Rulebook

Duel. Reduce the enemy Hero to 0 HP. A player who must draw from an empty deck loses.

Squad. Knock out two of the enemy's three Heroes. Deck-out loses as in Duel.

Per player:

• Hero card(s) — one in Duel, three in Squad. A Hero has HP, two Circuits, a Passive, and an Ultimate.
• Armory — six Gear in Duel (two Weapon, two Armor, two Relic); nine in Squad (three of each slot).
• Action Deck — 40 cards in Duel, 50 in Squad: Tactics (Instant, Reaction, Plan, Combo) and Assets. Maximum four copies of a name.
• Reserve token — one, taken by the second player at setup.
• Kind markers — three (Offense, Defense, Utility), placed on face-down Plans.
• Trackers for HP, Capacity, Available Rally, Burn, Shield, Marked, Jammed, and Asset damage. Dice or beads work; a coin for Marked.

There are six Circuits in Base 001: Heat, Kinetic, Radiant, Nano, Static, Quantum. Every Hero has two. Every non-Universal card has one or two.

A card is legal for a Hero if the Hero's Circuits include all of the card's Circuits.

• Universal cards (no Circuit) are legal for every Hero.
• Mono-Circuit cards (Heat) are legal for any Hero with that Circuit.
• Dual-Circuit cards (Heat / Kinetic) are legal only for a Hero with both — the Hero *pair* cards.
• Signature cards name a Hero ("Signature — Forgeblade") and are legal only for a Hero of that name, including its Variants.
• Legendary Gear is dual-Circuit, Unique (at most one Legendary in your Armory), and occupies the Relic slot.
• Anomaly cards (Season Mark X) are legal only in Open and Raid, at most two per deck.

Zones are public except the hand, the deck, and the identity of face-down Plans. A player may inspect any card identity and rules text they are entitled to know at any time. Inspection is not a game action, changes no game state, spends nothing, and does not open a Response Window.

1. Reveal Heroes (all three in Squad; declare which is Active).
2. Each player secretly chooses Gear from their Armory for the Loadout Zone: in Duel one Weapon, one Armor, one Relic; in Squad five Gear, at least one of each slot. After every player has committed a legal choice, reveal all Loadouts simultaneously and place them face-up. The unchosen registered Gear remain face-up in the Armory reserve. They are outside the game unless a card explicitly refers to the Armory.
3. Shuffle. Draw five. Each player may take one full mulligan (shuffle the hand back, draw five).
4. Determine the starting player at random. The other player takes the Reserve token.
5. Both players: Capacity 1, Available Rally 1.
6. The starting player skips the Draw Step of their first turn.

Capacity starts at 1 and rises by 1 at each of your Rally Steps after your first turn, to a maximum of 10. Available Rally refills to Capacity at your Rally Step. Unspent Rally stays available through the opponent's turn for legal Instants and Reactions. The Scout and Swap actions remain restricted to your own Action Step.

Available Rally never exceeds Capacity. "Gain Rally" above Capacity is wasted. "Lose Rally" means Available Rally. No Base 001 effect reduces Capacity.

Second Wind. The first time in a match that your Active Hero is at or below half its maximum HP at your Rally Step, Capacity rises by 2 that turn instead of 1.

Breakpoint. The first time in a match that an enemy source reduces your Active Hero to 10 HP or less, draw a card. The first time it is reduced to 5 HP or less, draw a card. (Burn you applied to yourself does not count. In Squad, each Hero has its own Breakpoints.)

Start Step. Your Plans reveal and resolve, one at a time, in the order you choose (each opens a Response Window when revealed, §11). Then "start of your turn" effects.

Rally Step. Capacity +1 (turn 2 onward; +2 with Second Wind). Refill.

Draw Step. Draw one card.

Action Step. In any order:

• Equip up to one Gear from your Loadout Zone by paying its cost. In Squad, up to two per turn, at most one of them to the Active Hero. An occupied slot's Gear goes to Scrap.
• Make your Basic Attack once.
• Play Instants, Plans, Assets, and Combos.
• Scout once: pay 1 Rally to look at one enemy face-down Plan.
• In Squad, Swap once: pay 1 Rally to exchange your Active Hero with a Bench Hero.

End Step. "End of turn" effects, then your Assets with Strike trigger, then Burn ticks, then "this turn" effects expire, then discard down to seven.

Overtime. From each player's 9th turn on (Squad too), their Basic Attack deals +1 damage, and +1 more each turn after. It exists to close defensive mirrors; it never fires in a normal game.

