Dobbers: Quest for the Key Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Box Contents
• Setup
• Anatomy of Cards
  • Equipment and Effects
  • Locations and Creatures
• Important Concepts
  • General Rules
  • Turn Breakdown
  • The Main Phase
• Game Play
  • Playing Cards From Your Hand
  • Effect Cards
  • Equipment Cards
• Acquiring Cards
  • Using Influence to Acquire Cards from the Adventure or Challenge Rows
• Building a Challenge Stack
• Using Action Points
• Using the Action Point Tracker
• Travel
  • Using Action Points for Travel
• Challenges
  • Challenge Actions
• Resolving a Challenge
  • Attempting a Challenge is treated as an "all or nothing" encounter.
  • Location Consequences
  • Victory
  • Results
  • Defeat
  • What do you do with the cards once you've overcome a Challenge?
• Alignment Bonus Effects
• Location Advantage From Items
• Token Modifiers
• Destroy and Forge Bonus Card Abilities
  • Destroy
  • Forge Bonus
• Winning the Game
  • Standard Rules for Winning
  • Alternate Competition Rules: DUEL!
• 2 Player Rule Variants
• Solo Play Mode
  • Set Up
  • Game Play
  • Solo Play Winning Conditions
• FAQ

Box Contents

• 16 Hero Cards - Each player chooses a Hero character to use during the game. Randomly choose the order that players get to select a Hero.
• 38 Challenge Cards - 18 Location cards and 20 Creature cards.
• 4 Core Starting Decks - 8 Bottle Caps, 1 Traveling Kit and 1 Wooden Knife per player.
• 4 Action Point Trackers - Each player may choose to use an optional Action Point Tracker.
• 12 Action Point Tracking Discs - Each player will get 3 plastic translucent discs, one each of red, blue and yellow, that they can use to track their Hero's base Action points from turn to turn.
• 114 Adventure Cards - Adventure cards include Effects and Equipment. Effect cards are played during your turn and once the described effect is resolved, they are moved to your discard pile. Equipment cards include Weapons, Armor or Items. These cards are put into play next to your Hero, equipping him or her, and remain in play until an effect or player action removes it. Effects and Equipment cards will be described in more detail later.
• 30 round modifier tokens - During the game your Hero may gain modifiers to their Action or Influence points. These tokens are placed on your Hero card until they are used.
• 4 Dobber Hero Meeples - Each player chooses a colored meeple to represent their Hero on the board.
• 1 Game Board - Center the board in your play area. Allow room for each player to have their Hero and Equipment cards in front of them and room for the Challenge and Adventure row cards.

Setup

1. Game Board - Place the game board in the center of the table. Allow room for each player to have their Hero and equipment cards in front of them.
2. Hero - Each player chooses a Hero card. Place the card in front of you and allow space for three equipment cards. Also take a Dobber Meeple to represent that hero on the game board. Place each Dobber Meeple on a different starting location.
3. Action Point Tracker/Player Aid (Optional) - Players may choose to use an Action Point Tracker to help account for their Base Action Points each turn. Players use 3 plastic Action Point markers, one blue, one red and one yellow, to mark their base Action points on the tracker.
4. Core Starting Deck - Each player receives a core starting deck, comprised of 8 Bottle Caps, 1 Traveling Kit and 1 Wooden Knife.
5. Personal Discard Pile - During the game you will place cards here after you have played them from your hand and their effects have been resolved. You will also place new cards you acquire from the Adventure row here.
6. Location Cards - Shuffle the 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" Location cards and place them below the bottom left corner of the game board. They should be art side up, hiding the text on other side of the cards. Deal two cards to the right of this stack so that three Location cards are visible.
7. Creature Cards - Shuffle the 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" Creature cards and place them below the bottom right corner of the game board. They should also be art side up, hiding any text on the other side of the cards. Deal two cards to the left of this stack so that three Creature cards are visible. The row formed by the Location cards and the Creature cards is referred to as the Challenge row.
8. Adventure Deck - Shuffle the 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" Adventure cards and place them face down below the Location cards. Deal six cards face up to the right of this stack. This is the Adventure row.

Anatomy of Cards

Equipment and Effects

1. Name of the Card
2. Cost - Number of Influence Points needed to acquire this card from the Adventure row.
3. Territory Alignment - There are four different territories in and around the forest - Dobberton, Wild, The Rat Claw Clan and The Decay - each a group, when played together, will strengthen your deck.
4. Universal Action Points - Once per turn, this card gives your Hero Action Points that can be used for both Travel and Challenges.
5. Influence Points - Once per turn, this card gives your Hero Influence Points that can be used to acquire cards from the Adventure or Challenge Rows.
6. Bonus Effects - Once per turn, this card gives your Hero the bonus effect described in this section. Many Bonus effects are triggered when certain conditions are present in play. Others happen when the card is played.
7. Card Type - Each card from the Adventure row is one of four types - Effect, Weapon, Armor or Item.
8. Flavor Text - A rich story provides the backdrop for Dobbers; Quest for the Key. This provides no in-game effect.
9. Territory Alignment Bonus Effects - Some cards provide a bonus effect only when your Hero has other cards in play from the same alignment. For example, the card shown here provides +1 Action point for Travel on all turns. But if you play another card from the Decay alignment this turn, your Hero also gains +1 Action point for Challenges.

