Karak II
Karak II Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Core Concept
- Goal of the Game
- Components
- Setting Up the Game
- Playing the Game
- A. Battle with a Monster Army
- Glory
- B. Healing
- C. Gathering Resources
- D. City Building
- E. Building
- F. Recruiting Units
- G. Picking Up an Item
- H. Eradicating the Plague
- End of Turn
- End of the Game and Determining the Winner
- Loss of All Life and Unconsciousness
- Items
- Plague & Misery
- Bestiary
- Description of the Heroes
- Rules Summary
- Credits
Core Concept
Karak 2 is a competitive adventure board game in which players explore the landscape around Karak Castle as Heroes, fighting the monsters that appear there and gaining various rewards. They can then search the liberated territory for resources and build settlements where they, among other things, train new units for their army, which will enable them to confront the dark forces that are trying to take over the world.
But the Heroes are not "just" trying to protect the world. For the power hidden in the Soul Stones of the monster army can make dreams come true. Each Hero has come to Karak for a different reason, and acquiring the most Soul Stones should help them to fulfil their mission.
I've never played Karak–is that a problem?
No, Karak 2 is a stand-alone game, and while its story follows the plot outlined in Karak, knowledge of the original game is not necessary to enjoy playing here.
Goal of the Game
The game ends immediately after one of the Heroes defeats the Dark General. The winner of the game is then the player who has collected the most Soul Stones of the Dark Army over the course of the game. These Soul Stones have different point values. The player with the most points wins the game.
Components
- 1 starting tile
- 28 landscape tiles (18 first-tier and 10 second-tier tiles)
- 6 cardboard Hero standees and 6 plastic stands
- 6 Hero cards
- 6 city tokens (1 for each Hero)
- 5 Hero boards with inventory
- 5 glory banners
- 6 larger dice (1 for each Hero)
- 35 smaller dice for the Hero army units (10× Knight, 10× Archer, 10× Mage, 3× Skeleton, 1× Bear, 1× Titan)
- 30 life tokens (5 of which are spare)
- 30 building tokens (for city building)
- 40 food tokens, 40 wood tokens, 40 stone tokens
- 1 cloth bag for monster army tokens
- 36 monster army tokens (7× Skeleton Warriors, 6× Fire Eaters, 5× Shadow Eaters, 3× Skeletal Hulks, 5× Dark Dryads, 1× Hammer Follower, 5× Skeleton Riders, 4× Envoys of Death)
- 1 Dark General standee with unique stand
- 5 Praetorian tokens
- 1 Plague token
- Game rules in English, German and French
Any components missing or damaged? Drop us an e-mail at [email protected] and we will send you free replacements!
Setting Up the Game
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Place the starting landscape tile (it consists of three connected tiles) in the middle of the table.
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Divide the other landscape tiles according to their tiers and shuffle each tier separately.
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Then place the second-tier landscape tile deck face-down on the table so that all players can reach it. Place the first-tier landscape tile deck face-down on top of it so that both form a single deck.
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Place all monster army tokens in the bag and have it within reach of all players.
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Near the monster army token bag, place the Dark General standee in his unique stand, as well as the Praetorian tokens, and the Plague token.
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Remove the resource tray from the box and place it on the table within reach of all players. They will take resources from here when Gathering Resources. There are 3 types of resources in the game: food, wood, and stone.
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The tray also contains Unit dice. There are 3 basic Unit types in the game: Knights, Archers, and Mages.
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Each player takes 1 Hero Board, 1 city token, 5 life tokens and 6 building tokens (1 of each building type). Place the tokens on the corresponding spaces on your Hero board, life tokens heart-side up and building tokens grey (unbuilt) side up. Place the banner token above "0" space on the board.
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Shuffle all 6 Hero cards and spread them face-down on the table. Each player then draws one Hero card and places it on the corresponding space on their Hero board. Return the remaining Hero cards to the box.
Note: Alternatively, you may select the Hero Cards as you wish. Determine the order in which you select by rolling a die.
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Each player places the city token belonging to their Hero in front of them (grey, unbuilt-side up).
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Find the corresponding Hero standees and place them in the plastic stands.
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Each player places their Hero's die in front of them (the layout of the icons on the Heroes' dice is the same, they only differ in color).
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Place all Heroes that are in the game in the center of the starting landscape tile (on Karak Castle).
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Determine the starting player: The player who rolls the highest value on the Hero die starts.
Hero Board
The Hero board holds: the banner token to track a player's glory level; the Hero card; the building tokens (unbuilt side); the life tokens; and the inventory, with slots for weapons, slots for spells, and one inventory slot for an amulet.
Playing the Game
Players take turns in clockwise order. Basically, each player has 2 actions available, but with some upgrades (amulet and/or stables), this number can go up to 4. Before each action, a player can move their Hero by 1 tile on the landscape.
Movement and Actions
Before each action, a player may move their Hero to a neighboring landscape tile. Movement and actions are optional, however, so it is possible to:
- Move the Hero and perform an action on the tile where the Hero has moved.
- Move the Hero and take no action (e.g., continue with another movement and subsequent action if the player still has that available).
- Do not move the Hero and perform the action on the tile where the Hero is currently standing.
