Pocket Paragons Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Card Anatomy
  • Paragon Cards
  • Ability Cards
• Game Format
• Setup
• Execute
• Energy
• Ultimate Abilities
  • Passive Ultimates (Passive: 1 energy, etc.)
  • Ability Ultimates (Ready: 1 energy, etc.)
• Gameplay
  • 1.) Selection Phase
  • 2.) Resolution Phase
  • 3.) New Round
  • Tie Breaker Rule
• Choosing Your Team
• Conquest Format
• Legacy Format
  • Ability Inheritance
• Glossary
• Master Rulebook
• Ability Types
• Ability Counters

Card Anatomy

There are two types of cards in the game.

Paragon Cards

• Complexity: Rated between 1 and 4. Not a power level.
• Affinity: Your Paragon's key ability.
• Summary: An overview on this Paragon's playstyle. Not effect text.

Ability Cards

• Ability Symbol: Your card's symbol. There are 7 unique symbols in the game.
• Card Name
• Damage Value
• Card Effect: Special effects of your card.
• Symbol Ability: This ability is tied to the symbol of the card.

Game Format

Standard (RECOMMENDED!)

• Play with 1 Paragon and play a single game or a best of 3.

Legacy

• Play with 3 Paragons and the Ability Inheritance rule.

Conquest

• Play with 3 Paragons and try to win a game with each.

Other Modes

• There are other modes that may come in various Pocket Paragons products. You can visit the Master rulebook online at www.pocketparagons.com/Howtoplay which features all game modes.

Setup

Choose a Paragon. Place a Paragon's Character card onto the table, their Ultimate card adjacent to it, and the other cards into their hand. Each player takes a dial to track their HP and energy. Set HP to 10 and energy to 0. Reduce your enemy to 0 HP or Execute to win!

Execute

When you are Executed, you lose the game. Execute happens when a player plays Weapon when your opponent plays Rest. Every character in the game is capable of Execute. Some characters might have alternative ways to Execute.

Energy

Each time you Rest or Counter an enemy ability, gain 1 energy. Once you have enough energy, you gain access to your Ultimate. You can have a maximum of 5 energy.

Ultimate Abilities

Each character has 1 or more Ultimate abilities, which begin the game Stored and unavailable at the start of the game.

Passive Ultimates (Passive: 1 energy, etc.)

Once you have the required energy, these ultimates take effect immediately and remain in effect for the rest of the game. You can gain energy past your ultimate's threshold, but it has no effect.

Ability Ultimates (Ready: 1 energy, etc.)

Once you have the required energy, these ultimates go into your hand and can be played on a future round. After an Ultimate ability is played, the ability will tell you what to do. Ultimate abilities will either become Banished, exhausted, or Stored back into the Ultimate area. When you Store your Ultimate ability, you lose all your energy, but the ability can be unlocked again and played later in the game.

Gameplay

1.) Selection Phase

Each round, both players will secretly select one ability card in their hand and place it face-down. After both players have selected their ability, turn them face up and resolve them simultaneously.

2.) Resolution Phase

Check for Counters. Some cards list other card symbols they counter. If the symbol in the counter section matches the symbol in the upper-left of the opponent's card, they return their card to hand and it has no effect. The countering player gains 1 Energy. Keep track of Energy with your dial.

Example: Burning Grasp is a Strength ability and counters Agility abilities. Concussive Blow (Agility) goes back to the player's hand and does not deal damage or resolve its effects. Burning Grasp resolves as normal, and the player that played it gains 1 Energy.

Each ability still in play deals damage to the other character equal to the number on it. Reduce their HP by the amount of damage dealt. Resolve any other effects on the abilities. Exhaust each ability played this turn by discarding them. Exhausted abilities can't be played on future turns until they become Ready, usually by playing Rest.

3.) New Round

Repeat steps 1 & 2 until one player is at 0 HP or Executed.

Tie Breaker Rule

In the event that both paragons have 0 or less HP at the end of a round, whoever has taken the most damage loses (count HP into the negatives). If HP is tied, continue to play until HP is no longer tied at the end of a round.

Choosing Your Team

In both Legacy and Conquest Mode, both players see the other player's team of 3 Paragons before choosing which character to play first. Each player chooses their first Paragon secretly, then choices are revealed simultaneously.

Conquest Format

A player must win one game with each of his three Paragons to win the match. When a player wins a game, that winning Paragon cannot be used for the remainder of the match. The losing player can keep the same Paragon used or switch to a different one of their choice. Both players make their next Paragon choice in secret and reveal simultaneously.

Legacy Format

A player must defeat all three of the enemy's Paragons to win. When you lose your first Paragon, you choose which of your two remaining characters to send in next and complete an Ability Inheritance. The next character and the surviving character start a fresh game with full HP and 0 energy. Once all your characters are defeated, you lose.

Ability Inheritance

When your character is defeated, you may pass one of their abilities on to your next character. This ability replaces an ability of the matching symbol with the next character. If you do pass an ability, you can't pass an ability that has the no-inheritance symbol, and you can't replace an ability that has that symbol. The ability you pass is made in secret. For your third character, you may pass the ability that was passed to your second character, AND you may pass an ability from your second character.

Example: Card A can be chosen to replace the next character's ability of the same symbol. Card B cannot be chosen to replace because of the no-inheritance symbol. Generally ultimates are forbidden.

Glossary

• Affinity: A character's affinity is a quick reference to show their strongest ability. It has no gameplay function.
• Banish: Banished abilities are set aside for the rest of the game. They can't re-enter the game in any way.
• Boost: Ignore Boost effects unless another effect adds the Boost effect to your cards.
• Counter: If your ability counters another ability, ready the countered ability and ignore its damage and effects as though it were never played.
• Defend: Defend blocks all damage dealt to your character the round you play it, but it does not stop other effects (except Hit effects). Defend does not Counter abilities.
• Energy: Countering an ability gives you 1 energy, and playing Rest gives you 1 energy. Energy is used to gain your Ultimate ability and sometimes to pay for costs. You can have a maximum of 5 energy. You can collect energy past your passive's limit, but it has no effect. You lose all energy when you Store your Ultimate.
• Exhaust: Cards in your discard that you can not play. An effect that causes you to exhaust a card makes you discard a ready card. These cards are face-up and public information.
• Execute: If you play an ability that Executes another type of ability (usually Weapon vs Rest), you instantly win.
• Hit: An ability is considered to have Hit if it successfully dealt at least 1 point of damage.
• Ready: Cards in hand that you can play. An effect that readies a card puts it into your hand.

Master Rulebook

Visit the Master Rulebook featuring all game modes and FAQs across all Pocket Paragons Products: www.pocketparagons.com/Howtoplay

Ability Types

Strength, Intelligence, Agility, Ultimate, Weapon, Defend, Rest, Energy.

Ability Counters

Strength counters Agility, Agility counters Intelligence, Intelligence counters Strength.