Taiwan Monsters Brawl Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Components Description
• Set-Up
• Playing the Game
• Goal of the Game
• Game Phases
  • A: Resource Phase
  • B: Challenge Phase
    • B-1 Steps of a Challenge
    • B-2 Monster Board Operation Rules
    • B-3 Conclude the Challenge
    • Example 1
    • Example 2
  • C: Clean-Up Phase
  • D: Starting Player Change Phase
• Game End
• Optional Rules
• Spell Card Descriptions

Components

1. 8 Monster Special Ability Boards
2. 8 Monster Boards
3. 70 Rune of Elements Tokens (14 runes per set, 5 sets in total)
4. 48 Chi of Monster Tokens
5. 39 Spell Cards
6. 28 Territory Cards
7. 4 Grey Challenge Dice, 3 Black Challenge Dice, and 3 Red Challenge Dice
8. 1 Rune Die
9. 1 Score Board
10. 16 Player Markers (2 markers per set, 1 large and 1 small)
11. 1 First Player Card
12. 8 Game Summary Cards
13. 1 Rulebook

Game Components Description

1. Monster Special Ability Board. Each player takes a Monster Special Ability Board and a Monster Board, being sure to match the letter in the bottom-left corner and top-left corner of the boards.

The Starting Resources on the Special Ability Board depicts the initial resources a player can begin the game with. There are two options available, a player must select one option.

A Monster Ultimate Power is only activated by an Ultimate Power Rune. (Unless a Spell Card says otherwise.)

2. Monster Board. There are several types of cells on a Monster Board grid. Once a rune is placed on an available cell, it cannot be moved.

• Blank Cell: Any type of rune can be placed in a blank cell.
• Empty Space: This cell represents a space that cannot have a rune token placed on it.
• Designated Rune Cell: Only the rune matching the pattern in the cell can be placed there.
• Die Cell: Upon activation, a player receives one die matching the type shown in the cell. This die must be included immediately in the dice roll. (A player needn't place a Rune Token on Die Cells, as they are already represented by the Die image.)
• Extra Dice Points Cell: The number shown in the cell is the number of extra Dice Points a player can add to the sum of Challenge Dice Points after a roll. These extra points have to be included immediately in the dice roll. They cannot be saved for a later time. The final Dice Point total is this number plus all the points on the challenge dice rolled. (A player needn't place a Rune Token on Extra Dice Points Cells, as they are already represented by the Dice Points.)

3. Rune of Elements Tokens. Each rune token has a front and back side. The colored side on the front is an unactivated rune; the back side is an activated rune (exhausted rune).

• Ultimate Power Rune: The Ultimate Power described on the Monster Special Ability Board can be deployed after activation. Only one can be activated at a time.
• Chi of Monster Rune: The player gets 2 Chi of Monster tokens after activation.
• Spell Rune: Draw 1 card from the top of the Spell Card Deck after activation.
• Upgrade Rune: After activation, the player can upgrade one of the Challenge Dice before rolling. (Upgrade: grey die to black die, or black die to red die; a red die cannot be further upgraded.) When there are no more dice of a certain color, the player must choose another color to upgrade. If no dice of any color is available, then the upgrade is exhausted but not applied.
• Reroll Rune: The player can reroll all the Challenge Dice once after activating this rune. The player can choose the sum of the higher total to be used.

4. Chi of Monster token. Chi of Monster is the energy of a monster. The player has to spend Chi of Monster token(s) in order to play the Spell Cards and activate the Spell. There is no upper limit to the number of Chi of Monster tokens a player can have.

5. Spell Card. A Spell Card cannot be played without spending Chi of Monster token(s), unless the specified number of Chi required is 0. Description of the Spell Card: Please see the Page 21 for further explanation. Most Spell Cards can be played at any time. There is no upper limit to the number of Spell Cards a player can have. Once you play and resolve the Spell Card effect, place it in the discard pile.

6. Territory Card. A Territory Card shows the number of rune or Chi of Monster tokens the player obtains during the Resource Phase. It also shows the number of Victory Points(VP) won during the Challenge Phase.

7. Challenge Dice. The numbers on the die represent points contributed towards a Challenge Roll. The miss icon is a "miss" and is considered a zero for counting purposes. (Dice Point symbol = 1 Dice Point; miss symbol = Miss.)

The direction of an upgrade is: grey die → black die → red die. (When there aren't enough dice to upgrade, the player must take a lower level die instead.)

