Meeples & Monsters Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Credits
• Game Overview
• Game Components
• Game Components (Cont.)
• Setup
• Turn Sequence
• 1. Development Phase
  • Assignment Step
  • Resolution Step
  • Development Phase: Clean Up Step
• 2. Main Phase
  • Assignment Step
  • Activating a Location
  • Using Overrun Locations
  • Combat with Monsters
  • Units
  • Resolution Step
    • Resolving a Location
    • Resolving a Monster
    • Clean Up Step
• 3. Draw Phase
• Quests
• Ending the Game
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Location, Quest and Monster Card Icon Clarifications and Effects

Credits

• Designer: Ole Steiness
• Director of Projects: Nicolas Bongiu
• Production: David Lepore
• Art: Gong Studios
• Graphic Design: Brigette Indelicato
• Art Direction: Brett Satkowiak
• Rules: Paul Grogan (Gaming Rules!)
• Additional Development: Josh Wood, Neil Kimball, John Zinser, Luke Peterschmidt, Ryan Dancey
• Proofing: John Goodenough, Todd Rowland, Josh Wood
• Project Lead & Development: Mark Wootton
• Playtesters: Nicolas Bongiu, Andrew Buck, Delaina Dancey, Ryan Dancey, Brianna Davies, Lacy Dove, Jakob Engelbrecht-Gollander, Simon Gjerløv-Christensen, John Goodenough, Adel Hadi, Lars Wagner Hansen, Tim Herring, Kyle Huibers, Flemming Borg Jensen, David Lepore, Damon Mair, Mike McDonald, Chris McPherson, Emma McPherson, Jack McPherson, Meghan McPherson, Mikel Milton, Stephen Milton, Kyle Nunn, Kaz Nyborg-Andersen, Daniel Skjold Pedersen, Luke Peterschmidt, BJ Shea, Taylor Shuss, Aaron Strowger, Todd Rowland, Jonathon "Shanks" Shanks, Johannes Sjolte, Jason Smith, Dorte Steiness, Thomas Steiness, Manolis Trahiotis, Josh Wood, John Zinser

Game Overview

Each player will seek to build the most effective bag of meeple Units in order to complete Quests and defeat Monsters. All of these things will gain a player Victory Points (VP) and the player with the most VP at the end of the game will be declared the winner.

Game Components

Basic meeples of different colours:

• 48 White (Peasants)
• 15 Black (Knights)
• 18 Blue (Warriors)
• 18 Yellow (Mages)
• 18 Red (Clerics)
• 20 Gray (Corruption)

4 Prestige Class meeples:

• 5 Green (Rangers)

• 5 Purple (Paladins)

• 5 Orange (Shamans)

• Sword (First player marker)

• Monster tile (Illustrative component)

• 12 Player markers

• 4 Cloth bags

Game Components (Cont.)

1 City board divided into the Capitol at the center, surrounded by 4 districts: The Villages, the University, the Castle, and the Cathedral district. Each district has 1 pre-built Location and 2 empty Location slots. Each also has a Tower space.

4 Player boards divided into the Tavern (for Active Units), the Lodgings (for Exhausted Units), and slots for Hero ability cards.

• 1 Final Encounter scoreboard
• 15 Location tiles
• 16 Double-sided Basic Hero cards (4 each of the 4 Basic Classes)
• 12 Prestige Hero cards (4 each of the 3 Prestige Classes)
• 47 Monster cards:
  1. 12 Level 1 (easy)
  2. 20 Level 2 (medium)
  3. 8 Level 3 (hard)
  4. 4 Dark Council Monsters (3 Overlords, 1 Henchman)
  5. 3 Dark Council Arrives cards
• 6 Dark Council Bonus tokens
• 44 Quest cards

