Myth
Myth Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
Myth is a cooperative tabletop game for 2 to 5 players. Each player takes on the role of a hero and must work together to overcome the darkness. Using a deck of cards unique to each hero, players explore the realm, battle evil monsters, and overcome dangerous traps in order to complete quests and acquire powerful new items and abilities.
Players are in full control of how they wish to play a game of Myth. They are creating stories with their heroes that can be told over the course of one play session, or their stories can span multiple game sessions in which they shape the realm through the quests they undertake. Unlike many other games, players make choices to determine the dangers they face throughout the game. Quests provide the structure for the game and present the players with their objectives, but even if the heroes fail a particular quest, their story can still continue.
Object of the Game
In a strictly technical sense, the goal of each session of Myth is for each player to guide his or her hero safely through a series of challenging encounters. However, specific objectives change from game to game, namely through Quests and (in future content) Myths.
Overall, the object of Myth is to create memorable adventures with your companions, and if everyone is having fun, then you are playing the game correctly.
The Golden Rule
There is one rule in Myth that supercedes all others. If for any reason, players encounter a confusing or ambiguous rules situation that would call for excessive cross-referencing or research, do not get hung up on it. Myth encourages cooperation on all levels, including rules arbitration. If a game situation arises that is hard to interpret, players should agree on how they think the rules apply—more than likely, the rule will be interpreted correctly, and the focus can remain on the game and not the rulebook.
Reading this Book
Myth is a complex game and it can be easy for new players to feel overwhelmed. This book is organized in a way to introduce players to the basic mechanics needed to start playing as quickly as possible. Most of the structured elements of gameplay are presented first, while many of the advanced concepts are detailed later in the book. In addition, there is a rules reference at the back of the book with important rules summarized in an easy to read format. This makes it easy for players to reference quickly while playing.
Components
This section gives a brief description of component types in the base Myth board game.
5 Hero Boards — Each hero receives a hero board to keep track of important gameplay information such as threat, inventory, status, equipment, vitality, and abilities.
1 Darkness Board — Players use the darkness board to keep track of darkness cards, darkness AP, darkness vitality, traps, and realm tile treasure.
10 Realm Tiles — The ten realm tiles are used to construct the physical world of Myth where you play out your heroes' stories. Realm tiles are double-sided and come in three sizes: 12x12, 6x6, and 4x6.
41 Miniatures — The highly detailed Myth miniatures represent the heroes and the forces of darkness they face. The darkness manifests in various sizes and difficulties, reflected in the range of dynamic miniatures.
15 Dice — The 10 ten-sided hit dice and 5 six-sided fate dice are used by the heroes and the darkness to perform attacks and other actions.
155 Hero Cards — There are a total of 155 hero cards, 31 for each of the five heroes. These cards represent the possible actions a hero can perform. Each deck has 25 starting hero cards, 5 advanced hero cards, and 1 reference card.
12 Trap Cards — The trap deck contains 12 unique and potentially deadly traps for heroes to encounter.
30 Quest Cards — Quest cards provide compelling adventures and valuable rewards to work toward while battling the forces of the darkness.
7 Monster Cards — The 7 monster cards are used for reference when the darkness activates.
10 Darkness Cards — The darkness deck contains 10 cards that dictate how the darkness acts when it activates.
10 Merchant Cards — The merchant deck contains 10 unique merchants who sell a variety of goods to the heroes.
97 Item Cards — Myth contains 97 item cards divided into brown, white, green, and blue items.
8 Hero Tokens — Each hero in Myth is represented by a hero token which fits into a hero board. The hero token lists that hero's stats, base dice pool, defining attribute, and contains a slot for earned story titles.
6 Lair Tokens — Lair tokens represent a location on the realm tile from which monsters spawn. Each lair token is specific to its monster-type.
50 Treasure Tokens — Treasure tokens are used to randomize treasure rewards. Each colored token represents a treasure card from the corresponding item deck.
24 Gold Coins — Gold coins represent the currency the heroes gain during a story from quests and selling equipment.
53 Realm Object Tokens — The 53 realm object tokens allow you to customize the realm tiles with various environmental accoutrements.
32 Status Effect Tokens — Status effect tokens are placed on the hero board to show ill effects from which a hero is currently suffering.
30 Story Title Tokens — Heroes earn titles, represented by these tokens, by successfully finishing a story quest. Each story has a unique title associated with it that grants powerful boons to heroes in subsequent adventures.
8 Serendipity Tokens — Heroes earn serendipity tokens by completing quests and disarming traps. These tokens are spent by heroes to alter the game in their favor.
18 Potion Tokens — Potion tokens are given to heroes to keep in their inventory when they purchase a potion or receive one as a quest reward.
54 Quest Tokens — Quest tokens represent the various physical objects that quests require.
4 Hero Ability Tokens — These tokens represent the effect of a hero's ability on the realm tile.
17 Counters — There are three types of counters: threat, vitality, and treasure. Threat counters are used to track a hero's threat on the hero board, and the darkness AP on the darkness board. Vitality counters are used to track the heroes' and darkness's vitality. Treasure counters are used to mark treasure drops.
Setup
To begin a game of Myth, players should perform the following setup steps:
1. Prepare the Darkness
Lay the darkness board off to the side of the play area, but within view and reach of the players. Place a threat token on the "0" space of the darkness meter.
a. Shuffle "The Terror with 1000 Legs" darkness deck and place it on the draw space on the darkness board. Future Myth releases will include new darkness decks, which can be used in place of or in addition to "The Terror with 1000 Legs" deck.
b. Place the monster cards and corresponding miniatures near the darkness board, within reach, along with the lair tokens. Gather the treasure counters and place them next to the darkness board, near the treasure section (lower right of the board).
c. Shuffle the trap deck and place it near the darkness board, within reach, along with the trap tokens. Future Myth releases will include new traps to add to this deck.
2. Create the Token Supplies
Create individual token supplies for each of the following: status effect tokens, gold coins, potion tokens, and serendipity tokens.
3. Separate and Shuffle the Decks
Search through the item cards, remove each card with a quest icon in the top right corner, and set them aside. Separate the item cards by color (brown, white, green, and blue). Shuffle each of the white, green, and blue decks separately and place them facedown off to the side of the play area. Shuffle the merchant cards and place this deck facedown near the item decks.
4. Choose and Prepare Heroes
Each player chooses one hero to play as, then collects the corresponding hero token, hero cards, and any hero ability tokens that correspond to the chosen hero.
a. Each player takes one hero board and places his or her hero token in the top left punched out opening of the hero board.
b. Each player removes the advanced hero cards from his or her deck (there are 5 advanced hero cards in each hero deck in the core set). Advanced hero cards are designated by the green flame icon at the top of the card. Players will be able to earn these cards by defeating bosses while adventuring, or by completing story quests (see page 29).
c. Each player searches through the brown starting item cards and collects one "Adventurer's Gear" and each starting item that has his or her hero's icon on the top right-hand corner of the card. Place each starting item on the appropriate equipment space of the hero board (primary, secondary, armor, helm, or accessory).
d. Each player places a threat counter to the left of the "1" space of the threat meter at the top of his or her hero board. Then, each player places a vitality counter on a space of the vitality meter according to the hero's starting vitality, found on the hero token, (plus 1 from the "Adventurer's Gear").
e. Each player shuffles his or her hero deck, places it to the left of the hero board, then draws a starting hand of five cards.
f. Each player finds his or her hero's miniature and places it next to the hero board.
5. Create Treasure Bag
Place all white and green treasure tokens in an opaque container (referred to as the treasure bag). Set the blue treasure tokens off to the side.
6. Create Chapter Deck
Shuffle all chapter quest cards (those without the chain symbol) and starting chain chapter quest cards (with the single chain link symbol) together to create the chapter quest deck, and set it facedown near the play area. Set all other chained chapter quest cards aside, within reach of the chapter quest deck.
7. Choose Realm Tile
Players select any realm tile when starting an adventure. Story quests dictate which tiles are placed.
8. Place Hero Figures
The players collectively choose one edge of the realm tile and each player places his or her hero figure in a space adjacent to the chosen edge, unless otherwise noted.
Populating the Realm Tile
Players have some freedom on how they normally populate a realm tile. Each realm tile has a series of icons in the corner. These icons are collectively referred to as the tile legend, which contains the information needed to populate the tile. Many of these icons present the players with a choice that they decide on as a group. For more detailed information on realm tiles, see page 20. Players should follow these steps to populate the tile:
1. Draw a Chapter Quest — If the realm tile has a quest icon, the players draw the top card of the chapter quest deck, resolve any necessary setup for the quest, and place it faceup near the realm tile. Quests that call for a realm tile differing from the one they have already placed will be encountered in the next realm tile. Players should then draw another quest for the current realm tile.
2. Place Lairs — If a realm tile has the lair icon with a number on it, you must select at least one lair (up to the number specified). Place the selected lair token on the realm tile so that it occupies at least one square of the purple highlighted area. Lair icons with a question mark on them are not required to be placed, but can be if the players choose.
3. Place Lair Spawn — Place a number of enemy figures on the realm tile based on the number of players, and type of lair selected or called for by a quest. Lair spawn numbers are located on the back of this rulebook for easy reference. Each enemy figure must be placed in an unoccupied square adjacent to the lair (see page 18).
4. Place Hunting Packs — If a realm tile has the hunting pack icon with a number on it, you must select at least one monster-type (up to the number specified). A minimum of 3 enemy figures must be placed per hunting pack, up to a maximum of 8. When placing a hunting pack, the initial enemy figure must be placed in an unoccupied square within the purple highlighted area. Each additional enemy figure placed in the hunting pack must be placed adjacent to at least one other enemy figure in the hunting pack. Enemies placed after the initial placement do not need to stay within the purple highlighted area. Hunting pack icons with a question mark on them are not required to be placed, but can be if the players choose.
5. Set Treasure Limit — Collect a number of treasure counters equal to the number represented on the treasure limit icon and place them on the treasure tracker section of the darkness board.
The Game Round
A game of Myth is played over the course of several game rounds. Each game round consists of the cycle phase, the hero deck phase, and the refresh phase. These phases are briefly explained below and expanded upon in the appropriate sections found later in this book.
The Cycle Phase
The cycle phase is where the bulk of the game takes place. It is broken up into two different cycles; the hero cycle and the darkness cycle. During the hero cycle, players play hero cards from their hands to perform actions and reactions and move their heroes on the realm tile. If triggered, the darkness cycle interrupts the hero cycle and the darkness strikes back against the heroes. It should be noted that the darkness cycle does not always take place during the cycle phase, but it can also happen multiple times within the same cycle phase. However, the hero cycle always happens during each cycle phase.
The Hero Cycle
The hero cycle is where the players control the heroes and work together to overcome the darkness. There is no specific turn order during the hero cycle, the players decide as a group the order in which each player may play a hero card or spend movement points (see page 13). This order can change at any time and a single player may play multiple hero cards before the next player acts. The only restriction is that a player must completely resolve the effects of the hero card he or she played before the next player may act. The hero cycle ends when each player has decided to pass. Ending the hero cycle also ends the cycle phase.
Loitering — If the heroes do not collectively spend at least one AP during a hero cycle, they are considered to be loitering. If the heroes are loitering at the end of the hero cycle, remove 1 treasure counter from the darkness board and place the treasure counter near the heroes' play area. For each treasure counter collected this way, the maximum amount of treasure allowed by all future realm tiles during an act or adventure is reduced by 1.
