The Witcher: Old World – Kickstarter Expansion Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Wild Hunt Expansion
  • Components
  • Game Setup
• Wild Hunt Expansion – Gameplay
  • The Wild Hunt
  • The Goal of the Game
  • Round Tracking Board
  • Wild Hunt and Hounds Strengthen Monsters
  • Wild Hunt Shields
  • Turn Sequence
    • Phase I
  • Exchange Action – two or more Witcher meet
  • Location Actions – Dice Poker
  • Phase II
  • Phase III
  • Phase IV
• Wild Hunt Expansion – Fighting
  • Fighting Hounds
• Wild Hunt Expansion – Results and Fight Preparation
  • Result
• Wild Hunt Fight
  • Wild Hunt Fight Preparation
  • Fight Structure
  • Player's Fight Turn
  • Wild Hunt Fight Turn
  • Being Knocked-Out
  • Winning / Losing
• Wild Hunt Expansion – Wild Hunt Help Card
• Monster Trail Expansion
  • Components
  • Game Modes
  • Manticore School Witcher
  • Troll Monster
  • Mutagen Cards
  • Bomb Cards
  • Advanced Action Cards
  • Witcher Unique Action Cards
• Monster Trail Expansion – Monster Weakness and Special Attacks
  • Game Setup
  • Gameplay
    • Weakness Tokens
• Monster Trail Expansion – Other Expansions
• Stretch Goal Expansions: Ciri, Lost Mount and Adventure Pack
  • Components
  • Ciri Expansion
  • Lost Mount Expansion
  • Adventure Pack Expansion

Wild Hunt Expansion

Components

• 4 Wild Hunt members: Nithral, Imlerith, Caranthir, Eredin
• 6 Hounds of the Wild Hunt miniatures – 2 in each Level (I, II, and III)
• 6 Hound of the Wild Hunt tokens – 2 in each Level (I, II, and III)
• 2 Hound cards – two-sided, one side for each Player count (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5)
• 4 Wild Hunt cards – 1 per each Wild Hunt member
• 16 Special Attack cards – 4 per each Wild Hunt member
• 35 Wild Hunt Exploration cards – 20 Stage I and 15 Stage II cards
• 35 Wild Hunt Event cards
• 5 Wild Hunt Help cards
• 3 double-sided Round Tracking boards and Tracking token
• 12 Quest tokens
• 20 Wild Hunt Shield tokens (values 1, 5, 10, or 20)
• 1 Charge/Bite token

The Hound minature: Even though the miniatures present 1, 2 or 3 Hounds on each – for the entirety of this rulebook, a single miniature is referred to as: the Hound. (The number of Hounds presented on the miniature represents the Hound's level.)

Game Setup

Game setup is similar to the standard game setup, with following changes.

Setup changes

1. Players don't keep track of their Trophies as collecting them is not a victory condition.
   • Important: Players don't suffer Fatigue after gaining a Trophy.
2. Players use Wild Hunt help cards instead of the standard help cards.
3. Players place Quest tokens anywhere near the Main Board.
4. Take the Round Tracking board with a symbol matching the number of Players.
   • a. Select one Player to manage the Round Tracking Board.
   • b. Keep that Board near that Player.
   • c. The Tracking token is placed on the "1" spot in the top-left corner.
5. Standard Exploration and Event cards are not used. Instead, use the Wild Hunt Exploration and Event cards:
   • a. Place the Wild Hunt Event cards face-down without shuffling, on a designated spot on the Board. The topmost card should have a number 1 on its back.
   • b. Create the Exploration deck for that game: place 3 face-down cards from the "Stage II" and 4 face-down cards from the "Stage I" on top of them.
     • 4- or 5-Player game exception: place 3 cards from the "Stage I" instead of 4.
   • c. Keep the Wild Hunt Exploration deck (consisting of 6 or 7 cards, depending on the number of Players) where the regular Exploration cards are kept in a standard game.
6. A Wild Hunt Movement pool is created. (Skip that Step in a 1-Player game.) Each Player places their Scoring token near the Round Tracking board, creating the Wild Hunt Movement pool. The Closed Tavern token is added to the pool. It is used in Phase IV of each Round (as explained on page 9). Put all unused tokens back in the box.
7. Players choose the member of the Wild Hunt that they will fight against. This character is called Wild Hunt for short in this Rulebook and in the other game components.

Difficulty level

Num. of Players	Just the Story! (Easy)	Story and Sword! (Normal)	Blood and Broken Bones! (Hard)	Death March! (Very Hard)
1	Level I Monster – 5 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster – 7 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level II Monster – 9 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level III Monster – 11 Wild Hunt Shield tokens
2	Level II Monster – 28 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster + Level II Monster – 31 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster + Level III Monster – 34 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster + Level III Monster – 37 Wild Hunt Shield tokens
3	Level II Monster – 54 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster + Level II Monster – 58 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster + Level III Monster – 62 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster + Level III Monster – 66 Wild Hunt Shield tokens
4	Level I Monster + Level I Monster – 77 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster + Level III Monster – 82 Wild Hunt Shield tokens

(Difficulty level table as printed on page 5 of the Wild Hunt rules; each cell gives the Monster(s) placed on the Main Board and the Wild Hunt Shield tokens the Wild Hunt uses.)

