Edge of Darkness: Sands of Dunestar

Edge of Darkness: Sands of Dunestar Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components

Your game of Sands of Dunestar should include the following. If it does not, contact [email protected] for assistance.

13 Location boards
98 Card advancements
12 Pit Fighter tokens
1 Player Handbook

Tale: A Chancellor Falls

With the impending threat of the Blight, the politics of Aegis and Dunestar have become heated and divisive with blame being cast at the Chancellor for letting things get this bad. Riots in the street and calls for the Chancellor to step down are aplenty.

The Tale plays out over several games, called "Chapters". Each Chapter below lists the locations to use for it.

Chapter 1: Unrest

difficulty: high. complexity: moderate.

With the Voiceless Guild's rise to prominence once more and the increasing threat of the Blight upon the city, unrest has become the norm. Politics at all levels have become heated and divisive. Riots have broken out in the streets, with cries for Chancellor Nyesha Marks to step down. The Peacekeepers are stretched to their limit working to prevent all out chaos. The situation has become so tense at times that members of the City Watch have been called in to assist as well. In the wake of such instability in Aegis, some parties have turned to allies in Dunestar for assistance. All of the Guilds have begun to forge new connections in the oasis city to better position themselves for whatever the future in Aegis might bring. But some would do well to remember that Aegis' high position in the Realm has long rested upon the strength of her Council and Chancellor. How long with the city's high walls stand when those foundations are undermined?

Use locations 1, 4, 8, 13, 15, 18, 26, 42, 48 and 50.

Chapter 2: Desperate Reforms

difficulty: high. complexity: moderate.

In a dramatic move to try and appease the populace of Aegis, Chancellor Marks has become very close with Kadeem Choukri, the ambassador from Dunestar. In addition to orchestrating deals for food and supplies in the wake of the Millhollow catastrophe, there is talk that she is recruiting more soldiers to combat the Blight ... right out of the brutal Pits of Dunestar. She has held meetings with Lars Falco, the Pit Warden, to discuss training a full military unit of Dunestar's best. While some applaud the move as a legitimate attempt to protect Aegis' interests both at home and in the Forsaken Lands, many of the defensive groups within Aegis are upset, seeing the new potential unit as a threat to the work that they have done thus far and the work they desire to do into the future. Those in support of the move tend to paint Chancellor Marks as the pragmatic leader, but those in opposition say she's ready to trade the city's noble history for Dunestar's savagery. Through all the turmoil, it remains to be seen how the Guilds will tip the scales in the court of Marks' popularity.

Use locations 4, 11, 13, 15, 16, 28, 38, 40, 48 and 50.

The printed contents page reads "Desperate Reformsl"; the chapter heading reads "Desperate Reforms", which is used here.

Chapter 3: Drastic Measures

difficulty: high. complexity: high.

Chancellor Marks has been murdered! Servants awoke one morning to find her dead in her chambers, apparently the target of a shadowy murder. A group of Investigators have been summoned to find the culprit, and they have begun to shake down suspects throughout Aegis. The natural suspect was the Order of the Blackblade, a group of deadly assassins and remnant of the Wizard King's rule. They were an essential piece of the King's rise to power, and many wondered whether or not they could ever truly be loyal to anyone but him. No one would be surprised to hear that they moved against the new government in an effort to restore the King's throne. In spite of the public's distrust, Trine Vagen, current head of the Blackblade, spoke of their loyalty to the Council in the best interests of the city. In fact, she was also able to identify the poison used on the Chancellor as one drawn from the hearts of the Soulless, the undead force that plagues Dunestar. The only person Vagen knows who is able to perform such a ritual is a twisted soul named Omar Hachim, the Venom Shaman. Did Hachim act alone? Or was he working with someone else to eliminate the Chancellor? If so, was it a player in Dunestar or Aegis? More importantly, how will the Guilds move in the wake of this loss?

Use locations 4, 9, 11, 16, 19, 28, 30, 38, 48 and 50.

Chapter 4: Behind Closed Doors

difficulty: high. complexity: moderate.

