Side Quest
Side Quest Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 80 Cards
- 2 Dice
- This rulebook
Cards in Detail
Hero Cards (12)
These Cards represent the players and are placed under the Location cards to show where the Hero is.
Each Hero has a special ability. Remember what yours is – they are very powerful!
Each Hero also has an Item and Spell limit. This is how many cards of those types you can hold.
Health Card (4)
Each player has a Health Card in front of them. Rotate the card so that the 4 hearts are upright.
As you lose or gain health, rotate this card to keep track of your remaining points.
Should any Hero lose all their health points, the game is lost.
Monster Card (30)
Monsters are your main obstacle in the game. They activate after the Heroes have a chance to slay them.
Monster Cards have the same backing to make them easily identifiable.
Boss Card (3)
Bosses appear at the end of the Scenario and defeating them is the objective of the game.
You will notice each Boss Card has special Heart symbols. These are the number of Dungeon Hearts that should be shuffled into the Dungeon Deck along with the Monster and Loot Cards.
Bosses act like normal Monsters, however they cannot be hurt until all the Dungeon Hearts have been destroyed (see below). Once this is done, they count as having the same amount of Health as they have Dungeon Hearts.
Should you deal the same amount of damage to a Boss as it has Hearts but you have yet to destroy all of the Dungeon Hearts, the Boss is stunned instead (see Other Rules).
Note that Bosses do not count as Monsters when referred to by Spells or other cards. For example the Mage cannot stun a Boss when it first appears, and the Barrier Spell cannot stop it from moving.
When a Boss is defeated, the game is immediately won! Any remaining Monsters run away in fear after seeing their leader slain in battle.
Dungeon Heart (3)
Before a Boss is placed in a Dungeon Deck, you should shuffle the appropriate number of Dungeon Hearts into the deck. These have to be destroyed before the Boss can be harmed.
Dungeon Hearts should be treated as items that cannot be picked up. This means Monsters can be spawned and move on top of them, and they cannot be attacked until all Monsters in the Location are destroyed or stunned.
Location Card (6)
These are placed horizontally in a line to represent the Dungeon. Heroes are placed beneath these and Dungeon Deck cards are placed above them.
Each Location has a special effect. Be sure to follow it!
Weapon Card (12)
You start the game with a 'Basic' weapon and the 'Elite' weapons are shuffled into the Loot Deck.
You can carry 2 one-handed weapons or 1 two-handed weapon for free. Excess weapons count towards your Item limit.
Weapons are part of your equipment so should be kept in front of you on the table.
Item Card (12)
Items have many different functions. Refer to the text on the individual cards for their use.
Items are part of your equipment and should be kept in front of you.
Spell Card (12)
Spells are used as Actions and always require a dice roll.
Spells are part of your equipment and should be kept in front of you.
Dungeon Key
The Dungeon Key can be picked up like a normal item. It may be used as a special Action when the bearer is in the Locked Door Location; it usually requires a dice roll of 3+. If successful the Heroes have left the current Dungeon Level and they proceed to the next one.
You cannot use the Dungeon Key if there are Damsels out. You have to save them first!
The Dungeon Key should be discarded after successfully opening a Locked Door.
Damsels
Damsels are special cards. The Monsters are slowly lowering them into the lava! You have to save them before they meet a grisly fate.
To attempt a rescue, you must be in the same Location as the Damsel and roll 4+ on a single Dice. This roll can be modified as usual.
During each End Phase you should lower the Damsel Card behind its current Location Card by one step. If the card reaches the skull symbol (after 3 turns) the Damsel dies and the game is lost!
Monsters can move over Damsels as if they were a loot card but they do not spawn on them. If a Monster is over a Damsel, the Damsel cannot be rescued until the Monster is slain or stunned.
Dark Portal
At the start of the Monster Phase you should spawn two additional Monster cards from the Monster Deck on the same location as the Dark Portal. They activate as normal.
