R U L E BO O K

COMPONENTS
WARRIOR ROGUE

67 Hero 1 Body 67 Hero 1 Conceal 5 Knowledge

Cards 5 Knowledge Cards
Card Cards Card Cards

1 Hero 1 Hero
Mat Mat
+ +
2 Boss/ 2 Boss/
Horde Horde
Mats Mats

24 Houndmaster 24 Goblin
24 Necromancer 24 Guardian
Minion Cards Minion Cards
Minion Cards Minion Cards

SHARED

4 Minion/Boss 20 Intent 12 Advanced

Health Cards Cards Wave Challenge/
12 Wave Challenge/
Reward Cards Treasure Cards

16 Potion 40 Block 22 Strength 6 Protect 6 Eposed & 14 Tracker

Cards Tokens Tokens Tokens 6 Weak Tokens Cubes

2
INTRODUCTION
The once-peaceful community we call home has fallen
under the shadow of an evil force, and the courageous
protectors who defend our town have set off on their
own pursuits of fame and fortune. In their place, a band
of unlikely heroes have emerged - the Small-Time Heroes.
These are not your typical heroes, with bulging biceps and
chiseled jawlines. No, these heroes are the underdogs,
with quirky personalities and oddball skills. Let’s hope
they’ve got what it takes to fend off the evil hordes that
now beset us!

OVERVIEW
In Small-Time Heroes you will take on the role of 1 of 2
Heroes, and fight your way through several MINION
WAVES and one or more BOSS WAVES. You may choose
to play a standard 1-Day game, consisting of 3 Minion
Waves and 1 Boss Wave, or play a campaign consisting
of 3 Days, where you will have to take on multiple Bosses
along with their Minions. The game may also be played
either Solo or 2-player. In each game, you will use
the abilities on your Hero Cards to defeat Enemies, gain
rewards, build your Hero deck, and ultimately defeat the
final Boss, together or alone!

WINNING AND LOSING

To win a standard game of Small-Time Heroes you must
defeat all the Enemies in your path, starting with 3 Minion
Waves, and ending with a final Boss Wave. If you can reach
the Boss and reduce their health to 0 before your Hero(es)
have had their health reduced to 0, then you win!
Note: The rules for playing and winning a Campaign start
on page 20.
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ENEMY SETUP
1. Select a Boss and find their associated Minion Cards and
Boss/Horde Mat.
2. Separate the Minion cards by Wave number ( )
and shuffle them into 3 face down Minion Wave Decks.
3. Draw 3 Wave Minion cards and place them in a face up
row - this is called the Minion Row. Then randomly place
one of the / / Health Cards below each Minion
in the row, and follow the directions for spawning Minions
on page 13.
4. Place the Boss/Horde Mat to the right of the Minion Row,
Horde side up.
5. Shuffle and place the Intent Deck face down next to the
Boss/Horde Mat.
6. Place the Boss Health Card near the Boss/Horde Mat for
later use.
7. Shuffle and place the Wave Challenge/Reward cards into
a stack, Reward-side-up, next to the Enemy Health Cards.

1
2

3
7

Return all unused 13

to the box. 10

11
8

4
HERO SETUP (FOR EACH PLAYER)
8. Select a Hero (or Heroes if playing 2-player) and place
their Hero Mat in front of you. Set their starting health
(shown on Hero Mat) and Energy (always 3), as shown.
9. Separate their 9 borderless Hero Cards from the others -
these are your Starting Hero Cards.
10. Shuffle all other Hero Cards, place them in a face down
Market Deck, and flip 4 face up into a Market Row.
11. Choose 1 Hero Card from the Market Row, add it to your
Starting Hero Cards, and shuffle these 10 cards into a
face down Hero Deck. Then replace the card that you
took with a new one from the Market Deck.
12. Place your Hero’s Unique (Body or Conceal) Card
below the Market Row and draw 5 cards to form your
starting hand.
13. Shuffle the Potion Cards and create a (shared) Potion
and Token Supply within reach (of both players if playing
2-Player).

5 *The Advanced
Challenge/
6 Treasure Cards and
Knowledge Cards
are only used for
Campaign mode,
and can be returned
to the box otherwise.

12

5
GAMEPLAY
A standard game of Small-Time Heroes plays over the
span of 1 Day, consisting of 3 Minion Waves and 1 Boss
Wave. In each Wave you will alternate between Hero
and Enemy Turns until either your Hero(es) or all the
Enemies for that Wave are defeated.

