Discover: Lands Unknown Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Overview
  • Exploring Your Unique Game
  • Scenarios and Terrain Types
• Component List
• Setup
  • Survivors and Players
• Playing the Game
  • 1. Day Phase
    • At Camp and At a Fire
  • 2. Night Phase
    • Threat Cards
    • Tribal
    • Discarding Cards
    • Traits
• Winning the Game
• Performing Actions
  • Tribe Leader
  • Gather Action
  • Move and Gather Action
  • Scout Action
  • Trade Action
  • Project Cards
  • Craft Action
  • Spending and Discarding Tokens
  • Carry Limit
  • Investigate Action
  • Resolving Numbered Cards
    • Card Not In Deck
• Perils of the Wild
  • Casualties
    • Looting
  • Monster Tokens
    • Moving Monster Tokens
    • Special Monster Tokens
    • Enemies and Monsters
• Combat
  • Combat Steps
  • Retreating
  • Escaping Combat
  • Supporting Combat
  • Example of Combat
  • Lethal Enemies
  • Key Items
• Exploring the World
  • Objective Icons
  • Variable Effects
• Rules Clarifications
  • Golden Rules
  • Combat Clarifications
  • Movement and Distance
  • Exploration Cards and Investigate Action
  • Resources and Carry Limit
  • Miscellaneous
• Scenario 5
  • Faceup Project Cards
  • Randomized Landmarks
  • Attacking Other Survivors in Scenario 5
  • Support Cards
  • Preventing Damage

Overview

In Discover: Lands Unknown, players are neither directly competing with each other, nor fully cooperating. The main goal is to stay alive, and each player that survives until the end of the game wins!

Any number of players can win or lose the game. It ends when players complete the final quest, which often requires the support of other players. To escape with their lives, players must walk a fine line between helping one another and protecting their own selfish interests.

Exploring Your Unique Game

Your copy of Discover: Lands Unknown has a unique mix of components that is different from every other copy in the world. To preserve the act of discovery, do not read any of the cards before playing. As you play, you will find unique secrets within your game, and this knowledge will help you improve your strategy for future plays.

Each copy of Discover: Lands Unknown has been carefully curated to create a fully functional and unique game. If you have multiple copies of the game, keep each copy separate and refrain from combining them together.

Scenarios and Terrain Types

The stories in this game follow groups of characters and their attempts to survive and uncover a mystery. Each game is played using a scenario, and each scenario tells a story about a different group of survivors. Even though each scenario is played as a separate game, they are thematically connected. If you play all of the scenarios, you will gain new understanding about earlier scenarios.

Your game includes two sets of map tiles (terrain types). Each terrain type has a reference sheet that shows how to set up that terrain's map, special rules, and which cards and scenarios to use with that terrain.

Component List

The actual components in your game will vary from those shown. For example, the terrain reference sheets in your game will match the terrain found in your game.

• 2 Terrain Reference Sheets
• 4 Survivor Figures
• 2 Camp Tokens
• 1 Compass Token
• 4 Fire Tokens
• 2 Dice
• 34 Map Tiles
• 10 Night Cards (4 blue, 6 red)
• 11 Quest Cards
• 12 Combat Support Cards
• 94-96 Exploration Cards
• 30-32 Enemy Cards
• 44 Crafted Item Cards
• 11 Project Cards (8 normal, 3 advanced)
• 1 Tribe Leader Marker
• 12 Character Cards
• 24 Threat Cards (12 blue, 12 orange)
• 4 Reference Cards
• 4 Character Trackers (each includes 4 dials and 4 sets of connectors; assemble each of them)
• 20 Counters
• 6 Water Source Tokens
• 103-106 Feature Tokens
• 16 Monster Tokens
• 84 Resource Tokens
• 2-5 Special Monster Tokens

Setup

To set up the game, perform the following steps:

1. Choose Scenario: As a group, players choose which scenario they would like to play. For their first game, players should use "Scenario 1." Find all quest cards belonging to that scenario and return the others to the game box. Read the "Stage 1" card of the chosen scenario aloud. It provides the first objective that players need to complete to advance toward winning the game. Keep the other quest cards for this scenario facedown (they will be used later).

2. Assign Tribe Leader: Each player rolls a die, and the player who rolls highest receives the tribe leader token. If there is a tie, tied players reroll.

3. Create Night Deck: Shuffle the six tier-II night cards (red) to create a facedown deck. Then shuffle the four tier-I night cards (blue) and place them on top.

