Sanctorvm: The Board Game
Sanctorvm: The Board Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- List of Components
- Component Description
- The Overlord
- The Homo Superbe
- Player Selection
- Tips
- Superb Panels
- Attributes
- Health
- Energy
- Losing in Sanctorvm
- States
- Types of Damage
- Weakness, Resistance, and Immunity
- Creating a Homo Superbe
- Level Increase
- Game Versions
- The Adventures
- Narrative Phase
- Allies
- Slot Machine
- Action Phase (AP)
- AP Modes
- Tabernacle
- Gunan's Store
- Shelter
- Imaginarium
- Action Dice
- Target Die
- Tool Token
- Hourglass
- The Coin
- Features
- Minion Cards
- Minion Panel
- Modules
- Board Rules
- Threat
- Distraction
- Relocate
- Cards and Decks
- Adventure Deck
- Ethermancy Deck
- Battling During an AP
- Overlord's Movement
- Overlord's Actions
- Homo Superbe Movement
- Homo Superbe Actions
- Glossary
- Icons List
- Storage Deck
- Gunan's Deck
Introduction
Game Summary
Sanctorvm is a board game in which one player assumes the role of Overlord of the adventure and up to five other players play the part of the Homo Superbe. With each match, the Homo Superbe will progress in the story through Group Decisions (akin to the Choose your Own Adventure books), facing deadly creatures in the Action Phases to obtain rewards, and eventually increasing their skill in the Tabernacle.
With a new danger lurking in every shadow, combat becomes a necessity. Sanctorvm uses a unique system based on Action dice. Each player creates their own dice reserve according to the attributes and skills of their Homo Superbe to perform different actions. In addition, each Homo Superbe has a unique Superb Power that provides an edge in combat, something that could prove decisive if you want to survive the horrors of the Colony.
With double-sided modular maps, card combos and a grim adventure with countless narrative choices, Sanctorvm takes the players to a grotesque and amoral world in which they must band together to survive.
Objective
The main objective in Sanctorvm is to finish the adventure dictated by the Overlord.
Each chapter has different objectives and consequences, making each session a unique experience.
Fight and survive the challenging battles by constantly developing strategies to face this somber universe.
List of Components
This basic box includes the following components:
- This rulebook with the Loud Laugh introductory adventure.
- Adventure Book: Chieftains' War
- 5 double-sided Modules
- 186 Cards
- 71 Weapon Cards
- 24 Armor Cards
- 35 Object Cards
- 12 Grenade Cards
- 9 Proterberus Cards
- 21 Adventure Cards
- 7 Ethermancy Cards
- 1 Neshorn Card
- 1 Lupa Card
- 5 Action Cards
- 15 Action Dice
- 1 Target Die
- 10 Coins
- 6 Superb Panels
- 13 Double-sided Minion Panels
- 6 Minion Cards
- 7 Homo Superbe Miniatures - Side: La Familia
- 1 Prymat
- 1 Nezumi
- 1 Ghurab
- 1 Tapayaxin
- 1 Neshorn
- 1 Lupa
- 1 Romulus
Component Description
Rulebook
This book contains all that is necessary to learn how to play Sanctorvm. It also includes the Loud Laugh introductory adventure, to familiarize the players with the Sanctorvm universe.
Chieftains' War Adventure
This reversible book contains two of the main plots in Sanctorvm: Mad March and Red Radiance. After completing the Loud Laugh adventure, players will have to choose one of them.
Modules
Modules are the ship's compartments in which the miniatures interact during Action Phases.
Weapon and Armor Cards
These cards display the different weapons and armor pieces that the players may obtain from the Action Phases as rewards.
Tool Cards
These cards display the different tools (Objects, Grenades, and Proterberus) that the players may find or acquire as the adventure unfolds.
Adventure Cards
With these cards, players may choose different paths in the adventure, as well as unlock extra pieces of dialog and story in the Tabernacle.
Ethermancy Cards
These cards display the Ethermancy Powers available to Ghurab (Homo Superbe).
Guide Cards
These cards have a summarized explanation of the Homo Superbe actions, as well as the Superb Powers of Lupa and Neshorn.
Action Dice
These dice are used to perform Hits during Action Phases and to solve tests during Narrative Phases.
Target Die
This die is used to control the Overlord's Minions during Action Phases while playing in Solo Mode.
Coins
Coins are used to trade and to solve game mechanics that rely on random results.
Superb Panels
Each Superb Panel represents a particular Homo Superbe. Players must fill these before they start playing.
Minion Panels
All the information regarding the different Minions of the Overlord is contained in these Minion Panels.
Minion Cards
These Minion Cards are used to keep track of the Health and States of the Minions during the Action Phases.
Miniatures
These miniatures represent the Homo Superbe and the Overlord's Minions. The miniatures that belong to the Homo Superbe Side are colored green, and the ones belonging to the Overlord's Side are colored purple. They are used during the Action Phases.
Leader Medal
This medal indicates who is the leader of the Homo Superbe Side.
Feature Tokens
These tokens are placed on the board to represent different Features.
Superb Stimulant Tokens
These tokens represent the stimulants of Lupa's Superb Power.
Tool Tokens
These tokens are placed on the board to represent objects laying on the battlefield during the Action Phases.
Action Indicator
Action Indicators show whether or not a miniature may play their turn.
Marker Tokens
These tokens are used to mark the remaining Health and Energy points that a miniature has in its Superb Panel or Minion Card.
Elite Tokens
These tokens represent the different Elite levels that the Minions may have.
Escape Module Token
This token is used for Escape Objectives and must be connected to one of the doors of a module.
Acrylic Minions
These acrylic minions, along with the acrylic bases, form a Minion miniature.
Acrylic Bases
These acrylic bases act as pedestals for Acrylic Minions. Together they form a Minion miniature. They are used during the Action Phases.
Color Bases
These bases are used to tell miniatures apart.
Cloth Bag
This bag is used to store all of Sanctorvm's tokens.
Hourglass
This hourglass is used to put pressure on the players when making a decision.
Felt-tip Pens
These felt-tip pens are used to fill and mark the Superb Panels and Minion Cards.
The Overlord
In Sanctorvm, the Overlord—commonly called Master—is the narrator and the one who has the last word in any kind of debate during the game.
It could be said that the Overlord is the individual with the highest authority among the players and the one who is tasked with one of the most important roles in the game: to guide and to narrate the story of the Homo Superbe in Sanctorvm.
This requires a high level of responsibility, implying a fair and impartial treatment, as well as having learned the full set of rules and correctly interpreting the actions performed by the rest of the players.
The Overlord has full control of the adventure: should the players progress seamlessly, the Overlord may increase the difficulty of the Tests, increase the level of damage inflicted to the players, add an extra Minion, and so on.
Likewise, if the players are struggling, the Overlord may slip them an extra card from the Tool deck, regenerate their Health Points, and so on.
Just like in any other role playing game, the Overlord must sometimes adapt the sessions to make them fit better to the team, thus managing to continue the adventure while adding tension and—above all—fun for the players.
In short, the goal of the Overlord is to move the adventure forward, guiding the Homo Superbe through the different paths of the story, most of which are filled with danger. As Overlord, make the players shiver with every choice and battle.
The Homo Superbe
With each generation, Dr. Rabidus creates 6 new Homo Superbe: experimental subjects that are genetically altered with the Proteus virus and upgraded with High-Tec implants.
Each of these Homo Superbe has a Superb Attribute (Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Senses, Vigor or Charisma). The Homo Superbe are controlled by the players, they are the protagonists of the adventures in the Sanctorvm universe.
This box contains the Loud Laugh, Mad March, and Red Radiance adventures, which narrate the story of the 6 Homo Superbe, known as members of La Familia.
- PRYMAT, "The Father - Gorilla", STRENGTH.
- TAPAYAXIN, "The Son - Chameleon", SENSES.
- NEZUMI, "The Daughter - Rat", AGILITY.
- NESHORN, "The Grandmother - Rhinoceros", VIGOR.
- GHURAB, "The Grandfather - Raven", INTELLIGENCE.
- LUPA, "The Mother - Wolf", CHARISMA.
Every game of Sanctorvm has two sides: the side of the Overlord, who controls the Minions (purple-colored miniatures), and the Homo Superbe Side, made up of 5 members (green-colored miniatures).
Remember: Some expansions have 6 new Homo Superbe, each representing one Attribute in particular. The Homo Superbe featured in the story of the narrative are indicated at the beginning of each adventure and those are the only ones who may take action during the Narrative Phase of said adventure. If you possess other Homo Superbe, they may be used during the Action Phases to Relieve the main characters (see page 54).
Player Selection
Before a game of Sanctorvm can start, the players must choose which of them will act as the game's Overlord. The rest of the players will have to choose 5 out of the 6 available Homo Superbe for the selected adventure.
Depending on the number of players in each game:
- 1 Player (Solo Mode): One player acts as the Overlord and as the 5 Homo Superbe.
- 2 Players: One player acts as Overlord and another acts as the 5 Homo Superbe.
- 3 Players: One player acts as Overlord, another acts as 3 Homo Superbe, and the remaining one as 2 Homo Superbe.
- 4 Players: One player acts as Overlord, two players act as 2 Homo Superbe each, and the remaining one as 1 Homo Superbe.
- 5 Players: One player acts as Overlord, three players act as 1 Homo Superbe each, and the remaining one as 2 Homo Superbe.
- 6 Players: One player acts as Overlord and the others as 1 Homo Superbe each.
Players may change their roles at the beginning of every chapter: they may choose another Homo Superbe (in this case 5 members of members of La Familia) and a new Overlord.
Remember: The Target Die allows you to control Minions during the Action Phases in Solo Mode.
Tips
All players should attempt to follow these tips, which are key to make the game sessions more fun and enjoyable.
Cooperation
This is a co-op game, so it is vital that all players help each other out, not just the ones playing on the same Side.
Being the Overlord demands an extra effort, not only because the Overlord acts as narrator during the Narrative Phase, but also because they have to control several Minions during the Action Phases; so if the Overlord ever makes a mistake or inadvertently fails to apply a rule, the rest of the players should point it out and help him or her.
Atmosphere
While the story is clearly fictional, players should strive to get immersed into it to the point of acting as if they were their characters. To do so, it could be advisable to use lights as you play, in order to create more tension.
They could also make sounds that help imagining the different situations (like banging on the table, whisperings, impact sounds, the sound of gunshots or machinery, and so on). To that end, players may rely on the smartphone app.
The Overlord will need to play as several characters with different personalities and act accordingly. He or she is the link between the rest of the players and the story and the person responsible for making the game an immersive experience. For example, if the Overlord is narrating a piece of dialog made by a madman, he or she may yell with a high-pitched voice; while if the character is an elderly man, a better option would be to speak with a weak, slow, and hoarse voice.
Additionally, to further add to the ambience, it is advisable to use Sanctorvm's soundtrack, available in the official website and in the most commonly known digital platforms.
Superb Panels
This box contains 6 Superb Panels, each one representing one particular Homo Superbe. In this case, 6 members of La Familia: Prymat, Nezumi, Ghurab, Tapayaxin, Neshorn, and Lupa.
These panels are distinguished by their border, which has the same green color as the miniatures of the Homo Superbe, and by featuring their specific image.
Down below is the breakdown of the parts of the Superb Panels. A detailed explanation on how to set them up may be found further below (see page 22).
- A. Name: Indicates the name of the Homo Superbe.
- B. Health Bar: The Health bar represents the vitality of the Homo Superbe and it functions in the same way for any Minion in Sanctorvm, with 10 points being the maximum value (see page 18). Health Points are represented with the Health Point symbol.
- C. States: Throughout the adventure, the Homo Superbe and the Overlord's Minions may gain and lose States. If the miniature suffers a State, the players must mark its sphere with a felt-tip pen (see page 20).
- D. Energy Bar: The Energy bar represents the physical energy of a Homo Superbe and it decreases as they perform Actions. Energy Points are represented with the Energy Point symbol.
- E. Attributes: Attributes (Strength, Senses, Agility, Vigor, Intelligence, and Charisma) define the basic characteristics of a Homo Superbe. They are the base of Sanctorvm's ruleset and they reflect how the Homo Superbe interact with their environment.
Players have to write the level of the different Attributes in the corresponding circle. Each Homo Superbe has their own Superb Attribute, represented with a border of its respective color.
Attributes are classified into three groups:
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Offensive: The Attributes of Strength and Senses are meant for the use of hand to hand and ranged weapons.
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Defensive: The Attributes of Agility and Vigor are meant for Defense and recharging Energy.
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Special: The Attributes of Intelligence and Charisma are meant for healing and for affecting the number of Actions one may perform per turn.
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F. Skills: Skills determine the specialization of each miniature in order to face the many dangers of an Action Phase. Each Attribute has two Superb Skills.
Players will have to represent the Skill level by marking the triangles with a felt-tip pen.
In case of obtaining a Boost for a Skill, they will have to mark the corresponding (up-arrow) space, indicating an extra level in that Skill. These Boosts are only useful during the Action Phases.
- G. Passives: Each Attribute has its own Passive, meaning that a Homo Superbe has 6 Passives, since they have 6 Attributes. The higher the level of the Attribute, the more powerful will their Passive be.
- H. Superb Power: Each Homo Superbe has a unique Superb Power, which has the potential to make a difference during Action Phases.
- I. Homo Superbe Description: This section describes the physical and psychological traits of each Homo Superbe.
It is important to represent the personality of each character, especially during Narrative Phases, in order to face the moral dilemmas in a way that is faithful to the Homo Superbe that one is playing.
