Wakening Lair Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • 1. Awaken a Room
  • 2. Actions
    • Move Action
    • Use Hero Ability or Magic Item Power
    • Hero Archetypes
    • Attack Types
    • Attack Action
    • Resolve Damage
    • Room Advantage
    • Press the Attack
    • Effect Markers
  • 3. Claim Treasure
  • Special Treasure Cards
  • Treasure Card Notes
  • 4. Get Attacked
  • Healing
  • Death
  • End of Turn, Part 1
• The Monstrous Terror Awakens!
  • Attacking the Monstrous Terror
    • Defeat All Monsters in the Same Room
    • Declare Damage Zone
    • Weakness
    • Immunity
  • Getting Attacked
  • End of Turn, Part 2
• Winning the Game
• Monstrous Terror Reference
  • Grimgear
  • Whiptail
  • Cindershroud
  • Mudmuck
  • Widowfang
  • Soulbane

Components

• 9 Hero cards (18 heroes)
• 6 Monstrous Terror boards
• 3 dice
• 30 Effect markers
• 40 Damage markers
• 24 Monster cards
• 1 Monstrous Terror Awakens! card
• 24 Treasure cards
• 12 Room cards
• 9 Hero tokens

Setup

1. Shuffle the 12 Room cards and lay them in a row face down. Turn over the Room 1 card—this is the Wakening Lair's entrance. Leave some space on both sides of the Room cards for Monster cards and the Monstrous Terror.
2. Shuffle the 6 Monstrous Terror boards and randomly pick 1. Place it face down on Room 12. Return the other Monstrous Terrors to the box, unseen.
3. Select a Hero card and place the matching Hero token on the Lair entrance.
4. Shuffle the Treasure cards and set them to one side within easy reach of all players.
5. Shuffle the Monster cards. Count out 8 Monster cards (don't look at them!) and add the Monstrous Terror Awakens! card to them. Shuffle these cards and place the other 16 Monster cards on top to create the Monster deck.
6. Place Damage and Effect markers and dice within easy reach of everyone then decide who goes first. Take turns clockwise around the table.

A six-sided die is referred to as a D6. If you are required to roll one die, you roll 1D6; two dice, 2D6; three dice, 3D6.

Use Effect markers (white) to track bonuses used to increase or decrease your die rolls. Keep track of Damage with Damage markers (red).

Gameplay

1. Awaken a Room

At the beginning of your turn, roll 2D6. Starting with the Lair entrance, count the Room cards laid out on the table up to the number rolled and flip over that card. Draw 1 or 2 cards from the Monster deck as indicated on the Room card. Place the Monster cards to the right of the Room card—the Room has awakened.

If the die roll indicates a Room card that has already been flipped over, add 1 additional Monster to the Room (up to a maximum of 3 Monster cards in any given Room). If you roll a Room with 3 Monster cards, do not draw a Monster card; the Room is full. If you roll a 12, do not awaken a Room or draw a Monster card. (See The Monstrous Terror Awakens!, Page 9).

Room card labels: Number of Monsters Appearing; Room Advantage.

Hero card labels: Hero Archetype; Attack Types; Hero Ability; Damage Boxes.

2. Actions

On your turn you may perform up to 3 actions from the following list. You may perform the same Action more than once, and may perform them in any order.

Move Action

With 1 Move Action you may move your Hero (represented by your Hero token) through any number of adjacent Room cards that have been awakened (flipped face up), as long as they have no Monster or Trap cards. Moving into a Room with a Monster or Trap card ends that Move Action. You may use another Move Action to keep going.

You can use a Move Action to enter a Room that has not awakened; that Move Action ends. Flip the Room card face up and populate it (see Awaken a Room). You may use another Move Action to keep going.

Use Hero Ability or Magic Item Power

Some Hero abilities or Magic Item powers (such as Wizard's Portal or Dragon's Breath Elixir) require you to spend an Action to activate them. Refer to the specific Hero or Treasure card for more details.

Hero Archetypes

• Fighters: Barbarian, Monk, Paladin
• Arcanists: Wizard, Necromancer, Witch
• Wanderers: Bard, Ranger, Rogue

Attack Types

Fire, Frost, Grievous, Holy, Poison, Precision.