Activating the Darkness — Hero cards have an action point (AP) cost associated with playing them (see page 12). Each time a hero card is played and resolved, the darkness meter on the darkness board is increased by an amount equal to the AP cost listed on the resolved hero card. If the darkness meter reaches the "6" space, the hero cycle is interrupted and the darkness activates. Players should keep track of any remaining AP, as it is added to the darkness meter after it is reset at the end of the darkness cycle.
The Darkness Cycle
During the darkness cycle, players may have to draw a darkness card and activate enemy figures on the realm tile. This cycle can trigger during the hero cycle and the refresh phase. Unlike the hero cycle, the darkness cycle has a specific structure that must be resolved in order. A darkness cycle is resolved as follows:
- Check Threat Range: Players check for any active enemies on the realm tile.
- Draw Darkness Card: If there is at least one active monster-type on the realm tile, the players must draw and resolve a darkness card.
- Event: Players must resolve the event at the top of the darkness card.
- Threat Penalty: If a hero has a threat of 10, the players must resolve the threat penalty listed on the darkness card.
- Activate Enemies: Players activate enemy figures on the realm tile in the order listed on the darkness card. When an enemy is activated, it may move and attack the heroes based on its priorities.
- Spawn: If there are any lairs on the realm tile, the players must place additional enemy figures on the realm tile based on the spawn type listed on the darkness card.
After resolving these steps, the darkness cycle ends and the hero cycle (or refresh phase) continues. The darkness meter is set to "0" and then increased by an amount equal to any AP remaining from the source that activated the darkness.
The Hero Deck Phase
After all players have passed during the hero cycle and the cycle phase ends, the hero deck phase begins. During the hero deck phase, each player resolves the following steps in order:
- Reduce Threat: Each player reduces his threat based on the number of empty action spaces on his or her hero board. Each action space that did not have a hero card played on it reduces that hero's threat by 1.
- Clear Action Spaces: Each player may choose any Ongoing cards in his or her action spaces to move to his or her discard pile. Then, the player discards all other cards from the remaining action spaces.
- Discard Cards: Each player may choose one hero card in his or her hand to keep and discards the rest. (Players may choose to discard their entire hand.)
- Draw Cards: Each player draws hero cards up to his or her hand size (normally 5). If a player needs to draw a hero card and there are none remaining in the draw pile, he or she simply shuffles the discard pile and places it facedown to create a new draw pile.
The Refresh Phase
The refresh phase is the last phase of the game round. During this phase, players resolve the following steps in order:
- Darkness Meter: For each active monster-type, the darkness meter is increased by 1. If the darkness meter reaches "6," the refresh phase is interrupted and a darkness cycle begins.
- Darkness Cycle: Players resolve a darkness cycle as normal. After resolving the darkness cycle, the refresh phase continues on to the next step.
- Activate Allies: If the heroes have an ally in play, it is activated during this step.
- Quest Results: During this step, players resolve any effects pertaining to their current quest. This includes evaluating any objectives possibly met and reducing the number of hero cycles remaining for quests with a specified limit.
- Status Results: If a hero or enemy is afflicted with a status effect, it is resolved at this time. If this results in a hero or enemy being defeated, the miniature is left on the realm tile until the cleanup step.
- Trap Results: Any trap in play is activated during this step.
- Cleanup: During this step, heroes may alter their equipped items and any defeated heroes are removed from the realm tile. In addition, any failed quest objectives are removed during this step.
Combat
Combat is a very important part of Myth. This section details how heroes resolve combat, but many of the concepts presented are also used when activating enemies during the darkness cycle. For more information on enemy combat, see page 15. When resolving hero combat, the players resolve the following steps:
- Play Hero Card(s): Heroes must play hero cards to attack. During this step, the player must choose which card or cards he or she wishes to play.
- Choose Target(s): After playing a hero card, the player must choose the target or targets of the attack.
- Form Dice Pool: The player determines his or her dice pool and collects the necessary dice.
- Roll Dice Pool: The attacking player then rolls the dice pool and evaluates the results. If the attack misses, skip steps 5 through 7.
- Resolve Damage: If the attack hits, the attacking player deals damage to the target.
- Remove Casualties: If any target is defeated, the attacking player removes them from the realm tile.
- Drop Treasure: If the appropriate number of enemies or type of enemy is defeated during the attack, the attacking player places a treasure counter from the darkness board onto the realm tile.
- Adjust Threat and AP: Finally, the attacking hero raises his or her threat if necessary. In addition, the player increases the darkness meter based on the AP cost of the hero card played.
Play Hero Card(s)
A player must play a hero card in order to attack. Hero cards that allow a hero to perform an attack are marked with the Attack or Counterattack keyword. As with all hero cards, players must play these cards in open action spaces on their hero board. A hero may only play one action per hero cycle but may play as many reactions or interrupts for which he or she has open action spaces. If all action spaces are already occupied by hero cards, the player cannot play any more hero cards. For more information regarding hero cards, see page 12.
Choose Target(s)
After playing a hero card, the player must choose a target for the attack. The target must be in line of sight of the attacking hero and within the range listed on the hero card. An attack must target an enemy figure. If an attack targets multiple squares, also known as an area of effect (AoE) attack, at least one affected square must be occupied by an enemy figure. If an attack card is played with no targets available, the attack cannot be performed.
Example: The Soldier plays The Hidden Blade. The card's range is based off of the Soldier's equipped weapon, the Fireplace Poker, which is 1. The Mucker is in range, however the Grubbers are not.
Example: The Apprentice plays Blood of Gaia. He targets the Grubbers. At least one enemy is occupying the area of effect, so the attack can be performed.
Line of Sight
The attacking figure must be able to "see" the target of the attack. Line of sight is determined by drawing an imaginary, straight line from any corner of the square occupied by the attacking hero to any corner of the target square. If the line passes through a blocked square, the attacking figure does not have line of sight. If the line does not pass through any blocked squares, the attacking figure does have line of sight.
- Blocks Hero Line of Sight: Enemies, lairs, red highlighted areas, and traps all block line of sight for heroes (except for the archer). If tracing line of sight through a square occupied by any of these, the hero does not have line of sight to the target.
- Does not Block Hero Line of Sight: Heroes, allies, blue highlighted areas, and treasure counters do not block line of sight for heroes.
The Archer — The Archer doesn't follow the standard line of sight rules. She can fire over Monsters, but must otherwise follow line of sight rules.
Range
In addition to being in line of sight, a target must also be within range of the attacking figure. The range of the attack is listed on the hero card and refers to the maximum number of squares away from the attacking figure that the target can be for the attack to be possible. When counting range between two figures, begin from the space adjacent to the starting figure and end on the space containing the target figure. Always count range using the shortest path between figures and you may count through occupied squares. Remember that even when an attack is in range, it must follow line of sight rules.
Form Dice Pool
Each attack is determined by rolling a collection of dice, known as a dice pool. A hero's dice pool is made up of both hit dice and fate dice. The number of dice a hero rolls for an attack is based on the dice pool listed on the hero token and additional dice can be added through equipped items and hero cards. It is also important to note that a player may have to remove dice from his or her dice pool due to status effects and other abilities.
Roll Dice Pool
After collecting his or her dice pool, the attacking player rolls the pool and evaluates the results. Even if an attack targets multiple figures, only one dice pool is rolled for the attack. Hit dice and fate dice are resolved separately, starting with hit dice.
Hit Dice
Hit dice are ten-sided dice (D10) used to determine if an attack successfully hits its target. Each hit die with a result equal to or greater than the target number (TN) is considered a success. Regardless of the number of enemies targeted by an attack, each monster-type requires one success to hit all targets of that type. If a success is used for one monster-type, it cannot be used for another monster-type. If no successes are rolled, the attack misses and the remaining steps are not resolved.
Assigning Hit Dice — The dice pool is only rolled once. All successes for all target numbers are derived from this one roll.
Example: The Soldier uses Harvest of Bones on two Crawlers and one captain, a Stalker. The target number for the minions is TN4. The target number for the stalker is TN5. The Soldier rolls 4 D10. Assuming the Soldier passes the courage test required when fighting Stalkers, he needs one die result of 4 or more, and one die result of 5 or more to kill both Crawlers and hit the Stalker.
In the first example, he rolls a 2, 4, 5, and 6. With the 4, he can kill both Crawlers. With the 5, he can hit the Stalker. These die results are considered used for these TNs.
In the second example, he rolls 1, 2, 3, and 4. With the 4, he can kill both Crawlers. He doesn't have a success equal to or higher than the TN5 needed to hit the Stalker.
In the third example, he rolls 1, 2, 3, and 6. With the 6, he may choose to kill either the two Crawlers or hit the Stalker, but not both.
Guaranteed Success and Failure
There may be situations where a roll may not be necessary because the success or failure is guaranteed. If the TN for a roll is 1 or lower, the player only needs to roll his or her fate dice pool, as each D10 is treated as a success. If the TN for a roll is 11 or higher, the player does not need to roll the dice pool and each die is treated as a failure. However, be sure to calculate all bonuses or penalties before considering whether or not a target is an automatic failure or success.
Multiple Success Targets
Some enemies in Myth are much harder to hit than others. These enemies have a #x located on their defense icon, where # is the number of successes needed from a hero's dice pool to successfully hit that enemy.
Fate Dice
Fate dice are custom six-sided dice (FD) used to trigger the special abilities listed on equipped items. Items have a fate recipe listed on the card, which shows the required fate dice result needed to trigger the ability. If the attack hits, the attacking player must spend a fate dice result from his dice pool matching an icon listed in the fate recipe to fulfill the icon. A single fate die result may only be spent once and each icon in the fate recipe must be fulfilled to complete the recipe. If a fate recipe is completed, the player triggers the corresponding ability. A player does not have to activate fate dice abilities unless an item is cursed. If the player has multiple fate recipes to choose from, he may choose which of those fate recipes to fulfill.
Resolve Damage
Each attack has a damage value associated with it. For heroes, an attack's damage is listed on the hero card. If an attack successfully hits a target, the listed damage is dealt to the target. If an attack affects multiple targets, the damage is dealt to each target affected by the attack. A target cannot suffer damage greater than its vitality. If a target suffers damage that exceeds its vitality, the excess damage is ignored.
Boss Vitality — Each stage of a Boss has its own vitality. Excess damage over the Boss's stage vitality is ignored.
Friendly Fire — In some cases a hero may occupy a square affected by another hero's AoE attack. If this happens, the affected hero is automatically hit by the attack (the attacking hero does not use a success from his dice pool) and damage is resolved as normal.
Remove Casualties
After resolving damage, each target with damage equal to its vitality is defeated. Remove all defeated enemies from the realm tile. If 3 or more minions are defeated during a single attack, treasure drops. For more details, read the Drop Treasure section on page 10.
Attacks With Movement — Some hero cards allow a hero to move through occupied squares and attack the enemies moved through. When resolving these types of attacks, the attacker does not move until after the attack is resolved. If the attacker fails to defeat a target during the attack, he or she cannot move through that square. The attacker must stop his or her movement along the movement path, in the square closest to the starting square and adjacent to the undefeated target.
