Stworze International Edition Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1. Content
• 2. Game Setup
• 3. Character Card
• 4. Realm Map
• 5. Character Movement
• 6. Influence Tokens
• 7. Vitality
• 8. Mission Deck
  • Mission Cards
  • Attribute Cards
  • Mission Deck Set-up
  • Mission Deck Actions and Winning the Game
  • Ruler of the Realm Cards
• 9. Gameplay
  • 1. Playing the Effects from Quest and Mission Cards
  • 2. Select and Move the Action Card, Adjusting the Event Counter
  • 3. Performing an Action
  • 4. Introduction of Event Effects
  • 5. Summation of the Number of Influence Tokens in the Villages
  • 6. Mission Completion
• 10. Actions In-Game
  • 1. The Quest Action
  • 2. The Influence Action
  • 3. The Here I Am Action
  • 4. The Track Action
  • 5. The Rest Action
  • 6. The Duel Action
  • 7. The Warrior/Mage Action
  • 8. Hunter/Lost Children Action
• 11. Tests
• 12. Example of a Round
• 13. Optional Rules
• 14. Two-Player Variant
• 15. Single-Player Variant - Challenge

1. Content

• Wooden Vitality tokens x 35
• Wooden Hunter/Lost Children tokens 2 x 4
• Wooden Influence tokens x 50
• Wooden Warrior/Mage tokens 1 + 1
• Wooden Impact tokens (double-sided) x 4
• Wooden Track tokens x 4
• Wooden dice x 5
• Stworze tokens 4 x 10
• Stworze Miniatures x 10
• Cotton token bag x 1
• Night and Day cards x 16
• Quest cards x 48 (24 Villages quests and 24 Surroundings quests)
• Stworze Missions cards x 160 (10 decks, 16 cards each)
• Character cards x 10
• Action cards x 10
• Help cards x 4 (for the Hunter, Warrior, Lost Children and Sorcerer)
• Realm map x 1
• Shortcut of the rules x 5
• Event cards x 7
• Location cards x 48

2. Game Setup

• Choose your Stworze character for the game, take its character card, 4 double-sided Stworze tokens, and Mission deck assigned to it.
• Place the right number of Vitality tokens on the character card on all available fields.
• Select 4 Influence tokens and place them face down on your character card.
• Lay down the map of the Realm.
• Shuffle the Day and Night deck, the Village Quest deck and the Surroundings Quest deck, and place them on the left side of the map.
• In the Surroundings (The Wildwoods, Lake Raduń, Silent Hills, Dead Marshes), place the Hunter, and the Lost Children tokens, plus one card from the Quest deck (the Surroundings).
• Place the Track token and Quest card from the Village deck in each Village (The Outskirts, The Wharf, Ravenswood, The Burgh).
• Place the Warrior and Mage tokens in random Locations (use the Location deck for this).
• Along the right side of the map, place the Help cards for the Hunter, the Lost Children, the Warrior and the Mage.
• Along the top edge of the map, randomly distribute 5 Event cards – the mandatory Koliada card and 4 other random cards. Place 1 die on each; it will be used to count down the time remaining to implement the Effect of a given Event.
• Randomly combine 10 Action cards into pairs and place them under the Event cards.
• Take your Location deck and choose the Lair of your Stworze from it. The Location deck consists of 8 cards, and each of them represents one of the 8 Locations you will find on the map. Place the covered card of the selected Location next to the Stworze card (it will be your Lair) and place your Stworze's Miniature on it. The remaining Location cards from the deck are put aside for later use.
• Arrange the order of the cards in your Mission deck and choose one starting Attribute of your Stworze.
• The oldest player starts the game.

Illustrations: the board layout with Event cards, Action cards, Day and Night deck, Village and Surroundings Quest decks and Help cards; and the initial layout of a player's area – character card with Vitality tokens and Influence tokens (the fields with branches remain empty), Mission card deck (each card has its dedicated illustration on the back side), Attribute, Stworze Miniature, Stworze tokens (Favor and Fear) and Location cards deck.

3. Character Card

The character card shows: the Brutality statistic value during the Day and at Night, the Cunning statistic value during the Day and at Night, the Day-time and Night-time icons, the Vitality Bar and the Influence Bar.

The Brutality and Cunning statistics determine a Stworze's character, personality and style of action. While in-game, they are used to perform specific tests. The higher the number represented on the Brutality and Cunning icons, the better. The Brutality and Cunning statistics also change depending on whether play occurs during the day or the night.

The Influence Bar is located on the right side of the Character card. It is here that you store your Influence tokens. If the Influence Bar is full, and you receive additional tokens, you must return the excess tokens to the pool. You may exchange all tokens for new tokens before you return them to the pool.

The Vitality Bar is where you place Vitality tokens during the game. In the game, your Stworze will lose and regain Vitality (in the form of tokens). This statistic illustrates both the physical and mental condition of your character.

4. Realm Map

The game board represents the Realm, for the protection of which the Stworzes are fighting. On the board, you will find 8 individual Locations to which you can travel:

• Villages: Ravenswood, The Outskirts, The Wharf, The Burgh
• Surroundings: Dead Marshes, The Wildwoods, Lake Raduń, Silent Hills

The Realm's locations form common Areas (consisting of a Village and its Surroundings). Whatever happens in the Surroundings of a given Village influences the corresponding Village's inhabitants:

• Ravenswood is mainly inhabited by plant gatherers. They can usually be found in the Dead Marshes.
• The Outskirts are mainly inhabited by hunters. Hence, their natural habitat is the Wildwoods.
• The Wharf is a home for fishermen. Everything that happens on Lake Raduń affects its inhabitants.
• People from the Burgh grow their crops in the Silent Hills.

