Dungeons & Dragons: Trials of Tempus Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Game Objective
• Components
• Overall Setup
• Setup
  • Reveal the Trial!
  • Your First Game!
  • Parties & Heroes
    • Create Parties
    • Create Hero Decks
    • Class
    • Subclass
    • Character
  • Hero Deck Setup
  • Place your Entry Portal
  • Trial Trackers Setup
  • Player Area Layout
  • Enter the Battlerealm!
• Gameplay
  • Winning
  • Critical Hits
• General Rules
  • Cards vs. General Rules
  • Advantage & Disadvantage
  • The Dice of Fate
  • Adjacency & Diagonals
  • Allies & Opponents
• Order of Play
  • 1. Draw Phase
    • Deck Cycling
  • 2. Event Phase
    • Random Locations
    • Random Initiative
  • 3. Initiative Phase
• Turn Phase
  • Cards
    • Your Cards
  • Monster Turns
  • Actions
    • Move Action Example
  • Non-Action Resolution
• Combat
  • Attacks & Damage
    • Line of Sight Example
  • Area of Effect
    • Area of Effect Example
  • Resolving Attacks
  • Damage Reduction (DR)
  • Damage Types
  • Ailments & Status Effects
    • Ailment Types
  • Hit Points (HP)
  • Attack Action Example
• Earning Victory Points (VP)
• Quests
• Loot
• Monsters
• Events
  • Monster Actions
  • Large Monsters
  • Trial Guardians
• Defeat
• End of Round Phase
  • Refresh
• Appendix
  • Recommended Setups
  • Battlerealm Legends (pages 9-10)
  • FAQ
    • Hero Cards
    • Combat
    • Monsters/Camps
    • Quests
    • Events
  • Glossary

Game Objective

To win, you and your party must work together to earn more Victory Points than your rivals by completing Quests and gathering Loot! Finally, you must defeat the Trial Guardian. Whichever party has the most Victory Points when the Trial Guardian falls wins the Trial!

Components

• 9 Double-sided Battlerealm tiles
• 4 D20s (2 red & 2 blue)
• 8 Large Class mats (Bard, Cleric, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Wizard)
• 4 Trial Guardian mats (Iron Golem, Hill Giant, Guardian Naga, Elder Oblex)
• 8 Class decks [112 cards]
• 1 Loot deck [30 cards]
• 16 Subclass decks (College of Lore, College of Valor, Life Domain, Death Domain, Champion, Battle Master, Elemental, Spellbreaker, Oath of Vengeance, Oath of Ancients, Colossus Hunter, Horde Breaker, Assassin, Thief, Divination, Evocation) [99 cards]
• 1 Event deck [40 cards]
• 8 Character decks (Bonnie, Gains, Ivar, Khallax, Mertz, Naree, Raena, Udayeen) [25 cards]
• 10 Quest cards
• 3 Minion cards (Goblin, Kobold, Bugbear)
• 3 Elite Monster cards (Ogre, Bulezau, Ankheg)
• 3 Player Aids (Order of Play, Card Legend, Monster Behavior)
• 3 Chest tokens
• 4 Camp tokens
• 10 Loot tokens
• 5 Herb tokens
• 3 Altars tokens
• 2 Obelisk tokens
• 1 Turn tracker
• 2 Entry Portal tokens
• 1 Place of Power token
• Wall of Fire and Wall of Stone tokens
• 8 Hero Initiative tokens
• 1 Monster Initiative token

Overall Setup

1. Battlerealm ("Recommended Setups," Pages 9-10)
2. HP tokens
3. Initiative trackers
4. Round tracker
5. VP trackers (Party tokens)
6. Entry Portal spaces
7. Quest cards
8. Party tokens + Dice
9. Loot deck
10. Event deck
11. Event deck discard
12. Ongoing Events
13. Event tokens
14. Ailment rings
15. Monster cards (camps)
16. Wounded tokens
17. Elites (not yet in play)
18. Chosen Trial Guardian
19. Player areas (page 8)
20. Space for partywide ongoing abilities

Setup

Reveal the Trial!

Choose a Battlerealm for the Trial.

• The base game includes nine double-sided Battlerealm tiles that make up two 30x30 inch Battlerealms.
• Arrange the nine tiles as shown in the recommended setup for that Battlerealm (pages 9-10).

Shuffle the Quest cards and draw three.

• Place the drawn Quest cards within easy view of all players, face up. The unique combination of these three Quests represent this specific Trial.
• Instead of random Quests, you can pick one of our recommended Quest setups for a tailored experience (see appendix, page 23).

Shuffle the Trial Guardian cards and draw one.

• This Trial Guardian is the "Final Boss" and will come into play once a party has achieved 10 VP. For now, place the drawn Trial Guardian face-up nearby.

Populate the Map.

• Refer to the recommended setup for your specific Battlerealm (pages 9-10) for a balanced layout of all the components.
• Place the Quest Objective components called for by each of the three Quests (e.g., The "Siphon Power!" Quest states, "Put the Place of Power into play").
• Place 3 Chests and 4 Camps on their designated spaces.
• Three Camps will each have 4 Minions (Goblins, Kobolds, Bugbears) and one Camp will have 1 Elite (Ogre). Place the Monsters equally spaced around their Camps, with Monster "A" closest to the center of the Battlerealm. For the Minion camps, place Monsters "B," "C," and "D" in a clockwise order. Place their Monster cards by the side of the board.

Shuffle the Loot Deck and the Event Deck.

• Place both decks within easy reach.

Your First Game!

For your very first game, we recommend a balanced selection of Quests and Hero Deck combinations that give you a good idea of how the game works. Use the recommended Battlerealm setup for this game.

• Battlerealm: Ancient Temple (page 9)
• Quests: Monster Slayer!, Read the Runes!, The Dark Obelisk!
• Trial Guardian: Hill Giant
• Player Decks:
  • Red Party: Fighter, Champion, Gains; Rogue, Thief, Naree
  • Blue Party: Ranger, Horde, Ivar; Wizard, Divination, Mertz

Finally, go through the Quest, Event, and Loot decks and take out the cards labeled "Advanced" in the bottom left or right corner. When you're comfortable with the rules after a game or two, add these back in for even more variety and challenge!

