Dicequest Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
  • Board Setup
  • Player Setup
• How to Play
  • Goal of the Game
  • Heroes
  • Rounds & Turns
• Income Phase
• Tavern Phase
  • Recruit Action
  • Graduate Action
  • Equip Action
  • Items
  • Board Actions
  • Gift and Refresh Actions
• Quest Phase
  • Deployment Step
  • Combat Step
  • Wound Step
  • Reward Step
• The Adventure Path
  • Unlocking Board Actions
  • Unlocking New Quest Levels
  • Unlocking Legendary Heroes
• Adventures
  • Tracking Adventure Score
  • Completing Adventures
• Example: Quest
• Example: Adventure
• Solo & Co-op
  • Setup
  • Winning and Losing
  • Threat Phase and Cards
  • Adventure Outcome
  • New Actions
  • Difficulty Levels
• Reference: Symbols
• Reference: Ability Clarifications
• Reference: Hero Classes & Dice

Components

• 28 Apprentice Hero cards (Expert Hero on the back side, marked with a symbol)
• 15 Legendary Hero cards
• 36 Basic Item cards (30 Basic Items and 6 "Take That!" Items)
• 20 Legendary Item cards
• 4 Player Aid cards
• 12 Adventure cards (3 types: 4 Act I, 4 Act II and 4 Act III)
• 4 Reroll tokens
• 54 Quest cards (3 types: 18 Act I, 18 Act II and 18 Act III)
• 1 Round marker
• 1 First Player token
• 20 Victory Point tokens (2 types)
• 20 Gold tokens (2 types)
• 12 Wound tokens
• 16 dice (4 of each color)
• 4 Party boards
• 1 Game board (neoprene playmat)
• For solo and co-op only: 36 Threat tokens (12 per act), 10 Threat cards, and 12 additional Adventure cards (3 per act)

If you run out of components, except dice, use a temporary substitute.

Setup

This setup is for the competitive game. For the solo and cooperative setup, see the Solo & Co-op section below. After taking the shared steps below, each player then completes their own player setup.

Board Setup

• Board — Place the game board in the center of the table.
• The Reserve — Place all dice, Victory Points, Gold, and Wound tokens next to the board, within easy reach.
• Quests — Shuffle each of the 3 Quest decks separately (Act I, Act II, Act III) and place each of them face down in their designated slots on the board.
• Quest Area — Reveal 5 cards from the Act I Quest deck and place them face up in the Quest Area.
• Items — Shuffle both the Basic and Legendary Item decks and place them face down in their respective slots on the board. For your first game, or if you prefer a less confrontational experience, remove the items marked "Take That!" from the game.
• Legendary Heroes — Shuffle the Legendary Hero deck and place it face down next to the board.
• Apprentice Heroes — Shuffle the Apprentice Hero deck and place it next to the board with the Expert side face up (the side marked with the Expert symbol). Then form the Market by revealing the top 5 cards and placing them face up next to the deck, so that 5 Apprentice Heroes are visible.
• Adventures — Randomly place one card from Acts I, II, and III face down into their respective slots along the Adventure Path. Then reveal the Act I Adventure card.

Player Setup

Gather your player components:

• Take 1 Player Aid card.
• Take 1 Reroll token.
• Take 3 Wound tokens.
• Draw 2 Basic Item cards from the Basic Item deck.

Prepare your party:

• Place your Party board in front of you.
• Place your Reroll token on the designated space, with the colored side visible.
• Place your 3 Wound tokens on their designated area.
• Place your starting Item cards in the Backpack Zone.

Party board zones: Wound Tokens Slot, Unlocked Dice Zone, Reroll Token Slot, Locked Dice Zone, Achievements Zone, Hero Slots, Backpack Zone, Hero Equipment Slots.

First Player — Choose the most honorable player to be the First Player, or select one at random. They take the First Player token and the Round marker.

You are ready to play!

How to Play

Goal of the Game

The player with the most Victory Points (VP) at the end of the game wins. Your VPs are the sum of the VP value on:

• Heroes in your party.
• Items in your Backpack.
• Graduated Heroes and Quests in your Achievements Zone.
• Victory Point tokens in your supply.

