Kingdoms Forlorn: Dragons, Devils and Kings
Kingdoms Forlorn: Dragons, Devils and Kings Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Using This Book
- Fundamental Concepts
- Campaigns
- Important Game Rules
- Knights
- Choosing Your Knight
- Changing Knights
- Knightbook
- Knight Sheet
- Virtues
- Bane
- Boons, Tally Marks, and Notes
- Sigh of the Graal (Knight Sheet)
- Your Tale
- Rapport
- Armory
- Saints
- Mercenaries
- Knight's Choice Matrix
- Successful Investigations
- First Death
- Knight Bookmark
- Knight Board
- Portrait Cards
- Knight Statistics
- Hard Limits
- Resetting Stats
- Heroic Arcs
- Peril Arcs
- Technique Cards
- Knight Talents
- Resource Tokens
- Knight Pool and Knight Tokens
- Gear
- Gear Attributes
- Knighves
- Other Gear Stats and Qualities
- Backs of Gear Cards
- Gear Enhancement
- Exhausting, Discarding, and Removing Elements
- Exhaustible Gear
- Discarding Gear
- Removing Elements (Archiving)
- Ability Usage
- Expeditions
- Outpost Phase
- Delve Phase
- Delve Rounds
- Kingdom Track
- Curse & Threat Saves
- Kingdom Sheet
- Districts and the District Wheel
- Kingdom Map
- Delve Round Steps
- 1. Travel Step
- Kingdom Tile Anatomy
- 2. Kingdom Tile Step
- Revealing a Kingdom Tile
- Collecting Clues
- Encounter Monsters Spawn and Movement
- Disjointed Map
- Hindering Tokens
- 3. Exploration Step
- Exploration Card Effect Types
- Special Exploration Cards
- 4. Story Step
- Expedition Loss Conditions
- The Deep Fog
- Encounters
- Clash Phase
- Resolving Clashes
- 1. Establishing Type
- 2. Locating Setups
- Basic Clash Terms
- 3. Performing Setup
- Monsters
- Monster Types
- Monster Sheet
- Monster Diagram
- Basic Abilities
- Monster-Level Specific Attributes and Traits
- Monster Traits
- Signature and Routine
- Activation and Activation Tokens
- Mob Track
- Clash Sequence
- Monster Round
- Monster Round Overview
- Start of Monster Round
- Resolving Activations
- 1. Draw AI or Resolve Signature
- 2. Targeting
- Typical Targeting Instructions
- Priority Target
- Line of Sight
- Monster Facing
- Monster Turning
- 3. Monster Movement
- Boss Movement Through and Onto Terrain Spaces
- Boss Monster Movement Through Knight Spaces (Crash)
- Ending Boss Monster Movement on a Knight Space
- Boss Monster Movement Through and Onto Mob Spaces
- Monster Movement Types
- Target Out of Reach
- 4. Monster Attack
- Attack Types
- 4.1. Evasion Roll
- Defensive Weapons
- Crit Die During Evasion Rolls
- 4.2. Attack Consequences
- Armor Roll
- Peril Check
- Multiple Peril Checks
- Drawing a Mortis Card
- Falling Below "0" Vigor
- Massive Peril
- Window of Opportunity
- Attack Gated Effects
- After Attack
- Chain Break
- Resolve Other Actions
- End of Monster Round
- Knight Round
- Combat Action
- 1. Declare Attack and Active Weapon
- 2. Raise Passion and Check Priority Target
- 3. Attack Roll
- Crit Die During Attack Rolls
- 4. First Ability Window
- 5. Determine BP Card
- 6. Power Roll
- 6.1 Create the Power Pool
- 6.2 Roll the Dice
- 6.3 Power Re-rolls
- 6.4 Use Potentials
- 6.5 Resolve the Power Roll
- Overcome and Overpower
- 7. Monster Responses
- 8. Wounds and Escalation
- Wound Stack
- Boss Monster Escalation
- Mob Monster Escalation
- Searching the Deck and Discard Pile
- No Cards to Escalate
- Escalation Chart
- Escalating Outside of Wounding
- Spawning Mobs
- Spawn Attacks
- 9. Clear the Knight Pool
- 10. Second Ability Window
- End of a Knight Attack and Attack Responses
- Other Actions in the Knight Round
- Complicated Actions
- Mercenary Abilities
- End of Knight Round
- Clash Aftermath
- Additional Clash Rules
- Mercy Rule
- Instant Death
- First Death Event
- Timing Rules
- Bonus Attacks
- Bonus Attacks During Knight Attacks (Follow-up Attacks)
- Wise Providence
- Conditions
- Bane
- Afflictions and Boons
- Modifier Tokens
- Stacking Modifier Tokens
- Temporary and Permanent Modifier Tokens
- Types of Modifier Tokens
- Modifier Tokens on Mob Monsters
- Generic Tokens
- Vantage Points
- Movement and VPs
- VPs, Adjacency and Range
- Tests During Clash
- Monster Abilities
- Terrain
- Rest Phase
- Spoils Phase
- Other Rules
- Saints
- Princesses
- Vices
- Rapport
- Saving the Campaign
- Postgame Rules
- Dungeons
- Optional Game Rules
- Presence Game Director
- True Solo Mode
- Five-Player Mode
- Rogue's Path: Alternative Campaign Structure
- Keyword List
Using This Book
If you are new to the game, start with the Learn to Play book and play the Tutorial that will introduce game elements and rules step by step. This Rulebook is meant as a reference for specific rules, providing a detailed explanation, additional examples, and clarification. The Rulebook has been divided into the following Chapters and sections.
I. Basics
- Fundamental Concepts: The basic premise of Kingdoms Forlorn, both mechanically and narratively.
- Campaigns: All the basic game information, including the gameplay flow and important game rules.
- Knights: All the rules concerning player characters and their main statistics, abilities, and Gear.
II. Expeditions
- Vision Phase: Rules concerning Quests, Investigations, Clues and Adventures.
- Outpost Phase: Rules concerning expedition preparations, Mercenaries, and buying and upgrading Gear.
- Delve Phase: Rules concerning everything that takes place on the Kingdom map.
- Clash Phase: Rules concerning Clashes and all they entail.
- Rest Phase: Rules concerning resting during the Expedition.
- Spoils Phase: Rules concerning dividing Loot and returning to civilization.
III. Other Rules
- Other Rules: Rules concerning all other game elements and mechanics, such as Saints and Princesses.
- Postgame Rules: Rules for continuing your adventures beyond the campaign.
- Optional Game Rules: Rules for optional game components, such as Squires.
- Rogue's Path Campaign: Rules for running a narrative-less roguelike campaign, including the Rosegraal Sheet.
Fundamental Concepts
This section covers the fundamental concepts of Kingdoms Forlorn, and your place in it.
Escalating Clashes (Inverted Combat Paradigm 2.0™)
Through the use of our tried-and-true Inverted Combat Paradigm 2.0™ mechanics, the Clashes in Kingdoms Forlorn only heat up as they go on, rising in tension as each side grows in power the closer they come to death! The more grievously you're wounded, or the more hits you land, the greater your strength becomes, unlocking new abilities and more powerful effects. This means that, as opposed to winding down as you use up your resources, the action only grows in intensity! No matter how badly you've been beat down, there's always a chance for a comeback. Of course, in the same way you grow in power, so do your enemies, meaning that they remain just as big a threat at the end of a Clash, as they are at the start. This all builds into a nail-biting, explosive conclusion where everything is at stake! Triumph is never guaranteed, but defeat is never inevitable.
For those familiar with the project that first introduced the Inverted Combat Paradigm, the hugely popular Aeon Trespass: Odyssey, a number of features make a return in Kingdoms Forlorn. The co-operative gameplay of contributing tokens that other players can use in their attacks returns with the Knight Pool here, as does the escalating mechanic of Monster Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Body Part (BP) decks. Awakenings also come back to the table, this time evolved through the Devotion system. Now, you must ascend through a Devotional Path to unlock powerful Saint Incarnations, where you can channel the essence of a martyred legend to turn the tide of battle in your favor!
With this new iteration of the Inverted Combat Paradigm, we also bring in some entirely new aspects. The Techniques of the Knights grant you much more strategic flexibility, opening up many new options as you expand and customize your Knight's Hand. With Kingdoms Forlorn, we've also evolved the Inverted Combat Paradigm to handle multiple opponents at once with the introduction of Mob Monsters, and also created a new catch-up mechanic that allows players to level up their Knights separately, and yet still be able to bring them together around a table in a drop-in, drop-out system.
Thanks to all of these changes, the Inverted Combat Paradigm still brings you all the tension, challenge and fast action you love, while also raising the bar and allowing you to experience Kingdoms Forlorn's combat in new and unexpected ways!
Hard Co-op
A true co-op experience, where you need to really work with the other players to succeed during Clashes, Delves and story Adventures!
We achieve this through co-op actions: things you do to directly benefit other players. After each of your Attacks, you will choose and leave a set of tokens that will influence the turn of the next player in order: make them hit easier, wound more severely, evade attacks, reposition, hide, rally, stand up, or resolve one of another dozen distinct tactical effects.
Soloperative™
What makes Kingdoms Forlorn stand apart from other games in the genre is its approach to the campaign structure. Instead of engaging in a preset group story, each Knight follows a personal story campaign that seamlessly weaves in all other current Knight campaigns and the stories of the Kingdoms themselves into a one-of-a-kind procedurally generated saga. Think of it as an ensemble television series, with multiple points of view. Players take turns being the "Party Leader" to bring their own storylines into focus.
Players themselves choose the pace at which their campaigns progress: they may focus on the critical Investigations and Quests to make a beeline straight into a resolution, or linger at any point to Free Roam, fulfill Contracts and conduct additional Investigations, grow in strength, and acquaint themselves with the various Monsters of the realms.
In this way, the composition of your hero party can also freely change from game session to game session, with players rotating in and out, and automated Squires filling any empty slots. You can even take your personal Knight to your friend's session, or even across the country to gaming conventions, and seamlessly play there.
Dynamic Difficulty
There are no level requirements for playing with others in story campaigns. In other words, you can take your experienced Knight on an Expedition with newbies and thanks to the Presence Game Director, the game will balance itself, so everybody enjoys an appropriate challenge level!
Kingdoms
Once, the Grand Kingdoms were the bastions of human civilization under the divine guidance of the Church of the Allfather. Now, they stand as monoliths to mankind's folly, and to sin. As the Deep Fog emerged, the Kingdoms vanished from the world behind the roiling, shadowy cloudbank, lost to the eyes of man, beast, and god. Now, with the lifting of the dread mists, the Kingdoms are... changed. Reshaped by curses, plagued by disease, and haunted by unspeakable monsters. It is into these lands, now called the Kingdoms Forlorn, that courageous, foolish, or desperate knights venture, seeking their deepest desires, praying they will not find their truest fears.
These Kingdoms are the setting for your Knights' Adventures, the locations into which you will Delve seeking answers to the mysteries of this world. Each Kingdom has its own rich history to uncover and its own foes for you to face. The Kingdoms have been utterly transformed by the supernatural essence of the curses and the Deep Fog, leading to unique challenges and obstacles for you to overcome, allies to interact with, and creatures to vanquish.
Gigantomachy
Throughout the Kingdoms Forlorn world, an unusual phenomenon can be observed; the more blood you shed, the more battles you emerge victorious from, the larger you grow. The history of the Grand Kingdoms is rife with tales of giants that stalked the many lands, and those unfortunate enough to face the denizens of the cursed realms can witness it for themselves. Kings and Vassals, veterans of recent campaigns and not-so-recent crusades, tower over the common soldier, while the Dragons, apex hunters of their territories, loom larger still. Even the Knights, skilled and battle-worn combatants, seem larger than life when compared to the Mob Monsters and vermin of the Kingdoms. The scholars have a word for it, Gigantomachy, although why this strange trait manifests, what purpose it has, remains a mystery...
Knights
In Kingdoms Forlorn, the Knights are the central characters. Each Knight hails from a different Kingdom and has individual storylines, abilities, and Quests. Knights are brave warriors and warrioresses who dare to venture into the mysterious and dangerous mist-engulfed Kingdoms, seeking treasure, glory, or redemption. With your help, they will progress and grow stronger with each Delve.
Monsters
When the Knights leave the relative safety of the Border Kingdoms and traverse the Deep Fog, to the Kingdoms Forlorn, they leave civilization, sanity, and order behind. Here, there be Monsters. Animal or human, the known, and the eldritch, all are twisted by the darkness that envelops the land. They will bar your way. Face them and prevail to see your journey through. But beware, The Kingdoms Forlorn make monsters of all of us.
Storybooks
The narrative of Kingdoms Forlorn is delivered through passages found in several books, divided into two types: Knightbooks and Kingdom Codices. A Knightbook recounts a particular Knight's Tale, and includes their narrative Quests, Investigations, and other story moments that might be triggered throughout their Adventures, as well as their unique rules. A Kingdom Codex, on the other hand includes a particular Kingdom's rules, Adventures, Knight-specific Exploration Cipher paragraphs, and Clash information on all the creatures that may be encountered therein.
Knight Campaigns
Knight campaigns are the cornerstone of the Kingdoms Forlorn experience. It is through these stories that you will explore the Kingdoms and uncover their secrets, as well as learn more about your Knight, their motivations, and their ultimate fate. In Kingdoms Forlorn, your story is your own: it is entirely personal, with you controlling the narrative through the choices you make, the victories you earn, and the defeats you suffer. Yes, you can be defeated. Kingdoms Forlorn is a challenging game, and the chance of defeat is very real and ever-present. However, this does not mark the end of the experience, for even in failure, life moves on, and so too will your stories, changing to reflect your victories and losses. Some paths may close, but others will open.
Dividers
To make your Kingdoms Forlorn experience as seamless as possible, we recommend using the two included divider bundles to sort cards inside the bottom plastic tray. To ensure each card is properly sorted, you can refer to the card types and ID lists located on the divider cards themselves.
Card types provide you with general categories of cards that go into each divider section, while the ID list gives you specific IDs (01A0001, 01A0002, 01A0003, etc.) or ranges of IDs (01A0001-01A0003) of cards that belong into each category.
Furthermore, each divider includes information about the product that the component originates from, as well as color-coding for components that are tied to a specific Kingdom.
Campaigns
This section covers the basics of a Knight campaign structure, as well as its building blocks: Expeditions, Quests, Investigations, and Free Roams.
Gameplay Flow
Kingdoms Forlorn is a campaign game played over multiple game sessions. During a single session, called an Expedition, one Knight will become the Party Leader, usually by taking on a Quest that progresses their story, while other Knights will go on Investigations or simply Free Roam, to grow in power and gain new abilities. Together, they will delve into one of the Kingdoms to fulfill their respective objectives. An Expedition always ends in a climactic Clash, after which, victorious or not, the heroes will return to their Outpost to plan their next move.
An Expedition follows a series of Phases (note some may appear more than once!) resolved in a fixed order. It starts with the Knights setting their goals (Vision Phase) and preparing for the hardships ahead (Outpost Phase). Once they cross the Deep Fog, they will explore the Kingdom, looking for Clues and scavenging (Delve Phase), battle Monsters and loot Gear from their hoards (Clash Phase), and rest to regain some strength (Rest Phase). After many difficulties you will return, victorious or not, to your safe haven, to split the spoils (Spoils Phase), and plan your next Adventure.
The game is best played in a group of four players. If there are fewer than four, and you don't want to manage four Knights, consider using Squires to fill in the missing ranks (see Squires, p. 73). There is nothing preventing you from controlling more than one Knight, but it can be challenging, especially as a solo player, for whom we also have special rules (see True Solo Mode, p. 75). Finally, if you have that one additional friend in your group, we also have rules for a Five-Player Mode (see Five-Player Mode, p. 75).
Expeditions
To progress your stories, you must form a party and embark on an Expedition into the forsaken Kingdoms. This motley collection of Knights and Squires will work together to survive the realms beyond the Deep Fog. If one of the Knights is progressing their Tale through a Quest, they are given a clear objective to pursue, the success of which can greatly impact their Tale going forward. At the same time, other Knights in the party may engage in Investigations, gathering Clues to help them with their own Tales. Whether you are on a Quest, an Investigation, or simply Free Roaming to explore the Kingdoms, each Expedition is an opportunity for players to help their Knights progress and grow in strength.
Party Leader
A troupe of Knights always has a Party Leader. Usually, it's the Knight which embarks on their Quest. If no Knight is embarking on a Quest (for example, every Knight is going on an Investigation or Free Roam), the players choose which one of them will become the Party Leader for this Expedition. It's important to establish who the Party Leader is—not only will they settle differences among other players, but their progress in the game will dictate its overall difficulty! (see Tiers, on p. 12).
Quests
Quests serve to progress the main storyline of your Knight. They represent pivotal moments in their campaign, and present them with challenging dilemmas and decisions with far-reaching consequences. A Quest will place specific objectives before the Knight, which they must strive to achieve. Failure can have dire consequences, and the ethos of Kingdoms Forlorn is that the only way is forward, so there is no repeating a failed Quest unless you use a Sigh of the Graal (see Important Game Rules, p. 13).
When a Knight goes on a Quest, they become the Party Leader. Only one Knight can be on a Quest at any given time—all other Knights will either be carrying out their Investigations or Free Roaming.
A Questing Knight starts by reading the appropriate story paragraph of their Knightbook and following its instructions. Quests often introduce special and unique mechanics, with certain Quests influencing the regular pace of the Expedition, triggering Exhibition Clashes, Full Clashes, and Rests at various moments. Note: This does not mean you will resolve extra Phases, like two Rests or two Clashes! For example, if you already resolved an Exhibition Clash from the Quest, do not proceed to the regular mid-Expedition Exhibition Clash.
When you start a Quest, mark it on your Knight Sheet (see Knight Sheet on p. 15 for details). Once the Quest of your current Chapter is finished, you cannot resolve another Quest until you unlock a new Chapter by resolving Investigations.
Investigations
Investigations are smaller stories that the Knights resolve when they are not the Party Leader on their Quest. Investigations will grant deeper insights into the events surrounding a Knight, their personal history, the Kingdoms they venture through, and more. Sometimes, Investigations will have a deeper impact on the central story told in the Quests, opening up new possibilities and choices. At other times, Investigations will add a new layer of understanding of a prior event, or hint at things to come. Each Chapter of a Knight's Tale offers five Investigations, but you will be able to experience only three of them before moving on to the next Chapter.
A successful Investigation will always provide your Knight with a reward, be it a Gear card, a new Technique or something special! By playing through a given Chapter, you may gain up to three rewards from Investigations.
An Investigation is considered resolved for the purposes of story progression even if you failed to secure its objective—you will be instructed to make an Investigation mark at the start of each Investigation. However, if you failed a given Investigation (not all Investigation boxes on the Knight Sheet are marked), you may undertake an additional Investigation during a Free Roam.
When one Knight is on their Quest, all others follow up on their Investigations or are Free Roaming. In other words, only one Knight can be on a Quest at any given time!
Free Roams
If a Knight is not on a Quest, and does not want to resolve a new Investigation—in other words, does not want to progress their Tale, but instead train and grow in strength—they Free Roam.
During a Free Roam, a Knight may pick up a cold lead (if not all Investigation boxes on the Knight Sheet are marked), to undertake an additional Investigation outside of normal progression. Free Roams don't advance the story, but are a good way of gaining Loot and training against new Monsters.
Clashes and Encounters
While venturing into the Kingdoms Forlorn, the Knights will inevitably face their monstrous denizens. These Monsters vary greatly both from Kingdom to Kingdom, and from district to district. Sometimes you will have a brief run-in with these monstrosities—an Encounter, if you will. Encounters are carried out on one of several Encounter Boards.
Other times, you will have to face them in a pitched battle. Such a meeting is called a Clash. Your death is a very real possibility. However, your campaign will continue.
Clashes are carried out on the Clash Board, and come in two varieties: the typical Full Clash, where all rules apply, and the less intense Exhibition Clash, where the foes are less of a threat or the victory conditions are easier to attain. A Knight's Quest may modify the Clash Rules, as various choices you make or victories you achieve impact the strength of the Monsters ahead.
If your current story doesn't state otherwise, the difficulty of this fight will directly correspond to the Party Leader's Tier (see the "Tiers" box below).
Tiers
Tiers represent the increasing difficulty of the game. The same Monster can appear at different tiers, offering a completely different level of challenge. There are five Knight campaign tiers—the Mob Tier, Vassal Tier, King Tier, Devil Tier and Dragon Tier. A sixth tier, the Legendary Tier, becomes available after you finish your Knight's Tale; this is where the Postgame happens.
Tiers change as you progress through your Knight's campaign, at a pace of roughly one tier per four Expeditions (you'll note this on your Knight Sheet). Note: this rate may be different for each Knight, especially if you're playing Kingdoms Forlorn with different groups.
When you need to check the current tier, for example to determine the types and levels of the Monsters you will be facing, always refer to the current Party Leader's campaign tier.
Campaign Progression
Progressing your Knight's personal campaign is accomplished by completing Expeditions. Each campaign is divided into five Chapters, and each Chapter offers you a single Quest and five Investigations.
Once you begin the game and read your Knight's Prologue, the First Chapter is unlocked immediately. To unlock a new Chapter, you must first resolve the previous Chapter's Quest and three of its Investigations.
When you resolve a Quest or an Investigation (even unsuccessfully!), you will be instructed to mark it on your Knight Sheet.
Important Game Rules
Kingdoms Forlorn is a big game, so it's easy to get lost. That's why we've taken some of the most important game rules, the golden rules if you will, and put them in a section of their own here, at the start of this Chapter!
Will of the Graal
If you are unable to find the answer to a rules or timing conflict, resolve the conflict in the manner that you perceive as the worst possible at that moment, and continue with the game.
Rules Precedence
In case of a rules conflict, cards and sheets take precedence over books. Specific rules take precedence over general rules.
Game Elements
Game elements include all physical components of the game as well as story passages and notes.
Game Phases
The game phases always happen in the specified order, one after the other.
Immediate Effects
If an effect is followed by the word "immediately", it must be resolved the moment it is triggered, and it takes precedence over any other lingering effects as well as overruling any conflicting rules.
Ignore and Disable
Many game effects will instruct you to "ignore" or "disable" other rules, effects, or game elements.
When you are instructed to ignore something, do not resolve any of its effects.
If the ignore effect must be activated, it affects only a specific instance (e.g. "ignore this death"). If the ignore effect is passive (e.g. if a Knight has a weapon with an "ignore Wound Responses" effect) it applies every time it is triggered.
"Disable", on the other hand, completely deactivates a rule, effect, or game element. When you are instructed to disable something, all Knights and Monsters ignore this effect (or all effects associated with it in the case of rules and game elements). Unless instructed otherwise, "disable" lasts until the end of Clash.
Instead
The word "instead" always implies that the corresponding effect is resolved in place of a different effect.
If the effect resolved "instead" is an improved or otherwise modified variant of another effect, it replaces this effect only and does not influence any other effects of this element (e.g. "Opening 2 instead" on a Gear card means that the value of its original "Opening" keyword changes to 2, but the rest of its ability box remains unchanged).
If the effect resolved "instead" is triggered by an effect you are "about to" resolve, it substitutes this effect (e.g. an effect that states "When you are about to die from an Instant Death effect, resolve a Judicium Draw instead", the original Instant Death effect is ignored and the player resolves only the Judicium Draw effect).
May
An effect that includes the word "may" is not mandatory, and you can choose not to resolve it. All effects that do not include the word "may" must be resolved to their full extent (if possible) each time they are triggered.
Resolve all parts of an effect that can be resolved, while skipping any parts that are impossible (e.g. if an effect instructs you to "lose -1 Vigor and stand up" when you are not knocked down, you still lower your Vigor. Similarly, if your Vigor is already 0, you cannot lower it further, but you still stand up if you are knocked down). Note: Active abilities are only triggered if you decide to pay their cost. When you do, however, you must resolve the entire ability text unless preceded by the words "you may". To learn more, see Ability Usage (p. 22).
Resolution Order
If more than one effect is triggered at the same time (e.g. "End of Monster Round", "during the second ability window"), you can choose the order in which these effects are resolved, unless explicitly stated otherwise. If any of these effects invalidate the conditions triggering another pending effect, that effect is no longer resolved.
Dice
Kingdoms Forlorn uses two types of dice:
Custom d10 dice with numbers and a critical symbol are used for Attack Rolls, Evasion Rolls, Tests, and other miscellaneous Rolls. Treat the critical symbol result as a "10". A natural (i.e. before applying any modifiers) "10" on a d10 is always a success (or a hit in the case of an Attack Roll), whereas a natural "1" on a d10 is always a fail (or a miss in the case of an Attack Roll). These dice are not limited. If you would ever be required to roll more d10 dice than provided in the game box, substitute them with regular d10 dice or re-roll the dice as many times as necessary, noting the previous results. Some rolls in the game require a d100 dice. In such cases, roll two d10, one white and one black, and treat the white d10 as the "tens" digit and the black d10 as the "ones" digit; a critical symbol on both dice results in 100. For a d100 roll, a 10 should be treated as a zero unless two 10s are rolled.
Custom d6 dice with Power, Potential, and Hope results are used for Power Rolls and Armor Rolls. These come in three different colors, which include different combinations of symbols, and they are limited by the number of dice provided in the game box (see Power Dice Tiers and Limits, p. 59).
Dice Re-rolls
Many effects will allow you to roll some of the dice again if you are not satisfied with their result. All of these effects are referred to as re-rolls. During a single roll, each die can only be re-rolled once. You must declare all dice you wish to re-roll before you perform any of these re-rolls. If multiple players perform their rolls at the same time (for example when the text states "Each Knight tests"), they must all declare whether they want to re-roll their dice before any of them performs a re-roll.
Heat Re-rolls
Gaining Heat is the most common way of re-rolling d10 dice. The following rules apply to Heat re-rolls:
- You must gain +1 Heat for each die you decide to re-roll.
- Using Heat, you can re-roll Attack Rolls, Evasion Rolls, and Tests.
- Using Heat, you cannot re-roll Power Rolls, Armor Rolls, or any other roll not listed above.
Sigh of the Graal
Sighs of the Graal are strange trinkets that allow one to change their written fate. When a Clash ends, but before you proceed to the story resolution, you may decide to spend one Sigh of the Graal to replay the Clash without suffering any of its consequences. Simply restore the game to the state from before the Clash. If you use a Sigh of the Graal, one Knights should erase a Sigh of the Graal from their Knight Sheets. Note that Sighs of the Graal are an extremely rare resource and should not be spent lightly.
Choosing a Random Element
When you are asked to choose a random element, perform the following:
- Random Knight: Roll one d10 for each Knight. The lowest roll designates the randomly chosen Knight.
- Random path: Draw the top card from the Minor Mortis deck. The arrow in the bottom left corner designates the randomly chosen path. Place the drawn card at the bottom of the deck. If more than one path leads in the same direction, you may choose which to follow. If there is no path in that direction, choose the next path in clockwise order.
- Random direction: Draw the top card from the Minor Mortis deck. The arrow in the bottom left corner designates the randomly chosen direction. Place the drawn card at the bottom of the deck.
- Random card: Draw the top card from the indicated face down deck. If the designated cards do not form a deck, shuffle them together to form a deck and draw one.
- Any other random element: Roll one d10 for each of the indicated elements. The lowest roll designates the randomly chosen element.
Knights
This section covers all the rules concerning player characters and their main statistics, abilities, and Gear.
Many adventurers brave the Deep Fog, each with a different set of skills, strengths, and weaknesses. Before you start your narrative campaign—or a Rogue's Path campaign—every player has to choose one of the available Knights to play.
Choosing Your Knight
To choose the Knight you would like to play as, you may simply pick the one that speaks to you, or read the Prologues found at the beginning of every Knightbook. Prologues are intended to help you choose, so no need to worry about spoilers.
Once you decide on a Knight, take their Knight Box (see below). You'll find a place to store every gameplay component for that Knight inside, including that Knight's miniature and the Knightbook. Note that you won't be using every component just yet! Refer to the Knight Setup Instructions section at the beginning of your Knight's Knightbook. There, you will find all the information required to prepare for your first game session.
Knight Box: A Knight Box contains all the components relating to a particular Knight: their cards, their miniature, and their Knightbook. Once you start playing, you will use this box to store other game components you gain during your Adventures, like new Gear cards and tokens. The Knight Box is also where you store your printed Knight Sheet!
Changing Knights
If you change your mind as to the character you want to play, don't worry. You can freely change between playable Knights between Expeditions. Just finish the current Expedition and set up your new Knight according to the rules in their Knightbook. A new Knight starts the game at the beginning of their storyline, according to the initial setup. Knights you set aside don't lose progress. They remain in the same state you left them in. In this way, you can even interweave the Tales, changing Knights as you would change the point of view of the characters in a book! Important: To avoid large differences in power levels between Knights, you might want to consider using the Presence Game Director optional rule (see p. 75).
Knightbook
Each Knight comes with their own story book, called the Knightbook. The Knightbook contains a Prologue, the Knight's full story campaign—five Chapters, each with one main Quest and five Investigations—and additional story paragraphs, like Knight Rapport events, as well as unique Knight mechanics and their setup.
Knight Sheet
The Knight Sheet serves as the main means of tracking your Knight's progress, bonds between Knights, choices and other campaign statistics. You will find a print-friendly version of the Knight Sheet at the back of the Rulebook as well as on our official website.
The Knight Sheet will help you keep track of your Tale and its progress, your Virtue bonuses, and allow you to note any unusual things, boons, and penalties that may apply to your character (you put these in the "Boons, tally marks, and notes section").
Virtues
Each Knight has six Virtues: Bravery, Tenacity, Sagacity, Fortitude, Might, and Insight. When instructed to perform a Virtue test, add +X to the result, where X is the value of this Virtue on your Knight Sheet (see Adventure Tests and Rolls on p. 68). The most common source of Virtue bonuses are Investigations, while the most common source of Virtue penalties are Vices (see p. 70).
Bane
Here you will note the amount of Bane you possess at the end of the Expedition. When you embark on your next Expedition, set your Bane to the amount noted here (see Bane p. 64).
Boons, Tally Marks, and Notes
Here, you can list all Boons and tally marks you gain during the game, such as the Wise Providence Boon (see p. 64) or Victory tally marks, and any other necessary notes.
Sigh of the Graal (Knight Sheet)
Here you will mark if you have a Sighs of the Graal. This extremely rare resource allows you to repeat a just-finished Clash (see p. 14 for details).
Your Tale
Here, you will track your Knight's Tale. The campaign is divided into five Chapters, each consisting of one Quest and three Investigations. Once you resolve a Quest or Investigation, you will mark its right box on the Knight Sheet. Investigations have an additional box on the Knight Sheet. Mark it only if you succeeded during an Investigation. Regardless of how your Expedition went, you will progress your story.
Also note that the Chapters correspond to the difficulty tiers (see "Tiers", p. 12). Whenever you are the Party Leader, you will use your tier to determine the difficulty of the game (for example, to determine the types and levels of the Monsters you will face).
Rapport
The Rapport section is intended to help you track the relationship progress between party members. Once you gain a Rapport point with another Knight, both you and that Knight write down your names and any Boons you currently provide, and make a tally mark (leftmost heart icon). There are four Rapport tracks on the Sheet by default, but you may gain Rapport with any number of Knights—simply write down their names and make Rapport tally marks next to them. Note: If you would gain Rapport with the same Knight in different gaming groups, controlled by different players, consider those two Rapport scores separately, as if they were made for two different Knights.
Armory
The Armory is where all your Knight's Gear is stored. Whenever you gain a new Gear card, write it down in this section as a reminder. When you Reforge a Gear card, erase the old name and write a new one.
Saints
Here you will note all the Saints that you have unlocked during your Campaign. These are the Saints that you can always Devote to.
Mercenaries
Here you will note all the Mercenaries that you have unlocked during your Campaign. You will always be able to hire them in the Outpost.
Knight's Choice Matrix
The Choice Matrix is a system used to track important choices and refer to them during future events. Whenever the game instructs you to mark a Choice Matrix node (for example, "mark 01"), you should take your Knight Sheet and mark the appropriate space with an X. Later, the game may instruct you to check whether a given box is marked. You cannot mark a box twice.
If a box is already marked when the game instructs you to mark it, ignore this instruction. On very rare occasions, a game element will tell you to "cross out" or "erase" a Choice Matrix node. In that case, erase it or encircle it, to note that the choice has been reversed.
Successful Investigations
Similar to the Choice Matrix, this is where you should mark the Investigations you've managed to successfully complete and gain a reward from.
First Death
This checkbox is intended to serve as a handy reminder of whether your Knight has already resolved their First Death Event (see First Death Event, p. 64).
Knight Bookmark
Each Knight gets their own bookmark. You will use the bookmark to mark your current story passage in the Knightbook, most importantly the page with your current Quest objective. However, the bookmark will have other uses too—for example, you'll use it to cross-reference your current tier with the Bestiary to determine the strength of your opposition (see p. 28 for details).
Knight Board
Players control their Knight using an array of game elements, collectively referred to as the Knight Board. You will set up your Knight Board each time you embark on an Expedition, either in a campaign or on the Rogue's Path. The Knight Board consists of two cardboard board pieces (A and B), Portrait cards, Heroic Arcs, Peril Arcs and Talents.
Note that the boards have additional spaces for components: the Cooldown, Delay, Discard and Clue spaces. These will be used during gameplay.
Remember: You may freely rearrange your Knight Board at any time outside of the Delve, Rest, and Clash Phases, mixing and matching Arcs, Talents, and Techniques to create new builds!
The Knight Board consists of: the Portrait card, Knight Statistics, the Knight Talents card, the Heroic Arc, the Peril Arc, and the Clue Spaces.
Portrait Cards
A Portrait card represents your Knight and their innermost qualities, like their name, Class, Speed, basic Power, refresh rates, and Bane Limit. On the back of your Portrait card, you'll find a player aid with the Knight turn overview.
- Name: Everyone has a name, even if that name is No One.
- Class: The name of your current occupation.
- Knight Power Die: A Power die you include in every Power Roll.
- Card Refresh: How many cards you Refresh during the Refresh step.
- Heat Refresh: How much Heat you lose during the Refresh step.
- Hand Limit: How many Technique cards you can have in your hand.
- Speed: Maximum number of spaces you can move with a Movement Action.
- Bane Limit: The maximum number of Bane tokens you may gain before dying (see Bane Limit, p. 64).
Knight Statistics
These three statistics, sometimes called Facets of the Graal, represent your Knight's changing state and, unlike typical stats, are in flux.
The current value of each stat is tracked by using transparent acrylic cubes, while black cubes denote the maximum value a stat can reach.
