Aristo-Maze
Aristo-Maze Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Victory condition
The player with the most VPs (Victory points) at the end of the game wins.
In this game, VP represents your influential power. You earn VPs by delving in dungeons. However, they also contain a whole lot of dangers, so you must be careful to employ the right adventurers, and find out what threats might lure down there. You have lots of money to spend, but that doesn't mean your funds are unlimited. You will need cleverness and skill to invest what you have in the right places.
Practice rules and rules for 3 players
This game is for 3 or 4. If you play the game with 3 players, you'll need to apply the rules in the squares framed with "3 Players".
If you play the game for the first time or you have a limited amount of time, we suggest you use the "practice rule". They will give you a basic idea of the game and are easily played in about 30 minutes. You can treat the practice rules as rule instructions to play the full game. If you want to start with the practice rules, please apply the parts enclosed by the frames "Practice".
Components
This game consists of the following components.
Character cards (16 pcs)
These cards represent adventurers who delve in the dungeons. Henceforth called "characters".
- Card name: Both the name of the character and his or her class.
- Order number: This is the order in which players will employ characters in "3: Organizing".
- HP (Hit Point), MP (Mental Point), SP (Spirit Point): The character's parameters. These are applied when characters are to overcome threats in the dungeons during "4: Exploring". They all work in the same way; as endurance points, and are totalled for your group. Dungeon cards deal damage to these traits, and if even one of them goes down to 0, your party retreats.
- Normal ability: The ability of the character.
- Crest ability: An extra powerful ability. It works as a normal ability, but in order to use it, this character needs to have a crest marker.
- Ability timing: This indicates when the ability is applied. If the timing is "3: Organizing", the ability triggers the moment a player employs the character.
- Bids: This is where you place markers (gold, intrigue, crest markers) on the character when you bid for it. Each corner is for one of the players.
Squire cards (4 pcs)
These represent your loyal squires. They work as characters but unlike them, is always in your adventurer party.
Dungeon cards (20 pcs)
Cards representing sections of the dungeon, encounter and/or treasures.
Obverse side
- Card name: The name of the encounter or treasure.
- Type: The card's type.
- HP damage, MP damage, SP damage: The amount of damage the party will suffer when this card is encountered. The small icons are only applied during round 3.
- VP: The amount of VP the player will gain when his party defeats this section. The small icons are only applied during round 3.
- Effect: The card's effects. For details, refer to §5.
Reverse side
- Type: The card's type.
- Card list: A list-up of all cards of this type.
About types
There are four types among the dungeon cards, and this is indicated on both sides of each card. Each type has its own tendencies, so the back side of each dungeon card will give you a hint on what the front side will be.
- Creature: You see something moving in the shadows. They generally deal HP damage.
- Undead: A feeling of oppressive fear. These are extremely dangerous.
- Menace: The sense of the living dead. They generally deal MP damage.
- Legacy: Legacy of the emperor. They are always turned over to show what they are.
Markers
Markers are used to represent various things.
- Gold markers (108 pcs): Shortly put, money. Players get 12 pieces each round and use these to map dungeons during "2: Inquiring" and to employ adventurers during "3: Organizing".
- Intrigue markers (4 pcs): They represent hidden schemes. Players have one each each round, and use them to map dungeons during "2: Inquiring" and to target adventurers during "3: Organizing".
- Crest markers (4 pcs each of 4 different types): These represent the crests of the aristocrats. Players get 3 of these at the start of the game and use them to give specific orders to characters during "2: Inquiring" and "3: Organizing". These markers are a one-time use and are not replenished during the game. There are 4 designs; one for each player. They're also used to keep track of each player's score.
- Return markers (4 pcs): They indicate how far you delve in the dungeon. Players set these to certain dungeon floors during "4: Exploring" to mark at which point they will pull out of the dungeon.
- Skip markers (5 pcs): They indicate which dungeon floors that are skipped. Players set them to certain floors during "4: Exploring" to mark which floors they skip.