Parties & Heroes

Create Parties

All players in a party win or lose together! Players divide themselves into two equal parties. If you are playing with odd numbers, or fewer than four players, we recommend having a player act as "two players" and controlling a second Hero, so that the parties are even with a minimum of four Heroes in play.

Create Hero Decks

Now that you all know what Trial you are up against, it's time to outsmart your rivals by creating the best party of Heroes! Each player controls one Hero (unless you are playing two different Heroes). Each Hero has a miniature, and a Hero Deck representing that Hero's unique abilities. Synergy and cooperation within your party are a big part of winning!

Your Hero Deck is a mix of the Class, Subclass, and Character you chose.

Lay out all the Hero Deck options on the table in three separate sections:

1. 8 Large Class cards and 8 Class decks.
2. 16 Subclasses (2 per Class).
3. 8 Characters.

When picking your deck combinations, it's a good idea to look at what you already know about the Trials you're up against and what your rivals are picking!

Each party rolls a 20-sided die (D20) to determine which party gets to pick first.

• The higher roll will pick first from the Class and Subclass Decks (see below).
• The lower roll will pick first from the Character Decks, and will place their Entry Portal first.

Class

Your Class determines most of your cards, and thus your general skillset and playstyle. Your Class also gives you an Interaction ability which is important for party synergy!

Class card anatomy (numbered as on the card): 1. Class Icon; 2. Class Name; 3. Class Miniature; 4. Recommended Build; 5. Associated Tokens; 6. Interaction; 7. Hit Points; 8. Damage Reduction Tracker.

1. Classes: When you pick a Class, take the corresponding Class Deck and Class Mat, and any associated tokens listed on the Class Mat. One member from the first party picks a Class, followed by one member from the second party picking a Class. Continue alternating between each party until all players have chosen a Class.
   • At this point, if you want to get straight to the action, follow the "Recommended Build" for each class picked and skip the rest of the Hero Deck-building steps.
2. Subclasses: Each Class has two Subclass options. When a Subclass is picked, take a DR token (Shield) and place it on your Class Mat's DR track to show your Subclass's starting DR (and to track your current DR at any time). Follow the same back and forth procedure as when picking Classes until all players have a Subclass.
3. Characters: Starting with the party that did not pick Class and Subclass first and using the same procedure. Characters have no Class restrictions. Your Character also determines which Hero miniature you control!

Subclass

A Subclass is an extension of your Class. Each Class has two Subclass variations to choose from. In addition to your starting Damage Reduction (DR) and more specialized abilities, the Subclass card itself is a Primary card with a unique feature that can greatly affect your playstyle!

Subclass card anatomy (numbered as on the card): 1. Subclass name; 2. On Use (Primary); 3. Starting Damage Reduction; 4. Subclass Abilities; 5. Class Icon; 6. Card Deck.

Character

Each of the eight named Characters has a unique personality, ancestry, and history that affords your Hero special bonuses and features. In addition to a Primary movement ability, each Character has one (or more) feature card that goes into your Draw Deck.

Character card anatomy (labels as printed on page 8): Character name; On Use (Primary); Type of Ability; Character; Movement Ability (Top, a Move Action); Other Character abilities (Bottom).

Hero Deck Setup

Each Hero starts with 30 Hit Points (HP), tracked with HP tokens. Take 30 HP worth of HP tokens from the HP token pile (2x HP10, 1x HP5, 5x HP1).

All Heroes should now have a Class, Subclass, and Character. The cards from all three selected decks make up your Hero Deck! Divide your Hero deck into the following three sections:

• 12 Tier 1 cards: Shuffle these cards to form your starting Draw Deck.
• 6 Tier 2 cards ("2" in the lower left): Both your Class and Subclass have Tier 2 cards. Put these aside for now. They represent your progression in the game and will come into play later.
• Primary cards (star symbol): Some Heroes will have more Primary cards than others. Place these cards in front of you on the table. These represent your core abilities and never leave play. Primary attack cards are placed with the "I" side up.

Place your Entry Portal

The party that chose their Characters first, now gets to place their Entry Portal first! Place your Entry Portal in one of the four corners of the Battlerealm. This is where your party will start and where any member of your party will reform if they are defeated. The rival party places their Entry Portal in the opposite corner. Keep Quest Objectives and terrain in mind when picking your corner!

Trial Trackers Setup

• Place each Hero's Initiative tracker by the Initiative/Round tracker, and place the Monster Initiative tracker at Initiative 10.
• Place the Round tracker on round 1.
• Place a Party token from each party at 0 Victory Points (VP).

Player Area Layout

Each player's area is set up as follows (numbered as on page 8):

1. Class Mat
2. Primary Cards
3. Draw Pile
4. Discard Pile
5. HP Tokens
6. DR Tracker
7. Hero-related tokens
8. Tier 2 cards + tokens
9. Space for Loot Cards
10. Space for ongoing abilities

Enter the Battlerealm!

Players place their Hero's mini on their party's Entry Portal and begin round 1.

Gameplay

The game is played over a number of rounds. Each round, you draw cards, resolve an Event, roll for Initiative, and then take your turns in order. At the end of each round, players discard down to 5 cards in hand, then move on to the next round.

On your turn, you have two Actions you can spend to play a variety of Action cards, either from your hand or from among your Primary cards. The outcome of most of your Actions is decided by rolling a 20-sided die (a D20) and referencing the card(s) selected.

Winning

To win, you must have more Victory Points (VP) than the other party at the end of the game. The game ends when the Trial Guardian is defeated.

Your party earns VP in three ways (page 20):

• Completing Quest tiers
• Gathering Loot cards
• Certain Events

Each party's total VP is tracked by a party token on the VP tracker on the side of the board (shown in setup). The Trial Guardian spawns in the center of the Battlerealm when a party ends a round with 10 or more VP, signaling the start of the endgame. The game ends immediately when the Trial Guardian is defeated, and whichever party has the most VP at that point wins the game!

