Mercenaries Wanted Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay Overview
• Round I
  • Drafting Mercenaries
• Mercenary Cards
• Player Mats
• Stat Modification Tokens
• Item Cards
• Round I Trial Job
  • • Establishing Turn Order
    • Selecting a Job
    • Completing the Jobs
    • Job Cards
    • Example Trial Jobs
      • Example 1 - Eliminating Rats
      • Example 2 - Summoner's Duel
• Round I Training Debrief
• Round II
  • Drafting Mercenaries
  • Trial Job
  • Training Debrief
• Round III
  • Drafting Mercenaries
  • Trial Job
  • Training Debrief
• Round IV
  • Equip Challengers
  • Tournament Events
    • Tournament Cards
    • Example Tournament
• Game End
• Solo Rules
  • Setup
  • Drafting Mercenaries
  • Tournament Events
  • Solo Scoring
• Mercenary Companies
• Icon Key

Objective

In Mercenaries Wanted, your goal is to earn the most Gold (your victory points) by the end of the game. You earn Gold by completing Trial Jobs and winning Tournament Events.

Components

• 61 Mercenary Cards
• 48 Item Cards
• 32 Job Cards
• 8 Tournament Cards
• 1 Scoreboard
• 6 Player Mats
• 19 Choice Tokens
• 6 Gold Tracking Tokens (1 in each player color)
• 6 Job Tokens (1 in each player color)
• 133 Stat Modification Tokens

Setup

1. Shuffle each deck. Place the Mercenary Deck, Job Deck, and Item Deck to one side on the table.

2. Designate a space next to each deck for a discard pile. Discard piles are always face-down.

3. Place the Scoreboard to the other side of the table.

4. Each player takes the Player Mat, the Job Token, and the Gold Tracking Token in the color of their choice.

   • A. They place the Player Mat in front of themselves.
   • B. Place the Gold Tracking Token on the Scoreboard at 0.
   • C. Place the Job Token on the Player Mat.

5. Reveal a number of Tournament Cards based on the number of players. Place them face-up in the center of the table.

   • For 1-4 players, reveal three Tournament Cards.
   • For 5 or 6 players, reveal four Tournament Cards.

   Place the remaining Tournament Cards back in the box. You will not need them for this game.

6. Reveal four Job Cards and place them on the table face-up.

Gameplay Overview

This game is played over a series of four Rounds. The first three Rounds are broken into three Phases:

• Drafting Mercenaries: where you recruit potential hirees.
• Trial Job: where you test them on their skills.
• Training Debrief: where you see who made it onto the team and who gets "retired".

The fourth and final Round is the Tournament, where all the Mercenary Companies come together to see how much Gold their company wins for glory and bragging rights.

A word about the rules. Rules found on cards will take priority over the rules in this rulebook.

Round I

Drafting Mercenaries

Look at this sorry lot. They may not be Gloomhaven's best and brightest, but they're the ones that showed up.

Time to start recruiting. In this Phase, players choose Mercenary Cards to form their Apprentice parties.

Deal each player a hand of Mercenary Cards to begin the draft.

• In a 2 player game: deal 6 cards to each player.
• In a 3 player game: deal 5 cards to each player.
• In a 4 or more player game: 4 cards to each player.

Simultaneously, each player chooses a card and places it face-up in front of them in their Recruit area. Then pass the remaining cards in your hand to the player on your left. The player on your right will pass you a new set of cards. Use this hand to draft another card for the Recruit area. This process continues until each player has drafted four cards. In a two or three player game, stop at four cards and put the remaining undrafted cards face-down in the discard pile.

Choose three of the four Mercenary Cards you drafted to form your party, moving those cards into the Apprentice area. Once everyone is done, place the unused Mercenary Card face-down in the discard pile.

In the event the Mercenary Deck ever runs out, shuffle the Mercenary discard pile to form a new deck.

Note: Once each player has chosen the Mercenaries as their new Apprentices, check to see if any have Abilities that trigger at this time.