However, the Hero must always move before the action–so it is not possible to take an action and then move. In this case, moving can only be done when the player has another action available that could precede the movement.
Some of the edges of the landscape tiles show chasms. Usually, Heroes cannot be moved across these chasms. In order for a Hero to move from one tile to another, the common border of those tiles must not show a chasm.
Other players' Heroes and cities do not restrict movement, and the tiles they are on can be entered without constraints.
Move – Example 1: Horan moves from his starting tile to an adjacent tile (1), where he performs a Resource Gathering action (2). He would then like to engage in a fight with the dryad on the next tile, but there is a chasm between the two tiles, so he must approach from a different direction. He then moves to the tile containing the weapon token (3) and adds it to his inventory as his second action (4).
Move – Example 2: Horan is in his city. He does not use the option to move before his first action because he wants to build new buildings in his city as his first action. He then trains Units for his army in the newly constructed buildings as his second action. He would like to move out of the city at this point, but this is no longer possible because the movement would have to be done before the action, it cannot occur afterwards.
Exploring the Landscape
In Karak 2, you will create a game board gradually as your Heroes move around. The parts of the landscape that have not yet been laid out are referred to as the unexplored area.
As you move, you can not only move your Heroes between the already laid tiles of the game board, but also add new tiles to the already laid ones and move to them. When entering an unexplored area, take the top tile from the landscape tile deck and connect it in such a way that your Hero can enter it from the tile he or she is currently standing on. This way you will expand the game board. After placing the landscape tile, immediately move your Hero standee onto it. The tile has to be connected to the tile from which your Hero came, but it's okay if there are impassable chasms along other borders.
- First-tier landscape tile: Once you have laid out a first tier landscape, move your Hero standee onto it. Then draw one random token from the monster token bag and place it on the tile of the landscape you just laid out. You must fight the monster.
- Second-tier landscape tile: The second-tier landscape works the same as the first-tier one, except that you draw two monster tokens from the monster token bag instead of one and place them both on the landscape tile you just laid out. The power of both monsters is added together and the Hero must fight both of them at once.
Example – Exploring: Horan wants to move from his current tile to an unexplored area. He draws the top tile from the deck and places it next to his current tile so that he can move between the two tiles (1). Since this is a second-tier landscape tile, he draws two monster tokens from the bag (2). Their strength values are 2 and 3, which adds up to a total of 5. Horan then has to fight them both at the same time (3).
Actions
Each player has the following actions available:
- A. Battling with a monster army
- B. Healing
- C. Gathering Resources
- D. City Building
- E. Building
- F. Recruiting Units
- G. Picking up an item
- H. Eradicating the Plague
A. Battle with a Monster Army
As soon as a Hero enters a tile with one or more monster army tokens, they must fight. When fighting a monster, always roll the Hero die and your chosen available Unit dice. Add up the sword icons on all dice rolled–the sum indicates the strength of your attack. Add the cumulative strength of your Hero's equipment (usually weapons) to the total. In addition, you may use one or more attack spells (in the base game the Fireball spell) after the roll. For each Fireball used, you can add +1 to your attack power. If any of your Hero's abilities provide a bonus in combat, add that as well. The resulting sum makes up the Hero's total attack power.
Attention! In battle, you always roll your Hero die. However, you may use any number of Unit dice from your army–you don't have to roll all of them. While unused dice will not provide you with additional strength, you also do not risk losing them. However, you must decide which dice to roll and which not to roll before the actual roll.
Lost battle: If the total attack power is less than the power of the monster army/armies (the numerical value listed on the monster army token, or the sum of the power of the two monster armies on the second-tier landscape tile), the Hero loses the battle. Move the standee back to the tile from which the Hero came. The monster army token(s) remain(s) on the landscape tile where the Hero encountered it/them.
Won battle: If your Hero's total attack power is greater than or equal to the power of the monster army/armies, you have won and defeated the monsters. Flip the monster army token(s) to the other side, showing the items you have gained. Place the weapons, spells, and amulets in the appropriate slots in your inventory. You can also gain a resource wagon or Soul Stones. Keep the Soul Stones next to your inventory. Regarding resources, take the appropriate type and quantity from the bank and discard the token from the game. If you do not have a free slot of the appropriate type on your hero board for newly gained equipment, you must drop your chosen excess items on the landscape tile where your Hero currently stands. These dropped items can then be picked up by anyone who later enters that landscape tile.
Wounding a Hero in Battle: Whenever you roll a skull icon on the Hero die, turn the corresponding number of life tokens on the hero board skull-side up after combat. If you have no life tokens left with the heart-side up after the battle, but you have also rolled the number of sword icons needed to win, you still win the battle and gain the reward. Only afterwards you follow the unconsciousness rules (see below).
Note: A Hero can be wounded even if the battle is won. Likewise, a Hero may lose a duel, but not lose a life. The number of skulls rolled on the Hero's die always determines the Hero's loss of life in combat.
The death of a Unit in battle: Whenever a Unit die rolls a skull icon, return that die to the Unit die common supply–you have lost that Unit.
Note: A skull icon on a Unit die only means the loss of that particular Unit. The Hero does not lose any lives for icons rolled on the Unit dice.