5. Character Movement

At the beginning of the game, all Stworzes are located outside the game map - in their Lairs. Stworzes travel to the Realm once they make their first move.

The Stworzes move around the Realm only while performing an Action, usually once per round. To move a Stworze, their characters are placed in a chosen Location and the cost is one Influence token per move. There are no movement points or movement limits for Stworzes in the game.

6. Influence Tokens

Influence tokens are divided into Fear tokens and Favor tokens. They represent the way in which the appearance of a Stworze, as well as its actions, affect the people living nearby. The tokens that you collect during the game are placed on the card of your Stworze face down, so that your choice is not known to other players. Influence tokens, which are placed on the board, are also always placed face down. The general rule is that the Influence tokens that are on your character card or on the map are always covered.

Whatever happens in the Surroundings affects the inhabitants of a given Village, so the Influence tokens used during the game to move or perform tests are always placed on the board in the nearest Village, never in the Surroundings, even if you moved to the Surroundings or whether you will perform a test there.

Note! You may not choose an Action for which you do not possess enough of the specific tokens that are required by the Action.

Using Influence tokens. The Influence tokens are used in 3 cases:

1. To move a Stworze.
2. To perform a test.
3. To modify the chance of success in a given test.

1)

• When the Stworzes move into a Village, they choose any Influence token from their card and put it face down in that Village.
• When the Stworzes move into the Surroundings, they choose any Influence token from their card and put it face down in the nearby Village.

Depending on what token has been placed in the Village, the appearance of a Stworze evokes Fear or Favor in the inhabitants.

2)

• In order to attempt the Brutality test, you must show the face of your Fear token (to prove that you have one) and then place it on the map face down in the nearest Village.
• To attempt the Cunning test, you must show the face of your Favor token (to prove that you have one) and then place it on the map face down in the nearest Village.

3)

• You may discard 1 Fear token to receive an additional +1 modifier during the Brutality test. You may discard 1 Favor token to receive an additional +1 modifier during the Cunning test. In both cases you may discard 1 token maximum.
• Another player (only one) may discard 1 Fear token - if you are attempting a Cunning test, or 1 Favor token - if you are attempting a Brutality test, to receive an additional -1 modifier to the test. One other player may discard 1 token maximum.

Note! The tokens used to modify the tests are not added to Villages. They are discarded into the pool.

7. Vitality

Your Stworze starts the game with the maximum number of Vitality tokens. You cannot place more tokens on the card than there are spaces on the Vitality Bar. With the loss of Vitality, the number of Actions to choose from during your round will decrease.

Discarding of Vitality tokens starts from the bottom of the Vitality Bar. When you start to uncover the icons, it means that your Stworze suffers from wounds, fatigue, weakened will, etc.

• Uncovering the space with the Lair (hut) icon means that you have to go to your Lair immediately (remove your Stworze from the board and place it on the Location card that represents your Lair).
• Uncovering the space with the three-stroke icon means that you cannot perform the third, second and first Action from those available in your round.
• Uncovering the field with the two-stroke icon means that you cannot perform the second and first Action from those available in your round.
• Uncovering the field with the one-stroke icon means that you cannot perform the first Action from among those that are available in your round.

(The five Actions, numbered from 5 to 1, are: 5 Here I am, 4 Duel, 3 Lost Children/Hunter, 2 Warrior/Mage, 1 Quest.)

A Stworze loses Vitality:

• When he/she fails to pass the Brutality Test.
• When someone, using the Track Action, points out the Location where Stworze's Lair is hidden.
• When he/she appears in the same Location as the Warrior, or when the Warrior is moved to the same Location as the Stworze.
• When, using the Here I Am Action, he/she wagers that, in a given Village, the Fear tokens will gain the advantage, but it turns out that a Stworze was wrong.
• As a result of certain cards of completed Missions, Quests or Attributes of other Stworze.

If a Stworze has to lose more Vitality tokens than he/she has, then you also discard the appropriate number of chosen Influence tokens and vice versa: if a Stworze has to lose more Influence tokens than he/she has, then you also discard the appropriate number of Vitality tokens.

In the case that a Stworze has no tokens left, nothing happens. Let's face it - your situation is already very bad.

8. Mission Deck

At the beginning of the game, each player chooses a Stworze card, which they will be using during the game, together with the individual Mission deck assigned to them.

Each deck is unique, both in terms of challenges that await the Stworze and the rewards for completing them. The deck consists of 11 Mission cards, 4 Attribute cards and the Guardian of the Realm card - a colorful card with the image of the victorious Stworze (meaning victory in the game).

Mission Cards

Missions are challenges that await along the way to becoming the Guardian of the Realm. By completing them, you are approaching victory; you also receive additional awards that will help you along further in the game.

