World of Warcraft: The Boardgame – The Burning Crusade
World of Warcraft: The Boardgame – The Burning Crusade Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
Below is a list of all components you will find in your copy of The Burning Crusade:
- Rulebook
- Outland kingdom board
- 51 plastic creature miniatures:
| Type | Green | Red | Purple | Blue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abominations | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Arakkoas | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Fungal Giants | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Mo'arg | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Oozes | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ravagers |
- 2 plastic character miniatures (Alliance Shaman and Horde Paladin)
- 2 character sheets
- 9 additional level 6 strips (one for each of the nine classes)
- 14 character counters (7 for each new character)
- 15 poison tokens
- 1 Lord Ragnaros counter
- 1 Ragnaros token
- 20 hit tokens
- 54 class cards (6 for each class)
- 38 "hexagonal" item cards
- 5 special item cards
- 44 Alliance quest cards
- 44 Horde quest cards
- 18 blue quest cards
- 4 event cards
- 6 flight cards
- 177 dungeon cards
- 4 dungeon tokens
- 4 Lord sheets
- 9 eight-sided dice (3 red, 3 blue, 3 green)
- 2 creature stat sheets
There are nine new creature types in The Burning Crusade, and a new purple creature colour. Purple creatures are more dangerous than the existing creature types of the base game. Purple figures are quest creatures, like green and red creatures, and must be destroyed by characters solving quests. Purple figures replace red figures, marking more dangerous monsters of each type. See the section "New Creatures and Creature Stats" on page 8.
Component Overview
Plastic character miniatures. Two new character miniatures represent the Draenei Shaman and the Blood Elf Paladin. After players have chosen their characters at the start of the game, they receive the corresponding plastic miniatures and place them on the game board in the required locations.
Outland kingdom board. The large colour game board of the kingdom of Outland consists of seven regions.
Character sheets. The new character sheets give players the option to choose the Alliance Shaman and the Horde Paladin. They replace the existing Shaman and Paladin character sheets of the base game. Note that only one copy of each class deck is included in the game, i.e. players cannot use both Paladins or both Shamans in one game.
Level 6 strip. The additional level 6 strip supplements the main character sheet and allows a character to advance to level 6. Each class has its own additional strip. See "Level 6" on page 14.
Poison tokens. Some creatures can poison characters during combat (see "Poison tokens" on page 8). Poison tokens are placed under the plastic figure of a poisoned character, to show the active effect at a glance.
Character counters. There are seven counters each for the Alliance Shaman and the Horde Paladin, which are used in the same way as the similar counters of the base game.
Lord Ragnaros counter. This counter is used like the other Overlord tokens of the base game. The Ragnaros Overlord token indicates the location of Ragnaros on the Lordaeron game board. The three Outland Overlords are not marked with Overlord tokens.
Hit tokens. For battles against enemies with increased Health, additional hit tokens are provided. If players run out of hit tokens entirely during combat, gold tokens are used in their place.
Card symbol. All The Burning Crusade cards are marked with a star symbol, to distinguish them from base game cards. This allows them, when necessary, to be easily separated from the base game cards and from other expansions.
Ragnaros token. When Ragnaros is chosen in the game as an Overlord, this token is placed on the Overlord Ragnaros sheet, on the combat round track.
Quest cards (Alliance and Horde). The new green, yellow and red quest cards work like the similar cards of the base game. The new purple quest cards form a new deck representing harder quests (even harder than the red quests).
Some of the new quests require going to Outland. They are called Outland quests, and their front side has a green background. Outland quests can be found in all quest decks except the gray one. This expansion also includes new quests for Lordaeron.
Class cards. The new level 6 class cards work exactly like the similar cards of the base game, giving players more options for improving and changing their characters.
Blue quest cards. The blue quest cards included in this expansion add to the blue quest deck formed by the expansion "Shadow of War". If you have the "Shadow of War" expansion and are playing with the Outland board, simply shuffle the new blue quest cards in with the rest of the blue deck (see page 5 of the "Shadow of War" rulebook). If you do not have the "Shadow of War" expansion, do not use the blue quest cards.
Item cards. The Burning Crusade introduces new item cards, which can be found in dungeons or by completing quests. The new "hexagonal" (orange) item cards are rewards mainly for the new quests and for exploring the Outland dungeons. They work exactly like the item cards of the base game.
Event cards. The new event cards work the same as in the base game and are simply shuffled into the main Event deck.
Dungeon tokens. Dungeon tokens placed on the Lordaeron game board show the locations of dungeons. There are also dungeons on the Outland map, but their tokens are printed directly on the game board. See the chapter "Dungeons" on page 9.
Overlord sheets. This expansion introduces four new Overlords. Three of them – Kael'Thas, Lady Vashj and Illidan Stormrage – are Overlords of Outland and act differently from the Overlords of the base game (see "Outland Overlords" on page 18). The fourth, the new Overlord Ragnaros, uses the same Overlord rules as in the base game.
