Synchro Horizon Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup
• Player Setup
• Items, Skills, Stun, Silence and Icons
  • Items
  • Skills
  • Stun and Silence
  • Shield
  • Icon Key
• Character Cards and Turn Order Box
  • Hero and Monster Cards
  • Initiative Box
• Hero and Monster Board
  • Hero Board
  • Monster Board
• Game Board, Journal Tile, Time Tracker and Potion Token
  • Game Board
  • Journal Tile
  • Time Tracker
  • Potion Token
• Gameplay Phases
  • Journey Phase
• Battle Phase
  • Beginning of the Battle Phase
• Hero Turn
  • 1. Basic Attack
  • 2. Shift Position
  • 3. Use Skill
  • 4. Level Up
  • 5. Reserve Shards
  • 6. Retreat
  • 7. End Turn
• Monster Turn
  • 1. Monster Action
  • 2. Roll the Dice and End Turn
• Battle Outcome
  • End Round Step
  • The Monsters Are Defeated
  • Defeat the Celestial and End Game
• Location Phase
  • Visiting a Village
  • Activating a Landmark
  • Landmark Effects
  • More Landmarks
  • Gain New Hero Card
  • Using Item Cards
  • Learn from Master
• Position, Push, Pull and Shift
• Elimination Rules
  • Hero Defeat
  • Activate the Defeated Character
• Burn Shard and Mulligan Rule
  • Burn Shard
  • Mulligan Rule
• Targeting Rules
  • Default Target
  • Single Target
  • Multi-Target
• Q&A

Components

Components list as printed in the rulebook's Game Components index (printed page 2).

• 30 Hero Cards
• 48 Monster Cards
• 4 Celestial Cards
• 1 Map Board
• 1 Side Board
• 14 Journal Tiles
• 1 Flag Standee
• 30 Item Cards
• 4 Hero Boards
• 4 Monster Boards
• 4 Level Trackers
• 2 Initiative Boxes
• 1 Time Tracker
• 1 Round Tracker Cube
• 16 Damage Tracker Dice
• 5 Monster Action Dice
• 8 Stun Tokens
• 4 Potion Tokens
• 40 Shield Tokens
  • 20 (1-Shield)
  • 20 (5-Shield)
• 25 Coins
  • 10 (1-Coin)
  • 10 (5-Coin)
  • 5 (10-Coin)
• 1 Shard Bag
• 28 Crystal Shards
• 1 Skill Bag
• 50 Skill Tiles

Game Setup

A. Place the Game Board in the center of your play area. Check the shard color at the top-right corner of each city name on the Game Board. Randomly select a Journal Tile of the same color and place it above the city name, with the Shard side facing up. B. Place the Flag Standee at Luminaria (upper-left corner of the Game Board). C. Separate the Legendary Heroes (cards with the blue night background, as shown in the picture) and set them aside with the regular side facing up (see p.8). Then shuffle the remaining Hero Cards to create the Hero Deck, also with the regular side facing up. D. Shuffle the Item Cards to create the Item Deck with the regular side (see p.7) facing up. E. Put 28 Crystal Shards (7 of each color) into the Shard Bag. F. Rotate the Time Tracker to 1 and set it to the Spring Season (see p.10). G. Place all Shield Tokens, Coins, Potion Tokens, Stun Tokens, and all Dice within reach. Give each player their Hero Board and place an Initiative Box nearby. Group the 4 Monster Boards together within reach of another player, and place the second Initiative Box near them. Connect the 2 Stage Stands. Place the Identification Rings near the Stage. H. Put all Skill Tiles into the Skill Bag. I. Separate the Monster Cards by the color on the back, creating 5 decks. Shuffle each deck and place them into their designated slots.

Player Setup

1. Draw 7 Hero Cards from the bottom of the deck. Choose 4 and place them on Hero Boards with the regular side facing up (see p.8). Return the 3 unchosen Hero Cards to the top of the deck.
2. For each Hero, draw 3 Skill Tiles and choose 1 to place in their Skill Slot with the regular side facing up (see p.7). Return the 2 unchosen tiles to the Skill Bag.
3. Take the Standee for each Hero and attach the Identification Ring that matches the color of their Hero Board.
4. Place 2 Damage Tracker Dice on the slot with the "0" side facing up.
5. Place the Level Tracker on the topmost space (Level 1).
6. For each Hero, draw 2 Shards from the Shard Bag and place them in the Shard Slots.
7. As a team, collect 8 Coins. You may visit a Village. (See p.18 for Village rules.)

