v1.1 - A good, working rough draft, covering all the major rules from LOTR TCG. Exclusively Halo TCG rules are colored blue. More to come...uh...some time.
EXPANDED RULEBOOK
Most card games have just one deck of cards that never changes, but a trading card game (or TCG) works differently. In a TCG, you personalize your playing deck using cards from your collection.
Halo Trading Card Game provides two or more players with the same challenges that the Master Chief faced on his fateful mission to destroy the ringworld Halo...and the challenges that followed.
INTRODUCTION
Each player’s cards include his or her own company, a group of companions, each represented by a different card. Some other cards representing allies, possessions, artifacts, events, and conditions support and defend the company.
On each player’s turn, a marker representing that player’s company advances along the adventure path, a sequence of sites, each representing the scene of an episode in the adventure. All players, using cards that might be played from any player’s adventure deck, share the same adventure path.
Each time a company moves, minions played by one or more opponents may attack it; these minions may be supported by possessions, artifacts, events, and conditions of their own. The attacks will succeed or fail depending on the relative strengths of the characters and minions.
The minions of evil become more numerous as the company moves farther along, resulting in greater risks to the company and the Hero himself.
If your company survives its adventures to reach the final site first, you are the winner!
IMPORTANT CONCEPTS
KINDS OF CARDS
Halo TCG has three basic kinds of cards: site, Free Peoples, and Shadow.
Site cards
Each player has an adventure deck with nine site cards. These cards are used to chart the progress of the game.
Free Peoples cards
Free Peoples cards represent the forces of good. Each player has his or her own company, made up of a Hero and other companions. When you take your turn, you play and use your Free Peoples cards.
Free Peoples cards have a light colored circular field in the upper left corner.
Shadow cards
Shadow cards represent the forces of evil and corruption. When another player takes his or her turn, you play and use your Shadow cards to hinder that player.
Shadow cards have a dark colored diamond shaped field in the upper left corner.
COMPANION
A companion is a character who is a member of your company.
ALLY
An ally is a character who helps your companions from afar but does not move with them. Most allies have a home site, where that ally may fight alongside your companions.
MINION
A minion is a Shadow character that attacks other players’ companies. Minion cards have a site number where a companion might have a signet.
SHIP
A ship is a card that is played in your support area that may interact with other ships or directly with companions and minions.
POSSESSION
A possession or artifact is a weapon, suit of armor, vehicle, or other kind of object used by a character, or sometimes by a ship.
Many possession cards (and condition cards) play on a character or ship. We say that the character “bears” the possession or condition (and is also called the “bearer” of that card).
Place these cards beneath the bearer, with the left edge of the possession or condition showing. The card title and any strength or vitality bonuses will therefore be visible during play.
EVENT
An event is a card played from your hand that represents an important occurrence. You normally discard an event when you are done playing it.
CONDITION
A condition is a card representing a significant change in the universe, which stays in play until something discards it. Sometimes conditions are played on characters, ships, or other cards.
SITE
You bring a set of nine sites in your adventure deck. Each of those must have a different site number, with one for each number from 1 to 9. Sanctuary sites, numbered 3 or 6, have a different colored template from other sites.
CULTURE
Most cards are part of a specific culture. A card’s color, its background texture, and an icon in its upper right corner indicate its culture.
You’ll find that cards from the same culture work well together. Sorting your cards by culture can make building your own deck easier. However, your deck may contain cards from several different cultures if you like.
Site cards are not part of any culture.
Here is a listing of all the cultures currently available:
Free Peoples Cards
UNSC
Human
Sentinel
Arbiter (Covenant)
Shadow Cards
Covenant
Flood
Sentinel
Heretic
Human
You don’t have to memorize these names, since cultures are always referred to with symbols. All you have to do is match the icons.
SIGNET
Some of the Free Peoples character cards have a signet icon, found in the lower left corner of the card. Cards with the same signet generally give bonuses to each other and work well in the same deck.
Each signet is based around an important character in the story. Currently, the available signets are the Master Chief, Captain Keyes, Sergeant Johnson, the Arbiter, and the SpecOps Commander.
VITALITY
All characters in the game have vitality. This number represents that character’s life force, stamina, sturdiness, and will to live.
Wounds
When a character is wounded by an enemy attack, his vitality is depleted. Place a wound token on the character to illustrate this. Glass beads (preferably blood red) make good tokens for this purpose. Wounds are always placed on a character one at a time. When you “wound a character,” you place only one wound.
Healing
When a wound is removed from a character, this represents resting or healing. If game text says you should “heal a character,” the default meaning for that phrase is to remove one wound. You may not heal a character that does not have at least one wound.
Generally, your company only heals (removes wounds) at a site with the keyword sanctuary. At the start of your turn when your company is at a sanctuary, you may heal up to 5 wounds from your companions.
Killed
When the number of wounds on a character equals his vitality, that character is immediately killed. Place killed Free Peoples characters (companions and allies) in your dead pile. The dead pile is separate from and next to your discard pile. Place killed Shadow characters (minions) in your discard pile.
When you have a unique companion or ally in your dead pile, you may not play another copy of that card, or any other card with the same title.
(You may play another copy of a non-unique card which is in your dead pile.)
A unique card has a dot (•) in its card title.
When you discard a companion or ally to use its game text or as a result of some other effect, don’t place that card in the dead pile.
