A simple Tabletop game for Star Wars action figures
By Sean Patten

OVERVIEW
Galactic Heroes is a friendly game for 2-6 players, ages 6 and up.  Each turn, players move their action figures around the table, exploring by flipping over Tokens that could be an enemy, a trap, or even something valuable.   When a player successfully deals with an encounter, they collect the token.  When all the tokens are collected, the game ends and the player with the most tokens wins!

COMPONENTS
To play Galactic Heroes, you will need:

• Galactic Heroes action figures.  You can use any figures you like (Legos are also good)- Galactic Heroes are suggested since they stand up on their own and don't have a lot of small parts to lose.  It's helpful to have a mix of characters, so it will be easy for the players to tell their Heroes apart from any Enemies they might encounter during play.
• 6-sided dice.  It's handy to have at least three per player.
• Tokens.  You'll need to make your own tokens.  To make a set of 20 tokens, label 6 with an A, 4 with a B, 5 with a C, and 5 with an X.   I like to use Poker Chips- I just write the letter on the back side.
• Sticks.  Each player will need a stick.  As long as everyone's sticks are the SAME length, it doesn't matter what they are.  I like to use Chopsticks or plastic straws.
• A table.  You'll need a table to play on.  You can decorate your table with Scenery to make the game more interesting.  Scenery can be as simple as some overturned cups, bowls, and boxes, or as elaborate as the terrain seen here.

TAKING TURNS
When you're ready to start, have each player roll two dice- whoever has the highest roll goes first, and turns continue around the table in a clockwise order.

When it's your turn, you may do TWO things with each of your HEROES.  These things are called ACTIONS.  Finish both actions with one Hero before you start with the next.  Continue until ALL of your Heroes have done two actions (or chosen to do nothing).  Then it's the next player's turn!

After the last player's turn is the ENEMY TURN.  If there are any Enemies on the table during the enemy turn, they will attack the nearest Hero (see Combat for how attacks work).  If no Heroes are in range, they will move 1 stick towards the nearest Hero, and then Attack.  Once all the Enemies have attacked, it's back to the FIRST player's turn.

Continue taking turns around the table until all of the Tokens have been collected.  Then the game ends.  Add up your collected tokens- whoever collected the most is the winner!  A game usually takes about 20 minutes.  You might have time to play another game- just shuffle the tokens, put them out and start again!

• All Heroes have a POINTS value- usually between 1 and 3 points.  The more powerful the character, the more points they cost.  The total points of all your Heroes can't be more than any other player's total.  So if everyone is using 6 points of Heroes, for example, you could take any number of  Heroes as long as their points total adds up to 6.
• All Heroes have a DICE value- this is how many dice they roll when doing different things in the game such as Attacking, Defending, Escaping a trap, or Rescuing another Hero from a trap.
• Some Heroes have special abilities or limitations.   For example, a REROLL is a special ability that allows the player to reroll ONE of their dice when doing the action described.

 

TYPE	POINTS	DICE	SPECIAL ABILITIES
JEDI / SITH	3	3	Reroll Melee attacks and Escapes.
HEAVY	3	3	Reroll Ranged.
TROOPER	2	2
DROID	1	1	Can't Attack.  Reroll Rescues.
SMALL	1	1	Takes 2 actions to recover from Stun.
SPEEDER	1	--	Move two sticks per action.

HEAVY incudes Wookies, Super Battle Droids, Destroyer Droids, Durge, Jango Fett, or other large characters.
TROOPERS are the most common type of character- if you're not sure how to classify them, they're TROOPERS.
DROIDS include all non-combatant droids, such as R2-D2 and C-3PO.  Battle Droids would be considered TROOPERS.
SMALL includes Jawas, Ewoks, Leia and Amidala.  If "size matters not" to you, you can treat them as TROOPERS instead...
SPEEDER isn't a character- it's equipment that doubles how far you move when you spend an action moving.

