LEARN TO PLAY RULES

These rules are intended to be an introduction to Way of the Fighter. Consult the official rulebook
for the complete ruleset.

WINNING 7. Place six core dice (the white dice), in the burnout
pool on side of the board that matches the
There are two paths to victory.
player’s chosen color.
Knock Out: If the opposing fighter takes damage
8. Place one core die on each of the lightened
but does not have enough dice in their life
spaces in the life pool of the chosen color.
pool to remove, they have been KOed and the
opponent wins the match. 9. Place one power die (the dice match the chosen
color) on the darkened spaces of their life pool.
OR
Time Out: The fighter who has the most dice in
their life pool at the end of the twelfth turn wins
the match.

SETUP
Each player will need a deck built around a fighter
and that fighter’s standee. The core games come
with five pre-built decks each.
Perform the following steps.
1. Set the game board between the players.
2. Place the turn counter on the first space of the Determine Initiative
turn track. Both players take three core dice from their burnout
pool and roll them. The player with the highest
Both players will perform the following steps. roll chooses which player
3. Remove the fighter’s character card and block takes the initiative card. The
action card from the player’s deck. player with the initiative
card returns two of the
4. Shuffle the deck.
dice to their burnout pool,
5. Choose a color that matches either side of the other player returns
the current game board and collect the six one of the dice that they
blast tokens and single position token of the rolled to their burnout
chosen color. pool. Each player places
6. Place the fighter’s standee on the start space that their remaining dice in their
matches the player’s chosen color. energy pool.
TURN SEQUENCE
READY PHASE ACTION CARD BREAKDOWN
1. Draw Cards: Draw a single card OR discard three
cards to draw three cards.
2. Burnout Shift: Move two core dice OR one
power die from the player’s burnout pool to
their energy pool.
3. Energy Shift: Move all dice in the player’s energy
pool to their active pool.

CHALLENGE PHASE
Use Command
Both players have their fighter use one of the three
commands below, starting with the player with the
initiative.
• Kneel: The fighter crouches. The player moves
one core die from their burnout pool to their Reveal Actions
energy pool. Both players reveal their action, place their dice on
it, and add the dice values that they rolled to their
• Shift: The fighter stands, and either advances or
action’s priority value to determine their priority
retreats up to one space. The player may then
draw 1 card. scores.

