Batman: The Animated Series – Rogues Gallery Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• How to Win
• Setup
• How to Play
  • Preparation Phase
  • Crime Spree Phase
  • Detention Phase (Arrest Phase)
  • Upgrade Phase
  • End of Turn Phase
• Glossary
• Turn Order

Components

• 1 Batsignal Board
• 3 Batman Cards
• 8 Advanced Hero Cards
• 16 Basic Hero Cards
• 11 Villain Player Sheets
• 29 Upgrade Cards
• 37 Accomplice Cards
• 35 Scheme tokens
• 5 Power tokens
• 1 First Player token
• 17 Lucky Coins
• 1 Batsignal token
• 7 Common dice (green)
• 4 Power dice (purple)

How to Win

You must be the first player to defeat Batman to win. However, you must accumulate Power, Upgrades and Accomplices to defeat the other Heroes of Gotham City before they capture your attention and stop you once and for all.

Setup

1. Each player chooses 1 Villain Player Sheet. Return unused Villains to the box. Give each player a Power token, a Secret Lair Upgrade card and 2 starting Accomplices: 1 Stonegate Prisoner and 1 Arkham Asylum Inmate. Return unused Secret Lair Upgrade cards and starting Accomplices to the box.

Each player places their Power token on the "0" space of the Power track on the side of their Villain Sheet. Unused Power tokens are returned to the box.

2. Place the Batsignal Board in the center of the table with the Batsignal token beside it. Place the Scheme tokens, Lucky Coins and Power dice in separate supply piles near the board.

3. Shuffle the 3 Batman cards and place them face down to the right of the Batsignal Board.

4. Shuffle the Accomplice cards and place them near the Batsignal Board. Turn the top 3 Accomplice cards face up to form a Prison row.

Note: Make sure the basic Accomplice cards are not part of this deck, as they should have been returned to the box in this step.

5. Shuffle the Upgrade cards and place them in a face-down deck near the Accomplice cards. Turn the top 3 Upgrade cards face up to form a Heist row.

6. Separate the Basic Hero cards (gray border) and the Advanced Hero cards (red border). Shuffle the Basic Heroes and place them in a face-down deck near the Batsignal Board. Shuffle the Advanced Heroes and set them aside for now; they will be shuffled in with the Basic Hero cards at the start of the second round. Give the First Player token to the player who got up latest last night.

Note: Advanced Heroes are not used until the second round of the game.

7. Starting with the first player and continuing clockwise, players receive their starting Scheme tokens. The first player starts with 0, the second player starts with 1, the third player starts with 2, the fourth starts with 3 and the fifth starts with 4.

8. Give the first player the 7 green Common dice.

How to Play

Rogues Gallery is played in rounds, and each player takes a single turn during a round. On a player's turn, complete each of the following phases in order, then play passes to the player on their left. Once every player has taken a single turn, that round ends and a new one begins. From the second round onward, the first player is the player with the most unspent Schemes. If there is a tie for most Schemes, each tied player rolls a single die; the player with the highest roll is designated the first player. Keep playing rounds until The Batman is defeated.

Preparation Phase

• Take all of your Accomplice cards into your hand, including those in your discard pile and those passed to you.
  • Note: If this is your first turn, your starting Accomplices will already be in your hand.
• Your dice pool consists of the 7 green Common dice plus the purple Power dice you have earned based on your Power track (1 to 4 additional dice). Roll all the dice in your pool.
• Flip all of your Lucky Coins into the air. For each one that lands with the unscarred side up, gain 1 Plan token. For each one that lands with the scarred side up, you may recover 1 die that was expended during your Crime Spree.

Translator's note: the Spanish here reads "ficha de Plan" (Plan token) and the text above keeps that wording as printed. The Turn Order sheet grants "1 Esquema por cada lado sin cicatrices" (1 Scheme per unscarred side) for the same coin, and the components list has only Scheme tokens, so this is most likely a Scheme token. Read it that way if the Plan token is not otherwise defined.

Important Note: If you are the first player and it is the second round of the game, shuffle all Basic Hero and Advanced Hero cards together, including those in the discard pile, to create a new Hero deck.

On his turn, the Joker takes his two Accomplice cards (a), rolls the 7 Common dice and the two Power dice granted by his purchased Power Levels (b), and flips his Lucky Coin, which grants him a Scheme (c).

