devastation of indians print and play

8/15/2019 Devastation of Indians Print and play

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BaleCON captures the fast-paced head-to-head intensity ofa 2D fighting video game and tempers it with thestrategic decision-making of a card game.

As new villains appear to lay claim tothe world of Indines, new heroes rise

to challenge them. BaleCON:Devastation of Indines puts you in

control of 18 mighty heroes anddeadly villains to decide the fate of the world.

Each character's play stylerequires new strategies, butuses the same foundational

tactics, making a new character easy tolearn, but challenging to master.

BaleCON: Devastation of Indines can be played

stand-alone, or combined with other BaleCON gamesto create an even greater pool of characters and play modes.

By D. Brad Talton Jr. Presented by Level 99 Games

Preview Game


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Level 99 Production Staff Lead Designer

D. Brad Talton Jr.

Lead Character Illustrator

Eunice Abigael Tiu (Nokomento)

Design & Concept Artist

Fábio Fontes

Supporting Illustrators Christelle Hyunh, Victor P. Corbella, Yuting

Lian, Victoria Parker, and Anika Różnowicz

Playtesters John Parmalee, John Kirk, John Celino, Jessey Wright, Joseph Tenney, Bo King, LorenzoBatallones, Ryan “Ozzy” Lawrence, BryanGraham, Marco De Santos, Yaron Raca, AaronGresham, Mahew Locklin, Mahew Fournier, Andrey Trubitsin, Dmitry Trubitstin, DanilTrubitsin, omas Woodruff , Sean Wheon, James Johnes, Marco De Santos, Maksim Penzin,C. A. DuChane, Dennis Crenshaw, Mark

Roberts, Ari Tykkyläinen, Noah Selzer, RyanGerstein, Vladimir "Grey Swan" Perepelkin,Noah Bogart, Steve Ripberger, Ar-j Castelo, IconOrtega, Kiko Santos, Travis 'KingOfOdonata'Schneider, Nick Eglinton, Richard Peppers,Ferdinand Andrew Capitulo, Helder Araújo

Special anks Kevin Bridgeman, Steven Peit, Steven

ompson, Graham Russell, Lance Myxter, Tom

Vasel, Lynda Yang, Kevin Brusky, Brandon“Ragnar” Johnson, Mac Ko, Mark Hadley, AlexSieland

Designer ’ s ForewordHi there, thanks for trying out BaleCON!BaleCON is probably a bit diff erent than

most board or card games you own or haveplayed before. It is not intended to be taken off

the shelf and taught and played on some selectoccasions. Instead, it is designed to be anongoing game played regularly by a group ofexperienced friends.

Each character requires a bit of work tomaster, and each matchup requires a new strategyto win. Each strategy requires a new counter-strategy to defeat. By playing regularly with anestablished group, BaleCON develops a meta-game where players begin to eff ectively expect

their opponents’ tactics and adapt their ownstyles, creating a ‘living game’ that grows beyond just the box.

We’ve packed as many options, play modes,and possibilities as we can into this box, so that you can have a new experience each time youplay, even with (and especially with) friends whohave the same level of experience as you.

If this all sounds a bit daunting, don’t fear. We’ve worked just as hard to make the game

accessible as we have to make it deep. Everyelement, from the characters to the play variantshas been marked with a difficulty rating, which will help you to start on a solid footing andadvance towards more specialized characters,play modes, and strategies. So grab some friendsand get ready to explore and experienceBaleCON!

It is my sincerest hope that BaleCON brings you endless hours of entertainment with friends

and family!Happy gaming!

D. Brad Talton Jr.Lead Designer


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What is BattleCON? BaleCON is a board game based on the

principles of intense action, directconfrontation, and tactical positioning present infighting video games. Unlike its peers in console

gaming, however, Ba

leCON provides strategicelements and a more thoughtful pace–allowingthe player to choose carefully his next moves andgauge his opponents’ strengths and motives.

BaleCON is a standalone game that comesas a complete boxed set. ere are no randompacks to buy, no exclusives, and no chase cards– you get the complete game up front in the box.

While you can expand BaleCON withadditional sets featuring new characters, there is

no buy-in to collect more powerful cards and noexpensive rare cards to chase down–when youget a box, you know exactly what you are geing.

The World of Indines Welcome to Indines (pronounced In-deans),

a land of mystery, magic, wonder, and war. Inthis game, you will take on the roles of thechampions of each nation or faction,

participating in duels to determine their fatesand the fate of the world as a whole.

Each duel is short and fast-paced, as twocombatants move across the field aempting tostrike one another and avoid being struck. Onlythe one whose wits are strongest and whosestrategy is surest will be able to claim victory.

