Aventuria: Chalices of Power Rulebook

Table of Contents

Rule Number One
The Campaign
The Adventure
Tests
The Narrative
Combat (Preparation)
Combat Sequence
Hero's Turn
Unconscious Heroes
- Reanimation Roll
End of Combat / End of the Adventure
Brief Respite
Spending Adventure Points
Additional Rules
Free Play
- Free Play with Experienced Heroes
- Individual Challenge Level
Quick Reference

Rule Number One

If the text on a card contradicts the rules, the card text always takes precedence. The game effect on the card only overrides the rule that applies to that particular situation.

If a rule or game effect permits or requires something while another rule or effect prohibits it, the prohibition takes precedence.

The Campaign

The Campaign is at the heart of Aventuria. Your heroes start out as raw beginners and grow through their experiences as they find out more about their task and their opponents. At the end, the action culminates in a grand finale in which the heroes face the major villain in battle and hopefully come out on top.

This box contains the complete Aventuria campaign "Chalices of Power."

For free play outside of a campaign, see the Free Play chapter.

During the preparation phase of the first adventure of a campaign, each of you decides on a hero and takes the corresponding cards from the corresponding Hero Deck compartment. The male and female versions of a hero are identical (apart from the distribution of talent values) and use the same deck of cards.

Selecting a Hero

The heroes are your characters and the protagonists of the campaign storyline. The Chalices of Power box contains 6 heroes (Elf Scout, Half Elf Rogue, Tulamydian Mage, Dwarf Blacksmith, Blessed One of Peraine, Thorwalian Warrior), each in male and female versions.

Solo Game: If you play Aventuria as a solo game, we recommend you play with a party of 2 heroes.

The Adventures

A campaign consists of numbered Adventures, which are covered in the corresponding campaign booklets. The first adventure of the "Chalices of Power" campaign is "Saving Silvana."

To start an adventure, follow the instructions in "The Adventure" chapter below.

Hero Hiatus: If a player cannot participate in a game session, their hero sits out this session but may join up with the rest of the party at a later time. If a hero sits out a complete adventure, they don't receive Adventure Points for it, but may continue participating in the campaign normally.

Hero Card

Close Combat Value: The hero makes a test on this value to attack in close combat.
Ranged Combat Value: The hero makes a test on this value to attack in ranged combat.
Magic Value: The hero makes a test on this value to attack with magic or liturgical chants. Some heroes have a "—" instead of a number. This means that this attribute is not available to them during the game.
Basic Equipment: This attack is always available to the hero during combat.
Special Ability: Each hero has a special ability that may be used once per game.
Dodge Value: The hero makes a test on this value to dodge enemy attacks.
Level: The Hero Card's level (I, II, or III).
Hero Symbol: The hero symbol indicates which hero the card belongs to. This lets you assign Action Cards to the correct Hero Card.
Hero's Name: The full name of the hero.
Profession: The profession of the hero.
Edition & Serial Number: The symbol of the edition to which the card belongs and the card's individual serial number.

Skill Card

Hero's Name: The full name of the hero.
Skills: A list of the hero's 8 skills and their respective skill values.
Level: The Skill Card's level (I, II, or III).
Hero Symbol: The hero symbol indicates which hero the card belongs to.
Categories: This table shows which card categories a hero may own. If a category is not listed, the hero may not have any cards of that category in their deck.

Action Card

Endurance Cost: This number indicates how much endurance a hero must pay to play the card.
Card Title: The full name of the card.
Card Category: The category of an Action Card is represented by a symbol and a word.
Level: The Action Card's level (I, II, or III).
Hero Symbol: The hero symbol shows which hero the card belongs to. This lets you assign Action Cards to the correct Hero Card.
Card Effect: The card's game effect.

Card Categories

Light Close Combat Weapon, Medium Close Combat Weapon, Heavy Close Combat Weapon, Light Ranged Combat Weapon, Medium Ranged Combat Weapon, Heavy Ranged Combat Weapon, Light Armor, Medium Armor, Heavy Armor, Equipment, Advantage, Talent, Light Spell, Complex Spell, Light Liturgical Chant, Complex Liturgical Chant, Companion.

The Adventure

The Aventuria Campaign consists of a number of Adventures. You play them in the order in which they appear in the Campaign Books.

Preparation

Place the Adventure Plan in the middle of the table and take all cards from the Administrative Cards compartment of the game box. Place the Resource Cards in an open pile on the corresponding space of the Adventure Plan. This is the Resource Card Reserve. Place the Reference Cards next to them. Shuffle all 12 Fate Cards into a face-down pile to place on the corresponding space of the Adventure Plan. This is the Fate Pile.
Take the Tokens and Dice from the game box and place them next to the Adventure Plan.
Each player places a Hero Board in front of them.
Each player takes their hero's Playing Cards from the corresponding Hero Deck compartment. You participate in the adventure with these cards. (If this is the first Adventure of a Campaign, each player now decides on a hero.)
Each player places their hero's Hero Card and Skill Card on their Hero Board. If you have Hero Titles, place them as well. Then they shuffle their Action Cards and place the shuffled Hero Deck in front of them.
Every player places 1 Ability Token on their Hero Card. This indicates that the hero's Special Ability hasn't been used yet.
Each player takes 1 Life Point Wheel and sets it to the value of 40. Additionally, place 2 Fate Points per player in the Fate Point space of the Adventure Plan. Put all remaining Fate Points back into the game box.
Decide, which player will be the Starting Hero. That player takes the Starting Hero Token.
Turn to the first page of the Adventure you are going to play. It will tell you which Adventure Cards, Henchman Cards, Challenge Cards, and additional cards are used in this Adventure. Take those cards from the corresponding compartments of the Sorting Tray and place them next to the Adventure Plan.

This concludes preparations and the Adventure can begin!

The Adventure Plan holds, among other spaces, the Resource Reserve, the Time Scale and Time Tokens, the Treasure Pile, the Henchman Draw Pile and Discard Pile, the Fate Pile and Fate Card Discard Pile, the Event Card Draw Pile and Discard Pile, the Fate Point Reserve, and the Adventure Cards.

Procedure

An Adventure consists of two components, the Narrative and the Combat. The Narrative provides the Adventure's story and uses the rules in "The Narrative" chapter. Combat uses the rules in the "Combat (Preparation)" chapter.

Short Adventures consist of one Narrative section, followed by a combat. Longer Adventures, like "The Black Tower", are divided into a number of Acts. Each act usually consists of one Narrative section, followed by a Combat.

At the start of an Adventure, and at the start of each new Act, you will also sometimes encounter a "Shortcut" text box. Here, you can decide as a group to speed up the Adventure by skipping the Narrative and directly jumping into the next Combat.

Difficulty Level

You can play the adventures on Difficulty Level "Normal" or "Hard." Every time the adventure asks you to choose a Difficulty Level (usually at the start of a combat), you may freely decide on one of them.

Tests

Making tests is Aventuria's most important game mechanic. All tests use the rules explained here. Depending on when a test takes place (during the Narrative or in Combat), additional rules apply.

Procedure

Every time Aventuria asks you to make a test, you roll a D20. This can have one of 4 different outcomes:

Critical Success: You rolled a 1.
Success: You rolled a number that is equal to or lower than the relevant game value, but not a 1.
Failure: You rolled a number that is higher than the relevant game value, but not a 20.
Critical Failure: You rolled a 20.

Difference between Tests and Rolls: All dice rolls during the game that are not explicitly denoted as Tests instead count as Rolls. This includes the Damage roll and Action roll. Rolls don't use any of the rules for tests.