The Mission card consists of three elements:

• Story (title of the card) – a few words that people whisper among themselves when they mention your Stworze. This element has no mechanical function, it just reflects the nature of your character and the things that stories and fairytales tell about it.
• Mission – a particular action, a challenge that you must complete in order to make the Mission successful. Sometimes it may be an in-game state which you must try to achieve, a specific situation on the board, etc.
• Effect – an additional, one-time reward that you receive for successful completion of a given Mission. When you manage to complete a Mission, you then place its card next to its Stworze card. In future rounds of the game, you may use the Effects on the completed Mission cards.

Example card: "He, for whom the water gurgles" – Mission: While performing any activity, place an Influence token in a Village, so that, in the same round, Fear triumphs in this Village. Effect: Draw 2 Fear tokens.

The six Mission cards have numbers from 1 to 6 in the bottom right corner. Those numbers determine the potential difficulty of executing a given Mission (from the easiest - "1" to the most difficult - "6"; with unnumbered Missions being theoretically the most difficult).

Attribute Cards

The Attribute card consists of 2 elements:

• Attribute – this is a behavior, characteristic or object belonging to a given Stworze, associated with it in folk tales and myths.
• Reward – a permanent (as opposed to Effects) bonus for your Stworze (new skill, easier tests, etc.). This Reward works from the moment it is gained to the end of the game.

Example card: "Reed Scepter" – Reward: After resolving the effect of any Event, take a chosen Influence token from the board and place it on your Character card.

Mission Deck Set-up

During your first game, in order to learn how to play, it is recommended to use ONLY the 6 numbered Mission cards from the Mission deck (in order from 1 to 6). As starting Attribute use the one with a black dot in the right bottom corner.

• Draw 4 Attribute cards from your deck; you choose one to be your starting Attribute and place them next to your character card, so that they are easily accessible during the game.
• From the remaining 11 cards in the deck, select 8 and remove 3 from the game. Next, you pass one card from the previously selected eight Mission cards to each other player, at the same time receiving one card from them (when playing with 3 other people, you will exchange a total of 3 cards).
• After the exchange, you arrange all 8 Mission cards (including those received from other players), according to your own chosen order. The Mission on top of the deck will be the first one you will try to complete. The currently performed Mission is always face up and its content is known to other players. The order in which the Missions are arranged is of great importance to your victory.
• Place the Realm Guardian card at the bottom of the deck. This card is always the last in your deck; no Effect or special rule may change its place. If any other card is to be placed "on the bottom of the Mission deck", it should be placed on top of the Realm Guardian card.

This is the way to set up the Mission deck for each Stworze. You may always browse your deck and view it freely. The order of cards should remain unknown to other players.

Mission Deck Actions and Winning the Game

The first, topmost Mission in the deck is the one you are currently trying to complete. The card of this Mission is revealed and visible to other players.

Missions are carried out exactly according to the set-up order. You cannot complete a Mission from the deck, for example Mission three, before you complete the first and second Mission. What's more, you can start a Mission only when it is on the top of your deck, so it does not matter that, for example, you have already performed a given action or that previously an Effect necessary to complete the given Mission had been activated.

Example: The text of your new Mission is: "Defeat the Hunter in the Wildwoods". It doesn't matter that you have already done this 3 rounds back, during your other activities. You have to do it again, as 3 rounds back you did not have this Mission at the top of your deck.

At the end of each round, each player can announce that they have just completed their current Mission. One player cannot complete more than one Mission per round.

You can complete each Mission in four ways:

• By completing the Quests described on the Mission card, objectives, performing the given activities, etc.
• Defeating the Warrior/Mage.
• Performing the Here I am action effectively.
• Getting 3 Stworze tokens of another player/players using the Duel action.

When you have completed a Mission, you put its card next to your Stworze card, and you may use the one-time Effect described on this card in future rounds. Then, the content of your next Mission card is revealed and read aloud.

What happens when you finish your last Mission? You reveal the Card of the Guardian of the Realm, and the game will end with your victory.

In rare cases, it may happen that more than one player completes their last Mission at the same time. If one of the players with all completed Missions is the person who is currently playing their round, they win the game. If not, the winner is the player with all Missions completed, sitting on the left side of the player currently finishing his/her round, or the next player to the left, etc.

Ruler of the Realm Cards

Note! If you manage to complete Missions 2, 4 and 6, you choose one of the 3 Attribute cards set aside before and put it next to your character. From now on, the Reward described on this card increases the capabilities of your character.

9. Gameplay

To start the game, the Event cards and the Action cards must be properly distributed.

You randomly choose 4 Event cards plus the Koliada Event card and discard the rest. Shuffle the Event cards and arrange them in a row.

Place a die on each card (Event countdown). The die represents the time remaining to activate the Event's Effect:

• with 2 and 3 players, set the dice to 4
• with 4 and 5 players, set the dice to 5

Next, shuffle the Action cards and arrange them randomly, in pairs, under the Event cards.

Each round for each player consists of the following steps:

1. Playing the Effects from the cards of completed Quests or Missions.
2. Selection and movement of an Action card, adjusting the Event countdown.
3. Performing Actions.
4. Introduction of Event Effects.
5. Summary of the number of Influence tokens in Villages.
6. Announcement of completion of a Mission.

1. Playing the Effects from Quest and Mission Cards

The Mission and Quest cards contain certain Effects, one-time benefits or rewards that you can use. These Effects may only be played in this phase of each round. An exception here are cards with the word Reaction, which you use in response to specific actions (your character's or other players').

