Foe Hunters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The Cards
  • Hero Cards
  • Foe Cards
• Play Setup
• Starting The Game
• How To Play: Foe Phase
  • Foe Phase
    • Trigger any beginning of foe phase effects
    • Play the top card of the foe deck and resolve the card
    • Trigger any end of foe phase effects and end the foe phase
  • Hero Phase
    • Ready all of your Armor
    • Remove any "until the beginning of your next turn" effects
    • Trigger any "at the beginning of your turn" effects
    • Draw 1 card
    • During your turn, your Hero may do one of each of the following in any order:
• Gameplay
  • End of Game
  • The City Deck
  • Purchasing Cards and Experience
  • Playing Cards
  • Using a Feat
  • Card Types
  • Taking & Assigning Damage
    • Damage
    • Armor
  • Incapacitated & The Foe
    • Incapacitated
    • The Foe
• The Foes of Foe Hunters
  • The Cult of Oleg'Arth
  • Pirate Lord Keraxis
  • Dragonspawn
• The Heroes of Foe Hunters
  • Dorin Stoneblade
  • Lylias
  • Shael Bonechatter
  • Reghar Ironthane
  • Grimnar
  • Rennin Foefury
• Play Variants
  • Two Players
  • Single Player
  • Easy Mode
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Quick Start Reference
  • Turn Order: Foe Phase
  • Turn Order: Hero Phase

The Cards

Hero Cards

1. Card Name
2. Hero Affinity (Unique to City Cards - purchase cost is lowered by 1 for listed hero)
3. Card Type (Ability, Persistent Ability, Ally, Equipment)
4. Card Text / Role Color (Green: Support, Red: Physical, Blue: Caster)
5. Experience Cost (XP) (Unique to City Cards)

Foe Cards

1. Card Name
2. Card Type (Ability, Persistent Ability, Vassal, Equipment)
3. Card Text
4. XP Value (When the card is destroyed by a hero, each hero receives this much experience, not just the hero that destroyed it.)
5. Hit Points

Play Setup

Foe Hunters Setup (3 Players) — the rulebook shows this as an illustrated example layout with no further written steps (the printed labels are: Hero Area (example setup), Hero Discard, Hero Deck, Hero Card, XP/HP Dice, Hero Cards In Play, City Discard, City Deck, City Row, Foe Area (example setup), Foe Deck, Foe Discard, Foe Card, Foe Cards In Play). The written setup steps follow in Starting The Game.

Starting The Game

For your first game of Foe Hunters we suggest playing against the Cult of Oleg'Arth. If you are playing a two player game, try using the Paladin and the Pathfinder Heroes along with the 2 player Foe card!

1. Shuffle the city deck and place it in a common area. The city deck is one constructed deck that contains all of the city cards (identified by the XP cost in the lower right corner) from each of the six heroes in Foe Hunters. Each game will use this same city deck, regardless of which heroes are played. Place the top 4 cards of the City deck onto the table where all players can see (this is called the city row.)
2. Each player selects one of the 6 hero decks to play. Each of the hero decks has a hero card, any marker cards specific to that hero (such as the martyr marker for the paladin), and the cards specific to that hero (marked by the different card backgrounds.) Place your hero card and any specific markers in your individual play area and then shuffle your hero deck. Each player will grab enough dice to mark their hero hit-points (indicated on the hero card), as well as their hero experience. Every player will draw one card from their hero deck, and start off with 4 experience on their hero.
3. Select the foe you want to face and remove the foe card (double sided with phase 1 and phase 2), then shuffle the foe deck and place it in a common area where at least one player can interact with it. Next grab some dice and mark the foe hit points (indicated on the foe card.) (Note: The Cult of Oleg'Arth does not have hit points in phase 1.)
4. Place all of the reminder markers in a common area with easy access. These markers include Armor markers, +/- power markers, and play reminder markers.

You are ready to play!

How To Play: Foe Phase

Gameplay in Foe Hunters is very simple. Each round starts off with the foe phase, followed by the hero phase. In the foe phase, the foe will use its abilities and play cards from its deck autonomously. Once the foe has resolved all of its cards and abilities, the hero phase begins and players take their turns. After each hero has taken their turn the hero phase is complete and the foe phase begins again. Gameplay continues this way until either all of the heroes are incapacitated or the foe is defeated.

