Dragons Down Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Sandboxes and Scenarios
  • Open Realm Sandbox
  • Explore the Realm Sandbox
  • Legendary Sandbox
• Setup
  • Game Setup
  • Hero Selection
• Components
  • Dice
  • Legend Points, Fame, and Gold
  • Terrain Packs
  • Terrain Setup Cards
  • Map Tiles
  • Monster Chips
  • Civilization Locations
  • Natives
  • Civilization Tokens
  • Civilization Cards and Titles
  • Mission Cards
  • Wilderness Tokens
  • Treasure Site Tokens
  • Hero Cards
  • Item and Treasure Cards
  • Spells
  • Hero Board
  • Hero Chips and Targeting Tokens
  • Outlaw Tokens
  • Action Cubes
  • Status Cubes
  • Reference Cards
• Game Play
• Action Phase
  • Turn Start
  • Actions
  • The actions
  • Reactions
  • Player Turn End
• Battle Phase
  • Monster Activation
  • Summoning: Monster Activation Example
  • Combat
  • Combat Steps
  • Wounds
  • Monster Death
  • Hero Death
  • End of Combat
  • Retirement
  • Starting a New Hero
  • End of the Game
  • Combat Example
• Other Rules
  • Statuses
  • Treasures and Items
  • Treasure and Item Banners
  • Equipping
  • Haggling
  • Natives
  • Undead
  • Spells
  • Missions
  • Flying
  • Curses
  • Outlaw Tokens
• Optional Rules
  • Luring
  • Tough Monsters
  • Closing the Distance
  • Enchantment Limit
  • Wits Only
  • Shared Fame
  • Enchanted Paths
  • Enchanted Realm
  • Endless Monsters
  • Red Meat
  • Player vs. Player
• Appendix
  • Lineage Advantages
  • Class Advantages
  • Treasure Site Reference
  • Monster Reference
  • Treasure Manifest
  • Spell Manifest
  • Icon Reference
• Turn Sequence Reference
  • Action Phase
  • Battle Phase
  • Monster Activation
  • Combat Sequence
  • Legend Points and Fame
• Credits and Acknowledgments
  • Final Thoughts

Sandboxes and Scenarios

Dragons Down ships with various sandboxes and scenarios to provide many player options. We recommend starting with "Scenario 1: Entering Dragons Down" in the scenario book. Once comfortable with the game, choose another scenario or play using the Open Realm, Explore the Realm, or Legendary sandboxes below.

Open Realm Sandbox

Open Realm is the basic sandbox game mode of Dragons Down. Select any Terrain Packs you wish to use in this game session. It is recommended to include either the Malevolent Mountains or the Cruel Caves or both in your game session.

Map

Deal all Map Tiles as evenly as possible to each player and then build the map starting with a random player and moving clockwise. Each player places one Map Tile, either side up. The placed Map Tile must touch two other tiles, if possible, and must connect to at least one existing path. All edges must match adjacent Map Tiles: paths to paths and non-paths to non-paths.

Game Start

On their first turn of the game, Heroes take a Move Action to enter the map from any path extending off the edge of the map.

Game Length

30 turns

Victory Conditions

The Hero with the most Legend Points at game end wins the game (even if deceased). Ties are broken by most Fame, most Epic Treasures, most Treasures, and then Gold.

Explore the Realm Sandbox

Explore the Realm is identical to Open Realm except that the map is built during game play rather than created prior to game start.

Map

Place a random Civilization Tile belonging to a Terrain Pack in play in the center of the table. Place the tile's Civilization Location and two random Civilization Tokens together in the Map Tile. Then shuffle all remaining Map Tiles together to create a tile stack.

Game Start

On their first turn, players place their Hero on any clearing in the Civilization Map Tile and then take their turn normally.

Game Length

30 turns

Victory Conditions

The Hero with the most Legend Points at game end wins the game (even if deceased). Ties are broken by most Fame, most Epic Treasures, most Treasures, and then Gold.

Additional Rules

Adds the Explore Action, which is explained in the Actions section of the rules.

Legendary Sandbox

Perfect for solo play or for players who would rather play in a competitive way racing to a set number of Legend Points.

Map

Players may use the map rules for either Open Realm or Explore the Realm.

Game Start

Use the rules for either Open Realm or Explore the Realm.

Game Length

• Multi-player: Indefinite
• Solo: 30 turns

Victory Conditions

Multi-player: The player who first retires with 20 Legend Points wins the game (for shorter or longer games, any number can be agreed to by the players).

Solo: The player loses if they do not retire with 20 Legend Points before the game ends. Epic victory: Retire with 30 Legend Points.

Setup

We recommend that you review the components section before actually setting up a game for play. Refer to this page when you are ready to set up a game.