The Dark Portal is considered to be an item that you can attack, so Monsters will spawn on its Location as normal.
Loot Card Backings
All Loot Cards have the backing to make them easily identifiable. Loot Cards include Items, Spells and Weapons.
Monster Card Backings
All Monster Cards have the backing to make them easily identifiable.
Damsels and Dark Runes are also considered to be Monster cards and should be added to the Dungeon Deck accordingly.
Exploring the Dungeon
Side Quest is all about exploring dungeons and slaying monsters. This is done by going through The Dungeon Deck. This deck represents the contents of the dungeon you are in. Dungeons are split into levels; you start at Level 1 and progress to Level 3, which has a Boss to defeat.
The Scenario you are playing will tell you how many Monster and Loot Cards should be shuffled together. You should then add either the Dungeon Key or a Boss to the bottom of the deck based on the scenario level you are playing.
Travel
When moving between Dungeon Levels the Dungeon Deck is reset. Follow the steps for setting up the game but keep your current Heroes and equipment. Use the next level of the Scenario when setting up the new Dungeon Deck.
Players may also freely trade amongst themselves.
Setup
- Choose Heroes - Lay out all of the Hero cards and the Weapon cards with a Basic trait. All players should choose one of each (arm wrestle if there are any arguments).
- Setup Dungeon - Place 3 Location Cards face-down in a row. Choose them randomly but make sure one of them is the Locked Door if you aren't on a Boss level. To scale the game, add a Location for every Hero after the first.
- Enter The Dungeon - Choose who goes first by rolling-off. That player should place their Hero Card under a Location Card and reveal it. Progress in a clockwise-fashion until all Heroes have been placed (Heroes may enter the same Location).
- Create Monster Deck - Form a Monster Deck with all the Monster Cards.
- Create Loot Deck - Form a Loot Deck with all the Items and Spells and Elite Weapons.
- Create Dungeon Deck - Make up the Dungeon Deck as the Scenario requires (for the first level, shuffle 7 Monster Cards and 3 Loot Cards together, then place the Dungeon Key at the bottom of the deck).
- You're ready to begin!
Object of the Game
Your objective is to reach the final level of the Dungeon and slay the Boss at the end. As soon as the Boss is defeated, all players win the game! Any remaining monsters are assumed to have been slain and damsels rescued.
If any Hero should die by losing their last health point, all players lose the game. This is a totally co-operative experience!
Playing the Game
Side Quest is played over a number of turns. After the Dungeon has been laid out, the Heroes will get to perform their actions and then the Monsters will perform theirs.
Players should choose amongst themselves who will go first. Give this person the Leader Stick Card. This card moves to the next player each turn; whoever holds it goes first.
A Game Turn
- Refresh Phase – Deal Dungeon Cards.
- Hero Phase – Starting with the first player, each Hero may perform up to 3 Actions.
- Monster Phase – Starting on the left, each Monster will Activate.
- End Phase – Any cards that refer to actions happening in the End Phase occur now.
Refresh Phase
Deal a card from the Dungeon Deck and place it face-up over each Location from left to right, skipping any locations that already contain Monsters or Damsels. If the Dungeon Deck is empty, use the Monster Deck. If the Monster Deck ever runs out, use the Monster discard pile to refresh it.
Hero Phase
Each player gets 3 Actions per Turn and can do any of the following, even multiple times:
- Move
- Attack
- Pick Up
- Loot*
- Cast Spell
- Trade
For example you may Move twice and then Attack, or simply Attack 3 times.
*Unlike other Actions, you may only Loot once per turn.
Moving
Heroes may move into an adjacent room (the dungeon does not wrap around). If a player moves out of a location that contains Monsters, each of those Monsters immediately performs a special Grab Attack - this is just like a normal attack but they subtract 1 from their die roll (so a Monster that would normally need a 4+ to hit would need a 5+).
