Hour of Need Rulebook

Table of Contents

Overview
Components
Card Anatomy
Setup
- Your Origin Story
- Game Setup Diagram
Issue Board Breakdown
The Game Round
Villain Turn
Hero Turn
Hero Actions
Issue Turn
End of Round
Additional Rules
Playing with 5-6 Players
Optional Rules

Overview

Each game of Hour of Need is centered around three main deck types:

Hero Deck

Each player chooses a hero to play. That hero's associated deck of cards will define their personality, abilities, and unique style of gameplay. Each hero deck has one or more associated hero figures.

Villain Deck

The players mutually choose a villain to take on. Each villain deck has its own unique playstyle and challenges for the heroes to overcome. Each villain deck has one or more corresponding villain figures and four lackey figures.

Issue Deck

The issue deck determines what issue board the game is played on, as well as what schemes the villain is trying to accomplish. Each issue deck poses unique challenges to the heroes, while also providing the villain's victory condition—which also happens to be the heroes' loss condition. Each issue deck may have several associated tokens, referenced by cards in the deck.

Components

16 miniatures
- 4 hero miniatures
- 2 villain miniatures
- 8 lackey miniatures
- 2 nemesis miniatures
2 double-sided, folding issue boards
212 standard cards
- 84 hero cards (21 cards per deck)
- 60 villain cards (30 cards per deck)
- 60 issue cards (15 cards per deck)
- 6 turn reference cards
- 2 nemesis cards
20 small clue cards
11 card dividers
- 4 hero dividers
- 2 villain dividers
- 4 issue dividers
- 1 miscellaneous divider
8 colored bases
- 2 red bases
- 2 green bases
- 2 blue bases
- 2 yellow bases
5 hero dice
188 tokens
- 12 action tokens
- 1 Micro-guy pilot token
- 4 peril tokens
- 8 bystander tokens
- 10 minion tokens
- 6 hidden tokens
- 50 damage tokens (in various denominations)
- 44 justice tokens (in various denominations)
- 20 issue tokens
- 20 focus tokens
- 13 character tokens
  - 1 Gabby Woods
  - 1 Foreman
  - 4 Phase II Brinkbots
  - 1 Lox Lee
  - 1 Lowtider
  - 1 Crabman
  - 1 Ji-Yoo Rhee
  - 1 Mr. Meaner
  - 1 Dr. Vivian Graham
  - 1 Abductor

Card Anatomy

Card Name and Traits

Each card has a name, and may also have 1 or more traits.

Health Value

A card's health value indicates how much damage the hero can suffer before being defeated.

Attack Value

How many dice a hero rolls when they Attack.

Solve Value

How many dice a hero rolls when they Solve.

Hero Ability

Each hero has 1 or more special abilities unique to them. These can be Action (action icon), Exhaust, or passive effects.

Unique Icon

Some cards have a unique icon (unique icon) next to their title. This means only 1 copy of this card can be in play at a time.

Heroic Feat

Hero cards have heroic feat icons that allow the card to be used in additional ways.

Action Icon

This icon means that the card costs an action to play from a hero's hand. If a card does not have this icon, it does not cost an action to play and may be played freely during the hero turn.

Constant & Instant

All hero cards will either have the Constant or Instant trait. Constant cards remain in a player's hero play area when played, while Instant cards are resolved and then discarded.

Defense Value

How much damage is ignored when the target is attacked.

Inflict Value

How much damage this enemy deals a nearby target when it inflicts.

Activate Effect

Activate effects are resolved during a hero's threat phase.

Danger Value

A danger value represents how many justice tokens the card can suffer before it is solved. A card with a danger value is referred to as a "problem" card.

Threat Icon

This is a reminder that the card is placed in a hero's threat area when it is drawn or revealed.

Ploy Icons

When a villain card is drawn during the villain turn, the player resolves each ploy icon, from left to right.

Villain Special Effects

Each villain special icon on a villain card triggers this effect.

Showdown Effects

When the villain is targeted during an attack, the hero attacking the villain must draw a villain card and resolve its Showdown effect.

Per Hero Icon

Some values have a per hero icon (per hero icon) next to them. This means the value should be multiplied by the number of heroes in the game.

Scaling Indicator

Some villain cards may have a scaling indicator to denote that they are removed from the game during setup when playing with the specified number of heroes.

Reveal Icon

This icon is a reminder that when the Scheme is solved, 1 hidden token is discarded from the Villain card.

Solve Location

The space or scheme panel that the problem is located in. A hero needs to be near this space or component to Solve the problem (if a scheme panel is named, the hero must be in that scheme panel to Solve the problem).

Setup

For your first game, see the "Your Origin Story" panel.

To set up a game of Hour of Need, players collectively perform the following steps in order:

