Dungeons & Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt Board Game
Dungeons & Dragons: The Legend of Drizzt Board Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Overview
The Dungeons & Dragons: Legend of Drizzt board game is a cooperative adventure game in which you and your friends play as heroes who stand against villains. You can choose a character included in this game, or bring one over from another game in the Dungeons & Dragons: World of Adventure series. Heroes explore dungeons, find treasure, and fight monsters.
Number of players: The game can be played by 1 to 5 players, each controlling one hero.
Winning the Game
You and your friends win by completing the objectives of the adventure you are playing. For example, in one adventure you must destroy an evil dragon; in another, you must free prisoners and lead them out of the dungeon.
In addition to the defeat conditions listed in the adventure, you also lose if you lose even one hero from your party.
Preparing to Play
The game box contains many components, but you won't need to use all of them at once. The following components are typically used in every adventure: hero cards, hero power cards, standard dungeon tiles, 1 starting dungeon tile, encounter cards, monster cards, treasure cards, hero condition cards (stunned, poisoned), healing tokens, health tokens, trap tokens, item tokens (a flying carpet and others), and a die.
The rest of the game's components are used as needed — if they are called for in the description of the adventure being played.
Beginning the Game
Shuffle the monster cards and form them into a separate deck. Do the same with the encounter cards and the treasure cards. Place all three decks on the table.
Give each player a turn-summary reference card.
Place the die and the miniatures on the table.
Choose an adventure from the Adventure Book. If you are playing solo, start with the first adventure; if playing with friends, start with the second.
Read the adventure's "Setup" section and prepare all the components needed for the game.
Unless the adventure states otherwise, place the starting tile in the center of the table, along with two healing tokens next to it. These represent the medical aid available to your party for the duration of the adventure.
Each player chooses a 1st-level hero. After choosing a hero, also take its card, its power cards, and its miniature. The hero's name is written on the base of the miniature. All players in the adventure are hereafter referred to as heroes.
Unless the adventure states otherwise, place each hero's miniature on the starting tile, on the space next to the stairs.
The hero card indicates how many, and which, powers you may choose for your hero. In your first games, you can use the powers suggested at the beginning of the Adventure Book. Set aside the hero power cards that were not chosen.
Each hero also receives one item from the treasure card deck. If the card drawn is not an item, draw another.
Prepare the dungeon tile deck as indicated in the description of the chosen adventure.
Now you're ready to start playing. If an adventure uses special rules, they are described in that adventure's "Additional Rules" section.
Your turn consists of three phases: playing your hero, exploring, and villain actions.
Dungeon Tiles and Player Setup
Dungeon tiles. You draw dungeon tiles from the prepared deck and build the dungeon, which comes out different every game.
Tiles and spaces. Cards refer to tiles and spaces. Tiles are the individual pieces from which the dungeon is built. Each dungeon tile has a marker where an appearing monster is placed; this marker is called the spawn point. Tiles feature walls, some of which have special properties. Tiles generally have a name to make them easy to reference within adventures. Let's look more closely at tiles and their associated markings:
A tile is a piece of the game board, marked here in yellow; a space is marked in red.
Starting tile. Heroes begin their journey through the dungeon from this tile.
Unexplored tile edge. This is the name for an edge next to which there is not yet another tile. The next dungeon tile can be placed next to this edge.
Spaces are the individual sections a tile is divided into, and which players and monsters use to move.
Triangle. Every dungeon tile has a triangle drawn on it. When placing a new tile, you must orient its triangle toward the unexplored edge of the tile it is being attached to. If the triangle on the tile being placed is black, draw an encounter card from the deck during your villain phase.
An unexplored edge is a wall-less tile edge next to which there is no other tile. Unexplored tile edges are marked in blue.
Diagonal movement. You may move diagonally between spaces, as long as nothing blocks the path. If, for some reason, you need to count a distance across several tiles, count only along straight lines, never diagonally.
Corridor. Whenever you place a corridor tile (one with two walls along two opposite edges), you must draw from the deck and attach another dungeon tile to the corridor's unexplored edge, if possible.
When counting tiles, you cannot move diagonally and must go around walls. For example, the Skeleton is three tiles away from the Wizard.
