Children of Morta: The Board Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Components
• Story Mode
  • 1. Setup
    • First Time Only
    • Table Setup
    • Player Setup
  • 2. Hero Board Overview
    • Hero Board
  • 3. Game Concepts
    • Round Structure
    • Encounter Phase
    • Tile Icons
  • Combat Phase
    • Hero Turn
    • Action Spaces Anatomy
    • Place
    • Pay
    • Perform
    • Boost
    • Enemy Card & Ferocious Token Anatomy
    • Dealing Damage to Enemies
    • Critical Roll
    • Extra Damage with Stun
    • Support (Chapter II and onward)
    • Item & Talent Cards (Chapter II and onward)
    • Simultaneous Play
  • Enemy Turn
    • Evade and Block
  • Clean-up
  • 4. Run End
    • Run End - Come Back Home
    • Playing in Turn Order
    • Chapter Progression
• Additional Rules
  • Level-Up a Hero
  • Save the Game
  • Add or Change a Hero
  • Setup Changes when Adding or Removing Heroes
  • Resetting the Game
  • Boss Fight
    • Boss Status Card Anatomy
    • Boss Action Card Anatomy
  • Hero Bonds
  • Item and Talent Cards
    • Item Cards - One-time use
    • Talent Cards - Permanent effect
• Symbols
  • Hero Actions
  • Enemy Actions
  • Enemy and Encounter Rewards
  • Advanced Skill Tokens
  • Dice Symbols
  • Ferocious Enemy Tiles
• Family Trial
  • 1. Setup
    • Player Setup
    • Table Setup
  • 2. Run
  • 3. Run End
• Solo Mode
• Quick Overview
  • Encounter
  • Combat
    • Hero Phase
    • Enemy Phase
  • Clean-up
• Run End
• Bond Table
• Achievements
• F.A.Q.
  • Encounter Phase (p.6-7)
  • Combat Phase (p.7-12)
  • Clean-up Phase (p.13)

Overview

Children of Morta: The Board Game is a cooperative adventure game in which you play the role of one Bergson family member who is trying to stop the spreading corruption of the evil force in their beloved land of Morta. By defeating monsters and bosses, you gain upgrades that will make you stronger and more prepared.

The game has 2 modes of play: Story Mode and Family Trial.

We recommend playing your first games in Story Mode and then trying Family Trial. These are separate modes; progress and level-ups from one do not carry over to the other.

• Story Mode: Players progress through the campaign by playing through several chapters of the story and earning permanent upgrades while discovering the secrets of Mount Morta.
• Family Trial Mode: One-session game, with several encounters and boss fights. All progress is lost at the end (this is similar to rogue-like video games).

You can learn more about both modes in this rulebook.

Components

• 1 Adventure Book
• 5 Hero Boards
• 40 Hero Talent Cards (8 per hero)
• 50 Hero Level-up Cards (10 per hero)
• 34 Item Cards
• 90 Enemy/Hazard Cards (in 5 types)
• 12 Support Cards
• 10 Bond Cards
• 17 Chapter Cards
• 12 House Cards
• 25 Boss Cards (in 4 types)
• 6 Reference Cards
• 20 Basic Skill Tokens
• 25 Advanced Skill Tokens
• 3 Corruption Tokens
• 1 Corruption Tracker
• 15 Special Tokens
• 10 Rage Tokens
• 12 Ferocious Tiles
• 24 Encounter Tiles
• 20 Damage Tokens
• 5 Chest Tiles
• 10 Stun Tokens
• 6 Potion Tokens
• 12 Support Tokens
• 20 Morv/Coins
• 10 Gemstones
• 12 Dice
• 12 Wooden Markers
• 5 XP Dial Trackers (1 per hero)
• 1 Chapter Token
• 1 Location Marker
• 1 Leader Token
• 1 Skill Bag
• 1 Rulebook

Story Mode

1. Setup

First Time Only

Put one set (one of each of the five colors) of basic Skill tokens per player in the bag (10, 15, 20 tokens for 2, 3, and 4 players). For solo, use the same as 2 players. Put the remaining tokens back in the box.

For example, do this in a 2-player game.

Table Setup

1. Place the Adventure Book in the middle of the table, Story Mode side up. Unfold the cover so the house is visible.
2. Sort the Advanced Skill tokens by type and place them on their corresponding spaces on the house. (There should be 5 sets of 5 colors each.)
3. Shuffle and place all Item cards next to the board.
4. (skip for the first chapter) Shuffle and place all House cards on their corresponding space of the house board.
5. Place the bag, all tokens, and Combat Dice at reach.
6. (skip for the first chapter) Draw and place one Support card in-between each player and the one next to them (e.g., in a 3 player game, there are 3 cards places, 1 between each pair of players.)
7. (skip for the first chapter) Check the Bond table in page 22, and draw and place a Bond card between any two players who have unlocked their bond.
8. Proceed to the current chapter (Chapter I at the start of the campaign). Read the lore, then continue the dungeon setup, which will guide you to set up the Encounter tokens and Enemy/Hazard cards, and determine the starting leader (in solo mode, you are always the leader.)

Player Setup

Each player does the following:

9. Choose a hero: John, Linda, Lucy, and Kevin, and take your chosen hero's board.

Note: You cannot choose Mark until he is unlocked later during the campaign.

10. Take 3 markers for Health, Shield/Evade (depending on your chosen Hero), and Focus tracks. Place the health marker on the maximum health value and the others on the zero value.
11. Take 3 Special tokens that show your hero icon on them; place them on the corresponding spaces of your board face-up.
12. Take your XP dial tracker that shows your hero's icon; keep them near your board.
13. Take your Level-up cards in your hero's color; keep them near your board.
14. Take your Talent cards that show your hero's icon; keep them near your board in a face-down pile.