• MOVE. Move 1 stick in any direction.  The Hero must end their move standing on a surface.
• ATTACK.  A Hero can perform a MELEE attack or a RANGED attack (see COMBAT below).
• PICK UP.  A Hero can collect a CREDIT TOKEN with one action.  They must be next to the token.
• ESCAPE.  A trapped hero can attempt to escape a Trap (see ENCOUNTER TOKENS below).
• RESCUE.  A Hero can attempt to rescue another Hero from a Trap.  They must be next to the trapped Hero.
• RECOVER.  A hero can recover from being stunned by spending 1 action.  A stunned hero cannot do anything else until they recover from being stunned!

COMBAT
Heroes can attack Enemies with a RANGED attack or a MELEE attack.  An attack takes 1 action.  To make a Ranged attack, a Hero must be within 1 stick's distance, as they are shooting a blaster, using the force, etc.  If the Enemy is farther than that, the Hero will have to MOVE until they are in range.  To make a MELEE attack, a Hero must be right next to an Enemy, as they are using a lightsaber or other melee weapon.

HERO ATTACK
When Attacking, the Hero must roll their DICE.  The Enemy being attacked also rolls dice (usually 2 dice)- one of the other players should volunteer to roll dice for the enemy.  To see who won, compare the dice rolls.  Don't add your rolls together- instead, notice what number was rolled on EACH of your dice.  Whoever has a die with the HIGHEST number on it wins.  In the case of a tie, compare the NEXT HIGHEST dice, and so on until the winner is determined (or it is a tie).  For example, a Hero that rolls 6 and 1 will beat an enemy that rolls 5 and 5, because the 6 is the highest roll.  A Hero with three dice that rolls 3, 2, 1 will beat an enemy that rolls 3, 2 because the Heroe's die that rolled 1 is still more than nothing (so having more dice is a big help).  Remember that some Heroes may REROLL ONE of their dice during combat (usually during a MELEE combat).  They must stick with the second roll even if it is worse than the first roll.  You can read more about how contested die rolls work by reading this page.

If the Hero won the Attack, they CAPTURE the enemy- the player takes the Enemy's token, and the enemy figure is returned to the enemy pile.  If the Hero tied or lost the Attack, nothing happens- leave the Enemy where they are.

ENEMY ATTACK
When Enemies attack Heroes, roll dice as normal.  If the Enemy won the Attack, the Hero they were attacking is STUNNED.  Place the figure on it's side to show that it is stunned.  Enemies may NOT attack heroes that are already Stunned.  The Hero cannot do anything until they recover from being Stunned by spending an action.

If the Enemy tied or lost the attack, nothing happens.  Enemies can only be captured during the Heroes' turn, and Heroes can only be stunned during the Enemies turn!

ENCOUNTER TOKENS
GALACTIC HEROES is an explorative game, where your heroes must face the unknown- represented by Tokens of course!  Tokens start face down.  To FLIP a token, a hero must TOUCH it as part of their MOVE.  A token cannot be flipped unless the Hero revealing it is MOVING!  It does not take an action to flip a token (but it takes an action to Move, of course).  Flipping a Token ends the Heroes' move.  They may take another move afterward if they have another action to do so.
 
 

	AMBUSH! You found an ENEMY.  Place an enemy action figure on top of the token.  You may attack the enemy if you wish, and have an action to do so.  Enemies roll TWO DICE in combat.  Remember that on the enemy turn, an enemy will attack the nearest hero and if they beat the Hero, the hero will be stunned.  If you attack and defeat the Enemy, take their  token.
	BOSS! You found an enemy BOSS.  Place an enemy BOSS  figure on top of the token.*  You may attack the boss if you wish.  Bosses roll THREE DICE in combat.  On the Enemy turn, the Boss will attack the nearest Hero and if they beat the Hero, the hero will be stunned, AND the BOSS will ESCAPE!  Remove the boss model and it's token(s) and place them on the side of the board.  The NEXT time a BOSS token is flipped, place the Boss AND any of the TOKENS it has escaped with previously.  Whoever defeats the Boss will earn ALL the tokens it has accumulated so far!
	CREDITS! You found some valuable Credits!  Spend an action to PICK UP the credits, before someone else does!  You must be next to the Credits token to pick it up.   Spend an action to take the Credits token.
	TRAP! You are trapped!  Place the Hero on top of the Trap token.  While trapped, the Hero cannot do anything except attempt to ESCAPE.  Attempting to Escape is an action.  Roll your dice- if you roll a 6, you have Escaped- take the Token!  Other Heroes (even another players Hero) can attempt to RESCUE a trapped Hero by moving next to them and spending an action.  Roll your dice- if any of your dice roll a 5 or 6, you have Rescued them- take the Token!

