Trading Cards

Updated: 11-8-2022

Battle Rounds Trading Cards are a great way to add more excitement to your game! You don’t need trading cards to play Battle Rounds, but they can power up your characters and give you more strategy options when playing. The cards can be used in many ways – you pick the play style that sounds the most fun to you! Below are several options to choose from. For added fun, try using multiple options at the same time!

Trading cards from our pre-release set are available now in our online shop.

Trading Card Gameplay Options:

1. Standard Encounters: The standard way to use trading cards while playing Battle Rounds is to shuffle a bunch of random cards and place them on several different map hexes. For fair gameplay, make sure each player has a set of cards an equal distance away from their starting hex space. When a character lands on a hex space next to the cards, they can draw the top card. Each character can only draw once from each set of cards. Optional Note: Instead of placing the trading cards directly on the map, you can download & 3D print (from our online shop coming soon) various map encounters to hold and distribute cards. Encounters may have their own specific rules for acquiring cards.
2. Team Lockers: Each player uses their own deck of trading cards. Each players’ cards are randomly shuffled and placed face down on hexes that are an equal distance away for each player. Players‘ characters can draw cards from ONLY their own team’s deck of cards. So not to allow one player’s set of cards to give an unfair advantage, limit each player to the same number of card “Power Points” in their set. Power Points are found on the bottom right corner of all cards, on the orange die. For example: before gameplay starts, each player can put together a deck of cards that has no more than a combined total of 42 points.
3. Finders Keepers: Before the game begins, each player contributes an equal amount of unopened cards. The cards are opened and divided among the various “card encounters” or map hexes to be used as noted above. Be sure to not allow any players to see the cards. Play the game using the standard rules noted above. At the end of the game, win or lose, each player keeps the cards his or her characters picked up during the game. The unused cards are blindly split between players with the winning player keeping any remaining cards. Maybe give the winning player an extra card or two?

Card Types

There are currently 5 types of trading cards.

1. Power Up: Power Up cards increase (or sometimes decrease) the stats of the character drawing the card. The character’s stats dice are immediately updated to reflect the bonuses and the card is discarded for the rest of the game. Power Up cards have red dice at the bottom of each card.
2. Carry Along: Carry Along cards are similar to Power Up cards but all benefits from the card are temporary and only last as long as the character is “holding” that card. The character’s stats dice are not adjusted. The adjustments are accounted for after any dice rolls. Carry Along cards usually have a limited number of uses (noted on the card). Card uses can be tracked by using flags inserted into the Battle Rounds disc. After a card has been used its allowed number of times, it is discarded. Players may choose when their character uses a card, but its use must be decided/declared before any dice rolls. Carry Along cards have green dice at the bottom of each card.
3. Location: Location cards are “carried” by characters as if they were Carry Along cards. When used, Location cards are placed on any hex the character lands on. Once placed, the location card stays on the map, face up, and can be used by any character landing on that hex. Location cards have brown dice at the bottom of each card.
4. Ally: Ally cards are only considered allies to the team of the character drawing the card. They are considered Enemy cards to all other players. Standard Ally cards can be used in one of two ways. Ally cards can be used to immediately eliminate any Enemy card on the map or any Ally card placed by other players. When used in this way, both cards are removed from the map and discarded with no characters receiving stats rewards. Ally cards can also be carried and placed on any hex the owning character lands on. The Ally card is left on that hex until defeated. Any opposing player’s characters that enter the range of that Ally card is immediately attacked by the Ally, before that character can attack. If the attacked character is not killed by the Ally card, that character can then attack the Ally card. If the Ally’s heath is reduced to 0 or below in the attack, the Ally is removed and the attacking character is awarded the stats benefit noted on the Ally card. The stats reward noted is the total benefit which can be split between different stats of the player’s choosing. If the Ally is not defeated in the attack, it stays on the board and will attack that same character again just before the owning player’s turn. Ally card stats cannot be altered and its health is not reduced in battles. Ally cards have blue dice at the bottom of each card.
5. Enemy: When an Enemy card is drawn, it immediately attacks the character drawing the card. The Enemy card will also immediately attack any character entering its range. If the character survives, it may return the attack. If the Enemy survives the return attack, it remains in place, attacking any character that comes within range (as noted above). If for whatever reason the Enemy card cannot remain in place on the map hex it was drawn from, the player who drew that card may choose an adjacent hex. Enemy cards have orange dice at the bottom of each card.

General Card Rules

Each character may only draw 1 card from any given encounter.

Each character can only hold (or have active) 2 cards at the same time. If a character has 2 cards and draws another card, the player must choose 1 card to be discarded.

When cards are drawn, they do not have to be disclosed to the other players, but players must be able to account for which cards are carried by each of their characters. If a card is used, it must be disclosed to all players.

Follow the rules/descriptions on the cards during gameplay. If a specific card’s rules/description clashes with a standard game rule, follow the rules on the card.

Optional Card Rules

An optional “trading” rule allows players’ characters to trade cards when on adjacent spaces. They may also give cards to adjacent characters without receiving cards in return. When playing with more than 2 players, characters may even trade cards with characters on opposing teams.

Another optional rule for drawing cards is to allow characters the ability to draw a second card from an encounter, but the character must first reach an opposing team’s base. Only after landing on an opposing player’s base can they return to any encounter a second time and draw another card.