Exert
Sometimes you may exert a character by placing a wound on that card to show that the character takes an action that depletes his vitality.
Exerting a character is different from wounding a character, though both require placement of a wound token. Cards that prevent wounds may not prevent a wound token placed by exerting. Once placed, wound tokens are identical, whether placed from exerting or wounding.
No player may exert a character that is exhausted (only one wound away from death). Such a character cannot be chosen as a character who must exert.
Sometimes a card will allow you to exhaust a character. To exhaust a character means to exert that character as many times as you can.
When you exert a character to have an effect at that character’s site, this usually represents physical exertion of some kind: working, fighting, stress, and so on. However, sometimes a character will exert to provide an effect at some other site, and in this case the exertion is symbolic (and may even represent something that theoretically happened in the past).
Armor
Ships have armor instead of vitality. A ship receives damage instead of wounds (reducing its armor), and is repaired rather than healed. Other than the change in terms, this works exactly as described above. Also, a ship can be destroyed in the same way a character is killed. Exerting is not a term used for ships, but some cards allow you to voluntarily damage them, which acts the same way. You may not, however, damage your own exhausted ship unless the referencing card specifically allows it.
TWILIGHT POOL
The twilight pool is an area on the table where twilight tokens are placed. The tokens in the twilight pool represent how dangerous the world is for the company. Glass beads (preferably black) make good twilight tokens, but any convenient token will do. Keep a large reserve of twilight tokens handy.
Twilight Cost
In the upper left corner of each Free Peoples and Shadow card is that card’s twilight cost. This is the number of twilight tokens that must be added to or removed from the twilight pool to play that card.
When you play a Free Peoples card, you must add a number of twilight tokens (from the reserve) to the twilight pool equal to that card’s twilight cost.
When your opponent plays a Shadow card, he or she must remove a number of twilight tokens from the twilight pool equal to that card’s twilight cost. A Shadow card may not be played if its twilight cost cannot be met by the tokens available in the twilight pool.
In game text, you will find phrases like “Add (1) ” which means, “Add 1 twilight token to the twilight pool.”
SETTING UP THE GAME
Players need a supply of wound tokens (preferably red) and twilight tokens (preferably black). Each player will also need a player marker (a differently-colored token) that shows where his or her company is on the adventure path.
Tokens can be coins, glass beads, paper clips, orc teeth, or any small common possession.
BUILDING YOUR DECK
Each player brings to the game at least 71 cards (and perhaps more):
• a Hero (1 card),
• a draw deck of at least 60 cards, and
• a 9-card adventure deck.
Hero
You must start the game with one (and only one) Hero. This card is not part of your draw deck and does not count against your total of Free Peoples cards.
Draw Deck
Your draw deck must have at least 60 cards and must have an equal number of Shadow cards and Free Peoples cards, shuffled together. You may not have any copies of sites in your draw deck.
You may have up to four copies of each card title (ignoring subtitles) in your draw deck.
You may have four copies of Sgt. Johnson, Sarge in your draw deck, or you may have two copies of that card and two copies of Sgt. Johnson, Seasoned Veteran. You may not have four copies of each of those cards, since they have the same title (although they have different subtitles).
Exception: Since one copy of your Hero is always part of your company, you may have only three copies of that Hero in your draw deck.
Adventure Deck
Your adventure deck has nine different site cards, one for each of the nine site numbers. No other player may look through your adventure deck during the game.
You do not have to keep your adventure deck in any particular order. When you need to get a card from your adventure deck, look through it to get the correct one.
It’s easy to tell who each site card belongs to, since only one copy of each site number is played to the adventure path. For example, site number 4 belongs to the player who has no site number 4 in his or her adventure deck.
If a site is replaced, take the old site from the adventure path and put it back in its owner’s adventure deck.
Dead, Discard, and Removed Piles
At the beginning of the game, you will start with only your draw deck and adventure deck. As the game progresses, however, you will begin to accumulate cards in these three piles as well. These are not considered an extension of the draw deck, and any cards you draw must still come from the draw deck and not these piles, though there are exceptions. All three will be described in detail later.
GAME SETUP PROCEDURE
• Bid to see who goes first
• First player plays site 1
• Each player plays his or her starting company
• Each player shuffles his or her draw deck
• Each player draws eight cards for his or her hand
Starting Company
Your company begins with your Hero. You may also begin with other companions (not allies) from your draw deck (which you may play in any order), as long as the total twilight cost of your starting companions is 6 or less.
You could choose the Master Chief (twilight cost of 4) and Jacob Keyes, Hero of Sigma Octanus (twilight cost of 2) as your only starting companions, since their total twilight cost is 6. Alternately, you might choose Fred, Senior Petty Officer as your Hero, who has a twilight cost of only 3. This would allow you to play Jacob Keyes and still have one twilight left for another starting companion.
You do not add twilight tokens for playing the cards in your starting company. Site text is not active when the starting companies are played. You may use “When you play” game text on a starting companion.
Select and reveal starting companies in player order. Shuffle your draw deck, give the opponent on your right the opportunity to cut it, and draw eight cards to form your starting hand.
PLAYING THE GAME
Each player, going clockwise around the table, takes a turn according to the following turn sequence.
1. Company Phase
2. Shadow Phase
3. Maneuver Phase
4. Sniping Phase
5. Assignment Phase
6. Engagement Phase
7. Skirmish Phase
8. Regroup Phase
When one player finishes his or her turn, the next player in clockwise rotation (to his or her left) takes a turn and so on.
