Aeon's End: The New Age
Aeon's End: The New Age Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- The New Expedition Mode
- Object of the Game
- Components
- Special Components
- First Game Setup
- Setup (Further Games)
- Game Flow
- How Cards Work
- A Player's Turn in Detail
- The Nemesis's Turn in Detail
- Expedition Terms & After the Game
- Variants
- After the First Expedition
- Playing Another Expedition
- Resetting The New Age
The New Expedition Mode
Aeon's End is a cooperative game. As breach mages, you defend New Gravehold — your new home — together against the schemes and minions of a nemesis.
The New Age introduces a new way to play Aeon's End: Expedition mode. At the start, some of the game's components are not yet available. There are secret card stacks and sealed envelopes that you must not open. The cards of the special Expedition deck guide you through your first expedition and tell the story across several battles. Step by step, you will unlock the secret components. To begin your first expedition, follow the First Game Setup on page 4.
After completing this first expedition you can...
- play a single game against a nemesis. Follow the normal rules starting on page 6.
- undertake another expedition, using all of the Aeon's End content you own. The rules for Expedition mode are found starting on page 22. IMPORTANT: Read this only after completing your first expedition!
An expedition is always a sequence of several games with two new features:
- There is a new card type, Treasure. Throughout an expedition you will find and collect treasures. These are cards that represent powerful items or weapons that you can use in addition to the normal cards in your deck.
- The Barracks is where you store, between the games of an expedition, all of the components you're allowed to use during the current expedition. This includes player cards, breach mage mats, and treasure cards.
Object of the Game
You always win or lose a single game as follows (unless stated otherwise):
To win immediately, you must:
- Reduce the nemesis's life to 0.
OR
- At the end of a turn, have both an empty nemesis deck and no MINIONS and no PLOTS in the nemesis's play area (see p. 17/18).
You lose a game immediately if:
- Gravehold is reduced to 0 life.
OR
- All players are EXHAUSTED (see p. 17/18).
Components
At the start, the following components are "unlocked" and accessible. Over the course of the first expedition you will gain further components. A complete list of components is on page 22 (Warning: spoilers!).
- 7 turn order tokens
- 20 life tokens with value 5, 60 life tokens with value 1: used to track the life of players and minions.
- 1 double-sided glossary: look here whenever you come across a term you have a question about. Some entries refer to cards from Aeon's End expansions.
- 16 breaches (4 each of numbers I–IV): front = active breach; back = dark breach.
- 3 unique breaches (for Gygar, Sahala, and Taqren).
- 24 time markers
- 24 charge tokens
- 4 breach mage mats
- 1 nemesis mat
- 1 nest mat (for Madrox)
- 26 card dividers
- 2 dials (for the nemesis and for Gravehold; must be assembled before your first game as shown — the bright arch faces down on both, "left" and "right")
- 10 Flood tokens (for Gygar)
- 19 Grub/Fly tokens (for Madrox)
- 7 player reference cards
- 13 turn order cards
Need a replacement part? Use our contact form at frostedgames.de!
Special Components
Important: These components must not be looked at or opened until you are instructed to do so.
- 5 card packets P1–P3, END1 and END2 (the picture shows only the front side).
- 7 envelopes (labeled 1, 2A, 2B, 3A, 3B, 4, and END).
Each card packet contains several card stacks. The individual card stacks are separated by STOP cards. For handling the card packets and the card stacks within them, these three rules always apply:
- Never shuffle a card stack — unless you are explicitly instructed to.
- Only ever open a card stack from the front!
- STOP cards mean exactly that: STOP! Only continue once you are explicitly instructed to.
First Game Setup
With the following steps you prepare your first expedition. Perform this setup only ONCE, at the start of your very first game. For all further games, the normal setup on pages 6–9 applies.
1. Take CARD PACKET P1 and open it. Do not change the order of the cards. Banish the card P1-Front by putting it behind the Banished Other Cards card divider into the game box. Banished cards are permanently out of the game.
2. Now you must lay out the Supplies. These are 9 card stacks from which you can acquire new cards for your decks over the course of the game. Take the following 51 cards, until you reach the first Player Overview card. Each stack always consists of all cards of the same name. The Supplies always consist of:
- 4 different stacks of Spells
- 3 different stacks of Crystals
- 2 different stacks of Artifacts
Note: You can tell what type a card is by the type name at the bottom of the card and the card's color: Crystals are purple, Artifacts are blue, and Spells are yellow.
Lay out the 9 stacks in the middle of the play area so that everyone can reach them easily.
3. Next, each of you chooses 1 breach mage you want to play. Take the corresponding breach mage mat and lay it out in front of you.
Now take the breaches as indicated above on your mat. Every breach mage has up to 4 breaches. They are numbered with the Roman numerals 1–4 (I, II, III, IV). (Some breach mages even have a unique breach.)
For some breach mages: this position has no breach!
Most breach mages start with at least 1 active breach and up to 3 dark breaches of different bundling.
The front side of every breach is the active side. The back side is the dark side.
On your mat you can tell how you must lay out each breach: If a breach is active (shown with a coin icon), lay it out with the front side up above your mat. If the breach is still dark, the symbol shows its orientation. Lay the breach out with the back side up so that the bright area points in the correct direction.
Example: Taqren starts with breach I active and breaches II, III, and IV dark.
4. Everyone begins the game with 10 life. Place that many tokens on the LIFE area of your mat.
5. Take 1 Player Overview each and lay it out in front of you. Put all remaining Player Overviews back in the box.
6. Take the next 13 cards and build the turn order deck as described in Step 12 on page 9.
7. Take the next 40 cards until the end of the card packet. They are pre-sorted into 4 sets of 10 player cards: 1 set for each breach mage. Check your breach mage mat to see exactly which cards you need, and take the corresponding set of cards.
Put any extra sets of cards behind the card divider of the corresponding breach mage.
Your STARTING HAND: This is the first 5 cards of your pre-sorted set of cards. Take them into your hand now — you begin the game with them.
Your STARTING DECK: The other 5 cards are your starting deck. It is already pre-sorted: the order "top to bottom" is as given left-to-right on your mat.
From now on: Never shuffle your decks!
Important: Some breach mages have additional setup instructions on their back side. Carry these out now.
8. Place the nemesis mat of Madrox at one side of the play area. Place its nest mat next to it, on the right. Set the dial for the nemesis to 45 and lay it ready.
Carry out the additional setup instructions on the back of the nemesis. Then read through all the SPECIAL RULES on the front that apply for this game.
Take CARD PACKET P2 and open it. Do not change the order of the cards. Banish the card P2-Front.
