Overlords of Infamy Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Components
• Setup
• Object of the Game
• Description of the Game Board
• Action Phase & Action Points
  • Common Actions
  • Plot-Related Actions
  • Special Actions
• Espionage
• Infamy and World Tension
• The Adventuring Hero
• End Phase & End of Game
  • End Phase
  • End of Game
• Variant Rules
  • Playing with Hero's Quests
  • Using the Adventuring Hero as a Playable Character
• The Golden Rules

Objective

In Overlords of Infamy, 1-4 players assume the role of Evil Overlords on Planet Fred, pitted against one another to see who can make the world the most miserable by completing Nefarious Plots to earn Misery Points.

A 5th player may take the role of the Adventuring Hero, protecting the planet by foiling the plans of the Evil Overlords.

At the end of the game, the Evil Overlord with the most Misery Points is the winner, or the Adventuring Hero may steal the win by completing their Hero's Quests.

If this is your first time playing, you can check out the Quick-start guide at http://www.obscurereferencegames.com/download

For your first game, it is strongly recommended that you play with 3-4 players playing Evil Overlords and an AI-controlled Adventuring Hero, but without using any Hero's Quests. Explore the additional variants in subsequent games.

Components

• 1 Rule Book
• 4 Turn Reference Sheets
• 1 double-sided Game Board
• 55 Hexagon Map Tiles
• 1 Six-Sided Die
• 1 Adventuring Hero Meeple
• 1 World Tension Marker
• 6 Relic Tokens
• 10 tokens of each Resource (Water, Food, Wood, Fauna, Scrap, SparkTech, Conjure Ore)
• 11 Overlord Playmats and Lairs
• 4 Infamy Markers - 1 per color
• 6 Lackey Meeples per color
• 4 Sabotage Tokens
• 75 World Event Cards
• 45 Knavery (Basic) Plots
• 38 Villainy (Intermediate) Plots
• 28 Domination (Advanced) Plots
• 27 Hero's Quest Cards

Setup

A) Each player selects an Evil Overlord to play as (this can be done randomly if preferred), takes a set of single-colored Lackeys, the corresponding Lair, and Infamy Tracker.

B)

• In a two-player game, players choose adjacent starting areas on the four-player board.
• In a three-player game, use the special circular layout on the back of the main board.
• In a four-player game, players use all areas on the four-player board.
• If playing the 1 player or 5 player game, see "Variant Rules" (Page 16).

C) Each player (henceforth referred to as "Overlord") places their lair in the corner spaces of the board nearest to them. If placed properly, the Lair will sit comfortably on three Map Spaces. Place three Lackeys of the player's color in the Barracks section of the lair.

D) Place each Overlord's Infamy Marker on the "1" spot of the Infamy Tracker.

E) Place the World Tension Marker on the "0" Spot of the World Tension Tracker.

F) Shuffle all of the Knavery Plot cards, and place them face-down on the corresponding spot on the Game Board. Repeat for the Villainy and Domination Plots.

G) Shuffle all of the World Event cards, and place them face-down on the corresponding spot on the game board.

H) Shuffle all of the Map tiles thoroughly, and place them face-down on the corresponding spots on the board, split as evenly as possible.

I) Place the Adventuring Hero meeple in the center of the board. This is the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold.

J) Deal two face-down Knavery Plot cards to each Overlord. Each Overlord selects one of these plots and places it face-down on the Active Nefarious Plot space on their Overlord Playmat. Place the unselected plot face down on the bottom of the stack of Knavery Plots.

K) The most evil player becomes the first player, or use any other agreeable method for selecting the first player.

L) Play proceeds in clockwise order, starting with the first Overlord.

Object of the Game

The object of the game is to win by earning the most Misery Points by completing Nefarious Plots. The game ends when a certain number of World Event cards have been played, and the final round is completed.

• 1 Player - 5 World Event Cards played to trigger the last turn
• 2 Players - 6 World Event Cards played to trigger the last turn
• 3 Players - 8 World Event Cards played to trigger the last turn
• 4-5 Players - 10 World Event Cards played to trigger the last turn

Note: For a longer or shorter game, you can increase or decrease the number of World Event Cards that must be played to trigger the last turn.

Description of the Game Board

Overlord's Lair - Each of the Lair tiles is specific to an individual Overlord. Each Lair tile consists of a Village, a Resource space, and a Barracks. When a game effect refers to an Overlord's Lair, it means the 3 spaces of this tile collectively.

