Lore Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Order of Play
  • Event Phase
  • Movement Phase
  • Action Phase
• Event Cards in Detail
• Available Actions
  • Lore
  • Anatomy of Lore Card
  • Treasure Hunt
  • Relics
  • Quest
  • Monster Quests
  • Companion
  • Merchant
  • Understanding Abilities
  • Duel
• Field Boards
• Auras
• Days
• Endgame Scoring
• Reference
• Common Questions
• Other Ways to Play

Components

Boards

• 1 Lore board
• 1 Merchant board
• 1 Time of Day board
• 4 Character boards (8 Characters)
• 6 Field boards (12 Fields in 4 sets)

Cards

• 11 Lore cards
• 22 Quest cards
• 22 Monster cards (7 Day One, 7 Day Two, 8 Day Three)
• 40 Event cards
• 12 Companion cards
• 7 Relic cards
• 24 Ability cards
• 28 Action cards
• 4 End Game Reward cards
• 4 Reference cards

Pieces

• 4 Character tokens
• 1 Time of Day tracker
• 4 6-sided Dueling dice
• 3 8-sided Treasure dice
• 1 6-sided Monster die
• 80 Character cubes (4 x 20 in Red, Green, Yellow and Blue)
• 45 Gems (25 small "1-value" gems, 20 large "5-value" gems)

Setup

1. Choose a Character board and, using the colored cubes, set up their traits and Renown in their starting positions. Place the remaining cubes matching each character's color beside their board.
2. Pick a set of fields to play on. Note that each set comes with 3 field boards (marked with a letter in the bottom left). For first-time players, we recommend the Throne Room, Sky Kingdom, and Waterfall Kingdom set (a). Put your character tokens on the center field.
3. Place the Merchant and Lore boards beside the fields. Place the Lore cards beside the Lore board.
4. Shuffle the Abilities and Action decks. Place the Abilities deck on the indicated space on the Merchant board. Place the Action deck underneath the Merchant board. Take the top 3 cards of the Ability deck and place them face up on the Merchant board. Draw 4 cards from the Action deck and lay them under the Merchant board.
5. Shuffle the Event, Relic, Companion, and Monster decks. Place the decks within reach of all players. a. The Event deck. b. The Relic deck beside the Treasure dice. c. The face up Companion deck. d. The face up Monster deck beside the Duel dice.
6. Deal everyone 2 Quest cards. Each player picks 1 Quest and gains 1 of the 2 rewards in the top right corner of the card at the start of their turn. Return the discarded Quest to the bottom of the Quest deck.
7. Distribute the rest of the Quests alongside the 3 fields as evenly as possible.
8. Place the time marker on the dawn space on the Time of Day board. The person who most recently read or watched a fantasy story goes first.

See page 13 for a detailed icon and component reference.

Example of a 2-player setup (shown on the setup page of the rulebook).

Order of Play

Lore takes place over the course of 3 days (rounds). On each day, each player will take 4 turns. Each turn includes 3 phases: the Event, Movement, and Action phases.

Event Phase

When your turn begins, check the field your character token is on. If the time of day does not match the field's aura, skip this phase and start the Movement phase.

If the time of day does match one of the auras of the field your character is on, you may draw an Event card, but it is not required. Some Event cards have the chance of ending your turn immediately but offer other unique benefits. If you choose not to draw an Event card, proceed to the Movement phase.

Drawn Event cards are placed face up under your Character board unless otherwise stated. You may only have 3 Event cards at a time. If you have 3 Event cards when you could draw another, you may discard one of your Event cards to draw a new Event card. Form a discard pile for discarded Event cards. Shuffle the discard pile and form a new Event deck if you ever run out of Event cards.

See page 6 for a summary of the different kinds of Event cards you may encounter. After you've resolved the Event card, proceed to the Movement phase.

Movement Phase

You may move your character token to any adjacent field, though it is not required to do so. You cannot skip over fields - you must travel through them. You can move once on your turn unless otherwise stated. Once you have resolved your movement, proceed to the Action phase.

Action Phase

You may choose any one of the 4 Action cards underneath the Merchant board, as long as you meet the requirement printed on the Merchant board above the card. Take the card and resolve its action, then discard it. Move the rest of the Action cards to the right and draw a new Action card to fill the 1st slot.

If there are ever 3 of the same Action cards underneath the Merchant board, you may discard all 4 Action cards and deal out 4 new Action cards.

