Runemasters
Runemasters Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 5 Health Point (HP) markers
- 4 Mana Point (MP) markers
- 4 Ultimate Power tokens
- 1 Guardian Angel marker
- 1 Sage marker
- 4 Poison markers
- 4 Shield markers
- 4 Blocking markers
- 12 Injury markers
- 4 Guardian characters
- 5 6-sided dice
- 1 Dawn card
- 1 play aid
- 11 Event cards
- 32 Monster cards
- 4 Guardian boards
- 1 double-sided Temple board
- 4 Path boards (red, blue, yellow, green)
- 2 Temple Health Points boards
Cards
Monster card: 1 card color/symbol, 2 card name, 3 card effect, 4 rewards, 5 weak points, 6 2-player symbol.
Event card: 1 card color/symbol, 2 card name, 3 card effect.
Guardian board
Guardian name, Guardian's ability, Health points, Mana points, Ultimate Power track, Ultimate power.
Temple board
The Temple board shows the number of guardians indicator, and the green, yellow, blue and red paths, each with its blocking area.
Game Setup
The Guardians
Each player chooses one of the guardians and takes the corresponding Guardian character, Ultimate Power token and board; place these in front of you.
Each guardian starts with 4 health points (HP) and 4 mana points (MP). These values can never be exceeded during the game.
Note: We recommend that you play one guardian per player, but if you like, some players may play several guardians. If you are playing alone, see Solo Mode, p. 16.
Each guardian has an ultimate power that is not charged up at the beginning of the game. Place your guardian's Ultimate Power token on space 1 of this track, 1 side up.
Note: For your first game, place your Ultimate Power token on space 2.
The Temple
In the middle of the table, place the Temple board depicting the number of guardians playing (the 2-guardian/4-guardian symbol for 2/4 guardians, the 3-guardian symbol for 3 guardians).
Take the Temple Health Points board corresponding to the number of guardians played and place the health point marker at the maximum point on the track (6 HP for 2 guardians and 4 HP for 3/4 guardians). These represent the temple's integrity.
Place the Path boards around the Temple board, each leading to the area of its color, with space 1 adjacent to the temple.
Each player places their Guardian character on the temple in front of an unguarded path of its choice.
The Monster and Event Cards
Prepare the Monster deck
Set aside the Dawn card, then create the deck as follows, according to the number of guardians:
For 4 guardians: Shuffle the 32 Monster cards, then remove 8 at random.
For 3 guardians: Remove the yellow Monster cards, shuffle the 25 remaining cards, then remove 6 at random.
For 2 guardians: Use only the 16 cards marked with the 2-player symbol (4 archers, 4 wolves, 4 trolls, 4 shadows) and 1 random dragon. Shuffle these 17 Monster cards, then remove 4 at random.
Shuffle the Dawn card with the last 3 Monster cards (from the bottom of the deck) and tuck them back under the deck. Place the Monster deck near the temple.
Draw the first card from the Monster deck and place it on space 1 of the path of its color. Then draw a second card and place it on space 2 of the path of its color. Finally, put a third card on space 3 of the path of its color.
The Sage
Decide who will be the first player. This player receives the Sage marker and keeps it throughout the game.
Note: We recommend that you choose the guardian who is beside the nearest monster, in an attempt to eliminate it as soon as possible.
Prepare the Event deck
Set aside the neutral (gray) Event card. Shuffle the negative (red, skull symbol) event cards, and shuffle the positive (green) event cards.
Then draw 5 cards according to the desired difficulty level, shuffle them, and place this deck beside the chosen Sage. Return the unused Event cards to the box unseen.
| Level | Positive | Negative | Neutral |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initiate | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Novice | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Guardian | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| Hero | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Legend | 0 | 5 | 0 |
Note: For your first game, we recommend that you play at the Initiate level.
Playing the Game
The game plays out over several successive rounds. During a round, each guardian that is still alive takes a turn, starting with the Sage.
Event
At the beginning of the round, the Sage (even if dead) reveals an Event card, reads it aloud, and places it face up on the Event discard, next to the Event deck. The effect of this card applies to the whole round in progress.
If there are no more cards in the Event deck, find the neutral Event card, and place it face up atop the Event discard. This event applies until the end of the game.
Note: When in doubt about how to resolve an event, see The Events, p. 14.
