Ancient Terrible Things: Reawakened
Ancient Terrible Things: Reawakened Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Gameboard (double-sided: a standard river layout on one side, a longer, more free-form river on the reverse)
- 4 Character pawns with stickers
- 4 Player Boards
- 16 dice in 6 colours: 5 Green "Focus"; 2 Yellow "Luck"; 2 Purple "Revelation"; 2 Blue "Feat"; 2 Red "Desperation"; 2 White "Action" and 1 Black "Movement" dice
- 16 "Tentacle" tokens
- 94 Resource tokens in 4 colours: Green "Focus" tokens, Yellow "Treasure" tokens, Blue "Feat" tokens, Purple "Courage" tokens
- 2 Grey "5x" tokens (Note: there is no intentional limit to resource tokens. Should they run out during the game, use Grey "5x" tokens to substitute for 5 tokens of 1 colour.)
- 1 "Tainted Tide" tile
- 1 "Battered Journal" tile
- 1 "Monkey" tile
- 1 "Adversary" tile
- 1 "Reanimation" tile
- 5 "Fateful Location" tiles
- 112 Cards: 32 Swag, 32 Feat, 36 Encounter, 4 Achievement
- 4 Starting "McGuffin" Swag cards
- 4 Character / Starting "Hat" Swag cards
- 4 Scenario cards
- 4 "Urgent Revelation" / Turn Overview cards
Setup
1. Game Board and Tiles. Place the gameboard in the center of the play area within easy reach of all players. Place the 5 Fateful Location tiles on the board as shown. For a standard game, use Location A (for a 3/4-player game) or Location F on that tile's reverse side (for a 1/2 player game), as well as Location B, C, D and E. (Location G, H and I are variants for more experienced players, and Location J is used in solo play only.)
2. Achievements. Place the Achievement cards alongside the board.
3. Focus. Place the five green dice and the two white Action dice in the middle of the board.
4. Resource tokens. Place all Resource tokens in the Resource tray and the extra dice within easy reach of all players.
5. Reanimation and Monkey tiles. Place the Reanimation tile and Monkey tile alongside the board. If you are playing a solo game, place the Adversary tile alongside the board, otherwise return it to the box.
6. Encounters. Separate the Encounter cards according to their backs (red, orange, or green). Shuffle each stack. Shuffle all the Tentacle tokens face down. Depending on the number of players and the length of game you wish to play, count out a number of Encounter cards from each stack and a number of Tentacle Tokens, as per the Setup Table. Arrange the Encounter cards in a single face down stack with the red-backed cards at the bottom, orange in the middle, and green on the top. Place the deck next to the board, with space alongside the deck for the "Rumours" discard pile.
Arrange the Tentacle tokens in a single face up stack on top of the Tainted Tide tile, in ascending order with 3-Tentacle tokens at the bottom and 0-Tentacle tokens at the top, to form the Doom stack. Return the remaining Encounter cards and Tentacle tokens back to the game box unseen.
7. Feats. Shuffle the Feat cards and place them face down alongside the gameboard to form the Feat deck. Place the top card from the Feat deck face up alongside this deck to start the Feat discard pile.
8. Swag. Separate the starting "McGuffin" Swag cards (identified by a symbol in the lower left corner on the front of the card). Shuffle the remaining Swag cards and place them face down next to the gameboard to form the Swag deck, with space alongside for the "Old Stock" discard pile. Deal three Swag cards face up to form the "Trading Post" row.
Player Setup
Each player starts with:
- A Player Board.
- One of each Resource token type: Focus, Treasure, Courage, and Feat.
- A Character card and matching Wooden pawn. Take any additional starting Resources shown on the Character card. Then, flip over the card to the "Hat" Swag card side and slide it into the matching slot on the Player Board.
- A Scenario card. Decide on the Scenario you wish to play (I or II) and have all players use the same Scenario. Slide it into the matching slot on the Player Board.
