B.E.L.O.W.: The Asylum Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Important Demo Information
• Component List
• Setup
  • Map Setup
  • Cards Setup
  • Rest of Components Setup
  • Agents Setup
• Game Description
  • World Description
  • Game Overview
  • Winning the Game
  • Losing the Game
• Main Rules
  • Golden Rules
  • The Map
  • Mirroring Rooms
  • Rifts
  • Agents
  • Advancing Tracks
• Round Structure
  • Agent Turn
  • Risky Actions
• Basic Actions and Common Effects
  • Movement
  • Attack
  • Applying Successes During Attacks
  • Placing Components
  • Search
  • Close a Rift
• Ability Cards
  • Upgrading
• Event Cards
• Items
• Spells
• Points of Interest on the Map
  • Curio Tokens
  • Altars
• Components
  • Trails of Components
• Rituals and Ritual Phase
  • Ritual Cards
  • Example Ritual Cards (as shown in the demo)
• Convergence Ring
• Seals and Grimoires
• Connecting Rings
• Fiends and Attacks
  • Fiends
  • Fiend Attacks
  • Strength and Weakness Tokens
• The Monarch
  • Monarch Tile
  • Monarch Activation and Attacks
• Agents Rules
  • Conductor
  • Blade
  • Archivist
  • Bloodshot
  • Calamity
• Glossary

Important Demo Information

Thank you for downloading this demo rulebook! The publisher hopes you have fun playing the game and asks for feedback on the publisher's Discord.

1. This demo uses temporary layouts that were used for prototyping purposes – nearly all of them will still be reworked and remade.
2. Only limited art pieces necessary for the demo are used – in the full game, many additional illustrations will be added, and many will still be improved.
3. Difficulty scalings and Scenarios are unavailable – the publisher is aware that this demo will be too easy for more experienced groups, and additional rules and scenarios will be added in the full game.
4. The wording of the game is still in progress, which means that in the demo you may come upon descriptions that use different naming conventions, sentence structures, or are needlessly complex. The final game will have properly written, edited, and proofread text.
5. Balancing of the game is not finished. Players are asked to share on the Discord what they believe is too strong or too weak.

If the game has enough support, the publisher may update the TTS to version 2.0, which includes the applied balance changes and reworked wording.

Component List

The demo's components page lists the following counts. Its card and token artwork is not reproduced here, and one count's label is not legible in the text layer, so it is marked below.

• 1 Monarch tile
• 1 Middle Bar
• 3 Outer Rings
• 3 Inner Rings (1 in the demo)
• 4 Large Map tiles
• 4 Small Map tiles
• 2 Binding tiles
• 3 Grimoire tiles
• 1 Lock token
• 12 Rift tokens + 12 standees
• 2 Altar tokens
• 16 Curio tokens
• 20 Strength/Weakness tokens
• 36 [label not legible in the text layer]

Miniatures (Agent, Fiend, Monarch and Cat), dice, universal cubes, Component tokens (Skull, Book and Candle), Agent boards and tiles, and the card decks named in the setup below are used as described in those sections.

Setup

Map Setup

Perform the following:

1. Place the Middle Bar in the middle of the table.
2. Connect the Monarch tile to the top of the Middle Bar.
3. Add Binding tiles to the top of the Monarch tile – each Binding tile consists of 10 Binding spaces, and you should have 5 Binding spaces available per Agent in the game. – The number of Binding tiles may be modified when playing with higher difficulty level. (NOT AVAILABLE IN THE DEMO)
4. Randomly pick 1 Outer and 1 Inner Ritual Ring. Place them in the Ring space of the Middle Bar. Leave the rest in the box. – Rotate the Outer Ring so that its arrow points at the top-right Skull icon. – Place a universal marker in the green, starting node of the Outer Ring.
5. Take the Lock token and place it in a slot immediately below the Ring.
6. Randomly pick 1 Grimoire token and place it in a slot below the Lock token. Leave the rest in the box.
7. Set up the Map by taking all Map tiles and doing the following: – Randomly pick 1 A, B, C and D tiles and place them on the Above side to the left of the Middle Bar, making sure that they connect as shown on the illustration (tile A should be in the top-left, B in the top-right, C in the bottom-left, D in the bottom-right). – Place the rest of the tiles on the Below side to the right of the Middle Bar – making sure they mirror the Above tiles (so, tile Below A is in the top-right).
8. Populate the Map with miniatures and tokens following the icons marking each room: a) Rift icon – place a Rift (of any color). The mirroring room (the same room on the other map) should feature the same icon – place a Rift of the same color in that room too. The rest of unused Rifts should be placed above the Map – 1 of each color per side. b) Fiend icons (lesser, common, greater) – place a Fiend miniature of the corresponding type (small/medium/big base size respectively). The rest of miniatures should be kept nearby. c) Curio icon – place 1 random Curio token, face down in this space. Curio tokens come in 2 types – one for Above, and one for Below. The rest of unused Curio tokens should be kept nearby. d) Altar icon – place an Altar token, face up in this space. e) Finally – place the Monarch miniature in the Summoning room.

Cards Setup

Perform the following:

1. Randomly pick 1 Fiend card of each type and place them face-up near the Below map. – For the 1st game the publisher recommends starting with Caretaker, Skinwalker, and the Needleclaw.
2. Divide the Fiend Attack cards into 3 piles based on their type (according to the icon on the back) and from these create 3 Fiend Attack decks by doing the following: – Find all Special Attack cards with the name shown on the bottom of the corresponding Fiend card. – Shuffle them with all Light and Swarm Attack cards from the same pile and place them face-down near the Fiend card. Leave the rest of the cards in the box.
3. Create the Monarch Activation deck in a similar manner: – Randomly pick 1 type of Special Monarch cards and find all copies. – Shuffle them with all Light and Swarm Monarch Activation cards. – Place the newly created deck face-down on the Monarch tile. Leave the rest of the cards in the box.
4. Find all Ritual cards marked with the matching number of Agents taking part in the game (for example: in a 3 player game remove all cards marked with "4-5"). Then, randomly pick 1 Greater Ritual, 2 Advanced Rituals and 1 Lesser Ritual. Place them on top of each other in this order (so that the Lesser Ritual is on the top) and place this deck in the Prepared Ritual cards space of the Middle Bar, so that the colored title is visible. – For the first game, the publisher recommends additionally placing the "Ritual of Hello Worlds" on the very top of that deck. – The number of Ritual cards may be modified when playing with higher difficulty level. (NOT AVAILABLE IN THE DEMO)
5. Shuffle all Event cards, and place them face-down close to the players.
6. Shuffle separately all Item cards and Spell cards. Then, place them beside the Above map face-down.
7. Pick 1 Origin card of each type (1 for Books, 1 for Candles, and 1 for Skulls). Place them face-up by the Above side of the map. You may decide to choose those cards or pick them randomly. Leave the rest in the box.
8. Place the 2 Ritual Components cards nearby.

Challenge card: If you are not playing for the first time, you may take a Challenge card and choose an additional difficulty level.

