HEXplore It: The Mountains of Godai Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Welcome
  • The Object of the Game
  • Game Contents
• Heroes
  • Your Hero
    • 1 Select your Role
    • 2 Select your Race
    • 3 Add on to your Hero (Optional)
  • Understanding your Hero
    • Abilities
    • Skills
    • Vitals
  • Gear Upgrade Rings
  • Backpack
  • Currency, Food, and Items
  • Choose your Hero
• Game Stages
  • Siege Waves
  • Resources
  • The Five Elements
  • Defenders
  • Building & Enhancing Defenders
• Game Map
  • Understanding the Map
  • Game Board Symmetry
  • SkyTiles and Risers
  • Cataclysm Tiles
  • Siege Portals
  • Terrain
• Setup
  • Setup Overview
  • 1 Create your Heroes
  • 2 Set up the Game Board
  • 3 Create the Villain Deck
  • 4 Roll Starting Location & Gain Initial Resources
  • 5 Begin your Adventure
• Game Turns
  • Game Turn Overview
  • The Harvest Stage Begins
  • 1 Movement Phase
  • 2 Skill Phase
  • 3 Event Phase
    • Event Phase (Continued)
  • 4 Villain Phase (Harvest)
  • The Siege Stage Begins
  • 4 Villain Phase (Siege)
  • 1 Jaethi
  • 2 Move Each Siege Banner
  • 3 Siege Opponents Deal Siege Damage
• Commissions
• Combat
  • Opponent Levels
  • Opponent Types
  • Favored Opponents
  • Encounters
  • Bosses
  • The Battle Mat
  • Game Difficulty
  • Combat Round Overview
  • 1 Declaration Phase
  • 2 Opponent Phase
  • 3 Resolution Phase
  • Combat Example
• Rewards
  • Power Up Deck

Welcome

Welcome to the Mountains of Godai, the fifth Volume in the HEXplore It gaming universe. We're thankful you've come to Yanagi Tepeu to stand against Jaethi's elemental forces. The universe's very existence hangs in the balance! Create powerful heroes to affect the balance, if you can.

The Object of the Game

Win the game if any of the following occur:

• The group vanquishes Jaethi (the Level 10 Boss) in combat.
• At least one City-State is alive when the last Siege ends.
• Jaethi (the Siege Opponent) is destroyed.

Lose the game if the following occurs:

• Both City-States are destroyed.

Unlike previous games, hero death is not a game-loss condition. Heroes are looking after Defenders, and Defenders are watching over you (see Reviving Heroes, page 104).

Game Contents

• 1 Rule Booklet
• 1 Play Styles Booklet
• 7 Miniatures
• 18 Dice
• 4 Dry Erase Markers
• 7 Punch Boards
• 21 Dry Erase Placards
  • 9 Roles
  • 5 Boss Placards
  • 7 Game Play Placards
• 8 Dry Erase Defenders
• 27 Cards (sized 70 x 110 mm)
  • 9 Races
  • 4 Resource Aid Cards
  • 4 Cataclysm Cards
  • 10 Element Augment Cards
• 6 Tuck Boxes
• 200 Cards (sized 63 x 88 mm)
  • 40 Power Up cards
  • 40 Encounter cards
  • 40 Commission cards
  • 40 Harvest cards
  • 40 Jaethi Villain cards
• 75 Cards (sized 44 x 67 mm)
  • 75 Siege cards

Miniatures: Seven minis are included in the Mountains of Godai. Four of these are Siege Banners that represent Jaethi's Elemental forces. Another mini represents Jaethi, the Titan of Magic, and the last two are to represent your heroes. Choose one or the other to represent the group during play.

Dice:

• Hex Die (1 purple; six-sided): Shared among all players, the Hex die is numbered 1 through 5, and the special face is considered to be a result of 6.
• Core Dice (4 green, 4 yellow, 4 blue; ten-sided): Each hero receives 3 Core dice. They are each numbered 2 through 10, and the special face is considered to be a result of 1. Generally, you'll want to roll low on these (unless you're rolling for damage).
• Elemental Dice (5 multi-colored; eight-sided): Shared among all players, each die represents an Element (Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and Void). Each Elemental die has three possible roll results:
  • Match: The roll result matches the Elemental die type (Fire die rolls Fire, etc). Two of eight faces on each Elemental die are an Elemental Match.
  • Surge: The result matches and has a white triangle border (Air die rolls Air Surge, etc). Two of eight faces on each Elemental die are a Surge. This is considered a critical roll result; often additional effects will occur.
  • Mismatch: The roll result does not match the die (Fire die rolls Water or Earth, etc). The last four faces on these dice are reserved for one of each of the four other Elements.

Dry Erase Markers: Four dry erase markers are included in the box. Please note that these are used to mark on only laminated Placards and Defender cards. Some placards require recording information on both sides. Players are cautioned to not accidentally erase information while handling these. When possible, try to handle placards with writing on both sides by the edges only.

Placards: Placards define several mechanics, game locations, and opponents. These are all dry-erasable. Set these aside and consult them when needed.

• Roles (9): These are the hero Roles in the Mountains of Godai. They are the Astrologist, Dragoon, Magician, Mesmer, Ninja, Sage, Samurai, Spear Master, and Wind Rider. Each player controlling a hero will select a Role. You may also use Roles from any HEXplore It Volume in your adventures.
• Bosses (5): These are 10 Bosses you may face in the Mountains of Godai (one on each side).
• Empire / Emporium (2): Each of these placards contain information related to the Empires in Yanagi Tepeu: Caprakan, the home of the Xumucane people, and Ishidan, the home of the Nakaharans. The back of each of these placards contains the Emporium, a list of Items available for purchase in City-States.
• Temple / Elements (1): This placard contains information about Temples. The back of this placard contains information about the five Elements.
• Game Turns (1): This placard contains information about the Game Turn sequence (front and back).
• Resources / Keywords (1): This placard contains information about Resources. The back of this placard contains references to the Keywords used in this game.
• Jaethi Siege (1) / Siege Keywords (1): This placard contains information on Jaethi's Siege actions and the Imbalance. The back of this placard contains references to the Siege Keywords used in this game.
• Battle Mat / Conditions (1): The Battle Mat is used to track several game mechanics and to control combat with your adversaries. The back side contains a Conditions reference.
• Short Count Calendar / Defender Trackers (8): Like placards, these cards are dry erasable. The Short Count Calendar is used to track Siege Duration. For more information on Defenders, see page 25.

Card Decks: Unpack and shuffle the card decks before play. The decks are: the Power Up (40), Encounter (40), Commission - Caprakan (20), Commission - Ishidan (20), Harvest (40), and Jaethi (40) decks. There are also five Siege Decks: Air (15), Earth (15), Fire (15), Water (15), and Void (15). Keep the Elemental decks shuffled in their own stacks, organized by Element type, during play.

Loose Cards: Cards not contained in a deck box; not all will be used every game. They include the Races (9), Resource Aid (4), Cataclysm (4) and Element Augment cards (10).

Punch boards: You'll find 8 Punch boards in your game box (on the top of the box). Take care when punching out your map tiles and tokens. Some tokens are small and may be easily missed (also see note on page 10 before punching out). When complete, you'll have the following items:

• 4 Game Bars
• 2 Empire Tiles (A-B)
• 12 HexTiles (C-N)
• 4 Cataclysm Tiles (see page 35)
• 3 Siege Portals (see page 32)
• 13 SkyTiles (see page 34)
• 24 pieces to construct 8 SkyTile Risers
• 20 pieces to construct 4 Tower 3D Tokens
• 20 pieces to construct 4 Fortress 3D Tokens
• Miscellaneous Tokens (see page 9)

Tokens:

• Platinum Tokens (12): These tokens represent great wealth that can be found during play. Placed via Siege Portal rules (see page 36), each time the group gains a Platinum Token, remove it and gain Platinum equal to the current Siege Wave (see page 22).
• Destroyed City State Tokens (2): These Tokens are placed on a City-State when they are Destroyed. The game is lost if both City-States are destroyed.
• Hex Tokens (29): Hex Tokens represent fallen Bosses, destroyed Settlements, closed Portals, or other event locations that have been cleared or destroyed. A location with a Hex Token over it no longer triggers an Event during the Event phase or produces Resources. Element Side: The back side of Hex Tokens contain one of the five Element icons and are generally not used in normal MoG game play. See page XYZ of the Game Guide for an optional way to use the back side of these tokens in other volumes.
• Wellspring Amplifier (3): These Tokens represent a purchasable Item that the group may use to attract Siege Opponents to them. Wellspring Amplifier Tokens are Magnetic locations. No more than 3 Wellspring Amplifiers may be placed at the same time.
• Ethereal Chain (2): These Tokens represent a purchasable Item that the group may use to prevent a SkyTile from falling or being flipped to its Nether Side. No more than 2 Ethereal Chains may be placed at the same time.
• Boss Lair Token (8): Boss Tokens have a common side and a unique side. The unique side is numbered 1-8 and represents a unique Boss that appears in the game. Anytime a new Boss Lair is revealed on the map, place a random Boss token on it, with the unique side face up. Note that these Tokens may change the terrain. Boss 9 is printed on a SkyTile and is not represented by a Token. Boss 10 also does not have a Token.
• Discovery Token (5): There are 5 Discoveries to find in Jaethi's Villain deck. Discovery Tokens have a Secured side and an Unsecured side. Discovery Tokens are placed on the map Unsecured side up during the Villain Stage. The group must be in Range of a Discovery in order to Secure and flip it.
• Elemental Token (9 of each): These tokens are used to mark Augmented Abilities for heroes and placed on Elemental Rifts on the map. These Tokens are two-sided. Side one does not have a number and is considered to be one matching Element. Side two has a "3" printed in the center. This side of the token represents 3 of the matching Element and is used to show a hero has the maximum number of Augmentation Tiers using a single token.

3D Components: Various 3D components used in the game are provided on the Punchboards that require assembly. Before your first game, assemble these components as shown in the rulebook illustrations.

• SkyTile Riser (8): Each of these consist of four pieces. Floating Mountain Tiles are placed on top of the riser.
• Tower Tokens (4): Each of these consist of five pieces. Tower Tokens are built with two base layers supported by three walls. Note the bottom side of these Tokens is the Destroyed side.
• Fortress Tokens (4): Each of these consist of five pieces. Fortress Tokens are built with two base layers supported by three walls. Three of the Fortresses are lined in blue, while the fourth is a special Temple Fortress, lined in pink. Note the bottom side of these Tokens is the Destroyed side.

Towers and Fortresses feature a slightly different shape. Be sure to keep the Tower and Fortress components together as they are grouped on the punchboards before assembly. If any assembled constructs are loose-fitting, a small drop of transparent glue could be used inside the token for strength. Care has been taken to provide sufficient room in the box to hold all components.

Heroes

Your Hero

Each player selects their hero by combining two character options: their Role and their Race. A player's Role is their profession while their Race defines their heritage and species. This combination drives their strengths and weaknesses, defines their special Abilities, and determines their play style. If you'd like to randomize this selection, see page 20.

Role Types: Each Role is assigned a Type ribbon. Role types are color coded to represent one of five categories. In the Mountains of Godai, Role Type also drives a hero's Range (see page 58).

Role Type	Range
Striker (Damage)	1 (SkyTile sized)
Assist (Buffer)	2 (HexTile sized)
Healer	3 (Empire Tile sized)
Sapper (Debuffer)	3 (Empire Tile sized)
Utility (Specialty)	2 (HexTile sized)

1 Select your Role

You'll use your dry erase marker to record all of your hero's stats on your Role card. Select a Role randomly or deliberately choose one. Once you've chosen a Role, select a Race. Then, grab a marker and fill in your hero's name and Favored Opponent.

Continue by filling in your Food Rating and adding your Stat Modifiers to your Base Scores (the small brown hexes adjacent to each stat on your Role Card). The example shown in the book is the Dragoon (Role) + Kobold (Race).

The Role card contains: Abilities, Vital Type, Favored Opponent, Mastery Descriptions, Total Health & Energy (Vitals), Current Health & Energy, Base Scores (modified by Race), Mastery Notes, Mastery Energy Cost, Backpack, Gold, Skills, Starving Meter, Food Rating, Food Carried.

2 Select your Race

Races offer unique bonuses which compliment your Role. Select a Race randomly, or deliberately choose one. Players may share the same Race if they'd like.

• Favored Opponent: You excel against this foe. When facing it, you gain advantages over this type of opponent (see page 86). Record this on your Role card.
• Stat Modifiers: These are the Vitals, Abilities, and Skills that are modified by your Race. When you're ready to create your hero, add your Stat Modifiers to your Role Base Scores (see page 13) and write the total in each stat hex.
• Racial Ability: Each Race has a unique Racial Ability which consumes either Health or Energy to use. Racial Abilities may be used at any time (as specified), usually once per Ability per Game Turn.
• Food Rating: This is how much Food you'll consume if you fail your Survival roll each Game Turn. Record this on your Role card.

3 Add on to your Hero (Optional)

Did you know additional Hero modifications are available in other products? These are always optional and will not adversely affect gameplay if you choose to not include them in your game. Here's a list of Add ons currently available for your hero:

• Traits can be found in our Volumes 1-3 Expansions. Each hero may choose up to one Trait to gain during hero creation.
• Aspects can be found in the Volume 4 Core Box, its Expansion, and the Hero Chest. Each hero may choose up to one Aspect (it may not be a Greater Aspect) to gain during hero creation.
• Keepsakes can be found in the Volume 4 Core Box and its Expansion. Each hero may gain a random Keepsake during hero creation. Keep it face down and unknown until the hero dies.
• Familiars can be found in the Volume 4 Core Box and in the Mountains of Godai Return to Ishidan Expansion. Heroes may not begin the game with a Familiar, but may gain them during game play by saving up and trading in 4 Power Up cards.

Understanding your Hero

Stats: Each hero has nine Stats. They are: 2 Vitals, 4 Abilities, and 3 Skills.

Ranks: Ranks are the numbers you'll record inside each stat on your Role card. Each Rank evolves as the game progresses. Role ranks begin equal to the Role base score plus any Racial Modifiers. If an Ability or Skill rank is reduced to 0, you cannot use the Ability or Skill until it increases.

Stat Tests: Sometimes you'll be required to roll a Stat Test. Roll a Core die against the specified stat, and apply any bonuses or penalties. A roll of a special face is a result of 1. If the combined result is less than or equal to the rank of that stat, the roll is successful.

When rolling Stat Tests against Vitals, you roll against the current value, not the total rank.

Critical Successes and Failures are possible (see page 55). Unless otherwise specified, heroes may choose not to roll and gain a Critical Failure.

Stat dice in the other 6 colors are available for separate purchase.

Abilities

Each hero has four Abilities which define the action choices available to them in combat.

• Attack (red): This is your basic attack. It costs no Energy and damages an opponent's Vital score equal to the rank. Most Role's Basic Attack can only damage an opponent's Health, but some can damage Energy, Influence, or Outlast instead. Vital icons next to your Attack show which Vitals your Role can affect (see page 96).
• Defend (orange): This is your basic defense. It costs no Energy and reduces each incoming attack equal to the rank, as if it were the Defend keyword (see Keywords placard). You may also use an Item when you Defend (see page 97). Some Roles have a Gold symbol next to their Defend Ability, this is Bribery Proficiency (see page 98).
• Masteries (purple & dark blue): These Abilities are unique to each Role and usually require Energy to use. Some Masteries are also usable outside of combat.

Reading Mastery Descriptions: Each Role has two unique Mastery descriptions.

• Mastery Icons: You'll find a series of icons at the top of each Mastery. Numbers denote special unlocks (defined in the Mastery description) that will enhance the Mastery's power as its rank increases. The Ability symbols show which Abilities affect or are affected by this Mastery.
• Target Types: Your Masteries affect specific targets, as written in the Mastery description. Look for references to heroes, allies, targets, and opponents (see page 97).
• Ability Names: Ability Names are bolded and in light gray.
• Keywords and Conditions: Keywords and Conditions are bolded in white (see the Keywords Placard and the Conditions placard).

Skills

Each hero has three Skills.

• Navigate (green): Your hero's skill at finding their way and getting out of tight situations.
• Explore (yellow): Your hero's skill of perception and awareness.
• Survival (light blue): Your hero's skill at surviving in the wild and avoiding dangerous situations.

Vitals

Each hero has two Vitals.

• Health (indigo): Health is how much damage your hero can endure. If your Health drops to 0 after any adjustments are made, your hero dies.
• Energy (gray): You consume Energy when you use your Masteries or Racial Abilities. Enemies can damage your Energy, just as they can damage your Health. You cannot use Masteries or other Abilities if you do not have the Energy required to activate them.

Recording Vitals: Record your Vital rank inside your Vital stat. This is your max value. As you suffer damage, reduce the number in the "Current" section. That way you won't forget what your max rank is.

