BattleCON: War of Indines
BattleCON: War of Indines Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Game Credits
- What is BattleCON?
- Learning the Game
- Hikaru & Khadath Teach You BattleCON (Graphic Quick-Rules)
- Gameplay Overview
- Character Card Overview
- Base Card Overview
- Style Card Overview
- Game Setup
- Objective
- The Base Mechanic
- Play Sequence
- Resolving Effects
- Movement
- Stun, Stun Guard, & Stun Immunity
- Common Effects
- Play Variants and Options
- Characters
- General FAQ
- Component List
Game Credits
Designed by D. Brad Talton Jr.
Assisting Designers: Steven Christopherson, Jared Roswurm, Trang (Trish) Nhan, Bryan Graham
Lead Designer: D. Brad Talton Jr.
Playtesters: Kevin Bridgeman, Steven Petit, Ernest Stewart, Joe Dwyer, Nathan Lewis, Matt May-Day, Ben May-Day, Daniel Castro, Derek Brunet, Joma Celino, Chris Holm, Guillermo Hernandez, Ken Andrews, Brad Wales, Greg Krywusha, Matthew Fournier, Matthew Locklin, Brent Ur
Artists: Katrina Lin, Zaida Crescent, Danny Hirajeta, Fábio Fontes, Eternal-S, Cari Corene, Victoria Parker, Paul Butler, Devin Night
Special Thanks: Kevin Brusky, Lynda Yang, Chad Krizan, Michael Mindes
Presented by Level 99 Games — www.lvl99games.com
Visit the Official BattleCON Website, www.battleconnection.com, for more play variants, bonus characters, and rules FAQs.
BattleCON, logos, the characters, cards, board, rulebook, layouts, and all related materials are © 2011 by D. Brad Talton Jr. All Rights Reserved.
What is BattleCON?
BattleCON is a standalone game that comes as a complete boxed set. There are no random packs to buy, no rares, and no chase cards--get the complete game up front in the box.
While you can expand BattleCON with additional sets featuring new characters, there is no buy-in to collect more powerful cards and no expensive rares to chase down--when you get a box, you know exactly what you are getting.
Learning the Game
Don't be intimidated by this rulebook or the number of cards in the game! BattleCON is an extremely simple game, and most of the cards and rules in this book exist to allow you to play different variants and to increase the replayability of the base game. In fact, each player will only use 13 cards over the course of a duel. If this is your first time playing, use characters listed as 'Basic' in the character guide (Kallistar, Hikaru, Cadenza, or Magdelina), and follow along with the graphic quick-rules comic. After you feel comfortable with the basic mechanics and rules, you can gradually explore the more advanced characters and play variants.
Hikaru & Khadath Teach You BattleCON (Graphic Quick-Rules)
So what's this card game here all about, Khadath?
Getting Ready
Khadath: Well, it's called BattleCON, short for Battle Connection, and it's a head-to-head duel between two players.
Hikaru: So how do we actually play it?
Khadath: Well, first we should set up the board and our hands. We each get 13 cards, see yours over there? There are 6 normal ones, and 7 with your face on them. Then we arrange ourselves on the board like this.
Hikaru: I got it. Anything else I need to do?
Khadath: Set two style and base pairs from your hand face-up beside the board. For now, you can just use the ones marked with a '1' and '2' for convenience. Once you know the game better, you can pick what you want to set.
Hikaru: So how do these attacks work? And you always make an attack pair from two cards, one style plus one base?
Khadath: You link them together like this. For example, this Lure Strike has Range 1~6, Power 3, and priority 2. Yep, that's all there is to it.
(Hikaru's cards: 1 Character, 5 Styles, 7 Bases.)
Selection and Ante
Khadath: To begin, we both select an attack pair--one style and one base, and put them together face down.
Hikaru: Straightforward enough. So one red back, one blue back, face down on my side.
Khadath: Once we're both ready, then we ante. This is where you can use those tokens you have, Hikaru.
Hikaru: I was wondering when they would come in handy. Where are your tokens?
Khadath: Not everyone gets tokens. It will say on your character card if you get any, how to use them, how you get them, and what they do.
Hikaru: So I'll use this fire token for 3 extra power to my attack.
Khadath: If I had tokens, I could use them as well. If allowed by their abilities, players can ante more tokens, but you can never take them back once you ante them.
Hikaru: So after all the antes are complete, then we can reveal our cards.
Khadath: Alright, so after we reveal is when I get to beat you up, right?
Reveal and Start of Beat
Khadath: After we both reveal our attack pairs to one another, then we get to activate any effects with the Reveal trigger.
Hikaru: I want to do my effects first!
Khadath: Well, for reveal effects, order doesn't matter. We can both use our effects in either order we please. For this beat, it looks like we don't have any Reveal effects to use.
Hikaru: Alright, so now do I hit you?
Khadath: Patience, please. We have to determine who's first. I have priority 2.
Hikaru: And mine is 5. That's faster, so I hit first, right?
Khadath: So you become the Active Player. But before we get to the actual attacking, there's one more step.
Hikaru: What's that?
Khadath: Start of Beat. Start of Beat effects work just like Reveal effects, except that the active player gets to do all his effects first, then the reactive player does all of his effects.
Hikaru: So my Start of Beat is to advance 1 space.
Khadath: And mine is to retreat 1 space. I imagine it's obvious, but Advance always moves you toward the opponent, and retreat always moves you away.
Active and Reactive Attack
Hikaru: And what if I have multiple Start of Beat effects?
Khadath: Then you should choose which order that you want to use them. Just remember, you have to use all of your effects! You can't decide that you don't want to use some and not others.
Hikaru: Hey, I know what I'm doing. Let's get on to the combat segment already.
Khadath: As you wish. The Active Player does his attack first.
The attack has 6 parts: 1 - Before Activating Effects, 2 - Check to Hit, 3 - On Hit effects, 4 - Deal Damage, 5 - On Damage Effects, 6 - After Activating Effects
Hikaru: Sounds super-complicated.
Khadath: Not really. First, do all your before activating effects.
Hikaru: Alright, so it says I "advance 1 or 2 spaces". I'll choose 2, and advance 2 spaces.
Khadath: Then you see if I'm in range of your attack.
Hikaru: My attack range is just 1.
Khadath: Then that means you can only hit people directly beside you, which I'm not.
Hikaru: Curses! If only you hadn't stepped backwards at the Start of the Beat.
Khadath: It's all a matter of knowing your opponent. I bet next game you'll start with a shot attack instead of a drive.
Hikaru: Hmph. Anyway, just tell me what happens next.
Khadath: Since your attack missed, you don't worry about On Hit and On Damage effects. You can just go straight to After Activating effects.
Hikaru: I don't have any After Activating effects.
Khadath: Then we go on to the Reactive Player's Turn. I don't have any Before Activating effects, so I go straight to range checking. My range is 1 through 5, so I hit you.
Hikaru: And how much damage is there?
Khadath: You take 3 damage, since that's the power of my attack.
Hikaru: Alright, so now what happens?
Khadath: We move on to the Recycle Step.
End of Beat and Recycle
Khadath: Before we recycle, we get to do all of our End of Beat effects. I don't have any this beat.
