The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – The Adventure Game Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Components
• Setup
  • Game Board Setup
  • Character Cards
  • Threat!
  • The High King
  • Character Board Setup
  • Track Limit Tokens and Final Blow Tokens
• Heroes of the Game
  • Orsimer
  • Altmer
  • Khajiit
  • Nord
  • Dunmer
  • Imperial
• Reference Guide
  • Starting the Game
  • Turn Actions
  • Turn Sequence
  • Remember!
• Combat Reference Guide
  • Combat Round Sequence
  • Remember!
• Starting the Game
• Game Turn Structure
  • Game Turn Sequence Summary
  • Draw an Event Card
  • Roaming Monsters
  • Moving on the Game Board
    • Carriages
  • Actions
  • Visiting the Market
  • Trading with Other Players
  • Holds and Strongholds
  • Strongholds and Unrest
  • End of Turn
• Event Cards
  • Game Events that Affect All Players
• Quest Cards
  • Drawing Cards
  • Skill Tests
  • Track Tests
  • Elder Scrolls Dice
  • Dungeon Quests
  • Success and Failure
  • Difficulty Icons
  • How to Read a Skill Test
  • Choices Matter
  • Not Enough Resources!
  • Discarding Treasures
  • Special Quests
  • Experience Cap
• Combat
  • Combat Sequence
  • Turns and Rounds
  • Sneak, Awareness, Ambush
  • Traps
  • Enemy Actions
  • Follower Actions
  • Player Actions
  • Pushing in Combat
  • Types of Player Actions
  • Defensive Actions
  • Special Actions
    • Summoning
    • Healing
    • Resting
    • Bows
  • Offensive Actions
  • Dealing Damage
    • Damage Against Players
    • Track Damage
    • Damage Against Enemies
    • Matching Attack and Armor
  • Final Blow
  • Critical Injuries
  • Fighting Multiple Enemies
  • Switching Equipped Items
  • Ending a Combat
  • Rewards
  • Encounter Cards
  • Potions
  • Escaping Combat
• Exploration
  • Narrative Exploration
  • Dungeon Exploration
  • Completing a Dungeon
• Improving Your Character
  • Levelling Up
  • Legendary Skills
  • Skills
    • Might Skills
    • Shadow Skills
    • Sorcery Skills
  • Upgrading and Enchanting
• Status Cards
  • Character Cards
• Saving the Game
• Playing Solo
• Free Roam Mode
  • Free Roam Competitive Mode
  • Hard Mode
  • Story Mode
• An Explorer's Guide to Skyrim
  • Cooperation
  • Explore the World
  • Balance Your Skillset
• Cards
  • Event Cards
  • Quest Cards (Front)
  • Quest Cards (Back)
  • Dungeon and Encounter Cards
  • Follower Cards
  • Status Cards
  • Item Cards
  • Enhancements
• Glossary of Icons

Goal of the Game

The players take the roles of heroic adventurers in Skyrim, members of the Blades organization. During the game, they will advance through a compelling story of conspiracies, war and intrigue, where their actions and decisions have a lasting impact on the world around them.

To win the game, the players must advance through the Main Quest cards. Failing a Main Quest card doesn't necessarily mean losing the game; it is possible to be unsuccessful, and still end up victorious. However, each chapter has a set of conditions that could mean losing the game. At the end of each chapter, players will face a final test. Each test differs according to the chapter; it could be anything from an epic battle to a desperate race against time. Failing this test would also mean defeat for the players. When a chapter is lost, the players have the option of continuing the game, although their failure will make the next chapter more challenging.

Components

• Health cubes x4
• Stamina cubes x4
• Magicka cubes x4
• Armor cubes x18
• Enemy die x1
• Skill Test dice x8
• Track Limit tokens x12
• Track Limit cubes x12
• Final Blow tokens x4
• Final Blow cubes x4
• Roaming Monster tokens x34
• Player Quest markers x16
• Quest markers x24
• Starting Player token x1
• Horse tokens x4
• Ulfric's Militia token x1
• Quest cards x296
• Dungeon cards x54
• Encounter cards x67
• Follower cards x25
• Character cards x6
• Item cards x196
• Upgrade/Enchantment cards x46
• Status cards x41
• Event cards x68
• Wilderness Encounter cards x20
• Town (City Encounter) cards x19
• Dungeon Challenge cards x6
• Reference cards x4
• Numbered Deck boxes x2
• Board Save box x1
• Chapter Save boxes x4
• Skill tokens x72
• Experience tokens x42
• Threat tokens x100
• Gold tokens x42
• Component tokens x72 (Ore, Plant Component and Soul Gems)
• Player figures x6
• Character boards x4
• Tutorial/Scenario book x1
• Rulebook x1
• Game board x1

The game includes 12 beige and 4 black cubes to use instead of the Track Limit and Final Blow tokens. Some players may prefer to use these as they are easier to move around.

Setup

Game Board Setup

Place the game board on the table, where all players can reach it. On the bottom side of the game board, from left to right, place the Animal, Human, Undead, Daedra and Automaton Wilderness Encounter decks, facedown, leaving space beside each one for their discard pile. The cards in these decks have a number on the top left corner, from 0 to 7. Make sure the cards are sorted numerically, so the bottom card is number 7, and the three top cards are number 0. Once these decks are facedown, take the top three cards from each deck (the 0 cards), shuffle them, and return them to the top of their decks.

Take the two Numbered card decks (one regular size, one small), order them by number and place them in the Numbered Deck box. Check the Scenario Book to find out how to build the Event deck depending on which Chapter of the game you're playing, and place the resulting Event deck on its slot on the game board.

Shuffle the Upgrades and Enchantments, Wilderness Encounter, City Encounter, Basic Treasure, Advanced Treasure, Town, Basic Treasure, Advanced Treasure, Might Market, Shadow Market and Sorcery Market decks, and place them along the top side of the board. Place the Equipment deck next to these decks.

Place all the Experience, Gold, Components (Ore, Plant Component and Soul Gems), Armor, Monsters and Threat tokens together, where all the players can reach them. Place the Starting Player token close to the board.

Finally, give each player a Character Board.

Character Cards

These cards determine the race of the character. Each race has 3 different special abilities. The first ability is always active. These abilities only work in combat, and require the player to sacrifice one health point to be activated. The next 2 require the character to learn a skill. For example: the Orsimer gains an additional armor, but only after learning the Heavy Armor skill. All Character cards include the action Rest. During combat, any player character can use the Rest action to regenerate their Stamina and Health by 2 points. It's a good idea to take some time to read the cards and get familiar with them.

Threat!

During the game, many cards will refer to Threat. Whenever that icon appears, players must place a Threat token on any card that accepts them.

The High King

Skyrim is ruled by nine Jarls, one for each hold. Reigning over all of them is the High King, the most powerful person in the province. The death of a High King is a momentous event that is bound to bring chaos and disarray to the region.

Character Board Setup

Each player takes a Character card and the Player Figure which corresponds to the card. This can be done randomly, by shuffling the Character deck and drawing one card each, or by allowing the players to choose their character and therefore their playing style.

Place the Health token on the first slot of the Health track. Place the remaining Health, Stamina and Magicka tokens on the sixth slot of the Health, Stamina and Magicka tracks respectively, with the arrow on the tokens pointing right. Place the Health, Stamina and Magicka cubes on the fifth slot of their respective tracks.

Each player takes a Fists, a Ragged Robes and a Potion of Minor Healing card. If any of the players has chosen to play the Khajiit character, they take the Claws card instead of the Fists card. Both Fists and Claws count as two-handed weapons. If a player doesn't have a weapon at any point of the game, they will default to using Fists (or Claws in the case of a Khajiit.) Similarly, if a player loses their armor, they will default to Ragged Robes.

Place the Ragged Robes and Potion of Minor Healing cards on the Armor and the Trinket slots of the Character Board, respectively. Place the Fists (or Claws) card between the two Hand slots of the Character Board. This means that the equipped weapon uses both hands, making it impossible to use it in combination with any other weapon, spell or shield.

Each player takes 2 Plant Component tokens, 1 Health cube, 1 Stamina cube, 1 Magicka cube, 1 Final Blow token, 1 Health Track Limit token, 1 Stamina Track Limit token, and 1 Magicka Track Limit token.

The Character Board includes 4 Backpack slots; each slot can hold one item. If at any point during the game a player gains an additional item that they cannot equip nor place in their Backpack, they can either discard the new item, or discard any other item to make room for the new one. Spell Item cards do not take Backpack space. You can store them in the Backpack area, but they do not count towards the limit of 4 items there.

There are two Status Slots on the bottom right corner of the Character Board. It's advisable to place the Status cards that are most used there, although there is no limit to the number of Status cards a player can have at the same time.

The Trinkets and Potions slot on the top right corner of the Character Board can hold up to four items at the same time (any combination of Trinkets and Potions).

Track Limit Tokens and Final Blow Tokens

When placed on the right side of a track, these tokens help the players see the maximum Health, Stamina and Magicka their characters can have. It's not possible to place a Health, Stamina or Magicka cube on top of the Track Limit or Final Blow tokens. If the Track Limit token is on the sixth slot of the Health track, that means that the character can place their Health cube up to the fifth slot, so their maximum Health would be 5. It is possible to place the Final Blow token on top of the Track Limit token. Read the combat section for more information regarding the Final Blow token.

Heroes of the Game

Orsimer

Also known as Orcs, the proud inhabitants of Orsinium are known to be strong and resistant. Their craftsmanship is second to none and their martial skills instill fear in their enemies' hearts.

• Berserk (innate): In Combat, lose 1 Health to succeed with any Offensive action using a Heavy Attack or Light Attack weapon without rolling a Skill Test.
• After Learning Heavy Armor: If a Shield is equipped, gain 1 armor.
• After Learning Smithing: Draw 2 additional cards when Upgrading.
• Rest: 2 Stamina.

Altmer

Commonly called High Elves, most fight under the flag of the Aldmeri Dominion. However, some of these residents of the Summerset Isle rebel against the politics of their people, joining the Imperial Legion or even selling their services as mercenaries. They are among the best magic users in Tamriel.

• Highborn (innate): In Combat, lose 1 Health to regenerate all your Magicka.
• After Learning Illusion: When casting Illusion spells in combat, reroll the enemy die this Combat Round.
• After Learning Enchanting: Draw 2 additional cards when Enchanting.
• Rest: 2 Stamina.

Khajiit

Often portrayed as thieves and criminals, the feline natives of Elsweyr thrive as travelling merchants and diplomats. Their stealth, speed and nimbleness makes them as deadly on the battlefield as they are in the court.