Regen: You may have access to items or effects that grant a Regen value. Record the Regen value here to remind you to increase your Vital by the Regen amount.

Gear Upgrade Rings

There is a ring of numbers around the edge of each stat on the Role cards. These numbers indicate the Gold cost to upgrade the stat rank. Starting at the topmost edge, each increase becomes more costly, moving clockwise around the ring. Abilities begin at a cost of 4 Gold (like the example in the book), Skills at a cost of 3 Gold, and Vitals at a cost of 2 Gold. In the example, the first Gear Upgrade would cost 4 Gold, then the next 5 Gold, and so on.

Heroes may own a total of 6 Gear Upgrades for each stat. When your hero gains a Gear Upgrade, fill in the appropriate slot. Once you have filled in all 6, you may not purchase another until a slot reopens (see Fusing below).

Gear Upgrades are unlike normal items and may not be transferred to another hero after they are gained.

Rank increases from Power Up cards (or other effects that increase your rank) are separate rewards that do not count against your Gear Upgrade limit.

Gaining Gear Upgrades: Gear Upgrades may be purchased with Gold in the Emporium based on the current Siege Stage (Stage 1, Stage 2, Stage 3+). It is possible to obtain Gear Upgrades through other game effects. If you gain one, mark the applicable slot and increase your stat rank accordingly (do not reduce your Gold when you gain a Gear Upgrade this way). If your upgrade ring is completely filled and you gain a Gear Upgrade through an effect, you'll still gain the awarded upgrade rank.

Fusing Gear Upgrades: Sometimes a game effect will Fuse a Gear Upgrade to your hero. When this occurs, erase the appropriate filled-in slot(s), but keep the rank bonus. This allows you to purchase more Gear Upgrades.

Backpack

Use this area of your Role mat to record the Gold, Food, and items your hero has acquired. Group Items are recorded on the Battle Mat (see page 92). Additional Backpack cards are available in the Hero Chest.

Currency, Food, and Items

• Gold: Each hero may carry up to a total of 100 times their initial Food Rating in Gold. A hero with an initial Food Rating of 0 may carry up to 100 Gold. Each hero begins the game with 10 Gold.
• Platinum: Platinum is a group currency (rewarded to the group once, not to each hero, unless specified), recorded on the Resources placard. One Platinum is worth 100 Gold. Platinum may not be traded for other Currencies unless otherwise specified. The group may only carry up to 100 Platinum. Platinum is used to Enhance your Defenders (see page 28) and purchase some Items.
• Food: Each hero may carry up to 5 times their initial Food Rating, unless their Food Rating increases. For each increase, increase the carry capacity by 5. A hero with an initial Food Rating of 0 may carry up to 5 Food. Each hero begins the game with 5 Food. Heroes with a Food Rating of 1 or higher who fail their Survival roll during the Skill Phase will need to consume Food from their reserve (equal to their Food Rating). It is important to stock up so that your hero does not Starve.
• Items: Items are written in bold blue on game components. Keep track of items in the Backpack area of your Role mat or for group items, on the Battle Mat (see page 92). There is no limit to the number of items a hero may carry, though some items may have a carry limit described by the item.

Sharing Currency and Items: You may always share Gold, Food, and Items (except Gear Upgrades) with other heroes in the group outside of combat. During combat while Defending, you may give a single Item to another hero (see page 97).

Choose your Hero

Each player creates their hero(es). It is suggested that each player controls only one hero during their first few multi-player games. You may select any Role/Race combination from any Volume. Each hero begins the game with 10 Gold and 5 Food.

Randomize your selection: With so many selections available, it might be a daunting task to come up with your hero; but it doesn't have to be! Roll on the tables provided if you're having difficulty coming up with an initial combination. For more randomization options, check out the HEXplore It app and/or website at www.hexploreit.com/heroes.

Roll (1d10)	Role	Race
1	Dragoon	Kobold
2	Samurai	Nakaharan
3	Astrologist	Alux
4	Sage	Voldwari
5	Magician	Jademar
6	Mesmer	Nagual
7	Spear Master	Tengu
8	Ninja	Tanuki
9	Wind Rider

Game Stages

Siege Waves

Mountains of Godai play consists of three or four Siege Waves each broken into two Stages: a Harvest Stage and a Siege Stage.

Harvest Stage: At the beginning of the game, you will be thrust into your first Harvest Stage, when Harvest cards are drawn and the group works to gather Resources to build up their Defenders.

Each game turn during the Harvest Stage represents one month of game time. During this Stage, play is centered on decision making and Resource management.

The group may face Encounters, challenge Bosses, or deal with unexpected challenges during this Stage. While gathering Resources and preparing for the next coming invasion, you may uncover valuable Treasures or Discoveries, or witness cataclysmic changes in the land.

A Jaethi Card is drawn at the end of each Harvest game turn. When a "siege!" card is drawn, the next Siege Stage begins.

Defenders will be crucial allies in your fight against Siege Opponents and the game's Villain: Jaethi, the Plumed Serpent. Resources will be essential for your group so you can Enhance your Defenders.

Harvest Stage turn order: Movement > Skill > Event > Villain.

Siege Stage: Up to four times during your game, you will face an earth shattering Siege. When the Wellspring thins enough, the Elemental portals will widen and allow powerful Siege Opponents into the world.

Represented with four Siege Banners, these opponents will march toward your Magnetic Defenders, who will attempt to keep them at bay.

Jaethi, the Plumed Serpent herself, will manifest during these times. During this Stage, the group will endure cataclysmic events, power-hungry demi-deities, and elemental spirits as they work to deconstruct this reality's Pattern.

These Siege opponents are grand in their scope, composed of powerful creatures and armies. But Sieges cannot last forever; the Wellspring is always attempting to correct its broken pattern.

Siege Stage turn order: Movement > Skill > Event > Villain.

Resources

Resources are group Items that assist in the development of your Defenders.

Tier I Resources: Ore, Lumber, Recruit. Tier II Resources: Essence, Sky Metal, Specialist. Tier III Resources: Aetherial Ore, Living Crystal. The Five Elements of Godai: Basic Elements (Air, Earth, Fire, Water) and Void.

It costs Platinum to first build a Defender (and sometimes to Improve them), while other Resources generally are spent to Improve them once they have been Built or Destroyed. Some Resources can also be traded in the Emporium to obtain more Platinum. Each Resource is categorized into one of three Tiers or is one of the five Elements.

Resources are gained in many ways throughout the game and are used to enhance your Defenders. There is no limit to the number of Resources the group may accumulate.

The Five Elements

Elements are a special type of Resource (rewarded to the group once, not to each hero, unless specified). There are 5 Elements in the Mountains of Godai. Four are considered to be Basic. The generic Element icon is used in several places throughout the game.

Augmenting Elements: Elements may be Consumed to grant heroes or Defenders special Elemental abilities. This can be done in Temples and/or while the group is in a Defender location. See the Elements placard for more information on Augmenting Elements.

Opposing Elements: Each of the four basic Elements Opposes one other basic Element, while Void Opposes all others. The Element that Opposes another has power over it.

• Air opposes Earth
• Earth opposes Water
• Water opposes Fire
• Fire opposes Air
• Void opposes Air, Earth, Fire, and Water.
• Nothing opposes Void.

This is especially useful to note when you are Augmenting Elements to your heroes and/or Defenders (see the Elements placard for more information).

Using Resources: In general, the Resource Uses table summarizes the major uses of Resources in managing your Defenders.

Resource	Uses
Ore	Can improve a Defender's Resilience (how much damage they can take).
Lumber	Can improve a Defender's Potential (how many dice they use in attacks).
Recruits	Can reduce Siege Opponent Retreat chance and allow Defenders to be Enhanced during the Siege Stage.
Essence	Can contribute to a Defender's Resilience and Range.
Sky Metal	Improves a Defender's Power (strength of attack).
Specialists	Gain Platinum and can reduce Siege Opponent's Arcing, Bulwark, Ignite, and Overpower Keywords.
Aethereal Ore	May be used as an interrupt to increase a Defender's Resilience, Potential, Power, or Range.
Living Crystals	May be used to create factories that produce Tier II Resources or Elements at the end of each Harvest Stage and may be Consumed for various effects on Cataclysm Tiles.
Elements	Can assist in your fight against Siege Opponents and the effects of Jaethi.

The Resources & Elements Placards: Refer to the Resources and Element placards for more information on these game effects.

Defenders

City-States, Fortresses, Towers, and Temples are Defenders (the heroes are not Defenders). These game locations may be targeted and destroyed by Siege Opponents.

Defender Locations & Tokens: City-States and Temples are printed directly on the game map. Towers and Fortresses are represented with Tokens. It is also possible to gain the Temple Fortress, a special Fortress Token representing unified Temples (see the Temple placard). These 3D Tokens are assembled before your first game (see page 10).

Siege Icons: Take a look at the Siege Keywords placard to familiarize yourself with Siege Icons at this time. Several of these icons are shared between Defenders and Siege Opponents alike. For purposes of this section, we will only look at the Siege Icons relevant to Defenders.

• Magnetic: This Defender will attract Siege Opponents to it, unless otherwise specified.
• Potential: The number of Core dice a Defender rolls to damage a Siege Opponent. Minimum of 1, maximum of 9.
• Power: Treated like a Stat Rank with no maximum. For Defenders, this is the target number for Potential rolls. For Siege Opponents, this is the number of Siege Damage they deal to Defenders.
• Range: The number of hexes the group, a Defender, or Siege Opponent can target away from the hex (or hexes) that they occupy. Minimum of 1, maximum of 9.
• Resilience: Treated like a Stat Rank with no maximum. The amount of Siege Damage a Defender or Siege Opponent can suffer before they are destroyed.

Defender Trackers: Four types of dry-erasable Defender Trackers are included in the game, one for each Game Location type. Each Tracker is assigned to a specific location on the map (City-States and Temples) or to a Token (Towers and Fortresses).

• City-State Name: City-States are named and numbered. Thus, each City-State Tracker corresponds to one of the four possible City-States, of which only two will ever be in play.
• Shared Temples: All five Temple locations are combined and tracked with the "All Temples" Defender Tracker. Their Resilience is tracked separately by location, shown using the Temple Number, but all other Temple stats are shared. Whenever a Temple is revealed on the map, fill in its Resilience, starting at 8.
• Temple Fortress: The Temple Fortress is shown on the back side of the Shared Temples tracker. See the Temple Placard for information on how to build the Temple Fortress.
• Tower & Fortress Numbers: Towers and Fortresses are numbered 1 through 4, with the same number shown on the front and back side of the Tracker. Whenever a Tower is Upgraded to a Fortress, it is Upgraded to the same number (flip the Tracker over). It is not possible to upgrade a Tower to a different numbered Fortress. For example, if you are upgrading Tower 2, you will remove the Tower 2 token, replace it with the Fortress 2 token, and then flip the Tower 2 Tracker to the Fortress 2 Tracker.
• Upgraded Stats: If a number contains a "+" it is an Upgraded Stat. Whenever this location is Upgraded from a previous location, add this number to its current Stat, inherited from the previous location.
• Base Stats: If a number does not contain a "+" it is considered a Base Stat. Whenever this location first enters play or is Rebuilt, reset each Stat to the number shown in these boxes.
• Stat Trackers: Each of these white boxes are spots for you to write numbers into using your dry erase markers. These will fluctuate during play similar to how hero stats fluctuate.
• Upgrade Options: If a location can be Built, Rebuilt, or Upgraded, it is noted here. All locations may be Improved.
• Augmented Elements: You can Augment up to one of each Element to your Defenders for added abilities (see the Elements placard). Use the Element area of the Defender Tracker to fill in the Element(s) that you have Augmented to that Defender.

The trackers also show a Magnetic icon, Enhance Options, and Recruit/Specialist Effects areas.

Building & Enhancing Defenders

The group may spend Platinum or Resources from their Stockpile (located on the Resources Placard) to Build, Upgrade, Rebuild, Relocate, Improve, or Equip Defenders. Not all of these options are available for all Defenders. Enhancing Defenders occurs at the end of the Event phase (see page 63).

Action	Cost	Effect
Build	6 Platinum	When a Tower is Built, place the next available Tower Token (in numeric order) on any Terrain hex within the group's Range (see page 58). Tower Tokens may not be placed on Game Locations (hexes with a colored border) or Siege Portals, but every other location is permissible, even on a SkyTile (if the group has Soar). Find the matching Tower Tracker and then fill in its Base Stats. Each time a Tower is Built, also draw a Power Up. The entire group gains the reward.
Upgrade	10 Platinum	Towers 1 through 3 may be Upgraded to a Fortress of the same number. Flip the Tower Tracker from its Tower side to its Fortress side and fill in its new Stats. Then, remove the matching Tower Token from the map and replace it with the Fortress Token of the same number (it must be placed on the same location). The removed Tower may not be Built again until the Upgraded Fortress has been destroyed.
Rebuild	Varies	Tower and Fortress Tokens are either removed from the board or flipped over when they are destroyed. If flipped over, these locations may be Rebuilt by the heroes in the same spot at a lower cost. The Temple Fortress is an exception and cannot be Rebuilt; it is removed when it is destroyed, along with all other Temple locations. When Rebuilt, Defenders retain all their former qualities except for Resilience, Recruits, and Specialists, which resets to the Base Stat for that location.
Relocate	1	Move a Tower or Fortress in the group's Range, as long as it is not destroyed, up to a number of hexes equal to the group's Range. This Enhancement is available up to once per Defender per Game Turn. This option is not available for the Temple Fortress.

Equip: Several cards in the game have an Equip Banner. These cards, once gained by the group, may be attached to a Defender to gain the Equip effect.

There is no limit to how many Equip cards you may attach to a Defender, though you may only attach up to one Equip card per Defender per Game Turn. This is done as part of the Enhancing Defenders action during the Event phase.

Removing Equipped Cards: Unless otherwise stated, Equip cards may be removed from a Defender as part of the Enhancing Defenders action during the Event phase (and Assigned to a different Defender).

Destroyed Equip Cards: If a Defender is destroyed, all of its Equip cards are removed from the game.

Destroyed Defenders: Defender Resilience is reduced by 1 per point of Siege damage suffered. When a Defender's Resilience is reduced to 0 (it may not be reduced less than this), the Defender is Destroyed at the end of the game turn. All Recruits and Specialists in that Defender are lost at this time. All other Stats are erased (see the exception for Towers and Fortresses below). The following table shows how to deal with a Destroyed Defender of each type:

• Tower: When a Tower is Destroyed, the group may choose to remove the Tower Token from the map or flip it upside down. If you flip it upside down, retain all Stats (except for Recruits and Specialists). It may be Rebuilt there at a lower cost.
• Fortress: When a Fortress is Destroyed, the group may choose to remove the Fortress Token from the map or flip it upside down. If you flip it upside down, retain all Stats (except for Recruits and Specialists). It may be Rebuilt there at a lower cost.
• Temple: When a Temple is Destroyed, place a Hex Token on it. It may not be Rebuilt.
• Temple Fortress: When the Temple Fortress is Destroyed, remove the Temple Fortress Token from play. It may not be Rebuilt. Place a Hex Token on all remaining Temples. If another Temple is revealed after the Temple Fortress has been destroyed, place a Hex Token on it; all Temples have fallen.
• City-State: When a City-State is Destroyed, place the matching destroyed City-State Token on the location. City-States may not be Rebuilt once destroyed. Therefore, pay close attention to "Final Moments" (see page 76). Commissions remain unchanged when a City-State is destroyed.

Enhancing Defender Examples:

• Example: The group Builds their first Tower by spending 6 Platinum. The players locate the Tower 1 Defender Tracker and place the matching Tower 1 Token. All Base Stats are filled in, as shown in the illustration. Later, they decide to Upgrade Tower 1 to a Fortress, by spending 10 Platinum. The players transfer all stats from the front to the back of the Tracker, replace the Tower 1 Token with the Fortress 1 Token and increase 3 of the Fortresses' stats (shown in red italics).
• Example: The group has revealed 2 Temples on the map (1 and 4). They share all base stats, except for Resilience. Later, the group has Augmented each of the 4 basic Elements to Temples to create the Temple Fortress (see Temple placard). They place the Temple Fortress token on the center hex of any map tile of their choice. They add up all revealed Temple's Resilience and upgrade or carry over all other Defender stats. All Temples are now Magnetic!
• Example: The group is Improving a City-State. They must also spend 1 Platinum to Improve it, so they have decided to accumulate many Resources to Improve all at once. Consulting the Resources placard, they spend the following from the group's Stockpile: 1 Platinum, 6 Ore, 6 Lumber, 4 Recruits, 2 Essence, 1 Sky Metal, 1 Specialist (as printed; the exact icons are shown in the book). They Promote 3 into 1 and thus assign 1 and 2 to the City-State. The City-State's other stats are improved as shown in red italics.
• Example: The group has obtained an Equip card. They attach it to the Tower at no cost during the Event phase. If this Tower is Destroyed, the Equip card will be removed from the game. If the Tower is Upgraded, the Equip card will remain attached to the new Fortress. The group may Detach it from this Defender during the Event phase of any future Game Turn.