It's time to elect a new Chancellor from among the other members of the High Council. Each of the other eight individuals have stated their willingness to accept the position, further fueling the rumors and questions about just who was responsible for the death of Chancellor Marks. Now parties in both Aegis and Dunestar have moved to influence the election in their favor. Shadowy politics with regular secret meetings are being run behind closed doors. Everyone from academics to politicians to fishermen have something to say and something to gain or protect. And given the unresolved circumstances that led to the open seat in the first place, distrust and paranoia are at an all-time high. With each passing day, the sky seems to reflect more and more the shadowed speech that frequents every corner of Aegis and Dunestar. It seems that the fate of both cities now lies in the hands of the Guilds as they work to shape the future of the Realm. Will they succeed in driving back the Blight and bringing the light back to these bastions of freedom? Or will they see them devoured as they themselves work to consume them?

Use locations 2, 9, 12, 16, 19, 28, 39, 47, 48 and 50.

Recommended Setups

This section includes a number of recommended setups if you are looking for already curated sets. That said, not all of these sets will necessarily be "balanced".

For example, some of them may cause a fairly tight game in regards to Coin while others may have the ability to get lots of Coin. It will be up to the players to identify and determine the best way to exploit or deal with the imbalance.

Jewel of the Desert

difficulty: moderate. complexity: high.

38 Embassy of Dunestar
39 Sandslayer Encampment
40 The Pits
41 Beacon of Light
43 The Scale
44 Sun Vaults
46 Gates of Dunestar
48 Grand Souk
49 The Great River
50 Rattlesnake Hideout

A Thief in the Night

difficulty: moderate. complexity: moderate. combative.

You may replace Debtor's Prison with City Park (30) if you don't want a Combative setup.

38 Embassy of Dunestar
39 Sandslayer Encampment
40 The Pits
41 Beacon of Light
42 Mahj Kennels
44 Sun Vaults
46 Gates of Dunestar
47 Debtors' Prison
48 Grand Souk
49 The Great River

Tale of Two Cities

difficulty: moderate. complexity: moderate. combative.

You may replace Debtor's Prison with City Park (30) if you don't want a Combative setup.

9 Fairhollow Academy
11 Blackblade Barracks
12 Blessed Stronghold
23 Millhollow, Farm Town
38 Embassy of Dunestar
39 Sandslayer Encampment
43 The Scale
46 Gates of Dunestar
47 Debtors' Prison
48 Grand Souk

Unexpected Visits

difficulty: high. complexity: moderate.

2 Grand Senate
4 Bureau of Investigation
15 Peaceforce Headquarters
21 Forge
26 City Watch
40 The Pits
41 Beacon of Light
44 Sun Vaults
49 The Great River
50 Rattlesnake Hideout

Awakening the Soulless

difficulty: high. complexity: high.

3 High Council
7 War Council
8 College for Greatness
34 Labor Exchange
21 Forge
41 Beacon of Light
44 Sun Vaults
45 Altar of the Soulless God
48 Grand Souk
50 Rattlesnake Hideout

To Battle!

difficulty: high. complexity: moderate.

3 High Council
14 Nightbreaker Encampment
17 Almshouse
20 Fairgrounds
24 Riverside Playhouse
25 Slumtown Tavern
34 Labor Exchange
39 Sandslayer Encampment
40 The Pits
45 Altar of the Soulless God

Locations and Advancements Clarifications

This section contains all the locations and corresponding advancements in Sands of Dunestar, with their abilities and effect(s) clarified.

Where a picture icon is printed with no number beside it, it is read here as one of that icon (for example, a Damage icon alone is 1 Damage and a shield icon alone is 1 [shield icon]), following the base game's icon rules.

Embassy of Dunestar

This location has no ability. The associated contact's effect (Ambassador) will be doing all the dispatching and returning of Agents to and from the Embassy of Dunestar.

Ambassador (contact): This contact has three effects. You may resolve exactly one:

Dispatch an Agent to the Embassy of Dunestar at no cost,
OR pay 3 Coin to dispatch 2 Agents to the Embassy of Dunestar,
OR return 2 Agents from the Embassy of Dunestar to your Trained Agents pool to claim Allegiance of a Neutral card in your hand (and only there).

