Too Many Bones: Undertow FAQ
220 questions players ask · Updated Nov 7, 2026 · Full rulebook
Game Set-up and Compatibility
- Can Undertow Gearlocs, Tyrants, Baddies and encounters be mixed with the original Too Many Bones?
- Can Undertow be played with 3 or 4 players?
- Does party size count Nightshade or other allies, or only Gearlocs?
- Who is the Party Leader and how is one chosen?
- Is Splice & Dice fully compatible with Undertow?
- What is the card taped to the bottom of the Undertow box?
- What does the small brown skull next to the wave icon on some encounter cards mean?
Campaign Mode and Days
- What carries over between Tyrants in the Undertow campaign?
- How long is the Undertow campaign and what happens if I lose to a Tyrant?
- Do KO'd Gearlocs stay KO'd between Council Labs battles?
- Do Locked Slots and Counters carry into the next adventure?
- Do Duster's Alpha Wolf and Killer Instinct dice reset after each battle?
- How do I track progress toward a Tyrant on the campaign map?
- How many Encounter cards go into the deck for each campaign Tyrant?
- Can I face the Tyrant on the same day I earn my last Progress Point?
- Do Duster and Nightshade each get a Training Point in Adventurer mode?
- How does Special 005 with a Mech work in solo?
Encounters
- Where does the Day 2 encounter go when a special encounter reshuffles the deck?
- Which lanes does the Halved Raft encounter cut?
- On the Ranger Danger encounter, who gets Surprise?
- Does Dangerous Darts happen automatically in battle?
- How does solo encounter 008, Hanging with the guys, work?
- How do multiple lockpicking attempts and costs work?
- How does the Hunting Net work and can I skip its Baddie?
- In Nobulous Encounter #2, why roll the dice if Gearlocs may set them to any side, and does it cover allies?
- Does 'success no matter the outcome' cover both options of Science of Immortality?
- In the 1-on-1 Gorilla duel encounters, does the 5-point Baddie come out and can companions join?
- Do I still play the Reach Out and Touch Someone Baddie chips face down if I scouted them?
- How do obstacles with HP like the Goblin King Effigy and Timid Geophage get damaged?
- How does the Bot from Under New Management act?
- How many encounter cards does Live Battle set-up use with Barnacle?
- Who decides the order Gearlocs are placed on the battle mat?
- Can Duster's innate let her start on any position?
- Does a Day 1 special encounter placed with the Tyrant card stay in play for the Tyrant battle?
The Gearloc Mat and Dice
- What absorbs damage first: Defense dice, Buff HP or HP?
- Can Buff HP be healed, and does Stanza keep it if her song die is exhausted?
- How does a Defense die absorb damage?
- Do Defense dice in Locked Slots count against how many Defense dice I can roll?
- Do dice in the Backup Plan cost Dex or count against my roll limit?
- Does a double-Bone die count as two Bones in the Backup Plan?
- Is a Gasket skill die exhausted when used as Bones in his Backup Plan?
- What can Shock exhaust?
- When can Locked skills be used?
- Do consumable dice return to the tray after use, and can I gain them again?
- Do dice reset between battles?
- Do the same status effects stack on a unit?
- Can I choose the order of start-of-turn effects like songs, Poison or Bleed?
- Which effects does Cleanse remove, and does Scrag Roots block Bleed?
- What does the hand symbol on an effect die mean?
- How does Scrag Roots work?
- What is the strongest or weakest unit judged by?
- If an Attack or Defense upgrade roll fails, must I spend the point elsewhere?
- When can I use Focus rolled on a Focus die?
- What value does an added Defense die have?
- Does the Dragon Center Scale give +2 Defense every battle?
- Can a Gearloc in the water spend Dex, and how much does boarding the raft cost?
- Does Buff HP from a peaceful encounter last until a battle?
- Do Gearlocs get consumable dice without loot?
Duster and Nightshade
- When does Nightshade deploy?
- Where does Nightshade enter and where does she go in initiative?
- Does Nightshade keep fighting if Duster is KO'd?
- If Nightshade is KO'd, when is she back?
- How is Nightshade trained?
- What does the X on Nightshade's health mean?
- Must Duster learn Promise of Prey before Ferocity?
- How do Promise of Prey and Ferocity work with Nightshade's turn?
- Can Nightshade's attack dice hurt a Dodge Baddie, and does Weaken affect her?
- How does Nightshade's Leech work?
- Can Duster target a non-adjacent Baddie?
- Does Backstab need both Duster and Nightshade next to the same Baddie?
- How does Pack Mentality work?
- How does Flint 'n' Tinder heal?
- How long does Duster's Innate +1 Untargetable last?
- Does Infusion Bracers' counterattack bonus last all battle?
- Is Duster's Dagger exhausted after use?
- Can one set's Duster play against another Duster?
- How does Nightshade act in a turn?
- How does Duster's skill tree work?
Stanza
- How do Stanza's songs work each turn?
- Do I get a song's effect before or after advancing it?
- When is a song's Target chosen, and must Stanza be adjacent?
- How does Add Distortion work?
- How does Forever Mine (Trance) work on a Baddie?
- Can I suspend a controlled Baddie's Dodge or remove its Def die to reroll it?
- How do Second Chances and Dissonant Dissidence interact?
- How does Only Time Will Tell revive?
- How do Stanza's Luitar and Amplifier dice work?
- How do Stanza's smaller skills work: Mischief, Siege of Caron, Rhythm and Motion, Disable?
- Can Stanza skip, repeat or exceed a song's sections?
- What do Stanza's songs cost in Dex and Focus?
- What does Siege of Caron's defense bonus do?
- Can Stanza's Forever Mine control any Baddie, and must it be her Target?
- Does Stanza's party Buff HP song cover Nightshade, and does it stack?