Locations and Creatures

1. Name of the Card
2. Cost - Number of Influence Points needed to place this Location on the game board.
3. Action Points to Beat - The number of Challenge Action points added to the Challenge stack where this card is placed on the game board.
4. Item Modifier - Equipped Items give your Hero advantages in certain Locations. If you have an Item actively equipped with this icon, the Location's Action points are reduced to the lower amount shown.
5. Results - After facing a Challenge, read the text here (I recommend out loud, it's more fun that way!) Then read either the Victory or Defeat sections and follow their instructions.
6. Victory - If your Action points for this Challenge are equal to or higher than the value of this Location and other cards stacked here, you gain the Victory effect.
7. Extra Challenge - At times, even in Victory there is a cost. Follow these additional directions within the tan box. Note: For an easier game, you can exclude these tan boxes from all Challenges. Make sure to discuss this with the other players before beginning the game.
8. Defeat - If your Hero fails to overcome a Challenge, you must face the consequences! Read the text and follow the instructions.
9. Card Type - Card type.
10. Challenge Capacity - When placing cards to create a challenge, the Location card sets the maximum number of cards that can be stacked under it.

Note: The card shown above is considered face up. This is the side that has text, such as the Challenge Results and Action points to overcome. The cards below are both face down, showing the full illustration that represents that location or creature. Make sure to keep the cards face down until instructed to turn them over.

Important Concepts

General Rules

Each player takes and shuffles his or her Core Starting Deck and draws cards for their hand.

In a two-player game, the first player draws three cards on their first turn. For all following turns, both players draw five cards during their draw phase, unless that number is modified by cards or other in-game effects.

In a three or more player game, the first player draws three cards on their first turn and the second player draws four cards on their first turn. For all following turns, all players draw five cards during their draw phase, unless that number is modified by cards or other in-game effects.

If at any time your personal deck is empty and you need to draw a card or reveal a card from the top of your deck, reshuffle your discard pile to replenish your personal deck.

Effect cards played during your turn go into the discard pile after their effects have been resolved. Any cards you acquire from the Adventure row are placed into your discard pile.

Whenever a card has been acquired from the Adventure row, immediately replace it with a new card from the top of the Adventure deck.

When a card is acquired from the Challenge row, it is immediately placed on the game board. If the card is a Location, place it on any open Encounter square on the board. If it is a Creature card, place it under a Location card that has no cards under it. Creature cards must be placed under Location cards and cannot be played on the game board by themselves. Whenever Location cards or Creature cards are placed on the game board, replenish the Challenge row with the top card from its respective deck.

Some cards have conditions that contradict these rules. In that case, follow the instructions on the card instead.

Turn Breakdown

1. The Main Phase of your turn is when all the action happens. You will play cards from your hand, acquire cards for your personal deck, acquire cards to place on the game board, move your Hero on the game board and face challenges.
2. The Draw Phase is how you end your turn. Draw five new cards from your personal deck.

The Main Phase

There are a number of different things you can do during your Main Phase. They can be done in any order and if you are able, can be repeated.

• Play Equipment cards (Weapons, Armor and/or Items) on your Hero, improving their base Action points and/or Influence.
• Play Effect cards from your hand to gain Action points and Influence points.
• Use Influence to acquire new cards for your deck. These Effect and Equipment cards are acquired from the Adventure row and then put into your discard pile.
• Use Influence to acquire Location and Creature cards to put out on the game board, making your opponent's path more difficult.
• Play Equipment cards from your hand under Location cards to equip the Creature there. There must be a Creature at the Location before you can play any Equipment there.
• Use Action points to move your Hero along the game board and overcome Challenges.
• Discard any unused cards from your hand.

Ultimately, this is the most important part of your turn. You must move and reach the last space on the board, claiming the magical key, before your opponent(s) to win the game!

Game Play

Playing Cards From Your Hand

Playing cards from your hand is as simple as laying them in front of you. What kind of card it is determines what happens once it's played.

All of the cards have an icon that corresponds to its type in the lower left corner. Below are the icons found on the cards in the Adventure row and each player's Core Starting deck:

• Effect Icon
• Weapon Icon
• Armor Icon
• Item Icon

Effect Cards

Gain special abilities for your Hero by playing Effect cards. This can be Action points, Influence points, additional cards drawn from your personal deck, or even the ability to destroy cards in the Adventure or Challenge rows. Whatever the card says, your Hero gains that effect or ability.

