Welcome to the third of four previews for Crossover Volume 3, the final Issue of the year for Vs. System 2PCG. This Issue features four new game modes (new ways to play Vs. System 2PCG)! Last time we told you about Battleworld, and this time you get to peek at two other game modes!

As hinted at by our last preview last time,

We have added something called Terrain to Vs. System 2PCG. Here’s how it works, from the rules:

Terrain

Number of players: 2-4

Terrain is an important part of almost every combat. We thought we would make some!

Setup: Shuffle a set of 10 Terrain and place them face down in a pile. (As of this Issue, there is only one Terrain set: “City”.) After players reveal their main characters during setup, but before they draw their hands, each player draws a Terrain card and looks at it. Then the first player places their Terrain, with the rest of the players following in turn order. (Each Terrain will tell you which row it can be placed in. We suggest you turn it sideways in its row.) Then each player draws their hand and mulligans as normal.

Rules: Terrain either affects each character in a row or one or two characters in a row.

• If a Terrain affects an entire row, its modifiers apply to each character in that row this game.
  • A character can be affected by more than one Terrain of this type.
• If a Terrain affects a specific amount of characters, during each player’s Formation Steps they can move the proper number of characters into or out of that Terrain. While a character is in that Terrain, its modifiers apply to those characters.
  • Characters in this type of Terrain should be physically touching the Terrain card.
  • You can leave this type of Terrain empty or partially full: you aren’t required to put characters in it.
  • A character can’t be in more than one Terrain of this type. (But it could be affected by a Terrain that affects an entire row and in one that affects only one character.)

Here are some examples of Terrain cards:

A couple of notes:

• Although you aren’t required to do so, we strongly suggest when the Dump Truck has any -1/-1 counters, you make a “beep..beep” backing up noise, and then lift the card to dump those counters out.
• We also suggest that when you put a +1/+1 counter on a character at the Construction Site, you name the tool it represents. Some examples are “hammer”, “drill”, or “French press”.
• If you’re already playing the Battleworld game mode, you will need to have the City Terrain set ready in case the game enters Ultimate End.
• If a player is playing the Grandmaster main character in a regular game, they will also need to have a shuffled pile of the City Terrain set at the start of the game (because of Ultimate End).

Option: Players can agree to draw two Terrain cards (or more) during setup and choose the one they prefer.

Now, let’s discuss perhaps our most ambitious new game mode: Story Mode.

Lots of words. Well, it is a Story after all! Here are the rules:

Story Mode

Number of players: 2

In Story Mode, players will play through a series of three games (called Parts) with the same decks, gaining an advantage for each game they win. And Part 3 is winner-take-all!

Setup: Choose a Story Mode card, either randomly or by consulting the “Story Complexity” list below, then choose a player to be Player A for the Story.

Story Complexity (from least to most complex):

Death of a Loved One, Epic Quest, Time Traveler, Galactic Game, Assassination Plot

Editor’s Note: Oooh, I wonder what happens in these?

In some Stories, Player A has an advantage, and in some Player B has an advantage. You’ll discover the best one for your matchup of player skill and deck strength.

We suggest you first try Story Mode with decks you have already built, but you might want to build decks especially for particular Stories after you’ve tried them a few times.

Rules: Player A always goes first in Part 1, then the winner of each Part goes first in the next Part. After each Part is over, simply follow the directions on the Story Mode card for whichever player wins.

That’s all there is to it! There are 5 unique Stories that come in the Issue, and we already have ideas for more!

Option: Play a series of multiple Stories in a “Storyline”! Play them in a random order or choose an order that tells the best story for you! The winner of Part 3 of each Story becomes Player A for the next Story.

We hope you had fun reading about these two new game modes and we can’t wait for you to play them! That is going to be so Boss!

The games begin when Crossover Volume 3 hits stores this December!