How to Play Hero Realms: Boss Deck – Lich

Game Objective

The objective of the game is for the team of players (the party) to defeat the Lich, one of the Bosses, by destroying all of his Soul Jars. If all members of the party are defeated, the Boss wins. If the Boss is defeated, the party wins.

Preparation (Setup)

1. One player takes on the role of the Boss (the Lich) and battles a team of 1 to 5 players (the party), each using a Character Pack.
2. The members of the party can sit in any order.
3. At the start of the game, each party player draws a hand of three cards. The Boss draws their normal hand size.
4. Soul Jars: Shuffle the six Soul Jars cards and deal a number of them face down into the Soul Jar deck equal to the number of players in the party. Then, reveal the top card and place it next to the Lich. Set the Lich's total Health to the value indicated on the revealed Soul Jar.
5. The Grimoire: Take the 10 minion cards and shuffle them into a new deck called the Grimoire.
6. Lich Health: The Lich starts the game with the health listed on the first Soul Jar.

Game Flow

The game progresses with the party members playing their turns one at a time, in clockwise order, and then the Boss player plays their turn.

Party Player's Turn

• At the end of a party player's turn, they draw cards up to their normal hand size.
• Gaining Health: When generating health, a player can give it to themselves or a nearby player. All health gained must go to a single player, it cannot be split. If more health is gained later in the turn, it can be given to the same player or a different player.
• Nearby Players and Targeting Players: Party members sitting next to each other (immediately to the left or right) are considered nearby players. When targeting players, party members can only target the Boss and/or nearby players.
• Vile Opponent: Party members must make a good-faith effort to destroy each Soul Jar. They cannot end their turn with unspent combat or unplayed ally cards and abilities simply because they do not want to destroy the current Soul Jar.

Boss (Lich) Turn

• The Lich can use the power of the revealed Soul Jar during their turn.
• Cling to Undeath: At the start of the Lich's turn, if they are on their final Soul Jar, they performs a Summoning.

Actions and How to Play

Party Actions

• Defeating a Player: If a party player's total health is reduced to zero, they are "defeated" instead of being removed from the game.
  • When a player is defeated, all of their champions are stunned.
  • Defeated players cannot do anything (except advise teammates) and do not play turns.
  • They also no longer count as being in the way for adjacent teammates.
  • Once per turn cycle, for each defeated player, any party member can borrow a card from the defeated player's hand and add it to their hand. If it is an action or item, it goes to the defeated player's discard pile when the turn ends. If it is a champion, it goes there when it is stunned.
  • When the Boss starts their turn, all defeated players discard their hand and draw a new hand of cards.
• Stepping Up: Any party member can Step Up and challenge the Lich during their turn. If they do, no other player can be targeted or attacked by the Lich during their next turn (unless that player is defeated). The Lich can still target and attack all players' champions normally. Each player can Step Up only once per game.

Lich Actions

• Soul Jars: The Lich can use the power of the revealed Soul Jar during their turn. If the Lich's health is reduced to zero, the revealed Soul Jar is destroyed. If there are no more Soul Jars in the deck, the party wins. Otherwise, the next Soul Jar is revealed, the Lich's health is set to the appropriate value, and the game continues.
• The Grimoire: When the Lich "Performs a Summoning", they take the top card of the Grimoire and place it into play in front of the Lich. These Minions count as champions for the Lich's opponents (like "stun target champion"), but do not count as champions for the Lich's effects. When a minion is stunned, the Lich shuffles it back into their Grimoire.
• Lich Health is Determined by the Jars: The Lich starts the game with the health listed on the first Soul Jar. The Lich's health is set to the value listed on other Soul Jars as they become needed.
• Cling to Undeath: When the Lich is on their final Soul Jar, they gain an extra 30 health above what is listed on the Jar. At the start of their turn, if they are on their final Soul Jar, they performs a Summoning.
• Discards Can Be Prevented: Whenever an opponent's effect would cause the Lich to discard a card, the Lich can choose to lose 4 health instead. If the Lich has less than 4 health remaining in their current Soul Jar, the remaining health is taken from the next Soul Jar. This loss of health is not prevented by guards. If the Lich needed to discard a random card, they must decide whether to lose the health instead before determining which card would be discarded.
• Corrupt the City: Whenever the Lich shuffles their deck, count the number of cards in their deck, hand, and in play (do not count Grimoire cards, scoring cards, etc.). If they have 20 or more cards, they begin to corrupt the city! Place the Corruption card face up in front of the Lich, who can use it during their turns. If they have 30 or more cards when the Lich player shuffles their deck, the city is now controlled! Flip the Corruption card (it remains prepared or expended) to its Control side and the Lich can use its new effects!

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when one of the following conditions is met:

• If all members of the party are defeated, the Boss (the Lich) wins.
• If the Boss (the Lich) is defeated (i.e., all of their Soul Jars are destroyed), the party wins.

Tips for Winning

• Stepping Up is a great way for teammates to protect each other, as it prevents the Lich from targeting or attacking other players on their next turn (unless they are already defeated).
• Party members should focus on destroying the Soul Jars as quickly as possible, as the game requires them not to end the turn with unspent combat or unused abilities if they can destroy the current Soul Jar.
• The party should be aware of the Lich's ability to prevent discards by losing health, and plan their attacks accordingly, especially when the Lich is on their final Soul Jar and gains extra health.