Example A - Hearty Mushroom gives your Hero 1 universal Action point and the additional effect of "Draw a card". When you play this card, you immediately gain the 1 Action point to add to any other Action points you have not used this turn. Those Action points may be used for Travel or Challenges. You also draw a card from your personal deck.

Example B - Cull gives your Hero 1 influence and "Destroy one card from your hand or discard pile to draw one card". Once this card is played, you immediately add 1 Influence point to any other Influence points you've not used this turn. Those Influence points can be used to acquire cards from the Adventure or Challenge rows. You also may destroy a card from your hand or discard pile, removing it permanently from the game. When doing this, you may draw a card from your personal deck.

Equipment Cards

Equipment cards are played on your Hero. This modifies the base Action Points and Influence that they can use each turn. When you play one of the cards you are "equipping your Hero". The better your Hero's equipment is, the more powerful he or she is - Great!

Unlike Effect cards, once an Equipment card is played on your Hero, it stays in play allowing your Hero to use its effects or abilities once per turn. However, your Hero can only carry so much. He or she can have no more than one Weapon, one Armor, and one Item.

So what happens if you already have an Item card equipped and want to replace it with a better one? Simply play your new Item card on your Hero and pick up the old one. That one is now in your hand.

Note: Equipment cards that are in your hand do not provide any Action points or Influence points. They may be played under Locations that have a Creature or Destroyed by some in-game effect. Otherwise, they will be put in your discard pile at the end of your turn.

Note: Your Hero can only use one of each type of Equipment per turn. You can use the Abilities and Effects provided by an Equipment card, then replace it with a new card, but you cannot use the Abilities and Effect provided by the new Equipment card on the same turn. You will be able to use the newly equipped card the following turn. Also, you can replace an Equipment card before using its Abilities and Effects allowing you to use the Abilities and Effects provided by the new Equipment card on the same turn.

Example - Bow & Arrow is a Weapon Equipment card. It adds 2 Action points to your Hero's base Action points each turn and gives you the additional effect of "Once per turn, you may draw a card from your personal deck." You can do this at any time as long as it is in play and no other Weapon has been used by your Hero this turn.

Acquiring Cards

Using Influence to Acquire Cards from the Adventure or Challenge Rows

Acquiring cards from the Adventure row for your personal deck or cards from the Challenge row to play on the game board is a key part of a player's main phase each turn. To acquire cards you spend Influence points.

Your Hero and his or her Equipment have a base Influence that you get to use each turn. You can add to that total by playing Effect cards, such as Silver Coins. You may acquire any number of cards from the Adventure or Challenge rows as long as you have enough Influence to do so. The cost of Influence to acquire versus the amount of Influence provided by the card when in play is shown to the right.

Example A: Acquiring from the Adventure Row - Your Hero is Toby. He has a base of 1 Influence. He has three Equipment cards in play, a Weapon - Silver Sword, an Item - Traveling Kit and Armor - Iron Bark. The Silver Sword, being an impressive piece of craftsmanship, also provides an Influence of 1. This brings Toby's base Influence up to 2. In your hand you have Helpful, Strength and three Bottle Caps. Helpful and each Bottle Cap provide 1 Influence, bringing your total Influence for this turn to 6. You choose to use the three Bottle Caps to acquire Silver. Now place all four of those cards (Silver plus the three Bottle Caps) in your discard pile. Replace Silver Coins in the Adventure row with a new card from the Adventure deck.

This leaves you with 3 remaining Influence for this turn (2 from your Hero's base, Toby and the Silver Sword and 1 from Helpful). You use the remaining 3 on Rot, another Effect card. Place it in your discard pile. Your Hero's Equipment, even though you used the Influence point from Silver Sword, stay in play. There are no cards in the Adventure or Challenge rows with an influence cost of 1 and you discard your last Bottle Cap.

Note: When in play, Silver adds 2 Influence for you to use during the current turn.

Example B: Acquiring from the Challenge Row - Using the same Hero, Equipment and hand from the example above, you have 6 Influence to use this turn. Your opponent is already one space ahead of you on the game board. You'd better slow her down. The space in front of her is an Encounter square. Encounter squares are the large boxes on the game board. You choose to use 5 Influence to acquire Castle Walls. Take the Castle Walls card from the Challenge row and place it directly on the game board in the Encounter square of your choice. Make sure the card is placed full art up, hiding its Action points and results text. Now discard any cards that you played to generate the Influence needed to acquire Castle Walls. You have 1 Influence left. There are no cards in the Adventure or Challenge rows with an influence cost of 1 and you discard your last Bottle Cap.

Note: When you acquire and place cards from the Challenge row you cannot look at or reveal to other players the text and details on the back of the card.