Take the next 31 cards up to the next STOP card and turn them face down as 1 stack. Place this pre-sorted nemesis deck to the left of the nemesis mat, without shuffling it.
Important: Now discard the top X cards from the nemesis deck, depending on the number of players:
| TrueSolo | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cards | 7 cards | 5 cards | 3 cards | 0 cards |
9. Take the next 15 cards up to the STOP card Battle 1. Put the rest of card packet 2 behind the Current Stop Stack divider.
This is the Expedition deck, with a STOP card on top and bottom. Lay it out ready. The cards in the Expedition deck tell the story and contain important instructions. The stack is pre-sorted: never shuffle it, and only look at the cards in it when instructed to!
ARE YOU READY? First read the introduction on page 1 to get yourselves in the mood. Then set the STOP card (the cover sheet) aside. Read the top Expedition card and follow its instructions.
Always place the "EX-Stack" STOP card as the cover sheet on top of the Expedition deck when putting it back in the box.
If the Expedition deck ever gets out of order, have someone sort the cards by the numbers in their bottom-left corner.
Setup (Further Games)
Is this your very first game? Then follow the First Game Setup on page 4. The following setup applies to all further games — whether you're playing an expedition or a single game against a nemesis of your choice. Special notes for an expedition are highlighted in red.
1. Each of you chooses 1 breach mage you want to play.
Expedition? You only have the breach mages in the Barracks to choose from.
Take the breach mage mat of the chosen breach mage and lay it out in front of you. Leave room to its left for your deck and to its right for your discard pile. Also leave room above it — this is where you will shortly place your breaches.
2. Now you must assemble your STARTHAND and your STARTDECK. For this you need the starting-deck cards marked SD in the bottom right corner.
Look at your breach mage mat to see exactly which cards you need. It will always be a certain combination of Splinters and Sparks (these are your weak starting Crystals and Spells), plus at least 1 unique card that only your particular breach mage has.
Your STARTHAND: You begin the game with these cards in hand. Simply search out these cards and take them into your hand.
Your STARTDECK: To build your starting deck, first search out exactly the cards indicated here on your mat. Your starting deck must now be sorted exactly as indicated. The cards, listed left to right, show you how to sort your starting deck "top to bottom."
Attention! Once your starting deck is sorted, be careful not to shuffle it.
Note: We'll say it again — but let's start now: your deck is essentially never shuffled! That's one of Aeon's End's special game elements.
Important: Follow the additional setup instructions on the back of some breach mages.
3. Expedition? Now choose Treasures from the Barracks. There are treasures in 3 tiers. Which treasures you receive for the game depends on the number of the battle:
| Battle 1 | Battle 2 | Battle 3 | Battle 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| no treasures | Tier 1 only | Tiers 1 and 2 | Tiers 1, 2, and 3 |
In the first battle there are no treasures yet. In battle 2, everyone chooses 1 tier-1 treasure; in battle 3 everyone chooses 1 tier-1 treasure and you as a group choose 1 tier-2 treasure. In battle 4 everyone also chooses 1 tier-3 treasure.
Take treasures of every tier indicated in the table:
- Tier 1: Everyone chooses 1 tier-1 treasure and replaces 1 Splinter or Spark in their STARTDECK with it — depending on the treasure's type. (If you choose a Crystal treasure, you replace 1 Splinter with it; if you choose a Spell treasure, you replace 1 Spark with it. If that's not possible, you replace 1 card of the other type instead.)
- Tier 2: As a group, choose exactly 1 tier-2 treasure. Lay it out visible to everyone. Its effect applies to all of you.
- Tier 3: Everyone chooses 1 tier-3 treasure and places it on their breach mage mat. This treasure can only be used by the player who chose it.
4. Now take your breaches as indicated above on your mat. Every breach mage has up to 4 breaches, numbered with the Roman numerals I–IV. (Some breach mages even have a unique breach.)
Most breach mages start with at least 1 active breach and up to 3 dark breaches of different bundling (= bright area on the back).
On your mat you can tell how you must lay out each breach: If a breach is active, lay it out with the front side up above your breach mage. If the breach is still dark, the symbol shows how you must orient it. Lay the breach out with the back side up so that the bright area points in the correct direction. (Note: what the information on the breaches means is something we'll look at later.)
Every breach mage begins the game with 10 life. Take that many tokens and place them on the LIFE area of your mat.
5. Next you must lay out the Supplies. The Supplies are 9 card stacks from which you can acquire new cards for your decks over the course of the game.
The Supplies always consist of:
- 4 different stacks of Spells
- 3 different stacks of Crystals
- 2 different stacks of Artifacts
Note: You can tell what type a card is by the type name at the bottom of the card and the card's color: Crystals are purple, Artifacts are blue, and Spells are yellow.
Each stack always consists of all cards of the same name. For Crystals that is 7 cards each; for Artifacts and Spells, 5 cards each.
Lay out the 9 stacks in the middle of the play area so that everyone can reach them easily.
For choosing the Supplies you have 2 options: either freely choose the 9 (as long as you follow the 4/3/2 scheme), or take the selector cards to determine the Spells, Crystals, and Artifacts randomly!
Expedition? Choose 9 Supplies (4 Spells, 3 Crystals, and 2 Artifacts) from the Barracks. After you've made your choice, banish all Supplies you did not choose — they are no longer available for the rest of the expedition.
Tip: We recommend that you choose at least 1 Crystal with a cost of 3, so that you can acquire better cards quickly.
6. Now it's time to choose the nemesis you want to face!
Another expedition? Instead of choosing the nemesis, draw 1 nemesis selector card from the stack matching your current battle.
Every nemesis has a difficulty rating on the back of its mat. The higher this number, the greater the challenge that awaits you.
Place the mat of the chosen nemesis at one side of the play area. Leave room below it for the nemesis's play area, and next to it room for its nemesis deck, which you will build shortly.
Attention: The back of the nemesis mat also has setup instructions for the nemesis. You only carry these out in Step 8!
7. Building the nemesis deck
The nemesis deck is the driving force: all the attacks, plots, and monsters the nemesis throws at you! The deck always consists of the GENERAL and special cards of the chosen nemesis. How you assemble this deck depends on the number of players — because both the general and the special cards exist in 3 levels, representing the nemesis's escalating threat.
Expedition? Over the course of the first expedition you will receive UPGRADED nemesis cards, which are more dangerous than GENERAL cards. For every UPGRADED card that goes into the nemesis deck, one fewer GENERAL card goes in. The total stays the same.