- A starting "McGuffin" Swag card (identified by a symbol in the lower left-hand corner of the card), placed to the right of the "Hat" Swag card.
- An Urgent Revelations / Turn Overview card.
- 3 Feat cards from the Feat deck, placed face up near the Player Board.
The Captain starts the game. If the Captain is not in play, the last player to suffer from Jungle Fever becomes the first player. Each player receives additional starting resource tokens according to turn order (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th player).
Game Overview
In Ancient Terrible Things, you play the role of an intrepid and foolish adventurer exploring a dark, jungle river for Secrets (points).
Each turn, you will travel to a Fateful Location and face an Ominous Encounter there. Through a combination of rolled and locked dice, tokens and cards, you will attempt to make useful dice combinations (such as pairs, runs, three or more of-a-kind, and single dice showing high numbers) and spend these dice results to overcome the Encounter (which is worth Secrets at the end of the game) and to gain Resource tokens to help against later, more powerful Encounters.
If you fail to overcome the Encounter you will gain a Tentacle token, which counts against your Secrets and hastens the end of the game.
Turn Overview
The game is played over a number of turns, with each player completing their turn before play moves to the next player in clockwise order. The game continues until The Inexplicable Event is triggered, at which point the game ends.
Each turn consists of four phases as follows:
- Reveal — If all 5 Fateful Locations are empty, deal out new Encounter cards.
- Explore — Visit a Fateful Location.
- Encounter — Roll your dice and use special effects from tiles, Swag cards and Feat cards to create dice combinations.
- Resolve — Spend your final dice results to Gain Resources and/or to Overcome the Encounter. If you fail to overcome the Encounter, gain the topmost Tentacle token.
Playing the Game
1. Reveal
Encounter cards represent the dangers and hazards of the jungle, whether man, beast, or otherwise. Each card shows the Type of Encounter, the minimum dice combination needed to overcome the Encounter, and its Secrets value when overcome.
Type of Encounters. There are 4 Types of Encounter, as indicated by their icons. Each contribute a different resource token to that Location:
- (Green) Pitfall Encounters — the jungle is full of deadly natural hazards and traps for the unwary. Pitfall Encounters generate a (green) Focus token.
- (Blue) Villain Encounters — where evil powers dwell, there will be people who seek to profit from them. Villain Encounters generate a (blue) Feat token.
- (Yellow) Artefact Encounters — mysterious and valuable objects can be discovered in forgotten places. Artefact Encounters generate a (yellow) Treasure token.
- (Purple) Horror Encounters — fear for your sanity; these are Encounters with things not of our world. Horror Encounters generate a (purple) Courage token.
Example: New Encounters are drawn and placed alongside each of the 5 Fateful Locations. Depending on the Type of Encounter, place a resource token at the Location. Some Encounters belong to more than one Type. These Encounters contribute more than one resource token to their Location.
Example: Bad Egg is drawn and placed alongside the Accursed Shrine. Bad Egg is a Horror Encounter that generates one Courage at the Location.
2. Explore
Place your Character pawn at any Location that has an Encounter card.
Take all resource token(s) at that Location.
Take the Leader Bonus effect shown on the left-hand side of the Location tile.
Each player (starting with you and proceeding clockwise), may then take the Location Bonus effect shown on the right-hand side of the tile. See Appendix for details about each of these Bonus effects.
Example: The Reporter decides to explore the Accursed Shrine. She takes the Courage token found there. Then she claims the Leader Bonus on the left, which allows her to claim the Reanimation tile. Next, all players starting with her, may un-exhaust 2 of their exhausted Swag cards.
3. Encounter
In the Encounter phase, you will roll dice, Perform Feats and Use Swag, in order to create dice combinations (such as pairs, three or more of-a-kind, runs and single dice showing high numbers.)
You will spend these dice combinations in the next phase to overcome the Encounter at your Location and to Gain Resource tokens.