Attributes
Strength
Shortened "STR", this Attribute is linked to the Homo Superbe's raw physical power and to hand to hand combat.
Strength Passive
- Weight: The higher the STR of a Homo Superbe the more Weapon and Tool Cards they can equip before starting an Action Phase. The maximum weight that a Homo Superbe is able to carry is always twice the value of their STR level.
Each Weapon or Tool Card has its weight indicated with the Weight symbol.
Example: A Homo Superbe with STR3 may equip a total weight of 6 in Weapon or Tool Cards.
A Homo Superbe cannot exceed their maximum carry capacity. If that happens, all extra Tool Cards will automatically be transferred to the Storage Deck (see page 51).
Strength Skills
- Melee: This Skill provides extra Action Dice to perform the Action: Melee Hit. This allows to Hit enemies more accurately with hand to hand weapons. For each level assigned to Melee, the Homo Superbe obtains one extra Action Die for their Hit roll.
Also, the Homo Superbe will be able to equip better hand to hand weapons the higher the level of their Melee skill.
Example: Ghurab has his Melee Skill at level 2, so he will only be able to use hand to hand weapons of level 2 or less.
- Rage: This Skill increases the Damage of any Hit made with the Melee or Accuracy Skills. The Homo Superbe will add a Basic Damage bonus equal to the level of their Rage Skill to a successful Hit.
Example: Tapayaxin has a Rage Skill level of 3, so his Melee or Ranged Hits will always deal 3 extra points of Basic Damage.
Prymat's Superb Power
- Ape Rage: Prymat may only use Melee weapons. All of Prymat's successful Hits are considered as Criticals.
Prymat's Superb Attribute is Strength. When creating his Superb Panel, his starting Strength level is 4.
Senses
Shortened "SEN", this Attribute is linked to the five senses of a Homo Superbe.
Senses Passive
- Vision: Vision is used to detect, Hit, or use ranged objects against miniatures. To determine the total range in spaces (reach), the player must add the SEN level + the level of the Radar Skill.
Example: Prymat has SEN3 and a Radar Skill level of 1, so he detects all miniatures within a range of 4 spaces or fewer from him.
Remember: Darkness spaces count as 2 spaces in order to determine the Vision (see page 42).
Senses Skills
- Accuracy: This Skill provides extra Action Dice to perform the Action: Ranged Hit. This allows to Hit enemies more accurately with ranged weapons. For each level assigned to Accuracy, the Homo Superbe obtains one extra Action Die for their Hit roll.
Also, the Homo Superbe will be able to equip better ranged weapons the higher the level of their Accuracy skill.
Example: Lupa has her Accuracy Skill at level 2, so she will only be able to use ranged weapons of level 2 or less.
- Radar: This Skill allows you to automatically detect miniatures in Camouflaged State that want to perform an Action on you.
To that end, your Radar level must be higher than the Stealth level of the Camouflaged enemy and they must be within your Vision.
Example: A Camouflaged miniature with a Stealth Skill level of 0 will be detected if you have a Radar level of at least 1 as long as it is within your Vision. Miniatures detected by Radar automatically lose their Camouflaged State.
In addition, for each level of Radar, your Vision increases its range by 1, so you will be able to detect, Hit, or use objects from farther away.
Remember: The Radar Skill increases the range of Vision.
Tapayaxin's Superb Power
- Chameleon Sight: Tapayaxin may Hit any space within his Vision, disregarding the Trajectory Rule (see page 44).
Tapayaxin's Superb Attribute is Senses. When creating his Superb Panel, his starting Senses level is 4.
Agility
Shortened "AGI", this Attribute is linked to the subtlety and dexterity of a Homo Superbe.
Agility Passive
- Defense: This Passive determines the difficulty level that enemies must match or surpass in order to Hit you. Your AGI level will be the difficulty imposed on the Hit rolls of enemy miniatures.
Example: If a miniature has AGI3, enemies performing Hand to Hand or Ranged attacks must pass a difficulty Test of 3 to Damage it.
Remember: If the final result of a Hit roll doubles the enemy's Defense, the Hit is considered a Critical. (See page 21)
Agility Skills
- Dodge: This Skill immediately transforms one of the Successes of an enemy Hit roll into a Null.
Remember: Rolls have four possible results: Null, Chaos, Success, and 2 Successes. (See page 37).
Example: A miniature whose Dodge Skill level is 2 may automatically cancel 2 Successes from any enemy Hit roll.
- Stealth: This Skill only works if the miniature has its Camouflaged State active.
Your first Hit Action on an enemy (Melee or Accuracy) will add as many Action Dice as the level of your Stealth Skill.
Additionally, if your first Action damages an enemy (either from using Melee, Accuracy, or Ethermancy, or due to the Action of a Tool Card - Proterberus), the damaged miniature will automatically suffer as much Critical Damage as the level of your Stealth Skill.
Example: A Camouflaged miniature with a Stealth Skill level of 3 will obtain 3 extra Action Dice for its first Ranged Hit Action. If it succeeds, it will also deal 3 extra points of Critical Damage.
Nezumi's Superb Power
- Rodent Steps: Nezumi may use Light spaces as if they were Darkness spaces. Also, her Movement is 4.
Nezumi's Superb Attribute is Agility. When creating her Superb Panel, her starting Agility level is 4.
Vigor
Shortened "VIG", this Attribute is linked to the Homo Superbe's physical resistance and to their Energy.
Vigor Passive
- Energy Recovery: At the beginning of their turn, a Homo Superbe will automatically recover twice the value of their Vigor Skill level in Energy Points.
Example: Prymat, with VIG3, will recover 6 Energy Points at the beginning of each of his turns.
Vigor Skills
- Endurance: Whenever a miniature suffers damage caused by the following types of Damage (Basic, Fire, Electric, or Toxic), automatically cancel as much of the Damage dealt as the value of the miniature's Endurance level.
Some Actions inflict more than one type if Damage: cancel the leftmost one first and then the ones to its right in succession.
Example: A Minion was Hit by the "Acid Steel" Action, so it suffers 2 points of Basic Damage and 2 points of Toxic Damage. Since the Minion's Endurance level is 3, it cancels 2 Basic Damage and 1 Toxic Damage, suffering only 1 Toxic Damage.
- Fortitude: Whenever a State negatively affects a miniature with a Fortitude level equal or higher than the level of the State (represented, for example, as 2 Bleeding), that State is automatically cancelled.
Some Actions inflict more than one State: cancel the leftmost one first and then, if there are still Fortitude levels left, cancel the rest.
Example: A miniature was Hit by the "Infected Cut" Action, so it suffers 2 Infected and 3 Bleeding. Since the miniature's Fortitude level is 4, use 2 levels of its Fortitude to cancel 2 levels of the Infected State (the leftmost State). The miniature has 2 Fortitude levels left to defend itself from another State, in this case 3 Bleeding. Those two levels of Fortitude that the miniature has left are not enough to match the 3 levels of the Bleeding State, so the miniature is affected by it.
Remember: If you want to cancel more than one State inflicted by the same Action, your Fortitude level must be equal or higher than the sum total of the level of the States that you mean to cancel.
Neshorn's Superb Power
- Rhinoceros Skin: Before an Action Phase begins, Neshorn must choose to be Resistant to one of the following types of Damage (Basic, Fire, Electric, or Toxic) and to be Immune to a State. This effect lasts until the end of the Action Phase.
Neshorn's Superb Attribute is Vigor. When creating her Superb Panel, her starting Vigor level is 4.
Intelligence
Shortened as "INT", this Attribute is linked to knowledge and Ethermancy, a psychic gift that allows the use of supernatural powers.
Intelligence Passive
- Healing: At the beginning of each Action Phase, the Homo Superbe that are alive automatically recover as many Health Points as the value of their INT level.
Likewise, at the end of each Action Phase, the Homo Superbe that survived the battle automatically recover as many Health Points as the value of their INT level.
Example: At the beginning of an Action Phase, a Homo Superbe with INT3 with their Action Indicator enabled will regain 3 Health Points just before the battle starts and then again when it ends (if they are still alive).
If a Homo Superbe is dead when an Action Phase starts (because they were killed during a previous Action Phase or during the Narrative Phase), instead of recovering as many Health Points as the value of their INT level, they revive with 1 Health Point.
Example: Tapayaxin died during a Personal Decision during the Narrative Phase. At the beginning of the next Action Phase, Tapayaxin revives with 3 Health Points: 1 point due to the Healing Passive and 2 thanks to his level 2 Aura Skill.
Remember: The Aura Skill increases the Health Points that a Homo Superbe recovers when they revive. (See page 16).
Intelligence Skills
- Ethermancy: This Skill allows the Homo Superbe to create a Tool Card - Proterberus before starting a chapter. To do so, they flip as many coins as the value of the level of their Homo Superbe's Ethermancy Skill. If any of the coins you flipped results in a Cooperlay, you may pick a single Tool Card - Proterberus of your choosing.
Tool Cards - Proterberus level up as the Ethermancy Skill increases: the higher the level, the more powerful will their effects be.
Example: At the beginning of the chapter, Prymat—whose Ethermancy Skill level is 2—may flip two coins. He gets 1 Cooperlay in his first attempt, so he picks a Tool Card - Proterberus of his choosing. Although he may still flip one coin, he cannot obtain any more Proterberus per chapter.
- Handling: The Homo Superbe Side may recover the Tool Cards discarded during a battle once they accomplish the Objective of an Action Phase. To do so, the player using the Homo Superbe with the highest level of Handling must add up the total value of the Handling Skill of all Homo Superbe and flip a coin as many times as the result they obtained.
For each Cooperlay obtained, the Homo Superbe Side recovers one random Tool Card from the ones discarded during that battle (to a maximum equal to the value of the aforementioned player's Handling level).
Example: Nezumi, with a Handling Skill level of 3, is the Homo Superbe that flips the coin. The combined Handling value of all characters in the Homo Superbe Side is 5, so Nezumi flips the coin 5 times and obtains four Cooperlays. Since her Handling level is 3, she may only recover up to 3 random Tool Cards discarded by the Homo Superbe Side.
Remember: If the Armor equipped during the Action Phase grants a Boost to Handling, you will get one extra coin to recover cards.
Also, depending on your Handling level, you may use more powerful Tool Cards (Object or Grenade).
Example: Since Nezumi has a Handling level of 3, she may use Tool Cards - (Object or Grenade) of level 3 or lower.
Ghurab's Superb Power
- Primordial Ethermancer: Ghurab is the only Homo Superbe who can use Ethermancy cards.
Before starting a new chapter, Ghurab chooses as many Ethermancy cards as the value of his Ethermancy Skill level.
Example: If Ghurab has an Ethermancy Skill level of 3, he may choose 3 Ethermancy cards at the beginning of each chapter.
Ghurab's Superb Attribute is Intelligence. When creating his Superb Panel, his starting Intelligence level is 4.
Ethermancy
Ethermancy is a psychic gift that some subjects develop thanks to the Proteus virus, which grants them supernatural powers. It could be said that it is the equivalent of "magic" in the Sanctorvm Universe.
This power usually appears in creatures with an advanced infection. However, it is possible that low doses of the virus may still grant the power of Ethermancy without turning the subject into a sanguinemorph. Such is the case of the Homo Superbe and some other characters in the colony.
Living beings are not the only ones touched by the gift Ethermancy: objects such as the "Proterberus" Tool Cards are also imbued with Ethermatic powers.
Charisma
Shortened "CHA", this Attribute is linked to a Homo Superbe's leadership and luck.
Charisma Passive
- Action Points: During an Action Phase, miniatures may perform several Actions during their turn (see page 55). Actions cost "x" Action Points. A Homo Superbe obtains as many Action Points per turn as the value of their CHA Attribute level. Action Points are represented with the Action Point symbol.
Charisma Skills
- Luck: Once a miniature has obtained the result of an Action dice roll they have made, they may automatically transform 1 Chaos they obtained into 1 Success for each level of Luck they have (see page 37).
Example: A miniature rolls 5 dice to attempt to Hit an enemy and obtains 2 Successes, 2 Chaos, and 1 Null. Since the miniature's Luck level is 2, the 2 Chaos are turned into 2 Successes and the final result of the roll is thus 4 Successes.
- Aura: This Skill aids the miniatures in your Side if they are in the same space as you (adjacent). For each level in the Aura Skill, one extra Action Die will be added to your adjacent companions' rolls.
In addition, if you die and get revived by any reason, you will obtain as many extra Health Points as the value of your Aura level.
Example: A miniature has an Aura level of 3, so its adjacent Allies' rolls will get 3 extra Action Dice.
Lupa's Superb Power
- Wolf Pack: Lupa can always count on her faithful animal companion, Romulus. This robot grants Lupa's Aura to all Homo Superbe adjacent to it, and may provide them with Stimulants as well.
The text printed on the Romulus card reads: Lupa may spend 1 Action Point and 1 Energy to order Romulus to move in to provide one of the following Stimulants to a Homo Superbe adjacent to the wolf:
- Madness Stimulant: Flip the coin x2. If Cooperlay: you recover 4 Energy.
- Frenzy Stimulant: When you eliminate an enemy, you obtain 1 Action Point extra without Energy cost.
- Adrenaline Stimulant: Moving spends no Energy.
- Faith Stimulant: At the beginning of the turn you recover 3 Health.
Romulus grants Lupa's Aura to allies adjacent to it. The Stimulant is returned to Lupa at the end of the stimulated Homo Superbe's turn.
Note: the Romulus card cost (1 Energy) differs from the Stimulate cost given in the Stimulate paragraph below (2 Energy). Both are transcribed as printed; the Stimulate paragraph is the rules text.