THE HERO TURN

Each Turn (Hero or Enemy) consists of 2 phases, Reset
and Fight, always in that order. If playing 2-Player, both
Heroes will Fight during each Hero Turn, and you may
choose who Fights first each turn. One Hero must finish
Fighting before moving on to the other, and the chosen
order determines who resolves Enemy attacks first
during the next Enemy Turn.

RESET (SIMULTANEOUS)
At the start of each Hero Turn:
• Remove all BLOCK /Status Tokens from your
Hero’s upper token spaces, if any (see pg. 9).
• Draw an Intent Card, keeping it face down.

FIGHT (CHOOSE WHO GOES FIRST)

Now it’s time to play Hero Cards! Each Hero Card has an
ENERGY COST in the top left corner, which you must
pay in order to play the card. You start the game with 3
to spend each turn (may be altered in Campaign mode).
• You may play as many cards from your hand as you
can afford, in the order of your choice. Note that
some cards have a 0 cost, and are free to play.
• To play a Hero Card, pay its cost by moving the
cube on your track, place the card into the play
6
 area in front of you, and resolve its Card Ability.
Played cards are not discarded until the end of
your turn.
• If the text of a card directly contradicts the text of
the Rulebook, the text of the card takes precedence.
• Cards are activated in the order they are read (i.e.
Deal 4 damage. Conceal. You would deal 4 damage
and then Conceal)
• At the end of your turn, discard played cards, as
well as any remaining in your hand, into your Hero
discard pile. Then draw 5 cards from your Hero
deck. If you don’t have enough cards to draw,
shuffle your Hero discard pile into a new Hero Deck
and continue drawing.

HERO CARD ANATOMY

ENERGY COST
CARD TYPE

CARD NAME

CARD ABILITY

Hero Cards have many different Abilities, each generally

focusing on one thing according to their CARD TYPE:

ATTACK DEFENSE SKILL EQUIPMENT

7
DEALING DAMAGE
A card with a damage effect may target only a sin-
gle ENEMY (either Minion or Boss) unless otherwise
stated on the card, reducing their health by the stated
damage value.
• Any residual damage dealt above what’s needed to
defeat an Enemy is lost.
• Some damage effects may specify that you must
target a Minion (and not a Boss).
• When damaging an enemy that has BLOCK ,
always remove Block before health.
• When a Minion is defeated, discard the Minion Card
above the Minion Wave deck it came from and gain
any DEFEAT REWARDS shown on the card
(see pg. 14)
• Any STRENGTH you have gets added each and
every time you deal damage. So if an ability says
“deal 1 damage 4 times” and you have 1 , it would
deal 2 damage 4 times.
• Whenever damage is either divided or multiplied, it is
always rounded down.

DAMAGE EXAMPLE:
You’re playing with the Rogue, are currently
Concealed, and have 1 Strength. You play
Surprise Attack, which right now allows
you to Deal 7 damage (6 + 1 Strength) to
2 different Enemies.

8
 You decide to target Banshee
and Big Boi, which have 3 and 7
remaining health, respectively.
Banshee also has 1 .

Your attack is enough to

reduce both of their Block/
Health totals to 0, defeating
them and discarding them into
their Wave’s discard pile. These
Minions both have a REACT
Ability as well, which we’ll talk
about shortly.

Big Boi also had a Defeat Reward on his card, so you

gain that now as well! In this case, you would get to draw 1 card
from your Hero Deck.
BLOCKING
Block is gained by playing
Defense cards and is tracked
using Block Tokens . Whenever you
gain , place Block tokens in the light-
colored spaces at the top of your Hero
Mat according to the number of gained. When a Hero
or Enemy is damaged, is always removed before
health. If you have any remaining at the start
of your turn, it is removed during the Reset
phase.