Setup

1. Lay out the City board in the middle of the table and place the Final Encounter scoreboard next to it.
2. Place the Henchman card face up in the rightmost slot on the Final Encounter scoreboard.
3. Place the Dark Overlord cards face up onto the Final Encounter scoreboard. Then, shuffle the Dark Council Bonus tokens and place 1 of them at random under each of the Dark Overlords so that their bonuses are visible (not the Henchman, the henchman "Combustor" has no bonus).
4. Sort the meeples by color and put them in piles next to the board. This is known as the supply. All but the gray meeples are known as Units.
5. Each player places 1 of their Player markers at the start of the score track on the Final Encounter scoreboard.
6. Take the Monster cards and sort them by their level (indicated by the number of dots on the right hand side), and then shuffle each level pile individually. If playing with fewer than 3 players, take out the cards with the "3+" notation. Place removed cards back in the box.
7. Take the Dark Council Arrives cards and add them into the deck as follows: a. Shuffle 1 in to the bottom 4 cards of the level 1 Monsters, then add the remaining level 1 Monsters on top. b. Shuffle 1 into the bottom 8 cards of the level 2 Monsters, then add the remaining level 2 Monsters on top. c. Shuffle 1 into the bottom half of the level 3 Monsters then add the remaining half on top. d. Place the level 3 Monster deck face down on the table. Then, add the level 2 Monsters and place them face down on top of the level 3 cards. Repeat with the level 1 Monster cards to form the Monster deck, with the weakest Monsters at the top and the toughest at the bottom (including the Dark Council Arrives cards).
8. Draw the top 6 Monster cards and place them in the slots on the board matching the district depicted in the top-right part of the card (Villages, Castle, University, or Cathedral), starting with the first slot in each district.
9. Shuffle the Location tiles and lay out 4 of them face up near the board. Place the remainder face down into a Location tile stack.
10. Each player takes a Player board and a Cloth bag.
11. Shuffle the Quest cards and deal 2 facedown to each player. Place the rest of the Quest cards face down nearby as a Quest deck. Players should look at their Quest cards but keep them secret from the other players.
12. Each player takes 3 gray meeples (Corruption) and 7 white Units (Peasants) and puts them in their own bag. Players then shake their bag and, without looking into it, draw their starting group of 4 meeples and place them in their Tavern on their Player board. Any Peasants drawn are the Active Units for the first turn.
13. The player with the most Corruption in their Tavern starts the game (ties are solved by any random method). Give them the First player marker.

If you are playing with the Tower Rooms from The Four Towers mini-expansion (available through the Kickstarter edition or from www.alderac.com) insert the following as step 9a:

Shuffle the Tower Room tiles and lay out 5 in each stack facedown on the Tower Locations indicated on the board graphic below. Flip the top room tile of each stack faceup.

We strongly suggest that you DO NOT play with this expansion for your first game, as it increases the number of choices you will need to make on your turn. You will enjoy this more once you have mastered the base game.

Turn Sequence

Starting with the first player, players take turns in clockwise order.

On your turn, you carry out the following Phases, in order. Other players do not take any steps on your turn.

1. Development Phase - build new Locations in the city and level up.
2. Main Phase - activate Locations and fight Monsters.
3. Draw Phase

1. Development Phase

During your Development Phase, you may build new Locations onto the board. To do so, carry out the following steps, in order:

Assignment Step

You may assign your active Units (not Corruption) from your Tavern to 1 or both of the Locations within the Capitol (the Locations in the center row of the City board). To assign a Unit, take it from your Tavern area and place it onto the Location.

Each Location can only be activated once per turn. Assigning Units in this phase is optional; if you choose not to assign any Units, skip the rest of the Development Phase and proceed to your Main Phase.

The requirements of each Location are depicted on the Location itself:

• Peasant + Peasant → Tools icon: You must assign 1 Peasant. Then take 1 Peasant from the supply and place it on this Location, along with your Peasant.

OR

• 2 Peasants → Tools icon: You must assign 2 Peasants. You may only assign to 1 of the 2 options at this Location and construct 1 new Location a turn.