Game Setup

White bubbles in the sample setup diagram

Players decide which Terrain Packs they will use during this game session. The image to the right shows a sample setup for a game using the Malevolent Mountains and Cruel Caves Terrain Packs.

1. Place the Terrain Setup Cards in play near the play area within easy reach of everyone, random side up (side 2 is slightly more difficult). Place the matching Civilization Cards, random side up, below the Terrain Setup Cards.
2. For each Terrain Pack in play, shuffle the Wilderness Tokens and place the tokens face-down on the matching space on the Terrain Setup Card.
3. Build a single Civilization Token pool by shuffling all of the Civilization Tokens for the Terrain Packs in play together and place them face-down near the Terrain Setup Cards.
4. Build a single Treasure Site pool by shuffling all of the Treasure Site Tokens for Terrain Packs in play together and place them face-down near the Terrain Setup Cards.
5. Build a single Mission Deck by shuffling together all Mission Cards for Terrain Packs in play (there is a Terrain Pack icon on the front face of each Mission Card). Place the Mission Deck face-down near the Terrain Setup Cards.
6. Separately shuffle the Spell Cards, Treasure Cards, and Deep Treasure Cards and place them in face-down decks near the Terrain Setup Cards. Do not shuffle the Hero Starting Spell deck.
7. Monsters: There is no setup required for the Monster Chips. Set the monster trays near the play areas within easy reach of all players.
8. Place the Legend Points, Fame, and Gold near the map to form a pool of tokens.
9. Shuffle all of the Map Tiles for the Terrain Packs in play. Then follow the instructions on building the map for the scenario/game mode being played. The image to the right shows the map when playing with Open Realm rules where the map is built prior to the start of game play.
10. When a Civilization Map Tile is revealed, roll a d6 and place the corresponding Civilization Location in the matching clearing. Reroll any 5s or 6s. Take the Natives listed on the Terrain Setup Card and stack them on the Civilization Location in any order.

Hero Selection

Black bubbles in the sample setup diagram

Players now select the Hero that they wish to play. Each combination of Lineage and Class Cards produces a unique Hero. The order of Hero selection is determined randomly, but can most often be done simultaneously.

1. Each player places a Hero Board in front of them.
2. Each player chooses one Lineage Card (Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, or Human) and one Class Card (numerous choices). The two cards are placed side-by-side on their Hero Board, either side up, to create their Hero. The Hero has the capabilities shown on the combination of Lineage and Class Cards. Take the matching Hero Chip and Targeting Token for the selected Class as well.
3. Health. The Hero takes Hearts equal to the number of Hearts shown on both cards and places them in the healthy box on the Hero Board.
4. Action Cubes: Each player takes a number of Action Cubes that match the color of the cubes shown on their Lineage and Class Cards and places them in their healthy box on their Hero Board. If a cube shows two or more colors, the player has the option of taking any matching cube color shown. For example, if the cube shown on the Class Card is black and purple, the player may take either a black cube or a purple cube.
5. Each player takes the equipment listed on their face-up Class Card from the Item Cards and places them in the appropriate matching positions on their Hero Board (e.g. Helmet Card in the head position).
6. Each player takes their starting Gold and places it in their backpack.
7. If the Hero has starting spells listed on the Class Card, the player selects spells from the Hero Starting Spell deck.
   • A. Players may only select spells of a color that match one or more of their starting Magic Cube colors.
   • B. Once all players have selected their starting spells, place them below the Hero Board (starting spells may be kept secret until used, if players wish) and place all remaining Hero Starting Spell Cards back in the box. They will not be used in this game session.
8. Once all Heroes have their starting equipment, shuffle the remaining Item Cards and place them in a single face-down deck near the setup cards.

You are now ready to play Dragons Down.

Components

Dice

Dragons Down uses custom dice to determine the outcome of some events.

Golden Rule: In Dragons Down players roll two dice and take the least favorable result of the die facings unless otherwise noted.

Dice results are explained in the relevant sections of these rules and are listed here for completeness.

Summoning Dice

Four dice are rolled during the Monster Activation step of the Battle Phase. The dice come in two colors: gray (Wandering Monster Dice) and black (Local Monster Dice). Each color has two dice; one with summoning symbols and one with numbers that show the number of summoned Monsters that will appear.

The Wandering Monster Dice summon Monsters that are unique to a Terrain Pack (e.g. Juvenile Dragons in the Malevolent Mountains). Wandering Monsters are shown on the bottom left of the Map Tiles from that Terrain Pack.

The Local Monster Dice summon the Local Monsters and Treasure Site Guardians. The faces of the Local Monster Die show either a Treasure Site Symbol or the various symbols shown on the bottom right of the Map Tiles.

Monster summoning is explained later in these rules.

