Villains and Vigilantes Card Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Overview & Objective
  • Character Figures
• Heroes and Villains
• The Action Deck
  • Power Cards
  • Minor Character Powers
  • Missions
  • Plot Cards
  • Support Deck
  • Counters and Tokens
• Gameplay
• Phases
  • Ready Phase
  • Action Phase
  • Reshuffling Phase
  • Swipe Phase
• Key Concepts
  • Powers and Power Levels
  • Locations
  • Damage
  • Missions and Mojo
  • Spending Mojo
  • Playing Power Cards
  • Plot Cards
• Additional Rules
  • Main Characters and Minor Characters
  • Response Cards
  • Trivial Support Cards
  • Drain Counters
  • Captured Characters
  • Gaining and Using Items
  • Allies
  • Characters and Targets
  • Destroying Locations
  • Public Information
• Sample Swipe Phase
• Deck Construction

Components

• 2 Hero Player Decks (60 cards each)
• 2 Villain Player Decks (60 cards each)
• 1 Location Board
• Tokens and Counters:
  • 4 Captured Tokens
  • 4 Destroyed Tokens
  • 1 Fade Token
  • 4 Headquarters Tokens (1 each of 4 colors)
  • 16 Plot Tokens (4 each of 4 colors)
  • 2 Slash Tokens
  • 1 Trap Token
  • 5 Battery Counters
  • 25 Body Damage Counters
  • 15 Mind Damage Counters
  • 10 Drain Counters
  • 25 Mojo Counters
  • 10 Recovery Counters
  • 12 Characters: Blizzard, Evergreen, Shatterman, Condor, Mocker, FIST, Mercury Mercenary, Crossfire, Shocker, Mace, Hornet, Bull
• 20 Plastic Character Bases

Setup

Each player begins the game with a specially constructed deck for playing as either the heroes or the villains. Each player will control one, two, or three main heroes or villains. These are also referred to as Supers.

A two-player game has one player playing the villains and the other player playing as the heroes. In a three-player game, two players play as villains and the remaining player plays as the heroes. The villains are in a race against one another and are trying to prevent victory by the hero. Randomly determine which of the villain players goes first. The other villain plays second, and the hero player goes third.

Four-player games are played with two hero and two villains players. The heroes and villains are working as teams, respectively. The villain players choose which of them will go first and second. The heroes will take their turns after the villains. The hero players choose which of them takes the third turn and which hero player goes fourth.

Some of the cards begin the game in play or in a separate deck. When you are setting up the game, extract from your deck:

• Your main Supers (1-3 heroes or villains around whom the deck is based).
• One Mission Card: Each deck contains up to 3 Missions. Choose one that will begin the game in play and serve as your starting mission.
• A Support deck containing up to 11 (blue-bordered) Support Power cards.

Place the game board in the center of the table.

Place your Supers and your starting Mission face-up in front you you.

Players begin by each taking a Headquarters token and placing it on one of the locations at the edge of the board. One of the heroes places their headquarters first. Then the heroes and villains alternate.

In a four-player game, allied players may choose to place the their Headquarters tokens at the same location.

Each headquarters must be placed at least three squares away from an opposing headquarters.

Put the cardboard character figures with your main heroes or villains at your headquarters.

Put 1 Mojo counter on your starting mission. Take all of the Support Power cards in your deck and put them in a face-up Support deck.

The rest of your cards are shuffled into your Action deck.

Draw your initial hand (the number of cards in your hand size, as indicated below) from your Action deck to form your starting hand.

• If you control one Super you have a hand size of 7.
• If you control two Supers you have a hand size of 6.
• If you control three Supers you have a hand size of 5.

You are ready to begin!

Overview & Objective

The Villains and Vigilantes Card Game captures the titanic struggles between mighty superheroes and deadly supervillains. The villains try to defeat the heroes and complete their missions and sinister schemes. The heroes try to stop the villains, complete their missions, and bring the villains to justice.

This continues until either team has completed enough missions and gained enough Mojo to declare victory.