Learning the Game Don't be intimidated by this rulebook or the

number of cards in the game! BaleCON is anextremely simple game, and most of the cardsand rules in this book exist to allow you to playdiff erent variants and to increase thereplayability of the base game. In fact, eachplayer will only use 15 cards over the course of aduel.

If this is your first time playing, usecharacters listed as 'Basic' in the character guide(Shekhtur and Eligor), and follow along with thegraphic quick-rules comic. A er you feelcomfortable with the basic mechanics and rules,

you can gradually explore the more advancedcharacters and play variants.

e difficulty of characters and variantscomes in three flavors:

Basic - You can jump right in and play with

these characters and play modes.Intermediate - When you feel comfortable with the basics of the game, try these out.

Advanced - When you are ready for achallenge that tests even the abilities of a

seasoned player, try these.


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Building the Print and Play To Build your own BaleCON: Devastation

of Indines Print and Play, follow these steps:1. Print up all cards and gameboards in this

document.ere should be 8 pages of cards and

tokens, and one gameboard.* Many cards will have incomplete bleeds on the le or right sides.is is intentional. Cut them out alongthe white lines. Even if the bleeds don’t look quite righton the sheet, they will once you set up the game.

2. Sleeve the cards so that all bases are in onecolor sleeve, and all styles are in another. Stylesare the cards with their numbers aligned to theright (they are the le side of an aack pair).Bases are the cards with their numbers aligned

to the le

(they are the right side of an a

ackpair). Take note that Joal has more bases thanother characters.

2a. Malandrax’s Trap Cards can be sleeved asany third color, to diff erentiate them from othercard types.

2b. Sleeve each character’s Finisher cards inclear sleeves so that they are double-sided. Eachside should have a diff erent Finisher for the samecharacter.

3. Assemble the character Standups. You can build your character standups by pasting themtogether, or by folding them along the doedline, gluing them together, then cuing theshapes down to beer match the character sizes.

4. Cut out all Tokens. Shekhtur and Eligoreach have 5 tokens they need. Cut these out as well.

5. Acquire two life counters. You’ll need twocounters that go from twenty down to zero.

Poker chips, glass drops, a 20-sided dice, or evenscrap paper work fine for this purpose.

6. Separate Character Kits. Use plastic bagsor card cases to separate each character and the basic cards. Every character’s cards will have thatcharacter’s name at the boom center of thecard. For tokens, check the CharacterIntroductions at the end of this guide to see what goes with whom.

A er all this, you should have the thefollowing supplies ready to play:

Eligor Character Kit:- 1 Character Card (Eligor Larington)- 5 Vengeance Tokens- 5 Styles (Chained, Counter, Martial,

Retribution, Vengeful)- 1 Base (Aegis)- 1 Finisher (Sweet Revenge / Sheet

Lightning)

Shekhtur Character Kit:- 1 Character Card (Shekhtur Lenmorre)- 5 Malice Tokens- 5 Styles (Combination, Jugular, Reaver,

Spiral, Unleashed)- 1 Base (Brand)- 1 Finisher (Soul Cracker / Coffin Nails)

Joal Character Kit:- 1 Character Card (Joal Kalmor)- 5 Styles (Cuhroat, Dual Wield, Relentless,

Slayer’s, Warded)- 5 Bases (Knuckles, Binding Knife, Hand

Cannon, Ironstar, Runeblade)

- 1 Finisher (Annihilator / Neutralizer)

Malandrax Character Kit:- 1 Character Card (Malandrax Mecchi)- 4 Trap Cards (Alarm Trap, Electroshock

Trap, Smasher Trap, Wall Spike Trap)- 5 Styles (Calculated, Ingenious, Leading,

Ploing, Precision)- 1 Base (Master Plan)- 1 Finisher (Deathtrap / Plots Within Plots)

2 Base Sets:- 6 Bases (Strike, Shot, Grasp, Dash, Drive,

Burst)

1 Game Board2 Reference Cards (Beat Sequence + Setup)2 Life Counters (supplied by you)4 Double-sided standups


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Gameplay Overview Your primary goal in BaleCON is to win

matches against other players in a head-to-head bale. Both you and your opponent will selectone of the eighteen characters in the game, and

play a match. A single match consists of two or three duels. A duel is a complete game, beginning at 20 lifepoints and ending with one player reaching 0life. A single duel takes between 10 and 20minutes, so a match is typically between 30minutes and an hour long. e player who winstwo out of the three duels is declared the winnerof the match.

In the course of a single duel, the goal of each

player is to reduce their opponent's life total tozero or fewer points. e first to accomplish thisis declared the winner of that duel.