- End markers (3 pcs): They are used to indicate when a player has finished his actions (for each phase).
- Floor markers (8 pcs): They represent the current dungeon floor. They're numbered 1 to 8. Floor 1 is the starting level, Floor 8 is deepest down.
- "Floor clear" bonus VP: If a player's party defeats or succeeds in skipping a floor, this is the amount of VP they get. The small icons are only applied during round 3.
Scoreboard (1 pc)
A board with numbers representing VP score and other things.
- VP track: Each player has a crest marker here, indicating his VP score.
- Round track: Here, a gold marker is used to indicate which round it is.
Playerboards (4 pcs)
These boards represent various states for each player. The phases of each round are all represented; from top to bottom.
- Inquiring area: This is used during "2: Inquiring". By setting gold, intrigue and crest markers here, players can investigate the corresponding dungeon floor.
- Organizing area: This is used during "3: Organizing". By putting gold on characters, players can attempt to employ them. Players can also place crest markers to activate crest abilities or intrigue markers to indicate targets for certain abilities.
- Exploring area: This is used during "4: Exploring". Each player indicates their delving strategy for the current round by setting the return marker on any floor of the upper line and skip marker(s) on any floor(s) on the lower line.
- Screen positions: Where the screen is to be placed (varies depending on phase).
Screens (4 pcs)
These are used to hide information from the other players. Each phase, players will hide their intentions behind these screens.
Preparations
This section goes through the game setup. When you're done with this, §4 goes through the flow of the game.
3-1 Deciding crests
Each player picks one of the four crests, or distribute them at random. (We recommend that the crests owners sit according to the picture painted on the next page.)
3-2 Player stuff
Each player should take the following and place it before them.
- one playerboard
- one screen
- 3 of his crest markers
- his squire card
Please see to that you get the correct crests and squire card (with your crest on).
Practice: In a practice game, each player gets only 1 crest marker, not 3.
3-3 Setup the common game area
The following things should be placed in the common game area, reachable to all.
- 20 dungeon cards
- all gold markers
- 4 intrigue markers
- 4 return markers
- 5 skip markers
- 3 end markers
- 8 floor markers
- the scoreboard
The dungeon floor markers should be placed in an ordered line 1–8 with enough space in between the markers. If you're playing the full game, you're to use the sides that are NOT marked "Practice". The deck of dungeon cards should be shuffled.
Practice: Instead of 8 floor markers, use only 5, and the side that's marked "Practice". From the deck of 20 dungeon cards, remove 3 "Legacy" and use only the remaining 17 cards.
3 Players: Use only 2 end markers, instead of 3.
3-4 Starting VP
Each player gets 3 VP to start with; place each player's unclaimed crest marker on '3' on the scoreboard.
3-5 Dealing characters
From the deck of 16 characters, remove 4 at choice or random; they won't be used in this game. Line up the remaining 12 characters face up in the common game area, best if their corners are pointing towards the players. And you should arrange them as characters painted on an organizing area of a playerboard.
Practice: Use only the following 8 characters; return the rest to the box.
- 1: Hermit
- 2: Assassin
- 3: Knight
- 4: Wizard
- 11: Fighter
- 12: Priestess
- 13: Witch
- 16: Princess
3 Players: First, take out the "1: Hermit" from the deck and place face up in the common game area. Then remove 6 characters from the deck at choice or random and return to the box. Line up the remaining 9 characters together with the Hermit.
Until players get used to the game, it's recommended to see to that the "3: Knight" and the "4: Wizard" is in the game.
If you're playing a practice game on 3 players, then use the Practice rules written on the previous page.
Player positions and common game area
During the game, players will acquire markers and cards, so each player should have before him an area that is regarded as "his" – meaning that things placed there belong to that player. Usually, when the rules refer to a marker that belongs to a player, it means an unplaced, unused marker unless specified otherwise.