Remember: Performing at least one Action is a prerequisite for Lupa to order Romulus to Stimulate an adjacent Homo Superbe.
Stimulate: In order to perform Lupa's special Action, spend 1 Action Point and 2 Energy to provide one of the four Superb Stimulants to a living Homo Superbe adjacent to Romulus. This Action may be repeated during the same turn, selecting a different Superb Stimulant and spending the cost of performing the Stimulate Action. Romulus may move up to four spaces to provide Stimulants to different Homo Superbe if necessary.
Example: In a space in which there can only be 3 miniatures of the each Side, Lupa and Romulus would count as a single miniature.
Remember: Lupa only has these 4 Stimulants. Romulus cannot provide a Stimulant until Lupa regains the Stimulant Token used by the stimulated Homo Superbe.
Superb Stimulants
- Adrenaline Stimulant: Moving costs no Energy.
- Frenzy Stimulant: If you kill a miniature, you may perform one additional Action with a cost of 1 Action Point, free of Energy cost. (Once per round only)
- Madness Stimulant: Flip a coin twice at the beginning of your turn. You recover 4 Energy for every Cooperlay you obtained.
- Faith Stimulant: At the beginning of the turn you recover 3 Health.
Remember: Stimulant tokens must always return to Lupa, whether because they applied their effect on the Homo Superbe that had the token or because their Action Indicator was disabled (the turn ends or they died).
Important: Lupa cannot benefit from the effects of her Stimulants, nor from Romulus' Aura.
Additionally, Romulus is not considered a miniature for game purposes. This means that Romulus cannot be targeted and is immune to any effect.
Remember: If Romulus is adjacent to Lupa and she moves to another space, the wolf will move with her free of cost.
Lupa's Superb Attribute is Charisma. When creating her Superb Panel, her starting Charisma level is 4.
Health
Health Points represent the physical health of any miniature. If these points reach 0, the Minion or Homo Superbe dies.
The Health Point bar is divided into three colors: Green, Orange, and Red. As the Health of a Homo Superbe or Minion decreases, so will the Health Point bar meter, going from Green to Orange to Red.
Depending on the color of the Health bar, some of the available Actions featured in Weapon Cards or Minion Panels will become enabled or disabled.
Vital Signs
- A. Healthy: Represented by the color Green. The miniature has between 10 and 7 Health Points.
- B. Wounded: Represented by the color Orange. The miniature has between 6 and 3 Health Points.
- C. Grave: Represented by the color Red. The miniature has between 2 and 1 Health Points.
- D. Dead: When a miniature has lost all of its Health Points, disable its Action Indicator.
There are two ways to die:
- Dying during an Action Phase: If a miniature's Health has reached 0 or is negative, disable their Action Indicator by flipping it and knock the miniature over in the same space where it died.
If a Homo Superbe dies, all the Tool Cards that they had equipped are discarded as if they had been used during that battle.
- Dying during a Narrative Phase: If a Homo Superbe's Health reaches 0 or is negative due to Decisions or Tests that they performed, flip their Action Indicator, rendering it disabled.
Remember: Having their Action Indicator disabled prevents a Homo Superbe from taking action or making decisions during Narrative and Action Phases.
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E. Revive: Only the Homo Superbe may revive. There are several ways to revive:
- At the beginning of an Action Phase, fallen Homo Superbe revive with 1 Health Point, without recovering additional Health through the Healing Passive (INT).
- Players may pay one coin to the Overlord at any time to revive a Homo Superbe with 1 Health Point.
- There are Tool or Ethermancy Cards capable of reviving a Homo Superbe. Further details on their effects may be found on them.
- Whenever you visit the Tabernacle, all fallen Homo Superbe revive and fully restore their Health Points.
Once the miniature has revived and recovered the appropriate Health Points, it must:
- Enable its Action Indicator.
- Fully recover its Energy.
- Cancel all its States.
- Set the miniature straight in the same place where it died (AP).
Remember: The Aura Skill grants extra Health Points to any revival.
Remember: Positive effects have priority over negative effects in Sanctorvm. For that reason, healing will always have precedence over any harmful effect, in case they overlap.
Example: Lupa grants a Faith Stimulant to Neshorn, who is suffering a Burning State. At the beginning of Neshorn's turn, she will heal 3 Health thanks to Faith and then she will lose 2 Health due to the Burning State.
Energy
Energy Points allow the performance of Actions during Action Phases.
When a Homo Superbe chooses an Action from a Weapon Card that they have equipped, they must automatically spend the indicated amount of Energy.
If the Energy counter reaches 0 and the Homo Superbe still wants to perform Actions, they may spend Health Points as if they were Energy, even to the point of reaching 0 (death).
Example: Prymat has run out of Energy (counter reached 0) and is in Grave State, with 2 Health. Regardless, he wants to perform one last Action before falling in combat, so he performs a 2 Energy cost Action and dies. The miniature is knocked over, its Action Indicator is disabled and all the Tool Cards it had equipped are discarded.
If the Action's cost is higher than the sum total of the Homo Superbe's Energy and Health, then they cannot perform it.
Example: In the same case as earlier, if the Action's cost had been 3 or more, then Prymat would have been unable to perform it, since his Health would be less than 0.
Losing in Sanctorvm
If all 5 Homo Superbe die, players lose the game and will have to replay the chapter from the beginning.
Consequences:
- All Tool Cards in the Storage are destroyed and sent to the Tool Deck.
- Weapon and Armor Cards obtained during the chapter are sent back to the Armament Deck.
Remember: As Overlord, you have the power to grant the players a second chance, if you deem they deserve it...
States
Throughout the adventure and during the Action Phases, miniatures will gain and lose several States. States are cumulative, so a single miniature may have more than one State at the same time. States may be classified into three groups.
Harmful States
- Bleeding State (red icon): At the beginning of their turn, miniatures with the Bleeding State suffer 1 Damage point. The miniature will lose this State when any kind of healing effect is applied to its Health bar.
- Burning State (orange icon): At the beginning of their turn, miniatures with the Burning State suffer 2 Damage points. Afterwards, flip a coin: if the result is a Cooperlay, lose the Burning State.
- Infected State (green icon): At the end of Round of Turns, miniatures with the Infected State suffer 3 Damage points. Afterwards, the Infected State jumps to the nearest miniature (it may only jump a single space of distance). The infection cannot jump to another miniature that was already infected during that round. If the Infected State cannot jump to another miniature, the infection is eliminated.
Remember: Damage caused by States is considered as Critical Damage, so it is not cancelled by the Endurance Skill.
Helpful State
- Camouflaged State (icon of a figure hidden in a Darkness space): Miniatures that start their turn in a Darkness Space, automatically obtain the Camouflaged State. That miniature becomes undetectable and cannot be subjected to any Action, nor Threatened by any other miniature as long as the enemy has not detected it using the Radar Skill.
Miniatures lose the Camouflaged State when they:
- Attempt a Hit Action or a Use Tool Action.
- Suffer the Burning or Terrified States.
- Remove a Rubble Feature.
- Are detected by the Radar Skill.
Remember: Moving does not cancel the Camouflaged State.
Physical States
- Stunned State (icon of a stunned figure): Miniatures with the Stunned State do not recover Energy Points at the beginning of their turn, cannot perform Actions, and their Skills are temporarily disabled (they all become level 0, including Boosts). They will lose this State once their turn is over.
- Terrified State (purple icon): Miniatures with the Terrified State do not recover Energy Points at the beginning of their turn and they cannot perform Actions. They will have to move 5 spaces, spending the corresponding Energy cost (5) to get as far away from the enemies as possible (outside their range of Vision). Afterwards, their turn will end and the Terrified State is lost.
Unlike Minions, when a Homo Superbe is affected by the Terrified State, the priority to perform the 5 space movement is:
- Prioritize an available Escape space.
- Prioritize a Safe space.
- Prioritize not having enemies within their range of Vision.
Remember: If having no enemy within your Vision is impossible, reposition yourself 5 spaces attempting to accomplish so in the best way possible.
- Fatigued State (yellow icon): A Homo Superbe with the Fatigued State sets their Energy bar at 0 at the beginning of their turn and does not recover Energy Points.
Since Minions do not have Energy bars, instead of losing Energy Points, they lose 1 Action Point.
All miniatures lose this State once their turn is over.
Types of Damage
There are 6 types of Damage in Sanctorvm:
- Basic Damage: It may be cancelled by the Endurance Skill.
- Fire Damage: It may be cancelled by the Endurance Skill.
- Electric Damage: It may be cancelled by the Endurance Skill.
- Toxic Damage: It may be cancelled by the Endurance Skill.
- Ethermantic Damage: The Endurance Skill does not cancel it.
- Critical Damage: The Endurance Skill does not cancel it.
All weapons have this extra Critical Damage. To obtain it, you must double the enemy's Defense with the Successes obtained in the Hit roll (see page 49).
Weakness, Resistance, and Immunity
The Overlord's Minions and the Armor of the Homo Superbe may have some of the following effects regarding types of Damage and States:
- Weakness: Miniatures with Weakness to a certain type of Damage will suffer double Damage from it.
Remember: In Sanctorvm, numbers are rounded down and the minimum is always 1.
- Resistance: Miniatures with Resistance to a certain type of Damage will halve the Damage they suffer from it.
- Immunity: Miniatures with Immunity to a certain type of Damage suffer no Damage whatsoever from it. Miniatures that are immune to a State cannot have that State applied to them.
Remember: Points assigned to the Endurance Skill and the Fortitude Skill are not used to cancel States or Damage types to which you are Immune, they are simply cancelled.
Example: If the Homo Superbe Side wants to attack the Teknokinetic with Toxic Damage, his weakness will cause him to suffer twice as much Damage as the Action shows. However, if he is attacked with Ethermancy, he will suffer only half the Damage (1 being always the minimum Damage). Finally, the Teknokinetic cannot suffer the Fatigued State since he is Immune to it. The other Damage types affect him normally.
Creating a Homo Superbe
This section explains how to create a Homo Superbe. This must be done with all the Superb Panels that the players have, before the game starts.
Neshorn—the Grandmother—who represents the Superb Attribute Vigor, will be used as an example down below.
Attribute Selection
The first thing that players must do is to set the Superb Attribute of each Homo Superbe to level 4. The Superb Attribute is represented by a border of the same color as the specific Homo Superbe.
Homo Superbe Side: La Familia
- STRENGTH - Prymat, "The Father".
- SENSES - Tapayaxin, "The Son".
- AGILITY - Nezumi, "The Daughter".
- VIGOR - Neshorn, "The Grandmother".
- INTELLIGENCE - Ghurab, "The Grandfather".
- CHARISMA - Lupa, "The Mother".
Then, players must choose an Attribute—known as Boosted Attribute—that is set to level 3. Lastly, the other Attributes will be set to level 2.
Example: Neshorn has Vigor (represented by a blue border) as her Superb Attribute. She has chosen Intelligence as her Boosted Attribute, so her Panel turns like this:
STR2 - SEN2 - AGI2 - VIG4 - INT3 - CHA2
Skill Selection
Once the level of each Attribute is properly set, players will need to level up the Skills they wish.
Each Attribute has 2 Skills. The Homo Superbe have a Superb Attribute and both the Skills that come with it are Superb as well.
When you create a Homo Superbe, both Superb Skills start at level 1. Players must then choose one Skill from each remaining Attribute, which will become Secondary Skills. They also start at level 1.
Example: In this case, Neshorn's Superb Attribute is Vigor, so both her Superb Skills start at level 1:
Superb Skills from Vigor
- Endurance: Level 1.
- Fortitude: Level 1.
A Secondary Skill of each remaining Attribute is chosen next. In Neshorn's case, the player has chosen:
Secondary Skills
- Melee: Level 1.
- Radar: Level 1.
- Dodge: Level 1.
- Ethermancy: Level 1.
- Aura: Level 1.
Once Attributes and Skills have had their corresponding level marked, the Homo Superbe has been created and is ready to play. The same process must be repeated with all available Superb Panels.
Tip: Melee (hand to hand combat) or Accuracy (ranged combat) Skills are key in battle. It is advisable to specialize in at least one of them.
Level Increase
As players progress in the adventure, their Homo Superbe will become stronger. At the end of some Tabernacles, a level increase is indicated. When that time comes, each player will pick a new Boosted Attribute, increasing a level 2 Attribute to level 3. Both Superb Skills will also increase by 1 level. Players will then have to choose a Secondary Skill from each remaining Attribute and increase its level by 1 as well.
Example: Neshorn level increase. Boosted Attribute chosen by the player: STRENGTH. Increase Neshorn's Strength level by 1, as well as the Vigor-related Superb Skills, since that is Neshorn's Superb Attribute.
Boosted Attribute
- Strength: Level 3.
Superb Skills from Vigor
- Endurance: Level 2.
- Fortitude: Level 2.
Then, the player picks a Secondary Skill from each remaining Attribute and increases their level by one.
Secondary Skills
- Rage: Level 1.
- Accuracy: Level 1.
- Dodge: Level 2.
- Handling: Level 1.
- Aura: Level 2.
Game Versions
Once every Homo Superbe has been created, you must choose between one of two ways to play Sanctorvm: adventure or arcade version.
Adventure
This version is the very essence of the game and it is destined for players who want to see their characters evolve while enjoying an adventure in which the choices made each time they play have a meaningful impact on how the story unfolds.
Adventures are composed of two kinds of Phases, which are thoroughly explained down below.
