How to play Highlander

How To Play Highlander

This is a guide on how to play Highlander The Card Game, using the new 2ed mechanics in particular. To begin the game, both players must have a legal deck. A legal deck is one that has at least 50 cards (less if you have the card Lean & Mean in your deck) and the gems on the cards do not total more than the allotted amount on your Persona Card. For more information on building a deck, see the Type

Two Rulebook.

Before You Begin Play -

Before you begin play, both players need to shuffle their decks. Once each player is satisfied their deck is shuffled, they then offer their deck to their opponent for that person to cut the deck. After each player has cut (or declined to cut) their opponents deck, each player then describes their Pregame cards to their opponent. After both players understand their opponent’s Pregame cards, the game is ready to begin.

Beginning Play -

To begin play, each player must name an Attribute Gem. After naming a Gem, each player makes a Soft Exertion for the Gem they named. A Soft Exertion is where the player takes the top 5 cards from their Endurance (their unused deck of cards) and reveals those cards to his opponent. Whichever player has more of the Gem they named gets to begin the game first. In the case of a tie, each player must reveal the next card in their deck and continue to do so until the tie is broken. Once whoever is going first is decided, both players place the cards from their Soft Exertion on the bottom of their Endurance. Both players now draw cards from their Endurance to form their Hand. The number of cards drawn is a base 15, which may be modified by your Persona Ability and/or cards in your Pregame. Your Persona Ability is the amount of “life” you have in the game and provides the base number for how many cards you may have in your Hand.

The biggest rule of Highlander is that you cannot play cards from your Hand during your opponents turn. Highlander is played in phases. Each phase has its own rules for what you can and cannot do, and the phases must be played in order. You may only play 1 Special Card during your entire turn. The different types of Special Cards are Event, Location, Situation, Plot and Object. You may not play Illusion cards from your Hand, they may only enter play from Hard Exertions. You are allowed to make only 1 Hard Exertion during your turn, but may make as many Soft Exertions as effects dictate.

Phases of Highlander:

Sweep Phase -

This is the first thing you do during your turn. No cards may be played from your Hand during this turn, but there may be card effects which take place, so be mindful of those effects. The one thing that ALWAYS happens during your Sweep Phase is you take your cards in play which are not “permanent” and place them into your Discard Pile. Your Discard Pile is a stack of cards (usually next to your Endurance) that make up the cards that you cannot draw from. Permanent cards are cards which are not Situation, Plot, Location, or Object.

May Do/Must Do Phase -

This is the first phase in which you may play cards from your Hand. The only cards which you may play during this phase are Edge cards. Any card that says “Play during your May Do/Must Do” can only be played during this phase, but normally any Edge card may be played during this phase (unless stated otherwise on the card). You may also resolve any card effects which happen during the May Do/Must Do phase. You may resolve those effects in any order you wish. You do not have to resolve May Do effects, but you must resolve Must Do effects (unless you are able to play an Edge or use an Effect which allows you to ignore the Must Do).

Defense Phase -

You may play any type of card during this phase except for Attack cards. If your opponent has played any Attack cards during their turn, this is the time to play defenses against those. Defense cards are either Blue or Green colored on their grid (some Gold cards are also Defense cards, those state so in their card text). A Defense card must cover the entire area on the grid that the Attack played by your opponent covers. You may only play one Defense from your Hand for each Attack played by your opponent. If you cannot play a proper Defense from your Hand, you may make a Hard Exertion to search for a Defense. To do this, put down your Hand and draw the top 5 cards from your Endurance. You may now play any 1 Defense card from these 5 cards, you may not play any other cards from the Exertion. After you have chosen a card to play (or not play if no appropriate cards were found) you place the remaining cards into your Discard Pile. Once you have made a Hard Exertion, you may not play any other cards from your Hand during this phase (but may resume playing cards in your next phase), so make sure you have played any other cards for this phase from your Hand before you make the Exertion. If your opponent made their Attack a Power Blow and you defend that Attack with a block, you will still take damage from the Power Blow portion of the Attack. To avoid this damage, you may make your block a Power Block. To make a Power Block, you make a Hard Exertion of 5 cards. You do not play any of the exerted cards, you simply take them from your Endurance and place them into your Discard Pile. If your opponent played a Hidden Attack, there are special rules used to defend it. You are not allowed to look at the Attack, you must guess which grid the Attack covers. If you play a Defense from your Hand, you opponent must then reveal the Attack to show if your Defense covers it or not. If your Defense doesn’t cover the Attack, you may choose to make a Hard Exertion for the Defense, this works the same way as described above. If you do not have a Defense in your Hand to attempt to use or choose not to attempt a Defense from your Hand, you may choose instead to just make a Hard Exertion for the Defense. If you choose this, your opponent must first reveal the Attack and then you exert as described.

