Dungeon Fighter in the Chambers of Malevolent Magma
Dungeon Fighter in the Chambers of Malevolent Magma Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Components
- Goal of the Game
- Setup
- Round Structure
- 1 · Dungeon
- 2 · Combat
- Hero Sheet Anatomy
- Specific Throw Requirements
- 3 · Resting
- 4 · Shopping Time!
- 5 · Final Boss Combat
- End Game Scoring
- Impossible Situations
- Dungeon Card Effects
- Common Hero Abilities
- Mixing Dungeon Fighter Boxes!
- Variant: Level Up
- Relics
- Unique Hero Abilities
- Board Modifiers
- Monster Special Abilities
- Specific Throws List
- Special Dice
- Templates
Components
- 1 Target board
- 21 Monster cards
- 24 Equipment cards
- 3 Boss cards
- 21 Dungeon cards
- 4 Templates (1 Fireball, 1 Armor, 2 Explosions)
- 12 Customized D8 dice
- 1 Iron die
- 1 Boulder die
- 6 Level Up tokens
- 4 Hero life markers, 2 Monster life markers
- 1 Monster life tracker, 1 Difficulty mode token
- 4 Hero sheets
- 1 Leader token, 1 Chest tile
- 1 Volcano, 1 Firewall, 1 Fire Ring, 1 Lava Mat
- 5 Hero ability tokens (2 Beers, 2 Alchemists, 1 Fire)
- 12 Ability Upgrade/Scar tokens
- 30 Gold coins
Goal of the Game
In Dungeon Fighter™, a party of dimwitted Heroes rushes into the next best dungeon to pilfer great riches and fabled artifacts. With their innate grace, they throw themselves at the horrid creatures inhabiting these places, hoping to overcome them and take down the Final Boss at the end. If they manage to defeat this monstrosity, they win the game.
So enter, you fools... and abandon all hope.
Setup
Before playing, set up the game as follows:
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Assemble the board: Fit the 4 board pieces together to form one large Target board. Use the letters at the edge of each piece to line up the correct pieces. Then place the board in the middle of the table.
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Choose Heroes: Each player chooses or draws 1 Hero sheet and places it faceup in front of themselves. Each player takes 1 Hero life marker and places it on the top space of their own Hero sheet life track — see page 9 for more details. Some Heroes might have a token associated with their 'blue ability': Place this token beside their Hero sheet with the inactive (gray) side faceup. Return the Hero sheets and tokens not used to the game box.
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Create the Dungeon deck: Shuffle all Dungeon cards and create a facedown Dungeon deck.
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Create the Shop deck: Shuffle all Equipment cards and create a facedown Shop deck.
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Create the Monster deck: Separate the Monster cards into piles according to the Monster level, indicated by the color and number on the back of the cards, then shuffle each pile separately. Take 3 cards from each of Level 1 (Orange), Level 2 (Turquoise), and Level 3 (Purple) and pile them on top of all the Level 4 (Gray) cards, with the lower Levels on top.
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Set the Difficulty Level: Place the Monster Life Tracker beside the board close to the Monster and Dungeon decks. Place the 2 Monster Life Markers on the 'zero' spaces of the Monster Life Tracker. Now it's time for our party of Heroes to decide how brave they are... place (or not) the Difficulty Mode token on top of the heart image of the Monster Life Tracker according to the chosen difficulty:
- Normal: Return the token to the box. (recommended for first-time players)
- Hard: +3
- Inferno: +5
When playing on Hard or Inferno mode, add the indicated amount to the Monster's life every time you start a new combat.
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Appointing a Leader: A party without a leader is just asking for trouble! Choose (or randomly determine) one player to be the party leader. This player receives the Leader token.
Note: At the end of each successful combat, the player that defeated the Monster receives the Leader token!
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Give starting loot: Place the Chest tile in easy reach of all players. Then place on it 2 white Bonus dice and a number of Gold coins equal to the number of players minus 2. This is the party's loot. (If playing with more than one Box of Dungeon Fighter, players may use up to 6 Heroes.)
Special setup for 1 player: When facing the Dungeon alone, the player must control 2 Heroes and follow all Setup rules for 2 players.
Round Structure
A game of Dungeon Fighter is played over several rounds, each consisting of 3 phases:
- Dungeon
- Combat
- Resting
Advancing through the Dungeon can take the party to special Shops!