Crime Spree Phase

You must increase your Power and arm yourself with all the "wonderful toys" that you and your Accomplices can carry if you expect to face The Bat. Only bring Batman out of his cave when you believe you have the firepower and the right rolls to defeat him.

Draw the top card of the Hero deck and place it in front of you. That Hero is trying to stop you! Read any text on the card and follow the instructions given. Then use the dice in your pool to defeat this Hero.

Note: You are "Dangerous" if your Power meter is on one of the first two red "Kapow" spaces. This change of status may determine whether or not the text of the card affects you.

During this step, you may:

• Use the Villain Power described on your player sheet, if applicable.
• Activate one of your Upgrades by placing a number of Accomplices from your hand into your discard pile equal to the number shown on the Upgrade card. Follow the instruction text of the activated Upgrade. You may do this any number of times, in any order, and may activate the same Upgrade several times in your turn as long as you have enough Accomplices.
• Activate an Accomplice card by handing it to the player on your right. After doing so, follow the instructions on the Accomplice card you passed. You may activate any number of Accomplices on your turn, in any order.

After using your Power and activating any Upgrades and/or Accomplices, you must assign the dice in your pool to the Hero's Dice Slots from left to right. The icons on a Hero card show which dice are needed to defeat them:

• A die slot contains a die face and requires that exact die.
• A number slot contains a number with a "+" sign and requires any number of dice whose total is equal to or greater than the value shown.
• A letter slot contains a letter and requires a die different from any die you have already assigned to this Hero. In cases where there are letter slots containing the same letter (for example, X X), each die assigned to those slots must have the same value.

If you cannot assign dice to all of a Hero's Dice Slots, you are arrested; immediately proceed to the Arrest Phase.

If you are able to assign dice to all of the Hero's Dice Slots, you defeat them. Leave all of your assigned dice on the Hero card. Those dice are considered expended. Then, the player on your left moves the Batsignal token up the Batsignal track a number of spaces equal to the strength of the Hero you defeated (the number in the upper left corner).

Note: You may have an ability, Upgrade or Accomplice that allows you to recover expended dice. When you recover a die, take a die that has already been assigned to a defeated Hero and roll it again into your pool to use this turn.

After defeating a Hero:

• Check whether the Batsignal token is at the top of the Batsignal track. If it is, you must face The Batman. Immediately draw and reveal the top card of the Batman deck. If you defeat this card, you win the game! If you do not, shuffle the card back into the Batman deck and proceed to the Arrest Phase.
• If you did not have to face The Batman, you must decide whether to continue or end your Crime Spree. If you continue, return to the start of the Crime Spree phase and draw another Hero who tries to stop you. If you end your Crime Spree, proceed to the Upgrade Phase.

Note: If the Hero deck runs out of cards, shuffle the discarded cards to form a new deck and continue drawing as needed.

During his Crime Spree phase, the Joker first faces a Beat Cop and places dice with a total of 4 or more to defeat it (a), then faces an S.W.A.T. team and places two differently numbered dice to defeat it (b), then faces a tougher challenge in The Grey Ghost (c). The Joker places dice with a total of 5 or more in the first slot, a die with a number not yet used in the second slot, and another die with a face not yet used in the third slot to defeat the Grey Ghost.

Detention Phase (Arrest Phase)

The Hero you failed to defeat has brought you to justice, but the law cannot hold a criminal mastermind like you for long! When you break out of jail, you make new plans and take some of the inmates with you.

• Stop encountering Heroes. Discard all Hero cards in front of you.
• Gain 2 Scheme tokens, draw 1 Accomplice from the top of the deck and take a Lucky Coin from the supply. You must skip the Upgrade phase. Continue with the End of Turn Phase.

Note (translator's wording): the rulebook names this one phase two ways. The body heading reads "Fase de Detención" (Detention), while the cross-references in the Crime Spree text and the Turn Order sheet read "Fase de Arresto" (Arrest Phase). Both are kept as printed. The Batsignal board's fourth turn step is printed as "Break Out / Upgrade".

Upgrade Phase

You got away with your heist and escaped unharmed despite those meddling do-gooders. Now you can devise new schemes and get your grubby hands on new equipment or hire some muscle for your next adventure.