Plague & Misery: If a player rolls the two skulls on the Hero die, their Hero loses two lives, and the Plague is falling on one of the players' cities. The player who rolled the two skulls determines which city the Plague befalls. The mechanism of Plague & Misery is explained further down in the rulebook.
Please note: After combat, a player's turn always ends, no matter how many actions they may still have left.
Battle – Example 1: Horan fights a monster army with a strength of 3. He has his Hero die and then his Unit dice: Horan has 1 Unit of Archers and 1 Unit of Knights. He rolls all the dice. He rolls a skull on the Hero die and the Archer die, and a sword on the Knight die. Thus, he has not defeated the monster army (he did not get the 3 swords he needed) and he loses 1 life (1) and the Archer die, which he must return to the common supply (2). After losing the battle, he must then return to the tile from which he came onto the tile with the monster army (3), and his turn ends.
Battle – Example 2: Taia engages the same enemy. She has 2 Units of Archers and 2 Units of Knights, along with her Hero die. She rolls a skull on her Hero die, as well as on one of her Knight dice. However, the other three dice roll swords. Taia therefore loses 1 life (1) and must return one of her Knight dice to the common supply (2). She wins the battle, however, and so gains the reward on the flipside of the monster army token (3) and remains standing on the tile where she encountered the monster army (4). Her turn ends.
Glory
Each player keeps track of their glory by using the banner on their Hero board. At the start of the game, all players have a glory level of "0". The glory level determines how large a player's army can be. The glory level is always equal to the strength of the strongest defeated monster army. Glory does not increase with each battle, but only when defeating an enemy stronger than the previous ones. On the second-tier tiles, the strength of the monster armies is added up, and this sum also indicates the value of the glory that results from any battle won.
The glory level directly determines how many Units a Hero can have in their army. If the Hero's glory is 1, they can have up to 1 Unit (1 Unit die) in their army. If the Hero's glory is 4, they can have up to 4 Units in their army. The maximum glory level is 10.
Example – Glory: Horan has a glory of 2 and has one Unit (die) of Knights and one Unit (die) of Archers in his army. He can't get any more Units at the moment. If he wins a battle with a monster army of strength 3, his glory increases to level 3, if he defeats an army of strength 4, his glory increases directly to level 4, and so on. However, if he defeats an army with strength 1, his fame will not be affected in any way.
B. Healing
A wounded Hero can use his actions to heal. With each action used in this way, he regains 2 lives–the life token lying skull-side up is flipped back to heart-side up. Healing can be done on any tile of the game board.
C. Gathering Resources
On a landscape tile where no monster army or city token is located, you can perform the Gathering Resources action. In this case, the player takes resource tokens from the common supply in the number and type of resource tokens corresponding to the type of the tile (see below). Note that during a player's turn, the player can be Gathering Resources from each landscape tile only once. Therefore, it is not possible to stand on one landscape tile and be Gathering Resources from it more than once during a turn.
Landscape Tiles and the Resources They Provide
There are landscape tiles with individual resources.
- Farm – food
- Forest – wood
There are also landscape tiles with two resources in the game. When obtaining resources from these tiles, the Hero receives both resources at once as part of their action.
- Farm and Forest: food + wood
- Farm and Rock: food + stone
- Forest and Rock: wood + stone
There are some second-tier landscape tiles from which the Hero receives three resources at once as part of their action.
- Big Farm: 3× food
- Dense Forest: 3× wood
- Big Rock: 3× stone
Note: Resources are considered unlimited. If you run out of resource tokens anytime during the game, use any adequate equivalent.
In addition to the aforementioned landscape tiles, there is Karak Castle on the starting tile and the final tile with the Dark General. Players cannot Gather Resources from these tiles. It is also not possible to Gather Resources from a tile with any players' city on it.
Example – Gathering Resources: Horan decides to devote his entire turn to Gathering Resources. He starts on the tile with the Farm, on which he begins his turn, and gains 1 food from there (1). Then he moves to the tile with the Forest and the Rock, from where he gains 1 wood and 1 stone (2). He takes the appropriate resource tokens from the common supply and leaves them near his Hero board. Then his turn ends.
D. City Building
Once you have collected enough resources, you can start building your city. To build it, you must spend 2 wood (spent resources are returned to the common supply). Building a city is only possible on a landscape tile without a monster army and without a Hero of another player. It is also not possible to build on Karak Castle and on a tile where another player's city already stands. When your Hero visits a suitable tile and performs a City Building action, you place your city token on that tile of landscape, colored side up. Once placed, the city token cannot be removed from the game board or moved to another tile in any way. Each player has only one city token available.
Note: Do not underestimate the choice of the tile where you place your city! It is the only place where you will be able to recruit new Units, so ideally it should be "close to the action" and also adjacent to the tiles that will be used to gain resources for Building and Recruiting.
Note: The chasms on the landscape tile with the city token still affect the movement.
Example – City Location: Horan would like to build his city. However, he cannot build it on any of the adjacent laid out tiles–he cannot build it on Karak Castle, on a tile with a monster army, or on a tile with an opponent's city. Therefore, he only uses the first action to move to his opponent's city (1), from which he then moves onto the Farm tile (2), returns 2 wood to the common supply (3), and places his city token on top of the Farm tile during the second action (4). On his next turn he will be able to start building buildings in the city.
