Earthborne Rangers
Earthborne Rangers Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Earthborne Setting
Twenty-five hundred years ago, the world balanced on the brink of destruction. The Great Calamities threatened to leave our world a blasted wasteland, but in the face of certain death, people did the one thing nobody expected: they pulled together.
Led by a figure known only as The Guide, the disparate peoples of Earth began to heal their grievously wounded planet. To do so, they began the Great Generational Projects—monumental feats of engineering, practical biology, and chemistry, requiring decades of work from millions of people. They filled the Messipian Sea; unfurled the Lagrangian Shade to cool the Earth; built the towering carbon stacks; and carefully bred the kilometers-long beasts known as terravores that still slowly crawl across the land, consuming centuries worth of refuse.
Knowing it would take a thousand years or more for the world to heal, our ancestors built great arcologies to shelter themselves from the ravages of a worsening climate. They retreated to their massive, enclosed cities to wait out the storm of storms, so that their descendants may one day walk freely upon the Earth.
It worked. The Earth healed. By the time the mechanisms that sustained the arcologies began to fail, our ancestors were compelled to venture forth into a world untouched by human hands for more than a thousand years. The societies that eventually resettled the planet are wildly diverse, but they all share a sense of mindfulness and a drive to live in harmony with the natural world instead of apart from it or above it.
The world today is very different than the Earth of two millennia past. The spectacular ruins of the great machines of the Generational Projects still dot the landscape. Some of those machines still function, operating to some unknowable purpose, best left undisturbed. Any mountain or ridge may hide the cavernous halls of an abandoned arcology within. And while our ancestors would recognize some of the creatures that populate this world, they would find others marvelously strange—the fruits of genetic crafting.
The game is set in the Valley, a secluded location in what were once called the Colorado Rockies, more recently known as the Estian Mountains. It is sheltered by mountains on three sides and the widest, deepest jungle on the fourth, stretching from highland meadows in the north down to the edge of the southern range where the mouth of the Valley opens to the Verdessa. Settlements include Spire (the center of civilization), White Sky (a fishing village), Meadow (a herding community), Branch (tucked into the deep woodlands), Tumbledown (at the edge of the falls), the Floating Tower monastery, and Lone Tree Station, where the Valley's Rangers live and work.
Components
- 44 Energy Tokens
- 16 Harm Tokens
- 16 Progress Tokens
- 12 General Tokens
- 4 Ranger Tokens
- 35 Card Dividers
- 37 Location Cards
- 24 Challenge Cards
- 4 Weather Cards
- 17 Mission Cards
- Campaign Guide
- Valley Map
- 4 Round Cards
- 4 Common Test Cards
- 12 Aspect Cards
Ranger Card Sets (278 cards): Artificer (26), Artisan (18), Conciliator (26), Explorer (26), Forager (18), Maladies (8), Personalities (32), Rewards (62), Shaper (26), Shepherd (18), Traveler (18).
Path Card Sets (160 cards): Branch (5), Fractured Wall (3), General (15), Grassland (12), Lakeshore (12), Lone Tree Station (5), Marsh of Rebirth (2), Meadow (4), Mountain Pass (12), Northern Outpost (3), Old-Growth (12), Ravine (12), River (12), Spire (6), Swamp (12), Tumbledown (3), Valley (14), White Sky (4), Woods (12).
Card Sets: All cards in Earthborne Rangers are organized into sets. Which set a given card belongs to is noted along either the bottom edge, or the bottom left, of each card. Additionally, path card sets are denoted by an icon in the upper-left corner of the card. To organize your game, keep each set together along with its card divider.
Basic Concepts
The Game
Each game session of Earthborne Rangers is called a day, and the entire story, or campaign, is told over many days. As you play, you'll track the passage of time on a record sheet along with the notable events, mission objectives, and rewards of your journey.
Each game is broken up into rounds, in which you and your fellow Rangers will take turns playing cards from your hand and interacting with cards on the table that represent the flora, fauna, natural features, ancient ruins, fellow travelers, and all of the other, stranger things you'll encounter on your journey. Each round represents an hour or two of the day, and how you spend that time is up to you. You do all of this by interacting with the cards on the table and performing tests.
Rangers
Each player takes on the role of a Ranger, individuals tasked with the stewardship of the Valley as well as the aid and protection of the people who call it home. Each player creates their own custom Ranger character. Your Ranger is represented by three elements:
- Aspects: Aspects are four values that represent where your inherent strengths lie. Each aspect has an associated type of energy token that you receive each round based on your value in that aspect. You spend this energy to do things in the game.
- Ranger Deck: A deck of thirty cards represents everything your Ranger is capable of: your skills, your gear, and even allies you can call on in times of need. During play, how many cards remain in your deck also represents how much stamina you have to keep going for the day.
- Role: Your role represents what you specialize in and what function you serve in your group of Rangers. Your role gives you a card that starts every game in play and grants you a consistent, repeatable ability.
Tests
Tests are shown on cards as narrative equations. They tell you what you can attempt in the world of the game, how to do it, and what will happen if you succeed or fail. You'll find tests on the gear you equip, some on beings, features, and locations in the environment, and four common tests found on your reference card that you can perform under almost any circumstance.
When you perform a test, you will decide how much of your available energy and other resources you will commit to the test, representing how much effort you are expending. The more effort you commit, the higher your chance of success and the better your potential results. However, your energy and other resources are limited.
The Golden Rule
Like many card games that have come before it, Earthborne Rangers follows the "Golden Rule." That is, this rules document contains all of the basic rules and procedures for the game. These rules, however, were designed to be bent, and even broken, by the text on the cards. If ever a rule on a card contradicts a rule found in this document, the rule on the card takes precedence.
The Delightful Rule
If you are ever unsure of how to resolve a rules or timing conflict, you are invited to resolve it in a manner that you feel is most beneficial to you and your fellow Rangers. If your group cannot agree on a resolution, the decision falls to the lead Ranger.
The Challenge Deck
The circumstances of your tests are not always entirely under your control. To represent unforeseen events, after you've committed effort to a test, you'll draw a card from the challenge deck. This card modifies your effort up or down, potentially changing the outcome of the test.