OTHER HERO KEY TERMS

You won’t need to know all of these right away, but you’ll
find a reference of all Ability keywords on the following
page. The Hero Summaries (pg. 32-35) also contain de-
tails on these. 9
AMBUSH: Whenever a card with AMBUSH is
discarded during your turn (not at the end),
activate its ability for free.
CONCEAL: When you become Concealed, flip the
Concealed card to the Conceal side. (see Rogue Summary)
DISCARD: Remove a card from your hand and place it
in your discard pile.
EXPOSED: Give an EXPOSED Token to an Enemy.
Double the next damage you deal to them (rounded
down). Remove the token after dealing damage. Cannot
be stacked.
EQUIPPED (X): If you have a number of Equipment
equipped equal to or more than (X), use this ability.
FINALE: If this card is played as the last card in your
hand, play it again!
IMMUNITY: Take no damage until your next turn.
PROTECT: Gain a PROTECT Token. For each you
have, gain 1 extra every time you gain any (lasts until
end of current Wave).
PREPARE: This card’s xxEnergyxEnergxcost is reduced by 1xxEnergy for
every non-Prepare card played before it. Once a Prepare
card is played, the discount is reset, and you must play
more non-Prepare cards to build it up again.
STRENGTH: Gain a STRENGTH Token. For each
you have, +1 additional damage every time you deal
damage (lasts until end of current Wave).
WEAK: Give a WEAK Token to an Enemy. Their next
attack deals half damage (rounded down). Remove after
damage. Cannot be stacked.

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POTIONS
Throughout the course of the
game you will obtain Potions.
Each Hero may only have
a maximum of 3 Potions at
any time. If you already have
the max number of potions and
gain another, you may discard one
to make room for the new one.
Potions may be used at ANY time (even out of
turn) on any Hero and are discarded after use.

STATUS EFFECTS
Each status effect has a corresponding
token that goes on your Hero board (in
the bottom dark-colored spaces) when
you gain the effect, or on an Enemy Card
when given to them. There are 2 different
types of status effects:

TARGETED STATUS EFFECTS

Heroes apply these to Enemies, and Enemies apply them
to Heroes. Their effects are only triggered once, and then
the token(s) are removed.

WEAK: This Hero or Enemy’s next attack deals half

damage (rounded down). Remove after damage.
Cannot be stacked.

EXPOSED: The next damage this Hero or Enemy takes

is doubled (rounded down). Remove after damage.
Cannot be stacked.

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PERSISTENT STATUS EFFECTS
Unless otherwise stated on a card, these status effects
persist from turn to turn, and are removed only at the
end of a Wave, or when an Enemy is defeated (if they are
gained ‘until end of turn’ place them in one of your Block
Token spaces, to be removed when your next turn starts).

STRENGTH: +1 damage every time damage is dealt.

PROTECT: +1 every time any number of is

gained.

A Hero or Enemy may have any number of or To-

kens, and their benefits are cumulative.

ENDING THE HERO TURN

Once the Hero(es) are finished Fighting, and have discarded
and drawn back up to 5 cards, it becomes the Enemy Turn.

THE ENEMY TURN

RESET (LEFT TO RIGHT ORDER)
At the start of the enemy turn:
• Reset Enemy : make sure
each Enemy has Block tokens
on it equal to the number in its
icon. If it has no make
sure any Block tokens on it are EXAMPLE: Remove
removed. any Block on this Minion
and add a Block token with
2 Block to it.

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FIGHT
Enemies Fight based on the Intent Cards drawn at the
start of the Hero Turn. In turn order each Hero must
reveal their Intent Card and:
1. Activate the corresponding Minion if present.
2. Activate the corresponding Horde or Boss ability.
THE INTENT DECK BACK (POSSIBLE RESULTS)

This deck is double sided and pro-

vides information about which
Minions and Abilities / /
will activate. Sometimes you will
know exactly what is going to hap-
FRONT (ACTUAL RESULTS)
pen, and sometimes you will have
to guess.
In this case, the Minion above the
Health Card, as well as the Horde/
Boss’s Ability would both activate.

ACTIVATING & SPAWNING MINIONS

WHENEVER ACTIVATING A MINION: *Remember to
1. Deal damage to the active Hero. Apply
STRENGTH!
2. Activate any Activate Abilities.

WHENEVER SPAWNING A NEW MINION:

1. Set its starting Health according to its (doubled
in 2-Player games), using cubes on its Health Card.
2. Add Block Tokens to the Minion if they have a value.
3. Activate any ARRIVE Abilities from left to right
(once all Minions are spawned, if there are multiple).
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MINION CARD ANATOMY
ATTACK A
This damage is applied to the Hero who reveals the
Minion’s Intent card (STRENGTH is added to this).

BLOCK B
If a Minion has a value, they gain that amount of
during Wave setup and the Enemy Prepare phase.

HEALTH C
This is a Minion’s starting AND
maximum health. For a two player
game, double the indicated health.
Track it using cubes on the Health Card
below a Minion.
)
(if 10+ Health

A B C DEFEAT REWARDS
Gain a potion

Draw 1 card

Clear your Market Row

D
Gain 1 Energy to use on
this turn

Gain X amount of health

E Gain X amount of block

Deal X amount of
damage to an Enemy

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DEFEAT REWARD D
Some Minions have rewards that you will gain when they
are defeated. Defeat Rewards are given to the player who
defeats the Minion. They can choose to take the reward
or not.

