on page 20.

Enemy Setup

1. Select a Boss and find their associated Minion Cards and Boss/Horde Mat.
2. Separate the Minion cards by Wave number (Wave 1, Wave 2, Wave 3) and shuffle them into 3 face down Minion Wave Decks.
3. Draw 3 Wave 1 Minion cards and place them in a face up row - this is called the Minion Row. Then randomly place one of the circle / square / triangle-diamond Health Cards below each Minion in the row, and follow the directions for spawning Minions on page 13.
4. Place the Boss/Horde Mat to the right of the Minion Row, Horde side up.
5. Shuffle and place the Intent Deck face down next to the Boss/Horde Mat.
6. Place the Boss Health Card near the Boss/Horde Mat for later use.
7. Shuffle and place the Wave Challenge/Reward cards into a stack, Reward-side-up, next to the Enemy Health Cards.

Return all unused Minion cards to the box.

Hero Setup (For Each Player)

8. Select a Hero (or Heroes if playing 2-player) and place their Hero Mat in front of you. Set their starting health (shown in back of book) and Energy (always 3), as shown.
9. Separate their 9 borderless Hero Cards from the others - these are your Starting Hero Cards.
10. Shuffle all other Hero Cards, place them in a face down Market Deck, and flip 4 face up into a Market Row.
11. Choose 1 Hero Card from the Market Row, add it to your Starting Hero Cards, and shuffle these 10 cards into a face down Hero Deck. Then replace the card that you took with a new one from the Market Deck.
12. Place your Hero's Unique (Body or Conceal) Card below the Market Row and draw 5 cards to form your starting hand.
13. Shuffle the Potion Cards and create a (shared) Potion and Token Supply within reach (of both players if playing 2-Player).

The Advanced Challenge/Treasure Cards and Knowledge Cards are only used for Campaign mode, and can be returned to the box otherwise.

Gameplay

A standard game of Small-Time Heroes plays over the span of 1 Day, consisting of 3 Minion Waves and 1 Boss Wave. In each Wave you will alternate between Hero and Enemy Turns until either your Hero(es) or all the Enemies for that Wave are defeated.

The Hero Turn

Each Turn (Hero or Enemy) consists of 2 phases, Reset and Fight, always in that order. If playing 2-Player, both Heroes will Fight during each Hero Turn, and you may choose who Fights first each turn. One Hero must finish Fighting before moving on to the other, and the chosen order determines who resolves Enemy attacks first during the next Enemy Turn.

Reset (Simultaneous)

At the start of each Hero Turn:

• Remove all Block / Status Tokens from your Hero's upper token spaces, if any (see pg. 9).
• Draw an Intent Card, keeping it face down.

Fight (Choose Who Goes First)

Now it's time to play Hero Cards! Each Hero Card has an Energy Cost in the top left corner, which you must pay in order to play the card. You start the game with 3 Energy to spend each turn (may be altered in Campaign mode).

• You may play as many cards from your hand as you can afford, in the order of your choice. Note that some cards have a 0 Energy cost, and are free to play.
• To play a Hero Card, pay its Energy cost by moving the cube on your Energy track, place the card into the play area in front of you, and resolve its Card Ability. Played cards are not discarded until the end of your turn.
• If the text of a card directly contradicts the text of the Rulebook, the text of the card takes precedence.
• Cards are activated in the order they are read (i.e. Deal 4 damage. Conceal. You would deal 4 damage and then Conceal)
• At the end of your turn, discard played cards, as well as any remaining in your hand, into your Hero discard pile. Then draw 5 cards from your Hero deck. If you don't have enough cards to draw, shuffle your Hero discard pile into a new Hero Deck and continue drawing.

Hero Card Anatomy

Labelled parts of a Hero Card: Energy Cost, Card Type, Card Name, Card Ability.

Hero Cards have many different Abilities, each generally focusing on one thing according to their CARD TYPE:

• Attack (fist icon)
• Defense (shield icon)
• Skill (compass-star icon)
• Equipment (armour/bag icon)

Dealing Damage

A card with a damage effect may target only a single ENEMY (either Minion or Boss) unless otherwise stated on the card, reducing their health by the stated damage value.