The color of the Hero Board doesn't need to match the Hero, but the base of the Hero Standee must match the Monster Board color.

Pro Tip: Visiting a Village early helps you acquire items or learn from a Master to strengthen your party.

Items, Skills, Stun, Silence and Icons

Items

• Gold background: Upgraded Items. Upgraded Items are shown on a gold card background.
• Silver background: Regular Items. Regular Items are shown on a silver card background.
• Each Item card shows a Price (gold coin value in the top-right corner), a Name, an Ability, and a Reference Code.

Example Item cards printed on the page (ability icons are read against the Icon Key below):

• Nebula Impaler (upgraded): Multi-target; ability icons with Damage +5.
• Twilight Piercer (Price 4, regular): ability icons with Damage +2.
• Witch's Hat (Price 5, regular): Fill 1 Shard.
• Guardian's Scepter (Price 4, regular): two abilities, each Basic Attack with a +2 bonus (one to HP and one to Shield).

Skills

• Gold background: Upgraded Skills. Upgraded Skills are shown on a gold card background.
• Silver background: Regular Skills. Regular Skills are shown on a silver card background.
• The border color of a Skill Tile indicates which Shard colors are needed to activate that Skill.
• The number and color of Shards shown on a Skill are the Shards required to activate it.

Example Skill Tiles printed on the page: Shield Hover (upgraded, gold); Shield Hover (regular, silver); Shielding Rhythm (regular, silver), Gain 5 Shield, requires 4 Shards; Meteor Storm (regular, silver), 8 Damage to all Enemies.

Stun and Silence

• When a character is Stunned, place a Stun Token on their card. A Stunned character cannot take any actions on their next turn. Remove the Stun Token at the end of that turn.
• A character already Stunned cannot be Stunned again.
• Silence prevents a Hero from using any of their Skills. If used on a Monster, it reduces its action by 1 Tier. If the Monster's action is already Tier 1, it performs a Basic Attack instead.
• The Silence Token is removed at the end of the affected character's turn.

Shield

• When a character gains Shield, place the appropriate number of Shield Tokens on their card.
• When the character takes Damage, discard Shield Tokens equal to the Damage taken (or as many as possible). Any leftover Damage bypasses the Shield and is subtracted from their HP.
• A character cannot hold more Shield Tokens than their Max HP.
• All Shields are discarded at the end of the battle.

Icon Key

• Start Turn
• Damage
• Shield
• Basic Attack
• Ally Unit
• Enemy
• All Allies
• All Enemies
• Both Adjacent
• An Adjacent
• Shift
• Roll D6 Dice
• Push
• Pull
• Stun
• Skill
• Item
• Shard
• Time
• HP
• Heal

Character Cards and Turn Order Box

Hero and Monster Cards

Hero Card. Each Hero card shows:

• Hero's Name, and Hero's Title (for example, "The Red Explorer").
• Hero's Class, shown as an icon in the top-right of the card. The background color indicates the Hero's Class.
• Hero's Faction, shown as an icon.
• Hero's Abilities, printed at the bottom of the card.
• Reference Code, printed in the bottom-left corner.

Hero cards come in two forms: a Gold Border marks an Upgraded Hero, and a Class Color Border marks a Standard Hero.

Monster Card. Each Monster card shows:

• Monster's Name and Monster's Level (LV), with the card color indicating the Monster's Level.
• Monster's Starting HP, shown in the heart at the top of the card.
• Actions the Monster will take if the dice shows specific numbers or ranges. During the Monster's turn, it performs the Action indicated on the card based on the dice result.
• Reference Code, printed in the bottom-left corner.

Example Monster card (Lava Spirit, LV 4, Starting HP 34):

• Dice 1-3: 15 Damage.
• Dice 4-5: 13 Damage to 2 Front Enemies.
• Dice 6: 18 Damage, and X HP lost to Enemy, where X is the number shown as Damage (the card's footnote reads "X = Damage results in HP lost to Enemy").

The color of a Monster Standee's Identification Ring must match the color of that Monster's Board.

Initiative Box

This game uses two boxes to randomly determine turn order: the Hero Initiative Box (blue) and the Monster Initiative Box (red). Each box contains 4 marbles, one for each character. The color of each marble matches the Identification Ring on the corresponding Standee and Board.