Attack Action

All heroes start the game with the 2 Attack Types shown on their Hero card. With an Attack Action, you can Attack any Monster that is in the same Room as your Hero. Declare the Monster you are attacking. Choose 1 of the 2 Attack Types on your Hero card and roll 1D6 Attack dice. If the Attack Type you choose matches the monster's Weakness, you can Press the Attack (Page 6).

Heroes do not start the game with a Weapon. However, you can acquire weapons by defeating monsters.

If you have a Weapon (see Treasure Cards, Page 6), you can use the Weapon Attack Type, with the following restrictions:

Monster card labels: Damage Boxes; Weakness; Monster Name.

• Example 1: If the Weapon Hero Preference A does not match your Hero Archetype B and the Weapon Attack Type C does not match either of your Hero Attack Types D, roll 1D6 Attack dice.
• Example 2: If the Weapon Hero Preference A does not match your Hero Archetype B, but the Weapon Attack Type C matches 1 of your Hero Attack Types D, roll 2D6 Attack dice.
• Example 3: If the Weapon Hero Preference A matches your Hero Archetype B, but the Weapon Attack Type C matches neither of your Hero Attack Types D, gain the Weapon Bonus Attack E, and roll 2D6 Attack dice.
• Example 4: If the Weapon Hero Preference A matches your Hero Archetype B AND the Weapon Attack Type C matches 1 of your Hero Attack Types D, gain the Weapon Bonus Attack E, and roll 3D6 Attack dice.

You always Attack with 1 Weapon. If you wish, you can change the Weapon you use with each Attack Action. You never roll more than 3D6 to Attack.

Resolve Damage

Never total your Attack roll; each D6 is applied individually.

Compare your highest D6 (after adding in any bonuses) to the leftmost Damage Box on the Monster card. If the roll meets or exceeds this number, place a Damage marker on the Damage Box. Repeat the process with all the Attack dice you rolled. If your highest Attack roll is lower than the leftmost unmarked Damage Box, your Attack missed.

When all the Damage Boxes on a Monster card have been filled, you have defeated the Monster. Discard it and that Attack Action ends. If you rolled more Attack dice than were required to defeat a Monster, those rolls cannot be applied to another Monster in the Room. You must take a new Action to Attack a different Monster.

Room Advantage

If either Attack Type on your Hero card matches the Room Advantage icons (see Room Cards, Page 4), you get a +1 bonus to each Attack die you roll while in that Room. The bonus applies REGARDLESS of the Weapon or Attack Type you use. Room Advantage and Effect markers work together (see below).

Press the Attack

If the Attack Type you use matches the Weakness on a Monster card (Page 5), and at least 1 Attack die causes Damage, you can continue to Attack as part of the same Attack Action. Roll your Attack dice again. You can continue to Press the Attack as long as at least one of your Attack dice causes Damage and the Monster remains undefeated.

If you Press the Attack and all of your Attack dice miss or you defeat the Monster, that particular Attack Action ends. You cannot use the same Attack Action to continue to Press the Attack on a different Monster.

Example: Bristlecone using the Phoenix Bow rolls 3D6 Attack dice against a Goblin Fighter. He gets a 6, 3, and 2. He requires a 4 to hit the first Damage Box on the Goblin Fighter, and a 5 on the second. He hits with the 6, but misses with the 3 and 2. The Goblin Fighter's Weakness is Fire (the Attack Type on the Phoenix Bow). Bristlecone can Press the Attack and roll all 3D6 again on the same Attack Action.

Effect Markers

Some Hero abilities and Magic Item powers allow you to modify your Attack rolls up or down as needed. As you accumulate Effect markers, place them on your Hero card. Remove them when you modify a die roll. Using an Effect marker does not require an Action.

Example: Lyric's Bardsong ability gives all heroes in the same room with her an Effect marker. On your turn, you could spend the Effect marker to add +1 on a die roll to change a 3 to a 4. If you had 2 Effect markers, you could spend them to change a 3 to a 5. Similarly, you could reduce a die roll from a 5 to a 4 by spending an Effect marker (see Monstrous Terror Reference, Page 10).

3. Claim Treasure

Every time you defeat a Monster, immediately draw a Treasure card. You choose whether to arm your Hero with the Weapon or use the Magic Item; we call this equipping. You may equip either the Weapon or the Magic Item, but not both. You can choose to keep the Treasure card Held in Reserve (Page 7) for later use, or give it away.

Equip a Weapon by placing the Treasure card under the left side of your Hero card, covering the Magic Item. Cover the Weapon with your Hero card to equip a Magic Item.