Player setup: Place your hero card (1st level) and the cards for its chosen powers face up in front of you. As you obtain treasure cards, also place them face up in front of you. As you draw monster and trap cards, place them in a row in front of you in the order you received them.
The Hero Card
Here is what appears on the hero card:
- the hero's name, race, and class; the hero's level is written at the bottom of the card;
- the hero's Defense value; if an attack's strength reaches it, damage is dealt to the hero's health;
- the hero's Health value; it decreases when damage is dealt to the hero's health; the hero's health cannot exceed this listed value;
- the hero's Speed, i.e., the number of spaces it can move in a single move;
- if the hero's health reaches 0, it must be healed using a healing token, in which case its health becomes equal to the listed value;
- the hero's powers — this indicates how many, and which, power cards you may choose for your hero when setting out on an adventure; some powers a hero gains automatically.
(Note: item 6 is not listed — the numbering skips from 5 to 7 in the source document itself.)
Player's Turn
Each player's turn consists of three phases. On your turn, you perform them in the same order every time: the hero phase, the exploration phase, and the villain phase.
Hero Phase
During this part of your turn, your hero moves through the dungeon and fights monsters it encounters along the way.
- If your hero's health is 0, use a healing token (if the party still has any left).
- Perform one of the following actions:
- move the hero, then attack with it,
- attack, then move the hero,
- move the hero twice.
Exploration Phase
During this part of your turn, you may add new tiles to the dungeon map, draw monster cards, and place monsters in the dungeon.
- If your hero is on a space adjacent to an unexplored tile edge, proceed to step 2. Otherwise, proceed to the villain phase.
- Draw one dungeon tile from the deck and place it next to the tile your hero is on, orienting its triangle side toward the hero.
- Place a monster on the new tile. To do this, draw a monster card from the deck and place the corresponding monster figure on the new tile's spawn marker. The monster's name is printed on the base of its figure. If you already have a card for the same monster, discard the drawn card and draw another. If another player already has the same card, that is allowed.
Villain Phase
During this part of your turn, you draw and play encounter cards, the villain (if one is in the game) and the monsters you control take their actions, and traps found by the hero are triggered.
- If you did not reveal a new dungeon tile during the exploration phase, or you revealed a tile with a black triangle on it, draw and play an encounter card.
- If there is a villain in the game, it performs the actions listed on its card. In some adventures, heroes may face several villains, in which case they act in turn.
- If you have monster and trap cards, carry out what is indicated on them, in the order you received them. Each monster acts as indicated on its card. If other heroes in the game have other cards for a monster of the same name, play those as well on your turn. So, if you have a "Cave Bear" card and another player also has a "Cave Bear" card, you play your bear first, then the other player's bear. If both bears are still alive, then on their turn the other player will play both bears again!
After you finish your villain phase, the turn passes to the next player.
Movement
On your turn, your hero moves through the dungeon to attack monsters, explore new areas of the dungeon, and accomplish the adventure's objectives. Use the following movement rules.
When do you move? Your hero normally moves during your hero phase, though some cards may force it to move at another time.
How do you move? Your hero moves according to the distance value it can cover through the dungeon in a single move.
Think of this as a fuel supply. Every time your hero moves 1 space, you spend 1 unit of fuel. If you have no fuel left, your hero cannot move.
Each turn you may spend all of your "fuel," or only part of it, moving your hero. A hero may attack before moving or after moving, or may move a second time instead of attacking.
- A hero may move in any direction, including diagonally, as long as it has unspent "fuel";
- A hero cannot step onto spaces occupied by walls or monsters;
- A hero may pass through a space occupied by another hero, but cannot end its movement on that space.
A hero can move freely, even diagonally, with a few exceptions: it cannot step onto a space with a monster (A); it can go around walls, but cannot step onto spaces with walls (B) or pass between two walls (C); a hero cannot end its movement on a space occupied by another hero (D).
Conditions
Stunned
Chattering all around makes it hard for a hero to concentrate. Spores from poisonous mushrooms cloud the mind. These and similar causes can leave a hero feeling stunned.
- If an attack or other effect stuns your hero, place a stun token on the hero card. A hero card may only have one stun token on it at a time.
- If a hero is stunned, during its hero phase it may either move or attack, but not both.
- Discard the stun token at the end of your hero phase.
- If, during your hero phase, you manage to remove the stun some other way, the hero regains all of its abilities and may both move and attack that turn.