Flight cards. Flight cards are awarded to characters who reach level 6. They give new options for travelling between the regions on the Outland map. See "Flights" on page 17.
Dungeon cards. Dungeons are new and serious challenges for the players. Each dungeon consists of several Stage decks, each of which represents one stage of the dungeon (Stage 1, Stage 2, etc.). Each Stage deck consists of four different types of cards: Boss cards, Minion cards, Item cards and Reward cards. See the chapter "Dungeons" on page 9.
Dice. The Burning Crusade contains additional eight-sided dice. See "Increasing the number of dice" on page 8.
Creature stat sheets. The Burning Crusade includes two new creature stat sheets. They contain the combat values and special abilities of the new creatures and of the new purple versions of all creature types, and they also raise the difficulty of some creatures originally introduced in the base game. These sheets replace the stat sheets of the base game.
Translation note: the two creature stat sheets carry per-creature numerical tables (Threat, Attack and Health values by creature, colour and difficulty) that are printed on the sheets as component data. They are not reproduced in this rulebook text; use the printed sheets.
Setup
The following steps describe how to prepare to play World of Warcraft: The Board Game using the expansion The Burning Crusade. Each section that is to be modified corresponds to a setup step of the base game. The setup changes are printed numbered 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8 and 9; steps 4 and 7 are not printed in this expansion's setup text.
1. Mark the location of each dungeon in Lordaeron by placing dungeon tokens on the Lordaeron game board, as indicated below. (The Outland dungeons are already printed on the Outland game board.)
| Dungeon | Region |
|---|---|
| Shadowfang Keep | Olsen's Farthing (Silverpine Forest) |
| The Scarlet Monastery | Scarlet Monastery (Tirisfal Glades) |
| Stratholme | Stratholme (Eastern Plaguelands) |
| Scholomance | Caer Darrow (Western Plaguelands) |
2. When players choose their character sheets, they also take the corresponding level 6 character strips and the new level 6 Talent and Power cards for their class.
3. The two new character sheets, the Horde Paladin and the Alliance Shaman, allow both factions to play a class they did not have before. These two sheets replace the Alliance Paladin and the Horde Shaman of the base game. (The printed text gives this sentence in a separate column without a step number; it is set here as the continuation of step 3.)
5. When an Overlord is chosen (randomly or by agreement), one of the three Outland Overlords must be chosen. Note that choosing Illidan Stormrage will result in a longer and more tense game. (If players wish to play against the Overlord Ragnaros, and/or want to use only some elements of The Burning Crusade expansion, see the chapter "Playing without Outland" on page 19.)
6. Distribute all the new item cards into their corresponding decks. Place the new "hexagonal" (orange) item deck next to the other item decks.
8. Distribute all the new quest cards of the expansion into their corresponding decks. Place the new purple quest deck next to the other quest decks.
9. Divide each dungeon into its separate Stage decks (see page 9) and place them in a suitable spot on the table.
Maximizing Your Table Space
The Burning Crusade expansion introduces many new components. If players find themselves running out of table space, the suggestions below can help free up more room for the game.
- Instead of placing the unused piles of creature figures on the table, the extra creature figures can be organized in the lid of the game box.
- If there is another table available, such as a portable card table, it is an ideal place for the Quest decks, Item decks, dungeon Stage decks and the Overlord sheet.
- Instead of placing the piles of tokens on the table, the tokens can be sorted into small individual boxes, which can be kept in the game box until they are needed.
Additional Rules
The following rules describe the new elements of the The Burning Crusade expansion.
Poison Tokens
Some monsters and special abilities can poison characters. Such cases are marked with poison tokens. During combat, in the Damage step, a character must lose one Health token for each poison token he has received. A character who has the ability to remove Health tokens from an alternative source, such as an active Pet or Demon, may choose to remove any combination of Health tokens from his character and/or the alternative source. Poison tokens are removed automatically at the end of the combat or when the character is defeated.
Quick Equipping of Power Cards and Items
Some Power cards and Item cards in this expansion are marked with a spellbook icon. This icon indicates that the card can be equipped quickly.
Treat such cards as if they said the text: "At the start of your action: You may equip this card." That is, the character may equip such a card from his Spellbook or his Bag at the start of any of his actions, including the Challenge action or joining a challenge.
When a character quickly equips a card, he may place it in any free slot of his character sheet, or he may discard a card (including a card without the quick-equip icon) and place the new card in its place.
When a character equips an Item or Power card outside the Manage Character step, he must follow all other usual equipping rules. Equipped items are chosen from the character's Bag; quick-equip Power cards are chosen from the Spellbook; the energy cost of an active Power must be paid; and the type and characteristics of the card must satisfy the restrictions.
The quick-equip ability makes certain cards more convenient, because they can be used as needed more often than only at the end of a faction turn.
Increasing the Number of Dice
In the base game, players were limited to seven dice of each colour. This expansion adds three dice of each colour and raises the maximum number of dice to ten blue, red and green, even if players choose the "Game without Outland" (see page 19).