• Night Vision (innate): In Combat, lose 1 Health to gain Sneak (1). Start with Claws, not Fists.
• After Learning Sneak: Gain Sneak (1) (additional).
• After Learning Pickpocketing: Gain 2 Gold in every City Encounter, Wilderness Encounter and Town Encounter.
• Rest: 2 Stamina.

Nord

Proud and fierce, the "children of Skyrim" have a rich culture, full of legends and traditions. They excel as craftsmen, fighters and raconteurs. They are divided between those who want independence and those who embrace the Empire. Their fiery disposition threatens to plunge the land into a civil war.

• Battle Cry (innate): In Combat, lose 1 Health to use an Offensive action without being attacked.
• After Learning Two Handed: Add 1 damage to Two Handed attacks.
• After Learning Smithing: Upgrades cost 1 fewer.
• Rest: 2 Stamina.

Dunmer

Originaries of Morrowind, Dunmer — also known as Dark Elves — have often had a tough time in Skyrim and for that reason tend to live in communities and mistrust strangers. Their mastery of spell and martial skills make them fearsome fighters and powerful allies.

• Flame Cloak (innate): In Combat, lose 1 Health to deal 2 damage to all enemies and Player Characters.
• After Learning Light Armor: If a Shield is equipped, gain 1 armor.
• After Learning Destruction: Add 1 damage to Destruction spells.
• Rest: 2 Stamina.

Imperial

Hailing from Cyrodiil, seat of the Empire, the Imperials are renowned for their healing magic and their defensive, tactical approach to war. They are keen merchants and shrewd diplomats, which often puts them at odds with everyone else in Tamriel.

• Imperial Luck (innate): When drawing a Basic Treasure, Advanced Treasure or Dragon Treasure, draw 2 cards and pick one; lose 1 Health to do so.
• After Learning Block: If a Shield is equipped, gain 1 armor.
• After Learning Restoration: Heal +1.
• Rest: 2 Stamina.

Reference Guide

Keep this page open while playing; it will help you remember everything you can do in game.

Starting the Game

1. Each player takes a Character card.
2. Draw cards 209 (Chapter 1 rules), and 160 to 163. Give one of these to each player and remove any remaining cards.
3. Shuffle cards 217 to 226. This is the Blades deck and represents the fellow members of your organization. The deck will come in play in Campaign 2, so try to save as many of them as you can!
4. Select one player to become the Starting Player. That player takes the Starting Player token.
5. Check the Campaign 1 and the Campaign 1, Chapter 1 setup in the Scenario Book, page 4.

Turn Actions

Each player can take 1 of the following actions:

• Explore Dungeon: Check the Dungeon Challenge card for your Chapter, and fight the enemies!
• Explore Wilderness: In a Wilderness Encounter space, draw and resolve a Wilderness Encounter card. If the card has a line with the prompt "Remove card = " followed by a number, you may remove the Wilderness Encounter card from the game to gain a Personal Quest or Follower.
• Explore Town: In a Stronghold, draw and resolve a City Encounter card. If the card has a line with the prompt "Remove card = " followed by a number, you may remove the City Encounter card from the game to gain a Personal Quest or Follower.
• Resolve Quest: If you are at the location specified by the Quest, you can keep on reading and resolve the Quest. Once you've completed or failed the objective, flip the card and check the Success or the Failure section. If the card is not discarded as a result, keep reading. Many cards will allow you to make a choice. Choose carefully!

Turn Sequence

1. The Starting Player draws and resolves an Event card. Add 1 Threat token to any card that has the Threat symbol or to the Stronghold Chart for each Threat symbol in the Event card.
2. Move any Roaming Monsters that the Chapter rules tell you to move.
3. (A) Each player moves up to 4 spaces through the roads in the map. All players move at the same time. A player with a Horse token gains +1 Movement. When moving, follow the roads. (B) Carriages: If you start your turn in any Stronghold, instead of moving normally, you may move to any other Stronghold paying 1 Gold for each Hold you cross. No need to follow roads; take any path you want. Using a Carriage counts as all your Movement for a Game Turn. Ignore roads! Take the fastest way!
4. (A) Each player takes 1 Turn Action. (B) If you are in a Stronghold, you can visit the Market to buy, sell, craft, Upgrade or Enchant items, or buy Ore, Plant Component or Soul Gems. This doesn't count as a Turn Action. It's a good idea to do any of these things while other players take their Turn Actions.
5. Restore all players' Health and pass the Starting Player token to the next player.
6. Start a new Game Turn.

Remember!

Drawing cards: If a card tells you to draw another card that is not in the Numbered deck, draw just the next card. For example, if you have to draw card 340, and that card is not there, draw 341. If 341 is not there, draw 342, and so on.

Personal Quests: Personal Quests will give you great rewards, and will accept Threat tokens. Each player can only have 2 Personal Quests active at any time.

Skill Tests: During the game, you'll be asked to roll Skill Tests. To do so, just roll 3 Skill Test dice, plus 1 additional die if you have the specified Skill (2 additional dice for Legendary Skills.) You don't need to know the Skill to roll; but having the Skill will give you a bonus. If you fail the roll, you can Push any number of times by paying the resource shown on the Skill Test.

Combat Reference Guide

Combat Round Sequence

1. Players use Potions and switch equipped items (pay 1 Stamina to switch equipment.) Then players select which player will act during this Combat Round. The selected player turns their Character card sideways. Players with sideways Character cards cannot be chosen at this step.
2. Roll the Enemy die. Don't resolve the roll yet!
3. Roll the Enemy die for your Follower (if you have one), and resolve immediately.
4. Decide which action you will take: Offensive Action, Defensive Action, or Special Action.
   • Offensive Action — 5A: Resolve the enemy action. 6A: Pay the action cost, in Stamina or Health. 7A: Roll your Skill Test. If unsuccessful, you can Push spending 1 Stamina (1 Magicka for Spells) to gain 1 die. You can Push several times, depending on your level. 8A: If the roll was successful, apply the action damage to the enemy. Otherwise, nothing happens.
   • Defensive Action — 5B: Pay the action cost, in Stamina or Health. 6B: Roll your Skill Test. If unsuccessful, you can Push spending 1 Stamina (1 Magicka for Spells) to gain 1 die. You can Push several times, depending on your level. 7B: If the roll was successful, cancel the enemy damage against you (it will still affect other players). Otherwise, resolve the enemy action.
   • Special Action — 5C: Pay the action cost, in Stamina or Health. 6C: Roll your Skill Test. If unsuccessful, you can Push spending 1 Stamina (1 Magicka for Spells) to gain 1 die. You can Push several times, depending on your level. 7C: If the roll was successful, apply the Special action effect. 8C: Resolve the enemy action.
5. A new Combat Round begins. If all players' Character cards are turned sideways, turn them back to their original rotation.

Remember!

Combat Skill Tests: Most Combat actions are Skill Tests; you can either succeed or fail, but you cannot accumulate successes. If a Combat action has a difficulty of 3 to deal 2 Light Attack damage, rolling 5 successes will only deal 2 Light Attack damage, not 6.

Starting the Game

The first time you play The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Adventure Game, it's recommended that you start off with the Tutorial. This can be found in the Scenario booklet. The game includes two campaigns:

• Campaign 1: The Blades — This Campaign takes place 25 years before the events of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. A group of Blades escape the Great War in Cyrodiil, hoping to find a safe haven in Skyrim. Unfortunately, the horrors of war follow them there, and they have to face perilous dangers to save their friends.
• Campaign 2: Civil War — The Campaign starts before the death of the High King of Skyrim. The Blades from the last campaign are older now, and have managed to find a comfortable life in the province, hiding their identity and their allegiance. A dark conspiracy forces them out of retirement to save Skyrim from destruction.

Once you've played the Tutorial, we recommend you start with Campaign 1: The Blades. Whenever you start a Campaign, read the Setup of the chosen campaign, and adjust the game board and the Character Boards accordingly.

Each player selects a color, and picks the corresponding Quest Markers. The players decide who will be the Starting Player. This can be done by agreement, or randomly. If the latter is chosen, all players roll 5 dice. Whoever rolls the most Skill successes is the Starting Player. Follow the setup rules for the chosen Campaign from the Scenario Book, read the rules, and you'll be ready to play.

Game Turn Structure

Game Turn Sequence Summary

• The Starting Player draws and resolves an Event card.
• All Players Move: Resolve in any order. Players can move simultaneously.
• Each Player takes an Action: The Starting Player goes first, then play goes in a clockwise order.
• Visit the Market: Players in Strongholds can visit the Market. This can be done before or after taking an Action, but not before Moving.
• Level Up: Any player with enough Experience to level up must do so.
• Pass the Starting Player token: The player to the left of the Starting Player takes the Starting Player token.
• Turn Ends.

Draw an Event Card

At the beginning of the turn, before anything else happens, the Starting Player draws an Event card. This card will trigger a situation that affects all players.

Once resolved, Events are placed on the Event discard pile. If the Event deck runs out during the game, shuffle the cards in the Event discard pile and use them as the new Event deck.

Check the Event Cards section on this rulebook, page 23, for more detailed information.

Roaming Monsters

Wild creatures and hostile forces abound in the wilds of Skyrim. During the game, several different game events will force the players to place Roaming Monster tokens on the game board. Any player trying to move through a Roaming Monster token has to end their movement in that space, and fight the monster as their action for the turn (see Actions, below, for more information.) If the Roaming Monster moves to the same space as a Player Figure, the player can't move, and has to fight the monster during their turn.

When facing a Roaming Monster, the player will check the Encounter number on the Roaming Monster token, and draw that card from the Numbered deck. For example, the Roaming Monster token for the Dragon has the number 339 printed on it. When facing this token, the players will look for card 339 in the Numbered deck. Some Roaming Monster tokens (like Vampires, Daedra or Trolls, for example) have two different Encounters, one on each side of the token. These numbers represent two different types of Encounter, one of them often being harder than the other. Whenever one of these Roaming Monster tokens is placed on the board, the Starting Player will flick the token in the air, as if it were a coin, to determine which of the two sides will be the one on the board. If using Roaming Monster figures instead of tokens, keep the tokens at hand. When facing a Roaming Monster, check the Encounter number on the token. If it has a number on each side, the Starting Player will flick the token in the air right before resolving the Encounter to find out the specific Encounter number.

After resolving the encounter with the Roaming Monster (via Combat – by defeating them or by escaping – or in any other way, depending on the situation), the player can move to any adjacent space, as long as there are no Roaming Monster tokens there. The player will then return the card to its place in the numbered deck.