Taking Your Turn
Your turn comprises the following 3 phases:
- New Monster
- Guardian Actions
- Monster Movement
Once you have completed these three phases, pass your hand to your left neighbor. Once everyone has taken their turn, the round ends.
Note: If you are dead, skip your turn; however, if you are the Sage, you continue to draw an Event card for each new round, even though you don't get a turn.
1- New Monster
Draw the top card from the Monster deck and place it on space 3 of the path matching its color/symbol.
Example: In the New Monster phase, you draw a green troll. Place it on space 3 of the green path.
If the space is already taken, place the monster on space 4. If 4 is already occupied, place it on 5.
If even space 5 is already occupied, the monster cannot come into play: Inflict an injury to the guardian of this path (or to the temple if there is no guardian on this path), then discard the Monster card.
Example: Spaces 3, 4, 5 are already occupied, so the green troll cannot come into play. The card is discarded and the guardian of the green path gets an injury.
2- Guardian Actions
The actions available to you are defined by the dice. Roll the dice, and choose the actions you wish to perform. Certain actions are linked to the die results, and others are independent of them.
Resolve actions and possible rerolls in any order you wish. You may use some of the dice to resolve actions, then reroll the rest of the dice before finishing them. You are under no obligation to declare every last intention before seeing the die results.
Actions Related to Runes
The runes you get on the dice define the actions at your disposal. These runes will allow you to eliminate the monsters facing you, to move to other paths, to prevent monsters from advancing, or to charge your ultimate power for later use. There are six different runes represented equally on all dice: red rune, blue rune, green rune, yellow rune, purple rune and white rune.
At the beginning of your turn, you will roll 4 dice. To activate the power of the runes you roll, set aside the chosen die or dice and resolve the corresponding action. You can perform the same action several times as long as you have the required number of dice for each.
- Red rune: Strike this weak point OR move to this path.
- Blue rune: Strike this weak point OR move to this path.
- Green rune: Strike this weak point OR move to this path.
- Yellow rune: Strike this weak point OR move to this path. Note: 3-guardian game: Move to the path of your choice.
- Purple rune: Strike this weak point OR move to the path of your choice.
- White rune: Use your guardian's ability.
- Two identical runes: Block your path.
- Any die (discarded): Charge your ultimate power.
Important: Each die can only be used for a single action.
Example: Ismoros rolls a green rune, a green rune, a purple rune and a blue rune. She can either use the two green runes to block that path (A), or use one green rune to strike the warrior (B). But she cannot do both.
Strike a Weak Point
Each monster's weak points are depicted as runes on its card. These are the runes you must roll to eliminate the monster. You can only strike the first monster on your path; you do not have access to the monsters behind it.
When you use a die's rune to strike a monster's weak point, place an Injury marker on the corresponding rune on the monster's card. You don't have to strike all of the monster's weak points in a single turn. You can hit some of them and let the other guardians finish the job. The injuries inflicted stay until the monster is killed.
Note: Dragons cannot be killed by several guardians, because they heal after each turn. You have to kill a dragon all by yourself on a single turn (see Dragon, p. 12).
Example: Kulak is fighting the troll that is weak against the red, green and purple runes. She rolls the green and purple runes and inflicts 2 injuries. On the turn after hers, Kyreas swaps places with Kulak and uses a red rune, inflicting the last injury required to kill it.
Example: With his results (green, purple, blue, red), Kulak can strike the nearby archer using the green rune. But as long as the archer is alive, she cannot reach the warrior behind it.
When a monster is eliminated, the guardian who delivered the fatal blow immediately earns the awards indicated in the upper-right corner of the Monster card. Then discard the card.
The weaknesses of the monster behind that one immediately become accessible to attack.
Move
Each path is identified by a rune. To move to another path, you must use the rune corresponding to the path to which you wish to move. If a guardian is already present on this path, you swap places.
A guardian never advances along a path. A guardian always stands in the path area of the temple, in front of the path.
The purple rune allows you to move to any path you wish. In a 3-guardian game, the yellow rune also has this power, since the yellow path is not in play.
Example: Using the green rune, Kyreas moves to the green path, swapping places with Ismoros.
Use the Guardian's Ability
The white rune allows you to use your guardian's ability (see The Guardians, p.13).