New Creatures and Creature Stat Sheets
The Burning Crusade adds nine new creatures to the game. Their data is shown on the updated creature stat sheets. These creatures appear in the game like the creatures of the base game, i.e. through Quest cards, Event cards and so on.
The Burning Crusade also introduces a new purple colour of creature figures. Purple creatures are quest creatures, the same as green and red ones, and represent the most deadly version of each creature type. Purple creatures are not independent, so a character is not obliged to end his turn in a region with such a creature and challenge it.
The combat values and special abilities of the new creatures are described on the new stat sheets. The new stat sheets replace the stat sheets of the base game.
When the game is played with this expansion, even if the "Game without Outland" is chosen (see page 19), players must use the new stat sheets. In addition to the new creature types and the purple creatures, the new sheets also increase the difficulty of some green, red and blue creatures of the base game, making the game more tense and less predictable.
Playing with the expansion "Shadow of War": All components of the "Shadow of War" game may be used with The Burning Crusade. See the "Shadow of War" rulebook when using cards from that game.
Dungeons
Dungeons are dangerous locations where characters can unite to destroy the strongest enemies. In The Burning Crusade, dungeons are represented as decks of cards.
Each dungeon is divided into several stages. Lordaeron dungeons have two stages, and Outland dungeons have three. Each subsequent stage of a dungeon increases the danger, but also gives more valuable rewards.
(Illustration: Tempest Keep dungeon cards, stages 1, 2 and 3.)
Entering a Dungeon
A character in a region with a dungeon may spend one of his movement steps during a Travel action to enter the dungeon.
When a character enters a dungeon, remove his miniature from the game board and place it next to the Stage 1 dungeon deck, if the dungeon does not contain another friendly character. A character who enters a dungeon where a friendly character is already present immediately joins that character, on whatever stage the friendly character is, and places his miniature next to the corresponding Stage deck. That is, he does not need to go through the stages that his partner has already passed.
When a character enters a dungeon, he immediately loses any remaining actions.
Any character located next to a dungeon's Stage deck is considered to be "in the dungeon". Any character who is on an Overlord sheet (see "Challenging the Outland Overlord" on page 18) is also considered to be "in the dungeon".
To fight the dungeon boss and advance to the next stage, players must wait for their Dungeon Phase.
Dungeon Phase
After every character of the active faction has completed all of his actions, but before the turn marker is moved, the faction must carry out its Dungeon Phase. If the active faction has no characters in a dungeon, its Dungeon Phase is skipped.
During each Dungeon Phase, the characters of the active faction must challenge the boss of the current dungeon stage and fight it (see "Challenging a Dungeon Boss" on page 12).
When the active faction has completed its dungeon stage, the Dungeon Phase ends and the turn marker is moved on the turn track.
If the active faction's characters are in several dungeons, only one dungeon is resolved at a time, chosen by the faction itself.
Dungeon Cards
There are four types of cards for each dungeon: Boss cards, Minion cards, Item cards and Reward cards.
Boss Cards
Boss cards are distinguished from the other dungeon cards by their unique graphic template (a red colour scheme). The printed parts of a boss card are: the title, the portrait, the reward, the text and the attributes (Threat, Attack and Health).
For a character to advance to the next stage of the dungeon, the characters must defeat the boss of the current stage. Bosses are drawn at random, so the same dungeon can be explored more than once and different bosses can be encountered.
Minion Cards
Minion cards differ noticeably from boss cards in appearance, and they lack the attributes section with the Threat, Attack and Health values. Instead, the minion cards drawn for a given stage strengthen the attributes of that stage's boss. The more minion cards are drawn, the higher the boss's values and the more serious the threat he represents. The printed parts of a minion card are: the title, the portrait, the reward and the text.
Besides increasing the danger on the current stage, minion cards also provide additional rewards, such as gold and experience points.
Item Cards
Item cards are the loot left behind by the defeated boss. Item cards obtained in a dungeon follow the same rules as the item cards of the base game.
Reward Cards
Reward cards offer additional compensation to heroes who risked their lives in the depths of the dungeons. Unlike item cards, which stay with the character, reward cards deliver their benefit and are then usually returned to the corresponding Stage deck of the dungeon.
When characters receive a reward card, they must immediately carry out the effect of the card, after which it is returned to the dungeon's stage deck.
Exception: some reward cards contain the text "keep this card". In these cases one of the friendly characters keeps the reward card until the instructions on the card say it must be discarded. Discarded reward cards are returned to their Stage decks.
Passing a Dungeon Stage
During the Dungeon Phase, all characters of the active faction must pass the dungeon stage next to whose deck they are located. Characters can pass only one stage during a Dungeon Phase, unless a corresponding special ability is in effect.
When a stage is passed, its Stage deck is first thoroughly shuffled. Then cards are drawn from the top one by one, until a Boss card is revealed. That is the boss the characters must defeat in order to obtain the loot and advance to the next stage of the dungeon.