Roaming Monsters generally appear and move as a result of an Event card or a Quest card, and can severely hinder the players' progress. Depending on the situation, these enemies will move, either chasing the players or trying to destroy Strongholds. There are two types of Roaming Monster movement:

• Move towards the closest Stronghold: Move the Roaming Monster token towards the closest Stronghold on the game board. If there are two or more Strongholds at the same distance, the Starting Player decides what the enemy's target is. Roaming Monsters do not consider Strongholds that are Rioting (check State of Unrest for more information) as an objective so, if the closest Stronghold is Rioting, the Roaming Monster will move towards the next closest Stronghold.
• Move towards a player: This can be either the Starting Player or the closest player. In the first instance, move the appropriate Roaming Monster tokens towards the player holding the Starting Player token. If the Starting Player's Figure is not on the board, Roaming Monsters won't move. In the second case, move the Roaming Monster token toward their closest Player Figure. In case of tie, the Starting Player decides where the Roaming Monster will move.

In either case, unless specified differently, Roaming Monsters move 1 space on the board.

Moving on the Game Board

After drawing an Event card, it's time for the players to move their Player Figures around the board. This action is done simultaneously. All players can move at the same time, or go in any order they choose. Players should talk about what they're planning on doing at this point, so alliances can be forged, and fruitful cooperation can be achieved.

Each player can move their Player Figure up to 4 spaces, following the roads on the game board. Some game effects could increase or decrease that number. For example, owning a Horse increases the player movement by 1 space.

Carriages

Instead of moving, players in a Stronghold can choose to take a carriage to another Stronghold. To do this, consider each Hold a space on the board, and pay 1 Gold for each space (Hold) you move. For example, moving from Whiterun to Dawnstar would cost 1 Gold since Whiterun and The Pale are adjacent. Moving from Solitude to Riften would cost 3 Gold since the player would move through Hjaalmarch, Whiterun and The Rift.

Actions

Once all players have moved, each player takes their turn in order, beginning with the Starting Player and continuing clockwise around the table. Each player can take one action and, if they are in a Stronghold, visit the Market. The actions a player can take are the following:

• Explore the area: If the player is in a Stronghold or in a Wilderness Encounter space, they draw either a City Encounter or a Wilderness Encounter card, respectively.
• Complete a Quest: If the player is in the location specified by the Quest card, they can attempt to start and/or complete it as an action.
• Explore a Dungeon: If the player is in a Cave, Mine, Tomb, Ruins or Dwemer City space, they can enter the dungeon, fight any enemies there, and try to find some treasure.
• Encounter a Roaming Monster: If the player movement ends in a space occupied by a Roaming Monster, the player's action has to be used to fight the monster.

Visiting the Market

Players in Strongholds can also visit the Market to buy and sell items, acquire Components, and Upgrade or Enchant their items. This doesn't constitute an action, and can be done in addition to completing a Quest or Exploring the Area. A player can take any of the following actions in the Market:

• Sell Items: Items are sold for the price shown on the card. Cards that don't have a price cannot be sold. Any number of items can be sold during a turn. Sold items are shuffled back into their corresponding decks.
• Buy Items: When a player decides to visit the Market, they first need to check which items are sold in that Stronghold. The Stronghold Chart in the top right corner of the game board shows which decks can be accessed from that Stronghold. The player chooses one deck, pays 1 Gold, and draws 1 card. If the player has the Speech Skill, they may draw an additional card. If the player wants to browse the Market further, they can pay an additional Gold to draw another card. There is no limit to the number of cards a player can draw, but they must draw all cards from the same deck. For example, a player in Solitude could pay 1 Gold to draw 1 card from the Might Market deck, the Shadow Market deck or the Sorcery Market deck. The player can then choose to pay an additional Gold to draw another card from the same deck. They could do this as many times as they want providing they have enough Gold to do so. Once all the cards are drawn, the player can buy as many items as they want, paying the price shown on each card.
• Buy Components: Players can also buy Gold, Plant Component or Soul Gems at the Market. Each Component costs 5 Gold unless the Stronghold specifies a different price.
• Craft: All cards in the Equipment Deck can be crafted at the Market. The price for doing this is always 2 Ore, 2 Plant Component or 2 Soul Gems, depending on the item.
• Upgrade and Enchant Items: Some item cards can be upgraded or enchanted. Read the Upgrading and Enchanting section for more information about this.
• Buy a Horse: Any player in a Stronghold can pay 10 Gold to take a Horse token. The player may place the Horse token next to their character card. Any player with a Horse token gains 1 movement each turn. Each player can only have 1 Horse at any given time.

Accessing the Market can be done at any point after moving. For example, in their turn, a player in Windhelm could move, Explore the Area, and then access the Market, or move, access the Market, then Explore the Area.

Trading with Other Players

Any players sharing the same space can, at any point in the game, trade any items, Gold and Components freely. Status cards, experience and Followers cannot be traded. Players cannot trade in the middle of an Encounter, but can trade between Encounters in a series of Encounters. For example, if two players are exploring a Dungeon together, one can give items to the other between Encounters within the same Dungeon, but not during a combat.

Holds and Strongholds

The Skyrim province is divided into 9 regions, called Holds. Each one offers an array of sites for adventurers to explore. Each also has a Stronghold; the largest settlement in the region. Each Hold has its own laws and is governed by their own Jarl. These are the special characteristics of each Stronghold:

• Dawnstar: Can buy items from the Might Market or Sorcery Market decks. Ore costs 3 Gold. Plant Component and Soul Gems cost 6 Gold.
• Solitude: Can buy items from the Might Market, Shadow Market or Sorcery Market decks. Ore, Plant Component and Soul Gems cost 5 Gold. When selling items, gain 1 additional Gold.
• Falkreath: Can buy items from the Shadow Market deck. Ore costs 4 Gold. Plant Component and Soul Gems cost 6 Gold.
• Winterhold: Can buy items from the Sorcery Market deck. Ore costs 7 Gold. Plant Component and Soul Gems cost 4 Gold.
• Markarth: Can buy items from the Might Market deck. Ore costs 4 Gold. Plant Component and Soul Gems cost 5 Gold.
• Whiterun: Can buy items from the Might Market or Shadow Market decks. Ore, Plant Component and Soul Gems cost 4 Gold.
• Morthal: Can buy items from the Shadow Market deck. Ore costs 4 Gold. Plant Component costs 5 Gold. Soul Gems cannot be purchased here.
• Windhelm: Can buy items from the Might Market or Shadow Market decks. Ore, Plant Component and Soul Gems cost 5 Gold. When selling items, gain 1 additional Gold.
• Riften: Can buy items from the Shadow Market or Sorcery Market decks. Ore, Plant Component and Soul Gems cost 5 Gold. When selling items, gain 1 additional Gold.

Strongholds and Unrest

Strongholds in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Adventure Game are not all the same, and don't remain the same during the game. Each Stronghold has a different Market and sometimes different prices for Ore, Plant Component and Soul Gems. This is all listed in the Stronghold Chart, at the top right corner of the game board.

As the game progresses, some of them may suffer the ravages of war, be attacked by Roaming Monsters, or close their doors. In those cases, the Stronghold is Degraded. To represent this, players place Threat tokens on the Stronghold Chart. When a Stronghold is Degraded once (when it has 1 Threat token on the Stronghold Chart), it is in a state of Unrest. Players cannot access the Market in this Stronghold. When a Stronghold is Degraded a second time (when a second Threat token is added to the Stronghold), it becomes Closed. The Jarl has closed the doors to the town, and visitors have to pay a fee to access it. Players have to pay 5 Gold to enter the Stronghold.

When a Stronghold is Degraded a third time (when a third Threat token is added to the Stronghold), the Stronghold is Rioting. These effects are cumulative. The conflict in the city spreads across the province, wreaking havoc across the land. Each turn, after drawing an Event card, a new Threat token is added to another Stronghold or to any card that can accept it, as long as the Stronghold is Rioting. This can happen multiple times if multiple Strongholds are Rioting. Players should keep an eye on Strongholds, making sure they don't start Rioting. Otherwise, they could find themselves in a very tough situation very quickly.

Players can Restore Strongholds by moving to the Stronghold and paying 5 Gold to remove 1 Threat token from the Stronghold Chart. A player can only Restore a Stronghold one level per turn.

End of Turn

Once all players have taken their turn, any player who has enough Experience to level up must do so. Read the Levelling Up section for more information about this. At the end of the turn, the Starting Player token is passed to the player to the left of the Starting Player, and a new game turn begins.

Event Cards

At the beginning of each Game Turn, the Starting Player draws and resolves an Event card. There are three types of Event card:

• Instant Event: Something happens in the world that affects all players. This can be positive or negative. Once resolved, the Event card is placed on the Event discard pile.
• Active Event: There's an ongoing situation that has a global effect. The effects of these Events are persistent, and only stop when a new Active Event is drawn. At this point, the Active Event is placed on the Event discard pile.
• World Quests: There are Quests that can be resolved by any player. They generally take place at a specific location. If they are resolved in time, they can bring boons to the players. If they are ignored or failed, they can cause negative consequences that affect the whole world. When a World Quest is drawn, the card is placed in one of the four World Quest slots at the bottom of the game board. If all the slots are occupied by other World Quests, the players must decide which one to fail to accommodate the new one. When a World Quest is either failed or resolved, the World Quest card is placed in the Event discard pile, unless the card features the "remove from the game" icon, in which case it's removed from the game.

Some Event cards include additional icons. The most common one is the Threat icon. This means that the players will take a Threat token and place it in any card that accepts them or in any Stronghold in the Stronghold Chart on the top right corner of the board. Any card with the Threat symbol and a number can accept Threat tokens. The moment a card reaches its Threat token limit, a negative consequence happens.

Most Event cards include 2 Threat icons, meaning players will have to place 2 tokens. These tokens can be placed in different places. One could go to a Quest card, while the other could be placed on the Stronghold Chart on the game board. The Starting Player chooses where to place them. Threat icons represent potentially dangerous situations for the players, and can easily make the players lose the game, if left unattended.

Game Events that Affect All Players

Some game events (Event cards, Status cards or even Quest cards) have effects that affect all players. This is indicated by the "all players" icon. If this icon appears in a Combat situation or a World Quest where not all the players are involved, the effect will only affect the players taking part in the Combat or the Quest.

Quest Cards

The stories in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Adventure Game are organized in Quest cards. These are short snippets of larger stories. Generally, a player must resolve a series of cards to complete a story, although some stories are resolved in a single card.

