Healing Blade: Infectious Disease Card Battle

Healing Blade: Infectious Disease Card Battle Rulebook

Table of Contents

Updated Rules

Since the game was first released, the rules have been updated. Please disregard older versions and use these rules instead. We think you will have a better experience.

Players: 2 | Ages: 12 & up | Playing Time: 50 minutes

Components

1 New instruction booklet, Rules Edition 2.0 2 Playmats 20 Green gemstones, representing "ATP" (adenosine triphosphate) 90 Cards

Object of the Game

Each player starts out with 13 life points. If your opponent reaches 0 life, you win.

Overview

One player commands the Apothecaries (white-bordered cards) and the other player commands the Lords of Pestilence (black-bordered cards). Both players use ATP (the green gemstones) to "pay" for playing cards. The Lords of Pestilence ("Pest") player attacks the Apothecary player, and the Apothecary player defends. The Pest player tries to evade Apothecary defenses and deal damage, while the Apothecary player tries to destroy the attackers.

Setup

Remove the following cards from the game permanently; they are no longer used:

Lords of Pestilence Cards: Genetic Shift, Intrinsic Virulence, Reverse Transcriptase, Recolonization
Apothecary Cards: Rest & Relaxation, Chlorhexidine

Each player takes 3 ATP gemstones, keeping them in an ATP zone on their playmat. (The playmat is arranged symmetrically to allow right-handed or left-handed players the arrangement of their preference.)

Each player shuffles their deck and draws 6 cards, keeping their hand hidden from their opponent.

About the Cards

There are three kinds of cards: Combatants, Spells, and Items. To play a card from your hand, you must pay its ATP cost. The Lords of Pestilence player pays ATP to the Apothecary player. The Apothecary player, however, pays by returning ATP to the general supply. In this way, the more the Lords of Pestilence player spends, the more the Apothecary player can spend.

Combatants are played face-down onto your Sanctuary area, and may be used later in battle. Players are expected to be honest about paying ATP costs. Players can look at their own face-down cards any time, and move them around to prevent the opponent from knowing which face-down card is which. When a Pestilence combatant is destroyed, or an Apothecary combatant is exhausted, it leaves play and goes to the discard pile.

Spells have an effect, then are discarded. Some spells set up a conditional effect that might happen later in the turn.

Items are played face-up and stay in play for the rest of the game, unless destroyed. Others give the player a new once-a-turn ability.

See ADDITIONAL CARD EXPLANATIONS for more details.

Combatant: play face-down and keep until destroyed.
Spell: use once and discard.
Item: play face-up and keep until destroyed.

Healing Blade Card Anatomy

Healing Blade cards have some or all of the following:

Apothecary or Pestilence symbol: shown at the top right of the card, marking whether it belongs to the Apothecaries or the Lords of Pestilence.
ATP cost: the number in the top left corner of the card, the amount of ATP needed to play it.
Name: the card's name.
Type: Combatant, Spell, or Item.
Series (for sequels/expansions): the series symbol on the card.
First Line of Defense: a list of Pests that this card can destroy as a first line of defense (shown with the "1" symbol).
Second Line of Defense: a list of Pests that this card can destroy as a second line of defense (shown with the "2" symbol).
Vulnerability: a list of Apothecary combatants that can destroy this card (shown with the "V" symbol).
Description: describes the effects of the card, and/or the background story of a combatant (shown with the "D" symbol).
Collector number: the card's number within a set and which set it is from (for example, "H12/90").
Card artist's name: printed on the bottom left of the card.

How to Play

Each turn is divided into 5 steps:

Lords of Pestilence Preparation
Apothecary Preparation
Reveal/Play Tricks
Resolution
Regroup

1. Lords of Pestilence (Pest) Preparation

A. Gain 4 ATP from the general supply at the start of your turn.

B. You may play any number of cards from your hand, paying ATP costs to the Apothecary player. You may also use once-a-turn item abilities.