Mercenary Cards

When you are drafting a Mercenary Card you want to know what kind of Merc you're hiring. The card will tell you all the skills they have, but maybe not their bad habits.

Each Mercenary Card has the following:

1. Their Ancestry and Class Name.

2. Mercenaries have four stats used to determine Job rewards and Tournament winners. They are:

   • A. Attack.
   • B. Defense.
   • C. Mobility.
   • D. Support.

3. Mercenaries may have one or more Elemental Affinities. They are Fire, Ice, Air, Earth, Light, and Dark. Wild Affinities count as any type of Elemental Affinity. If you have more than one Wild, you may use it for the same or different Elements.

   Elemental Affinities are relevant for Mercenary Abilities, Job Bonuses, and Tournament Events.

4. Mercenaries may have one or more tags. They are Summons, Control, Tireless, Fast, Tactician, Multi-Target, and .

Player Mats

Think of this as your home base — where you come to work, but you have a cot in the back as well. Potential Mercs only get to see the front room. Don't worry about what's happening in the cellar. It's not your business… yet.

Each player's area is arranged using the Player Mat.

1. Drafted cards are placed in a row on the top right in the Recruit area.
2. Once a party is formed, move the selected Mercenaries to the bottom right row in the Apprentice area.
3. Items are stored to the bottom left in the Armory if they are not being used. Until an Item is used for the first time, you may choose to store it face-down.
4. Mercenaries who become Challengers are placed face-down in a pile on the top left in the Challenger area.
5. The Job Token is placed on the middle of the Player Mat when not in use.

Stat Modification Tokens

Look at you little fish, needing a cheat sheet to track yer powers. This is why you only get one thing from the Armory.

Based on your Mercenary Abilities and Item Cards you will need to adjust your stats before Trial Jobs (and later the Tournament) begin.

For example, if a player has acquired The Weighted Net Item Card, they may assign it to a specific Mercenary Card. That Item Card adds +1 Defense to that Mercenary's stats.

You may track the changes using Stat Modification Tokens. These double-sided tokens are a helpful way to calculate modified stats throughout the game. Since modifiers come and go frequently, remember to use your Stat Modification Tokens as needed.

Item Cards

Head over to the Armory and pick out something you think will be useful. That's a loaner, so you'd better bring it back or the coin to cover the loss. Brought yer own? We're a community here, so thanks for contributing to the community.

Item Cards are typically awarded during the Training Debrief, after Jobs have been scored and new Jobs are revealed. Players will not start the game with any Items, but some Mercenary Abilities may allow you to draw and assign Item Cards immediately before the first Job is scored. In the event the Item Deck ever runs out, shuffle the Item discard pile to form a new Item Deck.

After drafting your Mercenary Cards and selecting your Apprentices, each Mercenary may equip one Item. Players do not have to assign all of the Item Cards the party has acquired. If you have already drawn an Item Card and assigned it based on a Mercenary Ability, you may switch it out at this time. Any unused Item Cards stay in the player's Armory for future Rounds.

Once the Trial Job Phase begins, Item Cards may not be reassigned.

Each Item Card has the following:

1. A unique name.

2. Accompanying art.

3. An effect (such as boosting stats or granting special Abilities) during Trial Jobs or the Tournament.

4. Item requirement (if any.) In order to be assigned to a Mercenary Card, the Mercenary Card must have the required tag or elemental affinity.

5. Single-Use indicator (if any.) This Item Card only be used for a single Job Card (Primary and Bonus) or for a single Tournament Card. Place in discard pile during Training Debrief at the end of that round.

   Transcription note: the printed Single-Use text reads "only be used" as shown; wording kept as printed.

Item Card Examples

• Wands of the Wild — Grants both the Air Elemental Affinity and the Earth Elemental Affinity.
• Mantle of Summoning — May only be given to a Mercenary with the Summons tag. Grants +3 to either their Attack stat or their Mobility stat.
• Stoneskin Potion (Single-Use) — Grants +4 Defense, as well as either the Control or Tactician tag. Must be discarded at end of round.

