And That's How I Died Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Key Features
• Goal of the Game
• Card Anatomy
• Table Setup
• Playing Your Turn
  • 1. Play an Adventure
  • 2. Apply Effects
  • 3. Check Your Pulse
  • 4. Draw Back to Six
• Dying and Claiming an Achievement
• Game End and Scoring
• Scoring Example
• Game Variant: Storytelling Mode
• Adventure Card Effects

Contents

• 90 Adventure Cards
• 10 Achievement Cards
• 6 Instruction Cards
• 1 Rule Book

Key Features

• 2 gameplay options
• New stories every game
• 27,000 possible combos
• As quick as 5 min. per player
• Different paths to victory
• Reverse player elimination: You try to kill... yourself!

Goal of the Game

• Earn Glory Points until you take 15 or more Damage - this is how you die.
• When all players are dead, the one with the most Glory Points is the winner!

Card Anatomy

• Adventure cards are used to tell heroic tales.
• Achievement cards award extra Glory Points.

Adventure card parts:

• Glory Points (all cards award Glory Points)
• Adventure Name
• Card Effects (not all cards have effects!)
• Card type: I - Beginning, II - Middle, III - End
• Damage (only cards with the III-icon deal damage)

Achievement card parts: Glory Points, Achievement Name, Requirement.

Table Setup

• Shuffle the 90 Adventure cards and deal a hand of 6 cards to each player.
• Shuffle the 10 Achievement cards and draw a number of cards equal to 2 + the number of players. Arrange these face-up on the table for all to see. Put the rest back in the box, they won't be needed.
• Draw 6 cards from the Adventure deck and arrange them on the table, face-up, for all to see. This is known as the Pool.
• Leave some space for a face-up Discard Pile.

Example: In a 2-player game, you will deal a standard hand of 6 Adventure cards to each player, draw 4 Achievement cards (arrange them face up), and set up a Pool of 6 cards.

Playing Your Turn

The player who most recently went to the gym goes first. If tied or no player has ever been to a gym, pick another physical activity... or just play rock-paper-scissors.

Starting from the first player, complete the steps below in order:

1. Play an Adventure
2. Apply Effects
3. Check Your Pulse
4. Draw Back to Six

1. Play an Adventure

• On each of your turn, you must play one Adventure. Say the words "Once, I..." and play three cards in order. The cards must have a beginning (marked with a I in the upper left), a middle (marked with a II), and an end (marked with a III).
• You can use cards from your hand or cards from the Pool to form an Adventure. If you use a card from the Pool, immediately replace it by drawing a new card. You are allowed to use the newly-drawn card to continue your Adventure.

Example: Henry plays the beginning card "Spied On (I)" from his hand. Then he uses the middle card "The Soulless (II)" from the Pool. He draws a new card to fill the gap in the Pool, drawing "Skeleton (III)". Nice! This is a perfect card to complete his Adventure and make it a Legendary Adventure (all cards with the same banner color are worth double the Glory Points!)

• Arrange your Adventure in front of you and keep it there. These cards remain in play until the end of the game (and can get rearranged by effects).
• On your next turn, arrange your new Adventures underneath the older ones to keep track of your progress.

Mulligan: If you can't form an Adventure from your hand and the Pool (there are no cards of one of the three types), show everybody your hand, discard it, and draw a new hand of 6 cards. Then play an Adventure like normal.

Note! Any combination of cards works, as long as they are a beginning (I), a middle (II), and an end (III). Keep in mind, that an Adventure in which all cards share the same banner color make a Legendary Adventure and is worth double points!

2. Apply Effects

Some cards have effects in their text box. Each time you play a card with an effect, you can immediately apply it. You may choose to skip the effect if you don't want to use it. There are 16 different effect types, see pages 9-11 for a full list.

For example: The most common effect is "Swap 1 card on the table with another card on the table of the same type (I/II/III)". Use this card to swap it with any other card already on the table (in your Adventures, your opponents' Adventures, or the Pool), as long as the cards are of the same number I, II, or III (swapping a beginning with another beginning, a middle with another middle, or an end with another end).

