Jump Masters! Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Introduction
• Setup
  • 1. Prepare the Board
  • 2. Build Your Team
  • 3. Deploy Your Heroes
  • 4. Start the Skirmish!
• Key Concepts
  • Objective
  • Hero Card & Hero Die
  • Energy
  • Special Abilities
• Turn Overview
• The Hill
• Straight Lines
• Hero Actions
  • Move
  • Jump
  • First Jump
  • Defeating Heroes
  • Cleanup
• End of Game
• Additional Rules
  • Deployment Zones
  • Terrain
• Alternate Draft Rules
• Recommended Teams
• 2 v 2 Team Skirmish
  • Adjusted Setup
  • Adjusted Gameplay
  • Adjusted End of Game
• Free-For-All
  • Adjusted Setup
  • Adjusted Gameplay
  • End of Game
• Special Ability Clarifications
  • Burnny: Fire Step!
  • Freeda: Aura!
  • Hopper: Frog Bow!
  • Katula: Blood Boon!
  • Parena: Windstorm!
  • Pinkbeary: Off the Top Rope!
  • Roara: Ensnare!
  • Torturn: Stalwart!
  • Unni: Missile Go!
  • Wuffryder: Swipe Out!

Contents

• 20 hero cards
• 1 victory point tracker and 4 score tokens
• 1 skirmish board
• 8 terrain pieces
• 20 hero dice
• 4 reference cards and 1 rulebook

Introduction

In Jump Masters, each player commands a team of heroes in a skirmish. Heroes are represented by dice in the arena. Players must use terrain, positioning, and their special abilities to win.

The general rules assume a two-player game. For three- and four-player games, see the adjusted rules (Team Skirmish and Free-For-All below).

Setup

1. Prepare the Board

Use the terrain pieces to set up one of these arena layouts.

• The Pillars: A simple arena with power nodes and few obstacles. Good for energized heroes and fast skirmishes.
• The Ruins: Pillars and walls are scattered around the arena. Positioning is important, but the center is clear!
• The Divide: Walls cut the arena in half, but power nodes give heroes a source of energy!
• The Mill: Walls hug the center of the arena and make this a tricky skirmish between heroes!

First Time Playing?

• Choose the Pillars arena.
• Skip the "Build your team" step and play with Burnny, Hopper, Pinkbeary, and Torturn. There are two copies of each hero, so both players can use this team.

2. Build Your Team

• Randomly choose which player goes first.
• Starting with the first player, freely choose heroes one at a time until each player has four. When you choose a hero, take its hero card and matching hero die.
• For alternate draft rules, see Alternate Draft Rules below.

3. Deploy Your Heroes

• The first player chooses a DEPLOYMENT ZONE and puts their hero dice on those four spaces. Their opponent takes the deployment zone in the opposite corner and does the same.
• Set each hero die with its lowest energy value face-up.
• Each player places the score token matching their deployment zone on the victory point tracker.

4. Start the Skirmish!

The first player takes the first turn.

Key Concepts

Objective

The first player to reach 20 VICTORY POINTS (VP) wins. Players primarily earn VP by defeating opposing heroes.

Hero Card & Hero Die

Each HERO is represented by a hero card and a hero die. Each hero has a maximum energy value and a special ability. A hero card shows the hero name, the special ability name, the special ability, and the maximum energy.

FRIENDLY HEROES are the heroes on your team. OPPOSING HEROES are the heroes on the other team.

Energy

A hero's CURRENT ENERGY is the face-up value on their hero die while in the arena.

A hero's MAXIMUM ENERGY is the highest value on their hero die. This is also the number of VP they are worth when defeated by an opposing hero.

Here are some rules about energy.

• Heroes gain and lose energy over the course of play.
• When a hero is dealt damage, their current energy decreases.
• When a hero is reduced to 0 energy, they are defeated and immediately removed from the arena.
• A hero's current energy cannot increase beyond their maximum energy.
• When a hero steals energy, they increase their current energy, and the affected hero decreases their current energy.

Special Abilities

Each hero has a special ability. These awesome talents are crucial to your success, but remember these key rules.

• Once per turn. Each hero's special ability can only be used once per turn.
• Only in full. A special ability cannot be used if the full effect cannot be resolved.
• Can't reduce to zero. A hero cannot decrease their energy to 0 to resolve a special ability.
• Follow restrictions. Unless specified otherwise, normal restrictions such as STRAIGHT LINES (see The Hill and Straight Lines) and terrain (see Terrain) apply when resolving special abilities.
• Abilities are optional. Using a special ability is always optional, never required.
• Only your hero. A hero's name in a special ability only refers to that particular hero, not to their duplicate, who may also be in play.