Level-up requirement table (per Unit color):

Unit	LVL 2	LVL 3
Yellow (Mage)	1	1
Red (Cleric)	0	3
Black (Knight)	2	1
Blue (Warrior)	0	2

You must assign any 1 Unit of the type that you wish to level up (you may only assign 1 type of Unit, you cannot level up multiple Units in a single turn).

Resolution Step

You must now resolve each of the Locations where you assigned meeples. You can resolve the Locations in the order of your choice.

• Peasant + Peasant → Tools icon OR Peasant + Peasant + Peasant → Tools icon

This Location allows you to construct 1 of the available face-up Locations from next to the board, placing it on any vacant Location slot on the City board (with a For Rent sign showing). If there are no more vacant slots remaining on the City board, no more Locations can be constructed.

After placing a Location on a vacant slot, you receive an immediate bonus as depicted on that slot. These bonuses are all described on page 12.

This Location allows you to place exactly 1 Unit of the chosen type and spend the appropriate number of VP (moving your Player marker that many spaces down the VP tracker on the Final Encounter scoreboard) to obtain the next level Hero card for that Unit, replacing the Hero ability that you currently have for that Unit on your Player board. You may only choose 1 Unit to gain a new Hero card level up each turn, and you must be able to pay the VP to go to the next level.

Development Phase: Clean Up Step

After resolving all of your Development Phase assignments, return all the Units on the Capitol Locations to your Lodgings, including any additional meeples generated by the assignment. Those Units are now Exhausted.

2. Main Phase

During your Main Phase, you will use Locations, and fight Monsters. Carry out the following steps, in order:

Assignment Step

You may assign any number of your active Units from your Tavern to activate Locations or combat Monsters (and/or to complete a Tower Room from The Four Towers mini-expansion). You can assign as many Units as you wish to any number of different places.

For example, you could assign Units to a Location, a Tower Room and also to 1 Monster, or you could just fight 2 Monsters and not do either of the other 2 things. Assigning Units in this phase is optional; if you choose not to assign any Units, skip to your Draw Phase. Gray Corruption meeples cannot normally be assigned (they are not Units).

Activating a Location

You may assign Units to 1 or more constructed Locations in 1 of the 4 districts of the City board (not the Capitol). Each district starts the game with one starting Location already constructed, and more are constructed during the course of the game (as described in the Development phase). Locations that you just constructed during the Development Phase can be activated.

District icons: Castle district, Villages district, University district, Cathedral district.

Each Location depicts the Units required to activate it (to the left of the arrow). You may not activate each Location more than once per turn.

For example: The Healer's Temple requires you to assign a Warrior and a Cleric.

Using Overrun Locations

If a district has 2 or more Monsters present, it is considered to be overrun. After you assign Units to a Location (or Tower Room) in a district that has 2 Monsters present, also add 1 Peasant from the supply to each Location activated (this represents peasants fleeing to your banner, because their section of the city is under attack and no one is defending them). If you activate a Location in a district with 3 Monsters present, add 2 Peasants from the supply to each Location activated! These peasants will be added to your Lodgings in your Clean Up Step (see page 9).

However, you do not add Peasants to a Location that is overrun if you have assigned Units to defeating a Monster in that district this turn. Any effects that add Peasants generated by the Location itself still apply.

Example: On your turn, you choose to assign a Peasant (white meeple) to the House of Lords. Because this district is overrun, you would normally need to add 1 Peasant (white meeple) from the supply to the Location. However, you also decide to assign 2 Peasants to fight the Skeleton. Therefore, no Peasant will be added from using the House of Lords due to overrun.

Combat with Monsters

You may assign Units to one or more Monster cards on the City board, placing Units from your Tavern onto the card. The combined total combat value of your Units placed on each Monster must be equal to or higher than that Monster's strength value.

The combat value of a Unit is shown on your Hero cards, (level 1 is printed on your Player board), plus any combat value bonuses that you have gained.

You may assign more Units than are required to a Monster. This may be used for the purposes of fulfilling a Quest.

Skeleton strength value: 2. Cleric combat value: 1. 2 Clerics combat value = 2.