Hint: You can use different swap effects to build Legendary Adventures and/or destroy your opponents' Legendary Adventures. Some card effects allow you to draw additional cards when you play your Adventure, and you may end up with more than 6 cards in your hand, that's ok!

Important! Card effects are only applied when the card is first played during the Play an Adventure step. If a card with an effect enters a new Adventure through swapping or another effect, its effect is not applied.

3. Check Your Pulse

• After you've played an Adventure and resolved all effects, calculate all values printed in the upper right corner of the End (III) cards marked with the Damage icon. Add up Damage from all your Adventures.
• If the result is 14 or less, then you're still alive - move on to the next step.
• If you've taken 15 or more damage, then you're dead and the game is over for you! (Don't worry, this will eventually happen to everyone!)

Note! You always Check Your Pulse at the end of your turn, after you've Played an Adventure and Applied Effects. This means that even if an opponent swaps an end (III) card and increases your Damage past 15 during their turn, you'll still get to play one more turn before you die. Who knows, if you swap that monster back, you might live even longer!

4. Draw Back to Six

• If you're still alive, draw cards from the Adventure deck until you have six cards in hand. If you already have 6 or more cards in hand, keep them and don't draw any new cards.
• If the deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile and form a new deck to draw from.
• Pass the turn to the player on your left.

Dying and Claiming an Achievement

• When you die (have taken 15 damage or more), announce it by saying "...and that's how I died!".
• When you're dead, you are considered out of the game. Discard your hand. The cards you've played are now locked, your Adventures can't be affected by swapping or other effects.
• When you die, you can claim one (and only one!) Achievement card from the pile, as long as you meet its requirement. Claim this card and add it to your Adventures, it will grant you some sweet bonus points! When an Achievement is claimed, no other player can claim the same one!

Hint: It's a good idea to pay attention to the Achievements during the game and actively work towards one of them. It's an even better idea to notice another player is doing the same and robbing them of their prize by claiming it first! And remember, sometimes dying first is a clever move!

Game End and Scoring

• When all players are dead, the game is over. Count up your Glory Points:
  1. Add up the values in the upper left marked with the Glory icon for each of your Adventures.
  2. Double the Glory Points of Legendary Adventures (where all three cards have same color banner).
  3. Add the bonus points from your Achievement card.
• In case of a tie, play rock-paper-scissors or even better a quick 1-vs-1 game to settle the score.

Scoring Example

Adventure sets (Damage / Glory Points):

• Spied On, The Spiteful, Sorceress (all same banner color, a Legendary Adventure): Damage 4. Glory Points 5 + 5 + 4 = 14 x2 = 28.
• Betrayed, The Demonic, Hydra: Damage 6. Glory Points 3 + 5 + 5 = 13.
• Grossed Out, The Hungry, Demigod: Damage 5. Glory Points 3 + 3 + 5 = 11.

Totals: Damage 15, Glory Points 52.

Achievement cards in the example: The Legend (30), The Seeker (26), The Schemer (33), The Reckless (50).

Victory or death! Well, in our case, it's both...

You've completed 3 adventures and one of them has made you a true legend! Battling Sorceresses, Hydras, and messing with Demigods made for a short but glorious life! The fact you died first grants you the "The Reckless" Achievement card.

• Damage: 15
• Glory Points: 52
• Achievement Points: 50
• Total Glory Points: 102

Game Variant: Storytelling Mode

• This is a fun way to play with 3+ players using only your creativity and ability to entertain your friends!
• Leave the Achievement and Instruction cards back in the box. Disregard the Adventure banner colors, Glory Points, Damage, and effects - only the cards' artwork and names matter here! The goal is to create a story with a Beginning (I), Middle (II) and the End (III).
• Put the deck within reach of all and set up a Pool of 6 cards. Everybody draws a hand of 2 cards.
• The first player (determined just like in the standard game) becomes the first Storyteller. The Storyteller puts 1 card from their hand to the table to start the story (in no specific order, it doesn't have to start with beginning right away!). Alternatively, they can also use a card from the Pool to start the story but then must replace it with a card from their hand.
• The Storyteller starts telling a story about the card in free form. Make it funny, epic, or surprising!