Turn Overview

During your turn, three things happen in order:

1. The Hill. You gain 1 VP if you currently control the Hill (see below).
2. Hero Action. You perform one hero action.
   • Hero Special Ability. If you wish to use a hero's special ability, that generally happens at this time. Each special ability states its own specific timing.
3. Cleanup. All players with defeated heroes redeploy those heroes.

The Hill

The central square of four nodes is the Hill. To control the Hill, a player must have at least one hero on a node there.

At the start of each turn, check who has control of the Hill. Add up the total current energy of each player's heroes that are on the Hill. Whichever player has the highest sum controls the Hill. If the active player controls the Hill, they receive 1 VP.

Only the active player can receive this VP.

Straight Lines

All moves, jumps, and special abilities must be resolved in straight lines, unless specified otherwise.

Players can move, jump, or resolve special abilities in up to eight possible directions. Heroes, friendly or opposing, do not block straight lines, even when resolving special abilities.

Hero Actions

On their turn, the active player chooses one of their heroes to perform one HERO ACTION: either move or jump.

Move

When a hero moves, they either step or run. A hero cannot step and run in the same turn.

• Step: A hero moves to an adjacent, unoccupied node.
• Run: A hero moves to an unoccupied node two spaces away.
  • Can break straight lines. A run doesn't have to follow the straight lines rule.
  • No occupied nodes. Heroes cannot move through occupied nodes.
  • No going back. Heroes cannot end a run on the same node they started on.

What's Adjacent? Adjacent nodes are one space away from each other orthogonally or diagonally. (A hero has eight adjacent spaces.)

Jump

A hero can jump once, or they can jump multiple times in a jump sequence. When resolving a jump sequence:

• A hero can only jump over each other hero once.
• A hero can pause after any jump to resolve a special ability, if able, and then continue jumping.

A hero can energize or attack during a jump, and they can energize and/or attack multiple times during a jump sequence.

Energize: The active hero jumps over a friendly hero, and the active hero increases their current energy by 1.

• A hero at maximum energy can still jump over a friendly hero, but they don't energize when doing so.
• A hero cannot energize over a hero in a deployment zone, except during a first jump.

Examples: Torturn energizes from a single jump; Torturn energizes multiple times during a jump sequence.

Attack: The active hero jumps over an opposing hero, and both heroes decrease their current energy by 1 until one or both heroes are defeated. For example, if Pinkbeary has 5 energy and attacks Katula, who has 2 energy, Pinkbeary is reduced to 3 and Katula is defeated.

First Jump

When a hero first jumps out of a deployment zone, they can energize over one friendly hero in their deployment zone.

• A hero can resolve a first jump after deploying or redeploying.
• A hero can continue to jump over friendly heroes in deployment zones, but the only jump they energize from is the first.
• If a hero leaves the deployment zone without resolving a first jump, they forfeit their first jump until they redeploy.

Examples: Torturn energizes from a first jump; Torturn energizes only from their first jump over a friendly hero in their deployment zone.

Defeating Heroes

If an opposing hero is defeated, the active player gains VP equal to the defeated hero's maximum energy.

If the active hero is defeated, the opposing player gains VP equal to the defeated hero's maximum energy.

If both heroes are defeated, only the opposing player gains VP. The active hero must survive the attack for the active player to gain VP.

Examples: Wuffryder defeats Torturn and Burnny in a jump sequence. Defeated heroes are removed. Torturn energizes twice before defeating Unni in a jump sequence.

Cleanup

Starting with the active player, players redeploy their defeated heroes, placing them in their deployment zone at their lowest energy value. Then, the next player in clockwise order takes their turn.

End of Game

The first player to reach 20 VP wins! The game immediately ends.

Additional Rules

Deployment Zones

Deployment zones provide a safe place for heroes to deploy, but keep these rules in mind as you play:

• Heroes always deploy at their lowest energy value.
• Heroes cannot enter opposing deployment zones.
• Heroes in a deployment zone cannot attack or be attacked.
• Heroes in a deployment zone cannot resolve special abilities or be targeted by them.
• Heroes cannot energize over a hero in a deployment zone, except during a first jump.
• Unused deployment zones are considered normal nodes during play, and the above rules do not apply to them.

Terrain

Three types of terrain appear on the skirmish board.

• Pillars occupy one node and create obstacles in the arena.
• Walls occupy two adjacent nodes and are the larger obstacles.
• Power nodes increase a hero's current energy by 1 when they step on, run over, or jump onto the node, but not when they jump over it.

Pillars and walls...

• ...block heroes from stepping on, running through, or jumping over them.
• ...block straight lines and special abilities that require straight lines.

