Marvel: Crisis Protocol Core Set Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Read This First
• Game Overview
  • Rules Priority
• Key Concepts
  • Missions & Crisis Cards
    • Parts of a Crisis Card
  • Priority
  • Mission Tracker
  • Characters
    • Allies, Enemies, and Control
  • Character Stat Cards
    • Parts of a Stat Card
  • Characters and Objects
  • Effects
    • Character Attacks
    • Superpowers
    • Leadership
  • Power
  • Dice
  • Measurement
  • Team Tactic Cards
    • Parts of a Team Tactic Card
• Getting Ready to Play
  • Building a Roster
  • Creating the Battlefield
  • Priority
  • Setting Up a Mission
    • Building the Mission
    • Objective Tokens
  • Winning the Game
  • Building a Squad
    • Squad Affiliations
  • Selecting Team Tactic Cards
  • Deployment
• Game Mechanics
  • Parts of a Round
    • Power Phase
    • Activation Phase
      • Activating a Character
      • Passing
    • Cleanup Phase
• Movement
  • Advance
  • Climb
  • Throw
    • Throwing a Character
    • Push
    • Place
    • Toward or Away
• Making an Attack
  • Attack Special Rules
  • Beam Attacks
  • Area Attacks
• Character Damage
• Special Conditions
• Line of Sight
• Attack Example
• Terrain
  • Throwing a Terrain Feature
  • Dodging
  • Cover
• Appendix A: Timing
• Appendix B: Special Conditions
• Appendix C: Infinity Gems
• Appendix D: Transform
• Appendix E: Keywords
• Appendix F: Legacy Stat Cards
• Appendix G: Grunts
• Appendix H: One-Shot Cards
  • Parts of a One-Shot Card
• Appendix I: Additional Objective Types
  • Additional Objective Token Rules
• Quick Reference
  • Beginning the Game
  • Phases of a Round
  • Attack Sequence
  • Commonly Mistaken Rules

Read This First

STOP! Before assembling, visit www.atomicmassgames.com/mcp and download the assembly instructions. Be sure to use a pair of sharp hobby clippers to remove the miniature components from the sprue. Carefully clean the excess material and mold lines with a sharp hobby knife. Check the fit of each part before gluing. Use a small amount of hobby plastic glue to assemble the components. Use caution with all products, and follow all manufacturer instructions. Adult supervision is recommended for children under the age of 16. Have fun!

Game Overview

Crisis Protocol is a tactical miniatures game for two players in which handpicked squads of Marvel characters clash over a customized battlefield and attempt to be the first to complete the mission objectives. Before the game, each player recruits a team of characters from all over the Marvel Universe, creating the pool of raw talent they'll draw from later to create the squad they'll send into this battle. Players work together to set up the features and obstacles on the battlefield that will affect the fight and, finally, to create the mission for the game from a selection of randomly drawn Crisis Cards.

Once the mission is set, each player calls on characters from their roster to form a squad with the best mix of skills and abilities for the tasks at hand. The two squads will clash using unique attacks, superpowers, and even the battlefield itself to complete the mission!

A game of Crisis Protocol is played in rounds, and squads earn victory points for completing Crisis Card objectives. The first player to score 16 Victory Points wins.

Rules Priority

This rulebook gives the basic rules of Crisis Protocol. Some special rules, superpowers, or Team Tactic Cards will contradict these rules. When they do, the special rule takes precedence over the rules found here. When these special rules contradict each other, rules from Crisis Cards take precedence.

Key Concepts

This section describes the fundamental concepts around the miniatures and basic gameplay.

Missions & Crisis Cards

Players create a Mission by combining two different Crisis Cards. Each Mission will always consist of one of each type of Crisis: one Secure and one Extraction. Missions are how players score Victory Points and are the most important thing in the game! For more information on setting up Missions, see the Getting Ready to Play section.

Parts of a Crisis Card

Each Crisis Card is made up of the following parts:

1. Crisis Name – The title of the Crisis.
2. Crisis Type – The Crisis type: Secure or Extraction.
3. Maximum Threat – Indicates the Maximum Threat Level that a player's Squad may contain.
4. Setup – Indicates which type of objective tokens are placed on the battlefield.
5. Scoring – Explains the conditions required to score Victory Points (VPs).
6. Rules – Explains how characters can interact with any of this Crisis' objective tokens and gives any special rules.
7. Set Symbol – What set the card is from.
8. Map – A diagram that shows the placement of this Crisis' tokens.

Priority

Priority determines the order in which players take their turns during the Round. Priority is tracked using the Priority token. The player who has the Priority token is the player who has priority for the Round.

Mission Tracker

The Mission Tracker is a dashboard that helps players keep track of their current VPs and the Round of the game. Players will move their VP cube and the Round cube along their respective tracks on the Mission Tracker.

Characters

In Crisis Protocol, players build and control a team of heroes and villains drawn from across the Marvel Universe. Collectively these heroes and villains are referred to as characters.

Each character is represented on the table by a highly detailed hobby miniature. Before the game, players will assemble and paint their miniatures to create a collection of Marvel characters that is truly their own.

Just like in the comics, each character in Crisis Protocol brings with it a host of special powers and abilities, commonly referred to as attacks and superpowers, for players to use in order to complete their mission and achieve victory. A character's attacks and superpowers are listed on its Stat Card.

Allies, Enemies, and Control

In Crisis Protocol, rules often use the terms allied and enemy when referring to characters. Characters a player controls are allied characters to that player. Characters a player's opponent controls are called enemy characters. If an effect allows players to control an opponent's character, that character isn't considered to be part of any Squad for the purposes of Team Tactic Cards or Leadership abilities.

Character Stat Cards

Each character's Stat Card lists all of the information (known as stats) you need to know about the character in order to use it during play. A character's Stat Card has two sides: Healthy and Injured. A character always starts with the Healthy side showing. You can tell which side is which by the color of the Icons. If the icons are teal, the character is Healthy. If they are orange, the character is Injured. During play a character that suffers enough damage may become Injured and have to flip its Stat Card over to show its Injured side. Damage and Injury are explained in greater detail in the Character Damage section.

Parts of a Stat Card

Each Stat Card is made up of the following parts:

1. Character Name – The character's name.
2. Alter Ego – The everyday persona of the character. This is used to identify duplicate characters in a player's Squad.
3. Attacks – A list of the attacks available to the character. There are three types of attacks: Physical, Energy, and Mystic.
4. Leadership – A list of the character's Leadership abilities, if any. These can affect the whole Squad, and only some characters have them. For more information on Leadership abilities, see the Leadership section.
5. Superpowers – A list of the superpowers the character has. There are three types of superpowers: Active, Reactive, and Innate.
6. Stamina – The maximum amount of damage the character can take before becoming Dazed or Knocked Out (KO'd).
7. Speed – Represents the character's ability to move around the battlefield. Speed is Short (1), Medium (2), or Long (3)—the size of the measurement tool needed to move the character the maximum distance. For more information on movement, see the Movement section.
8. Size – The physical size of the character. This is used for determining Line of Sight and in Throwing and Collisions.
9. Threat Level – Used to determine which characters can be taken in a Squad for a given Mission.
10. Physical Defense – Represents the character's ability to withstand physical attacks like punches and ballistic gunfire. This is the number of dice the character rolls when targeted by a Physical attack.
11. Energy Defense – Represents the character's ability to withstand energy attacks like repulsor blasts and lightning bolts. This is the number of dice the character rolls when targeted by an Energy attack.
12. Mystic Defense – Represents the character's ability to withstand mystic attacks like mental illusions and mind control. This is the number of dice the character rolls when targeted by a Mystic attack.

Characters and Objects

Characters depict Marvel's heroes and villains and are represented by one or more miniatures on a single base. Terrain features and tokens are referred to collectively as objects.

Effects

Effects are things caused by superpowers, attacks, special rules, Team Tactic Cards, or Crisis Cards. When a rule references "enemy effects" or "allied effects," it's referring to any results of an effect of an enemy or allied character. Crisis Card effects are neither allied nor enemy effects.

Sometimes an effect will happen after something is resolved. This means that the effect will happen after that thing has been completed.

Example: Crossbones, Merciless Merc has been attacked by Invincible Iron Man. If Iron Man deals damage with this attack, Crossbones can use his Aggressive superpower after the attack is resolved. He must make sure that all abilities, effects, and damage from Iron Man's attack are applied before he can use the Advance from Aggressive.

Some effects say that a character can or does do something or an effect can or does happen, while others say that a character can't do the same thing or say that the same effect can't happen. In any case where these effects apply to the same character at the same time, the "can't" overrides the "can."

Example: Captain America, First Avenger is holding an objective token that has a special rule saying he cannot make more than one move action per turn. After Advancing, Captain America wants to use his Charge superpower, which lets him make a move action and then an attack action. If he uses Charge, he won't be able to use the move action it grants because he's already used a move action this turn.

Some effects will tell a player to halve a character's stat or the number of dice rolled. Whenever a number is halved, always round the final result up.