Hikaru: Yeah, me neither.
Khadath: If we both had them, then the Active Player would go first and do all of his effects, then the reactive player would do all of his attacks.
Hikaru: So then we would do the recycling part?
Khadath: Yeah. You remember those two discard piles you set up at the beginning?
Hikaru: Yeah. What role do they play?
Khadath: All you do is pick up your second discard pile and put it in your hand, then move your first discard pile into your second pile, then put the pair you played this turn into your first pile.
(Before: two cards from the field move into the discard piles. After: the hand is refilled from the second discard pile.)
Hikaru: So everything has a 2-beat 'cooldown' because it sits in the discard pile 2 turns before coming back to my hand?
Khadath: That's about the sum of it.
Stun and Stun Guard
Khadath: Let's play the next beat.
Hikaru: Alright, so I set my cards.
Khadath: I'm set too.
Hikaru: So... Reveal!
Khadath: You're first, despite the -1 priority penalty my trap gives you.
Hikaru: So my Start of Beat effect triggers first, and moves me adjacent to you.
Khadath: And then mine makes me move my trap to any empty space in range, even though I'd rather leave it where it is. I'll put it here behind you.
Hikaru: This time I'm in range, so take 1 damage!
Khadath: Alright, so now that I've taken damage, I get stunned.
Hikaru: Stun? What's that?
Khadath: If you get hit and take damage, then you get stunned. A stunned player can't perform attacks. During the Active and Reactive Player attack steps.
Hikaru: Oh! So I don't even have to hit you that hard. As long as I'm fast enough to hit first, I can just spam quick attacks, and you'll never get a hit in edgewise?
Khadath: It's not quite that simple, but that's a good way to think--power is useless if you're not able to perform attacks.
Hikaru: Alright, let's keep the pressure up with another quick attack.
Khadath: Don't be too confident in your speed.
Hikaru: I know what I'm doing. Let's reveal!
Hikaru: Once again, even with your trap's speed penalty, I still manage to go first.
Khadath: Yeah, you've got it. No Reveal or Start of Beat effects, so let's do your attack.
Hikaru: Alright, I have two On Hit effects. For one, I get a token back, but my tokens are all in my hand.
Khadath: So I guess you don't get one back then.
Hikaru: For the second one, I get to throw you 1 space. How does that work since you're between me and the wall?
Khadath: Well, when moving, you hop over opponents, so if you moved me 1 space forwards, I would end up here.
Hikaru: Maybe I just want to move you backwards so that you stay cornered.
Khadath: Fortunately for me, if you have a legal move, you have to choose it, so your only option is to choose forwards in this case.
Khadath: So now it's my turn to attack.
Hikaru: Hey wait, I hit you. You should be stunned!
Khadath: Did you see my Strike attack? It's got this "Stun Guard 5" effect on it.
Hikaru: So what?
Khadath: Stun Guard means that I don't get stunned unless my Stun Guard is "broken"--that is, if I take more damage than the number beside it. In this case, I would have to get hit for 6 or more damage to be stunned.
Hikaru: Ugh! So now I'm going to get hit bad, aren't I?
Khadath: For 5 damage. It's important to note that Stun Guards stack together too. So Stun Guard 2 plus Stun Guard 5 would make Stun Guard 7.
Hikaru: Fine. Any End of Beat effects?
Khadath: I have a "Move directly to any space effect", so I get to teleport over here.
Hikaru: Sheesh, you're hard to catch, aren't you?
Khadath: Since you're faster and do more damage, it's only fair that I have some advantages, don't you think?
Hikaru: Are you going to make a big deal about it if I say "no"?
Clashing
Hikaru: So one more question. What happens when we tie on priority?
Khadath: Ah. Well, in that case, we have a clash.
Hikaru: How does that work?
Khadath: When we clash, we both put a new Base from our hands face-down onto the field and then simultaneously reveal them together. The new Base pairs with the old Style to create a new attack.
(Equal priorities? Clash! Select new bases secretly!)
Hikaru: And what if there's another tie?
Khadath: Then we play yet another Base face down.
Hikaru: And what happens during the recycle step if we clashed?
Khadath: Then you would only cycle the top attack pair--the one you actually executed. All the bases that got used in the clash go back to your hand.
Hikaru: I think I see. Any other tips?
Khadath: Don't underestimate the power of your Dash. It's a great way to stall until your better cards come up. Just beware of locking it up in your discard pile when you really need it.
Hikaru: Got it. I think I know what I need to in order to totally own you now!
Khadath: Why don't you back that up? En garde!
Gameplay Overview
A single match consists of two or three duels. A duel is a complete game, beginning at 20 life points and ending with one player reaching 0 life. A single duel takes between 10 and 20 minutes, so a match is typically between 30 minutes and an hour long.
In the course of a single duel, the goal of each player is to reduce their opponent's life total to zero or fewer points. The first to accomplish this is declared the winner of the duel.
A duel consists of any number of rounds, called beats. In a beat, both players act simultaneously as they play out all of the steps of the beat. There are no 'turns' in BattleCON--both players are constantly engaged in the conflict.
Character Card Overview
Characters are specific personas that you use on the field of battle. Each player will select a different character at the start of the game and must use all of the styles and bases that are associated with that specific character.
Each character card has the following components:
- Name – The name of the character.
- Unique Ability – One or more unique abilities that this character possesses. These are staples of their personal strategy and are used during gameplay.
- Overdrive Finish Attack - A signature special attack that can be used by the character under certain conditions.
Base Card Overview
These cards are printed with their numbers aligned to the left and may be either unique to a character or generic. Those that are unique to a character have that character's picture on them. Bases are the foundations of an attack pair. All bases have the following parts.
- Name – The name of the base.
- Range – This is what distance the attack will strike at. Some ranges are expressed as two values (i.e.: 1
4). These ranges target all spaces included in the range (so 14 would target spaces at range 1, 2, 3, and 4). Attacks with a range of N/A will never hit unless they have some special effect that says they do. Range can never be less than 0. - Power – This is how much damage the attack will do. Attacks with a power of N/A will not do any damage. Power can never be less than 0.
- Priority – The speed of the attack. Higher priority attacks have the advantage of going first in combat--allowing you to stun or escape your opponent in many instances. Priority may be negative on some attacks.
- Effects – Special effects that are part of the attack. These are explained in more detail later.
Style Card Overview
These cards are printed with their numbers aligned to the right and are all specific to a certain character. Each style can be paired with a base to form an attack pair. A style has the following parts.
- Name – The name of the style. This pairs with the name of the base to form the name of the attack. For example, a 'Clockwork' style and a 'Strike' base combine to form the 'Clockwork Strike' attack.
- Range Modifier – The range of the attack is modified up or down by this amount.
- If only one side of the attack has a variable range like (1
4), add the single number to both sides (so 14 plus 2 would be 3~6). - If both sides of the attack range are variable, calculate the complete range by adding the highest and lowest parts of both sides (so 1
4 plus 24 would be 3~8).
- If only one side of the attack has a variable range like (1
- Power Modifier – The power of the attack is modified up or down by this amount.