• Any residual damage dealt above what's needed to defeat an Enemy is lost.
• Some damage effects may specify that you must target a Minion (and not a Boss).
• When damaging an enemy that has Block, always remove Block before health.
• When a Minion is defeated, discard the Minion Card above the Minion Wave deck it came from and gain any Defeat Rewards shown on the card (see pg. 14)
• Any Strength you have gets added each and every time you deal damage. So if an ability says "deal 1 damage 4 times" and you have 1 Strength, it would deal 2 damage 4 times.
• Whenever damage is either divided or multiplied, it is always rounded down.

Damage Example: You're playing with the Rogue, are currently Concealed, and have 1 Strength. You play Surprise Attack, which right now allows you to Deal 7 damage (6 + 1 Strength) to 2 different Enemies.

You decide to target Banshee and Big Boi, which have 3 and 7 remaining health, respectively. Banshee also has 1 Block.

Your attack is enough to reduce both of their Block/Health totals to 0, defeating them and discarding them into their Wave's discard pile. These Minions both have a REACT Ability as well, which we'll talk about shortly.

Big Boi also had a Defeat Reward on his card, so you gain that now as well! In this case, you would get to draw 1 card from your Hero Deck.

Blocking

Block is gained by playing Defense cards and is tracked using Block Tokens. Whenever you gain Block, place Block tokens in the light-colored spaces at the top of your Hero Mat according to the number of Block gained. When a Hero or Enemy is damaged, Block is always removed before health. If you have any Block remaining at the start of your turn, it is removed during the Reset phase.

Other Hero Key Terms

You won't need to know all of these right away, but you'll find a reference of all Ability keywords on the following page. The Hero Summaries (pg. 32-35) also contain details on these.

• AMBUSH: Whenever a card with AMBUSH is discarded during your turn (not at the end), activate its ability for free.
• CONCEAL: When you become Concealed, flip the Concealed card to the Conceal side. (see Rogue Summary)
• DISCARD: Remove a card from your hand and place it in your discard pile.
• EXPOSED: Give an EXPOSED Token to an Enemy. Double the next damage you deal to them (rounded down). Remove the token after dealing damage. Cannot be stacked.
• EQUIPPED (X): If you have a number of Equipment equipped equal to or more than (X), use this ability.
• FINALE: If this card is played as the last card in your hand, play it again!
• IMMUNITY: Take no damage until your next turn.
• PROTECT: Gain a PROTECT Token. For each PROTECT Token you have, gain 1 extra Block every time you gain any Block (lasts until end of current Wave).
• PREPARE: This card's Energy cost is reduced by 1 Energy for every non-Prepare card played before it. Once a Prepare card is played, the discount is reset, and you must play more non-Prepare cards to build it up again.
• STRENGTH: Gain a STRENGTH Token. For each Strength Token you have, +1 additional damage every time you deal damage (lasts until end of current Wave).
• WEAK: Give a WEAK Token to an Enemy. Their next attack deals half damage (rounded down). Remove after damage. Cannot be stacked.

Potions

Throughout the course of the game you will obtain Potions. Each Hero may only have a maximum of 3 Potions at any time. If you already have the max number of potions and gain another, you may discard one to make room for the new one.

Potions may be used at ANY time (even out of turn) on any Hero and are discarded after use.

Example card shown in the book: "Feel Nothing Brew" - Gain 8 Block.

Status Effects

Each status effect has a corresponding token that goes on your Hero board (in the bottom dark-colored spaces) when you gain the effect, or on an Enemy Card when given to them. There are 2 different types of status effects:

Targeted Status Effects

Heroes apply these to Enemies, and Enemies apply them to Heroes. Their effects are only triggered once, and then the token(s) are removed.

• WEAK: This Hero or Enemy's next attack deals half damage (rounded down). Remove after damage. Cannot be stacked.
• EXPOSED: The next damage this Hero or Enemy takes is doubled (rounded down). Remove after damage. Cannot be stacked.

Persistent Status Effects

Unless otherwise stated on a card, these status effects persist from turn to turn, and are removed only at the end of a Wave, or when an Enemy is defeated (if they are gained 'until end of turn' place them in one of your Block Token spaces, to be removed when your next turn starts).

• STRENGTH: +1 damage every time damage is dealt.
• PROTECT: +1 Block every time any number of Block is gained.

A Hero or Enemy may have any number of Strength or Protect Tokens, and their benefits are cumulative.

Ending the Hero Turn

Once the Hero(es) are finished Fighting, and have discarded and drawn back up to 5 cards, it becomes the Enemy Turn.