Your turn is now over, and play passes to the next player.

Event Cards in Detail

Event cards come in all forms of characters or situations. Some events may tag along with you & be played freely and out of turn as reactions to situations indicated on the cards. Others might put you into interesting predicaments, so be ready to adapt to whatever adventure you're set on.

Merchant Characters: When you draw a merchant character, collect the reward in the bottom right corner of the card, then place the card on the Merchant board. Drawing a merchant character card or interacting with it on the Merchant board counts as an Event interaction for Quests.

Enchantments: You may use an enchantment's effects twice. After the first time, place one of your character color cubes on the card so you remember that you used it. After the second time, discard the card.

Playing Event cards for other players: Some Event cards have abilities that affect other players. Why would you do such a thing? If you use an Event card on behalf of another player, this counts as a card interaction for active Quest cards you have. Then, apply the field reward from the field your character is on. If 2 Event cards are played simultaneously, the player who is the event's target chooses which card is played. The unplayed card is returned to its player.

Available Actions

The Action phase lets you take one of the following actions: Lore, Treasure Hunt, Quest, Companion, Merchant, or Duel.

Lore

Lore actions and rewards will have you interacting with the Lore cards on the Lore board. Each Lore card requires 2 actions to complete it: the 1st is starting the Lore card, and the 2nd is flipping it.

When you take a Lore action, you may choose between starting a new Lore card by playing a Lore card onto the Lore board, or flipping a Lore card that was previously started. You may flip a Lore card that was started by another player, or you can flip a Lore card that you started on an earlier turn.

This also is how you keep track of how many Lore cards you have completed for endgame scoring.

If you have already started a Lore card, you must finish it before starting a new Lore card. If a Lore card is ever covered up, players lose the passive effects of the previous Lore card. You cannot cover up an incomplete Lore card.

At the end of the game, players will score 7 points for each card they completed on their own. If they share completion of Lore cards, those players will get 3 points per shared card.

Example of Lore board scoring: At the end of the game, the Red player scores 3 points for sharing a Lore card in slot one (shared with the Blue player), and 7 points for the card in slot one they completed on their own. Blue and Yellow each score 9 points total for their share of 3 Lore cards. Green scores 6 points for their share of two cards in the middle slot and 7 points for completing a card in slot 3 on their own.

Anatomy of Lore Card

Lore cards have a starting side (the black and white four panel image) and a completed side that includes a reward granted to the player or players that contributed to this card.

Place the 1st 3 Lore cards from left to right. All Lore cards after the 3rd can be placed over any finished Lore card the player decides.

Any time you start or flip a Lore card, place a cube matching your character's color onto the leftmost column underneath the card on the Lore board.

Treasure Hunt

When you pick the Treasure Hunt action, roll 1 of the Treasure dice. Treasure dice will give you gems and, on rare occasions, Relic cards.

Each field also has 1 or 2 auras as indicated at the top of the Field board. During your turn, if your character is on a field whose aura matches the current time of day, you may draw an Event card. If you take the Treasure Hunt action on a field whose aura matches the current time of day, you may roll an additional Treasure die and gain the rewards of both dice.

Relics

Relics are worth points at the end of the game and also count toward The Scholar's endgame reward. You can discard a Relic card at any time to collect the reward on the top of the card, but you will not score any endgame points from that card. Discarded relics go to the bottom of the Relic deck.

If a player would collect a Relic card but they have all been taken, collect 8 gems instead.

Quest

If you choose the Quest action, you must take the quest adjacent to the field your character is on. Immediately collect the reward or 1 of the 2 rewards in the top right corner of the Quest card (not both), then move it to the top of your Character board. You may only have 2 active Quests at a time unless otherwise stated.

To complete a Quest action, you must complete or interact with the type of card indicated in the bottom left hand corner of the Quest card.

For example, if your Quest card has the event icon, you must interact with an Event card in order to complete that part of your quest.

Quests can be completed over multiple turns but must be completed in order, from left to right. Use your character's color cubes to keep track of your progress by marking the steps you have already completed.

Example of a Quest: The red player gains the Hunt for the Green Knight Quest and claims the reward of a trait boost or ability. Then on the next turn they choose a Lore action, completing the first part of the quest, and place one of their cubes to mark their progress. To continue the Quest they will need to interact with an Event card, and to complete it they will need to duel the Green Knight.