Effects can be played both in your round and in the rounds of other players. You can play any number of them. Once an Effect is used, the card is discarded.

If it is necessary to determine the order in which the Effects are played, the player whose round it is at the moment plays the Effects first, and then the player to their left, and so on.

2. Select and Move the Action Card, Adjusting the Event Counter

After resolving all the Effects of the Quest or Mission cards, choose one of the available Actions that you want to perform in this round:

• Indicate a selected, available (top card from a pair of cards) Action card and decrease the countdown value by 1 on the Event countdown above it. If this value drops to zero, remove the countdown die from the Event card.
• Move the selected pair of Action cards to the last space on the right, under the Event card at the very end. All other Action card pairs are moved to the left to fill in the empty space.
• The Action selected in this round is transferred to the bottom of its pair of cards. Thanks to that, a new, previously unavailable Action card appears on top.

Example: you decide that in this round you will try to complete one of the Quests on the map. You indicate the QUEST Action card. Above this card lies the MIDSUMMER NIGHT Event, so you reduce the countdown on the MIDSUMMER NIGHT card (die value) by 1. You take the selected pair of Action cards and move them under the HARVEST FESTIVAL Event, which is the last Event on the right. To make room for the moved pairs of cards, move the remaining pairs to the left to fill the space under the MIDSUMMER NIGHT Event. Finally, you put the QUEST Action at the bottom of the pair of cards and reveal a new Action - INFLUENCE.

3. Performing an Action

Perform the selected Action. As part of this Action, you may move on the map - as long as the Action permits it – perform tests, etc. The available Actions are described in detail in the Actions In-Game section.

4. Introduction of Event Effects

After resolving the selected Action, you check whether the countdown has not run down on any Event card (i.e. the die placed on this card has been put aside to indicate "zero"). If this is the case, the Effect described on the Event card should be resolved, and the die should be placed back on the card, set to the appropriate value, depending on the number of players.

If the resolution of the Effect on the Event card requires establishing a particular order of the players (as is the case with the Forefathers' Eve Event), then the currently active player uses this Effect first, then the player on their left, etc.

5. Summation of the Number of Influence Tokens in the Villages

Each move of your Stworze on the map and every attempt to perform any test during the game result in placing Influence tokens in the Villages (except the Duel Action). When the number of tokens in a Village reaches or exceeds the given limit, in this stage of the round, you invert them all and compare the number of Fear and Favor tokens that have accumulated in this Village. Depending on the number of players, the limit is:

• for 2 and 3 players - 4 tokens
• for 4 and 5 players - 5 tokens

After checking which tokens there are more of, place the appropriate Impact token on this Area and place the Influence tokens no longer in use back in the Pool.

• Prevalence of Fear tokens – the Village and its Surroundings are in Fear of the Stworze. Place the Impact token in this Area, turning the Fear side up.
• Prevalence of Favor tokens – people in the Village and its Surroundings are grateful to the Stworze for their protection. Place the Impact token in this Area, turning the Favor side up.

Impact tokens:

• Fear Impact Token = Brutality tests in this Area (Village and its Surroundings) have a +1, and Cunning tests a -1 modifier.
• Favor Impact Token = Cunning tests in this Area (Village and its Surroundings) have a +1 modifier, and Brutality tests -1.
• There may not be more than one Impact token in a given Area.

The Impact tokens modify the tests until the limit of the Influence tokens in the given Village is filled again and resolved again. After the next counting, the Impact token may remain unchanged or you may have to switch it to the other side to represent the winning Influence tokens.

Note! It may happen that the number of Fear and Favor tokens is identical. In this case, the Influence tokens return to the Pool, without any effects - if there was no Impact token in this Area, then you do not place any on the map; if there were any, leave them as they were.

6. Mission Completion

If any of the players (not only you) manages to complete the requirements of his/her current Mission in this round (in one of the four previously mentioned ways), he/she puts the Mission card aside and reveals a new Mission. After that, the next player (on the left) begins his/her actions.

10. Actions In-Game

In each round, you select and perform one of the following Actions – if, of course, it is available:

1. The Quest Action – a Stworze tries to perform one of the Quests on the board.
2. The Influence Action – a Stworze draws selected Influence tokens from the Pool.
3. The Here I Am Action – a Stworze reveals its existence to people, striving to strike Fear or gain Favor among the inhabitants of the chosen Village.
4. The Track Action – a Stworze informs people on the parts of the Realm that other Stworzes live in.
5. The Rest Action – a Stworze goes to its Lair to make changes and rearrange its Mission deck and so on. This Action, being available at all times, is not represented by any card.
6. The Duel Action – a Stworze attempts to defeat the enemy Stworze in face to face duel.
7. The Warrior/Mage Action – You move the token of the Warrior/Mage on the board or try to defeat one of them.
8. The Lost Children/Hunter Action – a Stworze tries to help or harm the Hunter or Lost Children.

1. The Quest Action

When you choose this Action, you move your Stworze to the Location containing a Quest card that you want to complete. Place a chosen Influence token on the board, in the nearest Village. If a Stworze doesn't have to move – if your character is already in the Location in which the selected Quest card is located – the Influence token is not added.

To complete a Quest, you must pass the test described on its card. If the test goes well, you put the card of this Quest next to your Stworze card – in future rounds you will be able to use the Effect described on the completed Quest card. Immediately place a new card in the Location – if you are in a Village, it would be a card from the Village deck; if it's the Surroundings – a card from the Surroundings deck.