In addition to modifying your chances of success, challenge cards serve another very important function. On each of them, you'll find one of three symbols (the Crest, the Mountain, or the Sun). These symbols match those found on cards in play. After you determine whether or not you succeed at a given test, the cards in play with a symbol matching the symbol found on the challenge card activate.
A Note on Style
Earthborne Rangers was designed to be read aloud. The challenge effects, tests, and campaign guide entries in particular were written to create a sense of a story being told as opposed to a game being played. This led to labeling the zones of play as "the surroundings," "along the way," and "within reach." Card rules text will often refer to "you." In these cases, the rule applies to the person who drew or played that card, or to the person performing that test. If you are ever unsure as to which Ranger a rule applies, the group decides who it affects.
The Play Area
The play area is broken up into four distinct areas:
- The Surroundings: The surroundings set the stage for the game. They contain the cards representing the current location, the weather, and any missions the Rangers are trying to accomplish.
- Along the Way: When path cards are drawn, they are either placed along the way or within reach of a specific Ranger. Along the way is a common area accessible to all Rangers at the center of the table.
- Within Reach: There is a separate within reach area in front of each player. This area represents cards that are in the Ranger's immediate vicinity. When an effect refers to within reach, it means the area in front of the player reading the effect.
- Player Area: Each player has their own area in front of them that contains all of the cards specific to their Ranger: their role card, aspects, equipped gear, Ranger deck, and discard. Only that Ranger can benefit from and use cards in their own area.
Getting Started
Before you sit down to play for the first time, do the following:
- Organize your cards by separating them into their individual sets. Each card set has a matching card set divider.
- Read this rulebook. Not everyone in your group needs to be familiar with the rules, but at least one of you should be. Alternatively, or in addition, you can watch the "Learn to Play" videos on the website (earthbornegames.com).
You then have a choice as to how you would like to begin your campaign:
- Experienced groups can dive right in by creating Ranger decks following the instructions on the Creating Your Ranger section. Then go to entry 1 of the campaign guide to begin your campaign.
- Groups with members new to Earthborne Rangers should begin by playing the Prologue. The Prologue is a guided game session that gradually introduces basic concepts of the game while it walks you through building your Ranger deck.
Game Setup
To set up the game, perform the following steps in order. If you are starting a brand new campaign, go to the Getting Started section and choose one of the options listed there.
- Set Up Player Areas: Place your aspect card, role card, and common test reference card in your player area. Shuffle your Ranger deck and place it in your player area. Place a number of energy tokens equal to their corresponding aspect values onto your aspect card.
- Draw Starting Hand: Draw six cards from your Ranger deck. Mulligan: If you don't like your starting hand, you can set aside any number of cards from your hand and draw an equivalent number of new cards. Then shuffle the set-aside cards back into your Ranger deck.
- Elect the Lead Ranger: Together, choose a Ranger to be the lead Ranger. The lead Ranger always draws the first path card at the start of each round and makes decisions for the group if a consensus cannot be reached.
- Shuffle the Challenge Deck: Shuffle the challenge deck and place it above the surroundings.
- Set Up the Starting Location: Place your current location in the surroundings. If continuing a campaign, check the "current location" line of your campaign tracker.
- Set Up the Weather Card: Find the weather card (or cards) noted below the current day on your campaign tracker, and place it in the surroundings to the left of the location with the side named on the campaign tracker faceup. Read any campaign guide entries listed above the current day.
- Set Up Mission Cards: Find the corresponding cards for each uncompleted mission on your campaign tracker and place them in the surroundings to the right of the location.
- Build and Shuffle the Path Deck: First add all path cards from the set matching the terrain you were traveling on at the end of the previous day. Then, if you are at a pivotal location, add all path cards from the set matching that location. If you are not at a pivotal location, instead add three random cards from the Valley set. Finally, add any other cards added by missions in play. Shuffle those cards together and place them above the surroundings. (See Build the Path Deck under Travel for a more detailed explanation.)
- Resolve Arrival Setup: Read the campaign entry marked on the back of the location card. Then perform all setup instructions on the back of the location card. If the card calls for the "next Ranger" to resolve an effect but each Ranger has already resolved one, that effect is ignored.
- Finishing Touches: Place any tokens as dictated by the cards in play, and resolve any instructions on weather or missions labeled "Start of Day."
Playing the Game
Each session of Earthborne Rangers represents one day of your campaign and is played in rounds. There is no limit to the number of rounds in a day. Each round is divided into four phases:
- Phase 1: Path Cards
- Phase 2: Ranger Turns
- Phase 3: Travel
- Phase 4: Refresh
Phase 1: Path Cards
Each round, the Rangers spend more time exploring the area around their current location, discovering new beings and features as they do.
Starting with the lead Ranger, each Ranger draws one path card. If the card is marked with a number underneath a book icon to the right of its name, find the corresponding entry in the campaign guide, and read it aloud. Then resolve any effects that resolve when the card "enters play." Fully resolve the effects of each card before drawing and resolving the next.
If you need to draw a path card but the deck is empty, shuffle the path discard to create a new path deck from which to draw.
Each path card is marked with an arrow to the left of its name that indicates the area in which it should be placed. A card with an upward-pointing arrow is placed along the way. A card with a downward-pointing arrow is placed within reach of the Ranger who drew it.
Phase 2: Ranger Turns
Ranger turns are the bulk of the game. This is where you'll be equipping your gear, interacting with the environment around you, and using your abilities to accomplish your goals for the day.
During this phase, each Ranger takes separate turns. There is no limit to the number of turns a Ranger can take each round. You decide as a group which Ranger takes the first turn, and following that, Rangers can take their turns in any order. Unless you are the only Ranger still taking turns, a different Ranger must go after you finish your turn. You can take a second turn in a row by exhausting your role card.
On your turn, you can either perform a test, play a card, or rest.
Perform a Test
Tests represent your Ranger's interactions with their environment. They appear on cards as an aspect, plus an approach icon, followed by both a thematic and mechanical description of what your Ranger does if the test is successful.
You always have access to four common tests which you can reference on the common test reference card. Additionally, cards in play will provide other tests from which you can choose. On your turn, you can choose one test to perform on any card in play except for cards in other Rangers' player areas (such as their equipped gear).
