Dungeon Date

Dungeon Date Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components

1 Dungeon Board, in 2 parts
4 Player Boards
50 Monster Cards, with 1-torch, 2-torch and 3-torch backs
40 Treasure Cards
8 Hero Cards
8 Pet Cards
8 Style Cards
24 Player Action Cards (4 x 6 cards in player colors)
4 Spite Cards, double sided (Spite and Moar Spite)
18 Quest Cards, double sided (Easy and Hard)
4 Help Tokens, in player colors
20 Date / Quest Tokens, Date side and Quest side in player colors
3 Party Leader Tokens, so you can choose your favorite

Monsters come in four types: Earthy (grey), Woodsy (green), Undead (indigo), and Fierce (orange). Eldritch (black) is included as a bonus set.

Style symbols include four weapon styles: Slash, Pierce, Bash, and Magic. And four non-weapon styles: Nature, Crafty, Goth, and Edgy.

Set Up

Place the dungeon board in the center of the play area.
Divide and shuffle the monsters into three stacks - 1-torch, 2-torch, and 3-torch. Use Earthy, Woodsy, Undead, and Fierce monsters only. Return the Eldritch monsters to the box.

Deal 2 monsters from the 3-torch stack facedown below each dungeon door. Deal 2 monsters from the 2-torch stack facedown below each door, on top of the 3-torch monsters. Then deal 2 monsters from the 1-torch stack below each door, on top of the 2-torch monsters - one facedown and one face up. Return any unused monsters to the box.

2-Player: Use the 2-Player side of the dungeon board. Door D is not used!
4-Player: Deal 3 monsters from the 3-torch stack to each door.

Shuffle the treasure cards. Place the treasure deck above the Stylomancer, then flip over one treasure card for each dungeon door used, placing them above the doors.
Shuffle the style cards and place two cards below the Stylomancer. These styles are in-fashion for the game. Place the remaining style cards facedown next to the board.
Each player takes a player board, a set of action cards, and a Help token of the same color. Place your Backstab card face up next to the Fight symbol on the left side of your board.

2-Player: Use the cyan and magenta cards, marked 2P.

Deal 2 treasure cards to each player. Choose a card to keep and equip it in the matching outfit slot. Put the remaining card in a discard pile next to the treasure deck. You may look at the face up monsters and treasure in the dungeon when choosing your card.
Choose a Party Leader token and give it to the player that is currently wearing the most colors.

You are ready to play!

Play

Dungeon Date is played in rounds. Each round, everyone secretly chooses an action card from their hand. You will always leave the card from your previous turn out of your hand, so you may not choose the same action twice in a row. Place your card facedown on the table to show you are ready. Once cards are chosen, reveal your cards simultaneously and resolve your actions in the order they appear on the dungeon board, from left to right.

The action order on the dungeon board is: Backstab, then Stylomancer, then Dungeon Doors A, B, C, and D.

Actions

Dungeon Doors (A, B, C, D)

If you go to a dungeon door, you encounter the face up monster at that door. You may choose to romance, befriend, or slay the monster. Each monster prefers specific styles for romance and befriend encounters, and can only be defeated by specific styles for slay encounters. To succeed, your outfit must contain all symbols listed on the monster for the type of encounter you choose.

If you have the required symbols, add the monster to the score pile above your player board for that type of encounter - Romance, Befriend, Slay - AND gain the treasure at the dungeon door.

If you do not have all of the symbols required, you gain Spite instead. Place a Spite card next to the Fight symbol on the left side of your player board. Spite will help you in a Fight.

Example: You go to dungeon door A and encounter a Skeleton, which has a bat for Romance, an anvil for Befriend, and a hammer for Slay. Your outfit has both an anvil and a hammer. You may use the anvil to Befriend the Skeleton or use the hammer to Slay it, but you cannot Romance it.

Spite

Spite adds additional fight symbols to your fight value. If you have a Spite card, add the symbols on the card to your total.

