Crossing Heroes Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Overview
  • Item tile anatomy
  • Trial card anatomy
• Gameplay
  • Phase A (optional) - Invoke the Muses
  • Phase B (mandatory) - Choose Your Destiny
  • Phase C (optional) - Prepare for Battle
• End of the Game
• Appendix: Items
• Appendix: Skills
• Appendix: Scoring

Components

• 48 Trial cards
• 70 Skill cards
• 30 Gold tokens
• 5 Hero cards
• 16 Item tiles
• 1 Scoring pad

Setup

1. Shuffle all the Trial cards and create a deck with the front side facing up. Then, lay out a row of 4 Trial cards next to the deck.
2. Shuffle all the Skill cards and create a face-down deck. Then, lay out a first row of 5 face-up Skill cards below the Trial cards, making sure each Trial card is adjacent to 2 Skill cards from this row. After that, create a second row of 5 face-up Skill cards below the first one.
3. Shuffle all the Item tiles and create a face-down pile. Then, lay out a row of 4 face-up Item tiles.
4. Place the Gold tokens near the play area to create a general supply.
5. Give each player 1 random Hero card: they must place it face-up in front of them. Return any unused Hero cards to the box. Each player takes 1 Gold token from the supply. The player who last visited Greece goes first.

Overview

Players take turns clockwise starting from the first player, until each has completed 8 turns. On each turn, they will take a Trial card to create a 3x3 grid with their Hero at the center. They will also place Skill cards around the grid to fulfill the Trials' requirements: each Trial can be completed using the Skill cards in its row and column! At the end of the game, only completed Trials will score Victory Points (VP). Moreover, Items can be bought and glorious columns can be collected to increase your final score.

Each Hero card has 8 spaces for Trial cards around it and 12 edges for Skill cards.

Item tile anatomy

Each Item tile shows, in its top-left corner, the Gold cost to acquire it and, elsewhere on the tile, the VP it is worth. A number of dots in the bottom-left corner of certain Item tiles indicates the number of Trials connected to that Item.

Trial card anatomy

• Front side: shows the Required Skills (between 2 and 5 symbols) at the top, a Blessing, and an Immediate Bonus at the bottom.
• Back side (gilded): shows the VP earned if the Trial is completed, the Blessing, and the Trial's name.

Gameplay

On your turn, follow these steps in order:

Phase A (optional) - Invoke the Muses

"The hero calls upon the Muses to guide their destiny."

You may spend 1 Gold to discard an entire row (the row of Trial cards, one of the two rows of Skill cards, or the Item tiles) and refill it. You can perform this action as many times as you want.

• If you discard the Trial cards, place them at the bottom of the Trial deck and lay out a new row of 4 cards, from left to right.
• If you discard a row of Skill cards, place them at the bottom of the Skill deck and lay out a new row of 5 cards, from left to right.
• If you discard the row of Item tiles, place them at the bottom of the Item pile and lay out a new row of 4 tiles.

Note: It may happen that you discard 4 or fewer (or even 0) Skill cards from a row and then reveal 5 new ones.

Example: Penelope puts her faith in the Muses and decides to discard the row of Trial cards in the hope of finding new trials that suit her better. She pays 1 Gold and puts each card at the bottom of the Trial deck, revealing four new Trial cards. In the second phase of her turn, she will have to choose one of these to face.

Phase B (mandatory) - Choose Your Destiny

"The hero is entrusted with a new trial by the gods."

Follow the steps below in order.

1. Take a Trial card. Take one of the 4 available Trial cards and place it face-up in any free space adjacent to your Hero card, either orthogonally or diagonally.

