The Reckoners Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Meet the Reckoners
• Game Components
• Overview
  • Victory Condition
  • Loss Condition
  • Higher Player Counts
  • Lower Player Counts
• Game Setup
• Epics Overview
• Prologue Phase
• Enforcement Overview
• Play
• Reckoner Phase
  • 1. Roll Dice
  • 2. Use Dice
  • 3. Receive Rewards
  • 4. Purchase Equipment
• Epic Phase
  • 5. Add Epics
  • 6. Activate Epics
• Ability/Equipment Card Powers
  • Detailed Ability/Equipment Card Descriptions
  • Using Ability/Equipment Cards
• Epic Actions
• Steelheart's Action Tracks
• Rule Summary
• Credits

Meet the Reckoners

DAVID CHARLESTON — "I've seen Steelheart bleed. And I will see him bleed again." David is a Newcago native whose father was killed by Steelheart. He has compiled an inordinate amount of information on Epics and concocted a plan to take down Steelheart. David acts as the point man for the Reckoners, and when things go awry, he is known to change the plan on the fly. David also has a knack for very bad metaphors.

MEGAN TARASH — "I joined the Reckoners to kill Epics who deserved it." Originally from Portland, Megan is the newest member of the Reckoners besides David. She acts as the infiltrator for the group and always seems to get out of tight jams. Megan also has a strong affection for firearms, specifically pistols.

ABRAHAM DESJARDINS — "The heroes will come. Someday we will have Epics that do not kill, do not hate, do not dominate. We will be protected." Abraham is a tall and burly man from Canada with a slight French accent. He acts as the negotiator and techie for the Reckoners, and he carries a massive machine gun so large that it requires gravatonics to lift. Abraham also admits to being Faithful, a term used to describe those that believe good Epics do exist.

JONATHAN 'PROF' PHAEDRUS — "Don't just act because you can; act because it's the right thing to do." Nicknamed Prof, Jonathan Phaedrus is an ex-science teacher. He acts as the leader for the Reckoners, and he plans every attack on the Epics with careful calculation and precision. Prof is responsible for the demise of numerous Epics, and he has also created several pieces of advanced tactical equipment distilled from deceased Epic's powers.

CODY ARLINGTON — "I took an oath. Serve and protect. I ain't going to stop that because some thugs with magic powers start shoving everybody around. That's that." Cody is a wiry man from Nashville who has adopted Scottish lingo as homage to his ancestry—though his accent doesn't match. He occasionally acts as the sniper for the Reckoners, but, as he puts it, most often "fills the gaps with mayonnaise." Cody has a penchant for making absurd claims about his past and his family history, and it's unclear if he actually believes them.

TIA REDWIN — "Usually a stint in the Reckoners ends with death, but occasionally one of us gets captured." Tia used to be a rocket scientist for NASA. She acts as the researcher and ops coordinator for the Reckoners. Tia cofounded the Reckoners with Prof years ago. She is also addicted to cola.

Game Components

• 7 City District Trays & Boards
• 1 Reckoners Resource Tray & Board
• 12 Epic Action Brackets (1 spare)
• 8 Barricades
• 1 Steelheart Cutout
• 1 Steelheart Miniature
• 1 Steelheart Movement Die
• 5 Steelheart Adjustment Boards & 1 Power Board
• 1 Steelheart Tray
• 1 Research Board & 1 Health Board
• 25 Enforcement Miniatures
• 5 Resource Markers
• 9 Epic Research Markers
• 9 Epic Health Markers
• 20 Plan Tokens
• 1 Sniper Token
• 24 Special Dice
• 18 Basic Dice
• 6 Player Ability Cards
• 6 Player Trays & Boards
• 6 Player Aid Cards
• 29 Equipment Cards
• 6 Player Miniatures
• 25 Epic Cards

Overview

The Reckoners is a cooperative game: all players win or lose together. During play, you'll take on the role of one of the Reckoners, moving around the city, saving lives, removing Enforcement, purchasing equipment, and eliminating Epics. When you've eliminated enough Epics, you will have a chance to defeat Steelheart.

If the Reckoners manage to defeat Steelheart, then you win! However, if too many civilians die, then all Reckoners immediately lose.

Victory Condition

Players immediately win the game if they defeat Steelheart by reducing his health value to 0.

NOTE: Players must first reduce Steelheart's research value to 0 before beginning to reduce Steelheart's health value.

Loss Condition

Players lose the game immediately if the Population Track reaches 0.

Higher Player Counts

Due to the large number of City District Boards in the game, we strongly recommend that one or more players play The Reckoners with a small player count (1–4) before playing at higher player counts (5+). Consider playing a practice round before the large group gets together to play.

Lower Player Counts

For a solo game, you will play as two Reckoners, each operating independently. For two and three player games, you may choose to play with more than one Reckoner each, but it is not recommended for your first game. When setting up and playing with more than one Reckoner per player, always play as if each Reckoner counts as his or her own player.

