A birodalom bajnoka

A birodalom bajnoka Rulebook

Table of Contents

Overview

In the board game A birodalom bajnoka (Champion of the Empire) the participants (2–4 players) can slip into the skin of a warrior of an ancient people. Their task is to be the first, as the chosen ones, to defeat a legendary mythological creature. Their mission is not without danger, but if they succeed, their reward is immeasurable wealth and, beyond the title of Champion of the Empire, eternal GLORY.

Components of the Game

The box of the board game A birodalom bajnoka contains the following components:

1 game board – map of the Roman Empire
5 hero figures
5 two-sided character sheets (1 per hero)
5 hero markers
40 attribute markers (heroes)
25 shrine markers
5 monster sheets
9 attribute markers (opponents)
2 dice

252 cards:

48 combat cards – 20 attack/defence torso, 6 attack/defence head, 8 attack/defence hand, 8 attack/defence leg, 6 inspired combat
25 armed combat cards – 5 attack/defence torso, 5 attack/defence head, 5 attack/defence hand, 5 attack/defence leg, 5 inspired combat
10 starting weapons typical of each people
35 item cards
18 event cards
75 story cards
30 region cards (6 for each player)
8 province cards (with different icons)
3 opponent cards

Overview of the Game Elements

Game board – Map. The game board depicts the Roman Empire and the Mediterranean region in the year 115 AD. The map consists of 48 provinces, which are grouped into 6 regions. The different provinces are marked with different icons, and the regions are marked with different colours on the map. During the game the heroes wander across the board and try to discover, as quickly as possible, the legendary mythological creature they must defeat. To do so they must gather SIX pieces of information. On the game board there are eight cities (A) and five secret shrines (B).

Hero figure. These cardboard figures represent the heroes and mark their places on the map.

Character sheet. The character sheets show the heroes' attributes, items and the information in their possession. The illustration on the right edge of the sheet (A) and, on the left, the hero's name and represented nation (B) are shown. The hero's adventure starts from the location printed in the lower right corner (C). The stone tablet shows which secret shrines the hero has visited so far in the game (D). On the right and left sides of the sheet (E) we mark the weapons and items the hero has. The number of slots shows that a hero can hold FOUR items in total. In the lower half of the sheet are five tracks (F): the first track shows the number of experience points, the second the combat value. Below these is initiative, then life. The track holding the gold counter is at the very bottom. On each track, the circled value marks the hero's starting attribute. The character sheet has two sides, because at the start of the game each player chooses ONE of two starting attributes for their hero.

Details of the Game Elements

Hero markers. The hero markers can also be used to move along the Fate track (see later).

Attribute markers (heroes). These markers track, on the tracks of the character sheet, how many experience points the hero has (brain icon), their initiative value (icon), their combat value (crossed swords icon), and their life (heart icon). The last three attributes can be developed with experience points during the game, and during combat a hero may temporarily lose some of them. For this reason two colours of marker are used: the white-based marker shows the current value, and the yellow-based marker shows the maximum.

Gold is shown by the marker bearing the coin icon.

Shrine marker. A secret shrine can be visited by the heroes only once, to gain information. Therefore, if a hero has already visited a secret shrine, this marker is placed on the matching field of the hero's character sheet, showing that the hero may not visit it again.

Dice. The two dice are used by the heroes to determine what random effect they suffer when an event card or story card is drawn. Dice are also useful in combat: with them we decide whose initiative is higher in each combat round. Story cards often contain the text "Roll a d6!", and then the die is also needed.

Monster sheet. The illustration of the creature is on the right side of the sheet (A). On the left side is a short story about the legendary beast (B), and its special abilities are described there as well (C). At the bottom of the sheet three tracks show its combat value, initiative and life (D).

Example monster sheet – Kerberos. Kerberos is the child of the giant Typhon and the half-woman, half-serpent Echidna. The mighty three-headed creature was tamed by Hades among the gods, who then made it the guardian of his realm. The demon of the depths (the meaning of its name in Greek) guards the gate of the Underworld. Its task is to prevent the escape of those who have once crossed the river Styx. According to the sources, Kerberos's three heads are a symbol of birth, youth and old age. Its abilities are:

Three-headed: Each head is treated as a separate enemy, that is, it is as if we were fighting three opponents (the opponent cards are used).
Single-torso: If it is wounded with an attack/defence Torso, Leg or Hand combat card, every "head" loses one life.