Example: The Soldier plays Riding the Edge. He will pass through all enemies if he succeeds, and occupy the square where the Grubber is located. The Soldier makes an attack roll, needing a 4 and a 5 to hit both monster-types. The Soldier partially succeeds with a 4 and a 1. He defeats both Crawlers and moves through them, but must stop his movement in front of the Grubber.
Drop Treasure
Sometimes defeated enemies will generate treasure in their squares. Placing treasure counters in this way is referred to as "dropping" treasure. Listed below are a number of ways in which treasure can drop:
- Every third minion defeated in a single attack
- Each captain defeated
- Each mini-boss defeated
- Each lair destroyed
Normally when treasure drops, a treasure counter is moved from the darkness board to the square on the realm tile that was occupied by the defeated target. If there are no treasure counters left on the darkness board, treasure cannot drop. If the defeated target occupies multiple squares, the attacking player may choose in which square the treasure drops. If a treasure would drop into a square that prevents movement (such as a red highlighted area), it drops into the closest available space of the attacking player's choice.
Adjust Threat
The final step of a hero attack is to adjust the hero's threat. For each damage dealt during an attack, the hero's threat meter is raised by one. It is important to note that the hero only raises his threat for damage actually dealt to targets during the attack, not potential damage. Any potential damage in excess of a target's vitality is ignored during the attack and does not raise the hero's threat.
Status Effects
Some attacks can cause lingering conditions if the target is hit. These conditions are called status effects and many of them are resolved during the refresh phase. The various status effects that can afflict heroes and enemies are listed below:
Capture X: This restricts a hero from acting during the hero cycle unless the player discards a number of hero cards from his or her hand equal to X. This effect lasts until the player discards the required cards.
Curse X: This reduces a player's hand size by a number of hero cards equal to X. If the player has a number of cards in his or her hand greater than his or her hand size, he or she must discard excess cards during the status results step of the refresh phase. This effect lasts until cleared.
Frozen X: This reduces a player's available actions spaces by a number equal to X. If a player has a hero card in an unavailable action space during the status results of the refresh phase, he or she must discard that card. The unavailable action space does not reduce threat in the hero deck phase. This effect lasts until cleared.
Poison: This is a damage-over-time effect, dealing the target 1 damage during the status results of the refresh phase. This effect lasts until cleared.
Prone: The affected target cannot activate for one cycle phase. For heroes, this means that the player cannot play cards or move during the hero cycle. For enemies, this means that the enemy cannot activate during the darkness cycle. This effect lasts 1 Hero Cycle.
Figures afflicted with a status effect can be marked with the appropriate status effect token when necessary. In the case of a hero, the token is placed in the status section of the hero board. For other figures, the token can be placed near the affected figure. If a status effect is cleared by a hero card, potion, or other effect, return the token to the supply and the figure is no longer affected by the status. While there are ways for heroes to clear them, all status effects are automatically cleared at the end of an act.
Damage Over Time — Some attacks inflict a damage-over-time (DoT) effect, which continually does damage to the target during the status results step of the refresh phase. These DoT effects represent many different types of damage, such as poison or fire. A DoT caused by a hero card lists the number of refresh phases it stays in effect. A DoT caused by the darkness usually stays in effect until cleared.
Courage Tests
Heroes and enemies may occasionally be required to roll a courage test. To resolve a courage test for a hero, that hero rolls his or her base dice pool along with any bonus dice provided by hero cards or items. If at least one hit die result is equal to or greater than the hero's courage value, found on the hero token, the test is passed. To resolve a courage test for enemies, that enemy rolls 1 hit die. If the hit die result is equal to or greater than the enemy's courage value, the test is passed. In either case, if all dice results are lower than the enemy's courage value, the test is failed.
Heroes
Heroes are the players' avatars in Myth. Though each separate hero class plays very differently from the others, they are all comprised of similar elements: a hero board, a hero token, a deck of hero cards, and a miniature. Each player uses these elements to control a hero throughout the game. This section details the various rules needed for players to understand these elements.
Hero Board Breakdown
Each player uses a hero board to keep track of his or her hero's threat, inventory, status effects, equipped items, vitality, and action spaces. The hero board is placed in front of a player and makes up his or her play area.
1. Hero Token Slot — This area of the hero board is reserved for your character's hero token.
2. Threat Meter — The threat meter has numbers ranging from 0 to 10. Wherever the threat marker rests is how threatening the hero is to the darkness.
3. Status — Every time a hero receives a status effect from an enemy, the corresponding token is placed on one of the small circles located here.
4. Inventory — The inventory slot holds gold, quest tokens, potions, and excess equipment. There is no storage limit.
5. Equipment — The equipment area is where the heroes track their currently equipped gear. Any item currently equipped is placed here.
6. Vitality Meter — The vitality meter has values ranging from 0 to 18. Wherever the vitality marker rests represents how much health the hero has. If the hero is reduced below 1 the hero is considered dead. Maximum vitality values for heroes are modified by equipment.
7. Action Spaces — There are four action spaces at the bottom of the board. Heroes play cards from their hero deck into these open spaces. Empty spaces on the action space area also represent -1 Threat for every empty space at the end of each hero cycle.
Hero Token Breakdown
Each hero has a hero token, which lists the hero's important information. The top of the token shows the hero class name and icon, as well as the hero's starting dice pool. The bottom of the token shows the hero's defining attribute, base movement, starting vitality, and courage. In addition, each hero token has an empty space for the hero's active title (if he or she has earned one).
1. Class Icon and Name — Designates which deck and miniature the player uses.
2. Base Dice Pool — Determines dice that are available for all actions.
3. Equipped Title — One earned title from story quests may be equipped here.
4. Defining Attribute — Used to determine enemy priority and other effects.
5. Base Movement — Number of squares this hero may move.
6. Starting Vitality — Starting value of hero vitality without items.
7. Courage Value — Target number needed to pass courage tests against fear and other effects.
Hero Cards
A hero is defined by a deck of hero cards. These cards represent the attacks and abilities available to the hero. The only thing a hero can do during a hero cycle without playing a hero card is move a number of squares on the realm tile equal to the hero's base movement. To move additional squares or perform attacks, the player must play hero cards.
Hero cards are played in open action spaces on the hero board and are broken up into three types; actions, reactions, and interrupts. If the hero has no open action spaces, the player cannot play any more hero cards. In addition, heroes are limited to only one action per hero cycle. They may play as many reactions or interrupts as they have open action spaces. When playing a card labeled as both action and reaction, the player may choose to play it either as an action or reaction. Interrupt cards may only be played during the darkness cycle.
Hero Card Breakdown
1. Hero Card Rank — If the flame is any color other than white, then this card is not available to base heroes. Advanced hero cards must be earned by completing story quests and selecting the deck manipulation reward, or by defeating agents.
Card rank types: Base Abilities, Novice Abilities, Journeyman Abilities, Master Abilities, Agent Abilities, Promotional.
2. Class Icon — Each hero in Myth has a specific class icon that is located in the upper left corner of each hero card.
3. Hero Ability — Located in the upper right corner of the hero card is the ability name.
4. Damage and Range — Just above the ability description, is a quick reference for the damage and range associated with the ability.
5. Movement Modifiers — On the left side of the hero card is the movement modifier column. This column illustrates what type of movement is allowed with the ability being played, and if there are any bonuses or penalties associated with it.
6. Keywords — Most hero cards have keywords associated with them. These keywords have special rules and their definitions can be found on this page.
7. Ability Description — All abilities in the hero deck have descriptions, located just below the hero art, detailing exactly how the ability performs.
8. Action, Reaction, and Interrupt — Every ability in a hero deck is classified as an action, reaction, or interrupt. These icons are located in the bottom-middle of the card.
9. Action Point Cost — In the lower right corner of the hero card is the AP icon. Each segment of the icon filled red is equal to 1 AP added to the darkness meter.
Keywords
Most hero cards have keywords associated with them. These keywords are listed in bold before the card ability text, and each keyword is separated by a comma. Many of these keywords have rules associated with them and others are simply traits that are referenced by other cards. When a keyword is referenced within a given card's ability description text, the card is not considered to have that referenced keyword unless it is printed in bold above the ability text. Listed below are rules for various keywords found in the base game. Future releases introducing new keywords will have the rules included.
- Ammo: This card represents ammunition, which is required to use ranged weapons during an Attack. When a player readies an Ammo card, it is removed from the action space and placed above his or her hero board.
- Attack: This defines the card as an attack, in which the hero attempts to deal damage to a target.
- Combo: When the brigand plays one or more Combo cards, he resolves all Combo cards played before determining whether or not he loses Shadows. The darkness cycle does not interrupt a Combo attack until it is fully resolved.
- Counterattack: This is an interrupt card that allows the hero to attack a target as specified by the card.
- Dash X: These cards represent movement during an attack, where X is the amount of squares moved.
- Faith: These cards are used to increase the effectiveness of many of the Acolyte's cards. Each card with the Faith keyword, and each facedown card on top of a Pray card, count as 1 Faith.
- Focus: This card (usually an Attack) can use bonuses from an equipped focus.
- Heal: This card restores vitality to one or more heroes.
- Massive: This card (usually an Attack) has the potential to deal 3 or more damage to the target.
- Melee: This card (usually an Attack) can use bonuses from an equipped melee weapon.
- Move: This card grants the hero additional movement points, and the hero is considered to be using aggressive movement.
- Ongoing: This card stays in play until the hero decides to discard it (referred to as "clearing").
- Rage: This card is treated as 1 Rage. Facedown hero cards in the Soldier's action spaces are also treated as Rage. The Soldier may add Rage at any time by moving the top card of his hero deck into an open action space. The card must be kept facedown and hero cards cannot be played in that action space.
- Ranged: This card (usually an Attack) can use bonuses from an equipped ranged weapon.
- Relic: This card (usually an Attack) can use bonuses from an equipped relic.
- Shadows X: This card allows the brigand to gain Shadows X, where X is the TN required for enemy notice checks. If an enemy begins its activation adjacent to a brigand while in Shadows, each adjacent enemy makes a notice check by rolling 1d10. If the check is failed, the brigand stays in Shadows. If the check is successful, the brigand loses Shadows. While in Shadows, the brigand is ignored when determining enemy priority and cannot be targeted by enemy attacks. In addition, the brigand may only use cautious movement while in Shadows.
- Shield: This card (usually an Attack) can use bonuses from an equipped shield.
- Stacked: This card allows the Hero to place other cards on top of it (specified by the hero card) to gain an effect.
Hero Play
During the hero cycle, each hero has the opportunity to act. When acting with a hero, a player has the following options:
- Play up to 1 action
- Play any number of reactions
- Move his hero 1 square for each movement point the hero has available
As stated earlier, there is no set order in which heroes must act. Players may discuss strategies and decide as a group which hero acts in which order. A player is not required to finish acting with his hero before another player acts, but he is required to completely resolve any hero cards played.
Hero Movement
During the hero cycle, a hero may move a number of squares up to his available movement. Each hero has a base movement value of two, which means the hero has two movement points (MP) to spend in each hero cycle. A hero's base movement can be modified by equipment or status effects, and this determines the hero's normal movement. The total number of MP a hero spends during the hero cycle determines the hero's movement type. Listed below of the four different types of hero movement:
- No Movement: The hero does not spend any MP.