- Priority Modifier – The priority of the attack is modified up or down by this amount.
- Effects – These effects are added on to the effects of the base, giving the attack additional powers. Style effects work the same way as base effects.
Game Setup
- Character Selection – Each player chooses one character (choose secretly in a competitive game). They take all 7 of that character's cards (1 character card, 5 styles, and 1 base), plus a set of generic bases (6 bases), to form a starting hand. Each player should also find any tokens or markers their character uses and place them beside their character card or into play as specified by their unique abilities.
- Board Setup - Place the players on spaces the second and sixth spaces respectively (as shown below), so that each character is on its owner's left hand side of the board. Use the clear colored markers to keep track of each player's life points. All players start with 20 life.
- Initial Discards - Each player chooses two bases and two styles*. These will form two pairs that should be placed in discard 1 and discard 2 respectively. These cards will not be available at the start of the game but will become available soon. Make sure your two discard piles are clearly separated and that you know which is which, as they both have very important functions (see "Recycle" for more information).
- Game Start - Once you have completed these actions and filled both discard piles, you are ready to begin the game.
* The cards fixed with numbers 1 and 2 are suggested starting discard piles. Use these during your first few games to get a fast start. You may wish to secretly choose which cards to discard rather than using the suggested starters.
Objective
The objective of each duel is to reduce the opponent's life points to zero before your opponent can do the same to you. The first player whose life points reach zero is eliminated, and the remaining player is declared the winner of the duel.
A duel has a time limit of 15 beats. At the end of the 15th beat, if no player has eliminated the other, then the player with the highest life total is declared the winner.
The Base Mechanic
An attack pair is formed by selecting one style and one base from the player's hand and placing those face-down in front of him. An attack pair has the power, range, and priority of the base, plus the modifiers specified on the style and all the effects of both cards. Since there are 5 styles and 7 bases, each character has 35 possible unique attacks (and even more for characters with tokens!)
In this example attack pair, the attack has 16 range (add the 1 to both sides of 05), 3 power, and 2 priority. It also has both Stun Guard 5 and the On Hit effect (these effects are explained later).
Play Sequence
Every round of BattleCON follows a similar pattern. Each of these steps is done by each player simultaneously.
- Select attack pairs
- Ante Tokens
- Reveal attack pairs
- Execute attacks
- Recycle
1 - Select Attack Pairs
Each player chooses one style and one base from his hand, then places those cards face down in front of him where their opponent can see the backs of the cards clearly. A legal attack pair always has one red-backed and one blue-backed card. Once both players have attack pairs placed down in front of them, move on to the next step.
2 - Ante Phase
A character's special ability may provide that character with tokens. These tokens are chosen and spent during the ante step, after both players have selected attack pairs. A token's exact effect depends on the unique ability of the character using it.
Tokens are in a character's "token pool" area until they are used. After being used, they are typically moved to the "token discard pool."
Unless otherwise stated by a character's unique ability, tokens are discarded to their own separate discard pile and cannot be retrieved except by the effects of that character's styles and bases. Not all characters are able to retrieve their tokens, so pay attention to your options for recovery before you use them recklessly!
Players may ante tokens in any order, and may always ante more tokens (as far as their unique abilities allow), but tokens can never be taken back. Once both players have elected to pass on adding tokens, move on to the next step.
3 - Reveal Attack Pairs
Both players simultaneously flip over their face-down attack pairs. Any Reveal Effects occur at this time. Reveal effects can occur in any order the players wish.
After resolving all reveal effects, check the priorities of both attacks (considering any modifications provided by tokens, styles, and passive special abilities). If the total priorities tie, then a clash occurs.
CLASH: In a clash, both players must play a new base face-down from their hands. They simultaneously Reveal the played base and put it on top of the old one, hiding the effects and stats of the original base and forming a new attack. Players then check to see if another clash has occurred. If it has, continue again as above. If players run out of cards during a clash, then they pick up all bases in the attack (including the original base) and continue the clash. When a clash is resolved, only the top card of the clash remains in play, and all cards beneath it are returned to the players' hands.
If any player runs out of cards during the clash, then skip directly to recycling their top attack pairs (without activating any End of Beat effects) and a new beat begins.
Once any clashes are resolved, the Start of Beat effects of both attacks trigger, with the higher priority character's effects triggering first.
If a player has multiple effects to resolve with a single trigger (such as having multiple Reveal or Start of Beat effects), then he chooses in which order he activates them. This is true for all triggers.
4a - Active Attack
The player who has higher priority after Reveal effects are resolved is called the Active Player, and the one with lower priority is called the Reactive Player.
The active player activates his attack first by performing the following steps:
- He performs any Before Activating effects listed on his cards. If there are multiple effects, he chooses which order to use them.
- He checks to see if the opponent is within his range. Range is counted in spaces, with the space occupied by the player being space zero (so adjacent characters are at range 1, and characters at the start of a match are at range 4).
- If the opponent is in range, then the active player resolves any On Hit effects.
- If the opponent was hit by the attack, then the opponent takes damage equal to the power of the attack, reducing the damage taken by his own attack's Soak value (if he has this effect see common effects).
- If any damage was done, On Damage effects are resolved. Also, if any damage was done, the opponent may be stunned. This stun can be prevented by an opponent with Stun Guard (see the section on Stun, below).
- If a player's life is reduced to zero or fewer points, the game immediately ends, with the remaining player being declared the winner.
- The active player resolves any After Activating effects, regardless of whether or not the attack hit or did damage.
4b - Reactive Attack
If the reactive player is not stunned, then he may activate his attack by following the same steps as the active player. A stunned player skips activation entirely, including any Before Activating and After Activating effects.
Once the reactive player has resolved his attack (or been stunned), move on to the next step.
5 - Recycle
Both players activate any End of Beat effects they possess. If both players have End of Beat effects, the active player executes all of his effects first. End of Beat effects will still be executed by the reactive player even if he was stunned.
Finally, both players pick up their second discard pile, move their first discard pile into their second discard pile, and move the attack pair they just played face-up into their first discard pile.
Resolving Effects
During the course of the game, you will need to resolve many special effects that your attacks have. How to resolve these effects is explained in detail here.
There are two kinds of effects, passive effects and triggered effects.
Passive effects are always active from the time the attack is revealed until the end of the beat. For example, Khadath's Snare base states "Your gate trap marker cannot be moved during this beat." This is a passive effect and should be followed as long as it is face-up on the player's current attack pair. Its instructions should be obeyed by both players at all times.
Triggered effects have two parts: a trigger and an effect. An example of a triggered effect might be "Before Activating: Move 1 or 2 spaces forwards." This means that the effect is triggered and resolved during the Before Activating step (during step 4 of the turn). If a player controls multiple triggered effects, then he chooses what order to activate them. All triggered effects are mandatory--you must use them when they trigger.
If triggered and passive effects would conflict with one another, the passive effects take precedence.
Status Effects
Some triggered effects will apply powers to the next beat of combat. These are called "Status Effects" and are separate from the cards, tokens, or abilities that generate them. The box contains some tokens that you can use to track status effects, but status effects are not tokens.