Opponent card. When a hero is drawn into combat with someone, this card is used to show the opponent's attributes. Here too there are three tracks, on which the opponent's combat value, initiative and life can be marked.

Opponent markers. The green-based markers show, on the opponent card, the opponent's combat value (crossed swords icon), initiative (icon) and life (heart icon).

Combat card. These cards are used during combat. At the start of combat everyone draws as many of them as their combat value.

Armed combat card. These cards are also used during combat. Everyone supplements their combat cards with the type of card named in the description of the weapon they hold. Apart from this, these cards are almost identical to combat cards. The only exception is the two crossed swords icon in the upper right corner (A), which shows that these cards are received because of the weapons we own. Weapons show, in a short description on the card, what advantages owning each weapon brings (B). The card also says whether the weapon needs one or two hands to use (C). A separate icon marks ranged weapons (D).

Starting weapon. At the start of the game each hero takes ONE of the starting weapons typical of their people. Which one belongs to which hero is shown by the hero's drawing on the card (A). A short description on the card explains what advantages owning the weapon brings (B). The card also says whether the weapon requires one or two hands to use (C). A separate icon marks ranged weapons (D).

Item card. During their adventures heroes can buy item cards from several places. These also bring various advantages. There are weapons, shields and armour among them, as well as items that heal wounds or make moving on the board easier. The number in the centre of the card (A) is the gold cost to buy that item. A hero may hold at most FOUR items at a time.

Event card. Event cards show effects that affect the whole Roman Empire. At the start of every round a card is drawn from the deck, and its effect (A) applies for the whole round.

Story card. Each story card represents a special event or encounter, which may help or hinder the hero in reaching their final goal. When a story card is drawn, its text is read aloud and the instructions on it are carried out. Story cards have different difficulty levels: there are easy, medium and hard adventures, and the three difficulty levels are marked with different icons and colours in the game.

Example story card – Spring/Oasis. Your water supply is running low and you trudge along the road under the hot sun. Luck smiles on you, however. The sound of bubbling spring water, unmistakable, is carried to you on the wind. You follow the sound and a moment later a view of a blue water surface opens before you. Roll a d6!

1–3: You determine that this is an idyllic place. But not only for you! A robber has also made his camp here. He is counting his loot when he notices you. He attacks you at once: fight him! (Robber stats on the card: combat value 5, initiative 3, life 3, experience points 2, combat rounds 2.)
4–5: As you lean over the water to quench your thirst, you notice a metallic glint in the riverbed. You find two valuable coins. You receive 2 gold.
6: When you take a sip of the water, something wonderful happens. The spring has healing power: your wounds vanish and you feel fresh again. Set your life to its maximum value.

Regions, Provinces and Cities

The game board has six regions, which are marked with different colours. Each region consists of eight provinces. The provinces are told apart by their names. Above each province name there is an icon. The icons are: beer jug, amphora, basket, campfire, papyrus scroll, bow and arrow, and sword and treasure chest. (The source says there are eight different symbols, but its list gives seven names, with "sword and treasure chest" in one entry; the list is reproduced as printed.) These icons play a role when drawing STORY AND PROVINCE CARDS.

Eight provinces also contain a city (A). Five provinces contain a secret shrine (B).

Region card. Each hero has six region cards. When a hero gathers information during the game, one of these cards is discarded at random. We must collect FIVE pieces of information, so that at the end a single remaining card marks the region where the monster to be defeated can be found.

Province card. Province cards are needed once five pieces of information have been gathered. When the SIXTH is obtained, a card is drawn from this deck, which gives the exact location where the monster to be defeated is.