- Shopping
And after visiting 3 Shops, the party might be ready to face the Final challenge:
- Final Boss
1 · Dungeon
1.1 · Choosing Your Path
Each round, the party will have to choose between 2 paths. The current Leader secretly draws the top 2 cards from the Dungeon deck and chooses 1 to reveal and resolve. They place the other Dungeon card on the bottom of the Dungeon deck. The Shop icons in the top left corner of the Dungeon cards indicate how many steps the party is advancing inside the Dungeon. The party needs at least 10 Shop icons to reach a Shop, and they have to visit 3 Shops to reach the Final Boss. Most Dungeon cards have a special immediate effect, which is shown in the bottom left corner of the card. More information about those special effects can be found on page 16 (Dungeon Card Effects) and on page 19 (Specific Throws List).
1.2 · Revealing the Monster
The Leader draws the top Monster card from the Monster pile and reveals it.
Each Monster belongs to a particular type — which may be beneficial for some Heroes — deals a specific amount of damage, and may have a special ability, see page 18.
To determine the actual life points of the Monster for this encounter, add up the life points on the Monster card with any special effects from the current Dungeon card and the Difficulty Mode token. Record the final amount of life points on the Monster Life Tracker, using the Monster Life Markers. Place on the Monster card the number of Gold coins indicated: These coins are the reward if the party defeats the Monster.
Note: Use the two Monster Life Markers to keep track of the Monster's life points: The top row represents tens, while the bottom row represents units. In this example, the Lava Monster has 14 Life points.
2 · Combat
During this phase, the Heroes face and fight the Monster until they either win or lose! The Heroes take turns performing attacks using the colored dice — red, green, and blue. Each die can be thrown just once per combat. The Hero to the left of the Leader is the first Active Hero and takes 1 colored die. To attack, the Hero must follow these 4 steps:
2.1 · Choose One Available Die
The Active Hero chooses 1 of the available colored dice to throw at the Target board in an attempt to deal enough damage to the Monster to defeat them. If the party has already thrown all the colored dice in this combat, check the Running Out of Colored Dice section to the right.
2.2 · Throw the Die
The Active Hero throws the die at the Target board. They can throw the die from whatever position they find comfortable — anywhere around the table, standing, sitting, etc... In order for the throw to be valid, the die must bounce at least once on the table outside of the Target board before touching the board and landing on it.
2.3 · Check if it is a Hit or a Miss
Sometimes, Heroes swing at the Monsters and Hit, while other times they Miss! Check the conditions on the next page.
The die result may also display a special icon, which may trigger special powers — check page 9.
2.4 · End of the Turn
If the Hero defeated the Monster, the party can move on to the Resting phase — see page 12!
If the Monster is still alive, the Active Hero's turn is over, and the next Hero in clockwise order must start their turn with step 2.1.
If there are any colored dice left, they should be passed to the new Active Hero.
Running Out of Colored Dice
If the party has thrown all 3 colored dice without defeating the Monster, then the next Active Hero must choose one of two options:
- Use 1 white Bonus die from the Chest (see the White Bonus Dice section on page 12) and swing at the Monster following steps 2.1-2.3, or
- Retrieve the 3 colored dice from the board. This choice will, however, make the entire party of Heroes suffer damage equal to the Monster's level. No special ability or card can be used to prevent this damage. The Active Hero proceeds with the Combat phase as normal.
With the exception of the Final Boss combat (see page 15), it's possible to retrieve the 3 colored dice multiple times during a combat.
Hit
If the die bounced on the play area and then landed on the Target, the Hero deals damage to the Monster equal to the number shown on the Target board section the die lands on (plus bonuses from Equipment or abilities, if any). Reduce the Monster's life points on the Life Tracker by the amount of damage dealt. The goal is to reduce the Monster's life points to "0", defeating them and then moving to the Resting phase to collect all your glory and fame.
Section borders: If the die lands on the border between two sections, it counts as landing in the section with the most corners of the die in it. When in doubt, consider the die to be in the lower-value section.
Perfect hit: If a die lands on the bullseye of the Target board, the Hit deals 10 damage. (Even though the bullseye shows no number there, it does it. Trust me. I wrote the rules! Why would I lie?)
Miss
The throw counts as a Miss in the following situations:
- If the die does not bounce at least once outside the Target board before touching the board.