- Narrative Phase: The story of Sanctorvm is recounted during the Narrative Phase, which includes the decisions and tests that the Homo Superbe must face using their Superb Panel and the Action Dice. It is not necessary to use the board, the miniatures or the cards during the Narrative Phase.
Remember: Each Homo Superbe has their own personality described on the back of their panel. When making a decision, players should be as faithful to their character's personality as possible.
- Action Phase: Abbreviated as AP, this is the moment when battles take place. The Overlord will use the modules to create the board, placing all the necessary miniatures. The Homo Superbe Side selects the cards they want to equip from the Storage Deck and then they will have to depend on their ingenuity to survive the challenge and continue their adventure.
Remember: An adventure requires several game sessions (approximately 2 to 4 hours for each chapter).
You may find the Loud Laugh introductory adventure on the back of this book. It is made up of 5 chapters, which means it requires at least 5 game sessions. Once this introductory adventure is over, players may begin playing another of the available adventures, which also consist of 5 chapters each, so you will need yet another 5 sessions to complete another one of Sanctorvm's stories.
Arcade
This version is meant for players that want to play an approximately 1 hour long session without progressing in the story.
The Arcade version does not have a Narrative Phase, it is just a succession of individual Action Phases.
At the end of each adventure, players may find the Imaginarium page (see page 36) which shows all the Action Phases available in the chosen adventure.
To play the Arcade version, players must:
- Choose an Action Phase.
- Build a Storage Deck with all of the previous Action Phases' Weapon and Armor Cards.
- Pick all the necessary Tool Cards from the Tool Deck shown in the Imaginarium (Replicas) and go to the page where the Action Phase is. You may find everything that you need to face the challenge in it.
Once the Action Phase is over, return all cards to their corresponding Deck.
Remember: Weapon Cards: 2x Electric Baton, 2x Th3x Pistol, 2x E-Shield, and 2x Blaster are the starting Weapons for the first Action Phases of the Loud Laugh introductory Adventure (Arcade Version).
The Adventures
In the Loud Laugh introductory adventure, the Homo Superbe start at level 1 and only increase their level at the end of chapter 3. That is why during the adventures that follow it (Mad March, Red Radiance, Steel Steps, and Whisper Walls) all the Homo Superbe start the first chapter at level 2 with all the Weapon and Armor Cards obtained as rewards during the Action Phases of the Loud Laugh introductory adventure.
All adventures in Sanctorvm are made up of 5 chapters:
Chapter
The main events of the adventure are divided into chapters, the players must therefore devote a full game session to complete any given chapter.
To overcome it, players must play out the different scenes (as they branch out depending on the players' choices) until they reach the Tabernacle.
Remember: The Overlord does not need to read the chapter beforehand, the adventures are designed to be read without any previous preparation.
Scene
Chapters are made up of a set of scenes. Depending on the choices made by the Homo Superbe Side (or their current situation), the story will jump from scene to scene, just like the famous "Choose your own Adventure" book format.
A scene may end with a boxed instruction such as: Go to Scene 06.
Scenes are made up of a Narrative Phase which may also include Action Phases.
Narrative Phase
During the Narrative Phase, the Overlord acts as storyteller and recounts the story of Sanctorvm. At the beginning of a scene, the Overlord will have to read the text out loud, narrating it to the players. When a character speaks, their text will appear in italics, and must be interpreted with personality that the Overlord sees fit.
Remember: Text in boldface type must not be read out loud during the adventures, they are usually notes for the Overlord or Scene changes.
As the reading progresses, the Overlord will find the following sections:
Personal Test of Attribute
Throughout the game, players will find themselves facing situations in which they must interact with certain challenges presented by the adventure solely using their Attributes.
Example box: La Familia has to perform a Lvl. 4 Personal Test of VIG to avoid losing 3 Health.
The following list summarizes the aforementioned Attributes:
- Strength: Linked to the Homo Superbe's raw physical power.
- Vigor: Linked to a Homo Superbe's physical endurance and their resistance.
- Agility: Linked to a Homo Superbe's subtlety and dexterity.
- Senses: Linked to the five senses of a Homo Superbe.
- Intelligence: Linked to general knowledge.
- Charisma: Linked to the Homo Superbe's luck and social skills.
These Attribute Tests are individual for each Homo Superbe. To solve them, the player will pick a number of Action Dice equal to the value of the level of the featured Attribute, roll those dice and calculate the result of said roll taking the Luck Skill into consideration to turn the Chaos results into Successes (see page 37).
Remember: Only the following Skills are taken into consideration during the Narrative Phases: Luck (Charisma), Endurance (Vigor), and Fortitude (Vigor).
If the Homo Superbe obtained:
- Success: The Homo Superbe matches or surpasses the difficulty imposed by the Test, signaling that they have successfully overcome it. Sometimes they will earn rewards or effects described in the Test.
- Failure: The Homo Superbe falls short of the difficulty imposed by the test, signaling that they have failed to overcome it. Sometimes they will suffer Damage or some State, which they may cancel with the Endurance Skill and the Fortitude Skill.
Example box: Prymat has to perform a Lvl. 3 Test of SEN. Success: You grab the bottle before it hits the ground. Failure: You fail to catch the bottle and it hits the ground.
Overlord Decision
Overlord Decisions are represented by the Overlord Decision symbol within a purple border and are meant for the Overlord.
Example box: A. Launch flaming spiders. B. Attack with front legs.
When an Overlord Decision appears, the Overlord must choose one option without saying anything to the rest of the players and apply what is described.
Personal Decision
Personal Decisions are represented by the Personal Decision symbol within a green border and are meant for each individual Homo Superbe.
Example box: A. Check Charles' vital signs. B. Hack the SD-1 to make it help you.
When a Personal Decision appears, the Overlord must read the different options to the other players and each one must then choose the one they believe to be more beneficial for themselves according to their Homo Superbe's personality.
Once everyone has made their decision, the Overlord reads its corresponding resolution, subsequently applying what is described in the Personal Decision.
Group Decision
Group Decisions are represented by the Group Decision symbol within a green border and since they require a certain level of agreement, the members of the Homo Superbe Side must vote to reach a decision.
Example box: A. Explore your surroundings. B. Force the garage door.
Just like in the previous subsection, the Overlord must read the different options to the other players and they will have to debate in order to determine which option to choose, each playing the part of their Homo Superbe with their corresponding personality and motives.
Once the Homo Superbe Side has reached a decision, the Overlord reads its corresponding resolution, subsequently applying what is described in the Group Decision.
Remember: Some decisions may demand the destruction or use of certain cards in order to carry on with the decision.
If no agreement is reached during a Group Decision or if the Leader simply wants to unilaterally make the decision, they may use the Leader Medal and choose the option that they consider to be most convenient. If they do so, they must pass the Leader Medal to the player to their right.
Remember: Sanctorvm is a co-op game, so it is advisable not to misuse the Leader Medal.
Leader Decision
Leader Decisions are represented by the Leader symbol within a green border. These decisions fall solely upon the Homo Superbe Leader's shoulders (the player who is holding the Leader Medal at the moment).
Example box: A. Attack the bandits. B. Get away quietly.
Just like the previous subsections, the Overlord must read the different options, but this time the Leader of the Homo Superbe will have to make a strategic choice, the one that he or she considers to be the most convenient and beneficial to the Homo Superbe Side.
Once the Leader makes the decision, the Overlord reads its corresponding resolution, subsequently applying what is described in the Leader Decision.
Remember: The rest of the players cannot persuade the Leader into making one particular Leader Decision.
Leader Medal: At the beginning of each chapter, the Homo Superbe Side must choose which of the players will have possession of the Leader Medal first (exclusive to this Side). From that moment on, the medal represents the group's Leader.
Sound File
Sound Files are recordings that relay the experience of certain characters in the Sanctorvm universe. Thanks to these audio files, players may get to discover the hidden secrets that Cooperlay's Daughter 401 holds.
Use Sanctorvm's smartphone app and insert the code obtained to listen to the Sound File.
Example box shows the code XZYQ2.
Enigma
Enigmas are represented by the "Enigma" title, followed by their number and the Enigma symbol.
Example title: Enigma 01.
Enigmas are logic tests that the Homo Superbe must overcome throughout the Narrative Phase.
The details of each Enigma are detailed in the adventure. The Overlord has to read the Enigma out loud and the other players must solve it together.
Players may spend more time than they usually do to solve these tests. If the Overlord believes that the players are struggling to find the solution, then it is possible to give them helpful clues.
The Overlord has access to the Enigma's solution—which is explained right after the Enigma itself—to determine if the players have solved it.
As a general rule, Enigmas have a Success or Failure section, much like the ones described in the previous page.
Allies
Throughout the adventure, the Homo Superbe Side will meet a number of characters that may help them during the next Action Phase if some condition has been met prior to it. These allied miniatures will be controlled by the Homo Superbe Side during the next Action Phase.
To represent an Ally, players must join the allied miniature's base to a colored base (green) and pick their Action Indicator, as well as one Minion Card. Additionally, the Overlord must show the allied miniature's Minion Panel to the rest of the players so they may control the Ally during the AP.
These new Allies are not considered as Homo Superbe, so rules that specifically apply to the Homo Superbe do not affect Allies.
Down below are the 3 types of Allies:
Automaton
When a potential Automaton Ally appears, they are usually in need of repairs or assistance by the Homo Superbe Side, which must pass an Attribute Test. The difficulty of said Test will be detailed in the adventure, in a blue text box like the one below.
The Homo Superbe facing the Test has only one chance to pass it. If they succeed, that automaton miniature will aid the Homo Superbe Side during their next Action Phase.
Example box (Automaton Ally): One Homo Superbe must pass a Lvl. 3 Personal Test of INT. Success: The SD-1 becomes an Ally during the next Action Phase. Failure: The SD-1 feels threatened and hits the Player, who loses 2 Health.
Commander
When a potential Commander Ally appears, they always have a challenge for the Homo Superbe Side.
If they accept the condition, the Commander will help the Homo Superbe Side during the next Action Phase, but the Overlord will have to increase the condition section of the Action Phase with this new challenge (see page 31).
Example box (Commander Ally): If La Familia accepts the condition: A Commander becomes an Ally. Condition: The members of La Familia suffer 1 flame icon during the next AP.
Mercenary
When a potential Mercenary Ally appears, they usually ask for coins in exchange of helping the Homo Superbe Side. If they pay, that Minion's miniature will aid the Homo Superbe Side during their next Action Phase.
Example box (Mercenary Ally): La Familia may pay 2x Coins to recruit a Teknokinetic Mercenary. This Ally joins the La Familia Side until the end of the next AP.
Remember: When the Action Phase ends, the Ally disappears, no longer being part of the Homo Superbe Side and being removed from the Board.
Slot Machine
During the Narrative Phase, the Homo Superbe Side may find Dr. Rabidus' slot machines. The Homo Superbe may use them by spending a coin to obtain different rewards (Tool Cards, legendary Weapon Cards, or Coins).
These machines are featured in text boxes like the one below and the Overlord will have to let the rest of the players know that they may interact with it.
Example box (Slot Machine): La Familia may spend 1x Coin to activate the Slot Machine. You may use it up to 3 times.
To use the machine, the players of Homo Superbe Side must spend 1 Coin (they lose it) and one of them must roll three dice, one after the other. The Overlord must set them in the order they were rolled and check if the player has obtained any reward.
The possible combination and their respective rewards are the ones listed below:
- Three of a kind:
- Three Null faces: You roll again.
- Three Chaos faces: 1x Random Tool Card.
- Three Success faces: 2x Random Tool Cards.
- Three 2 Successes faces: The Homo Superbe Side chooses one legendary Weapon Card or 4x Coins.
- Flushes:
- (Null or Chaos) + Success + 2 Successes: One random legendary Weapon Card or 3x Coins.
- 2 Successes + Success + (Null or Chaos): 1x Random Tool Card and 2x Coins.
Remember: The player who makes the roll may use their Luck Skill with this machine. For each level in Luck, they may turn one Chaos into a Success to obtain a satisfactory combination.
Action Phase (AP)
Some scenes contain Action Phases. Players will find these as the story unfolds. The Homo Superbe Side will have to fight these APs to continue their adventure.
For an AP to start, the Overlord must read out loud the following sections with their corresponding descriptions:
- Narrative
- Objective
- Advantage
An example of an AP may be found below, with its different sections explained:
1. Narrative
Every Action Phase has a small narrative introduction that the Overlord should read right before the battle begins.
2. Objective
The Homo Superbe Side must achieve the Objective described in the Action Phase to continue with the adventure.
Remember: The Homo Superbe Side may only obtain an AP's reward (Weapons or Armor Cards) by achieving its objective.
There are 3 types of objectives:
- Defeat the Overlord: The Homo Superbe Side has to defeat all of the Overlord's miniatures. Alternatively, this objective may indicate you to defeat one particular miniature instead.
- Escape: To accomplish this objective, the surviving Homo Superbe must finish their turn in the space in which the Escape Module Token was set before the fourth Round of Turns is over. Once they have entered that space, their miniatures will be removed from the Board and they will not be able to return to the battle.
- Resist: The Condition section explains how many rounds must the Homo Superbe Side withstand to achieve this objective and how many new Minions will appear with each passing round.
3. Advantage
There are two Sides in Sanctorvm: The Overlord's and the Homo Superbe Side. The Side with the Advantage makes the first move in battle. This advantage is either featured in the chosen Action Phase or previously described during the Narrative Phase.
If no Side has the advantage, the Overlord has to flip a coin to determine who goes first.
- Overlord Side Advantage: The Overlord will set the Board and indicate the Homo Superbe Side where to place their miniatures.
