Sword & Sorcery: Ancient Chronicles Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 1. Introduction
  • 1.1 Game Overview
  • 1.2 Component List
  • 1.3 Token Assembly
• 2. Before The Adventure
  • 2.1 Arrange The Card Decks
  • 2.2 Prepare Map, Tokens, And Decks
    • 2.2.1 Choose Heroes
    • 2.2.2 Set Up The Quest
• 3. Traveling The S&S World
  • 3.1 Ventures
  • 3.2 Crowns (Coins)
  • 3.3 The Emporium
    • 3.3.1 Selling Treasure Cards
  • 3.4 The Stash
• 4. Terrain Structure
  • 4.1 Controlling/Dominating An Area
  • 4.2 Terrain Types
    • 4.2.1 Architecture
    • 4.2.2 Hindrances
  • 4.3 Area Elements
    • 4.3.1 Traps
  • 4.4 Line Of Sight (L.O.S.)
    • 4.4.1 Fog Of War
    • 4.4.2 Determining Distances
• 5. Game Sequence
  • 5.1 Time Phase
  • 5.2 Battle Phase
    • 5.2.1 Hero Turn
    • 5.2.2 Enemy Turn
  • 5.3 Event Phase
    • 5.3.1 Story Events
    • 5.3.2 Night And Day Events
  • 5.4 Quest Ending Check
• The Heroes Of Sword & Sorcery
• 6. The Heroes
  • 6.1 Soul Nature
  • 6.2 Hero Card
    • 6.2.1 Fighting Style
    • 6.2.2 Innate Powers
    • 6.2.3 Item Capacity (Inventory)
    • 6.2.4 Save Roll
    • 6.2.5 Movement Points
  • 6.3 Soul Gem
    • 6.3.1 Soulrank
• 7. Activities
  • 7.1 Movement
    • 7.1.1 Engaged In Combat
    • 7.1.2 Evade And Reaction Attacks
    • 7.1.3 Flying
  • 7.2 Combat
  • 7.3 Action
    • 7.3.1 Focus An Attack
    • 7.3.2 Dash
    • 7.3.3 Bash A Chest Or A Locked Door
    • 7.3.4 Exchange An Item
    • 7.3.5 Reorganize Equipped Items
    • 7.3.6 Pray
    • 7.3.7 Search
  • 7.4 Free Actions
    • 7.4.1 Open Normal Doors
    • 7.4.2 Pick Up/Drop An Item
    • 7.4.3 Evade
  • 7.5 Activation Activities
  • 7.6 Quest-Related Activities
• 8. Powers
  • 8.1 Managing Cooldown
  • 8.2 Blessing Cards
• 9. Items
  • 9.1 Fighting Style Compatibility
  • 9.2 Soulrank Restrictions
  • 9.3 Equipment Items: Weapons
  • 9.4 Equipment Items: Armor
    • 9.4.1 Magic Shields
  • 9.5 Equipment Items: Artifacts
• 10. Combat System
  • 10.1 Domination (Supremacy)
• 11. Special Game Effects
  • 11.1 Area Of Effect (AoE)
  • 11.2 Bash
  • 11.3 Break
  • 11.4 Drain
  • 11.5 Lethal
  • 11.6 Critical
  • 11.7 Body Conditions
    • 11.7.1 Health Conditions (Slow, Blind, Stun)
    • 11.7.2 Incapacitating Conditions (Immobilize, Exhaust, Daze)
    • 11.7.3 Special Condition: Bleed
    • 11.7.4 Special Condition: Fire
    • 11.7.5 Special Condition: Knocked Out (K.O.)
    • 11.7.6 Special Condition: Red Criticals
    • 11.7.7 Special Condition: Poison
• 12. Health And Health Points (HP)
  • 12.1 Death (Becoming A Ghost Soul)
  • 12.2 Ghost Soul Activities
  • 12.3 Resurrection
• 13. Miscellaneous Items
  • 13.1 Permanents
  • 13.2 Consumables
  • 13.3 Projectiles
  • 13.4 Crafting Items
  • 13.5 Cursed Items
• 14. Heroes' Companions
• 15. The Enemies
  • 15.1 Enemy Scroll
  • 15.2 Enemy Card
  • 15.3 Enemy Power Cards
    • 15.3.1 Defeated Heroes And Companions
    • 15.3.2 Multiple Enemy Power Cards
  • 15.4 Shadows
  • 15.5 Spawn Gates
  • 15.6 Enemy Assignment
  • 15.7 Enemy Activation (Encounter Cards)
  • 15.8 Applying The Enemy A.I.
  • 15.9 Enemy Movement
    • 15.9.1 Flying Enemies
  • 15.10 Enemy Combat
  • 15.11 Enemy Body Conditions
    • 15.11.1 Enemy Health Conditions (Slow, Blind, Stun)
    • 15.11.2 Enemy Special Conditions
  • 15.12 Enemy Health And Health Points (HP)
    • 15.12.1 Enemy Death
• 16. Minions
• 17. Master Enemies
  • 17.1 Fighting Master Enemies (Menacing Hero System)
• Credits

1. Introduction

1.1 Game Overview

Sword and Sorcery is an epic fantasy cooperative board game in which 1 to 5 players embody Heroes with unique powers. Torn back from the clutches of death by the powers of the Gods, these legendary heroes fight against the forces of evil to save the kingdom and break the spell binding their souls.

The Heroes, recalled as immortal ghost souls, but still weakened by the resurrection, grow stronger during their story-driven Quests. By acquiring Soul Points, players can regenerate their Hero's soul, regaining their former legendary prowess, with great powers, magic, soul weapons, and powerful artifacts.

This legendary story is divided into two ACTs, of which this box represents the first. The ACT number (equal to "1" in this game set) is used by some game effects.

1.2 Component List

Inside your Sword & Sorcery box you will find the following components:

• This Rulebook
• 1 Storybook ACT I
• 1 Book of Secrets ACT I
• 1 Reference Sheet
• 5 Hero figures
• 3 Companion figures
• 20 Enemy figures
• 2 Master Enemy figures
• 20 Double-sided map tiles
• 4 Red Attack dice
• 4 Blue Attack/Defense dice
• 36 Cardboard stand-up bases
• 7 Plastic clips
• 5 Hero Sheets
• 2 Master Enemy scrolls
• 14 Enemy scrolls
• 20 Enemy cards
• 15 Enemy Power cards
• 15 Encounter cards
• 13 Trap cards
• 6 Talent cards
• 47 Hero Power cards
• 10 Hero cards
• 5 Basic Armor cards
• 46 Emporium cards
• 50 Treasure cards
• 20 Event cards
• 2 Companion cards
• 31 Quest cards
• 2 Double-Sided Site Sheets (1 Small, 1 Large)
• 1 Notes Reference

Tokens and Markers:

• 5 Soul Gems
• 1 Soul Counter
• 5 Hero Bookmarks
• 1 Menacing Hero
• 40 Crowns (545 Total Value: 19x5 - 15x10 - 6x50)
• 34 Wounds
• 9 HP Modifiers
• 3 Doors
• 3 Locked Doors
• 6 Walls
• 20 Hindrance overlays
• 1 Party
• 2 Rage
• 3 Alchemical Vial
• 3 Hiding
• 1 Alchemical Trap
• 1 Dome of Strength
• 1 Dome of Resistance
• 2 Illusions
• 3 Crafting Scales
• 3 Crafting Gems
• 15 Critical
• 6 Bleed
• 6 Poison
• 13 Fire
• 10 Charges
• 20 Magic Shields
• 6 +1/-1 Hit
• 6 +1/-1 Shield
• 6 +1/-1 Armor
• 4 Spawn Gates
• 3 Chests
• 6 Loot
• 7 Waypoints
• 2 Shrines
• 1 Magic Key
• 1 Magic Lock
• 4 Search Areas
• 2 Master Enemy Spell
• 2 Web
• 20 Shadows
• 5 Nest Minions
• 10 Venom Minions
• 10 Hourglasses
• 5 Flying
• 15 Condition Pyramids

1.3 Token Assembly

Sword & Sorcery uses five different Soul Gems, which must be assembled before play, as detailed here:

Each Hero's Soul Gem should be assembled with the image of the Hero facing outward.

The Soul Counter, Doors, Nest Minions, and Illusion Companions should be placed on the cardboard stands as shown below.

2. Before The Adventure

The game includes three manuals:

• Rulebook: Provides information and the rules of the game.
• Storybook: Contains the Quest descriptions and setup.
• Book of Secrets (B.o.S.): Contains the Quest events and dialogues.

This rulebook is divided into 3 sections:

• General (Green bookmark)
• Heroes (Blue bookmark)
• Enemies (Red bookmark)

The General section, together with the Storybook, represent the minimal information you need to know before starting your journey.

If you want to play a tutorial for Quest I, visit:

https://www.sword-and-sorcery.com

The game is divided into Adventures (Quests) interspersed with Journey sections. Here are the two sections in more detail:

• Journey, where the party moves together across the Realm Map (back of the Storybook) and Site Sheets searching for Quests.
• Adventure, where these two factions fight over Map Tiles during Quests:
  • Heroes: gray figures controlled by players.
  • Enemies: colored figures controlled by game cards.

While playing, please remember these Golden Rules:

• The word "Character" may indicate any Hero, Companion, Enemy, Familiar, or Minion. It may also be used to indicate an effect that can potentially affect anyone, including "friendly-fire".
• All rules detailed on cards or in the Storybook or Book of Secrets take priority over this Rulebook and may change or replace what is written here.
• No Die can be rerolled more than once, no matter how many effects may allow it.
• Except for the Event deck, any other deck or token pile must be reshuffled with its discard pile at the end of each Quest, or when it runs out of cards/tokens and the game requires players to draw from it.
• A Character cannot gain the same bonus/penalty from the same source (same card/power or different cards/powers having exactly the same name) more than once until the effect has elapsed, unless the words "for each/each time/etc..." are listed in the source description.
• When the term "suffer" is used, it means the effect cannot be avoided in any way.
• A Character/object is considered "in play" when its figure, token, or card is on the map.
• The word "you" on Item or Power cards, including Companion cards, always refers to the Hero owner.

2.1 Arrange The Card Decks

This Sword & Sorcery Core Set uses several decks of cards (identified by a deck-back icon). As a first step, it is suggested to separate and organize them in this way:

Decks shuffled BEFORE each Quest

• Encounter (section 15.7, page 51): Contains cards indicating the Enemies to be activated during the Enemy turn, if there are Enemies in play.
• Enemy Power (section 15.3, page 49): Contains random powers some Enemies will acquire, making every combat unique.
• Trap (section 4.3.1, page 14): Contains traps that may be hidden behind doors or inside chests.
• Treasure (section 15.12.1, page 58): Contains the rewards the Heroes may find by looting killed Enemies and searching the battlefield.

Decks assembled based on the needs of each Quest

• Enemy and Master Enemy Scrolls (section 15.1, page 47): These cards represent the artificial intelligence of the Enemies contained in the Enemy deck, and don't need to be shuffled. They must be readily accessible by the players who control the matching Enemies in play. Master Enemy cards work in the same way, but are twice the size and their back side is used to represent a different Enemy or combat stance.
• Enemy (section 15.2, page 48): Contains the Enemies that spawn during the Quest to face the Heroes.
• Event (section 5.3, page 18): Contains the events influencing the Quest. These cards are usually resolved during the Event Phase or when a Hero enters an area containing one of them.

Decks used only by the Heroes or in specific conditions

• Emporium (section 3.3, page 11): Contains equipment purchasable by the Heroes each time they visit an Emporium, usually during the Journey or when an errant vendor is encountered. All Emporium cards are printed on both sides and can be easily recognized by the price tag in their lower right corner of the front side.
• Stash (section 3.4, page 11): Contains the property of the Heroes and can be accessed anytime during the Journey. By default, it contains all cards with the "Stash" tag in the lower right corner of the front side. During the campaign, it can be expanded with the Item cards Heroes leave inside it.
• Hero (section 6.2, page 22): Each card, combined with the matching Hero Sheet, figure, and Soul Gem, represents the Hero in play.
• Hero Power (section 8, page 27): These cards represent the powers Heroes gain when advancing their Soulrank. There are three kinds of Hero Power cards: Generic Talent (identified by the star icon), which can be acquired by anyone; Class Specific, which is restricted to a specific Hero (based on their name); and Companion, which is strictly related to summoning powers.
• Quest: Quest cards can be easily recognized by the purple "Quest" ribbon in the lower right corner. These cards must be kept aside until brought into play by specific effects, such as particular Hero Powers or Quest outcomes.

Note: This deck includes several Venture cards, secret tasks Heroes may find and fulfill to gain rewards! Each Venture card describes its rules on the back side. See section 3.1, page 10 for additional details.

2.2 Prepare Map, Tokens, And Decks

The game setup depends entirely upon the story and Quest you want to play. All setup instructions are covered in the Storybook manual.

The Storybook provides instructions on how to:

• Arrange the map tiles.
• Prepare and shuffle the Event deck.
• Prepare and shuffle the Enemy deck.
• Place figures, Shadows, tokens, and cards on the map.

2.2.1 Choose Heroes

Before starting the story campaign or a standalone Quest, each player chooses or randomly selects a Hero card and takes the matching (in terms of class, soul nature, and colors) Hero Sheet, Soul Gem token, and Figure. Depending on the Quest rules, the party may receive Soul Points, which must be shared, and some Crowns (coins) that each Hero can use in the Emporium to purchase items when the story allows.

Each Hero starts the Quest with full health.

The minimum number of Heroes required to play is 2.

If a player wants to play with more than one Hero, each Hero must act independently, as if it were controlled by a different player. For instance, a person who controls 3 Heroes in play counts as 3 distinct players.

2.2.2 Set Up The Quest

The "Quest Setup" section of each Quest in the Storybook contains the instructions to build the battlefield with designated map tiles and tokens. Map tiles are printed on two sides and may be combined in many different ways.

Journey Table Setup: To optimize space and improve the game experience, we suggest using this layout: 1. Underreign map (Storybook back); 2. Party marker; 3. Small Site Sheet; 4. Large Site Sheet; 5. Hourglass tokens; 6. Book of Secrets (B.o.S.).

Adventure Table Setup: To optimize space and improve the game experience, we suggest using this layout: 1. Hero card; 2. Hero Sheet; 3. Soul Gem; 4. Hero Power cards; 5. Hero Talent card; 6. Hero Weapon cards; 7. Hero Armor Sheet values; 8. Hero Armor card; 9. Hero Artifact card; 10. Hero Miscellaneous Item; 11. Companion card; 12. Map tiles; 13. Hero figures; 14. Companion figure; 15. Enemy figures; 16. Shadows; 17. Spawn Gates (Open/Closed); 18. Waypoint; 19. Minion Scroll and tokens; 20. Enemy Scrolls; 21. Enemy cards; 22. Enemy Power cards; 23. Enemy deck/discard; 24. Enemy Power deck/discard; 25. Encounter deck/discard; 26. Trap deck/discard; 27. Treasure deck/discard; 28. Event deck/discard; 29. Loot tokens; 30. Crown tokens; 31. Wound tokens; 32. Soul Counter; 33. Critical tokens; 34. Health/Incapacitating Condition tokens; 35. Other tokens.

3. Traveling The S&S World

Journeys involve moving the Party marker over the Realm Map or Site Sheets. A journey follows these rules:

• The Party always moves as a single entity, and only the Journey-related Hero Powers affect gameplay during this time.
• When the Journey requires the Party to act as a single entity, Heroes must elect an active Hero. This can be done by agreement between all Heroes or by rolling 3 Red Dice each, electing who rolls most special results (rerolling if needed).
• Heroes can exchange Items and Crowns and can access their Stash items at any time.
• During a Journey, the passage of time is managed through the "Time Reserve." The Time Reserve is a pool (empty in the beginning, but tracked through the entire Campaign) the group can use to accumulate time to later spend on exploring. The Time Reserve can be modified by several factors during the game, including the outcomes of Quests and Story Paragraphs.
• On the Realm Map:
  • The Party starts the Campaign at the Begin scroll and must move forward following the path directions (Yellow arrows) from Label to Label. Moving backwards is not permitted. Dotted paths and the Locations not connected to others can be reached only by making specific choices during the Story.
  • There are 3 kinds of Labels:
    • A (Bronze framed): These relate to a particular moment of the story. Requires just the B.o.S. manual.
    • B (Silver framed): These relate to a site to explore, usually a town or a large area. Requires the B.o.S. manual and the Site Sheet corresponding to the Label.
    • C (Gold framed): These relate to an adventure. Requires the Storybook manual to read the Quest introduction corresponding to the Label and set up the Quest.
• On Site Sheets:
  1. When the Party reaches the Site Sheet, place the Party marker in the middle of the sheet while one player reads aloud the Paragraph of the B.o.S. noted after "In" at the top of the sheet (for example: §0.6 for the Nilmerg Village, the first Site Sheet used in this game).
  2. Add the number of Hourglass tokens shown on the Site Sheet to the Time Reserve when the Party enters the sheet for the very first time (Left Side Value) or returns to visit it (Right Side Value, not used in this Core Set).
  3. The group can now visit other Paragraphs and Buildings (cards printed or placed over the sheet slots) by spending 1 Hourglass token from the Time Reserve and moving the Party token there.
  4. When the Party enters a Building, the Silver Label must be read (if present in the alcove above or below) and then each Hero can use the effects by paying individually the cost indicated on the Building.
  5. Empty Building slots located on some Site Sheets can be filled with Quest Building cards, such as Guilds or other Services found during the campaign.
  6. When no Hourglasses remain in the Time Reserve (or when the Party decides to leave), the Party must travel out of the Site Sheet by following the Paragraph noted as "Out" on the right side of the sheet Name (for example: §0.17 for Nilmerg Village).
  7. The party can choose to store unspent Hourglasses in the Time Reserve to be used (or lost, in case of bad choices) later.

Everything else is decided by the Label the Party moves onto, by the Paragraph from the Book of Secrets, or by the Quest Introduction from the Storybook. Resolving the Label is mandatory and cannot be avoided.

3.1 Ventures

By exploring the world and cities, heroes will be able to find Venture Outposts and acquire Venture cards. Each Venture card includes a series of tasks to be completed by the entire Party. Unless otherwise indicated, each task can be achieved by any Hero over the course of multiple Quests. When a task is achieved, write an "X" on the related box of the Venture card. Once all tasks are achieved, the Heroes may visit the Venture Outpost present in any Site Sheet (by spending 1 Hourglass to move there and then reading the Paragraph of the Book of Secrets), in order to be able to claim their rewards... usually crowns, powerful treasures, or information to unlock new quests!

Venture Rules: Once the Party acquires any Venture card, it must be kept near the Event deck until its requirements have been fulfilled. Progress made by any Hero of the Party toward the Venture completion is kept and valid for future Quests. Once fulfilled, the Party can obtain the related reward by visiting the Venture Outpost of any Site Sheet and then reading the indicated Paragraph.

Note: The back of all Venture cards contains the specific rules for the game set to which it belongs.

3.2 Crowns (Coins)

Crowns are the currency of the Sword & Sorcery world and are represented by 3 kinds of tokens: 5, 10, and 50 Crowns.

Heroes can find coins by looting defeated Enemies or finding treasures.

In both cases, any Loot token or Treasure card with a Crown symbol is immediately exchanged for Crown tokens from the game box and then discarded.

When a Hero acquires Crowns, he must place them on his Hero Sheet using as few coin tokens as possible. For example, finding 50 Crowns means taking a single 50 Crowns token. If that is not possible, the Hero must take five 10 Crowns tokens, and so forth.

The Crown tokens in the box represent the maximum amount of coins in the game (545). If one kind of token is missing, Heroes can exchange coins to receive the proper amount using different Crown tokens, if possible.

Coins are personal property, not a shared resource of the party. During the Adventure, Crowns can be picked up, dropped, or transferred from one Hero to another with an "Exchange an Item" action. Coins can be transferred freely between Heroes during a Journey or whenever the Emporium deck is available.

