Enchanters: Overlords Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Box Contents
• Game Setup
• Your Magical Artifact
• Flow of the Game
• Actions in General
• Major Action: Rest
• Major Action: Journey
• Combat
• End of the Game
• Variants
• Overlords
• New Keywords and Icons in Overlords Expansion
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Card Notes
• Timing Table
• Quick Reference (The Help Page)
• Icon Rundown

Box Contents

Base Game Contents - 156 normal sized cards (63x88mm)

• 6 Kingdom Decks: Bandits, Cultists, Dracons, Gnolls, Goblins, Unicorns
• 21 oversized cards (90x130mm): 21 Village cards

4 additional decks - 104 normal sized cards (63x88mm)

• 4 Kingdom decks: Angels, Barbarians, Faeries, Troglodites

Wound Deck Expansion - 26 normal sized cards (63x88mm)

Overlords Expansion Contents - 156 normal sized cards (63x88mm)

• 6 Kingdom decks: Daemons, Darkelves, Golems, Mages, Undead, Slimes
• 35 oversized cards (90x130mm): 17 Overlord cards, 10 Village cards, 4 double-sided help cards, 4 Power Trackers

126 tokens

• 12 Rewards Tokens
• 12 Overlord Reinforcement Tokens
• 37 Wound Markers (25 with "1", 12 with "5")
• 57 Crystal Markers (30 with "1", 15 with "3" and 12 with "10")
• 8 Power Markers (4 attack and 4 defense, 2 for each player)

Other

• Paper Game Mat
• 17 deck separators
• Rulebook

Game Setup

1. Each player takes 5 Crystals.

2. Each Player takes a "Fist" and "of Enchanting" card.

3. Each player chooses one Kingdom Deck, then shuffle them together to create the Adventure Deck.

   In a two player game, each player chooses 2 decks. From the 4 selected decks, take only the cards marked with a "2" on the back, and shuffle them together to form the Adventure Deck.

   If this is your first game of Enchanters consider taking Decks from amongst: Cultists, Goblins, Unicorns and Bandits.

4. Search the bottom of the Adventure deck for a total of 6/9/12 (for 2/3/4 players) Item and Enchantment Cards and add them to the top of Adventure Deck. Return any Monster and Dragons you put aside back to bottom of the deck. This way you'll have a chance to equip yourselves before monsters come.

5. Place 6 cards from the top of the Adventure Deck on the Journey Track.

6. Randomly choose one of the Village Cards. If you want to include the Overlord in the game go to the Section: "Overlords".

7. Pick the first player. You are ready to play.

Your Magical Artifact

Each player will craft one Magical Artifact. Items are placed in one pile on the left and Enchantments in another on the right.

All visible symbols, actions and abilities are always active. All hidden symbols, actions and abilities are inactive. Do not change order of the cards unless the game asks you to.

Subsequent cards are placed on top of previous ones of the same type so that the lower part (under the horizontal line) of the previous card is always visible. The upper part becomes inactive after covering; the lower part is always active. The same rules apply to Monster and Dragon cards.

Flow of the Game

The game is played in turns. Each turn a player takes one Major Action:

• Journey - the player takes a card from the Journey Track, paying Crystals. This is the main way to obtain Item and Enchantment Cards and fight Monsters and Dragons.
• Rest - the player uses one of the available options from the Village Card or one of her own cards. Resting allows you to collect Crystals and heal Wounds. After each Rest action the first card on the Journey Track is discarded at the end of the turn.

After each Major Action, cards in the Journey Track are slid down toward the Village Card, then a new card is drawn from the Adventure Deck and added to the last space. There should always be 6 cards on the Journey Track, if possible.

Additionally, the player may use any available Minor Actions.

Actions in General

Most actions in the game can be described in the following manner:

"Cost → Effect"

Only after the Cost is paid, does the Effect take place. The cost must be fully paid, while the effect has to be implemented as much as possible.

The actions a player may take are the ones described on the Village Card, Overlord Card and the topmost cards of the player's own Item, Enchantment, Monsters/Dragons Card piles.

Each action may only be played only once per turn, unless it's described as "Multiaction". The action's effect stays in play till the end of the player's turn.

Example (Scimitar): "3 → Attack" John pays 1 Crystal and receives a +3 bonus to his attack this turn.

Multiaction can be used as many times as players want. Double Action can be used twice.

