Dragonfire: Adventures – Sea of Swords
Dragonfire: Adventures – Sea of Swords Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Rules Overview
Cards: Cards include an icon on the card. They can only be used in Adventures where they were first released or that specifically name those cards. For example, at the current time, the Sea of Swords Adventure from this pack is the only Adventure where the six Veteran of the Sea Market cards and The Sea Strengthens Her Own Dragonfire card can be used.
Glossary, Keyword: The following is a new keyword: Trap: Players cannot move out of a Trap Location unless they succeed at a Skill Check.
Alternate Card Art
Additional Basic cards with alternate art will be included in various releases. For example, the Grace in Sea of Swords. Except for the alternate art, these cards are identical to the versions from the base game.
Market Cards
The following rules govern the new Market cards:
- Players can add Lesser Restoration to any Adventure using the Building the Market rules (see p. 28, Dragonfire Rulebook), provided a Druid is included in that game (as indicated on the card).
- Unless specifically stated otherwise, colorless cards do not count as any color for Skill Checks.
Dragonfire Cards
When playing the Sea of Swords Adventure, after shuffling the Dragonfire Deck, take the top twelve cards, shuffle in the five new Dragonfire cards, and then place them back on top of the Dragonfire Deck.
When playing other Adventures, players can include any of the non-Dragonfire cards in the full Dragonfire Deck.
Magic Item Cards
Shuffle the nine Magic Item cards into their respective rarity decks, to be awarded per the standard rules (see p. 26, Dragonfire Rulebook).
Milestones
The snows of winter swirling between your horses' legs. A worn leather strap breaking in the heat of battle. The last rations consumed with no sign of animal tracks.
Not all Adventures will be a part of the An Ancient Evil Arises campaign from the base game. Nevertheless, all Adventures you play are intrinsically linked by the passage of time. Experience Points do not arise in a vacuum. Instead they represent hard-earned knowledge as your fortunes wax and wane and the seasons change.
To help this immersion there are Milestone Dragonfire cards, which include the ampersand icon (&). For this pack, that card is Corrupted Treasure. Once a character has completed the Sea of Swords Adventure, that player must always include this Dragonfire card in the Dragonfire Deck for any Adventure they play, even if other players in the party have not yet completed that Adventure.
Don't Read the Fiction!
The fiction in Sea of Swords assumes players have completed the An Ancient Evil Arises campaign from the base game and the Adventures from both the Shadows Over Dragonspear Castle and Chaos in the Trollclaws expansions, so it contains spoilers for those Adventures. You are free to play the Sea of Swords Adventure once you've reached Party Level 3, even if you've not completed the campaign or the other Adventures, hence why there are no indicators on the Sea of Swords Adventure card for reading the fiction. But if you want to avoid spoilers, wait to read the Sea of Swords fiction until after you've completed the An Ancient Evil Arises campaign and the Shadows Over Dragonspear Castle and Chaos in the Trollclaws Adventures.
Modifying Adventure Levels: If playing the Sea of Swords Adventure after completing the An Ancient Evil Arises campaign and the Adventures for Shadows Over Dragonspear Castle and Chaos in the Trollclaws, you'll need to use the Modifying Adventure Levels rules (see p. 27, Dragonfire Rulebook) as you'll be at Party Level 4. In this instance you'll use the Adventure Level 4 rules.
Sea of Swords Adventure (Adventure Level 3)
Sailing the Sea of Swords brings beauty and terror. Pirate ships are sending anyone that doesn't surrender to Umberlee's embrace, while a bevy of creatures from land and sea will deliver the same fate.
The party faces off against encounters in three Scenes. Each Scene ends when you have defeated all encounters facing characters. Once the third Scene ends, the party completes the Adventure!
Adventure Set Up
Remove all four Location cards, then use Coastal 1 as the Primary Encounter Deck and Coastal 2 as the Secondary Encounter Deck.