Game Map

Understanding the Map

A Tale of Two Empires: Most of the map tiles in the Mountains of Godai are double sided. One side contains Caprakan lands and the other Ishidan lands. Choose either side each time you place a new tile.

• Empire Tiles (A-B): These are the two main map tiles. The Empire side you choose to place (Caprakan or Ishidan) will affect the City-State and type of Commission deck that is placed during the initial setup (see page 42).
• HexTiles (C-N)*: There are 12 additional HexTiles to explore. When you move to a border on the game board, draw a random HexTile and place it adjacent to your position in any orientation or side that you choose (in the configuration shown on page 33).
• SkyTiles & Cataclysms: These small tiles come in two varieties: SkyTiles (see page 34) & Cataclysms (see page 35). These are sections of the world that are breaking away from the planet and/or consumed by the Elements.
• Siege Portals: Three of these tiles are placed as part of the game setup. An additional 4 hexes on the Game Bar are also Siege Portals. These are locations where the Wellspring has weakened and Jaethi's forces can enter our realm. Each Siege Portal hex is numbered 1-10. SkyTiles, Cataclysm Tiles, Tokens, Defenders, and miniatures may never be placed on Siege Portal hexes. See page 36 for more information on Siege Portals.

Event Locations: Six Event Location types are highlighted on the map. They are: City-States, Temples, Settlements, Antiquity Sites, Boss Lairs, and Wellspring Gates. Two Event Location types are placed by the players and are represented with 3D tokens. They are Towers and Fortresses. See page 61 for Events that occur on these locations.

Game Board Symmetry

The map in the Mountains of Godai is always staged in the configuration shown in the book's map diagram. This helps balance your play experience. As part of your game setup, you will place all tiles shown outlined in yellow. They are:

• 4 Game Bars
• 2 Empire Tiles
• 2 random HexTiles to connect the Empire Tiles
• 3 Siege Portals

Placing the Empire Tiles & Siege Portals: Each Empire Tile contains 1 City-State on the outermost edge of the tile. As part of the game setup, both City-States in play must lie on an edge adjacent connecting it to the Game Bar. There are 3 appropriate positions of your choice to orient each City-State, as shown by the orange hexes in the diagram. Place the Siege Portals in the positions shown, in any orientation you wish.

Expanding the Game Map during play: After play begins, each time you expand the map by placing a new HexTile, the newly placed tile cannot exceed the configuration shown outside the yellow outline. The map includes up to 14 legal positions for your remaining 10 HexTiles. You may orient newly placed HexTiles in any rotation you prefer, but no additional map tiles may be placed outside what is shown in this configuration layout. (HexTiles may be placed to either the north or south in the space provided.)

SkyTiles and Risers

There are 13 SkyTiles in your game. SkyTiles are special map tiles placed on top of the game map, they are not used to expand it. SkyTiles have two sides: the Floating Mountain and the Nether.

Floating Mountain: The top side of a SkyTile is the Floating Mountain. These are initially uncrossable to the group if they do not have Soar (see page 52). Unless otherwise specified, each time a new SkyTile is placed, it is initially shown with the Floating Mountain side up and placed with a Riser.

Risers: A Riser is placed under a Floating Mountain when it is placed on the board. Risers are not placed under any other tile.

Removing Risers: Various game effects can cause a Riser to be removed from a SkyTile with two possible outcomes: 1) the Floating Mountain is flipped to its Nether side, or 2) the Floating Mountain drops directly to the ground without flipping over. Floating Mountains without a Riser may be entered without Soar. Whenever a Riser is removed and the Floating Mountain remains, all Defenders currently in play lose Resilience -1. Whenever a Riser is removed and the Floating Mountain is flipped to its Nether side, Defenders do not suffer any damage.

Nether: The flip side of a SkyTile is the Nether. Heroes gain Dissonant (see the Conditions placard) while on any hex of a Nether tile (unless they have a Void Augment). This Condition may not be Negated while on a Nether tile. The group does not need to have Soar to enter the Nether.

Placing SkyTiles: Various game effects may place a new SkyTile on the board. Siege Portals are used to determine their placement (see page 36). If a game effect places a SkyTile and none are remaining, ignore the effect. Tokens and miniatures in a location where a SkyTile is placed are moved from the map to the corresponding hex on the new SkyTile.

• If an effect would place another SkyTile in a location where a Floating Mountain already exists, remove its Riser and flip that tile to its flip side; it becomes the Nether.
• If an effect would place another SkyTile in a location where the Nether already exists, reroll its placement.
• Game locations below a SkyTile are always considered to no longer be in play but may become available again if the SkyTile is moved away from it or is removed from play.

Moving SkyTiles: Various game effects may move a SkyTile. A SkyTile may be moved to cover any game location except for Siege Portals and City-States. When moving a SkyTile, if the group miniature is on the tile, they are moved with it. Other Tokens and Siege Miniatures on a SkyTile are moved from the SkyTile back to the corresponding hex on the map.

Resources on SkyTiles: SkyTile hexes that do not contain an Elemental Rift (see next page) or other Game Location (like a Settlement or Antiquity Site) provide one of 5 Resource types of your choice during the Harvest Stage. This supersedes any other terrain on these tiles. Each side of the SkyTile (Floating Mountain & the Nether) may be Harvested from in this way. See the Resource Aid (page 59).

Cataclysm Tiles

There are 4 Cataclysm Tiles in your game. Each represents one of the four Basic Elements. Like SkyTiles, Cataclysm Tiles are placed on top of other map tiles (they do not expand the map).

Placing Cataclysm Tiles: Cataclysm Tiles are placed on the board when you draw a Cataclysm card (in the Harvest Deck or Jaethi's Villain deck). Siege Portals are used to determine their placement (see page 36). Game locations below a Cataclysm Tile are always considered to no longer be in play, but may become available again if the Cataclysm Tile is moved away or is removed from play. Tokens and miniatures in play are moved from the map to the corresponding hex on the Cataclysm Tile when it is placed.

Cataclysm Cards: Four Cataclysm cards are included in MoG, one for each of the four Cataclysm Tiles. When a Cataclysm occurs, place the matching Cataclysm Tile as if it were a SkyTile, then draw the matching Cataclysm card. The Movement and Event phases are somewhat changed for the group while they are on any hex of these tiles. The back side of these cards also shows a new way to Consume Living Crystals and how Defenders and Siege Opponents are changed while on any hex of these tiles.

Elemental Rift: Certain hexes on Cataclysm Tiles and SkyTiles may contain an Elemental icon. These are Elemental Rifts, important locations for Harvesting Elements during the Harvest Stage (see page 60 and the Resource Aid). When a tile with an Elemental Rift is placed, also place a matching Elemental Token, number side face down, on the hex sharing the icon. The group may pick up the Token and add the matching Element to their Stockpile during the Event phase as described on page 62. Elemental Tokens may be placed again on Elemental Rifts anytime the group is in a Temple (see the Temple Placard) and at other times during play. There is no limit to the number of Tokens that may be placed on these locations.

Hazardous Terrain: All hexes on Cataclysm and Nether Tiles are considered to be Hazardous Terrain. The group does not gain the benefits of Camping or Moving Cautiously here (even if any of the heroes have the matching Augment) and suffers 1 Elemental Health damage matching the associated Element at the end of the Movement Phase. Nether Tiles are always considered to be associated with the Void Element.

Siege Portals

Siege Portals are a special uncrossable location that may never be entered by the group. There are 10 Siege Portals in play, numbered 1-10. Four Portals are located on the Game Bars that border the map and six are located in the center of the map.

Many times during play, an Event will occur near a Siege Portal. This includes SkyTile and Cataclysm placements, Siege Banner placements, Jaethi's appearance, and more. When this occurs, the players will use the Portals to determine a game location. Unless otherwise specified, no game piece, miniature, or Token may ever be placed on Siege Portals.

Using Siege Portals to Determine a Location: Roll a Core die. The result is the Siege Portal, so long as that Portal does not have a Hex Token on it (reroll if it does). Next, roll the Hex die. This is the Wander direction the effect triggers on. Place the target of this effect on this location, considering the following:

• For cases where the triggering Tile or miniature is larger than one hex (a SkyTile, Cataclysm, or Jaethi's miniature), the players choose the orientation and position of the piece placed.
• If a Siege Banner is being placed and it does not have Soar, it cannot be placed on a Floating Mountain that bears a Riser. Reroll its placement.
• If the triggering Tile is a Cataclysm and a SkyTile already exists there, reroll its placement.
• If the triggering Tile is a SkyTile and a Floating Mountain already exists there, remove its Riser and flip it to its Nether side. If a Nether Tile already exists there, reroll its placement.
• If the resulting hex location places it on a Game Bar, another Siege Portal, or such that 2 miniatures occupy the same hex, reroll the Wander direction until a viable location is determined.
• If the resulting location can be placed but a map tile does not yet exist there, draw a random HexTile and place one (abiding to the configuration shown on page 33).

Examples (illustrated in the book):

• Example 1: Rolling to place a Siege Banner. The dice roll 8 and 1. The Siege Banner is only one hex, so we place the Banner on the hex shown.
• Example 2: Rolling to place Jaethi's Miniature. The dice roll 3 and 2. A new HexTile is placed on this location, then the players orient Jaethi's miniature with at least one hex on the location shown.
• Example 3: Rolling to place a SkyTile. The dice roll 7 and 5. A new SkyTile is placed on this location. The group chooses to place it as shown. If one already existed there, the existing tile would be flipped to its Nether side.
• Example 4: Rolling to place a Cataclysm Tile. The dice roll 10 and 4. A Cataclysm Tile is placed on at least one hex of this location. Depending on where it is placed, the group may place a new HexTile to fill the empty space as well.
• Example 5: Rolling to place Jaethi's Mini. The dice roll 4 and 3. Two new HexTiles will be placed here, because Jaethi's mini will touch a border of the map. Then the players orient Jaethi's mini with at least one hex on the location shown.
• Example 6: Rolling to place a Siege Banner. The dice roll 6 and 4. A new HexTile will be placed here because Siege Banners and Jaethi's mini may expand the map.
• Example 7: Rolling to place a SkyTile. The dice roll 6 and 1. A Nether Tile is already placed here, so the Wander location is rerolled.
• Example 8: Rolling to place a Banner. The first die rolls 2. The group has closed Portal 2 (by vanquishing a Boss) so the Portal location is rerolled.

Terrain

The map contains many types of terrain and landmarks. Use the guide in the book to determine which type of terrain your heroes are located in: Highland, Forest, Plains, Marsh, Water*, Road & River.

• Great Tree: Any tree that is nearly the same size as a hex.
• Mountain Peak*: Any mountain that crosses into the hex above it.

*These locations are initially uncrossable (see page 52).

Setup

Setup Overview

1. Create your Heroes (page 41): Each player selects a Role and a Race, and any additional Hero modifications. See page 20. Fill in your Role mat with stat ranks modified by the Race you selected. Each player takes 3 Stat dice and a Resource Aid card. Select a miniature to represent the group.
2. Set up the Game Board (page 41): Place the 4 Game Bars, 2 Empire Tiles (each in 1 of 3 permissible orientations), 2 HexTiles, and each of the 3 Siege Portals. Place an initial SkyTile on the board. Shuffle and place the appropriate Commission deck on each side of the map, then flip over the top card of each of those decks. Shuffle and place each deck (except for Jaethi's Villain deck). Gather and set aside the rest of the game components.
3. Create the Villain Deck & Record Jaethi's Resilience (page 44): This step determines how many Siege Waves your game will produce, your game length, and difficulty.
4. Roll Starting Location & Gain Initial Resources (page 46): Roll the Hex die to determine the heroes' starting position on the map. Gain the Initial Equipment based on the City-State you begin in. Place your initial Tower or gain 4 Platinum if you choose not to. Roll the Element dice and gain initial Resources based on this roll. Spend any initial Gold or Resources.
5. Begin your adventure to save the known world!

1 Create your Heroes

Create your heroes (page 20). Each hero begins the game with 10 Gold and 5 Food. Give each player 3 Stat Dice and a Harvest Resource Aid. Select a hero miniature to represent the group.

Each player should have the items shown in the book. The Hex and Elemental Dice are shared between all players.

2 Set up the Game Board

• Determine the Empires in play (Caprakan, Ishidan, or a combination of both). This decision will determine how each Game Bar and Empire Tile is placed.
• Place 4 Game Bars, 2 Empire Tiles, 2 random HexTiles, and 3 Siege Portals in the orientation shown in the book. Rotate each Empire Tile in a way that places each City-State in one of the 3 permissible orientations shown.
• Place an initial SkyTile on the board (see page 34). The SkyTile may reveal a new HexTile, depending on where it is placed.
• Place a random Boss Token, numbered side face up, on each revealed Boss Lair.
• Shuffle and set aside all remaining HexTiles, SkyTiles, Cataclysm Tiles, and Tokens.

Organize your Table

• Place the plastic tray near your map. Use it to store your Tokens, dice, and other small components.
• Locate each Defender Tracker. Fill in each City-State's initial stats and place each in the designated spot on each Game Bar, with the proper side matching the City-State face up. Place all remaining Defender Trackers near the Harvest and Encounter deck slots, with the "Enhancing Defenders" tracker face up.
• Set aside the 4 Siege Banners, Jaethi's Miniature, and the SkyTile Risers.
• Gather all Game Placards and set them aside.

Create, Shuffle, and Place the Decks

• Shuffle each Commission deck.
  • If both Empires are in play, place each Empire's Commission deck on the matching Empire slot of the Game Bar.
  • If only one Empire is in play, randomly divide that Empire's Commission deck into two halves and place each half on the matching Empire slot.
  • Flip over the top card of each Commission deck.
• Shuffle and place the Harvest, Encounter, and Power Up decks.
• Shuffle and place each of the five Elemental Siege decks (keep them separate). Set these aside, near the game board.
• Jaethi's deck is created in a unique way in the next section of setup.

In the example in the book, both Empires are in play, thus both Commission decks are placed. If each Game Bar featured the same Empire, the players would shuffle the matching Empire deck, cut into two roughly equal halves, and place one on each side of the Game Bar.

3 Create the Villain Deck

Follow these steps to create Jaethi's Villain Deck:

1. Locate each of the 5 "siege!" cards and set them aside, face down.
2. Create 5 piles of 3 cards each from the remaining deck, also placed face down.
3. Set aside all remaining cards in a sixth pile.
4. Without looking at any of the cards, randomly shuffle 1 "siege!" card into each of the 5 piles.
5. Choose any 3 of the 5 piles containing "siege!" cards and stack them into one deck without shuffling or revealing the cards.
6. Finally, place the top 2 cards from the remainder pile from step 3 onto the newly created deck, without shuffling.

The Villain Deck is now created for playing a 3 Siege game. Set aside any remaining cards. They will not be used.

Five Siege Cards are included in MoG for replayability, though all five are not meant to be played during a typical game. Refer to the MoG Game Guide to shorten or lengthen your play experience. (Five piles of 3 cards = short game. Use 4 or 5 cards per pile for a longer game.)

Balanced Play: This initial step to organize Jaethi's deck ensures you will have a balanced play experience, with Sieges taking place randomly, yet roughly organized into semi-equal game durations. "siege!" cards are randomly sorted into roughly equal positions in the deck.

No Shuffling the Villain Deck: No game effect may shuffle the Villain deck.

Example: The players decide their game will consist of 3 Sieges, so 2 of the 5 "siege!" cards will not be used.

1. Remove all "siege!" cards from Jaethi's deck.
2. Count out 5 stacks of 3 cards each.
3. Set all remaining cards in a sixth pile off to the side.
4. Shuffle one "siege!" card back into each of those 5 stacks.
5. Randomly select 3 of the 5 piles and place one on top of another.
6. Add 2 cards from the sixth pile on top of the newly formed deck.

Record Jaethi's Resilience: Jaethi's Resilience is equal to 25 multiplied by the number of Siege Waves you've chosen for your game.

• 3 Siege Waves = 75
• 4 Siege Waves = 100

Record this number on the Battle Mat before play begins.

4 Roll Starting Location & Gain Initial Resources

Random City-State Selection: At the beginning of the game and at other times during play, you may need to randomly determine a City-State. Roll the Hex die. If it is odd, the result is City-State 1. If it is even, the result is City-State 2. Roll to determine where your heroes will begin and place the group miniature on any hex of the rolled City-State at this time.

Initial Equipment: Each hero chooses one option from each of the three Hero Choice columns below. Then, the group chooses one option from the Group Theme option. Gain any applicable equipment. The group may spend their initial Gold at this time.