Movement
Many effects will cause characters to move. The only way to move on the board is by these effects or by the unique abilities of characters.
Movement will be specified by triggered effects or a character's unique abilities in the form of effects such as "After Activating: Advance 1, 2, or 3 spaces."
There are 6 kinds of movement:
Advance – This movement brings you closer to an opponent. (i.e. "Advance 1 or 2 spaces")
Retreat – This movement takes you further from an opponent. (i.e. "Retreat 1 space.")
Pull – This movement brings an opponent closer to you. (i.e. "Pull the opponent up to 3 spaces")
Push – This movement puts an opponent further from you. (i.e. "Push the opponent up to 3 spaces")
Move – You may choose either direction for this movement. (i.e. "Move the opponent 1 space")
Move directly – Teleport immediately to the space specified, without moving into or out of spaces in between. Some effects may prevent you from "moving over" your opponent. These effects do not apply to direct movement.
Movement effects are mandatory. If an effect says 'advance 1 or 2 spaces', then the player must move either 1 space forwards or 2 spaces forwards. He cannot choose to remain where he is.
For all moves except direct movement, you must pass through the spaces between your current position and your final destination.
If an effect specifies 'Advance up to 2 spaces', then the player has the option of choosing a movement of zero (which is less than 2) and remaining stationary. Negative movement is never allowed.
When moving, you hop over opponents and do not count the spaces they occupy against your movement.
If a player cannot complete a backwards move due to the presence of a wall, then he moves as far as possible and stops. The same holds true for a player moving forwards against a player who is adjacent to a wall. The presence of walls may preclude movement entirely. In this case, movement is ignored. If a legal movement is possible given the effect moving the character, then it must be taken. (Example: Kehrolyn must move 1 space forwards or backwards, but there is a wall behind her. In this case, she is forced to choose the forwards movement, since it is the only legal, available move).
Stun, Stun Guard, & Stun Immunity
All attacks have the potential to stun opponents when they hit. A stunned opponent is unable to react with an attack of his own. Thus, in order to score hits a player must either be fast enough to strike first, maneuverable enough to avoid damage, or defensive enough to prevent stun.
A stun occurs whenever a player takes damage greater than his Stun Guard value. Attacks that have no Stun Guard on them have a Stun Guard of zero. Here are a few examples that you can follow along with using your own cards. All of these examples ignore range and movement.
Example 1 - Hit and taking damage: Cadenza and Kallistar are dueling. Kallistar uses a 'Blazing Strike' (4 priority) and Cadenza uses a 'Battery Drive' (3 priority). Kallistar will go first. She hits Cadenza for 4 damage. Because Cadenza has no Stun Guard or Soak effects, he takes 4 damage and is stunned. He will not be able to use the movement effect on his Drive base, but he can still utilize the effect on his Battery style, since it is an End of Beat effect and not prevented by stun.
Example 2 - Taking no damage: Cadenza uses 'Clockwork Drive' (priority 1, Soak 3) and Kallistar uses 'Ignition Grasp' (priority 4). Kallistar will hit first, dealing 3 points of damage to Cadenza. Cadenza has Soak 3, which reduces the damage he takes by up to 3 points. Thus, he takes 0 damage. Because he has not taken any damage, he is able to retaliate and score 6 damage on Kallistar.
Example 3 - Stun Guard greater than damage: Cadenza uses 'Mechanical Strike' (priority 1, Stun Guard 5) and Kallistar is using 'Volcanic Grasp' (priority 5). Kallistar will hit first, as usual, and deal 2 points of damage. Cadenza takes the damage, but because the damage is lower than or equal to his Stun Guard value, he is not stunned. He can hit Kallistar back for 6 damage.
Example 4 - Damage greater than Stun Guard: Cadenza uses 'Mechanical Shot' (priority 0, Stun Guard 2) and Kallistar uses 'Flare Strike' (priority 5, in elemental form). Kallistar will hit first, dealing 9 damage to Cadenza. Cadenza takes the damage, and since it is higher than his Stun Guard value, he is stunned and will not activate his attack.
Example 5 - Stun by effect: Cadenza uses an extremely defensive 'Clockwork Strike' (priority 0, Soak 3, Stun Guard 5). Kallistar uses a 'Caustic Grasp' (priority 6, in elemental form). Kallistar will go first, dealing 5 damage to Cadenza. Cadenza's Soak absorbs 3 points of the damage, so he takes only 2, which is less than his Stun Guard of 5. However, Kallistar's Caustic style has a special effect "On Hit, Elemental Form: The opponent is stunned." Cadenza is stunned because of the effect and will not activate his attack. This is called an auto-stun effect and can stun regardless of the opponent's Stun Guard and Soak.
Example 6 - Stun Immunity: Cadenza uses the same 'Clockwork Strike' and Kallistar uses her same 'Caustic Grasp'. This time, however, Cadenza decides to ante one of his Iron Body tokens during the Ante phase. This ante gives him the effect of Stun Immunity due to his unique ability. Now when Kallistar hits first, her Caustic effect will attempt to stun Cadenza. Cadenza is immune to stun, however, so no effect or damage can prevent him from executing his Clockwork Strike for 7 damage.
Multiple Stun Guard effects will stack together. For example, Kehrolyn's Bladed Strike (Stun Guard 2 + Stun Guard 5) would have an effective Stun Guard of 7.
Common Effects
Soak – A number will be specified (i.e.: Soak 3, Soak 1, Soak 2). Whenever the player would take damage this turn, he reduces the damage taken by the amount specified. Multiple Soak effects stack together (so Soak 3 + Soak 1 = Soak 4). Soak is always a passive effect. If a player would take damage multiple times in a turn, his Soak applies to each individual time he would take the damage.
Stun Guard – A number will be specified (i.e.: Stun Guard 5, Stun Guard 3). Whenever the player takes damage this turn, he is not stunned unless the total damage taken this turn is greater than his Stun Guard rating. Stun Guard is always a passive effect. Attacks with no Stun Guard specified have an implied Stun Guard of 0. If a player would take damage multiple times in a turn, Stun Guard applies separately to each one. The player must take damage higher than his Stun Guard in a single attack for his Stun Guard to be broken.
Lose Life – Effects that say "lose life" do not ever cause stun. Only effects that "deal damage" can cause stuns. Soak does not prevent loss of life from these effects. Loss of life can never reduce a player to below 1 life.
Stun Immunity – The character cannot be stunned by any means or effects. Stun Immunity overrides any effect or damage that would normally stun a character. It does not prevent any damage.
Play Variants and Options
BattleCON is a game that can adapt to the style you want to play. Now that you've learned the rules of the basic game, you can use some of these options to spice up your gameplay and improve. It is recommended that you play a few normal duels before you start exploring the options here. It is recommended that you try each variant in the order they are presented here, starting with Special Actions and gradually moving towards Boss Mode.
Variant: Special Actions
Special actions are powerful tactical maneuvers that can be used only once over the course of a duel. They are recommended for all play modes once players are comfortable with the basic game and add an extra layer of strategic options to any matchup. Special actions are standard for tournament play.
