Dragonbond: Lords of Vaala Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
  • How to Use This Book
• Setup
  • First Time?
• The Round
  • Objective
  • Planning Phase
  • Resolution Phase
  • Clean-up Phase
• End of Game
• Core Concepts
  • Dragonbond
  • Faceless Players
• Glyphs
• Combat
  • Example of Combat
  • Combat Dice
  • Combat Value
  • Retreat
• Glossary
• Appendix
  • Solo Play
  • Example of Play
  • FAQs
• The Kingdoms of Valerna
  • Allaria — "Honor your Duty"
  • Tyveria — "Unleash your Legacy"
  • Fulgen Brood — "Only My Law shall Rule"
  • Magnifex Brood — "Beauty above Everything"
• Player Reference
  • Round Sequence
  • Combat
  • Combat Value
  • Dragonbond
  • Region Glyphs
  • Stealing Power

Components

• Game board
• 1 rulebook
• 4 player boards: Ferellon (Fulgen), Nagasha (Magnifex), Elyse (Allaria), Adrael (Tyveria)
• 5 combat dice
• 6 Fulgen Action cards
• 5 Allarian Action cards
• 6 Magnifex Action cards
• 5 Tyverian Action cards
• 12 Region cards
• 36 Denizen cards
• 12 Event cards
• 4 Character cards
• 20 Vaala cards
• 1 Initiative token
• 6 Allarian infantry tokens
• 6 Tyverian infantry tokens
• 6 Allarian cavalry tokens
• 6 Tyverian cavalry tokens
• 6 Allarian ranged tokens
• 6 Tyverian ranged tokens
• 4 Dragonbond tokens
• 24 Neutral Unit tokens
• 56 Power tokens
• 10 Wound tokens
• 12 City tokens

How to Use This Book

This book comprises two sections. The rules (pages 8-13) cover the game round and core concepts; the glossary (pages 14-20) covers specific game terms used throughout the book. If you ever don't know what a word means in the context of the game, that's the place to go!

Setup

1. Place the board in the center of the table.
2. Each player chooses to play either as a General (Allaria or Tyveria) or a Dragon (Magnifex or Fulgen), takes the appropriate player board, and places it in front of them.
3. If playing with fewer than four players, turn any remaining player boards facedown so that the Faceless side is showing. These will be Faceless players. Faceless players aren't controlled by any human player but by the game itself (see page 10 for more details).
4. Each non-Faceless player takes their Character card and places it faceup (with the rules text showing) on the top right space of their player board.
5. Arrange seating so that Dragon and General players are sitting between each other (Dragon-General-Dragon-General). Each player places their Dragon or General on their starting regions as shown below.
   • Fulgen: Ysval
   • Tyveria: Trade Road
   • Magnifex: Lower Primalian Range
   • Allaria: Allaria
6. Generals (including Faceless players) place one friendly Infantry, Cavalry, and Ranged Unit on their starting regions.
7. Give each human (i.e. non-Faceless) player their Action cards. This is the player's hand. Give each human General the region card that matches their starting region, who add it to their hands. Tyveria gets the Trade Road region card and Allaria gets the Allaria region card.
8. Each human player takes their Vaala cards, shuffles them, and places them onto their player boards to form a Vaala deck. Faceless players don't use Vaala cards, so their decks are not used.
9. Shuffle the Action cards for each Faceless player and place them onto their corresponding Faceless player board. These are Faceless Action decks.
10. Shuffle the Denizen cards and place them facedown to create the Denizen deck. Then, draw 6 cards and place them faceup into a lineup adjacent to the board.
11. Shuffle the Event cards together and place them facedown next to the board to create the Event deck.
12. Place 1 Power token and 1 neutral Unit on each non-starting region on the board.
13. Place the remaining tokens and the region cards next to the board within reach of all players.
14. Give the initiative token to the last player who watched a movie featuring a Dragon. They become the first player. You are now ready to begin the first round of the game (see page 8).

First Time?

Follow the QR code on page 21 to see a run-through of the first round of the game, with tons of informative diagrams (perfect for learning the game).

The Round

Each round consists of three phases:

1. Planning phase
2. Resolution phase
3. Clean-up phase

After these three phases have been completed, a new round begins. This continues until either a player or Dragonbonded team have won, the Event deck is empty at the end of a round, or a player is eliminated.