Although the turn order rotates to the left, note that many other procedures in the game actually rotate to the right (counter-clockwise).
TIMING WORDS
Before you learn more about the phases of a turn, you need to know how certain game actions link to those phases using timing words.
During each phase of a turn, one or more players are allowed to perform actions that use a timing word matching the name of that phase. Timing words are printed in boldface and followed by a colon.
The phrase “skirmish actions” means actions that look like this: “Skirmish: Make a Man strength +2 and damage +1.” This is an action you perform during a skirmish phase.
Each of these actions lasts for the duration of the phase named in the timing word (unless otherwise specified).
There is also a special timing word, response, which is explained later in these rules.
Every event card has a timing word that defines when you may play that card from your hand. The game text on that event may be performed only once for each copy of that event played.
Discard an event after you play it, and before the next action is taken. Even after being discarded, an event often has an ongoing or delayed effect until the end of the phase, or until a specified phase or condition is met.
Other types of cards may use a timing word to indicate a part of their game text called a special ability, which may be used only while the card is in play. (The timing word defines when you may do so.) You may use each special ability as many times as you like, even repeatedly during the same phase.
The use of any special ability is optional. It does nothing until you choose to use it. You may only use one special ability at a time.
If one card says, “Company: Play a Sentinel companion to draw a card” and another says, “Company: Exert 343 Guilty Spark to play a Sentinel for free,” you can’t do both as one action. You may draw a card or play for free (or neither), but you can’t do both at the same time.
1. COMPANY PHASE
During your company phase, you first reset the twilight pool, and then you perform company actions, including playing most Free Peoples cards. Finally, you move your company forward along the adventure path.
COMPANY PHASE OUTLINE
• Free Peoples player resets the twilight pool
• Free Peoples player performs company actions (and plays Free Peoples cards)
• Free Peoples player moves the company to the next site and adds twilight tokens
Reset the twilight pool
At the start of each of your company phases, you must remove all tokens from the twilight pool. (The twilight pool begins the game empty, so this is not necessary on the first turn of the game.)
Perform company actions
If you are the Free Peoples player, you may perform company actions during this phase, in any order.
Two company actions are always available:
• Play a Free Peoples companion, ally, ship, possession, artifact, or condition from your hand to the table.
• Discard a unique companion, ally, or ship card from your hand to heal/repair a character/ship who has the same title (it may have a different subtitle). A unique card has a dot (•) in its card title.
You may find other company actions on events in your hand, or as special abilities on cards you already have in play.
The phrase “company actions” means actions that look like this: “Company: Play a Sentinel companion to draw a card.”
Actions that happen “at the start of your turn” occur before you can take your first company action.
Paying costs
To play a Free Peoples card, add a number of twilight tokens to the twilight pool equal to the card’s twilight cost.
Playing companions
Play companion cards in a row, near the other members of your company already in play. You may not have more than ten total companions in play and in your dead pile at any time. (Each copy of a non-unique companion in play or in your dead pile counts as a separate companion.)
If you have •Pfc. Logan (a unique companion) and two copies of ODST Helljumper (a non-unique companion) in your dead pile, you may not have more than 7 companions in your company.
You may not play a card from your hand to replace another card in play, even if those cards have the same card title or represent the same personality.
Characters on ships
Companions that are staffing ships are not considered part of the company and do not count towards the company limit. When these companions are killed while staffing a ship, they are still placed in the dead pile, but turned upside-down to distinguish them from other characters. Any characters that are flipped upside-down in the dead pile also do not count towards the company limit.
Playing allies
Allies are characters that do not count as members of your company. Play them to a row behind your company called your support area. An ally may be played during any of your company phases (you do not have to wait until your company is at the ally’s home). There is no limit to the number of allies you may have in play.
Your support area represents the whole universe. Thus, as the game progresses, this area may contain Men, Covenant, Flood, and other characters who conceptually live and work in very different regions. The support area can also contain other kinds of cards (as indicated by their game text).
Playing possessions and artifacts
Play Free Peoples possessions and artifacts under a character/ship, with the left edge of the card visible for its card title and attribute modifiers (bonuses for the character’s strength and/or vitality or the ship’s weapons and/or armor written with a plus sign like “+2”). Some possessions or artifacts say they play to your support area instead.
Class
Each character/ship may bear one possession or artifact of each class at one time. For example, a character may normally bear only weapon and only one armor.
Some artifacts and possessions do not have a class. There is no limit to the number of artifacts and possessions without a class that a character may bear.
Master Chief may have several copies of the M9 Fragmentation Grenade possession card (which does not have a class), but he may have only one Armor.
Playing conditions
Play Free Peoples conditions either under a character or ship (like a possession, if the card says, “Bearer must be...”) or to your support area, as indicated in the game text of the condition card.
Moving your company
During each of your company phases, when you are finished performing company actions, your company must move forward to the next site on the adventure path.
How to move
Place your player marker on the next site on the adventure path. If there is no site there yet (as is the case for the first player on the first turn), then a new site must be played from the adventure deck of one of the Shadow players.
Place new sites in order by their site number. When the first player moves for the first time, place a site with the site number of 2.
