Dragons of Etchinstone: Northvale Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Key Concepts
  • Ether Mage Cards
  • Replaced Mage Cards
  • New Regions
  • New Enemy Abilities
  • New Journey Perils
  • New Dragons
• Setup
• Special Abilities
  • Banner
  • Highlighted Card
  • Referenced Card
  • Effect
  • Ether Elements
  • Enhanced Actions
  • Additional Rules
• The Ether Mages
  • Volta
  • Myth
  • Pursuers
  • Noramir
  • Units
  • Tempest
• Variants
  • A Company of Wizards
  • Adventure Mode

Components

16 Ether Mage Cards, 2 Region Cards, 2 Dragon Cards, 1 Reference Card, 1 Divider Card, 1 Rulebook.

Key Concepts

Ether Mage Cards

Ether Mage Cards in Northvale are alternate cards that replace specific Mage Cards when you play as one of the four Ether Mages. They function like regular Mage Cards, but they also contain new iconography for their Special Abilities, which are described starting on page 13.

Replaced Mage Cards

Some Mage Cards in the Dragons of Etchinstone base game have two copies. The Ether Mage Cards in Northvale will indicate whether the Water, Fire, Lightning, or Shadow version of the card is being replaced.

New Regions

Northvale's new Region Cards feature the Lawless Hills, Dark Reaches, Jagged Canyons, and Wild Steppes. These replace the base game's Region Cards.

Many Encounters on the Northvale Region Cards feature new Enemy Abilities and Journey Perils.

New Enemy Abilities

Adaptive: This Enemy's Armor gains the same Ether elements as that of your Spell and Boost.

Aggressive: Increase this Enemy's Early Damage by 1. Resolve this before the Ambush Hardship and other Abilities.

Defensive: Reduce this Enemy's Early Damage by 1. Resolve this before the Ambush Hardship and other Abilities.

Evasive: This Enemy increases all of its Armor by 1 for every point of Initiative you are short of avoiding Early Damage. This Ability stacks with the Adaptive Ability.

Fortified: Reduce your Initiative by the Region Card's number (1, 2, 3, or 4). You can ignore this if your Boost's Ether element matches the Ether element of this Enemy's Armor. If the Enemy's Armor has multiple Ether elements, you must only match one.

A Dragon with Fortified reduces your Initiative by 5, but you can ignore this if either of your Boosts' Ether elements matches the Ether element of the Dragon's leftmost Armor.

Pierce: The damage this Enemy deals is not affected by your Armor's Ether element, instead treating your Armor as though it does not have an Ether element. Also, if you suffer Combat Damage, you cannot Soak any damage with your Spell.

Dragons with Pierce apply this effect to all the damage they deal, affecting both of your Spells.

Summon: This Enemy borrows the Attack of the Enemy in this Region that has an Attack Ether element matching that of your Reserve card. If you do not have a Reserve card, this Ability has no effect.

New Journey Perils

Enemy Camp: If you do not attain Complete Victory, suffer damage from the Enemy in this Region that has an Attack Ether element that matches that of your Spell. Ignore the Enemy's abilities.

Guarded: Add Armor to this Journey equal to the Region Card's number (1, 2, 3, or 4) and with an Ether element opposite that of this Journey: Water and Fire are opposites; Lightning and Shadow are opposites. If the Ether element of this Armor matches your Enhanced Move, reduce your Move instead of Attack.

Labyrinth: Add 1 Time Penalty if your Boost's Ether element matches the Ether element of either of the adjacent Journeys. Journeys 1 & 4 are adjacent to each other.

Poison (Dragon): When a Dragon has Poison, you must be able to Soak its Poison Damage after Soaking all other damage in order to survive and win the game.

When suffering Poison Damage, you can Downgrade cards you already Downgraded when suffering Combat Damage.

If you survive, record your game score based on your Mage Cards' Levels before you suffered the Poison Damage.

New Dragons

Four greater dragons await, each of them with terrifying Abilities that will test your skills as Ether Mages. Protect the Tower, save Vale, and restore peace by hunting down these fearsome monsters in an epic Final Battle!

