Heroball! (Godball quickstart rules)

[Mike]

This is the first thing we're doing for the new revision. We've decided that the best way to get a set of quickstart rules is to start with Heroball, which is a version of the game without the god power cards. To make this work, we are individualizing the heroes (finally), so that each one starts with a generic hero mat as in previous versions of the game, but then each hero also has 2 or 3 specialized Hero Action cards that are permanently on their mat. Each one with have a Unique ability. This card goes in their Unique action slot on the mat and cannot be changed or affected by other players. Their other hero actions will essentially be like gifts that modify an existing action.

This was always the plan with heroes, but we kind of relegated it to a Heroes Expansion Set rather than the base game. It now makes far more sense to bring it to the base game. This also allows us to disconnect heroes and gods, so that you can mix and match right out of the gate, and there will be mechanical advantages to doing so.

We're talking right now about creating a bunch of heroes, because they are really simple to add as far as materials: each one needs a hero token, 2 or three action cards, and maaaaaaaaaybe some sort of specialized token if an action calls for it (like Achilles's vaulting pole). This will let us test a variety of things and see what works and what doesn't so that when we pare it down to just six or seven heroes in the base set, we should have a good mix.

The specialized hero actions are going to be very diverse, and they will provide a soft intro into many of the aspects of the full game.

So far, it looks like all the quickstart rules for Heroball will fit neatly on a single sheet of paper (front and back). So this is really exciting.

[Mike]

Suggested heroes and special actions:

Gorgo - Unique - Pummel - 1 AP - Adjacent hero is knocked down.

If knocked down, flip the target hero token. They must use a step action to stand up (flipping their token back) before they can activate any action except defend. Any object that hero carries is fumbled following the rules for force fumble.

Gorgo - Intercept (Predict) - 1 AP+Hex Cost - If, after an object is thrown or dropped, Gorgo is within 2 hexes of the target hex: She may move 1 hex and intercept the object. If another hero intercepts the object, Gorgo's Predict is not activated and she does not move.

Calypso - Unique - Sing - 1 AP - All heroes within 2 hexes of Calypso must pay 1 AP additional hex cost when moving AWAY from Calypso's Hex. Place this card in a field slot. On Calypso's turn, return this card to her Unique slot and place a spent token on it.

Calypso - Shifting Land - Sprint - 2 AP + Hex Cost - Move 1 Hex. If Calypso is in a hex with her favored terrain. She may pay 1 AP to move the terrain 1 hex in any direction that does not already contain terrain. Heroes and objects in the destination hex are moved to an adjacent unoccupied hex. This action is spent after use.

Pegasus - Throw (Kick) - 1 AP - kick (throw) a loose object in your hex, or an adjacent hex, up to 2 hexes from your hero's current hex.

Pegasus - Unique - Fly - Upon activation, Pegasus ignores all hex cost for terrain, including special terrain. After activation, flip this card and place it in your sprint slot, even if another gift is already present. (Flipped Side: Sprint (Feed) - If you rest in a hex containing Astral-Turf!tm, flip this card and place it in your Unique slot.

Pegasus - Sprint - 2 AP + Hex Cost - If Step and Run are spent: Move 1 Hex. If a hero is adjacent to your hex after moving, they are knocked down. If there is a choice, only 1 is knocked down. If knocked down, flip the target hero token. They must use a step action to stand up (flipping their token back) before they can activate any action except defend. Any object that hero carries is fumbled following the rules for force fumble. This action is spent after use.

Herakles - Unique - Redecorate - 1 AP - Remove adjacent land tile from the board, then, flip this card and place it in the Unique Slot with the terrain tile on it. (Flipped Side 1 AP: Place the tile on this card in target unoccupied hex without terrain.)

Herakles - Intercept (Swat) - 1 AP - if in or adjacent to the target of a thrown or dropped object, you throw the object up to 2 hexes from the objects current position.

Helen - Intercept (Lacrosse Stick) - 1 AP - If within 2 hexes of the target hex of a thrown or dropped object, you may catch that object.