Stacking Effects. Each character or object can only be affected by the same named effect once per triggering event.

Character Attacks

A character's attack stats represent how it fights in battle. From Invincible Iron Man's repulsor blasts to Doc Ock, Sinister Scientist's mechanical arms, all attacks are translated through the following properties:

1. Type – The type of attack: Physical, Energy, or Mystic. The attack's type is represented on a Stat Card by its corresponding icon and color.
2. Name – The name of the attack. This identifies the attack and can be referenced by special rules.
3. Range – The maximum distance the target can be away from the attacker. This is a number between 1 and 5 and corresponds to the Range Tools.
4. Strength – The number of dice rolled for the attack.
5. Power Cost – The amount of Power that must be spent to perform the attack.
6. Special Rules – Any special rules related to the attack. To learn more about attack special rules, see the Attack Special Rules section.

Superpowers

The characters in Crisis Protocol represent extraordinary individuals. Whether the result of intense physical and mental training, gamma rays, scientific alteration, or cosmic radiation, each character is capable of superhuman feats. These abilities are known as superpowers.

1. Type – The type of superpower: Active, Reactive, or Innate. The superpower's type is represented on a Stat Card by its corresponding icon.
2. Name – The name of the superpower.
3. Power Cost – The amount of Power that must be spent to use the superpower, if any.
4. Special Rules – The effect of the superpower and any requirements for using it.

A superpower's type, identified by its corresponding icon, denotes how and when it can be used. The different types of superpowers are described below.

Active Superpower. Active superpowers can be used at any time during a character's Activation. Some Active superpowers require a character to spend an action to use. If this is the case, the effect of the rule will be preceded by "Action:".

Example: Captain Marvel, Cosmic Avenger's I'm Just Getting Warmed Up is an Active superpower, so Captain Marvel can use it only during her Activation. Because the special rules do not say "Action:" Captain Marvel doesn't have to pay its Power Cost to use this superpower. This character transforms into... but she does still have to pay its Power Cost.

Reactive Superpower. Reactive superpowers require a triggering event to be used. For each triggering event, a Reactive superpower can be used only once.

Innate Superpower. Innate superpowers do not have to be activated and never cost Power. Characters that have a Dazed token don't benefit from their Innate superpowers.

Example: Crossbones, Merciless Merc's I Can Take It is an Innate superpower, so it doesn't require Power and can be used whenever its trigger conditions are met.

Some Innate superpowers, like the ability to fly, are very common across Crisis Protocol. These superpowers are represented on Stat Cards by keywords. Their full rules text is listed in this rulebook rather than on each Stat Card. For a complete list, see Appendix E.

Leadership

Even though every character in Crisis Protocol boasts incredible powers and abilities, certain characters—like Captain America, First Avenger or Red Skull, Master of the World—stand above their peers as leaders of some of the most famous teams in the Marvel Universe.

When a Squad contains a character with a Leadership ability and the superpower is using the required Affiliation (see Squad Affiliations), the Leadership ability becomes active for that game.

Example: Captain America, First Avenger has the Leadership ability Earth's Mightiest Heroes. As long as Captain America, First Avenger's Squad is using the Avengers Affiliation and he's on the battlefield, the entire Squad benefits from this ability. If the Squad isn't using the Avengers Affiliation, or if Captain America, First Avenger leaves the battlefield, his Squad doesn't benefit from the ability.

This means that for the duration of the game, the Squad gains the effect of that Leadership ability while the character with the Leadership ability is on the battlefield. If multiple characters in a Squad have Leadership abilities that may be used, the controlling player chooses only one of those abilities to use for the rest of the game after Squads have been deployed.

Power

Whether unleashing a devastating wave of destructive energy or hurling a garbage truck onto the head of an enemy, every character in Crisis Protocol relies on a special resource called Power in order to use its strongest attacks and superpowers.

Track a character's Power by placing tokens on its Stat Card. When a character gains Power, add Power tokens to its Stat Card equal to the amount of Power gained. Characters can have a maximum of 10 Power; any Power gained beyond 10 is lost.

When a character spends or loses Power, remove Power tokens from its Stat Card equal to the amount spent or lost. A character can't spend or lose more Power than it has available on its Stat Card. If a character doesn't have enough Power to pay the Power cost of an attack or superpower, it can't use that attack or superpower. If an effect causes a character to lose more Power than it has on its Stat Card, it loses all of its available Power instead.

The most common way characters gain Power is by taking damage from enemy effects. Characters can also gain Power through special rules, objectives, superpowers, and other effects.

Dice

Crisis Protocol uses unique eight-sided dice to determine the outcome of many game effects, most commonly attacking and defending. These dice have the following sides:

• Critical (1) – Criticals add dice during attack, defense, and dodge rolls. They usually count as successes.
• Wild (1) – Wilds can trigger special abilities or are referenced in special rules. They usually count as successes.
• Hit (2) – When attacking, hits are usually successes that don't trigger other effects.
• Block (1) – When defending, blocks are usually successes that don't trigger other effects.
• Blank (2) – Blanks have no icon on the die and usually have no effect.
• Failure (1) – Failures can't be rerolled or modified.

Measurement

Crisis Protocol uses two varieties of measurement device: Range Tools and Movement Tools.

Any distance that is measured using a measurement tool can be measured at any time, but players may only use one Range Tool and one Movement Tool at a time when making measurements during the game. When measuring, only take into account the horizontal distance.

Range Tools are used to measure distances for attacks, actions, and abilities. There are four range tools, for Ranges 2 through 5. Range 1 is determined by using the width of any Range Tool.

Movement Tools are used to measure distances for Advances, Throws, and Pushes. There are three movement tools: Short (1), Medium (2), and Long (3). Only a single Movement Tool can be used to measure at a time.

When measuring distance, place the appropriate tool with its end in contact with the object or character's base being measured from—the object or character making the attack or using the relevant action or ability. If this isn't possible (due to terrain, for example), hold the measuring tool above the battlefield and check the position based on the measurement tool.

Whenever an effect says an object or character must be within a certain distance of another object or character, the object or character is considered within that distance if any portion of the object or character's base is within that distance of any portion of the other object or other character's base. An object or character is always considered to be within Range of itself.

Team Tactic Cards

Team Tactic Cards are special team-up powers or cinematic events that you can use during the game. Whether it's a teammate rushing to pull a friend out of harm's way at the last second or the devious Red Skull using the power of the Cosmic Cube to push an "ally" beyond their normal limits, Team Tactic Cards vary greatly in effect and usually cost Power to use. They're part of your Roster and are chosen during Squad Building.

Parts of a Team Tactic Card

Each Team Tactic Card is made up of the following parts:

1. Name – The name of the card.
2. Squad Affiliation – Indicates whether the card is Unaffiliated and thus can be used by any Squad or is Affiliated with a specific Squad. If the card is Affiliated, a Squad must be using that Affiliation in order to use the card during a game. For more information on Squad Affiliations, see the Squad Affiliations section.
3. Type – Denotes when the card can be played. A player may play Active Team Tactic Cards at any time during their turn. A player may play Reactive Team Tactic Cards only when the listed trigger condition is met. When an Active: Action Team Tactic Card is played, one of the characters playing the card must use an action to play it.
4. Rules – How to play the card and the effect of the card.
5. Set Symbol – Which set the card is from.

To play a Team Tactic Card, a player follows the instructions listed on one of their cards, selecting targets and paying any Power or other costs as described. Once a Team Tactic Card is played, it is discarded and cannot be used again for the rest of the game.

Know Your Enemy. Team Tactic Cards are not kept secret during the game. Make sure to know what your opponent is capable of!

Getting Ready to Play

Before the battle can commence, players must first set up the battlefield, create their Mission, and—last but not least—choose their Squad of characters for the game from their Roster based on the Crisis Cards that make up their mission. Here you will find the rules for creating Rosters, battlefields, and Missions and for starting the game.

Building a Roster

Players bring a Roster to the battlefield when they play Crisis Protocol. A Roster consists of three categories:

• Characters
  • 10 characters
• Team Tactic Cards
  • 10 Team Tactic Cards
• Crisis Cards
  • 5 Secure Crisis Cards
  • 5 Extraction Crisis Cards

A player's Roster in Crisis Protocol can contain any ten characters a player chooses from their collection of Crisis Protocol miniatures. When building a Roster, there are no restrictions on pairing traditional villains with heroes or vice versa. After all, the Marvel Universe has been witness to an almost infinite number of team-ups, with even the greatest archnemeses putting aside their differences on occasion to deal with a common threat.

While a Roster may contain any Crisis Protocol character, it cannot contain multiple copies of a character with the same Character Name and Alter Ego (the individual behind the mask)!

Additionally, each player selects ten different Team Tactic Cards for their Roster. Just like with characters, you won't use all of your chosen Team Tactic Cards when playing a Mission. A player cannot include multiple copies of a Team Tactic Card with the same Name in their Roster.

Finally, you must select which Crisis Cards your Roster might use. Each player's Roster contains ten different Crisis Cards: five Secure Crisis Cards and five Extraction Crisis Cards. These cards will be used to build the Mission for your game. A player cannot include multiple copies of a Crisis Card with the same Name in their Roster.