Wild Hunt Expansion – Gameplay

The Wild Hunt

Remember: The term "Wild Hunt" – when used in this Rulebook, or on any component – refers to the Wild Hunt member that is being used in this game.

The Wild Hunt appears on the Main Board at the start of the game. They travel and affect different aspects of the game. Players are unable to Fight them until the last Round of the game (which can be the 7th or 8th Round, depending on the number of Players, see page 6).

The Goal of the Game

In the Wild Hunt Expansion, the Goal of the game is to defeat the Wild Hunt during an epic Fight that takes place after the last Round.

Before that, Players complete Quests, fight Hounds of the Wild Hunt, and the usual Monsters.

At the end of the game, Players try to win a Fight against Wild Hunt together, after the last Round. If they manage to kill the Wild Hunt, before all Witchers are Knocked-Out, they win the game together.

If all Players are knocked out in the Final Fight with the Wild Hunt, they all lose the game.

Round Tracking Board

Players use the Round Tracking Board and the Tracking token during the game.

During Game setup, the token was placed on the "1" spot (representing the First Round of the Game).

Each row has a "Phase II" spot, showing which Wild Hunt Exploration card is drawn; during the first four Rounds, a Stage I card is drawn; during the final 3 Rounds, a Stage II card is drawn.

Each row also has a "Phase IV" spot, showing what happens at the end of each Round. (New Monster and/or Hound appears, and Wild Hunt Moves.)

Round Tracking board rows (as printed on the Round Tracking board)

Round	Phase I: Movement and Action	Phase II: Fight, Meditation, Exploration	Phase III: Drawing and gaining cards	Phase IV: Add Hound and/or Monster
1	Movement and Action	Exploration I	Draw and gain cards (card-stack icon)	Level I Hound
2	Movement and Action	Exploration I	Draw and gain cards (card-stack icon)	Level I Monster
3	Movement and Action	Exploration I	Draw and gain cards (card-stack icon)	Level I Hound + Level II Monster
4	Movement and Action	Exploration I	Draw and gain cards (card-stack icon)	Level II Hound
5	Movement and Action

The Wild Hunt Movement column of the Round Tracking board carries a highlighted callout that reads: "Wild Hunt moves up to 2 Locations to randomly chosen Player: activate the Wild Hunt's Special Ability." It is printed as a callout across the middle rows of the column rather than in a single cell.

At the end of the 8th round (7th round for 4- and 5-Player games), Players fight the Wild Hunt during Phase IV.

Fighting the Wild Hunt is explained at the end of the Rulebook (see page 11); gameplay changes are described next.

Wild Hunt and Hounds Strengthen Monsters

The Monsters are affected by the Wild Hunt and/or Hounds that are located on the same or neighboring Location as the Monster.

For each Hound and/or the Wild Hunt on the same or neighboring Location as a Monster, the Monster's Life Pool is increased by 1.

The Monster's Life Pool cannot exceed 20.

For example: The Monster is neighbored by the Wild Hunt and a Hound. Additionally, there is another Hound on the Location occupied by the Monster. The Monster has its Life Pool increased by 3.

Wild Hunt Shields

The Wild Hunt begins the game with a set number of Shields. These represent its defense that will absorb Damage received in the Final Fight.

Wild Hunt Shield tokens are kept on its card (or beside it).

Some Wild Hunt Exploration/Event cards make the Wild Hunt lose 1 or more Shields. In such a case, put the Shields lost back in the box.

The Wild Hunt may also lose Shields when any Player successfully Fights a Hound (see page 10) or Defeats the Monster (see page 9).

If the Wild Hunt has 0 Shields, any additional Shield loss that it might suffer before the Final Fight is ignored.

Turn Sequence

The Turn sequence in the Wild Hunt Expansion changes in many ways. It's best to take things slowly at first and get to know gameplay basics in the first few Rounds.

All of the Phases play out differently, and there is an Additional Phase IV when the Wild Hunt is activated.

Phase I

• Players perform Movement and Actions during Phase I in any Player order.
• Players may freely discuss the order of their Movements and Actions. Each Player may complete all of their Actions in a row, or alternate taking Actions with other Players as they see fit.
• Phase I ends when all Players collectively decide to end it (or they can't perform any more Movement or Actions).

Wild Hunt / Hound on the Location

You can not take a Location Action if a Hound and/or the Wild Hunt is currently placed there; however, you may freely enter and leave such a Location. (Keep the Wild Hunt and Hounds on the Location Action to remember that they 'block the Action').

Fighting a Hound of the Wild Hunt

When Hounds appear during the game, you can Fight them!

• You can Fight a Hound alone or together with other Witchers, if you all share the same Location with the Hound.
• Fighting a Hound is considered to be a part of Phase I and does not end Phase I (see page 10).
• When the Hound Fight is over, each Player on the Location may decide to take the Location Action and continue their Turn, if they are able to.

Exchange Action – two or more Witcher meet

When two (or more) Witchers are at the same Location, at any time during Phase I, any of them can perform Exchange Actions.

Each Witcher (sharing the same Location) may freely exchange (or simply give away) any of the following between themselves, any number of times each: Gold, Potions, Bombs (Monster Trail Expansion), Trail tokens, and Trail Quests (that have 1 Gold on them). (Each Witcher still has a 4-Potion and 4-Bomb limit.)