C. Prepare attackers. Move 1 or more combatants onto the Battlefield, face-down, or else lose 1 life.

2. Apothecary Preparation

A. If you did not receive any ATP during the Pest player's preparation, take 3 ATP from the general supply.

B. You may play any number of cards from your hand, paying ATP costs to the general supply. You may also use once-a-turn item abilities.

C. Prepare defenders. Choose no more than three of your combatant cards and move them onto the Battlefield, face-down.

3. Reveal/Play Tricks Step

A. Reveal all combatant cards in the Battlefield.

B. Play tricks, if you have any. Tricks include certain spells, or the item Resistance Plasmid. Starting with the Pest player, each player announces a trick, or passes. When both players pass in succession, move on to the Resolution step.

4. Resolution

Players consult the cards to determine the results of battle. Pest combatants either survive and damage the Apothecary player, or are destroyed. Pest combatants that can be destroyed, must be destroyed; Apothecary combatants are not allowed to voluntarily let them survive. Each Apothecary combatant may use any combination of first-line and second-line defenses to destroy one or more attackers. If more than one Apothecary combatant is able to destroy an attacker, the Apothecary player decides which one actually does the destroying.

4a. 1st-line of defense step:

The Apothecary player tells his opponent which Pest attackers are destroyed by which combatant's 1st-line defenses.
Destroyed Pest combatants are sent to the discard pile.
The Pest player loses 2 life for each destroyed attacker.
The Apothecary player gains 1 ATP for each Pest combatant destroyed with a 1st-line defense.

4b. 2nd-line of defense step:

The Apothecary player tells his opponent which Pest attackers are destroyed by which combatant's 2nd-line defenses.
Destroyed Pest combatants are sent to the discard pile.
The Pest player loses 1 life for each destroyed attacker.

4c. Exhaust Apothecaries. An Apothecary combatant is exhausted and sent to the discard pile:

if it used a 2nd-line of defense.
if it destroyed 2 or more Pest combatants this turn.

Apothecary combatants that did nothing, or only used exactly one 1st-line attack, remain on the board.

4d. Successful Attacks step:

For each Pest attacker that survived, the Apothecary player loses 1 life and the Pest player gains 1 ATP.

5. Regroup

All surviving combatants on the Battlefield return to their Sanctuaries, flipped face-down.

Players must do one of the following:

If you have fewer than 6 cards, refill your hand to six.
If you have exactly 6 cards, draw one, then discard one.
If you have more than 6 cards, discard down to six.

You are now ready to start a new turn.

Winning the Game

If, during any step of the game, your opponent has no more life points, you win. If any player has no cards left to draw, the player with the highest life total wins, or if life totals are tied, the game is a draw.

Additional Card Explanations

Each card explanation below is marked with the timing icon printed on the card: "play during preparation", "play during reveal/play tricks", or "play anytime".

Adverse Side Effects (play during reveal/play tricks): Immediately lose 1 life for each Apothecary combatant on the playmat (including the Sanctuary). Later, during Resolution, the Pest player loses 2 additional life whenever you destroy an enemy combatant.
Broad Spectrum Therapy (play anytime): The moment this card is played the destroyed item cannot be used. If played immediately as an opponent is trying to use an item's once-a-turn ability, the opponent does not get to use the ability, and must destroy the item instead.
Catch a Cold (play during reveal/play tricks): In addition to preventing damage during Resolution, it may be played immediately in response to a spell that would deal you damage, to prevent that damage. "Prevent all damage to you from your opponent that turn" lasts until the next turn begins.
Contaminated Hand (play during reveal/play tricks): You play the spell during the Play Tricks step, but gain the life immediately upon beginning the Resolution step, before 1st-line defense step.
Cross Resistance (play during reveal/play tricks): It only has an effect if Resistance Plasmid is already in play. Both combatants now share the Resistance Plasmid. If the original combatant with resistance or Resistance Plasmid is sent to the discard, the combatant that benefitted from Cross Resistance loses the extra resistance.
Decompose (play during reveal/play tricks): If the Apothecary combatant you chose does not end up in the discard after battle, nothing happens and the spell is wasted. If the card gains you life during Resolution, you gain that life during the Exhaust Apothecaries step.
Epidemiological Forecast (play anytime): Usually best played during the Reveal Tricks step to ensure that you draw a useful card at the end of the turn.
Life Cycle (play anytime): If this is played in response to an Apothecary spell that deals damage, gain the life before taking the damage.

