Dice & Dragons
Dice & Dragons Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Game Summary
- Components
- Character Sheet
- Important Terms
- The Heroes
- Your First Hunt
- Gameplay
- Hit Points And Victory
- The Dragon is Dead
- The Heroes are Dead
- The Heroes Flee
- A Successful Hunt
- Items
- Increasing a Hero's Level
- New Skills
- Your Next Hunt
- 4-5 Player Rules
- Solo Rules
- Creating a brand New Hero
- What's Next in the World of Aqedia?
- Description of Skills
Game Summary
Dice and Dragons is a cooperative game in which each player will take on the role of a Hero in the land of Aqedia. Working together you will fight the most notorious dragons known to mankind. With each successful Hunt, you will gain Experience Points and Gold. Experience Points will lead you to gain new Skills, and with the Gold you acquire you can prepare for ever more dangerous dragons.
Components
This box contains the materials required to master 5th level Heroes and Hunt dragons up to 5th rank.
- 1 Player's Guide
- 1 Dragons Guide (do not read this until instructed to do so)
- 5 Dragon Dice
- 2 Pads of Sheets:
- Pad #1: Hero Sheets
- Pad #2: Dragon Sheets
- 9 Dragon tokens
- 4 Poison tokens
- 4 Pinned Tokens
- 4 Blessed Tokens
- 20 Class Tokens, 4 for each Class: Warrior, Wizard, Cleric, Ranger, Rogue
- 2 Dragon Pencils
Character Sheet
This is a list of all the parts of a Character Sheet and what they represent. Many of these terms will be described during the rest of this rulebook.
- Given Title – the name of the Hero, written in the Character Name space.
- Class Type – the Hero's Class (Warrior, Wizard, Cleric, Ranger or Rogue), shown by the Class icon.
- Armor Class Values – the Hero's current and original (base) Armor Class.
- Hit Point Values – the Hero's current and maximum Hit Points.
- Current Level – the Hero's level (Lvl.).
- Experience Points – the Exp. the Hero has collected.
- Gold – the Gold the Hero holds.
- Initiative Ranking – the Hero's Initiative (INT), used to order turns.
- Item Slot – two item spaces, Item #1 and Item #2, for Items the Hero carries.
- Skill Title – the name of each Skill.
- Symbol Combination – the Dragon Dice symbols needed to activate the Skill.
- Skill's Effect – what the Skill does when activated (for example "5 HP" or "+2 AC").
- Vacant Skill Space – an empty Skill space, used when a new Skill is added.
Important Terms
Armor Class (AC)
Armor Class represents your Hero's ability to absorb damage or to dodge, and thereby reduce the damage inflicted by a dragon's attack. Any Hit Point loss caused by any dragon attack should be reduced by your Hero's Armor Class value.
Hit Points (HP)
Hit Points are a measure of how much damage a Hero or Dragon can take before they are killed.
Initiative (INT)
Heroes take turns in order of their initiative ranking, from lowest to highest.
The Heroes
Each Hero has a Class in which they have learned their crafts. There are five different Classes available:
- Warrior – Well trained swordsman, hardened by battle.
- Wizard – Spell whisperers are always welcome on your side of the fight.
- Cleric – Divine knights of the celestial order who support and heal their allies.
- Ranger – Empowered by mother nature and her creatures, these snipers are deadly and vicious.
- Rogue – Shadow walkers, villains, scoundrels — all are fitting titles to these dagger-carrying assassins.
Your First Hunt
In your first Hunt we recommend you play with two or three players. When playing with four or five players you will fight two Dragons at the same time. Rules for four or five players, and solo rules, can be found on pages 10-11.
Please read the first page of the Dragons Guide now so you can learn more about your first Hunt.
Setup
- Each player should select a different one of the five available Classes and take one of the Character Sheets for their selected Class. Put the rest of the Hero Character Sheets back in the box.
- Each player should write a '1' in the Level area of their Character Sheet. They should also write down the initial values of their base Armor Class and max Hit Points according to the following table:
| Class | Armor Class | Hit Points |
|---|---|---|
| Warrior | 0 | 23 |
| Wizard | 0 | 22 |
| Cleric | 0 | 24 |
| Ranger | 1 | 21 |
| Rogue | 1 | 19 |
- Each player takes 3 Class Tokens matching their Hero's Class and places them next to their Character Sheet. Put the rest of the Class Tokens back in the box for now.