Location Actions – Dice Poker

The only Location Action that is different while playing the Wild Hunt Expansion is Dice Poker. You cannot play Dice Poker against other Players during the Wild Hunt expansion.

The Player choosing to take the Dice Poker Location Action pays 1 Gold, rolls 5 dice, and they may perform 1 reroll (of any number of dice). Then, the Player compares the result with the table on the "Wild Hunt help card" to gain Gold (possibly 0).

Your Result	Reward
Nothing	0 Gold
Pair	0 Gold
Two Pairs	1 Gold
Three of a Kind	2 Gold
Straight	3 Gold
Full House	3 Gold
Four-of-a-Kind	4 Gold
Five-of-a-Kind	5 Gold

Phase II

Phase II begins when all Players decide to end Phase I (or they can't perform any Movements or Actions).

First, all Players who want to, perform a Fight. Players are not allowed to Fight each other.

• Players resolve their Fights in any order.
• If two (or more) Players are at the same Location, they decide together which one of them actually Fights the Monster (alone).
  • The other Player(s) (sharing the same Location) may Support the Player fighting the Monster.

Supporting a Witcher:

Any number of Players sharing a Location with a Player fighting a Monster may choose to Support them.

Players may Support the fighting Player only if they have at least 1 card in their hand.

Supporting is optional; some, all, or no Players need to do so.

To Support a Witcher:

1. Discard any number of cards from your hand.
2. Decrease the Monster's Life Pool by the number of cards discarded.
3. After creating the Life Pool, the Player Fighting the Monster draws a number of cards (from their deck) equal to the number of cards that were discarded.
4. When you Support a Player (by discarding any number of cards), you get the Witcher Trophy from the Player Fighting the Monster.
   • You may only have 1 Trophy from each other Player.

You may Fight any Monster (that you share a Location with) following the standard rules, with some exceptions:

• For each Hound and/or the Wild Hunt on the same or neighboring Location as a Monster, the Monster's Life Pool is increased by 1.
• The Monster's Life Pool may not exceed 20 cards.
• The choice for Charge/Bite is done by flipping the Charge/Bite token after the card is revealed.
• If the Monster is Defeated or Driven Away: Do not draw a new Monster (new Monsters only appear as an effect of the Wild Hunt's activation, see page 9).
• The rewards and consequences of Defeating, Driving Away, or being Defeated are the same as the base game with two exceptions:
  • You do not suffer Fatigue if you kill a Monster.
  • If the Monster is Defeated or Driven Away, the Wild Hunt loses a number of Shields equal to the Level of the Monster.
    • For example: When Player defeats a Griffin (Level 2), they discard 2 Wild Hunt Shields.

Then, any Player that did not Fight a Monster may Meditate; but remember, you do not suffer Fatigue when playing the Wild Hunt Expansion.

You can Meditate regardless if you Supported a Fight or not.

After all desired Fights and/or Meditations are done, any Player draws the top Wild Hunt Exploration card from the Exploration deck (it may be a stage I or stage II card, as shown on the Round Track).

Exactly one card is read (regardless of the number of Players in the game).

The entire card is read by any Player. It may contain a:

Quest (to be completed by one or more Players during the following rounds).

• Follow the card's instructions and keep it face-up near the Main Board. (If you have other active Quests, these remain in play.)

Choice (to be made collectively by the group of Players).

• Discuss the options together and come to a common decision. (If there is a need to break a tie, the youngest Player at the table makes the final decision.)

Location tokens

• When drawn due to an Exploration card's effect, keep them beside the card.
• Return them face-down to the pool when their associated Quest is resolved.

Quest tokens

• Use them on the Map as a reminder for ongoing Quests. (Remove them when their Quest is resolved.)

Remember: As with the standard Exploration cards, the used ones should be kept in the game box and shuffled back only after the Players have used all of them once during multiple play sessions.

After reading one Wild Hunt Exploration card (and possibly the Event card connected with it) Players move to Phase III.

During the 8th Round (7th round for 4 and 5 Players) no Exploration card is read.

Phase III

Players play Phase III as in a standard game in any order. They may discuss the cards that they wish to get with one another.

After a Player gets a new card, the pool is moved to the right and a new card is drawn.

After each Player has completed Phase III, move to Phase IV.

Phase IV

Follow the Round Tracking board and perform two steps:

1. New Monster and/or Hound appears

When a Hound appears, take one Hound (from the supply) and place it at the Wild Hunt's Location (covering the Location Action).

If there is already a Hound there, place it at a neighboring Location with no Hound, chosen by the Players.

The Hound card (on the side of the board) shows the basic information about Hounds, depending on their level.

If a new Monster appears, do the following in order:

1. Draw a random Monster token (from the pile with the Level shown on the Round card).
2. Draw a Location token. The Players choose which Terrain type, but each Terrain type can only ever have one Monster on it.
   • For example, if there is a Monster on a Mountain Location, Players may only choose a Forest or Water token to draw.
3. Reveal both tokens; then: a. Place the Monster token (that was drawn during step 1) near the Location on the main Board, that corresponds to the Location token drawn in step 2. b. Place the matching Monster card and the Location token in the Monster section of the Game Board.