Most tests require that you interact with a card in play. When you perform a test on a card within reach, along the way, or in the surroundings, you count as interacting with that card. When you perform a test on a card in your player area or played from your hand, if that test directly affects a card in play, you count as interacting with the affected card or cards. When you interact with a card in play, other cards between you and the card with which you're interacting can cause you to suffer fatigue.
Play a Card
To play a card from your hand, spend an amount of energy matching the card's cost: the number and type of energy shown in the upper left-hand corner of the card. The card then has an effect based on its card type:
- Moments: Moment cards describe the specific circumstances under which they can be played in their rules text. When you play a moment, resolve all instructions on the card and discard it.
- Attachments: Attachment cards are placed in play attached to a card specified in the attachment card's text. Place that card under or to the side of the card to which it is attached and apply its effects. If the card it is attached to leaves play for any reason, discard the attachment card.
- Gear: Gear cards have ongoing effects or abilities that you can trigger during your turn (or at other times specified on the card). Gear cards are equipped by being played into your player area and stay there until you choose to discard them. Each gear has an equip value, ranging from 0 to 5, displayed as a series of filled-in squares at the lower right of its title bar. If you ever have more than five squares worth of cards in your player area, you must discard cards from your player area until five or fewer squares remain.
- Features or Beings: Features or beings are Ranger cards that function like a path card. When you play these cards, place them within reach of you and treat them like a path card for as long as they remain in play.
- Attributes: Attribute cards have no energy cost. They cannot be played and can only be used for tests.
Responses: Some rules begin with "Response:" These effects resolve at the time specified by their rules text. If this is on a moment, you can play that card at the specified time. This might be during your turn, during other Rangers' turns, or even during other phases of the game.
Tokens: Many cards make use of unique tokens to track the number of times they can be used. These cards are marked with a number and name for the tokens in a box on the right side of the card. When one of these cards comes into play, place a number of general use tokens on this card equal to that number. When the card instructs you to "use" one of the tokens, discard that token. If you no longer have tokens to discard, you cannot resolve effects that require you to use a token. Cards are not discarded when they run out of tokens. On your turn, however, you can choose to discard any number of equipped cards that you no longer want.
Rest
If you are finished taking turns for the round, you can choose to rest. You can resolve any effects that resolve "when you rest," then your turn ends. You cannot take another turn this round. Once all Rangers have rested, Ranger turns are over, and play proceeds to the travel phase.
Phase 3: Travel
After all Rangers have rested, you may decide as a group if you'd like to travel. Traveling is how you move around the Valley, visit new locations, and discover people and places unique to certain areas.
Each location card has a progress threshold on the right-hand side of the card. If the card has a number of progress tokens equal to or greater than that threshold, you can choose to travel.
Note: Ready cards with the obstacle keyword prevent you from traveling. You must either clear these cards, exhaust them, or deal with them some other way before you can travel.
If you decide to travel, perform the following steps:
- Clear Play Area: Discard all path cards in play and all Ranger cards within reach, along the way, or in the surroundings (but not in your player area). Then sort all cards from the path deck and path discard into their sets, and return them to your collection. Note: Cards with the persistent keyword are not discarded. Missions that instruct you to "travel away" from a location resolve at this time.
- Travel to a New Location: As a group, choose the location to which you would like to travel by consulting the Valley map. You must choose a nearby location—one that is connected directly to your current location by a single path (denoted by a terrain set icon). You cannot "skip" over one location to reach another. Once the group has chosen a destination, find its location card, and place it into the surroundings, replacing the current location. Note: You cannot travel along river paths until a certain game component allows you to do so.
- Decide to Camp: After choosing your new location, as a group, you can decide to end the day and set up camp for the night before venturing into the new landscape. Ending the day in this way is safer than ending it in the middle of navigating through a location and allows you an opportunity to prepare yourselves for the next day. If you end the day in this way, you are allowed to swap reward cards into your Ranger decks between sessions. If you chose not to end the day, continue to step 4.
- Build the Path Deck: To build the path deck for your new location, combine several sets of path cards:
- Terrain Set: Each path on the Valley map has an associated type of terrain based on its color and an icon that appears along the line. To form the base of the path deck, find all path cards from the set matching the type of terrain of the path you took to the new location.
- Location Set: Certain locations have notable people and places to seek out. These locations are pivotal (listed on their card and marked on the Valley map with a gold and brown eight-pointed star). These locations have sets of path cards unique to them; add each of these cards to the path deck. If your new location is not pivotal, shuffle all the path cards in the Valley set, and add three random cards from this set to the path deck.
- Other Path Cards: Other game effects may add additional cards to the path deck. Check the weather, location, and missions for any instructions labeled "Path Deck Assembly." When you finish building the path deck, shuffle it.
- Arrival Setup: Read the campaign guide entry noted on the back of the location card. Missions to "arrive at" a location resolve now (these may override reading the normal campaign guide entry). To finish setting up your destination, resolve each instruction under the "Arrival Setup" header. Most cards instruct the lead Ranger to resolve an effect then have some number of "next Rangers" resolve effects. If an effect calls for the "next Ranger," but each Ranger has already resolved an effect, ignore those additional effects.
Phase 4: Refresh
At the end of the round, the Rangers refresh themselves and prepare for the next round. Each Ranger performs the following steps in order:
- Suffer fatigue from injuries: Suffer one fatigue for each injury you have.
- Draw one Ranger card: Draw one card from your Ranger deck. There is no limit to the number of cards you can have in your hand. If you cannot draw a card, you are too tired to continue and your group must end the day.
- Refill energy pools: Add energy tokens to your energy pool until you have a number of each energy type equal to the corresponding aspect value. If you have energy in excess of one of your aspect values, you must discard tokens until you are down to that value.
- Ready all cards in play: Ready all exhausted cards in all areas. Then a new round begins!
Performing a Test
Tests are the heart of Earthborne Rangers. They are how you interact with your surroundings and make the world come alive. Tests appear on cards as an aspect, plus an approach icon, followed by both a thematic and mechanical description of the test. To perform a test, you do the following steps in order:
1. Choose Test
Choose the test you are going to perform from a card in play that is not in another Ranger's player area. Then choose any other cards the test will be interacting with. (Most tests interact with the card they are printed on but some, such as the common tests, interact with other cards.)
