Mini Rogue Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Object of the Game
• Components
• Setup
• A Word from the Designers
• Dungeon Mat
• Character Mat
• Dice Overview
• Turn Sequence
  • Preparation Phase
  • Exploration Phase
  • Delving Phase
• Skill Checks
• Combat
  • Attack Phase
  • Monster Attack Phase
• Feats
• Effects
• Potions
• Items
• Experience Points and Levels
• Character Classes and Skills
• Room Card Anatomy
• Room Cards
  • Item Cards
  • Monster and Boss Cards
  • Trap Cards
  • Tomb Cards
  • Bonfire Cards
  • Merchant Cards
  • Treasure Cards
  • Shrine Cards
  • Reference Card — Rewards
  • Reference Card — Ghost
• Room Card Resolution
• Table of Resolutions
• End of the Game
• 2 Player Co-operative Rules
  • Setup
  • How to Play
• Combat Stances Card Variant
• Campaign Mode
• Campaign: Episode 1
• Credits

Object of the Game

In this solitaire or co-operative game, you play as an adventurer, delving into a dungeon room after room and floor after floor, in order to find the Og's Blood: a fabled and mysterious artifact rumored to be a ruby gemstone.

A dungeon area is laid out as a grid of room cards. Each time you face two rooms, you will have to choose and explore one. You will resolve each encounter by rolling dice and managing resources to pursue the adventure.

In each room, you may encounter a monster, find a treasure, discover a resting area, dodge traps, or face many other surprising encounters. The last encounter of a floor is a powerful boss monster that you will have to defeat to continue onto the next floor. You win the game if you can reach the last room of the dungeon and defeat the final boss monster, thus collecting the Og's Blood.

Components

• This Rulebook
• 5 Boss cards
• 4 Character cards
• 2 Combat Stance cards
• 20 Room cards
• 1 Rewards/Ghost card
• 2 Player Aid sheets
• 2 Character meeples
• 4 Character tokens
• 2 Black (Dungeon) dice
• 6 White (Character) dice
• 2 Purple (Curse) dice
• 2 Green (Poison) dice
• 1 Dungeon mat
• 2 Character mats
• 18 Wooden cubes: 1 dark gray, 2 blue, 2 yellow, 2 brown, 3 red, 4 gray, 4 purple

Setup

1. Choose a Character card and place it faceup to the left of your Character mat.

2. Set your Character's starting stats according to the values on the top right corner of your Character card. If a stat is not shown on the Character card, set it to 0. You will keep track of each stat by moving its wooden cube accordingly.

   If you want to make the game more challenging, we suggest that you try these difficulty modes:

   • Hard: Start with -1 Food and -1 HP
   • Harder: Start with -1 Food and -2 HP
   • Roguelike: Start with -1 Food, -2 HP and -3 Gold

3. Place the Rewards/Ghost reference card to the right of your Character mat.

4. Take one Dungeon die and one Character die and keep them nearby. You start the game with only one Character die, which will be used to resolve encounters. As you gain experience, you will gain more Character dice (see Experience Points and Levels). Keep the other dice close by.

5. Place a dark gray cube on the first Area space of the Dungeon mat labelled "1". This cube is the Adventurer's cube and represents your Character's location in the Dungeon. To track Monster's HP, put the red cube on the skull icon.

6. Set up the Area: shuffle all the Room cards, then lay the first eight cards facedown as shown.

7. The other Room cards are placed facedown to the left of the top-left card of the Area (Start card).

8. Place the Og's Remains Boss card facedown at the bottom-right corner of the Area. Shuffle the remaining Bosses and place three of them on top of Og's Remains, all of them facedown.

9. Finally, reveal the top-left card of the Area and place your matching Character token (or the meeple of your choice) on the card. This is the entry of the first Area.

A Word from the Designers

Welcome to Mini Rogue! This passion project started in early 2016, and thanks to judicious ideas from Nuts! Publishing, the best partners we could have hoped for, it became a full-fledged game in 2021. It is a dream come true to finally have this game in your hands (and ours, too!).