If there are 3 Monsters present on the Board, and you must draw a 4th, the Monster is not drawn. Instead, add Shields to the Wild Hunt equal to the Level of the Monster that was supposed to appear multiplied by 2.

For example, if Players were supposed to add a Level 2 Monster, and there are 3 Monsters in the game, they add 4 Shields to the Wild Hunt instead.

2. Wild Hunt Movement

If there are any Players on the Wild Hunt's Location, it performs no Movement. Proceed to step 3.

Otherwise, one Player takes all the tokens in the Movement Pool and randomly draws one of them.

If it is a Player's Scoring token, the Wild Hunt moves up to 2 Locations towards that Player, using the shortest way. If there are two shortest ways, Players choose one of them together.

The Wild Hunt immediately ends its Movement when:

• It enters a Location with any Player, and/or
• It moved 2 Locations.

If it is the Closed Tavern token, the Wild Hunt moves up to 2 Locations towards any Player (chosen collectively by all Players).

Solo Mode:

While playing the Wild Hunt solo, you don't draw a token from the Pool, but the Wild Hunt always moves 2 Locations towards your Location.

Wild Hunt builds up its power

If the Wild Hunt enters the Location with 1 (or more) Witchers, the Wild Hunt's Special Ability is activated.

Players follow the Special Ability description on the Wild Hunt card.

Phase IV End

Move the Tracking token to the next row on the Round Tracking board, and begin the next Round.

Wild Hunt Expansion – Fighting

Fighting Hounds

Players that occupy the same Location as a Hound may decide to Fight it together.

This does not count as a "Monster Fight" (as you would perform during Phase II); it's completed immediately during Phase I.

Players may try to Fight each Hound once during Phase I.

Fight preparation

Based on the information shown on the Hound's card, according to the Hound's level, each Player who chooses to Fight does the following:

• draws a number of cards from their deck to their hand, and
• lowers their Shield level.

Attacks

Each Player fighting the Hound creates a card Combo to try to deal as much Damage as possible. Each Player who chooses to Fight have to play at least 1-card Combo.

• Damage symbols deal Damage to the Hound.
• Shield symbols raise the Player's Shield level (up to their Defense Level).
• All other symbols are ignored.

Hound card values

The Hound card gives, for each Hound level, the Shield loss and the number of cards drawn in Fight preparation, and the Hound's Life Points (the number shown on the right of each row).

Hound level	Fight preparation (4/5-Player side)	Hound's Life Points (4/5-Player side)	Fight preparation (1-Player side)	Hound's Life Points (1-Player side)
Level I	Lower Shield by 1; draw 1 card	5	Lower Shield by 1; draw 1 card	2
Level II	Lower Shield by 2; draw 2 cards	7	Lower Shield by 2; draw 2 cards	3
Level III	Lower Shield by 3; draw 2 cards	8	Lower Shield by 3; draw 2 cards	4

The 2- and 3-Player values for the Hound card are printed on the card sides not reproduced here; the 1-Player and 4/5-Player sides are transcribed from the rules page and component render.

Wild Hunt Expansion – Results and Fight Preparation

Result

After each participating Player played their card Combo, check the total Damage done to the Hound:

If greater than its Life Points (as shown on the Hound card):

• The Wild Hunt loses Shields equal to the inflicted Damage exceeding the Hound's Life Points.
• Reveal a random Hound token of level matching the level of the killed Hound – and each Player (that participated in this Fight) gains the bonus. (After, return the token to the box).
• Players gain the Bonus in any chosen order.
• Remove the Hound miniature from the Main Board.

If equal to its Life Points:

• Reveal a random Hound token of level matching the level of the killed Hound – and each Player (that participated in this Fight) gains the bonus. (After, return the token to the box.)
• Players gain the Bonus in any chosen order.
• Remove the Hound miniature from the Main Board.

If less than its Life Points:

• Each Player fighting the Hound discards all the cards that they have.
• The Hound remains on the Main Board.

Bonus rewards (icons as printed on page 11 of the Wild Hunt rules)

• Gain any 1 Trail (one of the three Trail icons: Forest, Water or Mountain).
• Draw the top 1 card from your deck to your hand.
• Add any 1 of the revealed Action cards of cost 0 to your discard pile.
  • (If there are no 0-cost cards available, reveal cards one by one from the top of the pile until one is found. All other cards are shuffled back.)
  • After Player gets a card, the pool is immediately moved to the right, and the pool is replenished.
• Add any 1 of the revealed Action cards of cost 1 to your discard pile.
  • All other rules apply, as described above.
• Raise any Attribute by 1 Level.
• Raise your lowest Attribute by 1 Level.

Wild Hunt Fight

Wild Hunt Fight Preparation

1. Players prepare for the Fight

• Each Player keeps their hand of cards and shuffles their discard pile with their deck.
• The Wild Hunt card is turned over on side "B" to show the Abilities it has during the Fight.

2. The Wild Hunt Life Pool is prepared

Shuffle all 20 Monster Attack cards and discard 4 of them back into the box. Then shuffle the 16 cards with 4 Wild Hunt Attack cards. That is the Life Pool for the Wild Hunt.