The Enemy Turn

Reset (Left to Right Order)

At the start of the enemy turn:

• Reset Enemy Block: make sure each Enemy has Block tokens on it equal to the number in its Block icon. If it has no Block icon make sure any Block tokens on it are removed.

Example: Remove any Block on this Minion and add a Block token with 2 Block to it.

Fight

Enemies Fight based on the Intent Cards drawn at the start of the Hero Turn. In turn order each Hero must reveal their Intent Card and:

1. Activate the corresponding Minion if present.
2. Activate the corresponding Horde or Boss ability.

The Intent Deck

This deck is double sided and provides information about which Minions and Abilities will activate. Sometimes you will know exactly what is going to happen, and sometimes you will have to guess.

The back of the card shows the possible results; the front shows the actual result. In this case, the Minion above the circle Health Card, as well as the Horde/Boss's circle Ability would both activate.

Note: Intent results are printed as symbols (circle, square, triangle, and others). A Minion activates when the result matches the symbol on its Health Card. The page-16 text says two of the results ONLY activate a Horde/Boss ability and not a Minion; those two symbols are image-only in the printed book and are not reproduced as text here.

Activating & Spawning Minions

Whenever activating a Minion: Remember to apply STRENGTH!

1. Deal Attack damage to the active Hero.
2. Activate any Activate Abilities.

Whenever spawning a new Minion:

1. Set its starting Health according to its Health icon (doubled in 2-Player games), using cubes on its Health Card.
2. Add Block Tokens to the Minion if they have a Block value.
3. Activate any ARRIVE Abilities from left to right (once all Minions are spawned, if there are multiple).

Minion Card Anatomy

• ATTACK (A): This damage is applied to the Hero who reveals the Minion's Intent card (STRENGTH is added to this).
• BLOCK (B): If a Minion has a Block value, they gain that amount of Block during Wave setup and the Enemy Prepare phase.
• HEALTH (C): This is a Minion's starting AND maximum health. For a two player game, double the indicated health. Track it using cubes on the Health Card below a Minion. (For 10+ Health, use the 10-100 row of the Health Card.)

Sample card shown in the book: Loyal Wolf - Attack 4, Block 2, Health 7. ARRIVE: Give all other Minions 2 Block.

Defeat Reward

Some Minions have rewards that you will gain when they are defeated (D). Defeat Rewards are given to the player who defeats the Minion. They can choose to take the reward or not.

Defeat Reward icons:

• Gain a potion
• Draw 1 card
• Clear your Market Row
• Gain 1 Energy to use on this turn
• Gain X amount of health
• Gain X amount of block
• Deal X amount of damage to an Enemy

Minion Ability

Minions may have three types of abilities (E). Abilities may gain extra damage from STRENGTH.

• ARRIVE: Arrive abilities trigger during the setup phase, when the minion card is placed in the active row. It is NOT triggered on subsequent activations.
• ACTIVATE: Activate abilities trigger during the activate Enemy Fight phase.
• POWER: A power is always active and can be triggered by an action (i.e. ON DEATH, REACT)

Minion Key Terms

• REACT: Anytime a Minion takes damage (loses Health, not Block), the REACT ability is activated.
• GUARD: Heroes MUST defeat Minions with GUARD before other Enemies.
• ON DEATH: When Minions health reaches 0, the ON DEATH ability is activated.

Many Minions and some Horde/Boss Abilities will also use the same key terms as Hero Cards (pg. 10), in which case they benefit the Enemy (negative status effects are applied to Heroes, not Enemies, etc.)

Activating the Horde/Boss

After activating a Minion (if any) based on the Intent Card result, the Horde (or Boss if the Boss is active) then activates based on the same result. Note that the two Horde/Boss-only results ONLY activate a Horde/Boss ability and not a Minion.

For example, if The Wolf Pack Horde is currently active, and you get a circle result, you would resolve the following effect:

Deal 2 damage. The Minion with the lowest health gains 2 block.

If more than one Minion can be targeted by the Horde ability, the player may choose which Minion gets targeted.

Getting Knocked Out

When a Hero's health is reduced to 0, that hero is knocked out. If playing Solo, the game immediately ends in loss. If playing multiplayer, the other player will play until they defeat the Boss or become knocked out as well. They must still draw 2 Intent Cards each Hero Turn, and resolve both of them in the order of their choice each Enemy Turn (they are always the active Hero).

