Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Advanced Wizards
• Set Up
  • 1. Location cards
  • 2. Dark Arts cards
  • 3. Villain cards
  • 4. Hogwarts cards
  • 5. Turn Order & Hero cards
  • 6. Starting Hero deck
• Card Anatomy
• Gameplay
  • Step 1. Reveal and resolve Dark Arts events
  • Step 2. Resolve Villain abilities
  • Step 3. Play Hogwarts cards and take Hero actions
  • Step 4. End your turn
  • The Next Hero's Turn
• End of Game
• Additional Rules
  • Defeating a Villain
  • Location Control
  • Hero Health
• Reminders
  • Hogwarts cards
  • Drawing and Discarding cards
  • Placing Cards on top of your Deck
  • Saving Influence and Attacks
  • Villains and Dark Arts cards
• Storing the Game
• Contents

Objective

Playing cooperatively as the Heroes, you win the game if you defeat all the Villains before they gain control of all the Locations, thereby securing the safety of Hogwarts—for now...

However, if the Villains manage to gain control of all of the Locations, you have lost the game!

Advanced Wizards

After reading these rules, if you feel comfortable and are familiar with deck-building games, we recommend that you proceed directly to Game 3. Open the Game 1, Game 2 and Game 3 boxes, review the rules enclosed in each, and start your adventure there. You can also increase the difficulty of each game by starting with 1 or 2 Villain Control on the first Location.

Set Up

Sort and distribute the contents as shown on the setup diagram.

Leave in the box: The boxes for Games 2–7 and the 9 Sorting Cards. For your first game, you will not need the boxes for Games 2–7.

Prepare the shared supply:

• 35 Attack tokens and 25 Influence tokens — place these in a general pool.
• 8 Villain Control tokens — keep near the board.
• 4 Player Boards (each with a Health Tracker) — give one to each player. Place your Health Tracker on the 10 space on your Player Board.
• Game Board — place it in the middle of the table.

Then open the Game 1 box and sort and distribute the Game 1 cards (2 Locations, 10 Dark Arts, 3 Villains, 30 Hogwarts, and 4 Heroes) as follows:

1. Location cards

Stack the oversized Location cards face up in the order indicated on the upper-right corner (so the first Location is on top).

2. Dark Arts cards

Shuffle and stack the square Dark Arts cards face down.

3. Villain cards

Shuffle and stack the oversized Villain cards face down. For Game 1 there will only be one active Villain at a time. Reveal the top card face up in the Active Villain space below. Leave the remaining Villain spaces empty for Game 1—the spaces will be filled in successive games.

4. Hogwarts cards

First separate out the 4 starting Hero decks, as indicated by the Hero names on the bottom of those cards. Shuffle and stack the remaining Hogwarts cards face down. Place the top 6 cards face up in the spaces below—these are the cards available to acquire.

5. Turn Order & Hero cards

Choose your Hero. Place an oversized Turn Order and Hero card face up above your Player Board.

6. Starting Hero deck

Shuffle and stack your Hero deck of 10 cards face down, then draw 5 cards. Note that each Hero has their own starting deck as indicated by the name in the banner.

You are ready for your first game. Choose a Hero to go first. These rules are designed to be read as you play. (Advanced Wizards will need to complete set up as instructed in the Game 3 box before continuing with these rules.)

Card Anatomy

Villain Cards show:

• Villain Name.
• Game Identifier (which game the card belongs to).
• Villain Ability.
• Health — the number of Attack needed to defeat the Villain.
• Reward — earned when the Villain is defeated.

Hogwarts Cards show:

• Game Identifier.
• Card Type — either Ally, Item, or Spell. Some effects may reference these types.
• Card Name.
• Card Effect — gained when you play the card.
• Value — amount of Influence you must spend to acquire it. Some effects may reference this.

Icon key: Attack, Influence, Health, and Villain Control.

Gameplay

Each turn consists of four steps.

Step 1. Reveal and resolve Dark Arts events

Look at the Location. It states how many Dark Arts events to reveal.