Wild Hunt Fight General Rule: If the Wild Hunt has any Shields, Players must remove them first: for each Damage dealt to the Wild Hunt while it has any Shields, reduce its Shields by 1. (Once all Shields are removed, immediately start dealing Damage as normal to the Wild Hunt, with remaining Damage, if any.)

Fight Structure

1. All Players that are at the same Location as the Wild Hunt each perform a Fight Turn (in any order).
   • When a Player performs a Fight Turn, they perform all steps as they would during a regular Fight.
2. All Players not at the same Location as the Wild Hunt are directly moved to the Wild Hunt's Location (they do not perform a Fight Turn).
3. The Wild Hunt performs a Fight Turn.
4. All Players (that are not knocked-out) take a Fight Turn (in any order).

Repeat steps 3 and 4 until any of the following is true:

• The Wild Hunt is defeated,
• all Witchers are Knocked-Out.

Player's Fight Turn

• Players choose the order in which they perform their Fight Turn.
• Each Player must complete their full Fight Turn before the next Player can start their Fight Turn.
• Damage dealt to the Wild Hunt always removes Shields first. When the Wild Hunt has no Shields remaining, the Damage discards cards from the top of their Life Pool deck.

Passive Ability on Special Attack cards

If one or more of the Wild Hunt's Special Attack cards are discarded during a Player's Turn (by dealing Damage or any Ability), then the "Passive Ability" on each of those cards is activated.

The Special Attack card displays a Charge/Bite area (top) and a Passive Ability area (bottom), as shown in the rulebook example of the Freeze card and the Frost Armor card.

Wild Hunt Fight Turn

• When the Wild Hunt performs their Fight Turn, any Player discards the top card from the Wild Hunt's deck face up; if it's a:
  • Special Attack card:
    • Each Player applies the same effect (as shown on the top part of that card).
  • Standard Attack card:
    • Each Player flips the Charge/Bite token separately and applies the corresponding effect.

Being Knocked-Out

If a Witcher has 0 cards in their hand and deck, they are Knocked-Out.

• They don't perform any further Fight Turns, nor apply Wild Hunt Attack effects.

The remaining Witchers continue the Fight.

Winning / Losing

If all Witchers are Knocked-Out, all Players lose the game.

If the Wild Hunt Life Pool deck is empty, and there is at least one Witcher standing, the Fight is over and the Witchers win!

The Witchers that were Knocked-Out during the Final Fight have also done their part; and therefore all Players are considered Winners.

Wild Hunt and other Expansions: The Wild Hunt Expansion may be combined with some other Expansions. During the first game with this Expansion, we suggest not to use any other Expansion. When Players are familiar with this Expansion, they may use the Wild Hunt Expansion with:

• Mages Expansion
• Monster Trail Expansion

Wild Hunt Expansion – Wild Hunt Help Card

The Wild Hunt Help card (5 included, used in place of the standard help cards) is transcribed below as printed on the card.

Hound fight

• Preparation and Attack: Each Fighting Player draws cards and lower their Shield level, according to the Hound card. Each Fighting Player plays one Combo (only apply Damage and Shields).
• Outcome: If total Damage is greater than or equal to Hound's Life Points: Wild Hunt loses Shields equal to the number of Damage that exceed the Hound's Life Points. Reveal a matching-level Hound token. If less: Each Fighting Player discards all cards from their hand.

Monster fight

• When the Monster is killed or chased away, Wild Hunt loses Shields in the number equal to the Monster's level.
• Player do not suffer Fatigue.

To Support a Witcher on your Location

• Before creating the Life Pool, discard any amount of cards from your hand.
• Decrease the Monster's Life Pool by the number of cards that you discarded.
• After creating the Life Pool, the Supported Player draws a number of cards equal to the number of cards that you discarded.

Note on card faces: The four Wild Hunt member cards (Nithral, Imlerith, Caranthir, Eredin), the Wild Hunt Special Attack cards and the Wild Hunt Attack cards carry their abilities as printed card-face text. Those card faces are not reproduced in this file; the abilities are shown here only where the rules pages print them (the Freeze and Frost Armor example on page 12, and the Caranthir and Imlerith card examples on pages 6 and 10).

Monster Trail Expansion

The Monster Trail rules follow in full as printed. The Chronicles of Benno Kobart excerpt that opens the Monster Trail document reads: "The witcher stopped, feeling a shiver of anxiety running down his neck. There had been absolute silence in the forest for some time. The sound of the birds that had accompanied him for the last few hours had died down. There was also no sign of wild game anywhere." (The story text continues as a flavour excerpt from Chapter XIII, Dangers on the Trail, and is not reproduced here.)

Components

• Manticore Witcher components: 1 Player Board; 1 Witcher Miniature with a color base; 1 Wooden Shield Marker; 5 Wooden cubes; 1 Scoring Token and 1 plastic Scoring Token; 10 Starting Action cards; 4 Witcher Trophy cards; 11 Unique Action cards (1 per each Witcher in the base game, the Manticore Witcher, and each Mage from the Mages Expansion).
• Troll Monster components: 1 Troll Miniature; 1 Troll Monster card; 1 Troll Token.
• 28 Bomb cards
• 15 Mutagen cards
• 40 Advanced Action cards
• 4 Special Monster Fight cards
• 29 Large Monster cards
• 18 Weakness tokens

Game Modes

To play this game you need The Witcher: Old World base game.

