Bad Baby Lich Lords Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Game Setup
• Making Noise
• On Your Turn
• Rules for Performing Skills
• Minion Skills
• Playing Spells
• End of Turn: Scoring Realms
• 4-Player Mode
• Crib Sheet
• Spell Cards
• Solitaire Mode
• Lich Law

Components

4 Factions

• ZARD: Kid wizards and their pets studying obscure and absurd branches of magic.
• NOBLINS: Punk house elves partying in the woods with bugs.
• FREEPLE: DIY mutant trash swamp denizens. Spit runs downhill.
• GHOULIES: Poltergeist stowaways haunting statues and cemeteries.

Cards Contained in Each Faction

• 23 double-sided minion/skeleton cards
• 6 large realm cards

Core Cards

• 25 spell cards
• 2 reference crib sheets

Game Setup

Standard 2-player

1. Sit with two players on opposite sides of a playing surface.
2. Select three factions to play with. Put the other faction cards away.
3. Shuffle each faction's realm cards.
4. Shuffle each faction's minion/skeleton cards and place them skeleton-side up. This is the faction's bone pile.
5. Arrange the faction cards into 3 realms between the two players as shown above.
6. Leave space on either player's side of the realms for cards to be played.
7. Shuffle the spell cards and place them face down to the side.
8. Leave room for a burn pile to discard into.
9. Determine which player will take the first turn.

The realm pile and bone pile form the realm boundaries.

Suggestions for your first learning game

1. Choose the Freeple, Noblin, and Zard factions.
2. If one player is less experienced, consider orienting the center cards to read right-side-up for them.

Making Noise

The object of the game is to score enough realms to earn a total of 5 noise and wake your father the Lich King. To score a realm, you must have cards on your side of the realm that satisfy the realm's scoring requirements.

For example, this realm requires 3 minion cards, each with specific skill icons on them (Dig, Fight, and Teach.) This player has 3 qualifying minions on their side of the realm, so they score it.

Each realm card has a Noise icon in the upper right corner. When you score the realm, this is how much Noise it earns you.

Scoring Requirement Icons

• MINIONS/SKELETONS: Requires a card with a specific side up. For example, a minion-side up card (called a minion) or a skeleton-side up card (called a skeleton).
• CARDS WITH SKILLS: Requires a card with a specific skill icon. For example, a minion with Raise, a minion with Dig, or a skeleton with Teach.
• SKILL ICONS: Requires a specific skill icon on any minion. For example, a Fight skill icon or a Teach skill icon. Skill icons on skeletons don't count towards scoring.
  • Skill icon requirements don't have to be on separate cards. A single minion with both Fight and Teach skills could satisfy both requirements.
• MATCHING CARDS WITH SKILLS: Requires 2 or more cards with any matching skills. For example, 2 minions with Move or 2 skeletons with Dig.
• MATCHING SKILLS: Requires 2 more matching skill icons on any minion. Skill icons on skeletons don't count towards scoring.
• BANS: Requires NOT having any of the banned cards or icons in the realm. If any bans are present on your side of the realm, you can't score it. For example, no minions, no Raise icons on minions, or no matching skill icons on minions.

On Your Turn

On your turn, you have a choice of two actions: draw and raise a skeleton or raise a skeleton in place. You can also play a spell as a free action as many times as you like on your turn, both before and after your action.

Action: Draw and Raise a Skeleton

1. Draw a skeleton card from the top of any realm's bone pile.
2. Then place the skeleton on your side of any realm.
3. Finally, raise the skeleton, flipping it minion-side up and performing all its skills.

Action: Raise a Skeleton in Place

1. Select a skeleton on your side of any realm.
2. Raise the skeleton, flipping it minion-side up and performing all its skills.

LICH LORE: Most of the time, draw and raise a skeleton is the best action because it gains you a new card, but raise a skeleton in place can be handy when you really want to raise one of your existing skeletons.

Rules for Performing Skills

• Skills are performed in order from left to right.
• If possible, all skills must be performed, even if the only available target is one of your own minions!
• A minion/skeleton can only perform its skills once per turn. For example, if a minion gets raised twice in one turn, they only perform their skills the first time they are raised.
• Skills can target cards on either your side or your opponent's side of the realm.
• If you cause an opponent's card to perform its skills, you make any decisions necessary for those skills.