Game Values

There are two types of game values. Firstly the Attributes, represented by their relevant symbol (Close Combat, Ranged Combat, Magic, Dodge). You'll find the attribute values on your hero's Hero Card. Secondly the 8 Skills, which are always written in red italics (Body Control, Craft, Knowledge, Perception, Persuade, Stealth, Survival, and Willpower). You'll find these on your hero's Skill Card.

Special Tests: Sometimes you are asked to make a test on a value X, which is determined in many different ways, depending on the relevant game situation. Other than that, these tests use all the rules explained here.

Modifiers

If the test includes a number with a plus sign (+), raise the value of the attribute by that amount for this test (making it easier). A minus sign (-) lowers the value of the attribute by that amount (making it harder).

Example: If you make a Knowledge test +5, you add 5 to your Knowledge value and try to roll equal to or lower than that number. If you make a test –2, you subtract 2 from your value before you roll for the test.

If two or more modifiers apply to a test, add them all together. If the modified game value is reduced to 0 or lower, you don't roll the die and the test automatically counts as a failure. Modifiers also count if the test is rerolled (see below).

If a game value is "—", then you cannot make tests on that game value. If a test is required regardless, it automatically counts as a failure. Modifiers don't change this outcome.

Change Dice Roll Result

Many Action Cards and game effects allow a player to raise or lower a dice roll result after the roll, or set it to a certain value. This takes place after the dice roll and before determining the dice roll result.

If this changes the dice roll result to a 1, it does not count as a critical success. If it changes the result to a 20, it does not count as a critical failure.

The modified dice roll result only counts for this specific dice roll. If the test is rerolled (see next section), then the change is not applied to the new dice roll result!

Reroll

If you have a Fate Point available, you may spend it to reroll the die and use the new result. Other players in your group may spend a Fate Point of theirs to allow you to reroll.

Spending Fate Points in this way may be combined with any number of other game effects that allow you a reroll or a change of the dice roll result. This also includes spending additional Fate Points for additional rerolls.

Test Result

Once you decide to not use any more game effects, the dice roll result is final and cannot be changed again.

Most tests are followed by a Result Table with the "Critical Success," "Success," "Failure," and "Critical Failure" entries. Once the test result is finalized, read the relevant entry and apply the relevant game effects.

Sometimes, you are asked to make a test that is not followed by a result table. Instead, the text only explains what happens in case of a success or failure. In this case, critical successes and critical failures have no specific effects and count as regular successes or failures instead.

Sometimes the text only says what happens in case of a success, or only what happens in case of a failure. In all other instances, nothing happens.

Example of a Test during the Narrative: Before you begin your journey, you visit the archives in the temples and in the Council of Perainefurten to find out more about the Wildenstein barony. Maybe this information can be of help to you later on? Each hero makes a Knowledge test.

Critical Success: You are very well prepared. Take 2 Adventure Tokens.
Success: You find some useful information. Take 1 Adventure Token.
Failure: You don't find anything useful. No effect.
Critical Failure: You collect misleading information. Remove 1 Adventure Token from the Adventure Plan until the end of this Adventure.

The Narrative

The Narrative leads your heroes though the Adventure's story and is divided into individual sections, which are themselves subdivided into narrative texts and game instructions. The Narrative texts provide you with the Adventure's story, while the game instructions handle the mechanical rules. Narrative texts are written in italics. All non-italics text contains game instructions, usually also presented in text boxes for additional emphasis.

A special kind of game instruction is the Combat Box, which signals the beginning of a combat. Here, too, you first read the game instructions aloud and then follow them. All the details are provided in the Combat chapter.

Game instructions you will encounter often are centered around Fate Cards, Decisions, Resource Cards, and Tests.

Fate Cards

During the Narrative, you use Fate Cards, of which there are four different types: "Great Fortune," "Fortune," "Misfortune," and "Great Misfortune." The game instructions sometimes ask you to draw a card from the Fate Pile, followed by a listing of the four different fate options, from which you then act on the one that matches the card you drew.

To assess the current state of your fate, you can always check which cards are currently in the Fate Pile. Afterwards, however, you must shuffle the deck.

A card drawn from the Fate Pile is placed in the Fate Card Discard Pile of the Adventure Plan after it is dealt—it does not go back into the Fate Pile!

Discarding Fate Cards: Sometimes, the Adventure Text instructs you to remove one or more cards from the Fate Pile. Search the pile for the cards in question and put them on the Fate Card Discard Pile. If you are asked to discard cards that are currently not in the Fate Pile, ignore the game instruction. Shuffle the Fate Pile afterward.

Restocking the Fate Pile: If there are 3 or fewer cards in the Fate Pile after a Fate Card was drawn and resolved, immediately shuffle all cards in the Fate Card Discard Pile into the Fate Pile.

Decisions

Occasionally, the Adventure text asks you to make a Decision. There are three different types of decisions:

Starting Hero Decision: A Starting Hero Decision is made solely by the Starting Hero, i.e., the player who currently has the Starting Hero Token. The other players may help with advice, but the starting hero makes the decision alone. After each starting hero decision, the starting hero passes the starting hero token to the player to their left.

Follow-up Decision: Some decisions lead to situations where a Follow-up Decision is required. This decision is then made by the player sitting to the right of the current starting hero, i.e. the player who made the previous Starting Hero Decision.

Majority Decision: Sometimes a decision is so important to the Adventure's progress that all the players decide together, with the majority vote used to determine the final decision. In case of a tie, the outcome is decided by a die roll.

Resource Cards

The game instructions often ask you to place Adventure Tokens on Resource Cards. These cards represent positive influence factors (information, allies, etc.) and negative influence factors (enemies, elapsed time) that you collect during the story.

If you are asked to place an Adventure Token on a Resource Card that is not yet in play, you pick that card from the Resource Card Reserve and place it in a free space of the Adventure Plan. You then place the Adventure Token, as requested by the Adventure. On the other hand, if it happens that you have removed all Adventure Tokens from a Resource Card, you place the card back into the Resource Card Reserve. A Resource Card is only relevant to the game if there is at least 1 Adventure Token on it.

If a game instruction asks you to remove an Adventure Token from a Resource Card, but there are currently no Adventure Tokens on that card, then you skip this instruction.

Resource Cards in play remain until the end of the current adventure and are then removed from play, unless the adventure text explicitly says otherwise.

Tests during the Narrative

Every time a hero is asked to make a test during the Narrative, use the rules in the "Tests" chapter. As an additional option, the hero may Sacrifice Equipment after a failed test (see below).

Sacrifice Equipment

After a failed skill test during the Narrative, you may decide to sacrifice some of your baggage to succeed the test.

Important: Equipment may only be sacrificed after suffering a regular failure during a skill test! It is not allowed after a critical failure.

If you decide to sacrifice equipment, draw 2 cards from your Hero Deck and place them in your Discard Pile. If any of the cards drawn are Disadvantage Cards (see the "Disadvantage Cards" section under Additional Rules), their effect is not triggered. Instead, the skill test automatically counts as a critical failure. If none of the drawn cards is a Disadvantage Card, you may reroll the test.

All discarded cards begin the next Combat in the Discard Pile and are not normally returned to the Hero Deck until after the battle.

Sacrificing equipment is only possible once per test and it is only allowed if there are currently 25 or more cards in your Hero Deck (including Disadvantage Cards).

Group Tests: Many tests require all heroes to face the test, so each player must make a test on the required game value and apply the result to their hero. In this case, the dice rolls and the application of the results are done at the same time.

After all heroes have rolled for their test, they may decide in any order whether to sacrifice equipment, and each of them may wait for the result of other heroes' equipment sacrifice before making their decision.