Poisoned
Did a snake bite send venom slowly seeping into the wound, or did poisonous gas seep from a crack in the wall? These and similar causes can poison a hero.
- If your hero is poisoned, place a poison token on the hero card. A hero card may only have one poison token on it at a time.
- If a hero is poisoned, it takes 1 damage to its health at the start of its hero phase. This damage is dealt before you use any item or check the hero's health for whether healing is needed.
- At the end of its hero phase, try to cure the hero by rolling the die. If the result is 10 or higher, discard the poison token.
If a monster figure whose base covers more than one space sits across several tiles, it is considered to be on all of those tiles. For example, a dragon occupies all of the blue tiles, and every green tile is considered to be one tile's distance from the dragon.
Attacks
A hero attacks monsters using its powers or treasure cards. Most of a hero's powers are tied to its class, but some (such as "Dragon Breath") are tied to the hero's race.
At the start of each adventure, players choose powers for their heroes. For your first adventures, you may choose the powers listed at the beginning of the Adventure Book. Once you're familiar with the game, you may choose powers for your hero as you see fit.
When you want to attack, choose a power or treasure card lying in front of you, and use it according to its text.
Art — a type of hero power with a significantly powerful attack or effect. After using it, the power's card must be turned face down. After that, the hero cannot use this power again until some other effect (such as a treasure card) lets it turn the Art card face up again. This is the strongest type of hero power.
Talent — simpler attacks and spells. A hero uses these easily and often; doing so does not require turning the card over, so they can be used every turn.
Maneuver — special powers that don't necessarily attack monsters, but grant other benefits: heroes may move in a special way or better withstand monster attacks. Many maneuvers are not used during an attack, but as a rule, after use their card must be turned face down. After that, the hero cannot use this maneuver until some other effect (such as a treasure card) lets it turn the maneuver card face up again.
Choosing a target. Before attacking, you must first determine which monsters are available for your hero to attack. Power cards indicate how far the targeted monster may be from the hero.
Don't forget the distinction between spaces and tiles: distances between tiles cannot be counted diagonally. If a power lets you attack a monster no more than 1 tile away from the hero, this does not apply to a monster on a tile diagonally adjacent to your hero's tile. Likewise, in this situation you cannot attack a monster on an adjacent tile if a wall completely separates the hero's tile from the monster's tile.
Defense and health. A hero's or monster's Defense value shows how difficult it is to damage its health. It accounts for both the hero's or monster's natural traits and any armor it wears. The Health value shows how many hits a hero or monster can withstand in total.
Attack bonus. Most attack powers have an attack bonus. It makes the attack more likely to succeed.
Attack. For each attack target, you must roll the die and add the bonus to the result. If the sum of the roll and the bonus reaches the target's Defense, the attack succeeds.
Damage. A successful attack deals damage to the health of the targeted monster or hero. If the monster or hero has health remaining afterward (use tokens to track the amount), it remains in the game. Some monsters have powers that let them recover health. Heroes have similar powers as well.
Defeating monsters. If a monster's health is reduced to 0, the monster is defeated. Remove its figure from the tile. The player who was playing that monster's card places the monster card into the party's shared experience pool.
The player who dealt the finishing blow to a defeated monster draws a treasure card. In a single turn, you may draw only one treasure card, even if you defeated more than one monster.
Defeating heroes. If a hero's health is reduced to 0, lay the hero's figure on its side. Monsters ignore such heroes, and the hero cannot take further damage or perform any actions, but its conditions, such as stunned or poisoned, remain. If the hero is healed before the start of its turn, stand its figure back up and play it as normal.
A hero who begins its turn with 0 health requires healing, which costs one healing token. If the party has no healing tokens left, that hero and the other heroes on its team lose the adventure.
Other actions. On your turn, heroes most often move and attack, but other actions are possible.
Picking up items. Some cards' effects can cause items to appear on tiles. To pick up an item, a hero need only be adjacent to it or pass through the space containing it. Picking up an item does not cost an action. A hero may carry any number of items.
Destroying items. In some adventures, heroes must destroy a specified item to win. If an item has Defense and Health listed, your hero can attack it like an ordinary monster. If a hero's attack affects all monsters on a tile, it also affects any item on that tile. Once an item is destroyed, it is removed from the tile.