4. Find Terrain Components: Find the reference sheet that belongs to this scenario; it shows which terrain-specific components are needed for this game. Set up these components as follows:

   • a. Exploration, Enemy, and Crafted Item Decks: Sort the cards in these three decks facedown in numeric order. Do not shuffle these decks. The sheet will instruct players to return certain exploration cards to the game box. Be sure to do so at this time.
   • b. Project Deck: Shuffle the project cards into a facedown deck and place it near the crafted item deck. If the reference sheet shows advanced project cards (red back), shuffle them into a separate deck.
   • c. Threat Deck: Shuffle the threat cards (of the color shown on the reference sheet) into a facedown deck and place it near the night deck.
   • d. Terrain-Specific Tokens: Gather the map tiles, water source tokens, camp token, monster tokens, and feature tokens shown on the reference sheet. Sort them into facedown piles by token back and randomize them.

Players are now ready to begin playing the game!

Survivors and Players

The term survivor in this game refers to both a player and the player's in-game character.

Playing the Game

The game is played over a number of game rounds. There are two phases to each round:

1. Day Phase: Survivors move about the map, gather resources, craft items, and more.
2. Night Phase: Survivors resolve a night card. These cards have a wide range of positive and negative effects, such as requiring survivors to eat food or moving monster tokens on the map.

Each phase is described in detail in the sections below.

1. Day Phase

During the day, survivors gather resources (such as food and water), craft items, and move about the map as they search for a way home.

Starting with the tribe leader and proceeding clockwise, each survivor takes one turn. During a survivor's turn, that player can perform as many actions as he or she wishes, spending one stamina for each (explained later). Below is a summary of the game's actions, each of which is described in detail later.

• Gather
• Move and Gather
• Scout
• Cook Meat
• Restart Fire
• Craft
• Trade
• Investigate
• Recover
• Card Action

After all survivors have taken their turns, play proceeds to the night phase.

At Camp and At a Fire

Some effects require survivors to be at camp or at a fire. This means that the survivor's figure must be in the same space as the camp or a fire respectively.

Fire is either lit or unlit, which is represented by a double-sided fire token. A survivor is only at a fire if they are in a space with a lit fire token.

If a fire burns out, its token is flipped so its unlit side is faceup. Survivors can perform a "restart fire" action to flip a fire token so its lit side is faceup. At the start of the game, the only fire is on the camp token. As long as this fire is lit, being at camp satisfies both being at camp and at a fire. Players may find ways to create new fires using certain item cards.

2. Night Phase

During the night phase, the tribe leader draws the top card of the night deck, resolves it from top to bottom, and then discards it.

These cards always allow survivors to gain at least six stamina. This stamina is added to each survivor's current stamina value (adjust the dial on the survivor's character tracker to reflect this new value). Stamina is spent by survivors to perform actions (described later). A survivor cannot have less than zero stamina or more than 12 stamina.

Discard the night card after resolving it. The tribe leader then decides either to give the tribe leader token to another survivor or to keep it.

Survivors then begin a new round starting with the day phase. This process continues until every survivor has won or lost the game.

Threat Cards

Being away from fire at night can be dangerous. Some night cards instruct one or more survivors to resolve a threat card. To do so, the survivor draws the top card of the threat deck, follows the instructions on the card, and then discards it.

Some threat cards have the word Ongoing below the card title. When such a card is drawn, place it in front of the survivor. It remains in play until discarded by an effect (often times specified on the threat card itself).

If multiple survivors draw threat cards at the same time, they draw and resolve them one at a time, starting with the tribe leader and proceeding clockwise.

Tribal

Some threat cards are labeled "Tribal." When a survivor draws a tribal threat card, if there are no other survivors on the map, they discard the card and draw a new threat card. This most often applies during solo games, but can also apply if all other survivors have won or been eliminated.

Discarding Cards

When a night or threat card is discarded, it is placed faceup next to its deck. When there are no cards in the night deck, shuffle all tier-II cards from the discard pile to create a new deck. When there are no cards in the threat deck, shuffle its discard pile to create a new deck.

When an exploration, enemy, or crafted item card is discarded, it is returned to its deck, keeping the deck in numerical order for easy referencing.

Traits

Some cards have traits listed above the card ability (such as Cold or Master Key). Traits usually have no gameplay effect, but are referred to by other cards.

Winning the Game

The survivors' main objective is to complete quest cards, and the final quest card in each scenario tells survivors how they can win the game.

A quest card shows the scenario name, the scenario number and stage, flavor text, and the requirement and abilities.

The current quest card remains faceup on the table and contains the instructions needed to complete it, as well as what happens when completed. When the card instructs survivors to advance to a new stage, they find the quest card of the specified stage for that scenario. That card is placed faceup on the table and becomes the current quest.

The final stage of each scenario describes how the survivors win the game. When a survivor wins the game, that player removes their figure from the map, discards all of their cards, tokens, and counters, and no longer participates in the game. All other survivors remaining in the game continue playing.