You may not assign to the Dark Overlords until the third Dark Council Arrives card has been revealed from the Monster deck (see page 10).

Monsters come in three types: Humanoid, Monstrous, Undead. This is relevant for other card effects.

Example: Your Knight has 3 combat value, which is not enough to allow it to be assigned alone to battle the Tree Beast with a strength of 5. However, if you had a second Knight, they could be assigned together as they have a combat value of 6 which exceeds the Tree Beast's strength.

Units

There are 2 types of Units in the game. Basic Units are made up of Mages, Clerics, Knights, Warriors, and Peasants. The abilities that each Unit has varies, and are described on their respective Hero card level ups. They have the following themes:

• Mage: Weak in combat, but good for researching (and often completing) Quests.
• Cleric: Unit that helps with Corruption.
• Knight: Advanced fighting Unit with high combat values and ability.
• Warrior: Standard fighting Unit with good combat values and ability.
• Peasant: Weakest basic Unit, good for constructing Locations.

Prestige Units are special Units for which there is a very limited supply. They are gained from Quests, and Locations. In the case of Locations, the Location comes into play with a fixed number of meeples on it. Once those have been claimed, no more Units are available for that class from that Location.

The abilities of the Prestige Units are described on their Hero cards. A summary of the Prestige Units is as follows:

• Ranger: is a Unit that has elite combat power for fighting Monsters. It has a base combat value of 3 and gains an additional VP each time 1 or more Rangers defeats a Monster.
• Paladin: has a combat value of 2, it gains an additional 1 combat value for each level of Monster it is assigned to fight, the greater the darkness the brighter the Paladin shines.
• Shaman: has a combat value of 2 and can be used as any basic Unit type for the purposes of activating Locations, or when combating Monsters (and gives and receives combat value bonuses as though it were that Unit type as well as any bonuses for being a Prestige Unit).

NOTE: Although a Shaman that is acting as another basic Unit type gains any combat value bonuses currently awarded to that Unit, it does not gain any leveled up abilities or combat value boosts from that Unit's Hero card. For example a Shaman acting as a Warrior will get a +1 combat value from the previously defeated Ghoul, but does not gain the ability of a level 3 Warrior to add a Peasant from the Lodgings when it assigns.

Basic Unit abilities printed on their Hero cards are once per turn effects, regardless of the number of Units of that type that you draw.

Prestige Unit abilities printed on their cards affect each individual Unit of that type i.e. each Shaman can be a Unit of any type, if you assign 2 Rangers to two different Monsters they are both worth an additional VP (it is still only 1 additional VP if two Rangers are assigned to the same Monster). Each Paladin gains the attack bonus for the Monster they are assigned to.

Although Prestige Units have levels, they cannot be leveled beyond the one that they start with. However, their level can be useful for some Quests and Dark Council Monster bonuses at the end of the game.

Resolution Step

Resolve your assigned Units in any order you choose.

Resolving a Location

When resolving a Location, gain the benefit of the Location as shown to the right of the arrow. All of the Location benefits are explained on page 12.

For Example: You previously assigned a Mage (yellow meeple) and a Warrior (blue meeple) to the Levy Station. Your Peasants (white meeple) all had +2 combat value for the turn and you gained a Warrior meeple on the Location, which will be added to your Lodgings during Clean Up (see below).

Resolving a Monster

For each Monster card that you assigned Units to this turn, gain VP equal to the number of VP indicated on the Monster card. Move your player marker that many spaces up on the VP tracker on the Final Encounter scoreboard.

Clean Up Step

Once all of your Main Phase assignments have been resolved, return all of your Units that you assigned this turn to your Lodgings, together with any additional meeples generated by the assignment.

NOTE: Any new Units that are recruited as part of any Location actions are placed in your Lodgings, NOT directly into your bag.

Any Monsters which you assigned Units to are defeated and placed in your play area, in a defeated Monster pile (they may be worth additional VP at the end of the game based on your Quests). Gain VP equal to the number shown in the purple banner (see above).