* If the Boss is already on the board, move him and all of the tokens he may have to the location of the latest revealed token!

SUMMARY SHEET This sheet has information that comes in handy while playing games.  Give one to each player.

ADVANCED RULES
Once you've played the basic game and are ready for a new challenge, try out these advanced rules, or the special scenarios below!

VEHICLES
Vehicles must be piloted by a character, but have better speed, range, and firepower than most characters on foot.

ACTIONS: A Vehicle can only move or attack.  It cannot perform any other action.  (Note that Speederbikes do NOT count as vehicles in this way).  Movement and Attacks performed by the vehicle count as the pilot's actions.  Vehicles can perform the same type of action twice, just like characters.  For example, a Walker could fire twice, using up the pilot's two actions.  Note that droids cannot attack when driving a vehicle, just like they can't attack when on foot.

BOARDING / EXITING: A pilot can get into a vehicle by moving onto it.  A pilot can get out of a vehicle by moving off of it.  These movements count as a normal move for the pilot.  A pilot cannot be riding a speeder when boarding a Vehicle- they must get off the speeder as part of a move, just like exiting a vehicle.  A character cannot board a vehicle that is already occupied- the vehicle must be empty.

DEFENDING: If the pilot of a vehicle is attacked, use the pilot's Dice value to defend.  If the pilot is Stunned, they must spend an action to recover, just like normal.  Vehicles themselves cannot be attacked- only the pilot of a vehicle can be attacked.
 

TYPE	POINTS	DICE	MOVE	RANGE
WALKER	2	3	1 Stick	2 Sticks
FIGHTER	2	3	2 Sticks	1 Stick
TURRET	1	3	--	ANYWHERE

Turret- can fire at targets anywhere on the board, as long as the target can be seen (line of sight is required).  Turrets cannot move.

There are two ways to include vehicles in your games.
PURCHASED-- If you wish to purchase a vehicle for use on your team, pay the points cost listed.  You may start one of your characters inside the vehicle.
RESIDENT-- To add interest to a game, you can place vehicles on the table.  Anyone can use them just by getting in!  Try to place them fairly (evenly spread out, or in the middle of the table).
 

OFFICERS
Officers know how to get the most out of their troops.  Any character type can be upgraded to an Officer.
You may upgrade one of your Heroes to an Officer if you wish, by paying 1 point.   Be sure to announce which Hero has an Officer upgrade at the start of the game.  Choose Heroes appropriate to be made an Officer.  For example, Grand Moff Tarkin, General Veers, and Captain Solo are good examples of Troop Officers.  Princess Leia and the Ewok Chieftain are good examples of Small Officers.
 

UPGRADE	POINTS	SPECIAL RULE
OFFICER	+1	+1 Action to any friendly hero within 1 stick

Officers have the ability to give an extra action to any one friendly Hero within 1 stick, once per turn.  They otherwise behave exactly like a normal Hero of the type chosen.

SQUAD LEADERS
Squads of troops invariably have a veteran to lead them.  Any time you take two or more TROOPER heroes, one of them may be declared a SQUAD LEADER for free!
A Squad Leader may reroll one die for ANY type of action.  Commander Cody and Sgt. Davin Felth are good examples of Squad Leaders.
 

UPGRADE	POINTS	SPECIAL RULE
SQUAD LEADER	FREE	May reroll any 1 die.