Build the nemesis deck with these steps:
- Take all cards with the name of the chosen nemesis and sort them by their 3 levels into 3 stacks.
- Take all GENERAL cards of this base game and sort them by their 3 levels into 3 stacks. Shuffle each stack well.
- The number of GENERAL cards you need depends on your number of players:
| GENERAL cards | 2 players | 3 players | 4 players |
|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Level 2 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Level 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
A. First expedition? Take all UPGRADED cards you have received so far, and sort them by their 3 levels into 3 stacks. For each of these UPGRADED cards, in the next step you draw one fewer GENERAL card of the corresponding level. Another expedition? See page 23.
B. Draw face down, from each level of GENERAL cards, enough cards until you've reached (together with any UPGRADED cards) the required amount for that level. Set them aside as 3 stacks. Put the remaining cards back in the box.
Example: Playing with three, before battle 3. For level 1 you need a total of 5 cards. First you draw 2 upgraded level-1 cards, then you draw 3 more general level-1 cards. That makes 2 + 3 = 5 cards.
-
Mix all special cards of the nemesis of one level together with the prepared stacks of GENERAL and UPGRADED cards of the same level.
-
Build the nemesis deck by placing the level-3 cards at the very bottom, on top of them the level-2 cards, and on top, last, the level-1 cards. Careful — don't shuffle anymore now!
Place the nemesis deck you have prepared this way face down next to the nemesis, ready.
8. Now look once more at the back of the nemesis mat. Now carry out the "In Setup" instructions there.
9. Now also take the dial for the nemesis and set it to its life total as indicated on the nemesis. Place it above the nemesis mat.
10. Now also take the dial for Gravehold and set it to 30 life. Place it above the nemesis mat as well.
11. Randomly distribute 1 turn order token to each player. Only use the tokens for your number of players.
Example: You're playing with three, so you use tokens 1, 2, and 3.
Variant: Harder game with 3 players. If you'd like a slightly harder game, use the "No Choice" token and give it randomly to one player. We explain the effect of this token on page 10, under A New Turn.
Variant: Easier game with 4 players. Instead of distributing a turn order token to every player, use these tokens. Place the ½ token between two players sitting next to each other, and the ¾ token between the other two. We explain the effect of these tokens on page 10, under A New Turn.
12. Build the turn order deck
The turn order deck consists of exactly 6 cards: 2 nemesis and 4 player turn-order cards. The composition depends on the number of players:
- 2 players: cards 1, 1, 2, 2
- 3 players: cards 1, 2, 3, and "Your Choice"
- 4 players: cards 1, 2, 3, 4
and always plus: 2 Nemesis cards.
Put the remaining cards back in the box. Shuffle the turn order deck well and place it face down, ready.
Using the variant for the easier 4-player game? Use the two ½ and the two ¾ player turn-order cards instead of the normal cards.
13. Honored breach mages, before you dive into Step A New Turn, read through all the SPECIAL RULES on the front of the nemesis once more, carefully — the ones that apply to this game!
Game Flow
Aeon's End has no normal round sequence. Instead, the turn order deck always determines who goes next. At the start of the game, and after the end of every turn, a new turn order card is always drawn from the turn order deck to see who is up: the drawn player, or the nemesis! The emptier the turn order deck gets, the better you can plan — the more likely you know who's coming up!
A New Turn
Draw 1 card from the turn order deck, then check:
Is it a player turn-order card? Place the card on the turn order deck's discard pile and that player carries out their PLAYER TURN.
Is it a nemesis turn-order card? Place the card on the turn order deck's discard pile and carry out the NEMESIS TURN for the nemesis.
Did you draw the "Your Choice" card, playing with three? Place the card on the turn order deck's discard pile and choose 1 of you to carry out their PLAYER TURN now.
In general: Whenever you must draw or reveal a card from the turn order deck and the deck is empty, shuffle the discard pile and place it face down as the new turn order deck.
Variant: Harder game with 3 players? When you draw the "Your Choice" card, you may not choose who goes next. Instead, it's the player holding the "No Choice" token. After that player has carried out their PLAYER TURN, they pass the token to the next player clockwise.
Variant: Easier game with 4 players? When you draw the ½ or ¾ card, check where the corresponding ½ or ¾ turn order token lies. If it still lies between two players, those two players may decide between themselves who carries out the PLAYER TURN. That player then places the token on their breach mage. When the matching card is drawn again, these two players no longer have a choice — the other player carries out their PLAYER TURN. Then these two players place the token between themselves again.
A Player's Turn
Step 1: Cast Spells — Cast the spells bound to your breaches.
Step 2: Take Actions — Carry out actions in an order of your choice.
Step 3: Draw Cards — Discard all played Artifacts and Crystals in your play area and draw cards from your draw pile until you have 5 cards in hand again.
The Nemesis's Turn
Step 1: Resolve Effects — Resolve the effects of Monsters and Plots in the nemesis's play area.
Step 2: Nemesis Action — Draw 1 new nemesis card from the nemesis deck and carry it out.
How Cards Work
Whether it's a player card or a nemesis card, there are a few basic rules about cards in Aeon's End that you should know beforehand:
- Resolve fully: You must resolve a played card fully (and as far as possible) before playing the next card, or before resolving a nemesis card / drawing another one.
- Paragraph by paragraph, point by point: Paragraphs separate effects. Every paragraph on a card is its own effect, which you must resolve fully before moving to the next paragraph.
- Choose 1 "or": If a card gives you 2 or more "or" options, you must choose 1 of them — when in doubt, always the one you can carry out the most of!
Special note: Some player cards use the word "just" in their effects (e.g. "just played"). This always means your entire, currently ongoing player turn. There is no more precise time limit.
Note: A detailed glossary of all game-relevant wording on Spells, Artifacts, Crystals, nemesis cards, and more is included as a separate sheet. Look there whenever anything is unclear.
A Player's Turn in Detail
Step 1: Cast Spells
In an order of your choice:
- You may cast spells that are bound to your active breaches.
- You must cast spells that are bound to your dark breaches.
How do breaches work?
Every breach mage has up to 4 breaches — numbered with the Roman numerals I–IV — with which they begin the game.
Breaches are double-sided: on the front, the breach is active. On the back, it's still dark.
You need breaches for your spells. Spells must always first be bound to a breach in your turn's Step 2, Take Actions — you don't cast them directly from your hand! Only when it's your turn again may you actually use the spells bound to breaches, in your Step 1, Cast Spells, to carry out their effects. The spell is then discarded onto the corresponding pile.