If the test failed, the Quest card remains on the board.

The Quest card contains the following:

• Card title
• Modifier icons placed on the right side of the illustration (Brutality, Cunning and a test difficulty marking – the Day/Night icon).
• Short description "fluff".
• The Effect, i.e. a one-time reward (you get it after finishing the Quest).

Example card: "Oppressive breathlessness" – Family offers sacrifices in order to chase away the "evil". Effect: Discard two Vitality tokens from the Stworze of your choice.

If there is a dash instead of a numeric modifier of a given Cunning or Brutality statistic, this means that the Quest cannot be completed via a test of this characteristic (the test sequence is described in detail in the Tests section).

If both characteristic icons are marked with a number rather than a dash, it means that the player can choose whether the Quest will be performed using Cunning or Brutality.

2. The Influence Action

A Stworze develops its people-influencing skills:

• select 2 Influence tokens of your choice from the Pool.

This Action does not allow the character to move!

3. The Here I Am Action

A Stworze appears in a Village, walks amongst people, shows them its true form, so that, from now on, all the bad or all the good things that happen to the inhabitants will be attributed to it.

Move your Stworze to the chosen Village, placing any of your chosen Influence tokens there. If a Stworze does not have to move – your character is already in the chosen Village – the Influence token is not added.

Then you take one of your Stworze tokens and put it in the Village:

• If you think that during the next count of the Influence tokens located in this Village, Fear will gain the advantage, you place the Stworze token Fear-side up.
• If you think that during the next count of the Influence tokens located in this Village, Favor will gain the advantage, you place the Stworze token Favor-side up.

There can be only one Stworze token in a Village at the same time predicting the victory of Fear and only one Stworze token predicting the victory of Favor. Those tokens cannot belong to the same player.

If later in the game, while counting the Influence tokens, it turns out that you have made correct predictions as to the type of tokens, you receive a prize in the same round: your current Mission is complete, regardless of Mission requirements. Thus, it is sensible, with your earlier actions, to set up the victory of the side (Fear or Favor) which you assumed would win in a given Village.

Then, regardless of whether you are right or not, you take your Stworze token (previously placed in the Location) back.

If your predictions of a win by Fear or Favor were not right (the reaction of the inhabitants of the Realm was different than you assumed), you lose:

• 1 Vitality token – if you assumed that Fear would gain advantage,
• 1 Influence token – if you assumed that Favor would gain advantage.

An equal number of tokens of both types also means a failed "bet".

4. The Track Action

Move your Stworze to a Village where the Track token is located. Be sure to add the chosen Influence token to the Village. If you do not have to move (your character is already in the Village in which the Track token is located), the Influence token is not added.

Remove the Track token from the board and indicate the selected Location on the map. All players discard the card of the indicated location from their Location decks. If any of the players previously selected this Location as the Lair of their Stworze, they discard 2 Vitality tokens from the character's card (because people have found the resting place of your Stworze and have either injured it or destroyed its Lair, or disturb its peace with constant requests for help, etc.). Choose a new location for the Lair (from the remaining cards in the deck).

If, in addition, your Stworze was in its Lair at that moment (i.e. your character was standing on its Location card), you lose not 2, but 3 Vitality tokens.

Finally, move one selected Influence token (without turning it over) from the Village from which the Track token was discarded to the Village which was the target of the Track Action. If the Location indicated was the Surroundings, then you place the token that was moved in the associated Village.

Note! The Location deck cannot consist of less than 4 cards. If your deck has only 4 cards, the next time any Stworze plays the Track Action, the indicated Location card is not discarded, although you still check whether your Stworze's Lair is in this Location or not.

5. The Rest Action

In your round you have the right not to choose any Action card. Instead, you take your Stworze from the board and place it on the Location card that you have chosen as your Lair.

When a Stworze is in its Lair, you have the right to:

• change the Location card in which your Stworze's Lair is hidden,
• change the order of your Mission cards in your Mission deck,
• regain 1 Vitality token and draw one Influence token of your choice.

If you lost any Attribute as a result of a Duel Action, you may now reclaim one Attribute of your choice. After each change, the Lair card is put face down.

This Action is particularly useful when you realize that it will be difficult for you to carry out the current Mission and remember that there is an easier Mission card within your deck.

Hiding in your Lair is, however, associated with a certain risk, which is described in the section: Track Action.

6. The Duel Action

During this Action, your Stworze moves to the Location where another Stworze is staying and he/she tries to defeat the enemy.

Note! The duel between the Stworzes takes place outside the human realm, so players do not use Influence tokens to move or to perform the test.

Whoever emerges victorious from a duel between two Stworzes is decided by the result of the test performed by the attacker.

• Time (Day or Night) of the test is determined by the Day/Night icon on the Quest card found in the Location in which the Duel is performed.
• The statistic that will be tested is chosen by the attacker.
• The defender draws from the appropriate Day or Night deck as many cards as his Cunning or Brutality statistic is (depending on the previous choice of the attacker). The chosen card with the best icon (and therefore placed most to the right on the board) determines the difficulty of the test that is ahead of the Attacker.
• Knowing the time of day from the Quest card lying nearby and the difficulty of the test, which the defender has just established, you perform a regular test during which you can use any modifiers available (see Tests).