At the end of the Round, you may return any non-single use Item Cards to your Armory.

Round I Trial Job

You've got yer crew now? Great. They look a little too clean and creditable, so it's time to toughen them up.

Establishing Turn Order

Now with Abilities activated, Items equipped, and stat modifications locked in, determine turn order among players. In future Rounds, players will select Jobs in the order of lowest to highest on the Scoreboard, but for the first Trial Job, everyone is tied at 0 Gold. In case of any tie, the party with the highest total Mobility stat, including bonuses from Abilities and Items, goes first. If there is still a tie, break the tie using the highest stats in this order: Support, then Defense, then Attack.

Selecting a Job

Now, in turn order, select one of the Job Cards. If you are the first to select a specific Job, place your Job Token face-up on the Job Card. Any subsequent players that choose the same Job must place their Job Token face-down (the -1 Gold side) on the card.

Completing the Jobs

Going from left to right, resolve each Job Card with at least one Job Token on it. First look at the Primary Check and see if you can resolve it. For every Helm shown, you will need to have a unique Mercenary Card (with or without an equipped Item Card) which is able to meet the stat, tag, or Elemental Affinity requirements.

If you complete the Primary Job Check, gain Gold equal to the reward. Remember to subtract the penalty if you weren't the first person to bid on a Job Card. As long as you earn at least 1 Gold fulfilling the conditions on the Primary Job Check, you may resolve either or both of the Bonus Checks as well, if you can meet those requirements.

The Job's Primary and Bonus Checks are done independently of each other, so a Mercenary Card may contribute to the Primary Gold conditions as well as each Bonus.

Then, score your respective Jobs by moving your Gold Tracking Token up the Scoreboard.

Note: Some Mercenaries have Abilities that can be used during the Trial Job Phase.

Job Cards

Each Job has the following:

1. A unique name.
2. Accompanying art.
3. The Job:
   • A. Primary Check - the part of the Job that must be fulfilled.
   • B. Bonus Check - the two extra flourishes in the Job that may be fulfilled if the Primary Check is completed.
   • C. Gold earned if completed.

A Mercenary Card may fulfill only one Helm condition per Job Check. Think of it as the team came up with a plan and each one has a role to play in the heist. If the Bruiser is fighting a monster, they cannot steer the cart – that's up to the Mindthief. And the Mindthief cannot cast Elemental Magic with their hands on the reins, so that's now the Deathwalker's role.

Example Trial Jobs

Example 1 - Eliminating Rats

A team of Mercenaries pass a Job Check if they meet or exceed the listed requirements. Each Mercenary can fulfill the requirement of one Helm. If one of your Mercenaries fulfills the conditions of two different Helms, they may only count one of them towards the Trial Job checks.

1a. The Primary Check on this Job Card requires two Mercenaries with stats of 3 or more Mobility each, and another Mercenary with 4 or more Attack. You have the Valrath Bruiser, the Vermling Mindthief, and Valrath Deathwalker. Both the Bruiser and the Mindthief have both stats, but remember each Mercenary Card may only fulfill one Helm. These new kids can only focus on one skill at a time. Since the Deathwalker has the required Attack stat, you've got it covered and pass this check.

1b. Some Job Card checks list a payout "per" fulfilled condition. For example, this Bonus check gives two Gold for every instance of Control in the party. When a check uses no Helm symbols, it is checking your entire party, not just one Mercenary. Your Mercenaries may use multiple tags that they have listed on the Mercenary Card as well as Item Cards. The Vermling Mindthief is equipped with Stun Powder. That means they have two Control tags which give a bonus of four Gold.

1c. There are two potential Bonus Checks per Job Card and, if able, the player may score both. The second check gives one Gold for each Mercenary with any Elemental Affinities. Since all three of your Mercenaries have Elemental Affinities, you claim the second check with ease.