A duel consists of up to fieen rounds, called beats. In a beat, both players act simultaneouslyas they play out all of the steps of the beat. ereare no 'turns' in BaleCON–both players areconstantly engaged in the conflict.

If you’re just learning the game, it is

recommended to use the two characters ‘ Shekhtur Lenmorre’ and ‘ Eligor Larington’ and followalong with the introductory rules comic. A er following through the comic, you can use thedetailed rules here to answer any questions thatcome up as you play the game.

Character Card Overview Characters are specific personas that you use

on the field of bale. Each player will select adiff erent character at the start of the game andmust use all of the styles and bases that are

associated with that specifi

c character.

Each character card has the followingcomponents:

1. Name – e name of the character.2. Unique Ability – One or more unique

abilities that this character possesses. ese arestaples of their personal strategy and are usedduring gameplay.

e reverse side of each character contains adescription of how that character fights and some

insight as to how you can pick them up to playquickly.

Some characters are more difficult to learnthan others, or require a familiarity with the coregameplay that makes them difficult to learn first. We suggest starting with ‘basic’ characters.edifficulty of a character can be found in theirstrategy section on the reverse of this card.

1

2


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Base Card Overview ese cards are printed with their numbers

aligned to the le and may be either unique to acharacter or generic. ose that are unique to acharacter have that character's picture on them.

Bases are the foundations of an a

ack pair. All bases have the following parts.1. Name – e name of the base.2. Range – is is what distance the aack

will strike at. Some ranges are expressed as two values (i.e.: 1~4). ese ranges target all spacesincluded in the range (so 1~4 would targetspaces at range 1, 2, 3, and 4). A acks with arange of N/A will never hit unless they havesome special eff ect that says they do. Range can

never be less than 0.3. Power – is is how much damage theaack will do. A acks with a power of N/A willnot do any damage. Power can never be less thanzero.

4. Priority – e speed of the aack. Higherpriority aacks have the advantage of going firstin combat--allowing you to stun or escape youropponent in many instances. Priority may benegative on some aacks.

5. Eff ects – Special eff ects that are part of theaack. ese are explained in more detail later.

Style Card Overview ese cards are printed with their numbers

aligned to the right and are all specific to acertain character. Each style can be paired with a base to form an aack pair. A style has the

following parts.1. Name – e name of the style. is pairs with the name of the base to form the name ofthe aack. For example, a 'Calculated' style and a'Strike' base combine to form the 'CalculatedStrike' aack.

2. Range Modifier – e range of the aack ismodified up or down by this amount.

i. If only one side of the aack has a variable range like (1~4), add the single number

to both sides (so 1~4 plus 2 would be 3~6).ii. If both sides of the aack range are variable, calculate the complete range by addingthe highest and lowest parts of both sides (so 1~4plus 2~4 would be 3~8).

3. Power Modifier – e power of the aackis modified up or down by this amount.

4. Priority Modifier – e priority of theaack is modified up or down by this amount.

5. Eff ects – ese eff ects are added on to the

eff ects of the base, giving the aack additionalpowers. Style eff ects work the same way as baseeff ects.

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5


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Finisher Card Overview Each character has a Finisher card that they

can make use of during play. We recommend notusing the Finisher cards during your first fewgames of BaleCON, and instead introducing

them a

er you feel comfortable with the basicgameplay.

e finisher card looks just like a style, exceptthat it has a purple overlay and a complete border around the edge. A finisher is not half of

an aack pair though–it replaces the entireaack pair, and whatever base or style you playdoes not modify it.

Finishers have two sides. During setup, eachplayer should secretly select which finisher they wish to use, then reveal those simultaneously.

Finishers can be used during ante if a playerhas 7 life or less remaining. Just ante yourfinisher and take your aack pair back into yourhand. Do not recycle discard piles aer using a

finisher. Instead just remove the Finisher fromthe game.


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Game Setup 1. Character Selection – Each player

chooses one character (choose secretly in acompetitive game). ey take all of thatcharacter's cards (1 character card, 5 styles, 1

finisher card, and 1 base), plus a set of generic bases (6 bases–Strike, Dash, Drive, Grasp, Burst,and Shot), to form a starting hand. Each playershould also find any tokens or markers theircharacter uses and place them beside theircharacter card or into play as specified by theirunique abilities.

Each character’s complete kit is listed belowtheir portrait in the character guide, later in theserules. e name of the character kit a card belongs

to is always listed in the bo om center of the card.2. Board Setup - Place the players on thesecond and sixth spaces respectively (as shown below), so that each character is on its owner'sle hand side of the board. Use the spinning lifedials to keep track of each player's life points. Allplayers start with 20 life.

