Valeria: Card Kingdoms – Darksworn
Valeria: Card Kingdoms – Darksworn Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
- 1 Story and 1 Aquila Board
- 5 Number and 5 Wall Tiles
- 5 Achievement Tokens
- 6 Darksworn Saga Books
- 1 Dungeon Delve Book
- 5 Reference Cards
- 5 Explorer Cards
- 9 Shade Monster Cards
- 12 Blessing Cards
- 1 Tuck Box
Game Setup
Note: The following rules explain how to set up the game for Book One: The Prophesy of the Darksworn Saga using components from this expansion and from the base game.
- Place the Story board at the top of the play area. Place 1 Achievement token per player on the Story board. Return the others to the box.
- Unwrap Book One: The Prophesy and place it in the right slot of the book illustration on the Story board.
- From left to right, place the 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 Number tiles above the Monster cards in the Monster row.
- Choose 5 Monster stacks from the base game. (For this game, we recommend you play with the following Monster stacks: Hills, Ruins, Forest, Valley, and Mountains. In future games, feel free to select any Monster Areas from the base game or expansions.) Remove any cards with the [5] icon, [Warden] icon, and any [Boss] icons and return them to the box. Shuffle the 20 Monster cards. Then, draw and place 5 Monster cards face-up to form the Monster row. Place the remaining cards to the right of the Monster row; this is the Monster deck. Randomly select 1 of the 9 Shade Monster cards, then shuffle it into the Monster deck.
- Place a Wall tile (with the full wall illustration face-up) below each of the 5 Monster cards in the Monster row.
- Choose 1 Citizen type per activation number to form the Citizen stacks. (For this game, we recommend you play with the following Citizen types: Cleric, Merchant, Mercenary, Wizard, Peasant, Knight, Rogue, Champion, Paladin, and Butcher.) For each stack, there should be a number of cards equal to the amount of players plus 2, to a maximum of 6. (For example, in a 3-player game, there should be 4 cards in each Citizen stack. In a 4- or 5-player game, use all 6 cards.) Return others to the box.
- Place the Aquila board below the Citizen stacks.
- Shuffle the Blessing cards. Draw and place 3 Blessing cards face-up in the 3 slots with the open scroll illustrations. Place the remaining cards to the right of the 3 cards to form the Blessings deck. The empty slot to the right of the deck is reserved for Blessing discards.
- Give each player 1 Explorer, 1 Peasant, 1 Knight, and 1 Reference card. (Note: No other card with a [trigger] trigger should be used.) Each player starts with 2 Gold, 1 Magic, and 1 Victory Point. Randomly select the first player. Give them the dice.
You are now ready to play the game.
Transcriber note: in the source, the setup step numbers, the Number tile numbers, the Shade and trigger symbols are printed as graphic icons. They are written here as the number or name the icon shows. The trigger in step 9 is a dark icon with a slash-and-x glyph that has no text form; it is marked [trigger] above.
New Icons
Discard: A card of your choice is discarded. Additional restrictions may apply on which card to remove from the game according to in-line text or icons. If you are discarding a Citizen card, it is placed on the right slot of the Story board (over the illustration of the oubliette) and is considered to be captured. If you are discarding a Monster card, it is placed in the Monster discard pile to the right of the Monster deck. You can read this as "discard".
Return: A captured Citizen card of your choice that is on the Story board is returned to its Citizen stack. It is possible to unexhaust a stack by returning a Citizen card to its stack. You can read this as "return".
Banish: A card of your choice is removed from the game. Additional restrictions may apply on which card to remove from the game according to in-line text or icons. You may not remove Starter cards. You can read this as "banish 1 card".
Player: Represents a player (including yourself) in the game. You can read this as "player". If this icon is blue with a question mark, then it is referring to another player in the game (not yourself).
Instant: Represents the instant timing of an in-game trigger. The instructions to the right of this icon are carried out as soon as the card is revealed. You can read this as "instantly".
Die Result: Represents the die result of the number that is on this icon. You can read this as "the die result of X" where X = the number over the icon.
