Dungeon Dwellers Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup
• Player's Personal Area
• Gameplay
• Turn Sequence
• Start of Turn
• Hero Phase
• Monster Phase
• Treasure Phase
• Losing the Game
• Winning the Game

Components

• Rulebook
• Cards:
  • 4 Hero cards
  • 180 Energy cards
  • 56 common Energy cards (available to all Heroes, for filling their Energy decks)
  • 50 Monster cards
  • 72 Gold cards
  • 25 Exploration cards
• 50 Experience Crystals
• 8 dice (d10)
• 4 Health counters

Hero cards: represent the Hero who descends into the dungeon; they show the Hero's starting abilities and starting cards.

• A. Hero name and class
• B. defense against Special damage
• C. defense against Ranged damage
• D. defense against Melee damage
• E. starting Health
• F. melee/ranged weapon and starting cards

Energy cards: represent magic items, abilities, weapons, armor (including shields), and cards that raise starting abilities. They can also be used to activate abilities.

• A. card name/type
• B. defense against Special damage
• C. defense against Ranged damage
• D. defense against Melee damage
• E. card symbol
• F. card effect / description
• G. amount of Energy that must be spent to use the card's effect

Character Energy cards: each Hero has its own special cards. Only the Hero shown on a card may place it in their Energy deck. There is no limit on the number of cards of each type that may be placed in an Energy deck.

Common Energy cards: these cards show all Heroes. Limit for these cards: only 2 cards of each type may be in an Energy deck.

Monster cards: show the Monsters and Bosses to be fought.

• A. Monster name and type
• B. Special damage dealt to the Hero
• C. Melee damage dealt to the Hero
• D. Ranged damage dealt to the Hero
• E. Monster's Health value
• F. Monster description (its abilities)
• G. amount of Gold the Hero receives for defeating the Monster

Gold cards: these cards are used to win the game. Some of them provide additional treasure, as in the example shown.

Exploration cards: show where the Heroes are located in the dungeon. These cards come in 2 categories: Rooms and Corridors. Corridors hide traps and various obstacles, while Rooms contain Monsters that the Heroes must defeat.

Health counter: shows the current state of a Hero; if it reaches 0, the Hero dies and the game ends.

Dice: used to track the level of various game components, for example the amount of damage that armor can absorb. They may also be used for random events.

Experience Crystals: used to track a Monster's Health and to show the Heroes' experience. Red Crystals = 1 unit of Health/Experience; blue tokens = 5 units of Health/Experience.

Game Setup

Monster deck: before assembling this deck, place a random Boss face down. Randomly choose Level 3 Monsters equal to the number of players and place them face down on the Boss. Repeat these steps for Level 2 and Level 1. When playing with two players, place 3 Monster cards instead of two.

Exploration deck: shuffle all the Exploration cards together and place them face down under the Monsters.

Gold deck: shuffle all the Gold cards together and place them face down on the table.

Experience Crystals: place them in the center, next to the play area.

Play area: all components are placed in the center of the table, within easy reach of all players.

• A. Gold deck
• B. Monsters laid out in a row (the number of cards depends on the number of players)
• C. Exploration cards
• D. Crystals

Hero card: choose one Hero card and its corresponding starting cards, and place them in front of you. Set the Health counter to the Hero's maximum starting Health.

Energy deck: assemble a deck of 30 cards from the Character and common cards (no more than 2 common cards of each type may be in an Energy deck).

For the first game, choose the following cards:

• Scout deck: shuffle together Falling Rocks; Swinging Axe; Poison Darts; Pit; Bridge; Chasm; Cave; Entryway; Small Room.
• Mage deck: 4 Lightning Bolt; 4 Overcharge; 4 Daggers; 4 Ring of Regeneration; 2 Cloak of Fire; 2 Scary; 2 Mage Robes; 2 Wizard Robes; 2 Bracers of Defense; 2 Fireball Scroll; 2 Potion of Major Healing.
• Priest deck: 4 Cure Serious Wounds; 4 Gauntlet; 4 Destroy Evil; 4 Call from Above; 4 Bless; 2 Holy Symbol; 2 Scale Mail; 2 Ringed Mail; 2 Enhanced Shield; 2 Refreshing Potion.
• Thief deck: 4 Move Quietly; 4 Hide in Shadows; 4 Pick Pocket; 4 Loot; 2 Sneak Attack; 2 Magical Short Sword; 2 Dark Leather; 2 Tanned Leather; 2 Stolen Loot; 2 Refreshing Potion; 2 Weapon Skill.
• Warrior deck: 4 Sharpen Weapon; 4 Whirlwind; 4 Veteran Attack; 2 Brute Force; 4 Two-Handed Sword; 2 Splint Mail; 2 Banded Mail; 2 Stamina; 2 Buckler; 2 Heroics; 2 Weapon Skill.

Player's Personal Area

• A. Hero card
• B. Treasure card (added to Defense)
• C. Energy deck
• D. discard pile
• E. Treasures in play
• F. die used to show remaining armor
• G. unused Treasures (face down)
• H. Gold pile

Gameplay

At the start, each player rolls a die; the player who rolls the highest value is the first player (and play then continues clockwise). During a turn, each Hero explores the dungeon, fights Monsters, and collects treasures. Each Hero has its own Energy deck and works together with the others as a team to defeat the Monsters.

Turn Sequence

Start of turn:

• Hero properties
• Monster properties

Hero phase:

• Exploration
• Monster selection
• Weapon attack
• Use of Abilities / Items
• Energy spending

Monster phase:

• Monster attack
• Monster abilities

Treasure phase

Start of Turn

All effects that trigger "at the start of the turn" resolve at this moment, beginning with the active Hero and continuing clockwise. The Hero may also reveal any of the treasures they have collected (see the Treasure phase). After all the Heroes have finished, the Monsters' effects resolve (from left to right). Monsters with the "Attack first" property are more aggressive and attack at this time (see the Monster phase). Hero abilities that are activated during the Monster phase do not trigger during any Monster attack in that phase.

Hero Phase

During this phase the active Hero may perform a number of actions, described below.

Exploration: when there are no revealed Monsters, the active Hero reveals a new Exploration card and follows the instructions on it. After a Room card has been revealed, place 1 Monster card face down for each Hero. Add one additional Monster card when playing with two players.

Monster selection: the Heroes must choose a Monster to attack with a Weapon. This Monster may be either face up or face down. When a Monster is revealed, place Crystals on it equal to the Health of the nearest Monster to it. If a player reveals a Monster, they must attack that Monster with a Weapon.

Weapon attack: the Hero attacks a Monster with a melee or ranged weapon and applies the weapon's property in the attack. A Hero may use only 1 weapon per turn, unless stated otherwise. Ability cards that affect Weapons must be activated at this moment (for example: "Long Sword" deals 4 points of damage at a cost of 1 Energy, and "Sharpen Weapons" adds +2 to damage. They are activated together and give a total of 6 points of damage).

Use of Abilities / Items: Heroes may use any Abilities / Items after completing a Weapon attack. Ability cards that cause damage may be applied either to the same Monster or to another revealed Monster. Ability cards may be used only once per turn, unless stated otherwise. Some of them require Energy to activate. Items that do not indicate a specific phase may be resolved at any time during the Hero's turn.

Note: Abilities that affect other cards must be activated simultaneously with them and apply only once (for example: "Magic Missile" deals 2 points of damage to all Monsters. "Overcharge" doubles the damage of one attack or ability. They are activated together to deal 4 points of damage to all Monsters).

Energy spending: Energy has many uses in the game. In addition to activating some abilities or items, it may also be used to deal extra damage to a Monster, or for self-healing. To spend Energy, place the required number of cards from the Energy deck face up on the discard pile. When cards are returned to your Energy deck, ANY card may be chosen from the discard pile.

• Extra damage: a Hero may deal extra damage to any Monster that was damaged this turn by spending Energy cards; 1 card for each additional point of damage.
• Healing: a Hero may spend Energy cards to heal up to maximum Health, 1 card for each point of Health.