There are three types of Quest cards:

• Main Quest: These follow the personal stories of the characters, and the vast conspiracies that they need to stop across Skyrim. In order to win the game, the players must advance through the Main Quest cards. Failing to pay attention to the Main Quest could easily lead to the players losing the game. Some Main Quests, particularly at the beginning and end of each chapter, are global. This means that the same Main Quest card applies to all players and they have to resolve the story together as a group. A player with a Main Quest card cannot draw a new Main Quest card until they discard their current card.
• Personal Quest: There are plenty of characters in Skyrim that will demand the characters' attention, asking them for assistance, or ensnaring them in their devilish plots. Personal Quests represent opportunities for the players to get involved with the world around them, while gaining treasure, Experience, and unique bonuses. A player cannot have more than 2 Personal Quest cards at the same time. If a City Encounter or a Wilderness Encounter card gives a player the option of drawing an additional Personal Quest card, they won't be able to take the extra card if they already have 2 Personal Quest cards. Personal Quests are very useful, as they accept Threat tokens, giving the players a buffer that could easily help them not lose the game after any particularly aggressive event. All Personal Quests are marked with a dot beside the number, so they are easier to differentiate from Main Quests.
• World Quests: There are situations that demand the attention of all the players, or of any of them. They are similar to Personal Quests, but they can be resolved by any player, and their effects are noticeable across the whole province. Only 4 World Quest cards can be active on the board at any given moment. If an additional World Quest card is drawn, players will have to choose to fail one of the Active World Quest cards to make room for the new one.

When Main Quest and Personal Quest cards are completed, the players can keep them on the side, so they can keep a chronicle of their character's story. Quest cards kept that way do not count towards the maximum number of Main Quest or Personal Quest cards a player can hold at any given moment.

Drawing Cards

During the game, players may be prompted to draw cards that have already been discarded or drawn by another player from the Numbered Deck. In those cases, the player will draw the next card. For example, if a player is instructed to draw card 105, and that card has already been discarded or drawn by another player, the player would draw 106. If 106 was discarded or drawn by another player as well, the player would draw 107, and so on.

The front of the Quest cards includes the story that the player character is following. Within that story, there will be a location icon (Quest Marker). The player places one of their colored tokens on the map to use as a guide to this location. For World Quests, use a grey Quest Marker. If the location icon indicates more than one possible location (for example: a location in Eastmarch), the player chooses one of them and places their token there. Whenever a location icon is shown on a Quest card, the player should not read out loud past that point until they reach the indicated location. It is okay, however, to peek further into the card to find out what the Objective of the Quest will be, and thus prepare for it accordingly. In the case of Main Quest cards, at that point of the card, the players will find an icon representing Skills of all three colors, with a number. This number is the recommended number of Skills the player should have to attempt this Quest. A higher number indicates a more difficult Quest.

Most Quest cards also have a Threat counter, representing the number of Threat tokens the card can accept before being failed. Note that the Threat counter only appears on the front of the card; Quest cards that are flipped (completed) do not accept Threat tokens.

At the bottom of the Quest card, players will find a challenge, called the Objective. There are 3 types of challenge: Encounters, Skill Tests and Countdowns.

• Encounters: This kind of Objective involves defeating an enemy or a group of enemies to continue, and is indicated by the word "Clear". For this type of Objective, the players can recruit the assistance of other players, as if they were Exploring a Dungeon together.
• Skill Test: To overcome this kind of Objective the player will have to roll the Skill Test dice, potentially spending precious resources to succeed.
• Countdown: These are Quests that force the players to race across the world towards an Objective. From the moment the player reaches the location indicated by the Quest Marker, a new Threat token will be added to the card at the beginning of each game turn. If the player doesn't hurry up, the Quest will be failed.

Skill Tests

During the game, the characters' skills will be put to the test. They will have to perform a wide array of actions to succeed in their endeavors. When a player is asked to perform a Skill Test, they roll 3 dice plus an additional die if the character has learned the required Skill, and try to beat the result shown on the Skill Test.

The difficulty is shown as a number of icons of the same type. If the player rolls at least that number of icons, the test is successful. If the roll is not successful, most Skill Tests allow the player to Push, spending resources to buy more dice to roll. A player can Push one die at a time, until they are satisfied with the result or run out of resources to spend.

Track Tests

When a Skill Test instructs the player to roll Health, Stamina or Magicka instead of a Skill, instead of rolling 3 dice, the player rolls as many dice as their maximum Health, Stamina or Magicka.

Elder Scrolls Dice

The Skill Test dice (white) are rolled by the players when performing Skill Tests. The sides of the dice show 3 symbols in different amounts, representing increasing difficulties: Circle, Triangle and Diamond. The Enemy die (red) is used to decide the actions of Enemies and Followers. Each face on the Enemy die corresponds with actions they can take in Combat. The Enemy die is only rolled once each time.

Dungeon Quests

Some Quests will prompt the players to draw and face Dungeon cards. The Quest won't be completed successfully until all the enemies in the Combat are defeated; escaping the Combat (even if the player has defeated the required number of enemies) means the Quest is failed.

Success and Failure

When the Objective of a Quest is completed, or the number of Threat tokens on the card is equal to the limit of the card, the player will flip the card and either read the Success (Objective successfully completed) or Failure (Objective failed or Threat limit reached) section. Some cards don't have a Threat counter; these cards cannot accept any Threat and thus cannot be failed by accumulating Threat tokens.

Once a Quest card is flipped, it won't accept any more Threat tokens, unless it's a specific Main Quest card with a Threat counter.

When a Quest is failed, the player reads the Failure section of the card. This can be found on the back of the card (except in the case of War Quests and World Quests, where the failure is also on the front.) The Failure section can prompt the player to lose treasures, material possessions or even remove cards that could have been useful from the Numbered Deck.

Most Personal Quests include the "remove from the game" icon on the Failure section. This means that the Quest is discarded, and the story won't advance any further (the Personal Quest card is removed from the game.) When a Main Quest is failed, however, the story continues, even though it may become more challenging for the players. Beside the Failure section of the card, there's the Success section. These provide advantages, bonuses and material possessions.

When a Quest card is finished (after finishing reading all the text in the back, regardless whether the card instructs the player to draw a new card or gives no further instructions), the player keeps it to the side, so they can refer to it if they want to track their progress in the story. This card doesn't count towards the Main Quest or Personal Quest limit. Any Threat tokens on the card are discarded.

Difficulty Icons

Difficulty icons correspond to the symbols on the Skill Test dice. There are three different icons: Circle, Triangle and Diamond. Circle is the easiest symbol to roll; half of the faces in the Skill Test die are Circle. Triangle is slightly harder; one third of the faces in the Skill Test die are Triangle. Diamond is the hardest symbol to roll; only one of the faces in the Skill Test die is a Diamond.

How to Read a Skill Test

A Skill Test is divided into three sections:

• Skill Test type: This shows the players the type of Skill Test this is. If a Skill token is shown, that means that this is a regular Skill Test. The player will gain 1 Skill Test die to the roll if they know the Skill. If a Health, Stamina or Stronghold icon is shown, that means that the player will be rolling a Track Test.
• Difficulty: The number of icons of the same type is the number required for the test to be successful.
• Push: Which resource can be used to roll additional dice.

Choices Matter

Once the Quest has been succeeded or failed, it may continue. At the bottom of the back of the card, the player is often given two options. These will determine how the story progresses. Once a choice is made, a new card is drawn.

Not Enough Resources!

Some Quests and game events will prompt the players to lose some of their Gold, Plant Component or Soul Gems. If the player doesn't have enough Gold, Plant Component or Soul Gems to cover the cost, they lose as much as they can, without any added penalty. However, if a card asks a player to Turn In any type of resource, the player needs to have that number of resources in order to continue the Quest.

Discarding Treasures

Some game effects may ask players to discard some of their Treasures. This will be often represented with the "Any Treasure" icon. When that icon appears, the player may discard any item that has the back of a Basic Treasure, Advanced Treasure, Dragon Treasure, Might Market, Shadow Market or Sorcery Market card. If the player doesn't have any Item card with any of these backs, they will not have to discard anything. Exceptionally, some cards may ask a player to discard an Item card with a specific back. If the player doesn't have any Item card with that back, they won't have to discard anything.

Special Quests

Some of the Main Quest cards can potentially affect all players. At the end of some chapters, players are instructed to draw a single Main Quest card for all players. When this happens, place the Main Quest card on the side of the board, where all the players can see it.

Experience Cap

During the game, players will earn Experience as a result of their actions. That Experience is used to level up, as well as for some specific Skill Tests. A player can never have more Experience tokens than the number they need to level up. As such, at the beginning of the game, a player cannot have more than 7 Experience tokens. If a player already has 7 Experience tokens, any Experience tokens they gain will be lost. Read more about levelling up in the Improving Your Character section.

Combat

Battle is at the heart of the Elder Scrolls world. No matter whether you are an archer, a barbarian or a wizard, chances are you'll end up having to fight your way out of sticky situations more often than not. In Combat, players take turns to defeat their enemies.

Combat Sequence

All battles start with the Ambush and Sneak phase as the characters try to sneak up on the enemies. Once the Ambush and Sneak phase is resolved, players take turns to fight their enemies. These are the steps in a regular Combat Round:

1. Players take potions and switch equipped items.
2. Players decide who'll act on this Combat Round.
3. That player rolls to determine the enemy's actions, but doesn't resolve them yet.
4. That player rolls to determine and resolve their Follower's actions.
5. The player declares their action.
6. The player's Defensive and Special actions are rolled and resolved.
7. The enemy action is resolved.
8. Player's Offensive actions are rolled and resolved.

At the beginning of each Combat Round, after consuming potions and switching equipped items, the players decide who will act. There is no need to follow any order; this is a strategic decision that can make or break the Combat. Once a player has taken a Combat round, they turn their Character card sideways. This means that they cannot take another Combat Round until all players involved in the Combat have acted.

When the last player has acted, all players turn their Character cards back to their original position, starting a new series of Combat Rounds. If there's any disagreement about who should act next, the player holding the Starting Player token decides for the whole group, even if that player is not involved in that Combat situation. Character cards are not turned back to their original position at the end of a Combat; they are only turned back at the end of the game turn or when all players in the combat have their Character cards turned sideways.

Turns and Rounds

• Game Turn: The whole sequence of actions that includes drawing an Event card, moving through the game board and taking a turn action. Affects all players.
• Combat Round: The individual sequence during Combat that includes the enemy attacking and the player taking an Offensive, Defensive or Special action.
• Characters' Innate Abilities (shown on their Character card) can only be used once per Game Turn, not once per Combat Round.

Sneak, Awareness, Ambush

Some characters have the tendency to sneak upon the enemies. This can be a very powerful strategy, capable of ending many combats before they even start.