Treasure card labels: Hero Preference; Bonus Attack Type; Attack Type; Magic Item Power.

You can use any Weapon. However, you can equip only 1 Weapon of each Attack Type. If you equip a Weapon, ignore the Magic Item on that Treasure card; it cannot be used.

Example: Mobius has equipped the Phoenix Bow and Bone Rot. On his turn, he defeats a Goblin and draws the Sunstone Rod. He cannot equip both the bow and the rod because they are both Attack Type: Fire. Because the rod prefers Arcanists, Mobius chooses to keep it and discards the bow.

Similarly, you can equip multiple Magic Items, but only 1 of any specific item.

Example: Kata has equipped Beads of the Four Winds and cannot equip a second identical Magic Item.

If you remove a Weapon or Magic Item from your equipment, immediately discard it. You may choose to discard a Weapon or Magic Item at any time. You cannot give away a Weapon or Magic Item you have already equipped. To give away a Treasure card, it must be Held in Reserve.

Held in Reserve: You cannot use either the Weapon or the Magic Item on a Treasure card Held in Reserve; you may equip a Treasure card Held in Reserve at any time.

You can give a Treasure card Held in Reserve to another player. Your Hero must pass through or occupy the same Room as the Hero you wish to give the Treasure card(s) to. This is not an Action.

Special Treasure Cards

Scroll of Resurrection: Play immediately after a Hero dies to restore that Hero to life. Remove ALL Damage and Effect markers from the Hero card. The resurrected Hero keeps all of their weapons and magic items. The scroll can be played by anyone possessing it whenever a Hero dies. A Scroll of Resurrection is ALWAYS Held in Reserve, never equipped. Discard it after use.

Trap: Traps infest the deck of Treasure cards. When you draw a Trap card, place it next to the Room card you are in and activate it by rolling 1D6. The Trap affects only the active Hero. Any time a Hero moves into or through a Room with a Trap, roll 1D6 and suffer the effect. A Trap remains active until destroyed (attacked as a Monster) or it is discarded by the Rogue using its Hero Ability.

Trap card text (printed on the card): Place the Trap in the same Room as your Hero. Immediately roll 1D6 and apply the result to your Hero. Any time a Hero enters the Room, roll 1D6 and apply the result to the Hero.

Trap table (printed on the card):

• 1: No effect
• 2: Discard 1 Treasure card
• 3: Roll 2D6 and move your Hero to that Room. If you roll a 12, do not move your Hero
• 4: Your Hero receives 1 Damage
• 5: Your Hero receives 1 Damage
• 6: Your Hero receives 2 Damage

Treasure Card Notes

Weapon cards carry no ability text of their own. A Weapon's rules are the Hero Preference, Bonus Attack Type and Attack Type icons, as described above under Claim Treasure.

The printed ability text on the Magic Item cards in the rulebook reads:

• Beads of the Four Winds: You have 1 additional Action every turn.
• Channeling Amulet: If the Room you are in matches 1 of the Attack Types on your Hero card, you may Press the Attack against any opponent in the Room regardless of its Weakness.
• Dragon's Breath Elixir: Sacrifice 1 Action this turn to gain 5 Effect markers on your next turn. Discard unused markers from this item at the end of your next turn.
• Thieves' Dice: Once per turn, you may reroll any number of dice from a single Attack roll.

Source note: the card illustrations on pages 6–8 overlap one another in the printed layout, so the ability text of some other Magic Item and Hero cards (for example the Voodoo Doll) is not fully legible in the source and is not transcribed here.

4. Get Attacked

If there are still monsters in your Room after you have taken all of your actions, you roll for Monster attacks. Resolve the attacks for each Monster separately, from nearest to farthest from the Room card. For each Monster, roll 1D6 Attack dice for each unmarked Damage Box on its card. Roll attacks only for Monsters in the same Room as your Hero.

Compare the highest D6 roll to the topmost unmarked Damage Box on your Hero card. If the roll meets or exceeds this number, place a Damage marker on it. Repeat the process with the rest of the Attack dice (if any). If the highest Attack roll was lower than topmost unmarked Damage Box, the Attack roll fails.

If there are no Monster cards next to the Room card, you are not attacked. Monsters never Press the Attack.

