Stonespine Architects: Invasion

Stonespine Architects: Invasion Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components

6 Guardian Boards
7 Guardian Figures
16 Minion Figures (3 Dragon, 3 Demon, 3 Gorgon, 4 Hydra, 3 Sludge)
12 Level Markers (2 per guardian)
50 Experience (XP) Cubes
90 Hero Figures (30 Black, 30 Purple, 30 Red)
4 Trophy Tokens
4 Invasion Dice (2 White, 2 Gray)
12 Hero Cards
4 Health Tokens
63 Guardian Tokens (12 Dragon, 8 Demon, 17 Gorgon, 4 Hydra, 12 Sludge, 10 Troll)
51 Rubble Tokens
18 Secret Passage Tokens
20 Demerit Tokens
4 Goal Cards
6 Challenge Cards
1 Market Board
1 Scorepad
5 Invasion Reference Cards
6 Guardian Reference Cards

The punchboards for Stonespine: Invasion include an extra oval market token, for the rare case when players might run out of market tokens in a 5-player game. Simply shuffle this new token into the rest of the oval market tokens in the base game.

Game Setup

Before setting up the Invasion expansion for the first time, follow these steps:

Add the new goal cards to the existing goal cards.
Remove the following challenge cards from the base game, which should not be used when playing with the Invasion expansion:
- Fatal Pathway (#13)
- Muddied Approach (#17)
- Slippery Route (#14)
- Perilous Path (#20)
- Gelatinous Horror (#15)
- Minion Horde (#28)
Finally, add the new challenge cards to the remaining challenge cards.

After completing setup for the base game, follow these additional steps to set up the Invasion expansion:

Place the market board to the left of the tracking board with the 2-5 player side face up.
Create a supply of experience (XP) cubes near the market board. Fill the top space on the market board with four XP cubes and the next space with three XP cubes.
Create a supply of secret passage tokens near the market board. Fill each oval space on the market board with a secret passage token.
Separate the hero cards by type. Shuffle the types separately and reveal one of each, placing them face up above the tracking board. Return any unused hero cards to the game box.
- Recommended First Game Setup: Thief, Paladin, and Barbarian.
Create a supply of hero figures near the play area.
Sort the trophy tokens by reputation value with the trophy side face down. Create a stack of these tiles near the tracking board with the highest value on the bottom and the lowest value on the top.
Separate the demerit tokens by year and create a supply near the play area.
Create a supply of rubble tokens, health tokens, and invasion dice near the tracking board.
Starting with the player with the lowest priority, each player chooses a guardian board and decides which side to use. Return the unused guardian boards to the game box.
- Recommended First Game Setup: Randomly give a guardian board to each player. Use the side of the guardian board with the black bordered guardian icon.
Give each player the guardian figure(s), minion figures, level markers, guardian tokens, and guardian reference card associated with their guardian board. Review the guardian reference card to determine which of the guardian's components are needed. Return all unused guardian components to the game box.
Each player places their level markers in the two bottommost spaces of their guardian's ability tracks and a minion on each indicated space on their guardian board. Each player places their guardian and any remaining guardian components in a space near their guardian board.

The game is ready to begin!

The rulebook also shows a numbered 3-player setup example diagram; it is a layout picture and is not reproduced here.

Guardian Board

Each guardian board contains the following areas:

Guardian Name
Guardian Icon
Level Up Reminder
XP Box
Guardian Scoring Bonus
Guardian Ability Tracks, including the Minion Unlock spaces
Ongoing Ability
Instant Ability
Unlockable Ability

The Giant Troll and Pact Demon boards are shown in the rulebook as examples. The Giant Troll board's ongoing ability reads: "After defeating a hero in a chamber containing a rubble / troll rubble token, move to a connected, adjacent chamber." Its instant ability, BLOW OFF STEAM, reads: "Place a troll rubble token over an element." Its unlockable ability, DANGEROUS DEBRIS, reads: "Rubble / troll rubble tokens are considered [trap icon]." The Pact Demon board's ongoing ability reads: "Each pact [demon icon] deals +1 damage." Its instant ability, FORGE PACT, reads: "Reveal a face-down [demon icon] token."

Note: the icons in the example ability texts above are not legible enough in this file to name them with certainty, so they are shown in brackets. The full text of each guardian's abilities and scoring bonus is printed on that guardian's board.