8.1 The Basic Attack

Once per Action Step, your Active Hero deals 1 damage, modified by your Weapon, to a target you choose: the enemy Hero, or an enemy Asset. If the enemy controls an Asset with Guard, you must target an Asset with Guard. The Basic Attack is the only thing called an attack. Tactic, Asset and Ultimate damage is not an attack.

The declared Asset target is fixed. If it leaves the enemy Field before resolution, the Basic Attack deals no damage; it does not select another Asset or the Hero. The attack is still spent, including bonuses consumed by that next attack.

8.2 Damage to a Hero

When a source would deal damage to a Hero, apply in this order:

1. Marked: if the Hero is Marked, the damage is +1.
2. Reactions the defender declared in the Response Window ("when your Hero would take damage: prevent N").
3. Gear reductions, in the order the defender chooses.
4. Shield, always last.
5. Lethal saves ("when damage would reduce your Hero to 0 HP").

Apply the Shield step once per damage event. Shield gained by a Shield-depletion trigger (including Radiant Bulwark) protects against later events; it does not absorb the remainder of the event that depleted the original Shield.

Then the Hero loses the remaining HP. If any damage was dealt, the Hero took damage (and Marked is removed); if any was prevented, the defender prevented damage.

• Take damage = your Hero is dealt 1 or more damage from any source, including Burn.
• Burn damage cannot be prevented or reduced. Armor, Reactions and Shield do not apply to it.
• Prevent and reduce are the same thing. Any effect that lowers incoming damage by 1 or more "prevents damage" and triggers "when you prevent damage".
• One source = one Basic Attack, one Tactic, one Asset trigger, one Burn tick, or one Ultimate.
• Heal cannot raise HP above maximum unless an effect says otherwise.

8.3 Damage to an Asset

Assets have HP printed on the card. Damage to an Asset is marked on it and persists. Nothing reduces damage to an Asset unless the Asset's own text says so: Shield, Armor, and Reactions protect Heroes only, and a Hero's "take damage" triggers do not fire for its Assets. An Asset with damage equal to or greater than its HP is destroyed: it goes to its owner's discard pile. Repair N removes N damage from an Asset.

An Asset played again from hand or discard starts with no damage. Damage dealt to that new play during its Response Window remains when it enters the Field.

Continuous HP bonuses. "Your Assets have +1 HP" changes their current maximum HP; it does not remove damage. Repair removes marked damage normally. If the bonus stops applying (for example, its Gear is Jammed, unequipped, or leaves the Active Hero in Squad), immediately check the Asset against its new HP. Destroy it if its marked damage is now lethal. Restoring the bonus does not return a destroyed Asset.

Destruction replacement. "Would be destroyed: it survives with 1 HP remaining" replaces destruction before the Asset leaves the Field. Set its marked damage to its current maximum HP minus one. It did not die: no on-destroy ability, destruction reward, or "is destroyed" Reaction triggers from that prevented destruction. A prospectively declared replacement can also answer an explicit destroy effect; discarding an Asset to make room is not destruction.

Next-attack riders. An effect attached to the next Basic Attack waits for that attack's actual result. Redline Drill applies Burn only after damage to the enemy Hero; Frame Check repairs after damage to either the Hero or an Asset. Full prevention or a departed target produces no rider. The attempted attack consumes its queued bonuses and riders; unused "this turn" bonuses and riders expire.

Variant Ultimate timing. Hold Everything grants Guard to the Assets present when it resolves, until the start of their controller's next turn. New or replayed Assets do not inherit that grant. Full Battery's extra Asset damage waits until the caster's End Step, uses the Assets controlled then, and precedes normal Strike. An effect resolving all your Plans attempts each of the Plans present once: a Plan successfully delayed during its reveal stays delayed and does not count as having resolved for that Ultimate's damage reward.

9.1 Assets

An Asset has a cost, HP, one or two Circuits, and text. Your Field holds two. To play an Asset into a full Field, first discard one of your Assets. Assets stay until destroyed or removed. Keywords:

An Asset is played after its cost is paid and the card is committed, before its Response Window. A “when you play an Asset” trigger happens then, even if the played Asset is destroyed during that window and never enters the Field. Entering is a different event: an effect that returns or puts an Asset onto the Field without telling you to play it does not trigger “when you play” text. This paragraph clarifies the existing play/enter distinction; it does not add a new response window.

• Guard. While you control an Asset with Guard, enemy Basic Attacks must target an Asset with Guard.
• Strike N. At your End Step, this Asset deals N damage to the enemy Hero. This is Asset damage: it is not an attack, it opens only the restricted window of §11, and Gear and Shield reduce it as normal.