Barracks - Each Lair tile has a spot that does not contain a resource or village. This spot is the Barracks where you keep all Idle Lackeys. "Idle Lackeys" refers only to Lackeys that are in the Barracks.

Lackey Pool - Lackeys that are not currently in play are kept off the board in the Lackey Pool. When a Lackey is Recruited, take a Lackey from the Lackey Pool (off the board) and place it in your Barracks (on the Lair tile on the board).

General Supply - All unclaimed (or used) Resources and Relics are kept off the board in the General Supply. When an Overlord uses a Harvest a Resource action, they collect a token from the General Supply. There are only 10 resource tokens of a single type at any time, and if none of that type of Resource are available in the General Supply, then the Overlord may not Harvest that Resource. Only one token of each Relic is available at any time.

Map Spaces - Map Spaces are the areas within each Overlord's Zone of Influence. At the beginning of the game, all the Map Spaces in a Zone of Influence are empty, except for the Lair. Map Tiles may be placed on empty Map Spaces by using the Exploit the Land action.

Zone of Influence - Each section of the board represents the subjects and lands under that Overlord's control. Zones of Influence include a space to place a Lair and 13 unexploited (empty) Map Spaces.

Contested Area - The red-outlined spaces that border each Overlord's Zone of Influence are called the Contested Area.

Map Tiles - Map Tiles are drawn via the Exploit the Land action. Map Tiles may have a Resource, Village, or both listed on them. Each Resource or Village on a Map Tile counts as an individual space.

Wall Tiles and Pitfall Traps - Walls and Pitfalls impede the Adventuring Hero's movement.

Kingdom of Good - The seven spaces at the center of the board represent the Kingdom of Good. The citizens here are obnoxiously friendly, nauseatingly virtuous, and repulsively happy. Despite these faults, they happen to be excellent treasure hunters and have accumulated several powerful Relics. This is why Relics can only be found in these spaces (See Section "F. Action Phase & Action Points").

Adventuring Hero's Stronghold - At the very center of the board in the Kingdom of Good is the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold. The Adventuring Hero meeple will begin the game in this spot, and return to it after crusading against the Overlords. Any resources captured by the Adventuring Hero will be placed in this hex upon their return. Overlords can raid the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold to take resources as long as the Adventuring Hero is not in the Stronghold.

Infamy Tracker - The Infamy Tracker shows the Infamy Level for each Overlord. Infamy Level determines the level of the Nefarious Plots that Overlords can undertake, how many resources they can take when raiding the Hero's Treasure, and which Acts of Espionage they can commit.

World Tension Tracker - The World Tension Tracker gauges how the world reacts to the Overlords completing their Plots and Harvesting Resources.

Action Phase & Action Points

The 4 Phases of each Overlord's turn are completed in the following order:

1. Hero Phase (This won't be seen for the first few player turns, so skip to the Action Phase first!)
2. Action Phase
3. Espionage Phase
4. End Phase

During the Action Phase of each Overlord's turn, the controlling player spends Action Points to undertake various Actions. Each turn, Overlords must spend 3 Action Points, and may not pass their turn if they have any Action Points and valid options remaining.

Any Action may be used multiple times per turn unless otherwise stated.

Common Actions

Harvest a Resource (Cost: 1 Action Point) - Place one of your Idle Lackeys (Idle Lackeys are Lackeys that are currently in your Barracks) on an unoccupied Resource space on the map within your Zone of Influence or on a Contested Area space. Gain one token of the corresponding Resource. If your Overlord has an Affinity for that resource, they gain an additional token of the corresponding Resource.

You may place your Lackey directly on any legal spot in your Zone of Influence or a Contested Area if you meet the requirements to do so. When placing Lackeys to Harvest a Resource, the distance to the desired Map Tile from your Lair does not matter.

An Overlord may Harvest a Resource from a Contested Area only if the following conditions are all met:

• The Overlord has Exploited the Land directly adjacent to the resource space in the Contested Area to be Harvested.
• The Overlord does not currently have a Lackey on any Contested Area space. The Overlord may have only one Lackey in a Contested Area space at a time.

If an opponent's Lackey already occupies a space in the Contested Area, you may also Harvest a Resource from the same space. If you do so, the opponent Overlord's Lackey is returned to their Lackey Pool (off the board) and your Lackey will stay on the Contested Area space.