2. Gain any immediate bonuses shown at the bottom center of that Trial card you just placed:

• If it shows the Gold icon, take the indicated amount of Gold tokens (1 or 2) from the general supply.
• If it shows the Skill card icon, take the indicated amount of Skill cards (1 or 2) from the two columns of Skill cards adjacent to the Trial card you selected. Refill the Trial card but do not refill the Skill cards you take.
  • If the bonus requires you to take 2 Skill cards but you don't have an available edge (see below) for the second one, don't take the second card.
  • If the bonus requires you to take 2 Skill cards but there's only one Skill card available in the legit columns, you only take that card.
  • If two (or more) columns of the Skill cards display are completely empty after you have taken your Skill cards, refill all the empty spaces on the display (from left to right, top row first) until it has 10 Skill cards again, and gain 1 Gold.

Then, place the Skill cards taken beside any available edge of any Trial card in your play area (even a card that is different from the one you just placed).

The edges of the Trial cards refer to the outer sides of the 3x3 grid you are building during the game. The 4 Trial cards you place at the corners of the 3x3 grid have two edges on which you can place Skill cards, whereas the 4 Trial cards you place orthogonally to the Hero card only have one edge available.

An edge is available only if there is no Skill card currently occupying it, and only if there is a Trial card already placed next to it. In other words, the space where you place the Trial cards unlocks the edges where you can place the Skill cards!

If the Skill card shows a Gold icon in the bottom right corner, take 1 Gold token from the general supply.

Some Skill cards also provide you a Glory symbol, which will earn you additional VP at the end of the game.

Example: Alexander chooses to face the indicated Trial, and places it in the bottom left corner of the 3x3 grid. As an immediate bonus, this Trial allows him to take 1 Skill card from one of the two columns below the selected Trial card. He takes the Skill card. Since now there are two empty columns in the Skill card display, he gains 1 Gold token and he refills all the empty spaces on the display. Then, he places the Skill card he took on the left edge of the Trial card. The only other edge available at this point was the edge below the Trial card.

3. Check for completed Trials. Each Trial has a Skill requirement (between 2 and 5 symbols) shown at the top of the front side of the card. To complete it, you must have placed the required Skill symbols in its row and column. Each Trial can be completed using a maximum of 4 Skill cards (2 in its row and 2 in its column).

When you complete a Trial, flip the card to its gilded side: at the end of the game, you will score the Victory Points shown at the top of the gilded card.

Example: On his second turn, Alexander decides to take a Trial card which allows him to gain 1 Gold token and take 2 Skill cards. He takes the first Skill card (from one of the two columns below that Trial card), which he places on the top edge of the Trial he has just placed in the top-left corner. Then, he takes the second Skill card (from one of the two columns below that Trial card), which he places on the bottom edge of the Trial in the bottom-left corner. Since he has placed, in the same row and column, the symbols requested by the Trial in the bottom-left corner, he completes it. He flips the Trial card to its back side, validating its VP for end-game scoring.

4. Check for a complete set of blessings. Each Trial grants you the blessing of a specific god, whether you complete it or not:

• Apollo, god of all arts
• Athena, goddess of wisdom, warfare, and handicraft
• Hermes, patron god of merchants, thieves, and travelers
• Poseidon, god of the sea

When you have 4 completed Trials, each blessed by a different god, you gain the blessing of Zeus, king of all Olympian gods: as a reward, choose one of the available Item tiles and take it without paying its cost.

Note: It is possible to gain this reward twice during the game, if you complete all your Trial cards and they grant you 2 sets of different blessings!

Example: Penelope completes a Trial blessed by Poseidon. She now has 4 completed Trials, each blessed by a different god, so she gains the blessing of Zeus. She takes an available Item for free.

Phase C (optional) - Prepare for Battle

"The hero equips themselves for future feats."

You may acquire one (and only one) Item tile of your choice from those available on the display by paying the amount of Gold shown in the top-left corner of the tile. Return the paid Gold tokens to the general supply and place the Item tile next to your play area. Then, refill the display with a new Item from the pile.

Some Items (Heracles' Club, Odysseus' Bow, Medea's Protection, Perseus' Helmet, Theseus' Sword, and Bellerophon's Spear) allow you to double the Victory Points of certain completed Trials (as indicated on the corresponding Trial cards). The number of Trials connected to each of these Items is indicated by the number of dots in the bottom-left corner of each Item tile. See the Appendix: Items section for a detailed explanation of all Items' effects.

