Etherfields
Etherfields Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Components
- Stop! Before You Begin...
- Game Overview
- Starting the Campaign — Choosing Your Dreamer
- Game Setup
- Basic Rules
- Other Dreamscape Rules
- Turn Order
- Sealing and Unsealing Cards
- Distress and Dying
- Dreamers Actions
- Influence Cards
- Progress Influence Cards
- Influence Market & Buying New Influence Cards
- Influence Deck Card Limits (20-40)
- Gradual Actions
- Assault / Contact Actions
- Luck Die
- Movement Actions
- Items
- Dreamscape Phase
- Morphings
- Masks
- The Clock
- Wisdom Cards
- Finishing Dreams/Slumbers
- Awakening
- Dreamworld Map
- Slumbers
- Slumber Entity Tiles
- State Tokens
- Fate Cards
- Playing Cards in the Dreamworld
- Season Cards
- Delta Phase
- Shopping
- Note Cards
- Flaw Cards
- Overlay Cards
- Saving Your Game
- Adding a New Dreamer
- Variants
- FAQ / Clarifications
- Companions
- Spoilers and Hints
- A Brief Strategy Guide
- Index of Common Symbols
- Rules Summary
- Credits
Components
So what is all this stuff that you spilled out of the box.
DO NOT SHUFFLE ANY DECK UNTIL INSTRUCTED
- Board
- 4 Dreamer boards
- 4 Lucid mode Dreamer boards — They won't be used in the game until you discover how to open the Secret Mode decks during the campaign.
- Team marker
- First Player marker
- Belshazar miniature
- 14 Masks (and 4 Mask stands)
- 4 Dreamer miniatures (Gambler, Specialist, Tough Guy, Free Spirit)
- 4 Lucid mode Dreamer miniatures — They won't be used in the game until you discover how to open the Secret Mode decks during the campaign.
- 4 Human Shapeshifter miniatures
- 4 Creature Shapeshifter miniatures
- Starting INFLUENCE Market deck (81 cards) — Influence cards without numbers or rules on their backs. During the campaign, many new cards from other Influence decks (i.e. Dreamers Influence decks or Secret Influence cards) will be added to the Influence Market.
- 12 TURN cards
- Starting FATE deck (10 cards)
- Starting FLAW deck (6 cards)
- 4 Dreamer INFLUENCE decks (22 cards in each)
- 4 BASIC ACTIONS cards
- 5 Starting ITEM cards
- 4 packed Secret (Lucid) Mode decks (20 cards in each) — Do not open them until instructed!
- 395 SECRET cards — Don't look at them until instructed!
- 280 SECRET tiles — Don't look at them until instructed! In this game, we use the term "tiles" for oversized 100x100mm cards.
- 17 Dividers — They are used to separate decks in the box.
- 16 Ether markers — Used to mark acquired Ether – experience gained by the Dreamers. Ether is spent to improve Dreamers, buy new Influence cards, etc. Ether is represented by the Ether icon in rules.
- 16 Distress markers — Used to mark the distress, fear, fatigue, doubts, and wounds of the Dreamers. Distress is represented by the Distress icon in rules.
- 16 Universal markers — Universal markers have many different uses that are defined by cards and rules. Universal markers are represented by the Universal marker icon in rules.
- 6 Shining Gems — Precious gems that Dreamers may use during specific actions. Their significance expands during the campaign. Shining Gems are represented by the Gem icon in rules.
- 20 Threat tokens — These are generic tokens that have many different uses defined by cards and rules. They mostly represent dangers or challenges. These tokens have two different sides. Threat tokens are represented by the Threat icon in rules.
- 6 Block tokens — Block tokens are represented by the Block icon in rules.
- 12 Morphing tokens
- 8 Terrain tokens
- 4 Key tokens
- 12 Intent markers (4 of each color)
- Entity Movement die
- Luck die
- Hour Counter
- Wall / Clock Hand token
- 5 Spirit tokens
- 4 Dreamer Personal tokens — Take these out if the game instructs you to use them.
- 10 Story tokens — If the game doesn't ask you to use a particular Story token, use any of them.
- 4 State tokens
- 77 Sign tokens — Leave these in the box until you discover their meaning and rules on a card!
- Hole token
- 6 Blank tokens
- 15 Entity tokens
- 2 Dream Gate tiles envelopes
- Wisdom card holders and 2 Dreamworld Map tile holders
- Waste Bag — When the game asks you to remove a token from the game, put it in the Waste Bag – it won't be used in the game anymore.
- Secret Scripts book
Stop! Before You Begin...
The large quantity of cards, tiles, tokens and other things in the box can be a little intimidating at first. This section will help you sort everything before your first game.
Cards
1] Put the 4 card packs labelled "Do not open this deck" at one end of the card tray without opening them.
2] Unwrap the remaining card packs but keep them in order!
The vast majority of these are SECRET CARDS and can be identified by the card IDs in the top right corner on their backs. The card IDs start with a Roman Numeral (either I or II) followed by a number and sometimes a letter.
- The Roman Numeral explains which campaign the card is from.
- The Number places cards into smaller groups (i.e. all cards from a single Dream).
- Lastly, each card (or multiple cards of the same type) will have one corresponding letter.
3] Organize these in order (you should find these mostly in the correct order when you unwrap them) and place them in the main long well of the core box. These cards will therefore be arranged like this:
I-01 A, I-01 B, I-01 C, ... I-02 A, I-02 B(x4), .... II-23 A and so on.
Don't panic if some cards seem to be missing – this is deliberate. A full list of cards can be found at https://www.etherfields-secrets.com/forum/official-faq/list-of-all-secret-cards-and-tiles.
The rest of the cards do not have IDs on their card backs. They are starting cards. They can be packed with their corresponding divider (see previous page): the four Dreamer Influence Decks (place a Basic Action card aid with each deck), 5 Starting Item cards, 12 Turn cards, 6 Flaw cards, 10 Fate cards, 81 Starting Influence Market cards.
Cards vs Tiles
Unwrap the larger square cards and just like sorting the secret cards above, put them all in the larger storage well in the box. From now on, the larger square cards will be referred to as TILES, while standard sized cards will be called CARDS.
Other Components
Unpunch all other components and sort them according to the section on the left. Be careful not to discard the blank tokens. The rest of the dividers can be put aside for now (a complete reference for this can be found on page 16).
Game Overview
Etherfields is a narrative, cooperative deckbuilding campaign game for 1-4 players (or 5 with the 5th player addon) set in a fantastical world where a series of unique surreal dreamscapes await exploration.
The players take on the role of Dreamers and, throughout the course of the campaign, they discover their forgotten pasts and desperate missions.
Etherfields is an evolving game and as such, some of the rules will not be found within this rulebook – these will be explained as they are introduced gradually.
If this is your first time playing the game, choose a Dreamer character archetype below. Otherwise, go to GAME SETUP.
Starting the Campaign — Choosing Your Dreamer
Each player chooses one of the Dreamers below to play and takes the Dreamer's corresponding Influence Deck of 22 cards (which they then shuffle) alongside an additional Basic Action card, miniature and Dreamer Board.
Don't worry too much about your choice of Dreamers for now – later on you'll be able to switch them so just go with whichever one appeals to you.
- The Gambler is a good choice if you like to play with fate and roll dice. The Gambler often relies on luck, but she can also manipulate it. She likes to deceive others but considers it a game, not something serious. She has a problem with understanding the gravity of the situation, and, when she does, she pretends that there is no problem at all.
- The Specialist is an expert engineer and craftsman. He relies on using Progress cards, which provide constant bonuses during the game and slowly builds a powerful game engine. He chooses peaceful discourses and in-depth analysis over fast or brutal solutions. He has gathered more knowledge than the rest of the Dreamers altogether. He is a leader.
- The Tough Guy is tenacious and resilient. He prefers simple actions – mostly using brute force. He doesn't like prattling and thinking a problem over and over, but you may rely on him when you're in trouble. He won't hesitate to go as far as sacrificing himself. He may look grim, but he's rather cool and composed, until something unleashes his fury.
- The Free Spirit likes to bend the rules. Even the basic rules of the game! She can't accept any barriers or laws, and she navigates her own path. She identifies with her soul and consciousness, she treats her physical body as something less important. Sometimes, she acts rather childish.
Dreamer Boards Description
- Influence deck (face-down).
- Influence Discard pile (face-up).
- Gained Ether.
- Suffered Distress.
- Active Progress cards zone.
Game Setup
"Begin at the beginning," the King said, very gravely, "and go on till you come to the end: then stop." – Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
If this is the first time you are playing the game, only carry out the highlighted sections of the Game Setup. Otherwise, complete the entire Setup for each subsequent game.
1] Place the game board down. A
2] Storage: Place all of your owner Note cards and Items here B. Note: if starting a campaign, you will not own any of these yet.
3] Dreamscape Board space: Place the 2 Setup Slumber Map tiles here C. If this is your first game, ignore this.
4] Each Dreamer places their chosen Dreamer Board, Influence Cards, Miniature and Basic Action Card in front of them.
5] Place the following into their positions:
- a) Turn Cards D – Shuffle and place face-down on the Turn Discard slot.
- b) Fate Cards E – Shuffle and place face-down on the Fate deck slot.
- c) Slumber deck / Entity slot G – Set aside the Delta Phase Tile (green back), shuffle the remaining cards and place them on top of it. This is also a place for Entity tiles.
- d) Flaws Cards F – Shuffle and place face-down on the Flaw deck slot.
- e) Slumber Map Tiles H – Shuffle and place remaining tiles on the Slumber Map Tiles slot.
- f) Season Cards I – Ensure that the top card is the same from your previous game.
- g) Take out the Wisdom card holder housing all found Wisdom cards.
- h) Dream Gate Tiles – Take out your available Dream Gate Tiles from the special envelope. When starting any Dream they will be placed on J. Do not do it yet!
- i) Place all discovered Dreamworld Map Tiles on the Dreamworld Map board K.
6] Place all dice, tokens and markers in separate piles near the board. If they have been unlocked, both universal and personal Sign tokens can be placed out also, otherwise leave these in the box.
