Gloom of Kilforth: A Fantasy Quest Game
Gloom of Kilforth: A Fantasy Quest Game Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
1. Components
- This rulebook
- 82 Encounter cards
- 74 Reward cards
- 25 Location cards
- 25 Night cards
- 16 Saga Chapter cards
- 8 Totem/Finale cards
- 24 Plot cards
- 8 Race cards
- 8 Class cards
- 4 Ancient cards
- 4 Ancient Abilities cards
- 32 Skill mini-sized cards (8 in each of 4 types)
- 20 card dividers
- 60 Gold wooden tokens
- 32 Action Point wooden tokens
- 32 Health Point wooden tokens
- 24 Obstacle wooden tokens
- 16 Fate wooden tokens
- 4 Hidden wooden tokens
- 82 Loot tokens
- 16 Enemy tokens (4 for each hero)
- 1 First Hero marker
- 8 Hero standees
- 6 Six-sided dice
- 1 Loot bag
Tokens
Tokens are used as follows:
- First Hero Marker: Identifies the hero that acts first at the start of the Day.
- Loot: Claimed by heroes for clearing Plots and obstacles, or instead of gold on reward cards, provide one-time bonuses.
- Enemy: Placed on a Stranger to show it is now an Enemy to the hero who is using this colour of Enemy tokens.
- Action Points (AP): (black heart) represent how many Actions a hero may take during a Day. Note: Engagements and Deeds (described later) are minor Actions which do not consume AP.
- Health Points (HP): (red heart) represent a hero's health; if a hero's HP reaches 0, the hero is defeated.
- Fate: (hourglass) one-use only tokens, each can add 1 success to a Test.
- Gold: (coin) the currency of the game.
- Hidden: (tree) placed on a hero to avoid Enemies and gain the element of Surprise in battle.
- Obstacle: (cloud) placed by card effects, they hinder heroes and stay in play until removed by an effect or Action.
2. Setup
To set up the game, perform these setup steps in order:
- Map: Place the Sprawl City location in the centre of the table, colour side up. Shuffle the remaining locations and randomly place them around Sprawl City, colour side up, to form a 5 x 5 grid with Sprawl City in the centre. This array of 25 locations is called the map.
- Races: Each hero chooses a race card (or draws one randomly) and flips it to play as either side.
- Classes: Each hero chooses a class card (or draws one randomly). It's preferable, though not required, for heroes to choose different Skill types.
- Sagas: Each hero takes a three card saga set – 'Chapter 1 & 2', 'Chapter 3 & 4', and (with art) 'Finale & Totem'. The heroes decide whether to allocate saga sets so that they match their heroes' classes (see below), or allocate saga sets randomly amongst the heroes. Then, each hero places their 'Chapter 1' card face-up in their play area – this is their current saga chapter. For their first game heroes should match sagas as:
- Priest – Rescue Villagers
- Rogue – Assassinate Lord
- Warrior – Take Fortress
- Wizard – Steal Artefact
- Skills: Each hero places all the skills of their class' Skill type face-up beside the map.
- Unused race, class, skill and saga cards are removed from the game.
- Night Deck: Shuffle the Night deck and place it face-down beside the map.
- Difficulty Variant: For a more difficult game, draw and discard 3 Night cards. Ignore everything on each card except for the location listed at the bottom left – flip that corresponding location card on the map to its gloom side.
- Encounter Decks: Separate the encounter cards into 4 separate decks, one for each terrain type – Badlands, Forest, Mountain, and Plains. Shuffle and place each deck face-down beside the map.
- Reward Decks: Separate the reward cards into 4 separate decks, one for each reward type – Spell, Title, Item, and Ally. Shuffle and place each deck face-down beside the map.
- Hero Starting Rewards: Each hero draws 2 cards from a reward deck of their choice, taking one into their hand and shuffling the other back into its respective deck. Heroes may keep their hand secret. Cards in a hero's hand are called 'rumours'.
- Hero Standees: Each hero places their hero standee on Sprawl City.
- Tokens: Put the Loot tokens in the Loot bag. Place each pile of tokens in a token supply beside the map. Each hero takes:
- a. 4 Health Points,
- b. 4 Fate tokens,
- c. X Starting Gold (listed on their Race card, usually 1),
- d. 4 Enemy tokens (in their colour of choice),
- e. 1 Hidden token (used in Hide Actions),
- f. 4 Action Points (for Breaking Camp, see p. 11).
- Ancients: Shuffle the Ancient cards and draw 1 (in the cooperative game each hero draws 1 Ancient), then place it face-up beside the map alongside its Ancient Abilities* card. Unused Ancients are removed from the game.
- Plots: Take the Plot* cards that match their Ancient(s), shuffle them into separate piles for each Ancient, and place them in a deck face-down beside their Ancient. Plots for unused Ancients are removed from the game.
- First Hero: The hero with the highest Sneak value (on their race and/or class card) is the First Hero and takes the First Hero marker (decide randomly if tied).
* Do not use Ancient Abilities or Plots in your first game.
3. Card Anatomy
Locations
Kilforth was once a beautiful, thriving land. But as the Doom Wars and orc incursions took their toll, the people gradually retreated behind the safety of Sprawl City's walls. Today, the land is littered with the long forgotten remnants of archaic civilisations and overgrown ruins, home only to untamed denizens of evil purpose. Only the bravest and most foolhardy souls dare venture out into the wilds now.
Locations are used to form the map of Kilforth that the heroes will traverse. There are 25 locations: Sprawl City, which marks the centre of the map, and 6 each of Badlands, Forest, Mountain, and Plains. These are arrayed around Sprawl City to form a 5 x 5 grid. Locations start the game with their normal (colour) side up, but may be flipped – 'fall into gloom' – during the game to their gloom (darkened) side.
- Name.
- Terrain Type – Badlands, City, Forest, Mountain, Plains.
- Shortcut – allows a hero to move to another location with the same shortcut, even if they're not adjacent.
- Ability – a special effect.
- Gloom effect – HP loss affecting a hero who ends their Day here.
Sprawl City: Sprawl City is the starting location for the heroes and is considered 'safe' – no Enemy, Ancient, Plot, encounter, or other type of card may be placed here at any time.
Races
Many people inhabit Kilforth, myriad races living variously in harmony or antipathy. From their varied ranks rise a brave few heroes drawn by power, drawn by opportunity, drawn by danger.
Each hero hails from one of eight different races – Dark Elf, Dwarf, Elf, Half-Demon, Half-Elf, Human, Orc, or Vampire. Each race bestows a set of different values in four core attributes – Fight, Study, Sneak, and Influence – which will be used when tackling different types of encounters. A hero may choose to play as either side face-up – their stats are identical.
- Name.
- Fight value – strength and combat ability used to battle Enemies.
- Study value – intelligence and arcane knowledge used to complete Quests.
- Sneak value – stealth and cunning used to explore Places.
- Influence value – charisma and credibility used to influence Strangers.
- Maximum HP – the amount of damage a hero can take before being defeated.
- Keywords – have no innate effect but may be referenced by card abilities.
- Ability – a special effect.
- Flavour Text – text in italics has no effect on gameplay.
- Starting Gold – the hero's starting gold value.
Classes
Adventurers emerge from humble beginnings to forge their destiny through mastery of skills, dedicated arcane studies, and in the heat of battle.
A hero's class is their occupation.
- Name.
- Attribute Bonus(es) – these add to the attribute values provided on the hero's race card.
- Keyword / Skill Type – defines which skills a hero may learn when they complete a saga chapter card. Keyword has no innate effect but may be referenced by card abilities.
- Ability – defines class ability rules, if any.
Skills
Heroes must arm themselves with more than just their swords – their wits will keep them alive.
Skills represent the abilities that a hero can gain whilst adventuring in Kilforth. Skills come in 4 types:
- Arcane – magical studies and spell casting abilities.
- Martial – battle and survival abilities.
- Pious – holy and influential abilities.
- Shadow – sneaking and hiding abilities.
- Name.
- Keyword / Skill Type – denotes Skill type defined by hero's class. Keyword has no innate effect but may be referenced by card abilities.
- Level – skills come in 4 levels, from level 1 (the weakest) up to level 4 (the strongest). Heroes gain a skill of their Skill type each time they complete a chapter of their saga – see Sagas below. At each level there are 2 different skills in each type for the hero to choose from.
- Ability – a special effect.
Note: Skill cards are easily identifiable as they're smaller than all of the other cards in the game!
Sagas
The sagas of the scholars and bards will determine who passes into legend… and who merely passes on, into the Veil.
A saga is the epic story of adventures that a hero undertakes. To win the game, a hero must first complete their saga. Each hero receives a three saga card set at the beginning of the game, consisting of:
- Chapter 1, with Chapter 2 on the reverse side.