Foe Phase

Trigger any beginning of foe phase effects

Certain cards in the foe deck (such as the foe card itself) will have abilities that trigger at the beginning of the foe phase. Each foe phase begins with the resolution of these effects.

Example (the Emberglow, the Flame Bringer foe card, Phase 2): "At the beginning of the Foe phase, deal 3 fire damage to each hero and vassal. Whenever a hero uses a Feat, that hero takes 2 Melee damage."

Play the top card of the foe deck and resolve the card

After you resolve beginning of foe phase effects, play the top card of the foe deck. If it is a vassal, persistent ability, or equipment; put it into play and resolve any enters play effects. If it is an ability, resolve the ability and then place it in the foe discard pile.

Examples shown in the rulebook:

• Dragon Fire (Persistent Ability): "Increase all fire damage by 1."
• Controlled Hireling (Vassal, 6 hit points): "When controlled hireling is played, heal the Foe for 5 hit points. At the end of the Foe phase, deal 2 melee damage to each hero."
• Dragonflame (Ability): "Deal 3 fire damage to each hero. Each hero sacrifices a Persistent Ability, ally, or Equipment. Each hero gains 1 EXP."

Trigger any end of foe phase effects and end the foe phase

After the foe cards are played and their effects are resolved, then you resolve any at the end of foe phase effects. After all end of foe phase effects are complete, the party may refresh a card in the city row by discarding one of the city row cards and replacing it with a card from the top of the city deck. After refreshing a card, the foe phase is over and the hero phase begins.

Example (the Competing Dragonslayers vassal card): "At the end of the Foe phase this card deals 1 melee damage to each hero and foe."

Hero Phase

After the Foe Phase, the Hero Phase begins. During the Hero Phase, the players choose one player as the starting player. This player takes their turn first, and play moves clockwise until all players have completed their turns. A new starting player can be chosen at the beginning of each Hero Phase. Changing the starting player can allow the players to take advantage of certain buffs or effects.

Ready all of your Armor

Some cards will grant your hero armor. For each point of armor you have, use an armor marker to keep track of its status. Ready all of your hero's armor at the beginning of your turn. Whenever your hero would take damage, you may exhaust (turn sideways) armor to reduce the damage by the amount of armor exhausted (example: Your hero is taking 4 damage and you have 3 ready armor. You exhaust 3 armor and take 1 point of damage.)

Remove any "until the beginning of your next turn" effects

Several effects will expire at the beginning of your next turn. Some of these effects are from abilities played on your turn or feats granted from equipment, etc.

Example: the Dwarven Forge Technique persistent ability reads: "Whenever you use your hero feat reduce the cost of city cards by 1 XP until the beginning of your next turn."

Trigger any "at the beginning of your turn" effects

Some effects will trigger at the beginning of your turn. These could be from abilities played by other players or a persistent ability/equipment you have in play. If you have multiple triggers at the beginning of your turn, you choose the order that they resolve.

Draw 1 card

After resolving beginning of turn steps, draw 1 card from your deck. If your deck has no more cards and you have to draw a card simply shuffle your discard pile and use it as your new deck, then draw the card.

During your turn, your Hero may do one of each of the following in any order:

Play 1 card - To play a card, move it from your hand to play. If it is an ability, resolve the effect and then move it to your discard pile. If it is an ally, equipment, or persistent ability, put it into play and resolve any enters play effects.

Activate 1 feat - To use a feat, simply state that you are activating it and resolve the effects. Each hero has a feat on their hero card, and some cards offer additional feats. If you have multiple feats available to activate, you only choose 1.

Purchase 1 card - To purchase a card, simply deduct the cards XP cost from your hero's experience pool and then put the card into your hand. If your hero matches the affinity on the card, you can purchase the card at a discount of 1. (example: You are playing the berserker and a card with affinity: berserker with a cost of 4 is in the city. You may purchase the card for 3XP instead of 4XP.)

After each hero completes the actions on their turn, play moves clockwise to the next hero. After each hero has a turn, the hero phase is over and a new foe phase begins.

Gameplay

End of Game

The game ends when the foe's hit points are reduced to zero or when all of the heroes are incapacitated, whichever happens first.