Example: Alexander pays 3 Gold tokens to the general supply to acquire Odysseus' Bow. Since he has two Trials connected with it, he will try to complete them to have their scoring doubled.

End of the Game

The game ends when all players have played 8 turns (i.e., when their Hero card is surrounded by 8 Trial cards). You can use the Scoring pad to calculate the Victory Points (VP) you earned as follows:

• VP from completed Trials: some Trials will have their VP doubled if you own the corresponding Item. See the Appendix: Scoring section for an explanation of scoring effects.
• Hero-specific skill: score 2 VP for each Skill symbol of the type shown on your Hero card that you have among the Skill cards you acquired during the game.
• Glory: score 1/3/6/10/15 VP if you have 1/2/3/4/5+ Glory symbols you have (on your Skill cards and your Items). You cannot score more than 15 VP in this way.
• Items: score the VP shown on the Item tiles you acquired.

The player with the most VP wins the game. In case of a tie, the tied player with the most Gold tokens remaining wins. If the tie still remains, all tied players share the victory.

Example: At the end of the game, Alexander will score:

• 19 VP for The Ceryneian Hind, The Erymanthian Boar and The Wild Centaurs;
• 15 VP from The Archery Contest and Polyphemus, the Cyclops, because he has 3 completed Trials blessed by the same god;
• 8 VP from Calypso, the Nymph doubled because of Odysseus' Bow;
• 0 VP from Scylla and Charybdis and The Golden Fleece because they are not completed;
• 6 VP from his Hero-specific skill (3 symbols);
• 6 VP from the 3 Glory symbols he has collected (2 on Skill cards and 1 on the Item);
• 5 VP from the Item tiles he has acquired during the game.

Alexander's total scoring is 59 Victory Points.

Appendix: Items

• Heracles' Club: 4 VP + doubles the VP of The Nemean Lion, The Stymphalian Birds, The Belt of Hippolyta, and Freeing Prometheus (if completed).
• Odysseus' Bow: 5 VP + doubles the VP of The Lotus Eaters, Scylla and Charybdis, and Calypso, the Nymph (if completed).
• Medea's Cauldron: 6 VP + doubles the VP of Building the Argo and The Poisoned Gift (if completed).
• Perseus' Helmet: 7 VP + doubles the VP of Escaping the Graeae (if completed).
• Theseus' Sword: 8 VP + doubles the VP of The Fierce Amazons (if completed).
• Bellerophon's Spear: 5 VP + doubles the VP of The Horrific Chimera (if completed).
• Poseidon's Trident: 3 VP for each of your Trials blessed by Poseidon (whether completed or not).
• Hermes' Sandals: 3 VP for each of your Trials blessed by Hermes (whether completed or not).
• Athena's Owl: 3 VP for each of your Trials blessed by Athena (whether completed or not).
• Apollo's Lyre: 3 VP for each of your Trials blessed by Apollo (whether completed or not).
• Prometheus' Torch: 3 VP + immediately take any visible Skill card (it can trigger a refill) and place it on an available edge.
• Cup of Ambrosia: 2 VP for each Glory symbol you have.

Appendix: Skills

There are 5 types of Skills:

• Luck – The Mural Crown of Tyche, goddess of fortune
• Endurance – The Bowl of Hygieia, goddess of health
• Strength – The Helmet, symbol of the indefatigable might of Greek heroes
• Cunning – The Compass, symbol of Greek ingenuity and intellectual discovery
• Wisdom – The Parchment, vessel of wisdom and knowledge

Appendix: Scoring

This is a key to the icons used throughout this rulebook to indicate scoring:

• 10 VP icon: a flat bonus of 10 Victory Points.
• 4 VP for each Trial blessed by a specific God (i.e. Apollo), whether completed or not.
• 3 VP for each Glory symbol you have.
• 6 VP OR doubled if you have the corresponding Item.
• 3 VP for each Item you own.