Way of the Fighter: Super Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Rules Summary
  • Turn Sequence
  • Effect Icons
  • Move Effect Icons
  • Blast Effect Icons
  • Landing
  • Facing
• The Arena
• Key Components
  • Fighter Standees
  • Dice
  • Two Starters, One Game
  • Tokens
• Cards
  • Initiative Card
  • Status Cards
  • Character Cards
  • Action Cards
• Game Setup
  • Building a Fighter Deck
  • For Your First Game
• How to Win
  • Common Keywords
• Fight!
• Turn Sequence
  • Ready Phase
  • Challenge Phase
    • Priority Value
  • Recovery Phase
• Dice Pools
• Movement
• Positioning
• Landing
• Facing
• Actions
  • Checking Grids
    • Grids and Target Zones
  • Resolving Actions
• Combo Actions
  • Combo Sequence
  • Combo Keywords
  • Cancelling Actions
  • Resolving Combo Actions (Example)
• Action Types and Primary Effects
  • Strike Actions
  • Grab Actions
  • Block Actions
    • Performing a Block Action (Example)
  • Blast Actions
    • Performing a Blast Action (Example)
  • Move Actions
  • Mode Actions
• Four-Player Tag Team
  • Setup
  • Additional Rules
  • Turn Sequence Changes
  • Four-Player Tag Rules Summary
• The Five Styles
• Character Entries
• Keywords

Rules Summary

Turn Sequence

1. READY PHASE
   1. Draw Cards
   2. Burnout Shift
   3. Energy Shift
2. CHALLENGE PHASE
   1. Use Command: Starting with the player with the Initiative, each player uses one Command from the list below:
      • KNEEL: Crouch. Then they Energize 1.
      • SHIFT: Stand. Then they may Advance or Retreat up to one space. Then they Draw 1.
      • LEAP: Jump. They may Advance or Retreat up to two spaces.
   2. Play Actions
   3. Roll Dice
   4. Reveal Actions
   5. Resolve Actions: Start with the highest Priority Score. They may combo if able.
3. RECOVERY PHASE
   1. Pass Used Initiative
   2. Recover Blocks
   3. Check Blasts
   4. Burnout Dice and Discard Actions
   5. Check Hand Limit
   6. Move Turn Counter

Effect Icons

• The number of Power Dice on the action when it resolves.
• The number of remaining dice on the action when it resolves (both Core and Power Dice).
• The amount of damage dealt by the action.
• The amount of damage prevented by the action.

Move Effect Icons

• Retreat: The active fighter Retreats with this action.
• Advance: The active fighter Advances with this action.
• Retreat or Advance: The active fighter may Retreat or Advance with this action.

Blast Effect Icons

• High Blast Icon: Places a High Blast token in the active fighter's space.
• Low Blast Icon: Places a Low Blast token in the active fighter's space.
• High Blast Icon or Low Blast Icon: Places a High Blast or Low Blast token in the active fighter's space.

Landing

A Jumping fighter automatically Stands when either of the following happen:

• After resolving their non-move action.
• At the end of the turn.

The player removes their Jumping position token from the board to show that the fighter is no longer "in the air." After removing the Jumping position token, if the fighter occupies a space that another Crouching or Standing fighter occupies, move the active fighter to the space in front of the opposing fighter.

Facing

Fighters rotate to face each other when any of the following happens:

• After a player uses a Command.
• After resolving an action.
• At the end of the turn.

Do not change the facing of fighters when they occupy the same space. Fighters do not change facing in the middle of an action, but do change facing between two linked actions in a combo.

The Arena

Multiple areas are used to organize the action during the game.

1. TURN TRACK: Uses the turn counter to track the current turn.
2. ARENA TRACK: Uses standees to track each fighter's location in the arena. The far most left and right spaces are called Edge Spaces. These may be referred to through card effects.
3. POSITION INDICATOR AREA: Indicates a fighter's position with position tokens.
4. LIFE POOL: Uses dice to track a fighter's current life.
5. BURNOUT POOL: Contains a fighter's burned out dice.
6. ENERGY POOL: Contains dice that are in reserve for a fighter.
7. ACTIVE POOL: Contains dice that a fighter may roll after playing their action cards.
8. FIGHTER AREA: A player places their fighter's character card, mode cards, blast cards, status cards, and the Initiative card when they have it, in this area.
9. CHALLENGE AREA: A player places and resolves action cards in this area during the Challenge Phase.
10. FIGHTER DECK AREA: A player stacks their deck of action cards facedown in this area.
11. DISCARD PILE AREA: A player stacks their discarded action cards faceup in this area.

Note: Each player uses one side of the board to track resources available to their fighter. Each player also has a Fighter Area, Challenge Area, and places to stack their deck and discarded cards.

Key Components

Fighter Standees

These standees are used to track each fighter's location in the arena. The image on the standee also indicates a fighter's current facing, either toward or away from the opponent.

Dice

Each player starts the game with two types of dice: twelve Core Dice and six Power Dice. The twelve Core Dice are white. The six Power Dice match the color of their respective sides of the board and tokens. Numeric values only have an effect on the game while they are on an action card.

Two Starters, One Game

Way of the Fighter is sold in two unique boxes: SUPER and TURBO. Both of these boxes are standalone products, containing everything two players need to start playing Way of the Fighter. Each box contains five unique characters. Throughout the rulebook you will see various fighters that appear in each box. In addition to the fighters, you will see tokens, dice, and game boards from each box. SUPER tokens and dice appear as blue or red, while the TURBO tokens and dice appear as green or orange.

Tokens

Way of the Fighter has two types of tokens: position tokens and blast tokens. Position tokens are the larger tokens that are used to track when a fighter is Crouching or Jumping (one side is Crouching, the other Jumping). The smaller blast tokens track the location and direction of low and high blasts in the arena (one side High Blast, the other Low Blast).

Cards

Way of the Fighter has four different types of cards.

