Lucidity: Six-Sided Nightmares
Lucidity: Six-Sided Nightmares Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 80 x Dice (Dreams)
- 20 Dreams of the Depths
- 20 Dreams of Envy
- 20 Dreams of Imprisonment
- 20 Dreams of Primeval Fear
- 1 x Black Cotton Bag
- 4 x Dreamer Cards
- 4 x Nightmare Cards
- 4 x Turn Summary Cards
- 4 x Glass Sleep Markers
Symbols
The dice faces use five symbols. This transcription writes them out as words:
- hunt — place in your hunt row.
- exhaust — place in your Exhaust row.
- 1 Power — place in your Power track.
- 2 Power — place in your Power track.
- shadow — place in the Shadow row matching the rolled dream's colour, then resolve the Shadow effect.
Setting Up
- Each player takes a Dreamer Card, a glass sleep marker and a Rules Summary Card.
- Set the 4 Nightmare Cards to the side.
- Place the 80 dreams (dice) into the bag and shake to mix them. Place the bag within reach of all players.
- The player who last had a bad dream goes first.
- Play continues clockwise.
How to win
By rolling dreams from the bag and gathering Power (signified by the 1 Power and 2 Power symbols), you become a stronger dreamer.
As a Nightmare, you must instead consume the dreams of the other players, growing in Power until you become the most powerful Nightmare in existence.
If any player gathers 15 Power, they win. Either they escape from the dream realm or they grow powerful enough to consume all of the other players.
In the case that all players have become Nightmares or been eaten, the Nightmare with the most Power wins.
Turn Order (Dreamer)
On your turn, do the following in order:
1. Set Level of Control
At the beginning of every turn, you must decide how deep you wish to delve and how much control you wish to exert over the dreams you encounter.
Choose one of the three starting points on the Sleep Track and place your sleep marker on it. This is your "control".
The Dreamer Card's Sleep Track offers three paths: 3–5–7, 4–6–8 and 5–7–9. The card's rows are labelled:
- HUNT: Lose the game if filled.
- EXHAUST: Lose power if filled.
- SHADOWS: Become a Nightmare if filled.
- SLEEP TRACK: Choose level of control at start of turn.
- POWER: 1 to 15.
The Shadow rows on the card are, in order: THE DEPTHS ("Draw and roll one dream."), ENVY ("Reroll one dream of next player's choice."), IMPRISONMENT ("Switch one exhaust to its shadow side.") and PRIMEVAL FEAR ("You may move one shadow to a hunt space.").
2. Draw and Select Dreams
Randomly draw dreams from the bag equal to your control (the number beneath your sleep marker). Then pick two dreams out of those you have drawn, and return them to the bag.
Note: The reverse side of the Turn Summary card lists the faces on each of the four types of dreams.
- Blue dreams of THE DEPTHS try to drown players in dice.
- Green dreams of ENVY have a higher chance of gaining and losing Power.
- Yellow dreams of IMPRISONMENT try to lock you in place through exhaustion.
- Dreams of PRIMEVAL FEAR are high risk and high reward. They are the only dreams to have a 2 Power symbol, but also the only dreams to have a hunt symbol.
3. Roll and Resolve Dreams
Roll the remaining dreams and then resolve them by looking at the symbols rolled and placing them on the matching rows on your card.
Note: You only ever place two dreams back in the bag: no more, no less. Thus you always roll two fewer dreams than your control.
Non-shadow dreams
Always resolve dreams matching the following four symbols first:
| Symbol | Effect |
|---|---|
| hunt | Place in your hunt row. |
| exhaust | Place in your Exhaust row. |
| 1 Power | Place in your Power track. |
| 2 Power | Place in your Power track. |
Re-rolling dreams
You may choose, at any time, to spend a 1 Power or 2 Power on your card to reroll all unresolved dreams matching that dream's colour.
Place the spent Power on the Nightmare card matching that dream's colour (if that Nightmare is unclaimed) or back into the bag (if that Nightmare is already claimed).
Shadow dreams
Then resolve all rolled shadow symbols (in any order).
| Symbol | Effect |
|---|---|
| shadow | Place in the Shadow row matching the rolled dream's colour. Then resolve the Shadow effect as listed below. |
Note: The fourth column on the Shadow rows is only used during a 2 player game. During a 3 or 4 player game, the Shadow row will be filled by collecting 3 Shadow symbols of the same type.
Shadow of the Depths
Draw 1 dream, roll it and resolve the result immediately before resolving any other dreams.
Shadow of Envy
The next player may choose any 1 dream on your card. Reroll that dream and resolve it immediately before resolving any other dreams.
Shadow of Imprisonment
Rotate 1 exhaust dream in your Exhaust row to show its shadow side.
