Set a Watch: Forsaken Isles
Set A Watch: Forsaken Isles Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Game Contents
- Game Setup
- Creatures
- Locations
- Gameplay
- Camp Phase
- Merchant Phase
- Watch Phase
- Order of Play
- The Final Round
- Winning the Game
- Losing the Game
- The Corsair
- The Earth Golem
- The Druid
- The Fire Sorceress
- The Merchant
- Halfling Cavalier
- Hunt for the Kraken
- Deck Construction
- FAQ
- Glossary
- Credits
- Round Overview
Game Contents
- 6 Adventurer Boards
- 32 Location Cards: 22 Regular Locations, 3 Final Locations, 7 Respite Locations
- 30 Ability Cards: 5 for each Adventurer
- 4 Rest Tokens
- 6 Nature Cards (for the Druid)
- 2 Black Powder Cards (for the Corsair)
- 1 Mounted Status Card (for the Cavalier)
- 1 Rock Charges Dial (for the Golem)
- 1 Merchant Board (Double-sided)
- 30 Item Cards
- 16 Coin Tokens
- 1 Camp Board (part of the box)
- 3 Doom Tokens
- 1 Fire Token
- 9 d6 dice (3 sets in 3 colors)
- 3 d8 dice
- 3 d12 dice
- 36 Creature Cards
- 4 Summon Cards
- 13 Unhallowed Cards
- 9 Kraken Cards (1 Kraken, 8 Tentacles)
Game Setup
1. Set out the board and Components
Place the Camp board, Rest Tokens, and Doom Tokens within easy reach of all players.
2. Select Adventurers
Note: There must always be four Adventurers in play no matter the player count. If you have 4 players, each selects one Adventurer. With 3 players, pick a flex Adventurer that the player in camp controls during the Watch phase. In a 2-player game, each player selects two Adventurers. In a solo game, the only player selects four.
Players select their Adventurer and take that Adventurer's board, 5 matching Ability cards, and 3 corresponding dice. Shuffle the Adventurer's Ability cards together and draw 2 cards at random to place on your Adventurer board (faceup). Draw a 3rd card and place it on your board exhausted (facedown). Place the remaining 2 Ability cards off to the side of your board (F).
- A. Adventurer Class
- B. Ability Slots: Place three equipped Ability cards in these slots.
- C. Dice: These banners represent the dice your adventurer will play with: each blue banner represents a d8, each red banner represents a d6, each green banner represents a d12, and each purple banner represents a d4. During the game, each spent die is to be placed on a different, empty banner space on your Adventurer's board.
- D. Camp Action: This special ability can only be used once per Camp Phase if the Adventurer rests in Camp (see page 7).
- E. Attack Type: An Adventurer with Range can direct attack and damage Creatures in either the first or second position of the Line. Melee can only attack and damage Creatures in the first position of the Line.
3. Prepare the Creature Deck
- Easy: Summon x1
- Normal: Summon x2
- Hard: Summon x3
- Insane: Summon x4
Take all Creature cards in the game. Select either 1, 2, 3, or 4 Summon cards, for respectively an Easy, Normal, Hard, or Insane game. Remove all unused Summon cards from the game. Set aside two Acolytes, then select randomly 28 cards from the remaining Creature cards and add the two Acolytes atop of them. Remove all unused Creature cards from the game. Shuffle the Creature cards together, and then divide them into facedown piles, as even in size as possible, so that the number of piles matches the number of Summon cards in play. Shuffle 1 Summon card into each pile. Then stack these piles to form the Creature Deck, placing the smaller piles on the bottom.
4. Prepare the Map Deck
Take all the Location cards, and set aside every Respite and Final Location. Shuffle the remaining Location cards together and draw 8 cards without looking at them. Form the Map Deck with the just selected 8 cards. Then, select (randomly or by picking it) one of the previously set aside Final Locations and add it to the bottom of the Map Deck. Remove any unused Final Location cards from the game. Take all the remaining Location cards (including the Respite Locations) and shuffle them together to form the Unused Location Deck.
5. Prepare the Unhallowed Deck
Take all the Unhallowed cards, shuffle them together, and without looking, draw and place one card in the Horde facedown. The Horde is a facedown deck of cards that is added to the final round of the game. The bigger the Horde is, the more difficult the final round will be. Then, draw and place 7 Unhallowed cards faceup next to the Camp board to create the Unhallowed Deck. Set aside all the remaining Unhallowed cards.
