Charmed and Dangerous: The Sisters Grimm – Base Set

Charmed and Dangerous: The Sisters Grimm – Base Set Rulebook

Table of Contents

Game Components

The base set contains:

4 Princess Cards
2 Villainess Cards
2 Lair Cards
12 Curse Cards
42 Dangerous Cards
38 Charming Cards
48 Winding Forest FOE Cards
48 Twisting Thorns FOE Cards

The Portrait of a Princess

Every Princess has Facets in which they excel (see the Facets of a Princess below). These are indicated on the Princess Card with a colored gem and number. In addition, each Princess has one or more Abilities. Some of those Abilities are "active" and require the player to choose when to use them, and likely pay some cost to do so (typically, discarding a Charming). Other Abilities are "passive" and are considered always "on" and in effect unless another card disables it.

If the Ability's text ever contradicts the rules in the rulebook, follow whatever the card says.

Each of the Princesses has unique traits that allow for unique strategies in the game and make our heroines special. We call these the Facets of a Princess. The Facets of a Princess are broken into four categories:

Fierce: This Facet represents your Princess's loyalty, courage, and unyielding bravery in defending the weak and standing up for her friends.
Harmony: This Facet represents your Princess's generosity, kindness, and empathy for every living thing.
Majesty: This Facet represents your Princess's poise, grace, confidence, and unequivocal command over all she surveys.
Charm: This Facet represents your Princess's intelligence, wit, and endless curiosity for the unknown.

Cards of the Dangerous Deck

Charmings: Prince Charmings from far and wide have proven most eager to aid the heroic Princesses. While they might not always be useful in a fight, Charmings can come in handy when a pesky Curse needs to be broken or when you need a decoy to throw at a FOE. They also help the Princesses use their special Abilities — running off to fetch more arrows for Snow White or candy to give Gretel that sweet rush — when it is most needed.

Dangerous Cards: The Dangerous cards represent a wide variety of spells, stunts, allies, and fortunate circumstances that will aid the Princesses in their quest. Most of them temporarily boost the Facets of a Princess, but others can be used to do things like find a magic item, prevent the Forces of Evil (FOE) from bolstering their numbers, and more.

The text on each Dangerous card will always explain what that card can be used for. If the card text ever contradicts the rules in the rulebook, follow whatever the card says.

Cards of the FOE Deck

FOE cards represent the Forces of Evil, minions of the Villainess that are trying to stop the Princesses. Most FOE cards have effect text that is usually resolved when the FOE is first revealed, but not always. If the effect text ever contradicts the rules in the rulebook, follow whatever the card says.

All FOEs have a Threat Level and Facet Bonuses. The Threat Level indicates the Facet or Facets that the challenging Princess will need to defeat the FOE. On the edges of the card are one or more Facet Bonus gems with a number rating. Once a FOE is defeated, you can equip the FOE card to your Princess Portrait to increase one of your Princess's existing Facets (see Leveling Up).

Items: Item cards are found in the FOE deck and you can discover them during your adventure. Items are unique weapons, allies, and equipment that can add bonuses to your Princess. Unlike a FOE card, which can only be equipped to an existing Facet on your Princess, an Item can add its Facet to your Princess even if she doesn't have it on her Portrait. You may then equip FOEs you defeat to the Item's Facet bracket (see Leveling Up).

Masterstrokes: All Villainesses have a powerful Ability called a Masterstroke. Whenever a Masterstroke card is revealed, check the Masterstroke Ability on the Villainess card and resolve it as described. After the Masterstroke Ability is resolved, this card is placed under the Villainess.

If a Princess reveals a Masterstroke, their turn ends immediately and they lose the opportunity to play any more cards or use their Abilities for that turn (other than those that state they can be played "at any time").

Lair Fortifications: During your adventure, the Villainess is fortifying her Lair. If the Princesses don't defeat her in time, her Lair will become impenetrable. Whenever a Lair Fortification card is revealed, check for any triggered Abilities on the Lair card and resolve them. After the Lair Fortification Ability is resolved, this card is placed under the Lair.

If a Princess reveals a Lair Fortification, their turn ends immediately and they lose the opportunity to play any more cards or use their Abilities for that turn (other than those that state they can be played "at any time").

Other Cards and Keywords

Lair: Each FOE deck has a Lair card associated with it (the art on the back of a Lair card will be the same as its associated FOE deck, except with the word "Lair" on it). Each Lair has its own special rule or Ability that will make the game more difficult for the Princesses. Sometimes this Ability will be triggered by Lair Fortifications, sometimes it will be triggered by other conditions, and sometimes it will be a passive modifier to the entire game. When the Lair's text contradicts the rules in the rulebook, do what the Lair card says.

