Dragon Keepers Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Fundamentals
  • Dragon Tiles
  • Keeper Cards
• Keeper Mode
  • Objective
  • Game Setup
  • How to Play
  • Round End
  • End of the Game
• Dragon Mode
  • Objective
  • Game Setup
  • Magic Deck Setup
  • How to Play
  • End of the Game
• Magic Deck
• Action Tokens
• Shadow Tribe (Variant)
• Solo Play
• Dragon Powers

Components

• 6 Dragon Tiles: Saeran the Savage King (white), Killua the Thunder (blue), Kuru the Powerful (purple), Modor the Rage Dragon (red), Luciel and Luci the Twins (green), and Hythe the Healer (yellow).
• 36 Keeper Cards (6 per player)
• 4 Player Aids
• 18 Magic Cards
• 40 Action Tokens: 9 Heal, 9 Attack, 10 Train, 12 Defend
• 5 Hunter Cards (4 standard, 1 double-sided)
• 2 Hunter Tokens
• 18 Shield Tokens (3 per player)
• 15 Arrow Tokens
• 6 Fireball Tokens
• 8 Hunter Dice
• 12 Battle Dice (6 white, 6 red)
• 1 Hunter Pawn
• 1 Rule Book
• 1 Training Bag

Game Fundamentals

Dragon Tiles

All dragon tiles begin the game (in either mode) with their friendly side up. In Keeper Mode, the dragons will remain this way for the entire game. In Dragon Mode, each dragon tile is flipped from its friendly side to its trained side the first time that the dragon is trained.

1. Life Points: Each dragon has a number of heart icons to indicate how many life points that dragon has. When a dragon has arrow tokens on it equal to its life point total, it is defeated. (Note: In Keeper Mode, treat all dragons as having 3 life points.)
2. Tribe Color: Each dragon is the favorite of a specific tribe. The color of a dragon matches the color of the tribe symbol on the backs of a specific deck of keeper cards. (This matters in Keeper Mode but not in Dragon Mode.)
3. Dragon Sigil: This symbol's shape and color indicates which of the 6 dragon keepers can interact with this dragon. Each keeper deck will have exactly 1 dragon keeper that matches each dragon.
4. Dice Slots: Each dragon has 1 to 4 dice slots. When a dragon is trained, a battle die is drawn at random from the training bag and added to an empty dice slot on that dragon tile. A dragon's accumulated dice are rolled when that dragon attacks.
5. Attack Power: Each dragon has a unique attack power. These powers are activated each time that dragon successfully attacks the hunter. (The dragons' attack powers are described in detail under Dragon Powers.) The icons to represent attack powers are faded on the friendly side, but full color on the trained side.

Keeper Cards

In either mode, each player chooses a unique keeper deck. Each keeper deck is made up of 6 different cards with identical backs. Every keeper deck has the same 6 cards.

1. Tribe Symbol: The card backs of your keeper deck have your unique tribe symbol. In Keeper Mode, this determines which dragon is your tribe's favorite. The symbol also identifies which 3 shield tokens are yours.
2. Character Illustration: The illustration on the card front depicts 1 of 6 characters. These characters are known as dragon keepers.
3. Dragon Sigil: This symbol's shape and color indicates which of the 6 dragons this dragon keeper can interact with. Each dragon keeper can only interact with 1 dragon.

Keeper Mode

Objective

Be the first to place all 3 of your shield tokens on 3 different dragon tiles. To place 1 of your shield tokens on a dragon tile, you must heroically defend that dragon — meaning that you defended that dragon from the hunter's attacks in a round when nobody else did.

Game Setup

1. In random order, lay out the 6 dragon tiles to form a circle, with their friendly sides up.
2. Place the double-sided hunter card in the center of this circle.
3. Place all arrow tokens within the circle, below the hunter card.
4. Select a number of hunter dice equal to the number of players plus 1 and place them directly on the hunter card. This is the hunter dice pool.
5. Give each player a keeper deck (6 cards) as their hand, along with the 3 matching shield tokens.
6. Return all other components to the game box. They will not be used.