Dark Arts events have a variety of detrimental effects. One at a time, reveal and resolve Dark Arts events, placing the cards in a discard pile beside the stack.

Example: the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named event instructs you to add one Villain Control token on the Location card. (See Location Control for details.)

If the Dark Arts stack runs out, shuffle the resolved cards to form a new stack.

Step 2. Resolve Villain abilities

Each Villain has an ability. Some will happen each turn, and others will be triggered by Dark Arts events or other Villains.

Example: because a Villain Control token was added to the Location, and Draco Malfoy's ability reads "Each time Villain Control is added to the Location, active Hero loses 2 Health," Harry (the active Hero) loses 2 Health, moving his Health Tracker from 10 to 8. (See Hero Health for details.)

Step 3. Play Hogwarts cards and take Hero actions

As the active Hero, you may do all of the following in any order you choose.

Play cards to gain resources (Attack & Influence tokens) and generate effects. As you play out cards, set them to the side to indicate that they have been played. Tokens you gain are collected on your player board. Cards and resources cannot be saved from one turn to the next, so it is advisable to use everything each turn.

Assign Attack to Villains. When the number of Attack tokens assigned to a Villain equals its Health, the Villain is defeated! (See Defeating a Villain for details.)

Use Influence to acquire new cards. The six face-up Hogwarts cards are available to acquire and build a more powerful deck. You can acquire multiple cards as long as you have enough Influence. Immediately place any newly acquired cards in your Discard Pile (not in your hand) unless otherwise noted. Typically, you will not play new cards on the same turn you acquire them. When your deck runs out of cards, you will shuffle your Discard Pile to form a new deck including these newly acquired cards.

Example: your starting hand has a Firebolt, Hedwig, and three Alohomora! cards.

1. Play the Firebolt to gain an Attack token. Since you are still pretty healthy, play Hedwig and choose to gain another Attack token. Place them on your player board.
2. Play your three Alohomora! to gain three Influence tokens. Place them on your Player Board.
3. Assign the two Attack tokens to Draco Malfoy. You need four more to defeat him.
4. Use the three Influence to acquire Reparo! from the available Hogwarts cards. Immediately place the card in your discard pile.

Step 4. End your turn

After playing cards, taking actions, and using tokens, do the following at the end of your turn.

1. Check if the Villains have the required Villain Control to Control the Location. If they Control it, remove the tokens and discard the Location, revealing the next one in the stack.
2. If you assigned enough Attack to defeat a Villain this turn, replace it with the next one from the Villains stack.
3. Refill empty spaces for Hogwarts cards.
4. Place all cards played this turn in your discard pile. You cannot save cards for your next turn.
5. Discard any unused Attack and Influence tokens. If you played cards that allow other Heroes to gain tokens, they DO get to keep them to use on their turn.
6. Draw a new hand of five cards. ONLY shuffle your Discard pile to form a fresh Draw Deck when you need to draw or reveal cards and your deck is empty.

The Next Hero's Turn

Game play will continue clockwise, with the next player, as the active Hero, taking the same 4 steps on their turn.

End of Game

The game can end in one of two ways:

The Heroes defeat ALL the Villains. Congratulations! You win, and ensure the security of Hogwarts and the wizarding world for another year. You have become most adept and skilled wizards and bring pride and honor to your school! When you are ready, proceed to the next game. Open the Game 2 box, and follow the instructions enclosed.

The Villains control ALL the Locations. If the Villains manage to control ALL the Locations, you have lost. You are not yet ready to advance to Game 2 and need to hone your wizarding skills. Reset the game to its starting configuration, and try again! (See Set Up.)

Additional Rules

Defeating a Villain

When the Attack tokens assigned to a Villain equal its Health, the Villain is defeated! You immediately gain the reward listed on the Villain card, and place it in the discard space in the center of the board. Return the Attack tokens assigned to the Villain back to the pile. At the end of your turn, replace the defeated Villain with the next Villain card from the top of the stack.

Example: Quirinus Quirrell has Health 6 and the ability "Active Hero loses 1 Health." His Reward reads: ALL Heroes gain 1 Attack and 1 Influence.

