Direwild Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Winning and Losing
• The Basics
• Components
• First Time Setup
• Icons and Land Board Reference
• Set Up the Board for a New Campaign
• Pick Heroes
• Hero Traits
• Start Playing
• Finishing a Chapter
  • Saving the adventure for later
  • Continuing the adventure
• Starting a New Game at a Later Chapter
  • Begin a new game at Chapter 2
  • Begin a new game at Chapter 3
• Card Clarifications
  • Creature Cards
  • Minion Cards
  • Treasure Cards
• Book 2: Gameplay
  • Playing the Game
  • Game Phase
    • Below are all the possible actions found in the Enemy AI cards
    • Idle (face down) minion movement
    • Active enemy movement - Standard
    • Active enemy movement - Priority
    • Karn's presence
  • Turn Order and Draw
  • Summon Phase
    • Ability Terminology
  • Charm Phase
  • Adventure Phase
    • Hero Movement
    • Battle: Picking a Fight
    • Battle: Determine Winner
    • Battle: Resolution
    • Battle: Hit Effects
  • End Conditions
  • Karn
  • Magic
  • Treasure
  • Unlocked Hero Powers
  • Wounds
  • Legal/Credit

Overview

This game has the player assume the role of 1 of 10 different unique heroes. The heroes will start with a unique deck comprised of basic creatures (mostly puppies and kittens). Every turn, the players will draw 5 cards from their deck, and summon the creatures drawn! The creatures' attack will help the hero fight minions, and the creatures' Charm will allow the hero to gain new creatures for their deck. The choices the player makes regarding these creatures will dictate how powerful their hero becomes and the style of hero they will be! Whenever a player's deck runs out of cards, the player will shuffle their discard pile to make a new deck, which will now include all the new creatures they had charmed!

All the while, the heroes will need to work as a team, moving tactically around the land to fight minions and collect treasure. The game will control all enemies, so every player will assume the role of a hero!

Winning and Losing

The Direwild game unfolds in three dramatic chapters. The players progress the first two chapters of the game by clearing the land board of Karn's minions. They win the entire game if they defeat Karn. The best chance to defeat Karn occurs in the third and final chapter. A stack of 6 Fatal Wound cards populate each chapter. These wounds represent the party's fortitude and resilience against the dark forces of Karn. The players lose the game if there are no more Fatal Wounds available in a chapter. Fatal Wounds are taken from the pile when heroes lose a battle, disengage from a battle, or because Karn roams the land. (All other effects that damage heroes are drawn from the regular Wound pile.) Remember: players win as a team and lose as a team, so everyone needs to work together.

The Fatal Wounds pile is replenished at the start of every chapter (creating a new pile of 6 cards), so taking a few Fatal Wounds during a chapter is fine.

The Basics

Every hero starts the game with a deck of basic creatures. These are simple creatures, mostly puppies and kittens. They have a yellow background. You draw 5 cards from your deck and play all of them. These 5 cards are creatures that will attract new creatures into your army. They will also come into battle with you, joining you in your attack against Karn and his minions.

A creature card shows, from top to bottom: the type of card, the name of the card, the Charm produced, the creature ability, the attack value, and the augment value. The card's purchase cost is shown in the top corner. Most creatures have an ability. These abilities happen immediately when you play the creature from your hand.

To purchase new creatures, count all the Charm your cards have produced.

Example: The puppies produce no Charm, but the salamander and the two kittens produce 1 Charm each, generating a total of 3 Charm. This allows the player to purchase a 3 or less cost creature that goes into the player's discard pile. When the player runs out of cards to draw from their deck, they shuffle their discard pile to form a new deck that will now have this new creature available!

After you have purchased, you take any of your played creatures and create a single creature to take into battle with you. You do this by picking a creature to be a base creature, then flipping any of the rest upside down to become augments. You may discard any cards not used.

Example: This fluffy, slippery wild puppy is worth 3 attack! (and 1 extra move). Total attack: 3. Note that the fluffy kitten does not have an attack value (circled in green), so it is currently only used as an augment for fun.

Then your hero takes this summoned creature and moves into range of an enemy. Your hero's attack (represented by dice) and your creature's attack combine to try to overcome the minion's attack! The minion card shows its hit points, its attack, and its special abilities.

Example: 3+1 vs 7. The hero lost the battle!

Components

• 5 Hero boxes
• 2 Save game boxes
• 5 Double sided hero boards
• 4 Helper boards
• 30 Gems (6 gems per color)
• 12 Counter cubes
• 4 Treasure tokens
• 10 Stands
• 1 Double-sided land board
• 1 Main game board
• 4 Turn order tokens
• 10 Hero standees
• 4 Minion standees
• 1 Karn standee
• 90 Common creature cards
• 42 Advanced creature cards
• 25 Basic Kitten cards
• 15 Basic Puppy cards
• 10 Basic clan creature cards
• 32 Lock cards
• 23 Minion cards
• 15 Karn hit point/counterattack cards
• 4 Karn regenerate cards
• 25 Wound cards
• 30 Treasure cards
• 10 AI cards
• 10 Hardcore AI cards
• 1 d6 (six-sided die numbered 1–6)
• 1 d3 (six-sided die numbered 1–3 twice)

First Time Setup

Create hero boxes. A hero box contains:

• 1 Counter cube (3 cubes for Stormbringer clan)
• 3 Basic Puppy cards
• 5 Basic Kitten cards
• 2 Clan basic creature cards
• 2 Clan hero cut-outs and a stand
• All 6 gems of the clan's color

Place minion and Karn cut-outs on stands.

Special basic cards: Each clan gets 2 special basic creatures to begin their decks with:

• Clan Stormbringer (purple) gets the Carnley Mantis
• Clan Shadowleaf (green) gets the Kiln Salamanders
• Clan Groundbreaker (black) gets the Rock Stoats
• Clan Featherheart (blue) gets the Ogden Penguins
• Clan Bloodmaker (red) gets the Zolo Sloths

Icons and Land Board Reference

These are all the icons you will find in the game. You can find these icon descriptions on the back of your helper boards as well!

• Charm — The purchasing currency of Direwild. It is generated when a hero plays their creatures. Heroes can use Charm to: Purchase creatures, destroy creatures, unlock advanced creatures, and unlock upgrades for the heroes.
• Attack — The value that determines attack strength in battle. For a hero to win battle, their total attack value must be higher than the enemy's attack value.
• Magic — The currency that allows a hero to perform their unique magic abilities. Magic is gained by treasure, a few creatures, and defeating enemies.
• Move — The value that dictates how far a hero or enemy can move. Neither hero nor enemy can move diagonally. A hero has a base move of 3, and an enemy's move is determined from the Enemy AI card. Heroes can enhance their move with creatures, treasures, and by spending stamina.
• Flying — A hero's normal attack range is 1 adjacent square (non-diagonal). Flying allows the hero to attack an enemy from 1 space further away for each point of flight they have. Unless stated, enemies cannot damage (or perform Hit Effects) on heroes attacking with flying.
• Rage — Effect – A hero or enemy has its stamina increased by 1. Move the counter on the stamina track up 1 space, unless at maximum stamina.
• Poison — Effect – A hero or enemy has its stamina decreased by 1. Move the counter on the stamina track down 1 space, unless at minimum stamina.
• Knockback — Effect - A hero or enemy using this pushes another unit 1 space directly away from them for each point of knockback. If the pushed hero/enemy cannot move the total spaces due to a wall or any edge of the land board, they stop further movement and lose 2 stamina. If the pushed hero/enemy collides with another hero/enemy, both lose 2 stamina. The hero/enemy that was collided into does not move.
• Hit Effect — If any effects are on this green field, those effects are only carried out if the owner of those effects wins the battle. For Example: a green field showing "1 poison" means that this unit will do 1 point of poison to another unit if it wins in battle.
• Hit Points — The amount of damage a minion can take before they are defeated. A minion cannot take more damage than they have hit points.
• Purchase cost — Sometimes creature abilities will target other creatures with a purchase cost. For Example: "2" means a creature with a purchase cost of 2.
• Stamina Track — The stamina track is a gauge next to a hero or enemy that alters their overall attack. Both heroes and enemies have stamina tracks. Enemy stamina tracks are different from heroes in that they have two spaces for "distraction". You can read more about distraction in Book 2, pg 11.