• Cannot heal. While a card says a Hero cannot heal, healing on that Hero is 0 (Vital Circuit and other "when you heal" effects do not trigger). Repair on Assets is not healing. Cold Iron is the first card to say it; it lasts until the start of the caster's next turn.
• Charge N. Once per turn, during your Action Step, you may pay N Rally to use this card's Charge effect. Charge does not open a Response Window. Gear can have Charge too.

Base Asset designs separate Guard and Strike. Explicit card effects can temporarily grant an exception; those effects follow the card-text precedence rule.

Assets are not Heroes: they cannot be Marked, Burned, Shielded, healed, or Jammed, and an effect that says "the enemy Hero" cannot choose an Asset. Effects that say "an enemy Asset" or "any enemy target" can.

9.2 Gear

One Weapon, one Armor, one Relic slot per Hero. Equip at most one Gear per turn. Equipping into an occupied slot Scraps the old Gear; it does not return to the Loadout. Gear text is always on unless Jammed. Recurring Gear triggers are once per turn unless printed otherwise. Base 001 has no Gear destruction; Jam is the only Gear interaction.

Pay when you play. A cancelled card's Rally is not refunded. "This turn" = the current turn, whoever's it is. "Your turn" = you are the active player. "Each turn" counts both players' turns. "Once per turn" resets at the start of every turn, either player's.

A Response Window opens when a player declares a Basic Attack, plays a Tactic (Instant, Plan, Combo), plays an Asset, uses an Ultimate, or a Plan reveals at the Start Step:

1. The acting player declares, chooses targets, pays.
2. The opponent may play one Instant, or one Reaction whose trigger applies.
3. The acting player may play one Reaction (not an Instant) in answer to step 2 or to the original declaration.
4. Resolve last-in, first-out: step 3, then step 2, then the declared action.

Only these five things open a full window. Equip, Swap and Strike open a restricted window in which only Reactions with that exact trigger ("when the enemy equips", "when the enemy Swaps", "when an Asset would deal damage to your Hero") may be played. Burn and passive triggers open nothing.

Energy Breach and effects like it can cancel only an Instant declared at step 1. A Plan can be responded to when played (its Kind is known, its identity is not) and again when it reveals. Triggers during resolution resolve immediately, active player's first.

Outcome-dependent Reactions. A Reaction whose trigger can be known only after an action resolves—such as “takes damage,” “prevents damage,” or “is destroyed”—is declared prospectively in step 2 or 3 against a declaration that could cause that event. Set it beside that declaration. At the applicable result point during resolution, resolve the Reaction if its trigger occurred; if the declaration finishes without that trigger, discard the Reaction without effect. Its Rally cost is never refunded. An effect that opens no Response Window, including Burn and passive triggered damage, cannot be answered by a Reaction even if the trigger words would otherwise match.

A Plan is played face-down with the Kind marker its card prints: Offense (it deals damage or applies Burn or Marked to the enemy), Defense (it heals, shields, prevents or repairs), or Utility (anything else). The marker is honest; the card is hidden.

At your Start Step, reveal each Plan; each reveal opens a Response Window (step 2 is where Setup Scrambler and its kind live); then it resolves.

A forced early reveal opens the same window. Reveal Reactions remain legal, and a successful delay stops that reveal's resolution until the owner's following Start Step. For effects requiring a Plan look this turn, looking at a deck card does not satisfy the condition, even when it was the Scout fallback.

Scout. Once per Action Step, pay 1 Rally: look at one enemy face-down Plan. If the enemy has no face-down Plan, look at the top card of their deck instead. You may not reveal what you saw to anyone; you may take notes. Any effect that says "look at one enemy face-down Plan" works the same way.

A delayed Plan resolves at the owner's following Start Step. A Plan can be delayed only once. A Plan returned to hand loses its marker. In Squad, Plans belong to the player, not the Hero.

Once per match per Hero. Cost 7 Rally. Cost reduction cannot take an Ultimate below 5. Using an Ultimate opens a Response Window; an Ultimate cannot be cancelled.

The second player begins with the Reserve token. Once per game, when you pay for a card or an equip, you may spend the token to pay 1 less. (Alternatives under test are listed in 09_Balance_Model_v2_and_Gates.md §G9; this is the printed rule until the gate chooses otherwise.)

Statuses belong to a Hero. In Squad they stay on a Hero that goes to the Bench; Burn does not tick while its Hero is benched.

Squad uses every rule above with these additions.