In case of a tie, the player with the most Heroes on their Party board wins. If still tied, those players share the victory.

Heroes

There are 3 types of Heroes: Apprentice, Expert (printed on the back of the Apprentice card), and Legendary (unlocked in Act III). Each Hero card shows a cost, a victory point value, dice contributed, and an ability/name.

• Apprentice Heroes have no ability — the ability shown on their card is only a preview of their Expert-side ability.
• Apprentice Heroes give no victory points — the number shown is a preview of their Expert-side value.
• Expert Heroes have no cost, because they cannot be recruited directly (only reached by leveling up an Apprentice).

Rounds & Turns

The game lasts 9 rounds. Track rounds by advancing the Round marker along the Adventure Path (see "The Adventure Path" below).

Each round, players take turns in clockwise order, starting with whoever holds the First Player token.

A turn has three phases, in order:

1. Income Phase
2. Tavern Phase
3. Quest Phase

Income Phase

If you are the First Player, first advance the Round marker along the Adventure Path to start a new round (see "The Adventure Path").

Then, on your Income Phase:

• Gain 2 Gold.
• If you have no Heroes, gain 2 additional Gold. (This always happens on your first turn.)

Tavern Phase

On your Tavern Phase, perform the following actions in any order and any number of times.

Recruit Action

Choose one face-up Hero on the board to recruit:

1. Pay Gold equal to that Hero's cost. Take change if overpaying.
2. Place that Hero's card in an empty Hero space on your Party board. If you already have 3 Heroes, you must graduate a Hero before recruiting.
3. Refill the empty slot with a Hero of the same level as the one you just recruited.

Graduate Action

Choose one Hero on your Party board to graduate:

• If it is an Expert or Legendary Hero, place them in your Achievements Zone, to the right of your Party board.
• If it is an Apprentice Hero, place them on the bottom of the Apprentice Heroes deck instead.

Either way, return any item equipped by the graduating Hero to the bottom of its deck.

Equip Action

Choose one Item with the Equipment label from your Backpack. Place that Item face up in the Equipment slot of one of your Heroes (max 1 per Hero). That Hero gains the effect on the Item.

Items

Your items can be:

• Equipped to a Hero (max 1 per Hero).
• Stored in your Backpack (max 5).

You may discard Items at any time by returning them to the bottom of their deck.

Single-Use Items — Items that are not "Equipment" are single-use. They can be used during the step indicated on the card. Once used, return them to the bottom of their deck.

Board Actions

These actions are not available at the start of the game but are unlocked after each Adventure is completed. They are explained under "The Adventure Path" below.

Gift and Refresh Actions

These actions are only available in the solo and co-op mode. They are explained in the Solo & Co-op section.

The Achievements Zone holds Heroes that are no longer in your party but are still worth Victory Points.

Designer's tip: Do not get too attached to your Heroes! Success requires graduating Heroes or even sacrificing them on deadly Quests.

Quest Phase

On your Quest Phase, follow these steps in order: Deployment, Combat, Wound, and Reward.

Using abilities — In each step, you must use the Quest abilities that match the current step. You may only use abilities from Active Heroes and their equipped Items. Each ability can be used at most once per turn. You can use abilities in any order of your choice. Apprentice Heroes have no ability — the ability shown on their card is a preview of the Expert-side ability.

Deployment Step

1. Choose a Quest and a number of Heroes from your Party equal to the Party Size of that Quest. They become your Active Heroes. If the Party Size is a range, choose any number of Heroes within that range.
2. Add all dice from your Active Heroes and their equipped items to your Dice Pool (up to 4 dice for each color).
3. Use "Deployment Step" abilities.

Not enough Heroes? Playtime is a Quest printed on the board that is always available and requires no Heroes. Sometimes playing is the best Quest.

Combat Step

Roll all dice in your pool and place them in the Unlocked Dice Zone.

Then perform the following actions, in any order and any number of times, until you are ready to proceed to the Wound Step:

• Use "Combat Step" abilities.
• Use your Reroll token.
• Use Runes.