Building a Challenge Stack

Adding cards to the game board is referred to as building a Challenge Stack. There is a specific order the cards need to be placed on the board once they have been acquired. There is also a specific way the cards should be stacked. Keeping the cards in this arrangement is intended to keep most of the details of the Challenge hidden from players before they attempt to move their Hero to the Challenge.

Location cards are placed on one of the Encounter squares of the game board first. Keep it full-art up. Do not look at or reveal the Action points or text on the other side. Next you may place a Creature card. Keep it full-art up and place it under a Location card. Allow the creature icon in the lower left of the card to be visible.

Location cards have a capacity number in the lower right corner. If the capacity allows, you can also play equipment cards (Weapon, Armor and Item cards) on a Challenge stack that already has a Location and Creature on it. Play these cards between the Location and the Creature cards. Stagger the edge of the cards so all of the card icons are visible. Two types of the same card cannot be played on a location. Being able to see the icon will prevent you from doing this. Each player will be able to see if there is a weapon, armor or item card already on that location.

This can be done over multiple turns and by multiple players. Once a Location is on the game board, any player can add a Creature to it. Once a Location has a Creature, any player can add equipment to it.

When you acquire equipment cards from the Adventure row, you typically put them into your discard pile. However, if a Challenge stack is available, you may place equipment cards directly on the game board after acquiring them from the Adventure row.

Diagram labels: Standard movement square; Large Challenge Location square. Card legend: Location Card, Creature Card, Weapon Card, Armor Card.

Using Action Points

Action points are essential to the game of Dobbers. They are used for both Travel and overcoming Challenges. Traveling is simply moving your Hero piece from one square to another as you try to get to the Key at the end of the board. Challenges are made up of Locations, Creatures and sometimes Equipment cards that are placed on the game board, as described in the previous section.

Your Hero and his or her Equipment combine to make up the base Action Points to be used each turn. Action points are indicated on each card by a number inside of a shield shape. The shields are: a red shield with 2, a blue shield with +1, and a gold shield with +2.

When you attempt to move your Hero from a square to a Location Area on the game board with a Challenge stack on it, you are initiating a Challenge. You win the Challenge when the total Action points your Hero has on the turn in question is equal to or greater than the total Action points on the cards in the Challenge Stack. Let's break down how that works.

There are three different colors of Action point shields. Each one is used in a different way.

• Red Action points are universal and can be used for both Travel and Challenges.
• Blue Action points can only be used for Travel attempts.
• Gold Action points can only be used for Challenge attempts.

Using the Action Point Tracker

The Action Point Tracker is not required to play Dobbers: Quest for the Key, but if you're new to the game, it might be a useful tool to help you account for the Action points your Hero has to use each turn. It also provides a summary for how to use your Hero's action points each turn and suggested layout for your Hero and his or her equipment that is in play.

If you choose to use the Action Point Tracker, also take three of the translucent plastic discs, one of each color, blue, red and yellow. They are used to mark your Hero's current action points for the turn.

Travel

Using Action Points for Travel

In the example to the right, you can see Toby has a really powerful set of Equipment. His base Action points before playing any cards from your hand total: 1 Travel Action Point (blue), 4 Universal Action Points (red), and 3 Challenge Action Points (gold).

Let's break it down. Toby has one blue Travel Action point from the Traveling Kit. Easy enough. He has four red Universal Action points. One he has automatically because he's a Hero. He also gets two from his Silver Sword and one more from the Iron Bark Armor. Four total. Last, he has three Gold Challenge Action points. Toby's special ability, as a natural fighter, gives him one to use each turn. He gets one more each from his Silver Sword and Iron Bark. Three total. Simply move the discs to the correct number whenever your change your Hero's Equipment.

Each turn that you want to move your Hero, compare the Action points your Hero has available to the Action shield on the board. They are in-between the square your Hero is on and the one you are attempting to move to. If your Action points are equal to or higher, you can move your Hero's meeple.

Example A - It's the beginning of the game and your first turn, you want to move from the starting place to the first square. There is a blue 2 shield. You have 4 bottle caps and the Traveling Kit in your hand. You play the Traveling Kit on your Hero, Herb. He has 1 red Action point and now +1 blue Travel Action point. This blue Action point can only be used toward Travel Actions and your red Action point can be used for anything. Therefore you have 2 Action points your Hero can use for Travel. You can move your Hero's pawn to the first square.

Note: You cannot use gold Action points to Travel.

Challenges

Challenge Actions

Location cards, Creature cards and Equipment cards can be combined to make up a Challenge Stack. When attempting to overcome a Challenge Stack you compare your Hero's total Action points for a given turn to the total Action points in a Challenge Stack. When you calculate your Action point total for the turn, keep in mind you cannot use blue (Travel) Action points toward Challenges, only Gold and Red Action points.

To engage in a Challenge, tell the other players that you're committing to the Challenge. It's important to be clear, because once you commit, you turn over the card(s) that make up the Challenge stack, revealing all of the text and Action points for each card. Once you turn these cards over, you are fully committed to the Challenge.