All told, this Apprentice party earned a total of eight Gold for their Trial Job. Not too shabby!

Example 2 - Summoner's Duel

2a. If the payout has an "each" clause, it counts each individual instance of all of the stats, tags, or Elemental Affinities referenced. In the case of Summoner's Duel, the second Bonus check pays one Gold for each tag of Control, Tactician, and Summons appearing in the Apprentice Party. Those tags do not need to appear on the same Mercenary. Reminder: Duplicate tags and Elemental Affinities on the same Mercenary count for each time they are shown.

2b. In this example, the Valrath Deathwalker could use their Ability to give +1 Support to the Vermling Mindthief. However, the Mindthief doesn't need it, because their own Ability gives them +2 to any stat and an Item has given them +1 Support to pass already.

2c. The Valrath Bruiser has the 3 Defense for the other requirement. That means your team of mercenaries pass the Primary Job Check and gain 3 Gold.

2d. Then, they collectively receive 5 Gold for the first Bonus Condition and 2 Gold for the second Bonus Condition for a total of 10 Gold. Now that's a good haul!

Round I Training Debrief

This group of Recruits tried their best, but it's time to make cuts. Some may take it better than others…

1. Each player now takes their Job Token back. Then, move all Job Cards to the discard pile face-down. Reveal four new Job Cards and place them on the table face-up.

2. Discard any single-use items (purple banner) that were used. Put any other equipped Item Cards back in your Armory, face-up. Draw three Item Cards from the Items Deck, choose one to put into your Armory face-down, and discard the rest.

   Note: Some Mercenary Cards have Abilities that will alter this step.

3. Remove all Stat Modification Tokens and pick up the Mercenary Cards in your Apprentice area and secretly put one face-down in the Challenger area. This is to hide information from the other players, you may still look at your cards. You've successfully hired your first Mercenary, and they need to prepare for the Tournament. They no longer go on Training Jobs, but don't forget about them because you will need them in the fourth Round.

   Note: If that Mercenary Card has an Ability that works from the Challenger area, it may be kept face-up.

4. Choose one of the remaining Mercenary Cards and put them face-up in the Apprentice area for the next Training Job. You may review the new Job Cards before deciding which Mercenary Card to keep.

5. Finally, choose one Mercenary Card to "retire" by putting them face-down in the discard pile.

Round II

Drafting Mercenaries

You thought you'd get the best and brightest in one go? Nah, it's time to look at today's fresh batch.

Perform the second Phase of Drafting Mercenary Cards, passing cards to the right after making your pick. Place your cards in your Recruits area.

Like in Round 1, select three of the four cards in your Recruits area and move them to the Apprentice area. Your Apprentice area already has a Mercenary Card from the previous Job. The card remaining in the Recruits area is moved into the discard pile.

Important! Any Mercenary Cards in your Apprentice area from the previous Round must remain in the party for this Round. Discarded Mercenaries must come from the Recruits area.

You now have a party of four Apprentice Mercenaries. Check to see if any have Abilities that trigger at this time. You may assign up to one Item Card per Mercenary Card, face-up. After Item Cards have been assigned, remember to modify your Mercenaries' stats using your Stat Modification Tokens.

Trial Job

It's another glorious day to make coin, my fresh-faced mercs! Bring me something shiny!

Select and score Jobs as described in Round 1 Trial Job on page 8. Remember to check for Mercenary Abilities that trigger at this time.

Training Debrief

Well that was some interesting work out there. I wouldn't say good, but it certainly was interesting.

After scoring Jobs, discard the current Job Cards. Reveal four new Job Cards and place them on the table face-up.

Discard any single-use items (purple banner) that were used. Return any other equipped Item Cards back to your Armory, face-down. Draw three new Item Cards from the Item Deck. Put one into your Armory face-down, and discard the rest, minding any Mercenary Abilities that trigger at this time.

