Catacombs (Third Edition): The Ice Box Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Ranged Shots
  • Heal Shot
  • Ice Boulder Shot
  • Lightning Shot
  • Stone Traps
  • Web Shot
  • Summon Antient Shot
  • Hook Shot
  • Ranged Shot Summary
• Shot Modifiers and Operators
  • Reckless Shot Modifier
  • Conditional Shot Operators
• Anchors and Shot Tokens
  • Anchors
  • Shot Tokens
• Mounts
  • Hearthshire Stables Room Card
  • Mounts
  • Differences Between Mounts and Wyverns
• New Rules
  • Reactive Health
  • Spell Secondary Effects
  • Catacomb Lord Setup Choices
  • Alternate Hero Rules
  • Monster Suppression
  • Spell Cards That Affect Obstacles
• Death Cards

Components

Component List

Cards

• Hero Rule and Portrait Cards x18
• Hero Ability Card x1
• Hero Item Cards x9
• Hero Spell Cards x14
• Antient Cards x3
• Monster Cards x6
• Mount Cards x4
• Death Cards x6
• Catacomb Lord Rule, Portrait and Setup Cards x13
• Room Cards x7
• Reckless! Cards x3

Other Components

• Cloth Bag x1
• Shot Tokens x25

Pieces

• Antient Pieces x3
• Mythological Monster Family Piece x1
• Infernal Monster Family Pieces x5
• Dungeon Monster Family Pieces x2
• Undead Monster Family Pieces x8
• Mount Pieces x3
• Boulder / Web Ranged Pieces x6
• Ranged Pieces x6
• Bear Familiar Piece x1
• Catacomb Lord Pieces x2
• Hero Pieces x5
• Ice Cube Hero Piece x1

Ranged Shots

The following new ranged shots follow the rules of page 11 of the Catacombs Reference Manual except as explained below.

Heal Shot

When the heal shot hits a teammate, then their health increases by one. If multiple teammates are hit, then the player performing the shot decides which teammate is healed.

Ice Boulder Shot

The ice boulder shot is an icy ranged shot that inflicts one point of damage.

Lightning Shot

The lightning shot is a ranged shot whose disc is flicked three times consecutively by the player performing it. The first two flicks do not inflict any damage, the third flick inflicts one point of damage. If either of the first two flicks results in the lightning disc leaving the playmat/game board, simply place it back at the edge where it departed and continue. The third flick inflicts one point of damage and the lightning disc is removed from the playmat/game board as normal.

Stone Traps

During the Setup Phase, the six stone trap ranged pieces are placed on top of each of the six obstacles.

During the Battle Phase, the Overseer may flick one stone trap piece per turn. If a stone trap piece hits one or more characters from the Heroic Forces, then one point of damage is inflicted on each of them. The stone trap piece is placed back on top of the obstacle from where it was flicked.

Note: The stone traps are not used when the Spider Queen Catacomb Lord is in play.

Web Shot

Treat the web shot as a ranged shot that does not inflict any damage. Unlike most other ranged shots, the web piece remains on the playmat/game board after the shot is complete. The Overseer may perform a web shot with any web piece, including those already on the playmat/game board.

When a hero or ally hits a web piece, they forfeit any additional shots remaining in their current shot sequence and must be placed within 2.5cm (1") of the web piece.

Summon Antient Shot

The player performing the summon antient shot decides which unused Antient to summon into play. See page 29 of the Catacombs Reference Manual for more about summon shots in general and page 33 for more about Antients.

Hook Shot

After flicking the piece for the hook shot, the player performing the shot may choose to move their character's piece anywhere within 2.5cm (1") of the hook piece. Regardless of whether the player chooses to move their character piece, the hook piece is then removed from the playmat. The hook shot is for moving characters only and does not inflict any damage. If the hook piece leaves the playmat/game board, simply place it back at the edge where it departed.

Ranged Shot Summary

The source table shows each new ranged shot's icon above a numeric value. The value row has no printed label in the source; the values are transcribed as printed, and the Stone Trap column has no shot icon ("N/A").

Shot	Summon Antient	Heal	Hook	Web	Stone Trap	Lightning	Ice Boulder
Value (unlabelled in source)	1	0	0	0	1	1	1

Shot Modifiers and Operators

Reckless Shot Modifier

When a hero is affected by the reckless shot modifier, the rules for friendly fire (see page 13 from the Catacombs Reference Manual) are suspended and the affected hero now inflicts damage on their teammates with their shots. The Reckless! Card is placed beside the affected hero's player board to indicate that this condition persists for the rest of the game, even if the hero is killed. This condition can be cured with the Cure Reckless Spell card.