3. Initial Discards - Each player chooses two bases and two styles*.ese will form two pairsthat should be placed in discard 1 and discard 2respectively.ese cards will not be available atthe start of the game but will become availablesoon. Make sure your two discard piles are clearlyseparated and that you know which is which, asthey both have very important functions (see“Recycle” for more information).

3b. Character Setup - Some characters(particularly advanced characters) require someadditional setup. e character’s Unique Ability will tell you what extra setup steps they may haveto complete.

4. Game Start - Once you have completedthese actions and filled both discard piles, you are

ready to begin the game.

* When learning the game or trying a newcharacter, the bases and styles marked with a ‘1’and ‘2’ form the starting discard piles. ese areoptional, but are intended to help you to set up the game and jump into a new character quickly.


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The Core Mechanic An aack pair is formed by selecting one

style and one base from the player's hand and

placing those face-down in front of him. An aack pair has the power, range, andpriority of the base, plus the modifiers specifiedon the style and all the eff ects of both cards.

Since there are 5 styles and 7 bases, eachcharacter has 35 possible aacks (and even morewhen you factor in Unique Abilities!)

Objective e objective of each duel is to reduce the

opponent's life points to zero before youropponent can do the same to you. e firstplayer whose life points reach zero is eliminated,and the remaining player is declared the winnerof the duel.

A duel has a time limit of 15 beats (just afancy name for rounds). At the end of the 15th beat, if no player has eliminated the other, thenthe player with the highest life total is declared

the winner.

Play Sequence Every beat in BaleCON follows a similar

paern. Each of these steps is done by eachplayer simultaneously.

1. Select aack pairs 2. Ante Tokens 3. Reveal aack pairs 4. Execute aacks 5. Recycle

1 - Select Attack Pairs Each player chooses one style and one base

from his hand, then places those cards face downin front of him where their opponent can see the backs of the cards clearly. A legal aack pair

always has one red-backed and one blue- backed card. Once both players have aack pairsplaced down in front of them, move on to thenext step.

2 - Ante Phase A character's unique ability may provide thatcharacter with with tokens. ese tokens arechosen and spent during the ante step, aer bothplayers have selected aack pairs. A token's exacteff ect depends on the unique ability of thecharacter using it.

Tokens are in a character's “token pool” areauntil they are used. A er being used, they aretypically moved to the “token discard pool.”

Unless otherwise stated by a character'sunique ability, tokens are discarded to their ownseparate discard pile and cannot be retrievedexcept by the eff ects of that character's styles and bases. Not all characters are able to retrieve theirtokens, so pay aention to your options forrecovery before you use them recklessly!

Players may ante tokens in any order, and mayalways ante more tokens (as far as their uniqueabilities allow), but antes can never be taken

back. Once both players have elected to pass onadding tokens, move on to the next step.


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3 - Reveal Attack Pairs Both players simultaneously flip over their

face-down aack pairs. Any Reveal Eff ects occurat this time. Reveal eff ects can occur in any orderthe players wish.

A

er resolving all reveal eff

ects, check thepriorities of both aacks (considering anymodifications provided by tokens, styles, andpassive special abilities). If the total prioritiestie, then a clash occurs.

Reveal e ff ects do not have any timing, and onlyserve to improve the priority of the styles they are printed on. Players can execute reveal e ff ects ineither order, even simultaneously. ey continue to provide their bene fits, even a er a clash, and are

never activated more than once per beat.

Priority Tie? - Clash! In a clash, both players must play a new base

face-down from their hands. eysimultaneously reveal the played base and put iton top of the old one, hiding the eff ects and statsof the original base and forming a new aack.Players then check to see if another clash has

occurred. If it has, continue again as above.If any player runs out of cards during the

clash, then skip directly to recycling their topaack pairs (without activating any End of Beateff ects) and a new beat begins.

During the Recycle step, only recycle thetop aack pair (the one your characteractually used), and return all other cards to

your hand.

e player who has higher priority aerReveal eff ects are resolved is called the ActivePlayer, and the one with lower priority is calledthe Reactive Player.

A er Reveal eff ects and Active/Reactiveplayer are resolved (by clashes if necessary),Start of Beat eff ects take place. e Active Playerexecutes all of his Start of Beat eff ects, then theReactive Player executes all of his Start of Beateff ects. Once the Start of Beat eff ects are

resolved, aacks begin.

4 - Active Attack e Active Player activates his aack first by

performing the following steps*:1. He performs any Before Activating eff ects

listed on his cards. If there are multiple eff ects, he

chooses which order to use them.2. He checks to see if the opponent is withinhis range. Range is counted in spaces, with thespace occupied by the player being space zero (soadjacent characters are at range 1, and charactersat the start of a match are at range 4).