Critical Hits

Any attack roll is a critical hit if the result after adding modifiers is 20+. Critical hits always deal +3 piercing damage. Some attacks can score critical hits even with a 19+ or 18+. Only attacks that would deal damage benefit from critical hits.

Some cards are either pass or fail, and simply give a target number, like on a skill card:

• Athletics 12+
• Knowledge 8+
• Savvy 7+

If you attempt to do something that calls for a Athletics roll, you have to roll 12 or higher to succeed. Lower numbers on cards means higher chances of success when you roll! In the above example, "Savvy" is their best skill, since they only need to roll a 7 or higher to succeed.

Modifiers to your rolls are very helpful if you can get them!

General Rules

Cards vs. General Rules

If a card seems to break any of the general rules, the card text always takes precedence.

Advantage & Disadvantage

The success or failure of most things you attempt to do in the Trials is determined by rolling a 20-sided die (D20), and comparing the result against the card that called for the roll, after adding any potential modifiers.

Some cards will give an advantage or a disadvantage to a roll. If that's the case, roll two D20s instead of just one. If the roll has advantage (most common), the higher of the two rolls applies. If the roll has disadvantage, the lower of the two applies. If a roll has both advantage and disadvantage, roll just one die.

Note: Cards and effects that give advantage or disadvantage must be played before a roll is made!

The Dice of Fate

A card with a range of different results, like on an attack card, might say:

• 1-5: Miss.
• 6-12: 5 damage.
• 13+: 11 damage.

In this case, any result of 1-5 means no effect. 6-12 means you hit and do 5 damage, and 13 or higher is the best outcome, which deals 11 damage. So if you rolled a 15, you would deal 11 damage. Most cards work like this.

Adjacency & Diagonals

Many cards and rules will reference something that is "adjacent." All eight spaces surrounding a space are considered adjacent to it, including diagonals, unless blocked by impassable terrain such as walls, trees, water, and other obstacles with a wide black outline. When determining ranges or movement, diagonals only count as one space.

Allies & Opponents

All players in your party, including yourself and any monsters that are "allied" to your party, are considered allies. Everyone else is an opponent. The term "creature" refers to all Heroes and Monsters.

Order of Play

Each round is divided into the following 5 phases, carried out in this order:

1. Draw. All players draw two cards.
   • Round 1: Draw four cards instead.
2. Event. Draw an Event card.
   • Resolve the Event card. If the Event requires Initiative to be rolled, do so now and put the Event's token next to the number rolled on the Initiative tracker.
3. Initiative. Roll for Initiative!
   • Place each Hero's token on the Initiative tracker next to the number rolled for them. This is the turn order for the round, starting from the highest Initiative down to the lowest. If there's a tie, the tied players reroll to see who gets to go first on the tied Initiative. Monsters always go on Initiative 10, automatically losing ties.
4. Turn. Take turns in order of Initiative.
   • Each Hero gets two Actions on their turn. Monsters play their turns according to a script (see Monster section in "Turn Phase").
5. End of Round. When all Heroes and Monsters have taken a turn: see "End of Round Phase" below.

1. Draw Phase

Going into this phase, each player should have no more than 5 cards in their hand. (Primary cards are not "in hand.")

Each player draws the top 2 cards of their Draw Deck. If it's the first round of play, each player instead draws 4 cards.

If a player is playing the Character "Ivar," that player draws an additional 2 cards in the first round (for a total of 6).

Deck Cycling

You will eventually run out of cards to draw. As soon as you need to draw from an empty deck, you must immediately "cycle" your deck. The act of cycling through your deck represents your Hero's advancement in the game. Follow the steps below in order, then draw as needed:

When your first Draw Deck runs out:

• Choose 2 cards from your Discard Pile and add them to the six Tier-2 cards you set aside during setup. These 8 cards are your new Draw Deck. Shuffle.
• The cards that you did not choose remain in your Discard Pile.
• Flip one of your Primary Attack cards over to its "II" side.

When subsequent Draw Decks run out:

• Choose any 8 cards from your Discard Pile. This is your new deck. Shuffle.
• Any cards you do not choose remain in your Discard Pile.
• Flip a Primary Attack card to its "II" side, if any are still unflipped.

2. Event Phase

Draw one card from the top of the Event Deck.

The Event Deck represents the unpredictable nature of the Battlerealm, and forces players to adapt to new circumstances each round. They can be both good and bad, and the right (or wrong) Event at the right (or wrong) time can affect the outcome of the Trial greatly.

A drawn Event is either resolved immediately and discarded into the Event Discard Pile (face-up and adjacent to the Event Deck), lasts until the end of the round, or has effects that are ongoing for the rest of the game, or until some condition listed on the Event is met.

Some Events deal "(round)" damage. This refers to the current round of play, and deals damage equal to the number the Round Tracker is currently on. As the game goes on, these Events become more and more dangerous.

Random Locations

Many Events call for random locations to be rolled, either when drawn or on the Event's Initiative. When determining a random location, note that each Battlerealm in Trials of Tempus is labeled with the numbers 1-20 on the sides, marked as either blue or red. Simply roll a D20 for each side, blue for blue and red for red, then trace both rows rolled until they intersect on the Battlerealm, and there you have your location!

If the Event has an area of effect, the location rolled is the target space. If an Event requires a token to be placed on the Battlerealm, and the rolled location isn't a space players can occupy (on any impassable terrain or water), it defaults to the next valid space closest to the center of the Battlerealm, including diagonals.

Example: Blue die rolled 13. Red die rolled 7. Where Blue 13 and Red 7 intersect is the random location. All random locations fall within the center 20x20 area of the Battlerealm (grey area).

Event tokens are interacted with as specified in the Event itself, usually by occupying the same space as the token.

Random Initiative

Some Events will resolve or appear at a random Initiative on the turn they are drawn. Roll a D20 to determine when in the Initiative order the Event resolves. Use its corresponding Event token to mark its place in the Initiative order. Events win all Initiative ties.

3. Initiative Phase

The order players take their turns changes each round. That order is often crucial to the outcome of the game and is determined by rolling for Initiative!

All players roll a single D20 die and place their Hero token on the Initiative Tracker next to the number they rolled. Highest number gets their turn first. If there's a tie, the tied players reroll to see who gets to go first on the tied Initiative, a.k.a. a "Roll-off."

