Move
Move up to your Movement in squares. Diagonal steps cost 1. A Move is continuous and cannot be interrupted and resumed.
01. Turns and actions
Before the first turn
Complete Standard Setup and the scenario setup. Agree a fixed Marching Order. The first Hero reveals one map tile and chooses a legal placement beside the Start Tile at no Action cost. Resolve its symbols in Discovery order, then that Hero takes the first turn.
Attack
Choose an adjacent adversary in line of sight unless an effect grants range. Roll 1d20 + Attack against Defense. A hit deals Damage.
Interact
Search, attempt to open a Locked passage, or use an Action described by a card, tile, or scenario. Test only when instructed.
Your turn: take two Actions in any combination, including repeating an Action. Afterward, reveal at most one tile if your Hero stands beside an opening into unexplored space. No further Actions follow a reveal.
Discovery order
| Order | Symbol | Resolution |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adversary Sign | Draw and resolve an Adversary card; place its figure as instructed. |
| 2 | Nebraska Find | Place a Find token. Do not draw yet. |
| 3 | Cache | Place a Cache token. Do not collect yet. |
| 4 | Exposure Mark | Draw and resolve an Exposure card. |
Adversary Stage and round end
After the last Hero, activate each active adversary once in placement order, including adversaries placed this round. Follow Instinct and scenario exceptions. Players choose between tied targets.
Resolve end-of-round effects, any required Reactor Mood advance, and victory conditions. Begin the next round in the same Marching Order. Meltdown or every Hero being removed loses the scenario; defeat wins any simultaneous victory/defeat tie.
02. Map tiles
When and where do I reveal a tile?
After your Actions, reveal if your Hero stands beside an opening into unexplored space. Place the tile at any open boundary of the explored map; it need not connect to the Hero’s current tile.
Can I rotate or offset it?
You may rotate it, but grids must align and ordinary tiles meet edge to edge. Do not stagger tiles, join only corners, or place tiles at an angle.
What must connect?
At least one opening on the new tile must connect to an existing opening. Walls block movement. Blocked and Locked Passage Markers prevent crossing; Locked passages can be opened.
What if it will not fit?
Set it aside and reveal another until one fits. Shuffle set-aside ordinary tiles back afterward while preserving fixed scenario positions. Only placed tiles count toward triggers.
What about another scenario’s tile?
Use normal placement and resolve ordinary symbols, but ignore scenario-specific features. Tiles explicitly set aside for the current scenario remain outside the stack.
When do placement triggers happen?
Resolve printed symbols first, then the scenario placement trigger before the next Hero acts.
Figures may move through another figure’s square but cannot stop there. Heroes pay 2 Movement to enter difficult terrain; adversaries ignore the extra cost. Never move through walls or diagonally around a wall corner.
03. Passages and searching
When placing a tile, blindly draw a Passage Marker for each printed Passage symbol and place it face up. Unmarked openings need no marker. Follow scenario exclusions.
| Marker | Result |
|---|---|
| Open | The opening is permanently crossable. Remove the marker from the bag for the scenario. |
| Blocked | Leave it face up. The opening stays closed; other openings remain usable. |
| Locked | Leave it until opened. Stand beside it, spend 1 Action, and make a Signal test. |
Locked Passage Signal
Attuned: open it and remove the marker. Faint: reroll immediately without another Action, repeating while results remain Faint; you may stop and leave it Locked. Distorted: it remains Locked, the attempt ends, and Reactor Mood advances 1 Pulse.
Opening does not move the Hero and a Move cannot be split. If the Passage bag is empty, any newly placed unmarked Passage symbol counts as Open; existing markers remain.
Nebraska Find
Stand on its square, spend 1 Action, remove the token, and draw one Nebraska Find card.
Cache
The first Hero entering an adjacent square collects it for no Action. Draw Loot, then gain 3 Salvage, recover 2 Health, or remove Radiation Sickness from self or an adjacent Hero.
Loot and trading
Follow card timing. During your turn, give Loot or Salvage to an adjacent Hero at no Action cost. There is no carrying limit.
04. Tests, harm, and Reactor Mood
Attacks and ordinary tests
For an Attack, roll 1d20 plus Attack against Defense. A natural 1 misses and natural 20 hits. For Interact, Resolve, or Stealth, roll 1d20, add the Hero’s +2 Specialism where applicable and permitted modifiers, then compare with the target number.
Signal
Roll 1d20 and use the Hero tile’s Faint, Attuned, and Distorted ranges. Never add or subtract modifiers. Faint normally passes unless a rule requires Attuned. Signal does not use the ordinary natural 1/20 rule.