If you want the best possible experience, lower the lights, put on some dark or eerie music, and turn off your electronics. Playing co-op? Read every card out loud with your best gravely voice.

Dungeon Mat

The Dungeon you explore is unique in every game, but its core structure will always be as follows:

The Dungeon contains four Floors. The deeper you find yourself in the Dungeon, the greater are the challenges you will face. The Dungeon starts on the first floor (Floor 1) and goes down to the fourth floor (Floor 4). Each Floor contains a certain number of Areas.

• Floor 1: The Sewers — Areas 1 and 2
• Floor 2: The Dungeon — Areas 3 and 4
• Floor 3: The Catacombs — Areas 5, 6 and 7
• Floor 4: The Sunken Keep — Areas 8, 9 and 10

For example, the 3rd Floor, called The Catacombs, contains Areas 5, 6 and 7.

Every turn, you will explore an Area comprised of eight Room cards, then you will delve deeper to the next Area (see Delving Phase).

The Dungeon mat also carries a Monster HP track running from 1 to 50.

Character Mat

Your Character possesses several attributes, which may never be greater or lower than the values indicated on the mat.

• XP (Experience Points): Gaining XP increases your Character's Level, which unlocks additional Character dice. The XP track runs from 0 to 23, with Level thresholds marked on it: Level 1 at 0, Level 2 at 6, and Level 3 at 18. At the end of the track (23) is the note "XP → HP".
• Armor: Each Armor point reduces by 1 the damage from a Monster's attack. The Armor track runs from 0 to 4.
• HP (Health Points): These represent your Character's life. If your HP value ever reaches zero, you lose the game. The HP track runs from 1 to 20.
• Food rations: Every time your Character delves into another Area, they will have to eat; otherwise, they starve and lose 3 HP. The Food track runs from 0 to 4; being at 0 costs you 3 HP.
• Gold pieces: These are used to purchase various items from Merchants and make offerings at Shrines. The Gold track runs from 0 to 10.
• Potions: Your Character may carry a maximum of two Potions at a time. Potions have several effects you may want to use during combat or exploration (see Potions). The Potions section lists Fire, Frost, Poison, Healing, Holy and Perception.

The Character mat also notes the cost of Feats: -1 XP or -2 HP per reroll.

If you must lose a resource (Armor, Gold, etc.) you do not possess, then lose 1 HP per missing resource instead.

Dice Overview

Players can only use 1 Dungeon die, 1 Poison die, 1 Curse die and a maximum of 3 Character dice. These dice are doubled for co-op play.

• Character dice: These white dice represent your Character's skills. In combat, they determine the damage your Character deals. While you start with only one Character die, as you delve deeper and your Character gains experience, additional Character dice will be added to your pool. Their faces are a Miss (1), 2, 3, 4, a star (5) and a Critical Hit star (6); both star faces count as a success on a Skill Check.
• Dungeon die: The black die will be rolled to determine outcomes when resolving various Room cards. For example, it may be used to determine the attack of a Monster, a Trap's effect or which Potion or Item you've found in a room.
• Poison die: The green die will be added to your pool of dice when your Character becomes poisoned (see Effects).
• Curse die: The purple die will be added to your pool of dice when your Character becomes cursed (see Effects).

Turn Sequence

Every turn, you will guide your Character through a single Area, starting from the entrance, going from left to right and from top to bottom, heading towards the exit. Each Area contains Rooms with encounters that need to be resolved one at a time before moving forward. Here is a game turn in detail:

Preparation Phase

(Skip this phase if you have just set up the game.)

1. Shuffle all the Room cards, and place 8 of them facedown as indicated. The unused Room cards are set aside, facedown.
2. Reveal the top-left (Start) Room card and place your Character meeple/token on it. This card is the entrance of all Areas.
3. On the Dungeon mat, if the current Area has a crimson and gold skull icon, reveal the top Boss card on the bottom-right corner. You will have to face it soon.

Exploration Phase

4. Resolve the Room card where your Character meeple/token is located (see Room Cards).

5. Once that Room card is resolved, reveal the two nearest Room cards if possible: the one to the right and the one below the current Room. You must now choose which one of these two Rooms you will move to. Your Character can never move diagonally, up or left.