Tokens (Rage, Gemstone, Potion, Support, Corruption) are unlimited; use substitutes if you run out of any. Coins and Experience are limited to a maximum of 20 each.

2. Hero Board Overview

Selecting your hero is the first step in the game. Unlike many games, you are not limited to a single character; each time you play the game, you can use a different hero. While many things change throughout each new session, the guardians remain consistent, allowing you to freely switch between them. Let's have a look at the hero board.

Close area: Any enemy can attack you from here, and you can use any attack on them.

Far area: Only ranged enemies can attack you from here, and you can use ranged-attacks on them.

Hero Board

1. Name – Your hero's name, and some descriptive text about them.
2. Stats – Where you keep track of the Health points, the Shield or Evade Points, and Focus points.
3. Special – Place for your Special Tokens, and the discard pile for them.
4. Ability – Your hero's ability, which is unique to each hero.
5. Critical Roll – Shows the bonus you will gain in case you roll a Critical.
6. Action Spaces – Your hero's actions, which can be upgraded during the campaign.
7. Battle Zone – There are two areas: Close and Far. Any enemy in the Close area can attack you, and you can use any of your attacks against them. In the Far area, only enemies with ranged-attacks can attack you, and you may only attack them with your ranged-attacks, whether single or multi-target.
8. Inventory – Place for your Item and Talent cards.

3. Game Concepts

The Story Mode campaign includes 7 chapters that you will play in order. In each chapter, you will delve through one of the dungeons of the game (a Run), fight endless enemies, and face new challenges; you do this until either: the chapter's objective is completed or the players are defeated. If you complete the objective, then you can play the next chapter. But if you're defeated, you'll have to start the Run again. After each game session, whether you win or lose, you return home to level up and rest. We'll talk about that a little later (on page 13).

Round Structure

The game consists of several rounds, each with three phases: Encounter, Combat, and Cleanup.

• Encounter: Players reveal tiles on the map to see how many enemies to face.
• Combat: All heroes take one collective turn, followed by enemy turns.
• Cleanup: Preparation for the next round.

Encounter Phase

The Location marker is moved and tiles are revealed during the encounter phase.

The encounter phase proceeds as follows:

1. Move the Location marker to any location connected by dots with tiles on them.

Moving to a new location is mandatory; you cannot remain in the same location unless stated otherwise. You may move any distance, through a chain of previously-explored locations (locations without any tiles), until you reach an unexplored location (which has tiles on it).

Note: You can not move through (skip over) locations that contain tiles.

• Strategy Tip: Knowing that the current leader will face more enemies in each new location, it's vital that players decide where to go next as a group.
• Visiting each location in a dungeon is not mandatory, but you will gain more experience, treasure, and faster upgrades the more locations you visit.

2. Flip and reveal all tiles in the new location, and carry out their effects:

• Encounter Tiles: There are 2 tiles at each encounter location. After flipping the tiles, the leader must take the tile with the highest number (shown on top of the tile). Each other player uses the remaining tile.

For example: If the token of lower value shows 2 enemies, all other players (not the leader) draw 2 enemy cards each.

• Chapter Tile: Discard the tile, and then draw the top card of the Chapter deck and perform the instructions on the card. If there are not any Chapter cards left, make another movement.
• If the Location marker lands on a location with a chest icon showing on the board (after flipping tiles), draw a random Chest tile and give what it shows to any hero.
• If the Location marker lands on a location with a Talent card icon showing on the board (after flipping tiles), each hero draws 2 Talent cards from their deck, keeps one, and discards the other at the bottom of their Talent card deck.

Tile Icons

For each Enemy/Hazard icon on an Encounter tile, draw 1 card from the matching deck.

• Place each drawn Enemy card above your board in the left or rightmost empty space, as indicated by the icon on top of the card.
• Place each drawn Hazard card in the left or right space outside of your battle zone, as indicated by the icon on the card.
• After placing each enemy, if the enemy icon was red, draw and place a random Ferocious tile on that enemy card. They increase the enemy's health and/or attack points. Learn more about them in Ferocious Enemy Tiles in page 19.
• For each Morv (coin), Gemstone, or Potion, take the matching resource from the general supply and place it on your hero board. Learn more about these in Encounter Rewards in page 19.
• For each Item or Talent card, draw the top card from the matching deck and place it below your board in the matching space, face-up. You can have up to 2 Talent cards and up to 3 Item cards. You may discard a card you already have to make room for a new one.

Important: There is room for six enemies above each hero board. If there is no room for a new enemy above a hero board during this phase, the game is over. Skip to the Run End section on page 13. Otherwise, proceed to the next phase.

Players move the Location marker to a connected location and reveal both tiles there. The tile with the higher number (6) is for the leader, and she must draw 3 enemy cards, a Hazard card, and gain a Gemstone. The tile with the lower number (3) is for all other players, and each of them must gain a Morv (coin) and draw 2 Enemy cards.

Linda, the leader, draws 3 Enemy cards! Two go into the rightmost space above her board, and the third goes into the leftmost space, as indicated by their icons. She also draws one hazard card and places it outside her battle zone, on the left side, as indicated by the icon. She also gains a Gemstone.

Combat Phase

All Heroes take one collective turn, followed by enemy turns.

Hero Turn

All Heroes work together to take a single turn with the following steps: Draw and Perform Actions.

1. Draw

In any order, each player does the following:

Draw Skill tokens from the bag until you have exactly 5, including left over tokens from previous turn (if any).