Setup

1. Prepare the Deck. Choose one of the Ether Mages—Volta, Myth, Noramir, or Tempest—and add the four corresponding Ether Mage Cards to the Deck, replacing the four Mage Cards indicated at Level 2 of the Ether Mage Cards. The art on each Ether Mage Card indicates which Ether Mage is associated with each card.
2. Hunt a Dragon. Select a dragon from Northvale to face in the Final Battle.
3. Draw Your First Hand.
4. Prepare for the First Expedition.
5. Start the Adventure. Gameplay in Northvale proceeds the same as in Dragons of Etchinstone.

Setup step 0 (the DIZED interactive tutorial) is an app promotion and is omitted.

Special Abilities

Remember to organize your cards in the following order, from bottom (the leftmost card) to top (the rightmost card): Reserve card, Element, Spell, and Boost.

This order is essential for understanding and activating Special Abilities in Northvale.

Banner

Ether Mage Cards typically possess a Banner that determines how that Special Ability works.

Highlighted Card

When a Special Ability's Banner has one or more cards highlighted, the Ether Mage Card must be positioned there for its effect to take place. The highlighted positions may change as a card changes Levels.

Referenced Card

If a card is marked with a dot, refer to that card to resolve the Special Ability when that card is positioned to take effect.

Effect

This indicates what the Ether Mage Card can do when positioned in the right Role or as the Reserve card. The icon after the value indicates what to adjust.

For example, the icon below indicates that you reduce your Initiative by 4 if this card is your Spell or Boost.

Ether Elements

Some Ether Mage Cards possess no Ether elements. If you assign these as the Element, you will resolve your Spell's Basic Action. You cannot Fuse cards that do not have Ether elements.

Other Ether Mage Cards possess multiple Ether elements. If you assign these as the Element, choose one of the shown Ether elements to use.

Enhanced Actions

Some Ether Mage Cards possess an Enhanced Action with multiple Ether Elements. You must resolve the Enhanced Action if your Element matches any of those Ether elements.

Other Ether Mage Cards possess multiple Enhanced Actions. You only resolve the one that matches the Ether element of the Element you assign.

Additional Rules

Each Ether Mage's cards are listed below. For Special Abilities that are unique beyond the descriptions above, refer to their sections to learn more.

The Ether Mages

Volta

Volta lived for many years as a humble blacksmith before a chance encounter in the wilds of Vale led her to the school of mages in the Tower. A stoic at heart, Volta seeks to promote a culture of balance and discipline, but do not be deceived by her practiced restraint. When the need arises, she returns to her roots and infuses her weapons with Ether magic.

Some of Volta's Ether Mage Cards have no Ether elements. This reduces her ability to resolve Enhanced Actions. You will want to assign her cards as the most effective Roles and magnify her Special Abilities.

Volta's Ether Mage Cards: Grit, Ice Breaker, Swirling Blades, Warrior's Wisdom.

Myth

A flamboyant practitioner of the elemental arts, Myth believes that Ether Mages should more fully exert control beyond the Tower. While she masquerades as a socialite, Myth's mastery of Ether elements has fueled her rise through the ranks, and she has developed a cult following of magic wielders who seek higher stature for Ether Mages in the realm. Ambition attracts enemies, though…

Some of Myth's Ether Mage Cards have multiple Ether elements, providing flexibility for Enhanced Attacks and Enhanced Moves. This ready access to stronger actions is balanced by weaker Boost values compared to other Ether Mages.

Myth's Ether Mage Cards:

Elemental Shift & Volatile: When either of these cards is in your Hand and not the Element, you have a Pursuer. Refer to page 23.

Ether Chain: If you resolve this card's Enhanced Action, instead resolve the Enhanced Action of your Reserve card, adding the shown value to your Reserve card's Enhanced Action.

Windwalker: You can choose to face the Encounter to the right or left of the active one. Which direction you shift is determined by the arrow. If you shift rightward from Encounter 4, resolve Encounter 1, and vice versa.