- If the die falls into one of the holes of the Target board (and remains there).
- If the die lands on one of the bones at the edge of the Target board.
- If the die lands outside the Target board.
- If the Active Hero doesn't respect the Specific Throw Requirements shown on the Monster and/or Dungeon card (see page 10).
If the Hero Missed, they suffer damage equal to the Monster's damage value. Reduce the Hero's life points on their Hero sheet by the amount of damage suffered.
Hero down! Any time a Hero has less than 1 life point, they faint to feign death and cannot act again during that combat: They skip their turn until the end of the combat. Check page 12 for more details about a fainted Hero and their upcoming scar.
The Leader: If there's ever any doubt among the players if a throw was valid or not, or at any other game moment, the current Leader is responsible for making the decision.
Losing the Game!
If at any time during a combat all Heroes have fainted (reached 0 life points) the party loses the game. Perhaps next time the party should fight better, or they will face shame again.
Hero Sheet Anatomy
Hero sheets show all the (legal and not-private) information about our Heroes that a player would like to know.
Beside the Hero name, their favorite social media picture, and their classic quote, we can also find:
- The limit and types of Equipment that this specific Hero can carry.
- A track with the Hero's current life points, going from 1 (bottom) to 9 (top).
- The ability associated with the special icon of the red die.
- The ability associated with the special icon of the green die.
- The ability associated with the special icon of the blue die.
Activating the Die Icon
Each Hero sheet shows 3 special abilities — one for each die color. A Hero's special ability is activated when the matching colored (or white) die lands showing the special icon.
Players should discuss and carefully choose which player will throw which die, in order to have a chance to benefit the most from each Hero's special abilities during the current combat. Some special abilities only activate in specific circumstances, like when the Hero Misses or when the die lands on the Target board (see Common Hero Abilities on page 16 and Unique Hero Abilities on page 18).
Insta-Kill Effect
If a die lands in the bullseye showing the special icon, instead of dealing 10 damage, the Monster is immediately defeated and the Hit is considered an Epic Shot (see page 12). This also applies while fighting the Final Boss! If a Hero benefits from this "insta-kill power," they may still activate their special ability in the same turn.
Specific Throw Requirements
There are pictures in the banners of some Monster, Dungeon, and Equipment cards! It depicts our Dummy Hero performing in some unique physical way that the Hero must copy when throwing the die. For a full list of icons and what they represent, see page 19.
When a Monster or Dungeon card shows a Specific Throw Requirement, the Heroes must perform the icon's requirements during each throw of that combat.
If, during a combat, both the Monster and the Room (and possibly even a Weapon!) each require a Specific Throw, the Heroes must combine those throws for the attack to be a Hit. If a Hero does not fulfill all the Specific Throw Requirements, then the throw counts as a Miss.
If the throw requirements of 2 or more cards are the same, then they count as one requirement (they do not double!).
Combat Example
Melissa, Brockenstock, and Torm are fighting their way through the dungeon. Melissa is the current Leader, so she secretly looks at 2 Dungeon cards and chooses to enter a Lost Treasure. The party immediately adds 1 Gold coin to the Chest as indicated by the card. Then, she reveals the Monster: the Firewall!
The Firewall has 6 life points, but the Lost Treasure specifies that they must add 3 life points to it, so our Heroes set the Life Tracker to 9 life points. The Firewall demands that all dice thrown must bounce on the table and then jump over the Firewall to be a valid shot! This Monster also deals 2 damage when a player Misses, and is carrying 2 Gold coins as a reward.
- Since Torm is sitting to the left of Melissa, the current Leader, he is the Active Hero. He will be the first to swing at the Monster and takes all 3 colored dice. Torm chooses the green die and throws it at the Target board. The die bounces once on the table, goes over the Firewall, enters the Target, and lands in the "4" section with a blank side showing. Torm deals 4 damage to the Monster! Then Torm passes the remaining two colored dice to Brockenstock, the Hero on his left.
- Brockenstock is not confident he can make the dice bounce over the Firewall! That's why he chooses the blue die (his blue ability, Beer, will provide him 2 tokens that can avoid damage when any player Misses). He throws the die, but it doesn't bounce enough! The die touches the Firewall and lands behind it, outside the Target, but the icon is showing, so he activates both Beer tokens. Since Brockenstock's current throw is a Miss, the Firewall would deal him 2 damage, so he decides to spend one of his Beers to avoid receiving this damage. Then, he passes the remaining red die to Melissa.