Then each ready card between you and the card with which you are interacting fatigues you.
2. Commit Effort
Tests can succeed or fail. The more effort you commit to a test, the more likely it is to succeed. Effort can be committed from several sources.
- Commit Energy: To initiate a test, you must first commit one or more energy tokens of the specified aspect by removing them from your energy pool. Each energy committed adds one effort. If you don't have at least one energy of the appropriate aspect to commit, you cannot perform that test.
- Commit Approach Icons: The approach icon listed in the test represents the way in which you are approaching the situation. There are four approaches: Conflict, Reason, Exploration, Connection. You may discard any number of cards from your hand with an approach icon matching the specified type on the left-hand side of the card to add effort equal to the number of that icon on the card. When you discard a card for its approach icons, you ignore all information on the card that doesn't explicitly refer to committing that card. There is no limit to the number of approach icons you can discard.
- Commit Effort from Other Sources: Other game effects such as gear, helpful beings, or other Rangers' Ranger tokens may commit effort when you perform a test. You add this effort to your committed energy and approach icons during this step to determine your total committed effort.
3. Apply Modifiers
Once you determine your Ranger's total committed effort, draw and reveal the top card of the challenge deck. The face of a challenge card shows each of the four aspects along with a 0, +1, –1, or –2. Look for the aspect specified by the test and combine the value shown with your committed effort. Then apply any other modifiers from card effects in play that affect effort to find your resulting effort.
4. Success or Failure
Each test has a difficulty—the number in brackets following the bold thematic descriptor. If there is no number listed, the difficulty is one. If your resulting effort equals or exceeds the test difficulty, you succeed. If your resulting effort is lower than the test difficulty, you fail.
Note: Some tests show a difficulty of X. In these cases, the difficulty is dependent on circumstances unique to that test and will be explained elsewhere on that card.
If you succeed, resolve any effects noted in the text following the descriptor. If the effect scales off of your effort on the test, it scales off of your resulting effort.
If you fail, do not resolve the effects immediately following the descriptor. Often the only consequence for failing a test is failure itself, but if there are any effects for failing a test, they are explicitly mentioned in the text following the effects of success. Some tests will also include effects that occur "whether you succeed or fail," which are always resolved regardless of the outcome.
5. Resolve Challenge Effects
On the revealed challenge card, you'll find one of three unique challenge icons on a band of color across the bottom: the Crest, the Mountain, or the Sun. These icons match with challenge effects on cards in play.
After you resolve the effects of success or failure, you must resolve the instructions of each challenge effect matching the challenge icon drawn for the test that is shown on an active card. Active cards are any ready cards in the surroundings, along the way, within reach of you, or in your player area. Ignore challenge effects on exhausted cards or within reach of other players. However, if you're interacting with a card within reach of another Ranger, all cards within reach of that Ranger also count as active for this turn.
Note: Challenge effects on cards that were cleared or exhausted by the results of a test do not trigger, as they are either removed from play or rendered inactive before this step.
Challenge Effect Order: When resolving challenge effects, resolve cards in the following order. When there are multiple challenge effects in one area, you can choose the order in which you resolve them.
- Weather cards
- Location card
- Mission cards
- Cards along the way
- Cards within reach
- Cards in your player area
Each challenge effect only resolves once per test. If for whatever reason a card is in a position to resolve its challenge effect a second time during the same test, it does not do so.
Reshuffle Icon: After resolving a test, if any challenge cards that show the reshuffle icon were put into the discard, shuffle the challenge discard back into the challenge deck.
Conditional Challenge Effects: Many challenge effects have additional conditions that determine whether or not they trigger. If a challenge effect contains a double-arrow icon dividing the text, you only resolve the text following that icon if you successfully executed all instructions preceding the icon or if the condition preceding the icon was true.
Clearing Cards
You'll often be instructed to place two different kinds of tokens on cards: progress and harm. Both are abstractions—stand-ins for the narrative outcomes of the tests you perform and the cards you play from your hand.
Progress is a measure of time spent. For example, progress placed on a feature or a location may represent time spent walking across it, exploring it, or simply contemplating its beauty. Progress placed on beings may represent time spent conversing with it, studying its behavior, or convincing it to let you pass unharmed. Clearing a card with progress simply means that you've spent sufficient time with it to enjoy any benefits it might provide or to safely proceed beyond its presence.
What harm represents varies considerably from card to card. On beings it may represent physical harm, but it can also represent distress. On features it may represent how much damage a physical object can suffer before it breaks. When you clear a being with harm, you've simply done enough damage or caused enough distress to cause it to flee. When you clear a feature from harm, you've overcome it through force or have depleted it of its resources.
Most cards have thresholds matching one or both of these token types on the upper-right of their text box. When a card has tokens on it equal to or exceeding the corresponding threshold, it clears. When you clear a card, you perform any instructions in its text labeled with "Clear." If there is a campaign guide entry noted next to "Clear," turn to the matching entry in the campaign guide and read it aloud. After resolving the card effects, if it still has sufficient tokens to be cleared, discard the card.
When an effect causes a card to gain enough tokens to clear, finish resolving the current rules step, then clear any cards that have reached their thresholds. For example, if a successful test places progress that clears a card, finish resolving the success effects of the test, then resolve the clear effect. If a card would clear from both token types, you can choose which type to use to clear it.
Cards Without Thresholds: Some path cards don't have harm or progress thresholds. These cards can still receive those tokens, but they will never clear because of them.
Clearing and Locations: Locations are an exception to the clearing rule. Every location has a progress threshold that represents your group's progress toward traveling to the next location. If you reach this progress threshold, however, the location does not clear. Instead, when you reach the travel step of a round, if the location has progress equal to or exceeding its threshold, the group can choose to travel.
Ranger Tokens
Each Ranger has a single Ranger token unique to them that can be moved to cards in play, representing that card requiring your Ranger's undivided attention or physical presence. When your Ranger token is on a card in play, each other Ranger commits one additional effort to any tests they perform interacting with that card. This is cumulative for each Ranger token present.
Some cards, instead of having a progress threshold, are marked with the Ranger symbol. These cards are cleared when every Ranger's token is on the card. When your Ranger token would be discarded or is not on a card, move it to your role card.