E. Building
From the moment a player builds their city (and places its tile on the game board), they can build buildings in it as part of Building actions. The cost for building buildings is indicated on the grey (unbuilt) side of the respective tokens. A player may build any number of buildings as part of a single Building action, but only those that they have the resources for. A player can only build buildings if their Hero standee is currently in their city.
Note: A Hero may enter other Heroes' cities without restriction, but may only take Building actions in their own city.
Building Effects
Stable – After building a stable, the player gains one additional action each turn for the rest of the game (including the ability to move before or instead of an action–see Movement section on page 3). Thus, instead of 2 actions, they have 3 actions available. They can use this extra action on the turn in which they built the stable.
Portal – The portal allows faster movement out of the city and back into the city. Once a player has built it in their city, their Hero can move from a city token to any already laid landscape, instead of just moving to an adjacent tile. At the same time, the player can move directly to their city instead of moving to an adjacent tile. However, the portal can only be used once per turn.
Glory Banners – Glory banners increase a Hero's glory level by 2 levels. Thus, their total glory after building them is always 2 points higher than the strongest monster army they defeated in battle. Immediately after the glory banners are built, move the banner token on the glory scale by 2 slots to the right, if possible.
Military Camp – The military camp allows you to recruit Knights. Once a player has built the camp in their city, they can train Knight Units when Recruiting an army. Each Unit is represented by a die with red symbols. Each one of these die costs 1 food.
Shooting Range – The shooting range allows the recruitment of Archers. Once a player has the range built in their city, they can train Archer Units when Recruiting an army. Each Unit is represented by a die with green symbols. Each one of these die costs 1 wood.
Wizard Tower – The wizard tower allows the recruitment of Mages. Once a player has built the tower in their city, they can train Mage Units when Recruiting an army. Each Unit is represented by a die with grey symbols. Each one of these die costs 1 stone.
F. Recruiting Units
The Recruiting action can only be performed if the player's Hero is in their city. When this action is performed, the player pays a given combination of resources into the common supply and takes the Unit dice of the type and number corresponding to the resources paid. To recruit each Unit type, the appropriate building must first be built. A player can never have more Units in his army than their glory level. However, they may return any number of Unit dice to the common supply during the Recruiting action to make space in their army for recruiting new Units.
Note: There are a limited number of Unit dice. If there are no more dice of a specific Unit type in the common supply, that type cannot be trained until some dice of that type are returned to the common supply.
- Knights – military camp – price: 1 food (weakest Unit, but more resilient than the other two types)
- Archers – shooting range – price: 1 wood (medium-strength Unit, less resilient in battle)
- Mages – wizard tower – price: 1 stone (strongest Unit, but less resilient in battle)
Example – Recruitment: Horan is in his city and wants to perform a Recruiting action. His glory level is 2 and he has 1 Unit of Knights in his army. He can only train Knights and Archers–the wizard tower is not built in the city and therefore Mages cannot be trained yet. The Horan player chooses to return the Knight Unit dice to the common supply (1), pays 2 wood (2) and takes 2 Archer Units (dice) to their supply (3).
G. Picking Up an Item
Over the course of the game, it may happen that the Hero's inventory is full and after defeating a monster army there are no more empty slots to store another item of that type. In this case, the Hero must drop one of the items of that type on the landscape tile they are currently on. The item that has just been acquired can also be left there. Any of the opposing players can then pick up the item and place it in their inventory. Picking up a dropped item is an action. If more than one item is left behind on a tile, a Hero may retrieve them all at once as part of a single action. As part of the Picking up an item action, the Hero may also freely exchange items lying on the landscape tile they are currently on with items of the corresponding type in their inventory.
Example – Picking Up an Item Action: Horan defeats two armies of monsters on a single second-tier tile, and the reward for defeating them is an amulet and a sword (1). However, Horan has both weapon slots filled with the same or better items, so he decides to leave the sword on the tile (2). He takes the amulet, but he must also drop his original amulet (3). Later, Taia, who has neither the amulet nor two weapons, arrives on the same tile and adds both items to her inventory as part of the Picking up an item action.
H. Eradicating the Plague
If a player's city is affected by the Plague (see following), the respective player can get rid of it with the Eradicating of the Plague action, which can only be performed on the starting landscape tile–the ruins of Karak Castle. The Plague token is then returned to the common supply. Performing this action will also restore all of a Hero's lives.
Note: A player can use this action even if their city is not currently affected by the Plague, to heal their Hero to the maximum.
Note: The Plague token can only be removed using this action if the player currently holds it. If the token is held by another player, it cannot be removed in this way.
End of Turn
Your turn ends:
- When you have used all your actions (or if you still have some actions available, but decide not to use them for tactical reasons).
- Always after a battle with a monster army (even if you still have some actions available).
Note: Normally each player has two actions available on their turn, but some additional effects (stables, amulet) may allow a player to take extra actions.
End of the Game and Determining the Winner
The game ends when one of the Heroes defeats the Dark General in battle. The battle with the Dark General is governed by special rules.