To determine which Shadow player places the new site on the adventure path (from that player’s adventure deck), look at the site you are moving from. Each site has an arrow at the bottom center of the card. This indicates who is to play the new site, with [right arrow] meaning the Shadow player to your right and [left arrow] meaning the Shadow player to your left. (In a two-player game, there is only one Shadow player at a time, so that player always plays the new site.)
Cards from every adventure deck comprise the adventure path that all players advance through. As each game unfolds, the path evolves differently.
When you move your player marker to the next site, add tokens to the twilight pool equal to the Shadow number on the site you moved to.
In addition, for each companion in your company, you must add one token to the twilight pool each time your company moves.
The forces opposing you, represented in the game by the Shadow cards in your opponent’s hands, now try to find and destroy your company. As your company grows in size, it becomes easier for the forces of Shadow to take action against you.
When the company moves, first perform any actions that are triggered when the company leaves the old site. Then perform actions that occur when the company moves to the new site (including adding twilight tokens for its Shadow number and the number of companions).
2. SHADOW PHASE(S)
Each other player in the game, starting with the player immediately to your right, has one Shadow phase.
During each player’s Shadow phase, that player may perform Shadow actions, including playing most Shadow cards. Each Shadow player may perform Shadow actions in any order desired during his or her Shadow phase.
SHADOW PHASE OUTLINE
• first Shadow player performs Shadow actions (and plays Shadow cards) using twilight tokens in the twilight pool
• next Shadow player (if any) performs Shadow actions (and plays Shadow cards) using remaining twilight tokens in the twilight pool
• repeat as needed until every Shadow player has his or her own Shadow phase.
Perform Shadow actions
There is one Shadow action which is always available:
• Play a Shadow minion, ship, possession, artifact, or condition from your hand to the table.
Each Shadow player may perform any Shadow actions during his or her Shadow phase. When he or she has completed all of the Shadow actions he or she wishes to perform, the next Shadow player to his or her right (if any) then performs a Shadow phase.
The phrase “Shadow actions” means actions that look like this: “Shadow: Play a [Flood] minion from your discard pile.”
Playing Shadow cards
A minion is played to the center of the table, across from the active company. Artifacts, possessions, and conditions state in their game text where they play. The Shadow player must remove twilight tokens from the twilight pool as required when playing Shadow cards.
A Shadow player may not play a Shadow condition, possession, or artifact on another Shadow player’s minion or to another player’s support area.
However, Shadow cards may give bonuses or other game effects to other players’ Shadow cards, and Shadow players may play events for other players’ Shadow cards as appropriate.
You may exert another player’s minion to pay a cost for your Shadow card or special ability.
Each minion is normally played to a certain range of sites beginning with the minion’s site number. Thus, if the minion is played to a site that has a lower site number, that minion is roaming. The player must pay a roaming penalty by removing an additional two twilight tokens for that minion. (A few sites reduce the roaming penalty for minions played to that site.)
A Blue Elite with a site number of 4 must remove 2 more twilight tokens to play at site 2 or 3. If that same Blue Elite is played at sites 4 through 9, there is no roaming penalty.
That same Blue Elite could be played to site 3, paying the penalty for being a roaming minion, and survive the company’s first move to follow them on a second move to site 4. At that site, the Elite would no longer be a roaming minion.
When the first Shadow player completes his or her Shadow phase, the next Shadow player does so. All Shadow players pay for cards by using the same twilight pool. The second Shadow player uses twilight tokens left over from the first Shadow player, and so on.
Shadow players may converse and plan among themselves, but they may not actually show each other the cards in their hands. They can make agreements, but those agreements are not binding.
When all Shadow players have each completed a Shadow phase, it is time for the maneuver phase. (If there are no minions in play at the end of the final Shadow phase, then skip directly to the regroup phase.)
3. MANEUVER PHASE
During your maneuver phase, you and your opponents may perform maneuver actions.
MANEUVER PHASE OUTLINE
• players perform maneuver actions
Perform maneuver actions
Maneuver actions are preceded by the timing word “Maneuver: ” and appear on cards in play (these are also called “special abilities”) or on events. Players may perform maneuver actions using the following action procedure:
- As the Free Peoples player, you get the first opportunity to perform a maneuver action, and then the player on your right gets an opportunity, and so on counter-clockwise around the table.
- If a player does not wish to perform a maneuver action, he or she may simply pass. Passing does not prevent a player from performing an action later in the same phase.
- However, when all players consecutively pass, proceed to the sniping phase.
4. SNIPING PHASE
During your sniping phase, you and your opponents may perform sniping actions and then conduct sniping fire.
SNIPING PHASE OUTLINE
• players perform sniping actions
• determine sniping totals for each side
• Free Peoples player assigns minion sniping fire wounds to his or her companions
• Free Peoples player chooses one Shadow player
• that Shadow player assigns company sniping fire wounds to his or her minions
Perform sniping actions
Sniping actions are preceded by the timing word “Sniping:” and appear on cards in play (these are also called “special abilities”) or on events.
Players may perform sniping actions using the action procedure described in the maneuver phase. When all players consecutively pass, proceed to sniping fire.
Sniping fire
All Shadow players count the number of all their minions with the keyword sniper to determine the “minion sniping total.” No matter how many Shadow players there are, there is only one minion sniping total.
As the Free Peoples player, you also count the number of your Free Peoples sniper companions to determine the “company sniping total.” You may count sniper allies if the company is at their home, or a card has allowed them to participate in sniping fire.