When you complete all the steps on a Quest card, apply any field rewards. Completed Quest cards are no longer active. Flip them face down so they may be counted for endgame scoring. Each Quest card will score you a number of points, as indicated by the number in the bottom right hand corner of the card.

If at the end of the game you have any incomplete Quest cards, gain 2 points for each step you completed.

Monster Quests

Some quests will end in a duel with a powerful monster. When you reach the dueling step on these quests, you may choose to duel the monster as your action during the Action phase. You do not need a Dueling Action card to select this option. Dueling the monster on Monster Quests does not count toward a dueling action on other Quests.

If you lose your duel, keep the Quest card but lose 2 Renown, boost your weakest trait by 1, then end your turn. You may attempt the duel again on subsequent turns. After the duel ends, your turn is over.

If you tie, keep the Quest card and boost your weakest trait by 1. After the duel ends, your turn is over.

Companion

If you choose the Companion action, take the top card of the Companion deck and add it to the right of your Character board. You may only have 1 companion at a time unless otherwise stated.

Companions help you during duels. Each Companion card has a number indicating its dueling strength. If you meet the trait requirement in the middle of the card, your companion's dueling strength is the number on the right. Otherwise, their strength is the number on the left.

You may part ways with your companion at the end of your turn. You do not need to have taken the Companion action to do this. If you discard your Companion card, you'll receive a gift for your time together, shown at the bottom of the card.

Should you gain another companion while you already have one, discard your current companion, gain its gift, and replace it with your new companion.

Discarded Companion cards go to the bottom of the Companion deck.

Merchant

The Merchant action allows you to purchase face up Ability cards on the Merchant board using gems. You can also spend 3 gems to unlock your second Aura (see Auras on page 11). You can make as many purchases as you like, provided you have enough gems. Do not refill the Merchant board with new Ability cards until you are finished with your purchases.

Merchant characters: Unique merchant characters will be unlocked through the Event deck as the game progresses, so pay attention to which merchants rotate through the board. When a merchant character is revealed from the Event deck, that player collects the reward indicated in the bottom right corner of the card, then places the card on the Merchant board. This counts as interacting with an event for the purpose of Quests. If there is already a merchant character on the board, place the new character on top of that card.

If a merchant character is on the board when you take the Merchant action, you may interact with them and gain their effects if you meet their requirements. After doing so, move that character to the bottom of the card pile. If they are the only merchant character, flip them over until another merchant character is revealed. Then, flip the card back to face up and place the new merchant character on top. This also counts as interacting with an event for Quests.

Understanding Abilities

Each set of abilities follows a theme represented by the icons on top of the card:

• Makes you stronger in duels.
• Passive effects.
• Enhances ways to get Renown.

Editor's note: the printed rulebook shows these three themes as icons only; the icon-to-theme mapping above is taken from the printed captions in order.

Abilities you gain will immediately and permanently give your character +1 in that ability's trait color, including Renown, as stated at the bottom of the Ability card.

Duel

Select the Duel action to duel the face up Monster cards.

To start a duel, first roll the Monster die. Match the rolled color/trait to the same color/trait on the monster's card, and use this number as their dueling strength.

Each monster has an aura, indicated by the time of day at the top of the card. Add +3 to their dueling strength if you duel them during this time of day.

Be aware of your character's active abilities on the field. To check if your abilities are active, check if your abilities match the abilities on the field your character is on. Your active abilities will amplify the strength of your trait rolls.

Next, determine your character's dueling strength by doing the following:

1. Roll one of the Dueling dice to determine which trait you will use for the duel. Use the value of the rolled trait, then multiply it by the number of your active abilities using the table below.

Active Abilities	Trait Boost
0	None
1	x1.5 (round up)
2	x2
3	x3

2. Then, add any bonuses you receive from auras (+3 per active aura), companions, and ability effects. The total is your dueling strength.

If your dueling strength is higher than the monster's, you win! Collect the reward in the bottom middle of the monster card and apply the field bonus for the field your character is on.

If you lose to the monster, resolve the penalties indicated in the bottom left of the Monster card. Then, raise your weakest trait by 1. If any traits are tied for the weakest, you may choose which to raise. Shuffle the Monster card back into the Monster deck.

In the event of a tie, ignore the monster's penalties, then raise any trait by one. Shuffle the Monster card back into the Monster deck. After the duel has concluded, your turn ends.

Example of a Duel: The Princess decides to duel the Golem. She rolls red on the monster die, the Golem's dueling strength will be 10. It is Sunset so the Golem receives no bonus for its Day aura.