- Chapter 3, with Chapter 4 on the reverse side.
- Finale, with Totem on the reverse side.
- Name.
- Keywords Required (Chapters only) – the keywords that must be gathered by this hero to defeat this card. If a keyword is preceded by the 1-2 heroes icon, then that keyword only applies if that many heroes are in the game: 1-2 heroes need 3 keywords, but 3-4 heroes need only 2.
- Attribute value (Finale only) – the attribute the hero must Test to defeat this card.
- Location (Finale only) – the hero must be here to defeat this card.
- Attribute bonus (Totem only) – added to hero's attribute.
- Ability – a special effect.
- Gold value (Totem only).
Encounters
Kilforth is a fierce, untamed land filled with wild adventure, mysterious places and terrible dangers.
Encounters represent the dangers faced by a hero when moving to or searching a location. Heroes collect defeated encounters into their hand as 'rumours' which aid them in completing their saga.
- Name.
- Encounter Type – Enemy, Place, Quest, Stranger (or Event).
- Terrain Type – Badlands, Forest, Mountain, or Plains.
- Keywords – referenced by a hero's saga chapter cards.
- Ability – a special effect.
- Gold value – gold earned when defeating the encounter.
- Fight value – number of dice the encounter rolls in battle.
- Study value (not pictured on this card).
- Sneak value – the skull symbol indicates that this value is only used if the card is an Enemy.
- Influence value – successes needed to defeat this encounter using Influence.
- Reward Icon – the reward for defeating this encounter: Ally, Item, Spell, or Title.
- HP – the damage required to defeat this encounter.
As a reference, keywords for each encounter type include:
| Type | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Enemy | Demon, Humanoid, Undead |
| Place | Abode, Respite |
| Quest | Assist, Destroy |
| Stranger | Noble, Villain |
Rewards
Endless tales of age-old, priceless treasures lure explorers out from the safety of the Sprawl and into the untamed wilderness of Kilforth. But to discover the most powerful rewards, heroes must track them down first.
Usually rewards are earned in two stages:
- Rewards are earned by heroes when encounters are defeated – they go into the hero's hand as 'Rumours' to be discovered.
- The hero 'Discovers' the reward by going to its listed location and playing a Discover Action (p. 15) to put it into play as an asset.
But occasionally rewards can be put directly into play, such as by using the Market Action, or as Trophies from defeating certain encounters.
- Name.
- Reward Type – Item, Title, Spell, Ally.
- Location – where a hero needs to be in order to put this card into play from their hand.
- Gold value – denotes value, and cost to buy this card.
- Keywords – an asterisk * denotes a unique keyword, indicating that the hero can only have one asset with this keyword in play at any time.
- Ability (not pictured on this card).
- Attribute bonus – added to the hero's core attribute.
- Study Attribute – the lock indicates that this value is the minimum Study a hero must have to use this Spell.
Rewards come in four types – Items, Titles, Spells, and Allies. Each can boost a hero's attributes and/or provide bonus Actions and other abilities to help the hero in their adventure.
As a reference, keywords for each reward type include:
| Type | * Unique Keywords |
|---|---|
| Ally | Arcane, Martial, Pious, Shadow |
| Item | Armour, Jewellery, Potion, Weapon |
| Spell | Aid, Combat, Healing, Kinetic |
| Title | Order, Rank, Reputation, Steed |
Night
The gloaming, charged with expectation and menace, foreshadows the coming gloom.
Night cards represent the growing danger to Kilforth. At the end of each Day, a drawn Night card indicates which location descends into gloom, as well as resolving an effect which usually spells trouble for the heroes.
- Name.
- Location – defines which location falls into gloom when this card is drawn.
- Type – Event, Weather, Encounter Type.
- Effect.
Ancients and Ancient Abilities
From beyond the Veil, ancient beings gather in the darkness and bide their time. Sending villainous minions and spies out across Kilforth to undertake evil machinations, these powerful entities seek to twist and destroy the fragile existence of the free people.
Ancients represent great beings that the heroes must track down and defeat in battle to win the game.
- Name.
- Fight value – number of dice the Ancient rolls in battle.
- HP – the damage required to defeat this Ancient.
- Location – where this Ancient will come into play.
- Gold value – gold earned when defeating the Ancient.
Each Ancient has a matching Ancient Abilities card detailing its abilities, and effects which take place each Night Phase.
Advanced Variant: Alternatively heroes can shuffle these cards to randomly determine an Ancient's abilities for extra play variety.
Plots
The Ancients send forth their minions ahead of them to erect hideous altars, corrupt the weak-willed, and to sow terror, pain, and fear into the hearts of their enemies.
Plot cards are placed by Ancients when locations fall into gloom and are similar to Encounter cards, but they have different requirements to defeat before they can be claimed as rumours. If left unresolved, they will make the Ancients more powerful.
- Name.
- Ancient – denotes which Ancient places this type of card.
- Keywords – referenced by a hero's saga chapter cards.
- To Defeat – requirements to defeat this card.
- Location – type of location where this Plot appears.
- Ancient Ability – added to Ancient if Plot is not defeated.
- Loot – earned by hero who defeats this card.
4. Winning the Game
Time runs out, and the game ends once the last Night card is drawn and resolved.
In the competitive game: The hero that defeats the Ancient before time runs out wins the game. If no hero achieves this, the hero with the most Victory Points wins a Pyrrhic victory!
In the cooperative and solo games: The game is won if all Ancients are defeated before time runs out, even if the last surviving hero is defeated in that battle – all heroes (both the survivors and the defeated) share the win. Otherwise the game is lost.
In both game modes, a hero must first complete their saga in order to battle the Ancient. A saga consists of 4 chapters and a Finale (a powerful encounter), which must be completed in order: 1, 2, 3, 4, Finale.
A chapter is completed by defeating encounter cards – such as Enemies, Quests, Places, and Strangers – that have keywords matching the keywords on the chapter card. Finding and defeating encounters drives the game towards completing your saga, which in turn allows you to battle the Ancient!
Once their saga Finale is completed:
- the hero receives a powerful reward called a Totem,
- the Ancient's location on the map is revealed, and
- the hero may now battle the Ancient.
Victory Points: Each hero's Victory Point score is the sum of their gold plus the gold value of their cards in play (assets).
In a cooperative game, the heroes' collective Victory Point score is the sum of each hero's Victory Point score, divided by the number of heroes who started the game, rounded up.
5. Playing the Game
Gloom of Kilforth is played over a number of Days. Each Day consists of two phases, performed in order:
- Daylight Phase – heroes take turns performing Actions, engagements, and Deeds (free Actions).
- Night Phase – a location falls into gloom, a Night effect resolves, and heroes prepare for the next Day.
Unless the game is won beforehand, the game ends once the last Night card is drawn and resolved.
Note: You'll know it's the final Day when there's only one card left in the Night deck!
Note: Don't worry if you forget or mess up a rule or two, just keep playing and correct it next time. In Kilforth, the adventure is the thing!
6. Daylight Phase
The Ancient's minions move by night, mostly. Under the relative – but all too brief – safety of sunlight the heroes must move and act swiftly against the gloom threatening the land.
The following section provides the rules on how and when Actions and Camp can be performed. It's followed by detailed sections explaining Actions, engagements, and Deeds, and then that'll be the Daylight Phase covered!
Breaking Camp
Each hero takes a number of Action Points (AP) equal to their current Health Points (HP). So the more damaged a hero is, the less they can do. As heroes start with 4 HP, they will begin the game with 4 AP on the very first Day.
Daylight Turns
Heroes take turns to play one Action, in clockwise order starting with the First Hero. Each turn, a hero either performs one Action or makes Camp. Then play passes to the next hero who performs one Action or makes Camp, etc. After they make Camp, a hero receives no more turns that Day. When all heroes have made Camp, the Night phase begins (see p. 22).
Note: To make Camp is just a thematic way of saying you're finished doing stuff this phase and you now wish to pass.
7. Hero Turn
Enemy Engagement
At the beginning of their turn, the hero must first engage all Enemies at their location, if any, in the order of their choice.
An Enemy is either a 'Stranger' encounter card that this hero has placed an Enemy token on, or an 'Enemy' encounter card. To engage an Enemy, the hero and the Enemy perform an engagement (see p. 18).
Note: How Enemies appear will be covered later in the rules, but mostly they appear when you move to or search a location. In an engagement, you can either attempt to evade the Enemy or battle it. If it's a battle, it's usually to the death, but you can escape if things aren't faring well.
Action or Camp
Once all engagements are resolved, if the hero has not yet made Camp (as the result of an escape or defeat from an engagement, for example), they must either:
- perform an Action if they have any Action Points remaining, or
- make Camp – the hero discards any remaining Action Points (if any), and takes no further turns this phase.