Moving From Wave to Wave

As you proceed from Waves 1 to 2 to 3, the three Minions you face will get more difficult, and sometimes additional Minions will get spawned during a given Wave, which you must also defeat in order to end that Wave. You only need to defeat these Minions to move on to the next Wave.

Adding Minions to a Wave

When an ability tells you to add a new Minion, draw the top card from the current Wave's Minion deck and place it in the leftmost empty Minion spot. Then set their Health and Block, and activate any ARRIVE powers they might have.

If there are no spots available, the Minion which would be placed is activated instead, dealing damage and resolving any abilities if applicable. That Minion is then discarded, activating any ON DEATH abilities.

If you need to draw a Minion and ALL Minions of that Wave are currently in discard piles, shuffle the discard pile of the Wave you would draw from to create a new Minion deck.

If there are no Minions of the current Wave available, use a Minion from the next highest Wave. For example, if on Wave 1, the "next highest" would be Wave 2 and if on Wave 3, the next highest wave would also be Wave 3 (if available).

Ending a Wave

Once all starting and spawned Minions are defeated:

• Discard your remaining hand, your current Intent Card(s), and remove all Status Effects and Equipment Cards from your Hero(es).
• Gain WAVE REWARDS (see next page)
• Shuffle your discard pile and any newly gained Hero cards into your deck and draw a new hand of 5 cards.
• Set up the next Wave.

Wave Rewards

After a Wave is completed, you will gain one or more rewards based on the current Wave Reward card. Look at the top card of the Wave Reward deck and, in any order, all Heroes gain the reward(s) listed. Then discard the card, revealing the next reward. Note that only the Reward side of these cards is used in a standard 1-Day game.

• Gain a card: Select a card from your Market Row of 4 cards, and shuffle it into your deck. Then draw and reveal a new card from your Market Deck to replace the one you took.
• Destroy a card: Remove a card from your deck or discard from the game.
• Heal: Heal according to the number shown (cannot go above max health).
• Gain a Potion: Draw a Potion from the Potion deck and add it to your Hero's play space.
• Clear the row: You may choose to clear all cards from your Market Row and replace them with 4 new cards. This may be done before or after you gain cards.

Wave Setup

To set up a new Wave, draw 3 cards from the next Wave's Minion deck (the Wave 2 deck when setting up Wave 2, etc.) and place the drawn Minions above each of the 3 Minion health counters, going from left to right.

Note: The Minion deck used for the Boss Wave will vary based on what Day you are on (see Campaign Mode).

Then set each of their starting Health and Block, and finally, if they have any ARRIVE powers, activate them, going from left to right.

The Boss

After you have completed all 3 Minion waves, flip over the Horde/Boss card and prepare to fight the Boss! Setup as follows:

1. Set the Boss health to the number shown in the heart in the upper left of the card (or double it if playing 2-player).
2. Fill the 3 Minion spaces with Wave 3, or Wave 2 or Wave 1 Minions based on what Day you are on: in a standard 1-Day game, the Boss will always spawn Wave 1 Minions. If there are not enough Minions in the corresponding deck, shuffle that Wave's discard pile into a new deck.

• Bosses work the same as Hordes except they have health which needs to be removed and brought down to 0 to win.
• Minions do not need to be defeated to win.
• If an ability says to add a Minion, follow the rules for adding Minions to a Wave (pg. 17), treating the Wave of Minions used during Boss setup as the "current wave."
• If a Boss ability gains a Status Effect, place the token in an open spot under the Boss' name. All Boss abilities are affected by Status Effect.
• All Bosses have their own unique abilities and playstyle. See how each Boss works on pages 25-31.

Campaign Mode

The Campaign Mode for Small-Time Heroes is played over the course of 3 DAYS, each getting progressively harder.

Additional Setup

• Select (randomly or not) 3 Bosses you want to fight, and the order in which you will fight them.
• Shuffle the Knowledge Cards specific to your Hero(es) and keep them near your Hero Mat.
• Randomly select 6 Advanced Wave Challenge/Treasure Cards and shuffle them in with the other Wave Challenge/Reward cards, placing them Challenge-side-up. This will now be used as a Wave Challenge/Reward Deck.

