Gnome Pack #1
Gnome Pack #1 Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Scope of This Pack
Gnome Pack #1 is a bundle of promotional and reprinted cards. The Iron Helm content in it is covered in the sections below:
- Character creation cards: the race cards (with their class sides) and the star sign cards.
- Tin Helm/Realm promo cards: race/class cards, a trappings card, dungeon and exploration cards, and the Dead Field card.
The Iron Helm base game is not reproduced here. The app combines this file with the Iron Helm rulebook when a player says they are playing with this pack.
Character Creation
This pack includes a character creation system for Iron Helm. Its card sheet reads:
To create a character, first choose a race. Once you have done that, you flip the remaining race cards to their class side and pick a class. Your race will determine your base health, energy, encumbrance, and a unique race ability. Your class will add bonuses to your starting health and energy, while also setting your starting gold and food. Your class will also allow you to pick one skill to start with from a list. Lastly, you must pick your Star Sign. Simply pick one of the available 12 signs. Your Star Sign will set your skill proficiency, adjust your starting morality, and give you a choice for a starting trapping.
Step 1: Choose a Race
Each race card shows the race's base stats, read from the top: heart (health), purple star (energy), and grey hexagon (encumbrance). The race ability is printed at the bottom of the card.
| Race | Health | Energy | Encumbrance | Race Ability |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human | 10 | 8 | 10 | During character creation, you may choose any 1 bonus trapping with the value of 1 gold. |
| Kroling | 10 | 7 | 9 | Once per dungeon level, you may spend health instead of energy to attack an enemy. If this hit kills the enemy, you gain 1 blessing token. |
| Dwarf | 11 | 7 | 12 | Gain 1 health whenever you resolve the treasure card. |
| Gnome | 9 | 9 | 9 | You begin your adventure with 1 potion of your choice. |
| Halffolk | 8 | 7 |
Scan note: the Wood Elf card face shows no race ability text in the scan. The text is left as printed.
Uln-Rolk is a previously released character card included in this pack, not one of the race cards. Its printed values are: health 15, energy 11, encumbrance 10. Trappings: Mace. Skill: Divinity. Skill proficiency: Brawn.
Step 2: Pick a Class
Flip the remaining race cards to their class side and pick one of them as your class. Each class card shows, from the top: heart (health bonus), purple star (energy bonus), red square (food), and gold coin (starting gold). The starting skill choices are printed at the bottom.
| Class | Health | Energy | Food | Gold | Starting Skill Choices |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warden | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Axe Mastery, Shield Block, Fortitude, or Parry |
| Hedge Mage | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | Appraise, Herbalism, Alchemy, or Hawking |
| Footpad | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | Treasure Hunter, Conceal, Archery, or Appraise |
| Cut-throat | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Shadow, Sixth Sense, Conceal, or Tactics |
Scan note: the class card faces carry flavour verse, which is omitted. The four stat icons are read from the card faces and the sheet's description of what class sets (health and energy bonuses, food, gold).
Step 3: Pick a Star Sign
Pick one of the star sign cards. Each star sign lists its skill proficiency and starting morality adjustment at the bottom, and the starting trapping choices in its text.
| Star Sign | Skill Proficiency | Starting Morality | Starting Trapping (pick one) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Of the Beetle | Brawn | +1 | Rations, Flask, or Garlic |
| Of the Raven | Agility | -1 | Short Bow, Leather Armor, or Raven Staff |
| Of the Rabbit | Agility | +1 | Door Wedge, Dagger, or Potion of Luck |
| Of the Lizard | Brawn | -1 | Mace, Shield, or Spetum |
| Of the Tortoise | Brawn | 0 | Axe, Buckler, or Trophy |
| Of the Spider | Agility | -2 | Circlet, Dwarven Blade, or 2 Gold |
Scan note: the scanned sheet describes twelve signs, and the six star sign cards shown are one face of each double-sided card. The reverse faces are not in the scan and are not transcribed.