After an Action completes, it's possible that a hero may now share their location with an Enemy (e.g. they moved into an Enemy's location) – the hero must then engage all Enemies at their location, as above.
A hero also has the option of performing as many free Actions, called 'Deeds', as desired at any point within their turn (see Deeds p. 19).
The first hero to make Camp each Day takes the First Hero marker. They will take the first turn the next Day – they also choose how to resolve certain Night card effects.
Note: Each Action costs 1 Action Point, so your AP is the likely number of Actions you'll perform this phase. However, you might end up performing fewer Actions if you lose HP, or performing more Actions through the use of abilities.
8. Actions
Important: Throughout the game, whenever a hero loses HP, they also lose 1 AP for each HP lost. Heroes only gain AP when Breaking Camp or via card effects, never by healing or Regaling.
When performing an Action, the hero spends 1 Action Point (AP) to do one of the following:
| Action | Summary |
|---|---|
| Move | Move to another location (either orthogonally adjacent or via a shortcut). |
| Clear | Remove an obstacle or Plot from the hero's location and gain 1 Loot token. |
| Search | Draw and place an encounter at the hero's location. |
| Hide | Become Hidden, allowing the hero to get an edge in a future engagement. |
| Confront | Attempt to defeat a Quest, Place, or Stranger encounter and gain a reward (cards and/or gold). |
| Rest | Regain a Health Point, or Long Rest: spend all your Action Points to heal to full Health Points. |
| Discover | Move a card from hand into the play area. |
| Market | Buy and/or sell cards, with the option to pay gold to regain Health Points. |
| Regale | Complete the hero's current saga chapter/Finale. |
An Action can only be taken if:
- any restriction listed for the Action is met, and
- the Action is fully resolved – heroes can't just spend an AP and not actually perform the Action!
Action: Move
Move to an orthogonally (non-diagonally) adjacent location or, if the hero's current location shows a shortcut, move to another location showing the same shortcut. A hero may not move off the map.
If the hero's new location does NOT have an encounter, draw a card from the location's encounter deck (e.g. Forest) and assign it to this location. Place it face-up over the location so that the location's name is still visible. If the hero's location contains an Enemy, they must immediately engage that Enemy, see Engagement p. 18.
Location's Encounter Deck: The deck with the same terrain type as the location. If a location doesn't have a terrain type that matches an encounter deck (e.g. Sprawl City), it can't have an encounter assigned in this way.
Some encounters cards have the Ability Type 'Event'. These are resolved immediately, usually by the active hero, and then discarded. Heroes cannot Team up to tackle Event encounters.
Note: Each Night phase, a randomly selected location will be turned to its gloom side. While a location being in gloom has no effect on whether you can do an Action or not, it's probably good to know that each hero ending Daylight on a gloom location loses 1 HP, so move carefully!
Action: Clear
Heroes face many mundane obstacles on their travels, be they upturned carriages, snow drifts, avalanches, mud slides, local bullies, or other environmental hindrances in the hero's path which prevent them from reaching their goal. Overcoming these obstacles will almost always curry favour with the locals and provide its own remunerations.
Restriction: Hero is at a location with 1 or more obstacles or, if there are no obstacles, 1 or more Plot cards.
- Remove 1 obstacle from the hero's location (by returning the obstacle token to the supply), or
- (If there are no obstacles) remove 1 Plot card from the hero's location by following the To Defeat instructions on the Plot card. The hero takes the defeated Plot into their hand as a rumour.
The hero then draws 1 random Loot token from the Loot bag.
Note: Obstacle tokens are usually placed by Night cards. They stop you from Clearing Plots or doing Search and Confront Actions for encounters, but they don't hinder movement or anything else! Plot cards are placed by Ancient abilities and whilst they don't hinder you immediately, if left unchecked they could be your downfall come the end of the game...
Action: Search
Restriction: Hero is at a location with no encounter and no obstacle.
Draw a card from the location's encounter deck and assign it face-up to the hero's location.
Action: Hide
Restriction: Hero must not be Hidden.
The hero is now considered Hidden. They lie their hero standee down on its side (or take a Hidden token, whichever they prefer) to show this.
Important: A hero can choose to no longer be Hidden at any point in the game, during their turn or not, by simply standing their hero standee back up, (or returning their Hidden token to the supply).
Note: Some of the benefits of being Hidden include:
- avoiding the negative effects of certain Night cards,
- negating the element of Surprise an Enemy might have when it engages you,
- gaining the element of Surprise when you engage an Enemy,
- evading an Enemy instead of battling it.
However:
- Hidden heroes cannot perform Deeds, and
- Hidden heroes cannot Confront Strangers.
Heroes automatically stop being Hidden and lose their Hidden tokens at the end of the Night phase!
Action: Confront
Sneaking into deadly places, influencing powerful strangers, fulfilling challenging quests, and battling terrifying enemies – these are the tests which separate the fables from the footnotes.
Restriction: Hero is at a location with no obstacles and with 1 or more encounters of type Quest, Place, or Stranger.
A hero's adventure revolves around seeking out encounters and overcoming them to gain keywords and rewards. This Action is the means to do that.
The hero chooses a single encounter of type Quest, Place, or Stranger at their location. Each encounter has values in one or more attributes – Fight, Study, Sneak, or Influence. To defeat the encounter, the hero chooses one of the eligible attributes and performs a Test against it. If they gain as many successes as the attribute's value, they defeat the encounter.
Note: 'Enemy' encounters do not require Confront Actions – they are automatically engaged instead (see Engagement p. 18).
Test
To conduct a Test, the tester (be it hero or foe) performs the following steps in order:
- Determine how many dice to roll, which is the sum of:
- a. The tester's value in the attribute being tested.
- b. Add any attribute bonuses the tester has in this attribute. Veiled cards (see below) do not directly contribute any bonuses to Tests.
- c. Battles only – add 1 die if the tester has Surprise.
- Roll the determined number of dice.
- The testing hero may perform any of their re-roll and die manipulation abilities.
- Gain a success for each die showing '5' or '6'.
- Fate: Once per Day, a testing hero may add 1 automatic success by calling on Fate. They must discard either:
- 1 Fate token, or
- 1 rumour.
Note: A Hero's attribute value is found on their Race card, and bonuses on cards in the hero's play area. It's possible for an encounter itself to perform a Test (e.g. an Enemy will perform a Fight Test during a battle); its attribute value is found on its encounter card. Surprise is a bonus that is awarded by rules or card effects during some battles. If it hasn't been awarded, then a tester doesn't have Surprise.
Difficulty Variant: For an easier or beginner game gain a success for each die showing, '4', '5' or '6'.
'Veil:' – If an ability begins with 'Veil:' it can only be resolved if its card is unveiled (upright). To resolve the ability, turn the card 90 degrees clockwise to its veiled (sideways) state. Veiled abilities cannot be resolved again until they're unveiled, usually at Dawn. Cards enter play unveiled unless specified otherwise. Veiled cards do not directly contribute any bonuses to Tests, though other cards may trigger off them. Veiled Race cards still provide their base attributes for Tests as normal.
Confront
In detail, the hero Confronts the encounter as follows:
Choose one of the attributes shown on the encounter, and Test the hero's corresponding attribute. If the encounter's value in that attribute is less than or equal to the hero's number of successes, the hero defeats the encounter and claims its reward (see Reward p. 15).
If the hero has fewer successes than required, they haven't defeated it yet, but they make a note of their total number of successes so far. Track successes using any type of token. On future turns, the hero can perform another Confront Action to add more successes, and use their total accumulated successes to defeat the encounter.
A hero loses all of their accumulated successes if they leave the location or make Camp, or if another hero defeats the encounter first. Until then, they must continue to use the same chosen attribute for all of their Confront Actions against this encounter.
Example: The 'Place' encounter card Remote Town has 'Sneak 3' and 'Study 4'. This means the encounter requires you to gain 3 successes using Sneak, or 4 successes using Study, to defeat it. You decide to Sneak in. With a Sneak attribute value of 5, you roll 5 dice and gain 1 success. On your next turn, you repeat the Action and roll 5 dice again, this time gaining 2 additional successes. Adding them together, the number of successes equals the Remote Town's Sneak attribute of 3, so it is defeated.
Strangers have several special rules that do not apply to other encounter types:
- Heroes cannot Confront a Stranger while Hidden.
- Heroes can only Test their Influence attribute, even if the Stranger has other attributes.
- As long as a hero gains at least one success in their first Confront Test with a Stranger – whether by rolling or calling on Fate – negotiations proceed smoothly. However, if the hero has zero total successes after their first Confront Test with this Stranger, the Stranger becomes an Enemy to that hero: they must place one of their Enemy tokens on the Stranger.