Whenever you are instructed to gain or lose any of these stats, simply increase or decrease the value by the corresponding number of spaces on the track. Although some effects can cause you to gain or lose a statistic during the Delve Phase, Knight statistics change most dynamically during Clashes. Knight statistics include:
Passion represents your battle fervor: it increases each time you attack and grants you access to powerful abilities from your Heroic Arc. By increasing it, you also become a bigger threat in the eyes of opposing Monsters. Each time you raise Passion, compare its level to that of other Knights. If your Passion is the highest among all Knights, you gain the Priority Target token (unless you already have it), thus becoming the main target for Monster Attacks (see Priority Target, p. 49).
Heat allows you to perform heroic acts: re-roll your dice, use Technique cards, Talents and activate other abilities. The more you strain yourself, the more Heat you generate. You can gain Heat up to your Heat Limit, which increases with lost Vigor.
You lose Heat at the start of each of your turns by the amount of your Heat Refresh attribute (see Refresh step, p. 55). Be wary though, as increasing your Heat may cause Monsters to act more aggressively toward you. Some AI cards have Gated Effects that refer to Heat, which you should always apply if you meet the requirement. For detailed rules, see Attack Gated Effects, p. 54.
Heat Limit: Your maximum Heat has a specific threshold, denoted by the black cube on the track. When you lose Vigor, this threshold will rise. This limitation may prevent you from using certain abilities or Techniques when you need them most, so be sure to keep a close eye on your available Heat and its limit. If any effect would force you to raise your Heat above your Heat Limit, raise your Heat to your current limit, then lose Vigor equal to the value by which you exceeded your Heat Limit.
Note: If you gain Heat Limit for any reason, do not decrease your Heat!
Vigor tracks your well-being as well as your desperation: it decreases as a result of Monster Attacks and other injuries. As you lose Vigor, you become gradually closer to death (see Drawing a Mortis card, p. 53). However, each time your Vigor falls below any of the Peril thresholds, you increase your Heat Limit, unlock additional abilities on certain Gear cards and Techniques, and gain a higher chance of drawing a Mortis card with a powerful comeback effect.
Maximum Vigor: Though the Vigor track goes high, most Knights never reach its peak. This is represented by the maximum Vigor black cube. You will find your current maximum Vigor on your Peril Arc! No amount of gaining Vigor will ever move it past its limit. Raising your maximum Vigor during a Delve or Clash will not automatically raise your current Vigor. On the other hand, if your Vigor limit somehow falls below your current Vigor, you need to lower Vigor to your new maximum.
Hard Limits
- Passion can never go above "9"; if you're at "9", you may still gain Passion, but it is considered to still be "9".
- Vigor can never go above "15"; if you're at "15", you cannot gain more Vigor. Note that when your maximum Vigor is "15" there are no additional spaces above the track. You don't have to use a black cube anymore, the track becomes a natural limit.
- Heat can never go above "9"; if you're at "9", you cannot gain more Heat. Note that when your Heat limit is "9" there are no additional spaces above the track. You don't have to use black cube anymore, the track becomes a natural limit.
Resetting Stats
Certain effects may instruct you to reset a statistic, its limit, or its maximum value. This can be interpreted as either a positive or a negative effect depending on the statistic. Whenever you reset a statistic, you should return it to its default value—Passion and Heat back to 0, while Vigor to its maximum value denoted on the Peril Arc. All limits return to their starting values.
Heroic Arcs
The more Passion you have, the deadlier you become. This is reflected by your Heroic Arc. It shows Passion levels and corresponding abilities and bonuses applied to every Attack you perform. Most Heroic Arc effects are keyword abilities (see p. 80) and they follow all the rules of keyword abilities (stackable keywords from a Heroic Arc may stack with keywords from other sources). You gain the benefits of your current Passion level, as well as all preceding levels.
Note that some Heroic Arcs provide you with a small additional effect. If that's the case, you'll find it at the top of the card.
Heroic Arc abilities are described in detail in the Ability Usage section, on p. 22.
Peril Arcs
The Peril Arc represents a Knight's rising determination. It features various Peril thresholds (Uninjured, Minor, Major, Grave, and Judicium) that correspond to your current Vigor. Reaching a new threshold will usually increase your Heat Limit value.
Remember: Every time you lose Vigor, consult your Peril Arc to adjust your Heat Limit, observing any Heat Limit bonuses you have from other sources.
Note that some Peril Arcs provide you with a small additional effect. If that's the case, you'll find it at the top of the card.
Whenever you are instructed to perform a Peril Check, check your current Vigor. If the threshold is other than Uninjured, draw a Mortis or Judicium card of the corresponding threshold based on this table (see Peril Check, p. 53).
Technique Cards
Each Knight can perform a set of feats, represented by Technique cards. Technique cards are double-sided.
- Delve side: The dark side, called the Delve side, can be used during the Delve Phase. These Techniques will help the Knight navigate the treacherous wastes of the Kingdoms.
- Clash side: The light side, called the Clash side, can be used during the Clash Phase. Knights use these Techniques during battles with Monsters.
When you use a Technique, you must first pay its cost. Then, resolve its main effect and Deplete the card from your hand (see Depletion, p. 23).
Besides the main effect, each side of a Technique card has a supplementary effect, called a Warm-up (Delve side) or Exert (Clash side), found in the upper left corner. While the main effect of a card is often situational, these are universal (see Exert and Warm-up Effects, p. 23).
When you play a Delve Technique card, you always resolve its Warm-up effect. When you play a Clash Technique card, you can use the Exert effect INSTEAD of the card's normal effect. If you do, IGNORE the Technique cost, and simply Deplete the card according to the symbol right below the exert effect.
Cards in your hand are considered available to use. Usually, a used Technique card must be refreshed before it becomes available again (see Refresh step, p. 55). During the game, your Technique cards will cycle between your hand and the Cooldown, Delay and Discard areas of your Knight Board.
Technique cards contain additional information about the Knight they belong to, their source, and their card ID.
Technique, Exert, and Warm-up abilities are described in detail in the Ability Usage section, on p. 22.
Knight Talents
Talents are a Knight's signature abilities. Knights can acquire new Talents during the course of the game by progressing their personal storylines. Over time, your Knights will likely unlock several Talents, but a Knight can only use one of them at a time. Usually, a Talent card provides two named effects.
Talent abilities are described in detail in the Ability Usage section, on p. 22.
Resource Tokens
Some Knights use a special kind of token, called Resource tokens. These tokens fuel a Knight's special abilities. Resource tokens behave similarly to Knight tokens, in that they're generated by Heroic Arcs and Talents, and help Knights activate various abilities.
Each Knight may have different rules for Resource token usage, which can be found in that Knight's corresponding Knightbook. Generally, Resource tokens can be placed either on the Knight Boards or in the Knight Pool, depending on the trigger.
All Resource tokens in the Knight Pool are shared between all Knights, meaning that it does not matter who placed the tokens in the Knight Pool. Every Knight that can use them may do so. Unlike Knight tokens, Resource tokens remain in the Pool until they're used.
Resource tokens are not limited. If you would ever be required to place more tokens than provided in the game box, substitute them with Generic tokens.
The Resource tokens include the Magic token, the Fleisch token, and the Zeal token.
Knight Pool and Knight Tokens
Knight tokens are a special type of "cooperative" token used by the players to enhance other player's attacks. These can help you hit and deal Wounds, escape Monster Responses, and more.
You generate Knight tokens by using weapon abilities, Heroic Arcs or through other game effects. The area you place Knight tokens in is called the Knight Pool.
Knight tokens are used during the following Knight's attack, after which they are discarded (regardless of whether you used them). In other words, you cannot save them up.
Knight tokens are not limited. If you would ever be required to place more tokens than provided in the game box, substitute them with Generic tokens, or any other game piece.
Knight Tokens. The types of Knight tokens include:
- Break: Each Break token in the Knight Pool allows the attacking Knight to turn 1 Miss symbol into 1 Hit.
- Opening: Each Opening token in the Knight Pool adds +1 to the result of each Attack die rolled during an Attack Roll.
- Fire: Each Fire token in the Knight Pool turns 1 Miss symbol into 1 Hit. You may use other tokens to turn Miss into Hit first, but if you can't, you must always use as many Fire tokens from the Pool as possible. During the Clear the Knight Pool step, leave all but one unused Fire tokens in the Knight Pool.
- Black: Each Black token in the Knight Pool grants a re-roll of 1 Power die, and turns 1 Miss on a die re-rolled this way into 1 Hit.
- Closing: Each Closing token in the Knight Pool adds +1 to the result of each Attack die rolled during an Attack Roll, and grants a re-roll of one Attack die.
- Hope: Each Hope token in the Knight Pool allows the attacking Knight to turn 1 Miss or critical symbol into 1 Hit.
- Sunder: Each Sunder token in the Knight Pool allows the attacking Knight to turn 1 Miss symbol into 2 Hits. You cannot use Greater Pass on this token.
- Rouse: Each Rouse token in the Knight Pool allows the attacking Knight to treat their Passion as 1 higher until the end of that Attack.
- Diversion: A Diversion token in the Knight Pool allows the attacking Knight to ignore Fail Responses until the end of their Attack. Diversion tokens cannot stack.
- Improved Diversion: An Improved Diversion token in the Knight Pool allows the attacking Knight to ignore all Responses until the end of their Attack. Improved Diversion tokens cannot stack.
- Power: Each Power token in the Knight Pool increases the Total Power by 1. You cannot use Greater Pass on this token.
- Cantrip: Each Cantrip token in the Knight Pool can be treated as either 1 Opening or 1 Break token. You must state which token to change it into when declaring an Attack.
- Spell: Each Spell token in the Knight Pool can be treated as both 1 Opening and 1 Break token.
Gear
Gear cards represent various types of equipment: weapons you use to attack the Monsters and armor that protects you from harm to miscellaneous trinkets that will help you come out on top. Most Gear is acquired during the Spoils Phase (see p. 67) or bought from the Merchant Workshop (see p. 29) in the Outpost. Some can be gained as rewards, for example by completing Investigations.
Each Gear card has a symbol that designates its type. It may also have offensive stats, defensive stats, an ability box, and Gear Traits.
There are three types of Gear cards:
- Weapons: All Gear carried by Knights in their hands counts as a Weapon (shields included!). Weapons can occupy one or two hand slots. All Weapons have offensive capabilities, but some of them may grant you defensive ones as well. Usually, Knights have two hand slots.
- Armors: This category includes all sorts of defensive Gear that covers the Knight's body. Armor cards usually grant Armor dice, Evasion bonus, Evasion Re-rolls or a combination of these defensive statistics. Usually, Knights have one Armor slot.
- Supports: These cards give you access to unique abilities and effects. Support cards don't usually have defensive or offensive statistics. By default, Knights have two Support slots.
Gear Slots. Most Knights have the same number of various Gear slots: two hand slots for Weapons, one Armor slot, and two Support slots. Some Gear may occupy more than one Gear slot.
Consumable Gear. Consumables are a subtype of Support Gear cards that have a limited number of uses (see Charges, p. 21). They are gained from Loot cards, and once picked up they are immediately unlocked in the Merchant Workshop. If you equipped a Consumable Gear card for an Expedition, at the start of the Spoils Phase you will return it to the Merchant deck, regardless of the number of Charges you used (or didn't use!) up.
Gear Attributes
All Gear cards share a number of attributes that define them. They include offensive and defensive stats.
Offensive Gear Stats. These attributes are found primarily on weapons and influence your ability to attack. They are always situated on the left side of the Gear card and include:
- Attack dice: Number of Attack dice rolled during an Attack.
- Precision bonus: A value you add to the result of each of your Attack dice.
- Weapon Power: Number and tier (color) of Power dice provided by each hit. Once you hit the Monster, for each successful hit you add this many dice to your Power Pool.
- Bonus Power: Some powerful weapons have Bonus Power, i.e. a bonus Power die or even raw Power, that are added to the result of your Power Roll.
Defensive Gear Stats. These attributes increase your survivability and are found primarily on Armor, Shield and a handful of Support cards. They are always situated on the right side of the Gear card and include:
- Evasion bonus: A value you add to the result of each of your Evasion dice.
- Evasion Re-roll: During an Evasion Roll, you may re-roll a number of dice up to this value without any additional cost. Remember: You can only re-roll each die once, regardless of how many re-roll sources you have!
- Armor dice: Number and type of Armor dice added to your Armor Roll dice Pool.
Knighves
Knights are trained warriors and have many tricks up their sleeves (or boots), and thus are never defenseless. Even when they lose their weapons, they can fall back on their classic Knighves! This is represented by the special Knighves Gear card. For all intents and purposes, Knighves are treated like any other Gear card, with the following exceptions:
- Each Knight can use a single Knighves card. If, after preparing Loadout (see Knight Loadouts on p. 30), a Knight has at least one free hand slot, you may equip a Knighves card and use it as a one- or two-handed weapon, depending on how many free hand slots they have.
- If, at any point of the Clash, a Knight loses their weapon card(s), they may immediately equip a Knighves card and use it as a one- or two-handed weapon, depending on how many free hand slots they have.
- When a Knight is about to declare an active weapon during an Attack, you may choose to discard one or more of your equipped weapon Gear cards (see Discarding on p. 22) to equip a Knighves card (for example to resolve a Bonus Attack when your Knight is adjacent to the Monster and equipped with a Ranged weapon).
- If, at any point of the Clash, the Knight gains a weapon Gear card that uses up their hand slot(s) occupied by Knighves, you must set the Knighves card aside. It is then no longer equipped on the Knight.
- Knighves can be exhausted just like any other Gear card, but they cannot be discarded or exchanged by any means.
Other Gear Stats and Qualities
There are various other commonplace stats and qualities found on many Gear cards.
Tier: Every Gear card has a tier noted at the bottom. These correspond to the tiers of the campaign. Whenever you equip a card that is of a higher tier than your own, lose -2 maximum Vigor per tier of difference (e.g. if your campaign is in the Mob Tier and you want to equip a King Tier card, you lose -4 maximum Vigor).
Charges: Some effects are limited by the number of Charges. At the start of an Expedition, place a number of Charge tokens on this card equal to the Charges value. When an ability instructs you to spend Charges, discard the indicated number of tokens from this card. If there are no Charges left on a Gear card, you cannot use abilities that require you to discard a charge.
Ability box: All effects described in this part of a Gear card are abilities. To learn more about them (see Ability Usage on p. 22).
Gear Traits: Traits are additional descriptors of each Gear card. They have no inherent effect, but other game elements may refer to specific Gear Traits. For example, as a prerequisite for triggering an effect. Traits are always active as long as the Gear card is equipped.
Backs of Gear Cards
The back of a Gear card contains miscellaneous information, such as which Kingdom or Monster the Gear card belongs to.
Gear cards bought from a Merchant are double-sided. One side of the card is the standard version you can buy, while the other you can acquire through Reforging (see Reforging Gear, p. 29).
Gear Enhancement
In Kingdoms Forlorn, even the best Gear can be made better. There are two ways to enhance Gear: through Upgrade cards and Reforging.
Upgrade cards are acquired from the Loot deck, after scavenging them during an Expedition. Upgrade cards are not Gear cards and cannot be used by themselves. They must be attached to a Gear card of a specific type, Weapon or Armor, in order to modify them, apply additional effects, or grant you access to completely new abilities.
The type of Gear card an Upgrade can be attached to is indicated on the Upgrade card. A Gear card can have up to one Upgrade card attached. Once an Upgrade card is attached to a Gear card, they are considered a single game element. In other words, if an Upgrade is exhausted, the Gear card is also exhausted, and vice versa. The same applies to Discarding, and also permanently removing from the game. Upgrade cards can be detached from a Gear card and attached to other Gear that matches its type. Upgrade cards can't be attached to Merchant Gear.
On the other hand, only Gear cards purchased from a Merchant can be reforged. During the Outpost Phase, simply visit the Merchant Workshop and reforge any Merchant Gear you own, paying the appropriate cost found on the card itself. When you reforge a Gear card, simply flip it and use the other side from this point on. Reforging is permanent.
Exhausting, Discarding, and Removing Elements
When instructed to exhaust a card, you should turn it 90 degrees to the right to indicate that it is exhausted. It is still treated as equipped on your Knight, but you cannot use it as an active weapon or use its defensive statistics or any of its abilities, except effects triggered by exhaustion (e.g. "if exhausted") or effects resulting in it unexhausting (e.g. "When you are knocked down, unexhaust this card"). Note: Passive abilities (such as Ranged 2–4 or +1 Precision) are ongoing, therefore they remain in effect even if a card they are printed on is exhausted. Similarly, Gear Traits are always active.
Some game elements other than cards may instruct you to exhaust them. In that case you should exhaust only that specific game element.
All cards remain exhausted until they are unexhausted by another effect (see below).
Unexhausting: Each Knight may spend their Movement Action or Combat Action to unexhaust all exhausted equipped game elements (Gear cards, Knight abilities and so on). Some other game effects may also allow you to unexhaust some or all of your game elements.
Exhaustible Gear
Some game effects refer to Exhaustible Gear. This category includes all Gear cards with the Cumbersome keyword or with active abilities that include exhausting as their cost.
Discarding Gear
When instructed to discard a Gear card, flip it face down (or hide it beneath your player board in case of double-sided cards!). It is unusable until the end of this Clash and is not treated as equipped by your Knight. It is not, however, permanently removed from the game—usually discarded cards return to their owners during Clash Aftermath (see p. 63). The only exception are Consumable Gear cards, as they return to the Merchant Workshop (see p. 29) and need to be rebought.
Removing Elements (Archiving)
When instructed to permanently remove an element from the game, place it back in the game box. It will likely not be used in your current playthrough, unless a future effect explicitly refers to this element. Permanently removing an element may sometimes be referred to as Archiving a game element.
Sometimes you may be instructed to remove an element for a specific duration. In such a case, set it aside and keep it separate from other game elements for this duration. For example, when instructed to remove an element from a Clash, it is removed from this Clash only but will be used in subsequent Clashes against the same Monster.
Removed Gear cards that were acquired via the Loot deck, or purchased from a Merchant Workshop, may be re-acquired or purchased again.
Ability Usage
Knight Talents, Techniques, and equipped Gear cards, as well as other game elements, give you access to various abilities. Some of them can be used as a free action or as a Reaction, others will have a specific timing condition or even grant a constant effect.
In general, each effect described within the ability box of a Technique cards, Gear cards and Talents is an ability. There are a few categories of abilities.
Active Abilities
Abilities that require you to pay a cost are active abilities. The cost is always shown directly before the ability. Ability costs may include:
- Using a Combat Action.
- Using a Movement Action.
- Using a Complicated Action.
- Gaining the specified amount of Heat; this is considered voluntary gain, and you cannot pay the cost if it would cause you to exceed your Heat Limit.
- Losing the specified amount of Vigor. This is considered voluntary loss, and you cannot pay the cost if it would cause your Vigor to fall below 1.
- Exhausting the game element providing this ability.
- Discarding the game element providing this ability.
- Discarding a Charge token.
- Resource tokens: Losing a Knight-specific resource, like Fleisch.
Other, more specific costs may be listed in the particular ability. Active ability usage is always voluntary (you may pay the cost to resolve the ability). As such, these costs can never be prevented or ignored by the use of other game effects.
Active abilities that have a specific timing condition (such as "during the second ability window", "when you are about to die") can be activated only during that specific activation time, unless another rule overrides this timing (for example, by instructing you to resolve the ability immediately once something else occurs).
Active abilities that do not have a specific timing condition can be used as a free action (see p. 62).
You cannot activate an ability if you cannot pay its full cost (e.g. an ability requires you to raise Heat and you are already at Heat Limit, or an ability requires you to discard a charge and there are none remaining).
You can use each available active ability on a single game element once per Round, even if you have multiple charges on it.
Example: During his turn, Ser Sonch uses the Alleviating Ointment Gear card to gain +3 Vigor. He still has another charge on it, but since it is an active ability, it remains unusable until the end of this Knight Round.
Constant Abilities
Abilities that have a specific timing condition but do not require you to pay any cost are constant abilities.
Constant abilities continuously seek specific timing conditions and must be resolved any time the specified condition is met, unless the ability text itself specifically says that "you may" resolve its effect.
As a general rule, you must always resolve keywords that place Knight tokens in the Knight Pool (like Opening X or Break X), as well as keywords that hinder you in any way (like Cumbersome or Commit). You generally may use abilities that grant you move-like abilities (like Reposition X) or allow you to forcefully move the Monster (like Pushback X). See the Keyword List (p. 80) to learn more about using other keyword abilities.
Constant abilities are resolved every time a condition is met (e.g. "during an Armor Roll"), therefore they can be used multiple times during the same Round.
Example: The Eggknight moves through a space occupied by Paracelsa, triggering the Tumble ability on her Pocket Sand Gear card. She passes the Tumble roll and does not suffer Crash! Later in the same Monster Round, the monster moves through her space one more time! Since Tumble has no cost and is a constant ability, she will then attempt to avoid Crash again.
Exception: Some powerful constant abilities, (like Pushback X or Vault), have dual timing conditions; namely, they can be triggered during either the first or the second ability window of a Knight Attack. You may use such abilities in either of the windows, but not in both (e.g. Knights may use Vault in either the first or second ability window but not in both).
Abilities that do not have a specific timing condition, and do not require you to pay any cost are called passive abilities and provide a passive ongoing effect (such as "+1 Precision", "Poison Limit +1").
Heroic Arc Abilities
Heroic Arc abilities are a unique ability type, represented by icons in the Knights' Heroic Arcs. Similarly to constant abilities, Heroic Arc abilities do not have a cost, but they are resolved slightly differently.
Most Heroic Arc abilities modify your Attack, either by giving you access to additional keywords (like Opening X or Break X) or powerful effects, such as Additional Power Die.
Heroic Arc icons representing keywords should be treated as such (they can stack with keywords from other sources, see Stackable Keywords, p. 24).
Each Heroic Arc ability is gated by your current level. As you gain Passion, you unlock more powerful abilities and effects. You can apply bonuses from each Heroic Arc level equal to or lower than your current Passion.
Most Heroic Arc levels give you a choice of two options. These are always exclusive: If you decide to apply one of these options, you cannot apply the other. Note: Some options may include more than one effect. Heroic Arc symbols that are linked with a "+" symbol are both part of the same option.
You must always make as much use of your Heroic Arc as possible. When you reach the second ability window of your Attack, you must apply relevant effects from each level of the Heroic Arc that is still available. Remember: If an ability text says that "you may" do something, it is never forced. You can apply this ability, then decide not to resolve its effect.
Heroic Arc Golden Rule: You do not have to use any of your Heroic Arc abilities until you reach the second ability window, at which point you must activate all applicable effects from your Heroic Arc that are still available (1 option per level).
Named Abilities
The text of some abilities is preceded by an ability name (e.g. Dodge, Reflex) and, optionally, a subtype, preceding their name (such as Advanced Reflex, Superior Block).
You cannot use multiple abilities with the same name at the same time (unless they are stackable keywords; see p. 24). For example, you cannot use a Reflex ability and an Advanced Reflex ability in the same window of opportunity (see Window of Opportunity, p. 54).
You can use multiple active abilities with the same name during a single Round, provided that they come from different game elements (as each single active ability can only be used once per Round!).
Example: Kara has a Technique that grants her an ability called Advanced Reflex, as well as a Wilder Cloak Gear card with a Reflex ability. Even though one of them has a subtype (Advanced), while the other doesn't, they still have the same name and as such they cannot both be used in the same window of opportunity.
Kara has to choose which one to use. If, however, there is another window of opportunity in the same Round, the player controlling the Knight may choose to use the other ability.
Gated Abilities and Effects
Many abilities and effects of Gear cards and other game elements unlock when some other requirement is met, for example having an appropriately low Peril threshold, see Peril Arcs, p. 18. For example, if a game element has a Minor Mortis gated effect, you can use it on all Peril thresholds except Uninjured.
These gate requirements and abilities are most often found at the bottom of a card. If the gate requirement is met, the ability or effect is treated as if it was part of the ability box.
If, for some reason, you stop meeting the gate requirement (for example you gain Vigor), the ability is once again locked and unavailable. Note: Some gated abilities are added on top of the normal abilities, while others replace the normal abilities of a card.
Tier-Gated Abilities and Effects
Some abilities and effects scale as you progress through your campaign and achieve higher tiers. Such gates, denoted by a banner with a specific tier (like "Vassal" or "King") are permanently unlocked once your Knight reaches a specific tier (see Knight Progression, p. 24).
Depletion
At the bottom of the Technique cards there is a Depletion symbol. When you use a Technique, it will most often require you to either Cooldown, Delay, or Discard it afterward. When that happens, place the card in the appropriate area of your Knight Board. The last type of Depletion is Instant. When you use a Technique with an Instant Depletion, it returns to your hand at the end of the current Round (Knight, Monster, or Delve Round).
Cooldown Area: Cards in the Cooldown area return to your hand when they are refreshed (see Refresh step, p. 55). When instructed to Cooldown a card, place it in your Cooldown area.
Delay Area: Cards in the Delay area are moved to the Cooldown area when refreshed (see Refresh step, p. 55). When instructed to Delay a card, place it in your Delay area.
Discard Area: Cards in the Discard area cannot be refreshed, and consequently cannot be recovered by regular means, outside of Clash Aftermath. When instructed to Discard a card, place it in your Discard area.
Exert and Warm-up Effects
Most Technique cards have additional Exert and/or Warm-up effects. These effects are located in the upper left corner of the cards. They provide small combat bonuses, such as dice re-rolls or additional Knight tokens.
During a Delve, whenever you use a Technique, trigger and resolve its Warm-up effect. These effects usually place tokens in the Knight Pool, for future use during a Clash.
During a Clash, when you are performing an Attack, you may, at any moment, Deplete a Technique card from your hand to resolve its Exert effect. For example, after a Power Roll, you may use a Technique with a Break keyword as an Exert effect to immediately add a Break token to the Knight Pool. Note that cards used in this way do not provide their other ability!
Keywords
A keyword is an ability that conveys specific common rules. Each keyword has its own rules that can be read at the back of this Rulebook, on p. 80. These are all named Abilities and follow all of the rules and restrictions of named Abilities.
Stackable Keywords
Abilities usually do not stack (for example, if you have the Deadly keyword on your weapon and gain it from another source, you cannot use both of them to gain Crit Chance at 8–10). There are, however, some abilities that do. Unless the ability text says otherwise, every keyword followed by a number is a stackable keyword.
You may activate several stackable keyword abilities with the same name at the same time. Their effects then add up and "stack". For example, two separate Opening 1 abilities would effectively be the same as Opening 2.
Keywords that are not followed by a number do not stack.
Knight Progression
As you progress through your campaign, go on Quests and resolve Investigations, your Knight will grow in strength. Progression in Kingdoms Forlorn is not linear. In other words, you will not be gaining "experience points" or "level up" at regular intervals.
Instead, you will be gaining new Classes, Talents, Techniques and Gear, as well as Virtue bonuses and other unique Boons as Quest and Investigation rewards, depending on your choices. Some progression paths are mutually exclusive!
You will also gain new Gear cards from the Loot deck, or buy them from the Merchant Workshop.
The closest Kingdoms Forlorn gets to traditional leveling is the tier system—as you progress through your campaign, you will move from tier to tier, usually after 1 Quest and 3 Investigations (a Chapter of your story). However, rather than reflecting your own power, the tier you are playing at defines the difficulty of opposition you will face, like the types and levels of Monsters you will battle.
Expeditions
In the following sections you will find all the rules that apply to Expeditions, from starting your Quests and Investigations in the Vision Phase, through exploring a Kingdom in the Delve Phase, to battling Monsters in the Clash Phase.
Expedition Sequence
Kingdoms Forlorn is played in a series of Expeditions, with each Expedition representing one Adventure, one Delve into the Deep Fog. Each Expedition consists of the following steps, resolved in this exact order:
- Vision Phase: Choose a Quest and Investigations, decide on the Party Leader, read the stories in your Knightbooks and unveil a Kingdom.
- Outpost Phase: Make all necessary preparations, including buying items, hiring help, and scouting the region (p. 28).
- Delve Phase: Explore the Kingdom map, collecting Clues and fulfilling objectives and Contracts (p. 30).
- Clash Phase: Resolve an Exhibition Clash (p. 42).
- Rest Phase: Take a short break to regain strength and resources, resolve Campfire Tales (p. 66).
- Second Delve Phase: Continue to explore the Kingdom map (p. 30).
- Second Clash Phase: Resolve a Full Clash and the Quest's ending (p. 42).
- Spoils Phase: Divide the spoils, exchange loot for items and gold, gamble (p. 67).
When you finish the Spoils Phase, you may jump straight to the next Expedition, starting with a new Vision Phase.
At the start of each Chapter covering a game Phase, you will find all the setup instructions necessary for that Phase. For the Knights, details of their individual rules and setup instructions can be found in their respective Knightbooks.
Vision Phase
An Expedition starts with the Vision Phase, where the Knights find their individual callings. Players decide what their priorities are—are they going on a Quest, starting an Investigation, or do they simply want to Free Roam.
The Vision Phase consists of the following steps, resolved in order:
- Questing Player: Players decide which one of them is going on their Quest. All other players choose if they are going on an Investigation or Free Roaming. Remember, only one player can go on a Quest during a single Expedition! Note: There are times when no one will be Questing.
- Favor of the Graal: The Questing Knight gains a Sigh of the Graal and mark it down on their Knight Sheet (see p. 16). Each Knight can only hold one Sigh of the Graal at a time.
- Party Leader: The Questing player becomes the Party Leader. If nobody is going on a Quest, players decide who will become the Party Leader for this Expedition.
- Invitation: The Questing player reads their Quest paragraphs (found in their Knightbook). Players going on Investigations read their Investigation paragraphs. Each of the players going on Investigations and Free Roams draws a single Clue card (see Clue Tokens and Clue Cards p. 26).
- Destination Kingdom: The Party Leader determines which Kingdom you are delving into. The Kingdom may be determined by the Quest's instructions or left to be chosen by the players.
- Kingdom Setup: The Deep Fog parts enough for you to glimpse what awaits you during your Expedition.
- Monster Setup: Determine which denizens of the Kingdoms Forlorn you will have to face during Encounters and Clashes.
- Onward: You are ready to proceed to the Outpost Phase.
Quests, Investigations, and Free Roams: What Should I Choose?
Choosing who goes on a Quest, and who goes on Investigations or Free Roams will determine the flow and scope of the entire Expedition, so the decision should be carefully considered.
Quests. Quests serve to progress the main storyline of your Knight.
- Only one Knight can be on a Quest at any given time.
- The Questing Knight must be the Party Leader.
- You cannot repeat a Quest and have to continue with its consequences.
- Resolving a Quest (no matter the outcome) is one of the requirements to move onto the next Chapter of your campaign/advance your tier.
- Quests introduce special mechanics, influencing the regular pace of the Expedition, triggering Exhibition Clashes, Full Clashes, and Rests at various moments. Note: This does not mean you will resolve extra Phases, like two Rests or two Clashes!
- When you resolve a Quest, mark it on your Knight Sheet.
- The Questing Knight gains a Sigh of the Graal and mark it down on their Knight Sheet (see p. 16). Each Knight can only hold one Sigh of the Graal at a time.
Investigations. Investigations will grant deeper insight into the events surrounding a Knight, their personal history, the Kingdoms they venture through, and more.
- Several Knights can be on Investigations (or Free Roams) at the same time.
- An Investigating Knight may be the Party Leader (if there is no Questing Knight).
- Resolving three Investigations (no matter the outcome) is one of the requirements to move onto the next Chapter of your campaign/advance your tier.
- A successful Investigation will always provide your Knight with a known reward, be it a Gear card, a new Technique or something special! By playing through a given Chapter, you may gain up to three rewards from Investigations.
- When you resolve an Investigation, mark both of its boxes on your Knight Sheet if you succeeded and only the right box, if you didn't.
- A failed Investigation (with only the right box marked on the Knight Sheet), allows you to undertake an additional Investigation during a Free Roam (if you resolve it successfully, mark the remaining box). You can repeat a failed Investigation or start one you have not yet attempted, as long as it's from the same Chapter you are currently playing through.
Free Roams. Free Roams are low-stakes Expeditions that allow you to grow in strength and acquaint yourself with the Monsters infesting the Kingdoms Forlorn.
- Several Knights can be on Free Roams (or Investigations) at the same time.
- The Knight on a Free Roam may be the Party Leader (if there is no Questing Knight).
- Resolving a Free Roam is not required to move into the next Chapter of your campaign/advance your tier. You don't have to go on any Free Roams during your campaign unless you feel like it.
- If you failed any Investigations, you may undertake an additional Investigation during a Free Roam.
Clue Tokens and Clue Cards
Clue tokens (Clues) are an important element of almost every Expedition. They serve as a physical representation of your Knight's progress, be it looking for a missing person or lost lore, or tracking a foe. More often than not, you will be required to collect a specific number of Clues of a given kind to succeed with your Investigation. You will gain most of your Clue tokens during the Delve Phases of your Expedition (see p. 30).
Clues are collected on the Clue card on your Knight Board.
The four Clue token types are: Martial, Errant, Historic, and Mystic.
Some Quests' special rules may instruct you to use Clue tokens in a different way. Sometimes you will even be instructed to take Clue tokens and place them on your Portrait. In such cases, these Clues do not count toward the Clues needed for your objective, and are not considered collected, unless specifically stated.
Clue Cards. If you're going on an Investigation or a Free Roam, you will draw a single Clue card to determine what two types of Clues you will be collecting. The Clue card determines your Primary Clue and the number of Clues of this type you need to collect during the Expedition.
For your Secondary Clue, check the Primary Clue of the Knight to your right and mark its type on your Clue card with a matching Clue token (yes, it already counts as a gained Clue token!).
Remember: You can only collect the Clues depicted on your Clue card!
Leads
At the end of an Investigation, if you succeeded and collected more Clues than needed, note the excess amount on your Knight Sheet in the "Leads" section. If you failed, note half the amount of collected Clues (rounded down) as Leads. You can spend 5 Leads to automatically succeed on a chosen Investigation from your current or previous Chapter, whether you played through it or not. This way you can avoid repeating a failed Investigation or gain additional rewards. Read both of its paragraphs, mark any unmarked box, and gain its reward (that means you may gain more than three rewards from Investigations from a single Chapter!).
Kingdom Setup
- To set up a Kingdom for your next Expedition, start by setting up the general game components:
- Boards: the Kingdom track and the Clash/Encounter Board.
- Knight Components: Knight Boards, Knight Sheets, Knightbooks and Knight miniatures of every Knight participating in the Expedition, near their players.
- Party marker.
- Tokens: Knight and Resource tokens, and Clue tokens.
- Card decks: the four Mortis decks, the Condition deck, the Deep Fog deck, the Scavenge deck (made of Loot cards), the Fool's deck and the Clue cards.