- Melissa throws the red die at the Target board hoping it will land in a high-value section and finish the combat. The die bounces once on the table, jumps the Firewall, enters the Target, and lands in a hole with the icon side showing! The throw is a Miss, but Melissa's red ability is activated when she Misses: She doesn't suffer any damage and still deals 2 damage to the Firewall. The fight is not over, and it's Torm's turn again.
- The party has already used all 3 colored dice, so Torm must choose to either use 1 white Bonus die from the Chest tile or let all Heroes suffer damage equal to the Monster's level to retrieve all 3 colored dice. Torm chooses to use 1 white die from the Chest. The Heroes take no damage, but if Torm fails to defeat the Monster, Brockenstock will have to decide once more between retrieving the colored dice or spending a white one.
- Torm throws the white die. The die bounces once, goes over the Firewall, rolls over the table, enters the Target, and lands on the section with value 3 without showing the icon — Torm deals 3 damage to the Monster: that's enough! The Heroes have managed to defeat the scary (?) Firewall! They add 2 Gold coins to the Chest as a reward and move on to the Resting phase.
3 · Resting
After the party defeats a Monster, they can bask in their glory for a brief moment.
Then they must clean up the mess and prepare to move to the next room by following these steps:
3.1 · Epic Shot Bonus
- As indicated on the Monster Life Tracker, if the last Hit on the Monster managed to reduce its life to -3 or less, the party of Heroes gains 1 extra Gold coin. This bonus is also gained if the Hero defeated the Monster with an Insta-Kill throw.
Example: Later in a combat, the Monster had a total of 2 life points and Torm made a throw with a total damage of 7. The Monster is defeated, since it goes to -5 life points. That's an Epic Shot! Torm takes a total of 5 Gold coins to add to the Chest: 1 coin from the Epic Shot and 4 from the Monster Reward.
3.2 · Taking Your Reward
- Take the Gold coins from the defeated Monster card and place them on the Chest.
3.3 · Scars
- Each fainted Hero must take 1 Scar token from the supply and use it to cover all 3 life spaces of a single ability section (color). Then, that Hero is restored to full health. From now on, they have 2 fewer life points, and they cannot activate that color's special ability for the rest of the game (but they can still throw that colored die)! A Hero can only have 1 Scar token on each color. If a Hero with 3 Scars faints once more, flip their sheet over: That Hero is eliminated from the game!
3.4 · Moving On
- The Hero who threw the last die receives the Leader token.
- Retrieve all 3 colored dice from the Target board and hand them to the Hero to the left of the Leader.
- Return any white Bonus dice used during the Combat phase to the supply (see White Bonus Dice, below).
- Check for any Resting phase special effects and resolve them (including Hero ability tokens).
- Place the defeated Monster card in the discard pile.
- The Heroes may move Equipment cards among themselves at this time (see Equipment on the next page).
- Heroes realign their Armor to be used again in the next combat (see Equipment on the next page).
- Set aside the concluded Dungeon card. Add up the quantity of Shop icons found on the Dungeon cards so far: If the party has accumulated 10 or more Shop icons, they have reached the Shop and will take a small break before the next combat! If not, continue exploring by returning to the Dungeon phase.
White Bonus Dice
Bonus dice are thrown only once. When removing dice from the Target board during the Resting phase, Heroes must return white Bonus dice to the supply. Thus, it is important that the party buys sufficient Bonus dice to use for future combats. If a Bonus die lands showing its special icon, that Hero may activate any one of their Hero's available (without a Scar) special abilities.
The icon on the left refers to the white dice being used in the game (even if it is not a d6!). The dice may vary depending on the selected dice set — see Mixing Dungeon Fighter Boxes! on page 17 to read more.
4 · Shopping Time!
If the party has accumulated Dungeon cards with 10 or more Shop icons, they have reached the Shop! It's time to spend Gold to buy Equipment, Bonus dice, and/or heal.
- Buying Equipment: Time to display the Shop's merchandise! The Leader draws 2 Equipment cards from the deck plus 1 extra card for each Hero, and reveals them on the table. The party can now buy as many of these faceup Equipment cards as they wish/can. You can buy these cards using Gold coins: Move the amount indicated on the Equipment card from the Chest tile to the supply. Then, assign that Equipment to a Hero. Discard any cards you have decided not to buy back to the box.