Helen - Unique - Distract - 1 AP - As a reaction, a hero taking an action within 2 hexes of Helen must pay 1 additional AP or the action is canceled. Flip this card over. (Flipped side: Study Opponent - 1 AP - pay 1 AP to flip this card over.)

Achilles - Defend - Invulnerable - Achilles may not be the target of opponent's hero actions. During your refresh phase, including the first round, flip this card over. (Flipped Side - Vulnerable - Achilles may not defend against hero actions. During your refresh phase, flip this card over.)

Achilles - Unique - Pole Vault - At the start of the game, place a pole object token on Achilles. If Achilles holds a pole object and has taken a run or sprint action: he may immediately drop the pole in his hex to move up to 2 hexes away from his current hex. He may move throw occupied hexes with this action. Other heroes may pick up, throw or drop the pole, but only Achilles has the training to use this object.

[Mike]

Heroball Handbook
Heroball is the quickstart version of Godball for 2-4 players. If you wish to see a component list and the full rules, see the Godball Handbook for more information.

Objective

The object of Heroball is to run or throw the ball into your goal area. If you run the ball in, you get 2 points. If the ball enters your scoring area for any other reason, you get 1 point. The highest score at the end of 12 rounds wins.

Board Setup

Each player chooses a hero and a god (Not Hermes. Ever since ‘the incident’, Hermes has been excluded from Heroball).

Each player takes:

Your hero token (with your hero’s picture).

A hero mat

Your hero cards, and hero and god placards.

The 3-hex goal tile and scoring tracker with your god’s icon.

5 tracking tokens

Place your hero and god placard on your hero mat in the appropriate spots. Place the action cards from your hero deck face up (hero name showing) in the appropriate slots of your hero mat. The cards should cover the action listed on the hero mat. Place 1 tracking token on your AP track in space labeled ‘4’.

To set up the board, place the center post tile onto the center hex of the board, as marked. Place the godball token on the center post tile, the round marker on Round 1, tracking tokens in each player’s color on the 0 box of the score track.

Place the 6 Pillar of Heaven tiles onto the spaces marked for them on the board.

Place your heroes in the outer starting spots as evenly spaced as possible. (i.e. 2 heroes take opposite sides, 3 heroes form a triangle, 4 heroes fill all but two opposite corners).

Determine the order of play: Decide who goes first (or start with the youngest player). Players take turns, and play proceeds clockwise around the table.

Seed Terrain

As the final part of setup, each player takes two terrain tokens of their favored terrain type. Starting with the first player, each player in turn order places one of their terrain tokens on the board. Seed terrain can be placed anywhere except under heroes, or on another tile. Repeat with the second token.

On Your Turn

1st: Refresh Phase Your hero gains 1 AP on your AP track. In addition, ALL heroes remove any tracking tokens from action slots or cards on their mat.

2nd: Action Phase Activate your hero’s actions by deducting the cost of each desired action on your AP tracker and following the instructions on the card or slot. You may take as many actions as you like, in whatever order you like, as long as they are available to you and you have enough AP for them.

3rd: Clean Up Phase If you spent 0 AP during your turn, rest and gain 1 AP on your AP track. Then make sure there is nothing left to resolve.

Play then passes clockwise and the three phases repeat with the next player.

After all heroes have taken their turn, move the round tracker up one round before continuing play. At the conclusion of the 12th round, the game is over, and the highest score wins. If there is a tie, victory is shared!

The Hero

Your hero is represented by a hero token and a hero mat.

The Hero Token The hero is represented on the board by a hero token. A hero token that is in a hex is said to occupy that hex. Only 1 hero may occupy a hex at a time.

The Hero Mat In front of you is your hero’s mat, consisting of your mat, hero placard and god placard. The most important parts of the mat are:

* Action Slots All of the actions available to your hero are detailed around the outside of your mat. (See Actions, next section.)

* Action Cards Your hero has cards for actions that only your hero has. These cards are placed over the corresponding slots on the mat, and the actions on them supercede the base action on the mat.

* AP Track Action points (AP) are the fuel for your hero. All actions have an associated AP cost, representing the exertion required to perform your heroic deeds. AP are easy to spend and slow to return, so manage them carefully.