There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this contact.

Corruption Whisperer (threat): This threat contributes 1 Damage to the total Damage of the card it is sleeved in. This threat has one reward. When you defeat it, you gain 3 Coin. There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this threat.

Sandslayer Encampment

This location has an ongoing ability. These abilities are often powerful but very intensive.

In the case of the Sandslayer Encampment, each turn you may pay an amount of Coin based on the number of Agents you have there to hunt threats at any point this turn. You do not have to hunt threats immediately when you resolve this effect, you may do so later in the turn after using other effects.

If you have no Agents, you must pay 7 Coin; if you have 1 Agent, you must pay 6 Coin; if you have 2 Agents, you must pay 5 Coin; if you have 3 Agents, you must pay 3 Coin; if you have 4 Agents, you must only pay 1 Coin.

Note that you don't need to have the associated contact (Sandslayer Captain) to hunt threats, you just need to have Coin. Having an Agent at the Sandslayer Encampment makes you pay less Coin.

Sandslayer Captain (contact): This contact has one effect. When you resolve it, dispatch an Agent to the Sandslayer Encampment at no cost. There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this contact.

Sand Shade (threat): This threat contributes 2 Damage to the total Damage of the card it is sleeved in. This threat has one reward. When you defeat it, you gain 6 Coin. There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this threat.

The Pits

This location has an additional Setup rule. When the Pits are placed on the Game board, you need to place all Pit Fighter tokens on the Location board.

This location has an ongoing ability. These abilities are often powerful but very intensive.

In the case of The Pits, your Agents with a Pit Fighter token under them (called Pit Fighters) get a bonus when using the ability of Location boards with [arch icon], [crossed-swords-in-circle icon] and [wheel icon] icons, or the effects of their associated contacts. They count as 1 Agent or 2 Agents, whichever is more helpful to you.

For example, you could use the Watchtower Lookout effect to dispatch one Pit Fighter to the Watchtowers. Then, since the Watchtowers has a [arch icon], when a threat attacks you, may return the Pit Fighter and count it as 2 Agents in order to reduce the Damage of the threat by 6 instead of 3.

Another example: You could use the War Council Member effect to dispatch one Pit Fighter to the War Council. Then, since the War Council has a [wheel icon], you may return your Pit Fighter to your Trained Agents pool from the War Council to hunt threats as it counts as 2 Agents.

A final example: With Peaceforce Headquarters, each Pit Fighter at that location gives you +1 Battle Strength since they can count as 2 Agents. Moreover, when you resolve the effect of the Deputy Peacekeeper contact to return an Agent and choose to return a Pit Fighter instead, it may count as 2 Agents. As a result, you would gain 6 for each of your Citizens in your hand and in your Guild Hall. (The printed text shows no icon after this 6.) Even though this last effect has nothing to do with gaining Battle Strength, hunting threats or defending against threats, the Peaceforce Headquarters is a [circled-X icon] location, so your Pit Fighter ability counts here.

Pit Trainer (contact): This contact has two effects. You may resolve either but not both:

Pay 3 Coin to [figure-in-shield icon],
Or pay 6 Coin to [figure-in-shield icon] and place a Pit Fighter token under that Agent.

Agents with a Pit Fighter token under them are called Pit Fighters.

There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this contact.

Tiger (threat): This threat contributes 2 Damage to the total Damage of the card it is sleeved in. This threat has one reward. When you defeat it, you gain 4 Coin. If you fail to defend against this threat, you must remove a Pit Fighter token from under one of your Agents if possible. There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this threat.

Beacon of Light

This location has no ability. The associated contact's effect (Beacon Lookout) will be doing all the dispatching and returning of Agents to and from the Beacon of Light.

Beacon Lookout (contact): This contact has two effects. You may resolve either but not both:

Dispatch an Agent to the Beacon of Light at no cost,
OR return an Agent from the Beacon of Light to your Trained Agents pool and pay 2 Coin to gain the effect of each Citizen currently in the Street as if a copy of it were in your hand.

