Starter Pack Rule Book

#### **A War Without Limits Needs Heroes without Equals**

Twelve thousand years ago, war raged across six Dimensions. Earth, because of its many Dimensional Vortex Gates, was a constant battlefield before the ice-age's glacial fingers ended the warring. Centuries passed and humans forgot the ancient war. It's battles, heroes and gallant deeds became foundations for our mythologies. The Greeks sang of the Olympians of Gaea. Egyptians paid homage to the wisdom of Osirisans. Norsemen worshipped the Asgard; Celts the powerful Hyborians. Everyone admired the Atlanteans and feared the monsters from Chaos. With the war forgotten, man fought his own wars and progressed over the next ten thousand years. Only on the darkest of nights some genetic memory triggers, sending a shiver and a warning - they will come again.

#### Getting Started

Hyborian Gates is for two or more players. Each player needs a card deck. Part of the fun is collecting Hyborian Gates cards to create differently themed decks and discover how to structure special decks to defeat your friends.

#### Winning

A game ends when one player controls a number of Dimensions until the end of everyone's turns. The number of Dimensions varies with the number of players:

* two players -- five out of six Dimensions
* three players -- four out of six Dimensions
* four or more players - three out of six Dimensions

#### The Cards

Cards use a common design to provide game play information.

#### Terms

The terms essential to learning the rules are listed below. Additional terms may be found in the glossary.

##### Attached Cards

These cards are played underneath a Trooper card. Once attached, they generally stay with the Trooper in play as long as the Trooper is alive. Attached cards usually add to the strength (defensive and/or offensive numbers) of the Trooper. Attached cards must be played on Troopers while in the Ready Area. Attached cards are : Companions, Tech and Vehicles.

##### Campaign

When one or more Troopers attack a Gate or Dimension occupied by opposing cards, a Campaign ensues. The attacker selects one of his/her Troopers to battle one defending Trooper (chosen by the defending player)The winner stays to fight another battle in the same Campaign. The loser is discarded.

A player may wish to send in multiple Troopers in case of their best attack is defeated by some Vortex Tactics card or other strategy.

Troopers occupying a Dimension before an attack always considered the defender even though they use their attack numbers agaisnt opposing Trooper's dense numbers.

##### Battle

A portion of a Campaign involving one attacking and one defending Trooper (including all attached cards on both sides).

##### Dimensional Icon

Colored, geometic icons are printed in the cards' upper right-hand corners. These icons determine the cards' original Dimension and how many points of Pyramid power are required to transport specific cards. There are six known Dimensions. They are linked in a circle as follows: Hyboria, Gaea, Asgard, Atlantis, Osiris, Chaos.

##### Ready Area

Troopers and attached cards are played from a player's hand into his Ready Area (an area on the table beneath the player's line of Pyramid Complexes).