7] Place the Hour Counter at the corresponding hour of the Clock based on how many Dreamers are playing: 1/2/3/4/5 Dreamers = 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 Hours L.
8] Resolve the Awakening Card starting from Step 4. After the "Placing 2 Starting/Setup Slumber Map tiles" step (the tiles are labelled on the back), place your Dreamers in any of the spaces.
Note: During this resolution, players may change their Dreamer, their Influence deck composition, and which Masks they want to make active.
IF THIS IS YOUR FIRST GAME, YOU ARE READY TO START THE GAME. FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THE REST OF THIS PAGE. THEN, TAKE AND RESOLVE TILE 1-01X (The First Dream Gate tile). To learn how to resolve this card continue to BASIC RULES on the next page.
Elements in the Box
You can leave the following elements in the box (take them out as needed):
- Influence Market Deck – shuffle before drawing.
- Item Market – shuffle before drawing. If this is your first game, the Item Market is empty.
- Secret Cards and Tiles – These stay presorted in order.
- Unused Masks.
Throughout the rest of the rulebook, these highlighted sections are designed to provide a small amount of guidance for the first game you play. The rulebook has been structured with the intention that you dive into the First Dream – the game's tutorial – without necessarily reading the rulebook cover-to-cover but referencing it from time to time as you run into new concepts. This portion of the game is designed to slowly introduce you to all the rules.
Reveal
Whenever the game asks you to reveal a card or tile with a specific code, find it in the Secret deck/tiles (by checking the code on its back) and reveal it. Place it in corresponding slot or nearby game board if it doesn't have a designated slot (which happens mostly in case of Dream specific cards).
If, when asking you to reveal a specific card/tile, the game only gives a letter instead of a full code, it means the revealed card/tile comes from the current Dream instead of the Secret deck/tiles.
Dreams vs Slumbers
There will be many references to "DREAMS" and "SLUMBERS" throughout both the rulebook, cards and tiles and it may initially be easy to confuse the two. Generally DREAMS are confined larger adventures while SLUMBERS are shorter mini encounters between them.
DREAMS use DREAMSCAPE MAP TILES (found within the unique Secret cards and tiles of the Dream). Your adventure will start in a Dream.
SLUMBERS use SLUMBER (DREAMSCAPE) MAP TILES & the SLUMBER DECK.
Finally, if we zoom further out to a bird's-eye global perspective, our Dreamers – collectively as a group – navigate the DREAMWORLD MAP K in order to gain passage into Dreams, encountering numerous Slumbers along the way. You'll be introduced to Slumbers and the Dreamworld Map later.
Secret Scripts
Etherfields uses a Book of Secret Scripts to reveal its stories and game events. Whenever you see a reference to "s. ####" turn to the relevant number in the Book of Secret Scripts and read it aloud.
An updated digital version of the Book of Secret Scripts can be found at: https://etherfields-secret-scripts.web.app/.
Multiple Choices
When the game instructs you to do something and there are several applicable options (like moving an Entity when you have several possible paths), the Dreamers choose an option as a group. Further, if you do not satisfy the requirements to make a certain choice, you may not choose it. This applies to the whole group if the choice is directed to all the Dreamers.
Rules Precedence
When a rule on a card, tile or script contradicts the rulebook, the rule on that card, tile or script takes precedence.
Player Count Icon
The Player Count icon indicates the Player Count. It is always equal to the number of players in the game (e.g.: if there are 4 players in the game, this icon means "4").
"/" Symbol
The "/" symbol means "or."
Basic Rules
Flow of the Game
Throughout the course of the campaign, players explore a variety of Dreams and their Dreamscapes in order to unravel their purpose and identity. These are longer, unique expanded adventures that feature a variety of environments and storylines. In between these Dreams, they travel across the Dreamworld map and encounter Slumbers – shorter mini-encounters – that expose them to the denizens and creatures that inhabit this world.
Dream Gate Tiles
"Ever have that feeling where you're not sure if you're awake or dreaming?" – Neo, The Matrix
Dream Gates are used to enter Dreams. Usually they will have a specific District on the Dreamworld map where you can enter them (see DREAMWORLD MAP, pg 14) and also a listed key requirement to do so. For the First Dream you can ignore those requirements. Dreams can be stored in between each game session in the envelope provided.
A Dream Gate tile shows: the Secret tile code, the Dreamworld Map Location, the Keys Cost, the Number of Turn cards, the Setup and the Introduction.
To enter a Dream resolve the following:
- If the Slumber Dreamscape is present, discard it first (i.e.: all Slumber Map tiles, Quirk cards, etc.). There is no Slumber Map currently so you can ignore this for now.
- Setup: Resolve all the listed steps here prior to beginning the Dream. Generally this will require you to prepare by taking all the appropriate cards out of the box and placing them within reach and also by setting up its starting Dreamscape Map Tiles.
Remember! Never look at the front side of any Secret Card or Tile unless instructed to reveal, peek or gain it.
- Turn Deck: Randomly draw the listed number of Turn cards and place them face-up in the Turn deck slot. This determines how much time you have to complete the Dream (see TURN CARDS, pg 12). The rest are discarded face-down to the Turn Discard Pile.
- Introduction: Read this reference within the Secret Scripts booklet for this specific Dream after you have set up the Dream.
- Then flip the Dream Gate tile to its other side and place it on the Dream Gate slot. Any special rules are listed here along with the GOAL of the Dream and also the script number to resolve if you run Out of Turns.
- Finally the Dreamers enter the Dreamscape and the first Turn begins…
The Dreamscape Map
Ignorance, that blind old fool who steers a wayward path, has set the course on which we sail into a night of uncertainty – Dead Can Dance, In the Wake of Adversity
While in Dreams or Slumbers, the game takes place on the Dreamscape, which consists of Map tiles that represent what the Dreamers experience within the Dream or Slumber. Miniatures are used to represent the Dreamers and the Entities they encounter. Each map tile is divided into 4 spaces. When a map tile is revealed, turn it face-up and align the tile's code with the corresponding code on the game board on the DREAMSCAPE MAP area (upper portion of the game board).
Note that Map tiles or cards do not always occupy a whole Map tile slot. Sometimes a tile may overlap two slots, lying partly on both or a card may be placed at an angle. In such a case, it is important to check the code of the tile is (A1, B2, etc) is aligned with the code on the game board and the grid lines match up.
If this is your first game, the Dream Gate tile has instructed you to reveal only the Setup tile (Tile 1-01 SETUP). Turn it over and place it over the top of the A2 Dreamscape (upper) location on the main board.
Dreamer's Entrance
Dreamers will always enter the Dreamscape on the Dreamer's Entrance. This icon is placed between 2 spaces. It means that it refers to both of them. Place your miniatures on either of these spaces. Place your dreamers in either of the 2 available spaces on the A2 Tile.
Map Actions
Map actions are those that can be found on Map tiles. Those with the single-use symbol are single use only. After using the action, block it with a Block token (see DREAMER ACTIONS, pg 9 for more details about performing actions).
Walls
There is also a wall close-by – this is an impassable barrier that you can't move through or measure Range through (see MOVEMENT ACTIONS, pg 11 for more detail).
Entity Spawn
There is no Entity present at the moment so you don't need to worry about this just yet but keep these rules in the back of your mind.
Spawned Entities (see ENTITY, pg 12) always appear in spaces bearing the Entity Spawn icon. If several Entity Spawn spaces are available, you can choose between them. When spawning several Entities, if there is more than one Entity Spawn space available allocate them as evenly as possible.
In the Dreamscape, if there is any Entity Spawn space with a TURN SUIT icon, check to see if it corresponds to the current Turn Suit on the current Turn card. If it does, the first Spawned Entity must be placed in that corresponding Entity Spawn space.
Other Dreamscape Rules
If this is your first game, you may skip this page for now. Most of this information won't be neccessary to play for now.
Other Dreamscape Icons
Shining Gem Slots – When you're in a space with a Shining Gem Slot, you may spend 1 Shining Gem and place it in that Slot. From this moment, the effect described next to that Slot is active. You may use this action without paying additional costs. If you're in a space with an active Shining Gem you may recover that Shining Gem but will also deactivate the effect of the Slot.
Trap – whenever you Move through a Trap space (or end Movement/Relocation on it), you trigger the Trap effect. The Trap effect is described in the Slumber/Dream.
Flying rule – effects or actions given in this blue frame are not related to the space in which the frame is located, but concern the whole Dreamscape. If such a frame contains an action, you may perform it regardless of range. If there is no action inside the Flying Rule but instructions (e.g.: resolving a script) it should be resolved as soon as this Flying Rule is revealed.
Drawing Bonus – at the start of the Dreamers Phase, if you're in a space with a Drawing Bonus, draw a number of additional Influence cards equal to the number shown on this bonus icon during the Draw step. Remember that a Drawing Bonus does not modify your Hand Size limit.
Stairs – this icon doesn't have any effect unless another card or rule directly addresses it.
BLOCKED SPACE – Neither Entities nor Dreamers may Move or measure range through a Blocked space. If you want to Move to a space behind a Blocked space (or use an action targeting that space), you must measure the range around it – this may sometimes be impossible.
Terrain Symbols and Terrain Tokens
Terrain Symbols don't have any effect unless another card or rule directly addresses them.
When a Terrain symbol is at the center of a Map tile, all 4 spaces on this tile are considered as having that symbol.
If a Terrain symbol is on the line between 2 spaces of a Map tile, both spaces are considered as having that symbol.
Terrain tokens (placed in a space / 2 spaces / tile) follow the same rules as Terrain symbols.
Whenever there are both Light and Darkness Terrain symbols in the same space at the same time, the Darkness symbol is ignored.
(The four Terrain symbols/tokens are Light, Darkness, Swamp and Water.)
Limit of Miniatures & Entity Tokens per Space
Each space can hold a maximum of 4 miniatures and/or Entity tokens, after which it is considered full. Dreamers can move through full spaces, but cannot stop on them. Entities entering full spaces (either by Moving or by Spawning) causes Dreamers to be pushed out to any adjacent space chosen by the players. However if the full space contains only 1 Dreamer, that Dreamer cannot be pushed and the Entity ends its Movement within range 1 of the space.