Things that do not belong to any player are placed in the common game area, which should be in good reach for all players. See to that all players know which is which.
An image of a completed setup: The printed illustration shows a completed setup. We omitted dungeon cards and markers (with the exception of floor and crest markers). And 12 characters painted on the upper illustration are recommended for beginner players.
Flow and end of the game
This section explains the flow of the game. Each game consists of 3 rounds; each round having 4 phases: "1: Providing", "2: Inquiring", "3: Organizing", and "4: Exploring".
Once the setup is finished, proceed with the Preparation of the first round, and continue as described below. When all three rounds have finished, the game ends and the player with the most VP wins.
Practice: A practice game has only one round.
4-1 1: Providing phase
Preparation for the round that is to follow. See to that none of the below steps are missed.
4-1-1 Cleanup
Each player returns the following objects from their own areas to the common game area. Also, move the gold marker on the round track to indicate which round it is.
- All markers that were on that player's playerboard
- All characters
4-1-2 Getting markers
Each player gets 12 gold markers, one return marker, and one skip marker from the common game area. Players that do not have an intrigue marker get one intrigue marker.
4-1-3 Dungeon creation
Take 8 cards from the deck of dungeon cards and generation this round's dungeon.
In the first round: Shuffle the dungeon deck and draw the top 8 cards, face down. Flip 3 of those cards face up, and then shuffle the 8 cards again, without checking which card has its side up. Then, line up the cards by the level markers in the common game area, starting with floor 1 and ending with floor 8. When finished, you should have a lineup of 5 face down and 3 face up cards, each card beside a floor marker indicating which floor the card is on (see image on next page).
When this is done, if there are any "Legacy" cards that are face down, turn them face up.
These 8 cards form the dungeon of the current round.
In round 2: There should be 12 cards left in the dungeon deck. Follow the same instructions as for round 1.
In round 3: Take all cards from round 1 and round 2, and the 4 leftover cards, shuffle them all face down and lay up a dungeon the same way as during round 1.
Practice: Practice rules work as the basic rules, but you use another amount of cards. Shuffle the 17 dungeon cards (not "Legacy" cards), and take the top 5 cards. Flip face up the top 2 of them, shuffle these 5 cards together, and then line them up by the 5 floor markers.
An illustration of forming a dungeon:
- Pick up the top 8 cards (keep them face down).
- Flip the top 3 cards face up (don't look at the backs).
- Shuffle these 8 cards and determine order at random.
- Line up the 8 cards as floor 1, floor 2, up to floor 8, in order.
4-2 2: Inquiring phase
During this phase, the players may pay gold to the thief guild who investigates the dungeon for them. This is done in the following way:
4-2-1 Hidden bid
Each player places their game screen on the Inquiring area of their player boards, and then, so that the other players don't see, places gold, intrigue and crest markers on the floors of the investigation area. It's not allowed to place more than 4 gold on one single floor.
Practice: As there are only 5 dungeon floors in the practice game, you can't place markers on floor 6 and above.
An example of placing markers: 2 golds are placed on floor 1 and an intrigue are placed on floor 4.
4-2-2 Thief guild reaction
When all players have finished bidding, all players remove their screens, revealing their inquiring areas, and compare how many golds they have placed on each dungeon floor. For this purpose, intrigue markers count as 2 gold markers.
If any player has put a crest marker on a floor, that counts as having placed most on that floor.
For each dungeon floor, all players who placed less than most gold (lost the auction) return the markers they used for that floor, to the common game area.
4-2-3 Thief guild reports
The players who still have markers left on dungeon floors (those who won the auctions) may look at the dungeon cards corresponding to those floors (and may do so throughout the round).
4-3 3: Organizing phase
During this phase, players may employ adventurers based on the information they got during inquiring phase.
4-3-1 First hidden bid
Each player places their game screen on the Organizing area of their player boards, and then, so that the other players don't see, places a total of 4 markers on the characters in the Organizing area. The four markers can be any combination of gold, crest and intrigue markers, and may be placed in any combination of character(s).