Choose Heroes—Each player chooses 1 hero to play as, gathering that hero's deck and miniature. Each player then performs the following steps to create their hero play area. a. Search your chosen hero deck for the double-sided Hero character card. Place that card with the Focused side facedown on the table. The Hero character card and the space to the right of it is the "hero play area." b. Shuffle the rest of your hero cards together and place your draw deck facedown to the left of your Hero card, leaving room to the left of the deck for a discard pile. c. Leave room above your hero play area for your threat area (see "Game Setup Example"). d. Draw 4 cards from your deck to create your opening hand. Players may perform a single mulligan by discarding any number of cards from their opening hand, drawing an equal number of cards as replacements, and then shuffling the discarded cards back into their deck. e. Finally, each hero takes a turn card and places it near their play area for reference and places 2 action tokens near their play area, each one faceup.
Choose Issue—The players collectively choose an issue to play, gathering the corresponding issue deck, any associated tokens (see Issue Guide), and issue board. Players perform the following steps in order to set up their chosen issue. a. Place the issue board in the center of the play area, leaving room for the issue play area. Place 1 bystander token on each bystander space on the map. Each hero places their hero figure in or adjacent to the hero start space—note that Micro-guy begins the game as his pilot token; if a player is playing Micro-guy, they place his mech figure near their play area. b. Create the issue play area by searching the issue deck for the Issue Overview card and placing it near the issue board, leaving room to the right of it for the issue play area, and to the left of it for the issue deck and discard pile. c. Remove each double-sided Scheme card from the issue deck, randomize them, and then place 1 in each player's threat area with the Scheme side faceup—remove the remaining Scheme cards from the game. d. Follow any Setup effects on the Issue Overview card, then shuffle the issue deck and place it facedown to the left of the Issue Overview card, leaving room to the left of it for a discard pile. e. Place the issue tokens in a supply near the issue play area, along with any issue-specific tokens.
Choose Villain—The players collectively choose a villain to face off against, gathering the corresponding villain deck, lackey miniatures, and villain miniature. Place the villain's figure in the scheme panel labeled "1" on the issue board. Prepare the villain deck by performing the following steps: a. Remove certain cards from the villain deck based on how many heroes are in the game: i. 1 Hero: If there is exactly 1 hero in the game, remove each villain card that has a 1 scaling indicator from the game. ii. 5 or 6 Heroes: If there are exactly 5 or 6 heroes in the game, remove each villain card that has a 5/6 scaling indicator from the game. iii. Do not remove any villain cards from the game. b. Search the villain's deck for the double-sided Villain card, placing it Scheming side up near the issue board. c. Shuffle the villain's deck and place it facedown near the Villain card, leaving space for a discard pile. d. Place 1 hidden token on the Villain card for each hero in the game.

Your Origin Story

If you're a new player interested in learning Hour of Need at a gradual pace, it is recommended to play a single player game using the following decks:

Hero Deck—Majesty
Villain Deck—Dowager
Issue Deck—Century Heist

Game Setup Diagram

The Game Setup Diagram labels the following areas: Issue Board, Lackey Minis, Peril/Bystander/Minion Tokens, Villain Card, Issue Deck/Discard, Issue Tokens, Threat Area, Issue Play Area, Hero Play Area, Turn Card, Action Tokens, Focus & Damage/Justice Tokens, Hero Deck/Discard, Hero Card, Villain Deck/Discard, and Clue Cards/Discard.

Issue Board Breakdown

Name of Issue—The name of the issue.
Hero Start Space—Each hero begins the game in or adjacent to the hero start space.
Peril Spaces—These spaces represent potential hazards produced by the villain deck—they are colored to match the peril tokens.
Bystander Spaces—Innocent bystanders that need the heroes' help appear in these spaces.
Scheme Spaces—Each scheme space on the map corresponds to a scheme panel with a matching color/icon. Heroes may move between scheme spaces and scheme panels freely each time they move. Hero figures cannot occupy these spaces, they are instead moved to the associated scheme panel if they would end their movement in a scheme space.
Scheme Panels—Each scheme panel corresponds to a Scheme card in the issue deck. These are important "zoomed in" locations where the villain is attempting to carry out their nefarious plot. Each scheme panel has 1 or more effects that are typically triggered by the villain or the issue deck.
Map—The section of the issue board with the hex grid is the "map," where figures tactically move and fight.

The Game Round

Each game round consists of the following three turns:

Villain Turn—Each hero draws and resolves 1 villain card.
Hero Turn—Each hero performs 2 actions, resolves a threat phase, and draws 1 card from their deck. Heroes may collectively take their actions in any order, one at a time.
Issue Turn—The players draw and resolve 1 issue card.

After each issue turn, gameplay continues on to a new game round until the heroes either win or lose the game. Heroes win the game by defeating the villain. Heroes lose the game if the villain completes their objective as defined by the issue.

Villain Turn

During the villain turn, each hero (in any order) draws and resolves one villain card. Each card drawn must be fully resolved before the next hero draws and resolves a villain card. If no cards remain in the villain deck, the players shuffle the villain discard pile and place it facedown to create a new villain deck.

After all heroes have drawn and resolved 1 villain card each, play proceeds to the hero turn.

Resolving Villain Cards

There are 3 main types of villain cards: Lackey cards, Peril cards, and Ploy cards. When resolving villain cards, players ignore Showdown effects; these are only used when the villain is attacked while its Villain card is on its Showdown side.

The hero resolving their villain card is referred to as the active hero.

Peril Cards

When the active hero draws a Peril card from the villain deck, they place that card in their threat area and place the corresponding peril token (of the color matching the card) in the peril space that matches the peril token's color. If that peril space is occupied, the peril token is placed in the empty space nearest it.

Lackey Cards

When the active hero draws a Lackey card from the villain deck, they place that card in their threat area and place the corresponding figure (of the color matching the card) in the scheme space that matches the lackey's color. If that scheme space is occupied, the lackey is placed in the empty space nearest it.

Ploy Icons

Ploy cards consist of one or more ploy icons. When these cards are drawn, the active hero resolves these icons one at a time, from left to right. Each icon is described in detail below:

For each minion ploy icon, the active hero places 1 minion in the corresponding scheme panel. If no minions remain in the supply when a hero must resolve any single minion ploy icon on their drawn villain card, a crisis occurs.
For each cunning ploy icon, the villain either schemes or inflicts the active hero; the active hero may choose which effect to resolve for each cunning ploy icon.
For each bystander ploy icon, the active hero must place 1 bystander from the supply on an empty bystander space; if each bystander space is occupied (by a bystander or figure), then the placed bystander is captured instead and placed in the scheme panel nearest the villain. If no bystanders remain in the supply when a hero must resolve any single bystander ploy icon on their drawn villain card, a crisis occurs.
For each special ploy icon, the active hero resolves the corresponding "Special" effect on the card.

