Claustrophobia 1643
Claustrophobia 1643 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- The Underworld Has Always Been Paved
- Game Components
- Miniatures x35
- Warrior boards: character parchment and tablet
- Western warrior board x5
- Demon x13 and hellhound board x2
- Special troglodyte board x1
- Board of destiny x1
- Powers on the board of destiny
- Prima Matiera gems x20 (x10 small, x10 large)
- Activation dice x8
- Dice of destiny x6
- Combat dice x10
- Damage markers x40
- Gift tokens x7
- Tiles x48
- Turn marker x1
- Exhausted state tokens x5
- Equipment cards x20
- Event cards x24
- Instinct cards x24
- Various tokens x86
- Preparing for Play
- Rules Priority Hierarchy
- Sequence of Play
- Movement
- Combat
- Equipment
- Talents
- Gifts
- Tiles
- Credits
The Underworld Has Always Been Paved
This story begins in Prague, May 23, 1618. During a meeting with King Matthias I, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire and King of Bohemia, representatives of the Protestant religion were flung out of a window. Negotiations had rarely ended so badly. Even though a dung heap saved these people from certain death, the aggression lit the fuse of an already volatile situation.
This situation, ripe for a bloody war, had a name: Europe.
The conflicts between Reformists and Catholics were numerous and ran deep. They were also conducive to the multifaceted and complex political struggles that were shaking the continent. All the dynastic, family, religious and popular tensions accumulated, adding fuel to a particularly bloody war. Paying these irregular troops quickly became an issue. Led by captains whose allegiances were often just for the money, they plunged the affected areas into a bloodbath. Absence of pay often meant devastation and plundering. The payment of their stipend was sometimes not enough to rein in these soldiers.
The conflict evolved, changing ground according to the political conditions. Death followed wherever it went. There were hundreds of thousands of victims, perhaps even a million souls struck down. It was in this context of iron and powder that the German city of Magdeburg was besieged.
Strategic city and Protestant bastion, Magdeburg was taken by storm in 1631 by a certain Commander Tilly, a Catholic Brabant who struggled to retain his troops. Propaganda or reality, the ensuing massacre and fire decimated five out of every six inhabitants. These "festivities" were spread over several days. In time, strange reports got back to the officers: in the waves of the Elbe, the river that crosses the martyred city, disturbing green glimmers could be seen. The phenomenon soon grew. According to the occultists and other esotericists sent to investigate, there was no doubt about it; it was a portal. But where did it lead? In order to find out, soldiers were sent beyond this terrifying threshold which was now on the surface of the river; a roughly made crane first permitted boats to pass through it.
Those returning from the expeditions were wild-eyed, wounded, and on the brink of madness. Men talked about landscapes of suffering that were quite impossible to conceive. Herds of grotesque creatures, armed with claws and fangs, descended upon them. Among these pitiful minions were the puppeteers of death—abominable in appearance and deeds—who served as their commanders. The doctors in demonology and religion who accompanied them pondered the discoveries they made in this strange subterannean realm.
In order to fully understand this hostile reception, we must place ourselves into the head and hooves of a demon who, while quietly leading their flock throughout the Underworld, happened upon these furious half-demented soldiers. The humans' sudden arrival in the demonic strata was an unwelcome and perplexing suprise. As the Underworld struggled to organize itself, discord reigned supreme.
Larger, better prepared expeditions allowed the mortals to push back these creatures. If the surprise effect had first played in their favor, musket bursts soon pushed them back, wailing and disorganized. Their demonic shepherds were forced to withdraw. Quickly, the humans set up a camp and explored the immediate surroundings. The mortal patrols plunged deeper into the tortured plains and mountain ranges, worthy of a delirious Hieronymus Bosch painting.
Among these stunned doctors, several were inquirers into the Great Work of Alchemy. They discovered elements of the first order in these impious lands, unsuspected reagents that made great leaps forward possible in their field of study. Several people speculated that it was in Hell that they would find the Prima Materia, a fantasized substance, the ultimate key to producing the Philosopher's Stone. The rumor swelled in Hell just as much as in Europe: wealth had been discovered in Magdeburg or, at least, something of prime importance was taking place there.
If the discovery of the Underworld did not solve the land conflicts, it at least slowed them down. No one was really safe from an attack while leaving a church or a temple, but the troops converged progressively towards the portal of Magdeburg. Through fragile alliances, a painful, rather uncertain calm settled in Europe. Those with power looked above all to carve a share of the tremendous riches that the Underworld represented. The greater the number of thrones that joined the invading forces, the more their thrusts destabilized the demonic ranks, allowing the settlers to strengthen their position.
The Underworld counter attacked without any real cohesion.
The conflicts that undermine mortals are, at worst, a few decades old. The demonic hostilities date from the Fall - thousands of years ago. In this invasion the demonic captains saw a means of gathering a little power; others turned their legions against their superiors. Some separated and joined the ranks of the Lost, those creatures without master or laws who carved out areas within the Underworld. Chaos reigned. So much so that the humans had the opportunity to claim a whole bank of the river Styx! At least a fairly substantial part, enough to found in 1634 a functional colony, a real city...