The City Deck

The City Deck provides the deckbuilding mechanic in Foe Hunters and has several cards from each of the different Heroes available for all players to purchase. The City Deck will contain cards for all of the Heroes each game, not just the Heroes currently being played.

City cards have attributes similar to other cards; such as Name, Type, Effect, etc. They also have some attributes that are unique to City cards:

1. XP Cost: In the lower, right hand corner of each City Card is an XP cost. This is the cost for a Hero to acquire this card from the City.
2. Affinity: Most City cards also have a Hero Affinity on the card above the card type. Heroes that match the Affinity on the card can purchase the card at a discount of -1 XP.

The City Deck should normally always have 4 cards after refreshing at the end of a player's turn. When a card is purchased from the City, replace it with the top card of the City Deck at the end of that player's turn. If, for some reason, an extra card is added to the City row, it will remain in the City row until purchased. However, the City row will not refresh until the number of cards in the City row at the end of a turn is less than 4.

Example: The Ancient Vault card is played by the Forgemaster, which puts additional cards into the City row. At the end of the turn, there are 5 cards left in the City row; cards purchased from the City will not be replaced until the total number of cards in the City row is 3 at the end of a turn.

In practice: if there are additional cards in the city row, they stay there but cards purchased will not refresh until the City Row is back to "normal."

Purchasing Cards and Experience

When you purchase a card, you deduct the experience from your hero's XP pool and place the card in your hand. You can even play cards on the turn you purchase them!

Cards do not have a value in Foe Hunters, instead heroes have an Experience Pool (XP). When Heroes gain XP, they use a die to keep track of the XP they have accumulated. When they spend XP they simply deduct it from their pool. Players may purchase one card during their turn.

Card Affinity: Most cards in the city deck will have a color coding (blue for casters, red for melee, and green for support), and an Affinity (small bar above the type bar that will state a hero class). The color coding shows you which classes those cards are generally more helpful for. Card Affinities allow you to purchase cards for a certain class at a discount of 1 XP. This affinity represents the specialization of your hero and their class toward the different cards available.

Example: if you are playing the Paladin and a card that costs 5 XP with "Affinity - Paladin" enters the City row, your hero purchases that card for 4 XP instead of 5.

Playing Cards

You may play 1 card each turn unless a card or ability allows you play additional cards. When you play a card, you take it from your hand and either put it into play (for most Persistent Abilities, Allies, and Equipment), or resolve the effects and put it into your discard pile (for most abilities.)

To play a card it must be in your hand. Cards that enter play from your discard pile or deck are not considered played unless the effect specifically says so.

Example: The Necromancer uses his Feat to return an ally from his discard pile to play. The ally that he returns is not considered "played" for the purposes of other cards.

When your deck runs out of cards, simply shuffle your discard pile and begin using it as your new deck. This includes cards you purchased from the city row, as well as your specific hero cards.

Using a Feat

Each Hero has a unique feat that they can use on their turn. Some Persistent abilities and equipment also offer Heroes additional feats. Your Hero may activate one feat per turn unless an ability allows you to activate more. Feats are denoted by the Feat: text. To use a feat simply state that you are activating it for the turn, and then resolve its effects.

If a card refers to "Hero Feat" it means the feat found on your hero card.

Card Types

Foe Hunters has several different card types, such as Persistent Ability, Ability, Equipment, Vassal, and Ally. Each of these card types behave differently within the game:

Ability: This is a card that you use to (normally) get an immediate effect. Play the card from your hand and resolve the card text, then place it into your discard pile.

Persistent Ability: Persistent Abilities are similar to Abilities in that they almost always have some kind of effect. When you play a Persistent Ability, play it from your hand onto the table. Persistent Abilities remain in play until they are destroyed or you sacrifice them for some reason.

Equipment: Equipment is similar to a Persistent Ability; they stay in play and provide some kind of benefit. When you play an equipment, play it from your hand onto the table. Equipment also remains in play until it is destroyed or sacrificed for some reason.

Ally: Allies are similar to Persistent Abilities in that once you play them they generally stay in play. Allies are different in that they have hit points. They represent the allies that you summon or control to help you on your adventure. Allies can take damage and will die and move to your discard once their hit points are reduced to zero.