- Mark the "0" space on the Threat, Curse and Time tracks of the Kingdom track using transparent cubes.
- Place the Kingdom Sheet of the destination Kingdom in an accessible space on the table. Take the Kingdom tile decks of that Kingdom (they come in various sizes!) and place them face down within reach.
- Place your starting tile face up in the middle of your play area, leaving ample space for exploration, then check the tile for paths leading out of it, locate the appropriate tiles, place them face down adjacent to the starting tile. If the starting tile is not specified by your Quest, check the starting Kingdom tiles in the Kingdom Codex, and choose one at random.
- Put the Party marker on the starting tile.
- Shuffle the designated Kingdom's Exploration deck and place it near the Kingdom tiles.
- Shuffle the Kingdom-specific Mortis cards into the corresponding Mortis decks (Minor, Major, and Grave), then place them next to the Judicium deck.
- Do the same for the Deep Fog deck.
- Place any Kingdom-specific tokens nearby.
Monster Setup
- Take the designated Kingdom Codex and find the Bestiary. Then, take the Party Leader's Knight Sheet and align its right side with the Bestiary, so that they overlap, as shown on the diagram below. Find the lowest marked box on the Sheet. Now, use the Knight Bookmark to trace a row to the right from it, through the Bestiary. For each Monster block whose Encounter Monster card is above the line you traced with the Bookmark (fully or partially), take their Encounter Monster card of a matching level. If a Monster has no matching level, it is unavailable during this Expedition. Note: Encounter Monster cards are double-sided, and the level you're looking for may be on the back.
- Finally, shuffle all the Encounter Monster cards you've set aside into an Encounter Monster deck and draw a number of cards equal to the number of districts in the current Kingdom. As Encounter Monster cards are double-sided, be sure to draw from the bottom. Place these cards next to the Kingdom Sheet. These are the Monsters you might face during this Expedition. For each District, assign a random Monster to it by placing their Encounter Monster token on the District Wheel.
Note: In extremely rare cases your Quest will instruct you to resolve an Encounter against a specific Monster that you may not have in any of your districts. In that case, resolve that Encounter, then return all of that Monster's components back to the game box.
You are now ready to proceed to the Outpost Phase.
Encounters and Clashes
The double-sided Encounter Monster cards drawn during Monster Setup serve a double function. Twice during your Expedition, around the midpoint and at the very end, you will engage in Clashes. When you do, and your current Quest does not specify who you're facing, you will check the District Wheel for the corresponding Encounter Monster token, and face that Monster in battle.
However, during both Delve Phases, you may also have episodic run-ins with those Monsters! These are called Encounters. Whenever you are prompted to resolve an Encounter, you will check the District Wheel, but instead of a Clash, you will proceed to an Encounter, using the Encounter Monster card instead of a Monster Sheet.
Outpost Phase
Before venturing beyond the Deep Fog, your Knights need a place to prepare. Outposts function as hub areas your Knights visit before leaving on an Expedition, during the aptly named Outpost Phase. Outposts come in different shapes and sizes, depending on the explored Kingdom, and can provide various resources for your party.
The Outpost Phase consists of only three steps, resolved in order:
- Outpost Activities: Players partake in a variety of activities that will give them an advantage during the upcoming Expedition.
- Preparing Loadouts: Each player prepares their Knight's Loadout.
- Onward: You are ready to proceed to the Delve Phase.
Outpost Setup
Find the Outpost in the Codex of the Kingdom you are venturing into. Then, take all of your unlocked Mercenary cards (see Unlocking Mercenaries, p. 29), and the Merchant deck (including unlocked Consumable cards) from your current and lower tiers (see Tiers, p. 12), and place them in a space available to all players. That's all for the set up!
Outpost Activities
The Outpost offers bonuses and activities intended to help you on your Expedition. That is, provided you have the gold to spend! The Outpost Phase offers various possibilities, accessible through sections of the Outpost, which can be resolved in any order. However, first come, first served, as your party is not the only one seeking a leg up. The place you visit first will have a special bonus that is represented by the Early Bird effect visible at the top of every section. Your party may use any number of sections in the Outpost, but only the first one will grant you the Early Bird effect.
Once the party has finished the Outpost, you are ready to embark on your Expedition and begin the Delve Phase!
The Inn
The Inn is a crowded, bustling place, full of other groups that seek fame and fortune in the Kingdoms Forlorn. It's a perfect place to drop by before the expedition, as there is always someone who might help you in some way. Just roll the dice and check who you meet.
Gold
Gold is the universal currency of the Kingdoms Forlorn world. If something has a cost, and the type or nature of that cost is uncertain, it is gold.
The Notice Board
During the Outpost Phase, your party may sign one of the available Contracts to fulfill during the Expedition in exchange for additional rewards.
Contracts are "side quests" you can undertake, extra goals to pursue while following your Knights' primary objectives. They'll bring their own rewards and can modify the rules of an Expedition. There is no cost for signing a Contract. Contracts are tiered (see Tiers, p. 12), and you may only sign Contracts up to your Party Leader's tier!
You can find all Contracts in the respective Kingdom Codex. Note that some have a checkbox by their name. When you fulfill one of those Contracts, you will be instructed to mark that Contract's checkbox, which denotes that you've already finished it. These Contracts are not repeatable. In other words, you cannot sign Contracts that have this checkbox marked.
Each Contract includes a description of the rewards you will gain when you fulfill that Contract.
Important: Your party, as a group, can only have one signed Contract per Expedition. Don't worry, every participating Knight will partake in the rewards of a fulfilled Contract.
Example Contract — Search and Rescue: It's a common enough story—be it due to excess of wine, bravery, or foolishness, someone else has gone missing beyond the Deep Fog. The reward offered is meager, but you're heading that way anyway. Perhaps it's worth your time? Your Objective: Find the missing person. Place a random Small Kingdom tile on the Kingdom Sheet, that is where your target was seen last. When you enter any other Small Kingdom tile, any Knight may test Sagacity (8+) to investigate: Success: Replace the Small Kingdom tile on the Kingdom Sheet with another random (unrevealed) Small tile, returning the previous one to the appropriate Kingdom deck. If you would move onto the tile placed on the Kingdom Sheet during this Expedition, you've found your stray, see Rewards. Rewards: Scavenge 1 (Mob).
Scouts Guild
It's a dangerous world out there! Sometimes you'd be wise to consult a local guide. Luckily, many Outposts have an array of such experts available for hire. At the Scouts Guild you can employ Scouts to complete various tasks for your party, which will give you an upper hand during a Delve. Scouts come in three categories:
- Recon: Recon Scouts grant you the option to place additional Kingdom tiles.
- Patrol: Patrol Scouts allow you to look up cards from the Exploration deck.
- Survey: Survey Scouts add special cards to the Exploration deck that will grant you various positive effects.
To check the currently available Scouts, refer to your Kingdom Codex.
Mercenary Guild
Your Knights are not the only adventurers in the land. Countless other individuals make their livelihood by putting their swords to good use. For a price, these specialists will join you on your Quest if you employ them at the Mercenary Guild. For the duration of an Expedition, the party can be accompanied by up to four Mercenaries.
When deciding on a Mercenary to recruit, you may choose from the Mercenaries available in the Mercenary Guild section of the Kingdom's Outpost.
All Mercenaries come with a double-sided card. Each side features a pair of abilities, one for the Delve Phase and one for the Clash Phase (see Mercenary Abilities on p. 63 for details).
Initially, the Mercenary deck consists of only level 1 Mercenary cards. Various game effects may later instruct you to add new Mercenaries of higher levels to your Available Mercenaries deck. These additions are permanent (see below).
To recruit a Mercenary, you must pay the cost denoted on that Mercenary's card. You may recruit a Mercenary only if they do not share a name with another currently recruited Mercenary.
Note: Certain effects may allow you to recruit a specific Mercenary. These Mercenaries are not added to the available Mercenary deck unless stated otherwise.
Unlocking Mercenaries
You can gain Mercenary cards from various sources, such as Quest rewards or Adventures. Whenever you gain a Mercenary card for the first time, that card becomes unlocked—note that Mercenary on your Knight Sheet. All Mercenaries that were gained via Knight Campaign are unlocked only for that Knight. Mercenaries gained from any other source (e.g. an Adventure or a Contract) are unlocked for everyone. Add all unlocked Mercenary cards to the Available Mercenary Deck.
The Merchant Workshop
If you're in need of some better equipment, you'll find what you're looking for at the Merchant Workshop. This is where you can purchase Gear from all tiers up to your personal tier. In other words, when buying equipment from the Merchant Workshop, you check the tier of your own campaign, not that of the Party Leader's. For example, if your Knight is on the King Tier, you may buy Gear from Mob, Vassal, and King Tiers, but not from Devil, and Dragon Tiers. To buy a Gear card, pay the cost denoted on the card and add that card to your Knight Armory (see p. 16).
Reforging Gear
You may reforge any Merchant Gear you own. However, you cannot reforge a Gear card you just bought during that same Outpost Phase. To reforge Gear, pay the cost denoted on the reforged side of its card. From that moment on you may only use the reforged side of that Gear card.
Shrine of the Saints
At the Shrine of the Saints, each Knight can spend a Devotion token to gain a patron Saint from among the unlocked Saints. A given Saint can be patron to only one Knight at a time. For more details, see Saints, p. 68.
Knight Loadouts
Once you're done with your Outpost activities, it's time to decide on your Loadouts. A Loadout remains fixed until you return from an Expedition. In other words, once you begin the Delve Phase, you won't be able to change your Loadout until the Spoils Phase.
First, set up your Knight Board by taking the two cardboard pieces (A and B) and connecting them.
Then, prepare your Knight's Portrait cards, Heroic Arcs, Peril Arcs (see p. 18), and all the Talents you've unlocked up to this point and choose one of each (you may mix and match). Place the chosen components on the appropriate spaces of your Knight Board.
Then, mark your Knight's starting statistics using transparent acrylic cubes (usually at "0"). In addition, place a black cube on both Heat and Vigor tracks, one in a space above your Heat Limit, and the other one in a space above your maximum Vigor (see Peril Arc, p. 18).
Next, choose a number of Technique cards (from those you've unlocked), up to your Knight's Hand Limit.
Finally, select the Gear cards you want to use from all the Gear found in your Knight Armory. Usually, you can equip two hand slots worth of Weapons, one Armor and up to two Support cards (see Gear on p. 20).
Once all Knights are ready, proceed to the Delve Phase.
Remember: Once you commit to your Loadouts, you won't be able to change them until you return from the Expedition, in the Spoils Phase!
Starting Out: If you're just starting out, and this is your first Expedition, you can find the elements your Knight starts with in their Knightbook, in the Knight Setup Instructions section.
Delve Phase
The Delve Phase is where you finally cross the Deep Fog and enter one of the Kingdoms Forlorn to achieve your objectives. The Delve Phase encompasses the entirety of the game played on the Kingdom Map, like traversal, Monster Encounters, Adventures, and story interactions. Usually, your Expedition will comprise two Delve Phases, broken up by Clash and Rest Phases. You have a limited amount of time before you will need to retreat to the safety of the Border, so make it count.
Delve Rounds
The Delve Phase is played in rounds, each corresponding to one hour on the Time track. Around the halfway mark, the Delve will be broken up by a Clash, after which it will resume with the second Delve Phase. The Time track does not reset between the first and second Delve Phases, which effectively means that you have, at most, sixteen rounds to complete all your objectives before the final Clash!
Important: Some effects may make you lose additional Time or force a Clash to happen earlier than expected, so be wary!
Kingdom Track
The Kingdoms Forlorn are hostile places that abhor the presence of humans. It is never a good idea to stay there for long. The Kingdom track represents the worsening conditions and your Expedition's limited time. The Kingdom track has three statistics: Threat, Curse, and Time.
Threat represents the rising danger of traversing the Kingdom that is more and more aware of your interloping presence. Curse tracks the growing influence the Kingdom's Curse has on your party, while Time reflects the passage of hours during the Expedition. These statistics are shared by the whole party, and may affect various in-game effects or trigger new ones.
Whenever you gain any of these statistics, move the marker on the corresponding track. Similarly, if you activate an effect that causes you to lose any of the statistics, lower its level on the track.
As mentioned, keep in mind that if either Threat or Curse increases over the maximum value, it will result in an immediate Expedition loss. Also, certain effects will become more deadly the higher these statistics go.
Typically there is a limit of 4 Threat, and 9 Curse, and you have 16 hours (rounds) to complete your Expedition.
You may have noticed a paragraph number near space 9 on the Curse track. If you reach 9 Curse for the first time during an Expedition, proceed to that paragraph. It is located in the Kingdom Mysteries section of your current Kingdom Codex. But beware, it's probably nothing good...
Curse & Threat Saves
When required to perform a Curse or a Threat Save, consult your current Curse or Threat level (designated by a marker on the Kingdom track) and add the specified value. This is your Curse/Threat Save difficulty. Then, simply roll a d10: if the result is lower than the difficulty, you Fail and must resolve the negative effect. If it is equal to or higher, you Succeed and do not suffer the consequences.
Example: To resolve a Curse Save (Curse Level +2), while at Curse Level 3, you must roll 5 or higher to succeed.
Note: Curse and Threat Saves are not tests and cannot be re-rolled using Heat!
Kingdom Sheet
The Kingdom Sheet includes basic information about a given Kingdom, such as district names and icons, spaces for effect cards, the District Wheel, and a Point of Interest table.
Districts and the District Wheel
The Kingdoms you travel through are divided into various Kingdom-specific districts, which are relevant for certain effects, such as the kinds of Monsters you may encounter, or district effects applied by Exploration cards (See Exploration Step, p. 36).
Each district of a Kingdom has a unique symbol, which you will find on the corresponding Kingdom tiles, near either upper corner on the front of a tile, and at the bottom on its back.
The District Wheel represents the proliferation of Monsters across the Kingdom's districts. During the Vision Phase, you have randomly placed Encounter Monster tokens across the wheel. This is relevant mostly for Clashes (see p. 42) and Encounters (see p. 40). Simply put, whenever you meet a Monster, it will be the Monster whose token is in your district on the District Wheel.
Whenever the game instructs you to resolve a Rotation X, move all tokens on the wheel by indicated number of spaces clockwise.
Tip: Not only will the district symbols inform you of the potential dangers of your current district, you can also use them to cleverly orient yourself within the Kingdom!
Kingdom Map
The Kingdom Map is the centerpiece of the Delve Phase. During your first Round, you will always begin from a specified starting tile (see the Vision Phase, p. 25), and you will have some basic knowledge of the paths that lead out of it.
As you progress with your Expedition, you will place more tiles, revealing those you move through. You will never reveal the full Kingdom map during a single Expedition.
Delve Round Steps
A Delve Round consists of the following steps, resolved in order:
- Travel step: As a party, decide which face down tile you want to travel onto, or whether you want to Backtrack or Enter the Deep Fog (see The Deep Fog, p. 37).
- Kingdom Tile step (skip during the Backtrack): a. Resolve all symbols on the back of the face down tile you're traveling to. b. Reveal the tile and move your Party marker onto it. c. Check your new tile for paths leading out of it and place all corresponding Kingdom tiles connected to your current tile face down on the table. d. Resolve Encounter Monster spawns and movement. e. Finally, resolve all symbols on the front of the face up tile you have moved to.
- Exploration step: Draw and resolve the top card from the Exploration deck.
- Story step: If prompted, read your Knight's story paragraphs and resolve any time-specific events. Note: As the stories in Kingdoms Forlorn rarely follow a strict formula, this step can intersect other steps (this will be clearly indicated by the appropriate game element).
1. Travel Step
Every Delve Round begins with the Travel step. To resolve it, the Party Leader must choose a valid path on your current Kingdom tile to travel through. Usually, you can either choose to travel onto an Unexplored Kingdom tile or to Backtrack—travel onto a previously explored tile.
An Unexplored tile is a tile your party did not yet travel onto. All face down tiles are considered Unexplored. An Unexplored tile may sometimes be revealed as a result of various effects. In such cases, mark it with a Generic token as a reminder that it is still Unexplored.
Conversely, an explored tile is one that the party has previously traveled onto, denoted by the fact it is face up.
Kingdom Tile Anatomy
Kingdom tiles come in several sizes: Small, Medium, Large, and Extra Large. Each Kingdom may also have a Special Kingdom tile type, in which case it will be explained in the appropriate Kingdom Codex.
Generally, the larger the tile, the more likely it is you will gain additional Clues by traveling onto it, and the higher your chance of finding a Point of Interest. However, larger tiles will also cause you to gain more Threat. In other words, the higher the risk, the bigger the reward!
Each Kingdom tile shows its name, the size, and the tile's district, as well as additional symbols resolved when traveling onto the tile:
- Advance Time by specified amount.
- Gain or lose Threat according to the specified amount.
- Deep Fog Intensity of the tile (see The Deep Fog, p. 37).
- Gain the specified number of Clue tokens, according to Clue collecting rules (see p. 34).
As these symbols are visible before choosing where to travel, you'll roughly know what you're getting into.
The front of the Kingdom tile includes additional symbols, triggered at the end of the Kingdom tile step:
- Exploration Cipher half: Represents one half of an Exploration Cipher—a code leading to a special story passage. Knights can gain the other half from various sources, like game components, but the most common source will be their current Quest, found in their Knightbook. With both halves, the player can create a full four-digit code that leads to a relevant paragraph in the current Kingdom Codex. If you input a wrong Cipher, immediately gain +1 Threat.
- Point of Interest: Represents a Point of Interest. If a Point of Interest symbol is accompanied by a name, refer to the Point of Interest table on the Kingdom Sheet and resolve an effect with a matching name. If a Point of Interest symbol is accompanied by a number, flip the top Exploration card and add its PoI modifier located at the top of the Exploration card to the number on the tile. Then, refer to the Point of Interest table and resolve an effect with the matching number. Don't discard the Exploration card, it stays on top of the deck.
- Single Panzergate: Represents a Single Panzergate. Place a Single Panzergate token on this path.
- Triple Panzergate: Represents a Triple Panzergate. Place a Triple Panzergate token on this path.
- Passage Down to a Sub-kingdom: If you have the Ten Thousand Succulent Fears Expansion, check the Sub-kingdom section for more information.
Unexplored Tile Travel. When you travel onto an Unexplored Kingdom tile, proceed to the Kingdom Tile step. When traveling onto an Unexplored Kingdom tile, you will resolve both its back and front (in that order).
Each possible path informs you of the size and identification number of the Kingdom tile it leads to.
When deciding your next move, be sure to consider the type of potential Clue you might gain (see Collecting Clues, p. 34).
Backtracking. If you decide to Backtrack, advance Time by 1, skip the Kingdom Tile step and proceed straight to the Exploration step. During a Backtrack, you may move through any number of explored Kingdom tiles, but you gain +1 Threat for every Kingdom tile you move through except the first one. Remember, regardless of the number of Kingdom tiles you have moved through, always advance Time by 1.
Important: You cannot skip the Travel step to remain on one tile for more than one Round!
Entering the Deep Fog. Sometimes, when you're pressed for time, or without any other viable path forward, you may decide to try to find a shortcut and enter the Deep Fog. You may do so only if there is an unblocked Deep Fog path on your current tile! See the Deep Fog (p. 37) for details.
Shortcuts. Shortcuts are a special type of path that connects Kingdom tiles that are not adjacent to each other. By default the party can't use Shortcuts; you have to have a certain game element (e.g. a Gear card or a Mercenary) that will grant you the ability to use them.
2. Kingdom Tile Step
To begin the Kingdom Tile step, resolve all symbols found on the back of the tile. This will always result in gaining Time and moving the marker on the track. Usually, you will also either lose or gain Threat and collect some Clue tokens (see below).
Once you're done resolving all symbols on the back of the destination tile, flip it and place it face up, so that the path you traveled through connects to a path on the newly discovered tile. Move the Party marker onto it.
Next, find all the Kingdom tiles that correspond to the paths on the current tile and place them adjacent to their corresponding paths. Remember to place new unrevealed tiles face down.
If your Threat reached a Hunt Space on the Threat track, move the Encounter Monster tokens (see Encounter Monsters Spawn and Movement, p. 34). Be wary of the marked spaces on the Threat track!
Finally, resolve all symbols from the front of your newly discovered Kingdom tile. Afterward, this tile will be considered explored.
Revealing a Kingdom Tile
Some effects in the game allow you to reveal Unexplored tiles to get a better look at your surroundings. When you reveal an Unexplored tile, flip it front side up and mark it with a Generic token as a reminder.
If you were to travel onto a revealed Unexplored tile, during the Kingdom Tile step remove the Generic token, resolve all symbols found on the back of the tile, then flip it to the front again and continue the step as normal.
Collecting Clues
Whenever you encounter a Clue symbol on a Kingdom tile, each Knight may gain a Clue token, but only if the Clue type matches any of the Clue types indicated by their Quest objective (Questing Knight) or the Primary or Secondary Clue on their Clue card (any other Knight).
To determine the Clue type gained by moving onto a tile, you have to reference the back of the top card from the Exploration deck. Each side of that card will show one of the four Clue type symbols. You gain the Clue corresponding to the direction of your travel. For example, if you traveled north, you would gain the Clue type shown at the top of the card; if you moved east, you would instead gain the Clue shown on the right side of that card.
Example: If you moved north during the current Travel step, and the topside of the top Exploration card shows an Errant Clue, all Knights collecting Errant Clues (Primary and Secondary) may gain +1 Errant Clue.
Gaining Multiple Clues. If you were to gain more than one Clue token from traveling onto a Kingdom tile, determine the type of the first Clue as normal. For every additional Clue, draw the top Minor Mortis card, refer to its direction symbol, and gain that Clue as if you were moving in the direction indicated by that Mortis card. Then, place that Mortis card on the bottom of the corresponding Mortis deck.
Encounter Monsters Spawn and Movement
Advancing Threat will cause the Monsters to become more hostile toward your party and hunt them on the Kingdom map.
Every time the Threat marker is moved onto a Hunt Space on the Threat track (either by gaining or losing Threat), each Encounter Monster token on the Kingdom map (if there are any) moves toward the Party marker by the indicated number of tiles (1 tile, 2 tiles), via the shortest possible path.
Additionally, when you raise your Threat to 7 or above for the first time during the current Expedition, spawn an Encounter Monster token onto an adjacent Kingdom tile (after moving all other Encounter Monsters). The Encounter Monster token should correspond to the Encounter Monster of your district, as per the District Wheel.
Note that Monsters on the Kingdom map may spawn from various effects other than Threat—most commonly from the Exploration cards.
Due to space limitations, Encounter Monsters on the Kingdom map are always represented by Encounter Monster tokens. The game comes with two Encounter Monster tokens per Monster: one stays on the District Wheel at all times, while the other is used to represent the Encounter Monster on the map. If, for whatever reason, you have to spawn an Encounter Monster on the map when that Monster is already on the map, remove its token from the current tile and spawn it on the new tile.
If an Encounter Monster token moves onto the party's tile, or if the party moves onto an Encounter Monster token's tile, you have to resolve an Encounter (see p. 40).
Disjointed Map
Sometimes, when using special abilities or Delve mechanics, you will be able to move onto a tile that is not directly connected to the Kingdom tile you moved from. In such cases see if you have already explored any Kingdom tiles connected to the newly revealed one. If you didn't, place it on the table separately from other tiles, creating a new section of the map. If you later find a Kingdom tile that connects this section to any previously explored tiles, attach them accordingly.
If any effect instructs you to move an element "toward you" (that is, toward the Party marker) when the map is disjointed, it may be hard (or impossible!) to determine which way you should move it. If the game element that is about to be moved is on a separate piece of the map from the Party marker, simply place it on the tile adjacent to the Party marker instead (even if that tile is unrevealed).
Example: The party appeared on a tile disconnected from the rest of the Kingdom map, so it must be placed on the table separately. Once the party finds a tile that connects the new part of the map to the "main" part of it, the two parts are no longer separated.
Hindering Tokens
Hindering tokens are a token category that encompasses all tokens that hinder your ability to move between Kingdom tiles in some way, or trigger other negative consequences for the player once you move onto them. Some can be removed by specific means, while others are permanent and stay on the Kingdom map for the remainder of the Delve. Note: Hindering tokens only affect your Party! Encounter Monster tokens and any other tokens introduced in your Quests ignore Hindering tokens unless specifically stated otherwise.
The Hindering tokens include: the Triple Panzergate token, the Single Panzergate token, the Deep Fog token, the Flood token, and the Rubble token.
3. Exploration Step
To resolve the Exploration step, simply draw the top card from the Exploration deck and resolve its effect. Note that some Exploration cards have an additional effect that triggers based on your Threat or Curse level.
Remember: If you need to draw from an empty Exploration deck for any reason, you lose that Delve!
Exploration Card Effect Types
Exploration cards have three types of effects:
- Instant: cards with an instant effect are discarded right after you resolve them.
- District: cards with a District effect are placed on the District effect space of the Kingdom Sheet. Their effects linger in a particular area of the Kingdom map, and usually cannot be discarded by regular means. There can be multiple District effects in play at the same time, but only one per District.
- Active: cards with an active effect are placed in the Active Effect space of the Kingdom Sheet. There is always one Active Effect space on the sheet. If that space is already occupied by another Exploration card, discard the newly drawn card instead. Active effects linger either until the players fulfill a condition specified on the card, or until a specific number of turns passes.
Special Exploration Cards
Some cards in the Exploration deck are special. When on top of the deck, they are easily identifiable by their distinguishable back. If a Special Exploration card has ended up on top of the deck as a result of resolving the Exploration step, immediately resolve that card too. Repeat this process until a regular Exploration card ends on top of the deck.
If any effect, besides normal draw during the Exploration step, would result in a Special Exploration card being on top of the Exploration deck, shuffle the deck, until there is a normal Exploration card on top.
4. Story Step
There may be times when you are instructed to read a story paragraph during a Delve Phase. In such cases, you should read the appropriate paragraph during this step of the Delve Round.
During this step you will also resolve various time-specific events, such as Clashes (see p. 42). First, check for any effects that refer to your current Time, and resolve them in any order you like.
If no Knight is on a Quest:
If the current Time is 8, resolve an Exhibition Clash. If the Exhibition Clash Monster has not yet been determined, resolve the Clash against a Monster from your current district, then proceed to the Rest Phase.
If the current Time is 16, resolve a Full Clash. If the Full Clash Monster has not yet been determined, resolve the Clash against a Monster from your current district, then proceed to the Spoils Phase.
During a Quest, however, you will be instructed when to proceed to the Clashes and Rest. In that case, if the Clash refers to a specific Monster, resolve it against that Monster. Otherwise resolve it against the Monster from the current district. After the Clash or Rest remember to always return to the paragraph that guided you to it!
Expedition Loss Conditions
You won't always win, but such is life. And just like life, your game will go on. There are several conditions that will result in defeat, including:
- All Knights being dead at any point of the game, at the same time (in a rare case, story may override that rule); note that this includes Clashes! (see Clash Phase on p. 42).
- Gaining Threat or Curse, if that gain would make you exceed the maximum value on the respective track.
- Running out of Deep Fog cards, while in the Deep Fog.
- Drawing from an empty Exploration deck.
- Being unable to resolve the Travel step.
- There may also be unique story-related loss conditions (you will find these in your Knightbooks).
When you lose an Expedition, resolve any specific defeat effects of your Quest or Investigation and proceed to the Spoils Phase.
The Deep Fog
The Deep Fog has consumed the Grand Kingdoms, casting them into dark isolation and leading to them being remade as the Kingdoms Forlorn. Only the brave—or the stupid—dare to enter the twisting grayness. The Deep Fog is treacherous and maddening to navigate. Space, time, and the rules of reality have no bearing on this realm, twisting it beyond logic. And yet, it can be navigated, the volatile nature of the Fog turned to your advantage, if you have the strength of will to conquer it. If you do not, it will cost you most dearly...
As mentioned in the rules for the Travel step, sometimes you may be pressed for time or without any other viable path forward. In such a case, you may decide to try to find a shortcut, and enter the Deep Fog (if there is an unblocked Deep Fog path on your current tile).
Entering the Deep Fog
To travel via the Deep Fog, during the Travel step, gain +1 Threat and choose any Unexplored Kingdom tile that's connected to an explored Kingdom tile, anywhere on the map. That explored tile does not need to be connected to your tile.
Example: You could travel to any of the Unexplored tiles visible through the Deep Fog.
Then, check the back of the chosen Kingdom tile for its Deep Fog Intensity. The Deep Fog Intensity determines the number of Deep Fog cards you must draw when traversing the Deep Fog. Important: Once you decide on a tile to travel to and check its Deep Fog Intensity, there is no going back—you must attempt to traverse the fog!
Deep Fog Card Anatomy
Each Deep Fog card has a name, a Deep Fog Value, and a Grave Penalty. Additionally, some Deep Fog cards have a Hazard Effect.
Traversing the Fog
Shuffle the Deep Fog deck and place it face down on the table, then draw the top card—this card becomes your Starting Deep Fog card. Place a Generic token on your current Kingdom tile as a reminder, and move the Party marker to the Starting Deep Fog card.
Your goal is to traverse as many Deep Fog cards on a single path as the value of the Deep Fog Intensity of your destination Kingdom tile, and end up with a Deep Fog Value of 4 or less. A value of exactly 4 is ideal, but a lower value will still get you through with a few scrapes. A value over 4 might end your Expedition right then and there.
Traversing the Deep Fog happens in rounds. Each Round you have to make a choice: Stay the Course, Withdraw, or Course Correct.
1. Stay the Course. Continue on your path. Draw the top card from the Deep Fog deck and place it adjacent to the Deep Fog card with the Party marker. The card must be placed in a straight line along the current path, in the same orientation.
If you can't place a Deep Fog card because another Deep Fog card blocks your path, you must Course Correct or Withdraw.
After placing a Deep Fog card, move the Party marker onto it. Then, count the number of revealed Deep Fog cards on your current path. If it is equal to the Deep Fog Intensity value of your destination tile, proceed to Leaving the Deep Fog. Otherwise, continue traversing the fog.
2. Withdraw. You exit the Deep Fog the same way you entered. Place the Party marker on the Kingdom tile with the reminder token, and discard that token. You left the Deep Fog, but the dangers lurking inside took notice of you. As a consequence, choose a revealed Deep Fog card with the lowest value and discard it, then gain +1 Threat and return to the Delve Phase. (Go straight to the Exploration step.)
3. Course Correct. You may change a path in the Deep Fog as many times as you want. The only thing restricting you is running out of cards in the deck. When you decide to change your path, for any reason, choose one revealed Deep Fog card on your current path and place the Party marker on it. Flip all other revealed Deep Fog cards face down. You can build a new path perpendicular to the previous path. Then, draw the top card from the Deep Fog deck and place it adjacent to the Deep Fog card with the Party marker. Move the Party marker onto the new Deep Fog card. Then, continue traversing the fog on this new path. This new path must still consist of as many cards as is the value of the Deep Fog Intensity of the destination tile.
There is no limit to the number of times you can Course Correct during a single traversal; however, after the first course correction, resolve all Hazard Effects on the cards you are drawing from this point during this Deep Fog traversal.
Example: An example of course correction. First, the party moves to Ivy Garden and flips all other cards in the row face down. Then, they draw a new Fog card and start moving in a different direction. Unfortunately, they encounter a Hazard Effect, and course correction requires you to always resolve them!
Hazard Effects
Hazard Effects are effects located in the upper right corner of a Deep Fog card. Resolve them only after you Course Correct.
Half-cup: Whenever you resolve this effect, if you don't have any, gain one Half-cup token. If you do, flip the token so it becomes a Full Cup token. For every Full Cup token, add +1 to your Deep Fog Value. Discard all Half-cup and Full Cup tokens when the party leaves the Deep Fog.
Discard the top Deep Fog card: If the game instructs you to discard the top Deep Fog card from the deck, do it without looking.
Running Out of Deep Fog Cards
Once you enter the Deep Fog, its deck won't be shuffled until you leave it. Consequently, if you're not careful, you may run out of cards before you reach the required path length. If that happens... you're out of luck. Your Expedition ends in failure (see Expedition Loss Conditions on p. 37).
Leaving the Deep Fog
When your path consists of as many Deep Fog cards as is the value of the destination tile's Deep Fog Intensity, you begin to emerge. What effect will the fog have on you? Add the Deep Fog Value of each card on your path. Add an additional +1 for every Full Cup token you have. That total is your final Deep Fog Value.
If your Deep Fog Value is exactly 4, you achieve a Flawless Traversal. Discard a Deep Fog card with the lowest value from your revealed path, shuffle the Deep Fog deck along with the cards you used, and proceed to Emergence.
If your Deep Fog Value is less than 4, you suffer a Minor Penalty. Resolve a chosen Grave Penalty effect of a single revealed Deep Fog card from your path. Discard a card with the lowest value from your revealed path. Then, shuffle the Deep Fog deck along with the cards you used, take the top card and discard it (without revealing it). Proceed to Emergence.
If your Deep Fog Value is more than 4, you suffer a Grave Penalty. Resolve all Grave Penalty effects of all revealed Deep Fog cards. Discard a card with the lowest value from your revealed path. Then, shuffle the Deep Fog deck along with the cards you used, take the top card and discard it (without revealing it). Proceed to Emergence.
Note: All effects are considered to be resolved with the Party Leader as the Target.
Emergence
Once you resolve all Deep Fog effects, place the Party marker on the Target Kingdom tile and remove the reminder token. Discard all Half-cup and Full Cup tokens, and return to the Kingdom Tile step.
During that step, get a Clue regardless of the type of tile you entered and instead of gaining a Clue that depends on the symbol on the Exploration card, gain a Clue of your choice. Gain the rest of the Clues normally (if any).
Encounters
Once you cross the Deep Fog and enter the Kingdoms Forlorn, you're never safe. You know you will have to face some of its Monsters in terrible prolonged Clashes (see p. 42). However, equally as often, you will have unexpected run-ins with those same denizens. In those cases you will need to resolve an Encounter.
Encounters are similar to Clashes; however, an Encounter takes place on a smaller board, is much simpler, and lasts only one Round, meaning you have only one chance to win. To do so, the right strategy will be key!
Encounters trigger from multiple sources, which means they can happen at any time, whether you're ready or not! When you are instructed to resolve an Encounter (for example because an Encounter Monster token moved onto your tile), finish resolving your current step, then immediately proceed to the Encounter.
When you're done resolving the Encounter, return to the Phase and step you were previously in (most commonly, the Delve Phase).
Encounter Setup
First, check the type of Monster you're facing. If the Encounter trigger does not specify the Monster, you face the Monster in your current district, as indicated by the District Wheel.
Find the Encounter Monster card of that Monster and place the corresponding Encounter Board on the table, so that it is within reach of all players. Note: All Encounter Boards are located on the other side of the Clash Board.