Game Setup

1. Place a number of City District Trays on the table equal to 1+ the number of players. Arrange the City District Trays in a ring formation to form the Game Board.

   NOTE: If table space does not permit a ring formation, then it is okay to place the trays in an alternate formation (e.g. two rows) as long as each City District Tray can be considered adjacent to exactly two others and a clockwise/rotational order can be established and maintained.

2. Draw one City District Board for each City District Tray and place the boards into the trays. The specific City District Boards chosen do not matter. Place any unused City District Trays and Boards back into the box.

3. Shuffle the Epic Cards. Randomly draw and place one Epic Card face-up onto each City District in the game. Set the rest of the Epic Cards in a facedown stack next to the Game Board to form the Epic Deck.

4. Set one Epic Action Bracket into each City District Tray so that it sits on top of the Epic Card. Each Epic begins the game with the Epic Action Bracket on the third space of each Action Track so that three Epic Actions are to the left of the Epic Action Bracket.

5. Place one Epic Research Marker and one Epic Health Marker onto each City District Tray based on the Epic Card's starting research and health values. (See Epics Overview.)

6. Place the Reckoners Resource Tray next to the Game Board and place the Reckoners Resource Board into its spot in the tray. Use Resource Markers to set the Population Track to 40 and the Money Track to $4. Place the white Resource Marker on the top-most spot of the Reckoner Base Track (located in the middle of the board).

7. Shuffle the Equipment Cards and place them facedown on the Reckoners Resource Tray. Draw four Equipment Cards and set them face-up next to the Equipment Deck to form the Equipment Market.

8. Place the Steelheart Tray and Steelheart Miniature next to the Game Board. Set the Steelheart Research Track into its spot on the tray.

9. Set the Steelheart Research Track to its starting value based on the player count (see Figure 2). The Steelheart Health Track can be set to the side for now, as it will only be used when the value of the Steelheart Research Track reaches 0.

   Figure 2: Steelheart Research and Weakened Health Values by player count

   Player Count	Beginner	Standard	Hard	Sparks!
   2	18	20	25	28
   3	23	26	30	33
   4	28	32	35	38
   5	32	36	40	44
   6	36	41	45	49

10. Choose the Steelheart Power Board and the Steelheart Adjustment Board based on your player count. Place both of the boards into their spots on the Steelheart Tray, selecting the sides based on your desired difficulty (See Figure 3). Place the Steelheart Movement Die onto the bottom left corner of the Steelheart Adjustment Board.

    Figure 3: Steelheart Power Board Setup by Difficulty

    Difficulty Level	Adjustment Board	Power Board
    Beginner	A	A
    Standard	A	B
    Hard	B	A
    Sparks!	B	B

11. Place four Epic Action Brackets into the Steelheart Board. Steelheart begins the game with an Epic Action Bracket on the second space of each Action Track so that two Epic Actions are to the left of each Epic Action Bracket.

12. Place the Component Tray next to the Game Board with the Enforcement Miniatures, Barricades, and Plan Tokens in separate compartments within easy reach. Also, place one of each type of Special Dice beside the Component Tray.

13. Give each player one Player Board (picked or chosen randomly) and the following components:

    • 1 Player Tray to house the Player Board
    • 1 Player Miniature matching their Player Board
    • 1 Player Ability Card as listed on their Player Board (Cody also receives the Sniper Token)
    • 3 Special Dice matching the color of the Player Board
    • 3 Basic Dice
    • 1 Player Aid Card
    • 1 Plan Token placed in Player Tray

14. Place any unused Player Boards, Player Miniatures, Player Ability Cards and any unused dice back in the box.

Epics Overview

Before learning how to play, you need to first understand how Epics work.

Epics possess a wide array of superpowers, but despite their differences, all Epics have one thing in common—a weakness. Knowing an Epic's weakness will always make it easier to defeat that Epic. In some cases, it is impossible to damage and defeat an Epic without knowing their weakness.

Each Epic Card shows the following:

1. EPIC NAME

2. STARTING RESEARCH VALUE — This tells you how much research is needed to discover an Epic's weakness. When an Epic's research value equals 0, that Epic is weakened.

   NOTE: An Epic's research value can go higher than their starting research value (up to a maximum of 5), but once weakened, their research value can never go higher than 0.

3. STARTING HEALTH VALUE — This tells you how much attack is needed to defeat the Epic. When an Epic's health value equals 0, that Epic is defeated. If this value is infinite, then the Epic cannot be attacked or defeated until after the Epic is weakened (see Weakened Health Value below).

   NOTE: An Epic's health value can go higher than their starting health value (up to a maximum of 10). However, once defeated, their health value can never go higher than 0.

4. WEAKENED HEALTH VALUE — This is the health value that the Epic's health marker moves to once the Epic is weakened, so long as the health marker is above the Weakened Health Value.