This, they baptized New Jerusalem.
It was rather ironic: upon the soil of a massacre, on the ruins of a martyred city, the foundations of a holy city were thrown down. Mortal forces joined together to lead this walled city, whose population was a haphazard mixture of mercenaries, ordinary people, former criminals in search of a new life and the servants, more or less well-intentioned, of powerful noble families. It was from this formidable fortress that human armies ventured into Hell. The demons and the fallen angels had at last organized themselves, in order to hold back those unwelcome intruders who have their place here – but only after their death. This alliance, undermined by dissent, centuries-old conspiracies and millennial rivalries, was against the settlers, but failed to dislodge them.
But it is another story that really interests us.
New Jerusalem has a sky of rocks and a ceiling of sulfur, towards which it raised its spires and prayers. For foundations, it has an impious network of tunnels and passages. The leaders of the city discovered with astonishment that swarms of troglodytes, small hungry creatures equipped with claws and sharp fangs, were likely to spring at any time to slay and remove city dwellers.
Even worse, demons were seen in the deepest shadows, leading these monstrosities. The threat was real. Who knew what Machiavellian plan these horrors could weave under the holy city? Because of the frequent disappearances and murders, the leaders made a hasty decision to send able-bodied men into these black and fetid bowels. But what fool would venture there on their own accord? A solution was self-evident. The jails of New Jerusalem were crowded with criminals. Most were exiled or executed. It was quickly decided to enlist them to explore the underground tunnels. With a knight leading them, a man of absolute piety: a Redeemer. Armed with a hammer forged with faith, this holy man guided these condemned convicts - brutes and scouts - to purify the depths of the city.
It was a fierce struggle that took place in the darkness. The Brother and his condemned convicts very quickly understood that the demonic creatures were organized and were looking to burn New Jerusalem to ashes. As it turned out, grim invocations and inter-dimensional portals were not their only powers. A fierce battle started. The human forces secured victory, but at what cost? Many Redeemers lost their lives allowing their allies to push back the troglodytes and their demon masters. Some creatures, including Kartikeya, a powerful scaled entity, attempted to take advantage of the humans. Among the troops who fought against these creatures, swordswomen and guardians—mighty warriors who forged a bond of sisterhood during the bloodshed—proved to be the most worthy.
New Jerusalem was safe, but for how long?
Nine years have passed. This is a considerable lapse of time for mortals, who have consolidated their position and are about to get their hands on the Prima Materia. Nine years for the Underworld, is nothing but a breath. And for Heaven? A flutter of eyelids. The occultists and theologians had warned the colonists: human flesh and blood had no place here. Accounts of demented messengers told of angels, seen above the city of Dis, in the depths of the Underworld. This was how far the arrogance of mortals had led them. These angelic appearances coincided with an onslaught of vicious demons. But now their quarrels seemed to be over—at least for the moment. Demonic hosts gathered millions of creatures. What ramparts besides those of the mighty Dis could resist such power?
These years had been used to equip and prepare the patrols that explored the tunnels beneath New Jerusalem. They kept the troglodytes at bay and with considerable effort pushed back the demons. However, the tunnels were stirring. The rock oozed putrid fluids. The deepest bowels pulsated with regenerated life. In the shadows something gathered its strength and called for support, preparing itself.
The year is 1643.
In the darkness, blood will flow once more.
Game Components
Miniatures x35
The miniatures represent the warriors from two factions:
- The human faction controlled by the human player and composed of human warriors. In this box, the human faction is the Western warrior force.
- The infernal faction controlled by the infernal player and composed of infernal warriors. In this box, the infernal faction is the demon warrior force.
We created this identifier as we plan on releasing additional Forces in future products. The warriors from the same faction are allied warriors and the warriors from different factions are enemy warriors.
(Miniatures: Western warriors; Demon warriors.)
Warrior boards: character parchment and tablet
Each player has boards that allow them to control their warriors. A warrior board is composed of two parts: the character parchment and the tablet. When a player has to use a miniature, they slide the corresponding parchment into a tablet.
- Parchment x7
- Tablet x5
- Tablet x4
- Parchment x15
Western warrior board x5
1 Name: Western Warriors are nameless as befits valueless scum. They are sacrificable convicts often sent on dead-end, futile missions.
2 Force and type: the shape of the icon indicates the warrior force. Here it is a Western warrior. The illustration of the icon itself indicates the type of warrior – leader or fighter.
3 Artwork
4 Lines of activation:
- 4.1 Space for the activation die: each line of activation corresponds to a value of the die.
- 4.2 Space for a damage marker: when this warrior suffers a hit, they receive a damage marker. The human player chooses which line of activation to place it on.
- 4.3 Statistics: these give the number of movement points they have available (movement), the number of combat dice that the warrior rolls during an attack (combat) and its defense value (defense).
- 4.4 Space for a gift token or to draw an instinct card: this space can hold a gift token or an instinct card icon.