How to Play

The game is played in a series of rounds until an end-game trigger has occurred. (See Round End for details.) Each round progresses through 3 phases in order: Hunter Phase, Keeper Phase, and Dragon Phase.

I. Hunter Phase

Roll all of the hunter dice in the hunter dice pool (i.e., currently on the hunter card). Each rolled result represents the hunter targeting a dragon.

If all of the hunter dice rolled the same result, then reroll all of them. Continue to reroll as necessary until there are at least 2 different die faces among the results.

Place each rolled hunter die on the dragon tile that matches the rolled result. In Keeper Mode, a single dragon tile cannot be targeted by more than 1 die per round; return any duplicates back to the hunter dice pool.

II. Keeper Phase

Each player chooses 1 keeper card from their hand and places it face down on the table in front of them. Players must choose a keeper card that matches a dragon that has been targeted by the hunter (i.e., has a hunter die on it) this round.

Once all players have made their selections, the chosen cards are all revealed simultaneously!

III. Dragon Phase

Each targeted dragon will either be PROTECTED, if 1 or more players chose the corresponding keeper card, or WOUNDED, if nobody chose the corresponding keeper card.

• When a dragon is protected by multiple keepers, nothing happens.
• When a dragon is protected by only 1 keeper, that player places 1 of their shield tokens on that dragon tile, if they do not have 1 there already. In addition, if the protected dragon was that player's favorite dragon (i.e., matching the tribe symbol on the backs of their keeper cards), the player may remove 1 arrow token from any dragon.
• When a dragon is wounded, it suffers 1 hit — track this by placing 1 arrow token on the dragon tile. If that dragon now has 3 arrow tokens on it, the dragon has been defeated. (Remember, in Keeper Mode, all dragons are treated as having only 3 life points!) Remove that dragon tile, along with any shield tokens on it, from the game.

Example: In this 4-player game, the hunter is currently targeting the red, blue, yellow, and white dragons. Ariel protected the red dragon, so she places a shield token on it. Ganesh protected the yellow dragon, so he places a shield token on it. Deja and Roberto both protected the blue dragon, so neither player gets to place a shield token. Nobody protected the white dragon, so it suffers 1 hit.

Round End

At the end of the round, check to see if either of the end-game triggers has occurred:

1. One or more dragons have been defeated.
2. One or more players have placed all 3 of their shield tokens on different dragon tiles.

If the game end has been triggered, proceed immediately to End of the Game. Otherwise, each player reclaims the keeper card they played (adding it back into their hand), all hunter dice are returned to the hunter dice pool, and a new round begins.

End of the Game

When the end of the game has been triggered, it is time to determine the winner! The player with the most placed shield tokens wins. In case of a tie, the tied player with the fewest arrow tokens on their favorite dragon wins. If there is a further tie, the tied players share the victory.

Dragon Mode

Objective

By working together, you must train the dragons and have a certain number of trained dragons (dictated by the difficulty level) successfully attack the hunter. You must do this before the hunter defeats a dragon or the magic deck is depleted.

Game Setup

1. In random order, lay out the 6 dragon tiles to form a circle, with their friendly sides up.
2. Place the double-sided hunter card in the center of this circle.
3. Locate a number of hunter dice equal to the number of players and place them on the hunter card. Set the remaining hunter dice to the side for now.
4. Put all 12 battle dice into the training bag. Set the bag aside.
5. Place all arrow tokens, fireball tokens, and action tokens to the side, as the supply.
6. Give each player a keeper deck (6 cards), a player aid, and a set of action tokens (2 Defend, 1 Heal, 1 Train).
7. Choose a random player who will be the start player, and give them the hunter pawn.
8. As a group, choose which difficulty level you would like to play.
9. Prepare the magic deck (see Magic Deck Setup below).