Alternate Draft Rules

• Snake Draft: After players have finished a round of drafting heroes, the next round reverses the order of drafting.
• Blind Draft: Each player randomly selects four heroes.
• Pick 'n' Pass Draft: Deal five hero cards to each player. Players draft one hero from their hand and then pass the remaining heroes clockwise. This continues until each player has drafted four heroes.

Recommended Teams

• The Starters: Burnny, Hopper, Pinkbeary, Torturn
• Steppers and Stealers: Burnny, Katula, Roara, Wuffryder
• Crowd Control: Hopper, Katula, Parena, Torturn
• Big Hitters: Parena, Pinkbeary, Unni, Wuffryder

2 v 2 Team Skirmish

Adjusted Setup

When building your teams, draft in numerical order until all four players have a hero before starting the next round of drafting. Teammates choose adjacent deployment zones. (Diagram: Team A is Players 1 and 3; Team B is Players 2 and 4; teammates sit at adjacent corners.)

Adjusted Gameplay

Teams alternate taking turns, one player at a time and always in the same order. The turn order in the example shown would be Player 1, Player 2, Player 3, and then Player 4.

Your teammate's heroes count as friendly for energizing and special abilities. Both opponents' heroes count as opposing for attacking and special abilities.

You can enter your teammate's deployment zone, and the rules about attacking and special abilities apply to you (see Deployment Zones).

Adjusted End of Game

The first team to reach 30 VP wins! The game immediately ends.

Free-For-All

Jump Masters is most fair in 1v1 and 2v2 games, but you can also embrace the chaos and play a three- or four-player free-for-all!

Adjusted Setup

For free-for-all, a snake draft or pick 'n' pass draft is recommended (see Alternate Draft Rules). Players choose deployment zones in clockwise order. Rearrange seating if needed, so each player sits closest to their own deployment zone.

Adjusted Gameplay

Players take turns in clockwise order.

End of Game

The first player to reach 20 VP wins! The game immediately ends.

Special Ability Clarifications

Burnny: Fire Step!

When stepping, Burnny can spend 1 energy to take up to 3 steps, ignoring opposing heroes when stepping and dealing 1 damage to each hero Burnny steps through.

• Burnny cannot end their turn on an occupied node.
• Burnny cannot step through friendly heroes.
• Fire Step only deals damage to opposing heroes on the one or two nodes that Burnny stepped through.

Freeda: Aura!

When energizing, Freeda also increases the jumped hero's current energy by 1.

• Only one friendly hero can gain energy from Aura during a jump sequence.

Hopper: Frog Bow!

After stepping, deal 1 damage to any hero within 2 nodes of Hopper.

• The hero must be in a straight line from Hopper.

Katula: Blood Boon!

After stepping, Katula steals 1 energy from an adjacent opposing hero.

• Katula can defeat an opposing hero by stealing their last energy.
• Blood Boon cannot be used if Katula is at maximum energy.

Parena: Windstorm!

When attacking, first increase Parena's current energy by 1.

• Adjust Parena's hero die before attacking.
• Parena can only gain 1 energy from Windstorm during a jump sequence.

Pinkbeary: Off the Top Rope!

When attacking, Pinkbeary can jump over 1 or 2 spaces.

• If jumping over a single hero, the hero can be in either the first or second node jumped over.
• Off the Top Rope's damage is a normal attack and so cannot be blocked by Stalwart.
• Pinkbeary can jump over two heroes with Off the Top Rope: energizing then attacking, attacking then energizing, or attacking twice.
• Resolve the first hero jumped over before resolving the second hero.

Roara: Ensnare!

After jumping, step an opposing hero within 2 nodes of Roara in a straight line towards Roara.

• Roara can only resolve Ensnare after a jump.
• The opposing hero must be in a straight line from Roara before stepping.
• Roara can continue a jump sequence after using Ensnare.

Torturn: Stalwart!

Torturn loses 1 less energy from special abilities.

• Torturn prevents 1 energy loss from any type of special ability, but not from a normal attack.
• Stalwart prevents Blood Boon's full effect from being resolved and so prevents the use of Blood Boon.

Unni: Missile Go!

Unni can forego their action and spend 1 energy to choose an opposing hero within 4 nodes and reduce that hero's current energy by 1. Ignore terrain, straight line, and blocking restrictions.

• Missile Go replaces all other hero actions during a turn.

Wuffryder: Swipe Out!

When attacking, Wuffryder can steal 1 energy instead of resolving the attack normally.

• Swipe Out replaces attacking during a jump.
• Swipe Out can be resolved as one jump in a jump sequence.
• Wuffryder cannot defeat an opposing hero by stealing their last energy.