5 Talents: some warriors have talents. These are represented by icons.
Demon x13 and hellhound board x2
1 Name: each demon is unique and has a name that was given to it by the Westerners on their first meeting. Hellhounds are numerous in the underworld in the same way as troglodytes and therefore do not have their own names.
2 Force and type: the shape of the icon indicates the warrior force. Here it is a demon warrior. The illustration of the icon itself indicates the type of warrior – demon or hellhound.
3 Artwork
4 Statistics: the demons and the hellhounds have the same statistics as the Western warriors - movement, combat and defense. They also have a number of life points that determine the number of hits they can suffer before being killed.
5 Ability: each demon has an ability whose effects and the conditions of use are described on the board. The hellhounds do not have any abilities.
6 Talent: some demons have one or more talents that are represented by icons.
7 Power: some demons and hellhounds have a power that requires the use of the dice of destiny to trigger them.
- 7.1 Phase: this icon indicates during which phase of the game this power becomes active.
- 7.2 Name of the power
- 7.3 Target: these icons indicate the warriors who are affected by this power.
- 7.4 Trigger conditions: this indicates the value or combination of dice of destiny necessary to trigger the power.
- Space for the dice of destiny
- 7.5 Preparation spaces: the dice are allocated here until the trigger conditions of the corresponding power are fulfilled.
- 7.6 Trigger spaces: when the trigger conditions of the power are fulfilled, the infernal player slides the dice from the preparation space to the trigger space and the effect is triggered.
- 7.7 Effect: the triggered effect is described for each demon and hellhound in this box. It also indicates the duration that the effect remains active. If nothing is indicated, the effect is immediate.
8 Space for the damage markers: a space is indicated by a red heart icon for each of the demon's life points.
Special troglodyte board x1
1 Name
2 Force and type: the shape of the icon indicates the warrior force. Here it is a demon warrior. The illustration of the icon itself indicates the type of warrior – tough troglodyte.
3 Artwork
4 Statistics: movement, combat, defense, and a number of life points.
5 Talent: some troglodytes have one or more talents that are represented by icons.
Board of destiny x1
The board of destiny is the control panel of the infernal player. It allows them to manage their threat points and dice of destiny but also to trigger their powers by assigning these dice.
1 Troglodyte zone
- 1.1 Name
- 1.2 Force and type: the shape of the icon indicates the warrior force. Here it is a demon warrior. The illustration of the icon itself indicates the type of warrior – troglodyte.
- 1.3 Statistics: the troglodytes have the same statistics as the Western warriors - movement, combat and defense. They also have a number of life points that determine the number of hits they can suffer before being killed.
2 Powers
- 2.1 Phase: this icon indicates during which phase of the game this power becomes active.
- 2.2 Name of the power
- 2.3 Target: these icons indicate the warriors who are affected by this power.
- 2.4 Trigger conditions: this indicates the value or combination of dice of destiny necessary to trigger the power.
- Space for the dice of destiny
- 2.5 Preparation spaces: the dice are allocated here until the trigger conditions of the corresponding power are fulfilled.
- 2.6 Trigger spaces: when the trigger conditions of the power are fulfilled, the infernal player slides the dice from the preparation space to the trigger space and the effect is triggered.
- 2.7 Effect: the triggered effect is represented by an icon. See the description of the board of destiny's effects, page 11.
3 Threat point storage zone: this is where the infernal player keeps the threat points they have gained.
4 Available dice pool: this reserve can hold the six dice of destiny that are available to the infernal player to trigger their powers and those of the demons and the hellhounds.
5 Alarm tile dice space: up to 3 bonus dice of destiny obtained through the effect of an alarm tile can be placed in this space. It is only used as a reminder.
Powers on the board of destiny
Abyssal threat
- Condition: the infernal player must allocate 1, 2 or 3 dice of destiny of the same color to trigger this power.
- Effect: the infernal player gains 3 TP per die of destiny allocated on the trigger space of this power.
Supernatural speed
- Condition: the infernal player must allocate 2 dice with a white result to trigger this power.
- Effect: the troglodytes gain +1 movement until the beginning of the next infernal player preparation phase. The infernal player allocates a speed token on the troglodyte image on the board of destiny as a reminder.
Frenzied creatures
- Condition: the infernal player must allocate 2 dice with a red result to trigger this power.
- Effect: the troglodytes gain the frenzied talent until the beginning of the next infernal player preparation phase. The infernal player allocates the frenzied token on the troglodyte zone on the board of destiny as a reminder.
Dark destiny
- Condition: the infernal player must allocate 1 die to trigger this power.
- Effect: the infernal player draws the same number of event cards as the value of the die on the trigger space of this power. They choose one of them to add to their hand; then discard the others.
Intrepid charge
- Condition: the infernal player must allocate several dice with a total value of at least 7 to trigger this power.
- Effect: during the threat phase, the infernal player can bring their warriors into play ignoring the empty tile restriction.