Setup Overview Diagram
The full table setup consists of: the Unused Locations pile; the Horde (place inside the box); the Camp board, with the Doom tokens, fire token, and the current Location card placed at its center, and its action spaces around the ring — Check Map, Chop Firewood, Heal, Equip/Evoke, and Scout Ahead (a coin token sits on each action space marked with the coin symbol); the Creature Deck; the Graveyard, where defeated Creatures go as a discard pile; and the Unhallowed Deck.
6. Light the Fire!
Draw the top location card from the Map deck and place it as the current location on the Camp board. Do not resolve the location's firewood modifier for the first round (see page 7). Place the fire token to 7 firewood on the Camp Board. Alternatively, to vary the gameplay and make the game more difficult, you may roll a d6 to randomly set the starting firewood.
7. Prepare the Merchant
Place the Merchant board next to the Camp board. Take all the coins and place them off to the side of Merchant board to represent the Bank. Place a coin on each Camp board action space marked with the coin symbol.
8. Prepare the Market
Finally, take all the Item cards and shuffle them together to form the Item Deck. Place the deck near the Merchant board. Draw 3 Items from the Item deck and place them faceup on the Merchant board. These Items represent the Market.
Now you are ready to begin playing.
Creatures
During the Watch Phase, players will use their dice to defeat Creatures. When Creatures are defeated they go to the Graveyard, when they are not defeated they end up in the Horde.
- A. Damage: This number represents the total number of Ability cards from the Adventuring party currently on Watch that are exhausted if the Creature is not defeated.
- B. Base Health: This number represents the total amount of damage that must be assigned with dice to defeat the Creature.
- C. Power text: This section contains all the unique abilities of the Creature, including Reveal and First position effects.
- D. Creature Type: Unhallowed are considered Creatures with a Creature Type of Unhallowed.
Summon and Unhallowed cards
When a Summon card is revealed from the Creatures Deck, it's immediately resolved (see Order of Play on pg 18); then, the Summon card is discarded to the Graveyard, to be immediately replaced with the topmost card of the Unhallowed deck. When an Unhallowed card is revealed, resolve any triggerable Unhallowed card powers, and then once defeated, it is discarded into the Graveyard.
Locations
- A. Firewood Modifier: Advance or retreat the Firewood token based on this modifier.
- B. Creature count: This number represents the number of Creature cards that will form the Line at the beginning of the Watch phase.
- C. Location type: Respite Locations and Final Locations are marked.
- D. Location Ability: Location-specific effects and conditions, usually representing effects lasting as long as the Location card remains in play, but some Locations might have a different time trigger. In this case, the Location special ability is resolved when the triggering conditions are met.
Gameplay
The game is played over a series of 9 rounds represented by 8 random Locations and 1 Final Location. Each round is composed of a Camp phase, a Merchant phase and a Watch phase; before moving to the Camp phase, all Adventurers will be asked to roll their dice.
After rolling their dice, players will decide, together as a team, who'll be the Adventurer going to the Camp. That Adventurer, during the Camp phase (see page 11), will assign their dice to any Camp actions and/or Runes on the back of the map deck to resolve these actions. All other Adventurers will be on Watch (see page 15), where they'll be tasked to eliminate Creatures threatening the party.
Camp Phase
Each Adventurer MUST go to Camp exactly twice during the first 8 rounds of the game. During the final round all Adventurers go on Watch for the final battle.
The Adventurer who rests in Camp refreshes one of their exhausted Ability cards and refreshes all of their exhausted Items, if any. They take a Rest token on that Adventurer's first visit to Camp and place it on their Adventurer's board on the x1 side. The Rest token is flipped over to the x2 side on their second visit. An Adventurer with all their Ability cards exhausted cannot participate in a Watch phase.
The Adventurer in Camp does not participate in combat. Instead they assign their rolled dice, one at a time, and resolve the corresponding action on one of the following:
- an action space in the Camp
- an action space on their Adventurer board
- a Rune on the back of the card on the top of the Map deck
If a die is placed on an action space with a Coin on it, move the Coin to the bottom of the Merchant board. The Coins placed here represent the Coins held by the Adventurers as a group.
The selection is repeated until all three results have been assigned and resolved. The same action can be selected more than once per Camp phase, as long as a die is not assigned to a space already containing a die.