There are three lands: The Redmill Fields, the Blightwood, and Karn's Dungeon. They all have similar attributes: Walls, Minion Spawns, Karn Spawn, Minion foot trails (not present in Karn's Dungeon), Treasure Locations, Combat square, Entrance.

Set Up the Board for a New Campaign

To resume a saved game, go to page 9.

Lay down the main game board and place the following components as specified:

1. Shuffle and place all the Common Creatures cards (green background) face down on the board (A).

2. Shuffle and place all the Advanced Creatures cards (blue background) face down on the board (B).

3. Place 2 Advanced Creature lock cards per player on top of the Advanced Creatures deck (B). Then place 2 of the matching lock cards per player on top of each hero upgrade (C).

4. Populate the Wilds (D) by drawing Common Creature cards to fill each available slot with a face-up creature. The number of slots available depends on the number of players in the game:

   • 2 players: Fill all 6 Wilds slots
   • 3 players: Fill 5 Wilds slots
   • 4 players: Fill 4 Wilds slots

   Once all available slots are filled, flip over the top card of the Common Creatures deck. This gives the players knowledge of the next creature coming to The Wilds.

5. Place the Karn standee on the leftmost side of his Hunting Track (F). This represents Karn's hunt for the heroes. When Karn reaches the end of the track, he arrives on the board.

6. Take 1 Karn Regenerate card per player and place them on the Karn slot (I). Take the 15 Karn cards and place them over the Regenerate cards. Make sure the card's Counterattack side is face down.

7. If it is your first game, select the Enemy AI deck. If you are looking for a challenge, select the Hardcore Enemy AI deck (or a mixture of the two!). Shuffle and place the chosen AI deck face down on the board (L).

8. Shuffle and place the Treasure cards face down on the board (M).

9. Place the land board (H) over the Final Dungeon (G), Redmill Fields side up. Make sure the entrance of the board lines up to the staging area (J).

10. Place the 4 treasure tokens over the treasure locations on the land board.

11. Randomly select face down minion cards based on the diagram below: for a 2 player game take 1 of each Level 1–3 minion and 2 of the Level 4 minion; for a 3 player game take 1 of each Level 1–2 minion and 3 of the Level 3 minion; for a 4 player game take 2 of each Level 1–3 minion and 4 of the Level 4 minion.

12. Take the selected cards and create a minion deck.

13. From that deck, take all Level 1 minions and place them face down, one minion card per space, on the leftmost spaces of the Minion Track (E). Then, set the Level 2 minions in the next available leftmost spaces in the Minion Track. There will be as many minions on the Minion Track as there are players.

    The remaining deck of minions stays on the Minion space (N) until the players reach later chapters. Level 3 and 4 minions lurk within Chapter 2, The Blightwood. Acolyte minions appear in the final chapter in Karn's Dungeon.

14. Once all the minions are placed, put a counter cube on each minion's stamina track, and one on Karn's track, set at "0".

15. The Minion Track (E) has 4 slots, each with a different color and symbol. For every minion on a slot, take out the corresponding minion standee, and place them on their minion spawn area on the land board.

    Example: A 3 player game would look like this.

16. Place the deck of wound cards on the Wound space (O), creating the wounds pile.

17. Take 6 wound cards from the Wound deck and place them on the Fatal Wounds space (K), creating the Fatal Wounds pile.

Pick Heroes

• Each player chooses a hero by selecting a hero board and picking from one of the characters on either side of the board.
• They may also take a helper board and place it next to their hero card.
• Each player is given their appropriate hero box, and they remove all the contents with the exception of the hero standee not chosen.
• Each player starts with 2 magic. Put 2 gems onto their hero boards in the Active Magic section. Set the other 4 gems aside next to their hero boards, as inactive magic.
• Each player shuffles their starter deck of 3 puppies, 5 kittens, and 2 special basic creatures and makes a face down deck.
• Next to that deck should be a space for a face up discard pile.
• Take a counter cube and place it on the 0 on the hero board stamina track.
• Players decide turn order and take the appropriate turn order tokens.
• Each player puts their selected character standee at the "staging area (J)" location on the board.

Hero Traits

Heroes have 2 traits that make them unique from one another - their passive ability and their magic abilities. Members of the same clan will have the same passive ability, but magic abilities vary from person to person.

A hero board shows a Game round summary, a Hero Movement summary, a Hero Battle summary, and an Active magic pool (place active gems here — they can be spent to power magic abilities). It also lists the hero's Passive ability, Magic abilities, and Stamina Track.

Passive ability. A passive ability is an ability only this character can use, but is always active. Clan Featherheart's passive is +1 flight at all times. This allows them to always attack from range (for more on flight, see Book 2, pg 15).

Magic abilities. Alaric's specific ability is that he can spend 1 magic to have a player discard a creature from their hand to draw a card, or spend 2 magic to have a player discard as many cards in hand as they want and draw that many. A nice trick for when a player draws a bad hand!

Stamina Track: The stamina track is used to adjust the hero's overall attack due to game conditions. Enemies have a track as well, displayed on the game board.

Example hero board — Clan Featherheart, Alaric: Passive ability Windrider (+1 flying). Magic abilities: 1 magic — Dash: In the Summon Phase, a hero may discard a creature in hand to draw a card. 2 magic — Whirlwind: In the Summon Phase, a hero may discard X cards in hand to draw X cards.

Game round summary: Enemy phase — Move counters 1, Reveal A.I. card, Choose turn order, Players draw. Summon phase — Play all drawn cards. Charm phase — Spend Charm, Build a creature. Adventure phase — Move, Battle, Discard.

Hero Movement summary: Hero Move — Base move: 3. To disengage: Remove a fatal wound. +1 extra move: Lose 1 stamina per move.

Hero Battle summary: Hero Attack — Summoned creature + D3. Critical Hit: +5 above enemy. Result: Enemy takes an extra damage of any hero's color.

Start Playing

The easiest way to learn the game is to start playing. You can now start your adventure and use Book 2 to learn as you play. If you manage to beat the first chapter, come back here to learn how to either continue your game or save it for your next game night.

Finishing a Chapter

After you complete a chapter in the game, you can save your game for a later session.

Saving the adventure for later

Assemble Player box. For each player, select their hero's box and:

• Shuffle the discard back into the deck.
• Insert the deck.
• Insert their current turn order token.
• Insert any unused treasure.
• Insert any active magic.
• Insert the hero standee and stand.
• Insert the stamina marker.

Assemble Saved game box. Put into saved game box:

• All heroes' inactive magic.
• Insert remaining unlock cards.
• Insert currently purchasable creatures in the Wilds.
• Insert minions for future chapters.
• Insert non-destroyed Karn cards.

Assemble Destroyed card box.

• Insert all cards from the destroyed pile.

Continuing the adventure

First, set up the heroes and the general game board.