The Encounter phase has three steps:
A. Build your dice pool. Take the 5 green Focus dice and the 2 white Action dice. These form your starting dice pool. (At this point, you may Perform Feats or Use Swag cards that allow you to swap dice in your dice pool.)
B. Roll your dice. Roll your final pool of dice. After rolling, immediately set aside the two Action dice. These are locked and cannot be re-rolled.
C. Perform a Feat and Use Swag. You may play Feat cards and use Swag cards in any order and as many times as you wish, to trigger effects and manipulate your dice.
Perform a Feat. Each Feat card in your play area contains a useful one-shot effect. To play a Feat card, pay its activation cost (shown on top left) in Feat tokens. Resolve the effect described on the card and discard the card to the Feat discard pile.
Use Swag. Swag in your play area contain useful effects that can be triggered by paying the activation cost shown in top left corner of the card.
There are two types of Swag activation costs:
- Spend an Action die. Take one of your white Action die and set it aside. This die is now spent. The face of the dice is not relevant when used for activating Swag.
- Exhaust the card. Turn the Swag sideways to indicate that it is now exhausted and cannot be used again until it is refreshed (Swag is most commonly refreshed through a Location Bonus Action.)
If Swag shows multiple activation costs, all activation costs must be paid. Swag with no activation cost has a persistent effect and does not require activation.
Each player starts the game with 2 Swag cards, a Hat and a McGuffin. The Hat ability allows players to pay green Focus tokens to lock green dice, and roll the rest. Hats are not exhausted after use, so a Hat can be used multiple times (white dice allowing). The McGuffin ability allows players to spend green Focus tokens to re-roll that number of green dice, but it can only be used once after which it is exhausted.
Locked dice. Some effects will allow you to lock a number of dice. Locked dice are set aside and cannot be re-rolled for the remainder of the turn. (For easy book-keeping, you can use the allocated area on your player board to place your locked dice.)
Example: Sarah the Reporter is playing Scenario I and facing the Bad Egg at her Location. The Scenario and the Encounter card show the minimum dice combinations she will need in order to overcome the Encounter and/or gain more resource tokens. She collects her starting dice pool.
Before she rolls her dice, she chooses to spend 2 Feat tokens to play the Tinker Tailor, which allows her to swap one of her green Focus die in her dice pool with a yellow Luck die.
She rolls her final dice pool, resulting in a 1, 2, 2, 4 and 5. She sets aside the two Action dice to form her locked dice pool.
She activates her "Hat" by spending one Action die. This allows her to spend 2 Focus tokens to lock 2 dice and roll the rest. She locks the 4 and 5 die and then re-rolls all of her unlocked dice. (She could use this effect again with her other action die as the Hat is not exhausted after use.) Her re-roll results in a 1, 1 and 3. With the locked 4 and 5, she now has the 3, 4, 5 needed to overcome the Encounter. But the two 1's are not useable.
Lastly, she activates her "McGuffin" by spending 1 white dice and exhausting the card. This allows her to spend 1 Focus token to re-roll 1 of her unlocked Focus dice. She chooses to re-roll the 1. She also chooses to re-roll the Luck dice showing 1, for free, as per its effect.
Her final dice result is 3, 3, 4, 5 and 6. She is ready to spend her dice combinations.
4. Resolve
Spend combinations of dice to Gain Resources and/or Overcome the Encounter. You may perform the following actions until you can no longer make any useable combinations with your remaining dice, or choose not to. You can't use the same physical die to form more than one combination.
Dice Combinations. Encounters and the Scenario show particular combinations of dice. These come in four types:
- High numbers — a single die showing a particular number or higher.
- Pairs of dice showing the same number (which must be a particular value or higher).
- Blocks of 3 or more dice showing the same number (which must be a particular value or higher).
- Runs of 3 or more dice in a sequence (starting with a particular value or higher).