Rest of Components Setup

Take all the following pieces and place them on the table:

1. Component tokens (Skull, Book and Candle),
2. 6 dice,
3. Strength/Weakness tokens,
4. Universal cubes.

Agents Setup

Each player performs the following:

1. Choose an Agent and take the Agent tile. You may read the backside of Agent tiles or last pages of this rulebook to get to know Agents better.
2. Take the Agent board and place the Agent tile of the chosen Agent inside.
3. Take 1 Limiter marker, find the Stamina region on your Agent board and place the limiter on the top of the 2 tracks – in the left-most position, so that it limits the bottom track. Do the same for the Potential track.
4. Take 1 Shimmer marker and place it in the starting position of the Shimmer track in the top-right of your Agent board.
5. Take 1 Action token and place it in the top-most position of the Action bar.
6. Take universal cubes and place 1 in each track of your Agent board. For the tracks with Resources (Stamina and Potential) – place it in the right-most available space (just before the Limiter marker). For the Mastery track – place it in top-most position. For the rest of the tracks – place it in the left-most position (that includes the Health track).
7. Take all Ability cards of your Agent. Find 2 Starting Ability cards and choose 1 of them. Discard the other back into the box. Leave the rest of Ability cards nearby.
8. Take the special pieces associated with your chosen Agent: – Conductor takes 2 Cat miniatures. Places 1 in the Entrance room and the other Cat in the mirroring room in Below. – Blade takes the Craving tile and places a universal cube in the bottom slot. – Archivist takes all Sigil tokens and keeps them nearby. They are all available. – Bloodshot takes all Blood cards and keeps them nearby. Gain the card described by your Starting Ability card, and place 2 (universal markers) on this card. Other Blood cards may be gained during the game. – Calamity takes the Doll token and places 1 Pin (universal marker) in the bottom-most slot.
9. Take 1 random Sanity card (without looking at its red back-side) and place it front-side up to the right of your Agent board (near the Health track).
10. Take 1 Search token and place it face-up near your Action bar.
11. Take 1 Help card.
12. Take 1 Component of your choice (Skull, Book or Candle) and place it on your Agent board. If you are playing with 2 players, take 2 Components of your choice instead.

Game Description

World Description

Since time immemorial, the reality has been split in two: Above – the world we know well, inhabited by humans with all their virtues and shortcomings; and Below – the twisted dimension, where wraiths and fiends dwell. Driven by hunger and spite, they try to breach the veil between the worlds.

The most powerful of fiends, Monarchs, harbor hate so pure and powerful that it can pierce through, leading to Convergence – a local singularity where both worlds superimpose one another.

Unlike lesser fiends, Monarchs cannot be banished. The only way to stop them is to interfere with the Convergence of the worlds, meticulously plotting a ritual drawing power from both worlds in an attempt to bind the Monarch. When it is weakened, the connection with Above must be severed.

Yet, Humans are powerless when faced with the horrors from Below. Hopefully, Agents from the Bureau of Exorcism, Liminality, and Occult Warfare are not exactly human. Each is tainted by Below and, when the Convergence occurs, they can wield the unholy power against the Monarch and its fiends. No cost is too great to protect Above.

Game Overview

During the game Agents will perform various Actions, fight against Fiends, and even more often avoid them to prepare ritual Components, and finally perform Rituals.

The Rituals will result in Agents growing in power – by placing Seals on the Ring, and more importantly in Binding the Monarch – making you a step closer to Victory.

On the other hand, Agents must be careful to not lose as a result of either any of them dying, or enough Rifts being Open so that the Monarch can Shift into Above.

Winning the Game

In order to win the game players need to Bind the Monarch, by placing enough Binding markers (universal cubes used in this demo) onto the Binding tokens. The number depends on the number of Agents taking part in the game and is shown above the Monarch tile.

Binding tokens are mainly gained through performing Rituals, but can also be found in many other aspects of the game – such as the Ring.

Losing the Game

Players lose the game in any of the following situations:

1. Any of the Agents dies by losing all Health – failure of one is a failure of all.
2. You are instructed to place a Rift on a map, but all are already placed – the realities in this place managed to merge and the Monarch can easily break through to Above. You've failed.
3. All Ritual cards are discarded – every Ritual possible has been performed and there is no more hope of stopping the Monarch now.

Main Rules

Golden Rules

2 Worlds – Unless strictly specified otherwise, always assume described effects affect only 1 of the 2 worlds. For Example: Ability cards used by Agents only affect the world that Agent is currently in.

Tiebreakers – In many cases you may have to decide which enemy (called Fiend from that point on) to move. In all such cases:

• Always choose to move the strongest Fiend first.
• Always choose to move the Fiend toward the last Active Agent (in most cases it will be the Agent currently resolving the Event card).
• In any further cases you may decide between the applicable possibilities.

For Example: An Agent must move a Fiend into their room that is in the distance of max 2 rooms. They have to first choose the strongest Fiend in that distance, and if every Fiend is the same strength, they may choose any 1 of them, as they wish.

The Map

The map is divided into 2 worlds:

• Above on the left – our fragile reality, we're all used to.
• Below on the right – where the horrors lie. In Below the Monarch resides, for now.

In between there is also the Middle Bar with the Ritual Ring, connecting both worlds.

In each world there are 4 map tiles divided into rooms, which are separated by walls, and connected through doors. Some rooms are named and can be referenced by game effects.

The 2 worlds are mostly symmetrical. With the exception of doors, which are found more frequently in Below, as the destroyed reality leaves us with many more entrances. Other differences are in things that exist in the rooms.

Landmarks and Rifts are a fundamental part of the game mechanics and are explained on the following page.

Curio tokens and Altar tokens are placed during Setup and can be explored and interacted with by Agents throughout the game. They are explained under Points of Interest on the Map.

Agents, Fiends, the Monarch and ritual Components will be placed and removed from the board based on Agent actions and game progression.

Mirroring Rooms

Rooms are the main structure of the map, in which everything takes place. Some rooms are mirroring, meaning they are equivalent, symmetrical rooms placed in 2 different worlds. Many game effects may use this term to describe orientation on the map.

Combined Rooms: Some rooms may become bigger through connection of 2 map tiles. Such rooms are considered a single room, even if their shape is uncommon.

Range: Frequently during the game you will count Range from the room with your Agent (or a room with a Fiend). Range is described by the Range icon, and is always counted through connected rooms (not through walls) from the original position. Fiends in the same room as your Agent are in effective range of 0.

For Example: A Fiend is in Range 2 if they are 2 rooms away or fewer.

Landmarks: Many rooms feature Landmark icons, which indicate rooms of higher importance for Ritual purposes. The icons do not do anything by themselves but are important for many Rituals.

Rifts

Rifts are openings in reality connecting Above and Below. Agents will be able to Shift between worlds using Rifts during the game, but Range is never counted through Rifts. Fiends on the other hand will freely shift regardless of Rifts being close.

Whenever you are instructed to Open a Rift, take 2 Rift models of the same color (without their top part) and place them in the specified room and the mirroring one. This is considered as 1 Rift – it is the same Rift existing in both worlds at once, connecting those rooms.

• If a Rift already exists in that room – instead Empower that Rift by placing the second Rift part on top. The result of doing so is described on the Grimoire token randomly chosen at the start of the game – most commonly it will strengthen the Monarch or incur negative consequences for the Agents' mission.
• If a Rift is already Empowered in that room – instead put 1 Rift (2 models) from the Rift supply back into the box. It permanently lowers the number of Rifts available in this game.

If there are no more Rifts in supply, and you are instructed to place a Rift, or remove a Rift from supply – you immediately lose the game.

Empowered Rifts result in 2 things:

1. They may incur negative consequences described on the Grimoire tile.
2. Empowered Rifts may not be Closed by Agents – unless strictly described otherwise.