Fatigue
Your Ranger can only accomplish so much in one day before they become too tired to go on. Your deck represents your Ranger's stamina, and if it runs out, the day ends.
When your Ranger suffers fatigue, remove cards equal to the amount of fatigue suffered from the top of your Ranger deck and—without looking at them—place those cards facedown near your Ranger discard, creating the fatigue stack.
If you are ever instructed to suffer fatigue, but you do not have enough cards remaining in your Ranger deck to suffer that fatigue, you must end the day.
"Fatigues You"
Each card in the path deck has a presence value in the upper right-hand corner. Some game effects will cause cards to fatigue you. When this happens, if the card is ready, you suffer fatigue equal to the presence of that card. If it is exhausted, the card does not fatigue you.
Fatigue from Interacting
When you interact with the environment, things between you and the thing with which you're interacting may cause you to suffer fatigue. Before you perform a test, each ready card between you and the farthest card with which you are interacting fatigues you. Which ready cards are between you and that card depends on the area in which it sits:
- Card is within reach: nothing is between you.
- Card is within reach of another Ranger: all cards within reach of you are between you.
- Card is along the way: all cards within reach of you are between you.
- Card is in the surroundings: all cards within reach of you and along the way are between you.
Some Ranger cards and game effects will act upon a card and manipulate it in some way without performing a test. These effects are not considered interactions, so cards between you and the affected card do not fatigue you.
If a test on a card in your player area or played from your hand interacts with multiple cards, only resolve this step once for the card with which you're interacting that is furthest from you.
Soothing Fatigue
Some game effects will allow you to soothe fatigue. When this happens, draw that many cards from the top of your fatigue stack and place them in your hand.
Ending the Day
The day can end in several ways:
- Choose to Camp: When you successfully travel, the group can decide to camp for the night.
- Ranger too Fatigued: If a Ranger needs to draw a card or suffer fatigue but cannot, the day ends immediately.
- Ranger too Injured: If a Ranger suffers their third injury, the day ends at the end of the current turn. That Ranger must add one "Lingering Injury" card to their deck.
- Ally in Peril: It is your duty to protect the people of the Valley. For most human beings, if they are ever cleared due to harm, the campaign guide will instruct you to end the day.
- Mission Complete: Sometimes, when the final stage of a mission is complete, you will reach a stopping point important enough to end the day. The campaign guide will instruct you to do so.
When the day ends, your current play session is over, and one day of campaign time passes. Check off the next day on the campaign tracker. Save your current location by either storing it with your Ranger deck or writing it down on the campaign tracker along with the terrain type you were traveling on. The rest of the game materials can be packed up and returned to their normal storage locations.
Bringing It All Together
These rules walk you through how you will be playing the game, but they don't get into the specifics of what you will be trying to accomplish. Because of the nature of Earthborne Rangers' open world, your goal for a given day can change from session to session based on your current mission or some other objective or idea you have.
One session, you might be attempting to journey to a far off location, so your goal will be to use the Traverse action to add progress to the location and ultimately travel as many times as possible. The next session, you might be trying to find a specific character, staying at a specific location and using cards with the scout ability to dig for cards. Another session, you might be attempting to complete a mission card with a custom objective.
Ultimately, Earthborne Rangers isn't like a lot of other card games where you are trying to accomplish a single, similar goal every session. Instead, it is much more like a roleplaying game—a collection of systems to simulate a wide range of activities in an open world. It's up to you to discover all the different ways to use them!
Additional Concepts
Active: Active cards are any ready card in the surroundings, along the way, within reach, or in your player area. Cards within reach of other Rangers are not active. If you're interacting with a card within reach of another Ranger, however, ready cards within reach of them also count as active for that turn.
Attach: Some cards instruct you to attach them to other cards. Place the attached card underneath the card to which it is attached with a bit poking out to remind you that it's there. Faceup attached cards are considered to be "in play," while facedown attached cards are not. When a card is attached facedown, discard any tokens from it. When a card leaves play, any cards attached to it are discarded. Some cards may attach to your role. You can still interact with these cards; resolve their challenge effects as if they were within reach. When interacting with other cards in play, cards attached to your role always count as being between you and that card.
Campaign Guide: If a campaign guide entry appears in a card's title bar, read the entry marked with the associated number when that card enters play. When an entry icon appears in card text followed by a number, read the entry matching that number when that text is triggered. If the entry icon is not followed by a number, read the entry corresponding to the number shown at the top of the card.
Discard: Place discarded cards in their corresponding discard pile and discarded tokens in the supply. Effects that trigger when a card clears do not trigger when a card is discarded.
Dodge: Some game effects allow you to dodge cards when you are performing a test. When you dodge cards, those cards do not count as being between you and the card with which you are interacting. Cards dodged in this way do not fatigue you, and if they have the obstacle keyword, they do not prevent you from interacting with cards beyond them. These cards are still considered to be active, so their challenge effects still trigger.
Exhaust/Ready: To exhaust a card, turn it ninety degrees. To ready a card, turn it upright. Exhausted cards do not fatigue you; they are not active, so you do not resolve challenge effects on them; you can interact with exhausted cards. If a text effect is prefaced by "exhaust [this card]," you must be able to exhaust the card to trigger the effect. You cannot exhaust a card that is already exhausted. Note: Abilities that begin with "Exhaust:" can only be used at specific times (see Triggered Effect Timing).
Injury: Injuries represent a significant danger to your Ranger. If a game effect injures your Ranger, place a harm token on your role card and discard all the cards in your fatigue stack. For each injury you've suffered, you suffer one fatigue during the refresh phase. When you are instructed to heal an injury, remove one harm from your role. After your Ranger suffers their third injury, you must end the day at the end of your current turn, and you add one "Lingering Injury" card to your deck from your collection (if there is one available to add).
In Play: Any card or token that is in the surroundings, along the way, within reach, in a player area, or on a component in one of these areas is in play. Cards in discard piles, in players' hands, or in decks are not in play.
Move: The card is moved to a different area than the one in which it currently sits. If an area isn't specified, you can choose to move it either along the way or within reach of a Ranger of your choice.