   If your Character is in the right column or the bottom row, you do not have a choice and must move to the only Room available.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you reach the bottom-right (Exit) card. If the Boss card was revealed in step 3, resolve it now. Afterwards, proceed to the Delving phase. Note: If you defeat the final Boss, no need to delve further, you have won!

Delving Phase

7. Consume 1 Food ration. If you have no Food at the start of the Delving phase, you starve and immediately lose 3 HP.
8. Flip your Character card faceup if it is facedown (see Character Classes and Skills).
9. Move your Adventurer's cube to the next Area on the Dungeon mat.
10. Remove all the Room cards from the Area, revealed or not, and add them to the unused Room cards deck. A new turn begins.

Skill Checks

While luck may sometimes favor the inexperienced, experts prevail even in dire situations.

Some Room encounters require you to perform a Skill Check to resolve them. To perform a Skill Check, roll all your available Character dice while simultaneously rolling the Dungeon die. If any of the Character dice shows a star icon (a Hit or a Critical Hit), your attempted action has succeeded.

The outcome of the Dungeon die roll will depend on the Room your character is currently in, and whether your Skill Check was successful or not.

For example, Martha's character is Level 2 and must evade a Trap. She performs a Skill Check by rolling both her Character dice along with the Dungeon die and must get at least one star result to successfully evade it.

The Dungeon die's result will determine the type of trap triggered if her Skill Check is unsuccessful OR the reward obtained if the Skill Check is a success.

Combat

Whenever you face a Monster or Boss (see Room cards), you enter a Combat. Each party takes a turn attacking the other. Your Character attacks first, then defends themselves against the monster's attack. It is a fight to the death, and whoever loses all their HP dies horribly.

Attack Phase

1. Simultaneously roll the dice pool: this consists of all your available Character dice, the Dungeon die, and the Poison die and Curse die (if applicable).
2. Activate any Curse and Poison dice, if applicable (see Effects).
3. Set aside any Character die that landed on a Miss.
4. You may now reroll any Character dice that landed on a Critical Hit: for each die, add the new die roll result to its previous value (if your new roll is a Miss, set aside the die, as no damage is dealt with it).
5. You may now perform Feats (see Feats): for each Feat, reroll a Character die result (even a Miss), by reducing your Character's XP by 1 point or HP by 2 points. Only one Feat per die is allowed (i.e. you cannot perform multiple rerolls on the same die with Feats).
6. Repeat steps 3, 4 and 5 until you are satisfied with your result or no more rerolls can happen, then add all Character dice values together. This is the damage you inflict on the Monster.
7. You may now use any one Potion available in your inventory. Once a Potion is used, set its cube aside.
8. Apply the damage to the Monster. If the Monster survives, continue to the Monster Attack Phase.

Monster Attack Phase

9. If the Monster still has HP left, consult the Dungeon die to determine the success of the Monster's attack:

   • 1: the attack has missed; you take no damage.
   • 2 to 5: the attack is successful; the Monster inflicts damage equal to the value on its card, minus your Armor points.
   • 6: the attack is successful and pierces your armor; do not deduct your Armor points. The Monster inflicts damage equal to the value on its card.

10. Apply the Monster's Effects if the attack has reduced your Character's HP (see Effects).

11. Repeat the Combat sequence until either you or the Monster is dead.

For example, you have to face a Monster that can cause 6 damage points. You have 10 HP and 3 Armor points. During the Attack Phase, you rolled a 6 on the Dungeon die. This means that all 6 damage points will be inflicted on you and your Armor points are ignored. You now have 4 HP.

However, if you had rolled a 2, 3, 4 or 5 on the Dungeon die, you would subtract 3 Armor points from the 6 damage points inflicted by the Monster. Only 3 damage points would get through your armor and you would now have 7 HP.

Feats

With the energy of despair, your adventurer can change the outcome of an attack during combat. However, doing so has a cost.

During your Attack Phase, you may perform Feats: You may reroll a Character die once. Each reroll has a cost of either 1 XP or 2 HP. Some Item cards offer Feats without losing XP or HP.