Initiative Card

The Initiative card is a special card that players use and exchange throughout the game. When a player has the Initiative card, they place it in their Fighter Area. A player may use the Initiative card immediately after rolling dice to do one of the following: Crouch, Stand, Jump, Advance 1, Retreat 1, or have their action gain Priority Bonus 2 (See Keywords).

The Initiative card can only be used once per turn. A player still has the Initiative while it is used. When a fighter with the Initiative is knocked down, the Initiative card immediately becomes used, if it has not already been used during the current turn.

A player with the Initiative card must give it to their opponent during the Recovery Phase if it has been used. It is then placed in the other player's Fighter Area unused.

Always break ties between priority scores in favor of the player with the Initiative. The player with the Initiative uses the first Command each turn.

Status Cards

Whenever a fighter suffers the Crippled, Dazed, or Knockdown conditions, place the relevant status card in their Fighter Area as a reminder. Each card notes how the condition affects a fighter and when it is removed.

Character Cards

These cards provide a quick reference for each fighter.

1. NAME: The name of the fighter.
2. ABILITY: The fighter's unique ability. Some abilities provide an ongoing passive effect, while others are used in place of a Command (See Step 1. Use Command).
3. STYLES: The styles that the fighter has mastered. Styles are referenced when building the fighter's deck (See Building a Fighter Deck).

Action Cards

Actions represent the attacks, moves, blocks, and modes that the fighters use.

1. PRIORITY VALUE: The base priority of the action. Actions are resolved from highest to lowest priority each turn (See Priority Value).
2. NAME: The name of the action.
3. TYPE: The action's type: strike, grab, move, blast, block, or mode (See Actions).
4. FIGHTER OR STYLE: Denotes if the action is a fighter action. Actions that are not fighter actions will belong to a style instead. Each character's card shows the styles that may be included in the fighter's deck.
5. TECHNIQUE: Each style includes multiple techniques. Techniques come in packs of eight cards.
6. PRIMARY EFFECTS: The effect that usually resolves first when resolving the action.
   • Damage Dealt Value (strike, grab, blast actions only): The damage dealt by a strike, grab, or blast action when it hits.
   • Movement Value (move actions only): How many spaces the fighter is moved by a move action, and which direction it can be moved.
   • High or Low Blast Value (blast actions only): The type of blast tokens placed by a blast action and how far they move each turn.
   • Damage Prevented Value (block actions only): How much damage a block action prevents when a blocking fighter is hit.
7. SECONDARY EFFECTS: Lists any additional effects that may resolve during the Challenge Phase and any associated keywords.
8. GRIDS: Grids show the action's range when a fighter is Crouching, Standing, or Jumping (See Checking Grids).

Game Setup

Follow these steps to set up for a game of Way of the Fighter.

1. Set the game board on a flat surface between the players.
2. Place the turn counter on the space marked "1" on the Turn Track.

Both players then:

3. Select a fighter and take their character card and standee.
4. Build a fighter deck (See Building a Fighter Deck).
5. Place their character card in their Fighter Area.
6. Select one action from each of the four technique packs in their fighter deck and combine them with their fighter's block action to form a starting hand of five cards.
7. Shuffle their remaining cards and stack them facedown in their fighter deck area.
8. Collect all blast tokens and the position token matching their side of the board's color.
9. Place their standee in one of the designated spaces on the Arena Track, facing toward their opponent's standee.
10. Place six Core Dice in their Burnout Pool.
11. Place one Core Die in each of the lightened spaces of their Life Pool.
12. Place one Power Die matching their side of the board's color in each of the six darkened spaces of their Life Pool.

Building a Fighter Deck

Before playing a game of Way of the Fighter, each player builds a customized deck for their chosen fighter. A fighter's deck consists of 46 cards, including:

• One Character Card.
• One Fighter Pack, consisting of the block action card and two copies of the six unique fighter actions belonging to the chosen fighter (13 cards in total; the example Kasi pack is 1 block card plus 12 Kasi cards). Players must include the exact numbers listed.
• Four different technique packs. A Technique Pack consists of two copies of four unique actions belonging to the same technique (8 cards).

The techniques that can be included are limited by the styles available to the fighter, as indicated with the style icons on their character card.

Players cannot have multiple copies of the same technique pack in their deck.

Example: Kasi is limited to two technique packs from the Wrestle style (Crush and Throw techniques), and two technique packs from the Chi style (Yin and Wave techniques). Her deck must include two different Wrestle technique packs, so her deck cannot have two copies of the Crush technique pack in it. Her deck can however include the Crush technique pack and Throw technique pack.

Each character's entry lists four technique packs that they can use for a quick setup. Using each character's listed techniques to build decks allows all characters included with the game to have a fully built deck at the same time (See character entries).

For Your First Game

Each player should select one of the five pre-built decks included with a copy of the game. These decks come pre-sealed and are ready for play straight out of the box. Once each player has selected a deck, they should randomly remove one card belonging to each technique from their deck. Additionally each player removes their fighter's block action card and character card. Then both players shuffle their decks and place them next to the board as indicated on the setup diagram.

How to Win

During the game, players will battle until one fighter is knocked out. A fighter is knocked out when they take damage, but do not have any dice in their Life Pool to move to their Energy Pool.

If no fighter is knocked out by the end of the twelfth turn, the fighter who has the most dice in their Life Pool wins. If both players have the same amount of dice in their Life Pools at the end of the twelfth turn, the game is a draw. In the finest tradition of arcade fighters, we recommend that you play to the best of three games.

Common Keywords

• Draw X: Draw X cards from the top of your deck. If the deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile and place it facedown to form a new deck.
• Energize X: Move X Core Dice from the Burnout Pool to the Energy Pool.
• Power-Up X: Move X dice from the Energy Pool to the Active Pool.
• Burnout X: Move X dice from the action's card to the Burnout Pool.

Fight!

To start of the game:

1. Both players roll three Core Dice from their Burnout Pool.
2. The player with the highest roll chooses a player to start with the Initiative card in their Fighter Area.
3. The player with the Initiative places one of the dice that they rolled into their Energy Pool, returning the remaining dice to their Burnout Pool.
4. The other player places two of the dice that they rolled into their Energy Pool, returning the remaining dice to their Burnout Pool.