Wild Die Result: Represents the die result of the Number tile above the Monster card. You can read this as "the die result above this Monster card".
Important: Represents new instructions or rules that must be carried out while the page of a book is face-up. Some of these icons will present new instructions that must be carried out immediately before moving forward in the game. Some of these icons present new rules which modify specific actions or cards. You can read this as "important".
Monster Icon
Shade: The Shade is a new Monster Type. Shades do not belong to any Monster Area from the base game or expansion. There are 9 Shade Monster cards in this expansion that are shuffled into the Monster deck after setting up the Monster row. You may discover other Shade Monsters throughout the Books in the Darksworn Saga.
Icons that Represent Components
These icons are present across all card types. When there is a number on top of these icons, it means that it represents that many of that item. If these icons are by themselves as a reward or power, it means that you take that many tokens/cards.
Recharge: Flip a Radiant token face-up to its lit side. You may flip another player's Radiant token to its lit side.
Wild: Represents any of the three different Resources in the game (Strength, Gold, and Magic). When there is a number on top of the icon, it means that it represents that many of one Resource of your choice. If the icon is by itself as a reward or power, it means you take that many tokens of one Resource of your choice (do not mix and match) from the bank.
Wall: Represents a Wall tile (with the full wall illustration face-up). You may only move a Wall tile from the Aquila board to a spot below a Monster card that does not already have a Wall token.
New Card Anatomy
Blessing Cards
These cards represent available blessings from Aquila.
Blessing: The icons at the bottom show you what the blessing costs and what it provides.
Shade Monster Cards
The new Shade Monster cards have an Activation Condition in the upper-left corner followed by Instructions. The Shade Monster cards in this expansion do not have a Monster Area. All other card anatomy is the same as a standard Monster card.
Activation Condition: The Shade Monster card is activated according to the condition set to the left of the colon. There are 3 possible conditions for activations:
- Instant [lightning icon]: The Instructions are carried out when the Shade Monster card is drawn from the Monster deck and placed in the Monster row.
- Wild Die [wild die icon]: The Instructions are carried out during the Monster Phase if the Number tile above the Shade Monster card was activated.
- Die with Value [value icon]: The Instructions are carried out during the Monster Phase if the value on the icon is shown on the dice or the sum of both dice. In the case of doubles, the Instructions are carried out twice.
Instructions: The Active Player carries out the Instructions and should consult other players on the best course of action.
Book Cards
There are 2 new types of cards found within a book: Rules and Task.
Rules Cards: Some Rules cards will have story text. Only the text on the darker paper illustration is considered to be rules that you must follow while the card is face-up.
The back side of the cover card will always contain setup and rules, and it is placed in the left most slot of the Story board. These rules must be followed throughout the Book.
When a [Important] icon is present, the text may be temporary rules, instructions to be carried out before moving forward, or rules that remain in effect for the rest of the Books in the Darksworn Saga. Read the text carefully.
When a [6 die-result] icon is present, the instructions must be followed in the order they are listed on a result of 6 on a die or if the sum of both dice equals 6. In the case of doubles, the instructions are carried out two times.
Task Cards: These cards represent obstacles you must overcome to continue on the book and share a similar anatomy to a regular Monster card from the base game.
Cost: The cost that must be paid in order to place an Achievement token on the card. Below the cost you will find [x] as a reminder that the cost must be paid a number of times equal to the number of players in a game.
Name: This is the name of the Task.
Reward: This is the Reward taken by a player when they place an Achievement token on the card.
New Tile Anatomy and Rules
Wall Tiles
Wall tiles represent your defenses against Monster attacks upon you and your Citizens. If a Wall tile is present below a Monster card when it attacks, then the Wall tile must take damage before a Monster card is able to directly attack a Citizen in that column.
Wall tiles are double-sided. The front side has a full wall illustration, meaning it has not been attacked. When a Wall tile on its front side is attacked, it is flipped to its back side. When a Wall tile on its back side is attacked, it is moved to the bottom left slot of the Aquila board.
Number Tiles
Number tiles represent the direction of Monster attacks.