Usage instructions:

• After shaking, place the box on a flat surface to prevent marbles from shifting or rolling back.
• Do not shake or move the box once the cover is removed.
• If the marble order is disturbed before all are revealed, close the cover, shake again, and start a new reveal sequence.
• If a color repeats for a character that has already taken an action, skip that color.
• Slide the cover one section at a time to reveal the marbles one by one. From the box, if a red marble is revealed, the red Monster takes the first action.

Hero and Monster Board

Hero Board

• Hero and Master Card Slot. Holds the Hero card and the Master card (the Master gives an extra Hero ability).
• Level Tracker. Tracks the Hero's level, indicating the HP limit, the number of Shards gained per round, and the number of Shards gained at the start of battle.
• Skill Tile Slots. Can hold up to 4 Skills.
• Basic Attack Shard Placement Area. Shards are placed here for the Basic Attack.
• Shift Position Shard Placement Area. Shards for Shift positions are placed here.
• Shard Storage Slot. Can only hold a maximum of 5 Shards at the end of a round.
• Item Slots. Can hold up to 2 Items.
• Damage Dice. Use two D10 dice to track damage taken. The left die represents the tens place, and the right die represents the units place. If damage reaches the HP limit, the Hero is eliminated.

Examples: when the Hero takes 12 damage, the left die shows 1 and the right die shows 2. When the Hero takes 2 damage, the left die shows 0 and the right die shows 2.

Monster Board

• Action Dice. Indicate the actions of the Monster. Two slots show whether the action has been performed or not.
• Damage Dice. Use two D10 dice to track damage taken by the Monster. The left die represents the tens place, and the right die represents the units place. If the damage reaches the limit, the Monster is defeated.
• Separable Monster Board. The Monster Board can be separated for easier understanding. It is recommended to arrange the Monster Boards to match the positions of the Monster Standees.

Game Board, Journal Tile, Time Tracker and Potion Token

Game Board

• Journal Tile. The book icon on the Journal Tile will have a color that corresponds to the city name.
• During Setup, after placing the Journal Tile, flip the Journal Tile to reveal the book page.
• Journal Tile colors and levels. The book icons on the Game Board show five levels, each with a distinct color: Level 1 (green), Level 2 (yellow/gold), Level 3 (orange), Level 4 (red), and Level 5 (purple). The City of Celestial is marked with a dark (black) icon.

Journal Tile

• Journal Tile Level. Shown on the top of the Journal Tile.
• Landmark. Places within the city that can be visited.
• Travel Time. The Time required to travel to this location.
• Monster Level. Indicated by the color and symbol that match the back of the Monster Card.
• Reward Money. Earned for defeating the Monster.

Time Tracker

• Seasons. There are 4 seasons (Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter), each with 12 Time.
• Time Wheel. The Time Wheel is turned whenever Time is spent. The space at the top of the wheel indicates the Exhausted slot for the current round.
• Reserve Shard. There are 2 Shard Slots used to hold Shards that are shared among the party.
• Time Out. If the Time Wheel reaches the 12th day of Winter, the Celestial successfully summons a Calamity and the players immediately lose the game.

The Celestial has succeeded in its dark ritual. Game Over.

Potion Token

• Using Potions. A Potion can be used at any time, including right before taking damage. When used, reduce the value on the Damage Tracker Dice on that Hero's board by half of the Hero's Max HP (rounded down). This effect can be used to prevent a Fatal Blow.
• Example. A Hero with 30 Max HP is about to take 22 damage. When the Hero uses a Potion, they still take the damage, but it is reduced by 15 (half of their Max HP). As a result, the Damage Tracker Dice will show 7 damage remaining on the Hero.

Gameplay Phases

Synchro Horizon has 3 Phases to follow:

• I. Journey Phase. Choose the path and move your Party there.
• II. Battle Phase. Battle the mob of Monsters.
• III. Location Phase. Activate the Landmark and/or Visit the Village.

Journey Phase

Begin the journey at Luminaria. Choose the adjacent City your party wants to visit, then choose the Landmark in that City. Place the Flag Standee on that Landmark symbol. Move the Time Tracker according to the Hourglass symbol on the upper-right of the Landmark.

Movement follows these rules:

• The Party can only move forward on the path (down and right) and cannot move backward (up and left).
• The Party cannot skip any City on the path. They must move to the next adjacent City through the road or canal (black arrow).
• The Party can only choose one Landmark per Journal Tile.

"The path of destiny cannot be returned."

Examples printed on the page:

• If you choose to go to the Tavern, you must advance the Time Tracker forward by 3 Time.
• If traveling to this City, you will encounter Level 1 and Level 2 Monsters.
• If you can defeat the Monsters, you will gain access to the Tavern and receive 6 Coins.