Then start the first turn.

Turn Sequence

Ready Phase

The Ready Phase is separated into three steps. Unless otherwise mentioned, each step starts with the player with the Initiative.

• STEP 1. DRAW CARDS: Each player draws one card OR discards three cards from their hand and draws three new cards.
• STEP 2. BURNOUT SHIFT: Each player moves one Power Die OR two Core Dice from their Burnout Pool to their Energy Pool.
• STEP 3. ENERGY SHIFT: BOTH players move ALL the dice in their Energy Pool to their Active Pool.

Challenge Phase

The Challenge Phase is separated into five steps.

STEP 1. USE COMMAND. Starting with the player with the Initiative, each player uses one Command from the list below:

• Kneel: The player places their position token with the Crouching side faceup on the Position Indicator Space on their side of the board and then moves one Core Die from their Burnout Pool to their Energy Pool.
• Shift: The player removes their position token from the board, Advances their fighter up to one space forward or Retreats it up to one space backward, and may draw one card after moving (See Movement and Positioning).
• Leap: The player places their position token with the Jumping side faceup on the Position Indicator Space on their side of the board and then Advances their fighter up to two spaces forward or Retreats it up to two spaces backward (See Movement and Positioning).

In addition to the Commands listed, some character cards and actions have the following text, "As a Command..." These powerful effects are noted on the card and may be used during this step in place of one of the listed Commands.

STEP 2. PLAY ACTIONS. Both players simultaneously play an action from their hand facedown into their Challenge Area.

STEP 3. ROLL DICE. Both players take all dice from their Active Pool into their hand, secretly pick from one to four of them in any combination of core and Power Dice, and roll them simultaneously. Players return any dice that they did not roll to their Active Pool. The player with the Initiative decides if they want to use it (See the Initiative Card).

STEP 4. REVEAL ACTIONS. Both players reveal their action and place the dice that they rolled on their action's card, showing the results. Next, both players check whether they can resolve their action based on their current position (See Checking Grids). Their action is immediately cancelled if they cannot resolve their action in their current position. Cancelled actions are immediately discarded and their dice are moved to the Burnout Pool. Every player with an action then totals the numbers rolled on the dice and adds that number to their action's priority value. This determines each action's priority score.

STEP 5. RESOLVE ACTIONS. Starting with the action with the highest priority score, including blast actions already in play, each player resolves their action. Ties go to the fighter with the Initiative. When resolving an action, check the action's secondary effects to see if any resolve before the primary effect. The primary effect may be modified by secondary effects (See Resolving Actions).

Some actions will allow for a player to start or continue a combo, which lets them link actions so long as they can roll a high enough priority score (See Action Combos).

It is also likely that an action may be cancelled before it can resolve. In this case, the fighter does not perform an action this turn (See Cancelling Actions).

Priority Value

The Priority Value is the number in the top left corner of every action's card. This value indicates the speed of the action. Cards with lower priority values are slower than cards with higher priority values. Values range from one to nine. Before revealing actions, each player rolls between one to four dice. The values rolled with the dice will be added to the action's priority value to determine the Priority Score. The player with the higher priority score will resolve their action before the other player. Some effects on cards may adjust the priority value when they are revealed.

Recovery Phase

The Recovery Phase is separated into steps. Both players complete each step in order.

• STEP 1. PASS USED INITIATIVE: If the player with the Initiative has used it, the Initiative must be passed to the opponent, where it returns to them unused.
• STEP 2. RECOVER BLOCKS: All dice on block actions in play return to their Energy Pools. Then each block action in play returns to their player's hand.
• STEP 3. CHECK BLASTS: Cancel all blast actions in play that do not have tokens on the Arena Track. Move all remaining blast actions to the Fighter Area and Burnout all Core Dice on them.
• STEP 4. BURNOUT DICE AND DISCARD ACTIONS: Cancel all actions in their Challenge Areas.
• STEP 5. CHECK HAND LIMIT: Players discard their hands down to seven cards. Players may never discard block actions.
• STEP 6. MOVE TURN COUNTER: If no fighter has been KO'd, and if the match is not on Turn 12, move the turn counter to the next numbered space and repeat the turn sequence.

Dice Pools

There are four different pools for dice. The dice represent each fighter's potential and limits; their numeric values have no effect while they are in these pools.

• LIFE POOL: Dice in the Life Pool are simply tokens that represent each fighter's vitality. If there are no dice in a player's Life Pool when they need to remove a die from being damaged, they are knocked out and immediately lose the game.
• BURNOUT POOL: Dice that players roll for actions go to the Burnout Pool during the Recovery Phase. This indicates energy the fighter has used but not lost.
• ENERGY POOL: Dice in the Energy Pool represent the fighter's reserves of strength and stamina. They may be moved to the Active Pool by effects with the Power-Up keyword and during the Ready Phase.
• ACTIVE POOL: Dice in the Active Pool represent the force and focus that the fighter can immediately bring to bear. These dice may be rolled to boost an action's priority score. Additionally, the effects of certain actions may be modified based on how many dice were rolled with them.

Movement

The Arena Track on the game board is broken into a row of ten spaces. These spaces, along with a fighter's standee and position token, depict that fighter's location in the arena.

Fighter standees move along the spaces on the Arena Track. When a Command or action Advances a fighter forward, move that fighter in the direction that it is currently facing. When a Command or action Retreats a fighter backward, move that fighter in the direction opposite to its current facing, but do not change its facing (See Facing).

Positioning

Players use their double-sided position token to show when their fighter is Crouching or Jumping. One side indicates Crouching, and the other side indicates Jumping.

A Crouching or Standing fighter may not occupy the same space as another Crouching or Standing fighter. This supersedes the Standing icon that is printed on the Position Indicator Space. Simply remove the position token to indicate when a fighter is Standing.

Crouching and Standing fighters may never occupy the same space. Except for when Jumping, if a fighter moves onto or through a space occupied by a Crouching or Standing fighter, the moving fighter stops on the space in front of the opposing fighter. A Jumping fighter moves normally through a Crouching or Standing fighter.