- Cautious Movement: The hero spends a number of MP up to half (rounded up) of his normal movement.
- Normal Movement: The hero spends a number of MP equal to his normal movement.
- Aggressive Movement: The hero spends a number of MP greater than his normal movement. This is usually a result of playing a Move card.
For each movement point a hero spends, he may move to any adjacent unoccupied square (diagonally or orthogonally). Unless stated specifically otherwise, a hero cannot move into a square occupied by another hero or an enemy.
Movement Modifiers
Each hero card has a list of movement modifiers shown as icons on the left hand side of the card. These icons determine any bonuses or penalties applied to the type of movement used by the hero during that hero cycle. Once a hero chooses a movement type modifier on a played hero card, the hero is locked into that movement type for the hero cycle. If a movement type icon is faded out on a hero card, that card cannot be played if the hero is using that movement type.
It is important to note that movement modifiers on interrupt cards only apply to movement types during the darkness cycle. Unless a hero card allows a hero to spend MP during the darkness cycle, that hero is considered to be using no movement.
Picking up Treasure
If a hero is in a square with one or more treasure counters, he or she may spend MP to pick up treasure. For each MP spent, the hero may pick up one treasure counter in his or her square. When a hero picks up treasure, the player discards the treasure counter from the realm tile, draws a token from the treasure bag, draws a corresponding item card, and returns the treasure token to the treasure bag.
Interrupt Cards
Hero cards with the interrupt icon can only be played during the darkness cycle. Interrupt cards are easily identified by the black movement column. Movement performed during the hero cycle has no impact on interrupt cards played during the darkness cycle. Novice level heroes are always considered to not be moving during the darkness cycle, unless a hero card specifically states otherwise by using the Move keyword.
Non-Combat Actions
There are various actions the heroes can attempt without playing a hero card. These actions are referred to as non-combat actions. If a quest requires the heroes to interact with a realm object or quest token, the hero must be in a square adjacent to the object or token and perform a non-combat action. To perform a non-combat action, a hero must spend 1 MP. Many non-combat actions, such as disarming traps, may have a TN associated with them. If a non-combat action has a TN, the hero must roll his base dice pool along with any bonus dice provided by hero cards or items. If the non-combat action test is failed, the action cannot be performed.
Defeated Heroes
If a hero's vitality is ever reduced to zero, that hero is defeated. A defeated hero is not removed from the game until the cleanup step of the refresh phase. This gives the players the chance to save that hero using serendipity (see page 26). If a defeated hero is removed from the game, that hero is considered to be dead. Any quest items carried by the defeated hero are given to another hero of his choice. Dead heroes do not receive any rewards from quests completed while they are dead. A dead hero is resurrected at the end of an act, after the surviving heroes receive their rewards. If all heroes are defeated, the players record the game state as if it were the end of an adventure act (see page 28) and any quests they are currently attempting are failed. Some story and act quests can have unique penalties. These will be described in greater detail on these quests.
The Darkness
The darkness represents the enemies, events, and traps working against the heroes. No player controls the darkness, it is controlled by the game itself. If there are any number of active enemies during the darkness cycle, players draw and resolve a darkness card and activate enemies. To determine if any enemies are active, players must check threat range at the start of the darkness cycle.
Darkness Board Breakdown
1. Darkness Deck — The darkness draw pile is where the darkness deck is placed. These cards are drawn when there are active enemies and the darkness AP reaches or exceeds six.
2. Darkness Meter — The darkness meter ranges from zero to six. It is used to track the AP generated by the heroes and by activated enemies in the refresh phase. If the darkness AP ever reaches or surpasses six, the darkness activates.
3. Darkness Turn Summary — The darkness turn summary is used as a quick reference for the darkness cycle.
4. Damage Tracker — The damage tracker has 15 spaces to keep track of lair and boss-type vitality.
5. Serendipity Table — The serendipity table is a quick reference to show how serendipity can be spent.
6. Refresh Turn Summary — This summary is used as a quick reference for the Refresh Phase.
7. Treasure Tracker — The treasure tracker is used to keep track of realm tile treasure limits. Every time a treasure appears from defeating enemies, take a treasure from the treasure tracker and place it in the location of the dropped treasure. Each realm tile has its own treasure limit.
Check Threat Range
Threat range represents a specific number of squares away from an enemy. If a hero is within threat range of an enemy, the enemy is considered to be active. Each enemy has a threat range listed on its corresponding monster card. To check threat range, choose one enemy and follow these steps:
- Choose one hero.
- Refer to the threat range listed on the chosen enemy's monster card and the chosen hero's current threat.
- Add these numbers together to determine the total threat range.
- Count the range between the chosen enemy and the chosen hero.
- If the range is equal to or less than the total threat range, the enemy is active and players can skip the next step.
- If the range is greater than the total threat range, repeat these steps for each other hero. If all heroes have been checked and the enemy has not become active, the enemy is considered to be inactive.
Each enemy belongs to a specific monster-type, as listed on its monster card. If an enemy becomes active, all enemies of the same monster-type are considered active as well. Active enemies will activate during the darkness cycle, inactive enemies will not. Once an enemy becomes active, it stays active for the remainder of the realm tile. If no enemies are active, a darkness card is not drawn and the darkness cycle ends.
It is important to note another way for enemies to become active. If an enemy is targeted or affected by a hero attack, that enemy becomes active regardless of whether or not a hero is within total threat range during the darkness cycle. This means that all enemies of the attacked enemy's monster-type also become active.
Darkness Card Breakdown
All darkness cards are resolved in order from top to bottom.
1. Boss Name — This indicates what boss the darkness cards are associated with in cases where multiple darkness decks are mixed.
2. Event — Below the boss's name is the darkness event. Darkness cards have a special event that happens if the criteria are met.
3. Threat Penalty — Any hero who has threat 10 at the beginning of the threat penalty step triggers this penalty for all the players. Some threat penalties do not require threat 10.
4. Activation — The order of activation follows specific steps. Each classification of enemy is resolved before moving to the next.
5. Spawn — This area determines how many enemies spawn and any effects that may be associated with them.
Resolve Event
If a darkness card is drawn, the first thing players do is resolve the event listed at the top of the card. Events are specific occurrences that if the conditions are met, then a bad thing happens. These if/then statements create unpredictable situations that force the heroes to react to a changing environment.
Threat Penalty
If a hero has a current threat of 10, the players must resolve the threat penalty listed on the darkness card. Many of these affect the remainder of the act and make the game much harder for the heroes. There are events that can trigger a threat penalty even if a hero has less than 10 threat. This makes it very important for the heroes to pay careful attention to their threat at all times.
Activate Enemies
The majority of the darkness cycle involves activating enemies. When activating enemies, players follow these steps in order:
- Order: Players determine the order of activation.
- Enemy Movement: Players move each enemy based on its priority.
- Enemy Attacks: Players resolve each enemy's attack.
Each step is resolved for each enemy in order of activation before moving on to the next step. For example, all enemies should be moved before any enemy attacks.
Order
The order in which enemies are activated during the darkness cycle is known as the order of activation. The darkness card lists the order of activation by enemy rank; minions, captains, mini-bosses, and bosses. The order of activation within each rank is determined by the monster-type's classification. Once established by the darkness card drawn, the order of activation remains the same throughout the darkness cycle.
Example 1A: When using the base game darkness deck, minions activate before captains. In this instance the Crawlers move first because they are classified as instinct, while the Grubber is classified as intellect, so it moves next. (Refer to Monster Classifications pg. 16)
Example 1B: Now that the minions have moved, based on their classification, the Stalker activates, and moves into position. Once all movement is complete, this same order is used to perform enemy attacks.
Monster Card Breakdown
1. Defense — In the upper left corner of the enemy art is the shield icon which represents the enemy's defense. This is the target number that heroes need to roll equal to or higher to hit this enemy. If there is a multiplier present, this enemy requires multiple successes to hit.
2. Movement — In the upper right side of the enemy art is the movement icon. This number is how many squares the enemy can move each darkness cycle.
3. Classification — This provides information on the enemy's type.
4. Enemy Name — This is the name of the enemy.
5. Vitality — The number in the blood drop is the enemy's vitality. The vitality represents how much damage needs to be done before the enemy is killed.
6. Courage Value — This value is used when determining whether or not this enemy can overcome fear effects and act.
7. Attack — In this section, heroes can see the range of an enemy's attack, how many dice it rolls, its target number to hit heroes, how much damage it does, and any special effects from attacks. (See Attack Section below for more details.)
8. Priority — Just to the right of the attack section is the priority for this enemy. Enemies always try to move to and attack heroes based on this list.
9. Threat Range — Threat Range is located inside the Priority area at the bottom. This stat represents how close the heroes can get before the enemy starts generating AP and becomes active.
10. Spawns & Buff — The bottom area of the Monster card is reserved for Spawns if it is a Minion or Buffs if it is a Captain.
Attack Section
1. Hit Dice — The number next to the D10 icon communicates how many 10-sided dice the enemy rolls to hit.
2. Fate Dice — This is the number of fate dice rolled by the enemy.
3. Attacks Per Target — The number in front of the flame represents the number of attacks the enemy is making. The number in the flame is the number of targets the enemy can attack.
Example: In the case of this Mucker, he makes two attacks on one target.
4. Target Number — The number in front of the sword icon is the target number the enemy needs to roll on its hit dice to harm the hero.
5. Details — This text expands upon what is happening, and includes the range of the attack and how much damage is done.
6. Special — These are special powers or abilities that affect the heroes. If there is a fate die present, these abilities only trigger when the FD symbol present is rolled.
Example card: Instruments of Suffering: 2 attacks on 1 target. Range: 1(M), 1 damage per hit. Special: Knocks target Prone.
Monster Classification
Each enemy has a classification assigned to it. This classification determines when the enemy is activated during the darkness cycle. In addition, it defines how the enemy moves when activated. These are the three different monster classifications:
- Instinct: These enemies activate first. When moving, they stop in the first available square in which they can attack any target.
- Intellect: These enemies activate after instinct enemies. When moving, these enemies use as much MP as they can, while still ending in a position to attack their target. They leave room for other enemies of the same monster-type.
- Undead: These enemies activate last. Otherwise, they function just like instinct enemies with one exception: minions have a chance to resurrect if defeated.
If there are multiple monster-types with the same classification, refer to the enemy's threat range. The enemy with the highest threat range activates first, followed by the next highest and so on.
Enemy Movement
After determining the order of activation, players must move enemies in the established order. Enemy movement is based on the enemy's priority, which is listed on its monster card. Priority refers to the order in which an enemy chooses its target. It is used to determine movement and to make decisions during occasions where there are multiple available targets.
Priority is broken down into a list where players start at the top and work their way down, until a single target is identified. There may be occasions when the third priority doesn't define a single target. In these situations, the fourth and fifth priorities are:
- Least vitality
- Player choice
After establishing priority, players move each enemy based on the order of activation. An enemy moves a number of squares up to its listed movement, spending one MP per square moved. Enemies that occupy more than one square still only move one square per MP. Enemies can move orthogonally and diagonally, but cannot enter an occupied square. Remember to note how an enemy's classification affects how it moves.
Enemies always move into a position to attack a hero if possible. If the enemy cannot move into a position to attack its target (based on priority), it instead moves into a position to attack the next available hero.