Setup

Open the board and place it in the middle of the play area. Then form three face-down decks of story cards (easy, medium and hard). Place the event cards on the board's space named "Event card draw pile" (A). Likewise form one face-down deck each of item cards (B) and combat cards (C). Place the armed combat cards face up (D).
Choose, RANDOMLY or by AGREEMENT, which hero each player will embody. Take the character sheet and the TWO starting weapons of the hero's people, and choose ONE of them. Then each hero chooses ONE of their two starting attributes and turns the character sheet to the side showing that attribute.
Place the attribute markers on the tracks with the matching icon, on the circled values (E). Look at the character sheet to see in which province the hero starts, and place the hero's figure there.
Each hero receives THREE gold at the start of the game.
Each hero may spend gold to upgrade their equipment. To do this, TWO cards are turned over at random from the item card deck. If the hero has enough gold, they may buy ONE of them. The cards not bought are shuffled back into the item deck.
The heroes take their region cards (F).
Set the monster sheet aside for now (G).
The game begins with the player who last read a book on a mythological theme, or who most resembles an ice giant.

Now the adventure begins!

The Course of a Round

Drawing and resolving an event card. Draw an event card, read the text on it aloud, and carry out its effect.
The heroes' turns. On their turn, each hero:
- A. takes an action;
- B. if necessary, draws a story card and carries out the effect of the card;
- C. near the end of the game, if the hero holds six pieces of information and has managed to move to the location of the mythological creature, may choose to fight it instead of drawing a story card.

Drawing an Event Card

At the start of every round the starting player draws one event card, reads its text aloud, and places it on the board's space named "Current event card" (Aktuális eseménykártya). The effect of an event card lasts for the WHOLE ROUND, so its text applies to EVERYONE.

Example: Vili is the starting player. He draws the event card "Rainy Weather" (Csapadékos idő). He reads the text aloud and explains its effect: "During this round, when the exploration action is chosen, one fewer space may be moved on the board." The card's effect therefore applies to the whole round: every player who chooses the exploration action in their turn may move one space fewer.

Actions

Heroes may choose from several actions, which are as follows:

Caravan escort. The hero offers their service to a trading caravan and helps the merchant get the goods safely to their destination. Effect: the hero may move ONE PROVINCE on the board and may increase their gold by ONE. (Note: when escorting a caravan, the horse's beneficial attribute may NOT be used!)
Exploration. The hero decides to explore the Roman Empire. Effect: the hero may move TWO PROVINCES on the board. If they have a horse, they may move THREE. Since the hero has explored an unknown place, they also gain ONE experience point.
Voyage. If the hero is in a province bordering a sea space, they may board a ship. Effect: for paying TWO gold, the hero may move from a province bordering a sea space to another province bordering a sea space across the Mediterranean (i.e. ONLY across the Mediterranean, shown on the map as Mare Internum). Sailing in ancient times carried risk, so anyone who boards a ship rolls one of the dice. On a result of 1 the ship is wrecked, and although the hero reaches their goal, they lose ONE item of THEIR CHOICE.
Accepting local commissions. The hero offers their services to the locals. Effect: the hero does NOT move this turn, and then may choose one of two options: gain TWO experience points, or increase their gold by TWO. If this action is chosen, the hero does NOT draw a story card. (Note: the "Accepting local commissions" action may NOT be chosen twice in a row!)
Recuperation (Lábadozás). The wounded hero spends time resting and recovering. Effect: the hero does NOT move this turn; their life is restored to the maximum if they stay in a city. If they are not in a city, they recover TWO life. If this action is chosen, the hero does NOT draw a story card.
Learning secret lore. This action can be chosen if the hero ended their previous turn in a province containing a SECRET SHRINE. Effect: the hero pays TWO gold and gains ONE piece of information. If this action is chosen, the hero does NOT draw a story card!

When a player has finished their action, the player sitting to their LEFT takes the next turn.

Local market. Eight provinces contain a city. If the hero ENDS their action in a city, then at the END OF THEIR ROUND they may choose to visit the local market. This means THREE cards are turned over from the item deck, and the hero may buy ONE of them. The cards not bought are shuffled back into the item deck. (Note: visiting the local market does NOT count as an action.)

Story Cards

Whenever a hero has finished moving during the caravan escort, exploration or voyage action, they must draw a story card. Three kinds of story cards can be drawn from the story decks: the first contains simple stories, the second medium-difficulty stories, and the third the hardest. The hero may draw only from the deck whose icon matches the icon of the province they are in. (The source reads "harcos", "warrior", at this point; it is translated as "hero" here, since the rule refers to the hero.) Simple stories are marked with the beer jug, amphora and basket icons; medium stories with the campfire, papyrus scroll and bow and arrow icons; and the hardest adventures are found in the deck marked with the sword and treasure chest icon.