Note: Do not move it to your Shadow row. It still counts towards filling your Exhaust row, but it is now more difficult to clear at the end of your turn.
Shadow of Primeval Fear
You may take any 1 shadow dream on your dreamer card and move it to your Hunt row. It still counts as a shadow dream, but now counts towards filling your Hunt row.
4. Check for Filled Rows
After resolving all rolled dreams (including those rolled or rerolled due to Shadows of the Depths or Shadows of Envy), check to see if any rows on your dreamer card are filled.
Hunt row
If you have 4 dreams in your Hunt row, the Nightmares have found and eaten you. You are eliminated from the game. Return all dreams on your card to the bag. You still count as the "next player" for various abilities, but otherwise do not take further turns.
Exhaust row
If you have 3 dreams in your Exhaust row, you are exhausted and might lose Power. Draw one random dream from the bag but do not roll it. Instead, lose all Power on your card matching that dream's colour. Return that dream and all lost Power to the bag.
You cannot continue to push your luck while you are exhausted. You may only choose to rest.
Shadow row
If you have 3 dreams in any Shadow row (or 4 dreams if you are playing a 2 player game), you become a Nightmare.
You always become a Nightmare of the same colour shared by your most-filled Shadow row. If there is a tie, you may choose between the tying Nightmare colours.
Return all dreams (except those in your Power row) to the bag.
Take the matching Nightmare card and place it over your Shadow rows.
Take all dreams on that Nightmare card and place them in your Power track.
Then end your turn. On future turns, you play as a Nightmare: see "Turn Order (Nightmare)".
Remove all dice apart from power when you become a Nightmare.
5. Rest or Draw Again
If you have a filled Exhaust row, or you are at the end of your sleep track then you must rest. Otherwise, you may rest or draw again.
Rest
By resting, you regain some of your willpower and shape the dreams you have collected so far.
Return either: 1 shadow dream; or all exhaust dreams on your dreamer card to the bag.
Then end your turn.
Draw Again
By pressing on, you gain more insight, but you begin to lose control over how many dreams you encounter.
Increase your sleep marker by 1 stage (depending on the level of control you chose at the start of your turn).
Return to the "Draw and select dreams" step, but this time you will be drawing more dreams than before.
Note: You can push your luck twice each turn. Once you cannot increase your sleep marker, you must end your turn and rest.
You cannot change paths on the sleep track during your turn. On subsequent turns, you can pick a new track.
Turn Order (Nightmare)
Any player who has a Nightmare card is considered to be a Nightmare player. Nightmare players are not dreamer players.
As a Nightmare, on your turn, you must decide whether you wish to consume Power or send minions to attack a dreamer.
Consume Power
You reach out and drain the power from another player (Nightmare or dreamer).
Choose a dream in any player's Power row, that matches your Nightmare's colour. Move that dream from their Power row to your Power row. (If this brings you to 15 Power, see "Ending the Game".)
Then end your turn.
Send Minions
Randomly draw 2 dreams from the bag. Choose 1 of those dreams to return to the bag and give the other to a dreamer.
That dreamer must roll and resolve that dream.
Then end your turn.
Note: You choose the dream and then decide who rolls it.
Activating Nightmare Abilities
When a dreamer would resolve certain symbols on a dream matching your Nightmare colour, you take that dream as a Power, and may activate additional abilities.
Each Nightmare card describes what symbols are taken as Power, and what ability can be activated.
For example, say Vanessa was unlucky and became a Nightmare of the Depths on her second turn. If Stan then rolls a blue dream of the Depths and it lands on a shadow symbol, then when Stan would place that dream on his card, instead Vanessa must take that dream, rotate it to its 1 Power side and add it to her Power row.
Then, before Stan resolves any of his other dreams, Vanessa can activate her card, drawing 2 dreams and forcing Stan to roll 1 of them.
Ending the Game
The game can end in three ways: Power, nightmares or dreams.
Power Victory
At the end of any turn, if any player has 15 or more Power, each other remaining dreamer player takes one final turn and then the game ends.
It is possible for one player to gain 15 Power and choose to end their turn, but then lose when the next player gains more than 15 Power and ends their turn.
Note: Because this happens at the end of a turn, if a player gains 15 Power and then loses that Power due to becoming exhausted, the game does not end.
Nightmare Victory
If all players are Nightmares or have lost the game (due to filling their Hunt row), the game ends immediately.
Dream Victory
If any player must draw a dream, but none remain in the bag, that player rolls all dreams they hold and the game ends after they have resolved those dreams.
Note: If it is impossible for a player to resolve a dream (for example, they roll a shadow of the Depths but no dreams remain in the bag for them to draw), continue resolving as many dreams as possible.