- If any player is playing a Cleric Hero, they take the four Blessed Tokens and place them by their Character Sheet.
- The four Pinned Tokens should be placed within easy reach of any players playing a Ranger or Rogue Hero.
- Place the Dragons Guide, the five Dragon Dice, and the Dragon Character Sheet Pad in the middle of the table.
- Place the Dragon Tokens and the Poison Tokens to one side for now.
- Sharpen your Dragon pencils and get ready to meet your first foe!
Gameplay
Each Hunt is played over a number of rounds. Each round has three phases:
- Heroes Attack
- Dragon's Fury
- Cleanup
Golden Rule: Any Skills, Dragon, or Item abilities take precedence over any of the rules printed in this rulebook.
Hit Points And Victory
If a dragon reaches zero Hit Points, the Heroes are victorious and the Hunt ends.
If a Hero reaches zero Hit Points, they are dead and take no further part in the Hunt, but the other Heroes carry on.
If all Heroes are dead, the dragon is victorious and the Hunt ends.
The Heroes also have an option to flee. If they do so, the Hunt ends.
Phase 1. Heroes Attack
In Initiative order (from lowest to highest), each player with at least one unused Class Token takes a turn. This is repeated until all players have used all of their Class Tokens. Each player's turn will use one Class Token.
A Player's Turn
On your turn, you first roll the Dragon Dice in an attempt to roll symbols that match either, one of the Skills shown on your Character Sheet, or one of the General Skills. You should also be careful to end up with as few Dragon symbols showing as possible as these will cause the dragon to Counter Attack your Hero.
After any Counter Attack, there is an opportunity for the party to flee if they feel fate is against them.
Finally, if you have any unused Dragon dice, you may assist the next player.
Rolling the Dragon Dice
Start by rolling all five Dragon dice. You may then choose any number of them to roll for a second time. Finally, you may choose any number of them to roll one last time.
Note:
- You may choose to stop rolling after your first or second roll.
- You may choose to roll dice in your third roll that you chose not to roll in your second or first roll.
Once you have had all three rolls, or if you choose to stop rolling after your first or second roll, you must attempt to activate one of your Skills shown on your character sheet or one of the General Skills. If you cannot do either then you fail to activate a Skill.
Note: Dragon symbols can never be used to activate Skills.
Activating Your Skill
In order to activate one of your Skills, you must have rolled symbols on the Dragon Dice matching those shown next to the Skill name on your Character Sheet. Apply the effect of the Skill (see page 12) and then cover the Skill with one of your unused Class Tokens. That Skill cannot be activated again this round.
If the Skill has any '=' as its symbols, this means that these dice must match each other.
If the Skill has any '≠' as its symbols, this means that these dice must not match each other.
Remember that you may never use Dragon symbols to activate Skills.
Activating a General Skill
In order to activate a General Skill, you must have rolled three identical symbols, but remember that you may never use Dragon symbols to activate Skills. Apply the effect of the General Skill (see page 6 & 12) and then cover one of your own Skills which has not yet been activated this round with one of your unused Class Tokens.
The Skill you cover is not activated and, moreover, cannot be activated this round.
General Skills Table
The General Skills Table shows the two General Skills, Jab and Treat Wounds. Each is activated by three identical Dragon Dice symbols ('=' in the table, meaning the three dice must match each other):
| General Skill | Symbol 1 | Symbol 2 | Symbol 3 | Symbol 4 | Symbol 5 | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jab | '=' | '=' | '=' | 2 HP | ||
| Treat Wounds | '=' | '=' | '=' | +2 HP |
- Jab is an Attack Skill that reduces the dragon's Hit Points by 2 (see page 12).
- Treat Wounds is a Healing Skill that restores 2 lost Hit Points to any Hero (see page 12).
Example: Denra the Rogue rolls three Crossbows and two Daggers. She could activate a General Skill (rolled 3 matching symbols) or her Stab Skill. However, she chose to push her luck and re-rolls all Dragon Dice showing a Crossbow and gets another Daggers and two Swords. She can now activate 1 of these Skills: Flanking Strike, Sneak Attack or Sudden Death. She decides to go ahead and inflict 7 points of damage using her Sudden Death Skill.