The game ends immediately when one player has 11 (or more) Mojo counters on their Mission cards. In two or three-player games, the player with 11 or more Mojo is the winner. In four-player games, if either hero player gets to 11 Mojo then both heroes have won. If either villain player gets 11 Mojo then the villains win.

Character Figures

Each hero, villain, henchman, superhuman, and minor character has a cardboard character figure. These figures are placed at a location on the board to indicate the location of the character.

Heroes and Villains

Each character has a set of powers and two attributes: Stamina and Skill.

The Stamina attribute determines how tough a character is and how hard he is to KO.

A character's Skill attribute shows how adept they are with their powers and abilities. This determines how many Power cards the character can play each turn.

The Action Deck

Each player has an Action deck that consists of Power cards, Plot cards, and Mission cards.

Power Cards

Power cards represent the different superhuman abilities the characters possess and how they use those abilities.

Each Power card has a power requirement that indicates what powers are needed to play the card. Power cards also have a drain rating which indicates how much skill is required to play the card.

Minor Character Powers

Some Power cards allow characters to recruit additional characters. These minor characters are used to supplement a player's team and carry out their missions.

Power cards that create minor characters have power requirements and drain like other powers. The minor characters they create have powers and attributes just like regular heroes and villains.

Missions

Missions represent the goals for your characters in the game. By completing your Missions you gain points of Mojo. The first player to accumulate 11 points of Mojo on their Missions wins the game.

Plot Cards

Plot cards indicate special items, spectacular events, or other occurrences that can happen during the game.

Support Deck

In addition to their Action deck, players have a Support deck that contains up to 11 Support Power cards that are available to them every turn. Support Power cards have the support trait and blue border to indicate that they are support powers. Otherwise they have the same power requirements and drain ratings as other Power cards.

Some Power cards (support and normal) are Signature Power cards. Signature powers can only be played by a particular character. The Signature icon appears on the card and the character's name appears in the trait bar.

Support Power cards in a player's hand are played just like other Power cards. Instead of going to the player's Swipe pile, they are returned to their Support deck during the Swipe Phase (see: Phases, below).

Counters and Tokens

Often the rules or card text will call for players to put a particular type of counter or token onto a character, card, or location. When instructed, take a provided token of the appropriate type and place it as specified.

When choosing a location to place a Plot card, a player will place the Plot card in front of them, in play. Use matching Plot tokens that are the same color as the player's headquarters to indicate the location of the Plot and as a reminder of who played the card.

Gameplay

Play proceeds around the table with each player taking a turn. The villain players go first, followed by the hero players.

Each player has a hand size equal to eight cards, minus the number of main characters they have. A player whose deck has one main character plays the game with a hand size of seven. A deck with two main characters has a hand size of six. A deck with three main characters has a hand size of five.

Players will always have that many cards in hand. Whenever a card is played, it is replaced by drawing back up to the normal hand size. Whenever additional cards are drawn or cards are put into a player's hand from their Support deck, they must immediately discard down to their hand size limit.

Phases

A player's turn is divided into 3 phases. The phases are conducted in order and a player completes all phases before the next player's turn begins. The phases are:

• Ready Phase
• Action Phase or Reshuffling Phase
• Swipe Phase

Ready Phase

During the Ready Phase, a player may look at all the cards in their Support deck. Support Power cards are typically low power and utility cards. They can be used to pick up or use an item, move a character about the city, or other tasks. The cards in the Support deck are available to the player every turn. In this phase, a player may look over his or her Support cards and choose any number of them and put them into their hand. This will allow you to play those cards during your Action Phase. Discard down to your hand size.

Action Phase

During the Action Phase, the player plays Power cards which reflect the actions, powers and capabilities of the characters controlled, Plot cards which represents events going on in the city, and Mission cards which represent the goals of the player's team.

Power cards are played from a player's hand by placing them near the character using the power and applying the effect described on the card. In order to play a Power card, the character using the power must meet the power requirements and have a Power equal to the type and level of the card.

A character may use more than one Power card in a turn. Power cards have a drain rating which reflects the amount of Skill required to play them and limit the number of Power cards a character can play per turn. The total drain of all cards played by a character during a single turn can not exceed its Skill rating.