Each player takes one Special Action card at the start of the duel. The special action card looks identical to a style on its reverse face.
During any beat, the player may play his Special Action style in conjunction with a base from his hand, just like a normal attack pair. During the Reveal step, but before any Reveal effects, the special action is executed.
The effect that is executed changes depending on which base is paired with the Special Action. For example, pairing Special Action + Burst would activate the Pulse effect. Pairing Special Action + Grasp would activate the Cancel effect.
After a Special action is used, it is removed from the game until the end of the duel, and the card paired with it returns to the owner's hand.
During a Pulse or Finish Special Action, your discard piles will not recycle during the Recycle Step.
If you are playing a match that involves several duels, remember to return the Special Action to your cards between duels.
Pulse
Pulse is the ultimate defensive tactic and triggers if you pair the Special Action with a Burst or Dash.
Negate the opponent's entire attack pair. Treat it as though they played nothing at all. Push the opponent and yourself backwards any number of spaces. You may choose zero spaces for this number.
If both players pulse simultaneously, they both push each other back as far as possible.
Cancel
Cancel allows you to choose your attack after looking at what your opponent has played. It triggers if you pair a Special Action with a Grasp or Shot (or if you try to activate a Finish and your life total is too high). A Cancel occurs before any reveal effects or passive effects begin working.
Select a new attack pair and play it. Any tokens you spent during the ante phase apply to your new attack. The pair played with cancel will trigger a clash if it ties your opponent's pair.
If both players Cancel simultaneously, they must both choose new attacks secretly.
Finish
If Special Action is paired with a Strike, Drive, or a character's unique base, then the character's Overdrive Finish is executed. A character must have 7 or fewer life points to use an Overdrive Finish, otherwise the Finish becomes a Cancel instead.
Continue the beat as normal, but with your character's "Overdrive Finisher" move completely replacing your attack pair for the beat.
Finishers always win priority ties without clashing. If two finishes clash, then they both downgrade into cancels. They are otherwise just like attacks and can be stunned out, dodged, and retaliated against if your opponent has enough Stun Guard.
Variant: Character Teams
In this mode, players build a team of three characters. Rather than using the same character in all three duels of a match, players will switch between members of their teams for each duel.
Starting with the player who most recently lost a duel (the challenger), players take turns selecting characters to add to their teams. If multiple copies of the game are present, players may both choose the same character. However, the same character may not appear more than once on a single team.
At the end of each duel, both players must secretly choose a different character to participate in the next duel. Once a character has been used, regardless of whether they won or lost, they cannot be used for the remainder of the match.
Variant: Tag Teams
In this mode, players build teams of two or three characters to participate in a Tag Team duel. In a Tag Team, players may switch characters dynamically during the course of the game.
Players decide on how many characters will be in both teams; then starting with the player who most recently lost a duel (the challenger), players take turns selecting characters to add to their teams. If multiple copies of the game are present, players may both choose the same character. However, the same character may not appear more than once on a single team.
In addition to their normal set of normal bases, players add the Tag base to their hands. Players secretly choose which member of their team will be their starting character and reveal these simultaneously.
Each character on the team uses a separate life total, and all start at 20.
When the Tag base is played, the player who used it may change characters. To do this, he chooses the new character to 'tag in'. If the currently active character has styles or a unique base in either of his discard piles, these styles and bases are replaced with the corresponding color styles and unique bases from the new character's set. Additionally, all the cards in the player's hand are replaced with their like-colored equivalents from the new character's set. Special Action cards remain in the player's hand.
When a character's life is reduced to zero or less, the player may make a free 'Tag' action during the End of Beat step, if he has any characters remaining in his team. Additionally, if he already used his Special Action, he receives a new Special Action card from outside the game. A player should never have more than one special action card.
When a player loses his final character, he loses the game.
Variant: Arenas
The game box includes five double-sided arena cards. These represent locations within Indines where the environment has specific effects on the battle. Arenas can be used in conjunction with any other game mode, but they are most interesting in one on one duels.
After selecting characters, randomly select one of the arena cards. If both players agree, the player who most recently lost a duel (the challenger) may choose the arena. Reveal the arena before starting discard piles are selected, and follow any setup instructions the arena has. During gameplay, simply follow any instructions on the Arena card as they become relevant.
Variant: Multiplayer Modes
Multiplayer modes allow 3 or 4 players to all participate in a single duel at once. Players may either form two teams or may play in a free-for-all.
To set up Multiplayer Games, flip your board over to Reveal the multiplayer side. This side of the board has two space tracks rather than just one. The tracks are offset from each other by a 'half space'.
Players begin on the 2 and 6 positions of either track. When playing teams, teammates should both begin on the same side of the board. Otherwise, randomly determine starting positions. The game is played just as normal, with each player keeping track of their own life points. Note the changes below when playing with 3 or 4 players.
Range Changes
A player is only in range of other players on the same track as himself. He cannot hit players on different tracks, and they cannot trigger his 'nearest opponent' effects, regardless of how close they are on a different track.
Players never hit their teammates. Characters standing between an attacker and defender do not block the range of attacks—a player may choose to hit any opponent within his attack's range, even if other opponents are in the way.
Movement Changes
When a player is moving forwards or backwards, he is able to change tracks. When moving forward, he can move forward to the other track. When moving backwards, he may move backward to the other track. The only time this is not allowed is if the space he would be moving to would be occupied. Opponents who can move your character may force you to switch tracks in the same way.
Both friendly and opposing characters can be 'hopped over' during movement.
Two characters who are adjacent to one another act like a wall. They cannot be 'hopped over'.
Forwards and backwards are calculated only by the positions of opponents on your current track. If there are no opponents on your track or if there are opponents on both sides of you, you may treat 'advance' and 'retreat' as either direction you wish.
Reveal Changes
If there are priority ties between members of opposing teams, then the player whose teammate has higher priority takes precedence. Only trigger a clash if both members of both teams are tied.
If members of the same team are tied, they do not clash. Instead, they may decide among themselves which order they wish to act.
Players execute attacks in priority order, starting with the highest priority down to the lowest. A player who is stunned at any point during the beat will miss his opportunity to act during execution.
Variant: Tournament Mode
Tournament mode enables any number of players to participate in a battle for the title of Champion of Indines. Optional tournament prize kits are available from Level 99 Games and contain posters, bonus characters, and other exciting prizes for running your tournament event. A prize kit is not necessary to play.
One player should act as the tournament organizer and should not participate in the rankings of the tournament. This player may be called on to mediate the rules or resolve disputes between players impartially. Typically the player with the most experience and rules understanding should act as tournament organizer.
For every 4 players participating in the tournament, you will need one box of the BattleCON: War of Indines base game (so a 32 man tournament would require 8 copies of the game).
Only characters which appear in the game box are valid choices for a sanctioned tournament. Promotional characters or characters from other BattleCON games are not legal for official tournament play. In an unofficial tournament among friends, the tournament organizer may provide promotional characters as legal draft picks, so long as one copy of the character is available for each box included in the tournament (so in a 32 man tournament with 8 boxes, you would need 8 copies of any promotional characters you wish to include).