Note: Exploiting the Land adjacent to a Contested Area opens you up to Espionage! (See Section: "Espionage".)

Any time you Harvest a Resource the World Tension Tracker advances one space (See Sections: "Infamy and World Tension", and "The Adventuring Hero" for more information).

Recruit a Lackey (Cost: 1 Action Point) - To Recruit a Lackey, place your Idle Lackey onto a Village, then add one new Lackey from your Lackey Pool to your Barracks. You may never have more than six Lackeys in play at any time. You must always have at least one Lackey in play.

If your Overlord has an Affinity for Lackeys, they may recruit two Lackeys instead of 1. Lackeys may never be placed in any Overlord's Lair tile other than their own.

If a Map Tile contains more than one Resource or Village symbol, you may place one Lackey on each Resource or Village. You may not place more than one Lackey on each individual Resource or Village symbol.

When placing Lackeys to Recruit, the distance of the desired Map Tile from your Lair does not matter. You may place your Lackey directly on any legal spot in your Zone of Influence or a Contested Area if you meet the requirements to do so.

Any time you Recruit a Lackey the World Tension Tracker advances one space (See Sections "Infamy and World Tension", and "The Adventuring Hero" for more information).

Recall a Lackey (Cost: 1 Action Point) - Return one of your Lackeys from a Map Tile on the board and place it in your Lair's Barracks. Lackeys must be recalled to the Barracks before they can be reassigned to Harvest another Resource or Recruit a Lackey.

• Note: You may not Recall a Lackey on the same turn that it was sent to Harvest a Resource, Recruit a Lackey, or Steal a Relic. However, any other game effect that allows an Overlord to recall a Lackey to their Barracks still works!

Recall All Lackeys (Cost: 3 Action Points) - Recall all your Lackeys from the board, regardless of how many are outside the Barracks. You may not use the Recall All Lackeys option if you previously moved a Lackey from your Barracks onto the map this turn.

It is possible for a Lackey to become "stranded" due to game effects. If the Map Tile(s) connecting your Lair to the space containing the Lackey is removed from the board, you may not Recall your Lackey until the connection is restored. This includes the Recall All Lackeys action.

Example: During Bob's Espionage Phase he has one Map Tile adjacent to the Contested Area he shares with Joanne. He decides to use the Infiltrate Espionage Action to place his Lackey on one of Joanne's Map Tiles. Before Bob's next turn, an opposing player destroys that Map Tile using the Adventuring Hero. Bob is no longer adjacent to Joanne, so he is unable to Recall his Lackey from Joanne's Zone of Influence. He chooses to Exploit the Land to place a Map Tile once again adjacent to Joanne. He may now Recall his Lackey.

Exploit the Land (Cost: 1 Action Point) - Draw two Map Tiles. Choose one and place it on an empty Map Space within your Zone of Influence adjacent to either your Lair or at least one of your other previously placed Map Tiles that is connected to your Lair.

Overlords may only place Map Tiles within their own Zone of Influence. Place the unchosen Map Tile face-down at the bottom of the Map Tile stack. If all Map Spaces within an Overlord's Zone of Influence have been exploited, that Overlord may not choose the Exploit the Land Action.

Once an Overlord has Exploited the Land to place a Map Tile on a space adjacent to any space of The Kingdom of Good, they may access any Kingdom of Good space.

Exploiting the Land adjacent to a Kingdom of Good space will open you to Espionage from anyone else who Exploited the Land next to a Kingdom of Good space, and vice versa! (See Section "Espionage".)

Note: Map Tiles can be discarded due to certain game effects. If any tiles become isolated from the string of tiles connected to the Lair due to one of these game effects, then Overlords may not Harvest, Recruit, or Recall Lackeys from those tiles until they are once again adjacent. Yes, that includes Recalling All Lackeys. Your Lackeys cannot find their way home!

Plot-Related Actions

These are Actions involving your Plot and will only be used after collecting all required Resources or when abandoning the Active Nefarious Plot.

Complete a Plot (0 Action Points) - An Overlord's Plot may only be completed during the Action phase of their own turn. If the Overlord has obtained all the required Resources and Relics, and has all applicable Lackeys in their Barracks, immediately Complete their Plot. This does not cost an Action Point. Upon completion, announce the name of the Plot in your best Evil Overlord voice, then discard all of the required Resources to the General Supply and Lackeys to the Lackey Pool. If a Plot has an Aftermath, read it aloud. Place the completed Plot face-up in the Completed Plots section of your Overlord Playmat.