If continuing the current game:

• Move all heroes to the staging area.
• Reset all heroes' stamina.
• Reshuffle all heroes discard into their decks.
• Return the remaining Fatal Wounds into the wound pile.
• Shuffle all Enemy AI cards into new pile.
• Any Karn cards that were discarded are shuffled back into his pile.

If continuing from a saved game — Assemble heroes:

• Give each player their old hero boards and box.
• Each player opens their hero box:
  • Place stamina markers on hero boards at 0.
  • Return all active magic found in hero boxes onto their hero boards.
  • Put out saved treasures.
  • Put hero standees onto staging area on board.

If continuing from a saved game — Assemble game state:

• Place both creature (common and advanced) decks onto the board.
• Place Wound, Treasure, and Enemy AI decks onto the board.
• Open Saved game box:
  • Put creatures in the Wilds.
  • Put remaining locks onto the board.
  • Take all inactive magic found and place next to appropriate heroes.
  • Return minions to minion area on board.
  • Return Karn cards to his area on board.
  • Ensure the Karn Regenerate cards are on the bottom.
• Flip the top card of each unlocked creature deck.

Next, set up the next chapter the players are starting.

Starting Ch2: The Blightwood

• Put 6 new Fatal Wounds into the Fatal Wound pile.
• Put land board on game board, Blightwood side up.
• Place Lvl 3 minions face down on the Minion Track, then Lvl 4s.
• Put a cube on the stamina tracker of each minion and Karn, set at 0.
• Place 4 treasure tokens onto the board.
• Place Karn standee onto his Hunting Track in the leftmost square.

Starting Ch3: Karn's Dungeon

• Put 6 new Fatal Wounds into the Fatal Wound pile.
• Remove the land board from the game.
• Place Acolyte Minions on the board (notice they do not move when idle).
• Place Karn at his altar on the dungeon.
• Put a cube on the stamina trackers of each minion and Karn, set at 0.

Starting a New Game at a Later Chapter

If you have already played Chapter 1 several times and would like to start a new game from a later chapter, follow the setup below.

Begin a new game at Chapter 2

Set up the game normally, then do the following:

• Remove all Level 1 and 2 minions from the game.
• Populate the Minion track with face down Level 3 and 4 minions.
• Flip the land board to the Blightwood side.
• Each player gains 1 extra active magic (a total of 3) and 1 treasure.
• Each player takes 1 wound.

For 5 rounds, do the following:

• Pick turn order.
• In turn order, each player rolls a d6, using their Charm to buy creatures from the Wilds & destroy locks:
  • 1: 3 Charm
  • 2-5: 4 Charm
  • 6: 6 Charm
  • Any hero may spend 1 magic to gain an extra Charm.

The heightened reflexes power does not affect these d6 rolls. Nice try bub.

After 5 rounds are completed, shuffle your hero decks and begin Chapter 2 normally.

Begin a new game at Chapter 3

Set up the game normally, then do the following:

• Remove all minions except Acolyte Minions from the game.
• Populate the Minion track with face down Acolyte Minions.
• Remove the land board from the game.
• Each player gains 1 extra active magic (a total of 3) and 2 treasures.
• Each player takes 1 wound.

For 5 rounds, do the following:

• Pick turn order.
• In turn order, each player rolls a d6, using their Charm to buy creatures from the Wilds & destroy locks:
  • 1: 3 Charm
  • 2-5: 4 Charm
  • 6: 6 Charm
  • Any hero may spend 1 magic to gain an extra Charm.

The heightened reflexes power does not affect these d6 rolls. Nice try bub.

After that, for 5 more rounds:

• Pick turn order.
• In turn order, each player rolls a d6, using their Charm to buy creatures from the Wilds & destroy locks:
  • 1-2: 4 Charm
  • 3-5: 5 Charm
  • 6: 7 Charm
  • Any hero may spend 1 magic to gain an extra Charm.

After all 10 rounds are completed, shuffle your hero decks and begin Chapter 3 normally.

Card Clarifications

Creature Cards

• Arcadian Monkey - Any cards not destroyed must return to the top of your deck in the order you drew them.
• Arcadian Tiger - The attack for the tiger based on movement also includes the hero's standard 3 move. For example, a tiger played with no other creatures has a base attack of +5 attack if the hero does not move.
• Bigsby Dodo - The card may be a wound.
• Blightwood Basilisk - If you poison an idle minion, you activate it.
• Carnley Mantis - Starts in Clan Stormbringer's deck. Counts as a basic card.
• Chartooth Saurus - Doubles all augment attack values and properties (knockback, move etc). Must be used as the core creature to use this power.
• Chomiak Hippo - Place destroyed cards next to the hippo to remember the attack buff. Destroy them after battle.
• Conlan Bear - If a creature has the knockback symbol anywhere (augment etc), it is a valid target for the ability. You may gain attack bonus from treasure that gives you knockback, as well as augments.
• Crushapede - The card replaced may have already used its ability. The replacement card cannot cost more Charm than the card discarded. Basic cards are considered worth 0 Charm.
• Cypher Hydra - You must reshuffle your deck after the ability.
• Eldar Stag Beetle - You cannot discard played cards.
• Eldvar Chameleon - The creature being replaced must have a purchase cost of 0 to 5. It may be from your discard as well. Any abilities the replaced creature has will activate.
• Fellwood Frog - See Gift on Book 2 pg. 5
• Fellspring Cobra - If you poison an idle minion, you activate it.
• Fenton Ostritch - You must move 1 space in any legal direction. Do not lose a Fatal Wound if you disengage from any enemies. If you cannot move in a legal direction, ignore this ability.
• Fogmount Parrot - The ability the Parrot copies must have been played before the Parrot, and can only have a purchase cost of 0-3 Charm. 0 Charm cards are basic cards.
• Gearbug - See Gift on Book 2 pg. 5
• Giant Rasp Fly - Only double card abilities that specifically say "draw" (not reveal). The rasp fly is worth -1 Charm.
• Griftwall Python - You may destroy creatures in the Wilds one at a time, allowing the creatures in the stack to move down before choosing the next creature to destroy. If you destroy Wisp in the Wilds, you may perform their "when destroyed" abilities.
• Greatwing Vulture - The attack from range also includes range boosts from treasure and Clan Featherheart abilities.
• Highiron Stag - You may choose what basic cards you wish to discard.
• Honey Badger - All wounds from the badger are non-Fatal Wounds. Place the wounds behind the badger as augments to show the attack increase.
• Huey Pithoui - You must return the revealed cards that weren't put into play back in the order they were drawn.
• Ironcrown Raptor - Raptors count themselves when adding their total strength, but do not count raptors other players have played.
• Kheri Red Panda - Kittens played become both kitten and puppy cards. They give +1 attack as both a core and an augment as if they were a puppy. Cards that effect puppies now affect kittens. Kittens in your discard are not changed.
• Kiln Salamander - Distracting an idle minion will turn it active. Starts in Clan Shadowleaf's deck. Counts as a basic card.
• Ogden Penguin - Standard rules of adjacency apply (Book 2 pg. 4). Starts in Clan Featherheart's deck. Counts as a basic card.
• Ridgeback Ram - Only gains 1 extra attack when augmented with 1 or more knockback.
• Rock Stoat - The wound is non-fatal. It goes in your discard. Starts in Clan Groundbreaker's deck. Counts as a basic card.
• Sawtooth Gator - A reptile gives the gator only +2 attack (it does not an additional +1 attack for being non-basic). Salamander gives a +2 attack, as it is a reptile despite being a basic card.
• Shadowpine Wisp - If this card is destroyed by another card while still in the Wilds or a discard pile, it still performs its ability.
• Tonten Jackalope - See Gift on Book 2 pg. 5
• Unicorn - If you use magic during battle, the unicorn's attack immediately decreases.
• Shadowmist Raptor - Raptors count themselves when adding their total strength, but do not count raptors other players have played.
• Veld Hummingbird - If you destroy a Wisp in the Wilds, you may perform their when destroyed abilities.
• Wallheart Wolf - The +1 attack is given to both the puppies' core and augment attack values.
• Warborn Mammoth - The mammoth uses this ability in battle. As such, abilities of the cards taken by the mammoth do not activate. The mammoth must be the core creature in order for this ability to be used.
• Zolo Sloth - Starts in Clan Bloodmaker's deck. Counts as a basic card.