Vassal: Vassals are the forces that the Foe employs to fight the Heroes. Vassals stay in play until they are destroyed. Most Vassals have an XP value on the card as well, denoted by +3 XP. This is the amount of XP they award each member of the party when the Vassal is destroyed.

Example: Tommy uses an ability to destroy a cultist vassal which has an XP value of 1. Each member in the party will receive 1 XP in their heroes XP pool, not just Tommy.

Taking & Assigning Damage

Damage

Whenever your hero is dealt damage, subtract the amount from your total hit points. When your hit points reach zero your hero is considered incapacitated and you will follow the rules for incapacitated heroes found on the next page.

Damage can be redirected and prevented by certain effects, such as armor or an ally in play. Damage that is prevented from armor or redirected to an ally is not considered dealt to your hero for purposes of other cards and effects.

When damage is dealt to an ally in excess of its hit points, the damage will carry over onto another ally if you have one in play, or your hero if not. You can chose to use armor before damage is dealt to allies. Damage is assigned per instance, not per point: If your hero takes 3 points of damage, the damage resolves all at once, not one point at a time.

Sources of damage generally say what they target. For nearly all hero cards, it will specify "an enemy target", "each enemy target", or "a non-foe enemy target." An enemy target is any target not currently controlled by another hero, or the hero themselves. A non-foe enemy target is any enemy target except the foe itself.

Assigning damage to allies: When damage is redirected to allies, it is attributed by each "instance" of damage dealt. When assigning damage, you have to assign each instance of damage before you account for damage carrying over from other allies being destroyed.

Example: Your hero is dealt 2 points of damage twice. Your ally will not take 4 damage at once, it will take two instances of 2 damage (but still receive 4 damage total.) This can matter for certain cards that trigger when an ally takes damage, etc. If you assign 2 instances of 2 damage to an ally with 3 HP, the ally will take 3 damage and you will have to either a) assign the damage that carries over to another ally if you have one, or b) assign the damage that carries over to your hero.

Armor

Armor is granted by some Abilities, Persistent Abilities, or Equipment. Some of these offer static Armor, and some armor dissipates at the beginning of your Hero turn. For each Armor your Hero has you gain an Armor marker. At the beginning of your Hero turn you ready (turn it from sideways to upright) all of your Armor. Whenever your Hero would take damage, you may exhaust an armor (turn it sideways) and reduce that amount of damage by the number of Armor you exhausted.

Example: If your Hero would take 3 damage and you have 2 Armor ready, you may exhaust that armor and only take 1 damage.

The rulebook shows an illustration of +1 Armor markers being exhausted (turned sideways) as an example.

Incapacitated & The Foe

Incapacitated

When your hero's hit points are reduced to 0, flip its card over to indicate that it is incapacitated. Lucky for you, your Hero can still take part in the battle! When your hero is flipped discard your hand and all abilities in play.

From now on, your turn order is as follows:

Ignore any abilities that happen at the beginning of your turn (from another player or Foe, for example). For the rest of the game, you cannot draw cards, obtain cards, or play cards. Your hero cannot be healed and you no longer gain experience.

During your turn, you choose one of the following:

• Give a target hero 1 XP.
• Refresh a card in the City Row
• Heal a target hero 1 HP.
• Deal 1 melee damage to an enemy target.

After your selection the turn ends like normal. Even though you are incapacitated, you can still contribute to the fight and help out your party!

The Foe

The Foe is the central antagonist in a game of Foe Hunters and their goal is simple: destroy the party. The foe plays autonomously and its operation is fairly simple. Each foe starts in phase 1 (this will be denoted on the foe card, or the "front") and will have specific instructions on when it goes into phase 2. Whenever the requirement for transitioning into phase 2 is met, whether it is on the foe turn or a hero turn, flip the foe to phase 2 and follow the instructions on that phase.

Damage dealt to Foes transitions from phase 1 to phase 2 unless the foe specifically says it does not.

Hand Size

Each player is limited to a hand of 7 cards at the end of their turn. A player can have more than 7 cards in their hand at one time, but they must discard down to 7 at the end of their turn.

Resolving Effects

If you happen to have two effects that trigger at once (for example, two "at the beginning of your turn" effects), you choose in which order they will resolve. If two effects trigger at the same time on the Foe turn, the party may select the order they resolve.