Disarming traps. A trap triggered by an encounter card can be disarmed. If a hero is on the same tile as the trap, it may attempt to disarm it instead of attacking. If the die roll is equal to or greater than the number shown on the trap card, discard the trap card and remove its token.
Leaving the dungeon. In some adventures, heroes need to escape the dungeon. To do so, a hero must be on the tile specified in the adventure's description (for example, a tile with a staircase) at the end of its hero phase. Once you have left the dungeon, you skip your hero and exploration phases, but continue to play your villain phases until all the heroes on your team have left the dungeon along with you.
Monsters
Each monster card shows its Defense and Attack, along with other information:
- the monster's name and type
- the monster's Defense value
- the monster's Health value
- the monster's powers
- the monster's tactics during the villain phase
- the monster's level; defeating the monster earns the heroes that many experience points for the party's pool.
Monster deck. The deck represents the random monsters that heroes encounter during their journey through the dungeon.
A monster's tactics are presented as a list. Each possible action begins with a description of the condition under which it is performed. If that condition is true, the monster acts as described for that action.
If the condition is false, move to the next line. If none of the preceding conditions are met, the last action in the list is performed automatically.
If an action states that the monster moves to another tile, place it on that tile's spawn marker, if that space is empty. Whenever possible, monsters move from tile to tile via these spawn markers (a kind of portal). If the target spawn marker is occupied, place the monster on the space adjacent to the spawn marker that is closest to a nearby hero.
Sometimes a monster's card calls for adding a new monster. Add the new monster after playing any monster card you control. The new monster acts during your villain phase.
Encounter Cards
Encounter cards represent events, environmental conditions, traps, and other hazards that heroes come across in the dungeon. There are several types of encounter cards, each with its own special rules. Whenever you draw an encounter card, apply its effect immediately.
You may cancel an encounter card's effect before applying it by spending the party's experience points.
Active hero. The text on some encounter cards uses the term "active hero." This refers to the player who drew the encounter card.
Curses. Some encounter cards represent a curse that affects one hero. Place the curse card on your hero card so you don't forget its effect. A curse lasts for a set duration — for example, until you defeat a monster, or until you roll 16 or higher on the die at the end of your turn.
Setting. This type of card reports a change in the conditions within the dungeon. Heroes might be affected by bats or thick fog. A setting affects all heroes. Place the card describing it somewhere visible.
If a new setting card is drawn, the previous setting card is discarded.
You may cancel a setting card's effect by spending the party's experience points. If you cancel a new setting card, the previous one remains in play.
Events. These cards reflect strange occurrences, terrible sights, or sounds that affect a hero. The event happens as soon as you draw the card, unless you cancel it by spending the party's experience points. Once the event has occurred, discard the card.
Some events trigger an attack against one or more heroes, including a die roll.
Hazards. These cards represent obstacles — a rockslide, spreading lava — that slow progress through the dungeon. After drawing a hazard card, place a hazard marker on the active hero's tile. If the tile already has a marker, discard the hazard card and draw another encounter card.
After placing the hazard marker on a tile, place the card describing it in front of you, next to the monster cards you control. A hazard card acts during your villain phase, just like any other monster card, except that it has no tactics listed. Instead, perform the actions described on the hazard card.
Traps. Trap cards are similar to hazard cards, but heroes have the option to disarm them.
Treasure Cards
Treasure cards represent magic items and other valuables carried by monsters or found within the dungeon. At the start of an adventure, each hero receives one treasure card.
When your hero defeats a monster, draw a treasure card. Each turn you may gain only one treasure card, even if your hero defeated more than one monster.
Each treasure card represents a valuable item. Once you obtain it, you may keep the item yourself or give it to another hero. Passing items later is not allowed. The hero who receives an item places the treasure card next to their hero card.
When using a treasure card, follow the rules written on it. The card also states when it may be used.
You may use several treasure cards you hold at the same time, except for cards related to attack or defense — those may only be used one at a time.
Experience Points
Heroes earn experience points by defeating monsters. When this happens, the player who controlled the defeated monster places the monster card onto the party's shared experience pile. The monster card lists its level — the monster grants the party that many experience points. The harder a monster is to defeat, the more experience points it grants.
Heroes may spend the party's accumulated experience points in two ways:
a) to cancel encounter cards; b) to level up a hero.