Skill token symbols: Strength, Agility, Support, Resilience, Precision.

Linda draws 5 tokens from the bag; one of them is a Corruption (dark-purple) and is useless, so she has 4 tokens to use this turn. Then she passes the bag on to the next player.

Corruption tokens: During the campaign, several Corruption tokens will be added to the bag. These tokens count toward your draw limit but have no effect and only clog your "hand" of tokens. Whenever you draw one of them keep them on your hero board until the clean-up phase, when they go back to the bag, along with used tokens (there are no Corruption tokens in Chapter I).

Special tokens: Each hero has 3 Special tokens with their symbol, starting face-up and ready to use. You can use each Special token in two ways: as a wild token for any color action space or to re-roll a die. You will learn about both soon, just note that used Special tokens are not returned to the bag at the end of the round; instead, they are placed face-down in the discard Special area and cannot be used again until refreshed. You can refresh them by spending one Gemstone (see Encounter Rewards, page 19).

2. Perform Actions

One action at a time, in any order, perform any number of actions until you decide to stop, or you cannot legally perform anymore (i.e., you do not have the required focus/tokens to do so). All players take this step simultaneously.

In summary, to perform an action, you must cover all of its empty spaces with tokens; in addition, if there is a Focus cost, you must pay it.

Note: You can not trade tokens with other players, but you may discuss your placement options freely. Players can all perform their actions at the same time, or wait and collaborate between actions.

Action Spaces Anatomy

1. Name – Name of the action.
2. Level – Level of the action.
3. Level-up – XPs required to buy that action when leveling up.
4. Cost – Focus required to activate that action.
5. Skill – Showing the skill (color) required to activate that action.
6. Action – What the action does.

Place

To perform an action, you must cover all empty token spaces that belong to that action (1 or 2) with the following rules:

a) A token can only be placed on an empty space of color matching the color of the token.

b) You may use 2 tokens as a 'wild color' as follows: Place any 2 tokens in a single stack on a single space of any color. Note: When doing this, remember that Corruption tokens can not be used for this.

c) You may use any of your face-up Special tokens as a token of any color (placing them on any empty space).

Note: You can keep your unused tokens for future turns, but they count toward the maximum of 5 tokens when you draw from the bag.

For example, here you must pay 2 focus to perform this action, and place a red token.

Here you must place a purple and yellow token, and also you must pay 3 focus.

Pay

Pay Focus if required. The cost you must pay is shown beside the action. Pay Focus by moving your Focus marker backward on your Focus track. Note that the price for actions with two required token spaces is located between the two cells.

Perform

Flip all the token(s) on that action space and resolve the icons of that action as follows:

• White icon: Fixed value of 1 for that action.
• Colored icon: You must roll a die of that color to see the value of that action.
• You can re-roll dice if you have face-up Special tokens (unused ones, those NOT on action spaces) as follow:

a) Flip 1 face-up Special token face-down in your discard Special area to re-roll any one die.

b) You can repeat this to reroll the same or a different die (one reroll per Special token you flip face-down).

Actions are either used to gain resources (Rage, Focus, Shield, or Evade) or to attack enemies (melee, ranged, or multi-target).

Linda places a green token on a green space (which has no Focus cost) and flips it to gain Focus: The action icon is in blue, so she has to roll a blue die to determine the outcome. The die shows 1, so she gains 1 Focus.

Linda does not have any red tokens, so she places two tokens on a ranged-attack space that requires a red token instead. She pays the price (2 Focus), then flips the tokens. The action icon shows 2 blue bows, meaning she has to roll two blue dice to see the outcome of her ranged attack. She rolls the dice, and the result is 2, so she adds 2 damage to the targeted enemy.

Linda wants to defeat that enemy, but she's out of tokens. She uses one of her face up Special tokens (as a token of any color) and places it on a ranged-attack space with no Focus cost. She flips the token and now must roll a blue die. As she wanted to make sure she would defeat the enemy, after discussing with other players, she uses one of the Rage tokens in the shared pool area and added another blue die to her roll. She rolled them and dealt 2 damage to the enemy, which was enough to defeat him. Alternatively, she could have used both Rage tokens to add a yellow die to her roll instead.

Boost

Boost an action to roll more dice to increase the power of the action! You can Boost an action (even those with white icons) by spending Rage as follows:

When you Boost an action icon, you can add up to 3 dice - up to 1 of each color.

For example: You can not spend 4 rage to add 2 yellow dice to an action.

Rage is a shared resource for all players. Make sure you communicate when using it so that the other players know it isn't available anymore!

• Spend 1 Rage to: Add 1 blue die to the action.
• Spend 2 Rage to: Add 1 yellow die to the action.
• Spend 3 Rage to: Add 1 purple die to the action.

For example: You can spend 5 Rage to add a yellow and blue die to an action that originally had a blue and purple die. After paying the 5 Rage, you'd roll a total of 1 yellow, 2 blue, and 1 purple dice.

All players place their Rage tokens in the shared pool in the center of the table, which is located on the dungeon's setup page.

Enemy Card & Ferocious Token Anatomy

1. Spawn – Shows where the enemy should be placed; right or left.
2. Name – The enemy's name and type.
3. Health Points – Shows the enemy's Health.
4. Actions – Shows the actions of the enemy during the enemy phase.
5. Reward – Reward(s) you would get for defeating the enemy.
6. XP – Shows the XP you would get for defeating the enemy.

Dealing Damage to Enemies

When you deal damage to an enemy, place a number of damage tokens on the enemy equal to the value of the attack. An enemy is defeated when its damage tokens equal or exceed its health. The player facing the enemy gains the reward and XP on the card, plus any ferocious token reward. Then, discard the card and damage tokens to the reserve.