Agents

At the start of the game each player chooses 1 Agent to play as – gathers its unique model and all necessary pieces with their Agent boards and tiles as instructed in the setup.

Agents come with their unique Abilities and mechanics which are described by their own Agent tile, Ability cards and any additional pieces they may possess. Each Agent on their Agent tile will find a variety of tracks. Those tracks may sometimes be completely unique and will then be described on the back of this rulebook (see Agents Rules), but most Agents will have some common ones:

Resource Tracks are divided into the top part with a limiter, and bottom part with a marker tracking your current resource value.

1. Potential track – a magical resource required for using Agent's Ability cards.
2. Stamina track – a physical resource. Commonly used to augment their physical capabilities, such as Movement, Attacks and Searching.

Attribute Tracks show the current capabilities of the Agent.

1. Movement Value track – shows how many steps (from room to room) the Agent performs through in a single Movement.
2. Attack Value track – shows how many dice are rolled each Attack.
3. Search Value track – shows how many dice are rolled each Search.
4. Mastery track – describes an effect of the Mastery icon when rolled. Note that some Agents resolve Mastery only during specific types of rolls. As shown, Blade only resolves Mastery when Attacking.

These Tracks may also feature additional icons and effects. For Example: the Blade's Attack track not only increases the number of dice available, but from a certain threshold adds Success icons to every attack.

Health Track – Combined with the Sanity card shows the current physical and mental state of the Agent. When an Agent loses any Health they move their Health marker the same number of spaces to the right. If the Health marker ends up on the Sanity card, any other loss is ignored and the Sanity card is flipped and resolved – restoring all Health and providing a one-time adrenaline-induced positive effect. Subsequent Sanity card resolvement leads to the Agent's death and immediate game loss.

• When revealed: Restore all Health and Upgrade an Ability card of your choice.
• When you reach 0 Health: Restore all Health and flip this card. You lose the game.

Note on the Sanity card wording: the text layer gives the revealed side's effect as "Restore all [Health] and Upgrade an Ability card of your choice" and the 0 Health side as "Restore all, flip this card. You lose the game."; these are transcribed as printed.

Shimmer Track – Shimmer is a mysterious essence of Below, which sticks to all living beings. When too much Shimmer is piled up in one place it disappears into another World with anything it touched at that moment.

Throughout the game, mostly as a result of Event cards, your Agent will accumulate Shimmer. Whenever your Shimmer track reaches the last space, your Agent will Open a Rift in their room (and the mirroring, as usual) and Shift to another world. Then, place your Shimmer back at the starting position. Any other Components, Fiends and objects in their room stay in place.

Advancing Tracks

During the game Agents will be able to, by performing Rituals, advance their Attribute and Resource Tracks, increasing in power.

This will either mean moving your Attribute track marker, or moving Resource Track limiter. Whenever you move your Resource Track limiter, you also move your current Resource value the same number of spaces.

Round Structure

The game is played over a number of Rounds until any of the losing or winning conditions is met, and then the game ends.

In each Round, Agents will take Turns. The order of resolving Agent Turns is decided by players, but one Agent has to finish their Turn before the next Agent can start theirs. After an Agent completes their Turn, another Agent who has not yet taken a Turn begins theirs.

After all Agents take a Turn, a brief Ritual phase is resolved (explained under Rituals and Ritual Phase), and a new Round begins.

Agent Turn

In their Turn an Active Agent may resolve up to 3 Actions and any number of Free Actions. The same Action may be performed many times in a row. Actions and Free Actions, when performed, may not be interrupted by other Actions or Free Actions.

For Example: you cannot start a Movement Action, stop to Attack and then continue the same Movement Action. This would consist of 3 separate Actions: Movement, Attack, Movement again.

• Actions – Progress your Action token by 1 space down on your Action bar to resolve an Action. There is a limit of 3 Actions per Turn.
• Free Actions – Can be performed any number of times. Free Actions do not progress the Action token and do not count towards the Action limit.

Each Agent starts with some Basic Actions described on their Agent board, but more become available throughout the game. They can be found on Ability cards, Item cards and many others.

Some of those Actions may be found on objects placed on the map. These Actions are available only to an Agent who is currently in the same room.

After an Agent performs all Actions and Free Actions, they draw and resolve an Event card. Then, their Turn ends and another Agent's Turn begins.

More about Events: see Event Cards below.

Risky Actions

Some Actions may feature an Opportunity Attack icon. This icon means that performing such Action in a room with Fiends will result in 1 Fiend Attack card being drawn and resolved against your Agent.

More about Fiend Attacks: see Fiends and Attacks below.

The order in which icons are presented on the Action is important. If the Opportunity Attack icon is shown before the Action icon, then the Fiends Attack you before resolving that Action. If this icon is shown after the Action icon, then they will resolve their Attack after your Action, and only if they are still in the same room as your Agent.

For Example: the Attack Basic Action features an Opportunity Attack icon, but it is shown after the Action icon – this means that if you manage to remove Fiends from your room with that Action, the Fiends will be unable to retaliate.

During Movement: Opportunity Attacks during Movement work slightly differently. When Moving, you will be attacked each time you are about to exit a room with Fiends, regardless of the situation and/or icon being shown on an Action. This means that during a single movement more than 1 Attack may be resolved. It also means that Fiends may completely interrupt your movement in rare cases, by forcing you to stop as a result of their Attack.

Basic Actions and Common Effects

By performing Actions you will resolve effects. For Example: performing the Movement Basic Action will allow you to move.

Movement

Agents move around the map mostly by performing the Move Basic Action found on their Agent board, but they may also do it by many other movement effects, or even be forced to by the game.

Agents, unless specified otherwise, move by the value of their Movement Attribute shown on their Agent board – a Movement Attribute with value of 2 means they move up to 2 rooms (from room to another room) in a single Move. Movement is resolved room by room – if anything changes on the board between 1 step and another, the Agent may decide to change their course, or stop entirely. In any case Stamina or Actions spent are never regained.

Agents do not Move between worlds. Being placed in another world requires them to Shift, which can be a result of other Actions described later.

Stamina Modifier: When moving, you may spend your Stamina to move farther – increase the number of rooms you move through by the number of Stamina spent. You must spend this Stamina at the very start of your Movement (in case it gets interrupted by Fiend Attacks) and you can never spend more Stamina than you possess.

During Movement: When moving, you will be attacked each time you are about to exit a room with Fiends, instead of at the shown timing. This means that during a single movement more than 1 Attack may be resolved. It also means that Fiends may completely interrupt your movement in rare cases, by forcing you to stop as a result of their Attack.

Attack

When in rooms with Fiends Agents may Attack. This can be done by performing the Attack Basic Action, or by other Actions that allow you to Attack.

When Attacking, roll the number of dice specified by your Attack Track. You may add any modifiers you have available, and then resolve the rolled icons in your room, in any order. You must resolve all icons of 1 type, before moving onto the next.

• Flux – Rotate the outer Ring exactly once, clockwise, regardless of the number of Flux icons rolled. IMPORTANT: The Ring rotates exactly once, even if multiple Flux icons are rolled. You must resolve this effect, if rolled. The significance of this effect is described in the Ring section below.
• Success – Successes may be applied to any Fiends in your room in any combination. You may also apply multiple Successes to the same Fiend to resolve desired effects multiple times.
• Mastery – You may resolve all or some rolled Mastery icons as described on your Agent board. Note that some Agents may not be able to resolve it during Attacks.

