Valhalla: Solo Mode Expansion Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Solo Mode
  • Game preparation
  • Gameplay
  • Battle
  • Maximum additional strength
  • Winning and Losing the Solo Variant
  • Solo Variant – Difficulty Levels
  • Solo Mode with an additional deck
  • Cooperative Mode

Solo Mode

In this mode of Valhalla, a single player takes on the role of a Jarl who leads a team of Warriors into battle against a mighty monster. The player only fights a single monster, but such giant, dangerous and resilient creatures cannot be defeated in just one fight. Only after many successful attacks can the final blow be inflicted and the brave Jarl with his team welcomed to Valhalla.

The solo variant is based on the basic rulebook. We suggest that you play a standard game of Valhalla with 2-6 players, or at least familiarize yourself with the standard rules, before you play the Solo Mode variant.

Each Monster card shows: the monster's battle strength; the maximum additional strength a player can have in his Valhalla; the clans assigned to a particular monster card; the symbols required to activate the monster's attack; and the monster's special powers.

Game preparation

1. To begin the game, the player first chooses a monster they wish to fight.
   • Each monster consists of a set of cards, that represent a different level of wounds and battle strength.
   • After choosing a monster, the player places the monster's cards face up in front of himself. The cards should be organized in ascending order of strength: the highest strength card should be on the bottom, the next highest atop it, and so on. The card with the lowest strength should be at the top of the pile. The card on top of the pile is the monster's active card.
   • Before the game, the player may look through the monster's cards in order to get to know their enemy. During the game, the player may only look at the card directly below the active one.
   • The player should place a set of 6 dice to the side of the pile of the chosen monster's cards. These dice are assigned to the monster.
2. The player places a Reference card for Solo Mode next to the monster. He may also use the Turn Order card and track the phase of the turn by moving any unused shield token.
3. The player chooses the difficulty level. In the first game we suggest Level I. The rules below explain the rules for Level I.
4. The player places a game board in front of them as well as 4 shields in the color of their choice.
5. The player freely chooses a Jarl card and places it to the left of their game board. Many Jarls have a special ability that doesn't apply in the Solo Mode, so the player should only choose one that has a special ability which does apply in Solo Mode. Later in the rulebook, there is a list of Jarls that may be used for solo play. We suggest trying out different Jarls in subsequent games for different experiences during play.
6. The deck will now be prepared. The player thoroughly shuffles the 120-card deck and discards 40 cards from the top of the deck, creating a discard pile.
7. The player draws 6 cards and keeps all of them in their hand. Before the start of the game, the player may exchange any of the cards in their hand. If they choose to, they place chosen cards aside, draw the same number of new cards, and shuffle the cards placed back into the deck. The player may do that only once, and after drawing new cards, he may not go back to the cards placed aside.

Gameplay

Gameplay is divided into turns. On every turn, the player executes Phase A, Phase B, and then the "monster phase". Phases A and B are exactly the same as those in the standard Valhalla game. During Phase A, the player takes 1 of 4 possible actions, and during Phase B they draw 2 cards, choose one to keep, and discard the other.

Players are still obliged to play a Warrior in Phase A, if his team is empty.

If a player has no Warriors on his team after Phase B, the monster phase is skipped this turn.

After Phase B, the monster phase is resolved:

1. The player rolls the monster dice on the right side of the monster card. On the first turn he rolls all 6 of the dice; on subsequent turns there may be fewer dice.
2. After the monster's dice are rolled, the player looks for any matches between the rolled weapons and those required to activate the monster. If any of the rolled weapons match those on the monster card, the player places them on the corresponding weapon(s). If all of the weapons on the card are filled, the monster attacks. If only some or none of the weapons are matched, those that were not matched are placed aside, near the monster's deck. Any matched weapons remain on the monster card.

Battle

There are a few rules changes in battles, and some of the cards work slightly differently.

The biggest change to the rules is in the player's Valhalla: All of the Glory Points gathered in the player's Valhalla serve as a constant strength bonus in battles.

In the following sections you will learn what causes Warriors to go to Valhalla.

Cards in Valhalla should be kept in such a way, that the player may easily add up their total Glory Points. In battle – while attacking as well as defending – the player adds the sum of those Glory Points to the sum of their strength (from activated Warriors and played Battle Tactics cards). Player may use two Help cards to keep the Glory Points sum more visible.

Player's attack: If the player decides to attack the monster on their turn, they roll their dice, use Battle Tactics cards and rerolls in order to attempt to win the battle. On the attack, the goal is to match or exceed the Battle Strength shown on the monster's active card.

Victory while attacking: When the player meets or exceeds the strength of the monster, the attack is successful, and the monster is critically wounded. First, all the dice on the Monster card are placed aside with the rest of the monster dice. Then, the defeated card is placed aside, revealing a higher-level monster card — the wounded monster has grown in their wrath and strength.

All of the activated Warriors on the player's team go to the player's Valhalla, unless they exceed the maximum additional strength shown on the newly revealed monster card. Warriors in Valhalla are kept face up to add their Glory Points.