Using the Reroll token — If your Reroll token is on the active side, flip it over to its inactive side to reroll any number of dice from the Unlocked Dice Zone. You must choose all the dice you want to reroll simultaneously. (The Reroll token turns to its active side again when you fail a Quest.)

Runes — You gain Runes with dice rolls, Items, and abilities. To spend a Rune from a die, move it to the Locked Dice Zone. This die cannot be rerolled or changed. After spending a Rune you must either:

• Reroll one die from your Unlocked Dice Zone, or
• Activate an ability with a Rune from one of your Active Heroes or from one of their equipped Items.

Spent Runes — Some Quests require Runes to be completed. If you spend a Rune, it does not count toward Quest success anymore. (All other symbols on the die are still part of your result.)

Wound Step

First, use the "Wound Step" abilities. Then count and assign the wounds from this Quest.

Count wounds — Count the total number of Light and Deadly Wound symbols on the Quest. Block one Light or Deadly Wound for each Shield symbol in your results (using Shields is optional). Unblockable wounds cannot be blocked with Shields or any other ability.

Assign wounds — To assign the wounds, place the respective tokens on your Heroes. Place wounds:

• In any order.
• One at a time.
• Only on your Active Heroes (do not consider Heroes that did not go on the Quest).

Defeated Heroes — As soon as a Hero has at least 2 Light Wounds or 1 Deadly Wound, they are immediately defeated: return them to the bottom of their deck before assigning other wounds. You can still succeed at the Quest even if all your Heroes have been defeated.

Reward Step

First, use the "Reward Step" abilities. Then determine the outcome of the Quest card.

Quest outcome — Count the symbols on your dice results, plus any bonus given by Items and abilities from your Active Heroes. If you have all required symbols for this Quest you succeed; otherwise you fail. (Wound symbols are never required symbols.) A required symbol can be matched by any one of the symbols shown as acceptable for it.

If you fail:

1. Set your Reroll token to its active (colored) side.
2. Gain all the Guaranteed Rewards (marked with the guaranteed-reward elements on both sides of the card).
3. Place 1 Gold token on the Quest card.

If you succeed:

1. Take all the Gold tokens on the Quest card, if any.
2. Gain all the Quest Rewards shown (including the Guaranteed Rewards).
3. Place the Quest card in your Achievements Area (to the right of your Party board).
4. Reveal a new Quest card of the same level to refill the slot.

Rewards you may gain from a Quest card:

• Gold — Take the indicated number of Gold tokens from the Reserve.
• Level Up — Flip one of your Active Apprentice Heroes to their Expert side (only Heroes that were on the Quest).
• Basic Item — Add the top card of the Basic Item deck to your Backpack.
• Legendary Item — Add the top card of the Legendary Item deck to your Backpack.
• Victory Points — This Quest card is worth that many Victory Points at the end of the game. (Do not take Victory Point tokens for this.)

The Adventure Path

The Adventure Path has 9 spaces, one for each round of the game. At the start of each round, the First Player advances the Round marker along the Adventure Path. There are two types of spaces:

• 6 Quest Spaces — In these rounds, all players are free to choose their Quest.
• 3 Adventure Spaces — In the 3rd, 6th, and 9th rounds, all players must choose the Adventure as their Quest if they have enough Heroes to meet its Party Size. Otherwise, they may choose any Quest from the board.

Unlocking Board Actions

After you complete and discard an Adventure card, you reveal and unlock new "board actions" for all players for the rest of the game.

After completing the Act I Adventure:

• Pay 3 Gold to draw the top card of the Basic Item deck.
• Return one Item from your Equipment Slot or Backpack Zone to the bottom of its deck to gain 1 Gold.

After completing the Act II Adventure:

• Pay 3 Gold to level up one of your Apprentice Heroes.
• Pay 3 Gold to remove 1 Light Wound from one of your Heroes.

Unlocking New Quest Levels

At the start of the game, only Act I Quests are available. After you complete an Adventure, replace all Quests on the board with Quests of the same level as the new Act.

Unlocking Legendary Heroes

At the start of the game, Legendary Heroes are not available. After you complete the Act II Adventure:

• Replace the Apprentice Heroes deck with the Legendary Heroes deck.
• Replace all Apprentice Heroes in the Market with Legendary Heroes.