Creating the Battlefield

Crisis Protocol is played on a 36" x 36" table referred to as the battlefield. Each battlefield can be anything the players' imagination and terrain collection allows, encompassing everything from the streets of New York City to the halls of Asgard, and even brand-new worlds never seen before in the pages of Marvel comics.

Each battlefield must contain a mix of terrain features of various sizes and shapes that are destructible and block Line of Sight and movement of characters. Players should include a minimum of 12 terrain features ranging from Size 1 to Size 5, with the majority of features being Sizes 2–4. Both players should agree on the specific distribution of terrain features and their placement on the battlefield. For more information on terrain, see the Terrain section.

The battlefield is created before players make any decisions regarding their Squads or their Team Tactic Cards, and before Crisis Cards have been drawn.

Overhanging Terrain. When players are creating the battlefield, if all players agree, parts of 1 or more terrain features can be designated as overhangs. Objects cannot be put on top of overhangs, but they can be put underneath them. Objects do not count as overlapping a terrain feature if they are only overlapping the overhang of that terrain.

Priority

After the battlefield is ready, players determine who will start building a mission with the Priority token by making a priority roll. To do this, each player rolls five dice. The player with the most Criticals, Wilds, and Hits total takes the Priority token.

In case of a tie, the Priority token goes to the player with the most Criticals. If necessary, continue this process with Wilds and then Hits. If there is still a tie at this point, the players reroll the dice and follow the above rules until the tie is broken.

Setting Up a Mission

After the battlefield is set and priority is determined, each player draws a Crisis Card from their Roster as explained below. These two Crisis Cards combine to form the Mission for the game.

Building the Mission

A player's Roster includes ten different Crisis Cards split into two decks of five cards each based on the Crisis Card type: Secure Crisis Cards and Extraction Crisis Cards. Every mission will comprise one Secure Crisis and one Extraction Crisis, but the specifics of each will only be revealed once each player has drawn their Crisis Card.

Secure Crisis Cards typically specify important elements on the battlefield, such as bombs or gamma shelters, that players must claim. Extraction Crisis Cards typically place something on the battlefield that characters must retrieve and carry for the duration of the mission. These could be items like Cosmic Cube fragments, civilians, and so on.

The player with the Priority token chooses one of their decks (Secure or Extraction) to shuffle, draws 2 cards from it, and places them face up. The other player chooses 1 of those cards to use that game. The player without the Priority token then shuffles their deck of Crisis Cards from the other Crisis type, draws 2 cards from it, and places them face up. The player with the Priority token chooses 1 of those cards to use that game. Place both cards in an area where they're easily accessible to both players.

The player without the Priority token then selects which Crisis Card's Maximum Threat value will be used for the mission.

The player with the Priority token chooses a battlefield edge to be their deployment edge. That player's deployment edge is located at the bottom of the map on the Crisis Card, identified by the blue zone. The opposite edge, identified by the red zone, is the deployment edge of the player without priority. Players then set up the mission following the instructions listed on the chosen Crisis Cards.

Building the Mission (steps).

1. The player with priority chooses a Crisis type (Secure or Extraction), shuffles their corresponding Crisis Cards, and draws two cards face up.
2. The player without priority selects one of those cards.
3. The player without priority shuffles and draws 2 Crisis Cards from the opposite deck.
4. The player with priority selects one of those cards.
5. The player without priority chooses which Crisis Card's Maximum Threat Value will be used during the game.
6. The player with priority chooses a table edge to be their deployment zone. The player without priority takes the opposite table edge.
7. Both players then set up the Mission, following the instructions on the drawn Crisis Cards.

Example: Jessy has won priority and decides to draw a Crisis Card from their Secure deck. Sarah must then draw a Crisis Card from her Extraction deck. Once both players have drawn a card, they simultaneously reveal them, which together form their Mission for the game. Because Jessy has priority, Sarah decides which Crisis' Maximum Threat Value will be used when building Squads.

Objective Tokens

Some Crisis Cards involve characters interacting with objective tokens. If a Crisis Card allows characters to Interact with its objective tokens, it will include an Interact ability in its special rules. At any time during a character's Activation, while within Range 1 of an objective token, the character may spend 1 Power to Interact with that token. A character may Interact with multiple tokens in the same Activation but can't Interact with the same token more than once per Activation. What happens when a character Interacts with an objective token is listed in the Crisis Card's special rules.

There are four types of objective tokens:

• Civilian tokens: Civilian tokens represent high-value individuals such as innocent bystanders, secret Skrull agents, or even escaped prisoners, whose rescue or capture are vital to the mission. While civilians don't take part in actual combat, not all of them are eager to be "saved," and some may put up a fair bit of resistance!
• Asset tokens: Asset tokens represent the key items that the heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe seek to acquire. These can be things like reality-altering Cosmic Cube fragments, vials of Super-Soldier Serum, or critical research notes. No matter the specifics, you can be sure that whatever troubles the characters are facing, the assets they're fighting over will be central to successfully resolving them.
• Point of Interest tokens: Not everything is something that can simply be picked up and taken to safety. Point of Interest tokens represent critical locations that the characters must secure. These can be anything from the entrance to a secret lab to a desperately needed safe zone amid a gamma-irradiated wasteland. Regardless of their specific nature, there's no doubt that controlling these locations is paramount—allowing any other group to have access to them is simply not an option!
• Target of Opportunity tokens: Nothing in life is perfectly controllable. Sometimes combatants will need to secure a location that is particularly volatile or mobile. These are represented by Target of Opportunity tokens, and are best handled with caution.

Some rules allow characters to pick up objective tokens. A character that picks up an objective token is holding that token. Place it on the character's Stat Card. When a character holding one or more objective tokens is Dazed, KO'd, or removed from the game, they drop all objective tokens they were holding. When a character drops a token, place it onto the battlefield within Range 2 of the character that was holding it. The opposing player of the character that dropped the tokens places them. Asset tokens and Civilian tokens have the following Interact ability unless a Crisis Card specifies a different Interact ability for that token:

Interact (Asset or Civilian token): Pick up this token.

Example: Spectacular Spider-Man has ended his movement within Range 1 of a Cosmic Cube Fragment. The Crisis Card Struggle for the Cube Continues has a rule that says characters can Interact with Cosmic Cube Fragments. Spider-Man spends 1 Power to Interact with the Cube Fragment, which removes it from the table and places it on his card. Spider-Man is now holding the Cube Fragment.

Later, Spider-Man is KO'd by Doctor Octopus, Sinister Scientist's attack! Before he is removed from the battlefield, he drops his Cube Fragment. Doctor Octopus' controlling player places this token within Range 2 of Spider-Man.

Objective tokens don't have a Size stat and don't obstruct a character's movement. A character's base may overlap a token.

A character that is within Range 1 of an objective token is Contesting that token. The player with the most Healthy characters Contesting an objective token is Securing that token. If there are no Healthy characters contesting an objective token, the player with the most Injured characters Contesting it Secures it instead. A character with a Dazed token can't Contest objective tokens.

Sometimes you will have to place an objective token on top of or underneath a piece of terrain. Players should agree whether or not an objective token goes on top of or beneath a piece of terrain by determining which will make it the easiest for players to see.

Example: Ultron, Metal Tyrant has the Healthy side of his Stat Card showing and is Contesting an Extremis Console from the Crisis Riots Spark Over Extremis 3.0. He's opposed by Captain Marvel, Cosmic Avenger and The Black Widow, who both have the Injured sides of their Stat Cards showing and are also Contesting the Console. Because Ultron, Metal Tyrant is Healthy and his opponents are both Injured, he'll score the VPs for Securing the Console even though he's outnumbered by his opponents.

Some Crisis Cards allow players to Control certain objectives such as switches or power conduits. When a player Controls an objective, place a marker showing they're controlling it. This removes any other player's marker. Each objective may be controlled by only one player at a time. Once an objective is Controlled by a player, the objective remains Controlled by them regardless of the proximity of other characters so long as their marker remains on the objective.

The rules for additional types of objective tokens can be found in Appendix I.

Example: Ultron, Metal Tyrant flies up to an Origin Bomb from the Deadly Meteors Mutate Civilians Crisis. He Interacts with the Origin Bomb by spending 1 Power and rolling four dice (equal to his Energy defense). Because he rolled at least one Critical, his player now Controls that Origin Bomb. Remove any markers showing who Controls this objective and place one showing that Ultron, Metal Tyrant's player now Controls the Origin Bomb.

Winning the Game

A player immediately wins when they score 16 or more VPs. If both players score 16 or more VPs simultaneously, the player with more VPs wins. If they are tied, neither player wins. Instead, the game continues until one player has scored more VPs than their opponent, at which point they immediately win. If neither player has won by the end of Round 6, the player with the most VPs is the winner. If both players are tied at this point, the game continues until a player scores VPs and has more than their opponent.

If only one player has characters on the battlefield, they immediately win the game.