3.3 The Emporium

The Emporium represents vendors and shops out in the world. Heroes can visit the Emporium to purchase equipment.

In game terms, all Item cards with the Emporium cost printed in the lower right corner of the front are part of the Emporium deck. When the game indicates the Heroes "visit" the Emporium (usually when exploring a Site Sheet during the Journey, or when specified in the Quest Special Rules), it means to pause the game, take out the Emporium deck, and allow each Hero involved to spend his Crowns to purchase new cards. Most of the Emporium cards are double-sided. The back side depends on the item type:

• For Weapons and Armors: an enchanted version of this equipment called "Forged," accessible through the Forge Buildings only.
• For all other Items: an improved, more expensive and powerful version of these items.

For this second category, a Hero can always choose which version to buy, but once acquired, the Hero only acquires the purchased side; the card cannot be flipped to its back side. For example, a Hero who buys "Darts" and wants to upgrade them to "Poisonous Darts" (on the back side) must pay the entire cost for Poisonous Darts when visiting the Emporium. Some cards may have different requirements on the two sides. Purchased cards can be immediately equipped (if the requirements are met), or placed in the inventory of any Hero involved because, while visiting the Emporium, any Hero can rearrange and exchange items without spending activities.

Note: When a game effect keeps a Hero outside the Emporium, he cannot interact with the shop, the Stash, or... other Heroes.

3.3.1 Selling Treasure Cards

Treasure cards found during Quests can be sold when visiting the Emporium. Discard a Treasure card to gain 10 Crowns multiplied by the minimum Soulrank (III) required by the Item sold; that means for instance, selling the Vortex Treasure card will grant 30 Crowns (10 * III = 30).

3.4 The Stash

The Stash is a special deck of Item cards accessible by the Heroes during the Journey, or when the game allows them to do so. It has two main functions:

1. Before each standalone Quest and at the beginning of the Campaign, it contains all the Item cards with the Stash tag printed in the lower right corner of the front side. These cards are available to the Heroes, who can freely take and equip them when the game allows them to do so. If a Stash card is left on the battlefield at the end of a Quest or discarded for any reason, it must be placed back in the Stash deck. This ensures that Heroes always have appropriate equipment available, although less powerful than equipment obtained using Crowns or finding Treasures.
2. In Campaign mode, it may also contain other Item cards left by the Heroes, with a maximum limit of 3 Item cards per Hero (so 15 Items if there are 5 Heroes); Items with Weight equal to 0 don't count against this limit. These cards remain in the Stash until used by the Heroes. This allows Heroes to deposit an Item if it is not useful during the upcoming Quest, or simply to avoid taking up inventory space.

To keep track of which "non-Stash" cards are contained in the Stash deck, use the printable material downloadable from the Sword & Sorcery website: https://www.sword-and-sorcery.com

Note: Exactly as for the Emporium deck, Stash Weapons and Armors present a Forged side on their back, accessible only through Forge Building services.

4. Terrain Structure

Each map tile is composed of a variable number of areas through which the two factions in the game, Heroes (gray figures) and Enemies (colored figures), move to do battle. The graphics of the background of the map tile make it easy to distinguish each area by defining the tile edges in different ways, such as:

• Topsoil: present on the connection edges of each tile. It always separates the areas.
• Floor Pattern: change from a marble area to grass, for example.
• Repeated Ornaments: stones or floor frames, for example.

Note: If unsure about identifying a specific area, remember that each area can also be recognized by a Sight Mark.

Each map tile is identified by a number-letter combination. The number identifies the tile, and the letter indicates the side, A or B. The combination of these two elements uniquely identifies every map tile. Areas are considered adjacent when they share at least one common edge (not just the corner). Areas separated by walls, tile edges not connected (even partially), or corners, are not considered to be adjacent.

4.1 Controlling/Dominating An Area

The number of figures from the two factions (Heroes and Enemies) in a single area influences different factors and rules of the game:

• Controlling an area: a faction controls an area when it has numerical superiority, in terms of figures, compared to the opposing faction.
• Dominating an area: a faction dominates an area when it has at least twice the number of figures compared to the opposing faction.

Note: Dominating the area also counts as controlling it.

The three main aspects about controlling/dominating an area are:

• Dominating an area grants the Domination bonus during attacks (section 10.1, page 37).
• There are no limits to the number of figures (of both factions) in a single area.
• K.O.ed figures (section 11.7.5, page 41 / section 15.11.2, page 57) count as zero (0) for controlling/dominating an area. This means that if a faction has only K.O.ed figures in an area, a single figure of the opposite faction can control and dominate the area.

The check to determine control or domination of an area by a faction must be performed each time the game calls for it, usually before an attack, to resolve some Encounter and Event cards, or to activate a particular Character effect. In any case, an area is never considered controlled or dominated by a faction if the opposing faction does not have at least one figure in the area.

Controlling An Area Example: Robin can move to the central area to help the other Heroes by using his Sneak Attack power because the Hero faction controls the area (3 VS 2). At the same time, the two Giant Spiders are controlling and dominating Xantares' area, meaning they will obtain their Banding power bonus and the Domination bonus during their attacks.

4.2 Terrain Types

Normally, a Hero can move from one area to an adjacent area by spending one movement point (section 7.1, page 24); however, some terrain can block or limit movement in different ways. The areas containing these particular terrains are divided into two categories, Architecture and Hindrances, defined as follows:

4.2.1 Architecture

Blocking Side: A thick and dark wall pattern may not be crossed and blocks Line of Sight (L.O.S., section 4.4, page 15) for any Character. Areas that are totally separated by a blocking side are not considered to be adjacent.

Note: The color of the wall may vary, based on the map background.

4.2.2 Hindrances

There are three types of Hindrance overlays. Tokens may be placed at these points during setup or later due to game effects.

Unless noted, once placed on tiles these tokens are permanent. Each area may contain any number of Hindrances, but their effect is limited to one per type.

Barrier Side: The Barrier Side is identified by a Blue map scroll placed near the edge of an area on the map. It indicates non-flying Characters may not cross that edge to reach the adjacent area. The barrier blocks the movement path only in one direction, from the area where the Blue scroll is placed. This means Characters coming from the opposite area are able to cross it.

• The Barrier Side does not block L.O.S.
• Areas separated by a Barrier Side are still considered to be adjacent for ranged attacks.

Difficult Area: A Difficult Area is identified by a Red map scroll with the movement icon placed in an area on the map. Hero movement into or through (but not exiting) this area costs 2 movement points instead of 1. Enemies and Minions are not affected by this Hindrance.

Deadly Area: A Deadly Area is identified by a Red map scroll with the HP icon placed in an area on the map. Hero movement into or through (but not exiting) this area causes the Hero to suffer 1 HP. Enemies and Minions are not affected by this Hindrance.

Walls: Wall overlays are used to change the shape of a map tile by blocking some of the edges. When present, they act as blocking sides (section 4.2.1, page 13).

Note: Movement across any non-blocking terrain/element represents a legal movement path. Attempting to move across a blocking terrain/element represents an illegal movement path and is not allowed for all Characters.

Terrain Example: Thorgren begins his move but cannot reach the Hobgremlin, because he spends his 3 movement points to move 2 areas: area 1 costs 1 point, but area 2 costs 2 points (as it is difficult terrain). On its Turn, the Hobgremlin moves, ignoring difficult terrain, and attacks Thorgren.

Terrain Example: Artemis can attack the Black Dwarf beyond the barrier with a ranged weapon.

4.3 Area Elements

Each area may also contain additional elements, represented by the following tokens:

• Door: A door resides on the edge between two adjacent areas. It may not be crossed and blocks L.O.S. A Hero standing in any adjacent area and spending 1 Free Action can Open a Normal Door (section 7.4.1, page 26). When opened, draw and resolve a Trap card (section 4.3.1, page 14), and remove the door token from the map. It cannot be closed again.
• Locked Door: A locked door counts as a door with one exception: a Hero must open it by spending 1 Action to Bash a Locked Door (section 7.3.3, page 26), instead of a Free Action.
• Chest: A chest may contain several treasures. A Hero in the same area can open it by spending 1 Action to Bash a Chest (section 7.3.3, page 26). When opened, draw and resolve one Trap card, and draw a number of Treasure cards/Crowns equal to the value written on the back side of the chest token. When finished, remove the chest from the map.
• Magic Lock: When a magic lock is present, the associated door or chest cannot be opened as usual. A magic lock token can only be removed (as a Free Action) by a Hero carrying the magic key of the same color. Once the magic lock is removed, the associated door/chest follows normal rules.
• Magic Key: Typically, once a Hero acquires a magic key, he keeps it until the end of the Quest. If a Hero carrying a magic key dies, the key token must be placed on the map in the area occupied by the Hero's figure. Another Hero may pick up the token as a Free Action. The management of magic keys may vary from Quest to Quest as detailed in the Storybook.
• Search Area: This token represents an area that may contain treasure, but also danger! A Hero in the same area can spend 1 Action to perform a Search (section 7.3.7, page 26). Flip the Search Area token and roll a Red die, then check and apply the result indicated on the token; any other die result means nothing has been found. When finished, remove the token from the map. It is not possible to search a token more than once.

4.3.1 Traps

Each time a Hero opens any kind of door or chest, or when the game requires it, the active Hero must draw and resolve one card from the Trap deck. Read and apply the effects, starting from the position of the trap on the map. Save rolls (section 6.2.4, page 23), when required, must be performed by all Heroes within the area of effect of the trap (following legal movement paths), ignoring L.O.S.

Note: Doors reside on the edge between two adjacent areas. Each of those adjacent areas counts as 1 (section 4.4.2, page 15), i.e. 0 does not exist on a door's trap.

Trap Example: Robin the Thief, before opening the Chest, uses his innate power to check the top card of the Trap deck... it's a trap! So he puts it on the bottom of the deck. Then Robin opens the Chest and draws a Trap card... the "Fire Crater" trap! All Heroes within 2 areas of legal movement path (regardless of L.O.S.) suffer Fire, and any Hero who fails the Save roll will also suffer 1 HP per his own Armor Value (min 0).

Trap Example: Thorgren opens the door triggering the trap. He and Jeanne must try to save versus the "Abyssal Pit" trap because they are within 1 area. Artemis is safe because she is out of range.

4.4 Line Of Sight (L.O.S.)

The term Line of Sight (L.O.S.) refers to visibility from a source Character to a target Character or other element on the battlefield and is based on the Sight Marks printed on each area of the map tiles. To have L.O.S. you must be able to trace a straight line between the Sight Marks in the source and target areas without crossing any of the following:

• A blocking terrain/element (section 4.2.1, page 13).
• An external map tile edge (the edge of a map tile not connected to another tile, even if partially connected due to an adjacent tile).
• Areas containing Enemy figures, aside from the target's area (only if the source Character is a Hero, because Enemies can see through Enemies).

Attacks, items, and powers may only be performed/used against a target within L.O.S., except where indicated differently.

Note: Hero figures never block L.O.S., while Enemy figures block L.O.S. only when the source Character is a Hero.

This means Enemies can always see through other Enemies and Heroes, while Heroes can only see through other Heroes but not through Enemies. So a Hero in the same area as an Enemy can only interact with Characters in his area.

Line Of Sight Example: Artemis and the Green Hobgremlin have L.O.S. to each other. Artemis and the Blue Tyrant Lizard are hidden from each other by the empty space between the tiles (the L.O.S. line crosses the edge between 16A and 14A map tiles and so it is blocked). Artemis can't see the Red Minotaur because the Hobgremlin blocks the L.O.S.; however, the Minotaur can see Artemis because Enemies don't block L.O.S. of other Enemies.

Line Of Sight Example: Thorgren and the Green Serpent can see each other. Jeanne and the Green Serpent are both hidden by the wall (the L.O.S. crosses the wall). Thorgren and the Red Soul Eater can't see each other because they are more than 5 Areas away (Fog Of War rule).

Line Of Sight Example: Artemis and Thorgren can see the Blue Black Dwarf and the Green Hobgremlin, but not the Red Minotaur (the L.O.S. is blocked by Enemies in 13B map tile). All Enemies can see both Heroes.

4.4.1 Fog Of War

Characters' vision is limited to 5 areas. This means, unless otherwise specified, nobody can view, interact with, or attack anything more than 5 areas away, including revealing Shadows (section 15.4, page 50), simply because there is no L.O.S. over that distance.

4.4.2 Determining Distances

During the game, determining the distance (range) between two areas will happen for several reasons: moving from one area to another, attacking, activating an Enemy, etc.

Range is represented by a number surrounded by two curly brackets:

• 0 means in the current Character's area.
• 1 means up to 1 area of distance from the current Character's area.
• 2 means up to 2 areas of distance from the current Character's area.

and so on...

When calculating range, the terrain type and terrain elements of the areas must be considered. For example, a barrier terrain may negate movement but allow ranged attacks. Sometimes, this will cause a difference between the movement range and the attack range.

Distance Example: For Artemis, the Blue Black Dwarf is at distance 3 for movement, as the barrier allows L.O.S. but not movement from her area. However, Artemis can use her Darts (Projectiles, range 1) against the Black Dwarf, as she is at distance 1 from him, in terms of ranged combat. Although Artemis is just 1 area away from the Red Elder Spider, she cannot use her Short Bow (range 3), since the wall blocks L.O.S.; thus Artemis must first move to get into L.O.S. and then use her Combat to perform the attack.

5. Game Sequence

While the Journey is structured as a series of cooperative story choices, during the Adventure, Sword & Sorcery is played over a variable number of Rounds. The length of the game is defined by the Quest.

Each Round is subdivided into the following phases and subphases:

Time Phase

• Effects Cleanup
• Powers Refresh
• Powers Cooldown
• Soul Enhancement/Resurrection

Battle Phase (repeat steps FOR EACH HERO)

• Hero Turn
  • 1 Movement activity
  • X* Combat activities (section 7.2, page 25 & section 10, page 34)
  • X* Action activities (section 7.3, page 25)
  • The number of activities varies from Hero to Hero, based on the Soulrank and class (section 6.3, page 23)
• Enemy Turn
  • If there are Enemies in play: Draw an Encounter card and resolve Enemy and Minion activations (section 15.7, page 51)
  • Otherwise: Resolve Minion activations

Event Phase

• If the top Event card is unrevealed: Draw and Resolve the card
• Otherwise: Discard the top revealed card

The game continues, Round after Round, until the Quest ending conditions (Victory or Failure) are met.

5.1 Time Phase

This phase has four steps:

• Effects Cleanup: all item and power effects and cleanups are applied following this order:
  • Apply damage, such as Fire, Poison, etc.
  • Apply all other effects simultaneously.
  • Clean up and Refresh tokens, like regenerate magic shields, etc.
  • Hero bookmarks get flipped up.
• Powers Refresh: each used power with the refresh icon in the first position must be refreshed by flipping the card over.
• Powers Cooldown: each used power without the refresh icon in the first position rotates clockwise 90° to reduce its cooldown (section 8.1, page 30).
• Soul Enhancement/Resurrection: Heroes can spend as many Soul Points contained in the shared pool as desired to perform the following functions, in any order they wish:
  • Enhance Soulrank (section 6.3.1, page 23), to increase their powers and stats.
  • Resurrect a Ghost Soul (a dead Hero, section 12.3, page 43) in an area with an open Shrine.

5.2 Battle Phase

During the Battle Phase, each player must play his Hero Turn AND THEN ONE Enemy Turn.

During these two Turns, he is always considered the Active Hero.

Afterward, play passes to the next chosen Hero (who becomes the new Active Hero). Players may carry out their Turns (always Hero first and then Enemy) in any order, until the last player finishes his Turns.

Note: Ghost Soul Heroes (dead Heroes) affect the Battle Phase in a different way (section 12.1, page 42).

5.2.1 Hero Turn

During his Turn, a Hero may perform different activities:

• Movement: to move across the areas of the map tiles.
• Combat: to attack Enemies.
• Action: to perform special tasks.
• Free Action: to execute very quick operations.

Activities may be performed in any order, and usually each Hero may perform each activity at least once per Round.

While the Movement activity is limited to once per Round (except due to a special effect), the number of Combat and Action activities performed by a Hero during his Turn increases along with his Soulrank, as displayed in the Hero Soul Gem (section 6.3, page 23).

The main rule governing activities is, unless expressly specified, that it is not possible to interrupt, and later resume, Movement to perform Combat, or to interrupt, and later resume, Combat to perform Movement.

However, it is always possible to perform an Action or Free Action during Movement or Combat. For example, to use one or more items/powers to increase movement or to improve an attack.

Note: The attacks executed by spending Actions or Free Actions ARE NOT considered Combat activities, so they can be used even in the middle of the Movement.

The Hero Turn ends when the Hero cannot (or will not) perform any other activity. To keep track of the Turn status, each Hero can use the Hero bookmark token (Gem Up Side / Gem Down Side).

During the Time Phase, all Heroes flip the token up to the gem side. Once a Hero ends the Hero Turn, he must flip the token to the gem down side to indicate he has already acted this Round.

Note: Ghost Soul Heroes (dead Heroes) must play their Hero Turn using only the Ghost Soul activities detailed on their Hero card (section 12.2, page 43).

5.2.2 Enemy Turn

If there is at least one Enemy in play, the active Hero must draw an Encounter card (section 15.7, page 51) from the Encounter deck to determine what happens in the Enemy Turn.

Otherwise, if no Enemies are in play, only Minions are activated before the Enemy Turn ends.

Usually, the Encounter card activates one or more Enemies on the battlefield, based on their fighting style or color Rank (some Enemies are able to act even without an Encounter card).

Once the Encounter card is resolved and all the Enemies involved have been activated, or when there are no Enemies/Minions to activate, the Enemy Turn ends and the next Hero Turn begins.

When the last Hero has completed his Enemy Turn, the Event Phase begins.

The normal sequence of an Enemy Turn is:

• If there are Enemies in play, the active Hero draws an Encounter card.
• Enemies are activated according to the drawn card, using the first condition or, when not even partially possible, the otherwise condition. When even the otherwise condition cannot be used, nothing happens.
• Activated Enemies (and Minions) perform their movement and attacks (based on their Enemy Scroll cards).
• The Encounter card is discarded to the relevant discard pile.
• Minions act during each Enemy Turn, regardless of the Encounter cards or the presence of other Enemies.

Note: Ghost Soul Heroes (dead Heroes) must skip the Enemy Turn entirely, even if there are Enemies or Minions in play.

5.3 Event Phase

The Event Phase is the closing phase of the Round.

As the main step of this phase, the active Hero (the Hero who played last in the Battle Phase) must check the status of the top card of the Event deck:

If it is unrevealed (back side of the card is visible): He must draw the top card and resolve its effects in the exact order in which they appear. Then, the revealed card must be placed (front side of the card visible) on top of the Event deck.

Otherwise, if the top card is already revealed (front side of the card is visible): He must simply take the revealed card and discard it into the discard pile.

This means, unless noted otherwise, one Event card is revealed and resolved every two Rounds.

There are 3 types of Event card:

• Standard Event: the effects are resolved as described on the card.
• Story Event: represents a key point in the Quest. The Storybook and the Book of Secrets describe what happens when the Event is resolved.
• Night & Day Events: representing the natural cycle of Night and Day, their effects are described in the Storybook. These cards must be immediately placed beside the Event deck when resolved, meaning you will reveal and resolve another Event card during the next Round.

Event Card layout: 1. Event ID; 2. Event Name & Type; 3. Game Effect; 4. Enemies Spawn Formula.

Most Event cards include instructions to spawn new Enemies or Minions through Spawn Gates present on the battlefield. To maintain game balance, usually the number of Enemies spawned is based on Spawn formulas, so it depends on the number of Heroes and Companions:

Spawn Formulas

• 3- Heroes: Apply this formula if there are up to 3 Heroes and Companions. Subtract the number of Enemies in play from the number of Heroes and Companions in play and then spawn this many Enemies (minimum 0).
• 4+ Heroes: Apply this formula if there are 4 or more Heroes and Companions. Subtract the number of Enemies in play from the number of Heroes and Companions in play, then increase this number by one and spawn this many Enemies (minimum 0).