Once a die has been rerolled, its result is final (unless the new result is a Critical Hit, as per normal combat rules). You do not have to execute multiple Feats at once. You may always look at the result of a single rerolled die before choosing to perform another Feat with another die.

For example, you roll 2 dice to attack and obtain a Miss and a Critical Hit. You discard the Miss and choose to reroll the Critical Hit. Your rerolled die lands on a Miss. This die is then discarded. You would deal no damage, so you decide to perform a Feat by losing 1 XP to reroll a Miss. After this new reroll, you obtain a 3. You deal 3 damage points.

Effects

As you will soon discover, there is no shortage of danger in the dungeon...

Monsters and Traps not only harm your Character with physical attacks, but also with debilitating Effects. These Effects will hinder your progress by, for example, bypassing your Armor, cursing you, or removing your ability to reveal Rooms before entering them. The Effects of a Monster's attack only apply if you have lost HP during the attack.

Curse: Add the Curse die to your pool of Character dice.

You are Cursed whenever your Character dice roll lands on a Curse symbol, either during Combat or a Skill Check. When this happens, subtract 1 from each of your Character dice (including rerolls). A Curse can be cured with a Blessing or a Holy Potion. Set the die aside when cured.

For example, in combat, a cursed roll that lands on a Critical Hit (6), a 2 and a Miss becomes a 5, a Miss and a Miss. Or, when performing a Skill Check, a cursed roll of 5 (success) becomes a 4 (fail).

Note: if a result would cause you to gain a Curse when you are already cursed, ignore it (i.e. if your dice pool already contains a Curse die, you do not gain a second Curse die).

Poison: Add the Poison die to your pool of Character dice.

You are Poisoned whenever your Character dice roll lands on a Poison symbol, either during Combat or a Skill Check. When this happens, you immediately lose 1 HP. Poison can be cured with a Blessing or a Holy Potion. Set the die aside when cured.

Note: if a result would cause you to be Poisoned when you are already poisoned, ignore it.

Blindness: Only reveal a Room card once you have entered it. Lay your meeple on its side (or flip your Character token over) until your Blindness is cured with a Perception Potion, a Holy Potion or a Blessing.

Ignore Armor: The damage dealt to you ignores your Armor points. Your Character does not need to have lost HP during the attack for this Effect to apply.

Weaken: Immediately lose 1 XP, then update your pool of Character dice, if necessary.

Regeneration: The Monster heals itself and gains as many HP as indicated inside the icon.

Fall: Move your Adventurer's cube on the Dungeon mat from its current Area to the Area immediately below.

Take the current Room card and set it to the Start (top-left) position of the grid, and then reshuffle all the other Room cards to create a new Area to explore. Remove the Boss card of the previous Floor from the game. When you explore this new Area, consider the Room card you are on as already resolved.

For example, in the Dungeon, a fall from the 2nd Area ends in the 4th Area.

Note: if you are on the last Floor of the Dungeon mat or playing with the Tower mat, ignore the Fall icon and stay in your current Area. You still need to apply the damage associated with the Fall, for example, as indicated on the Trap card.

Potions

Old elixirs and witches' brews thought lost to time. It's curious to find them here in this dungeon...

Potions are of great help when you are in danger. Here are the six different Potions you may carry with you:

• Fire: Inflict 7 damage on the Monster.
• Frost: The Monster does not attack this turn. Do not resolve the Dungeon die.
• Poison: Inflict 4 damage on the Monster during each of your Combat turns, including the present one.
• Healing: Gain 6 HP.
• Holy: Cure your Character from all Poison, Curse and Blindness Effects.
• Perception: Automatically succeed a Skill Check (just roll the Dungeon die and consult the Success result), and/or cure Blindness.

Offensive Potions (Fire, Frost and Poison) can only be used in a Combat, while Defensive Potions (Healing, Holy and Perception) can be used at any time. All Potions are single use items.

You can only carry a maximum of two Potions at any time. Place a cube on the appropriate space of the Character mat to keep track of the Potions you are carrying.