Objective

Lords of Vaala is a game of power. Raise armies, destroy your enemies, and cast mighty spells, all to collect Power. Once you have collected 10 Power tokens, you win the game immediately, along with your Dragonbonded ally if you have one.

Planning Phase

At the start of the round, place an Event card facedown onto the Action stack space on the board. This is now the Action stack.

Starting with the player with the initiative token and continuing clockwise, each player either places an Action or Region card facedown from their hand onto the Action stack or they pass. In this way, the players choose what they will do during the Resolution phase. If you are playing with Faceless players, see page 10.

A player may only pass if they have played at least one card to the Action stack. If a player has no cards left in their hand, they must pass.

After a player passes, they immediately take the initiative token. If the player already has the initiative token, they must instead give it to any other human player. Finally, place an Event card facedown onto the top of the Action stack.

Once this is complete, the Planning phase is over and the Resolution phase begins.

Resolution Phase

The first player takes the Action stack and flips it over without changing the order of the cards. The cards will now be faceup and the "top" card will be an Event card. The Action stack should be placed so that only the top card can be seen at any time.

The players then resolve each card as it is revealed by following the rules below.

If it is an Event card, follow the instructions on the card and then discard it.

If it is an Action card, the owner of the card may follow the instructions on their player board matching the Glyph or Glyphs at the bottom left of the card. The player may activate any amount of these Glyphs, but the Glyphs must be activated in order from top to bottom. Once the Action card has been resolved, put it back into the owner's hand.

After a Glyph is resolved, if a General is in the same region as a Dragon, check for Dragonbond (page 10).

If a Dragon player is fully wounded, they cannot activate Glyphs. Instead activating the Rest & Recover Glyph on their player board (page 18).

If it is a Region card, follow the instructions on the map relating to the Glyph or Glyphs in the bottom left of the card. Glyphs are activated in order, from top to bottom, then the card is taken back into the owner's hand. If there is no owner, place it back into the Region deck.

A Region card is resolved even if the region is no longer controlled by the player who played the card (see Region cards on page 18).

Once the last card in the stack has been resolved, the phase is over. Continue to the Clean-up phase.

Clean-up Phase

After all cards in the Action stack have been resolved, if the Event deck is empty, the game is over. Proceed to "End of Game" below.

If the game did not end, each player should ensure their hand contains all their Action cards (five for Generals, six for Dragons).

Each non-Faceless General player must then take the Region cards for each region they control into their hand and put any Region cards for regions they do not control from their hand back into the region deck.

Discard any faceup Vaala cards back into their owners' discard piles.

Shuffle all of the remaining unclaimed Denizen cards back into the Denizen deck and draw 6, placing them next to the board to create a new lineup.

The next round begins, starting with the Planning phase.

End of Game

There are three ways the game can end:

1. If a player reaches 10 Power tokens, the game ends and that player wins, along with their Dragonbonded ally, if they have one.
2. If the Event deck is empty at the end of a round. In this case, players count their collected Power tokens. The player with the most Power tokens wins (along with their bonded ally if they have one).
3. If a player is eliminated (see elimination on page 16) the eliminated player and their Dragonbonded ally (if they have one), cannot win the game. The remaining player with the most Power tokens wins, along with their bonded ally, if they have one.

It is possible for a Faceless player to win the game, either alone or as part of a Dragonbonded team.

In case of a tie, the player closest in turn order to the first player wins along with their Dragonbonded ally, if they have one.

Core Concepts

Throughout the game, there are several core concepts that it can be useful to know before beginning to play: Dragonbonding, Faceless players, Glyphs, and combat. All other rules and terms throughout the game are explained in the glossary starting on page 14.

Dragonbond

After activating a Glyph or retreating, if your non-bonded General is in the same region as a non-bonded Dragon, or if your non-bonded Dragon is in the same region as a non-bonded General, you have a chance of becoming Dragonbonded. Follow these steps:

• Both players roll a combat die.
• Starting with the General player, either player may choose to re-roll their die by spending 1 Power; they may do this any number of times. In this way, you can try to avoid or gain the Dragonbond.
• Both players may continue in this fashion until neither player wants or is able to spend the Power.
• If either die shows a miss, nothing happens.
• If both dice show at least 1 hit (critical or standard), the players are now Dragonbonded and place their bonded partner's Dragonbond token onto their player board. Dragonbonds cannot be broken in any way.