Block Your Path
Use two identical runes allows you to block your path. Place a Blocking marker on the blocking area of your path. The monsters present on this path will not be able to advance during the Monster Movement phase this round (remove the Blocking marker instead).
Example: Kulak uses the two blue runes to block her path and thus prevent the advance of monsters there. She places a Blocking token on the path.
Note: If there is an archer on a blocked path, it cannot shoot. It is not possible to block a path with a dragon.
Charge Your Ultimate Power
Discard 1 die to advance your Ultimate Power token 1 space along its track. If your marker reaches space 4, your ultimate power is charged. You can unleash it during this turn or during a later turn.
Example: By discarding the purple and blue runes, Kyreas charges his ultimate power 2 spaces.
Special Actions
Certain special actions are not linked to the runes, but to the magic resources of your guardian. Like the rune actions, you can use them as many times as you wish, as long as you have the necessary resources available.
Reroll a Die
At any time in your turn, you can reroll one or more unused dice by spending 1 mana point (MP) per die you reroll.
Example: By spending 1 MP, Kyreas rerolls the die with the red rune and gets a white rune.
Release All Your Mana
Spend 4 mana points (MP) to focus all your mana on the monster in contact with your guardian (on space 1 on your path). It is then automatically destroyed, regardless of the number of weak points remaining unstruck. You gain the rewards of this monster.
Note: Releasing your mana does not affect wizards. If you have less than 4 MP available, you cannot release your mana.
Example: Ismoros can use 4 MP to release her mana on the red dragon because it is in contact with her. She cannot use it on the troll behind it, because the troll is not in contact with her (and is hidden by the dragon anyway).
Use Your Ultimate Power
If your Ultimate Power token reaches space 4 of its track, you can use your ultimate power. If this is the first time you are using your ultimate power this game, return the token to space 0, flipped over (2 side up). If this is the second time, discard the token; you can no longer use your ultimate power this game.
Example: Ismoros's token is on space 4 of its track. She triggers her petrification power, and returns the token to space 0 of the track, flipped to show the 2 side.
3- Monster Movement
Each monster on a path moves 1 space toward the temple. Deal with one path at a time, starting with the red rune path, and going clockwise.
On each path, move the monster closest to the temple first, then those after it.
Example: At the end of this player's turn, the shadow advances first (1), followed by the archer (2) then the troll (3).
A monster can only move if both of the following are true:
- There is an empty space in front of it. If it is in space 1, it cannot advance.
- Its path is not blocked (no Blocking marker). If the path is blocked, remove the Blocking marker and do not move the monsters on this path this turn.
If a monster begins this phase on space 1 of an unblocked path, it engages in direct combat.
Note: If an archer does not have a monster in front of him and is on an unblocked path, the archer nocks an arrow and engages in ranged combat.
If there is a guardian on this path: The guardian loses 1 health point (HP). If it loses its final HP this way, it is killed, and can no longer play; place its character on its board, but leave the Mana marker and Ultimate Power token where they are. If the guardian is brought back to life during the game, this will simply restore 4 health points.
If there is no guardian on this path: Remove 1 HP from the Temple Health Points board. If it loses its last HP, it collapses and you all lose the game!
Example: On the blue path, the shadow in space 1 injures Kulak (1). The archer in space 2 can neither move nor shoot since the next space is not empty (2). On the green path, with no guardian: The troll in space 1 hits the temple (which loses 1 HP) (3) and the warrior in space 3 advances to space 2 (4).
End of the Game
The game ends immediately in a joint victory as soon as the Dawn card is revealed. The monsters are struck down by sunlight.
The game ends in joint defeat if the final guardian is killed or if the temple is destroyed by losing its last HP.
The Monsters
During this arduous night, your guardians will encounter several types of monsters, each with a special ability.
Shadow (card text: Comes into play directly on space 2.): It comes directly into play on space 2 of its path. If this space is occupied, place it on space 3 (following the usual rules).
Archer (card text: Without a monster in front of it, shoots when moving.): When it moves, if there is no monster in front of it, it inflicts 1 damage on the guardian of its path (or on the temple if there is no guardian). Once in space 1, it engages in direct combat like other monsters.
Troll (card text: Inflict 2 damages when it has 2 wounds.): When it has two injuries, the troll inflicts 2 damage instead of 1. If the first damage kills a guardian, the second damage applies to the temple.