Curses: Villainesses and their Forces of Evil love to make use of foul Curses against the Princesses. In the base set, there are 3 types of Curses: Sleep, Poison, and Caged. Each Curse card describes what it does to the cursed Princess. A Prince Charming can be discarded to remove a Curse from yourself or another Princess, but a Curse cannot be removed in the same turn that it is gained. (For instance, if a Curse is gained during Evil's turn, the next player is able to remove the Curse because it was not gained on her turn). The Curses are not shuffled into any deck: they are kept to the side until another card says that a Princess has become cursed.

If a Princess is Cursed during her turn, her turn immediately ends and she loses the opportunity to play any more cards for that turn, or use her Abilities (other than those that state they can be played "at any time").

NOTE: If a Princess is both Poisoned and Caged at the start of her turn, she does NOT draw any cards.

Keywords: Some FOEs have keywords in addition to other Abilities. Keywords indicate that a FOE uses special rules that override the normal FOE rules. The two keywords currently in the game are Rekindle and Nimble.

Rekindle: After you defeat a FOE with the Rekindle keyword, you must reveal the top card of the Dangerous deck. If it is a Charming, the FOE is not defeated, and is instead returned facedown to its spot on the FOE grid. The revealed card is returned to the top of the Dangerous deck.
Nimble: When this FOE is revealed, you must first resolve this card's effects and then swap its placement with an adjacent FOE card (one that is directly above, below, to the left, or to the right). Then, you must challenge (reveal and resolve, if facedown) the FOE that the Nimble FOE replaced. If there is no adjacent FOE to swap with, you may then challenge the Nimble FOE.

Game Layout

The source rulebook's layout page is a diagram only (Discard Pile, Villainess, Lair, FOE Deck, Dangerous Deck, Curses, FOE Discard Pile, and Player 1 to Player 3 positions). See the printed rulebook for the arrangement.

Setting Up a Game

Choose the starting player: This should be whoever most recently enjoyed a story (book, show, movie, etc.) featuring a princess. The second player is whoever sits to the left of the starting player, the third player is whoever sits to the left of the second player, etc.
Select Princesses: The starting player must choose one of the Princesses to take on their adventure. The second player will choose their Princess next, and so on, until all players have chosen.

Each Princess has her own starting Facets (see the Portrait of a Princess and the Facets of a Princess), as well as one or more special Abilities that will help her and her teammates out in unique ways.

FOR NEW PLAYERS: It is recommended that the team has at least one of each of the four starting Facets.
Select a Villainess: The group chooses the Villainess it must defeat in order to win the game. Most Villainesses start the game hidden but are usually revealed during the game when their specific reveal conditions are met. Each Villainess has different Abilities and Threat Levels that make fighting them unique. Place the Villainess with her hidden side faceup at the top of the play field.
Select a Lair: The Villainess now needs a Lair from which she will orchestrate her insidious machinations. Choose a Lair card and place it next to the Villainess card. Each Lair has unique Abilities that affect the challenges the players face. Each Lair is associated with a specific FOE deck.

NOTE: Even though most Lairs are themed to pair with a specific Villainess, you are NOT required to pick the Lair that "matches" the Villainess. (For example, you are free to choose the Dark Fairy as the Villainess and the Gingerbread Cottage as her Lair, if you so wish.)

Playing the Game

Charmed and Dangerous is a cooperative game. However, each player controls their own hand of cards and has final say over what their Princess does. Players will take turns exploring the wilderness via the FOE grid, searching for potent magic items and strengthening their Facets by defeating FOEs until they are collectively strong enough to take on the Villainess directly and defeat her to win the game.

Solo Play

Enjoying Charmed and Dangerous in Solo Play allows a single player to run multiple Princesses. If you choose to have a Solo Play adventure, all you need to do is follow all of the same directions for setup with the following minor adjustments.

During Step 2, choose 2-4 Princesses to take on the adventure (we recommend starting with only 2 Princesses until you have a few sessions under your belt). Then during Step 8, you would deal a hand of cards to each Princess rather than each player, since you will be piloting all of the Princesses on this adventure.

You will then follow the game sequence as if each Princess represented a live player, making sure to draw and play cards for each Princess on her turn in accordance with the Game Sequence Summary. In addition, we recommend that you use a marker or token to keep track of which Princess's turn it is during your adventure!