* It is possible for some e ff ects, such as Eligor’sCounter style, to stun the Active Player. If this

happens, his a ack is skipped, and you should movestraight to the next step, Reactive A ack.

Special Ranges Some aacks have special ranges of X or

N/A. ese aacks are treated diff erently

than normal. A acks with a range of N/A never hitopponents.

A acks with a range of X (on either side ofthe a ack pair) have their range defined bysome special passive or triggered eff ect. Range boosts or penalties do not apply to thesespecial ranges–they can only hit or miss dueto their eff ects.


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3. If the opponent is in range, then the activeplayer resolves any On Hit eff ects.

4. If the opponent was hit by the aack, thenthe opponent takes damage equal to the powerof the aack, reducing the damage taken by hisown aack's Soak value (if he has this eff ect–seecommon eff ects).

5. If any damage was done, On Damage eff ects are resolved. Also, if any damage wasdone, the opponent may be stunned. is stuncan be prevented by an opponent with StunGuard (see the section on Stun, page 25).

6. If a player's life is reduced to zero or fewerpoints, the game immediately ends, with theremaining player being declared the winner.

7. e active player resolves any A er

Activating eff

ects, regardless of whether or notthe aack hit or did damage.

4B - Reactive Attack If the Reactive Player is not stunned, then he

may activate his aack by following the samesteps as the Active Player. A stunned player skipsactivation entirely, including any Before

Activating and A er Activating eff ects.Once the reactive player has resolved his

aack (or been stunned), move on to the nextstep.

5 - Recycle Both players activate any End

of Beat eff ects they possess. If both players have End of Beateff ects, the Active Player executesall of his eff ects first. End of Beat

eff ects will still be executed bythe reactive player even if he was stunned.

Finally, both players:1. Pick up their second

(outermost) discard pile,2. Move their first (innermost)

discard pile into their seconddiscard pile, and

3. Move the aack pair they just

played face-up into their first discardpile.

Once you have recycled your discard piles,advance the turn timer by one beat, and you areall set to start the next beat!

e recycling of discard piles meansthat each A ack Pair you play will take 2

beats of cycling before it can be recombinedinto new aacks. Be careful before you use

your strongest aack–it might be moreuseful as two parts instead of one!


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Resolving Effects During the course of the game, you will need

to resolve many special eff ects that your aackshave. How to resolve these eff ects is explained indetail here.

ere are two kinds of eff

ects, PassiveEff ects and Triggered Eff ects.Passive eff ects are always active from the time

the aack is revealed until the end of the beat.For example, Shekhtur’s Combination Stylestates " is a ack does not hit opponents at range3 or greater." is is a passive eff ect and should be followed as long as it is face-up on the player'scurrent aack pair. Its instructions should beobeyed by both players at all times.

Triggered eff

ects have two parts: a trigger andan eff ect. An example of a triggered eff ect might be "Before Activating: Advance 1 or 2 spaces." is means that the eff ect is triggered andresolved during the Before Activating step(during step 4 of the turn). If a player controlsmultiple triggered eff ects with the same trigger,then he chooses what order to activate them. Alltriggered eff ects are mandatory–you must usethem when they trigger.

If triggered and passive eff ects would conflict with one another, the passive eff ects takeprecedence.

Status Effects Some triggered eff ects will apply powers to

the next beat of combat. ese are called “StatusEff ects” and are separate from the cards, tokens,or abilities that generate them. e box containssome tokens that you can use to track status

eff ects, but status eff ects are not tokens.

Movement Many eff ects will cause characters to move.

e only way to move on the board is by theseeff ects or by the unique abilities of characters.

Movement will be specified by triggeredeff ects or a character's unique abilities in theform of eff ects such as “A er Activating: Advance 1, 2, or 3 spaces.”

ere are 6 kinds of movement:

Advance – is movement brings you closerto an opponent. (ex: “Advance 1, 2, or 3 spaces”)

Retreat – is movement takes you furtherfrom an opponent. (ex: “Retreat 1 space.”)

Pull – is movement brings an opponentcloser to you. (ex: “Pull the opponent up to 2spaces”)

Push – is movement puts an opponentfurther from you. (ex: “Push the opponent up to2 spaces”)

Move – You may choose either direction for

this movement. (ex: “Move 1 space”)


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Move directly – Teleport immediately to thespace specified, without moving into or out ofspaces in between. Some eff ects may prevent youfrom “moving over” your opponent. eseeff ects do not apply to direct movement.