Minion Group Movement
Enemies are usually moved individually. In the case of a group of minions of the same monster-type adjacent to each other, the minions are moved together as a minion group. When moving a minion group, the players choose the minion closest to a hero. The chosen minion is referred to as the scout and moves first towards its target. After moving the scout, all minions adjacent to the scout's starting square are moved towards the same target.
Example 2A: The minions with the purple background in these examples are considered scouts. Adjacent minions move with the scouts toward the appropriate hero based on their priorities as shown.
Example 2B: Since Crawlers are classified as instinct, they move only until they are in range of their target. Ranged enemies still move towards their priority target but stay at maximum attack range if possible.
Enemy Tactics
Enemies with melee (M) attacks always move towards their target. In addition, any melee minion already adjacent to a target will not move away. However, if the enemy is intelligent, it can still move to another space adjacent to the target to make room for other enemies. If forced to move away, for any reason, it is not considered to be a scout and adjacent minions do not follow.
Enemies with ranged (R) attacks do not always move towards their target. When moving a ranged enemy into a position to attack, it moves towards the square furthest away from the target that is still within line of sight and range of the enemy's attack. Figures do not block line of sight for enemy attacks.
Example 3A: During the movement step of the order of activation in this example, the melee Crawler adjacent to the Brigand would not move. The other melee Crawler moves toward the Brigand stopping once it's in range.
Example 3B: Finally, the two ranged Crawlers move to maximum attack range from their target, prioritizing distance from all heroes.
Enemy Attacks
After all enemies have moved, players must resolve attacks for each enemy in position to attack. Enemy attacks are resolved in the order of activation and follow many of the same combat steps used when resolving hero attacks. When resolving enemy attacks, players perform the following steps in order for each enemy in position to attack:
- Determine Target(s): Players determine the target of the attack based on the enemy's priorities. Some enemy attacks can affect multiple targets.
- Form Dice Pool: The players determine the enemy's dice pool and collect the necessary dice. The dice pool for an enemy's attack is listed on its corresponding card. Other abilities may add or subtract dice from this pool. This dice pool usually consists of hit dice, as fate dice are not rolled until the attack is determined to be successful.
- Roll Dice Pool: The players then choose one player to roll the enemy's dice pool and evaluate the results. Each die result equal to or greater than the enemy attacks' TN is considered a success and the attack hits. If no successes are rolled, the attack misses and players may skip the next step.
- Resolve Damage: If the attack hits, the enemy deals damage to the target as shown on their monster card.
Spawn
The final step to resolve during the darkness cycle is to spawn enemies. Players only resolve the spawn step if there is at least one lair in play. When resolving the spawn step, players spawn enemies from each lair in play based on the spawn type listed on the darkness card. Each lair is associated with a specific monster-type that it spawns.
Spawned monsters are placed in squares adjacent to the lair if possible. Melee monsters are spawned first, followed by ranged monsters. When spawned, they are placed in the best possible position to attack the heroes. Melee monsters are placed as close to a target matching their priority as possible. Ranged monsters are placed in range to attack but as far away from the target as possible. Follow these guidelines when spawning:
Melee monsters (first):
- adjacent to the lair
- closest square available nearest to the lair
- as close to a target as possible
- if there is more than one target, refer to that monster's priority
Ranged monsters (second):
- adjacent to the lair
- closest square available nearest to the lair
- as far away as possible from the target, while in range to attack
- if there is more than one target, refer to that monster's priority
If players ever need to spawn enemies and do not have enough miniatures to spawn those enemies, the darkness meter is increased depending on the number and rank of missing enemies. For every three minion miniatures missing, increase the darkness AP by 1. For each other rank of miniatures missing, increase the darkness AP by 1.
Spawn Types
There are many different spawn types in Myth. This list represents the spawn types available in the base game and several early supplements. However, this is not a comprehensive list and it will continue to grow as the game does. Normal and heavy spawns are detailed on the minion's monster card. The exact numbers and details for the other spawn types are listed on the darkness cards.
- Aggressive: Players resolve a normal spawn. Then, after the minions are placed, they immediately activate.
- Deadly: This type spawns 2 captains per active lair.
- Explosive: Each hero adjacent to the lair is dealt damage as listed on the darkness card. Then, the lair is destroyed and no treasure drops. Finally, place 10 minions in the closest available squares, starting with the squares formerly occupied by the lair.
- Focused: Players resolve a normal spawn. Then, the darkness meter is increased by 2 AP.
- Heavy: Players refer to the monster card for spawn information.
- Ill-Fated: Players resolve a normal spawn. Then, each player must discard a random card from his or her hand.
- Intelligent: Players resolve a normal spawn. However, all spawned minions must be ranged (if available).
- Mystic: Players resolve a normal spawn. Then, each hero must discard all Ongoing cards in play.
- Normal: Players refer to the monster card for spawn information.
- Pacifying: Players resolve a normal spawn. Then, the soldier must reduce all Rage to zero. Cards in his action spaces are not discarded.
- Paranoid: Players resolve a normal spawn. Then, each hero gains 4 threat.
- Reinforcing: Players resolve a normal spawn. In addition, 4 minions are placed along the tile edge closest to a hero.
- Rowdy: Players resolve a normal spawn. However, all spawned minions must be melee (if available).
- Sacrifice: Players resolve a normal spawn. However, for each minion that would be placed, the lair restores 1 vitality instead. If the lair is not damaged, the remaining spawned minions are placed.
- Shadow: Players resolve a normal spawn. However, spawned minions are placed adjacent to heroes (based on priority) instead of adjacent to the lair.
- Terrifying: This spawns 1 random mini-boss.
Lairs
Each monster-type has a lair type associated with it and that lair type must be in play in order for that monster-type to spawn. Lairs are placed on realm tiles, either through specific quest requirements or player choice. Lairs are considered to be realm objects. However, they can be targeted and affected by attacks and have both a vitality and a defense value. Regardless of the type, lairs have a vitality of 5 and a defense of 3. When a lair is reduced to 0 vitality, it is destroyed and removed from the realm tile. A destroyed lair drops 1 treasure in one of the squares it occupied. If a destroyed lair occupied squares into which a hero could not move, the treasure is dropped in the closest available square of the players' choice.
Bosses
Bosses are very powerful enemies and usually only appear during a story quest. These enemies are much more difficult than minions and captains. Most bosses have multiple attacks and special abilities. Bosses do not have a threat range as they are always considered to be active while in play. The number of AP a boss adds to the darkness meter during the refresh phase is listed on its card where threat range is normally located.
When activating a boss, the boss performs all of its attacks starting from the top of the boss card and working down. After performing all attacks, players roll the fate dice listed in the special section of the boss card. Then, the boss triggers any fate recipes starting with the bottom of the boss card and working up. These fate recipes are fulfilled the same way heroes trigger fate recipes on items. Some of these fate recipes can re-trigger the bosses attacks. In this instance do not reroll the fate dice recipes.
Some bosses have multiple stages, and each stage is represented by its own boss card. These bosses start on "Stage 1" and, after being reduced to zero vitality, move on to the next stage. Once the heroes defeat the final stage, the boss is defeated and removed from play.
Boss Card Breakdown
1. Defense — The number in the shield icon indicates what TN the heroes need to hit the boss.
2. Boss Name — This portion of the card gives the boss's name.
3. Vitality — The vitality of any boss is represented by the number in the blood drop.
4. Difficulty — Boss difficulty is represented by the red-colored skulls.
5. Movement — Movement icon which shows how far this boss can move during the darkness cycle.
6. Stage — If a boss has multiple stages, the stage number is located here.
7. Attacks — In this section, heroes can see the range of a boss's attack, how many dice it rolls, its target number to hit heroes, how much damage it does, and any special effects from attacks. Bosses always perform all attacks for which they meet the criteria.
8. Priority & Darkness AP — This area, like with regular monster-types, shows the target priority for the boss. Bosses also add more than one AP to the darkness meter in the refresh phase. The value they add is highlighted here. Mini-bosses and agents still have a threat range in the priority box.
9. Special — This area of the boss card shows how many fate dice a boss rolls and shows what recipes are available for it to complete during the darkness cycle.
10. Immunities — The bottom of the boss card is reserved for immunities and special defenses against hero attacks.
Darkness Cards
Each boss has a corresponding darkness deck that is tailored towards that boss. At the start of the game, players may choose which darkness deck to use. Players may also choose to combine darkness decks if they want a greater challenge.
Mini-Bosses
Mini-bosses are more powerful than minions and captains, but not as dangerous as bosses. These enemies function very much like bosses, but can appear more often (sometimes placed as a result of a darkness card). Unlike bosses, mini-bosses have a threat range and only increase the darkness meter by 1 during the refresh phase if the mini-boss is active.
Agents
Agents are unique enemies that function very much like mini-bosses, with one major difference. When an agent is defeated, they do not drop treasure. Instead, the heroes gain access to an agent ability in the form of a hero card. One hero may choose to add that card to his or her hero deck (without removing an existing card) immediately.
The Realm
The realm refers to the tiles that make up the center of the play area where the game takes place. The tiles that make up the realm are referred to as realm tiles. Each realm tile is marked with a legend that contains the information needed to populate the tile when the first hero enters. Some realm tiles have a number of squares grouped together with a colored line. The group of squares has specific rules assigned to it depending on the color of the line surrounding it.
- Blue Realm Lines: These squares cannot normally be moved through.
- Red Realm Lines: These squares cannot normally be moved through and block LoS.
- Purple Realm Lines: These squares are used when setting up realm tiles.
Choosing a Realm Tile
At the start of a game session and each time a hero moves off the edge of a realm tile, the players must travel to a realm tile. Unless playing a story quest, players may choose which realm tile they travel to. The size of the realm tile is based on the number of squares printed on the tile. There are three sizes of realm tiles: 4x6, 6x6, and 12x12. These three sizes of tiles can be combined to create three sizes of combined realm tiles: 6x12, 4x12, and 24x12. When choosing a combined realm tile, players ignore the individual legends on each realm tile and instead reference the combined realm tile legend matching the corresponding combined realm tile size. This combined tile is now considered one realm tile.
4x6 — The smallest of the base game realm tiles, this tile represents a hallway or narrow wooded path. This tile always has a trap, and can have a hunting pack, if the players wish.
6x6 — This small square realm tile allows the players to choose to confront a chapter quest or a trap, and it always has one hunting pack with a maximum of two. If the players choose, they may also include a lair. The Gold reward is added to the heroes' coffer after the tile is clear, but before the merchant arrives.
12x12 — This large square realm tile is fairly dangerous. The players must always draw a quest card when setting up this tile unless they are on a story quest. 1 lair must be placed on this tile with a maximum of 2, and it can have a hunting pack if the players wish.
6x12 — Placing two 6x6 realm tiles adjacent to each other as shown creates this combined tile. The heroes have little choice on what is encountered on these tiles as every aspect is mandatory. While this combined tile is more dangerous, it offers greater rewards. Clearing the tile allows the heroes to resolve a gold hoard reward. Following this a merchant is drawn and available for the heroes to encounter.
4x12 — Placing two 4x6 realm tiles adjacent to each other as shown creates this combined tile. The true danger on this tile comes from the traps that can be encountered here. 1 hunting pack must be placed and a second can be placed as well if the players wish. Unlike all the other tiles, this combined tile offers the heroes a serendipity reward for clearing it.