Hero Choices:

Select a Gear Upgrade	Select an Item	Select a Resource
2 Vital Gear Upgrades	3 Viper Potions	Gain 10 Gold
1 Skill Gear Upgrade	Ring of Command	Gain 4 Gold
1 Ability Gear Upgrade	Gryphon Mount	The group gains 1 Platinum
	Peryton Mount	Reduce your Food Rating by 1.

Group Choice, select a Group Theme:

• Hunters: Each hero gains 2 Ability ranks of their choice.
• Explorers: The group gains a Leyline Compass and an Expedition Contract.
• Seeker: Flip over 5 Commission cards from any Commission deck.
• Collectors: The group gains 1 Void Element and 3 Wellspring Amplifiers.

Place Your Initial Tower (Tower 1): You may choose to Build your first Tower at the beginning of the game (see page 28). This Tower is in disrepair. It begins the game with half its initial Resilience (5). If you choose to place it, select any non-Game Location hex (a hex with a colored border) and place Tower 1 there. Then, fill in its stats on the matching tracker. If you choose not to place the initial Tower, the group gains 4 Platinum and a basic Element of their choice instead.

Roll the Element Dice: Roll all 5 Element dice. Check the table below to determine the Resources you gain at the beginning of the game based on the roll results. Record the Resources gained in the Stockpile on the Resources placard (see page 70). For each Surge result, the group may roll that die again for an Element (see below).

Element Dice Resource Gained in Setup:

• For each Air and Fire result, gain 4 Ore.
• For each Earth and Water result, gain 4 Lumber.
• For each Void result, gain 2 Recruits and 1 Tier II Resource of your choice.
• For each Surge* result, also gain 4 Platinum.
• *For each Surge result, in addition to any Resource reward, the group may reroll the Elemental die that Surged to gain an Element (see below).

Example: The group rolls all five Element dice and gain: Air rolls Fire (4 Ore), Earth rolls Earth (4 Lumber), Fire rolls Surge (4 Ore and 4 Platinum), Water rolls Void (2 Recruits), Void rolls Surge (2 Recruits and 4 Platinum). In addition to the Resources shown above, the group will choose 2 Tier II Resources (for the 2 Void Results) and will roll twice for Elements (Fire and Void Surge).

Rolling Element Dice to gain Elements: Various game effects, like this one at the start of your adventure, may allow you to roll the Element dice to gain Elements during play. When a game effect specifies, roll the Element die specified (or one of your choice if unspecified). Check the table below (also located on the Elements Placard) for the result. If you gain an Element, record it in the Stockpile on the Resources placard (see page 70).

Gaining Elements:

Die	Roll Result	Element Gained
Basic	Mismatch	Gain nothing.
Basic	Match	Gain the Element rolled.
Basic	Surge	Gain 2 matching Elements.
Void	Mismatch	Gain the Element rolled.
Void	Match	Gain 1 Void.
Void	Surge	Roll again. If the second result is a Surge, gain 2 Void, otherwise gain 1 Void.

Example: The group rolls these two Element dice again (for the Surges above). The group consults the Gaining Elements table for the results. Fire rolls Water (Mismatch). Void rolls Surge again, so we roll again. The reroll is a Mismatch: Void reroll is Earth. The group gains 1 Void Element from the Void die roll result.

5 Begin your Adventure

You are now ready to begin!

The balance of our universe has tilted. For far too long, powerful beings have interfered with the fabric of our world, causing it to fray, erratically, at its edges. This imbalance has drawn the attention of its keeper: Jaethi, the Titan of Magic, the Source of the Wellspring, and the Keeper of Patterns. She now returns to the world to restore balance — by unraveling all its Patterns to remake the world anew.

Can we gather the strength necessary to oppose her? To right our wrongs and restore balance to our world? Will we bravely stand our ground, alone, against a terrifying titan of our world? There is only one way to find out...

Need some help getting started? Detailed examples of play are shown in the Game Guide booklet.

Game Turns

Game Turn Overview

Unlike in previous Volumes, there is no Circumstance phase in the Mountains of Godai. Harvest and Siege Stage differences are noted on the Game Turn Sequence placard.

Harvest / Siege Stage Begin (page 50)

• If it is the beginning of the game or if a new Harvest Stage has begun, draw and play a number of Harvest cards equal to the group's Acquire Amount. Play any "Immediate Effects" and note any "Until the End of Stage Effects."
• If a Siege! card has been drawn, the next Siege Stage begins. Follow the steps outlined on page 68.

1 Movement Phase (page 52)

• The group begins play moving at a rate of 4 hexes per turn.
• Decide how the group will move this turn: Normal, Cautious, Reckless, or Camp. Consult the Game Turn Sequence placard for details on each type of movement.

2 Skill Phase (page 55): How you move affects which Skills you will roll as well as any modifiers you will gain.

3 Event Phase (page 58)

• (Harvest Stage only) The group Harvests Resources, based on their location.
• If you are in a game location or on a hex containing a Token, you may have an Event.

4 Villain Phase (page 64)

• (Harvest Stage only) Play the Harvest Villain Phase. Draw and play a Jaethi card.
• (Siege Stage only) Play the Siege Villain Phase.

Next Game Turn.

The Harvest Stage Begins

• Draw a number of cards from the Harvest deck equal to the group's Acquire Amount (recorded on the Battle Mat). The group's Acquire Amount begins at 3.
• Play any Immediate Effect in any order you choose.
• Make a note of all Until the End of Stage Effects. These effects are active when the card is drawn and last until the Harvest Stage ends. These effects may change your strategy for the Stage.
• Set aside all Harvest cards drawn this stage. Refer back to them whenever necessary.

Acquire Amount: The group begins with an Acquire Amount of 3. This means the group draws 3 Harvest Cards at the beginning of the Harvest Stage and may choose 3 hexes in the group's Range to Harvest Resources from each Game Turn until the next Siege begins. At the beginning of the game, note this number in the box shown on the Battle Mat. It may be increased through various game effects. Game Locations in the group's Range provide Resources during the Event phase of the Harvest Stage, so your position on the map during this Stage will play an important role in your strategy.

The Harvest Deck: After all Harvest cards are drawn, you will read each card's title and narrative, and then play any Immediate Effects. Until the End of Stage Effects activate when the card is drawn and last until the end of the Harvest Stage. Immediate Effects and Until the End of Stage Effects change the outcome of the Harvest Stage in unique ways and may provide new and unexpected strategies to emerge.

Treasures: Treasures are special Items found in the Harvest deck that the group may gain. There are no Immediate Effects to play when a Treasure is drawn and the group does not automatically gain it.

To gain a Treasure, the group must have an Event in an Antiquity Site. If this is done during the Harvest Stage, the group immediately gains the Treasure. If the group gains the Treasure, one hero keeps this card and gains access to the Wielder Bonus and the Treasure Effect. Do not place a Hex Token on the location after securing a Treasure.

If a revealed Treasure is not gained by the end of the Harvest Stage, the Treasure is discarded. This is handled when a Siege begins. Jaethi has devoured its pattern and it is now lost to time.

Discarding Harvest Cards: All Harvest Cards drawn during this step of the game are discarded when a Siege begins. See page 68.

1 Movement Phase

All heroes travel together in one group. Use any hero mini to represent the group.

• The group begins the game with a base Movement speed of 4 hexes per turn (you may move less if you choose) and a base Cautious movement speed of 1 hex per turn. Group movement speed is recorded on the Battle Mat.
• Increases to Movement speed increase both base (4) and Cautious (1) movement speed.
• There are four types of movement: Camp, Cautious, Normal, and Reckless.
• If you move to the edge of the board, add one or more new HexTiles in the permissible orientation (shown on page 33). Placing a map tile does not end your movement.

Types of Movement: Four types of Movement are defined on the Game Turn placard. Choose one of these types to move the group each Game Turn.

Camping Stat Test Bonus: When Camping, heroes gain a -1 bonus to Harvest and Stat Tests made during the Game Turn. Stat Tests are defined on page 16. This Stat Test bonus stacks with itself and similar effects (for instance the longer you Camp), but is lost if you are moved to another location by any other effect (for instance if you Wander or Teleport).

Uncrossable Terrain: There are some hexes that the heroes may not move into (you may move out of these places normally). Mountain Ranges and Water hexes are initially uncrossable by the heroes. You may obtain Wayfarer's Supplies to allow movement into them.

SkyTile Risers and Soar: SkyTiles that have a Riser underneath are a special type of Uncrossable Terrain. The group may only move onto one of these hexes if at least half of the heroes have Soar. The group may always move off of these locations, even if they do not have Soar. Soar may be gained by purchasing the Peryton Mount and/or the Gryphon Mount, and also by other means, sometimes as a Racial Ability or given by a Role.

Expanding the Map: SkyTile placement, the group miniature, Siege Banners, and Jaethi herself can expand the map at many points during play. When any of these tokens or miniatures arrive on a border (or emerge on a HexTile that is not yet revealed), and a HexTile can be placed next to it, draw and place a random HexTile. The map must only expand in the placement orientation shown (see page 33). Whenever a new Defender is revealed (like a Temple), fill in its information on the matching Defender Tracker.

Placing Boss Tokens: There are several Boss Lairs on the map. Each time a new Boss Lair is revealed, place a random Boss Token on the location, with the unique or numbered side face up. Each token is numbered 1 through 8 (matching the Bosses' Level). Boss 9 exists on one of the SkyTiles and thus will not be placed as a Token. A Boss Lair may change the terrain of the hex it rests upon. If a Boss Lair is revealed and you have run out of Tokens to place, this location will now trigger a draw from the Encounter Deck instead.

Placing Elemental Tokens: Whenever an Elemental Rift (see page 35) is revealed on the map, place a matching Elemental Token on the associated hex.

Moving Cautiously: If you spend up to your entire movement following a River and/or Road, or if you move only 1 hex during the turn, you are considered to be Moving Cautiously.

• Items that increase the group's Movement speed also increase the number of hexes you may Move Cautiously (from 1 to 2, for example).
• Movement is considered following a Road/River if each hex the group moves into contains a River or Road. Note that all four hexes in a City-State are considered to contain Roads.
• Moving in this fashion ensures you are in no danger of Wandering (see below).
• While Moving Cautiously, you may also choose to discard an Encounter card played later that Game Turn (see page 67). This is the reward for moving carefully.

Wandering & Roaming: Anytime the group or other game piece Wanders, roll the Hex die. Move 1 hex in the direction indicated by the Wander Compass shown on the Game Bar. For example, if a 3 is rolled, the group Wanders into the hex south of their current position.

• If the heroes Wander into an Event location (see page 61), the Event is played normally. If the group's Wander result would reveal a new map tile, place one as usual. If it would place the piece at a hard map boundary (like on the edge of a Game bar), or in Uncrossable terrain without the proper equipment (Water, Mountain Peak, or SkyTile), they instead remain where they are on the game board.
• Some effects will force or allow the group or other game piece to Roam. When this happens, roll the Hex die twice. The first result becomes the direction of movement (shown on the Wander Compass), and the second becomes the number of hexes moved.

2 Skill Phase

During the Skill phase, each hero rolls their Skill dice at the same time. Roll the Skills shown on the Game Turn Sequence placard based on how the group moved:

• Camp/Cautious: Navigate automatically succeeds. Roll only Explore and Survival. You may roll Navigate to attempt to gain a Critical Success, but if you fail, you must take the failure.
• Normal: Roll all three Skills.
• Reckless: Roll Navigate and either Explore or Survival. The unchosen Skill fails.

Skill rolls made during this phase are Stat Tests (see page 16). Roll results that are less than or equal to the hero's matching Skill rank are successful.

Stat Test Critical Successes & Failures

• A Stat Test result of 1 is a Critical Success. A Critical Success always succeeds. Starting at rank 12, and every rank thereafter, the Critical Success range increases by 1 (1-2 at rank 12, 1-3 for rank 13, 1-4 for rank 14, 1-9 for rank 19, etc).
• A Stat Test result of 10 is a Critical Failure. A Critical Failure always fails.
• Modifiers can affect Critical Success or Failure. If a Stat Test roll is modified to fall within the Critical Success range for your rank, it is a Critical Success. If the roll is modified to 10 or more (and is not a Critical Success), it is considered a Critical Failure. A natural roll of 10 modified down is not a Critical Failure. Certain game effects may also change your Critical Success or Critical Failure range (like the Disoriented Condition).

Example: If your Stat Test roll is 4, but you have a -3 bonus to your roll, then your final roll result is a 1, which is a Critical Success! However, if your Stat Test roll is 9, but you have a +2 penalty to your roll, then your final roll result is an 11, which is a Critical Failure. Your roll will still be considered a Critical Failure even if your rank for the Stat Test is higher than 11.

Critical Success in the Skill Phase: Heroes who Critically Succeed during the Skill phase also gain an additional bonus, along with the normal reward. For instance, you may gain extra Gold, Resources, or even face an Encounter that awards twice the Encounter reward. Consult the Game Play placard to find the bonuses the group gains when you Critically Succeed Skills during the Skill phase.

Navigate

• Half of the heroes (rounded up) must succeed this roll to avoid Wandering. Alternatively, if a hero Critically Succeeds their Navigate test, they save the group from Wandering this turn.
• If the group has Moved Cautiously (see page 54), they are in no danger of Wandering. Unless they push their luck trying to roll a Critical Success and fail.

Explore

• If your Explore roll succeeds, your hero gains 2 Gold worth of treasure.
• If your Explore roll fails, you've found nothing but dirt.

Survival

• If your Survival roll succeeds, you forage well enough in the wilderness and do not need to consume Food this turn.
• If your Survival roll fails or you choose not to roll, you must consume Food from your inventory equal to your Food Rating.
• If your Food Rating is 0, you may choose not to roll the Survival die during the Skill phase.

Starving: If a hero fails their Survival roll and doesn't have enough Food for the turn, they begin to Starve. After the Skill phase during the first Game Turn in which you have less Food than you need to eat, mark the first of 3 levels on the Starving meter indicated by the Energy symbol. After the Skill phase of each subsequent Game Turn with inadequate Food, cross off the next symbol (moving left) on the Starving meter. You may only gain one level of Starving per Game Turn, unless otherwise stated.

• Starving Level 1: Your hero cannot use Energy. Place a mark over your current Energy as a reminder that you cannot use Energy.
• Starving Level 2: Your hero cannot use Energy nor roll Survival (all Survival rolls Critically Fail). Place a mark over the Survival die graphic as a reminder that you cannot roll Survival.
• Starving Level 3: Your hero immediately dies.

Starving heroes must consume any Food they receive. To end a level of Starving, purchase or gain and immediately consume Food equal to your Food Rating. In doing so you will lose 1 level of Starving.

You cannot lose more than one level of Starving per Game Turn. If you are still Starving, next turn consume your Food Rating in Food again to shrug off the effect entirely.

Starving is not a Condition, and thus cannot be removed by Items or effects that remove Conditions.

You can always share Food, Gold, and items freely to members of your group while outside of combat.

3 Event Phase

If it is the Siege Stage the group will not collect Resources, skip to page 61. If it is the Harvest Stage, continue reading.

Harvesting Resources (Harvest Stage only): The group begins with an Acquire Amount of 3 and Harvests Resources from locations within their Range. Record any Resources gained in the Stockpile on the Resources Placard.

During the Event phase of each turn, the group will choose a number of hexes equal to their Acquire Amount within their Range to Harvest Resources from. Acquire Amount and Group Range is recorded on the Battle Mat (see page 92).

Group Range: Group Range is based on Role Type. The group has Range equal to the greatest Range of all alive heroes in the group. This may change during play. Group Range does not include hexes that are not yet revealed or hexes the group cannot move into (for instance Uncrossable Terrain like Mountain Peaks, Water hexes, or SkyTiles).

Role Type	Range
Striker	1 (SkyTile sized)
Assist	2 (HexTile sized)
Healer	3 (Empire Tile sized)
Sapper	3 (Empire Tile sized)
Utility	2 (HexTile sized)
Dual	The largest of the two values.

Example: A three hero group consists of a Striker (Range 1), an Assist (Range 2), and a Sapper (Range 3). The Sapper has the greatest Range of the three, so the Group Range is 3 while the Sapper is alive.

Acquire Amount: The group begins with an Acquire amount of 3. This means the group may choose 3 different hexes in Range to Harvest Resources from. At this time, select a number of different hexes equal to your Acquire Amount. The chosen locations must be within your Range (and hexes that you can normally move into). It is possible to be unable to select 3 different hexes, in this case, you may select the same hex more than once.

Resource Aid: Collecting Resources is key to mounting an adequate defense against Jaethi's forces. Each location on the map may offer one or more Resources the group may collect there. Resources gained are defined on the Resource Aid card. Each player should have one of these cards.