Big Entities: Big Entities are those whose miniatures or tokens are bigger than normal. They occupy the whole space in which they stand and cannot be pushed out in any way. When a Big Entity enters a space, it pushes all other miniatures and/or Entity tokens in that space to any adjacent spaces chosen by the players and also causes it to end its Movement.
Note: In some Dreams, you will find spaces completely cut off by Walls. The Dreamers may be able to Relocate to these spaces in various ways. If 4 Dreamers occupy such a space, no Entity can spawn or Relocate there.
Component Limitations
Whenever you should gain or place a component and there are not enough left in the pool (lack of Ether or Shining Gem markers, Keys, Threat tokens, Shapeshifter miniatures, etc.), that component is not gained/placed.
Distress is the only exception to this rule. If a Dreamer should suffer Distress and there are none left in the pool, all Dreamers fail (see Distress and Dying, pg 8).
The number of components of a given type is NOT dependent on the numbers of Dreamers. This rule applies to any component gained from the Secret cards of a Dream (Influence/Item/Note cards, etc.). For instance, if you already found a special Item in a Dream, that Item won't be there anymore if you visit that Dream again (e.g., because you were previously defeated). You do not gain a second copy of that Item.
Turn Order
Gameplay within both Dreams and Slumbers is divided into Turns. Each Turn consists of a Dreamers Phase (where the players act simultaneously) followed by a Dreamscape Phase (where the game acts):
Dreamers Phase
1) Draw Step
Each Dreamer draws 4 Influence cards, not exceeding their Hand Size Limit, which by default is 6 cards*. If you reach your hand limit, you stop drawing and at no time can you have more cards than this limit. If you can draw, you cannot choose to draw fewer cards than required. Before you draw you may discard any number of cards from your hand.
*Some effects and cards may increase this limit.
At any time, if your Influence deck runs out of cards while drawing, reshuffle your Discard pile, creating a new deck, and draw the rest of the required cards. However, this comes at a price (see RESHUFFLE below).
2) Card and Action Step
Dreamers move across the Dreamscape, perform actions and play cards (see DREAMERS ACTIONS, pg 9). Dreamers can take their actions simultaneously without worrying about player order* unless a specific situation calls for it. This phase ends when all players agree there is nothing more they wish to do. Then, proceed to the Dreamscape Phase.
*See pg 16 if you would like to play with a structured turn order. You may use the First Player marker if you do so.
Reshuffle!
At any time you have to draw cards but the deck is empty, after reshuffling your Discard Pile and forming a new Influence Deck – suffer 1 Distress OR Seal 3 Cards.
To push away the menace of death, you must choose between suffering dangerous Distress or sacrificing cards from your deck by Sealing them. The easiest way to remove Distress and recover these Sealed cards is the special Delta Phase tile, hidden in the Slumber deck (see DELTA PHASE, pg 15).
If the game allows you to reshuffle your Influence deck, even though you still have some cards in it, reshuffle all the remaining cards and the cards in your Discard pile to form a new Influence deck. As this was not triggered by having to draw cards you do NOT have to take the reshuffle penalty.
Hand Size Limit
You can never have more than 6 cards in hand, at any time. When drawing cards, you only draw until you have 6 cards in hand, never more.
A bonus that allows you to draw more cards does not increase your Hand Size limit. Some special rules may modify your Hand Size limit.
Dreamscape Phase
1) Entity and Dream Event Step
The current Turn card determines which effects of this Dream are resolved and in what order. These effects can be found on the Entity tile(s), Dream Gate tiles or any revealed Secret cards (see TURN CARDS, pg 12).
The Dreamers cannot use any actions or card effects during this phase unless a card allows it specifically or there is a special icon present on it.
Occasionally, there are no effects during this step – this is the case for most of the initial part of your First Dream.
2) Discard Turn Step
The current Turn card is discarded at the end of the Turn. All effects with "until the end of this Turn" timing cease to be in effect now. Then if there are cards remaining in the Turn Order deck, a new Turn begins with the Dreamers Phase again. If no cards remain, resolve the "Out of Turns" effect (as described on the Dream Gate/Slumber Tile).
Sealing and Unsealing Cards
"All around me darkness gathers, Fading is the sun that shone, We must speak of other matters, You can be me when I'm gone." – Neil Gaiman, The Kindly Ones
Sealing cards is one of the most common negative effects in the game. It removes a number of cards from your Influence deck until you find a way to Unseal them.
Seal X cards: Reveal X Influence cards from the top of your deck and place them in the Sealed pile. Sealed cards are unavailable until you manage to recover them through an Unseal effect.
Unseal X cards: Take X cards from the top of your Sealed pile and place them in your Discard pile. They will become available again after you reshuffle your deck.
We suggest to place your Sealed pile below your Dreamer board to mark those cards as unavailable.
Note: Only Influence cards can be Sealed. Other cards in your deck (like Flaw cards) are omitted while Sealing (you just skip the Flaw card and draw another card). After resolving the Seal effect, any drawn Flaw card is placed back on the top of the deck.
Note: If you should Seal cards, but you do not currently have cards in your Influence deck, you do NOT need to reshuffle NOR Seal your cards.
Distress and Dying
"For in this sleep of death what dreams may come." – William Shakespeare
Distress is used to mark distress, fear, fatigue, doubts and wounds suffered by the Dreamers. When obtained, place them next to your Dreamer board.
Dreamers lose when:
- Any Dreamer suffers an 8th Distress: they die immediately, and all Dreamers lose.
- Whenever a Dreamer should suffer Distress, but there are none left in the pool (there are a total of 16 markers in the game), all Dreamers lose.
- When a Dreamer has fewer than 6 cards in total (including cards in their influence deck, hand, and Discard Pile but not Active Progress cards and Sealed cards) they immediately die and all Dreamers lose.
If the Dreamers lose, resolve the Death Wisdom card (reveal II-42 I Secret card if it is not revealed yet – there is a reminder on your Basic Action card).
If Dreamers lose in a Dream, they additionally discard the current Dreamscape and return all cards and tiles of this Dream (except for those already gained by Dreamers or added to the game decks) to the Secrets. Keep the Dream Gate tile of this Dream so that you may still come back to try again.
Dreamers Actions
As I easily get inner contact with myself, I notice distress grabbing for my throat. It is time to reach out. To find something that isn't there. You see the signs, they're on the road. – The Gathering, Analog Park
While in a Slumber/Dream, each Dreamer may perform various actions. Most of them can be found:
- on the Basic Actions card.
- on the Dreamer's Influence cards.
- on the active Dreamer's Progress cards.
- on the Dreamer's active Mask.
- on the active Items shared by the Team.
More actions may be available in the Dreamscape – on Slumber/Map tiles, Dream Gate tiles, Entity tiles, etc.
The following section describes how to perform actions. The various game elements on which these actions can be found are detailed later in this rulebook.
Action cost icons:
- 0 Intent – The cost of this action is always 0 Intent. Using it is free.
- Distress cost – Suffer the shown amount of Distress to pay this cost (gain Distress). More about suffering Distress – see page 8.
- Shining Gem cost – The cost of this action is given in Shining Gems. To use this action, you must discard the given amount of Shining Gems.
! Map actions can only be carried out if the Dreamer's miniature is in that action's space (unless it is an Assault/Contact action – see pg 10).
Performing Actions
When you want to perform an action, you first have to pay its cost (and sometimes meet some additional conditions).
The cost is always indicated at the beginning of each action. Usually, it's an amount of Intent (Awareness, Cunning, or Wrath).
Intent is a basic resource in the game. It represents how a Dreamer chooses to interact with the world or the manner in which they would solve a particular problem. Intent has 3 colors:
- Awareness (green). It's mostly related to conversation, observation, understanding, and technology.
- Cunning (yellow). It's mostly related to movement, cleverness, avoidance, acting, and deception.
- Wrath (red). It's mostly related to physical effort, fighting, tenacity, or arguing.
To use an action, pay for its cost by discarding a combination of Influence cards from your hand and/or active Items until you reach the required amount of the particular type of Intent. Influence cards are discarded to a personal Influence Discard pile while Items used in this way are discarded into the Item Storage.
The Intent that a discarded Influence/Item card gives is shown in its upper left corner. If a card has multiple Intent colors to choose from, you must choose which one you want to use when discarding it. If you are discarding a card in this way you may not use its printed action ability. Intent is gained immediately when discarding the card and any excess Intent is lost.
Example: A cost has a requirement of either 6 Awareness or 6 Wrath. You decide to pay 6 Awareness by discarding one card providing 1 Wrath and 2 Awareness, one with 3 Awareness and an active item with 2 Awareness. The excess 1 Awareness is lost and cannot be reserved to pay for another action. The 1 Wrath was never gained, since the card was used for the 2 Awareness.
Basic Actions Card
Each Dreamer has their own Basic Actions card that lists the actions discussed before as well as several other ones:
- Move – Spend any number of Cunning to Move the same number of spaces. More about Movement – see Movement on page 11.
- Effort – Once a turn, lose X hours to move X spaces (see THE CLOCK, pg 13).
- Peek a Card – Discard 1 card to take a 5-second peek at 1 Secret card/tile from the current Dream with an Influence/Item/Flaw/Fate or Slumber back.
- Gain a Shining Gem – Discard 3 Influence cards from your hand to gain a Shining Gem.
- Use a Shining Gem – Discard 1 to reroll any roll (of any die, rolled by any player).
- Remove Morphings – Discard 1 Key or 1 Ether to discard 1 Morphing (see MORPHINGS, pg 13) from an Entity within range 1.
- Boosting Your Intent – See the description on page 11. This is a reminder of the consequences when you roll the Skull (the worst outcome).
- Dreamer's Death – It's a reminder of what happens when Dreamers exceed their Distress limit. Resolve Secret Card II-42 I (Death) Wisdom Card (see Distress and Dying, pg 8).
Influence Cards
I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then. – Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
An Influence card shows its Intent, its Ether cost of buying this card, its Action/effect cost, any Additional requirement, and its Action/effect.