If a positive result means that the group may place 1 Adventure Token on a Resource Card, and a negative result means that they must remove 1 Adventure Token from it, these two results balance each other out immediately. You don't deal with one result and then the other.

Combat (Preparation)

During combat you fight against the Adventure's adversaries.

Follow the game instructions for the relevant Combat and place the following cards on the Adventure Plan:

Time Scale Card
Leader Card
Additional Adventure Cards
Special Cards
Henchman Cards

Card types 1 through 3 are specific to each Adventure and always contain the name of the Adventure, including the number of the Act to which they belong, for full-length Adventures.

1. Time Scale Card

Choose the side of the Time Scale card that corresponds to your chosen Difficulty Level. The following levels are available: "Normal" (ideal for beginners and casual gamers) or "Hard" (a proper challenge for players who are well-versed in the game's rules and their hero's cards). Place the Time Scale on the corresponding space of the Adventure Plan. Place the specified number of Time Counters in the row below the Time Scale.

The Time Scale card shows a Card Title (the name of the card; one side is used with the "Normal" Difficulty Level, the other with the "Hard" Difficulty Level), the number of Time Counters placed on the Adventure Plan at the start of Combat, Time Effects (which are resolved during a round's Time Effects step), and the Adventure Name (the name of the Adventure and, if available, the number of the Act to which this Time Scale belongs).

2. Leader Card

Take the Leader Card and place it on the corresponding space of the Adventure Plan. Some Adventures may include multiple Leader Cards or no Leader Card at all. If there are several leaders, place them from left to right according to their order in the game instructions. The Leader Cards form the beginning of the Row of Villains, which usually then continues with Henchman Cards.

Name: The full name of the leader.
Keywords: Identify the exact type of opponent. They are used in conjunction with game effects.
Special Rules: A grey box contains special rules that apply to this leader.
Adventure Name: The name of the Adventure and (if available) the number of the Act to which the leader belongs.
Life Points: The leader's Life Points at the beginning of the combat.
Dodge: The leader's Dodge Value.
Armor: The leader's Armor Value.
Actions: The number of actions the leader is allowed to perform when it is their turn.
Action Table: This dice table covers all numbers from 1 to 20 and describes the game effects that the leader triggers by rolling those numbers.

3. Additional Adventure Cards

If the Combat calls for additional Adventure Cards (for example Hero Actions), read them aloud before placing them on the corresponding spaces of the Adventure Plan according to the game instructions. Place tokens on the cards that require them—this is determined on the card itself or in the Combat's game instructions.

Some Adventure Cards only come into play later in the fight. Set these aside next to the playing area or place them under other cards at the beginning of combat.

4. Special Cards

Many Combats call for special card Draw Piles (Event Cards, Leader Actions, etc.). Follow the game instructions to set these up before the combat begins. Each card has keywords, and the game instructions indicate which keywords to include in the Draw Pile. Shuffle the pile and place it on the corresponding space of the Adventure Plan. The draw pile comes with its own Discard Pile. Some combats call for more than one Draw Pile during play. In those cases, use free spaces to accommodate additional draw piles.

Card Title: The complete name of the card.
Keyword: Identifies the type of card.
Narrative text: Read this text aloud when drawing the card.
Game Effect: Read and apply these game effects after reading the Narrative text.

5. Henchman Cards

These cards represent common enemies the heroes will be dealing with during combat. They supplement the Leader Cards to add to the Row of Villains.

At the beginning of combat, compile a draw pile of Henchman Cards. You may only use henchmen from this game box for this purpose, and their keywords must correspond to those in the combat's game instructions. Additional instructions may refer to specific henchmen and their placement in the Henchman Draw Pile.

Name: The full name of the henchman.
Keywords: These keywords identify the exact type of opponent.
Special Rules: A grey box contains special rules that apply to this henchman.
Threat Points: These points indicate how dangerous this henchman is.
Life Points: The henchman's Life Points at the beginning of the combat.
Dodge: The henchman's Dodge Value.
Armor: The henchman's Armor Value.
Actions: The number of actions the henchman is allowed to perform when it is their turn.
Action Table: This dice table covers all numbers from 1 to 20 and describes the game effects that the henchman triggers by rolling those numbers.

Next, shuffle the Draw Pile and draw cards one at a time, placing them from left to right into the spaces of the Row of Villains on the Adventure Plan. Each Henchman Card has a Threat Points value in the top right. Draw cards and place them on the Row of Villains until their total value equals or exceeds the Threat Value specified in the game instructions. (See also the example below.)

There is no upper limit to the number of opponents in a combat. If you are required to place more opponents than you can fit on the Adventure Plan, continue the Row of Villains outside of the Adventure Plan.

Lastly, place the Draw Pile with the remaining Henchman Cards on the Henchmen Draw Pile space of the Adventure Plan, in case you draw more henchmen during the fight. The henchman pile also has a corresponding Discard Pile.

Example for the Placement of Opponents (Leaders and Henchmen): The game instructions of the second act of "Legacy of Wildenstein" note that Henchman Cards with the keywords "Guard" and "Servant" are used. In the basic box, this includes the cards "Evil Maid," "Hunchback," "Crossbowman" (2 cards), "Fearful Watchman" (2 cards), "Loyal Bodyguard" (2 cards), "Honor Guard," "Palace Guard Corporal," "Tulamydian Knife Thrower," and "Tough Watchman." Assemble these 12 cards into the Henchmen Draw Pile for this act.

The threat value is "Number of Heroes x 6," so in a game with 2 participating heroes the total threat value would be 2 x 6 = 12.

At the start, the leader "Baron of Wildenstein" is placed on the left. His starting Life Points are Number of Heroes x 8, so in a 2-player game he starts with 16 Life Points. Then the players draw their first henchman from the Henchmen Draw Pile. It is a "Loyal Bodyguard," making the total threat value of cards on the table now 5 (the Loyal Bodyguard's Threat Points). This is below the required 12, so another card is drawn. It's another Loyal Bodyguard, so the total threat value rises to 10. It's still below 12, so another card is drawn. It's a Tough Watchman! His Threat Points are 7, so the total threat value is now 17. This is higher than the required 12, so the placement of henchmen is finished.

Additional Preparations

Each player draws 5 cards from their Hero Deck. If a player has Plus or Minus Tokens, the number of hand cards is increased or lowered accordingly—see the "Plus and Minus Tokens" entry under Additional Rules.

After drawing their hand cards, each player may decide to take a "Fox Hand" (mulligan), by placing any number of cards from their hand face down and replace them with new cards from the Hero Deck. The face down cards are then shuffled back into the deck.

Disadvantage Cards: If you draw Disadvantage Cards when you draw your Hand Cards, you may use the Fox Hand to shuffle them back into your deck before they take effect. Any Disadvantage Cards you have in your hand after using the Fox Hand will take effect immediately in the first round.

Combat Sequence

An Aventuria combat takes place in Rounds. Each round consists of the following Steps:

Preparation
Heroes Turns
Opponents Turn
Time Effects
End of the Round

1. Preparation

This step is comprised of 3 Phases (Card Draw Phase, Endurance Phase, Ready Cards Phase). All heroes resolve these phases simultaneously.

A) Card Draw Phase: Draw 2 Action Cards from your Hero Deck and place them in your hand. If there are no more cards in your draw deck, you may not draw any more cards. DO NOT start a new draw deck with your Discard Pile.

If one of the cards drawn is a Disadvantage Card, you must immediately resolve its game effect. The Disadvantage Card still counts as a regular drawn Action Card. If you draw 2 Disadvantage Cards, resolve them one after the other.