Note: Heroes in Ghost Soul Form still count as standard Heroes. Only the Companions with the Hero Count indicated as 0 on their cards should not be counted for the purposes of the Spawn Formulas.

5.3.1 Story Events

During Quests, Heroes may encounter Story Event cards placed directly on an area of the map. When a Hero reaches one of these cards, he triggers it as a special activity. It interrupts and pauses any other game activity or phase.

As a rule, as soon as a Story Event card is triggered (when it is drawn from the deck or a Hero moves into the same area), the active Hero must check the related Paragraph number by reading the Quest table in the Storybook, and then all its effects must be resolved in the order printed in the Book of Secrets.

After Event resolution, the game resumes from where it was interrupted. For instance, a Hero may complete his Movement activity, if it was interrupted by reaching a Story Event card, and then he may continue playing the rest of his Turn.

Story Events and their effects are completely described in each Quest. Usually, after resolution, the Book of Secrets requires placing the Story Event card with the front side visible (i.e. already revealed) on top of the Event deck (covering an existing Event card without discarding it).

This impacts the Quest by giving more time to the Heroes to complete the Quest. By placing the Story Event on top of the Event deck, this card will be discarded in the next Event Phase.

Once the Story Event is discarded, a previously revealed card becomes the top card again, but its effects and its Enemy Spawn Formula, if any, must NOT be resolved again.

5.3.2 Night And Day Events

The Night and Day Event cards are used during the Quest to change from night to day and vice versa.

Each of these cards has two kinds of effects:

• A main effect detailed in the Storybook/Book of Secrets. When present, this effect usually lasts until the opposite Event is drawn and resolved.
• A secondary effect that interacts with the Heroes' powers. This effect is applied only when the card comes into play.

When the first of these two events is resolved, the card must be placed beside the Event deck and remains in play until the opposite event is drawn and resolved.

The effects of the new event replace the current one's, which is discarded.

Event Deck Placement: 1. Resolved Event on top of the Event deck; 2. Discarded Events; 3. Night & Day Events; 4. Unrevealed Events.

5.4 Quest Ending Check

Each Quest may have multiple Victory and Failure outcomes.

The ending conditions are usually driven by the Quest, revealed to Heroes by resolving Story Events and Waypoints, and end the Quest immediately once achieved.

Usually, the Heroes Fail the Quest when one of these conditions occurs:

• The last Event card is discarded from the deck.
• All Heroes are in Ghost Soul forms.

The Heroes Of Sword & Sorcery

• Artemis: Each battle is a hunt, and each enemy represents fresh prey for Artemis' curved blades. Disowned by her people, Artemis grew up in the wilderness protected by white moon tigers, and as she grew up to be a powerful warrior, she in turn became their protector. She has a special link with Dharma, her inseparable companion, living and fighting as one with Artemis. Artemis can be played as a Scout or Hunter.
  • Scout (Cursed Elf - Law): Artemis takes advantage of being alone in the fight, reacting with deadly strikes against any enemy movement.
  • Hunter (Cursed Elf - Chaos): Artemis is focused on killing wounded prey, and she gets the upper hand in any situation when her group is in supremacy.
• Jeanne: Thanks to the powers granted by the gods, Jeanne is a valiant fighter gifted with divine magic to aid allies or punish the wicked. A righteous war-priest, Jeanne is sworn to defend the Cult of the Three Gods... at all costs. Jeanne can be played as an Avenger or Inquisitor.
  • Avenger (Human - Law): Jeanne, like any good Aneres follower, is sworn to heal and defend her comrades, even at the cost of becoming the target of the most lethal enemies.
  • Inquisitor (Human - Chaos): Jeanne is sworn to destroy the unbelievers; their lack of respect toward her faith swiftly brings her punishment onto them with a devastating fury! As any worthy adept of Mir should do.
• Robin: Intelligence and cunning can be powerful weapons, even more so than brute force. This is especially true when there is Robin the halfman on the battlefield! With a nature perfectly balanced between law and chaos, Robin can be played as an Alchemist or Thief.
  • Alchemist (Halfman - Neutral): Robin lends his precious skills to his friends, to improve any potion or elixir or even to create new ones! But at the same time, his acidic preparations are able to deal terrible damage, especially against heavily armored foes.
  • Thief (Halfman - Neutral): Robin takes advantage of his small stature to move quickly and undisturbed on the battlefield. He is able to set up poisonous traps, inflict sneak attacks with either melee or ranged weapons, and to skillfully disarm traps, escaping their dangers!
• Thorgren: Thorgren is a fierce warrior who fought in the sands of the arena for glory and survived the cruelest battles until the crowd elected him... God of the Arena! Thorgren can be played as a Gladiator or Stonerager.
  • Gladiator (Dwarf - Law): Thorgren represents a veteran fighter who prefers to forsake heavy armor in favor of speed and maneuverability, using a wide variety of weapons and combat styles.
  • Stonerager (Dwarf - Chaos): Thorgren makes his indomitable rage his most powerful ally. The sight of his own blood makes him even more deadly, oblivious to any consequences.
• Xantares: No one is more dangerous and unpredictable than Xantares, a mystical elf imbued with unearthly arcane magic. Xantares can be played as an Illusionist or Wild Mage.
  • Illusionist (Elf - Law): Xantares' illusions can warp and distort anything, beginning with his own features and rising to twisting others' very perception of reality! When his exhausted allies are facing dire odds, he can summon forth terrors that scare away all but the most determined enemies.
  • Wild Mage (Elf - Chaos): Xantares' chaotic magical arts produce powerful yet unpredictable effects that grant invaluable aid in a region where danger is everywhere and combat is relentless.

6. The Heroes

This section details the Heroes, their powers, and how to control them in order to succeed in battle.

This Core set of Sword & Sorcery includes two versions of each Hero, representing parallel destinies of the same person, born from past choices that shaped the nature of their very soul. Therefore, each Hero Sheet side shows a Hero in a different color style to represent either of the two available Classes.

Each Hero has his own double-sided Hero Sheet, with the following information:

Hero Sheet:

1. Soul Gem (section 6.3, page 23): place the soul gem token here.
2. Primary Weapon (section 9.3, page 32): place the primary or equipped Weapon card here.
3. Secondary Weapon (section 9.3, page 32): place the secondary equipped Weapon card here.
4. Inventory (section 6.2.3, page 23): place all non-equipped Item cards here, in a row from right to left. Some items can be used directly from here, while others can be stored here and equipped later.
5. Armor (section 9.4, page 33): place the equipped Armor card here.
6. Hero (section 6.2, page 22): place the Hero card here.
7. Artifact (section 9.5, page 34): place the equipped Artifact card here.
8. Powers and Talents (section 8, page 27): place all Power and Talent cards here, in a row from left to right.
9. Hero Bookmark: place the Hero bookmark of the chosen color here, to keep track of your Turn status.

Note: Any Hero from the Immortal Souls saga can be used in this campaign, bringing with him his Hero and power cards. Treasure cards included in the Hero Pack expansions can be used as follows: Stash cards must be ignored; Emporium cards can be used as usual; ACT I Treasures require at least Soulrank III to be equipped/used; ACT II Treasures require at least Soulrank VI to be equipped/used.

6.1 Soul Nature

Each Hero contains a life essence called a soul. Souls are inextricably bound to one of the Three Gods ruling the lands:

• Aneres, the benign goddess of lawful white souls. Heroes bound to the Goddess Aneres bring good and light to the world and respect the law, ignoring both profits and perils.
• Enomis, the inscrutable lord of neutral grey souls. Heroes following the God Enomis embody the balance required by circumstance, and their unpredictability is as often praised as loathed, depending on who is judging.
• Mir, the dark master of chaotic black souls. Heroes belonging to the God Mir consider their own gain before taking any risk or oaths; this makes them dark, yet valuable Heroes.

The soul of a Hero plays three roles:

• Decision-making: During Quests, there will be moments when the Active Hero (i.e., the Hero playing the current Turn) must make decisions influencing events. These decisions should be aligned with his Soul Nature (Soul Nature Choice, section 2.12.1, page 5 of the Storybook).
• Taking advantage of exclusive Gods powers: Some powers the Hero will acquire in battle depend on his Soul Nature.
• Forming the party: Before the story campaign begins, or before each standalone Quest, players can select Heroes according to the Soul Nature represented by the available Hero cards as described below.

For a more intense and coherent role playing experience, we suggest (especially for the first game) to form the party using only Heroes with similarly aligned souls: Law – Neutral – Chaos.

Law and Chaos are considered opposite behaviors, while Neutral is adjacent to both. This means Law and Chaos Heroes should not be members of the same party, while Neutral Heroes can align with either of the other two Soul Natures. Once the choice has been made, take the appropriate Hero Sheets, Hero cards, and Soul Gems.

6.2 Hero Card

Beyond displaying Soul Nature, each Hero card defines several game elements on each side.

Hero Card/Ghost Soul Card:

1. Name, Class
2. Fighting Style
3. Soul Nature
4. Innate Powers
5. Item Capacity
6. Save Roll
7. Movement Points
8. Ghost Soul Form
9. Ghost Soul Activities: a. Soul Shout; b. Recall; c. Move (Flying)

Note: The default "Figure Count" value for a Hero is always equal to "1" (section 4.1, page 12). However, this value can be modified by some items, powers, and the K.O. Body Condition.

6.2.1 Fighting Style

In Sword & Sorcery, each Character, whether Hero or Enemy, has his own fighting style, as indicated by one of the following runes:

• Dexterity: based on agility and quick strikes.
• Faith: based on might derived from the gods.
• Magic: based on mystic arcane energies.
• Strength: based on brute force and physical attributes.

Note: Some Heroes may have multiple fighting styles.

In addition to defining the fighting style, each rune printed on a Hero card defines which items the Hero can use during Quests, as detailed in section 9.1, page 31.

6.2.2 Innate Powers

Each Hero card represents a unique Hero, gifted with one or more innate powers that can be used on the battlefield. See section 8, page 27 for additional details.

6.2.3 Item Capacity (Inventory)

This value represents the maximum number of Item cards the Hero can carry in his Inventory (i.e., placed on the left side of the Hero Sheet, and not equipped).

If this number is reached (excluding the Weight 0 cards), the Hero must perform a Drop an Item (section 7.4.2, page 26) prior to picking up any other item.

6.2.4 Save Roll

A Save is the roll of a single Blue die used to determine whether some magic, poison, trap, or other effect succeeds against the Hero.

This represents the Hero's ability to avoid or resist the threat, such as by dodging a trap or resisting the effects of poison.

Each time the game requires a Hero to save (usually with the words "Unless Save"), roll a Blue die. He must achieve the result indicated on his Hero card to successfully make a save.

Note: When the die shows more than one result on the same face, such as a Shield and a Save symbol, they can both be valid for the success of the roll.

6.2.5 Movement Points

This value represents the number of movement points the Hero can spend during his Movement activity (section 7.1, page 24).

6.3 Soul Gem

The Soul Gem token determines the main characteristics of the Hero.

Soul Gem:

1. Soulrank. Current Soulrank of the Hero.
2. HP. Maximum Health Points.
3. Powers & Talents. Number of powers (represented by the digit) and talents (identified by one * or two ** to indicate 1 or 2 talents).
4. Combat. Number of Combat activities.
5. Action. Number of Action activities.

The two sides of the gem represent the matching Hero's Soul Nature/Class, identified by the Hero's color.

Seven of the eight facets of the gem are used to keep track of the current Soulrank.

6.3.1 Soulrank

The Soulrank identifies the power of the Hero's soul. At the beginning of the first Quest, the Heroes are awakened from death, but the recall spell was simultaneously a gift and a curse. Although they cannot completely die, neither can they be completely free. The spell gives them back their strength gradually as they are guided closer and closer to their goal… defeating the evil and false deities dominating the kingdom.

To represent this, each Hero begins his very first Quest at Soulrank I. During games, he will grow stronger by killing the forces of evil–until one day, many adventures from now, the Hero regains all his past glory, represented by Soulrank VII.

When most Enemies are killed, and sometimes during Quests, fragments of their souls return to the Heroes in the form of Soul Points. In game terms, each time the Heroes gain Soul Points, they are stored in a shared pool represented by the Soul Counter.

When needed, set the appropriate number of Soul Points by adjusting the dials of the Soul Counter. Place it near the Event deck to represent the shared Soul Points pool.

Soul Points can be spent by any Hero during the Time Phase to enhance his Soulrank by one, discarding the amount indicated by this formula:

Soulrank to be achieved * Soulrank to be achieved

This means a Hero currently at Soulrank I, who wants to achieve Soulrank II, must spend 22 = 4 Soul Points. To achieve Soulrank III he must spend 33 = 9 Soul Points, etc…

Note: Soul Points can also be spent to resurrect a Hero (section 12.3, page 43).

The Soulrank advancement in the game must follow two rules:

• It is always done one Soulrank at a time. For example, to reach Soulrank IV, a Hero of Soulrank I must achieve Soulrank II and III first. This can be done during the same Time Phase, or it may happen gradually, Quest after Quest, based on the available Soul Points.
• A Hero cannot enhance his Soulrank further if there is another Hero in the party with a lower Soulrank. For example, a Soulrank III Hero cannot advance to Soulrank IV if there is a Hero at Soulrank II. This Hero must reach Soulrank III first to permit other Heroes to reach Soulrank IV.

The term "Soulrank" is used quite commonly in the game to represent a numeric bonus to an item or power effect in a progressive way, such as adding a bonus or rolling additional dice. In these cases, the term Soulrank always refers to the item or power's owner, and its value is added to the effect of the item or power.

In addition, the term "Soulrank/2" means the current Soulrank of the Hero is divided by two and rounded up (always) to provide the bonus. So:

Soulrank I=1, II=2, III=3, IV=4, V=5, VI=6, VII=7 Soulrank/2: I and II=1, III and IV=2, V and VI=3, VII=4

Each time a Hero needs to modify their Soulrank, rotate the top part of the gem:

• 45° (one facet) clockwise to increase the Soulrank by 1.
• 45° counterclockwise to decrease the Soulrank by 1.

The Soulrank can also be represented on cards and other game elements by these icons: Soulrank, Soulrank/2.

7. Activities

7.1 Movement

During his Turn, each Hero may use his Movement activity to spend his movement points to move through adjacent areas, following these rules:

• Spend one movement point for each normal area.
• Move no more than one area for each movement point.
• May not cross blocking or barrier sides.
• Entering (not leaving) difficult terrain areas costs 2 movement points.
• May cross an area occupied by other Heroes; he can also end his movement in such an area.
• Unless special effects allow, a Hero is not permitted to interrupt Movement to perform a Combat activity and then resume Movement; however, he can spend any number of Actions and Free Actions while moving (for example, to open doors).
• If movement takes the Hero into a Story Event area, movement must be interrupted and then resumed after resolution of the Event.
• The Hero's body conditions (section 11.7, page 40), events, powers, and items can modify or prevent the Movement activity.

7.1.1 Engaged In Combat

Moving into an area with one or more Enemies makes the Hero engaged in combat, and he may only target and attack Enemies in his area, regardless of the range of weapons, items, and powers, simply because he does not have L.O.S. outside of his area. If an engaged Hero (standing in the same area as at least one Enemy figure) wants, or is forced, to leave the area, he must accomplish it by resolving an Evade (Free Action activity), which may trigger reaction attacks. Some Actions/Free Actions are prohibited while engaged in combat.

7.1.2 Evade And Reaction Attacks

Figures do not block movement, but a Hero who moves through an area with Enemies must take the Evade and must receive reaction attacks from the Enemies unless the Heroes dominate the area.

• Whenever a Hero moves through or leaves an area with one or more Enemies, he must perform an Evade. That means he first receives a reaction attack (made with a primary weapon, section 15.1, page 48) from each Enemy in the current area, before moving from the current area to the adjacent area. Once all reaction attacks are resolved, the Hero's movement may continue, if he is able.
• If, during his continued movement, the Hero passes through a new area with Enemies, reaction attacks are again triggered each time, before leaving that area (unless the Hero decides to stay there and ends his movement).
• The only exception is when the Heroes are dominating the current area. In this case, no reaction attacks are allowed by Enemies in that area, regardless of their number, though the Evade action is still required.

Hero and Enemy powers may modify these circumstances. An Enemy moving through an area containing Heroes does not trigger reaction attacks.

Note: Evading is considered a Free Action. It breaks Robin's hiding power.

Evade Example: Robin (hidden), Jeanne, Artemis, and Dharma are in the same area as a Hobgremlin and an Elf Assassin. Since they number twice their Enemies, Robin can Evade and move away without triggering reaction attacks. Robin loses his Hiding token before movement because Evade breaks hiding (like any other activity). After the Enemy Turn, the same Heroes are in the same area. This time, if Artemis wants to leave the area, she triggers reaction attacks from both Enemies in the area before moving. In both cases, Enemies could move away from the area without triggering any reaction attacks from the Heroes.

7.1.3 Flying

Characters with the Flying power can be identified by this icon on any card belonging to them. Flying grants the following benefits:

• Movement ignores any terrain Hindrances.
• Ignore the K.O. effect.

7.2 Combat

During his Turn, a Hero can spend a Combat activity to perform an attack with an equipped primary one-handed, two-handed, or secondary Weapon against a target within the weapon's range.

A Combat can also be spent to use an item or a power requiring a Combat activity for its activation (see Activation Activities, section 7.5, page 27).

Some high Soulrank Heroes may have more than one Combat activity. In this case, each can be spent separately to perform the same or different attacks and/or activate items/powers as detailed previously.

Note: "Combat activity" and "Attack" are two different concepts. The Combat activity is like a "coin" that can be spent to initiate a weapon attack, or to use an item or a power requiring a Combat as "fuel".

Any attack performed with a Weapon with range 0 can only hit targets in the attacker's area, and is considered a Melee attack.

Likewise, any attack performed with any weapon reporting range 1 or more can hit targets in the attacker's area or in any other area in L.O.S. within the weapon's range, which is always considered a Ranged attack.

The Sword & Sorcery Combat System is explained later in section 10, page 34.

7.3 Action

A Hero may spend the Action activity anytime during his Turn, including in the middle of other activities (unless otherwise prohibited), to perform one of these operations:

• Focus an Attack: enhance the damage of the next strike.
• Dash: to move further than the maximum movement normally allowed.
• Bash a Chest or a Locked Door*: to discover what lies behind the lock.
• Exchange an Item*: pass or receive an item to/from another Hero.
• Reorganize Equipped Items*: rearrange equipped weapons, armor, and artifacts.
• Pray*: ask for the Gods' intervention.
• Search*: look for Crowns and treasures.

*= The Hero must not be engaged in combat to execute these Actions.

It is quite common for a high Soulrank Hero to have more than one Action. In this case, each can be used to perform a different operation or the same operation multiple times (unless prohibited in the next sections).

7.3.1 Focus An Attack

A Hero, once per Round, can spend one, and only one, Action to enhance one of his attacks (at the beginning of the HIT STAGE, before Step 1: Targeting and rolling HIT Dice) coming from any weapon, item, or power, adding +1 Hit.

7.3.2 Dash

With a Dash Action, a Hero can stand after a K.O. (section 11.7.5, page 41) OR increase his movement points by 1 during his Movement activity. In both cases, a Hero cannot use Dash more than once per Round.

7.3.3 Bash A Chest Or A Locked Door

A Hero, not engaged in combat, in front of a chest or a locked door, can bash and open it by spending an Action. Once done, draw a Trap card. See section 4.3, page 13 for information related to doors, chests, and traps.

7.3.4 Exchange An Item

A Hero, not engaged in combat, may pass/receive up to one item and any number of Crowns to/from another Hero in the same area. If the item can be equipped (weapon, armor, or artifact), the Hero receiving the item can immediately equip it, if his related slot is empty; otherwise, the received item must be placed into inventory.

For example, passing a "primary weapon only" card to a Hero who already has one equipped forces him to place the received weapon into inventory. During his Turn, that Hero may use the Reorganize Equipped Items Action to swap the weapons.