Example: In a game of 3 players, Danny is the Storyteller. He sees the card Dwarf (III) in the Pool and decides to use it. He immediately replaces its spot in the Pool with the card Bit (I) from his hand. Then, he starts inventing a story: "Long ago, my favorite hobby was exploring cursed dungeons. One time, I met somebody in a particularly dark dungeon - it was a very grumpy old dwarf."

• Now it's time for the other players to add twists and turns to the story. The player to the Storyteller's left, becomes the first Heckler. They can either add a card to the story, or replace an existing card by putting a new one on top of it.
• The Heckler can use a card from their hand or alternatively use a card from the Pool (don't forget to immediately replace the card in the Pool with any card from your hand). The Heckler continues telling the story in free form. Make sure you don't take more than a minute!

Example: Maria is next. She places The Hungry (II) card from her hand, adding it to Danny's Dwarf (III). She says, "I know exactly the dwarf you speak of? Of course he was grumpy, after all, he hadn't eaten for two hours!"

• Then, the next player sitting clockwise becomes the next Heckler, and so on.
• Players continue adding cards and developing the story until all players are left with no cards in hand - meaning everybody has played twice. When all players are out of cards, the Storyteller proclaims, "And that's how I died!" and keeps the cards that formed the story. Don't stack or shuffle them!

Example: After multiple rounds, Nikola is the last player with just 1 card remaining, and concludes the story "Your memory must be fading, or you must have had too much fairy honey! The dungeon was full of Gargoyles, not Dwarfs!" He puts the Gargoyle (III) card over Dwarf, covering it. Danny laughs and says, "You're right! Initially, they were Dwarfs but they all got wiped out by the Gargoyles so that I ended up battling the deranged gargoyles, and that's how I died!

• It's time for the next round. The next player clockwise becomes the new Storyteller. Everybody draws 2 cards and you repeat the same steps as above.
• When all players have been the Storyteller, the game is over and it's time for the award ceremony. As a group, take a pause and look at each other's stories once again. Then, simultaneously everyone points a finger at the player they thought was the most entertaining. Most epic, most funny, or just cool - it's your choice! You can't vote for yourself, though! The player who got the most votes is the winner! If there is a tie, share the victory or settle with a quick rock-paper-scissors game.

Adventure Card Effects

• Some cards in the game have special effects. These are always written on the card and must be applied immediately after playing the card. You can skip an effect if you want to!
• Below are all effects in the game alongside rule clarifications and strategy tips. The only effect featured on more than one card is "Swap 1 card on the table with another card on the table of the same type (I/II/III)".

Card Name	Card Effect	Clarification & Tips
This effect is available in 20 cards	Swap 1 card on the table with another card on the table of the same type (I/II/III)	When you apply this effect, you can choose any card that is already on the table (in your Adventures, your opponents' Adventures, or the Pool), and swap its place, with another card on the table as long as it is of the same type (swapping a beginning (I) with another beginning, a middle (II) with another middle, and an end (III) with another end). You can swap this card, or swap two different cards already on the table.
Mounted	Swap 1 card in one of your Adventures with a card from your hand	This effect replaces a card already in one of your Adventures with a card from your hand. It must be a card of the same type (I, II, or III.) You must choose a card other than Mounted. Use this to put an effect card back in your hand and play it again later to benefit from its effect again!
The Deadly	Swap 1 card in an opponent's Adventure with a card from your hand	This effect replaces a card already in an opponent's Adventure with a card from your hand. Perfect for ruining a Legendary Adventure. Use this to put a good effect card in your hand and play it later to benefit from its effect!
Manipulated	Choose an opponent and Swap hands with them	You swap your entire hands no matter how many cards are in each. Perfect for when you have fewer cards than the opponent you're swapping with!
The Barbaric