Sword & Sorcery: Ancient Chronicles – Northwind Tales
Sword & Sorcery: Ancient Chronicles – Northwind Tales Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Northwind Tales Rules
Northwind Tales introduces several new game rules and effects, all described in this Reference Sheet. All cards related to this Sword & Sorcery® expansion can be recognized by the Northwind Tales icon and must be shuffled into existing game decks {together with cards from previous expansions used in this campaign} when the Heroes attempt any Northwind Tales ACT II Quest. These cards may also be mixed into their respective decks when replaying any ACT I Quest—this is not recommended when playing the full campaign, as the experience may be unbalanced, but for Standalone Quests, it can create strange, funny, and memorable variations to the game experience!
Northwind Tales adds three new small decks of cards:
- Soul Weapons: The most rare and powerful weapons in the entire kingdom! These weapons have different attack values printed on each sides and can be recognized by the Soul Weapon tags in the lower-right corner.
- Omen: The ancient shamans of these lands are able to predict the future of an adventurer by reading the omens! Once assigned to a Hero, keep the Omen card on its front side {Question Mark background} until the game conditions indicated are met, then resolve the Omen by flipping it over {Skull background} and applying the effects detailed on the card.
- Fate: The forces of fate are wild and unpredictable in the land of ice... just like the force of nature! These four cards are used by the game in several instances: to simulate an athletic challenge using the Stamina Value, represented by the Stamina icon, or to interact with the world through the Cardinal Direction value, represented by the Cardinal Direction icon. Unless otherwise indicated, this deck must be reshuffled each time a Fate card is drawn or discarded.
These decks of cards must be kept aside and used only when the game instructs players to do so.
Note: Experienced players of S&S can focus their attention on the sections marked with the Immortal Souls icon. These sections contain variations from the Immortal Souls saga or new rules with respect to the Ancient Chronicles ruleset.
Types of Terrain
Ice Spike Hindrance {ignored by Enemies}
The Ice Spike Hindrance token represents the perpetually frozen perils of the Northern Lands. It can be part of the initial setup or placed on the map later, but in either case, each area cannot have more than 1 Ice Spike. The inactive side of the token {gray side, used only when directly indicated by the game} produces no effects but still counts as an Ice Spike token for the area limit. Each non-flying Hero moving into an area with an active Ice Spike token immediately suffers Slow and, unless Save: 1 HP. The effects also occur if an Ice Spike token is placed in an area already containing a Hero. The Ice Spike tokens on the map usually remain until the end of the Quest, unless a special game effect indicates otherwise.
Blind Side Hindrance Overlay
The Blind side is identified by a Blue map scroll token placed on the edge of an area on the map. It indicates non-flying heroes/enemies may not see the adjacent areas through that edge. The Blind side blocks the L.O.S. only in one direction, from the area where the Blue scroll is placed.
This means Characters from the opposite area are able to see across it.
- The Blind side does not block movement.
- Areas separated by a Blind side are still considered to be adjacent for movement.
Heroes Rules and Notes
Journey in the Northern Lands
Travelling in this wild realm is a grueling experience. For this reason, the Heroes' HP and Body Conditions are NOT healed automatically between Quests but are instead carried through Journeys and Adventures. This means that players must keep track of the Heroes' status between Quests because, for instance, a Body Condition suffered during the Journey or perhaps still active from the previous Quest will continue to be applied in the next Quest.
The Heroes will have to worry about healing their wounds and conditions by harnessing their powers {during the Adventures} or making use of the services of inns and healers scattered throughout the kingdom {during the Journey}.
If a Hero dies during the Journey, he loses 1 Soulrank as usual, but then he immediately resurrects {without spending Soul Points}, keeping all equipped and Inventory Items.
To keep track of all aspects of the campaign, download the mobile app or use the printable materials downloadable from the Sword & Sorcery website:
https://www.sword-and-sorcery.com
Soulrank Rules for Act II
The minimum Soulrank required for ACT II is III. No hero can go below it. This means heroes begin any ACT II Quest with a minimum Soulrank III and, even in case of death, the Soul Gem will never shift down to Soulrank II {i.e., a dead Soulrank III hero remains III and must pay 3 Soul Points to resurrect using a Shrine}.
The Soulrank icon is sometimes used in this expansion to indicate a scalable value. When it is used on a Hero's cards or sheet, it is always referencing his own Soulrank. However, when this icon is referenced by an Enemy card or sheet, it is equal to the highest Soulrank value among Heroes in play. It can be used, for example, to calculate the HP of an Enemy.
Note: When used for Enemies, the value is not "dynamic"; this means that once set, it does not vary to reflect any change(s) to the Heroes' Soulrank {regardless of whether it goes up or down}.
Fishing
One of the most common activities in these lands is fishing! The abundance of aquatic fauna allows you to fish in practically any body of water... if you have at least one Fishing Rod/Elven Triple Float, of course!
Fishing is a fun minigame that can be played in many Quests. If you have a Pole Item {available in any Emporium of the North} and you are in the right spot {Waypoint}, you can try to catch one of the different species of fish that live in the northern waters. Fishing consists of guessing the Cardinal Direction(s) indicated by a sequence of Fate cards, having available a certain number of attempts.