Influence cards represent all the abilities and powers in the Dreamers' physical and psychological arsenals. At the start of the campaign, each Dreamer only has access to their 22 starting Influence cards. However, this deck will improve and evolve as they gain new cards by visiting Dreams or buying them from the Influence Market.
Each Dreamer places their deck on the left side of their Dreamer board and they will draw cards from this deck during the game. Played and discarded cards are placed face-up in the Discard pile, on the right side of the Dreamer's Board.
Except for Progress cards (see next section), you may only play Influence cards from your hand either for their Intent or for their action/effect. Unless specified otherwise, you can only play Influence cards during the Dreamers Phase.
The cards bearing the RAPID icon are an exception to this rule. They can be played at any time during your action (even in the middle of another action), other Dreamers rounds or during the Dreamscape Phase (making sure to pay their costs before doing so).
Example: You need to pay 8 Wrath for an action. You start paying 4 Wrath but do not have enough to finish it. You decide to play "Find the Pattern" in the middle of your action – its Rapid effect allows you to immediately Seal it and draw 3 additional cards. Luckily two of them have 4 Wrath and you use those to finish paying for the action.
Some cards will have additional requirements before you can use their Actions/effect (e.g.: being on a space with specific Terrain symbol).
Additionally, each individual starting Influence deck has its own special feature – a character specific action – printed on the back of each card. Dreamers may perform this action when the card is on the top of their deck. As the campaign proceeds, the more cards a Dreamer adds to their deck, the less this action will be available as they gradually lose their original identity.
Gained Influence cards (from Dreams, from the Influence Market) are placed face-up on top of the Dreamer's Discard Pile.
Progress Influence Cards
"Dreams grow if you grow." – Zig Ziglar
A Progress card shows its Intent, the Progress placement cost, the Ether cost of buying this card, any Additional requirement, the Action/effect cost, and the Action/effect.
Progress cards are special types of Influence cards that provide persistent abilities to your Dreamers when they are played. They can be used normally for Intent when discarded from your hand but the actions/effects on them cannot be used until they are placed into your Progress Zone (beneath your Dreamer board) by paying the listed cost on the top of the card. From then on, you may use any action or effect on this card. Once played, an active Progress card cannot be discarded to use as Intent.
Each Dreamer may have a maximum of 4 Progress cards in their Progress zone but some Masks (see MASKS, pg 13) and other cards may modify this. If you want to place a new Progress card when you have already reached your limit, you must first discard one of your placed Progress cards (active or flipped) before you can place the new one. You cannot voluntarily discard a placed Progress card otherwise.
Flipping Progress Cards – Being told to flip a progress card causes you to turn it face-down. The card's action can no longer be used until it is unflipped but the card still counts toward your placed Progress cards limit.
Some rules refer to Awareness/Cunning/Wrath icons – this refers to the number of your active Progress cards of the corresponding color (flipped cards do not count).
Unless otherwise specified Progress cards are not discarded when used. Placed Progress cards remain in your Progress zone until a game effect forces you to discard them (Dreamer's death, Awakening, etc.).
You may have two identical active Progress cards, but most of them will not duplicate their own effect.
Influence Market & Buying New Influence Cards
The Influence Market is a pool of unacquired Influence cards available to the Dreamers when they go Shopping on the Dream World map (pg 14). These mechanics will be explained as the game progresses. They can be left in the game box (you should not look at them) and taken out only when required. The Influence Market will change during the campaign with cards being added from Dreams.
When you are instructed to "Buy Influence Cards", each Dreamer may draw the top 3 cards of the Influence Market and buy any number of them with their available Ether, placing them face-up on top of your Discard Pile. Any remaining cards are returned to the bottom of the Market. The Ether cost of each Influence card in the Influence Market is indicated in its upper right corner.
You mainly gain Ether during Slumbers, as a Loot for victory and also through completing Dreams.
When the game asks you to RETURN a card to the Influence Market, remove this card from your deck and put it at the bottom of the Influence Market – it doesn't matter if this card was from your starting deck, bought from the Influence Market or gained in a Dream.
During the Buying cards step, if you draw a starting card of another Dreamer, you may buy this card – and start using the special action on its back, even though you are not that Dreamer.
At the start of the game the Influence Market consists of all Influence cards with no secret code number on their back.
At the start of the game the Items Market is empty.
Influence Deck Card Limits (20-40)
At specific moments of the game (during game setup or Awakening), you'll have the opportunity to add or remove cards from your Influence deck. Be sure to check the number of cards in your deck during this step to ensure you're within the deck limit of 20-40 cards. During this step:
- You must have a minimum of 20 cards in your Influence deck (if, for any reason, you have less than 20 cards available, you must add all your available cards to your deck).
- You can have a maximum of 40 cards in your Influence deck. Excess cards are placed back in the box, in the slot dedicated to your Dreamer (with your Divider). These unused cards, cannot be used in the game until the next deckbuilding step.
- During the deckbuilding step, you must add all Flaw cards in your possession to your Influence deck (they do not count toward the 20-40 limit).
Note: If the number of cards in your Influence deck exceeds 40 or drops under 20 during the game, nothing happens. The card limit is only checked during the deckbuilding step.
Gradual Actions
Gradual actions are actions that scale with the number of Dreamers and they are marked by a Player Count icon that appears after the basic cost to indicate how many times that cost must be paid to perform it. These may be paid in several steps over several Turns (i.e.: gradually). Each time the basic cost is paid, an Intent Marker can be used to show that it has been paid. Place it near the Action.
Example: There are 3 Dreamers in the game, and you want to perform a gradual action labelled as 3 Wrath x Player Count. One Dreamer decides to spend 6 Wrath to place 2 Intent markers on this action. On a later turn (or even during the same turn) another Dreamer will only need to pay 3 Wrath to perform that action.
Note: Some gradual actions have a cost given in two Intent colors. When paying for such an action, you must choose an Intent color and pay the full cost using that color. eg. if there are 4 Dreamers in play, 3 Wrath x Player Count / 3 Awareness x Player Count means either 12 Wrath or 12 Awareness, not a combination of both.
Return all Intent markers to the pool after the action is performed. Intent markers are limited and if you need one of a specific color but there aren't enough left, you may take an Intent marker from another action.
Any Intent marker placed on an action is considered to be yours, even if it was placed by another Dreamer.
When there are several miniatures of a given type of Entity in play, Intent markers placed on the Entity tile are not assigned to any of the miniatures. They are only assigned (and then discarded) to a specific miniature when the gradual action is actually performed.
Note: the notation "x X" just means a higher action cost, not a gradual action that you may pay in steps. For example, with 3 Dreamers in play, x2 Awareness means you must pay 6 Awareness at once.
Assault / Contact Actions
Assault/Contact actions – marked specifically with "Assault" or "Contact" keywords – are used the same way as normal actions with a few exceptions:
Not every Awareness action is a Contact action. Not every Wrath action is an Assault action.
- Unlike map actions which require you to be in the action's space to use, Assault/Contact actions can be performed from the base Assault/Contact range of 1 space away. This can be modified by some Influence or Item cards.
- You can bold the effect of an Assault/Contact action by paying its cost multiple times.
Example: You perform an Assault action with a cost of 3 Wrath. You can spend 9 Wrath at once to apply the effect of this action three times.
- If you pay the cost of an action multiple times, you can choose a different target for each effect.
Example: You perform a Contact action with a cost of 3 Awareness, and decide to pay 9 Awareness. There are 2 Entities in range that can be targeted by the action. You can decide to target the first entity twice, and the second Entity once.
Luck Die
Many cards and effects require the use of the Luck die to determine a random outcome. The effect of the roll is indicated on these components.
If a result of a roll isn't stated, it means that nothing happens.
A Skull result is usually severely negative, a Blank is just negative or neutral, and 1, 2, and 3 are usually positive.
Boosting Your Intent
Once per turn, when you spend at least 1 Intent (even if it's less than the required cost) to pay for any action, you may decide afterwards to roll the Luck die to add additional Intent to this action. The various outcomes depend on the following results:
- Skull – The action is failed and you don't reclaim discarded Influence cards used to pay for this action. Additionally, discard 1 Ether or suffer 1 Distress or Seal 3 cards.
- Blank – No Intent is added. If this means that the action fails, you don't reclaim discarded Influence cards used to pay for this action.
- 1 / 2 / 3 – add 1/2/3 Intent of the same color.
The Luck die is always used as the last source of adding Intent to the action – after rolling the die, you can't add any more Intent to this action. If you fail to gather the required number of Intent, the used Intent is lost, even though you didn't perform the action.
You may also use the Luck die when performing a Movement action to Move farther. It counts only as 1 Movement. If roll was failed, the Dreamer does not Move at all.
Rerolls
Many effects allow you to reroll a die result (sometimes this only applies to your roll, sometimes to any roll, including other Players' and Entity rolls).
There is no limit to the number of rerolls you can perform, as long as you can meet the conditions and pay all costs given on the card/rule allowing that reroll.
When you reroll the die, only the result of the last roll is applied. Previous results are ignored.
Movement Actions
Her feet half rested half floated, upon the floor; Earth scarcely held her down, so fast was she becoming a thing of dreams. – Lord Dunsany, The King of Elfland's Daughter
A Move action is performed by discarding either Influence cards or Active Item cards with Cunning Intent and then moving the Dreamer miniature as many spaces as there were Cunning Intent on these. Movement is only ever orthogonal (vertical or horizontal) but never diagonal*.
*Some Influence/Item cards may alter this rule and even provide other bonuses to movement...
Relocation – Relocating means moving to another space, ignoring range, Walls, and any other obstacles – much like a "teleportation".
Walls
Neither Entities nor Dreamers may Move or measure range through Walls. If you want to Move to a space behind a Wall (or use an action targeting that space), you have to measure the range around it.
Some Walls do not cover the entire edge of their space (they have an opening in their center, or cover just half their space). This means that the Wall on that edge is disabled.
Two adjacent tiles may sometimes display a tiny gap between their Walls, just on their edges. These gaps don't disable the Wall.
A) The Dreamer moves 1 space.
B) The Dreamer cannot perform this Move because diagonal movement is not allowed.
C) To perform a legal move to space I, the Dreamer must move 2 spaces.