Villain Schemes

Some effects will cause the villain to scheme. When this happens, the villain resolves the Scheme effect of the scheme panel they currently occupy or the scheme panel corresponding to their current scheme space (if their Villain card is on its Showdown side). If the villain is on the map and not in a scheme space when they scheme for any reason, resolve the Scheme effect on the scheme panel nearest them (in case of a tie, the higher-numbered scheme panel takes priority).

Some Scheme effects may result in the villain advancing. When the villain advances, they move to the next scheme panel (or scheme space, if the Villain card is on its Showdown side) in numerical order.

Heroes should be careful! Each time the villain advances, they get closer to their overall goal. Sometimes it won't be immediately apparent what the villain's goal is, but remember that advancing always brings them closer to it!

A Crisis Occurs

When a crisis occurs, the players must resolve each Crisis effect in play. The following situations will cause the players to resolve each Crisis effect in play:

A game effect causes a crisis to occur
A hero is defeated
One or more ploy icons on a single Ploy card cannot be resolved due to no minions or bystanders in the supply

A single card or single effect can only ever trigger a single crisis. For example, if an effect forces the heroes to place 3 minions and only 1 remains in the supply, only 1 crisis will occur even though they were unable to place 2 of the 3 minions. Likewise, a single Ploy card can only cause a single crisis to occur, no matter how many of the ploy icons on that card would have resulted in more crises.

If more than 1 crisis effect must be resolved, each crisis effect in the issue play area is resolved in order, from left to right.

Per Hero

Some values in the game are accompanied by a per hero icon. This means "per player/hero." For example, the value "2 per hero" in a game with 4 players playing 4 heroes would be "8 (2 x 4 players/heroes = 8)."

Hero Turn

At the start of the hero turn, each hero readies each exhausted card in their hero play area (not the exhausted cards in their threat area).

During the hero turn, the heroes may collectively perform actions until each hero has performed both of their actions. Players may take their actions in any order, using their action tokens to track how many actions they have taken during the current hero turn.

Each hero action must be fully resolved before any other hero performs an action. The hero currently resolving their action is referred to as the "active hero."

After a hero completes their second action, the hero turn immediately pauses and that hero resolves a threat phase (see "Threat Phase" in the section below). Players still have the option of playing cards or resolving effects after a hero completes their second action, but before beginning the threat phase. Some effects allow heroes to perform additional actions or abilities as a result of their second action—these may be resolved before beginning the threat phase as well.

Becoming Focused

During the hero turn, any hero may discard 5 focus tokens to flip their Hero card to its Focused side. This can be done at any time; if a hero gains an excess of five focus, they can discard 5 of their focus to flip to their Focused side and gain the remainder of the focus that exceeds five (see "Focus Tokens" on page 19).

Playing Hero Cards

Cards that do not have an action icon may be played at any time during the hero turn, but cannot be played during the threat phase. Each card must be played and fully resolved before another hero card is played, and a card cannot be played while a different game effect is resolving (unless the card specifically allows it).

Actions in Text Effects

Some game effects allow heroes to perform additional actions. In these cases, the additional actions the hero can perform appear as MOVE, ATTACK, or SOLVE and do not cost the hero 1 of their actions during the hero turn to perform.

"Move to" Effects

Some game effects allow heroes to move to specific spaces (e.g., "move to a space within 6 spaces of you" or "move to any space"). In these cases, the figure is picked up and placed in the specified space—they are not physically moved space-by-space to get to the destination. These effects represent flying, climbing, sneaking, or teleporting to a destination.

Hero Actions

Heroes may spend their actions resolving the effect of any effect in play; the only exception is that heroes cannot perform the effects on cards that are in a different hero's play area. Each individual action can be performed any number of times during the hero turn, unless otherwise specified. Each hero must use both of their actions during the hero turn.

In addition to these effects, heroes may use their actions to perform five basic actions:

Draw 1 Card
Move
Play 1 Action Card
Attack
Solve

There is no limit to the number of times a hero can perform a single basic action so long as they don't perform more than two actions during the hero turn. These actions are described in greater detail in the following sections.

Draw 1 Card

The active hero may perform an action to draw one card from their deck. If no cards remain in a hero's deck, they shuffle their discard pile and place it facedown to create a new hero deck. There is no hand limit.

Move

The active hero may perform a move action to move up to 3 spaces. Unless otherwise specified, heroes may only move into adjacent empty spaces while moving (empty spaces are spaces containing no figures).

If a hero enters a non-scheme space containing a bystander, that hero rescues that bystander; that hero discards the rescued bystander (returning it to the supply) and draws 1 clue card. Bystanders in scheme panels cannot be rescued this way (see "Captured Bystanders" on page 20).

Play 1 Action Card

The active hero may play and resolve 1 card from their hand with an action icon. There are two main types of hero cards (Instant and Constant), but only cards with an action icon cost an action to play. When a hero plays a card from their hand, they resolve it according to its type:

Instant cards are simply played, resolved, and discarded.
Constant cards are placed in the hero play area of the hero that played it (unless otherwise specified). Each hero may only ever have a single copy of a unique Constant card in their hero play area (see "Unique Cards" on page 21).

If an effect allows a hero to "play 1 card," that hero may play an action card without spending an action.

Attack

The active hero can attempt to damage enemies by performing an Attack action. During an Attack action, a hero chooses a nearby target space and rolls dice equal to their attack value. See the "Rolling and Resolving Hero Dice" diagram on page 14 for more details. Heroes may add dice to their attack rolls through various game effects.

When a hero targets a space containing a villain during the showdown, they must draw a villain card and resolve its Showdown effect (if any) during the attack (see "Rolling and Resolving Hero Dice").

When dealing damage during an attack, heroes may distribute damage as they wish amongst enemies in the target space.