Reading the Resource Aid: Each location listed on this double sided card shows its reward type and amount. Not all map locations yield a Resource. Game Locations (with a colored border on the map) supersede Terrain hexes (hexes without a colored border). So, players will always default to the Location side if they are in one of those hexes.

The Resource Aid card (as printed; icon names inferred from the book's examples):

By Location (supersedes Terrain)	Reward
City-State (up to four hexes)	2 Platinum
Settlement	2 Recruits and Harvest*4: 1 Specialist
Temple	Harvest*4: 1 Element
Tower or Fortress	(Defender icon only; no Resource is listed in the text)
Antiquity Site	Harvest*4: 5 Platinum
Boss Lair	Face a Boss in combat or gain a Dedication
Wellspring Gate	Harvest*4: 1 Aetherial Ore or 1 Living Crystal
Elemental Rift	Harvest*4: Gain 1 matching Element

By Terrain (superseded by Location)	Reward
Highland	1 Ore
Forest	1 Lumber
Marsh or Road†	4 Gold
Water or River†	2 Gold and 6 Food
Great Tree	Harvest*4: 1 Essence
Mountain Peak	Harvest*4: 1 Sky Metal
SkyTile	Harvest*: Choose one: 1 Element, 2 Essence, 2 Sky Metal, 1 Aetherial Ore, or 1 Living Crystal

† Gain either the River/Road reward or the Terrain reward (do not gain both). *Gain a -1 bonus if the group Camped this turn. This effect may stack.

The Harvest Keyword: Resources that have the Harvest Keyword are not automatically gained. Instead, the group rolls a Core die. If the result is equal to or less than the number following the Keyword, the Resource is gained. Otherwise, nothing is gained.

Example: Settlements provide 2 Recruits and also have the Harvest keyword. The keyword is followed by the number 4, which means if the group rolls a 1, 2, 3, or 4 on the Core die, they will also gain 1 Specialist.

Camping Bonus: If the group Camped this turn, any Harvest rolls made will gain a -1 bonus. This bonus may stack!

Per Hero Resources: Gold, Food, and Gear Upgrades are gained by each hero of the group instead of placing them in the Stockpile.

Record Resources in the Stockpile: Once you have determined your Harvest locations, roll any Core dice needed for the Harvest Keyword and record all Resources gained in the Stockpile, on the Resources placard.

Example 1: The group is on hex 1, have a Range of 2, Soar, and an Acquire Amount of 4. They Moved Cautiously last turn, so they will gain a -1 bonus on all Harvest rolls. They choose the 4 hexes in yellow in the book's map: 1 Great Tree, 1 Settlement, 1 Forest, and 1 SkyTile.

• Great Tree: The group rolls a Core die with a -1 modifier. If the result is 4 or less, they gain 1 Essence.
• Settlements: The group gains 2 Recruits and rolls a Core die with a -1 modifier. If the result is 4 or less, they also gain 1 Specialist.
• Forest hex: The group gains 1 Lumber.
• SkyTile hex: The group rolls a Core die with a -1 modifier. If the result is a success, they choose one of the following: 1 Element, 2 Essence, 2 Sky Metal, 1 Aetherial Ore, or 1 Living Crystal.

The group decides to Camp here next turn, to improve their Harvest bonus from -1 to -2.

Example 2: The group is on hex 2. They have a Range of 1, an Acquire amount of 4, and Wayfarer's Supplies. They choose the 4 hexes in yellow, which are 1 Water and 3 Highland.

• 1 Water: Each hero gains 2 Gold and 6 Food, which is immediately recorded on their hero placard.
• 3 Highland: The group gains 3 Ore.

Event Phase (Continued)

• Look over each location listed on the following two pages. If you end movement on any of the game locations or Tokens listed, there is an Event this turn. Unless otherwise specified, there is no limit to the number of Events you may play in a Game Turn. Multiple Events may be resolved in any order the players desire.
• Resolve an Event by playing the effect on its card or placard.
• Sometimes game locations or Tokens may prompt an Event just by being in group Range of it.
• After resolving all Events, but before the next phase begins, Resources may be spent from the Stockpile to Enhance Defenders (see page 63).

Event Locations

• City-State (2): City-States are the seat of an Empire's power and are four hexes in size. Each hex within its border is considered to be a City-State and contains a Road. The group Heals Vitals upon entry, may complete a City-State action, claim a Bounty, or purchase Items here. See the City-State placard matching each City-State for more info.
• Temple (5): Temples are places of worship for several demi-gods in this region. The group Heals Vitals upon entry and can perform several Temple Actions here. See the Temple placard for more info.
• Tower (4) / Fortress (3): Towers and Fortresses are player-placed Defender locations. The group may have up to 4 Towers and 3 Fortresses in play at any time. Heroes Heal Vitals equal to half their total Vital rank upon entry and may purchase Items in the Emporium worth 4 Gold or less.
• Antiquity Site (11): The group may travel to Antiquity Sites to perform Empire Commissions (see page 80) or to Secure a Treasure (see page 51) or Discovery (see page 62). Unless otherwise specified, you may only complete one of these actions per location per Game Turn.
• Settlement (12): Heroes Heal Vitals equal to half their total Vital rank upon entry and may purchase Items in the Emporium worth 4 Gold or less. Additionally, the group may attempt to perform Empire Commissions here (see page 80).
• Wellspring Gate (7): The group may Teleport to any other Wellspring Gate on the map.

Event Tokens & Miniatures: The Tokens and Miniatures shown below will also trigger an Event during the Event phase as described here. Tokens not shown do not prompt an Event during the Event phase.

• Boss Lair Token: A Boss event occurs when the group ends Movement on a Boss Lair Token. Boss Lairs without a Boss Lair Token on them trigger an Encounter instead (draw an Encounter card). The group may move through a Boss Lair on the map without initiating combat with them. Ending movement on the Boss Lair triggers combat with that numbered Boss (see page 95) or gives the group an opportunity to Dedicate themselves to that Boss. The group may also perform Dedications in Temples or on a Boss Lair before combat begins, to gain the favor of a Boss (so long as there is not a Hex Token on the Lair). Boss Lairs are no longer Event locations while the group is Dedicated to that Boss. See the Temple placard for more info. After you've vanquished a Boss, place a Hex Token on the location.
• Discovery Token: Five Discoveries may be found in Jaethi's deck. When a Discovery card is played, the Unsecured side of the matching Token is placed on the game map. If the group is in Range of an Unsecured Discovery Token, they may flip and Secure it. Once a Discovery is Secured, the associated Discovery card is gained by the group.
• Siege Banners: If a Siege Banner is in Range of the group (or vice versa) during the Event phase and the group is not in a Defender location, each hero suffers 1 Siege Damage (20 Piercing Energy Drain). See page 77 or the Siege Keywords Placard.
• Jaethi Mini: If Jaethi is in Range of the group (or vice versa) during the Event phase and the group is not in a Defender location, Boss combat with Jaethi immediately begins.
• Elemental Token: If the group is in Range of an Elemental Token during the Event phase, they may gain it. Remove the Token and add 1 matching Element to the Stockpile. Note that you will not add 3 (the number on the reverse side of this token). Siege Opponents will also gain this Token if they move into Range before the group does. Remove the Token and increase the matching Imbalance by 1. See page 73.
• Platinum Token: If the group is in Range of a Platinum Token during the Event phase, they may gain it. Remove the Token and gain a number of Platinum equal to the current Siege Wave.

Enhancing Defenders: After all Events are completed, but before the next phase begins, the group may spend any of the Resources in their Stockpile to Enhance Defenders (see page 28). Enhancing Defenders is handled in a slightly different way for each of the stages. The back side of the Tower 4 Defender card is a handy resource that highlights the differences.

• Harvest: The group may spend any amount of Resources on any Defender, no matter the Range.
• Siege: The group must be in Range of a Defender to Enhance it. The group may spend up to an amount of Resources equal to the number of Recruits in the Stockpile each Game Turn.

There is no limit to how much Platinum may be spent on your Defenders each turn (regardless of the Stage).

4 Villain Phase (Harvest)

The Villain Phase plays differently during the Harvest and Siege Stages. If it is the Siege Stage, turn to page 71. If it is the Harvest Stage, continue reading.

• Draw a card from Jaethi's deck and play it.
  • Roll the indicated Element die to place a Siege card of that type on the upcoming Siege Slot on the Game Bar (see page 66). If the result is a Surge, also place a Siege card matching the result on the Siege Slot to the right of the upcoming Siege (or left if the next Siege is the 4th Siege).
  • If the card drawn has an Encounter icon, draw and play an Encounter.

If the card drawn is a siege! card:

• Mark the next Siege Wave bubble on the bottom of the Calendar (1-4).
• Mark the Siege Duration by filling in the corresponding number of bubbles: Roll the Hex die. Increase the Calendar by 2 + Siege Wave + half the roll result.
• Increase the matching Imbalance by 1 on Jaethi's Siege Placard.
• Reveal the top card of each active Siege. Roll to place Jaethi and each active Siege Banner. Record each opponent's Resilience on the Battle Mat.
• Gain any Stockpile Passive Effects.
• Discard active Harvest cards and any unsecured Discovery Tokens/Treasures.
• The Harvest Stage ends and the next Siege Stage immediately begins in this Villain phase (it is not a new Game Turn). See page 70.

Otherwise: The Villain phase ends and a new Harvest Game Turn begins.

Jaethi Deck: When drawing a card from Jaethi's Villain deck, you will read the entire card and then:

• Roll the Element die shown (Air, Earth, Water, Fire, Void, or Choose any). Place a Siege Opponent card that matches the rolled result in the next Siege Slot (for example, if it is the 1st Harvest Stage, the next Siege is Slot 1). If the result is a Surge, place another Siege card matching the rolled result on the Siege Slot to the right of the upcoming Siege (or left if the next Siege is the 4th Siege).
• Play an Encounter drawn from the Encounter deck if the card features the Encounter icon.
• Play any other effects shown on the card.
• After playing the card, if the card drawn was a siege! card, the current Harvest Stage ends and the next Siege begins. See page 68. Otherwise, this Villain phase ends and a new Harvest Stage Game Turn begins.

Card types:

• Discoveries: When a Discovery is drawn, place the matching Unsecured Discovery Token on the map where specified. The group must Secure it by moving into Range before the end of the Harvest Stage (see page 62). If it is not Secured by then, the Discovery and its Token are discarded.
• Afflictions: Afflictions cause the world to change in dangerous ways. When an Affliction is drawn, play the card, and then play an Encounter drawn from the Encounter deck. Many Afflictions remain in effect for multiple Game Turns.
• Cataclysms: Cataclysms are elemental catastrophes that occur in the world. Cataclysm Tiles are placed on the map as if they were SkyTiles. See page 35 for more info on Cataclysms.
• Miscellaneous Cards: Several cards in Jaethi's deck do not have a ribbon. Play the effects of these cards normally.
• siege! Cards: When a siege! card is drawn, the current Harvest Stage ends and the next Siege Stage begins. Roll a Hex die to place the Siege Opponent like other Villain cards, then follow the instructions at the top of the card. See page 68. Note the current Element Imbalance on the bottom of the card and its effects. Keep this card next to the Siege Slot in play.

Placing Siege Opponent Cards: Before you play a Villain card's effects, roll the Element die shown in the lower right corner of the card. The result of the roll becomes the Element Siege deck you will draw from to place a Siege card in the upcoming Siege slot (ie: the next Siege yet to begin).

Element Die to Place Siege Opponents:

• Match or Mismatch: Draw a card from the resulting Siege deck and place face down on the next upcoming Siege slot.
• Surge: If the result is a Surge, treat as though it were a Match. Then, draw an additional card matching the resulting Siege deck and place face down on the Siege slot to the right of the upcoming Siege slot (or to Slot 4, if you cannot place one to the right).

Example 1: The group draws the Deluge Cataclysm during the first Harvest Stage of the game. They roll the Water die. It results in a Mismatch: Void, so the group places a Void Siege card, face down, on the first Siege slot.

Example 2: The group draws Crumbling Defense during the first Harvest Stage of the game. They roll the Fire die. It results in a Surge, so the group places a Fire Siege card, face down, on the first Siege slot and a second Fire card in the second Siege slot.

Encounter Deck: Certain cards in Jaethi's Deck may show the Encounter icon. The group will draw the top Encounter card drawn from the Encounter deck. When you see an opponent referenced on a card or placard with this symbol (for instance: Earth Elemental), it means that card is found in the Encounter deck.

Facing Encounters: Most cards drawn from this deck trigger a combat event. See Combat on page 84 and Encounters on page 87.

Cautious Discarding: If you Camped or Moved Cautiously, you may discard an Encounter card after it is drawn.

Boons: Boons are special cards found in the Encounter deck that allow you to gain more rewards out of the next combat. When you draw a Boon, draw and play another Encounter card. There is no limit to the number of Boons you may draw in a row. If the next card is an Encounter opponent and you successfully vanquish or Influence them, roll the associated die shown on the Boon card and gain the resulting Item(s) or rewards in addition to the Encounter's other rewards. If the next card drawn is not an opponent or if you Flee combat, shuffle all Boons drawn back into the deck.

The Siege Stage Begins

A siege! card has been drawn. These steps are now taken:

1. Roll the Element die shown on the card to place a Siege Opponent (see page 66).
2. Mark the next Siege Wave bubble on the bottom of the Calendar (1-4).
3. Mark the Siege Duration by filling in the corresponding number of bubbles (from left to right, to a maximum of 7): Roll the Hex die. Increase the Calendar by 2 + Siege Wave + half the roll result (rounded down).
4. Increase the matching Imbalance by 1 on Jaethi's Siege Placard.
5. Reveal the top card of each active Siege. Roll to place Jaethi and each active Siege Banner using Siege Portals (see page 36). Record all Siege Opponent Resilience on the Battle Mat.
6. Gain any Tier II Resource Stockpile Passive Effects (see below).
7. Discard all Harvest cards in play and remove all Discovery Tokens and/or Treasures that have not been Secured (see below).
8. The Villain phase continues with the Siege (see page 71).

Reveal Siege Opponents: Flip over the top card in each Siege Slot, then record their Resilience on the Battle Mat. Next, roll to place any Siege Banners and Jaethi's Miniature as defined on page 36.

Tier II Resource Stockpile Passive Effects: Three Passive effects, one for each of the Tier II Resources, are earned at the beginning of each Siege Stage. Consult the Resources placard and look at your current Tier II Resource amount. Assign any Passive bonuses to your Defenders as applicable.

Discard Harvest Cards and Unsecured Discoveries/Treasures: Discard all active Harvest cards and then check for any Treasures (found in the Harvest deck) or Discoveries (found in Jaethi's Deck) that have not been Secured by the group. If there are any, discard these cards.

Example: It is the second Harvest Stage and the second siege! card (Air) has been drawn.

1. The group rolls the Air die to place a Siege Opponent card. It is Void, so they place one Void Siege Opponent card on the second Siege Slot.
2. Next, they fill in one bubble on the Siege Wave tracker. It is the second Siege card drawn, so they fill in the second bubble.
3. The group rolls the Hex die and the result is 3. They fill in 6 bubbles on the Siege Duration bar: Base (2) + current Siege Wave (2) + half the roll result (2).
4. Next, they increase the Air Imbalance by 1.
5. Next, the group flips over the top card in each Siege Slot. They record the Resilience for each Siege Banner on the Battle Mat, and then roll to place each of the Siege Miniatures.
6. Next, the group checks the Stockpile and find they have 10 Essence. This means two Defenders of their choice gain +4 (as printed). They apply each bonus.
7. Finally, the group discards all Harvest cards that were in play and removes any unsecured Discoveries or Treasures. They find one has not been secured. They remove the Discovery Token and discard that card.

Siege Slots & Miniatures: You may face up to 5 Siege forces at a time, represented on the map by a Siege Banner in Slots 1-4 and Jaethi's Miniature. Each Siege Banner may contain 1 or more Siege Cards of different Element types. The top card in each Slot represents the current abilities of that Siege Banner. Your Defenders face only the top card in each Slot at any given time. The Siege Slot defines the Movement Speed and Power bonus each Siege Banner receives, while their Resilience, base Power, and Range is represented by the current (top) Siege Card in that slot.

• Siege Slots and Siege Banner Minis: Four Siege Banner miniatures represent Jaethi's elemental forces. You will place one Banner for each Siege currently in play. Each Siege Slot is assigned a specific Banner. Each Siege Slot shows the Siege Banner's icon, its Movement Speed (the number of hexes it moves each turn), and the Power bonus Siege Opponents in this slot receive.
• Jaethi's Miniature: Jaethi's mini represents the plumed Titan. Jaethi is a Siege Opponent and may be targeted by Defenders or the heroes. Jaethi remains on the board until the end of the Siege Stage.
• Placing Siege Miniatures: Siege Portals determine where Siege Banners and Jaethi's Miniature are placed on the map. See page 36.