Example (Normaltown): "Multiaction: 2 → Attack" Martha may pay 2, 4, 6 or more Crystals to receive an extra +1, +2, +3 or more Attack Points this turn. Martha pays 6 Crystals to get 3 Attack Points, so that she wins a fight with a Dragon Turtle.

Major Action: Rest

Rest actions are always marked by a Rest symbol preceding its cost.

The Rest icon should be read as: Use your Major Action as a Rest Action. Then at the end of your turn discard the card on the Journey Track nearest to the Village Card and refill as usual.

Rest actions are on every Village Card, but can be also found on some Item or Enchantment Cards. Taking a Rest is a standard way of gaining Crystals and healing Wounds.

Example (Normaltown): "Rest → 3 Crystals" Jack uses his Major Action to Rest and get 3 Crystals. Then, because he can't do anything else, he finishes his turn, discards the card nearest to the Village Card, moves the remaining 5 cards on the Journey Track toward the Village Card, draws a new card and places it after the last card on the Journey Track.

Major Action: Journey

Taking a Journey allows a player to either upgrade his or her Magical Artifact or get Monster trophies that grant Glory Points.

Pick a card on the Journey Track and pay the cost indicated below to the common supply.

If a player has chosen an Item or an Enchantment card, the player places the card on top of the respective pile. If a player decides to fight a Monster or a Dragon card, he or she must first be able to defeat it - have at least as many Attack Points as the Monster's Health Points - Rules of a fight are described in the section "Combat".

Immediate Effect

Some cards have an Immediate Effect symbol, meaning the described effect must be implemented right after the chosen card is taken. However, the card is not considered to be a part of the player's Magical Artifact until after the effect is completed.

Triggered Abilities

Some cards have passive effects which trigger upon certain events. For example: "after using", "after taking" or "when your turn begins." These effects are not considered to be an action and are mandatory.

Combat

Combat is resolved in two phases:

1. The player attacks the Monster. To succeed the player must have at least as many Attack Points as the Monster has Health Points.
2. The Monster ALWAYS attacks the player. The player is given a number of Wound markers equal to the Monster's Strength minus the player's Defense.

Defeated Monster is put on top of his or her Monster Pile.

Sometimes, it may be necessary to buy additional Attack Points in the Village or activate Minor Actions on one's own cards to win a Combat with a Monster.

There is no limit to the number of Wounds players may receive, but at the end of the game, each Wound becomes a negative Glory Point.

Example: Susan decides to fight a Manticore 2 Attack / 5 Health. She has 3 Attack Points and 1 Defense Point. Susan decides to use a Multiaction available in the Village of Normaltown twice - she pays 4 Crystals to get +2 Attack Points. Susan now has a total of 5 Attack Points, which matches the Health of the Manticore. She defeats the Monster, then dying Monster deals her 1 Wound, and after this she adds it to her Monster Pile.

End of the Game

The game ends when all cards from both the Adventure Deck and the Journey Track have been taken or discarded. Every player sums all Glory Points from his or her cards: Monsters, Dragons, Items and Enchantments. Each player must then add or subtract Glory Points according to the rules below:

• Minus 1 Glory Point for each Wound.
• Additional Glory Points as described on the Village Card.

Endgame Ties

In case of a tie a player with more Crystals win. If players are tied for crystals, a player with less wounds win. If players are tied for wounds, a player with more cards (of all types) wins.

Variants

Variant: Fast invasion

If you prefer a shorter game, remove 5 cards from the Adventure Deck for every player that wants to participate. Those cards have to be put in the box (outside the game), not on the discarded cards pile.

Variant: Super-Fast invasion

For an extremely short game, use only cards with "2" on their backs from each Kingdom Deck. Put the rest of the cards in the box (outside the game), not on the discarded cards pile. During step 4 of setup only put 2 cards per player (Items and Enchantments) instead of 3.

Variant: Dragons in the depths

To make sure that Dragons won't come up too early, before you're ready for them, change the standard setup as described below:

1. Remove Dragon Cards from the chosen Kingdom Decks.
2. Take half of the Adventure Deck.
3. Shuffle the Dragon Cards into it and put it on bottom of the deck.

Overlords

Setup

Randomly choose one of the Overlord Cards. Place 1 Reward Token for each player on the Overlord Card.

If this is your first game of Enchanters consider skipping this point altogether and playing without the Overlord Card. Overlords were designed with advanced players in mind and might turn out to be confusing for new players.