Difficulty Level	How many dragons must attack?	Weak fireballs count as hits?	Other changes?
Easy	4 dragons	Yes	N/A
Medium	5 dragons	Yes	N/A
Hard	6 dragons	Yes	N/A
Extreme	6 dragons	No	N/A
Impossible	6 dragons	No	Remove 1 magic card from each fourth of the magic deck.

Magic Deck Setup

1. Shuffle the 18 magic cards face down.
2. Choose 2 magic cards at random and set them aside.
3. Split the remaining 16 magic cards into 4 equal face-down piles.
4. Add 1 hunter card to each pile, face down.
5. Shuffle each pile separately, then stack them together to form a single face-down deck. Place the deck to the left of the double-sided hunter card in the center of the circle.
6. On top of this deck, place 1 of the 2 magic cards you set aside earlier (face up). On the discard pile, place the other magic card you set aside earlier (face up).

How to Play

The game is played in a series of rounds until an end-game trigger has occurred. (See End of the Game for details.) Each round progresses through 3 phases in order: Hunter, Keeper, and Dragon Phases.

Communication Rules

Players are allowed to discuss strategy and plan out their moves. The only thing you cannot directly state (or hint at) is which keeper card you will play. Sometimes it will be obvious to everyone which card is best for you to play, but other times it will not.

I. Hunter Phase

In this phase, the hunter dice pool is rolled to determine which dragons are targeted by the hunters' attacks this round. Follow these 4 steps:

1. The player who currently has the hunter pawn passes it to the player on their left, who will be the new first player this round. (Skip in round 1.)
2. Move the top card of the magic deck over to the discard pile, revealing the next card of the deck. (Skip in round 1.)
3. For every 3 fireball tokens on the hunter card, remove a die from the hunter dice pool and return it to the supply, then return those 3 fireball tokens to the supply also.
4. The player first in turn order rolls all dice in the hunter dice pool. Place each die on the dragon tile that corresponds to the die's rolled result.

II. Keeper Phase

In this phase, there are 2 distinct steps.

1. Selection Step: In turn order, each player will select a keeper card and action token to play — or they may pass.
2. Resolve Step: In turn order, each player will resolve their selected keeper card and action token (unless they passed).

Selecting Keeper Cards

Choose an available keeper card from your hand, based on which dragon you wish to target with your action, and place it face down in front of you. Choose an available action token and place it on top of the keeper card you selected. Cards and tokens in your discard row are NOT available to you.

You MAY declare that you will use 1 of your magic cards. If you do, place the magic card face up next to the keeper card you selected.

Example: Roberto passes the hunter pawn to Deja, who will be the new first player. The top card of the magic deck is moved over to the discard pile. There are 4 fireball tokens on the hunter card, so 1 die is removed from the hunter dice pool, and 3 of those fireball tokens are returned to the supply. Lastly, Deja rolls the remaining 4 dice in the hunter dice pool and gets 2 purple, 1 white, 1 green. She places them on the matching dragon tiles.

Example: Deja is the first player this round. She sees that the purple dragon is being targeted by the hunter, and she can also see, by looking at her teammates' discard rows, that nobody else has their purple keeper card in hand. So, she selects her purple keeper card and places it face down, then places a Defend action token on the card. She also declares that she will be using her Stormfury magic card.

Passing

As you use keeper cards and action tokens, they remain unavailable to you in your discard row, and your options slowly dwindle from round to round. The only way to get them back is to pass during the Selection Step, instead of selecting a keeper card to play.

If you pass, immediately take back all of your keeper cards and action tokens from your discard row. This means your turn will be skipped during the Resolve Step.

Example: Ganesh faces a tough decision. He has only 1 keeper card and 1 action token remaining. If he plays them this round, he would be forced to pass next round. He decides to pass this round so that he will have more options next time. During the Selection Step, he declares that he is passing, and immediately takes back all keeper cards and action tokens from his discard row.