D) To perform a legal move to space II, the Dreamer must move 4 spaces (the Wall prevents them from taking the shorter path).
Range
Most actions and effects requiring a target have a specific range. This is the maximum range of this action / effect. Actions and effects can always target spaces that are closer than maximum range.
Range 0 means the same space.
Range 1 means an adjacent space and/or closer spaces.
"In any range" or "unlimited range" doesn't mean you may affect spaces behind Walls or Blocked spaces – you still must be able to find a legitimate connection between you and the targeted space. If a rule states "in any space," you may ignore range, Walls and Blocked spaces.
Items
The mystifying oddities that can be found scattered throughout the Dreamworld act as useful aids to help the Dreamers overcome their many challenges.
At any one time there can only be a maximum of 3 ACTIVE ITEMS* which are placed in their designated spaces on the board. Any Dreamer can use these – either by discarding them for their Intent or using them for their effects. Note that not all items are discarded after using their effect unless specifically stated.
*There is a 4th Item Slot on the board that may also be unlocked.
You may have found some STARTING ITEMS during the Initial Dream (3 that you got to keep as ACTIVE ITEMS and the remaining 2 that were sent to your STORAGE). If you didn't find them, these would have made their way to the ITEM MARKET for you to buy later through Shopping Locations on the Dreamworld Map.
All other Item cards owned by the Dreamers are not considered to be active but placed face-down in the Storage slot.
When the game allows you to RESTORE AN ITEM (e.g.: through the effect of an Influence card or Script event), draw one randomly from the STORAGE and place it in an Active Item slot. If there are no slots available, you must discard one of your other active Items or the Item you just drew back into the Storage. Generally DISCARDED ITEMS will go into the STORAGE (however some may go back to the ITEM MARKET which you can obtain again by SHOPPING – see pg 15).
Dreamscape Phase
And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. – Friedrich Nietzsche
ENTITIES are the boogiemen and ethereal beings that wander the dream world. They are represented on the Dreamscape and Slumber maps by their relevant miniature(s) or token(s). They act after the Dreamers have passed in the DREAMSCAPE PHASE and their actions are determined by what is displayed on the Turn Cards and the Entity Tile(s).
Begin the Dreamscape Phase by examining the current face-up Turn Card.
Turn Cards
Turn cards serve two functions: both to count the Turns in Slumbers/Dreams and also to indicate how Entities and the ever-changing Dreamscapes of Slumbers and Dreams behave and respond.
Counting Turns
At the beginning of every Slumber/Dream, shuffle the specified number of Turn cards and randomly place them face-up on the Turn deck slot. Turns can be found on the top righthand corner of Slumber Tiles and Dream tiles. Place the remaining Turn cards face-down in the Turn discard pile.
The topmost card – the "current Turn card" – should be the only visible card and, at the end of each Turn (after going through all its effects – see below), this is discarded and a new one revealed for the next Turn. When you run out of Turn cards, the Slumber/Dream ends – resolve the Out of Turns effects described on the Slumber/Dream Gate tile.
Turn card effects:
- Morphing Effect – Makes the Entity stronger (see MORPHINGS, pg 13).
- Basic Effect – A lesser negative effect.
- Special Effect – A stronger negative effect.
Entity & Dream/Slumber Effects
At the beginning of the Dreamscape Phase, each step on the current Turn card is resolved from top to bottom. These steps consist of 3 main effects (shown below) and an Entity Movement step.
For example, if BASIC EFFECT shows on the TURN CARD, this particular ENTITY would cause Dreamers within 1 range to suffer 1 Distress. Likewise SPECIAL EFFECT would cause Dreamers within 2 range to SEAL 2 cards.
All of these effects are usually found on the ENTITY TILE but can also be found on other Secret cards depending on the Dream/Slumber.
If a Turn card specifies an effect but there are no game elements where it is featured then skip that effect. You may find that this is the case for the first half of the First Dream.
When several effects are supposed to happen during the same step, resolve them in any order, but consider that they all happen simultaneously.
If the game instructs you to do something at the end of the Turn, do it after resolving all steps.
Other Turn Card Rules
BLOCKING STEPS / ADDING TURNS: When the game asks you to "Block 1 step of the current Turn card", choose and mark one of the steps with a Block token. This step is skipped when resolving the Turn Card. When the game asks you to "Add 1 Turn," take the bottom card of the Turn discard pile and place it at the bottom of the Turn deck.
TURN CARD SUITS (hearts, spades, diamonds, clubs): Each Turn card bears the symbol of one of the four Turn Suits. They don't have any effect unless another card or rule directly addresses them.
LOOT: Each Turn card has a separate Loot section. Resolve it whenever the game asks you to gain Loot – generally when you achieve a Victory during a SLUMBER. When gaining Loot, you always gain the Loot of the current Turn card.
Sometimes, you may have to choose between different Loot options, like 1 shared reward for the Team or smaller ones for each Dreamer.
Whenever a Slumber tile asks to gain Loot after the last Turn card has been discarded, consider the Loot from this last discarded Turn card.
Entity Tiles
There are two types of Entity Tiles: those that can be found in DREAMS and those found in SLUMBERS. There are minor differences between the two and SLUMBER ENTITY TILES will be covered later under the SLUMBERS section.
An Entity tile shows its Entity Interactions, its Movement value, its Setup, and its Entity Effects.
SETUP: Begin with the Setup section in the upper right corner. This may sometimes prepare a certain number of Turn cards, Spawn Entity tokens/miniatures and complete any additional Setup steps. (For more about Spawning, see ENTITY SPAWNING, pg 6).
ENTITY MODELS: Models placed by the Dreamers (from Influence cards, Note cards) are NOT considered to be Entities unless stated otherwise by the game.
INTERACTIONS: Interactions are actions you can perform with (or against) the Entity. If you are within the required range from the Entity, you can perform that action. As a reminder Assault/Contact actions have a base range of 1.
ENTITY EFFECTS: See left – ENTITY & DREAM/SLUMBER EFFECTS.
Note: "If Dreamer is in range X", means within range X of any of that Entity's tokens/miniatures. Being in range of more than one token/miniature of that Entity has no further effect – you are only affected by them once (unless the tile specifies that the effect scales with the number of Entities in range).
Entity Movement
ENTITIES will Move during the Movement step on Turn cards during the Dreamscape Phase. Each Entity has its own Movement value, indicated on the Entity tile. During this step, roll the Entity Movement die*:
- The Entity Moves 1 space only.
- The Entity Moves by the number of spaces indicated by its movement value.
- The Entity Moves by its Movement value, then roll again and resolve the new roll.
- (Special icon) The Entity ignores the Movement die. It's often followed with an additional set of rules concerning the specific Entity.
Entities always Move toward the closest Dreamer unless stated otherwise in their Movement special rules. If several Dreamers are in the same range, Players decide how the Entity will Moves. If it is in a space with a Dreamer already and performs a Movement or it does not have a legal path to its target, it does not Move. When an Entity enters the targeted Dreamer's space, it stops its Move.
Entities also do not use Map Actions in any way (so they won't follow you through shortcuts, etc.).
* Movement should be rolled separately for each Entity. However, you may decide to roll only once for all Entities with all of them using the result of this roll. You can change this preference based on your group and experiences.
Morphings
MORPHINGS (applied mainly during the Morphing step on TURN ORDER cards) in particular, add a boost to the ENTITY making it stronger and more dangerous as long as the token is on the ENTITY TILE. When you add 1 or more MORPHING TOKENS, draw them randomly and place them face-up on the ENTITY tile. It is recommended you use a small cup or opaque bag to do this. Remember that as a basic action you can remove a Morphing by spending an Ether or a Key. Removed Morphings go back to the Morphing Pool.
- Each ENTITY effect that inflicts Distress inflicts 1 additional Distress.
- Each ENTITY effect that Seals your cards, Seals 2 additional cards.
- ENTITY Movement is raised by 2. When you roll the "1 space" result, it still only Moves 1 space.
- All ENTITY effects with range have that range increased by 1 space.
- All MASKS worn by the Dreamers are inactive. All effects are applied immediately (e.g.: hand or Progress card limit reductions cause immediate discards).
- All placed PROGRESS cards are inactive. All effects are applied immediately. New ones can be placed but will remain inactive.
- Dreamers cannot reroll dice results in any way.
- Dreamers cannot use their Shining Gems for rerolls (but can gain more). They can however still pay for effects that cost Shining Gems.
Masks
Sometimes it's hard for us to find the truth In a world we no longer seem to understand – Brendan Perry, This Boy
Throughout the course of the First Dream, the Dreamers will have obtained their first two Masks. When worn, they provide you with special powerful abilities.
Each Dreamer may only wear one of them at a time – this is your Active Mask, normally chosen at the beginning of each game session (place it in a plastic stand). The ability on the back of this Mask may be used at any time.
If the Mask's action can be used Once per Turn, you may place it at the top of your deck after using it as a reminder and remove it at the beginning of the next Turn during the Draw step.
When you are instructed to Restore a Mask you replace your Active Mask with one of your other Masks (or if both Masks were discarded, to make one of them Active). When you are instructed to discard a Mask you lose it, place it either back in the box or off to the side. If you like you may choose to place your Sealed cards underneath or atop discarded Masks. When you gain a new Mask you may immediately wear it, discarding your current Active Mask.
Unused Masks can be placed back into the box. The Secret Cards (II-41 S cards) representing your Dreamers' Masks can be used to remind which Dreamer owns which Mask from game to game.
The Clock
You may have found some references to gaining or losing HOURS. At the beginning of a normal game, the CLOCK is setup according to the number of players with the HOUR COUNTER on the number of HOURS you have. These can be used to either move or gain more Turns – spending X HOURS for X Movement or TURNS respectively.
Whenever the game causes you to lose/gain Hours, the Hour Counter is moved down/up the track by the same amount, respectively.
Wisdom Cards
From time to time, you will acquire WISDOM CARDS during the course of the campaign. These cards add new rules that change the game or offer the Dreamers new possibilities.
Place the Wisdom cards in their dedicated card holder. It can hold up to 18 cards (9 on each side).