"P"

If a card or effect refers to P, it means the number of players in the game. An incapacitated player still counts for P.

Example: If there are 4 players in the game, and a card says "Deal P melee damage to a target", you would deal 4 melee damage to the target.

+1 Power or -1 Power

If a card or ability says that your hero receives +1 Power or -1 Power, it means that it affects the damage your hero deals.

For example: If your hero received +1 Power and you deal 2 damage to a target, you would deal 3 damage to that target instead.

+/- Power can also affect specific damage types. If a card says +1 Cold Power, it means that it only increases the cold damage you deal, but not any other type of damage.

Example: Tommy has +1 cold power and is dealing 1 cold damage and 1 fire damage. Tommy will deal 2 cold damage and 1 fire damage to the target.

Example 2: Tommy has both +1 cold power and +1 power. Tommy deals 1 cold damage and 1 fire damage to a target. Tommy will deal 3 cold damage and 2 fire damage to the target.

Sacrifice & Destroy

Many effects in Foe Hunters will destroy or force you to sacrifice certain cards in play. Functionally, destroy and sacrifice mean the same thing: Place a card you have in play into your discard pile; the distinction is the source of the effect. If something is destroyed it means there is a source for the effect. If something is sacrificed there is no source for the effect.

Example: Whitney has a persistent ability in play that says: "Whenever one of your cards is destroyed, you may draw a card." The Foe plays a card that says "Each hero sacrifices a persistent ability." In this case, Whitney will not draw a card because the Foe caused her to sacrifice the card instead of directly destroying it.

The Dragonflame ability card's text, "Each hero sacrifices a Persistent Ability, ally, or Equipment," is shown in the rulebook as a callout.

Counters

Some cards in Foe Hunters mention placing counters. Foe Hunters uses dice to keep track of all counters/hit points/experience points. When a card says "place a counter on the card" or "this card enters play with 3 counters on it", it means place a die to mark the number of counters available. When counters are increased/decreased, simply change the value on the die to reflect the new number.

The Foes of Foe Hunters

The Cult of Oleg'Arth

Difficulty: Easy (Oleg'Arth the Devourer)

Deep in the Olethian Marshes dwells a dark and ancient evil. Banished by a conclave of powerful priests and wizards, the demon Oleg'Arth has been gaining power in the nether realm. Oleg'Arth's dark whispers have been breaking through to the mortal realm and infecting the indigenous Olethian tribesmen. The Cult of Oleg'Arth has spread like wildfire through southern Loramir and the impending threat of Oleg'Arth's return is very real.

Tip - Try to find abilities that will prevent a type of damage and plan ahead in order to give your party a turn or two of actions without reprisal!

Pirate Lord Keraxis

Difficulty: Medium (Master Duelist Keraxis)

Pirate Lord Keraxis has plagued the Kingland coast for many years. Said to have once been a loyal captain of the Kingland crown, he now plunders the riches of western Loramir. With tales of ancient power and sailing upon the dread vessel Fathombringer, Keraxis and his crew of loyal officers strike fear into the denizens of Loramir!

Tip - Try to keep extra equipment/persistent abilities available in play in case you get an untimely plunder. Losing a key piece of equipment when there are several pirates in play can be devastating!

Dragonspawn

Difficulty: Hard (Emberglow, The Flame Bringer)

Emberglow is a terrible Red Dragon that was recently awakened by some dark, unknown force. Long said to be sleeping in the Emberspine Mountains, in recent years she is all but forgotten. Awake after a hundred years, she is now terrorizing the denizens of Loramir from her lair deep within the mountain. Amassing troves of riches and arcane materials, it is said that she has one goal in mind: spawning a hatchling in an effort to enslave all of Loramir!

Tip - If your party encounters a pack of competing dragonslayers, consider letting them help you break the Dragonspawn and push the foe into phase 2. Just make sure you are prepared for Emberglow when you do!

The Heroes of Foe Hunters

Dorin Stoneblade

Paladin Hero - Hero Type: Melee Support - Playstyle: Tank/Buffs - Complexity: Low

Dorin Stoneblade is a devout follower of Rexnar, the ancient Dwarven deity of protection and conquest. Dorin hails from the northern Overwatch Cliffs where evil machinations have been plaguing his people. His order has been charged with eradicating the evils that terrorize his lands and with bringing peace to his people.

