Lord of the Dead
Lord of the Dead Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Basic Rules
The basic scenario is a two-person game. One player controls the lord of the dead, an evil being of dark power, determined to raise an army of rotten corpse-shells. The other controls a band of defiant villagers defending their ancestral graves from the dread Lord.
Every unit has 6 traits: speed, strength, range, health, souls, and cost.
Any unit without a printed trait has it at 1.
Speed is a unit's speed. This is the number of hexes that it may move during the move phase. No unit is required to move, nor is it required to move its full amount.
Strength is a unit or spell's strength. A player rolls one die when attacking, and if the roll is equal to or less than the attack's strength, it hits. Most hits deal 1 damage to the target. Life Leeching has the additional effect of healing health equal to the cost of the target. Web of Darkness deals no damage, but causes the target to lose their next turn. Call to the Grave turns the target into a skeleton. Replace the slain villager with a skeleton with all stats 1 under the lord's command. Haunt forces a townsfolk to immediately move away from the lord, and the hex he was in may never be entered by a townsfolk again. Fleshcrafting melds two targets into a huge golem with all stats 2 under the lord's control.
Range is an attack's range. It may target a hex or unit up to range hexes away.
Health is a unit's health. Reduce a unit's health by 1 when he is hit. When his health reaches 0, he dies and is removed from the map.
Souls is the number of souls harvested by a lord or empowering a spell. Souls power spells. When cast, most spells automatically advance in the Black Magic Queue. Some require additional souls to progress. When the lord or a minion kills a unit, advance his souls by 1.
Cost is a unit's cost. During Setup, players purchase units whose total cost are equal.
Win conditions: If the lord enters the cemetery, he wins. If the townsfolk slay the lord, they win.
Advanced Rules
Here Be Monsters (favors Lord)
Creatures crawl in the search of blood! When any player rolls a 6, the town player must place a monster on the board. Monsters are placed starting from the top of the monster list and continuing down, entering as indicated in each monster's traits. Monsters move after all players have finished their turn. Monsters move speed in a random direction determined by a die roll (1 = towards the cemetery, continue clockwise). When a monster dies or leaves the map it is returned to the pool of monsters that may be spawned. A monster's speed has two numbers. The second is the range at which the monster senses a unit. A monster sensing any unit (including another monster) will stop further movement, immediately move this additional speed, and attack. It continues to attack each turn until dead. Monsters may be targeted by Call to the Grave and Fleshcrafting spells, but will not rise up as skeletons or golems, only die. Slain monsters do not increase the lord of the dead's souls.
Interactive Terrain (favors Town)
The map board includes buildings, forest, and a river, as well as the cemetery.
Any attack against a unit in a forested hex suffers -1 to its strength, to a minimum of 1.
Attacks cannot be made against units in a building hex, except from the entrance hex. Attacks may be made by units in a building hex in any direction. The four buildings without an entrance road may not be attacked from any direction. Townsfolk may enter any building from any direction, but a lord or minion may only enter from the entrance hex. Any unit in a building hex may exit that hex in any direction. [The unit shown as a dark hooded figure in the source] may never enter buildings.
The river may not be crossed except via the bridge on Main Street in the center of town.
The Lord's Turn
0. Setup
Choose one lord of the dead. Place your lord on the road in the middle of the far side of the map from the cemetery. The lord player always goes first. The lord may cast, attack, and move normally on the first turn.
1. Advance Spells
Advance spell counters on the Black Magic Queue one space, starting at the top of the list and continuing down. Resolve spell effects immediately. If advancement along the spell tracker requires souls, the lord must immediately pay this or the spell ends.
2. Cast New Spells
Cast new spells by reducing the souls on the Tracker by the souls cost of the spell. Place the spell's marker on that spell's first space on the Black Magic Queue. Resolve all effects immediately. Spells are cast in order from the top to the bottom of the list. When a townsfolk dies, remove him from play immediately and advance the souls on the Tracker by one.
3. Attack
The lord and his minions may attack townsfolk within range. They attack in any order the player wishes. Roll one die. If the result is less than or equal to the attacker's strength, the attack hits and kills the townsfolk. Remove the slain unit from the map and advance the lord's souls on the Tracker by one.
4. Move
The lord and any minions may move up to their speed in hexes. They may move in any order the player wishes. They may move through a friendly occupied hex, but may not end the move in one. [The unit shown as a dark hooded figure in the source] may move through and end his move in an occupied hex.
The Town's Turn
0. Setup
Choose a combination of units whose cost equals the lord's cost. Place them in unoccupied hexes.
1. Call the Garrison
Advance the cost on the Tracker a number of squares equal to the number of hex rows the lord of the dead has advanced from his starting hex on the far map edge. Hex rows have been numbered for your convenience.
2. Summon Reserves
Add townsfolk to the map by reducing the Tracker by 1 per cost spent. Place new units on either map edge on the road in front of the cemetery, or the nearest open hex. They act normally on the turn in which they arrive.
3. Move
Townsfolk may move up to their speed in hexes, and in any order the Town player wishes. They may move through occupied hexes, but may not end their move in one.
4. Attack
Townsfolk may attack in any order the player wishes. Roll one die for each attack. If the result is less than or equal to the attacker's strength, the attack hits and the lord of the dead reduces his health on the Tracker by one.
Diceless Option
Each player has cards numbered 1-6. Choose a card instead of rolling a die. If attacking, add it to your unit's strength. In combat, the defender also chooses a card. If the attacker's total is higher, he hits. Discard used cards. After all six cards are used, the pile returns to the player's hand.