Camp Actions
The Camp board has action spaces for each Camp action. Some actions might come with a requirement that must be met in order for that action to be resolved.
Chop Wood (max 3 placements): Advance the Firewood token 2 spaces clockwise, increasing firewood by +2.
Scout Ahead (max 3 placements): Draw and look at the top 2 Creatures of the Creature Deck. For each card, return it either to the top or to the bottom of the Creatures Deck. Requirement: In order to assign a second (or third) die to this action space, the result on the second (or third) die must be higher than the result of the highest die spent on this action.
Check Map (max 1 placement): Draw the top card of the Map Deck and the top card from the Unused Locations Deck, and choose one to place on the top of the Map Deck, and the other one to the bottom of the Unused Locations Deck. Requirement: You cannot resolve this action unless you spend a result of '4' or a higher. By resolving this action, you cannot swap out the Final Location.
Heal (max 1 placement): Refresh 1 exhausted Ability card in play (you can either target yourself, or any one Adventurer on Watch). Requirement: You must spend a result of exactly '6' in order to resolve this action.
When placing on the Equip/Evoke space, you choose one action or the other (not both):
Equip (max 1 placement): Swap 1 Ability card currently on your Adventurer board with 1 of your leftover unused Ability cards. If the Ability card that is swapped out is exhausted, the new card is placed on your Adventurer board exhausted as well.
Evoke (max 1 placement): Select an Unhallowed that is not currently in the game and add it to the bottom of the Unhallowed deck.
Adventurer Special Camp Actions
Each Adventurer has a special Camp action, listed on their Adventurer board. As per any other Camp action, an Adventurer wanting to activate their special Camp action simply assigns one of their dice to their Adventurer board. Each Adventurer Camp action can only be used max once per round.
Runes
Runes are special action spaces available on the back of location cards. During the Camp phase, the Adventurer at the Camp can activate these Runes by placing dice on them. Requirement: In order to activate the Runes, you need to spend at least two matching results (i.e. 2 '3's, or 2 '4's and so on). Each result must be placed on a different Rune space (i.e. you cannot activate the same Rune more than once). If three matching results were rolled, they can be used to activate all three runes, or they can be used to activate two of them, and the third result can be used for a different action.
Seal (max 1 placement): Lose 1 Doom. Then, search the Graveyard for an Unhallowed card of your choosing and move it to the bottom of the Unhallowed deck. Do not shuffle the Graveyard afterwards.
Vanquish (max 1 placement): Lose 1 Doom. Then, take the top card of the Horde and remove it from the game.
Bolster (max 1 placement): Lose 1 Doom. Then, each Adventurer on Watch may choose to reroll any number of their dice.
When all of the Camp Adventurer's dice have been assigned and actions have been resolved, the game continues to the Merchant Phase.
Merchant Phase
The Merchant phase gives Adventurers a chance to purchase Items that can be used on their quest.
Purchase Items
The Adventurer resting in Camp may spend Coins to purchase any number of Items in the Market. When an Item is purchased, discard Coins equal to the Item's cost back to the Bank. Then, the resting Adventurer gives the Item to any Adventurer (including themselves). The Item is now equipped by the Adventurer; this will give them access to the Item's special ability. Each Adventurer can have up to 2 equipped Items.
- A. Item Name
- B. Item Effect: This section contains the trigger conditions for the Item (Passive, Activate, Discard, etc) followed by the effect.
- C. Item Cost: This number represents the number of Coins to discard back to the Bank to purchase the Item.
Refresh Market
After players as a group have finished purchasing Items, draw Items from the Item Deck to fill any empty spots in the Market. If no Item was purchased this round, draw 1 Item and place it faceup covering another Item of your choice in the Market. Adventurers can only purchase the topmost Item of each pile in the Market.
Add Coins to Camp
Add a coin on each Camp action space that is marked with the coin symbol that does not have a die assigned. Stack coins as necessary.
Watch Phase
The Watch Phase represents a night of battling Creatures as they try and make their way into your Camp. After setting up the Line of Creatures, Adventurers spend their dice on direct attacks and Ability cards to defeat the Creatures. Players can activate abilities and assign dice in whatever order they see fit (there is no turn order) until all Creatures have been defeated or all Adventurers run out of options. An Adventurer cannot participate in combat if all of their Ability cards are exhausted at the start of the Watch Phase.