Dark breaches must first be bundled, or directly activated, to become active breaches so you can really use them. The active breaches III and IV even increase the damage of the spells bound to them. And of course: once a breach is active, it stays that way for the rest of the game!
How do I cast a spell?
To cast a spell: Place the spell directly on your discard pile, then carry out the effect as indicated under WHEN CAST:.
Special cases when casting a spell:
Spells with extra costs Some spells ask whether you want to pay optional extra costs. You do not have to do this! It's your choice. But if you do, and pay the requested extra costs, you get the additional effect (such as extra damage).
Casting another player's spell When a game effect allows you to cast another player's spell, everything on that spell that refers to "you," "your," "choose," "gain," etc. now refers to you! This applies especially to any extra costs, or to anything involving the number of active breaches. It does not apply to effects that refer to "this breach" — there, it's about the other player's actual breach.
Even when you cast another player's spell, it still goes to that other player's discard pile.
Spells with ECHO When you cast a spell with ECHO, carry out its WHEN CAST: effect twice, directly one after another. The spell still only counts as cast once. Any additional effects applied to this spell apply to both executions of the spell (such as extra damage and the effects of unique breaches). Note: Because these are two separate executions, you can choose a different target for the damage each time!
Dealing Damage to a Monster/Nemesis
How do I deal damage? Every card text "Deal X damage." is its own damage source. To deal damage, you choose 1 target for each source and deal it the stated damage. Damage from 1 source can never be split.
- Dealing damage to the nemesis? Reduce its dial by the damage dealt. Don't forget: as soon as the nemesis has 0 life, you have won immediately.
- Dealing damage to a Monster? Remove that much life. As soon as the Monster has no life left, place it on the nemesis's discard pile. Excess damage is lost.
+X damage: Game effects can increase how much damage is dealt — either on themselves or on other spells. This is additional damage. It is not a new damage source, it merely strengthens one. These effects each increase the damage of every source on a card.
Attention: This also applies to spells that don't actually deal damage. Imagine that such spells always have "Deal 0 damage" written on them too.
Note: Most active breaches III and IV have built-in additional damage for spells bound to them!
Step 2: Take Actions
You may now carry out the following actions as often as you can and want (including multiple times):
▶ Play 1 Crystal
Play 1 Crystal from your hand into your play area.
Crystals are your main source of the currency Aetherium (⟡). Aetherium, which you generate by playing cards or effects during your turn, can be received and spent freely within your turn. However, Aetherium is not saved up: at the end of your turn, all Aetherium you haven't spent expires.
Note: It's possible to play Crystals for their Aetherium even if you don't spend it. That's a good way to get rid of the card from your hand, so you draw more new cards in Step 3.
▶ Play 1 Artifact
Play 1 Artifact from your hand into your play area.
Artifacts give you immediate effects when you play them. You must carry out their effects as fully as possible when you play them.
▶ Acquire 1 Card
Acquire 1 card from one of the Supplies. Pay for it with Aetherium (⟡) that you just received from Crystals (or other sources such as spells). You don't discard any cards from your play area for this — your current Aetherium is a "virtual currency" that you have to keep track of during your turn.
What a card in the Supply costs in Aetherium is shown at the top right of each card.
Once you've acquired a card, place it immediately on your discard pile.
Special notes when acquiring cards: Some game effects give you "exclusive" Aetherium, which you may only use to acquire specific card types. Pay close attention!
▶ Gain 1 Energy
Pay 2 ⟡ to gain 1 Energy. Place the Energy on a free slot of the energy bar on your breach mage. You can never own more Energy than you have slots on your energy bar.
Artifacts and Crystals are played into a separate play area in front of you. It's important that you don't put these cards on your discard pile yet — that always happens only in Step 3 of your turn.
Artifacts and Crystals can, like spells, have extra costs that you can optionally pay to receive an additional effect.
Energy and Your Unique Ability
Every breach mage has a unique ability. What this ability allows and exactly when you can use it is described precisely on it. But they all have one thing in common: the energy bar must be fully loaded with energy. As soon as that's the case, you may use the ability at the stated time.
As soon as you use the ability, you discard all energy on it again. If you want to use the ability again, you must fully load the energy bar again as well.
▶ Bundle 1 of Your Dark Breaches
To make a dark breach active, you can bundle it.
What it costs you in Aetherium (⟡) to bundle a breach is shown at the top, in the middle of the arrow on every breach. You don't have to bundle breaches in order — you may choose any of your breaches for this. Breaches can also be bundled any number of times in your turn, as long as you can pay for it.
To bundle a breach, turn it a quarter turn clockwise (i.e. in the direction of the arrow). Tip: The cost to bundle differs from breach to breach, but is always the same between breaches with the same number.
IMPORTANT! Is the yellow area already oriented upward when you bundle a breach? Then you activate it immediately! Turn it to the front side.
Note: Bundling your breaches only costs something when you do it with this action! If game effects instruct you to bundle a breach, that is always free!
▶ Activate 1 of Your Dark Breaches
You don't have to bundle a breach first before it can be activated — you can also activate it directly, turning it to the front side. What it costs you in Aetherium to activate a breach directly is always shown directly at the top of the breach.
Note: The activation cost decreases each time you bundle a breach!
▶ Bind 1 Spell to an Active/Just-Bundled Breach
Before you can actually cast a spell in your Step 1, Cast Spells, the spell must first be bound to a breach. You do this with this action.
You may only bind spells to your free active breaches, or to a dark breach, but only if you've just bundled it in your player turn.
Note: Some spells allow you, already in your Step 1: Cast Spells, to bundle one of your dark breaches. That counts for this too, as long as it all happens in your player turn.
Only 1 spell can ever be bound to a breach at a time, and of course you may only bind spells to your own breaches. Note: Game effects (such as Sahala's unique ability) can of course change this rule!
Note: Binding a spell to a breach doesn't mean it stays there for the rest of the game. It just means it stays there until you cast it. Next time, you could bind a completely different spell to that breach.
Special cases: Some spells must be bound to two adjacent breaches — so 1 spell lies on 2 breaches, blocking both of them. Adjacent always means that these two breaches actually lie next to each other, such as breaches I and II, or II and III, etc.
Some spells have a special effect that only applies while the spell is bound to a breach. You can recognize such an effect by the word BOUND:. Such effects also state when and how often you may use them. That can even be the case immediately after you bind it to a breach!
▶ Prevent 1 Plot
Over the course of the game you will be confronted with the nemesis's PLOTS. These are special nemesis cards. Many of them can be prevented. To prevent a PLOT, you must do or pay what the PLOT states, in the nemesis's play area.