If you lose a Fight, you gain Spite!
If you win a Fight while you have Spite, discard your Spite card.
If you lose a Fight while you have Spite, flip your Spite card over. You now have MOAR Spite.
Once you have MOAR Spite, you cannot gain additional Spite.

Dates

When you have a monster in your Romance pile, you may earn Renown from Dates. Monsters are either nice and like to Befriend other monsters, or mean and like to Slay other monsters. The small symbol next to a monster's Romance symbol indicates which it prefers.

When you succeed at an encounter preferred by the top monster of your Romance pile, it's a Date! Place a Date token on your player board below your Romance pile.

Dates are worth 1 Renown each at the end of the game.

Help

When you add a monster to your Befriend pile, place your Help token on the monster. During an encounter, you may remove the token to count one style symbol on the monster's card as part of your outfit for the current action. Once you have removed the token from the monster, you may not use it again for that monster. If you add a new monster to your Befriend pile, you regain the Help token for the new monster.

Fight!

If more than one player goes to the same dungeon door on the same round, you have a Fight! When you Fight, compare your fight values. Your fight value is equal to the number of fight symbols on the action card you played this round, plus the number of fight symbols on the card that you played on the previous round (count your Backstab card on the first round). The player with the higher fight value wins the Fight. If you tie, the Party Leader wins, or the next player clockwise from the Party Leader.

Example: Player A has a Fight Value of 3 and Player B has a Fight Value of 4. The winner of the Fight is Player B.

The winner encounters the monster at the door. Losing players gain Spite! If the winner does not have the required symbols to encounter the monster, they gain Spite and the player with the next highest fight value becomes the winner instead.

Stylomancer

When you visit the Stylomancer, choose one of two actions available:

Bargain Bin: Draw 2 treasure cards, either from the face up cards in the discard pile or from the top of the treasure deck, in any combination. Then discard 1 treasure card from your backpack, outfit, or the cards you drew.
Claim Personal Style: Flip over a new style card and add it to the Stylomancer. Choose one of the three in-fashion style cards to be your personal style and place it next to your player board. At the end of the game, only you will gain Renown from this style card. You may only have one personal style. If you already claimed a style card as your personal style, you may exchange your current card for one of the two cards at the Stylomancer instead.

Restyle (a full example is shown on page 8 of the rulebook)

After completing your action you may restyle your outfit. When you restyle, you may change which treasure card is equipped for each slot of your outfit, and enchant each slot with extra cards that match that slot.

To enchant a slot, slide extra cards under the equipped card so that only the top symbol of the enchanting card is visible. The equipped card gains all of the symbols visible from the enchanting cards.

Party Leader

After restyling, you become the new Party Leader! Take the Party Leader token. This happens immediately, and may affect any Fights that happen later in the round.

The Stylomancer is hallowed ground. If more than one player visits the Stylomancer on the same round, they do not Fight. Instead, players take their actions in clockwise order starting with the Party Leader. Since each player that visits the Stylomancer becomes Party Leader, the last player to visit in a round will end up as the Party Leader.

Gaining Treasure

When you gain a new treasure, you may immediately add it to the matching outfit slot if that slot is empty. If you already have a treasure equipped to that slot, you may either swap the new treasure into the slot and return any treasure cards currently in the slot to your backpack, or add the new card to your backpack.

Your backpack is the space to the right of your player board, where you store treasure not worn in your outfit. Cards in your backpack can be used to upgrade your outfit at the Stylomancer. You may have any number of cards in your backpack.

Backstab

Backstab allows you to steal a monster from another player! Choose another player and Fight. If you win the Fight, you may take the topmost monster in their Romance or Befriend pile and add it to any of your score piles. If the targeted player wins, you get nothing! The loser of the Fight gains Spite, regardless who wins. If more than one player Backstabs in a round, the Backstabs are resolved in clockwise order from the Party Leader.