Sneaky charge
- Condition: the infernal player must allocate several dice with a total value of at least 8 to trigger this power.
- Effect: during the threat phase, the infernal player can bring their warriors into play ignoring any tile with an opening restriction.
Prima Matiera gems x20 (x10 small, x10 large)
The Prima Matiera is a rare stone but is abundant in the Underworld. It has great powers and is much sought after by humans.
These gems are the currency of the infernal player that allows them to bring into play their warriors. The small gems are worth 1 threat point (TP) and the big ones are worth 3 threat points.
Activation dice x8
The activation dice are only used by the human player to activate their warriors.
Dice of destiny x6
The dice of destiny are only used by the infernal player to activate their powers and those of their demons and hellhounds.
Combat dice x10
The combat dice are used by both players. Combat dice are rolled to determine the number of successful hits that occur during combat. The skull icon indicates a value of 6.
Damage markers x40
The damage markers are used by both players to record the hits suffered by their warriors.
Gift tokens x7
Some warriors can receive gifts. According to the scenario, the corresponding tokens are placed on the recipient warrior's board.
Tiles x48
The tiles represent the Underground tunnels which the warriors explore.
1 Number: each tile is numbered to help setting up the play area.
2 Occupation limit: this value indicates the maximum number of warriors of each faction that can be present at the same time on that tile.
3 Effect icon: some tiles possess special rules that are indicated by an icon.
4 Opening
Turn marker x1
The turn marker is used in some of the scenarios and is moved on a turn track that can be found on the reverse side of each tile.
Exhausted state tokens x5
The exhausted state tokens are placed on the Western warrior board as a reminder to the player when required.
Equipment cards x20
According to the scenario, the Western warriors have access to equipment such as weapons or armor that are represented by these cards. The effects and conditions of use are indicated on each card.
Event cards x24
The infernal player can draw these cards after the triggering of one of the board of destiny's powers. The effects and conditions of use are indicated on each card.
Instinct cards x24
Depending upon the effects of the choice of the line of activation of their warriors, the human player may draw instinct cards. These cards have two uses and the player must choose one of them at the moment they are played. On the one hand they allow the result of an activation die to be modified and on the other a single effect.
Various tokens x86
The Claustrophobia 1643 box is full of various tokens whose uses depend on effects (tile, card etc.) or on the scenario being played. They are listed here:
- 3 teleportation / seal of protection tokens
- 1 direction token
- 10 triggered effect tokens
- 1 prescience token
- 1 blessed token
- 1 explosive token
- 1 held explosive token
- 4 miraculous water tokens
- 4 held miraculous water tokens
- 5 chest tokens
- 5 held chest tokens
- 1 locked door token
- 3 hole in the ground tokens
- 1 rock slide token
- 18 talent tokens
- 6 loss of talent tokens
- 2 speed tokens
- 2 courage tokens
- 6 escape tokens
- 5 anger tokens
- 5 pursuit tokens
- 1 exalted token
Preparing for Play
- Select a faction - one player selects the human faction - one player the infernal faction.
- Both players select a scenario from the scenario booklet to play. We chose the scenario "The Survivors" to guide you through the sequence of play. Scenarios describe the tile layout required to set up the play area, the specific forces each player has access to, victory conditions, specific location effects etc.
- Each player prepares their faction following the steps below.
The human player
1 Gather your men: Select the specified miniatures and their corresponding assembled boards and place them in front of you.
2 Sanctify the Redeemer: Select the gift tokens "Aura of Courage" and "Prescience" and place them in the slots of the Redeemer warrior board as indicated.
3 Equip your men: Place the equipment card Blunderbuss by one of the Condemned scout's warrior board.
4 Final preparation: Gather the activation dice, shuffle the deck of instinct cards and place them within reach.
The infernal player
1 Gather your Infernals: Select the specified miniatures and place them in front of you.
2 Order your ranks: Select the board of destiny and place it in front of you. Select the assembled board of the demon - The Hunter, the assembled boards for each of the Hellhounds and place them as indicated in figure.
3 Harness your resources: Select all 6 destiny dice and place them in the available dice pool on the destiny board as indicated.
4 Final Preparation: Select all of the Prima Matiera gems, shuffle the deck of event cards and place them within reach.
Rules Priority Hierarchy
Claustrophobia 1643 contains game play where numerous effects due to cards, powers, abilities, etc occur. As such it is possible that two rules can seem to contradict each other.
When this occurs, the following priority hierarchy should be applied:
- scenario
- tile
- Western warrior board
- demon, hellhound and tough troglodyte board
- board of destiny
- gift token
- equipment card
- event card
- instinct card
- rulebook rules.
Sequence of Play
Each game is divided into a series of turns. These turns are divided into 5 phases. Those phases play in the following order:
- Preparation phase of the human player — The human player determines the statistics of their warriors.
- Activation phase of the human player — The human warriors move, explore the tunnels and fight troglodytes, hellhounds and demons.
- Preparation phase of the infernal player — The infernal player selects which of their powers are triggered.