Heroes

Each hero card shows a hero type, a hero health value, a hero name, and a hero ability. The hero types are:

Black heroes destroy elements and place rubble tokens in your dungeon.
Purple heroes take no damage the first time their condition is met.
Red heroes take extra damage from specific elements.

Guardians prevent hero abilities from resolving in their chamber.

How to Play

The Invasion expansion adds two new phases to each round of Stonespine Architects: Preparation and Invasion. In the Preparation phase, players place their guardian and minions in their dungeon. In the Invasion phase, players defend their dungeon against incoming heroes.

Each year is now divided into five phases: Construction, Improvement, Preparation, Invasion, and Cleanup.

I. Construction Phase

There are no changes to the Construction phase when playing with the Invasion expansion.

II. Improvement Phase

During the Improvement phase, players may spend gold to take any of the following actions instead of buying a token or passing:

Buy XP: Players may spend four gold to buy XP. The first player to buy XP takes four XP cubes from the market board and places them in the XP box on their guardian board. The second player to buy XP takes three cubes. Afterwards, players may then buy two cubes for four gold, taking the cubes from the supply.
- As long as a player has enough gold, there is no limit to the number of times the Buy XP action may be taken in a year.
- Once there are five or more cubes in a player's guardian XP box, that player must immediately level up their guardian (see "Leveling Up Guardians").
Remove Rubble: Players may pay three gold to remove one rubble token from anywhere in their dungeon and return it to the supply. As long as a player has enough gold, there's no limit to the number of times the Remove Rubble action may be taken in a year.
Buy a Secret Passage: Players may buy a secret passage from the market board. These secret passages are available every year in addition to any that may come out at random on the market cards from the market token supply. Each year, there are four secret passage tokens available. The first player to buy one pays five gold, and each subsequent one costs one more gold. If all four secret passage tokens are purchased in a year, no more are available until the next year.

End of Improvement Phase: After a player buys XP, removes rubble, buys a secret passage, or buys a market token, reevaluate who has the most gold, and that player takes the next turn visiting the market, as in the base game.

III. Preparation Phase

Players simultaneously perform the following actions:

Place their guardian figure(s) in any chamber of their dungeon.
Place any minion figure(s) they have unlocked (by leveling up their guardian) in any chamber of their dungeon.

Reminder: A chamber may contain any number of figures. Figures do not occupy one of the four element spaces in a chamber (see "Figure" under Game Terms).

After each player has completed the Preparation phase, they place their doorway marker on the entrance of their dungeon upright to indicate their gate is open and they are ready to advance to the Invasion phase.

Once all players have placed their doorway marker upright, proceed to the Invasion phase.

Example: During the Preparation phase of year three, Jeremy places his guardian figure into a chamber in his dungeon. He also places one minion, but his second and third minions are still locked on the guardian board. With the HUNGRY HATCHLINGS ability unlocked, the guardian's minion in the stone chamber will deal extra damage to any hero figure that enters its chamber.

IV. Invasion Phase

Step 1: Roll Dice

The player with the highest priority and an open gate rolls the dice shown in the middle of the face-up trophy token.

Year 1: 1 die (white)
Year 2: 2 dice (1 white, 1 gray)
Year 3: 3 dice (1 white, 2 gray)
Year 4: 4 dice (2 white, 2 gray)

Each player collects the figures matching the dice results from the supply and places them outside their dungeon entrance.

The supply of heroes is unlimited. If the supply for one color is depleted, another figure may be substituted.

Step 2: Repel Heroes

Each player chooses a hero figure outside their dungeon. Players may choose different heroes. The chosen hero enters the first chamber connected to the entrance of their dungeon.

When a hero enters a chamber, if the chamber contains...

...a previously defeated hero, the new hero ignores the chamber, including all guardian effects, minions, monsters, traps, and abilities on its own card.
...a guardian, the hero is immediately defeated and the abilities on its card are not resolved.
...minions, monsters, or traps, the hero is dealt damage and the abilities on its card are resolved, simultaneously. Minions deal two damage each. Monsters and traps deal one damage each. If the hero has been dealt damage equal to or greater than the health on its card, it is defeated.

Example: The purple hero (on its side) was previously defeated, so the red hero moves through and ignores the first chamber without resolving its ability and moves on to the chamber containing the guardian, where it is immediately defeated.