Dragonbonded players have the following changes:

• Dragonbonded players are permanent allies. If either player wins for any reason, the team wins together.
• Dragonbonded players gain the special effect text on the Dragonbond card on the top right corner of their player board.
• A Dragonbonded player may not initiate combat on their bonded ally or any Units they control.
• Any communication among Dragonbonded players must be done in public and players cannot look at each other's cards.
• If bonded with a Faceless player, you may make any decisions they would make.

Note: You can't secure a Dragonbond by directly attacking a General or Dragon, since that will force a retreat before you would check for Dragonbond; you will need to move into the other player's region peacefully.

Faceless Players

A Faceless player is one who is not played by a human player, but by the game itself.

During the Setup, Faceless players are not given Vaala cards or Region cards. Shuffle the Faceless player's Action cards and place them facedown onto their player board.

During the Planning phase, the Faceless player plays cards, chosen at random, facedown onto the Action stack. Faceless players never pass and cannot gain the initiative token; if they run out of cards, their turn is simply skipped. This is different from passing and does not end the round.

During the Resolution phase, Faceless players activate all Glyphs from their Action cards as normal. Follow the instructions on their player board, then return the Action card to the Faceless player's player board.

During the Clean-up phase, shuffle the Faceless player's Action cards and place them facedown onto their player board.

Faceless players never retreat (unless they have no other choice), and never re-roll a Dragonbond die.

If a Faceless player would make a choice (such as which region to retreat to) that choice is made by any player Dragonbonded with them or, if there is none, by the player with the initiative token.

Faceless players do not gain a Combat Value bonus for having a balanced force, but do gain the normal +1 for having a General in the region. The limit of 6 Units per region (including the General) also applies to Faceless players.

It is possible for a Faceless player to win the game, either alone or as part of a Dragonbonded team.

Glyphs

Glyphs are activated during the Resolution phase and have various effects depending on the player that activates them (see the player boards and the game board for more details).

• Wrath/Assault: Described on the player boards, this Glyph is used to initiate combat.
• Deploy/Soar: Described on the player boards, this Glyph is used to move across the board.
• Harvest/Hoard: Described on the player boards, this Glyph is used to collect Power from the board.
• Vaala: Described on the player boards, this Glyph is used to draw or play Vaala cards.
• Upgrade: Described on the board, this Glyph allows Generals to upgrade their Units with Denizen cards.
• Reinforce: Described on the board, this Glyph adds either neutral or player Units to the board.
• Fortify: Described on the board, this Glyph places a city token into a region.
• Rest & Recover: Described on the player boards, this Glyph is not activated by cards and allows Dragons to heal wounds.

Combat

To initiate combat, choose a target player (or the neutral Units) within a region; they are the defender and you are the attacker.

Roll a number of combat dice equal to your Combat Value (see page 13).

For each critical hit you roll, immediately deal 1 wound (see page 20) to the defender. Count the number of standard hits.

If any attacking Units (not Dragons) crossed a mountain border before initiating combat, the defender (including Dragons!) ignores the first hit rolled (critical or standard).

If the defending region has a city and the attacker scores at least one hit, defending Units (not Dragons) ignore one of the hits rolled (critical or standard) and the city is removed.

The defending player may then choose to counterattack or retreat. If you are attacking neutral Units or a Faceless player, they always counterattack. If the defender chooses to counterattack, they roll a number of combat dice equal to their Combat Value (this is their Combat Value after the effects of the attacker's critical hits). The player to your right rolls the dice for neutral or Faceless units.

Any hits (critical or standard) rolled by the defender immediately deal 1 wound each to the attacker, then the defender suffers 1 wound for each standard hit caused by the attacker's roll. These hits are suffered even if there are no remaining attackers.

If there are enemy Units or Dragons remaining in the region, the attacker must either immediately initiate another round of combat or retreat. This continues until there are no more enemies in the region or the attacker has retreated.

Example of Combat

The Tyverian player is activating a Wrath/Assault Glyph, and has chosen to move 4 Units into the battlefield (as described on his player board). It's time to initiate combat!

The player counts up his Combat Value, which is 5 (one for each of the Units and a bonus one for having a Unit of each type) and rolls the dice, getting 2 standard hits and a critical hit. The critical hit immediately causes a wound, destroying 1 of the defending Infantry Units.

Now the defender has a decision to make: they can either retreat and save themselves from those two standard hits, or they can stay and roll a counterattack (which would be 2 dice, since they have 2 Units remaining in the region).

Combat Dice

The combat dice show the following results: two faces are critical hits, one face is a critical hit, two faces are standard hits, one face is a standard hit, and one face is a miss.