• Leap: The fighter jumps, and either advances or

Check Grids
retreats up to two spaces.
Both players check to see if their action can be
resolved in their fighter’s current position. The
POSITIONING action will resolve if there is a black space on the
Crouching: Place the crouching token over grid. Otherwise it is cancelled.
the standing icon next to a fighter’s life pool
when they crouch.
Standing: Remove the crouching/jumping
token from the board when the fighter stands.
CROUCHING STANDING JUMPING
Jumping: Place the jumping token over the
standing icon next to the fighter’s life pool Resolve Actions
when they jump. Resolve each action in order of highest to lowest
priority score by performing the steps below.
Play Actions
Both players play one action card facedown. 1. For strike and grab actions, check targeted
spaces based on both fighter’s current position.
Roll Dice If the target is in a colored space, the action hits,
Both players take one to four dice from their active otherwise the action misses. Other action types
pools in secret and roll them simultaneously. ignore this step. Consult page 17 in the rules for
The player with the initiative may use the initiative to checking target spaces.
move, change position, or increase their unrevealed
action’s priority by 2. For an expanded look at the
initiative consult page 6 in the rules.
 f. Mode: Move this action to the player’s fighter
CURRENT
FIGHTERS POSITION area. The effects are ongoing and remain
active until cancelled.
TARGET
ZONE Action Cancellation
A fighter’s current action is cancelled when they
0 1 2 3 NOT
POSITION SPACES AWAY EFFECTED take damage. Return all dice on the action to that
fighter’s burnout pool and discard the action.
2. Resolve the primary effects of the action based
on the action’s type below. Action Combo
If an action hits the opponent or has the Link
a. Strike: Deal X Damage to the targeted
keyword as a secondary effect, the attacking fighter
opponent. They move X dice from their life
may combo by performing the steps below.
pool to their energy pool going right to left
in descending order. 1. Play a new action facedown.
b. Grab: Deals X Damage like a strike, and 2. Take one to four dice from their active pool,
ignores blocks. and roll them.
c. Blast: Place a blast token on the fighter and 3. Reveal the action.
move it X space forward. If any blast tokens 4. Add the dice roll to the action’s priority value to
enter the same space as the opponent, check determine its priority score.
if the blast hits. High Blast Tokens hit 5. Resolve the action if its priority score is equal to
jumping and standing fighters, Low Blast or higher than the previous action’s priority score,
Tokens hit crouching and standing fighters. otherwise cancel the action and end the combo.
If the blast hits, deal the opponent X
Damage. For more on combos, including special keywords
related to them, consult page 19 in the rules.
d. Move: X Advance your fighter X spaces,
X Retreat your fighter X spaces, X
Recovery Phase
Advance OR Retreat your fighter X spaces.
1. Give the initiative to the opponent if it was used
e. Block: Prevent X amount of damage to during the turn.
the defending fighter. Each time the fighter
2. Both players return dice on blocks to their energy
prevents damage its player moves a single die
pool. Then, return blocks that were played to their
from the action to their burnout pool.
owner’s hand.
3. Both players cancel all blasts without tokens.
TIMING KEYWORDS FOR 4. Both players move blast actions to their fighter
SECONDARY EFFECTS areas and return any Core Dice on them to their
• Reveal: Keyword effects that resolve after burnout pool.
checking the grid when revealing the action. 5. Both players return all Core Dice on cards in play to
• Start: Keyword effects that resolve before their burnout pool. Leave Power Dice on cards.
resolving the primary effect. 6. Both players discard cards in their hand down to
• Hit: Keyword effects that resolve after seven cards.
hitting, but before dealing damage. 7. End the match after the twelfth turn, or move the
• Damage: Keyword effects that resolve turn counter to the next number and repeat the
after dealing damage. Turn Sequence.

• Block: Keyword effects that resolve when Additional keywords are defined on pages 46 and
reducing damage. 47 at the back of the core rules. Consult these pages
when resolving secondary effects with new keywords.
• End: Keyword effects that resolve after
resolving the primary effect.
QUICK REFERENCE
EFFECT ICONS ... page 18 LANDING ... page 15

The number of Power Dice on the action A Jumping fighter automatically Stands when
when it resolves. either of the following happen:

• After resolving their non-move action.

The number of remaining dice on the action
when it resolves (both Core and Power Dice). • At the end of the turn.

The amount of damage dealt by the action. The player removes their Jumping position token
from the board to show that the fighter is no
The amount of damage prevented by longer “in the air.”
the action.
After removing the Jumping position token, if the
fighter occupies a space that another Crouching or
MOVE EFFECT ICONS ... page 23 Standing fighter occupies, move the active fighter
to the space in front of the opposing fighter.
Retreat: The active fighter Retreats with
this action. FACING ... page 15

Advance: The active fighter Advances Fighters rotate to face each other when any of the
with this action. following happens:

• After a player uses a Command.

Retreat or Advance: The active
fighter may Retreat or Advance with • After resolving an action.
this action.
• At the end of the turn.

BLAST EFFECT ICONS ... page 24 Do not change the facing of fighters when they
occupy the same space. fighters do not change
High Blast Icon: Places a High Blast token facing in the middle of an action, but do change
in the active fighter’s space. facing between two linked actions in a combo.

Low Blast Icon: Places a Low Blast token in

the active fighter’s space.
High Blast Icon or Low Blast Icon: Places a
or High Blast or Low Blast token in the active
fighter’s space.

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