The Winner
The player (whether Nightmare or Dreamer) with the most Power wins the game. Either they found the Power to escape their terrors forever, or they have become the most powerful nightmare.
In the case of a tie, the player with the most dreams on their dreamer card wins. If there is still a tie, tying players roll every dream on their card and the player who rolls the most Power wins.
Example Turn
Vanessa begins her turn by choosing a control of "3". She places her sleep marker on the leftmost track on her card (3 … 5 … 7).
Then she reaches into the bag and draws out three dreams. She takes out one yellow dream of Imprisonment and two blue dreams of the Depths. She puts the two dreams of the Depths back in the bag and rolls the dream of Imprisonment. It rolls exhaust, so she places it in her Exhaust row.
She decides to push her luck and continue her turn, so she moves her sleep marker to the "5" on her sleep track and begins her turn again, drawing five dreams from the bag. This time, she draws two dreams of Envy and three dreams of the Depths. She puts one of each back in the bag and rolls the rest. The dream of Envy and one dream of the Depths each roll 1 Power, so she puts them in her Power row. The last dream of the Depths lands on shadow, so she puts it in her Shadow of the Depths row and resolves its effect.
She must draw, roll and resolve a new dream immediately. Vanessa draws a dream of Primeval Fear from the bag and rolls a 2 Power, placing it in her Power track.
Not trusting her luck to hold, Vanessa decides to end her turn. She chooses to return all of her exhaust back to the bag (though she could have returned one shadow instead) and ends her turn.
Two Player Games
In a 2 player game, players require more shadow before they become a Nightmare. Players in a 2 player game will only become a Nightmare if they fill all 4 spaces of a Shadow row.
Note: For an easier or longer game, or when playing with children, you can also opt to use the fourth space of the Shadow row. Just make sure all players are clear on this at the beginning of the game.
FAQ and Overlooked Rules
A shadow of the Depths (or Envy) made me (re)roll a dream. Do I resolve it immediately?
Yes. You must resolve the newly rolled dream before you continue to resolve other dreams this turn.
What if I draw or roll too many dreams?
If you draw too many dreams, the next player chooses which excess dreams are returned to the bag. If you roll too many dreams, the next player chooses which dreams to return to the bag instead of resolving.
What if I put a dream I want back in the bag?
If you put a dream back into the bag, you cannot change your mind and retrieve it. If you put too many dreams back into the bag, the next player chooses a dream from the bag to make up the shortfall.
What happens if I have more dreams to place than I have spaces in a row?
Place the rolled dreams next to that row and resolve them as normal. The rows can be "overfilled".
I filled a row, but by time I finished resolveing the rest of my dreams, it was no longer filled. Am I still out of the game/exhausted/a Nightmare?
You only "fill a row" if that row is still full by the time all of your dreams have been resolved.
Doesn't that mean it is almost impossible to become a Nightmare of Primeval Fear?
There are many occasions where it is better to become a Nightmare than to risk losing the game.
De-lux Edition Extras
The following sections come from the official "Lucidity De-lux Rulebook" (LUC Extra Rulebook), the separate booklet packed with the de-lux version of the game.
Read pages 1 and 2 before playing! There are two boxes within this de-lux version of Lucidity: Six-sided Nightmares. This box contains all of the additional content, expansions and premium components. The other box contains the game.
If you want to play the game using its family-friendly art, search through this box and pull out the four family-friendly Dreamer mats and five family-friendly Nightmare cards, and replace the four Dreamer cards and five Nightmare cards in the original set.
If you want to play the game in its original horror art, then you can search through this box and pull out the four Dreamer mats, and replace the four Dreamer cards in the original set.
De-lux Contents
- 4 x Dreamer Mats
- 4 x Plastic Overlays
- 8 x Replacement Dice
- Family-friendly Retheme
- 5 x Family-friendly Nightmare Cards
- 4 x Family-friendly Dreamer Mats
- Bone Hunters Expansion
- 1 x Bone Hunters Reference Card
- 8 x Bone Hunters Dice
- Manifestations Expansion
- 20 x Manifestations Cards
- Dreamscapes Expansion
- 10 x Dreamscapes Cards
Dreamer Mats
Soft and springy, these mats can replace your Dreamer cards. They also roll up for travel. Do not throw out the old Dreamer cards though, as those cards have rules for the single player variant (The Bogeymen) on their reverse sides.
Plastic Overlays
These overlays fit on top of the Dreamer Cards/Mats and are designed to hold your collected dice during the course of a game. To use one, simply fit it over the top of your Dreamer Card/Mat so that the slots in the overlay match the spaces printed on the card/mat.