Search Dice

Two dice are rolled when a Hero attempts to find a Treasure Site or Hidden Path. Each die has 3 spyglass facings (success) and three blank facings (failure).

Hit Dice

Two dice are rolled during combat resolution when an attack speed is less than or equal to a maneuver speed (and thus, not an automatic hit). Each die has 3 hit facings (success), 1 hit if equal facing (possible success), and 2 blank facings (failure).

Ranged Attack Dice

Two dice are rolled after a ranged attack hits (bow, crossbow, thrown dagger, spear, etc., spells such as Fireball, thrown explosive potion, etc.). The facings of each ranged die either increase or decrease the amount of damage delivered during a successful ranged attack.

Monster Dice

Two dice are rolled whenever a Hero attempts to hide, when Monsters are in combat and may change tactics, and when a Hero with Outlaw Tokens dies or retires from the game. Each die has 2 Monster symbols and 4 blank facings.

Loot Dice

Two dice are rolled whenever a Hero attempts to loot a found Treasure Site. Each facing shows a number 1 through 5 and one facing shows a grabby hand, which has a value of 0 and is the best result a player can roll. A Hero that rolls two grabby hands may select any of the top 3 Treasures from the Treasure Pile being looted.

Haggle Dice

Two dice are rolled when a Hero attempts to lower the price to buy merchandise from a Merchant. The base price of merchandise is 3x the printed price. Each Haggle Die has a number 0 through 4 (various levels of success) and a door closed symbol (failure).

Mission Dice

A Hero rolls a number of dice equal to the number of their matching attribute symbols as bonus rewards for completing missions. Each Mission Die facing shows a Gold or Fame reward that is earned by the Hero in addition to the printed rewards on the Mission Card.

Learn Dice

Two dice are rolled when attempting to learn a new spell. Unlucky Heroes may become cursed while attempting to learn spells. Each Learn Die has three book facings (success), two blank facings (no effect), and one curse facing (cursed).

Legend Points, Fame, and Gold

Legend Points

Unless specified in the scenario rules, Legend Points (LPs) are the victory points of Dragons Down. LPs represent being remembered far beyond your lifetime. LPs are not limited by the quantities provided.

Fame

Heroes also earn Fame during game play. Fame represents the more temporary aspects of being remembered. Being famous in your lifetime is different than being a legend. Fame converts to LPs at game end, but a Hero loses half of their Fame if they die. Fame is not limited by the quantities provided.

Gold

Gold is the currency of the realm and is used to purchase various equipment, spells, and cures used by Heroes. Gold is not limited by the quantities provided.

Terrain Packs

Included with Dragons Down are three Terrain Packs: the Cruel Caves, Malevolent Mountains, and Wicked Woods. Each Terrain Pack has its own Terrain Setup Card, Map Tiles, Map Tokens, Civilization Location, Natives, Monsters, Treasure Sites, Guardians, Merchants, and Missions Cards. Additional Terrain Packs are available to expand your gaming experience.

Players may tailor their game experience for the depth and length of game session they desire by including or excluding Terrain Packs as they wish.

Terrain Setup Cards

Only use Terrain Setup Cards for Terrain Packs in play. Terrain Setup Cards show Tokens, Natives, Treasures Sites, Guardians, and Merchants associated with the Terrain Pack. Some Terrain Setup Cards have a red arrow pointing to the Guardian location, which indicates that the Guardian can be summoned to locations from more than one Terrain Setup Card (used in the Dragons Down: Desolation expansion).

The Terrain Setup Card is labeled with: Terrain Pack; Civilization Location and Local Natives; Treasure Site and Guardian; Loot in the Treasure Site; Merchant and Respect Symbol; Merchandise available at this Merchant.

Map Tiles

Each Terrain Pack has one Civilization Tile and five Wilderness Tiles, which are used to create a unique map for each game. Wilderness Map Tiles have six circular clearings while Civilization Tiles have four clearings. Heroes, Monsters, Treasure Sites, etc., exist in clearings. Clearing types included in the game are Plains (white), Caves (black), Mountains (red), Woods (green), and Swamps (yellow). Connecting these clearings are paths and Hidden Paths.

The components of each Terrain Pack have a common theme. However, the clearings on Map Tiles are not all the same, and will feature other terrain types. For example, the Map Tile shown is from the Cruel Caves Terrain Pack, but clearing 1 is a Woods Clearing and clearing 3 is a Plains Clearing.

The color, name, and symbol on the Map Tile shows the Terrain Pack it is from. Each Wilderness Map Tile has Summoning Symbols, which determine which Monsters are summoned to the Map Tile. Civilization Map Tiles do not summon Monsters.

The Map Tile is labeled with: Tile Name; Hidden Path; Cave Clearing; Path; Wandering Monster and Summoning Symbol; Local Monster and Summoning Symbol; Map Token.