Each Number tile has an Activation number on it which tells you if the Monster below the Number tile will attack during the Monster Phase.
New Game Flow Rules
At the start of each Book, the starting Active player will flip the first card face-up and place it in the far left slot on the Story board. All players should read and follow the setup instructions and new rules.
The following rules modify specific sections of the base game rules. All other standard rules apply.
Roll Phase
The Roll Phase remains unchanged. The dice result in this phase will affect the new Monster Phase. (See below.)
Harvest Phase
The Harvest Phase remains unchanged.
Action Phase
One action is removed from the list of possible actions:
- Buy a Domain
One action is modified from the list of possible actions:
-
Slay a Monster
After you pay the Resources to Slay a Monster, do not take the Monster card. Instead, add the Monster card to the Monster discard pile to the right of the Monster deck.
Since you are not taking the Monster card to score Victory Points at the end of the game, you immediately gain the Victory Points in addition to any rewards at the bottom of the Monster card.
If a Monster reward includes a Citizen card, you may choose a card that is currently captured (in the oubliette) on the Story board as long as it still meets other reward requirements. If a Monster reward includes a Domain card, you instead gain 5 Gold.
Example: Charlie slays a Wraith and its reward is to gain a Citizen card worth 2 Gold or less. He takes a Knight from the captured Citizens on the Story board and adds to his tableau.
Important: After you move the Monster card to the discard pile and the slot is empty, do not add an Exhaustion card. The slot will be refilled during the End Phase.
Three new actions are added to the list of possible actions. You may take the same action more than once on a turn. The new actions are:
-
Pray to Aquila
This action allows you to spend Victory Points to either build a Wall or use a Blessing card on the Aquila board.
To build a Wall, pay 8 Victory Points and take a Wall tile from the Aquila board and place it below a Monster card that does not already have a Wall token with the full wall illustration face-up.
Example: Kira sees that Monster will attack during the Monster Phase, but she does not have enough Strength to slay it. There is no Wall tile below the Monster so it will discard a Citizen card when it attacks. She uses an action to Pray to Aquila and pays 8 Victory Points to take a Wall tile from the Aquila board and place it with the full wall illustration face-up below the Monster.
To use a Blessing card, pay the Victory Points noted on the bottom of the Blessing card to receive the item listed to the right of the arrow.
Note: The conversion Blessing card does not require you to spend Victory Points.
Example: Charlie needs more Magic. Luckily, there is a Blessing card on the Aquila board that will give him Magic. He uses an action to Pray to Aquila and pays 2 Victory Points and gains 4 Magic. He then moves the Blessing card to the discard pile to the left of the Blessing deck.
-
Share Resources
This Action allows you to share Resources with another player. Pay any amount of one type of Resource and choose another player to gain half as many of one type of Resource (rounded up) of their choice. The type of the Resource the other player chooses need not be the same type of Resource you paid.
Example: Kira has a lot of Gold that she doesn't need. She sees that Charlie may need more Magic to complete a task. She uses her action to Share Resources with Charlie. She pays 11 Gold. Charlie decides to take Magic, and gains 6 Magic.
-
Engage the Book
This action allows you to pay the resources needed to complete a Task in the book. In order to Engage the Book:
Monster Phase
A new Monster Phase is added after each player's Action Phase. Monsters and the Book will attack according to the dice result of the Roll Phase.
Note: It is possible that the dice result may have changed during your Action Phase if you used a certain Blessing card. Use the changed dice result when resolving this phase.
The value on each die and the sum of both dice activates a column or the Book in the following order:
- Starting with 1 and continuing up in ascending order up to 5, if there is a Monster card below an activated Number tile, the column is activated and attacked. If there is a Wall tile, it is flipped to the damaged side. If the Wall tile is already on the damaged side, it is moved down to the left slot of the Aquila board. If there is no Wall tile, then the Active Player must Discard a Citizen card from either of the 2 stacks and move it to the oubliette slot on the Story board.