Then the cards drawn before the Boss card – item, reward and minion cards – are examined. The item and reward cards are set aside; they will be the reward if the characters defeat the boss.
Example: Entering a Dungeon
The Alliance faction turn begins. The Alliance Paladin is in the Olsen's Farthing region. He wishes to explore the Shadowfang Keep dungeon, but since characters lose all remaining actions when entering a dungeon, he first takes a Rest action. After the Paladin restores his Health and Energy, he takes a Travel action and spends one movement step to enter the dungeon. He then moves his figure off the game board, placing it next to the Shadowfang Keep Stage 1 deck.
An Alliance Mage in the Pyrewood Village region also decides to explore the Shadowfang Keep dungeon. The Mage takes a Travel action and spends his first movement step to enter the Olsen's Farthing region, and his second movement step to enter the dungeon. The Mage then moves his figure off the game board and places it next to the Shadowfang Keep Stage 1 deck, next to the Paladin.
(Illustration: the Paladin and Mage move off the game board and place their figures next to the Shadowfang Keep Stage 1 deck.)
During the Alliance Dungeon Phase, the Paladin and the Mage must now pass the first stage of the dungeon (see below for how a dungeon Stage deck is resolved). After a bloody combat, the Paladin and the Mage defeat the boss from the Shadowfang Keep Stage 1 deck. After the actions with the deck are completed, the two character figures are moved to the Shadowfang Keep Stage 2 deck.
(Illustration: after completing Stage 1, the characters are moved to the Stage 2 deck.)
During the next Alliance faction turn, an Alliance Warlock spends a Travel action to enter the Shadowfang Keep dungeon. Since friendly characters are already at the Shadowfang Keep Stage 2 deck, the Warlock skips the first stage: she places her figure next to the Shadowfang Keep Stage 2 deck, alongside the Paladin and the Mage.
A character entering a dungeon that contains friendly characters must immediately place his figure next to the deck where his allies are standing.
Minion Cards Drawn for a Stage
Then the number of minion cards is counted. If there are more than two minion cards per character, the players may discard the excess cards. For example, if a group of two heroes has drawn seven minion cards, they may discard three cards, leaving four (two minion cards for each hero).
The group of players itself chooses which minion cards are discarded. This is not done at random. Discarding minion cards is also optional: players are not required to discard any cards, even if their number exceeds "two cards per hero". Players may also discard fewer minion cards than they are entitled to.
Then, the group of players that did not discard minion cards – either by its own choice, or because there were fewer such cards than "two per player" – may draw additional cards from the Stage deck. Each card drawn adds an additional minion, item or reward. (If another Boss card is drawn, it is immediately discarded.) These additional cards are turned face up one at a time, each time increasing either the potential reward (item and reward cards) or the danger of the boss (minion cards). Item and reward cards are set aside together with the similar cards, while minion cards join the minion cards previously drawn from the deck.
Such drawn cards cannot be discarded, even if the number of minion cards is now more than "two per character". Thus players may try their luck and draw more items and rewards from the deck, but they may also face additional minion cards that make the battle against the boss even harder.
Once this is done, the characters are ready to challenge the dungeon boss.
Dungeon Loot
When the boss is defeated, the reward described in the corresponding section of the boss card is distributed among the friendly characters, following the usual rules (see "Quest Rewards" on page 21 of the base rulebook), with one change, described below in the section "Experience Penalty".
Minion cards often increase the rewards arising from the boss card. Gold and experience points given as bonuses are added directly to the values indicated on the boss card, before the reward is received.
After receiving the boss reward, players must distribute the previously set-aside item cards among the characters taking part in the battle. Reward cards, in turn, improve all characters, unless stated otherwise.
Challenging a Dungeon Boss
During a battle with a dungeon boss, characters follow the usual rules, with one exception: as noted above, each minion card additionally increases the parameters and abilities of the boss. Minion cards with effects such as "Health +2" or "Attack +3" directly increase the boss's values. Other abilities are self-explanatory. Note that the effects of all minion cards accumulate. In other words, the abilities of all the minions and of the boss are combined during the battle.
Friendly characters in the same dungeon automatically take part in the battle, as if they had joined the combat using Challenge actions (see "Friendly Characters Joining a Challenge" on page 10 of the base rulebook).
Some properties of dungeon cards change depending on the number of characters taking part in the battle, and vice versa. Regardless of the number of minion cards drawn, dungeon battles are considered to be battles against a single opponent.
Characters killed by the boss must immediately move to the nearest graveyard or to a friendly city on the same game board as the dungeon. They may return to the dungeon later, if they wish, following the usual rules (i.e. return to the region where the dungeon is located and spend movement steps during a Travel action). Characters who return later follow the usual procedure.
If all the characters attempting to pass a dungeon Stage have been killed, the boss card and all the revealed minion, item and reward cards are returned to the same deck from which they were drawn.