Attack Phase -

You may play any type of card during this phase except for Defense cards. You are allowed to play 1 Attack card per turn, but may play more if cards or effects allow you to play additional Attacks. The first Attack you play may not cover the same grid as the last block card you played during your Defense Phase, you may attack freely to areas covered by dodge cards unless the text restricts you from attacking to a certain area. Your first attack is only affected by the last defense card you played this turn, so be mindful of any effects the last Defense card you played since it may have on the first Attack you play. If you do not have any Attack cards to play from your Hand, you may choose to make a Hard Exertion to search for one. Just like you do in the Defense Phase, make sure you have finished playing cards from your Hand before making the Hard Exertion. Also just like in the Defense Phase, you take the top 5 cards from your Endurance and choose 1 Red Grid Attack card to play, placing the remaining cards into your Discard Pile. You may not play Gold Grid Attack cards from an Exertion. Attack cards normally do 2 Damage Points, but you may increase this by making a Red Grid Attack a Power Blow. To make an Attack a Power Blow you play an Attack from your Hand and at the end of the phase make a Hard Exertion of 5 cards. You do not play any of the exerted cards, you simply take them from your Endurance and place them into your Discard Pile. Power Blow attacks do 4 Damage Points and you may only make 1 Power Blow per turn. If your opponent played a Power Blow on their turn, you make may your first Attack a Hidden Attack. To make a Hidden Attack, play your Red Grid Attack card face down. You do not have to reveal the Attack until your opponent has played a Defense card or chosen to make an Exertion for a Defense. One type of Attack is a Head Shot. Head Shot Attacks are automatically a Power Blow without having to make a Hard Exertion. Head Shots may only be upper grid Red Attacks. If your opponent is unable to defend your Head Shot during their turn, you cut off their head and immediately win the game.

Ability Adjustment Phase -

No cards may be played during this phase. Any cards and/or effects which do Damage or Ability Loss take effect in this phase. Cards and/or effects which add Ability or prevent damage also take effect in this phase. You may choose the order you wish all of these effects to occur. Any undefended Attack cards from your opponent also take effect and cause you damage during this phase.

Draw/Discard Phase -

During this phase no cards may be played. You may draw cards from your Endurance into your Hand up to your now current Ability, or must discard cards from your Hand to your Discard Pile to equal your current Ability. This ends your turn.

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Example Of Play:

To demonstrate how play works, players Steve and Jim will play a quick game. Steve is playing as the immortal Slan Quince and Jim is playing as the immortal Duncan MacLeod.

Steve and Jim first shuffle their own decks and then allow one another to cut their decks. Jim looks at the bottom of his Persona card and reads to Steve what Duncans Persona Power is “You may discard one Empathy Gemmed card to play a Basic Block against an attack that cannot be blocked. For Every Ally you have in play, you may increase or decrease the size of a Hard Exertion you make by one (you must announce the size before performing the exertion)”. Steve then looks at the back of his Persona card and reads to Jim what Slan Quince says “You do not need to make an Exertion to make your attacks Power Blows.” After describing what their immortals Persona Power is, each names an Attribute Gem to see who goes first. Steve names Strength and Jim names Empathy. Each make a Soft Exertion, Steve reveals 3 Strength Gems for himself, but Jim shows 4 Empathy Gems, so he gets to go first.