- Threat phase of the infernal player — The infernal player brings demons, hellhounds and troglodytes into play.
- Activation phase of the infernal player — The infernal warriors move and fight the human warriors.
Preparation phase of the human player
The human player determines the statistics of their Western warriors for the current turn using these steps:
1 Discards all instinct cards played during the last turn. Place these cards in the instinct deck discard pile. next to the instinct card deck. Remove all previously allocated activation dice. Remove the exhausted state tokens and any other invalid tokens.
2 Roll as many activation dice as there are active warriors.
3 Select an activation die for each of their warriors and place it on the warrior's board in the space indicated according to the result of that die roll. (Fig.1).
Choose to add a single instinct card to each of their active warriors. Choose which of the two effects enter play. The instinct card is placed next to the selected warrior's board with the chosen effect visible for the human player.
- the rolled value on the activation die is then changed to that shown on the instinct card. That activation die is placed in the appropriate slot on the line of activation. (Fig.2),
OR
- the effects as described on the card are applied.
4 Finally apply any further effects created by the activation dice's final value to each of the warriors. Some warriors can draw additional instinct cards and/or activate gifts, based upon that final die value.
The final placement of the activation die determines the line of activation. The warrior's statistics, available gifts and available instinct cards are defined BY this line, this turn.
Exhausted state
If a Western warrior's final activation die value assigns it in a line of activation that has been cancelled by a damage marker, that warrior becomes exhausted for that turn. An "exhausted state" token is placed on that warrior's board and they are considered exhausted (Fig.3).
Instinct
If an activation die is assigned to a line of activation that is not exhausted and contains an instinct icon, an instinct card can be drawn from the instinct card deck into the human players available instinct card hand. The number of instinct cards that the human player may have in their hand at any one time is limited to the amount of warriors that the human player starts the game with. If that number is exceeded at any time, the human player must immediately discard down to match that number - the discarded cards are placed in the instinct card discard pile and none of their effects can be used. The remaining hand of instinct cards can be used during the next preparation phase of the human player.
Gifts
If an activation die is assigned to a line of activation that is not exhausted and contains a gift icon, that gift's effect is applied. Gift effects are described in more detail on page 24.
Healing
The effects of certain cards can "heal" a previously canceled line of activation. In this case, the corresponding damage marker should be removed by the human player. If the line that has just been healed is the line designated by the warrior's activation die in the preparation phase, then they are no longer considered to be exhausted and can act normally.
Activation phase of the human player
Each human warrior can now perform any action. Each warrior is activated one warrior at a time. Each warrior must complete their activation before the next warrior starts theirs. During their activation, a warrior can:
- move first, then perform an action (Fig.4),
OR
- perform an action first, then move (Fig.5).
Both movement and perform an action are optional. A warrior cannot begin to move, perform an action, and then finish their movement.
The different possible actions are:
- enter combat
- perform an action described in the scenario (denoted by the keyword action).
- Use any of their equipment (denoted by the keyword action).
The rules for movement and combat are described in detail on pages 20 and 21 respectively.
Exhausted warrior (with an exhausted state token) Any warrior that has an "exhausted state" token on their board has the following statistics until the next preparation phase: 0 movement, 0 combat, 3 defense. In addition, they can no longer use any talents and do not draw an instinct card. They do not benefit from any of the advantages linked to their equipment cards unless otherwise indicated on the card. However, they can benefit from any eventual bonuses to their statistics.
Preparation phase of the infernal player
The infernal player selects which powers of their board of destiny, which powers of their hellhounds and their demons are active this turn by allocating the appropriate amount of dice of destiny on the boards.
These allocated dice of destiny are placed into the appropriate preparation spaces until the conditions required to trigger the power have been fulfilled. They are then moved to to the trigger spaces and the power comes into effect. In order to do this, the infernal player carries out the following steps:
1 Discard all event cards played during the last turn. Place these cards in the event deck discard pile next to the event card deck. Collect all of the dice of destiny located in the trigger spaces. This forms the available dice pool. Dice of destiny located in the preparation spaces may also be added to the available dice pool.
2 Roll 3 dice of destiny from their available dice pool. The rolling of 3 dice is mandatory - therefore dice of destiny from the preparation spaces MUST be used if not enough dice of destiny from the available dice pool are available.
3 Allocate all of the rolled dice in whatever manner they like between the different preparation spaces. These spaces can be empty or already have dice on them during this distribution.
4 Check whether the active powers' trigger conditions have been fulfilled.
- If fulfilled, move the dice of destiny in the preparation spaces into the trigger spaces. (Fig.6).
- If not fulfilled, the allocated dice of destiny remain in the preparation spaces. Fulfilment may occur during the next preparation phase with the allocation of further dice. (Fig.7).
Event card hand size restriction
The number of event cards that the infernal player may have in their hand at any one time is limited to 4.
If that number is exceeded at any time, the infernal player must immediately discard down to 4 - the discarded cards are placed in the event card discard pile and none of their effects can be used.
These cards can be used at the time indicated in their description and must then be discarded.