   Example: If Faultline was just weakened, then her health marker immediately moves to 4 unless her health marker was already at or below 4 as a result of previous Attack Epic actions.

5. ACTION TRACK — This is the collection of Epic Actions at the bottom of the Epic Card. Epic Cards have a single Action Track. Steelheart has multiple Action Tracks.

6. ACTION BRACKET — The Action Bracket represents how powerful an Epic has become. It is placed in between Epic Actions on the Action Track so that Epic Actions are clearly divided to the left and right of the Action Bracket. During the Activate Epics step, move the Action Bracket the correct number of spots corresponding to the spaces in between the actions.

   NOTE: The Action Bracket will always have at least one action to both the left and right of it.

7. ACTIONS TO BE ACTIVATED — During the Activate Epics step, all Epic Actions to the left of the Epic Action Bracket will be performed. Therefore, the farther an Epic Action Bracket moves to the right, the more dangerous that Epic becomes. (See Epic Actions for details about the Epic Actions.)

8. REWARDS — The Epic Rewards are gained after an Epic is defeated during the Receive Rewards step. (See Receive Rewards for more details.)

Prologue Phase

Immediately after Game Setup, complete the following steps:

1. Place the Steelheart Miniature on a random City District Board to begin the game.

2. Activate Steelheart's Red Action Track only. (See Steelheart's Action Tracks for details.)

3. Roll the Steelheart Movement Die. Move the Steelheart Miniature clockwise that many City Districts.

   NOTE: For small player counts, this could result in Steelheart returning to the same City District.

4. Using the starting money, players may purchase Equipment Cards. (See Purchase Equipment for details.)

5. Players select their starting positions on the Game Board by placing their Player Miniatures onto a City District of their choice.

Now the game is ready to begin. Play proceeds with the first Reckoner Phase followed by the first Epic Phase. Repeat these phases in order until the game concludes.

Enforcement Overview

Enforcement are Steelheart's police force throughout Newcago. They may be regular humans, but don't underestimate their deadliness. Put under pressure by their Epic superiors, Enforcement are a very real threat and can cause a great deal of damage if ignored.

While Enforcement don't have a direct effect on the Population Track, they cause the Epic in their City District to power-up faster. (See the Activate Epics step for more details.) Place all miniatures on the top right section of the City District Boards.

Play

After the Prologue Phase, the game is played in a continuous loop of phases as shown below until either the victory or loss condition is met and the game ends.

Order of Play — Reckoner Phase: 1. Roll Dice, 2. Use Dice, 3. Receive Rewards, 4. Purchase Equipment. Epic Phase: 5. Add Epics, 6. Activate Epics.

Reckoner Phase

The Reckoner Phase consists of four steps: Roll Dice, Use Dice, Receive Rewards, and Purchase Equipment.

1. Roll Dice

During this step, all players will simultaneously roll and reroll their dice and select which results to keep.

How to Roll Dice

1. Roll all dice including any obtained by purchasing equipment and minus any dice taken by Steelheart.
2. Pick one or more dice to keep. At least one die must be kept (as indicated by the asterisk symbol on the Player Tray), but players may choose to keep as many dice as desired. The kept dice are placed in the Roll #1 section of the Player Tray. All kept dice are never rerolled.
3. Reroll remaining dice, if any.
4. Repeat step 2 for any dice that were just rerolled, placing dice in the Roll #2 section of the Player Tray.
5. Reroll remaining dice, if any.
6. Place ALL rerolled dice in the Roll #3 section of the Player Tray.

NOTE: Players may choose to keep multiple or even all of their dice from any roll. Simply place these dice under the correct roll section of the Player Tray, even if the dice go off the tray.

TIP: All players will work through their rolls at the same time, but they do not need to keep pace with each other. One player may decide to wait and see what another player rolls on their second or third roll before deciding which dice to keep for themselves. Communication and cooperation are key.

2. Use Dice

Once all players have finished rolling their dice, all players will simultaneously use their dice. Players work together to decide the order and the way in which their dice are used.

How to Use Dice

1. Choose one of the possible Dice Uses that you wish to perform.
2. Move an appropriate die from the Roll #1, #2, or #3 sections of the Player Tray to any of the dice spots in the top half of the Player Tray to signify that it has been used.

NOTE: You do not have to use all of your dice, but it is almost always in your best interest to do so since unused dice gain you nothing. On rare occasions, a die will be wasted because a player is unable to spend it in their current City District and does not wish to move to a different location.

TIP: For your first game, or at least the first few turns, it may be beneficial to have players take turns using some or all of their dice. Again, player communication is key. Your team will benefit from working as a team to optimally perform actions.

Important Use Dice Rules

• A die must be completely used prior to using a different die. (See Dice Use Examples below.)
• A single die may affect multiple Epics or Action Tracks (e.g. if Steelheart is present or if using Cody's Ability Card).
• It does not matter where on the Player Tray that the die originated or in which spot the die is placed.
• Each player is not limited to using only six dice. Any extra dice obtained from Equipment Cards can be placed anywhere on the top half of the Player Tray to signify that they have been used.