* Favored Terrain Your favored terrain is a boon granted by your god. Actions involving terrain will generally be easier or cheaper when it involves your favored terrain.

Actions

Actions are how your hero does things. Actions cost AP to activate. If you cannot afford the cost, you may not take that action.

When you activate a hero action, first deduct the cost from your current AP total on your AP track. Then do what it says on the card or slot, following the instructions for what conditions allow you to activate the action and how to resolve it. If a card says place a tracking token on it, place the token after resolving the action. This indicates the action is spent and cannot be taken again until the token is removed.

Reactions are the only actions that can be activated on another player’s turn.

Movement Actions

Step, Run, Sprint Each of these actions allows your hero to move 1 hex in any direction. A hero may not move into a hex that is occupied or a hex that contains a pillar of heaven. These actions may only be used once per round on your own turn only.

You must take a step action before you can run, and you must run before you can sprint. There may be an additional hex cost associated with taking these actions.

Hex Cost The hex cost is the cost to move into a particular hex. Usually this cost is 0. But if the destination hex contains terrain, the hero must pay +1 AP in addition to the cost of the movement action.

If the terrain is that hero’s favored terrain, the cost is instead -1 AP for that hex. This means that a hero may step or run into a hex with their favored terrain for 0 AP, and sprint into favored terrain for 1 AP.

Moving Towards and Moving Away Towards and away are terms that have very specific meanings. When moving towards a target hex, each hex of movement must reduce the total distance to reach the target hex by 1. When moving away, each hex of movement must increase the total distance between the 2 hexes by 1.

Attack Actions

Push The push action allows you to move an adjacent opponent 1 hex away from you.

You cannot push an opponent into an occupied hex. If there is no valid destination hex, you cannot push.

Force Fumble The force fumble action causes an adjacent opponent to fumble an object they hold. If successful, you will place the object in any unoccupied hex adjacent to that hero.

Objects

Objects are items your hero can manipulate. The primary object is the Godball itself.

Holding Objects If a hero holds an object, place it on the hero’s token. A hero may only hold 1 object at a time. Held objects move with the hero.

A hero may share a hex with objects without holding them, and multiple objects may share a hex.

On your own turn, if your hero shares a hex with an object, you may choose to hold it at any time at no cost.

On another player’s turn, if an object enters your hero’s hex, you may choose to hold that object immediately.

If you are already holding an object and you choose to hold a different object, you must first drop the one you are holding. (see Object Actions).

Object Actions

Throw If you are holding an object you may throw it up to 2 hexes away from you.

Drop You may drop a held object into your own hex or an adjacent hex.

Reactions

Defend This cancels an attack action made against you. The attacker loses the spent AP, but they may choose to attack you again with the same action, paying the action cost again.

Intercept If an object is thrown, dropped, or fumbled, heroes adjacent to the target hex may choose to intercept. You cannot intercept an object if you were the one to drop, throw, or fumble it.

If you intercept, you immediately hold the object, dropping any previously held object.

If multiple heroes wish to intercept the ball, then priority goes to:
* 1st: Any hero in the target hex.
* 2nd: The hero closest to the thrower/dropper/fumbler.
* 3rd: The next hero in turn order after the active hero.

Only the hero who intercepts the object pays the AP cost.

Scoring

If you enter your one of your goal hexes while holding the Godball, you get 2 points. If the Godball enters one of your goal hexes for any other reason, you get 1 point.

Record points on the scoring track. Return the Godball to the center spot. The active player's turn immediately enters the clean-up phase, and play continues.

[Mike]

Current heroes

Achilles
Calypso
Gorgo (used to be Sparte)
Helen
Herakles
Pegasus
Perseus

Other possibilities

Ajax
Arachne
Argus
Atalanta
Bellerophon
Circe
Daedelus
Galatea
Odysseus
Medea
Medusa
Minotaur

We can really do just about anything here, so we're open to suggestions if there's something people would really like to see.

[Mike]

Rules are posted above. We met our goal of fitting them on a single sheet, front & back.