The indicated Fate cards must be drawn face down, one at a time, with the Hero needing to correctly guess each card before drawing the next. The fisherman Hero guesses a direction and reveals the card; if the revealed card matches the Hero's guess, it is left on the table {thus excluding it from possible future directions of the sequence}, and the next card is drawn; otherwise, it is shuffled immediately back into the Fate deck. The game continues until the Hero has correctly guessed the number of cards indicated by the Fish Quest card or the fisherman runs out of attempts. If caught, the fish will end up in the Hero's Inventory, otherwise it will swim free. A caught fish can be stored raw to be sold at the Frostgate market or cooked and eaten for unique benefits. Each fish {represented by five different Quest cards} indicates how many Fate cards the Hero must guess correctly and how many overall attemps the Hero has.
Legendary Powers
Legendary Powers are incredible feats acquired as standard {Powers icon} Powers {together with an additional Talent} when a hero reaches Soulrank VII. Legendary Powers can be easily identified by the Legendary icon in place of the cooldown icons. These powers can be used only once per Quest. When used, leave the card face up and rotate it upside down. This means a Legendary Power never flips and is not affected by the cooldown system.
Legendary Talents
When a Hero reaches Soulrank VII, together with a Legendary Power, he also gets an additional Talent. This new Talent can be chosen from the ones available in previous S&S expansions or one of the new Soulrank VII Talents included in this expansion. While there are 2 generic Talents, most of the new ones are related to the four Fighting Styles: {Fighting Style icons}. This means only Heroes with at least one matching fighting style can choose them.
Note: No Hero can have more than 1 Soulrank VII Talent, even using Items or Building services.
Werebeast Form
During Quests, a Hero may acquire a cursed power enabling him to change his Human Form into something more wild and deadly... The Werebeast!
When acquired, the Curse of the Beast Quest card is considered a {Curse icon} and does not count against the Soul Gem limit. When the Hero assumes Werebeast Form, replace the Hero's figure on the map with the gray Werebeast figure, then take the Werebeast Sheet and follow the instructions detailed on its back side.
Twin Weapons
Twin Weapons are pairs of weapons created to work alone but that can express their best qualities if both of them are used together at the same time. In game terms, when a Hero acquires a Weapon with the "Twin" trait, he must immediately acquire the matching "Twin" card from the Quest deck. The acquired Twin Weapon must be individually treated as standard Weapon cards; however, they will provide a strong advantage if wielded together.
If a Hero with both copies of a Twin Weapon equipped {as Sword and Sword icons} performs an attack with his Sword icon, he must also add the stats {Hit Dice, Defense and Critical icons} and effects {mandatory and optional} of his Sword icon to the attack as if they were a single weapon. This means that both Twin Weapons work together to create a single attack.
Note: Performing an attack with the Twin does not trigger this advantage.
Soul Weapons
Soul Weapons have their own deck, and Heroes can only acquire them when they are explicitly listed as rewards in the Storybook or B.o.S. A hero wielding one of these is destined to become a legend, but he also risks being consumed by it! In game terms, any Soul Weapon card can be used and equipped as a normal weapon using its front side {with the Soul Weapon icon}. But in addition, the owner, during his Hero Turn, can decide to spend the required Soul Points indicated to the left of the Soul Weapon icon to flip the card to its enhanced side. The Soul Weapon remains in its enhanced version until the next Time Phase or if the weapon is no longer present in the Hero's weapon slot, either because it was dropped or placed in Inventory. If this happens, it immediately returns to the front side. When a Hero attacks with a Soul Weapon he must choose which of the two damage types to applies.
Note: When playing standalone Quests reporting Soul Weapons as starting treasure values, they must be randomly drawn, regardless of the fighting styles currently available to the Party.
Incapacitating Conditions
Health Conditions {Blue Side Pyramid token. Applied to Heroes only - Discard it at the end of the Hero Turn}
Rank I - Immobilize An Immobilized Hero cannot perform his {boot icon} activity or use any other item or power to execute a voluntary movement. An Immobilized Hero can still use a Dash to stand up after a "K.O."
Rank II - Exhausted An Exhausted Hero cannot perform {yellow activity icon} activities.
Rank III - Dazed A Dazed Hero cannot perform {red fist activity icon} activities. Attacks originating from items and powers with different activation activities are still allowed.
Enemies Rules and Notes
Airborne
When an Enemy goes Airborne, place the related token on its Enemy card. While in this state, it can only be targeted and/or damaged by ranged attacks or effects. Flying Heroes ignore this limitation.
Necrosis Rank I/II
A terrifying new Special Body Condition that may be inflicted on Heroes and Companions by Enemies and Traps. When a Character suffers a Necrosis I or II effect, he must immediately place the Necrosis token, using the matching Rank side, on his Character card. While present on a card, Necrosis inflicts on that Character all the penalties indicated by the related token side. If the HP penalty of the Necrosis brings the wounds of a Character to its HP total, that Character dies immediately.
In each Time Phase, discard any Necrosis I tokens, and then flip any Necrosis II tokens to the Necrosis I side. This means that a Necrosis II effect lasts for two Rounds, while Necrosis I affects a Hero only in the current Round. Necrosis effects do not stack; a greater Necrosis Rank replaces a lower one {i.e., increasing the duration to the next Round}, while a second Necrosis effect of the same Rank already suffered inflicts 1 HP instead.
Enemies' Power Tokens
This expansion includes several tokens to keep track of the various effects of the new Enemy powers: the increased Enemy presence of the Dryads using their Wild Growth power, Wotan's legendary lance Gungnir, the Illusory Images granted by an {card-type icon} card, and the Heroes' lost Soulrank due to the Dark Wilting power of Nidhoggr.