There is always a “default” sniping total of zero for each side. The game text of a card (like a site or condition, for example) may add to your sniping total even though you have no snipers in play at that time.
You must then assign a number of wounds equal to the minion sniping total to your companions (and participating allies) in any way you wish.
After you have assigned sniping wounds, you choose one Shadow player who must then assign a number of wounds equal to the company sniping total to his or her minions in any way he or she wishes.
Since these tokens are assigned as wounds and not from exertion, any player may assign enough wounds to kill his or her own minion or companion.
Wounds are assigned one at a time, so a character may not have more wounds assigned than that character’s vitality. Ignore any leftover wounds that cannot be assigned.
5. ASSIGNMENT PHASE
During your assignment phase, you and your opponents may perform assignment actions, and then you may assign companions to defend against attacking minions and ships to defend against Shadow ships. All assignment actions must be complete before proceeding to assign defenders.
ASSIGNMENT PHASE OUTLINE
• players perform assignment actions
• Free Peoples player may assign defending companions to attacking minions and defending ships to attacking ships
• Shadow players must assign leftover unassigned minions/ships to any defending companions/ships
When the assignment phase is complete, each companion being attacked will lead to a separate skirmish phase.
Perform assignment actions
Assignment actions are preceded by the timing word “Assignment:” and appear on cards in play (these are also called “special abilities”) or on events.
Players may perform assignment actions using the action procedure described in the maneuver phase.
Many assignment actions assign a minion to a companion (or a ship to a ship). All of these assignments are “one-on-one” - you cannot assign one character to another unless both of them are unassigned.
When all players consecutively pass, proceed to assign defenders.
Assign defenders
After the assignment actions are finished, there will usually be minions and companions and ships still unassigned.
The Free Peoples may now assign companions to leftover minions and their own ships to leftover Shadow ships in any order (without needing events or special abilities). A player may not normally assign more than one companion to the same minion or more than one ship to the same ship.
The Free Peoples player need not assign any companions or ships at all, leaving the Shadow players free reign to assign their minions and ships.
The Master Chief and Sergeant Mobuto face a single Elite Veteran. The Free Peoples player assigns Mobuto to the Veteran, thereby protecting Master Chief from harm. He may not assign both Master Chief and Sergeant Mobuto to the Elite Veteran.
All assignments of characters are on a one-to-one basis, with the following two exceptions:
• If your assigned companion has the keyword defender +1, you may assign that character at this time to one additional unassigned minion. Defender +2 allows that companion to defend against two additional unassigned minions, and so on.
Master Chief and Mobuto now face two Elite Veterans. The Free Peoples player could assign Mobuto to one and Master Chief to the other. However, Mobuto has defender +1, so he may be assigned to defend against both Elite Veterans, leaving Master Chief again unharmed.
• When you complete the assignment of companions, any unassigned minions may be assigned by the Shadow players to any companions (even if those companions were already assigned). The first Shadow player on your right may assign any of his or her unassigned minions, and so on counter-clockwise around the table.
Master Chief and Mobuto now face four Elite Veterans. The Free Peoples player uses Mobuto’s defender +1 and assigns him to defend against two. Master Chief must defend against another. This leaves one more Elite Veteran, so the Shadow player may assign him as he or she wishes. He assigns the last Elite to Master Chief, trying to kill the Hero.
If all minions are somehow removed from their assignments, then skip directly to the regroup phase.
6. ENGAGEMENT PHASE(S)
When the assignment phase is complete, each defending ship will fight in a separate engagement phase. In an order decided by the Free Peoples player, engagements are resolved one at a time, by conducting an engagement phase for each.
During each engagement phase, you and your opponents may perform engagement actions, and then you must resolve that engagement. All engagement actions must be complete before proceeding to resolve the engagement.
Once an engagement phase has finished, the Free Peoples player must select another engagement, if any, and perform an engagement phase.
ENGAGEMENT PHASE OUTLINE
• Free Peoples player chooses an engagement
• players perform engagement actions
• resolve that engagement and assign damage
• Free Peoples player chooses the next engagement (if any engagements are left to be resolved)
Perform engagement actions
Engagement actions are preceded by the timing word “Engagement:” and appear on cards in play (these are also called “special abilities”) or on events.
Players may perform engagement actions using the action procedure described in the maneuver phase. When all players consecutively pass, proceed to resolve that engagement.
Each engagement action lasts only for the duration of a single engagement.
Resolve that engagement
If the total weapons of one side is more than the weapons of the other side, the side with the highest weapons wins that engagement. (If there is a tie, the Shadow side wins.) Place one damage token on each ship on the losing side.
If the Pillar of Autumn, with weapons of 13, faces two Seraphs, each with weapons of 6 (total strength of 12), then the Autumn wins that engagement and each losing Seraph takes one damage token.
When the winning side has one or more characters with the keyword damage +1, then each losing character takes one additional wound for each damage +1. (Damage +2 adds two wounds, and so on.)
To continue the above example, if the Pillar of Autumn has damage +1, then each Seraph takes two damage tokens.
But if both Seraphs have damage +1 and weapons of 7 (thus winning the engagement with combined weapons of 14), then the Autumn takes three damage tokens instead, one for losing the engagement and one more for each damage +1.
If the total weapons of one side is at least double the total weapons of the other side, all the ships on the losing side are destroyed (regardless of how much damage or how much armor each has).
This is also called being overwhelmed. When a ship is overwhelmed, that ship does not take any more damage and is simply destroyed.