Critical Roll

For each Critical roll result you make during an action, immediately receive the Critical roll bonus shown on your hero board. You can't save it for later - use it now, or it is wasted (Dice Symbols, page 19).

Extra Damage with Stun

When attacking an enemy with a Stun token, you may remove the stun and add +1 to your total damage. This cannot be done if your attack deals zero damage.

John rolls a die for his melee attack. He rolls a 1 + Critical, so he deals one damage to the enemy and gains a shield as the effect of his Critical roll.

Support (Chapter II and onward)

From Chapter II and onward, a Support card is placed between each set of 2 unique players sitting next to each other, during the setup (Solo mode does not use the Support system). During the heroes turn, any player can activate a Support card they are sitting next to, but note: Each Support card can only be used once per turn! Place a Support token from the reserve on the Support card when it is used. At the end of each run (win or lose), Support tokens are recorded on the Bond table. Which will possibly forge a bond between those heroes later during the campaign. Learn more about this in the Hero Bonds section, page 16.

John has a hard time and asks Linda for support! So Linda activates the Support card and flips one of her tokens so John could gain 2 focus. They will also gain a support token.

Item & Talent Cards (Chapter II and onward)

During their turns, players can use any number of Item cards, Talent cards, and their hero ability. Item cards offer one-time benefits and are earned from encounter tiles, while Talent cards and hero abilities provide lasting effects for the Run and are found in specific dungeon spaces. See page 17 for more on cards and your hero Reference card for abilities.

Simultaneous Play

We recommend all players perform their Rage action before moving on to their other actions. In this way, the total number of Rage in the pool is known to all for the rest of the turn. Though there are situations when it matters what order players complete their actions in, for example, if one player defeats an enemy first and gets one Rage as a reward, this could influence how other players complete their actions. Here, timing and communication are crucial. Keep in mind that you could postpone your action and wait until another hero completes theirs, but you may not undo your actions.

Enemy Turn

All enemies above a hero's board will attack the hero, if possible.

Exception: Melee attack enemies in the far area (right-most three spaces) do not attack unless they have a ferocious token with ranged-attack. (Ranged attack enemies attack in any position.)

Note: The Enemy Phase is played simultaneously by all players, so each hero activates their enemies on their own.

Each player does the following for the enemies above their board:

a) Starting with the Left-most enemy (above your board), then proceeding to the right, activate each enemy.

b) When activating each enemy, resolve all of its actions, starting at the top-most action, then proceeding downwards.

Resolve all actions on each enemy before moving on to the next enemy.

c) Skip any enemy that has a Stun token - they do not resolve any of their actions.

d) Only after you do steps a-c for each enemy, then activate the attack part of the boss card (if it's a boss fight).

Evade and Block

Heroes can block or evade any incoming damage, unless it's stated as defenceless damage.

Shield and Evade Tracks: Most heroes use Evade to block enemy damage, while John uses Shield. They both work the same way when it comes to handling incoming damage: When you take damage, you can reduce it by 1 for each space you move back on your Shield/Evade track. You decide whether to use Shield/Evade after the enemy's attack dice are rolled. If you have no Shield/Evade, reduce your Health by 1 for each damage received.

For example: If you take 3 damage, you can move your shield/evade marker back 2 spaces so that you only take 1 damage.

Note that any remaining Shield or Evade points are lost at the end of the round and cannot be carried over.

Important: If one or more player's health is reduced to 0 during enemy phase, the game immediately ends - proceed to the Run End section on page 13.

The skeleton attacks Linda first, rolling a blank blue die (no damage). Then, the archer attacks, rolling a blue die and getting a 1. The white ranged-attack icon on the Ferocious token adds 1 extra damage, bringing the total to 2. Linda decides to evade the attack by spending two evade points.

Clean-up

The clean-up phase proceeds as follows:

1. Put all of your facedown Skill tokens (the ones on your action spaces), along with drawn Corruption tokens, if any, in the bag.
2. Put all of your used Special tokens (the ones on your action spaces, if any), in the Special token discard pile.
3. Move the marker on your Shield/Evade track backward to the first space (zero).
4. Gain one Focus by moving your marker one space forward in the Focus track, if possible.
5. Starting with the leftmost enemy above your board, then proceeding rightward, move each enemy to the leftmost empty space above your board. If the enemy has a Stun token, remove the token without moving the enemy (enemies do not block each other). Remove all the Stun token(s) on the boss card (if it's a boss fight).
6. The player to the left of the leader becomes the active leader.

Note: Enemies showing the Steady icon do not move in Clean-up phase (See page 18).

Important: Enemies remaining in front of each player will stay for the next encounter. Remember, you must move to a new location and cannot stay.

Linda places all her used face-down tokens in the bag. She then puts one used Special token (used as a wild) in the Special token discard pile. She loses all remaining Evade points, gains 1 Focus, and moves the enemies above her board to the left. Finally, she gives the Leader token to the player on her left.

4. Run End

The run continues until players win or lose:

There is 1 way to win:

• If players complete all chapter objectives.

There are 2 ways to lose:

• The game ends if one or more players' Health is 0 at the end of the enemy phase (not hero phase).
• There is no space to place a new enemy above a hero board during the encounter phase.

When the run ends, you return home as detailed on the next page, regardless of whether you win or lose.