Threat phase of the infernal player
Once the dice of destiny have been allocated and the powers triggered, the infernal player can bring their demon warriors into play. In order to do this, they can spend as many TP as they choose from their threat point storage zone taking into account the cost of each warrior and their associated restrictions.
In most scenarios, the infernal player has a demon warrior reserve pool consisting of 11 troglodytes, 2 hellhounds and at least 1 demon, from which they take the miniatures to bring into play.
Troglodytes — 1 TP
Each troglodyte costs 1TP to bring into play. Troglodytes have the following statistics: 1 movement, 1 combat, 3 defense et 1 life point.
Hellhound — 3 TP
A hellhound costs 3TP to bring into play. The infernal player has a maximum of 2 hellhounds in any one game. Hellhounds have the following statistics: 0 movement, 0 combat, 4 defense et 3 life points.
When a hellhound is brought into play, the infernal player can use one of the die from their available dice pool to immediately trigger their power. The value of this dice of destiny is chosen by the infernal player and triggers that hellhound's power.
Demon — 5 TP
The infernal player can only bring into play the demons specified by the scenario currently being played. The statistics, talents, abilities and powers of these demons are described on their boards.
Important: the infernal player can trigger the power of the demon during its preparation phase even if its miniature is not yet in play!
The infernal player chooses the tile or tiles on which their warriors are brought into play, taking into consideration any tile occupation limits (see Movement: Tile occupation rule below), and the following two restrictions:
- Tile with an opening — The tile must have at least one unexplored opening. An opening is considered "unexplored" when it does not lead to another tile.
- Empty tile — The tile must not contain any enemy warriors.
Warriors that are brought into play during the threat phase can act normally during the following activation phase.
Activation phase of the infernal player
Each infernal warrior on a tile can be activated. Each warrior is activated one warrior at a time. Each warrior must have finished their activation before the next warrior can be activated. During their activation, a warrior can:
- move first, then perform an action,
OR
- perform an action first, then move.
Both movement and perform an action are optional. A warrior cannot begin to move, perform an action, and then finish their movement.
The different possible actions are:
- enter combat
- perform an action described in the scenario. (denoted by the keyword action).
Movement
Movement is always optional. A warrior moves by leaving a tile by an opening. They can move as many times as they wish within the limit of their movement value. Leaving a tile costs 1 movement.
Some tiles have an effect that has unfortunate consequences for the warriors. The trigger conditions of each tile's effects are described on pages 25 and 26.
Adjacent tiles
Tiles are considered adjacent if they are in edge to edge contact and an "opening" connects them directly to each other.
Restrictions
There are two restrictions to take into account during movement:
- Tile occupation rule: to move onto a tile, the player controlling the warrior who moves must check that the destination tile can accommodate them. A tile cannot accommodate more warriors of each faction than is given by the tile occupation limit. The tile occupation limit is indicated on each tile (Fig.8).
- Blocking rule: a warrior can only leave a tile containing enemy units if there are at least as many warriors from their faction as there are enemies (Fig.9).
After the Condemned Scout moves, the Redeemer cannot leave the tile anymore because of inferior numbers.
Exploration
The infernal warriors cannot explore an unexplored opening.
During their movement, each human warrior can leave a tile to explore an unexplored opening to reveal a new tile. This is called exploration. An opening is unexplored if it does not lead immediately to another tile. The player carries out the following steps:
1 They place their warrior on the opening they wish to explore.
2 The infernal player takes the first tile from the pile and places it in contact with the opening to be explored, any way they like, as long as the new tile is accessible to the warrior exploring it (Fig.10).
3 The human player then moves their warrior onto the new tile.
4 Any effects the tile generates are triggered (description of the tiles pages 25 et 26).
5 The human warrior may continue to move or explore additional tiles if they still have any remaining movement points.
Dead ends
If, after exploring an opening, the play area is left with no more unexplored openings, the last tile to have been placed is discarded by the infernal player and a new tile is drawn and so-on until a tile with an unexplored opening appears.
Combat
A warrior can attack an enemy warrior who is on the same tile as themselves.
When a warrior attacks, the player who controls them carries out the following steps:
1 They must choose which of the enemies on the same tile they are going to target. A target can be a human warrior, a demon, a hellhound, a special troglodyte or all of the troglodytes present on the same tile.
2 The player rolls a number of combat dice equal to the warrior's combat points. Each die with a value higher than or equal to the selected target's defense points is counted as a hit. A skull result on a combat die is always counted as a hit.
3 The player that controls the warrior or warriors that have been hit must then allocate the hits.
Allocation of hits on the troglodytes
A single hit is enough to kill a troglodyte as they only have 1 life point. The miniature is removed from the play area and returned to the demon warrior reserve pool. If several hits are successful, any additional hit is transferred to the next remaining troglodyte on the same tile. Each successful hit kills one troglodyte. (Fig.11).