Minion Cards

• Abomination - If you haven't unlocked advanced creatures, ignore Abomination's "when damaged" ability.
• Coatl - When the Coatl teleports next to a hero, place it in an adjacent square to the hero, preferring the square with lowest number on the combat square in relation to the hero.
• Chuddle - If all heroes are in the staging area when the Chuddle is revealed, it doesn't move. Eaten heroes take 1 non Fatal Wound whenever they end their turn inside the Chuddle's stomach. If they are eaten they must battle the Chuddle. Thus if they lose battle, they will take 1 Fatal Wound and 1 non-Fatal Wound. If two or more heroes are released from the Chuddle's stomach when it is defeated, pick a hero to return to the board in the space the Chuddle was in, the other players arrange themselves adjacent to that space however they wish.
• Doomsayer - The "when revealed" ability deals non-Fatal Wounds.
• Glug - If there are more than 1 idle level 4 minions, you may choose which one to reveal (without looking at the minions). Ostriches, certain potions, and Clan Shadowleaf abilities can allow you to disengage from a Glug.
• Gryk - The wound you take from the Gryks ability is non-fatal. If a Treasure Monster is revealed, you automatically lose to it.
• Krorik - Krorik's when revealed ability can pass through walls.
• Lycoan - Only attack rolls used against the Lycoan must be rolled twice. Hero powers do not require a second roll.
• Necrid - All minion's with fatal damage on them die immediately when the Necrid dies. Other minions cannot take more damage than their max HP (3). If you win battle and a minion is already at 3 damage, they do not take damage, nor do they perform their "when damaged" attacks.
• Slagmar - Hit Effect and "when damaged" wounds are non-fatal.
• Spitefiend - The Spitefiend only gains 2 rage if battling a hero has damaged it, regardless of the amount of damage.
• Timbergrist - Example: If the green hero damaged the Timbergrist, but blue hero already had damage on it, both green and blue heroes will each take 1 poison this turn.
• Varhyr - "When damaged" ability deals non-Fatal Wounds.

Treasure Cards

• Catchup Potion - Choose the person you honestly think has the weakest deck. Don't be a jerk. The target of the potion cannot select advanced creatures if they are not unlocked yet. If the target of the potion doesn't thank you, you may make their hero lose all their stamina.
• Firebolt Relic - Can only target minions. Thus it cannot work against Karn.
• Host Relic - Sharing the name can be any part of the name. For instance, a raptor can find all raptors. A Blightwood Basilisk can find all Blightwood creatures, etc.
• Puppy Treats - You cannot target kittens in your discard if you have a Red Panda in play. Nice try though.
• Scroll of Reversal - For example, you can make another hero who has -3 attack get +3 attack, or make a minion's attack go from +2 attack to -2 attack etc.
• Teleport Potion - You may use after battle this to safely disengage from a second enemy's attack.
• Treasure Monster - Roll 2 d6s before your hero roll to find out the attack of the Treasure Monster. If you battle the Treasure Monster, you cannot fight another enemy this round.

Book 2: Gameplay

Playing the Game

Once setup is complete, the players can learn the game as they play. There are 4 phases in each round. Except for the Game Phase, each player finishes the entire phase in turn order before the next phase begins.

• Game Phase — Draw 5 cards and pick turn order.
• Summon Phase — Players complete in turn order.
• Charm Phase — Players complete in turn order.
• Adventure Phase — Players complete in turn order.

A player's helper card will have each of the phases and their steps as reference.

Now start the game! At each step, simply read the summary area. If you need more clarification, read the detailed description area!

Game Phase

Move all counters 1

The unit's stamina track adjusts its overall attack. During this step, all hero and enemy stamina counters move 1 space toward 0. For instance, if a hero or enemy has a stamina of +2, it moves to +1. If a hero or enemy has a stamina of 0, it stays at 0.

In this example, this minion would get a -2 to its attack, bringing its total attack to 5. During the move counters step, the minion's stamina track would move up one space to -1 attack.

Reveal Enemy AI card

The 1st player flips the top card in the Enemy AI deck and does all the actions listed in the card, in order from top to bottom.

Below are all the possible actions found in the Enemy AI cards

Move Karn on his Hunting Track!

• If Karn is still on his track and hunting the heroes, move Karn 1 square to the right on his Hunting Track. The players should keep an eye on how close Karn is to finding them!

• If he was already on the last square on his track (the altar), he jumps to his altar on the land board. If a minion or hero is on Karn's altar when he jumps to the land board, Karn moves to the closest unoccupied square next to the altar. Use the combat square (page 4) to break ties (favoring the lowest number).

  In this example, Karn is moving to the altar on the land board, but a minion is on his altar space! The combat square (found in the corner of the land board) shows which direction he will go, which is in the 1 direction. If the 1 direction was also occupied, he would move in the 2 direction, and so forth.

• If Karn is already on the land board, disregard this action.

Activate the earliest idle (face down) minion

In this situation, the 1st player has been making too much noise and has attracted the attention of a minion that was idle (face down) beforehand. Great job, 1st player. The leftmost idle minion card is now flipped face up and considered active. Any "when revealed" abilities immediately happen. If the minion's ability targets the hero that revealed them, they target the 1st player.

Enemy turn order

Minions take their actions one at a time in order from left to right on the Minion Track, with Karn always moving last. Thus, the "earliest" minion will be the left most minion. Enemy turn order goes thus: Red Minion, Blue Minion, Green Minion, Black Minion, Karn.

All active (face up) enemies gain a rage

All active enemies (enemies who's cards are face up) gain 1 rage, meaning their stamina tracks moves up 1. If there are no active enemies, ignore this effect. Notice that Karn is always face up, so he is always considered active, even when on the hunting track.

Enemy movement

Enemies complete their movement one at a time, in turn order. First determine if that minion is idle (face down) or active (face up) and move them accordingly.

There are two types of movements the AI deck can reveal, standard and priority. Priority movement only changes how active minions move. See next page for priority movement rules for active minions.

Standard movement example: both active and idle minions move 3 spaces.

Priority movement example: both active and idle minions move 4 spaces, and ACTIVE minions have a priority to try and attack player 2.

Idle (face down) minion movement

Idle minions are unaware of the heroes' presence and are patrolling the land, following foot paths on the land board by the amount listed on the AI card.

• Idle minions treat priority movement as standard movement.
• All movement is orthogonal.

Idle minions are minions who's cards are face down. They move orthogonally along foot trails by the amount listed on the Enemy AI card. If an idle minion becomes adjacent to a hero at any time, the minion becomes active (face up) and ends their movement. If a wall is between a minion and a hero, they are not considered adjacent.

The direction of the feet on the land board indicates the direction of the movement.

If a minion's move brings them adjacent to a hero, they immediately end their move, becoming active. Flip their minion card to face up and resolve any "when revealed" ability the minion has. An enemy may move through another enemy, as long as they can end their move on an unoccupied space. Enemies can move over and end their turn over any treasure and spawn points.