- The hero can choose to intentionally make the Stranger an Enemy (instead of rolling) as their Confront Action.
Whilst a hero's Enemy token is on a Stranger, it counts as an Enemy instead of a Stranger for that hero – but not for other heroes – for the rest of the game. As they are now an Enemy in the hero's location, the hero engages them immediately. For this first engagement, neither side can have Surprise.
If a hero later returns to an Enemy Stranger, they may try to evade them like any other Enemy – this is the only time they will use the Stranger's Sneak value.
Reward: Loot and Rumour
Each time a hero defeats an encounter, they perform the following three Reward steps in order...
- Loot Step – The hero may either:
- a. Gain gold equal to the gold value of the defeated encounter, or
- b. Draw 1 random Loot token from the Loot bag.
- Rumour Step – Then the hero may either:
- a. Place the defeated encounter card in their hand as a rumour, or
- b. Discard the defeated encounter, and draw a reward card from the deck matching the encounter's reward icon, see chart below. The hero then places the reward card in their hand as a rumour.
- Trophy Step – Some cards offer Trophies. The hero now has the option of receiving/performing any Trophy benefits (see Trophy p. 24) listed on the defeated encounter, if any.
| Encounter Type | Reward Icon |
|---|---|
| Enemy | Item |
| Place | Title |
| Quest | Spell |
| Stranger | Ally |
Exception: When a hero defeats a Stranger with their Enemy token on it, option a. must be chosen for the Loot and for the Rumour Step. Dead Strangers reveal no secrets!
Loot: Each Loot token has a one time effect and can be discarded as a Resolve Deed (see Deeds p. 19) to carry out its effect, e.g. 'Gain 1 Move AP'. Gold Loot tokens are discarded immediately for their gold value. Discarded Loot tokens are set aside. If no Loot tokens remain in the Loot bag, refill it with all the Loot tokens set aside.
Action: Rest (or Long Rest)
Restriction: Hero is at a location with no encounters and has fewer HP than their maximum health.
The hero gains 1 HP (transfer 1 HP token from the token pile to their play area). They do not regain an Action Point.
Or, instead of a Rest Action, the hero can take a Long Rest...
Restriction: Hero is at a location with no encounters and has fewer HP than their maximum health, and this has to be the first and only Action the hero takes this Day.
The hero discards all Action Points and restores their HP to their maximum health. They do not regain any Action Points.
Action: Discover
Play a reward rumour card (e.g. an Ally) from the hero's hand that matches the hero's current location, and put it in the hero's play area. It is now a usable asset.
Rumour: A reward, Plot, or encounter card in a hero's hand. Note: Only rewards can become assets.
Asset: A reward card in a hero's play area.
Important: Each reward card has a unique keyword identified by an * asterisk. A hero can only have at most one asset with each unique keyword. If a hero ever has two assets with the same unique keyword, they must immediately choose and discard one of them.
| Type | * Unique Keywords |
|---|---|
| Ally | Arcane, Martial, Pious, Shadow |
| Item | Armour, Jewellery, Potion, Weapon |
| Spell | Aid, Combat, Healing, Kinetic |
| Title | Order, Rank, Reputation, Steed |
Limit of 6: Each hero can only have a maximum of 6 assets in play, 6 Loot tokens in play, and 6 rumours in hand. If they ever have more, then after resolving the process that led to that situation, they must discard down to 6.
Action: Market
Restriction: Hero is at Sprawl City. (Some abilities allow heroes to perform Market Actions elsewhere).
Each of the following options may be performed once, in the order of the hero's choosing; at least one must be performed...
- Option 1 – Heal: The active hero can purchase HP for any heroes at this location with fewer HP than their maximum health, for 1 gold per HP.
- Option 2 – Purchase: Draw the top 3 cards from a single reward deck – Ally, Item, Spell, or Title. The hero must (gold permitting) purchase one – and only one – of these cards by paying the card's gold value. Add that card to their play area as an asset. Discard all cards not purchased.
- Option 3 – Sell: Discard from hand 1 or more rumours, and/or sacrifice (discard from play area) 1 or more assets. Each discarded/sacrificed card earns the hero gold equal to half that card's gold value, rounded down.
Important: Cards purchased during a Market Action are placed directly into play as assets and do not have to be Discovered first.
Action: Regale
Restriction: Hero has not already completed a saga chapter or Finale this Day.
The Regale Action allows a hero to complete a saga chapter, or attempt to complete a saga Finale.
Chapters can be Regaled at any location, but to Regale a Finale the hero must be at the location specified on the Finale card.
Note: You'll only do this Action 5 or so times in the game but it's pretty important. Defeating encounters to gain rewards, acquiring cards in the market, trading cards with other heroes… these are all just means by which you gain the requisite keywords and gold needed to complete your saga chapters and Finale. Once they're complete, you can battle the Ancient in an attempt to win the game. Reading a completed chapter's flavour text aloud in a dramatic voice is a nice way to commemorate the occasion!
Saga Chapter Completion
To complete their current saga chapter, a hero must spend 5 gold and, for each keyword on the saga chapter card, either:
- a. Discard one rumour which has that keyword, or
- b. Select an asset (that hasn't yet been selected during this Action) which has that keyword. Either keep the asset, or sacrifice it and gain gold equal to its gold value.
Example: You are on chapter 2 of your saga, 'Assassinate Lord', in a 2 hero game. You perform a Regale Action and spend 5 gold. For the first keyword, 'Place', you discard a rumour from your hand with the keyword 'Place'. For the second keyword, 'Enemy', you discard a rumour from your hand with the keyword 'Enemy'. For the third and final keyword, 'Title', you select one of your assets with the keyword 'Title', and elect to keep the asset (but you could have discarded it for its gold value too). You've completed chapter 2.
Advanced Variant: Instead of spending 5 gold, heroes spend gold equal to their current chapter number x 2 (e.g. 6 gold for chapter 3). All heroes must agree to this variant before the game begins.
Variant for the Cooperative Game: All heroes must be at the same location as the active hero in order for their Finale to be completed.
If a keyword is preceded by the 1–2 heroes icon, then that keyword is only resolved if that many heroes started the game (in addition to the other keywords).
Example: The pictured 'Ally' keyword would need to be resolved if only 1 or 2 heroes started the game, otherwise it is ignored.
When a saga chapter is completed, the hero:
- Increases their maximum health by 1 and their HP by 1 (take 1 HP token from the token supply),
- Gains a skill of level equal to this chapter number in one of the Skill types available to their hero's class,
- Replaces the completed chapter with the next higher numbered chapter in the hero's saga; or if chapter 4 was just completed, with the hero's Finale.
Example: Upon completing chapter 2, your Martial hero chooses to gain a level 2 Martial skill, either 'Killer' or 'Trekker'.
Hint: When hunting for keywords, pay careful attention to keyword colours! There's a reason that the Fight attribute is red, Mountains are red, Enemies are red, and Items are red...
'Competitive Pressure' Rule
In the Competitive game only:
- When a hero completes chapter 3 of their saga, any other hero who has not yet completed chapter 1 (in hero order) immediately completes their current chapter, without spending any AP, gold, or keywords.
- When a hero completes chapter 4 of their saga, any other hero who has not yet completed chapter 1 or 2 (in hero order) immediately completes their current chapter, without spending any AP, gold, or keywords.
Saga Finale Completion
Requirement: A hero must be at the location listed on their Finale before they can Regale it. Unlike saga chapters, Finales do not cost 5 gold to complete. Also, heroes can attempt to Regale their Finale multiple times per Day, though not during the same Day that they completed chapter 4 of their saga.
Much like a Confront Action with a normal encounter, a hero attempts to complete their saga Finale by performing a Test in the Finale's attribute value. After the Test is performed, add the successes gained to any successes from previous Tests against this Finale. If the hero's total successes equals or exceeds the Finale's attribute value, the Finale is defeated. As with encounters, successes gained against a Finale are lost during the Night phase or if the hero leaves the Finale's location for any reason.
Example: You've completed your 4 saga chapters, so your Finale, 'Take Fortress – Storm the Keep', is in play. It has a Fight 6 attribute value. You're at its location, Spire Tor. To defeat it, you'll need to perform Fight Tests using the Regale Action until you have 6 or more successes!
When a saga Finale is defeated, the hero's saga is complete. Turn their Finale card over to its Totem side and either:
- a. put the Totem card into play as an asset, or
- b. remove the Totem card from the game and gain gold equal to its gold value.
Important: The first time a saga Finale is completed in the game by any hero, the Ancient (or all Ancients in the cooperative game) enters the map at the location on the Ancient's card. It is now possible for heroes who have completed their Finales to try to Assault the Ancient and win the game.