A Jumping fighter may not end its movement on or move through a space occupied by another Jumping fighter. A Jumping fighter stops on the space in front of an opponent's Jumping fighter, because it cannot pass through that space.

Landing

A Jumping fighter automatically Stands when either of the following happen:

• After resolving their non-move action.
• At the end of the turn.

The player removes their Jumping position token from the board to show that the fighter is no longer "in the air."

After removing the Jumping position token, if the fighter occupies a space that another Crouching or Standing fighter occupies, move the fighter to the space in front of the opposing fighter. (Example: Ren lands in the same space as Jun, so Ren shifts to the space in front of Jun.)

Facing

Fighters rotate to face each other when any of the following happens:

• After a player uses a Command.
• After resolving an action.
• At the end of the turn.

Do not change the facing of fighters when they occupy the same space. Fighters do not change facing in the middle of an action, but do change facing between two linked actions in a combo (See Combo Actions). (Example: Ren Jumps over and lands in the space past Jun; both fighters turn to face each other at the end of Ren's action.)

Actions

This section describes how to read and resolve key features of an action's card.

Checking Grids

There are three grids at the bottom of every action card. These grids will indicate what position the active fighter must be in to perform the action, as well as which spaces and positions the action may affect. When resolving an action, the active fighter will reference the grid that corresponds to their current position.

NOTE: The grid is shown as if the fighter is facing to the right. When a Fighter is facing to the left, its controlling player will need to flip the grid to mirror what is shown.

The grid on the left shows which spaces the action may affect when the active fighter is Crouching, the middle grid shows which spaces the action may affect when the fighter is Standing, and the grid on the right shows which spaces the action may affect when the fighter is Jumping.

The first column of boxes on each grid references the active fighter's current space on the Arena Track (0 spaces away). The second, third, and fourth columns reference the three spaces to the front of the active fighter (1, 2, 3 spaces away). The rows of each grid correspond to the target's position (Jumping, Standing, Crouching).

Each box in a grid will be either black, white, or another color tied to the type of action.

• A black box represents the acting fighter's current position. If there is no black box in the grid that corresponds to the fighter's current position, then the action will be cancelled immediately after it is revealed.
• In addition to black boxes, colored boxes, called Target Zones, represent spaces and positions that will be affected by the action (in other words, if your target is occupying a space and position that corresponds to a colored box on the action's grid, they may be affected by it!)
• White boxes represent spaces and positions that are not affected by the action.

Special Icon. Colored boxes with a white explosion in them are called Special Target Zones. Special Target Zones count as Target Zones, but they will also have an additional effect when an opponent is in their corresponding space, as noted on the action card's timing keywords.

Grids and Target Zones

The Light Kick action card has three grids at the bottom. Players reference the left grid when their fighters are Crouching, the middle grid when Standing, and the right grid when Jumping. The black box in a grid's leftmost column indicates that the attack may be made while in that position. Light Kick has a black box in the leftmost column of each grid, indicating it may be used in any position.

Aurelia has already used the Leap Command, so she is in the Jumping position. She attacks Jun with Light Kick. Checking the rightmost grid, she sees that all of the boxes in both of the next two columns are colored red. This means that the Light Kick will strike Jun if she is Crouching, Standing, or Jumping within two spaces of Aurelia's standee. Light Kick would not hit Jun if she was Crouching or Standing on Aurelia's space. Nor would it hit Jun if she was three (or more) spaces away, because those boxes are white, and therefore are not Target Zones.

If Aurelia were Standing while attacking with Light Kick, she would reference the middle grid and see that the bottom row does not have any Target Zones, as indicated by all boxes on that row being white. This means that a Standing Light Kick would not hit Jun if she was Crouching. It would also not hit her if she was Jumping in Aurelia's space. Nor would it hit Jun when she was three (or more) spaces away. (A fighter may be in range, yet its position makes it not a legal target.)

Resolving Actions

Actions sometimes include both primary and secondary effects. While primary effects almost always resolve before secondary effects, some secondary effects may resolve before the primary effect. When resolving an action, always check the various timing keywords and resolve them in order, as some secondary effects may modify the primary effect. Once resolved, the action remains in play until the end of the turn or it is cancelled (See Timing Keywords below).

Some effects also change based on special conditions, as indicated by the following icons:

• The number of Power Dice on the action when it resolves.
• The number of dice remaining on the action when it resolves (both Core and Power Dice).
• The amount of damage dealt by the action.
• The amount of damage prevented by the action.

Primary Effects. All actions have a primary effect that varies with each action type. Strike and grab actions hit and deal damage. Blast actions throw projectiles that hit and deal damage. Block actions reduce damage dealt to a fighter. Move actions move a fighter outside of using Commands. Modes stay in play after being resolved, making their secondary effect a lasting advantage (See Action Types and Primary Effects).

Secondary Effects. Secondary effects appear as text below the primary effect. Secondary effects include a number of keywords that describe when and how to resolve them. Timing keywords indicate the conditions or point in the action's resolution when the effect resolves. If the conditions are not met, the effect does not resolve. An effect with the Hit or Damage timing keywords doesn't do anything if the action fails to hit or damage the target, for example. Timing keywords always appear before any other keywords, separated by a colon. If an effect doesn't have any timing keywords, its other keywords always apply and the timing is irrelevant (See Keywords).

Timing Keywords

• BLOCK: Resolve this effect after the action reduces the damage dealt to a fighter.
• DAMAGE: Resolve this effect after the action deals any damage to the opponent.
• END: Resolve this effect after resolving the action's primary effect.
• HIT: Resolve this effect after the action hits the opponent.
• REVEAL: Resolve this effect immediately after checking grids, regardless of priority score. If both players have a Reveal effect, the player with the Initiative resolves their effect first.
• SPECIAL: Resolve this effect if the opponent is in the valid grid and the box that corresponds to their space has the special icon.
• START: Resolve this effect before referencing Target Zones and resolving the action's primary effect. Actions with a Start timing effect are still immediately cancelled if their position's grid lacks a black box when the action is revealed.