All the Wisdom cards you have gained are always considered active.
There is a possibility to have too many Wisdom cards to fit in the card holder. In such a case, players may simply choose which cards to keep in the card holder for the ease of use. Regardless of their choice, all the Wisdom cards are considered active.
Finishing Dreams/Slumbers
After finishing a Slumber / Dream, do not discard Influence cards from your hand, placed Progress cards, Shining Gems or other bonuses, unless a rule specifies otherwise. Do not reshuffle your Discard piles or decks. Leave all Sealed cards as they are.
Dreamers return to the Team marker on the Dreamworld Map, unless the Slumber/Dream tells you to do otherwise. Be very careful that you pay attention to following the instructions of Dream conclusion passages properly, lest you miss a step that prevents you from proceeding through the campaign.
After your First Dream, your Dreamers will be instructed to "Awaken" (see AWAKENING below). After Awakening, you'll find yourself on the Dreamworld Map and on the doorstep to the City.
Awakening
Awakening is a recovery/reset mechanic discovered when you have completed the First Dream that allows your Dreamers the opportunity to completely remove their Distress and Sealed cards, albeit at the cost of obtained Keys, Shining Gems and placed Progress Cards. Dreamers will awaken at the "Awakening" Location on the Dreamworld Suburbia District. This can be resolved at any moment after resolving the Location effect on the Dreamworld Map. See the Awakening Wisdom card for the detailed steps involved. Note that during this resolution players will be able to change their Dreamers, change their Influence deck composition and choose between their available Masks to make active.
STOP! YOU SHOULD KNOW ENOUGH NOW TO COMPLETE THE FIRST DREAM. CONTINUE ONWARDS ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED IT.
Dreamworld Map
Once you've completed the First Dream, read on.
So, if a city has a personality, maybe it also has a soul. Maybe it dreams. – Neil Gaiman
The DREAMWORLD MAP is a global bird's eye map of where your Team is currently located. Starting with your Team Marker on the AWAKENING space you will move around following the big arrows until you reach other locations with map icons. Unlike gameplay within Dreams/Slumbers, there are no set Turns on the Dreamworld Map and movement between the big arrows is free (i.e.: doesn't cost Intent). Smaller arrows are more dangerous SHORTCUTS. When moving using a shortcut, each Dreamer must Seal 1 card.
The description of all icons visible on the Dreamworld Map can be found on the Dreamworld Map Wisdom card. This card becomes available after finishing the First Dream.
The reasons for traversing these paths are two-fold: to gain more Keys in order to enter Dream Gates and to prepare your Dreamers for the upcoming Dreams by completing Slumbers (see Slumbers, to the right)—and in doing so placing Progress cards, obtaining Ether and Shining Gems.
You can now try to make your first move on the Dreamworld map. After doing so and resolving the Location, read the rest of the rulebook.
Slumbers
SLUMBERS are mini-encounters you will sometimes discover when moving around the Dreamworld, drawn from a SLUMBER TILE deck. At the end of the First Dream and for each subsequent game following, this deck is setup by placing all the Slumber tiles you have accumulated throughout the course of the game on top of the DELTA PHASE SLUMBER TILE (green-backed – see the DELTA PHASE, pg 15).
This Slumber deck will change throughout the course of the campaign and will primarily consist of Slumber Entities, dangerous or benevolent, that the Dreamers confront throughout these encounters. If the tile drawn is not one of these, just follow its instructions. Whenever the game asks you to add a new Slumber tile to the Slumber deck, add it to the bottom of that deck.
Early on in the game you'll find that there is only one ENTITY, the "Wraith," in this deck alongside two cards that will change based on how many active Progress cards you have placed. Don't be in a rush to unlock these until you feel ready, as they add more difficult ENTITIES to the game.
The Slumber Dreamscape Map
For the most part, Slumber Entity encounters will occur on the Slumber Dreamscape Map, similar to a regular Dreamscape Map in a Dream.
During Awakening and after concluding every Dream, clear the Dreamscape of any Dream Map tiles (if they haven't been already) and place the 2 STARTING/SETUP SLUMBER Dreamscape Map tiles. Remember to follow normal map tile placement rules when setting these up (by correctly aligning the printed codes with the codes on the game board). The rest of the unlocked Slumber Dreamscape Map tiles are shuffled and placed facedown on their relevant space on the board. These will be drawn and placed as Fate Card effects (see FATE CARDS).
Slumber Entity Tiles
A Slumber Entity tile shows its Movement value, Setup, Interactions, Entity effects, Deliverance, and Out of Turns / Skip.
SLUMBER ENTITY TILES are very similar to those found in Dreams except that they have a few features unique to Slumbers:
- Setup: Turns – Similar to the beginning of a Dream, set miniature(s) up and form a Turn deck with a specified number of Turn cards. This is how much time you have to complete the encounter. If you run out of Turns, perform the "Out of Turns/Skip Effect."
- Out Of Turns / Skip – If the Slumber Entity has a skip effect, the Dreamers may decide, at the start of any Turn, to resolve the "Out of Turns" effect instead of playing that Slumber. If this effect does not take into account any element placed during the setup, the Dreamers may decide to Skip the Slumber even before it has started. Usually this will give a negative penalty to the Dreamers (but not always).
- Deliverance – This will be a mechanic unlocked later in the campaign.
- GAIN LOOT – Resolve the Loot Section of the Current Turn card – usually occurs if you end a Slumber successfully (but not always).
- "This Slumber ends." – The Slumber ends immediately. Discard the current Slumber tile to the bottom of the Slumber deck and all Entity tokens/markers/miniatures related to that Slumber back to the box. Slumber Map tiles, Quirk cards, tokens, or markers not associated with the current Slumber tile remain. Dreamers miniatures also remain in the spaces where they are at the end of the Slumber and start there in the next Slumber. The next Slumber will begin with everything as it is now. Now, go back to the Dreamworld Map.
State Tokens
During the game, Dreamers and Entities may be affected by various States.
State tokens, when gained, are placed next to the targeted miniature/Entity and only affect it alone.
When you should place a State token and there are none left in the pool, the effect is ignored. Note that tokens share different States on the opposite sides and this may limit which States are able to be placed.
- Dazed – The maximum range of Entity effects/Dreamer Actions is reduced to 1 until the end of the Turn/Dreamers Phase.
- Stunned – Any Distress caused by effects of the stunned target are ignored for this Turn.
- Paralyzed – The affected Entity/Dreamer is unable to Move/Relocate until the end of the Turn/Dreamers Phase.
- Poisoned – The affected Entity is unable to gain newer Morphings until the end of the Dream/Slumber.
Fate Cards
Fate cards represent short interludes, small adventures or events that you encounter across the Dreamworld.
When you enter a Fate location, draw a FATE card from the top of the FATE DECK and resolve it. Each card contains all the rules needed to resolve it.
Sometimes a FATE card will ask you to draw and place a Slumber Dreamscape Map tile – these extend the existing Slumber Dreamscape (use the Map tile placement rules regarding code alignment). After drawing a Map tile, if any Map tile on the board has an empty Quirk space, place this Fate card into that space (if there is more than 1 empty space, choose any of them). Otherwise, the Fate card is discarded to the bottom of the Fate deck.
FATE cards with Quirks on them (or Quirk cards) create opportunities for certain spaces on the Map or negative/positive effects for the whole Dreamscape (depending on the card).
Playing Cards in the Dreamworld
Most of the time, Influence cards and Items are used in Slumbers and Dreams, not on the Dreamworld Map. However there are exceptions – some cards will have specific references to movement across the Dreamworld map or affect resolution of location effects.
In order to use these cards however, you must have them in your hand or as active Progress cards as there is no draw step on the Dreamworld Map. This might be a good reason to end Slumbers/Dreams with them in your hand.
Other cards, while not specifically referencing the Dreamworld, can also be played if they have an immediate effect that is useful on the Dreamworld Map or when resolving a Fate card (e.g.: for rerolls). If you can find a use for an Influence card or an Item, you may use it on the Dreamworld Map.
Season Cards
Season cards alter some rules when you are traversing the Dreamworld. Generally you will cause positive Seasons to occur if you complete Dreams with a Victory. Conversely failing a Dream will cause a negative Season to occur. There are hints on the Season cards to let you know which positive or negative effect will occur for winning/failing which Dreams. Note that dying does not cause Seasons to change.
Delta Phase
Keep on moving down this endless road, but take a detour sometime to visit dreams shrouded in mists of your desires and memories.
Eventually you will encounter the last GREEN-COLORED SLUMBER TILE. This is the DELTA PHASE and it gives all the Dreamers a little respite as they enter deeper into the DREAMWORLD.
When this card is resolved Dreamers may:
- Cure all their Distress
- Unseal all their cards
- Unflip all their Progress cards
- Reshuffle their Influence deck
- Restore their Mask
Hours are reset according to the number of players – 1/2/3/4/5 Players – 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1 Hours respectively.
Afterward, all of the other DISCARDED SLUMBER TILES are reshuffled and placed on top of this tile again to begin the cycle anew.
Remember that the Slumber Dreamscape Map remains unchanged.
The Delta Phase tile itself reads: "The current Dream cycle ends, and a new one begins... Now, resolve the Delta Phase instead of a Slumber."
- Each Dreamer may choose 1 option: Cure all their Distress, Unseal all their cards, Unflip all their Progress cards, Reshuffle their Influence deck, or Restore their Mask.
- Reset Hours to your limit, depending on the number of players: 1 player – 5 Hours, 2 players – 4 Hours, 3 players – 3 Hours, 4 players – 2 Hours, 5 players – 1 Hour.
- Shuffle the Slumber Deck and place the Delta Phase tile at the bottom.
Shopping
If you manage to make your way to a SHOPPING LOCATION you may use your SHOPPING CARD (II-41C) to allow each Dreamer to choose one of the following:
Buy Influence Cards – Draw 3 cards from the INFLUENCE MARKET DECK and buy as many of these as they want by paying the Ether COST in the top right of the card. Place these cards to your personal discard pile. Any unbought cards are placed at the bottom of the Market deck.