IMPORTANT! The dice combination shows the minimum value of the dice that are required for a combination. For instance, a Block symbol showing 4+ represents a combination which can be met with three (or more) 4s, or three (or more) 5s, or three (or more) 6s. A High-number symbol showing 4+ represents a set of High number dice, which can be met with any three single dice showing 4 or higher, e.g. a 4,4,4 or 4,5,5 or 4,5,4 etc. A Run symbol starting at 2 represents a combination which can be met with three consecutive dice starting from 2, e.g. 2,3,4 or 3,4,5 or 4,5,6.
Note that Runs and Blocks can be made of three, four, five or more dice. Pairs can only ever be made of two dice. High numbers are always single dice.
Gain Resources. Select dice that match a combination shown on the Scenario. Set these dice aside and claim one of the indicated resource tokens for each die used (e.g. a Run-of-Four would reward 4 tokens).
Overcome the Encounter. Select dice that match the combination shown on the Encounter at your Location. Set these dice aside to overcome the Encounter, adding the Encounter card to your Achievement stack. Slide the card under the Player Board so that the Encounter Type icons remain visible for the purposes of claiming Achievements.
Claim a Resource from an Action die. Select a white Action die that has not been used to activate Swag and that shows a resource token symbol. Remove the die from the board and claim the resource token indicated.
If you failed to overcome the Encounter, do the following steps in order:
- Discard the Encounter to the Rumours discard pile (alongside the Encounter draw deck.)
- If there are no Tentacle tokens on the Tainted Tide tile, the Inexplicable Event triggers, otherwise take the topmost Tentacle token from the Doom stack and add it to your Player Board.
Urgent Revelation. Tentacle tokens may be spent to gain a useful one-shot effect as outlined on your Urgent Revelation reference card. When spent, the token is flipped over to indicate that it has been spent. Spent Tentacle tokens still count against your score at the end of the game.
- A. Exhaust a 0 or 1 Tentacle token to gain a Feat card.
- B. Exhaust a 2 Tentacle token to gain a Feat card or refresh a Swag card.
- C. Exhaust a 3 Tentacle token to gain a Feat card and refresh an exhausted Swag card.
Each Tentacle token shows 0 to 3 tentacles, which counts against your score at the end of the game. However, these tokens can be used for a useful bonus effect as above.
End of Your Turn
Your turn is over. Pass the 5 green Focus dice and 2 white action dice to the next player clockwise around the table who begins the next turn.
The Inexplicable Event
The game ends immediately when:
- You must claim a Tentacle token and there are none on the Tainted Tide tile.
- You deal out fewer Encounter cards than the number of players during the Reveal phase.
Each player counts up any Secrets they have acquired via:
- Overcome Encounter cards.
- Swag cards that are worth Secrets.
- Achievement cards.
Every 3 Courage tokens remaining is worth 1 Secret.
Each player subtracts penalties for Tentacle tokens acquired.
The player with the most Secrets is the lone survivor of the doomed expedition. The player briefly receives the Battered Journal, before it is tossed into the Sanatorium furnace. The remaining players are Never Seen Again. The End.
Forgotten Secrets: A Solo Adventure
They said to return alone would be madness. The twisted waterways play tricks on a quiet mind. But there are others - a nefarious shadow organisation seeks the same prize. Best that your path never crosses this Adversary.
The following rules explain how to play ATT as a solo game.
Set-up. Set-up proceeds as per the multiplayer game, with exceptions listed below:
- Encounters. Build an Encounter deck with 15 Encounter cards (4 green, 5 orange, 6 red). Shuffle and draw 4 Tentacle tokens and place them on the Tainted Tide tile.
- Fateful Locations. Set the Location tiles to the correct side for solo play as per the minimum player count icon shown on the tile. Location J is only used in solo play.