The Rogue Skills shown on the printed table for this example are:
| Skill | Symbol 1 | Symbol 2 | Symbol 3 | Symbol 4 | Symbol 5 | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stab | Dagger | Dagger | 4 HP | |||
| Flanking Strike | Dagger | Dagger | Dagger | 6 HP | ||
| Sneak Attack | Dagger | Dagger | Sword | Sword | 6 HP | |
| Sudden Death | Dagger | Dagger |
(The blank symbol cells are not used by that Skill. This table is reproduced from the General Skills example on page 6.)
Denra's first roll and final roll are shown as dice images in the printed rulebook.
Failing to Activate a Skill
If you could not match any Skill's symbol combination, you have failed to activate a Skill. You must cover one of your own Skills which is not already covered by a Class Token. The Skill you cover is not activated and, moreover, cannot now be activated this round.
Dragon Counter Attack
After activating a Skill, or failing to, if you have any Dragon Dice showing the Dragon symbol, the dragon now Counter Attacks. Check the Skill Chart on the Dragon Sheet and activate the Skill indicated by the amount of Dragon symbols you rolled. If you rolled more than three Dragon symbols then just activate the Skill showing three symbols. Lower your current Hit Points by the indicated amount reduced by one for each Armor Class your Hero has.
Example: Heirn (a Level 1 Ranger) ended up with two Dragon symbols in her dice roll while fighting a Young Red Dragon. This activates the Young Red Dragon's Tail Strike Skill. This Skill normally results in a loss of 7 Hit Points, but Heim's Armor Class of 1 reduces this to 6.
Assisting An Ally
After you have resolved any Counter Attack, if you have any Dragon Dice that were not used for activating a Skill, and which do not show a Dragon symbol, you may choose to pass one of them to the next player. That player may choose to keep that die result and just roll the other 4 dice at the start of their turn. They may still choose to roll the die as normal during any of their three rolls if they prefer.
Hint: Assisting your fellow Heroes is often the key to a successful Hunt.
Example: Timorn the Great Wizard used the three Magic symbols he rolled to activate his Fireball Skill. He rolled one Dragon symbol so he was the victim of a minor Counter Attack. He also rolled a Sword symbol which he chooses to pass to his Warrior ally to assist them in their attack.
After assisting another Hero, your turn is over.
Fleeing
Some Hunts do not work out the way you might have planned and it could be that escaping to fight another day is your best option.
The group may choose to flee at the end of any player's turn, but the decision must be unanimous; while there is one Hero willing to fight on, the others will not abandon them.
If you choose to flee, the Hunt is over. See page 10 for more details on the effect of fleeing.
Hint: If you are the last Hero standing and the dragon has more than half of its Hit Points remaining, it's probably time to run away.
Hint #2: Always try to keep 2 Gold available in case you are in need of resurrection (see page 8 for more details).
Phase 2. Dragon's Fury
Once all players have had all of their turns, the enraged dragon strikes back!
Pick a player who will roll the Dragon Dice to represent the Dragon's attack. That player rolls the dice three times, setting aside any Dragon symbols each time.
If, after the three rolls, there is at least one Dragon symbol, the Dragon has successfully attacked. Check the Skill Chart on the Dragon Sheet and activate the Skill indicated by the amount of Dragon symbols rolled. If more than three Dragon symbols were rolled, just activate the Skill showing three symbols.
This attack is applied to ALL party members. Lower each Hero's current Hit Points by the indicated amount, reduced by one for each Armor Class that Hero has.
Finally, resolve the effect of the dragon's special ability as indicated on the Dragon Sheet. These effects are explained in greater detail in the Dragons Guide.
Example: The five Dragon Dice were rolled for a Young Black Dragon and one die showed a Dragon symbol. That die is set aside. The four remaining dice were rolled but none showed a Dragon symbol. In the third and final roll another Dragon symbol was rolled. Thus the dragon activated his Tail Strike Skill, affecting all Heroes. Finally the dragon's Shockwave special attack is resolved and a die is placed on the Dragon's Sheet and is locked there until a Hero sustains a Counter Attack.