Combo Actions

After a strike, grab, or blast action hits the opponent, or if an action has the Link keyword, the active fighter may play another action immediately after resolving their current action.

The active player follows the combo sequence below to start or continue a combo. Action cards played after the previous action are called Combo Actions. The opposing player does not play any actions or roll dice during the combo sequence, and will only resolve their block action if it is in their Challenge Area during the combo sequence.

Combo Sequence

1. Play Action
   • If the opportunity to combo arises from a hit, the player can only follow up with a strike, grab, or blast action.
   • If the combo arises from a Link keyword, the player can only follow up with an action defined by the Link keyword (See Link below).
2. Roll Dice (then choose to use the Initiative)
3. Reveal Action
4. Resolve Action

If the combo action's priority score is equal to or higher than the last action the active player played this turn, the new action resolves. At this time, any effects with the Combo keyword also resolve on the action, along with effects provided by the Follow-Up keyword on the previous action. Should the new action also hit or have the Link keyword, the player may continue the combo by repeating the sequence.

If the new action's priority score is not equal to or higher than the last action in the combo, the action is canceled, and the combo ends (See Cancelling Actions below).

Blast actions may only start or continue a combo on the turn they are played.

Combo Keywords

Keywords pertaining to combos, and the effects that resolve with them, are always indicated with italicized font.

• LINK (TEXT): After this action is resolved, the active fighter may start or continue a combo by linking the specific action type to this action, regardless of whether this action hits.
• COMBO (TEXT): If this action follows up an action during a combo, add the text in the parentheses to the action's secondary effects.
• FOLLOW-UP (TEXT): If you combo after resolving this action, add the text in the parentheses to the combo action's secondary effects.

Cancelling Actions

If an action does at least one point of damage to the opponent, or if it has the Cancel keyword, the opponent's action is cancelled and does not resolve during the Challenge Phase, if it hasn't already. Immediately discard cancelled actions and move any dice on the cards to the fighter's Burnout Pool. Actions may also be cancelled by other circumstances, such as playing an action while being in the wrong position or failing a combo.

Resolving Combo Actions (Example)

Aurelia plays the Charge action card. She rolls 2 Core Dice from her Active Pool, rolling a 1 and 2, giving it a Priority Score of 9 (Charge's base Priority Value plus the dice).

Charge has a Start keyword that moves her to the Standing position before resolving its primary effect of advancing forward two spaces. After resolving Charge, Aurelia is able to combo with a Strike or Blast, as noted in the parentheses after the Link keyword. Charge also has an effect that will apply to the action played after Charge, if any.

If she follows up Charge with a Strike or Blast action, the Chain effect will resolve, allowing her to remove the highest Core Die from Charge, and return it to her Active Pool.

Aurelia decides to use the Chain effect on Charge and link a Light Kick. She removes the highest Core Die from Charge and returns it to her Active Pool. She takes one die from her Active Pool and rolls it. She adds the value on the die to Light Kick's Priority Value. Charge's Priority Score is now 7, and Light Kick's Priority Score is now 8.

To combo Light Kick, its Priority Score must be higher than the original action's Priority Score. Since Light Kick is an 8, and Charge is a 7, Light Kick resolves.

Light Kick hits and resolves its primary effect of dealing one damage. Since it was used in a combo, it applies any Follow-Up effects from the previously played action in the combo, which in this case is an increase to Light Kick's damage (+1).

Aurelia decides to wrap up her combo with a Compounded Strike. Aurelia rolls 2 dice from her Active Pool, scoring a 2 and a 3. This gives Compounded Strike a Priority Score of 9. Its priority value is currently lower than Light Kick's Priority Score. To succeed, Compounded Strike's Priority Score will have to be equal to or higher than the previous action. Aurelia needs an 8 or higher. Aurelia resolves the action.

Compounded Strike has a Combo effect that resolves when it is used during a combo. The Combo effect on it applies a bonus of two additional damage (+2) and knocks down the opponent.

Aurelia decides to end her combo, because she cannot hit a knocked down target with any further actions.

Action Types and Primary Effects

Strike Actions

These are direct attacks, which usually result in damage to the opponent. Strike actions are the most common type of actions used during the game.

HIT: When resolving a strike, the player checks the appropriate grid on the action's card. If their opponent is in the Target Zone, they hit the opponent. If their opponent is not in the Target Zone, they do not hit, and their action is cancelled. If they hit, they may combo with any strike, blast, or grab actions once their first action resolution is complete.

DAMAGE: Successful strikes deal an amount of damage equal to the strike's damage value. For each point of damage the fighter takes, move one die from their Life Pool to their Energy Pool, these dice will move to the Active Pool next turn. If the acting player deals at least one damage, their opponent's action is cancelled. When taking damage, dice are always removed from the highest numbered space on the Life Pool down to the lowest, towards the heart icon.

Grab Actions

Grab actions have a variety of effects. The most common are throwing and knocking down the opponent. Grab actions are slightly slower and shorter ranged than most strikes. They resolve exactly like strikes but have the distinct advantage of being unblockable.

HIT: When resolving a grab, the player checks the appropriate grid on the action's card. If their opponent is in the Target Zone, they hit the opponent. If their opponent is not in the Target Zone, they do not hit, and their action is cancelled. If they hit, they may combo with any strike, blast, or grab actions once their first action's resolution is complete. If the grab hits an opponent using a block action, the block action is immediately cancelled.

DAMAGE: Successful grabs deal damage equal to the grab's damage value. For each point of damage the fighter takes, move one die from their Life Pool to their Energy Pool, these dice will move to the Active Pool next turn. If the acting player deals at least one damage, their opponent's action is cancelled. When taking damage, dice are always removed from the highest numbered space on the Life Pool down to the lowest, towards the heart icon.

Block Actions

Every fighter starts the game with a unique block action. Blocks are defensive actions that reduce damage and often provide other unique capabilities. Blocks represent a fighter preparing to defend against incoming attacks, but attacks with a higher priority can still get past this defense. If an attack manages to hit a fighter before their block action resolves, the block is cancelled.