When a player draws a tile with the Infernal Abyss while exploring the second-tier landscape, they place the cardboard standee of the Dark General on that tile. They place a given number of Praetorian tokens, representing the monster armies defending the Dark General, in the Dark General's special plastic stand. The exact number of tokens is defined by the number of players in the game:
- 2 players = 5 tokens
- 3 players = 5 tokens
- 4 players = 4 tokens
- 5 players = 3 tokens
The Dark General's strength is 10 plus the number of tokens he currently has, initially 13 to 15, depending on the number of players.
Each time the Dark General is attacked, the Hero always loses one life in addition to those determined by the Hero die.
Example of a Fight with the Dark General: When exploring, Horan draws a tile with the Dark General and has to fight him. Since this is a 4-player game, the Dark General has 4 Praetorian tokens and therefore a total strength of 14. Horan has two Units of Mages, one Unit of Knights and two Units of Archers (1). In addition, he has two swords and two Fireball spells in his inventory (2). He rolls his dice. He rolls a skull on the Hero die, as well as on the Knight die (3). However, all the Mage and Archer dice show swords. So, his total strength at this point is 2 (swords) + 4 (Mages) + 3 (Archers) = 9. Horan decides to use one of his spells (4) and add 1 to his attack strength, which gives him a total of 10 and takes 1 Praetorian token away from the Dark General (5). However, Horan also loses 2 lives (one for the die and the other automatically for the battle with the Dark General) and a Knight die (6). He loses the battle and must return to the tile from which he came to the Dark General tile (7). Later, Taia will battle the Dark General. However, since Horan has removed 1 Praetorian token, leaving only 3, she only needs her attack power to win.
In order to defeat the Dark General, the Hero's attack strength is calculated in the same way as when battling a monster army and must be at least equal to the Dark General's current strength.
If the Hero's attack strength is less than the Dark General's current strength, but at least 10, the Hero loses the battle with the Dark General, but removes 1 Praetorian token, weakening the Dark General for future battles.
If the Hero's attack strength is equal to or greater than the Dark General's current strength, the Hero wins, gains the Soul Archstone as a reward, and the game ends immediately, even if the Hero would lose their last life and fall unconscious.
The Hero who defeats the Dark General gains the Soul Archstone (depicted on the Dark General's standee), but this does not mean that they are automatically the winner. In fact, the player who has the highest total value of Soul Stones at the end of the game is the winner. There are three types of Soul Stones in the game, differing in size. For a small Soul Stone, a player scores 1 point, for a large Soul Stone 2 points and for a Soul Archstone 4.5 points. Thus, it can happen that a player wins without it being his Hero who defeated the Dark General. In the event of a tie, the player with more large Soul Stones wins. If there is still a tie, all tied players are declared winners.
Loss of All Life and Unconsciousness
In combat, whenever you roll an icon with one or two skulls on the Hero die, you flip the corresponding number of life tokens skull-side up. If you also flip the last token left to flip, your Hero falls unconscious. On the next turn, instead of the normal turn, you flip three life tokens back face-up, but that's all for your turn. You will not be able to perform any actions till the next round.
Items
Whenever a Hero defeats a monster army in battle, they gain as loot the item shown on the back of the monster army token. If the Hero defeats multiple monster armies at once, they gain all of the corresponding items. There are several types of items in the game:
- A. Weapons
- B. Spells
- C. Amulets
- D. Resources
- E. Soul Stones
Players place items in their inventory on the Hero board. The inventory has two slots for weapons, three slots for spells and one slot for an amulet. Spells cannot be placed in the slots designated to weapons, etc. Thus, at any one time, each Hero can have a maximum of two weapons, three spells and a single amulet. If, for example, they already have three spells in their inventory and gain a fourth spell, they must drop one of their spells on the landscape tile on which their Hero is currently standing. Items that have just been acquired can also be dropped on the tile.
A. Weapons
There are two types of weapons in the game: the sword and the warhammer. Weapons provide a permanent bonus to attack strength in battle, based on the number in the upper left corner of the weapon, the sword provides +1, the warhammer +2.
Example: Horan has a sword and a warhammer in his inventory. He will therefore add a total of 1 + 2 to his attack strength, meaning 3.
The Dark Lord's Sword – The Hero adds +1 to his total on a roll of the dice.
The Living Hammer – The Hero adds +2 to his total after rolling the dice.
B. Spells
In the inventory on the Hero board there are three slots for spells. All spells are single-use only. After use, discard the spell token from the game (do not return it to the bag!). The following spells are available in Karak 2:
Fireball: If you choose to use this spell, add an extra +1 to your attack strength. You can use up to as many of these spells as you have in your inventory during a single attack.
Pickpocket: You can cast a Pickpocket spell at any time during your turn, and it costs no action to cast. After casting it, you can take two resources from any Hero's resource supply.
C. Amulets
Amulets are unique artifacts that grant the Hero various benefits. The player places the acquired amulet on the Hero's board in the designated slot. A Hero can only carry one amulet at a time. The following amulets are found in Karak 2:
Amulet of Resources – A Hero who has this amulet gains one extra resource each time they take a Gathering Resources action. On tiles that yield two resources, the player chooses one of those resources to gain an extra resource.
Amulet of Glory – The bearer of this amulet has a glory of 2 levels higher. The Amulet of Glory's effect stacks with the effect of the Banners of Glory building. Immediately after you add the Amulet of Glory to your inventory on the Hero board, move the banner token on the glory tracker 2 slots to the right, if possible.