Each time a hero defeats an enemy card—either through an attack action or by otherwise dealing sufficient damage to it—that hero draws 1 clue card.

Solve

The active hero may perform the Solve action to place justice tokens on a problem card. Any problem card can be targeted by a Solve action, however the hero must be in the appropriate scheme panel as indicated by the problem card, or near a game element that corresponds to the problem card.

See the "Rolling and Resolving Hero Dice" diagram for more details on how to resolve a Solve action.

However, hero work is dangerous! After a hero completes their Solve action, each enemy near the active hero inflicts (each minion has an inflict value of 1).

Heroes may attempt to solve the Villain card while it's on its Scheming side. They may only attempt this when there are no hidden tokens on the Villain card and only if they are in the villain's current scheme panel—while the Villain card has any number of hidden tokens on it, no justice can be placed on it. Heroes remove hidden tokens from the Villain card by solving Scheme cards.

When dealing justice during a solve, heroes may distribute justice as they wish amongst problems in the target space. However, always remember that heroes can only place justice on Scheme cards during a solve action if they are in the corresponding scheme panel.

Each time a hero fully solves a card—either through a solve action or by otherwise placing sufficient justice on it—that hero gains 1 clue card.

Scheme Panels vs. Scheme Spaces

Scheme panels are "zoomed in" areas that are represented on the map as scheme spaces. Each figure in a scheme panel is considered to be in the corresponding scheme space and vice versa. There is no limit to the number of figures that can occupy a scheme panel.

Hero figures cannot physically occupy scheme spaces—they are automatically moved to the corresponding scheme panel if they would end their movement in a scheme space. However, they are still considered to be in the scheme space corresponding to their scheme panel. Unlike other spaces, heroes may enter scheme spaces even when they are occupied by other figures (including enemies).

When a hero in a scheme panel moves, they treat the corresponding scheme space on the map as their current space (ignoring any figure that may be in that scheme space).

Example: Majesty is 2 spaces away from the yellow scheme space that a lackey currently occupies. She decides that she must get into the scheme panel to solve her scheme. Majesty performs a Move action to move up to 3 spaces. She moves 2 spaces, entering the lackey's space (because it is a scheme space, she is allowed to). She would end her movement in the lackey's space, but since she cannot occupy a scheme space, she moves her figure to the yellow scheme panel, ending her movement.

Near and Nearby

"Near" and "nearby" are shorthand terms to refer to sharing a space with a game element, or being in a space adjacent to a game element. A figure is "near" a game element (such as another figure or a token) if the following is true:

The figure is in the game element's space
The figure is in a space adjacent to the game element
The figure is in the same scheme panel as the game element
The figure is in the scheme panel corresponding to the game element's scheme space, or vice versa

If a hero effect targets a "nearby hero," a hero may consider themselves to be nearby.

While heroes are in a scheme panel, they are considered to be in the corresponding scheme space. When determining range between figures, each figure in a scheme panel is considered to be in the corresponding scheme space.

Enemy Cards

Enemies is a term used for minions, lackeys, villains, and nemeses. However, not all enemies have enemy cards—such as minions. Cards with the Enemy trait are enemy cards and normally have a corresponding figure or token. When a hero defeats an Enemy card, that hero gains 1 clue card.

When an Enemy card is defeated, its figure is removed from the map and its card is discarded unless otherwise specified.

Enemy is a broad trait that also includes Lackey, Nemesis, and Villain traits—all of these are enemies.

Scheme Cards

Scheme cards are a special type of double-sided issue cards. When a scheme card is solved while on its Scheme side, it is flipped to its other side (remaining where it is in the hero's threat area), the hero that solved it gains 1 clue card, and the heroes discard 1 hidden token from the Villain card.

While a scheme card is on its Scheme side, heroes may only target that card during their Solve actions if they are in the scheme panel corresponding to that Scheme card.

When a scheme card is overcome (defeated or solved) on its non-Scheme side, it is removed from the game. Many scheme cards have corresponding tokens or figures—when a scheme card is overcome on its non-Scheme side, the corresponding token or figure is also removed from the game.

Problem Cards

Any card with a danger value is referred to as a problem card and can be targeted by a Solve action. Problem cards that don't correspond to certain game elements on the board have a solve location indicator on them to indicate which space (or scheme panel) that problem is located in. If a scheme panel is listed, that problem can only be solved by a hero in that scheme panel.

Rolling and Resolving Hero Dice

Hero dice are custom six-sided dice that have the following results:

Success: This result generates 1 success.
Success + Focus: This result generates 1 success and 1 focus.
Focus: This result generates 1 focus.
Burst: This result generates 1 success and adds 1 additional die to the roll.

When heroes roll hero dice to Attack or Solve, they perform the following steps below in order:

Choose Target: The active hero chooses a nearby space containing at least 1 enemy (if attacking) or a nearby space containing at least 1 problem (if solving). a. Some effects allow heroes to target spaces at a distance, or more than 1 target. Regardless, all targets are chosen during this step. b. Scheme problem cards can only be solved by a hero in the corresponding scheme panel.
Gather Dice: The active hero gathers a number of dice equal to either their Attack value or their Solve value, depending on the action. a. Other game effects may add dice to the roll; those effects are applied now.
Roll Dice: The active hero rolls their gathered dice to create their results pool.
Resolve Burst Results: For each burst in the results pool, the active hero notes that success (with a token, or spare die) and rolls 1 additional die, adding it to the results pool. Repeat this process until there are no bursts left to resolve in the results pool.
Showdown Reaction: If the active hero is targeting a space containing the villain with an attack while its card is on its Showdown side, that hero must draw a villain card at this point and apply that card's Showdown effect, if any. At the end of the attack, this card is discarded unless otherwise specified.
Spend Focus Tokens: The active hero may spend any of their focus tokens to convert an equal number of focus results in the results pool to successes; these converted focus results are considered spent and are not available during step 8.
Spend Success Results: Each success in the results pool is spent differently depending on the purpose of the roll; a. While resolving an Attack, the active hero may spend each success in the results pool to deal 1 damage to an enemy in the target space. During this step, each target of the attack will reduce the amount of damage they suffer by their defense value. Heroes may distribute successes among any enemies in the target space. b. While resolving a Solve, the active hero may spend each success to place 1 justice token on a problem in the target space. Some game elements require successes during a solve action; these can be resolved freely during this step, but each success can only be applied toward a single game element. Heroes may distribute successes among any problems in their target space—heroes may only place justice on Scheme cards during a Solve if they are in the Scheme card's corresponding scheme panel.
Resolve Remaining Focus Results: For each unspent focus result remaining in the results pool, the active hero gains 1 focus token; each hero may only have a maximum of 5 focus tokens.