Adventures

If the Round marker is on top of an Adventure card, all players must choose that as their Quest this round, if possible (see "The Adventure Path").

The Adventure works like a Quest, except that the "Quest outcome" part is different, as follows:

• If you did NOT meet all requirements on the Adventure card (disregarding the excess-tracked symbols), you fail. Simply set your Reroll token to its active (colored) side and end your turn.
• Otherwise, you succeed. Do not take any Reward yet; instead, track your score.

Tracking Adventure Score

Adventure cards show one or more tracked symbols. Your Adventure Score is the number of excess symbols that match the tracked symbol type (only count excess symbols that you did not need to succeed at the Adventure). Record your score by placing your Reroll token next to the Adventure Score Tracker, keeping the token on the same side.

Completing Adventures

After all players have attempted an Adventure, it is completed, even if all players failed it.

When an Adventure is completed:

• Players earn Rewards according to their score (first reward, second reward, third reward). If two or more players tie for a rank, each receives the next same Reward, if any — e.g., if two players tie for first, both receive the second-place Reward.
• Return Reroll tokens, keeping them in the same state.
• Return the Adventure card to the box.
• New board actions are revealed and unlocked.
• Replace the Quests on the board with Quests of the next Act.
• Reveal the Adventure card of the next Act.
• If you are entering Act III, unlock Legendary Heroes.

After the Act III Adventure, the player with the most VPs wins, as explained in "Goal of the Game."

Victory Point tokens — Use the Victory Point tokens to keep track of the VPs awarded by an Adventure. Remember: you do not need these tokens for Quest Rewards, because you simply add completed Quests to your Achievements Zone instead.

Example: Quest

Deployment Step:

1. You choose to attempt the Quest "Stormcaller."
2. The Quest requires a Party Size of 2, so you must send exactly 2 Heroes.
3. You select the Pirate (contributes 1 blue die) and the Blademaster (contributes 1 red die, with an ability that reads "If wounded, +1 red die"). Since the Blademaster is wounded, he adds an additional red die. Dice Pool: 1 blue die, 2 red dice.
4. You have one equipped item on the Blademaster, the Staff of Lightning, but it does not add any dice.
5. You decide to use the Arcane Potion, which adds 1 yellow die to your pool, giving you a chance of rolling the Wand symbol needed for this Quest.
6. Final Dice Pool: 1 blue, 2 red, 1 yellow = 4 dice total.

Combat Step:

7. You roll your 4 dice. The results are not enough to complete the Quest — you are missing one Wand symbol.
8. To try again: you activate the Pirate's ability and pay 2 Gold to reroll 1 die of your choice. You choose the yellow die, as it's the only one that could give you the missing symbol. Unfortunately, you roll a blank.
9. You try with your Reroll token (currently face-up, so it's available) to reroll the yellow die again. You could have rerolled more than one die, but there is no need now. Still no luck — you roll another blank. You now flip the Reroll token face-down to show it's used.
10. Not giving up, you use the Scroll of Shiny Rune, which grants 1 Rune. You then spend the Rune to trigger the ability on your Staff of Lightning, which grants a Wand symbol. You've defeated the Stormcaller!

Wound Step:

11. The Quest shows 1 Deadly Wound symbol and 1 Light Wound symbol. You rolled a Shield symbol, which allows you to block 1 wound. You choose to block the Deadly Wound.
12. You take 1 Light Wound token, which you assign to the Pirate. She remains alive.

Reward Step: Since you completed the Quest, you:

13. Claim both the Guaranteed Rewards and the Success Rewards. You receive 2 Gold (Guaranteed Reward) and 3 Victory Points.
14. Move the completed Quest to your Achievements Zone.
15. Draw a new Quest from the same deck to replace it.
16. Do not turn your Reroll token face-up.
17. Do not place a Gold token on the "Stormcaller" Quest card.

Example: Adventure

Let's see an exhaustive example of the end game, when all players race to claim the last word on the Final Boss. For this case, the Adventure card "Death Dealer" was used.