You may not backstab monsters in a Slay pile - they're dead! If a Befriended monster with a Help token is backstabbed, the Help token is removed. The targeted player regains their Help token when they Befriend a new monster.

End of Round

After all actions for the round have been resolved, flip over the topmost monster of each dungeon door that does not have a face up monster. Add a new treasure for any dungeon door that does not currently have a treasure. If the treasure deck runs out, reshuffle the discard pile and flip over the top card into the discard pile.

Place the action card you used for the round next to the Fight space on your player board, and add the previous card back into your hand. Proceed to the next round!

Game End

The game ends when one dungeon door has no remaining monsters. After this happens, play one last round, then score your Renown.

Renown

You gain Renown from the following:

Monsters

Two of a Kind: 4 Renown for each set of two monsters of the same type in the same score pile.
Three of a Kind: 6 Renown for each set of three monsters of the same type in the same score pile.
Four Different: 6 Renown for each set of four monsters of different types in the same score pile.
+1 Renown for each remaining monster not in a set.

Each monster may only count towards one set!

+1 Renown for each 3-torch monster (as printed on the card).

Outfits

+1 Renown for each style symbol visible in your outfit that matches your personal style or the two in-fashion styles at the Stylomancer. Covered symbols in your outfit do not count. Symbols from treasure cards in your backpack do not count.

Sell Loot

+1 Renown for every two treasure cards of the same type in your backpack.

Dates

+1 Renown for each Date token.

The player with the most Renown wins!

Pets

Want another companion on your adventure? Add Pets to your game! Each Pet card gives you an extra style symbol that counts as part of your outfit, and a special ability you may use during the game. At the start of the game, shuffle the Pet cards and give two to each player. Each player chooses one Pet to play and returns the remaining card to the box. Place your Pet to the left of your player board. Pet card abilities specify when they can be used.

Optional Rules

If you are looking for a less cutthroat game, you can try one or both of these rules options.

Search the Room

When you lose a fight at a dungeon door, you may search the room after the winning player completes their encounter. Draw the top card from the treasure deck and add it to your outfit or backpack.

No Backstabsies

Return each player's Backstab cards to the box. Each player starts the game with their Stylomancer next to their player board instead of their Backstab.

Eldritch Monsters

Instead of playing with the four basic monster types, you can add variety to the game by introducing Eldritch monsters to your dungeon! Eldritch monsters can be used in two ways.

Eldritch Portal: A portal has opened, replacing one type of monsters with Eldritch monsters. During setup, choose one of the four basic types of monsters and return those cards to the box. Shuffle the Eldritch monsters into each set of monster cards (1-torch, 2-torch, 3-torch) instead. This keeps the game balanced while adding variety.

Random Encounters: When setting up the dungeon, shuffle the Eldritch monsters in with the four basic monster types. This makes it harder to collect sets of the same type, but allows you to use all of the monsters at once.

Heroes

For extra variety in the base game, try these options. Want a little more personality for your adventurer? Play as Heroes! Each Hero card has a special ability you may use throughout the game. At the start of the game, shuffle the Hero cards and give two to each player. Each player chooses one Hero to play and returns the remaining card to the box. Place your Hero to the left of your player board. Hero card abilities specify when they can be used.