Note, if any of the Citizen effects you gain are on cards owned by other players, as always, you must pay those players Coin to use them. If you use multiple Beacon Lookouts to return multiple Agents you can use all the Citizen effects in the Street multiple times, paying opponents for their effects each time.

Please note that you only gain the effect of the Citizen (Battle Strength) not the effects of all contacts on the card with the Citizen.

Remember, Battle Strength is only useful when you hunt threats. So, while you may want to dispatch your Agents on any turn as preparation, you generally will only return them on a turn in which you are hunting threats, otherwise the Battle Strength will be wasted.

If you have multiple copies of Beacon Lookout in your hand, you may choose the same or a different effect per copy.

For example, if you have 2 copies you have several options: you could dispatch an Agent with one and return an Agent and pay 2 Coin with the other; dispatch 2 Agents to setup for a future turn; or - assuming you already have 2 Agents at the Beacon Lookout and 4 Coin - return both Agents and pay 4 Coin to gain a copy of each Citizen in the Street twice.

If you were to draw one Citizen from the Street with another contact effect after you have used the effect of Beacon Lookout, you may still use that Citizen for its effect (and all other contact effects on its card).

There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this contact.

Black Sands (threat): This threat contributes 2 Damage to the total Damage of the card it is sleeved in. This threat has two rewards. When you defeat it, you may choose either, but not both:

Gain 1 [shield icon],
OR claim Allegiance of a Neutral card in your hand or the Street.

If you choose the second reward, remember that the top card of the deck is in the Street. There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this threat.

Mahj Kennels

This location has no ability. You will not be dispatching Agents to the Mahj Kennels. It is possible to dispatch one or more here resolving effects that can "dispatch anywhere", but generally there will not be a benefit to do so.

Huntmaster (contact): This contact has one effect. When you resolve it, you may pay 2 Coin to gain 2 Battle Strength.

Remember, Battle Strength is only useful when you hunt threats. So, if you aren't hunting threats this turn, this effect will not be useful to you. There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this contact.

Desert Hounds (threat): This threat contributes 1 Damage to the total Damage of the card it is sleeved in. This threat has one reward. When you defeat it, you gain 1 [shield icon]. There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this threat.

The Scale

This location has no ability. You will not be dispatching Agents to The Scale. It is possible to dispatch one or more here resolving effects that can "dispatch anywhere", but generally there will not be a benefit to do so.

Dunestar Enforcer (contact): This contact has one effect. When you resolve it, you may use your Battle Strength as if it were Coin for the remainder of the turn. It does not however mean it counts as both Battle Strength and Coin.

For example, if you resolve the effect of Deephollow Militia Chief to return 2 Agents, you can choose to either get the 3 Battle Strength as normal, or get 3 Coin instead.

There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this contact.

Anarchist (threat): This threat has a reactive effect: when it is revealed, all players gain 2 Coin. This threat contributes 1 Damage to the total Damage of the card it is sleeved in. This threat has one reward. When you defeat it, you gain 1 [shield icon]. There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this threat.

Sun Vaults

This location has no ability. The associated contact's effect (Vault Manager) will be doing all the dispatching and returning of Agents to and from the Sun Vaults.

Vault Manager (contact): This contact has two effects. You may resolve either but not both:

Dispatch up to 4 Agents to the Sun Vaults at no cost,
OR return 2 Agents from the Sun Vaults to your Trained Agents pool to gain 5 Coin.

There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this contact.

Night Thief (threat): This threat contributes 2 Damage to the total Damage of the card it is sleeved in. This threat has one reward. When you defeat it, you gain 6 Coin. There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this threat.

Altar of the Soulless God

This location has a reactive ability. This means that the ability can be used when one or more conditions are met.

In the case of the Altar of the Soulless God, the condition is:

When the Altar of the Soulless God is destroyed per the effect of the Avatar of the Soulless God threat.