When a hero draws a story card, they read the text on it aloud and carry out what it describes.

Example: Dani draws the medium story card "Servants of the God Mars" from the story deck. Its text: "Hooded figures chanting a mysterious, monotonous melody approach you on the road. An aura of the uncanny, which frightens ordinary folk, surrounds them. But you are not made of the wood that frightens easily at oddities. You fall into conversation with their leaders. You learn that they are the warrior servants of the god Mars, and as a reward for your courage they initiate you into one of their god's secret teachings. They show you a simple meditation exercise that helps you ignore the pain of the battlefield. Increase your maximum life by one! +heart." Dani carries out the effect: his previous maximum life, which was five, rises to six, so he moves the yellow-based heart marker one step up on the life track. Since his current life rises as well, he also moves the white-based heart marker up one step.

(Note: some story cards carry the text "Place the card in front of you!". In that case the card is kept, to show what effect awaits the hero in the next round. Once it has been used, it is put on the discard pile.)

Combat

Story cards often present a conflict from which the hero can escape only by combat.

Preparations

During combat, the opponent of a main hero is always played by the player sitting to the RIGHT of that hero's player.

At the start of combat, both sides draw from the COMBAT CARD deck as many cards as their combat value. To these are added the extra cards provided by their weapons, which are taken from the ARMED COMBAT CARD deck.

Example: Krisztina decides to set out into battle with a battleaxe, although she has a short sword and a medium shield. Later she realises this was not a good decision: the shield's beneficial attribute would have been useful to her. But she has no chance to change it now.

(Note: a two-handed weapon may NOT be paired with another weapon or with a shield!)

Ranged Attack

Before melee, each side involved in the combat may use ONE of its ranged weapons ONCE. When this has happened, melee follows AUTOMATICALLY. (Note: ranged weapons are marked with an arrow icon on the item cards.)

Before melee we must decide with which weapon we set out into battle. During combat the chosen weapon may not be changed.

Course of Combat

A combat consists of combat rounds. A combat round lasts until one side has no combat cards left to play. A combat turn is the smaller unit: during it, one side attacks and the other defends.

Initiative

Already in the first combat turn it must be decided who will be the attacker. Both sides roll the six-sided die and add their initiative value to the result. The side with the higher value starts the combat and becomes the attacking side.

The attacker chooses one of their combat cards and plays it. The defender tries to ward off the attack with the cards in hand: they must play a card of the SAME type. If they cannot play a card of the same type, they are wounded. Then the COMBAT TURN ends.

Afterwards both sides roll the die again and add their initiative value to the result:

If the defender's value is higher, the defender becomes the attacker in the next combat turn.
If the defender rolls a 6, they automatically take over the attack.
If both sides roll a 6, the player with the higher initiative has the right to attack.
If either side rolls a 1, it automatically loses the initiative.
If both sides roll a 1, the player with the higher initiative has the right to attack.

(Note: in case of a tie, the hero is always the attacker!)

(Note: some combat cards carry this text: "If you defend an attack with this card, the right to the next attack is automatically yours (without a roll)!" This means that if an attack has been defended with such a card, the initiative in the next combat turn is automatically ours, so no roll is needed.)

Continuing and Ending Combat

Most combats last until one side is dead, but some story cards also state how many combat rounds the battle consists of. If someone runs out of combat cards, EVERYONE redraws their combat cards and a new combat round begins. A side that has not used up all its cards may keep AT MOST TWO of them (in which case it draws fewer cards by as many as it kept). It may also choose to exchange some of them.

If we cannot defeat our opponent by the end of the combat rounds stated on the story card, we FLEE and do not receive the experience points for defeating them.

Experience Points

If an opponent's life is reduced to zero, they die and we receive the experience points due for them. We mark this by moving the brain-icon marker along the experience point track on the character sheet.