The Redeemer has a combat of 3 this turn. He is hunting troglodyte - he rolls 3 combat dice - a 2, 3, and a skull. He scores 2 successful hits and kills 2 troglodytes as troglodytes have a defense of 3.
Allocation of hits on a hellhound
The infernal player places a damage marker for each successful hit on the corresponding hellhound's board. As soon as that damage equals or becomes greater than its life points, the hellhound is killed, and the miniature is not returned to the demon warrior reserve pool but instead permanently removed from the game.
Allocation of hits on a demon
The infernal player places a damage marker for each successful hit on the corresponding demon's board. As soon as that damage equals or becomes greater than its life points, the demon is killed, and the miniature is removed from the game and placed back into the demon warrior reserve pool. The second time the demon is killed, the miniature is not placed into the demon warrior reserve pool but is permanently removed from the game.
Allocation of hits on a Western warrior
Each successful hit requires the human player to select a line of activation. They then place a damage marker in the corresponding space and that line is then considered canceled. Once all 6 lines of activation of a Western warrior have been canceled, they are killed, and their miniature is immediately removed from the game (Fig.12).
The demon attacks their enemy. They have a combat of 4 so the Infernal player rolls 4 combat dice. They obtain 1,2,4 and 5, which scores two successful hits as the Redeemer has a defense of 4. The Human player chooses to place the damage markers on lines 4 and 6 of the Redeemer's lines of activation.
Important: if the selected canceled line of activation corresponds to the activation die, that warrior is not considered "exhausted". A Western warrior becomes "exhausted" ONLY when they receive an activation die that matches a previously canceled line during the preparation phase.
Equipment
Some human warriors can benefit from equipment that increases their statistics or gives them special abilities. The conditions for obtaining these equipment cards are described in each scenario. Warriors cannot exchange this equipment, drop it, pick it up, or destroy it. Equipment is removed from the game when the owner is either killed or leaves the game.
Talents
Some warriors have talents which give them extra abilities during the game. A Western warrior cannot use any talent while they are considered to be exhausted.
A warrior cannot combine the effects of a single talent. The use of each talent is described below.
Blessed
The warrior with this talent can, during the preparation phase after the activation dice have been assigned, bless another warrior of their choice.
A warrior cannot be blessed and at the same time receive an instinct card (faith and animal instinct do not mix well). The blessed warrior gains either a bonus of +1 movement or +2 combat until the end of the following activation phase. Furthermore, if the line of activation that the warrior was using is canceled, it is immediately healed.
Place the blessing token, showing the appropriate side, on the blessed warrior's board.
This talent can only be used once per scenario. Discard the blessing token at the end of the activation phase of the warrior.
Bodyguard
During an attack a warrior with this talent can choose to suffer a number of hits allocated to an allied warrior in combat, on the same tile.
Devoted
A warrior with this talent can use certain gifts (scenario dictated) associated to certain lines of activation of their board. If the die chosen for this warrior corresponds to the line of activation of one of their gifts, it can be used.
Elusive
A warrior with this talent can move without taking into account the number of enemy warriors. They are therefore not affected by the blocking rule.
If a warrior with elusive is on the same tile as one or more enemies with impressive, the two talents cancel each other out and the normal blocking rule applies to all.
Frenzied
A warrior with this talent can re-roll each combat die once if it did not produce a hit the first time during step 2 of a combat.
Impressive
A warrior with this talent can prevent one or more enemies from leaving the tile that they are currently on.
If a warrior with elusive is on the same tile as one or more enemies with impressive, the two talents cancel each other out and the normal blocking rule applies to all.
Ranged combat
A warrior with this talent can attack an enemy warrior on the same tile or on an adjacent tile.
Resistant
A warrior with this talent ignores the first hit they suffer in each activation phase.
Gifts
The devoted talent allows the warrior who has it to use gifts. Which gifts are available to the owner of the talent are scenario dictated. For each of the indicated gifts, the player places the corresponding token on the warrior's board during setup. Each gift is associated with a die value. The gift is activated if the warrior receives an activation die of the same value and they are not exhausted.
1 — Punish the Evil
After having rolled the dice during a combat, the warrior with this gift strikes a hit for all result higher or equal to 2 irrespective of the defense of their target.
This gift has no effect if the warrior uses a grenade or a blunderbuss.
2 — Aura of Anger
The effect of this aura starts at the end of the preparation phase of the human player.
All allied warriors gain +1 combat until the beginning of the preparation phase of the human player. Mark the warriors by using an anger token.
2 — Aura of Courage
The effect of this aura starts at the end of the preparation phase of the human player.
Choose another allied warrior. They gain +1 movement, +1 combat and +1 defense until the beginning of the next human player's preparation phase.
Mark the chosen warrior's board using a courage token.
3 — Assembly
During their next preparation phase, the human player rolls 2 additional activation dice. These additional dice are then placed on the recipient's board to indicate receipt of the gift.
4 — Laying on of Hands
The effect of this gift starts at the end of the preparation phase of the human player.
The warrior with this gift can immediately heal the line of activation of their choice of an allied warrior on the same tile as them. Remove the corresponding damage marker.