If a survivor suffers too much damage (described later) that survivor loses the game. After a survivor loses the game, other survivors continue playing and can still win the game. The game ends as soon as there are no survivors left on the map.

Performing Actions

During a survivor's turn, that player can perform any number of actions. Each time a survivor performs an action, reduce that player's stamina dial by one (or more, if the action costs more than one stamina). A survivor can perform the same action multiple times during the same turn, but cannot perform an action if he or she does not have enough stamina to pay its cost. Survivors keep any unspent stamina for the next day.

When a survivor is taking a turn, that player is the current survivor and is the only survivor that can perform actions.

Tribe Leader

The survivor with the tribe leader token is the tribe leader and takes the first turn each day. Additionally, if the group needs to make a decision but cannot agree, the tribe leader makes the decision.

At the end of each night, survivors discuss the upcoming day and decide if they want a different survivor to become the tribe leader. The tribe leader makes the final decision, and can go against the wishes of the other survivors unless all other survivors unanimously choose the same survivor to become the new tribe leader.

The following sections provide rules for resolving each type of action.

Gather Action

This is the main way survivors interact with tokens from the map. When performing this action, the survivor chooses one feature, resource, or water source token in their space and resolves the token as follows:

Feature Token: The survivor flips the token faceup. If it shows a resource icon, that player places the token next to their character card, keeping the feature token as a resource. Survivors spend resources to craft items or to aid in combat (both described later).

If the token has an enemy image and number on it, the survivor fights this enemy in combat (described later).

If the token has only a number on it, the survivor searches the exploration deck for the card that has this number and resolves it (see "Resolving Numbered Cards" on page 9). After resolving the card, discard the token unless the card states otherwise.

Resource Token: The survivor takes the token from their space and places it next to their character card. Resource and feature tokens next to a character card are both considered resources.

When a survivor gains a specific resource from a card effect, the player gains a resource token (not a feature token) from the supply of unused tokens. The reference sheets show a full list of all resource types.

Water Source: When performing a gather action, the survivor does not gain the water source token and instead flips the token faceup and gains one resource token from the supply of the resource type shown on the water source token. This water source token remains in this space for the rest of the game and provides an unlimited source of resources. For example, a survivor in a space with a "clean water" water source token can spend 10 stamina to perform 10 gather actions, gaining 10 clean water tokens.

Move and Gather Action

The survivor moves their figure to an adjacent space by spending stamina equal to the space's stamina cost, which is shown on the terrain reference sheet.

After moving, the survivor may perform one gather action in their space without spending stamina.

If a space contains multiple types of terrain, the cost is determined by the terrain that covers the majority of the space. If the space has a water source or landmark, the stamina cost is based on the terrain surrounding the water source or landmark.

An example of this action can be found in the diagram on page 10.

Scout Action

Survivors cannot move onto facedown map tiles, and must first scout them. To scout, the survivor chooses a map tile adjacent to their space and flips the tile faceup.

Then they draw feature tokens from the supply, placing a matching token on top of each feature icon on that map tile. Each token is placed facedown without revealing it.

The feature token's artwork does not need to match the space's artwork. All that matters is the icon on the token. If there is a water source icon on that tile, place a facedown water source token in the space with the icon.

Trade Action

The survivor chooses one other survivor in his or her space, and the two survivors can freely exchange items, resources, and project cards.

To trade, both survivors must agree to the terms of the trade (i.e., which items and resources will be changing hands). If survivors cannot agree, nothing is traded, and the current survivor does not spend any stamina for this failed action.

Project Cards

Project cards provide survivors with blueprints for crafting items. Each project card shows the item that can be crafted as well as a resource cost, which indicates the materials needed to craft that item. The item number is shown in the lower-right corner of the project card and matches the crafted item card.

Project cards can exist in a survivor's hand or faceup in the play area where all survivors can use them. Project cards in a survivor's hand are kept hidden. However, survivors can talk about and show their cards to each other as they see fit. Survivors cannot look at cards in the crafted item deck until the item is crafted.

Craft Action

Craft actions allow survivors to use their resources to create items. When a survivor performs this action, they choose a project card in their hand or faceup on the table. They spend the resources shown at the bottom of the card to gain the crafted item card that corresponds to the number on the lower-right corner of the project card.

If the survivor chose a project card in their hand, they place the card faceup on the table near the map and draw one new project card from the deck. Faceup project cards stay in play for the remainder of the game and do not belong to any one survivor.

In addition to their resource cost, some project cards also possess a fire icon. Those projects cannot be crafted unless the survivor is at a fire.

Some terrain reference sheets use advanced project cards. Survivors do not start the game with any advanced project cards in their hands. When drawing cards, they can choose to draw from this deck instead of the project deck.