A player may play one Mission card during his or her Action Phase. It can be played before or after any Power cards but only one may be played per turn. A player can also play one Plot card during each Action Phase. It can be played before or after any Power cards but only one Plot card may be played each turn.

Power cards marked as response cards can not be played during your turn. They are played during another player's turn in response to their characters' cards and actions.

Reshuffling Phase

Instead of playing any cards, the player may choose to skip their entire Action Phase to refill and reshuffle their Action deck. If a player does so, he or she takes their entire Swipe pile and the remaining cards in their Action deck and shuffles them together. This refills the player's Action deck. Afterwards, the player may draw back up to their hand size.

Swipe Phase

During the Swipe Phase, the player cleans up the cards he or she has played during the turn, moving cards to the Swipe pile or back to their Support deck. Minor characters enter play and all characters that are not KOed heal one damage during this phase.

The player moves the Power cards played this turn from the characters that played them to into his or her Swipe pile. Support cards that were played are returned to the Support deck.

Minor characters brought into play via Power cards enter play at this time.

Some cards are not automatically moved to the Swipe pile during the Swipe Phase. These cards specify when they are moved to the Swipe pile. Cards that are not swiped during the Swipe Phase are moved onto the character instead. This indicates they are still in effect or available, but they do not contribute to drain costs in future turns.

Now, characters you control that are not KOed heal one damage. If a character has both mind and body damage you can choose which one the character heals.

Key Concepts

Powers and Power Levels

There are eight different powers that a hero or villain may possess. Minor characters such as sidekicks and henchmen may have these powers as well. These powers represent the basic categories of superpowers and abilities that a character may have. The various Power cards represent the different manifestations of these powers.

• Elemental – The power to harness natural and elemental forces.
• Energy – Ability to project energy, blow things up, and fly.
• Influence – Leadership, charisma and power of personality. The ability to lead others, recruit people to your cause, make friends, and influence events.
• Mental – Superhuman intelligence, willpower, psychic and mental capability.
• Mutant – Aberrations and mutations. Strange and diverse body modifications, transformations, and power manipulation abilities.
• Mystical – The ability to manipulate magic, spiritual forces and powers of illusion.
• Physical – Superhuman strength, agility, and hand-to-hand combat skills.
• Technology – Access to advanced technology, devices, gadgets and products of super-science.

Each character in the game has a value from 1-3 for each power. These values correspond to the following power levels:

Level	Power level
1	Enhanced
2	Superhuman
3	Extremely powerful

Characters have different powers and nobody has special aptitude in all areas.

Powerful items and other effects can raise a character's level in a power above 3.

Locations

The action in the game takes place at the locations laid out on the board in the center of the table. The characters will move about these locations while attempting to track down the villains, carry out their sinister schemes and complete their missions. Each character is represented by a cardboard character figure that is placed at a location and moved around as the character moves about the city.

Game locations have names, and traits. Card text on Plot or Power cards may reference or instruct cards to be placed at a location with a particular trait. Characters will move about these locations (traveling horizontally or vertically, but not diagonally) as the game progresses. The term "blocks" is also used to refer to locations. A location one block away from a character would be an adjacent location.

Most Power cards and attacks can only target characters that are at the same location. Players will often want to change locations to seek out or escape their opponents. Therefore, moving about the city is very important.

Damage

Life is rough for heroes and villains. They suffer and inflict two kinds of damage:

• Body – bodily injury and pain.
• Mind – mental anguish, exhaustion, and confusion.

When damage is inflicted on a character, move the appropriate counter onto the character's card. When the damage is healed, remove the counter.

When a character has taken more damage (mind and body added together) than his or her stamina rating, then that character is immediately knocked out (KOed).

KOed characters can be chosen as targets and continue to accumulate damage counters.

A KOed character cannot play Power cards except those that indicate by card text that they are playable by a KOed character.

Minor characters (everyone other than main heroes and villains) that get KOed are swiped immediately and placed in the Swipe pile of their owner.

Heroes and villains that are KOed remain in the game at their current locations.

Supers can be quick to bounce back after taking a beating. Being KOed doesn't mean the hero or villain is out of the game. As soon a Super has healed enough that the total damage is no longer greater than their stamina, the character is no longer KOed.