B) Endurance Phase: You may play up to 2 cards face down in front of you as Endurance Cards. Place these new Endurance Cards upright on the table to show that they are not yet exhausted. The new Endurance Cards may be cards from your hand or cards that you had previously played as permanent Action Cards.

Tip: The best Endurance Cards to choose are the ones you currently need the least, because a card played as an Endurance Card can no longer be used as a normal Action Card. Its normal playing effect can no longer be used during the current game. You may look at your own Endurance Cards at any time.

By playing Endurance Cards each turn, you have access to more endurance, allowing you to play more powerful Action Cards. If you think that you already have enough endurance, you can decide to play one or zero cards as endurance during this phase.

C) Ready Cards Phase: Ready all your exhausted Endurance Cards or previously activated Action Cards by turning them to an upright position. They are now ready to be used again this turn.

2. Heroes Turns

Now each hero takes their turn, starting with the current starting hero (as indicated by the Starting Hero Token).

First, resolve game effects that must be resolved at the start of a player's turn. If there are two or more of these effects, you may decide the order in which to resolve them.

Then you take your turn, as explained in the "Hero's Turn" chapter. After you have resolved all of your actions, your turn ends.

Game effects that must be resolved at the end of a player's turn are resolved now. If there are two or more of these effects, you may decide the order in which to resolve them. If there are no such effects, skip this step.

Now it's the next hero's turn.

3. Opponents Turn

Once all heroes have taken their turns, check if there are game effects on opponents or other Adventure Cards that are resolved at the start of the opponents turn. If so, then they are resolved now.

Then all opponents take their turn. They act in the order in which they are arranged in the Row of Villains, from left to right.

Each opponent card notes the number of actions that opponent takes during their turn. Some opponents (especially leaders) have a variable number of actions that depends on the number of heroes. Roll one D20 for each action the opponent has and look up the result on the card's action table.

After making an action roll and before applying it on the action table, the dice roll result can be changed by playing Action Cards or applying other game effects. This cannot lower the result below 1 or raise it above 20. A result of 1 or 20 has no additional game effect.

Opponent's Turn Example: During the second act of "Legacy of Wildenstein", the opponents resolve their turn. The Baron of Wildenstein goes first. His actions entry lists the symbol for "Number of Heroes." This means that he may roll a number of action dice equal to the number of heroes participating in the combat. In a combat with 2 heroes, he has 2 actions. A player rolls his action die and scores a 15, meaning that the Baron smiles balefully, but other than that, nothing bad happens. Next, an 8 is rolled, so a Leader Action Card is drawn from its Draw Pile and resolved. This ends the Baron's actions.

After he has acted, it is time for the first Loyal Bodyguard, then the second Loyal Bodyguard, and finally the Tough Watchman to roll one action die each (shown by the "1" in their actions entry). After that, the opponents turn ends.

Attacks

Many actions on an opponent card represent attacks. They indicate which kind of attack they are (Close Combat, Ranged Combat, or Magic) and how much damage they cause. The opponent makes no additional attack test; the attack is automatically considered successful. Determine the attack's damage by rolling the dice indicated in the attack entry and adding the sum of the dice to the fixed value shown (e.g. "2D6+3 Damage"; roll two 6-sided dice and add 3).

If game effects on Adventure Cards, Special Cards or an opponent's card change an opponent's damage, then these modifiers are applied now.

Target Selection

Many actions on the opponent's card are aimed against specific targets. The target may be determined in a variety of ways:

Starting Hero: The target of the attack is the hero with the Starting Hero Token.
Random Hero: Determine the target at random. Assign a number to each hero and roll a D6. The dice roll result determines which hero is hit.

Example: Selestia, Miraculo, Yoleyana, and Lavalox take part in the combat and an opponent attacks a random hero. Selestia is assigned the "1," Miraculo the "2," Yoleyana the "3," and Lavalox the "4." A player rolls a D6 and scores a "5." The roll is repeated and this time comes up as a "3." Yoleyana becomes the target of this attack.
The Hero with the Most/Least: Some opponents target the hero with the most or least Fate Points, Life Points, cards in hand, or something else as the target of their attack. If one or more heroes have the same number of whatever the opponent is using to select a target, choose one of those tied heroes at random, as explained above. This also applies if, for example, all heroes have 0 of that resource.
Special Criteria: Depending on the opponent or Adventure, there may be other special selection criteria for a given effect. In this case, follow the instructions on the opponent's card or in the game instructions.

Dodging

The targeted hero now makes a Dodge test. This test uses the test rules from the "Tests" chapter. A critical success or critical failure has no additional effect. If the test is successful, the damage is divided by 2 and rounded up. If the test fails, the damage remains unchanged.

You may now use game effects to further reduce the damage.

Armor

Armor is a card category that provides a protection value (abbreviated PRO). You may use it when you become the target of an opponent's attack, which usually happens outside of your own turn.

Subtract the protection of the armor from the attack's damage. If this reduces the damage to 0 or less, your hero is unharmed. If not, subtract the remaining damage from your hero's Life Points. If the armor card has additional game effects, you may apply them now.

Important: If you have more than one armor card in play, you may only select one of them to reduce the attack's damage. Only that armor's protection and effects may be used. You may not use more than one armor card per attack to reduce damage.

Armor only reduces the damage of attacks, never the loss of other card effects (see Life Point Loss under Additional Rules).

4. Time Effects

If there are Time Counters in the row below the Time Scale on the Adventure Plan, remove the counter furthest on the right.

Now, read the number below the Time Counter that is now furthest to the right. If a time effect (such as drawing an Event Card or placing a new henchman) on the Time Scale corresponds to this number, apply it now.

If there are no Time Counters left in the row below the Time Scale, apply the "0 Time Counters" time effect. This also applies in all following rounds.

5. End of the Round

Finally, the current starting hero passes the Starting Hero Token to the player sitting to their left. Begin the next round.

The following rules supplement the basic rules already presented. They are not optional rules, but necessary parts of the game.

Hero's Turn

During your hero's turn you may perform any number of the following actions in any order you wish:

Play an Action Card
Activate an Action Card
Perform a Hero Action
Make an Attack

Play an Action Card

Endurance Cost: To play an Action Card, you must pay the endurance cost shown at the card's upper left corner. Exhaust the necessary number of Endurance Cards (turn them sideways). Endurance costs of X mean that you decide how much endurance to use; X may also be 0.

Play when?: Usually, you may play Action Cards only during your own turn. However, some cards have a prerequisite in the card text as to when they may be played. You may only play such cards if the prerequisite is met, but you may also do so outside of your own turn. You may play cards with the indication "Play this card at any time" at any time during or outside your turn.

One-Shot or Permanent?: Some cards contain the information "Then discard this card" with the Discard Symbol. After you have completely resolved the card, place it in your discard pile. Depending on the card, this happens immediately when you play it (e.g. Balsam) or at a later point (e.g. Gangrene).

All action cards without the Discard Symbol count as Permanent Cards. After playing them, you place them in front of you and they remain in play. If these cards have the exhaust symbol or are marked "Activate [...]", you may use their effect from now on with the "Activate Action Card" action. You may also do so in the same turn in which you played the card.

If a permanent card is neither marked "Activate [...]" nor has an exhaust symbol, then the card effect is always active (e.g. Riposte). This also applies to the so-called Attribute Cards, which improve a hero's attribute (e.g. Self-Control). You do not place Attribute Cards in front of you, but place them under your Hero Card so that their bonus is visible next to the basic value.

Some cards combine an effect that is always active and one that may be activated. In those cases, the card text starts with the always active effect, and that effect remains active even if the card is exhausted.