Movement eff ects are mandatory. If aneff ect says 'advance 1 or 2 spaces', then the playermust move either 1 space forwards or 2 spacesforwards. He cannot choose to remain where heis.

For all moves except direct movement, youmust pass through the spaces between yourcurrent position and your final destination.

If an eff ect specifies 'Advance up to 2 spaces',then the player has the option of choosing amovement of zero (which is less than 2) andremaining stationary. Negative movement isnever allowed.

When moving, you hop over opponents anddo not count the spaces they occupy against your

movement. (See the example for Advancing)If a player cannot complete a retreat due to

the presence of a wall, then he moves as far aspossible and stops. e same holds true for aplayer advancing against a player who is adjacentto a wall. e presence of walls may precludemovement entirely. In this case, movement isignored.

If a legal movement is possible given theeff ect moving the character, then it must be

taken. (Example: Arec must move 1 space forwards orbackwards, but there is a wall behind him. In this case,he is forced to choose the forwards movement, since it isthe only legal, available move).

Stun, Guard, & Immunity All aacks have the potential to stun

opponents when they hit. A stunned opponent isunable to react with an aack of his own. us, in

order to score hits a player must either be fast

enough to strikefi

rst, maneuverable enough toavoid damage, or defensive enough to preventstun. A stun occurs whenever a player takes damage

greater than his Stun Guard value. A acks thathave no Stun Guard on them have a Stun Guard

of zero. Here are a few examples that you canfollow along with using your own cards. All ofthese examples ignore range and movement.

Example 1 - Hit and taking damage:

Shekhtur and Eligor dueling. Shekhtur uses a'Jugular Grasp' (7 priority) and Eligor uses a'Retribution Drive' (4 priority). Shekhtur will gofirst. She hits Eligor for 1 damage. Because Eligorhas no Stun Guard or Soak eff ects, he takes 1damage and is stunned. He will not be able to useany of his eff ects, since Before Activating is an A ack trigger, and he will not aack this beat.

Example 2 - Taking no damage: Eligor uses'Retribution Aegis' with 3 tokens (priority -1,

Soak 3, Stun Guard 6) and Shekhtur uses 'JugularGrasp' (priority 7). Shekhtur will hit first,dealing 1 point of damage to Eligor. Eligor hasSoak 3, which reduces the damage he takes by upto 3 points. us, he takes 0 damage. Because hehas not taken any damage, he is able to retaliateand score 2 damage on Shekhtur.

‘Advance’ and ‘Pull’ just determinethe initial direction of the movement. It’spossible to pull someone past you so that

they are further away than when they

started, and it’s possible to advance farpast someone in order to create distance.


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Example 3 - Stun Guard greater thandamage: Eligor uses 'Vengeful Strike' (priority3, Stun Guard 8) and Shekhtur is using 'SpiralDrive' with 2 tokens (priority 5). Shekhtur willhit first, as usual, and deal 4 points of damage.Eligor takes the damage, but because the damageis lower than or equal to his Stun Guard value,he is not stunned. He can hit Shekhtur back for 5damage.

Example 4 - Damage greater than StunGuard: Eligor uses 'Counter Strike' (priority 2,Stun Guard 5) and Shekhtur uses 'CombinationDrive' (priority 4). Shekhtur will hit first,dealing 6 damage to Eligor (+2 fromCombination’s eff ect). Eligor takes the damage,and since it is higher than his Stun Guard value,

he is stunned and will not activate his a

ack.Example 5 - Stun by eff ect: Eligor uses anextremely defensive 'Vengeful Aegis' with 4tokens (priority 0, Soak 4, Stun Guard 11).Shekhtur uses her finisher, 'SoulBreaker' (priority 3). Shekhtur will go first,dealing 3 damage to Eligor. Eligor's Soak absorbsthe first 4 points of the damage, so he takesnone. However, Shekhtur's Finisher has a specialeff ect "On Hit: e opponent is stunned..."

Eligor is stunned because of the eff

ect and willnot activate his aack. is is called an auto-stuneff ect and can stun regardless of the opponent'sStun Guard and Soak.

Example 6 - Stun Immunity: Eligor usesthe same 'Vengeful Aegis' and Shekhtur uses hersame 'Soul Breaker' as above. is time,however, Eligor decides to ante all 5 of his Vengeance tokens during the Ante phase. isante gives him the eff ect of Stun Immunity due

to his unique ability. Now when Shekhtur hitsfirst, her Soul Breaker’s eff ect will aempt tostun Eligor. Eligor is immune to stun, however,so no eff ect and no amount of damage canprevent him from executing his aack this beat.