Example Combat

Example: Jenő plays Labienus, a Roman legionary. On his journey he meets a bodyguard and starts a fight with him. Labienus has a combat value of seven, so Jenő draws seven cards from the combat deck. The bodyguard's combat value is six; the opponent is played by Gábor, sitting to the right of Jenő, who draws six cards.

First, both sides may use a ranged weapon ONCE, AT THE SAME TIME. Since Gábor has none, only Jenő is affected. Jenő throws his pilum. Its effect is that the opponent loses two of its combat cards. Gábor discards two cards, so only four remain in his hand. Melee begins.

The bodyguard's initiative is four, Labienus's three. Both roll the die. Gábor (bodyguard) rolls three, while Jenő (Labienus) rolls two. Gábor therefore starts the melee.

Gábor plays a "Torso attack/defence" card. Jenő has one of these, so he places it down and defends the attack.

Then both sides roll the die and add the result to their initiative. Gábor rolls four, Jenő five. Both now have eight. In a tie the hero wins, so Jenő may attack. He places down a "Leg attack/defence" card. Gábor has only three cards left and none of them is a "Leg attack/defence" card, but he must still play something. He places down a "Torso attack/defence" card and suffers the wound. His life is reduced by one, and because of the leg injury his initiative falls from four to three for the duration of the combat. Both changes are marked on the opponent card.

Another roll follows to decide who attacks. Jenő rolls three, and so does Gábor. Their results are added to their initiative. Because Gábor's leg is injured, the result is again a tie. This favours Jenő once more. He places down a "Head attack/defence" card. Gábor has only two cards left, but one of them is a "Head attack/defence" card, so he is not hurt.

The fourth combat turn comes. Both roll again: Gábor rolls two, Jenő rolls one. Although the result is a tie, because of Jenő's single die roll, he loses the initiative, and Gábor may attack. He plays his last card, a "Torso attack/defence" card. Jenő also has one of these, so he defends the attack.

Gábor's cards have run out, so this combat round ends. Everyone redraws their cards. Jenő still has three cards in his hand, of which he may keep at most two. Finally he discards one and draws six more (so that he has seven cards in his hand, according to his combat value). Gábor is no longer hampered by the pilum, so he too draws six cards. The combat continues in the second combat round.

(Note: if a hero fights, even if they lose, they receive ONE experience point. If they win, they also receive the experience points due for the victory.)

Developing the Hero

During their adventures heroes can develop using the experience points they have. The experience points due for defeated opponents may be spent by the characters AT ANY TIME during their round, as follows:

4 points may be spent to raise initiative by one.
3 points may be spent to raise maximum combat value by one.
2 points may be spent to raise maximum life by one. In this case the current life is also raised by one.

(Note: during combat we may NOT spend our experience points and we may NOT develop our hero!)

(Note: when we increase our maximum life, our current life also rises by one.)

Defeat in Combat

It may happen that a hero is defeated in a combat, and their life falls to zero. In this case the hero does not die, but remains at the scene of the defeat. Their current life is raised to two. As a penalty, however, they lose half of their gold (rounded up) and one item. The player sitting to the LEFT of the hero chooses the item. A starting weapon typical of their people may NOT be chosen.

If the hero is defeated in the final battle against the mythological creature, then in addition to the above, the hero also loses the creature's trail. This means they lose one piece of information: the province card is shuffled back in among the others. Until the hero gains new information, they will not learn where the mythological creature is. So think carefully about when to commit yourself to the final battle!

Combat Against Several Opponents

It may happen that more than one opponent attacks our hero in a combat. In such a case each opponent is controlled by a different player! Following the normal rules of combat, every side draws combat cards equal to its combat value, and if it has a weapon it also draws from the armed combat card deck. Then each side uses its ranged weapon. After that melee begins. The initiative is decided between the hero and the opponents.

(Note: not every opponent rolls for initiative separately; a SINGLE roll determines who the attacker is. The opponent with the HIGHEST initiative always rolls on behalf of the group!)

The attacking side(s) play their attack card. If the hero is the attacking side, the hero chooses which opponent to attack, and that opponent must play the corresponding combat card. If they cannot play a card of the same type, they immediately suffer the wound.

If the attacking side is not the hero, every opponent plays one combat card. The hero must play a card of the same type against EACH of these attacks. If this fails, the hero is wounded for EVERY card they could not ward off.

