Adventure Realms Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• How Is It Played?
• Round Phases
  • 1. Draw Phase
  • 2. Agent Phase
  • 3. Reveal Phase
  • 4. Dungeon Phase
  • 5. End Phase
• Action Spaces
  • Town
  • Forest
  • Desert
  • Tundra
  • Guilds
• Adventure Cards
  • Items
  • Magic
  • Quest
• End of Game Scoring
• Important Reminders

Components

• 40 Starting Hero Cards
• 92 Guild Hero Cards
• 51 Adventure Cards
• 30 Mana Tokens
• 30 Food Tokens
• 50 Gold Tokens
• 12 Player Meeples
• 24 Player Cubes
• 1 Rule Book

Setup

• Shuffle the Hero cards (without the Basic cards and without the Guild Master cards), reveal 5 cards face up, and place the draw pile next to them.
• Place the 15 Guild Master cards as a face-up stack.
• Shuffle the Treasure cards and the Adventure cards separately, and set each out as its own face-down pile.
• Place the 4 Elemental Stones on their spaces in the Dungeon's Dark Castle.
• Set out the Gold, Mana, and Food tokens.
• Separate the Monster cards by level (1, 2, and 3) and shuffle each level separately. Then, face down and from bottom to top, stack first the 5 Level 3 cards, then the 3 Level 2 cards, and finally the 2 Level 1 cards onto the Monster card space next to the Dungeon track. Reveal the top Monster card.
• Each player receives:
  • 2 meeples
  • 2 gold
  • 10 Basic cards, shuffled together: 2 Wizards, 2 Fighters, 2 Clerics, 2 Thieves, 2 Villagers
• Place 1 meeple of each player color on the Fort.
• Place 1 marker of each player color on the "0" space of each of the 4 guild tracks, on the start space of the Dungeon track, and on the "0" space of the victory point track.

How Is It Played?

In Adventure Realms, players build a strong party of heroes and send their agents out on adventures. In addition, players will try to fight their way through dungeons to earn valuable rewards. As soon as a player reaches 10 victory points, or 10 rounds have been played (depending on the monster deck: 5 x Level 3 / 3 x Level 2 / 2 x Level 1), the game ends and the player with the most victory points wins.

Round Phases

1. Draw Phase

At the start of each new round, each player draws the top 5 cards of their deck into their hand. If the draw pile does not contain enough cards, the discard pile is shuffled and becomes the new draw pile.

2. Agent Phase

Starting with the first player, each player in turn may now place one of their agents from their supply onto an agent space on the game board. Requirements: the space must not already be occupied, and the player must play the matching hero card (the symbol of the matching section). Each agent space on the board grants the player resources, cards, or other variable abilities.

The board is divided into four regions: Town, Forest, Desert, and Tundra. Each region consists of four agent spaces. In addition, there are four guilds in the game: Fighters, Thieves, Wizards, and Clerics. Each guild in turn consists of two agent spaces. Some hero cards show one or more guild symbols. This means the player may place an agent in the matching guild. By doing so, the player receives resources, cards, etc. (as shown on the board) plus the effects on the hero card played. In addition, the player advances one space in that guild's favor track. Once a player reaches the top of a guild track, no other player can reach the top of that track anymore. As soon as a player reaches a space with a reward, they receive that reward.

3. Reveal Phase

Once it is a player's turn, they may begin their Reveal Phase. It is not necessary to have placed all agents before beginning the Reveal Phase. As soon as a player begins their personal Reveal Phase, they pass and can no longer take part in the Agent Phase for the remainder of the round.

The player reveals which heroes are in their hand, allowing them to recruit new heroes from the Guild Row above the game board. Once the heroes are revealed, the effects of the highlighted space can be used. Each hero in the Guild Row shows its cost in the upper right corner of the card. Cards from the Guild Row (the display) can be bought using the Recruit Points generated by the revealed hero cards. Empty spaces in the display are refilled immediately. Some cards grant the player an immediate effect / one-time bonus, shown below the cost.

4. Dungeon Phase

After all players have finished their Reveal Phase, the Dungeon Phase begins. Players may already have advanced on the Dungeon track earlier (agents on the board, hero cards played, etc.). At the start of the Dungeon Phase, players have the opportunity — starting with the first player, in player order — to play their Magic cards. Each player may play any number of Magic cards during their turn.

Once all players have done so, the Dungeon track is scored. After the ranking has been determined, the player who has reached space 14 of the track receives an Elemental Stone of their choice. This Elemental Stone is worth one victory point at the end of the game and can trigger stronger abilities on some cards. Otherwise, rewards are distributed according to the Dungeon/Monster card. If several players have reached the same rank, those players share the loot. Exception: if the loot is an Elemental Stone, no one receives it. Rewards are always distributed by rank regardless of whether a player receives an Elemental Stone or not. Players who did not make it onto the track do not take part in this scoring.

5. End Phase

All players' markers on the Dungeon track are placed back on the start space. The Monster card on top of the deck is discarded and the card beneath it is revealed. All agents return to their respective players. All players draw 5 cards from their deck into their hand. If a player's deck contains fewer than 5 cards, the discard pile is shuffled to form the new deck, and the player draws up to 5 cards in hand. The first player marker moves clockwise.