Overlord Card Anatomy

Every Overlord Card is divided into three sections:

1. Invasion - e.g. "Take 1 Wound from another player" and "All players take 2 Wounds" - what happens when an Invading Card triggers the Overlord.
2. Challenge - e.g. "Fight the Overlord" - the combat a player starts against the Overlord with the Challenge action.
3. Reward - e.g. "Give 1 of your Reward Tokens to another player" - the effect printed on a Reward Token taken from the Overlord.

The example Overlord shown in the rulebook is Lord Vragan, the Blackest Knight.

Invading Cards

The card discarded as a part of the Rest action is considered to be an Invading Card. Check the Overlord card to see if he or she reacts to its type. If it does, resolve the proper invasion.

Example: After using a Rest Action Jack discards a Gnoll. He checks the Overlord Card - Cho'mun, the Ogre General. His rule for an invading Monster states: "Monster: Overlord attacks current player." Cho'Mun attacks Jack with Strength 4. Fortunately Jack has 3 points of Defense so he only takes 1 point of damage.

New Major Action: Challenge

Challenge actions are always marked by a Challenge symbol preceding its cost. Challenge actions are found on every Overlord Card.

The Challenge icon should be read as: Use your Major Action as a CHALLENGE action and discard the top card of Adventure Deck or the last card on journey track, if the Adventure deck is empty.

Upon paying the cost of the action, player immediately starts a fight against the Overlord. The combat follows the same rules as combat with a Monster or a Dragon. If player is victorious he receives one Reward Token from Overlord Card.

Challenging the Overlord is a Challenge action, and not a Rest action, and thus does not trigger any "After using Rest..." abilities or invasions.

Reward Tokens

The effects of a Reward Token are always described on the bottom of an Overlord Card. Each Reward Token is virtually a card containing the exact text in that section of the Overlord Card. Most of them give Glory Points at the end of the game and an ability that can be used during the game. The effects of multiple Reward Tokens stack.

Example: Mary challenges Sathi, the High Priestess. She needs to take a wound to initiate the fight. She defeats the Overlord and takes the Reward Token: "3 Glory Points, when your turn begins, take 1 Crystal". Next turn she defeats Sathi, the High Priestess again and now holds two of her Reward Tokens. Each turn she receives 2 Crystals and when the game ends she gets 6 Glory points.

Defeating Overlord

When an Overlord runs out of Reward Tokens he or she is defeated. The rules for invasions no longer apply and players can no longer challenge him or her. They still can use the abilities of collected Reward Tokens.

Overlord Variants

Variant: Hard Mode

Overlord starts with 4 reinforcement tokens - two for Attack and two for Defense.

Variant: Death Mode

If an Overlord still has any reward tokens at the end of the game, all players lose the game.

Variant: Reinforcement

After each fight with an Overlord, put a random reinforcement token on the Overlord. When playing a 2-player game, add an additional reinforcement token.

Wound Deck

Whenever a player has 10 or more Wound markers, he or she must discard markers that sum up to 10 Wounds and draw a Wound Card. Wound cards are kept in a separate stack and are kept in the same manner as Item or Enchantment Cards.

A Wound Card is still considered to be 10 Wounds (-10 Glory Points) at the end of the game, but also imposes some extra restrictions on a player and compensates for that with a few Glory Points.

When a player heals he or she always needs to discard Wound markers first. Only if there are no more Wound markers left and a player heals, he or she may discard a Wound Card and take 10 Wound markers, then heal the appropriate amount.

New Keywords and Icons in Overlords Expansion

Bury: Burying means placing a card on the bottom of the appropriate stack. When game asks you to "bury top Item", take top card on the item stack and put it on the bottom of the stack. A card cannot be buried if it is the only card in the stack.

Unbury: Unburying means placing a card on the top of an appropriate stack.

Swap: Cards that are swapped change their respective places. If the swap is not possible (if there is no card on one or both respective slots) just skip it. Swapped cards don't activate their Immediate Effect abilities and do not trigger "After taking" abilities.

Steal Card: New effects in game allow players to steal cards from other players. Stolen cards don't activate their Immediate Effect abilities and do not trigger "After taking" abilities.

Graveyard: All cards discarded during the game are considered a graveyard. Players may look through the graveyard at any time, but should not change the order of the cards. If more than one card is placed in the graveyard simultaneously current player decides which one goes on top.

Journey for the top card from the graveyard: Some cards allow players to journey to the graveyard to retrieve the top discarded card. Cards obtained through this journey are considered the same way as the cards obtained from the Journey Track and so all Immediate Effect abilities as well as "After taking" abilities apply. Players need to fight monsters and dragons they encounter on the journeys to the graveyard.