BLOCKING: When blocking, a fighter reduces the damage they take by the block action's Damage Prevented Value. After preventing damage, one die on the block action is moved to the Burnout Pool. Then any secondary effects are resolved. If the block action prevented at least one damage, the action is not cancelled even if the active fighter is being dealt damage.

BLOCK VS STRIKE: When a fighter is hit by a strike action, and their attacker is in their block action's Target Zone, they block that action. If the opponent is not in the Target Zone, the fighter does not block the strike.

BLOCK VS GRAB: When a fighter is hit by a grab action, their block action is immediately cancelled, and all the dice on the block are moved to the Burnout Pool.

BLOCK VS BLAST: If a fighter is hit by a high blast, and their block action's Target Zone includes any boxes on the top row, they block the blast. If a fighter is hit by a low blast, and their block action's Target Zone includes any boxes on the bottom row, they block the blast. Otherwise, the block can be cancelled normally.

RECURRING: If the block action's card has no dice remaining on it after resolving secondary effects, the block is cancelled and returned to the player's hand. This means that the same block action can reduce damage from as many strikes and blasts as the number of dice assigned to it, though with reduced effectiveness each time.

During the Recovery Phase, players do not Burnout the dice on their block actions. Instead, they place these dice back in their Energy Pool and return the block action to their hands. Block actions can never be discarded.

Energize: All blocks have a Reveal timing keyword effect that energizes dice in their Burnout Pool. This makes them a great option for moving dice out the Burnout Pool.

Performing a Block Action (Example)

Jun played Triple Punch and rolled one die with it, giving it a Priority Score of 6. Ren played Power Block and rolled two dice with it, giving it a Priority Score of 9.

After revealing both actions, Ren moves one die from his Burnout Pool to his Energy Pool because of its Reveal: Energize 1 effect. Power Block has the higher Priority Score, so it resolves first and will prevent damage from Triple Punch.

Triple Punch has not been cancelled so it resolves after Power Block resolves. As a result Triple Punch hits Ren. On the first hit, Power Block prevents two damage, indicated by its Damage Prevented Value. Ren moves one die from Power Block to his Burnout Pool after preventing the damage. Then he moves one die in his Burnout Pool to his Energy Pool because of his Block: Energize 1 timing keyword effect.

Triple Punch has not been cancelled so it resolves up to two additional times because of its Repeat 2 keyword. On the second hit, Power Block prevents one damage, again indicated by its Damage Prevented Value. Ren moves his last die on Power Block to his Burnout Pool after preventing the damage. Then he moves one die from his Burnout Pool to his Energy Pool because of Power Block's Block: Energize 1 effect. Since there are no dice on Power Block after resolving it, the Power Block is cancelled.

Triple Punch resolves for a third time, hitting Ren and dealing one damage.

Blast Actions

Blast actions are ranged attacks that both deal damage and allow a player to control the fight from a distance. Blast actions represent a fighter throwing a projectile. Projectiles are depicted with blast tokens that move toward an edge of the Arena Track. They remain in play until they collide with a fighter, another blast token, or the edge of the Arena Track.

Blast tokens are double-sided. One side depicts a high blast and the other side depicts a low blast. High blasts hit Jumping and Standing fighters, low blasts hit Standing and Crouching fighters.

A player may never have more than one blast action in play at the same time. If a player plays another blast action or if their last blast token is removed from the arena, they immediately cancel their previous blast action. When a blast action is cancelled, remove any associated blast tokens from play.

BLASTS: The primary effect of blast actions has an icon that indicates whether the action places high or low blast tokens and a blast value number that shows how far the tokens move each turn.

On the turn that the blast action is played, place an appropriate blast token (high or low) on the active fighter's space facing in the same direction as the fighter. Placing a token does not hit any fighter. Once placed, move the blast token in the direction it is currently facing a number of spaces equal to the blast value of the action. Follow the movement and targeting rules below.

On every subsequent turn, and in priority order, move the blast token in the direction it is currently facing a number of spaces equal to the action's blast value. Follow the movement and targeting rules below.

Blast Token Movement and Targeting

When a blast token moves into a space that contains an opposing player's blast token, discard both tokens.

Discard a blast token that moves beyond the Arena Track.

Stack blast tokens of the same color when they end their move in the same space and are currently traveling in the same direction. Continue to move and resolve each token individually when the blast action that placed them resolves.

HIT: If a high blast token is on the same space as an opposing Standing or Jumping fighter, it hits that fighter. If a low blast token is on the same space as an opposing Crouching or Standing fighter, it hits that fighter. Discard the blast token after it hits a fighter. If the blast hits during the turn the action was played, the active player may combo with any strike, blast, or grab actions once the first action resolves.

DAMAGE: If the blast hits, it deals an amount of damage equal to the action's damage value. For each point of damage the fighter takes, move one die from their Life Pool to their Energy Pool, these dice will move to the Active Pool next turn. If the acting player deals at least one damage, their opponent's action is cancelled. When taking damage, dice are always removed from the highest numbered space on the Life Pool down to the lowest, towards the heart icon.

Performing a Blast Action (Example)

Lumi played Shooting Stars and rolled one Power Die with it. Lumi's Shooting Stars has a blast icon showing that it produces one high or low blast token. She places a low blast token in her space.

Shooting Stars' Blast Value of 2 indicates that the token travels two spaces. She moves the token forward one space, but it has to stop there because of the other low blast token already in that space traveling in the opposite direction. Both tokens collide and are removed from the arena (Lumi's first low blast meets Ren's low blast, which cancels and removes both blast tokens).

The text box has the Repeat secondary effect. This means that Lumi resolves Shooting Stars one more time because it has one Power Die on it. She places one additional blast token and moves it forward two spaces. The new blast token stops in Ren's space, hitting him and dealing one damage.

Move Actions

Move actions allow fighters to move outside of using Commands and can provide a player with surprise combo attacks and dodging. Many move actions also allow a player to link certain types of actions by playing them as a follow-up to start or continue a combo.