8. Rune Die. When the game calls for taking a random rune, the Rune Die is rolled to determine which rune to take.

9. Score Board. The numbers on the Score Board track the Victory Points of the players. At the start of the game, place all Small Player Markers on the largest space with the 0 on it. During play, players' markers will move forward or backward to track Victory Points. If a player has more than 15 Victory Points, flip the Small Player Marker over to show +15 on the board.

10. Player Markers (two markers per set, one large and one small). The large Player Marker and the small Player Marker each have a front and a back. The small marker's back shows +15.

11. First Player Card. Each round starts with the player with the First Player Card. At the end of each round, the First Player Card will be passed clockwise to the next player.

Set-Up

Play Area Set-Up

1. Place the Challenge Dice into three groups on the table according to their colors along with the Rune Die. There are 4 Grey Challenge Dice, 3 Black Dice and 3 Red Dice.
2. Put the Runes of Elements next to the Challenge Dice, in 5 piles.
3. Shuffle the Territory Cards and then place them face down on the table.
4. Shuffle the Spell Cards and place them face down on the table.
5. Put the Score Board on the table and place the Chi of Monster tokens in the center area on the board.

Player Set-Up

6. Each player chooses a board among the Monster Special Ability Boards which decides the monster to play as. Take the Monster Board corresponding to the monster and place the Monster Special Ability Board next to the Monster Board in front of the player.
7. Each player takes one large and one small Player Marker. Put the small one at the 0 position on the Score Board. Put the large one next to their own Monster Board.
8. Each player chooses from option A or B on the Monster Special Ability Board and receives the Runes of Elements or Chi of Monster tokens. The players must then place the runes, colored-side-up, into the appropriate cells on the Monster Board. Place Chi of Monster tokens next to the Monster Board if any.
9. Each player draws a card from the top of the Spell Card Deck. Keep it secret from the other players.
10. The player that saw a monster movie most recently starts the game. Place the First Player Card in front of this player.

Playing the Game

2 Players. Sudden death match for a two-player game. The players take turns to be the First Player. The player that first reaches 15 or more Victory Points wins the game.

3-4 Players. A game of Taiwan Monsters Brawl is played over a number of rounds equal to the number of players. Each round starts with a different first player. Each player must have his/her turn as a first player once. The players take turns as first player in a clockwise direction. After the last player has his/her first player turn, the game ends before a new first player is created.

Goal of the Game

The game takes place over a pre-determined number of rounds. Each player uses a Taiwan Monster and challenges other players' monsters to combat. The goal is to rob other monsters of their territories by winning duel and obtaining Victory Points. The monster with the most Victory Points will become the ultimate monster in Taiwan Monsters Brawl.

Game Phases

There are 4 phases to each round: A - B - C - D.

A: Resource Phase

First Player Action: Reveal Territory Cards. Player Action 1: Place the Player Marker. Player Action 2: Obtain Resources. First Player Action: Discard the Unpicked Territory Card.

The First Player reveals a number of Territory Cards equal to the number of players plus one. Set those cards in the center of the table.

Starting with the First Player, each player takes turns clockwise to do the following actions (1, 2):

1. Place the Player Marker on the Territory Card of the player's choice.
2. Take the runes specified on the card and place them colored-side-up into the appropriate cell(s), either a Designated Rune Cell or a Blank Cell, on the Monster Board. Place Chi of Monster tokens next to the Monster Board if any.

Only one Player Marker is allowed on a Territory Card. The runes obtained in this phase can be discarded in exchange for 1 Chi of Monster token instead of being placed on the Monster Board. For a trade ratio of 1:1.

The First Player discards the last unpicked Territory Card.

B: Challenge Phase

During this phase, each player can challenge one monster in another territory to a duel. Victory Points can be won through the duels. The Challenge Phase starts with the First Player of this round. Players take turns clockwise to become the Challenger and perform an action:

Player Actions. When a player becomes the Challenger, choose one of the following actions.

Challenger occupies a Territory Card:

• Challenge: Issue challenge to a monster occupying a Territory Card. Please refer to the Steps of a Challenge (see B-1).
• Pass: The player can instead take a rune of his or her choice and place it on the Monster Board. A passing player can still be challenged by other players.

Challenger does not occupy a Territory Card:

If a player does not have an occupied Territory Card due to a successful challenge by another player, the player cannot issue a challenge or pass. Instead the player has to choose between:

• Draw a Spell Card, or
• Take 2 runes decided by rolling the Rune Die twice, placing them onto the Monster Board immediately.