Resolving Keeper Cards

Flip your keeper card face up and put the action token back on top of it. Then, perform your chosen action (determined by the action token you played) with your chosen dragon (determined by the keeper card you played). If your action was successful, you gain a reward. The actions and their rewards are described in detail under Action Tokens.

If you declared a magic card, you must use that card's ability, but you may choose whether to use it before or after your action. Then send that magic card to the game box, removing it from the game. (Do NOT put it in the discard pile.)

Place the used keeper card, with the action token on top of it, face up to the right of your player aid, in such a way that all players can see both the card and the token. This is your discard row.

Example: Ariel flips her keeper card face up. She selected the red keeper card and the Train action token, so she will be attempting to train the red dragon. The red dragon is not currently being targeted by the hunter, but it is injured, so it cannot be trained! Fortunately, Ariel has a trick up her sleeve. She also played the Moonlight magic card, which lets her remove all arrows from any dragon. She uses this magic card's ability first to remove all arrows from the red dragon. Now she is able to successfully train the red dragon! At the end of her turn, she places that keeper card and action token in her discard row.

III. Dragon Phase

In this phase, the attacks of the hunters resolve. For each hunter die on a dragon tile, add 1 arrow token to that dragon. Then return all hunter dice from dragon tiles to the hunter dice pool.

If the number of arrow tokens on a dragon tile is equal to (or higher than) that dragon's life points, the dragon is defeated and the players lose instantly.

Example: This round, nobody defended the yellow dragon, who was targeted by 1 hunter die. This means that 1 arrow is added to the yellow dragon, who had 2 arrows already! Fortunately, the yellow dragon has 4 health, so it is not yet defeated. But next round, the players will need to do something to remedy the situation!

End of the Game

Winning the Game: As soon as the correct number of dragons (determined by the difficulty level) have each made at least 1 successful attack, the game ends instantly. The players win!

Losing the Game: As soon as 1 dragon has been defeated — or the magic deck is empty when a card must be drawn or moved to the discard pile — the game ends instantly. The players lose!

Magic Deck

The magic deck is primarily made up of magic cards. These magic cards are gained as rewards for successful Heal and Train actions. Each magic card provides a unique and powerful effect.

On your turn, you may play 1 magic card. You may play it before or after resolving your main action. (You may not interrupt your main action.) You do NOT receive any reward for playing a magic card. (Note: The action symbols refer to card type only!)

Each player can have, at most, 3 magic cards at a time. If you have 3 and then gain another, you must immediately discard 1, removing it from the game.

Gaining Magic Cards

When you gain a magic card, you choose either the top card of the magic deck or the top card of the discard pile. If you take the top card of the deck, reveal the next card of the deck. If that card is a hunter card, immediately add 1 hunter die to the hunter dice pool. Then send the hunter card to the game box and reveal the next card.

Note: Magic cards can each only be used once per game and are always removed from the game upon use. The discard pile is only used for magic cards that are moved over from the magic deck during the Hunter Phase.

Action Tokens

There are 4 different actions you can perform in the game. To perform an action, you must play the corresponding action token. When an action succeeds, you gain a reward. If an action fails, you do NOT gain the reward. The action tokens are limited; if the supply runs out of a given type, no more of that type can be gained.

Defend

• Success: Return all hunter dice from this dragon back to the hunter dice pool.
• Failure: This action fails if there are no hunter dice currently targeting this dragon when the action takes place.
• Reward: Gain 1 magic card, either from the top of the deck or the top of the discard pile.

Heal

• Success: Remove all arrow tokens from this dragon and return them to the supply.
• Failure: This action fails if there are no arrow tokens currently on this dragon.
• Reward: Gain 1 magic card, either from the top of the deck or the top of the discard pile.

Train

• Success: Draw a random battle die from the training bag and place it on an empty dice slot on this dragon. (If this is the first time this dragon has been trained, you will first need to flip the dragon tile from the friendly side to the trained side.)
• Failure: This action fails if this dragon has any arrow tokens on it — or if the dragon is currently being targeted — or if this dragon has been trained the maximum number of times.
• Reward: Take a new action token of your choice from the supply.