Per Ranger: The Per Ranger symbol represents the number of Rangers (players) currently playing the game. When it is next to another value, multiply the number of Rangers by that value (for example, in a two-player game "3 Per Ranger" would equal six).
Scout: When you are instructed to "scout" a deck, you look at the number of cards specified from the top of that deck (for example, "scout 3 path cards"), then place any number of those cards on the top and/or bottom of that deck in the order of your choice.
Search: When you are instructed to "search" for a card, pick up the indicated decks or piles of cards, find every card matching the criteria specified, and choose one of them. If you searched for a path card, put the card into play. If you searched for a Ranger card, place the card into your hand. Then return all unchosen cards to where you got them and shuffle any affected decks. Some search effects may instruct you to search for the "next" card matching a certain criteria; in those cases, go through the deck card-by-card, starting at the top, and pick the first card that matches.
Timing: Many card effects resolve at a specific time (for example, "when you perform a test"). Any effects that don't specify a timing are either ongoing effects that are always in effect, or effects that you can choose to use during any Ranger's turn. Effects that specify a timing use one of the following words:
- Before: The effect resolves immediately before you begin the specified step.
- When: The effect resolves during the specified step.
- After: The effect resolves immediately after all effects of the specified step have been resolved.
If multiple effects would resolve during the same timing window, you can choose the order in which they resolve.
Triggered Effect Timing: Effects that can be triggered by you (such as exhaust abilities on your Ranger cards) that do not have a timing specified can only be used at the beginning or end of your or another Ranger's turn. Thus, they cannot be used while a test is being performed or while another card's effect is in the process of resolving.
Card Anatomies
Path Card Anatomy
- Set Reminder: An icon showing which set the card belongs to, to help with quickly identifying the set while in storage.
- Title: The name of the card.
- Card Type and Traits: Flavorful attributes that may be referenced by card abilities.
- Area Indicator: Indicates whether the card comes into play within reach or along the way.
- Campaign Guide Entry: Indicates an entry in the campaign guide that should be read aloud when the card enters play.
- Presence: The card's prominence in the environment. This value determines the amount of fatigue it may cause and scales other effects.
- Tokens: Shows the name of a special token type used for this card and the number of those tokens placed on it when it comes into play. Use general tokens to track these.
- Harm Threshold: A measure of the card's well-being. When a card has an equal or greater number of harm tokens, it clears.
- Progress Threshold: A measure of the Rangers' time spent with the being, feature, or location. When the value shown on a being or feature is reached, it clears. When the value shown on a location is reached, the Rangers can choose to travel.
- Abilities and Tests: The main abilities of that card. This can include tests the Rangers can perform, special rules for the card, or effects that resolve when the card clears.
- Mission Objective: The condition that must be met to progress further in the mission.
- Challenge Effects: Effects that resolve at the end of tests based on which of the three challenge icons is shown on the challenge card.
- Set Information: The name of the card's set and the card's number in that set.
Ranger Card Anatomy
- Energy Cost: The number of energy tokens that need to be spent to play the card.
- Title: The name of the card.
- Card Type and Traits: Flavorful attributes that may be referenced by card abilities.
- Equip Value: The amount of space the card takes up when equipped. If you have more than five total filled-in equip value boxes in your play area, you must discard cards until you have five or fewer.
- Presence: The card's prominence in the environment. Only on being or feature Ranger cards.
- Tokens: Shows the name of a special token type used for this card and the number of those tokens placed on it when it comes into play. Use general tokens to track these.
- Harm Threshold: A measure of the card's well-being. When this card has an equal or greater number of harm tokens, it clears.
- Approach Icons: Icons that can be committed to tests by discarding the card. The card adds one effort for each approach icon matching the one shown on the test.
- Abilities and Tests: The main abilities of that card. This can include tests the Rangers can perform, special rules for the card, or effects that resolve when the card clears.
- Aspect Requirement: You must have this value or higher in the shown aspect to include this card in your deck.
- Set Information: The name of the card's set and the card's number in that set.
Keywords
Keywords stand in for longer rules statements that would otherwise commonly appear on cards.
- Ambush: When a card with the ambush keyword enters play within reach or moves within reach of a Ranger, it fatigues that Ranger. Note: Only ready cards can fatigue you. If the card is exhausted, you do not suffer fatigue from ambush.
- Conduit: When you have a card with the conduit keyword equipped, you can play manifestation cards by using (discarding) a token from that conduit.
- Disconnected: You cannot add progress to this card using the Connect common test.
- Fatiguing: When you rest, if this card is ready and is in your player area, within reach, or along the way, you suffer fatigue equal to its presence. If this keyword is followed by a number, suffer that much fatigue instead.
- Friendly: When a card with the friendly keyword is between you and the card with which you're interacting, it does not fatigue you. You cannot affect a card that has the friendly keyword with a card that has the weapon trait.
- Manifestation: To play a card with the manifestation keyword, you must use (discard) a token from one of your equipped cards with the conduit keyword.
- Obstacle: You cannot interact with a card if a ready card with the obstacle keyword is between you and that card. For example, an obstacle within reach prevents you from interacting with cards along the way or in the surroundings. You cannot travel if there are any ready cards with the obstacle keyword in play.
- Persistent: Persistent cards (ready or exhausted) and all cards attached to them remain in play when you travel.
- Setup: At the start of the day after step 1 of setup, you can search your deck for one card with the setup keyword and put it into play.
- Unique: A Ranger cannot have two unique cards with the same name from their deck in play at the same time. If you play a second copy of the same unique card, the first one is immediately discarded.
Playing a Campaign
The story of Earthborne Rangers unfolds over a campaign across multiple play sessions, with each session representing one day. What you do each day is up to you. You can complete missions to progress the story, or you can head out and explore to uncover emergent moments and objectives hidden throughout the world. As you accomplish different tasks, you will be granted new cards that permanently change your deck, and your choices may have long-lasting effects on the Valley.
To start a new campaign, read the Getting Started section. Then each time you return to play a new day, set up that day following the Game Setup instructions. The game scales to the number of Rangers in it, so you do not have to have the same group every time you play. Rangers can drop in and out or miss a day if needed.