Run End - Come Back Home

When you go back home (from winning or losing), perform the following steps (if you choose not to play another session right away, you can skip the first two steps):

1. Reset your Health, Shield or Evade, and Focus marker to their starting setup.
2. Place all of your face-down Special tokens face-up in the corresponding space on your hero board.
3. Discard all of your Item and Talent cards, Potions, Gemstones, and Stun, and all of the Rage in the shared pool area.
4. (Skip in Chapter I) Cross off the number of Support tokens for the collected Support tokens between adjacent players on the Bond table (page 22), then discard them. Skip this step if the two heroes are already bonded (Learn more in the Hero Bonds section, page 16).
5. You may spend Coins, collectively and up to 20, to buy Advanced Skill tokens, which you add to the bag. Each Advanced Skill token has a price depicted on the home board. Return the Coins you pay to the reserve when you purchase them. You are free to choose the color of the token you are purchasing. Learn more about each advanced skill in the Advanced Skill Tokens section, page 19. You can carry over any leftover Coins to future games.

Note: When purchasing an Advanced token, you may pay an additional Coin to take one Basic token of the same color from the bag and remove it from the game for the remainder of the campaign. This will increase your chances of drawing Advanced tokens. However, you cannot do this if there are no Basic tokens left in the bag, or without purchasing a new token.

6. Each player may spend their XPs individually to level up their hero. Select the Level-up card for the next level of the action you want to enhance. Pay the cost shown in the top-right corner of the card by adjusting your XP dial, and place the card on the corresponding action space. You can carry over any leftover XP to future games. Learn more about this in the Level Up a Hero section, page 15.

Players collectively have 5 coins, which they can spend to purchase new tokens and add them to the bag.

If you would like to continue playing later, you can save the game and return later. Learn more about this in the Save the Game section, page 15. You may also want to play as other heroes or add a player to your group, which are all explained in the Add or Change Heroes section, page 15.

You can also continue the game right away by setting up the next chapter dungeon, as described in the Adventure Book. Remember that if you lose the current chapter, you must play it again. But if you win, you must proceed to the next one.

Playing in Turn Order

Some groups may prefer playing in turn order rather than simultaneously. If this works better for your group, feel free to adopt this approach. You can either have each player, starting with the leader, take all their actions before the next player takes their turn, or keep the pace quicker by having each player take 1-2 actions at a time, cycling through until everyone has completed their actions.

Chapter Progression

These are all the rules you need to begin playing Chapter 1. However, as you progress through future chapters, new rules will be introduced, including additional objectives, new actions, and new conditions for victory or defeat. Some chapter cards you acquire will remain in play throughout the campaign, impacting your journey and strategy.

Additional Rules

All the additional information you need to know for the campaign is covered here. However, knowing them is not necessary when starting the campaign. Simply browse the titles for now, and you can come back later when the time comes (or when the chapter wants you to do so).

Level-Up a Hero

During the game, your hero gains experience points (XP), tracked with your XP dial. You can have a maximum of 20 XP at any time. You can level up your hero by spending all or some of your XP when you return home at game end. To level up, take the next level of your chosen actions from your Level-up cards, pay the cost shown on the card's upper right corner using your XP dial, and place the card in the corresponding action space. Remember, you must level up an action in numerical order, and you may not level up an action more than once per Run (each game session). The difference between two actions cannot exceed 2 levels—for example, with a level 2 action, you cannot have a level 5 action. Any leftover XP can be carried over to future games.

John has 11 XPs and he decides to level-up his Primary Attack and Heaven's Strike to the 2nd level by spending 10 XPs in total. He places the Level-up cards on his board and adjusts his XP dial tracker to 1.

Save the Game

After you go back home at game end, if you would like to continue playing later, you can save the game. Saving the game keeps track of all the progress and level-ups for your group and your hero. To save the game, put all your markers, unused Level-up cards, Talent cards, and Special tokens in a poly bag. Stack hero boards on top of each other in the box to keep the Level-up cards secure and prevent them from falling out. Knot the Skill bag and place it in the box, then pack everything else as usual. That's it!

Add or Change a Hero

At the beginning of every session, you have the option to switch up your hero with another available one or add a new player to the group (provided that the four-player maximum is not exceeded). So, it's possible to change a 2-player campaign to a 3- or 4-player game, or vice versa. Knowing that, new heroes may not have the Level-up cards like other heroes, but they still may benefit from all the family upgrades in the Skill bag.

Setup Changes when Adding or Removing Heroes

When adding one or more heroes to the campaign, all you have to do is add a set of five Basic Skill tokens per new hero to the bag (1 set if you add one hero, 2 if you add two, and so on). Do the opposite if you're removing one or more heroes; pull out a set of Basic Skill tokens from the bag per hero you're removing from the campaign. Note that in solo mode, the bag already contains tokens for 2 players, so no need to add tokens when moving from solo to a 2-player game.

Resetting the Game

You might want to restart the campaign from the beginning at any time. Be aware that your entire campaign progress will be lost. To reset the game, place all your Level-up cards back in your hero poly bag. Remove all the Advanced Skill tokens and Corruption tokens from the bag and place them in their corresponding reserve areas. Gather all the discarded Chapter cards together again.

Boss Fight

Some chapters of the campaign feature boss fights. Each boss has a distinct deck of cards, which includes one Status card and several Action cards. The Status card indicates boss Immunity/Vulnerability, Health points (based on the number of players), and the prize for defeating them. The Action cards indicate what action they take during that turn. At the start of a boss fight, place the Status card in the center of the table so that everyone can place damage tokens on it. Then, shuffle the Action cards and place them within reach.

Boss Status Card Anatomy

1. Name – The boss name and dungeon.
2. Resilience – The boss Immunity/Vulnerability.
3. Health Points – Shows the health of the boss for different player counts.
4. Reward – Reward(s) you would get for defeating the boss.