Barricades

A single barricade prevents all Player Miniatures from moving into or out of that City District until it is removed.

Steelheart and other Epics may add Barricades to City Districts that they occupy via their Epic Actions. It is possible that multiple Barricades may be placed on a single City District.

Possible Dice Uses

• Move — Use ANY die to move your Player Miniature to ANY other City District. This cannot be done to move into or out of a City District with a Barricade.

  NOTE: Neither the symbol nor the number of symbols on the dice matter.

• Remove Barricade — Use ANY die to remove a Barricade from ANY City District.

  NOTE: Neither the symbol nor the number of symbols on the dice matter. This is the only action that can be performed outside of your Player Miniature's current City District.

• Activate Player Ability / Equipment Cards — Dice can also be used to activate some Player Ability Cards and Equipment Cards. (See Ability/Equipment Card Powers for more details.)

• Earn Money — Increase the value of the Reckoner's Money Track by $1 for each Earn Money symbol on the die.

• Attack Enforcement — Remove one Enforcement Miniature from your City District and return it to the supply for each Attack Enforcement symbol on the die.

• Contain Epic — Choose an Epic's Action Bracket within your City District and move it to the left one space on that Epic's Action Track for each Contain Epic symbol on the die. This cannot be done to move the Action Bracket past the first symbol on an Epic's Action Track.

• Research Epic — Decrease the current research value of an Epic within your City District by one for each Research Epic symbol on the die.

  If this action reduces an Epic's research value to 0, then you have weakened that Epic. Move the Epic's Health Marker to its Weakened Health Value if lower than its current health value.

• Attack Epic — Decrease the current health value of an Epic within your City District by one for each Attack Epic symbol on the die. This cannot be done to Epics with infinite health.

  If this action reduces an Epic's health value to 0, then you have defeated that Epic. Remove the defeated Epic Card from the City District Tray and place it to the side with any other Epics that were defeated during this Use Dice step. You will earn the Epic Rewards during the Receive Rewards step.

  NOTE: Defeating an Epic has no effect on the Enforcement, Barricades, or Reckoners in that City District.

• Plan — Receive one Plan Token for each Plan symbol on the die. Place these Plan Tokens near (NOT on) your Player Board. They may not be used during this Reckoner Phase.

Plan Tokens

Plan Tokens can only be used during the Use Dice step of the game. They cannot be used during the same Reckoner Phase in which they were acquired (except for Tia's Ability Card).

To help keep this straight, place any Plan Tokens obtained this round next to the Player Board, rather than on it.

At the end of the Reckoner Phase, move any Plan Tokens received this phase onto the Player Board. Any Plan Tokens not used are kept round to round, and there is no limit to the number of Plan Tokens that a player may have or use.

Using Plan Tokens

To use a Plan Token, move it from the Player Tray to the general supply. Plan Tokens can be used as a die with any single symbol showing on it. A Plan Token may also be used to move, remove a Barricade, or activate a Player Ability/Equipment Card. Simply stated, a Plan Token is a single wild action, but it cannot be used the turn it is earned. (See Dice Use Examples.)

NOTE: Plan Tokens may be used to earn money, but they must be spent during the Use Dice step, not during the Purchase Equipment step.

Dice Use Examples

Dice and Plan Tokens — Example: Tia wants to weaken Digzone and possibly Frostbite this turn. In her position, Tia may use the double Research Epic from her purple die to weaken Digzone, but that might not be her best option because Digzone only has one Research left. Tia may not use only one Research Epic from her purple die on Digzone, then use her basic Earn Money die to move, and then use the second Research Epic from her purple die on Frostbite. Remember: You must completely use one die prior to using another die.

Alternatively, Tia could use a Plan Token from her Player Board to weaken Digzone and save her double Research Epic to weaken Frostbite after she moves there. Tia may not use the Plan action on her basic die to achieve the same effect this round. Remember: A Plan Token may not be used during the same Reckoner Phase in which it is acquired.

Working as a Team — Example: Abraham has rolled two double Attack Epic results on his special green dice. He wants to use these to attack Nightwielder at the Newcago Theatre, but he wants to make sure that enough research can be done before keeping these dice. He asks Tia for help since she is located in his City District. Tia continues to roll and reroll her dice while Abraham waits for her to finish.

Tia rolls just enough Research Epic actions (three). Abraham keeps his Attack Epic action results and finishes rerolling, hoping for some Attack Enforcement actions.

Now that all players are finished rolling, Tia spends three Research action results to discover Nightwielder's weakness and make him vulnerable, and Abraham spends his five Attack Epic action results to reduce Nightwielder's Health to zero, defeating him. He then spends his two Attack Enforcement results to remove the Enforcement from the District.