Both players then draw 15 cards to form their Hand and Jim studies his cards to see what he will do first. Since no cards have been played yet, Jim skips his Sweep Phase and goes right to his May Do/Must Do Phase. Looking at his Hand, Jim has no cards he wished to play during this phase, so he goes on to his Defense Phase. Since Steve has not played any Attacks yet, and Jim has no other type of Defense card he wishes to play or put into play, he moves on to the Attack Phase. Jim decides to play his 1 Special Card for his turn and plays “Tessa Noel” Situation: Ally (You may make a Soft Exertion for 2 Empathy Gems. If successful, gain one ability. If Tessa Noel leaves play, lose one Ability.) on the table facing sideways so both players may read it. Jim also decides to play his 1 Attack for his turn, so he lays down “Upper Right Attack” upside down so that his opponent may easily read the card. Jim is done with his Attack Phase, so he goes to his Ability Adjustment Phase, and since he didn’t take any Damage or Ability Loss he does nothing in this phase. In his Draw/Discard he counts the cards in his Hand and finds he has only 13, so Jim draws up to his maximum of 15. He declares his turn is over and now it is Steve’s turn.

Steve has no cards to Sweep, so he skips that Phase and goes to his May Do/Must Do Phase. Steve has no cards he wishes to play in this phase, so he moves to his Defense Phase. Since he has an Attack to defend, he looks at his Hand. Steve plays an “Upper Right Block” facing himself so both players can see it covers the grid that Jims “Upper Right Attack” occupies. Steve moves on to his Attack Phase now, and decides to play “Taunt” Event (Your opponent cannot play any Special Cards during their next turn.) as his Special Card for his turn. He plays the card facing his opponent so that Jim can read the card and see what it does. Steve now plays a “Lower Left Attack” facing Jim, making sure that its grid does not occupy any of the same grids as the last Defense card he played this turn. Just to add some additional flair, Steve announces he is using Slan’s Persona Power to make the Attack a Power Blow without having to make an Exertion. With his Attack Phase done, Steve goes to his Ability Adjustment Phase. He took no Damage or Ability loss, so he moves on to his Draw/Discard Phase. Seeing he only has 12 cards in his Hand, Steve draws 3 cards. He smiles and tells Jim it is now his turn.

Jim first sweeps his non-permanent cards. The only card he has in play like that is his “Upper Right Attack”, so he places that in his Discard Pile. Next he goes to his May Do/Must Do Phase. He has nothing he wishes to play in that phase, so he moves on to his Defense Phase. Jim checks his Hand and plays a “Lower Center Block” to defend the Attack Steve played. Remembering that the Attack was a Power Blow, Jim considers making his Exertion. He decides he has no other cards he wants to play in his Defense Phase, so he announces he will make a 4 card Exertion for the Power Block. He can make his Exertion be only 4 cards since he has “Tessa Noel” in play, she is an Ally and allows him to use his Persona Power to affect his Hard Exertions. Jim takes the top 4 cards from his Endurance and places them in his Discard Pile. With his Defense Phase over, Jim moves on to his Attack Phase. Jim takes an Attack card from his Hand and plays it on the table face down. He tells Steve this is a Hidden Attack. Since Steve played “Taunt”, Jim cannot play a Special Card during his turn. Since Jim took no Damage or Ability Loss, he skips his Ability Adjustment Phase and goes on to his Draw/Discard Phase. He only has 13 cards in his Hand, so he draws up 2 cards. Jim tells Steve it is now his turn.

Steve first sweeps his non-permanent cards, which in this case are the “Upper Right Block”, “Lower Left Attack” and “Taunt”. In his May Do/Must Do Phase, Steve doesn’t have any cards he wishes to play, so he moves to his Defense Phase. Steve thinks Jim’s attack may be to an upper grid, so he plays “Upper Center Block” along with an Edge card “Feint” (Play in conjunction with a Block defending a hidden attack. If that Block is successful, your opponent cannot play a defense from their hand against the first attack you play this turn.) Jim then reveals the Attack, showing it to be an “Upper Center Attack”, Steve was successful. Steve goes to his Attack Phase and plays a “Middle Left Attack” and says he is again using his Persona Power to make the Attack a Power Blow. Steve also plays another “Taunt” from his Hand. Steve took no Damage or Ability Loss, so he goes to his Draw/Discard Phase. He only has 11 cards in his Hand so he draws up 4 cards. Steve announces that it is now Jim’s turn again.