Read all the text on the revealed cards. Some have instructions that change how the Challenge will be assessed. Also, each Location card has a series of Consequences your Hero must face when attempting to overcome a location. More about that later. Now add all the Action points shown on the cards together to determine the total number your Hero needs to win the Challenge.

Resolving a Challenge

Attempting a Challenge is treated as an "all or nothing" encounter.

Each Challenge includes the total of the blue Travel Action points (needed to get to the Challenge location) and the Challenge Action points from the cards in the Challenge stack.

Using the example above, you can see a blue Travel Action shield on the path before a encounter square with the Castle Walls location card and a mystery Creature card under it. Your Hero is Toby. We can use the set of equipment and hand from page 9.

Your Hero's base Action points before playing cards from your hand total: 1 Travel Action Point (blue), 4 Universal Action Points (red), and 3 Challenge Action Points (gold).

You assess your odds and decide you want to attempt to defeat the Challenge Stack in front of your Hero. Next turn over the cards at the Location square and read all of the text on the revealed cards.

You must first account for the blue 3 Action shield between the square where your Hero is and the Location where you want to move. From your base Action points, apply your 1 blue Action point and 2 of your red Action points to the blue Action shield. This gets your Hero to the Location! You have 2 red Action points and 3 gold Action points left.

Upon turning over the Castle Walls Location card you've revealed it had the Tree Golem under it, one of the game's biggest monsters! The Castle Walls has 3 Action points and the Tree Golem has 4 Action points. The Creature is immune to Equipment with the keyword "Thorn" in it, but you don't have any Thorn Equipment currently. You need at least 7 Action points to overcome this Challenge.

You start by using your remaining 2 red Action points and then add your 3 gold Action Points, bringing your total to 5. You're two short. Playing the Effect cards Strength and Helpful from your hand, which gives you 2 additional Action points to use this turn, bringing your total to 7! You did it. You overcome this Challenge stack.

Location Consequences

Once you've attempted a Challenge, Action points have been counted and you know if you've overcome the Challenge or if you've been defeated, you have to deal with the Location consequences. There are three different parts to the consequences section on the back of each Location card, Victory, Results and Defeat.

Note: At times, Creature cards have Consequences or special abilities that affect how a challenge will be assessed, so make sure you read each card under a Challenge stack.

Victory

If you overcome the Challenge, you get to reap the rewards of Victory. Read the text and follow the instructions. Next move on to the Results section and follow those instructions.

Results

Even though you've overcome the Challenge of the Location, that doesn't mean it wasn't without cost. I mean, slogging through a Swamp is hard, even if you make it to the other side. Read the text in the Results section and follow the instructions. Some Results require you to discard equipment and some cause you to take a Modifier Token for your Hero. Some require you to choose between results. Choose wisely!

Defeat

If you fail the Challenge at the Location, follow the Defeat section instructions. Usually this means you'll be moving back spaces and sometimes losing equipment.

Note: If you were defeated, do not do any of the actions described in the Victory sections.

Leave all of the cards in the Challenge Stack at that location square. They remain face up. The text and details may now be viewed by any player.

Clarification: When instructed to move back after a Defeat, count back in the direction you came from, counting from the Location where the challenge occurred. That Location square is zero, the next square is 1 and so on.

What do you do with the cards once you've overcome a Challenge?

If a Creature was at the location, remove it and put it into the Destroyed pile. If there were any Equipment cards you have the choice to Destroy the card(s) or put them in your hand or personal discard pile, which adds them to your deck.

The Location card stays at the Location square. If you were to return to that square, you still have to overcome its Action points. A Challenge occurs when you move onto, or return to a square with any cards stacked on it.

If cards are added to your current space, you do not have to overcome those cards' Action points. For example, you can play new Creature or Equipment cards on the space where you just defeated a Challenge. You do not face the Creature, but the next person to enter that square would. This may be a useful strategy if you know one of your opponents is going to have to pass through the same Location Square behind you.

Alignment Bonus Effects

Some cards provide a bonus effect only when your Hero has other cards in play from the same Alignment. For example, the card shown to the right provides 2 bonus Challenge Action points when it is triggered by another Decay card in play on the same turn.

Note: Alignment bonuses are triggered either by Equipment cards that your Hero has in play or by Effect cards you play from your hand.

Each Alignment has a strategic style of play. If you focus on adding cards to your personal deck within one or two groups, you will be more likely to maximize your deck's effectiveness. The four Alignment group icons each with a description can be found on the next page.