During a player's Swipe Phase, characters they control that are not KOed each heal one damage.

Sidebar – 'On the Mend': 'On the Mend' is a card that should appear in every player's Support deck. This card has no drain and no power requirement. Any KOed or captured character can play it after taking any amount of damage.

The first turn it is played, 'On the Mend' just provides a recovery counter. In every subsequent turn you play it, the character heals an amount of damage equal to the number of recovery counters they have. They also gain another recovery counter for more healing next turn.

Heroes and villains may be down, but they are not out out the game. With 'On the Mend ' they are sure be on their feet and back in the action in a few turns!

Missions and Mojo

Missions cards represent your goals and the tasks your characters must perform in order to gain Mojo and achieve victory. You need 11 Mojo counters on your missions to win the game. Once the required amount of Mojo is achieved by any player, the game ends immediately.

Mojo is gained by performing missions. Mission cards go in the Action deck. A player can play one Mission card at any point during their turn, putting the card in play, in front of them. Each player may only ever have three Mission cards in play. Players who already have three Mission cards in play can not play any more. Players may not play the same Mission card more than once.

At the start of the game, each player may choose one mission as their starting mission. This mission begins the game in play and starts with 1 Mojo counter on it.

When the conditions specified on the card occur, the indicated number of Mojo counters are placed on the Mission card. Players can complete a mission and gain the Mojo counters any number of times, gaining the indicated Mojo amount each time. Players may complete more than one mission in a turn and even complete a single mission more than once during a turn.

Heroic Missions may only be played by hero players. Villainous Missions may only be played by villain players. Missions that don't specify a faction are generic and can be played by anyone.

Mission cards remain in play for the duration of the game. They are not swiped during the Swipe Phase.

Spending Mojo

In addition to contributing to victory, a Mojo counter may be spent to reduce the drain costs of Power cards. Once per turn, a player may swipe one Mojo counter to reduce the drain cost of a Power card by 2. Often, spending a Mojo is the best way to take down a seemingly indestructible foe, survive a desperate situation, or get back into the fight.

Playing Power Cards

Power cards are cards that represent abilities, superpowers and their effects. Power cards are specific to a particular power and can only be played by characters with those powers.

Each Power card has a power requirement and a drain value. The power requirement is the minimum power level required to play the card. The drain represents the relative cost of playing the card.

Each character may play as many Power cards as they wish each turn, as long as the total drain of the cards played does not exceed the character's Skill rating.

Power cards that have a drain of 0 can be played regardless of the drain on cards already played.

Power cards can only target other characters that are at the same location as the character playing the card unless otherwise indicated by card text.

Power cards are played next to the character playing them and stay there during the player's turn (so you can keep track of the total drain played by each character). During the player's Swipe Phase, these cards are discarded and moved to his or her Swipe pile unless card text indicates otherwise.

Power cards can only be played when there is a legitimate target for the card text. For example, a character cannot play a card that heals body damage if the character has no body damage counters.

There are no default actions in the game. Everything that happens is done with cards from a player's Support deck, Action deck, or by activating a Use effect on an item in play.

Example: Shatterman has played Up and Away (drain 1), Energy Blast (drain 2), and Sock in the Jaw (drain 1) this turn.

With his Powers of Energy 2 and Physical 1, he meets the power requirements to play these cards.

With his Skill of 4, he can can play these cards which have a total drain of 4.

Plot Cards

Plot cards represent events, items in the area, and other factors that can influence the game. Some Plot cards are used to enhance or endanger characters. Others are critical for completing a mission.

Plot cards are played during the Action Phase of a player's turn. Players may play one Plot card during each of his or her turns.

If a Plot card requires a player to choose a target, and there are no valid choices, then the card can not be played. For example, if a Plot card requires you to choose two characters at a slum location and there is only one character at the slums location, then the card can not be played.

Additional Rules

Main Characters and Minor Characters

The heroes and villains that start the game in play are the main characters in the game. These main heroes and villains are also referred to as Supers. All other characters are minor characters.

All heroes and all minor characters controlled by heroes are considered "heroic." All villains and characters controlled by villain players are considered "villainous."