Remove all Stat Modification Tokens and pick up your current Apprentices. Secretly choose one Mercenary Card to place, face-down, in your Challenger area. Choose TWO Mercenary Cards and place them face-up in your Apprentice area. The unchosen Mercenary Card "retires" and is placed face-down in the discard pile.

Round III

Drafting Mercenaries

Ah yes, the final chance to score big on a Job before the Tournament begins. Last chance to impress the boss. Give it your best, fresh meat.

Perform the final Phase of drafting Mercenary Cards. In the third Round, cards are passed to the left again, draft a Mercenary Card, and place it in your Recruits area. Do this four times, you know the drill by now.

Like in previous Rounds, select three of the Mercenary Cards for your Apprentice area and discard the Mercenary who didn't make it.

We hope the Recruits play well with the Apprentices from the previous Round, because you still must keep the two Apprentice area Mercenaries, discarding only from the Recruits area.

You now have a party of five Apprentice Mercenaries. Once again, each Mercenary Card may be equipped with a single Item Card. Check to see if any have Abilities that trigger at this time or if you need to update your Stat Modification Tokens.

Trial Job

You have quite the crew, and they are all eager to impress. But do they work well together? It's time to go on your final practice run!

Select and score Job Cards as described in Round 1 Trial Job on page 8. If a player's score goes above 50 Gold, flip their Gold Token over to the +50 Gold side and start counting again from the 0 Gold space.

Training Debrief

This is it Apprentices. If you're in, get to work. Were you expecting a celebration?

After scoring is complete, discard the current Job Cards. No new Job Cards are revealed.

Discard any single-use items (purple banner) that were used. Return any other equipped Item Cards back to your Armory, face-up. Draw three new Item Cards, put one into your Armory face-down, and discard the rest. Complete any Mercenary Card Abilities that trigger at this time.

Remove all Stat Modification Tokens and pick up your current Apprentices. Secretly choose TWO Mercenary Cards to place, face-down, in your Challenger area. You have hired a total of four Mercenaries to your company, and they're coming with you to the Tournament. The remaining three unchosen Mercenary Cards "retire" and are placed face-down in the discard pile.

Round IV

Finally, our chance to compete in the Tournament for glory! For our new company's ability to ridicule the rest! And for valuable coin prizes.

Round 4 is unique from the rest. It has 2 Phases:

• Equip Challengers
• Tournament Events

Equip Challengers

Normally I'd tell you to load up on weapons, but I might have made a side bet with another Company. What? I was bragging about your skill. It's a compliment! Why are you glaring at me?

Without looking at other players' Apprentice areas, all players simultaneously form parties consisting of their four Challenger Mercenary Cards by flipping them face-up and moving them to their Apprentice area (they still count as Challengers). Players have one final opportunity to assign Item Cards to their Mercenaries. Each Mercenary Card may still only equip only one Item Card. Once the Tournament Events Phase begins, you may not adjust your Item Cards.

Just like during Rounds 1-3, any Abilities or Item Cards that offer you a choice (ex.: "gain +2 Attack or Defense") must be decided before the Tournament Events Phase begins. To determine which choice you are using, cover the abandoned choice with a Choice Token. You may use this Item Card for all the Tournament Cards, but it must remain on this choice only.

Reminder: The effects of any single-use Item Cards applied at the start of the Tournament may be used for only one Tournament Card. Remember to modify your Mercenary Cards using your Stat Modification Tokens.

Making Choices Example

In this example the Savvas Tinkerer must choose to gain the Summons tag, the Tactician tag, or a Wild Elemental Affinity. The Wild Affinity works well with the Valrath Deathwalker's ability, so it's an easy choice.

Tournament Events

Welcome to the show! Make our company proud!

Tournament Events give players the opportunity to compare their Challenger teams against each other. Each team counts up the total value being compared for that specific Tournament Card.

For example, at The Fighting Pit (shown below), parties compare their total Attack values to each other.

The team with the highest value earns the 1st place rewards. The team with the second highest wins the 2nd place. If a team has 0 of the stat, tag, or Elemental Affinities being measured in a specific event, they cannot take any Gold as a prize in that event.