Sneaking works like any regular Skill Test, with the Difficulty indicated in the Encounter card (after the Sneak icon.) The player rolls three Skill Test dice, plus one additional die for every Sneak they have in their equipped items or Skills (Sneak or Light Armor.) A player cannot spend Stamina to Push when attempting to Sneak in Combat. If the Skill Test is passed, the player selects one attack from any of their available Combat actions, pays the cost in Stamina, and applies the damage directly, without rolling an additional Skill Test. To all effects, the player gains a free Combat turn without retaliation from the enemy. The Sneak action counts as the first round in the Combat, so the player using Sneak is the first player acting during the Combat. Players looking for a more challenging experience roll for Sneaking without adding the first three dice. There are two exceptions to Sneak:

• Players wearing a Heavy Armor cannot Sneak.
• Sneak cannot be used to perform Combat actions from spells. The only exception to this rule is the Illusion spell Muffle. This spell allows the player to spend some Magicka to increase their Sneak.

Some enemies have the Ambush trait. This represents their ability to sneak up on the players. The only way to stop an Ambush is by Sneaking. If a player successfully Sneaks on an enemy with Ambush, the Sneak works normally. If the player fails their Sneak roll, or if they don't try to Sneak, they will suffer the Ambush. When the enemy performs an Ambush action, the player will suffer the effect of the enemy's action, without rolling or having the chance to take a defensive action. In Combat situations with more than one player, the player attempting to Sneak suffers the attack. If no player attempts to Sneak, the players choose one player to start the Combat, and that player suffers the damage. After the Ambush and Sneak phase is resolved (whenever a player decides to Sneak, or an enemy has the Ambush trait), the next player starts their Combat Round by rolling the Enemy die.

Traps

The characters will find more than monsters and enemies during their adventures, they will also face rooms plagued with deadly traps. When a player or a group of players faces a Trap enemy, they will fight it the same way they would resolve any Combat situation. The main difference is that instead of Sneaking, the first player in the Combat may choose to try to disarm the trap by rolling a Lockpicking Skill Test. This Skill Test works the same way as the Sneak Skill Test. If the player attempting to disarm the Trap fails their roll, the Trap will immediately activate, dealing its effect to the player who attempted to deactivate it. Once this is resolved, the next player will try to disarm the Trap by fighting it normally.

Players cannot spend Stamina or Magicka to Push when rolling for Sneaking or disarming a trap.

Enemy Actions

Enemies will attack the player who is acting each round. This means that each player involved in the Combat will be attacked each time it's their time to act. Each enemy card (either Encounter or Dungeon card), has a list of behaviors. The player rolls the Enemy die to determine which action the enemy will take. If the result of the roll matches any of the icons on the enemy behaviors, the enemy will take that action during this round. Enemies can take three types of action during a round:

• Attack: This is the most common action. An attack generally affects the player's Health, although some attacks may have an impact on the player's Stamina or Magicka. Some attacks may affect all players involved in the battle. These are particularly devastating, as only the active player may choose to take a defensive action.
• Heal: Some enemies have the ability to heal their wounds. This is always represented as a shield of a specific color, meaning the enemy will heal only that track. No track can be healed above its starting value. Some attacks, like the Vampire's Drain, both attack the player and heal the enemy.
• Spawn: There are some enemies with the ability to summon creatures to assist them. When this happens, the player draws an additional enemy, and places it before the original enemy in the fight (see Fighting Multiple Enemies).

Follower Actions

During their adventures, players can recruit Followers that will assist them in battle. Followers are indicated by the Follower icon. A player may have as many Followers as they want, but only one Follower may be active at a time. The player can choose to change the active Follower at the beginning of the Game Turn, but not during Combat. Followers act in the same way as enemies, although they do not have armor tracks. It is not possible for enemies to kill Followers in battle, although some Followers have specific attacks that will kill them. Followers do not have any effect on Sneak, unless otherwise specified in the Follower card.

Some Followers have actions that affect the player in different ways. This effect only applies to the player with the Follower card, unless otherwise specified. Effects that affect Health or Stamina heal or restore the player's traits, unless otherwise specified. Some Followers will sometimes attack the players. Whenever the "all players" icon appears in a Follower action, the action will affect all the players, instead of the enemy.

Player Actions

Each player can only take one action per Combat Round. These actions are shown on their cards. Weapons, spells and equipment often provide a list of possible actions the player can take. These generally have an associated Skill, a cost in Stamina or Magicka, a difficulty, and an effect. The effect will determine which kind of action the player is taking.

To take an action, the player must first pay the cost. If the player doesn't have enough Stamina or Magicka to take the action, they can pay any missing points with Health instead. After paying the cost, the player rolls a Skill Test for the Skill related to the action. For example, performing a Swing action with an Iron Sword would mean rolling a Skill Test for the One Handed skill. The player rolls 3 dice, plus an additional die if their player character has the One Handed skill. The action also shows the difficulty of the Skill Test.

Pushing in Combat

Most Combat Actions can be Pushed by paying 1 Stamina to roll an extra Skill Test die. If the player is using a Spell, they pay 1 Magicka instead of 1 Stamina. If the player doesn't have any Stamina or Magicka remaining, they can use their Health to Push.

Unlike regular Skill Tests, there is a limit to the number of times a player can Push each Combat Turn. That limit is shown on their highest track (Health, Stamina or Magicka). At the beginning of the game, all players can Push up to 2 times each Combat Round. As they level up, they gain more Pushes, up to a maximum of 4 Pushes each Combat Round. Above the Health, Stamina or Magicka tracks, there are a series of Combat Push icons, marking each of the divided areas in the tracks. Whenever one of the tracks reaches a new area, the player gains 1 additional Combat Push. Note that the Health, Stamina and Magicka tokens do not count for this; the Health, Stamina or Magicka cube needs to be in the divided area to gain the Combat Push.

Types of Player Actions

In Combat, players can decide to attack the enemy, but there are other actions they may take.

• Offensive Actions: The player deals damage to the enemy.
• Defensive Actions: The player negates the enemy's action.
• Special Actions: The player regains Health, Stamina or Magicka, summons a creature, or takes another action with a different effect.

Defensive Actions

When the enemy's attack is too strong, the player may choose to take a Defensive action. Defensive actions don't deal any damage and have no additional effect attached to them. When a player takes a Defensive action, and succeeds on the Skill Test, the enemy action is countered, and does not have any effect on that player.

Note that this takes the player's round and also consumes Stamina or Magicka, so it's advisable to take Defensive actions only when strictly necessary. When an enemy takes an "all players" enemy action, using a Defensive action will only protect the player who is acting, not the rest. Defensive actions are always resolved before resolving enemy actions.

Special Actions

A Special Action is a Combat action that doesn't feature a damage icon and includes an additional effect. These are powerful strategic actions that can quickly change the tide of battle, bringing in reinforcements or assisting other characters in the group.

Summoning

Some Conjuration spells give the player the ability to summon creatures to assist them in combat. Summoning does not require a Skill Test; the action is automatically successful. The player draws a Dungeon card of the type shown on the Conjuration spell, and uses that card as an active Follower for the rest of the Game Turn. If the player draws a Dungeon card with the Dragon icon, they place that card in the monster discard pile and draw a new one. A player using a Summoning spell can effectively have two Followers at the same time during the Game Turn. Unless otherwise specified, a player can only take one Summoning action per Game Turn. The summoned creature is discarded at the end of the Game Turn.

When rolling attack actions for a creature Summoned by a player, ignore the Stamina, Magicka and Health icons and Healing actions. Summoned creatures stay with the player until the end of the Game turn so, if a player summons a creature in the first battle of a Dungeon, the Summoned creature will also assist the player during the rest of the battles.

After the first turn the Summoned creature is spawned, the player that Summoned it will have to pay one Magicka at the beginning of each of their Combat Rounds to keep it. If the player decides not to pay, or can't do so without reducing their own Health to zero, the Summoned creature is automatically discarded, as if it were a defeated enemy.

Healing

Restoration and Illusion spells often give the players the ability to heal a player character's Health, Stamina and/or Magicka. To heal, the player rolls the appropriate Skill Test and, if successful, regenerates the amount specified by the spell. Players cannot heal above their maximum value in any track. This is always resolved before resolving the enemy attack.

When an Item card, or any game effect, has the keyword Heal, that means that the target of the card will recover Health if the target is a Player Character or a specific Armor track if the target is an enemy.

Resting

Another way of restoring the Health and Stamina tracks is by Resting. All characters can take their round to Rest during Combat. Doing so heals 2 Health and Stamina, although it will leave the player exposed to enemy attacks.

Bows

Bows can be particularly deadly in combat, but they require players to take a more strategic approach than other types of weapon. All bows have the Aim action, with an added number (generally 1). Aim deals devastating damage and has a very low Difficulty. However, Aim can only be used as many times as the number in the Aim line per Combat.

An equipped Bow always takes both hand spaces, like a two handed weapon.

Offensive Actions

These are the most straightforward actions. They show a Skill Test, and an amount of damage dealt to the enemy. They are always resolved at the end of the Combat round, after the enemy attacks.

Dealing Damage

There are 3 types of armor in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Adventure Game. Heavy Armor protects against hard, slow and highly destructive blows. Light Armor protects against fast blows. Magical Armor protects against attacks from arcane sources. All damage is expressed in the same terms: Heavy Attacks, Light Attacks and Magical Attacks.

Damage Against Players

When players receive any kind of damage, they first subtract the damage from any armor they have of the same type. For example, if a player with 3 Armor receives 5 damage, they would subtract the attack from the armor, which would result in a total of 2 damage. Once the attack has been reduced by the armor, the player's Health is reduced by the remaining damage.

If the attack is equal to or lower than the armor, the character's armor has absorbed the blow, but the character is staggered. The player loses 1 Stamina. If the player has no remaining Stamina, they will lose Health instead.

If the player has no armor matching the enemy attack type (for example, the enemy attacks with 3 Magic Attack, but the player has no Magic Armor), the player takes the full damage.

Matching Icons: The attack's icon has to match the enemy's armor: Heavy Attack with Heavy Armor, Light Attack with Light Armor and Magic Attack with Magic Armor. Subtract the Armor value from the damage. What remains is the final damage. If the enemy doesn't have the right Armor, all the damage goes through.

Multiple Icons: If your attack includes different icons (for example: "5 Heavy/Light"), you can choose which icon will affect the enemy. If an enemy attack affects more than one type of Armor, they will always choose the option that inflicts the most damage.

Track Damage

Some enemy attacks affect Stamina or Magicka. These powerful attacks are much more dangerous than regular attacks. Any damage to Stamina or Magicka cannot be blocked with Armor. If an enemy attack deals 4 regular damage and 2 Stamina damage, and the player has 6 Armor, all the regular damage would be blocked by the Armor, meaning the player would only lose 1 Stamina from being staggered, plus 2 additional Stamina from the unblockable portion of the attack, for a total of 3 Stamina. The damage is calculated all together, and applied first to Stamina and Magicka, and then to Health. A player with no remaining Stamina or Magicka would lose Health instead. For example, a player receives 5 Stamina and 3 Magicka damage from an enemy attack. The player has no Armor, and no Stamina left. The player would lose 8 Health.