Shockwave (printed on the Dragon Sheet): When damage is inflicted by this dragon in his Fury phase, lock 1 die on it. That die cannot be used until released. To release 1 locked die, a Hero must sustain damage from a counter hit.
Phase 3. Cleanup
Each player removes their Class Tokens from their Skills and places them next to their Character Sheet.
The End of the Hunt
The Hunt ends when either the dragon is dead (reduced to zero Hit Points), or all of the Heroes are dead, or the Heroes flee.
Erase your current Armor Class and Hit Points. Also remember to erase any Durable Items that were used during the Hunt. Any Blessed or Pinned Tokens should be returned back.
The Dragon is Dead
The Heroes proved to be legendary and slayed the mighty dragon. As the wounded, but merry band of Heroes take the long journey back to their favorite inn, tales about their deeds spread through the land. Follow the instructions for a Successful Hunt.
The Heroes are Dead
The Heroes are all dead and the Hunt has failed. You may start again with a new band of fearless souls.
The Heroes Flee
The Heroes have escaped with their lives but little else. No Gold or Experience Points are awarded. Any Heroes that died may be resurrected and visit the local Village Marketplace, as if the Hunt had been successful.
A Successful Hunt
After a successful Hunt, the Heroes gain Gold and Experience Points. Dead Heroes may be resurrected, items may be bought in the village marketplace and Heroes may gain a level if they have amassed enough Experience Points.
Collecting Bounty and Gaining Experience
The Dragon Character Sheet shows the amount of Gold and Experience Points the band of Heroes receive as a reward for defeating the dragon. These must be distributed as evenly as possible amongst all of the Heroes that took part in the Hunt (dead or alive). Any leftover Gold or Experience Points is distributed as you see fit.
"We know that it was very hard to kill that dragon, but we should behave properly when the spoils are here to plunder" (Jat-re, High Priest of the first order - Cleric)
Resurrecting Dead Heroes
Dead Heroes may be resurrected for 2 Gold each.
The Village Marketplace
The village marketplace has items for sale. See the "Village Marketplace" section in the relevant chapter of the Dragons Guide to see what is available. Only one item of each type listed is available in the marketplace unless stated otherwise.
A player may purchase an item by paying the Gold cost. They then write the item down in one of the item spaces on their Character Sheet. Each Hero may only have at most two items at any one time. If they wish to buy another, they must first give one of their existing items away to another Hero or simply lose it.
Items
There are two types of items, Instant and Durable.
Instant Items
An Instant item may be used only once, and only during your turn. As soon as you use an Instant item, erase it from your Character Sheet.
Durable Items
A Durable Item lasts for an entire Hunt. At the end of any Hunt in which you used a Durable item erase it from your Character Sheet.
Item Effects
Many Items have simple effects such as healing hit points. Some have more complex effects which are explained here.
Re-use a Skill
You may use this effect to activate a Skill that already has a Class Token on it. You still need to have rolled the matching symbols for the Skill. Place your Class Token over any Class Tokens already on the Skill.
Re-roll Dragon Dice
You may use this effect to re-roll a number of Dragon Dice during the "Rolling the Dragon Dice" part of your turn. Roll all the Dragon Dice to be re-rolled at the same time.
Adding Symbols
When activating a Skill you may do so as if you also had an additional Dragon Dice showing the symbol being added.
Increasing a Hero's Level
When a Hero gains enough Experience Points, they increase their level by one. The following table (located at the bottom of this page) shows the Experience Points (Exp.) required for each level as well as a summary of the improvements the Hero receives at that level.
Write the new level in the Level section of their Character Sheet and then carry out the following 3 steps:
Step 1: Gaining Hit Points
Every time your Hero gains a level they will increase their maximum Hit Points.
Roll the Dragon Dice a total of 3 times, each time setting aside any that show the symbol matching your Hero's Class. Your Hero gains one Hit Point, plus one additional Hit Point per matching symbol rolled. Write your new maximum Hit Points on your Character Sheet. Additionally, Heroes of the Warrior Class gain an extra Hit Point at every level.