24x12 — The largest available play area in the base game is made by placing two 12x12 realm tiles adjacent to each other as shown. Players must place a minimum of two lairs when setting up this tile, up to a maximum of four. They must also place one hunting pack with the option to place a second. Finally a random mini-boss is placed in this tile, making it the most dangerous type of realm tile to encounter. If the players survive and clear the realm tile they can resolve a treasure hoard reward.
Placing a Realm Tile
After choosing a realm tile, players must place it. If this is the first tile placed at the start of the game session, the tile may be placed however the players wish and they choose a side on which to place their heroes. If the tile is to be placed next to a realm tile already in play, it must be placed along an edge on which the heroes did not enter. If the chosen realm tile is a combined realm tile, both tiles must be placed together as one tile. Each realm tile has alignment arrows printed along the tile edges. When placing a realm tile, either the arrows on both tiles must align or at least one alignment arrow on the tile being placed must be between the alignment arrows of the tile in play. In addition, the squares printed on the tiles must line up correctly.
Placement Arrow System
Each tile edge has a set of arrows. When placing realm tiles, these arrows can be offset (one arrow remains within the other two) or they can be aligned.
Placed tiles can never be aligned in such a way that both arrows fall outside the adjoined tile arrows. Realm tiles can be aligned in any way as long as there are four squares over-lapping.
The short side of the 4x6 only has one arrow, but it functions the same way.
Populating a Realm Tile
Each realm tile has a legend printed in the corner of the tile. In the case of a combined realm tile, the legend is listed separately in the rulebook. The realm tile legend is comprised of various icons, which players use to populate the realm tile when it is first placed. Players resolve these icons in order from left to right to determine which elements are used for the realm tile. Many of the elements present choices to the players.
An icon in the realm tile legend represents an element required for the tile. If there is a circle on the lower right portion of the icon, it means that the element is variable. The number in the circle represents the maximum of that type of element allowed on the tile. If there is a question mark in the circle, it means that the element is not required to be placed but can be, if the players choose.
- Quest: Players must draw a chapter quest card. If playing a story quest, players may choose to skip this element.
- Trap: This means there is a trap on the realm tile. Players draw a trap card from the trap deck to determine what type of trap to set up.
- Lair: This means there may be one or more lairs placed on the realm tile.
- Hunting Pack: This means there may be one or more hunting packs on the realm tile.
- Treasure Limit: This represents the treasure limit of the realm tile.
- Gold: This is the amount of gold the heroes receive after clearing the tile.
- Merchant: This means the heroes will draw a merchant card after clearing the tile.
- Gold Hoard: This means the heroes will resolve a gold hoard after clearing the tile.
- Treasure Hoard: This means the heroes will resolve a treasure hoard after clearing the tile.
- Mini-Boss: This means there is a mini-boss on the realm tile.
Drawing a Chapter Quest
If a realm tile legend contains a quest icon, the first thing players do is draw a chapter quest card. The only exception to this is if the players are playing a story quest. While on a story quest, players have the choice of whether or not they wish to draw a chapter quest card. Many chapter quest cards have setup rules that may require specific elements to be placed on the realm tile. These required elements count toward the requirements listed in the realm tile legend, and are not added to them. For example, if a chapter quest requires a lair to be placed and there is a lair icon in the realm tile legend, players can ignore the legend because the lair has already been fulfilled by the chapter quest card.
Placing Lairs
If a realm tile contains a lair, it must be placed on the tile so that it occupies at least one square within an area outlined by a purple line. When placing a lair, players may ignore red and blue lines. The only stipulation is that heroes must be able to attack the lair. Unless specified otherwise by a quest, players may choose which type of lair to place on the tile.
When lairs are placed on the realm tile, they are placed with a number of minions referred to as the initial spawn. The initial spawn is based on the type of lair and the number of heroes. The placement of these minions follows the same rules used when spawning (see page 18).
Lair Spawn
| Lair Type | 2 Player | 3 Player | 4 Player | 5 Player |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crawler | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Grubber | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
| Shambler | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
| Tailless | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| Iathi | 2(F),1(E),1(A) | 2(F),1(E),1(A) | 2(F),1(E),1(A) | 2(F),1(E),1(A) |
| Sycline | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 |
Hunting Packs
A hunting pack is a group of minions belonging to a single monster-type. Unless specified otherwise by a quest, players may choose the monster-type of each hunting pack. The hunting pack monster-type does not need to be the same as any other hunting pack or lair on the tile. However, they can all belong to the same monster-type if the players wish.
Players choose the number of minions in each hunting pack, with a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 8. When placing a hunting pack, the first minion must be placed in a square within an area outlined by a purple line. The remaining minions of that hunting pack must be placed adjacent to the first. If a realm tile does not have any purple lines, the first minion must be placed at least 4 squares away from the heroes and the remaining minions placed adjacent to the first.
Treasure Limit
The treasure limit indicates the maximum number of treasure drops that may occur on the realm tile. Players place a number of treasure counters equal to the treasure limit on the treasure section of the darkness board. Each time treasure drops, one treasure counter is moved from the darkness board and placed into the square where it dropped on the realm tile. If there are no treasure counters remaining on the darkness board, no more treasure can drop. This limit may be reduced as a result of the heroes loitering (see page 6).
Gold and Treasure Hoards
Hoards only appear on combined realm tiles and are only resolved after a realm tile is cleared. The rewards for gold hoards and treasure hoards are different, but they are resolved the same. After a tile is cleared, each surviving hero rolls one fate die and refers to the tables on the back page of this rulebook.
Realm Objects
Realm objects are tokens representing various types of terrain and features. Unless specified otherwise by a quest, players may choose whether or not to add any number of realm objects to the realm tile. Many realm object tokens have squares and may be moved on. If a realm object has a colored line, it follows the same rules as colored lines on realm tiles.
Leaving a Realm Tile
If a hero is in a square adjacent to the edge of a realm tile and has at least 1 MP to spend, he or she may choose to leave the tile. A hero cannot leave a realm tile from the same edge through which he or she entered, unless a quest specifically states otherwise. In the case of the first realm tile of an act, the heroes are considered to have entered through the edge to which they are placed adjacent. When a hero chooses to leave a realm tile, the next tile must be placed and populated before the hero may enter it. To enter the new tile, a hero simply has to move from a square along the edge of one tile to an adjacent square along the edge of the other tile at the cost of 1 MP.
Clearing a Realm Tile
If there are no enemies, traps, or lairs remaining on a realm tile, the tile is considered to be cleared. When a realm tile is first cleared, players resolve the following steps:
- Each hero reduces his threat to zero.
- Remove all treasure counters from the realm tile. For each treasure counter removed from the realm tile, the heroes gain 1 gold.
- Remove all treasure counters from the darkness board.
- If the tile has a gold value in the legend, the heroes receive that amount of gold.
- Resolve treasure and gold hoard table rolls at this time.
- If the tile has a merchant in the legend, the heroes draw and resolve a merchant card.
In addition to these steps, each hero who begins the hero cycle on a cleared tile has his base MP doubled. After all heroes have moved off of a cleared realm tile, it may be removed from the play area. If an enemy ever moves onto a cleared tile, it is no longer considered to be cleared until all enemies on the tile are defeated. Realm tiles only gain rewards from being cleared once.
Abandoning a Realm Tile
If all heroes ever leave a realm tile that has not been cleared, the realm tile is considered to be abandoned. The following rules apply to abandoned realm tiles:
- Remove all treasure counters from the realm tile and darkness board.
- Heroes immediately fail any chapter quest associated with the abandoned tile.
- As soon as the last hero leaves an abandoned realm tile, any traps in play on that tile are removed. The heroes do not receive any rewards associated with disarming the trap.
- The abandoned realm tile is not removed from the play area. In addition, all future realm tiles must stay in play for the remainder of the act.
Traps
Traps are hazards the heroes encounter on certain realm tiles. When the heroes enter a realm tile with a trap, one player resets the AP to zero, draws a trap card, and refers to the setup section on the trap card. The combination of the trap card drawn, and the realm tile size, determines the type of trap encountered on that tile. Traps activate during the refresh phase and affect both heroes and enemies. In addition, any trap that requires a combined realm tile affects both tiles.
Trap Card Breakdown
1. Trap Name — Descriptive text of the trap.
2. Setup — Describes how players prepare the trap on the realm tile.
3. Disarm — This section details how to remove the trap.
4. Activation — Details what happens when a trap activates during the refresh phase.
5. Example — Graphic showing how to place components for the trap.
6. Quick Reference — Easy reference once players are familiar with trap setup.
7. Restrictions — If a trap requires a certain size realm tile it is listed here.
Example card, Floor Spikes: Setup: Place the Holy Altar token at least 4 squares away from the Heroes. In addition place a Green Rune token on top of one Holy Altar token. Place 4 Grubbers adjacent to the Holy Altar token. Disarm: Heroes must stand adjacent to the Green Rune token to disarm this trap by performing 2 NCAs at TN five. Activation: Each square on the realm tile is pierced with spikes when the AP reaches 2, 4, and 6. This causes 2 damage to each hero on the realm tile only. If the AP reaches 6 the trap can no longer be disarmed but will keep activating as normal. Type: Event, Activate: AP 2, 4, & 6, Disarm: 2x TN 5, Range: Realm Tile, Effect: 2 damage, Reward: 1 serendipity & permanently remove 1. Realm Tile restrictions: None.
Activating a Trap
Traps activate during the traps step of the refresh phase, unless specifically stated otherwise on the trap card. It is very important to refer to the activation section of a trap card during a trap encounter.
Restrictions
If a hero draws a trap card and the restrictions on the card do not allow it to be placed, simply draw a new trap card and reshuffle the unused card back into the deck.
Non-Combat Actions (NCA) and Traps — For each MP spent to perform a NCA, a hero may attempt to disarm a trap. NCA's allow the hero to roll his or her base dice pool, which is found on the hero token. Hero cards and items can provide additional dice to these attempts.
Serendipity — Disarming traps is a guaranteed way for heroes to earn serendipity. Refer to page 26 to learn more on serendipity and what it does.
Cards that Help Disarm Traps
Each hero has at least one card that can help the group overcome and disarm traps. These cards are:
- Acolyte: Intercession
- Apprentice: Research
- Soldier: The Easy Way
- Archer: Find Weakness
- Brigand: Cunning, and Unravel
Disarming Traps
Heroes may attempt to disarm traps to neutralize the danger and receive any associated reward. In order to attempt to disarm a trap, a hero must perform a non-combat action. The TN associated with a trap, as well as any specific positioning requirements, is detailed in each trap's disarm description. If a trap is successfully disarmed, it is removed from the realm tile and the heroes receive the reward listed in the trap's rewards.
Items
Each hero board has a number of equipment slots and an inventory slot. These slots are used to equip and store item cards. Each equipment slot can hold one item card, which represents that item being equipped by the hero. Each item card has a slot icon that denotes in which slot it must be equipped. Any item cards that cannot be equipped are placed facedown in the hero's inventory. There is no limit to the number of item cards a hero may store in his or her inventory. Heroes may adjust their equipped items during the cleanup step of the refresh phase.