If the test was successful:

• Move your opponent to the nearest Location - if you fought in the Village, you move the defeated Stworze to the nearest Surroundings or vice versa.
• You may preview (but do not reveal) his/her Location card, where his/her Lair is hidden.
• You collect one Stworze token from the defeated character. It can be this Stworze's token, or a token which was collected during a different Duel from the Stworze defeated earlier by your opponent. If your opponent has only one Stworze token left, you cannot take it away from him/her. Of course, the Stworze with the last Stworze token (next to him/her or on the board) can still be the target of the Duel Action.
• The Attribute of your choice becomes useless to your opponent - its card is turned face down. Lost Attributes can be recovered after performing the Rest Action.

If the test is failed, the defender is considered the winner of the Duel and he/she is entitled to perform all the above actions.

Note! At the end of the round in which you collect 3 Stworze tokens from other players, your upper Mission card is completed and you must return the Stworze tokens to their owners - this is another way to complete difficult Missions.

Duel Action - example: Leshy chooses the Duel Action and goes to The Wharf to defeat Rusalka (Leshy doesn't spend an Influence point). In The Wharf there is a Quest card - "Birth of a child" on which there is a Day icon, so the Duel test will be a daily test. Leshy chooses Brutality as a test characteristic. Rusalka's Brutality in the daytime is 2, so she draws 2 cards from the Day-time deck. The drawn out cards are: the sun behind the clouds and the solar eclipse. Rusalka would then choose the "solar eclipse" card as it is the rarest and most difficult for Leshy to complete his test. Knowing the statistics and the level of difficulty, Leshy now attempts to pass the test. If he passes, he will benefit from all the "prizes" provided for the victorious Stworze. If he fails the test - Rusalka will use them instead.

7. The Warrior/Mage Action

At the beginning of the game, place the Warrior and the Mage characters in random Locations – you can use the additional Location deck to select these places.

The Warrior – a hero who decided to fight against Stworzes. Whenever the Warrior appears in a Location with a Stworze, or a Stworze appears in a Location where the Warrior is, you lose 2 Vitality tokens. Once you've lost them, you may stay in the same Location without further loss of Vitality. All tests performed by a Stworze in the Location (not in the Area) in which the Warrior resides have an additional modifier of -2.

The Mage – a wandering sage and charmer who knows a lot about the Stworze. Whenever the Mage appears in the same Location as your Stworze, or the Stworze appears in a Location with the Mage, turn your Location card upside down to reveal your Lair. (Note: you may use the Rest Action during your next round to reset the Location of your Lair. Once you have reset your Lair Location, you may remain in the same Location as the Mage without revealing your new Location card.) All tests performed by a Stworze in the Location (not in the Area) in which the Mage is also staying have an additional modifier of +2.

When you select the above action, you must choose whether it is to involve the Warrior or the Mage, and whether you are going to move the chosen character or try to defeat it (remove it from the board).

Moving the Warrior/Mage: You draw 4 cards from the additional Location deck, and from among those cards you choose the place to which you move the Warrior or Mage. You may move the Warrior/Mage token back to the same location where it has already encountered another Stworze, thus forcing the Stworze to lose additional vitality or reveal its lair after having performed the Rest Action. This Action does not allow you to move your Stworze.

Defeating the Warrior/Mage: Move your Stworze to the Location in which the Warrior/Mage resides. Remember to add the selected Influence token to the nearest Village. If you do not have to move (your character is already in the Village in which the Warrior/Mage resides), the Influence token is not added. Now you can take the test – its difficulty and modifier are given on the Warrior/Mage rule cards. During this test, modifiers derived from the Warrior/Mage (that is -2 and +2) do not work. The defeated Warrior/Mage is removed from the map. The prize for defeating the Warrior/Mage is the completion of the currently performed Mission, regardless of its requirements, Actions to be performed, situations on the game board, etc.

Example Warrior card (as illustrated): In this Location: 1. All tests in this location are now more difficult. Draw 2 less cards from the Day/Night Deck while attempting to pass the test. 2. Discard 2 Vitality tokens. Defeat: 1. Complete the current Mission.

8. Hunter/Lost Children Action

At the beginning of the game, you put 1 Hunter token and 1 Lost Children token in each of the Surroundings.

Hunter – a fisherman on the lake, a hunter in the forest, etc. A Stworze may defeat him, so that his body or his fear regenerate its strength. You can also help him hunt, and in return he will share a part of his prey.

Lost Children – they are probably hanging around somewhere in the swamps or rummaging in the pits and caves of nearby hills. You can Harm them to get rid of their irritating presence, or help them find their way home, for which their parents will be grateful.

After selecting this Action, you move your Stworze to the Location with the Hunter token or the Lost Children token, and then decide whether you want to Help them, Harm them, or Defeat them (another type of test with a different reward). When making a move, you add the chosen Influence token to the nearby Village. If a Stworze doesn't have to move - your character is already in the Location in which the Hunter or Lost Children are present – the Influence token is not added.

The difficulty of the test associated with the chosen activity, modifiers and possible rewards for a successful test are given on the Rules of the Hunter and the Rules of Lost Children cards. After a successful test, remove the Lost Children/Hunter token from the board.

