Casting Shadows: The Ice Storm Expansion
Casting Shadows: The Ice Storm Expansion Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
What's in the Box
- 10 Status Tokens
- 2 Double-Sided Player Boards
- 3 Hex Tiles
- 2 Reference Cards
- 2 Meeples
- 1 Hex Tile Reference Sheet
- Main Deck (24 cards)
- Counterspell Deck (4 cards)
- Companion Deck (4 cards)
How to Start
Adding The Ice Storm Expansion to your Casting Shadows base game allows you to play with up to 6 players and expands the Map to include 10 Hex tiles. We recommend still using 7 Hex tiles if you plan to play with 2-4 players and using 10 Hex tiles if you plan to play with 5-6 players.
To set up the Map with 10 Hex tiles:
Take all Hex tiles from the base game and expansion boxes, and place the Ancient Rune Hex tile (1) and the Mushroom Bog Hex tile (2) on the table to create the center of the Map. Place the Dusty Desert Hex tile (3) and the Underground Volcano Hex tile (4) on opposite sides of the center of the Map. To complete the Map setup, have each player place their Home Hex tile on the table as shown. The youngest player is considered Player 1, Player 2 is the the player on their left, and so on. If you are playing with fewer than 6 players, you may fill the rest of the Map with any remaining Hex tiles.
Home Hex tiles and their corresponding Characters:
- Frost Polarpaw + Frost the Merciless
- Talon Lightfeather + Talon the Dark Storm
After the Map is set up, place your Meeple on your Home Hex tile. Next, shuffle the Counterspell deck (5) (including all base game and expansion cards), then place it face down on the table next to the Dusty Desert Hex tile.
Shuffle the Main deck (6) (including all base game and expansion cards), then flip 1 card face up next to each of the remaining Hex tiles (excluding Dusty Desert) on the left and right sides of the Map. Place the remaining cards face down within reach of all players. Leave space near the Main deck for a discard pile (7).
Shuffle the Companion deck (8) (incuding all base game and expansion cards), then place it face down on the table within reach of all players. Flip the top 3 cards face up next to the Map to form the Companion Portal (9). This is the area from which you will summon Companions.
Place all tokens and dice (10) near the play area within reach of all players.
The rulebook then shows a diagram of a completed 6-player setup with the play area laid out. The diagram is not reproduced here.
Once you've completed the setup steps, the play area should look like something like this:
(Setup diagram omitted.)
Reference Card
On your turn, you get 4 Action points to spend, and you can use them to perform any of the Actions below in any order. Each Action costs 1 Action point.
- TRAVEL: Move your Character from your current Hex tile to any adjacent Hex tile.
- COLLECT: Spend the required Resources to move a Spell, Counterspell, or Resource card from next to your current Hex tile to your Spell Book.
- REFRESH: Move the card next to your current Hex tile to the discard pile and replace it with the top card from the Main deck.
- REROLL: Choose any number of rolled Resource dice and roll them again. You cannot Reroll Cursed Crystals.
- PROTECT: Remove 1 Cursed Crystal from your Resource Pool. Warning: Any Cursed Crystals remaining in front of you will hurt you at the end of your turn!
- CAST: Spend Resources to use a Spell card effect from your Spell Book. You can use each Spell card effect only once per turn.
Characters
The expansion adds 2 playable Characters:
- Frost Polarpaw + Frost the Merciless
- Talon Lightfeather + Talon the Dark Storm
Each of the two double-sided Player Boards prints the following text on its front: "Spend 3 Shadow Energy to transform into Shadow Form."
Companion Cards
Masked Monkey (Companion) Each time you Travel, you may remove a Cursed Crystal from your Resource Pool.
Mirror Crab (Companion) Each time an enemy tries to Freeze you, Freeze that enemy instead. Each time an enemy tries to Stun you, Stun that enemy instead.
Scaled Alchemist (Companion) Each time you Collect a Resource card, gain 2 HP.
Spell and Resource Cards
Frozen Flock (Attack Spell) Spend 1 Shadow Fragment to deal 3 DMG to an enemy in range. Freeze that enemy.
Supercharged Jewel (Attack Spell) Spend 1 Shadow Fragment and 1 Red Gem to deal 5 DMG to an enemy in range. Stun that enemy.
Gem Mutation (Conversion Spell) Turn 2 Gems in your Resource Pool into 1 Shadow Fragment.
Orb Absorption (Conversion Spell) Turn 2 Orbs in your Resource Pool into 1 Shadow Fragment.
Shadow Fragment (Resource) Move this card to the discard pile to add 1 Shadow Fragment to your Resource Pool.
Turn Order
Player 1 goes first, and gameplay will proceed clockwise. Players continue taking turns until they are eliminated from the game. The last player standing wins!
Status Effects
The Ice Storm Expansion introduces 2 Status Effects: Freeze and Stun. Freeze stops you from traveling to another Hex tile, and Stun limits the number of Resource dice you can roll. You can only be affected by 1 Freeze token and 1 Stun token at a time. This expansion includes 10 double-sided Status tokens, with 1 side representing the Freeze Status Effect and the other side representing the Stun Status Effect.
Freeze Token
If you start your turn with a Freeze token on your Player Board, you are Frozen and cannot Travel during your turn. If another player Freezes you during your turn, you cannot spend any of your remaining Action points to Travel. If you started your turn Frozen, remove the Freeze token from your Player Board at the end of your turn.
Stun Token
If you start your turn with a Stun token on your Player Board, you are Stunned and can only roll 4 Resource dice at the start of your turn instead of 5. If another player Stuns you during your turn, the player who Stunned you may choose and remove a Resource from your Resource Pool. If you started your turn Stunned, remove the Stun token from your Player Board at the end of your turn.
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