An example of placing markers: A gold is placed on Knight and Fighter respectively. 2 golds are placed on Princess. Their total is 4.
4-3-2 Reveal first bid
When all players have finished placing markers, all players remove their screens, revealing their Organizing areas.
Put the markers you placed on the corner pointing towards you. If you followed the suggestion of seating during setup, you'll hopefully have the corner with your colour pointing towards you.
Move all the markers to the corresponding characters in the common game area, taking care so that each player's markers end up in the right corner of that character card (hopefully, the corner pointing towards that player).
4-3-3 Second hidden bid
Each player replaces their game screen on the Organizing area of their player boards, and then, so that the other players don't see, places markers on the characters in the Organizing area. This time there's no marker limit, you can place any combination of anything you like.
An example of placing markers: 3 golds is placed on Wizard. A gold and a crest are placed on Fighter.
4-3-4 Reveal second bid and resolve
Again, when all players have finished placing markers, players remove their screens, reveal their Organizing areas, move the markers to the corresponding characters in the common game area, taking care so that each player's markers end up in the right corner of that character card.
Then, the auction is resolved in the order of the character's order number, starting with the character with the lowest number. For each character, it's resolved in the following way:
The way of resolving auction
- All players compare the amount of gold markers they bid on that character. If one single player has bid most gold, then that players gets the character; move it to that player's field.
- If two or more players are tied for bidding most gold (but not zero), the character goes to the player among the tied players, who have placed at least one crest marker on that character. However, bidding no gold at all can never be regarded as having bid most gold. If it's still a tie, the character isn't gained by anyone.
- The player who won the character (if any) returns to the common game area, the gold and intrigue markers they placed on the character. Crest markers placed by the winning player stay on the character, allowing the character to use its crest ability. Gold markers from non-winning players are returned to their respective owners. Intrigue and crest markers from non-winning players are returned to the common game area.
- If the character was won and has an ability (normal or crest) whose timing is "3", then the ability triggers immediately.
- This concludes the auction for that character. Repeat for the next character in turn, until the auctions for all characters are resolved. When that is done, the Organizing phase ends.
An example of auction
- Example 1: 2 gold vs 1 gold. Left player wins. The player who bid most gold wins the character. The winning players pays 2 gold (returns them to the common game area), the losing player regains his gold marker.
- Example 2: 1 gold vs 1 gold. No player wins. No player wins the character because they both bid the same and no one placed a crest. Both players regain their gold.
- Example 3: 1 gold + 1 crest vs 1 gold. Left player wins. Both players bid the same, but one won due to the crest marker tie. The winning crest marker stays on the character.
- Example 4: 2 golds vs 1 gold + 1 crest. Left player wins. The player who bid most gold wins the character. Crest markers only resolve ties in bid gold. The losing player regains his gold but the crest marker is lost.
- Example 5: 1 gold + 2 crests vs 1 gold + 1 crest. No player wins. No player wins the character, because the amount of crest markers is irrelevant; only if they placed or didn't.
- Example 6: 1 crest vs nothing. No player wins. No player wins the character, because no one bid any gold.
4-4 4: Exploring phase
Players explore in the dungeon with their party of adventurers. It's done in the following way:
4-4-1 Determining party's parameters
Each player totals the HP, MP and SP of all his characters. Some abilities that have the timing "4" take their effect now.
An example of party: This party has 4 HP, 3 MP and 1 SP. And Fighter can use its crest ability.
4-4-2 Exploring planning
Each player places their game screen on the Exploring area of their player boards, and then, so that the other players don't see, places one return marker on the top row and all skip markers that they have on the bottom row. Players will more than one skip marker must set their skip markers on different floors.
Practice: As there are only 5 dungeon floors in the practice game, you can't place markers on floor 6 and above.
An example of placing markers: A return marker is placed on floor 5. A skip marker is placed on floor 2.
