Combo Fighter: Plotmaker Edition – Pack 1
Combo Fighter: Plotmaker Edition – Pack 1 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 4 Character Sheets: One side provides backstory and Character Difficulty. The other side details deck composition and Signature Combos.
- 4 Power Tokens: The Power Tokens provide unique abilities for each fighter.
- 4 Fighter Storage Bags
- 4 Action Decks: Each fighter's arsenal is represented by a unique Action Deck consisting of 50 cards.
- 4 Staggering Cards: Each fighter also has a Staggering Card.
- 1 Rulebook
Breakdown of the Action Cards
- Red cards are attack cards. They represent punches, kicks etc.
- Blue cards are defense cards. They represent dodges, blocks etc.
- Yellow cards are footwork cards. They represent moves such as closing the distance or creating angles.
Attack cards have a Speed value (e.g. 2, 4, 7). Defense and footwork cards may have Priority indicated by a star.
Parts of a card:
- The Speed tells you how fast an attack card is.
- The Button Icon helps you identify the card when playing combos.
- The Card title.
- The Opening Damage tells you how much damage a card does when played as your 1st card in a round.
- The Combo Damage tells you how much damage a card does when played as the 2nd or later card in a round.
- The Combo Box tells you which cards you may play directly after this card to continue a combo.
Setup
Choose your fighter and take the corresponding Character Sheet, Power Token, 50 card Action Deck, as well as the fighter's Staggering Card.
Place the Character Sheet with the stats side facing up. Place your Power Token next to your Character Sheet with side A facing up. Build your starting hand of 5 cards as indicated by your Character Sheet. Finally shuffle the remaining of your deck and place it face down on top of your Staggering Card.
Starting Hand: The small numbers on the Character Sheet tell you which 5 cards make up your Starting Hand.
Play area: Your hand, Character Sheet, Power Token (side A up), set-aside cards (next to the Power Token), play area for played cards, Deck and Discard pile. The Staggering Card goes under the Deck.
Gameplay
A game of Combo Fighter is played as best out of 3 fights. Each fight is played over several rounds until one player is knocked out (by taking enough damage to lose their last card).
In each round, both players play one Action Card face down from their hand into their play area.
Players then reveal the cards played and consult the Win Circle to find the winner of the round.
Attack cards beat footwork cards, footwork cards beat defense cards, and defense cards beat attack cards.
If both players play attack cards, the player who plays the card with higher Speed wins the round. If both attack cards have the same Speed, the round is a tie.
If both players play defense cards, the player who plays a Priority card wins the Round. If both or neither of the players' cards have Priority, the round is a tie.
Likewise, if both players play footwork cards, the player who plays a Priority card wins the round. If both or neither of the players' cards have Priority, the round is a tie.
If you win a round, you deal damage and may "combo", which means you may continue playing cards from your hand.
If you lose a round, you deal no damage and may not combo.
If players tie, both deal damage but neither may combo.
Combos
Winning a round gives you the right to combo, which means you may continue playing cards from your hand as long as the Button Icon on the card you are about to play matches an icon in the Combo Box on the previous card.
Dealing Damage
The first card you play each round deals Opening Damage. Additional cards deal Combo Damage.
When you are done playing cards, add the damage, and deal the total to your opponent.
Cards may also have a damage value of X. This means the damage value may change over the course of the fight. Check the fighter's Power Token for the rules of when and how.
Tip: A damage value of 2X means double the value of X while 3X means triple the value and so forth.
For each point of damage you take, you must discard a card — one at a time — from your hand or deck and place it face up in your discard pile.
Count out loud when you take damage. It allows your opponent to keep track, and it hurts more that way.
If by taking damage you are forced to discard your last and 50th card, your fighter is knocked out and you lose the fight.
In rare cases it may happen that both fighters are knocked out simultaneously. The fight is a draw. If this makes the game end in a draw, play an extra fight to find a winner.
Tip: Since your deck is also your life bar, playing more cards is not always a good idea. The key to success is making every round you win count.
End of a Round
After damage has been resolved, all cards played by either player this round are discarded.
The players then refill their hands by drawing cards from their decks up to their hand limit of 5 cards. Before refilling your hand this way, you may discard any number of cards from your hand.
Finally, all end-of-round effects are resolved. Then you are ready for a new round.