Using a Defensive action stops Track damage from happening.

Damage Against Enemies

Enemies don't have a Health track; instead, they have different armor tracks. When they receive damage, their armor is chipped away, making further attacks easier. The player's attack is subtracted from the enemy's armor, and the rest becomes damage. All damage is applied directly to the enemy's armor.

For example, if the player deals 5 damage, and the enemy has 3 Armor, the armor is subtracted from the attack. The result would be 2 damage. The enemy's Armor track would be reduced by 2, and the enemy would end up with only 1 Armor on their track, making the enemy much more vulnerable to the next attack. If an attack reduces an enemy armor track to zero, the enemy Armor cube is removed and any remaining damage is ignored. The enemy always suffers at least 1 damage from an attack, even if their armor is equal to or higher than the player's attack. When all the enemy's armor tracks are reduced to zero, the enemy is defeated.

If the enemy doesn't have any armor to match the player's attack type, the player can choose which track to reduce, dealing the full damage of the attack.

Matching Attack and Armor

Normally, the attack type will match that type of armor. Heavy Attack always defends against Heavy Armor, Light Attack against Light Armor and Magic Attack against Magic Armor. If the defender has any Magic Armor, it's not possible to reduce the Magic Armor using non-matching attack types.

However, there are attacks that deal more than one type of damage at the same time. These are shown like this: "2 Heavy/Light". This means that the action deals either 2 Heavy or 2 Light, depending on the situation. When a player character suffers an attack that affects more than one armor type, the attack will always target the weaker armor. For example: the enemy deals 5 Heavy/Light. The player has 2 Heavy Armor and only 1 Light Armor. The player will be forced to defend against the attack using their Light Armor, as it is lower. When dealing damage to enemies, the player chooses which damage type to apply.

Final Blow

When a battle gets particularly tough, the players always have an ace up their sleeve: the Final Blow. This is shown by placing a Final Blow token at the beginning of the Health track. When a player character receives any amount of damage that would reduce their health to their Final Blow or lower, the damage stops at their Final Blow token. From that point on, any amount of damage they receive will remove that Final Blow and cause them to become Critically Injured. This removes them from the battle. If all players are removed from the battle, the Combat is lost.

Exceptionally, some spells and magical items will feature the Final Blow icon. This gives the player additional Final Blows. To represent this, the player should move their Final Blow token as many slots to the right as additional Final Blows they gain. Each of these Final Blows works the same way as the original one, being reduced one by one. A player is only removed from the battle when they lose their last Final Blow.

Critical Injuries

When a player loses all their Health during a Combat, they are Critically Injured. This means that they had a close encounter with death, but managed to survive it. Still, there are consequences. The player who has been Critically Injured draws an Event card and resolves it. Then the player takes as many Threat tokens as the number of players, and distributes them between any cards that accept them, or between any Strongholds in the Stronghold Chart at the top right corner of the game board. This could easily mean failing one or more Quests or degrading Strongholds to Rioting. If the player was the last one in an Encounter, the Combat immediately ends.

Fighting Multiple Enemies

Sometimes, players will face groups of enemies. These Encounters are particularly dangerous, and can prove a challenge for even the most hardened adventurers. When facing multiple enemies, the players set the Encounter cards on the table side by side, from left to right. The leftmost enemy is the one that's the closest to the players, this enemy will be the one who takes most of the damage the players deal out. The enemy on the rightmost side is waiting for their moment to strike.

If any of the enemies drawn is a Trap Encounter, this is resolved first, before proceeding to the battle. For example, if 1 Draugr, 1 Bear and 1 Spear Trap are drawn, the players would first encounter the Spear Trap and once they have solved the Trap, they would fight against the Draugr and the Bear.

If a player wants to Sneak in a Combat against multiple enemies, use the enemy with the highest Sneak value as the difficulty. If the enemy with the highest Sneak value has the Ambush trait, the players must defend against an Ambush from that specific enemy. Otherwise, even if any other Encounter card has the Ambush trait, the enemy group will not Ambush.

When rolling for the enemy action, if the icon on the die doesn't match any of the icons on the first (leftmost) enemy's behaviors, the players check if it matches any icons on the next enemy to the right, and so on until all enemies have been checked. As a result, even the last enemy (rightmost) has a chance to attack if the rest of the enemies miss. This also means that the more enemies that are involved in a battle, the more likely they are to attack.

When the players attack, they always attack the leftmost enemy. Once that enemy is defeated, their card is discarded, and the next enemy becomes the first enemy to be attacked. Damage is only applied to one enemy at a time; if an attack would deal more damage than an enemy has Armor and removes it, any excess damage is not carried over.

If an enemy summons a creature to assist them in battle, the creature is placed to the left of the leftmost enemy, thus becoming the first enemy.

Switching Equipped Items

A player may be inclined to start the fight with a bow, but then change to a two handed weapon as the situation changes. Exchanging one item to another one in the Backpack doesn't count as an action, and can be done at the beginning of any Combat Round by paying 1 Stamina. Only weapons, trinkets and potions can be switched this way. Armors, including helmets and boots cannot be switched during Combat.

Ending a Combat

When a Combat ends, if the Combat is part of a series of Encounters (like in a Dungeon), the players recover all of their Stamina and Health, but not their Magicka. Players can spend Plant Component to use potions between Combats. If the Combat is the last one in a series, or if the players have escaped (thus ending the series of Encounters), all tracks are fully regenerated.

Rewards

Some Encounter cards, and all Dungeon cards, will provide loot and Experience to the players involved in the fight. The rewards are shown at the bottom of the card. The first reward is always a number of Experience that each player involved in the Combat will earn. Note that a player cannot gain more Experience than the number they need to level up. So, if a player needs only 1 Experience to level up, and they gain 3 Experience, 2 of those Experience will be lost.

After the global Experience reward, there are up to 4 individual rewards. Each reward can only be chosen by one player. The player dealing the killing blow chooses one of the rewards. Then, the next player clockwise chooses another reward, and so on until all players have chosen 1 reward or there are no more rewards to choose from. If there are any remaining rewards, these are lost. This means that it's always beneficial to recruit the assistance of other players when going into Combat.

Encounter Cards

When a player finishes a Combat against an Encounter card from the Numbered deck, the player always returns the card to the Numbered deck. As a result, the same enemy can be fought several times by different players.

Potions

Any player can use a potion at the beginning of any Combat Round, even if they are not the one acting, before rolling the enemy die. Some potions can be used more than once during a Combat Round. Using a potion doesn't count as an action, and can be done in addition to an Offensive, Defensive or Special action. Potions can also be used between Combats within a Dungeon. To use a potion, pay the cost in Plant Component, and resolve the effect of the potion.

Escaping Combat

At the beginning of each player's turn, before rolling for the enemy action, any player can decide to escape the combat. The player is removed from the battle, and takes no further part in it. The player adds a Threat token to any card that can accept them or to any Stronghold in the Stronghold Chart. If the Combat is part of a Quest, and the escaping player is the one holding the Quest card, the Quest is automatically failed.

Exploration

During the game, players will be constantly exploring the world, meeting new people and facing new dangers. There are two main types of exploration: Dungeon exploration and narrative exploration. Dungeon explorations are heavily Combat-based; players fight their way through abandoned ruins, dark caves, ancient tombs and eerie Dwemer cities, trying to loot treasure and gain riches. Narrative explorations are based on players meeting new people in cities, or discovering secrets hidden in nature.

Most of the Exploration parts of the game can be done while other players take their turns, as they have no effect on their action. Players are encouraged to take any Market actions and to draw their City Encounter or Wilderness Encounter cards while other players resolve their turns.

Narrative Exploration

Whenever a player is in a Stronghold or a Wilderness Encounter space, they may choose to use their action for the turn exploring the area. To explore the area, draw a City Encounter or a Wilderness Encounter card (depending on whether the player is in a Stronghold or Wilderness Encounter space), read the card, and resolve it. Many of those cards provide Personal Quests for the players. Personal Quests are often very useful, as they give players a buffer for their Threat tokens. Once a player has accepted a Personal Quest from a City Encounter or Wilderness Encounter card, they need to either complete it or let it fail over time. Unless the player takes the Personal Quest, or the card otherwise specifies it, the City Encounter or Wilderness Encounter card is placed in its corresponding discard pile. When the City Encounter or the Wilderness Encounter decks are depleted, shuffle the discard pile and place the deck back in its slot.

Dungeon Exploration

Characters will often explore Dungeons during the game. These provide an essential source of treasure and Experience. When visiting a Dungeon, the player first checks the type of Dungeon. Each type will bring in different creatures.

• Cave: Frequented by Animal creatures. Generally the easiest Dungeons.
• Mine: Animal and Automaton enemies gather here.
• Tomb: This is where players will find the most Undead creatures.
• Ruins: The most frequent enemy type is Human enemies.
• Dwemer City: Dwemer cities are rich in Automatons, and are often plagued by dangerous traps. Generally the toughest Dungeons.

Each Chapter has a separate Dungeon Challenge card. This card shows which Encounters the players will draw and face in each type of Dungeon. These Encounters appear as sequences. For example, the Dungeon Challenge card for Chapter 1 of Campaign 1 shows that, when exploring a Cave, the players will draw and face 1 Animal enemy, followed by another Animal enemy. In some cases, as the story progresses, players will have to face more than one single enemy in the same Encounter. For example, the Dungeon Challenge card of Chapter 3 of Campaign 2 states that, when exploring a Mine, the players would first face a Human enemy, followed by an Animal and an Undead enemy in a single Encounter.

When two or more players end their movement in the same Dungeon, and declare they want to explore it, all players involved face the Dungeon together as a group. This takes the turn action for each player involved. Any player that shares the same space, but declares they don't want to explore the Dungeon (for example, if they want to complete a Quest card), won't be a part of the Dungeon exploration party. A player cannot be a part of a Dungeon exploration party and attempt to complete a Quest card on the same turn.

There are 7 types of enemies:

• Animals or wild beasts
• Humans or humanoids
• Undead creatures
• Daedric enemies
• Dwemer automatons and contraptions
• Traps
• Dragons

On the Dungeon Challenge cards, the different Encounters are contained in squares, and separated by arrows. Players first fight the leftmost encounter, and progress to the right until they finish the last one. If a square contains two different icons, that means that the players will face two enemies at the same time. When fighting different Encounters within the same Dungeon, players recover their Stamina and Health between battles, but not their Magicka. They also may switch their equipment, trade among each other or even escape the Dungeon between Encounters. When players escape a Dungeon between Encounters, they do not have to pay any penalty, as they would do when escaping an Encounter. Enemies that took part in the Dungeon will be removed as usual.