Take the corresponding Monster miniatures and the Encounter Monster card, and place them to the side of the board. Finally, proceed to the Encounter Sequence.
Sometimes a Quest may instruct you to resolve a special Encounter. In those cases refer to the bottom of the Encounter Monster card—if there is a Generic token there, use Generic tokens during that Encounter. Otherwise, use the dedicated Monster miniatures.
Encounter Monster Card Anatomy
An Encounter Monster card serves two functions. In the absence of specific instructions, it tells you which Monster to face in a Clash or Encounter—just check which Encounter Monster token rests in your district on the District Wheel.
Moreover, during an Encounter, you will use the Encounter Monster card to represent the Monster in lieu of a full Monster Sheet.
Each Encounter Monster card is double-sided, with each side showing a different level of the same Monster. Each side features the Monster's name and level, as well as its tier and an Encounter Board indicator. Furthermore, it shows the number of Monsters during an Encounter, their To Hit and AT values, a Critical effect, an Attack diagram and Attack effect, as well as Resolution effects dependent on the Knights' success rate. Finally, a Monster may have an Overpower and Scrape effects or another additional effect.
Encounter Sequence
An Encounter consists of the following steps, resolved in order:
- Positioning Step: Place the Monster and Knight miniatures on the Encounter Board.
- Monster Round Step: The Monsters act.
- Knight Round Step: The Knights act.
- Resolution Step: Check the outcome of the Encounter and apply the corresponding effects.
1. Positioning Step
During a normal Encounter, you position the Monsters first, then proceed to position the Knights (see also the Ambushes box, p. 41). When positioning Mobs, check the Monster Count value to see how many to field.
Monster Positioning. When placing the Monsters on the Encounter Board, always place and turn each Monster in such a way that they target the most spaces possible.
When fighting against a Mob Monster, for each Monster miniature roll a d6, then place the miniature on a space matching the rolled symbol (ignore all Hope symbols on the rolled dice). When placing Mob Monsters, place them so that their targeting overlaps as little as possible. If there is no free space on the Encounter Board with a matching symbol, place the miniature adjacent to a space with such a symbol.
When fighting against Vassal, King, or Devil Tier Monsters, roll two d6 dice and place the Monster miniature so that it stands on both spaces matching the symbols on the dice (ignore all Hope symbols on the rolled dice). If any effect would cause you to roll more than two dice, you may use the combination of any two dice. If you cannot place the Monster on spaces matching both dice, place it on at least one matching space instead.
When fighting against a Dragon, roll one d6 die, and place it in such a way that at least one occupied space matches the symbols on the die (ignore all Hope symbols on the rolled dice). If any effect would cause you to roll more than one die, you can choose one die that matches the board.
Knight Positioning. To position your Knight miniatures, first roll a d6 die for each Knight, then place your Knights on matching unoccupied spaces on the Encounter Board (ignore all Hope symbols on the rolled dice). If there is no available space with a matching symbol, you must either remove that Knight from the Encounter, or place your Knight miniature on any space targeted by the Monsters.
Ambushes. Ambushes are special Encounters that take place whenever a Monster takes you by surprise! During an Ambush, you switch the order of the Knight and Monster Positioning, meaning you resolve Knight Positioning first, then proceed to Monster Positioning. There are also a few key differences during each Positioning Step:
- Knight Positioning: After a roll, if there is no available space with a matching symbol, you must remove that Knight from the Encounter—they have to sit it out.
- Monster Positioning: When placing the Monster, always place them in such a way that their attack zone will target the maximum number of Knights. Also, when placing Monsters other than Mobs, if it is not possible to place the Monster on the Board due to Knights getting in the way of every possible placement, remove the fewest Knights possible from the Encounter in such a way that placement becomes legal. Those Knights suffer the Attack effect and do not fight in that Encounter.
2. Monster Round Step
Just like in a Clash, the Monsters act first. Each Monster targets every Knight in the indicated area. Each Knight on a space targeted by a Monster suffers the Attack effects shown on the Encounter Monster card. In case of Vigor loss, do not draw Mortis cards other than Judicium.
Dragon's Roar (Dragon Encounter/Ambush Only!) After the first Monster Round, repeat the Knight Positioning step, then repeat the Monster Round step. Do this only once. During this second Knight Positioning step, before you roll any dice, Knights already on the Board may decide not to move.
3. Knight Round Step
Once the Monster Round is over, it's your time to shine! Remember, you have only one Round to win. Each Knight may either perform an Attack Action or a Help Action.
Encounter Pool. The area in which you place Knight tokens during the Encounter is called the Encounter Pool. The Encounter Pool and the Knight Pool are separate! During Encounters, you may only use Knight tokens from the Encounter Pool.
Help Action. To use the Help Action, check the symbol on your Knight's space, and place 1 Opening token for each Opening symbol and 1 Break token for each Break symbol in the Encounter Pool.
Attack Action. To perform the Attack Action, first check if there is a valid Target in your weapon's effective range. If not, you cannot perform the Attack Action.
The Attack is resolved against the To Hit and AT statistics shown on the Encounter Monster card. The Attack Action works almost the same way as a Combat Action during a Clash (see p. 56):
- Declare Attack and Active Weapon
- Raise Passion (ignore Priority check)
- Attack Roll
- First Ability Window
- Power Roll
- Clear the Encounter Pool
- Second Ability Window
Note: Resolve abilities from your Weapon and Heroic Arc as usual, but remember that keywords like Cumbersome will never trigger since you're not dealing a Wound.
If you manage to reach or exceed the AT value, you Scrape the Monster. Place a Scrape token on the Encounter Monster card. Then, resolve the Scrape effect (if any) and clear the Encounter Pool. If you gained a Crit Chance during the Attack Roll and dealt a Scrape, resolve the Critical effect (only once per Encounter for the whole party).
When all Knights have taken their turns, proceed to the Resolution step.
4. Resolution Step
Count the number of Scrapes dealt and resolve the corresponding effect from the Encounter Monster card (Success, Partial Success, or Failure). Then, clear the Encounter components and return to the Phase that was interrupted. If the Encounter was triggered by an Encounter Monster token on your Kingdom tile, remove that miniature, then perform Rotation 1.
When a Quest paragraph instructs you to resolve an Encounter, treat Partial Success as a Success for the purpose of Success/Fail story effects.
Exploration Ciphers
Exploration Ciphers contain special story paragraphs with rewards that you may uncover during your Expeditions. Each Knight has their own half of an Exploration Cipher, which can be found in their Knightbook.
During Expeditions, you may sometimes find a part of a Cipher on a Kingdom tile. When combined with your Knight's half of a Cipher, it will form a paragraph number you may find in that Kingdom's Codex.
Your Knight's Cipher may change during certain Quests—for the duration of that Quest, the new Cipher completely replaces your original Cipher.
When you explore a new Kingdom tile with a Cipher on it, you may read all relevant paragraphs during the Story step of your current Delve Round. Note: You may read those paragraphs only once per Expedition.
Some tiles (and other game elements) may have a full paragraph number on them instead of a part of a Cipher. In such cases, when you encounter such a number, read the corresponding paragraph in the Kingdom Mysteries section in your current Kingdom Codex.
Symbols. Occasionally, you will find a Symbol in the Kingdom Codices. These are special paragraphs, tied to unravelling an ancient secret. Somewhere out in the Kingdoms, you'll find a hint on how to solve this ages-old mystery, and all will be made clear. Until then, pay these symbols no mind and, whatever you do, don't read these paragraphs!
Clash Phase
Clashes are the centerpiece of the ICP combat system. They are tactical battles against giant solitary Bosses or hordes of Mobs. Each Expedition will have at least one Clash, which will weigh heavily on your success, but most will have two: a smaller, easier Exhibition Clash somewhere around the midpoint of the Expedition, and a final Full Clash at the very end. Clashes last until either side is defeated; there is no retreat.
Resolving Clashes
Whenever the game prompts you to resolve a Clash, follow these steps in the indicated order:
- Establish Type: Establish if it's an Exhibition or Full Clash.
- Locate Setup: Find the Clash Setup in the respective Kingdom Codex.
- Perform Setup: Prepare the Board, the Monster and the Knights.
- Resolve the Clash: Fight, until only one side stands.
- Resolve the Aftermath: Deal with the effects of success or failure.
1. Establishing Type
Usually, during an Expedition, you will resolve two Clashes: an Exhibition Clash in the middle, and a Full Clash at the end (the exact Time may vary, depending on your Knight's campaign). These two types of Clashes play out almost exactly the same, the one exception being that during an Exhibition Clash you will start with a certain number of Generic Single Wound cards in the Wound Stack (see p. 60). Effectively, this means you need to deal less Wounds to win, which makes for a shorter, easier fight.
2. Locating Setups
When instructed to resolve a Clash, unless directed to a specific page, find the Clash Setup corresponding to the particular Monster you're facing - most commonly denoted by the Encounter Monster token on the District Wheel corresponding to your current District. The setup includes all information required for that specific Clash and may sometimes introduce additional narrative elements and mechanics. These setups will help you prepare the Clash Board, the Monster, and the Terrain tiles, and make any other applicable preparations. You will find the scenarios of the Clash from a particular Kingdom in that Kingdom's Codex.
Most Clashes are played on the Clash Board.
Basic Clash Terms
These are the most common game terms used in the Clash Phase.
Knight. During a Clash, game elements may refer to a Knight. The Knight is represented by a Knight Board and a Knight miniature.
Squire. During a Clash, Squires are considered Knights unless stated otherwise. A Squire is represented by the Squire card and a Squire Standee.
Monster. During a Clash, game elements may refer to the Monster. The Monster is represented by a Monster Sheet and Monster miniatures. Even if it is made up of a group of enemies, the Monster may still be referred to as the singular "Monster".
Clash Board. The Clash Board is made up of spaces. Only spaces and their edges are considered to make up the Clash Board. The Clash Board has two short and two long Board Edges. Short Board Edges are marked with letters to identify rows, and the long Board Edges are marked with numbers to identify columns. The top Edge includes the Mob Track (see p. 47). The left short Edge has designated spaces for Condition cards, Mortis cards and Monster Traits. The right Edge has areas on the Board dedicated to Terrain cards and the Knight Pool, while the bottom Edge is dedicated to most elements related to the fought enemy, such as the Monster Sheet, Signature and Routine, the AI and BP decks, and the Wound Stack.
Spaces. Spaces are square boxes you place other game elements on. A Knight takes up one space. Monsters may take up varying amounts of spaces, from one to nine. Spaces are considered Occupied if there is a miniature or an Obstacle (see Terrain, p. 66) on them. All other spaces are considered empty spaces.
Adjacent. A game element (like a miniature) is adjacent to another game element if the space it occupies shares at least one edge with the space occupied by the other game element.
Board Edge. Edges not shared with another space are part of the Board Edge (see Clash Board).
Knight Tokens and the Knight Pool. Knight tokens are a special type of "cooperative" token used by the players to enhance other players' attacks. These can help you hit and deal Wounds, escape Attack Responses, and more. The area you place Knight tokens in is called the Knight Pool (see Knight Pool and Knight Tokens on p. 19 for more details).
Bosses vs. Mobs. In Kingdoms Forlorn, you'll be fighting powerful solitary Bosses and hordes of Mobs. Do not underestimate the latter—individual Monsters may be weaker, but a Clash against Mobs is as challenging as any other!
Mob and Boss Clashes follow mostly the same rules, with a few exceptions. Those exceptions will be clearly highlighted, with red used for Bosses and blue for Mobs.
3. Performing Setup
Standard Preparations. When you locate the correct Clash Setup in the respective Kingdom Codex, you can begin preparing. There are standard elements to every Clash Setup (hence the name Standard Preparations), but most of them will introduce additional specific rules, including some found on Monster Sheets and Trait cards.
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Clash Board: Place the Clash Board next to the Kingdom map. If you are struggling for space, you may place the Clash Board on top of the Kingdom map, just be careful not to move anything underneath.
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Decks and tokens: Shuffle the Mortis decks and place them on the designated spaces. Then, place Knight and Resource tokens, Attack dice, and Power dice within reach of all players.
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Knights: Knight statistics do not reset at the beginning of Clash; you start with the stats you've accumulated over the course of the Expedition. Flip all Technique cards in your hand to the Clash side. Technique cards outside of your hand (for example those used during the previous Delve Phase) remain where they are, but are also flipped to their Clash side.
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Gear Loadouts: You must perform the Clash with the same Gear you took with you at the beginning of the Expedition. You cannot change your Gear right before a Clash, unless some effect specifically states otherwise.
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Monster: Place the Monster Sheet of the Monster you are about to fight on the designated space near the Clash Board. Place its Signature and Routine card on the corresponding space. Take all of that Monster's AI cards and divide them into three decks numbered 1, 2, and 3 (you'll find the number on the back of each card). Do the same for the Monster's BP cards.
Boss Clash: Place the AI 1 and BP 1 decks on the corresponding spaces on the Clash Board.
Mob Clash: Place the AI 1 deck on the appropriate space on the Clash Board. As for the BP cards, since each Mob Clash is unique, you will find the detailed instructions under the Monster Positioning section of that Mob's Clash Setup. Note that numbers on the Mob track correspond to the numbers on base rings.
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AI 0: Some Monsters start with an AI 0 card. During Clash Setup, prepare the AI and BP decks as normal. Resolve starting Escalations, if any, then place the AI 0 card on top of the AI deck. The AI 0 is always resolved in the first Monster Round. It cannot be discarded or otherwise removed from the deck until it is resolved. AI 0 is never taken into consideration for the purposes of Escalation. If, for any reason, you wound the Monster before resolving the AI 0 card, resolve a standard Escalation, then place the AI 0 card back on top of the AI deck. Each AI 0 card will instruct you on what to do with it once it is resolved.
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Activation tokens: Check the number and type of Monster Activations on the Monster Sheet, take the appropriate number and type of tokens and place them ready side up on the Monster Sheet (Boss Clash) or the Mob track, one token per space, starting from the leftmost space (Mob Clash). Note: If the Monster uses more than one Activation token, the order of Activation token placement will be indicated on its Sheet, although it will usually be an AI Activation followed by a Signature Activation. (See Activation and Activation Tokens, p. 46.)
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Terrain, Knight, and Monster Placement: Find all the Terrain cards and Terrain tiles used in the Clash. Place the Terrain cards near the Clash Board and the Terrain tiles on the Clash Board, according to the Clash Diagram. Place Knights on Knight Starting Positions as indicated by the diagram. Then proceed to Monster positioning.
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Other Components: Sometimes you will have other components to set up, for example your Saint patron's card or accompanying Princess(es). If there are additional components you have still not set up, set them up now.
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Exhibition Wounds (Exhibition Clash only): Place Generic Single Wound cards onto the Wound Stack equal to the Exhibition Wounds value on the Monster Sheet for the current Level. These Single Wounds do not trigger any Escalations.
Monster Positioning. Clashes handle Monster positioning and orientation in different ways. The rules for a particular Monster's placement can be found in its Clash Setup, in the appropriate Kingdom Codex.
Additional Setup. Battling each Monster is different, and battling each Monster Level is different as well. Thus, each setup will introduce its own specific rules and setup instructions that you need to follow.
Monsters
Monsters are governed by a set of attributes, Traits, and two distinct decks: the AI deck and the BP deck. They are not controlled by a specific player. Instead, players as a group will resolve instructions denoted on AI and BP cards that will dictate its behavior.
The AI deck contains various types of attacks and other aggressive behaviors. Each Monster in the game employs different strategies, represented by these cards. With every Wound dealt to a Monster, it becomes more deadly.
The BP deck represents either a Monster's body parts or, in the case of Mob Clashes, individual Monsters.
Monster Types
There are two main types of Monsters in Kingdoms Forlorn, Boss Monsters and Mob Monsters.
Boss Monsters are singular opponents. During Clashes against a Boss Monster, the BP cards represent different body parts of that opponent.
Mob Monsters usually attack in groups. In Mob Clashes the BP cards represent individual members of the Monster horde, and once Wounded, those enemies leave the Clash entirely, eventually becoming replaced by other Mobs. There are other differences as well, such as Escalation methods, number of Activations, and movement rules. For details, refer to Clash Sequence (see p. 47).
There are exceptions. Sometimes you may see a Boss Monster accompanied by a group of Mobs, and sometimes you can encounter a single Mob that will fight against you almost like a Boss.
Monster Sheet
Each Monster is represented by a large Monster Sheet that includes all basic information about a given Monster. Besides the Monster name and illustration, it shows the Monster diagram with a symbol that is shared with an Encounter Monster card, its Basic Abilities, as well as Level-specific attributes and Traits.
Every Monster Sheet consists of two sheets that should be joined together by the shorter edges. The sheets are two-sided, meaning that there is a different Monster on each side. Keep that in mind during Clash setup!
Monster Diagram
The Monster diagram shows the number of spaces a Monster occupies on the Clash Board (one, four or nine), as well as its Front and Rear spaces. Usually, you use the front for establishing the targeting of a Monster Attack, while the Rear spaces don't have general rules, but other rules may refer to the positioning of Knights in regard to them.
There are two special types of positioning symbols that may be found on a Monster diagram. You can learn more about them in the Basic Abilities section.
Basic Abilities
Basic Abilities are universal Monster abilities or features. A Monster may have any number of Basic Abilities. The common Basic Abilities throughout all Kingdoms are:
- Unavoidable Knockback X: The value of Unavoidable Knockback done by a Boss Monster if it ends its Movement on the same space a Knight is on (see p. 51).
- Blindspot: Blindspots are spaces the Monster cannot see. Knights in Blindspots are not considered to be In Sight of the Monster. A Knight in a Blindspot space gains a +1 Precision bonus (see Offensive Gear Stats, p. 20) to their Attacks.
- Weakspots: Weakspots can have different effects depending on the Monster and are usually unlocked by some other effect or game element. Weakspots don't have any inherent effects of their own, and a Weakspot space only indicates a space where a Weakspot may be created.
- Lumbering: The Monster is massive or is nigh immovable, and consequently cannot be involuntarily moved (see p. 56).
- Vantage Points: The Monster can be mounted and consequently has Vantage Points (see p. 65).
- Always There: For the purposes of all Monster Attacks and effects it is always considered adjacent to the Knight, but the Knight is not considered adjacent to the Monster.
- Bypass: The Monster has the Bypass keyword (see Keyword List, p. 80).
- Ignore Difficult Terrain: The Monster ignores any penalties caused by Difficult Terrain.
- Spawn: Mob Monsters have Basic Abilities that specify when and how to spawn them during Clash (see Spawning Mobs, p. 62).
Monster-Level Specific Attributes and Traits
The rest of the Monster Sheet is dedicated to Monster attributes and Traits, grouped by levels. This is because attribute values and Traits depend on the level of the Monster. Remember to always refer to the attributes and Traits associated with its current level (designated by the number).
A Monster Level box will include the level number, Main Attributes, Bonuses and a list of added or removed Traits. Remember to always check Traits added and removed at the current level as well as all previous levels and to find the Trait cards for Traits not explained on the Monster Sheet.
Main Attributes. Each Monster has a set of main attributes that govern how hard it is to hit, how many Wounds you need to deal to kill it, and how many times it acts per Round.
- To Hit: How hard the Monster is to hit (See: Attack Roll on p. 57).
- Wounds: The number of Wounds required to slay the Monster.
- Exhibition Starting Wounds: The number of Generic Single Wound cards you will add to the Wound Stack at the start of an Exhibition Clash.
- Activation: The number and type of Activation tokens on the Mob track or Boss Monster Sheet.
Bonuses. The higher the level, the tougher and more deadly a Monster gets. This is represented by level-based bonuses.
- AT bonus: Increase the AT of each BP card by this value.
- Vigor Loss bonus: Increase the total Vigor loss suffered as a result of each Monster Attack (not per hit) by this value.
- Evasion dice bonus: Increase the Evasion dice value of each Monster Attack by this value.
- Escalations: At the start of Clash, Escalate the Monster a number of times equal to this value.
Monster Traits
Monster Traits cover a broad spectrum of additional abilities, effects, and special rules. Some Traits are described on the Monster Sheet, while others are represented by Monster Trait cards. Many Monster levels introduce new Traits, some of which transform the Clash completely. However, some Traits may also be removed when certain conditions are met. Always make sure you are familiar with all Monster Traits as you prepare for a Clash. Remember: Your current level usually includes all Traits from the previous levels.
Signature and Routine
Signature and Routine represent the Monster's typical behaviors. A Signature is the creature's iconic default Attack. It behaves like an AI card, but it is not an AI card. If another card, Trait, or any other effect instructs you to perform Signature, this is the Attack you should resolve. The Routine is a special action the creature performs when there is no eligible Target for any of the targeting lines on its current AI or Signature card. Usually, Routines are devastating effects that should be avoided at all costs! They often affect all Knights or the entire Clash Board.
All Signatures and some Routines are Attacks, but they are not AI cards for the purpose of any other effects.
Activation and Activation Tokens
During the Monster Round, the Activation tokens dictate what Attacks, and how many of them Monsters can perform.
There are two types of Activation token:
- AI Activation: This Activation triggers an AI Attack (usually by making you draw an AI card).
- Signature Activation: This Activation triggers a Signature Attack (usually by making you resolve the Signature).
All Activation tokens are readied by default (flipped to the red side).
Mob Track
At the top of the Clash Board, you will find spaces numbered 1 to 10, left to right. These numbers correspond to the numbers on the Mob base rings. This means that when you attack Mob "1", you will be wounding the first BP on the track.
Whenever you are instructed to spawn a new Monster, place a new BP card from the BP deck on this track, on the leftmost empty space.
Clash Sequence
Clashes in Kingdoms Forlorn are resolved in a series of alternating Monster and Knight Rounds. By default, all Clashes begin with the Monster Round. During the Monster Round, you resolve Activations (AI cards or Signatures). During the Knight Round, each Knight takes their turn, by performing a Movement Action and a Combat Action in any order. The Clash immediately ends with the Knights' Victory as soon as the Boss is slain, or Mobs are scattered, i.e. once a number of Wounds equal to Monsters Wounds value is dealt. The Clash immediately ends with the Knights' Defeat as soon as all Knights die.
Some Clashes might have alternative win/lose conditions. In such cases these will be specified by the Monster Sheet, Knightbook paragraph, or Clash Setup.
Monster Round
In the Monster Round, you activate Monsters by drawing and resolving AI cards or performing Signatures.
In a Boss Clash, you only activate the Boss Monster (therefore you usually draw only one AI card).
In a Mob Clash, the number of Monsters you need to activate is designated by the number of Activation tokens (see Activation and Activation Tokens on p. 46). Each Mob Monster activates separately and must resolve its whole activation before any other Monsters can activate.
Regardless of the number of Monsters on the Clash Board, there is always only one Monster Round.
Monster Round Overview
Unless an effect explicitly states otherwise, all Clashes in Kingdoms Forlorn begin with the Monster Round. The Monster Round proceeds in the following order:
- Start of Monster Round
- Resolve Activations
- Resolve other Actions
- End of Monster Round
Start of Monster Round
Flip all spent Activation tokens to their ready sides. Additionally, a Monster will sometimes have an effect that triggers at the start of the Monster Round. In that case, the effect is resolved before resolving Activations. If there is more than one start of Round effect, the players may resolve these effects in any order.
Resolving Activations
Activations are the heart of the Monster Round. Most Activations lead to Monster Attacks. You resolve an Activation by performing these steps (in the following order):
- Draw AI or resolve Signature (see below): Draw the top card from the AI deck or resolve the face up Signature card.
- Targeting (p. 48): Decide who or what becomes the Target of the Attack.
- Movement (p. 50): Resolve any Monster movement.
- Attack (p. 51): 4.1. Evasion Roll (p. 52): Attempt to evade the Attack. 4.2. Attack Consequences (p. 53): Resolve Attack effects and draw a Mortis card.
- After Attack (p. 54): Resolve all After Attack effects.
1. Draw AI or Resolve Signature
Resolve each Monster Activation token individually. When you resolve an AI Activation, draw an AI card from the top of the AI deck. Notice the number at the top of the card's back. This number indicates the level of the AI card—as the Monsters escalate, you will add higher-level AI cards into the deck. So, although the AI cards are face down, you get some sense of how dangerous the next Monster Attack will be. Each AI card has a Name, Evasion Dice, Evasion Difficulty, Targeting lines, Move & Attack instruction, Heat Gate, Windows of Opportunity markers, Attack Consequences, After Attack Instruction, After Attack Effects, and Attack Type.
When you resolve a Signature Activation, resolve the face up Signature card. A Signature is very similar to an AI card, though it is not considered as one. Being face up, it is also much more predictable.
Once you resolve every Activation token, proceed to the Resolve Other Actions step.
Mob Clash: Resolve all Mob Activations, one at a time, starting from the leftmost Activation token on the Mob track. Once you finish resolving a Mob Activation, move that Activation token from that Mob's BP card to the next BP card to the right without an Activation token and flip it to the spent side to denote it cannot be activated again this Round. Then, proceed to the next leftmost ready Activation token.
When moving an Activation token in this way, the Mob track is considered to loop, i.e. if there are no valid BP cards to the right, place it on the leftmost valid BP card instead.
If there are no BP cards without Activation tokens, place the token on the next BP card to the right, increasing the number of tokens on the card. Note that this may lead to one BP card to have more than one Activation token on it! Such Mob will activate multiple times.
If a Mob is defeated while it has an Activation token, move that token according to the aforementioned rules, but do not flip it (i.e, if it was ready, it remains ready).
Example: After the first Mob activates, the token is placed on the third BP. Similarly, after the second Mob activates, the token is placed on the fourth BP.
Remember: The order in which Activation tokens are placed at the start of the Clash will be indicated on the Monster Sheet, but during the Clash that order may change.
Boss Clash: Activation tokens serve to track the number and types of Attacks performed by the Boss. Each time you activate a token, simply flip it over to the spent side. Unlike Mobs, the order of Boss attacks will never change from the one indicated on the Monster Sheet. When in doubt, if a Monster has both an AI Activation token and a Signature Activation token, always resolve any AI Activations first.
2. Targeting
Check the Targeting section of the AI or Signature card to see who is being attacked. Targeting is a series of increasingly general separate instructions called lines. To check who becomes the Target of the Attack, read the lines in the "Targeting" area of the card, one by one from top to bottom until you find the first one that you can resolve. Do not check further Targeting lines.
To become the Target, a Knight must fulfill all requirements of a single targeting line. If there is no valid Target for any of the targeting instructions, the card is discarded and the Monster performs its Routine instead. Note that when resolving a targeting line that specifies a Zone, the spaces in the Zone are the targets, not specific Knights, and thus they are considered performed even if there are no Knights in the designated Zone (therefore they do not result in a Routine).
Note: Some targeting instructions will require you to measure distance (e.g. Closest or Furthest). Distance in Kingdoms Forlorn is always measured along the shortest path from source to target through orthogonally adjacent spaces (in cardinal directions), never diagonally. If there is no viable path to the Target, it is not a viable Target.
Certain Monsters may introduce unique targeting instructions specific only to them. In such cases the Targeting instructions will be explained on their respective sheets.
Specific Targets. Some game effects will instruct you to resolve an Attack against a specific Target (e.g. "Perform Signature against the Attacker"). When it happens, this instruction overrules any targeting instructions on the card itself. Note that once a Knight becomes a Target in the Targeting step, they remain a Target until the end of this Attack, unless an effect specifically states otherwise.
Typical Targeting Instructions
Typical targeting instructions include:
- Adjacent: The Target is on a space that shares an edge with a space occupied by the attacking Monster.
- Engaged: The Target is adjacent to at least one Monster.
- Non-Engaged: The Target is not adjacent to any Monster.
- Closest: The Target is the shortest distance (in spaces) from the Monster (via the shortest possible path) among all possible Targets.
- Furthest: The Target is the furthest distance (in spaces) from the Monster (via the shortest possible path) among all possible Targets.
- Grouped Knight: The Target is adjacent to another Knight.
- Highest X: Most value of a specified statistic. For example, Highest Passion or Highest Heat; "0" is still considered a valid amount.
- In front: The Target is on any space in front (see Monster Facing, p. 49) and within Line of Sight (see p. 49) of the Monster.
- In range: The Target is in effective Range X of the Monster's Attack.
- In sight: The Target is within the Line of Sight (see p. 49) of the Monster.
- In/on X: The Target is in the specified area or on the specified space. For example, in Blindspot, on Vantage Point.
- Not in/on X: The Target is not in a specified area or on a specified space. For example, not in the Rear, Not on Vantage Point.
- Last Knight to Wound: The Knight who was the last to successfully wound the Monster with an Attack.
- Least X: Least amount of a specified resource, for example, Least Bane. If there is no Knight that has the specified resource, skip this targeting line.
- Lone Knight: The Target has no other Knight within three spaces from them.
- Lowest X: Lowest value of a specified statistic. For example, lowest Vigor or lowest Heat; "0" is still considered a valid amount.
- Most X: Most amount of a specified resource. For example, Most Bane. If there is no Knight that has the specified resource, skip this targeting line.
- No Target: Always resolve this instruction if no other targeting instruction is applicable.
- Priority Target: The Knight with the Priority Target token.
- With X: Knight with a specific game element, like a Gear card, Condition card, or statistic value. For example, With a Slimed Condition card.
- X Knights: Specified number of Knights.
- Zone: All spaces in an indicated area. This targeting line triggers even if there are no Knights within the indicated area. Some Zones have been named for narrative reasons. These are resolved like ordinary Zone Attacks unless instructed otherwise.
Blindspots and Vantage Points. Blindspots and Vantage Points are special types of playable spaces! Spaces are always considered Blindspots in relation to the Monster (see Monster Diagram on p. 45). Blindspots and Vantage Points are never in the Monster's Line of Sight. Vantage Points have more rules, such as special adjacency. For details see Vantage Points (see p. 65).
Priority Target
The Priority Target token serves as a tiebreaker for the purpose of Targeting. The Knight with the token is considered to be the Priority Target. When you increase your Passion for any reason during a Clash (usually when you attack), compare your current level to the Passion of the token's holder. If yours is higher, you become the new Priority Target and gain the token.
If two or more Knights are equally viable Targets (fulfill all instructions for the same Targeting line) and one of them is the Priority Target, this Knight becomes the Target.
If two or more Knights are equally viable Targets and none of them is the Priority Target, the players may choose which of them becomes the Target.
When the Knight with the token dies, pass the token to a living Knight with the highest Passion.
On some rare occasions, you may become the Divine Target. The Divine Target token functions similarly to the Priority Target token as a tiebreaker, but is only passed to other Knights according to Traits or other effects that caused you to gain the token. If both the Divine Target and the Priority Target are equally viable Targets, players may choose the Target.
Line of Sight
Line of Sight (LoS) is used to determine whether a Knight has an unobstructed view of the Monster and vice versa. A Knight must have LoS to the Monster to perform an attack against it. Most of the time the Monster also requires LoS while attacking, but some Targeting instructions do not require it.
To check LoS, see if you can draw an imaginary unobstructed straight line from a corner of any space occupied by the Attacker to a corner of any space occupied by the Target:
- If the line goes through a corner of an Obscuring Terrain space, there is LoS.
- If the line passes through an Obscuring Terrain space, there is no LoS.
- If the line passes along the edge of an Obscuring Terrain space, there is no LoS.
- If the line would go through a corner where two features (like Terrain tiles) connect diagonally (i.e. through that corner), there is no LoS.
- Blindspots and Vantage Points are never in the Monster's LoS.
- A miniature never blocks LoS to itself or other miniatures.
An Obscuring Terrain tile does not block LoS to or from Targets standing on any of its spaces (see Terrain on p. 66).
Example: In this example, the Eggknight has LoS only to Fleischritter, since other Knights are hidden either behind the Ruined Wall or Column Terrain tiles.
Monster Facing
Every Monster miniature has a front, a direction it is facing. Some Targeting instructions and other game elements may refer to a Monster's front or rear. To find out if a Knight or any other game element is in front of the Monster, draw an imaginary line passing along the edges of the spaces occupied by the Monster miniature's front. All spaces beyond this line in the direction the Monster is facing toward are considered in front (see diagram below).
Rear designates only the spaces adjacent to the Monster, directly behind it (in relation to the front). These are also always marked on the diagram on the Monster Sheet with the Rear space symbol.
Example: White spaces are in front, while the 2 orange spaces are considered Rear spaces.
Monster Turning
Unless stated otherwise, a Monster always turns:
- Toward the Target, when it begins and ends its movement.
- Toward the Target, before it performs an Attack (unless the Target is a Zone).
- In the designated direction when another effect instructs you to turn it.
- Mob Monsters always turn toward most Knights when spawned.
A Monster does not turn:
- When it is being moved forcefully (for example, if it's being pushed by a Knight).
- During a Simultaneous Attack against two or more Knights (see p. 51).
- During Zone Attacks.
3. Monster Movement
Most Monster Attacks will instruct you to move them. A Monster always performs its movement and tries to move as close to the Target as possible, stopping when they become adjacent (unless stated otherwise). Note: a Monster performing a Ranged Attack will stop as soon as it is within range!
Unless stated otherwise, at the beginning of movement a Monster always turns to face the Target first (see the Monster Facing box). Then, it moves along the shortest possible path—that is, through the fewest number of spaces. Bosses move through Obstacles, Knights, and other Monsters (unless explicitly stated otherwise), but Mobs have to move around them (and count spaces accordingly). In other words, Mobs exclude occupied and Obstacle spaces when designating the shortest possible path.
Monsters always move one space at a time, in cardinal directions (not diagonally).
If there is more than one valid path the Monster can take, it will move in a "zigzag" pattern toward its Target, switching the movement axis after each space traveled. In such cases, the players may choose the starting direction of movement. The Monster stops "zigzag" movement if it would cause it to get further away from the Target. Then, if there is still more than one valid path to choose (none of them is shorter), players decide which one it will take. If two or more routes are considered equally short, the players choose which one to use.
Example: The Eggknight moves toward Ser Sonch. As it is not in a straight line from him, it will first "zigzag" toward him. In the example, the players decided to first move the Monster horizontally, then vertically and then continue to move horizontally (as at this point the Eggknight can move in a straight line). Note that the players could have also moved the Monster up first, and then continue to move it in a straight line toward the Target.
If any effect would cause the Monster to move past a Board Edge, it will continue the movement along the edge prioritizing a direction that will initially lead it away from the most Knights (if possible).
Monsters usually move as a result of Attacks or Traits. However, sometimes Knights may force the Monster to move (for example, by using the Pushback keyword; see Involuntary Movement, p. 56).
Example: The Ratwolf Drags Ser Sonch into a Board Edge. As per the rules of Drag, it continues movement along the Board Edge, prioritizing movement leading further away from the most Knights. Note that in the end, this movement will still bring the Monster closer.