Example: The Human Forest Person performs the skills Friendship, Leave, and Fight in order.

Skill Options

The "/" OR symbol signals a choice between two skills. The player who is performing the skills chooses which of the two skills to perform. Either skill icon can count towards scoring a realm.

Minion Skills

Core Skills

• DIG: Draw a skeleton from the top of this realm's bone pile and place it on either side of the realm, skeleton-side up. Do not perform its skills.
• FIGHT: Target a minion in this realm that has fewer fight skill icons and flip it skeleton-side up. A minion with multiple fight skill icons performs the fight skill multiple times, once for each action.
• TEACH: Draw a spell card into your hand. Because playing a spell is a free action, you can do so immediately after drawing a spell.
• LEAVE: Move this minion to an adjacent realm. It does not change sides. The minion cannot "wrap" around the edge of the play area to the realm on the opposite end.
• RAISE: Target a skeleton in this realm (not on top of the bone pile), flip it minion-side up, and perform its skills.

Faction Skills

Each faction includes a unique skill that only appears on their minions.

• BOSS (Freeple): Target a minion in this realm and perform its skills.
• FRIENDSHIP (Noblin): Target a minion in a different realm and move it to this realm. It does not change sides.
• CAST (Zard): Draw a spell card and play it immediately in any realm you choose.
• POSSESS (Ghoulie): Target a skeleton in this realm OR on top of this realm's bone pile and perform its skills without flipping it.

Playing Spells

Spells can be played as a free action on your turn, either before or after your normal turn action. To play a spell, reveal it face up from your hand, perform the effect described on the card, then discard the spell to the burn pile. You can play as many spells on your turn as you like.

Spell effects are similar to the basic minion skills Dig, Fight, Teach, and Raise, but are different in important ways! They can target cards in any realm, and some are even more powerful than their skill counterparts. For example, the spell Fight always flips the target minion, regardless of the number of Fight icons it has.

Combo Spells

If you have 2 of the same spell type in your hand, you can play them at the same time for a more powerful Combo Spell effect. For example, you can play two Fight spells at the same time for the Combo Spell effect "His Fiery Gaze!", which burns a target minion, discarding it from play entirely.

The Teach spell can count as the 2nd spell for any Combo Spell, so a Fight and a Teach can also be played together for the "His Fiery Gaze!" effect.

End of Turn: Scoring Realms

After you've taken your action, performed any minion skills, and finished playing any spells, it is time to end your turn. Score any realms that have their scoring requirements met.

Rules for scoring realms

• A realm must be scored if its requirements are met at the end of a player's turn.
• If at the end of a player's turn, the cards on their opponent's side of the realm satisfy the realm requirements, the opponent scores the realm and gets the noise.
• If both players' cards satisfy the realm requirements at the end of a player's turn, the player whose turn it is scores the realm and gets the noise.

See the earlier "Making Noise" section for how to satisfy realm scoring requirements.

To score a realm, follow these steps:

1. Take the top card from the realm pile and add it to the scoring player's score pile. Make sure the noise value is visible for easy counting.
2. Gather all other cards on both players' sides of the realm and discard them into the burn pile.

The next realm in the pile is now revealed for you and your opponent to compete for!

LICH LORE: Making noise by scoring a realm causes the Immeasurable Lich King to stir in his slumber. A mere yawn or stretching of His leg is enough to smite the population of an entire realm!

4-Player Mode

A 2v2 team battle format of Bad Baby Lich Lords.

Setup

1. Sit 4 players so teammates are sitting side-by-side with their opponents sitting across from them.
2. Lay out 4 realms with bone piles between the opposing teams. The two realms in front of you are yours to play in, while your teammate plays in the other two.
3. Decide which team goes first. The team member on the left takes the first turn, so their opponent will take the second turn when play proceeds clockwise.

How to play

Play order goes clockwise around the table. The rules are the same as in 2-player Bad Baby Lich Lord, with some important differences:

• When you draw and raise a skeleton, you can only draw from the two bone piles in your realms and place the skeleton on your side of your realms.
• When you raise a skeleton, you can only do so to skeletons on your side of your realms.
• You can use skills like leave and friendship to move cards to and from your teammate's realms.
• You can play spells in either your realms or your teammate's realms.