Siege Slot	Movement Speed	Power Bonus
1	2	-
2	2	+1
3	3	+2
4	4	+3

4 Villain Phase (Siege)

• Jaethi: Jaethi moves, then roll the Imbalance Element die to resolve her action (see Jaethi's Siege Placard).
• Move: Move each Siege Banner (in numeric order) a number of hexes up to their Movement Speed toward the nearest Magnetic target. Siege Banners stop moving when in Range of the nearest Magnetic target.
• Siege: The top Siege Opponent card for each Siege Banner is in play. Each Siege Opponent in play now deals Siege damage equal to their Power to the group and any Defenders within their Range. Damage is dealt to all targets at the same time. Do not remove any destroyed Defenders at this time.
• Defenders: Defenders now attempt to destroy Siege opponents. Each Defender rolls a number of Core dice equal to their Potential (roll once for each Defender). Deal 1 Siege Damage to all Siege Opponents within Range for each Success and 2 for each Critical Success. If a Siege Opponent is destroyed, place the Siege card face down on the vanquished Siege Slot, then flip over the next card in that Siege Slot. If there are no cards left in the Slot, remove the matching Siege Banner from the board. After all Defenders have acted, remove any Defender with 0 Resilience.
• Calendar: Reduce the Calendar by 1. If there is time left, the Villain phase ends and the next turn begins. If the Calendar is now 0, this Siege ends and the next Harvest Stage begins (see below).

Siege Stage Ends:

• Apply all Final Moment modifiers based on the current Siege Wave being played. These modifiers are cumulative.
• Remove all Siege Miniatures from the board.
• Keep any remaining Siege cards in their slots, flip them over.
• Erase all Siege Banner Resilience from the Battle Mat. Jaethi's stats are not erased.

1 Jaethi

Consult Jaethi's Siege placard for her Movement Speed and Villain action.

• Move Jaethi a number of hexes based on the current Imbalance type toward the nearest City-State.
• Roll the Element die that matches the current Imbalance (siege! card) and play any applicable effects based on the Element die result.
• Jaethi's Element type is always equal to the current Imbalance.
• Deal her Power to any Defender in Range. Her Elemental damage type is equal to the current Imbalance. Jaethi completes her attack before any Siege Banners move. Do not remove any destroyed Defenders at this time.

Jaethi's Movement Speed: Jaethi's Movement Speed is determined by the current Imbalance (it varies between 1-3 and can be increased by 2 more through her Swift Passive).

Jaethi and SkyTiles: Jaethi may alter the environment as she moves across the board. If she would ever move onto a SkyTile with the Floating Mountain side up, remove the Riser from play. The Floating Mountain falls back to earth (and all Defenders suffer -1 Resilience, see page 34).

Imbalance: Jaethi grows in power as she consumes the world's pattern. Elemental Imbalance is represented on Jaethi's Siege placard in five boxes, one for each of the five Elements. Imbalance levels can be modified between a minimum of 0 and a maximum of 9 and can occur through the drawing of siege! cards, Jaethi's Villain Action, and heroes reducing it (see the Temple placard).

Imbalance Passives: Jaethi gains all Passive abilities whose Imbalance is 1 or greater.

Example: The current Imbalance is Void and is increased by 1. Jaethi will move 3 hexes this turn and she now gains the Void Passive abilities. The group rolls the Void die and the result is a Surge. The group will play the Void table's Surge effect and the Match effect, circled on the placard.

2 Move Each Siege Banner

Siege Banners move up to their Movement Speed toward the nearest Magnetic target (City-State, Fortress, Wellspring Amplifier, etc). The Siege Banner stops when they are in Range of a Magnetic target. They may not end movement on top of a Defender. Move each Siege Banner in play, one at a time, in their numeric order. The players may choose the target if there are more than one.

Siege Banners may reveal new HexTiles, are not affected by Hazardous Terrain, and may move over Water, Mountain Peaks, and Siege Portals as if they were normal terrain (though they may not stop movement on a Siege Portal).

Siege Banners may not move onto a SkyTile with the Floating Mountain side up or target Defenders on them (even if they are Magnetic) unless the current Siege Opponent of that Banner has Soar (they move off of one normally).

If two or more Magnetic targets are the same distance from a Siege Banner, the group may choose which one it targets.

Siege Miniatures & Elemental Tokens: If a Siege Miniature (including Jaethi) moves within Range of an Elemental Token at any time during its movement, the Token is removed from play. Increase the Imbalance amount of the Element shown on the Token by 1. This is recorded on Jaethi's placard. (If a Siege Opponent is in Range of an Element Token, the Token is removed and the Imbalance is increased on Jaethi's Placard.)

Siege Miniatures and Settlements: If a Siege Miniature (including Jaethi) moves into or through a Settlement, that Settlement is destroyed. A Hex Token is placed on this location.

Example: A Siege Banner moves within Range of an Air Token. This token is now removed from the board. The current Air Imbalance on Jaethi's placard is 4, so the group increases it to 5. The location adjacent to the Air Token happens to be a Settlement. If the Siege Banner moves into or through this location, the players place a Hex Token on it.

3 Siege Opponents Deal Siege Damage

The top Siege Opponent card for each Siege Banner is currently in play. These opponents deal Siege damage equal to their Power (plus any modifiers) to Defenders (and possibly the group) within their Range. The group suffers Siege damage differently than Defenders do. Whenever the group suffers any amount of Siege damage, heroes who are not Immune to the damage suffer 20 Energy Drain instead (see page 77). Siege Damage is dealt to all targets at the same time. Do not remove any destroyed Defenders at this time.

Siege Opponent Cards:

• Element Type: Each Siege Opponent is bound to one of the five Elements. Siege Opponents always deal this type of Elemental Siege Damage.
• Name & Narrative: Read these aloud to the group.
• Resilience, Power, Soar, and Range: These icons describe how the Siege Opponent works. For more information on these icons, see the Siege Keywords placard.
• Abilities: There may be additional abilities the Siege Opponent has. Many of these are Keywords found on the Siege Keywords placard.
• Siege Reward: Each time a Siege Opponent is vanquished, the group gains the reward shown.
• Siege Movement & Bonuses: The Movement Speed of each Siege Opponent is dependent on the Siege Slot it occupies. Note that Power may also be modified as per its Siege Slot placement (see page 71).

4 Defenders Attack

If the group is in a Defender at this time, they may attempt to Bolster it (see page 78).

Defenders now attempt to destroy Siege Opponents. Each Defender in Range of a Siege Miniature rolls a number of Core dice equal to their Potential. The target number for these rolls is equal to the Defender's Power. This roll is treated as if it were a Stat Test, and may Critically Succeed on rolls other than a 1 if the Power rank is high enough (for instance, if the rank is 12, a Critical Success will occur on a 1 and a 2). See page 55 for more info.

Siege Damage is dealt to all Siege Opponents within the Defender's Range (only roll Potential dice once). Check for the following results:

Potential Results to deal Siege Damage
Success	1 Siege Damage
Critical Success	2 Siege Damage

• Successes: For each result that is less than or equal to the Defender's Power, deal 1 Siege Damage. For each result that is a Critical Success, deal 2 Siege damage.

Vanquishing Siege Opponents: If Jaethi (the Siege Opponent) is vanquished at this time, the game is won! If a Siege Opponent is vanquished, the following takes place:

• Excess Defender damage does not bleed onto Siege Opponents below the current one in play.
• The group gains the Siege Reward shown on the card.
• Place the Siege card face down on the Vanquished Siege Slot.
• Flip over the next card in the Siege. If there are no cards left in the Siege, remove the matching Siege Banner from the map. Otherwise, the Siege Banner remains where it is on the map and the newly revealed opponent is now in play there.

Destroyed Defenders: After all Defenders have Defended, remove any Defender with 0 Resilience. See page 29 for more info on destroyed Defenders.

5 Reduce the Calendar

Reduce the Calendar by 1 by erasing the right-most filled in bubble. This Siege Stage will end after the last bubble is erased.

Reducing the Calendar to 0 and the Final Moments Tracker: When the Calendar is reduced to 0, the following steps are taken:

• Apply all Final Moment modifiers based on the current Siege Wave being played. These modifiers are cumulative. For instance, if it is the second Siege Wave, you will now apply the first and second Final Moment modifiers (all Defenders lose 4 Resilience combined).
• Remove any remaining Siege Banners and Jaethi's miniature from the board.
• Jaethi's Resilience does not reset at the beginning of each Siege, leave her current Resilience as is.
• Discard Jaethi's Villain Siege card. Leave any Siege cards that remain in their slots, though flip them face down. Erase all Siege Opponent Resilience from the Battle Mat. These opponents will reappear and add to the strength of their Siege Slot in the next Siege Stage.
• If the game has not ended (see below), the Siege ends and the next Harvest Stage begins.

Final Moments (Short Count Calendar; Siege Duration = 2 + Siege Wave + half the Hex die): Siege Wave 1: All Defenders lose 1 Resilience. Siege Wave 2: All Defenders lose 3 Resilience. Siege Wave 3+: A random City-State is destroyed. These modifiers are cumulative.

Siege Win/Loss Triggers: Check for these Win/Loss triggers at the end of each turn during the Siege Stage:

• Win the Game: Jaethi has 0 Resilience. The last Siege Wave ends and at least 1 City-State is alive.
• Lose the Game: Both City-States are destroyed.

Example: It is currently the third Siege Wave. When the Calendar is reduced to 0, each of these Final Moment modifiers will be applied to your Defenders: All Defenders lose a total (combined) of 4 Resilience. A random City-State is destroyed.

Heroes during a Siege

Heroes and Siege Opponents can affect one another at various times during the game.

Event Phase: Heroes damaging Siege Opponents: During the Event phase, if Jaethi or another Siege Opponent is within Range of the group, the group may deal Siege Damage to it for each hero who is Augmented by the Opposing Element. This effect occurs if the heroes are in a Defender or not. See the Element Augment cards for more detail. Jaethi's Element type is always equal to the current Imbalance.

Villain Phase: Siege Opponents damaging Heroes: Heroes are not impervious to Siege Opponents and may suffer damage from them during the Villain phase. A hero is Immune to an opponent's Siege Damage while any of the following is true:

• They are in a Defender location (it must not be Destroyed).
• They are Augmented by the Matching Element.

If the group miniature is within a Siege Opponent's Range after the Siege Opponent has moved or dealt damage to any Defender, heroes who are not Immune will suffer 20 Piercing Energy Drain.

Example: A group of 3 heroes is represented in the book's illustration. Their Range and Element Augment are shown in a table: Hero 1 (Range 1), Hero 2 (Range 3), Hero 3 (Range 2). Heroes 1 and 2 may deal 1 Siege Damage per Element Augment Tier to Siege Opponents and are Immune to that Element's Siege Damage. Hero 3 may deal 1 Siege Damage per Element Augment Tier to Siege Opponents and is Immune to that Element's Siege Damage.

1. Event Phase Example: The group has ended movement and is playing the Event phase. Chikauakatl, an Earth Siege Opponent, is within their Range (of 3). Earth Opposes Water, so the group deals 1 Siege Damage per Element Augment Tier to that opponent.
2. Villain Phase Example: Gwirnok the Ash Reaver, a Fire Siege Opponent, has moved and the group is within its Range (of 1). The group is not presently in a Defender location. Heroes 1 and 2 are Immune to Fire, so Hero 3 will suffer 20 Piercing Energy Drain.

Encounters fought while the heroes are in a Defender: If the heroes are in a Defender location and face an Encounter, they may choose to automatically vanquish it to gain its rewards without facing it in combat. If you do, your Defender suffers 1 Resilience damage. If this opponent can also be Influenced, you may lose 2 Resilience instead to also gain its Influence reward.

Bolstering Defenders: If the group is in a Defender location during the Villain phase in an ongoing Siege, they may attempt to Bolster it. This effect occurs before Defenders Defend (see page 75). Heroes may Bolster and deal Siege Damage using their Augment effect in the same Game Turn. To Bolster, a hero spends 1 Energy and then rolls a Skill Test of their choice. Heroes who succeed their test give that location a bonus based on the type of Skill rolled (see the table below). Additionally, heroes who Critically Succeed also regain the Energy they spent to trigger the Bolster effect. Multiple heroes may Bolster using the same Skill, effects may stack.

Note that Camping will improve your Stat Test bonuses (see page 53).

Skill	Defender Bonus Effect
Navigate	Increase this Defender's Range by 2 this turn.
Explore	Deal 1 Siege Damage to a Siege Opponent in Range (the group's or the Defender's, whichever is higher).
Survival	If this Defender suffered Siege damage this turn and it has at least 1 Resilience remaining, it gains +1 Resilience.

Example: A group of 3 heroes are in a Fortress. They each spend 1 Energy to Bolster it. Hero 1 fails Navigate, so they do not increase its Range. Hero 2 succeeds Explore, so 1 Siege Damage is dealt to a single Siege Opponent in Range. Hero 3 succeeds Survival, so if this Defender suffered Siege Damage this turn and it has at least 1 Resilience remaining, it gains +1 Resilience.

Commissions

Commissions are official Empire tasks that can improve the Empire's defenses and are drawn from the Commission decks on each Game Bar.

There are several types of Commissions:

• Aid: White border. Usually requires you to bring an item or escort an ally, to or from, the location.
• Skill (3 variants): Green, Yellow, & Blue. Requires you to roll your Stat dice.
• Dual or All Skills: Like Skill, but require 2 Skills or all 3 Skills to complete.
• Heroic: Each Role has its own Heroic card that can be found and completed. If the Role of a drawn Heroic Commission is not in the game, you may discard this card and draw another. Heroic Commissions may be attempted by the matching hero while in a City-State, up to once per Game Turn.

Rules:

• The group may attempt to complete any one face-up Commission (from either Commission deck) during the Event phase if they are in the matching Commission location.
• There is no limit to the number of face-up cards there can be on top of each Commission deck.
• The group may Speak with the Elders (a purchasable Item) while in a City-State to reveal additional cards in a Commission deck.
• After the group completes a Commission, the group gains the Commission Reward shown on the card. If the card also has an Equip effect, the group will keep the card. Otherwise discard it. Flip over the next card in that Commission deck after this step.
• Hex Tokens are placed on Commissions that are completed while in an Antiquity Site or Settlement.

Commission Cards:

• Card Name & Narrative: Read these aloud to the group. Unrelated to game mechanics, the narrative paints the picture of your journey.
• Commission Type: Specifies the Commission type.
• Heroic Role Type: For Heroic Commissions, this is the Role that may attempt to complete the Commission. Heroic Commissions may only be attempted in City-States.
• Commission Location: The location on the map where the group may attempt to resolve the Commission or pick up an Ally Escort. Any matching location on the map may be selected to complete the Commission.
• Additional Rules: There may be additional things that happen during or after you resolve the card.
• Reward: This is an extra reward the group gains when the Commission is completed.
• Escort: See below for more information on Escorts.
• Equip: Many cards have Equip effects. This means that the card, once completed, may be Equipped in a Defender of your choice (see page 28).

Aid Commissions: Aid Commissions have a white border and require you to travel to a location and either pick up or deliver an item or ally. When you end movement on an Aid Commission Antiquity Site, place a Hex Token there. You may then attempt to perform the Commission card to gain its reward. Do not gain its reward until you complete the card's requirement.

Escorts: Escorts may be gained through a Commission or another card and require you to keep a target alive. When you gain an Escort, they become an Ally (they are not a hero). The Escort graphic will show you the Ally's Health (their Energy is ignored) and the action(s) they perform each combat round. Escort Vitals reset to full after each combat. Escorts may be Healed and do not receive rewards. Additionally, Escorts may roll Stat Tests against the Stat(s) specified at any time during the Game Turn to assist the heroes. If an Escort dies, discard their Commission.

Example: This example shows an Ally that has 6 Health, Defends for 8 each round of combat, and may roll Stat Tests against Health and Defend.

Skill Commissions: If the Commission is related to a Skill, each hero must roll the Stat die or dice specified on the card (if they can). Travel to the location specified and roll the applicable dice. The group must gain a number of successes equal to half the number of heroes in the group (rounded up) to complete the Commission. Camping Bonuses can help you complete Skill Commissions (see page 53).

Stat Test Successes: The group does not need to achieve all successes in one Game Turn, they are carried over subsequent Game Turns until the group moves or the Commission is completed. All heroes may attempt to roll again in subsequent Game Turns, even if they have previously gained a success. The requisite number of successes can come from any number of heroes.

Dual & All Skills: Some Commissions require you to roll more than one Skill. The group must gain successes equal to half the number of heroes (rounded down) for all Skills shown in order to be successful. For instance, a Dual Navigate/Survival Commission requires a group of 3 or 4 heroes to roll both Navigate and Survival and gain 2 successes for each.

Critical Successes / Double Reward: If any hero Critically Succeeds at least one Stat Test to complete a Commission, the group gains double the Commission Reward.