Cards that affect Initiative may only be played immediately after all players have rolled for Initiative, but before the first turn is taken.

Turn Phase

Each turn, each player has two Actions they can spend to play a variety of Action cards, either from their hand or from among their Primary cards on the table in front of them. Each Action can be modified by an Action-specific Chain card.

Free cards may be played at any time by anyone, and Interactions may be played on other players' turns by a Hero in their party.

In this section we'll cover the cards, Combat, Quests, Loot, and Monsters. Everything you need to have a solid turn in the Trials!

Cards

Cards are played face up on the table for all to see, and behave differently after being played.

• Primary cards (star symbol): all start the game in play, are never discarded, and remain in play for the entire game. They can be played repeatedly, even on the same turn. Primary Attack Action cards start as Tier 1 and can be upgraded (flipped) to Tier 2 later in the game.
• Ongoing cards (hourglass symbol): stay in play once played and remain until their effects end, they are dispelled, or you're defeated, at which point they are discarded. Certain ongoing cards state that you may spend an Action on your subsequent turns to maintain them, if you do not, they are discarded.
• Discard cards (crossed-swords symbol): and cards that are otherwise discarded, go into your Discard Pile at the end of each turn.

Your Cards

Card anatomy (numbered as on the card):

1. Card name
2. On Use (Discard)
3. Cost to Play & Icon (Free)
4. Range, if applicable (10 spaces)
5. Other Effect icons (Heal 5 HP)
6. Card Effect text
7. Card Tier (1)
8. Card Type & Deck (Spell & Bard)

Monster Turns

Monsters take their turns at Initiative 10, losing any ties. Each Monster miniature has an identifier on its base which corresponds with its Monster card, indicating its turn order.

Monster Turn Order: Trial Guardian > Elites #1-3 > Minions #1(A-D), 2(A-D), 3(A-D).

A Monster is any creature that is not a Hero. Monsters start out inactive around their Camps. They are neutral in this state and do not consider parties or other Monsters either allies or opponents. All Monsters from the same Camp activate as a unit on their turn, anything one Monster from a Camp can see, they can all see.

Activation: A Monster Camp activates and performs their Actions on their turn if:

• A Hero is visible within 2 spaces of any of the Monsters in the Camp on that Camp's turn.
• Any Monster in the Camp has taken any damage since the Camp's last turn.
• They have been activated by other means (such as an Event).

If none of the above Activation conditions are met on a Monster Camp's turn, the Camp stays inactive for that turn and play continues to the next Camp or player in the Initiative order.

How Monsters perform their turns and what they do will be covered under "4. Turn Phase." (See "Monster Actions" in the Monsters section below.)

Actions

You get two Actions on each of your turns, and there are three different types of Actions in the game: Move Actions, Attack Actions, and General Actions. You can play an Action from your hand or from among your Primary Actions. You can play any two Actions in any order on your turn, including two of the same Primary Action.

Chains are played to modify or enhance an Action. One Chain can be played per Action, and they do not cost additional Actions to play. Some Chains may only be played when certain conditions are met, and some Chains (Any) may be played with any type of Action. Attacks, movement, and other action-like effects that do not specifically cost an Action cannot be modified by Chains (like Free cards, Interactions, or certain Subclass features).

Move Actions tell you how many spaces on the board you can move over the course of your turn when you take this Action. You may move any number of spaces before, between, or after other Actions, up to this maximum. Some Move Actions may have stricter rules regarding when and how you can move.

Impassable terrain and creatures that are not allied to you block movement, while tokens, like Camps and Altars, do not. You may move through an ally's space, counting spaces normally, but you may not end your turn or perform an Action while in their space. You can move into any open space adjacent to you.

Impassable terrain is marked by a thicker black outline, such as trees, walls, fallen structures and other obstacles. Water spaces block movement, but not line of sight. Look for the "Legend" of each Battlerealm when in doubt (pages 9-10).

Attack Actions are Actions that deal damage or are otherwise considered aggressive. Attacks take many forms. Generally, they are either ranged or melee, weapon or spell attacks, as noted on the card. Each attack requires a target (or a target space), explained in the section on Combat (page 16).

General Actions include all other Actions, such as spells and abilities that aren't directly aggressive, interacting with Quest Objectives, and using your skills.

Skills are General Actions that give a pass or fail condition, usually in reference to a Quest Objective. All Heroes have a Skill Action card that lists their chances of success with the Athletics, Knowledge and Savvy skills.

Damage Chain cards are a type of Chain card that can only be played when an Attack Action hits and deals damage (even if the damage is mitigated). A Damage Chain card can only be played after the attack roll has been made, in order to modify the damage or effect of the hit.

Free cards: You can play any number of Free cards at any time unless they specify a trigger, such as not on your turn. They take effect immediately when played.

Interactions: Each Class in the game has a unique Interaction ability, which gives them another way to spend their cards. This Interaction ability can be found on your Class Mat. Once during another ally's turn, you may discard a card from your hand to play your Interaction ability on that ally.

EXAMPLE: Ivar wants to read the runes (Quest Objective) by playing "Outlander" (his Primary skill card). Luckily for him, Bonnie is in his party, and she has a card she doesn't need. When Ivar declares that he's going to use an Action to attempt to read the runes, Bonnie discards one of her cards to play her Interaction ability, which gives the ally whose turn it is (Ivar) advantage on a skill roll! She has to do this before Ivar rolls, because advantage or disadvantage must always be applied before the die is rolled.

Move Action Example

Bonnie has 5 movement and wants to get to the Loot Chest.

• Path A: Doesn't work because the murky water is impassable terrain.
• Path B: Almost works, Bonnie can move diagonally past the stones and her ally's space, but Bonnie cannot move through the Goblin, and the wall extending into the corner of the space means she cannot go diagonally behind the Goblin.
• Path C: Works! Bonnie can move through the Camp Token and diagonally around the Goblin. However Path C is 6 spaces and she only has 5 movement. She will need to take an additional Move Action or use some other trickery (like "Longstrider").