Stamina modifiers: When rolling any dice you may use Stamina in 2 ways:

1. Before rolling dice – you may spend Stamina to add additional dice to your roll. The cost is described on your Agent board – most commonly for each 2 spent you may add 1 die.
2. After rolling dice – you may spend Stamina to reroll dice. The cost is described on your Agent board – most commonly for each 1 spent you may reroll 1 die. This may be done as long as you have Stamina to spare, even re-rolling the same die multiple times.

Applying Successes During Attacks

Rolled Successes are applied to Fiends in your room in order to Hit targets described by those Fiends' cards.

Each Fiend has an associated Fiend card that describes that Fiend's behaviour and ways of interacting with them. At the top of any Fiend card you may find 2 Hit thresholds that can be resolved, by applying the shown number of Successes. One of those Hits is always available. The other is a Vulnerable Hit and requires a Skull Component in the Fiend's room to apply the rolled Successes.

Note: Ritual Components are explained in more detail under Components below.

When applying Successes you spend them on Hits of your choice in order to resolve associated effects. You do so separately for each Fiend in your room, and you apply all desired Successes before resolving any effects – this way you may resolve the same target on a chosen Fiend multiple times if desired.

For Example: In your room there are 2 Caretakers and 1 Skinwalker. There is no Skull there, so we ignore Vulnerable targets. Caretakers can be Pushed for 2 Successes each. The Skinwalker can also be pushed, but requires 4 Successes. You've rolled 9 Successes in total and now decide what to do with them. You may divide those in any way you'd like. You decide to Push the Skinwalker once (applying 4 Successes), and Push 1 of the Caretakers twice (applying 2 Successes twice) – effectively moving her by 2 Rooms. You have only 1 Caretaker left in your room and 1 Success left to spend, but there is nothing you can do with it, so it's forfeit.

Note: the Caretaker card's Hit frames in the source read "Push 2" and "Vulnerable: Banish 1". The Skinwalker card's Hit frames are only partly legible in the text layer (Vulnerable: Banish 5, Push shown as 2), while the example above says a Push on the Skinwalker requires 4 Successes. The example is transcribed as printed and the discrepancy is flagged for the final game.

Placing Components

Agents start with some ritual Components on their Agent board, and throughout the game will be able to gather more. Components are one of the main ingredients for performing Rituals and provide some additional benefits.

To learn about Components, see the Components section below or read the Ritual Components Help card.

Components may be placed in your room most commonly by using the Place Components Basic Action, but also from other Abilities and effects. Whenever placing a Component simply take it from your Agent board and place it in your room. Note that this is a Free Action and does not result in Opportunity Attacks.

Search

Agents may Search for useful Items that may be of aid in the future. It is mostly done by performing the Search Basic Action found on your Agent's Search token – an important part of your Agent board. Searching may also be done by many other effects that allow doing so.

More about Items: see Items below.

When Searching, roll the number of dice specified by your Search Track. You may add any modifiers you have available, and then resolve the rolled icons in your room, in any order. You must resolve all icons of 1 type, before moving onto the next.

• Flux – For each 2 Flux icons, draw 1 Spell card and place it in the common area. Spells are shared between Agents. To learn more about Spells see Spells below. Then, rotate the outer Ring exactly once, clockwise, regardless of the number of Flux icons rolled. IMPORTANT: The Ring rotates exactly once, even if multiple Flux icons are rolled. You must resolve this effect, if rolled. The significance of this effect is described in the Convergence Ring section below.
• Success – for each 2 Successes draw 1 Item card. You may not choose to draw fewer Items. For each Item drawn resolve its Misfortune effect as described below.
• Mastery – You may resolve all or some rolled Mastery icons as described on your Agent board. Note that some Agents may not be able to resolve it during Searching.

Misfortune: When looking for Items you may find not only things of use but also dangers lurking around the corner. Most Items feature the following Misfortune frame in the top-left corner. Whenever Items are drawn and revealed (simultaneously), resolve all Misfortune effects in any order of your choice. This is done even if the Item was gained through other means than Searching.

You may find the following icons there, with their associated effect:

• Fiend icons (lesser, common and greater) – Spawn 1 Fiend of the shown type in your room, if possible. It does not attack.
• Move icon – Move the closest Fiend by the shown number of rooms toward you using the shortest path. Completely ignore Fiends already in your room – you must choose another Fiend to be moved.
  • In case of ties between many Fiends in the same range – always prioritize the strongest Fiend, and in case of any further ties, you may decide.
  • In case of ties between many paths of the same length – you may decide which to take.

Misfortunes may be redirected by having a Book in your room. You may read more about it in the Components section below.

Close a Rift

To prevent the Monarch from Shifting into Above you must Close Rifts.

Any Agent in a room with a Rift (either in Above or Below) may Close that Rift – most commonly through the Close a Rift Basic Action, but it may also be done through other effects found in the game.

However, Closing a Rift requires preparation. Closing a Rift can only be done (unless specifically called out otherwise) if:

1. Your Agent is in a room with a Rift.
2. Another Agent is in the mirroring room with the same Rift.

Note: Closing a Rift may be made easier by having a Candle in your room. You may read more about it in the Components section below.

Closing a Rift not only delays the losing of the game, but is also beneficial for Agents, giving them more power. Whenever you Close a Rift, look at the Grimoire tile and resolve the "When Closing a Rift" effect.

Ability Cards

Each Agent possesses special Abilities that they may use to aid them in their goals. They start with 1 Ability card each and may gain more throughout the game, as well as Upgrade those cards.

Most cards will grant Agents additional Actions to perform, unique to that agent, for a cost in Potential. Agents may use those cards during the game. Each Ability card describes what kind of Action it requires (Attack, Movement, Search or another Action type) and the Potential that needs to be spent to use that card. You may not use an Ability card if you don't have enough Potential to spend.

Whenever an Ability card is resolved, its effect is the text written inside its main frame. Text written inside brackets is a possible upgrade that is only applied after the card has been Upgraded (see Upgrading). Those brackets are the possible upgrades to be gained during the game.

For Example: the Ability card shown in the source allows the Blade, as an Attack Action, to spend 1 Potential to Attack with 1 additional icon of the kind shown on the card. This Action does not feature the Opportunity Attack icon, so it is completely safe.

Note: the Ability card art in the source is not fully legible in the text layer. The card-by-card wording is transcribed on the individual Agent pages below rather than here.

Upgrading

During the game Agents are able to Upgrade their Ability cards. When this happens they take 1 universal Cube and place it on 1 Bracket of their choice on the bottom of an Ability card. They do not need to Upgrade their cards from left to right, and they may Upgrade a card both times throughout the game.

From that point on, whenever that Agent uses the Upgraded card, they may apply the bracketed text on that card in addition to the normal effect.

For Example: Kazuo has chosen to Upgrade the shown card by placing a universal cube on the red Bracket. From that point on, whenever he uses that card he Attacks, adding 1 and 1 more to that Attack for a total of 2 (the icons in the bracket are not legible in the text layer, so the example is given without them).

There is no limit to the number of Ability cards possessed by Agents.

Event Cards

At the end of their Turn an Agent draws and resolves 1 Event card. Each Event card is divided into 5 steps that are resolved in order.