Battle Phase

The Battle Phase involves the Heroes fighting to help the townsfolk, gaining experience to become stronger, and earning money and access to new locations after defeating the Monsters.

Beginning of the Battle Phase

1. Draw 4 Monster cards, as indicated in the bottom-left corner of the Journal Tile. Draw them one at a time from left to right, placing them onto the Monster Board from the frontmost position to the back. If a drawn Monster card has an "F" (Front) or "R" (Rear) symbol in its top corner, place that card in the corresponding front or rear position on the Monster Board. This placement overrides the normal front-to-back order.
2. Roll 4 D6 dice one by one, placing each above a Monster Card from left to right. Then, place a Damage Tracker Die with the 0 face up on each Monster Board.
3. Set the Round Tracker Cube to match the color of the Time Wheel number color.

Players may choose to place the Heroes stage on either the left or the right side. If you choose the right side, move the Monsters stage to the opposite side, ensuring that the first Monster is adjacent to the first Hero.

Example of the Monster Card opening step (the example uses 1 Level 1 Monster card and 3 Level 2 Monster cards; open them in sequence without shuffling or rearranging):

• Step 1: Flip the first card and place it in the first position on the Monster Board.
• Step 2: The second card has an "R" for Rear, so place it in the last position.
• Step 3: The third card has an "F" for Front, so place it in the first position, shifting other cards accordingly.
• Step 4: The fourth card has an "R" for Rear, so place it in the last position, shifting other cards accordingly.

4. You may rearrange the Heroes and swap Item Cards between Heroes. The Hero at the front is more likely to take more damage than the others.
5. Choose whether to begin first (taking the first turn in battle) or not. If you choose to begin first, draw 1 Shard from the bag for each Hero. If the Monsters begin first, each Hero fills Shards according to their Shard/Round value.

Example, Hero Level 1:

• If the enemy takes the first action, draw 2 Shards.
• If the Hero takes the first action, draw 1 Shard at the beginning of the battle.

Example, Hero Level 5:

• If the enemy takes the first action, draw 3 Shards.
• If the Hero takes the first action, draw 1 Shard.

6. Move each Monster Die (D6) above the Monster Card to the left slot [I] if the Monster begins first, or to the right [II] if the Player begins first.
7. Shake the Initiative Boxes for both Heroes and Monsters. Slide the cover of the Initiative Box (according to who begins first) to reveal the first marble, then perform that character's turn. When the cover is opened, the color of the marble determines which character on the board, matching the color of the marble, will take their turn.

Hero Turn

On the Hero's turn, slide the cover on the Hero Initiative Box just until the next marble is revealed. This marble indicates which Hero will activate this turn (match its color to a Hero Board). The active Hero may perform each of the following Actions once per turn. Note: each Skill is considered its own Action, so you may use each of the Hero's Skills once.

1. Basic Attack

Move an available Shard (any color) from the Shard Slots to the Basic Attack Slot and perform a Basic Attack that deals Damage to the Monster at the frontmost position, equal to the Hero's Level. This will also trigger the Class Ability. There are 3 classes in this game:

• Sorcerer (blue class icon): Will deal additional Damage to another Monster of your choice equal to the Hero's Class Level.
• Warrior (red class icon): Gains Shield equal to the Hero's Class Level.
• Ranger (green class icon): Basic Attacks deal additional Damage equal to the Hero's Class Level.

Class Level is abbreviated as CLv. Class Levels 1 to 4 are shown on the Hero Board.

2. Shift Position

Move an available Shard (any color) from the Shard Slots to the Shift Position Slot, then swap the position of the Active Hero with an adjacent Hero (see p.22).

Pro Tip: Position shifting is crucial for battle strategy. Sometimes it is necessary to swap the position of Heroes to protect them or to take advantage of their special abilities.

3. Use Skill

To use a Skill, move the required Shards (color and amount) from the Shard Slots to the Skill Tile of the Active Hero.

If the Hero does not have the required Shard color for the Skill Tile, you may use:

• Clear Shard: May be used as any color.
• Class Color: Once per turn, any Shard can be used as the Hero's Class color. Sorcerer: convert to blue. Warrior: convert to red. Ranger: convert to green.

"If a Hero has 2 red Shards and 1 blue Shard but needs to use both Skills in battle, the Warrior's ability allows converting any Shard to red once, which must be used immediately."