Common Effects Stun Guard – A number will be specified

(i.e.: Stun Guard 5, Stun Guard 3). Wheneverthe player takes damage this turn, he is not

stunned unless the total damage taken this turnis greater than his Stun Guard rating. Stun Guard

is always a passive eff ect. A acks with no StunGuard specified have an implied Stun Guard of 0.

If a player would take damage multiple timesin a turn, Stun Guard applies separately to eachone. e player must take damage higher than hisStun Guard in a single aack for his Stun Guardto be broken.

Soak – A number will be specified (i.e.: Soak3, Soak 1, Soak 2). Whenever the player wouldtake damage this turn, he reduces the damagetaken by the amount specified. Multiple Soakeff ects stack together (so Soak 3 + Soak 1 = Soak4). Soak is always a passive eff ect.

If a player would take damage multiple timesin a turn, his Soak applies to each individual timehe would take the damage.

Lose Life – Eff

ects that say “lose life” do notever cause stun. Only eff ects that “deal damage”can cause stuns. Soak does not prevent loss of lifefrom these eff ects. Loss of life can never reducea player to below 1 life.

Stun Immunity – e character cannot bestunned by any means or eff ects. Stun Immunityoverrides any eff ect or damage that wouldnormally stun a character. It does not prevent anydamage.

“

e opponent is stunned” -

e opponent becomes stunned.is ignores any soak and stunguard eff ects the opponent may have, but will notbypass Stun Immunity.


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“It only takes one hero to stand upand change the world for the better.”

Eligor acquires Vengeance Tokens as he takesdamage, and these tokens further increase hisdefensive potential and ability to e ff ectively

countera ack. He is a great choice for players who prefer to play defensively and make contingency plans for their opponents’ options.

Difficulty: BasicComplete Kit:- 1 Character Card (Eligor Larington)- 5 Vengeance Tokens- 5 Styles (Chained, Counter, Martial,

Retribution, Vengeful)

- 1 Base (Aegis)- 1 Finisher (Sweet Revenge / Sheet

Li ht i )

“This power was meant for evil, but maybeI can use it for good instead.”

Shekhtur gains Malice Tokens as she doesdamage, and these tokens further increase herspeed and damage-dealing ability. She is a great

choice for players who like to use reckless,unstoppable force as an alternative to a more pacedcombat style.

Difficulty: BasicComplete Kit:- 1 Character Card (Shekhtur Lenmorre)- 5 Malice Tokens- 5 Styles (Combination, Jugular, Reaver,

Spiral, Unleashed)

- 1 Base (Brand)- 1 Finisher (Soul Cracker / Coffin Nails)

Shekhtur Lenmorre Eligor Larington

Playing Eligor Eligor is a dedicated defensive fighter whose

heavy armor and combat training allow him tostand up against the most powerful aacks without flinching. He excels in counteraacking,and fights most eff ectively when he can predict

the opponent and bait certain aacks.Start out with Eligor if you prefer to hold

your ground and watch your opponents’strategies unwind in the face of your defenses.

Playing Shekhtur Shekhtur is a deadly rushdown character who

can do great damage to opponents and maintainsignificant pressure. Her abilities revolve aroundcreating and maintaining favorable corner trapsand staying in close melee with opponents.

Start out with Shekhtur if you like to take theoff ensive early and stay on the aack as much aspossible.


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“As expected, everything is playingout splendidly.”

Malandrax sets traps for opponents, activatingthem instantly when the conditions are right, basedon his opponents’ movements. He is suitable for

tricky players who like to induce paranoia inopponents to make them trip up.

Difficulty: AdvancedComplete Kit:- 1 Character Card (Malandrax Mecchi)- 4 Trap Cards (Alarm Trap, Electroshock

Trap, Smasher Trap, Wall Spike Trap)- 5 Styles (Calculated, Ingenious, Leading,

Ploing, Precision)

- 1 Base (Master Plan)- 1 Finisher (Deathtrap / Plots Within Plots)

Malandrax Mecchi

Playing Malandrax Malandrax is an advanced character, a

scheming trap-seer who relies heavily on anopponent’s paranoia and recklessness to createdeadly setups.

Once you’ve played everyone else and feel

comfortable with the game’s core mechanics, tryout Malandrax to see how much an outlandishUnique Ability can change the game and force you to think diff erently.

Playing Joal Joal is a slightly more advanced jack-of-all

trades type fighter. His additional bases give himthe ability to adapt to all sorts of situations, andmaking the best move in any given position isn’talways easy.

Once you’ve played a few games withShekhtur or Eligor, try out Joal and get a feel forthe breadth of possibilities BaleCON has tooff er in a more technical fighter.