Example: Bristlecone is in a Room with a Goblin Fighter and an Orc Marauder. The Goblin Fighter has 3 Damage Boxes, but 1 of them has a Damage marker on it, so Bristlecone's player rolls 2D6 Attack dice for it. The Goblin Fighter gets a 2 and 3. It needs a 4 to hit. Both Attack dice miss!

The Orc Marauder has 3 Damage Boxes and no Damage markers, so Bristlecone's player rolls 3D6 Attack dice for it. The Orc Marauder gets a 4, 3, and 5. Bristlecone is hit! His player places 2 Damage markers on Bristlecone's Hero board starting with the topmost unmarked Damage Box.

Healing

The Paladin, Necromancer, and Bard Hero abilities allow them to heal—always bring at least one with you! Whenever your Hero gets healed, remove a number of Damage markers from the Damage Boxes on your Hero card equal to how much healing you received. Remove Damage markers from the bottom up.

Death

If all of your Hero's Damage Boxes are covered by Damage markers, it dies. You or another player can discard a Scroll of Resurrection (see above) to completely heal your dead Hero and allow you to continue play. Resurrected heroes keep all their weapons and magic items, but lose all Damage and Effect markers.

Note: If one of the heroes dies and cannot be resurrected, everyone loses the game. (See Winning the Game, Page 10.)

End of Turn, Part 1

Once you've been attacked, that's the end of your turn. Pass the dice to the player to your left. It's their turn.

The Monstrous Terror Awakens!

When the Monstrous Terror Awakens! card is drawn from the Monster deck, the following happens:

1. Reveal the Monstrous Terror board and place it next to Room 12 on the left side of the row of Room cards, opposite the Monster cards.
2. Flip over all Room cards that have not awakened, including Room 12. DO NOT populate these rooms with monsters.
3. Players no longer roll at the beginning of their turn to awaken rooms in the Lair.
4. At the end of each player's turn, the Monstrous Terror advances 1 Room card toward the Lair entrance. Any monsters (not traps) in the same Room as the Monstrous Terror join and move with it. There can now be more than 3 Monster cards to a Room. Otherwise, continue play as normal.

Attacking the Monstrous Terror

Defeat All Monsters in the Same Room

All the other monsters protect the Monstrous Terror. Before you can Attack or be attacked by the Monstrous Terror, any Monster cards in the same Room as a Monstrous Terror must be defeated or moved to another Room.

Declare Damage Zone

Unless stated in the Monstrous Terror descriptions, resolve attacks normally. When all the Damage Boxes in a Damage Zone are full, the zone is disabled. If you rolled more dice than were required to disable a Damage Zone, those dice cannot be applied to another zone. To Attack another Damage Zone, you must perform a new Attack Action.

Weakness

If the Attack Type you use matches the Monstrous Terror's Weakness, and at least 1 Attack die causes Damage, you can continue to Attack as the part of the same Attack Action (see Press the Attack, Page 6).

You can Press the Attack on 1 Damage Zone. However, you cannot disable a Damage Zone and Press the Attack on a new Damage Zone in the same Attack Action.

Immunity

Each Monstrous Terror is immune to an Attack Type. That Attack Type cannot Damage it.

Example: Widowfang is immune to Attack Type: Poison. It cannot be damaged by Nox or Jynx's Poison Attack, Bone Rot, the Forbidden Potion, or Shadowfang.

Getting Attacked

A Monstrous Terror does not Attack if there are Monster cards in the same Room with it. Just roll the Attack dice for the monsters.

If a Monstrous Terror is alone, roll 3D6 Attack dice (except for Widowfang and Mudmuck). Unless specified below, resolve attacks from a Monstrous Terror normally.

End of Turn, Part 2

At the end of your turn, after the Monstrous Terror attacks, advance the Monstrous Terror 1 Room card toward the Lair entrance. As the Monstrous Terror moves, all Monster cards and Hero tokens it encounters in each Room move with it, getting pushed toward the entrance. Pass the dice to your left as before.

Winning the Game

If the Monstrous Terror gets out or a Hero dies and cannot be resurrected, everyone loses the game. Better luck next time.

Everyone wins if you defeat the Monstrous Terror before it moves out of the Lair entrance (off the first Room card). Huzzah and celebrations!

Monstrous Terror Reference

Grimgear

Grimgear is divided into 5 Damage Zones: 1 head, 2 arms, and 2 legs.