Combat Value

A Dragon's Combat Value is marked on their player board on the Wound track (use the leftmost value not covered by a Wound token). If a Dragon is fully wounded, it has no Combat Value.

A General force's Combat Value is equal to the number of friendly Units (including Generals) in the region, an extra +1 if they have a balanced force (i.e. at least one of Infantry, Cavalry, and Ranged Units), and an extra +1 if their General is in the region. Faceless players do not gain the extra +1 from having a balanced force.

A neutral force's Combat Value is equal to the number of Units in the region.

If you would roll more dice than the quantity available, keep track of the results showing and re-roll the dice necessary to equal the total number of dice the player would have rolled all at once.

Retreat

When a force retreats from a region, they must choose an adjacent friendly or uncontrolled region and move all the Units involved in the retreat (usually this is all Units in the force) to that region. If a Unit cannot retreat, it is destroyed. When a Faceless General retreats from a region, they must retreat to a friendly region, if possible.

When a Dragon retreats from a region, they must choose an adjacent region and move to that region. Dragons can retreat to uncontrolled or controlled regions, but if they retreat during a combat (by being wounded or by choice), they cannot retreat to a region controlled by the opposing force. If a Dragon retreats to a region containing a General, there is a chance of a Dragonbond.

If a Dragon or a force containing a General cannot retreat, that player is eliminated and the game ends.

Glossary

This glossary can be used to look up terms and rules used in Dragonbond: Lords of Vaala.

ACTION CARD — See components on page 5.

Action card diagram callouts: 1 Title, 2 Realm banner/Dragon brood rune, 3 Art, 4 Glyphs, 5 Flavor text.

ACTION STACK — See Planning phase on page 8.

ACTIVATE — See Glyphs on page 11.

ADJACENT — See regions on page 18. For adjacency to mountains, see page 17.

BALANCED FORCE — If a General has at least one each of Infantry, Ranged, and Cavalry Units in a region, the owning player (except Faceless players) gains a bonus +1 to their Combat Value.

BONDED DRAGON/GENERAL — A Dragon and General player who have Dragonbonded are referred to as a Bonded Dragon and Bonded General. If a rule references a bonded player, it refers only to the player bonded to you specifically.

CANCEL — If an effect is cancelled, ignore any and all of its effects, then continue play.

CHARACTER CARD — See components on page 5.

Character card diagram callouts (front): 1 Character name, 2 Realm banner/Dragon brood rune, 3 Character image, 4 Character biography, 5 Character unique icon.

Character card diagram callouts (Dragonbond side): 1 Character name, 2 Dragonbond ability, 3 Dragonbond token slot, 4 Flavor text.

CITIES — If a region contains a city, the region gains the following benefits:

A defending army in the region ignores 1 of the wounds suffered in a combat. After this wound is ignored, remove the city from the region. If no hits were rolled during a combat, or if all the wounds suffered were negated from another source (such as a mountain or Denizen cards), the city is not removed.

If a city is abandoned (by a General moving all of their Units out of a region containing one), the city token remains and will benefit the next General to move in, or even any neutral Units that appear there!

Cards and abilities may reference regions containing a city.

COLLECT — When collecting Power, simply take the corresponding amount of Power tokens from the region (if any) and place them onto your Power Track. If there are not enough Power tokens in the region, collect all of them without taking the rest from the supply.

COMBAT — See page 12.

COMBAT DICE — See page 12.

COMBAT VALUE — See page 13.

COMPONENTS — See page 4.

CONTROL — A region containing Units is controlled by the General player who owns those Units. If a region has neutral Units, it is a neutral region. Dragons cannot control regions and are ignored for the purposes of control.

COUNTERATTACK — See combat on page 12.

CRITICAL HIT — See combat dice on page 12.

DEFENDING, DEFENDER — See combat on page 12.

DESTROY — When a Unit, Power token, or other component is destroyed, it is removed from the board and placed back into the supply.

DRAGON — See components on page 4.

DRAGONBOND — See Dragonbond on page 10.

DRAGONBOND TOKEN — See components on page 5.

ELIMINATION — If a Dragon or a force containing a General cannot retreat, they are eliminated. When a player is eliminated, the game immediately ends and the player with the most Power wins (see End of Game on page 9). The player who was eliminated (or any players Bonded with them) cannot win.

