Barbarian Vince
Barbarian Vince Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Barbarian Vince is a solitaire card-driven adventure game. The only components required are the deck of cards and places to hold/store the cards when in play.
Main Types of Cards
Quest Cards make up the majority of the deck, and tell your adventurer's story. The rulebook's annotated example card (X3, The Goblin Mines, which is also the Mushroom of Recovery item) labels these parts:
- List of Terrain Types the card contains
- Encounter Listings, grouped by terrain type and difficulty number
- Item Information, with item classes, name, and description
- Random Number (bottom-left of the card)
Map Cards display an area map. The rulebook's annotated example (Map 2: Gob Mountains) labels these parts:
- Map Name and Skill Bonus (e.g. "Travel Skill: +1 Survival")
- Map Number
- Map Key showing the directions of adjoining maps
- Travel Paths (dotted red lines)
- Map Locations, with Lay Low Value (in square brackets) and Terrain Types (in round brackets) — e.g. "Goblin Pass 7+ M,O", "Irontree City 8+ G+2,C", "Spire of X'Argex — X2"
- Area info
- Random Number
Key Concepts
Decks: You must manage 3 sets of cards during play:
- Draw Deck: The main deck of cards that you draw encounters, items and random numbers from.
- Ready Hand: Cards you have in-hand, ready to play.
- Exhausted Hand: Cards you have in-hand but that have been used (exhausted) during play.
Discarding Cards: If you are instructed to discard a card, move it to the bottom of the draw deck.
Exhausting Cards: To exhaust a card, move it from your ready hand to your exhausted hand.
Restoring Cards: To restore a card, move it from your exhausted hand to your ready hand.
Random Draws: To make a random draw, take the top card from the draw deck. The result is the random number found at the bottom-left of the card. This card is never considered part of any hand. Discard the card once the draw result has served its purpose.
One Year Has Passed: When this special card is drawn in-game, follow its instructions immediately.
Setup
- Remove the Player Card, Map 1, One Year Has Passed, and X0 Encounter cards from the deck.
- Shuffle the remaining cards, face down, to form the draw deck. Place the One Year Has Passed card on the bottom of this deck.
- Draw cards from the Draw Deck until you find an item marked as Common. Discard any others.
- Take this item card, Player Card, and Map 1 card as your starting ready hand.
- You begin the game in Ulendi, on Map 1.
- Play the X0 Encounter card on your first turn.
Turn Order
Each turn has the following sequence:
Lay Low ▶ Travel ▶ Encounter ▶ Rest
1. Lay Low
If you had an encounter at your current location last turn (and aren't currently involved in an ongoing encounter), you may attempt to Lay Low to avoid any encounters and rest. Make a random draw. If the result is equal to, or greater than, your location's Lay Low Value, you successfully Lay Low—proceed straight to the Rest phase (i.e. skip the Travel and Encounter phases). If you fail, continue the turn as normal.
2. Travel
You may travel to an adjacent map location following the travel paths, shown as dotted lines on the maps. When you travel off the edge of a map, search the draw deck for the relevant new map card, as indicated on the current map's Map Key, and add it to your ready hand. Follow the travel path from one card's location to the next.
Skill Bonuses: The experience of travel is beneficial, and rewards you with a Skill Bonus, as noted at the top of the map card. As long as that card is in the your ready hand, your base skill is altered as indicated. If you exhaust the map card as part of a skill check, the modifier counts towards that check. A card's bonus modifier is ignored while it is in your exhausted hand.
3. Encounter
You must have an Encounter every turn unless you successfully Lay Low. To determine the encounter, make a random draw to get a difficulty number for the encounter. Then draw from the draw deck until you get a card with a terrain type that matches your current location. Discard any cards that do not not match. Resolve the encounter on the matching card that corresponds to the terrain type and difficulty number. This card is not considered part of any hand.
Example: Vince is currently in Spraymere (U, G). First, he makes a random draw; it is a 4. Next, he draws one card at a time until he finds a U or G card. He eventually draws a U card. He plays the encounter listed under the number "4" on this card this turn.
Most encounters have a challenge that needs to be overcome. If multiple options are listed, you may choose which option to take. Discard the card once the encounter is resolved unless specified otherwise.