Lylias

Pathfinder Hero - Hero Type: Melee Damage - Playstyle: Pets/Support - Complexity: Medium

Lylias comes from deep within the Terel Woodlands where she has become a sort of ambassador between the Terellian Wood Elves and the Humans of northern Loramir. A natural hunter and tracker, she is able to pinpoint weaknesses in opponents that other Heroes may overlook. This coupled with her loyal companions make Lylias a valuable member of any party.

Shael Bonechatter

Necromancer Hero - Hero Type: Caster Damage - Playstyle: Pets/Attrition - Complexity: Medium

Little is known about Shael as he keeps to himself. He emerged from the Outerlands some time ago with his shambling allies in tow. Rumored to be half Dark-Elf, Shael doesn't say much about his past; nevertheless he is devoted to the cause. Shael rarely enters the fray himself; he usually channels his dark magic behind the safety of his undead horde.

Reghar Ironthane

Forgemaster Hero - Hero Type: Caster Support - Playstyle: Buffs/Utility - Complexity: Low

Reghar is part of the ancient order of The Forgepriests of Daftharr. While he is one of the only left in his order, he devoutly follows the old ways. Reghar lives deep in the Overwatch Cliffs where he applies the teachings of Daftharr. Reghar keeps over the ancient dwarven vaults, and with the evil foes oppressing his people, he has been tasked with providing weapons and armor of holy power to the dwarves fighting these terrible enemies.

Grimnar

Berserker Hero - Hero Type: Melee Damage - Playstyle: Technical/Combo - Complexity: High

Grimnar comes from a fierce barbarian tribe native to the Western Plains. Unlike most Half-Orcs, he was born out of love that sprouted in times of peace for his tribe. Grimnar is a fierce opponent with a bloodlust common to the tribespeople in the Western Plains. He is able to push himself beyond the normal limits of most warriors and generate flurries of attacks at the cost of his own health.

Rennin Foefury

Elemancer Hero - Hero Type: Caster Damage - Playstyle: Technical/Synergy - Complexity: High

Rennin Foefury comes from a small sect of gnomes in the Overwatch Cliffs that studies elemental magic. Most of these Elemancers study and apply their abilities for mundane purposes: forming archways in their great stone caverns, cooling the warm halls near lava floes, and irrigating underground crops in time of need. An even smaller group of these Elemancers studies martial combat, with Rennin being one of the forefathers of this faction. With the encroaching evil seeping its way into his homeland, he has volunteered to fight in order to protect his students and his people.

Play Variants

Two Players

Foe Hunters can play great with two players! Each foe has a two player variant foe card that is marked with the two player symbol in the bottom right hand corner. These foe cards are balanced to be challenging for two players but slightly easier than the full game versions. When playing with two players, each player selects a single hero and gameplay is the same as with a normal game. The foe deck remains the same is it does in a full game.

If this is your first time playing with two players, we suggest using the Paladin and Pathfinder!

The rulebook shows the two player variant Pirate Lord Keraxis (Phase 1) foe card, which has the callout: "When there are 2 Officers in the Foe discard, flip this card."

Single Player

Foe Hunters can even be played as a solo game! In the solo variant, select two heroes that you would like to play and use the two player variant foe card for your chosen foe. While the solo variant is mechanically the same as the two player variant, please keep in mind that there can be some amount of book-keeping involved that may be overwhelming for some solo players.

Easy Mode

For players wanting an easier game or those having trouble getting the hang of mechanics, we have included an easy mode variant. In this variant, you will only use the city cards for each of the heroes currently being played, as well as the generic non-affinity cards. The city deck is balanced in a way that players are expected to purchase cards that are not only for their hero. Because of this, the game gets easier if a player can consistently purchase cards for their chosen hero.

The rulebook shows three example cards used in the easy mode variant:

• Woodland Trap (Pathfinder Persistent Ability, 3 XP): "This card enters play with 3 counters. Whenever a Vassal is played from the Foe deck, remove a counter from this card and deal 3 nature damage to it. When the last counter is removed from this card, shuffle it into your deck."
• Sharp Sword (Equipment, 5 XP): "Your hero receives +1 power."
• Cryptwalker's Robes (Necromancer Equipment, 2 XP): "Whenever one of your allies is destroyed, draw a card. (An ally that has its hit points reduced to 0 counts as being destroyed.)"