Hero Abilities

Catkin Saucerer: If you have used your Help token, regain your Help token at the end of a round. You must have a monster in your Befriend pile to regain the token. You may only use it to gain symbols from the top monster in your Befriend pile.
Catkin Scratch Master: Discard a treasure card to gain one of the four weapon style symbols for one encounter. The treasure you discard may come from your backpack or your outfit. You may discard multiple treasure cards, and gain one symbol for each card discarded.
Dwarf Blerglar: When you collect treasure from a dungeon door, you may name one of the eight style symbols and look at the top card of the treasure deck. If one of the symbols on the card matches the symbol you named, you may keep both the card you looked at and the treasure card from the dungeon door. If it does not match, you may choose to collect either the card at the dungeon door or the card you looked at. The remaining card is discarded.
Dwarf Blergzerker: Add 1 to your fight value for any Fight. This stacks with Spite or other effects that increase your fight value.
Elf Ire Mage: You may use Magic symbols in your outfit in place of other weapon symbols (Slash, Pierce, and Bash) when you encounter a monster. If you have multiple Magic symbols in your outfit, you may use each one in place of a required weapon symbol.
Elf Procrastinator: You choose two action cards from your hand each round. After other players have revealed their cards, choose one of the cards selected to be your action for the round. The other card returns to your hand.
Skullface Nec-Romancer: When you Slay a monster, you may place it in your Romance or Befriend pile instead. The action is still considered a Slay, but the monster is scored for its pile at the end of the game.
Skullface Swapbuckler: During setup, you keep both of the treasure cards you are dealt. Equip one and put the other in your backpack. Before you select an action for a round, you may swap one treasure card from your backpack with one in your outfit. The card from your backpack must go in its matching slot, and may be used to enchant existing cards in that slot. The card from your outfit may come from any slot and returns to your backpack.

Pet Abilities

Bat: After actions are resolved, trade a treasure card in your backpack with a treasure card in the discard pile.
Corgi: At the start of a round before all players choose an action, swap a monster at one dungeon door with a monster at another dungeon door. Treasure cards at those doors do not swap.
Drake: When you do not have Spite, add 1 to your fight value for any Fights. This effect stacks with other effects that increase your fight value. If you gain Spite, this ability does not add to your fight value until you lose Spite.
Hedgehog: When you gain a treasure from the Stylomancer or a dungeon door, you may choose to place it under the Hedgehog card. You gain the symbols from the card as if it were part of your outfit. If you replace a card under your Hedgehog with a new one, the replaced card goes to your backpack.
Owl: Before new monsters are revealed at the end of a round, you may choose one dungeon door and look at the top two monster cards at that door. You may return the monster cards to that door in any order.
Snail: Before choosing an action, you may place your Snail card on top of one of your score piles. Monsters in that score pile may not be backstabbed for that round. You may choose a new pile to protect each round.
Spider: When you encounter a monster, you may use style symbols on the treasure card at the dungeon door as if they are part of your outfit for that encounter. If you successfully encounter the monster, you gain the treasure card as normal.
Unicorn: When you lose a Fight, draw one treasure card from the discard pile or treasure deck.

Alternate Modes

Solo Mode [1 player]

You are a hardy adventurer that has chosen to brave the dungeon alone. Your goal is to complete all quests before the dungeon runs out of monsters. You can play a single round of Solo Mode, or a series of games called a run. When you start a run, choose a challenge setting:

Hearthwarm: Casual challenge. If you lose a level, you may retry as many times as you like.
Rugged: Medium challenge. You start with 3 Hearts (use Date tokens to keep track). Each time you lose a level, you lose a Heart. When all of your Hearts are lost, your run ends.
Frightful: Hardcore challenge. If you lose a level, your run ends.

Solo Setup

Place the dungeon board in the center of the play area, using the 3-4 player side.
Create a single stack of monsters:

Shuffle the 3-torch monsters and place 4 in the stack.
Shuffle the 2-torch monsters and place 4 on top of the stack.
Shuffle the 1-torch monsters and place 4 on top of the stack. Return unused monsters to the box.
Place the newly formed monster deck under the Stylomancer space, then flip over and add one monster card face up to each dungeon door from the top of the monster deck.