Setting up the Line
Check the Creature count on the current Location card (see Locations pg 10): this is the number of Creatures the Adventurers will face during this Phase. Then draw cards from the Creature deck and place them facedown to form a Line, starting with the top card being placed closest to the Camp board, until the total number of cards in the Line is equal to the current Location's Creature count. If you ever need to draw a card from the Creature deck and cannot, shuffle all the Creatures in the Graveyard (including any Unhallowed and Summon cards present there) to create a new Creature deck. Then, draw Creature cards from the new deck until the Line is fully formed.
Reveal Creatures
Check the current firewood value on the Camp board. The number of Creatures revealed by the Campfire is indicated by the Campfire reveal level on the Camp board (1-6 firewood reveals 1 Creature, 7-11 firewood reveals 2 Creatures, and 12+ firewood reveals 3 Creatures). Creatures are revealed one at the time, starting with the facedown Creature closest to the Camp board. Every time a new Creature is turned faceup, their special powers are checked, and any effect triggered is immediately resolved. Creatures remain revealed even if the Firewood token would retreat enough to affect the number of Creatures revealed in the Line.
The firewood value can never reach zero. If the firewood value is ever zero, exhaust an Ability card of an Adventurer on Watch to increase it by +2.
Combat Actions
After Creatures are revealed and their effects checked and resolved, Adventurers may work together and take actions until a Creature is defeated. Creatures are defeated by attacking them directly or activating an Ability card. When a Creature is defeated, it's moved to the Graveyard; then, the Line reacts. All Creature cards move 1 space closer to the Camp board and then Creatures are revealed according to the Campfire reveal level.
Direct Attacks
Adventurers can spend and combine their dice to attack revealed Creatures in range. Melee characters can only attack Creatures in first position. Ranged characters can attack Creatures in first or second position. A Creature's Base Health is located in the top right of its card: this value can be modified by some Creature special Abilities to form the Creature's Health. When the sum of the results is equal to or higher than the Creature's Health, that Creature is defeated and sent to the Graveyard.
Activating Non-Passive Ability Cards
Once per card per round, Adventurers can spend a die on an unexhausted Ability card to activate it. Alternatively, Ability cards can also be exhausted to trigger their effects. This means that Adventurers can potentially trigger an Ability twice in the same round: once by spending a die on it, and a second time by exhausting it. They can of course activate said Ability just once per round by either spending the die, or by exhausting the card. Abilities are fully resolved before Creature powers are triggered (see Order of Play on pg 18).
Passive Ability Cards
Passive abilities do not require a die to activate. Passive abilities are active as long as they remain faceup and may be used according to their text (e.g. the Ranger's Sharpshooter ability, reads "Once per round, you may reroll and reuse a die spent on a direct attack." whereas the Warrior's Cleave ability can be continually used to save the remainder of a die result used on a direct attack.)
Using Items
Items are similar to Ability cards and can only be used by Adventurers on Watch during the Watch phase.
Items with the Activate trigger can only be used by spending a die to activate them. They cannot be exhausted and can only be activated once per round.
Items with the Exhaust trigger can only be used by exhausting the Item. Exhausted Items are only refreshed when you rest in Camp.
Items with the Discard trigger are one-time use Items that are activated by discarding and placing them on the bottom of the Item deck.
Items with the Passive trigger are similar to Passive Ability cards. They are used according to their text and are active as long as the Item is not exhausted or its ability is not canceled by an in-game effect.
Doom
When you gain Doom, place a Doom token on one of the three spots on the Camp Board. If you already have 3 Doom tokens on the Camp Board and were to gain a 4th Doom, instead do the following:
- Place the topmost card of the Unhallowed deck at the end of the Line facedown.
- Add the top card of the Creature deck to the Horde.
- Remove all Doom tokens from the Camp Board.
When you lose Doom, remove a Doom token from the Camp Board (if able).
Out of Actions
If Adventurers run out of actions and there are still Creatures in the Line, the Adventurers, as a group, exhaust a number of their Ability Cards equal to the damage of each Creature, one at the time, starting from the first undefeated Creature in the Line. Then, add those Creatures facedown to the top of the Horde in Line order. Whenever cards need to be exhausted, Adventurers must exhaust cards of their choosing from the Adventurers on Watch. The moment the Adventurers on Watch exhaust their last unexhausted Ability card, the game is lost.
Once the Line is clear of Creatures, the Watch Phase ends.
