Hey HeroClix fans,

We wanted to take a moment to talk to you about the philosophy and structure of the HeroClix rules documents, which are available online right here!

Core Rules – These are included in the Mighty Thor Starter

PAC (Powers and Abilities Card) – Also included in the Mighty Thor Starter and included in Sidekick Night packs.

Quick Start Rules – These abbreviated rules are included in Sidekick night packs.

Comprehensive Rules – Currently online only. We plan to provide a method for printed versions to be available in the future.

Our twin goals for rules are to have printed rules available for each level of player and judge (Quick, Core, and Comprehensive), and to have everything easily accessible online at heroclix.com/rules . We plan to update all the documents listed below regularly (though on no set schedule), and each has a version number on their first page for easy tracking. The rules in starters may be slightly behind current online versions, but changes to the Core rules and PAC should be minimal after the first release. Also, a Change Log that summarizes any changes (that aren’t grammar related or otherwise minor) between updated versions of the core and comprehensive rules will be available on the Main Rules Page so that players can quickly see what changes there are from the version they have to the most recent version.”

The breakdown of rules documents:

The main HeroClix rules

The main HeroClix rules has 3 components, plus the Power and Abilities Card (PAC).

Level 1 is the HeroClix Quick-Start rules. This 4-page document is intended for new players playing their first few games of HeroClix. It covers all the basic concepts of HeroClix, and gives new players a solid foundation of the most critical rules to build upon. Along with looking up standard powers on the PAC, players should be able to play through their first event. Six copies of both it and the PAC are included in all “Sidekick Night” kits moving forward. Both retailers and players should find the Quick-start rules very useful in helping new players get started in HeroClix.

Level 2 is the HeroClix Core rules. This 36-page document is the same level of depth that players are familiar with. Some of the more corner case rulings have been removed but more diagrams and detailed explanations for commonly misunderstood or tricky concepts have been added. Rather than having 5 very broad sections, it now has 22 smaller, more focused sections to help players easily find the rule they need. This rulebook should be all a player needs to play in any Modern Age HeroClix event. The currently plan is that the Core rulebook and a PAC are included with every HeroClix starter set moving forward.

Level 3 is the HeroClix Comprehensive rules supplement. This document (which is 16 pages for this first version) is intended for judges and our very top-tier players. We don’t expect most players will ever need to reference anything in here during gameplay. It includes rules for rare and specific interactions, additional examples using unlikely but possible scenarios, and general definitions for things that are usually written out on the card like ID cards, Vehicles, and Title characters. Essentially, a lot of this material used to live in our Rules forum in various posts, but we’d rather collect and codify it and make it easily available for those judges who need it. In an upcoming OP kit (which kit is TBD), each store will get one copy of this supplement for their current judge, and we plan to send it out once or twice a year, depending on changes. (Like all of these documents, it’ll be available online for those players interested.)

Why split the Comprehensive rules supplement from the Core rules? We’d rather have players focus on the rules that more routinely matter in Modern Age HeroClix. Adding 16 pages to the main rulebook to discuss essentially the “corner cases” that still need to be covered by the HeroClix rules makes the game seem much more complicated than it typically is. Rare interactions can be handled by judges (that’s why they’re there) if they do ever arise in actual gameplay. As we update the rules documents year after year, we’ll look to tweak the balance and possibly move some rules between Core and Comprehensive to ensure that both players and judges can easily access what they need in printed copies.

Errata and Clarifications

Also we’re excited to announce updated and consolidated Errata and Clarifications (E&C) as online PDFs available soon. There are 3 components: Modern Age E&C, Golden Age E&C (each separated by “universe”), and a general “Rules Language Errata” document. This is where you can go to find out precisely how older language is being translated into the newer rules language to help clarify the game.

The first section of each Modern Age E&C covers figures that function significantly different than printed, usually because of the Watch List, an error, or an omission. These may need to be referenced more often, so they’re put in front. The rest contains chronological minor errata and clarifications for characters with specific powers or traits that are not well-covered by the existing rules. If a general errata covers a situation with a character, that generally will NOT be noted here unless it’s especially confusing in some way. Note that this will not cover issues of grammar, punctuation, or cases where a particularly distorted reading could lead to a small number of players to think a rule means something that the vast majority of players do not.

The Golden Age E&C is structured similarly, but of course will be much longer. Text from Modern Age sets become part of it as they rotate. As we’ve been focusing on getting Modern Age ready, these documents are not available yet.

Past Rules

The Past Rules supplement covers the general rules for game concepts that are not being actively used in Modern Age, but you may encounter in Golden Age. Things such as Team Bases, Feats, Battlefield Conditions, Grenade, Epic Games, and yes, ATAs among many others are explained here. Even Soaring and Archenemy each get an entry! While we can’t answer every interaction question about these game concepts in these rules, the general rules for them are being re-written in modern rules language, which should help clarify a lot. This is another document that is being worked on but is not available yet.

If any of these concepts ever rejoins Modern Age, any rules for them will be explicitly written out on their cards.

Team Abilities

A list of team abilities with updated language are available online through our rules forums and linked from our rules page.

Rules Forum

Finally, the HeroClix Rules forums continues to be a resource for players to get answers to any of your questions about Modern Age HeroClix. Some questions answered here may eventually end up as part of the E&C or even the Comprehensive rules.

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While this may seem like a lot of documents, what we’re trying to do is to allow both players and judges to carry (and learn) only the rules that they need. While there’s something to be said for complete 100+ page Player Guides, we feel this approach of breaking it into smaller documents split both by format (Modern Age vs. Golden Age) and complexity (Core vs. Comprehensive) is better. It allows both new and experienced players and judges to find the right level of rules for them, and not carry around a whole lot of rarely referenced printed information.

Until then, keep on Clixin’!