4. Level Up

Look at the next number below the Level Marker and move that number of Clear Shards from the Shard Slots to the Level Up section of the Hero Board. Move the Level Marker down 1 step. Then, get a reward according to the level:

• Level 2-4: Draw 3 Skills from the Skill Bag and choose 1 to place on the Skill Slot of the Active Hero Board, with the regular side facing up. Return the other two.
• Level 5-7: Flip the Hero Card to the Upgraded side or flip a skill of the Active Hero to the Upgraded side.
• Sometimes leveling up the Hero will increase Max HP, shown next to the Level Marker.

You may spend two Shards of the same color in place of a Clear Shard to Level Up.

5. Reserve Shards

The Active Hero can move unspent Shards to the Reserve Slots on the Time Tracker if slots are available. The Active Hero can use Shards in the reserve slots for their Actions.

6. Retreat

Advance the Time Tracker by 5 Steps. Remove all Damage inflicted on each Hero and fill Shards depending on the Hero's Shard/Round. Take all Monster Cards into the Monster Card deck according to their Level, then shuffle. After that, do the Beginning of the Battle Phase again.

7. End Turn

End your turn and pass to the next enemy. Slide the cover on the Monster Initiative Box.

Pro Tip: If all Heroes are defeated, the game ends immediately and the players lose. We recommend using the Retreat action if your Heroes are too weak to continue fighting or if victory seems unlikely. Additionally, Retreating can also be used as a strategy for farming.

Monster Turn

Slide the cover on the Monster Initiative Box just until you see the next marble. It tells which Monster will activate this turn (match the color of the marble with the Monster Board). Then the Active Monster performs the following steps.

1. Monster Action

Perform the action according to the value on the Monster Die (D6) above the Monster. The Monster Die acts as the Shard for that Monster. If the Monster's die value is reduced below 1 due to effects such as Burn Shard (see p.24) or Silence:

• The Monster performs a Basic Attack by dealing damage equal to twice its Level to the frontmost Hero.
• However, if the Monster is a Celestial, it instead performs a Basic Attack, dealing 10 Damage.

Example: "This Monster's die shows a 4, dealing 4 damage to all enemies." (Goblin Warrior, LV 2, shown on the page.)

2. Roll the Dice and End Turn

Roll the die and place it in the opposite slot on the Active Monster Board. End this Monster's turn and pass to the next Hero. Slide the cover in the Hero Initiative Box, then perform that Hero's Action.

Battle Outcome

End Round Step

When both Initiative Boxes have revealed all four marbles, the Round ends and follows these steps:

1. Discard Used Shard Step. Move all the Shards on Hero Boards that are not in the Shard Slots to the Discard Tray.
2. Advance the Time Wheel forward by 1 step. If the Round Tracker Cube color matches the corner of the Time Wheel, discard the Round Tracker Cube. Your party is now Exhausted.
3. Fill-Shard Step. Each Hero gains a number of Shards equal to their Shard/Round value. However, if the party is Exhausted, each Hero gains only 1 Shard instead. (If the Shards exceed the Shard Limit, you must choose to discard the excess Shards.)
4. Close and shake both Initiative Boxes. Check which side begins first for the next Round by looking at the Monster Dice.
   • If they are in the [I] slot, Monsters will begin first.
   • If they are in the [II] slot, Players will begin first.

The number of Shards filled depends on the Level, which can be seen in the right slot.

The Battle Phase ends as soon as all the Monsters are defeated, Retreat, or all the Heroes are defeated (you lose).

The Monsters Are Defeated

If you defeat all the Monsters, the Party will gain Coins equal to the Coin Symbol at the lower corner of the current Journal Tile, plus an additional 2 Coins for each Elite Monster defeated in this Battle. Then move to the Location Phase.

"You receive 6 Coins for helping the city and an additional 2 Coins for successfully defeating 1 Elite Monster."

Defeat the Celestial and End Game

The Celestials dwell in Stellaris, the final destination of this journey. In that location, you will draw three Level 4 Monster Cards, then randomly draw a Celestial Card.

The Celestials are treated as Monsters and will perform actions similar to them during the game. All Celestials have an ability, similar to Heroes (see the gold banner at the bottom of the card).

If your party of Heroes defeats both the Celestial and the Monster within four seasons, they will be remembered as the Great Heroes of this Realm.

"This is the Celestial, a being that dwells in Stellaris, so mighty that only the most exceptional Heroes can hope to defeat it."

And that's how you win the game.

Location Phase

In this phase, you may choose to visit the Village either before or after activating the Landmark. However, you may only visit the Village once per Location Phase. Therefore, you cannot visit it both before and after the Landmark in the same phase.