Different kinds of Action Cards, for reference: a card that remains in play and may be activated by exhausting it and paying endurance; a card such as "Weapon Poison" that is placed under a card such as "Rapier" to indicate that it improves that card; Attribute Cards, which are placed under the Hero Card so that their bonus is visible next to the basic value; a card that is discarded after use, as indicated by the Discard Symbol; and a card that comes with a prerequisite that only applies during the Opponents Turn, so it may only be used at that time.

Activate an Action Card

Many cards offer game effects that can be used by activating the card. This is indicated by the exhaust symbol or by a condition that starts with "Activate [...]" (e.g. Armatrutz).

In order to activate a card, you must fulfill certain conditions:

Fulfill Prerequisites: If the card text mentions a prerequisite, you must fulfill it in order to activate the card. For example, you may activate the card "Armatrutz" once per attack against you after your Dodge test.
Pay Endurance: A number in a circle (e.g. "X") indicates the endurance cost you must pay every time you activate the card. Endurance costs of X mean that you decide how much endurance to use; X can also be 0.
Exhaust Card: If the exhaust symbol appears, you must exhaust the card in order to activate it. Also, if the card is already exhausted, you cannot activate it.
Make a Test: If you must make a Test, do so as explained in the "Tests" chapter. If the test succeeds, apply the card's effect. Otherwise, do not apply the effect.
Make an Attack: If the word "Attack" is mentioned, use the rules for the "Make an Attack" action.

Perform a Hero Action

Many combats include Hero Action cards, which may be used by the heroes. Most Hero Actions require you to succeed at a skill test, which follows the rules in the "Tests" chapter.

Additional costs, prerequisites, and game effects of the Hero Action are explained on the card.

A Hero Action card shows a Card Title, a Sub-title (if it is a two-sided Story Card, the title that applies to this side of the card), who and how often (which heroes or how many heroes may perform this action in each round and how often it may be performed), a Skill Test (which skill a hero has to roll on when facing this Hero Action, and any endurance costs), Game effects (the effects that occur when a hero faces the action and passes the skill test), and an Adventure Name (the name of the Adventure and, if available, the number of the Act to which this story card belongs).

Make an Attack

Your Basic Equipment and many action cards (like weapons and spells) allow you to make an "Attack." Each attack is defined by a Type, either Close Combat, Ranged Combat, or Magic.

The attacks of companions use special rules which are explained under "Companions" in the Additional Rules chapter.

Each turn, you may make no more than one of each type of attack. You may make one close combat, one ranged combat, and one magic attack per turn! If you have more than one card that allows the same attack type, you may only attack with one of them.

An attack sequence consists of the following steps:

Choose target
Meet requirements
Make attack test
Make damage roll
Make dodge test
Determine damage
Reduce Life Points

1) Choose Target: Choose one opponent to be the target of the attack.

2) Meet Requirements: Fulfill the conditions of the attack, as specified on the card used for the attack.

3) Make Attack Test: Make a Test on the Attack Attribute (for example, if you make a Ranged Combat attack, use your hero's Ranged Combat value). The test uses all rules explained in the "Tests" chapter.

When the test's dice roll result is final, apply it on the following table:

Success/Critical Success: You hit your opponent.
Failure/Critical Failure: You miss the opponent. If you haven't spent any Fate Points during this test, then you may immediately take 1 Fate Point from the Adventure Plan. If there are no Fate Points on the Adventure Plan, skip this step.

4) Damage Roll: If you have hit the opponent, determine the attack's damage by rolling the dice indicated on the attack card and adding the sum of the dice to the fixed value shown (e.g. "2D6+3"). Additional game effects may further increase the damage.

5) Make Dodge Test: If the opponent has a Dodge value, you now make a dodge test for them.

If the test is successful, the attacker's Damage is divided by 2 and rounded up. If the test fails, the damage remains unchanged.

If the opponent has a Dodge value of "—", you don't make a Dodge test for them!

6) Determine Damage: Subtract the opponent's Armor Value from the Damage. Additional game effects may further reduce the damage. This may reduce the damage to 0, but not below 0.

7) Reduce Life Points: Reduce the opponent's Life Points by the remaining damage. Show this by placing the appropriate number of tokens on the opponent's card.

An opponent's Life Points are shown on the top right of their card. For Henchmen, it is usually a fixed value, whereas Leaders have a variable number that depends on the number of heroes. For example, in a combat with 3 Heroes, a Leader with the "(x 8)" Life Point notation has a total of 24 Life Points.

When there are tokens on an opponent's card equal to their total Life Points, then the opponent is immediately defeated. Place defeated Henchmen in the Henchmen Discard Pile. Remove defeated Leaders from the game.

For each opponent you defeat, you may immediately take 1 Fate Point. This is not just the case for your attacks, but also for all game effects of your own Action Cards (e.g. "Call Djinn," "Snare," or "Heavy Fall"), including effects that directly defeat an opponent without reducing their Life Points first. Opponents who leave the game without being defeated (for example by fleeing), don't gain you any Fate Points.

Example: It is Tsaiana's turn, and she decides to attack with her rapier. First, she selects a target—the Kobold leader. Then she makes her attack test and scores a hit. The rapier causes 1D6+3 damage. Rathelia rolls a 4 and thus causes a total of 7 damage. The Kobold has a Dodge value of 8. The player makes a dodge test for him and rolls a 5. The Kobold dodges successfully and the rapier's damage is reduced to 4 (7 ÷ 2 = 3.5, which is rounded up to 4). The Kobold has an Armor value of 0, so the damage is not reduced further and the Kobold loses 4 Life Points. Since he only had 3 left, his value drops to 0 and he is defeated. The Kobold's Adventure Card is removed from the game and Tsaiana gains 1 Fate Point.

Target of a Game Effect

Each game effect describes whom it may target:

If the text mentions a "Hero," you may apply the effect on your hero or any other hero in the game.
If the text mentions an "Opponent," you may apply the effect only on an opponent in the Row of Villains.
If the text mentions a "Henchman," you may apply the effect only on Henchman Cards in the Row of Villains.
If there is no information given, you may apply the effect only on your own hero.

Tests and Attacks

If the card text asks you to make a Test, you must now do so, applying the rules from the "Tests" chapter. If successful, the card's effect comes into play, if not, it doesn't.

Important: If a card indicates that it is discarded after use, you discard it without effect in the event of a failed test.

If the word "Attack" is mentioned, use the rules for the "Make an Attack" action.

Unconscious Heroes

A hero's Life Points cannot sink below 0. If a hero's Life Points are reduced to 0 and no game effect prevents this, they are knocked unconscious. An unconscious hero is ignored by all further opponent attacks, is not affected by any game effects, and they cannot intervene in combat in any way. Their cards and Fate Points remain in play, and their hand, Draw Pile, and Discard Pile remain unchanged. An unconscious hero's turn is skipped.

When the Starting Hero Token is passed on, it skips unconscious heroes.

If a hero is knocked unconscious while acting as the starting hero, pass the Starting Hero Token directly to the next active hero to the left. In this case, the Starting Hero Token doesn't change its owner at step 5 of the round.

Unconscious heroes can be brought back into combat by raising their Life Points above 0 with a game effect that heals at least 4 Life Points at once (such as a Healing Potion). Effects that heal a lesser amount of Life Points don't work on unconscious heroes. Another alternative is the Reanimation Roll (see below). A hero that was brought back into combat may decide whether to instantly return to the game, or do so at the beginning of the next round. Once the hero is back in the game, they may resume combat normally.