When two different enemies appear side by side on the Dungeon Challenge card within the same square, that means that these enemies are meant to be fought as a single Encounter.

Completing a Dungeon

When the last enemy is defeated, the Dungeon is completed. The player who dealt the killing blow gains, on top of the rewards from the card, a Treasure card. This card is determined by the level of the most powerful enemy in the Dungeon (enemy level is shown on the top left corner of the Dungeon card). Enemy Levels go from 0 to 7. If the highest level enemy was level 3 or lower, the player gains a Basic Treasure. If the highest level enemy was level 4 or higher, the player gains an Advanced Treasure.

Once rewards are distributed, the defeated Dungeon cards are placed on each of the Dungeon decks discard piles. However, as players level up they remove low level enemies from the game. On the Character Board, above the Health track, there are a series of numbers. These represent which level Dungeon cards will be removed from the game after defeating them. When a player's Health, Stamina or Magicka has reached the threshold marked by the number on the Character Board, enemies of that level or lower are removed from the game when defeated in a Combat where that player was involved. For example, when a player's maximum Health, Stamina or Magicka is 7 or higher, they will remove enemies of level 1 or lower from the game. If the player's track has been increased due to equipped items or other game effects other than levelling up, the enemies are still discarded. Summoned creatures are not removed from the game this way. If the players escaped the Combat, no cards will be discarded.

At the end of the Combat, after all low level enemies have been removed from the game, and all defeated Dungeon cards are in their respective discard piles, the players draw an additional card from each Dungeon deck they used, shuffle it with the discard pile of that Dungeon deck, and place the resulting deck back on top of the original Dungeon deck. If any of the players involved in the Dungeon Exploration has one or more Legendary Skills, the whole Dungeon deck is shuffled, instead of just the used cards plus one. This may make the Dungeon decks considerably more challenging.

Improving Your Character

As your character interacts with the world, their skills will improve, they'll learn new things, and gain valuable pieces of equipment.

Levelling Up

At the end of each turn, the players check how many Experience tokens they have. If the number of Experience tokens is enough to Level Up their character, they must do so. The number of Experience tokens needed to Level Up is shown on the Character Board. The first level costs 7 Experience, and the price increases by 1 every time the player Levels Up.

When Levelling Up, the player takes a Skill token of their choice from the reserve, and places it, face up, on the first available (lowest number) slot on the Character Board. After choosing a Skill token, the player then increases their Health, Stamina or Magicka by 1 point, by moving the Health, Stamina or Magicka token one space to the right. If any of the tracks gets to its maximum value of 10, the player removes the corresponding Health, Stamina or Magicka token, and won't be able to increase that track further.

Keep in mind that, once a player has as many Experience tokens as they need to Level Up, they cannot gain any further Experience tokens until they Level Up.

Legendary Skills

When players become very powerful, they can start learning Legendary Skills. A player needs to already have learned 8 Skills in order to learn Legendary Skills. When the player wants to learn the 9th Skill, instead of gaining a new Skill token, they choose one of the Skill tokens they already have and flip it, making it Legendary. This counts as a Level Up and costs 15 Experience.

In Skill Tests, instead of providing one die to the player, a Legendary Skill provides two. Some Legendary Skills also provide incredible bonuses that can quickly change the course of the game.

In addition, some enemies have attacks that only apply when fighting against players with Legendary Skills. Whenever an enemy has an attack action line in a darker color, that attack will only be effective if any of the players facing it has a Legendary Skill. Otherwise, any attacks matching that icon will automatically miss.

Skills

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Adventure Game includes 18 Skills, 6 for each family of Skills (Might, Shadow and Sorcery.) Each Skill gives the player additional bonuses.

Might Skills

• Smithing — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die. When Upgrading Equipment, draw an additional card on the first draw.
• Smithing (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice. When Upgrading Equipment, draw an additional card and pay 1 fewer Gold on the first draw.
• Block — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die. With a Shield item equipped, gain 1 Stamina and 1 armor.
• Block (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice. Gain 1 Stamina and 1 armor, even without a Shield item equipped.
• Heavy Armor — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die. With a Heavy Armor item equipped, gain 1 armor.
• Heavy Armor (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice. Gain 1 Heavy Armor, even without a Heavy Armor item equipped.
• One Handed — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die.
• One Handed (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice.
• Two Handed — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die.
• Two Handed (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice.
• Archery — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die.
• Archery (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice.

Shadow Skills

• Light Armor — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die. Gain Sneak (1).
• Light Armor (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice. Gain Sneak (1) and 1 armor.
• Sneak — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die. Gain Sneak (1).
• Sneak (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice. Gain Sneak (2).
• Lockpicking — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die.
• Lockpicking (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice.
• Pickpocketing — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die.
• Pickpocketing (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice.
• Speech — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die. In the Market, draw an additional card on the first draw.
• Speech (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice. In the Market, draw an additional card and pay 1 Gold fewer on the first draw.
• Alchemy — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die.
• Alchemy (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice. Gain 1 use of a potion per Combat round.

Sorcery Skills

• Illusion — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die.
• Illusion (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice.
• Conjuration — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die.
• Conjuration (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice. Increase the maximum number of summons to 2. The Summon action needs to be taken twice to get 2 summoned creatures.
• Destruction — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die.
• Destruction (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice.
• Restoration — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die.
• Restoration (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice. When using healing spells, Heal an additional Health.
• Alteration — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die. With an Alteration spell equipped, gain 1 Magic Armor.
• Alteration (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice. Gain 1 Magic Armor, even without an Alteration spell equipped.
• Enchanting — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll an additional die. When Enchanting Equipment, draw an additional card on the first draw.
• Enchanting (Legendary) — When performing Skill Tests with this Skill, roll two additional dice. When Enchanting Equipment, draw an additional card and pay 1 fewer on the first draw.

Upgrading and Enchanting

Players can also improve their chances in the game by Upgrading and Enchanting their items. This can only be done at Strongholds. Most equippable cards have a cost to Upgrade and/or Enchant. That price is shown as an Upgrade cost for Upgrading and an Enchantment cost for Enchanting. The player can pay that price and draw a card from the Upgrades/Enchantments deck. If an item doesn't have an Upgrade or an Enchantment cost, that card cannot be Upgraded or Enchanted. If a card has a cost for both Upgrading and Enchanting, the item can be both Upgraded once and Enchanted once, in any order. Robes can be Enchanted more than once. Spells and Potions cannot be Upgraded or Enchanted. If the player doesn't like the Upgrade/Enchanting card, they can choose to Push the draw, by paying an additional cost for Upgrading or an additional cost for Enchanting. When a player draws the first card, some game effects (such as Skills), may allow the player to draw one or more additional cards. This effect only applies on the first draw, not on any further draws the player pays for. Once the player is satisfied with the cards they've drawn, they must select one card to attach to the item and shuffle the rest into the Upgrades/Enchantments deck.

Each Upgrade/Enchantment card has three elements. On the bottom of the card, there is an armor icon. This is used when Upgrading Armor or Shield cards. Slide the Upgrade/Enchantment card underneath the equipment card, so the bottom is visible, and the new armor is added to the current armor. On the top of the card, there is a line that corresponds with the Enchantment. Slide the card underneath the card you're Enchanting, so the top side is visible. Finally, the right side of the card contains the weapon Upgrades. These are applied to either the first or the second action of the weapon, or both. Slide the card underneath the Upgraded weapon, so the right side is visible, and a +1 or a +2 will match with the Upgraded action. This counts as additional damage of the same type as the Upgraded action.

Status Cards

During the game, players will gain Status cards. Most of them have positive effects that will help them in their Quest, although some do have negative effects. From getting married, to having the guards of Whiterun hunting the character, to becoming the Thane of Falkreath, Status cards give an extra layer of depth to the characters. There is no limit to the number of Status cards a player can have at the same time.

Some Status cards apply to all players.

Character Cards

At the beginning of the game, players select their Character cards, or distribute them randomly. These cards give the player 3 different abilities. The first ability can be used in Combat, may be used from the beginning of the game and using it doesn't count as a Combat action. The last 2 abilities depend on specific Skills to be active. For example, the Wood Elf character has a special ability related to Archery, so that ability won't be active until the character learns that Skill. The Character card also gives the players the Rest action, explained in the Combat section.

Saving the Game

At the end of each chapter, players are given the chance to save their game, so they can keep on playing in the next session. To do this, take the Save Game boxes included in the game. Four of these boxes match with the colors of the Player's Quest Markers. The last one is gray, and is meant for the board.

Each player places their Character, Item, Status, Follower, Main Quest and Personal Quest cards and their Skill, Gold, Plant Component, Soul Gem and Experience tokens into their Save Game box. They also add 1 Experience for each Legendary Skill they have. Then players place all the Roaming Monster tokens and the Event cards, active World Quest cards and any other card that affects the board into the gray Save Game box. Any card that has been removed from the game will remain in their area in the game box and won't return to the game. The rest of the cards are added to the gray Save Game box.

When starting again, each player takes all the components from their Save Game box, and reorganizes their Character Board. The Health, Stamina and Magicka tracks are rebuilt, based on their Skills, increasing one of the three tracks by one point for each Skill token the character has. For each Legendary Skill, the player flips one Skill of their choice to Legendary and increases a track of their choice (Health, Stamina or Magicka) by one point. These Experience tokens are then discarded. The configuration of the tracks doesn't need to be the same as it was at the end of the last game, as long as the player has the same number of total points.

Players open the gray Save Game box, and place all Roaming Monster tokens in Wilderness Encounter spaces on the board. If there are not enough available Wilderness Encounter spaces, place any remaining Roaming Monster tokens on any available Dungeon space. Take all the Event cards, shuffle them, and use them as the new Event deck (adding any Event cards indicated in the Chapter setup.) This includes active World Quests; they won't be active until drawn again. Place any other cards that affect all players on the side of the game board, where all players can see them.

If you saved the game in the middle of a Chapter, each player places their Player figure on a Stronghold of their choice. Otherwise, follow the setup of the new Chapter.

Playing Solo

Players can choose to play The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Adventure Game as a 1 player game. The rules are exactly the same, and the chapters work in the same way, there is only one additional rule.

At the beginning of the game, the player draws an additional Character card and places it, upside down, beside their own character card. After every turn, the Starting Player token is moved from one Character card to the other, starting with the player's. During turns that start with the Starting Player token on the upside down Character card, no Event card is drawn. If any Roaming Monster would move towards the Starting Player, they won't move when the Starting Player token is on the upside down Character card.

Free Roam Mode

The story of our Skyrim-dwelling Blades is the stuff of legends, but with this new game mode you can also create your own unique stories and enjoy the beauty and perils of the home of the Nords. The Free Roam mode doesn't take place in a specific timeline, which allows for references to the Great War and dragon encounters to happen simultaneously.