ESSENCE TRACK — Whenever a Dragon destroys a Unit in combat (not via Vaala cards or other effect), they add that Unit to their Essence track. When the track is filled, remove all Units from the track and add 1 Power token from the supply to the Dragon's Power track.

Nagasha Magnifex has destroyed 2 Units in a devastating combat, and her Essence track was already nearly full. She places the first Unit onto the track, filling it up, and adds 1 Power token to the Power track.

Then she removes all Units from the track and places the second Unit on the first space of the Essence track, working her way toward another Power token!

FACELESS PLAYER — See page 10.

FOCUS REGION — The region with the most Power tokens in it is the Focus region and is often the target for Faceless actions. If there is a tie, the Focus region is the closest of those regions to the Faceless General or Dragon. If there is still a tie, the Focus region is decided by the player with the initiative token.

Different Faceless players may have different Focus Regions, and the Focus region can alter at any time due to changes in the board or if the player with the initiative token chooses a different region.

FORCE — A force is a group of Units in a region. A General can have a maximum of 6 Units in a region at a time. If a Unit is placed into a region over this limit, the player that owns the Units in the region must remove Units from the region until they are down to 6 Units.

GENERAL — A Unit with an additional +1 Combat Value. See components on page 4.

GLYPHS — See page 11.

HEALING — Whenever a Dragon heals 1 or more wounds, remove that number of Wound tokens from their Wound track.

HIT — Hits refer to both a critical hit or a standard hit. See Combat dice on page 12.

INITIATIVE — See components on page 5. The player with the initiative token has initiative and goes first in the player order.

INJURED — During combat, if you deal a wound to a fully-wounded Dragon or to a force containing a General and no other Units, you injure them and they are forced to retreat. Steal 1 Power from that player (see Stealing on page 19).

LINEUP — Denizen cards are placed into the lineup during setup and reset during the Clean-up Phase, see page 7.

MOUNTAINS — If a combat contains any Units that crossed a border with the mountain icon, the defending force in the region ignores one hit suffered (critical or standard).

The following regions are adjacent to mountains:

• Fai Woods
• Nahuwoods
• South Tyveria
• Upper Primalian Range

MOVE — Moving is the way in which Units and Dragons get from one region to another. If the region a Unit or Dragon can move from or to is not specified in the rule text, you can move to or from any region. For example, if your Glyph text allows you to move your Dragon to an adjacent region, the region you move to can be controlled, uncontrolled, or any other state, as long as it is adjacent to your Dragon's current region.

After a Dragon or General moves, there is chance of triggering a Dragonbond, see page 10.

After a Unit moves, there may be more than 6 friendly Units in a region, if this is the case, remove Units from the region until you are at the 6 Unit limit.

Dragon player board diagram callouts: 1 Dragon brood name, 2 Dragon brood rune, 3 Dragonbond card slot (Character), 4 Power track, 5 Glyph instructions, 6 Wound track and Combat Value, 7 Essence Track, 8 Vaala deck slot.

NEUTRAL REGION — See regions on page 18.

NEUTRAL UNITS — See components on page 5.

NON-BONDED DRAGON/GENERAL — Dragon and General players start the game non-bonded, for Dragonbonding see page 10.

PASS — See Planning phase on page 8.

PLACE — Units, cities, and Power tokens are placed onto the board from the supply. If there are no tokens of the designated type in the supply, it cannot be placed.

PLANNING PHASE — See Planning phase on page 8.

PLAYER — A player can be either a Dragon or a General, and refers to both human players and Faceless players, unless otherwise specified.

PLAYER BOARD — See components on page 5.

REGIONS, REGION CARDS — Regions are areas of land denoted by a border, as shown on the board. Regions are adjacent to each other if they share a border.

Each region has a card associated with it, which is held by the player that controls that region.

Region cards are not resolved by any one player, but are resolved by looking at the board and following the instruction there. This means that a Region card played by one player might be resolved by another player who conquers that region!

Generals can have a maximum of 6 Units in a region at a time, if a Unit is placed into a region over this limit, the player that owns the Units in the region must remove Units from the region until they are down to 6 Units.

• A region without Units in it is uncontrolled. Dragons are not Units and therefore do not count towards determining whether a region is controlled or uncontrolled.
• A region containing your Units is friendly. You control this region.
• A region containing neutral Units is neutral.
• A region containing enemy Units is an enemy region.