B-1 Steps of a Challenge

1. The Challenger (acts first)
   1. Take three Challenge Dice for the monster.
   2. (Optional Step) Activate the Colored-Side-Up Runes, the Die Cells and the Extra Dice Points Cells that form a line on the Monster Board (see B-2).
   3. The Challenger rolls the dice. Tally the sum of the Dice Points plus the extra Dice Points from the activated line on the Monster Board. (A)
2. The Defender (Flip the Player Marker to the opposite side)
   1. The Defender takes three Challenge Dice.
   2. (Optional Step) Activate the Colored-Side-Up Runes, the Die Cells and the Extra Dice Points Cells that form a line on the Monster Board (see B-2).
   3. The Defender rolls the dice. Tally the sum of the Dice Points plus the extra Dice Points from the activated line on the Monster Board. (B)
3. Conclude the Challenge: A vs. B (see B-3).

B-2 Monster Board Operation Rules

When there are valid lines in the grid, those lines can be activated. You don't have to activate the line the moment when it becomes valid. It can be activated later in the game.

The rules for a valid line:

• A valid line can be vertical or horizontal. However diagonal lines are invalid.
• All the cells that are Blank Cells or Designated Rune Cells in the same row or the same column must have the correct rune token in each cell.
• The cells in the valid line have to be continuous.
• At least two cells for one line.
• At least one colored-side-up rune in the line.

Invalid line examples:

• A diagonal line is invalid.
• Empty space is not allowed in a valid line.
• At least one colored-side-up rune in the line. The cells in the valid line have to be continuous.

To activate a valid line: Announce that you are going to activate a valid line, and then:

1. Activate all the Extra Dice Point Cell(s) and Die Cell(s) in the line.
2. Activate the colored-side-up runes in the line.

After the announcement, activate all the Die Cell(s) and Extra Dice Points Cell(s) to obtain dice and extra Dice Points for a challenge. The newly acquired dice have to be rolled with the Challenge Dice immediately. They cannot be saved for later use.

Turn the colored-side-up runes over. Perform the rune powers in an order of the player's choosing. Only the power of the Reroll Rune is performed after a dice roll. You can choose not to reroll the dice but the rune token still has to be turned over.

Figure: "Activate line A to obtain (see p.17)." Die Cell and Extra Dice Points Cell; Perform the Rune Power; The Upgrade Rune is exhausted so it cannot be activated.

B-3 Conclude the Challenge

1. Compare the results of A and B from step 1 and step 2. The one with the higher number wins. Same numbers end up a tie.

   • The Challenger tallies the sum of the Dice Points and the Extra Dice Points. (A)
   • The Defender tallies the sum of the Dice Points and the Extra Dice Points. (B)

2. If the Challenger wins, the player receives the Victory Points specified on the Territory Card of the Defender. The Defender discards the Territory Card and takes back their Player Marker.

   If the Defender is currently in first place in Victory Points (even if it's a tie with another player), the Challenger receives a bonus number of Victory Points in addition to the Territory Card's value. The bonus is the difference in score between A and B, to a maximum of 4 points. If the Challenger and Defender both lead the game in Victory Points, then the difference won't be added. (See Example 1.)

   If the Challenger Loses, the Challenger moves his/her Player Marker to be half outside the Territory Card to show that the player is severely injured. While the Player Marker remains in that position, all the following dice rolls have to be subtract 1 point from the sum. Flip the Defender's Player Marker back to the front side. Both the Challenger and the Defender keep their Territory Cards. (See Example 2.)

Example 1

Erich (Mô-sîn-á in Yellow Raincoats) takes action as the Challenger and challenges Claudia (Two Suns) to a duel. Claudia is currently leading the game in Victory Points.

Erich activates a valid line on his Monster Board and rolls the Challenge Dice. The resulted point count is 2. He rerolls once after activating the Reroll Rune. The new point total is 3. Erich takes the higher count of 3 as the final result. Erich spends 3 Chi of Monster tokens to play the Spell Card "Mountain Troll" therefore obtaining another point. Erich has 4 points in total as a result.

Claudia is now the Defender. She plays the Spell Card "Eye of the Monster" (granting the player a free Victory Point when the player becomes a defender) and gains one Victory Point immediately. Then she activates the valid line on her Monster Board and rolls the dice. Claudia's point count is 2.