Replacement Dice
Sometimes tiny 12mm cubes go missing. Ordinarily, if you lose a dream dice, it isn't too bad. Simply make sure there are an even number of dreams of each color at the start of a game, and that every player knows how many are missing.
However, included in this box are eight dice (two of each color) to replace any you may lose under couches or down dark, mysterious cracks in your floorboards. You could even add them to your set to have 88 dreams in the bag, but be aware that doing so will increase the unpredictability of your games.
Family-friendly Retheme
With a softer touch to their art style, these mats and cards won't give you or your kids nightmares. They replace the horror art on the Dreamer and Nightmare cards found in the original set. They do not contain rules for the single player variant (The Bogeymen) on their reverse sides — so don't throw out the old cards if you want to play the single player variant!
Bone Hunters Expansion
The Bone Hunters expansion adds an element of risk to every game. While a great deal of Lucidity: Six-sided Nightmares is about making smart decisions and controlling how much of any one color you collect, some players prefer more randomness in their games.
In this expansion are eight Bone Hunter dice. They are not true "dreams", as they represent creatures that are physically in the dream world (like you are), but they act like dreams in every mechanical respect. To play with the Bone Hunters, decide among all players how many Bone Hunters are to be added. Then add that many (between zero and eight) to the bag before the game begins.
Bone Hunters may never be returned to the bag by a Dreamer — if you encounter one, you must face it.
Bone Hunters may never be given to a Dreamer by a Nightmare player — they simply will not work as minions for an illusionary creature and must be returned to the bag.
Because of the above rules, sometimes you may find yourself rolling more dreams than you are otherwise allowed to, or unable to send a minion to attack a Dreamer. For example, let's say on your first turn you choose the lowest Sleep Track, and draw three Bone Hunters. You ordinarily must return two dreams but, since you have no other dreams, you must roll all three Bone Hunters.
A Bone Hunter dice may never be rerolled, moved, removed, rotated, stolen, or spent to reroll or manifest. Once one is on your Dreamer card, it is locked in place. The exception is if you die or become a Nightmare. In that case, you must return any Bone Hunters to the bag if you would ordinarily be required to (Nightmares keep Bone Hunters in their Power row, like normal).
The Shadowmark
Bone Hunters have a unique symbol called the "Shadowmark". This is a corruption, but far worse than anything the Nightmares can throw at you. If you roll a Shadowmark, you must place your Bone Hunter at the top of your Shadow rows. For each Shadowmark on your card, you require one less Shadow to become a Nightmare.
If you ever have three or more Shadowmarks on your Dreamer card, you are eliminated. Return all dreams on your card to the bag. You do not take further turns, though you are still considered the "next player" for various abilities.
Manifestations Expansion
Manifestations are special powers that are conjured up during the course of the game. They grant additional powers to Dreamer players, and can weigh the game slightly against Nightmares. To play with the Manifestations expansion, shuffle the 20 cards with the Manifestations backing to form a deck.
On each Dreamer's turn, after they Rest, that Dreamer reveals the top Manifestation from the deck. They may then choose to manifest, empower, or pass.
Manifest
The Dreamer pays Power equal or greater than the Manifestation's cost from their Power row (or from Power set aside next to the Manifestations deck) to the bag.
The player places the Manifestation card in front of them, and applies its ability.
A player may have as many Manifestations as they like. They do not lose their Manifestations if they become a Nightmare or are killed.
Empower
The Dreamer places a Power from their Power row next to the Manifestations deck. Power placed there may be spent to manifest cards, but is returned to the bag at the end of the player's turn if it is not spent.
Each time a player empowers, they draw another Manifestation. A player may empower as many times on their turn as they like (as long as they keep spending Power) and they may choose to manifest any one of the cards they have drawn, but they may only manifest one per turn.
At the end of a turn, any additional cards that were drawn are returned to the bottom of the Manifestations deck in any order, chosen by the player who drew them.
Pass
If the Dreamer does not wish to manifest or empower, they pass. The player returns all drawn cards that were not manifested to the bottom of the Manifestations deck in any order they choose. Then they end their turn.
Dreamscapes Expansion
The Dreamscapes expansion alters your game in a different way each time. They contain small rules variants to give additional flavor to your games. To play with this expansion, shuffle the 10 Dreamscapes cards to form a deck.
At the beginning of the game, draw a random Dreamscape and place it in the middle of the table. Apply its rules to the game. If the rules for the Dreamscape conflict with the rulebook, the Dreamscape takes priority.
Credits
Designed by Shannon Kelly. Published by Fox Tale Games. Illustrations by William Webb. Watercolor art by Bev Kelly. Graphic Design by Stephanie Gustafsson. Logo by James Colmer.