Frequently Asked Questions

Berserker Feat: When you activate the Berserker feat, first you draw a card from your deck and then you choose to either discard a card from your hand, or lose 2 life. Losing life does not count as taking damage for purposes of other cards (it is a payment instead of a source), and you can trigger any RAGE effects on the card you are discarding, even if it is the card you drew from the feat activation.

Note that discarding cards and using their rage ability does not count as playing the card for purposes of other cards (like Enervation.)

Berserker RAGE: The Berserker hero has several cards with the RAGE: effect. Cards with this effect have two fields of text, the field before RAGE: and the field after. If the card is played from your hand, it will generate the effects before the RAGE: text. Whenever you discard the card (for any reason) you may use the RAGE: effect. The RAGE: effect is any text that occurs after RAGE: on the card.

Damage dealt to multiple sources and +power effects: If a card says that you may deal X damage divided among, or X damage to each target, you will simply add up your total damage after effects, and then assign that accordingly.

For example: Chris has a card that says "deal 3 damage divided any way you choose among two enemy targets." Chris currently has +2 power, so he will deal 5 total damage, divided any way he chooses.

Example 2: Mike has a card that says "deal 2 damage to each enemy target" and currently has +1 power. Mike will deal 3 damage to each enemy target.

"Deal that damage to another target" and damage duplication: Some cards allow you to duplicate damage abilities. These effects look at an instance of damage, not a single card.

For example: The Elemancer has Focus: Aeromancer and Maelstrom in play. The player deals 2 air damage to a target. First the player would assign the original damage, and then Focus: Aeromancer would take effect and allow the player to deal that 2 air damage to an additional target. Now lets say the player wants to use Maelstrom to copy one of the instances of damage. The player removes a counter from Maelstrom and then chooses one of the instances of damage to duplicate. If the player wanted, they could remove two counters and duplicate the damage from both instances (the original damage, and the duplicated damage from the focus.) Note that all of this duplicated damage resolves simultaneously for purposes of different cards and effects.

Elemancer Focus cards: When you replace a Focus card in play, you return it to your hand and replace it with another focus card from your hand. This does not count as activating an ability or playing a card.

For example: Whitney has Focus: Aeromancer in play and Focus: Pyromancer in her hand. She decides to replace the focus on her turn. She places Focus: Pyromancer from her hand into play, and returns Focus: Aeromancer from place to her hand.

Forgemaster Ancient Vault: Cards placed in the city row will remain there until they are purchased, but the city row will not refresh until the additional "slots" are gone.

For Example: Ancient Vault is played and one of the cards is not purchased. The card will remain part of the city row, but city cards will not be refreshed until the number of cards is back to four.

Paladin Feat: The Paladin Feat allows you to redirect damage more than once, but you can only redirect damage dealt to a single target once until the beginning of your next turn.

For Example: Damage is dealt to player A and B. You redirect damage dealt to player A, but not to player B. You can still redirect another source of damage dealt to player B, but not to player A until you activate the feat again.

Pathfinder Feat: When you activate the feat, place the Marked Target marker under the target, and then deal 1 damage to it. The damage is part of the application of the effect and is not modified by increased damage from Marked Target itself (but it is increased by + Power abilities).

From then on, that target takes an additional 1 damage from Hero sources. Hero sources are damage from a Persistent Ability, Ability, or Equipment that a Hero owns. Allies controlled by a Hero do not benefit from the increased damage.

Forgemaster Forge Techniques: A player can only have 3 different forge techniques in play at a time. If you would like to play a different forge technique and you already have 3 in play, simply sacrifice one of the techniques when you play the new one.

Healing above your starting health: Cards cannot be healed above their current total health. Some cards increase your total hit points, in this case you can heal to your new max hit point but not over.

Losing Life: If text says that you lose life, your hero reduces their current hit points by that amount. Losing life is similar to receiving damage in that you reduce your current life total, but the loss of life does not have a source for purposes of other cards (such as: When your hero takes damage, draw a card.) Loss of Life is not increased by effects that modify damage dealt, and loss of life can't be redirected to an aly.