MINION ABILITY E
Minions may have three types of abilities. Abilities may
gain extra damage from STRENGTH.
ARRIVE: Arrive abilities trigger during the setup
phase, when the minion card is placed in the active
row. It is NOT triggered on subsequent activations.

ACTIVATE: Activate abilities trigger during the

activate Enemy Fight phase.
POWER: A power is always active and can be
triggered by an action (I.e. ON DEATH, REACT)

MINION KEY TERMS

REACT: Anytime a Minion takes damage (loses Health,
not Block), the REACT ability is activated.
GUARD: Heroes MUST attack Minions with GUARD be-
fore other Enemies.
ON DEATH: When Minions health reaches 0, the ON
DEATH ability is activated.
Many Minions and some Horde/Boss Abilities will also
use the same key terms as Hero Cards (pg. 10), in which
case they benefit the Enemy (negative status effects are
applied to Heroes, not Enemies, etc.)
15
ACTIVATING THE HORDE/BOSS
After activating a Minion (if any) based on the Intent
Card result, the Horde (or Boss if the Boss is active) then
activates based on the same result. Note that and
results ONLY activate a Horde/Boss ability and not a
Minion.
For example, if The Wolf Pack Horde is currently active,
and you get a result, you would resolve the following effect:

If more than one Minion can be targeted by the Horde

ability, the player may choose which Minion gets targeted.

GETTING KNOCKED OUT

When a Hero’s health is reduced to 0, that hero is
knocked out. If playing Solo, the game immediately ends
in loss. If playing multiplayer, the other player will play
until they defeat the Boss or become knocked out as
well. They must still draw 2 Intent Cards each Hero Turn,
and resolve both of them in the order of their choice
each Enemy Turn (they are always the active Hero).

MOVING FROM WAVE TO WAVE

As you proceed from Waves to to , the Minions
you face will get more difficult, and sometimes additional
Minions will get spawned during a given Wave, which you
must also defeat in order to end that Wave.

16
ADDING MINIONS TO A WAVE
When an ability tells you to add a new Minion, draw the
top card from the current Wave’s Minion deck and place
it in the leftmost empty Minion spot. Then set their
Health and Block , and activate any ARRIVE
powers they might have.
If there are no spots available, the Minion which would be
placed is activated instead, dealing damage and resolving
any abilities if applicable. That Minion is then discarded,
activating any ON DEATH abilities.
If you need to draw a Minion and ALL Minions of
that Wave are currently in discard piles, shuffle the
discard pile of the Wave you would draw from to
create a new Minion deck.
If there are no Minions of the current Wave available,
use a Minion from the next highest Wave. For example,
if on Wave , the “next highest ” would be Wave
and if on Wave , the next highest wave would also
be (if available).

ENDING A WAVE
Once all Minions are defeated:
• Discard your remaining hand, your current
Intent Card(s), and remove all Status Effects and
Equipment Cards from your Hero(es).
• Gain WAVE REWARDS (see next page)
• Shuffle your discard pile and any newly gained Hero
cards into your deck and draw a new hand of 5
cards.
• Set up the next Wave.

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WAVE REWARDS
After a Wave is completed, you will gain
one or more rewards based on the cur-
rent Wave Reward card. Look at the top
card of the Wave Reward deck and, in any
order, all Heroes gain the reward(s) listed.
Then discard the card, revealing the next
reward. Note that only the Reward side of
these cards is used in a standard 1-Day game.

Gain a card: Select a card from your Market

Row of 4 cards, and shuffle it into your deck.
Then draw and reveal a new card from your
Market Deck to replace the one you took.
Destroy a card: Remove a card from your
deck or discard from the game.
Heal: Heal according to the number shown
(cannot go above max health).
Gain a Potion: Draw a Potion from the Po-
tion deck and add it to your Hero’s play space.
Clear the row: You may choose to clear all
cards from your Market Row and replace them
with 4 new cards. This may be done before or
after you gain cards.

WAVE SETUP
To set up a new Wave, draw 3 cards from the next Wave’s
Minion deck ( for Wave 2, etc.) and place the drawn
Minions above each of the 3 Minion health counters,
going from left to right.
18
Note: The Minion deck used for the Boss Wave will vary
based on what Day you are on (see Campaign Mode).
Then set each of their starting Health and Block, and
finally, if they have any ARRIVE powers, activate them,
going from left to right.