Attention! If the Hero discards or exchanges this amulet for another, their glory level immediately drops by 2. It may happen that they have more Units in their army than his glory level at that moment. In that case, they must return the excess Unit dice to the common supply so that they have just as many Units left as their glory level. They also have to immediately move their banner token on the glory tracker 2 slots to the left.
Amulet of Action – A Hero who has this amulet has one extra action.
Amulet of Protection – A Hero who has this amulet may always ignore the two skull symbol on their dice after rolling dice in combat. They can thus save their Hero's life or avert the death of their Units.
Attention! If two skulls are rolled on the Hero's dice and the Hero with the Amulet of Protection chooses to ignore the loss of life, they must still evaluate the effect of Plague & Misery.
Amulet of the Titan – A Hero who gains the Amulet of the Titan adds an extra Titan die (gray with orange icons) to their army and may use it in all subsequent battles. The Titan die does not count against the Hero's Unit dice limit determined by their glory level.
Attention! If the Hero discards or exchanges this amulet for another, they must immediately return the Titan die to the common supply.
D. Resource Cart
If a player receives a resource cart as a reward, they immediately take any combination of 3 resource tokens from the common supply. The resource cart token is then discarded from the game (do not return it to the bag!).
E. Soul Stones
The Soul Stones represent victory points in Karak 2. You can earn them by defeating certain types of enemies.
- A small Soul Stone is worth 1 victory point.
- A large Soul Stone is worth 2 victory points.
- The Soul Archstone, gained by defeating the Dark General, is worth 4.5 victory points.
Players put Soul Stones aside in their playing area during the game, they do not place them in the inventory. At the end of the game, once the Dark General is defeated, all players add up the points earned for their Soul Stones. The player with the most victory points is the winner of the game.
Plague & Misery
In battle, on each roll of the Hero die, a situation may occur where the Hero die rolls the two skull icon. When this symbol is rolled, the Hero not only subtracts two lives after the battle, but also casts Plague & Misery on another player. At this point, the player who rolled the two skull icon chooses which player the Plague & Misery falls on.
Misery: A player who has been attacked by Plague & Misery must discard 1 resource of each type they hold! That is 1 food, 1 wood and 1 stone. If they do not own a resource of a specific type, they do not discard it.
Plague: If the player affected by Plague & Misery has built a city, they take the Plague token and place it on their city. The city of the plagued player is crippled–no new Units can be trained there until the Plague is removed.
The Plague can be gotten rid of by the Hero performing the special action Eradicating Plague in the ruins of Karak Castle on the starting tile–the Plague token is then returned to the common supply. It only returns into play once a player rolls the two skull icon on their Hero dice.
The Plague always affects a maximum of one player. Thus, when a player rolls the two skull icon on the Hero die again, they again choose which player Plague & Misery will fall on. In this case, the player can either move the Plague to a new city or even return it to the city where it was previously located. In both cases, however, the affected player must resolve the Misery effect as stated above.
Attention! Some Heroes can reroll the Hero die roll. In this case, the final result of the die roll counts.
Note: If you want to play a more a friendly game (for example with younger players), we recommend to not use the rules concerning Plague & Misery in your game.
Bestiary
Skeleton Warriors – The basic Unit of the dark army. In a well-led attack, they should present no obstacle to a skilled Hero. In addition, their leader wields a demonic sword, which can come in handy for the Heroes in future battles should they be able to obtain it by defeating the skeleton.
Fire Eaters – The support Unit of the dark army. When fighting them, you need to watch out for the fire they spread around them, destroying everything in their path. By defeating their leader, a Hero gains a magical scroll with a Fireball spell.
Shadow Eaters – The Shadow Eaters have risen from the darkness of the earth to strike fear into the ranks of the people. Their mission is to ravage crops and steal supplies. By defeating them, a Hero can gain a forbidden spell with which they can steal resources from other Heroes.
Skeletal Hulks – Wagons with raw materials for the dark army are pulled by a group of Skeletal Hulks. They are a troublesome opponent for most Heroes and can inflict deep wounds with their spiked clubs. However, they always pull a cart full of resources that can be gained by defeating them.
Hammer Followers – An elite group of undead assassins clad in demonic armor. Their goal is the destruction of all living things in their path. Their leader can knock down an entire squad of soldiers with a blow of his hammer. This hammer then becomes very valuable loot for whoever defeats him in battle.
Dark Dryads – Monsters created by the concentration of evil and guardians of ancient magical amulets. Fighting them is a game of life and death, and few Heroes are able to defeat them without the aid of a weapon or military support. The magical power of the amulets the zombie dryads guard could lend the Heroes unique strength and give them a noticeable edge in their quest for victory.
Skeleton Rider – A phantom on a skeletal steed that roars across the landscape, with a banner inspiring the followers of the dark army to spread evil and destruction. At first glance he seems invincible, but a well-coordinated attack by a Hero with a handful of soldiers can catch him by surprise and end his existence. He is one of the bearers of the Soul Stones, which a Hero gains after defeating him.
Envoy of Death – Despair and death are the only things that will befall anyone who stands in the way of this creature of destruction. Before fighting this enemy, it is necessary to have a well-trained army, a proper plan of attack and luck on your side. It carries a large Soul Stone, which a Hero will gain if they remain victorious.