1. Random Event – Each Event card features an unexpected situation.

2. Stamina/Potential Restoration – Depending on the world you end your Turn in you either restore Potential or Stamina fully. The demo's Event card "Permeating Scent of Prey" shows the Above icon as a lightning bolt and the Below icon as a sigil-like glyph; the text layer does not name them. Read as Above: restore all Stamina, Below: restore all Potential, which is the Stamina/Potential pairing the rule text gives. Verify against the final game.

3. Fiends Activation – After each Agent Turn Fiends try to find your Agent and bring them down. Resolve each Activation from top to bottom. Skip instructions that are unable to be resolved.

   • Moving Fiends – Always move the strongest Fiend in a given range, ignoring all Fiends in your room. You always try to move a Fiend that is not yet in your room.
   • Fiends Attacking – Always draw exactly 1 Fiend Attack card into your room. Some cards may have changing effects based on the number of Fiends in the room.

4. Shimmer Gain – Move your Shimmer track by the shown number of spaces.

   • You may be instructed to move your Shimmer track by additional spaces if "you are alone" – meaning without any other Fiends or Agents in your room. Disregard other models, such as Rifts or Cats.

   Reminder: If your Shimmer reached the last space of the Shimmer track, Open a Rift and Shift now.

5. Resolve Ring's Focus – Resolve the Ring as described in the Convergence Ring section. Resolving the Ring will most likely either trigger positive effects from Origin cards or Activate the Monarch.

If after resolving an Event card there are still Agents who have not resolved their Turns, one of them takes a Turn now. If all Agents have already resolved a Turn, lower the Time marker on the Ritual track. If it reaches "0", immediately proceed to the Ritual Phase.

Example Event card (demo, "Permeating Scent of Prey"), as printed on the demo's page 19: In the mirroring room: the strongest Fiend in 2 moves into that room. Fiends Activation: the strongest Fiend in your room Attacks; 2 strongest Fiends in 2 move into your room. Gain 2 Shimmer. If you are alone in your room, gain 2 Shimmer more. Resolve the Ring's Focus.

Items

Agents may get into possession of Items found in the forms of artifacts and magical objects – mostly by Searching.

Items are gained exactly the same in every case, regardless of whether it is done through Searching or other means – this means that the Misfortune effect (located in the top-left corner) should always be resolved when an Item is gained, unless instructed otherwise.

Gained Item cards are placed below an Agent board and may be used on any of that Agent's turns by discarding them. Agents may keep up to 3 Items on their Agent board.

Components on Items: Most Items feature a Component in their bottom right corner. That Item may be replaced (by discarding it) for the shown Component. It can be done at any point, even during an Action, and even while gaining new Items.

Trails: Most Items feature an additional check that makes them more powerful under special circumstances.

For example, the First Aid Kit Item shown in the source reads: "Restore 1 Health. For each Book in a Trail from your room: Restore 1 Health more. Discard this Item." Its Components note reads "Discard this Item" for the Candle replacement. The example text beneath it says the Item, "besides restoring 2 Health, may also restore 1 more if there are at least 3 Books in a Trail from your room." The card art reads "Restore 1" and the example reads "2"; both are transcribed as printed and the difference is flagged for the final game.

More about Trails: see Trails of Components below.

Trading: Agents when in the same room may pass Items and Components to each other at any time – unless they are in the middle of resolving an Action or an effect. This is not an Action and does not trigger Opportunity Attacks.

Spells

During the game you will gather Spell Charges and Cast Spells.

When you are instructed to gain a Spell, draw a random Spell card, and choose:

a) Keep it as a Spell Charge – place it face down in a common area. b) Cast a Spell – Discard all Spell Charges gathered and resolve the effect of the drawn Spell depending on the number of the Charges discarded + 1 (it includes the Spell just drawn).

Due to prototype reasons the demo notes:

1. Completely disregard shown Action/Free Action cost.
2. The wording seen on the Spell card may differ from the TTS version – do not mind it.

The demo's Spell card "Great Exorcism" (Gain a Spell Charge, OR discard all Charges and cast this Spell) reads: 0 Charges: Banish 1 Fiend in any world. 2 Charges: Banish up to 3 Fiends instead. 5 Charges: The Monarch gains 4 Binding.

Points of Interest on the Map

Curio Tokens

Curio tokens are set up at the beginning of the game and may be picked up by Agents in the same room as a Free Action – providing necessary Components and Items. When you pick up a Curio, flip it, resolve it, and then discard it.

Curio token wording in the demo's art reads "Gain 1 Skull" on one side (the Curio's other faces are not legible in the text layer).

Altars

Altars are special points of interest in Below, where the magical power gathers. This power will coalesce into Components, which can then be collected by Agents.

Whenever the Ring resolves a Component in Below, find all Altars which do not have the corresponding Component placed on them, and place it there.

Components on Altars DO NOT count as Components in the room – their associated effects are not available yet, and they do not count towards Rituals.

Agents may, in a room with an Altar, perform the Action described on the Altar to gather all Components from that Altar. The demo's Altar reads "Pick up all Skulls/Books/Candles from this Altar" (the Components shown are the ones on the Altar).

Components

Your main goal as Agents is to perform powerful Rituals in order to raise your strength and Bind the Monarch. Most Rituals will require you to gather and place down ritual Components.

During the game you will find and gather Components. Those Components are magical objects used for the purpose of performing Rituals and evoking magical powers. They come in many different shapes and sizes, but here they are represented with:

• Skulls – used for offense and destruction
• Books – used for protection and spellcasting
• Candles – used for transportation and connection

Components can be found on Items, Curio tokens, and Altars in Below. When gathered, a Component is placed on that Agent's board, and can then be placed on the map by using the Place Components Basic Action, or any other Action that allows you to place a Component. If there are no more Components to gain from the pool, you may take 1 from the map.

When placed in a room, Components provide you with additional benefits, and even more if you are able to place the same Component in the mirroring room as well.

In one room you may have at most 1 Skull, 1 Book and 1 Candle, and never more of any kind.

Components after being placed cannot be picked up by standard means (it would render them useless).

The demo's Ritual Components help card lists the following:

Skulls – Interrupting Fiends' control over bodies, allow us to hurt and even Banish them.

• In Rooms with Skulls: Fiends are Vulnerable. In a room with a Skull, when applying Successes to a Fiend, you may use those Successes to resolve a Vulnerable Hit. Most commonly it will mean being able to Banish that Fiend – removing it from the game.
• Mirroring rooms bonus: If there is also a Skull in the mirroring room, when applying Successes, you may discard the Skull in your room to immediately resolve a Hit of your choice of a Fiend in your room. (The Ritual Components help card art reads "When Attacking, discard 1 Skull to Banish 1 Fiend" for this bonus.)

Candles – Connecting worlds we can use Candles to influence Rifts.

• In a room with a Candle AND a Rift, you may now Shift through that Rift into the mirroring room (by placing your Agent into that room). Shifting that way is a Free Action and results in Opportunity Attacks.
• If there is also a Candle in the mirroring room, you have a new Action available to you: Discard a Candle in your room to Close a Rift even if there is no Agent in the mirroring room.
• Mirroring rooms bonus (help card): When Closing a Rift, discard 1 Candle to ignore the requirement of another Agent.

Books – Interacting with Magical Objects carries risks, which can be nullified with Books.

• In a room with a Book, when Searching, you may redirect 1 Misfortune effect on a found Item, by resolving it in the mirroring room instead.
• If there is also a Book in the mirroring room, you may discard a Book to instead prevent the Misfortune entirely.
• Mirroring rooms bonus (help card): When Searching, discard 1 Book to ignore 1 Misfortune.