General player board diagram callouts: 1 Realm name, 2 Realm banner, 3 Dragonbond card slot (Character), 4 Power track, 5 Glyph instructions, 6 Infantry Denizen slot, 7 Ranged Denizen slot, 8 Cavalry Denizen slot, 9 Vaala deck slot.

POWER TOKENS — See components on page 5. (1 Power token, 2 Spent Power token.)

POWER TRACK — Each player board has a Power track. Whenever you gain Power tokens (such as from activating a Glyph), place it onto the Power Track with the power symbol facing upward. Whenever a Power is spent (usually by casting Vaala cards) flip that amount of Power over to its spent side.

Spent Power counts toward victory but cannot be used to cast Vaala.

If a player completes the Power track (10 Power) they immediately win the game. If they have a Dragonbonded ally, both win as a team.

If a Power token is lost or stolen, the player that caused this effect chooses which Power token is lost. Power does not flip when being stolen; it remains in whatever state it is in.

RESOLUTION PHASE — See page 8.

RESOLVING CARDS — Cards in the Action stack are resolved during the Resolution phase. See page 8.

REST & RECOVER — Fully wounded Dragons cannot activate Glyphs other than the Rest & Recover Glyph. Instead of resolving a Glyph from an Action card, activate the Rest & Recover Glyph, healing 2 wounds. After that, if the card has other Glyphs and the Dragon is no longer fully wounded, resolve the other Glyphs normally.

RETREAT — See page 13.

ROUND — Lords of Vaala is played in rounds, see page 8.

SEA — Sea regions cannot be moved into by Units, Generals or Dragons and have no Region cards associated with them.

STANDARD HIT — See Combat dice on page 12.

STEALING — To steal a Power, simply take a Power token of your choice from the player's Power Track and place it onto your own. Power does not flip when being taken, it remains in whatever state it is in.

Example Denizen card — Blood Claws (Homeland: Trade Road): "When attacking (not defending) gain +1 Combat Value if there is at least one Blood Claw in the region." Flavor text: "Gladiators that seek to become vampyri must match their bloodlust."

UNCONTROLLED — See regions on page 18.

UNIT — See components on page 5. There are several types of Units belonging to General players (Infantry, Cavalry, Ranged, and General Units) as well as neutral Units.

Generals can have a maximum of 6 Units in a region at a time; if a Unit is placed into a region over this limit, the player that owns the Units must remove Units from the region until they are down to 6 Units.

If there are no Units of a type remaining in a player's supply, no further Units of that type can be placed.

The Allarian player places Units that would put it over the 6 Unit limit (including Generals). They must immediately remove any Unit to bring them down to 6.

UPGRADING, DENIZEN CARDS — See components on page 5.

Denizen card diagram callouts: 1 Upgrade Glyph, 2 Unit name, 3 Ability, 4 Unit type icon, 5 Homeland, 6 Flavor text.

Denizen cards are used by General players to improve their Units.

When you take a Denizen card, place it on the corresponding Unit type (Infantry - sword, Ranged - arrows, or Cavalry - horseshoes) on your player board. If you already have a Denizen card for that Unit type, discard it before placing the new Denizen card. Do not draw a new Denizen card from the Denizen deck to replace the one taken.

While you have a Denizen card on your player board, all of your Units of that type gain the special rule stated at the bottom of the Denizen card.

Denizens cannot be taken away by another player.

VAALA, VAALA CARDS — Vaala cards are not played into the Action stack. Vaala cards are a special type of card that can only be played during the Resolution phase, usually when indicated by the Vaala Glyph.

In order to play a Vaala card, a player must spend Power on their Power track equal to the cost of the Vaala card by flipping the Power tokens to their spent side. After the cost has been paid, the effect of the card is resolved and the card is discarded faceup into their Vaala discard pile, unless otherwise specified.

If you need to draw, reveal, or otherwise interact with your Vaala deck but it is empty, shuffle your discard pile to form a new draw deck.

Example Vaala card — Dance of Madness (Power cost: 3): "Shuffle the remaining cards in the Action Stack." Flavor text: "A Magnifex dance opens the minds of mortals to the madness of Drakha."

WINNING THE GAME — See End of Game on page 9.

WOUNDS, WOUND TRACK — If a force is wounded, the owning player chooses that many Units to be destroyed and remove them from the board. If it is a neutral force, simply remove that many neutral Units.

When a Dragon destroys a Unit during a combat (not via Vaala cards or other effects) the Unit is instead placed on the Dragon's Essence Track.