Monster Chips

Monsters in Dragons Down can be regular Monsters (e.g. Giant Spiders) or Guardians of Treasure Sites (e.g. Great Drake). Regular Monsters are listed on Map Tiles. Guardians are listed on the Terrain Setup Cards next to the Treasure Site they protect. All Monster Chips should remain in the plastic insert until summoned onto the map.

The Monster Chip is labeled with: Monster Name; Tile Side Clearing; Attack Length; Attack Speed; Damage; Maneuver Speed; Fame Value; Health (unarmored); Health (armored); Special Attack; Undead Monster; Flying Ability.

Civilization Locations

Civilization Locations are larger tokens and represent various places where humanity has repopulated the realm. When a Civilization Map Tile is placed, roll a d6 and place the matching Civilization Location, and Natives listed on the Terrain Pack setup card, in the indicated clearing (if there is no match, reroll the die).

The Civilization Location token is labeled with: Location Name; Terrain Pack.

Natives

All Civilization Locations have a local population of Natives, as shown on the Terrain Setup Cards. Natives are placed on their starting Civilization Locations once the corresponding Civilization Location is placed on the map.

The Native chip is labeled with: Native Name; Attack Length; Attack Speed; Damage; Maneuver Speed; Fame Value; Health; Summoning/Respect Symbol (for the Natives & Legends expansion); Native Group.

Civilization Tokens

Civilization Tokens are placed in Civilization Map Tiles when they are explored by a Hero. They represent the various Merchants of the realm and offer the Heroes a place to buy and repair Equipment, sell the Treasures that they loot from Treasure Sites, accept missions, remove curses, and remove permanent spells. Some Civilization Tokens are empty, meaning that no Merchant is available.

The Civilization Token is labeled with: Civilization Token Back; Merchant; Terrain Pack; Summoning/Respect Symbol (for the Natives & Legends expansion).

Civilization Cards and Titles

Gold does not directly contribute to victory in Dragons Down. Heroes may spend Gold and/or satisfy requirements on Civilization Cards at Civilization Locations to claim titles to earn LPs and Fame. These cards are double-sided to increase replayability.

The Civilization Card is labeled with: Location; Requirement; Limit (if applicable); Title and Reward; Terrain Pack.

Mission Cards

Heroes may accept missions from Merchants at Civilization Locations. Missions are organized into Atrocities (red banner), Quests (white banner), and Expeditions (brown banner). Missions are a good way to earn Legend Points, Fame, and Gold... as well as infamy or redemption.

The Mission Card is labeled with: Mission Name; Description; Terrain Pack; Gold, Legend Point, Fame, and Bonus Rewards.

Wilderness Tokens

Wilderness Tokens have a variety of front faces and are placed in Wilderness Map Tiles when a wilderness Map Tile is revealed. The backs of Wilderness Tokens show their corresponding Terrain Pack, which also determines what type of tile they are placed in (e.g. Mountain Wilderness Tokens are placed in Malevolent Mountains Map Tiles).

On the front of Wilderness Tokens are either Treasure Site locations, Gates to teleport around the realm, Special Locations, or instant rewards.

The Wilderness Token faces shown are: Wilderness Token Back (Terrain Pack); Wilderness Tokens Front — Treasure Sites, Gates, Special Locations, Instant Rewards.

Treasure Site Tokens

Treasure Site Tokens are larger tokens and have the word "Site" on the back. On the front of the token is the name of a Treasure Site and a symbol showing to which Terrain Pack the site belongs. When a Wilderness Token is revealed with "Site" on it, a random Treasure Site Token is drawn and placed in the tile. Wilderness Tokens containing the name of a Treasure Site (e.g. Secret Cache) are Treasure Sites for all purposes.

Hero Cards

Players will play the role of a Hero created by the combination of a Lineage Card and a Class Card. The Hero has the combined characteristics of both cards:

• Two Special Advantages (one on each card).
• Attributes: Cunning, Wisdom, and Charisma (for interactions in civilization such as Haggling and completing missions).
• Health. How hard this Hero can get hit without dying.
• Attack speed. How fast this Hero can potentially attack.
• Maneuver speed. How fast this Hero can dodge attacks.
• Aim boxes (only used if playing with the optional Player vs. Player rules).
• Starting Action Cubes and equipment for the Hero.

The Hero Cards are labeled with: Lineage; Lineage Advantage; Class; Class Advantage; Attributes; Health; Attack Speed Boxes; Maneuver Speed Boxes; Starting Equipment and Spells; Aim Boxes (used only with optional PvP rules); Action Cubes.

Item and Treasure Cards

Item and Treasure Cards are the principal equipment, and means of survival, for Heroes in Dragons Down.