THE BOSS STARTING/MAX HEALTH

After you have completed

all 3 Minion waves, flip over
the Horde/Boss card and
prepare to fight the Boss!
Setup as follows:
1. Set the Boss health to the
number shown in the heart in
the upper left of the card (or
double it if playing 2-player).
2. Fill the 3 Minion spaces with Wave , or Min-
ions based on what Day you are on: in a standard
1-Day game, the Boss will always spawn Wave
Minions. If there are not enough Minions in the correspond-
ing deck, shuffle that Wave’s discard pile into a new deck.

19
 • Bosses work the same as Hordes except they have
health which needs to be removed and brought
down to 0 to win.
• Minions do not need to be defeated to win.
• If an ability says to add a Minion, follow the rules for
adding Minions to a Wave (pg. 17), treating the Wave of
Minions used during Boss setup as the “current wave.”
• If a Boss ability gains a Status Effect, place the
token in an open spot under the Boss’ name. All Boss
abilities are affected by Status Effect.
• All Bosses have their own unique abilities and play-
style. See how each Boss works on pages 25-31.

CAMPAIGN MODE
The Campaign Mode for Small-Time Heroes is played over
the course of 3 DAYS, each getting progressively harder.

ADDITIONAL SETUP
• Select (randomly or not) 3 Bosses you want to fight,
and the order in which you will fight them.
• Shuffle the Knowledge Cards specific to your
Hero(es) and keep them near your Hero Mat.
• Randomly select 6 Advanced Wave Challenge/
Treasure Cards and shuffle them in with the other
Wave Challenge/Reward cards, placing them
Challenge-side-up. This will now be used as a Wave
Challenge/Reward Deck.
Note that the Challenge side of these cards is only
used in Campaign Mode. Whenever you defeat a
Wave with 1 or more Challenges, you’ll gain the
Rewards/Treasures on the back of that Wave’s
Challenge cards.
20
GAMEPLAY
Each Day of a Campaign works basically the same as a
standard 1-Day game, with the following exceptions:
• Defeating a Boss advances you on to the next Day,
again beginning with Minion Wave , and you only
win once all 3 Days are completed successfully.
• The Challenge side of the Wave Challenge/Reward
Deck will be used starting on Day 2, the effects of
which will be applied to all Minions in each Wave
(see next page). Only once a Wave is defeated do
you flip Challenge cards over to find out what your
Wave Reward is.
• Knowledge and Treasure may both be gained
during Campaigns, as discussed below.

SPECIAL RULES FOR DIFFERENT DAYS

Day 1 of a Campaign plays out as a standard game,
consisting of 3 Minion Waves and a Boss Wave with
Wave Minions. Ignore the Challenge side of the Wave
Challenge/Rewards deck for Day 1, and simply flip the
top card over to its Reward side at the end of each Wave,
gaining the Wave Reward shown. Days 2 and 3 each work
a little differently, however:
DAY 2: Use 1 Challenge for each Wave, including Boss
Wave. Play Boss Wave with Wave Minions, and add +10
to the Boss’s max Health (doubled in 2-player games).
DAY 3: Use 2 Challenges for each Wave, but only gain re-
wards from one of them. Play Boss Wave with Wave
Minions, and add +20 to the Boss’s max Health.

21
WHEN A BOSS IS DEFEATED, EACH PLAYER WILL:
• Draw 2 Knowledge cards specific
to your Hero and choose 1 to keep
face up next to your Hero Mat - its
effect is now in play for the rest
of the Campaign. Shuffle the other
back into your Knowledge cards.
• Flip the active Challenge card and
gain the Reward/Treasure on their
back side.

• Set Hero(es) health to full.

CHALLENGES
Each active Challenge grants Health, Block, and/or
Strength buffs to all Minions (and only Minions), including
those that spawn mid-Wave, and those in the Boss Wave.
When multiple Challenges are in play, their buffs are
added together, and at the end of each Wave all active
Challenges are replaced after gaining Rewards.