Non-Action Resolution

Free cards and other effects may sometimes "stack up" when several are played at once or in response to each other. To resolve this, the last effect or card played resolves first: Last in, first out. (See the attack resolution example under Combat, page 19.)

Combat

Combat is inevitable in Trials of Tempus. All Hero Decks have unique and interesting weapons, abilities, and/or spells that influence how they fight.

Attacks & Damage

An attack can be the mighty swing of an axe, a distracting display of lights, or a massive fireball hurtling towards its targets. To attack, you must play the Attack Action you want to use, you must be able to see your target, and your target must be within range. Attacks are resolved by rolling a D20 and referencing the card with the result. A successful attack might deal damage and/or inflict some other negative effect on the target(s).

Targeting: All attacks and other effects that require a "target" must have a target you can see that is within range of the attack or effect.

• To perform a melee attack, your target must be adjacent to you, including diagonally.
• You may not play ranged attacks against adjacent targets.
• Ranged attacks have their range listed as the maximum number of spaces the target of the attack can be away from you.
• To be able to see a target, you must have line of sight to them. This means that you must be able to draw a straight line from any part of the space you are on, to any part of your target's space, without impassable terrain or effects blocking sight (like a Wall of Fire) intersecting the line.

Line of Sight Example

Let's look at Bonnie's position and what she can target (diagram on page 16 not reproduced):

• Goblin A is seemingly in an adjacent space, but the wall blocks line of sight so that they are not actually adjacent. Bonnie cannot target Goblin A.
• Goblin B is behind impassable terrain (water & pillar), but water does not block line of sight and Bonnie can draw an unobstructed line to Goblin B past the pillar.
• Goblin C cannot be targeted. The trees are impassable terrain and block the line of sight between Bonnie and the Goblin C.
• Goblin D is targetable. The Altar token does not block line of sight, and the wall doesn't extend far enough to block Bonnie's line of sight.
• Mertz E is also targetable, because creatures do not block line of sight.

Area of Effect

• If the attack has an Area of Effect (Area), you instead target a space that you can see (even if occupied), and the attack targets everything in the area given, including allies and yourself. An "Area 3" means 3x3 spaces with the target space in the center. Roll once for each target in the area.
• If an Area attack has a range of 1, the Area must include a space adjacent to you and cannot include you.
• Areas of effect go "around corners" if the entire path needed to do so is within the spell's area. If impassable terrain, like a wall, completely cuts off an area, targets on the other side are not affected by the spell unless the card states otherwise.

Area of Effect Example

Mertz has a handful of area attacks to choose from (diagram on page 17 not reproduced). Here are some examples of what he can and cannot do:

• A "Fireball" (Area 5) would be great here. It would hit everything within the 5x5 area with the target space at the center, including the Ogre. All that's needed to hit a large creature is for one of their spaces to be within the area.
• A "Wall of Fire" (Line 6) could target either B1 or B2 and affect the two Minions inside B. This spell also has special effects that we will not get into here, but the ideal placement in this scenario would actually be B3 and down!
• If Mertz wanted to cast "Shatter" (Area 4), and hit the Ogre and the two Minions adjacent to him, he would not be able to! Even though all four spaces in the center of the area are valid origin points for his Shatter area, he cannot target an adjacent space with a ranged attack! He could target C1, and still hit one of the Minions and the Ogre, but then he would also hit himself.
• A "Gong of the Summit" would hit both Minions and the Hero, hopefully a rival! However, even though D1 is within the area, the wall cuts off the path to it, so D1 would not be affected... unless Mertz put the Gong of the Summit right on top of the rival Hero, now there is a path and all three in the area would be affected!
• A "Thunderwave" would hit the two Minions inside E. Since it only has a range of 1, the area has to include at least one space adjacent to Mertz, and not Mertz himself.

Resolving Attacks

Once a valid target has been selected, the attack resolves as follows:

• Effects that give advantage or disadvantage, or that specify they must be played when an attack is declared, must be played before the attack roll is made.
• The attack roll is made (D20) and potential modifiers added. All modifiers are added together if a player has multiple cards/effects that give them modifiers to their attack roll. If the attack would deal damage and the result is 20+, the attack is a critical hit and deals +3 piercing damage.
• If the attack is successful and would deal damage, cards and effects that enhance or mitigate the damage may be played by anyone.
• The target's DR (Damage Reduction) is subtracted from the damage dealt.
• Finally, the remaining damage is subtracted from the target's Hit Points (HP).
• If Attack Chains or abilities allow for additional attacks, they are resolved separately, but Attack or Damage Chains cannot be played as part of any "extra" attack that didn't cost an Action.

Damage Reduction (DR)

DR is a measure of how tough and/or how heavily armored you are. Every time you take damage, you reduce the damage taken by your total DR value. Players start with a DR between 0-6. Magic items, spells, and other effects can change your DR. All DR bonuses are added together if a player has multiple cards that give them bonuses. Your current total DR is tracked on your Class Mat and is always the last effect to be applied to the amount of damage you take.

Some special features let you ignore damage from "any source". This includes both types of damage and from any card, status effect, or attack in the game. Damage reduced or ignored in this way is calculated before your DR is applied.

Damage Types

• Normal damage (claw-slash symbol), referred to as just "damage," is the most common and is always reduced by DR.
• Piercing damage (black figure symbol) ignores DR and is dealt in addition to normal damage by certain armor-piercing or very precise attacks, certain spells, and/or magical effects.

EXAMPLE: If an attack lists its effect as 3 damage + 2 piercing damage, the target suffers 3 damage (reduced if they have DR) and 2 piercing damage (ignoring DR), for a total of 5 HP lost, if unmitigated.

Ailments & Status Effects

Additional effects are sometimes inflicted by certain attacks. A Hero or Monster that suffers Burn, Poison, or Root, adds that number of ring tokens of the respective Ailment to their Hero. Further applications add to those they already have. All Ailments are removed when a Hero is defeated. See below for the various Ailments and their effects!

Some spells and effects in the game apply specific status effects to their targets, like "Hold Person" or "Hunter's Mark." These are described individually and tracked by the ring tokens mentioned on the card.