Example: Timorn the great Wizard reaches second level and gets two Magic symbols after his three rolls. He will increase his maximum Hit Points to 25 (22 previous maximum Hit Points + 1 Hit Point + 2 Hit Points from the roll).
Step 2: Improving Skills
At second level and fourth level, every Hero upgrades one of their existing Skills. Choose an Attack or Healing Skill on your Character Sheet and write a "+1" next to its effect. The effect of that Skill is improved by 1.
Exception: You cannot improve any Strike Skill and you cannot improve the same Skill more than once.
Example: Timorn the great Wizard, decides to Improve his Fireball Skill. He marks +1 next to the "7 HP" in the effect space. From now on his Fireball Skill will reduce the Hit Points of an unfortunate dragon by 8.
At third and fifth level, every Hero may add a new Skill. See the New Skills table on page 10 to see the Skills you may add. A Hero may only add Skills that have at least one symbol matching the Hero's Class. Write the new Skill's name, symbols, and effect in one of the two vacant Skill spaces on your Character Sheet. A Hero may not add the same Skill more than once.
Example: Timorn the great Wizard reaches third level and can now add a new Skill to his arsenal. He can choose from three Skills: Lightning Storm, Drain Life, and Genie, as each have the Magic Symbol.
See page 12 for a description of these Skills.
| Level | Exp. | Improvements |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 6 | All: Skill Upgrade, Rogue: +1 AC |
| 3 | 14 | All: New Skill |
| 4 | 26 | All: Skill Upgrade, Rogue: +1 AC, Wizard: New Class Token |
| 5 | 39 | All: New Skill |
Step 3: Special Upgrades
The Rogue and the Wizard Class occasionally get additional special upgrades.
At second and fourth level, Rogues increase their Armor Class by 1. Write the new value in the base Armor Class section of your Character Sheet.
At third level, Wizards gain a fourth Class Token and so take 4 turns in every round of a Hunt.
New Skills
The New Skills table lists the Skills a Hero may add at third and fifth level (see Increasing a Hero's Level). The table reads "Lighting Storm" as printed; the example on page 9 spells the same Skill "Lightning Storm".
| New Skill | Class(es) | Symbol 1 | Symbol 2 | Symbol 3 | Symbol 4 | Symbol 5 | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lighting Storm | Wizard/Ranger | Magic | Magic | Crossbow | Crossbow | 7 HP | |
| Sneak Attack | Rogue/Warrior | Dagger | Dagger | Sword | Sword | 6 HP | |
| Defensive Stance | Rogue | Dagger | Dagger | ≠ | ≠ | ≠ |
Your Next Hunt
After a brief recovery, your party of Heroes must forge on towards the next challenge and face another dragon.
Players may choose to carry on playing the same Hero, or switch to a different one if they want to experience the different Classes and party combinations.
Then move forward to the next chapter in the Dragons Guide and start your next Hunt.
4-5 Player Rules
When playing with 4 or 5 Heroes, the Heroes must hunt two dragons.
At the start of the Hunt, you must split the party in two. In a 4-player game, this means two groups of two. In a 5-player game, this is one group of two and another of three. Each group must face a different dragon. Once this pairing has been decided you must stick with it to the bitter (or happy) end!
During the Hunt, Heroes may only attack their designated dragon.
They use the normal initiative order, so it is possible for Heroes to be assisting an ally who is fighting the other dragon.
A healing Skill, healing item or Special Skill that may be used on other Heroes may be used on any Hero.
During the Dragon's Fury phase, each dragon's attack should be rolled separately, and each will attack only the Heroes that are fighting that dragon; they will not attack the Heroes facing the other dragon.
When One Dragon is Killed
Once one dragon is killed, the Heroes fighting it can still support their fellow Heroes with Healing Skills, Healing items, and Special Skills but they may not use Attack Skills to attack the remaining dragon.
Any time a Hero dies while fighting the remaining dragon, one of Heroes who defeated the other dragon may replace them. That Hero is then allowed to attack the remaining dragon as normal.
A Hunt is only successful if both dragons are dead. The Gold and Experience Points from both dragons are summed and then divided among all Heroes using the normal method.
Solo Rules
When playing on your own, simply pick two Heroes and play both as if playing a 2-player game.