- Buying Healing: For each Gold coin you spend to buy healing, heal 1 life point to every Hero.
- Buying White Bonus Dice: Pay 2 Gold coins for each white Bonus die you wish to buy. There is a limit: You cannot have more than 9 Bonus dice in your Chest!
Equipment
The party can buy all sorts of shiny Equipment from Shops. There are 3 types of Equipment: Weapons, Armors, and Spendable magic items, as well as rare Relics.
Equipment cards must be assigned to a Hero, and must respect the type limits that each Hero can carry — as shown on their Hero sheet.
- Weapons have a red border and will provide the Hero some benefits during combat. A Weapon may be used on every throw and its bonus is only applied if the throw is a Hit. If a Hero carries more than one Weapon, they can choose to use one or more of them (or even none), combining their Specific Throw Requirements and bonuses. A Hero can't have 2 Weapons with the same name.
- Armors have a blue border and may be used once during each combat to prevent damage or activate special effects if the throw is a Miss. After using an Armor, rotate the card 90º to indicate it has already been used during that combat.
- Spendables have a green border and a 'discard after use' effect. They can be used at anytime, even by non-Active Heroes or immediately before a Hero faints.
- Relics are a special type of card: Check their rules on page 18.
4.1 · Is the Dungeon Over?
If this is the first or second time the party arrived at a Shop, a new cycle must be initiated: Discard all the Dungeon cards that were set aside so far back to the bottom of the Dungeon deck and repeat phases 1-3 multiple times until you have enough Shop icons to reach the Shop again.
If the Heroes managed to successfully fight their way through the Dungeon and have arrived at their third Shop, they are ready to face the Final Boss immediately after that! Discard all the remaining Monsters in the deck, then check page 15.
Combat Example
Our party of Heroes have entered the Floor is Lava — they will have to perform all attacks using the Lava mat, but all Heroes immediately gain 2 life points! The Monster found in this room is the Griller Queen, who has the Arrogant ability: When this Monster deals damage, flip her card facedown. If a Hero Misses while this card is facedown, they must re-throw and flip the card faceup.
- Torm is first, so he swings at the Monster. He chooses the red die and decides to use his Bear Trap Weapon. He'll need to throw the die by creating a lever with his elbow and it must bounce on the Lava mat! He places the die on his elbow and throws it! But it bounces outside the Lava mat before entering the Target... it's not a valid throw... it's a Miss. The Griller Queen is an Arrogant Monster, so after she deals 3 damage to Torm, her card is flipped facedown. But the news gets worse... Torm had 3 life points, and now he's down to zero. Torm faints and he's out of this combat!
- The next player is Brockenstock. He has a Sword of Friendship. He chooses the green die and will use Torm's hand to perform the shot! It still needs to bounce on the Lava mat, as demanded by the Dungeon card. Fortunately it does, then it lands on the "3" section of the board with the icon showing! Brockenstock's Sworn Enemy is activated and he deals an extra 1 damage: Adding up the weapon bonus, he's up to a total of 6! He decides to use his Revenge Potion to deal an extra 1 damage to the Monster, increasing the attack to 7. The Griller Queen is defeated by this single throw!
- During the Resting phase, the party sees that the Griller Queen has come to 0 life points, so they don't collect the Epic Shot bonus. Then, they take the 1 Gold coins reward. Torm fainted during the combat, so he will receive a Scar. Torm chooses to assign the Scar to his green ability: He still can use the green die in the future, but won't be able to activate the Piercing Damage ability.
5 · Final Boss Combat
Each Boss shows a damage value, a type, and may have a special ability, but they provide no reward (spoiler: the reward is victory!).
Shuffle the Final Boss cards, draw a random card, flip it faceup, and place it near the Monster Life Tracker. Place the 2 Monster Life Markers on the spaces of the Monster Life Tracker that match the Monster's life points shown on the card.
The Final Boss combat follows all of the standard fighting rules with the following exceptions:
- After all 3 colored Hero dice have been thrown, the next player's only option is to throw a white Bonus die. In other words, during the Final Boss combat, the party cannot retrieve colored dice by taking damage, because they will not survive a full-on attack from the fierce Boss... If the Heroes run out of white Bonus dice before defeating the Final Boss, they lose the game.