Note that the Challenge side of these cards is only used in Campaign Mode. Whenever you defeat a Wave with 1 or more Challenges, you'll gain the Rewards/Treasures on the back of that Wave's Challenge cards.

Gameplay (Campaign)

Each Day of a Campaign works basically the same as a standard 1-Day game, with the following exceptions:

• Defeating a Boss advances you on to the next Day, again beginning with Minion Wave 1, and you only win once all 3 Days are completed successfully.
• The Challenge side of the Wave Challenge/Reward Deck will be used starting on Day 2, the effects of which will be applied to all Minions in each Wave (see next page). Only once a Wave is defeated do you flip Challenge cards over to find out what your Wave Reward is.
• Knowledge and Treasure may both be gained during Campaigns, as discussed below.

Special Rules for Different Days

Day 1 of a Campaign plays out as a standard game, consisting of 3 Minion Waves and a Boss Wave with Wave 1 Minions. Ignore the Challenge side of the Wave Challenge/Rewards deck for Day 1, and simply flip the top card over to its Reward side at the end of each Wave, gaining the Wave Reward shown. Days 2 and 3 each work a little differently, however:

• DAY 2: Use 1 Challenge for each Wave, including Boss Wave. Play Boss Wave with Wave 2 Minions, and add +10 to the Boss's max Health (doubled in 2-player games).
• DAY 3: Use 2 Challenges for each Wave, but only gain rewards from one of them. Play Boss Wave with Wave 3 Minions, and add +20 to the Boss's max Health.

When a Boss Is Defeated

Each player will:

• Draw 2 Knowledge cards specific to your Hero and choose 1 to keep face up next to your Hero Mat - its effect is now in play for the rest of the Campaign. Shuffle the other back into your Knowledge cards.
• Flip the active Challenge card and gain the Reward/Treasure on their back side.
• Set Hero(es) health to full.

Challenges

Each active Challenge grants Health, Block, and/or Strength buffs to all Minions (and only Minions), including those that spawn mid-Wave, and those in the Boss Wave. When multiple Challenges are in play, their buffs are added together, and at the end of each Wave all active Challenges are replaced after gaining Rewards.

Basic Challenges

• Health buffs are added to every Minion (doubled in 2 player).
• Block buffs (doubled in 2 player) and Strength (not doubled) are only added when a Minion is spawned and are not counted during the Enemy Reset phase.
• When a Wave is defeated, each player gains the Wave Reward shown on the Reward side of one Basic Challenge in play.

Example Basic Challenge card shown in the book: Health 1, Block 2, Strength 1.

Advanced Challenges

• Advanced challenges grant buffs as well as a special effect that is active during that Wave.
• When a Wave is defeated, an Advanced Challenge in is flipped to its Treasure side and may be gained. Heroes share this Treasure when gained, both immediately gaining its effect, and both benefiting from its written effect when the Treasure is used.

Example Advanced Challenge card shown in the book: Health 2, Block 0, Strength 0. "When a Minion takes damage: It gains 1 Block."

Treasures

• When gaining a Treasure, each Hero may also gain a card from their Market Row.
• Treasures can either be CONSUMABLE (used like a potion) or START OF WAVE (stay with you for the rest of the game and activate on the first Hero turn of each Wave).
• CONSUMABLE treasures are not considered potions, and do not count towards your 3 potion limit.
• There is no limit to the number of active Treasures.

Example Treasure shown in the book: Wooden Arm - START OF COMBAT: The first card you play is free.

2-Player Rules

Playing with another player is mostly the same as playing Solo, but with the following changes:

• Health is doubled for all Minions and Bosses (i.e. a Boss with 30 health will be 60 health, a Minion with 8 health will be 16 health)
• Health and Block buffs from Campaign Challenges are all doubled.
• During the prepare phase, all Heroes draw 1 intent card and place it face down by their Hero Mat.
• During the Hero Turn, players choose which Hero will play their cards first.
• When Intent cards are revealed, each player reveals their intent card based on the turn order from the Hero Turn.
• Hero cards can only be used on your own Hero unless otherwise stated.
• If a Hero is knocked out, the other player must activate both Intent cards and will play until they defeat the Boss or become knocked out as well.
• When gaining a Treasure, both players gain the reward. They may also both apply its effect at the same time when the Treasure is used.