Ending the Round
If at least one Adventurer on the Watch has an unexhausted Ability card, play moves to the next round. Draw and reveal the next Location card and adjust firewood based on the Location drawn.
Order of Play
If cards are to activate at the same time or they are in conflict with each other, please resolve them in the following order:
- Reveal Creatures one at a time, corresponding with the Campfire reveal level. Any relevant Reveal, Ongoing, and/or Position Creature powers triggered is resolved in the moment the creature is revealed.
- Adventures may use Abilities, Items and direct attacks to defeat Creatures. Adventurers as a group decide what to resolve first in case there are timing conflicts of these effects. Abilities and Items are resolved before Creature powers trigger.
- As soon as a Creature is defeated, advance the Line and return to point 1 of this list before taking any further Adventurer actions.
- Summon cards always trigger! If they are to be discarded as part of an effect that targets unrevealed Creature cards, that effect is paused, and the Summon is resolved instead. After the card is fully resolved, the effect that was targeting it is resolved against the Creature that was just summoned.
The Final Round
When the final Location is revealed, the Adventurers have reached the last round, and all Adventurers go on a final Watch (i.e. there's no Camp phase this round, but there is one final Merchant phase).
Proceed to setup the Line normally; then draw cards from the Horde and place them facedown at the end of the Line until the entire Horde has been added to the Line. The Horde is not shuffled. Gameplay then proceeds as normal to the Watch phase.
Winning the Game
If at the end of the Final Round, at least one Adventurer has an unexhausted Ability card and there are no more Creature cards in the Line, the Adventurers win the game.
Losing the Game
If at any time, all Adventurers on Watch have all their Ability cards exhausted, the game is lost. Additionally, if an Unhallowed is to be summoned but the Unhallowed Deck is empty, the game is lost.
The Corsair
The Corsair used to spend her time seeking treasure, gambling, and drinking a nice grog, but she's seen the dark tidings the Unhallowed bring and volunteered to captain the ship to hunt them down. The Corsair is a swashbuckling swordswoman who is deadly with her cutlass.
Black Powder
The Corsair's Camp ability allows her to shuffle in deadly Black Powder bombs into the Creature Deck. Make sure these cards are separated and given to the Corsair at the start of the game.
The Earth Golem
When the Unhallowed returned to the kingdom, this ancient giant awoke to protect the realm. The Earth Golem is a reliable defender who can spend its earth essence to increase its dice values protecting its powerful d12 dice from bad rolls. The Golem's abilities are dependent on the earth around it, so its mighty Rock Fist and Earthquake abilities interact with the current Location's Creature count.
Golem's Rock Charges
During Setup, the Golem takes the Rock Charges dial and sets starting charges equal to 2x the number of Summon cards in the game (i.e. Normal game = 4 charges). Every time you spend (or gain) a charge, you retreat (or advance) the dial one step. Charges cannot exceed the dial's limit. Spending a Charge allows you to increase the value of your die by 1 (i.e. spend 3 charges to turn a '6' die result into a '9' result). You cannot exceed the die's maximum value of 12.
The Druid
The natural world is of the utmost importance to the Druid, who has sworn to protect the forest and all its creatures from the corruption of the Unhallowed. The Druid's abilities all revolve around his Nature deck of Forest Creatures. His abilities call upon the top Forest Creature for aid and can masterfully manipulate the Line by swapping his allies into the Creature Deck or Horde.
Nature Deck
During Setup, the Druid shuffles all of his Nature cards together and places the Nature deck next to his Adventurer board faceup. The Nature deck is made up of a bunch of Forest Creature cards. In general, these act like normal Creature cards but have beneficial powers to the player.
These Creatures all have a defeated power which returns them to the bottom of the Nature deck instead of being sent to the Graveyard.
The Fire Sorceress
The Fire Sorceress' hatred of the Unhallowed burns deep as she was scarred by the Pyromancer in her youth. In the years following, she poured herself into the arcane mastery of fire. She engulfs her enemies in flames to devastating effect, but not without a cost. Many of her abilities deplete your campfire, so she must work on containing her raging fire within and be sure to balance her offensive abilities with others that replenish the campfire.
The Merchant
This Merchant is tired of chasing gold and wants to make a real difference in the realm. Utilizing her skills to haggle, she can always get a discount on items for her party. The Merchant is a support character that augments Item usage and efficiency. She can equip up to 3 Items from the Market and can spend dice and Coin to get additional uses out of potions.