Completing Commissions: When a Commission is completed in an Antiquity Site or Settlement, place a Hex Token there. Unless otherwise specified, do not place a Hex Token if the Commission is completed in any other game location. The group gains the Commission Reward shown on the bottom of the card when a Commission is completed. Discard the card (if it does not have an Equip effect), then flip over the next card in that Commission deck.

Combat

• Opponents are written in green on game cards and are either Encounters, Bosses, or Siege Opponents.
• Combat occurs when the group faces an Encounter or Boss. This can occur in any phase of the Game Turn.
• Combat does not occur with Siege Opponents. This is handled during the Villain phase of an ongoing Siege (see page 71).
• Combat is straightforward, though several alternatives may arise. Skim through this section, check out the combat example on page 102, then use this section to guide you through your first few battles.
• Unless otherwise stated, each hero faces opponents together as one group.
• Opponents have one or more of the following Vitals: Health, Energy, Influence, Outlast, or Resilience.

Opponent Levels

Encounters range in Level from 1 to 5. Bosses are much harder and range in Level from 1 to 10. Siege Opponents have no level. An opponent's Level is displayed as a shield in the upper left corner of the card or placard.

Opponent Types

Encounters and Bosses are assigned 1 (or more) of 8 unique types, shown in the table below. Siege Opponents do not have a Type. Some opponents may also be assigned one of 3 subtypes.

Types:

• Construct: Constructs are given life through unnatural and unknown sources.
• Creature: Creatures are natural animals and beasts.
• Humanoid: Humanoids are sentient beings.
• Monstrous Humanoid: Monstrous Humanoids are larger and more fierce than their humanoid cousins.
• Magical Nature: Magical Nature opponents have been touched by magic.
• Spirit: Spirits are insubstantial beings.
• Undead: Undead are cursed to exist apart from life and death.
• Ascendant: Ascendant beings are not a part of this world's pattern.

Subtypes:

• Elemental: This subtype is shown with one (or more) of the five Elemental symbols.
• Horde: Hordes are an enormous number of large opponents.
• Swarm: Swarms are an enormous number of small opponents.
• Titanic: These opponents are massive and have more than one Health and/or Energy stat (they are still considered one opponent).

Dangerous Opponents: Some opponents are Dangerous. Increase the Game Difficulty by 1 for these opponents (see page 92). It is possible to face opponents at different difficulties in the same battle. While uncommon, it is possible for an opponent to gain Dangerous more than once (and raise the Difficulty several times). The group gains additional rewards after facing Dangerous opponents (see page 94).

Siege Opponents: Unlike Encounters and Bosses, Siege Opponents cannot be confronted by the heroes within the standard Combat sequence. The one exception to this rule is that Jaethi is both a Siege Opponent and a Boss and may be confronted in combat. Battle between Siege Opponents and Defenders occurs during the Villain phase of an ongoing Siege (see page 71). While the group does not combat these entities directly, it is possible for the heroes to damage a Siege Opponent (and vice versa). See page 77.

Tenacious Opponents: Some opponents are Tenacious. The group may not Flee (see page 98) from Tenacious opponents.

Titanic Opponents: Some opponents have the Titanic Subtype. In order to defeat a Titanic opponent, the heroes must reduce all Health stats to 0. If an opponent only has 1 Health stat and gains this sub-type, it gains another Health Vital equal to its original Health. Each hero may choose during the Resolution phase which stat their action damages. If an effect requires you to check against a Titanic opponent's Health, use its highest current Health value. Unless otherwise stated, excess damage cannot bleed from one Vital stat into the next.

Favored Opponents

• Each hero has, or may gain, an advantage over specific types or subtypes of opponents (see page 85).
• Heroes who face their Favored Opponent(s) gain an additional effect every combat round against that opponent.
• Each round during the Declaration or Resolution phase, choose one of the following options as your Favored Opponent bonus. This occurs in addition to your normal action:
  • Roll the Hex die. Reduce your opponent's Health or Influence equal to the result. This die may explode (see below).
  • Roll the Hex die. Reduce your opponent's Energy equal to twice the result. This die may explode.
  • Reduce or increase your opponent's Outlast by 1.
  • Heroes may gain and perform additional Favored Opponent options throughout play.
• If your opponent has multiple Vitals of the same type (two Health values), choose only one to affect.
• Favored Opponent damage is a unique damage source and may not be reduced or Negated.
• It is possible for heroes to gain more than one type of Favored Opponent. If you face an opponent with two types (for instance a type and a subtype), gain the Favored Opponent effect multiple times.
• You may not gain Favored Opponent with the same type or subtype more than once.

Exploding Dice: You may find certain Abilities, Items, or other situations specify that a die can explode. This happens when you roll a 6 (or another number as indicated) on the die. When this happens you may roll again and add the new result to the total. There is no limit to how many times you may reroll an exploding die. For example, a hero rolls Favored Opponent damage and rolls a 6, which is a result of 6. She rolls again and gains another 6, which increases the result to 12. She rolls a third time and the result is a 2. Her final damage is 14.

Encounters

• Encounters are opponents found in the Encounter deck (and sometimes on a placard) whose Level ranges from 1 to 5.
• Before combat begins, read the Encounter's Passive Abilities (if any).
• During the Opponent phase, one player rolls the Hex die and consults the Action Key on the left side of the Encounter card to determine what action the Encounter takes.
• Encounters have three combat actions and some have Passive Abilities and/or Equip effects:
  • Attack: This is the Encounter's basic attack action.
  • Mastery: If the Encounter has an Energy Vital, the Mastery costs 1 or more Energy to use, denoted by the gray hex below the Mastery icon. In the example, the Fire Elemental Mastery costs 2 Energy to use.
  • Default Action: If the Encounter doesn't have enough Energy, it cannot use its Mastery and its action defaults to the Attack action instead. The defaulted action's targeting type remains the same, but the numeric effects (Damage, Heal, Raise, Block, Defend, etc.) are reduced by half (to a minimum of 1).
  • Special: The Encounter's Special action costs no Energy to use and is generally the strongest attack it can perform.
  • Passive Abilities: Some Encounters have Passive Abilities that change combat in unique ways. Look over these Passive Abilities before combat begins.
  • Equip Effects: Some Encounters have Equip effects. These effects are only gained if the Encounter is successfully Influenced (see page 98).

Elemental Damage: Certain actions can deal one or more of the five types of Elemental damage. This damage is modified by the following keywords (also described on the Keywords placard and/or Augment cards):

• Immune: Targets with Immunity suffer no damage from attacks of the same type. This effect supersedes Weakness (below). For actions that have more than one Element Type, the target must have each matching Element shown in the attack to gain the Immunity effect. Heroes can gain Immunity by Augmenting Elements.
• Weakness: This damage is especially dangerous. Whenever a target with Weakness suffers any damage or damage of the type specified, roll the Hex die. This die may explode when damaging opponents only. The target suffers additional damage equal to the result (this damage cannot be reduced). Heroes gain Weakness to an Opposing Element when they Augment an Element.

Reading Encounter Cards: Each Encounter Action explains its targeting type (Individual Target or Group), Damage type (Health or Energy), any Keywords associated with the action, or other miscellaneous effects. The Encounter card shows: Name and Type, Encounter Level, Opponent Vitals, Reward, Elemental Damage, and the Attack, Mastery, Special, Passive Abilities and Equip entries.

Example: The group rolls a 4 on the action die to determine the Fire Elemental's action. If it has at least 2 Energy remaining, the heroes would face its Mastery: The entire group (heroes and allies) suffers 1 Piercing Corrosive Health damage and each target is Burned. If the Fire Elemental does not have the Energy to use this action, it would default to Attack and its numeric effects are halved. In this case, 3 targets suffer 2 Fire Health damage each. If any of the targeted heroes have an Air Augment, those heroes would have Weakness to it (see the Keywords Placard and the Air Element Augment card). Any who have a Fire Augment are Immune to it and suffer no damage from this action. If the Fire Elemental suffers any Water or Earth damage (as printed in the book's example), it would take even more damage because of its Weakness. Roll the Hex die and deal the resulting amount to the Fire Elemental. Because this is an opponent, this die may explode.

Bosses

• Bosses are difficult opponents whose Level ranges from 1 to 10. They are found in various locations on the map, outlined in red. Bosses are important to Dedications, gaining Power Ups and Resources, and destroying one also closes a Siege Portal for good!
• If a Boss is vanquished, place a Hex Token on the location. The Boss cannot be refought nor Dedicated to.
• It is possible to avoid combat with a Boss and offer a Dedication to it instead. See the Temple Placard for more info.
• During the Opponent phase, one player rolls the Hex die and consults the Action Key to determine what action the Boss takes. Bosses have six combat actions and one or more Passive Abilities:
  1. Attack: This is the Boss's basic Attack action.
  2. Defend: This is the Boss's basic Defend action. 3-4. Masteries: If the Boss has an Energy Vital, the Mastery costs 1 or more Energy to use, denoted by the gray hexes below each Mastery icon. In the example, the Miquipapalotl's Second Mastery costs 5 Energy to use. Default Action: If the Boss doesn't have enough Energy, it cannot use its Mastery and its action defaults to the Attack or Defend action instead. The defaulted action's targeting type remains the same, but the numeric effects (Damage, Heal, Raise, Block, Defend, etc.) are reduced by half (to a minimum of 1). 5-6. Boss Special: The Boss's Special actions cost no Energy to use and are generally the strongest attacks it can perform.
  3. Passive Abilities: Most Bosses have one or more Passive Abilities that change combat in unique ways.

Reading Boss Placards: A Boss placard shows: Opponent Name, Boss Level, Opponent Type and Subtype, Vitals, Group Rewards, Single Rewards, Action Names (Attack, Defend, First Mastery, Second Mastery, Boss Special 1, Boss Special 2), Passives, Difficult+ Passive, Lair Effect, and Dedication Lair Effect.

Example Lair Effect: Up to once each turn while in Miquipapalotl's Lair, the group may suffer 4 Energy Drain to Revive any number of dead heroes, Escorts, or Allies who previously died.

Dedicating to Bosses: The group may Dedicate themselves to Bosses to gain access to their Lair Effect (found on the Boss Placard) and their Siege Effect (found on the Temple placard). For more information on Dedicating to Bosses, see the Temple Placard.

Boss Action Example: Each action explains its targeting type (Individual Target or Group), damage type (Health or Energy), Stat Tests required, any Keywords or Conditions associated with the attack, or other miscellaneous effects. In this example, suppose the group rolls a 4 on the Hex die while facing Miquipapalotl. If she has at least 5 Energy remaining, the heroes would face her Howl action:

Each hero and ally suffers 6 Energy damage. Heroes who receive Healing this round gain the Bleeding Condition. Additionally, Miquipapalotl will Raise 3 Health for each hero who targets her this round. Finally, one random hero is generated (roll Target dice) and may choose to change Battlefields this round (from At the Altar to Flanking or vice versa).

If she doesn't have the 5 Energy to use this action, her action would default to a basic Defend at half its potency: Miquipapalotl will Defend 2, reducing each damaging attack by 2. Heroes who damage her gain the Drained Condition. Finally, one hero of the group's choice may switch Battlefields.

The Battle Mat

Use the Battle Mat to keep track of the group's Movement speed, Range, Acquire Amount, group Items purchased, your opponent's Vitals, Game Turns, Combat Rounds, Escorts, and more. You may modify the Game's Difficulty on the Battle Mat.

• For your first game, you may wish to play the game on the Starter setting.
• Normally you will begin your game on the Easy setting, requiring no changes to how the game is played.

How to use it: We recommend that one player keeps track of the Battle Mat throughout the entire game. During the Declaration phase of combat, players will note how much damage they're doing to their opponent(s). The player in charge of the Battle Mat will record this damage in one of two areas: the top area is damage that can be Defended against, while the bottom is reserved for damage that cannot be Blocked or Defended (like Favored Opponent damage). For an example of how the Battle Mat is used in combat, see page 102.

During an ongoing Siege, players will fill in the left side of the Battle Mat, labeled "Siege Opponents", to track their current Resilience and to track Jaethi's stats and her Imbalance Passives (see Jaethi's Siege placard).

The Battle Mat has areas for: Encounter/Boss Vitals (Health, Influence/Outlast, Energy, Piercing & Favored Opponent Damage), Siege Opponent Resilience, Siege Banner Speed and Slot Bonuses, Jaethi Siege Opponent Vitals, Power & Range, Jaethi Imbalance Passives, Game Difficulty Modifiers, a Miscellaneous 1-10 Tracker, Group Movement (Normal / Cautious, hexes per turn), Group Soar, Group Range & Acquire Amount, Group Purchases, Escort Tracking, the Game Turn Sequence and the Siege Villain Phase.

Game Difficulty

We advise new players to play their first game on Starter difficulty. After you've played a game or two or when you feel comfortable with the rules, feel free to increase the Game Difficulty. Players may choose to increase the Game Difficulty while outside of combat at any time (though you cannot decrease the Game Difficulty once increased). Game Difficulty levels do not stack (you are affected by the current Game Difficulty) and cannot increase it beyond Epic.

There are moments when the Game Difficulty automatically increases:

• Running out of Power Up cards: Each time the Power Up deck runs out of cards and you must reshuffle it, increase the Game Difficulty by 1.
• Play Styles Booklet: We've introduced a few more optional ways for the Game Difficulty to increase. Check out the Play Styles booklet for more info.

Game Difficulty Modifiers: Increasing the Game Difficulty alters the game in many ways. Your opponents gain bonuses and the group may gain penalties.

• Passive Abilities: While playing on Starter, opponents do not gain Defensive Keywords (Evasion, Immune, Negate, Reflect, Block, Defend, or Counterattack). Their actions are otherwise unaffected. Starting at Difficult, Bosses may gain an additional Passive Ability, as shown on the bottom of their placard. Some Bosses do not have a Difficult Passive Ability to gain.
• Encounter & Boss Vitals & Damage: Encounter and Boss Vitals and Damage are affected by the Game Difficulty. Outlast is affected differently than Health, Energy, and Influence. Modify Encounter and Boss Vitals by the amount shown. Ally and Escort Vitals remain unaffected, even if they are an Encounter. Modify all Encounter and Boss damage by the amount shown. Condition damage is not increased by this effect. Encounters controlled by heroes also gain this damage bonus.
• Siege Opponent Modifiers: Modify Siege Opponent Resilience, Power, and Range as shown. On Starter, Siege Opponents also lose their Siege Keywords. Ignore any Keyword effects. These effects also apply to Jaethi.
• Stat Test Penalty: Starting at Difficult, all heroes gain a penalty to all Stat Tests made equal to the amount shown.
• Harvest Reward: Starting at Moderate Difficulty, the group gains bonuses to the Harvest Keyword. Whenever you roll a Core die to Harvest, reduce the roll result by the amount shown.

Game Difficulty table (as printed; the Siege Opponent icons are small, so the stat each number applies to is inferred from the column's icon order of Resilience, Power, Range):

Difficulty	Passive Abilities	Encounter & Boss Health / Energy / Influence	Outlast	Damage	Siege Opponent Modifiers	Stat Test Penalty	Harvest Rewards
Starter	See Rule Book	Reduce Vitals by Level	-2 (min. of 1)	-1 (min. of 1)	Resilience -1, No Keywords	No change	No change
Easy	No change	No change	No change	No change	No change	No change	No change
Moderate	No change	+5 Vitals / hero	+1	+1

Combat Round Overview

1 Declaration Phase (page 96)

• Each player selects an action their hero will use during the combat round and spends any Energy necessary to activate it.
• Player actions occur in any order, they interact at the same time.
• You do not need to specify a target if your action requires one.
• One player should record all numbers on the Battle Mat.

2 Opponent Phase (page 100)

• The Encounter or Boss action is determined randomly, using the Hex die.
• Determine the target(s) and damage dealt.

3 Resolution Phase (page 101)

• All actions occur in any order, they interact at the same time.
• Determine any Favored Opponent effects this round.
• Record damage dealt to both the heroes and their opponent(s).
• Apply Conditions, if any.

Next Combat Round.

1 Declaration Phase

• Each player selects an action their hero will use during the combat round and spends any Energy necessary to activate it.
• You do not need to specify a target if your action requires one.
• One player should record all numbers on the Battle Mat (see page 92).

The Four Abilities

• Attack: When declaring the use of your Attack Ability, also choose a type of Vital to affect in the Resolution phase, as indicated by the Vital icons shown on your Attack Ability. If you choose to affect an opponent's Health, Energy, or Influence, your hero will inflict the chosen type of damage equal to your Attack rank. If you choose Outlast, you modify (raise or lower) the Outlast value by 2. You may choose the type of damage dealt each time you use the Ability. Example: The hero shown may use their Attack, Superior Tactics, to deal 5 Health, 5 Energy, 5 Influence, or reduce an opponent's Outlast by 2 (not all four at once).
• Defend: When declaring the use of your Defend Ability, your hero gains Defend equal to your rank until the end of the round. You may also use an Item while Defending (see next page).
• Masteries: When declaring the use of either your First or Second Mastery, refer to that section of the Role placard. Each Mastery is unique to each Role and costs one or more Energy to activate. Masteries only deal the type of damage specified in their description (you may not alter the damage type, even if your basic Attack is used by the Mastery).