Bosses

Each Boss has a starting health shown on its Horde/Boss card, a difficulty rating, and a description. Card-level ability text is printed on the Horde/Boss and Minion cards; the examples printed in this rulebook are reproduced below.

The Houndmaster

Difficulty: 1 of 3

The man known as The Houndmaster was abandoned in the woods as a child. He found an unlikely family among a pack of ancient wolves. Nurtured by their wisdom and magic, he developed an uncanny ability to control the wolves. He became both a part of the wild and its master. Yet, as time passed, his heart darkened, and the sanctuary that once cradled him became a breeding ground for vengeance. The betrayal of his human origins twisted his heart, and he vowed revenge. Harnessing his connection with the wolves, he formed a wild army, seeking to sow chaos and despair among those who had abandoned him.

Boss health: 30.

The Houndmaster is all about building up Strength. He becomes stronger as the Boss Wave progresses and deals devastating attacks that with enough time might take you out in one blow!

Example cards shown in the book:

• Wolf Pack (Minion, Attack 5, Block 2, Health 9): ACTIVATE: All Minions including Wolf Pack gain 1 STRENGTH. Defeat Reward: Gain a potion.
• Wolf Father (Minion, Attack 4, Health 8): ACTIVATE: Deal 1 Damage for every other Minion. Defeat Reward: Clear your Market Row.

Horde example (page 16): when The Wolf Pack Horde is active and a circle result is drawn, resolve: Deal 2 damage. The Minion with the lowest health gains 2 block.

The Goblin King

Difficulty: 2 of 3

Grimclaw, an ambitious goblin with an affinity for chaos and explosions, has crowned himself the Goblin King. His crew, the Blastcrawlers, have been drawn from various goblin tribes, united by the promise of plunder and the thrill of destruction. Together they sail on the Skullcracker, a ramshackle pirate ship, creating chaos and leaving a trail of devastation. Tales of their explosive escapades spread fear through coastal towns living in constant fear of the Skullcracker's ominous silhouette. The Goblin King and his crew have become legends of anarchy and mayhem, leaving no port untouched by their fiery madness.

The Goblin King is crazy and loves explosives! He will hurt anyone around him, even his own Minions. He clogs your deck with Bomb cards, which need to be defused when drawn or they will explode!

Bombs!

The Goblin King has a special ability to place bombs into your deck. Bombs are represented on the backs of the Minion cards.

• When an ability tells you to "add a BOMB", draw the top Minion of your current Wave and place it bomb-side-down in your discard pile.
• If you run out of bombs of your current Wave, use the next highest Wave bomb available. If no bombs are available take 4 damage anytime a bomb should be added to your discard pile.
• When an ability tells you to "explode a BOMB," draw the top Minion of your current Wave, resolve the EXPLODE effect immediately, and discard the card into that Wave's discard pile.

Example Bomb (Wave 1) shown in the book: DEFUSE: Discard a card. EXPLODE: Deal 3 damage.

Defusing a Bomb

• Whenever you have a BOMB in hand, you have the option to DEFUSE it anytime during your turn. If you can meet the requirements, place the bomb in its respective Wave's discard pile.
• You must meet the DEFUSE requirements for each bomb individually, even if two have the same requirement.
• Whenever a bomb is discarded into your discard pile instead of Defused, whether at the end of your turn or otherwise, its EXPLODE effect will resolve. Bombs stay in your deck until they are Defused.
• When you DEFUSE a bomb, you do NOT draw a new card to replace the bomb you just defused.

The Guardian

Difficulty: 2 of 3

Deep within an ancient forest, hidden among overgrown ruins, stood The Guardian - a towering statue with a crystal heart that pulsed with hypnotic magic. When a curious rat uncovered it, The Guardian's power awakened, ensnaring the forest animals one by one. The cunning rabbit, the reclusive spiders, even the mighty bear - all fell under its spell, abandoning their natural lives to worship and serve the mysterious force.

Under The Guardian's command, the animals were imbued with evil magic. They organized into swarms, leaving the forest to invade nearby towns. The once-innocent creatures became relentless zealots of chaos, spreading the Guardian's influence far beyond the forest's edge.

The Guardian is a giant being and you will be fighting its various body parts, each with their own health. You will also be battling against the now evil forest creatures who are controlled by the magic of crystals. As crystals are gained, Enemies become more powerful!

Crystals!

When fighting The Guardian and their Horde, you will use cubes on the Boss Health Tracker to keep track of Crystals (in all Waves).