MOVING: The primary effect indicates how many spaces a fighter moves forward (Advances) or backward (Retreats) before resolving any other text on the action.

An Advance icon next to the movement value means that the action Advances the fighter forward, the Retreat icon shows that it Retreats the fighter backward, and finally, the Advance-or-Retreat icon shows that the action allows the fighter to Advance or Retreat.

A fighter must move a number of spaces equal to the movement value in the direction indicated and follows all movement restrictions outlined under Movement and Positioning.

Mode Actions

Mode actions provide fighters with permanent, passive effects. Some effects modify the values listed on action's card. Others can be discarded for instant effects.

ONGOING: When resolving, players immediately Burnout all the Core Dice on the card and place the action in their Fighter Area along with any of its Power Dice. Power Dice on a mode will return to their fighter's Burnout Pool if the mode is cancelled or removed from the Fighter Area. The secondary effect of the action affects the fighter for as long as the action stays in their Fighter Area.

Each player can only have one mode with the same name out at a time. If a mode with the same name would be resolved, cancel it instead.

After a fighter is knocked down, they must remove a mode card from their Fighter Area and stack it on their discard pile, if able, as noted on the Knockdown Status Card.

Four-Player Tag Team

The Four-Player Tag Team rules allow four players to break into two teams for a match. Players can use this variant by combining a copy of Way of the Fighter: Super and Way of the Fighter: Turbo together. These matches require coordination and strategy, since a player's role can change before the end of each turn.

Setup

Follow the Standard setup rules with the following changes:

• The players split into two teams of two fighters. Team members sit next to each other.
• The back of each Way of the Fighter game board has a portion of an arena for four players. Flip over each game board from Super and Turbo and place them together to form a single game board. Each player thus has their own Fighter Area and set of pools and tokens.
• Each team chooses one active fighter.
• Place the active fighter's standee on their team's starting space of the arena.
• Keep the passive fighter's standee near their Fighter Areas, ready to swap with their teammate's standee when required.
• All players set up their dice pools, along with their tokens, as normal.
• Each player builds a starting hand following the rules from the basic game.
• Determine Initiative as normal by having the players with active fighters roll three Core Dice. Both players on the team with the Initiative start the game with one die in their Energy Pools. Both players on the team without the Initiative start the game with two dice in their Energy Pools.

Additional Rules

Winning the Game and Knock Outs. When a fighter must remove dice from their Life Pool but cannot, that fighter is knocked out and eliminated from the match. Immediately remove all of that fighter's dice from play. That fighter's player is also eliminated. A team wins when both opposing fighters have been knocked out. If, at the end of the twelfth turn, both teams still have able fighters, the team with more fighters wins. If both teams have the same number of able fighters, add up the remaining Life Pools of both fighters on the team, and the team with the most life wins. If the number is equal, the match is a draw.

Active and Passive Fighters. The active fighter is the one with its standee currently in play, and the active player is the one controlling the active fighter. Each team may only have one active fighter at any time. The passive fighter is the one currently not on the board, and the passive player is the one controlling the passive fighter. Place the passive fighter's standee near its Fighter Area. When an active fighter is knocked out, their active player must tag out at the end of the Recovery Phase.

While a fighter is passive, a team cannot use the ability printed on its character's card.

Tagging. At times, the active and passive fighters on a team may switch places by tagging in or tagging out. When this happens, replace the active fighter's standee with the passive fighter's standee, facing the same direction. The fighter that tagged out is now passive, and the fighter that tagged in is now the active fighter.

Initiative. Teams control the Initiative card, but only the active fighter may use it.

Blast Tokens. Both active and passive players from each team may have blast tokens in play at the same time.

Turn Sequence Changes

The Tag Team rules expand the Commands available to players and alter the way that they resolve actions.

Ready Phase. All players draw cards and move dice during the Ready Phase following the rules for a two player game. The active players will draw cards and move dice before the passive players, starting with the team that has the Initiative.

Challenge Phase.

Chain keyword change: When using the Chain keyword during a tag team game, the dice on the action will move to the Active Pool belonging to the fighter that tagged out.

STEP 1. USE COMMAND. The active fighter on the team with the Initiative uses the first Command each turn, then the active fighter on the team without the Initiative uses a Command. The passive fighter on the team with the Initiative then uses a Command, followed by the passive fighter on the other team. Remember, passive fighters cannot use abilities that replace Commands.

Instead of using the kneel, shift, or leap Command, the passive fighter has four new Commands available, including one that allows them to replace the active fighter and attempt a combo during the Challenge Phase.

Passive Fighter Commands:

• TAG: The player plays an action facedown. During the Challenge Phase, the passive fighter may attempt a combo with their facedown action by linking it with the active fighter's action; following the normal combo rules. Before swapping standees, the passive fighter changes their position to match their teammate's current position. Then they tag in for the active fighter, rolling one to four dice from their Active Pool. They reveal and compare their action's priority score to the priority score of the last action played by their teammate.
• FOCUS: The player draws two cards and discards one from their hand.
• REST: The player moves up to one Power Die or two Core Dice from their Burnout Pool to their Energy Pool.
• TAUNT: Actions played by the team's active fighter this turn gain, Reveal: Priority Bonus 1.

STEP 2. PLAY ACTIONS. Active players play an action from their hands during this step.

STEP 3. ROLL DICE. Active players secretly select and roll dice from their Active Pools during this step.

STEP 4. REVEAL ACTIONS. The actions played are revealed.

STEP 5. RESOLVE ACTIONS. Only the actions from active fighters are resolved, unless the passive fighter swapped with the active fighter by using the Tag Command.

Recovery Phase. Before passing the Initiative, both teams check to see if their active fighter must tag out. The following two conditions will force the active fighter to tag out at the starting of the Recovery Phase:

• If a passive fighter used the Tag Command during the Command phase, but did not attempt a combo.
• If their team's active fighter was knocked out.

Additionally, the team with the Initiative may use it to tag out their active fighter for their passive fighter at the starting of the Recovery Phase. The new active fighter enters in the Standing position.