Conditions and advancement
Winded and Radiation Sickness each impose −1 to every d20 roll except Signal; both may apply. Winded ends after the affected Hero’s next turn. Radiation Sickness remains until removed. Gain 1 Blood Tally per defeated adversary; at 3, immediately flip to Level 2, take the Level 2 Talent, and increase maximum and remaining Health by 3 for this scenario.
| Total Pulses | State | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 0–2 | Dormant | No bonus. |
| 3–5 | Agitated | Adversary attacks deal +1 damage. |
| 6–9 | Critical | Adversary attacks deal +1 damage; adversaries gain +1 maximum Health. |
| 10 | Meltdown | The scenario is lost immediately. |
Reactor Mood changes only when instructed. At Critical, each Hero may once per scenario spend 1 Action to remove 1 Pulse; Halogene’s Act of Penance does so without an Action and uses her allowance. Critical bonuses end when the count falls to 5.
When a maximum-Health bonus disappears, keep existing damage. An adversary whose damage now meets or exceeds maximum Health is defeated.
05. Scenario questions
Scenario 1 · The Calm Before the Storm
The tile showing all three symbols has no special search rule. Resolve normally. Searching its Nebraska Find costs 1 Action and counts toward the scenario’s two required searches.
Scenario 2 · The Warm Ground
Resolve one Warm Den card per den on first entry. Attuned: inspect two and resolve one. Faint: draw the top card. Distorted: advance Reactor Mood 1 Pulse and draw the top card. Resolve only that card, choose Disturb it or Leave it, then discard it.
Scenario 3 · The Toll of Ash
The Overseer remains inactive and cannot be attacked until a Verdict starts combat. Halogene’s Faint makes it stand down permanently. Resolve the Verdict after required Sentries are defeated; successful non-combat routes resolve as printed. At least one Hero must remain alive, and no exit is required.
Scenario 4 · The Outer Ward
At round end, after Reactor Mood advances, the Gate must be open and the living holder of Sealed Access Journal, Chapter One must stand on the Threshold Tile. Hale need not be defeated unless he has taken the Journal.
Scenario 5 · The Attunement
Adult Raddalo stays inactive until Around is attempted or it is attacked. A failed Around advances Reactor Mood and activates it from this round’s Adversary Stage. Used or cooldown Talents may pay permanently, except Act of Penance and Litany of Continuance. Finish the entire Presence Challenge, including Backlash, before checking victory.
06. Component guide
| Piece | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Start Tile | Heroes begin here. Place the free opening tile beside it before the first turn. |
| Ordinary map tile | Openings, walls, and symbols determine connections and reveal effects. |
| Exit tile | Ends a scenario only when its victory conditions require it. |
| Hero tile | Shows statistics, Signal ranges, and abilities. Start each scenario at Level 1. |
| Adversary stat tile | Shows statistics, Instinct, tactics, and defeat instructions. |
| Theta Cantor reference | Scenario 5 reference; not an adversary and never activates. |
| Warm Den tile | Scenario 2 den. Outside it, ignore den-specific features. |
| Sanctuary tiles I–III | Three connected Station tiles placed in Scenario 3. |
| Threshold Tile | Room beyond the opened Gate in Scenario 4; separate from Hale’s stat tile. |
| Theta Cantor’s Chamber | Two map pieces forming one Scenario 5 room; Cantor’s zone goes furthest from the corridor. |
| Reactor Mood track | Tracks Pulses and current reactor state. |
Decks
Adversary
Draw for an Adversary Sign or when instructed.
Exposure
Draw and resolve for an Exposure Mark.
Nebraska Find
Draw after spending 1 Action to search, unless replaced by the scenario.
Loot
Equipment and rewards; follow card timing.
Talent
Assigned at setup or gained at Level 2; never shuffled or randomly drawn.
Warm Den / Station
Scenario 2 and 3 cards with distinct procedures even when sharing a back.
07. Symbols, tokens, and markers
| Symbol or marker | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Adversary Sign | Draw and resolve an Adversary card when revealed. |
| Nebraska Find | Place its token; spend 1 Action on its square to search. |
| Cache | Place its token; enter an adjacent square to collect. |
| Exposure Mark | Draw and resolve an Exposure card. |
| Passage | Draw a marker blindly. Only Locked requires an Action to attempt opening. |
| Scout Marker | An unfound Scenario 2 den; remove on first Hero entry. |
| Control Token | A completed Scenario 5 Presence Challenge; remains after Backlash. |
| Access Terminal / Gate | Scenario 4 components placed as instructed. |
| Blood Tally | An adversary defeated by that Hero; three unlock Level 2. |
| Damage / Salvage | Use printed 1 or 5 denomination. |
| Winded | −1 to non-Signal d20 rolls; remove after the Hero’s next turn. |
| Radiation Sickness | −1 to non-Signal d20 rolls until removed. |
| Hazard Marker | A lingering effect described by its source card. |
| Difficult Terrain | Costs Heroes 2 Movement to enter. |
| Reactor Mood marker | Current position on the Reactor Mood track. |