Directly Affecting Steelheart — Example: David uses a double Contain Epic on his special blue die. He happens to be in the city district with Steelheart. He can use one Contain Epic on one of Steelheart's Action Tracks and the second Contain Epic to affect the Action Track of the Epic in his City District (Faultline). It is also permissible for David to use both Contain Epic actions on any of Steelheart's Action Tracks.

Steelheart

Steelheart will be moving clockwise around the City Districts throughout the game. Any player may choose to affect Steelheart when they use their dice as long as their Player Miniature is located in the same City District as the Steelheart Miniature.

• Players may use their dice to Contain Epic on Steelheart. Steelheart's four Action Tracks function independently and can be separately contained.

  TIP: Steelheart can grow massively in power over the course of the game if players don't remember to contain him.

• Players may use their dice to Research and Attack Steelheart. Like any other infinite health Epic, players cannot Attack Steelheart until he has been weakened.

  TIP: Steelheart requires a significant amount of resources to be defeated. Even though players can research and attack Steelheart directly, it may not always be best to do so. Be careful to balance offense and defense to protect the population.

Defeating Steelheart

If Steelheart's research value is reduced to 0, then you have discovered his weakness. Remove the Steelheart Research Track from the Steelheart Tray and replace it with the Steelheart Health Track. Set Steelheart's health value to the appropriate amount based on the difficulty and number of Reckoners (See Figure 2). The amount is the same value as his starting research value.

In order to win the game, players must use numerous Attack Epic actions on Steelheart to defeat him. You may use Plan Tokens and Player Ability/Equipment Cards to aid you. Remember you must be in the same City District as Steelheart in order to attack him.

3. Receive Rewards

Each defeated Epic will grant you a reward.

How to Receive Rewards

1. Gain all Rewards for Epics defeated in the previous Use Dice step (See Epic Rewards.)
2. Epic Rewards can be used in any City District regardless of where the Epic was defeated or where the players are currently located. An Epic's rewards can only be used during the Receive Rewards step directly following the Use Dice step in which the Epic was defeated.
3. Place all defeated Epics from this phase face-up near the Epic Deck, forming a Defeated Epics Deck.

Epic Rewards

• Attack Enforcement — Remove a number of Enforcement Miniatures equal to this reward value from the Game Board. They can be removed from the same or different City Districts. If no more Enforcement Miniatures are on the Game Board, this reward won't have any impact.
• Contain Epics — Move an Epic's Action Bracket to the left a number of spaces on that Epic's Action Track equal to this reward value. This reward can be divided between multiple Epics and Action Tracks (including Steelheart). Just like during the Use Dice step, this reward cannot move the Action Bracket past the first symbol on an Epic's Action Track.
• Receive Plan Tokens — Gain a number of Plan Tokens from the supply equal to this reward value. The players decide how to distribute these newly acquired Plan Tokens. They do not need to be distributed equally. Players place these Plan Tokens onto their Player Board and may spend them during the next Use Dice step.
• Earn Money — Increase the value of the Money Track by this reward value.
• Research Steelheart — Each Epic defeated will help you learn more about Steelheart's weakness. Decrease Steelheart's current research value by this reward value. This reward cannot be used to research any other Epic. Once Steelheart is weakened, this reward won't have any impact.

TIP: Try to keep track of what Epic rewards you will receive during the Use Dice step. This may prevent you from wasting Epic rewards unnecessarily. For example, if you have removed all Enforcement from the Game Board during the Use Dice step, then you will waste any Remove Enforcement rewards gained by defeating an Epic this phase.

4. Purchase Equipment

Players may collectively opt to spend money from the Money Track to buy Equipment Cards.

How to Purchase Equipment

1. Choose an Equipment Card from the face-up Equipment Market. Subtract the Equipment Price from the current value of the Money Track.
2. Decide which player will receive the Equipment Card. Only one player may use the Equipment Card and its power. (See Equipment Card Powers below.)
3. Immediately draw the next card from the Equipment Deck and place it face-up on the open spot of the Equipment Market. There is no limit to the number of Equipment Cards that can be purchased during this step so long as the value does not exceed that of the Money Track.

NOTE: Equipment Cards stay with a single player the entire game and cannot be traded or given to another player. There is no limit to the number of Equipment Cards that one player may use. Players should place purchased Equipment Cards beside their Player Board to remember to use them.

Each Equipment Card shows: 1 Card Name, 2 Price, 3 Power.

IMPORTANT: At any point during the Purchase Equipment step, the Reckoners can spend $1 to discard all four face-up Equipment Cards and replace them with the next four Equipment Cards from the top of the Equipment Deck. Discarded Equipment Cards should be returned to the box for the remainder of the game.

Additionally, the Reckoners can spend $2 to buy back any dice at the bottom of the Resource Tray that were lost as a result of Discover Reckoners Base actions (see Epic Actions). Dice bought back must return to their original owners.

Epic Phase

The Epic Phase consists of two steps: Add Epics and Activate Epics.