Undead Icon: Icon does not grant any special effect by itself. Just treat it as a card type depiction. Other cards have interaction with this icon (for example: "Ghouls" and "of Death" give Glory Points for each Undead Icon).

Slime Icon: Icon does not grant any special effect by itself. Just treat it as a card type depiction. Other cards have interaction with this icon (for example: most Slimes have their power increased based on how many icons a player has).

Frequently Asked Questions

1. When a rule on a card refers to cards (or tokens) without specifying a player, it always refers to cards (or tokens) of the player to whom the card belongs - unless the text on the card specifically states differently.

   Example: Richard has a Necklace on top of his Items Pile, so during his turn he may remove one of his Monster Cards to get 7 Crystals.

2. If the text on a card doesn't refer to a particular card (e.g. Top Item), the owner of the targeted cards may choose, which card will be affected.

   Example: John took Bolas from the Journey Track and chose Ann to discard one of her Monsters. Ann has three Monsters: a Gnoll on the bottom of her pile, a Unicorn in the middle and a Manticore on top, so she chooses to discard the Unicorn, as it's worth the least amount of Glory Points.

3. All visible symbols, actions and abilities are always active - this means that the artifacts are getting stronger and stronger throughout the game.

4. All hidden symbols, actions and abilities are inactive - a card loses all its properties once it is covered up - apart from the ones beneath the bottom horizontal line.

5. The same Combat rules apply to fights against Dragons, but keep in mind that some effects may only apply to Monsters, not to Dragons, and vice versa.

6. A Broken Sword icon means negative Attack Points, and a Broken Shield icon means negative Defense Points. Players Attack and Defense Points can never go below zero.

7. If you are not sure how some more complicated cards are interacting one with another, check the Timing Table near the end of the instruction.

Card Notes

Trap: After taking this card from the Journey Track, the player must give this card to another player. The card is placed on top of the receiving player's Item Card pile.

Bolas: After taking this card from the Journey Track, choose a player (yourself included). That player must discard one Monster Card of her choice from her own Monster Card pile. The discarded card doesn't have to be the top card of the pile.

Roc: After defeating this Monster, but before adding it to your Monster Pile, choose a player. That player must give you a Monster of her choice from her own Monster Pile. Put that Monster on top of your Monsters Pile, then put the Roc on top of it.

Manticore: After winning a fight with this Monster, two things happen:

• The player discards one of her own Monsters from her Monster Pile, before adding the Manticore to the pile. If the Manticore is his or her first Monster, she doesn't have to discard anything.
• The player chooses one of the other players; the target player must discard any one of her Monster Cards.

Bronze Dragon: Same as the Manticore rules above. Remember, the Dragon is not a Monster.

Axe: After taking this card, but before adding it to your Items Pile, every other player is dealt 1 Wound for every 2 Attack Points you have. The Axe's 1 Attack Point does not count towards this total as it is not yet considered a part of your Items Pile. Consider raising your Attack Points, before taking an Axe.

Chapel of Soulfire: Journey to graveyard means that you can treat a top discarded card as a proper journey destination. If it is an item or an enchantment, take it (activate Immediate Effect abilities). If it is a Monster or a Dragon, you must first fight it (the same as if you had taken it from the Journey Track). Note: the card removed from the Journey Track as part of a Rest action, is placed on the discard pile after the action is resolved.

of Fire: Upon activation, the player receives an Attack Point for every Defense Point he or she has. His or her Defense Points remain at the same value.

of Rage: Upon activation, the player receives an Attack Point for every two Monsters he has.

Giant: When a player fights this Monster, during the "Monster's Attack" phase of the combat, resolve it for each player, one-by-one. Other players may NOT use any actions or effects during this attack (e.g. activate a Helmet). The number of Wounds dealt may differ between players. The "Player's attack" phase goes by the standard rules.

Pink Dragon: After winning a fight with this Dragon count the total number of Wounds you have. Then take the same number of Wound Markers from the general supply and add it to the Wounds you already have.

Ogre: Double damage means that player receives twice the number of Wounds.

Example: Jack has 3 Defense and decides to take on an Ogre. Normally he would receive 3 Wounds, but since he's fighting an Ogre, he is dealt 6 Wounds instead.

Nasty Scar: Nasty scar prevents you from using any minor action on Village Card. This includes the multiaction that allows you to up your attack. You can still use rest action on Village Card.