Winning the game

You and your teammate's goal is to score realms worth a total of 5 noise.

Crib Sheet

• DIG: Draw a skeleton from the top of this realm's bone pile and place it on either side of the realm, skeleton-side up. Do not perform its skills.
• BOSS: Target a minion in this realm and perform its skills.
• FIGHT: Target a minion in this realm that has fewer fight skill icons and flip it skeleton-side up.
• FRIENDSHIP: Target a minion in a different realm and move it to this realm. It does not change sides.
• TEACH: Draw a spell card into your hand.
• CAST: Draw a spell card and play it immediately.
• LEAVE: Move this minion to an adjacent realm. It does not change sides.
• POSSESS: Target a skeleton in this realm OR on top of this realm's bone pile and perform its skills without flipping it.
• RAISE: Target a skeleton in this realm (not on top of the bone pile), flip it minion-side up, and perform its skills.
• OR: Signals a choice between two minion skills. Either skill can count towards scoring a realm.

Spell Cards

The source prints no heading for this page. The heading above is editorial; the spell card texts below are transcribed from the spell card panels as printed.

Leave

Target ANY minion and move it to an adjacent realm. It does not change sides.

Royal Summons!

Move 3 Minions to the same realm. They do not change sides.

Raise

Target ANY skeleton (not on top of a bone pile), flip it minion-side up, and perform its skills.

His Kiss of Life!

Draw a skeleton from any bone pile and Raise it in any realm.

Dig

Draw a skeleton from the top of ANY realm's bone pile and place it on either side of the same realm, skeleton-side up. Do not perform its skills.

The Lich King Stirs!

Dig a skeleton from EACH bone pile.

Fight

Target ANY minion and flip it skeleton-side up. Ignore any Fight icons on the target.

His Fiery Gaze!

Target ANY minion and discard it to the burn pile.

Teach

Draw a spell card into your hand.

Fatherly Advice!

This card can count as the 2nd spell for any Combo.

Solitaire Mode

A Cursed Artifact is raising the dead into mindless automatons. Their undead groaning threatens to wake your father and capture his attention, which is rightfully yours! Raise your own raucous minions to wake him first.

Setup

1. Lay out 3 realms with bone piles as if you were playing a 2-player game.
2. Use the Freeple faction as one of the three realms.
3. Place the Cursed Artifact above the middle realm's bone pile, on the side opposite from you. A coin or other token makes a good Cursed Artifact.

How to play

On your turn, take all the same actions you would in a normal game of Bad Baby Lich Lords.

On the Cursed Artifact's turn:

1. Dig and raise from the bone pile currently next to the Cursed Artifact. The minion does not perform any skills when raised by the Cursed Artifact.
2. Check to see if the Cursed Artifact has at least 3 living minions in any realm. If they do, the Artifact awakens the Lich King and you lose!
3. Move the Cursed Artifact one bone pile to the right, looping around to the left when necessary.

Winning and Scoring

Your goal is to score realms worth a total of 5 noise without letting the Cursed Artifact accumulate 3 living minions in a single realm.

Once you score 5 noise, stop and count the number of cards left in each realm's bone pile and total their counts. That number is your score to beat next time!

Lich Law

The source numbers the Lich Law entries as printed. The skill entries under heading 4 are numbered 5 to 13 in the source (the list numbering continues from heading 4); the numbering is reproduced as printed.

1. Setup

• 1.1 Selecting realms. When playing 2-player, you can change which 3 of the 4 available realms you're playing with as often as every game to add variety. You can even just rearrange the same 3 realms in the kingdom for a subtle variation. Typically the center realm is the most accessible via Leave and thus slightly easier to score.
• 1.2 Rearranging realms. When playing 3- or 4-player, all 4 realms are always in play, but you can still add variety by rearranging the realms every game. In 3-player especially, the central realm is accessible by all players and typically the most contested.
• 1.3 Loser picks. An informal rule is to let a losing player select or rearrange the realms for the next game.
• 1.4 Randomized realms. If you prefer random selection (or for the first game played when no one has lost yet), simply take a Minion/Skeleton card from each realm's bonepile, shuffle them without looking, and deal them out to each realm position on the table. Then move the realm trays to match where the Minion/Skeleton cards you dealt and return the cards to their bonepiles.