In the cooperative game: All heroes must have completed their saga Finales before any hero can Assault an Ancient.
9. Engagement
Every negotiation comes down to the threat of the sword.
Important: Engagements do not cost AP, and are mandatory for any hero in a location with an Enemy.
An engagement is an attempt by a hero to defeat a foe. Usually a foe is an Enemy encounter card and does not require an Action to engage.
Defeating an encounter through an engagement is different from defeating other encounter types (which are usually defeated through the Confront Action). An engagement is made up of 3 stages...
- Stage 1: Determine Surprise
- Stage 2: Evasion Opportunity
- Stage 3: Battle
Stage 1: Determine Surprise
Determine if one of the combatants starts with Surprise...
- An Enemy just drawn from the encounter deck this turn has Surprise, unless the hero is Hidden,
- A Hidden hero at a location with an Enemy must either:
- Surprise Attack – lose their Hidden status and gain Surprise, or
- Evade – Remain Hidden and try to evade the Enemy (see Evasion Opportunity, below).
A combatant with Surprise rolls 1 extra die in the first round of battle.
If the foe is a Stranger that the hero just placed their Enemy token on this turn, no one gains Surprise – skip this stage.
Stage 2: Evasion Opportunity
A Hidden hero may perform a Sneak Test against the foe to try to evade it. If the hero's number of successes from this Sneak Test equals or exceeds the foe's Sneak value, the Sneak Test succeeds: the foe is successfully evaded, and it remains in the location. The rest of the engagement is skipped, and the hero continues the game as if the foe doesn't exist until either the Day ends or the hero leaves this location.
If the Sneak Test fails the hero stumbles and is no longer Hidden, and the foe gains Surprise, as above.
Advanced Variant: If the hero's Sneak value is higher than the foe's, then the hero may evade automatically.
Stage 3: Battle
If the foe has Trap abilities (see Trap p. 24), these trigger now. Place HP on the foe equal to its health. This stage consists of a series of battle rounds, which continue until the hero is defeated, the hero escapes, or the foe is defeated.
In each battle round, perform the following steps in order:
-
Skirmish: The hero and foe each separately resolve a Fight Test (see Test p. 14).
- For each hero success, the foe loses 1 HP.
- For each foe success, the hero loses 1 HP and 1 AP.
- Once both Fight Tests are finished, all lost HP are removed from the hero and the foe simultaneously.
Important: If either the hero or the foe had Surprise, it is now lost for the remainder of the battle.
-
Foe Defeated Check: If a foe has no HP, it is defeated and the hero gains a reward (see Reward: Loot and Rumour p. 15). If a foe is defeated outside of battle, e.g. via a card ability, the hero still gains the reward.
Note: Because this check happens before we check whether the hero is defeated, any reward for defeating the foe is gained even if the hero has no HP and is about to be declared defeated!
-
Hero Defeated Check: If a hero has no HP, they are defeated with the following consequences and must...
- Make Camp and end their turn immediately,
- Return all their gold to the supply,
- Either sacrifice 1 asset or discard 1 rumour, and
- Return their hero standee to Sprawl City.
They cannot be affected by abilities or card effects. In the Night Phase at Dawn, each defeated hero regains 2 HP and is no longer considered defeated.
Note: Even if part of another hero's Team, a defeated hero must still follow these steps (see Deed: Team p. 20).
Important: If a hero loses their last HP by other means (e.g. Gloom or Weather), they are defeated with the same consequences.
-
Escape Option: If neither the foe nor the hero is defeated, and the foe is not an Ancient, the hero may choose to escape. If so, they make Camp and end their turn immediately. Their hero standee is placed on the nearest Enemy-free location, not using shortcuts (if tied: the hero chooses).
After the battle ends, if the foe is non-Ancient and not defeated, it restores to full health.
Note: At Dawn in the Night phase, a defeated hero will regain 2 HP and re-join the game, so all is not lost. But if you're eliminated by an Ancient, your future contributions will be limited to cheerleading!
Engagement Example: Upon moving into an empty Badlands location an Elf Priest hero with 4 HP draws a 'Kobold' Enemy from the Badlands encounter deck and has to engage it. The Elf Priest then goes to Stage 1: Determine Surprise. The hero is not Hidden, so the Kobold has Surprise as it was drawn this turn.
As the hero is not Hidden they do not get an Evasion Opportunity so they move straight on to Stage 3: Battle. The Kobold has a Trap ability 'Trap: Lose 1 HP' which triggers and resolves immediately before the Skirmish step (see Trap p. 24), so the Elf loses 1 HP (and 1 AP). During the Skirmish step the Kobold rolls 3 dice (2 Fight dice + 1 additional die from having Surprise) and rolls: 2, 5, and 6, forcing the hero to lose 2 HP (and 2 AP). The Elf has 2 Fight dice and rolls: 3, and 5, causing the Kobold to lose 1 HP. Deciding to take no chances the Elf decides to call on Fate by discarding a Fate token and inflicting 1 extra HP loss on the Kobold.
The Kobold now loses Surprise but it has more to worry about than that: during the Foe Defeated Check we can see the Kobold's 2 HP have both been removed – so it is defeated and the Elf claims their rewards (see Reward p. 15).
During the Hero Defeated Check we see the Elf has survived, but with just 1 HP remaining. Had the Elf not used Fate to defeat the Kobold they would have had to either survive another round of Battle, or escape the battle during step 4: Escape Option. Maybe next time the Elf will consider Hiding before exploring…
Ancient Battles
Engaging an Ancient is a special, separate Deed called an Assault – it functions in a similar way to normal engagements but with the following differences:
- It is not mandatory for a hero in the same location as the Ancient to battle it, they must perform the Assault Deed (see below) to initiate battle with it.
- When a hero assaults an Ancient, any unresolved Plots for that Ancient are now removed from the map and placed next to the Ancient. The Ancient gains any abilities listed on their unresolved Plot cards. These Plots can no longer be defeated.
- There is no Surprise or Evasion when battling an Ancient, so skip stages 1 and 2 of the engagement.
- Foe Defeated Check: If the Ancient has no HP, it is defeated. The hero takes gold equal to the Ancient's gold value, and if it was the last remaining Ancient, the game concludes after the battle ends.
- Hero Defeated Check: If the hero has no HP, the hero is eliminated from the game. All their cards and tokens are returned to their appropriate discard piles and token supplies. All rules and card references to heroes no longer include that hero.
- A hero cannot escape or leave the battle by any means.
- All HP loss inflicted on the Ancient remains after the battle, even if the hero is defeated (though the Ancient's Abilities may heal it at Night).
10. Deeds
Deeds are effectively free Actions. A hero may perform a Deed at any time during their turn – including during an Action, an engagement, or another Deed.
Hidden heroes cannot perform Deeds.
| Deed | Summary |
|---|---|
| Assault | Attempt to defeat the Ancient in battle once your Finale is complete! |
| Exchange | Exchange gold, rumours, Loot, Item assets, Spell assets with another hero at your location (not Allies or Titles). |
| Overcome | Defeat an encounter which has a Weakness matching one of your keywords in play (see Weakness p. 24). |
| Resolve | Resolve the Deed ability on a card or token in the hero's play area. |
| Team | Form a Team with 1 or more other heroes at your location to jointly attempt an engagement or to Confront an encounter. |
Deed: Assault
Restriction: Hero must have completed their saga Finale, and be at the Ancient's location, and that location must have no other encounters.
In the cooperative game: All heroes must have completed their saga Finales before any hero can Assault an Ancient.
The hero and the Ancient perform an engagement (see Engagement p. 18). If the Ancient is defeated, the game ends immediately in a win. In the cooperative game all Ancients must be defeated for the win.
Note: You'll only perform this Deed towards the end of the game, but as it's the only way to win, it's also a pretty important Deed!
Assault Example: In the competitive game, a hero has completed their saga Finale and is at the Old Wood, where the Ancient Prince of Ruin awaits. There are no other encounters at the location. The hero carries out an Assault Deed and performs an engagement with the Ancient. All undefeated Plot cards for that Ancient are gathered together and placed next to the Ancient, giving the Ancient their respective Ancient Abilities for the rest of the game. The Prince's Trap ability then triggers and the hero must sacrifice 1 Title from play, if able. The Prince's battle ability gives the Prince +1 maximum and current HP for each Place in play. There are 3 Places still in play, so the Prince gains 3 HP.
Neither combatant can have Surprise, and the hero cannot escape, so battle Stages 1 and 2 are skipped. When each battle round starts the hero sacrifices 1 asset of their choice, and since this is the first battle round the hero discards an asset now. The hero gathers their dice, and the Ancient's, and prepares to do battle...