Item Card Breakdown
1. Item Name — This is the name of the item.
2. Rarity — The colored border on the outer edge of the card indicates the item's rarity.
3. Slot — Items in Myth have a specific location on the hero board. The slot icon is used to match equipment with its location on the hero board. Any item that a hero has placed in the appropriate slot on the hero board is considered to be equipped and ready for use.
4. Keywords — Many item cards have keywords associated with them. These keywords have special rules and their definitions can be found on page 12.
5. Bonus — This area is home to many different types of bonuses: attack dice, defense, vitality, and hero specific.
6. Special — If an item has special abilities or fate dice recipes, they are located in this area.
7. Range — A weapon's range is located in the bottom left of the card.
8. Buy/Sell Value — The left side of the symbol is for the item's purchase value and the right side is the sell value.
Item Decks
Items are separated into individual decks based on their rarity. These decks also define how the item cards are used.
Brown — These items are referred to as starting gear. Heroes begin the game with the starting items that have their class icon in the upper right corner. All heroes begin the game with Adventurer's Gear as well. These items cannot be sold and are always available to the hero with the matching class icon. Any brown items not in use are returned to the box.
White — These items represent common treasure, such as gold and potions. When a hero draws a white item card, he takes the corresponding token, places it in his inventory, and shuffles the item card back into the deck. The card lists the rules on how the token may be used.
Green — These items represent useful equipment that heroes can begin finding early in the game.
Blue — These items represent unique and powerful equipment. Since there are no blue treasure tokens in the treasure bag at the start of the game, heroes will not find many blue items right away.
Quest Items — Some items may only be acquired through specific quests. Any item card with a quest icon in the upper right corner is not shuffled into an item deck. It is set aside until called for specifically by a quest.
Attacking With Items
Most hero cards with the Attack keyword also list a keyword that matches a keyword on an item, such as Melee or Relic. When performing an attack, a hero may choose one of his equipped items with a keyword matching a keyword listed on the hero card providing the attack. If the hero has multiple items equipped with keywords matching those listed on the hero card, he may choose only one of those equipped items to use. The dice listed after "Attack:" on the chosen item card are added to the attacking hero's dice pool for that attack.
Fate Recipes — In addition to bonus dice, many items have special abilities tied to specific fate die results. These are known as fate recipes and can be triggered when the item is used during an attack. If during an attack, a hero has fate dice results matching those listed in a fate recipe, the hero may choose to resolve that fate recipe effect. A single fate die result cannot be used to trigger multiple fate recipes. Once a fate die result is used on one recipe, it cannot be used again.
Some fate recipes instruct the hero to resolve the effect as if it were a specific hero card. When resolving these abilities, the hero refers to the specifically named hero card and resolves the effect of that card's text. When resolving a hero card this way, the hero ignores the movement modifiers and AP listed on the card.
Attacking Without Items — Sometimes, either through quests or enemy attacks, heroes can find themselves without any weapons. When playing an attack card with no weapons equipped, a hero uses only his base dice pool for the attack. Any attack with 'Range: Weapon' has a range of 1 when attacking without an equipped weapon.
Trading Items
Heroes may trade items between themselves at any time as long as those heroes are adjacent to each other. The only exception is that heroes on a cleared tile can trade items between each other regardless of if they are adjacent to each other or not. When a hero receives a traded item, it must be placed in his or her inventory and may only be equipped during the cleanup step of the refresh phase.
Merchants
Merchant cards allow heroes to buy and sell items. These cards are typically drawn as a result of clearing a tile. Each merchant has a specific inventory and sells only one of each item listed. When the merchant lists a specific item, the buy value is listed with it. If the merchant lists a draw from a certain item deck, players should refer to the buy value on the item card itself. The buy and sell prices are listed in the bottom right corner of the item cards, where the number on the left is the buy value and the number on the right is the sell value.
To buy an item, the heroes must discard a number of gold tokens equal to the listed value, search the appropriate item deck for the card, take it, and shuffle the item deck. To sell an item, the heroes receive a number of gold tokens equal to the sell value listed on the item card and shuffle the sold item back into the appropriate item deck. When a hero buys a potion from a merchant, the hero takes the corresponding token and places it in his inventory.
When heroes are done buying and selling items, the merchant card is discarded. Merchant cards are reshuffled at the end of the current act.
Merchant Card Breakdown
1. Merchant Name — This is the name of the merchant.
2. Merchant's Emblem — This indicates this is a merchant card where goods can be bought or sold.
3. Items for Sale — Only one of each item can be purchased from this list.
4. Purchase Amount — The gold value needed to acquire the listed item.
5. Merchant Level — Determines the rarity of equipment this merchant has available and the amount of items for sale.
Serendipity
Serendipity is a shared resource the heroes can gain throughout the game. It is tracked with serendipity tokens and the heroes may choose, as a group, to spend them during the game to trigger various effects. If the timing is not listed in an effect's description, the heroes may trigger it at any time. Each effect has a serendipity cost associated with it, and the heroes must discard that number of serendipity tokens to trigger that effect. All serendipity is lost at the end of an adventure act or story quest, so heroes are encouraged to use it.
1 Serendipity
If the heroes choose to spend 1 serendipity, they may choose one of the following effects:
- Draw 2 Treasure Tokens: The heroes may choose to trigger this effect after a hero draws a treasure token from the treasure bag to draw two additional tokens. The hero chooses one of the tokens to resolve and returns the rest to the bag.
- Add 2 Fate Dice: The heroes may choose to trigger this effect after a hero rolls dice to allow that hero to roll 2 additional fate dice. This effect cannot be used when resolving a heroic event (see below).
- Add 2 D10 to Non-combat Actions: The heroes may choose to trigger this effect after a hero rolls dice for a non-combat action to roll 2 additional D10.
- Talek Three Dunes: If there are no active enemies or traps on the realm tile, the heroes may choose to trigger this effect which summons the merchant Talek Three Dunes from the merchant deck. The heroes may then interact with him as they would with any merchant.
2 Serendipity
If the heroes choose to spend 2 serendipity, they may choose one of the following effects:
- Add 2 D10 to Hit: The heroes may choose to trigger this effect before a hero rolls dice to add 2 D10 to that hero's dice pool.
- Extend Quest Timer: The heroes may choose to trigger this effect to extend the current quest timer by 1 additional hero cycle.
- Manipulate Darkness Deck: The heroes may choose to trigger this effect to look at the top 2 cards of the darkness deck. Then, place one of the cards on top and the other on the bottom.
3 Serendipity
If the heroes choose to spend 3 serendipity, they may choose one of the following effects:
- Heroic Event: The heroes may choose to trigger this effect to roll 1 fate die and resolve the effect corresponding to the fate die result. See the Heroic Event table on this page.
- Call to Arms: The heroes may choose to trigger this effect to summon one available ally to the current realm tile. The rules for allies are explained on page 27. Allies may be summoned after the first time they are encountered in a quest. Allies can be found on page 27.
4 Serendipity
If the heroes choose to spend 4 serendipity, they may choose one of the following effects:
- Ignore Darkness Event: The heroes may choose to trigger this effect to ignore the event after drawing a darkness card. The rest of the darkness card is resolved as normal.
- Resurrect: The heroes may choose to trigger this effect to bring a dead hero back into the game. The resurrected hero immediately restores half of his or her vitality (rounded up) and is placed on the realm tile in a square of his or her choice. Alternatively, a hero doesn't die, but is returned to life with 3 vitality.
Heroic Events
If the heroes choose to trigger a heroic event, one player must roll one fate die. Each fate die result corresponds to a unique effect that is resolved if that result is rolled.
- New Dawn: Reset the darkness meter to zero.
- Last Stand: All heroes' attack actions inflict +1 damage.
- Second Wind: All heroes restore 4 vitality.
- King's Bounty: All treasure on the realm tile is picked up and given to the heroes.
- Falling Stars: Players select a square. All enemies in a 3x3 square area receive one damage.
- Sinking Sand: A strip two squares wide is placed across a realm tile by the players. Enemies in the sand cannot move. Sinking Sand lasts 2 hero cycles.
Allies
Allies are unique characters who can be earned by the heroes through quests. After the heroes have gained access to an ally, they may choose to summon that ally through the call to arms serendipity effect. When summoned, the ally joins the heroes on their current realm tile. As soon as that realm tile is cleared or abandoned, the ally is removed from play. However, that ally is still available to be summoned again later by triggering another call to arms serendipity event.
While in play, allies activate during the refresh phase and are controlled by the players. When activated, an ally can move and perform the attack listed on its card. Allies can also be targeted and affected by enemy attacks. The defense value listed on the ally card modifies any enemy attack targeting that ally. Each ally also has a threat value which is used when determining enemy priority. If an ally is ever reduced to zero vitality, the ally is defeated and immediately removed from play. Any defeated ally is still available to be summoned again later by triggering another call to arms serendipity event.
Ally Reference:
- Marcus the Ready — Defense 10, Vitality 3, Threat 4. Attack: 3 D10, 1 FD, 1 damage/hit. Rising Tide: Range 1(M), an area effect attack targeting the three squares in front of Marcus. Special — Fury: 3x FD allows Ocean of Rage, and every Rage result grants +1 D10 for Ocean of Rage. Attack: 4 D10, 1 FD, 1 damage/success. Ocean of Rage: Requires Fury. Range 1(M), 1 massive attack to 1 target.
- Sir Archeron — Defense 8, Vitality 4, Threat 6. Attack: 5 D10, 1 FD, 1 damage/success. Retribution: Range 1(M), 1 massive attack to 1 target. Special — Piety: 3x D10 allows Vitality Renewed, and every Faith result grants +1 target for heal. Vitality Renewed: Range 3(R), Heals one Hero +4 Vitality.
- Sarah the Mystic — Defense 5, Vitality 9, Threat 3. Attack: 2 D10, 1 FD, Prone/hit. Dark Empathy: Range 4(R), spell that hits in a 2x2 square. Minions hit are knocked Prone. Special — Fate Revealed: 3x FD. Each Darkness rolled allows Heroes to look at the top Darkness Deck card and move it to discard.
- Father Josh — Defense 5, Vitality 8, Threat 2. Attack: 2 D10, 1 FD, 1 damage/hit. Smite: Range 1(M), 1 attack to 1 target. Special — Rites of Penetance: Range 2(R), 1x FD. Intellect based Minions and Captains must pass a Courage test to Act.
- Father Andrew — Defense 5, Vitality 8, Threat 1. Attack: 2 D10, 1 FD, 1 damage/hit. Last Rites: Range 4(R), Targets are hit with Holy power. Hits 3 targets in a L shape. Special — Path of the Righteous: Range 2(R), 1x FD. Heroes draw +1 card.
Quests
Myth is a robust game system and may be played in three different game modes; adventure, story quest, and slaughterfield. Each game mode follows many of the same rules, but there are enough differences between them to separate them. In fact, slaughterfield is so different that the rules are contained to its own section found later in this book (see page 30). For this section, we will focus on adventures and story quests. Each of these game modes can be broken up into acts.
Quest Card Breakdown
1. Quest Title — The name of the quest.
2. Identifier — In the upper right of the card is a quest identifier: C Chapter, A Act, S Story.
3. Chain — Identifiers with a chain attached are quests associated with a quest chain. A single highlighted chain link marks the start of a quest chain. If multiple chain links are highlighted, then the quest is a continuation of a previous quest. In both cases, the reward section directs you to the quest needed by name. If the quest is part of a chain, there will be chain links attached to the Identifier. A Starting Chain icon marks the first quest in a chain; a Continuing Chain icon marks a later quest in that chain.