Building a Squad

After the Mission has been formed, players build their Squads. To build a Squad, each player chooses characters from their Roster that have a combined Threat Value equal to or lower than the Maximum Threat Value selected by the player without priority during Mission Setup. Characters in a player's Squad may not share the same Alter Ego. Players should not reveal the contents of their Squads until it is time to deploy their characters.

Even though each Roster must contain ten characters, when playing a game, players won't use all ten of the characters at one time. Instead, the Roster provides a set of options for players to draw from to build their Squad, based on the Mission being played. Each Crisis Card will have rules detailing the Maximum Threat Value each player may use when constructing their Squad.

As such, it's best when building your Roster to include characters with different Threat Values. That will give you the most flexibility when selecting your Squad based on the Crisis being played.

Squad Affiliations

Despite the endless team-up possibilities available in the Marvel Universe, there are many famous groups that have come together time and time again to stand against their foes. Perhaps one of the most famous of these is the Avengers, but there have been many others including the Guardians of the Galaxy, the Cabal, and the Defenders.

In Crisis Protocol, when building your Squad for a Mission, you can choose to use a specific Squad Affiliation. Each Affiliation lists the specific characters that make it up. For a Squad to use a Squad Affiliation, more than half of its characters must share the same Squad Affiliation (that is, be part of the same Affiliation). A Squad may only have one Squad Affiliation. Squad Affiliation lists are updated as new products become available. Updated Affiliations may be found at AtomicMassGames.com/marvel/op.

Affiliation. Players don't include Squad Affiliation in their Rosters. They'll decide whether they'll use a Squad Affiliation when building their Squads.

Some rules use a shorthand way to reference characters by Squad Affiliation, such as calling a character with the Avengers Squad Affiliation "an Avengers character." This means the same thing as "a character with the Avengers Squad Affiliation." Characters that are not listed on the Avengers Affiliation list are not Avengers characters even if your Squad is using the Avengers Affiliation.

Some characters have Leadership abilities. These abilities may be used only if your Squad is using the required Affiliation. When building your Squad, if it includes multiple characters with a Leadership ability for that Affiliation, you may pick only one of those Leadership abilities to use for the game. Players declare their choices simultaneously after both Squads have been deployed.

Selecting Team Tactic Cards

After building a Squad, each player chooses which Team Tactic Cards they will use during the Mission. Players select up to five of the ten Team Tactic Cards listed on their Roster to use during the game. If they're using a Squad Affiliation, they may select Team Tactic Cards that require that Affiliation.

Deployment

Players reveal their Squads and Team Tactic Cards simultaneously. They then alternate deploying the characters in their Squads, starting with the player with priority. To deploy a character, a player puts it within Range 3 of their deployment edge. Once all characters are deployed, the players determine who will start Round 1 with the Priority token by making a priority roll. The game is ready to begin. Start the first round of the game with a Power Phase.

Game Mechanics

This section lists the rules that give the specifics of how to play the game, move and attack with characters, and how terrain affects the game.

Parts of a Round

A game of Crisis Protocol is played over six Rounds. Each round is broken down into three phases: Power, Activation, and Cleanup.

Power Phase

The Power Phase happens at the start of a Round. At the beginning of the Power Phase, all characters gain 1 Power. Then players resolve any player effects that occur during the Power Phase, then resolve all non-player effects that occur during the Power Phase.

Parts of the Power Phase.

1. Each character gains 1 Power.
2. Resolve any player effects that happen during the Power Phase, starting with the player with priority.
3. Resolve any non-player effects that happen during the Power Phase. The player with priority chooses the order.

Activation Phase

During the Activation Phase, players alternate taking turns. During a player's turn they can play any number of Team Tactic Cards and activate one character that does not have an Activated or Dazed token. The player who has priority takes the first turn. As soon as the previous player has declared their turn is over, the next player begins their turn.

Activating a Character

Each character may make two actions when it Activates. The common actions available to every character are:

• Move – The character makes an Advance using its Speed or a Climb. A character may use a shorter Movement Tool than what is listed on its card. The rules for Advancing and Climbing are in the Movement section.
• Attack – The character may make an attack with any one of its listed attacks. The rules for attacking are in the Making an Attack section.
• Shake – Remove one special condition from this character.
• Use an Action: Superpower – Some superpowers require the use of an action. The rules for superpowers are in the Superpowers section.
• Play an Active: Action Team Tactic Card – Some Team Tactic Cards have the Active: Action Type. These cards require the use of an action to play, in addition to any Power cost or conditions listed on the card. When an Active: Action Team Tactic Card is played, one of the characters playing the card must use an action to play it. The rules for playing Team Tactic Cards are in the Team Tactic Cards section.

Some special rules or superpowers grant actions. If an action is granted by an effect, it doesn't count as one of the character's two actions.

Example: The Quick Step superpower allows Baron Helmut Zemo to spend 2 Power to immediately perform a Medium (2) Advance. Because the superpower grants this Advance, the Advance doesn't count toward the two actions Baron Helmut Zemo can use during his Activation.

After a character has made all of its actions and used any superpowers, Interact abilities, or other special rules it wishes, its Activation ends. After resolving any end of Activation effects, place an Activated token on its Stat Card. A character with an Activated token on it can't be chosen to activate again.

The Activation Phase ends when a player ends their turn and neither player has a character without an Activated or Dazed token.

Parts of the Activation Phase.

1. Resolve any effects that happen at the start of the Activation Phase, starting with the player who has priority. After any player effects, resolve non-player effects.
2. Players alternate turns until there are no more characters that can activate. During a turn, a player either activates a character or passes. A player who activates a character may make actions, use superpowers, and Interact with objectives with that character.
3. Resolve any effects that happen at the end of the Activation Phase, starting with the player who has priority. After any player effects, resolve non-player effects.

Interact. Remember, Interacting with objective tokens isn't an action unless specified by the Crisis.

"Any Time" Abilities. Whenever the rules say an effect, ability, Team Tactic Card, or superpower may be used "at any time," it doesn't mean literally anytime the player wishes. These abilities may be used before or after an action is taken or effect is triggered but can't interrupt an action or other effect.

Passing

A player can end their turn without activating a character if at the start of their turn they have fewer non-Grunt characters without Activated or Dazed tokens on the battlefield than their opponent does. This is called passing. A player who passes can still play Team Tactic Cards before declaring the end of their turn.

Cleanup Phase

After all characters on the battlefield have an Activated or Dazed token, the Round moves to the Cleanup Phase. Players score Victory Points for controlling, securing, or holding objectives, then resolve player effects, then non-player effects. Then characters that are Dazed will remove all damage, special conditions, and the Dazed token from their Stat Cards and flip them over to their Injured side. If the player that activated the last character of the Activation Phase has the Priority token, they pass it to their opponent. Players then remove all Activated tokens from characters, move the Round token to the next round on the Mission Tracker, and begin the next Round with a Power Phase.

Parts of the Cleanup Phase.

1. Players score Victory Points (VPs) from Crisis Cards. Mark these VPs on the Mission Tracker.
2. Resolve player effects that occur during the Cleanup Phase.
3. Resolve non-player effects that occur during the Cleanup Phase. The player with priority chooses the order.
4. Characters with a Dazed token remove all Damage tokens, special conditions, and their Dazed token. They then flip their Stat Cards over to the Injured side.
5. If the player who activated the last character during the Activation Phase has the Priority token, they pass it to their opponent.
6. Remove all Activated tokens from characters.
7. Move the Round token to the next Round on the Mission Tracker and begin a new Round, starting with the Power Phase.

Scoring Victory Points. When scoring occurs during the Cleanup Phase, it occurs simultaneously for all players. Characters with Dazed tokens never contribute to scoring conditions.

Movement

Movement in Crisis Protocol usually uses Movement Tools. There are three kinds of these tools: Short (1), Medium (2), and Long (3). When a character Advances, it uses the Movement Tool that matches its Speed stat or a smaller one.

Example: Baron Helmut Zemo maneuvers around a car to get into position for his next action. He can do this by bending the pivot point on the Movement Tool.

Overlapping is when character bases and terrain features take up all or some of the same space. If an effect would cause two or more characters' bases to overlap, the character can't end a movement there. A character cannot end a movement with its base partially overlapping a terrain feature—its base must be entirely on top of or not overlapping the terrain feature to end its movement. If a character is Thrown or Pushed and would end that movement overlapping another character's base or a terrain feature, it stops along the Movement Tool at the last position that was not overlapping a character's base or a terrain feature. If a character's miniature or base can't physically fit and balance in a location, the character cannot end a movement there.

A character can never move off of the battlefield. If a Throw or Push would cause a character's base to move off the table, the character stops that movement at the last place it could stop while following the movement rules.

There are several ways a character can move:

• Advance – Movement usually made during the character's Activation representing the character maneuvering around the battlefield.
• Climb – Movement that represents the character's ability to scale a wall or climb on top of a terrain feature.
• Throw – Movement made by throwing a character or an object through the air, usually as the result of an attack, superpower, or special rule. Throws can cause collisions.
• Push – Movement made by a character being pushed along the ground, usually as the result of an attack, superpower, or special rule. Pushes don't cause collisions.
• Place – Movement made by a character suddenly appearing in a location. Place is used to represent things like teleporting, tricking a character's senses, or manipulating time and space. Placing uses a Range Tool instead of a Movement Tool.