• Items are indicated by a wooden plank for a banner on the card (e.g. Plate Armor).
• Treasures are indicated by a brown cloth banner on the card (e.g. Warblade and Spell Scroll).
• Epic Treasures, the most valuable treasures in the game, are indicated by a red cloth banner on the card (e.g. Magical Bowl of Mixing).

Additional information on the cards show the effects of the card and where on the Hero's body the card is equipped when active. All of this is explained in detail later in these rules.

Item and Treasure Cards are labeled with: Name; Base Price (sometimes variable); Item Values (such as armor and weight, attack length and melee weapon, or a permanent effect); Position; Card Type; Game Effect.

Spells

Dragons Down is a world full of magic. Heroes can enchant the land, cast spells, learn new spells, and buy spells from Merchants. The layout of Spell Cards is very similar to the layout of Item and Treasure Cards, but adds some additional information like duration, targeting, and Magic Cube requirements.

Spells are explained in detail later in these rules.

The Spell Card is labeled with: Name; Base Price; Spell Effects; Spell Values (various effects); Spell Type; Requirements.

Hero Board

The Hero Board is a representation of the Hero, their status, and their equipment. The player places their Lineage and Class Cards together to form their Hero, their Action Cubes and Hearts in the healthy box, inactive cards face-down in the backpack and active cards face-up in the positions that match the card's position symbols. Spells are placed underneath the Hero Board.

Action Cubes and Hearts in the healthy box are considered healthy (usable). During the game, a Hero's Action Cubes (including Hearts) may be moved to the wounded box to show that those Action Cubes are wounded (unusable).

The top of the Hero Board shows the various actions a Hero may take during their Action Phase. The black arrow in the upper left is the symbol for all actions. The symbol for each individual action is shown next to its description.

The Hero Board is labeled with: Make Noise Box; Hidden Box; Alert Box; Sneak Box; Actions Reference; Miscellaneous Position; Two-Slot Positions; Backpack; Miscellaneous Storage (Status Cubes, etc.); Healthy Box; Wounded Box; Lineage Card Slot; Class Card Slot.

Hero Chips and Targeting Tokens

Heroes are represented by blue-ringed Hero Chips containing the symbol of their Hero Class. In addition, each Hero has a matching Targeting Token that is used to determine player order and to mark the target that a Hero is attacking with a spell or weapon during combat.

Outlaw Tokens

Heroes receive Outlaw Tokens when they complete Atrocity missions or attack other Heroes and Natives of the realm.

Action Cubes

During combat, players will place Action Cubes on their Lineage Cards, Class Cards, Item Cards, Treasure Cards, and Spell Cards to attack and survive attacks against them. Action Cubes come in 4 different types:

Might Cubes: Might Cubes are red and signify how much strength a Hero is using in an attack. Most often, Might Cubes are placed on weapons in order to cause damage to Monsters in the game.

Speed Cubes: Speed Cubes are brown and signify how much effort the Hero is putting into the speed of an attack or the speed of their maneuver to dodge an attack made against them.

Magic Cubes: Magic Cubes are black, blue, gray, green, purple, white, or yellow. They represent specialized knowledge possessed by the Hero and are placed on Spell Cards and some Treasures in order to power them for use.

Hearts: Hearts represent the health of a Hero. If a Hero ever has no Hearts in their healthy box, they immediately die. Hearts are Action Cubes for all purposes.

Status Cubes

Status Cubes are pink and track wounds on Monsters and the status of Heroes who Sneak, Make Noise, Alert, and/or successfully Hide this turn.

Reference Cards

Scoring

The front side of the Reference Cards show how Heroes earn Legend Points and Fame. Legend Points and Fame are the currency of victory in most games.

Curses

The back side of the Reference Cards show the possible curses a Hero could receive during the game. When a hero receives a non-instant effect curse, place a Status Cubes in the appropriate box on the curse Reference Card.

Game Play

Each turn in the game is broken into an Action Phase and a Battle Phase.

Action Phase

1. Turn Start: All Heroes clear their statuses and become unblocked.
2. Actions:
   • a. Determine the active Hero.
   • b. Active Hero performs all of their actions.
   • c. Repeat until all Heroes have taken a turn.

Battle Phase

1. Monster Activation: Monsters may move and be summoned.
2. Combat: Players cast spells and/or participate in combat.

Action Phase

Turn Start

All Heroes clear their Hidden, Alert, Sneak, and Make Noise statuses. Remove any Status Cubes from the upper portion of all Hero Boards. All Heroes become unblocked. Flip all Hero Chips to their unblocked sides.

Actions

Mix all Heroes' Targeting Tokens together and randomly draw one to determine the Active Player. The Active Player performs all of their actions for the turn. Then draw a new token to determine the next player to perform their actions until all players have taken a turn.

Players may perform up to 4 actions during their turn. Actions can be taken in any order and the same action may be taken any number of times.