After an attack, the player moves on to Phase B and then to the monster phase.

Defeat while attacking: If the player loses a battle as an attacker, they can send 1 of their activated Warriors to Valhalla, unless they exceed the maximum additional strength shown on the Monster card. After that, the 2 topmost cards from the deck are discarded. All of the monster's dice remain where they are.

Monster's attack: If, during a monster phase, all of the weapons on the monster card are covered with their corresponding dice, the monster attacks the player and the player must defend himself.

The strength shown on the monster's active card is the monster's Battle Strength. The player is the defender and can only successfully defend himself by achieving a Battle Strength higher than the monster's.

All battle rules remain the same as explained above. Regardless of the outcome of the battle, all of the dice on the Monster card are taken off and placed aside.

Victory in defense: After winning a battle in defense, the player may send any of their activated Warriors to Valhalla, unless they exceed the maximum additional strength shown on the Monster card. They decide whether they send some, all or none of their activated Warriors.

When a player wins a battle in defense they do not remove the top Monster card. They may only do so by winning a battle while attacking.

Defeat in defense: If the player is defeated while defending, they can send 1 of their activated Warriors to Valhalla, unless they exceed the maximum additional strength shown on the Monster card. Then they must remove 1 of their shields from their game board and discard the 2 topmost cards from the deck.

Other rules changes in the battle:

• For the purposes of the special abilities of the Boar Clan (yellow), Monster cards have clan colors assigned to them. If the color on a Monster card matches the one on a yellow Warrior with a special power, that Warrior receives 3 additional strength points.
• Special powers of the Ice Giants work slightly differently. The first Ice Giant that the player activates gives them one additional die. After activating that Ice Giant, the player rolls 1 additional die, then adds it to their dice pool. Any other Ice Giants activated in that battle don't give an additional die.
• Battle Tactics that require having a smaller battle team than the opponent work when the player has less Warriors than Warrior symbols shown on the Monster card.
• Some monsters have special abilities shown on the bottom of the Monster card. Battle Tactics cards that deactivate Jarls' powers while attacking deactivate that special ability for one battle.

In your first solo game we advise ignoring monsters' special powers. That will make the gameplay easier and will help the player to familiarize himself with Solo Mode.

The remaining Battle Tactics and abilities work exactly the same as they do in regular gameplay. Just like in standard battles, the player may discard 1 die from their pool of dice to reroll any remaining dice they have. They may freely use their Jarl's abilities and any Battle Tactics cards they have. Used Battle Tactics cards go to the discard pile after the battle.

Maximum additional strength

The sum of the Glory Points of the Warriors in a player's Valhalla may never exceed the limit shown on the Monster card. When the player would send Warriors that would exceed the limit of Glory Points, the excess Warriors are discarded.

Important rule: After winning on the attack, the new monster card is revealed and the new limit is revealed. After that, Warriors go to Valhalla.

Winning and Losing the Solo Variant

Defeat: The player may lose the game in two ways:

• If the player loses in defense and loses his fourth shield. If that happens he immediately loses the game.
• If the player draws (or discards) the last card from the deck, he may attack for the last time, regardless of the moment in the game. It is only possible if the active Monster card is the last one. If any other card is on the top of the monster deck, the player loses immediately. If the player loses the final attack, they lose the game.

Victory: After defeating the last Monster card, the player wins the game. The player is the winner if he won by attacking in Phase A or after making an attack triggered by drawing the final card from the deck.

Jarls available to choose from in Solo Mode: Sigurd, Solveig, Sigvard, Hödr, Agnar, Villsvin, Valgard, Styr, Vingor, Aslaug, Einar, Thord, Ottar, Esbjörn, Egil, Beinir, Bernhard.

Solo Variant – Difficulty Levels

There are 3 difficulty levels to choose from in solo play.

• Difficulty Level I - Casual: After losing a battle (while attacking or defending), the player discards 2 cards from the deck.
• Difficulty Level II - Hardcore: After losing a battle (while attacking or defending), the player discards 4 cards from the deck.
• Difficulty Level III - Insane: After losing a battle (while attacking or defending), the player discards 6 cards from the deck.

Solo Mode with an additional deck

More experienced players may decide to add a 40-card expansion (e.g. Valkyries) to the base 120-card Solo Mode deck. In that variant, the game is prepared the exact same way as in the basic game. During the game, in Phase B, the player draws 3 cards and keeps 1 of them.

In that variant, the monster deck is placed on the reverse side marked with the (+40) symbol. Monsters in this variant are stronger.

Deck expansions that are available to use in this variant:

• Valkyries
• Elves of Alfheim
• Champions of Midgard
• Riders of War
• Warriors of Asgard

Solo Mode may be used with two deck expansions and other expansions using the Valhalla App.

Cooperative Mode

In Cooperative Mode, 2-4 players fight together against the monster. That variant is only available with the Valhalla App.