Reanimation Roll

During your turn, you may try to reanimate an unconscious hero as follows: Exhaust X Endurance Cards and roll one D20 for a reanimation attempt. If the die result is equal to or below X, the unconscious hero is brought back into combat with X Life Points. If the die result is higher than X, the hero remains unconscious. The reanimation roll is not a skill or attribute roll, so you cannot use a Fate Point to reroll it.

End of Combat / End of the Adventure

The procedure at the end of a combat depends on whether the Adventure continues or ends after the combat (e.g. in adventures with several acts).

The Adventure Continues

If the Adventure continues after the combat, proceed as follows:

Remove all Adventure Cards and additional cards that were used in this act, unless the Adventure text explicitly states otherwise. Resource Cards remain in play.
If your hero's current Life Points are below 30, you may raise their Life Points back to 30 (not 40). Return all Fate Points to the Adventure Plan.
Pick up all your Action Cards and shuffle them back into your Hero Deck.
If you used your hero's special ability during combat, put your Ability Token back on your Hero Card.
The heroes will now enjoy a Brief Respite (see below), unless the Adventure text says otherwise.
Shuffle all cards in the Fate Card Discard Pile back into the Fate Pile.

Then begin the next Act of the Adventure.

End of the Adventure

If the Adventure is complete after the combat, proceed as follows:

Remove all Challenge Cards, Fate Cards, all Resource Cards, and all Adventure Cards and additional cards used in this Adventure, unless the Adventure text explicitly states otherwise.
Return all Fate Points to the middle of the table.
Pick up all your Action Cards and shuffle them back into your Hero Deck.
If you used your hero's special ability during combat, put your Ability Token back on your Hero Card.
You may now spend the Adventure Points you gained for succeeding at the Adventure—see the "Spending Adventure Points" chapter.
In the next Adventure, the heroes automatically reset to 40 Life Points and 0 Fate Points.

Defeat

Important: Suffering a defeat does not mean the end of the campaign! Your heroes have suffered a setback and suffer negative game effects, but the campaign continues normally. Apply the relevant Defeat section in the Campaign Book and continue the game from there.

If, on the other hand, you suffer a defeat during a One-Shot adventure, the Adventure ends immediately. As an alternative, you may decide to restore your heroes to their state at the start of the combat and have another attempt.

Brief Respite

Between each act of a multi-act Adventure, the heroes have time for a Brief Respite, which allows them to regain some of their vitality and prepare for upcoming challenges. Each hero receives a number of Recovery Points equal to the number of Time Counters left on the Time Scale Card after the previous combat, plus 2.

Example: Miraculo, Yoleyana, and Lavalox finish a combat with 2 Time Counters on the Adventure Plan. Each hero gains 4 Recovery Points to use during the brief respite.

Each hero may use their Recovery Points for the following options in any combination:

Rest: Heal 2 Life Points per Recovery Point you spend on this option. This cannot raise your Life Points above the starting value of 40.
Pray to the Gods: For every 2 Recovery Points you spend on this option, take 1 Fate Point. You may choose this action as long as there are Fate Points remaining on the Adventure Plan.
Prepare: This option costs 2 Recovery Points and can only be chosen once by each hero. Take 1 Plus Token.

Spending Adventure Points

After an Adventure, heroes can spend their Adventure Points to purchase Reward Cards and/or upgrade cards using their Proficiency Stash.

Acquire Reward Cards

You may pick up a Reward Card from the Treasure Pile and permanently add it to your Hero Deck. This costs 2 Adventure Points per card. If you do not have enough Adventure Points to pay a card's full cost, you may not purchase it.

If more than one player wants the same Reward Card, come to an agreement or decide at random, who gets the card.

When acquiring a new Reward Card, you must follow the rules in the "Restrictions" section below.

The newly acquired Reward Card replaces any other Action Card in your Hero Deck, so the total number of cards in the deck does not change. Move the replaced card to your Proficiency Stash.

Important: You may not remove Disadvantage Cards to achieve the above effect!

Instead of paying the cost of a Reward Card, you may permanently remove another Reward Card from your deck. The cost of acquiring the new card drops to 0, but the permanently removed card goes back into the game box and is no longer available to your hero! All Reward Cards that are not acquired also go back into the game box.

Upgrade Cards

You can upgrade cards by using your hero's Proficiency Stash. Choose one of the following options:

a) Swap one of your level 1 cards for the level 2 card of the same name from your Proficiency Stash. This costs 3 Adventure Points each for a Hero or Skill Card, or 1 Adventure Point each for an Action Card. Place the level 1 card you removed into your Proficiency Stash.

b) Swap one of your level 2 cards for the level 3 card of the same name from your Proficiency Stash. This costs 3 Adventure Points each for a Hero or Skill Card, or 1 Adventure Point each for an Action Card, and is only allowed if the corresponding level 2 card is already in your possession. Place the level 2 card you removed into your Proficiency Stash.

Note: You may not upgrade an Action Card directly from level 1 to level 3! Between both upgrades you must play at least one adventure.

Restrictions

When modifying your Hero Deck as described here, you must always follow these rules:

A Hero Deck always consists of 30 Action Cards (plus any number of Disadvantage Cards).
Each Action Card has a category symbol in the lower left corner (such as for Light Close Combat Weapons). On a hero's Skill Card, you can see the maximum number of cards allowed in each category for that hero.

Recovery

By spending 1 Adventure Point, your hero may take the time to thoroughly recover from the hardships they endured. All Disadvantage Cards in their deck are removed.

Hero Title

In many Adventures, the heroes can gain Hero Title Cards, usually by succeeding at an Adventure or performing a special feat during an Adventure.

Hero Titles cannot be bought for Adventure Points, but only earned by the method described above. A hero may have any number of Hero Titles.

The Adventures each specify which heroes in the group are eligible for Hero Titles. If there are more eligible candidates for a title than there are cards available, the players agree on or randomly determine the recipient of the Hero Title.

Hero Titles are special cards held by the hero that do not count against the Action Card maximum of 30, but are placed next to the Hero Card at the beginning of each Adventure. The hero may use the special rules provided by the Hero Title Cards throughout the Adventure.

Additional Rules

Discard Piles

All cards that can be discarded by game effects (Action Cards, Event Cards, Leader Actions, Henchmen, etc.) have their own Discard Pile.

Action Cards follow the special rule that after drawing the last card from the Hero Deck, it is spent and no more cards may be drawn from it.

For all other cards, the following rule applies: When the game asks you to draw such a card and the corresponding Draw Pile is currently empty, shuffle the Discard Pile into a new Draw Pile. Then draw the card.

Remove from the Game

Some game effects can remove cards or Fate Points from the game. In an Adventure with more than one Act, they are only gone for the current Act. At the start of the next Act, return all removed Fate Points to the Adventure Plan. Return all removed cards to their original decks.

Companions

Companions are a special card category. Each hero may include up to 2 Companion Cards in their deck. Companions have their own Attack stat that you use when rolling for their attacks. These attack tests use the same rules as the three regular types of attacks, with two exceptions: after a failed attack test, you do not receive a Fate Point, and the restriction of one attack per turn of the same type does not apply to Companion attacks.

Companions also have a Flight Value. Once a number of tokens equal to this value have been placed on a Companion Card, it is removed from the game. After the combat, shuffle it back into the Hero Deck.

Demons

Demon Cards, like that of the Irrhalk in this box, are special opponent cards. They enter the game only via combat special rules and use all general rules for opponents, but neither count as leaders nor henchmen.

Double-sided Adventure Cards

Most regular Adventure Cards have only one side, but some may be double-sided. These cards have an "A" or "B" in their top right corner, indicating the card's A side and B side. Such cards generally come into play with their A side face up, and are flipped at some point during play.