This Monster Trail Expansion consists of a few game modes that can be used separately or together. We suggest adding the game modes one by one.

Setup and gameplay remain the same except for noted changes detailed for each mode below.

Manticore School Witcher

When choosing to use this, the Manticore School Witcher is used as any other Witcher in the base game. That Witcher has their own School Location and Witcher components.

Potion Tolerance Specialty:

Once per Fight: during your Fight Turn, you may discard 1 unused Potion (if level 1, discard 2 Potions) to perform your Potion Tolerance Specialty and deal Damage (and, if level 3 or higher, draw 2 cards).

Troll Monster

When choosing to use this, add the Troll Monster to the Monster pool.

The Troll Monster has a card and a token (if using the Deluxe version, it has a miniature).

Mutagen Cards

When choosing to use this, shuffle all Mutagen cards together (to form the Mutagen deck) and place them face-down near the Potion deck.

During the game, each time you reach a next Level, instead of drawing 1 or 2 cards (as shown on your Player Board), you get a new Mutagen card.

When you get a new Mutagen card, draw 3 cards from the top of the Mutagen deck, choose 1 of them and shuffle 2 remaining cards back with the deck. Put the chosen Mutagen in your play area.

When you get 2 Mutagen cards (by reaching the 4th and 5th Level), go through the steps described above two times.

Each Mutagen card has an Ability that can be used during the Fight. Each Mutagen that the Player owns, can be used once per Fight.

Bomb Cards

I have already written about potions that would send an ordinary mortal to the grave, as for the witchers - on the contrary - they allow them to endure longer in battle. However, it must be honestly admitted that all these potions are only a part of the alchemical specifics that witchers can prepare.

Bombs are of particular interest to me, although I rarely have met those who use them. They said that - yes - the right bomb on hand would not hurt, but its preparation is expensive, and requires a lot of time. Therefore, only those who knew that they had a really demanding fight ahead of them made sure they had it at hand. A pity, because it is a view to admire!

The Chronicles of Benno Kobart, a fragment of chapter XVII, Swords and Stones, or How We Made Everything a Deadly Weapon.

When choosing to use this, shuffle all Bomb cards together (to form the Bomb deck) and place them face-down near the Potion deck.

During the game, each time you draw a Potion card (from any effect for any reason) you must immediately make a choice; either:

• Draw 1 Potion from the top of the Potion deck as normal, or
• Discard 1 Potion or 1 Gold to draw the top card from the Bomb deck instead.

You can carry up to 4 Potion and Bomb cards each (i.e., 8 cards in total).

During a Fight, you may use a combined number of Potion and/or Bomb cards equal to, or lower than your Alchemy Level.

Bombs do not count as Potions (e.g., if an effect says, "discard Potions", ignore Bombs you have).

Dimeritium Bomb explained:

This Bomb has a special ability that works only if you use the "Monster Weakness and Special Attacks" Game Mode. If you are not using that mode, put Dimeritium Bomb cards back into the game box.

• Against a Monster: after the Monster uses its Special Passive Ability - use it to neglect the effect.
• Against a Witcher: use before creating the Life Pool. Temporarily, during this Fight only, your opponent's Specialty level is lowered to 1.

Advanced Action Cards

(...) I will not say that I am a combat or fencing master, because I had the sword in my hand only once... when I was asked to take it to the armorer. But I saw 'things' in my life. I was, among other things, a witness of a tavern murder, in which the witcher from the Viper school took a powerful punch on the ribs with his chair leg, and a moment later, he was in a battle trance and knocked down four biggies before the others even realized who had hit them! I do not hesitate to say, that among the top ten warriors on the continent, at least seven are adepts from one of the witcher schools. What a well-trained witcher can do in combat is indescribable. I wish you, reader, to see for yourself one day - but not feel on your own skin at the same time!

The Chronicles of Benno Kobart, excerpt from Chapter XVI, What is a Witcher?

There are 10 different types of Advanced Action cards in the game, 4 copies of each.

When choosing to use this, you may immediately add all 40 Advanced Action cards at once, or do it gradually. If you choose to add them gradually, choose what types of cards to add, then add all 4 cards of each of the chosen types.

All chosen cards are shuffled with the main Action deck, before the Action card pool is prepared on the main board.

Before you shuffle the cards together, you may want to explain each new Action card to all players at the table.

All Advanced Action cards have text explanations on the bottom of the card.

Gray cards

Some of the Advanced Action cards have a gray color. It is a new card color, so it doesn't match the color of any Combo Extensions.

Each gray card has a Wild Terrain symbol.

Passive abilities

Some of the Advanced Action cards (Retaliation and Evasion) have a passive ability that is triggered during the Fight. The passive ability is triggered if the card is discarded as a result of Damage taken – either from the deck or Player's hand.

• Retaliation (printed text): If that card is discarded (either from hand or from the deck) as a result of opponent's Attack, your opponent immediately receives 2 Damage.

Trashing a card as a cost

Some cards require you to trash a card (from your hand) as part of the cost to purchase it. When purchasing such a card, the Player chooses 1 card from their hand and trashes it. When gaining this card, ignore +1 / -1 symbols on the Main Board. Trashing a card is the only cost.

You can not choose a card with a trash cost from the Vengerberg Location Action, or any effect telling you to take a 0, 1, or 2-cost card.