• If an ability has a Crystal icon, resolve the initial ability and then check to see if there is enough Crystals on the Crystal Track to activate the Crystal-threshold ability (the number shown with the Crystal icon, e.g. 5). If so, resolve the rest of the card's ability text as well.
• Crystals are set back to 0 after each Wave.
• FOR 2 PLAYERS: Crystals are only gained by the first player (same player who attacked first).

Guardian Boss Setup

1. Find both Arms and the Head from the Wave of whichever Day you're on (i.e. Wave 3 if on Day 3). No other Minions are used during the Guardian Boss Wave.
2. Place the Arms in the left and right Minion spots, and the Head in the center.
3. Ignore health values on these cards. Both Arms and Head will start with 15 Health (+5 Health for each additional day, i.e. 20 for Day 2 and 25 for Day 3).

Example cards shown in the book:

• Left Arm (Attack 3, Block 2; printed health 6, ignored per setup): ACTIVATE: Apply Weak. Crystal 5: All Minions gain 1 Block.
• Blue Head (Attack 1; printed health 8, ignored per setup): ACTIVATE: Deal damage equal to the number of Crystals. Crystal 5: Gain 5 Block.
• Right Arm (Attack 3; printed health 8, ignored per setup): POWER: REACT: Gain 1 Strength. Crystal 5: Attack Again.

Rubble

• When fighting the Guardian, anytime an Arm or Head is defeated, flip it over. It becomes Rubble.
• Rubble will keep all status effects (Strength, Weak, etc) on them. Rubble does nothing until it is rebuilt.
• When Rubble is rebuilt, remove 1 Crystal and set the health equal to 5x the Day you are on (Day 1: 5 health, Day 2: 10 health, Day 3: 15 health).
• The boss fight is won when all pieces of The Guardian become Rubble.

The Necromancer

Difficulty: 3 of 3

Seraphina was born into poverty, living her life on the streets. Her world shattered when an altercation with the city's prince resulted in the tragic demise of her parents and their loyal bulldog, Grim. Narrowly escaping death herself, Seraphina sought refuge in the shadows, where she discovered the forbidden art of Necromancy. Fueled by an insatiable desire to defy fate, she delved into dark rituals to resurrect her family and Grim. As her powers grew, so did her animosity towards the privileged elite. Seraphina unleashed her undead army upon the city, a manifestation of her anguish and hatred. The once-vibrant streets now echo with the haunting moans of the resurrected.

The Necromancer is all about turning Minions you have defeated into zombies. Hordes of zombies collect under Minions, blocking your attacks and dealing large amounts of damage collectively.

Boss health: the Necromancer boss page prints 30; the setup illustration on page 4 shows 40. Both values are reproduced as printed; use the value on the Horde/Boss card.

Zombies!

• Zombies are always tucked under Minion health trackers when they come into play. They only have 1 health each.
• Whenever adding or turning a card into a Zombie, tuck it under the leftmost health tracker with the fewest Zombies already under it, making sure that the attack damage of any other Zombie(s) there are visible.
• When an ability tells you to "add a Zombie," use the top card from the Minion deck of your current Wave.
• Whenever there are Zombies under a Minion's health tracker, you must defeat them before attacking that Minion.
• At the start of each enemy turn, ALL ZOMBIES ATTACK. They deal damage equal to their combined attack values, as a single attack (i.e. the Zombies shown here would deal 4 damage total). All their abilities are ignored.
• All Zombies make a single attack as a unit and do not attack individually. This is important if a Hero is EXPOSED, as they may take double damage from the full Zombie attack!
• In addition to defeating Minions, all Zombies must be defeated to advance to the next Wave, except during the Boss Wave. If there are any Zombies left when you defeat The Necromancer during the Boss Wave, you still win!
• Zombies are not considered Minions, so anything that effects Minions does not work with Zombies. This includes Defeat Rewards and cards that reference killing a Minion.

Heroes

Joan the Warrior

Complexity: 1 of 3. Starting health: 25. Energy: 3.

Joan is a fierce warrior who was born and raised in the city, but she doesn't fit into the usual mold of the average citizen. Joan is a punk rocker and an anarchist, and she loves nothing more than to cause a little chaos.

Because of her rebellious spirit, Joan doesn't have any formal training in combat. However, she knows her way around a mosh pit and has a fierce determination that makes up for her lack of experience.