The Princess then rolls her Dueling die with a green result. Her green trait is 5. Her Allure ability is active on the Forgotten Temple field, so she multiplies 5 by 1.5, and rounds up to 8. She then receives a +3 bonus for her active Sunset aura, bringing her total dueling strength to 11.

The Princess wins! She claims her choice of an ability card or a treasure action from the Golem, and keeps the Monster card for end game scoring. She also receives the field reward of +1 Renown.

Field Boards

Traveling to fields when the current time of day matches the field's auras is an excellent way to gain Event cards. Each field also has different active abilities which can help (or hurt!) you during duels. If you have an ability, be sure to take note of which fields that ability is active on, so you can be at your strongest should a Duel arise.

Auras

Your character board has 2 auras indicating times of day. At the beginning of the game, only the aura on the left is active, but you can unlock your second aura at the Merchant. If you Duel during the same time of day as your character's auras, you'll be more robust in duels.

Each field also has 2 auras as indicated at the top of the Field board. During your turn, if your character is on a field whose aura matches the current time of day, you may draw an Event card. If you take the Treasure Hunt action on a field whose aura matches the current time of day, you may roll an additional Treasure die and gain the rewards of both dice.

Monsters also have auras, and receive +3 to their dueling strength if their aura matches the time of day you duel them. So beware of hunting Werewolves by moonlight!

Days

The game starts at dawn. Once every player has taken a turn, move the day tracker to the next time of day. When night ends, the day is over. Switch out the current Monster deck for the next day's monsters and start the day back at dawn. When you've completed 3 days, the game is over.

Endgame Scoring

The game is over when the last player has finished their night turn on the third day. Add up your point total, then distribute endgame rewards. The player with the most points wins! If there is a tie, the player with the higher Renown wins. If there is still a tie, you are worthy adventurers indeed, and share the victory.

Split the points for any tie between 2 players for endgame rewards. If 3 or 4 players tie for any reward, the points for that reward are 0.

Reference

The Reference page is an icon legend for the card and board anatomy: Character Traits (Any Trait, Renown), Passive, Duel and Co-op types, Aura, Ability, Companion, Event, Field Reward, Gem, Lore Card, Merchant, Monster Card, Points, Quest Cards (Quest Card, Discard, If/Then, Or, Quest steps), Relic, Treasure, Raise Trait (+1), and Two uses on taking Quest. Its Monster Cards panel shows Dueling Strength, Aura, and Dueling Strengths; its Companion Cards panel shows Trait Requirement, Boosted Dueling Strength, and Discard Reward; its Relic Cards panel shows Points and Discard Reward (choose Dueling trait or boost Dueling Strength, one time only); its Ability Cards panel shows Losing Penalties and Win Rewards; its Event Cards panel shows Ability, Trait Boost, Two uses, and Co-op Quest.

Field Rewards are granted for winning duels, completing Quests, and using co-operative Event cards.

The Field Board, Field Set, Character Board, and Merchant Board panels label: Field Auras, Field Reward, Active Abilities (highlighted in white), Field Set, Second Aura activation slot, Ability card slots, Starting Trait levels, Traits, Renown, Cost for Abilities and 2nd Aura, Merchant Event slot, Ability deck, Ability card slots, Action deck slot, and Action card slots.

Common Questions

Can Renown go to 0? No. Renown can go to 1, but you can't spend the 1 Renown for actions, or if you lose to a monster, you can't go below 1 into the negatives.

If the auras match on the field with the time of day, do I always get an extra treasure roll? Yes. If you get a Treasure Hunt due to a Lore card, defeating a monster, taking a Quest, et cetera, and the auras match, you still get the additional roll.

Can the High Ground event be used on the Hydra? All the Hydra's traits are its strongest, so yes.

My character's auras match the field's auras. Can I draw an Event card? No, character auras are only for dueling, not for events or treasure hunts.

Do I need to win a duel to mark it off in a quest? Yes. You need to defeat or tie the monster to mark off a Quest requirement on a Quest.

Do I need to flip or complete a Lore card to mark it off on a Quest? No, starting or flipping a Lore card counts toward your quest.

Other Ways to Play

Is Lore feeling too easy for you? Consider playing with all quests companions and monsters facedown instead of face up.

Mixing up kingdoms or field boards: If you're bored of playing the same fields, feel free to exchange out other fields or even play with more than three fields. Have fun with it. It's your fantasy adventure.