4. Introduction — This text informs the players what is happening at the start of the quest.
5. Setup — This section instructs the players on how to set up this quest. It uses the same icons as the realm tiles. Icons and numbers have identical meaning.
6. Reward — There are two icons in the rewards section: the serendipity icon and the darkness icon. The serendipity icon lists the results for succeeding the encounter, while the darkness icon lists the results for failing the encounter.
7. Resolution — Whether the heroes succeeded or failed, the resolution text explains what has happened as a result of how the heroes performed.
Acts
Each play session in Myth is referred to as an act. A game can take place over the course of several acts, and heroes grow in wealth and power after each act. A single act usually involves the heroes setting up and playing through multiple realm tiles. When playing an adventure, the players decide how many tiles they wish to play and may stop after any realm tile they choose. When playing a story quest, the number of tiles is pre-determined for the players. What players do at the end of an act depends on whether they are playing an adventure or a story quest.
Adventures
The majority of this rulebook is written assuming the players are playing an adventure. This game mode is driven purely by the players' choices. The players decide which realm tiles they wish to play and how to populate those tiles. At the end of an adventure act, the players record the game state following these guidelines:
- Each hero keeps his hero deck. This includes any modifications made through completing previous story quests or defeating agents.
- Each hero keeps all earned titles.
- Each hero may choose and keep 1 item card for each of his earned titles.
- Keep track of the ongoing consequences of any completed or failed quests.
- Keep the contents of the treasure bag, including any modifications made.
- Keep the quest deck. This includes any unlocked quest chains.
- Each hero must shuffle any items not chosen to keep into their corresponding item decks.
- Each hero discards all potion tokens.
- Discard all gold, status effects, and serendipity.
By recording these elements, the players continually change the state of the game each time they play. Since heroes cannot keep any items acquired without at least one earned title, players are encouraged to complete story quests as well as adventures. Adventures allow heroes with titles the chance to find specific items they want to keep.
Serendipity & Darkness Reward Icons — If the serendipity icon has a number listed on the icon, that is how much serendipity the heroes gain. If the darkness icon has a number on it, the players increase the AP by the number listed on the icon.
Act Quests
When starting an adventure act, players have the option of drawing an act quest card. Act quests give players some structure for the act as well as an overarching objective. In addition, act quests provide heroes with a reward when completed. If an act quest card does not specify the number or size of realm tiles required, players may choose as normal. Some act quests may chain to others, as specified on the act quest card. When an act quest is unlocked through a chain, players may choose it at the start of a future adventure act. It is important to note that players still draw chapter quests when required while playing an act quest.
Chapter Quests
During the course of an adventure, heroes have multiple opportunities to encounter chapter quests. These quests are smaller than act or story quests and often take place in a single tile. However, these quests often have multiple resolutions, based on whether the heroes succeed or fail.
If a chapter quest that is drawn requires a different realm tile than the one chosen, then it must be encountered in the next tile. The players then finish setting up the current realm tile without a quest.
Chapter quests can also chain into other chapter quests. When a chapter quest is unlocked through completing a chain, players may choose to encounter it in the following tile or simply shuffle it into their chapter quest deck to encounter at a later time.
Story Quests
A story quest is a more structured game mode where many of the choices have already been made for the players. Most story quests dictate which realm tiles are used and in which order they are placed. In addition, the story quest may list other specific elements to be used. As mentioned earlier, an element required by a story quest is considered fulfilled when resolving a realm tile legend. A story quest can consist of multiple acts and the heroes must complete all acts in order to complete the story quest and gain the reward. If players fail during any act of a story quest, they must restart the story quest beginning with act 1. Players perform the following steps when recording the game state after a story quest act:
- Each hero keeps his hero deck. This includes any modifications made through completing previous story quests or defeating agents.
- Each hero keeps all earned titles.
- Each hero keeps all items and potions.
- Keep track of the ongoing consequences of any completed or failed quests.
- Keep the contents of the treasure bag, including any modifications made.
- Keep the quest deck. This includes any unlocked quest chains.
- Keep all gold and serendipity.
- Discard all status effects.
After failing any act or successfully completing the final act of a story quest, the story quest is completed. When players successfully complete a story quest, record the game state following the same steps as the end of an adventure act, with one exception: The treasure bag is completely reset to its starting contents. In the base game this is 30 white treasure tokens, and 15 green treasure tokens. If the heroes completed the objective successfully, they receive the listed reward.
Titles
Defeating bosses or completing story quests provide a specific title the heroes may choose as a reward. Each title carries with it two benefits to the hero who gains it. The first is a special ability tied to that specific title, as listed on the title token. The second is that a hero may keep one item at the end of an adventure act or story quest for each title earned.
While a hero may have many titles, only one of those titles may be active during an act. A hero many only use a title's special ability, found on the title tokens, while it is active. At the start of each act, each hero must choose which of his or her titles (if any) will be active. It is important to note that multiple heroes may have the same titles active during an act.
Defeated Boss Title Reward
When defeating bosses in adventure mode the players receive one blue item card draw and must choose to either receive a title or manipulate their hero deck.
| Boss Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Terror with 1000 Legs | Light of Freedom or choose 1 KS exclusive title |
| Orcneas, Master of Masters | Harbinger or choose 1 KS exclusive title |
| Bones | Life-Bringer or choose 1 KS exclusive title |
| The Rat King | The Kingslayer or choose 1 KS exclusive title |
| Ia | King of the Impossible or choose 1 KS exclusive title |
Hero Deck Manipulation
Defeating bosses or completing story quests may provide rewards stating that heroes may choose to manipulate their decks by one card. This means that the hero chooses an available hero card to add to the hero deck. The chosen hero card must replace another card of his or her choice currently in his deck. In the base game, the heroes each have five advanced hero cards to choose from when manipulating their decks. These advanced hero cards are identified by the green flame at the top of the card. Advanced cards, along with any basic hero card previously removed from a deck, are available for the hero to choose from when manipulating his or her deck. A hero may only choose a hero card with his or her class icon listed on the card.
Myth Modules
Myth Modules are official story quests that contain unique encounters, monsters, traps, and realm tile legends. These modules contain story elements that expand upon lore found within the world of Myth. Many game play elements are altered in the rules to provide a rich thematic experience. By showing what can be done within these self-contained story quests, we provide the tools for players to create their own story quests.
Visit megacongames.com to download any of our free story quests and become a part of the community. Let us face the perils of the darkness together and emerge into the light with our own stories of triumph and comradery!
Quest Card Legend
- White Treasure token
- Green Treasure token
- Blue Treasure token
- Draw from treasure bag
- Success result
- Failure result
- Success resolution text
- Failure resolution text
- Place Mini-boss
- Place Boss
- "name of monster". Lair type and quantity.
- Slaughterfield Event: wave level completed for success
- Place Hunting Pack and quantity
- Place Traps
- Place Treasure counter
Slaughterfield
Slaughterfield is an alternative game mode for Myth where heroes must survive against multiple waves of enemies. Players always start slaughterfield with new heroes, ignoring any game state recorded during adventures and story quests. When setting up a game of slaughterfield, players make these changes to the setup rules found earlier:
- Remove darkness cards from the darkness board. Darkness cards are not used during slaughterfield.
- When creating the treasure bag, remove all white treasure tokens from the bag and add all blue treasure tokens to the bag. The treasure bag should consist of all green and blue treasure tokens during a game of slaughterfield.
- Choose a 12x12 realm tile and place it in the center of the play area.
- Place each hero in one of the sixteen center squares of the tile.
The Slaughterfield Game Round
The game round for slaughterfield functions just like it does for adventures and story quests, with only a few exceptions. These are important rules to remember when playing slaughterfield:
- Darkness AP: All enemies in play are always considered active during slaughterfield and therefore each monster-type increases the darkness meter by 1 during the refresh phase.
- Waves: A wave represents new enemies being placed on the realm tile. A game of slaughterfield consists of 10 waves.
- Wave Timer: The first wave is placed during setup and each subsequent wave is placed every four rounds. The wave timer is reduced by one at the start of the refresh phase. If the timer is reduced to zero, a new wave is placed before adding AP to the darkness meter. If the heroes defeat every enemy in a wave before the timer runs out, they have cleared the wave. If a wave is cleared, the new wave isn't placed until the start of the following round.
- Monster-types: Slaughterfield is intended to allow players to use various types of enemies. This creates a nice mix of variety and challenge. However, some players may not have access to anything outside of the base game. If players cannot fulfill the wave requirements, an additional 1 AP is added to the darkness meter during the refresh phase for each missing monster-type.
- Treasure: A treasure drops for each two minions defeated during an attack. All other treasure drops as usual.
Wave Generator
When placing waves of enemies, players refer to this wave generator. All sides spawn at the same time.
Basic:
- Wave 1 – Two minions of one monster-type on each side.
- Wave 2 – Three minions of one monster-type on each side.
- Wave 3 – One captain of one monster-type on two opposing sides.
- Wave 4 – Three minions of two monster-types on two opposing sides.
- Wave 5 – Four minions of two monster-types on two opposing sides.
- Wave 6 – Four minions and one captain of two monster-types on two opposing sides.
- Wave 7 – Six minions and one captain of two monster-types on two opposing sides.
- Wave 8 – Three minions and one captain of three monster-types, on three adjacent sides. One mini-boss on one side.
- Wave 9 – Four minions and two captains of three monster-types on three adjacent sides. One mini-boss on one side.
- Wave 10 – Two captains of three monster-types on three adjacent sides. One boss on one side.
Players who own the Slaughterfield Supplement Pack can use the random wave generator to create ever-changing wave compositions.
Slaughterfield During Quests
Some quests call for the slaughterfield game mode. When playing slaughterfield during a quest, players should follow these rules:
- Darkness Cards: Players still draw a darkness card during the darkness cycle when playing slaughterfield during a quest.
- Treasure Bag: The treasure bag is not modified unless specified as a quest reward.
- Waves: The number of waves is listed in the quest rules.
Quick Reference
Gold Hoard
Each hero rolls 1 fate die and receives the listed reward.
| Fate Die Icon | Reward |
|---|---|
| Triangle (eye) | 3 gold + 1 red potion + 1 Treasure Token |
| Flame/candle | 3 gold + 1 red potion + 1 Treasure Token |
| Green chalice | 7 gold + 1 Treasure Token |
| Blue spiral | 5 gold + 1 green potion + 1 Treasure Draw |
| Comet swirl | 2 Treasure Tokens |
| Dark spiral | 5 gold + 1 Treasure Token + Curse 1 for every hero |
Treasure Hoard
Each hero rolls 1 fate die and receives the listed reward.
| Fate Die Icon | Reward |
|---|---|
| Triangle (eye) | Select 1 Secondary item from the Green Item Deck |
| Flame/candle | Select 1 Armor item from the Green Item Deck |
| Green chalice | Draw 1 card off the top of the Blue Item Deck |
| Blue spiral | Select 1 Accessory item from the Green Item Deck |
| Comet swirl | Select 1 Primary item from the Green Item Deck |
| Dark spiral | Select 1 Helm item from the Green Item Deck and Spawn 4 Minions from the nearest tile edge |