When the condition is met, set the Altar of the Soulless God to the side along with any remaining associated contacts (Priestess of the Soulless). As per the rules on the Avatar of the Soulless God, a new location will replace this one. For the remainder of the game, any Priestess of the Soulless already on cards may be now used for either but not both of the following effects:

Their own second effect (remove up to 4 Threat cubes from the tower),
OR the effect of the contact associated with the location that replaced Altar of the Soulless God on the Game board.

For example, if the Altar of the Soulless God is replaced by the Mahj Kennels, the Priestess of the Soulless already on cards can either remove up to 4 Threat cubes from the tower, or allow you to pay 2 Coin to gain 2 Battle Strength as if they were a Huntmaster.

Priestess of the Soulless (contact): This contact has two effects. You may resolve either, or both of them:

Dispatch an Agent to the Altar of the Soulless God,
AND/OR remove up to 4 Threat cubes from the tower and set them to the side.

There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this contact.

Avatar of the Soulless God (threat): This threat has a reactive effect: when it is attacking and none of the attacked players successfully defends against it, the Altar of the Soulless God location is destroyed. The player with the most Agents at the Altar of the Soulless God chooses a new location not currently used in the game and replaces the Altar of the Soulless God with it. If there is a tie, choose a location at random. All Agents at the Altar of the Soulless God are placed at the new location (this is not movement or dispatching).

This threat contributes 5 Damage to the total Damage of the card it is sleeved in. This threat has one reward. When you defeat it, you gain 5 [shield icon]. There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this threat.

Gates of Dunestar

This location has a reactive ability. This means that the ability can be used when one or more conditions are met.

In the case of the Gates of Dunestar, the condition is:

Any time a threat attacks you.

When the condition is met, (even if it is not your turn) you may dispatch one or more Agents to the Gates of Dunestar to give that threat -2 Damage for each. If you reduce that threat to 0, you successfully defend against the threat and gain 1 [shield icon].

Gatekeeper (contact): This contact has two effects. You may resolve either, or both of them:

Gain 1 Coin,
AND/OR return an Agent from Gates of Dunestar to your Trained Agents pool.

There are 3 middle and 3 bottom advancements with this contact.

Fallen Druid of the Sands (threat): This threat has a reactive effect: when it is revealed, all players gain 2 [blue gem icon]. This threat contributes 2 Damage to the total Damage of the card it is sleeved in. This threat has one reward. When you defeat it, you gain 2 [shield icon]. There are 3 middle and 3 bottom advancements with this threat.

Debtor's Prison

This location has two distinct abilities:

The first one is a reactive ability. This means that the ability can be used when one or more conditions are met.

In the case of the Debtor's Prison, the condition is:
- When one or more of your Agents are moved to the Debtor's Prison using the associated contact's effect (Tax Collector).
When the condition is met, you may pay the active player 1 Coin or 1 [blue gem icon] for each Agent to move it back to the location it moved from.

For example, if two of your Agents were moved from the Watchtowers by the Tax Collector, you may pay 2 Coin, 2 [blue gem icon], or [blue gem icon] and Coin to return them to the Watchtowers. You could also just choose to have one moved back for the price of [blue gem icon] or Coin, or choose to move none.
The second ability is: on your turn, you may discard a card from your hand (and not use any of its contacts) to return all your Agents from the Debtor's Prison to your Trained Agents pool.

Tax Collector (contact): This contact has one effect. When you resolve it, you move all of your opponents' Agents that are at locations associated with the contacts sleeved on the same card as the Tax Collector you are resolving to the Debtor's Prison.

For example, if the Tax Collector is sleeved in the same card as the University Professor and the Watchtower Lookout, then the Agents of your opponents at Guildmark University or the Watchtowers are moved to the Debtor's Prison.

There are 3 middle and 3 bottom advancements with this contact.

Corrupted Guard (threat): This threat contributes 2 Damage to the total Damage of the card it is sleeved in. This threat has one reward. When you defeat it, you gain 2 [shield icon]. You may also move each of your Agents currently at the Debtor's Prison to any other location. There are 3 middle and 3 bottom advancements with this threat.