After entering a chamber, if the hero is defeated, it is placed on its side in the current chamber. If there are still hero figures outside their dungeon, the player chooses the next hero to enter the dungeon. If the hero has not been defeated, it moves to a new adjacent chamber along a connected path.

A hero may never enter the same chamber twice.

If the hero could move to more than one new chamber, the player decides which chamber the hero enters.

If the hero cannot move to a new chamber, it escapes. The player places the escaped hero on their dungeon frame next to the entrance and places their doorway marker on its side to indicate their gate is closed. Any other hero figures remaining outside their dungeon entrance are returned to the supply.

Example: The red hero moves to the connected chamber to the right and takes one damage from the kobold, which is not enough to defeat it. Since no other new chambers are connected, the hero cannot move, and it escapes.

In Year 4, the doorway marker that indicates the exit to a player's dungeon is ignored by heroes. A hero in the chamber connected to the dungeon exit does not escape unless it cannot enter a new chamber.

Step 3: Close Gate or Continue

After all heroes have been defeated or escaped, players decide if they would like to continue and repel a new wave of heroes. In priority order, each player with an open gate decides to either close their gate and end their participation in the current Invasion phase, or keep their gate open and continue the Invasion phase.

Players with an escaped hero from this year must close their gate.

To close their gate, the player lays the doorway marker at the entrance of their dungeon on its side. If at least one player chooses to continue, return to Step 1: Roll Dice. Repeat steps 1 through 3 until all players have closed their gate.

Step 4: Level Up Heroes

Roll the dice shown on the bottom of the current year's trophy token to level up the heroes.

Year 1: Roll a white die one time.
Year 2: Roll a white die two times.
Year 3: Roll a white die three times.
Year 4: Do not level up heroes.

Each time the die is rolled, increase the health of the matching hero. Either place a new +1 health token on the hero card, or flip an existing +1 health token to the +2 side.

Example: The first hero rolled is a Cleric (purple hero). Though it would normally skip rooms containing a positive reputation star, the guardian triggers first and immediately defeats him. The second hero rolled is a Barbarian (red hero), who has six health. The Barbarian ignores the first chamber, as a previous hero was defeated by the guardian. He moves on to the next chamber, where he takes one damage from the slime and two from the minion. He then moves to the next chamber and takes one damage from the slime and, because of his hero ability, he takes two damage from the trap. With six total damage, the Barbarian is defeated.

Step 5: Award Trophy / Demerits

The player who defeated the most heroes without an escaped hero takes the trophy token for that year and places it near their area.

In case of a tie, the tied player with the highest priority takes the trophy token.

Each player who had a hero escape in the current year gains a demerit token matching the current year from the supply.

If all players had a hero escape, return the trophy token for that year to the game box.

Step 6: Gain XP

Count the number of heroes that entered each player's dungeon, including each defeated hero on chamber cards and any escaped heroes on their dungeon frame. Each player takes that many XP cubes from the supply and places them in their guardian's XP box. During years 1-3, if a guardian's XP box contains five or more XP cubes, that player must immediately level up their guardian.

In year 4, players may choose to keep the XP for final scoring instead of spending it to level up their guardian. (See "Leveling Up Guardians").

V. Cleanup

In addition to the cleanup steps in the base game, perform these steps:

Return all defeated and escaped hero figures in each player's dungeon to the supply.
Return each guardian and minion in each player's dungeon to a space near the player's guardian board.
Refill the market board with XP cubes and secret passage tokens.

Leveling Up Guardians

When a guardian board contains five or more XP cubes, the guardian must be leveled up, except during the year 4 Invasion phase.

To level up a guardian, return five XP cubes to the supply and advance either level marker up its track by one space.

Minion Unlock: If the level marker advances to a space next to a locked minion figure, move that minion figure to a space near the player's guardian board. This minion can be placed in the player's dungeon during each subsequent Preparation phase.
Instant Ability: If the level marker advances to a space next to a lightning bolt, immediately take the action of the associated ability described on the bottom of the guardian board. If the lightning bolt has a number on it, take the action that many times instead.
Unlockable Ability: If the level marker advances to a space next to a letter inside an unlock symbol, the associated ability described on the bottom of the guardian board becomes active for the remainder of the game.
Ongoing Ability: These abilities described on the bottom of the guardian board are active from the start of the game.

Each guardian has a scoring bonus that can be achieved by advancing one or both of the guardian's level markers to the topmost position of the tracks.