The four Alignment groups in Dobberton, Wild, the Rat Claw Clan and Decay are:

• Dobberton - Dobberton is the Dobber capitol. It's where the story begins and where our Heroes are from.
• Wild - The Wild is the uncharted territory around the Alwaysgreen Forest. It's full of the deepest and darkest secrets the forest has to hold.
• Rat Claw Clan - The Rat Claw Clan and their King are a violent and threatening force in the forest. They spend their days stealing and pillaging the surrounding inhabitants.
• Decay - Decay is growing in the forest. The Dark Wood Sprite has a plot to overthrow the natural order by releasing the Shambleman and the rot that he will bring. Rot and decay will replace life and new growth.

Example A (shown on the next page): You are playing the Hero Shaori. She has 2 equipment cards in play, a Weapon - Ember and an Item - Silver Shield. In your hand you have Endurance, Luck, 2 Bottle Caps and Charm. Playing Endurance from your hand activates the Bonus Challenge Action point in your Hero's Item - Silver Shield. When you play Charm from your hand, it will activate both the Challenge Bonus Action points from Ember and the bonus effect of Charm. Both cards become more powerful.

Note: Alignment bonuses should also be applied within a Challenge stack. If a Creature and Equipment card(s) are under a location, the creature will gain any Alignment bonus from the equipment, making it an even more powerful Challenge to overcome!

Location Advantage From Items

You may have noticed that Item Equipment cards have an additional icon.

In the example shown right, The Traveling Cloak has the cloak icon at the bottom designating it as a Protection Item. If you have this Item equipped on your Hero you have an advantage versus Locations of that type.

Card text: "You need a good cloak if you plan to travel in the Alwaysgreen Forest."

The Location shown here is Thorned Vines. It only requires 2 Action points if you initiated a Challenge and have an item with the cloak icon equipped on your Hero.

Labels on the card: the Item type that would give your Hero an advantage at this Location is shown here; the Item Modified Action points to overcome for this Location is displayed here on the front of the card.

This does not come into play for all challenges, but it can be a very useful detail as you build your personal deck and equip your Hero.

Often the Item type you have equipped will impact the results of the Location consequences as well.

There are four Item types each suited to give the Hero an advantage over certain locations.

• Navigation - The most rare of the Items. Used for Locations that require special knowledge of terrain or direction.
• Protection - Some Items help your Hero when facing Locations that block your way and prevent or inhibit travel.
• Travel - Extremely useful Items that often aid when in Locations with unstable or treacherous footing.
• Combat - There are many dangers in and around the Alwaysgreen Forest. With these Items your Hero will be prepared.

Token Modifiers

During the game, some cards may instruct a player to add a Token to their Hero. Place the Token on your Hero as a modifier to that Hero's Action or Influence points.

Negative Token modifiers stay with your Hero until they have been overcome and they must be overcome the next time a player attempts the modified Action. For example, if you wish to travel over a 4 Travel section on the game board, and you have a 2 modifier Token, you must have at least 6 points between your Red and Blue Action points to make the Travel.

Positive Token modifiers can be stored on your Hero until you choose to play them. They are used like Effect cards, giving your Hero the additional Action or Influence points only on the turn they are played. After playing them, return them to the Token pile.

Destroy and Forge Bonus Card Abilities

There are a few additional card abilities that deserve some clarification.

Destroy

Some cards have a Destroy icon with some highlighted text and provide an additional ability when you destroy it. Destroy means you take the card out of play for the remainder of the game. This ensures the special ability is only used once for that card. Some abilities are just too powerful!

Card text example: "Destroy to retrieve one card from your discard pile and add it to your hand."

You can destroy a card on the turn you played it from your hand after resolving and applying its other abilities and effects. You cannot destroy a card that has been placed in your discard pile.

Forge Bonus

Some Equipment cards have a special Forge Bonus icon within a highlighted box. These Equipment cards can be played on your Hero as you would any other equipment card. If you play the card by itself as a standard piece of equipment, you do not get the bonus Action points or ability within the box next to the Forge icon.

Card text example: "Forge Challenge Bonus +1" (Weapon).

However, as an option, this card can be played under an Equipment card you already have in play. When you do this, the bonus Action points and abilities within the highlighted box next to the Forge icon are added to the Equipment card that it is played under. Do not add any other abilities of the card, only the portion highlighted by the box and the Forge icon.

Equipment with the Forge icon can be played under any type of Equipment (Weapon, Item or Armor) regardless of the type of Equipment the Forge card was originally.

If the Equipment with the Forge icon is of a different Alignment color than the Equipment it was played under, that Equipment is now considered to be of both alignments. This Forged Equipment gains all the keywords of both cards, such as Silver or Thorn.

If you pick up a piece of Equipment that had a Forge card under it, pick up the Forge card also. If you are forced to destroy an Equipment card with a Forge card under it, destroy the Forge card also. You can only play one Forge card under a piece of Equipment.

Winning the Game

Standard Rules for Winning

The winner is the first player who moves their Dobber meeple onto the last Encounter Square on the game board and, if necessary, overcomes the Challenge Stack that may be there. This square is indicated by an illustrated key. You were the first to the Key! You are the Hero of Dobberton!