When dealing with Elite Monsters and Guardians, separate the Ailments applied to them by each party. The last party to apply an Ailment to a Monster deals all their Ailment damage to it first (at the end of that Monster's turn). This matters when determining which party gets the Last Hit on a Monster affected by multiple Ailments! (Last Hits are important for some Quests).

Ailment Types

• BURN deals 1 piercing damage at the end of the target's turn for each Burn token they have, then the number of Burn tokens is reduced by one.
• POISON deals 1 piercing damage at the end of the target's turn for each Poison token they have. Poison remains until the target receives healing.
• ROOT prevents Move Actions. At the end of the target's turn, the number of Root tokens is reduced by one.
• DAZE forces the target to randomly discard that many cards from their hand.
• PUSH moves the target that number of spaces directly away from the attacker. Impassable terrain or another creature ends the Push.

Hit Points (HP)

Your HP represents how much damage you can take before you are defeated. All Heroes start with 30 HP, but certain spells, abilities and magic items may increase this. Classes that are able to withstand more punishment have more ways to mitigate, reduce, or even ignore the damage they suffer.

Healing: Healing restores lost HP instantly when applied. Healing also removes all Poison tokens from the target. You can never heal more than your maximum HP, usually 30.

Monsters also benefit from healing, either through Events or from Heroes. They do not have to be allied to a Hero to be healed by them. Wounded Minions that receive healing are no longer wounded.

Attack Action Example

Gains (Fighter, with only 3 HP remaining) is being attacked by Khallax (Paladin). Khallax plays his "Longsword I" (Primary attack) and rolls a 15, which would hit and deal 8 damage. Gains has a DR of 3, and would take 5 damage from the attack, enough to defeat her!

Gains plays "Shrug it Off" (Free) to reduce the damage from any source by 5, choosing the Longsword I attack as the source. At this point the attack would deal no damage to her. Khallax then plays "Divine Smite" (Damage Chain) to add +4 damage to the attack, enough to still defeat Gains! Gains responds by playing "Second Wind" (Free) to heal herself for 10 HP.

The last in, first out rule means that the cards resolve in this order: Second Wind > Divine Smite > Shrug it Off > Longsword I. Thus, Gains first heals for 10 HP (Second Wind), bringing her to 13 HP, then the attack is modified with +4 damage (Divine Smite) bringing the total Longsword I attack to 12 damage. This is reduced by 5 (Shrug it Off), and then finally reduced by Gains's DR of 3, for a total of 4 damage taken. Gains is left with 9 HP after the attack, and two good cards poorer.

Earning Victory Points (VP)

To win, your party must have more VP than your rivals when the Trial Guardian is defeated! You earn and collect VP by making progress on Quests (1-3 VP), gathering Loot (1 VP), and from certain Events. Quest and Event VP are typically not lost once earned. However, Loot VP can be lost if a Hero is defeated. A defeated Hero drops all their Loot cards and reduces their party's total VP by the number of Loot cards dropped.

Quests are the main way for your party to earn VP and win the game! They come in many forms, from simple "Defeat Monsters" objectives, to more elaborate tasks that change as the Quest progresses. Many Quests involve successfully using skills, so while fighting is important, having the right skills is also key to winning the Trials!

Each Trial has a different combination of Quests, meaning different Hero Deck combinations will excel in each Trial. Most Quest Objectives can be completed by both parties, and Quests can be progressed freely in any order by any Hero. Each Quest card details that Quest's requirements and any special rules.

Quests

Each Quest has three tiers of progression:

• Tier 1 is worth 1 VP.
• Tier 2 is worth 2 VP.
• Tier 3 is worth 3 VP.

You gain the VP for each tier immediately upon meeting its requirements, and each tier is progressively harder to complete. All Quest progress is cumulative. This means that progress does not "reset" between tiers, and that after having completed all tiers of a Quest, your party has earned a total of 6 VP.

If a shorter game is desired, agree on a decreased VP value at which the Guardian appears, and/or you can add a round limit.

Party Tokens: Party tokens are used to track a party's Quest progress, both on the Battlerealm and on the Quest cards themselves. If a party completes an objective that cannot be repeated, place a Party token on that Quest Objective on the Battlerealm to keep track. Each Quest also tracks progress differently. Place one Party token on the Quest card for each point of progress made, and remember to move the party's token on the VP tracker to correspond with the party's total VP at all times.

Quest card anatomy: 1. Quest name; 2. Quest text; 3. Image of Objective; 4. Quest Tiers; 5. Quest complexity (Starter/Advanced). Tokens used, art, and flavor text are also printed on the card.

Example (diagram on page 20 not reproduced): In this example we can see that Blue Party has one Last Hit and is still working on Tier 1. Red Party has three Last Hits, which means they've completed Tier 1, earning 1 VP, and are currently working towards Tier 2.

Loot

Loot is another way to gain VP and win the game! Each Loot card represents a magical item that your Hero may use immediately when they acquire it. Loot cards are always worth 1 VP each while in your possession. You gain Loot in four ways:

• Opening a Chest. Occupy a "full" Chest token to open it, then draw a card from the Loot Deck. Flip the Chest token to its "empty" side.
• Defeating Monster Camps. The last Monster to be defeated in each Camp drops a Loot token where it stood. Occupy the space to pick it up. Draw a card from the Loot Deck and remove the Loot token from the board.
• Take it from a rival Hero. Heroes drop all their Loot when defeated, marked by a corresponding number of Loot tokens in the space where the defeated Hero stood. Put the dropped Loot cards by the side of the Battlerealm, closest to where the dropped Loot is located. The defeated Hero's party reduces their total VP by the number of Loot cards dropped. The first Hero to occupy this space immediately takes control of all the dropped Loot cards, and increases their total VP by the number of Loot cards gained. Loot can also be stolen by Heroes with certain abilities or magical items.
• Events. Certain Events will also add Loot to the game, like "Deck of Many Things" or "Fallen Blade."

Loot cards give your Hero an immediate enhancement or ability for as long as you are in possession of that Loot card. You must immediately place any gained Loot cards face-up and above your Primary cards in front of you to show other players which bonuses you now have, even if you cannot directly benefit from them. There is no limit to the number of Loot cards you can have, but more Loot cards make you a bigger target for your rivals!