Conditional Shot Operators

Conditional Shot Icons appear beside a shot icon to indicate that this shot must succeed before the next shot in the sequence may be attempted. This icon (a burst) means that the shot must inflict damage to one or more targets while this icon (an outlined burst) means that the shot must simply hit one or more characters from the opposing forces.

Example: In this case, if the character deals damage with the melee shot, they may continue the shot sequence by performing the rush shot. If they do not deal damage, they cannot perform the rush shot.

Anchors and Shot Tokens

Anchors

When the Anchor icon appears on a character's card, this indicates that during another player's turn, any other player controlling a character (one with the Anchor icon) may use a finger to hold that character in place on the playmat/game board. This enables that character to remain in the same location, which opens up new strategic possibilities.

Shot Tokens

A Shot Token represents a single shot that a hero may perform instead of taking their normal action (performing their base shot sequence, playing a card). This enables heroes to perform shots they would not normally do.

During each Setup Phase, all Shot Tokens are placed inside the black cloth bag. Heroes with the Draw icon (marked 1) on their Hero Rules card may blindly draw the number of indicated Shot Tokens and place them on their Hero Rules card.

As an alternative to performing a hero's base shot sequence, the player may choose to perform the shot from one of their previously drawn Shot Tokens instead. Once a Shot Token is used, it is immediately returned to the bag.

Note that Shot Tokens cannot be combined with a combo item and any unused Shot Tokens are returned to the bag during the Resolution Phase.

Mounts

Hearthshire Stables Room Card

The Hearthshire Stables is a Special Room card that enables player to recruit one Mount per hero they control. Mounts are a new class of character that can operate independently of the heroes who recruit them (like familiars) and allow heroes to ride them (like Wyverns from the Wyverns of Wylemuir expansion). Like Wyverns and Antients, Mounts are invulnerable to damage.

Recruiting a Mount from the stables costs eight gold coins and it is the player's choice as to which Mount card they take. As usual, the heroes may pool their gold coins to recruit a Mount for a particular hero.

When a Mount has a rider, they transport that rider to any unoccupied rune icon, enabling players to have their heroes end up in a predictable location on the playmat. This opens up a number of new strategic possibilities when playing the game.

Mounts

During the Battle Phase, heroes can ride a Mount. Allies can also ride mounts, following the same rules. At the start of their turn, a player must decide whether their hero will either ride the Mount for the current round or dismount and perform the Mount's shot sequence separately.

While riding a Mount, the hero's disc is placed on top of the Mount's disc and the hero is considered to be a rider. When a hero dismounts, they are no longer riding and their disc is placed adjacent to their Mount piece within 2.5cm (1").

When a Mount does not have a rider, the Mount's shot sequence 1 is performed first and the hero's action (their base shot sequence or playing a card) is performed second. When a Mount has a rider, the shot sequence at the bottom section of the Mount card 2 is performed exclusively.

Mount card layout: the top section of a Mount card holds shot sequence 1 (marked with a numbered diamond 1), and the bottom section holds shot sequence 2 (marked 2), which also shows the Anchor icon. The shot icons on each card are printed as pictograms and are not transcribed here; the text of this section describes their use.

When a Mount is not being ridden by its owner and a shot from its sequence destroys a monster, gold coins are transferred to its owner. However, in the case the owner is an ally, the gold coins will be transferred from the Mount to the ally to the controlling hero.

When a Mount has a rider, the player is performing a runic shift shot, placing the Mount and rider on any unoccupied rune icon on the playmat/game board. The runic shift allows a character to perform a melee shot after being placed on a rune icon. In the case of a Mount with a rider, the hero is flicked off of the Mount onto the playmat. After any damage to a monster or Catacomb Lord has been applied, the hero's disc is placed back on top of its Mount. Instead of performing the melee shot that is considered to be part of the runic shift shot, a hero may perform one ranged shot from their base shot sequence (if they have one) or they may play an ability, spell or item card that contains one or more ranged shots ignoring any character shots.

The bottom section of the Mount card also contains the Anchor Icon. This means the player may choose to use a finger to hold (or anchor) the Mount and rider in place while other players are taking their turn. This can be used strategically to create a temporary obstacle for other players to use as a way to ricochet their shots. If the player does not anchor the Mount and rider when it is not their turn and the Mount and rider get moved by other shots, they are placed back on the rune icon that they were occupying.