BASIC CHALLENGES
• Health buffs are added to every
Minion (doubled in 2 player).
• Block buffs (doubled in 2 player)
and Strength (not doubled) are
only added when a Minion is
spawned and are not counted
during the Enemy Reset phase.
• When a Wave is defeated, each player gains the
Wave Reward shown on the Reward side of one Basic
Challenge in play.
22
ADVANCED CHALLENGES
• Advanced challenges grant buffs
as well as a special effect that is
active during that Wave.
• When a Wave is defeated, an
Advanced Challenge in is flipped
to its Treasure side and may be
gained. Heroes share this Trea-
sure when gained, both immediately gaining its
effect, and both benefiting from its written effect
when the Treasure is used.

TREASURES
• When gaining a Treasure, each
Hero may also gain a card
from their Market Row.
• Treasures can either be
CONSUMABLE (used like a
potion) or START OF WAVE (stay
with you for the rest of the game and activate on the
first Hero turn of each Wave).
• CONSUMABLE treasures are not considered
potions, and do not count towards your 3 potion limit.
• There is no limit to the number of active Treasures.

23
2-PLAYER RULES
Playing with another player is mostly the same as playing
Solo, but with the following changes:
• Health is doubled for all Minions and Bosses (i.e. a
Boss with 30 health will be 60 health, a Minion with
8 health will be 16 health)
• Health and Block buffs from Campaign Challenges
are all doubled.
• During the prepare phase, all Heroes draw 1 intent
card and place it face down by their Hero Mat.
• During the Hero Turn, players choose which Hero will
play their cards first.
• When Intent cards are revealed, each player reveals
their intent card based on the turn order from the
Hero Turn.
• Hero cards can only be used on your own Hero
unless otherwise stated.
• If a Hero is knocked out, the other player must acti-
vate both Intent cards and will play until they defeat
the Boss or become knocked out as well.
• When gaining a Treasure, both players gain the
reward. They may also both apply its effect at the
same time when the Treasure is used.

24
 30

THE HOUNDMASTER
DIFFICULTY:
The man known as The Houndmaster was abandoned in
the woods as a child. He found an unlikely family among
a pack of ancient wolves. Nurtured by their wisdom and
magic, he developed an uncanny ability to control the
wolves. He became both a part of the wild and its master.
Yet, as time passed, his heart darkened, and the sanctuary
that once cradled him became a breeding ground for ven-
geance. The betrayal of his human origins twisted his heart,
and he vowed revenge. Harnessing his connection with the
wolves, he formed a wild army, seeking to sow chaos and
despair among those who had abandoned him.

The Houndmaster is all about building up Strength. He be-

comes stronger as the Boss Wave progresses and deals
devastating attacks that with enough time might take you
out in one blow!

25
 30

THE GOBLIN KING

DIFFICULTY:
Grimclaw, an ambitious goblin with an affinity for chaos
and explosions, has crowned himself the Goblin King. His
crew, the Blastcrawlers, have been drawn from various
goblin tribes, united by the promise of plunder and the thrill
of destruction. Together they sail on the Skullcracker, a
ramshackle pirate ship, creating chaos and leaving a trail
of devastation. Tales of their explosive escapades spread
fear through coastal towns living in constant fear of the
Skullcracker’s ominous silhouette. The Goblin King and
his crew have become legends of anarchy and mayhem,
leaving no port untouched by their fiery madness.
The Goblin King is crazy and loves explosives! He will hurt
anyone around him, even his own Minions. He clogs your
deck with Bomb cards, which need to be defused when
drawn or they will explode!

BOMBS!
The Goblin King has a special ability to place bombs into
your deck. Bombs are represented on the backs of the
Minion cards.
• When an ability tells you to “add a BOMB”, draw the
top Minion of your current Wave and place it bomb-side-
down in your discard pile.
26
 Hero discard
Adding a
BOMB:

• If you run out of bombs of your current Wave, use the

next highest Wave bomb available. If no bombs are
available take 4 damage anytime a bomb should be
added to your discard pile.
• When an ability tells you to “explode a BOMB,” draw the
top Minion of your current Wave, resolve the EXPLODE
effect immediately, and discard the card into that Wave’s
discard pile.

DEFUSING A BOMB
• Whenever you have a BOMB in hand, you have the option
to DEFUSE it anytime during your turn. If you can meet
the requirements, place the bomb in it’s respective Wave’s
discard pile.
• You must meet the DEFUSE requirements for each
bomb individually, even if two have the same requirement.
• Whenever a bomb is discarded into your discard pile
instead of Defused, whether at the end of your turn or
otherwise,, its EXPLODE effect will resolve. Bombs stay
in your deck until they are Defused.
• When you DEFUSE a bomb, you do NOT draw a new
card to replace the bomb you just defused.