(Note: each opponent keeps track of its own damage, life and initiative separately.)

When there are several opponents, experience points are due after each one is defeated. The story card states exactly how many.

Example: Jenő draws the "Tax Collector" story card. He has to fight all three opponents, but by the end of the combat rounds he has sent only two of them to the afterlife. He receives one experience point for each of the first two, and one more for fighting. So he is richer by three experience points in total.

Example: Vili draws the story card "Starving Farmers" (Éhező földművesek). Fate has it that he must face two opponents. Vili plays Jahmesz, the Egyptian initiate, whose combat value is six. He therefore takes six combat cards from the deck. The two farmers are played by Gyuri and Jenő. Each farmer has a combat value of three, so each draws three cards from the deck. Since neither side has a ranged weapon, melee begins immediately.

Jahmesz's initiative is four, the farmers' three. Vili rolls four on the die, and for the farmers Gyuri rolls three. Vili starts the melee. He chooses to attack Gyuri and places down a "Torso attack/defence" card. Only Gyuri has to defend! He has such a card, so Vili causes no wound.

Second combat turn: Vili rolls one on the die, while for the farmers Gyuri rolls five. The farmers take over the attack. Gyuri starts, placing down a "Leg attack/defence" card. Vili has such a card and warded it off. Next comes Jenő, who plays a "Head attack/defence" card. Vili has no such card, so he discards another card instead and loses two life.

Third combat turn: Vili rolls four for initiative, and for the farmers Jenő rolls three. Vili regains the right to attack. Vili weighs up his options: Gyuri has only one card left in his hand, while Jenő still has two. He decides Gyuri is the easier target, and attacks him with a "Torso attack/defence" card. Gyuri has no such card left in his hand, so he is wounded for one life. Since Gyuri had only one life, the farmer he represents is sent to the afterlife. Vili (Jahmesz) now only needs to defeat Jenő.

Third combat turn, continued: they roll again to decide who attacks. Vili rolls six and Jenő rolls two. Vili attacks again and places down a "Hand attack/defence" card. Jenő's remaining two cards contain no such card, so he loses one life and falls out of the battle. Vili has won. He gains one experience point for fighting, and checks on the story card how many points are due for victory over the farmers. No experience point is due for sending the first farmer to the afterlife, but he receives one for defeating the second. In total he is richer by two experience points.

Victory

Victory is won by the player who first sends one of the mythological main monsters to its death. To find them we must gather SIX pieces of information. This can be done in two ways:

Learning secret lore. The hero may choose this action if they ended their previous turn in a province with a SECRET SHRINE. Effect: the hero pays TWO gold and gains ONE piece of information. (Note: there are FIVE secret shrines on the map. Only ONE piece of information can be gathered from each place, and the same hero may NOT use the same place more than once to gather information. If this action is chosen, the hero does NOT draw a story card!)

Information from story cards. Information can also be gained from story cards. The way to do so is always printed on the card itself.

Example: Gyuri draws the "Greek Scholars" card from the medium story deck. Its text: "Among the Hellenes there is no more learned people in the Roman Empire. Every small child knows this. At once you remember your parents' teaching, when you spotted their small, unmistakable group camping by the road. You join them, hoping that some crumbs of their knowledge may fall to you as well. Roll a d6!"

1–2: "These Hellenes are distrustful folk. Although they chat with you amiably, they give no answer to your questions. Nothing happens."

3–6: "As soon as they learn you are an adventurer who has travelled far, they start asking about your experiences. 'Something for something,' you say, and ask them to tell you about legendary creatures of old in exchange for your stories. Your openness impresses them, they take a liking to you and share their ancient knowledge with you. You gain 1 information."

Gyuri rolled a four, so he gained one piece of information.

When we gain information, we take our region cards in front of us. We draw one of them at RANDOM and set it aside. We have six region cards in total, so after gaining five pieces of information only one remains in our hand. We have thereby learned in which region the mythological creature is.