If a General would be wounded, destroy a friendly Unit in the region if possible. Otherwise, the General is injured and forced to retreat (see injured on page 16).

If a General is injured and forced to retreat during combat, the opposing player chooses a Power to steal from the Power track and places it on their own track. Power does not flip when taken; it remains in whatever state it is in. No more than 1 Power can be stolen in this way during a combat.

If a Dragon is wounded, place that many Wound tokens on the Dragon's Wound Track. If there is no more space on the Wound Track, the Dragon is injured and forced to retreat (see injured on page 16).

If a Dragon is injured and forced to retreat during a combat, the opposing player chooses a Power to steal from the Power track and places it on their own track. Power does not flip when taken; it remains in whatever state it is in. No more than 1 Power can be stolen in this way during a combat.

Appendix

Solo Play

To play Dragonbond: Lords of Vaala with one player, make these simple changes to the game.

• All other players are Faceless (see page 10).
• You always have the initiative token; it is not passed to other players when you pass.
• If a Faceless player must make a choice, such as which region to retreat to, identify its options and then choose randomly using a dice or a coin flip.

Example of Play

Follow the QR code below to be taken to a run through of the first round of the game, with tons of informative diagrams and information, perfect for learning the game for the first time.

FAQs

If I am playing Ferellon Fulgen and my bonded partner is Elyse of Allaria, how do our Dragonbonding abilities interact?

Since Ferellon counts as being adjacent to Elyse for the purposes of moving, and also heals 1 wound whenever he moves to a region adjacent to Elyse, he will heal one wound whenever he moves.

Does the movement made as part of resolving an Assault/Wrath Glyph count as a move?

Yes, and any abilities that are triggered by movement (such as Griffon Knights or Fai Hunters) apply.

If I am bonded with a Dragon and they are in an otherwise uncontrolled region, do I control that region?

No, Generals only control regions in which they have friendly Units. A Dragon is not a Unit.

Are the regions Allaria and Nahuac adjacent?

No, but they are connected by sea.

If two players would steal Power from each other during a combat due to injuring their opponent, who steals Power first?

Critical hits from the attacker are resolved first, then all hits from the defender, and finally standard hits from the attacker. Stealing would be resolved in the same order, if enough wounds are dealt for Power to be stolen.

What happens if the effect on a card conflicts with the rules?

The card's effect takes precedence.

The Kingdoms of Valerna

Allaria — "Honor your Duty"

The Dragon Kingdom of Allaria is one of the mightiest realms in Valerna, ruled by an ancestral dynasty of half-elven kings that base their power on a rigid caste hierarchy. Half-elves, or Allai, are the kingdom's elite, while silver elves, or Ellari, constitute the lowest caste. Between these two castes, most Allarian citizens are Godao golden gnomes or humans. The Kingdom has also allied with the Bucentaur nomads from the West, some of which have adopted Allarian culture.

A proud and honorable realm, Allaria follows the law of the Eliadu, a sacred philosophical text that teaches the building blocks of a prosperous society: That the universe's natural state is order, and that you should keep your dreams in check through honor and duty. Every Allarian citizen, even the downtrodden silver elves, strives to honor these principles.

The core of the Allarian army is the Oathguard legion, consisting of the most disciplined and organized infantry in the world, and the Warden Cavalry, which rides on proud qirin beasts. It is complemented with golden gnomes and their deadly battlefield inventions, as well as Bucentaur archers and blademasters from the Western tribes.

Tyveria — "Unleash your Legacy"

At the center of Valerna lies the Blood Empire of Tyveria, the continent's political, cultural and military core. A mighty blade hanging over other realms, Tyveria is a permanent threat to every nation it borders due to its expansionist ambitions, unmasked bloodthirst, and peerless military and trading strength.

Tyverians are known for their ruthlessness, their respect for power, and their disregard for what other peoples know as tact or diplomacy. Their rulers are the maghyri, an elite of vampire-like beings that both need and enjoy the blood of living creatures, which gives them magic powers known as blood sorcery.

The Tyverian army consists mostly of blooded troops—humans from the serf caste, who tried to better their chances of advancing socially by testing their luck in the fighting pits or drill camps. The blooded are taught to disregard their own life and safety, which gives them increased ferocity in the battlefield.

Tyverian officers are vampyri—a lesser nobility who drink blood like maghyri but have no blood sorcery abilities. Vampyri are given command over blooded troops and also the right to ride the army's giant insects—skorpikons and vespidai. The gigantic ogerron tribal warriors from the Eastern plains and the sly shiv halflings, with their mastery of poisons and explosives, complement the Tyverian military force.