4-4-3 Exploration
When all players have finished placing markers, all players remove their screens, revealing their Exploring areas. The player who has placed his return marker on the highest numbered floor (he who dares exploration furthest down), turn face up all dungeon cards up to and including that floor. Then, all players will in order explore this dungeon – the order is irrelevant, as the result won't be affected if you do it first or last. It's done in the flowchart written on the next page.
4-4-6 End of the round
When all players have finished exploration, the round ends. If this was the third round, the game ends and the player(s) with the most VP win. If not, return to "1: Providing phase" of the next round.
Practice: Only the first round is done, then the game ends and the player(s) with the most VPs win.
How far must players expose information?
During players place their screen and place markers, The number of markers and the disposition of markers aren't exposed to all other players. On the other hand, While not the case, these information are exposed to all players.
All other information (e.g. What character did the player win) are always exposed to all players.
The flowchart of exploration
- Your party begins on the top floor (floor 1). Does the active player has a skip marker on this floor?
- No: Go to 2.
- Yes: Go to 3.
- Encounter the current dungeon card. The card might deal HP, MP and SP damage to the party. Adjust your party's parameters accordingly (they can't go below 0, and they never recover even if your party proceeds down to the next floor). Has one of your party's parameters reached zero?
- Yes: Go to 14.
- No: Go to 4.
- Your party skips the floor. It's not dealt any damage but you don't get the VP written on the dungeon card. Go to 5.
- You have defeated the encounter and you get the VPs written on the dungeon card. Go to 5.
- You get the "floor clear" bonus VPs written on the floor marker. Go to 6.
- Has the active player a return marker on the current floor?
- Yes: Go to 7.
- No: Go to 8.
- Your party turns back and your exploration is finished.
- Your party proceeds down to the next floor. Delve down to the next floor by the same procedure. Return to 1.
- Your party retreats. You lose 3 VPs and your exploration ends.
How to use the end markers
As you've noticed, there are a lot of simultaneous marker settings in this game. The end markers are used to more easily signal when all players are done.
Before "2: Investigation", "3: Employing" and "4: Delving" phases, put the 3 end markers in the common game area. When a player is content with his placement behind his screen, he takes one of the end markers and puts on his Squire card, signalling that he's done.
If there are no end markers left when you're finished, that means that all players are finished. Instead you announce the end of the phase and proceed to resolving it.
Abilities and card effects
This section is a detailed listup of abilities and effects of character cards and dungeon cards.
1: Hermit
Parameters: HP 0, MP 0, SP 1.
- Normal ability timing: 4. This ability activates when your party encounters "The Gate". You ignore its effects and defeat it.
- Crest ability timing: 4. This ability activates when your party encounters "Dragon". All damage from that cards is ignored.
2: Assassin
Parameters: HP 1, MP 1, SP 0.
- Normal ability timing: 3. Activates when you win this character. If your Intrigue marker is set on a character, the Assassin assassinates that character. The assassinated character is out of the auction, and all markers on it are returned to the common game area. Please note that the Assassin can't assassinate a character that has already been won (as any intrigue markers on them are already discarded).
- Crest ability timing: 4. This ability activates when your party encounters "The Gate". You ignore its effects and defeat it.
3: Knight
Parameters: HP 2, MP 1, SP 0.
- Normal ability: None.
- Crest ability timing: 4. This ability activates when you determine the parameters of your party. Your party's HP becomes unlimited. Hence, during this round, you can ignore any HP damage you suffer.
4: Wizard
Parameters: HP 1, MP 2, SP 0.
- Normal ability: None.
- Crest ability timing: 4. This ability activates when you determine the parameters of your party. Your party's MP becomes unlimited. Hence, during this round, you can ignore any MP damage you suffer.
5: Berserker
Parameters: HP 3, MP 0, SP 1.
- Normal ability timing: 4. This ability activates when you set markers during "4: Exploring". You must set your return marker on floor 5 or below (5, 6, 7 or 8).