Example: Jordy earns seven XP cubes during the Invasion phase. He now has eleven XP cubes on his guardian's XP box, so he returns five XP to the supply to level up the giant troll guardian. He advances the level marker on the left track one space to activate the instant ability: BLOW OFF STEAM. This ability lets him place a troll rubble token over an element, so he covers a negative reputation star.

Since the guardian's XP box still has six XP cubes, the process repeats: Jordy returns five XP to the supply, advances a level marker, and activates any unlocked ability.

Game Terms

Damage: The health removed from heroes by monsters, traps, minions, or guardian abilities. Each monster and trap deals one damage. Each minion deals two damage. Once a hero has been dealt damage equal to or greater than the health value on its card (or enters a chamber with a Guardian and no previously defeated hero) it is defeated.

Escape: A hero that has not been defeated, and cannot enter a new chamber, escapes. The escaped hero figure is placed on the player's dungeon frame next to the entrance and the entrance doorway marker is placed on its side to indicate the gate is closed. Any other hero figures remaining outside their dungeon entrance are returned to the supply. In Year 4, the doorway marker that indicates the exit to a player's dungeon is ignored by heroes.

Experience (XP): Used to level up guardians, advancing their level markers on the guardian board. XP cubes can be purchased from the market during the Improvement phase and/or earned from defeating heroes during the Invasion phase. If a guardian's XP box has five or more XP cubes, the player must immediately return five XP cubes to the supply and advance either level marker up its track by one space. During the Invasion phase of the final year, players may choose to not level up their guardian, saving their XP cubes for final scoring instead. XP is not limited by the number of cubes in the game box.

Figure: A wood token representing a guardian, a minion, or a hero. A figure is not an element and never occupies one of the four element spaces of a chamber. A chamber may contain at most one defeated hero figure, but may contain any number of other figures.

Guardian: The figure and board representing a player's guardian. A guardian's ability track contains minions and abilities that are unlocked when a player spends five XP cubes to advance a level marker. A guardian immediately defeats the first hero to enter its chamber and prevents any ability on the hero card from resolving. A guardian is placed in the player's dungeon in the Preparation phase and removed in the Cleanup phase. A guardian does not occupy one of the four element spaces in a chamber.

Hero: A figure invading the player's dungeon during the Invasion phase. Each hero's health and abilities are determined by the cards selected during setup. During the Invasion phase, the invasion dice determine the number and types of heroes that will invade the player's dungeon. A hero is dealt damage by minions, monsters, and traps. Once the damage equals or exceeds a hero's health, the hero is defeated and is placed on its side in the chamber where it was defeated. Guardians instantly defeat the first hero occupying the same chamber during each Invasion phase. A hero ignores all effects from a guardian, minions, monsters, traps, and the abilities on its card when it enters a chamber containing a defeated hero.

Minion: A figure that deals two damage to heroes. Some guardian abilities may provide additional effects for minions. Minions are placed in the player's dungeon in the Preparation phase and removed in the Cleanup phase. Any number of minions may share the same chamber.

Move: During the Invasion phase, players move hero figures through adjacent chambers along a connected path in their dungeons. Heroes may never move to a chamber they have already visited. Some guardian abilities allow a guardian to move during the Invasion phase.

Rubble: The element placed over other elements in a player's dungeon to indicate it is destroyed. Rubble occupies one of the four element spaces in a chamber without providing any benefits, but are considered elements for challenge cards and abilities. A printed element or market token covered with a rubble token does not deal damage to heroes and does not contribute to scoring. Rubble tokens may be removed through the Remove Rubble action available during the Improvement phase. Rubble is not limited by the number of tokens in the game box.

Clarifications

Hex-Shape Tokens

The Invasion expansion introduces a new hex-shape token. Hex-shape tokens are not considered market tokens, but may provide similar benefits. The hex-shape tokens used by guardian abilities are guardian tokens. The hex-shape rubble tokens are not considered guardian tokens. If a hex-shape token is placed in one of the four element spaces of a chamber card, the item depicted on the token is considered an element for any challenge, goal, or ability associated with that element type. When a challenge or goal card depends on tokens for scoring, it only considers tokens of the same shape as described or depicted on the card.

Challenge Card 2 - Market Maven

Brown secret passage tokens purchased from the market board are considered to be a different market token than the gray secret passage tokens that appear on market cards.