X-Encounters: Several map locations have "X" class encounter types (X
Z-Encounters: There are several numbered types of "Z" encounters (Z1, Z2, etc). These are all separate terrain types. (i.e. If you are instructed to attempt a Z2 encounter, you must draw a Z2 card, not a Z1 card.)
Encounter Modifiers: Some locations on the map list a terrain type with a modifier (e.g. F+2). Add the modifier to the random draw if playing an encounter for that terrain type. For example, "F+2" means that if an F encounter is drawn in this location, you must add +2 to the encounter's difficulty number. This generally means an encounter is more difficult.
Running Out of Encounters: Should the draw deck no longer contain any cards that match a location because you have all of the relevant quest cards in-hand, you must choose a card from one of your hands with an appropriate terrain type to play an encounter from. During the encounter, the chosen card is temporarily considered part of the exhausted hand. Afterwards, the card is moved back to whichever hand it started in. If the chosen card is currently held as an item, you are still considered to be carrying the item.
3a. Checks
Random Checks: To perform a random check, make a random draw and follow the instructions listed.
Skill Checks: Usually listed as "
Modifiers: Some cards provide a modifier to a specific skill. If these are exhausted for a check, any modifiers relevant to the check are added to the random draw.
Skills/Curses: If you have an item card with a modifier listsed as a "Skill" or a "Curse", it adjusts your base skill as per a map Skill Bonus. Therefore, if you have a "+1 Charm" Skill card, every card played is one higher for charm checks, even if that card is not exhausted for the check itself. Skills (but not Curses) are ignored whilst the card is in your exhausted hand.
Outcome: Follow the instructions listed for the check result. Checks versus a number (e.g. "Make a Hide check: 9+ to hide") have only a success/failure result. If you exhaust all of your cards without successfully passing the check, or fail any of the conditions of the challenge, immediately follow any failure directions.
Multiple Skill Checks: Challenges may involve having to pass a check several times. These are worded as "
Example: "Combat check: 2@ 6+" means Vince must make two combat checks, each with a target of 6+.
Each attempt at an individual check is called a round.
Round Speed: If specified, you may only play as many cards as the Round Speed listed for each round.
Damage: If you failed the check attempt for a round, and the skill check lists a Damage, you must exhaust a number of cards equal to the Damage listed and try again. You have the option of which cards to exhaust as damage, unless the encounter states otherwise.
Reusable cards: If you finish a round and still have cards in your ready hand, you may restore one "Reusable" class item. Note that some Reusable items specify conditions for their reuse.
Discarding Cards: You may never discard a Map card or the Player Card. These remain in your exhausted hand until restored. You may not discard a "Curse" card, until the stated conditions are met. If you are unable to discard a card, ignore the result. If you ever have to discard a "Unique" item, it returns to its original location (listed on the card). If you return there, you may skip any related encounters, retrieve the item, and place it in your ready hand.
Item Draws: If you are instructed to draw one or more items of a certain class (Common, Uncommon), draw cards from the draw deck until you find an item of that class. Discard any cards of the wrong item class. Rotate the new item card so that the item text is the right way up to read, and add it to your ready hand.
Hand Limit: There is no hand limit in the game—you may have as many cards in your hand as you wish.
4. Rest
During the Rest phase, you may recover, trade, and discard, as outlined below.
Recover: You may restore up to your current Recovery skill worth of cards back to your ready hand. If you successfully Laid Low this turn, you may perform this action twice.
Trade: When in a Village (V), City (C, G) or Port (U), you may discard two or more cards to draw a random Common item in trade. When in a City (C, G), you may discard four or more cards to draw a random Uncommon item in trade.
Discard: You may also deliberately discard as many cards as you wish. This may be performed anywhere.
Winning (and losing)
You win a Victory when you successfully complete any of the major X-encounter Quests in the game (the card encounter outcome will state that you "win the Quest"). These will be revealed as you adventure.
You win a Major Victory if all three of the Major X-encounter Quests are completed successfully.
You lose the game if your character dies, or is permanently removed from the game. Most encounters will not lead to this, but some will—so pick your battles carefully.