Threat Phase

Each time a hero completes their second action during the hero turn, the normal hero turn pauses and that hero must immediately perform their threat phase. A hero's threat phase consists of resolving the Activate effect of each card in the active hero's threat area. If an effect would add a card to a hero's threat area while that hero is currently resolving their threat phase, the card that was just added does not activate during that threat phase.

Activating Enemies

See "Enemy Activation and Inflict Effects" in the "Additional Rules" section on page 18. Normally when activating an enemy, players simply resolve that enemy's Activate effect. However, when an enemy would activate while their card is exhausted (see "Exhausted Cards" on page 18), that enemy does not resolve its Activate effect and instead readies their card—now they are ready to activate next turn!

After fully resolving the threat phase, the hero turn continues until each hero has completed both of their actions and then resolved their threat phase. Once all heroes have completed both of their actions, resolved their threat phases, and each drawn one card from their decks, play continues to the issue turn.

Issue Turn

The issue turn consists of the heroes drawing and resolving 1 issue card.

If the heroes are unable to draw an issue card because none remain in the issue deck, the heroes have taken too long and immediately lose!

Issue cards are typically resolved and discarded, unless otherwise specified.

End of Round

After completing the issue turn, a new round begins, starting with a new villain turn.

Additional Rules

This section provides additional rules and clarifications.

Heroic Feat Icons

Many hero cards have one or more heroic feat icons on them. There are 4 different types of heroic feats: toughness, mobility, strength, and deduction. Heroic feats can be used to affect various hero activities. Multiple heroic feat icons may be used in response to game effects; the results of the heroic feats used are cumulative. Each hero card can only be used for a single heroic feat effect, regardless of how many heroic feat icons it contains.

To use a heroic feat, a hero must discard a card from their hand (ignoring any other effects of that card) and apply the following effect based on the type of heroic feat icon on the discarded card:

Toughness: Your unnatural endurance or agility allows you to easily avoid danger. Effect: At any time, reduce damage dealt to you by 3.
Mobility: Whether through flying, sneaking, or teleporting, you can quickly get where you need to go. Effect: During the hero turn, place your figure in any space on the map.
Strength: Your imposing strength allows you to gain the edge in combat. Effect: During the hero turn, perform an Attack action.
Deduction: Your superior mind allows you to quickly deduce the answer to problems. Effect: During the hero turn, perform a Solve action.

Character and Problem Cards

Any card with a health value is considered a character card. Any card with a danger value is considered a problem card. Character and problem cards most often have a presence on the map in the form of a component (token or miniature) or location (scheme panel) indicating where they can be interacted with. Character and problem cards cannot be discarded from play unless specifically indicated. For example, if an effect would force a hero to discard a card in their hero play area, their Hero card is not an eligible choice.

Ally Cards and Figures

Some character cards have the Ally trait. These are characters that can assist heroes, but can still be targeted by enemies. When enemies activate, they treat ally figures/tokens as heroes for movement and inflict effects. However, allies are not heroes, and are not affected by complex effects that target heroes (for example, an effect like "each hero must discard 1 card or suffer 1 damage" would not affect allies because it involves a choice). When allies Attack they deal damage equal to their attack value to 1 or more enemies in the target space; defense reduces this damage as normal. Similarly, when allies Solve they place a number of justice tokens equal to their solve value on problems in the target space, ignoring nearby enemies (allies can rescue captured bystanders this way).

When an enemy or issue card effect that would normally affect a single hero targets an ally, the hero controlling that ally becomes the target of the effect, if able. Heroes may not target allies with effects from hero cards that target other heroes.

Unless otherwise specified, when an ally is defeated, its figure/token and card is removed from the game.

Clue Cards

Each time a hero rescues a bystander, defeats an enemy card, or solves a problem, they gain 1 clue card and place it near their play area (not in their hero play area). Other game effects may allow heroes to gain clue cards as well. If no cards ever remain in the clue deck, shuffle its discard pile and place it facedown to create a new clue deck.

Heroes may use clue cards they have gained in one of two ways:

A hero may discard a clue card at any time during the hero turn (except during a threat phase) to use the clue card's text effect.
A hero may discard any number of clue cards in their play area to gain additional dice during their own Solve or Attack action (as indicated by the dice icons on the clue card). This must be done before dice are rolled. A hero cannot discard their clue cards to affect a different hero's dice roll this way, unless specified otherwise.

Heroes may only use a single clue card for either its text effect or its bonus dice during a Solve or Attack action; not both.

Dealing and Suffering Damage

Damage is both dealt and suffered—these both result in damage being placed on a target card. Each time a card is dealt a number of damage, an equal number of damage tokens are placed on it—if the target of the damage doesn't have a card tied to it, damage is tracked by placing the appropriate number of damage near the target itself.