Spending and Discarding Tokens

To spend a resource, the survivor takes one of their feature or resource tokens and discards it faceup next to the supply of unused tokens. If a survivor spends a token that is worth two resources, they can choose to spend it as one resource and then receive one resource token from the supply.

When a pile of feature tokens is depleted, take all discarded tokens of that type, flip them facedown, and randomize them to create a new supply.

Carry Limit

Each survivor can have a combined maximum of 10 resources and items at a time. If a survivor has more than 10, they must choose which 10 to keep. Resources not chosen are placed in the survivor's space, resource side faceup, and cards not chosen are discarded (see "Discarding Cards" on page 6).

Some items have the Quest Item trait. These items are crucial to some quests, and must be kept.

Some items allow survivors to carry resources on them. This allows the survivor to place some of their resources on the item card. Those resources do not count toward the survivor's carry limit (but the item itself still counts as one card toward the carry limit).

Investigate Action

Some spaces contain landmarks, which are points of interests for survivors to explore. Each landmark has a number that corresponds to an exploration card.

If a survivor is in the same space as a landmark, that player can perform an investigate action to resolve the exploration card matching that landmark's number.

Resolving Numbered Cards

Exploration, enemy, and crafted item cards all have numbers on their backs. These decks are kept in numerical order so that survivors can quickly find the appropriate card when they are instructed to do so. When a survivor is instructed to resolve a numbered card, they pick up the appropriate deck and find the card back matching that number. They read the card aloud and resolve it. There are four types of cards in these decks, and each is resolved differently, as follows:

• Instant: The survivor follows the instructions on the card, and then returns it to the deck. The italicized flavor text on cards provides story elements that may be referred to by other cards.
• Upgrade: The survivor places this card next to the map. It remains in play and provides an ongoing effect for all survivors.
• Enemy: The survivor resolves combat against this enemy (described later).
• Item: The survivor keeps this card and places it next to their character card. This item provides benefits to that survivor as detailed on the card.

A survivor cannot have two items with the same name; this applies to crafted items as well. If a survivor gains an item that they already have, they gain the new copy of the card and either return the old card to the deck or give it to another survivor in their space.

Card Not In Deck

If a survivor is instructed to resolve a specific card, but there is no card with that number in the deck, then the survivor does not resolve the card. This can happen if another survivor already has the item or if the card was removed from the game by another effect.

Duplicate Numbers

All cards in the exploration deck that have the same number are identical (excluding some of the cards that are removed from the deck during setup).

Damage

Survivors can suffer damage in a variety of ways, including from combat and by not having food or water when required by a night card. Each time a survivor suffers a damage, that player must choose one of their health dials that is currently showing a heart and turn it to the damage type suffered. There are four types of damage:

• Starvation Damage: This damage represents ailments due to not eating enough food. It is easily healed using food (see "Recover Action" on page 10).
• Dehydration Damage: This damage represents weakness due to not drinking enough water. It is easily healed using water (see "Recover Action").
• Sickness Damage: This damage represents disease or poison that can be healed using medicine (see "Recover Action").
• Physical Damage: This damage represents a severe injury, such as a broken arm, that cannot be healed by a recover action.

When a survivor already has three damage and suffers a fourth damage of any type, the survivor is eliminated and loses the game (described later).

Recover Action

The survivor can heal one damage by spending the appropriate resource, as follows:

• Spend one food to heal one starvation damage.
• Spend one water to heal one dehydration damage.
• Spend one medicine to heal one sickness damage.

A survivor chooses to either heal their own damage or the damage of another survivor in their space. To heal damage, the survivor chooses one health dial that is currently showing that damage type and turns this dial to the heart.

Dirty Water

There are two types of water: clean water and dirty water. Either can be spent as water.

After a survivor spends dirty water, they must either spend one medicine or roll a die. On a roll of 1-3, the survivor suffers one sickness damage. If a survivor discards dirty water, they do not roll the die.

Cook Meat Action

If the survivor is at a fire, that player may exchange any amount of their meat for an equal amount of food.

Restart Fire Action

If the survivor is at an unlit fire, that player may spend one wood to light the fire (flip the token to its lit side).

Card Action

The survivor can use a card action on one of their items, their character card, an upgrade card, or the current quest card. These abilities are preceded by a number and stamina icon (for example "1 stamina:"). To perform this action, the survivor must spend the listed amount of stamina. Survivors can only resolve card actions during their turn.

Example of a Turn

The example uses the Island Terrain Stamina Costs (Beach 1, Grass 1, Underbrush 2).