If, at the start of the End Phase, a player has reached 10 victory points, the end of the game is triggered. This also happens once all 10 Monster cards in the dungeon have been played (10 rounds).

Action Spaces

Town

• Tavern — Gain one advance on the Dungeon track and draw an Adventure card.
• Castle — Gain one advance on the Dungeon track and draw a card from your deck.
• Church — Spend one Food token to draw two cards from your deck.

Forest

• Fairy Garden — During setup and during every Draw Phase, a Mana token is placed here. The player who sends an agent here receives all Mana tokens currently on this space.
• Tree of Life — Gain one Food token and two Mana tokens from the supply.
• Mine — Gain three Gold tokens from the supply.

Desert

• Oasis — Spend three Gold tokens to gain three additional Recruit Points during the Reveal Phase.
• Temple — Gain two Gold tokens and one Food token from the supply.
• Fort — Spend eight Gold tokens to free an agent and use it from now on. Or, advance two levels in one guild / advance one level in two different guilds.

Tundra

• Ancient Ruins — Spend one Food token to gain four Mana tokens.
• Merchant — Banish two cards (from hand or discard pile) and draw a card from your deck.
• Shrine — Spend three Gold tokens to gain three advances on the Dungeon track.

Guilds

Each guild space is marked "per card played -> +1 Power."

Fighters' Guild

• Bastion — Spend one Food token. All other players place a card from their hand onto their discard pile, and you gain two advances on the Dungeon track.
• Merylith — Gain three Gold tokens and two advances on the Dungeon track.

Thieves' Guild

• Shadow — Draw an Adventure card and receive one random Adventure card from each player who owns at least three Adventure cards.
• Quint — Spend three Mana tokens to draw three cards from your deck.

Wizards' Guild

• Ember — Spend five Mana tokens to gain five advances on the Dungeon track.
• Vexx — Draw an Adventure card and gain two Mana tokens.

Clerics' Guild

• Willow — Gain two Food tokens.
• Harrow — Spend one Food token to gain four advances on the Dungeon track.

Adventure Cards

During the game, it is very likely that players will acquire Adventure cards. These cards can belong to one of three different types: Magic, Item, and Quest. When this symbol (a black card back with a green, red, yellow, or blue square) is shown, the player draws an Adventure card from the corresponding deck. Players may play these cards to gain certain benefits, such as resources, Journey Flags, or victory points for the final scoring. There is no hand limit for Adventure cards. Accordingly, they are not heroes, and these cards can be thought of as a "second hand." They do not count among the five Hero cards drawn during the End Phase. These cards are kept separately, independent of the main deck of heroes.

Items

Item cards are always orange, and can also be identified by the card type printed under the card's name. Item cards can only be played during the Agent Phase. The respective player may play any number of Item cards during their turn. After an item has been played, the card is discarded face up next to the Adventure deck.

Magic

Magic cards are turquoise. These cards can only be played during the Dungeon Phase. Magic helps the player advance up the Dungeon track. Some Magic cards require paying Mana to trigger their effect. The player may play any number of Magic cards during the Dungeon Phase. Once a player has played all their cards, or has passed, that player may no longer play any cards during this Dungeon Phase. Every Magic card played is discarded face up next to the Adventure deck.

Quest

Quest cards are pink. Quests are special cards whose requirements can earn players victory points at the end of the game. Quests are only revealed at the end of the game. It is up to the players to keep their Quest cards hidden from the other players. Quests are secret objectives, individual to each player, as they hack their way through the dungeons or rise in the favor of the various guilds. It is also a good idea to keep all Adventure cards hidden from the other players.

End of Game Scoring

The game ends when at least one of these two conditions is met during the End Phase: a player reaches 10 points on the victory point track, or the 10th Monster card has been defeated (the dungeon deck is empty). Then two more steps are carried out to generate victory points:

1. Elemental Stones: 1 victory point per Elemental Stone owned by the player.
2. Quest Cards: if fulfilled, the player receives the victory points shown.

The player with the most victory points wins the game. In case of a tie, the player who owns the most Elemental Stones wins. If there is still a tie, the player with the most Kings (Epic Heroes) in their deck wins. If there is still a tie, those players win together!

Important Reminders

Round phases: Draw Phase, Agent Phase, Reveal Phase, Dungeon Phase, End Phase.

1. At the start of every Draw Phase, a Mana token must be placed on the Fairy Garden.
2. When the third agent is placed on the Fort during setup, it should be laid down, so that it is not accidentally picked up along with the other agents when they return to their owners.
3. During the Dungeon Phase, the first player plays their Magic cards first. After that, the other players play their Magic cards in clockwise order. Once every player has had the chance to play their Magic cards, the ranking is determined.
4. Do not forget to move all players' markers on the Dungeon track back to the start during the End Phase.
5. When a card is banished, it is banished from the hand or from the discard pile.
6. When a player sends an agent into a guild, they generate Power in that guild!
7. At the end of the Reveal Phase, all newly recruited heroes, all cards played during the Reveal Phase, and all cards remaining in hand must be placed on the discard pile.
8. Rewards on the guild track are received by the player immediately.
9. If a player loses Power in a guild, they also lose the victory point shown at the corresponding level. This applies only to victory points, not to resources.
10. During the Reveal Phase, a player may recruit as many heroes as possible, as long as their Recruit Points are sufficient.