Trails of Components

Throughout the game you will be frequently asked to place Components in special formations. It can be in the form of Components being placed in specific rooms or Components being placed in a room with something else.

One common way is to place a Trail of Components. Components are in a Trail when they are in a path of connected rooms. So 3 connected rooms with a Component in each creates a Trail of 3.

For Example: You are in a room with a Skull. There are 2 doors leading to 2 different rooms. One door leads to a room with a Skull and nothing else of importance. Another door leads to a room with a Skull, but from that room there is another door that leads to yet another room with a Skull. You are on a Trail of 4 Skulls in total.

Rituals and Ritual Phase

Your main goal as Agents is to perform powerful Rituals in order to raise your strength and Bind the Monarch. Most Rituals will require you to gather and place Components in specific rooms or interact with the two worlds in other ways.

At all times there will be 1 Ritual card revealed representing the current Ritual that Agents are trying to perform to the best of their abilities. When one Ritual completes, another will begin. This will continue until the Monarch is finally bound, or the Agents fail.

Ritual Cards

Ritual cards specify what are the exact requirements for the current Ritual being performed, what are the effects and rewards for the Ritual being performed, and how much time Agents have to perform that Ritual.

1. Name – Its color with the name of Lesser/Advanced/Greater signifies the Ritual's tier.
2. Time – Shows how many Rounds (not Agent Turns) this Ritual will take. When the Ritual is revealed, place the Time marker in the proper space of the Ritual track. When it reaches "0" the Ritual will be resolved.
3. Ritual Tasks – Each Ritual features up to 3 tasks that should be performed during the indicated Time. They all can be performed in any order. Tasks can be of the following types: a) Binding – will always reward you with Binding tokens placed on the Monarch's Binding track, making you that much closer to victory. b) Advancement – will reward you with Seals. Those Seals will be placed on the Ring and allow you to Advance your Agent's Tracks and Abilities. More about Seals and the Convergence Ring: see below. c) Additional – will feature random and unique rewards. Sometimes they may give other ways of gaining Binding tokens and Seals.

Resolving Ritual Phase: When the Time marker reaches "0" on the Ritual track, progress with the Ritual Phase in the following way:

Going from top to bottom of the Ritual card, resolve each Task – check how many times any given Task has been completed and gain the associated reward the same number of times. Note that since Rituals are resolved only during the Ritual Phase, not whenever any Task is progressed during the Agent Turns, you are only interested in the state of the game at the time of the Ritual Phase.

Each reward should be fully resolved before proceeding into the next Task. For Example: if a Task rewards Agents with an Item, it should be drawn, revealed and given to Agents before the next Task is resolved. Those Items would count toward the next Task.

For Example: If Agents have gained 4 Items throughout the game, but have used and discarded 3 of those Items – they have only 1 Item at this current time. It means that during the Ritual Phase only this 1 Item would count, and no Seals would be awarded.

Spawning and New Rituals: After all Tasks are resolved, flip the Ritual card and Spawn new Fiends as described by the Ritual card. Then, discard that Ritual card, revealing a new one underneath. Set up the Time marker on the shown space of the Time track and proceed with the new Round.

Example Ritual Cards (as shown in the demo)

Lesser Ritual of Channeling (demo page 21):

• Binding – TASK: For each Rift with a Component in its room (in any world). Reward: The Monarch gains 1 Binding (max 4).
• Advancement – TASK: For each separate Trail with at least 2 of the same Components. Reward: Gain 1 Seal (max 6).
• Additional – TASK: If you have Closed a Rift during this Ritual. Reward: Banish a Fiend of your choice in Above.
• The card's Time track shows the spaces 2, 1 and 0.
• Then, flip this card and resolve Spawn 1-3.
• Reverse side: "The air sparks where both worlds collide. Meticulously arranged mystical pages and divine flames bend this force to your bidding." Spawn 1 in the top-left room of the Above A tile. For each Agent, spawn 1 in the mirroring room.

Lesser Ritual of Greed (demo page 21):

• Binding – TASK: For each Item in all Agents' possession. Reward: The Monarch gains 1 Binding (max 5).
• Advancement – TASK: If you have Searched in a room adjacent to a Monarch. Reward: Gain 3 Seals, and any Agent restores 2 (the resource icon is not legible in the text layer).

Unidentified Lesser Ritual task (demo page 21): ADDITIONAL TIME – TASK: If there are no Components placed in at least 1 world. Reward: Place all 3 Components in any room in that world. (The text layer places this task next to the Channeling heading and the Greed card; the card it belongs to is not legible, so it is transcribed without a card name.)

Convergence Ring

In the space in between, where the two worlds collide, emanating power called Potential, is the Convergence.

The Middle Bar and the Ring laying on top of it serve 2 functions:

• The Flux and Focus of the Ring affect both worlds – sometimes Activating the Monarch and making Fiends hunt you, other times aiding you through activating Components that are already placed through Origin cards.
• Seals placed on the Ring through Rituals will empower Agents – allowing them to Advance their Attributes, gaining new Abilities and Upgrading those already possessed.

Ring Focus: The Ring always points at one of the Focus Points on the outer edge, showing the Focus Point that will be resolved by an Event card at the end of the current Agent Turn.

When you resolve the Ring's Focus, see what the Ring is pointing at and:

• If pointing at the Monarch tile (located above the Ring) or the Lock token (located below the Ring), the Monarch activates – draw and resolve the top Monarch Activation card. More about Monarch Activations: see below.
• If pointing at a Component token, arcane objects activate:
  • Place the shown Component on each Altar in Below. More about Altars: see above.
  • Find the Origin card of the shown Component and resolve it.

Origin Cards: Each game, a different set of Origin cards is prepared. Origin cards define the magical capabilities of the Components you have brought with yourself on this mission. Whenever the Ring points at a Component type and is resolved by an Event card, you will resolve the effect of that Component – by looking at the Origin card associated with the Component and performing the associated effect.

Most of the effects found on Origin cards will either happen in every room with a Component or instruct you to choose a room with that Component and resolve the effect there.

"Focused:" is an additional effect that is resolved in only 1 of the 2 worlds – the one currently being pointed at by the Ring. The printed Origin card examples use the wording "In 1 room with a Component, place another Component from the supply" (Focused effect) and "Place 1 Component in each Altar in Below" (Altar effect), with the Component type shown by its icon.

Note: the Origin card art is only partly legible in the text layer, and the individual Origin cards for this demo's Components are not transcribed card by card. The rule text above is transcribed as printed; the card-level wording may differ in the final game.

Flux: The Flux icon is resolved most commonly by rolling dice, but can also be found on Event cards, Monarch Activation cards and some other effects. Whenever this icon is resolved, rotate the Outer Convergence Ring clockwise, once, so that it points at the next Focus point – either at the Monarch tile, the Component token, or at the Lock token.

Lock Token: Right below the Convergence Ring is the Lock token tile. It differs from all other Focus points in one important way. When the Ring points at the Lock token it cannot be rotated further – it is physically locked from doing so. Activating a Lock token instructs you to resolve a Monarch Activation, and all Monarch Activation cards feature the following special Flux icon, which instructs you to "Rotate the Ring, even past the Lock tile". It is the only way that the Ring can rotate past the Lock tile. In simple terms – the Lock token makes sure that a Monarch Activation will happen at least once with every full Ring rotation.