Game Sequence Summary

Starting with the first player, the game alternates between the Princesses' turns and Evil's turns as follows:

a. The Princess starts her turn by drawing 2 cards. b. Any effects that trigger at the start of her turn trigger now. c. From now until her turn ends, she may play any card in her hand and may equip any unequipped FOE or Item card that she has.
The Princess takes one of the following Actions (see Princess Actions): Explore, Rest, Challenge a FOE, or Challenge the Villainess.
Princess's turn ends.
Evil's turn begins (see Evil's Turn).
Check if Lair has an active Ability, and then trigger it, if applicable.
Bolster the Forces of Evil by refilling 1 space on the FOE grid.
a. Unrevealed Villainess checks if reveal conditions are met and, if they are, she reveals herself. b. Revealed Villainess uses any applicable active Abilities.
Evil's turn ends. Return to Step 1a with the next Princess.

This sequence continues until the Princesses have won by defeating the Villainess in a Squad Challenge, or until the Princesses have lost to one of the three losing conditions (see Winning and Losing the Game).

Princess Actions

After she draws, a Princess must choose to Explore, Rest, Challenge a FOE, or Challenge the Villainess as her action for the turn.

Explore

Choose any facedown card in the FOE grid and reveal it.

If it is an Item: Resolve whatever effect the Item card says happens on its reveal. Then, you may either choose to leave the Item faceup on the grid or take it for yourself. If you take it for yourself, draw a card from the Dangerous deck and activate any effects or Abilities that would activate on a successful solo FOE challenge.
If it is a FOE: Immediately resolve whatever effect is on the card. After that, you immediately begin a Solo or Squad Challenge (your choice) as an extra action.
If it is a Masterstroke: Resolve as described under Masterstrokes.
If it is a Lair Fortification: Resolve as described under Lair Fortifications.

Rest

Remove all Curses from yourself and you may discard any number of cards from your hand. You may also give one player cards from your hand in exchange for the same number of cards from their hand.

Challenge a FOE

(Only if there are any faceup cards in the FOE grid.) Choose a card that is already faceup on the FOE grid.

If it is an Item: Take the Item for yourself, then draw a card from the Dangerous deck and activate any effects or Abilities that would activate on a successful solo FOE challenge.
If it is a FOE: Immediately begin a Solo Challenge or Squad Challenge (see FOE Challenges).

Challenge the Villainess

(Only if she is revealed.) This initiates a special Squad Challenge against the Villainess. This has very different rules than a FOE challenge (see Villainess Challenges).

FOE Challenges

Solo Challenge: You will need to match or exceed the Threat Level indicated on the FOE card with your Princess's Facets, or play Dangerous cards from your hand to boost those Facets. If you succeed at the challenge, the FOE is defeated and you then capture that FOE card as a reward and draw one card from the top of the Dangerous deck. (See Leveling Up.)

Squad Challenge: Sometimes you come across a FOE that is too difficult for you to face on your own. If that is the case, you can choose to take on the FOE as a squad. In a Squad Challenge, the other Princesses do NOT contribute their Facets, but they are able to play Dangerous cards from their hand on your Princess to boost her to victory. If the FOE is defeated by a squad, you gain the FOE card, and the other Princesses who played cards to assist you draw a card from the Dangerous deck. You do NOT draw a Dangerous card when you are assisted by the squad.

Running Away: There will be times when you and even the combined power of your entire squad will not be enough to overcome a FOE challenge. When this happens, there are two things you can do. First, you can call upon a Prince Charming to serve as a diversion while you escape (discarding one Charming from your hand). You escape from the Challenge, and the FOE card remains faceup on the FOE grid. If you are not able to discard a Charming, you must discard 3 Dangerous cards from your hand instead. Once that is resolved, your turn ends.

Example of a Solo FOE Challenge

Gretel chooses to explore the FOE grid and reveals Torture Chamber. Torture Chamber has an effect that triggers when it is revealed.

"When Torture Chamber is revealed, shuffle your hand and discard 2 cards at random."
After Gretel resolves this, she checks the Threat Level on Torture Chamber, which is a red 2. She must now find a way to muster a red 2 or run away. Luckily, Gretel starts the game with a red 1, and she has already captured some FOE cards that she equipped to add to her starting Facet score, giving her a total of red 3.
Gretel easily defeats Torture Chamber and draws a card from the Dangerous deck. She then captures the defeated FOE card and equips it to her Fierce bracket (red gem) along with the other cards she has already equipped there, positioning them so that the red gem on each card is visible in a way that they may be easily seen and added up (see the example image in the printed rulebook).
Since Gretel's Ability allows her to Explore again when she completes a FOE Challenge, she discards a Charming from her hand and flips over another card on the FOE grid.