Multiple Attacks of the Same Attack Type

Some cards allow a hero to make 2 attacks of the same attack type, for example the "Elf Bow (Level 3)" which allows 2 attacks. This is a deviation from the basic rules and is only allowed within the scope of these cards. You may aim the attacks at different targets.

If a hero makes 2 attacks of the same attack type in this way, they receive 1 Fate Point for each failed attack, unless the card text explicitly says otherwise.

Disadvantage Cards

Some game effects can cause the heroes to suffer Disadvantage Cards. For example, when they are defeated in combat or poisoned by their opponents. Disadvantage Cards are Action Cards with the word "Disadvantage" instead of a hero symbol. Every time you receive a Disadvantage Card, you shuffle it into your Hero Deck. Disadvantage Cards do not count towards the fixed number of 30 Action Cards per Hero Deck. After an Adventure is finished, they remain in your deck, unless the card or accompanying Adventure text specifically says otherwise. Recovery (see "Spending Adventure Points") allows a hero to remove all Disadvantage Cards.

When you draw Disadvantage Cards during Combat, you immediately apply their game effects. During the Narrative and when taking a Fox Hand, other rules apply.

Plus and Minus Tokens

Whenever a game effect tells you that you receive 1 Plus Token or 1 Minus Token, take a Plus/Minus Token from the reserve and place it on your Skill Card with the plus or minus side facing up.

If you receive a Plus Token during an Adventure and already have a Minus Token, you do not place the Plus Token and instead remove the Minus Token. Conversely, a newly added Minus Token removes a Plus Token in your possession.

If there are one or more Plus Tokens on your Skill Card at the beginning of a combat, you may draw a corresponding number of additional cards from your hand. If you have one or more Minus Tokens on your Skill Card, you start the battle with a correspondingly lower number of hand cards. Afterwards, return all Plus/Minus tokens from your Skill Card to the reserve.

This takes place before taking a Fox Hand.

Group Cards

Some Adventure Cards are denoted as "Group Card." Such cards belong to the whole hero group. The use of group cards is always subject to a Majority Decision, unless the Adventure text states otherwise.

Between sessions, you store such cards in your group's possession in the Group Stash compartment of the Sorting Tray.

Challenge Cards

The Challenge Cards come into play at the beginning of an Adventure, as indicated by the Adventure text. They apply during the whole Adventure and are then removed from play.

Healing

Certain special effects allow heroes or opponents to heal (regain) Life Points.

When a hero's Life Points are healed, the player adjusts the Life Point Wheel accordingly. A hero's Life Points cannot exceed 40.

If an opponent is healed, you remove the corresponding number of tokens from their opponent card. Here, too, healing cannot increase an opponent's Life Points beyond their starting value, unless a game effect explicitly says otherwise.

Flip Card Symbol

Some Hero Title Cards use the Flip Card Symbol. This symbol indicates that the card must be flipped to its back.

This means that the Hero Title in question can only be used once, after which it is flipped to its back. In order to flip the card back to the front side, you must then first fulfill the conditions stated there, such as spending Fate Points or Endurance, discarding hand cards, eliminating opponents, etc. Otherwise, the card remains on its back side until the end of the Adventure, at which point you may automatically flip it back to the front.

Return Card Symbol

Some cards use the Return Card Symbol. It indicates that you may retrieve this card from your Discard Pile and return it to your hand, by paying endurance and fulfilling certain conditions.

You may trigger this game effect at any time during your turn by paying the specified amount of endurance. If there is an additional condition listed (e.g. "play an Action Card during the Opponents Turn"), you must fulfill that condition in addition to paying the endurance.

Life Point Loss

Instead of causing damage to a target, some game effects cause a direct loss of Life Points. This is indicated by the use of the Life Point symbol instead of the Damage symbol.

Life Point Loss effects do not count as attacks, i.e. the target cannot dodge them nor use armor or similar game effects to prevent the loss of Life Points.

Example: Selestia loses 1D6+1 Life Points to the Vampire Grip of Baron von Wildenstein. Since this is not an attack, she may neither dodge nor defend herself with armor or similar game effects.

Fate Points

A hero may spend Fate Points by putting them back on the Adventure Plan, in order to gain one of the following advantages:

Reroll a Test: You may spend 1 Fate Point to reroll a failed test (even if it resulted in a critical failure). This is allowed for all kinds of tests, including attack tests and dodge tests. You may also reroll a test multiple times, as long as you have enough Fate Points available to do so. The final die roll result counts.

You may also spend Fate Points to allow another hero in your group to reroll a failed test.

Important: You may not spend a Fate Point you received for failing at an attack test to repeat that same attack test.
Gain Endurance: At any time during the round, gain 1 additional endurance for each Fate Point spent. This endurance may only be used to pay the costs for cards and effects during the current turn. You may not spend Fate Points to provide endurance to other heroes.
Draw a Card: At any time during the round, you may draw 1 card from your Draw Pile for each Fate Point spent. You may not spend Fate Points to allow other heroes to draw cards.

Unspent Endurance

If you gain endurance and don't spend it, it automatically expires at the end of the current turn. Unspent endurance from Endurance Cards and action cards expires at the end of the current round.

Swarms

Swarms are a special kind of opponent marked with the keyword "Swarm." When a swarm comes into play, place a number of Doom Counters on its card, as indicated on the card. The Doom Counters represent the swarm's size and lethality.

If a swarm's Doom Counters are reduced to 0, it is not immediately defeated! Instead, remove one Doom Counter and reset the Doom Counters to the starting value. Only remove one Doom Counter for a single attack, no matter how much damage that attack does. If the swarm is targeted by an effect that immediately defeats an opponent, you remove only 1 Doom Counter instead.

The swarm is only defeated when the last Doom Counter is removed. Only then does the hero who dealt the final blow receive 1 Fate Point.

The number of actions is equal to the current number of Doom Counters.

Scars

When a hero suffers a scar, the player must immediately shuffle a random "Scar" Disadvantage Card into their Hero Deck. If a hero suffers a scar while there are no scar cards left in the reserve, they instead draw a random Disadvantage Card and shuffle it into their Hero Deck.

Henchmen Keywords

Some keywords on the opponent cards have several subcategories that are listed in brackets after the keyword, e.g. Culture (Orc), Supernatural (Undead, Zombie) or Animal (Underground, Forest).

The henchmen entry in the combat boxes and various game effects sometimes refer only to the main category ("Henchmen with the keyword 'Supernatural' participate in this combat."), only to the subcategory ("Henchmen with the keyword 'Undead' participate in this combat."), or to both at the same time ("Henchmen with the keyword 'Animal (Underground)' participate in this combat.").

Special Abilities

Each hero has a special ability that you may use once per combat. If there is no other requirement listed, you may use the special ability at any time.

After you used your hero's special ability, remove the Ability Token from your Hero Card. This indicates that you cannot use the ability for the remainder of the combat.

Side Quests

Side Quests are short adventures made available in the Aventuria Hero Boxes. They allow you to extend the campaign at specific points of the story and strengthen your heroes with additional Adventure Points.

Pirate Treasures

In some of the Adventures in this book, heroes will have the opportunity to acquire Pirate Treasures. Each of these treasures is haunted by a Pirate Curse, which you must break in order to enjoy the treasure's Pirate Blessing.

When the Adventure text asks you to draw a card from the pile of Pirate Treasures, it immediately becomes your possession, unless the Adventure text states something else. For cards with a Pirate Curse entry starting with the word "Trap!," you must apply their game effect immediately upon receiving the card. After that, the curse counts as broken, and you may turn the card upside down.