Advance

When a character Advances, the controlling player takes the appropriate Movement Tool (or a smaller one) and places the curved end in contact with the character's base. The player may pivot the Movement Tool however they wish using the pivot point. The Movement Tool may overlap terrain features that are the same size or smaller than the advancing character, any terrain features the character is currently overlapping, and any other character's base. Once the Movement Tool is in the desired position, the player puts the character's base in contact with any portion of the Movement Tool.

Climb

When a character Climbs, it Advances Short (1) regardless of its speed. When placing the Movement Tool for a Climb, the character is considered to be Size 5.

Climbing. Characters cannot move over terrain larger than them, but a climbing character is treated as Size 5 so it can advance onto or over most terrain!

Example: Winter Soldier, Operative uses an action to climb. Because he is treated as Size 5 during this movement, you can place your Movement Tool over larger terrain features and end your movement on top of them!

Do You Fit? A character's miniature might not be able to stand on parts of the battlefield. If the miniature or its base can't physically fit and balance in a location, the character can't end a movement there.

Throw

No superpowered battle would be complete without characters hurling each other and anything not nailed down across the battlefield to smash into their foes in a shower of glass and twisted steel. With this in mind, there are several effects and attacks in Crisis Protocol that can throw characters and objects, sending them flying across the battlefield and crashing down with devastating results!

Example: Captain Marvel, Cosmic Avenger Throws Red Skull, Master of the World! Place the Movement Tool so that it's touching Red Skull, Master of the World. He is then moved along the tool. As he moves, if he contacts a terrain feature or character, he will collide with it.

Throwing a Character

The player performing a Throw positions the Movement Tool with one end touching the Thrown character. Don't use the pivot point on the Movement Tool—it must be straight. Move the Thrown character along the Movement Tool, with its base centered on the Movement Tool, the specified distance.

As a Thrown character moves along the Movement Tool, it stops if its base contacts or would overlap another character's base or a terrain feature. The Thrown character collides with that character or terrain feature. Ignore the character performing the Throw and any terrain features the Thrown character started overlapping when determining a Thrown character's collisions. If the character does not collide with anything, it moves the full distance along the tool.

A Thrown character that collides with a terrain feature suffers 1 damage. The terrain feature is destroyed and removed from the table if it is a smaller Size than the Thrown character.

A Thrown character that collides with another character suffers 1 damage. The other character must make a Dodge roll to avoid being damaged by the Throw.

For more information on Throwing terrain and Dodge rolls, see the Terrain section.

Example: Captain America, First Avenger is Pushing Crossbones, Merciless Merc Away from himself. Crossbones, Merciless Merc may be moved in any direction that does not cross either arm of the Movement Tool.

Push

A character that is Pushed follows all the rules for a character that is Thrown, except that it doesn't cause collisions with other characters or objects.

Example: Ultron, Metal Tyrant is Pushing Captain Marvel, Cosmic Avenger Toward himself. Captain Marvel, Cosmic Avenger may be moved in any direction that does not cross either arm of the Movement Tool.

Place

Some effects can cause a character or object to be Placed within a certain Range. Unless the effect says otherwise, measure that Range from the character or object being Placed. The character or object may be Placed anywhere within that Range. If the miniature can't physically fit and balance in a location, the character can't end this movement there.

Toward or Away

When an effect results in a character moving Toward or Away from another character or object, draw a straight line from the far side of the moving character's base to the far side of the object or the character's base that it's being moved Toward or Away from and passing through the center of both.

Pivot a Movement Tool completely to form a 90-degree angle. Place the angled Movement Tool in contact with the moving character's base so that its pivot point is centered on the line passing through the center of the moving character and the center of the other character or object and both sides of the tool touch the moving character's base.

If the character is moving Toward something, the pivot point is centered on the line on the opposite side of the other character or object.

If the character is moving Away from something, the pivot point is centered on the line between the moving character and the other character or object.

The moving character can't cross a straight line drawn along either arm of the angled Movement Tool to the edge of the table.

Making an Attack

When a character uses an attack action, it chooses one of the attacks listed on its Stat Card to use and an enemy character in Line of Sight (LOS) to target with the attack. (See the Line of Sight section for more information.)

A character can never make an attack without a target and can never choose an allied character to be the target of its attack.

Each attack has a Range that represents the maximum distance the attack can reach. An enemy character must be in the attacker's Line of Sight and within the Range of the attack in order to be the target of the attack. If the chosen enemy isn't in Range or LOS, it can't be targeted by the attack.

Attacks are resolved using opposed die rolls. The character making the attack (the attacker) and the character being attacked (the defender) create separate pools of dice based on their stats and any applicable special rules. Then they roll their dice pools and compare the number of successes in each pool. If the attacker has more successes than the defender, the attack deals Damage based on the final number of successes. If the defender has more successes, it has avoided, absorbed, or resisted the attack and the attack deals no Damage.

When a character performs an attack action, resolve the following steps in order.

1. Choose an attack: The player chooses one of the attacks listed on their attacking character's Stat Card. If the attack has a Power cost, the character must have enough Power tokens to pay that cost. If the character doesn't have sufficient Power to pay for the attack, it can't select that attack to use. The attacker then uses the range tool that corresponds with the range listed on the chosen attack to measure range from itself to any enemy characters.
2. Declare a target for the attack and measure Range: The attacking character chooses one enemy character in Range and in its LOS to be the target of the attack. Starting with the attacker, both players resolve any superpowers or effects that trigger when a character has been targeted by an attack.
3. Pay Power for the attack: If the chosen attack has a Power cost, the attacker spends Power tokens equal to the listed cost. If it cannot, the attack ends.
4. Create the attack pool: The attacker creates an attack dice pool with dice equal to the Strength of the attack. Apply any effects that add dice to or remove dice from the attack pool. Note that an attack pool can never be reduced to fewer than one die.
5. Create the defense pool: The defender notes the type of attack targeting them (Physical, Energy, or Mystic) and creates a defense pool with dice equal to their Defense stat of that type. Apply any effects that add dice to or remove dice from the defense pool. Note that a defense pool can never be reduced to fewer than one die.
6. Roll the attacker's dice: The attacker rolls all dice in the attack pool. This is the initial attack roll.
7. Roll the defender's dice: The defender rolls all dice in the defense pool. This is the initial defense roll.
8. Resolve any Critical results: Beginning with the attacker, each character rolls an additional die for each Critical result in their initial roll. Criticals rolled in this step are not part of the initial roll and do not add further dice to the roll.
9. Modify Dice: Beginning with the attacker, each character may use any superpowers, cover, or other effects at their disposal to reroll or change their dice. Criticals rolled in this step are not part of the initial roll and do not add further dice to the roll. Then, beginning with the attacker, each character may use superpowers or other effects to force their opponent to reroll or change their dice. Criticals rolled in this step are not part of the initial roll and do not add further dice to the roll.
10. Calculate success and compare results: The attacker counts each Critical, Wild, and Hit result on their dice, while the defender counts each Critical, Wild, and Block result on their dice. The defender's total is then subtracted from the attacker's total.
    • If the attacker's total is greater than the defender's, the targeted character suffers Damage equal to the difference.
    • If the defender's total is greater than or equal to the attacker's, the targeted character suffers no Damage from the attack but could still suffer other effects.
11. Resolve effects that occur before Damage: Beginning with the attacker, players resolve any superpowers or effects that trigger before damage is dealt.
12. Apply Damage and resolve the attack: If the attacker still has more successes remaining after comparing their successes with the defender and resolving any effects that trigger before damage is dealt, the defender's controlling player adds Damage tokens to its Stat Card equal to the attacker's remaining successes. A character can only suffer damage equal to its remaining Stamina; any excess damage is ignored.
13. The attack is resolved.
14. Resolve effects that occur after an attack: Beginning with the attacker, players resolve any superpowers or effects that trigger after an attack has been resolved.

Modifying Dice. During the modify steps, there is no limit to how many times a die may be rerolled, but the same die may be rerolled only once per special rule or ability allowing rerolls, even if those are from different sources. For instance, if a die were rerolled by a character using a superpower, it couldn't be rerolled again by the character using the same superpower, whether its own or one granted by a Crisis Card or other effect. As another example, a die may be rerolled once by an ability that allows a character to reroll two dice, and it may then be rerolled again by a different ability that allows a character to reroll a die. However, that die could not be rerolled twice using the two rerolls granted by the first reroll ability.

Attack Special Rules

Some attack special rules have icons before their name, such as "Wild Bleed." If a special rule has one or more icons with it, and the final attack roll contains at least that many dice showing those icons, the effect of the special rule is applied to the attack.

Order of Effects. Players always determine the order in which their effects are applied. For example, if a player has multiple instances of rerolls, they choose the order in which they resolve them.