Example of a Squad FOE Challenge

Dorothy Gale chooses to Explore the FOE grid and reveals the Wolf Pack.
The Wolf Pack requires a blue 3 and a red 2 to defeat. On Dorothy's portrait card, she has a green 1 and a blue 1. She has also captured and equipped several FOE cards to give her a total of a green 4 and a blue 1. However, that is not enough to allow her to defeat the Wolf Pack. Dorothy still needs a red 2 and a blue 2 to defeat the Wolf Pack. She plays Enchanting Melody from her hand to give herself a blue +2, but she still needs a red 2. Gretel joins the fight to make it a Squad Challenge and plays On the Hunt to grant Dorothy a red +4 for this turn.

Remember, only Dangerous cards Gretel plays can assist Dorothy. None of Gretel's personal Facet scores are counted in this challenge since she is only assisting.
The red +4 is more than enough to assist Dorothy in defeating the Wolf Pack. Dorothy captures the FOE card and equips it to the Harmony bracket (green gem) on her Princess portrait to increase her base Harmony Facet. Gretel then draws a card from the Dangerous deck.

Leveling Up

As they fight the Forces of Evil, the Princesses gradually get stronger and more experienced until they are ready to face the Villainess!

When you obtain a FOE card that has a Facet Bonus gem along the edge of it that matches one of your Princess's existing Facets, you may then choose to equip that FOE card to your Princess card. You can only equip FOE cards to a matching Facet bracket. If your Princess lacks a bracket in that Facet, you cannot boost it by equipping a FOE card. If you can't equip the FOE card, that's okay. Just set it facedown in your play area. If a card effect requires you to discard an equipped FOE card, you can use one of these extra cards instead and save your Princess from its effect.

There are also Items in the game that can give your Princess new Facet brackets. If you find and equip such an Item, you may then attach any unequipped FOE cards with a Facet Bonus that matches whatever Facet the Princess is utilizing from the Item, even if that Facet isn't on the Princess portrait.

Villainess Challenges

How you ultimately challenge the Villainess to win the game will be different depending on the type of Finale (Basic or Advanced) that you chose during setup.

Basic Finale

This initiates a special Squad Challenge against the Villainess. This differs from a FOE challenge in that no one can play Dangerous cards during this challenge, but all of the Princesses' individual, total Facet scores are combined against the Villainess's Threat Level. For example, add the total Majesty of all Princesses against the Villainess's Majesty Threat, the total Charm of all Princesses against the Villainess's Charm Threat, etc. If these meet or exceed the Villainess's Threat Level, and any other conditions on the Villainess card are satisfied, then the Princesses have succeeded in their quest and won the game!

Advanced Finale

At any point during the game after the Villainess has been Revealed, a Princess may use her action to "Enter the Lair" and bring all the other Princesses with her. This decision should be made as a group, because once the Lair has been entered there is no turning back.

When the Princesses enter the Lair, the current FOE grid is cleared. Then take the Item card that was placed next to the Villainess (the One True Weakness) and shuffle it with 8 cards from the FOE deck. (Or take the dedicated One True Weakness card for the FOE deck you are using.) If there are not enough cards left in the FOE deck, take random cards from the FOE discard pile to make up the difference.

Next place these 9 cards facedown to create a new FOE grid to represent the interior of the Lair. Once the Princesses find the One True Weakness, they may initiate a Villainess Challenge immediately, but the following rule changes apply inside the Lair:

Princesses no longer draw from the Dangerous deck at the start of their turns, nor do they get a card from the Dangerous deck for defeating a FOE in the Lair.
Run Away is no longer an option, as there is nowhere to run! If Run Away would otherwise be the Princesses' only option, then they lose the game.
If a Lair Fortification is revealed, it is discarded without its normal effect and is not added to the Villainess's total, but the Princess that revealed it has stepped into a trap and must also discard one of her own FOE cards.
The Forces of Evil no longer bolster their numbers on their turn. Instead, on step 2 of Evil's Turn, the Villainess casts a wicked sorcery that forces the Princess with the most cards in her hand to discard 2 cards from her hand or 1 FOE card (her choice). In the case of a tie, the Princess who has most recently taken a turn is targeted.
The One True Weakness Item card MUST be found and equipped before the Villainess can be challenged. Follow the special Squad Challenge rules listed in the Basic Finale to defeat the Villainess.