1. It is Tammy's turn, and she has nine stamina to spend on actions.
2. For her first action, she decides to move to an adjacent space. That space's stamina cost is two (as shown on the reference sheet), so she spends two stamina to perform this action.
3. For her next action, she performs another move action. This space's stamina cost is one.
4. Tammy is adjacent to an unrevealed map tile, so she spends one stamina to scout this tile.
5. The tile is flipped faceup and feature tokens are placed on the spaces that have feature icons.
6. For her next action, she performs another move and gather action.
7. As the last part of her move action, she performs a gather action (without spending additional stamina) to gain the feature token in her space. It is a resource, so she keeps this in front of her.
8. For her next two actions, Tammy performs move actions to move to landmark #33.
9. Tammy performs an investigate action and resolves card #33 from the deck. It is an item, so she keeps the card by her character card.

Tammy has one stamina remaining and decides to save it. The survivor to her left now takes a turn.

Perils of the Wild

The wilderness is a dangerous place. In addition to needing food and water, survivors may encounter dangerous enemies, diseases, and violent weather.

Casualties

When a survivor already has three damage and suffers a fourth damage of any type, the survivor is eliminated. Tip that survivor's figure on its side to indicate that it is now a casualty. If the survivor is the tribe leader, they must give the tribe leader token to the player to their left.

When a survivor is eliminated, that player loses the game. All other survivors continue playing the game, but the eliminated player no longer receives a turn. The eliminated player's card abilities cannot be used and they are not treated as a survivor for any cards or rules.

Looting

When a survivor is eliminated, their project and threat cards are removed from the game, but their resources and items remain near their character card. As an action, a survivor in the same space as a casualty can take one resource or one item from that casualty.

Monster Tokens

Some cards spawn monster tokens on the map. To spawn a monster, take a random monster token from the supply of unused tokens and place it facedown in the specified space. If there is a survivor in the space, flip the token faceup, and the survivor immediately resolves a combat against it (described later).

If an ability spawns a monster on a space that is not on the map (for example, an unrevealed landmark), the monster is not spawned.

When a survivor moves into a space that contains a monster token, the survivor flips the token faceup and immediately resolves a combat against it.

If a survivor moves into a space that contains a monster token, the survivor must resolve combat against the monster before resolving the free gather action.

If there are multiple monster tokens in a survivor's space, that player resolves combat against one of them of his or her choice. Then, if there is still a monster in the survivor's space, the player resolves combat against another one. The survivor repeats this process until there are no monsters in his or her space or that survivor is eliminated.

Moving Monster Tokens

Some card abilities move monster tokens about the map. Monsters always move the specified number of spaces, ignoring terrain. When a monster token moves into a survivor's space, the token is flipped faceup and that enemy fights the survivor in combat (described later).

If a monster moves into a space that contains multiple survivors, the survivors in that space must agree which one of them will fight the monster. If the survivors cannot agree, the tribe leader decides. The tribe leader decides all other ties, including where a monster would move if instructed to move toward the nearest survivor when two survivors are equidistant.

Example: The threat card "Snoring" instructs the survivor to move the nearest monster token 2 spaces toward them. Since the token did not enter a survivor's space, it remains facedown.

If a monster moves more than one space, it moves one space at a time and stops moving if it enters a space that contains a survivor.

Monster tokens cannot move off the map or onto unexplored tiles, and they instead navigate around the edge of the map. If multiple monster tokens move at the same time, they are all moved before any combats occur.

Special Monster Tokens

Some quest and exploration cards spawn special monster tokens. These monster tokens have a gray background, have the same front and back, and are never mixed into the pool of normal monster tokens. Special monster tokens do not move by night cards or threat cards, but retreat as normal. Otherwise, they follow all other rules for monsters unless an ability specifies "Normal monster."

Note: Special monster cards are sometimes found in the exploration deck instead of the enemy deck.

Enemies and Monsters

The term enemy refers to any adversary that a survivor may fight in combat. Monsters are a specific kind of enemy, represented by monster tokens. Abilities that move monster tokens do not move feature tokens or special monster tokens. Faceup feature tokens in a survivor's space do not automatically start combat; they are resolved using gather actions.

Combat

Enemy cards represent all adversaries that survivors fight against, including monsters and wildlife. When a survivor draws an enemy card, that player must immediately resolve combat. Each enemy card shows that enemy's combat stats and health (defense, attack, and health, plus any reward).

The basic rules of combat are simple: the survivor rolls two dice, one gray and one red. If the result of the gray die is equal to or higher than the enemy's defense value, the enemy is dealt damage. If the result of the red die is equal to or higher than the enemy's attack value, the survivor suffers damage. The specific steps of combat are described below.

Combat Steps

The survivor fighting the enemy is the combatant. To resolve combat, perform the following steps:

1. Roll Dice: The combatant rolls both dice. The gray die is referred to on cards as your die and the red die as the enemy die.

2. Modify Dice: The combatant can use abilities to reroll dice or modify die results. This includes spending resources to modify dice as follows:

   • 1 Wood: Reroll the gray die.
   • 1 Stone: Reroll the red die.
   • 1 Poison: Apply +1 to the gray die.
   • 1 Salvage: Apply -1 to the red die.