Caves

If a Hero begins their turn in a Cave Clearing, or enters a Cave Clearing during their turn, the Hero loses one total action that turn. A Hero may not use a 4th action to enter a Cave Clearing.

Monster Block

Monsters block the active, unhidden Hero if they are in the same clearing at the end of any action. The Hero may attempt to hide to avoid being blocked (see Reactions). Blocked Heroes are unhidden and lose all remaining actions and reactions until the end of the turn. Flip the Hero Chip over to its blocked side to denote that the Hero is blocked.

The actions

Alert

The Alert Action allows a Hero to unequip and equip any/all of their possessions (see Equipping for full details). Additionally, during combat this turn the Hero may place +1 Speed Cube during each round of combat. Place a pink Status Cube in the Alert box on the Hero's Hero Board to indicate that the Hero alerted this turn.

Sneak - or - Make Noise

The Sneak Action improves the odds of a Hero successfully hiding. Place a pink Status Cube in the Sneak box on the Hero Board when a Hero takes a Sneak Action. Heroes that Sneak may ignore one failure die result during all Hide reactions this turn (see Reactions).

A Hero may instead choose to Make Noise. They immediately become unhidden and are blocked if Monsters are present. A Hero may not Sneak and Make Noise in the same turn. Place a pink Status Cube in the Make Noise box on the Hero Board. After Monster Activation, but before Combat, roll the Summoning Dice again for each Hero that made noise this turn. Apply the results only to the clearing containing the Hero rolling the dice using normal summoning rules, ignoring Heroes in all other clearings in the tile.

Move

The Move Action allows a Hero to move to an adjacent clearing connected to the current clearing by a Path, a Gate, or a discovered Hidden Path. When a hidden Hero moves to a new clearing, they lose any hidden status. The move costs one action except as follows:

Mountains or Swamps: A Move Action made into a Mountain or Swamp Clearing requires +1 action cost.

Gates: Once two or more Gates are revealed, a Hero may travel between any two Gates as if they were connected by a path. The type of clearing being entered determines the movement cost to use the Gate.

Evading: Heroes that evaded during combat on the prior turn must spend their first action moving to an adjacent clearing. Heroes that evaded out of a Cave Clearing still lose one action that turn even if evading in the direction of a non-Cave Clearing (Evade is explained later).

Place Tokens:

If a Hero enters a Map Tile that does not contain a Treasure Site, Civilization, or Wilderness Token, place tokens in the tile. Exception: If a Hero enters a new tile due to a spell effect during combat, reveal tokens once all combat is completed for the turn.

Civilization Tiles:

Draw two random Civilization Tokens from the Civilization Token pile and reveal them in the Civilization Location clearing on the Map Tile.

Fill any newly revealed Merchants with the number of treasures, items, and missions indicated on the Terrain Setup Card for the Merchant. Take these cards from the piles shuffled during game setup. The order of these cards does not matter.

Wilderness tiles:

Draw one random Wilderness Token from the matching Terrain Setup Card and reveal it anywhere in the tile. Follow the instructions below for the token drawn.

• Site: Draw a random Site Token from the Site Token pile. Place the Treasure Site in the clearing on the Map Tile indicated by number on the Site Token.
• Numbered Token: Place the token in the clearing indicated by the number on the Wilderness Token.
• Item: Draw an item from the top of the Item Deck. The Hero may equip the card immediately (see Equipping).
• Treasure: Draw a treasure from the top of the Treasure Deck (not the Deep Treasure Deck). The Hero may equip the card immediately (see Equipping).
• Discovery: The Hero rolls two Mission Dice and receives the rewards indicated by the dice roll.
• Forgotten City/Dwarven Ruins: Reveal one additional token from each Terrain Setup Card, repeating the above steps for each new token. The revealing Hero receives 1 LP and 5 Fame.

Search

When a Hero searches, they select one of two options:

1. They may search for a Hidden Path connected to the clearing.
2. They may search for a Treasure Site in the clearing.

The player rolls the two Search Dice. If the result shows two spyglasses, the Hero has found the Treasure Site or Hidden Path. Any other result is a failure.

Rerolls: If the Hero chooses to search for the same target using consecutive Search Actions on the same turn, they only reroll Search Dice showing a blank result.

When a Hidden Path is discovered, that Hero may use the Hidden Path during a Move Action as if it was a regular path for the rest of the game.

When a Treasure Site is discovered for the first time, two things occur:

1. The Hero gains 1 LPs and 5 Fame for being the first to discover the site.
2. Draw a number of Treasure and Deep Treasure Cards from the appropriate decks as listed for the Treasure Site on the Terrain Setup Card. Form a Treasure Pile by placing the Deep Treasure Cards on top of the Treasure Cards. Place them on the Treasure Site location on the Terrain Setup Card.