What is adjacent?

A unit is considered adjacent to another unit if they are one square away in a straight line from the unit. Diagonal spaces are not considered adjacent. Additionally, units are not considered adjacent if there is a wall between them.

Idle minion passing through another enemy who is adjacent to a hero

If an idle minion can pass completely through another enemy who is adjacent to a hero, the idle minion will become active. The minion ends their movement after they pass through the other enemy.

In this example, the idle blue minion is moving 4 spaces. First it moves up, then moves on the same space as the red minion. This makes the blue minion adjacent to a hero! It then moves off the red minion's space, and ends its move, flipping over to active.

If the minion only had 2 move, however, it would have had to end its move after moving only 1 space, as it would not have enough movement to move through the other minion.

Active enemy movement - Standard

If an active enemy is already adjacent to a hero, that enemy does not move. If an active enemy is not adjacent to a hero, the enemy moves towards the closest hero, ignoring foot trails. If two heroes are equally close to the enemy, break ties using the combat square, then use the combat square to direct the enemy movement path.

• Enemies cannot target heroes in the staging area. If all heroes are in staging area, active enemies do not move.
• Enemies cannot move through walls or heroes.
• Enemies can move over AND end their turn over any other map feature (treasure, spawns etc).
• Enemies may move through another enemy, but cannot end their move on the same square.

The Combat Square

Sometimes there will be multiple possible directions an enemy can move. When this happens, consult the Combat Square on the lower left-hand corner of the land board. The enemy will always move in the lowest numerical direction.

For example, if an enemy is moving to the closest hero, and they could go either in the 1 direction or the 3 direction, it will always move in the 1 direction.

In this example, the red minion is active and has a move of 3. It is equally close to both heroes. Consulting the combat square, the left direction (the "1" direction on the combat square) is the direction the minion takes for its first move. Then the minion moves down towards the blue hero. Once the minion is adjacent, it ends its move.

Active enemy movement - Priority

All active enemies move towards the hero with priority, provided that the enemy can reach that hero. Enemies will even disengage from other adjacent heroes to do so. If that player's hero is not reachable, the enemy will treat the priority movement as if it was standard active movement.

• Enemies cannot target heroes in the staging area. If all heroes are in staging area, active enemies do not move.
• Enemies cannot move through walls or heroes.
• Enemies can move over AND end their turn over any other map feature (treasure, spawns etc.)
• Enemies may move through another enemy, but cannot end their move on the same square.
• If there are multiple paths an enemy can take, use the combat square to break ties.

In this example, enemies move 2 with priority to player 1, which is Jerin (purple hero). The active red minion can reach Jerin in 2 spaces, so it disengages from Luna (blue hero) and moves to Jerin. If Jerin was 3 spaces away, and thus not reachable, the red minion would have stayed where it was.

The active blue minion cannot reach Jerin, so it moves using the standard active enemy movement rules.

Karn's presence

Karn's very presence endangers the heroes. If Karn is on the land board with the heroes, return a Fatal Wound back to the wound pile.

Remember, if a round ends and there are no Fatal Wounds left, the players lose the game!

Turn Order and Draw

Select new turn order

Players will now freely choose turn order. Give each player a token representing their chosen turn. Generally, if a player thinks they will have a strong hand, that player might want to go first in order to distract the enemy and make it easier for the other players to successfully attack that enemy. Or maybe they would go first if they want to buy a specific creature in the Wilds.

All Players Draw

All players draw 5 cards. If a player does not have 5 cards in their deck left, they draw as many as possible and then shuffle their discard to create a new (hopefully more powerful!) deck. They then draw the remainder of their hand.

Summon Phase

In turn order, each player completes their entire Summon Phase. This is the phase where players play their creatures from their hand.

Play cards in hand

On a player's turn they must play all of their cards, one at a time. If a creature has a creature ability (shown in a red banner), immediately perform that action once the card is played. If a creature has no ability, it must still be played. Once a card is played, it is considered not in hand anymore. A player must play all the cards in their hand. Once all players have completed this phase, move to the Charm Phase.

In this example, the hero first played the Redmill Owl, and immediately drew a card. Then, they played their Fogmount Parrot and copied the Redmill Owl's ability, and drew another card! This would not have worked had the player played their cards in the reverse order, as the Parrot would have no ability to copy.

Magic use: Some heroes have magic abilities that allow them to optimize or change drawn cards. If you wish, you may check the magic section (page 14) for more.

• Some creature abilities may give a hero a wound. This is always from the regular wound pile.
• Some creature's abilities target enemies (poisoning them etc). If an idle minion is targeted, they immediately become active!

Ability Terminology

• "basic" cards: all starting cards are basic cards, these cards have a yellow background.
• "destroy": permanently put into the destroyed pile on the board. This card is gone for the rest of the game.
• "destroy x cards in wilds": destroy x cards in The Wilds, one at a time (a new creature will come down between each card destroyed).
• "discard": put into your discard pile.
• "draw" x cards: Take the top x cards of your deck into your hand.
• "Gift": A gift allows another player to discard a card, and then draw a card. The card that is discarded may be a card from their hand or in play (this includes wounds). The player that drew the card must then play and resolve the abilities of the drawn card immediately.
• in "hand": creatures that a player has drawn but have not been played yet.
• "into play": these cards go into play in front of the player, and do not go to the players hand. Their abilities resolve as normal.
• "may": You can choose whether or not to execute this ability.
• "played" card or creature: creatures that have been played and already had their abilities executed.
• "reveal" x cards: Look at the top x cards in your deck, but do not draw them. Unless otherwise stated, return them to the deck in the same order. You cannot reveal more cards than there are in your deck, so this does not cause your discard to reshuffle back into a deck.
• X (purchase cost target icon): This targets another creature with a purchase cost of x. Basic cards are considered to have a purchase cost of 0.

Charm Phase

In turn order, each player completes their entire Charm Phase, as outlined below. This is the phase where players purchase creatures from the Wilds to make their decks stronger. Any Charm not used by a player at the end of their turn loses it.

Count up Charm

Once all the player's cards have been played, count up all the Charm generated by their creatures. Do NOT discard these creatures once they have generated Charm, you need them for the Adventure phase!

The Charm generated by a creature is always located in the area denoted.

In this example, the player has generated 4 Charm. Note that some creatures (and wounds) do not generate Charm!

Spend Charm

A player has 4 ways they may spend their Charm. As long as they have enough Charm, they may do any number of these actions:

• Charm a creature in The Wilds — A player may spend their Charm to make any amount of purchases, as long as they can pay for them. The Charm cost of a card is always in the banner on the upper right of the card. A player may only charm creatures in the Wilds. Once they charm a creature, it is put in their discard. Then replace the empty slot with a face up creature from a creature deck. This can be from the Common Creatures (green background), OR the Advanced Creatures (blue background), as long as the advanced creatures deck is unlocked. The next card in that deck then gets flipped face up.

  Example of spending Charm: The player from the last example spends their 4 Charm. First, they buy the Blightwood Bat. It goes into the player's discard and the Gearbug lands into the empty slot created by the Bat. (In this example there are 3 players, so the rightmost slot is not available). Then, the card in the Common Creature deck that was below the Gearbug flips face up. The player then chooses to use their remaining 1 Charm to purchase the Redmill Owl, which is in turn replaced by the new face up creature from the Common Creature deck. (Note that if the Advanced Creatures deck is unlocked, the player has the option to replace an empty Wilds slot with either a common or an advanced creature!) Then flip the next card from that deck face up.