- Starting with 1 and continuing up in ascending order up to 5, if a Shade Monster has an Activation Condition met, carry out the Instructions. If a Shade Monster has the Wild Die icon, then it activates if the Number tile above it was activated. Some Shade Monsters will just attack the column as normal, but others will be able to Discard or Banish Citizen cards, ignoring the Wall tiles.
- Finally, if you have activated a 6, first check the Shade Monster cards in the Monster row, then follow the instructions in the Book.
Important: For all steps, if you must Discard or Banish a Citizen card and there are no valid Citizen cards to choose, you immediately lose the game.
End Phase
The End Phase is completely changed from the base game rules. The Active player must perform the following steps in order:
- If all Achievement tokens (1 per player) have been placed on a Task page, move the Achievement tokens off of the Task and turn the page. Read any flavor text and execute any new instructions before moving forward. Important: If you have reached the final page in the Book, you have won the game and do not need to proceed forward in this Phase.
- Refill any empty Blessing card slots from the Blessing deck so there are 3 face-up Blessing cards. If the Blessing deck is exhausted, shuffle the discards to form a new Blessing deck.
- Refill any empty Monster card slots from the Monster deck so there are 5 face-up Monster cards. If the Monster deck is exhausted, shuffle the discards to form a new Monster deck.
- Pass the dice to the player to your left and their turn begins.
Ending the Game and Scoring
The Ending the Game and Scoring sections of the base game rules are ignored. There are now only 2 end-game conditions:
- If you must Discard or Banish a Citizen card and there are no valid Citizen cards to choose, you immediately lose the game.
- If you have reached the final page in the Book, you win the game!
If you have lost the game, reassemble the Book in card order according to the letter and number sequence at the bottom of each card. You may then set up the game using the game setup instructions, changing any Citizen or Monster cards as you see fit.
If you win the game, place any cards or tokens you were told to reserve inside of the tuck box. Note: You may also want to reserve any cards with rules text to remind you how to use cards or components.
Items in the tuck box will accrue after every Book and will be used in all future Books in the Darksworn Saga.
When you are ready, you may play the next Book in the Darksworn Saga (see below).
Continuing Your Adventure
After winning Book One: The Prophesy, you may either continue on to the next Book in the Darksworn Saga or play the Dungeon Delve: The Lost Temple Book.
Continuing on to a New Book
As you continue the Darksworn Saga, use the components inside the tuck box which you have reserved according to instructions from previous Books.
Setup is the same as when you set up Book One: The Prophesy with a few minor adjustments:
- During step 2, you will unwrap the next Book in the Darksworn Saga.
- During step 4, after setting up the initial Monster deck, you will randomly select 1 Shade Monster card per the Book number you are playing and shuffle them into the Monster deck. Example: If you are playing Book Three: The Shores of Kosk, you will randomly select 3 Shade Monster cards to shuffle into the Monster deck.
Additionally, you will shuffle in any Shade Monster cards that you reserved in the tuck box from previous Books.
Adjusting Difficulty
Selecting Monster Areas is the best way to adjust the difficulty while playing any of the Books. For a more difficult challenge, use Monster Areas with higher Strength and/or Magic cost.
During step 9, each player will start the game with a number of Victory Points equal to the Book number you are playing. Example: If you are playing Book Three: The Shores of Kosk, each player will start the game with 3 Victory Points.
Dungeon Delve
This is not part of the Darksworn Saga and items in the tuck box will not be used, except for the Radiant tokens you received in Book One: The Prophesy.
Setup is the same as when you set up Book One: The Prophesy with a few minor adjustments:
- During step 2, you will place the Book Dungeon Delve: The Forgotten Temple on the Story board (unwrapped, if you have not played it before).
- During step 4, after setting up the initial Monster deck, you will shuffle all 9 Shade Monster cards into the Monster deck.
- During step 9, each player will start the game with 2 Gold, 2 Strength, 2 Magic, and 2 Victory Points.
Transcriber note: the printed rulebook names the Dungeon Delve book "The Lost Temple" on page 12 and "The Forgotten Temple" on page 13. Both names are reproduced as printed. Pages 14 and 15 of the printed rulebook are blank.