If one or two members of a group are killed, but the remaining character from the group defeats the boss in battle, all the killed characters receive an equal share of the experience from the reward for the boss. However, only surviving characters have the right to receive gold, reward cards and item cards.
Experience Penalty
Each time a character wins a victory on a dungeon Stage whose level is lower than the character's level, he suffers an experience penalty. The level of a dungeon Stage is shown on the lower part of the card back. For example, the Stage 1 deck of the Scarlet Monastery dungeon has level 3. Do not confuse the Stage number with its level: the Stage number shows the order in which the stages of a dungeon are passed, while the Stage level is used to show the danger it presents.
(Card back illustration: the Stage level is at the lower left and the Stage number at the lower right.)
If the level of the dungeon Stage is lower than the character's level, then this character suffers an experience penalty.
When the boss rewards are distributed, experience points must be divided as evenly as possible among the battle participants, as described on page 21 of the base rulebook. After the even distribution of experience points, each character whose level is higher than the level of the dungeon Stage must immediately lose all experience points he has received.
Advancing Through Dungeon Stages
(Illustration: when characters enter a dungeon, their figures are placed next to the Stage 1 deck. After winning each Stage, the figures are immediately moved to the next Stage deck. After winning the last Stage, the figures return to the game board and are placed in a region containing a friendly flight route marker. Note that the flight route marker must be on the same game board as the dungeon.)
The placement of the figures shows that the characters have won the previous Stage and that they may fight the next Stage during their next Dungeon Phase. When characters "defeat" the last Stage, they immediately leave the dungeon. This is done by simply moving the figures to any region with a friendly flight route marker on the same map where the dungeon is located. Other characters may move to any other regions they wish.
Note that characters do not receive bonus experience points if their level is higher than the Stage level. (The Russian text reads "lower" ("ниже") here; the example below and the Experience Penalty rule both show that the intended meaning is "higher", so the corrected reading is used. This is a disclosed fix.)
Example: Suppose that a level 2 Mage and a level 4 Paladin have passed the first Stage of the Scarlet Monastery, which has level 3. They defeated the boss card, which gives 5 XP, and a minion card, which gives 2 XP. In total they receive 7 XP. The experience points are divided so that the Mage receives 4 XP and the Paladin 3 XP. However, since the Paladin's level is higher than the level of the Stage, the Paladin receives no experience points at all. As you can see, the grinding through overly "weak" dungeons significantly reduces the reward for the character.
Advancing to the Next Stage
Upon receiving the reward for the victory, immediately move the whole group of character figures to the deck of the next Stage of the dungeon. This position shows that the characters won the previous Stage and that they may fight the next Stage during their next Dungeon Phase. When the characters "defeat" the last Stage, they immediately leave the dungeon, as described above.
Character Actions in a Dungeon
Characters who remain in a dungeon during their faction's turn may take only one action instead of two, as usual. If a character leaves the dungeon, he may take two standard actions during the faction turn (his first action will be a Travel action to leave the dungeon, or a Challenge action against a quest or independent creature in the dungeon's region – see below).
A character in a dungeon has several options for spending his actions:
- Rest and Training actions may be taken as usual.
- A Travel action may be taken to return to the game board. In this case the character moves to the region containing the current dungeon, spending one movement step, and then continues the Travel action in the usual way. However, if there are independent creatures in the dungeon's region, a Travel action cannot be taken (the creatures must be destroyed through a Challenge action, as described below).
- A Challenge action may be taken to attack quest or independent creatures, a boss or an enemy character in the region where the dungeon is located. In this case the character moves into the dungeon and attacks the opponent. A friendly character in the same region (or in the adjacent dungeon) may join the battle by spending his own Challenge action (see "Friendly Characters Joining a Challenge" on page 10 of the base rules).
- A Town action cannot be taken by a character in a dungeon.
Note that a character who has successfully passed a given Stage may not pass it again during the same visit to the dungeon. In other words, the only way to pass the same Stage more than once is to leave the dungeon and return to it later. This also applies to the last Stage of a dungeon.
Alone in a Dungeon? If a lone character does not take an action to leave the dungeon, he must challenge the dungeon boss during his faction's Dungeon Phase. If only your character is in the dungeon, you may ask other characters to come to your aid in challenging the boss (or risk going to the nearest graveyard).
Other Dungeon Rules
- Characters in the same dungeon may not attack each other. There is no PvP combat inside a dungeon.
- Characters in a dungeon may take part in the effects of Event cards and Fate cards.
- Characters who have passed one or more Stages of a dungeon, left it and then returned must start again from Stage 1 (if there is no friendly character already in the dungeon; in that case the entering character automatically advances to the Stage of the friendly character).
- Characters who have passed the Second Stage of a dungeon where the Overlord's lair is located must advance to the Overlord sheet before the Third Stage of the dungeon (see "Challenging the Outland Overlord" on page 18).