   The combatant resolves effects that modify dice one at a time in the order of their choice, and they can resolve the same effect multiple times. For example, a survivor could spend one stone to reroll the enemy die and then spend one more stone to reroll it again. Likewise, if a survivor has multiple Weapon items, they can use all of them. However, the combatant can only use each item once per combat.

3. Deal Damage: The enemy and survivor may be dealt damage based on the die results.

   • a. If the result of the gray die is equal to or greater than the enemy's defense value, the enemy is dealt one damage. Place one counter on the enemy card to track this damage. If the enemy has counters on it equal to its health, the enemy is defeated; the survivor gains the reward described on the enemy card (if any) and then discards the enemy card and token.
   • b. If the result of the red die is equal to or greater than the enemy's attack value, the combatant suffers one physical damage. This happens even if the enemy was defeated in this step.

   Some enemies have "-" as their attack value. The survivor does not suffer damage from this enemy, and the number on the red die is only used for resolving retreats.

Combat ends after this step, even if the enemy was not defeated.

Retreating

When a survivor fails to defeat an enemy in combat, the enemy retreats. When an enemy retreats, its token remains faceup and is moved to an adjacent space. It moves in the direction on the compass token that matches the number showing on the red die, which was rolled during combat.

The token cannot retreat off the map, onto an unexplored map tile, or into a survivor's space. If this would happen, the combatant chooses a space that is adjacent to his or her space and does not contain another survivor; the enemy's token is moved to that space.

Escaping Combat

Some cards allow survivors to escape a combat. When a survivor escapes, they move their figure to the adjacent space of their choice that does not contain a monster token, and the combat ends immediately. Any unresolved steps of combat are skipped, meaning that if the survivor escapes before the deal damage step, the survivor is not dealt damage and the enemy is not defeated and does not retreat. The enemy card remains faceup near the map.

Supporting Combat

Each other survivor within two spaces of the combat is a supporter.

Before dice are rolled, each supporter chooses to play one of their three combat support cards faceup on the table or to not play a card. Survivors make this choice one at a time, starting with the player to the left of the combatant. The combatant does not play a combat support card.

Each supporter can use the ability on their card during the modify dice step. Supporters must use the ability unless it uses the word "may." After use, the card returns to its owner and can be used in future combats.

If the enemy is defeated, the combatant can keep the rewards or give some (or all) of it to supporters.

Example combat support card, "Overpower": If the enemy suffers damage, it suffers 1 additional damage. If the combatant suffers damage, you suffer 1 physical damage.

Example of Combat

1. A monster token moved into Ben's space, so he flips the token faceup and draws the card matching its number.
2. There are no survivors close enough to support, so Ben simply rolls the dice.
3. The gray die is less than the enemy's defense value, so Ben spends one wood to reroll the gray die.
4. Ben's die is now equal to the enemy's defense value, so he deals the enemy one damage. He places a counter on the enemy card. The enemy has two health, so it is not defeated.
5. The enemy die is equal to or exceeds the enemy's attack value, so Ben suffers one physical damage.
6. The enemy retreats out of the survivor's space, in the compass direction that matches the enemy die, which is 12.

Lethal Enemies

Some enemy cards are labeled as Lethal, which signifies that this enemy keeps fighting combats until it is defeated or all survivors in its space are defeated.

If a lethal enemy is not defeated in combat, it does not retreat. Instead, it starts a new combat against a different survivor in its space. It fights the survivor in its space that is sitting to the left of the previous combatant. If there are no other survivors in its space, it fights the previous combatant.

Abilities that allow a survivor to escape from combat do not allow the survivor to move away from a lethal enemy. Instead, the combat ends and the enemy starts a new combat against the survivor in its space sitting to the combatant's left. If there are no other survivors in its space, the enemy fights the same survivor again.

Key Items

Some items have abilities that are resolved when drawing an exploration card. These items allow the survivor to resolve a different exploration card instead of the card they just drew. The survivor must decide which card to resolve before seeing the replacement card's ability.

Example: A survivor has a "Silver Key" card that reads, "When you would resolve a card that has the phrase 'door is locked,' you may resolve the card 1 number higher instead." While performing an investigate action, the survivor draws card #1, which reads, "This door is locked." The survivor can choose to resolve card #3 as listed on card #1 or use their "Silver Key" to resolve card #2.

Exploring the World

To complete a scenario, survivors frequently need to travel to specific locations or find specific items. Rules for these locations and items are described below.

Objective Icons

Some spaces have red objective icons printed on them. These icons have no game effect, but may be referred to by card abilities.