Alternate Competition Rules: DUEL!

If you're looking for a little more intense way to end the game, you and the other players can agree on engaging in an end game duel. After the first player reaches the key and overcomes any Challenge there, instead of stopping the game right then, this player continues their turn as they would after overcoming any other Challenge. This includes acquiring cards from the Adventure or Challenge rows and drawing cards as they would at the end of their turn. All the other players have one more turn to reach the final Location Square.

If another player is able to reach the final Location Square, including overcoming the Challenge Stack there, they also finish their turn and draw cards as they would at the end of a typical turn.

Now both players face each other in the exact same manner as they would when facing a Challenge Stack. They add up all their Red and Gold Action point from their Hero, Equipment and any Effect cards. However, Blue Travel Action points have no effect in a duel.

The player with the highest total action points wins the duel! In the case of a tie, the player who reached the Key first wins. Yay!

2 Player Rule Variants

When playing with two players, there are less players contributing to the Challenge stacks at each encounter location, making the game notably faster. If you want a little more meat for your two-player games, consider using one of these rule variants:

A) Start the game with some encounter squares populated with Location cards. Use cards one through four from the Add Location cards in the Solo Play cards. Using these cards is described in detail below in the Solo Play Mode section.

B) Replace one Bottlecap from each player's core starting deck with a Silver card from the Adventure deck.

Solo Play Mode

You'll find in your box, a 24 card Solo Mode deck. These cards provide a unique game AI, simulating the play of opponents so you can Quest for the Key all by yourself!

First, a couple of things about the game board.

Diagram labels: Starting Location Letter; Encounter Square Number.

You may have noticed some letters and numbers on the game board that are not used in multi-player games. The Starting Location Letter and the Encounter Square Number are referenced by the Solo Play cards so you'll need to know where each number and letter are on the board.

Set Up

Before beginning to play, set up is a little different. In the Challenge Row (areas 6 and 7 from the diagram on page 3) deal five cards to the right of the Location stack so that six Location cards can be seen. Just like in multi-player setup, keep the Location cards full art up so that you cannot see the text on the other side. Do not deal out any Creature cards yet.

Now find the six Add Location cards from the Solo Play cards. They have the words "Add Location" at the top and have the Location icon in the lower left of the card. They are used to seed the board with Location cards. Shuffle these six cards and deal them out one at a time, following the instructions on each. The text on the cards and the Encounter Square Numbers will determine six Location cards to place on the board and where they go. As you place Location cards on the board, replace them in the row with new cards, just as you would during the game. Use the Starting Location Letter on the sixth and final card to determine where you will place your Dobber Meeple to begin the game.

Once you have six Location cards on the game board and a starting location for your Dobber Meeple, you can set the Add Location cards and the remaining Location cards aside. You won't need them to play the game.

Now in the space where the Location cards were, place the stack of Creature cards. Deal out five Creature cards next to this stack so that six total Creature cards are full art up. You will play the game with only Creatures in the Challenge row.

Finish setting up the rest of the game area if you haven't yet, including the Adventure Deck and Adventure Row (area 8 from the diagram on page 3).

Your last step before beginning play is to add the remaining 18 Solo Play cards to the Adventure deck. These are the cards that will add Creatures and Equipment under the Location cards on the game board, as well as remove and destroy Adventure cards. Shuffle these 18 cards into the top half of the Adventure deck. Don't worry about being too precise. During a Solo game, you will go through about one-half or less of the Adventure deck and you want to make sure you encounter these cards during your game.

Game Play

Game play proceeds similarly to a multi-player game with a couple of small changes. Most notable is the Solo Play cards that have been added to the Adventure deck. Also, you will remove one additional card from the Adventure Row in between each of your turns.

1. Solo Play cards: When one is revealed, place it in the Adventure row like you would another card. Sometimes its position in the Adventure row is significant. Immediately follow the instructions on the card, resolving the instructions in the order they are presented. The instructions on the cards attempt to account for several variables when being played, but if you do find multiple possible resolutions to the card, you get to choose. At times resolving a Solo Play card will cause other Solo Play cards to be revealed. This cascade of effects is normal. Just roll with it. Resolve all of the instructions on each card in the order that they are revealed.

2. Destroy one card from the Adventure row in between each of your turns. This is key for two reasons, it simulates the acquisition of cards by other players and ensures that each turn you have at least one new card at your disposal to acquire for your personal deck. There are a few recommended methods below.

   A) Count from left to right each card in the Adventure row giving each a virtual position number, one through six. Destroy one card sequentially each turn using these six positions. For example, after turn one, destroy the card in position one. After turn two, destroy the card in position two. Continue in this manner throughout the game, returning to position one every six turns. You can use a use one of the Dobber meeples, stepping it across each card to mark which card you destroyed last.