Beam Attacks

Beam attacks are a special kind of attack that damages all characters—allied as well as enemy—within Range of the beam. A beam attack has "B" included before the number denoting the range of the attack, such as "Range B2." Instead of declaring a target normally, place the appropriate Range Tool on the battlefield with the short end in contact with and centered with the attacking character's base. Characters whose bases are contacted or overlapped by the Range Tool are considered to be in Range of the attack.

To use the attack, pay the Power cost once and then make a series of attacks targeting each enemy character that is in the attacker's LOS and in Range. These attacks are resolved in the order of the attacking player's choice. Completely resolve each attack before moving on to the next.

Other allied characters in Range of a beam attack do not suffer the effects of the attack.

When an effect causes a character to make a Beam attack targeting a specific character, they must place the Range Tool in contact with or overlapping the specified character's base. If this is not possible, the attack cannot be made.

Example: Invincible Iron Man is trying to draw LOS to Red Skull, Master of the World (Size 2) to hit him with a Repulsor Mk 2. However, Red Skull has taken cover behind a small building (Size 3). Iron Man can't find any straight line from his base to Red Skull's base that doesn't pass through the building, so he doesn't have LOS to Red Skull. If even a portion of Red Skull's base were sticking out past the building and Iron Man could draw a straight line to it, then Iron Man would have LOS to Red Skull.

Example: Doc Ock, Sinister Scientist attacks with Arm Lasers 2.0! Because it's Range B4, he centers the Range 4 Tool on his base and positions it so that it overlaps or contacts the characters he wishes to attack. He'll pay the Power cost one time for this attack but make an attack targeting each enemy character contacted or overlapped by the Range Tool.

Area Attacks

Area attacks are a special kind of attack that damages all characters—allied as well as enemy—within the defined area around the attacking character. An area attack has "A" included before the number denoting the Range of the attack, such as "Range A1." The attacking character doesn't declare a target for an area attack. Instead, characters within the listed Range of the attacking character are in range of the attack.

To use the attack, pay the Power cost once and then make a series of attacks targeting each enemy character that is in the attacker's LOS and in Range. These attacks are resolved in the order of the attacking player's choice. Completely resolve each attack before moving on to the next.

Other allied characters in Range of an area attack do not suffer the effects of the attack.

When an effect causes a character to make an Area attack targeting a specific character, that character must be within Range of the attack. If it is not, the attack cannot be made.

Character Damage

When a character is damaged, place a number of Damage tokens on its Stat Card equal to the amount of damage it received. A character can never have Damage tokens in excess of its current Stamina; any additional Damage is ignored.

Whether a shining beacon of justice or a mad titan bent on galactic conquest, the characters in Crisis Protocol fight all the harder when the odds are against them. Whenever a character suffers Damage as a result of an enemy effect, that character gains Power equal to the amount of Damage suffered. This Power gain represents the character drawing on their anger, determination, or dogged resolve to strike back and win the fight.

When a character has Damage tokens equal to its Stamina Stat, it has been Dazed or Knocked Out (KO'd).

Excess Damage. A character can't have more damage dealt to it than its remaining Stamina. This means if an attack would do 5 damage, but the character has only 3 Stamina remaining, the attack deals 3 damage, not 5.

If the character's Stat Card has the Healthy side up, place a Dazed token on it. A character with a Dazed token can't move or be moved for any reason and can't be targeted by attacks or be affected by special rules or superpowers. Dazed characters can't make attacks or play Team Tactic Cards and don't have superpowers. Dazed characters never contribute to scoring conditions that score that character's controlling player VPs. If a character is Dazed during their Activation, their Activation immediately ends. Additionally, Dazed characters cannot activate during the Activation Phase.

If the character's Stat Card has the Injured side up, the character has been KO'd and is out of the fight. All effects on the character expire, then it is removed from the battlefield.

Becoming Injured. Don't forget: a Dazed character isn't out of the fight just yet! For more information on the Cleanup Phase and becoming Injured, see the Cleanup Phase section.

Special Conditions

Some attacks or superpowers inflict special conditions on characters. When an attack or superpower states that a character gains a special condition, place a token representing that condition on its Stat Card. A character can't be affected by multiples of the same special condition at once. If a character would gain a special condition it already has, it doesn't gain that special condition. Special conditions are not enemy or allied effects.

See Appendix B for a list of special conditions and their effects that appear in Crisis Protocol.

Special Conditions. Special conditions are not enemy effects, so characters damaged by them don't gain Power for suffering that Damage.

Line of Sight

A character has Line of Sight (LOS) to another character or an object if a straight, unobstructed line can be drawn from any part of the character's base to the other character's base or the object. The line can pass unobstructed through characters but not through terrain features with a larger size than the other character or the object. A character always has LOS to itself.

If a character is on top of a terrain feature, add the Size of the character and the Size of the terrain feature together for the purpose of determining LOS. A character on top of a terrain feature ignores that terrain feature when determining if it has LOS to another character or object.

Remember, a character's Size is listed on its Stat Card and doesn't correlate to its base size or the physical size of the miniature.

Attack Example

Courtney decides to use Captain Marvel, Cosmic Avenger's Photon Blast against Marco's Captain America, First Avenger. First Courtney checks to make sure Captain America is in Range of the attack. Photon Blast has a Range of 4. Since Captain America's base is within the length of the Range 4 Tool from Captain Marvel, he can be targeted by the attack. There is nothing between the characters, so Captain Marvel has LOS to Captain America.

Next, Courtney checks the Strength of the attack. Photon Blast has a Strength of 5, so Courtney takes five dice and places them into her attack dice pool.

Photon Blast is an Energy type attack. Since Captain America's Energy Defense stat is 4, Marco takes four dice and puts them in his defense dice pool. In addition, he has used Captain America's Perfect Block superpower. This costs 2 Power and adds 2 dice to his defense roll. Marco takes the 2 additional dice and adds them to his dice pool, bringing the total to 6.

With both dice pools set, the players roll their dice. Courtney scores a Critical, a Wild, a Blank, a Block, and a Failure. Marco rolls his dice and gets two Blocks, a Wild, two Blanks, and a Failure.

Because Courtney rolled a Critical, she gets to roll one additional die. She rolls and gets another Critical. This one wasn't part of her initial roll, so she doesn't get to roll another additional die.

Marco did not roll any Criticals in his initial roll, so he doesn't roll any additional dice.

Courtney can now choose to modify her dice using any rerolls or die-changing abilities she may have. Captain Marvel has no such abilities... but her allied character, Invincible Iron Man, does! Iron Man spends 2 Power for J.A.R.V.I.S., granting Captain Marvel 2 rerolls. Courtney cannot reroll her Failure, so she rerolls her Blank and Block results. Her new results are a Hit and a Critical. Because it was not rolled as part of the initial roll, Courtney doesn't get to roll an additional die for this Critical.

It's now Marco's turn to modify his dice. Captain America does not have any superpowers that grant him rerolls on his defense dice, and his allies are too far away to help him, so Marco skips this step. Since neither character has any abilities that modify its opponent's dice, both players move on to determine their final success total.

As the attacker, Courtney counts all Critical, Wild, and Hit results as successes.

As the defender, Marco counts all Critical, Wild, and Block results as successes.

Courtney's final roll result is five successes: three Criticals, one Hit, one Wild and one Failure.

Marco's final roll result is three successes: one Wild and two Blocks.

Because Courtney's success total is higher than Marco's, Captain Marvel's Photon Blast succeeds in dealing damage. Before Damage is applied, though, both players check for any effects to resolve resulting from the attack. Photon Blast has a Wild Pursuit ability that lets her Advance Short (1) Toward the target character before damage is dealt if one or more Wilds were rolled.

Since Courtney rolled a Wild, she uses the Short (1) Movement Tool to Advance Captain Marvel Toward Captain America.

Next, the players move on to the Apply Damage step. Since Courtney had two more successes than Marco, Captain America suffers 2 Damage. Marco places 2 Damage tokens on Captain America's Stat Card. Marco also places 2 Power tokens on Captain America's Stat Card—the same number as the amount of Damage he suffered from Captain Marvel's attack.

Photon Blast's special rules state that Captain Marvel gains Power equal to the amount of Damage the attack deals. Since the attack dealt 2 Damage, Courtney places 2 Power tokens on Captain Marvel's Stat Card.

The players now check to see if there are any effects they wish to use now that the attack has been resolved. Neither of them do, so the attack action ends.

Terrain

The battlefield where characters fight can have as dramatic an impact on the course of battle as the abilities of the characters themselves. In Crisis Protocol most of the terrain is interactive, which means it can be used during the game as weapons or cover.

The majority of terrain features—from lampposts and cars to market stands and even skyscrapers—are interactive terrain. Many characters have superpowers allowing them to throw interactive terrain features across the battlefield or throw other characters into them. Additionally, some interactive terrain features have special rules listed on Crisis Cards.

Interactive terrain can be destroyed. When this happens, remove the destroyed terrain feature from the battlefield. If a character is on top of a terrain feature when it's destroyed, place the character directly on the battlefield in the same position when the terrain feature is removed. See below for more information on throwing and destroying interactive terrain.