Deployment Step:

1. You choose to attempt the Level III Adventure card "Death Dealer."
2. The card requires a Party Size of 3, so all your Heroes are sent to fight it.
3. To defeat it, you need at least 5 generic successes, and the Party suffers 5 Light Wounds during the fight, plus one Unblockable Light Wound for every Wand kept in the final roll (i.e., once all Items and effects are used).
4. Your Party is composed of the Scavenger (contributes 1 blue die), Akimo (contributes 1 red die and 1 blue die), and the Ward Mage (contributes 1 yellow die).
5. You have two equipped Items, neither of which adds any dice. You decide to use the Dragonskin Potion in your Backpack, which gives you one green die.
6. Final Dice Pool: 2 blue, 1 red, 1 green, 1 yellow = 5 dice total.

Combat Step:

7. You roll your 5 dice. The results are not enough to defeat the Death Dealer — you are missing one success, of any kind.
8. You use the Frost Knives ability and reroll the blank blue die. You roll an Arrow and a Rune.
9. You use Akimo's ability to convert a Sword into two Swords. Although it was not necessary to defeat the Death Dealer, it counts for the excess symbols.
10. You decide to use the Scroll of Shiny Rune in your Backpack, which gives you a Rune. You can use it in combination with the Charm of Liothan, with the Scavenger's ability, or with the Ward Mage's ability. You use the Rune on the Charm of Liothan to prevent one additional Light Wound.
11. You use the Rune rolled with the blue die to use the ability of the Ward Mage and prevent one Light Wound.
12. You've defeated the Death Dealer!

Wound Step:

13. The Death Dealer shows 5 Light Wound symbols, plus 1 Unblockable Light Wound for each Wand rolled. You rolled a Shield symbol and activated both the Charm of Liothan and the Ward Mage's ability, which allow you to block 3 wounds. As you rolled a Wand, though, you still take 3 Light Wounds, one of them Unblockable.
14. You suffer a total of 3 Light Wounds. While the Scavenger and Akimo are defeated, the Ward Mage survives (that will be useful in case of a tie with another player at the end of the game).

Reward Step: Since you completed the Adventure, you:

15. Track your score by counting the symbols in excess. You have two symbols and place your Reroll token on the number 2.
16. Compare your score with the scores obtained by the other players once they have defeated the Death Dealer.
17. Starting from the player who got the higher score, and proceeding in decreasing order, assign the Victory Points. Players who have not defeated the Death Dealer get no Victory Points.

Solo & Co-op

Setup

To play solo or cooperatively, follow the setup steps described above with these changes:

• Never use the "Take That!" Item cards.
• Use the Adventure cards of the solo and co-op mode — they have a different symbol on their back. For your first game, use the Adventures marked with an asterisk next to their name.
• Shuffle the 10 Threat cards to form the Threat deck and place it face down within reach.
• Form a face-down reserve of Threat tokens, grouped by Act.
• Each player takes one random Threat token from Act I and places it face-up on the Act I Adventure card.

Winning and Losing

All players win if the Act III Adventure is successful and every player has at least 15 Victory Points. Otherwise, all players lose. How to succeed in an Adventure is explained below under "Adventure Outcome."

Threat Phase and Cards

The Threat Phase happens at the start of every round (not every turn). Reveal the top card of the Threat deck and place it face-up in a discard pile next to the deck. Then resolve the ability on that card. The symbol above the name indicates the timing of the effect: an ongoing ability lasts for the round, an immediate ability resolves at once.

Threat tokens — Important: when a new Adventure is revealed, each player takes one random Threat token from the current Act and places it face-up on the new Adventure card.

In the Reward Step, Threat tokens are discarded by spending excess symbols from your result. For example, if the Adventure requires 2 Swords and 2 Arrows, and your result includes 1 excess Wand and 1 excess Arrow, you discard the matching token — a single excess Wand or Arrow alone is not enough to discard the shown Threat token. Shields in your result may be used to discard Threat tokens instead of preventing wounds.

Threat on Quests — Some Adventures' abilities distribute Threat tokens onto Quests, with a limit of 1 Threat per Quest. Threat does not affect Quests, but it will be moved to your next Adventure when it's time to attempt it, making it harder. If you succeed at a Quest, discard the Threat token on it.