When Completing a Plot:

• Increase your Infamy by one level.
• Advance the World Tension tracker:
  • 1 space for completing a Knavery Plot
  • 2 spaces for completing a Villainy Plot
  • 3 spaces for completing a Domination Plot
• Draw two Plot cards from any accessible Plot stack. Secretly choose one, and place it face-down in the Active Nefarious Plot section of your Overlord's Playmat. Place the unchosen Plot at the bottom of its corresponding stack.

An Overlord's Infamy level determines the level of Plot from which they can draw:

• Infamy Level 1-2: Knavery-level Plots
• Infamy Level 3-4: Knavery- and Villainy-level Plots
• Infamy Level 5: Knavery-, Villainy-, and Domination-level Plots

Note: If Completing a Plot requires any number of Lackeys, these Lackeys must come from your Lair's Barracks. If Completing a Plot would cause you to end up with no Lackeys, you are unable to complete this Plot.

Start from Scratch (Cost: 0 Action Points, once per turn) - If an Overlord does not wish to continue their current Nefarious Plot, they must place it at the bottom of its corresponding stack and lower their Infamy level by one. An Overlord at Infamy Level 1 may choose this Action without reducing their Infamy Level. Next, they must choose two cards from any one accessible stack of Nefarious Plots based on their Infamy level (see above). The Overlord secretly chooses one of these cards and places it face-down on their Overlord's playmat. Put the other Plot on the bottom of the corresponding stack. The Start from Scratch Action may only be used once per turn.

Special Actions

These are Actions that you will use less frequently, and usually not until you have started on a Villainy Plot or certain conditions have been met.

Steal a Relic (Cost: 2 Action Points) - If you have Exploited the Land next to any Kingdom of Good space, you may place one of your Idle Lackeys on any unoccupied Relic space within the Kingdom of Good. Gain the token of the corresponding Relic. You may only have one Relic at any time. If at any time an Overlord who currently possesses a Relic chooses the Steal a Relic Action, they must replace their current Relic with the newly chosen Relic.

Stealing a Relic moves the World Tension tracker forward two spaces.

Example: If Bob has the Relic "Coiled Clockwork Contraption", neither Jim, Steve, nor Bartholomew can obtain the Relic "Coiled Clockwork Contraption" until Bob Completes a Plot requiring that Resource, chooses a new Relic, or loses it through some other means.

Raid the Hero's Treasure (Cost: 2 Action Points) - If you have Exploited the Land adjacent to the Kingdom of Good, and the Adventuring Hero meeple is not currently in the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold, you may spend two Action Points and discard one Lackey from your Barracks to the Lackey Pool to take a number of Resource tokens currently on the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold up to your current Infamy Level.

Raiding the Hero's Treasure moves the World Tension Tracker forward three spaces.

Activate a Plot Aftermath (Cost: Varies) - If you have Completed a Plot that has Aftermath text, you may Activate the Plot Aftermath by following the instructions on the Plot, then place the Activated Plot face-down at the bottom of your Completed Nefarious Plots pile.

Sweep for Infiltrators (Cost: 1 Action Point) - You may spend one Action Point to remove all Lackeys currently in your Zone of Influence that do not belong to you. Lackeys removed this way are put back into their owners' Lackey Pool, not their Barracks.

Note: An Overlord may never take any Action that would result in them having no Lackeys. Any other Overlord's Action or any game effects that would reduce an Overlord to zero Lackeys reduces her to one Lackey instead. If an Overlord is reduced to one Lackey in this way, place that Lackey in the Overlord's Barracks.

Example: Froedrick has infiltrated Nancy's Area of Influence with all his Lackeys. Nancy takes this opportunity to Sweep for Infiltrators, which normally returns all Froedrick's Lackeys to his Lackey Pool. Because this would reduce him to zero Lackeys, all but one Lackey gets returned to his Lackey Pool, and his one Lackey is returned to his Barracks instead.

Espionage

After an Overlord has completed the Action Phase, they then move to the Espionage Phase.

The third phase of each Overlord's turn is the Espionage Phase. During this phase, the Overlord has the option of committing an Act of Espionage, which allows the Overlord to perform a special action against another Overlord.