However, when told to gain any card from the pool, you can choose a card with a trash cost (and you do not have to trash a card in this case to take it).

Rolling dice

Cards may tell you to roll dice; depending on the result, the effect changes.

• Sweeping Aard (printed text): Roll a die: 1-3: deal 0 Damage; 4-6: deal 2 Damage.

Traveling ability

Endurance Action card has an ability that is usable during Phase I (of the Player's Turn). It has no additional abilities during a Fight.

• Travel (printed text): When using this card in Phase I, you may perform two Movements (ignoring the first Location Action).

Witcher Unique Action Cards

(...) they don't like each other, what can I say. But it is no wonder that the leather sellers from one marketplace do not embrace each other in the evenings, when they spend all day stealing clients from one another. Interesting things, however, result from witcher animosity. You can get the impression that each school wants to stand out, and shine from the rest. From an early age, they prepare students in their own ways, believing that their ideas will bring the best results. Who's right? I am not the one to judge.

The Chronicles of Benno Kobart, excerpt from Chapter XVI, What is a Witcher?

When choosing to use this, add the Unique card to each Witcher starting deck.

Each card has the Witcher's art depicted on it, so you can quickly determine which deck to add it to.

Each Player now begins the game with 11 cards in their starting deck.

When also using Mages:

Each Mage starting deck also gets 1 Unique Action card. Each card has the Mage's art depicted on it, so you can quickly determine which deck to add it to.

Monster Trail Expansion – Monster Weakness and Special Attacks

Game Setup

When choosing to use this, use the large Monster cards (instead of the regular-sized ones), both during game setup and when new Monsters are spawned.

The regular-sized Monster cards are kept in a pile near the Game Board; they are still used as Trophies after a player kills a Monster.

Instead of keeping the three Monster cards on the Game Board, Players should keep them near it.

The large Monster cards have two sides and Players should keep the side with Special Attacks face-up. Players may look at both of the sides of the large Monster cards at any time.

There are three sets of Monster Weakness Tokens, each set contains 6 tokens (for a total of 18 tokens). Shuffle and keep them face-down and separate from the Location Tokens.

• Face-up: Weakness token (revealed); face-down: Weakness token (hidden).

After the three starting Monsters are placed on the Game Board, Players draw 1 Location Token of a corresponding Terrain Type for each Monster, and place a random face-down Weakness Token on that Location. If there are 1 (or more) Witchers at that Location, discard this token and draw another Location Token instead. These steps are repeated – if needed – until a Weakness Token is placed on a Location containing no Witchers.

After 3 different Weakness Tokens are placed face-down on the map, all Location Tokens revealed during this step are shuffled back together.

There are 4 Special Attack cards in this Expansion.

Players shuffle the regular 20 Monster Fight cards and draw 4 of them – those cards are placed face-down back in the game box and are not used.

Another 4 regular Monster Fight cards are placed face-down near the large Monster cards. Those will appear in the game later.

The remaining 12 Monster Fight cards are shuffled together with the 4 Special Attack cards to create a 16-card Monster Attack Deck. When fighting with a Monster, Players draw an appropriate number of cards from that deck. After the Monster Fight, all the 16 cards are shuffled back together.

When a Level 3 Monster appears in the game for the first time, the 4 Monster Fight cards, that were placed aside before, are added to the deck. At this point it should include 20 cards and remains that way for the remainder of the game.

Gameplay

Weakness Tokens

Entering a Location with a Weakness Token

When the Player enters a Location with a Weakness Token, they reveal it immediately and place it next to the Player Board.

Then, the Player reads the paragraph on the large Monster card that occupies the same Terrain Type as the token revealed – the number on the token shows which paragraph to read.

The first part of the text (1) is a thematic description, and the second part (2) describes the special ability that Player gets when fighting against a particular Monster.

The Player keeps the revealed Weakness Token face-up on their Player Board. A Player may have multiple Weakness Tokens at any given time – either of the same or different types.

After reading the paragraph, a new Weakness Token, with the same Terrain Type, is placed on the Game Board. In order to do so, a Location Token (with the same Terrain Type) is drawn, and the Weakness Token is placed there face-down.

If there is a Witcher in that Location, a new Location Token is drawn. These steps are repeated – if needed – until a Weakness Token is placed on a Location containing no Witchers. Then, all Location Tokens revealed during this step are shuffled back together. In other words – there should always be 3 different Weakness Tokens face-down on the Game Board.

If there is no Location token with the same Terrain Type in the pool, the Player to the right of the Active Player chooses any Location of that Terrain Type, and the Weakness Token is placed there.

The only exception to the above rule is a situation, when all 6 Weakness Tokens have been collected already. In this situation, a new Weakness Token is not placed on the Game Board.

Using Weakness Tokens during the Fight

When a Player begins the Fight with a Monster, before it begins, they may use all of their Weakness Tokens for that particular Monster. The Player does not discard used Weakness Tokens, unless the text on Monster's card says to do it.

The Player may decide to use only some of their Weakness Tokens in the Fight.

Clean-Up after the Fight

If the Monster remains on the Game Board after the Fight, the Player keeps their Weakness Tokens.

If the Monster was killed or driven away, all Players must give back the Weakness Tokens related to that Monster back to the pool. Then, all 6 Weakness Tokens are shuffled together face-down.