Starting Items
When setting up the Merchant, draw the top 2 cards of the Item deck and equip them to the Merchant without paying their cost.
Halfling Cavalier
Don't be fooled by the Halfling Cavalier's small stature, the Cavalier has formed a strong bond with their Giant Lynx and is a fearless scout. The Halfling Cavalier has a Mounted or On Foot card which signifies their current state. Playing Mounted increases the value of each of their die results, while playing On Foot gives them range. Switching between these modes allows for a lot of versatility.
Mounted/On Foot
During Setup, the Cavalier takes their Mounted/On Foot Status card and sets it so that the Mounted side is faceup.
Hunt for the Kraken
This mode offers a shorter game experience featuring 5 rounds instead of the normal 9 against a mighty Kraken boss. Setup the game as normal, with the following changes:
- Step 3: Instead of 28 cards, build a Creature Deck of 18 cards with 2 Acolytes. Then add your Summon cards based on your desired difficulty.
- Step 4: Draw 4 cards instead of 8 for the Map Deck and use the Beast's Lair as your Final Location.
- Step 5: Take the 8 Tentacle cards and organize them by Health with the lowest Health Tentacle card first. Then place the Kraken on the bottom of the deck to form the Unhallowed Deck. Place the top 2 Tentacles into the Horde facedown.
The game is played normally except that each Adventurer must rest once, instead of twice.
Example Creature Deck
Cave Cyclops x1, Cliff Crab x1, Colossus x1, Cursed Wanderer x1, Drowned Pirate x1, Fog Shark x1, Harpy x1, Lantern Goblin x1, Living Shadow x1, Mist Terror x1, Ocean Drake x1, Rocktopuss x1, Sea Foam x1, Siren Acolyte x2, Undead Goblin x1, Will of the Wisp x1, Wounded Messenger x1
Deck Construction
Set a Watch is designed to offer a ton of replayability and challenge. Our setup instructions tell you to set aside and include 2 Acolytes in your Creature deck, but you can add/remove Acolytes to further tailor the difficulty of the game.
After exploring all the challenges in this game, additional Set a Watch products will open a world of new challenging Creature decks that you can build.
Extra Summon cards from other products will allow you to go past the "Insane" difficulty level (4 Summons). Simply add one additional Unhallowed to the Unhallowed deck for each Summon you add above the original maximum limit of 4.
A Creature Deck is composed of exactly 30 cards (not including Summon cards).
You can pick any 30 Creatures and build a valid Creature Deck, but if you want your deck to be balanced for all of the Adventurers in the series, we offer the following guidelines:
- Include at least 4 Forest Creatures
- Include ate least 4 Undead Creatures
- Include at least 2 Dragons
- Include at least 1 Human, 1 Goblin, and 1 Golem
To make more challenging decks, you will want to create synergies between Creature types, Creature powers and the Unhallowed. For example, don't select the Wyvern Rider if you don't have any Wyverns in your deck.
Deck customization can extend beyond the Creature deck into the Map Deck as well. You can select the 8 Locations along with the Final location to make a challenge that is worthy of your group!
FAQ
How does a Creature's Reveal power work? Is it only when a creature is flipped faceup or do Reveal powers activate when an Unhallowed is summoned or a Creature enters the Line from some other effect or Ability?
Reveal powers activate when a card is flipped faceup and whenever a creature with a Reveal ability enters the line revealed (faceup).
Can I kill a Creature that was revealed and stop its Reveal power from triggering?
Remember that Abilities are fully resolved before you check newly revealed Creature powers. However after a Reveal power has triggered, it cannot be stopped. Some exceptions to this rule exist such as the Monk's Perfect Defense Ability which does cancel and counter a Creature power retroactively.
Can the Fire Level go above 15 or below 0?
No, the fire does not go above 15 or go below 0. If an effect would cause the Fire Level to go above 15 or below 0, that effect is not applied.
Can I use an Ability even if I can't do everything on the card (i.e. Reveal 2 creatures)?
Yes, you simply resolve as much of the Ability as you are able based on the game's state.
When Creature powers, Abilities or other effects send Creatures to the Horde, do I look at the cards? Do I take any damage? What happens when things are added to the Horde in the last round of the game?
No, you do not look at the cards placed into the Horde nor do you suffer any damage. In the last round, you can start a new Horde. Normally you will not interact with this new Horde, but some card effects might.