Shuffle the treasure cards. Place the treasure deck above the Stylomancer, then flip over one treasure card for each dungeon door used, placing them above the doors.
Shuffle the style cards and place three cards below the Stylomancer. These styles are in-fashion for the game. Place the remaining style cards facedown next to the board.
Take a player board, a set of action cards, a set of Quest tokens (on the reverse side of Date tokens), and a Help token of the same color. Return your Backstab card to the box.
Draw 2 treasure cards. Choose a card to keep and equip it in the matching outfit slot. Put the remaining card in a discard pile next to the treasure deck. You may look at the face up monsters and treasure in the dungeon when choosing your card.
Shuffle the Quest cards, and draw the top 3, placing them easy side face up (the easy side does not have a star next to the title). These form your quest goals for the game.

Solo Play

Each round, choose an action card to play. You may not visit the same location twice in a row.

Dungeon Doors: Resolve Dungeon Doors as in the base game, using style symbols from your outfit to encounter monsters. You do not earn Dates, but you may use your Help token.

Stylomancer: Choose Bargain Bin or Personal Style. Bargain Bin lets you draw 2 treasure cards from the discard or deck. When you choose the Personal Style option, flip over a fourth card, then choose one to discard. The remaining three cards are the in-fashion cards for the game. Then Restyle.

Visits to the Stylomancer cost you time. After resolving a Stylomancer action, choose one monster from the dungeon. Discard that monster and its treasure, then add a new monster and treasure to the empty dungeon door.

Quests: When you complete a Quest, place a Quest token on it to show that it is complete. You win if all Quest cards are completed. You lose if a dungeon door is empty and no monsters remain in the monster deck to fill the empty door.

Solo Renown

Each time you complete a level in a solo run, you gain Renown. Renown measures how well you are doing in your run (which you can share and compare with other solo players), and unlocks extra treasure cards as you progress.

At the end of a successful solo game, count the number of cards remaining in the monster deck. You gain 1 Renown for winning the game, plus 1 Renown for each remaining monster card in the monster stack. Keep track of your Renown on a scrap piece of paper. Your Renown is cumulative between games, so as your level increases, you will have more Renown. For every 10 Renown you earn, you may draw and keep one extra treasure card during Step 6 of set-up.

Leveling Up

If you win a game in a solo run, you level up! For your next solo game, the difficulty of the Quest cards increases. Each time you win a level, proceed to the next level for your next game. See if you can defeat all of the levels!

Level	Easy Quests	Hard Quests
1	3	0
2	4	0
3	2	1
4	3	1
5	1	2
6	2	2
7	0	3
8	1	3
9	2	3

Your total Renown is your final score for your solo run. Your run ends when you beat level 10 or lose too many games with a Rugged or Frightful challenge setting. Try another run and see if you can beat your score!

Quest Mode [2-4 players]

You can use the Quest cards from Solo Mode as alternative scoring rules for the competitive base game. At the start of the game, deal 2 Quest cards to each player. Each player chooses one to keep as a Personal Quest and flips it hard side up. The remaining Quests become Open Quests that anyone can complete.

Place Open Quests easy side up at the end of the dungeon board so all players can see them. For a 2-player game, deal 3 Quest cards to each player, so you have a total of 4 Open Quests. For 3-player, flip over one additional card as an Open Quest.

For Quest Mode, Backstabs are not used and Dates are not used.

When you complete a Quest, place a Quest token with your color on it. (Date tokens have a player color printed on one side.) More than one player can complete an Open Quest. Only you may complete your Personal Quest. The player to complete the most Quests at the end of the game wins. In case of a tie, the player with the most encountered monsters wins the tie. If there is still a tie, the player with the most treasure cards wins.

Quest Mode Stylomancer

Choose Bargain Bin or Personal Style. When you choose the Personal Style option, flip over a fourth card, then choose one to discard. The remaining three cards are the in-fashion cards for all players. Then Restyle.

After resolving an action at the Stylomancer, you must choose one monster from the dungeon. Discard that monster and its treasure. If more than one player visits the Stylomancer, you may choose which order you resolve your actions.