When resolving an engagement, a side with total weapons greater than zero overwhelms a side whose total weapons are zero. If both side’s weapons are zero, the Shadow side wins the engagement (but does not overwhelm).
If all ships of one side are removed during an engagement before weapons have been totaled, the engagement resolves with that side having zero weapons.
If an engagement is canceled, it ends immediately with no winner or loser.
If all ships of one side are removed from an engagement before that engagement begins, that engagement does not occur.
An engagement phase ends after all actions triggered by winning or losing that engagement have resolved.
Only when all engagements have been resolved do the players move on to the skirmish phase.
7. SKIRMISH PHASE(S)
When the engagement phase is complete, players move to a similar phase for defending and attacking characters. Each defending companion will fight in a separate skirmish phase. In an order decided by the Free Peoples player, skirmishes are resolved one at a time, by conducting a skirmish phase for each.
During each skirmish phase, you and your opponents may perform skirmish actions, and then you must resolve that skirmish. All skirmish actions must be complete before proceeding to resolve the skirmish.
Once a skirmish phase has finished, the Free Peoples player must select another skirmish, if any, and perform a skirmish phase.
SKIRMISH PHASE OUTLINE
• Free Peoples player chooses a skirmish
• players perform skirmish actions
• resolve that skirmish and assign wounds
• Free Peoples player chooses the next skirmish (if any skirmishes are left to be resolved)
Perform skirmish actions
Skirmish actions are preceded by the timing word “Skirmish:” and appear on cards in play (these are also called “special abilities”) or on events.
Players may perform skirmish actions using the action procedure described in the maneuver phase. When all players consecutively pass, proceed to resolve that skirmish.
Each skirmish action lasts only for the duration of a single skirmish.
Resolve that skirmish
If the total strength of one side is more than the strength of the other side, the side with the most strength wins that skirmish. (If there is a tie, the Shadow side wins.) Place one wound on each character on the losing side.
When the winning side has one or more characters with the keyword damage +1, then each losing character takes one additional wound for each damage +1. (Damage +2 adds two wounds, and so on.)
If the total strength of one side is at least double the total strength of the other side, all the characters on the losing side are overwhelmed (regardless of how many wounds or how much vitality each has).
When resolving a skirmish, a side with a total strength greater than zero overwhelms a side whose total strength is zero. If both side’s strength is zero, the Shadow side wins the skirmish (but does not overwhelm).
If all characters of one side are removed during a skirmish before strength has been totaled, the skirmish resolves with that side having zero strength.
If a skirmish is canceled, it ends immediately with no winner or loser.
If all characters of one side are removed from a skirmish before that skirmish begins, that skirmish does not occur.
A skirmish phase ends after all actions triggered by winning or losing that skirmish have resolved.
Surviving minions and companions may skirmish again this turn if the company makes another move, or if there is a “fierce skirmish.”
Surviving allies may also skirmish again if there is a “fierce skirmish.”
FIERCE SKIRMISHES
After all the normal skirmishes are resolved, surviving minions with the keyword fierce must be defended against again. Players complete another assignment phase, where they may assign a defender to each fierce minion, and then complete an additional skirmish phase for each fierce skirmish.
Zuka ‘Zamamee is a fierce Elite minion. When he attacks, Sergeant Johnson is assigned to skirmish him. In the regular skirmish phase, Johnson wins and ‘Zamamee takes one wound. During the following fierce skirmish phase, the Free Peoples player may once more assign a companion to defend against Zuka ‘Zamamee. This companion may be Sergeant Johnson or may be a different companion.
Only when all skirmishes have been resolved do the players move on to the regroup phase.
8. REGROUP PHASE
During your regroup phase, players may perform regroup actions, then each Shadow player reconciles his or her hand. Finally, the Free Peoples player decides whether to end his or her turn now or move again this turn.
REGROUP PHASE OUTLINE
• players perform regroup actions
• Shadow players reconcile
• Free Peoples player chooses to either move the company again or reconcile and end his or her turn
Perform regroup actions
Regroup actions are preceded by the timing word “Regroup:” and appear on cards in play (these are also called “special abilities”) or on events.
Players may perform regroup actions using the action procedure described in the maneuver phase.
When all players consecutively pass, proceed to reconcile the Shadow players’ hands.
Shadow players reconcile
Each Shadow player must reconcile his or her hand to eight cards, as follows:
• He or she may first discard one card from his or her hand.
• Next, if he has less than eight cards in his or her hand, he or she must draw cards until he has eight.
• Otherwise (when he or she has more than eight cards in his or her hand), he or she must discard from his or her hand until he has only eight.
Free Peoples player chooses
At the end of the regroup phase, if you are the Free Peoples player, you must select one of the following two choices:
• Move the company to the next site (allowing the proper Shadow player to place a new site if needed), add tokens to the twilight pool (both for the Shadow number of the new site and for the number of companions in the company), and return to the Shadow phase(s).
• Or, reconcile your hand (just as the Shadow players did above). Then the Shadow players discard all minions in play (and the cards they bear), and your turn ends.
Hand limit
Normally, the size of your hand after reconciling is eight cards. However, this “hand limit” can be increased or decreased by other cards.
Move limit
During each of your turns, your company must move once, and may move a number of times up to your move limit.