27
 15 *

THE GUARDIAN
DIFFICULTY:
Deep within an ancient forest, hidden among overgrown
ruins, stood The Guardian—a towering statue with a
crystal heart that pulsed with hypnotic magic. When a
curious rat uncovered it, The Guardian’s power awakened,
ensnaring the forest animals one by one. The cunning
rabbit, the reclusive spiders, even the mighty bear—all fell
under its spell, abandoning their natural lives to worship
and serve the mysterious force.
Under The Guardian’s command, the animals were imbued
with evil magic. They organized into swarms, leaving
the forest to invade nearby towns. The once-innocent
creatures became relentless zealots of chaos, spreading
the Guardian’s influence far beyond the forest’s edge.
The Guardian is a giant being and you will be fighting its
various body parts, each with their own health. You will
also be battling against the now evil forest creatures who
are controlled by the magic of crystals. As crystals are
gained, Enemies become more powerful!

CRYSTALS!
When fighting The Guardian and their Horde, you will use
cubes on the Boss Health Tracker to keep track of
Crystals (in all Waves).
• If an ability has a icon, resolve the initial ability and
28
then check to see if there is enough Crystals on the Crys-
tal Track to activate the ability. If so, resolve the rest
of the card’s ability text as well.
• Crystals are set back to 0 after each Wave.
• FOR 2 PLAYERS: Crystals are only gained by the first
player (same player who attacked first).
GUARDIAN BOSS SETUP

1. Find both Arms and the Head from the Wave of

whichever Day you’re on (ie. Wave if on Day 3).
No other Minions are used during the Guardian
Boss Wave.
2. Place the Arms in the left and right Minion spots, and
the Head in the center.
3. Ignore health values on these cards. Both Arms and
Head will start with 15 Health (+5 Health for each
additional day, i.e. 20 for Day 2 and 25 for Day 3)
RUBBLE
• When fighting the Guardian, anytime an Arm or Head is
defeated, flip it over. It becomes Rubble.
• Rubble will keep all status effects (Strength,
Weak, etc) on them. Rubble does nothing until it is rebuilt.
• When Rubble is rebuilt, remove 1 Crystal and set the
health equal to 5x the Day you are on (Day 1: 5 health,
Day 2: 10 health, Day 3: 15 health).
• The boss fight is won when all pieces of The Guardian
become Rubble. 29
 30

THE NECROMANCER
DIFFICULTY:
Seraphina was born into poverty, living her life on the
streets. Her world shattered when an altercation with the
city’s prince resulted in the tragic demise of her parents
and their loyal bulldog, Grim. Narrowly escaping death
herself, Seraphina sought refuge in the shadows, where
she discovered the forbidden art of Necromancy. Fueled
by an insatiable desire to defy fate, she delved into dark
rituals to resurrect her family and Grim. As her powers
grew, so did her animosity towards the privileged elite.
Seraphina unleashed her undead army upon the city, a
manifestation of her anguish and hatred. The once-vi-
brant streets now echo with the haunting moans of the
resurrected.
The Necromancer is all about turning Minions you have
defeated into zombies. Hordes of zombies collect under
Minions, blocking your attacks and dealing large amounts
of damage collectively.

ZOMBIES!
• Zombies are always tucked under Minion health trackers
when they come into play. They only have 1 health
each.
• Whenever adding or turning a card into a Zombie, tuck it

30
 under the leftmost health tracker with the fewest Zombies
already under it, making sure that the attack damage
of any other Zombie(s) there are visible.
• When an ability tells you to “add a Zombie,” use the top
card from the Minion deck of your current Wave.
• Whenever there are Zombies under a Minion’s health
tracker, you must defeat them before attack-
ing that Minion.
• At the start of each enemy turn,
ALL ZOMBIES ATTACK.
They deal damage equal to
their combined attack values,
as a single attack (ie. the Zom-
bies shown here would deal 4
damage total). All their abilities
are ignored.
• All Zombies make a single at-
tack as a unit and do not attack
individually. This is important
if a Hero is EXPOSED, as they
may take double damage from
the full Zombie attack!
• In addition to defeating Minions, all Zombies must be
defeated to advance to the next Wave, except during
the Boss Wave. If there are any Zombies left when you de-
feat The Necromancer during the Boss Wave, you still win!
• Zombies are not considered Minions, so anything that
effects Minions does not work with Zombies. This in-
cludes Defeat Rewards and cards that reference killing
a Minion.