- Crest ability timing: 4. This ability activates when you determine the parameters of your party. Add 1 each to your party's HP, MP, and SP.
6: Samurai
Parameters: HP 2, MP 2, SP 0.
- Normal ability timing: 3. Activates when you win this character. Return one of your skip marker to the common game area.
- Crest ability timing: 4. This ability activates whenever your party encounters a dungeon card. Treat the card as if it's round 3 even if it isn't. (Icons limited to only round 3 activate.) It is also applied whenever you get "floor clear" bonus VPs. All icons that normally only apply to round 3 are applied even if it isn't round 3.
7: Minstrel
Parameters: HP 0, MP 1, SP 0.
- Normal ability timing: 3. Activates when you win this character. Choose a face down dungeon card and take a secret peek at its face up side.
- Crest ability timing: 4. This ability activates whenever your party skips a dungeon card at floor 5 or below (5, 6, 7 or 8). You get the VPs written on the dungeon card.
8: Alchemist
Parameters: HP 0, MP 0, SP 0.
- Normal ability timing: 4. This ability activates during your exploration. All "Treasure" have 1 extra VP. (Rule-wise, this counts as the VP number on the card is 1 more than is actually printed.)
- Crest ability timing: 3. Activates when you win this character. Move a crest marker from the Alchemist to another character in your party. (You can't move it to a character whose auction isn't yet finished, because they are not in your party yet.) The character who gets the crest marker can use his or her crest ability.
9: Thief
Parameters: HP 1, MP 1, SP 0.
- Normal ability timing: 4. This ability activates when your party encounters "The Gate". You ignore its effect and defeat it. It also activates when your party encounters "Trap". You suffer no damage from it.
- Crest ability timing: 3. Activates when you win this character. If your intrigue marker is set on a character, you steal that character. The stolen character is out of the auction, and all markers on it (even yours!) are all returned to the common game area. Please note that the Thief can't steal a character that has already been won (as any intrigue markers on them are already discarded).
10: Ninja
Parameters: HP 1, MP 0, SP 0.
- Normal ability timing: 3. Activates when you win this character. Gain a skip marker from the common game area.
- Crest ability timing: 3. Activates when you win this character. If your intrigue marker is set on a character, the Ninja assassinates that character. All players who had bid on that character must immediately pay you 1 VP each. The assassinated character is out of the auction, and all markers on it are returned to the common game area. Please note that the Ninja can't assassinate a character that has already been won (as any intrigue markers on them are already discarded).
11: Fighter
Parameters: HP 2, MP 0, SP 0.
- Normal ability timing: 4. This ability activates when your party encounters "The Gate". If the starting HP of your party was at least 4, then you ignore its effect and defeat it.
- Crest ability timing: 4. Activates whenever your party encounters a "Creature" dungeon card. You suffer no damage from it.
12: Priestess
Parameters: HP 0, MP 2, SP 0.
- Normal ability timing: 4. This ability activates when your party encounters "The Gate". If the starting MP of your party was at least 4, then you ignore its effect and defeat it.
- Crest ability timing: 4. Activates whenever your party encounters an "Undead" dungeon card. You suffer no damage from it.
13: Witch
Parameters: HP 0, MP 0, SP 1.
- Normal ability timing: 4. This ability activates whenever you check whether you've set a skip marker on this floor or not. If the dungeon card has the "creepy" trait, your party auto-skips it. (You can't choose to not skip it.)
- Crest ability timing: 3. Activates when you win this character. The current Organizing phase ends immediately. Any characters yet to be auctioned are automatically skipped; markers on them are returned to the common game area.
14: Necromancer
Parameters: HP 0, MP 3, SP 1.
- Normal ability timing: 3. Activates when you win this character. You lose 2 VPs.
- Crest ability timing: 4. This ability activates whenever you check the parameters of your party after a dungeon card has dealt damage. Your party doesn't retreat if only one of your parameters have reached 0.