“Even the immortal dragons can behunted – if you know their weakness.”

Joal possesses additional unique bases, and canswap out his starting selection of bases to put newstrategies into place. He is a great pick for players

who like to adapt their abilities to match eachopponent.

Difficulty: IntermediateComplete Kit:- 1 Character Card ( Joal Kalmor)- 5 Styles (Cuhroat, Dual Wield, Relentless,

Slayer’s, Warded)- 5 Bases (Knuckles, Binding Knife, Hand

Cannon, Ironstar, Runeblade)

- 1 Finisher (Annihilator / Neutralizer)

Joal Kalmor


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Frequently AskedQuestions

For a more complete and up-to-date FAQ,check out www.ba leconnection.com

Common Questions Q: Does damage cause life loss, and vice-

versa? A: No.ese are two diff erent things.

Damage is usually caused by aacks based ontheir power. Life loss is typically caused bytriggered eff ects. e primary diff erence between these two are that life loss cannot

reduce a character below 1 life, will never stun acharacter, and bypasses soak.

Q: What happens if priority changes aer theReveal?

A: Nothing. Once priority order is resolved,changes to priority do not alter that order lateron in the beat. Triggered eff ects (like Marmelee’sPetrifying style) can still alter the priority order.

Eligor Q: What is included in the power of my Aegis

base? A: Any numbers printed in the ‘power’

section of your opponents’ aack pair. Bonuses,like those provided by Malandrax’s Ingeniousstyle or Shekhtur’s 3rd and 5th tokens are notincluded.

Joal Q: When do I select my stockpile? A: Anything that happens during setup (such

as choosing the stockpile or seing your startingdiscards) happens secretly and is revealedsimultaneously right before the duel begins.

Malandrax Q: Can my Smasher Trap be used to trigger a

hit with my Master Plan? A: No. Smasher Trap only activates during

End of Beat, and Master Plan has already missed

the opponent at this point.

Q: Do I have to activate a trap immediately when its relevant?

A: No, you can always wait to activate a trap, but if your opponent moves on to the next eff ectand doesn’t give you another chance to activate,then you’ve missed your opportunity!

Q: Can I interrupt movement with a trap?

A: Yes, you can activate a trap in the middle ofanother player’s movement eff ect. Once the trapeff ect is complete, the other player’s eff ectcontinues as normal.

Shekhtur Q: Exactly what happens when I hit with the

Soul Breaker Finisher? A: Treat it as though your opponent’s Unique

Ability text were completely blank.- Eligor can no longer ante or acquire tokens.- Joal’s stockpile cannot be accessed anymore

(he keeps extra bases already in play though).- Malandrax can no longer set traps. Any eff ects or abilities that reference tokens,

traps, or the stockpile stop working.

Gameplay Tips Start out by sticking with a single character

and mastering them. e more you play a singlecharacter, the beer you’ll get. Only once youhave all of your own eff ects and capabilitiesmastered will you be able to find the ways toexploit an opponents’ weaknesses and tocompensate for your own.

Never give up. Except in a very fewsituations, there’s always a winning move that will make a positive exchange (or at least avoid


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negative exchange). If things get tough, buckledown and pay more aention to your opponent’sdiscards and play style.

Play best of three matches. Especially withnew characters, a first match will rarely tell youanything about the depth and possibilities of your character. A first match lets each side know what the other is capable of, but the secondmatch gives those possibilities time to sink in, sothat the other side can eff ectively counterplay.

BaleCON plays the best with fullinformation and mastery on both sides of thefield. Playing a complete match rather than justone duel gives you the opportunity to correctmistakes made in the first duel and experiment

with new strategies that can deal with youropponent’s kit.

Unconventional opponents requireunconventional play. Not all matches will be aseasy as others, but all matches are winnable.Sometimes a match will require a completelydiff erent set of strategies from what you’ve become accustomed to.

Characters with extreme mobility, speed,

defense, or certain tricks can completely shutdown the core strategies of your favoritecharacter.

Finding a new strategy to overcome thesetactics is part of the fun of BaleCON, and oneof the most satisfying parts of mastering acharacter is when you can handily win a fightthat looks impossible at first glance.

Thanks for checking out

You can visit www.baleconnection.com toget a copy of the complete game, or to check outadditional characters, gameplay reviews, backstory notes, and strategy guides!

If you’ve had fun with this small slice of the

complete game, there’s tons more where it camefrom.e complete Devastation of Indines gamehas over 18 characters, multiplayer modes,massive cooperative bosses to fight, and evensolo dungeons to tackle.

anks from all of us at Level 99 Games fortaking the time to try out BaleCON!


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