- If the party manages to reduce the Final Boss' life points to "0" or less, they win the game and head to the local tavern to celebrate the victory. Dramatic and ridiculous victory poses are encouraged.
Note: The Bullseye effect and all Hero special abilities activate as normal during the Final Boss combat.
Summary
Losing
- Heroes lose the game if ever during any combat all Heroes have fainted (0 or less of life points).
- Heroes lose the game if, when facing the Boss and after throwing the colored dice, they run out of white Bonus dice.
Winning
- Heroes win the game if they reach the Final Boss combat and defeat the Final Boss.
End Game Scoring
If the Heroes wish to express their joy in numbers, add up the points below and check the table to the right:
- +1 PT per Gold coin still on the Chest tile
- +3 PTs per white Bonus die still on the Chest tile
- +5 PTs if no Hero has received a single Scar token
- -1 PT per Scar token received
- -5 PTs per eliminated Hero
- +PTs per Difficulty level:
| Normal | Hard | Inferno |
|---|---|---|
| +5 PTs | +15 PTs | +25 PTs |
| Total PTs | Title |
|---|---|
| 0 or less | Lame Ducks |
| 1-5 | Inept Optimists |
| 6-10 | Insubordinate Rascals |
| 11-15 | Rookie Adventurers |
| 16-20 | Wannabe Heroes |
| 21-25 | Average Warriors |
| 26-30 | Skilled Champions |
| 31-35 | Epic Sourcebook Readers |
| 36-40 | Epic Sourcebook Writers |
| 41+ | Heroic Awesomeness Beyond Human Comprehension |
Impossible Situations
Occasionally, there may be situations when the Heroes are faced with Specific Throw Requirements that make the throw virtually impossible. When these situations arise, the Heroes can choose (as a group) to back down.
If the party backs down, follow these steps:
- Out of shame, each Hero loses life points equal to the current Monster's level.
- Place the current Monster card back in the box.
- Draw the next Monster card from the deck.
Note: Of course, Dungeon Fighter is all about overcoming ridiculous challenges, so players should only use this rule in extreme cases. The gods of Dungeon Fighting always watch over you; they don't like the coward but reward the creative! ... So don't be scared to bend the rules a little bit to create a new crazy throw.
Dungeon Card Effects
Dungeon cards have immediate or permanent effects that affect the current combat:
- Gold Bonus: When revealed, add the quantity of Gold coins indicated to the Chest tile.
- Heal Party x2: When revealed, heal every member of the party 2 life points.
- Gain 1 Die: When revealed, add 1 white Bonus die to the Chest tile.
- Free Equipment: When revealed, take the top card from the Shop deck and assign it to a Hero.
- Monster Advantage: When revealing the Monster card, remember to add the indicated value to the Monster Life Tracker.
- Specific Throw Requirement: Check page 19 to see which Specific Throw you must obey to perform a valid throw.
Common Hero Abilities
This section explains each special ability in greater detail. Unless an ability specifically states that it is "Activated only when the Hero Hits/Misses," the ability activates when the die lands anywhere.
- Agile Instincts: Activated only when the Hero Misses. The Hero dodges the Monster's counterattack, does not suffer damage, and still deals 2 damage to the Monster. (Weapon bonuses are not applied, since they only work when the Hero Hits.)
- Piercing Damage: Activated only when the Hero Hits. Add 2 to the value of the section the die lands in. Then deal damage to the Monster equal to the total.
- Focused Damage: Activated only when the Hero Hits. Consider the value of the Target board section the die lands on as a 5.
- Re-throw: If activated, the Hero may choose to swing at the Monster again: The player retrieves the die they just threw and throws it again. Ignore the result from the first throw.
- Heal Party: If activated, the Hero casts a healing spell on the entire party: every Hero recovers 1 life point.
- Pickpocket: If activated, the Hero takes 1 Gold coin from the supply and places it on the Chest tile.
- Self Healing: If activated, the Hero heals 3 life points.
- Sworn Enemy: Activated only when the Hero Hits. This ability empowers the Hero against the type of Monster indicated on the icon: The Hero deals 4 additional damage to that specific type of Monster. If the Monster in the combat does not match the icon, the Hero deals only 1 additional damage to the Monster.