Being at a disadvantage, the Homo Superbe Side must prepare beforehand (equipping cards from the Storage deck, activating Superb Powers, and so on) without knowing what kind of threat they are about to face.
Once the Homo Superbe miniatures have been placed, the Overlord proceeds to set the Minion miniatures in their corresponding spaces, as well as the potential Feature and Tool Tokens indicated in the AP. Lastly, the Overlord Side will begin the Round of Turns.
- Homo Superbe Side Advantage: The Overlord sets the Board and places the Minion miniatures in their corresponding spaces, as well as the potential Feature and Tool Tokens indicated in the AP.
Then, the Overlord will indicate the Homo Superbe Side where to place their miniatures.
Since they have the advantage, the players may observe the AP set by the Overlord and better prepare for the ensuing battle (equipping cards from the Storage Deck, activating certain Superb Powers that need to be established beforehand—like Neshorn's—strategically placing their miniatures, and so on). Lastly, the Homo Superbe Side will begin the Round of Turns.
4. Board
This section details all the components that the Overlord needs to set the AP.
Before an AP can start, the Overlord has to set the board at the center of the table using the necessary modules (shown as the Module "M" icon).
If the AP requires it, the Overlord will place the corresponding Feature Tokens (Warning icon) on the Pathways and the Tool Token in the indicated space.
Lastly, the Overlord picks the indicated Minion Panels and as many Minion Cards as needed.
Example (AP-1 board): the Module code line reads "Success + B1 + E2 + C1". The Minion legend reads: 1x Teknokinetic (A), 2x Primal (B), 2x Abomination (C), 1x Marroi (A-type icon), 2x Members of La Familia (token 2), 3x Members of La Familia (token 3), and 2x Rubble + 1x (Feature Tokens).
5. Mode
Modes are the different combat versions that an AP may have. There are five kinds of combat modes, which are explained in the following page (see page 32).
6. Condition
Some Action Phases have specific information or rules regarding the battle. Both Sides must meet those conditions to be able to face each other off.
Example (AP-1 Condition): When a Sanguinemorph dies, the Overlord adds 1x Sanguinemorph of the same type in any available space in Module C1.
7. Reward
The battle ends when the Objective of an Action Phase is accomplished. The Overlord must provide the Homo Superbe Side with the Weapon or Armor Card described in the Reward section and its duplicate.
Example (AP-1 Reward): Weapon Card: 2x Trenching Tool.
8. Aftermath
Once the Homo Superbe Side has obtained the Reward, the surviving Homo Superbe lose all States they accumulated, they regain all their Energy and each character recovers as many Health Points as the value of their INT level.
Example (AP-1 Aftermath): Go to Scene 05.
9. Destiny
Action Phases may be:
- Mandatory: These always appear, regardless of the Decisions or Tests made by the Homo Superbe Side during the Narrative Phase.
- Optional: Depending on the Decisions or Tests made by the Homo Superbe Side during the Narrative Phase, these may or may not appear.
Example (AP-1 Objective): The members of La Familia that remain alive must reach the Escape Module Token. Example (AP-1 Advantage): La Familia.
Example (AP-1 Narrative): "There are countless sanguinemorphs, but you refuse to abandon the old man to his fate; he seems to be your only hope. You try to escape carrying him on your shoulders. The creatures are everywhere, there seems to be no end to their onslaught. You look for the nearest exit."
AP Modes
An Action Phase may be played in one of five modes, described below.
Normal
This mode does not have any noteworthy feature. It is the most common type of Action Phase. The Homo Superbe Side must simply accomplish the Objective described in the Action Phase to overcome it.
Prisoner
One of the Homo Superbe (either one described by the adventure or one picked at random) must remain in a certain space, being unable to act until the other Homo Superbe get the key to release them.
This key is depicted after the name of a Minion with the key symbol and does not need to be represented in the Board.
Example box (AP Prisoner): A. 1x Daniel Didier - Stage 1 (key symbol). B. 1x Pretoriana (key symbol). Warning icon line: 2x Creature. (The warning line is printed in Spanish in the source image; translated here.)
The miniature of the Homo Superbe Side that takes said Minion down obtains the key (it may be represented by a Tool Token). Afterwards, the miniature in possession of the key must move to the prisoner's location and release them in the same Action (discarding that Tool Token).
The Homo Superbe may use the special Action "Observe" (exclusive to the Prisoner mode) to try and discover which of the Overlord's Minions has the key. To do so, select a Minion within your Vision and perform a Lvl. 4 Personal Test of SEN (spending 1 Action Point) to determine if that Minion has the key.
Remember: The Prisoner cannot suffer any kind of Damage or effect triggered during the AP as long as they remain captive.
Parallel
In Parallel mode, both the Homo Superbe and the Overlord's Side are divided into teams (A and B). Each Side's A team will fight in one Board and each Side's B team will fight in another (two parallel battles).
When all the miniatures of one Side are eliminated in one Board, the triumphant team teleports to the other Board to provide support to their Side, being placed in the nearest available spaces to their surviving allies.
Example: In this picture, the A Team of the Homo Superbe Side has defeated the Overlord's A Team. Because of this, the surviving miniatures are teleported to the other Board to support the B Team, thus accomplishing the AP's Objective.
Example box (AP Parallel): Board A: M B2 + C2; 2x Members of La Familia; A: 1x Sanguinevroom; B: 1x Benzin. Board B: M D2 + C1; 3x Members of La Familia; A: 1x Kamikace; B: 2x Jonky.
Remember: In Parallel mode, the Advantage works just like in any other AP mode: one Side (Overlord or Homo Superbe) goes first and determines which of their two team's miniatures acts first. Once their turn ends, the other Side will do the same and so on, until every miniature in all four Teams has partaken in the action, thus completing the Round of Turns.
Gearbox
In this mode, one of the Modules—represented with the rotation symbol—will rotate 90 degrees to the right at the end of every round.
If the miniature cannot access the new Modules, they must wait until the gear allows you to join two doors.
Example A: At the end of the first round (Example A), the D2 panel marked with the rotation symbol rotates 90° to the right, blocking access to the C2 panel while granting access to the B2 panel (Example B).
Duelo
Before the AP starts, the Overlord chooses one of the Minions of said AP and the Homo Superbe Side chooses one of their own members. From that point until the end of the AP, those two miniatures will be known as "Champions".
Both Champions will fight to the death in the Module (A2), being placed in the spaces indicated in the example shown below, until one of them dies and is removed from that AP (without being able to be Revived).
The Overlord will subsequently set the Board described in the AP and the rest of the miniatures will battle each other out (including the victorious Champion), initiating the Action Phase as if it was a regular Normal mode.
The Side with the Advantage chooses if they want to be the first or last to select a Champion.
Remember: An Ally is not considered Homo Superbe, so they cannot be the one to duel the Overlord's Minion.
Tabernacle
The Tabernacle is a zone in Cooperlay's Daughter 401 that was declared an Area of Peace. It is the only place where anyone may take shelter, talk, and trade without being in any kind of danger.
The Homo Superbe reach the Tabernacle at the end of each chapter during the adventures. It has several services available to them.
Forum
This zone is used to strike up conversation with other characters that may be passing through.
- Conversation: The Homo Superbe Side chooses between the available conversation options and the Overlord reads the answer. With this, players may get to know new details about the Sanctorvm universe, as well as clues for the following chapters.
- Adventure Card: If the Homo Superbe Side is in possession of an Adventure Card that a character in the Forum wants, they may select an extra option of their choosing at the end of the conversation.
When the Overlord sees the following text box in the adventure, they will ask the Homo Superbe Side for the Adventure Card:
Example box: If La Familia has the Adventure Card: Idol of Omunai, they may pick one extra dialog option from the Forum. Azora: "Thank you for preserving this Idol. May Omunai reward you in your arduous journey."
Remember: Adventure Cards may be obtained during an Adventure's Narrative Phase.
- Reset Superb Panel: In each adventure's second chapter, the Homo Superbe Side may choose to modify their Superb Panels while keeping the same level.
Remember: The Superb Attribute of each Homo Superbe is unmodifiable. It will always be at level 4.
- Level increase: In each adventure's third chapter, the Homo Superbe Side must increase their Superb Panel level by one.
Gunan's Store
You may trade with Gunan in this area of the Tabernacle. He provides the following services:
- Gunan's Deck: Cards discarded during the Action Phases throughout Sanctorvm sessions are stockpiled in Gunan's Deck. The Homo Superbe may acquire these lost cards when they visit him by spending one Coin per unit.
- Store: In each chapter, Gunan's Store will have Tool Cards for the Homo Superbe Side to buy, costing one Coin each.
When the Overlord sees the following text box in the adventure, they must inform the Homo Superbe Side on which cards they may buy in that chapter:
Example box (Gunan's Store): Gunan's Deck: Tool Cards discarded during AP. Tool Card Store: 1x Injector, 1x Zipline, 1x Magnet.
Lastly, the Homo Superbe may choose to get rid of their Tool Cards by selling them to Gunan. Gunan pays one Coin for every 2 Tool Cards sold to him.
Remember: Tool Cards sold to Gunan are destroyed, so they return to the Tool Deck.
Shelter
This is where the Homo Superbe may rest.
When the Overlord sees the following text box in the adventure:
Example box (Shelter): You rest and your Health Points and Energy Points are restored. You may switch members of La Familia and the Overlord.
The Homo Superbe may use on the following services:
- Regeneration Machine: The Homo Superbe fully recover their Health Points and their Energy Points.
- Player Selection: Players may change their Homo Superbe, meaning that they may choose 5 different Homo Superbe to play the next chapter's APs or the Imaginarium's. They may even change which player acts as the Overlord.
Remember: Although the 6 Homo Superbe who will act as protagonists of the story (Narrative Phase) are shown and named at the beginning of each adventure, only 5 of them (with different Superb Attributes) may be eligible for APs.
Imaginarium
This simulated reality machine allows the Homo Superbe to access the Action Phases of all the chapters that they have completed.
At the end of each adventure, players may make use of the Imaginarium page.
This page features:
- Chapter: The number of the chapter itself.
- Table: Displays the APs available during this chapter and their corresponding rewards.
- Chronology: Features the story path that the players followed in the chapter based on their choices and how these lead to their respective APs or to the Tabernacle.
- Replicas: Indicates the Tool Cards that the different battles require. The Imaginarium creates these cards, known as Replicas. Players must pick these cards from the Tool Deck and once the AP is over, destroy them by returning them to the Tool Deck.
Remember: You may print the Imaginarium page and mark the spaces to indicate that you have completed that chapter or AP.
Remember: If you have all the units of the same Tool Card in Storage, use the necessary cards as Replicas and return them to the Storage when you have completed the AP.
To use the Imaginarium, players must simply select whatever AP they want, pick the Tool Cards described as Replicas and use the Weapon and Armor Cards that they obtained throughout the adventure.
If they do not have Weapon and Armor Cards, players must pick all the Weapon and Armor Cards of the mandatory APs (red icon) previous to selected AP. Once the battle is over, these cards are returned to the Armament Deck.
When the players are ready, they get access to the page in which the requirements are detailed and the battle begins with the 5 chosen Homo Superbe (with different Superb Attributes).
If the selected Action Phase is overcome, they will obtain the indicated reward and they may use those Weapon and Armor Cards in the following chapters.
Remember: If some chapter is causing the Homo Superbe Side to struggle, it is advisable to obtain the Weapon and Armor Cards of the previous chapters, so as to have more options in battle during the APs.
In case that the Homo Superbe Side completes an Action Phase for a second time, they may be granted a coin as a reward, if the Overlord so chooses.
Failing to overcome the Action Phase in the Imaginarium has no consequences for the players, they just return to the Tabernacle.
Example page (Imaginarium, Chapter 01): Table: 1 - P. 09, Reward: Armor Card: 2x Porter; 2 - P. 11, Reward: Armor Card: 2x Inferus; 3 - P. 14, Reward: Weapon Card: 2x Proteus Gun. Replicas: 1x Injector, 1x Shield Barrier, 1x Tesseract. The Imaginarium box reads: La Familia may replay any previous Action Phase. They will obtain its rewards if they overcome it.
Action Dice
Action Dice are used to obtain results in the multiple Tests found in Sanctorvm. These six-sided dice feature the following symbols:
- Null: This result is considered as Null, 0 Successes.
- Chaos: In principle, this result is considered as Null, meaning 0 Successes. But the Luck Skill may transform Chaos results into Successes (see page 16).
- Success: This result is considered as 1 Success.
- 2 Successes: This result is considered as 2 Successes.
After the player is done rolling all dice, the important thing is to know how many Successes have they obtained in total, so the Overlord may determine if they have passed the test or not.
Example: The Overlord says: "Neshorn must pass a Lvl. 2 Personal Test of INT."
In this case, Neshorn has INT3. To pass this Test, the player picks 3 Action Dice, rolls them, and obtains the following result: 1 Success + 1 Chaos + 1 Success. Given than Neshorn has not increased her Luck Skill level, the player has obtained 2 Successes as a result. Since she must match or surpass a difficulty level of 2, Neshorn has passed the Test.
Remember: Some Actions grant more Action Dice to the roll. This is represented by a green Action Die symbol. On the other hand, some other Actions subtract Action Dice. This is represented by a red Action Die symbol.
Target Die
If you are playing in Solo Mode, the Overlord's Minions always attack the nearest Homo Superbe.
In addition, there are some special Minions who have a Target Die (exclusive for Solo Mode) to determine which enemy to attack (see page 40).