Can I activate an Ability by exhausting it instead of spending a die on it first?
Yes, just keep in mind that you then cannot activate it with a die after it is exhausted.
When an Ability triggers off of X, what is X? If X is the die value, what value do I use if I exhaust to activate it?
X is the exact die value spent to activate the Ability (unless stated otherwise on the card). If such an Ability is activated by exhausting it, then use the value of a spent dice instead.
What's the order of play when 2 Creatures are defeated at the same time?
When 2 Creatures are defeated and sent to the Graveyard simultaneously via an ability like Chaos Blast or by spending a Tamed Forest Creature to defeat another Creature, you always decide the order they go into the Graveyard. After the Ability or attack is fully resolved and both Creatures have been placed in the Graveyard, the Line advances and you reveal the creature in First position, then Second position.
When do Defeated Creature powers not trigger?
When you defeat a Creature before it's revealed, it's eventual Defeated power does not trigger. In order for a Creature's power to trigger, that Creature must have been revealed prior to the activation of the Ability card that defeats it. Furthermore, for Defeated powers to trigger - you must defeat the revealed Creature and that Creature must go to the Graveyard at that time (see Rules Glossary). If Creatures are removed from the game (Stay Dead), swapped (Polymorph) etc, then Defeated would not trigger.
Glossary
Base Health: refers to the Health value printed on the card - not the Creature's current Health which may be modified by effects in the game.
Beast Rider: is a Creature power that targets Forest Creatures in the Line placed immediately before or immediately behind the Creature having this ability. If a Forest Creature is ever revealed before or behind a revealed Creature with the Beast Rider power, then the Rider is placed on top of that Creature card and considered a single Creature of the Rider's type. The Rider's Health gains +X Health where X is the Base Health of the Forest Creature. Once these cards are combined, they cannot be tamed.
Campfire: This refers to the center dial on the Camp board. The Campfire reveal level dictates how many Creatures in the Line are revealed at any given time. See "Reveal Creatures" on page 15 for more details.
Defeat: The act of placing a Creature card into the Graveyard.
Defeated: This term is sometimes used on Creature cards and triggers when the Creature is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard.
Direct Attack: The act of spending one or more dice to defeat a Creature.
Dismount: Flip the Cavalier's Status card from the Mounted side to the On Foot side.
Doom: The current Doom is always the total number of Doom tokens on the Camp board. When you gain/lose Doom, you add/remove these tokens.
Dragon Rider: see Beast Rider above but targets Dragons instead of Forest Creatures.
End of Line: This term is sometimes used on Creature cards and triggers when a Creature is revealed at the End of the Line furthest away from the Camp board.
Exhaust: This refers to the act of flipping over an Ability card to represent that you have used up that ability.
Exhaust X Abilities: is a common Creature power that is shorthand for "the Adventurers on Watch, as a group, must immediately exhaust a total of X Ability cards."
First Position: Many Creatures have first position powers that activate if they are ever the first Creature in the Line.
Graveyard: The Creature discard pile.
Health: represents the current Health of the Creature, and refers to the value that must be met or exceeded to defeat the Creature.
Horde: The Horde is a stack of additional Creature cards that will be added to the final round of the game.
In Camp: Refers to the Adventurer resting in Camp that round.
The Line: The Line of Creatures that needs to be defeated every round.
Ongoing: Creatures with Ongoing powers are effects that are constantly active throughout the game, as long as the Creature is revealed and any conditions are met.
On Watch: Refers to the Adventurers currently involved in combat.
Negate: When a Creature power is negated, its text box is treated as if it were blank.
Peek: this keyword allows you to look at a number of unrevealed cards without triggering any effect on them, and without putting them in a Revealed state. After peeking at cards, they are returned to where they were i.e. the top of the deck or back into the same position in the Line.
Range: Refers to how far back in the Line an Adventurer, or their tamed Creatures, can target a Creature with a direct attack. Every Adventurer can target Creatures in first position. Adventurers with a Ranged icon in the bottom right corner of their Adventurer card can attack Creatures in first or second position. Effects increasing Adventurers range by +1 allow Adventurers to target cards up to 1 spaces further down the Line (so that Melee attacks are now able to target Creatures either in 1st or 2nd position in the Line, and Ranged attacks can target Creatures in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd position).