Tip: Even though your deck is your life bar, discarding "cold" cards could give you the killer combo you need. But always know which cards you are drawing for.
Staggering
It may happen that you draw the last card from your Action Deck (e.g. when refilling your hand) so that your Staggering Card becomes visible.
If that happens, shuffle your discard pile to form a new Action Deck, place it next to your Staggering Card, and refill your hand from the new deck.
While Staggering, you may continue playing, refilling your hand at the end of each round, hoping for a spectacular comeback. But the next time you take any damage, your fighter is knocked out and you lose the fight.
(The Staggering Card reads: Shuffle your discard pile to form a new deck. If you take any damage, you lose the fight.)
Signature Combos
Each character may perform a handful of Signature Combos as shown on their Character Sheet. Some of these combos have a Basic Version as well as a Power Version.
To activate a Signature Combo, you must play the exact cards in the exact order shown on your Character Sheet and call the name of the combo out loud.
You are not allowed to play any other cards this round — neither before nor after the Signature Combo.
A Signature Combo ignores the damage values of the individual cards and instead deals the damage as indicated by the version you played (Basic or Power).
Example: Crouching Tiger is a yellow priority footwork card + a red attack card + a blue defense card for 8 damage (Basic), or adding another red attack card for 12 damage (Power).
Tip: Note that a Signature Combo is only activated if you call it. But calling it is optional.
Power Tokens
Your Power Token provides special rules for your fighter. During setup, place your Power Token with side A face up and abide by the rules on the token. Unless explicitly stated on the token, only the rules printed on the side facing up are active.
Some Power Token effects let you set aside cards. Place any set-aside cards next to your Power Token.
Also, some Power Token effects allow you to retroactively win a lost round — e.g. by adding Speed to your card. These retroactive effects must be applied before your opponent starts playing more cards. Give each other a moment to decide whether to use the power or not.
Example (Boris Wolfram): Side A, Power Capsule: Before drawing cards to refill your hand, you may discard 3 blue cards to flip this token to its B-side. Side B, Powered by Radiation: In a round where you deal at least 1 damage, add 3 to the total.
Tip: Different matchups reveal different metagames. Knowing the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent is just as important as knowing your own fighter.
Solo Mode
This game mode allows you to familiarize yourself with the different fighters and learn their most powerful combos.
Pick a fighter to play and an AI fighter to go up against. Set up the game as you would normally, except that the AI does not draw a starting hand. Instead, shuffle the entire Action Deck and put it on the Staggering Card.
Play according to the normal rules, except that each round, the AI plays the top card of their deck. If the AI wins the round, draw 4 cards from their deck and — taking their perspective — play the combo that deals the highest amount of damage. At the end of the round, cards that the AI fighter drew but did not play are discarded and deal 1 damage each.
If the AI fighter draws the last card from their deck, they become Staggering.
In Solo Mode, the individual AI fighters use a few additional rules:
Boris Wolfram
If Boris wins a round and draws at least 2 blue cards, play his cards as you would normally. Then flip his Power Token to its B-side at the end of the round.
Grace Lee
Grace begins a fight with Phoenix Strike set aside. She may play the card in a combo but will only do so if it allows her to win the fight outright. Note that this potentially allows her to play a 6-card combo.
Lucia IJzer
When her Power Token is flipped to its B-side, Lucia draws 5 cards instead of 4 when winning a round.
Junior Aurelus
Junior begins the game with 2 Needle already set aside. He prioritizes setting aside a third Needle over dealing damage. At the end of a round in which he manages to set aside at least one more Needle, flip his Power Token to its B-side.
2 vs 2 Mode
In this mode, two teams of two fighters face off.
At the beginning of a fight, each team chooses which of their fighters will begin the fight "in the ring".
When you win a round, your teammate may shuffle a card from their discard pile into their Action Deck. Imagine they are catching their breath. Also, when you win a round, then at the end of the round, you may "tag out", which means you switch places with your teammate.
The first team to K.O. a single opponent wins the fight.
Tournament Rules
The tournament format is double elimination (also known as double bracket).
Players each bring 2 non-identical characters to the tournament.
At the beginning of a game, randomly determine who is Player 1 and Player 2. Player 1 first chooses which of Player 2's characters to fight. Player 2 then chooses which of Player 1's characters to fight. The chosen characters must be used for the entire game.