Necromancer Feat: You may return the card you discard as part of the feat activation to play. First, the feat checks to see if you discarded a card before the rest of the ability resolves. If you discarded a card, you may then return an ally from your discard to play.

Order of operations: Order of operations for cards start at the top of the card and resolve down. If a card says:

• Your hero receives +1 Power
• Deal 2 Damage to a target.

You would increase your damage by 1, and then deal 3 damage to a target. In the case of a complex situation where multiple abilities resolve (from multiple beginning of turn effects, for example), the active player decides which abilities resolve in which order.

Potions: Potion cards are in the City Deck. When played, they generate XP. After they are played, you can sacrifice them on your turn to activate their effect. Using this ability does not count as playing a card for the turn.

For example: Larry buys and plays Healing Potion on his turn, and then activates a feat. He has purchased a card, played a card, and used a feat, so his turn is done. Next turn he purchases Strong Draw from the city row and plays it from his hand, and then activates his feat. Because Healing Potion was already in play, he can also sacrifice it in addition to his other actions and use its effect.

Running out of cards: When your deck runs out of cards and you have to draw a new one, simply shuffle your discard pile and use it as your new deck.

"When you play a card" "When a card is played": Abilities that trigger when a card is played (such as: Whenever you play a card, take 1 spirit damage) happen before the card being played is resolved. You cannot benefit from the card being played before the damage dealt from the ability resolves.

For example: Jon's Hero is at 1 HP and Emberglow, the Flame Bringer has the Arcane Rune Persistent Ability in play. Jon wants to play a card that heals his Hero. Unfortunately, when Jon plays the healing card, his Hero will take 1 damage and be incapacitated before the heal effect takes place.

Quick Start Reference

1. Each player selects a hero and takes that hero's deck as well as any counters associated with that hero (each hero deck has a unique background to identify it from the other hero decks.)

2. The party selects one of the three foes to face and places its foe card and foe deck in a common area. Shuffle the foe deck and then place the foe card near the foe deck; this will form the foe area.

3. Take the large city deck, shuffle it, and place it in a common area. Place the top four cards of the city deck near the deck to form the city row.

4. Each player places their hero card in their area along with any specific tokens. Each player shuffles their hero deck, and then grabs red dice to mark hit points and a green die to mark XP. Each hero starts out with their listed HP and 4 XP.

5. Each hero draws a card from their deck. You are ready to start the game!

The game starts with the foe phase, and then the hero phase where heroes will act. Gameplay continues alternating between the foe phase and the hero phase until either the foe is defeated, or the whole party is incapacitated.

Turn Order: Foe Phase

1. Trigger and resolve any "at the beginning of the foe phase" effects, such as effects found on the foe card, or cards the foe has in play.

2. Play the top card of the foe deck. If it is a persistent ability, equipment, or vassal; put it into play and resolve any enters play effects. If it is an ability, resolve the ability and then place the card in the foe discard pile.

3. Trigger and resolve any "at the end of foe phase" effects.

4. The party can collectively chose a single city card to refresh. To refresh a city card, put the chosen card into the city discard pile, and then place the top card of the city deck in its place.

Turn Order: Hero Phase

At the beginning of the hero phase, the party chooses which hero will act first. This hero will take all of their actions, and then play continues around the table in clockwise order.

At the beginning of each hero turn that hero readies any exhausted armor they have, then they draw a single card from their deck. After this, resolve any "at the beginning of your turn" or "until the beginning of your next turn" effects, and then begin your turn.

During your turn you may do each of the following once in any order:

• Play a card from your hand (if it is a persistent ability, ally, or equipment: put it into play in your area; if it is an ability, resolve it and then put it in your own discard pile.)
• Activate a heroic feat (heroic feats are found on each hero card, and several other cards unlock additional heroic feats. You may only activate one of your feats, even if you have multiple available.)
• Purchase a card from the city (simply deduct the cards cost from your heroes EXP pool and place the card directly in your hand. City cards refresh at the end of each hero turn.)

After you are done resolving any enters play effects or activated abilities from feats or cards you have played, and you have had the opportunity to purchase a card, your turn is over and play goes to the next player in clockwise order. Once each player has had a turn, return to the foe phase.