Example: In this example, the Eggknight targets Ser Sonch. To move adjacent, it will have to "zigzag". Since players can choose the starting direction of the "zigzag" move (as long it brings the Eggknight closer to the Target), they may decide to move it in a way that is less harmful, i.e. not through Kara!
Boss Movement Through and Onto Terrain Spaces
During movement, Boss Monsters ignore Terrain tiles, unless they have the Destructible keyword, in which case that Terrain tile is destroyed and removed from the Clash Board. Consequently, a Boss Monster can freely move through and onto spaces with most Terrain tiles (including Obstacles).
Boss Monster Movement Through Knight Spaces (Crash)
Knights do not impede Boss Monster's movement in any way, but a Knight on a space the Boss Monster moved through or onto suffers Crash. A Knight subjected to Crash loses -1 Vigor and suffers Knockdown (see Crash, p. 80).
Ending Boss Monster Movement on a Knight Space
If a Boss Monster ends its movement on a space occupied by a Knight, that Knight suffers Crash and Unavoidable Knockback equal to the Monster's Unavoidable Knockback value.
The Unavoidable Knockback happens in a straight line away from the Monster and is subject to all Knockback rules (see Knockback on p. 84) with the following exception: it cannot be lowered or ignored in any way other than effects that cause you to stop (such as colliding with an Obstacle) or effects that specifically refer to Unavoidable Knockback. If there are two or more equally possible Unavoidable Knockback directions, the player chooses one.
Boss Monster Movement Through and Onto Mob Spaces
Mob Monsters, just like Knights, do not impede Boss Monster movement in any way. If a Boss Monster ends its movement on a space occupied by a Mob Monster, that Monster is Displaced to the closest unoccupied space.
Monster Movement Types
The rules above apply to most cases of movement. There are, however, some special movement types. They still adhere to standard Monster Movement rules, but in case of a conflict, the rules below take precedence:
- Move: Perform movement to the Target until adjacent.
- Move to X: Perform movement to the designated area or in the indicated direction. For example, "Move to the Center of the Board".
- Move Behind: Move to the furthest space adjacent to the Target.
- Move Lateral: Move along the shortest possible path in a straight line (either horizontal or vertical) to a space from which the following Attack (usually Ranged or Zone) can be performed against the Target. If an Attack is preceded by Lateral Movement, check valid Targets and measure Range using the same rules.
- Jump: This movement does not cause Crash or destroy Terrain tiles, with the exception of Knights and Terrain tiles the Monster ends this movement on.
- Land on Top: A subtype of Jump. End movement on a space currently occupied by the Target instead of adjacent to it. Displace the Target to a front space (does not cause Crash or Unavoidable Knockback).
- Appear X: Place the Monster miniature on the designated space.
- Appear Behind: Place the Monster miniature on the furthest space adjacent to the Target.
Example: Example of Appear Behind.
Target Out of Reach
If a Knight moves outside of the Attack's effective range after becoming its Target, but before resolving an Evasion Roll (for example, using Movement Abilities), that Attack cannot be performed, and the Evasion Roll, as well as any Attack effects, are not resolved. Instead, the Monster proceeds straight to the After Attack actions and effects. This is called an Out of Reach Evade.
4. Monster Attack
Monsters usually move first, then attack. For an Attack to be resolved, the Target must be within Attack Range, as indicated by the Attack type. Note that Monster Attack types also introduce additional effects and rules for resolving them.
Attack Types
Usually, an Attack without a specific type is considered Melee and requires adjacency. Below you will find a list of all Attack types in the Kingdoms Forlorn Base Game. Due to each Monster's unique nature and the game's evolving mechanics, future Kingdoms may introduce new Attack types, which will be described in the appropriate Kingdom Codices. An Attack may have one or multiple types. If it has more than one Attack type, all rules referring to all its types apply.
- Range Attack X: Can be performed against a Knight within X spaces of the Monster.
- Simultaneous Attack: Performed against multiple Targets. Each Target performs a separate Evasion Roll in any order, but the Attack is considered to happen at the same time, therefore a Chain Break (see p. 54) caused by one Knight does not invalidate unresolved Attacks against other Knights.
- Sequential Attack: Performed against multiple Targets, one at a time, in a specific order. A Chain Break (see p. 54) during one of these Attacks stops the sequence and invalidates any lingering Attacks.
- Zone Attack: Each Target performs a separate Evasion Roll in any order, but the Attack is considered to happen at the same time (similarly to a Simultaneous Attack). The following rules apply:
- A Chain Break during one of these Attacks does not invalidate unresolved Attacks against other Knights.
- If a Knight moves outside of the Attack Zone after you have already begun to resolve this Attack against other Knights in the Zone (e.g. performed an Evasion Roll and applied Attack effects) it does not invalidate an Attack against it.
Zone X attacks all Knights within X spaces horizontally, vertically and diagonally from the source of Zone X. If a Knight is a source of Zone X, they are also affected by the Attack.
The Monster is not considered to be inside the Zone originating from it and neither are Knights on a Vantage Point.
Example: Example of Zone 2.
- Wave Attack: A Wave Attack is a type of a Zone Attack that disperses from the Monster in certain directions—just like a wave! A Wave Attack is blocked by Obstacles, like Columns. To check if your Knight occupies a space blocked from a Wave Attack, draw an imaginary line from the closest corner of the closest space occupied by the source to the furthest corner of the space occupied by the Knight. If the line passes through an Obstacle the Knight is adjacent to, the space is excluded from the Wave Attack. For the purpose of this rule, treat adjacent Obstacles as one Terrain tile.
Example: The Panzerdragon performs the Rustbreath AI. Since Fleischritter isn't behind any cover, he'll be hit. Ubar and Paracelsa are hidden behind Columns, which means they avoid the Attack. Kara is outside the Attack Zone entirely, so she avoids it as well.
- Judgement: Judgements are mental assaults that force the Target to perform a special Virtue test. Each Judgement will specify a Virtue it tests (if two are specified, the Target chooses which one to test). They usually have unlimited range. The Target must resolve a test instead of an Evasion Roll. Therefore, Vigor loss caused by Judgements cannot be mitigated with an Armor Roll, be re-rolled using Evasion Re-rolls, or blocked with the Block keyword. All rules referring to Virtue tests apply.
Judgements can be modified by Attack types, just like an Attack (e.g. a Zone Judgement affects all Knights in a designated Zone). After performing the Virtue test, you may activate the Defy X keyword to ignore X hits.
- Command: This type of Attack forces the Target to perform a specific action. However, each Target may decide whether to obey the Command or not. Not following a Command will bear a penalty dependent on the specific Monster. When the Knight decides, and either obeys the Command or suffers a penalty, the rest of the Attack is performed just like a regular Monster Attack. In case of multiple Targets, all targeted Knights decide at the same time to either Obey or Disobey, then proceed to resolve their Attacks separately. Obeying a Command renders all suffered effects voluntary. Note: It is not possible to resolve a Command partially. If you choose to Obey, you must always resolve the effect to the fullest extent you are able to.
Who's Hitting Whom. All effects of AI and BP cards are resolved by a Monster against the Target (in case of an AI) or the Attacker (in case of a BP), unless stated otherwise. This means that when, for example, an AI card causes Vigor loss or a BP card triggers a Knockback ability, it's the Monster who acts against the Knight.
4.1. Evasion Roll
In Kingdoms Forlorn, Monsters do not roll to hit—it is up to you to evade them! In the upper left corner of the card, each Monster Attack has a number of Evasion dice and the Evasion Roll difficulty below it. To perform an Evasion Roll you must roll the specified number of dice (remember to always roll one white Critical die! See p. 53). An Evasion Roll is considered successful if the number on the die is equal to or higher than the Evasion Roll difficulty.
If your Knight has any Gear cards or effects that improve Evasion, add those bonuses to the result of each die rolled. If you have the Guard X keyword, you may trigger it now to divide +X among the results of any number of dice. You may also use Heat to re-roll Evasion dice (see Heat Re-rolls, p. 14). Remember: Only one Defensive Weapon can be active at the same time during the Evasion Roll, meaning you can add Evasion bonuses from only one Defensive Weapon. You can't re-roll dice you added a Guard X bonus to. Each die can only be re-rolled once, regardless of the source of the re-roll!
If there are no hits (meaning that you successfully evaded with all dice), that Evasion Roll is considered a Full Evade and you should proceed straight to the After Attack part of the Attack (or a Response preceding the After Attack; see p. 54), as well as trigger all your Full Evade effects. Otherwise, proceed to Attack Effects (see p. 53).
Defensive Weapons
Some weapons possess defensive statistics: they can provide Evasion Re-rolls, an Evasion bonus or Armor dice. If you use any defensive statistics or an active ability during an Evasion Roll or Attack Consequences, that Weapon Gear becomes your active Weapon until the end of this Monster Attack. You can only have one active Weapon at a time—until the end of this Attack you cannot use any other Weapon for any statistics or active abilities.
Note: Constant abilities and passive abilities (for example, a Virtue bonus or Bane Limit) still work on inactive Weapon Gear.
Crit Die During Evasion Rolls
Whenever you perform an Evasion Roll, one of the dice you roll must always be the white Crit die. If you roll only one die, it is always the Crit die. The Crit die is used to simulate strokes of luck, as well as unexpected failures. Whenever you roll a natural (i.e. before applying any modifiers) "10" on the Crit die, you gain a "Crit Evade". Whenever you roll a natural "1", you gain a "Crit Evade Fail".
Crit Evade: Some Gear cards may provide you with Crit Evade abilities and effects. If you gain a "Crit Evade", you immediately resolve all "Crit Evade" effects (but you cannot activate Crit Evade effects from two different weapons—only one active weapon at a time!)
Crit Evade Fail: Some cards may contain a Crit Evade Fail effect. If you gain a "Crit Evade Fail", immediately resolve all "Crit Evade Fail" effects. You may re-roll this die as normal (using Heat or other effects), but Crit Evade Fail effects must be resolved nonetheless. If you re-roll the Crit die and roll a natural "1" again, resolve any Crit Evade Fail effects an additional time.
4.2. Attack Consequences
If the attacked Knight fails to evade at least one hit, resolve Attack Consequences. The most common consequences are Attack Effects and Peril Checks.
Attack Effects. If at least one die is a hit, you must trigger all effects of the Attack. Most Attacks scale with the number of hits you receive, so even a partial evade will make the Attack weaker. Resolve all Attack effects in the order they are written on the card, one sentence at a time. There are many possible Attack effects, but the following are the most common:
- Vigor loss: Most Attacks cause you to lose -X Vigor. When this happens, subtract Vigor equal to the value dealt. You can try to mitigate this loss with an Armor Roll (see below).
- Peril Check: Perform a Peril Check (see below).
- Other statistics: Attack effects may also increase your Passion or Heat.
- Conditions, other effects, and abilities: Some Attacks also include effects that cause you to gain a Condition card or another game element, or suffer the effects of abilities (such as Pushback or Knockback).
Armor Roll
When you suffer Vigor loss as a consequence of a Monster Attack, if any game element grants you Armor dice, you must perform an Armor Roll. Note: Components that grant you Armor dice conditionally (like a Gear card, if you choose it as an active Weapon, or the Reinforce X keyword) only count toward this rule if you choose to use them.
To perform an Armor Roll, sum up the Armor dice from all your sources, and roll them. When you perform an Armor Roll, you count Power symbols, not Potential or Hope. Subtract those from the total amount of Vigor you are about to lose.
If that Vigor loss is reduced to 0, do not resolve the Peril Check on the card that caused the Vigor loss.
Note: Armor dice can only be re-rolled with the Armor Re-roll keyword, which can be found on certain Gear cards or Knight Techniques.
Peril Check
In Kingdoms Forlorn, neither Knights nor Monsters stand idly by when attacked. Being attacked will, more often than not, trigger a Peril Check. Each time you encounter a Peril Check symbol on any game element, you must draw a Mortis card. Conversely, do not draw a Mortis card after losing Vigor, unless the loss is accompanied by a Peril Check symbol.
There is one exception to this rule: when your Knight drops to 0 Vigor or below. In such cases, you always perform a Peril Check, and draw a Judicium card, even if the loss wasn't accompanied by the Peril Check symbol. For a detailed explanation, see Falling Below "0" Vigor below.
Some game effects may also specifically instruct you to resolve a Peril Check, in which case you should draw a Mortis card corresponding to your current Peril threshold.
Multiple Peril Checks
Some game effects may instruct you to perform a Peril Check in addition to those already included in the current action. In such cases always resolve only one Peril Check.
Drawing a Mortis Card
Mortis cards can take the form of Wounds and negative Conditions, but they are equally likely to present you with opportunities or allow you to perform heroic deeds.
When you are instructed to draw a Mortis card by, for example, encountering a Peril Check, consult your Peril Arc (see Peril Arcs, p. 18), and draw a card from the Mortis deck of a severity that corresponds to your current Peril Threshold: Minor, Major, Grave, or Judicium.
Some Mortis cards have instant effects, while others persist throughout the Clash, or cause you to gain a Condition card. After resolving the card's effects, place it at the bottom of the corresponding Mortis deck, unless stated otherwise.
Falling Below "0" Vigor
When your Vigor drops to 0 or below, you are not immediately killed, but your chances of survival reduce drastically. When this happens, leave your Vigor marker at "0", but for the purpose of the current Peril Check, treat it as if it went into the negative (see Massive Peril, p. 54). If you survive, your Vigor will be considered to be at "0" again.
Falling to 0 (or below) always forces you to draw a Judicium, even if it was not accompanied by a Peril Check symbol.
To draw a Judicium, shuffle the Judicium deck and draw the top card.
By default, there should be only two Judicium cards in the deck: a "You Live!" card and a "You Died" card. After resolving a Judicium card, you always shuffle it back into the deck.
Some game effects may refer to You Died Judicium cards. This term includes all Judicium cards that result in a Knight's death. Note: Drawing a Judicium is often called a Judicium Draw.
Note: If an effect would lower your Vigor to 0 or below, at the end of the current step, if you did not draw a Judicium, draw a Judicium.
Example: Ser Sonch is at 2 Vigor. The Eggknight stops its movement on Ser Sonch's space, causing Crash and Unavoidable Knockback. The Crash doesn't trigger a Peril Check; the player simply lowers their Vigor to 1. However, the Unavoidable Knockback sends Ser Sonch flying into a Column, which causes a second Crash. This second Crash causes him to drop to 0 Vigor. Ser Sonch must resolve a Peril Check and draw a Judicium, because this effect causes him to drop to 0 Vigor.
Massive Peril
If your Vigor goes into the negative, you may have to add more negative Judicium cards to the Judicium deck. Such a card is added immediately before drawing a Judicium, and remains in the deck until the end of Clash, unless specifically stated otherwise. For detailed rules, consult the Massive Peril Chart.
Massive Peril Chart:
- -5 Vigor: Add the You Died Horribly card to the Judicium deck.
- -9 Vigor: Add the Your Gruesome Death Becomes Legend card to the Judicium deck.
- -12 Vigor: Add the Your Death Beckons the Graal card to the Judicium deck.
The effects of Massive Peril Checks can stack. Remember to discard any additional cards from the Judicium deck after each Clash.
Example: Kara is at 1 Vigor when the Eggknight attacks, she then loses -6 Vigor. She lowers her Vigor on the track to 0, temporarily treating her as -5. This draws a Judicium, causes her to reach the first Massive Peril threshold and she must add the You Died Horribly Judicium card to the Judicium deck. Kara survives the Judicium draw, but at a later point she is attacked again! She loses -6 Vigor, causing her to treat her current Vigor as -6. She exceeds the Massive Peril threshold, but doesn't add any more Judicium cards to the deck, since the You Died Horribly Judicium card is already there. For her to add another Judicium card to the deck, she'd have to reach the next Massive Peril threshold, and for that her Vigor would have to drop to -9 in a single blow.
Window of Opportunity
Most Signatures and AI cards, as well as some BP cards and other game elements, give the players an opportunity to react to a situation, most often a Monster Attack, outside of their normal turn. These "action spaces" are called Windows of Opportunity and are represented by the REACT! symbol.
Whenever you encounter the REACT! symbol preceding an AI instruction, you may activate Reaction abilities immediately before you resolve that instruction. During a single Window of Opportunity, each Knight may activate any number of abilities in any order, but no more than one ability with the same name per Knight (see Named Abilities, p. 23).
Attack Gated Effects
Some Attacks may have gates that trigger additional or stronger effects depending on a particular Knight statistic or other game element. This is always indicated by a special banner, showing the requirements that need to be met for the effect to trigger, such as "Heat 3+, +1 Evasion die". In this example, if your Heat was 3 or higher, you'd have to roll an additional Evasion die.
The placement of the banner does matter. For the above example to come into effect, that gate would have to be placed before the Monster Movement & Attack instruction.
After Attack
The After Attack section of a card contains additional effects that take place regardless of whether you resolve, evade, or prevent (see Target Out of Reach, p. 51) the main part of the Monster Attack. After Attack effects can be canceled only with a Chain Break (see below) or the Mercy Rule (see p. 64).
All After Attack effects targeting a single Knight affect the original Target, unless stated otherwise. If, for any reason, you would need to resolve two After Attacks, you may resolve them in any order.
An After Attack instruction that has more than one Target is resolved against each Target. However, if the Attack includes an After Final Attack instruction, it only takes effect after resolving the Attack against each of its Targets, against the last attacked Target.
If you were activating an AI card, once you finish resolving its After Attack effects (if there are any), discard it. If there are no more cards in the AI deck, shuffle the discard pile to form a new AI deck.
Remember: After Attacks are resolved even if the Attack itself was fully evaded!
Chain Break
Some Mortis cards, abilities, and other game elements may allow Knights to act during a Monster or Knight Attack, slightly disrupting the natural flow of the game. If the disruption is big enough, it may trigger a Chain Break, immediately ending the original Attack and invalidating all of its lingering Attack effects, as well as After Attack effects.
If a Knight Bonus Attack or additional Monster Attack is triggered during a Monster Attack (for example, by a Mortis card), it causes a Chain Break, and the original Monster Attack immediately ends.
If any game element instructs you to Chain Break, the Attack currently taking place (if any) immediately ends. In the case of Monster Zone Attacks, a Chain Break performed by one Knight ignores any lingering Attack effects and After Attack effects for that Knight only. Any other Target of the Attack must still resolve them.
If, for any reason, a Knight is no longer in their weapon's effective range (such as the Monster moving away from a Knight's melee attack) or a Knight becomes unable to continue the Attack (such as by gaining the Knockdown Condition card) after they attack the Monster, but before they perform the Power Roll, it causes a Chain Break and the Attack immediately ends.
If a Chain Break happens during a Knight Attack, resolve the Clear the Knight Pool and second ability window steps (see Combat Action, p. 56), then proceed to resolve the effect that caused the Chain Break.
Note: Knight Bonus Attacks triggered during a Knight Attack are considered to be Follow-up Attacks. They do not cause Chain Breaks and are instead resolved after you finish resolving the current Attack, much like Monster's "Attack Responses". You'll learn about both in the Knight Round section on p. 55.
A Chain Break ends only a single Activation. If there are more Activations afterward, they are resolved as normal.
Resolve Other Actions
Monsters may have many tricks up their sleeves. Some may perform additional Attacks after the mandatory Activations, while others will trigger Trait effects and other effects.
Any additional Attacks are resolved using the normal rules explained above. Every Trait that triggers an additional effect will introduce its own rules.
End of Monster Round
Sometimes a Monster will have an effect that triggers at the end of the Monster Round. In that case, it's resolved after all other actions. If the Monster has more than one End of Round effect, the players may resolve these effects in any order they choose.
Note: Discarded cards stay in the Discard area until the end of the Clash.
Knight Round
You managed to survive the Monster Round? Good! Now strike back with all your might! This section covers everything that happens during the Knight Round. First, let's start with the basics: how to move, and how to attack.
Knight Round Overview
Unless an effect explicitly states otherwise, a Knight Round always comes after the Monster Round. The Knight Round proceeds as follows:
- Start of the Knight Round
- Knight turns
- End of the Knight Round
Start of Knight Round
Sometimes a game effect will trigger at the start of the Knight Round. In that case, it's resolved before any of the players take their turns. If there is more than one start of Round effect, the players may resolve these effects in any order they like.
Knight Turns
During the Knight Round, you take turns activating your Knights, one at a time, until each Knight has acted. You may take your turns in any order you like to make the best of the tactical situation at hand. Just remember, you cannot pause one Knight's turn in order to allow another Knight to take theirs! In other words, you must completely resolve one Knight turn to start another.
Each Knight turn starts with the Refresh step. Then, a Knight gets one Combat Action, one Movement Action, and an unlimited number of free actions (see Free Actions, p. 62). You can perform these actions in any order, but you must finish one action before you perform another. Some effects and abilities may require you to spend one or both of your actions. You can only spend an action if you haven't performed it yet, and after it is spent it cannot be performed again this turn. Note: Unless stated otherwise, you are not forced to perform all of your actions, but any unused actions will be lost when the turn ends.
A Knight's turn ends when a player declares that he does not want or cannot take any more actions. They cannot take another turn until the next Knight Round. Once all Knights have taken their turns, proceed to the next Monster Round.
Refresh Step
During the Refresh step a Knight regains some of their resources, specifically Heat and Technique cards.
First, lower your current Heat by the amount equal to your Knight's Heat Refresh rate.
Then, return to your hand X Technique cards from the Cooldown area of your Knight Board, where X is your Knight's Card Refresh rate.
Finally, move all cards from the Delay area of your Knight Board to your Cooldown area.
Movement Action
The Movement Action is, generally, used to move the Knight around. You will use it to get close to the Monster or take any other tactically advantageous position.
When you perform your Movement Action, you can move a number of spaces up to your Knight's Speed value. First declare the space you want to reach, then move your Knight, one space at a time, resolving the effects of Terrain tiles you travel through as you move onto them.
Note: You do not need to move the maximum available number of spaces, but if you don't, you cannot use them to move later during the turn.
There are other general rules and restrictions that apply to movement actions:
- All movement is performed in cardinal directions. You cannot move diagonally!
- You cannot move through Obstacle or Chasm Terrain tiles.
- You cannot move through other Knights or Monsters.
- As part of a single movement, you cannot move onto the same space twice.
Example: Knights can only move in cardinal directions, never diagonally. They cannot voluntarily move through other miniatures.
Example: Knights cannot move through Terrain tiles with the Obstacle keyword. They may, however, freely move through Terrain tiles without it, unless stated otherwise.
Move-Like Abilities
If an ability, a Mortis card, or any other effect allows you to move voluntarily without performing a Movement Action, it is considered a move-like ability. Move-like abilities are resolved in the same way as movement actions (unless stated otherwise), but they are not considered a Movement Action for the purposes of other abilities and effects.
Voluntary Movement
All movement performed by the source of that movement, as well as movement caused by a friendly source, is considered voluntary.
Involuntary Movement
All movement caused by an opposing force is considered involuntary and must be resolved up to its maximum value, unless another effect forces it to stop. The most common causes of involuntary movement are Knockbacks and Pushbacks. A single effect can be a voluntary movement for one miniature and involuntary for another. For example, when a Knight performs Pushback against a Monster, it is a voluntary movement for the Knight, and involuntary for the Monster. Involuntary movement is resolved the same way as voluntary movement, with the following exceptions:
Involuntary Movement of Knights and Mob Monsters
- Knights may be involuntarily moved through spaces occupied by other miniatures (other than Boss Monsters) and Obstacle Terrain tiles. If a Knight is involuntarily moved into a Board Edge, they continue to move along that edge, away from the source of involuntary movement (if possible).
- If a Knight is about to be involuntarily moved into a Boss Monster space, that Knight suffers Crash, and the involuntary movement ends with the Knight adjacent to that Boss Monster.
- If a Knight ends their involuntary movement on a space occupied by another Knight, the other Knight is Displaced.
- If a Knight ends their involuntary movement on a space occupied by a Mob Monster, that Mob Monster is Displaced.
- If a Knight is about to be involuntarily moved onto a space with an Obstacle Terrain tile, they suffer a Crash; if the Obstacle tile is Destructible, it is removed from the Board and the Knight is moved onto that space; if the Obstacle is Indestructible, it stays on the Board, and the involuntary movement ends adjacent to the Indestructible Obstacle.
- If a Knight moves through, or ends their involuntary movement on a space with a Chasm Terrain tile, they die. Note: A knocked back Knight moves over the Chasm Terrain tile, and does not die unless the Knockback ends on that tile.
- Some Terrain tiles may have special rules that come into play when a Knight moves onto them involuntarily.
The same rules apply for Mob Monsters, with the following exceptions: if a Mob Monster is involuntarily moved onto a space with a Chasm Terrain tile, that tile is treated as an Indestructible Obstacle. Mob Monsters do not suffer or cause Crash and Unavoidable Knockback. Mob Monsters perform forced movement and Attacks just like Boss Monsters.
Involuntary Movement of Boss Monsters
Monsters can be involuntarily moved through spaces occupied by other miniatures (other than Boss Monsters) and Obstacle Terrain tiles. If a Monster is involuntarily moved into a Board Edge, it continues to move along that edge, away from the source of involuntary movement (if possible).
Some Terrain tiles may have special effects that activate when a Monster moves onto them involuntarily.
Moving through and ending on spaces occupied by Knights and Mobs follow standard movement rules.
Involuntary Movement Reduction
Knight abilities, Traits and other effects may reduce involuntary movement. Multiple effects reducing involuntary movement may be applied at the same time, e.g. if a Knight has two Gear cards that allow them to reduce suffered Pushbacks by 1 each, then deals a Critical Wound that reduces Monster Pushbacks by 2, all of these effects can be combined to reduce Pushback suffered by that Knight by a total of 4.
Other Uses of Movement Actions
As mentioned at the start of this section, there may be some other uses for a Movement Action, for example to unexhaust cards (see Unexhausting on p. 21) and as a part of Complicated Action (see Complicated Actions on p. 63).
Combat Action
The Combat Action allows you to attack Monsters and deal Wounds.
To perform a Knight Attack, resolve these steps, called the attack sequence, in the following order:
- Declare Attack and Active Weapon
- Raise Passion and check Priority Target
- Attack Roll
- First Ability Window
- Determine BP Card
- Power Roll 6.1 Create the Power Pool 6.2 Roll the Dice 6.3 Power Re-rolls 6.4 Use Potentials 6.5 Resolve the Power Roll
- Monster Responses
- Wounds and Escalation
- Clear the Knight Pool
- Second Ability Window
1. Declare Attack and Active Weapon
Declare you are about to attack and choose a Monster that will become your target. Then, choose one of your unexhausted weapon Gear cards as an active weapon for this Attack. You can only choose a weapon as active if the target of your Attack is in that weapon's effective range (adjacent for melee, within range X–Y for Ranged, etc.) and LoS (see Line of Sight on p. 49). Note: If a weapon does not have a Ranged or Reach keyword, it is always considered Melee (see Gear, p. 20).
If you cannot choose a valid active weapon or you don't have LoS, you cannot perform an Attack. Do not resolve any further steps of the attack sequence. If the Attack ends in this step, it doesn't cause a Chain Break (see p. 54).
Effective Range. Effective range is the distance, in spaces, from the Attacker to the Target. Just like movement, it is calculated in cardinal directions, never diagonally.
The effective range of most weapons is adjacency, meaning you need to stand next to the Monster to perform the Attack. These are called Melee weapons.
Reach X weapons have an effective range of X, meaning you can attack a target up to X spaces away. Reach weapons can also be used when adjacent.
Ranged X–Y weapons have an effective range of X–Y, meaning you can only attack a target at least X and up to Y spaces away. Most ranged weapons cannot be used while adjacent.
2. Raise Passion and Check Priority Target
Raise your Passion by 1. Then, if your Passion is higher than the current Priority Target's Passion, you become the new Priority Target. Gain the Priority Target token. Remember: The Passion Limit is 9. If you reach the limit, simply stop raising your Passion.
3. Attack Roll
Roll a number of d10 Attack dice equal to the Attack dice value of your weapon. Increase the result of each Attack die by your weapon's Precision bonus. Remember that you can use tokens from the Knight Pool to gain additional Precision (see Knight Tokens on p. 19). You can also re-roll your dice by increasing Heat or using other abilities and effects that provide Attack Re-rolls (see Dice Re-rolls on p. 14).
Each die with a result equal to or higher than the Monster's To Hit value is a hit. If you hit with all your Attack dice, it is considered a Full Hit and activates all "Full Hit" abilities of the active weapon. "Full Hit" abilities activate immediately, unless they denote a specific timing condition, in which case they take effect at that time (see Ability Usage, p. 22).
All dice that are not hits are misses. If you miss with all your Attack dice, it is considered a Full Miss. Go straight to step 9 (Clear the Knight Pool), without resolving any further Attack steps, then activate all "Full Miss" abilities and immediately end the Attack.
Note that some Gear cards have additional effects that activate based on the results of your Attack Roll.
Remember: A natural "10" (critical) is always a hit and a natural "1" is always a miss, no matter how many positive or negative Precision modifiers you apply.
Crit Die During Attack Rolls
Whenever you perform an Attack Roll, one of the dice you roll must always be the white Crit die. If you roll only one die, it is always the Crit die. The Crit die is used to simulate strokes of luck, as well as unexpected failures. Whenever you roll a natural (i.e. before applying any modifiers) "10" on the Crit die, you gain a "Crit Chance" for this Attack. Whenever you roll a natural "1", that's a potential "Crit Miss"; Crit Misses don't do anything on their own, but may trigger other effects (see below).
On the other hand, each Crit Chance makes you ignore Ultrainstinct Responses (see p. 58) and may even turn your Wound into a Critical Wound! If you successfully deal a Wound to the Monster while you have a Crit Chance, ignore all other Responses and instead resolve the Critical (see Resolving the Power Roll on p. 59 for more details). If you fail to deal a Wound, resolve Responses as normal.
Additionally, some Techniques, Gear cards, and Knight Talents may introduce other Crit effects during and outside of attacking. These refer only to the result on the Crit die and they include:
- Crit Chance: Resolve this effect if you rolled a natural "10" (this is on top of gaining the chance to deal a Critical Wound).
- Crit Miss: Resolve this effect if you rolled a natural "1". You may re-roll this die as normal (using Heat or other effects), but Crit Miss effects must be resolved nonetheless. If you re-roll the Crit die and roll a natural "1" again, resolve any Crit Miss effects an additional time.
4. First Ability Window
Activate applicable keywords from your Knight's Heroic Arc, Techniques, Talents, your active weapon and any other non-weapon Gear cards equipped on your Knight. Only the attacking Knight may activate abilities during this window, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Abilities used during this window will influence your own Attack. These mostly include abilities that allow you to change your Knight's positioning or push the Monster (such as Vault or Pushback X). Some rare abilities may also allow you to add Knight tokens for yourself (such as Auto-break X), but most Knight token abilities are used during the second ability window (see Knight Tokens, p. 19). To learn more about each ability's timing, see the Keyword List (p. 80).
5. Determine BP Card
Determine the Monster's BP card that you will try to wound.
Boss Clash: Draw the top card from the BP deck and reveal it. This card represents one of the Monster's body parts.
Mob Clash: If it's not already revealed, reveal the BP card corresponding to the Mob miniature you are attacking. This card represents an individual Mob Monster.
Notice the number in the center of the card back. This number indicates the level of the BP card. So, although the BP deck and cards are kept face down, you get some sense of how tough the next BP card will be to wound.
If the BP card has an Ultrainstinct Response, it triggers immediately after determining the BP, but before the Power Roll. Do not resolve Responses if you rolled a Crit Chance.
BP cards include the following information:
- Monster Symbol: Shows the Monster the BP card belongs to.
- Name: Name of the Monster body part or name of the Mob you are attacking.
- Card Level: The level of the BP card. The higher the level, the more vital the body part or scarier the Mob and the higher the AT and the consequences of the Attack.
- AT: The Armor Threshold, the Monster's supernatural resistance to harm. The higher the AT, the more Power is required to wound it.
- Responses: The Monster will usually react to your Attack, depending on whether you successfully deal a Wound or Fail to deal a Wound. It can also react on Instinct, regardless of the Attack outcome.
- Critical: If you manage to deal a Critical Wound, you will deal a powerful blow to the Monster. You do not resolve any other Responses if you critically wound the BP card. Important: A Crit Chance by itself is not a Critical! If you Fail to wound the Monster, it's just a Fail!
- Overcome and Overpower Effects: Special effects that trigger based on your Total Power.
Note: Some Mob BPs have additional effects when they are revealed or stay revealed ("When Revealing" and "When Revealed" effects).
6. Power Roll
Hitting the Monster is just the beginning. Now you have to hope that your Attack will be powerful enough to damage or kill it—in other words, to break through its Armor Threshold (AT).
To do that, your Total Power must be equal to or higher than the current BP card's AT value. To perform the Power Roll, follow these steps:
6.1 Create the Power Pool 6.2 Roll the Dice 6.3 Power Re-rolls 6.4 Use Potentials 6.5 Resolve the Power Roll
6.1 Create the Power Pool
First, gather your Power Pool. The Pool comprises Power dice of various colors (red, black and white) and, sometimes, of raw Power points. The higher the number of dice in the Pool, the better your chances of wounding a Monster.
Each successful hit grants you as many Power dice as your active weapon's Weapon Power attribute. In other words, the more hits you score on your Attack dice, the more powerful your Attack is going to be. Some weapons also have the Bonus Power attribute, which is added to the Pool if you score at least one hit.
Then, add your Knight's Power die and any other bonuses from your Heroic Arc, equipped non-weapon Gear, Talents and other applicable game effects.
Power Dice Tiers and Limits. In Kingdoms Forlorn there are three tiers of Power dice (white, black, red). If an effect instructs you to use a die of a higher tier, upgrade white to black, and black to red.
Some powerful weapons, combined with additional bonuses, might allow you to generate a Power Pool surpassing the number of dice provided in the game box (7 red dice, 4 black dice and 3 white dice—any additional dice you may have do not increase the limit). If you are required to add a die to the Power Pool and there are no dice of that type available, instead roll a die one tier higher instead of two of these dice (e.g. if you were required to roll 8 red Power dice, roll 6 red dice and 1 black die instead). For each Power die that would exceed the dice limit, gain +1 Power and 1 Potential (e.g. if you were required to roll 4 white Power dice, roll 3 white dice and gain 1 Power and 1 Potential instead).
Power Dice Promotion: Treat your Knight Power Dice as one tier higher (up to red).
6.2 Roll the Dice
To perform a Power Roll, simply take all the dice in your Power Pool and roll them. Each Power symbol gives you one Power. Then, add all the raw Power points you have. Each of these is simply treated as another Power symbol.