Any time after finishing an action in this phase, you may skip to the next Journey Phase.

Visiting a Village

1. Advance the Time Wheel forward by 3 steps.
2. Draw 5 Hero Cards and 5 Item Cards from the bottom of their respective decks. Then perform any of the following Actions (you can perform more than one, all, or none):

• Buy Items. You can buy any number of Items by paying the cost shown on the Item Card. Place them silver side up on an Item Slot on the Hero Board.
• Invite new Hero to Party. If you have fewer than 4 Heroes in the Party, spend 8 Coins to add a Hero to your party.
• Learn from Master. Spend 8 Coins to gain a Hero Card and place it under one of your existing Hero Cards. That Hero now gains the Ability and Class of the Master (the card placed under it).
• Change Hero. Spend 4 Coins to shuffle one of your current Heroes back into the Hero pile and draw a new Hero, after that reshuffle all skill of that Hero.
• Rest. Spend 1 Coin per Hero to restore them to full HP.
• Buy Potion. Spend 2 Coins to buy a Potion.

The order of the Village and Church is shown on the page: travel to the Church first, then to the Village; or travel to the Village first, then to the Church.

Activating a Landmark

Activating a Landmark allows the player to perform only the actions that are available at that specific Landmark (see pages 19-20 for details).

Using Landmarks is crucial for your Heroes. It's not only a way to prepare for the next battle, but also an opportunity to Upgrade Skills, Upgrade Items, or even roll a D6 to test your luck at the Statue.

Landmark Effects

Depending on your Flag Standee's position, perform the corresponding Landmark effect below:

• Tavern. Draw one random Hero card to add to your party. This Hero cannot be used as a Master and must be kept in reserve to replace a defeated Hero. A Hero gained this way may only join the party at the end of the Battle Phase.
• Mine. Roll a D6. Gain 1 Coin equal to the value of the die shown. You may re-roll any number of times, but each re-roll costs 1 Time.
• Great Waterfall. All Heroes receive 5 damage (this damage does not trigger Passive Abilities from Heroes or Items). Gain 8 Coins.
• Sanctuary. Choose 1 Hero in the graveyard pile, use it as a Master (if any) or Upgrade an Item Card by paying 5 Coins.
• Altar. Draw 5 Skill Tiles. Then choose up to 3 Skill to replace the Skill your Hero have.
• Church. Gain 2 Potion Tokens and fully heal all Heroes.
• Statue. Pay 2 Coins and roll a D6. You receive a reward based on the result, as shown below:
  • 1: Gain 3 Coins.
  • 2: Gain a random Item Card. (Printed as "an random Item Card"; article corrected.)
  • 3: Upgrade a Skill Tile.
  • 4: Choose a Hero to gain 1 Level Up.
  • 5: Gain a random Hero Card.
  • 6: Gain 10 Coins.
• Abyss. Discard the Hero who has the highest Level. Then all other Heroes gain 3 Levels. Your Party is now limited to 3 Heroes.

More Landmarks

• Campfire. Visit the Village without losing Time and gain 2 Coins.
• Flower Field. Each Hero picks 1 Clear Shard from the Shard Bag or Discard Tray.
• Wizard Tower. Choose 1 Skill Tile and set it aside. When you Level Up, you may gain this Skill instead of drawing from the bag.
• Dojo. Gain a random Master Card.
• Mana Lake. Spend Shards to gain rewards according to the information below:
  • X1: Gain 2 Coins.
  • X2: Gain 3 Coins.
  • X3: Gain a Potion Token.
  • X4: Gain a random Item Card.
  • X5: Choose a Hero to gain 1 Level Up.
  • X6: Gain 2 random Item Cards.
  • X8: Gain a random Upgraded Item Card.
• Dungeon.
  • You will begin the Battle Phase by drawing four Level 4 Monster Cards instead of the usual levels.
  • If you draw an Elite Monster card, place it on the bottom of the Monster Card deck and draw a new card.
  • While in a Dungeon, you cannot Retreat, and the Exhausted rules do not apply.
  • If you win this battle, randomly gain a Legendary Hero Card. You may then choose to either replace an existing Hero or assign the new Hero as a Master.

Gain New Hero Card

1. Place the new Hero Card on an empty Hero Board or swap it with your current Hero (with the regular side facing up).
2. Set the Level Tracker equal to the Journal Tile's City Level minus 1.
3. Gain the rewards from all the levels one by one. (Example: Draw 3 Skill Tiles and choose 1.)
4. Fill 2 to 3 Shards to the Hero according to their Level, or use the card as a Master.