When a new (minor) character is brought into play (usually by using an Influence Power card), that card sits with the stack of other Power cards played until the Swipe Phase. At that point, instead of being swiped, the minor character comes under control of the player. The card is moved alongside the other characters the player controls, and the figure for that character is placed on the board.

By default, new minor characters are placed by placing their character figure at the same location as the character that played the card that created them. The minor characters are placed during the Swipe Phase at the recruiting character's current location, regardless of where the character was when the Power card was played. Some minor characters have card text indicating that the recruiting player may choose a different location for them to enter play.

After recruiting a minor character, immediately after you place the character, you can choose an opposing player and give that player control of that minor character for the remainder of the game. This can be advantageous for missions that require you to KO opposing minor characters of a certain type. Many villains use their influence to recruit innocent targets for their diabolical schemes. These characters are handed over to a hero player after they are recruited.

Whenever a minor character is swiped, it is swiped to its owner's Swipe Pile regardless of who controls it at the time.

Each player may control a maximum of five characters at a time. This five character limit includes the total of Supers and minor characters under a player's control. If, at the end of a player's turn, he or she controls more than five characters, the player must choose which minor characters to keep, and which to get rid of. Any extra characters are immediately swiped their owner's Swipe piles. This does not count as having been KOed for mission or plot purposes.

Response Cards

Some Power cards are marked as Response cards. These are played like other Power cards, costing drain the same way, but unlike other Power cards they are not played during the Action Phase of your turn.

Each Response card indicates the condition under which it can be played and the effect at that time. A player does not have to play a Response card, even when the opportunity arises. A Response card is played by playing it from your hand as if you were playing it during your turn. The Response card is placed near the character like any Power card, and the character must match the power and drain requirements. The Response card is not swiped until the player's Swipe Phase and will count towards that character's drain during their turn. Most Response cards are played in response to a Power card played by another player.

Players may play multiple Response cards after a Power card is played.

Players may not play Response cards during their own Action Phase in response to effects that occur during their Swipe Phase, or at the end of their turn. A player's characters may play Response cards during another player's turn or in response to an effect that occurs at the start of their own turn.

Trivial Support Cards

A Support Power card marked as "Trivial," such as, 'I Can Use This' does not have to be in the players hand for a character to play it. Unlike regular Power cards, a Trivial Support Power card may be played directly from the player's Support deck at any time as if it was in their hand.

Drain Counters

Some Power cards or other effects can place drain counters onto characters. Each drain counter on a character causes a point of drain, limit the amount of Power cards the character can play. Whenever a character would heal a point of damage (including automatic healing during the Swipe Phase) you can choose to remove a drain counter from the character instead of removing a damage counter.

Captured Characters

A character with a Captured token can still play any Power cards as normal. The only restriction on captured characters is on playing Power cards that would move them to a different location. Cards that captured characters play that would move them to a different location are played at +5 drain.

Cards played by other characters that would move characters with Captured tokens do not have a drain penalty.

If a character with a Captured token moves or is moved to a new location, he or she may remove the Captured token.

When a location is given a Destroyed token, players may choose to immediately remove Captured tokens from any of their characters at that location. After the Destroyed token is removed from the location, and after damage has been inflicted on non-captured characters at that location, players may also choose to remove any Captured tokens from their characters at that location.

Captured characters are not considered to be active.

Sidebar – 'Bring 'Em to Justice': It is the primary mission of most superheroes to find the villains and bring them to justice. After subduing (KOing) the criminals, the heroes can play the Support card, 'Bring 'Em to Justice' to send the villains off to their rightful (if temporary) place of incarceration.

'Bring 'Em to Justice' may not be played on a villain during the same turn the villain was KOed. It must be played on a subsequent turn.

Gaining and Using Items

Some cards are marked as Items. An item can be on a character or at a location. Items created through Power cards go onto the character that played the Power card.

When a character obtains or takes an item, move the item onto the character.

Many items have Use effects. When the Use effect on an item is activated (by playing a Power card like 'I Can Use This'), the effect listed on the item is applied.

A Use effect on an item can only be activated once per turn.