Level 6
In the base game, players could advance their characters only up to level 5. The Burning Crusade allows characters to become even stronger by advancing up to level 6.
Two components are used to mark the level:
- First, the experience track printed on the Outland game board. When the game is played with this expansion, the Outland experience track is used instead of the Lordaeron track.
- Second, the additional level 6 sheets for each character sheet (players place them to the right of the main character sheet). Each additional sheet is unique to a specific class, which is indicated on it by a class icon. For example, a player who has chosen the Druid sheet also receives the additional Druid sheet.
(Illustration: correspondence of the character sheet and the supplement placed beside it.)
Each additional level 6 character sheet shows the amount of Health and Energy, adds two areas for Power cards and includes one additional talent strip. The additional Power card areas are available from the start of the game, but players must follow the normal rules for advancing a level when filling the additional talent strip (i.e. it can only be filled when the character reaches level 6).
Reaching Level 6
Immediately after reaching level 6, the player must choose a Talent card and place it on the "Level 6" talent strip. The character also receives a Flight card (see "Flights" on page 17).
Passing a Dungeon Stage: Example
During the Alliance Dungeon Phase, the Alliance Paladin and Mage enter combat on the first Stage of the Shadowfang Keep dungeon.
First, the Shadowfang Keep Stage 1 deck is thoroughly shuffled. Then cards are drawn one by one from the top of the deck until a Boss card is revealed.
The first card drawn is the minion card "Tormented Officer". The second card is another minion, "Slavering Worg". The next card is the reward "Treasured Relics". And finally, the boss card "Fenrus the Devourer" is drawn.
The Paladin and the Mage could challenge the boss immediately, but instead they decide to draw additional cards, hoping to find even more treasure. The next card drawn is the boss card "Odo the Blindwatcher". Since a boss card is already present, "Odo the Blindwatcher" is immediately discarded.
The group decides to draw one more card. It is the item card "Duskbringer". The characters decide not to press their luck any further, stop drawing cards and must now challenge the boss.
(Illustrations: minion and boss cards "Tormented Officer", "Slavering Worg" and "Fenrus the Devourer"; reward and item cards "Treasured Relics" and "Duskbringer".)
The attack of the boss "Fenrus the Devourer" is increased by 6 thanks to the minion card "Slavering Worg". The minion "Tormented Officer" forbids characters to reroll dice showing the results "1" and "2". (Printed text: "increased by 6". The "Slavering Worg" card shown in the illustration reads "Attack +2". The figure is transcribed as printed; the card itself governs in play.)
The Paladin and the Mage survive the battle and must now divide the rewards between themselves.
The minion cards "Tormented Officer" and "Slavering Worg" increase the boss reward to 9 gold and 7 XP, which must be divided evenly between the characters. Each of the characters additionally receives 3 gold from the reward card "Treasured Relics", after which that card is immediately returned to the Stage 1 deck. The "triangular" item card and the item card "Duskbringer" are also rewards, which the Paladin and the Mage divide between themselves by the usual rules. (The printed text says "triangular" for the first item card; the expansion's new item cards are described as "hexagonal" elsewhere. Transcribed as printed.)
After all rewards are distributed, the character figures are moved to the deck of the Second Stage of the Shadowfang Keep dungeon, and the minion and boss cards drawn are returned to the Stage 1 deck.
The Paladin and the Mage must wait until their next Dungeon Phase to pass the Second Stage of Shadowfang Keep.
(Illustration: after victory on Stage 1, the characters immediately move to the Stage 2 deck.)
Experience Beyond Level 6
When a character reaches level 6, he can no longer advance on the Experience Track. Instead, a level 6 character who later receives additional experience takes an amount of gold equal to the experience points. Experience penalties are applied as usual, before the experience is converted into gold.
PvP Combat at Level 6
During PvP combat, the maximum Threat value of a faction may reach 7, regardless of how many level 6 characters that faction has.
Level 6 Class Cards
All the new Power and Talent cards in The Burning Crusade are level 6 cards for heroes of a new, high status. Although their power is unparalleled, they work exactly like the similar cards of the base game. The new Power and Talent cards must be placed in the corresponding class decks at the start of the game.
Exploring Outland
The Outland game board gives characters an entirely new world to explore. Outland has seven different areas, each divided into regions, like the Lordaeron game board. The Outland game board is placed next to the Lordaeron game board, and both boards are used in the game.
Travelling to Outland and Back
To travel to Outland, a character in a region of Lordaeron with a friendly flight route marker must spend a Travel action. He moves his character's figure to the "Dark Portal" region on the Outland map, using one of his available movement steps. He may then continue the Travel action, spending the remaining movement steps.
To return to Lordaeron, a character in the "Dark Portal" region again spends a Travel action, moving to any region of Lordaeron with a friendly flight route marker and spending one movement step. He may continue the Travel action, spending the remaining movement steps.
Characters must use the Dark Portal to move between game boards. Characters cannot move directly from a Lordaeron flight route to an Outland flight route, or vice versa.