Fulgen Brood — "Only My Law shall Rule"

Brood Fulgen is one of the oldest dragon strains, dating back to the very days of the exile, when all dragons were banished to the Red Moon of Drakha. Fulgen dragons have powerful metallic-scaled bodies and glinting eyes, as well as the ability to breathe streams of molten gold.

The Azhurma or sire of Brood Fulgen, is His Radiant Majesty Aureus, the noblest and most magnificent dragon of Drakha. Prouder and more arrogant than even the average dragon, the Fulgen believe in their own right to rule others through experience, intelligence, and wisdom. They rule their Golden City, the largest and most civilized settlement of the Red Moon, with strict vision and authority.

Fulgen dragons are wise, cultured and diplomatic; however, they are also fearsome in physical combat. Very few living creatures can stand up to an annoyed Fulgen, and virtually none can challenge them in their wrath. Convinced of their superiority and ability to rule all other lifeforms, Fulgen dragons will look at prey as if it was an honor to die by their hand.

Despite their incredible might, the Fulgen are known for their tolerance of lesser lifeforms. They allow smaller dragonkin and even humans to live as free citizens of their Golden City, as long as they obey the law of Aureus and don't try to escape.

Magnifex Brood — "Beauty above Everything"

An ancient and sophisticated dragon brood, the Magnifex are as cunning as they are vain and as beautiful as they are sadistic. They lead exquisite lifestyles even by dragon standards, making their homes only in the most stunning landscapes, collecting only art objects as treasure, and eating only the best-seasoned prey. For the Magnifex, however, the best seasoning is pain, and the best side dish is terror.

Magnifex dragons are easily recognizable by their sleek, shimmering bodies. They are the most breathtaking sight even as they swoop down for the kill, their scales reflecting the sun in myriad colors and their wingbeats turning shadow into rainbow as they breathe poisonous bismuth and liquid mercury on their enthralled prey.

A Magnifex is easy to goad into a fight because of its pride, but will also be a cautious combatant because of its deviousness. They dislike physical damage, for it mars their beauty, but never let an insult pass.

The Azhurma, or elder, of the Magnifex brood is Sivax, the Prince of Perfect Ecstasy. He is obsessed with the search for ultimate pleasure and, to this end, has founded a number of draconic art schools.

Player Reference

Round Sequence

Each round consists of three phases:

Planning Phase — Add an event card to the action stack. Players take turns adding cards facedown to the action stack until one passes (they take the initiative token). Add another event card to the action stack.

Resolution Phase — The action stack is resolved one card at a time. Players activate glyphs using player boards and the glyphs on the board.

Clean-up Phase — If no event cards remain, highest power wins. Otherwise, refresh hands and refresh the lineup.

Combat

Choose a target player in the region.

1. Roll a number of combat dice equal to your combat value in the region.
2. Critical hits are applied immediately.
3. Defending player may retreat or counterattack by rolling their combat value.
4. Defending players' hits and attacking players' standard hits are applied.
5. If there are remaining enemy Units or Dragons, the attacking player must attack again or retreat.

Combat Value

Dragons: Leftmost combat value marked on the dragon player board.

General: Number of friendly Units in the region, +1 if at least one of infantry, cavalry, and ranged units. +1 if the General is in the region.

Dragonbond

After resolving an Action card or retreating, if your General or Dragon is in the same region as another non-bonded Dragon or General, follow these steps:

1. Both players roll a die.
2. Each player may choose to spend 1 Power to re-roll their die.
3. Both players may repeat until neither player wants or is able to spend the Power.
4. If both die show a hit, the General and Dragon are now Dragonbonded.
5. A Dragonbonded General and Dragon are now on the same team; if either player wins, both players are victorious.

Region Glyphs

Upgrade — A General in control of this region may choose a Denizen from the lineup whose homeland matches this region, or if they spend a power, an adjacent region. The General places the chosen Denizen onto their player board.

Reinforce — If this region is neutral or uncontrolled, place 2 neutral Units in this region. If it is controlled, the controlling General places a Unit of their choice in the region, and any adjacent regions they control.

Fortify — If there is no city in this region, place a city in this region.

Stealing Power

During combat, if wounds are dealt to a fully-wounded Dragon or to a force containing a General with no other Units, 1 Power is stolen. The injured player is forced to retreat.