Non-interactive terrain features, such as those referenced in some Crisis Cards or terrain modeled into the battlefield, can't be Thrown or destroyed.

When a character or object is on top of a terrain feature that is destroyed for any reason, place the character or object onto the battlefield in the same location after removing the terrain feature.

Terrain features all have a Size value. This value represents how big and/or heavy the terrain feature is. The list below shows common features and their Sizes. However, as the battles of the Marvel Universe are as infinite as your imagination, players should always agree before a game begins on the Size and type of the terrain features on their battlefield. If an objective token would be placed overlapping a Size 6 terrain feature, move the terrain feature until it no longer overlaps the objective token.

Here are some examples of common terrain features, but feel free to explore with your own terrain collections:

• Size 1: Benches, small crates, lampposts
• Size 2: Dumpsters, cryotubes, cars
• Size 3: Kiosks, billboards, food trucks
• Size 4: Trucks, market stands
• Size 5: Buildings, monoliths, pyramids

Throwing a Terrain Feature

When a character Throws a terrain feature, the terrain feature is destroyed and removed from the battlefield. Then the character's controller positions the Movement Tool with one end touching the character performing the Throw. Don't use the pivot point on the Movement Tool—it must be straight. The first terrain feature or character contacted or overlapped by the Movement Tool suffers the effects of a collision with the Thrown terrain feature. Ignore any terrain feature the throwing character is overlapping when determining collisions.

If a character is overlapping a terrain feature when it's destroyed, place the character directly on the battlefield in the same position when the terrain feature is removed.

If the Thrown terrain feature collides with another terrain feature of a smaller Size, that terrain feature is also destroyed.

If the Thrown terrain feature collides with a character, the character must make a dodge roll to avoid being damaged by the Throw (see next).

Dodging

When a terrain feature or another character collides with a character, there is a chance for the non-Thrown character to dodge out of the way to avoid some or even all of the damage! To do this, the character rolls dice equal to its Physical defense. Add an additional die to the dodge roll for each Critical in the initial roll, and then apply any dice modifications from special rules and effects. The character takes 3 damage, reduced by 1 for each Critical, Wild, or Block in the final dodge roll.

Dodging (steps).

1. Roll dice equal to the dodging character's Physical Defense.
2. Roll an additional die for each Critical in the initial dodge roll.
3. Modify dodge dice for special rules and effects.
4. Reduce the incoming 3 damage from the collision by 1 for each Critical, Wild, and Block rolled.
5. Suffer any remaining Damage.

Cover

Terrain features can provide cover to characters that hide behind them. There are a number of requirements that must all be met in order for a defending character to benefit from cover:

• The defender must be within Range 1 of a terrain feature of the same Size or larger.
• A straight line can be drawn from any portion of the attacker's base to any portion of the defender's base through that terrain feature.
• The attacker is not within Range 2 of the defender.

During the Modify Defense Dice step of an attack, a defending character benefitting from cover (from terrain or otherwise) may change the result of one defense die to a Block.

Appendix A: Timing

If players attempt to use Reactive superpowers or Team Tactic Cards at the same time, the player with Priority declares and resolves their effects first.

If at any point multiple effects occur simultaneously and the rules do not give instructions to their order, and no player is attacking, always start with the active player and continue in turn order. After all player effects are resolved, resolve all non-player effects in the order chosen by the active player. If a player is attacking, the attacking player resolves all effects, then the defending player, then any non-player effects in the order chosen by the attacking player.

When resolving non-player effects, always resolve the effects of Crisis Cards after all other non-player effects.

Here you will find a detailed, step-by-step breakdown of how to make an attack.

1. Choose an Attack. a. You can't choose an attack if you can't pay its Power cost.
2. Declare an enemy character as the target of the attack. a. Choose a character in the attacking character's LOS to be the target of the attack. b. Measure the Range to the target of the attack. c. If the target isn't in Range, choose one of the following: i. Choose a different target for the attack. ii. The attack ends. d. If the target is in Range, resolve effects that happen when a character is targeted, starting with the attacker.
3. Pay Power for the attack, if applicable. If the Power cost cannot be paid, the attack ends.
4. Create attacker's dice pool. a. Add a number of dice equal to the Strength of the attack to the dice pool. b. Apply effects that add or remove dice. A dice pool can never be reduced to fewer than one die.
5. Create defender's dice pool. a. Add dice equal to the Defense that matches the attack's type. b. Apply effects that add or remove dice. A dice pool can never be reduced to fewer than one die.
6. Roll attacker's dice pool. This is the attack roll.
7. Roll defender's dice pool. This is the defense roll.
8. Resolve Criticals rolled. a. The attacker rolls an additional die for each Critical in the original attack roll. b. The defender rolls an additional die for each Critical in the original defense roll.
9. Modify Dice. a. Players modify their dice. i. The attacker applies rerolls and effects that change the attacker's die results to the attack roll. ii. The defender applies rerolls and effects that change the defender's die results to the defense roll. b. Players modify their opponent's dice. i. The attacker applies rerolls and effects that change the defense die results to the defense roll. ii. The defender applies rerolls and effects that change the attacker's die results to the attack roll.
10. Calculate Success or Failure. a. Total the number of the attacker's Criticals, Wilds, and Hits. This is the number of the attacker's successes. b. Total the number of the defender's Criticals, Wilds, and Blocks. This is the number of the defender's successes. c. Subtract the total number of the defender's successes from the total number of the attacker's successes. If the result is 0 or less, the attack is a failure. If the result is greater than 0, the attack is a hit. The remaining number of successes is the amount of damage the attack will deal in the Apply Damage step.
11. Resolve effects that happen before damage is dealt. a. Apply attacker's effects. b. Apply defender's effects. c. Apply effects of Crisis Cards.
12. Apply Damage. a. The defending character suffers the Damage from the attack. A character can only take Damage equal to its remaining Stamina; any excess Damage is not applied. The target character gains an amount of Power equal to the amount of Damage suffered.
13. The attack is resolved.
14. Resolve effects that happen after the attack. a. Apply attacker's effects. b. Apply defender's effects. c. Apply effects of Crisis Cards.

Appendix B: Special Conditions

Here you will find a list of special conditions and their effects on the characters that have them in the Crisis Protocol base game.

• Bleed – The character suffers 1 damage at the end of each of its Activations.
• Hex – The character doesn't roll additional dice for its Critical results during attack, defense, or dodge rolls.
• Incinerate – The character rolls 1 fewer defense die when making a defense roll.
• Judgment – The character does not gain Power when suffering damage from enemy attacks.
• Poison – The character loses 1 Power during the Power Phase.
• Root – The character must spend 1 Power before using an Active or Reactive superpower.
• Shock – The character rolls 1 fewer attack die when making an attack roll.
• Slow – The character can only use the Short (1) Movement Tool while Advancing.
• Stagger – When the character activates its first action must be a Shake action. This Shake action must remove the Stagger special condition.
• Stun – If an effect would cause the character to gain more than one Power, it gains only 1 Power instead.

Appendix C: Infinity Gems

Some characters in Crisis Protocol have the Innate superpower Gem Bearer. This superpower allows a character to wield a mighty Infinity Gem! This superpower is listed with other keyword superpowers on the character's Stat Card and indicates which Gems the character may have. Each character may only have one Infinity Gem at a time. To include Infinity Gems in your Squad, you must first include them in your Roster. When a character that can take an Infinity Gem is included in your Roster, it may take an Infinity Gem. If it does, increase its Threat Value by the amount listed on the Infinity Gem's card. When a character with an Infinity Gem is included in your Squad, use their new combined threat value. Place the Infinity Gem's card next to the character's Stat Card to show they are in possession of the Gem. Each Roster may contain only one of each Infinity Gem. During the Power Phase, a character with an Infinity Gem gains one additional Power per Gem they have.

Appendix D: Transform

Some characters have superpowers that allow them to Transform into other Forms. When a character that has multiple Forms is deployed, always deploy the Normal Form of the character. This may be represented by half of a split Stat Card, or by an entirely separate Stat Card. While in its Normal Form, a character uses the attacks, superpowers, speed, and size listed under its Normal heading or card. While transformed, it uses the attacks, superpowers, speed, and Size listed under its Transformed heading or card. No matter the Form a character is in, characters with split cards always use the same Defense Values, Threat Level, and Stamina. Characters with separate Form cards use the stats listed on the corresponding Form's Stat Card.

When an effect or superpower causes a character to Transform, follow these steps:

• Place the miniature for the new Form the character is Transforming into on the battlefield within Range 1 of its current position.
• Remove the Transforming character's original miniature. It is now represented on the battlefield by the new Form.

A character that Transforms is still the same character, so any effects, special conditions, or tokens on it remain when it Transforms. How and when a character can Transform is described in its various attacks, superpowers, special rules, and Team Tactic Cards.

Immunities. If a character gains new Immunities in its new Form, the character immediately removes any relevant special conditions. Read your character's Forms carefully to be sure they're playing at their best!