Similar to Job Cards, if a Tournament event has an "each" clause, it counts each individual instance of all of the stats, tags, or Elemental Affinities referenced.

Complete Tournament Events from left to right. Tournament Cards have first and second place winners. If first place is tied, all players who tied get the Gold and no second place is awarded. If second place is tied, all players who tied get that Gold. Each player moves their Gold Token on the Scoreboard equal to their total Tournament earnings. Repeat this process for each Tournament Card.

Tournament Cards

Each Tournament Card has the following:

1. A unique name.
2. Accompanying art.
3. Tournament Check.
4. Gold Rewards for 1st and 2nd Place.
5. Solo mode target numbers.
6. Flavor text.

Example Tournament

The Tournament Cards for this game are The Fighting Pit, Oozeball Amateur Cup, and Sewer Cleanup. That means each Mercenary Company will be testing for highest A Attack, B Mobility and C total number of Control and Duelist tags.

Emerald Acolytes' Challenger Team — a Savvas Soultether, a Valrath Deathwalker, a Savvas Tinkerer, and an Inox Silent Knife, equipped with the Poison Dagger, Fated Verses, Dusk Blades and Falcon Figurine respectively.

1. The Soultether has a Poison Dagger which gives a +1 Attack and the Duelist tag.
2. The Deathwalker has the Ability to give the Savvas Soultether an additional +1 to each stat.
3. The Deathwalker is equipped with the Fated Verses, which may add +2 to each stat, but they may use it for only one Tournament Card, so they choose +2 Mobility.
4. The Tinkerer opted to use their Ability so they can use the Elemental Affinity for their "or" choices, so they can use the Dusk Blades and gain +3 Attack.
5. Finally the Silent Knife gains +1 Mobility from their Falcon Figurine.
6. Adding those bonuses to their base stats gives the Emerald Acolytes a total of 18 Attack, 12 Mobility and 3 relevant tags.

Jaws of the Lion Challenger Team — a Valrath Nightshroud, an Inox Bruiser, a Vermling Mindthief, and an Orchid Cragheart, equipped with the Wands of the Wild, Resonant Crystal, Staff of Eminence and Twilight Beetle Lantern respectively.

1. The Nightshroud uses their Ability to give +1 to each stat of the Bruiser. The Bruiser's Ability then bumps that +1 Attack to a +2 Attack.
2. The Bruiser is equipped with the Resonant Crystal, which gives them +2 to any stat, and they choose to add it to their Mobility. With their Ability, that also gives them another +2 Attack.
3. The Mindthief adds +2 Attack thanks to their Ability working with the Nightshroud.
4. The Mindthief has the Staff of Eminence since they are the only Mercenary with 2 Elemental Affinities in this Challenge team. It gives them +3 to any stat, which they also add to Mobility.
5. The Cragheart uses their Ability to give the Nightshroud another +1 to each stat (thanks to the Nightshroud carrying the Wands of the Wild).
6. Finally, the Cragheart gains +2 Attack for themselves because the Twilight Beetle Lantern works with the Nightshroud and the Mindthief.
7. Adding those bonuses their base stats gives the Jaws of the Lion 23 Attack, 17 Mobility and 4 relevant tags.

That makes for a clean sweep for the Jaws of the Lion at the tournament, adding 18 Gold to their final score versus the Emerald Acolytes' 9 Gold. However, the Acolytes focused on the first three rounds scoring, and might not be out of the running yet.

Game End

Look at the score board to see the final scores. In case of a tie, the player with more Gold from the Tournament Round wins. If there is still a tie, fight a duel of your choosing to determine a winner.

Solo Rules

To play this game solo, follow all the rules of a 2-6 player game with these adjustments.

Setup

Before playing, remove the cards that have the X icon from the following decks.

• Mercenary Deck: Valrath Bruiser, Inox Silent Knife, Human Mindthief, Quatryl Plagueherald, Orchid Sawbones.
• Item Deck: Boots of Speed.