Place the Sword Mistress card (i.e., the player's ship) in the middle of the playing area, with the "Crew: 15/Keel: 15" side face up. All players' Class Type markers start in either the Port or Starboard sections (players decide). Place an Adventure Environment card beside the ship card, to represent the attacking pirate ship; players can never move to the pirate ship. Finally, place ten +1 tokens on the pirate ship to represent its Keel Strength.
Shuffle a number of Veteran of the Sea Market cards equal to the players into the top-half of the Market Deck.
Encounters
At the start of each Scene, reveal encounters as indicated in the chart below. First reveal encounters from the Secondary Deck equal to the Dragonfire level. Then, if you still need to draw more encounters, reveal remaining encounters from the Primary Deck. Place each encounter to face the color-coded section of the Sword Mistress that matches the encounter's color. Until encounters are moved to face a player, they are considered to be facing the ship.
Tokens are placed immediately, but Surprise effects only occur once an encounter is facing a player.
Summons do not occur until an encounter is facing a player; any Summons that occur due to Dragonfire cards are placed directly facing players, not the ship.
| Scene | Reveal Encounters Equal To |
|---|---|
| 1 | Number of Characters + 1 |
| 2 | Number of Characters + 2 |
| 3 | Number of Characters + 3 |
Movement
At the start of a player's turn, they may make one move to any section of the Sword Mistress. As soon as a character enters a section with an encounter, it immediately is moved to face that character. If there is more than one encounter, the player may choose to face one, some, or all.
Attacking Encounters Facing a Player's Ship
Players can play cards, either on their turn or as an Assist, against any encounter, including those facing the player's ship. The ship is not considered a player or character; however, any card with an effect that damages each encounter facing one player can be played against all encounters facing one section of the player's ship.
Firing Ballistae
During a player's turn they may attempt to attack the pirate ship instead of playing any cards. To attack the ship they must move to either the Port or Starboard section, and they make two Skill Checks. For each Success, remove a +1 token from the pirate ship. If the last token is removed, the pirate ship has been sunk and is removed from play.
Players that choose to attack the pirate ship can still play Assists on other player's turns.
Encounters and Pirate Ship Attack
Encounters: Directly before the Dragonfire phase (not including the first one of each Scene) any encounters not facing a player attack the crew. Place -1 tokens next to the Crew Strength for every point of Attack Strength of said encounters. If the Sword Mistress' Crew Strength ever reaches 0, the Adventure immediately ends in failure.
Encounter abilities based on attacking or damaging characters do not apply when attacking crew.
Pirate Ship: After the encounters attack the crew, the pirate ship attacks the player's ship. The amount of damage it inflicts is based on its Keel Strength, as indicated on the table below. For every point of damage the player's ship takes, place a -1 token next to the Keel Strength. If the player's ship Keel Strength ever reaches 0, the Adventure immediately ends in failure.
| Keel Strength | Damage |
|---|---|
| 10 | 4 |
| 7-9 | 3 |
| 4-6 | 2 |
| 1-3 | 1 |
Ending a Scene
The standard rules apply for the Short Rest after each Scene. If the pirate ship is still afloat, it regains 2 Keel Strength during each Short Rest.
Completing the Adventure
After sinking the pirate ship and completing Scene Three, the party has completed the Adventure!
Awarding XP & Magic Items
For each Scene that you start, each player receives 1 XP. If the party completes the entire Adventure, the players each receive a bonus of 2 XP, for a total of 5 XP.
The standard rules apply for awarding Magic Items.
Optional Scenarios
- More Boarders: Any two Skill Check failures when attacking the pirate ship will Summon any (placed facing that player): +1 XP upon Adventure completion.
- We're Taking on Water!: Start with the "Crew: 10/Keel: 10" side of the Sword Mistress ship card: +2 XP upon Adventure completion.
Upon Adventure completion of either Optional Scenario, in addition to the standard Magic awards, the party finds Quaal's Feather Token: Tree. One person may attune to it, regardless of Character Level; Character Magic Item Limitations still apply.