The current Overlord may commit an Act of Espionage against another Overlord only if both Overlords have Exploited the Land adjacent to at least one Contested Zone Map Space in the shared border between the two Overlord's Zones of Influence. If an Overlord has Exploited the Land adjacent to any Kingdom of Good map space, they may commit an Act of Espionage against any other Overlord who has Exploited the Land adjacent to any Kingdom of Good map space.

Illustrated examples (three board diagrams):

• Bob has Exploited the Land adjacent to a Contested Zone that he shares with Tim. Tim has not Exploited the Land next to any Contested Zone that he shares with Bob. Since they are not both touching their shared Contested Zone, neither Bob nor Tim may commit Acts of Espionage against one another.
• Bob has Exploited the Land adjacent to a Contested Zone that he shares with Tim. Tim has also Exploited the Land next to a Contested Zone that he shares with Bob. Bob and Tim may commit Acts of Espionage against each other.
• Bob has Exploited the Land adjacent to a Contested Zone that he shares with Tim and has Exploited the Land adjacent to the Kingdom of Good. Tim has Exploited the Land next to the Kingdom of Good. Joe has not Exploited the Land next to the Kingdom of Good or any Contested Zones. Bob and Tim may commit Acts of Espionage against one another. Joe may not commit Acts of Espionage against Bob or Tim, nor they against him.

You may only commit one Act of Espionage per turn unless otherwise stated by a game effect or ability.

Acts of Espionage do not advance the World Tension Tracker.

You may perform any of the following Acts of Espionage at or below your current Infamy Level, as long as you have an Idle Lackey in your Barracks:

• Level 1: Glean Intel - You may view the Active Nefarious Plot of the targeted Overlord. You may not show this plot to any other Overlords nor tell them what you saw.

• Level 2: Infiltrate - Place an Idle Lackey from your Barracks on an unoccupied Resource space or Village on an opposing Overlord's Map Tile. Take one of the corresponding Resources from the supply. If you placed your Lackey on a Village, instead add a Lackey from your Lackey pool to your Barracks. That opposing Overlord may not place a Lackey in the same space as your Lackey. You may recall your Lackey as per the normal rules. Your Overlord's Affinity still applies when using Infiltrate.

  Note: You may not Infiltrate an Overlord's Lair. An Overlord may use the Sweep for Infiltrators Action to force you to discard any of your Lackeys in their Zone of Influence.

• Level 3: Plunder Resources - Discard a Lackey from your Barracks, then choose an opposing Overlord and roll the Hero die. On a roll of 1 or 2, the Plunder Resources action fails and you gain nothing. On a roll of 3, you may take one basic Resource from that Overlord. On a roll of 4, you may take two basic Resources or one Relic from that Overlord.

  Alternatively, you may choose to Plunder Resources from the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold, provided you are conected to the Kingdom of God [sic] and the Hero is out of the Stronghold. On a roll of 1 or 2, the Plunder Resources action fails and you gain nothing. On a roll of 3, you may take two basic Resources from the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold. On a roll of 4, you may take three basic Resources, however, you may not take a Relic.

Infamy and World Tension

The World Tension Tracker drives the Adventuring Hero's movement and culminates in revealing a World Event card.

The Infamy Tracker reflects each Overlord's level of Infamy and can be increased or decreased through various game effects. All Overlords begin at Infamy level 1. Each time an Overlord Completes any Nefarious Plot, move their Infamy Tracker one space higher. Infamy level dictates the types of Nefarious Plots available, the Acts of Espionage that can be committed by each Overlord, and the number of Resources that can be taken when Raiding the Hero's Treasure.

If an Overlord's Infamy level drops below the required level for their Active Nefarious Plot, they may still complete their active Nefarious Plot.

When the World Tension Tracker lands on or moves past a Crisis Point (3, 6, or 9), the Adventuring Hero meeple moves at the beginning of next player's turn.

• The World Tension Tracker starts at "0" and moves forward one space each time a Lackey is placed on a Map Tile to Recruit a Lackey or Harvest a Resource (regardless of how many Resources are received via this Action).
• Move the World Tension Tracker two spaces forward for each time an Overlord Steals a Relic.
• Move the World Tension Tracker three spaces each time an Overlord Raids the Adventuring Hero's Treasure.
• The World Tension Tracker also moves after Completing a Nefarious Plot: one space for Knavery, two spaces for Villainy, and three spaces for Domination.