You cannot carry two identical Potions in your inventory at a time. You can always discard a Potion to make room for a new one.

Items

An experienced adventurer never lets a tool go unused.

Items are Room cards that you will obtain through successful Skill Checks, by spending Gold, or by other means. You may carry only one Item at a time. If you find another Item, you must discard one of them.

Items can have one or more uses. If an Item has multiple uses, its uses are tracked with a wooden cube on the Item card itself. When an Item is spent, it is discarded and put back into the Room deck.

Experience Points and Levels

As you gain experience, your combat and survival skills grow.

Experience Points (XP) are gained in a variety of ways, such as defeating Monsters, reading a codex, resting or dodging traps.

By acquiring XP, you will gain Levels and additional Character dice. The more dice you unlock, the better you become at dealing damage to Monsters, dodging traps, unlocking chests and finding items.

Your XP will be tracked on the Character mat. Whenever the XP value crosses a Level threshold (indicated by a special square, with a Level label), immediately adjust your number of available dice. The number of unlocked Character dice is equal to the Level number on the XP track.

However, be careful of XP loss. Losing XP might make you lose Character dice if you go below a Level threshold.

Once you've reached the maximum XP, any gained XP is converted into HP instead.

For example, after defeating a Floor 4 Monster, you normally gain 3 XP. If your Character is at the maximum XP value on the Character mat, you gain 3 HP instead.

Character Classes and Skills

Nobles, students, soldiers, scholars: champions come from all backgrounds and upbringings, but they all converge on the same dungeon...

Each Character has unique Skills. Once any Skill is used, flip the Character card facedown to indicate it is used. A Character cannot use their Skills while their card is facedown (exception: Passive Skills always apply).

There are four types of Skills:

• Exploration Skills can only be used after revealing the next Room cards, but before choosing one to resolve.
• Combat Skills can only be used before a Combat turn.
• Preparation Skills can only be used immediately before laying the Dungeon grid (see step 1 of the Turn Sequence).
• Passive Skills modify the game's rules. They are not used; they apply at all times.

When you see the Refresh icon, for example, on the Bonfire cards and on the back of the Boss cards, refresh your Character Skills by flipping your Character card faceup to indicate that the Skills are available again.

Room Card Anatomy

1. Card type
2. Card name
3. How to resolve the Room card
4. Flavour text
5. Possible roll results
6. Consequences

Room Cards

Each Room card encounter is resolved differently. Most cards have icons in their top banner: They are a reminder of the actions you must (or may) take to resolve them:

• -1 Food: Remove 1 Food ration from your inventory.
• Skill Check: Perform a Skill Check.
• Skill Check ±1: Perform a Skill Check. If successful, you may modify the result of the Dungeon die by +1 or -1.
• Dungeon die: Roll the Dungeon die only.
• Gold: Make an offering of 1 Gold piece to add +1 to the Dungeon die.
• Gold ⇄ Item: You may Buy and Sell items.
• Refresh: Refresh your Character Skills.
• Item: This is an Item. You may pick it up if you meet the conditions indicated before the icon, such as paying Gold, paying Food rations or succeeding a Skill Check.
• / : You must choose one of the options.
• ( ) : Optional.

Item Cards

Broken weapons, rusty armor, split shields... This abandoned armory offers nothing of value. But upon closer inspection, you might be able to find something worth retrieving...

To resolve an Item card, look at the icons on its banner. If you meet the conditions, you can take the Item and put it next to your Character card. A player may only carry one Item at a time. Once used, discard the Item card and put it back into the Room deck.

For example, to resolve the Crow card, feed the crow with 1 Food ration, or ignore it and it will steal 1 Gold from you. If you feed the Crow, take its card and it will remain by your side until you use one of its skills or exchange it for another Item.

Monster and Boss Cards

Monstrosities are now the protectors of this derelict place. Still, you are determined in your quest for the Og's Blood.

Whenever you face a Monster, you have to fight it. Each party takes a turn at attacking the other. It is a fight to the death, and whoever loses all their HP dies horribly.