Deed: Exchange
The hero may perform any number of agreed exchanges with any number of heroes at the hero's location. An exchange may be a one-way donation, in either direction. An exchange can only be undertaken in the following – gold, Loot tokens, rumours, Item assets, Spell assets.
Rumours are transferred from hand to hand, remaining rumours. Assets move from play area to play area, remaining assets. Allies and Titles cannot be traded.
Deed: Overcome
If the hero is at the same location as an encounter that has the 'Weakness – [Keyword]' trait (see Ability Types p. 23), and the hero has 1 or more of the specified keywords on a card in play, they may perform this Deed to automatically defeat the encounter as though they had used whichever attribute is most beneficial.
- All heroes that have gained successes against the defeated encounter discard those successes.
- The hero claims a reward (see Reward: Loot and Rumour p. 15).
Example: A Priest hero with the keyword 'Pious' on their class card is in the same location as the 'Cleric' Stranger encounter card. The Priest performs the Overcome Deed to match their Pious keyword with the Cleric's 'Weakness – Pious' to automatically defeat the Cleric and claim their reward.
Deed: Resolve
The hero resolves the Deed ability on a card or token (e.g. by discarding a Loot token) in the hero's play area. If the card specifies 'Veil:', then it becomes Veiled and its Deed can no longer be Resolved until it is unveiled during the next Night phase (see Dawn – Unveil p. 22). Veiled cards do not contribute any bonuses to attributes or Tests.
Deed: Team
The hero may form a Team with any number of agreeable heroes at the hero's location, with the aim of cooperating to attempt to defeat an encounter, resolve an engagement, Assault an Ancient, or complete a Finale. Heroes cannot Team to resolve an Event encounter. A hero may join a Team even if they have already made Camp this phase. No Team member can be Hidden, each must come out of hiding first.
Each hero in a Team may call on Fate during a Test performed by the active hero (following the normal Fate limit of once per Day per hero). Teams have the following special rules...
Non-Engagement Test
When the active hero performs a Test, total that hero's values and bonuses in the tested attribute. Add 1 to that total for each other hero in the Team, and use that total in the Test.
Example: A hero with Sneak 3 is trying to sneak into a 'Place' with a Sneak value of 2. They are in the same location as another hero and both heroes decide to Team together. The active hero's Sneak plus 1 for the additional hero in the Team means that they roll 4 dice (instead of 3) to try to get 2 successes in order to defeat the Place and claim its reward.
Team Engagement
The first 2 stages of an engagement (Determine Surprise and Evasion Opportunity) are skipped.
In the Battle stage, the steps are resolved as follows:
- Step 1 – Skirmish: Each Team hero resolves this step simultaneously (meaning each Team hero makes a Fight Test against the foe, and the foe performs a Fight Test against each Team hero).
- Step 2 – Foe Defeated Check: Rewards are resolved by the active hero only.
- Step 3 – Hero Defeated Check: Resolved by each Team hero separately, starting with the active hero and continuing clockwise.
- Step 4 – Escape: Is skipped.
Example: 3 heroes Team up on an Enemy with 2 HP and Fight 3. The Enemy will roll 3 Fight dice against all heroes each battle round, and after each round we see whether the foe or any of the heroes are defeated.
Rewards and Disbandment: The active hero decides how any reward(s) will be split amongst the Team when the reward is claimed. Agreements made during the formation of the Team are not binding!
A Team automatically disbands at whichever happens first:
- Completion of the active hero's engagement.
- Completion of the active hero's Non-Engagement Test.
- Completion of the current turn.
Example Solo Hero Turn
In a solo one-hero game, a Human Warrior hero starts the game at Sprawl City. They have 4 current HP and so gather 4 Action Points to spend this Day. For their first Action they spend one AP to take a Hidden token in case they run into any trouble with Enemies.
The hero spends their next AP to Move to an orthogonally adjacent location, which happens to be the Green Meadows (a Plains location). The location is empty so the Warrior draws a Plains encounter card to fill the location – the Farmer, a Stranger. The Farmer has a Weakness towards the Martial keyword. Since our hero is a Warrior and has the Martial keyword on their class card, the hero decides to come out of Hiding by discarding their Hidden token. Without having to spend an AP, the hero uses the Overcome Deed (a 'free' Action) to match their Martial class keyword to the Farmer's Martial Weakness, instantly defeating the Farmer encounter: the characters have an ale or two and share some stories – the farmer is so impressed with the Warrior's fighting prowess that he decides to help the Warrior on their adventure!
Having defeated an encounter, the hero goes to the Reward: Loot and Rumour steps. The Farmer's gold value is 1, so the Warrior decides to draw a Loot token instead of taking 1 gold. The Loot token is worth 2 gold, so the Warrior's gamble paid off (the Loot token could have been worth nothing, or worse!). The Warrior can then decide to either take the Farmer card into their hand as a rumour, or discard it to draw an Ally rumour from the Ally reward deck. The Farmer has the keyword 'Plains', which the Warrior needs to complete chapter 1 of their Take Fortress saga, so they take the Farmer card into hand as a rumour for later use in their saga.
The keywords 'Mountain' and 'Enemy' are still required to complete chapter 1 of the Warrior's saga, so with their third AP they perform a Move Action to an adjacent Forest location 'Blessed Grove' on the way towards some Mountains. The location is empty so the hero draws a Forest encounter, Sacred Shrine, a Place encounter that can heal heroes if defeated. The hero hasn't lost any HP yet and isn't currently interested in a Place encounter so they ignore the Sacred Shrine for now, noting that it has created a 'secure' path through this location: as long as the Sacred Shrine remains, the hero will not need to draw another encounter when they move back into the Blessed Grove.
So for their fourth and final AP of the Day they spend another Move Action to move into an adjacent empty Mountain location, the Rolling Hills, to try to defeat an encounter with the Mountain or Enemy keyword. They draw an encounter to fill the location and it is indeed an Enemy – a Devil! Unfortunately, the hero was not Hidden so the Devil has Surprise, gaining one extra die in the first round of battle, which begins immediately…
11. Night Phase
At night the heroes must camp down and sleep, but the gloom spreads its deadly tendrils across the land whilst the Ancient's forces are ever watchful.
Step 1: Gloom
Each hero at a gloom location loses HP equal to the amount shown in the red shield on the location card.
Step 2: Darkness
- a. Draw: The First Hero draws a card from the Night deck.
- b. Gloom Spreads: Flip the location named on the Night card to its gloom side – this is now a gloom location.
- c. Resolve: The Night card's effect is resolved, dependent on its card type...
- Weather: Any Weather card currently in play is discarded. Place the new Weather card in play beside the map – its effect will apply until a new Weather card is drawn.
- Enemy, Place, Quest, Stranger: Place this encounter in play on the location named on the card.
- Event: Resolve its effect and discard the card. If a Night card Event effect offers a choice, the First Hero chooses.
- d. Plot: When a particular location type falls into gloom the Ancient will bring a Plot card into play, as detailed on the Ancient's card. This happens after the Night card is fully resolved.
Note: Dealing Plots face-down beneath their respective location types at setup can help to remember this step.
Example: When a Badlands location falls into gloom, the Abbess of Penance places a random Abbess of Penance Plot card on that location.
Step 3: Dawn
Perform the following steps in order...
- a. Successes: Each hero discards all successes.
- b. Hidden Heroes: Each hero is no longer Hidden (return Hidden tokens to the token supply).
- c. Defeated Heroes: Each defeated hero regains 2 HP and is no longer considered defeated.
- d. Unveil: Each card and skill that is veiled is rotated to its unveiled state (see Veil p. 14).
12. Additional Rules
Asset: A card may become an asset even if the hero doesn't currently have the capability to use it.
Example: A hero may Discover a Spell even if they don't have a high enough Study to 'cast' it yet.
Decks and Discard Piles: Each deck has its own face-up discard pile. Discard piles for encounter and reward decks may be examined by any hero at any time, but the card order cannot be changed.
If an effect says to draw to find a card meeting a specific criterion (e.g. 'the first Enemy'), any cards drawn that don't meet the criterion are not resolved but are immediately discarded instead. If the required card isn't found by the time the deck runs out, the effect ends without the card(s) being found.
When the last card is drawn from an encounter or reward deck, its discard pile is shuffled to form a new deck.
Encounter Attribute Tests: If an encounter's attributes are modified in such a way that a hero now has enough successes to defeat it, the hero must still trigger the appropriate process to defeat it, e.g. perform a Confront Action's attribute Test.
Gold: There is no limit to how much gold a hero can have.