Adventure Outcome

To gain all the rewards from an Adventure, you just need to meet its requirements, ignoring the Threat tokens.

Adventure success — At the end of the round with the Adventure, all players succeed if there are no Threat tokens on the Adventure card. Otherwise, they fail.

Adventure failure — If players fail an Adventure, move all Threat tokens from the current Adventure to the Act III Adventure and start a new round. If players fail the Act III Adventure, all players lose.

New Actions

These actions are available in the Tavern Phase in solo and co-op mode only.

Refresh Action — Pay 2 Gold to return up to 3 Heroes in the Market to the bottom of their deck. Then refill the empty slots with Heroes of the same level.

Gift Action — Move an Item from your Backpack to another player's Backpack.

Difficulty Levels

You may want to increase or decrease the default difficulty:

• Practice — Skip the Threat Phase.
• Hard — If you fail an Adventure, each player places 1 random Threat token of the current Act on the Act III Adventure (discard the Threat tokens left on the failed Adventure).
• Heroic — Like Hard, but the minimum score is 20 VP.
• Legendary — If you fail an Adventure, you lose. The minimum score is 25 VP.
• Godly — Like Legendary, but the minimum score is 30 VP.

Reference: Symbols

• Add a die of a color of your choice to your Dice Pool and roll it.
• Add a die of a specific color to your Dice Pool and roll it (e.g., blue).
• Reroll a die of a chosen color in your Unlocked Dice Zone.
• Reroll a die of a specific color in your Unlocked Dice Zone (e.g., blue).
• Set a die of a chosen color in your Unlocked Dice Zone to any face.
• Set a die of a specific color in your Unlocked Dice Zone to any face.
• You cannot roll any die of a marked color for this Quest; you may still use Heroes who use that die.
• Add a Rune (see the Combat Step section for details).
• Remove a (non-Unblockable) Light Wound token.

Reference: Ability Clarifications

Examples of Hero and Item abilities referenced elsewhere in this booklet:

• Spend 2 Gold to reroll a die of any chosen color in your Unlocked Dice Zone. (Pirate)
• Spend 1 Rune to set a die of this color in your Unlocked Dice Zone to any face. (Corporal, Fire Mage, Khepiax, Vorhild, Necklace of Kurumo)
• Spend 1 Rune to remove 1 non-Unblockable Light Wound token from an Active Hero. (Shaman, Charm of Liothan)
• Spend 1 Rune to draw 1 Basic Item card. (Scavenger)
• Set a die of this color in your Unlocked Dice Zone to the shown face. (Paladin, Bladedancer)
• Spend 1 Rune to add the shown icon. (Ward Mage, Spiritist)
• Assign 1 Unblockable Light Wound token to one of your Active Heroes to gain 1 Rune. (Scarifier)
• Convert 1 Shield symbol into 2 Shield symbols. (Defender)
• Spend 1 Rune to add a die of this color to your Dice Pool and roll it. (Pistolier)
• Convert one die to any other color. (Minion Potion, T-Max)
• If your Dice Result has one or more blanks on any die of this color, you get 1 mandatory Unblockable Wound. (Doomies)
• If your Dice Result has a 2-Swords face, you get one Shield symbol in addition. (Duelist)
• Set any one blank or 1-Sword face from one of your red dice to the 2-Swords face. (Akimo)
• If your Dice Result has a Wand symbol, you can swap it to a Sword or a Shield symbol. (Corjof)
• Assign 1 Unblockable Light Wound token to one of your Active Heroes to add a die of any chosen color to your Dice Pool and roll it. (Yami)
• If your Dice Result has a 2-Swords or 2-Shields face, you can set a die of any chosen color in your Unlocked Dice Zone to any face. (Zacoal)

Reference: Hero Classes & Dice

• Warriors — Reliable frontliners who offer steady damage and defensive support.
• Marksmen — High-risk, high-reward, and exclusively focused on raw damage.
• Mages — Completely focused on abilities and Runes, rather than damage or defense.
• Tanks — Durable heroes excellent at soaking damage and protecting your Party.