• The Challenger (Erich): 3 Challenge Dice, Die Cells, Perform Rune Powers, Spell Card. Result: 4 Dice Points.
• The Defender (Claudia): Spell Card, 3 Challenge Dice, Die Cell and Extra Dice Point Cell, Perform Rune Powers. Result: 2 Dice Points.

Erich has a higher point count so he wins the challange. Erich wins 3 Victory Points from the Territory Card of Claudia's. Erich also wins 2 extra Victory Points from the difference of their previous Victory Point count (4-2=2) because Claudia was the orignal leader in Victory Points. Claudia retrieves her Player Marker on the Territory Card and discards the card. Erich gains 5 Victory Points in total in this challenge.

Example 2

Erich becomes the Challenger and loses the duel with Claudia. He moves his Player Marker to the edge of Territory Card so half of it remains outside of the card to show that he is severely injured. (die rolls -1)

The next in turn is Sophia (Sai-pak-hōo). Sophia decides to challenge Erich. Her Challenge Dice Roll total is 3 and Erich's is 4. Because Erich lost the last challenge and is currently severely injured, Erich's count is diminished by 1 and becomes 3.

Sophia's and Erich's totals are the same so they tie in this challenge. Both of them remain on their Territories but no one scored Victory Points.

• The Challenger (Sophia): 3 Dice Points.
• The Defender (Erich): 4 Dice Points minus 1 (severely injured) = 3 Dice Points.

C: Clean-Up Phase

All players move on to the Clean-Up Phase after each has their turn in the Challenge Phase.

Player Actions

1. The players who still have their Player Markers on the Territory Cards wins the Victory Points for the card. Each player discards the Territory Cards and retrives their Player Marker. (Sai-pak-hōo receives 2 VPs. Although Mô-sîn-á in Yellow Raincoats is injured, he still receives 3 VPs.)
2. After these actions, each player has the option to turn the runes that are not Ultimate Power Runes back to colored-side-up at the cost of 3 Chi of Monster each.
3. Finally, discard all the back-side-up runes and leave only the colored-side-up runes on the board.

D: Starting Player Change Phase

This round of the game is thus concluded. The First Player Card is passed clockwise to the next player. The next round starts with the new first player starting from the Resource Phase again. (Go to A: Resource Phase.)

Game End

• 3-4 Players: After each player has a turn as the first player and the last round has ended, the game ends. No cards can be further played. The player with the most Victory Points wins the game and becomes the champion of Taiwan Monsters Brawl.
• 2 Players: The first player to score 15 Victory Points wins the game immediately.
• Tie: If there is a tie, compare the number of unused colored-side-up runes on the Monster Board. Each colored-side-up rune counts as 1 Victory Point. If there's a tie again, every 3 Chi of Monster tokens counts as 1 Victory Point. If there's still a tie, then just play one more game!

Optional Rules

Select from the following variant rules to add to the game to the players' liking.

• For a game with 3-4 players, the players can choose to do two sets of rounds.
• For drawing Spell Cards, a player can draw two cards and then choose one to keep and the other one to discard.
• At the end of any Clean-Up Phase, if the difference in Victory Points for players ranking 1st and 2nd is 10 points or higher, the game ends immediately.

Spell Card Descriptions

• Tornado: A player of your choice must discard 2 Chi of Monster tokens.
• Tsunami: Each of the other players has to discard 1 Spell Card from their hand.
• Wildfire: Choose a colored-side-up rune on another player's Monster Board to be discarded.
• Aegis: A player of your choice loses 1 Dice Point for the current challenge dice roll.
• Volcanic Eruption: A player of your choice loses 1 Victory Point immediately. (Must play before the game ends.)
• Explosion: A player of your choice loses 2 Victory Points immediately. (Must play before the game ends.)
• Thunder Beast: You may reroll all the missed Challenge Dice for this challange.
• Chi Replenishment: Receive 3 Chi of Monster tokens immediately.
• Eye of the Monster: Gain 1 Victory Point immediately if someone attacks you.
• Spell: You may roll the Rune Die once and perform that rune power immediately.
• Tempest: You may refresh an exhausted rune token of your choice during the Clean-Up Phase.
• Treasure Sack: Obtain 2 random rune tokens (roll the Rune Die twice). If you can't place the rune on your Monster Board, you can discard it for 1 Chi of Monster token instead.

The Appendix (Monster introductions, printed pages 12-13) is flavour fiction and is not transcribed. The printed rules end with the Spell Card Descriptions above.