Quests (Quest Mode scoring)

When you complete a Quest, you earn Renown - 1 Renown for easy, 2 Renown for hard. Draw a new Quest to replace the completed Quest. You must earn at least 12 Renown for 2 players, or 16 Renown for 3-4 players. The game ends when no monsters remain to fill an empty dungeon door. A higher score earns you higher honors. Can you prove your worth as true Dungeonistas?

Renown (2P / 3-4P)	Title	Description
12 / 16	Local Heroes	Townsfolk trust you to get the job done.
14 / 18	Dungeonistas	You've made a splash in the adventuring scene!
16 / 18	Epic Heroes	Impossible done! Post a pic and bask in the glory.

Co-op Mode [2-4 players]

Quest cards can also be used for Co-op Mode. Instead of competing against each other to be the best adventurer, you work together to complete Quests.

Co-op Setup

Set up the game the same as Solo mode, with the following counts of monster cards:

2-Player: Use 6 cards of each torch number.
3-player: use 7 1-torch monsters, 7 2-torch monsters, and 8 3-torch monsters.
4-player: use 8 cards of each torch number.

Instead of drawing the top 3 Quest cards, deal 2 out to each player. When you receive a Quest card, choose if you will attempt the easy side or the hard side.

Co-op Play

Each round, choose an action card from your hand to play. You may freely discuss your choices with other players before making them. Leave your previous action card out of your hand. You may not choose the same action twice in a row.

Dungeon Doors: Encounter monsters just like the base game. You may not choose to visit the same dungeon door as another player.

Stylomancer: Choose Bargain Bin or Personal Style. When you choose the Personal Style option, flip over a fourth card, then choose one to discard. The remaining three cards are the in-fashion cards for all players. Then Restyle.

Fights: Resolve fights normally. If you win a fight, you may choose who encounters the monster, either yourself or your teammate if they were also in the fight. Players in the fight that do not encounter the monster gain Spite.

Backstabs: You may not Backstab your teammate!

Renown: At the end of the game, teammates add their Renown together. The team with the highest Renown wins!

Team Mode [4 players]

Team Setup

When setting up the game, choose which players will be on a team together. Otherwise, set up as normal for the base game.

Team Play

Rounds are played using the base rules. Before choosing an action card each round, pass one of your action cards to your teammate to indicate an action you will not take this round. They may look at it, then keep it facedown. At the end of the round, passed action cards are returned to their owners.

Team Quest Mode [4 players]

You may combine Team Mode with Quest Mode. Set up Quests the same as Quest Mode, and mark Quests with your Quest tokens when you complete them. Count the number of Quests completed by both players on a team and add your totals together. If a Quest is completed by both teammates, count it for both players. The team with the most completed Quests wins. The team with the most encountered monsters wins a tie, then most treasure cards.

Round Summary

This summary is printed on the last page of the rulebook as a player aid.

Choose an Action: Each player secretly chooses an action card.
Reveal Actions: Reveal your cards.
Resolve Actions, Left to Right: Romance, Befriend, or Slay by matching symbols. Same door? Fight!
Prepare for the Next Round: Flip new monsters. Add new treasures. Return previous action card to hand.

End Game Scoring Summary

Monsters: +4 Two of a Kind in the same score pile; +6 Three of a Kind in the same score pile; +6 Spicy Set (4 of different types) in the same score pile.
Tricky: +1 for each 3-torch monster you have.
Loner: +1 for any monster not in a set.
Date tokens: +1 for each Date token you have.
Outfit: +1 for each in-fashion symbol in your outfit.
Sell Loot: +1 for every two treasures of the same type in your backpack.

Note on this document: the printed rulebook includes illustrated examples (the Restyle example on page 8 and the Restyle and Help example panels) and the monster, style and symbol art; these are pictures and are described in words above where the printed text describes them. The Credits block (game design, art, development, editing, layout, playtesting, and the Nerdy Pup Games copyright line) and the Special Dungeonista thank-you are omitted.