Any character with an item can drop that item at any point during their Action Phase. Dropping an item causes no drain. Move the item from the character to the character's location.

Items are not swiped during the Swipe Phase by default. Card text on items indicates when they are swiped.

Items created by Power cards may be used immediately. By default, the Item goes onto the character that created it instead of being swiped during the Swipe Phase.

Allies

Some cards refer to "allied characters." All heroic characters, regardless of the player controlling them, are considered to be allies. All villains and characters controlled by villain players are considered allies.

Characters and Targets

By default, Power card effects can be applied to any other character at the location of the character playing it. If a card asks you to choose a character, you may choose any character at your location, including the character that is playing the card.

Targets include other characters at the current character's location, and items or locations that are permitted as targets.

"Any" refers to one or more targets or characters, and the player playing the card chooses which ones.

"All" means all, including the character playing the card.

"Other" means characters other than the character playing the card.

Destroying Locations

Some cards allow Destroyed tokens to be placed on locations. When a Destroyed token is placed on a location, it is about to fall down on anyone who remains at that location. At the start of the current player's next turn, inflict 3 body damage on all characters at the destroyed location. Then remove any Destroyed tokens from the location.

Do not inflict the damage from the destroyed location on characters at that location with Captured tokens. Those characters can swipe their Captured tokens when the Destroyed token is removed. Captured characters can also swipe their Captured tokens when the Destroyed token is placed at the location. If they do so, damage will be inflicted on them if they remain at the location.

Sidebar – 'I Can Use This': 'I Can Use This' is a Support Power card that any character can use to pick up an item at their location or to activate the Use effect of an item they have.

This is a Trivial Support card. It does not have to be in your hand for a character to play it. Unlike other Support Power cards, 'I Can Use This' can be played directly from your Support deck. It is placed near the character playing it just like any Power card you play from your hand.

Public Information

Players may look at their Swipe pile and Support deck at any time. These decks are played face-up and other players may see the top card on them. Other players may not go through these decks or inspect cards other than the ones on top unless they are permitted to do so by a card's text.

Sample Swipe Phase

During the previous turn, Evergreen played Entangle to keep Mercury Mercenary from escaping. This turn, during the Action Phase, she played Exposed to the Elements to freeze him in place. She then played Something Up My Sleeve, summoned Joe Bystander to help her out, used her Mutant Metabolism, and cooked up a Potent Brew to have when she needs a boost. It's now her controllers Swipe Phase.

During the Swipe Phase, Entangle and Something Up My Sleeve are returned to her Support Deck. Mutant Metabolism goes in her Swipe Pile. Joe Bystander joins Evergreen's team. His card is placed next to hers and his character stand is placed on the board. Potent Brew is an item so it sticks around by default and goes on Evergreen. Exposed to the Elements won't be swiped until Mercury Mercenary escapes the location. It goes on Evergreen as well.

Deck Construction

Villains and Vigilantes Card Game products are designed to be pre-constructed decks, based around specific characters, with all the Missions, Plot cards, and Powers those characters need to achieve victory. Players are permitted to add cards to these decks, modify card selection, or design their own decks following these rules for deck construction.

When constructing a deck of your own to play, you first choose whether the deck will be for the villains or heroes. Then choose 1-3 heroes or villains around which to build your deck. Having more than one main character gives you access to more powers, but your hand size will be reduced by one for each of your Supers, limiting the number of cards you can play each turn. You can not have more than one copy of the same main character in your deck. The combination of Supers is subject to the following restrictions:

• The total levels of any one power can not be greater than 5.
• No two main characters can share the same two powers of level 2 or more.

Select the Power and Plot cards that will go into your Action deck. Action decks must have at least 40 cards (there is no maximum size). They may contain up to six copies of any card, other than Signature Power cards.

There may only be one copy of each Signature card in an Action deck or Support deck.

All of the Support Power cards will go into the Support deck.

Each deck may contain up to 11 Support cards.

A general guideline is that decks should be around 15% movement cards for getting around the city, 25% offense cards that can damage your opponents, 25% defense cards that will protect your characters, and 35% Mission, Plot, and other cards and effects to help you meet your goals.