Note that when characters die, they cannot move between game boards. That is, a character killed on the Lordaeron game board cannot move to a graveyard in Outland, and vice versa.
Hidden Regions
Hidden regions are regions on the Outland map that are completely surrounded by a black border. A character must have a Flight card in order to enter hidden regions (see "Flights" on page 17).
(Illustration: hidden regions on the Outland map.)
There are six unnamed hidden regions, highlighted on the map shown above. Characters with Flight cards may move into them, but independent creatures may never be placed in or moved into these six regions.
Outland Quests
Outland quests differ from other quests by a green background on the front of the card. They always spawn creatures on the Outland map. Otherwise, Outland quests are resolved in the same way as other quests.
Moving to the Outland game board: To move to the Outland game board, a character in a region of Lordaeron with a friendly flight route spends a Travel action. Using one of his movement steps, his figure is moved to the "Dark Portal" region on the Outland map. The character then continues his Travel action, moving into an adjacent region as usual.
(Illustration: the Aerie Peak region leads to The Dark Portal; from The Dark Portal the character continues into an adjacent region, Zeth'Gor.)
Exchanging Quest Cards for Outland Quests
After a faction has completed its turn and moved the turn marker, it may, if it wishes, discard any of its non-Outland quest cards. This allows it to discard old quests that have an inappropriately low level, or that are placed on the Lordaeron board (while the faction's characters are moving across the Outland map).
When discarding quest cards, players return them to the box and remove from the board all quest creatures spawned by them, except independent (blue) creatures. Such quest cards are no longer used in the game.
After all the quests that the players wish to remove have been removed, they are replaced with new Outland quests. First, the faction chooses one of its quest decks (green, yellow, red or purple). Then the players draw one card at a time from the chosen deck.
If a drawn quest card is not an Outland quest (i.e. it does not have a green background on the front of the card), that card is removed from the game (i.e. returned to the box) instead of spawning creatures, and the players draw the next card. If the players have exhausted that deck, they must choose another quest deck and continue drawing cards. Otherwise, they must continue drawing from the original deck.
If a drawn quest card is an Outland quest, the quest creatures printed on the card are spawned, except independent (blue) creatures. After the quest card has been brought into the game, the players either begin the process of drawing the next card from the chosen deck again (if they need to replace more discarded quest cards) or end their turn.
Since many Lordaeron quests (which are needed for raising low levels) may be lost forever when this action is taken, it is not recommended to do this in the early stages of the game.
Tip: Since exchanging quest cards does not spawn independent creatures, players can reduce waiting time in the game by allowing each faction to exchange quest cards during the opponents' turns.
Flights
When a character reaches level 6, he immediately receives one of his faction's Flight cards: the Gryphon card for an Alliance character, or the Windrider card for a Horde character. Flights are neither Item cards nor Power cards, and do not occupy an area of the character sheet. Instead, they are simply laid face up on the table in front of the player, next to the character sheet. Flights cannot be lost, sold, bought, stolen or discarded.
On the Outland game board, a character with a Flight has the following special features:
- He may enter hidden regions (regions surrounded by a black border).
- He may move up to three regions during a Travel action (instead of the usual two).
- He may move through regions containing blue creatures without stopping his movement and without using a Challenge action against them. However, a character moving through a region containing blue creatures may move a maximum of three regions, even if he has an ability that normally allows him to move more than three regions.
Flights do not act on the Lordaeron game board. On that board they do not allow characters to enter regions surrounded by a black border, move further than usual, or ignore independent creatures.
Outland Overlords
(Illustration: the Outland Overlord sheets.)
The Outland Overlords – Kael'Thas, Lady Vashj and Illidan Stormrage – are distinguished by the dungeon symbol in the upper left corner of their Overlord sheets. These symbols show which dungeon each Overlord is connected with, as described here:
| Overlord | Dungeon | Icon |
|---|---|---|
| Kael'Thas | Tempest Keep | (dungeon icon) |
| Lady Vashj | Coilfang Reservoir | (dungeon icon) |
| Illidan Stormrage | The Black Temple | (dungeon icon) |
Challenging the Outland Overlord
Unlike the base game, characters cannot simply go to the indicated region and challenge the Overlord of the game. To defeat the Outland Overlord, a character must fight his way to the heart of the Overlord's underground lair, and only then attempt to destroy him. Characters who have achieved victory on the Second Stage of the dungeon where the Overlord has built his lair must advance to the Overlord sheet before the Third Stage of the dungeon. Their figures are placed on the Overlord sheet before they move to the Third Stage deck.
Players do not draw dungeon cards when challenging the Outland Overlord. Thus they do not count minion cards and do not receive Item and Reward cards. The battle with the Overlord takes place in the following Dungeon Phase as usual. Characters who die in the battle follow the usual rules for defeat in dungeons.
If the characters defeat the Overlord, they win the game!
You Are Not Ready!