At the beginning of these special Minions' turns, the player rolls the Target Die. The result of that roll dictates which Homo Superbe to Hit. Three conditions exist:
- Savage: The miniature's main target is the nearest Homo Superbe.
- Tactician: The miniature's main target is the Homo Superbe with the least Energy Points.
- Executioner: The miniature's main target is the Homo Superbe with the least Health Points.
Priority:
- If 2 nearby miniatures meet the same Condition, flip a coin to determine the priority target.
- If 3 nearby miniatures meet the same Condition, roll the Target Die once more: the numerical result determines the priority target.
Remember: The Target Die is only used in Solo Mode, but if you play a game with more than one player, the Overlord may use it to remain impartial when choosing a target.
Tool Token
Tool Tokens represent lost objects that may be found during Action Phases. If a Homo Superbe finished their movement in a space in which there is a Tool Token, they automatically obtain the Tool Card it hides, as indicated in the AP.
Remember: Allies ARE NOT considered as Homo Superbe, so they cannot use or pick up any type of card.
Hourglass
This 10-second hourglass is used to put pressure on the players of the Homo Superbe Side.
- Narrative Phase: The Overlord may start the countdown using the hourglass, indicating that the players have only 10 seconds to reach a decision.
If they fail to decide in time, the Overlord decides for them.
- Action Phase: The Overlord may use the hourglass at any time to put pressure on a player that is taking too long to perform an Action and, if necessary, to skip that player's turn altogether.
The Coin
The Cooperlay/Rabidus Coin represents the ever-present duality of the game, good and evil, positive and negative, chaos and order...
Remember: The Cooperlay side represents the Homo Superbe Side and the positive. The Rabidus side represents the Overlord and the negative.
Some events and tests must be solved by flipping a Coin. Whenever the line "If Cooperlay:" appears in an Action, it implies flipping the coin and obtaining the featured result to perform the effect.
These coins are also used to perform bribes, to use the Slot Machine, and to acquire new Tool Cards from Gunan's Store.
Remember: There is a cap of 10 Coins in Sanctorvm. If the Homo Superbe Side has all 10 Coins, they may not acquire any more.
Features
These tokens must be placed on the pathways that link one space to another. All Pathways under the token's surface will be affected by the Feature.
Miniatures crossing these Features will suffer one of the following effects:
- Rubble: It prevents the Homo Superbe Side from accessing spaces using a certain Pathway and completely blocks their Vision.
Remember: Rubble does not affect Minions, they act as if it the pathways are clear.
Remove Rubble: A Homo Superbe must get to one of the spaces that is closest to the Feature - Rubble, use 2 Action Points and spend 8 Energy.
- Short Circuit: Any miniature crossing this Feature will automatically suffer 6 levels of the Stunned State.
- Creature: Any miniature crossing this Feature will automatically suffer 6 levels of the Bleeding State.
- Leak: Any miniature crossing this Feature will automatically suffer 6 levels of the Infected State.
- Blaze: Any miniature crossing this Feature will automatically suffer 6 levels of the Burning State.
Minion Cards
Sanctorvm's Basic Box contains 6 Minion Cards. These are used by the Overlord to represent the Health and the States of their Minions during APs. The aforementioned cards are characterized for having the same purple color as the Overlord's miniatures.
The different parts of a Minion Card are described below:
- A. Name: The Overlord may use one of the felt-tip pens to write the Minion's name (or whatever they consider appropriate) in this box to set them apart from the rest.
- B. Health: This bar represents the Minion's vitality.
- C. Number of Health Bars: Some Minions have more than a Health bar. If this is the case, the AP will indicate so with the following symbol. The number determines how many Health bars the Minion has, meaning that when the miniature loses its initial 10 points of Health, it counts with another 10 points and so on for each level.
Remember: If a Minion has more than one Health bars, the excess damage is applied to the next Health bar.
- D. States: The Overlord may use these spheres to mark the States applied to the Minion during the battle.
- E. Elite: As the adventure unfolds, the Minions will become more powerful and they may even have an elite level:
- Elite 1 (bronze star): 1-Point increase.
- Elite 2 (silver star): 2-Points increase.
- Elite 3 (gold star): 3-Points increase.
Each level increases all of the Minion's Skills by 1 point (even the ones that are at level 0) and the Action Dice they have available.
Additionally, all successful Hits or instants automatically deal 1 point of Critical Damage and the level of the States increases by 1 for each Elite level.
To represent a Minion's Elite level, the Overlord must place the corresponding Elite Token on top of the Minion Card.
Example: A Primal (silver Elite) increases all its skills by 2 levels, gains 2 extra Action Dice and all its actions deal 2 extra Critical Damage. If any of the Actions also imposes States, the difficulty level to cancel the State increases by 2 as well.
Minion Panel
Sanctorvm's Basic Box contains 13 reversible Minion Panels: every panel features one of the Overlord's Minions in each side (26 Minions total).
These panels are characterized for having the same purple color as the Overlord's miniatures and for having a picture representing the Minion.
The different parts of a Minion Panel are described below:
- A. Name: The generic name of each kind of Minion.
- B. Information: This box indicates:
- Target Die (Solo Mode): If the panel has the Target Die symbol, the player must roll the Target Die to determine which Homo Superbe to attack (see page 37).
Remember: If you are playing in Solo Mode and the panel does not have a Target Die, the Minion attacks the nearest enemy.
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Race: There are several races of Minions in Sanctorvm: Human, Automaton, and Sanguinemorph. The last two ignore some of the rules:
- Automaton: Ignores the Distraction rule.
- Sanguinemorph: Ignores the Threat Rule (see page 45).
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Tactic: Shows the kind of Hit that a Minion's Actions cause:
- The Minion acts as a Melee fighter: they must be adjacent to an enemy to perform Actions on them.
- The Minion acts from Range: an enemy must be within their Vision and in Trajectory to perform Actions on them.
- The Minion uses Ethermancy: an enemy must be within their Vision to perform Actions on them.
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C. Characteristics: Unlike the Homo Superbe, the Overlord's Minions do not have Attributes. Instead they have the following characteristics in battle:
- Defense: Determines the difficulty level that adversaries must match or surpass in order to Hit the Minion.
Remember: If a Hit doubles the enemy's Defense, then it is considered a Critical.
- Action Points: Determines the Action Points that the Minion has available in each turn to perform the Actions available in their panel.
- Action Dice: Determines the Action Dice that the Minion must roll in order to Hit.
- Movement: Determines how many spaces a Minion may move before performing an Action.
Remember: Leaving spaces where there are miniatures of the opposing Side (in this case, the Homo Superbe) decreases the number of Action Dice you have as a penalty: Threat Rule (see page 45).
- Vision: Determines the Vision a Minion has to detect and Hit enemy miniatures at a distance.
Remember: A Minion's Vision already takes their Radar into consideration. If the Minion is Elite "x", by increasing their Radar by "x", their Vision also increases by "x".
- D. Skills: Minions have seven Skills (Dodge, Endurance, Fortitude, Luck, Aura, Stealth, and Radar).
Remember: The Characteristics and Skills of the Overlord's Minions work just like the ones of the Homo Superbe.
- E. Actions: Unlike the Homo Superbe, the Overlord's Minions cannot equip cards. Instead they have three unique Actions: Each one states the name of the Action, the Action Points required to perform it, the Critical Damage and the effect that they have.
All of the Minions' Actions have ammunition: it represents the number of times that they may perform that Action during the same turn.
These Actions also have a Vital Activator (see page 47).
Remember: The Overlord's miniatures do not have an Energy bar, so their Actions only spend Action Points.
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F. Passive: Every Minion has their own unique Passive, which is detailed in the Minion's panel. It is important for the Overlord to carefully read how does the Passive of each of their Minions work in battle before an AP starts, since its effects vary depending on the Passive.
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G. Weakness, Resistance, and Immunity: The Minion's Weaknesses, Resistances, and Immunities are shown under the Passive.
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H. Picture: Shows what the Minion is like, so the Overlord may find their miniature.
Example panel (Praetorian): Characteristics: Defense 1, Action Points 2, Action Dice 5, Movement 4, Vision 5. Skills: Dodge 2, Endurance 1, Temple 2, Luck 2, Aura 1, Health 2, Radar 1. Actions: Shotgun (1 Action Point, 3 Critical Damage, 1 ammunition; the miniature Hit suffers 4 Basic Damage). Fade Out (1 Action Point, 0 Critical Damage, 1 ammunition, Instant; you obtain the State shown on the panel). Flaming Grenade (1 Action Point, 0 Critical Damage, 1 ammunition, Instant; select an adjacent space, miniatures in it suffer 4 Fire Damage). Passive, Testudo: When a Praetorian moves, if there are more Praetorians in the AP, they all teleport to the same space she is in, ignoring the capacity limit. Additionally, their Defense increases by 1 for each living Praetorian in combat.
Note: the Weakness, Resistance and Immunity icons of the example panel are small glyphs in the source image and are not spelled out in its text; they are not transcribed here.
Modules
Modules, represented by the Module "M" symbol, are the ship's compartments in which the miniatures interact during Action Phases. At the beginning of each battle, the Overlord must set the board as displayed in the AP.
Every Module has the following components:
- Spaces: Spaces determine the position of the miniatures on the board.
All spaces indicate the number of miniatures of each Side (Overlord/Homo Superbe) that they may have in them at the same time with small spheres of the same color.
Capacity of a space:
- One sphere: One miniature per Side (1x Overlord and 1x Homo Superbe).
- Two spheres: Two miniatures per Side (2x Overlord and 2x Homo Superbe).
- Three spheres: Three miniatures per Side (3x Overlord and 3x Homo Superbe).
There are three types of spaces:
- Light spaces represent areas of the compartment (module) that are lit, which means that miniatures will see whatever is in them easily. Light spaces count as 1 space for Vision purposes.
- Darkness spaces represent areas of the compartment (module) that are not lit, which means that miniatures will struggle to see what is in them. Darkness spaces count as 2 spaces for Vision purposes.
Any miniature that starts its turn in a Darkness Space and has a Stealth level of at least 1 obtains the Camouflaged State automatically.
- Safe spaces represent areas—usually hermetic—that are extremely safe and safeguarded. The use of these restricted safe spaces is exclusive to the Homo Superbe: as long as a miniature is inside one, it cannot suffer Damage, no effects can be applied to it, and Minions cannot detect it.
Once the miniature enters the Safe space, it loses all States and its turn ends.
At the beginning of their next turn, if the miniature uses all its Actions to remain in said space, it recovers 5 Health Points and regains all its Energy Points, then its turn ends. After that, at the beginning of its next turn, the miniature is forced to leave the security space.
Each Homo Superbe may only be in a Safe space once per Action Phase.
Remember: A space's capacity works exactly the same in all 3 types of spaces (Light, Darkness, and Safe).
- Pathways: All spaces are connected by dotted lines called Pathways. Miniatures may only move through spaces connected by them.
Every time a miniature moves, it must finish its movement in a space with available capacity. It must place itself in the middle of a space or adjacent to another miniature (whether it is an Ally or an Enemy).
- Doors: Doors join the pathways of two different Modules and are represented by bright yellow sockets.
The doors of each module must coincide with each other in order for a miniature to move between modules. In case that there is just one door, the passage is considered to be blocked, so there will be no Vision and no miniature may move through that pathway.
Remember: Doors are not considered spaces, so after a miniature has crossed a door they must finish its movement in the space that is closest to it.
- Code: Every module is identified with a unique code that consists in a letter and a number. These modules have two sides (Front/Back) differentiated by a 1 or a 2. Each Action Phase indicates the required set of modules (with their corresponding code) to build the playing Board.
Module of Your Choosing
The following image will appear in some APs instead of the graphic representation of the board: a question mark.
This represents a random module of the Overlord's choosing as long as it fits at least one of the doors of the other shown modules.
Escape Module
The Escape Module is only used in AP boards whose objective is to Escape (see page 30). This Escape module has only one space, without a maximum capacity, and in which the Homo Superbe may get in.
The Escape module represents a small room through which the Homo Superbe Side may flee during APs with the Escape objective.
Board Rules
It is important to keep the following rules in mind once an Action Phase starts:
Looking
Miniatures must always look towards a target within their Vision or towards a nearby space, being as faithful to the battle situation as possible.
This means that if a miniature is attacking another, it should be looking towards its target.
Example: In this battle, a Rosie and Tapayaxin are not applying the Looking rule correctly.
Remember: Players should help enforce these rules to represent the battle as best as possible.
Trajectory
The following conditions must be met when a miniature means to perform a Ranged Hit, use a Tool Card, Reposition, or Draw another miniature towards it:
- The Target must be within your Vision.
- The Trajectory must go in a straight line and may only allow one diagonal (at the beginning or the end of the movement, but never more than one turn).
Example: Lupa wants to perform a Ranged Hit on an SD-1. Since Lupa has SEN2 and her Radar level is 1, her total Vision is 3, so she has the SD-1 in range. She also meets the Trajectory Rule, so she may perform the Hit and roll the Action Dice. On the other hand, she cannot Hit Rosie even though she is closer and within her range of Vision, since one of the Pathways has Rubble blocking it and the other makes it impossible to follow the Trajectory Rule because it would not be possible to follow a straight line plus one diagonal, which prevents her from performing Ranged Hits.
Remember: Tool Cards - Proterberus and Ethermancy Hits do not need to comply with the Trajectory Rule.
Threat
Most of the miniatures in the Sanctorvm universe follow the Threat Rule when battling against the opposing Side (Overlord/Homo Superbe). The exception is the Sanguinemorph race, which always ignores the Threat Rule.