To start a new Free Roam game, draw all 5 Free Roam Events to begin creating the Free Roam Event deck. To this deck you may add any – or all – of the following cards:

• From Campaign 1 Chapter 1: A Call to Arms, Contract on Cultists, Vampires on the Road, Horse Thief, Daedric Invasion and Conspiracy.
• From Campaign 1 Chapter 2: Unemployed Soldiers and The Rise of the Vampires.
• From Campaign 1 Chapter 3: Trolls from the North, Trolls Migrating, Thalmor Assault and Daedra Research.
• From Campaign 2 Chapter 1: Thalmor Patrols, Vigilance Intensifies, Rain, Unrest, Crossed Communications and Rumors.
• From Campaign 2 Chapter 2: Coming Back to Life and Patrols.
• From Campaign 2 Chapter 3: Alduin's Call, Influence of Boethiah, The Gates are Opening and Hunted.

The more Events you add to your Event deck, the more difficult your game will be. Consider this when creating your Event deck.

To play the game, add any Mini Campaigns you want. The more Mini Campaigns you add, the more difficult and rewarding the game will become. All Mini Campaigns can be added together to create a really large, challenging game.

Each player starts the game with 2 Equipment cards of their choice and with their Player Figure on any Stronghold.

When exploring a new Dungeon, shuffle all Dungeon Challenge cards, draw a card, and follow the card's instructions to build the new Dungeon.

Remember you can still save your game using your Save Game boxes at any point.

Whilst playing in Free Roam mode implies you have an infinite amount of time to play, the game can still end if any of the following happen:

• You are instructed to place a Roaming Monster on the board and there are no more Roaming Monsters of that type available.
• You are instructed to place a Roaming Monster on the board and there are no spaces available on the board.
• All Strongholds are Rioting.

Free Roam Competitive Mode

To play Free Roam mode as a competitive game, players need to track their score by accumulating Threat tokens on their Character cards. To earn 3 Threat tokens a player must:

• Successfully complete a Personal Quest.
• Successfully complete a World Quest unassisted.
• Deal the final blow on the last Encounter of a Dungeon.
• Gain a Legendary Skill.

To earn 2 Threat tokens a player must:

• Deal the final blow when facing a Roaming Monster.
• Level Up.
• Complete a World Quest with other players.

To earn 1 Threat token a player must:

• Deal the final blow on an Encounter from a Quest card.

If you're looking to have a shorter game of the Free Roam Competitive Mode, remove 25 Threat tokens from the game before starting.

Whenever any of the following happens, the player loses 2 Threat tokens:

• Being Critically Injured in Combat.
• Fail a Quest.
• Degrade a Stronghold, except if this is the result of drawing an Event card.

The game ends when any game event prompts a player to add Threat, and there are no more Threat tokens remaining. The player with the most Threat tokens on their Character card wins the game.

Hard Mode

To play The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Adventure Game in "Hard Mode", you just need to do any – or all – of the following adjustments to the game:

• Add the 5 Events labelled as "Free Roam" to the game, in any Chapter of their respective Campaigns.
• Add as many Mini Campaigns as you want to the game.
• When Sneaking in Combat, do not add the standard three dice to the roll.
• Whenever a Quest is failed, all the Threat tokens in that Quest must be reassigned to other active cards or to the Stronghold Chart.

The more adjustments you make, the harder the game will become.

Story Mode

If you are looking for a more relaxed experience and you want to enjoy the unfolding of the events, more than focusing on the challenges, here are some adjustments you can try:

• When rolling Skill Tests – including combat – roll an extra die.
• When drawing an Event card that adds 2 Threat, reduce the number by 1.
• Restoring a Stronghold costs 3 Gold.

An Explorer's Guide to Skyrim

There are many ways of playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Adventure Game. Some players will be inclined to rush through the main storyline towards the end of the game, while others will be more interested in exploring all the secondary plots, and getting to meet all the characters that inhabit Skyrim. There is no correct way of playing the game; as long as the players are enjoying the experience, any approach is fine. However, there are a few things that all players can take into consideration to make their experience more interesting.

Cooperation

Dungeons can be challenging. In some cases, approaching them as a solitary endeavor can be too dangerous. Gathering a party of adventurers can mean the difference between victory and defeat. The same principle applies to Quest cards that involve Encounters. As players won't know the power of the enemy they're going to face, it may be advisable to bring in reinforcements, just in case.

Sometimes, a player may have slower progression than the rest of the party. When there's a noticeable difference in the characters' levels, players can team up and explore Dungeons together to progress faster and more evenly; harder enemies give better rewards, and are easier to defeat when working as a team.

Explore the World

The world of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim The Adventure Game is full of characters in need of assistance. Players should take advantage of that and try to complete Personal Quests whenever possible, as this will give them an additional edge when attempting the Main Quest. Personal Quests allow players to level up faster, to earn better rewards, and to gain valuable Status cards that can make a big difference during the game.

Furthermore, Personal Quests give an additional bonus to the players: they can soak Threat tokens. Having an additional buffer for these tokens can easily save the players from being defeated.

In addition, meeting characters by drawing City Encounter or Wilderness Encounter cards often gives additional instant rewards that can be incredibly helpful for the players.

If at any point the players feel they are stuck in the Main Quest, with Objectives that feel too hard to achieve, it is a good idea to focus on completing Personal Quests for a while, gaining more power to face the Main Quest.

Balance Your Skillset

All Skills are useful, one way or another. It can be tempting to only learn Skills that can be directly used in Combat situations, however, this approach may leave the player unprepared for other elements of the game, where other Skills are important.

The ideal approach is to try to build a well balanced character, with Skills that fit their identity. Balancing Combat Skills with other Skills can make for a much more interesting experience.

Cards

The following describes the anatomy of each card type, to help players read them at the table.

Event Cards

Each Event card shows the Event name, the Event type (Instant Event, Active Event or World Quest), the Chapter Deck it belongs to, the Threat token limit, and an Event description explaining what happens when the card is drawn.

Quest Cards (Front)

The front of a Quest card shows the Card Number, the Quest Name, the Threat Limit, the Quest Story text, the Quest Destination (the location icon), and the Quest Objective at the bottom.

Quest Cards (Back)

The back of a Quest card shows the Quest Success Effect and the Quest Failure Effect, followed by the continuing Quest Story text and, where the story branches, the two Player Choices the players can pick between.

Dungeon and Encounter Cards

These cards show the Card Number, the Dungeon Order Number, the Enemy Type, the Enemy Name, the Enemy's Armor Tracks (Heavy Armor, Light Armor and Magic Armor), the Enemy Die Icons that trigger each of its actions (including Sneak value, and Ambush or Legendary traits where applicable), and the Loot Rewards at the bottom of the card.

Follower Cards

Follower cards show the Card Number, the Follower Icon, the Follower Name, a Follower Quote, and the Follower Action with its effect, triggered the same way as an enemy's Enemy Die Icons.

Status Cards

Status cards show the Card Number, the Status Name, and the Status Description, explaining the ongoing effect the card has on the player (or all players) who holds it.

Item Cards

Item cards show the Item Type, the Item Deck it belongs to, the Item Name, its Combat Action or Skill Test (if it grants one) with its Action Effect, and the Item Price for buying or selling it. Cards that can be Upgraded or Enchanted also show the Upgrade/Enhancement Price.

Enhancements

Upgrade/Enchantment cards show an Enchantment effect (applied to the top of the enchanted card), a Weapon Upgrade bonus (applied to one of the weapon's actions, shown as a +1 or +2), and an Armor Upgrade bonus (applied to the bottom of an Armor or Shield card). A single Upgrade/Enchantment card can carry all three elements, and the player slides it underneath the relevant equipment card so the correct side is visible.

Glossary of Icons

• Health — Health.
• Stamina — Stamina.
• Magicka — Magicka.
• Combat Push — Combat push.
• Gain 1 Skill Test die — a bonus die added to a Skill Test roll.
• Roll 3 Skill Test dice — the base Skill Test roll.
• Threat token — Threat.
• Heavy armor — Heavy Armor.
• Light armor — Light Armor.
• Magic armor — Magic Armor.
• Final Blow — Final Blow.
• Heavy attack — Heavy Attack.
• Light attack — Light Attack.
• Magic attack — Magic Attack.
• Ore Component — Ore.
• Plant Component — Plant Component.
• Soul Gem Component — Soul Gem.
• Any Component — any of Ore, Plant Component or Soul Gem.
• Gold — Gold.
• Experience — Experience.
• Animal enemy / Human enemy / Undead enemy / Daedra enemy / Automaton enemy / Trap / Dragon enemy — the seven enemy types.
• The most common symbol on the Skill Test dice (Circle) — appears on 50% of the die's faces.
• The second most common symbol on the Skill Test dice (Triangle) — appears on 33% of the die's faces.
• The least common symbol on the Skill Test dice (Diamond) — appears on 16.5% of the die's faces.
• Might Market deck — includes Shields, Heavy armors and One Handed and Two Handed weapons, mainly.
• Shadow Market deck — includes Daggers, Light armors and Bows, mainly.
• Sorcery Market deck — includes Spells, Potions and Robes, mainly.
• Wilderness Encounter — Wilderness.
• City Encounter (Town) — Town.
• Follower — Follower.
• One Handed weapon / Two Handed weapon — how many hand slots the weapon occupies.
• Spell — occupies one hand.
• Shield — occupies one hand.
• Bow — occupies two hands.
• Robes / Helmet / Boots / Trinket / Potion — equipment slot types.
• Backpack slot — a Backpack storage slot.
• Shadow Skill / Legendary Shadow Skill / Might Skill / Legendary Might Skill / Sorcery Skill / Legendary Sorcery Skill — Skill family icons.
• Draw card — draw a card.
• Draw an additional card and select 1 — draw 2 cards, pick one.
• Remove from the game — remove the card from the game.
• Basic treasure / Advanced treasure / Dragon treasure — the three Treasure card backs.
• Remove Blades Card from the Game / Remove a card from the Blades deck — Blades deck removal icons.
• Quest marker — where to place a Quest Marker.
• Go to [location] — a location cross-reference.
• Symbols found on the Enemy die and actions (Axe, Fire, Skull, Sword) — the faces of the Enemy die.
• All players are affected — the effect affects every player.
• Horse token — Horse.
• Cave Dungeon / Mine Dungeon / Tomb Dungeon / Ruin Dungeon / Dwemer City Dungeon — the five Dungeon types.
• Imperial Legion Points / Stormcloak Points — faction reputation tracks.
• Suggested level for Quests — the recommended number of Skills for a Quest.