Loot

Once a player has found a Treasure Site, they may loot it using a Loot Action. A Hero may not loot a Treasure Site that they have not discovered, even if it has been discovered by other Heroes.

Roll the two loot dice. If the player rolls only grabby hand icons, they may look at the top three treasures and keep one of them, returning the other two to the Treasure Pile in the original order.

Otherwise, use the highest numeric die result for the loot roll result.

Take the card from the Treasure Pile that is in the position of the loot roll result, counting from the top, or take no card if there are fewer cards in the Treasure Pile than the loot roll result.

When a Hero loots a Treasure Card they look at it secretly and decide whether they want to equip the card or whether they want to place it face-down in their backpack (see Equipping). Exception: Treasure Cards with a red Backpack Special symbol must always be face-up regardless of their position.

A player may reveal cards in their backpack at any time. When an Epic Treasure Card (with a red banner) is possessed and revealed for the first time, the revealing player earns 1 LP and 5 Fame. Rewards for Epic Treasures only occur once per game per Epic Treasure.

Learn

The Learn Action allows a Hero to attempt to learn a spell attached to a Spell Book or Spell Scroll they possess. A Hero must possess a Magic Cube that matches the spell type of the spell (healthy or wounded).

Roll the two Learn Dice.

• If both sides show a spell book, the Hero learns the spell and removes it from the Spell Book or Spell Scroll and places it in the known spells position on their Hero Board. They earn the 1 LP and 5 Fame for learning the spell. If the last spell is removed from a Treasure Card, remove the Treasure Card from the game.
• If the dice show one or more Curse Symbols, the Hero fails and receives one curse. Roll on the Curse Table immediately and apply the effects until the curse is removed. The Curse Table is shown on the back side of the Reference Cards.
• In any other situation, the Learn Action has no effect.

Rerolls: If the Hero chooses to learn the same spell using consecutive Learn Actions on the same turn, they only reroll Learn Dice showing a blank or curse result.

Rest

A Hero may become wounded for a variety of reasons. In order to move cubes from the wounded box to the healthy box, the Hero must rest. A Hero may take a quick rest, a short rest, or a long rest, moving one, two, and three cubes from the wounded box to the healthy box for a cost of two, three, and four actions respectively.

Trade

A Hero may perform a Trade Action to swap with another Hero, do commerce, complete missions, claim titles, or remove curses and spells. A single Trade Action may only do one of the following things:

1. Swap: Swap any number of Item Cards, Treasure Cards, Gold, Treasure Site locations, or Hidden Paths in the current clearing with one other unhidden, unblocked Hero in the clearing. Spell and Mission Cards may not be swapped.
2. Commerce: Buy cards, sell cards, and/or take missions from a Merchant in the same clearing. Each step below may be performed in any order once in a single Trade Action.
   • Look: Look at all cards on the Terrain Setup Card for one Merchant that is in the clearing.
   • Sell: The Hero may sell any number of items or treasures from their Hero Board for the listed price. Spells may not be sold unless attached to a Spell Book or Scroll (see the Spell Manifest for the sale price of a Spell Book or Spell Scroll). Place these sold items with the Merchant. They are immediately available for sale to any Hero.
   • Buy: Buy one treasure or item for 3x the price shown on the card (see the Spell Manifest for the purchase price of a Spell Book or Spell Scroll).
     • If the Hero cannot, or does not want to, pay the full price, they may haggle over the price (see Haggling).
     • When purchasing an item or treasure, the Hero may equip it immediately (see Equipping).
     • When an Epic Treasure Card (red banner) is purchased, the Hero may reveal the Treasure Card to earn 1 LP and 5 Fame, if the treasure was not already revealed this game.
   • Take Missions: Take 0, 1, or 2 Mission Cards from the Merchant and place it face-down in the Hero's backpack. A Hero may keep a maximum of two uncompleted Mission Cards in their possession at the end of their turn; discard any excess. Missions are refilled at the end of the player's turn (after all actions) so all Merchants have their maximum number of listed missions available. If the Mission Deck is empty, reshuffle the discard pile and recreate. If none, the Merchants do not restock missions.
   • Repair: A Merchant will repair any number of damaged armor cards if the Hero pays the price shown on the damaged armor card. Discard the Gold to the pool and remove any pink Status Cube on the armor.
3. Complete a Mission: All missions require that players perform a Trade Action at a certain location to claim the mission reward. Remove completed missions from the game. (see Missions for more information).
4. Claim a Title: If a Hero meets the prerequisites on the matching Civilization Card, and a member of that Native Group is present, they may claim one title. Place one pink Status Cube on a title, pay the price listed, and receive the rewards shown on the card. Small boxes may only be claimed once. Large boxes may be claimed an unlimited number of times (one per Trade Action).
5. Remove Curses and Spells: A Hero in a Civilization Location may remove any number of curses and permanent spells from a willing Hero in the clearing for a cost of 5 Gold per curse or permanent spell dispelled.