The Dark General – His true nature is shrouded in mystery. But his intentions are clear: He has been awakened with his followers and is leading a campaign against the world of men. The goal is to take over this world and eradicate any resistance that might arise now or in future generations. He carries the Soul Archstone which has unusual strength and power.
Description of the Heroes
Horan – The Warrior
Mount: The Beast
Abilities:
War Strategy: The Warrior is an excellent combat strategist. When playing as a Warrior, you may reroll the Unit dice once during each battle if the result of the first roll does not suit you. In that case, the result of the second roll counts. Attention! The Warrior does not reroll the Hero die. He only rerolls all Unit dice and always rolls all the Unit dice he used for the first roll!
Plunder: Thanks to the beast that the warrior rides, after winning a battle, the Warrior always gains resources as if he had performed the Gathering Resources action on the corresponding tile (if he possesses the Amulet of Resources, he'll also get a bonus resource according to the normal rules).
Taia – The Oracle
Mount: Camel
Abilities:
Fate-weaver: The Oracle sees the various possible futures that can occur and can influence them. Whenever you discover a new landscape tile, draw one more token from the monster army bag. Meaning, for a first-tier landscape tile, draw two tokens, choose one of them and place it on the newly discovered landscape tile. On a second-tier landscape tile, draw three tokens, select two of them and place them on the newly discovered tile. Return the remaining token to the monster army bag.
Expert Builder: The camel's endurance makes it easier for The Oracle to participate in the construction of the city. The Oracle builds the city and all buildings in it for one less resource. She chooses the resource (for example: a stable that usually costs 2 food, 1 wood, and 1 stone can be built by the Oracle for 1 food, 1 wood, and 1 stone, or for 2 food, 1 wood, and 0 stones, or for 2 food, 0 wood, and 1 stone).
Lady Lorraine – The Ranger
Mount: Bear
Abilities:
Hawkeye: A loyal hawk helps Lady Lorraine scout the area. Once per turn, the Ranger player may draw a top landscape tile, connect it anywhere on the game board, and place a monster army/armies from the bag on that tile without moving the Hero's standee onto that landscape tile. This is not considered an action and is optional. The newly connected tile must be accessible according to the rules described in the "Movement" section (it must be connected to at least one other tile by a border that does not show a chasm).
Bear Friend: At the beginning of the game, the player playing as the Ranger takes an extra Bear die (in the same colour as her Hero die) to use in battles. This die does not count against the Unit die limit given by the Hero's glory levels.
Lord Xanros – The Warlock
Mount: Skeletal Bull
Abilities:
Necromancy: The Warlock can bring Skeletons back to life. During his turn, he can consume one or more actions to create a Skeleton. For each such action, the Warlock adds one Skeleton die (in the same colour as his Hero die) to his army, up to a maximum of 3 dice. Skeleton dice do not count towards the limit given by the Warlock's glory level.
Soul Collector: The skeletal bull allows the Warlock to drain the last vestiges of life from fallen Units in his own army. Each time one of his Units dies in combat (applicable also to Skeletons), he can heal one of his own lives.
Elspeth – The Warrior Princess
Mount: Unicorn
Abilities:
Combat Finesse: Elspeth is a gifted fighter and can turn the tide of battle in her favor at the right moment during a fight. When playing as The Warrior Princess, you can reroll the Hero die once per each battle if the result of the first roll is not to your liking. In this case, the result of the second roll counts. Note that you can only reroll the Hero die, not the Unit dice.
Magic Run: The magical unicorn that Elspeth rides can move lightning fast across the battlefield. Once per turn, instead of the normal movement, the Elspeth player can move the Hero standee by up to 3 landscape tiles in a straight line on the game board. As part of this movement, Elspeth can ignore any chasms in her path, but must stop on a tile with an undefeated monster army and engage in battle–she cannot skip this. Her ability can only be used to travel through an already explored area, so new tiles cannot be laid out using Magic Run.
Darius – The Scout
Mount: Raptor
Abilities:
Terrain Exploration: Darius is a skilled Scout and can handle any terrain. When entering an unexplored area, the Scout player draws 2 landscape tiles, places one of them and returns the other to the top of the landscape tile deck without revealing what is on it to the other players.
Claws and Fangs: The Scout's raptor is a natural predator and will kill weaker enemies before a real fight can take place. The Scout always defeats one monster army with strength 1 automatically without having to engage them in battle. Thus, if the Hero enters a landscape tile with a monster army of strength 1, he automatically defeats it without the player rolling dice. If a monster army with a strength of 1 is on a second-tier landscape tile, the Hero automatically defeats it and receives a reward, but must then fight the second army according to the normal rules. If both monster armies present have strength 1, the Scout automatically defeats one of them, and then must fight the second army according to the normal rules. He also gains glory according to the normal rules for monster armies defeated when using this ability. When in battle with the Dark General, the Scout discards one of the praetorian tokens just before the battle. Based on his strength in the battle he may then discard the second token according to the normal rules.
Rules Summary
Players take turns in clockwise order, beginning with the starting player.
Player's Turn
A player has two actions available on their turn (the number of actions can be further modified).