We strongly recommend not playing a single Hero. Your Hero will most probably die trying to achieve an almost impossible feat!
Creating a brand New Hero
At the back of the pad of Dragon's Character Sheets you can find some Hero Character Sheets that are blank. These allow you to create your very own Hero Class.
Start by picking 6 sets of Skills from the table shown in the Character Skill Reference chart on page 20 in the Dragons guide.
Note: You cannot choose more then one 'Strike' attack Skill per Hero.
To determine your maximum Hit Points, roll the Dragon Dice a total of 3 times, each time setting aside any that show the Dragon symbol. Your maximum Hit Points will be 18 plus the number of Dragon symbols rolled.
If your maximum Hit Points is 20 or less then you will start with an Armor Class of 1. Otherwise you will start with an Armor Class of 0.
We recommend playing this new Hero alongside our pre-made Classes as it can be too unbalanced to play two or more new Heroes.
What's Next in the World of Aqedia?
The evil never stops…
We will expand the world of Aqedia and add new monsters, new challenges, and new ways to play Dice & Dragons. We also have printable files (Character and Dragon Sheets) on our website:
www.GoldenEggGames.com/DicenDragons
Please follow us on our social media and on our facebook page to get even more exclusive content.
Description of Skills
A Hero's Skills are the main ways by which they will defeat the mightiest dragons.
There are four different types of Skills: Attack Skills, Healing Skills, Stance Skills, and Special Skills. Additionally there are two General Skills that Heroes can activate instead of one of their own Skills.
Whenever any Skill heals a Hero, their Hit Points can never be more than their maximum Hit Points.
Attack Skills
Attack Skills show a Hit Point value in their effect box, such as '5 HP'. When activated, they reduce the Hit Points of the dragon by the value shown. Write the new Hit Point value on the Dragon's Character Sheet. Remember that once the dragon is reduced to zero Hit Points, the Hunt is over.
Healing Skills
Healing Skills show a Hit Point value with a '+' in front of it in their effect box, such as '+2 HP'. When activated, they restore lost Hit Points to a chosen Hero (including your own). Write the new Hit Point value on the Hero's Character Sheet.
Stance Skills
Stance Skills show an Armor Class value in their effect box, such as '2 AC'. When activated, they increase your Hero's Armor Class by the value shown for the rest of the Hunt. Write your new Armor Class on your Hero's Character Sheet.
Special Skills
There are several Skills that produce effects other than the common ones already described.
Blessing (Cleric only) When activated, place a Blessed Token on any Hero's Character Sheet (including your own). That Hero may use the Blessed Token when rolling the Dragon dice during their turn to gain an extra roll of one or more of the dice. After the Blessed Token is used, place it back next to your Character Sheet.
Shield (Wizard or Cleric) When activated, increase any Hero's Armor Class (including your own) by 2 for the rest of the Hunt. Write their new Armor Class on their Hero's Character Sheet.
Pin Down (Ranger or Rogue) When activated, place a Pinned Token on the Dragon's Character Sheet. Every Attack Skill used on the dragon for the rest of the Hunt deals 1 extra damage per Pinned Token on the dragon.
Ally Skills (Genie - Wizard, Bestial Pounce - Ranger) When activated, place a Dragon Token on your Hit Points space on your Character Sheet. The next time you suffer a Counter Attack remove the Dragon Token and do not reduce your Hit Points.
Drain Life (Wizard only) When activated, reduce the Hit Points of the dragon by 3 and restore 3 lost Hit Points to your Hero. This counts as both an Attack Skill and a Healing Skill.
Note: Other effects that increase Attack values such as the Pin Down Skill only affect the Attack part of this effect. If you Improve this Skill when levelling up, the +1 applies to either the Attack value or Healing value of this Skill but not both.
Healing Wave (Cleric only) When activated, restore 4 lost Hit Points to two chosen Heroes (including your own). This counts as a Healing Skill.
General Skills
There are two General Skills. They are always available to all Heroes and are both activated in the same way, by using three Dragon Dice showing the same symbol.
Jab An Attack Skill that reduces the dragon's Hit Points by 2.
Treat Wounds A Healing Skill that restores 2 lost Hit Points to any Hero.