7.3.5 Reorganize Equipped Items

A Hero, not engaged in combat, may rearrange any number of equipped weapons, armor, and artifacts with those stored in his inventory. Moving a weapon from the primary weapon slot to the secondary weapon slot and vice versa (respecting the weapon suitability) is part of this Action.

7.3.6 Pray

A Hero, not engaged in combat, in the same area as an open Shrine, can spend one Action, no more than once per Quest, asking for the Gods' favor by discarding Crowns equal to ACT and rolling 3 Red Dice. If at least 1 special result is rolled: the Hero obtains the Lesser Gods' Blessing Quest card related to his Soul Nature (Law, Neutral, or Chaos) unless it is already assigned to another Hero.

7.3.7 Search

A Hero, not engaged in combat, and in the same area as a Search Area token (section 4.3, page 13), may use this action to search for treasures! When searching, flip the token, roll a Red die, and apply the result indicated by the token. Any other die result means nothing has been found. When finished, remove the Search Area token from the map, because it is not possible to search more than once per token.

7.4 Free Actions

A Free Action activity represents a very quick operation executed by a Hero during his Turn, such as:

• Open normal doors.
• Pick up/drop an item.
• Evade.

Like the standard Action activity, it can be used anytime during the Hero's Turn, including the middle of other activities (unless otherwise prohibited). Free Actions are not limited; a Hero may perform any number of Free Action activities during his Turn.

Note: The Free Action icon is not shown on the Soul Gem because of its unlimited use.

7.4.1 Open Normal Doors

A Hero in front of a standard unlocked door can simply open it (i.e., remove the door token from play) by spending a Free Action. Once done, draw a Trap card (section 4.3.1, page 14).

7.4.2 Pick Up/Drop An Item

A Hero, not engaged in combat, may drop any number of items, both equipped or from inventory, and any number of Crowns on the ground in his area (i.e., place the relative cards/tokens on the map). In the same way, a Hero, not engaged in combat, can pick up any amount of Items (revealing any facedown Treasure card) and Crowns from his area.

All items picked up must be placed into inventory, even if the matching slot is empty. Once complete, the Hero may decide to spend a Reorganize Equipped Items Action to equip them.

7.4.3 Evade

Evade happens each time a Hero wants to move out of (not into!) an area containing Enemies; see section 7.1.2, page 24.

7.5 Activation Activities

In addition to activities described in previous sections, Hero activities can be used to activate item and power cards when they have one of these icons:

• Passive. The effect is always active, even outside the Hero's Turn, without requiring an activity.
• Movement. The effect can be activated by forfeiting the Hero's entire Movement activity.
• Combat. The effect can be activated by forfeiting one Combat activity.
• Action. The effect can be activated by forfeiting one Action activity.
• Free. The effect can be activated using a Free Action activity.
• Reaction. The effect can be activated anytime inside or outside the Hero's Turn, without requiring an activity.

Follow these guidelines:

• The terms "Soulrank" and "Soulrank/2" (section 6.3.1, page 24) always refer to the item or power's owner.
• An item or power without range can only be used by the owner on himself.
• An item or power with the range icon can only be used if there is L.O.S. to the target.
• If an item or power effect refers to "next attack, movement, etc." the effect must be accomplished before the end of the Turn. This means that, unless explicitly stated, it is not possible for an activated effect to last beyond the current Turn.
• The phrase "until Time Phase" always refers to the next Time Phase.
• Limitations such as "once per Round" or "once per Quest" cannot be bypassed in any way.

Note: Other limitations regarding usage and duration can be present on items and powers cards.

7.6 Quest-Related Activities

Some Quests may indicate one or more special activities directly related to the Quest's completion.

For example, Heroes might need to find a secret wall, destroy an object, or rescue a citizen.

In these cases, each Quest provides all the information about the Quest special actions and how to use them.

8. Powers

Powers are extremely potent Hero abilities and spells.

There are three types of powers in Sword & Sorcery:

• Innate Powers. One or more special abilities printed on each Hero card.
• Standard Powers. A deck of cards representing physical and magical abilities dedicated to each Hero. Some cards may be related to a specific Soul Nature.
• Talent Powers. A deck of cards representing generic abilities any Hero can acquire when the Soul Gem shows the * or ** symbols (meaning 1 or 2 Talents) near the number of the standard powers.

Each Hero begins his adventure with at least one innate power and a number of standard and talent powers indicated by the Soul Gem, based on Soulrank.

Hero Power card:

1. Name, Damage Type, and Power Type
2. Required Activity
3. Soul Nature Restrictions
4. Range
5. Base Effect
6. Level and Required Soulrank
7. Power Description
8. Cooldown

Power cards must be placed in the power slot of the Hero Sheet, keeping the cards side-by-side, from left to right.

Each Power card deck contains a subset of Power cards related to specific Soul Natures, Law and Chaos, or Class, in case of Neutral Heroes. These powers can be acquired only by a Hero with the matching Soul Nature or Class.

Lawful Hero - Power Selection Example: Jeanne, the Avenger, is a Lawful Hero, as indicated by the icon on her Hero card. Therefore, she can choose any Power card without an icon, or a power with a Law icon. However, she cannot choose "Mir's Word," because the card shows a Chaos icon.

Some powers use tokens to keep track of their effect. These powers show the token in the center area of the card.

During Quests, Heroes will gain additional Power cards by increasing their Soulrank. When a Hero is forced to lose a power (for example, when a Soulrank is lost), he must discard the rightmost power, which should be the newest one gained.

When acquiring new powers, all Heroes must follow two rules:

1. Soul Gem. Each Soulrank indicates how many Power cards the Hero may have. Each Power card must be chosen from the matching Hero Power card deck unless the * icon appears near the number. In this case, the new power must be selected from the generic Talent deck, shared between all Heroes.
2. Soul Nature or Class. Each Power card deck contains a subset of Power cards related to specific Soul Natures, Law and Chaos, or Class, in case of Neutral Heroes. These powers can be acquired only by a Hero with the matching Soul Nature or Class.

The Talent Power must be selected for the first Soulrank showing the *. A second Talent Power must be acquired if the Soulrank shows **.

*Note: The number indicates only Standard Power cards; Talent Power cards are identified by the .

Chaotic Hero - Power Selection Example: Thorgren, the Stonerager, is a Chaotic Hero, as indicated by the icon on his Hero card. Thorgren can choose any Chaotic power, or any power without an icon, but he cannot choose a Law power.

Some Items may grant additional powers to the Hero. These powers must be acquired following the standard rules BUT remain bonded to those items, so they must be discarded if the related item is no longer equipped.

Neutral Hero - Power Selection Example: Although Robin is a Neutral Hero, each of his two Classes has some dedicated Power cards, indicated as "Thief only" or "Alchemist only." This means that Robin is allowed to choose from any of his neutral powers plus the powers matching the selected Class, excluding those of the other Class.

A Hero can activate his powers by spending the required activity (section 7.5, page 27) and selecting the required Soulrank level. In fact, all Power cards have a minimum Soulrank level (the first Roman numeral on the left side) required to acquire and use that power. Some allow the power to become stronger by using a higher Soulrank level. As the Character gains more Soulranks, the player may choose to use the higher Soulrank level of the Power card as long as the selected level of the Power is equal to or lower than the current Soulrank of the Hero. If so, simply read the base effect of the power, and then add the additional effects/values of the chosen level (as explained in the following examples).

Note: Powers with range 1 or above are considered ranged.

Power - Soulrank Usage Example: Artemis, the Scout, picks the Soulrank I "Proactive Defense." The prerequisite is fulfilled, so from now on, when Artemis is in an area controlled by Enemies, she gains +1 Def to improve her defense. When Artemis reaches Soulrank IV, she will be able to obtain +2 instead of just 1. This power is passive, so it has no cooldown and is always in use.

Power - Soulrank Usage Example: Jeanne, a Soulrank III Avenger, can finally obtain the "Righteous Word" power, which she could not choose before, because the minimum Soulrank required is III. This spell uses a Combat activity to cast a holy force against an Enemy. This attack inflicts 1 Hit, in addition to any hits rolled on 4 Blue Dice, can cause Fire II against Humanoid Enemies and can also activate Fire I and/or AoE 0 and/or Critical if the matching results are rolled and spent. When Jeanne is Soulrank V, she can choose to use this power as Soulrank III or V. At Soulrank V, in place of the Critical effect, she rolls 2 additional Red Dice and inflicts the Lethal effect by default. In both cases, once the attack is resolved, the power must go in cooldown. The card must be flipped and rotated to the position matching the Soulrank used.

Except for innate and Passive powers, when any power is used, its card must be flipped face down and rotated so that the top indicates the specific number of Hourglasses used for the Soulrank level: from one to four Hourglasses.

The Hourglasses used must always match the chosen Soulrank level.

The power is considered used and for this reason deactivated until it finishes its "cooldown" and is "refreshed." This is the wait time before the power can be used again. Usually, the stronger the power and the higher the selected Soulrank level, the longer its cooldown.

Note: There are a few powers that start the cooldown when their effect ends, instead of when activated. In these cases, the card indicates exactly how to manage the cooldown.

8.1 Managing Cooldown

In each Time Phase, players must follow these rules regarding powers.

• Powers Refresh: For each used power with the refresh icon on top, refresh the power by flipping the card faceup. The power is ready to be used again during the Round.
• Powers Cooldown: All other used powers rotate 90° clockwise to reduce their cooldown (shift forward). Used powers cannot be reused until they are refreshed.

In game terms, moving the used Power card clockwise (4 – 3 – 2 – 1/refresh) is called shift forward, while moving it counterclockwise (1/refresh – 2 – 3 – 4) is called shift back. Either may happen due to an Enemy power or a Quest event.

Note: Some cards and game effects allow Heroes to shift or refresh used powers outside the Time Phase.

Power - Cooldown Example: Robin the Alchemist uses the "Alchemical Vial" power to take 1 of the 3 available Chemistry Vial tokens (by choosing the side and paying its cost) related to this power. Then Robin must flip the power card and rotate it so the cooldown 1 symbol is up (relative to the Hero Sheet). During the next Round, Robin can use this power again to either grab 1 of the 2 remaining tokens or drink (i.e. discard) all of the vial tokens he already has to obtain all their effects until the next Time Phase.

Note: A 1 Hourglass power can actually be used once per Round because it is refreshed during each Time Phase.

Power - Cooldown Example: Jeanne uses "Enomis' Word" at Soulrank IV to provide both attack and defense bonuses to another Hero in her area. Once used, the power card must be flipped and rotated so the matching symbol is up (relative to the Hero Sheet).

Power - Cooldown Example: Robin picks the "Elusive" talent. From now on, each time he is in an area controlled by Heroes, he can Evade ignoring all reaction attacks coming from that area. Being passive, this power has no cooldown and is always in use.

8.2 Blessing Cards

Blessing Powers are double-sided Quest cards representing the Gods' aid, given to brave Heroes during Quests.

These powers can be obtained in two ways:

• During the Adventure, by a Hero executing the Pray action while he is in the same area as an open Shrine (gaining the Lesser God's Blessing card side).
• In the Journey, by visiting one of the Temple Buildings spread throughout the realm (gaining the Blessing card side indicated by the Temple, which may be Lesser or Greater).

A Hero may only obtain the Blessing card related to his Soul Nature (Law, Neutral, or Chaos) and only if that card (regardless of its side) is not already assigned to another Hero, otherwise nothing happens.

A Blessing Power is an extra power and does not count as a standard the Soul Gem limit.

Once obtained, the Blessing card remains near the Hero Sheet until used, then it must be immediately discarded (in order to be available the next time the Gods are called on to help).

Heroes must discard unused Blessing cards at the end of each Quest.

9. Items

The Item cards Heroes find and use to fight the evil forces are divided into two categories:

• Equipment items: weapons, armor, and artifacts.
• Miscellaneous items: permanents, consumables, and projectiles.

Items belonging to the first category must be placed on the Hero Sheet to be used, while Miscellaneous items can be used directly from the Hero's inventory.

Some items, denoted with the "Stash" tag (section 3.4, page 11), are always available to Heroes. Other standard items can be purchased by visiting the Emporium shops spread across the kingdom, but the most powerful and magical items can only be found as Treasures during Quests.

If the Hero's inventory is full when he gains an item, place it on the ground in his area.

Not all items can be used by every Hero. Items must be compatible with the Hero's fighting style.

9.1 Fighting Style Compatibility

Each Item card has one or two runes beside the name to indicate which Hero fighting style can use/equip it:

• A "generic" rune indicates any Hero can use the item.
• A single fighting-style rune indicates only a Hero with that fighting style can use the item.
• Two fighting-style runes indicate only Heroes with at least one of these fighting styles can use the item.
• A red cross over the right rune indicates this item cannot be used by a Hero who has only that fighting style. All other fighting styles are allowed by the generic rune on the left.

Even if a Hero is not able to use/equip the item, he can still transport it in his inventory.

Note: Heroes with multiple fighting styles can use the item if at least one of their fighting styles is compatible.

9.2 Soulrank Restrictions

Not all treasures can be mastered by anyone. In fact, the most powerful equipment items indicate the minimum Soulrank needed to equip them with a Soulrank tag in the lower right corner of the card, for example III (Soulrank III in this example).

Heroes who do not possess, or who no longer possess this Soulrank level are forced to keep these Items in their inventory or leave them on the ground.

9.3 Equipment Items: Weapons

Weapons are one of the main resources to prevail in battle!

Weapon Card:

1. Name, Damage Type, and Category
2. Fighting Style Compatibility
3. Weapon Picture
4. Strong Hand Weapon
5. Two-Handed Weapon
6. Weak Hand Weapon
7. Range
8. Attack Values
9. Effects
10. Cost (Emporium weapons only)
11. Forged (backside of Emporium/Stash weapons only – section 9.3, page 32)
12. Minimum Soulrank required to equip it (Treasure weapons only)

A Hero can equip up to 2 weapons by placing them on the Hero Sheet on the appropriate weapon slots, Left (Primary) or Right (Secondary), based on the following icons:

• Two-Handed Weapon. These can only be equipped as a primary weapon using the primary weapon slot. While equipped, it prohibits equipping any other weapon in the secondary weapon slot.
• Strong Hand Weapon. These can only be equipped as a primary weapon using the primary weapon slot.
• Hand-and-a-Half Weapon. These primary weapons can be equipped as either one or two hands, based on the status of the secondary weapon slot; if it is empty, the weapon is considered equipped as two-handed, otherwise as one-handed only.
• Weak Hand Weapon. These can only be equipped as a secondary weapon using the secondary weapon slot.
• Either Hand Weapon. This weapon can be equipped as a primary or secondary weapon, at the Hero's choice, using the matching slot.

To attack with a weapon (section 10, page 34), it must be equipped. Any effect related to a weapon can only be used during an attack involving that weapon.

A Hero without equipped weapons can attack with his bare hands. That Hero rolls only 1 Blue Die for bare-handed attacks.

Note: The weapon category is sometimes used by powers to trigger additional effects or apply restrictions.

Weapons and armor from the Emporium and Stash decks can be Forged by visiting a Forge Building to make them stronger.

9.4 Equipment Items: Armor

By default, each Hero is able to defend himself using his natural skills; for this reason, some basic defense values are printed directly on each Hero Sheet in the Armor Section.

But, to obtain better protection from Enemy attacks, wearing good armor is the key!

Heroes coming from the Immortal Souls saga have no armor values printed on their Hero Sheets (except KS Deluxe Hero Sheets), so each Hero can use one of the Base Armor cards to represent their starting armor (by placing the card over the Hero Sheet).

Armor Card:

1. Name and Category
2. Fighting Style Compatibility
3. Armor Picture
4. Magic Shields (section 9.4.1, page 33)
5. Armor Value
6. Defense Dice (section 10, page 35)
7. Effects
8. Cost (Emporium armors only)
9. Forged (backside of Emporium/Stash armors only)
10. Minimum Soulrank required to equip it (Treasure armors only)

Use the cards by selecting the matching fighting style (front side) or the generic side (back side).

Note: The default defense values of all Heroes of the Immortal Souls saga can be found in the files section of the S&S website: https://www.sword-and-sorcery.com

A Hero can equip armor by placing it in the armor slot of the Hero Sheet:

Any equipped armor card overrides the default defense values printed on the Hero Sheet; they must be completely ignored until the armor card is unequipped.

To defend with it (see Combat System section 10, page 34) or simply use any of its effects (including passive ones), armor must be equipped.

Armor from the Emporium and Stash decks can be Forged by visiting a Forge Building to make them stronger.

Note: The armor category is sometimes used by powers to trigger additional effects or apply restrictions.

9.4.1 Magic Shields

Precious items as well as enchanted or forged armors may provide magic shields, identified by a shield icon.

During the Time Phase, each equipped/carried item with this icon restores all its magic shields to maximum value only.

Place the appropriate number of shield tokens (1 or 2) on the item. A "2" token is equivalent to two "1" tokens.

As described in the Combat section, magic shield tokens must be discarded (mandatorily) to cancel hits while defending during step 2 of the DEF STAGE.

Note: Powers and items, in addition to armor, can generate magic shields. In such cases, all powers, equipped and miscellaneous items providing magic shields are used together as a single pool, which refreshes at the end of each Time Phase if their related cards are still there (used powers do not generate magic shields until refreshed).

9.5 Equipment Items: Artifacts

Sometimes magic can be caged inside a crafted object. When this happens, an artifact is born! Artifacts are extremely rare items available only as Treasure cards.

To use any effects (including passive ones), artifacts must be equipped.

Artifact Card:

1. Name, Damage Type, and Category
2. Fighting Style Compatibility
3. Artifact Picture
4. Required Activity
5. Range
6. Maximum Charges
7. Charge required to activate the power
8. Effects
9. Minimum Soulrank required to equip it

A Hero can equip an artifact by placing it in the artifact slot of the Hero Sheet.

Note: Some artifact items may grant additional powers to Heroes. These powers must be acquired using standard rules and are available only while the items are equipped.

Most of the artifacts have an energy charge represented by a Charges token. When one of these artifacts is found for the first time, it has the maximum number of charges. Place the indicated number of charges on it. Each time the artifact is activated, discard the appropriate number of charges (indicated on the left side of the card). When all charges are gone, the artifact will not work until recharged, even partially by a game effect or using a building service to completely recharge it.

Unlike the S&S: Immortal Souls saga, artifacts will NOT automatically recharge any Charges at the beginning of the Quests.

10. Combat System

The Sword & Sorcery Combat System is based on two kinds of Custom Dice.

S&S Custom Dice:

• Red Attack Die.
• Blue Attack/Defense Die.

The term "a Die" indicates a single die while "any Dice" means any number of dice.

Each face of a single die may contain up to two results, and each of those belongs to one of these two categories:

1. Fixed Effect Results – representing the baseline of the Combat System.
   • A successful hit.
   • A successful parry.
2. Variable Effect Results – usually based on the item or power used by a Character.
   • An outcome related to a physical ability.
   • A trigger for magical properties.
   • A very special effect of some legendary items and powers.
   • A miss, a bad luck episode, or a trigger for an Enemy power.

The meaning/effect of each single die result may vary based on the context requested by the game.

Note: The special result of the Red Dice can either be spent as a double to activate one effect requiring two, or as two separate results to activate two different effects each requiring one to activate.

If a game effect reports a result preceded by the ":" (i.e. a colon), it means that the result must be spent in order to activate that effect; otherwise, the absence of the colon indicates that the effect is activated automatically and the result can also be spent to activate something else.