Mixing Dungeon Fighter Boxes!
Dungeon Fighter boxes were designed to be stand-alone experiences, but it's also possible to mix them during Setup (and play up to 6 Heroes): Each player may choose any Hero available. Next, set up any 1 Target board. Then, select 1 complete set of colored and white dice from a single box. Finally, create the playing decks (Dungeon, Monsters, Equipment) by shuffling any cards desired (that have matching backs, of course). Remember to include any special dice called for by the cards you have chosen. Now continue with the rest of Setup.
If you want to separate the cards later, Equipment cards from this box have a fire icon watermark in the bottom right corner.
Variant: Level Up
New adventures lead our Heroes to new experiences and now it's possible for our Heroes to Level Up after they gain some experience (XP) points. During the game Setup, place a Crystal token on the bottom space of each Hero's XP track, on the left of their Hero sheets:
XP points can be gained in 3 ways:
- When a Hero deals the last Hit that defeats the Monster.
- Each time a die result shows the special icon and the Hero decides not to use it OR the icon cannot be activated since it doesn't meet the Hit/Miss requirement.
When gaining an XP point, the Hero must move their Crystal token up on the track.
Whenever a Hero reaches the Shop with their Crystal token on the highest space of the track (3 XP), they may move the Crystal token to the bottom of the track to gain a Level Up token and assign it to a chosen die color (red, blue, or green.)
Anytime a Hero throws a die that doesn't show the Special icon as the result, they may use their Level Up token to activate the corresponding color die special ability: Rotate the token 90º to indicate it has been used. A Scar overrides a Level Up token, so if a Hero ability has Scar and Level Up tokens, the ability still cannot be activated.
When the party reaches the next Shopping Time, all spent Level Up tokens are refreshed.
If all Heroes agree to use the Level Up variant in Dungeon Fighter, an adjustment must be made: Players will only arrive at the Shop after they have collected 11 Shop icons (instead of 10).
Relics
Relics are a type of Equipment that can be found in the Shop, mixed with the other cards. Relics have a black border and when purchased ARE NOT assigned to a Hero. Instead, place the Relic beside the Chest tile, as they belong to the party and any Hero can benefit from them. Relics can be activated during any Hero's turn, and each card's use is described on the card.
Unique Hero Abilities
Each Hero has a unique ability associated with the blue die (they like to brag about it). Some abilities use special game tokens (depicting the same ability icon). Heroes may activate these tokens during a combat, and each token will be resolved at a specific time (check the rules below).
Brockenstock
Beer: If activated, flip the 2 Beer tokens to the active side. The Hero may spend a Beer token any time a Hero Misses (including themselves) to reduce the Monster's damage to zero. Deactivate all Beer tokens during the Resting phase.
Lia Demonsbane
Alchemist: If activated, place one Alchemist token (active side up) on one of Lia's Spendable cards, then copy and resolve its effect immediately. Each Spendable can only be copied once per combat and copied Spendable cards can still be used (and then discarded) regularly during that combat. Deactivate and retrieve all Alchemist tokens during the Resting phase.
Torm
Berserk: Activated only when the Hero Hits. Double the Target section value when determining the total damage dealt by this throw. If combined with any other bonus that has the same effect, the Target value is doubled only ONCE.
Melissa Firedaughter
Set on Fire: Activated only when the Hero Hits. Deal +2 damage. Then activate the Fire token and place it on the Target section the die is in: That section deals +2 damage for the rest of that combat. Deactivate and retrieve the Fire token during the Resting phase.
Board Modifiers
Board Modifiers are placed on specific positions on the table or Target (on top of the board, around it, touching some part of it, etc...). Their use can be requested by a Monster, Dungeon, or Equipment card.
Volcano
Place the Volcano anywhere on top of the Target (it cannot cover a Template). If the die lands inside the Volcano, it counts as if the die landed at the center of the Target: Deal 10 damage to the Monster (or insta-kill if the special icon is showing)! If the die lands anywhere else on the Volcano, treat it as a value 0 section.
Monster Special Abilities
Some Monster cards show ability text instead of a Specific Throwing Requirement. These special abilities occur when certain conditions are met:
Fury: If a Hero Misses, the Monster deals additional damage equal to the number of dice currently on the Target board.
Note: All dice are removed from the Target board when the Party retrieves dice and at the end of each combat.