(As illustrated, the Hunter card reads: Defeat: 1. A successful Brutality -1 test allows the Stworze to regain 2 Vitality tokens. Help: 1. A successful Cunning test allows the Stworze to regain 1 Vitality token and 1 chosen Influence token. The Lost Children card reads: Harm: 1. A successful Brutality test allows the Stworze to regain 1 Vitality token. Help: 1. A successful Cunning test allows the Stworze to draw 1 chosen Influence token.)

11. Tests

You already know how to play each round of the game step by step. Most of your activities will, however, require a test.

Note! Remember that, before each test (except the Duel Action), you need to transfer the appropriate Influence token from your character card to the nearest Village.

Each test has a characteristic indicated on the Quest card or Rules card of the Hunter, the Lost Children, the Warrior and the Mage, which we must test, as well as a test modifier and an icon indicating its difficulty and whether it is a day-time or night-time test.

Day and Night icons, defining both the difficulty of the test and its type, are placed on the game board in order from the easiest (first icon on the left) to the most difficult one (the last icon on the right):

• a) the Night icons are located at the top of the board
• b) the Day icons are located at the bottom of the board

For testing, use:

1. the Day deck (day-time tests)
2. the Night deck (night-time tests)

The order of steps during a test:

• Shuffle the selected Deck.
• Play all card Effects which determine automatic passing or failing a test, as well as those that change its conditions (e.g., change a day-time test to a night-time test, change the characteristic to be tested, etc.).
• Check the value of your characteristic (Brutality or Cunning), depending on the time of the test (Day or Night).
• Adjust the value of the characteristic you are using for the test by any additional modifiers (Impact token in a Location, the presence of the Warrior or the Mage, effects of the completed Mission cards and Quest cards, etc.).
• The player who passes the test may discard 1 Fear token – if he/she passes the Brutality test; or 1 Favor token – if he/she passes the Cunning test, to gain an additional +1 modifier. You can discard 1 token maximum.
• One of the other players (but only one) may discard 1 Fear token – if the opponent is attempting the Cunning test – or 1 Favor token – if the opponent is attempting the Brutality test, to add an additional -1 modifier to the test. A maximum of 1 token can be discarded.

Note! After adding up all modifiers, you always have the right to draw one card (even if the value of your statistic is negative). Never draw more than 6 cards (even if after adding the modifiers, the value of your characteristic is higher than 6).

• Choose as many cards from the appropriate deck (Day or Night) as the modified value of your characteristic.

Note! Please remember that the tokens used to modify the test are not added to the nearby Village (as in the case of movement or an attempt at a test), but simply discarded into the Pool.

The test is passed when the selected cards include a card with an icon corresponding to the difficulty of the test or with an icon placed on the board to the right of the icon indicating the difficulty of the test.

Example: on a Quest card, on the icon of the Brutality characteristic, there is a -1 modifier. The first icon on the right side of the card, indicating the time of day/night, shows a half-moon. It determines the type and difficulty of the test (night-time). We will pass the test if we draw a card from the Night deck with a half-moon icon or an icon placed on the board to the right of it. Modifying the test: the value of your Stworze's Brutality at Night is 3. Subtract from this value the modifier placed on the Quest card (-1). The result 2 means that you can draw two cards from the Night deck. If one of them is a card with a half-moon icon or more, the test is successful.

What happens when the test fails?

• Failure of any Cunning test means losing an Influence token of your choice.
• Failure of any Brutality test means losing a Vitality token.

12. Example of a Round

You are playing the game as Rusalka. Your competitors for the title of the Guardian of the Realm are Leshy, Likho and Mara.

1. Playing Effects from completed Quest or Mission cards. You decide not to play any Effects from the completed Mission or Quest cards. Sitting on the left, Leshy uses the Effect of the Quest card "The spirit of an 'evil man'", which allows them to add 1 Favor token from the pool to Ravenswood. Likho does not play any cards. Mara plays the Effect of the card "Desecration" which causes Rusalka and Likho to lose 1 Vitality token.

2. Select and move an Action card, reduce the Event counter. Your Rusalka now has 3 Vitality tokens, which means that she cannot choose the Action which lies the most to the right (in the first place) among the pairs of Action cards. Your current Mission is "The one who dances at full moon" – it requires performing any night-time quest whose card lies in the Surroundings. Fortunately, the Quest Action is on the top of its pair of Action cards, in the second place from the right, so you can choose it. Reduce the countdown of the Event located above the Quest card – the Harvest Festival – and because the die that was placed on this card showed "1", now you take it off and put it next to the card, to indicate that the Event will have its Effect in this round. Move your pair of Action cards farthest to the right, and the pair of cards from the first place to the left, to fill the empty space under Harvest Festival. Finally, place the Quest Action card at the bottom of its pair, thus revealing the Influence Action.

3. Performing an Action. Move your Rusalka to Lake Raduń (the Surroundings), with the "Lovers' tryst" Quest, which is a night-time Quest, a type that you are interested in. Nearby, in The Wharf, there are already 4 Influence tokens and a Stworze token belonging to Mara (Fear-side up). Due to your movement, place the selected Influence token in The Wharf Area. "Lovers' Tryst" is a Quest that you can only perform by means of a Brutality test, so you also need to put the Fear token in The Wharf, face down, showing its reverse side to other players to prove that you are giving out an appropriate token. Your Brutality at night is 5. The test difficulty is -1. Likho plays the Effect of its previously completed Mission card "That which feeds on despair", further modifying your Attribute by -2. To increase your chances, you pay another Fear token (do not put it on the board, just throw it back in the pool), to add +1 to the test. Unfortunately, Leshy decides to make the test difficult for you, discarding a Favor token to the pool and again reducing your Brutality by -1. After all the modifications, the value of your brutality is 2. You draw 2 cards from the Night deck. One of them is a card with a full-moon icon and therefore definitely better than required for the test. Take the card of the completed Quest and put it next to your character card for later use. Immediately add a new Quest card from the Surroundings deck to Lake Raduń.