Monster Phase

After the Hero has finished their actions, the Monsters take the initiative. Any Monster damaged by the Hero has a counterattack, unless it has already attacked (through "Attack first"). Monsters attack in response even if they were defeated by the Hero during the Hero phase.

Monster damage: Monsters can inflict 4 types of damage on Heroes: Melee or Ranged damage, Special damage, and Unblockable damage.

• Special damage: represents unique damage (poisons and mystical attacks).
• Ranged damage: represents damage from "throwing" (bows and magic).
• Melee damage: represents "close" damage (claws and melee weapons).
• Unblockable damage: this damage cannot be absorbed by armor and must be absorbed by Health points or by spending Energy.

Monster attack: a Monster may cause more than one type of damage in a single attack. If the Hero did not attack in melee, the Monster does not deal Melee damage during its attack (except with "Attack first"). The damage from each attack is reduced by the Defense value on the Hero card. The Hero may reduce the damage further by using Abilities, Items and Armor. The Hero may also spend Energy to reduce damage by 1 point for each Energy card. Any remaining damage reduces the Hero's Health (for example: "Spiked Demon" deals 3 points of Ranged damage and 1 point of Special damage. "Dark Leather" absorbs Ranged damage, however the Special damage still reduces the Hero's Health).

Monster abilities: any Monster abilities that trigger during the Monster phase are resolved after the Monster's attack has been fully resolved. They are not considered an attack (for example: the Special damage from "Bane of Ninjace" is not an attack, and therefore cannot be avoided with "Parry").

Treasure Phase

If any Monsters were defeated during the Hero's turn, the Treasure phase takes place. A treasure may be a new Ability, Armor (including Shields), Weapon, Item, or Gold. The Hero who defeated the Monster, by removing its last Crystal, places the Monster card on their Gold pile. Starting with the active Hero, perform one of the following actions as many times as possible:

• Exchange 5 Crystals to take the top card of the Energy deck as a treasure.
• Exchange 5 Crystals to take the top card of the Gold deck as a treasure.
• Exchange 10 Crystals to take any card from the discard pile as a treasure.
• Discard 2 face-down treasure cards to take any card from the discard pile as a treasure.
• Discard 1 face-down treasure card and exchange 5 Crystals to take any card from the discard pile as a treasure.
• Play all abilities/items that activate during this phase (for example: Pick Pocket).
• Reveal any of the collected treasure cards.

Treasures in play: when taking Gold as a treasure, place it face down on the Gold pile. When taking any other treasure, choose whether to place it face down or reveal it. A face-down treasure may be used as described above, or may be spent at any time as 2 Energy. Place any revealed treasures next to the Hero card. An Ability, Item, Weapon or Armor must be revealed in order to be used.

Treasure restrictions:

• Abilities: only one card of each Ability may be in play.
• Level Up: any number of these cards may be in play.
• Item: any number of these cards may be in play.
• Armor: only one Armor may be in play.
• Shields: only one card of each Shield may be in play.
• Weapons: only one card of each type of Weapon may be in play.

During the Treasure phase and at the start of the active player's turn, a Hero may discard any number of revealed Armor cards and replace them with another revealed Armor card (for example, discard a partially used "Scale Mail" and replace it with another "Scale Mail" or "Ringed Mail").

Treasure cards may be revealed only during the Treasure phase or at the start of the Hero's turn.

Losing the Game

Once the Health of any Hero is reduced to zero and they have no Energy left to spend, the entire honest campaign is defeated.

Winning the Game

Once the Boss has been defeated and the Treasure phase is complete, all the Heroes emerge victorious from the dungeon! The adventure is over, and the Heroes no longer need to spend Energy to heal.

Each Hero counts all of their Gold by adding their whole Gold pile to the rewards for defeating Monsters shown on the corresponding cards, and subtracting 10 Gold for each point of Health below their starting value.

The Hero with the most Gold is declared the winner. If there is a tie, the Hero with more Gold cards wins. If there is still a tie, the Hero with the highest remaining Health wins. If it is still a tie, the Heroes share the victory!