"You may place the new Hero Card in an empty slot on the Hero Board."

Example: "Draw 3 Skill Tiles and choose 1 to keep, placing it with the silver side face up." "Randomly draw Shards from the bag and place them in your Hero's Shard Slots." In this case, draw 2 Shards as the Hero is at Level 3.

"Since you found the Hero in a Level 4 city, they will start at Level 3."

Using Item Cards

• Item Cards are shared by the party, but only the Hero currently equipped with one gains its abilities.
• An Item Card's ability can be used whenever its activation condition is met (e.g., when using a Skill, when you Shift, when taking Damage, or when activating a Hero).
• Item Cards are not consumed or discarded after use.
• If the Hero equipping an Item Card is defeated, the Item is not lost. However, it can only be equipped to another character at the start of a new battle.

Learn from Master

• Instead of placing a Hero into an empty slot on the Hero Board, you may designate them as the Master.
• Hero now has 2 Abilities: one from the Hero Card itself and one from the Master.
• The Basic Attack will apply both class abilities simultaneously (effects double if the classes are the same).
• You can use any Shard as the class color twice per turn: once as your class color and once as the Master's class color.
• If the Hero is defeated, the Master is shuffled back into the Hero Deck.
• One Hero, one Master. (The Hero cannot have more than 1 Master.)

"Vela Mercantalis gains the abilities of the Master card placed beneath her, combining abilities from both classes."

Position, Push, Pull and Shift

Position is where a character stands on the Stage. On your side, the spaces are P4 (Rearmost), P3, P2, and P1 (Frontmost). The enemy side mirrors this, with their P1 position facing your P1.

1. Push (Push icon): To push an enemy character into a position with a higher number (i.e., move it toward Rear), move it to the next higher-numbered position. For example, pushing a unit in P1 moves it to P2.
2. Pull (Pull icon): To pull an enemy character into a position with a lower number (i.e., move it toward Front), move it to the next lower-numbered position. For example, pulling a unit in P4 moves it to P3.
3. Shift (Shift icon): Shift allows one of your characters to take the place of an ally within the specified position range.

If no range or specific Position is indicated on the ability, it means you can Shift to replace any ally character in any Position. The Shift action is governed by the following rules:

1. Move the character performing the Shift to its target Position.
2. Afterwards, all ally characters that were in higher-numbered Positions than the one just vacated must move forward sequentially to fill the empty slot toward Front.

Elimination Rules

A character is eliminated when its accumulated Damage (as shown on the Damage Dice) is equal to or greater than its Max HP.

When a character is eliminated, immediately remove its Standee or Miniature from the Stage. Then, fill the gap. Every Standee or Miniature in a higher Position number must shift down one space to the newly vacant, lower-numbered Position. The character in the highest-numbered Position is considered the "Most Rear". The Position order is as follows: P1 (Frontmost), P2, P3, P4 (Rearmost).

• Example 1: When a character is eliminated.
• Example 2: Adjusting the Position Order.
• Example 3: When the "Most Rear" character is eliminated.
• Example 2: Adjusting the Position Order. (Printed as "Example 2" on the second right-hand diagram; the sequence reads as a fourth example.)

Hero Defeat

• Discard the Hero's card to the Graveyard Pile.
• Return the Hero's Skill Tiles to the Skill Bag.
• Discard all of that Hero's Shards into the Discard Tray.
• All Item Cards equipped to that Hero are retained. They can be assigned to another Hero before the next Battle Phase.

Activate the Defeated Character

If you have to activate a Hero that is already defeated, draw a Shard from the Shard Bag and give it to any Hero of your choice.

If a defeated Monster has to activate, a Hero of your choice receives 3 Damage (this damage does not affect the Shield, Passive Ability of the Hero, or Item Cards).

Example: If it's your turn but you don't have a Hero on the Yellow Board, draw 1 Shard and give it to a member of your party.

"If a red Monster is revealed but it is already defeated, a Hero take 3 damages."

Burn Shard and Mulligan Rule

Burn Shard

• On Your Character. You must choose and discard a number of Shards equal to the Burn Shard value. (When you suffer "Burn 1 Shard", you must choose and discard 1 Shard to the Discard Tray.)
• On a Monster. Reduce the Monster's die value by the Burn Shard amount. If the die's value is reduced to 0, take the die, place it above the Monster's slot, and the Monster performs a Basic Attack instead of its normal action (see p.16). (When a Monster suffers "Burn 1 Shard", reduce its die value by 1.)