Health/Health Points (HP): A hero cannot gain more HP than their maximum health. A hero's maximum health is on the hero's race card, but it may be increased or decreased during the game by abilities. When a hero loses 1 or more HP, that hero also loses 1 AP (if able) for each HP lost. When a hero loses their last HP, they are defeated.
Obstacles: Obstacles are placed by card effects. They prevent heroes from playing Search or Confront Actions in their location, and stay in play until removed by an effect or Action. There's no limit to the number of obstacles at a location.
Token Limitations: There is no limit to the number of tokens that can be in play. If the provided tokens run out, any substitute may be used in lieu.
Now you're ready to play your first game! Use the index to refer to the remaining rules for any clarifications you might need during play.
13. Rules Reference Guide
Unless specifically stated, effects on cards always take precedence over the rules in this rulebook.
Ability Types
Event – An Event is an encounter or Night card effect (usually in a 'Revealed:' format) that is resolved immediately by the active hero and then discarded. Events may not be defeated or kept by heroes unless specifically stated. An attribute Test generated by an Event does not require expenditure of Action Points (unless stated on the card) and is only rolled once.
(Deed): – A Deed ability is an optional ability available to its hero while the card is in their play area. It's resolved when the hero performs a Resolve Deed.
(Hero): – A Hero ability stays in force while the card is in play. It affects only the hero and the elements they're interacting with. If a Hero ability contains 'you may', then the hero may choose whether to use the effect or not each time.
(Map): – This simply means that the ability is active – or can be triggered – whilst the card is on the map, but not at other times, e.g. in a hero's hand. If it refers to an interaction with this card (such as a battle or Test), then the ability only affects the interaction with this card. Otherwise it affects all elements in play (e.g. Weather effects on a Night card).
If a Map ability specifies an effect that occurs during an interaction with a hero or Team, then only the active hero is affected by the ability. The active hero must comply with the effect as much as able, but if the effect can't be fully or partially met, the game continues regardless.
Example: An ability that states '(Map): When a battle starts, sacrifice 1 Item' only applies to a battle with this card. When a hero starts a battle against this card, that hero must sacrifice 1 Item if they have one. Either way, the battle continues regardless.
(Revealed): – A Revealed ability must be resolved immediately when the card is drawn from its deck.
Requirements
Some abilities have requirements which must be met for the ability to be initiated.
Triggering condition – An ability with a triggering condition can be resolved only once each time that condition occurs.
Example: An ability that says 'When a battle starts, gain 1 gold' would allow that hero to gain 1 gold each time they start a battle.
If multiple abilities with the same triggering condition are to be resolved, the active hero decides the order in which to resolve them. If there's no active hero, the First Hero decides.
Cost – Some abilities have a cost, and may be performed multiple times, if the cost is paid each time.
Example: An ability that says 'Pay 1 gold to re-roll a die' may be performed multiple times to try to get the desired result. At least until your gold runs out...
Enters Play: – This ability can only be resolved when the card goes from out of play to in play (see Definitions p. 25).
Leaves Play: – This ability can only be resolved when the card goes from in play to out of play (see Definitions p. 25).
Sacrifice: – This ability can only be resolved at the cost of removing its card from play and placing it in its discard pile. If a sacrifice has a triggering condition, then the sacrifice may only be made when that triggering condition occurs. A sacrificed card may be either veiled or unveiled.
Example: An ability (on the Battle Elemental card) that says '(Deed) Sacrifice: When a battle round starts, gain Fight +8 until the end of the battle round' may only be resolved when the hero starts a battle round. If they so choose – remembering that Deeds are optional – they may remove the card from play to gain the Fight +8 (i.e. 8 extra dice) benefit.
Spell – A Spell asset can only be used if the hero has a Study value equal to or greater than the Spell's Study value.
Veil: – This ability can only be resolved if its card is in an unveiled (upright) state. Turn the card 90 degrees clockwise to its veiled state – it cannot be resolved again until it becomes unveiled. Cards enter play unveiled unless specified otherwise. If a Veil ability has a triggering condition, then it can only be resolved when that condition occurs.
Veiled cards do not contribute any bonuses to attributes or Tests, though other cards may trigger off them.
Veil Example: An ability (on the Fireball card) that says '(Deed) Veil: When a battle round starts, gain Fight +4 until the end of the battle round' may only be resolved when the hero starts a battle round, and only if the card is unveiled. If they so choose – remembering that Deeds are optional – they may veil the card to gain the Fight +4 benefit.
Ability Terminology
Common phrases used in abilities include:
As your [type] Action: After spending the required Action Point, instead of performing an Action (or if type is listed, the specified type of Action), do this ability's effect instead.
Defeat: If a card effect allows a hero to defeat an encounter, the hero defeats it and claims the reward for it. An Ancient cannot be defeated by an ability.
Fail a [attribute X] Test: If the number X is not specified, the Test is failed if the hero gains no successes in the given attribute against this card. If X is specified, then the Test is failed if fewer than X successes are gained. If an attribute is not specified, the effect applies to any Test against this card. If no Pass effect is given, there is no effect if the Test is passed.
Heal X HP: Gain X HP, up to the entity's maximum health.
Immune: If a card is immune to a card type, then it cannot be affected by abilities or attribute bonuses of that card type. Treat all cards in the specified card type as blank for interactions with the immune card.
Example: An Enemy is immune to skills. The abilities on your skill cards have no effect on it and the attribute bonuses on skills are lost while you're interacting with the Enemy. It may be that a Spell you wanted to cast against the Enemy could no longer be cast if you were relying on a Study bonus to meet the Spell's casting requirement.
Pass a [attribute X] Test: If X is not specified, the Test is passed if the hero gains 1 or more successes in the given attribute against this card. If X is specified, then the Test is passed if X or more successes are gained. If an attribute is not specified, the effect applies to any Test against this card. If no Fail effect is given, there is no effect if the Test is failed.
Relocate: Simply pick up the card or hero standee, and place it on a location allowed by the ability. It doesn't cost AP and is not considered a move.
Spend AP: Can be any type of AP (e.g. a card might specify 'Move AP'), and it doesn't need to correlate to what the ability will allow.
Skill: If an ability allows a hero to gain a skill, they can only choose from those not yet taken by a hero. Skills are limited to those provided by the game.
Trap: This is triggered and resolved each time its card is Confronted, or if engaged in battle, just before the first Skirmish step of the battle. A Trap specifies a cost that must be paid by the active hero. If the full cost cannot be met, then as much of the cost that can be paid must be. If none of the cost can be paid, the Trap is ignored. The engagement or Confront Action continues after the Trap is resolved, regardless of whether the cost was paid or not.
Example: A hero engages a Ravenous Werewolf Enemy encounter. It has the ability 'Trap: Sacrifice 1 Ally', so before the Skirmish step the hero must immediately sacrifice one of their Ally assets from play. If they have no Allies in play, the Trap is ignored.
Trophy [attribute] – [Benefit]: When this encounter is defeated the hero may receive/perform the listed benefit after claiming the encounter's reward. If multiple benefits are listed, resolve them in order from left to right. If a benefit lists a card type, draw a card of that type from its deck.
Unless it specifies 'Gain', a Trophy reward may be put into play as an asset immediately, or discarded for its gold value. If an attribute is listed, e.g. 'Influence', the benefit is only received if that attribute was used to defeat the encounter.
To summarise:
- Assets are a hero's cards in play.
- Rumours are a hero's cards in hand.
- Trophies are put into play as assets.
- Trophies that say 'Gain 1 xxxx' are drawn as rumours.
Trophy (Forced): Same as Trophy above, but the 'benefit' effect must be performed if possible, it is not optional.
Use [attribute1] for a [attribute2] Test: When a hero determines how many dice to roll during a Test in attribute2, the hero has the option of using their value in attribute1 instead, which includes any bonuses in attribute1.
Example: You have Fight 2, Influence 3, and bonuses that provide Influence +2. With the ability 'You may use Influence for a Fight Test', you have the option of rolling 5 dice instead of 2 during a Fight Test.
Weakness – [Keyword]: If a hero at this location has 1 or more of the specified keywords in play, they may defeat the card with this Weakness by using an Overcome Deed.
Definitions
- Active Hero: The hero currently performing their turn. Outside of a turn, there's no active hero.
- Adjacent: Orthogonally bordering – not diagonal, not via a shortcut.
- Action Points (AP): Represent how many Actions a hero may take during a Day. Note: Engagements and Deeds do not consume AP.
- Asset: Reward or Totem card in a hero's play area.
- Battle: Stage 3 of an engagement where a hero makes Fight Tests against a foe to try to defeat it.
- Encounter: A card in a location, drawn from that location's encounter deck, or sometimes from the Night deck.
- Encounter Deck: The deck with the same terrain type as its location.