Example: Curveball activates by Increasing Enforcement in his City District. Then he Attacks the Population for 1 and increases Steelheart's red Action Track. Then Curveball's Action Bracket needs to move three spaces to the right (1 + 2 for Enforcement, including the one just added). It moves one space before reaching the end of the track. For the remaining spaces that cannot be moved, Curveball immediately Attacks Population for 1. In this case, Curveball would reduce the population by 2 more, bringing his total Attack Population to 3 during his activation.

5. Add Epics

There is no shortage of ambitious Epics wanting to seize power and prove themselves to Steelheart.

Beginning in the City District with the Steelheart Miniature and proceeding clockwise around the Game Board, add Epics as follows.

How to Add Epics

1. Draw and place a new Epic Card face-up in every City District that currently does not have one because they were defeated in the preceding Reckoners Phase.

   NOTE: All City Districts in the game should have one Epic Card by the end of the Add Epics step.

2. Place the Research and Health Markers on the Starting Values for each new Epic Card.

3. Place the Action Bracket between the first and second Epic Actions on each new Epic's Action Track.

Example: Refractionary is added to The Loop.

6. Activate Epics

All Epics will activate individually, including those just added in the previous step. First activate the Epic Card in the City District with the Steelheart Miniature and proceed clockwise around the Game Board. Complete each Epic activation entirely before moving to the next one. End by activating Steelheart.

How to Activate an Epic Card

1. Execute each Epic Action that is currently to the left of the Epic Action Bracket. (Refer to Epic Actions for details on the Epic Actions.)
2. Move the Epic's Action Bracket to the right a number of spots equal to 1+ the number of Enforcement Miniatures located in that Epic's City District.

IMPORTANT: The Epic's Action Bracket cannot move past the final Epic Action on the Action Track. Instead, immediately execute the final Epic Action a number of times equal to the number of spots that the Action Bracket could not be moved. Any Enforcement added in this way do not add to the movement required this turn.

How to Activate Steelheart

Once all Epic Cards have been activated, activate Steelheart.

1. Execute each Epic Action that is currently to the left of the four Epic Action Brackets on his Action Tracks, moving from top to bottom. The red and blue Action Tracks are special and can affect multiple City Districts.

2. Roll the Steelheart Movement Die and move the Steelheart Miniature that many City Districts clockwise.

   NOTE: For small player counts, this movement could result in Steelheart returning to the same City District.

   IMPORTANT: Steelheart's Action Brackets do not increase at this time. His Action Brackets only increase due to other's Epic Actions.

After Steelheart has moved, repeat the cycle of Reckoner Phase and Epic Phase until either the victory or loss condition has been met.

Ability/Equipment Card Powers

• On-Going — Ability and Equipment Cards with this symbol signify a permanent ability that can be used at no cost.

• Once Per Round – Free — Ability and Equipment Cards with this symbol can be used once every Reckoner Phase during the Use Dice step at no cost. Turn the card 90 degrees to show it has been used during this phase.

  NOTE: Abraham's Ability Card (Faith) is an exception and can be used only during the Roll Dice step.

• Once Per Round – Costs — Ability and Equipment Cards with this symbol can be used once every Reckoner Phase during the Use Dice step at the cost of a die with at least one of the indicated symbols on it. A Plan Token may also be used to activate an Ability or Equipment Card. Place the used die/plan on the Ability or Equipment Card to indicate that it has been activated during this phase.

Detailed Ability/Equipment Card Descriptions

• Improvise — Use: Change the result of any one die.

• Faith — Use: Reroll as many of the dice you just rolled as desired. This must be performed during the Roll Dice Step, and it cannot be used to reroll dice kept from previous rolls. It can be used before deciding which dice to keep on a given roll.

• Operations — Use: Give a Plan Token from the general supply to another player. The Plan Token goes directly into that player's Player Tray. It can be used during the turn it is received, or saved for a future turn.

• Sniper — Use: Place Cody's Sniper Token on any City District. Cody can use dice or Equipment Cards as if his Player Miniature was also in that City District for the remainder of the Use Dice Step. At the end of the Use Dice Step, return the Sniper Token to Cody.

• Forensic Kit, Gravatonics, Trap — Permanent Ability: Freely use the left symbol as if it were the right symbol and vice versa on all dice and Ability or Equipment Cards.

• Dowser, Epic DNA, Gauss Gun, Harmsway, Jacket, Tensors — Permanent Ability: The player receives one die of the color shown from the supply. Remember each player is not limited to rolling and using only six dice.

• Camera, Evidence, Explosives, Flash Grenade, Twin Pistols — Permanent Ability: Dice symbols of the shown type on your Basic Dice can be used as if there were two of the same symbol.

  NOTE: Special Dice and Plan Tokens are not modified by these Equipment Cards. The symbol has to be naturally showing on the Basic dice to count as two.