Loot cards cannot be willingly dropped, but one card can be gifted between Heroes in the same party at no cost once per turn when you move into a space adjacent to each other, either given or received, not both.

Loot card anatomy: 1. Loot name; 2. Icon showing type of benefit; 3. VP value and Effect Icons, if applicable; 4. Loot Effect text; 5. Loot complexity.

Monsters

A Monster is any creature that's not a Hero. They are a constant presence in the Battlerealm and will influence your Trial in many ways, either as sources of Loot, as obstacles, or as a part of one or more Quests. Each Monster has a corresponding Monster card with their stats (movement, attack, etc.) and any special Actions (if Elite). Most Monsters start the game in play around their Camp token. Others come into play through Events or Quests.

Monsters come in two types:

• Minions share the same statistics, and each Minion Camp has its own shared Monster card. Minions do not have HP. If a Minion suffers damage, a Wounded token is placed on its corresponding space on its Monster card. The next time it suffers damage, it is defeated. However, if the initial damage inflicted is 10+, the Minion is immediately defeated. Defeated Monsters are removed from the Battlerealm and are returned to their Monster card.
• Elites are more dangerous Monsters, often with special rules. The game starts with one Elite Camp, the Ogre. The Ankheg and the Bulezau may come into play with certain Events or Quests. Trial Guardians are a special type of Elite Monster. Elites have HP the same way players do and may have DR. Elite Monsters are defeated when they have 0 HP. Remove the Elite Monster from the Battlerealm and return it to its Monster card.

Monster card anatomy: 1. Monster name; 2. Place in Initiative order; 3. Spaces of movement; 4. Attacks; 5. Special monster abilities or rules; 6. Individual Minion status (Wounded token space).

Events

Some Event cards provide ways to earn VP by way of more Loot, by adding more Quests, or by providing new ways to earn VP. The "Champion's Trial" and the "Tempus Ascendant" Events, when combined, even offer an entirely new win condition!

Monster Actions

On each individual Monster's turn (see section 3. Initiative Phase, page 14), if active, it first determines its target, then moves towards and attacks that target, if able, in that order.

Targeting: Monsters always target the nearest Hero or hostile Monster they can see. If tied, the one with the higher Initiative that turn is targeted. Other Monsters are only considered hostile if they are specifically allied to a party. Monsters that are allied to a party do not target Heroes or other allies of that party, nor do they target inactive Monsters.

Moving: The party that was not targeted then takes control of the Monster's movement. They move the Monster (a number of spaces listed on Monster card) towards its target, and must attack that target, if able. A Monster that cannot reach its target, doubles its movement instead of attacking. Exactly how the Monster moves is up to the party controlling them. Once it has attacked, a Monster may not move any further. If a Monster has no target, it moves towards the center of the Battlerealm, controlled by the nearest Hero.

Attacking: When a Monster is adjacent to its target, it attacks. The party controlling it rolls the attack roll and references the Monster card for the results. Certain Elite Monsters and Trial Guardians may also have ranged attacks.

Large Monsters

Some Monsters are larger than one space. They can move normally, using single spaces to move around obstacles, but may not end their turn somewhere they cannot fit their entire size. If their target would be impossible to reach, they ignore that target. If no other targets are present, they move towards the center of the Battlerealm.

Trial Guardians

Trial Guardians are special Elite Monsters that mark the beginning of the end of the game. They have additional rules and attacks detailed on their cards.

The first time a party has 10 VP at the end of a round, the Trial Guardian chosen at the start of the game appears. That Trial Guardian comes into play, active, in the center of the Battlerealm and stays active until defeated. The Guardian always occupies the middle four spaces when it spawns, pushing creatures in that area out of the way. If the Guardian is larger (3x3), it occupies its full number of spaces only after it first moves.

Guardians act according to a script detailed on their Monster card. They often have special attacks that trigger if certain conditions are met. If these conditions are met (like hitting several targets at once) they must perform this attack (going from top to bottom of their script).

The game ends immediately when the Trial Guardian is defeated. If this happens when the parties are tied in VP, the Last Hit on the Guardian breaks the tie.

Guardian card anatomy: 1. Guardian name and type; 2. Spaces of movement; 3. Attacks; 4. Trial Guardian behavior and/or special rules; 5. Damage Reduction (if any); 6. Hit Points.

Defeat

When a Hero or Monster is reduced to 0 HP, they are immediately defeated and removed from the Battlerealm.

If a defeated Monster is the last one of its Camp, it drops Loot where it stood, marked by a Loot token. The first Hero to occupy the space draws a card from the Loot Deck, and puts it into play in front of them. The Last Hit on any Monster is the damage that caused the Monster to be defeated, regardless of any previous damage or Ailments it may have suffered.

If you take damage that reduces your Hero to 0 HP, you are defeated. Remove your Hero-miniature from the Battlerealm, discard your hand and all active ongoing effects played from your Hero Deck, and drop all your Loot cards where you stood, marked by that many Loot tokens (see "Loot" section, page 20).

To respawn your Hero, choose one card from your Discard Pile and draw one card from your Draw Deck. These two cards are your new hand. If you were defeated after you had taken your turn, roll Initiative and draw cards normally at the start of the next round. You cannot play your Interaction ability while your Hero is off the Battlerealm.

On your next turn, even if that is later in the same round you were defeated, you respawn by placing your Hero-miniature on your Entry Portal, collect health tokens to your max HP and take your turn normally. Tempus will not let you off the hook so easily!

End of Round Phase

When all players and Monsters have taken a turn the round ends. Complete the following steps in order:

• End of round effects are resolved in this order: Events (in the order they were drawn) > Quest progress > Other Status effects.
• Trial Guardian: The first time a party has 10 or more VP at this point, the Trial Guardian spawns in the center of the Battlerealm!
• Move the Round tracker up by one. The round tracker uses the same numbers as the Initiative tracker on the side of the Battlerealm.
• Players discard down to 5 cards in hand.
• "Refresh" at the end of every 5th round. (See below)

Refresh

At the end of every 5th round of play, the Battlerealm "refreshes" itself, making more VP available for everyone to claim!

