Empyrean Hero: The Card Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Set-Up
• Abilities
• Heroic Feats (H)
• Gameplay
  • Heal
  • Enhance
  • Recruit
  • Overcome
• Game Ends

Set-Up

1. Base: Give each player a SkyBase to set on the field in front of them.
2. Hero Cards: Lay out 14 random heroes face-up, and leave the rest in the box. (For 3-4 players or a casual game, use all 20.) Each player chooses one hero (For the first game, make sure the hero has a minimum defense of 70). Place the hero in your hand. Shuffle the remaining heroes, and set in a deck facedown, called the Reserves, on the side of the field. Reveal 3 heroes from the Reserves, and place face up beside the deck, as the Hero HQ.
3. Deck: Give each player the following Stat Cards for their Enhancement Deck: Def. +20 (x3), Def. +30 (x2), Att. +20 (x4), Att. +30 (x3)
4. Ability Cards & Heroic Feats: Players will either use the standardized decks below (recommended for your first game) or draft abilities. Then, shuffle Ability Cards into their Enhancement Decks (with Stat Cards) and place face down beside their SkyBase.

Standardized Decks → 2 players, combine decks A & D and decks B & C. 3 players, use decks A, B, and C; divide deck D evenly between the players. 4 players, give each player one of the 4 decks.

• Deck A: Under Siege, Boost, Backfire, Accelerate, Reduction, Shielding
• Deck B: Absorb, Pay the Cost, Revelation, Kairos, Resurrect, Bolster
• Deck C: Drain, Drought, Convert, Protect, Impede, Fortification
• Deck D: Going Nuclear, Prevention, Reinforcement, Collateral Damage, Hardened, Counter-Measures

To Draft Abilities & Heroic Feats → Lay out all abilities face-up. The player who drafted the second hero drafts the first Ability Card. Clockwise, players pick one ability at a time until none are left.

[Diagram: HERO Reserves, HERO HQ, Personal Enhancement Deck, SkyBase, Player Hand.]

Abilities

(Read this Section before the "Gameplay" Section on the Back of Rules)

Abilities are used based on the timing of the card. (ex. "Before performing an action," means before Step 1 of any Action.) Announce and reveal the ability being used. Do not fatigue the hero the ability belongs to; only the Overcome action fatigues heroes.

a. Abilities exist both on Hero Cards and on Ability Cards. Ability Cards must be attached to a Hero before use. Fatigued heroes can still use abilities.

b. Abilities are optional to use, unless otherwise indicated (ie. abilities that "must" be used).

c. Abilities are not discarded upon use, unless otherwise stated. i. Active Abilities (A) Unless otherwise stated on a card, Active Abilities may be used once at any point on your turn, only on your turn, every turn (even on a fatigued hero), regardless of the Action. Active Abilities cannot be used the turn they are played to the field from a player's hand. ii. Passive Abilities (P) are always in effect, from the moment they hit the field. Some trigger upon being discarded, defeated, or removed.

d. Order Announced: Abilities are used in the Order Announced. (ex. If Convert is announced first, abilities attached to the hero being converted cannot be due to the wording on Convert.) i. An entire ability is resolved before the next ability can be announced, except when an ability can "prevent" the prior ability. In such a case, the effects of the first ability are cancelled and recalled. ii. Abilities that "must" be used are used before any other abilities. If there is more than one that "must" be used, they are used in the order announced. iii. Abilities that resolve after an attack trigger even if they belong to a hero that is defeated. (Language on card will state, "When an attack against ____ is resolved.")

e. Do not discard used abilities, unless otherwise stated.

f. Place used abilities back beneath their heroes with only the word "Ability" showing at the bottom.

Miscellaneous Rules-

a. Discard Pile Search: Without using an ability, you may look through any discard pile at any time.

b. Hand Count: You must identify the # of cards in your hand if asked.

c. Stat Check: If asked, players must note the added total of visible Stats for each hero, identify which heroes are on the field, identify the # of abilities attached to a hero, and explain any visible text.

Heroic Feats (H)

(Currently Heroic Abilities on Tabletop Simulator)

Heroic Feats replace the player's entire turn and cannot be used with any other Actions or Abilities. They are placed straight into a player's Discard Pile from that player's hand, to use the ability on them. They can be played to the field but are useless on the field and cannot be discarded to use their effect.

Gameplay

(The Owner has final say in all rule judgements.)

Play Order: Flip a coin (or otherwise) to see who plays first. Play rotates clockwise. Determine how the next player's turn will be announced (verbal or otherwise). As soon as one player's turn ends, the next player's begins.

On your turn: HERO is an acronym for Heal, Enhance, Recruit, Overcome. Each turn, you may only pick 1 of these 4 action choices. Follow all steps for your chosen Action in order. Announce the end of your turn.

Heal

Step 1- You may pick 1+ fatigued (horizontal) heroes, including allies'/opponents', to heal and switch to a strengthened position (vertical). SkyBases cannot be healed.