Heroes. Three Heroes with distinct names (a Hero and its Variant share a name and cannot both be in a Squad). One is Active; two are on the Bench. The Squad's Circuit identity is the union of its Heroes' Circuits and may not exceed four Circuits. A card is legal if the identity covers its Circuits; a Signature card is legal if its Hero is in the Squad.

Armory and Loadout. Nine Gear, three of each slot. Five to the Loadout Zone at setup. Equip to any of your Heroes, up to two equips per turn and at most one of them to the Active Hero. Gear stays with its Hero. The deck is 50 cards.

Active and Bench. Only the Active Hero attacks, is attacked, takes Tactic damage, uses its Passive, and can use its Ultimate. "Your Hero" means your Active Hero. Each Hero keeps its own HP, Gear, and statuses on the Bench; Burn does not tick there.

Swap. Once per Action Step, pay 1 Rally: exchange your Active Hero with a Bench Hero. Swapping opens a restricted Response Window (§11). Bonuses that name "your next Basic Attack" stay with the player and apply to whichever Hero attacks next.

Knock-out. When your Active Hero reaches 0 HP it is knocked out: it goes to the Fallen pile with its Gear (Gear goes to Scrap). Immediately promote a Bench Hero of your choice to Active; it gains Shield 2 (Fresh Line). If this happens during a Response Window, the window finishes first; the promoted Hero is the target of anything that still resolves. A player with no Bench Hero to promote has lost.

Ultimates. Each Hero's Ultimate is once per match, 7 Rally. A Hero cannot use its Ultimate on the turn it became Active. Last Stand: your Ultimates cost 1 less for each of your Fallen Heroes (floor 5).

Second Wind and Overtime. Second Wind is once per match, measured on the Active Hero. Overtime starts on each player's 9th turn, as in Duel (sim: Squad games run ~30 total turns with T9; T11 added three turns for nothing).

Win. Knock out two enemy Heroes. Deck-out loses.

Duel (Standard, Open). One Hero. Six Gear legal for that Hero (two Weapon, two Armor, two Relic; at most one Legendary). Forty cards, maximum four copies of a name, every card legal for the Hero. A starter is a legal deck as printed.

Squad. Three Heroes, identity ≤ 4 Circuits. Nine Gear, three per slot, at most one Legendary. Fifty cards, maximum four copies of a name.

Limited (Draft, Sealed). See 05_Formats_and_Organized_Play.md §4. Minimum 30 cards; no Circuit legality; any Gear you opened; a Hero from the Recruit pack.

• Card text beats rules text. "Can't" beats "can".
• Simultaneous triggers resolve active player's first, then in the order their controller chooses.
• "Once per turn" limits reset at the start of every turn, either player's. "Once per match" limits never reset (Ultimates, saves).
• Damage from one source to one target is one event; a source that says "deal N damage to each of two targets" is two events.
• If a Response Window is opened inside the resolution of another (a Plan resolving from an Ultimate, for example), it is a full window of its own; there is still no chain, because the inner window finishes before the outer resolution continues.
• If a player must make a choice and no legal choice exists, the effect does as much as it can.

Raid (07_Raid_PvE.md) is played with these rules plus its own. The core rules acknowledge, without defining: multi-seat rounds (each player in seat order, then the Boss); a co-op Response Window in which exactly one player responds; the keywords Ally, Threat, Downed/Revive, Relay, Enrage, Collapse, Phase, Trophy, Scar; boss status caps (Burn 5, Shield 8) and a three-slot boss Field; Behavior cards, which are not Tactics and cannot be cancelled, taxed or delayed; and boss-only previews of reserved mechanics (Corrode, Frost, Suppressed, Exposed, Displace), which may appear on boss cards before their Season and never on player cards.

Turn either player's · Your turn you are active · Attack Basic Attack only · Prevent / reduce identical · Gain Rally add to Available, never above Capacity · Control your equipped Gear, your Heroes, your Assets, your Plans · Burning Burn 1 or more · Enemy Hero / opposing Hero the enemy Active Hero · Target a Hero or an Asset · Destroyed an Asset with damage ≥ HP; it is discarded · Fallen a knocked-out Hero · Identity the set of Circuits a deck may use.

Circuits replace Tags and define legality (§3). Assets, the Field, Guard, Strike, Repair (§9.1, §8.3). Basic Attack targeting (§8.1). Plans are face-down with Kinds; Scout (§12). The Reserve token (§14). Squad (§16, numbers from 06). Assets open a Response Window; Swap and equip open restricted ones (§11). Deck-building by identity (§17). Raid hooks (§20). Everything else is v1.0 wording, kept.