- When do Stanza's song effects apply, and how does Second Chances' Bone work?
Ghillie, Tink and Companions
Baddies and Baddie Skills
- How does Flee work?
- When does a Baddie drop its Loot die?
- Does a Baddie that returns to the mat keep its damage?
- Do Baddie skills trigger when its attack rolls nothing or is blocked?
- In what order does a Baddie's turn resolve?
- How does a melee Baddie choose its target and path?
- When can units move diagonally?
- Can attack dice damage a Baddie with Dodge?
- How does Hardy limit damage?
- When does Careless trigger and can Defense stop it?
- Does a ranged Baddie's Bleed or Poison reach a Gearloc anywhere on the mat?
- When does Detonate trigger?
- How does Self Repair work?
- Does a Baddie's Trap trigger if it enters mid-battle?
- How does Blind Strike work?
- Does Untargetable or Flight stop damage?
- How does a Baddie's Mischief work?
- Does a multi-target Baddie roll Defense once and Attack dice for each target?
- How does Trickery work with two Goblin Gurus?
- How does Darter work?
- Is Mechorilla a Mech, and do Baddies see it as an enemy?
- Are Mech Baddies immune to Fatigue, and to what else?
- What do the shield icons on a Baddie chip mean?
- What do the names and numbers at the bottom of a Baddie chip mean?
- How do I handle Baddie stacks when scouting?
- Can units stand on wreckage and can it be repaired?
- Can effects that need a Baddie Point affect a Mimic?
- How does Surprise change initiative?
- How does Terrify (Black Pearl) work?
- Does Amanight's Rot 2 hit every Gearloc?
- When does a Baddie's bone-triggered skill apply?
- Can a non-Krelln Baddie be moved off the raft?
- Do Mech-specific effects like the Mechanist Uniform and Vibroblade hit Abomination?
Krelln and Mech
- How do Krelln choose targets and move?
- When does a Krelln place Wreckage?
- How are Krelln and Mechs placed in the Baddie Queue?
- What is the difference between 'add' and 'include' for Krelln and Mechs?
- Are Krelln and Mech starting positions adjacent for displacement and pull skills?
- Can Gearlocs pick a Krelln starting position and can two share one?
- How do Krelln in Leech's nest work?
Tyrants
- How often does the Goblin Queen's Guard act?
- How can the Goblin Queen be damaged while her Guard is on the mat?
- What does the Goblin Queen's bomb and die do?
- How do Barnacle and his tentacles work?
- Do I need to kill all of Barnacle's tentacles?
- How do I hurt Kollossum?
- How does Kollossum's Synapse work?
- What does Kollossum's Challenge add, and how is his initiative handled?
- How do Vol'kesh's Lashback, Scalding Skin and fireball work?
- How do Nobulous's and Abomination's Tyrant dice work on the Ini meter?
- Must a Tyrant roll all its dice in battle?
- Where do late-arriving Tyrants and 20-point Baddies go on initiative?
- How does Tyrannical Typhoon count party weight?
- How do Leech and Oxide work?
- Who are Blobulous's Clonepanions?
Battle Set-up and Initiative
In Battle
- Do I need to declare a Target if I'm not rolling Attack dice, and can I roll Defense without one?
- What happens if a unit is KO'd partway through its turn?
- When do start-of-round and start-of-turn effects take effect?
- Can I put a skill die back on my mat instead of using a bad roll?
- How do the Mech Ado About Nothing barrier and Shock work?
- How do I control a temporary ally from an encounter card?
- What happens if Wreckage lands on a Gearloc's position in Rock the Boat?
KOs, Wipes and Battle Results
Loot and Trove Loot
- How many loot cards can I hold, and when can I play them?
- How much Trove Loot does a single chest symbol give?
- How does the Mohlnor Loot Cache work?
- Can I take loot from the 'This isn't what it looks like!' pile?
- Does the Drone Trove Loot work on single-option encounters?
- Can the Trove Loot Catapult hurt Drellen?
- How do Spider Silk Salve and Bottled Smoke work?
Playing as Abomination
Too Many Bones: DartExpansion
Too Many Bones: GasketExpansion
Too Many Bones: Lab RatsExpansion
Too Many Bones: Rage of TyrannyExpansion
Too Many Bones: RiffleExpansion
- Does Riffle keep his hand between battles, and does he still draw when the battle ends on his turn?
- How do Riffle's card combos work?
- What do Vision and Vitality cards do?
- Is Riffle's Gears an attack, and does it work on untargetable Baddies?
- How do Good Read and Sleeved Card work?
- Does Call the Clock give a Baddie a second turn?
- Can Riffle be played without the Automaton of Shale?
Too Many Bones: Splice & DiceExpansion
- What does a Tyrant's Signal skill bring out?
- Are the Krelln and Mech spots on the online Splice & Dice tyrant sheet used?
- How are skills spliced onto a Tyrant in NAP mode?
- Can one place action mix Tyrant and dice placements?
- Is the Research Area shared in NAP, and how is Compound X counted when splicing?
- Must a NAP Tyrant roll its Tyrant dice, and can it get a mismatched die?
- How many 5-point Baddies do you set up for NAP with only Undertow?
- Can I end a fulfilled Opportunity at any time, and what happens if I do it in Cleanup?
- How do 8 Nob cards and Workplace Accident work in NAP?
- Does Raiding affect the opponent's Baddies in NAP?
- How does Stench damage work?
- How do Build-a-Tyrant days and decks work?
- How are negative splice results resolved?
- Does a unit's Armour count as Defense when splicing?
- How do Locgear's Survivor, Appeasements and encounters work?
- Can Baddies exceed their max HP in Lethal Lethargy's Fry the Supply?
- How much does the Teds Talk setback reduce the tank limit?