Once the World Tension Tracker reaches "10", and immediately after the current Action fully resolves, flip over a World Event card & follow its directions, and reset the World Tension Tracker to "0". Any game effects that would cause the World Tension Tracker to move further past the number "10" are ignored.

If any previous World Event cards are still in effect when a new World Event card is flipped over, all the World Event Cards' effects remain in play until each individually resolves.

Note: If an Action that causes an Overlord to Complete their Plot also moves the World Tension Tracker to "10", then the entire Action must resolve before drawing the new World Event card. This means that the player will go through all of the steps, including selecting a new Nefarious Plot, before revealing the new World Event card.

The Adventuring Hero

The Adventuring Hero is out to foil the plans of any and all Overlords.

The World Tension Tracker drives the Adventuring Hero's movement. During the first phase ("Hero Phase") of each Overlord's turn, determine if the World Tension Tracker landed on or passed a Crisis Point during the previous Overlord's turn.

If it did, the current Overlord rolls the Hero die and may move the Adventuring Hero a number of spaces up to the number rolled on the die (must move at least 1 space). The current Overlord may move the Adventuring Hero in any direction they wish, for whatever terrible purpose they desire. Note: If playing with Hero's Quests (see Section "Variant Rules"), the Adventuring Hero's movement may be governed by the Hero's Quest.

The Adventuring Hero cannot move through any side of a Tile containing a Wall. If the Adventuring Hero lands on a Pitfall Trap, place the Adventuring Hero on its side. The next time that the World Tension Tracker lands on or passes a Crisis Point, stand the Adventuring Hero up. After standing, the Adventuring Hero does not move until the next time the World Tension Tracker lands on or passes a Crisis Point.

Note: Regardless of how many Crisis Points are passed in a single turn, the Adventuring Hero still only moves once at the beginning of the next turn.

During the Adventuring Hero's movement, the following can happen:

1. The Adventuring Hero lands on a Map Tile or Contested Area that contains Lackey(s) - The Adventuring Hero ends their movement. All Lackeys currently on that tile or Contested Area are returned to the Lackey Pool. Return the Adventuring Hero meeple to the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold, along with one basic Resource indicated on the Tile where the encounter took place. The Adventuring Hero cannot take any Relics or Lackeys to the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold (since Relics and Lackeys are not Basic Resources).

2. The Adventuring Hero lands on an empty map space or empty Contested Area - The Adventuring Hero does not return to the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold. Overlords may not Exploit the Land to place a tile on this map space while it is occupied by the Adventuring Hero. Overlords may not choose any Action that would cause a Lackey to be placed on that space while it is occupied by the Adventuring Hero.

3. The Adventuring Hero lands on a map tile that does not contain a Lackey - The Adventuring Hero may choose to Liberate the tile. If so, the tile is Liberated, meaning it is discarded and placed at the bottom of the Map Tile stack. The Adventuring Hero is returned to the Stronghold with 1 Basic Resource printed on the tile. The Liberate Action cannot be chosen if the Adventuring Hero ended its movement in the Contested Area. If the Adventuring Hero chooses not to Liberate the Map Tile, the Adventuring Hero does not return to the Stronghold.

4. The Adventuring Hero enters an Overlord's Lair - That Overlord places half (rounded down) of their Basic Resources in the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold. If that Overlord had a Relic, the Relic is returned to the General Supply. The Adventuring Hero returns to the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold.

• Lackeys in the Overlord's Lair are not discarded if the Adventuring Hero enters.
• The Resources placed in the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold stay there even if the Adventuring Hero moves away from the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold, making those Resources vulnerable to being taken. (See Section "Action Phase & Action Points".)

The Adventuring Hero cannot pick up any Resource tokens placed on the map unless a card specifies that they can. They only get Resources from Killing a Lackey or Liberating a Map Tile, or when specified by another game effect.

End Phase & End of Game

End Phase

After the Overlord has used their 3 Action Points and optional Act of Espionage, the end of their turn is triggered.

Check to see if the effects of a World Event Card have resolved.

Example: If you flipped over the World Event Card called "Bountiful Harvest" on your last turn, it allows all Overlords to get double the Resources they Harvest during their next turn. Since you flipped it over on your last turn, and you just finished your next turn, the World Event card is no longer in effect.