Joan's playstyle revolves around gaining Strength to deal massive amounts of damage or gaining Protection to become a defensive tank. She can equip armor and weapons to build up and become unstoppable!

Equipment

Any card with the Equipment symbol in the upper right is EQUIPMENT, and is placed on/next to your BODY card when played. When a card is equipped, it provides an ongoing ability. You can only equip one card on each Body part (Helm, Main Hand, etc).

If a card says to remove a piece of Equipment, place the card in the discard pile, immediately losing any effects it provides. Some may also grant a special effect when REMOVED.

At the end of each Wave, all Equipment is discarded.

Body card layout shown in the book: Helm, Main Hand, Off Hand, Plate, Boots.

Example cards shown in the book:

• Broad Sword (Energy 1, Main Hand): When a Minion dies: Draw a card and play it for free.
• Shield (Energy 1, Off Hand): Gain 2 Block when EQUIPPED. Spend 1 Energy to remove. Gain 5 Block when REMOVED.

Other Warrior Key Terms

• EQUIPPED: Use this Ability ONCE, when the card is first equipped.
• EQUIPPED X: These are abilities that require you to have a certain number of Equipment currently equipped. If the number of Equipment you have on is equal to or more than (X), you may use the ability.
• REMOVED: Use this Ability ONCE, as soon as the card is removed from your Body card.

Status Effects (see pg. 11)

• PROTECT: Gain 1 additional Block every time you gain Block.
• STRENGTH: Deal 1 additional damage every time you deal damage.

Lira the Rogue

Complexity: 2 of 3. Starting health: 25. Energy: 3.

Lira is a street urchin, abandoned by her parents and left to fend for herself. She survives on scraps and shelters in alleyways. Her only companion is a loyal ferret who was taken in despite the risks of having a pet in her situation. To survive, she has become one with the shadows and uses whatever weapons she can find, her favorite being a pair of stolen steak knives.

Lira is all about hiding in the shadows and playing a ton of cards. When she is concealed, she can deal more damage or stay hidden and take less damage. She manipulates the cost of cards through Preparing them to be played for free or Discarding them to gain additional abilities.

Concealing

When you become CONCEALED, flip your CONCEAL card to the CONCEALED side.

You may now choose at any time to either deal CONCEALED damage from a Hero Card OR block half of the incoming damage from all Enemy attacks during the next Enemy Turn (damage dealt is rounded down).

As soon as CONCEALED damage is dealt OR you take reduced damage for an Enemy Turn, you become UNCONCEALED and flip the card back over.

• You may stay CONCEALED between turns.
• You may choose to take full damage instead of half damage to stay CONCEALED.
• It is possible to become CONCEALED, deal CONCEALED damage, and become CONCEALED again in a single turn.

Other Rogue Key Terms

• DISCARD: Remove a card from your hand and place it in the discard pile.
• AMBUSH: If a card with AMBUSH is discarded, activate its ability for free.
• FINALE: If this card is played as the last card in your hand, play it again!
• PREPARE: A Prepare card's cost is reduced by one Energy for every non-Prepare card played before it that turn. Once a Prepare card is played, the Energy discount starts over and you begin reducing Energy cost for the next Prepare card.

Status Effects (Rogue)

• EXPOSED: An Enemy with this takes double damage (rounded down) on your next attack. Remove token after damage.

Quick Reference Guide

Hero Turn

1. Reset:
   • Remove all Block / Status Tokens from your Hero's upper token spaces.
   • Draw an Intent Card, keeping it face down.
2. Fight:
   • Spend Energy to play Hero Cards from your hand.
3. End your turn by discarding all played/in-hand cards, and drawing a new hand of 5 cards.

Enemy Turn

1. Reset:
   • Make sure each Enemy has Block tokens on it equal to the number in its Block icon.
2. Fight (resolved in Hero Turn order):
   • Flip the Intent Card.
   • Activate the corresponding Minion if present.
   • Activate the corresponding Horde or Boss ability.

End of Wave (All Minions Defeated)

• Discard hand & current Intent Card(s). Remove all Status Effects and Equipment Cards from your Hero(es).
• Gain WAVE REWARDS.
• Shuffle discard pile/newly gained Hero cards into your deck and draw a new hand of 5 cards.
• Set up the next Wave.