1. Set the enemy's HP on the Dungeon mat with its cube. The value changes according to the current Floor as indicated on the Monster's card. If playing co-op, use the second value (two-player icon).
2. Perform the Combat sequence (see Combat).
3. If you have defeated the enemy, consult the Reward column. Your reward depends on the current Floor. Update your Stats accordingly. If you defeated a Boss, discard it and consult the Rewards reference card, then proceed to the Delving Phase.

Note: Og's Remains has two combat phases. You must complete the first phase by bringing his HP to 0 before beginning a new combat phase. Any leftover damage, Poison or Frost Effects are not applied to phase 2. The two phases are essentially different Combats.

Trap Cards

Many adventurers perish not in combat, but due to a lack of scrutiny.

To resolve a Trap card, perform a Skill Check. If the Skill Check is successful, earn the reward in the Success column corresponding to the Dungeon die roll. Otherwise, update your Character stats according to the Failure column.

Tomb Cards

You care not about defiling ancient tombs nor taking what isn't yours, as you may stumble upon items of great assistance.

To resolve a Tomb card, perform a Skill Check. If successful, you may modify the result of the Dungeon die roll by +1 or -1. Otherwise, you must accept the result of the Dungeon die.

Bonfire Cards

Everyone needs respite now and then, for death could come at any time. Sharpening the blade helps you focus.

When resting at a Bonfire, if your Character card is facedown, flip it faceup to mark the skills as available again. Then choose only one of the available actions on the card. Update your stats accordingly.

Merchant Cards

Unsettling beings calling themselves merchants can be seen wandering in the dungeon. Surely a peculiar place for them to be doing business.

When you encounter a Merchant, you may buy and sell at will, if you have enough Gold. Doing business with the Merchant is never mandatory, you may skip the card if needed.

Treasure Cards

On your journey, you may find forgotten stashes of loot in various quantities. But monsters and judiciously placed traps still protect the most valuable treasures in the dungeon.

When you resolve a Treasure card, you will find Gold pieces and also have a chance to find special items.

You will always gain at least 1 Gold piece. If you have encountered any Monsters or Traps in this Area, gain the highest amount of Gold pieces instead, as indicated on the card.

To unlock the Treasure chest, perform a Skill Check. If successful, you must then take the reward corresponding to the Dungeon die, or choose one of the two options, if applicable.

Shrine Cards

What profanities the corruptors of this altar did, no one will ever know. Maybe an offering will steer the Gods in your favor?

To resolve a Shrine card, roll the Dungeon die and consult the table. Before rolling, you may make an offering of 1 Gold piece to modify the die roll by adding 1. Once you have made the offering, the +1 modifier is mandatory (except if you rolled 6).

Reference Card — Rewards

Crypts, alcoves and hallways hold the equipment of numerous adventurers. Will you perish here as well?

Whenever you see this wax seal in the result column of a card, refer to the Rewards side of the reference card. Roll the Dungeon die and decide which of the two options to choose as a reward. Do not forget, you always get 2 Gold pieces in addition to the reward.

Reference Card — Ghost

Vicious spirits from the afterlife come to rend your flesh and devour your soul.

Whenever you see this wax seal in the result column of a card, refer to the Ghost side of the reference card. Resolve this card just like the other Monster cards.

Room Card Resolution

When resolving Room cards, the bottom section of each card will tell you what resources and/or stats you will gain or lose. In case there are multiple icons, you must resolve them from left to right.

For example, if you see a Monster icon followed by +2 Gold, you must survive the fight before collecting the Gold pieces.

If you see "-Floor HP" followed by the Poison icon, you must lose as many HP as the current Floor number, and then add the Poison die to your dice pool.