Variable Effects

Quest cards often use the number-of-players icon. When this appears, it signifies the number of players that started the game, which includes casualties and survivors who have already won the game. For example, "Roll (players) dice" in a four-player game would always be read as "Roll four dice."

You now know all the rules needed to start playing the game. If a question arises during the game that you cannot resolve, refer to the rules clarification section on pages 14-15. Pages 15-16 have rules that are only used in scenario 5. This special scenario requires at least 2 players and is fully competitive.

Rules Clarifications

This section contains clarifications for rare or complex rules interactions. If players encounter a situation that was not addressed in the main rules, consult this section. Most players should not need to read this unless an issue arises.

Golden Rules

• If a card contradicts this rulebook, the card takes precedence. If a card uses the term "cannot," that effect is absolute and cannot be overridden.
• Counters, fires, and resource tokens are not limited to those provided in the game. If players need additional tokens, they can use coins or other suitable substitutes. All other tokens are limited to those included in the game.
• If an effect makes a survivor lose stamina or discard tokens, but the survivor does not have enough to lose or discard, they lose or discard as much as possible.
• Game situations will sometimes make card abilities have no effect. For example, if a threat card instructs a survivor to spawn a monster token at the nearest landmark and there are no landmarks in play, the card is resolved for no effect and is then discarded.

Combat Clarifications

• Abilities that refer to the number "showing" on a die refer only to the number physically printed on the die, ignoring modifiers. Abilities that refer to the "final result" of a die refer to the result after all modifiers are applied.
• If an ability is modifying a die (for example, adding +2 to it), and the die is rerolled, the modifier is also applied to the new result showing on the die.
• If a survivor escapes from combat and another survivor is in the space with the enemy's token, the enemy immediately starts a combat against a survivor in its space.
• If an ability can be used "once per combat," it can be used multiple times if multiple combats occur. For example, if fighting a lethal enemy, the survivor could fight multiple combats against it and can use each "once per combat" ability during each of these combats.
• Only the survivor(s) that rolled dice can use items and character abilities in combat. Supporters cannot use these abilities unless specified on the card.
• If there are no legal spaces for an enemy token to retreat to (for example, because survivors are in each adjacent space), the token is placed in the nearest space that does not contain a survivor.
• Some enemies (such as the Gazelle) retreat two spaces instead of one. If this enemy can only move one space in the specified direction because it would otherwise move off the map, it moves one space in that direction.
• If a survivor defeats an enemy and becomes eliminated in the same combat, the survivor receives the enemy's reward before being eliminated.
• Cards that are used "Before rolling in combat" are used immediately after supporters choose to use support cards.
• If a survivor uses an ability to deal damage to an enemy outside of a combat, this could defeat it immediately. The survivor claims the enemy's reward even if not in the enemy's space.
• If multiple survivors are within two spaces of a combat, they choose which combat support cards they wish to play (if any), starting with the player on the left of the combatant and proceeding clockwise.

Movement and Distance

• Some abilities move survivors (for example "1 stamina: Move up to 4 spaces"). The following rules apply to these abilities:
  • The terrain type(s) are ignored and do not cost additional stamina.
  • The survivor must stop moving if they enter a space that contains a monster token. They must immediately resolve a combat against the monster and then their action ends.
  • The survivor cannot interrupt this movement to perform a different action. For example, they cannot perform gather actions to pick up resources along the way.
  • Unlike the move and gather action, these abilities do not allow the survivor to then perform a gather action without spending stamina.
• If an ability moves a survivor or token directly to a specific space (for example, "Move to landmark #1"), the survivor's figure is picked up and placed directly in this space without moving through the spaces in between.
• When a rule or ability refers to a component a certain distance away from a survivor (for example "within 2 spaces"), anything in the survivor's space is within zero spaces and anything adjacent is within one space.

Exploration Cards and Investigate Action

• If an instant exploration card allows the survivor to resolve a different exploration card, the survivor does not need to perform an additional action to do so.
• A survivor may investigate the same landmark multiple times during a turn, spending stamina for each action as normal.
• If an exploration card from a numbered feature token instructs the survivor to leave the token in their space, the token is left faceup. If the card does not specify, the numbered feature token is discarded.

Resources and Carry Limit

• Project cards, ongoing threat cards, and combat support cards do not count toward a survivor's carry limit.
• Survivors can only drop resources (place them in their space) when they exceed their carry limit.
• Some items have the Quest Item trait. These items are crucial to completing some quests, and cannot be discarded, even if the survivor is exceeding their carry limit. These items still count toward the carry limit.
• A survivor can choose to gather a resource or trade items even if this would make them exceed their carry limit. At the end of the action, they must drop resources or discard items until they are no longer exceeding their limit.
• A token that has two resource icons on it only counts as one token for a survivor's carry limit. The survivor can exchange this token for two single resource tokens from the supply at any time. After the token is converted, both tokens count toward the survivor's carry limit and they cannot be combined back into a single token.
• A survivor can gather one resource token with each gather action. If they wish to gather multiple resources from their space, they need to perform multiple gather actions.
• A survivor can only spend their own resources.
• Survivors can freely move their resources onto and off of their items that can "carry resources" at any time. If a survivor trades an item that has resources on it, the resources are also traded.