White Dragon: After getting White Dragon you or any other player will no longer be able to heal your wounds. They can still be transferred with abilities that state "give X of your Wounds to other players".

Angel: The healing is applied after the combat is resolved and so current player can get wounded and become the "player with most Wounds".

Ghoul/Of Death: Remove from the game means you must put the card in the box. That card can no longer enter play during this game.

Book: The Book should be treated as an exact copy of the Enchantment - copies all the symbols, abilities and Glory points. In addition it grants 2 Glory points at the end of the game.

Brainellum: The easier way to understand the scoring on Brainellum is: 2/8/18/32/50 for 1/2/3/4/5 Reward tokens.

Sorceress: If there is no Enchantment on the Journey Track just ignore the ability.

Hide Armor/Eye/of Acid: Upon taking these cards immediately put them at the bottom of an appropriate stacks.

Subterranean Dragon: Each player in clockwise order can choose to bury or unbury any of their Items or spells. Those can be top, bottom or any other card. Only one such manipulation is allowed per player.

Skeleton: If there is no card in Graveyard just ignore this ability. Otherwise remember that the swap is mandatory.

Shield: Other players that use or activate abilities that affect "another player", "target player", "player on your side" can't pick you as a target and must pick another player. If there is no valid target for the ability just ignore the ability. If the ability was a cost (i.e. "Another player heals 1 Wound") the cost is considered to not have been paid. For abilities affecting "all players" or "other players" activated by other players, ignore the effect that relates just to you. Note that the shield also blocks abilities that might be beneficial for you.

Cho'man/Hydra: When an Overlord attacks all players resolve it for each player, one-by-one. Other players may NOT use any actions or effects during this attack (e.g. activate a Helmet). The number of Wounds dealt may differ between players. The "Player's attack" phase is not resolved.

Timing Table

If at any point in the game two effects were to happen during the same step of the table below, the current player decides which one gets performed first.

Beginning of the turn

1. "When your turn begins" abilities.
2. Minor action window
3. Pick a major action

Journey

1. Pick a card

2. Pay crystals

   (Item or Enchantment?)

   1. Minor action window
   2. Resolve Immediate Effect
   3. "After taking" triggers
   4. Add to the stack

   (Monster or Dragon?)

   1. Minor action window
   2. Combat: Player Attacks Monster, Monster Attacks Player
   3. Resolve Immediate Effect
   4. "After taking" triggers
   5. Add to the stack

Rest

1. Pick one Rest action
2. Pay any extra cost
3. Perform the effect
4. "After using Rest" abilities
5. Discard first card on Journey track
6. Check for invasions

Challenge (Overlord)

1. Pay any extra cost
2. Minor action window
3. Combat: Overlord Attacks Player, Player Attacks Overlord
4. Take Reward Token
5. Resolve Immediate Effect
6. Discard top card from the Adventure Deck

End of the turn

4. Minor action window
5. Slide cards
6. Refill Journey Track

Quick Reference (The Help Page)

Shortened setup:

1. Each player takes 5 crystals.
2. Each player takes Fist of Enchanting.
3. Shuffle the Kingdom decks (one per player or 4 halved decks for 2 players) together.
4. Find 6/9/12 (for 2/3/4 players) Item and Enchantment Cards on the bottom of Adventure deck and put on the top.
5. Place 6 cards from the top of the Adventure Deck onto the Journey Track.
6. Choose a Village Card.
7. Pick the first player.

During his or her turn, a player may:

• Journey: Take a card from the Journey Track, paying the cost in crystals.

OR

• Rest: Use one of the available actions. The first card on the Journey Track is discarded at the end of the turn.

ADDITIONALLY

• Use any Minor Actions (Cost → Effect) from the Village Card or her own topmost cards, each once.

Combat:

• The player attacks the Monster. The player must have Attack Points equal to or greater than the Monster's Health Points.
• A Monster ALWAYS attacks a player. The player gets a number of Wound Markers equal to the difference between the Monster's Strength and the player's Defense.

Final score:

• Glory Points from the Cards collected by the player.
• -1 Glory Point for each Wound.
• Additional Glory Points as described on the Village Card.

Icon Rundown

• Monster Card
• Dragon Card
• Item Card
• Enchantment Card
• Village Card
• Overlord Card
• Player's Attack
• Player's Defence
• Monster's Strength
• Monster's Health Points
• Wound
• Crystals
• The Cost — Effect action
• Immediate Effect
• Glory Points
• Reward Token
• Rest Action
• Challenge Action
• Undead Card
• Slime Card