Four-Player Tag Rules Summary

Tag Team Turn Sequence:

1. READY PHASE: The active players perform each step before the passive players, starting with the team that has the Initiative. 1. Draw Cards; 2. Burnout Shift; 3. Energy Shift.
2. CHALLENGE PHASE: The active players perform each step before the passive players, starting with the team that has the Initiative.
   1. Use Command: Each player uses one Command from the list below.
      • Active player commands: KNEEL: Crouch. Then they Energize 1. SHIFT: Stand. Then they may Advance or Retreat up to one space. Then they Draw 1. LEAP: Jump. They may Advance or Retreat up to two spaces.
      • Passive player commands: TAG: The player plays an action facedown. They may attempt a combo by swapping with the active fighter during the Resolve Actions step. FOCUS: Draw 2 and discard one card. REST: Resolve a second Burnout Shift. TAUNT: Actions played by the team's active fighter this turn gain, Reveal: Priority Bonus 1.
   2. Play Actions
   3. Roll Dice
   4. Reveal Actions
   5. Resolve Actions: Only the actions from active fighters are resolved, unless the passive fighter swapped with the active fighter by using the Tag Command.
3. RECOVERY PHASE: The active players perform each step, starting with the team that has the Initiative. 1. Perform Tag Outs (If required); 2. Pass Used Initiative; 3. Recover Blocks; 4. Check Blasts; 5. Burnout Dice and Discard Actions; 6. Check Hand Limit; 7. Move Turn Counter.

The Five Styles

Fighting tournaments have become a popular pastime in all parts the globe. Each technique belongs to one of five styles: Hard, Soft, Wrestle, Chi, or Fluid. All fighters associate each of these five styles with an Animal.

• The Hard style centers around pressure and strong physical attacks. Fighters practice the style under the school of the Tiger, known for its strength and courage. Masters of the hard style trade caution and planning, for power and massive damage.
• The Soft style strings together a rapid succession of attacks, and generates precise strikes with blinding speed. Fighters practice the style under the school of the Crane, known for its grace, reflexes, and agility. Masters of the soft style fool slower opponents with deadly attacks that rely on muscle memory and amazing hand-eye coordination.
• The Wrestle style comprises of powerful grappling maneuvers. Fighters practice the style under the school of the Bear, known for its immense stature and endurance. Masters of the wrestle style endure the pain brought about by their opponent's onslaught, while closing in for overpowering throws and debilitating takedowns.
• The Chi style relies on inner spiritual energies to enhance supranormal power and even create energy projectiles. Fighters practice the style under the school of the Dragon, known for its mystical nature and inner focus. Masters of the chi style reduce the options available to their opponent with long range projectile attacks, and use their power to grant themselves a unique edge.
• The Fluid style implements tactics which make use of the surrounding environment to maintain distance, gain momentum, or launch surprise attacks. Fighters practice the style under the school of the Snake, known for its cunning and mobility. Masters of the style remain in constant motion, becoming unpredictable, but ready to strike at a moment's notice with grave prejudice.

Supranormal fighters combine the styles that they have mastered with the gifts and powers that they have inherited, creating their own unique form of fighting. Each fighter's entry lists a set of technique packs that can be combined for a quick pre-built deck. Players are, however, encouraged to experiment with custom builds once they are comfortable with a fighter's pre-built deck. This is done by swapping out a technique pack, or two, with others from the same style (See Building a Fighter Deck).

Character Entries

Each entry lists the fighter's tagline and techniques package for a pre-built deck (biographical flavor text omitted).

Fighter	Description	Country	Techniques package
Ren	A brash boy determined to punish those responsible his grandfather's disappearance.	United States of America/Japan	Hard: Brawl; Hard: Overpower; Chi: Wave; Chi: Yang
Jun	An agile and contemplative girl devoted to protecting her brother and saving her grandfather.	United States of America/Japan	Soft: Combo; Soft: Precise; Chi: Bombard; Chi: Yin
Alberdus	A powerful pankration guardian with the heart of a lion.	Greece	Hard: Knockdown; Hard: Stun; Wrestle: Grapple; Wrestle: Crush
Aurelia	Once a rich business woman, now a proud capoeira champion.	Brazil	Soft: Assault; Soft: Denial; Fluid: Fallback; Fluid: Rush
El Falcon	The worldwide sensation with a keen eye for justice.	Mexico	Wrestle: Press; Wrestle: Throw; Fluid: Aerial; Fluid: Velocity

Keywords

• ADVANCE X: Move the active fighter's standee forward X spaces.
• BLOCK: Resolve this effect if the action reduces the damage dealt to a fighter.
• BURNOUT X: Move X dice from this action's card to the active fighter's Burnout Pool.
• CANCEL: The opponent's action is cancelled.
• CHAIN X: If the active player starts or continues a combo by following up this action with another action, move X of the highest Core Dice from the active fighter's action's card to their Active Pool.
• COMBO (text): If this action follows up an action during a combo, add the text in the parentheses to the action's secondary effects.
• COUNTER (action types): If the opponent's revealed action type is one of the action types listed in the parentheses, this action will gain the effects listed when this action is revealed.
• CRIPPLE: The opponent's fighter may only play their block action during the next Challenge Phase. Place the Cripple status card in the player's Fighter Area as a reminder. The status is removed after the crippled fighter plays an action.
• CROUCH: Place a Crouching position token on the player's Position Indicator Space.
• DAMAGE: Resolve this effect after the action deals any damage to the opponent.
• DAMAGE BONUS X: Increase the action's damage value by X.
• DAZE: The opponent's fighter may not use a Command during the next Challenge Phase. During the next Challenge Phase the opponent draws one card or energizes one Core Die. Place the Daze status card in the player's Fighter Area as a reminder. The status is removed after the dazed fighter plays an action.
• DRAIN X: The opponent moves X dice from their Energy Pool to the Burnout Pool.
• DRAW X: The active player draws X cards.
• END: Resolve this effect after resolving the action's primary effect.
• ENERGIZE X: Move X Core Dice from the active fighter's Burnout Pool to their Energy Pool.