4. Introduction of Event Effects. Seeing as the countdown has ended on the Harvest Festival Event card, its Effect comes into play. Each player discards 1 card of a completed Quest or completed Mission. Then, set the countdown die again on the Harvest Festival card, at the value of "5", which is suitable for 4 players.

5. Summation of the number of Influence tokens in Villages.

Ravenswood summation: After Leshy has used the Effect of the card titled The spirit of an "evil man" (at the beginning of the round), thanks to which he has added 1 Favor token from the pool to Ravenswood, there are 5 Influence tokens in this Village. Now all of them are turned over and it appears that Favor won. It means that people have responded to your actions with kindness. As there was already an Impact token (Favor side up) in this Area (as the result of the previous summary of the tokens), the effect of the Impact token does not change. After the current summation, Ravenswood's Influence tokens are put away in the pool. In Ravenswood, there was also a Stworze token belonging to Likho (Fear-side up). After revealing the summary of the Influence tokens it appears that Fear lost in this Village. So due to a failed bet, the Stworze token is removed from the game, and Likho loses a Vitality token.

The Wharf summation: As a result of your action, there are now 6 Influence tokens in The Wharf – 4 previously located and 2 added by you in this round. They are all turned over showing more Fear tokens. So you need to place the Fear Impact token in this Area, as there is no Impact token here yet. Influence tokens from The Wharf are put away in the pool. In The Wharf, there was a Stworze token belonging to Mara (Fear-side up), so she will be able to announce her current Mission completion. Her Stworze token is now removed from the board and put back in her pool.

6. Announcement of Mission completion.

• Your Rusalka fulfilled her current Mission.
• The current Leshy Mission required activating the Harvest Festival Event, which took place in your round, so Leshy also completed his Mission.
• Likho's Mission required the situation in which any test is hindered, so that the player attempting the test would draw a maximum of 2 cards. When Mara played a card that lowered the odds against you by -2 and you eventually only drew 2 cards, Likho has completed his current Mission.
• Mara's Mission was "She, who steals the breath away", where a minimum of 2 Stworzes had to simultaneously lose at least 1 Vitality token. Mara performed this Mission at the beginning of your round, playing the Effect of the "Desecration" Quest. In addition, in this round, it turned out that Mara correctly predicted which Influence tokens would gain advantage in The Wharf. However, she can announce only 1 Mission completion in a given round. Thanks to the fact that, as a result of your actions, you have led to counting the Influence tokens in The Wharf in the same round in which Mara tried to complete her Mission, you thwarted her plans for the potential completion of the next Mission in the future.

If those were the last Missions from Rusalka and Likho's Mission deck, your Rusalka is the winner of the game, as you have completed your last Mission in your round.

13. Optional Rules

We encourage you to modify the rules of the game to suit your preferences. For example:

• Depending on your preference, change the number of Missions to be completed in order to win the game.
• Lower the starting value on the "countdown" dice – they will activate more often.
• If you do not like any particular Event, do not put it in your game. Or perhaps you have a set of Event cards that suits you best - if so, do not hesitate to play with that chosen set.
• If you want the tests in the game to be more exciting, do not "draw" all the cards at once, but pull them out of the deck and check them one by one. It may often happen that you will pass the test thanks to the last selected card.
• You can increase the difficulty of all tests in the game by removing one card from the Day and Night deck, with the best icon (there are two such cards in each deck).
• If you want to limit the time of the game, you can determine at the beginning of the game how many Events will take place in it. For example, the round in which the 8th Event will take place will be the last round of the game, and the winner will be the person who will have completed the most Missions at that moment.

TIP: Put a pair of Action cards drawn at the beginning of the game into plastic sleeves (the cards should face each other). It will be easier to rotate cards this way, instead of shuffling them - as described in the instructions.

14. Two-Player Variant

In a two-player game, the same rules apply as for more players. To increase the interaction, at the beginning of the round, select one card from the Quest deck and place it next to your character card, as you do with completed Quests. In future rounds, you will be able to use the Effect described on it, once.

In this version of the game, you cannot have more than 3 completed Quest cards, so you should use them as much as you can.

15. Single-Player Variant - Challenge

In this variant you need to complete 8 selected Missions from the deck of a Stworze of your choice, in time limited by the game mechanics. In order to win, you must complete the last Mission before, for example, the 3rd Event takes place in the game.

Use all rules from the instructions. Dice on Event cards are set to "3". The limit of Influence tokens in the Realm Areas is 3. Additionally, at the beginning of each round, add a random Influence token from the pool to a random Location (do not look at it, just place it on the board, face down).

Note! The time challenge will be more difficult for some Stworze than for others. Thanks to this, the solo play will be different for each character, so think through the order of the Missions at the beginning of the game.