Location Control

Some Dark Arts events and Villain abilities increase the amount of control the Villains have over the Location. When the Villains gain the required Villain Control to control the Location, the Heroes have until the end of that turn to remove a Villain Control token, either by playing a card or defeating a Villain.

If at the end of the turn, the Location still has the required Villain Control, the Villains gain control of it. Discard the controlled Location as the battle moves on to the next one in the stack. If the Villains gain control of ALL the Locations, the Heroes lose the game!

If you need to add more Villain Control on a Location than there are spaces, you get a reprieve, ignoring any additional Villain Control that would be added this turn.

Advanced Wizards: You can add to the difficulty of any game by placing Villain Control tokens on the first Location when setting up the game. For moderate difficulty, start with 1 Villain Control on the Location, or for a bigger challenge, start with 2. Alternatively, add 1 Villain Control to each Location when it is revealed, starting with the first one.

Hero Health

Some Dark Arts events and Villain abilities cause your Hero to lose Health, and some Hogwarts cards allow you to gain Health. This is indicated by moving your Health Tracker up or down on your Player Board. If you lose all your Health, you are Stunned and the following occurs.

Note: It is possible to get Stunned on another Hero's turn. If more than one Hero is Stunned at the same time, each one does the following:

1. You cannot lose (or gain) any more Health this turn.
2. Discard any Attack or Influence tokens you may have saved on your Player Board from other Heroes' turns.
3. Discard half the cards in your hand, rounded down. For example, if you have five cards, choose two to discard. If a card has an effect generated by being discarded you DO still get that effect.
4. Add one Villain Control to the Location.
5. If it is your turn, you may still play cards and take actions with whatever you have remaining after being Stunned.
6. At the end of the active Hero's turn you have recovered. Reset your Hero's Health to its maximum value (10).

Reminders

Hogwarts cards

In the first few games, it is possible for the Hogwarts stack to run out of cards to acquire. Continue playing with the remaining available Hogwarts cards and the decks you have built until the end of the game.

Drawing and Discarding cards

Some cards, like the Crystal Ball, have the effect to "Draw a Card". When you play these, always draw from your Hero deck. Additionally, if a card has an effect to "Discard a Card", you may choose any card in your hand—not just from among the cards you drew.

Other cards have an effect that only happens if you choose to discard them, not when you play them. For example: the Remembrall (Neville's starting deck) gives the Hero 1 Influence when it is played, but 2 Attack when discarded to another effect. The effect on these cards triggers if you choose to discard them to a Villain, Dark Arts event, from being Stunned, or to another Hogwarts card, like the Crystal Ball.

Placing Cards on top of your Deck

This is a good thing. Rather than having to wait until your Discard Pile is shuffled to gain access to a card, cards with this directive ensure that you will draw a newly acquired card on your next turn.

Saving Influence and Attacks

If you gain Influence or Attack tokens on another Hero's turn you may save them on your player board until your turn. At the end of your turn any tokens that you have not used must be discarded to their piles.

Villains and Dark Arts cards

As the games progress in difficulty, many of the Villain abilities and Dark Arts events will have a compounding effect. For example: Flipendo! states, "Active Hero loses 1 Health and discards a card." Crabbe & Goyle have the ability, "When you discard a card lose 1 Health." The combined effect is the active Hero will lose 2 Health and discard a card before taking actions.

Storing the Game

You do not need to play all seven games at once.

Included in the tray are nine sorting cards. When you are ready to pack the game up, use the dividers to sort the cards by type instead of by game. This will make setting up your next game faster. The additional game rules can be stored in the pockets on the next page.

Contents

Game Board • 252 Cards (47 Small, 142 Regular, 63 Oversized) • 4 Dice • 7 Game Boxes • 7 Game Rules • 4 Player Boards • 8 Villain Control Tokens • 70 Chip Pieces (35 Attack, 25 Influence, 4 Health, 2 Shield, 4 More)

Designed & developed by USAopoly. Invented and licensed by Forrest-Pruzan Creative. Harry Potter, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of © and ™ Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © JKR. (s16)