Attacking
Players may nominate a single Location in range of their equipped weapon(s) and perform an Attack Action. If you have 2 weapons you should use different coloured dice and declare which is which before rolling. The Weapon Cards will show you the range and how many dice you may roll. Each successfully rolled dice will deal the damage shown on the card.
Players may then allocate successful dice rolls to any Monsters in the target Location. They may choose to split their hits across multiple Monsters or use them on a single Monster if they used two weapons or a weapon that does multiple damage (see below).
To kill a Monster, Players must allocate a number of hits equal to their health. You cannot inflict partial damage on a Monster – you must completely destroy a Monster in a single attack. If a Monster is defeated, place its card in the Monster discard pile.
Multiple Attacks
Some weapons, like the Hunter's Bow, allow you to roll more than 1 dice. For each successful dice rolled you will cause the damage indicated – in the example of the Hunter's Bow, rolling two 5s (or 6s) will deal two points of damage. Just as with rolling for separate weapons, you may allocate each dice to different Monsters if you desire, but they must be in the location you nominated before making the attack.
Combat Example: In this example a player with a Sword and Shield attacked a location with a Goblin Archer and a Werewolf. Both attacks hit – the Sword needed a 3+ and rolled a 4, whilst the Shield needed a 6. The player has a choice to make; he could either use one of the hits to kill the Goblin Archer who has 1 Health, or he could use both die to kill the Werewolf, who has 2 Health.
Pick Up
If a Location has a Loot Card (Weapons, Spells and Items), players may use an Action to pick it up. You may only collect 1 card per Action. Players are also allowed to change their equipped weapon as part of the same Action (you can also do this when Looting or Trading – see below).
Note that you may not Pick Up if there is an active (not stunned) Monster in your room.
Loot
Looting is a special action that can only be performed once per turn, and only if there are no active Monsters in your current location. Roll a single dice – on a 5+ you may draw a card from the Loot Deck.
Note that some cards allow you to take a free loot action. This does not count towards your looting limit.
Cast Spell
If you have a Spell Card you may attempt to cast it as an Action. All Spells require a Dice Roll in order to work – successful or not, an Action is still used.
Trade
If you are in the same Location as another Hero, you may openly trade with them. You may swap as many Items, Weapons or Spells between each other as you like. If there are more than two Heroes in the same Location you may all trade freely with the same Action.
Mighty Boost
Players may spend unused action points to modify their dice rolls by 1 per point. For example if a player makes an attack on their first turn and rolls a 4 when they needed a 6, they can spend their remaining 2 actions to make their dice roll a 6. This counts for all dice rolled by the Heroes (including looting).
Note that you do not need to declare the use of Mighty Boost before rolling – you can decide after the die have been cast.
Monster Phase
Starting on the left, each Monster will Activate. If they are in range of a Hero they will attack the nearest one. If they are not in range to attack a Hero they will move towards the nearest Hero up to their maximum Movement, and stop when they are in range to attack. Monsters may enter locations that already contain Monsters. If the Heroes are equidistant roll a dice – on a 1-3 the Monster will go left, and a 4-6 it will go right.
If the Monster reaches a Hero they perform an attack. This uses the same rules for weapons – see the Monster's card for how many dice it uses, what result it needs, and how much damage each dice will do.
For each successful dice roll, Heroes in the target location must agree on who should take the damage and adjust their Health Cards accordingly. Damage from a Monster must be allocated entirely to a single Hero. If this causes any Hero to go below 1 Health, the game is lost.
Other Rules
Stunned
When a Monster or Hero is Stunned, turn them sideways. They will not perform actions during their next turn.
The card is restored during the End Phase. It will also wake up if attacked and not killed.
Re-rolls
When the game requires dice to be re-rolled, all dice must be re-rolled.
Overburdened
If at any time you exceed your Weapon, Item or Spell limit you lose the ability to move as an Action. You may at any time 'drop' equipment by placing it over your current location (this does not use up an Action).