  For example, the Forensic Kit, Gravatonics, and Trap cannot be used to change the symbol to the shown symbol and then double it. On the other hand, if a player had one of those Equipment Cards, they could change the symbols after they were doubled by this Equipment Card.

• Bank Vault, Bribe, Checkmate, EMP, Imager, Lead the Way — Use: Perform these actions as if they were from a die with the displayed symbols on it. This card may alternatively be used to Move, Remove Barricade, or Activate Player Ability/Equipment Cards.

  NOTE: Refer to the Once Per Round - Costs section above for how to activate this type of card. Remember a die must be completely used prior to using a different die.

• Grenade Launcher, Notebooks, Safe House, Drone — Use: Perform these actions as if they were from a die with the displayed symbols on it. This action can be performed in any City District. This card may alternatively be used to Move, Remove Barricade, or Activate Player Ability/Equipment Cards. However, a Player Ability/Equipment Card activated by this card will not gain the ability to be performed in any City District.

• Disguise, Grenade, Night Vision Goggles, Rifle, Schematics — Use: Perform this action as if it were a die with the displayed symbols on it. This card may alternatively be used to Move, Remove Barricade, or Activate Player Ability/Equipment Cards.

• Helicopter, Motorcycle — Use: Move your Player Miniature to ANY other City District.

Using Ability/Equipment Cards

Example: Megan rolls a double Attack Enforcement on one of her special red dice and a Contain Epic on one of her basic dice. She may activate the EMP Equipment Card with her red die, but this would consume both Attack Enforcement actions in exchange for three Contain Epic actions because the entire die must be used to activate this card. Furthermore, Megan could use the resulting Contain Epic actions on the EMP Equipment Card to activate her Checkmate Card. Again however, all three of the Contain Epic actions would be used to perform this activation, resulting in three Attack Epic actions and no Contain Epic or Attack Enforcement actions.

Alternatively, Megan could use the Gravatonics to change the Contain Epic action on her basic die into an Attack Enforcement action. Then, she may activate the EMP Equipment Card with her basic die. She could even use Gravatonics again afterwards to change the three Contain Epics actions back into any combination of three Contain Epic or Attack Enforcement actions.

Regardless of the combination, this group of actions is still considered to be the result of a single die. If any of the actions are used to activate another Player Ability/Equipment Card (such as Megan's Checkmate Card), then all of those actions are used as part of that activation.

Remember: You must completely use one die prior to using another die, so Megan must finish using the above group of actions prior to moving to a different City District.

Epic Actions

• Fortify — Increase the Epic's current research AND health values by +1. If an Epic is already weakened, then only increase the current health value by +1. If neither value may be increased by +1, then reduce the Population Track by -1 for each Fortify action that could not occur.

• Increase Enforcement — Add one Enforcement Miniature to the City District. If all 25 Enforcement are already on the board, reduce the Population Track by -1 for each Increase Enforcement action that could not occur.

  NOTE: This action will also increase the movement of an Epic's Action Bracket this turn because the Epic Action Bracket movement occurs after the Enforcement Miniature is placed (see example under Add Epics/Activate Epics above).

• Attack Population — Reduce the Population Track by -1 for each person icon in the symbol. If this reduces the Population Track to 0, then all players immediately lose the game.

• Gifted Actions — Certain Epic Actions may help nearby Epics. Activate the Epic Action shown inside the arrows, but only perform it for the Epic in the neighboring City Districts clockwise and counter clockwise. This action does not affect the performing Epics themselves.

  NOTE: Enforcement added in this way will only affect Epics that have not yet activated this round.

• Add Barricade — Add one Barricade to the City District for each Barricade symbol shown. If all eight Barricades are already on the board, reduce the Population Track by -1 for each Barricade action that could not occur.

• Increase Steelheart Powers — Move the appropriate Steelheart Action Bracket one space to the right for the corresponding Steelheart Power symbol.

  NOTE: Remember, these Action Brackets cannot move past the final Epic Action on these Action Tracks. Instead, immediately execute the final Epic Action the number of times equal to the number of spots that the Action Bracket could not be moved.

• Discover Reckoners Base — The Reckoners have a number of well-hidden bases where much of their precious resources are stored. Every time this action is taken, move the Resource Marker on the Reckoner Base Track one step down. This represents Steelheart getting one step closer to discovering a Reckoner Base and slowing down the team's progress.

  If this action is taken when the Resource Marker is already at the bottom of the Reckoner Base Track, a Reckoner Base has been discovered, and one Reckoner must discard a single die of their choice. Place this die at the bottom of the Reckoner Resource Tray and reset the Reckoner Resource Marker to the top step.

  NOTE: Dice taken this way may be acquired again during any future Purchase Equipment Step for $2 each. Also, there is no limit to the number of dice that The Reckoners may discard.

  Example: Fortuity carries out the Discover Reckoners Base action while the white resource marker is on the last space of the Reckoner Base Track. The white resource marker is reset to the top of the Reckoner Base Track and the players must choose and surrender any one die, placing it at the bottom of the Reckoner Resource Tray. On a later Purchase Equipment Step, the players decide to spend $2 and reclaim the captured die.