To hit Grimgear, you must declare the Damage Zone you are attacking and roll the exact required number. Use Effect markers to adjust Attack rolls up or down. Room Advantage does not apply when fighting Grimgear.

Example: You Attack Grimgear's head and roll a 2, 2, and 5. Place a Damage marker on the 2 and 5 Damage Boxes in the head's Damage Zone. Because you already filled in the 2 on the head, the second 2 does not hit. You could use an Effect marker (if you have any) from a Hero ability to make the 2 a 3, and score a hit.

If you roll a 1 on an Attack against Grimgear, you must discard 1 Treasure card of your choosing. No matter how many 1s you roll, you can only lose 1 Treasure card on a single Attack roll. You can avoid losing a Treasure card by spending an Effect marker to adjust a 1 to a 2.

Whiptail

Whiptail is divided into 6 Damage Zones: 1 head, 4 claws, and 1 tail. Whiptail's attacks never miss.

Roll 3D6 Attack dice. A roll of 2, 3, 4, or 5 indicates a claw hits your Hero for 1 Damage. On a roll of 1 or 6, Whiptail's head or tail causes 1 Damage to ALL the heroes in the Room. A Damage Zone can inflict Damage only once per turn.

Example: Whiptail rolls a 4, 4, and 5 on an Attack. Your Hero receives 1 Damage from Damage Zone 4 and 1 Damage from Damage Zone 5.

A defeated Damage Zone cannot cause Damage.

Cindershroud

Cindershroud is divided into 3 Damage Zones of 6 Damage Boxes each. It also is surrounded by a Ring of Burning Ash. Place 6 Effect markers on the numbered spaces to represent the ring around Cindershroud.

At the beginning of your turn, roll 1D6 to create a corridor in the Ring of Burning Ash. Remove the Effect marker from that space to reveal the number beneath. When attacking Cindershroud, you must roll that exact number to hit. You can use an Effect marker to adjust Attack rolls up or down. Room Advantage does not apply when fighting Cindershroud.

Example: Effect markers have been removed from the 2 and 5 on Cindershroud. You can hit by rolling a 2 or a 5 on your Attack dice. Anything else misses.

For Cindershroud, roll 3D6 Attack dice and resolve Damage normally. Replace missing Effect markers in the Ring of Burning Ash that correspond to Cindershroud's Attack rolls. The fires reignite!

Example: In the previous example, Effect markers had been removed from the 2 and 5 in the Ring of Burning Ash. Cindershroud rolls a 2, 3, and 4 on its Attack. Replace an Effect marker on the 2, but leave the 5 vacant. An Attack roll of 5 will still succeed.

Mudmuck

Mudmuck's Damage Zones must be defeated in descending order. First, the top line; second, the center 2; third, the bottom 4.

Until the top Damage Zone is defeated, Mudmuck rolls 3D6 Attack dice. When the top zone is defeated, Mudmuck splits into 2 smaller creatures; each rolls 2D6 Attack dice. When 1 of the center Damage Zones is defeated, it splits into 2 smaller creatures, each rolling 1D6 Attack dice. Treat each Damage Zone as an independent Monster.

It is possible to have 1 center Damage Zone and 2 bottom Damage Zones active at the same time.

Widowfang

Widowfang is divided into 9 Damage Zones: 8 legs and 1 body. All of Widowfang's 8 legs must be defeated before you can Attack the body.

Before Widowfang attacks, roll 1D6. On a 4, 5, or 6, Widowfang covers you in webs. You take no Damage, and it does not Attack you, but you are stuck in the Room when Widowfang advances and must stay there until your next turn or until you are moved to another Room via Wizard's Portal.

If you are not hit by it's web, Widowfang rolls 2D6 Attack dice twice. Resolve Damage normally.

Soulbane

Soulbane is divided into 4 Damage Zones. Once you hit a Damage Zone, it must be defeated before a new Damage Zone can be attacked.

When Soulbane is revealed, any Wraith or Skeleton Monster cards in play or in the discard pile are moved to Room 12 with it. These must be defeated before Soulbane can be attacked. Do not collect Treasure cards for defeating wraiths or skeletons.

Before Soulbane attacks, roll 1D6. Soulbane heals the resulting Damage on Monster cards in its Room, starting with the Monster with the most Damage. If there are no monsters to heal, Soulbane heals itself. Still roll to heal even if Soulbane cannot Attack. Soulbane rolls 3D6 Attack dice. Resolve Damage normally.