When we gain the SIXTH piece of information, we draw a card from the PROVINCE CARDS. From it we can now identify exactly where the mythological creature to be defeated is. The first player who reaches six pieces of information RANDOMLY draws THREE MONSTER SHEETS and may choose one of them. The player who reaches six pieces of information second may do the same, but may choose only from TWO monsters. The others have no choice: they RANDOMLY draw ONE mythological monster for themselves.

(Note: once we have found the mythological creature, we must also travel to its location in order to fight it.)

Game Variants

The Fate Track

Heroes experience many positive and negative events during their adventures. By using the fate track printed on the board, the role of luck in the game can be reduced to some extent. Story cards show either a skull or a laurel-wreath icon beside the events. When something positive or negative happens to a given hero, the hero marker is moved along the fate track in the matching direction.

If someone reaches the value TWO in the negative part of the fate track, then when they draw their next story card they choose from TWO story cards instead of ONE.
If someone reaches the value TWO in the positive part of the fate track, then when they draw their next story card, the player sitting to their RIGHT chooses which two cards they must face.

(Note: story cards that are not chosen are ALWAYS put at the BOTTOM of the deck!)

Shorter Version

The game may also be shortened: if we decide that FIVE pieces of information, rather than six, is enough to find the mythological creature, then when we gain the fifth piece of information, and only one region card remains in our hand, we immediately draw a province card as well!

Heroic Version

If the participants find the game too easy, they may make their own success harder. The only thing to do is to increase the combat value and the life of every opponent, both those from story cards and the mythological creatures, by ONE!

(Note: this decision also lengthens the game time!)

Tips for Playing

During the first game, since the players are still less practised, it is worth playing until five pieces of information have been collected, so choose the shorter version of Champion of the Empire.
If we end our round in a city, do not forget to visit the local market: a purchased item (it may be a dagger or a shield) can be a great help in combat! The horse is also a useful companion, since with its help we can reach the secret shrines more quickly.
If our hero dies, then because of recovery, recuperation and the loss of half their gold, they may fall several rounds behind. So take care! If our current life is low, avoid the deck containing the hard story cards. (Note: the source says the hero "dies" here, while the combat rules above say a defeated hero is not killed; the tip is reproduced as printed.)
Initiative is perhaps the most important combat attribute; strive to develop it as soon as possible!

Tips for Preserving the Game

If possible, buy card sleeves for more durable use. The card sizes are 120x170 mm and 41x63 mm.
When putting the game away, always lower the box carefully and do not press it hard, because the trapped air may tear it.
It is worth rolling the dice inside the game box. If we do this on the table, we may knock the markers off the character sheets.

Icon Key

Brain icon – experience point
Crossed swords icon – combat value
Sword icon – initiative
Heart icon – life
Orange heart icon – maximum life
Cards icon – shuffle the deck!
Laurel wreath icon – move in the positive direction on the fate track!
Skull icon – move in the negative direction on the fate track!
Coin stack icon – gold
Scroll icon – information
One hand icon – one-handed weapon
Two hands icon – two-handed weapon
Crossed-out target icon – ranged weapon
Circular arrows icon – number of combat rounds

Narrow crossing (Szoros, átkelő). Regions linked by this icon allow land movement on the map.

Summary of Selectable Actions

Caravan escort: Move 1; gold 1.
Exploration: Move 2; experience point 1.
Voyage: Move from a province bordering a sea space to another province bordering a sea space across the Mediterranean; cost 2 gold. (Roll a d6: on a 1 the ship is wrecked, and the hero loses one item of their choice, but still reaches the target.)
Accepting local commissions: Move 0; experience point 2 OR gold 2. Do NOT draw a story card! It may NOT be chosen twice in a row!
Recuperation: Move 0; life: in a city, raised to the maximum (orange heart); in another province, 2 (heart). Do NOT draw a story card!
Learning secret lore: Move 0; in a province with a secret shrine, 1 information; cost 2 gold. Do NOT draw a story card!
Local market: If we END our action in a city, then at the END OF OUR ROUND we may choose to visit the local market: THREE cards are turned over from the item deck, and after paying the price we may buy ONE of them. The cards not bought are shuffled back into the item deck. Visiting the local market does NOT count as an action.

(Note: the character biographies of the heroes at the end of the booklet, the artwork pages, and the publisher's credits are not reproduced; the biographies are flavour text.)