Steelheart's Action Tracks

Red Action Track — Steelheart's Red Action Track provides the Game Board with Enforcement Miniatures each round.

How to Activate the Red Action Track

1. Grab a number of Enforcement Miniatures equal to the number of Enforcement actions found to the left of the Action Bracket on Steelheart's Red Action Track. Set these near the Game Board.
2. Starting in the City District with the Steelheart Miniature and moving clockwise around the Game Board, add a number of Enforcement Miniatures equal to the deployment group size from the Enforcement Miniatures set aside earlier.
3. Continue to add Enforcement Miniatures (equal to the deployment group size) to the next City Districts in clockwise order until the amount set aside earlier runs out. The last group placed may be smaller than the deployment group size.

Example: The position of Steelheart's Action Bracket shows that three Enforcement Miniatures need to be added to the Game Board. These are pulled from the Component Tray and set aside. Then they are added in groups of two beginning with the City District with the Steelheart Miniature. The remaining one Enforcement is placed in the next City District clockwise.

Blue Action Track — Steelheart's Blue Action Track provides the Game Board with more Barricades each round.

How to Activate the Blue Action Track

1. Grab a number of Barricades equal to the number of Barricade actions found to the left of the Action Bracket on Steelheart's Blue Action Track. Set these near the Game Board.
2. Starting in the City District with the Steelheart Miniature, add a single Barricade to each City District, moving clockwise around the Game Board from those previously set aside.

Example: The position of Steelheart's Action Bracket shows that two Barricades need to be added to the Game Board. These are pulled from the Component Tray and set aside. One Barricade is then added to the City District with the Steelheart Miniature and the second is added to the next City District clockwise.

Your Next Game — After winning on Standard Difficulty, try the Hard or Sparks! Difficulty.

Too Hard? Consider looking up game tips at: www.nauvoogames.com/the_reckoners, or playing at an easier difficulty level.

Rule Summary

The Reckoners begins with a special Prologue Phase. After the Prologue Phase, the game is played in a continuous loop of phases as shown below until either the victory or loss condition is met and the game ends.

1. Roll Dice — All players simultaneously roll and reroll their dice up to three times each, keeping at least one die with each roll.
2. Use Dice — All players simultaneously use their dice. Players work together to decide the order and the way in which their dice are used.
3. Receive Rewards — Each Epic defeated this phase will grant you a reward.
4. Purchase Equipment — Players collectively spend money to buy Equipment Cards.
5. Add Epics — Add an Epic Card to each City District without one. Start with Steelheart's City District and then proceed clockwise.
6. Activate Epics — Activate all Epics. Start with the Epic in Steelheart's City District and then proceed clockwise. Finally activate Steelheart. Do not forget to move him.

Victory Condition – Steelheart Defeated. Loss Condition – Population Track Reaches 0.

Reckoners Actions — Use any dice or a Plan Token to: Move, Remove Barricade. Use specific dice or a Plan Token to: Activate Card, Earn Money, Attack Enforcement, Contain Epic, Research Epic, Attack Epic, Plan (Plan tokens cannot be used the phase they are obtained).

Remember: A die must be completely used prior to using a different die.

Epic Actions — Fortify, Increase Enforcement, Attack Population, Gifted Action, Add Barricade, Increase Steelheart Powers, Discover Reckoners Base.

Credits

Game Design & Development: Brett Sobol & Seth Van Orden

Graphic Design: Ian O'Toole

Illustration: Miguel Coimbra

Game Tray Design: Noah Adelman (GameTrayz)

Sculpting: Jin Vi

Thanks: Tania Van Orden, Tessa Sobol, Grace and Maverick Van Orden, Cedric Sobol, Stephanie Secrist, Jeff and Katie Butler, David Berg, Natasha and Shaun Hartman, Alvin and Tammy Van Orden, Kim and Doug Gardner, Ally Grigg, Colby Bates, Josh Kutterer, Todd Reck, Eric and Courtney Collyer, Adam and Maddy Johnson, Stephen and Lela Kitto, Aaron and Emily Martin, Parker Heiner, Dan Erickson, Andy Lee, Mira and Ben Monroe, Abel Kim, Darius Eslami, Herowannabe, Justin Borden, Joel and Kate Finch, MacLeod Andrews, JABberwocky Literary Agency, Dragonsteel Entertainment, and Brandon Sanderson.

The Reckoners board game is based on the Reckoners novels by Brandon Sanderson, copyright © 2014, 2015, 2016 by Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC and used with the express permission of Dragonsteel Entertainment, LLC.

© 2018 by Nauvoo Games. All rights reserved.

For more great games visit NAUVOOGAMES.COM · FACEBOOK.COM/NAUVOOGAMES · TWITTER.COM/NAUVOOGAMES · [email protected]