Jim sweeps his “Lower Center Block” and his “Upper Center Attack”, and moves on to his May Do/Must Do Phase. He has nothing he wishes to play here, so he goes to his Defense Phase. Jim cannot play a Defense from his Hand because of Steve’s “Feint” card, so Jim decides to make a Hard Exertion for a Defense. He announces he is making a 6 card Hard Exertion due to “Tessa Noel” to search for a Defense. Jim sets down his Hand and takes the top 6 cards from his Endurance and looks at them. Among the 6 cards is a “Middle Left Block”, so Jim plays that and places the other 5 cards in his Discard Pile. Since Jim can only make 1 Hard Exertion on his turn, he has to take the 2 extra Damage Points from the Power Blow. His Defense Phase over, Jim goes on to his Attack Phase. He plays a “Killer Precision” Special Attack (This attack cannot be blocked or dodged. This attack does three damage.) from his Hand. Since this is a Special Attack, Jim cannot play it Hidden as he did the “Upper Center Attack” after Steve had made a Power Blow. Jim moves to his Ability Adjustment Phase, noting he took 2 Damage from the Power Blow, Jims Ability is now 13. During his Draw/Discard Phase, Jim can now only have 13 cards in his Hand, he currently has 14, so he has to discard 1 card. That done, Jim tells Steve it is now his turn.

Steve sweeps his “Upper Center Block”, “Feint”, “Taunt” and “Middle Left Attack”. During his May Do/Must Do Phase. Steve has nothing he wishes to play, so he moves to his Defense Phase. Steve plays a “Middle Right Block” along with an Edge card “Alertness” (Play in conjunction with a Block. That defense can now block attacks that cannot be blocked.) Satisfied he avoided Jim’s assault, Steve moves on to his Attack Phase. Steve plays an “Upper Left Attack” along with a “Head Shot” Event (Play in conjunction with an upper attack. That attack is now a Head Shot.). With no Damage or Ability loss, Steve goes to his Draw/Discard Phase. Counting his Hand, he sees he can draw up to 4 cards, so he does. Steve motions to Jim that it is his turn.

Unfazed, Jim sweeps his “Middle Left Block” and his “Killer Precision”. During his May Do/Must Do Phase, Jim uses his “Tessa Noel” card text to attempt to gain Ability. Jim makes a Soft Exertion, and among the 5 cards are 2 Empathy Gems, satisfying the requirements of the card. Jim places the 5 cards on the bottom of his Endurance, and moves on to his Defense Phase. Looking at his Hand, Jim plays a Counter: Duck (You may play Special Attacks from an Exertion this turn.), avoiding the Head Shot. Smiling, Jim now plays an “Upper Right Attack” face down and plays a “Head Shot” card as well. In his Ability Adjustment Phase, Jim adds 1 to his current Ability, giving him 14. In his Draw/Discard Phase, Jim can now draw up to 14 cards in his Hand, and does so. Jim nods at Steve, indicating it is now his turn.

Steve sweeps his “Middle Right Block”, “Alertness”, “Upper Left Attack” and “Head Shot” cards. With nothing to play in his May Do/Must Do Phase, Steve moves to his Defense Phase. Looking at his Hand, Steve sees that he does not have a proper Defense in his Hand and must make a Hard Exertion for a Defense. Steve announces his intent and takes the top 5 cards from his Endurance. Jim turns over his Attack so that Steve knows which grid he is defending. Looking at the 5, Steve realizes he does not have the proper defense. He shows the 5 cards to Jim and announces Jim has won. The two players shake hands and the game is now over.

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