Arrogant: When the Monster deals damage, flip their card facedown. If the Hero Misses and the Monster card is facedown, they must re-throw the die and flip the Monster card faceup again.
Specific Throws List
As mentioned earlier, some cards display a black and white icon on their banner depicting some unique physical way that the Hero must throw the die. Sometimes, the icon shows a body position or body movement that must be respected to complete the throw, other times it shows the interaction between the die (or the player) with another special element or gadget.
- Arm Shot: The Hero places the die on top of their arm, where their elbow folds, and holds it (if possible) by closing the arm, then throws the die by stretching out the arm.
- Elbow Shot: The die must start on the Hero's elbow or must touch it during the throw.
- Far Shot: The Hero must take one step backwards away from the table before throwing the die.
- Fire Ring Shot: Another Hero holds the Fire Ring in the air in front of the Hero performing the throw. The die must pass through the Fire Ring and hit the table before touching the Target board. As long as the die passes through the Fire Ring, it counts as a normal throw.
- Firewall Shot: The Hero places the Firewall on the table between them and the Target board so that there is room for the die to bounce on the table between them and the Firewall before touching the Target board. If the die does not pass above the Firewall, the throw counts as a Miss.
- Friendly Shot: The Hero takes one hand from the Hero to their right and holds that hand by the wrist. They must use this other player's hand as if it was theirs to perform the shot.
- Jump Shot: The Hero must jump into the air and the die must be thrown while the Hero is still in the air.
- Lava Shot: Place the Lava mat on the table. The die must bounce at least once on the mat (that counts as bouncing on the table) before entering the Target.
- Slap Shot: The Hero must hit the die with the palm of their hand.
- Thumb Shot: The Hero flips the die with their thumb, as if they were flipping a coin.
- Wrist on the Table Shot: The Hero's wrist for the hand that throws the die must be touching the table.
Special Dice
Special dice work like the white dice, but they're valid only during that combat. These dice must join the colored dice pool when a Monster or Dungeon indicates it, or when a Hero with a corresponding Equipment decides to spend it.
- Special dice follow the same rules for throwing dice: They do not replace any other die, and throwing them counts as the player's turn.
- If a special die shows the special icon, it's resolved just like a white die: Any Hero ability can be activated.
- All special dice are returned to the supply at the end of the combat, whether they were used or not.
- Special dice may have other icons that take effect if the die lands with that icon faceup, as described below:
Iron Die
Piercing Damage: If the Hero Hits with this die result, they deal +2 damage.
Boulder Die
Deep Damage: If the Hero Hits with this die result, they deal +8 damage.
Monster Attack: If this is the die result, whether a Hit or a Miss, the Hero takes +5 damage.
Templates
Templates add new sections to the Target board. Monsters and Dungeons may request players to flip a Template at the start of the combat, while some Equipment may allow the player to choose when to flip it.
When requested, the active Hero must flip the indicated Template like a coin (i.e., with the player's thumb). The template must complete one full rotation in the air (at least 180º) and land on the Target to be considered valid.
- If the Template lands with any portion touching the table, the player suffers 1 damage and must flip the Template again.
- If the Template requested is already on the Target board, the active Hero may choose to leave it as it is or take it and flip it onto the board once more.
- If the Template lands on a die, remove the die and place the Template on the Target board in the same position.
During combat:
- If a die lands on a Template, that throw counts as a Hit against the Monster, even if the Hero suffers any damage from the Template's effects. Special icons work as normal when on the Template.
- If a die lands partially on a Template while also touching anything below the Template (the table, Target, or another Template), resolve the die as if it wasn't touching the Template at all, only the object below it.
Remove all Templates from the target board during the Resting phase.
Fireball Template
If the die lands on the Fireball template, it deals damage to the Monster equal to the number shown on the Template section it landed on: The smaller section of the Template deals 10 damage; the remaining section deals 6 damage to the Monster.
Explosion Templates
Heroes must throw both of these Templates when required. If a die lands on an Explosion Template, the Hero Hits the Monster for 0 damage and all Heroes suffer 2 damage each.
Armor Template
While the Shield Template is on the Target board, all Hero Hits deal -1 damage. However, if a Hero shot lands on the Armor Template, treat it as a Hit worth 0 damage to the Monster and remove the Shield Template from the Target board.