Do you do that? Then discard the PLOT onto the nemesis's discard pile.
PREVENT: Destroy 2 of your active breaches.
Step 3: Draw Cards
You must handle this step in the following order:
1. Clear cards from your play area: First, gather up all the Artifacts and Crystals you played this turn. Attention: Any unplayed Crystals, Artifacts, and spells must stay in your hand!
Place these gathered-up cards in an order of your choice onto your discard pile — regardless of the order you played them in during your turn.
2. Draw back up to 5 cards: Draw cards from your deck until you have 5 cards in hand again.
Is your deck empty? Careful! You may not shuffle your discard pile now! Instead, simply flip your discard pile over and lay it out as your new deck, back side up.
You do this whenever your deck is empty — so also when other game effects require you to draw cards while your deck is empty.
Tutorial Mode
This step hides the most demanding mechanism in Aeon's End: planning your card order and blocking cards in hand can cause quite a bit of frustration in your first games — that's why we've built in a Tutorial Mode, which we've framed in green on the Player Overviews, to make it easier to get started:
When clearing your play area: you may also discard unplayed Artifacts & Crystals from your hand and don't have to keep them in hand. This still doesn't apply to spells, though!
Once you have a few games behind you, you're ready for the game's full difficulty and can leave this Tutorial Mode behind!
Special Notes on the Deck and Discard Pile
- Never shuffle: In this game you never shuffle your deck, unless a game effect explicitly says otherwise.
- You may look at your discard pile at any time, but you may not rearrange it.
- You may not look at your deck.
- There is no hand-size limit. If you already have more than 5 cards, or you have to draw more cards, you don't have to discard them.
Detailed Example of a Complete Player Turn
STEP 1: CAST SPELLS
For this example, several turns have already been played and Annika is up again. Bound to her breach I is a Spark, and the artifact Etheric Conduit is attached to it ("attaching" is a new effect in Aeon's End: The New Age).
In her last turn, she bound the spell Concentrated Charge to her breach III. She was only allowed to do that because she had bundled that breach beforehand. So now that she's up again, she must cast it — that's mandatory for dark breaches. She doesn't have to cast the Spark right now — she could also decide to leave it bound. But if she wants to cast it too, she sets the order.
Annika sees that a Portal Guardian is in the nemesis's play area. It resolves its ANSTURM (RUSH): on every nemesis turn — so she should get rid of it as fast as possible. The Portal Guardian has only 1 life left — perfect for her Spark, which she now casts. When you cast a spell, it always goes immediately onto your own discard pile. The Portal Guardian loses its last life and goes onto the nemesis's discard pile.
After that, Annika casts Concentrated Charge (and places it on her discard pile) and deals the nemesis 4 damage (there's no other target left, after all). The spell's second effect asks whether she wants to discard 1 card as an extra cost. Annika would like to deal more damage, but wants to keep her cards for her next step.
Done — time for Annika's actions!
STEP 2: TAKE ACTIONS
Annika already has the perfect plan in mind for this step! First she binds Spark to her now-free breach I, so that she benefits again from Etheric Conduit next turn.
Then she plays Galvanized Polyhedron into her play area. This lets Annika bundle Gregor's breach III, because the yellow activation area on it is already at the top and so the breach is activated immediately by this. Gregor turns it to the front side.
Great! From now on, all spells bound to this breach deal +1 damage!
(Annika would not have been allowed to bundle her own breach with this, since she had to choose 1 breach belonging to "another player.")
As the next step, Annika wants to buy another Galvanized Polyhedron from the Supply. This artifact costs 3 ⟡. Because she cast 1 spell from her breach I in her previous step, she has already received 1 ⟡ from her Etheric Conduit.
Annika plays 1 Charged Rubidium — now she has 4 ⟡, which is enough for the artifact. But first the Crystal asks whether 1 other player wants to discard 1 card from hand, in order to receive 1 Energy. Gregor doesn't let himself be asked twice and takes the offer. This extra cost had to be paid at exactly the moment Annika played the Crystal (because you must always fully resolve cards before playing the next one).
Now Annika buys the artifact for 3 ⟡ and places it on her discard pile. And she still has 1 ⟡ left over.
In the nemesis's play area lies the PLOT Endless Darkness. But preventing it costs 5 ⟡.
So Annika plays her remaining Crystals: first the Splinter for 1 ⟡, then the Exogranite. This one presents her with a choice: either 2 ⟡ OR 3 ⟡ if she destroys it. Since she's still exactly 3 ⟡ short of preventing the PLOT, she destroys her Exogranite (with a heavy heart). Destroyed cards go out of the game (back into the box). Now she has 5 ⟡!
She spends all 5 ⟡ immediately and places Endless Darkness on the nemesis's discard pile. The PLOT is prevented! Her Aetherium worked out exactly. Phew!
Next, Annika wants to buy another Galvanized Polyhedron from the Supply. This artifact costs 3 ⟡. Because she cast 1 spell from her breach I in her previous step, she has already received 1 ⟡ through her Etheric Conduit.
Annika plays 1 Charged Rubidium — now she has 4 ⟡, which is enough for the artifact. First, however, the Crystal asks whether 1 other player wants to discard 1 card from hand in order to receive 1 Energy. Gregor doesn't let himself be asked twice and accepts the offer. These extra costs had to be paid at exactly the moment Annika played the Crystal (since you must always fully resolve cards before playing the next one).
Now Annika buys the artifact for 3 ⟡ and places it on her discard pile. And she even has 1 ⟡ left over.
STEP 3: DRAW CARDS
Annika's player turn is almost over. Time to gather up all the cards in her play area.
Now she has to decide in what order to place these cards on her discard pile.
With the Spark and the Concentrated Charge in Step 1: Cast Spells, she had no choice — each of these two spells had to go onto the discard pile right after being cast. The newly bought Galvanized Polyhedron also had to go straight onto the discard pile. So Annika considers which cards she'd like to draw together with these later (after all, they're never shuffled). She places her Charged Rubidium first, then the played Galvanized Polyhedron, and lastly the Splinter, since she can use it the least. Well planned!
Finally, Annika draws cards from her deck until she has 5 cards in hand again. But her deck only has 2 cards left. She first draws these 2 cards and then, without shuffling, flips her discard pile over to form her new deck — and draws the remaining 3 cards.
The Nemesis's Turn in Detail
Step 1: Resolve Effects
The first step of every nemesis turn is to resolve its play area. Go through it left to right — that is, from oldest to newest card.
How do we resolve a nemesis card?
That depends on what kind of card it is:
Is it a MONSTER? Carry out the Monster's ANSTURM (RUSH):. This deals a player damage, or otherwise makes life difficult for you...