In a two-player game, your move limit is two. In a multiplayer game (with three or more players), your move limit is equal to the number of your opponents when the game begins. During your regroup phase, you may decide to make another move, subject to the limit above.
The move limit, like the hand limit, can be increased or decreased as the game progresses.
RESPONSE
Response is a timing word that allows you to play an event (or use a special ability) whenever the situation described in its game text happens. Sometimes this situation is called a “trigger.”
You may respond more than once to the same situation.
Sometimes a response action interrupts another action to cancel it before it resolves. When this happens, that other action does not have its effect, but its costs and requirements are still paid.
After all required actions to a particular trigger have resolved, players may perform response actions responding to that same trigger using the action procedure.
WINNING THE GAME
A player wins the game when his or her company is at site 9 and his or her Hero survives all skirmish phases.
A player may also win by becoming the only player left in the game (see below).
LOSING THE GAME
A player loses the game if his or her or her Hero is killed.
If a player loses a game and there are at least two other players remaining, remove his or her player marker and all of his cards from play (and discard any opponent’s cards that were on them).
Remove his or her sites on the adventure path in numerical order, and replace each one with an opponent’s corresponding site, in counterclockwise order starting with the player on their right.
OTHER IMPORTANT RULES
ALLIES
Allies are not companions and don’t travel along the adventure path with your company. Ally cards typically have a home site number indicated just after the card’s type, on the same line (such as ALLY • HOME 1 • AI). Each ally in your support area is considered to be at his or her home site.
Allies normally do not participate in sniping fire and skirmishes. Special abilities on allies (such as sniping actions or skirmish actions) may be used when the company is at any site.
However, when your company is at your ally’s home, that ally must participate in sniping fire and skirmishes. This doesn't mean that such an ally must take a sniping wound or be assigned by the Free Peoples player to defend a skirmish, but that character is eligible to do so if the Free Peoples player so chooses.
When Admiral Jeromi (an ally) is in your support area and your company is at his home (site 6), he may fight alongside your company.
Some card effects also allow allies to fight in this way, even when the company is not at that ally’s home. While an ally participates in sniping fire and skirmishes, that ally is considered to be at the same site as the company.
AIs
One notable exception to this is AIs. This race is unique in that it does not normally skirmish or participate in sniping fire, even when a traveling with the company or when the company is at his or her home site. Only cards that specifically allow AIs to participate in skirmishes or sniping actions may override this.
UNIQUENESS
Unique cards
Many character, possession, and artifact cards represent a thing that there is only one of. Those cards have a dot (•) before the card title, to tell you that you may only have one of those cards in play at a time. Two cards that have the same title but different subtitles represent the same thing.
You may have only one card with the card title of •Cortana in play at one time. Other players may also have a card with the title of •Cortana in play, but only one is allowed per player.
For Shadow cards, if a copy of a unique card is already in play and active, you may not play another card that has the same title (regardless of subtitles).
Non-unique cards
All cards that do not have a dot (•) before their card title are non-unique. This means that all players may have many copies of those cards in play at one time.
Many minions are non-unique because they represent the faceless hordes of the Covenant, Flood, and others. Possessions such as Plasma Grenades and Battle Rifles are non-unique because there are many of those possessions.
Most conditions are non-unique, and you may have multiple copies of these conditions in play at one time. The effects of these cards are cumulative.
The non-unique Flood condition Crazed plays on a companion and reduces their strength by 1. While you have two copies of this condition played on the same companion, that companion’s strength is -2.
ACTIVE CARD
During your turn, your Free Peoples cards and your opponents’ Shadow cards are the only ones that are active. Inactive cards are not affected by the game and do not affect the game.
Your companions and your opponent’s minions are active. Your opponents’ companions are not.
Exception: Cards borne by active cards are active and cards borne by inactive cards are inactive.
An opponent’s Shadow condition on another player’s companion is not active because that companion is not.
Sites are always active. A site’s game text may not be used unless the company is there, although some cards may copy and use that game text. Site text is not active when the starting companies are played.
If the game text of a site has a Shadow special ability, you may use that special ability only when the active company is at that site and you are a Shadow player.
You may not normally play another copy of a unique card that is already in play and currently active, though occasionally, two copies of the same unique card may be in play at the same time.
Someone may play a copy of a unique Shadow card that the Free Peoples player already has in play, because that first copy is not currently active. When a third player becomes the Free Peoples player, both copies of the unique Shadow card are candidates to become active, but only one of them can be active at a time.
In this case, the active copy is the one belonging to the player closest to the right of the Free Peoples player.
COSTS AND EFFECTS
A cost or an effect could be adding/removing twilight tokens, exerting a character, discarding a card, or any number of other possibilities. The costs for an action are usually listed before the word “to” (so the action takes the form of “pay X to do Y,” with X being the cost and Y being the effect).
Costs
If a card or special ability has a cost, you must pay that cost or you may not use that card or special ability.
If the cost of an event requires you to exert one of your characters and all your characters are exhausted, then you may not play that event.
Each time you pay a cost, you may only use that cost to fulfill the requirements of a single card.
If you have two conditions in play, each with a special ability that requires you to exert a Man, you may not use both of those special abilities by exerting a Man once.
Effects
If the effect of a card or special ability requires you to perform an action and you cannot, you must perform as much as you can and ignore the rest.
If the effect of an event requires you to discard 2 cards from your hand and you only have 1 card in hand, just discard the 1 card and ignore the rest.