6.3 Power Re-rolls
Power dice cannot be re-rolled using Heat. There are, however, other effects that may grant you Power Re-rolls. Remember that all re-roll restrictions apply to Power Re-rolls as well: each die can be re-rolled only once and you must declare all dice you wish to re-roll before re-rolling any of them.
6.4 Use Potentials
Each Potential result on a die gives you one potential. These do not provide you with any benefits themselves, but they can be turned into Power using various effects. The most common of those effects are Break tokens (see Knight Tokens p. 19 and Break X on p. 80).
6.5 Resolve the Power Roll
After using all re-rolls, Power symbols and all other applicable abilities, sum up all those Power points. This is the Total Power of this Attack.
Remember, to successfully deal a Wound to a Monster, your Total Power must be equal to or higher than the current BP card's AT value! If it is, you deal a Wound. If you gained a Crit Chance during the Attack Roll, you deal a Critical Wound instead!
Boss Clash: If the total number of Wounds on the Wound Stack (including the Wound you just dealt) equals or exceeds the Monster's Wounds value, you slay the Boss or scatter the Mobs! The Clash immediately ends with the Knights' victory and you should proceed to the Aftermath. Exception: If you won through dealing a Critical Wound, you still gain every tangible reward from that Critical (no additional Attacks though)!
Mob Clash: The Monster is killed as soon as the Wound is dealt. However, you will still have to deal with its Wound Response (if any)!
If your Total Power is less than the AT, you Fail to deal a Wound. Whenever you fail to wound, the Monsters remain as they are:
Boss Clash: Place the revealed BP card in the BP discard.
Mob Clash: Leave the BP card revealed in its current space on the Mob track. Note that some Mob BPs have additional effects when they are revealed or stay revealed.
Note: Some game elements have additional effects that trigger (or may activate) on a Wound or Fail. Remember to always resolve all "Wound" and "Fail" effects.
Revealed Mob BPs. When you fail to wound a Mob, its BP card remains in place, now revealed, giving you perfect information about that specific Mob. To counteract this advantage, some of the Mobs have special "When revealed" instructions. You may think of them as additional mini-Traits. Usually, these effects persist as long as the BP card is revealed, i.e. the Mob Monster is alive, giving you an additional incentive to end them quickly!
Overcome and Overpower
Kingdoms Forlorn is a hard game and you need every advantage you can get. Some BP cards may include effects that activate based on the difference between your Total Power and the Monster's AT, rather than if you Wound or Fail to wound.
Overcome X+: If you failed to deal a Wound, but your Total Power was X or more, resolve the Overcome effect. If you dealt a Wound and your Total Power exceeded the AT value by X or more, also resolve the Overcome effect.
Overpower X+: If you dealt a Wound and your Total Power exceeded the AT value by X or more, resolve the Overpower effect. As you can see, the Overpower effect is harder to achieve than the Overcome one.
7. Monster Responses
Monsters are powerful beings, and they do not take lightly to being attacked! Almost every Knight Attack will garner some form of response. Most Responses are resolved immediately after the Power Roll, with the exception of the deadly Attack Responses and devastating Follow-up Knight Attacks, both of which happen after the current Knight Attack is completely resolved.
The exact nature of the response depends on the result of the Power Roll. If you deal a Wound, you resolve the Wound Response. If you failed to deal a Wound, you resolve the Fail Response. If you scored a Critical Wound, resolve the Critical (and ignore all other Responses). Sometimes a Monster will also have an Instinct Response that you have to resolve regardless of the Power Roll result (and in addition to any other normal Responses; the only exception to this is a Critical, which makes you ignore it).
Finally, some especially deadly Monsters use a special kind of Response called Ultrainstinct. An Ultrainstinct triggers immediately after determining a BP, but before the Power Roll. Do not resolve Responses if you rolled a Crit Chance.
Once you know which Response should be resolved (if any), see if it involves a Monster Attack (AI card, Signature, or Routine) or a Follow-up Knight Attack. If it does, note what kind of Attack it will be and finish up the current attack sequence. The new Attack will happen immediately after this one is completely resolved and will not cause a Chain Break.
If the Response doesn't involve any kind of new Attack, resolve it now. If there are no appropriate Responses (for example, you failed to deal a Wound, but the BP card doesn't have a Fail Response), nothing happens. If multiple Responses apply, resolve them from top to bottom of the BP card.
Unless stated otherwise, Responses are resolved by the Monster against the Knight (e.g. to resolve Wound: Pushback 4, the Monster would push the Knight 4 spaces).
Responses and Adjacency. Unless stated otherwise, a Response should be resolved regardless of the Knight's positioning. This means that a ranged Attack will still elicit a Monster Response (e.g. even if the Knight is 6 spaces away from the Monster, you will resolve Wound: Pushback 4 by moving the Monster 4 spaces toward the Knight).
Drag, Knockback, and Knockdown are the exceptions. If, for any reason (for example if the Knight is using a ranged weapon or has moved away during a Window of Opportunity), a Knight isn't adjacent to the Monster when they should resolve a Drag, Knockback, or Knockdown Response, that Response is ignored.
8. Wounds and Escalation
Monsters get progressively harder as the Clash goes on, and this will be reflected by various Escalation effects. Escalation will make the Monsters more deadly, by swapping AI cards in the AI deck, and tougher, by adding higher-level cards to the BP deck or spawning higher-level cards on the Mob track. Once you've resolved the Responses step, determine if the BP card ends up on the Wound Stack as a Wound:
- If it doesn't, do not perform any Escalation. Skip this step and continue to resolve the Attack with the Clear the Knight Pool step.
- If it does, perform the appropriate Escalation (see below).
Wound Stack
Successfully wounded BP cards become Wounds and end up on the Wound Stack. However, not all Wounds are equal! Some attacks are so devastating they inflict multiple Wounds instead! The most common source of Double Wounds are BP 3 cards. Some game effects, especially Critical Wounds, can also deal Additional Single Wounds. The general rules are as follows:
- If you wound a BP 1 or BP 2 card, you place it face up on top of the Wound Stack. This is a Single Wound.
Boss Clash: If you wound a BP 3 card, you place a Generic Double Wound card on top of the Wound Stack and set the wounded BP 3 card aside. It will return to the bottom of the deck after Escalation (see below).
Boss Clash: If you critically wound a BP 3 card, you place it on top of the Wound Stack instead. This is a Double Wound.
Mob Clash: If you wound a BP 3 card, you place it face up on top of the Wound Stack. This is a Double Wound.
If an effect instructs you to deal an additional Single Wound, place a Generic Single Wound card on top of the Wound Stack, in addition to any other Wounds you've dealt.
Boss Monster Escalation
When the wounded BP card leaves the BP deck to become a Wound, resolve both of the following Escalation effects in order:
AI Escalation: Search the AI deck and discard pile for a card matching the wounded BP card's level and remove it from the game. Then, take a random AI card one level higher and shuffle it into the AI deck. Do not shuffle in the AI discard pile, unless you removed the card from the discard pile or the new AI card would end up the only card in the deck.
BP Escalation: Take a random BP card one level higher than the wounded BP card from the Escalation deck and shuffle it into the BP deck. If the new BP card would end up as the only card in the deck, shuffle in the BP discard pile too. If you have a set-aside BP 3 card, place it at the bottom of the deck.
For special cases, see the Full Escalation Chart on the next page.
Mob Monster Escalation
The only guaranteed Mob Escalation effect at this step is AI Escalation, although some Mobs may also escalate through immediate spawning.
AI Escalation: Search the AI deck and discard pile for a card matching the wounded BP card's level and remove it from the game. Then, take a random AI card one level higher and shuffle it into the AI deck. Do not shuffle in the AI discard pile, unless you removed the card from the discard pile or the new AI card would end up the only card in the deck.
Immediate Spawn: Spawning is a form of BP Escalation (see Spawning Mobs, p. 62). If the Mob Monster you're facing has immediate spawn, it follows rules similar to Boss BP Escalation. Namely, when the wounded BP card leaves the Mob track to become a Wound, take a random BP card one level higher than the wounded BP card from the Escalation deck and place it on the leftmost empty space on the Mob track. If you don't perform immediate spawning, do not place new BP cards.
Example: Ser Sonch wounded a BP 3 card during Boss Clash! It wasn't a Critical Wound, so the players set it aside, place a Generic Double Wound on top of the Wound Stack, then resolve the Escalation instructions: they search the AI deck and discard pile for the lowest-level AI card. They find that the lowest card in the AI deck is an AI 2 and the lowest card in the discard pile is an AI 1. Therefore, they remove the AI 1 card from the discard pile from the Clash and shuffle the discard pile back into the AI deck. Then, they add an AI 3 card from an Escalation deck and shuffle the AI deck again. Finally, they proceed to BP Escalation.
They search both the BP deck and the discard pile for the lowest-level BP card, just as they did with the AI cards. They find a BP 1 card both in the deck and in discard. Since none of them is lower, they prioritize the deck—the card from the BP deck is removed from the game and the discard pile returns to its place, unshuffled. Then, they shuffle a BP 3 card from an Escalation deck into the BP deck. Finally, they place the set-aside BP 3 card at the bottom of the deck and continue resolving the Knight Attack.
Searching the Deck and Discard Pile
If you are instructed to search both a deck and a discard pile for a card, always prioritize cards from the deck. Only if you find no applicable cards in the deck should you search the discard pile.
No Cards to Escalate
If you search both a deck and a discard pile looking for a card to escalate and you have not found one of the appropriate level, escalate a card one level higher instead. If there are no more cards in the BP Escalation deck, ignore any BP Escalations. If there are no more cards in the AI Escalation deck, you will add a permanent stat bonus instead (see Chart).
Escalation Chart
Wounded card: BP 1
- BP deck (Boss Clash only!): Shuffle a BP 2 card from the Escalation deck into the BP deck.
- AI deck: Search the AI deck and the AI discard pile for an AI 1 card and remove it from the game. If you removed a card from the discard pile, shuffle the discard pile into the AI deck. Shuffle an AI 2 card from the Escalation deck into the AI deck.
Wounded card: BP 2
- BP deck (Boss Clash only!): Shuffle a BP 3 card from the Escalation deck into the BP deck.
- AI deck: Search the AI deck and the AI discard pile for an AI 2 card and remove it from the game. If you removed a card from the discard pile, shuffle the discard pile into the AI deck. Shuffle an AI 3 card from the Escalation deck into the AI deck.
Wounded card: BP 3
- BP deck (Boss Clash only!): Search the BP deck and BP discard pile for the lowest-level BP card and remove it from the game. If you removed a card from the discard pile, shuffle the discard pile into the deck. Shuffle a BP 3 card from the Escalation deck into the BP deck. Place the set-aside BP 3 card at the bottom of the BP deck.
- AI deck: Search the AI deck and the AI discard pile for the lowest-level AI card and remove it from the game. If you removed a card from the discard pile, shuffle the discard into the AI deck. Shuffle an AI 3 card from the Escalation deck into the AI deck.
Wounded card: BP 3 (Critically Wounded)
- BP deck (Boss Clash only!): Search the BP deck and BP discard pile for the lowest-level BP card and remove it from the game. If you removed a card from the discard pile, shuffle the discard pile into the deck. Shuffle two BP 3 cards from the Escalation deck into the BP deck.
- AI deck: Search the AI deck and the AI discard pile for the lowest-level AI card and remove it from the game. If you removed a card from the discard pile, shuffle the discard into the AI deck. Shuffle an AI 3 card from the Escalation deck into the AI deck.
Wounded card: BP 3, when all cards in the BP deck and discard pile are already BP 3 cards
- BP deck (Boss Clash only!): Shuffle the BP discard pile into the BP deck. Place the set-aside BP 3 card at the bottom of the BP deck.
- AI deck: Search the AI deck and the AI discard pile for the lowest-level AI card and remove it from the game. If you removed a card from the discard pile, shuffle the discard into the AI deck. Shuffle an AI 3 card from the Escalation deck into the AI deck. If there are no level 3 AI cards left, the Monster gains 1 bonus per Escalation, in the following order: +1 Vigor loss bonus per hit, +1 Evasion die, +1 AT, +1 To Hit.
Wounded card: BP 3 (Critically Wounded), when all cards in BP deck and discard pile are already BP 3 cards
- BP deck (Boss Clash only!): Shuffle the BP discard pile into the BP deck. Note: The BP deck will have 1 card less.
Escalating Outside of Wounding
Some effects, like Responses, may instruct you to escalate the Monster even if no Wound was dealt or even outside of a Knight Attack or the Clash! If that happens, simply perform the Escalation as normal, with the following exception: if no Wound was dealt, you will have to remove the lowest BP card from the deck or Mob track. This type of Escalation may take the following forms:
- Escalate X: When you see the Escalate X keyword, simply escalate the lowest AI and the lowest BP card X times.
- Escalate AI/BP: Escalate the lowest card from the designated deck only.
- Mob BP Escalation and Escalating the BP deck: Since Mobs do not have a regular BP deck during Clashes, apply all instructions that refer to the BP deck to the Mob track instead (e.g. when instructed to Escalate the BP deck, find the lowest Mob BP on the Mob track, remove it, then place a random BP card one level higher in its place).
- Spawning Mobs: Spawning Mobs is a form of BP Escalation. See below for details.
Spawning Mobs
Unlike Bosses, Mobs are numerous. As soon as one dies, another one takes their place... This is represented by spawning. As mentioned elsewhere, spawning is a form of BP Escalation, although it usually happens outside of a Knight Attack. Spawning behaves differently depending on the particular Monster, with varied requirements and timing, so it's best to always carefully study the spawning Trait on the Monster Sheet of the enemy you're facing. There are some general spawning types:
- Immediate Spawn: Some Mob Monsters spawn immediately after a BP card ends on the Wound Stack. This is resolved as part of the Knight Attack (see p. 56). In this case, take a random BP card one level higher from the Escalation deck and place it on the leftmost empty space on the Mob track. Take the corresponding Mob miniature and place it on a space specified by the Monster Sheet. Then turn it to face the most Knights. If the Mob cannot be spawned (i.e. when the Mob track is full), nothing happens unless stated otherwise.
- Interval Spawn: Some Mob Monsters spawn after a certain number of Wounds have been dealt. This is tracked by tokens placed on a separate Trait. In this case, the spawning happens after you fully resolve the current action (like a Knight Attack). When it does, take the lowest-level available BP card from the Escalation decks and place it on the leftmost empty space on the Mob track. Take the corresponding Mob miniature and place it on a space specified by the spawn instructions. Then turn it to face the most Knights. If the Mob cannot be spawned (i.e. when the Mob track is full), nothing happens unless stated otherwise.
- Odd Spawn: Other Mob Monsters spawn at specific times, checking for specific conditions. In those cases, proceed as instructed by the appropriate specific spawning rules. This is still considered a BP Escalation, but usually doesn't happen during the Knight Attack (see Escalating Outside of Wounding above).
- Nevermore Spawn: Some Mob Monsters never spawn. They still have abilities that make them tougher throughout the Clash, but they don't depend on BP Escalation.
Spawn Attacks
Sometimes a Mob returns with a vengeance! If the Monster's spawning Trait indicates it is going to perform any sort of Attack, it is treated as an Attack Response, i.e. it happens after the current Attack ends (if any).
9. Clear the Knight Pool
After resolving Responses and performing Escalation, remove all Knight tokens from the Knight Pool, unless explicitly instructed otherwise. Important: Remember to always make use of as many Knight tokens as possible, since they will be removed at the end of the Attack anyway.
10. Second Ability Window
Activate applicable Keywords from your Knight's Heroic Arc, Talents, your active weapon, and any other non-weapon Gear cards equipped on your Knight. Only the attacking Knight may activate abilities during this window, unless explicitly stated otherwise.
During this ability window, you can use most of the abilities that place tokens in the Knight Pool (see Knight Pool and Knight Tokens, p. 19) to support your fellow players. Note that you often have a choice of what tokens to leave. (see Keyword List, p. 80).
End of a Knight Attack and Attack Responses
After you resolve the second ability window, leaving Knight tokens for other players, the current Knight Attack ends. If the BP card was not wounded (did not go to the Wound Stack), remember to put it in the discard pile. If there are no more cards in the BP deck, shuffle the discard pile to form a new BP deck.
If the attack triggered an Attack Response, like a Monster Attack, a Follow-up Knight Attack, or a Spawn Attack, it will happen next, starting a new attack sequence. Note: Though initiated as part of a Knight Attack, Attack Responses are resolved after the current Attack ends to avoid conflict with other effects.
Other Actions in the Knight Round
Free Actions. Many active abilities, as well as some other game effects, are activated as a free action. It means that, as long as you fulfill all of its requirements, you may perform this action during your turn without spending your Movement Action or Combat Action. During your turn, you can perform as many different free actions as you want, but each of them can only be performed once per turn. You can perform free actions before your Movement Action and Combat Action, between them or after, but not during another action.
Reactions. The rarest type of Knight action is the Reaction, denoted by the Reaction symbol. Reactions are powerful effects that may be performed during a Window of Opportunity (REACT! symbol) (see p. 54). As Windows of Opportunity are generally found on AI cards, Reactions allow Knights to act during the Monster Round!
Whenever you encounter the REACT! symbol preceding an instruction on an AI card, you may activate Reaction abilities immediately before you resolve that instruction. During a single Window of Opportunity, each Knight may activate any number of abilities in any order, but no more than one ability with the same name per Knight (see Named Abilities, p. 23).
Complicated Actions
Sometimes, particularly complicated maneuvers (like the Rush ability) will require you to use both the Movement Action and Combat Action together. That's what we call a complicated action.
Complicated actions can be performed only if the Knight can perform both the Movement Action and Combat Action, and during their turn still has at least one unused action of each type. There is no "action space" between both parts of a Complicated Action, which means you cannot perform other actions during a Complicated Action, even if the two parts of the Complicated Action are easily distinguishable (for example, the Rush ability allows a Knight to move at increased Speed and Attack with additional force; though you could easily tell when the movement part of Rush ends and the Attack part begins, you cannot perform any additional actions in between, even free actions).
Mercenary Abilities
Mercenary cards have Abilities that can be actively used during the Clash or Delve Phases.
When you use a Mercenary's ability for the first time, flip the Mercenary card to its used side. After you use the same Mercenary's ability for the second time, discard the Mercenary card. Uses do not refresh during a Clash Aftermath or Rest, so spend them wisely!
In general, Mercenary Abilities can be used at any time during the Knight Round (except in the middle of other actions, unless explicitly stated otherwise). Certain Mercenary Abilities specify an exact moment when they can be used, either during the Knight Round or the Monster Round.
End of Knight Round
Sometimes a game effect will trigger at the end of the Knight Round. In that case, it's resolved after all of the Knights take their turns. If there is more than one End of Round effect, the players may resolve these effects in any order they like.
Clash Aftermath
Typically, after every Clash, the game will lead you to a Clash Aftermath, described in the Clash Setup, in the Kingdom Codex. This is when the Knights get some breathing room. During this step you will usually resolve the following:
- Deaths: If any Knight is dead, they are resurrected with maximum Vigor. Each resurrected Knight who is currently on an Investigation or Free Roaming, loses half of their Clues (rounding up).
- Stat Reset: All Knights reset their Passion, Heat, Vigor, and their limits on tracks to their starting values.
- Techniques: Return all Technique cards from your Cooldown, Delay, and Discard areas to your hand.
- Conditions: All Knights discard their Condition cards and Condition tokens.
- Bane: Each Knight discards 2 Bane tokens.
- Other tokens: Discard all Generic tokens, Modifier tokens, and Knight tokens.
- Gear: Unexhaust all your Gear cards. Regain all Discarded Gear cards except Consumable cards. Note: Discarded Consumable cards remain discarded until the end of the expedition, after which they will be added to the Merchant deck (see Consumable Gear, p. 20). All Gear cards, except Consumable cards, regain all Charges.
- Victorious Search: If you won the Clash, perform Clash Scavenge 1 and Scavenge 3 (see Scavenge X, p. 86).
- Forlorn Search: If you lost the Clash, perform Scavenge 3 (see Scavenge X, p. 86).
Afterward, if one of you is on a Quest, proceed to the indicated paragraph. If none of you are, if it was an Exhibition Clash, proceed to a Rest Phase. If it was a Full Clash, proceed to the Spoils Phase.
Additional Clash Rules
Death During Clash. When a Knight dies, that Knight is removed from the Clash Board and cannot be used in any way. Do not discard their Condition cards and tokens or reset their stats until instructed to do so (see Clash Aftermath above).
When your Knight dies for the first time, make sure to note it on their Knight Sheet and resolve the First Death Event (see p. 64).
Many Ways to Die. There are many ways to die during Clashes! The most common are drawing a Disemboweled Mortis card or a You Died Judicium card. But there are many possible instances of death, including:
- Drawing a Heroic Death, Knight Stand, or Disemboweled Mortis card or another death-inducing card.
- Drawing a You Died Judicium card.
- Gaining Bane tokens exceeding your Bane Limit.
- Falling off/beyond the Board Edge or into a Chasm space.
- Being forced to Displace when there is no legal space to be Displaced to (see Displace on p. 81).
Mercy Rule
Kingdoms Forlorn is a challenging game, but in the face of a Knight's death, it offers a glimmer of respite in the form of the Mercy Rule. If a Knight dies during:
- An Attack against a Monster, you ignore all negative Responses elicited by that Attack.
- A Monster Attack, the Monster ends its Attack, forgoing all lingering Attack effects and After Attack effects targeting that Knight. Conversely, if a Knight dies, but the Attack has an effect that is separate from the Target or has other Targets, those effects should still be resolved.
Instant Death
Instant Death effects are special effects of Monster Attacks and Responses that cause a Knight to die immediately, without drawing a Judicium card or another Mortis card.
First Death Event
When your Knight dies for the first time, read the special First Death Event in their Knightbook. Each Knight has a different First Death Event, which will explain how they remain alive in spite of, well, dying.
Note: If you have not unlocked the Unknown Saint yet, you will be instructed to read 9999 in the Kingdom Mysteries Section in the Principality of Stone Codex instead of your Knight's Event. This Special Event will take place only once during the course of the entire game, even if it's another Knight that dies!
Once you read the First Death Event, you will be instructed to mark the First Death box on your Knight Sheet. It serves as a reminder for your later deaths, so that you don't have to read the Special Event again.
Timing Rules
Some Monster Traits, Gear cards, and abilities may introduce effects that trigger at specific moments during the Monster Round or Knight Round. These include:
- Start of Clash: Resolve this effect after you finish Clash Setup, but before the first Round begins.
- End of Clash: Resolve this effect when the Clash ends (regardless of the outcome), before you proceed to Clash Aftermath.
- When: Resolve this effect after you resolve the effect it refers to (or, in some cases, when you begin to resolve it), but before any other actions or effects.
- When you are about to: Occurs immediately before you resolve the effect that is about to happen (e.g. if an ability is triggered "when you are about to die", it activates after another effect instructs you to die, but before it is actually resolved).
Example: If an effect triggers a "When you draw a Mortis card," it activates immediately after you draw the card but before you resolve it.
Note that it does not invalidate the effect that triggered it unless explicitly stated otherwise, even if it causes a Chain Break (e.g. if you resolve an Attack triggered by a "When you are about to die" effect, it causes a Chain Break—no further effects of this Attack are resolved, but it does not allow you to avoid death itself). Any other effects and abilities with a specific trigger must be resolved after the trigger occurs, before resolving any effects other than the ones caused or enabled by it.
Gear cards, Techniques, Mercenaries, or other cards that do not include a specified timing can only be used during a Knight turn as a free action.
Bonus Attacks
A Bonus Attack is an effect that allows you to perform an immediate Attack, often outside of your turn. Most Bonus Attacks cause a Chain Break (see exception below).
For a Bonus Attack you may declare an exhausted weapon as your active weapon. If you do, unexhaust it, then continue the Attack. During a Bonus Attack you ignore Attack Responses (End of a Knight Attack and Attack Responses, p. 62) to this Attack. When the Attack ends, continue resolving the Round that was interrupted by the Bonus Attack. All other restrictions and rules of a Combat Action apply.
Bonus Attacks During Knight Attacks (Follow-up Attacks)
A Bonus Attack during a Knight Attack is also called a Follow-up Knight Attack and will be resolved immediately after the current Knight Attack ends. In other words, it does not cause a Chain Break (see Chain Break, p. 54). All other Bonus Attack rules apply.
Wise Providence
Wise Providence is a rare temporary boon that gives you an edge in combat. If you have it, you gain the initiative for the upcoming Clash—that Clash begins with a Knight Round instead of the Monster Round! In general, Wise Providence impacts the next Clash only. Sometimes, however, it may refer to a specific Clash, in which case it should be noted in the "Boons, Tally Marks, and Notes" section of the Knight Sheet.
Conditions
Various effects (like Mortis cards or Monster Attacks) cause Knights to gain cards that apply additional negative or positive effects. When you gain a Condition card, place it next to your Knight Board. Some Conditions may also require you to gain Condition tokens. These are always placed on the corresponding Condition card. All Condition tokens are represented by Generic tokens (gray). All Conditions are discarded during Clash Aftermath. If you gain a Condition card outside of Clash, it remains active until the end of the next Clash.
Some cards may instruct you to gain a specific Condition, while others become Conditions themselves. You cannot gain the same Condition card if you already have it, but some Conditions may trigger additional effects if you gain them again.
Bane
Various effects can cause Knights to gain Bane tokens. When you gain a Bane token, place it on your Knight Board. While certain effects may trigger based on the number of Bane tokens you have, the tokens themselves don't have any inherent effects... until you exceed your limit. Once that happens, you die! After each Clash, in the Aftermath, you lose 2 Bane tokens, which means that Bane can persist from Expedition to Expedition.
Bane Limit. Each Knight has a Bane Limit. If you have multiple elements that modify your Bane Limit, choose the one with the highest Bane Limit, then apply bonuses and penalties to that limit (if any). If, at any point, you would gain Bane tokens that would exceed your Bane Limit, don't. Your Knight dies immediately. Do not draw Mortis or Judicium. You simply die.
Afflictions and Boons
As with Conditions, Afflictions introduce additional effects. Unlike Conditions, they are not represented by physical components. Instead, whenever you gain an Affliction, write it down in the "Boons, Tally Marks and Notes" section of your Knight Sheet. Afflictions are bad things like curses and sickness that plague the Kingdoms. Afflictions are permanent—you can only remove them if an effect explicitly tells you to!
Boons, though rarer, are the positive equivalent of Afflictions. These can come in the form of personal traits, equipment, or allies! You also note these on your Knight Sheets.
Modifier Tokens
Modifier tokens are used to mark temporary and permanent changes to the attributes of Knights and Monsters. When a Knight or a Monster gains a Modifier token, find the token with an icon corresponding to the attribute it modifies and place it in the appropriate area. In the case of Mob Monsters, the modifier in the Knight Pool applies to all Mobs. Modifier tokens are double-sided: each negative Modifier token changes the attribute by -1, whereas a positive Modifier token changes it by +1.
Stacking Modifier Tokens
There may be times when you need more than one Modifier token of a given attribute, for example, if you receive a Precision penalty of -5. In such a case, don't look for five Precision Modifier tokens. Instead, take one Precision Modifier token and four Generic tokens (gray) and stack them so that the -1 Precision Modifier token is on top.
Temporary and Permanent Modifier Tokens
Some Modifier tokens are temporary, meaning that they are discarded after they take effect (e.g. if you gain a temporary Evasion token, discard it after the next Evasion Roll). Place temporary Knight Modifier tokens in your Cooldown area as a reminder. Temporary Monster tokens are always placed in the Knight Pool and removed when their effect is resolved (do not clear them during Clear the Knight Pool step).
Other Modifier tokens are permanent, meaning that they remain with the Knight or Monster until the end of Clash. Place those on your Knight Portrait or the Monster Sheet.
All Modifier tokens are discarded at the end of Clash.
Types of Modifier Tokens
Possible Modifier tokens include:
- Precision: The Knight has +/-1 Precision for each token. For each of these tokens on the Monster, increase/lower the Evasion Difficulty of each AI card by +/-1.
- Evasion: Knights only. For each of these tokens, the Knight has +/-1 Evasion.
- AT: Monsters only. For each of these tokens, the Monster has +/-1 AT.
- Speed: For each of these tokens the Knight has +/-1 Speed. If a Monster gains a Speed Modifier token, the effect that causes it will specify the Monster's current Speed limit.
- To Hit: Monsters only. For each of these tokens, the Monster has +/-1 To Hit.
Modifier Tokens on Mob Monsters
Unless an effect states otherwise, when a Mob gains a Modifier token, it is placed on that specific Mob's BP card. That token stays on the Mob until it dies and applies to that Mob only. If an effect would place a Modifier token on the Monster Sheet, it affects all corresponding Mobs.
Generic Tokens
Kingdoms Forlorn is a monster of a game. There are various effects, abilities, and actions to track; if we wanted to create a special token for each of them... we'd have a lot of different tokens.
Instead, we cut down on the types of tokens included in the game, and created the Generic tokens. Whenever there's an effect that doesn't use any of the specific tokens, you will be instructed to use a Generic token to track it. You can also use Generic tokens to mark exhausted abilities or cards to conserve table space and to mark stacking Modifier tokens (see Modifier Tokens). Generic tokens are numbered from 1 to 20. There are two of each number to allow you to mark an effect and the source that triggered it.
Vantage Points
Some Monsters may allow you to create Vantage Points (VPs)—special spaces on top of them. Knights can then climb them to strike vital body parts, avoid Monster Attacks or enable other effects and abilities. The VP effects are described on Monster Sheets.
Creating VPs. Most VPs must be created before they become climbable:
- Unless stated otherwise, the Monster VP must be created before it can be used. In other words, until you "create a VP", the VP is locked.
- If a Monster has no associated VP description, you cannot create VPs on it by any means. These Monsters simply cannot be climbed!
Climbing and Falling from a VP. If there is an unlocked VP on the Monster during your turn, you may climb it!
Climbing a VP: A Knight adjacent to the Monster may perform a Climb test as a free action. Simply test the Virtue specified on the Monster Sheet (see Tests during Clash, p. 66). If you succeed, place your Knight on the VP space.
Falling down from a VP: Monsters don't stand still. At the end of the Monster Round, most VPs will force you to perform a Hold on test to find out if you fall down. The particular effects of falling from a VP are explained on the Monster Sheet.
Movement and VPs
A Knight may move from a Monster VP space to a space on the Board adjacent to the Monster using a Movement Action or any move-like ability, as if they were adjacent spaces.
If a Knight suffers Knockdown or involuntary movement while on a VP space, they must first be Displaced to a space adjacent to the Monster.
Only one Knight can occupy a single VP at a given time.
VPs, Adjacency and Range
Knights on VPs are considered adjacent and in range 1 to the Monster and all Knights adjacent to that Monster. They measure range to other Knights and game elements from the space occupied by the Monster that is closest to that Knight or game element.
Other Knights adjacent to the Monster are not considered to be adjacent to Knights on VPs.
Tests During Clash
Many Clash Abilities and effects will instruct you to perform a test. This is similar to tests during adventures (see Adventure Tests and Rolls, p. 68).
To perform a test, simply roll a single d10 and compare the result to the difficulty of the test. Some tests are associated with a specific Virtue (e.g. Insight 6+), allowing you to increase the result by the Virtue value. Tests can be re-rolled using Heat, just like Attack and Evasion Rolls (see Heat Re-rolls on p. 14).
Some abilities and game effects may allow you to add a bonus to the test result. Unless stated otherwise, all of these effects must be declared before you perform the test. Then, after you roll the die, increase the result by the total bonus.
Note that some effects will instruct you to simply roll a d10 and resolve an effect according to the result. Such rolls are not tests (their description does not include the word "test") and as such cannot be re-rolled using Heat.
Monster Abilities
Restrictions pertaining to ability usage (see Ability Usage on p. 22) do not apply to Monsters. Resolve Monster abilities each time you are instructed to do so by an AI or BP card, Trait, or any other game element. All abilities on BP and AI cards are resolved by the Monster against a Knight—the Target (in case of an Attack) or the Attacker (in case of a Response)—unless explicitly stated otherwise.
Terrain
Clashes do not take place in a void. Where you face off the Monsters makes a world of difference! For the Knights, the more desolate a battlefield, the better.
Terrain is set up as part of every Clash Setup, but other game elements may also introduce additional Terrain tiles to the Clash Board.
Basic Terrain Rules
Tiles are made of spaces (e.g. to measure distance through a terrain tile, count the spaces underneath it).
Unless stated otherwise, you resolve a tile effect when entering the first space of a tile. A tile does not block LoS to itself (just like a miniature). For specific Terrain tile rules, see below.
Placing and Removing Terrain During Clashes
Terrain tiles can be placed or destroyed during Clashes as a result of various effects.
If a Terrain tile is destroyed (for example, when an Eggknight charges into a Column) simply remove it from the Clash Board.
When a Terrain tile is placed, put it in on the indicated spaces on the Clash Board. If all the Terrain tiles of this type are already on the Board, remove the tile furthest from the Monster, then place it on the indicated spaces.
Terrain Placement on Other Terrain
When a Terrain tile is placed on a space occupied by another Terrain tile:
- If the other tile has the Indestructible keyword, you cannot place anything on top of it. Ignore this new tile placement.
- In all other cases the other Terrain tile is destroyed before you place the new tile.
Terrain Placement on a Knight
When a Terrain tile is placed on a space occupied by a Knight:
- If the tile has the Obstacle and Destructible keywords, it is destroyed and the Knight suffers Crash (see p. 80).
- If the tile has just the Obstacle keyword, the Knight suffers Crash and is Displaced to an adjacent space in a way that would allow the tile to be placed without overlapping. If there is no such space, the Knight cannot be legally Displaced and dies.
- In all other cases, the Terrain tile is simply placed underneath the Knight miniature and that Knight must immediately resolve the tile's effects (if any) as if they had just moved onto it.
Note: Treat flipping Terrain tiles the same as placing new Terrain tiles for the purpose of Terrain placement rules.
Terrain Placement on Monsters
If a Terrain tile is placed on a space occupied by a Monster:
- If the tile has the Indestructible keyword, but no Obstacle keyword, it is placed as normal.
- If the tile has both the Indestructible and Obstacle keywords, displace any Mob Monster to the closest space in a way that would allow the tile to be placed without overlapping.
- If the tile has the Destructible keyword, ignore this tile placement. If it is a Mob Monster, treat it as if it was involuntarily moved onto that tile.
Terrain Abilities
In a similar way to Knights and Monsters, Terrain tiles possess various abilities that may greatly influence the course of a Clash. Some of them are represented by Terrain keywords, and their effects are explained in the Keywords List at the end of this Rulebook. All Terrain abilities are involuntary and must be resolved each time they are triggered unless explicitly stated otherwise. If an ability has no trigger, its effect is constant and always active as long as that tile is present on the Clash Board.