The S&S Combat System is used to manage any attack performed by game events or Characters (using items/powers dealing Hits/Shields/Defense and/or having a damage type: Slash, Pierce, Blunt, or Arcane) and consists of two STAGES:

HIT STAGE: Representing the attempt to hit the target with an attack, the HIT STAGE is always divided into 3 steps:

• STEP 1 – Targeting and Rolling HIT Dice: The attacker selects a target based on L.O.S. and the range of the chosen weapon, power, or item, then applies its attack values and rolls the dice: the number of automatic Hits (+1 if Focused, +1 for Domination); the number of Red Dice to roll; and the number of Blue Dice to roll. For each special result: you suffer 1 HP.
• STEP 2 – Applying Effects: Once all Dice have been rolled for the first time, in addition to applying automatic effects, the attacker may spend dice results to activate the weapon's effects (indicated by the ":"), including rerolling Dice (only if their results are not already spent). All the activated effects are applied immediately, following the order decided by the attacker and before the DEF STAGE.
• STEP 3 – Summarize Hits: The total number of Hits obtained is calculated based on visible results, after any other item or power effects are used, including the Domination (+1 Hit if the defender's area was dominated by the attacker's faction before this attack) and Focus (+1 Hit if the attacker spent 1 Action to focus the attack before STEP 1) bonuses. Once this last step is ended, the attacker can no longer modify the results, and the attack passes to the DEF STAGE.

Note: For example, Jeanne can spend 1 of her Actions to use the Guard Break innate power, decreasing the Armor value of the Minotaur by 1 (the ACT value is 1 for Ancient Chronicles Quests).

DEF STAGE: Representing the attempt to avoid successful Hits, the DEF STAGE is divided into as many as 6 steps based on the characteristics printed on the defending Character's card(s):

• STEP 1 – Weaknesses and Resistances: Most Enemies have weaknesses and resistances against particular damage types, which can modify the total number of Hits. The term "All" indicates a resistance or a weakness against any kind of damage type, while "All but Slash," for instance, means a resistance/weakness against all damage types except Slash.
• STEP 2 – Magic Shields: If Magic Shields protect the defender, first cancel Hits by mandatorily discarding 1 Magic Shield for each Hit until there are no more Magic Shields available, then proceed with the next step.
• STEP 3 – Armor Value (Lethal Hits ignore this step): If the defender is protected by armor with an Armor Value, unless he is K.O.ed, its Value must be subtracted from the remaining Hits of each attack.
• STEP 4 – Rolling DEF Dice (Lethal Hits ignore this step): If the defender has a defense value listed, he rolls 1 Blue Die for each remaining Hit, up to the defense value indicated. If no Dice are listed, no Dice are rolled. So, having a defense value of 2 means rolling 1 Blue Die when defending against 1 Hit and 2 Blue Dice against 2 or more.
• STEP 5 – Applying Effects: Once all Dice have been rolled for the first time, in addition to the effects activated automatically, the defender may spend his dice results to activate any defensive effects he may have (indicated by the ":"), including rerolling Dice (only if their results are not already spent).
• STEP 6 – Summarize Shields: Finally, sum the total number of Shields visible, after any other item or power effects are used. 1 Hit is cancelled for each successful Shield result (except Lethal Hits). Once this last step has ended, the defender can no longer modify the results and suffers 1 HP for each remaining Hit result.

Items and powers can be used by the attacker during the HIT STAGE, and by the defender during the DEF STAGE, in each step, following these guidelines:

• Spending results to activate effects (result ":" effect, e.g., special: +1 Hit) is optional and, if done, each effect can be activated only once.
• Each single die result can be spent only once.
• A die cannot be rerolled if any of its results (on the same face) has already been spent previously.
• If the same effect is present multiple times on the same or on different items and powers, it must be activated separately and no more than once each.
• Unless stated otherwise, an effect ends at the end of the attack. For example, if the attacker activates special: -1 Shield, it is valid only for this attack.
• Subsequent attacks must reactivate an effect to use it.
• Extra attacks are performed once the current attack is resolved.

To keep track of the attack bonus/penalty effects, use the matching side of the provided tokens.

For a description of the special game effects, see section 11, page 38.

Attack Example: Xantares spends one Action activity to attack the Red Minotaur using the "Thunder Strike" power (Soulrank I). He also spends his second Action to Focus this attack (before rolling HIT Dice). He rolls 1 Red and 1 Blue Die (since ACT in this box means "1"; see section 2, page 3 of the Storybook). The results are 1 Hit + special (Red Die), 1 Hit + special (Blue Die), and 1 Hit (Focus). Xantares decides to activate the "K.O." effect by spending the special result. The Minotaur becomes K.O.ed and receives 3 Hits. The Domination bonus is not applicable because the area was not dominated by Heroes before this attack.

In the DEF STAGE, the Minotaur has no resistances, and its Armor value is ignored because it is K.O.ed, but it still rolls 2 Blue Def Dice, one for each Hit to defend up to its limit (2), suffering then 1 Hit automatically. The Minotaur rolls the 2 Blue Dice and gets only 1 Shield. Thus, Xantares' spell inflicts 2 HP to the Enemy.

Attack Example: Artemis (Soulrank III, Scout), equipped with a Dancing Scimitar weapon and the Ring of Chances artifact, has already used her Combat activity, but she has still 1 Action and she wants to kill the wounded Elf Assassin (with only 2 HP left!). She moves into the Enemy area, and being the only Hero in that area, she uses the Action to perform an extra attack with her weapon... thanks to her Lone Wolf innate power. She obtains 1 Hit (from the weapon), 1 Hit + special (results of the 2 Red Dice), and 1 special (result of the Blue Die). Now she spends 1 special to obtain 1 Hit and activate the Lethal I effect, so the first Hit ignores both Armor value and DEF Dice. Since she wants to attempt to kill the Assassin regardless of his defense values, Artemis uses the last charge of the Artifact to reroll the special result of the Blue Die (the die with most possibilities to get a special), and she gets a Hit + special! Now she spends the special to force the Enemy to suffer 1 HP… killing the Elf Assassin! Artemis can also continue to move because the attack was performed using an Action activity instead of a Combat activity.

Attack Example: Artemis attacks a Red Elder Spider with her Elven Longbow. She rolls 3 Hits and 1 special. Artemis then uses one special to grant +1 Hit and the second special to reroll the three Hit results (the special cannot be rerolled because one bolt has already been spent). She now obtains Hits and specials, so she activates the "Critical" effect of her bow. She immediately draws and applies a critical token to the Elder Spider. The Enemy is now Stunned! It will skip its next activation. The Red Elder Spider cancels one hit with its armor, and then rolls 2 Blue Dice to avoid the other hits (it rolls 2 dice, as you only roll as many Dice as the hits to avoid, up to the defense value). The player controlling the Red Elder Spider rolls 1 Shield, thus the Elder Spider suffers 1 wound.

Attack Example: Jeanne attacks a Blue Tyrant Lizard with her Shield. She rolls 1 Shield on the Blue Die, so no hits this time. However, Jeanne must use her shield's effect "Bash" to move the Lizard one area away, even though she inflicts no damage.

10.1 Domination (Supremacy)

All attacks performed by a faction (Heroes or Enemies) against a target which resides in an area dominated (section 4.1, page 12) by the attacking faction inflict +1 Hit.

The check to determine control or domination of an area must be done at the beginning of each HIT STAGE; this means that any effect (for instance, K.O.) activated during the attack will not affect the current Domination bonus.

Domination Example: Artemis (Soulrank IV, Hunter) spends one of her Combat activities to activate Dharma and move it into the area where the Heroes are fighting. Dharma attacks the Elf Assassin with the Domination bonus, because the Heroes now have at least twice as many figures as the Enemies. Artemis then spends her last Combat activity to attack the Elf Assassin with her Longbow, getting the Domination bonus since she is attacking an Enemy in an area dominated by the Heroes.

11. Special Game Effects

Sword & Sorcery items and powers are able to create incredible and devastating effects. When an effect refers to a Character, an attacker, or a defender, it means it can be applied to both factions, Heroes and Enemies.

11.1 Area Of Effect (AoE)

The term AoE means Area of Effect. It allows an attack or effect to affect not only the primary target but all other targets of the same faction (Heroes or Enemies) in the same area, and in some cases adjacent areas (connected by a legal movement path, regardless of L.O.S.), depending on the numeric range following the AoE.

AoE{0} Example: Robin's attack hits the original target and all other targets in the same area with the same number of Hits and additional effects.

AoE effects do not stack, and AoE 1+ includes AoE 0, because: AoE 0 = All targets in the same area. AoE 1 = All targets in the same area and also in all adjacent areas.

In all cases, the attacker rolls the dice only once, while each defender defends separately but simultaneously.

Note: AoE is also applied to healing and other effects using the same rules.

AoE{1} Example: Xantares' attack hits the original target (Elder Spider), all targets in the same area, and any other targets within one area, connected by a legal movement path (regardless of L.O.S.), with the same number of Hits and additional effects.

11.2 Bash

The Bash effect forces the defender of an attack to move back 1 area from its current position. If the Bash effect is related to an attack, the attack is resolved normally even if the defender is no longer in its original area (due to the Bash). "Move back" means moving in the direction where the defender came from. When this is not possible nor applicable, the attacker (or controlling player, in case of an Enemy) decides where to move the defender.

Bash effects can stack during the same attack to further push the defender away (1 area for each Bash).

The Bash effect is applied even if the defender can't move due to a Body Condition or other effect.

Note: When a Hero is moved due to a Bash effect, he avoids any reaction attack from the Enemies in the area he is exiting.

11.3 Break

A Character suffering the Break effect must place the matching token on the equipped Armor card (or Hero Sheet if the Hero is still using his basic Armor, or Enemy card for Enemies).

Each Break token reduces the Armor Value by 1. If the Armor Value is 0, because it is already broken or because the equipped armor offers no armor value at all, the Character suffers 1 HP instead of placing the token.

In Campaign Mode, any broken Armor remains broken even after a Quest ends but can be repaired using one of the Forge Buildings available in most cities of the realm.

Note: An equipped broken Armor still maintains all other effects apart from the Armor Value.

11.4 Drain

The Drain effect is able to heal the attacker based on the damage inflicted to the defender.

Drain is triggered by the attacker during Step 2 of the HIT STAGE as usual, BUT its effect is applied only at the end of the DEF STAGE because it interacts with the number of inflicted (i.e. not defended) wounds. In detail, a "Drain (Value)" effect heals 1 HP for every wound inflicted to the defender up to the specified value, so for instance "Drain III" may heal up to 3 HP to the attacker based on the number of wounds inflicted to the defender. In the same way, if no value is specified, the "Drain" effect is able to heal 1 HP for every wound inflicted, up to the maximum HP of the attacker.

11.5 Lethal

The Lethal effect gives an unstoppable force to the Hits of an attack.

If the power or item only says "Lethal," it means each Hit of the attack gains the Lethal effect. If a number is given, such as Lethal I, II, or V, it means that only that number of Hits are considered Lethal; the remaining Hits are normal.

Multiple Lethal effects can stack together to increase the number of Hits considered Lethal.

When an attack includes Lethal Hits, they should be resolved BEFORE normal Hits. Each Lethal Hit skips Steps 3 and 4 of the DEF STAGE, because Armor is ignored and Blue DEF Dice are NOT rolled against Lethal.

Normal shield results obtained with Blue Dice or equivalent powers cannot cancel Lethal Hits.

The only useful defenses against this type of attack are:

• DEF STAGE – Step 1: Resistances, items, and powers which may modify the total number of Hits of the attack.
• DEF STAGE – Step 2: Magic Shields, which absorb Lethal Hits as usual.

This means each Lethal Hit not canceled/reduced by resistances, magic shields, or items and powers during the DEF STAGE deals one wound to the defender's Health Points.

Lethal Example: Robin uses his Knife to attack a Red Elder Spider with 2 remaining HP, rolling 2 Hits and 2 specials. By activating both special effects, Robin obtains 3 Hits in total, with 2 of them becoming Lethal thanks to the Lethal II effect. So the first two Hits ignore both Armor and DEF Dice values. The third Hit is blocked by the Armor, but fortunately, the lethal hits are enough to kill the Spider!

Lethal Example: In the first Hero Turn of the Round, Xantares, forming a Party together with Thorgren only (currently in Ghost Soul Form), decides to attack the Soul Eater with his Wand of Darts. He spends 1 Action to Focus the attack and then rolls the 2 Blue Dice, obtaining 1 Hit for the Focus, 1 Hit + special, 1 Hit + special. By spending both special results, Xantares is able to immediately inflict Slow to the Soul Eater and make his entire attack Lethal! The total number of Hits is 4 because it is increased by 1 due to the Arcane weakness of the Soul Eater. The Enemy has 2 Magic Shields (1 multiplied by number of Heroes) that are discarded to cancel 2 Hits. The remaining 2 Hits are Lethal, so the Armor Value is ignored, and the Soul Eater suffers 2 HP for this attack.

11.6 Critical

Critical Hits are particularly powerful Hits able to cause temporary or permanent effects. During the setup of each Quest (and each time the pile is empty), gather all Critical tokens and shuffle them face down in a pile (or a bag).

Each time a Critical effect is activated by a weapon, item, or power, before any other effect is applied, draw a Critical token from the pile/bag and place it on the defender's card. This means the Critical is applied before the defender can block it.

The only way for the defender to avoid the Critical is to completely ignore the attack by using a special item or power.

Critical effects do not stack when activated in the same attack. If more than one Critical is triggered, the target instead suffers 1 HP for each additional Critical effect activated after the first.

The front side of a Critical token determines two factors:

• Effect: Critical effects may impact the target in different ways, such as wounding, decreasing the armor value or the maximum HP, stunning, etc.
• Duration: the color background of the token indicates the duration of the critical effect. There are three different durations:
  • Green represents an instant Critical. The effect is applied, and the Critical token is immediately discarded to the discard pile.
  • Blue represents a temporary body condition. The effect is applied, placing the matching Body Condition (as detailed in the next section) token on the defender's card and discarding the Critical token into the discard pile.
  • Red represents a permanent body condition. The effect is applied, placing the Critical token on the defender's card. It remains there until the end of the Quest, until removed (as a Body Condition), or until the target dies. In the last two cases, once discarded, place the token into the discard pile.

The same target can suffer multiple Critical effects (coming from different attacks) but cannot have the same Critical effect twice. If this happens, the newest effect is discarded and the target suffers 1 HP. However, a greater effect of the same type always replaces a lesser one (without causing additional wounds to the target). For example, if a target already has -1 Armor (Red Critical) and suffers -2 Armor (Red Critical), the -2 Armor remains and the -1 Armor is discarded to the appropriate discard pile.

11.7 Body Conditions

Body Conditions are effects that may physically impact a Character in many different ways, and they are divided into 3 categories:

• Health (using the black side of the pyramid-shaped Condition Token – discarded at the end of the Hero Turn/Enemy activation): Slow, Blind, and Stun.
• Incapacitating (For Heroes only – using the blue side of the pyramid-shaped Condition Token – discarded at the end of the Hero Turn): Immobilize, Exhaust, and Daze.
• Special (using dedicated tokens and rules): Bleed, Fire, K.O., Poison, and Permanent Critical.

When a Character suffers a Body Condition, place the appropriate token with the matching Side/Rank on the Character card by following these general statements and then applying the associated effects detailed in the next sections.

• Conditions are applied regardless of the inflicted/suffered damage.
• Except for Fire, each Condition can only be applied once. When a Character suffers a second Condition from the same group (for Health or Incapacitating Conditions) or with the same Name (for Special Conditions) of one he already has, apply as follows:
  • If the new Rank is greater: the new Condition replaces the previous one (Rotating the Pyramid token/flipping the dedicated token to the higher Rank).
  • Otherwise: the new Condition is ignored, and the Character suffers 1 HP instead.
• Body Conditions can be removed (i.e., discarded) by using powers or consumable items such as Bandages or Small Bandages.

Note: Body Conditions may work slightly differently on Enemies (see section 15.11, page 57).

11.7.1 Health Conditions (Slow, Blind, Stun)

The three ranks of the Health Conditions are represented by the black side of the pyramid token:

• Slow (Rank I): A Slowed Hero can only perform Free Action activities plus only one of the following (regardless of his Soul Gem): 1 Movement activity OR 1 Combat activity OR 1 Action activity.
• Blind (Rank II): A Blinded Hero must attempt a Save roll before any activity. If it succeeds, the activity can be performed normally; otherwise, it fails, wasting the activity and any item (discarded if it is a consumable) or power (going into cooldown) related to this failed activation attempt.
• Stun (Rank III): A Stunned Hero must skip his entire Hero Turn, forfeiting any kind of activity, including using reaction items and powers, although passive powers still work.

To apply the inflicted Body Condition, simply place the Health Condition token on the Hero card and then rotate it until the matching Rank is facing up relative to the card. This means that it is not possible for a Hero to suffer two or more different Health Conditions at the same time; the highest Rank Health Condition always replaces the lower one.

Discard the Health Condition token if the Condition is removed or at the end of the Turn of the afflicted Hero.

11.7.2 Incapacitating Conditions (Immobilize, Exhaust, Daze)

These Body Conditions can be applied to Heroes only (i.e., not to Companions or Enemies) and are not utilized in this Core Set. They will be used mainly in the next main game expansions, such as Northwind Tales and Abyssal Legends. Just like the Health Conditions, the three ranks of the Incapacitating Conditions are represented by the same pyramid token, but flipping it to the blue side:

• Immobilize (Rank I): An Immobilized Hero cannot perform his Movement activity or use any other item or power to execute a voluntary movement; This means that he can still suffer "Bash" or can be moved/placed elsewhere when an Enemy power or the game itself requires him to do so. An Immobilized Hero can still use a Dash to stand up after a "K.O."
• Exhaust (Rank II): An Exhausted Hero cannot perform Action activities.
• Daze (Rank III): A Dazed Hero cannot perform Combat activities. Attacks originating from items and powers with different activation activities are still allowed.

To apply the Body Condition, place the Incapacitating Condition token on the Hero card and then rotate it until the matching Rank is facing up relative to the card. This means that it is not possible for a Hero to suffer two or more different Incapacitating Conditions at the same time; the highest Rank Incapacitating Condition always replaces the lower one.

Discard the Incapacitating Condition token if the Condition is removed or at the end of the Turn of the afflicted Hero.

Note: Health and Incapacitating are both Body Conditions, but they belong to two different categories, so a Hero can be afflicted by both at the same time, using 2 pyramid tokens, one for each category.

11.7.3 Special Condition: Bleed

When a Character suffers a Bleed I or II effect, he must immediately place the Bleed token, using the matching Rank side, on his Character card.

A Bleeding Character suffers 1 HP before performing EACH of his activities (for Heroes)/activations (for Enemies).

In each Time Phase, discard any Bleed I tokens, and then flip any Bleed II tokens to the Bleed I side. This means that a Bleed II effect lasts for two Rounds, while Bleed I affects a Character only in the current Round.

Bleed effects do not stack; a greater Bleed Rank replaces a lower one (i.e., increasing the duration to the next Round), while a second Bleed effect of the same Rank already suffered inflicts 1 HP instead.

11.7.4 Special Condition: Fire

The Fire effect is represented by the Fire token with two ranks. The two sides of the token are used to keep track of the effect duration:

• Fire I (Rank I) means it is discarded during the next Time Phase, after dealing 1 HP to the Character with the effect.
• Fire II (Rank II) means, in the next Time Phase, it is flipped to the Fire I side after dealing 1 HP to the Character with the effect.

When a Character suffers a Fire I or Fire II effect, he must immediately suffer 1 HP and then place one fire token of the matching side on his card (suffering damage during the next Time Phase), even if a Fire token is already present. This means that Fire effects stack, and so can be applied more than once to a target.

Fire can also be present as a standalone token in one or more areas of the map. In this case, each Character moving into those areas immediately suffers the same Fire effect (i.e. taking the relative Fire token). This means when a Fire token is placed in an area, all Characters in that area immediately suffer the same Fire effect.

The Fire token on the map remains until discarded during the relative Time Phase; it is flipped/discarded just like Fire on a Character, even if it does not damage anyone with its effect.

11.7.5 Special Condition: Knocked Out (K.O.)

A K.O.ed Hero has limited capabilities. While suffering this condition, he must follow these rules:

• He cannot perform Combat activities.
• He must ignore his Armor value, regardless of his Armor (Hero Sheet/card) and other Items or Powers.
• He counts as 0 figures for controlling/dominating his area.
• To move, he must first remove the K.O. condition, either by using a Dash Action or one movement point of his Movement activity.
• Once the K.O. condition is removed, the Hero can continue normally.