Is it a PLOT? Every PLOT has a certain number of time markers on it (you'll place them there when you draw the card). Time markers are a kind of "countdown timer."
To resolve a PLOT, remove 1 of its time markers.
Are there no time markers left on the PLOT? Resolve the PLOT's effect. Then discard the PLOT onto the nemesis's discard pile.
Dealing Damage to a Player / to Gravehold
How do we deal damage to a player or to Gravehold?
As with spells, every text "Deal X damage." is its own damage source. And here too, the damage from each source must be dealt to exactly 1 target, and cannot be split.
Whom you must deal damage to is stated right there with each effect.
- If you deal a player damage, remove life from them equal to the damage dealt.
- If you deal Gravehold damage, reduce Gravehold's dial by the damage dealt.
Does Gravehold now have 0 life? Then you have lost immediately!
Does a player now have 0 life? That player is now EXHAUSTED.
If you become EXHAUSTED:
- Carry out the nemesis's SPECIAL attack 2× (SPECIAL 2).
- Choose 1 of your breaches (active or dark) and destroy it. Put this breach back in the box. If a spell was still bound to this breach, discard it onto your discard pile.
- Discard all your Energy.
- If there is still remaining damage from the source that exhausted you, you must deal this remaining damage to Gravehold — doubled.
Example: You had only 1 life left, but had to take 5 damage. You must double the remaining 4 damage, dealing Gravehold 8 damage.
From now on:
- You keep playing completely normally, but healing is now forbidden for you!
- No damage can be dealt to you anymore. Instead, all damage that would be dealt to you is dealt to Gravehold instead, and is always doubled.
- You can never be chosen when a game effect asks for the player with the "least" life.
Attention: You can still lose through exhausted players if, at any point, all players in the game are exhausted. Once exhausted, you stay that way for the rest of the game!
The Nemesis's Special Attack
Every nemesis has a unique SPECIAL attack. This attack is triggered by all kinds of different game effects — but you can always recognize such an attack by the keyword SPECIAL, followed by a number X. This X stands for how often you should carry out this effect.
Example: If a card says SPECIAL 1, you carry out the SPECIAL attack exactly once. But if it says SPECIAL 3, you must carry out the effect 3 times in a row.
Step 2: Nemesis Action
Draw the top nemesis card from the nemesis deck and carry it out.
If you can't draw any more cards because the deck is empty, carry out SPECIAL 3 instead.
IMPORTANT!: If the deck is empty AND there is no card left in the play area, you have won immediately — and don't need to carry out SPECIAL 3 either.
There are 3 different card types, which you carry out differently:
▶ ATTACK
ATTACKS are nemesis cards that you resolve immediately. Naturally follow the basic rules for cards here too — go through the card from top to bottom, paragraph by paragraph, point by point.
Then discard the card onto the nemesis's discard pile.
▶ MONSTER
First check whether the MONSTER has an IMMEDIATELY: effect that you must resolve. Then place the MONSTER in the nemesis's play area (to the right of the most recently placed card, or start the play area with it). Then place as much life on the MONSTER as indicated.
Note: You do not carry out the MONSTER's ANSTURM: right now — that only ever happens in Step 1!
▶ PLOT
First check whether the PLOT has an IMMEDIATELY: effect that you must resolve. Then place the PLOT in the nemesis's play area (to the right of the most recently placed card, or start the play area with it). Every PLOT has the keyword TIME, followed by a number X. This X stands for the number of time markers that you must now place on this PLOT.
Note: You don't have to resolve the plot yet — that only ever happens in Step 1, once you've removed 1 time marker and none remain on it.
End of the Nemesis's Turn
Once you have fully resolved the corresponding nemesis card, the nemesis's turn ends. This isn't a "real" step — but there are some nemeses that carry out effects at the end of the nemesis's turn.
Detailed Example of a Complete Nemesis Turn
Annika, Bella, and Gregor have drawn a nemesis turn-order card for a new turn. They're playing against Madrox. It's still early in the game. Madrox has already taken some damage, but unfortunately so has Gravehold. Also dangerous: only 1 time marker remains on the PLOT Culling, so it's about to resolve.
STEP 1: RESOLVE EFFECTS
First, Madrox's play area must be resolved — from oldest to newest card — that is, left to right.
First the PLOT Culling is resolved: 1 time marker is removed from it. Now no time markers remain on it. So Annika, Bella, and Gregor now have to carry out the effect sentence by sentence:
First they carry out Madrox's SPECIAL attack 1× and thereby place 2 Grubs on the Nest. Then they must deal the player with the least remaining life 4 damage: Annika currently has the least remaining life and so loses 4 life.
Finally they place Culling on the discard pile; the PLOT is fully resolved.
Gregor is annoyed that he didn't prevent the plot on his last turn after all.
Next up is the Mole. The Mole is a MONSTER, so they must resolve its ANSTURM (RUSH):.
First it deals 1 damage to a player of their choice. Bella jumps into the breach and loses 1 life. Then the Mole also deals Gravehold 1 damage.
STEP 2: NEMESIS ACTION
Now it's time for the nemesis to take its action and draw 1 nemesis card. Since there are 3 different card types, let's imagine 3 alternate universes for this example and see what happens in each:
Example of an ATTACK
In this example, Annika, Bella, and Gregor draw the ATTACK Transform. An ATTACK is resolved immediately and then discarded. Transform has 2 paragraphs:
First, 1 Fly is placed on the Nest — the Nest is slowly getting dangerously full.
Then they must choose 1 player among themselves and deal them 3 damage: Gregor sacrifices himself and reduces his life by 3.
(Gregor is getting pretty annoyed by now...)
Example of a MONSTER
In this example, the three of them draw the MONSTER Portal Guardian. They place the Portal Guardian to the right of the Mole.
The Portal Guardian has 8 life, which they now place on it. They don't need to do anything more.
Example of a PLOT
In this example, Annika, Bella, and Gregor draw the PLOT Endless Darkness. They place it to the right of the Mole, which is already in the play area. The PLOT has TIME 2, so they must place 2 time markers on it. They don't need to do anything more.
Example of the End of a Turn
Madrox is simple — nothing more happens with it here, and its turn simply ends.
But...
Alternate Example
Even though nothing needed to be checked here with Madrox, other nemeses can require you to do something. Since we don't want to spoil any expedition content, let's imagine for this example that you're facing the Hate-Spawn instead (a nemesis from the base game of Wave 1 — more information at frostedgames.de).