• Swift charm a creature in The Wilds — If a player wishes, they may swift charm a creature by spending 1 extra Charm over the creature's cost. A Swift charmed creature goes on top of the player's deck, instead of their discard!

  In the example above, if the player wished to Swift charm the Bat, they could do so for 4 Charm. That player now has the advantage of knowing they will have the Bat in the next turn and can plan accordingly.

• Destroy a creature in The Wilds — If a player doesn't want any creatures in the Wilds, they may destroy a creature in The Wilds by spending 1 Charm. The player takes a creature in the Wilds and moves it to the Destroyed Card area. Then, fill the empty slot in the Wilds with a face up card from a creature deck.

• Destroying Locks — Players may choose to spend 1 Charm to destroy a lock card. A player may destroy multiple lock cards, provided they have enough Charm. Once all the locks in a stack have been destroyed, the creatures or ability below becomes accessible for all players! Stacks of locks must be destroyed in order, going from left to right. That means all the Advanced Creature locks must be destroyed before the players can begin unlocking Channeling, etc. Destroyed locks go into the Destroyed Card Area. To learn more about these unlockable powers, refer to page 14.

Build a creature

The player picks a single creature from their played cards to be their core creature. This is the only creature that will have its Core Battle Stats used. Any other creatures the player played this turn (including duplicate creatures) may lend its powers to the core creature in the form of augments. Do this by flipping any of the other played creatures upside down, and tucking them behind the core creature. You may choose to discard any cards that you do not wish to use as augments. Once all players have completed this phase, move to the Adventure Phase!

You will notice that creatures have a lot of different symbols. If you need a reminder of what each symbol means, refer to the back of your helper card!

• From the creatures you just played from your hand, pick a single creature to be the core creature.
• Then flip any other creatures upside down and tuck them behind the core creature.
• You may have duplicate creatures used as augments.
• These cards form the core creature's augments.
• Any unused creatures are discarded.

In this example, the player must choose one of their 5 drawn cards to be their core creature. They then flip any of their other creatures upside down and tuck them behind the core creature, forming augments. Since the kittens do not provide any attack, the player chooses not to use them in the building of their creature. There are several ways to build your resulting creature:

• A wild, spiky, mandibled dragonfly — This summons a creature with a total of: 7 attack, 1 flight, 1 move, and 1 poison!
• A wild, spiky, dual winged ant — This summons a creature with a total of: 10 attack, 1 poison, 1 move, and 1 knockback!
• A wild, dual winged, mandibled caterpillar — This summons a creature with a total of: 7 attack, 1 move, and 1 knockback!
• A dual winged, spiky, mandibled puppy — This summons a creature with a total of: 6 attack, 1 move, 1 knockback, and 1 poison!

Note that the core creature's own augment stats do not get used.

Adventure Phase

In turn order, each player completes their entire Adventure Phase. This is the phase where heroes and their summoned creatures move about the land board, picking up treasure and battling enemies.

Hero Movement

Count movement

A hero has a base move of 3. A hero does not have to spend all of their move. If a hero's creature generates extra move, that is added to the hero's move. A hero may exert themselves to move extra at a cost of 1 move per stamina loss. For instance, a hero with 0 stamina could move 3 extra spaces, but then have -3 stamina. They cannot move extra if their stamina is bottomed out (meaning they are already at -3 stamina).

Movement rules

Heroes, like enemies, cannot move diagonally. Heroes also cannot move through enemies, but they can move through other heroes as long as they do not end their move on an occupied square. A hero may move through any part of the land board EXCEPT through walls. A hero's move path may have them pass adjacent to an enemy with no consequence, as long as they do not END their movement adjacent to an enemy.

Moving from the staging area

The entire staging area is considered adjacent to any of the connecting 4 squares on the land board (the entrance squares). During setup, ensure that the land board is oriented properly so that the entrance squares line up with the staging area (Book 1 pg5).

Looting Treasure

If a hero ENDS their turn over a treasure token, they may remove that token from the board and draw a treasure card! Treasure stays out in front of the player that looted it. To use a treasure, destroy it and gain the action listed on the card. Treasure can be used at any time unless denoted otherwise on the card, and does NOT get shuffled into that hero's deck. To read more about Treasure, refer to page 14.

Ending movement adjacent to an enemy

If a hero ends his movement next to an enemy, they are considered in combat and must battle. Idle minions will flip to active immediately. Resolve any "when revealed" abilities the minion may have. Try not to end your movement adjacent to 2 enemies, because you can only battle one! The other will automatically win against you in battle.

Beginning movement next to an adjacent enemy

If a hero begins their movement next to an adjacent enemy and they wish to move, they must disengage in order to move.

Disengaging

To disengage from an enemy (or even multiple enemies), a player must return 1 Fatal Wound back to the wound pile. This is usually preferable to staying and losing battle and getting that Fatal Wound into the player's discard pile instead!

Example of hero movement

In this example, Jerin has a base move of 3 plus the 1 move given by their creature, giving him a total of 4 move. The player decides it's not worth the risk to currently fight the blue minion and wants to disengage from it. The hero first removes a Fatal Wound and returns it to the wound pile. Then he moves up to 4 spaces. He moves through Luna and then past the red minion. Even though the hero's move brought it temporarily adjacent to the red minion, there is no penalty since the hero kept moving. Finally, the hero ends his move over a treasure token. He removes the token and draws a treasure card from the treasure deck!

Battle: Picking a Fight

Eligible targets for battle

Pick the enemy you are going to battle.

• If you don't have flight, you must battle an enemy that is adjacent to you.
• If you do have flight, you may choose to battle a minion that is within your flight range.
• Any adjacent enemies that do not get battled will automatically win battle against the hero.

Adjacent enemies

After a hero's movement is over, adjacent enemies are considered engaged to that hero. The hero may only battle one of those enemies, and any adjacent enemies not battled will automatically win battle against the hero. Don't get surrounded!

Enemies at range (Fighting with flight)

If a hero or their creature has flight, they may battle a non-adjacent enemy within their flight range. Unless the enemy specifically states that it can attack flying heroes, there is no penalty (i.e. taking Fatal Wounds and suffering enemy Hit Effects) to losing a battle while flying!

Flight Range

A hero's flight range is the amount of spaces between the hero and their enemy. The hero may choose their flight path, measuring it similarly to movement. Flying attacks may not go diagonally, but may pass over other heroes, enemies, and even walls.

Flight range is dictated by the amount of spaces between the hero and the enemy. For Example: If the hero has 2 flight and there are at most 2 squares between the hero and the enemy, the hero may battle that enemy.

Example of flight range

In this example, the hero has a total of 2 flight given by their creature. They have 2 choices:

• The hero may battle the adjacent red minion. The hero cannot use the advantages of flight.
• The hero may battle the blue minion, as it is 2 squares away, despite having to go over a wall. Keep in mind the hero can only battle one minion a turn, so the hero will automatically lose battle against the red minion.

Activating idle minions

If attacking an idle minion with flight (most likely because the hero is attacking with flying) they immediately become active.

"Before battle" and dice roll

Rolling a die represents the hero's own attack power in battle. Any point before this roll is considered "before battle". Any effects that must happen "before battle" will not be able to be used after the die is rolled.

Magic use: Most heroes have magic abilities that allow them to alter a hero's attack. These are the most common types of magic abilities. If you wish, you may check the magic section (page 14) for more.

Battle: Determine Winner

Determine attack values

• Add up the enemy's attack value. That is the enemy's printed attack value plus any attack modifiers on their stamina track.
• Add up the hero's attack value. This is the attack of the hero (the d3 roll) and the strength of their creature, plus any attack modifiers on their stamina track.
• Whoever has the highest number attack wins battle. If there is a tie, the enemy wins.