Cards with a Pirate Curse entry starting with the word "Lucky!" do not have a curse associated with them. Instead, you immediately turn the card upside down.

All other Pirate Curse cards have an ongoing negative effect that comes into play immediately and a "Break Curse" entry, which explains the conditions you must fulfill in order to break the curse. Once you fulfill these conditions, you may turn the card upside down.

After a Pirate Treasure card has been turned upside down, its Pirate Blessing game effect in the green box comes into play.

Discarded Pirate Treasures are placed in their own Pirate Treasure Discard Pile. If the Pirate Treasure Draw Pile is empty, shuffle the Pirate Treasure Discard Pile to form a new Draw Pile.

Remove all Pirate Treasure cards from the game at the end of the Adventure.

FAQ

Does a "Remembrance of the Chalice" card count as a chalice? No.

Do Hero Titles count as Permanent Cards? No. Permanent Cards are exclusively Action Cards without the Discard Symbol in the card text.

Can I use the special effect of the level 3 Sickle only when it is already in play, or may I also use it from my hand? You may also use it when it is still in your hand, while also following all regular rules for playing Endurance Cards.

Do I have to play the card "Well-Aimed Shot" before I make the damage roll, or may I wait until after the damage roll? All game effects with the "during the damage roll" specification are activated immediately after the damage roll.

If I turn a card with an improvement (e.g. Rapier with Weapon Poison) into an Endurance Card, what happens to the improvement card? If an improved card is placed on the discard pile or taken back into your hand as a result of a game effect, the modifying card is returned to its owner's discard pile. If the improved card is turned into an Endurance Card, the modifying card must also be turned into an Endurance Card or discarded.

If a hero is eliminated, does this reduce the leader's number of actions? All game effects with the indication "number of heroes" always refer to the number of heroes at the start of the game. If heroes are eliminated during the game, this value does not change.

Obtaining a Chalice

When you receive a Chalice Card, you must permanently add it to your Hero Deck and permanently remove any card from your Hero Deck. You cannot permanently remove a Chalice Card from your Hero Deck unless the Adventure text explicitly says so.

If every hero in the group already has a chalice in their Hero Deck, then pick one of the heroes with the fewest chalices at random.

Losing a Chalice

If a game instruction in the Adventure text states that you lose a chalice, you permanently remove the card from your Hero Deck and put it in the Chalice Cards compartment. In return, you receive a "Remembrance of the Chalice" card from that compartment and add it permanently to your Hero Deck. If you get the chalice back (or capture another chalice), replace the "Remembrance of the Chalice" card with it.

Free Play

In this variant, you may choose any Aventuria adventure and play it with any heroes.

You only need your hero's regular playing cards (Hero Card, Skill Card, and Action Cards). The Proficiency Stash is not required, unless you play multiple adventures and level-up your heroes with Adventure Points.

Additional preparations are not required—you may now play any Aventuria adventure of your choice. Ignore the "Challenge" boxes and all notes relating to the Seven Magic Chalices and their Chalice Bearers. Your party has no magical chalices in their possession.

Also, be aware of potential spoilers for the Chalices of Power campaign if you haven't played it yet.

After you have completed an Adventure, return all used cards to the Sorting Tray so that they are available for future games.

The adventure "Battle for Ilsur" is particularly suitable for Free Play games—see below.

Battle for Ilsur as Free Play Session: The adventure "Battle for Ilsur" in Campaign Book One branches widely and ends in 14 completely different combat situations, so it is well suited for continuous sessions.

If you play the Adventure in Free Play, it is not a vision of the future, but your heroes are actually volunteers who have traveled to Ilsur to support the Blood Banner in the fight against the Borbaradians. Start your first adventure in section "1 - Welcome to Ilsur."

At the end of the Adventure, ignore the notes regarding the Treasure Map (the last text box in entry 45) and the Time Loop (entry 46).

In later Free Play sessions, you start the Adventure with a Majority Decision: Decide whether to enter Crag Castle as fresh recruits (continue at "2 - Crag Castle"), assist the wounded of the recent bombardment (continue at "4 - The Wounded"), or jump right into the fray (continue at "5 - Northern Wall").

Free Play with Experienced Heroes

In Free Play, after succeeding at an adventure, you may level-up your heroes with Adventure Points (see "Spending Adventure Points") and play the following adventures with these experienced heroes. To such heroes, all of the following rules apply:

Hero Level: First, determine your hero group's Hero Level. This depends on the number of improved cards in your Hero Decks. This number includes all Reward Cards, all level 2 and level 3 Action Cards, and all Hero Titles held by your heroes. Each Hero Card and Skill Card at level 2 or 3 also counts as one improved card each. Add up all improved cards of all participating heroes and divide the total by the number of heroes to get the average:

Hero Level	Average number of improved cards per hero
0	0-1
1	2-3
2	4-6
3	7-9
4	10-12

Challenge Level: Next, you adjust the Adventure's Challenge Level by making a Draw Pile of all Challenge Cards (Nr. xx-xx) and drawing a number of cards equal to your current Hero Level. Each Challenge Card increases the challenge level by +1.

The Challenge Cards contain additional rules that apply during the Adventure. Each Challenge Card indicates when its effects apply.

Individual Challenge Level

Since the strength of a player group depends not only on its heroes' hero level, but also on their basic experience as Aventuria players and their mindset, you may play an Adventure with a higher or lower Challenge Level than your hero level actually requires.

If you successfully complete an Adventure in "Hard" difficulty and with a higher challenge level than required, the difference between the challenge level and your hero level is your Score. Depending on your Score, you earn the following medal:

Score 1 = Emperor Raul Sword in Bronze
Score 2 = Bronze Griffin Star
Score 3 = Emperor Raul Sword in Silver
Score 4 = Silver Griffin Star
Score 5 = Emperor Raul Sword in Gold
Score 6 = Golden Griffin Star

Quick Reference

Sacrifice Equipment

Requirements:

Only during the Narrative.
Only after a failure, not after a critical failure!
Only if there are 25 or more cards in your Hero Deck.

Sequence:

Draw 2 cards from your Hero Deck and place them in your Discard Pile.
If one or both cards drawn are Disadvantage Cards, the test counts as a critical failure.
If no card is a Disadvantage Card, you may reroll the test.

Spending Fate Points

Reroll Test: Any time
Gain Endurance: during combat
Draw 1 Card: during combat

Combat Sequence

Preparation: All heroes simultaneously resolve the preparation phases A to C: A) Draw 2 cards from your Hero Deck. B) Place up to 2 cards face down as Endurance Cards. C) Ready all exhausted cards.
Heroes Turn: Taking turns, starting with the starting hero.
Opponents Turn: The opponents act in the order in which they are arranged in the Row of Villains.
Time Effects: Remove 1 Time Token from the Adventure Plan and resolve time effects on the Time Scale card.
End of Round: The current starting hero passes the Starting Hero Token to the player sitting to their left.

Brief Respite between Acts

Recovery Points = Time Counters on Time Scale + 2

Rest: 2 Life Points per Recovery Point.
Pray to the Gods: 1 Fate Point per 3 Recovery Points.
Prepare: 2 Recovery Points. Take 1 Plus Token.

Game Symbols

Close Combat, Ranged Combat, Magic, Dodge, Companion's Attack, Flight Value (Companion), Fate Point, Life Point, Damage Point, Adventure Token, Armor Value, Discard Symbol, Challenge Level, Endurance, Exhaust Card, Return Card, Flip Card, Number of Heroes, Action (Opponent), Life Point Counter, Time Counter, Doom Counter, Threat Points, Ability Token.