Step 2- Play up to 3 cards to your play area from your hand. No field limit.

[Diagram: Heal example with fatigued heroes switched to strengthened position.]

Enhance

Step 1- Draw up to 3 cards from your Enhancement Deck, and place them in your hand. If no cards are left, you cannot draw, but you can still do Step 2. No hand limit.

Step 2- Play up to 3 cards (heroes, abilities, or stats) to your play area from your hand. No field limit.

a. Set Hero Cards in a strengthened position, in front of your SkyBase (no limit to # on the field).

b. Attach Enhancements hidden beneath heroes, not SkyBases, with the word "ABILITY" or "STAT" visible.

• Stat Cards are attached to any hero under your control. Only the stat #'s at the bottom of these cards must be visible (no limit to # attached to a hero).
• Ability Cards are attached to any of your heroes, teaching that hero a new ability. Only the word "ABILITY" must be visible to opponents (no limit to # attached to a hero). See "Abilities" Section for use of these.
• Heroic Feats don't get attached to heroes. See "Heroic Feats" Section for use.

[Diagram: Enhance example, drawing 3 cards and playing 3 cards to the play area.]

Recruit

(See Image R1.)

Step 1- Recruit up to 2 heroes, from Hero HQ or Reserves, or 1 from both. Place them in your hand.

Step 2- Hero HQ is not refilled from Reserves until the end of your turn.

Note: When Reserves and Hero HQ run out of heroes, gameplay continues, but heroes can no longer be recruited.

[Diagram R1: Recruit example, showing heroes taken from Hero HQ and Reserves.]

Overcome

(See Image O1.)

During an Overcome Action, Active Abilities can only be used between attacks -- before Step 2 and after Step 6, or between Step 6 and Step 1 if more than one attack occurs.

Step 1- Attack: Declare 1+ heroes in your play area, who are in a strengthened position, to attack one opposing hero/SkyBase on the field of your choice (Even if multiple heroes are attacking, this counts as one declared Attack).

i. If an opponent has no heroes on the field, you may attack their SkyBase. SkyBases cannot be attacked if heroes are in front of them.

Step 2. Announce your Total Attack:

i. Attached attack, as well as Passive Abilities, affect heroes' attack at this time. Attack values cannot be changed after the defending player reveals their abilities in Step 3. Attack is identified in the bottom left of Hero and Stat Cards.

ii. Combine the attack of heroes you use in an attack against one target hero for a combined Total Attack, before the target hero totals their defense.

Step 3. Opponent announces Total Defense:

i. Attached defense Stat Cards, as well as Passive Abilities, affect heroes' defense values. Defense is identified in the bottom right of hero and Stat Cards. Fatigued heroes and fatigued SkyBases have half their Total Defense after abilities, except when otherwise stated. (reminder: SkyBases will not have Enhancements.)

Step 4. Determine the outcome:

i. If the Total Attack is equal to or greater than the Total Defense, the defending card is defeated and placed in the Hero Discard Pile. All attached Enhancements go in the Discard Pile of the player whose hero was defeated.

ii. If the Total Attack is equal to or greater than half the defending hero's/SkyBase's Total Defense but less than the Total Defense, the defending hero/SkyBase is fatigued.

Discarding:

a. Heroes, whether defeated or removed, are placed into the Hero Discard Pile next to the Hero HQ.

b. Enhancements are put in the personal discard pile of the player who controls them at the time of discard.

iii. All Passive Abilities that affect the outcome must be announced before Step 4 is finalized.

iv. Both players must agree that the outcome has been determined before Step 5. (This is more important in an actual competition.)

Step 5. Fatigue all attacking hero(es) at the same time. It is suggested to rotate the hero(es) but not the Enhancements.

Step 6. If a player defeats a SkyBase in Free-For-All, all their heroes are healed immediately. If a SkyBase is defeated in team play, this does not occur.

Step 7. The attacking player may repeat Overcome steps with strengthened heroes left in their play area.

[Diagram O1: Overcome example across Pre-Battle, 1st Attack, 2nd Attack and SkyBase Attack.]

Game Ends

A. A player/team wins when:

a. All opposing SkyBases are destroyed

OR

b. All opponents are removed from the game. A player is removed from the game if they have no heroes in front of their base for 3 full turns in a row.

B. A tie [rarely] occurs when:

a. All players refuse to (or cannot) draw cards, play cards, attack, or recruit for 5 full turns in a row.

b. Players get into an endless loop of attacking and healing (ex. P1 attacks P2, without any heroes defeated. P2 heals. P1 heals. P2 attacks, without any heroes defeated. P1 heals. P2 heals. Play sequence repeats). Gameplay ends after 6th attack in this situation.

For Glossary, Disagreements About Abilities, Rule Updates, etc., check out www.anthemcreations.com.

Pro-Tip: Try to always have back-up heroes already in your hand, lest something nuclear should occur.