Setup
Divide the players into 8-man flights as evenly as possible. Each flight should take 2 boxes of the base game (or 1 box for a flight with 4 or fewer players). Each player should take turns drafting one character at a time until each has 3 characters from the contents of those boxes, taking any necessary standups, tokens, markers, or cards for those characters. Return all remaining characters to the box. They will not be used as part of this tournament.
Tournament Matches
Tournament matches are conducted in the same way as described in the Character Teams variant (each player must choose and use one character per duel of a match and cannot use the same one twice in a match).
Prizes
Tournament prizes are typically distributed via draft. All prizes are laid out in an array. First place gets first pick of the available prizes, second gets second, and so on for as long as there are still unclaimed prizes. If there are more prizes than players, you may either save the remaining prizes for a future tournament or continue the prize draft by returning to the first place player.
Variant: EX Duel
EX characters possess a different set of bases and more powerful abilities than ordinary characters. Any character can become an EX mode character by simply swapping out their six generic bases with the EX bases and by using their EX ability listed in the rule book rather than the one printed on their character card.
EX characters are faster and stronger than ordinary characters but not impossible to defeat. Consider letting your opponent play EX mode to create a more challenging game. A tag team of two characters also provides a close matchup for a single EX character. The base game box does not contain additional tokens required for some of the EX character abilities.
If you have two copies of the game, both players may play EX mode characters against each other for a more high-powered duel. EX characters begin a duel with 30 life points.
Variant: 2 vs. 1 Boss Mode
Two Versus One "Boss Mode" allows a team of two normal characters to fight against one more powerful "Boss" character. The boss character has enhanced statistics and abilities.
The boss will be played as an EX character. Other players use normal characters.
If you have two copies of the base game, the boss may be an Almighty character, and the two other players may use EX characters.
Setup, range, and movement are otherwise identical to those in the multiplayer modes variant.
Variant: Almighty Duel
Almighty characters possess a different set of bases and vastly more powerful abilities than ordinary characters. Any character can become an Almighty Mode character by simply swapping out their six generic bases with the Almighty bases and by using the Almighty ability listed in the rule book instead of those printed on the character cards.
Almighty characters are disproportinately faster and stronger than ordinary characters. A Tag Team of EX characters may stand a chance against an Almighty character, but it will be a difficult fight. Normal characters should not fight against Almighty characters. The game box does not contain additional tokens required for some of the Almighty character abilities. If you have two copies of the game, both players may play Almighty mode characters against each other for an epic-level duel. Almighty characters begin a duel with 40 life points.
Variant: 3 vs. 1 Boss Mode
Three Versus One "Boss Mode" provides an exciting challenge for a team of three players to take on one extremely powerful opponent. The boss character has disproportionately powerful statistics.
The boss will be played by either an EX or Almighty character. Teams playing Boss mode for the first time or who want a more casual boss game should play against an EX Boss character. Those who desire an intense challenge that requires near-perfect teamwork and planning to surmount should take on an Almighty character.
Setup, range, and movement are otherwise identical to those in the multiplayer modes variant.
Characters
Each character is Illustrated by the credited artist and given a Difficulty rating (Basic, Moderate, or Advanced). Their EX and Almighty entries describe how their unique ability changes in those play variants.
Hikaru Sorayama
"Motion, Power, Clarity, Purpose--to fight is to experience the thrill of living!"
Illustrated by Zaida Crescent. Difficulty: Basic.
Hikaru is not stellar in any single area of combat until he starts spending tokens. With his elemental tokens, Hikaru's attacks can stand up to the most potent abilities of opponents. Since tokens are limited, however, Hikaru must manage them carefully, and make efforts to recover them whenever possible.
Ex: Hikaru may ante up to 2 elemental tokens during the ante phase. Whenever he recovers tokens, he may recover two instead of just one.
Almighty: Hikaru may ante any number of elemental tokens during the ante phase. At the end of each beat, he recovers one token of choice.
Cadenza
"The Cadenza model is Willat's most powerful soldier--it fights without hesitation, pain, or remorse--a perfect engine of destruction!"
Illustrated by Danny Hirajeta. Difficulty: Basic.
Cadenza is a heavy melee fighter who is able to wade through damage and wreak havoc at close range. His styles give him an unconditional opportunity to advance on enemies, as well as the chance to pull enemies in and to deal damage based on the amount of damage he absorbs in a turn.
Ex: Cadenza gains Soak 2 whenever he spends or antes an Iron Body token. He starts with 4 of these tokens.
Almighty: Cadenza gains Soak 4 whenever he spends or antes an Iron Body token. He starts with 5 of these tokens.
Kallistar Flarechild
"Fire within, consume my heart, that I might destroy those who stand in my way!"
Illustrated by Zaida Crescent. Difficulty: Basic.
Kallistar is a risk-return character that rewards high-stakes offensives with exceptional damage payoff. Because of her life loss while in elemental form, Kallistar's player is pressured to make a strong, relentless offensive, which can serve to make her predictable to opponents if not tempered well with her low-risk mode. A savvy player switches between modes often to accommodate the situation he finds himself in.
Ex: Kallistar gains +3 power and +3 priority while in elemental form.
Almighty: Kallistar gains +4 power and +4 priority while in elemental form, but spends 2 life per turn instead of 1. While in human form, she regains 1 life at the start of each beat.
Magdelina Larington
"Solar Saint, let your light shine through me, that I might deliver Justice by your sword!"
Illustrated by Victoria Parker. Difficulty: Basic.
Magdelina gradually gains levels over the course of the game, becoming stronger and stronger. Though initially weak, she can stall out opponents until she gains enough material advantages to thoroughly rout them.
Ex: Magdelina begins a match at level 1 and has a maximum level of 6. She loses a level every time an opponent is defeated.
Almighty: Magdelina begins a match at level 2 and has a maximum level of 7. She loses a level every time an opponent is defeated.
Vanaah Kalmor
"By the goddess' will, I will purge this world of darkness, no matter the depths I must delve."
Illustrated by Zaida Crescent. Difficulty: Basic.
Vanaah is a close to medium range combat expert who builds her strategy off of spacing control and above-average stats. Her unique ability lets her hit harder and faster at intervals throughout the match, forcing opponents to conserve their defenses if they are to resist her heavy strikes.
Ex: Vanaah has 2 Divine Rush tokens. She may choose to use both at once if she wishes, and they return to her as normal.
Almighty: Vanaah has 1 fewer discard pile than normal, meaning her attacks will cycle around twice as fast, and she will have more cards in hand. Vanaah also has 2 Divine Rush tokens. She may choose to use both at once if she wishes, and they return to her as normal.
Luc Von Gott
"Every age needs a hero. Perhaps I could be of use to this one too."
Illustrated by Fábio Fontes. Difficulty: Basic.
Luc is a dedicated close melee fighter who is extremely fast and possesses a number of tricky effects. He stores up power in his temporal battery, unleashing it for increased speed, double attacks, additional mobility, or more.
Ex: Luc gains 2 Time Tokens every beat and may store up to 7.
Almighty: Luc gains 3 Time Tokens every beat and may store up to 9.
Kehrolyn Ross
"My father gave me the power to be anything, but never told me what I was meant to become."