A K.O.ed Character is represented on the map by laying the relevant figure on its side. Stand the figure up once the condition is removed.

11.7.6 Special Condition: Red Criticals

A Red Critical is a permanent effect that affects a Character with the limitation indicated by the Critical token drawn until the end of the Quest, until removed (as a Body Condition), or until death.

Here is the complete list of Permanent Red Critical tokens:

• Any attack performed by the Character causes -1 Hit (min. 0).
• The Armor Value of the Character is reduced by 1 (min. 0).
• Reduce the Character's maximum number of HP by 1 or 2. This Critical can kill the Character if his wounds equal his new HP.
• The Character cannot use special effects of items and powers.

11.7.7 Special Condition: Poison

When a Character suffers a Poison I or II effect, he becomes Poisoned and immediately places a Poison token matching the inflicted Rank on his Character card.

While the Poison condition lasts, he must do the following in each Time Phase:

• First, suffer an amount of HP equal to the Poison effect Rank (1 or 2).
• Then, attempt a Save roll.
  • If the Save is successful (see section 6.2.4, page 23), discard the Poison token.
  • Otherwise, the Poison effect will continue to affect the Character.

Poison effects do not stack; a greater Poison Rank replaces a lower one, while a second Poison effect of the same Rank already suffered inflicts 1 HP instead.

Poison can also be present as a standalone token in one or more areas of the map. In this case, each Character moving into those areas immediately suffers the Poison effect indicated by the visible face of the token on the map (i.e., taking the same Poison token).

Note: The Poison tokens on the map are permanent, unless removed by a game effect.

12. Health And Health Points (HP)

The Heart Gem icon indicates Health Points (HP). The number written inside or near the icon represents the amount of damage this Hero can withstand before being killed. This number can be changed by the effects of critical attacks, items, and powers.

To keep track of current health, when a Hero is wounded, place the appropriate number of wounds (using the red numbered Wound tokens) on the Hero card.

If the total number of wounds equals or exceeds the Hero's HP, he dies, becoming a Ghost Soul Hero. Green Heart tokens can be used to keep track of the extra HP offered by some items or powers.

12.1 Death (Becoming A Ghost Soul)

When a Hero dies, he becomes ethereal, and his soul becomes weaker. In game terms, he loses one Soulrank. When this happens, immediately apply the following:

• Reduce the current Soulrank by 1, to a minimum of 1.
• Flip the Hero card to the Ghost Soul Form side.
• Discard all Body Conditions, modifiers, and effect tokens.
• Discard all the Power cards related to the lost Soulrank.
• Cease all activated effects of Items and Powers (non-passive Power cards activated go in cooldown, including summoned Companions that die immediately).
• Drop all Item cards in inventory (including Crowns and Quest cards/tokens, but keeping equipped items).

From this moment and until resurrection, the Hero acts as a Ghost Soul, following these rules:

• Play his Hero Turns (including the current, if the death happens during the Hero's Turn) using only Ghost Soul activities.
• Skip his Enemy Turn, even if there are Enemies and/or Minions in play. He must play his assigned Enemies, however, if activated during other Enemy Turns.
• He never counts as a Hero in play for controlling/dominating an area, BUT he still continues to count as a Hero for Event Spawn Formulas and all similar effects indicating the "number of Heroes".
• His Power cards continue to rotate and refresh during the Time Phase.
• Unless explicitly stated, he cannot be targeted by Hero items and powers.
• He is completely ignored by Enemies and Traps. He cannot be targeted and does not suffer damage from them.
• He ignores any special game effects.

If a Quest ends while a Hero is in Ghost Soul Form, that Hero must permanently discard one of his equipped cards, selected at random. This means gather all equipped cards, and then randomly pick one. The discarded card returns to the appropriate deck.

Hero's Death Example: Thorgren, a Soulrank III Stonerager, suffers his last wound. His player must now update the Hero Sheet:

• Rotate the Soul Gem counterclockwise, so the Soulrank II values are visible.
• Discard all Body Condition tokens.
• Flip the Hero card to the Ghost Soul Form side.
• Discard the "Wrathful Blow" power because it was associated with the lost Soulrank.
• Leave the 10 Crowns and the "The Ring of the Rings" card in the area where the Hero fell.

12.2 Ghost Soul Activities

While in Ghost Soul Form, during his Turn, a Hero is limited to these three activities, which can be performed once each, in any order:

• Soul Shout: Use the soul shout detailed on the Hero card.
• Recall: Place the Ghost Soul Hero in the same area as an open Shrine. When more than one Shrine is present, the Hero may choose.
• Move: Move using the same flying movement rules as the Heroes (section 7.1.3, page 25). While moving as a Ghost Soul, he can't interact with the world, so he can't open doors or chests, trigger Events, or reveal Shadows.

12.3 Resurrection

During each Time Phase, a Ghost Soul Hero in the same area as an open Shrine can spend Soul Points to return to life.

A Shrine can be open or closed based on Quest rules.

The number of Soul Points needed to resurrect a Hero is equal to the current Soulrank of the Hero. For example, a Ghost Soul Hero of Soulrank III must spend 3 Soul Points to resurrect.

When resurrected, flip the Hero card and return to full health state. From now on, the Hero can play his Hero Turn normally.

13. Miscellaneous Items

Potions, tools, and scrolls are a Hero's best friends!

Miscellaneous items must be placed in the inventory slot of the Hero Sheet, keeping the cards side-by-side starting from right to left, until the Hero's capacity is reached.

Their effects are used directly from inventory, spending the required activity as needed. Some treasure items require a minimum Soulrank to be used (indicated in the lower right corner). If the owner has not reached the required Soulrank, he can only carry the item without using it.

Miscellaneous Item Cards:

1. Name, Damage Type, and Category
2. Fighting Style Compatibility
3. Miscellaneous Item Picture
4. Required Activity
5. Range
6. Effects
7. Weight
8. Cost (Emporium only)
9. Minimum Soulrank required to use it (Treasure only)

Note: The negligible-weight icon indicates an item of negligible weight that is ignored when calculating inventory capacity limit.

Miscellaneous items are divided into 3 categories (Permanents, Consumables, and Projectiles) to indicate the number of times they can be used and if and when to discard them.

13.1 Permanents

These items can be used multiple times, spending the required activity.

13.2 Consumables

These items can be used only once, spending the required activity. Afterward, they must be discarded.

13.3 Projectiles

These items can be used multiple times, spending the required activity. They must be discarded if the resulting HIT roll includes a special result (after any reroll effect is used).

It is not possible to use more than one Projectile item, or the same projectile item more than once, during a single attack.

13.4 Crafting Items

Even the most precious gems were simple rocks at the beginning! In the same way, raw gems and scales found as treasures can be transformed into powerful adornments for weapons and armors by some able crafters of the realms.

The crafting system is based on the following elements:

• 3 Raw Gem Treasure cards (Amber, Onyx, and Opal)
• 3 Raw Scales Treasure cards (Chitinous, Insect, and Wyrm)
• 3 Crafted Gem Quest cards (Amber, Onyx, and Opal)
• 3 Crafted Scales Quest cards (Chitinous, Insect, and Wyrm)
• 3 Double-sided Crafted Gem tokens
• 3 Double-sided Crafted Scales tokens

Once a Hero finds a Raw Gem/Scale Treasure card (Consumable–Craft) he can visit any Forge Building and spend 50 Crowns to transform that card into a Crafted Gem/Scale to bind to a Weapon/Armor.

While Gems are suitable for all weapons, each Scales set fits only with a particular kind of armor (Light, Medium, or Heavy).

Each Weapon/Armor card can be bound to only 1 kind of Crafted Quest card.

If this is the first time in which that particular gem/scale is crafted, he must:

1. Place the Craft Treasure card into the discard pile.
2. Take the matching Crafted Quest card (Side I) and token (front).
3. Select one of his Weapons (for Gems) or Armor (for Scales) cards and place the crafted token over it to represent the enchantment done.
4. From now on, that weapon/armor offers the bonus(es) listed in the Crafted Quest card.

Otherwise, if that particular gem has been crafted before, he must place the Craft Treasure card into the discard pile and then decide between:

• Flipping the matching Crafted Quest card and token to Side II in order to increase the bonuses granted by the enchantment to the Weapon/Armor card.
• Moving the token to another Weapon/Armor card. The Crafted Quest card and its token must always be held by the same Hero who equipped the Weapon/Armor card. So, if the item is given to another Hero, he will also receive the Quest card and its token.

Note: If, for any reason, the enchanted Weapon/Armor card is discarded, also discard the Crafted Quest card and its token.

13.5 Cursed Items

Some items remain bound to the tragic destiny of their creators, becoming a curse for any new owner… for a long time!

In game terms, a Cursed Item is an object that offers a power but also includes a strong penalty for the owner. It can be recognized, in addition to the category, by the black scroll of its card background and red text.

When a Hero draws the card or moves over an area containing a cursed item, he is forced to put it in his inventory, discarding another item to make room if necessary. Unlike normal items carried in the Inventory, cursed items cannot be dropped or exchanged using Hero activities; there are only three ways to remove them from the Hero's inventory (placing them in the Treasure discard pile):

• Death. Cursed items are dropped in the area where the Hero fell. This means that the dropped cursed item must be picked up by the next Hero who needs to move through the space (Enemies don't have to pick it up).
• Theft. An enemy power or game effect may remove the cursed item.
• Disenchantment. A Hero visiting any Building Temple can discard 1 Cursed Item by spending 100 Crowns per ACT.

14. Heroes' Companions

Heroes may acquire valuable allies with whom to fight together; these allies are known as Companions! A Companion is a powerful comrade in battle, able to attack and be attacked by the Enemies! In game terms, each Companion is represented by 3 things:

• A Source card, such as a Hero Power card or a Guild Building card that notes the activity required to summon/hire and activate the Companion, the rules to manage it, how the Companion can be summoned again upon death.
• A Companion card, single- or double-sided, representing all of the Companion's characteristics for one or two ranks, like an all-in-one Hero Sheet plus all its Item and Power cards.
• A Figure, such as a miniature (Dharma and Mercenaries) or punchboard shapes (Illusions) that must be placed in the owner's area when summoned, or placed in the Begin area at the start of a Quest, together with the Heroes, in the case of a mercenary Companion.

Companion Source Card:

1. Name and Type
2. Activity required to summon and activate the Companion
3. Companion's Figure Shape
4. Base Effect
5. Level and Required Soulrank
6. Power Description
7. Cooldown

Companion Card:

1. Name and Rank
2. Hero Count
3. Fighting Style
4. Movement Points
5. Health Points
6. Innate Powers
7. Weapon
8. Defensive Stats

Mercenary Companion Source Card:

1. Name and Type
2. Instructions to Hire Mercenary Companion
3. Instructions to Activate Mercenary Companion
4. Quest Ribbon

Mercenary Companion Card:

1. Name and Rank
2. Hero Count
3. Fighting Style
4. Movement Points
5. Health Points
6. Innate Powers
7. Weapon
8. Defensive Stats

Note: The default "Figure Count" value for a Companion is always equal to its Hero Count, this value can be modified by some items, powers, and the K.O. Body Condition.

A Companion can:

• Belong to a single Hero, like Dharma, Artemis' white tiger. In this case, Artemis must spend one Combat activity to summon Dharma (if not in play) and/or activate it. The power cooldown works slightly differently here: instead of starting when the power is used, it starts when the companion (or the owner Hero) dies. When this happens, remove the companion figure from play, flip the Power card facedown and manage cooldown as usual.
• Be shared by all members of the Party, such as Guild Mercenaries or other temporary figures hired during the story. In this case, the companion becomes part of the Heroes' group and will travel with them until it dies. During the Adventure, it can be activated by any member of the party, who will become its owner for that Round (until it is activated again, in the subsequent Rounds, by the same or another Hero, who becomes the new owner).

Note: Companions shared among the Party or gained as NPCs during a Quest remain in play even if the owner Hero dies.

Even if a Companion is NOT a Hero and does not have its own Hero Turn, it is considered like a Hero for the following game aspects only:

• Its Stats and Conditions can be affected by Heroes' and Enemies' powers.
• It counts as a Hero for the Domination bonus (controlling or dominating its area) and Enemy Spawn Formulas (of Event cards and B.O.S.) ONLY if its Hero Count icon indicates 1 or more; if so, it counts as much as the indicated value. On the contrary, if the Hero Count is not present, or it is set as 0, the presence of this companion must be ignored any time the number of Heroes or Hero figures is counted for any reason.
• Enemies always count Companions as standard Heroes for targeting and attacks (even when their Hero Count is 0), except Minions and Master Enemies, who NEVER consider them as victims (but they still can wound them as indirect targets of AoE attacks/effects).
• When attacked, a Companion defends using its Defense values (if present), applying the Heroes' rules, and can use the Save roll of its owner when needed.

Once activated, a companion can only move using its movement points, use its innate power, and perform an attack with its weapon (if present).

Regardless of its source, a Companion cannot be activated more than once per Round and must follow these limitation rules:

• It can only be activated by the owner (regardless of distance and L.O.S.), during his Hero Turn. The activation cannot be interrupted to be resumed later in the same Turn.
• It does NOT interact with the Adventure, so it can't reveal Shadows/Loot/Treasures or trigger Waypoints/Events. For the same reason, it cannot perform Hero Actions or Free Actions, such as open a door, dash, bash a lock, evade, etc.
• It cannot equip items and cannot Focus its attack using the owner's Action.
• It cannot be healed by Heroes (only by its own powers or at the end of a Quest for Mercenaries) and cannot be unsummoned by its owner.

Note: Xantares the Illusionist can summon up to two very special Companions called Illusions. Thanks to their ethereal nature, they can't perform attacks, but they also cannot be directly targeted by Enemies; this means they can be killed only by indirect attacks and effects like AoE or similar. Since both Illusions are identical and both have just 1 HP, they share a single Companion card.

15. The Enemies

The Enemy faction represents the evil forces fought by the Heroes. Enemies vary in behaviors, weapons, and powers.

These variations are based on three color-coded Ranks.

• Green: lowest Rank, represents standard Enemy troops.
• Blue: advanced Rank, represents a more powerful veteran Enemy.
• Red: elite Rank, represents an elite Enemy. It is extremely dangerous.

Green and Blue Ranks include two copies of each Enemy.

In addition, Heroes may encounter unique, legendary foes of Master Rank, the highest Rank of the game, represented by Purple Enemies (section 17, page 59).

All Enemies are controlled by the game itself.

Each Enemy represents a combination of three elements:

1. An Enemy Scroll: a big card showing the Enemy behavior, weapons, and powers. For Green and Blue ranks, this card is shared between the two copies of the same Enemy.
2. An Enemy card: a small card related to a single copy of the Enemy. This card defines the HP, defense values, Enemy powers, rewards, and Soul Points.
3. A plastic figure: a colored figure matching the picture shown on Enemy card.

An Enemy is considered in play as long as it is alive and on map.

The Rank of an Enemy can be easily recognized on all these elements by looking at the color of the figure or card and the Wax Sigil icon.

Wax Sigils: Green, Blue, Red, Purple.

The Wax Sigils are also used to distinguish the two copies of the same Enemy that share the same Rank. In the Enemy cards, the first copy has 1 Wax Sigil, while the second copy has 2.

The second copy usually presents some minor aesthetic differences and is typically a copy with additional random Enemy Powers.

15.1 Enemy Scroll

Each Enemy Scroll card represents the behavior of an Enemy and has several major sections detailing the Enemy's movement, powers, and combat weapons.

The Enemy Scroll works as a behavior template shared for all copies of the same Enemy with the same Rank. It is used mainly during Enemy activation. All the scrolls are placed in the game area when the quest begins and remain there even when there are no Enemies in play, because what uniquely identifies each Enemy is the Enemy card, not these Scrolls.

Note: Some Scrolls are printed on both sides to represent different Enemies or fighting stances sharing the same figure.

Enemy Scroll Card:

1. Preferred Victim: identifies the Hero to be selected as a target (section 15.8, page 53).

2. Rank: defines the Rank of the Enemy – Green (lowest), Blue, Red, or Purple (highest).

3. Name and Race: specifies the Name and Race of the Enemy. Race is occasionally used to activate the Enemy or to provide a special power or benefit.

4. Fighting Style and Challenge Level: Enemy fighting style is used to determine its activation (section 15.7, page 51). The Challenge Level is represented by 1 to 4 small diamonds around the rune and is not used during the game. It allows Enemies to be swapped with new ones from future S&S expansions. If the Rank and the fighting style match, the Enemy may be swapped based on the desired Challenge Level: the more diamonds, the greater the challenge.

5. A.I.: details the movement and fighting rules of the Enemy. Each behavior rule may contain multiple sentences, including conditional (if/otherwise) ones. If an arrow icon is encountered while reading the behavior rule, apply the next sentence as part of the same activation.

6. Picture: identifies the Enemy figure.

7. Powers: details the powers of the Enemy. Read this section carefully, because it contains important information about the Enemy's strategy. The symbols are useful to quickly understand the nature of a power and how and when it can be triggered (sometimes by spending dice results):

   • Always active.
   • Related to the Enemy's movement.
   • Related to the Enemy's attacks.
   • Activated in response to Hero attacks or effects.
   • Related to A.I. behaviors.
   • Special power activated each time the icon appears on Encounter cards or powers from other Enemies.
   • Can also be triggered by A.I. behaviors.
   • Charge-based power. When the Enemy spawns, place the indicated number of charges on the Enemy card. This also represents the maximum number of charges for that Enemy. Each time the power is used, remove 1 charge. Enemies need to have at least 1 charge to use their charge-based power. Once empty, the power must be ignored until the Enemy has at least one charge. When an Enemy behavior uses the expression "If charged:" it means "if the Enemy has at least 1 charge to use its charge-based power." In the same way, the expression "If fully charged:" means "if the Enemy has reached its maximum amount of charges available."

   Unlike Heroes, Enemies do not have activation activities. Their powers are triggered every time possible, based on the power's description.

   Note: Due to the Golden Rules, an Enemy cannot gain the same bonus from the same power (that means exactly the same power name), regardless of whether it comes from the same or another Enemy. If the number related to the power name is different, such as Banding I and Banding II, they are considered two different powers and so their bonuses can stack.

8. Weapons: lists the primary and secondary weapons used by the Enemy. Each weapon is identified by its name and attack values (Red and Blue dice used during the HIT STAGE). It may also contain additional effects or powers (detailed in the Powers section of the card).

Note: When both icons are listed near one weapon name, that weapon counts as both primary and secondary.

15.2 Enemy Card

An Enemy card represents a single Enemy in play and has several sections detailing the Enemy's HP, defense values, resistances, weaknesses, and loot.

During the game, Enemy cards are drawn by a player when required by the Quest (usually with the terms Spawn or Place) or when a Shadow is revealed (section 15.4, page 50). Each Enemy card drawn is assigned to a player (see "Enemy Assignment" in section 15.6, page 51), then used in combination with the figure and Enemy Scroll to represent the Enemy on the battlefield.

Players who are assigned an Enemy card must read it, along with the matching Enemy Scroll card, to play the Enemy at its best ability.

When the game requires an Enemy activation, the controlling player must read the A.I. section of the Enemy Scroll and apply the first relevant behavior rule following the activation instruction (section 15.7, page 51).

Enemy Card:

1. Preferred Victim
2. Rank and Wax Sigil Identifiers
3. Name and Race
4. Fighting Style
5. Enemy Powers
6. Picture
7. Presence
8. Reaction Power
9. Weaknesses and Resistances
10. Magic Shields
11. Armor Value
12. Defense Value and Effect
13. Rewards Dropped
14. HP
15. Soul Points

Each time the Enemy is attacked or must defend, or whenever a Hero takes an action mentioned on the Enemy Scroll, the player must take into account the information on the Enemy card and Enemy Scroll.