Squad Leaders are troopers that are always seen with at least 1 other regular trooper.  They may reroll any 1 die for any type of action.

SCOUTS / PROBES
Some droids and troops are specialized for scouting.  Any 1 point hero (small or droid) may be upgraded to a Scout by paying 1 point.   Be sure to announce which Hero has a Scout upgrade at the start of the game.  Use an appropriate model, for example a Biker Scout or an Imperial Probe Droid.
 

UPGRADE	POINTS	SPECIAL RULE
SCOUT	+1	Scan 1 token within 1 stick

At any time during their turn, a Scout hero may "scan" one token within 1 stick.  This does not take an action.  The player may examine, but will not reveal, that token.  They do not have to tell the other players what the token is.

PLAYER RIVALRY
If you and your friends enjoy a bit of friendly rivalry during your games, feel free to try out these optional rules!  This is most enjoyable when players are playing different teams (for example, Rebels vs. Imperials).  Be sure the other players agree to use Rivalry rules before using them.  Avoid using these rules with younger players, as it can encourage irrational retaliation.  You have been warned...

ATTACKING OTHER HEROES: You may attack other heroes.  If you win, they become Stunned.  You may not attack a hero that is already Stunned.

DROP IT: If you stun another player's hero, you may ask them to drop one of their collected CREDIT tokens- place the token next to the stunned hero.  Anyone can pick the Credit token up (including the hero that dropped it, when it is their turn).  If the hero's player doesn't have any Credit tokens to drop, they don't have to drop anything.

GET OUT: If you stun another player's hero while they are in a vehicle, you may ask them to get OUT of the vehicle.  Place the stunned hero outside the vehicle.  Anyone can get into the vehicle (see rules for vehicles above).  You cannot ask for both Drop It and Get Out- choose which effect you want to apply.
 
 

SPECIAL SCENARIOS
try one of these special scenarios to add a new twist to your game!  More special scenarios will be added soon, so check back periodically.

PRISON BREAK
Your comrades have been captured by the enemy.  Find them and rescue them before its too late!

SPECIAL SETUP: Place two EXIT points on opposite sides of the table.  These could be indicated with escape pods, arrows, etc.  Place five blank Tokens next to the exit- these are BONUS tokens.  These can be earned by rescuing prisoners!  Everyone should start with four points of Heroes.

SPECIAL RULES: TRAP tokens are not Traps- they are Prisoners! Place a friendly TROOPER model on the token.  Treat them as Trapped- they may not Escape on their own.  If anyone Rescues them, they earn the token as normal, AND they may now play the RESCUED Hero as if they were one of their own Heroes!   You may only have one Rescued Prisoner in play at a time.  If you want to rescue more prisoners, you must first get your rescued prisoner to an Exit point. If you can get a rescued prisoner to an EXIT point, you earn one of the BONUS tokens!  The game ends when all tokens have been collected, including the Bonus tokens.

SABOTAGE
Enemies have placed detonators throughout your ship or base.  Disarm them before they explode!

SPECIAL RULES: TRAP tokens are not Traps- they are Detonators!  You may spend an ACTION to attempt to DISARM a detonator.  Roll your dice.

• Droids and Jedi may reroll one die when attempting to disarm a detonator.
• If you roll any 6s, you have disarmed the Detonator- take the token.
• If you don't roll any 6s, but you roll any 1s, the detonator explodes- ALL Heroes touching the trap token are stunned.  The token is lost.

BREAKOUT
Your base is under attack from all sides- spread out and fight back!

SPECIAL RULES: If you are playing on a rectangular table, this is a great way to start games with 5 OR MORE PLAYERS.  Mark the center of the table.  Place tokens as normal  (you can place tokens out on the table edges), but avoid placing tokens within 1 stick of the center. All players start from the center, and should place their heroes there at the start of their turn.  Everyone has a chance to spread out as they pursue tokens.  A BREAKOUT setup can be used in combination with other scenarios.