Appendix E: Keywords

• Flight (Innate) – When placing the Movement Tool during an Advance, this character counts as Size 5.
• Gem Bearer [Infinity Gem] (Innate) – This superpower indicates which Infinity Gems the character may have. Each character may only have one Infinity Gem at a time.
• Grunts [X] (Innate) – This character cannot be included in Rosters or Squads. During the Deployment Phase, 1 character with the Grunts keyword is put into play at the same time as its Parent character.
• Healing Factor [X] (Innate) – At the end of each of this character's Activations it may remove X damage from itself.
• Immunity [Special Condition] (Innate) – This character can't suffer the listed special condition. If it has the special condition and gains Immunity to it, the character removes the special condition. For more information on special conditions, see the Special Conditions section.
• Peerless (Innate) – This character cannot be part of the same Squad as another character with the Peerless superpower.
• Reserve (Innate) – This character cannot be included in Rosters, is never deployed at the start of a Game, and cannot be put into play by effects that do not specifically name this character.
• Stealth (Innate) – Characters must be within Range 3 of this character to target it with attacks.
• Wall Crawler (Innate) – When placing the Movement Tool during an Advance, this character counts as Size 5. For more information on Size and movement, see the Movement section.

Appendix F: Legacy Stat Cards

Some older Stat Cards do not look identical to the cards presented in this rulebook. These cards function in the same way as their newer counterparts, with the same symbols aligning to the same meaning in-game. Do not let appearances deceive you!

Appendix G: Grunts

Certain characters have special rules that allow them to place Grunts into play. A Grunt character lists the characters that can put it into play after the Grunts keyword on its Stat Card—these are its Parent characters. Grunt characters can never be included in Rosters. When a Parent character is deployed, 1 of the corresponding Grunt characters is deployed at the same time and is part of your Squad. Grunt characters may otherwise be put into play only by the effects of one of their Parent characters' special rules. A Squad can have a maximum of 1 Grunt character in it at a time. If putting a Grunt character into play would cause a Squad to exceed the maximum number of Grunt characters allowed in that Squad, it is not put into play or deployed.

Grunts have a number of special rules that set them apart from standard characters:

• A player may have only one Grunt character in play at a time.
• Grunt characters are not chosen to activate during a turn. Instead, if they do not have an Activated token, one Grunt character activates during a turn in which their Parent character is chosen to activate. Before the Parent character's activation, the Grunt character activates. At the end of their activation your turn does not end and the Parent character activates.
• If all of a Grunt's Parent characters are Dazed, add an Activated token to the Grunt character. If all of a Grunt's Parent characters are KO'd, change controllers, or are removed from the game, remove the Grunt character from the game.
• If a Grunt character would change controllers, it is removed from the game instead.
• Grunt characters do not have an Injured side. When a Grunt character would be Dazed or would flip its Stat Card to the Injured side, it is KO'd instead.
• If at the start of a player's turn all non-Grunt characters that player controls have Activated tokens, all Grunt characters they control gain an Activated token.
• Grunt characters cannot gain or have Power.
• Grunt characters cannot play Team Tactic Cards.
• Grunt characters cannot be chosen by the effects of Allied Team Tactic Cards.

Appendix H: One-Shot Cards

Characters rarely choose ideal locations to battle over. Day-to-day objects quickly become dangerous projectiles when thrown with super-powered strength, and environmental effects give unexpected advantages to friend and foe alike. One-Shot Cards are an optional way for players to capture these moments and bring them to their games of Crisis Protocol.

Parts of a One-Shot Card

Each One-Shot Card is made up of the following parts:

1. Name - The name of the card.
2. Threat Modifier - The modifier applied to the mission's Maximum Threat Value. If multiple One-Shot Cards are being used, add the Threat Modifiers together before applying them to the mission's Maximum Threat Value.
3. Setup - Additional rules on how to incorporate the One-Shot Card into the mission.
4. Special Rules - Special rules that affect the mission.

After determining priority and before setting up the mission, if all players agree to use one or more One-Shot Cards, follow the Setup rules on the agreed upon One-Shot Cards, if any.

Place any One-Shot Cards in use in a place where they are easily accessible to both players.

Once any One-Shot Cards have been chosen and resolved, players continue setting up the mission as normal.

Appendix I: Additional Objective Types

From bank vaults to mysterious portals, the objectives in Crisis Protocol drive the conflict between two squads of characters. The rules found here describe types of objective tokens other than the core four types and expand the types of missions players can create.

Additional Objective Token Rules

There are two additional types of objective tokens:

• Source tokens: Source tokens represent an object that creates or stores other items, such as a factory or prison cell. Source tokens have two sides: Unexhausted and Exhausted. When a Source token is Flipped, turn the token over to its other side. Exhausted Source tokens cannot be Contested, Secured, or Interacted with. During each Cleanup Phase, Flip each Exhausted Source token to its Unexhausted side.
• Zone tokens: Zone tokens represent an object that has an effect over a specific area of the battlefield. Some examples include spotlights lighting up an area or cameras. Each Zone has an Arc marked on it. A character is within a Zone Token's Arc if it is within Range 3 of that Zone token and any part of its base is within the area defined by the lines on the token. When a Zone token is Placed, the player Placing the token can rotate it in any direction.

When an objective token is Limited, each character can hold only one objective token that has that name at a time.

Example: Invincible Iron Man is within the Zone token's Arc because he is within Range 3 of that Zone token and any part of his base is within the area defined by the lines on the token. Winter Soldier, Operative is not within the Zone token's Arc because no part of his base is within the area defined by the lines on the token.

Quick Reference

Beginning the Game

Building the Mission

1. The player with priority chooses a Crisis type (Secure or Extraction), shuffles their corresponding Crisis Cards, and draws two cards face up.
2. The player without priority selects one of those cards.
3. The player without priority shuffles and draws 2 Crisis Cards from the opposite deck.
4. The player with priority selects one of those cards.
5. The player without priority chooses which Crisis Card's Maximum Threat Value will be used during the game.
6. The player with priority chooses a table edge to be their deployment zone. The player without priority takes the opposite table edge as their deployment zone.
7. Both players set up the Mission, following the instructions on the drawn Crisis Cards.

Building and Deploying Squads

1. After the Mission is built and Maximum Threat Value is determined, players choose characters from their Rosters whose combined Threat Value is equal to or lower than the Maximum Threat Value.
2. Players choose their Squad's Affiliation.
3. Players choose their 5 Team Tactic Cards.
4. Players reveal their Squads simultaneously.
5. Players deploy their Squads, beginning with the player with priority.
6. Players choose their Leaderships simultaneously.

Actions

• Move – Advance or Climb.
• Attack – Use an attack listed on the active character's Stat Card.
• Shake – Remove one special condition.
• Superpower – Use an Active superpower that requires an action.
• Team Tactic Card – Play an Active: Action Team Tactic Card.

Dice Faces

• Critical x1
• Wild x1
• Hit x2
• Block x1
• Failure x1
• Blank x2

Icons

• Range
• Power
• Strength
• Leadership
• Active Superpower
• Reactive Superpower
• Innate Superpower
• Movement (Short/Medium/Long)
• Physical
• Energy
• Mystic
• Damage

Phases of a Round

Power Phase

1. Each character gains 1 Power.
2. Resolve any player effects that happen during the Power Phase, starting with the player with priority.
3. Resolve any non-player effects that happen during the Power Phase. The player with priority chooses the order.

Activation Phase

1. Resolve any effects that happen at the start of the Activation Phase, starting with the player with priority. After any player effects, resolve non-player effects.
2. Players alternate turns until there are no more characters that can activate. During a turn, a player either activates a character or passes. A player who activates a character may make actions, use superpowers, and interact with objectives with that character.
3. Resolve any effects that happen at the end of the Activation Phase, starting with the player with priority. After any player effects, resolve non-player effects.

Cleanup Phase

1. Players score victory points (VPs) from Crisis Cards. Mark these points on the Mission Tracker.
2. Resolve player effects that occur during the Cleanup Phase.
3. Resolve non-player effects. The player with priority chooses the order.
4. Characters with a Dazed token remove all Damage tokens, special conditions, and their Dazed token. They then flip their Stat Cards over to the Injured side.
5. If the player who activated the last character during the Activation Phase has the Priority token, they pass it to their opponent.
6. Remove all Activated tokens from characters.
7. Move the Round token to the next round on the Mission Tracker and begin a new round, starting with the Power Phase.

Attack Sequence

1. Choose an Attack
2. Declare a Target
3. Pay Power Cost
4. Create Attack Dice Pool
5. Create Defense Dice Pool
6. Roll Attack Dice
7. Roll Defense Dice
8. Resolve Criticals
9. Modify Dice
10. Calculate Success or Failure
11. Resolve Effects before Damage
12. Apply Damage
13. Attack Is Resolved
14. Resolve Effects after the Attack

Commonly Mistaken Rules

• Players only roll additional dice for Criticals once per roll, not each time a Critical is rolled.
• Interacting with an objective is not an action.