1. Preferred Victim: As for the scroll, identifies the preferred victim to be selected as a target (section 15.8, page 53).
2. Rank: As for the scroll, defines the Rank of the Enemy: Green (lowest), Blue, Red, or Purple (highest). The number of Wax Sigils and the picture help to identify the Enemy figures when the two copies are present at the same time on the map.
3. Name and Race: As for the scroll, specifies the name and race of the Enemy.
4. Fighting Style: As for the scroll, lists the fighting style of the Enemy.
5. Enemy Powers: Each icon indicates an Enemy Power card that must be assigned to this Enemy when it comes into play.
6. Picture: Identifies the Enemy figure.
7. Presence: A quick reference to identify the "Figure Count" in terms of number of figures that this Enemy represents for controlling/dominating its area.
8. Reaction Power: When the reaction icon is present, it means this Enemy has one or more reaction powers. This is a reminder to check the matching Scroll card when an attack or an effect may affect this Enemy.
9. Weaknesses and Resistances: Most Enemies have weaknesses or resistances against particular damage types, which can modify the total number of Hits during Step 1 of the DEF STAGE (section 10, page 35). When any item or power associated with a damage type (Arcane, Blunt, Pierce, Slash) is used against an Enemy, it is considered an attack and must be compared against Enemy weaknesses and resistances.
10. Magic Shields: If present, during Step 2 of the DEF STAGE, first cancel Hits by removing one point of magic shield (discarding the token) for each Hit. Magic shields are refreshed during each Time Phase.
11. Armor Value: The armor value to be subtracted from the total Hits during Step 3 of the DEF STAGE, unless the Enemy is K.O.ed. (Ignored by Lethal Hits).
12. Defense Value: This Enemy rolls as many Blue Dice as the remaining Hits (up to the defense value indicated here) during Step 4 of the DEF STAGE. If no Blue Dice are shown, the Enemy does not roll for defense. (Ignored by Lethal Hits).
13. Rewards Dropped: Identifies any items left on the ground when this Enemy dies. It can be nothing, Crowns, Loot tokens, Treasure cards, or a mixture of them.
14. HP: Indicates the maximum number of Health Points (HP) this Enemy can suffer before dying. Red Enemies vary their total HP based on the number of Heroes, regardless of whether those Heroes are alive or in Ghost Soul Form.
15. Soul Points: When present, lists the number of Soul Points acquired by the Heroes when this Enemy dies.

15.3 Enemy Power Cards

Most Enemies spawn with additional, random powers! They are indicated by one or more icons located in the upper left section of the Enemy cards.

Enemies may also gain Enemy powers due to Shadow tokens (section 15.4, page 50) or by killing Heroes! Each time an Enemy with these powers enters play, draw cards from the Enemy powers deck based on the number of icons shown on the relevant Enemy card.

Enemy Power Card:

1. Type: Seen on standard Enemy powers, indicates when the power is triggered.
2. Name
3. Level
4. Effects
5. Level II version effects: improved version of the power (used by default during the ACT II game expansion); rotate the card 180° to read it.

15.3.1 Defeated Heroes And Companions

When any Green or Blue Rank Enemy with less than three assigned Enemy Power cards kills a Hero or a companion, it immediately gains a random Enemy Power card. The level of the power is based on the Quest ACT.

15.3.2 Multiple Enemy Power Cards

In case of multiple Power cards, any Enemy cannot have more than three Enemy Power cards assigned and no more than one card per Type. This means that as a maximum, an Enemy can obtain 1 Combat power, 1 Passive power, and 1 Reactive power. If needed, when assigning the second or third power, draw and discard the new Power card until they are all different types. Once drawn, place Power cards near the Enemy card; they become part of the Enemy until it dies.

Each Power card has two levels (found by rotating the card 180°), and the level of the power to use is based on the Quest ACT. For example, all Quests from Ancient Chronicles are ACT I. For this reason, Level I powers are used unless indicated differently.

Note: It is possible for an acquired power to have a similar or equal effect to a power already owned by the Enemy. In this case, simply apply the Enemy Scroll's effect first, and then apply the Enemy Power card effects.

When an Enemy dies, all its Enemy Power cards are discarded normally.

15.4 Shadows

During Quests, the Heroes will fight against Enemies lurking in Shadows. In game terms, these Enemies are represented by Shadow tokens.

Typically, the Quest Setup in the Storybook indicates which Shadow tokens are required for a given Quest and where they should be placed on the map.

Unless indicated, Shadow tokens don't move and do not block L.O.S.

Shadows Summary:

• Male/Female Citizen: Represents a male/female citizen, not an Enemy. Simply discard it. Sometimes it may also indicate a vendor or an ally, based on Quest special rules.
• Enemy: Represents an Enemy. Discard and replace it with the first Enemy from the Enemy deck.
• Champion: Represents an Enemy with an additional power. Discard and replace it with the first Enemy from the Enemy deck and immediately draw an Enemy Power card for it, even if the Enemy drawn already has its own Enemy Powers.
• 2 Enemies: Represents two Enemies. Discard and replace it with the first and second Enemies from the Enemy deck.
• Quest Enemy: Represents a Quest Enemy. Discard and replace it with the Enemy indicated by the Storybook or the Book of Secrets.
• Quest: Represents a key moment in the Quest. Discard and follow the rules indicated by the Storybook or the Book of Secrets.

A Shadow must be immediately revealed when it enters a Hero's L.O.S. Shadow revelation always has the highest priority in ANY game phase and must be done as soon as possible (even before Event resolution) for all Shadows in L.O.S. at the same time. When it occurs, the Active Hero must pause his current activity. For instance, when a Hero moves, the L.O.S. check must be done after every single movement, area by area.

If the Hero has visual contact with a Shadow, it is revealed immediately, and then the Hero resumes his movement.

When revealed, the Shadow token is flipped up to determine what happens, according to the Shadows Summary box.

During the setup of each Quest, a Shadow Reserve is created by shuffling the indicated number of Shadow tokens (face down), as specified by the Quest briefing. This will generate the pool of Shadows usable for the Quest, usually containing more Shadows than needed to set up the Quest.

The number of initial Shadows on the map is based on the number of Heroes. The number written over each Shadow in the Quest Setup indicates the minimum number of Heroes required to place it.

Note: When the Shadow Reserve is empty and a Shadow needs to be placed onto the map, replenish the reserve by shuffling all the Shadow tokens in the discard pile and placing them back in the reserve but excluding Quest and Quest Enemy shadow tokens.

15.5 Spawn Gates

In addition to Shadows, Enemies can enter the battlefield from Spawn Gates. Each Spawn Gate is located inside an area and can be either open or closed, based on which side is visible.

Spawn Gate Tokens: Closed Spawn Gates / Open Spawn Gates.

Each Quest provides instructions on if and when to change the state of a Spawn Gate.

In game terms, each time the game requires an Enemy to Spawn onto the map, the following steps must be done:

• The Active player rolls 1 Blue Die to determine the open Spawn Gate used, matching the die result with the Spawn Gate icon. If the symbol rolled is not present on the map OR the matching Spawn Gate is closed, reroll the die until it matches an existing open Spawn Gate.
• Draw the top Enemy card from the Enemy deck and assign it, together with the related Enemy Scroll, following the rules detailed in the next section.
• Place the Enemy figure in the Spawn Gate area.

In the rare case where there is no open Spawn Gate, no Enemy is spawned.

Note: Under some circumstances, Enemies can also be placed on the map in areas not containing Spawn Gates; these cases are directly managed by the Quest rules.

15.6 Enemy Assignment

Each time a new Enemy enters play, typically because of a revealed Shadow token or because the game requires the players to spawn or place it on the map, its Enemy card must be assigned to a player. That player becomes the controller for that particular Enemy.

For quick and easy reference, place the matching Enemy Scroll near the Enemy card.

To maintain game balance, Enemy card assignment follows these rules:

• The card is normally assigned to the Active player if he does not control an Enemy yet. Otherwise, the Enemy is assigned to the first player in clockwise order who does not have Enemy cards, or has fewer Enemy cards assigned than other players. In case of a tie, the Enemy card is assigned to the Active player.
• Exception: When a second copy of the same Enemy card is drawn (same name and Rank), assign it to the player who controls the first one. For example, a player who controls a Green Hobgremlin is assigned the second Green Hobgremlin when its card is drawn.

If all Enemy cards in the deck are assigned (all Enemy figures are in play at the same time), no more Enemies can spawn on the battlefield until at least one Enemy dies. Revealing a normal Enemy Shadow in these conditions has no effect except to discard the Shadow token.

Purple Master Enemies use slightly different rules detailed in the relevant section (see section 17, page 59).

Note: Sometimes the game may require spawning a particular Enemy that is part of the Enemy deck due to a Story Event effect or the summoning power of an Enemy. In these cases, the Active player must draw and discard Enemy cards from the deck (reshuffling the discard, if needed) until the matching Enemy is drawn.

15.7 Enemy Activation (Encounter Cards)

Enemies move and fight according to the drawn Encounter card.

Encounter Card:

1. Letter: identifies the Encounter card
2. Enemy Pictures: not related to card activation
3. Main Effect
4. Otherwise Effect

As the first step of each Enemy Turn, if there is at least one Enemy in play, the Active player draws the top card from the Encounter deck to determine which Enemies will activate.

This card may activate:

• All Enemies of the matching Rank (Green, Blue, Red, or Purple).
• All Enemies belonging to the matching fighting style (Dexterity, Faith, Magic, Strength, or a wildcard that includes all fighting styles).
• All Enemies with specific conditions, such as at 0 HP or wounded.
• "X" Enemies, where "X" may be "No Enemies" or up to 3 Enemies. When one of these cards is played, use the following rule: Select X Enemies to activate, starting with those controlled by the Active player. If the Active player does not control enough Enemies to satisfy the requirement, also select Enemies controlled by the next player (in clockwise order) who does control Enemies. Continue to select Enemies (an Enemy may only activate once) until the matching number detailed in the Encounter card is reached or there are no more Enemies to activate. After resolving the "Activate No Enemies" or the "Activate 3 Enemies" card, shuffle the Encounter deck with the discard pile and then discard the just resolved card to refresh the deck and make it more unpredictable.

All matching Enemies on the map must be activated sequentially, one by one, starting with the ones controlled by the Active player and following in clockwise order.

If any player controls more than one matching Enemy, the player must follow this activation priority order:

• Activate the highest Rank first, so Purple, then Red, then Blue, and then Green Enemies.
• If a tie still exists, the Active player decides which to activate.

Activating an Enemy means reading the relevant Enemy Scroll card and applying the proper A.I. behavior, as described in the next sections.

Most Encounter cards have a main effect and an otherwise effect. This second effect must be applied ONLY when the main effect cannot be even partially applied (there are no matching Enemies for the main effect at all). If neither the main effect nor the otherwise effect can be applied, simply discard the card without further effect.

Each Enemy behavior indicated by an Encounter card (including the otherwise condition), Enemy power, or Book of Secrets is considered an activation.

Activation Example: During the Enemy Turn, the Encounter card "H" is drawn. The first effect of this card is to activate 3 Enemies in play. In game are: 2 Green Hobgremlins (assigned to the Active player), a Green Elf Assassin, and a Blue Black Dwarf (both assigned to another player). The 2 Green Hobgremlins are activated first (the controlling player decides the order in which they act). The next Enemy activated will be the Blue Black Dwarf (Blue being higher ranking). The second part of the effect says to shuffle the Encounter deck with its discard pile, and then discard the "H" card (making it the first card in the discard pile).

Activation Example: During the Enemy Turn, Encounter card "E" is drawn. Since there are no Purple Enemies in play, only the second part of the card text is resolved (after "Otherwise…"), i.e., activate all highest-Rank Enemies. There are 1 Green Giant Spider and 2 Blue Tyrant Lizards in play. As Blue is a higher Rank than Green, the two Lizards are activated.

Note: When the game activates an Enemy in the middle of the Hero Turn (for instance, due to a Story Event effect), the Hero must pause his activities until the Enemy activation is completed, then his Turn continues normally.

When all Enemy/Minion activations are done or if there are no Enemies in play (so no Encounter card is drawn and all Minions in play were activated), the Enemy Turn ends.

15.8 Applying The Enemy A.I.

When activated, an Enemy will move and fight by following one of the behavior rules specified on its Enemy Scroll.

The behavior rules in the A.I. section of each Scroll card are based on the distance (measured in areas) between the Enemy and the Heroes, among whom a victim will be chosen among all possible targets. All behavior rules require L.O.S. and a legal movement path to that target.

The entire process takes place at the beginning of the Enemy activation and is based on 3 steps:

1. Choosing the behavior rule to apply

The controlling player must read the range of the first behavior rule of the Enemy Scroll. If there is at least 1 or more directly targetable Heroes in L.O.S. within the range indicated by the rule, then the victim selection (step 2) is triggered. Otherwise, the same check must be repeated for the next behavior rule(s) until a matching one is found.

When there is no appropriate behavior rule to apply, the player must apply the last rule on the scroll card. This rule still requires a legal movement path but ignores the L.O.S. requirement.

Note: Only one behavior rule is played in each activation (the top matching one), even if multiple rules apply.

2. Selecting the Victim

Once the behavior rule is chosen, a victim must be selected among all possible targets. Each Enemy has its own preferred victim, who takes precedence over other targets, which can be recognized by matching the Enemy's preferred victim icon, indicated by the symbol in the top left corner of Enemy and Enemy Scroll card, with Heroes in L.O.S. and within the range indicated by the behavior rule.

Preferred Victims:

• Most Wounded/Least Wounded: The Hero with the highest/lowest number of wounds, regardless of the number of his total or remaining HP.
• Closest: The closest Hero in terms of areas of distance, starting with 0.
• Richest: The Hero with the highest amount of Crowns in terms of value (not tokens).
• Fighting Style Based: The Hero with the matching Fighting Style.

In case of multiple eligible targets, when there is no preferred victim within the range, or in any other tie situation, the Enemy always uses these Priority Rules to select a victim, from the top down:

• The most wounded.
• The one with the fewest HP remaining.
• The closest in terms of areas of distance, starting with 0.

If there is still a tie between possible targets, the controlling player chooses.

3. Execute the sentences of the selected behavior

The chosen behavior rule must be executed entirely with the selected victim as a target, following all sentences that are part of it, even if some conditions change. Sentences are separated from each other by an arrow symbol and can also include conditional statements.

Selecting The Victim Example: A Giant Spider's Enemy Scroll reads: Range 0 — "If the victim is Slowed: use Entrap. → Attack with Bite. → Move away 1 area." Range 1-2 — "Attack with Web. → If the victim is Slowed and there are no other Heroes in its area: move to engage and use Entrap, otherwise: attack with Web." Last rule — "Move 1 area toward the closest Hero. Attack the closest Hero in L.O.S. within 2 areas with Web."

With the first behavior rule, this Enemy will check first if the victim (the least wounded Hero in its area first or another Hero in the same area, following the priority rules) is Slowed, if so, it will use its "Entrap" power to further damage the Hero. Regardless of the outcome of the first condition, the Giant Spider will attack the same Hero with Bite, and finally, the Giant Spider will move away 1 area.

If no Heroes are in the Giant Spider's area, the player must skip the first behavior rule (range 0) and read the second one (range 1-2). With this second behavior rule, the Giant Spider will attack its victim (the least wounded Hero within 2 areas range, following the priority rules) with Web. After that, IF the victim is Slowed AND engaged (no other Heroes/Companions in its area), then the Giant Spider will move to engage him (i.e. moves into the Hero's area) and use its Entrap power. OTHERWISE, if the victim has some other Heroes/Companions in his area, the Giant Spider will attack him again with Web.

Finally, if no Heroes are present (or in L.O.S.) within 2 areas, the controlling player must apply the last rule, moving this Enemy up to 1 area toward the closest Hero, regardless of L.O.S., and then attack with Web the closest Hero in L.O.S. within 2 areas, if applicable (using the priority rules if needed to break a tie).

Special considerations about the Enemies' A.I.

• Enemy activations can also be triggered by the Otherwise condition of the Encounter cards or directly by the Book of Secrets; in these cases, the behavior may be superseded by the provided instructions.
• When a Character is Hidden (such as may happen to Robin or the Elf Assassin), he cannot be targeted directly. This also includes the "targeting" of the closest Hero with the last-rule behavior for Enemies. So basically, a Hidden Character does not exist except for AoE or similar effects (like powers indicating "all Heroes/Enemies within 1 area...").
• The artificial intelligence is designed to cover every situation on the battlefield, but, in some rare instances, two or more options may be available to an Enemy. In these cases, the controlling player chooses.

Selecting The Victim Example: A Hobgremlin's Enemy Scroll reads: Range 0 — "Move to engage. → Attack with Stone Blade. If Enemies control its area: attack with Bite, otherwise: move away 1 area." Range 1-2 — "Move to engage. → Attack with Bite. If wounded: use Reborn." Last rule — "Move up to 2 areas toward the closest Hero. If engaged: attack with Bite."

With the first behavior rule, this Enemy will try to move to engage and then attack with Stone Blade the richest Hero in L.O.S. within 1 area (as a preferred victim in terms of Crowns, or the one identified with the priority rule). This means, even if there is a Hero in its area, that Hero can be ignored if the preferred victim is in L.O.S. and in an adjacent area. After the attack, IF the Enemy faction controls its area, the Hobgremlin will attack again its victim with Bite; OTHERWISE, it will move away 1 area.

If there are no Heroes in L.O.S. within 1 area, the player must skip the first behavior rule and read the second one. With this second behavior, the Hobgremlin will select its victim (the richest first or by priority) among all Heroes in L.O.S. within 2 areas. If a victim is found, this behavior is applied, and the Hobgremlin will move to engage and attack with Bite. If wounded, the Hobgremlin will also use its Reborn power, healing himself 1 HP for each Hero in the Quest and inflicting 1 HP to all Heroes in its area for each of its Enemy powers discarded, if any.

Finally, if no Heroes are present (or in L.O.S.) within 2 areas, the controlling player must apply the last rule, moving this Enemy up to 2 areas toward the closest Hero, regardless of L.O.S. Once done, if engaged, the Hobgremlin will attack with Bite, choosing as a victim its preferred first (the richest) or another Hero (chosen by priority rules).

Applying The Enemy A.I. Example: A Blue Tyrant Lizard is activated. Robin is at range 0, but he is Hidden, so he must be ignored. Artemis and Thorgren are both at range 1, so this behavior rule is the one to choose! Both Heroes have no wounds, so the preferred victim (most wounded) is not useful to select the victim, but the Priority Rules still apply. In fact, Xantares has fewer remaining HP than Thorgren, so the elf becomes the victim! As a first sentence, the Leap power is used to move to engage Xantares and force him to roll a Save! He fails, so he suffers K.O. The second conditional sentence is applied too because now Xantares is K.O.ed, and so the Bite power is used to attack the Hero with 2 Hits and Critical! Finally, Xantares is attacked with Lizard's Claws!

Applying The Enemy A.I. Example: A Green Elf Assassin (Hidden) is activated. Jeanne is in the Assassin's area, while Robin (wounded) and Xantares are 1 area away. The first Assassin behavior rule permits him to select his victim at a distance of up to 1 area (0 or 1 areas). Furthermore, his preferred victim is a Hero using the Dexterity fighting style, so Xantares becomes the victim! Therefore, the Assassin will move 1 area to engage Xantares (ignoring Jeanne and the wounded Robin) as per the first sentence. Even though he is Hidden, the second sentence cannot be applied because Xantares is not the only Hero in the area. With the third sentence, the Assassin attacks Xantares with the Scimitar (discarding the Hidden token as a result of the attack done). Finally, since the area is dominated by Heroes, the condition of the last sentence is true, forcing the Assassin to move away 2 areas from his current position (preferring the area without any Hindrances).

Note: Although Xantares is in an area with a difficult terrain Hindrance, the Enemy ignores it during both victim selection and movement, because that area represents the victim's area (see 4.2.2, page 13).

15.9 Enemy Movement

Enemy movement is completely controlled by the Enemy Scroll cards. Each card details relevant instructions on how and when to move an activated Enemy.

According to their specific behavior rules, Enemies by default move toward the victim Hero; however, there can be a few specific exceptions, such as away from him or, in rare cases, toward a particular game element (a Spawn Gate, Waypoint, etc.).