Mulligan Rule

Upon leveling up, you draw 3 Skill Tiles and choose 1 to keep. If you are unsatisfied with your options, you may perform a "Press Your Luck" mulligan. This allows you to redraw, but with fewer options each time.

• The Initial Draw (3 Tiles). After you draw 3 Skill Tiles from the Skill Bag, first Mulligan Decision: If you dislike your options, you may choose to mulligan. To do so:
  1. Put all 3 tiles aside. You cannot choose this tile again.
  2. Draw 2 new Skill Tiles.
• Second Mulligan Decision. After seeing the two new tiles, you still have one final chance to mulligan. To do so:
  1. Put all 2 tiles aside. You cannot choose this tile again.
  2. Draw 1 new Skill Tile. You must keep that tile, no matter what it is.

After you have chosen a Skill at any step, return all other Skill Tiles (the ones you set aside) to the Skill Bag.

Example 1: The Initial Draw (choose 1 of 3). Example 2: First Mulligan (choose 1 of 2). Example 3: Second Mulligan (you must choose this tile).

Targeting Rules

Default Target

Unless specified otherwise, any action affecting an opponent will only affect the frontmost opponent.

Single Target

Targeting a Shared Position. If multiple characters (e.g., two enemies) occupy the same position slot and a Skill targets that specific position, the player using the Skill chooses which one of those characters becomes the target.

Targeting Allies and Self. Skills can also target allied characters or the user themselves. The Skill's text will specify this (e.g., "Target any character" or "Target all allies"). The same targeting principles apply.

No Legal Target. If an action or Skill requires a target but there are no legal targets available on the Stage, the action or Skill cannot be used and is considered to have failed. Any resources spent to activate it are lost.

"If Liona uses a Skill that targets a single Position and that Position (e.g., P3) contains multiple enemy Monsters, you may choose which Monster in P3 is affected."

Multi-Target

Some Skills are designed to affect multiple targets at once.

Only One Hit Per Character. When a single Skill affects multiple targets, each character can only be targeted and affected once by that Skill's use, unless the Skill's text explicitly says otherwise (e.g., "this Skill can target the same target twice").

Common Multi-Target Effects:

• All: Affects every character of a certain type on the Stage (e.g., all Allies, all Enemies).
• Position: Affects all characters currently occupying a specific position or area (e.g., "all characters in Position 3").
• Adjacent: Affects a primary target and then hits one or more additional targets, often those adjacent to the primary target. The Skill's text will describe the exact conditions.

Q&A

1. Can a character Level Up when not in a battle? Yes. A character can Level Up at the start of their turn or by visiting certain Landmarks.

2. Does leveling up restore a character's HP to full? No. While some level ups increase your Max HP, it is not a full heal.

3. Do I have to perform my Actions in a specific order? No, there is no required order. However, the sequence you choose for your Actions is strategically very important.

4. Can I use more than one Skill in a single turn? Yes, you can use multiple different Skills in one turn, as long as you have enough Shards to pay for each one. However, each individual Skill can only be used once per round.

5. What is the purpose of the faction symbols? They will be used in a future expansion.

6. Is there a limit to the number of tokens? No. If you run out of a specific type of token, you can use another component as a substitute.

7. Does anything special happen when the season changes? Not at this time.

8. Are the Identification Rings required at all times? No, they are not strictly required. Their main purpose is to help tell characters apart when it becomes difficult, for example, when you have multiple identical Monsters on the board or if you are using unpainted Hero miniatures.

9. Can I sell Items? Currently, there is no way to sell Item Cards.

10. Can I choose which Shard to draw from the bag? No, unless the effect includes the keyword "Pick." If the effect says only "Fill," you draw randomly. If it says "Pick," you may look and choose the Shard you take.

11. What happens if I gain a new Hero when my party is already full? You can place the new Hero next to your Hero Board to keep them in reserve. Before the start of a new Battle Phase, you can swap them with a Hero in your party or use them to fill an empty slot.

12. What happens if I gain a new Shard, Item Card, or Skill when my slots are already full? You cannot exceed your limit. If you gain a new one while you are full, you must immediately choose to either discard the newly gained one or discard one you already have to make room.

13. When can I use a Potion? You can use one at any time, including just before your Hero would suffer a fatal blow.

14. Can I spend "Time" to visit additional Landmarks? Currently, that is not an option.

15. Can I upgrade the Master? Currently, this can be done by using certain Landmarks.