Before each action, the player has the option to move their Hero standee by one tile on the landscape. They may not cross any chasm while moving. Movement is optional. Movement cannot be performed after an action. Movement can be made onto already discovered landscape tiles, or new tiles can be added and moved onto.
Players can perform the following actions: Battling monster armies; Healing; Gathering Resources; Building; Recruiting Units; Picking up an item; Eradicating the Plague.
Battling with monster armies: If a Hero enters a tile with a monster army or several armies, or lays out a new tile, onto which a monster army drawn from the bag is immediately laid, they must battle it. Battling a monster army always ends a player's turn, even if they still have some actions available. In battle, the Hero always rolls their Hero die and any number of his Unit dice. If they roll the same or more sword icons than the strength of the monster army on all dice rolled combined, the Hero wins the battle and receives the reward listed on the other side of the monster army token. If fewer sword icons are rolled, the Hero loses the battle, and their standee returns to the tile from which it came. If a skull icon is rolled on the Hero's die, the Hero loses 1 life. If the two skull icon is rolled, the Hero loses 2 lives and must cast Plague & Misery on one of the opposing cities. If a skull icon is rolled on a Unit die, the player returns that die to the common supply.
Healing: For each Healing action, the Hero heals 2 lives.
Gathering Resources: The Hero gains resources from the tile they are currently on, determined by the tile type. A Gathering Resources action can be performed on each tile a maximum of once per turn.
Building: The Hero builds a city on the tile they are on. There must be no other city or Hero on that tile at the time. If they have already built a city, they may build buildings on it. Multiple buildings can be built during a single Building action if the Hero has enough resources to pay for them. For the Building action, the Hero must be on the tile with their city.
Recruiting Units: If a Hero is on a tile with their city, they can train new Units. Units can be trained up to the number given by the Hero's glory level in a single Recruiting action, provided the Hero has enough resources to pay for them.
Picking up a discarded item: If the Hero is on a tile with a discarded item, they can add it to their inventory for one action. If multiple items are on a given tile, the Hero may pick up all of them in one action.
Eradicating the Plague: This action can only be performed when the Hero is on the starting tile–the ruins of Karak Castle. The Hero heals up to the maximum number of lives and if there is the Plague token on his city returns it to the common supply.
Loss of Life and Unconsciousness: If a Hero loses all of their life points, they fall unconscious. Instead of performing any action on their next turn, they are going to heal three lives, and then continue to play normally on their next turn after that.
Other Rules
Plague & Misery: If a player's city is hit by Misery, they must return one token of each resource to the common supply (if they have no resource of a specific type, they do not discard it). At the same time, a Plague token is placed on their city–no new Units can be trained in this city while the token remains there.
Glory: A Hero may have a maximum of as many Units (Unit dice) in their army as their glory level. This is determined by the strength of the strongest monster army (or the sum of the strengths of the monster armies, in the case of second-tier tiles) that the Hero has defeated so far during the game. The maximum glory level is 10.
Dark General: When a player draws the landscape tile with the Infernal Abyss, they add the Dark General standee and 3, 4, or 5 Praetorian tokens (depending on the number of players). The Dark General has a power of 10 + 1 for each Praetorian token. If a Hero is fighting a battle with the Dark General and the Hero's attack strength is less than the Dark General's current strength, but greater than 10, discard 1 Praetorian token. To defeat the Dark General, the Hero must have an attack strength at least as high as the Dark General's current strength.
Game Over: The game ends immediately when a Hero defeats the Dark General. The winner at that moment is the player who has the most Soul Stone points (1 for a small Stone, 2 for a large Stone, 4.5 for an Archstone).
Hero Abilities
Horan – The Warrior: Can reroll all of his Unit dice once per battle. When he wins a battle, he gains extra resources as if he had performed the Gathering Resources action on that tile.
Taia – The Oracle: When exploring the landscape, she draws an extra monster army token from the bag each time and chooses which token(s) to place. She puts the excess token back into the bag. Building a city and each building in it always costs her one resource token less, of her choice.
Lord Xanros – The Warlock: For 1 action, he may add 1 Skeleton dice to his army, up to a maximum of 3 dice (these dice do not count towards the limit given by the glory level). Each time one of his Units is lost in battle, he heals one life.
Elspeth – The Warrior Princess: She can reroll the Hero die once per battle. Once per turn, she can move up to 3 tiles in a straight line (only through already discovered tiles without monster armies).
Lady Lorraine – The Ranger: Once per turn, she may attach a landscape tile to any other tile in the landscape (does not count as an action). She uses an extra Bear die in battles (does not count towards the limit given by the glory level).
Darius – The Scout: Chooses from two tiles when discovering new landscape tiles. The other he returns to the top of the deck, unseen for the other players. He may defeat one monster army of strength 1 in each battle (if present). Before the battle with the Dark General he discards one praetorian token.
Credits
Game design: Petr Mikša. Illustration and graphic design: Roman Hladík. Box artwork: Jiří Světinský. Project management: David Rozsíval. Testing and development: Marek Vejborný, Michal Šmíd. Translation: David Rozsíval. Proofreading: Textguru–Corinna Spellerberg. Rulebook layout: Marek Píza. DTP: Marek Jaroš.