Defeating the Overlords Kael'Thas or Lady Vashj is no small feat, but the most difficult task in the game of World of Warcraft is defeating the Overlord Illidan Stormrage, who is the strongest enemy character and requires great heroic courage. To withstand the fierce assault of the Overlord Illidan Stormrage, characters must develop the strongest Power and Talent cards and have Item cards.
Choosing Illidan Stormrage as the Overlord lengthens the game more than the other Outland Overlords do. Thus, he is the ideal choice for players who want to continue the game to obtain more powerful artifacts even after reaching level 6.
Ending the Game
In the base game, the game ends in PvP combat if no faction has defeated the Overlord within 30 turns. However, when The Burning Crusade is used, the game continues even after the 30th turn and ends only when the Overlord is defeated. Accordingly, after the 30th turn, instead of moving the turn marker to the "End" space, return it to the "Start" space. Then players move the marker at the end of their faction turns as usual. If the turn marker moves onto a circle containing an item icon, take the top Item card from the "hexagonal" (orange) Item deck (instead of the item shown on the turn track) and place the card face up on the Merchant deck.
Playing Without Outland
Playing The Burning Crusade with all of its options is a serious challenge even for the bravest heroes. If players wish to play a lighter variant of the game, the following rules describe how players can use many components of The Burning Crusade even if they have decided not to play with the Outland game board.
If such a variant of The Burning Crusade is played, then instead of the setup instructions described on page 7 of this rulebook, do the following:
Setup
When choosing an Overlord, players must not choose an Outland Overlord (i.e. Kael'Thas, Lady Vashj and Illidan Stormrage). Instead, players must choose one of the Overlords of the base game or the new Overlord Ragnaros.
Plastic Creature Figures
Some creature types are used only on the Outland game board. For simpler setup and maximum free table space, the following creature figures may be removed from the game:
- Arakkoa
- Ravager
- Mo'arg
- Wrath Guard
- Fungal Giant
- Shivan
The new creature types (Yeti, Ooze and Abomination) are used in this variant, as are all the purple figures for the creature types of the base game.
Outland Quests
During setup step 8, shuffle the new quest cards into the corresponding colour decks, but make sure that no Outland quest cards (those with a green background on the front) are included.
Outland quest cards may already be in the quest decks after a previous game. In this case, simply remove any Outland quest cards from the game as you find them, and immediately draw a new card from the same quest deck in place of the removed card.
Ending the Game
If no faction defeats the Overlord before the turn marker reaches the "End" space on the turn track, the game ends and, as usual, the final PvP battle between the two factions begins (see page 35 of the base game rules for how the final PvP battle is conducted).
Level 6
Characters who do not travel to Outland cannot reach level 6. Thus, characters must use the experience track printed on the Lordaeron game board. The additional level 6 character sheets, the level 6 Power and Talent cards, and the Flight cards are not available to characters and must be returned to the box at the start of the game.
Dungeon Reference
(Quick reference card printed in the expansion.)
Entering a Dungeon
A character in a region with a dungeon may spend one of his movement steps during a Travel action to enter the dungeon. He then removes his figure from the game board and places it next to the Stage 1 deck. A character who enters a dungeon where friendly characters are already present immediately joins them and places his figure next to the Stage at which they stand.
Dungeon Phase
After all characters of the active faction have completed all of their actions, but before the turn marker is moved, the active faction must pass the dungeon Stage on which its characters stand.
Passing a Dungeon Stage
- Thoroughly shuffle the Stage deck. Then draw cards one by one from the top of the deck until a Boss card is revealed.
- Set aside the item and reward cards, and count the minion cards. If there are more than two per participating character, the players may discard the excess minion cards. Players who did not discard minion cards may, if they wish, draw additional cards from the Stage deck.
- Each minion card adds additional abilities and effects to the Boss that the characters fight.
- Characters who defeat the dungeon's Boss receive the rewards due to them and move to the next Stage of the dungeon.
Character Actions in a Dungeon
Characters who remain in a dungeon during their faction's turn may take only one action instead of the usual two.
- Rest and Training actions are taken as usual.
- A Travel action may be taken to return to the game board. The character moves to the region where the dungeon is located, spending one movement step, and then continues the Travel action as usual.
- A Challenge action may be taken to attack quest or independent creatures, a boss, or an enemy character in the region where the dungeon is located. The character moves into the region containing the dungeon and attacks the opponent.
- A Town action cannot be taken by a character in a dungeon.
Dungeon Icons and Key Cards
| Dungeon | Icon | Stage card (level) |
|---|---|---|
| The Black Temple | (dungeon icon) | VI |
| Scholomance | (dungeon icon) | IV |
| Scarlet Monastery | (dungeon icon) | III |
| Stratholme | (dungeon icon) | IV |
| Coilfang Reservoir | (dungeon icon) | VI |
| Tempest Keep | (dungeon icon) | VI |
| Shadowfang Keep | (dungeon icon) | II |