When a target is defeated, the result depends on the type of target:

When a minion is defeated, it is discarded and returned to the minion supply (see "Minions" on page 19).
When a lackey is defeated, its figure is removed from the map, its card is discarded, and the hero that dealt the damage that defeated the lackey draws 1 clue card.
When a hero is defeated, the defeated hero discards all damage on their Hero card, flips their Hero card (if it was on its Focused side), discards each of their focus, and removes their hero figure from the board. Then, a crisis occurs—players resolve each Crisis effect in play. At the end of the turn in which they were defeated, the defeated hero is placed in an empty space near the hero start space.
- If a hero is defeated during their turn, they flip each of their action tokens facedown and they immediately resolve their threat phase after resolving the effect that defeated them; the defeated hero still performs any normal game sequences (such as drawing a card at the end of the hero turn).
- Any other time a hero is defeated, gameplay continues as normal after the hero defeat result is fully resolved with the following exception: a defeated hero not on the board is not affected by any game effects but still counts as a hero in the game for "per hero" values.
When a nemesis is defeated, its figure and card are removed from the game (see "Playing With 5-6 Players" on page 23) and the hero that defeated it draws 1 clue card.
When a villain is defeated, the heroes win the game!

Character cards can have damage tokens placed on them. Enemy cards can be damaged through hero Attack actions and hero card effects, while all other characters can be damaged by enemy card effects and issue card effects.

Problem cards can have justice tokens placed on them through hero Solve actions and hero card effects. Problem cards are a subtype of card that can also be other cards, such as special Bystander or Peril cards.

If a non-hero character card suffers damage equal to its health value, it is considered defeated and is discarded (along with its token or miniature); if that character was an enemy, the hero that dealt the final damage to defeat it gains 1 clue card. Similarly, if a problem card ever has justice tokens on it equal to its danger value, it is considered solved and is discarded, unless otherwise specified; the hero that dealt the final justice to solve it gains 1 clue card.

Whenever a card suffers damage or justice equal to its health or danger value, that card is immediately defeated or solved before the players complete any other effect.

Crisis Cards

Cards that have the Crisis trait are placed in the issue play area when they enter play (to the right of the rightmost card in the issue play area). These cards add an additional Crisis effect to the game that is resolved when a crisis occurs. Each Crisis card explains how it functions.

If it doesn't belong in a specific deck, Crisis cards are optional, modular elements that players can choose to add to a game to increase difficulty. When players choose to add a Crisis card to their game, they place it in the issue play area after setting up the issue during normal setup.

Crisis cards that have a danger value can be targeted during Solve effects or other effects that place justice; crisis tokens/figures represent where heroes can solve them.

Defense Value

Some enemy targets have a defense value. This value is only used during an Attack; when a game effect deals damage to a target, that target's defense value is ignored. If an effect would modify an enemy's defense value, all positive modifications are applied before any negative modifications.

Empty Spaces

An empty space is a space containing no figures. Spaces containing only tokens are still considered empty spaces. However, some game elements (such as tokens) are treated as figures; in these cases, the spaces these game elements occupy are not empty.

Some game effects allow figures to move through spaces occupied by other figures. However, even in these cases, figures can never occupy the same space, so a figure cannot end its movement in a space occupied by another figure.

Some issue effects may cause villains to move. Villain figures may always move through spaces containing figures, but must end its movement in an empty space—if a villain would end its movement in an occupied space, the villain figure is placed in the empty space near the occupied space which is also nearest its destination.

Micro-Guy's Pilot Token

While his card is on its Pilot side, Micro-guy's pilot token is used to represent him on the map. This token is considered a figure, meaning it occupies its space and that space is not empty.

Enemy Activation and Inflict Effects

When enemies activate they typically move and inflict. Enemy movement is described below. When an enemy inflicts, that enemy deals its inflict value as damage to a nearby hero, unless otherwise specified. If there are multiple nearby heroes when an enemy inflicts, the heroes may choose which hero suffers the inflict—that hero must suffer the total inflict themselves.

If an effect causes an enemy to inflict a specified target (without indicating a distance), then that enemy deals its inflict value to the target regardless of its current position.

If an exhausted card flips to its other side for any reason, it retains its exhausted state. If an exhausted card would ever move to a different threat area, it retains its exhausted state.

A card that is not in a hero's threat area—such as the Villain card while it is on its Scheming side—cannot be exhausted.

Focus Tokens

Each hero can have up to five focus tokens. Focus tokens are gained through various effects, but are most commonly earned through dice rolls. When a hero spends focus, it is returned to the common supply.

During the hero turn, any hero may spend five focus tokens to flip their Hero card to its Focused side. This can be done at any time; if a hero gains an excess of five focus, they can discard 5 of their focus to flip to their Focused side and gain the remainder of the focus that exceeds 5.

When tracking damage for minions that have a health value of 2 or more, players should just place damage tokens underneath or near the associated minion token/figure.

Solve Actions

The solve action allows heroes to place justice tokens on problem cards or remove other game elements, such as captured bystanders. When a card has justice tokens on it equal to its danger value, that card is considered solved and discarded; unless otherwise specified (such as Scheme cards that are flipped over when their Scheme side is solved). When a problem card is solved, it is discarded and the hero that solved it (placed the final justice token on it) draws 1 clue card.

Remember: each time a hero performs a Solve, each nearby enemy will inflict them after the action is resolved (minions have a base inflict value of 1).

Each time a Scheme card is solved, the heroes discard 1 hidden token from the Villain card. Once the Villain card has no hidden tokens remaining on it, the heroes can now reveal the villain (see "Revealing the Villain" below).

Revealing the Villain

Heroes can only win the game by defeating the villain; but first, they must reveal the villain. Heroes can only reveal the villain by solving each Scheme card first (discarding each hidden token from the Villain card), and then solving the Villain card. Immediately after the Villain card is solved, players perform the following steps in order:

Discard each justice token from the Villain card.
Flip the Villain card to its Showdown side.
Place the Villain card in the threat area of the hero that revealed them (the hero that solved the Villain card).
Move the villain's figure to the scheme space corresponding to their current scheme panel—if that space is occupied, the villain is placed in the empty space nearest it.