Some Monsters, once defeated, give your Units a combat value boost. Slide these under the corresponding Unit Ability card so their effect is visible. These bonuses will apply to your Units from your next turn onwards, and for the rest of the game.

If a Monster has an effect other than a combat value boost to your Units or VP, resolve it now (e.g. additional Quests, or discarding Quests). Some Monsters will add additional meeples to your bag. If the Monster indicates that this is the case, do so now, by adding them to your Lodgings.

Draw a number of Monster cards from the Monster deck and place them in the City at their indicated slot, until there are six Monsters showing. (see 3. Draw Phase).

Finally, move all meeples remaining in your Tavern to your Lodgings (including Corruption); no Units can be held back until the next turn (unless specified otherwise).

3. Draw Phase

Carry out the following in order:

1. In each district, shift all Monster cards down so that they are in the lowest-numbered slots in that district.
2. Draw a number of cards from the top of the Monster deck equal to the number of Monsters you defeated this turn, placing each newly drawn Monster face up in the district matching the district symbol on the Monster. Place new Monsters in the lowest-numbered empty slots. If there are no available slots (i.e. 3 Monsters are already present), choose another district that has at least one available slot and place the Monster there instead. If you draw a Dark Council Arrives card, set it aside and draw another Monster.
3. When the first or second Dark Council Arrives card is drawn, immediately place an additional Corruption meeple from the supply directly into each player's bag. Then place the Dark Council Arrives card to one side where it can be seen and continue refilling the city. All players other than the active player immediately draw an additional meeple.
4. Draw 4 new meeples from your bag and place them in your Tavern. If the first Dark Council Arrives card has been drawn previously (including this turn), draw 5 new meeples instead. If the second Dark Council Arrives card has been drawn previously (including this turn), draw 6 new meeples each turn instead.
5. If the third Dark Council Arrives card is drawn, instead of adding a Corruption, this triggers the final turns of the game (see page 10). Set it aside and continue to draw replacement Monsters as normal so that there are always 6 normal Monsters on the City board, or until the deck runs out.
6. If ever you have less than the required number of meeples in your bag, draw until the bag is empty and then return all of your meeples from your Lodgings to your bag, and then continue drawing until you have drawn 4 (or 5 or 6) in total.
7. Activate any "Draw Phase" effects from Ongoing Quests, etc. Each effect may only be used once per turn, but you may use them in any order.
8. Complete any Quests that require you to have any combination of meeples in your Tavern during the Draw Phase.
9. If there are fewer than 4 face up Location tiles by the side of the board (i.e. at least 1 was constructed this turn), draw a new Location tile from the Location tile stack, so that there are always 4 available.

Quests

Quest cards should be kept secret from the other players. Quests are objectives that give you VP and additional bonuses if you meet the conditions. Each player starts the game with 2 random Quest cards and can gain more during the game. There is no limit to how many Quest cards you can have.

All Quests have 2 numbers in the reward banner. The number in the purple section is the VP you gain if the Quest is completed. The number in the red section is the penalty at the end of the game if you do not complete the Quest. There are 3 types of Quests:

• Triggered: A triggered Quest is completed as soon as its conditions are met. Reveal the Quest card and place it face up in your play area. Resolve the bonus on the bottom of the card immediately, this is a one-time bonus. If the bonus gives you additional meeples, place those on the Quest card temporarily and then move them to your Lodgings during the Clean Up Step. Immediately gain any VP for completing the Quest.
• Ongoing: An ongoing Quest is completed as soon as its conditions are met. Reveal the Quest card and place it face up in your play area. If the Quest boosts your Units, slide the card under the corresponding Hero card so you can see the effect. This effect does not come into play until the end of your turn. Immediately gain any VP for completing the Quest.
• End of Game: End of game Quests are completed at the end of the game if you meet the conditions.

NOTE: If the Quest deck ever runs out, reshuffle the Quest discard pile and form a new Quest deck.