Drafting Mercenaries

• Draw 4 Mercenary Cards. Choose one to put face-up in your Recruits area, then discard the remaining 3 cards.
• Then draw 3 Mercenary Cards. Choose one to put in front of you, then discard the remaining 2.
• Next, draw 2 Mercenary Cards. Choose one to put in front of you, and discard the remaining card.
• Lastly, draw 1 Mercenary card to put in front of you.

Choose three of the Mercenary Cards you drafted to form (or add to) your Apprentice area. Once you are done, place the unused Mercenary Card in the discard pile. Like in the multiplayer game, you'll have three Mercenaries in your party for the first Trial Job, four Mercenaries for the second Trial Job, and five Mercenaries for the third Trial Job.

Tournament Events

Instead of comparing your party to opponents, your earnings are determined by the fixed target values printed on the cards.

You earn Gold if you meet or beat the target value. For example, in The Fighting Pit you'd earn three Gold if your party has between 11 and 21 combined Attack at the Fighting Pit, and you'd earn six Gold if you have 22 or more combined Attack.

Solo Scoring

The goal in solo play is to earn as much Gold as possible and beat these target scores:

• 40 Gold – Guild Initiate
• 45 Gold – Experienced Adventurer
• 48 Gold – Seasoned Veteran
• 52 Gold – Living Legend

Mercenary Companies

Emerald Acolytes. Hailing from the Traveler's District, The Emerald Acolytes are a bunch of nobles' kids moonlighting as mercenaries because they don't have anything better to do. Inspired by the Green Carapace, a masked vigilante, they patrol the streets at night, looking for wrongs to right. What they lack in knowledge and experience, they make up for with having the nicest gear money can buy.

The Oaken Shield. Perpetually in need of funding, the keepers of the Great Oak have decided to fund a mercenary party. The keepers are hopeful to increase their coffers, but there is another goal; members of the Oaken Shield also must act as ambassadors for the Great Oak. After all, nothing proselytizes the Great Oak better than good deeds accomplished in its name.

Jaws of the Lion. The Jaws of the Lion operate out of their namesake, the Sleeping Lion, found in the Boiler District. They are a legendary mercenary company whose members, Tiber, Dok, Diamartia, and Powder, are now looking to get out of the game, having saved Gloomhaven from disaster more times than they care to count. Before retiring, they'd like to leave the name in good hands and are currently seeking honorable mercenaries to act as impeccable stewards for their legacy.

Revelers of the Oaken Table. The Revelers of the Oaken Table is the brainchild of Basseloff, the self-titled Greatest Bard in the World, who spends most of his time in the Coin District. With his own reputation on the decline, and the public opinion of mercenaries on the rise, Basseloff decided to use his considerable wealth to run a company. He often accompanies his mercenaries on missions, attempting to improve morale through his songs. The results are questionable.

Star's Ashes. The Star's Ashes call the newly rebuilt Star of Ashtar their home. After the pub burnt down, a mercenary named Jax pooled together all the money he and his fellow mercenaries had to restore their favorite dive on the edge of the Sinking Market. The act bonded the group together, and their newly founded company has been expanding ever since, still trying to recoup all the money they put into the endeavor.

Twilight Lance. The Twilight Lance (or simply the Lance) is a mercenary group hailing from the Horn District. Though the Lance is old, it's functionally new, as all members except Dendromedon—a founder—have moved on, died, or retired. Now, the group mostly contains mercenaries Dendromedon recently hired after a recruitment drive. They're open to all manner of jobs, attempting to re-earn their name as a stead-fast company.

Icon Key

Stats and Gameplay: Gold, Helm (Mercenary), Attack, Defense, Speed, Support, Remove card for solo play.

Note: The icon key labels the Mobility icon as Speed; the rules text in this rulebook refers to it as Mobility.

Elemental: Fire, Ice, Air, Earth, Light, Dark, Wild (Any).