If the effect of a card or special ability requires you to choose one of two different actions, you must choose an action that you are fully capable of performing (if possible).
The game text of the minion Flood Spore says, “when this minion is killed, remove (2) or wound another minion.” If you cannot wound another minion (because you have no minions left), you must remove (2).
If you meet all the requirements and pay all the costs for playing a card, you may play that card even if the card will have no effect.
If an action offers a player a choice of effects, that player must choose one that can be fully satisfied (if possible).
MISCELLANEOUS
Discard
The default meaning of the word “discard” found in game text is “discard from play.” Discarding from other locations (such as from your hand, from the top of your draw deck, or from any other place) is always described in detail.
Discard piles are always face-up, and cards are discarded one at a time so all players can see which cards are being discarded.
You may look through your own discard pile at any time, but you may not look through an opponent’s discard pile.
Drawing your last card
Whenever you draw the last card from your draw deck, you don’t lose the game. Just continue playing with the cards you have left in your hand (and on the table).
Keywords
Keywords are bold words at the beginning of a card’s game text (such as flying or SpecOps). Most of these are unloaded keywords, with no special rules (though they may be referenced by other cards. Keywords with rules are called loaded keywords. These include sniper, fierce, damage +1, defender +1, lurker, toil, Hero, and sanctuary.
Modifiers
When all modifiers are applied to a number (like weapons, vitality, a twilight cost, or a sniping total), if its final value is less than zero, then that number is zero.
Moving cards between decks and piles
Whenever you move a card from one pile to another (such as shuffling a card from your discard pile into your draw deck), you must reveal that card to all players so they can verify that the correct card was moved.
Playing cards from your draw deck
Some cards allow you to play a card directly from your draw deck or one of your piles (usually the discard pile). You must still pay any costs and meet requirements necessary for playing that card.
After you finish looking through your draw deck, reshuffle it and give the player to your right the opportunity to cut it.
The order of your other piles is irrelevant, and you may place any card you wish on top after playing a card from a pile.
There is no penalty if you don’t find the card you are looking for in your draw deck or a pile.
Race
Each character card has its race indicated just after the card’s type, on the same line (such as COMPANION • MAN).
The race of “Man” includes women of the appropriate culture. A possession that requires a [UNSC] Man bearer may be borne by a [UNSC] female character who has the race of “Man”.
Remove from the game
While cards in discard piles can still be referenced by other cards, and occasionally brought back into play, there is another type of discarding that prevents this. Cards that are “removed from the game” are not placed in the dead or discard piles, but are placed in another pile called the removed pile. These cards may not be spotted or referenced by text that refers to the dead or discard piles. In essence, it is as though they had never been brought into the game in the first place.
Required actions
Required actions are those that must happen when a specified requirement or trigger occurs. Events, special abilities, and actions that use the word “may” are not required actions.
Spot
This word in game text sets up a requirement for playing a card or using a special ability, in conjunction with a noun, such as, “To play, spot a Grunt.” This is equivalent to, “A Grunt must be in play and active for you to play this card.”
Normally, you don’t have to spot all the cards in play that meet the requirement if you don’t want to.
Containment Protocols Violated says, “spot X Shadow cultures (except [Flood]) to play X [Flood] minions from your draw deck or discard pile.” If there are 3 Shadow cultures in play (and active), you may choose to spot 3 cultures, 2 cultures, 1 culture, or none.
However, if a card says, “while you can spot” or “if you can spot,” that means you don’t have a choice and you have to spot anything and everything that meets the requirement.
The site Coolant Pond says, “while you can spot a [Flood] minion, skip the sniping phase.” You can’t make any choices to spot for this card (it either works or it doesn’t).
Stack
Stacking a card is not playing a card. Stacked cards are face up and may be looked at by any player at any time. Stacked cards are inactive.
Timing conflicts
If two or more required actions are occurring at the same time (for example, more than one “at the start of each of your turns” actions), the Free Peoples player decides in which order they occur.
Transfer of Artifacts and Possessions
You may transfer an artifact or possession between your Free Peoples characters during your company phase by paying the twilight cost for that artifact or possession again.
Both characters involved in the transfer must be at the same site. (Remember that an ally is always at his or her home site during your company phase.)
An artifact or possession may be transferred only to a character who may bear it (as indicated by a “bearer must be” phrase in its text).
You may not discard a possession or artifact borne by a character in play without a special card effect that allows you to do so.
EXPANDED TURN SEQUENCE
1. COMPANY PHASE
Remove all tokens from the twilight pool
Perform company actions
Move to the next site
2. SHADOW PHASE(S) –one for each Shadow player
Perform Shadow actions
3. MANEUVER PHASE
Perform maneuver actions
4. SNIPING PHASE
Perform sniping actions
Conduct sniping fire
5. ASSIGNMENT PHASE
Perform assignment actions
Assign defenders
6. ENGAGEMENT PHASE(S) –one for each engagement
Perform engagement actions
Resolve that engagement
7. SKIRMISH PHASE(S)–one for each skirmish
Perform skirmish actions
Resolve that skirmish
8. REGROUP PHASE
Perform regroup actions
Reconcile Shadow players’ hands
Either the Free Peoples player moves to the next site (return to Shadow phase) - or the Free Peoples player reconciles and Shadow players discard all minions in play
© 2004–2006 S.H.B. and J. Ryan Evans.
Designed by Blue Light.