OR
Buy 1 Item – Draw a random item from the ITEM MARKET and gain it for 2 Ether, placing it in an ACTIVE ITEM slot (discarding one if full).
If you don't buy any cards or items gain 1 Ether. Return the Shopping card back to the SECRETS afterward. Usually you will have the opportunity to gain these back by finishing Dreams.
Note Cards
Note cards are usually one-use cards which can be used in a specific situation or in a particular Dream. The instructions on how to use them are found on their back and front sides.
All Note cards gained during the game are kept in the Storage and can be used by any Dreamer.
Dreamworld Map in Etherfields 2.0
Your first few moves on the Dreamworld Map may seem very simple and straightforward. Do not mind that. The world will evolve as time goes on!
Flaw Cards
When the game instructs you to gain a FLAW CARD, draw one from the FLAW DECK and put it on the top of your Discard pile. These are negative effect cards that clutter your Influence deck.
Whenever you draw a Flaw card from your Influence deck, you must resolve it immediately. Depending on the Flaw card, some will be placed into your Discard pile afterward or into your Progress Zone (applying a persistent negative effect) – these are not counted toward the active Progress card limit.
Most Flaw cards can be removed from your deck for a price (generally 1 Ether) after which it is returned to the bottom of the Flaw deck.
Remember that Flaw cards are omitted when having to Seal cards and are then placed back on top of your Influence deck (see Sealing Cards, pg 8).
During the deckbuilding step, you must add all your Flaw cards to it (they do not count toward the 20-40 limit).
Overlay Cards
The Overlay cards are Secret cards which contain parts of the Dream Map. These cards should be immediately placed on the Dreamscape when revealed, in the way that allows them to fit correctly onto the current Dreamscape Map and the Dream board grid (there is actually only one correct way of placing such cards).
Each Overlay card changes the Dreamscape in some way, sometimes they will even add a new part to it. When an Overlay card is placed in the Dreamscape, it cannot be removed unless the game specifically allows you to do so.
When you should place an Overlay card, any miniature/token/marker occupying its dedicated spot is placed on the top of the Overlay card in the same (albeit changed) place.
Note: Overlay cards must be placed very precisely. Most of the time, they are not simply oriented horizontally or vertically and must be rotated in some way.
Saving Your Game
After resolving any Location effects on the Dreamworld Map, you may pause and save your campaign. In order to not lose the Ether you have collected you may resolve a Buying Influence cards step once. Afterward, if any Dreamer has Ether remaining they discard all their remaining Ether and gain 1 Secret Card II-41 R which allows you to gain 1 Ether when you setup again for the next game.
Carry out Steps 1-3 of the Awakening Wisdom card:
- Discard all Influence cards (from deck, hand and Progress zone)
- Cure all Distress and Unseal all cards
- Discard all Keys and Shining Gems
Then, place the rest of the cards and tiles in their corresponding slots in the box (using the proper Dividers):
- Each Dreamer's deck with their Basic Action cards and Mask cards (II-41 S).
- All Team cards from the Storage (e.g.: note cards)
- the Turn deck
- the Flaws deck
- the Slumber Map deck
- the Fate deck
- the Slumber deck
- the Seasons deck
- keep the active Season card at the top
- Dream Gate tiles should be placed in the special envelope
- Sign tokens that are still available
- Remaining components should be separated and stored in bags
If you are within a Dream when you decide to do this you must treat it as a "Death of a Dreamer" (Secret card II-42 I).
Dividers
- Note cards Storage – To mark gained Note cards shared by the Team. Note cards will appear during the campaign.
- Removed cards – To mark which cards are removed from the game.
- Current Dream – To mark the current Dream's position in the Secret cards so that you can easily put it back.
- Influence Market
- Item Market
- Turn deck
- Fate deck
- Flaw deck
- Season deck – The Season deck will appear during the campaign.
Large Dividers:
- Removed tiles – To mark which tiles are removed from the game.
- Slumber deck – Slumber deck will appear during the campaign.
- Slumber Map tiles
- Current Dream – To mark the current Dream's position in the Secret tiles so that you can easily put it back.
Adding a New Dreamer
Each game of Etherfields is self-contained enough to allow you to play each session with a different number of Dreamers.
If the last session was played with fewer than four Dreamers and a new player wants to join the game, all they have to do is pick an unused Dreamer archetype and join the adventure. If it's the other way around, just play without the absentees. They'll still be able to join the Team during the next session. If a player cannot participate in the session, their Dreamer can be handled by a new player (provided the original player agrees).
Variants
The Thorn Knight: If you have the Thorn Knight add-on, its Wisdom card is active from the start of the game. It contains all rules needed to use it in your games.
Classic Card Rules: Once per Dream, the Team may use a classic deck of poker cards to influence one of their chosen effects related to Morphings, Distress, Shining Gems, Hours or Sealed Cards. Shuffle and draw 3 cards at random – these are the Luck cards. With these decide whether you want to back out or try your Luck. If you do, draw 3 more cards at random – these are the Drawback cards.
If the sum* of the Luck cards is higher than the sum of the Drawback cards resolve the positive effects, otherwise resolve the negative one instead depending on which effect you tried to influence.
* A Jack counts as 11, a Queen as 12, a King as 13, an Ace as 14, and a Joker as 15.
| POSITIVE EFFECT | NEGATIVE EFFECT | |
|---|---|---|
| MORPHINGS | Discard all Morphings on an Entity. | Add 2 Morphings on an Entity. |
| Shining Gems | Gain all available Shining Gems (distribute between Dreamers) | Dreamers discard ALL Shining Gems |
| HOURS | Add 2 Hours | Lose all Hours |
| Distress | Any 1 Dreamer cures 2 Distress | Any 1 Dreamer suffers 1 Distress |
| SEALING CARDS | Each Dreamer Unseals 5 cards | Each Dreamer Seals 5 cards. |
Structured Rounds
Alternatively if you would like a more structured turn order, you may start with the First Player and go clockwise with each Dreamer performing a round involving one Dream action (Map Action, Dream or Entity tile interaction) and as many other actions (e.g.: Movement, Basic actions, actions from Influence/Item cards) and activities (placing Progress cards, gaining Shining Gems, etc.) as they want. You may always pass the current round and act again in another round if you wish. Each Dreamer can perform as many rounds as they wish until everyone runs out of cards to play or passes in a row. The First Player receives the First Player Marker and is also responsible for resolving any indecision or conflict between the players. This marker will pass clockwise to the next player at the start of each new Turn.
FAQ / Clarifications
Influence Cards
- The actions/effects on Influence cards occur simultaneously for the majority of instances. The only exception is when there are specified timings or stepwise order.
World Map
- "Relocate Team Marker" – You must Relocate to a different location.
- All of the "Once per Turn" actions / effects can be used only once during each travel between Slumbers/Dreams on the Dreamworld Map.
Entity
- An Entity is considered to be every Entity token/miniature with a specific name and all shapeshifters. Miniatures placed by the Dreamers (from Influence cards, Note cards) are NOT considered to be Entities unless stated otherwise by the game.
- If you are in the range of multiple tokens/minis of the same Entity, you are affected by it only once (unless their effects scale based on their numbers).
- The limit for Entities using Creature Shapeshifter miniatures or Human Shapeshifter miniatures is 4 – because there are only 4 Creature Shapeshifter miniatures and 4 Human Shapeshifter miniatures available. The Entity tile card will tell you which to use.
- When an Entity is equidistant to two or more eligible Dreamers and has to move towards them, the Dreamers pick the outcome.
Turn Card
If the game asks you to resolve all effects of the current Turn card during the Dreamers Phase, don't discard the current Turn card afterward.
Deck Management
Only reshuffle decks when a game component/element instructs you to do so.
Solo Play
When playing solo, you may find some cards less suited than others for solo play. You may remove such a card from the game and draw another one. Don't do this too often, as you may discover that you removed a really good card but didn't notice its usefulness before.
First Memories Cards
These cards are disposable. After the condition is met and the card's effect is resolved, remove it from the game.
Companions
Companions are friendly beings that Dreamers can summon during Slumber/Dream.
Companions for purpose of rules are not Dreamers nor Entities. They still count to the miniature/token space limit. They are ignored by all Actions and/or effects caused by Dreamers, Dreams, or Entities unless their Progress/Note card says otherwise.
COMPANION LIST:
- Locker
- Ghost
- Penguin
- Box Knight
- Etherwolf
- Riddler
- Flying Cat
Spoilers and Hints
You will find errata, hints and walkthroughs for the Dreams and riddles that trouble you at http://www.etherfields-secrets.com/forum.
You may also find a community based app, that helps with introducing to the game, at http://www.awakenrealms.com/etherfieldsapp/.
A Brief Strategy Guide
Whenever you find yourself in a situation where you think you cannot do anything, see if using any of the following might be a way out:
- cards in hand (both their Intent and actions).
- your Dreamer's special action if visible on the back of the Influence deck.
- actions listed on the Basic Actions cards (e.g., discarding 3 cards to gain a Shining Gem, discarding Morphing tokens, peeking on the Secret card).
- Boosting your Intent by rolling the Luck die.
- using your Shining Gems.
- using your Mask ability.
- using any of the Wisdom cards you have.
- using any of the Progress cards you have placed.
- using any of the active Items (either for its Intent or Action).
- using the Clock (either to Move or to add a Turn card).
- looking for a Sign token match.
- looking for any hints hidden in the Dreamscape (be it written or graphic).
Remember Your Mask
Mask effects allow you to avoid a lot of penalties while paying relatively low costs. During the Awakening, you may exchange your Mask for any other Mask you have, especially if it better suits your deck or can help you in the upcoming Dream.
Balance Your Deck
When you play solo or with 2 players, it is wise not to overspecialize your deck e.g.: if both players have aggressive Wrath-heavy decks, they might have a problem encountering creatures that require more Awareness to manage. You can always rebuild your deck during an Awakening.
Not All Cards Are Needed
Some cards might not fit your particular deck strengths. When you gain a new card, think whether it will compliment your deck and playstyle. The more cards you have in your deck, the smaller chance you will draw useful cards in any given situation. On the other hand if you have a smaller deck, you will run out of cards sooner and suffer negative effects more often. A recommended deck size is 30 cards. Remember also that the more customised your Influence cards, the less the availability of your Dreamer's innate back-of-card action.