Rest Phase
An Expedition can be a daunting experience for your Knights. By the time you reach the midpoint, you will likely have had a few close encounters with monsters, and even an Exhibition Clash under your belt. Don't worry, though! You may have lost some Vigor, but you will have a moment's respite to prepare for the challenges ahead.
When instructed to Rest (usually after an Exhibition Clash), resolve the following steps:
- Rest Abilities: Knights may play Technique cards with the Rest keyword.
- Resource tokens: Discard all Resource tokens.
- Monster Rotation: Perform Rotation 2.
- Campfire Tales: You may resolve a Campfire Tale; see below.
Campfire Tales
While your Knights are resting, you may decide to participate in Campfire Tales, a small getaway from the pervasive dangers of the Kingdoms. Campfire Tales are short stories your Knights can tell each other to lighten up the mood and gain a small stat bonus.
To resolve Campfire Tales, roll on the Campfire Tales table in the Kingdom Codex, adding the highest Rapport between any two Knights in your party to the result, then read the tale you rolled, if any.
Spoils Phase
Spoils
Once an Expedition is concluded, your Knights will return to the Outpost to recover their strength and divide the loot. The entirety of the spoils they gain is represented by the Loot deck. During the game, various effects (such as the Scavenge X keyword) will instruct you to add Loot cards to the Loot deck. The deck you will draw those Loot cards from is referred to as the Scavenge deck. Cards from the Loot deck will be distributed between players at the end of the Expedition, during Loot Distribution. You will be able to exchange your Loot cards either for Gold or for specific Gear cards.
There are five different types of a Loot card:
- Kingdom Gear Loot: Can be exchanged for a Gear card from the Kingdom you gained the Loot card in.
- Upgrade Loot: Can be exchanged for a Gear Upgrade card which you may use to strengthen your current Gear.
- Consumable Gear Loot: Can be exchanged for a special Gear card that, after equipping for an expedition, will move to the Merchant deck during the next Spoils Phase.
- Exhibition Clash Loot: Can be exchanged for a Gear card from a Monster you resolved the Exhibition Clash against.
- Full Clash Loot: Can be exchanged for a Gear card from a Monster you resolved the Full Clash against.
When exchanging Loot cards for Gear, you must always exchange it for a Gear card of your current or a lower tier. If, for any reason, you cannot choose any of the cards (for example, there are no more cards available from the tiers up to your current tier), you must exchange that Loot card for Gold instead. Of course, if you simply want more gold, you can always exchange your Loot card for gold.
Note: In some special cases, you will Clash with Monsters of a higher tier than your own. In that case, if the Monster's lowest level is on a higher tier than yours, you may exchange the Loot cards from that Clash for Gear from the tier of that Monster's lowest level. Remember that using this kind of Gear before you reach a high enough tier carries a heavy cost.
Loot Distribution
To distribute gained loot after an Expedition, place all Loot cards from the Loot deck in the middle of the table so that all players can see them—these cards become the Common Goods. Next, distribute the Common Goods between yourselves in such a way that each Knight gains 1 chosen Loot card (2 if they succeed in a Free Roam instead). Then, exchange those Loot cards for appropriate Gear or Gold, whichever you prefer. Note that Squires may influence your distribution of Common Goods between Knights (see Gold and Loot in the Squires rules section, p. 74). If players cannot agree who gets what, the majority wins, while ties are broken by the Party Leader.
The remaining Common Goods become the Spare Scrap—one by one, starting from the Party Leader, then going clockwise, each Knight takes one card from the Spare Scrap until there are none left. Then, you may exchange all of those Loot cards for Gold now (they cannot be exchanged for Gear anymore!), or at the end of the Gambling step (you will need some cards from Spare Scrap to gamble).
Gambling Den
Before you cash out all your loot, you may be tempted to try your luck in the gambling den. This is the place where you can win big, or lose it all. Each Kingdom has its own games, with their own rules. This step is completely optional. Below, you will find some general rules to get you started.
Betting. Each Gambling game will require that you bet at least one Loot card gained from the Spare Scrap. To place a bet, put all cards you are betting with face-up in front of you; any other Loot cards should remain face-down.
During these games you will either:
- Lose your bet — discard all the Loot cards you have bet.
- Recover your bet — take back an appropriate amount of Loot cards from your bet.
- Win an appropriate amount of gold, depending on how many Loot cards were at stake.
The Dealer. The Dealer represents the entity the players play against. Whenever a game refers to the Dealer, treat them as a separate and autonomous player. Never look at cards the Dealer has in their hand unless they are meant to be face-up.
The Fool's Deck. The Fool's deck is a deck of 15 cards that is used for gambling (among other things). It contains different letters that are used alongside rules that reference those letters. If, at any point, the Fool's deck is empty, immediately shuffle its discard pile into the deck.
Other Rules
In this section we've put all the rules that didn't fit anywhere else—rules that transcend phases, rules that allow you to continue your Adventures past the campaign endpoint, and rules that are completely optional. Oh, and there's the Rogue's Path roguelike campaign too.
Miscellaneous Rules
Adventures. Adventures in Kingdoms Forlorn are based around your absolute and informed choices. However, sometimes we're not fully in control, sometimes it's up to chance and effort. When the outcome of a given choice is undetermined, you will be instructed to perform a test, a roll, or some other activity.
Kingdom Adventures
Kingdom Adventures are sets of adventures set in a particular Kingdom that can be triggered during your Expeditions. The most common ways of triggering an Adventure are Exploration cards and Points of Interest.
When you trigger a Kingdom Adventure, refer to the respective Kingdom Codex and roll a d100 on the Adventure Table. The die result denotes the Adventure you should resolve.
Certain Adventures can only be resolved once. They are marked with a Unique box in the Adventure Table, and at the start of its paragraph. These boxes are used to denote that you have already resolved that Adventure. Mark the Unique boxes immediately after you roll the associated number, before you proceed to resolving this Adventure. If you roll the number of an Adventure whose Unique box you've already marked, roll a d100 again and resolve the newly rolled Adventure (repeat as many times as necessary until you roll an Adventure whose box you haven't marked).
Adventure Tests and Rolls
Many adventures will instruct you to perform a test. To do it, simply roll a single d10 and compare the result to the difficulty of the test (e.g. 6+). If the result is equal to or higher than the difficulty, it is a Success. Otherwise, it is a Fail. You may use Heat to re-roll tests.
Some abilities and game effects may allow you to add a bonus to the test result. Unless stated otherwise, you must declare using them before you perform the test. Then, after you roll the die, increase the result by the bonus.
Important: Similarly to other d10 rolls, a natural "10" is always a success, while a natural "1" is always a failure.
Solo vs. Group Tests
Some tests will require only one Knight to make the test (usually the Party Leader), while others will have each Knight make a separate test.
A solo test is a make it or break it affair; the Knight will either succeed or fail. Usually, other Knights will get the chance to influence the test slightly (e.g. gain Heat to add +1 to the result), but the pressure is on the single Knight.
Group tests are different, in that an individual success or failure means less. Usually, a group test has success ranges. After every Knight makes their test, the Knights sum up their successes and consult the results. This means a group test usually has more than two possible outcomes: typically, an outright failure (0–1 success), a moderate success (2–3 successes), and a full success (4 successes).
Fail Effects
Group tests also introduce "Fail" effects. A Fail effect is applied to the individual Knight who failed the test and not to the whole group. It's entirely possible to succeed at a group test, but fail as an individual Knight.
Other Adventure Rolls
There are many types of rolls you may be required to make during an adventure. Not all rolls are tests. An effect may instruct you to simply roll a d10 and resolve it according to the result. Such rolls are not tests (their description does not include the word "test") and cannot be re-rolled using Heat.
Saints
The Saints embody noble Knightly Virtues. Each of them is a patron of their favored aspect. When you Devote to a Saint, such as Saint Urbain, place it next to your Knight Board. From then on you must obey the rules represented by its Holy Commandment.
Gaining Saints
When a game element instructs you to gain a Saint, gain a chosen unlocked Saint card. Sometimes, you will be instructed to gain a specific Saint instead; in that case unlock that Saint, if you haven't already, and gain their card. Keep your unlocked Saints separate from other Saints.
When one Knight gains a specific Saint card, it becomes unavailable for everyone else until that Knight loses it. Saint cards are kept by Knights even between Expeditions. They are only discarded during Incarnation and when you die.
There are a few Saint-related keywords you will likely encounter during the game:
- Devote: Gain a Devotion token.
- Devote to Name: Gain the Saint Name card, if you don't have it already. Then, gain a Devotion token.
You may gain Devotion tokens without having a Saint card. Once you gain a Saint card, the previously gained Devotion tokens are moved onto that Saint card.
All Saint cards have at least three elements:
- Holy Infusion Table: passive abilities unlocked for your Knight depending on the number of Devotion tokens you have.
- Holy Commandment: a rule you must follow during Expeditions. At the start of an Expedition, place your Saint miniature on the Saint card. If you break the Holy Commandment (meaning you do not follow the rule), remove the miniature from your card. If you don't have the miniature on the Saint card and break the Commandment again, discard the Saint card instead. At the end of the Expedition, if the Saint miniature is still on your card, Devote.
- Holy Incarnation: on the bottom of the card there is an Incarnation Value, as well as special abilities and statistics you gain when you Incarnate into a Saint.
How to Incarnate
When you're about to die during a Clash, you may make an Incarnation roll: roll a d10. If your roll is higher or equal to the Incarnation Value of your Saint, you Incarnate. If you have 5+ Devotion tokens, you automatically succeed instead.
When you Incarnate, Chain Break, stand up and discard up to 2 Bane tokens and any Condition cards. Then, you may immediately move up to X spaces, where X is 2 plus the number of Devotion tokens you have, and perform a Bonus Attack! Gain all additional bonuses noted on the Holy Incarnation until the end of your next turn, then the Incarnation ends. Once an Incarnation ends, your Knight does not die.
When the Incarnation ends, or if you finish the Clash while Incarnated, you lose the Saint card and all of your Devotion tokens.
Note: You cannot Incarnate outside of Clashes!
If you don't manage to Incarnate, you do not lose the Saint card, but you must reduce the number of your Devotion tokens to one. If you had only one Devotion token (or less) to begin with, lose the Saint card instead.
Unlocking Saints
Before you can gain a Saint card, it must become unlocked first. It's not easy, as Saints are well hidden, for example, on Kingdom maps or in Exploration Ciphers. Unlocking them will most likely happen to you naturally during the game, so don't rush it! A Saint card becomes effectively unlocked for all Knights when any Knight devotes to the given Saint for the first time (note that Saint on your Knight Sheet). Add the Saint card to your deck of available Saints. From that moment on, you can devote to that Saint (see Outpost Phase, p. 28).
Incarnation Without a Saint
Read only if you've unlocked the Unknown Saint!
Even if you don't have a Saint card, you may still roll for Incarnation. If you roll a "10", you Incarnate into the Unknown Saint. The Unknown Saint does not have a Commandment or Infusion, but they follow all rules of Incarnation and grant you an additional +1 Vigor.
Princesses
Princesses are, as the name suggests, Princesses of their respective Kingdoms. Who they are exactly, and what they are doing outside of their Kingdoms remains a mystery. However, they can be very useful allies when encountered during your travels.
When players gain a Princess, she stays with the party until the end of an Expedition or until she dies. Place the Princess's corresponding tarot card in your play area. You may only have one Princess accompany you at a time. If you gain a Princess while you already have another Princess, you must discard one of them.
Princesses can aid you in Clashes. During Knight Positioning, place the Princess miniature next to any Knight. Each Princess has their own turn during the Knight Round and access to a Superior Reflex that can be used as a Reaction or before Monster Targeting, as well as unique Clash Abilities. They can perform only the Movement action. If timing is not specified, Princess abilities can be used as a free action before or after their Movement Action.
If a Princess is adjacent to a Knight, she ignores Zone Attacks.
If a Princess were to lose Vigor, she dies instead. Princesses cannot perform tests.
Princesses may become the target of Attacks like any other Knight with the following exceptions:
- Princesses skip targeting lines that involve stats, resources, and being with or without things.
- If a Princess is adjacent to another Knight, she may ignore Zone Attacks.
- If a Princess is attacked, she immediately dies.
- Princesses can't gain any cards (including Condition cards) or Bane tokens.
Additionally, each Princess has access to a Delve ability that can be used at the start of a Delve Round. After you use that ability, place a Generic token on the Princess card; she can't use that ability for as long as that token is on the Princess card. Discard the Generic token during the Rest phase.
Vices
Vices are the opposite of Virtues; each Vice provides a different kind of penalty related to your Virtue.
When you gain a Vice, note the number of tally marks equal to the value of the Vice (each Vice is connected to a specific Virtue on a Knight Sheet). As long as you have at least one tally mark next to a Vice, you suffer the effects of that Vice. When you succeed at a test of your Vice's connected Virtue, erase one of its tally marks.
Vices:
- Cowardice (Bravery): You have -1 Speed.
- Dishonor (Tenacity): When you draw your first positive Mortis during the Expedition, ignore its effects.
- Duplicity (Sagacity): When you are about to proceed to the Spoils Phase, discard 1 Loot card from the Loot deck.
- Disregard (Fortitude): When you are about to gain the first Clue during the expedition, ignore that gain.
- Cruelty (Might): When you are about to gain Heat, lower that gain by 1 (to a minimum of 0).
- Treachery (Insight): Mercenary cards you have cost +2 Gold to use.
Rapport
Rapport is an additional statistic that represents friendship and camaraderie between your Knights. You will usually be able to gain Rapport between Knights during Quests.
Each Rapport track has three heart spaces. When you first gain Rapport with a Knight, both you and that Knight note your names next to one of the Rapport tracks on your Knight Sheets, and mark the first heart space. On subsequent gains, you simply mark the next space.
Once you reach 3 Rapport with a Knight, you gain their Rapport Boon (found in their Knightbook), which you should note on your Knight Sheet, in the Rapport Boon section, next to the third marked heart space. You may benefit from that boon only if that Knight is in your party during an Expedition.
Saving the Campaign
When you return to civilization after a long journey and are ready to take a break, there are few things to keep in mind.
To save the campaign between expeditions, follow the steps below:
- Check if you noted all unlocked Gear, Mercenaries, and Saints on your Knight Sheets, as well as all the Gold you collected, and Bane you accumulated. Double check if you marked all necessary Choice Matrix boxes.
- Return all Knights and their components to the respective Knight Boxes. Keep all your unlocked cards separate from the locked ones. You may also put all currently used Gear and Upgrade cards in the Knight Box.
- Keep unlocked Gear decks separate from all other Gear cards. The unlocked Gear should consist of available Merchant Gear cards, all unlocked Consumables and all Gear cards bought or gained as Loot by Knights (that aren't currently in use).
- Keep all unlocked Mercenaries and Saints in separate decks. If any Knight is currently Devoted to a Saint, store them together in the Knight Box.
- Divide Kingdom tiles by type and put them in separate resealable bags.
- Return all other decks to the game box, each separated by their respective divider.
- Return all miniatures and tokens to their respective trays.
All relevant decks have corresponding dividers that will help you keep order in your game box.
Postgame Rules
What Is the Post Game?
The Post Game is a special game mode that allows you to continue your Knight's legacy and test your strength against the most powerful incarnations of Monsters encountered in your campaign of Kingdoms Forlorn. It is designed to be the ultimate challenge. To triumph, you will need to use all the tools at your disposal and exploit every weakness in the Monsters' defense.
If you finished your Knight's campaign, but still yearn for the thrill of the hunt, the biggest and scariest Monsters of any Kingdom still have the best to offer.
When venturing into the Dungeons during the Postgame, you'll be fighting more powerful versions of normal Monsters. Going to level 9, in fact. If you tackle them this way, you will also gain their unique rewards: Legendary Gear cards, and additional Knight rewards you did not manage to unlock during the campaign!
Important: To play this game mode, everyone in your party must have finished their campaign! No Squires either! The game will simply be too hard otherwise.
Rites of the Apocrypha
The Rites of the Apocrypha is the intended way to experience the Postgame. It's a branching inverted "Tower" of Hunts. Whenever you beat a Hunt for the first time, mark it as completed and unlock one or more connected Hunts. In order to successfully complete a Hunt, you need to win both the Dungeon and the following Clash.
Note that some Hunts are locked by multiple other Hunts. You can access such a Hunt only if you have won all the preceding Hunts!
When you succeed in a Hunt (both the Dungeon and the Clash) against a Monster rewarding Legendary Gear cards for the first time, you may exchange a Clash Loot card for one of them instead of the usual Gear cards.
Custom Hunts
Alternatively, you can just play any Hunt, with any encountered Monster, at any level you've unlocked, using any combination of Gear, Talents, and Techniques you gained access to in the campaign. In other words, you play a custom game.
General Postgame Rules
Postgame Rewards and Epilogue gates: Rewards from Hunts as well as some gated abilities on normal Gear cards can only be used in the Postgame. They are so powerful that they border on broken. In the Postgame, they will be your lifeline instead!
Techniques and Mercenary abilities that refer to Kingdom tiles, Exploration tiles, or others that refer to elements not present in the game cannot be used in Dungeons.
Techniques that do refer to elements present in the Dungeons, e.g. Encounters or gaining Threat, work normally.
If an effect would cause the party to gain a Clue token, at the start of Clash you may exchange it for 1 Opening or Break token.
Postgame Setup
Postgame Setup is performed according to normal rules, with the following exceptions. To begin a Hunt, resolve the following steps:
- Choose a Kingdom: Choose the Kingdom you wish to play in. You can either play a scenario through the Rites of the Apocrypha in an attempt to earn unique rewards or replay a previously played Hunt, for the fun and training of it! In the case of Rites of the Apocrypha, you can only choose Hunts that are not marked (you haven't won them yet), but that you have unlocked (all the preceding Hunts leading into them are marked). Track your Rites of the Apocrypha on the Rites of Apocrypha Sheets. In case of replaying a previously completed Hunt, choose a Monster and decide which level you want to face. You can only choose a Monster Level if you have defeated it in the Postgame. Note that these Hunts do not grant you any Legendary rewards.
- Perform Kingdom Setup: Perform all normal Kingdom preparations (see Vision Phase, p. 25) with the following exceptions: Instead of playing on a Kingdom map, you will venture into a Dungeon (next page). Ignore normal Monster Setup rules. Each Dungeon will specify which Encounters are available.
Legendary Rewards
From time to time, the Rites of Apocrypha mode will offer you something unique and extraordinary, not solely based on your previous experiences. These are the Legendary Rewards.
Remember: The use of Legendary rewards is limited to this mode, unless specifically stated otherwise.
Dungeons
Dungeons are a late-game alternative to normal Expeditions, as well as a Postgame feature. Once you complete your Knight's story, you will be able to venture into the Dungeons freely, but you might also experience the mechanic as a part of your Knight's storyline.
Dungeons are much shorter in length than Expeditions, and should take about 30 minutes. They are repeatable, and focus entirely on gaining spoils and fighting powerful Monsters.
The Dungeons included in the base game consist of cards, pages, and sheets, and each provides a different type of gameplay.
As Dungeons are inexplicably tied to the Kingdoms they are located in, you can find their detailed descriptions and gameplay rules in Kingdom Codices, under the "Dungeon" section.
Optional Game Rules
Squires
Squires are a simplified, automated system intended to stand in for missing Knights. Each Squire is represented by two elements, a Squire card and a matching standee.
Knight Substitutes
Squires follow most Knight rules—for example, they gain the same two actions per turn the Knights do—and are even considered Knights for the purposes of effects. However, Squires generally don't roll dice. The success or failure of most actions performed by Squires is calculated using the Mettle deck, from Attack Rolls and Power Rolls to Evasion Rolls. If the game instructs you to roll any dice, instead draw a Mettle card.
Squires also use the Knight Board, but only one part of it, the one with Knight Statistics. Slot the Squire card where you would normally put a Knight Portrait card.
There are several Squires you may choose from, each coming with their own set of skills.
Squire Card Anatomy
Squire cards contain all the information related to a given Squire, including their tier, statistics, and Abilities, as well as their own Heroic Arc.
- Tier: The tier at which the particular Squire card becomes available.
- Vigor: The maximum Vigor of a Squire.
- Speed: The Squire's Speed.
- Heat Limit: The maximum Heat a Squire can reach.
- Heat Refresh: Informs how much Heat a Squire can subtract during their Refresh step.
- Bane Limit: The maximum Bane tokens a Squire can have.
- Abilities: Each active Squire Ability may only be used once per Round.
Mettle Deck
Mettle cards are used to determine the results of every randomized action taken by the Squires, and contain the following information:
- Clue: Most often used to grant a bonus from equipped Gear.
- Roll: determines the result of Attacks and Tests.
- Power: determines the outcome of a Power Roll.
- Potential: determines how many Potentials can be added to a Power Roll.
- Hits Evaded: determines how many Monster hits a Squire manages to evade.
- Ability box: An optional way to Power up a Squire's Attack at the cost of Clue tokens.
One Mettle card provides a result for one action. So, when you declare an Attack with a Squire, draw one card and check if you hit the Monster, then draw another card to check if you can gather enough Power to wound the Monster (see Attack Roll, p. 57). Similarly, when a Monster attacks you, draw a card to see if you manage to evade the Attack (see Evasion Roll, p. 52).
After you resolve a Mettle card, discard it. After you fully resolve the current Action, if there is a Critical Chance or Critical Miss card in the discard pile, shuffle the Mettle discard pile into a new Mettle deck.
Squire Investigations
Squires may look aimless, but they always have some scheme going on! Whenever you take a Squire with you on an Expedition, treat them as if they were on an Investigation of their own: draw Clue cards for them and collect both Primary and Secondary Clues.
Unlocking Mettle Cards
Even Squires get better with practice! If any Squire has successfully completed their Investigation by the end of a Quest Expedition, you may unlock one chosen Mettle card from the Party Leader's tier or below. Then, note down the highest number of Leads (see Leads, p. 26) among Squires and add it to the current number of saved Leads. Between Expeditions, you may spend 5 Leads to unlock one Mettle card from your tier or below.
When you unlock a new Mettle card, replace one lowest tier card (that has the corresponding Clue) from the deck with the new card. For example, you can replace the starting Mystic card with a Mob Mystic card.
When the party survives the first Expedition of a given tier without suffering defeat, you unlock two chosen Mettle cards of that tier. This rule applies retroactively and may be used to make your Squires catch up when you begin using them at higher tiers.
Other Squire Rules
As mentioned previously, most rules work similarly for Knights and Squires, but there are some exceptions and rules specific to Squires.
Gear Cards for Squires. Squires generally don't need Gear cards to participate in an Expedition, but they can equip them as additional power ups. Without a Gear card, a Squire always attacks in melee range.
Each Squire may only have one Gear card, and it has to be a Merchant weapon. In other words, Squires cannot equip Armor or Support cards. During the Outpost Phase, any Knight may lend a Squire a Merchant weapon with Squire stats for the duration of that Expedition. The Squire must return the borrowed card to its owner after the Expedition ends. Note: Squires cannot buy their own Gear cards.
Squires ignore the main statistics of equipped Gear. Instead, they use only the ability box and the Squire stats box with Clue symbols and Power/Potential bonuses. (Ignore Attack dice, Precision bonuses, Power Pool Power bonuses, Evasion Re-rolls, Evasion bonus, Armor dice, etc.).
When a Squire is about to attack, they may voluntarily discard their equipped Gear card.
Gold and Loot. Squires don't use Gold and therefore they do not need to be paid. They also don't deserve any share of the Loot you, the mighty Knights, gathered!
If a Squire would gain any amount of Gold (e.g. from an Adventure), the Party Leader gains it instead. Additionally, they are not assigned any Loot during Loot Distribution. Instead, when distributing the Common Goods between Knights, each Squire allows the party to exchange one additional Loot card for an appropriate Gear (for example when playing with two Squires, your Knights will gain two additional Gear cards from that expedition). You may still exchange those Loot cards for Gold if you prefer.
Resolving Attacks Against Squires
Evasion Roll. To perform an Evasion Roll as a Squire, draw a Mettle card and refer to the Hits Evaded value. This is the number of hits the Squire evades.
Additionally:
- If the total number of Evasion dice on the attack is 5 or more, draw an additional card.
- If the total number of Evasion dice on the attack is 7 or more, draw two additional cards instead.
- If the Evasion Difficulty is 11+, subtract 1 from the Hits Evaded value, to a minimum of 1.
- The Squire may gain +1 Heat to discard the result and draw another card. If you have an effect that would grant you Evasion Re-rolls, you may do this without gaining Heat.
- If you drew the "Critical Chance" card, treat it as Crit Evade.
Note: Squires treat Judgments as regular Attacks.
Attack Consequences. Squires draw from the Mortis deck only if they drop to 0 Vigor or below. In other words, the only Mortis draws they resolve are Judicium draws. Squires resolve Judicium draws as normal, but may gain +1 Heat to gain Second Chance (once during each Attack).
Performing Attacks with Squires
Squires perform Attacks in a similar manner to Knights, but they substitute the Attack Roll and the Power Roll with Mettle card draws.
Attack Roll. In order to perform an Attack Roll as a Squire, draw a Mettle card. The Roll result is the Precision of your roll.
You may gain +1 Heat to discard the result and draw another card. If you do, you must accept the new result. If you have an effect that would grant you Attack Re-rolls, you may do this without gaining Heat.
You may also spend a Clue token from the Squire's Clue card corresponding to the symbol on the Squire Mettle card to gain its Precision bonus. Compare your Precision from the drawn Mettle card and other Precision bonuses (such as Opening tokens) with the Monster's To Hit value. If it is equal to or higher than that value, you hit. If it is less, treat it as a Full Miss.
If you drew the "Critical Chance" card, gain Critical Chance for this Attack; it is an automatic Full Hit. If you drew the "Critical Miss" card, it is a Critical Miss.
Power Roll. To perform a Power Roll, draw a Mettle card and refer to its Power and Potential values.
If the Clue symbol on the Mettle card matches the Clue symbol on your Gear card, you can add its Power and Potential bonuses to your roll.
- If you drew a "Critical Chance" card, you may gain a chosen Clue bonus from your Gear.
- If you drew a "Critical Miss" card, consider it an automatic Fail.
You may gain +1 Heat to discard the drawn card and draw a new one. You must accept the new result. If you have an effect that would grant you Power Re-rolls, you may re-draw without gaining Heat.
Squires are considered to have used all available Power Re-rolls (for example for the purpose of all Black tokens turning a Potential into Power).
You may also spend a Clue token from the Squire's Clue card corresponding to the symbol on the Squire Mettle card to gain its Power bonus.
Performing Tests
Whenever a Squire would perform a test, draw a card from the Mettle deck. The Roll value is your result. The "Critical Chance" card is an automatic success, while the "Critical Miss" card is an automatic fail.
You may gain +1 Heat to discard the drawn card and draw another, but you must accept the new result.
Presence Game Director
The Presence Game Director is a mechanic that aims to equalize the level of play for players at different tiers, so that a player who is at a lower tier does not feel overwhelmed when playing with friends at a higher tier, and vice versa, a player at a higher tier does not get bored (and completely dominate) when playing at a lower tier.
When preparing for an Expedition, check the current tier of each Knight (it'll be either Mob, Vassal, King, Devil or Dragon) and compare them with that of the Party Leader:
- A Knight whose tier is higher than the Party Leader's by at least two takes the Presence Game Director card and uses the "Presence Watches Closely" side.
- A Knight whose tier is below the Party Leader's by at least two tiers takes the Presence Game Director card and uses the "Presence Smiles at You" side.
Then, each Knight with a Presence Game Director card places X Generic tokens on that card, where X is the difference between tiers minus one. This is the level of attention the Presence gives you.
When you are weaker, it will make things easier for you, but if your might surpasses that of others, it will attempt to drag you down.
Effects on each side of the Presence Game Director card can stack and often scale with the level of the Presence Game Director.
Lending Gear
If a Knight has the "Presence Smiles at You" card, other Knights may lend that Knight Gear cards matching that Knight's tier (or those that are lower). Knight returns the borrowed Gear cards to their owners at the end of the Expedition.
True Solo Mode
When traveling alone (Squires don't count!), a lonely Knight has much more freedom to focus on their personal objectives. If you play with a single Knight, when you proceed to resolve an Investigation, apply the following rules:
- Ignore drawing a Clue card. Instead, collect all types of Clues (Martial, Errant, Historic, Mystic).
- When you collect 3 Clues of any type, immediately read the Success paragraph of the Investigation you resolved and discard all Clue tokens you've collected. Next, choose another Investigation from your Chapter to resolve. Immediately read the starting paragraph of that Investigation, then resume your Expedition. You may succeed at up to three Investigations during a single Expedition this way.
- When you finish the third Investigation of your current Chapter (regardless of whether you manage to do so in one Expedition or multiple), you may immediately end the Expedition by proceeding to the Full Clash (as if your current Time was 16) or continue exploring the Kingdom until you run out of time.
If you are playing with a single Knight you need to apply additional Delve and Clash rules:
- If an effect targets a random Knight, prioritize your Knight. For example, if an effect targets two random Knights, it will target your Knight and one random Squire instead.
- Your Knight always starts a Clash with the Priority Target token, regardless of the Passion values of the Squires.
- During each Clash Setup, you may equip up to three Gear cards from your Knight Armory (exchanging it with the Gear you already have equipped if you don't have any free Gear slots).
Five-Player Mode
If you need more companionship in your expeditions throughout the kingdoms, you may decide to invite a fifth member into your party. That may be either a Knight, controlled by another player, or a Squire controlled by the party. Note that this mode will make the Stories of all Knights longer to finish, as you need to resolve an additional Quest Delve in each Chapter. In order for a fifth Player to join the game, simply take a fifth Knight Board and follow setup instructions for that Knight. Most game rules remain unchanged, but some require a small adjustment.
- Add a special Accursed Persistence BP card to each Clash you resolve. It will make the Monsters tougher to kill and render your mistakes more punishable. Note: When the Accursed Persistence BP card is in play, you will be forced to resolve your Attacks against it. That means Heartseeker, Precise, and similar abilities do not affect the Accursed Persistence BP!
- Clash Setup: After placing four Knights, place the fifth one adjacent to any other Knight.
- If five Knights embark on an Expedition, and none of them are on a Quest Delve, i.e. each Knight chose to undertake an Investigation or go on a Free Roam, the four Knights who are not the Party Leader will each receive a Clue card to determine the Clues they are seeking. The fifth Knight, the Party Leader, will determine their Clue objective by drawing a random Clue token and placing it on their Knight Board. This counts as their first Clue, and they will need to end the Expedition with at least five Clues of that type to succeed at their Investigation and/or Roam.
Note: Keep in mind that, on average, each Knight will gain less loot during Loot Distribution. It is balanced out by the campaign taking longer to complete.
Rogue's Path: Alternative Campaign Structure
Note: These rules may contain spoilers for the Knights' stories!
The Rogue's Path is an exciting new way to play Kingdoms Forlorn. It eschews a traditional campaign structure—gone are the story Chapters and Expeditions. Instead, the new mode offers a semi-roguelike gauntlet focused on increasingly difficult Clashes. You still develop your Knights and gain Gear, but now you have to contend with a limited life pool. Once it runs out... you're done.
Setup
Setting up a Rogue's Path campaign is simple. Print out a copy of the Rosegraal Sheet found on pages 92-96 of this Rulebook and on our website. It will chart your Clashes. Choose your Knights (do not play with Squires, this mode is not for the faint of heart!). Do not use the Knightbooks for character progression.
Besides elements you gain during the Knight Setup, each Knight gains 10 Gold. Then, the Knights, as a group, gain a total of 5 resurrections. Mark them on the Rosegraal Sheet.
Once you're set, cross out the S node on the Rosegraal to mark the start of the campaign.
Rogue's Path Campaign Flow
The Rogue's Path campaign is played in Rosegraal Rounds.
Rosegraal Round
During a Rosegraal Round, instead of normal progression, story interactions and other Expedition activities, simply choose a node connecting to any of your previously crossed out nodes. Each node is defined by several characteristics.
Each node is located in either the Principality of Stone or the Sunken Kingdom section. It also shows a Node Level, as well as additional rewards you gain for winning that Clash: resurrections, new Class or their Talent, Heroic Arc, Peril Arc, Technique, new Gear, a Virtue Improvement, a Wild card reward and a Sigh of the Graal.
Rosegraal Clashes
When you choose which node to tackle, you will have to battle a random Monster from the chosen Kingdom (each node is located in a section of a specific Kingdom), at the node's level. Note, this is a node level, not the Monster level—you will find a table for each node level at the end of these rules. You proceed to that Clash as normal.
Losing the Clash and Rosegraal Round. If you lose the Clash, you suffer all normal Clash loss penalties. You lose a number of resurrections equal to the number of Knights that died during the Clash. You get to keep all the Loot and other permanent bonuses you've gained. You do not gain the Rosegraal Rewards. You do not cross out the node you've tackled. Providing you have enough resurrections to continue with the campaign, you may tackle that node again in a future Rosegraal Round; if you do, you roll for a new random Monster to battle!
Winning the Clash and Rosegraal Round. When you win the Clash, you proceed to the Aftermath as normal. You note casualties (you'll have to replace them from your resurrection pool), and you gain Monster loot as normal. Create a standard Loot deck and perform Loot Distribution.
In addition to normal rewards, you also gain the Rosegraal Rewards, i.e. additional resurrections and Knight progression. First, you gain additional resurrections, as noted by the node. Usually, it's equal to the Node Level (so 1 to 5). However, if you don't have any resurrections left and you end the Clash with less than four alive party members, you always gain as many resurrections, as to bring back the party to full strength. In other words, if at least one Knight survives a Clash, you will always have enough resurrections to tackle another node at full party strength.
When you win a Clash, each participating Knight also gains one reward of a given kind (Class, Heroic Arc, Peril Arc, Technique, Gear, Virtue bonus, or a Wild card), of the current Node level or lower, as indicated by the reward symbol next to the conquered node. You will find a list of rewards in the Rosegraal Rewards table (see p. 92, but beware of story spoilers!). Remember, each reward can be claimed only once! This means that at some point, the current level node will stop yielding new rewards, even though there may be a reward symbol showing.
Finally, after gaining your Rosegraal Rewards, you cross out the node you've tackled and proceed to the next Rosegraal Round.
Outpost Phase (Rogue's Path)
At any time during a Rosegraal Round, before or after a Clash, you may visit your Kingdom's Outpost, and perform an Outpost Phase. Resolve the Phase normally, but ignore options and activities that interact with the story, Kingdom map, Vision Phase, and Delve Phase.
Knight Tier (Rogue's Path)
For the purpose of gated effects based on the tier, including ones on your Techniques as well as Loot cards, refer to the tier of the Node you are tackling. (Found in the table at the end of these rules.)