Table of Resolutions

Icon	Effect
+1 XP	Gain 1 XP.
+1 Armor	Gain 1 Armor point.
+1 HP	Gain 1 HP.
+1 Food	Gain 1 Food ration.
+1 Gold	Gain 1 Gold piece.
Fire Potion	Gain a Fire Potion.
Frost Potion	Gain a Frost Potion.
Poison Potion	Gain a Poison Potion.
Healing Potion	Gain a Healing Potion.
Holy Potion	Gain a Holy Potion.
Perception Potion	Gain a Perception Potion.
Potion	Gain a Potion of your choice.
Refresh	Refresh your Character Skills.
Blessing	Blessing: cure Poison, Curse and Blindness.
Player	A player.
Cure Poison	Cure Poison.
Cure Curse	Cure Curse.
Holy Potion crossed out	Prevents the usage of Holy Potions.
Blessing crossed out	Prevents the usage of Blessings.
Fall crossed out	You cannot fall.
↑10 HP	Set your HP to the indicated value if it was below it.
-1 Item	Discard an Item you own.
Wax seal (Ghost)	Begin a Combat against the Ghost reference card.
X	Nothing happens.
-Floor Food	Lose as many Food rations as the current Floor number.
-Floor HP	Lose as many HP as the current Floor number.

If you get a -1 HP, you have to lose 1 HP, and the same goes for every item listed above.

End of the Game

If your HP falls to 0, your Character has succumbed to their injuries and you have lost the game.

If you reach the last room of the Dungeon and defeat the final Boss, the fabled Og's Blood is yours! Victorious, you may finally pick it up and leave this cursed dungeon. Congratulations!

Why is it that you were so drawn to this gemstone? Do you still remember why you came to this dungeon in the first place?

2 Player Co-operative Rules

Mini Rogue can also be played with another player, or in solitaire mode with one player controlling two characters.

Setup

1. Each player picks a Character card.
2. Set up a Character mat for each player, and a shared Dungeon mat, following the normal setup rules.
3. Randomly determine the first player, who is now the Party Leader.

How to Play

Each turn, you will guide your party through a single Area, as in the standard rules, starting from the entrance to the exit. Both Character meeples/tokens are placed on the first Room card of the Area. Starting with the Party Leader, you will both resolve the Room card you are currently on. Once the first card of the Area is resolved, both players are free to move to different Rooms (following normal movement rules restrictions).

When players are in different Rooms, each player resolves the required action on their own (perform a Skill Check to dodge Traps or unlock a Treasure chest, etc.). Both players must wait for each other, which means a player cannot enter a new Room until the other has finished resolving their own Room card. They must move from their respective Room cards at the same time.

When both players are in the same Room, they resolve the card one after the other, starting with the Party Leader. The outcome or choices of action can be different for each player. For example, the first player might succeed at a Trap Skill Check, whereas the second player might fail the check. In this case, the first player obtains the reward associated with the Trap and the second suffers the consequences of failure. Here is another example: both players succeed at opening a Treasure chest; in this case, both get the rewards.

After resolving a card and if both players are on the same card, they may now trade or give to each other any number of Gold pieces, picked up Items, Food rations, Potions or Armor. Each player must comply with their Inventory limits at the end of the trade.

When a Room card is resolved and any trade has occurred, you may now choose between two new Rooms. The players discuss together the best course of action. When the players reach the Area Exit and enter a new Area, the Party Leader role is given to the other player, and both players place their Character tokens on the new Area Entrance.

If one of the Characters dies, the game is over, and both players have lost.

Item cards: When resolving an Item room card together (Armory, Crow, etc.), if both players want the card, they need to resolve it. If either of the two players succeeds, that player picks up the card. They may then give the item to, or trade it with, the other player. Each player may carry a maximum of one Item.

Fall: In the case of a Fall, if one player falls, then the other player does too (as in the standard Fall rules) regardless of the Room that the other player is located in (the other player must still resolve their Room card beforehand).

Monster or Boss cards: When resolving a Monster or Boss card with both players on the same card, always consult the Monster's second HP value. Then, starting with the Party Leader, the Combat sequence will be resolved as follows:

1. The Party Leader performs their Attack phase, then the Monster Attacks the Party Leader.
2. The second player performs their Attack phase, then the Monster Attacks the second player.

Repeat the combat sequence until the Monster or one of the players is dead. Both players earn rewards (XP, Treasure, etc.) from defeating a Monster or Boss.

Note: If you are facing a Monster alone, use its first HP value, as if you were playing a solo game.