Shining Gems
Shining Gems allow you to reroll ANY die (even the Entity Movement Die). You may be able to slow down a powerful Entity by doing this. If you find yourself with too many cards in your hand with no use consider discarding 3 cards to gain 1 Shining Gem. Later in the game you will find a Wisdom card that allows even more use out of them.
Ether
Ether has other uses than buying Influence Cards. You may spend it to discard nasty Morphings from Entities and to remove Flaws from your deck. Items you do not find in Dreams also make their way into the Item Market where you can buy them with Ether as well.
Items
Items are not only a terrific Intent boost but have significant gameplay effects ranging from generating additional keys or avoiding unwanted Slumbers. Note that you do not have to discard many of the Items after use, unless you are using them for their Intent.
Boosting Intent
It is useful to sometimes boost your Intent using a Luck die. Many effects grant you die rerolls, so don't be afraid to use this.
Navigating Slumbers
Slumbers – particularly the easy ones – are a good way to build up your Dreamer's Progress card zone in order to prepare yourself for Dreams. Not all Slumbers will require you to combat enemies – use your Dreamer's strengths to their advantage.
As Turn cards are open information, time completing the Slumber with the most desired Loot while avoiding negative Entity effects. If there is little benefit in completing the Slumber or it is too difficult, consider skipping it. This option sometimes has less punishing effects than if you were to try and defeat the Entity.
A certain game mechanic (Deliverance) unlocked later will allow you to remove or alter certain Slumbers.
Dreams
A thorough exploration of Dreams will allow you to better understand them and gain more knowledge about the world of Etherfields. Checking all Note cards available (even some from previous Dreams) may make finishing the current Dream easier or grant special rewards.
Don't forget to also check the back of the Dream Gate tile for tips or rules you may have forgotten.
It may be an idea to have a scrap piece of paper to record a few brief notes to help you with more intricate puzzles.
Do not hesitate to use the Clock in order to add more Turns if you feel you do not have enough time, especially if you are playing solo. Don't forget that you may use Hours to move as well in case you find yourself almost within range of an Entity with no cards left in your hand.
The Dreamworld
Carefully plan your travel on the Dreamworld Map. Take note of more efficient routes with more rewards and less penalties. Some actions and Items that work only on the Dreamworld may come in handy here as well. Also don't forget about the potential positive (and negative) effects of Seasons on your travels.
Try to time when you will encounter the Delta Phase so that you are refreshed just prior to entering a new Dream. If you find yourself in a fix, do not hesitate to use Awakening. It might be better to lose your placed Progress cards in exchange for the loss of large amounts of Distress and Sealed cards.
Index of Common Symbols
- Wrath Intent
- Cunning Intent
- Awareness Intent
- Wrath Intent marker
- Cunning Intent marker
- Awareness Intent marker
- Number of Wrath placed Progress cards
- Number of Cunning placed Progress cards
- Number of Awareness placed Progress cards
- Rapid action / effect
- Player Count icon
- Gradual action
- Free action / effect
- Ether
- Distress
- Shining Gem
- Shining Gem slot
- Threat token
- Universal marker
- Block token / single-use Map Actions
- Entity Spawn space
- Dreamer Entrance space
- Terrain symbols / tokens (Light, Darkness, Swamp, Water)
- Stairs
- Wall
- Special space – this icon have many different uses that are defined by cards and rules.
- Trap
- Drawing bonus
- Entity Movement value
- Entity Movement die results
- Luck die results
- Turn Suit symbols
- Morphing effect
- Basic Effect
- Special Effect
- Flying rule
Rules Summary
Turn Order
Dreamers Phase
1] Draw Step
Draw 4 Influence cards not exceeding Hand Size limit (default is 6 cards). At no time can you have more cards than this limit.
- If you reach your hand limit, you stop drawing.
- If you can draw, you cannot choose to draw fewer cards than required.
- Before you draw you may discard any number of cards from your hand.
- At any time, if your Influence deck runs out of cards while drawing (not only during the draw step), reshuffle your Discard pile into a new deck and draw the rest of the required cards but suffer 1 Distress OR Seal 3 Cards.
2] Card and Action Step
Dreamers freely perform actions until everyone runs out of cards or chooses to pass:
- Dream action: either a Map/Dream Gate tile action or an Entity tile Interaction
- Move actions
- Basic Actions
- Actions from Influence cards
- Actions from active Item cards
- Or activities:
- Placing Progress cards
- Gaining Shining Gems
Dreamscape Phase
1] Entity and Dream Event Step – Resolve Entity and Dream effects according to the current Turn card.
2] Discard Turn step – Discard the current Turn card.
Movement
Dreamers and Entities Move by crossing consecutive spaces vertically and horizontally, but never diagonally.
Range
- Range of 0 means the space you are on.
- Range 1 means an adjacent space and/or closer spaces.
- Range of 1 or more means you may target spaces in that range or closer than the number stated on the action.
"Range is always counted only at the start of performing an Action. Range is not counted through walls."
Entity Movement
Entities Move during the Dreamscape Phase, when the steps of the current Turn card are resolved. During the Movement step, roll the Entity Movement die:
- The Entity moves 1 space only.
- The Entity moves by the number of spaces indicated by its Movement value.
- The Entity moves by its Movement value, then roll again and resolve the new roll.
- This Entity ignores the Movement die.
Entities always Move toward the closest Dreamer unless stated otherwise in their Movement special rules. When they enter the targeted Dreamer's space, they stop their Move.
If an Entity does not have a legal path to its target (e.g. to any Dreamer), it does not Move.
Boosting Your Intent
Once per Turn, when you spend at least 1 Intent (even if it's less than the required cost) to pay for any action, you may decide afterward to roll the Luck die to add additional Intent to this action. Depending on the outcome:
- Skull – That action is failed and you don't reclaim discarded Influence cards used to pay for this action. Additionally, discard 1 Ether or suffer 1 Distress or Seal 3 cards.
- Blank – No Intent is added. If this means that the action fails, you don't reclaim discarded Influence cards used to pay for this action.
- 1 / 2 / 3 – add 1/2/3 Intent of the same color.
The Luck die is always used as the last source of adding Intent to the action – after rolling the die, you can't add any more Intent to this action. If you fail to gather the required number of Intent, the used Intent is lost, even though you didn't perform the action.
You may also use the Luck die when performing a Movement action to Move farther.
Morphings (Summary)
MORPHINGS (applied during the Morphing step on TURN ORDER cards) in particular, add a boost to the ENTITY making it stronger and more dangerous as long as the token is on the ENTITY TILE. When you add 1 or more MORPHINGS TOKENS, draw them randomly and place them face-up on the ENTITY tile. It is recommended you use a small cup or opaque bag to do this. Remember that as a basic action you can remove a Morphing by spending an Ether.
- Each ENTITY effect that inflicts Distress inflicts 1 additional Distress.
- Each ENTITY effect that Seals your cards, Seals 2 additional cards.
- ENTITY Movement is raised by 2. When you roll the "1 space" result, it still only Moves 1 space.
- All ENTITY effects with range have that range increased by 1 space.
- All MASKS worn by the Dreamers are inactive. All effects are applied immediately (eg. hand or progress card limit reductions cause immediate discards).
- All placed PROGRESS cards are inactive. All effects are applied immediately. New ones can be placed but will remain inactive.
- Dreamers cannot reroll dice results in any way.
- Dreamers cannot use their Shining Gems for rerolls (but can gain more). They can however still pay for effects that cost Shining Gems.
State Tokens (Summary)
During the game, Dreamers and Entities may be affected by various States.
State tokens, when gained, are placed next to the targeted miniature/Entity and only affect it alone.
When you should place a State token and there are none left in the pool, the effect is ignored. Note that tokens share different States on the opposite sides and this may limit which States are able to be placed.
- Dazed – The maximum range of Entity effects/Dreamer Actions is reduced to 1 until the end of the Turn/Dreamers Phase.
- Stunned – Any Distress caused by effects of the stunned target are ignored for this Turn.
- Paralyzed – The affected Entity/Dreamer is unable to Move/Relocate until the end of the Turn/Dreamers Phase.
- Poisoned – The affected Entity is unable to gain newer Morphings until the end of the Dream/Slumber.
Credits
GAME DESIGN: Michał Oracz. TESTING AND DEVELOPING (UNTIL DISTURBING SYMPTOMS APPEAR): Krzysztof Belczyk, Bartłomiej Kalisz, Adrian Krawczyk, Łukasz Krawiec, Ernest Kiedrowicz, Michał Lach, Jan Truchanowicz. TESTING AND DEVELOPING LEAD: Paweł Samborski. GRAPHIC DESIGN: Adrian Radziun, Andrzej Półtoranos. PAINTED EVERYTHING: Anna Myrcha, Ewa Labak, Michał Peitsch, Patryk Jędraszek, Jakub Dzikowski, Piotr Orleański, Piotr Foksowicz, Piotr Kryński, Łukasz Jaskulski, Maciej Łaszkiewicz "Makilask", Michał Sałata "Fajna Wizja", Mateusz Bielski, Michał Oracz. CHARACTER DESIGN AND BOX ART: Anna Myrcha. BEAUTIFUL 3D FIGURINES: Jędrzej Chomicki, Jakub Ziółkowski, Piotr Gacek, Mateusz Modzelewski, Agnieszka Pogan, Marta Biernacka. BEAUTIFUL 3D FIGURINES LEAD: Adrian Komarski. WORLD CONCEPT: Adrian Komarski, Anna Myrcha. STORY: Michał Oracz, Andrzej Betkiewicz. GAME VISION AND PROMOTION: Marcin Świerkot. PRODUCTION LEAD: Dawid Przybyła, Michał Matłosz. RULEBOOK 2.0: William Dovan, Michał Lach. LAYOUT AND COMPOSITION: Jędrzej Cieślak, Michał Oracz, Patrycja Marzec, Rafał Janiszewski, Maria Pinkowska-Porzycka. PROOFREADING AND EDITING: Tyler Brown.