Hero Realms

Hero Realms rules

Hero Realms is a strategy and deck building game for 2 to 4 players, from 12 years old. Players play as a hero whose objective is to reduce his opponent’s life points to zero. To do this, he must use his cards and acquire new ones.

Material

  • 1 pack of 144 cards,
  • 1 booklet of rules.

Set-up

  • This set-up is designed for a 2 player game.

Personal deck

  • Set aside the cards with the symbols , , and .
  • Sort the remaining cards by type: Fire Gems, Short Sword, Daggers, Rubies and Gold Coins.
  • Set the pile of Fire Gems cards aside.
  • Each player will form a personal deck consisting of : 1 short sword, 1 dagger, 1 ruby and 7 gold coins.
  • Return the remaining cards to the box.
  • Shuffle your personal deck and place it face down in front of you.
  • Make room for the discard pile.

Market Deck

  • The cards with the symbols ,  and will form the market deck.
  • Form a pile, shuffle it and place it face down between the players.
  • Draw 5 cards and line them up, face up, next to the market deck.
  • These 5 cards form the market.

Fire Gems Deck

  • Place the Fire Gems deck at the left end of the marketplace, face up.

 

First Player

  • Designate who plays first.
  • The first player draws 3 cards from their personal deck. This is their hand.
  • The second player draws 5 cards.

Health Cards

  • Each player starts the game with 50 health points.
  • You can write down your score on a piece of paper.
  • Each player is also given 2 Health Point cards that they can use to keep track of their score: a tens card and a units card.

Example:

27 points.

How to play?

  • Take turns playing clockwise.
  • A round consists of 3 phases:

              -Main phase,

              -Discard phase,

              -Draw phase.

Main phase

  • During the main phase, you can perform an action at any time and as many times as you want.

Playing a card

  • To play a card from your hand, place it face up in front of you.
  • Playing a card is free.
  • There are 3 types of cards you can play: Actions, Items and Champions.

Action and Item cards

  • To play an Action or Item card, place it face up in front of you.
  • An Action or Item card remains active until it is discarded.

Champion Cards

  • Mobilising a Champion card means entering the game in an upright position.
  • To play an Activate ability, turn the card sideways. This action can be done at any time.
  • The defence value indicates how much damage a card can take in one turn before being stunned.
  • Champion cards can only be removed once stunned or sacrificed.

  • Some Champion cards have a “Guard” ability symbolised by a black shield.
  • When a guard is mobilised, it protects you and your champions. 
  • As long as a guard is mobilised and has not been stunned, you cannot be attacked.
  • Beware! A guard does not protect you against the effects of certain abilities.

Playing abilities

  • The primary ability of a card is activated the moment it is played.
  • Other abilities can be activated at any time during the main phase.
  • If an ability gains you gold or combat, the resource gained will be a reserve that you can use at any time during the main phase.

  • If an ability gains you health, add it to your health point immediately
  • Some abilities have more than one effect, so it is up to you to decide which one to use.

Ability to Activate

  • This ability is symbolised by .
  • It can be activated at any time during the main phase.
  • To do so, turn the card aside.

Ally Ability

  • The Ally ability is indicated by a faction symbol in the text box.
  •  The Ally ability can be activated at any time during the main phase if you have a card of the same faction in your hand.
  •  You can activate multiple Ally abilities during your turn, but an ability can only be activated once.

Sacrifice ability

  • A Sacrifice ability is symbolised by in the text box.
  •  When a card is sacrificed, it is placed in the Sacrifice Zone, to the right of the Marketplace deck.
  • If a card is sacrificed outside the Sacrifice ability, its effect does not apply.
  • Caution! If a Fire Gems card is sacrificed, it is returned, face up, to the Fire Gems pile.

Acquiring Cards

  • Some abilities allow you to acquire gold.
  • Gold earned during the game is placed in your reserve and can be used to acquire new cards.
  • The cost of a card is shown in the upper right corner.
  • You can buy cards from the market, either one of the 5 visible cards or from the Fire Gems deck.
  • To acquire a card, pay for it by discarding the required amount of gold.
  •  Any card purchased must be immediately discarded and replaced by drawing from the market deck. It is not played immediately.

Combat

  • Some abilities allow you to acquire fights
  • Battles won during the game will be placed in your reserve and can be used to attack your opponent or his champions.
  • You can attack as many times as you like during the main phase.
  • To attack an opponent, remove as many battles from your pool and deplete their health points.
  • To attack an opponent’s champion, remove the battles from your pool.
  • If the strength of the attack is equal to or greater than its defence value, the opposing champion is knocked out and goes into its owner’s discard pile.
  • Be careful! Some abilities allow you to stun a champion without fighting.
  • Caution! If an opponent has a guard, he and his champions cannot be attacked. You must first stun the guard.
  • If an Activate ability allows you to have a Fight, it first goes into the reserve and cannot be used immediately.

Discard Phase

  • Any cards discarded or acquired from the market are added to the personal discard pile, face up.
  • During this phase you must discard :

           – Any gold you have left,

           – All your remaining battles,

          – All your Action/Object cards in play,

          – All unused cards in your hand.

  • Unlike Action or Item cards, Champion cards are not discarded.
  • You must mobilise all your champions. To do so, return them to their upright position.
  • Anyone can look at their own or their opponent’s discard pile.

Draw Phase

  • Draw 5 cards and add them to your hand.
  • If during the game your deck is empty, shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.

End of the game

  • The game ends when there is only one active player left.
  • The last survivor wins the game.

Variations

Set up

  • If you are playing with more than 2 players, the set-up is as follows:

             – The first player draws 3 cards.

             -The second player draws 4 cards.

             -The rest of the players draw 5 cards.

The game

VariantNumber of playersSpecificity
Every man for himself2 or moreYou can attack all other players.
Predator – First Blood3 or more playersYou can only attack the opponent to your left.

You can only attack champions belonging to the opponent to your left or right.

The game ends with the first player eliminated.

The player to his right is declared the winner.

Predator – Last in line3 or more playersThe player to the right of the eliminated player wins 10 healths and draws a card.

The last survivor wins the game.

Hydra

  • Form 2 teams of 2.
  • Health points: 75 points per team.
  • Each player has :

             -A personal deck,

             -A hand,

             -A play area,

            -A reserve,

            -A discard pile.

  • Warning! The cards of a teammate do not trigger the Ally ability.
  • Starting hand:

             – Team 1: 3 cards.

              -Team 2: 5 cards.

  • A team plays one round and all 3 phases together.
  • Members of the same team can work together to stun an opponent.
  • Members of the same team can also pool their gold to buy a card.
  • As soon as a team member mobilises a guard, its members and champions cannot be attacked.
  • Emperor
  • Form 2 teams of 3.
  • Bring a second box of Hero Realms or use a hero deck.
  • Emperors sit opposite each other, surrounded on either side by their commanders.
  • Health points:

            -Commanders: 50 points or whatever is listed on the Hero deck.

            -Emperors: 60 points or what is indicated on the Hero deck +10.

  • Starting Hand:

           -The first team has a hand of 3 cards.

           -The second team has a hand of 5 cards.

  • First player starts, play clockwise.
  • A commander can only attack the commander sitting in front of him.
  • However, the emperor can attack any player.
  • Once the commander in front of him is eliminated, he can attack the emperor.
  • When a commander is eliminated, he can put any card in the emperor’s discard pile.
  • A player may pay 1 gold to move a card from his discard pile to his teammate’s discard pile.
  • As soon as the emperor is eliminated, his team loses the game.