Warrior (card text: Cannot be wounded by a rerolled dice.): You cannot use rerolled dice to strike its weak points.
Wizard (card text: Immune against mana release.): Immune to release of mana.
Werewolf: No special ability.
Dragon (card text: Heals at the end of turn. Its path cannot be blocked.): To kill a dragon, you must inflict 3 injuries to it all by yourself, in the same turn. There are a few ways to do this: Either get 3 identical runes, or release your mana, or use doubles to inflict 2 injuries and inflict the third, fatal injury via your ultimate power or guardian's ability.
At the end of your turn, if the dragon is not dead, all of its injuries heal.
You cannot block a path with a dragon in it.
If you kill a dragon, you earn a health point and a mana point.
The Guardians
Neltai (The Tornado)
Neltai can open solar portals to move monsters and to unleash a devastating tempest upon them.
- Swap (guardian's ability, white rune): Move a monster to the same-numbered space of another path. If another monster is already in that space, they swap places. OR Move your guardian to any other path (as with a purple rune). If another guardian is already on this path, swap places.
- Elemental Tempest (ultimate power): Strike any weak point of each monster in space 1 of each path.
Ismoros (Rock Girl)
Ismoros can shield guardians from the monsters' attacks and can slow the progression of the forces of evil.
- Shield (guardian's ability, white rune): Place a Shield marker on a guardian. The next attack will destroy the shield instead of injuring the guardian. Each guardian can only have one shield at a time.
- Petrification (ultimate power): Ignore the next Monster Movement phase for all paths; however, remove the Blocking markers from all the paths.
Kulak (Protector of Life)
Kulak watches over the forces of the good and the health of her comrades. She can even resurrect a guardian who fell in battle.
- Healing Prayer (guardian's ability, white rune): A guardian of her choice regains 1 health point. It is not possible to heal the temple.
- Second Breath (ultimate power): Bring a guardian back to life, regaining 4 health points. Its mana points and ultimate power don't change. Place that guardian in front of an unguarded path. That guardian can take its turn this round if their turn has not already passed.
Kyreas (The Crusher)
Kyreas is an outstanding warrior with titanic strength, capable of hitting several targets at once.
- Whirlwind (guardian's ability, white rune): Strike any weak point of the first monster on your path.
- Trample (ultimate power): Strike any weak point of each monster on your path.
The Events
Positive Events
- Guardian Angel: Choose a guardian and give them the Guardian Angel marker. This guardian cannot lose their last health point. Even if damage removes several health points at once, this guardian still keeps its last health point.
- Cover: Ignore the ranged attacks of archers; however, their direct combat is unaffected.
- Transcendence: The guardians roll 5 dice instead of 4.
- Curative Mana: You can choose to gain health points instead of mana points when you kill a monster.
- Vivacity: Each guardian can move once for free during their turn.
Negative Events
- Mana Drain: Rerolls cost 2 mana points instead of 1 mana point.
- Hardcore: You cannot use your guardian's ability; however, you can still use your ultimate power.
- Poison: If a guardian suffers at least one injury during this round, place a poison marker on that guardian's board. At the end of the round, remove the poison marker and 1 HP (this may kill the guardian).
- Rain of Arrows: The guardians roll 3 dice instead of 4.
- Curse: Monsters that are killed do not earn you any mana.
Neutral Event
- All Is Calm: This event has no effect. But that's not so bad...
Solo Mode
You can play alone by covering all the bases of the game configuration you prefer (use the game board on the side corresponding to the number of guardians you play). For your first games, we recommend that you play all 4 guardians; however, you can play with just 3 guardians for more difficulty.
We do not recommend trying to defend the temple with only 1 guardian. The game really was not designed for this.
Tips
In Runemasters, the key is adaptation: Do not just automatically reroll your dice. Instead, see what you can do with the results you got, and always have a backup plan.
Kulak, your healer, is very important. She is the only one who can resurrect somone, and she cannot resurrect herself. Protect her!
A guardian can die honorably for the cause. Sometimes it is better to accept death to be resurrected back to combat afterwards. Make sure to resurrect your fallen comrade quickly, so that this guardian does not lose their turn.
Do not wait to use all the tools at your disposal (doubles, release of mana, guardian's ability, ultimate power) and try to find the best combinations. Do not hesitate to use release of mana from the start of the game if it gives you room to breathe!