After a new Monster is placed on the Game Board, Players place 1 Weakness token, following the steps in the Game Setup of that Mode.

Special Monster Attacks:

While you play the game with this Mode, you use large Monster cards.

Each card shows Life Pool and a Monster Ability that is exactly the same as on their regular Monster cards.

The card also has a description of 4 Special Attacks and a Passive Attack Ability.

In the Monster Life Pool there will most likely be one or more Special Monster Attacks.

1. If the Special Monster Attack card is revealed during the Monster Attack, the Special Attack is activated, regardless if "Charge" or "Bite" was chosen. An appropriate description from the large Monster card is read and the effect is applied.
2. The Special Monster Attack card may also be revealed as a Result of Damage dealt by the Player.
   • If that happens, the Player controlling the Monster Life Pool stops discarding any further cards.
   • The Special Passive Ability is read, and the effect applied.
   • Then, if any additional Damage was supposed to be dealt, the Player continues to discard the cards.

It is possible to activate a Passive Ability more than once during the same Fight Turn.

Gaining a Monster Trophy:

If the Player defeats the Monster they gain the Trophy of that Monster. They search through the pile of regular Monster cards to find it and place it face up below their Player Board. The large Monster card of that Monster is put back into the box.

Monster Trail Expansion – Other Expansions

The Monster Trail may be combined with some other Expansions. During the first game with this Expansion, we suggest not to use any other Expansion. When Players are familiar with this Expansion, they may use the Monster Trail Expansion with:

• Mages Expansion
• Legendary Hunt Expansion
• Adventure Pack Expansion
• Skellige Expansion
• Wild Hunt Expansion.

If you combine Monster Trail and Wild Hunt Expansions, keep in mind that the gameplay may be more difficult or easier depending on the game modes you use.

Stretch Goal Expansions: Ciri, Lost Mount and Adventure Pack

The four-page stretch-goal sheet covers three modules: the Ciri Expansion, the Lost Mount Expansion and the Adventure Pack Expansion. Its cover is not reproduced.

Components

Ciri components

• 1 Player Board
• 1 Witcher Miniature with a color base
• 1 Unique Witcher Action card
• 5 Wooden cubes
• 1 Wooden Shield Marker
• 10 Starting Action cards
• 4 Trophy cards
• 1 Scoring Token
• 1 Plastic Scoring Token
• 1 Specialty Token

Lost Mount components

• 1 Lost Mount Miniature
• 1 Lost Mount card

Adventure Pack components

• 200 Exploration and Event cards
• 12 Quest tokens

Ciri Expansion

Ciri is a new Witcher and she can be used as any other Witcher in the game. Remember that a new playable character does not allow you to play a 6-Player game.

Setup changes

Ciri starts the game in the School of the Wolf and she trains her Specialty there. Place the Ciri's Specialty Token next to the Wolf's Specialty printed on the Game Board.

Ciri's Specialty

• Ciri - Elder Blood. Once per Fight: during your Fight Turn, treat 1 card as if it had a Combo Extension of any color. Symbols on that Combo Extension depend on the Specialty level.

Elder Blood Specialty example

1. The Player plays a Combo.
2. They use their Elder Blood Specialty (level 3) to extend their Combo.
3. They play the next cards as their Combo extension.

Unique Witcher Action card (Ciri)

• Dance of Blades (cost 1), Special Action (printed text): If this Combo has 3 or more cards, deal 1 additional Damage.

Lost Mount Expansion

Setup changes

At the beginning of the game, after the regular setup, the Player that will go last, picks up 2 Location Tokens from any one pile, chooses one, and places the Lost Mount miniature there. Location Tokens are shuffled back together.

Gameplay changes

The Lost Mount will stay in a Location, until any Player gets there. Any Player may enter the Location with the Lost Mount miniature and get some help travelling. When a Player reaches the Lost Mount miniature, they roll a die and compare their result with the Lost Mount card – it says how many cards the Player draws, if any.

Then, that Player claims the bonus, and puts the miniature aside.

After resolving Phase I of their Turn, the Player places the Lost Mount miniature on the map following the rules from the Setup Changes section.

The Lost Mount Expansion may be combined with any other Expansion, except the Wild Hunt Expansion.

Lost Mount card (printed text)

When the Player reaches the Lost Mount miniature, they roll a die:

• 1-3: No effect.
• 4-5: Immediately draw 1 card.
• 6: Immediately draw 2 cards.

After resolving Phase I of their Turn, the Player places the Lost Mount miniature on the map following the steps on the back of this card.

Adventure Pack Expansion

Setup changes

All the cards from this Expansion have a symbol (an asterisk-like star mark) to easily distinguish them from the basic cards.

Shuffle the Exploration cards from the Adventure Pack Expansion into the Exploration deck.

The Event cards from the Adventure Pack Expansion are numbered from 57 to 137. Do not shuffle them. Add them to the Event cards deck.

Place the Quest tokens next to the Game Board.

The Adventure Pack Expansion may be combined with any other Expansion, except the Wild Hunt Expansion.

Solo gameplay changes

Some Exploration cards in this Expansion tell the Player to draw an Event card into their hand, without showing it to the other Players. While playing solo, ignore that rule and do not draw that card.