At the start of each turn, instead of the Encounter phase, the current leader draws one boss Action card and places it in front of themselves. During that turn, the leader is the only player who can deal melee damage to the boss. Other players may only attack them with ranged-attacks. Additionally, each boss may be immune or vulnerable to Stun and multi-target attacks, as indicated on their stat card.

The boss also has a Shield, which blocks a certain amount of damage per attack, as shown on each boss action card.

For example, if the Shield on the boss's Action card shows 2, this means that for each attack a hero makes, the boss will block 2 damage.

Boss Action Card Anatomy

1. Name – The boss and action names.
2. Shield – The action defense value.
3. Action – Shows the actions of the boss.
4. Critical Roll – Shows the bonus gained by the boss when they roll a Critical.

After the hero phase, execute the enemy phase as usual. After all enemies are resolved, activate the boss card as instructed. After that, and if no heroes are defeated, go to the next turn by discarding the Action card. If, at any point, the boss deck runs out, shuffle the discard pile and make a new draw pile. Continue until either the heroes defeat the boss or one of them is defeated. When defeating the boss, skip the other enemy's turns as the game ends immediately in victory and all players receive the reward.

Hero Bonds

The two heroes become bonded when they cross off their last Support token on the Bond table, as described in the Support section on page 11. In future games, when these heroes are seated next to each other, they will place a Bond card between them at the start of the session, along with a Support card. Every two heroes have one unique Bond card with their icons on the front. Each Bond card can be used once during a hero's turn, as indicated on the card, and allows those heroes to spend Supports gained from their Support card to activate the bond action.

Item and Talent Cards

Item Cards - One-time use

Some Encounter tiles reward players with Item cards. When you get one, place it below your hero board in one of the 3 available spots. You can have up to 3 Item cards. You may discard a card you already have to make room for a new one. Item cards can be played at any time during your turn and discarded after being used.

Example: "Totem of Deception" (Item) – Far area enemies attack the totem instead of you. Remove the totem when it is defeated (Health: 3).

Talent Cards - Permanent effect

Some dungeon locations reward players with Talent cards. When you get a Talent card, draw two cards from the top of your talent deck, place one below your hero board in one of the 2 available spots, and discard the other one at the bottom of the deck. You can have up to 2 Talent cards. You may discard a card you already have to make room for a new one. Talent cards have a permanent effect until the run ends, at which point they are discarded.

Example: "Pyro Blade" (Rune) – Add +1 damage to Primary Attack!

Note: All Item and Talent cards collected during the game are discarded at the end of the run. Learn more about this in the Run End section, page 14.

John discards one of his Item cards, allowing him to gain a Focus. Now, he needs another Focus to activate his Shield Slam. He waits for Linda to attack the goblin archer in front of him with her ranged-attack. By defeating the goblin, John immediately receives the reward, which is a Focus. Now he has 3 Focus points needed for the Shield Slam. After paying the cost (2 tokens and 3 Focus), he rolls 2 blue dice, one from the action and one by discarding a Rage from the shared pool. The result is 3, and he deals 3 damage to each of the two adjacent enemies above his board in the close area. The first enemy is defeated, and the reward is additional damage, which John uses to defeat the second enemy and earn a Gemstone.

Symbols

Hero Actions

As a rule of thumb, each white icon indicates a fixed value of one for that action. Each colored icon indicates that you must roll a die of that color to see the outcome value of that action.

Note that only ranged-attacks can target other players' enemies. Melee and multi-target attacks, (even those with a ranged-attack icon), cannot.

Melee Attack – Deal damage to one of the enemies in your close area (left-most three spaces). Roll a matching die for colored icons, dealing damage equal to the rolled result.

Ranged Attack – Deal damage to any enemy in play. Roll a matching die for colored icons, dealing damage equal to the rolled result.

Multi-Target Melee Attack – Deal damage to 2 or 3 adjacent spaces in your close area, based on the number of squares shown on the icon. Roll a matching die for colored icons, dealing damage equal to the rolled result. Each enemy receives full damage.

Multi-Target Ranged Attack – Deal damage to 2 or 3 adjacent spaces above your player board, based on the number of squares. Roll a matching die for colored icons, dealing damage equal to the rolled result. Each enemy receives full damage.

Gain Resources (Shield, Evade, or Focus) – Gain that resource by moving the marker on that track one space forward. Roll a die for colored icons, gaining resources equal to the rolled result.

Generate Rage – Add a Rage to the rage pool. Roll a matching die for a colored icon, gaining Rage equal to the rolled result.

Push/Pull – Move an enemy to any empty space within your battle zone. Boost the action with Rage and roll extra dice to push a number of enemies equal to the result.

Stun – Place a Stun token on any enemy above your board or the boss. Boost the action with Rage and roll extra dice to Stun a number of enemies equal to the result. A stunned enemy will not activate during the enemy turn or move during the clean-up phase (effects differently on boss). Player can choose to remove a Stun token from an enemy during an attack to deal one additional damage.

Enemy Actions

Melee/Ranged Attack – Deal damage to the hero. Roll a matching die for colored icons, dealing damage equal to the rolled result. Critical rolls have no effect for enemies unless otherwise stated.

Stun – Place a Stun token on your hero board. You cannot evade enemy stuns. At the start of your next turn, for each Stun token, the maximum number of tokens you can draw is reduced by 1. After drawing to your reduced limit, discard all Stun tokens.

For example: If you have 2 Stun tokens, you can only draw tokens until you have a total of 3 tokens, then you discard both Stun tokens.

Spawn – Draw an Enemy card from the corresponding deck and place it beside your board. In the next encounter phase, before drawing new enemies, place the drawn cards in your battle zone first, following the rules on page 6.