When you draw an encounter card, you may spend 5 of the party's experience points to cancel it. Choose monster cards from the experience pile whose levels total at least 5, and discard them. Any leftover spent experience is not saved.
After canceling, the drawn encounter card is discarded and its effect is ignored. Only newly drawn encounter cards can be canceled; encounter cards already in play remain in effect.
Example: The experience pile contains three 3rd-level monster cards. Deciding to cancel the effect of an encounter card you just drew, you discard two of the monster cards to reach at least 5 points. The extra point is lost and cannot be saved for later use.
Leveling up. Heroes begin play at 1st level. Whenever a hero rolls a natural 20 on the die while attacking or disarming a trap, that hero may level up to 2nd level by spending 5 experience points from the party's pool.
Discard the spent monster cards and flip the hero card over. When leveling up, your hero gains 2 additional health, chooses one more Art, and gains the ability to strike with full force (on a roll of 20 on the die).
The "Tome of Knowledge" card can also grant the ability to level up a hero.
Adventure Rules
After playing a couple of introductory adventures, move on to the following ones, in which additional rules apply.
Choosing Powers
Once you understand the game's principles, you can choose your hero's powers yourself for each adventure. Your hero card indicates how many, and which, powers you may choose for it.
To make the game easier, choose the best powers; if you want a more challenging game, choose powers at random.
Difficulty Level
To make an adventure more difficult, reduce the number of healing tokens available to the party to one.
Conversely, if you want to make the game easier, increase the number of healing tokens to three.
Additional Adventure Rules
Some adventures use additional rules.
Advanced Deck
The board game includes two card decks. For Adventures 1 through 4, we recommend using the Starting Deck (cards 1–100). For later adventures, add the Advanced Deck (cards 101–200) to the Starting Deck, which makes the game harder and more interesting.
Dead-End Tiles
Some adventures use dead-end tiles, which close off unexplored tile edges.
Competitive Element
In some adventures, the scenario calls for competition among the heroes. Even so, heroes may not simply attack one another unless the adventure's scenario specifically allows it.
Team Adventure
An adventure's scenario may divide the heroes into teams. In this case, each team has its own experience track. If a new team is formed during play, its experience track starts out empty. The team's active player has greater say when the team decides how to spend experience at that moment.
Evil Heroes
Some adventures feature Evil Heroes. An Evil Hero is still a hero and can use power and treasure cards, and it acts during the Hero Phase rather than the Monster Phase.
It can also become the target of monster attacks, and encounter card effects apply to it (unless the adventure's scenario states otherwise).
Doors
Some dungeon tiles have doors marked on them. When such a tile is placed, the player puts a closed-door token on the symbol. If a hero is adjacent to a closed door, it may try to open it instead of attacking. Flip the tile over. There are 3 kinds of doors:
Open: Discard the closed-door token.
Trap door: Every hero adjacent to the door takes 1 damage to its health. Then discard the closed-door token.
Locked: Place the token on the door symbol face down. A hero adjacent to the door may try to open it instead of attacking. If the hero rolls 10 or higher on the die, it has opened the door. Discard the token.
Monster and Treasure Tokens
Some adventures use monster and treasure tokens to add more risk and surprise to the adventure. The adventure's description explains how and when to use them.
Questions and Answers
What does a monster do when a hero's health is 0? The monster ignores that hero. Follow the tactics on the monster card as if that hero were not there.
What is a marker? Markers are square tokens used to mark something on a tile: a hazard, a trap, certain items, and so on.
What do you do if the deck runs out of cards? Shuffle the discard pile and form a new deck from it.
Does each hero have their own experience points? No, experience points are shared by the whole party of heroes. Any hero may spend them to cancel an encounter card or to level up. Players usually decide together when and how to spend them.
I just defeated a monster by rolling a 20 on the die. Can I use that monster's experience points to level up my hero? Yes.
What's the difference between a monster and a villain? A villain is a special kind of monster. Everything that affects monsters affects a villain as well. After defeating a villain, add its card to the experience pile.
Because of a card's effect, my hero is currently not on a tile. Do cards that affect all heroes apply to it? For one turn, a hero can vanish into a pit or a portal. In such cases, since it is not on a tile, ordinary cards do not affect it.