Sequence of Play. Play proceeds as per the multiplayer game, with exceptions listed below:
Reveal Phase. After refreshing Locations with new Encounters, roll a spare die and place the Adversary tile on a Fateful Location as per the die result: 1-A/F, 2-B/G, 3-C/H, 4-D/I, 5-E/J, 6-any Fateful Location.
Explore Phase. At the beginning of Explore phase before moving your pawn to a Location, move the Adversary Tile.
If there is only one Fateful Location with an Encounter card, instead remove the Adversary tile for the remainder of the round.
Otherwise, roll the Movement die and move the Adversary tile as per the die result:
- Move the Adversary anti-clockwise around the gameboard to the next Fateful Location with an Encounter.
- Do not move the Adversary.
- Move the Adversary clockwise around the gameboard to the next Fateful Location with an Encounter.
You may not choose to explore the same Fateful Location as the Adversary for this turn.
Forget Secrets. A round is complete at the end of a turn where there are no Encounter cards at any Fateful Locations.
At the end of a round, you must Forget (discard) Secrets equal to twice the total amount of Secrets in the Rumours discard pile. Discarded Secrets go out of the game.
You may discard them from any source – Encounters, Achievements and Swag. Swag that are worth Secrets at the end of the game are worth that many Secrets when discarded. Discarded Achievements may not be re-earned later.
The entire Rumours discard pile is then removed from the game.
If you cannot Forget sufficient Secrets at the end of each round, or if you must take a Tentacle token and there are none to claim, you are defeated and the game is lost.
If you complete the final round without being defeated, you find the Truth before the Adversary, and win the game.
Solo-only Location
Appendix: Location Tiles
Accursed Shrine — Powerful energy lines and eldritch awakenings alight ancient objects.
- Leader Action: Claim the Reanimation tile and turn it to its active side. The Reanimation tile may be used at any time during your turn to refresh any one exhausted Swag card. The tile is then flipped to its inactive side.
- Location Action: All players may refresh a number of exhausted Swag cards, turning them to their active (portrait) orientation. In a 1 or 2-player game, players may refresh 3 Swag cards (Tile side F). In a 3 or 4 player game, players may refresh 2 Swag cards (Tile side A).
Sinister Chateau — A leaning edifice to colonial hubris and a dusty library of fading knowledge.
- Leader Action: Declare either Focus, Treasure or Feat.
- Location Action: Each player gains a Resource token of the type declared. Then, each player may claim an Achievement card if they have the required number of icons of that Encounter Type in their Achievement stack (including Swag cards that show an Encounter Type, e.g. Specimen). To claim an Achievement a player must have at least 2 icons of that Type. If a player has at least 3 icons of that Type, they can claim the Mastery side of the card which is worth 4 Secrets. Achievements can be stolen from other players if they have less Encounter Type icons. The active player wins any Achievement for which they are tied with another player. In the case of a tie between other players where the Achievement has already been claimed, the card remains with the player who last claimed it. In the case of a tie between other players for an Achievement that has not yet been claimed, the Achievement is claimed by no player. (For example, if a player has 2 Horror Encounter icons in their stash they can claim Horror Prowess worth 2 Secrets. If they have 3 or more Horror icons, they can claim Horror Mastery worth 4 Secrets.)
Yawning Chasm — For those brave enough to descend into its spiral depths, a deep pool reflects mysteries unknown.
- Leader Action: Gain a Courage token.
- Location Action: Each player, beginning with the active player, may spend a number of Courage tokens to gain an Encounter card of equal value in Secrets from any Location. Any Encounters claimed in this way are immediately replaced with a new card from the top of the Encounter deck if able. Any resource tokens at that Location remain and are not replaced with new resource tokens.
Rusted Gunsloop — Moss and steel echo an Empire's vanity. A training ground for steel and resolve.
- Leader Action: You may discard any number of Feat cards from your hand.
- Location Action: Each player draws back up to 3 Feat cards.
Trading Post — Trinkets, Gems and Cursed discoveries litter shelves, whispering of fool's fortune and lost sanity.