Steady – Enemies with the steady icon will not move to the left during the clean-up phase and will remain in their current position. You may move them using the Reposition action.

Reposition (Ignore in Solo Mode) – Pass the Enemy card to the player on your right or left to place beside their board. In the next Encounter phase, before drawing new enemies, they must place these cards in their battle zone first, following the rules on page 6.

Enemy and Encounter Rewards

Rage – Add 1 Rage to the shared pool. Rage is a shared resource among players. Any player can use Rage to boost their actions with additional dice. See the Boost section on page 10.

Focus – Move your Focus marker one space forward. Focus is a resource required to activate certain actions. See the Focus Cost section on page 9 for details.

Morv (coin) – Add 1 Morv to your hero board. Morv (coins) can be used at the end of each run to purchase new Advanced tokens from the house. These coins are considered shared among players, and any leftover coins can be carried over between runs. See the Run End section on page 14 for details.

Potion (red Heart) – Add 1 Potion to your hero board. You have the option to discard a Potion at any time during the game, even during the enemy turns, to gain one health. Potions can be shared with other players for their use.

Gemstone – Add 1 Gemstone to your hero board. You can discard a Gemstone anytime during hero turn to flip all used Special tokens in your special discard area, face-up again. Gemstones may also have additional uses as the campaign progresses.

Extra Damage – Deal 1 damage to any enemy above your hero board or the boss, ignoring shields.

Stun – Deal 1 Stun to any enemy above your hero board or the boss. A stunned enemy will not activate during the enemy turn or move during the clean-up phase, though stuns have a different effect on the boss.

Item, Talent Card – Draw the top card from the matching deck and place it below your board in the matching space, face-up. You can have up to 2 Talent cards and up to 3 Item cards. You may discard a card you already have to make room for a new one.

Advanced Skill Tokens

During the campaign, you may spend Morv (coin) to add Advanced Skill tokens to the shared bag (see the Run End section on page 14 for details). Like Basic Skill tokens, Advanced Skill tokens have a color. They also provide a bonus to the player who draws them from the bag, as indicated on the token. Note that you still gain the bonus if you use these tokens with another token to create a wild token.

Rage – Immediately when drawn, add 1 Rage to the shared pool. You do not receive the bonus again if you keep the token for the next turn.

Focus – Immediately when drawn, gain one Focus. You do not receive the bonus again if you keep the token for the next turn.

Extra Blue Die – Roll one additional blue die for one of the actions you use this token with. You will receive the bonus even if you keep the token for future turns.

Extra Yellow Die – Roll one additional yellow die for one of the actions you use this token with. You will receive the bonus even if you keep the token for future turns.

Extra Purple Die – Roll one additional purple die for one of the actions you use this token with. You will receive the bonus even if you keep the token for future turns.

Dice Symbols

• An outcome of one for the action.
• An outcome of two for the action.
• An outcome of three for the action.
• An outcome of one for the action, plus any applicable Critical bonus.

Ferocious Enemy Tiles

• Increase the enemy's Health by a set amount.
• Blocks a set amount of damage per attack.
• Draw one Chest tile and gain the reward.
• Gain 1 XP.

Family Trial

In Family Trial, you play a one-session game with several encounters and boss fights. You win if you defeat the final boss, but you lose if your hero is defeated before then.

In any case, your progress is lost at the end, similar to rogue-like games. You may also unlock one or more Achievements after a few plays, making future games easier. The gameplay is essentially the same in both Family Trial and Story Mode.

You can learn the differences here.

1. Setup

Player Setup

The only difference is that each hero begins the game with the Focus marker in the final space of the Focus track.

Table Setup

1. Place the Adventure Book in the middle of the table, Family Trial mode side up. Unfold the cover so the shop is visible.
2. Choose either the easy or hard map and open the corresponding page.
3. Sort the Advanced Skill tokens and place them on their corresponding spaces in the shop.
4. Put one set of Basic Skill tokens (one of each of the five colors) per player and one Corruption token in the bag. Put the remaining tokens back in the box.
5. Shuffle and place all Enemy and Hazard cards beside the book.
6. Draw and place a Support card between each of the two players (there is no Bond system in Family Trial mode).
7. Place two random corresponding Encounter tile on each space of the map face-down.

2. Run

In each Run, you begin at the first space on the map, revealing tokens and fighting enemies as in Story Mode, with the goal of defeating both bosses.

• When revealing encounter tiles, draw enemy cards from the deck matching that location's color on the map.
• When landing on a Shop location, discard all enemies in front of you. You may level up your hero, purchase Advanced Skill tokens, and buy other items as depicted on the Shop board.
• If you reach one of the two boss locations, add a Corruption token to the bag. Your stats will not reset when reaching the boss. Fight Bushra in the first location and Gyn in the second. If you defeat the boss, discard all enemies in front of you and proceed to the next location.
• There is no bond between heroes in this mode. Each Support token collected in dungeons are converted to 1 XP for both heroes at the Shop.

3. Run End

When the Run ends (whether you win or lose), check the Achievements table on page 22 to see if you can unlock one or more achievements. In future games, check this table for any bonuses before starting. Then you must reset the game using the instructions in the Reset the Game section.

Solo Mode

You can play both Story Mode and Family Trial solo.

• Set up the game as usual and with one hero, but place tokens in the bag for two players and place only one Encounter tile on each dungeon space.
• Remove the Support and Bond cards and Support tokens from the game; they will not be used in Solo mode.
• In solo play, you are always the leader.
• Ignore Push/Pull and Reposition effects on the enemies.