If the effects of a World Event card have resolved, evaluate to see if the game has ended based on the number of World Event Cards that have been flipped over. The end of the game is determined by the number of World Event Cards that have been flipped over, signifying the rising tension and passage of time.

The required number of World Event Cards to trigger the end of the game is based on the number of players, but may be adjusted for a longer or shorter play time. For reference:

• 1 Player - 5 World Event Cards played to trigger the last turn
• 2 Players - 6 World Event Cards played to trigger the last turn
• 3 Players - 8 World Event Cards played to trigger the last turn
• 4-5 Players - 10 World Event Cards played to trigger the last turn

End of Game

After enduring torture by the Evil Overlords and their Nefarious Plots for so long, the will of the world's population is finally broken! They succumb to the miserable existence you have cunningly crafted for them, without optimism, nor the hope of a brighter future. Well done, Evil Overlords!

Once the final World Event Card has been flipped over, resolve its effects and finish the current turn as normal. All Overlords, including the current Overlord, will have one final turn each to play as normal, including moving the World Tension Tracker, the Adventuring Hero, and resolving any additional World Events.

Example: Bob, Tim, and Joe are playing in that order. Bob flips over the final World Event card, triggering the end of the game. Tim and Joe each play their turns, and Bob takes the last turn of the game.

After the last player has taken their final turn, the game is over! Add up your Misery Points gained from completed Nefarious Plots. To that total, add the following bonus Misery Points:

• 1 Point for each Lackey that you have on the Map or in the Barracks (but not in the Lackey Pool)
• 1/2 Point for each resource you currently have
• 2 Points if you have a Relic

Whoever has earned the most Misery Points is declared the winner! In the event of a tie, the Overlord with the higher Infamy Level wins. If there is still a tie, the Overlord with the most completed Nefarious Plots wins. Still tied? The tied players just roll the Hero die already! Highest roll wins.

Variant Rules

Playing with Hero's Quests

Players may choose to include Hero's Quests in their game. Hero's Quests can be completed by the Adventuring Hero during the game as Resources are accrued in the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold. To play with this variant, follow the regular rules with the following changes:

• At the start of the game, shuffle the Hero's Quest cards, and deal 3 cards face-down near the board. Place the remaining Hero's Quests nearby, face-down. There will never be more than three in-progress Hero's Quest cards in play at a time.
• When adding a Resource to the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold causes the total number of collected Resources to equal a multiple of "3" (i.e.: 3, 6, 9, 12, 15...) flip one of the face-down Hero's Quests face-up. If any situation would cause 3 or more Resources to be added to the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold at the same time, only flip one Hero's Quest card face-up.
• Until the first Hero's Quest is face-up, the Adventuring Hero is moved at the whim of the controlling Overlord.
• When moving the Adventuring Hero, always move the Hero directly toward the nearest Resource needed to complete their current Quest. If no Resource needed is available, direction of movement is at the will of the Overlord.
• When the Adventuring Hero Kills a Lackey or Liberates a Map Tile, add the appropriate Resource to the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold, and move the Adventuring Hero to the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold.
• If the Adventuring Hero moves due to the World Tension Tracker, and does not gain a Basic Resource: Flip over the top tile from any Map Tile stack. If there is a Resource shown on this Map Tile, add this Resource to the Adventuring Hero Stronghold. Place the Map Tile at the bottom of the same stack immediately afterward. If a Resource was added to the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold in this way, do not return the Adventuring Hero to the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold.
• If any Overlord's Hero Phase ends with the Adventuring Hero on a Pitfall tile, do not add a Resource to the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold.
• When Resources in the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold match the required Resources on any face-up Hero's Quest card, that Hero's Quest is immediately completed. Discard to the General Supply the required Resources from the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold, resolve any effects of completing the Hero's Quest, then place the completed Hero's Quest card face-up near the board, away from the uncompleted Hero's Quests cards. Draw a new Hero's Quest card and place it face-down next to the other uncompleted Hero's Quest cards.

The Hero's Quest variant rules are recommended for players who are familiar with Overlords of Infamy and have played the game multiple times.