2. Lich Actions

• 2.1 Grab and raise. It is perfectly fine to grab a skeleton and then decide which realm you want to move it to after seeing which skeleton was revealed on the bonepile.
• 2.2 Raise. Raising an existing skeleton is usually not as good as grab and raise, because it doesn't get you a new skeleton. But sometimes it's the right move because you really want to raise a certain skeleton or you don't want to risk revealing a skeleton on the bonepile that your opponent needs.

3. Minion Actions

• 3.1 Minions can only act once per turn. This rule typically comes up with combo skills like Raise, Boss and Possess. For example, you may grab and raise a minion with the Raise skill, which raises another skeleton with the Boss skill, which then cannot boss the first minion to perform its skills because it has already acted this turn.
• 3.2 Minions that have acted can still be flipped. Minions who have already acted this turn can still be flipped via Fight, Raise, etc. on the same turn. Their skills just aren't performed.
• 3.3 OR minions and mandatory skills. Sometimes a minion will have an option of two skills (separated by an OR icon), but only one of the two skills has a valid target. Although a minion's skills must be performed if they have a valid target, a player can choose the OR option that does not have a valid target to avoid performing the other skill.
• 3.4 Controlling an opponent's card. Because combo skills like Raise and Boss can target an opponent's card, the acting player will sometimes be in charge of performing skills on an opponent's card. The acting player makes any revelation decisions for the skills.
  • 3.4.1 Teach. When controlling an opponent's card with the Teach skill, the acting player draws the spell card to their hand, not the opponent's who owns the card.
  • 3.4.2 Dig. The Dig skill lets you dig a skeleton to either side of a realm (although typically players will dig to their own side), so when you're controlling an opponent's Dig minion, you can dig the skeleton to your own side.

4. Skills

• 5. Dig.
• 6. Fight. Fight can only target minions with fewer fight icons, so a 1-fight card can only target a minion with 0 fight icons. A 2-fight card can target a minion with either 0 or 1 fight icons. A 2-fight card also fights twice, once for each icon.
• 7. Leave.
• 8. Teach.
• 9. Raise.
• 10. Boss.
• 11. Cast.
• 12. Friendship.
• 13. Possess. Possess targets a skeleton in the realm or on top of the bonepile and causes it to perform its skills without being flipped minion-side up.
  • 13.1 Possessing a skeleton with Dig on the bonepile. When you perform the skeleton's Dig skill, it digs the top card from the same realm's bonepile, which in this case would be itself. So the skeleton digs itself to either side of the realm.
  • 13.2 Possessing a skeleton with Leave on the bonepile. The skeleton moves to an adjacent realm as if it used the Leave skill normally, but it is moved to the top of the adjacent realm's bonepile rather than to either side of the realm.

14. Casting Spells

• 14.1 When you can cast. Spells can be cast before or after any other action on your turn, but not during an action. For example, if you use the Lich Action grab and raise, you cannot cast a spell after grabbing a skeleton but before raising it. Likewise, if a minion is taking its action, you cannot cast a spell between skills being performed. You have to wait until all minion skills have been performed. If one of the skills triggers another minion action, you cannot cast a spell until all those skills are performed, too.
• 14.2 Forbidden combos.
  • [Missing in source: heading 14.2 "Forbidden combos" is printed with no content.]

15. Scoring Realms

• 15.1 Scoring by accident. It is possible to score a realm unintentionally, if the realm's requirements are met by the end of your turn. In this case, scoring is still mandatory.
• 15.2 Causing an opponent to score on your turn. It is possible to cause an opponent to score a realm during your turn (either intentionally or unintentionally). This can even be a good strategic choice, for example, causing an opponent to score a 1-noise realm with more cards than they'd choose to.

16. 3-Player

• 16.1
  • [Missing in source: section 16 "3-Player" and its entry 16.1 are printed as headings with no content.]

17. 4-Player

• 17.1
  • [Missing in source: section 17 "4-Player" and its entry 17.1 are printed as headings with no content. The 4-player rules in the body of this document (see "4-Player Mode" above) are the only 4-player text in the source.]

18. Glossary

• 18.1
  • [Missing in source: section 18 "Glossary" and its entry 18.1 are printed as headings with no content.]