Seals and Grimoires

As a result of performing Rituals (and sometimes other effects), Agents will be placing Seals on the Ring. At the start of the game 1 Seal is already placed on the starting Node.

Whenever a Seal is gained (even outside the Ritual Phase), take 1 universal cube and place it on a node connected to an already placed Seal. At many points you will have a choice of multiple nodes where you could place a Seal. You do not have to be placing Seals on just 1 path. All connected Nodes are always available.

When a Seal is placed on a Node, it also covers an icon which, at that point, provides a benefit to Agents. Most commonly it will empower them by Advancing their Tracks, giving them new Ability cards or Upgrading Ability cards they already possess.

You may also find Nodes that Bind the Monarch. They should be your end goal of placing Seals.

All icons are described on a Grimoire that was randomly drawn at the start of the game – changing what Agents gain from various nodes.

Grimoire rewards shown in the demo's component page (the icon each one attaches to is not legible in the text layer, so they are listed without it):

• When Closing a Rift: Gain 1 Seal. Whenever a Rift is Empowered: Place 1 Rift in a world with fewer Fiends.
• When Closing a Rift: Gain 1 Seal. Whenever a Rift is Empowered: The Monarch loses 1 Binding.
• Each Agent: Advances a triangle track (for most Agents it is either Movement or Attack tracks).
• Each Agent: Advances a hex track (for most Agents it is either Movement or Attack tracks).
• Each Agent: Advances a pentagon track (for most Agents it is either Attack or Search tracks).
• Each Agent: draws 2 Ability cards and chooses 1.
• Each Agent: Upgrades 1 Ability card.
• Gain 2 Items (without Misfortune) and divide them between Agents.
• Resolve up to 2 times.
• 1 Agent restores 3 Health.
• 2 Agents gain 1 Component each.
• Place 1 Seal skipping 1 node.
• Banish any 1 Fiend.
• Reroll any dice (Flip).

Note: the demo's Grimoire list above is taken from the printed component page, where the tile names and icon mapping are not legible in the text layer; the exact per-node assignment is not reproduced.

Connecting Rings

Nodes are located on two Rings – the inner, and the outer one. As the outer Ring is constantly in flux, the inner one stays exactly the same the whole game.

You should look for opportunities to place Seals in the inner Ring, since there are Nodes allowing you to Bind the Monarch. To place a Node in the inner Ring for the first time, the inner and the outer Ring must be rotated in such a way that their paths connect.

Then, you may place a Seal in the inner Ring, provided you already have a Seal in the node connected to the outer Ring.

From that point on, you do not need that connection to be kept to keep placing Seals in the inner Ring.

Fiends and Attacks

Fiends

Fiends are monsters dwelling in Below and slowly creeping into our reality.

There are always 4 kinds of Fiends present in the game: 3 tiers of Fiends (Lesser, Common and Greater, each with its own icon) are randomly chosen at the beginning of each game, and the Monarch. The Monarch stays the same, but its Special Activations will be randomized.

Each Fiend comes with its own Fiend card representing its possibilities. Every card features:

1. Name.
2. Hit and Vulnerable Hit frames – shows Hits that can be resolved by applying an associated number of Successes. The Vulnerable Hit requires a Skull Component in the Fiend's room to be resolved.
3. Light and Swarm Attacks – describes Attacks done when an associated Fiend Attack card is drawn.
4. Special Card Name – informs which special Fiend Attack card should be shuffled into the Fiend Attack deck during setup.

Each Fiend also comes with its own Fiend Attack deck, which consists of Light Attack cards, Swarm Attack cards and Special Attack cards. Light and Swarm cards are the same every game but correspond to different effects described on the Fiend cards. Special Attack cards differ depending on which Fiend has been set up.

The Monarch also has its own deck which is used both for Attacks and Activations. More about the Monarch: see The Monarch below.

Fiend Attacks

Fiends will Attack Agents in two instances:

• During the Event phase when the Event card instructs you to resolve a Fiend Attack.
• During Agent Turns, when an Agent's Action results in the Opportunity Attack icon.

Regardless of the instance, the Fiend Attack is resolved by finding the strongest Fiend in your room, drawing a Fiend Attack card from that Fiend's deck, and resolving it.

If the Attack was done as an Opportunity Attack it can interrupt your Action, although it only happens as a result of rarer Special Attacks.

If at any point a Fiend Attack deck is ever empty, immediately reshuffle the discard pile to form a new deck.

Strength and Weakness Tokens

Some Abilities and effects may instruct you to gain Strength tokens (+1). On the other hand, you may weaken Fiends by giving them Weakness tokens (-1). In each case, simply take the token and place it on the Agent's board or Fiend card, as instructed by the effect.

On Agents: Strength tokens can be discarded during any roll to add to that roll. They may be used after rolling, and rerolling dice. Weakness tokens MUST be discarded during the next roll, and reduce the number of Successes from that Action.

On Fiends: They work in a similar manner. When an Attack is resolved against a Fiend with Weakness tokens, those tokens can be discarded to add to that Attack. The choice of using the tokens can be made after rolling and rerolling dice used in the Attack.

The Monarch

Monarchs are a class of Fiends so powerful they are able to open Rifts between the worlds by themselves.

The Monarch follows 2 important rules:

• It never Shifts – ignore any rules or effects that would cause it to Shift. If a card instructs you to "Shift the strongest Fiend in a room", Shift the next strongest Fiend instead of the Monarch – if possible.
• It can't be Banished – any effect that would Banish a Fiend, instead place 1 Binding on the Monarch. The only way to defeat the Monarch is to Bind it entirely.

Monarch Tile

The Monarch tile is the main piece describing the Monarch. It connects to the Middle Bar and shows the following information:

1. Monarch's Name – in this demo's box it is the Mindleech.
2. Monarch's Bindings – how many Bindings are required to win the game. The number depends on the number of Agents taking part in the game.
3. Monarch's Hit frames – shows targets that can be Hit, and resolved by applying an associated number of Successes. The Vulnerable Target requires a Skull in the Monarch's room to be resolved. The demo's Mindleech tile reads Vulnerable 9 Successes and a Hit of 6 Successes (Push). A lower-left frame reading "5 per" is cropped in the demo art and is not transcribed.

The Monarch tile does not describe its Light and Swarm attacks. Those are found on the Monarch's cards directly.

Binding: Whenever you are instructed to gain a Binding – simply take 1 universal cube and place it on the Monarch tile. When enough Bindings have been gathered – you win the game.

Monarch Activation and Attacks

Monarch cards are divided into two parts: the top part is used for Monarch Activations – done every few turns as a result of the Ring's Focus. The bottom part is used for Monarch Attacks – resolved in the same way as Fiend Attacks, either from Opportunity Attacks, or Attacks resolved in the Event phase.

Monarch cards follow the same tiering system as the Fiend cards do. You will find Light Monarch Activation cards, Swarm Monarch Activation cards, and randomly chosen Special Monarch Activation cards.

Demo note: the difference between Swarm and Special cards is very hard to notice in the demo.

Whenever the Monarch Activates or Attacks, draw the Monarch card and resolve the appropriate part. Then, discard the card on the bottom of the Monarch deck.

At the end of each Monarch Activation resolve the Flux icon – rotate the Ring, even past the Locked tile.

The demo's Mindleech Special Monarch card "Reality Crashes" (under the weight of her distress) reads:

• Monarch Activation: Move into the closest room with a Rift. In each room with a Rift and at least 1 Agent: discard a Candle or Empower the Rift. If no Agent is in a room with a Rift, discard 1 Rift from the supply.
• Attack: Lose 1 Health and Open a Rift.