Using the Adventuring Hero as a Playable Character

The Adventuring Hero is available to be used as a Playable Character as long as at least one other player is an Overlord, allowing up to 5 players to play Overlords of Infamy at the same time. In this variant, the Adventuring Hero player takes their own turn in addition to moving the Adventuring Hero when the World Tension tracker hits a Crisis Point during other players' turns. To play with this variant, follow all normal rules with the following changes:

• At the start of the game, shuffle the Hero's Quest cards, and deal 2 face-down Hero's Quests to the Adventuring Hero. The Adventuring Hero secretly chooses one of these Quests and returns the unchosen Quest to the bottom of the Hero's Quest card stack. Place the Hero's Quest card stack face-down nearby. The Adventuring Hero does not reveal their Hero's Quest to any Overlords until they complete their Hero's Quest.
• Ignore the Hero Phase of each Overlord's turn. Instead, the Adventuring Hero player moves the Adventuring Hero immediately when the World Tension Tracker lands on or passes a Crisis Point. If the Overlord still has Action Points available after the Adventuring Hero moves, the Overlord then finishes their turn as normal.
• When the Adventuring Hero Kills a Lackey or Liberates a Map Tile, add the associated Resource to the Adventuring Hero Stronghold as normal, then place the Adventuring Hero in the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold.
• If the Adventuring Hero moves due to the World Tension Tracker, but does not Kill a Lackey or Liberate a Map Tile, the Adventuring Hero flips over the top tile from any Map Tile stack. If there is a Resource shown on this Map Tile, add this Resource to the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold. Place the Map Tile at the bottom of the same stack. If a Resource was added to the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold in this way, do not return the Adventuring Hero to the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold.
• The Adventuring Hero takes a turn in clockwise order based on where the player is seated.

Note: The Adventuring Hero can never be the first player of the game.

During the Adventuring Hero's turn, they have two Action Points to do any of the following in any combination:

• Move one space - Move one space in any direction.

  • If this moves the Hero into a Lackey's space, discard the Lackey and place the associated Resource and the Adventuring Hero in the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold.

  • If this moves the Hero onto an unoccupied Map Tile, they may choose to Liberate that Map Tile. If so, discard the Map Tile and place the associated Resource and the Adventuring Hero in the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold.

• Spy on an Overlord's Plot - View any Overlord's Plot. Do not share it with anyone.
• Cycle their Hero's Quest - Draw a new Hero's Quest, then choose to keep either their current Hero's Quest or the newly drawn one. Place the unchosen Hero's Quest Card at the bottom of the Hero's Quest Card Stack.
• Bombard a Wall Tile - Destroy a Wall Map Tile adjacent to the Adventuring Hero. Discard any Lackeys on the destroyed tile. Do not add any Resources to the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold in this way.

If, during the Adventuring Hero's turn, Resources in the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold match the required Resources on the current Hero's Quest card, that Hero's Quest is immediately completed. Discard the required Resources from the Adventuring Hero's Stronghold, resolve any effects of completing the Hero's Quest, and place the completed Hero's Quest card face-up in front of the Adventuring Hero. The Adventuring Hero draws two new Hero's Quest cards and chooses one to keep. Place the other at the bottom of the Hero's Quest card stack.

To win the game, the Adventuring Hero must complete 1 Hero's Quest for every 2 World Event cards required to end the game. If this goal is met the game ends immediately, and the Adventuring Hero wins.

Example: In a game with 4 Overlords, players would continue until 10 World Events have been drawn, then each would have a final turn. The Adventuring Hero would be required to complete 5 Hero's Quests before this happens.

The Golden Rules

• If at any time a card or game effect contradicts these rules, that card or game effect takes precedence and overrides this rulebook.
• Nefarious Plots can only be completed during the Action Phase of your turn.
• If you are ever required to spend an Action Point, you may only do so during the Action Phase of your turn.
• If you are forced to discard Lackeys due to any Plot or Game Effect, always discard from your Barracks first, unless the Plot or Game Effect says otherwise.
• An Overlord may never take any Action that would result in them having less than one Lackey. Any other game effect that would reduce an Overlord to less than one Lackey reduces them to one instead. If an Overlord is reduced to one Lackey in this way, place that Lackey in the Overlord's Barracks.
• If you are ever forced to discard more tokens of a Resource than you currently possess, instead discard as many tokens of that Resources as you are able and ignore the rest.
• If you ever do not have an Active Nefarious Plot, immediately draw a new Plot from an applicable Plot Level stack.
• If a Map Tile is destroyed, any Lackeys and resource tokens that are on that tile are discarded, unless otherwise stated.
• If ever, through a combination of card or game effects, it is impossible to take any Action, recall all Lackeys, then immediately end your turn.