Grand Souk

This location has two distinct abilities that can only be used during your Assembly Phase. This is one of the rare abilities that can be used during the Assembly Phase rather than the Action Phase.

If you have multiple Agents at the Grand Souk, you may use either, or both of these abilities multiple times during your Assembly Phase turn (assuming you have enough Agents).

Return 2 Agents from the Grand Souk to your Trained Agents pool to increase your hand size by 1 for the rest of the turn. This means that you can draft one additional card this turn.
Return 2 Agents from the Grand Souk to your Trained Agents pool to sleeve an advancement from one of the Location boards in play on a card with a free slot in the Street.

Since both abilities affect the cards in the Street, you will usually want to resolve them before drafting so you can maximize their use.

Grand Souk Merchant (contact): This contact has one effect. When you resolve it, you may dispatch 2 Agents to the Grand Souk at no cost. There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this contact.

Slayer (threat): This threat contributes 1 Damage to the total Damage of the card it is sleeved in. This threat has one reward. When you defeat it, you gain 1 [shield icon]. There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this threat.

The Great River

This location has two distinct abilities.

If you have multiple Agents at The Great River, you may use either, or both of these abilities multiple times (assuming you have enough Agents).

Return an Agent from The Great River to your Trained Agents pool to place a card in the Street into your Guild Hall. This can be any card. It doesn't need to be yours.
Before drafting during your Assembly Phase, return an Agent from The Great River to your Trained Agents pool to place a card in the Street into your hand, then refill the Street. This is one of the rare abilities that can be used during the Assembly Phase rather than the Action Phase.

Note that since you are adding a card to your hand before drafting, you will draft one less card this Assembly Phase.

Caravan Master (contact): This contact has one effect. When you resolve it, you may dispatch an Agent to The Great River at no cost. There are 3 middle and 3 bottom advancements with this contact.

Riparian Thieves (threat): This threat has a reactive effect: if you fail to defend against it and have 4 or more Coin, you lose 8 Coin instead of moving down on the Defense track. This threat contributes 2 Damage to the total Damage of the card it is sleeved in. This threat has one reward. When you defeat it, you gain 6 Coin. There are 3 middle and 3 bottom advancements with this threat.

Rattlesnake Hideout

This location has an End of Game ability. During the game, it has no ability.

Each player gains 2 [shield icon] for each location other than Rattlesnake Hideout at which they have the most Agents. If there is a tie, all tied players gain 2 [shield icon] instead.

Then the player(s) with the most Agents at the Rattlesnake Hideout gains 4 [shield icon]. If there is a tie, all tied players gain 2 [shield icon] instead.

Note that only Agents count. If you somehow managed to dispatch untrained agents to a location, they do not count. If there are Pit Fighters in the game (or similar effects) those can count as 2 Agents if they are at the appropriate location type when determining majority.

Rattlesnakes (contact): This contact has two effects. You may resolve either, but not both:

Dispatch up to 3 Agents to the Rattlesnake Hideout at no cost,
OR move one of your Agents at the Rattlesnake Hideout to any other location.

There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this contact.

Venom Shaman (threat): This threat has a reactive effect: when it is revealed, the player with the most Agents at the Rattlesnake Hideout may gain 1 [shield icon] (if there is a tie, all tied players gain 0).

This threat contributes 1 Damage to the total Damage of the card it is sleeved in. This threat has one reward. When you defeat it, you gain 1 [shield icon]. There are 4 middle and 4 bottom advancements with this threat.

Dunestar Locations in Voiceless Guild Games

Below is a table referencing all the locations available in Sands of Dunestar and whether or not they can be used in Voiceless Guild games, as well as their Difficulty Rating were you to want to calculate your Success Score (see Voiceless Guild Rules).

Number	Location Name	Voiceless Guild Difficulty	Difficulty Rating
38	Embassy of Dunestar	High	3
39	Sandslayer Encampment	Moderate	2
40	The Pits	Easy	1
41	Beacon of Light	Moderate	2
42	Mahj Kennels	Moderate	2
43	The Scale	Moderate	2
44