• Gain a number of Schemes equal to the sum of the strength of all the Heroes you defeated in the Crime Spree. Add up the strength of all the Heroes you defeated, discard those Heroes, and gain that same number of Schemes.
• Schemes are spent and returned to the supply when you buy Upgrades, Power or Accomplices. Purchases may be made in any order and in any quantity, as long as you can pay for them.
• Different things have different costs:
  • Power costs are shown inside the circle at the next point along the track on the Villain Player Sheet. Move your Power token one space on your Power track for each Power Level you buy. You must buy each level one after another.
  • The costs of Upgrade and Accomplice cards are shown in the upper left corner of the card.
• When you acquire a new Accomplice from the Prison row or an Upgrade from the Heist row, immediately replace the purchased card with one from the top of the corresponding deck. You may buy the newly revealed card if you have enough Schemes. Once you have finished making purchases, continue with the End of Turn section.

After deciding to end his Crime Spree, the Joker proceeds to the Upgrade phase and gathers a number of Schemes equal to the combined strength of the Heroes he defeated this turn. He spends 2 Schemes to buy the Nitro Accomplice, spends 4 Schemes to buy the Giant Hammer upgrade and 4 Schemes to buy his next Power Level, which will grant him an additional Power die during Crime Sprees.

End of Turn Phase

While you plan your next Crime Spree, the other villains will put the Heroes of Gotham to the test!

• Return all dice to the supply.
• Each Villain has a maximum number of Accomplice and Upgrade cards the player may own, which is shown on the Villain Player Sheet. If you have more than the allowed number of a specific type, select which cards of that type you wish to keep and then return the excess cards to the bottom of their respective market decks.
• This ends your turn. If every player has taken a single turn this round, pass the First Player token to the player with the most unspent Schemes and then begin a new round. Otherwise, the player on your left begins their turn.
• Return the Batsignal token on the Batsignal Board to "0".

Glossary

• Expended die: a die that has been assigned to a Hero.
• Recover a die: take an expended die from a Hero that has already been defeated and return it to your dice pool.
• Set a die to a side: turn a die in your pool to the side indicated by the ability.
• Add/Subtract: add or subtract the indicated value to the result of a single die, changing the face showing on the die. For example, if you add 1 to a "3", change it to a "4". You cannot add to a die showing a "6" or subtract from a die showing a "1".
• Steal: take another player's target. If it is Power, reduce their track by 1 and increase yours by 1. If the player has no target to steal, this ability has no effect (that is, if they have 0 Power, you cannot steal their Power).
• Die Slot: contains one die face; requires that exact die.
• Number Slot: contains a number with a "+" sign; requires any number of dice whose total is equal to or greater than the value shown.
• Letter Slot: contains a letter; requires a die different from any die you have already assigned to this Hero.
• Return to market: place the card at the bottom of its respective deck.
• Exchange: take a card from a deck or row and place one of your cards, from your play area or hand (as applicable), into the same area that you took it from.
• Gain: add to your player board or play area. When you gain Accomplices, they go to your hand.

Turn Order

1. Preparation Phase a. Roll the 7 green Common dice and a number of purple Power dice equal to your character's Power level. b. Flip all of your Lucky Coins, taking 1 Scheme for each unscarred side. You may use any that lands on the marked side to recover 1 die during the Crime Spree phase. c. Take all of your Accomplice cards into your hand.

2. Crime Spree Phase a. Reveal the top card of the Hero deck. b. You may use your Villain Power, activate one of your Accomplice cards or activate one of your Upgrade cards. c. Assign dice to the Hero cards to defeat them. d. If you defeat the Hero, advance the Batsignal track and then choose to continue or end your Crime Spree.

3. Arrest Phase (if you were caught) a. Gain 2 Scheme tokens, gain the top card of the Accomplice deck and gain 1 Lucky Coin from the supply.

4. Upgrade Phase (if you decided to end your Crime Spree) a. Gain Schemes equal to the combined total strength of the Heroes you defeated in the Crime Spree phase. b. (OPTIONAL) Buy an Accomplice during the Upgrade phase for 2 Schemes. c. (OPTIONAL) Buy an Upgrade during the Upgrade phase for the cost of the card. d. (OPTIONAL) Buy the next Power Level on your Villain Sheet for the cost shown during the Upgrade phase.

5. End of Turn Phase a. Return all dice to the supply. b. Return excess Upgrade or Accomplice cards to their decks. c. Play passes to the next player OR a new round begins. d. Return the Batsignal to "0".