Pursuers

• If your Encounter is a Journey, you must also defeat the Initiative of the same-numbered Enemy in the Region. Use your Element's Initiative as if the Encounter was with an Enemy. Suffer the Enemy's Early Damage if you cannot meet or exceed its Initiative. Ignore the Enemy's Abilities.
• If your Encounter is an Enemy, it has +1 HP in Regions 1 & 2 and +2 HP in Regions 3 & 4.

Noramir

He may not look it, but Noramir is one of the oldest living Ether Mages. His wisdom and leadership have cultivated generations of talented mages. What he lacks in physical power, he makes up for in charisma and cunning. And his esteemed position within the Tower ensures that he is always accompanied by a retinue of elite bodyguards who will defend him at all costs…as long as they are paid on time.

Noramir's most powerful Ether Mage Cards are also his weakest when using the wrong Ether elements. To compensate for that weakness, employ his bodyguards whenever possible.

Noramir's Ether Mage Cards:

Decisive Leader & Wise Commander: When either of these cards is in your Hand, you may activate its Unit, found in the Banner. No Unit is available at Level 1. Refer to page 26.

Imbalance

Time Lapse

Units

Each Unit has two Skills and a Rank.

If you activate a Unit, choose one of its Skills and increase the appropriate value—Armor, Attack, Initiative, or Move—by the Unit's Rank. If you choose Armor, choose which card will have its Armor value increased.

If you activate a Unit in a Region, you must Pay that Unit during the Upgrade Phase using earned XP. Calculate the XP Cost by using the Role assigned to the Unit's Ether Mage Card.

Role	XP Cost
Reserve Card	4
Element	3
Spell	2
Boost	1

If you cannot Pay the Unit's entire XP Cost, suffer damage in the Upgrade Phase equal to the unpaid difference. You can Downgrade cards that were already Downgraded in the Penalty Phase.

If you activate a Unit in the Final Battle, you do not Pay the Unit but must instead suffer damage equal to the XP Cost accordingly:

• If you activate a Unit during the Final Journey, suffer the damage after drawing your Hand to confront the Final Enemy. Cards that are Downgraded to Soak this damage can be Downgraded again when you suffer damage from the Final Enemy.
• If you activate a Unit against the Final Enemy, suffer the damage during the Penalty Phase by adding it to the other damage dealt to you.

Tempest

Tempest's temper is well-known throughout the Tower, and it is something of a legend in Vale. He wields his rage like Ether, and he is no stranger to putting himself in harm's way. Gifted in combat and imbued with righteous wrath, Tempest has never shied away from sharing his passion for magic with any who will listen…and even some who will not! Tempest is vulnerable to attack but can sometimes channel damage he suffers into a long-term advantage as his power increases. Even so, he will struggle more than other Ether Mages when facing Journeys.

Tempest's Ether Mage Cards:

Berserker: Convert damage suffered, up to the shown value, into XP. This applies only to Early Damage or Combat Damage sustained from an Enemy.

Contingency Plan & Illuminated Path: When either of these cards is in your Hand, increase or decrease the value of your Armor, Attack, Initiative, or Move based on Ether elements.

For Contingency Plan, refer to the Ether element of your Reserve card's Enhanced Action. For Illuminated Path, refer to the Ether element of your Boost's Enhanced Action.

An increase or decrease in Armor only affects the first Mage Card that Soaks damage this Encounter. Values can go negative when decreased.

Seeing Red: Adjust your Attack or Move depending on whether your Boost's Basic Action is an Attack or Move, respectively. If the Boost's Basic Action can be either Attack or Move, choose which to resolve.

Variants

A Company of Wizards

For a truly memorable game, play the variant A Company of Wizards, incorporating multiple Ether Mages into the Deck during setup.

Since each Ether Mage Card replaces a different base game Mage Card, you can include all four Northvale mages if you want!

Each Ether Mage's cards, with both advantages and disadvantages, are designed to be roughly as powerful as the set of Mage Cards they replace, so this gameplay variant does not substantially increase or decrease the game's difficulty.

You will, however, discover plenty of wild combos and unexpected edge cases. Lean into them—they are part of the fun!

Due to its complexity, adventuring as A Company of Wizards is recommended for expert players only.

Adventure Mode

Variants for Northvale also include Adventure Mode. For even more adventure explore this at: chiptheorygames.com/dragons