Winning and Losing the Rogue's Path Campaign
The rules for winning and losing the Rogue's Path campaign are very simple. If you cross out the last node of the Rosegraal, you win. If you lose all your Knights and resurrections, you lose. Good luck.
Rogue's Path Monster Tables
When tackling a node, roll a d10 (or on the indicated range) and consult the table matching the node's tier to determine which Monster you face and at which level, depending on whether the node is in the Principality of Stone or the Sunken Kingdom section of the Rosegraal. An asterisk (*) next to a Monster means: if you don't own that Monster, re-roll.
I – Mob
| Roll | Principality of Stone | Level | Sunken Kingdom | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | Ironcast Dead | I | First Men Warriors | I |
| 3 | Panzergeist* | I | First Men Lictor Hunters* | I |
| 4-5 | Eggknight | I | White Ape Troll | I |
| 6 | Paleblood Worms | I | Haunts of Utrebant | I |
| 7 | Pumpkinheads | I | Paleblood Worms | I |
| 8 | Stonemason Knight* | I | Knights of Fen | I |
| 9 | Winged Nightmare | I | Ratwolves | II |
| 10 | Knighteater* | I | Bog Witch* | I |
II – Vassal
| Roll | Principality of Stone | Level | Sunken Kingdom | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | Ironcast Dead | II | First Men Warriors | II |
| 3 | Panzergeist* | II | First Men Lictor Hunters* | II |
| 4 | Winged Nightmare | II | Winged Nightmare | II |
| 5 | Paleblood Worms | II | Pumpkinheads | II |
| 6 | Eggknight | II | White Ape Troll | II |
| 7 | Eggknight | II | White Ape Troll | II |
| 8 | Stonemason Knight* | II | Haunts of Utrebant | II |
| 9 | Ratwolves | III | Knights of Fen | II |
| 10 | Knighteater* | II | Bog Witch* | II |
III – King
| Roll | Principality of Stone | Level | Sunken Kingdom | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ironcast Dead | III | First Men Warriors | III |
| 2 | Ratwolves | IV | Haunts of Utrebant | III |
| 3-4 | Eggknight | III | White Ape Troll | III |
| 5-6 | Puppet King Edelhardt | I | King Laid Low | I |
| 7 | Panzergeist* | III | First Men Lictor Hunters* | III |
| 8 | Winged Nightmare | III | Pumpkinheads | III |
| 9-10 | Stonemason Knight* | III | Knights of Fen | III |
IV – Devil
| Roll | Principality of Stone | Level | Sunken Kingdom | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Panzergeist* | IV | First Men Lictor Hunters* | IV |
| 2 | Pumpkinheads | IV | Haunts of Utrebant | IV |
| 3-4 | Eggknight | IV | White Ape Troll | IV |
| 5-6 | Puppet King Edelhardt | III | King Laid Low | III |
| 7-8 | Devil of the Smelted Fears | I | Devil of the Ancient Dusk | I |
| 9 | Knighteater* | III | Bog Witch* | III |
| 10 | Paleblood Worms | IV | Winged Nightmare | IV |
V – Dragon
| Roll | Principality of Stone | Level | Sunken Kingdom | Level |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stonemason Knight* | IV | Bog Witch* | IV |
| 2 | Knights of Fen | IV | Knighteater* | IV |
| 3-4 | Puppet King Edelhardt | IV | King Laid Low | IV |
| 5-7 | Devil of the Smelted Fears | III | Devil of the Ancient Dusk | III |
| 8-9 | Panzerdragon Veldr | I | Toadragon | I |
| 10 | Young Devour Dragon* | I | Young Devour Dragon* | I |
If you don't own the Monster, re-roll.
Rosegraal Sheet Legend
The Rosegraal Sheet map uses the following legend for each node: Clash level, Resurrection, Heroic Arc Reward, Class Reward, Peril Arc Reward, Technique Reward, Gear Reward, Virtue Reward, Wild Card Reward, and Sigh of the Graal. The map itself charts a branching path of nodes through the Principality of Stone and the Sunken Kingdom, each marked with its level (I–V) and available rewards, as described under Rosegraal Round above.
Keyword List
The following list contains keywords common to all Kingdoms of Kingdoms Forlorn. Keywords that are introduced in a specific Kingdom will be described in that Kingdom Codex. All keywords are referenced in the Master Index (see p. 88).
- Acrobatics: If you would suffer Knockdown while adjacent to a Monster, you may Vault instead.
- Activate X: Draw AI for the next X Mobs on the Mob track.
- Afflict X: This keyword changes depending on the Kingdom. See the appropriate Trait card of the Monster you're currently fighting for the definition.
- Ammo Reserves X: Additional X Charges per empty Weapon or Support slot.
- Area: When resolving the Power Roll against the Target of your Attack, additionally resolve it against all Monsters on spaces denoted by this keyword. Resolve the Power Roll against each of the Monsters AT individually (revealing/drawing their BP cards if needed) using this Attack's Total Power. Resolve Monster Responses only for the original Target of the Attack. Each Area keyword is followed by a description of spaces it targets.
- Armor-piercing X: Principality of Stone keyword. During the second ability window, discard up to X Armor tokens from the Target.
- Armor Re-roll X: During an Armor Roll, you may re-roll up to X Armor dice.
- Attack Re-roll X: During an Attack Roll, you may re-roll up to X Attack dice with no additional cost. Remember that you can only re-roll each die once, regardless of the re-roll source.
- Auto-X Y: Place a number of tokens in the Knight Pool during the first ability window, where X is the type of token you can place, and Y is the number of tokens, for example Auto-break 2.
- Bane X: Gain X Bane tokens.
- Bane Limit X/+X: Your Bane Limit becomes X or is increased by +X. Note: Bane Limit X doesn't stack, but all +X bonuses are cumulative.
- Black X: During the second ability window, place X Black tokens in the Knight Pool. During the Power Roll step, the attacking Knight may use Black tokens in the Knight Pool to re-roll 1 Power die for each Black token used. They may turn 1 Miss on each die re-rolled using a Black token into 1 Hit, as if they had a Break token.
- Block: While performing an Evasion Roll, treat 1 successful hit as evaded. Possible subtypes of Block:
- Advanced Block: While performing an Evasion Roll, treat 2 successful hits as evaded.
- Superior Block: While performing an Evasion Roll, treat 3 successful hits as evaded.
- Bloodletter: This keyword is irrelevant in the Principality of Stone and Sunken Kingdom. It will become relevant in future Kingdoms.
- Boundless: Terrain keyword. You cannot voluntarily move onto this tile. If a Knight is forced to move onto or beyond this tile or Board Edge, they die.
- Braced: You cannot be involuntarily moved or suffer Knockdown (you can still be Displaced).
- Break X: During the second ability window, place X Break tokens in the Knight Pool. During the Power Roll step, each Break token in the Knight Pool allows the attacking Knight to turn 1 Miss symbol into 1 Hit.
- Bypass: A Knight or Monster may move through spaces occupied by other Knights or Monsters, respectively. You cannot end your voluntary movement on a space occupied by another miniature. Possible subtypes of Bypass:
- Advanced Bypass: A Knight or Monster may voluntarily move through other Miniatures. You cannot end your voluntary movement on a space occupied by another Miniature.
- Superior Bypass: A Knight or Monster may voluntarily move through other Miniatures. You cannot end your voluntary movement on a space occupied by another Miniature. A Knight or Monster may voluntarily enter an Obstacle space and end its movement on that space. It additionally ignores Difficult Terrain and Chasm Terrain Keywords. Reminder: Obstacles do not block Line of Sight or range, so a Knight or Monster on an Obstacle can still be attacked as normal.
- Cantrip X: During the second ability window, place X Cantrip tokens in the Knight Pool. When declaring an Attack, change each Cantrip in the Knight Pool to either an Opening or Break token.
- Chasm: Terrain keyword. Knights cannot voluntarily move through Chasm spaces. If a Knight ends their movement on a Chasm space, they die. If they are pushed back, dragged or pulled through a Chasm space, they die. If a Chasm tile is placed under a Knight, they die. Note: Knights do not die from moving over a Chasm during Knockback, unless they end their movement on that space.
- Choke X: If you don't have the Choked Condition card, gain it and place a black acrylic cube on "0" on the Heat track—this is your Choke Limit. Then, increase the Choke Limit by X-1. Your Heat can never go below this limit. If you already had the Choked Condition card, increase the Choke Limit by X. Then, if your Heat is below the Choke Limit, gain enough Heat so that it is above the Choke Limit.
- Clockwork: This keyword is irrelevant in the Principality of Stone and Sunken Kingdom. It will become relevant in future Kingdoms.
- Commit: To attack with this weapon, gain +1 Heat.
- Cooldown: Place 1 random card from your hand into the Cooldown area.
- Closing X: During the second ability window, place X Closing tokens in the Knight Pool. During the Attack Roll step, each Closing token grants a re-roll of 1 Attack Die, and adds +1 to the result of each Attack die rolled during an Attack Roll.
- Crash: The Knight subjected to Crash loses -1 Vigor and suffers Knockdown. A Knight suffers Crash each time a non-Mob Monster moves onto or through their space, as well as when any effect forces them to move onto an Obstacle, or places an Obstacle on them.
- Cumbersome: During the second ability window, if you successfully wounded with this weapon, exhaust it. Treat it as a voluntary exhaust.
- Daze: During either the first or second ability window, if adjacent, you may turn the Monster (without moving it) in a way that would make it face directly away from you.
- Deadly: During an Attack Roll, gain a Crit Chance on a natural 9–10 result.
- Defy: While performing a Virtue test caused by a Judgement, treat 1 hit as evaded.
- Advanced Defy: While performing a Virtue test caused by a Judgement, treat 2 hits as evaded.
- Superior Defy: While performing a Virtue test caused by a Judgement, treat 3 hits as evaded.
- Delay: Place 1 random card from your Hand into the Delay Area.
- Deploy X: During Clash Setup, at the start of the Monster Positioning step, you may move X spaces.
- Destructible: Terrain keyword. When a Miniature is involuntarily moved onto this tile, or when a Boss Monster moves onto this tile, the tile is destroyed. Note: If a Knight is knocked back, they ignore non-Obstacle Terrain tiles they move through. Therefore, they will not destroy a Destructible tile unless they end their movement on it.
- Devote: Gain a Devotion token.
- Devote to X: Gain the Saint X card if you don't have it already. Then, gain a Devotion token.
- Difficult Terrain: Terrain keyword. If, during voluntary movement, a Knight moves through any number of Difficult Terrain tile spaces, they move one less space. Monsters on Difficult Terrain have -1 Speed.
- Discard: Place 1 random card from your Hand into the Discard area.
- Displace: Move the Displaced Target to an empty space adjacent to its current position. If a Knight is Displaced and there is no space they can legally be Displaced to, they die instead. If a Monster is Displaced and there is no space it can legally be Displaced to, place it on the closest empty space instead.
- Diversion: During the second ability window, place a Diversion token in the Knight Pool. An attacking Knight may use a Diversion token from the Knight Pool to ignore Fail Responses until the end of their Attack. Possible subtypes of Diversions:
- Improved Diversion: During the second ability window, place an Improved Diversion token in the Knight Pool. An attacking Knight may use an Improved Diversion token from the Knight Pool to ignore all Responses until the end of their Attack.
- Dodge: When you are about to resolve an Evasion Roll, gain +1 Evasion bonus for this roll. Possible subtypes of Dodge:
- Lesser Dodge: When you are about to resolve an Evasion roll and have no other Evasion bonuses, gain +1 Evasion bonus for this roll.
- Advanced Dodge: Gain +2 Evasion bonus instead.
- Superior Dodge: Gain +3 Evasion bonus instead.
- Doomed: During this Monster Attack, Knights cannot re-roll the Evasion Roll or Judgement test using Heat.
- Drag X: If the target is adjacent, the source moves X spaces directly away from the target, then move the target miniature X spaces along the path the source took. At the end of the Drag, turn the source to face the affected miniature.
- Other miniatures: If the source is a Non-Mob Monster, the dragged Knight can move through spaces occupied by other miniatures. If a Knight ends involuntary movement on a space with another miniature, the other miniature is Displaced. If the source is Mob Monster or a Knight, stop resolving Drag if it is about to enter a space occupied by another miniature.
- Terrain: The affected miniature must resolve the effects of any Terrain tiles it moves through.
- Destructible Obstacles: If a Knight is about to be dragged into a Destructible Obstacle (e.g. a Column), remove the Terrain tile from the Battle Board, the Knight suffers a Crash, then continue the Drag.
- Indestructible Obstacles: If a Knight is about to be dragged into an Indestructible Obstacle, it suffers a Crash and the drag stops.
- Knight Timing: Knight may use the Drag X keyword during either the first or second ability window.
- Drag toward: Instead of moving straight from the target, the Source moves toward and past the specified space along the shortest path, until the Target will be able to enter the specified space, or up to the drag value. Then, move the Target along the path the source took until adjacent to the Source.
Example: Ser Sonch suffers Drag 2. After the Ratwolf finishes its movement, Ser Sonch is dragged along the path taken by it.
- Dwell: Sunken Kingdom keyword. Move the Monster miniature to the closest unoccupied space on a Swamp Terrain tile.
- Envenomed X: During the second ability window, if you dealt a Wound, place X Break tokens in the Knight Pool. Then, for each 1 Power above the AT of the wounded BP card, place 1 Break token in the Knight Pool, up to X.
- Escalate X: Escalate X lowest level AI cards (remove each one from the AI deck and shuffle in a card one level higher), one at a time. Then do the same for the BP deck. Do not look at the removed cards.
- Falsity: During the Attack Roll step, you may re-roll your Crit die without gaining Heat. If you re-roll your Crit die while it's already a hit, immediately Zeal 1.
- Fire X: During the second ability window, place X Fire tokens in the Knight Pool. During the Power Roll step, each Fire token in the Knight Pool allows the attacking Knight to turn 1 Miss symbol into 1 Hit. You may use other tokens to turn Miss into Hit first, but if you can't, you must always use as many Fire tokens from the Pool as possible. During the Clear the Knight Pool step, leave all but one unused Fire tokens in the Knight Pool, i.e. remove one additional Fire token from the Knight Pool.
- Fleisch X: During the second ability window, place X Fleisch tokens in the Knight Pool.
- Fortify X: If you don't have maximum Vigor, gain +X Vigor. If you have maximum Vigor, place a red cube on X on the Vigor track—it becomes your additional Vigor. When you would lose Vigor, lose your additional Vigor first (counting it down, like a secondary track).
- Gangup X: Move up to X spaces toward the Target. Then, move the Targeted Knight the remaining number of spaces, ignoring the source, toward another closest Monster along the shortest path, or until adjacent. Treat this as involuntary movement. If the Target is already adjacent to another Monster, they suffer Knockdown instead of being moved. Afterward, the source always moves adjacent to the Target. If the Target would end this movement on a space occupied by the source, the source is Displaced to the previous space the Knight moved through.
Example: Ser Sonch suffers Gangup 4. The Ironcast Dead moves adjacent to Ser Sonch. Then, Ser Sonch is moved toward the next closest Ironcast Dead. Lastly, the first Ironcast Dead moves adjacent to Ser Sonch.
- Greater Pass X: During the Clear the Knight Pool step, choose up to X Knight tokens to remain in the Knight Pool, except Sunder and Power tokens.
- Growth: This keyword is irrelevant in the Principality of Stone and Sunken Kingdom. It will become relevant in future Kingdoms.
- Guard X: Before re-rolling Evasion dice, you may add +X to the result, spread between any of the Evasion dice. You cannot re-roll those dice.
- Heal X:
- Boss Clash: Take the top BP card from the Wound Stack and remove it from the Clash. It does not count as a Wound.
- Mob Clash: Take the top BP card from the Wound Stack and place it in the leftmost empty space of the Mob track. Take a corresponding Mob miniature and place it adjacent to the source of this Heal (or in the closest unoccupied space), facing most Knights. If the Mob track is full or there would be no more miniatures to place, instead discard that card and ignore miniature placement.
- Heartseeker: During the Draw BP card step of the Attack, you may look at the top two BP cards and choose which one to attack. Shuffle the other card back into the deck. Possible Subtype of Heartseeker:
- Soulseeker: During the Draw BP card step of the Attack, you may look at the top three BP cards and choose which one to attack. Shuffle the other cards into the deck.
- Herd X: Move up to X spaces toward the Target. Then, move the Targeted Knight the remaining number of spaces, ignoring the source, toward another closest Knight along the shortest path, or until adjacent. Treat this as involuntary movement. If the Target is already adjacent to another Knight, they suffer Knockdown instead of being moved. Afterward, the source always moves adjacent to the Target. If the Target would end this movement on a space occupied by the source, the source is Displaced to the previous space the Knight moved through.
Example: Ser Sonch suffers Herd 4. Since the attacking Mob is already adjacent to him, Ser Sonch is moved four spaces toward another closest Knight (Fleischritter). Then, the Ironcast Dead performing Herd 4 moves adjacent to Ser Sonch along the shortest available path.
- Hide: If you are not in front of a Monster, you may activate this ability at the end of your turn to become Hidden. If you have the Priority Target token, pass it to the Knight with the highest Passion other than you. As long as you are Hidden, you have +1 Evasion and +1 Precision. You stop being Hidden if you move in front of a Monster, gain the Priority Target token, after the second ability window of your Attack, or at the end of your next turn. Place a Generic token on the game element granting you Hide as a reminder.
- Hope X: During the second ability window, place X Hope tokens in the Knight Pool. During the Power Roll step, every Hope token in the Knight Pool allows the attacking Knight to turn 1 Miss or Critical symbol into 1 Hit.
- Hug X: If adjacent to a Monster, during any ability window, move up to X spaces cardinally or diagonally. Each space you move to must be unoccupied and adjacent to a Monster. You cannot perform movement through a corner between two occupied spaces. If you perform Hug in the first ability window, you cannot move in a way that would result in your target being outside of your weapon's effective range.
Example: Kara performs Hug 3. Blue spaces indicate where she may move to.
- Immune to X: You may ignore the effects of the corresponding game element. Possible types:
- Immune to Bane: Ignore all Bane tokens you have. You cannot gain Bane tokens.
- Immune to Body Condition cards: Ignore effects of Body Condition cards. You cannot gain Body Condition cards.
- Immune to Mind Condition cards: Ignore effects of Mind Condition cards. You cannot gain Mind Condition cards.
- Immune to Fear: Ignore effects of the Fear Condition card. You cannot gain the Fear Condition card.
- Indestructible: Terrain keyword. This Terrain tile cannot be destroyed in any way. It invalidates Terrain placement on top of it.
- Inspire X: During the first ability window, choose X knocked down Knights. They may immediately stand up.
- Jump: Activate at the start of movement (voluntary or not). Until the end of this movement, you may ignore a single space of a Terrain tile (including an Obstacle). This ability cannot be used while knocked down, even if passive. Possible subtypes:
- Advanced Jump: Activate at the start of movement (voluntary or not). Until the end of this movement, you may ignore up to 2 adjacent spaces of a single Terrain tile (including Obstacles). This ability cannot be used while knocked down, even if passive.
- Knockback X: See box on the next page.
- Knockdown: Knockdown is a special Condition. When you get knocked down, you put your miniature on its side and take a Knockdown (falling down) card. While you have the Knockdown (falling down) card, you cannot move voluntarily, perform any actions, reactions, or free actions, or use Gear abilities or Techniques, unless stated otherwise. At the end of your next turn, you flip the card to the Knockdown (standing up) side. All Knights with a Knockdown (standing up) card stand up at the start of their next turn. If, for whatever reason this card is discarded, stand up too.
- Leech: This keyword is irrelevant in the Principality of Stone and Sunken Kingdom. It will become relevant in future Kingdoms.
- Lifeline: When you are about to die from moving onto a Terrain tile's space, Displace instead. Alternatively, when you are about to die from falling from a Boundless Board Edge, stop adjacent to it. This ability can be used even if knocked down or otherwise prohibited from using active abilities.
- Lumbering: Cannot be involuntarily moved.
- Magic X: During the second ability window, place X Magic tokens in the Knight Pool.
- Monkey Business X: Place the Little Ser on X. If Monkey Business has no cost, you may use it at the beginning of your turn. X can be:
- Board: Place Little Ser on the Clash Board. During an Encounter, place Little Ser on the Encounter Monster Board before the Knight Positioning step.
- Knight: Place Little Ser on any Knight Board.
- Monster: Place Little Ser on the Monster Sheet or an Encounter card (during Encounters).
- Exploration: Place Little Ser on the Exploration deck.
- Motivate X: During the second ability window, other Knights may move up to X spaces among them. Example: Motivate 3 allows one Knight to move 3 spaces, two Knights to move 2 and 1 spaces respectively or three Knights to move 1 space each.
- Obscuring: Terrain keyword. This tile blocks the Line of Sight.
- Obstacle: Terrain keyword. Knights cannot move through Obstacles. Many move-like abilities interact with Obstacles. See: Knockback, Pushback, Drag and Pull keywords.
- Opening X: During the second ability window, place X Opening tokens in the Knight Pool. During the Attack Roll step, each Opening token in the Knight Pool adds +1 to the result of each die.
- Overbreak X: During the second ability window, if your Total Power exceeds AT by 1 or more, place X Break tokens in the Knight Pool (see Break X keyword).
- Overcome X+: If you failed to deal a Wound but your Total Power was X or more, resolve the Overcome effect. If you dealt a Wound and your Total Power exceeds the value by X or more, resolve the Overcome effect.
- Knockback X: Move the affected miniature up to X spaces directly away from the source of Knockback in a straight line (or in a specified direction in case of directional Knockback):
- If Knockback is caused by an Attack, it affects the Target only if it is within the Attack's effective range (adjacent for normal Attacks, in the designated zone for Zone Attacks, within X spaces for Ranged X Attacks, etc.).
- If Knockback is caused by a Knight, it affects the Target only if it is adjacent or within the effective range of the Active Weapon.
- If Knockback is caused by a Monster Response, it affects the Attacker only if they are within adjacency.
- Knocked back Knights ignore all Terrain tiles they move through except Obstacles.
- If a Knight would be forced to move through a Destructible Obstacle Terrain tile, stop its movement, remove the Terrain tile from the Clash Board, and place the Knight in its space, then the Knight suffers Crash.
- If a Knight would be forced to move through an Indestructible Obstacle, it stops on an adjacent space right before the Obstacle, then suffers Crash.
- Knocked back Monsters can move through any Terrain tiles and miniatures without hindrance. They destroy any Destructible Terrain tiles they land on. Knocked back Boss Monsters cause Crash and Unavoidable Knockback to Knights as normal.
- If the affected miniature is knocked back into a Board Edge, it continues to move along the edge, if possible, away from the source of Knockback.
- Knockback to the side: Instead of moving the target miniature in a straight line from the Monster, move perpendicularly from the straight line a normal Knockback would use in the direction that leads the target directly away from the source.
Example: Knockback. The affected miniature must move in a straight line, directly away from the source of Knockback.
Example: Knockback to the side, directly away from the source.
Example: Knockback 5 to the left. When a Knight is knocked back into another Knight, the other Knight is Displaced (according to involuntary movement rules).
Example: Kara suffers Knockback 3. When a Knight is knocked back into an Obstacle, they must stop on the Obstacle space (if Destructible) or adjacent to it (if Indestructible). Then they suffer Crash.
Example: When a Knight is knocked back into a Board Edge, they continue to move along the edge, away from the source of Knockback (if possible).
- Overpower X+: If you dealt a Wound and your Total Power exceeds the value by X or more, resolve the Overpower effect.
- Parasitize X: Principality of Stone keyword. If you don't have the Panzer Parasite Condition card, gain it. Then place X Generic tokens on the Panzer Parasite Condition card.
- Pass X: During the Clear the Knight Pool step, choose up to X Knight tokens to remain in the Knight Pool. You can only choose Opening, Break, or Cantrip tokens.
- Poison X: Sunken Kingdom keyword. If you don't have the Poisoned Condition card, gain it. Then place X Generic tokens on the Poisoned Condition card (these are the Poison tokens).
- Toxify X: If you don't have the Toxified or Poisoned Condition card, gain the Toxified Condition card. If you already have the Poisoned Condition card, flip it. Then place X Generic tokens (Poison tokens) on the Toxified Condition card.
- Poison Resilience X: Sunken Kingdom keyword. Ignore up to X Poison tokens from the Poisoned and Toxified Condition cards.
- Power X: During the second ability window, place X Power tokens in the Knight Pool. During the Power Roll step, every Power token in the Knight Pool adds 1 Power. You cannot use Greater Pass on this token.
- Power Re-roll X: During the Power Roll step of an Attack, you may re-roll up to X Power dice. Remember, you cannot re-roll Power dice using Heat.
- Precise: During the Draw a BP card step of the attack, after you draw the card, you may target the top card of the discard pile instead. If you do, shuffle the card you've drawn into the BP deck.
- Pushback X: Turn the source toward the affected miniature. Then, move up to X spaces in the direction of the affected miniature, pushing it in a straight line.
- Pushback toward: Instead of pushing the Target in a straight line, push them along the shortest path to the specified space.
- Other miniatures: If the source is a Non-Mob Monster, the pushed Knight can be moved through spaces occupied by other miniatures. If a Knight ends involuntary movement on a space with another miniature, the other miniature is Displaced. If the source is Mob Monster, stop resolving Pushback if the affected miniature would be about to enter another miniature's space.
- Terrain: The affected miniature must resolve the effects of any Terrain tiles it moves through.
- Shortest path: If the affected miniature is not adjacent, move the source in its direction along the shortest possible path (see examples in the Monster Movement section, p. 50).
- Destructible Obstacles: If a Knight is about to be pushed into a Destructible Obstacle (e.g. a Column), remove the Terrain tile from the Clash Board, the Knight suffers Crash, then continue Pushback.
- Indestructible Obstacles: If a Knight is about to be pushed into an Indestructible Obstacle by a Boss Monster, displace it to an adjacent space that would allow the Monster to continue movement onto a space previously occupied by the Knight, then continue Pushback. If displacement is impossible, the Knight dies and, once the Monster has moved into the space formerly occupied by the Targeted Knight, the Pushback stops. If a Knight is about to be pushed into an Indestructible Obstacle by a Mob Monster, stop the Pushback instead, and that Knight suffers Crash. If a Mob Monster is about to be pushed into an Indestructible Obstacle by a Knight, stop the Pushback instead and resolve the Terrain's effect (if any).
- Board Edge: If a Knight or a Monster is about to be pushed into the Board Edge, they are Displaced to an adjacent space in a way that would allow the source of Pushback to move onto a space previously occupied by the affected miniature, then continue Pushback. If displacement is impossible: if the source is a Knight, the Pushback stops; if the source is a Non-Mob Monster, the target dies; if the source is a Mob, the Pushback stops.
- Knight Timing: A Knight may resolve Pushback X during either the first or second ability window of their Attack (excluding Attacks with Weapon with the Ranged X–Y keyword) or when specifically instructed to resolve it immediately.
Example: Renholder is pushed back and reaches the Board Edge. Since the Pushback has not been fully resolved yet, they must be Displaced in a way that will allow the White Ape Troll to continue the Pushback along the Board Edge.
Example: When a Knight is pushed back into a Column, they suffer Crash, losing -1 Vigor and suffering Knockdown. The Column is destroyed and the Ironcast Dead continues pushing the knocked down Knight until the Pushback is fully resolved.
- Provoke: During the first ability window, gain the Priority Target token and turn the Monster to face you.
- Pull X: Move the affected miniature up to X spaces toward the source of the Pull, along the shortest possible path (see examples in Monster Movement section, p. 50). At the end of the Pull, turn the source to face the affected miniature.
- Other miniatures: The pulled miniature can move through spaces occupied by other miniatures. If the pulled miniature ends involuntary movement on a space with another miniature on it, the other miniature is Displaced. If the pulled miniature is a Boss Monster, it causes Crash to Knights as normal.
- Terrain: The affected miniature must resolve the effects of any Terrain tiles it moves through.
- Destructible Obstacles: If a Knight is about to be pulled into a Destructible Obstacle (e.g. a Column), remove the Terrain tile from the Clash Board, the Knight suffers Crash, then continue the Pull.
- Indestructible Obstacles: If a Knight is about to be pulled into an Indestructible Obstacle, it suffers Crash and continues to move along the Obstacle's edge along the shortest possible path toward the Source.
- Adjacency: If the affected miniature is or becomes adjacent to the source, the Pull ends.
- Knight Timing: Knights may use the Pull X keyword during either the first or second ability window.
- Ranged X–Y: To attack with this weapon, you must be at least X and up to Y spaces away from your target. This keyword is not stackable.
- Reach X: You may attack from up to X spaces away. This keyword is not stackable.
- Reflex: Move up to 1 space. Possible subtypes:
- Advanced Reflex: Move up to 2 spaces.
- Superior Reflex: Move up to 3 spaces.
- Refresh X: Move X cards from the Delay area to the Cooldown area, OR from the Cooldown area to your hand.
- Reinforce X: When you are about to resolve an Armor Roll, add X red dice to your Armor dice Pool. Possible subtypes:
- Advanced Reinforce X: When you are about to resolve an Armor Roll, add X black dice to your Armor dice Pool.
- Superior Reinforce X: When you are about to resolve an Armor Roll, add X white dice to your Armor dice Pool.
- Reposition X: During the second ability window, you may move up to X spaces.
- Restrain: Delay all cards in your Cooldown area (move them to the Delay area).
- Rocksteady: When you are about to suffer Knockdown, you may use this ability to ignore it.
- Roll Out: When you are about to suffer Knockdown while adjacent to a Monster, suffer Knockback 4 instead.
- Rotation X: Move all Monster tokens on the District Wheel X spaces clockwise.
- Rouse X: During the second ability window, place X Rouse tokens in the Knight Pool. In the first ability window, the attacking Knight may use Rouse tokens from the Knight Pool to treat their Passion as 1 higher until the end of this Attack for each Rouse token used.
- Rush: Move with +1 Speed and Melee/Reach Attack with Auto-break 1. You must move at least 3 spaces and reach your target via the shortest possible path. Stop when in the effective range of your active Weapon. Possible subtype of Rush:
- Improved Rush: Move with +2 Speed and Melee/Reach Attack with Auto-break 1 and +1 Precision. You must move at least 3 spaces and reach your target via the shortest possible path. Stop when in the effective range of your active Weapon.
- Sacrifice: During the first ability window, you may lose -1 Vigor to immediately place 1 Break token in the Knight Pool.
- Scavenge X: Add X Loot cards to the Loot deck. If the Scavenge keyword does not specify which Loot card type it refers to, you may choose from Kingdom Gear, Upgrade and Consumable Gear Loot cards. Possible subtypes of Scavenge X:
- Kingdom Scavenge X: Add X Kingdom Gear Loot cards to the Loot deck.
- Upgrade Scavenge X: Add X Upgrade Loot cards to the Loot deck.
- Consumable Scavenge X: Add X Consumable Gear Loot cards to the Loot deck.
- Clash Scavenge X: Add X Exhibition or Full Clash Loot cards to the Loot deck depending on the last Clash you've resolved.
If you trigger Scavenge, but there are no more Loot cards to add to the Loot deck, ignore Scavenge. You've looted whatever you could in this Expedition!
- Second Chance: After you draw a Mortis or Judicium card, you may ignore its effect and discard it. Draw and resolve another card from the same deck (note: a discarded Judicium is immediately shuffled back into the Judicium deck). You cannot ignore the second draw in any way. This ability can be used even when knocked down or otherwise prohibited from using active abilities.
- Superior Chance: After you draw a Mortis or Judicium card, you may ignore its effect and discard it. Draw and resolve another card from the same deck removing the You Died Horribly Massive Peril Judicium card for that draw only (note: a discarded Judicium card is always shuffled back into the Judicium deck). You cannot ignore the second draw in any way. This ability can be used even when knocked down or otherwise prohibited from using active abilities.
- Sink: Sunken Kingdom keyword. During the Exploration step, whenever you discover the Sink symbol or you're prompted by the Exploration card, trigger Sink.
- Soak X: Reduce Vigor loss from Monster Attacks during a Clash by X. You can use this ability only after performing the Armor Roll. If it reduces your Vigor loss to 0, do not resolve the Peril Check.
- Spell X: During the second ability window, place X Spell tokens in the Knight Pool. During an Attack treat this token as both an Opening and Break token.
- Splinter X: Knights adjacent to the Target of the Attack lose -X Vigor.
- Spotlight: During the first ability window, if you are the Priority Target or the Divine Target, gain +Power for this Attack.
- Stalwart: When you are about to suffer Knockback, you may use this ability to ignore it.
- Sunder X: During the second ability window, place X Sunder tokens in the Knight Pool. During the Power Roll step, each Sunder token in the Knight Pool allows the attacking Knight to turn 1 Miss symbol into 2 Hits. You cannot use Greater Pass on this token.
- Suppress: You may shuffle the discard pile denoted by the subtype into the appropriate deck. Possible subtypes:
- BP Suppress: Shuffle the BP discard pile into the BP deck.
- AI Suppress: Shuffle the AI discard pile into the AI deck.
- Swarm X: The attacked Knight loses -X Vigor for each other adjacent Monster.
- Tireless: When you are about to activate the Cumbersome keyword, you may ignore it.
- Trailmake X: At the start of Deep Fog traversal, you may look at the top X cards of the Deep Fog deck, select one card and put it aside. Shuffle the rest of the cards into the Deep Fog deck, and put the selected card at the bottom of the deck.
- Tumble: When you are about to suffer Crash, roll a d10. On a 6+ ignore it.
- Unwieldy: If a Weapon is Unwieldy, you may only attack targets in a straight cardinal line.
- Vault: If you're adjacent to a Monster, place your miniature on an empty space in a straight line from you, on the opposite side of the Monster, adjacent to it. Treat this as voluntary Movement. A Knight may use this ability in either the first or second ability window. Possible subtype:
- Forced Vault: If the source is adjacent to the target, place its miniature on a space in a straight line from the source, on the opposite side of the source, adjacent to it. Treat as involuntary movement. If a Knight would have to end this movement outside the Board Edge or on an Indestructible Obstacle Terrain tile, they die instead. If a Monster would have to end this movement outside the Board Edge or on an Indestructible Obstacle Terrain tile, it is Displaced to the closest available space.
- Wander: After you draw a Deep Fog card, discard it and draw another in its place.
- Wither X: This keyword is irrelevant in Principality of Stone and Sunken Kingdom. It will become relevant in future Kingdoms.
- Zeal X: During the second ability window, place X Zeal tokens on your Knight Board.
- Zeal Threshold X: If gaining Zeal tokens would exceed your Zeal Threshold, gain Zeal tokens up to your Zeal Threshold and place the rest of the tokens in the Knight Pool.