Campaign Guide
The campaign guide contains numerically ordered entries that you read as you play the game. These contain the story text that can be read out to the group, as well as mechanical instructions on how the events change the game.
When an entry icon appears in card text followed by a number, read the entry matching that number when that text is resolved. Some entries have different variants based on the conditions under which you read them. Go to the entry matching the condition that caused you to read the entry (for example, "Enters Play" for when the path card enters play). The entry may check to see if people have different conditions to be met. Read these "if" statements in order. Follow the instructions of the first one you meet.
Sometimes, a choice will long have to be made in an entry. The group should make these choices together, but if there is an impasse, the lead Ranger decides. We recommend making the choice only based on the information listed in each red header, and only reading the consequences after you decide. The options and their consequences are indented. After resolving your chosen option, make sure to check if the entry instructs you to "Continue reading" as there might be more.
The Living Valley
The Living Valley is a curated online resource for Earthborne Rangers players. In addition to the rules glossary and FAQ, it is home to a fully featured version of the Lure of the Valley campaign guide. The online version of the campaign guide includes hyperlinked entries and a search function for easy navigation. You can find The Living Valley on the website (earthbornegames.com).
Storing Your Collection
All of your cards that aren't currently being used in the game or in Ranger decks are referred to as your collection. The game box contains a number of dividers that allow you to keep your collection organized by card set to make it easy to build new path decks when traveling or fetch individual cards when a game effect calls for it. We recommend storing cards with their left edge facing up, allowing you to quickly look for the gray set labels on Ranger cards or the set icon on path cards.
Storing Ranger Decks
As you play through the campaign, rewards, injuries, and other decisions will modify your Ranger deck, evolving and changing it as you grow as a Ranger. If you are playing a single campaign out of your box, the easiest way to keep track of all the changes to Ranger decks is to store them as-is using the included dividers. However, if you are unable to keep the Ranger decks in one piece for storage, or if you're playing multiple campaigns with one set of cards, you can download the Ranger deck list PDF from earthbornegames.com to record all the cards in your Ranger decks so that they can be reassembled at a later date.
Campaign Tracker
The last page of the campaign guide is a tracking sheet that can be used to keep track of your campaign progress (also available as a printable PDF). This sheet tracks:
- Current Position: At the end of each day, record your current location and terrain type here (ideally in pencil). Then when setting up the next day, use this location and terrain type.
- Day Track: The day track keeps track of how many days have passed. At the end of each day, cross off that day. Each day has a "recommended weather" card listed underneath it to use during setup. Many mission outcomes change based on how many days you take to complete them. During step 6 of setup, read any entries listed over the current day.
- Missions: When the campaign guide gives you a new mission, write the name of the mission in the "Missions" section, and write the current day in the box to the left. Then place the corresponding mission card in the surroundings. Some missions track progress using the boxes to the right; when you complete a mission, cross it off your list.
- Rewards: When the campaign guide rewards you with a new card, write the name of the card in the "Rewards" section. Find all copies of that reward card in your collection and set them aside. These are now available for the group to use to customize their decks. If you would ever gain the same reward again, ignore that effect.
- Notable Events: As you make decisions or accomplish story milestones, the campaign guide will instruct you to record the outcomes of notable events to potentially check against later. Simply write the specified phrase in the "Notable Events" section.
Mission Cards
Mission cards provide you with objectives you must complete in order to advance the story. You will gain new missions when instructed by the campaign guide. Missions work much the same way as path cards, except they typically do not have harm or progress thresholds. If a mission card would be cleared or discarded by other game effects, it is instead returned to the surroundings. Missions can only be removed from play by completing them (or other special instructions). Each mission has an objective listed inside a green box; when this condition is met, read the next entry in the mission's story.
Mission Subjects: Some missions have subjects listed in their name in parenthesis—for example, "Track (Quisi Vos)." These subjects are either a location card or path card, and are used by the mission in some way. When a mission is listed with a subject, find the subject's card in your collection and attach it facedown to the mission. The mission will provide instructions on how the subject is utilized.
Weather Cards
Weather cards represent the weather or other strange atmospheric conditions that may affect you on your travels. Much like mission cards, weather cards are placed in the surroundings and work like path cards, except they typically do not have harm or progress thresholds. If a weather card would be cleared or discarded, it is instead returned to the surroundings. Weather cards are two-sided and often flip to their other side; when they do, they maintain any tokens that were on the card.
Customizing Difficulty with Weather: When you set up a new day, the campaign tracker recommends which weather card to use. However, groups looking to adjust the challenge can swap in a different weather card during setup based on the difficulty they prefer:
- Easy – A Perfect Day
- Normal – Downpour
- Hard – Howling Winds
- Expert – Electric Fog
Note: Electric Fog is not included in the "recommended weather" on the campaign tracker and should only be used by groups looking for an intense challenge.
Customizing Your Deck
As you progress through the campaign, your Ranger's deck will change as you unlock new cards and replace the cards with which you began the campaign. There are three ways you can alter your deck:
- Permanent Alterations: Some effects during gameplay may make permanent changes to your deck. These effects usually allow you to trade one card from your deck for one other card from the starting Ranger card list. You can never go over two copies of the same card. These alterations are permanent and cannot be reversed except by other similar effects. You cannot add cards with the Expert trait to your deck by any means, unless they are from your chosen background or specialty.
- Swapping Rewards In and Out: If you end the day by camping, you can use the downtime to reorganize your gear. Before you start the next day, you may choose up to two copies of any reward card that you've unlocked, and for which you meet the aspect requirement, and add them to your deck. For each reward card you add, you must choose a non-malady card to remove from your deck. If the removed card is another reward, return it to the collection. If the removed card is a starting Ranger card, set it aside; these displaced cards can be swapped back into your deck any time you camp.
- Maladies: Maladies represent the lingering negative effects of the trials your Ranger has endured. The primary malady is Lingering Injury, which is added to your deck if you are forced to end the day after suffering three injuries. Maladies are always in addition to the thirty cards normally in your Ranger deck and cannot be swapped out for reward cards, traded away, or removed by any other method apart from what is described on the malady card itself.