Lords of Pestilence Costs of Cards

1 ATP: B. fragilis, Contaminated Hand, E. coli, K. pneumoniae, N. gonorrhoeae, N. meningitidis, P. mirabilis, S. aureus, S. epidermidis, S. pneumoniae, S. pyogenes, T. pallidum

2 ATP: C. burnetti, P. multocida, S. typhii

3 ATP: B. anthracis, B. ceres, B. pertussis, C. jejuni, Catch a Cold, Cross Resistance, Decompose, E. faecalis, N. asteroides, Resistance Plasmid, V. cholerae, Y. pestis

4 ATP: A. baumanii, B. burgdorferi, B. henselae, C. perfringens, F. tularensis, H. influenzae, H. pylori, L. monocytogenes, L. pneumophila, M. pneumoniae, MRSA, P. aeruginosa, Poverty & Filth, Reinfection, S. saprophyticus, Shigella

5 ATP: C. difficile, F. necrophorum, Life Cycle, Outbreak, R. rickettsii, VRE, VRSA

Apothecary Costs of Cards

2 ATP: Aztreonam, Broad Spectrum Therapy, Metronidazole, Cefazolin, Clindamycin, Penicillin

3 ATP: Amoxicillin/clavulanate, Ampicillin, Ampicillin/sulbactam, Azithromycin, Ceftazidime, Chloramphenicol, Erythromycin, Gentamicin, The Healing Arts, Preventative Therapy, Shot in the Dark, Tobramycin

4 ATP: Adverse Side Effects, Cefepime, Ceftriaxone, Doxycycline, Levofloxacin, Piperacillin/tazobactam, Tetracycline, Ticarcillin/clavulanate, Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, Vancomycin

5 ATP: Ciprofloxacin, Epidemiological Forecast, Imipenem/cilastatin, Revitalize, Tigecycline, Unconventional Therapy

Running Out of ATP Gemstones

You are not limited to the gemstones provided with the game. If you need more ATP, use any small items to represent additional ATP.

Some Other Names Are Listed But Are Not Included in This Version

The following Apothecary names were listed on some cards to leave open the possibility of an expansion, but can be ignored for this version:

amikacin, cefotaxime, clarithromycin, colistin, linezolid, oxacillin, penicillin G or V (ignore the "G or V" - there is only one penicillin in this game), rifampin.

Errors

If there is a discrepancy in the vulnerability and defense lists of two opposing cards, as long as a name is listed on one of the cards it is considered valid, and if battle results are unclear treat the defense as a 2nd-line defense.

Interactions

The Interactions chart lists, for each Lords of Pestilence combatant (rows) and each Apothecary card (columns), whether that Apothecary card can destroy the Pest combatant. The printed chart has no legend; in the cells, a "1" is the 1st-line defense icon and a "2" is the 2nd-line defense icon, as shown on the card face (see Healing Blade Card Anatomy). A blank cell means the Apothecary card has no defense against that Pest combatant.

The chart is printed on two pages. The first page covers Amox/clav through Doxycycline:

Pest	Amox/clav	Ampicillin	Amp/sulbactam	Azithromycin	Aztreonam	Cefazolin	Cefepime	Ceftazidime	Ceftriaxone	Chloramphenicol	Ciprofloxacin	Clindamycin	Doxycycline
A. baumannii			2		2		2
B. anthracis

The second page covers Erythromycin through Vancomycin:

Pest	Erythromycin	Gentamicin	Imipenem/cilastatin	Levofloxacin	Metronidazole	Penicillin	Piperacillin/tazobactam	Tetracycline	Ticarcillin/clavulanate	Tigecycline	Tobramycin	Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole	Vancomycin
A. baumannii			2							2	2
B. anthracis