You can complete multiple quests at the same time, from defeating the same Monster, as long as your initial assignment meets the criteria of each, and you can fulfill the full terms of each. You cannot complete a quest that you just drew from defeating a monster.

You may always assign more meeples than required to a Monster or Location. However, for a Location you must assign at least the minimum specified on it, and Monsters must have a total combat value assigned that is at least equal to their strength. In the same way when a Quest identifies certain meeples, as a condition for completion, that is the minimum required and you may exceed that. This applies whether the condition has to be met for defeating a Monster, being present in your Tavern or at the end of the game.

Ending the Game

Once the final (third) Dark Council Arrives card is drawn, time is running out! Once the player with the First player marker starts their next turn after the third card is drawn, each player will have just 2 turns before the game ends.

During these final turns, players may choose to assign Units to any of the Dark Overlords when assigning Units to combat Monsters. Combat with the Overlords is resolved in the normal way except that the Dark Overlords cannot be truly defeated. Therefore, even if a player successfully does battle with one, it is not removed and added to your defeated Monster pile during the Cleanup Step, but remains available for other players to fight. Simply add the VP to your score and gain any bonus from any corresponding Dark Council Bonus tokens. You cannot assign to the same Overlord twice in a single game. You may place your Player markers on Overlords to show which ones you have assigned to previously.

Because Overlords are not truly defeated they do not count for, or against, any End of Game Quests that relates to specific Monster types.

The Henchman is treated exactly the same way as the Dark Overlords except that if you do defeat it, do not place a Player marker on it; you can fight it on both of the last 2 turns if you wish.

Players do not have to defeat the Dark Overlords before dealing with the normal Monsters (and vice versa).

After all players have taken their final 2 turns, the game ends. At this point, each player checks end of game VP, such as those gained from End of Game Quests.

Note: you will also lose VP at this point from any incomplete Quests (this score is noted on each Quest).

The winner is the player with the highest combined VP from all sources, as denoted on the track on the Final Encounter scoreboard. In case of a tie, the winner is the tied player with the least Peasants. If there is still a tie, the tied players are joined in a shared victory.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where do newly acquired Unit meeples go? Regardless of whether you gain them from Monsters, Locations, Tower Rooms, or Quests newly acquired Units are added to your Lodgings, unless some effect specifically states otherwise.

When you are required to return Units to the supply: During the game you may be required to place a meeple back into the supply. Follow these rules:

• If a Location requires you to place a Unit back in the supply, it must be one that is at the Location at the time.
• If a Quest requires you to place a Unit back in the supply, it must be one that is actively engaged in that Quest. For Quests that involve defeating a Monster, the Unit must be one of the Units that is assigned to that Monster.

Can I assign meeples to a Monster with a total combat value less than the Monster's strength? No. If you cannot match the Monsters strength, then you cannot assign to them. However, bonuses may be included at the time of assignment. So, for example, if a Peasant has +1 combat value when assigned with a Warrior, it is considered to have a combat value of 2 when assigning with a Warrior.

Note that in the case of the level 3 Warrior, you simultaneously assign a Peasant from your Lodgings, the combat value of those Peasants can be included at the time that they are assigned.

You can also include assumed bonuses from Locations when you assign. So, if you have a Cleric assigned to The Branch & Root Inn, your Mages are assumed to have +1 combat value when assigning that turn.

If all of the spaces for Locations have been built on, can I build over an old Location? No, once they are full you cannot build.

What about the Locations that give me Prestige Units, once all of the Units have been claimed? No, those follow the same rules.

If the supply has ever run out of a particular kind of Unit, and I am asked to gain a Unit of that type what happens? You simply do not gain that Unit type. You still carry out all other parts of that Location, Quest, or Monster, but fail to gain the Unit.

When a Quest refers to the "most" of a thing what happens if I have the equal most? Ties are friendly, you are required to have at least as many as the highest number by any player.