31
 25

JOAN THE WARRIOR

COMPLEXITY:
Joan is a fierce warrior who was born and raised in the
city, but she doesn’t fit into the usual mold of the average
citizen. Joan is a punk rocker and an anarchist, and she
loves nothing more than to cause a little chaos.
Because of her rebellious spirit, Joan doesn’t have any
formal training in combat. However, she knows her way
around a mosh pit and has a fierce determination that
makes up for her lack of experience.
Joan’s playstyle revolves around gaining Strength to deal
massive amounts of damage or gaining Protection to be-
come a defensive tank. She can equip armor and weap-
ons to build up and become unstoppable!

EQUIPMENT
Any card with the symbol in the upper right is EQUIPMENT,
and is placed on/next to your BODY card when played. When
a card is equipped, it provides an ongoing ability. You can only
equip one card on each Body part (Helm, Main Hand, etc).
lf a card says to remove a piece of Equipment, place the card
in the discard pile, immediately losing any effects it provides.
Some may also grant a special effect when REMOVED.
At the end of each Wave, all Equipment is
discarded.
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OTHER WARRIOR KEY TERMS...
EQUIPPED: Use this Ability ONCE, when the card is
first equipped.

EQUIPPED X: These are abilities that require you to

have a certain number of currently equipped. If the
number of you have on is equal to or more than (X),
you may use the ability.

REMOVED: Use this Ability ONCE, as soon as the card

is removed from your Body card.

STATUS EFFECTS (see pg. 11)

PROTECT: Gain 1 additional Block every
time you gain Block.

STRENGTH: Deal 1 additional damage ev-

ery time you deal damage.

33
 25

LIRA THE ROGUE

COMPLEXITY:
Lira is a street urchin, abandoned by her parents and left
to fend for herself. She survives on scraps and shelters in
alleyways. Her only companion is a loyal ferret who was
taken in despite the risks of having a pet in her situation.
To survive, she has become one with the shadows and uses
whatever weapons she can find, her favorite being a pair
of stolen steak knives.
Lira is all about hiding in the shadows and playing a ton of
cards. When she is concealed, she can deal more damage
or stay hidden and take less damage. She manipulates the
cost of cards through Preparing them to be played for free
or Discarding them to gain additional abilities.

CONCEALING
When you become CONCEALED, flip
your CONCEAL card to the CON-
CEALED side.
You may now choose at any time to
either deal CONCEALED damage
from a Hero Card OR block half of
the incoming damage from all Enemy
attacks during the next Enemy Turn
(damage dealt is rounded down).
34
As soon as CONCEALED damage is dealt OR you
take reduced damage for an Enemy Turn, you become
UNCONCEALED and flip the card back over.
• You may stay CONCEALED between turns.
• You may choose to take full damage instead of half
damage to stay CONCEALED.
• It is possible to become CONCEALED, deal
CONCEALED damage, and become CONCEALED
again in a single turn.

OTHER ROGUE KEY TERMS...

DISCARD: Remove a card from your hand and
place it in the discard pile.
AMBUSH: If a card with AMBUSH is discarded,
activate its ability for free.
FINALE: If this card is played as the last card in
your hand, play it again!
PREPARE: A Prepare card’s cost is reduced by
one xxEnergy for every non-Prepare card played before it
that turn. Once a Prepare card is played, the xxEnergy
discount starts over and you begin reducing xxEnergy cost
for the next Prepare card.

STATUS EFFECTS
EXPOSED: An Enemy with this takes
double damage (rounded down) on your
next attack. Remove token after damage.
35
QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE
HERO TURN
1. Reset:
• Remove all BLOCK /Status Tokens from your
Hero’s upper token spaces
• Draw an Intent Card, keeping it face down
2. Fight:
• Spend to play Hero Cards from your hand
3. End your turn by discarding all played/in-hand
cards, and drawing a new hand of 5 cards

ENEMY TURN
1. Reset:
• Make sure each Enemy has Block tokens on it
equal to the number in its icon.
2. Fight (resolved in Hero Turn order):
• Flip Intent Card / /
• Activate the corresponding Minion if present
• Activate the corresponding Horde or Boss ability

END OF WAVE (ALL MINIONS DEFEATED)

• Discard hand & current Intent Card(s). Remove all
Status Effects and Equipment Cards from your
Hero(es).
• Gain WAVE REWARDS
• Shuffle discard pile/newly gained Hero cards into
your deck and draw a new hand of 5 cards.
• Set up the next Wave.
36