With it, you should always check, at the end of the Nemesis Action step (i.e., at the end of the nemesis's turn), whether it has 4 or more Wrath on it. If so, it strikes.
What that means is stated right below it on every nemesis mat.
Always check the nemesis mat to see if there's anything you need to do at the end of the turn!
Expedition Terms & After the Game
Banish: When a card is to be banished, put it behind the matching card divider (Banished Supplies or Banished Other Cards). Banished cards cannot be used for the rest of the current expedition.
Barracks: The Barracks is the area where you store, between the games of an expedition, all the game components you have access to during the current expedition.
- For cards there are two separate card dividers: Barracks: Player Cards and Barracks: Treasures.
- Breach mage mats that are in the Barracks are kept separate from other breach mage mats.
- During an expedition you only have access to the components in the Barracks.
- Over the course of an expedition you may be instructed to "add [something] to the Barracks." From that moment on, you may use the named components in the further games of the expedition.
Putting Away After the Game
Put away the various cards as follows behind the card dividers into the box, to pack up the game after a game in Expedition mode:
- The Expedition deck (if present) behind the matching card divider — including the top and bottom STOP card.
- The current Stop stack (if present) behind the matching card divider.
- All laid-out Supplies, one after another as 1 stack, behind the Barracks: Player Cards divider.
- All Treasure cards, one after another as 1 stack, behind the Barracks: Treasures divider.
- Your player and the nemesis cards behind the correspondingly labeled card dividers: there is a matching card divider for each breach mage and each nemesis.
Finally, put all remaining material back in the box.
Variants
Adjusting the Difficulty
Aeon's End has an adjustable difficulty. You can adjust the difficulty as follows:
EASIER Adjust the starting life as follows:
- every player: 2 more life
- Gravehold: 5 more life
- the nemesis: 10 less life
HARDER Use the nemesis's INCREASED DIFFICULTY.
This can affect its setup, its SPECIAL attack, or its special rules.
MAXIMUM CHALLENGE Use INCREASED DIFFICULTY and adjust the starting life:
- every player: 2 less life
- Gravehold: 5 less life
- the nemesis: 10 more life
Combining with Other Waves
All breach mages, spells, artifacts, and crystals from all waves can be used in any game. Only with the nemeses is there something to note:
We strongly recommend, for the best play experience, only playing the nemeses of one wave with the nemesis cards from their matching base game. Otherwise this changes the nemeses' difficulty. The note on which nemesis should be played with which cards is on the bottom of each nemesis.
RECOMMENDED: USE NEMESIS CARDS FROM W4-BA
Solo Play
There are 2 ways to play Aeon's End solo:
You can either simply play multiple breach mages, controlling all of them yourself. If you decide to play this way, just follow the normal rules for the number of players, in relation to the number of breach mages you want to play. We recommend not playing with more than two breach mages, since you already have to keep quite a bit in your head.
Alternatively, you can play TrueSolo, i.e. with only 1 breach mage. Follow these rules for that:
Changes to Setup:
Build the turn order deck as follows: Take 3 player turn-order cards (say 1, 2, and 3) and the 2 nemesis turn-order cards. You don't need any turn order tokens.
Build the nemesis deck as follows:
- Expedition? Build the nemesis deck out of as many UPGRADED and GENERAL cards as indicated for your current battle.
- Single game? Build the nemesis deck as for Battle 1, i.e. with 1/3/7 GENERAL cards.
| TrueSolo | Battle 1 | Battle 2 | Battle 3 | Battle 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | 1A | 1V | 1V | 1V |
| Level 2 | 3A | 3V | 3V | 3V |
| Level 3 | 7A | 3V + 4A | 5V + 2A | 7V |
A = GENERAL nemesis cards V = UPGRADED nemesis cards
Example — before Battle 2: For levels 1 and 2 you draw 1 and 3 upgraded nemesis cards respectively, and no general nemesis cards. For level 3 you draw 3 upgraded and 4 general nemesis cards, so 7 cards total for level 3.
Changes to Game Flow:
A NEW TURN: When you draw a player turn-order card, you are up. It doesn't matter which player turn-order card you draw.
ON YOUR PLAYER TURN / ON THE NEMESIS'S TURN: All game effects that refer to other players now refer to you. Whenever you would have to choose another player, you may (or must) now choose yourself too.
You do not lose the game when you become exhausted, but only once Gravehold has 0 life; the player with the least life is, of course, always you as well, even while exhausted.
Adjusting the Difficulty:
Here are a few more ways you can adjust the difficulty of the TrueSolo game, to make it a bit easier:
- Use 4 player turn-order cards.
- You receive 12, or even 14, life at the start of the game.
After the First Expedition
Read only after you have finished your first expedition, or if you want to reset the game.
Once you finish your first expedition, you have unlocked all the components of this base game.
With the further Splinters and Sparks from the END card packets, you can assemble the starting cards for all breach mages of Wave 4 of Aeon's End. The ENDE envelope contains the card dividers for all breach mages and nemeses of the Wave-4 expansions. Wave 4 consists of this base game The New Age and the three expansions The Ageless, Into the Wild, and Shattered Dreams.
The complete list of this base game's components is:
- 14 mats: 8 breach mages, 4 nemeses, 1 Nest, 1 Ritual
- 19 breaches: 16 normal, 3 unique
- 2 dials
- 41 card dividers
- 24 time markers
- 24 Energy
- 80 life tokens: 60×1, 20×5
- 7 turn order tokens
- 72 further tokens: 10× Flood, 16× Charge, 19× Grub/Fly, 12× Formula, 10× Ferry, 4× Focus, 1× Ritual marker
- 87 selector cards: 22× Supply, 40× breach mage, 25× nemesis
- 13 turn order cards
- 13 Expedition cards
- 4 Player Overviews
- 28 Treasure cards
- 35 Stop/Divider/Advertisement cards
- 266 player cards, of which: 6 Crystals (7 each), 7 Spells (5 each), 9 Artifacts (5 each), 80 starting-deck cards, 9 Forged cards, 55 further Splinters/Sparks
- 104 nemesis cards, of which: 34 GENERAL, 15 UPGRADED, 55 for the nemeses
Playing Another Expedition
This is where you'll find all the rules for playing further expeditions. An expedition is always a sequence of four games, in which you battle random nemeses with random breach mages and Supplies, and gain increasing choice of treasures along the way.
To prepare another expedition, simply follow the section below. You prepare the individual games as described in the Setup starting on page 6. There are changes to the choice of breach mages, Supplies, and Treasures, as well as to building the nemesis deck, which are already integrated there (in the red boxes). For your convenience they are also listed on this two-page spread (below and above right).