Challenge Card 14 - Duntum's Gambit

Secret passage tokens are not considered elements and do not count towards fulfilling this challenge card.

Challenge Card 16 - Cramped Construction

Guardian tokens and rubble tokens count towards fulfilling this challenge card even though a hex-shaped token is not shown.

Challenge Card 19 - Thinfingers' Trade

Two unique trap types can be created with the Giant Troll's ability, one from rubble tokens and another from troll rubble tokens.

Challenge Card 20 - Guardian's Glory

Reputation gained from this card is in addition to the reputation gained for each unspent XP cube during final scoring.

Barbarian, Fighter, Knight, Warrior

The additional damage detailed on these heroes' cards adds to any additional damage granted by guardian abilities.

Cleric, Crusader, Paladin, Templar

When a hero ability mentions the "first chamber" it refers to the first applicable chamber the figure enters. A chamber with a defeated hero or guardian is never considered for this type of hero ability.

Giant Troll, Deceitful Demon

Elements that change type due to guardian abilities are considered to be both the new type and the original printed type.

Molten Hydra, Caustic Hydra

Collapsing secret passage tokens ([collapsing token icon]) are considered to be secret passage tokens ([secret passage icon]). The Cleanup phase is skipped in Year 4, so tokens placed during the Preparation phase in Year 4 will remain in the player's dungeon during final scoring.

Final Scoring

In addition to the scoring in the base game, score these additional areas:

Guardian Scoring Bonus: Each player gains reputation from the scoring bonus on their guardian board. Each scoring bonus has a value based on how many of their guardian's level markers are in the topmost position on the board.

If no level markers are in the topmost position, no scoring bonus is awarded.
If one level marker is in the topmost position, the player gains the lower-value scoring bonus.
If both level markers are in the topmost position, the player gains the higher-value scoring bonus.

Trophy Tokens: Each player gains reputation equal to the values on the trophy tokens they collected.

Demerit Tokens: Each player loses reputation equal to the values on the demerit tokens they collected.

Leftover XP Cubes: Each player gains one reputation for each unspent XP cube.

Reminder: During the Invasion phase of the final year, players may choose to not level up their guardian, saving their XP cubes for final scoring instead.

The player with the most reputation has achieved the title of Master Architect! In the case of a tie, the tied player with the highest priority wins the game.

Solo Play

Solo Setup

Remove the four goal cards from the Invasion expansion from the deck of goal cards.

After completing setup for solo play from the base game, follow the additional setup steps for the Invasion expansion with the following changes:

Use the 1-player side of the market board instead of the 2-5 player side.
Jael does not receive a guardian board, guardian figures, minion figures, guardian tokens, level markers, or a guardian reference card.

Solo Gameplay

The solo game plays in the same way as a 2-player game using the Invasion expansion, but with the following changes for the Improvement and Invasion phases:

II. Improvement: When comparing gold with Jael, if you have equal or less gold than Jael, in addition to collecting the indicated tokens on the market cards for Jael, also collect the secret passage and XP cubes next to the market board icons and place them in Jael's scoring area.

IV. Invasion: During steps 1 through 3 of the Invasion phase, Jael ignores the dice roll and defeats the following number of heroes without allowing a hero to escape:

Year 1: Jael defeats 3 heroes
Year 2: Jael defeats 6 heroes
Year 3: Jael defeats 9 heroes
Year 4: Jael defeats 12 heroes

Jael does not collect XP cubes for his defeated heroes. You gain the trophy token if you defeat more heroes than Jael without a hero escaping. If you defeat as many heroes as Jael, fewer heroes than Jael, or if a hero escapes your dungeon, place the trophy token for that year in Jael's scoring area instead. Jael does not receive demerit tokens.

Solo Final Scoring

In addition to the scoring from the base game, Jael also earns the reputation value from each trophy token in his area and one reputation for each XP cube in his area.

Icon Key

The rulebook's icon key shows each icon with its name; the glyphs are listed here by name only.

Monster (Generic): includes Gnoll, Goblin, Kobold, Ooze, and Slime.
Trap (Generic): includes Bear, Blade, Fire, Pit, and Spike.
Guardian Abilities: Minion Unlock, Ongoing Ability, Instant Ability, Unlockable Ability.
Treasure Chest.
Reputation Star (Positive) and Reputation Star (Negative).
Chamber Type: Cave and Stone.
Secret Passage.
Minion.
Rubble.
Experience (XP) Cube.