The Threat rule is triggered when a miniature leaves a space in which one or more enemies were in, causing said miniature to receive a 1 Action Die penalty in its next Hit Action (either Melee or Ranged). The effect of this rule is cumulative for each enemy space abandoned.
Example: A Rosie wants to Melee Hit Tapayaxin, so she moves through two spaces which were occupied by one enemy each (Ghurab and Nezumi), leaving them behind. Now Rosie's next Hit Action against Tapayaxin has a 2 Action Dice penalty.
Remember: If a miniature has the Camouflaged State and remains undetected by the Radar Skill of the enemies it threatens, then it does not suffer a Dice penalty.
Distraction
All miniatures that Hit from a Range follow this rule except the Automaton race, which always ignores the Distraction rule.
If there are enemies adjacent to a miniature that is set to perform a Ranged Hit Action, that miniature subtracts as many Action Dice as the number of miniatures of the opposing Side that are adjacent to it (i.e., the same space) hindering the Hit.
Remember: Even if you attempt to avoid the Distraction rule by moving your miniature to another space, you will still suffer the Threat Rule when you leave the space that you shared with the enemy miniatures.
Relocate
When there is more than one miniature in a space and the one located at the center of that space is moved to another space, the remaining miniatures must be relocated, placing one at the now-empty center of the space and the rest of the miniatures in an adjacent position to the central miniature.
Example: In this battle, Nezumi decides to move to the space where Tapayaxin is located to Melee Hit Rosie, so Ghurab is automatically Relocated to the center of his space.
Cards and Decks
Sanctorvm has several types of Decks depending on the kind of cards they contain:
Armament Deck
This Deck contains all the Weapon and Armor Cards. When an Action Phase is finished, the Homo Superbe Side obtains one of these cards and its duplicate as a reward.
Remember: Weapon and Armor Cards are indestructible. Once the Homo Superbe Side has acquired one, they cannot be Discarded or Destroyed.
These cards may only be equipped at the beginning of an Action Phase and are returned to the Homo Superbe's Storage Deck when it ends.
The Armament Deck has two types of cards:
- Weapon Cards: Represented by a pink border. The Homo Superbe perform Hit Actions using these to damage the Overlord miniatures during Action Phases.
The components of a Weapon Card are detailed below:
- Title: The card's name and type.
- Symbols:
- Melee Weapons: The Actions of these cards affect miniatures that are adjacent to the Homo Superbe that wields them.
- Ranged Weapons: The Actions of these cards have a range equal to the Vision of the Homo Superbe that wields them and follow the Trajectory Rule.
Remember: The number in each symbol (Melee or Ranged) indicates the Melee or Accuracy level that the Homo Superbe must have in order to use that weapon.
- Critical: If an Action causes a Hit and it doubles the Minion's Defense, then that Action adds the extra damage shown in the Critical symbol.
Example: Lupa obtains 9 Successes in her Hit roll for the "Strike" Action. The Minion's Dodge allows it to cancel 2 Successes. Since the Minion has 3 Defense, Lupa needs 6 Successes or more to obtain the extra Critical Damage. Taking everything into consideration, Lupa's final result was 7 Successes, so "Strike" manages to deal the extra Critical Damage, for a total damage of: 1 Basic Damage + 2 Electric Damage + 1 Critical Damage.
- Weight: Indicates the Weapon's Weight.
- Actions: Every Weapon Card has three unique Actions. Each one states the name of the Action, the Action Points and Energy Points needed to perform it, and its effect.
All the Actions in a Weapon Card have ammunition: it represents the number of times that an Action can be performed during the same turn.
Remember: Actions with the following symbol (INSTANT) are Instants, so you are not required to roll any Action Die: the effect described in the Action is automatically applied instead.
- Vital Activator: Every Action in a Weapon Card (and in Minion Panels) has a Vital Activator. Actions will become enabled or disabled depending on the miniature's vital signs (Healthy, Wounded, or Grave).
- A green-coded activator: The Action is Enabled regardless of the vital signs.
- An orange-coded activator: The Action is only Enabled if the vital signs are Wounded or Grave.
- A red-coded activator: The Action is only Enabled if the vital signs are Grave.
- Chained Actions: Some Actions remain blocked and display a padlock instead of their vital activator. Chained Actions are unlocked if the Homo Superbe that possesses the card performs the Action to which they are chained to on the same target during the same turn.
Remember: Chained Actions have the same Vital Activator than the Action to which they are chained.
Remember: There are legendary Weapon Cards that may only be obtained from slot machines during Narrative Phases.
- Armor Cards: These borderless cards enhance and protect the Homo Superbe that wears them during an AP.
The components of an Armor Card are:
- Title: The card's name and type.
- Power: The effect that the Armor provides when it is equipped. Most of these Powers are Passive, although some need to be activated by spending 1 Action Point.
- Boost: The indicated Skill receives a Boost (up arrow) during Action Phases.
- Protection: The miniature equipped with the armor gains Resistance to a certain type of Damage or Immunity to a State, as indicated in the card.
Remember: A Homo Superbe may only have one Armor Card equipped during an Action Phase. Its effects, Boosts, and Protection only affect that particular Homo Superbe and they are only applied during Action Phases (never during Narrative Phases).
Example Armor card (Porter): Power: You may spend 1 Action Point to recover 2 Energy. Boost: Manipulate. Protection: Resistant to Basic Damage.
Tool Deck
This Deck contains all of Sanctorvm's Tools. The Homo Superbe Side will obtain cards from this Deck as the adventure unfolds, whether by exploring the world or by trading during the Narrative Phase. These cards may be equipped before a battle begins or they may remain in Storage.
There are three types of Tool Cards:
- Object Cards: These cards feature a purple border and they cause an Instant effect when used. They are discarded after one of their Actions is used.
Example card (Object, Injector): Symbols: Handling Skill level required to use it; Weight. Actions: Regeneration (1 Action Point, Instant: the selected miniature recovers 5 Health and 5 Energy); Taurine (1 Action Point, Instant: the selected miniature does not lose Energy during its next turn); Cleanup (1 Action Point, Instant: the selected miniature loses all its States).
Every Tool Card - Object has three unique Actions. Each one states the name of the Action, the Action Points needed to perform it, and its effect.
- Grenade Cards: These cards feature a green border and they cause an Instant effect when used. They are discarded after one of their Actions is used.
In order to use them, the Homo Superbe has to select a space within their Vision and apply the chosen effect on all miniatures in that space.
Example card (Grenade, Megash): Symbols: Handling Skill level required to use it; Weight. Actions: Napalm (1 Action Point, Instant: select a space, the miniatures in it suffer the Damage shown on the card); Implosion (1 Action Point, Instant: the same, with the Damage shown on the card); Radioactive Cyclone (2 Action Points, Instant: the same, with the Damage shown on the card). The per-type Damage values are printed as icons on the card and are not spelled out in the source text.
Every Tool Card - Grenade has three unique Actions. Each one states the name of the Action, the Action Points needed to perform it, and its effect.
- Proterberus Cards: These cards feature a blue border and they cause an Instant effect when used. They are discarded after one of their Actions is used.
Proterberus are very powerful cards since they are imbued with the power of Ethermancy.
Remember: The Ethermancy Skill allows you to create Tool Cards - Proterberus at the beginning of a chapter (see page 14).
Example card (Proterberus, Tonbon): Symbols: Ethermancy Skill level required to use it; Weight. Actions: Mental Implosion (1 Action Point, Instant: the selected miniature suffers the Damage shown on the card, where X scales with the Ethermancy level); Love-Hate (1 Action Point, Instant: during its next turn, the selected miniature obtains the States shown on the card, where X scales with the Ethermancy level); Protection (1 Action Point, Instant: the selected miniature is repositioned 5 spaces and it cannot cause or receive Damage until its next turn).
Every Tool Card - Proterberus has three unique Actions. Each one states the name of the Action, the Action Points needed to perform it, and its effect. The effects of many Proterberus increase the higher the Ethermancy Skill level of the Homo Superbe that uses it.
Remember: Every Tool Card may be used from a distance. Tool Cards - Object and Tool Cards - Grenade use the Trajectory Rule. Tool Cards - Proterberi may also be used from a distance, but they need not follow the Trajectory Rule.
Remember: All discarded Tool Cards go to Gunan's Deck and destroyed Tool Cards return to the Tool Deck.
Adventure Deck
Every adventure in the Sanctorvm universe has its corresponding Adventure Deck, which is solely comprised of Adventure Cards.
The Homo Superbe Side may obtain these cards as the story unfolds during the Narrative Phase.
The cards themselves remain in the Storage Deck until the Homo Superbe know their different uses during the adventure:
- Tabernacle character
- Story paths (scene change)
Remember: If the Homo Superbe Side has obtained the Adventure Card required by a character in the Forum of the Tabernacle, the players may ask them an extra question.
Ethermancy Deck
Ethermancy Cards feature a blue border and may only be used by the Homo Superbe known as Ghurab, whose Superb Power is Primordial Ethermancer.
Instead of Energy, these cards require a Health Point expenditure in order to apply their effects. Just like Weapon and Armor Cards, Ethermancy Cards are not discarded upon use.
At the beginning of a new chapter, Ghurab may choose as many Ethermancy Cards as the value of his Ethermancy Skill level.
Example card (Divination):
- Title: The kind of Ethermancy that you may perform.
- Powers: Every Ethermancy Card has four unique Powers. Each of these indicate the name of the Power, the Action Points and Health Points that Ghurab needs to spend to use it, and the instant effect it has.
- Premonition (1 Action Point, 2 Health): The selected miniature obtains an extra die roll bonus on its next roll. The effect of this Power is multiplied by the value of your Ethermancy level.
- Bless (1 Action Point, 2 Health): The selected miniature obtains: during your turn, you may retry a failed dice roll or coin flip.
- Prediction (1 Action Point, 2 Health): The selected miniature obtains: add extra damage to your next Hit. The effect of this Power is multiplied by the value of your Ethermancy level.
- Augury (1 Action Point, 2 Health): The selected miniature obtains: evade the next enemy Hit performed on you.
The icons of the Premonition and Prediction bonus values are printed as dice and damage icons on the card; the exact values are not spelled out in its text.
- Combined Power: Every Ethermancy Card has a Combined Power. To use it, Ghurab needs to be in possession of the card specified in the Combined Power section.
Example Combined Power (Divination card): Destruction card, Final Judgement (2 Action Points, 5 Health): The selected miniature obtains: flip a coin at the end of each round; if the coin shows the icon printed on the card, the miniature dies. This Power does not affect Minions whose Health bar value shown by the icon is higher than 3, or Minions that have Stages.
The coin-result icon and the Health-value icon in this text are printed as symbols on the card and are not spelled out in its text; they are described here in words.
Remember: The Powers of an Ethermancy Card may only be used once per round. This means that once you have used a certain Power, you cannot use it again until the next round of turns.
Battling During an AP
There are two Sides during an Action Phase: the Homo Superbe Side, comprised of five Homo Superbe (represented by the color green); and the Overlord's Side (represented by the color purple).
Only one Side may emerge victorious from an Action Phase. All Action Phases follow the order described below.
Homo Superbe Relief
Throughout the years, Cooperlay's Daughter 401 has seen countless Homo Superbe discarded by Dr. Rabidus. These individuals may be used during Action Phases.
Before a battle begins, the Homo Superbe Side may switch the Homo Superbe that act as protagonists of the Narrative Phase for other Homo Superbe with the same Superb Attribute so they may fight in the AP instead (they may also use the sixth Superb Attribute that was not chosen to play out the Narrative Phase).
Example: During the Narrative Phase, the Homo Superbe Side was comprised of: Prymat (Strength), Neshorn (Vigor), Lupa (Charisma), Nezumi (Agility), and Tapayaxin (Senses). The player that was playing Prymat is the only one that wants to use a Relief for the coming AP. That player may therefore choose one Homo Superbe from the ones they have available as long as the team has only one representative of each Superb Attribute: The player may choose another Homo Superbe whose Superb Attribute is Strength or one whose Superb Attribute is Intelligence, since that was the one left out to play the adventure and the Narrative Phase (Ghurab or another character with the same Attribute).
Said Relief will have the same Health as the Homo Superbe and the same States they had accumulated.
Remember: Before an adventure starts, it is important to fill the Superb Panels of the available Homo Superbe, increasing the relevant levels in each one.
When the AP ends, the Relief disappears and the original Homo Superbe returns with the same Health that the Relief had when the battle ended. The Narrative Phase is then resumed.
Remember: If the Relief dies during the AP, so does the original Homo Superbe.
Round of Turns
Once the Side with the Advantage is known (Overlord or Homo Superbe), that Side must choose which miniature with their Action Indicator enabled will play their turn first.
They must set the miniature's Indicator to disabled once its turn is over, giving way to other Side to act.
Remember: Each Side may choose the order in which the miniatures with an enabled Indicator will play their turns.
A Round of Turns is complete when all miniatures in both Sides (Overlord and Homo Superbe) have their Action Indicators disabled, indicating that the miniatures have either played their turns or died.
If a miniature dies, their Action Indicator is disabled just as it would happen if they had finished their turn.
Remember: If a Side is left without miniatures enabled to play their turns, the other Side's miniatures will play theirs until all of their Action Indicators are disabled, thus completing the Round of Turns.
Once the round is over, all miniatures that remain alive reset their Action Indicators to enabled and the following round begins keeping the same Advantage as before.
Remember: At the beginning of a new Round of Turns, only the miniatures that still have Health Points (i.e., living miniatures) will activate their Indicators.