Note: All the content of Aeon's End can be used in Expedition mode, with the exception of the nemeses listed at the end of the Aeon's End: Legacy campaign.
Preparing the Expedition
1. Take all the Treasure cards and sort them by their 3 tiers into 3 stacks. Shuffle each stack well.
2. Take all the Supply selector cards and sort them by the 3 types: Crystal, Artifact, and Spell. Shuffle each stack well. Draw 3 Crystal, 2 Artifact, and 4 Spell selector cards. With these Supplies, you begin the expedition: search the drawn Supplies out from your collection and add them to the Barracks.
3. Take all the breach mage selector cards and shuffle them well. Draw 4 of them and add the drawn breach mages to the Barracks. You'll play the expedition with these breach mages. Note: If you draw a breach mage you don't own, simply draw a new selector card.
4. Take all the nemesis selector cards and sort them by the 4 levels into 4 stacks. Shuffle each stack well.
Before Each Game: Setting Up the Breach Mages
1. Each of you chooses 1 breach mage from the Barracks.
3. Choose your Treasures from the Barracks according to the number of the battle within the expedition:
| Battle 1 | Battle 2 | Battle 3 | Battle 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| no treasures | Tier 1 only | Tiers 1 and 2 | Tiers 1, 2, and 3 |
In the first battle there are no treasures yet. In battle 2, everyone chooses 1 tier-1 treasure; in battle 3 everyone chooses 1 tier-1 treasure and you as a group choose 1 tier-2 treasure. In battle 4 everyone also chooses 1 tier-3 treasure.
5. Choose 9 Supplies (4 Spells, 3 Crystals, and 2 Artifacts) from the Barracks and banish all the others.
How you choose the Treasures of every tier:
- Tier 1: Everyone chooses 1 tier-1 treasure and replaces 1 Splinter or Spark in their STARTDECK with it — depending on the treasure's type. (If you choose a Crystal treasure, you replace 1 Splinter with it; if you choose a Spell treasure, you replace 1 Spark with it. If that's not possible, you replace 1 card of the other type instead.)
- Tier 2: As a group, choose exactly 1 tier-2 treasure. Lay it out visible to everyone. Its effect applies to all of you.
- Tier 3: Everyone chooses 1 tier-3 treasure and places it on their breach mage mat. The treasure can only be used by the player who chose it.
Before Each Game: Setting Up the Nemesis
6. Draw 1 nemesis selector card from the stack matching your current battle. Note: If you draw a nemesis you don't own, simply draw a new selector card.
7. Prepare this nemesis as usual — with the following change: build the nemesis deck of each level from all the nemesis's special cards (as always) plus as many UPGRADED and GENERAL cards as indicated for the current battle. Check the table on the right that matches your number of players.
Example: You're playing with three, and are before Battle 3. For Level 1 you need 5 cards total. You first draw 2 upgraded level-1 cards, then draw 3 more general level-1 cards. That makes 2 + 3 = 5 cards.
V = UPGRADED A = GENERAL
2 PLAYERS
| Battle 1 | Battle 2 | Battle 3 | Battle 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | 3A | 1V + 2A | 2V + 1A | 3V |
| Level 2 | 5A | 3V + 2A | 4V + 1A | 5V |
| Level 3 | 7A | 3V + 4A | 5V + 2A | 7V |
3 PLAYERS
| Battle 1 | Battle 2 | Battle 3 | Battle 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | 5A | 1V + 4A | 2V + 3A | 3V + 2A |
| Level 2 | 6A | 3V + 3A | 4V + 2A | 5V + 1A |
| Level 3 | 7A | 3V + 4A | 5V + 2A | 7V |
4 PLAYERS
| Battle 1 | Battle 2 | Battle 3 | Battle 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Level 1 | 8A | 1V + 7A | 2V + 6A | 3V + 5A |
| Level 2 | 7A | 3V + 4A | 4V + 3A | 5V + 2A |
| Level 3 | 7A | 3V + 4A | 5V + 2A | 7V |
After Each Game
Did you win?
- Gather Treasures: Draw the indicated number of Treasures from the matching Treasure stack and add them to the Barracks.
- Was that Battle 1? Draw 5 tier-I treasures.
- Was that Battle 2? Draw 3 tier-II treasures.
- Was that Battle 3? Draw 5 tier-III treasures.
- Expand the Barracks: Draw 1 new Supply selector card of every type (Crystal, Artifact, Spell). Add the drawn Supplies to the Barracks.
- Was that the 4th battle? Expedition complete!
Did you lose?
-
Receive support: Draw 1 card of your choice from the following options.
- 1 Supply selector card of a type of your choice.
- 1 Treasure of a tier from which you've already drawn treasures.
- 1 breach mage selector card.
Add the drawn Supply, Treasure, or breach mage to the Barracks.
-
Fight again, against the nemesis, to advance further in the expedition!
Expedition Variants
Determining Score: You can determine your score, to see how well you did at the end of the expedition. To do this, count the following points toward your total score after every battle. Were you victorious on your...
1st try? +6 points 2nd try? +4 points 3rd try? +2 points Otherwise: +0 points
Short Expedition (3 battles): Here you skip the first battle. Gather treasures and expand the Barracks as if you had won Battle 1. Then begin directly with Battle 2.
Long Expedition (8 battles): Here you double the number of battles. The following changes apply:
- For battles 1 and 2, draw a random nemesis from the Battle-1 stack; for battles 3 and 4, from the Battle-2 stack, and so on.
- Gather treasures only at the end of every second battle, i.e. after Battle 2, Battle 4, and Battle 6.
- Expand the Barracks as usual after every battle.
Endless Supplies: After you've chosen your Supplies during setup, put all the Supplies you didn't choose back into the Barracks, instead of banishing them.
Resetting The New Age
1. Put all mats (breach mage/nemesis/other) and card dividers marked bottom-right with Envelope X into their matching envelopes.
2. Also fill the envelopes as follows:
- 2A: 12 Formula tokens and 1 Ritual marker
- 2B: 16 Charge tokens
- 4: 10 Ferry tokens, 4 Focus tokens
3. Sort the cards by their number into five ascending stacks (P1, P2, P3, END1, END2):
- The top card has the number 001 and the bottom card the number 110 of the respective packet.
- You'll always find the card number at the bottom right.
- Make sure all cards lie with their front side (black border) facing up.
4. Put the stacks separately from each other into the box (e.g. in zip bags).
5. Put all remaining material (remaining mats, card dividers, breaches, tokens, and markers) into the box.