Gameplay
Attributes
On your cards you will notice some symbols. These symbols represent the 5 attributes in Hero: Tales of the Tomes.
Attack
Attack represents how much damage your Hero or Companions deal in combat.
Mana
Mana is the cost to play a Spell or use an active ability. Your Hero’s mana shows you how much mana you have at your disposal each round. At the start of your turn all of your mana returns to you.
Level
Level is the requirement to play a Companion or Equipment. At that start of every round each hero will gain 1 level. You cannot play cards that add up to more than your Hero’s level in a single turn.
Armor
Armor reduces how much physical damage your Hero takes. Whenever armor prevents damage it is depleted for the remainder of the round. At the start of your turn all of your armor returns to you.
Health
Health is how much damage your Hero or a Companion can take before it’s been killed. If your Hero’s health drops to 0 you lose the game.
Gameplay
Card Types
There are 4 types of cards you’ll come across throughout your games of Hero:
Companions
Equipments
Spells
Quests
Companions are the allies you’ll call to your hero’s side.
Companions can attack and defend as well as have powerful abilities. They will be a key part of any player’s victory.
Companions can have a variety of different subtypes, but they rarely effect gameplay.
Equipments are the weapons you’ll forge to aide you in battle.
Equipments go directly onto your hero and will give them bonus attributes and abilities.
Equipments have 2 subtypes, armor and weapons.
Spells are the magic your hero will cast. Spells have very unique and powerful effects.
Spells can have 2 subtypes – buff or quick-cast.
Buff spells can only be played on companions and will stay on them until they are killed.
Quests are special cards with unique card backs that have no cost involved.
When a quest appears at the top of the deck, it immediately activates and all the players take part in it.
Quick-cast spells are special spells that can be used whenever you want and on any player’s turn.
How to Read a Card
Cost
All of the non-quest cards have a cost you’ll have to meet in order to play them.
Companions and equipments have a level requirement (marked by the crown symbol). Once your hero is equal to/higher than the level of the card, you can play it. You can play as many companions and equipments as you want, as long as their combined level does not exceed that of your hero.
Spell cards have a mana cost (marked by the diamond symbol) that you’ll have to pay in order to play. The mana you spend for your spells and abilities goes away until the start of your next turn.
Attack
The sword symbol on your companion marks their attack value. This lets you know how much damage they will deal in combat.
Card Name
The name of the card can be found in the banner at the top of the card.
Artwork
At the center of the card is where you will find the art for the card. While the artwork has no effect on gameplay, its a good way to identify a card at a glance once you get to know them.
Health
The plus symbol on your companion marks their health value. Once a companion has 0 or less health, it is sent to the graveyard (discard pile). A companion’s health is also used when it defends your other cards.
Text Box
The text box contains all of the important information about what the card does. At top of the text box you’ll find the card’s type and subtype. The main body of the text box will contain all of the card’s effects.
Card types and keyword abilities will be in bold text and card names will be in italics. Any bolded text that is followed by a colon is the cost required to use an active ability. Active abilities can be used at any time on any player’s turn.
At the bottom of the card in italics and smaller print you’ll find the flavor text (brief story/lore info for the card).
Gameplay
The Shared Deck
One of the most unique aspects of Hero compared to other card games is that all the players play off of one shared deck together. No prior deck building or collecting is required, everything you'll need to play will be available strait out of the box. There are two different decks you'll be using in your games – the Main Deck and the Side Deck.
The Main Deck
The deck of cards you’ll draw from as you play. This deck will contain the majority of your cards. Each player draws one card at the start of their turn. You’ll start the game by drawing 5 cards each from the main deck.
The Side Deck
The side deck contains all of the specialty cards that are only brought into play through other cards and abilities. You’ll never have to draw from the side deck, so you don’t have to worry about shuffling it.
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