Remember: If a Homo Superbe died during a previous Action Phase or during the Narrative Phase, instead of recovering as many Health Points as the value of their INT level, they revive with 1 Health Point plus the value of their Aura Skill level.
Overlord's Movement
Prior to performing an Action, the Overlord may move their Minion up to a number of spaces equal to the value of the Movement level described in the Minion's panel. The effect of the chosen Action is then applied.
If the miniature is unable to apply that effect, it loses 1 Action Point.
Example: A Primal attempts to perform a Melee Hit Action on Ghurab: it moves 4 spaces—since its Movement level is 4—first, but even then its miniature fails to reach Ghurab, so the Primal loses 1 Action Point.
Unlike the Homo Superbe Side, the Overlord's miniatures are not required to spend Energy Points to move or to perform Actions.
Remember: Miniatures must finish their movement in a space with available capacity (see page 42).
Overlord's Actions
All of the Overlord's Minions have three unique Actions that they may perform by spending their corresponding Action Points.
Remember: Miniatures may move before applying the effect of an Action.
Actions and their corresponding Action Point cost are detailed in the Minion Panel. There are two types of Actions:
- Normal Action: The Overlord must pick as many dice as the Minion Panel indicates to attempt to Hit; the dice are rolled and the Overlord calculates the number of Successes taking the Minion's Luck Skill into consideration.
- Instant Action: Instant Actions—represented by the Instant symbol—do not require the Overlord to roll dice, their effect is automatically applied.
The player may use the Target Die in Solo Mode to determine which Action a Minion will perform:
- Result 1: First Action.
- Result 2: Second Action.
- Result 3: Third Action.
Remember: If you have the Overlord's Screen, it may be used to hide the Minion Panels to the players, thus creating more tension.
Homo Superbe Movement
Prior to performing an Action, the Homo Superbe may move up to 3 spaces by spending as many Energy Points as the number of spaces they wish to move. The effect of the chosen Action is then applied.
If the Homo Superbe is unable to apply the Action's effect after moving between spaces, they lose 1 Action Point (see Example 1).
This movement rule may be applied to every Action performed by a Homo Superbe.
Example 1: Neshorn means to perform a Melee Hit Action against a Primal. First, she moves 3 spaces by spending 3 Energy, but she fails to reach the Primal even after she is done moving, so she loses 1 Action Point.
Remember: Some Actions cost 2 or more Action Points.
Example 2: Tapayaxin has a Charisma level of 2, so he has 2 Action Points per turn. He decides to use Action of a Tool Card that costs 2 Action Points. Before applying its effect, Tapayaxin moves 2 spaces by spending 2 Energy (Movement Rule). After doing so, he rolls the corresponding dice and he manages to apply the effect of the Tool Card's Action. Tapayaxin is left without Action Points after performing this Action, which means that he cannot move anymore, so he signals that his turn is over by disabling his Action Indicator.
Remember: Leaving spaces in which there are miniatures of the opposing Side decreases the number of Action Dice available to you as a penalty (Threat Rule, see page 45).
Homo Superbe Actions
The Homo Superbe may spend their Action Points to perform different Actions.
Remember: Actions always have an Action Point cost. Some Actions also require spending Energy Points or Health Points in order to perform them.
The Homo Superbe may perform the following Actions during a turn (as printed on the Homo Superbe Actions reference card):
- Obtain Action Points: You obtain as many Action Points as the value of your Charisma Attribute level.
- Rest: At the beginning of your turn, you may spend all your Action Points to fully recover your Energy.
- Hit (Melee, Marksmanship, or Ethermancy): Select an Action in a Weapon or Ethermancy card and spend its Action Points and Energy / Health cost to perform it.
- Use Tool (Object, Grenade or Proterberus): Select an Action in a Tool Card and spend its Action Points (and Health, if Proterberus) to perform it.
- On Your Guard: 1 Action Point: you gain Resistance to Critical Damage until the end of the Round of Turns.
- Movement: Before you perform an Action, you may move as many spaces as the value of your Agility level by spending as many Energy as the number of spaces you wish to move. If you cannot perform the Action or if you simply wish to move without performing any Action, spend 1 Action Point.
Remember: Battles may sometimes get too long. As a player, you should try to anticipate the Actions that you will perform during your turn to speed up the round of turns.
Rest
If a Homo Superbe has a low Vigor level and they need to recover Energy Points, they may choose to use their turn to Rest, thus fully refilling their Energy bar. To do so, they must spend all of their Action Points to fully regain their Energy Points, putting an end to their turn.
Hit
If a Homo Superbe chooses to attack a Minion, they must perform a Hit Action of one of these types:
- Melee: In order to perform a hand to hand Hit, the attacking Homo Superbe miniature must be adjacent to the target enemy miniature (in the same space).
To do so, the Homo Superbe will choose one of the 3 Actions available in their Weapon Card, spending as many Action Points as necessary and the Energy Points required by the Action.
The player then picks the Action Dice and attempts to Melee Hit the enemy miniature. To do so, the Homo Superbe must roll as many Action Dice as the value of their STR level + the value of their Melee Skill level. If the Homo Superbe manages to match or surpass the Minion's Defense, the Minion suffers the effect of the Action described in the card.
Example: Neshorn, with both her STR and Melee Skill level at 2, rolls 5 Action Dice to attempt Hitting a Cannibal with a Defense level of 2. If she manages to match or surpass its Defense, the enemy suffers the effect of the chosen Action. The result of Neshorn's roll is 3 Successes and since she surpassed the enemy's Defense, she is allowed to perform the "Cut" Action.
The card shown is the Weapon Card Nitraxe, whose "Cut" Action has the Damage icons printed on the card (the per-type values are symbols and are not spelled out in its text).
If a Homo Superbe has not equipped a weapon, they may use their fists to attack. The Damage dealt by their fists is equal to half their STR value.
- Ranged: In order to perform a long range Hit, the enemy miniature must be within the Homo Superbe's Vision and they must follow the Trajectory Rule (see page 44).
To do so, the Homo Superbe will choose one of the 3 Actions available in their Weapon Card, spending as many Action Points as necessary and the Energy Points required by the Action.
The player then picks the Action Dice and attempts a Ranged Hit on the enemy miniature. To do so, the Homo Superbe must roll as many Action Dice as the value of their SEN level + the value of their Accuracy Skill level. If the Homo Superbe manages to match or surpass the Minion's Defense, it will suffer the effect of the Action described in the card.
Example: Lupa, with SEN3 and an Accuracy Skill level at 1, rolls 4 Action Dice to attempt Hitting an Inflatius with a Defense level of 3. If she manages to match or surpass its Defense, the enemy suffers the effect of the chosen Action. The result of Lupa's roll is 4 Successes and since she surpassed the enemy's Defense level of 3, she is allowed to perform the "Shoot" Action.
Remember: A Homo Superbe can equip two identical Weapon Cards and they may perform the same Actions in both cards separately.
- Ethermancy (Ghurab's Superb Power): In order to perform an Ethermancy Hit, the enemy miniature must be within the Homo Superbe's Vision.
Remember: Just like Weapon Cards, Ethermancy Cards are not discarded. Their Actions (Powers) are ranged, but the Trajectory does not apply to them.
To do so, Ghurab chooses one of the 5 Powers available in the Ethermancy Card, spending the necessary Action Points and losing as many Health Points as that Power indicates. This Health Point loss cannot be cancelled in any way.
Example: Ethermancy Card Divination, Premonition Power: Action Points 1, Health 2.
Remember: The Instant symbol indicates that an Action does not require dice to be rolled, its effect is applied automatically.
Using Tools
If a Homo Superbe decides to use a Tool Card, they must first choose one of the 3 available Actions, then they must spend the Action Points required to apply the chosen effect, and then they apply it.
The card is then discarded by placing it beside the board. The Action's effect has a range that is equal to the Vision of the Homo Superbe that is using the card (applying the Trajectory Rule), unless the card states otherwise.
Once the battle is over, the Homo Superbe Side may regain the cards that they discarded during the AP thanks to the Handling Skill (see page 14).
Tool Cards that the Homo Superbe fail to regain are sent to Gunan's Deck and the players may still recover them by purchasing the cards at Gunan's Store.
On Your Guard
The Homo Superbe spends 1 Action Point to become Resistant to Critical Damage until the end of the Round of Turns.
Exception: If you are the last player to play your turn during the Round of Turns, performing "On your guard" lasts until your next turn.
End of the Turn
If a Homo Superbe or one of the Overlord's Minions has spent all of their Action Points and cannot perform Actions anymore, they must disable their Action Indicator by flipping the token, which signals the beginning of the turn of a miniature of the other Side.
Remember: If one of the Sides has already disabled every Action Indicator they have during a Round of Turns, the miniatures of the other Side that still have their Action Indicators enabled play out their turns.
Glossary
- Accumulate: Some Actions or Powers may accumulate their effects on a miniature. This means that the effects of said Action or Power on the miniature do add up.
- Adjacent: This rule is applied when a miniature is in base to base contact with another miniature.
- Ally: It is a miniature on the same Side as you.
- Draw: The target miniature is moved as many spaces towards you as indicated by the Draw multiplier (for example: "...is Drawn x3"), following the Trajectory Rule and applying rules as if it was moving. The target miniature spends no Energy when Drawn.
- Enemy: A miniature of the opposing Side.
- Halving: Every time you need to halve something, round the result down. The minimum is always 1.
- Instant: Actions or effects that feature the word "Instant" are performed automatically, without the need to roll Action Dice.
- Order of Effects: The order in which an Action's effects (regardless of whether they are in a card or in a Minion Panel) are to be applied is the order in which they are read.
Example: Prymat intends to perform the "Rocket" Action. First, he Repositions 4 spaces (as indicated in the description of the Action) and then the miniatures that are adjacent to Prymat in the space he now occupies suffer the corresponding damage.
- Reposition: The target miniature is moved as many spaces as indicated by the Reposition multiplier (for example: "...is Repositioned x2"), following the Trajectory Rule and applying rules as if it was moving. The target miniature spends no Energy when Repositioned.
Remember: If a miniature is Drawn or Repositioned over a Feature (Short Circuit, Gas Leak, Blaze, or Creature) they suffer the corresponding State. In case of a Rubble Feature, Homo Superbe miniatures cannot cross them.
- Round: It's the period of time in which the turns of the miniatures are played out. When all the miniatures in both Sides have played their turns (thus having their corresponding Action Indicators disabled), a Round of Turns is over and a new one begins.
- Stage: Some of the Overlord's Minions have more than one Stage (1 or 2). This means that these enemies are more powerful and relevant than the rest and that they are considered as bosses.
Some effects may not be applied to Minions with Stages. This, however, will always be indicated in the text of the card itself or in the panel of a Minion with Stages.
- Summon: Some Actions have the effect of summoning a miniature. Place this new miniature in the nearest available space to the miniature that performed the summoning.
- Taunt: Select a miniature within your Vision and whose Defense is lower than the one indicated. When the Taunt effect has been applied to a miniature, said miniature must play its turn right after the character that taunted it and move towards them.
If the miniature's turn has already passed (and thus its Action Indicator is disabled), they must move towards the character that taunted it during the next Round of Turns.
If there is more than one miniature taunted by the same character, the Side affected by Taunt may choose the order in which their miniatures will play their turns.
- Teleport: The target miniature is placed in the selected space, without taking movement rules or the Trajectory Rule into consideration.
- Temporarily: The "Temporarily" word implies that an effect lasts until the beginning of the next Round of Turns.
Icons List
The rulebook closes with a list of the icons used in the game. Their names are:
- Health Points, Energy Points, Action Points, Weight
- Melee, Rage, Vision, Accuracy, Radar, Defense, Dodge, Stealth, Endurance, Fortitude, Ethermancy, Handling, Luck, Aura, Movement, Boost, Ammunition
- Cooperlay/Coin, Rabidus, Action Dice, Add "X" Action Dice, Subtract "X" Action Dice
- States: Bleeding, Burning, Infected, Camouflaged, Stunned, Terrified, Fatigued
Storage Deck
This Deck contains all the Weapon Cards, Armor Cards, Tool Cards, and Adventure Cards that the Homo Superbe Side has acquired throughout the adventure.
It is important to keep the cards in the Storage Deck apart from the other Decks. The box has several different compartments to keep these Decks apart.
At the beginning of an Action Phase, each Homo Superbe may equip the following items from Storage:
- 1x Armor Card
- Weapon Cards
- Tool Cards
Once the battle has commenced, the Homo Superbe CANNOT equip cards from the Storage Deck, nor can they trade previously equipped cards among themselves.
Remember: If the Homo Superbe Side has the Advantage during an AP, they must equip their cards after the Overlord is done placing their Minions, Feature Tokens, and Tool Tokens.
Remember: Weapon and Tool Cards have a Weight of their own: a player cannot surpass their maximum allowed weight (STR x2). Cards that cannot be equipped are automatically teleported to the Storage Deck.
Gunan's Deck
This Deck contains all the Tool Cards that have been discarded throughout the adventure. When visiting the Tabernacle, the Homo Superbe Side may reacquire discarded Tool Cards by purchasing them to Gunan in exchange for Coins.
Purchasing Discarded Tool Cards
The Homo Superbe Side must pay the Overlord as many coins as the number of discarded cards they mean to recover. Cards recovered in this way are returned to the Storage Deck.
Remember: There are only so many cards with the same name. If these cards have been drawn from the Tool Deck already, the Overlord must pick them from Gunan's Deck. Players will not receive a card if all its copies are in the Storage Deck.