While moving, an Enemy always tries to reach the destination using the shortest legal movement path possible, preferring to use areas without terrain Hindrances. Enemies need a legal movement path to move, so they cannot walk across a blocking side; however, there are some differences between the movement of Enemies and Heroes.

When moving an Enemy, use the following guidelines:

• To apply an A.I. behavior rule, there must be L.O.S. and a legal movement path toward the victim. Only the last rule can be applied without L.O.S.
• When the rule indicates "Move to engage," it means move the Enemy to the victim's area, regardless of the distance.
• When the rule indicates "Move X areas," without specifying the destination, it means move X areas toward the victim.
• Enemies ignore all Difficult and Deadly terrain Hindrance effects.
• Unless necessary, Enemies always try to avoid areas with terrain Hindrances, preferring to move through areas without hindrances, unless there is no other possible movement path or when one of those areas is the destination area.
• Enemies may always move away from an area containing Heroes if required to do so by their A.I.; Heroes do not perform reaction attacks against those moving Enemies.
• Other Enemies and Heroes are not considered obstacles for a legal movement path and can be moved through.
• When the A.I. directs an Enemy to move toward the destination, and the Enemy is already there, it remains in its current position.
• When the A.I. says to "Move back" or "Move away," it means to move in the direction the Enemy came from or, when not possible, away from the closest Hero, preferring empty areas. Moving a number of areas away (for instance "Move away 2 areas") means the final area must be exactly that number of areas away from the original position. The controlling player chooses in case of multiple options.
• If, for any reason, the movement indicated by the chosen behavior rule cannot be applied, the Enemy remains in its current position.

15.9.1 Flying Enemies

Enemies with the flying ability can be recognized by the flying icon on the Enemy Scroll card. Exactly like flying Heroes, they can move through barrier Hindrances and ignore K.O. effects.

15.10 Enemy Combat

Each Enemy Scroll card also controls combat behavior for the relevant Enemy. When an A.I. rule says to attack, the player controlling the Enemy card starts combat using the indicated Enemy's weapon and powers against the chosen victim.

Enemy Attack Example: The Red Minotaur is activated. The first behavior rule (range 0) is applied, and the first conditional sentence too. Because there are 2 Heroes in its area, a wounded Thorgren and a full-health Jeanne… she becomes the victim, as she is the least wounded! The Bull Stomp power hits both Heroes with 3 Hits + Bash, wounding both Heroes and moving them 1 area away to Artemis' area. They both fail their Save, so now they are K.O.ed. The Rush power permits the Minotaur to move into the Heroes' new area and to empower his next attack with (+1 Hit -1 Shield) since he moved across 1 area. In response to this movement, Artemis uses her Guard power to make a Reaction attack that wounds the Enemy up to half of its total HP for the first time in the Quest… activating its Raging Bull power! The Minotaur gains the Fighter bonus. Following the last sentence of the behavior, the Enemy attacks Jeanne with the Battle Axe! (Even if Artemis is least wounded now, Jeanne was the victim, and this cannot change in the middle of the activation.) In addition to the standard values (2 Hits and 4 dice) the Minotaur adds the bonus gained from Rush power, the +1 Hit of the Fighter Enemy Power and, +1 Hit for the Domination bonus! (It is dominating its area because it counts as 3 figures, while Artemis counts as 1 and both Thorgren and Jeanne count as 0 since they are K.O.) The total attack values are: 4 Hits, 5 dice, -1 Shield, Break, +1 Hit, a devastating attack!

Enemy Attack Example: The Blue Elf Witch (charged) is activated. The first behavior rule cannot be applied because she is alone in her area. Xantares, Jeanne, and Thorgren are equidistant at range 1, so the second sentence is chosen and Thorgren becomes the victim because Magic is the preferred victim! She is charged and there are 2 Heroes in Thorgren's area, so the first sentence is applied… Fireball! Discarding her charge, the attack obtains 6 Hits, 2 specials, and 2 magic results. That means 1 magic result is spent to activate the AoE 0, also hitting Jeanne with the same results (each Hero will defend individually) and 1 magic result to trigger Blaze! A Fire 1 token is placed in the victim's area (inflicting Fire I to both Heroes) but also on the Elf Witch's area (healing her 1 HP now and 1 during the next Time Phase thanks to her Fire Demon power) and on Xantares' area (inflicting Fire I to the Illusionist and his illusion, which is immediately killed by the wound caused by Fire). The Elf Witch gains 1 Enemy Power card for killing the Illusion Companion (its Ethereal power won't help in this case).

The Combat System used for Enemy attacks follows the same rules explained before (section 10, page 34), with the following exceptions:

• Any attack performed against a Hero in the same area as the attacking Enemy is considered melee. All other attacks are considered ranged.
• If the weapon (when attacking) or armor (when defending) used has effects activated by dice results, the controlling player must activate them during the appropriate "Applying effects" step of the HIT STAGE or DEF STAGE by spending the results as usual.
• If it is possible for multiple effects to activate, the controlling player must spend results giving priority to the one requiring the most results to be activated, even if this is not the best choice for the Enemy. Afterward, he can activate other effects, if any, following the same guideline.
• When an Enemy behavior uses the words "attack them," it means the attack related to the phrase must be applied to all Heroes referenced in the A.I. behavior. For example: "If there are 2+ Heroes in the victim's area: attack them with Sword." This means that if there is at least one other Hero in the Victim's area, the Sword attack must be resolved against all Heroes in that area. When this happens, the Enemy attacker rolls the dice only once, while each defending Hero rolls separately but simultaneously.

Note: When an Enemy has only one weapon on its Enemy Scroll card, it is considered both primary and secondary.

15.11 Enemy Body Conditions

The effects of critical Hits, items, or powers may affect the characteristics and the capabilities of the Enemies by inflicting Body Conditions upon them.

Enemies use the same Body Conditions tokens as the Heroes. However, since Enemies are completely immune to Incapacitating Conditions, the blue side of the pyramid token is not used for them.

Since most of the effects share the same rules explained for the Heroes (section 11.7, page 40), this section will report only the exceptions regarding the Body Condition effects applied on the Enemies.

15.11.1 Enemy Health Conditions (Slow, Blind, Stun)

The three ranks of the Health Conditions are represented by the black side of the pyramid token:

• Slow (Rank I): A Slowed Enemy will select its behavior rule as usual during its activation, BUT it will perform only the first sentence of the rule. That means until the first arrow icon is met. Slowed Enemies are able to perform reaction attacks as usual.
• Blind (Rank II): A Blinded Enemy must roll a Blue Die before its activation. IF a Shield is rolled, it will proceed with the normal activation; OTHERWISE, the activation is wasted with no further effects. Blinded Enemies need to roll the Blue Die as listed above to perform reaction attacks.
• Stun (Rank III): A Stunned Enemy must skip its activation. This means that when an Encounter card or an equivalent activation effect activates that Enemy, it does nothing instead. Stunned Enemies are NOT able to perform reaction attacks.

To apply the inflicted Body Condition, simply place the Health Condition token on the Enemy card and then rotate it until the matching Rank is pointing upward relative to the card. This means that it is not possible for an Enemy to suffer two or more different Health Conditions at the same time; the highest-Rank Health Condition always replaces the lower one.

If an Enemy suffers a Health Condition in the middle of its activation (due to an attack triggered with a reaction power, for example), this Enemy completes its current behavior sentence and then continues the rest of its current activation based on the rules of the suffered condition, if possible.

Discard the Health Condition token if removed by an effect or at the end of the activation that involves the affected Enemy.

15.11.2 Enemy Special Conditions

Special Conditions follow the same rules detailed in the Hero section (section 11.7, page 40) with the following exceptions:

• Bleed: A Bleeding Enemy suffers 1 HP at the beginning of each of its activations.
• K.O.: A K.O.ed Enemy automatically removes this Condition at the beginning of its next activation.
• Poison: Unless removed as a Body Condition, a Poisoned Enemy keeps this Condition until death, since it does not have a Save.

15.12 Enemy Health And Health Points (HP)

The Heart Gem icon located at the center of the lower part of the Enemy card indicates Health Points (HP).

The number written inside represents the amount of damage this Enemy can withstand before being killed. This number can be changed by the effects of critical attacks, items, and powers.

To keep track of current health, when an Enemy is wounded, place the appropriate number of wound tokens on the Enemy card or near the figure.

If the total number of wounds equals or exceeds the Enemy's HP, it dies (section 15.12.1, page 58).

Red and Purple Enemies have their HP based on the number of Heroes undertaking the Quest (alive and ghost souls +1). This is represented by a double heart icon with the # of Heroes printed on the bottom: the left Heart indicates the HP of the Enemy when there are 2 or 3 Heroes, while the right one indicates the HP when there are 4 or 5 Heroes.

15.12.1 Enemy Death

If an Enemy's wounds equal its total HP, it dies. When this happens, the Heroes gain the amount of Soul Points indicated in the lower right corner of the Enemy card, if any.

In addition, some Enemies may drop their belongings (Rewards), if any, as indicated in the lower left corner of the Enemy card:

• Crowns: Place the indicated amount of Crowns on the map (using as few coin tokens as possible).
• Treasure: Draw the top card from the Treasure deck and place it (face down) on the map.
• Loot: During the setup of each Quest (and each time the pile is empty), gather all Loot tokens and shuffle them face down into a pile. Take the top Loot token from the pile and place it face down on the map. When any Hero reveals a Loot token, it must be immediately exchanged with the contents shown. This can consist of Crowns, Treasures, or Traps (draw the top card of the Trap deck and apply it starting from the area where the Loot was revealed.)
• Any combination of the above.

In all cases, belongings must be placed in the area where the Enemy died. Heroes not engaged in combat may reveal (by flipping them up) Loot tokens and Treasure cards in their area and then pick them up, together with any amount of Crowns in the same area, using a Free Action, as usual.

Once dead, the figure is removed from the map. Its Enemy and Power cards are discarded in the appropriate discard piles. Usually, defeated Red and Purple Enemies are removed from the Quest if indicated by the Special Quest Rules or by the Book of Secrets.

Note: Some Enemies may have powers triggered by their death.

16. Minions

Minions are tiny and terrible creatures that are part of the fauna of the realm.

Minion Scroll Cards:

1. Name/Species
2. Powers section
3. Picture
4. Defense values
5. Rewards left by defeating each Minion
6. HP of each Minion
7. Soul Points gained by defeating each Minion

In game terms, even if they are NOT Enemies, they follow most of the standard Enemy rules, with the following exceptions:

• All their characteristics are included in the Scroll cards; they don't have Enemy cards. This means they are not assigned to a single Hero; on the contrary, they must be accessible to all players.
• Each Scroll card is shared between all Minions of that species (i.e. with the same name), but each single Minion defends independently.
• They are NOT activated by Encounter cards; they act based on what is detailed on their Minion Scroll, usually during each Enemy Turn, even if there are no other Enemies in play (even when no Encounter cards are drawn).
• They are NOT considered Enemies by other Characters, except for the purposes of being targeted and defending.
• Minions in play can be represented by the tokens included in the game box or by figures (sold separately).

17. Master Enemies

Be prepared to challenge the Master Enemies!

Each of these deadly Enemies is represented by a large Purple figure and a big card merging all aspects normally covered by the Enemy Scroll and Enemy cards for a standard Enemy.

The Master Enemy card is printed on both sides to represent different key moments of the battle. Each side typically details a completely different A.I. for the Master Enemy and can sometimes be completely independent from the other side. Carefully read each side, because they may vary drastically.

This means fighting a Master Enemy is a more epic, dynamic, and fun game experience.

When a Master Enemy enters play, its Enemy card must be placed in a spot easily accessible to all players because the Master Enemy always activates as if it were assigned to the Active player, switching player after player.

This means, each time a player must activate an Enemy, he must always take into account the Master Enemy as if it were assigned to him.

Master Enemy Card (Front/Back):

1. Preferred Victim

2. Rank

3. Name and Race

4. Fighting Style and Challenge Level

5. A.I. (Behavior rules)

6. Picture

7. Powers

8. Weapons

9. Presence

10. Defensive Stats

11. Immunities

12. Preferred Victim: Identifies the Hero to be selected as a target. Master Enemies most frequently use the Menacing Hero system to identify their victim (section 17.1, page 60).

13. Rank: Identifies the Master Enemy Rank: Purple (the highest).

14. Name and Race: Identifies the Name and Race of the Enemy. Race is occasionally used to trigger special powers.

15. Fighting Style and Challenge Level: Most of the Master Enemies are a wildcard that includes all fighting styles.

16. A.I.: Identifies the behaviors that rule the movement and fighting of the Master Enemy.

17. Picture: Identifies the Master Enemy figure.

18. Powers: Identifies the powers of the Master Enemy. Read this section carefully. In addition to standard powers, it may contain important information about if, how, and when to flip the Master Enemy card.

19. Weapons: Identifies the primary and secondary weapons used by the Master Enemy.

20. Presence: A quick reference to identify the "weight" in terms of number of figures that this Enemy represents for controlling/dominating its area.

21. Defensive Stats: This includes all aspects normally covered by a standard Enemy card: Reaction power (identified by the reaction icon), Weaknesses and Resistances, Magic Shields, Armor Value, Defense Value (Blue Dice), HP, Rewards, and Soul Points left in case of death.

22. Immunities: Due to their body mass, strength, and innate abilities, Master Enemies with this icon are immune to Stun effects. In these cases, simply ignore a Stun when applied to the Master Enemy.

Note: The Elf Knight On Foot figure is a Kickstarter exclusive gift for all backers who have made this game possible. The retail edition uses the Mounted Elf Knight figure for both sides.

17.1 Fighting Master Enemies (Menacing Hero System)

Most Master Enemies have the power "Vengeful." They are able to tell at a glance who's the most dangerous Hero on the battlefield at the moment. This Hero is called the Menacing Hero and receives the Menace token. The Master Enemy's behavior is controlled by the Menacing Hero's position.

Menacing Hero: Victim Icon. Menace token: Front (Level I) / Back (Level II).

In game terms, when the Master Enemy has the "Vengeful" power, its A.I. section only takes the distance between it and the Menacing Hero (the Hero with the Menace token) into account, ignoring any other possible victim. The Menace token has two sides, Level I and Level II, to indicate the Hero's level of menace to the Master Enemy. During the course of a battle, Hero attacks and strategies will change the Master Enemy's threat perception, so the Menace token may pass from one Hero to another.

The Menacing Hero system follows these rules:

• When a Master Enemy enters play, the Menace token (Level I face up) is immediately assigned to the Active player, who becomes the Menacing Hero.
• If the Menacing Hero deals at least one wound to the Master Enemy with any attack, power, item, or controlled companion, the Menace token must be increased (flipped) to Level II.
• If any other Hero deals at least one wound to the Master Enemy with any attack, power, item, or controlled companion, the Menace token is decreased to Level I. If already at Level I, the Menace token is passed to the Hero who dealt the wound, Level I face up, and this Hero becomes the new Menacing Hero.
• When the "Taunt" power (or any equivalent power that changes the Enemy's victim) is used, immediately transfer the Menace token (Level ACT) to the power's owner, regardless of the current state.
• If the Menacing Hero dies or cannot be directly targeted due to an item or power effect, the Menace token immediately passes (with Menace Level ACT) to another Hero chosen by the controlling player, if possible. Otherwise, the token remains with the initial Hero, who cannot be attacked until he can be directly targeted again.
• If the current Master Enemy card side has the "Vengeful" power, the Master Enemy will always target the Menacing Hero as the victim. Other Heroes and companions may be damaged by its attacks and powers only when expressly indicated in the Master Enemy Scroll, for instance, "Attack the closest Hero in L.O.S."
• Like any standard Enemy, "targeting" occurs at the beginning of the Enemy activation. Once the A.I. behavior is selected, the Enemy will follow it, even if the conditions change. For example: the Menacing Hero is Jeanne, and the Master Enemy A.I. says, "Move to engage. Attack with Tail." During or after the Enemy's movement, another Hero deals damage using an item or power, becoming the new Menacing Hero. The Master Enemy will, nonetheless, attack Jeanne, because she was the Menacing Hero when its A.I. behavior was selected.
• Some Master Enemies use the Spell token to keep track of which Power effect is active at the moment. "Toss the token" means this: Take the token shown by the Scroll card (from the map, terminating its current effect, or from the game box) and throw it in the air to decide between two choices, depending on which side of the token is on top when it lands. Then, apply the related result based on the Master Enemy card.

Note: The Menace token must be used even if the Master Enemy does not have the "Vengeful" power on its current stage. This means the Menace token will continue to be passed between Heroes, even if the Master Enemy still targets the victim using the normal system.

Except as detailed in these sections, Master Enemies follow all standard rules and still count as a standard "Enemy" for all game effects (such as: powers, items, events, control, domination, Encounter cards, etc.)

Master Enemy Example: During an ACT I Quest, the Heroes battle the Elf Knight on his Tyrant mount, which is a Vengeful Master Enemy. Thorgren the Gladiator becomes the Menacing Hero by gaining the Menace token Level I, as he was the Active Hero when the Master Enemy entered play. Thorgren attacks and wounds the Master Enemy, so the Menace token increases from Level I to Level II. The Elf Knight acts and attacks Thorgren. Next, Artemis attacks and wounds the Elf Knight with a ranged attack from her Longbow, reducing the Menace token (still with Thorgren) from Level II to Level I. Then, Artemis spends 1 Action to attack again using the Darts, wounding the Master Enemy thanks to the Lethal effect and taking the Level I Menace token for herself. During the Enemy Turn, the Elf Knight targets Artemis, but Thorgren, before the activation, uses his Taunt Reaction Power and becomes the preferred victim yet again. The Heroic gladiator gets the Level I Menace token (because the Quest is ACT I), and the Master Enemy attacks him instead.

Credits

Design & Development: Gremlin Project, a board game design studio by Simone Romano & Nunzio Surace

Art Direction: Simone Romano

Art: Fabrizio Fiorentino, Alessio Cammardella, Alberto Dal Lago, Josie De Rosa, Andrea Guardino, Daniele Sorrentino

Figure Sculpting: Ludus Magnus Studio - Fernando Armentano; Beholder Studio - Alfonso Gonso; GT Studio - Fausto Gutierrez & Pedro Gutierrez

Graphic Layout: Nunzio Surace

Graphic Design: Adriano D'ippolito & Francesca Michelon (www.matrioskart.it)

Map Design: Mario Barbati (www.0onegames.com), Francesco Mattioli (Site Sheets)

Rules & Game Text: Simone Romano

Editing & Supervision: Roberto Di Meglio, Fabio Maiorana, Leonardi Rina, Fabrizio Rolla

English Editing: Kieran Turley, Byron Campbell, Marco Signore, Daniel U. Thibault, Conor Davitt, Louis Olivier Billette, Stuart Humpheryes, Michael Domrose, Lucien Nutlasil, Alvin Lo, JousterO7, Terry Cooper

Production: Roberto Di Meglio

Contributing Playtesters: Claudio Quaranta, Anna Patrone, Marco Brugnoni, Monica Menechini, Roberto P. Manzoni, Marzia "Mitis Feles" Ceccarelli, Massimiliano Cretara, Fabrizio Barberini, Carmine Laudiero, Antonio Faggioli, Alessio Mandelli, Roberto Sala, and... Sally & Sunny!

Special Thanks: Serena Galli, Alexandra Cristina Purcarea, Lucia Vergaglia, Silvio Torre, Andrea Fanhoni, Christoph Cianci, Stefano Castelli, Andrea Colletti, Luca Bernard, Diego Fonseca, Fernando Armentano, the "La Buzzicona" restaurant, "La Civetta sul Comò" board game pub, Data Care (www.datacare.it), and all our families and friends.

In the loving memory of my grandmother Agata Del Mastro (Simone Romano)

SWORD & SORCERY — www.sword-and-sorcery.com

A game created by Gremlin Project — www.gremlinproject.com

Published and distributed by Ares Games Srl, Via dei Metalmeccanici 16, 55041, Capezzano Pianore (LU), Italy — www.aresgames.eu