Some Abilities offer choices on how they can be used. In these situations you do not need to immediately specify how you're using the Ability. For example, the Spear Master can simply say "I'm using Sojutsu" and wait to choose how it is used during the Resolution phase.

Target Types: Heroes and opponents have various Abilities and actions that can affect each other in unique ways. The various types of Targets are defined below.

• Target: A target may be any character involved in game play, including (but not limited to): opponents, heroes, and allies.
• Opponent: Any foe who means to harm the group. This includes Encounters, Bosses, and Siege Opponents.
• Group: All members of the group, including heroes and allies.
• Hero: A hero is considered to be any living hero controlled by a player. An Ability or effect which targets a hero can only affect heroes.
• Ally: An ally is any other member of a hero's group (i.e. other heroes, Escorts, or Summons). An Ability or effect which targets an ally cannot target yourself.

Calculating Effects: During this phase of combat, you will be calculating the effects of your action. Heroes who are damaging an opponent will declare the damage dealt and record it on the Battle Mat (see page 92). Those who are not damaging an opponent will apply the effects of their Ability during the Resolution phase.

Rounding Numbers: Unless otherwise specified, anytime an action or result is halved or cut into a fraction, round down to a minimum of 1.

Additional Hero Actions

• Racial Abilities during combat: Heroes may use Racial Abilities during any phase of combat, so long as they can pay its cost, without interrupting their action for the round.
• Using an Item during combat: Using the Defend action allows heroes to use a single Item on themselves, an ally, or give another ally a single Item. Heroes who use or give an Item are still Defending (it does not replace the Defend action). Heroes do not need to specify that they're using an Item until the Resolution phase of combat. Food is considered an Item, and a number of units up to your hero's Food Rating can be consumed in combat, if necessary.

Fleeing from combat: During the Declaration phase of combat, heroes who wish to Flee must roll their Navigate with a -2 bonus to the roll.

• If successful, they leave combat after the Declaration phase (and thus cannot be targeted).
• If unsuccessful, they may only Defend this round. Each round they attempt to Flee, they gain an additional -2 bonus to the roll (thus making it easier).
• Each hero must Flee in order for the group to Flee. Once all heroes have fled, or combat ends, the group Wanders (see page 54).
• Heroes who Flee may not re-enter combat and do not receive any rewards, even if the opponent is defeated by other members of the group. If you face an opponent you've previously Fled from, their Vitals are reset to full.

Bribing Opponents: Some opponents may be Bribed before combat begins. These opponents have a Bribe icon next to their Vitals.

• The number indicated in the icon is the Gold amount each hero must spend in order to avoid fighting the opponent. Successfully Bribing an opponent ends combat, though this does not defeat them; the heroes do not receive any combat rewards. You may choose to shuffle Encounters the group successfully Bribes back into the deck.
• Bribery Proficiency: Some Roles have a Gold icon displayed next to their Defend Ability. These Roles may roll a Defend Stat Test before combat begins when facing an opponent that can be Bribed. If the test is successful, they can reduce the total amount of Gold required to Bribe an opponent by their Defend rank (to a minimum of 0 Gold). If the Bribe is reduced to 0, the opponent is successfully Bribed.

Opponents with Influence: Some opponents may have an Influence Vital. Healing these opponents affect them in your favor.

• In addition to reducing their Health to 0, you may vanquish an opponent with an Influence Vital by reducing their Influence value to 0.
• To do this, Heal the opponent using your Abilities or Items. When the group Heals (Health or Energy) an opponent with Influence, it will not restore their Health or Energy Vital. Instead, it reduces their Influence value by an equal amount of the Healing they receive.
• Healing effects that Influence an opponent are not reduced by their Block or Defend. Unless otherwise stated, opponents cannot affect their own Influence value while Healing themselves. The group gains rewards normally for vanquishing an opponent using Influence.

Opponents with Outlast: Some opponents may have an Outlast Vital. Outlast acts as a combat timer for certain events. For Swarms and Hordes, Outlast represents the length of time it takes the heroes to gain the upper hand in combat and achieve victory.

• Stat Tests Available: Opponents with an Outlast value may have 3 stats shown under the Outlast value. During the Declaration phase as a hero's action for the round, heroes may choose one of these available stats to roll a Stat Test against in order to reduce (or sometimes increase) the Outlast value.
• Stat Test Immunity: Each round of combat, each hero may choose to roll one stat that matches one of the 3 Stat Tests available (shown under the Outlast value). Rolling this Stat Test becomes the hero's only action for the round.
  • If the Stat Test is successful, reduce Outlast based on the type of success: Success = -1 Outlast; Critical Success = -2 Outlast. Additionally, each hero who succeeds on a Stat Test that matches the opponent's action is immune to the action that matches the Stat Test rolled this round.
  • If the Stat Test is unsuccessful, the hero will suffer the full effects of their opponent's action.
• Using Other Abilities while Facing an Outlast Opponent: Heroes may choose to use their Defend or Masteries instead of rolling a Stat Test when facing an opponent with Outlast. If the opponent cannot suffer Health or Energy damage, effects that would normally damage them are ignored. All other effects may still apply (such as Defending damage, Healing or Raising Vitals,

decreasing the damage your opponent deals, etc).

• Automatic Outlast Reduction: Unless otherwise specified, opponents with Outlast lose 1 Outlast automatically during the Resolution phase of each round of combat.

2 Opponent Phase

• Opponents differ in the number of combat options available to them. Encounters have 3 options while Bosses have 6.
• Roll the Hex die each round of combat and consult the action key to determine what action your opponent takes.
• If the action rolled requires Energy, they spend the action's Energy cost this phase. If the opponent doesn't have enough Energy, their action defaults to another action (see pages 87 and 89).
• If the group faces more than one opponent, roll the Hex action die once for each opponent in any order.
• Determine Individual targets, if any, during this phase.

Opponent Targeting: Opponent actions may target Individual (Single, Dual, Triple, or Multi-Target) targets, or Group targets.

• Individual Targets: Single, Dual, Triple, or Multi-Target. Actions that affect individual targets. Target dice are rolled to determine the target(s). In a Dual/Triple target attack, the highest 2 or 3 Target dice, respectively, are the attack's targets. Each target may only receive 1 individual attack per round per opponent, unless otherwise stated. Multi-Target attacks will specify how to determine the targets.
• Group Targets: Actions that affect each hero and all allies. Target dice are not rolled for group attacks.

Target Dice: You may need to determine a target for an opponent's action (or in other situations). Each group member (heroes and allies) rolls a Core die and applies any applicable modifiers. Compare your result with the others. The one with the highest roll becomes the target of the game effect that called for one. In the case of a tie, the ones who tied roll again (without modifiers) until a target is chosen. When choosing multiple targets, the highest rolls become the targets; reroll as needed to break ties.

3 Resolution Phase

• Group and opponent effects take place at the same time during this phase.
• Heroes and opponents select any unselected targets (if any) for their actions as well as any unique choices provided by a Mastery that was used and all remaining action results are tallied (damage is dealt, Defended against, Healed, etc).
• Resolve any/all actions in any order you choose.
• When facing multiple opponents, each of their actions will resolve separately in any order.
• Conditions are applied at the end of the Resolution phase after all damage is dealt.
• Combat resumes with the start of a new round and continues until the opponent(s) or heroes are defeated.

Resolving Damage & Conditions: Effects that reduce damage are calculated first. Then all remaining damage and Healing are calculated into one total. The final result is then applied to the target. Resolve all damage to each group member and opponent(s) as necessary. Conditions are applied at the end of the Resolution phase after all damage is calculated.

Hero / Opponent Defeat: If a group member or opponent drops to 0 Health or less, they are in danger of dying. If the combat phase ends (and moves into another phase) and they remain at 0 Health or less, the hero or opponent dies. It is possible to drop below 0 Health and in the same combat phase be brought back above 0. For instance, if a hero is reduced below 0 Health and is Healed to 1 Health or more during the Resolution phase in the same round, the hero remains alive. In these cases the hero, or opponent, has escaped death. It is possible to suffer damage and die during any phase of combat.

Combat Example

The Samurai and the Sage face a Dangerous Graveler while playing on Easy difficulty. The Sage has Favored Opponent against Magical Nature opponents.

• Record their Vitals: The Graveler has 20 Health and 17 Energy (10/7 base + 5/5 per hero for Dangerous). These numbers are recorded on the Battle Mat.
• Look for a Passive: We see the Graveler has a Passive. The players take note.
• Declaration phase: The heroes each declare their actions, in any order they wish.
  • The Samurai chooses to use Kenjutsu (his First Mastery). Its rank is 8, costs him 1 Energy to use, and it may be used in many ways. He does not declare how it will be used at this time.
  • The Sage has Favored Opponent against Magical Nature Opponents. She decides to wait to roll this damage until the end of the round. She uses her Passive to give the Samurai Favored Opponent to Earth Opponents. She also uses Resonance (her First Mastery) to Heal a target. She spends 3 Energy (2 for the Passive and 1 for her Mastery). She does not yet select the target to Heal.
• Opponent phase: The Hex die is now rolled to determine how the Graveler acts. The result is a 3. This is a Mastery, which consumes 3 Energy to use (record this Energy reduction on the Battle Mat). One player reads the action. The group will suffer 3 Earth damage (2 Base + 1 for Dangerous) and each hero will roll Navigate. The heroes who fail this roll will be Slowed. Because this is Earth damage, if any hero has a Water Augment, they would have Weakness to this damage and would suffer an additional Hex die worth of damage from this attack.
• Resolution phase: Now the heroes discuss their battle plan, choose any of their unchosen actions, and roll their necessary Stat dice (Navigate).
  • Each hero rolls their Favored Opponent dice at this time and they target Health. The roll results are 4 and 1, for a total of 5 Favored Opponent Health damage. This number is written in the bottom of the Battle Mat damage section (it cannot be reduced by the Graveler).
  • The Samurai decides to use Itto-ryu, to gain Counterattack against the Graveler's action. He has used his rank 4 and 6 bonuses to improve Itto-Ryu twice. He deals 8 Health damage to the Graveler (half Kenjutsu's rank of 8 equals 4, plus 4 from each of the 2 rank improvements).
  • The Sage uses Resonance on herself, to ensure she does not die from the Graveler's incoming attack. Her Health is Healed accordingly.
  • Each hero rolls their Navigate. The Sage succeeds but the Samurai fails.

Negative Vitals

When a combat phase ends, any negative Vital values are brought back to 0.

Hero Death

• When a hero dies, other alive heroes gain access to a dead hero's backpack, Gold, and Food, at any time outside of combat, or during combat while performing a Defend action.
• Gold, Food, stat rank bonuses, or Items a dead hero would receive as a reward are divided between the other heroes outside of combat. Power Up rewards are still taken by dead heroes, but they are kept face down until the hero is Revived.
• The game is not over if all heroes die in MoG. If all heroes are dead, play only the Villain phase each turn until the group Revives.

Creating New Heroes

Players may create a new hero if their hero has died. The new hero gains 3 Power Ups per Siege Wave, 10 Gold, and 3x their Food Rating in Food. They join the group after the Skill phase the next time the group ends movement in one of the following game locations: City-State, Temple, Settlement, Antiquity Site, Tower, or Fortress.

Reviving Heroes

Certain Power Ups, Items, Treasures, or Hero Masteries can immediately bring a dead hero back to life. Additionally, in the Mountains of Godai, heroes can automatically be brought back to life after a short delay (see Wave Revival below).

Wave Revival: As long as it is not the last Siege of the game, heroes who die may be automatically Revived in a City-State of their choice after a number of Game Turns have passed equal to the current Wave number. Heroes Revived in this way Revive during the Movement phase of that turn and may rejoin any alive heroes when they are in Range of the chosen City-State.

Each City-State gives a different Gear Upgrade bonus when the hero is Revived. See the City-State Placard for detail.

Wave Revival Example: It is the Harvest Stage of the second Siege Wave and three of the four heroes have died. During the Movement phase of the Game Turn 2 turns from this one, the heroes who have died will be Revived in a City-State of their choice and will rejoin the group when the alive hero is in Range of the City-State selected. If the last hero would have perished, the Villain phase of the next 2 turns would continue to be played. Play continues and the group would Revive in a City-State of their choice. The normal game sequence is then reestablished in this Movement phase.

Rewards

Heroes will earn great rewards as they face Jaethi's armies. Unless otherwise stated, non-hero Escorts do not earn rewards. Rewards come in two broad categories: Group and Single Rewards.

• Group Reward: Determined by the reward type, a Group Reward may be given once to the group or once to each hero.
• Single Rewards: Only one hero will receive a Single Reward. In single hero games, the hero gains all rewards listed.

Distributing Rewards: Anytime a Single Reward is earned, each hero will roll target dice (see page 100) to determine who receives it. Some players enjoy distributing rewards after they've been drawn or to assign Single Rewards or drawn Power Ups to specific heroes. Feel free to adopt this rule in your games, if desired.

Power Up Deck

The Power Up deck contains many different types of Power Up cards. Heroes gain access to the Power Up deck by completing Commissions, vanquishing Opponents, and in many other situations. When the group gains access to this deck, each hero draws their own card (unless otherwise noted). Gain the bonus on the card and then place it in the discard pile (unless the card specifies to hold on to it). Each time the Power Up deck has been expended, increase the Game Difficulty by 1 and then reshuffle the deck to be used again.

• Elemental Power Ups: Roll the associated Element die to gain an Element when a hero draws this card (see the Elements placard). If you gain an Element, you may choose to Augment it to your hero immediately or add it to the Stockpile.
• Resource Power Ups: Power Ups with a Resource ribbon have a Resource bonus on the bottom right corner of the card. Immediately increase the group's Stockpile by the Resource type and amount shown when this card is drawn. If multiple Resources are shown, gain the indicated number for each Resource shown.

Group Reward Types

Each hero gains these rewards:

Reward	Description
Power Up icon	Unless otherwise specified, each hero gains the number of Power Up cards shown.
X (Gold hex)	Each hero gains Gold equal to the amount shown.
X (Food hex)	Each hero gains Food equal to the amount shown.
Gear Upgrade icon	Each hero gains 1 Gear Upgrade.

The group gains this reward once:

Reward	Description
X (Platinum)	Gain Platinum equal to the amount shown. Add to your Stockpile.
Elemental dice	Roll the Elemental Die shown to gain an Element (see page 47). If you gain one, add to your Stockpile.
Element icons	Gain the amount and type of the Element shown. Gain 1 if there is no number recorded. Add to your Stockpile.
Resource icons	Gain the amount and type of the Resource shown. Gain 1 if there is no number recorded. Add to your Stockpile.
X (Portal hex)	The designated Portal number is now destroyed. Place a Hex Token (see page 9) on the Portal with the matching number.

Single Reward Types: Roll target dice (see page 100) or choose one hero to determine who receives these rewards:

Reward	Description
Stat icon	These bonuses are stat rank increases and match one of the 9 hero stats. Unless otherwise specified, these are always Single Rewards.
Gear Upgrade icon	One hero gains a Gear Upgrade of their choice. Unless otherwise specified, these are always Single Rewards.
Item	An item or a number of items are gained. Unless otherwise specified, these are always Single Rewards.
Other	Sometimes a reward may be a specific card (like a Treasure). Unless otherwise specified, these are always Single Rewards.
Wielder Bonus	Sometimes a Treasure or Legendary card grants a Wielder Bonus. These are always considered to be Items. While the wielder carries it, they gain the rank bonus shown. Unless otherwise specified, these are always Single Rewards.

Opponent Rewards: If the heroes defeat their opponent(s), they'll gain the reward shown on the card or placard. Opponent rewards may be Group Rewards or Single Rewards. If unspecified (for instance on Encounter cards), see the Rewards Type tables above to determine what rewards the group has earned.

• Example 1 (Encounter Reward): The group has vanquished Asura. Each hero will draw their own Power Up, and the group will receive the Resource Reward. They will add 2 Essence and 2 Sky Metal to their Stockpile.
• Example 2 (Boss Reward): The group has vanquished Atlecuhtli. First, we examine the Group Reward. The group places a Destroyed Siege Portal token on Siege Portal 4. Each hero draws 2 Power Up cards and gains 5 Gold and 5 Food. Next, we examine the Single Rewards. The group rolls Target dice. The hero with the highest result gains the +3 Attack rank, and the target with the next highest result gains 3 Viper Potions.