15: The Boy
Parameters: HP 0, MP 0, SP 2.
- Normal ability timing: 4. This ability activates when your party encounters "Emperor's Specter". Your party suffers no damage and ignores the VP losing effect.
- Crest ability timing: 4. Activates during your exploration. All "Legacy" cards have 3 extra VPs. (Rule-wise, this counts as the VP number on the card is 3 more than is actually printed.)
16: Princess
Parameters: HP 0, MP 0, SP 0.
- Normal ability timing: 3. Activates when you win this character. You get 2 VPs.
- Crest ability timing: 4. This ability activates whenever you check whether you've set a skip marker on this floor or not. If the current dungeon card is a "Menace" card, your party auto-skips it. (You can't choose to not skip it.) However, "Trap" cannot be skipped with this effect.
Effects of dungeon cards
Round 3 effects: Some dungeon cards have these. They're noted on the HP damage, MP damage and the VP gains. Some floor markers have bonus VP with the same icon. They work in all ways as normal HP damage, MP damage and VP, but they are only applied during round 3 and are ignored in round 1 and 2.
Creepy: Noted on 4 dungeon cards: "Slime", "Zombie", "Gazer", and "Emperor's Specter". It's only for the Witch's normal ability and has no other effect rule wise.
Can't skip: Noted on 2 dungeon cards: "Trap" and "The gate". It's applied when a player checks for a skip marker or not, and makes the dungeon card unskippable, even if the player has placed a skip marker on this floor. The party will be forced to encounter the card. Not even the Princess' crest ability trumps this icon.
VP-1: Noted on "Emperor's Specter". It's applied when a player's party encounters this card. The player simply loses 1 VP.
Return: Noted on "The gate". It's applied when a party encounters this card, and means the party is blocked by the card and forced to turn back (not retreat) unless the party managed to defeat the card with an ability. Unless the party defeats it, their exploration ends and they don't get the VP from "The Gate" nor the "floor clear" bonus from the floor marker.
Emperor's Will: Noted on "Emperor's Will". It's applied after all players have finished exploration this round. All players who encountered "Emperor's Will" gain VP according to how many players managed to encounter it this round:
- 1 player: 6 VPs
- 2 players: 4 VPs
- 3 players: 2 VPs
- 4 players: 1 VP
3 Players: The VP for "Emperor's Will" changes to the following:
- 1 Player: 4 VPs
- 2 Players: 2 VPs
- 3 Players: 1 VP
Quick guide
Preparations
Setup game table: Deciding crests > Player stuff > Setup the common game area > Starting VP (3).
Each Player take a playerboard, a screen, 3 crest markers, and a squire card. The others are placed in common game area.
Dealing characters: Pick up 12 (10) characters at choice or random and arrange them.
Flow of the game
Round 1
- 1: Providing phase: Cleanup > Getting markers > Dungeon creation. Remove all markers placed on playerboard, return all characters, get 12 gold markers, a return marker, a skip marker, (an intrigue marker). And generation this round's dungeon.
- 2: Inquiring phase: Hidden bid > Thief guild reaction > Thief guild reports. Place markers on floors (not more than 4 gold on one single floor). Then, all players who have placed the most gold may look at the dungeon cards. (an intrigue = 2 golds, a crest = winning)
- 3: Organizing phase: First bid > Reveal first bid > Second bid > Auctions. Place a total of 4 markers on characters. And reveal them. Then, Place markers on characters (no limit). After that, the auction is resolved in the order of the characters' order number.
- 4: Exploring phase: Determining parameters > Exploring planning > Exploration. Place a return marker and all skip markers on floors. After that, each player's party explores the dungeon until it returns or retreats. Therefore, the player gets VPs. Exploration is done from floor 1 to the floor placed a return marker.
Round 2 > Round 3 (the printed quick guide shows no further steps for these rounds).
End of the game
The player(s) with the most VP win.