Tin Helm/Realm Promos
The Tin Helm/Realm card sheet in this pack reads:
Included in this pack are all previously released promos including the CatFolk, Halffolk, Half Ork, the Grotto, the Lost Tomb, the Charm/Cutlass, and the Charming Rats card. New additions include the race/class cards Construct/Seer and Swinefolk/Brute and the Crystal and Bracers Trappings Card. You also get 2 new Dungeon Cards for Tin Helm and 1 new Exploration Card for Tin Helm. When playing Tin Realm with the new Dead Field card your exploration deck will have an odd number of cards. You simply discard the final single card of the exploration deck when you get to it and end the round.
Scan note: the Crystal Trappings card and the two new Dungeon cards are not among the scanned card faces, so they are not transcribed here.
Race/Class Cards
Each card below carries a race or class name, its stats, and an ability. Stats are printed as heart (health), bolt (energy), and square (encumbrance or food, as printed on the card face).
CatFolk (health 8, energy 8, square 2) CatFolk may spend 3 favor to skip a room in the dungeon. When they do this, they gain 1 energy.
Halffolk (health 7, energy 8, square 2) Halffolk start their adventure with the ring loot card.
Half-Ork (health 9, energy 9, square 1) Half-orks may not use the altar.
Construct (health 9, energy 7, square 1) Constructs reduce damage from attacks by 1, but they may not rest at the campsite. May spend 3 favor to add 2 damage to an attack before rolling dice.
Swinefolk (health 6, energy 7, square 2) When the swinefolk eat food they gain both 1 health and 1 energy, instead of choosing.
Trappings and Other Cards
Tin Helm Charming Dark Rats
When using the charm trappings card you may choose to charm dark rats instead of fighting them. Charmed dark rats stay in your inventory as an item. While they are in your inventory you ignore all future encounters with dark rats. You may discard the dark rats to absorb all damage from a single attack from an enemy. Once discarded, you will again encounter dark rats as before. You may again charm dark rats if you come across them in the future.
Bracers (trappings card)
You may block an incoming attack by spending favor equal to the amount of damage your foe is dealing.
Cutlass (Charm/Cutlass promo, previously released)
When in combat against an enemy that is not undead, you inflict an additional 1 damage on successful hits.
Dungeon and Exploration Cards
The following cards are dungeon and exploration map faces. They carry map art and icons, and no rules text beyond the icons printed on them. They are listed here without interpretation.
- Endless Pit: dungeon map face, no rules text.
- Crawlway: dungeon map face, no rules text.
- Lost Tomb: dungeon map face, no rules text (previously released).
- Grotto: dungeon map face with three icons (a question mark, a droplet, and a campfire). The icons are not explained on the card.
- Dead Field: exploration card with two icons (a jaws icon and a chest icon). Its rule is given in the Tin Helm/Realm sheet above: with the Dead Field card, your exploration deck has an odd number of cards, so you discard the final single card of the exploration deck when you reach it and end the round.
Scan note: the icon meanings on the Grotto and Dead Field cards are not printed in the scan, so they are not explained here.
Closing Notes on Scope
These cards are in the same bundle but are not Iron Helm content, so they are not transcribed in this file:
- Desolate (Promo Pack #1 sheet): the Knuckles and BFG item cards, and the Danger Deck alien modifiers (Plagued, Injured, Massive, Oblivious, Dominant, Armored, Enraged, Barren). These belong to the Desolate game.
- Dustrunner (sheet and cards): the Ammo, Bonus Mod, Fuel, Health, and Furyrun vehicle cards, and the Starlink, Waveburst, Land Mine, and Mutant! exploration and modification cards. These belong to the Dustrunner game.
- Gate/Gates (sheet and cards): the Drunkard, Executioner, Architect, Village Crier, Swine Witch, Gloom Skull, and Crawlbone cards. These belong to the Gate/Gates product.
- Oracle (sheet and six double-sided cards, plus the Dodo Bird card): a creative-use oracle deck, not game rules. The Dodo Bird card refers to villages and an egg deck, which are not Iron Helm terms.
The Desolate and Dustrunner cards also appear in this bundle's sheets, which suggests the pack is a multi-product promo release. Whether this file should exist as an Iron Helm expansion is a question for the orchestrator.