Once revealed, heroes may now attack and damage the villain. If the heroes manage to defeat the villain, they win the game!

Movement and Targeting Priority

When an enemy figure moves, it always moves toward the hero or bystander nearest it. If an enemy is equidistant to one or more targets, players choose the target the enemy will move toward.

Each effect that moves an enemy will have a value (such as "move 3") which indicates the number of spaces that enemy will move. Enemies will stop moving when they reach their destination. Likewise, if an enemy (or neutral figure) is already in its target position when instructed to move, it does not move.

Some effects will specify which target an enemy will move toward—in those cases, the enemy will ignore targets other than the type specified, even if those targets are nearer.

Enemies will always take the shortest path toward their destination, moving around figures if needed. If an enemy could take multiple paths of equal distance to their target, players may decide which path is taken.

Each time an enemy moves into a space with a bystander, that bystander is captured; immediately place that bystander in the scheme panel nearest it. Villains do not stop moving when capturing bystanders. Typically, villains only move due to issue effects or Showdown effects, and they continue moving if they happen to capture a bystander while moving.

Exhausted Cards

When a card is exhausted, it is tilted 90° to indicate that it is exhausted. When a card is readied, it is returned to its upright position. A card that is not exhausted is considered ready. An exhausted card cannot be exhausted again until it is readied.

Cards in a hero's play area and threat area can be exhausted in a variety of ways. Typically, a hero can exhaust any card they control (at any time) to resolve an Exhaust effect on that card, but a hero cannot use an Exhaust effect while another game effect is resolving (for example, a hero can't use an Exhaust effect while an enemy is resolving its Activate effect, unless otherwise specified—such as an Exhaust effect that reduces damage).

Additionally, enemy cards in a hero's threat area can be exhausted to prevent that enemy from activating (see "Activating Enemies" on page 15).

When cards are exhausted they retain their text, but they cannot be exhausted again (such as to resolve an Exhaust effect). If a hero exhausts a card with more than one Exhaust effects, they may only choose one of those Exhaust effects to resolve.

Heroes on their Focused side may still gain focus, unless otherwise specified.

Minions

Villains employ a variety of expendable minions to accomplish their goals. Minions are enemies. Normal minions have an inflict value of 1 and 1 health. If a minion must be placed and none remain in the supply, a crisis occurs. Unless an effect specifically allows it, minions cannot move or be placed on the map—they are limited to scheme panels.

Minions cannot be exhausted or ready—minions are ignored for effects that specify either ready or exhausted enemies.

Any effect that would move an enemy does not affect minions—minions are ignored for effects that would move an enemy, unless otherwise specified.

Minion Cards

Some special minions will have Minion cards associated with them. These are reference cards that are placed near the game board. Unlike other enemy cards, Minion cards cannot be dealt damage or leave play—they just affect minions as indicated.

Issue Tokens

Issue tokens are general use tokens that serve specific functions within an issue. Issue cards will explain how issue tokens are used. Issue tokens have two sides: active and inactive. Unless otherwise specified, issue tokens are always placed inactive side faceup—some issue effects will flip issue tokens to their active side, giving them different effects.

Peril Tokens and Cards

Peril tokens represent villain-specific problems that can typically cause crises if ignored. Heroes can attempt to solve peril tokens while near them. Each time a hero solves a Peril card, that hero draws 1 clue card.

Bystanders

Bystander tokens represent innocent civilians that the heroes need to protect and—if captured by the villain—rescue. Each time a hero rescues a bystander, they gain 1 clue card.

Some other game effects allow heroes to rescue a bystander; these game effects allow the hero to rescue bystanders from either the map or a scheme panel—that hero returns the rescued bystander to the supply and draws 1 clue card.

Captured Bystanders

When a bystander is captured by an enemy, it is placed in the scheme panel nearest it. Any time a bystander must be placed on the map while there are already 4 bystanders on the map, the bystander that must be placed is immediately captured instead and placed in the scheme panel nearest the villain. A captured bystander cannot be captured again.

Rescuing Bystanders

Any time a hero moves into (or otherwise enters) a space on the map containing a bystander, they immediately rescue that bystander—that hero returns the bystander to the supply and gains 1 clue card. Captured bystanders cannot be rescued this way.

During a Solve action, a hero may spend any number of successes to rescue 1 nearby captured bystander for each spent success. Each time a hero rescues a bystander this way, that hero returns the bystander to the supply and draws 1 clue card.

Defeating Bystanders

Some effects will defeat bystanders. When a bystander is defeated, it is removed from the game and not returned to the supply. This permanently reduces the number of bystanders in the game, making it more likely for the villain to trigger Crisis effects.

Replacing Bystanders

Some effects instruct players to "replace" a bystander on the board with another component. The replaced bystander is returned to the supply and the component that replaced it is placed in the bystander's previous place (in a scheme panel or a space on the map). If there is no bystander to replace, then the component is instead either placed in an empty bystander space (if able) or captured by the villain.

Bystander Characters

Cards that have the Bystander trait are unique bystanders that are treated slightly differently than regular bystanders. Bystander characters have exceptions listed on their cards, but otherwise follow all rules for normal bystanders except for the following:

Bystander characters cannot be defeated except through effects on their cards; if any other effect would cause a bystander character to be defeated, a normal bystander from the supply, a scheme panel, or the map (in that order of priority) is defeated instead—if no normal bystander remains to be defeated this way, a crisis occurs instead.
As with other characters, when a bystander character is defeated, its corresponding Bystander card is removed from the game.