Potions: Potions are used the same way as in a solo game. Poison damage is applied to a poisoned Monster in every Attack phase. A poisoned Monster cannot be poisoned twice.

Delving Phase Rules: Both players must eat, refresh their Character cards and change Area together.

Combat Stances Card Variant

This is a solo or multiplayer variant. Combat Stances are simply a way to interpret the Character dice during combat. Choosing one Stance over another means trading the damage dealt versus the damage received.

There are 3 Stances: Aggressive, Balanced and Defensive. Use a Character token or meeple to select Stances.

When starting Combat, you always start with the Balanced Stance. During Combat, at the start of the Attack Phase, you may choose to keep your current Stance, or move the token along the axis to an adjacent Stance (Aggressive ↔ Balanced ↔ Defensive). The Balanced Stance is the usual way of playing Mini Rogue. The Aggressive Stance is riskier. The Defensive Stance removes Misses and Critical Hits but adds an Armor bonus for the current Combat turn.

Campaign Mode

Mini Rogue's solo Campaign mode involves a series of branching Chapters shedding light on the Og's Blood. Each Chapter includes instructions to set up the game. It is an endless loop of trial and error: death is not the end.

How to Play: Start reading from Chapter 1 and follow the instructions under the story blurb. Whenever you set up a Chapter, use the Roguelike difficulty mode. If you die, you must restart the current Chapter, unless specified otherwise. You will unlock skills gained during your campaign using Perk Points that you will earn. Repeat until you win!

Perk Points: Between Story Chapters or when dying, you will gain a certain amount of Perk Points based on how well you performed in the scenario. These Perk Points can be spent to unlock permanent Skills. Each Perk Point that you haven't spent to unlock a Skill is recorded on your Campaign sheet (on the back of your Character mat).

Skill Tree: The Skill Tree features three main paths: Exploration, Survival and Combat. Each Skill unlocked by spending Perk Points will give you a permanent passive bonus throughout each game and access to more powerful Skills. Always apply these bonuses in each of your following games.

Relics: Each time a scenario grants you a Relic, place a cube on your Campaign sheet to indicate that it is in your possession. Relics do not count towards your Item limit, and are not lost when dying. If you pause between adventures, make sure to keep track of the Relics, Skills and Perk Points collected (by using the Mini Rogue app or by taking a picture).

Campaign: Episode 1

Chapter 1: "By the King's decree, the elected champion of the city will travel north to retrieve the Og's Blood. May this champion return safe and sound with the prized possession of the King." The King gloomily stares at you, with sorrow in his eyes while you receive his blessing. Around the King's neck, you catch a peek of a captivating amulet reflecting the fire of the torches. It is masterfully crafted and encrusted with a black obsidian stone. A dim...

(The rulebook's final page stops here; the Campaign chapters continue in the separate Campaign booklet.)

Credits

Game Design: Paolo Di Stefano and Gabriel Gendron

Game Development: Yohann Hériot, Guillaume Sandance, Florent Coupeau, Scott Moore, Paolo Di Stefano, Gabriel Gendron

Graphic Design and Illustrations: Gabriel Gendron

Additional Graphic Design: Paolo Di Stefano

Proofreading: Léa Osseyrane, Gergely Kajtár, Hervé Catan, Jordan Heintzelman, Lorenzo Batallones, Sara Perley, Cedric Mesnjak

Playtesters: Rachel Bruner, Gabrielle Caron, Jérôme Cormier, Laurent Closier, Arnaud Delaunay, Tommy Di Stefano, Jean-Christian Goimard, Aaron Graff, Matt Grunstad, Jason Katke, Robert Menzies, Arnaud Moyon, Jean-Marc Prud'Homme, Toby Schreier, François Vaux, and many many others since 2016: you know who you are. Thank you so much!

Thank you to all 4925 backers who made this project possible.

Nuts! Publishing, 2 rue Castelmeur, 29000, Quimper, France

© 2021 Paolo Di Stefano and Gabriel Gendron. © 2021 Nuts! Publishing.

Icons made by: Lorc, Delapouite, Skoll, Quoting and DarkZaitzev. Available on https://game-icons.net. Licensed under CC BY 3.0