Illustrated by Katrina Lin. Difficulty: Moderate.
Kehrolyn has the greatest statistical advantage of any character in the game, in terms of raw power, speed, and defenses. She gains these bonuses by utilizing two different styles each turn instead of one. Her special effects are limited, meaning that her actions are easier to predict and defend against than those of other characters.
Ex: Kehrolyn may choose to use either discarded style as her current form. She declares which she is using during the ante step. If she does not declare then she must use the style in discard pile 1.
Almighty: Kehrolyn utilizes both of her discarded styles as current forms. This means that she will apply two current forms to every attack.
Zaamassal Kett
"All that exists is my world. Let me show you the chaos behind these eyes."
Illustrated by Eternal-S. Difficulty: Moderate.
Zaamassal is an all-around fighter who is able to alter his fighting style to match his most recent attacks. His various modes, called paradigms, give him specific strategic advantages against foes.
Ex: Zaamassal may have two paradigms active at one time. Whenever he is stunned, or if he would gain a third, he chooses which of his active paradigms to discard.
Almighty: Zaamassal may have three paradigms active at one time. Whenever he is stunned, or if he would gain a fourth, he chooses which of his active paradigms to discard.
Demitras Denigrande
"Can you hear it? The bated breath, the fast-beating heart, the whimper of fear? The symphony of demise draws ever closer to your grand finale."
Illustrated by Victoria Parker. Difficulty: Moderate.
Demitras is a light fighter who gains additional speed with each hit he lands. Once he has accumulated a sufficient amount of speed, he may spend it in exchange for power, finishing the match in one or two spectacular finishing blows.
Ex: Demitras gains 1 extra Crescendo token at the end of each beat and has a maximum pool of 7 tokens.
Almighty: Demitras gains 2 Crescendo tokens on a successful hit and 1 at the end of every beat. He has a maximum pool of 10 tokens.
Regicide Heketch
"Eyahahahahahahaha!"
Illustrated by Danny Hirajeta. Difficulty: Moderate.
Heketch gathers power by maintaining spacing with his opponents and can then use that power to teleport into melee or to use extra-powerful melee attacks, before escaping again into the shadows to recover strength.
Ex: Heketch may have up to 2 Dark Force tokens at a time. Whenever he would regain one, he regains them all. He may not spend more than one token in a single turn.
Almighty: Heketch may have up to 3 Dark Force tokens at a time. Whenever he would regain one, he regains them all. Additionally, he may teleport to any unoccupied space with his Dark Force Ante ability. He may not spend more than 1 token per turn.
Hepzibah Culotre
"Dark Masters, reveal to me all the mysteries of life and power!"
Illustrated by Cari Corene. Difficulty: Moderate.
Hepzibah is a crash-and-burn style character who spends away her own life to fuel attacks. She has the ability to steal life and to regain it at some intervals. Her attacks reward her for spending more and more life, making the allure of power difficult to resist.
Ex: Hepzibah regains 1 life at the end of every beat.
Almighty: Hepzibah regains 1 life at the end of every beat. She also regains 1 life whenever she deals damage to an opponent.
Rukyuk Amberdeen
"A little money, a little excitement, and to think I'm doing a little good--those are the only payments I need."
Illustrated by Zaida Crescent. Difficulty: Moderate.
Rukyuk utilizes ammunition tokens to power his attacks. If he runs out of these tokens, he must spend a turn to reload before he is able to continue fighting. His attacks all have built-in range modifiers, making his spacing very important.
Ex: Rukyuk may spend a second ammo token during the ante phase. He applies both token effects but only discards one at the end of the turn and instead returns the other to his token pool.
Almighty: Rukyuk may spend a second ammo token during the ante phase. If he does, his attack activates twice during this beat. He discards both tokens if he does this. Both attacks have all the effects of both tokens.
Khadath Ahemusei
"If you hesitate, if you fear, if you despair, then you are already trapped."
Illustrated by Katrina Lin. Difficulty: Advanced.
Khadath's ability to control terrain and alter his range give him the tools to evade opponents effectively while taking small shots at them from afar. Meanwhile he sets traps in the form of his portals, which he lures enemies into and punishes them for crossing.
Ex: Khadath has a second Gate Trap Marker. The effects of multiple gate traps are cumulative, and his Snare hits the spaces covered by all Gate Traps.
Almighty: Khadath has three Gate Trap Markers. The effects of multiple gate traps are cumulative, and his Snare hits the spaces covered by all Gate Traps.
Lixis Ran Kanda
"I will defy nature and master it, and I will live!"
Illustrated by Victoria Parker. Difficulty: Advanced.
Lixis focuses on shutting down enemy strategies and preventing them from gaining their bonuses. While she is slow and has short reach, her ability to cut off enemy tactics makes opponents too clumsy to fight back effectively in many situations.
Ex: When Lixis activates her Withering Touch ability, she may name a base for the opponent to discard, instead of letting the opponent choose.
Almighty: Opponents have a third discard pile that their attacks must cycle through before returning to their hands.
Seth Cremmul
"Fate itself will be torn asunder, should it be the will of the goddess."
Illustrated by Zaida Crescent. Difficulty: Advanced.
Seth focuses on reading his opponents' moves in advance to predict what they will do. If he can predict correctly, then he gains extra bonuses to speed and priority. He has a number of excellent close combat tricks that enable him to shut down and outmaneuver enemies—if he can divine their intentions correctly.
Ex: Seth gains +3 power and +3 priority for a successful guess with his Beyond Eyes ability.
Almighty: Seth gains +4 power and +4 priority for a successful guess with his Beyond Eyes ability. Additionally, he may choose any player to target with his 'Beyond Eyes' ability, rather than just the nearest one.
Tatsumi Nuoc & Juto
"Come on, Juto!" "Gru-u!"
Illustrated by Katrina Lin. Difficulty: Advanced.
Tatsumi and Juto fight as a pair. While only Tatsumi is normally capable of attacking, her familiar Juto scurries around the field to constantly give her new bonuses and occasionally interfere with opponents. This pair focuses extensively on spacing and area control to fuel their strategies.
Ex: Tatsumi has an additional Juto marker. Whenever her effects specify to move Juto or use Juto's range, she may choose to use either Juto marker. She gains bonuses from both Juto clones. The clones have 8 hit points, which they share collectively.
Almighty: Tatsumi has two additional Juto markers. These follow the same rules as her Ex Markers. The clones have 12 hit points, which they share collectively.
Sagas Seities
"Those who learn from the past are able to exceed it."
Illustrated by Victoria Parker. Difficulty: Advanced.
Sagas focuses on using opponents' strengths against them. His abilities let him copy the innate bonuses, style effects, and basic attacks of his enemies. Excellent timing and a deep understanding of other players' strategies and capabilities are required to play him effectively.
Ex: When Sagas antes his Mirror Token, he duplicates any Stun Guard or Soak effects that are revealed by the nearest opponents' attack pair or granted by unique abilities.
Almighty: When Sagas antes his Mirror Token, he may choose any opponent to copy from. Additionally, he duplicates any Stun Guard or Soak effects that are Revealed by the copied opponents' attack pair or granted by unique abilities.