5 — Prescience
At the end of the human player's preparation phase, they place the prescience token on the pile of tiles.
The effect of this gift starts during the first exploration carried out during the following activation phase.
The human player secretly chooses the tile that is to be placed from the next 3 of the pile. Furthermore, they choose the orientation of this tile. They must however make sure that the chosen tile is accessible to the warrior who is exploring. The other 2 tiles are replaced on top of the pile in the order the player chooses.
The human player removes the token from the pile after the gift has been used.
6 — Sacrificial Strike
At the end of the human player's preparation phase, the warrior with this gift can strike a hit on a warrior of their choice on the same tile. The human player then rolls a combat die. If the result is more than or equal to 4, the holder of the gift also suffers a hit. This gift can be used twice per human player's preparation phase.
Tiles
The tile occupation limit is given on each tile as well as a number to facilitate game setup. Some tiles carry special rules that are indicated by an icon. These special rules may produce limited-use effects. When this is the case, a resolved effect token is placed on the icon after resolution to signify that the effect has already been applied and can no longer be used.
Alarm
This effect is only triggered the first time a human warrior enters the tile. During the next threat phase, the infernal player rolls one additional die of destiny. The infernal player places a die of destiny on the alarm tile dice space on the board of destiny. After resolution of the effect, the player places a triggered effect token on the tile's icon.
Booby-trapped tunnel
This effect is only triggered the first time a human warrior enters this tile. The infernal player rolls a die. If the result is 3 or more, the human warrior suffers a hit. After resolution of the effect, the player places a triggered effect token on the tile's icon.
Carnivorous tunnel
Each time a warrior on this tile is hit during a combat, the effects of that hit are doubled. When a troglodyte is hit on this tile, two troglodytes are killed instead of one.
Demonic well
The infernal player can always bring into play a demon or a hellhound on this tile. They do not need to take into account the restrictions concerning a tile with an opening or an empty tile. If they do so, the cost of the demon is reduced by 1 TP.
Devouring pit
For every warrior on this tile at the start of their preparation phase, the controlling player rolls a combat die. If the resulting value is equal or higher than 4, that warrior suffers a hit.
Flooded tunnel
When a warrior enters this tile, they must immediately end their movement (even if their movement point resource is not fully used up).
Leaving this tile will cost a warrior their full movement point resource.
Fog
Any warrior on this tile has a defense of 6.
Healing fountain
When this tile is placed in the game, two miraculous water tokens are placed on it. At the start of one of their preparation phases (before rolling the dice) the human player can discard one of these tokens to heal a line of activation of their choice from a warrior on this tile. The corresponding damage marker is removed from the warrior's board. This healing effect can be carried out twice.
Hole in the ground
When this tile is played, the infernal player must place a hole in the ground token on another tile already in play. The troglodytes consider all the tiles with a hole in the ground token and all the hole in the ground tiles as adjacent and can move between them. Moreover, the blocking rule and the impressive talent are ignored if a troglodyte moves between tiles using a hole in the ground.
Lair
The infernal player can always bring into play a troglodyte on this tile. They do not need to take into account the restrictions concerning a tile with an opening or an empty tile.
Luminescent mushrooms
The defense of any warrior on this tile can never be higher than 3.
Sanctuary
The human player rolls a die for each of the infernal warriors who enters this tile. If the resulting value is equal or higher than 5, that warrior suffers a hit.
Stash
The effects of this tile are scenario dependent. After resolution of the effect, the player places a triggered effect token on the tile's icon. If nothing is specified in the special rules of the scenario, the tile has no effect.
Tomb
This effect is only triggered the first time a human warrior enters this tile. The human player draws an instinct card. After resolving the effect of the tile, the player places a resolved effect token on the tile's icon.
Credits
Game Designer: CROC with the participation of Laurent Pouchain.
Character and Cover Artwork: Pascal Quidault.
Tile Artwork: David Demaret.
Equipment Artwork: Milan Nikolic.
Sculptors: Gautier Giroud, Martin Lavat, Stéphane Simon & Stéphane Nguyen.
Graphic Design: Loïg Hascoët & Vincent Jamgotchian.
Scenario Writers: CROC, Guillaume Gigleux, Philippe Masson, Philippe Villé & Thierry Vareillaud.
Translators: Rebecca Sevoz & Bart Hulley.
Introduction: Thomas Hervet.
Publisher: David Bertolo.
Rules: Erwan Hascoët, Tony Berart & David Bertolo.
Proofreaders: Tony Berart, David Bertolo, Laurent Pouchain, Sylvain Thomas, Matt John, Barry Doublet, Tracey Fraser-Elliott & Chaz Elliott. Many thanks to the members of the www.the-overlord.com community for their feedback!
Production Manager: Tracey Fraser-Elliott.
Testers: David Bertolo, Tony Berart, Yohann Hériot & Manu Crochet.
Thanks to Asmodee, Geoffrey Picard, Marc Mathaly and the teams that worked on the previous version of the game.