Nearest

Whenever an effect targets an element that is "nearest" another game element, this is always determined by spaces on the map. For example, the nearest scheme panel to a hero within 2 spaces of the green scheme space would be referring to the green scheme panel because each other scheme space/panel is more than 2 spaces away.

Within X Spaces

Whenever an effect targets something within a number of spaces of a hero in a scheme panel, that hero determines distance as if they were in the matching scheme space. When resolving an effect that targets a hero within X spaces, a hero may always target themselves unless it specifically indicates that it targets 1 or more "other" heroes.

Attaching Cards

Some cards are "attached" to others. When a card is attached to another card, the attached card is placed underneath the card it is attached to (so enough of it is showing). If a card leaves play for any reason, each card attached to it is discarded, unless otherwise specified. Attached cards are not counted when determining the number of cards in a play area—for example, a player with two lackeys in their threat area and an attached card on one of the lackeys is still only considered to have two cards in their threat area.

Double-Sided Cards

Unless otherwise specified, each time a card is flipped it retains all tokens on it and retains its ready or exhausted state.

Self-Referencing Effects

Some card effects reference a certain character or game component. These effects only affect the character or game component that corresponds to the card and/or that card's deck.

Unique Cards

Hero cards with the unique icon are unique cards. Heroes may not control multiple copies of the same unique card (for example, Guerrilla can only control 1 copy of his "Unnatural Agility" card at a time). If a hero would play a unique card while a copy of it is already in play, that hero must discard the copy in play when the new one enters play.

"–" Values

Some values (such as health values or danger values) have a "–" instead of a numeral. In these cases, that card cannot be defeated or solved; however, it can still be targeted by Attack and/or Solve actions (respectively). These cards can still be assigned damage or justice normally.

Forced Movement

Some effects will move heroes toward or away from a game element. When forced to move "away" from a game element, heroes must move so that each space they move into is farther away from the game element they are moving away from—if this is not possible, the hero does not move.

Ties

Whenever a game effect results in a tie (for example, an effect that targets the scheme panel with the most scheme tokens on it when all scheme panels have no tokens), the players mutually decide how to break the tie.

Playing with 5-6 Players

While the core game only plays up to 4 players, Hour of Need can be played up to 6 players with additional expansions. To play with either 5 or 6 players, perform the additional setup step after all other setup has been performed:

Choose Nemeses: Each player that does not already have a Scheme card in their play area randomly chooses 1 nemesis card to add to their threat area, Scheme side up. Alternatively, players may choose which nemesis card to use. Note: in the core game there are only 2 nemesis cards, so in a 6-player game, both will be used. a. One at a time, each player with a nemesis places their chosen nemesis figure in the highest numbered scheme panel with the fewest enemies. b. Resolve the Setup effect of the chosen nemesis (if any).

Additional Clue Cards

Each Hour of Need standalone expansion includes a deck of 20 clue cards. These decks are identical and should not be combined when combining expansions—each game should only have a limited number of 20 clue cards.

Players may choose to include additional clue cards if they wish to make their 5-6 player games less challenging.

Gameplay

There are no other major changes to gameplay when playing with 5 or 6 players. The only significant change to the core rules is how nemeses function. Additionally, the villain cannot be defeated unless each nemesis has been defeated.

Nemeses

Each nemesis card is double-sided, with one side showing its Scheme side and the other side an enemy side. A nemesis Scheme can be solved by heroes in the nemesis figure's scheme panel.

Once a nemesis Scheme is solved, the hero that solved it draws 1 clue card, discards 1 hidden token from the Villain card, and flips the Nemesis card to its enemy side—when this happens, it remains in its current threat area and the corresponding nemesis figure is placed in the empty space nearest the matching scheme space on the map.

Once a nemesis is flipped to its enemy side, that nemesis is treated like an enemy; meaning a hero that defeats a nemesis will gain 1 clue card. When a nemesis is defeated, its card and figure are removed from the game.

Optional Rules

Players may use any of the following optional rules to customize their games. Note that some of these rules only apply to game elements that are available in Hour of Need expansions.

Allies

Players may choose to include allies in their game to reduce the overall challenge. While any number of allies can be used, it is recommended to include at most one ally for each hero in the game.

During setup, a hero including an ally places the corresponding Ally card in their hero play area and places the corresponding ally figure in a space adjacent to their hero figure. For rules on how allies function in the game, see "Ally Cards and Figures" on page 17.

Nemesis

For players looking for more challenge, nemeses can be added to any game to increase complexity and difficulty. For each nemesis added to a game, players place one additional hidden token on the Villain card. Additionally, heroes cannot win until all nemeses and villains are defeated.

Rules for including 1 or more nemeses in a game can be found in the "Playing with 5-6 Players" section on the following page.

Special Minions

Special minions can be used to increase the game's difficulty by giving minions unique abilities. Each special Minion card corresponds to 5 corresponding figures. Players can include up to 2 different special Minion cards, as each one replaces 5 normal minion tokens with 5 special minion figures. During setup, follow the Setup effect on each special Minion card added to the game.

See "Minion Cards" on page 19 for rules on how special Minion cards function in the game.

Special Bystanders

Special bystanders can be used to increase the game's complexity by giving bystanders unique abilities (some beneficial, some detrimental). Each special Bystander card corresponds to 4 corresponding figures. Players can include up to 2 different special Bystander cards, as each one replaces 4 normal bystander tokens with 4 special bystander figures. During setup, follow the Setup effect on each special Bystander card added to the game.

Crisis Cards

Some Hour of Need expansions will include crisis cards that add additional challenge and modularity to the game. These cards contain all the information on how they affect the game. When including any number of crisis cards in a game, players follow the Setup effect on each card included.

Each crisis card added to the game will increase the overall challenge and complexity of the game. Unless otherwise specified, crisis cards cannot leave play.