Attack

• Success: Roll the attacking dragon's battle dice and get at least 1 hit. Each dragon has a different attack power (see Dragon Powers) that activates when they successfully attack.
• Failure: This action fails if no hits are rolled on the battle dice.
• Note: Rolling a "Weak Flame" may or may not be a hit depending on the difficulty level selected.
• Reward: If this is the first time this dragon has successfully attacked, place a shield token (any color) on the dragon tile to track your progress toward the win condition.

Shadow Tribe (Variant)

This is an optional variant. Including it in the game will increase the level of difficulty.

When a hunter card is revealed from the magic deck, the hunter's ability triggers. In some cases, the active player must roll a hunter die to determine which dragon is affected by that hunter's ability.

There are two types of hunter abilities: immediate and ongoing. Immediate abilities are one-time effects, while ongoing abilities are persistent effects. Sometimes an ability affects a specific dragon, which must be marked by placing a hunter token on the affected dragon.

The only way to remove a hunter token from a dragon affected by an ongoing hunter ability is to perform a Defend action which targets that dragon. However, you cannot remove both a hunter token and a hunter die in a single action. Each removal requires a separate Defend action.

Hunter Abilities

• Sirena — Immediate: Each uninjured dragon receives 1 arrow token.
• Ulf — Ongoing: When any dragon attacks, the attack must deal 2 hits to succeed.
• Olavo — Ongoing: The affected dragon receives the net token. Until the net token is removed, that dragon cannot be defended.
• Li Xing — Ongoing: The affected dragon (reroll until you get a dragon that has not attacked yet) receives the flail token. Until the flail token is removed, that dragon cannot attack.

Solo Play

Solo play for Dragon Keepers follows all of the rules for a 2-player game in Dragon Mode, with the following changes and exceptions.

Changes to Setup

• Take 2 keeper decks (12 cards total) as your hand.
• Take only 1 set of action tokens (2 Defend, 1 Heal, 1 Train).
• You must choose Hard, Extreme, or Impossible difficulty.

Changes to Gameplay

• During each Keeper Phase, you may play 1 or 2 keeper cards from your hand. You must play 1 action token with each keeper card, as normal.
• In a given round, you may play as many magic cards as the number of keeper cards you played (i.e., 1 or 2). You may play them at any time during the round.
• If you wish to pass, you cannot play any cards during that round. Once you have played 6 keeper cards, you must pass in the following round.
• The Brimstone magic card has no effect.

Dragon Powers

• Hythe, the Healer (yellow) — Life Points: 4. Training Limit: 2x. Attack Power: For each successful attack, remove 2 arrow tokens from 1 dragon or remove 1 arrow each from 2 different dragons.
• Modor, the Rage Dragon (red) — Life Points: 3. Training Limit: 1x. Attack Power: For each successful attack, place 2 fireball tokens on the hunter.
• Saeran, the Savage King (white) — Life Points: 3. Training Limit: 2x. Attack Power: For each successful attack, place 1 fireball token on the hunter and remove 1 arrow from any dragon.
• Luciel and Luci, the Twins (green) — Life Points: 4. Training Limit: 2x. Attack Power: For each successful attack, either place 1 fireball token on the hunter or remove 1 arrow token from any dragon.
• Killua, the Thunder (blue) — Life Points: 3. Training Limit: 2x. Attack Power: For each successful attack, place 1 fireball token on the hunter. Special Ability: (1) When this dragon is targeted by multiple hunter dice in the same round, return 1 of those dice to the hunter dice pool. (2) When this dragon attacks, you may reroll 1 battle die.
• Kuru, the Powerful (purple) — Life Points: 4. Training Limit: 2x. Attack Power: For each successful attack, place 1 fireball token on the hunter. Special Ability: Each time this dragon is trained, add 2 battle dice instead of 1.