Recover a die: Ability Cards that say recover a die return them (at their value) to the Adventurer they were stolen from. Once returned, they can be used as normal.
Refresh: Flip over an Ability card to its unexhausted side so that the Ability can be used again. It can also be refered to as Heal because of the Camp action associated with refreshing.
Rest: An Adventurer going to Camp this round is considered Resting. Remember, over the course of a game, that every Adventurer needs to rest exactly twice. Use the Rest tokens to keep track of Resting.
Reveal: When a Creature is revealed, it is flipped faceup. Creature Reveal powers trigger when this occurs and/or when Creatures enter the Line for the first time in a Revealed state (i.e. when an Unhallowed is summoned or a Creature is added to the Line from the Graveyard).
Second Position: This term is sometimes used on Creature cards and triggers when a revealed Creature is in the Second position of the Line.
Spent: Dice are spent on Camp action spaces, Items, Abilities, and direct attacks and then cannot be used again until they are rerolled at the start of the round. When dice are spent on Items or Abilities, they are placed on that card to mark their use. In Camp, spent dice are placed on the Camp action spaces. When spending dice on direct attacks, spent dice can be placed on the colored banners on the top right of their Adventurer's board.
Steal: There are several Creature powers that steal a die. When a die is stolen from an Adventurer, it is placed on that Creature until that Creature is defeated. Once the Creature is defeated, the die is returned to the corresponding Adventurer but it is considered spent. Recovered dice by other means can be spent as normal.
Stun X Abilities: is a Creature power that causes the Adventurers on Watch, as a group, to spend X dice on Ability cards without activating their effects. Only Abilities that are activated by a die can be stunned. If an Adventurer has no unspent dice or has no valid unexhausted Abilities, they cannot be stunned (Barbarian is immune to Stun). If an Ability is stunned, it can still be activated by exhausting the card that round.
Tame: Some Creatures can be tamed, i.e. removed from the Line and added to an Adventurer's play area as an attack die. When used as an attack die, the Creature's base Health is used as the die value. After using the Creature, it's discarded to the Graveyard. These Creatures can be saved between rounds unless otherwise specified.
Unspent: At the beginning of each round, all spent dice are rerolled and placed to the side of your Adventurer's board as unspent dice.
Credits
- Published by: Rock Manor Games
- Game Design: Todd Walsh & Mike Gnade
- Game Development: Ryan Ward & Samuel Bailey
- Adventurer Illustrations: Boris Stanisic
- Creature Illustrations: Rodolpho Langhi & Bruno Scwartz
- Location Illustrations: Andreas Rocha & Rastislav
- Graphic Design: T.L. Simons
- Item Illustrations: Ella Villa & T.L. Simons
- Technical Editing: Andrea Dell'Agnese & Julia Faeta
Playtesting: Flynn Walsh, Meghan Walsh, Heather O'Neill, Chris O'Neill, Rosalie Gnade, Matthew Canglialosi, Michelle Deleppo, Tessa LaNeve, Heather Wilson, Nicole Amato, Anthony Amato, Benjamin Afrasyab Farahmand, Nolan James, Tammy Dotts, Joe Brannigan, Wendy Rothschell, David Friant, Ryan Ward, Ryan Friant, Ted Adams, Tom Panico, Jason Tagmire, Ben Begeal, Duane Kolar, Chris Visco, Dan Cassar, Jake Vander Ende, Joseph Kim, Denny Dong, Tom Callahan, Kevin Simms, Polina Osokina.
Special Thanks: GMG Philadelphia
Round Overview
1. Roll Dice
2. Camp Phase: Pick who rests in Camp. Resting player refreshes a card and takes Camp Actions:
- a. Chop Wood
- b. Scout Ahead
- c. Check Map with 4+
- d. Heal with exactly a 6
- e. Equip or Evoke
- f. Cast Rune Spells with Doubles/Triples
- g. Adventurer Camp ability
3. Merchant Phase:
- a. Purchase Items
- b. Refresh the Market
- c. Add Coins to the Camp
3. Watch Phase:
- a. Reveal Creatures based on the Campfire reveal level
- b. Spend your dice as attacks or to activate Abilities
- c. Exhaust a card to +2 firewood
4. End Watch: Add any Creatures that were not defeated to the Horde one by one, triggering any relevant powers. Adventurer's on Watch exhaust cards equal to each Creature's damage.
5. Reveal the next Location: Adjust the firewood by the value shown on the Location card.