Evil's Turn

The Villainess, her Lair, and the Forces of Evil all take their turn after each Princess. At the end of each Princess's turn, perform the following actions in the following order:

Lair: Some Lairs have activated Abilities, while others have passive Abilities that impose rules that are always in play. If the Lair has an activated Ability, it is triggered now.
Forces of Evil Bolster their numbers: Refill one empty spot on the FOE grid with a card from the FOE deck and place it facedown. If there are no empty spaces on the FOE grid, remove no cards from the FOE deck, but all players must discard 2 Dangerous cards from their hands.
Villainess's Turn:
- Check For Reveal: Each Villainess has a unique reveal requirement that is checked on the Villainess's turn to see if she will reveal herself. If the reveal condition is met, flip over the Villainess card to its revealed side.
- Trigger Abilities: Some Villainesses have activated Abilities, while others have passive Abilities that impose rules that are always in play. If the Villainess has an activated Ability, it is triggered now.

Winning and Losing the Game

Winning the game: When the Princesses defeat the Villainess in the Finale (see Villainess Challenges) the game is over and everyone wins!

Losing the game:

If a Player is ever required by any effect to discard a Dangerous card, but cannot, then their Princess has "fallen in battle," and all players lose.
If a Dangerous card needs to be drawn and the deck is empty, the Princesses get hopelessly lost in the wilderness and all players lose.
There are 4 Masterstroke and 4 Lair Fortification cards in every FOE deck that are collected by the Villainess and Lair when they are revealed. If a total of 5 of these cards are ever collected by the side of Evil (in any combination), then the Villainess's stronghold becomes impenetrable and all players lose.

Errata

All Card Types: Any cards that tell you to choose cards from the Dangerous discard pile, or to choose and to shuffle them back into the Dangerous deck, should replace "choose" with "draw, at random." This rule does not apply to Briar Rosa, Dream Necromancer; she may choose her card from the discard pile.

Curse — Sleep: Replace "you can take no other actions" with "you cannot Explore or participate in Challenges of any kind."

Dangerous Card — Rally the Fae: Add "After this card is played, it is not discarded, it is removed from the game."

FOE Card — Fright Wisps: This FOE's Ability does not work on itself.

FOE Card — Shamblers: This FOE's Ability counts itself.

Princess Dorothy Gale, Weather Witch: The second paragraph of the Over the Rainbow Ability is optional. The player chooses whether or not to use it each time they use the Ability.

Princess Gretel, Candy Barbarian: Add "If Gretel uses Sugar Rush more than 2 times in the same turn, she is Cursed with Sleep at the end of her turn."

Inkwell: After this card is played, it is not discarded; it is removed from the game.

FOE Cards — Blood Priest & Big Bad Wolf: Replace "at the start of your turn" with "when challenged."

Rule Clarifications

Not all cards in the FOE deck are "FOE cards"; Items, Masterstrokes, and Lair Fortifications are NOT affected by rules that specify "FOE cards" despite being from the FOE deck.
You can only play cards on your turn or during a Squad Challenge if you are actively assisting (other than ones that specifically say they may be played "at any time").
The Villainess can only be revealed on her turn. Conditions that are met during a player's turn do not matter unless they persist until the Villainess's turn.
After you Explore and reveal a FOE or Item, you may not choose to challenge a different faceup FOE on the grid with that same Action.
If you are already assisting in a Challenge, you may play a Charming from your hand to remove a Curse from another Princess.
Charmings may be discarded as part of any Dangerous card discard requirements.
If an effect requires you to discard a FOE card and you cannot, you do NOT lose the game.
You can play as many Dangerous cards to assist during a Squad Challenge as you like.
You do not have to equip a FOE card on the turn you've captured it, but you may only equip FOE cards during your turn.
The draw part of your turn must occur before you may play cards or choose an action, including resting.
If an Ability targets the player with the most cards but multiple players are tied for the most cards, then the Ability targets whichever of those players most recently took their turn.
If a player receives a Curse or reveals a Masterstroke or Lair Fortification, her turn ends immediately and she cannot play any other cards, or use any Abilities for that turn (other than ones that specifically say they may be played "at any time").
When a card on the FOE grid is replaced, the card that replaces it is always placed facedown.
"Defeat" refers to a successful challenge against a FOE. You do not "defeat" Masterstrokes, Items, or Lair Fortifications.
If a rule says to reveal the top card of the Dangerous deck, that card is returned to the top of the Dangerous deck unless the rule specifically says otherwise.

Difficulty Adjustment

Sharpened Crowns — Booster Pack: For a more challenging game, during setup, shuffle the Sharpened Crown Booster Pack into the Dangerous deck. After the Dangerous deck has been shuffled, discard cards from the deck until it has 80 total Dangerous cards remaining.

For a less challenging game, do not discard any of the Dangerous cards during setup.