The player is now battling the green minion from the previous example. The green minion is an Inkling. It has 7 attack and 0 on its stamina counter. The hero's creature gives him 5 attack (as well as 1 move, 2 flight and 2 knockback). The hero has +1 on his stamina counter so that increases the hero's total attack to 6. The player then rolls a d3, and rolls a 1, adding it to the hero's total attack. The final attack values are:

Hero: Creature (5) + stamina (1) + d3(1) = 7 attack vs. Minion: Attack (7) + stamina (0) = 7 attack

Ties go to the enemy, so the hero has lost battle.

Battle: Resolution

Enemy gets distracted

Regardless of if the hero wins or loses battle, the enemy they battled becomes distracted by the fight. Distracted enemies lower the enemy stamina down 1 space on their track, but cannot be distracted past -1 attack.

Battle Result: Win! Do the following in order:

• Apply Hit Effects: Apply the hero's (and their creature's) Hit Effects to the enemy. Hit Effects are in a field of green. See next page for more.

• Deal Damage: Deal 1 damage to the losing enemy. This is done by putting 1 inactive magic gem of the hero's color on the minion's card. This gem now represents 1 damage to the enemy. If that player has no inactive gems, they must use active gems. That player should stop hoarding their magic! If you are fighting Karn, damage is dealt differently - refer to page 13.

• Critical Hit: Once a hero wins, check if they perform a CRITICAL HIT. A critical hit is performed if the hero's total attack is 5 over the enemy's total attack value. A critical hit does an extra damage to the enemy, which can be of any player's color!

• Minion Counterattack: If a minion has any "when damaged" counterattacks, they perform them now. If the minion was hit with a critical hit, it performs its "when damaged" counterattack against each hero whose color was placed as damage.

  An example of a "when damaged" counterattack found on a minion card: "WHEN DAMAGED — Roll a d6, 1-4: Reset loser's stamina."

• Minion Defeated: If the minion has as much damage as it has hit points, it is destroyed. A minion cannot have more damage than hit points. Destroyed enemies have all their damage returned to their owners as active magic! The minion card is placed in the Destroyed pile, and its standee removed from the land board.

Example of win result

In this example, the hero has a total of 9 attack. (5 from his creature, +1 from stamina, +3 from the die) That is more than the minion's 7 attack, so the hero wins!

• First, the minion gets distracted (move minion stamina down 1).
• Then the hero deals its Hit Effects, which is 2 knockback to the minion (see the Hit Effects section on the next page to see this in action).
• Finally, the hero does their damage to the minion.

Battle Result: Lose. Do the following in order:

• Apply Hit Effects: The enemy deals its Hit Effects (if any) to the hero. Hit Effects are icons in a field of green. See next page for more.
• Deal Damage: The enemy deals 1 Fatal Wound to the hero's discard, (or a regular wound if there are no more Fatal Wounds).

If the hero is attacking with flying, and the minion doesn't have any wording on their card that says they can attack flying heroes, the minion does NOT deal damage or perform Hit Effects on the losing hero.

Example of lose result

In this example, the hero has a total of 7 attack (5 from his creature, +1 from stamina, + 1 from the die). That is not more than the minion's 7 attack, so the minion wins!

• First, the minion gets distracted (move minion stamina down 1).
• Then the minion deals its Hit Effects, which is 2 poison, which lowers the hero's stamina by 2.
• Finally, the minion inflicts a Fatal Wound to the hero. The wound goes in the hero's discard pile.

Battle: Hit Effects

Hit Effects are moves that a hero/hero's creature or enemy can do if they win in battle. These moves are shown in a field of green and are generally poison or knockback.

An example of a 2 knockback Hit Effect, and an example of a 1 poison Hit Effect.

Hit Effects activate when the owner wins battle.

Knockback

A Hit Effect that pushes the other unit 1 space per knockback, directly away from the direction of the attack.

• If the pushed unit hits a wall or edge of the land board, it loses 2 stamina.
• If the pushed unit hits another unit (enemy or hero) both lose 2 stamina. The unit being run into doesn't move.
• Sometimes a hero will take d3 or d6 knockback. They will roll either a d3 or d6 and take that many points of knockback.

Example of knockback

In this example, the hero has won battle. First, the minion gets distracted. Then, the hero's 2 knockback generated by their creature pushes the minion directly away from the direction of the hero's attack. The minion can only travel 1 space before it slams into the edge of the land board. Because it ran into something, the unit loses 2 stamina!

Flight + Knockback: A player can use flight in conjunction with knockback to direct their hero's attack path and hit an enemy at range in a direction that will lead them into a wall, or better yet, another enemy!

Knockback into and out of battles

If a hero loses battle and gets knocked back into another minion, the hero must then battle that minion. Since the hero may only battle once, that minion immediately gets distracted, deals its Hit Effects, and deals a Fatal Wounds to the hero.

Alternatively, a hero that is surrounded by more than one minion can "escape" the second battle if it loses the first and the minion knocks it away from the other minion.

Poison

• Poison decreases a unit's stamina by 1 for every point of poison. Pretty simple. Poison is more reliable than knockback because the hero doesn't have to push an enemy into something in order for it to take effect.
• Sometimes a hero will take d3 or d6 poison. They will roll either a d3 or d6 and take that many points of poison.

Some minions have unique Hit Effects:

• Slagmar deals an extra wound, but it is not a Fatal Wound.
• Chuddle eats heroes. To represent this, put the hero on the Chuddle card. While eaten, the hero may not use magic and takes 1 additional regular wound at the end of their turn, but may otherwise play normally. When the Chuddle is defeated, the eaten hero returns to the board on the space the Chuddle occupied. Any additional eaten heroes that are also released are placed adjacent to the first released hero in whatever location they wish.

Discard cards

Once battle is complete, the player puts all cards played this turn into their discard pile.

Once all players have completed this phase, check for end conditions!

End Conditions

If players are on Chapter 1 or Chapter 2:

• If the minions have not all been destroyed and there are still Fatal Wounds in the wound deck, play another round!
• If all the minions have been destroyed, the heroes win the level. Even if Karn is on the board, or there are no more Fatal Wounds, the heroes are victorious and proceed with their quest. They may immediately play the next chapter or save their game for later (see book 1, page 9).
• If the minions have not all been destroyed and their are no more Fatal Wounds in the Fatal Wound deck, the heroes are defeated and the game is lost.
• If you managed to completely defeat Karn, you have won the entire game. How did you manage that??

If players are at the Final Dungeon:

• If Karn is defeated, the game is won! (Acolyte minions do not matter)
• If Karn is still alive but there are Fatal Wounds left in the pile, begin another round.
• If Karn is still alive but there are no Fatal Wounds left in the pile, the heroes are defeated and the game is lost.

(Summary: Ch1 and 2 — Heroes win the chapter if all minions are defeated. Heroes lose if the Fatal Wound stack is empty. If heroes neither win nor lose, play another round. Final Dungeon — Heroes win if Karn is defeated. Heroes lose if Fatal Wound stack is empty. If heroes neither win nor lose, play another round.)

Karn

Defeating Karn is the heroes' final goal, and the only way to free the Direwild. When the heroes are fighting his minions, Karn is actively hunting the heroes, looking to destroy them before they can pose a threat. The heroes' journey eventually ends at Karn's dungeon where they desperately attempt to defeat the all-powerful dark animist.

Karn is not a minion (page 2): Karn cannot be the target of an action that specifically targets a minion. Karn can be targeted if the action targets an "enemy".