Quick Overview

Encounter

1. Move the Location marker to any connected location with tiles on it.
2. Flip the tiles and resolve their effects.
   • Encounter Tiles: The leader must take the tile with the highest number, other players use the remaining tile.
   • Chapter Tile: Draw the top Chapter card and do as instructed.

Combat

Hero Phase

1. Draw back up to 5 tokens. Corruptions tokens are worthless.
2. Place the matching color token in empty action spaces, pay if there is a Focus cost, flip the token(s), and perform the action.
   • Action Icons: White icons have a fixed value of 1, and colored icons require rolling the matching die to determine the result.
   • Using Wild: You may place any 2 tokens or one of your face-up Special tokens as a wild color on any space.
   • Re-roll: You can re-roll a die by flipping one of your face-up Special tokens face-down in the Special discard pile.
   • Boost: Boost any action (even those with white icons) by spending Rage from the shared pool to add more dice! Spend 1 Rage to add 1 blue die, 2 Rage to add 1 yellow die, 3 Rage to add 1 purple die!
   • Critical Roll: For each Critical roll during an action, immediately receive the Critical reward shown on your hero board.

Enemy Phase

1. Activate your enemies from left to right, resolving their actions from top to bottom.
   • Skip melee attack enemies in the far area, and stunned enemies.
   • Each Shield and Evade point negates one damage.
2. Activate the attack part of the boss card (if it's a boss fight).

Clean-up

1. Put all of your face-down Skill tokens, along with any drawn Corruptions, in the bag.
2. Put all of your used Special tokens in the Special token discard pile.
3. Zero your Shield and Evade.
4. Gain one Focus.
5. Move all enemies above your board to the leftmost empty space. (starting with the leftmost enemy first, and moving rightward). Stunned and Steady enemies do not move.
6. Pass the leader token to the player on your left.

Run End

The game continues round after round until players win or lose:

• Win: When the chapter's objective is completed. You must proceed to the next chapter.
• Lose: If one or more player's Health points are reduced to 0 during the enemy phase or if there is no space to place a new enemy above a hero board during the Encounter phase. You must play the chapter again.

Win or lose, you return home to reset your stats (Health, Shield/Evade, Focus), discard all Item and Talent cards, Potions, Gemstones, and Rage. Spend Morv to purchase new Advanced Skill tokens and XP to level up your actions.

Bond Table

In Story Mode, during each Return Home phase, cross off one Support icon per Support token on the Bond table below. Once the last icon is crossed, those heroes form a bond and gain a Bond card in addition to their Support card in future games.

Achievements

Refer to this Achievements table at the end of each Family Trial Run to see if you've unlocked any achievements. In future games, review the table before starting to claim any applicable bonuses.

• Run: Cross off a space each time you complete a Run (win or lose). For every crossed space, each player begins the next Run with +1 XP!
• Boss Fights: Cross off a space each time you fight a boss. For every crossed space, each player begins the next Run with +1 Potion!
• Change Hero: Cross off a space each time all players play with a new hero. For every crossed space, begin the next Run with +1 Item card!
• Advanced Skills: Cross off a space at the end of a Run if the bag contains 2 or more Advanced Skill tokens per player. For every crossed space, each player begins the next Run with +1 Morv!
• Level-Ups: Cross off a space each time all players upgrade all their skills to level 2 or higher. For every crossed space, begin the next Run with +1 rage!
• Win: Cross off one space for winning the easy map, or two spaces for winning the hard map. For every crossed space, begin the next Run with +1 gemstone!

F.A.Q.

Encounter Phase (p.6-7)

Can I stay in the same location and not move? No, moving to a new location each turn is mandatory.

Do all heroes who take the Encounter tile with the lower number get the reward on the tile? Yes. For example, if the tile shows a coin, all players who use that tile gain a coin.

Should I draw Enemy cards depicted on an encounter tile in order? Yes, it's better to draw and place enemy cards from left to right as shown on the tile.

Where should I place Hazard cards? Hazard cards should be placed beside your board, either on the left or right of the battle zone (not inside it).

Combat Phase (p.7-12)

Can I use my Special tokens for one of the double-cell actions, and use two tokens as a wild for the other cell? Yes. You can also use two special tokens for both cells.

Can I change the position of tokens on my board? You can rearrange your tokens as long as they haven't been activated (i.e., flipped).

Can I pay the cost of the attack after I gain the reward from defeating an enemy? No, you must pay the cost for any action before performing it.

Can I stun an enemy more than once? Yes, you can stun an enemy multiple times during a turn, but only one Stun token can be on an enemy at any time.

Can we attack enemies on another player's battle zone? You can attack any enemy with your ranged attacks (but not with multi-target ranged attacks).

When I defeat another player's enemy, who gets the reward? All rewards and XP from defeating an enemy go to the player whose enemy it is.

How do I boost an action that has more than one action icon? You can choose which action icon you want to boost or boost both by paying each cost separately.

How do I boost actions with a white icon? Boost as normal by spending Rage, then add +1 to the result for the white icon.

Should I choose which enemy to attack before performing the attack? Yes, you must choose your target before performing the attack.

Can I attack two adjacent enemies, one in the close area and one in the far area, with a multi-target melee attack? No, both enemies must be in the close area. However, you can do this with a multi-target ranged attack.

Clean-up Phase (p.13)

Should I put Special tokens I used for re-rolls back in the bag? No. Special tokens used for re-rolls or as wild actions go face-down into the Special discard pile.

Can enemies be defeated in other phases than the hero turn? Yes, some Hazard cards and hero abilities may allow enemies to be defeated during the enemy turn or Clean-up phases. The player still gains the corresponding rewards and XP.