How to Play Hero Realms: Boss Deck – The Dragon

Game Objective

The goal of the game is to defeat the Boss (the Dragon in this case) or, if you are the Boss player, to defeat all members of the party. The game is a battle between one player controlling the Dragon Boss and a team of 1 to 5 players (the party), each using a Character Pack. The party wins if the Boss is defeated. The Boss wins if all members of the party are defeated.

Setup

Refer to the manual for details on this section.

Dragon Setup

• The Dragon's Starting Health and Dragon's Hand Size vary based on the number of players in the party:
  • 1 player: 50 Health, 5 Cards in Hand.
  • 2 players: 100 Health, 6 Cards in Hand.
  • 3 players: 150 Health, 7 Cards in Hand.
  • 4 players: 200 Health, 8 Cards in Hand.
  • 5 players: 250 Health, 9 Cards in Hand.
• To track health above 159, use pen and paper, Hero Realms Dice, or additional score cards from the Hero Realms Deckbuilding Game.
• Dragon's Starting Deck: The Dragon starts with the following ten cards: Dragon’s Tail, Dragon’s Fire, Dragon’s Bite, Dragon’s Claw, Hoard, Ruby, and four faction cards (Imperial Chevron, Demon Coin, Elven Gold, and Guild Mark). These cards count for ally abilities.
• Add additional cards to the Dragon's Starting Deck when facing a party of two or more players:
  • Against two players or another Boss: add another Dragon’s Claw and another Ruby.
  • Against three players or another Boss: also add a Cunning Blow and a Prismatic Diamond.
  • Against four players: also add another Dragon’s Fire and another Ruby.
  • Against five players: also add a third Dragon’s Claw and another Prismatic Diamond.
• Treasure Hoard: Shuffle the nine cards that make up the Treasure Hoard into a separate face-down deck.

Game Flow

The turn order is as follows: each member of the party takes their turn one at a time, in clockwise order, and then the Boss player takes their turn. Players may sit in any order.

At the start of the game, party players each draw a hand of three cards, and the Boss draws their normal hand size. At the end of a player's turn, they draw cards up to their normal hand size, as usual.

When the Boss begins their turn, all defeated players discard their hand and draw a new hand of cards.

Actions and How to Play

Nearby Players and Player Targeting

• Members of the party 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.

Gaining Health

• When you generate health, you may give it to yourself or to a nearby player.
• Each time you gain health, all of it must go to a single player (you cannot split it). However, if you gain more health later in the turn, you may give that health to the same player or a different one.

Defeating a Player

• If a party player's total health is reduced to zero, instead of being removed from the game, they are "defeated".
• When a player is defeated, all their champions are stunned.
• Defeated players cannot take any actions (except advising teammates) and do not take turns. They also no longer count as being in the path for adjacent teammates.
• Once per turn cycle, for each defeated player, any party member may borrow one card from the defeated player's hand and add it to their own. 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.

Special Rules for the Dragon

• Taunting the Dragon: If any player deals at least 10 damage to the Dragon (not its champions) in a single turn, the Dragon becomes taunted and will only spend combat to deal damage to that player and their champions on its next turn. (If two different players dealt 10+ damage, the Dragon may attack one or both.) Cards that deal damage directly or stun champions ignore this. The Dragon stops being taunted when its turn ends. But beware! The Dragon also has a card in its deck that allows it to stop being taunted once per game.
• Skill Checks: To complete a skill check, on your turn, discard any number of cards from your hand with a combined cost equal to or greater than the Skill Check number.
• Defeated Players: When the Dragon defeats a player, it steals back any Treasure Hoard cards that player possessed.

Treasure Hoard

• When the Dragon reveals a card from the Treasure Hoard (via a card from its personal deck), place it next to the Dragon.
• Treasure Hoard cards never go to a player's hand, discard pile, or Sacrifice Pile. They remain on the table next to the Dragon or the player who currently possesses them.
• Whoever has a Treasure Hoard card may use its expend ability during their turn.
• While the Dragon is taunted, an opposing player may steal a Treasure Hoard card by completing a skill check.
• Dragons cannot steal Treasure Hoard cards back unless a card effect specifically allows it (such as Prismatic Diamond).

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when the Boss or all party members are defeated.

• If all party members are defeated, the Boss wins!
• If the Boss is defeated, the party wins!

Tips for Winning

Refer to the manual for details on this section.