Karn's hunting track (page 2): Every turn, Karn moves 1 on his track, starting from the left, until he reaches the altar. The turn after he reaches the altar on the hunting track, he appears onto the altar on the land board. Once this happens, players may ignore the Enemy AI card prompt to move Karn 1 on his track.

Karn's movement: Karn is always considered active (face up). When the heroes face Karn in his dungeon, Karn will not move if the heroes are all in the staging area.

The presence of Karn (page 4): Anytime Karn is on a land board with the heroes, he is slowly draining their will and life essence. This is represented by Karn taking a Fatal Wound from the pile and returning it to the regular wound pile.

Battling Karn

Battling Karn is exactly like battling any of his minions, with the exception of how Karn takes damage:

• Damaging Karn: If a hero wins battle, instead of dealing damage with inactive magic, damage is represented by discarding Karn cards into the Karn discard area on the board. The amount of cards discarded is the hero's total attack minus Karn's total attack. Karn cannot be critically hit.

  For example, if a hero has a total attack of 17, and Karn has a total attack of 14, you would discard 3 Karn cards.

  After determining the amount of cards to remove, remember to distract Karn and apply Hit Effects. Then discard the appropriate amount of Karn cards, and perform Karn's counterattack.

• Karn's counterattack: After Karn cards are discarded he flips the top discarded Karn card over and reveals a vicious counterattack. Once the counterattack is complete, destroy that card (do not leave it in the Karn discard area).

Regeneration and Defeating Karn

If enough damage has been done to Karn that a "Regenerate" card has been revealed, that means that your attack was enough to defeat Karn, but his dark arts have allowed him to regenerate. Represent this by destroying the top Regenerate card and putting all Karn cards from the Karn discard back on top of the Karn space. If the hero had Karn cards they could still remove with their attack, they are not counted. After regenerating, Karn resets his stamina. Note that Karn does not have a counterattack this turn as there are no discarded Karn cards.

If you discard all the Karn cards and there are no more Regenerate cards, you have defeated Karn and have won the game!

Karn's acolytes

There are relatively weak minions in Karn's dungeon that have no foot trails and thus do not move when idle. As such, heroes can choose to ignore them and go straight for Karn. Be aware however, that Karn's counterattacks can get stronger with the amount of minions (active or idle) still on the board, so keeping these acolytes alive can fuel Karn's powers! These acolytes differ from regular minions as they have only 2 hit points.

Magic

Magic is what heroes use to boost attacks, optimize their draw, and lower enemy stamina. Every hero has a passive ability that is always on, and is not considered their magic ability. Magic abilities can cost either 1 or 2 active magic to perform, depending on the ability.

How to get active magic: When a hero damages a minion, they place their inactive magic on the minion to represent damage. When the minion is defeated, the inactive magic comes back to the hero as active magic. Treasure can also give active magic. A hero can only have a max of 6 active magic at any given time. They may still damage enemies, but they must use their active magic as damage.

Timing on magic uses:

• Magic can be used at any time, unless stated otherwise. A hero's magic can (and usually should) be used to help another hero!
• If a hero's magic ability says "use before battle" that means it must be used before a hero's die is rolled.
• If a hero's magic ability allows for the drawing of cards:
  • A drawn creature may only use its abilities if it can be played during the owner's turn in the Summon Phase.
  • A drawn creature may only generate Charm if it is played before or during the owner's "Spend Charm" turn in the Charm Phase.

Magic on idle enemies: Any time magic abilities are used on an idle minion, that minion becomes active!

Specific hero magic clarifications:

• Bloodmaker - The passive ability only works with creatures purchased from the Wilds.
• Groundbreaker - If either Tog or Kachar take a wound while using their magic abilities, they gain rage.
• Featherheart - Magic that allows a player to draw cards must be used before a player plays their cards in the Summon Phase if that player wishes to use any abilities of the drawn creature. If the magic is used during the Charm phase, it will be too late for the creature's ability to work.
• Shadowleaf, Esma - If you blink and either hero is adjacent to an enemy, they may not take a disengagement penalty.
• Stormbringer - You start the game with a d3 die in battle, which limits the magic abilities of both characters to +3 attack. Once you have unlocked the Veteran Hero Power (use of a d6 instead of a d3) your magic ability enhances to +6 attack! The attack boost generated by these spells only last a duration a player's Adventure Phase.
• Stormbringer, Syl - When removing cards from the Wilds during Tempest, you must take all 3 cards from a single Wild's deck. First, set aside the face up card and reveal 3 cards. Once you have returned the cards to either the top or bottom of the deck, replace the face up card.
• Stormbringer, Jerin - You cannot recast Wild Inferno in the same battle if it was canceled.

Treasure

• Treasure is immediately gained when a hero ENDS their turn over a treasure token. The token is removed from the land board and that hero draws a treasure card.
• Treasure can also be gained from certain creature abilities.
• Treasures, unlike creature cards and wounds, do NOT get put into the discard but remain out in front of their owner until they are used and destroyed.
• If treasure is used to alter the state of idle minions, they become active.
• Treasure may be used at any time, unless stated on the treasure card.
• There is no limit to how many treasures a hero can have.
• Treasures are a one time only effect. It is destroyed when used and then added to the Destroyed card pile.
• Most beneficial treasures allow you to target any hero when used.
• If a treasure allows for the drawing of cards, any abilities of the drawn creature will only activate if the card can be played during that player's Summon Phase. Charm can be gained by the drawn card only if the card was played before or during that player's "Spend Charm" turn.
• Treasure Monsters must be battled immediately when drawn. First you roll to see the Treasure Monster's attack. Then you must battle it with your current creature. When you battle it, you may not battle again this turn. Treasure Monsters do not give magic when defeated, but do give treasure.
• For specific treasure card clarifications, see Bk1 pg 11.

Unlocked Hero Powers

During the Charm Phase, a player may spend Charm to destroy locks in the LEFTMOST lock stack. This means the first lock stack players must destroy are the locks to the Advanced Creatures deck. When all the locks are destroyed in a stack, that ability is opened to all players immediately.

• When the Advanced Creatures Deck is unlocked, immediately flip the top card face up. Whenever an open slot becomes available in the Wilds, the player may now populate that slot with either cards from the Common Creatures deck or the Advanced Creatures deck!
• The Channeling ability allows a player that chose not to battle this turn the benefit of returning one of the creatures they played this turn to the top of their deck.
• The Heightened Reflexes ability gives a player the option of taking a wound to reroll any "1" they rolled! This applies to dice rolls outside of combat as well. If there are no wound cards left in the wound pile, you may not use this ability.
• The Veteran ability represents the hero's experience and mastery in combat. It allows all heroes to now use a d6 instead of their standard d3 in battle.

Wounds

Wound cards in a player's deck are effectively dead cards. They normally have no effect when drawn, and are discarded after the Charm Phase is over. They are not considered basic cards or creature cards. Wounds are considered cards and thus may be destroyed by abilities that destroy cards. Fatal Wounds function the same as regular wounds once they are in a player's deck.

Legal/Credit

Direwild by Iron Horde games. Game design and layout by Vas Obeyesekere. Artwork by Kelly Goodine and Vas Obeyesekere. Miniatures by Michael Jenkins. Edited by Michelle Carter. Various icons made by: Lorc, Delapouite. Available on http://game-icons.net

Thank you: Lori Obeyesekere, Conlan Mcnamee, Mike Astle, Jacob Mathews, Walter Bowne, Van Blumreich, David Horn, Amanda Kachar, Jerin Thenayan, Matt Walleart, David Peppel, Jamey Stegmaier, James Mathe, Kos Petoussis, and anyone who has ever playtested this game over the years.