- Leader Action: Claim the Monkey tile and turn it to its active side. The Monkey tile may be used at any time during your turn (this or a later turn) to spend Treasure tokens to purchase a Swag card from the Trading Post. The tile is then flipped to its inactive side. Then, refresh one Swag card in the Trading Post Row, by placing a Swag from the row into the Old Stock discard pile and replacing it with a new face up card from the top of the Swag deck.
- Location Action: Each player, beginning with the active player, may choose to spend a number of Treasure tokens to purchase any face-up Swag card in the Trading Post Row or the top card of the Old Stock discard pile (e.g. spend 2 Treasure to purchase the Camera). Purchased Swag cards are immediately replaced with a new card from the Swag deck.
Floating Village — At the mouth of the great river, a delta of criss-cross waterways and trading opportunities.
- Leader Action: Claim the Monkey Tile. Then, you may discard any one Swag card from your stash, to claim a number of resource tokens (of any type) equal to half its Treasure value (rounded up).
- Location Action: Each player starting with you and proceeding clockwise may refresh one Swag card in the Trading Post Row, and then purchase a Swag card, paying its cost in Treasure tokens. Purchased Swag cards are immediately replaced with a new card from the Swag deck.
Treacherous Rapids — Torrential rains and eldritch footholds.
- Leader Action: Gain one Feat token.
- Location Action: Each player must discard their hand of Feat cards and draw back up to 3 Feat cards.
Ghastely Gorg — Vertiginous climbs into granite foothills.
- Leader Action: Gain one Encounter Type icon of your choice for the remainder of the turn. Each other player gains a resource token of the Encounter Type chosen (e.g. if you gain a Pitfall Encounter icon, each other player gains a green Focus Token).
- Location Action: Beginning with the active player, each player may claim an Achievement card. In the case of a tie for an Achievement with the Encounter Type icon chosen by the active player this turn, the non-active player wins the tie.
Variants
Long River Gameboard. The reverse side of the gameboard presents a longer river and a more free-form option for set-up, and is recommended for higher player counts or for players who wish to set-up the game area more organically. The reverse board can also be used as a surface with other jungle-themed tabletop games, such as roleplaying games or miniature skirmish games.
Game Summary
1. Reveal Phase. (Skip this phase if there are Encounter Cards at any Fateful Locations.) Place a new Encounter card at each Fateful Location. If there are not enough Encounter cards for the number of players, The Inexplicable Event is triggered. Place matching Resource tokens at each Location.
2. Explore Phase. Place your Character Pawn at a Location with an Encounter card and take any Resource tokens there. Take the Leader Action. All players beginning with you and proceeding clockwise, take the Location Action.
3. Encounter Phase. Create a dice pool with the 5 Focus dice and 2 Action dice. (Perform Feats and Use Swag to swap dice in your dice pool.) Roll your final pool of dice. Perform Feats and Use Swag in any order and as many times as you wish.
4. Resolve Phase. Spend dice combinations to Gain Resources and/or Overcome the Encounter. Gain Resources from un-used Action die.
If there is still an Encounter card at your Location, discard it to the Rumours discard pile and take the topmost Tentacle token from the Doom stack. If you are unable to take a Tentacle token, The Inexplicable Event is triggered.
The Inexplicable Event (game end). If when refreshing Encounters during the Reveal phase there are less Encounters than the number of players, or a player must gain a Tentacle token and is unable to, the game ends immediately with The Inexplicable Event.
Each player tallies the total Secrets in their stash from Encounter cards, Achievement cards, Swag cards worth Secrets and remaining Courage tokens. Each player subtracts any penalties for Tentacle tokens in their stash (-0, -1, -2 or -3).
The player with the most Secrets is the Sole Survivor of the Doomed Expedition and briefly receives the Battered Journal, before it is tossed into the sanatorium furnace. The Other Players are Never Seen Again. The End.