• Opened Chests are restocked with Loot. Flip "Open Chest" tokens to the "Closed Chest" side.
• Defeated Monster Camps respawn.

Monsters respawn around their Camp token only if all members of the Camp have been defeated. They respawn in the same positions they started the game in. If any of their starting spaces are occupied, Monsters instead spawn on the next available space adjacent to its Camp token. If no such spaces are available, the Monster does not respawn this Refresh.

Appendix

Recommended Setups

Ancient Temple (see page 9)

PvP! Player versus Player. This setup is great for those times you just want to rip into your friends in bloody combat and defeat them with your superior tactical skills.

Quests:

• Marked for Death!
• Siphon Power!
• The Ogre Prince!

Frost Ruins (see page 10)

PvE! Player versus Environment. This is good for a game where you'd rather not fight the other party, and would prefer to race them to complete Quest Objectives instead. Fighting might still happen, but the Quests won't encourage it.

Quests:

• Gather Rare Herbs!
• Read the Runes!
• The Unholy Ritual!

Battlerealm Legends (pages 9-10)

The printed recommended-setup diagrams for the Ancient Temple and Frost Ruins Battlerealms are not reproduced here. Their printed legends read:

• Entry Portals (2)
• Altars (3) - Read the Runes, The Unholy Ritual
• Loot Chests (3)
• Minion Camps (3)
• Herbs (5) - Gather Rare Herbs
• Ogres Start/End Spaces (2) - The Ogre Prince
• Elite Camp (1)
• Place of Power (1) - Siphon Power, The Unholy Ritual
• Obelisks (2) - The Dark Obelisk
• Red Outlines: Impassable terrain that blocks movement and line of sight.
• Blue Outline: Water spaces, blocks movement.
• Walls: Impassable terrain, blocks movement and line of sight. When a wall covers a corner of a tile, it blocks diagonal movement through that corner.

FAQ

Hero Cards

• Hail of Thorns deals damage even if the attack itself misses. It is not itself an Action and cannot be modified with a Damage Chain.
• Healing Spirit: It might help to put 3 "HP 5" tokens on the healing spirit when it is cast. Each time it heals someone, remove a token.
• Horde Defense gives +1 DR for each adjacent hostile creature beyond the first. So if there were 4 Goblins and an Ogre adjacent to the Hero, Horde Defense would give +4 DR while this was true. This bonus would be lost immediately when a hostile creature moved away or was defeated, or increased if an additional hostile creature moved adjacent.
• Mage Hand II, in combination with "Mage Hand", lets you play the Mage Hand effect using a Move Chain instead of an Action, if you wish. If you do not have Mage Hand, this card functions as a regular Mage Hand (just ignore the * part).
• Nullify may be played when you are in an area targeted by a spell. If you succeed, you may end the spell in the area, meaning nobody in the area suffers the effects of that spell.
• Sneak Attack I & II refers to an opponent of the target.
• Spike Growth: The space in the area costs +1 space of movement to move into, effectively halving movement in this area. Monsters are ignorant of any hazards and can move into and suffer damage from the effect if the party controlling them wishes to do so.
• Trick Shot is played just like any other attack, except the Ranger can target as if they were standing in the space adjacent to any impassable terrain they can see, effectively bouncing a shot off of that terrain. The range of the attack includes the distance from the Ranger to the impassable terrain, and from the terrain to the target.

Combat

• Effects that Mark a target are all labeled as such on the cards in question. A target marked by any such effect is considered "marked" when considering all other effects that interact with marked targets. The "Marked for Death" Quest only gains progress from its own mark.
• Source just means whatever originated the attack or effect in question. Could be a Hero, a Monster, an Event, or anything else.
• Movement effects that give you additional spaces of movement if you play "one or more Move Actions," only give that bonus once per turn (usually +1 space).
• Cards that require two actions to play allow one Chain to be played per Action used.

Monsters/Camps

• If Monsters don't have enough room around their Camp token to respawn on Refresh, spawn only those that fit adjacent to the token. Sometimes that is none of them.
• If multiple Monsters are defeated at once, the Monster last in Initiative dies last (and drops potential Loot). Each Monster defeated counts as a separate Last Hit.

Quests

• The Roving Mercs: If both parties defeat a goblin from the same instance of a Camp, the Last Hit on the last goblin awards progress. It's possible to ally with a Camp even if it's already active and fighting. This gives progress regardless of how many goblins remain. If all four goblins are in play, the next Camp spawns at the end of a round when two goblins are defeated and available to spawn. Last Hits on the goblins count towards "Monster Slayer" normally. Defeating the goblins after the Camp is allied to a party does not give progress.
• The Ogre Prince: "Controlled fully by" means that the Hero with the lowest Initiative (who triggers the allied Ogre's turn after theirs) has full control over how their Ogre moves and targets, but they may not move the Ogre after it has attacked. An Ogre occupying any of the 4 spaces where the rival Ogre spawned is considered "across" and removed from the Battlerealm. A good way to track each Ogre's HP is to use Party tokens to mark two separate HP totals on or adjacent to the Quest or Monster card.
• The Dark Ritual: Both parties will not be able to reach Tier 2. Tier 3 is still awarded for the defeat of the Bulezau (but not Tier 2). A party that has Tier 1 and Tier 3 will have earned a total of 4 VP from this Quest.

Events

• Teleportal: A Hero entering the portal may continue their movement on the other end.

Glossary

• D20 - a 20-sided die used to determine random outcomes.
• Hero - a player.
• Party - a team of players working together to win.
• Class - the foundation of a Hero's skillset, and most of their cards.
• Subclass - a variation and extension of a Class.
• Character - the background and ancestry of a Hero.
• Last Hit - the damage that defeats a target.
• Monster - a creature that is not a player.
• Damage Reduction (DR) - reduces the damage of each attack.
• Minion - a weak monster with common statistics.
• Piercing - damage that ignores DR.
• Elite - a strong, unique monster.
• Ailments - an effect beyond just the normal damage of an attack.
• Trial Guardian - a powerful boss monster that marks the climax of the Trial.