Creating Your Ranger
To start a campaign of Earthborne Rangers, you build your own custom Ranger character. Ranger cards are broken into five categories: personality, background, specialty, malady, and reward. Set aside all reward and malady cards for now (those are obtained during the campaign). For your first time, we recommend performing the following steps in order:
Choose Your Aspects
Aspects are four values that represent where your inherent strengths lie:
- Awareness (AWA): Your Ranger's skills of observation—a measure of how well they process the world around them.
- Fitness (FIT): Your Ranger's strength, agility, and endurance—a measure of how well they respond to physical demands.
- Focus (FOC): Your Ranger's concentration and ability to recall knowledge—a measure of how well they can stay on task.
- Spirit (SPI): Your Ranger's inner strength and sense of self—a measure of how well your Ranger knows themself.
All aspects are listed on a single card. There are a total of twelve different aspect cards to choose from, each of which features a different spread of values across the four aspects, ranging from 3 to 1. On each aspect card, there is a high stat (3) and a low stat (1). Choose one of these cards for your Ranger. Your high and low aspect will define the types of tests your Ranger is inherently good at performing, and will also determine which cards you are able to include in your Ranger deck. Each Ranger card has an aspect requirement on the left-hand side; if your corresponding aspect is not equal to or higher than that requirement, you cannot include that card in your deck.
Determine Your Personality
Personality cards represent the type of person your Ranger is and how they engage with the world around them. Select four unique cards from the personality set: choose one personality card from each of the four different aspects (Awareness, Fitness, Focus, and Spirit), and add two copies of each chosen card to your Ranger deck.
Each card in the personality set is an attribute, which means they can only be discarded for their approach icons during tests. You can use personality cards to help balance out the mix of approach icons in your deck, or to make your Ranger even better at the things they're already good at. If you'd like to lean into the roleplaying opportunities, you can choose your personality cards based purely on theme.
Choose Your Background
Your Ranger's background represents their experience from early life and young adulthood. It contains the skills and equipment you bring with you into the Rangers. Choose one of the four background sets and select five of its nine unique cards, adding two copies of each selected card to your Ranger deck:
- Artisan: You worked on a specialized craft in one of the Valley's villages. Artisan cards key off of and support your equipped gear and the gear of other Rangers.
- Forager: You gained tremendous knowledge of the plants of the Valley. Forager cards key off of cards with the flora trait, allowing you to use them as a resource in ways that other backgrounds do not.
- Shepherd: You tended a flock of ironwool sheep in the rolling meadows of the southwestern Valley. Shepherd cards typically affect beings and can help you interact with and pacify predators in non-violent ways.
- Traveler: Your early life was spent walking the footpaths of the Valley from village to village. Traveler cards revolve primarily around making the most of moment cards.
Choose Your Specialty
Your Ranger's specialty represents the training and experience of your Ranger's adulthood. Choose one of the four specialty sets and select five of its fourteen unique cards, adding two copies of each selected card to your Ranger deck. Additionally, each specialty includes two role cards; these roles do not go in your deck, but start the game in play and offer a special, repeatable ability. Select one of those roles for your Ranger.
- Artificer: Part engineer, part visionary artist, artificers are master craftspeople dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. Artificer cards are primarily gear and attachments, and are typically a cut above those found elsewhere.
- Conciliator: You are a natural mediator and protector and share a deep connection with other Valley Dwellers. Conciliator cards specialize in connecting with the villagers, protecting them from predators, and navigating the habited areas of the Valley.
- Explorer: You have an affinity and aptitude for exploration that has made you an expert of the wilds. Explorer cards center around quickly placing progress on features and locations, scouting the path deck, and moving efficiently along the paths of the Valley map.
- Shaper: Through decades of study at the monastery atop Blind Peak, you learned to focus your intent and alter reality through the use of a conduit. Shaper cards require you to include a special piece of gear called a conduit in your deck; with it, they make use of powerful abilities that can manipulate parts of the game system usually inaccessible to others.
Role
Your role represents what you specialize in and what function you serve in your group of Rangers. Your role gives you a card that starts every game in play and grants you a consistent, repeatable ability.
Choose Your Outside Interest
The last step to creating your Ranger is to select your outside interest—a card that represents your hobbies and passions outside of your day-to-day life. This is a single card chosen from any specialty or background set. The chosen card cannot be a role or have the expert trait. Add two copies of this card to your Ranger deck.
Once you're done with this step, you'll have a total of thirty cards in your deck (fifteen unique cards, two copies of each), plus your role and aspect card. Your Ranger is now ready to begin their adventure!
Quick Reference
Aspects
- AWA — Awareness
- FOC — Focus
- FIT — Fitness
- SPI — Spirit
Approaches
- Connection
- Conflict
- Exploration
- Reason
Challenge Effects
- Sun
- Mountain
- Crest
Tokens
- Progress
- Harm
- Ranger Token
Round Structure
- Path Cards: Each Ranger draws a path card.
- Ranger Turns: Rangers take turns until they have all rested. On a turn, each Ranger does one of the following: play a card, perform a test, or rest.
- Travel: If the location has progress equal to or exceeding its threshold, you may travel. If you do, clear the play area, choose a new location, and assemble the path deck for the new location.
- Refresh: Suffer 1 fatigue for each injury. Draw 1 Ranger card and regain all energy. Ready all cards.
Tests
- Choose Test: Select the test to perform, and each card between you and your target fatigues you.
- Commit Effort: Commit energy, approach icons, and effort from other effects to the test.
- Apply Modifiers: Draw a challenge card. Apply its modifier and any other modifiers to your effort.
- Determine Success: If your effort is equal to or greater than the test's difficulty, you succeed. Resolve the effects of the test.
- Resolve Challenge Effects: Resolve each challenge effect matching the icon on the drawn challenge card.
Reminders
- When a card refers to "within reach," it is referring to within reach of the Ranger resolving the effect unless otherwise specified.
- When you suffer an injury, discard all cards in your fatigue stack.
- During the refresh phase, suffer one fatigue for each injury you have.
- If there is more than one Ranger who hasn't rested this round, you must exhaust your role if you want to take a second turn in a row.
- Each other Ranger token (apart from your own) on a card you are interacting with commits one additional effort to your test.
- Exhausted cards cannot fatigue you.
- When part of an ability cannot be resolved, resolve as much of the ability as you can (unless it follows a conditional icon).
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