- Enemy Stranger: An encounter card of type 'Stranger' is an Enemy to each hero that has an Enemy token on it. It remains a Stranger to all other heroes.
- Engagement: Divided into 3 stages: Determine Surprise, Evasion Opportunity, Battle.
- Event: Some encounters cards have the Ability Type 'Event'. These are resolved immediately by the active hero and then discarded. Heroes cannot Team up to tackle Events.
- Fate: One-use only tokens, or discarded rumours, each can add 1 success to a Test, maximum of once per Day.
- Foe: The card a hero is battling in an engagement, which may be an Enemy, Enemy Stranger, or Ancient.
- Gain: When instructed to gain a reward, that card is drawn from the appropriate deck as a rumour.
- Keyword: Encounter Types and Reward Types also count as Keywords.
- In Play: All cards and skills a hero has; the map; encounters on the map; face-up cards beside the map.
- Out of Play: Cards in hand, deck, discard pile, or removed from game; skills not yet acquired; the token supply.
- Play Area: Includes the map and each hero's cards in play.
- Rumour: Reward, Plot and encounter cards held in a hero's hand.
- Skill level: The level of a hero's highest skill.
- Strongest: The hero with the highest Skill level (First Hero decides ties). If there's only 1 hero, they are the Strongest.
- Success: A successful die result during a Test, usually a 5 or 6.
- Weakest: The hero whose Skill level is the lowest amongst all heroes (First Hero decides ties). If there's only 1 hero, they are automatically the Weakest (and the Strongest).
- X: The hero may substitute X for any positive integer of their choice.
Achievements and Difficulty Modes
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14. Summaries
Acquisition and Expenditure
| Element | Acquisition | Expenditure |
|---|---|---|
| Asset | Discover: Play a rumour. Regale: Totem enters play upon Finale completion. Market: Play a rumour from a reward deck. | Market: Sell for half value. Regale: discard to resolve saga keyword (and gain gold equal to its value). |
| Fate | Setup. | Test: Gains 1 success (Max. once per Day). |
| Gold | Setup. Reward: Defeated encounter. Reward: 'Gold' Loot token (instead of reward's gold value). Market: Sell rumour/asset for half value. Regale: Sell asset after resolving saga keyword. Regale: Discard Totem upon Finale completion. Assault: Defeated Ancient. | Market: Heal 1 HP per 1 gold. Market: Purchase reward card. Regale: Saga chapter completion (5 gold). |
| Rumour | Setup. Reward: Defeated encounter. Reward: Drawn reward card. | Test: Gains 1 success (Max. 1 per Day, fate or rumour). Market: Sell half value. Regale: Discard for keyword. |
| Skill | Regale: Chosen after completing a saga chapter. |
| Type | * Unique Keywords |
|---|---|
| Ally | Arcane, Martial, Pious, Shadow |
| Item | Armour, Jewellery, Potion, Weapon |
| Spell | Aid, Combat, Healing, Kinetic |
| Title | Order, Rank, Reputation, Steed |
Hidden Breakdown
- Avoid negative effects of certain Night cards.
- Negate element of Surprise an Enemy might have when it engages a hero.
- Discard to gain Surprise when a hero engages an Enemy.
- Evade an Enemy instead of battling it.
- Does not work during an Ancient Assault.
- Cannot peacefully confront Strangers.
- Heroes automatically stop being Hidden and lose their Hidden tokens at the end of the Night phase.
Engagements
Engagements do not cost AP.
- Stage 1: Determine Surprise (+1 die) – gained by Enemies just drawn or a hero discarding a Hidden token.
- Stage 2: Evasion Opportunity – pass Sneak Test whilst Hidden to evade, foe gains Surprise if failed.
- Stage 3: Battle:
- Skirmish – hero and foe each do a Fight Test, inflicting HP loss on successes.
- Foe Defeated Check – gain reward.
- Hero Defeated Check – make Camp, lose gold, discard rumour or asset, relocate to Sprawl City.
- Escape Option – retreat, make Camp.
Confront Test
- Determine how many dice to roll, which is the sum of:
- a. The tester's value in the attribute being tested.
- b. Add attribute bonuses. Veiled cards do not contribute.
- Roll the determined number of dice.
- Perform any re-roll and die manipulation abilities.
- Gain 1 success for each die showing '5' or '6'.
- Fate: The testing hero may optionally add 1 success by discarding either a Fate token or a rumour.
Strangers: Hidden heroes cannot confront Strangers! Either:
- Place an Enemy token on the Stranger, or
- Perform an Influence Test. No successes = place an Enemy token on the Stranger.
Confront Result
Pool hero's successes in the same attribute against the same encounter during this Day. If successes equal or exceed the encounter's attribute value it is defeated – all heroes who gained successes against this encounter discard those successes. Then the hero claims a reward.
Important: If a hero leaves a location, by any means, all their successes at that location are lost.
Reward: Loot and Rumour
- Loot Step: When claiming a reward for defeating an encounter the hero Loots the location. They may either:
- a. Gain gold equal to the gold value of the defeated encounter card, or
- b. Draw 1 Loot token.
- Rumour Step: Hero gains a rumour (maximum of 6). They may either:
- a. Place the defeated encounter card in their hand as a rumour, or
- b. Discard the defeated encounter card, and draw a reward card as a rumour.
- Trophy Step: Perform any Trophy benefits.
Exception: When a hero defeats a Stranger that has their Enemy token on it option a. must be chosen each time!
Limit of 6: If a hero ever has more than 6 rumours, 6 assets, or 6 Loot, they must discard down to 6.
Deeds Summary
- Exchange: Exchange gold, rumours, Loot tokens, Item assets, and/or Spell assets with another hero at the same location.
- Overcome: Defeat an encounter which has a Weakness matching one of a hero's keywords in play.
- Resolve: Resolve the Deed ability on a card or token in the hero's play area.
- Team: Form a Team with 1 or more other heroes at same location to jointly attempt an engagement or to Confront an encounter.
- Assault: Attempt to defeat an Ancient in battle (if a hero's saga is completed) if no other encounters at the same location. No Surprise, no evasion, no escape by any means, death is permanent!
Actions Summary
- Move: Move to another location (orthogonally adjacent or via a shortcut). Engage Enemies. Draw location encounter if new location has no encounters (engage drawn Enemies). Resolve Events immediately.
- Clear: Remove an obstacle or Plot from the hero's location and gain 1 Loot token (Maximum of 6 Loot tokens).
- Search: Location must have no encounters or obstacles – draw and place an encounter at the hero's location.
- Hide: Become Hidden to avoid Night effects, evade Enemies, gain Surprise.
- Confront: Location must have no obstacles. Attempt to defeat a Quest, Place, or Stranger (if not Hidden) encounter and gain Rewards: Loot and Rumours. Accumulate successes (5s or 6s) on this Day equal to the encounter's chosen attribute value to defeat it. Rolling zero successes against a Stranger will make it an Enemy!
- Rest: Location must have no encounters – regain 1 HP.
- Long Rest: As Rest, but lose all the Day's AP to regain all HP.
- Discover: Move a rumour card from a hero's hand into their play area when at the asset's required location.
- Market: Heal: 1 gold per HP. Purchase: Draw 3 cards from one reward deck, must purchase 1 (if able) and only 1, and put it straight into play as an asset. Sell: Rumours or assets for half gold value, rounded down.
- Regale – Saga chapter: Spend 5 gold, resolve keywords: discard distinct rumours for their keyword, and discard assets (or simply select assets) for their keyword and gold value. Gain 1 HP and a Skill matching this chapter level, then flip or discard chapter to replace it.
- Regale – Finale: Confront like an encounter. Gain Totem if defeated and place ancient(s) into play.
Hero Defeated
If the hero has no HP during a Hero Defeated Check, or as a result of losing their last HP by some other means (e.g. Gloom or Weather), they are defeated with the following consequences...
- Makes Camp and ends their turn immediately (even if part of a Team with another hero as the active hero, they must still follow these steps – see Deed: Team p. 20).
- Returns their gold to the token supply.
- Either sacrifices 1 asset or discards 1 rumour.
- Returns their hero figure to Sprawl City.
- Cannot be affected by abilities or effects (e.g. Night cards).
- Night Phase, Dawn: Each defeated hero regains 2 HP and is no longer considered defeated.
Heroes defeated by an Ancient are eliminated from the game.
'Competitive Pressure' Rule
In the Competitive game only:
- a. When a hero completes chapter 3 of their saga, any other hero who has not yet completed chapter 1 (in hero order) immediately completes their current chapter, without spending any AP, gold, or keywords.
- b. When a hero completes chapter 4 of their saga, any other hero who has not yet completed chapter 1 or 2 (in hero order) immediately completes their current chapter, without spending any AP, gold, or keywords.