Miscellaneous

• If there are no monster tokens remaining in the supply, all unused monster tokens are flipped facedown and randomized to create a new supply.
• If an effect "removes" a card or token from the game, return that component to the game box. It will not be used for the remainder of the game.
• Some abilities specify that they can only be used "once per day." If one survivor uses that card, it cannot be used by any other survivor until the next day phase.
  • This applies even if the item is traded to another survivor.
  • If more than one copy of that card exists, each copy of that card can be used once per day.
  • These cards can be used during the night phase as long as they were not used during the day that preceded it. If used during the night, the ability can be used again as early as the start of the next day.
• When performing a trade action, survivors do not need to exchange the same number of items. For example, one survivor could decide to give three food to another survivor in his or her space, and as long as the other survivor agrees, this is a legal trade.
• A fire token can be in any space, regardless of the terrain, landmarks, or water sources in the space. Thematically, the survivor has built the fire on the shore or on a rock above the water.
• If an ability heals damage, the damage must be healed from the survivor who is using the ability unless specified otherwise.
• If an ability heals damage but does not specify which type of damage, the survivor being healed can choose the type.
• Abilities on a casualty's item and character cards cannot be resolved.
• Some item cards instruct survivors to place counters on them "when crafted" or "when found." These tokens are placed on the card when the card is gained from a deck. If the item is traded to another survivor, any remaining counters stay on the card, but no additional counters are added.
  • In order to place more counters on a crafted item card, the survivor can craft the item again (by spending an action and the required resources).

Scenario 5

The fifth and final scenario plays very differently than the others. This cut-throat scenario pits survivors against each other in a contest to be the last one standing. It is not really part of the main storyline, but has more replayability than the other scenarios and can be played on any terrain type. This scenario requires at least 2 players and is fully competitive.

This scenario has the following special rules:

Faceup Project Cards

At the start of the game, all project cards are placed faceup on the table. Survivors can craft any project when performing a craft action, and they never draw project cards. If the terrain reference sheet specifies to use advanced project cards, those cards are also placed faceup on the table during setup.

Randomized Landmarks

When a survivor investigates a landmark, they do not draw the encounter card matching that landmark's number. Instead, they resolve a random #100 encounter card and place a counter in their space. Survivors cannot perform investigate actions in spaces with a counter.

Attacking Other Survivors in Scenario 5

When playing scenario 5, survivors can attack other survivors, but not during the first day of the game.

A survivor can attack another survivor by spending three stamina and choosing a survivor in his or her space. The current survivor is the attacker and the chosen survivor is the defender. The attacker and defender are both combatants.

Combat between survivors uses the normal combat steps with the following clarifications.

1. Roll Dice: The attacker rolls the gray die and the defender rolls the red die.

2. Modify Dice: Starting with the attacker and proceeding clockwise, survivors take turns modifying dice by using their support cards, items, and resources (following normal rules). Abilities that add to or subtract from a die without a cost are always active and do not use a survivor's turn during this step. For the purpose of abilities, each combatant treats the die he or she rolled as your roll and the other die as the enemy roll.

   Supporters cannot use items, character abilities, or spend resources to modify dice.

   A survivor can pass (choose to do nothing) when it is their turn to modify dice. When all survivors pass consecutively, proceed to step 4. A survivor can pass and then choose to modify dice later during this step.

3. Deal Damage: The attacker and defender may be dealt damage based on the die results.

   • a. If the result of the gray die is 10 or higher, the defender is dealt one physical damage and the attacker can take one of the defender's resources.
   • b. If the result of the red die is 10 or higher, the attacker is dealt one physical damage and the defender can take one of the attacker's resources.

The combat ends after step 3 (there is no retreat step).

Survivors can perform as many attack actions as they wish during their turn but must spend stamina each time.

Support Cards

Each other survivor within two spaces of the combatants is a supporter and may play combat support cards before rolling dice as normal. The following rules also apply.

The "Overpower" support card deals additional damage to the defender. If the attacker suffers damage, the survivor who played this card suffers one physical damage.

Supporters cannot be dealt damage when using the "Assault" or "Defend" combat support cards.

Preventing Damage

If a survivor is dealing more than one damage and the other combatant prevents one, the additional damage is still dealt. If all damage is prevented, this does not prevent the survivor from taking one resource from the other combatant.