Cherri Seneca
"I feel myself slipping away into madness... but somehow, everything I wondered at before has become so terribly clear."
Illustrated by Eternal-S. Difficulty: Advanced.
Cherri is a statistically weaker fighter who focuses on mind games and interfering with her opponents' actions. She relies extensively on the clashing mechanic to deal additional damage and to force opponents to fight suboptimally.
Ex: When Cherri wins a clash, she may choose to continue the clash instead of ending it. She may not do this more than 2 times per clash.
Almighty: When Cherri has more priority than an opponent, she may choose to clash instead of gaining priority. When Cherri wins a clash, she may choose to continue the clash instead of ending it. She may not do this more than 3 times per clash.
General FAQ
Q: What happens when a character with Stun Immunity is hit by an automatic stun effect? A: When a character with Stun Immunity (such as Khadath using his snare) is hit by an auto-stun effect (i.e.: "the opponent is stunned" such as an elemental Kallistar with her Caustic style), then Stun Immunity prevents the stun. This is the only case where an auto-stun effect can fail.
Q: If I hit my opponent for 0 damage, but he does not have any Soak or Stun Guard effects, is he still stunned? A: No. A character can only be stunned by damage or automatic stun effects. A hit for zero damage is still a hit but does not stun opponents or trigger On Damage effects.
Q: If I must move forwards or backwards, but my forward or backward movement is blocked, can I choose to move towards the wall so that I remain in the same place? A: No. If you can choose to make a legal, unblocked movement, then you must take that option. The only time movement is canceled is when there is no legal movement option granted by the effect.
Q: Will an attack with a range of 2 or more hit an opponent closer than that range? A: No. Attacks only hit the exact space or spaces listed. An attack with range 2 will ONLY hit the second space out from your character.
Q: Can stats be reduced below zero? A: Range and power cannot be reduced below zero, though Priority can. An attack can still hit even with a Power of zero, and will trigger On Hit effects, but not On Damage effects.
Q: What happens if both my opponent and I have 'This attack automatically wins priority ties' effects and a tie occurs? A: Sorry, you have to clash anyways. There can be only one priority winner.
Q: What happens when an effect instructs me to 'repeat this attack'? A: You should repeat the Before Activating effects, check for a hit, do any relevant On Hit or On Damage effects, then do After Activating effects.
Q: Can I gain life beyond my starting life? A: No. If you would gain over your starting life, then gain up to that amount and stop.
Q: If both players are playing the same character, do effects with that character's name target them both? A: No. If both players are playing the same character, then effects that refer to them by name only effect the controller of those effects.
Hikaru
Q: What happens if I use Hikaru's Geomantic style with my Wind token to create a priority tie during Start of Beat? A: Nothing happens. Active player cannot change during the Start of Beat Phase.
Cadenza
Q: If Cadenza is hit by an effect that ignores Stun Guard, can he still spend an Iron Body Token to resist Stun? A: No. The token gives him Stun Guard ∞ when spent, so an effect that ignores Stun Guard will still take precedence.
Kallistar
Q: What happens if I have 1 life at the start of a turn in elemental form? A: Characters can never be reduced to 0 life by "lose life" effects, so Kallistar does not lose life in this case.
Q: Can I be killed by my Ignition style's elemental triggered effect? A: No. Kallistar's life cannot drop below 1 due to this effect. If she has 3 or less life when this effect triggers, she loses as much life as possible, down to a minimum of 1.
Zaamassal
Q: If a player moves into a space adjacent to me while I have Paradigm of Haste active, can he continue moving? A: No, he is unable to continue moving once he moves into the space adjacent to you.
Hepzibah
Q: Using my Overdrive Finisher, can I spend my opponent's last life point to power one of my Dark Pacts? A: No. Hepzibah's life spending ability is a 'loss of life' effect, and these effects can never reduce a player below 1 life.
Lixis
Q: Can I disable Kehrolyn's current form with my Naturalizing style? A: No. Kehrolyn's current form is a second style, not a stat bonus.
Q: What happens if I've used Lance and Heketch teleported directly beside me during the Ante phase? A: He stays where he is. The passive movement-preventing effect of Lance doesn't activate until it has been turned face-up.
Q: What happens if a player must 'move forward until they are adjacent' to me, but I've used Lance? A: They must move forward until they are prevented from doing so by Lance's effects, then stop.
Seth
Q: Can players ante tokens in response to my Beyond Eyes guess? A: Yes. This is especially important for Cadenza, who may want to ante for Stun Immunity to stop your Omen effect from triggering.
Tatsumi & Juto
Q: If I change zones during an action, do I apply the new zone or the old one? A: Your current zone is always applied instantaneously, so you could start in a high priority zone, then switch during the attack to take advantage of the high power zone.
Cherri
Q: What happens if I ante my Insight token and my opponent has a 'you win priority ties' effect? A: The clash still occurs. The clash is triggered by Cherri's unique ability, not by priority. The 'you win priority ties' effect will still prevent the clash from extending if it ties.
Sagas
Q: What happens if I ante my Mirror token to duplicate bonuses, and the opponent loses those bonuses? A: Reflection's ante effect is passive. Your bonuses are always equal to the opponent's current bonuses. If they lose or gain bonuses later on during the beat, so do you.
Q: What happens if I copy an attack with special range (such as Tatsumi's Fearless style or Khadath's Snare)? A: The effects that set the special range of these attacks contain the characters' names and thus will be ignored. In the case of Fearless, Sagas would calculate from his own range. In the case of Snare, the range would revert to N/A.
Q: Do I copy Kehrolyn's current form with Reflection? A: No. Kehrolyn is applying extra styles to her attacks, not gaining stat bonuses.
Q: What happens if I copy Tatsumi & Juto's unique ability with my Reflection? A: You gain the same bonus as Tatsumi does based on her current position in relation to Juto.
Q: Does my negation style also disable Kehrolyn's current form and Overload styles? A: Yes. Negation cancels out all styles.
Q: Does negation cancel out status effects? A: No. Negation only cancels styles, and status effects are separate from the styles that generate them.
Component List
What's in the box? Here's a checklist to make sure you have everything.
- 19 character cards (1 blank)
- 95 style cards (5 blank)
- 19 unique base cards (1 blank)
- 4 sets of 7 generic base cards (28 total)
- 6 Ex base cards
- 6 Almighty base cards
- 5 paradigm cards
- 5 double-sided arena cards
- 1 double-sided game board
- 18 punch-out character stand ups
- 48 punch-out tokens
- 4 plastic stands
- 4 life trackers
- 1 time tracker
- 1 Juto life tracker
- 2 rules summary cards
- 1 rulebook
If any components are missing or defective, we offer free replacements. Please email us [email protected] in order to request a replacement of any game component.
Thanks for playing BattleCON! We would love to hear what you think of the game! Please drop us a line at [email protected], or visit www.BattleConnection.com to post in the forums and download additional bonuses. It's been a lot of fun bringing you this game, and I hope that it brings you many hours of enjoyment with friends.
D. Brad Talton Jr., BattleCON Lead Designer