Do Dark Overlords count towards End of Game Quests that look at Monster types? No, Dark Overlords do not go into your defeated pile when you defeat them. And all of the End of Game Quests are looking for Monsters in your defeated pile. However, if you have a Triggered or Ongoing Quest, (or any other effect) that requires you to "defeat a Monster," or a Monster of a certain type, then the Dark Overlords do count for that.

How do the Dark Council Bonus tokens work that requires me to assign a certain number of unit types of particular levels? These mean that when you assign to the Dark Overlord you will gain the bonus VP only if at least 2 or 3 different Unit types that are assigned have level 2 or 3 Hero cards (depending on the bonus). For example, you would gain the bonus from assigning a level 3 Mage and a level 3 Warrior for the bonus that requires you to have 2 or more level 3 Hero cards. You would not get the same bonus from assigning, say, 2 Mages.

Does it matter how many or which Units I place on a "King of the Hill" location like the Colosseum for other players to knock me off the Location? No, all your Units will be removed by another player placing 1 or more of the required Units on the Location, they do not need to match or exceed your assignment. Equally, if your Units are not removed by another player, you only gain the benefit 1 time, even if you have multiple Units.

The Timber Wolf requires that I discard a Quest card from hand. Can I assign to it if I do not have a Quest? Yes. If you have any Quests you must choose and discard 1. However, if you don't have any then you are simply not affected by the ability. Such abilities are mandatory as far as possible, but are not a condition of assignment. In the same way a Monster that gives you additional Units when defeated, can be assigned to even if the supply for that Unit has run out, but you must take them if it has not.

Location, Quest and Monster Card Icon Clarifications and Effects

• Corruption icon: The Corruption icon refers to the gray Corruption meeples. Corruption cannot be assigned to Locations or Monsters unless something specifically allows or requires you to do so (see The Four Towers expansion Tower Rooms). Corruption has no combat value and therefore never receives any combat value bonus.
• Question-marked brown meeple: A generic "any meeple" icon. Note however, that when it appears as part of an assignment requirement on a Location, or as receiving a combat value bonus, it is only shorthand for "any Unit", as Corruption cannot assign or receive combat bonuses, and is not a Unit.
• The (+) symbol means add 1 Unit of the denoted type to the Location, Monster etc. from the supply. Move it your Lodgings during the Clean Up Step (in this case a Warrior).
• The (-) symbol means remove the meeple from play (return it to the supply) - in this case a Cleric. Where the (-) symbol appears next to a Quest you place an incomplete quest in your hand into the Quest discard pile.
• To activate any Location place Units indicated to the left of the arrow, to get the result on the right (in the example place a Knight and a Peasant).
• A number in a red starburst (e.g. "3") describes the base combat value of the Unit as identified on its Hero card.
• A number in a purple circle (e.g. "2") defines the base strength of the Monster that must be at least matched in order to assign to it.
• "+1" in a starburst means additional combat value (in this case +1). This will usually, but not always be associated with a specific Unit type.
• A Unit icon followed by another Unit icon marked "+1": the Unit to the right gains +1 combat value when assigned to a Monster together with the Unit to the left (in this case your Mages are +1 combat value when assigned with 1 or more Warriors). This applies to ALL your Mages that are assigned with Warriors.
• Assigning a Mage to a Location can give ALL your Clerics +1 combat value for the round.
• A Unit icon marked "+1" with no other condition means ALL Units of that type have +1 combat value (there is no condition assigned to the value).
• "+1" next to the Undead skull icon: You gain an additional +1 combat value against Undead Monsters. This is a one-time bonus regardless of which and how many units are assigned and applies to each Undead Monster to which you assign.
• Upward arrow icon: means that you draw an additional number of meeples (in this case 2).
• Tri-coloured star meeple: means any Prestige Unit (Ranger, Paladin or Shaman).
• Draw/discard Quest symbol: means draw X Quests from the top of the Quest deck (in this case 2) and then discard Y Quests from your hand (in this case 1).

Monster type icons: Humanoid, Monstrous, Undead.

District icons: Castle district, Villages district, University district, Cathedral district.