The demo's Mindleech Monarch card "Seek" (the miserable and lost) reads:

• Monarch Activation: Move 2 toward the farthest Agent. Each Agent in 1 [icon not legible in the text layer] loses 2 Health. If no Agent was hurt, Open a Rift.

Note: the Seek card's "in 1 [icon]" phrase, its tile location, is only partly legible in the text layer; it is transcribed with the icon left out and should be checked against the final game.

Agents Rules

Demo note: the Agent pages print their track values in the Agent's own icons, and the text layer of those pages does not keep the icons or all the values in reading order. The rule wording below is transcribed from the legible text; values and icons that could not be read reliably are marked in brackets, and the Agent pages should be checked against the final game.

Conductor

Setup: Place 1 Cat in the Entrance room and 1 Cat in the mirroring room.

Cat rules: Your Cats are completely ignored by all Fiends in game effects, unless specifically noted otherwise. You control your Cats by using your starting Ability card. Later on you will unlock more ways to use your Cats through other Ability cards and by Advancing your Tracks.

Shared Stamina: Whenever you move, you may spend your Stamina to increase the movement of your Cats (just as you would spend Stamina to increase your movement).

Personal Track Details (Conductor):

• Movement Advancement: Whenever you Move, 1 of your Cats may also move by [1/2/3] Rooms. This may be increased by spending Stamina. The track shows "You or your Cat moves 1", "You and your Cats move 2 in total" and "You and your Cats move 3 in total" for successive levels.
• An unlabelled track entry (label not legible in the text layer): Ignore up to 2 Fiends when moving.
• Attack Advancement: Whenever you Attack, deal [1/2] Successes in a room with 1 of your Cats (this may be added to your Attack or applied to a Fiend in another room).
• Search Advancement: Whenever you Search, you may ignore [1/2] Misfortune effects on the drawn Items.

Blade

Setup: Place the Craving tile on the side of your Agent board. Place 1 universal marker on the "0" slot.

Craving rules: Whenever you Banish a Fiend as a result of a Blade's Attack, increase your Craving by 1 (up to a limit of 3). You may increase the limit during the game by Advancing the Potential Track. You may, during your turn, reset your Craving back to 0 to apply the Craving effect you were on, and all effects below, to your next Attack Action (or any other Action with an Attack, even from an Ability). The source wording of this sentence is partly garbled in the text layer and is transcribed from its legible parts.

Tracks Details (Blade):

• Potential Advancement: Increasing your maximum Potential also increases your maximum Craving.
• Attack track (Mastery, resolved only when Attacking): "If a [icon] is in your room: +1 [Success]. Otherwise, 1 Fiend is Vulnerable."
• Search track (Mastery): "If a [icon] is in your room: +2 [Successes]. Otherwise, all Fiends are Vulnerable. AND gain 1 Craving (once per Attack)."

Note: the text layer does not keep the icon that links these Mastery effects to the Attack and Search tracks, so the icon is marked as [icon] above.

Archivist

Setup: Take all Sigil tokens and place them nearby.

Sigil rules: Your Abilities allow you to place Sigils on the board. They can be used in 2 ways:

• They can be drained (flipping them to their other side) by any Agent in the same room to resolve the effect written on them.
• They can be used by your Abilities, sometimes also draining them, sometimes only checking where Sigils are.

Sigils may also be renewed by your Abilities (unflipping them).

The Sigil tracks show Attack effects of "Apply 2 [Successes] to Fiends in any room with a [icon]", "Apply 3 [Successes] to Fiends in any room with a [icon]" and "Apply 4 [Successes] to Fiends in any room with a [icon], even in the other world. You may Renew 1 [Sigil]."

Tracks Details (Archivist):

• Attack Advancement: Your Attack Action allows you to Push 1 Fiend of the shown tier from your room. You may always choose a lower tier Fiend to be Pushed.
• Search Advancement: Your Search Action, starting with the 2 Advancement, allows you to gain 1/2 Spells.

Bloodshot

Setup: Take the Blood card described by your chosen Starting Ability card and place it nearby. Place 2 universal markers (Blood) on that card.

Blood rules: Throughout the game you will gather Blood on your Blood cards, up to a limit shown on the card. You gain Blood through Melee attacks (see the Blood cards). During the game you may spend the Blood by using the Actions shown on the Blood card. Some Abilities may grant you new Blood cards – they increase your Blood limit and give you access to new ways of spending Blood.

The demo's Blood card text reads: Melee: Gain 1 Blood. Using 1 or more Blood: +1 [Success]. / Melee: Gain 1 Blood and 1 Attacked Fiend gains 1 Weakness token. Using 1 or more Blood: +2 [Successes]. / Melee: Gain 2 Blood and 1 Attacked Fiend gains 1 Weakness token. Using 1 or more Blood: +2 [Successes].

Distant Attack rules: Bloodshot may perform a Distant Attack in a given range. It must be performed outside of his room. His Mastery and his Abilities may increase the power of his Distant Attacks.

Tracks Details (Bloodshot):

• Movement Advancement: At the last Advancement you restore 1 Blood whenever you Move.
• Search Advancement: At the last Advancement you restore 1 [icon] whenever you Move. (The Search Advancement line is printed as "restore 1 whenever you Move"; this is transcribed as printed.)

Calamity

Setup: Take the Doll token and place 1 Pin (universal marker) in the lowest slot. Place the Cursed token on the Curse target.

Curse rules: Your Abilities and dice rolls will grant you Pins, which must be immediately placed in the Doll. One Pin must be placed adjacent to another placed Pin (or in the lowest slot if you have no Pins). There is a limit to the number of Pins you can hold at any given moment, and it depends on your current advancement of your Stamina track.

Pins are used in 2 ways:

• They can be spent to amplify the effects of your Ability cards (always explained on the card).
• You may gain access to powerful Passive effects on your Doll if you fill all associated Pin places.

The Doll's Pin gain entries ("+1 Pin per [icon]" on Attack and Search rolls) are printed with icons that are not legible in the text layer, so they are not transcribed here.

Cursed Fiend rules: During setup you will apply the Cursed Fiend token on the weakest Fiend type. All Fiends of this type are Cursed by you – most of your Abilities are stronger when used against Cursed Fiends, or may only be used against such Fiends. On your Doll you have a Free Action, which allows you to change the Cursed Fiend type to any other Fiend (except the Monarch).

Tracks Details (Calamity):

• Stamina Advancement: Advancing your Stamina track also increases the maximum number of Pins you can hold in the Doll at any given moment.
• Attack track: When Attacking a Cursed Fiend you add 1 [Success] for each Curse Strength.
• Curse Advancement: You have an additional track, which does nothing on its own, but increases the power of many of your other Abilities and effects.
• Movement Advancement: After increasing your Movement track, you gain 1 Pin each time you Move.

Glossary

• Fiend – An enemy, including the Monarch. Icons signify increasing tiers (starting from the lowest).
• Mirroring – Equivalent room in another world. May also be used to describe an object or model that exists IN the mirroring room.
• Push – Take the affected model and move it by 1 Room. Pushed can be resolved multiple times in a row – moving the target multiple times in a row. Each Push must be resolved in a way that leaves it farther from the starting room.
• Shift – Place the target model in the mirroring room. If done as a result of the Shimmer track being filled, also place a Rift in that room.