   B) Using the Influence cost of each card in the Adventure row, alternate each turn from highest to lowest. Starting after your first turn and each subsequent odd numbered turn, destroy the card with the highest influence cost. After each even numbered turn, destroy the card with the lowest Influence cost.

3. Track your total number of turns. This is the last rule. Just keep track of your total number of turns to see how well you did. You can do this any way that is convenient to you. I usually use a twenty-sided die (not provided).

Have fun!

Solo Play Winning Conditions

• 13 turns or less: Either you're a Dobber deck-building savant or incredibly lucky! Perhaps you're the Hero foretold in the ancient Blue Star prophecy? Either way, it's time to ride off into the sunset, because chances are you won't do that again any time soon.
• 15 turns: Your hero skills are quite formidable! You should consider saving the forest more often. Perhaps join the Dobberton guard or run for office. You've got a future in the Alwaysgreen Forest!
• 18 turns: At least you didn't give up! Keep practicing and maybe next time the forest comes under the threat of evil, you can rise to the occasion.
• 19 or more turns: Hero work is a hard business and not all take to it quickly. But if your heart is true and you believe the forest needs saving, you'll some day walk among the other great heroes of the Alwaysgreen Forest!

FAQ

What if the directions on a card conflict with the rules of the game? Go with the directions on the card. There are some cards that intentionally break the rules so as to add surprise and interest!

Where do I put my Dobber meeple on the game board? The board has two types of spaces, the larger Encounter squares and the small travel squares. In most cases, both are simply referred to as squares. The larger ones are where Challenge stacks are place. The blue Travel Action point shield is not a space, but just an indication of how many Travel Action points are needed to move from one square to another.

When are Effect cards discarded? Once you have used any Action points, Influence or resolved any abilities given to you by the card. If you buy a card from the Adventure row using cards like Bottle Caps, discard the Bottle Caps when you place the newly acquired card into your discard pile. If you play Lucky Swing, discard it once you have accounted for the Challenge Action points it provides.

Can I put Equipment cards acquired from the Adventure row directly on my Hero? They are added to your discard pile after you acquire them. They must be shuffled into your personal deck and drawn to your hand before you can equip them to your Hero.

Can I put Equipment cards acquired from the Adventure row directly on the game board? Yes. As long as there is a Location with a Creature under it and you follow the capacity rules of the Location.

What is a Challenge stack? A stack of cards that make up Encounters on the game board. They start with a Location card and then are followed with a Creature card put under it. Depending on the capacity of the Location card, equipment cards can be added to the Creature.

Can a Location have Equipment? Only if a Creature is placed under the Location first.

Can a creature have two weapon cards? A Creature can only have one of any type of Equipment card and must follow the limitations of the Location card's capacity.

Can I partially defeat a Challenge stack? No. When you choose to move your Hero onto a Challenge stack, you must have enough Action points to Travel to the square and defeat the total Challenge Action points of all the cards in the stack. If one of the cards is immune to a certain type of equipment, the Action points given to your hero from that type of equipment is removed from your Hero's total. You cannot specify some action points go toward certain parts of the challenge stack. They are considered "all or nothing".

Can I put a location or creature on a space where my Dobber meeple/Hero is? Absolutely. Once you are on a square where you have already overcome a Challenge, that square is safe to add to. It's a good idea at times to build a Challenge stack "under" your Hero if another player's Hero is right behind you.

Note: If your Hero leaves the square where there is a Challenge stack and voluntarily move back to it, you do have to face the Challenge stack.

If I lose a challenge and have to move back on to a space where there is a challenge, do I have to face that one too? No. You only face Challenges you voluntarily move your Hero to.

How many Forge Equipment cards can be added to another Equipment card? One. The original Equipment card plus one forge card.

Do Forge Equipment have to match type? No. As long as the original equipment, weapon, armor or item, followed the equipment rules, any type of forge equipment can be added. For Example, a Weapon card with the Forge ability can be added to an Armor Equipment card.

Does having a Forge Equipment of a different alignment from the original Equipment card mean I have both alignments in play? Yes. The forged equipment takes on all the qualities of both cards. However, not all the abilities.

What is added to the original Equipment from a Forge Equipment card? Only the abilities in the box next to the forge icon. None of the text or action points above the box.

If I duel with an other player, can I use Travel Action points? No.

Outwit? When you play Outwit on your opponent's turn, it gives you the ability to acquire a card for your personal deck on their turn. However, instead of acquiring a card from the Adventure row, you're spending your influence to gain the last card your opponent acquired.

Note: You may not replenish the cards in your hand until your Draw Phase at the end of your next turn.

Event Cards Just shuffle them in to the Adventure deck if you want to up the degree of difficulty. To ensure they are evenly distributed, separate the Adventure deck into eight equal parts and shuffle one into each. Then restack the deck. When they are revealed, place them in the Adventure row as if they were an Effect or Equipment card. Immediately follow the instructions then replace it with the next card in the Adventure deck.