Even though a Mount is considered to be invulnerable, a rider is not. Damage inflicted on a Mount passes through and is applied to the rider. If a rider dies while riding a Mount, the Mount is also removed from play and returns with the hero (typically during the Setup Phase of the next room).

Differences Between Mounts and Wyverns

For players familiar with the Wyverns of Wylemuir expansion, the difference between Mounts and Wyverns can be understood as follows:

1. Mounts can operate independently from their riders. Wyverns must have a rider controlling them.
2. Mounts can only be ridden by heroes and allies. Wyverns can be ridden by different types of characters including those controlled by the Overseer.
3. Mounts capture gold coins for their owners if they destroy monsters while Wyverns do not.
4. Mounts do not use shot templates while Wyverns do use them. Shot templates were one of the new features introduced in the Wyverns of Wylemuir expansion.
5. Wyverns can optionally shield their riders from damage, while applicable damage always passes through a Mount to the hero riding it.
6. Heroes cannot be knocked off a Mount, instead a hero chooses to either Mount or dismount at the start of their turn. A character riding a Wyvern can be knocked off, such that a Wyvern can be strategically shared among other characters.

New Rules

Reactive Health

Some characters have the new Reactive Health property which indicates that upon damage being inflicted on them, they immediately perform the reactive shot specified below their health icon even if it is the opposing team's turn. If the inflicted damage destroys the character, the reactive shot is still performed before the character's disc is removed from the playmat/game board.

Spell Secondary Effects

Spell cards have a main effect (typically a single shot or shot sequence) that a player performs as part of playing the Spell card. Some Spell cards now include a secondary effect that players can choose to use in addition to or instead of the main effect.

Example (Precise Strike): In addition to the target shot, the player may also perform a hook shot.

Example (Cure Reckless): In addition to the cure reckless effect, the player may also refresh one of their ability cards.

Catacomb Lord Setup Choices

The Catacomb Lord Setup cards in this set allow the Overseer to choose between one of two different playmats/game boards, minions or mercenaries. In the case of mercenaries, a mercenary is chosen once and is used for the duration of the game.

Alternate Hero Rules

This set includes alternate Hero Rules cards for the six heroes included in the base Catacombs Third Edition game. When playing as one of these heroes, a player may choose to use one of these alternate Rules cards instead of the original.

Monster Suppression

Some monsters are able to use suppression against the Heroic Forces. This is shown on their Monster card with a Suppresses box. Monster suppression comes into effect during the Setup Phase when the Overseer places the monster piece(s) in the Monster Start Zone.

The Heroic Forces will not be able to perform any of the shot types that are listed in the monster's Suppresses box.

Once the monster with suppression is destroyed, its effects are no longer in force and the Heroic Forces can once more use their full arsenal of shots.

Spell Cards That Affect Obstacles

Three new Spell cards affect the obstacle pieces (referred to as obstacles) that are placed during the Setup Phase.

The Demolish Obstacle spell enables the Spell Caster to permanently remove one obstacle of their choice.

The Move Obstacles spell enables the Spell Caster to move each of the six obstacles on the playmat to a rune icon of their choice, changing the layout of the obstacles on the board. Before moving the obstacles, any heroes on Mounts are removed from the playmat/game board. The six obstacles are then moved to the rune icons printed on the playmat/game board. Finally any Mounts (with their riders) are placed back on the obstacle location icons instead of the rune icons. The player controlling each Mount decides where to place them. Any character performing the runic shift shot (including Mounts), now travels between the obstacle location icons instead of the rune icons.

The Levitate Obstacle spell enables the player to temporarily remove an obstacle from the playmat/game board and perform the shot indicated on the Spell card (an Ice Boulder shot). Once this shot is complete, the player returns the obstacle back to its same position on playmat/game board.

Death Cards

When a Death Card icon appears beside a shot icon, it indicates that in addition to any damage the base shot inflicts, a Death card is drawn by the player controlling the affected character. The Death card indicates an additional effect to apply to the affected character and is then shuffled back into the Death card deck.

Death Card	Effect
Instant Death	Hero instantly dies
Kiss of Death	Draw two poison cards
Death Strike	Hero loses three health
Healed by Death	Hero gains two health
Stay of Execution	Hero becomes reckless
Fear The Reaper	Hero becomes stunned and loses two health