Enchant

If a Hero with a colored Magic Cube may choose to take 3 consecutive Enchant Actions in a single turn to enchant a Map Tile. Enchanting Map Tiles aids in future spell casting.

• The Map Tile in which the Hero is located is flipped over to the opposite side. The name of the tile should be placed so that it matches the previous orientation. All counters and tokens are placed in the same clearings in which they existed prior to the flip.
• The player removes any Magic Cubes that are on the Map Tile and returns them to the pool. The player places one Magic Cube from the pool matching a Magic Cube they possess (even if wounded) and places it on the Map Tile.

Any inactive permanent spells in a Map Tile enchanted with a matching color are activated immediately. This effect happens at any time during the game.

A Hero casting a spell in an enchanted Map Tile may ignore one matching spell box on the Spell Card, including a multicolor spell box (see Spells).

Explore

[Only used with the Exploration rules] A Hero in a clearing with a path leading off the map may explore that adjacent empty location. To Explore, select a path leading off the map, draw the bottom Map Tile, and place it connected to that path in any orientation, with either side face-up. All edges must match adjacent Map Tiles: paths to paths and non-paths to non-paths. The Map Tile must be placed if possible; otherwise, the action is forfeited and the Map Tile is returned to the top of the stack. After placement, the Hero may move into a connected clearing on the new Map Tile, paying any additional cost to enter a Mountain or Swamp Clearing.

Mountain Exploration: If a player is in a Mountain Clearing, they may explore any adjacent empty Map Tile location. The Map Tile is placed using the explore rules above. The Map Tile must connect to at least one path on any tile.

Pass

The Hero's Action Phase ends.

Reactions

Reactions are special actions that can only be taken when certain circumstances are met, and they can be taken out of turn or even out of the Action Phase. Every reaction defines one or more trigger conditions, and every time a trigger condition is met the player may carry out the reaction once.

Hide

Triggers: An unblocked Hero may make a Hide reaction and gain the Hide status when any of the following occurs:

• A Monster blocks a Hero during the Action Phase.
• At the end of Monster Activation.
• In the Cleanup step if the Hero ambushed this Combat Round.

The Hide reaction is free (does not cost an action).

If a Monster symbol is rolled on either of the dice, the Hide fails and the block is successful. If there are no Monster symbols in the roll result, the Hero gains the hidden status and the block has no effect. Place a pink cube on the hidden box on the Hero Board. If the Hero took the Sneak Action this turn they may ignore one Monster symbol when determining success or failure.

Once a Hero is hidden, they remain hidden until they move to a new clearing, take the Make Noise action, choose to become unhidden, ambush, or a new turn starts.

Player Turn End

Once the Hero has completed all of their desired actions for their turn, play passes to the next player. Once all players have performed all their actions, the Action Phase ends and the Battle Phase begins.

Battle Phase

Monster Activation

The start player rolls all 4 Summoning Dice. One gray die (Wandering Monsters) and one black die (Local Monsters) have symbols matching the symbols on the Map Tiles. The other dice contain numbers showing how many Monsters arrive if Monsters are summoned. Process the gray dice first, then the black dice.

Return Arrow: If the arrow symbol is rolled do the following:

• Monsters Return: Return all Monsters in Map Tiles containing no Heroes to the monster tray.
• Monsters Move: Monsters in a clearing with a Hero do not move. All other Monsters that are on the Map Tile are moved to the clearing of the Hero on the Map Tile that is earliest in the Turn Order.

Summoning symbol: If the symbol on either of the dice matches a summoning symbol on a Map Tile containing a Hero, the following occurs in order:

1. Monsters Move: Monsters in a clearing with a Hero do not move. All other Monsters that are on the Map Tile are moved to the clearing of the Hero that is earliest in the Turn Order.
2. Monsters Summon: The Monster type shown on the Map Tile next to the summoning symbol will summon from the monster tray to the Map Tile. If more than one Hero is in the tile, Monsters are summoned in each clearing containing a Hero beginning with the Hero that is earliest in the Turn Order. Each clearing summons only once regardless of the number of Heroes in the clearing.

The number of Monsters summoned is equal to the number shown on the die that matches the color of the Summoning Symbol die. Randomly select the indicated Monsters from the monster tray and place them in the Hero's clearing. If there are not enough Monsters, place what remains.

Note: If the Monster listed on the Map Tile has a dual dice icon beside the Monster symbol, then the number of Monsters summoned to the tile is the sum of both numbered Summoning Dice.

Treasure Site Symbol: If the Treasure Site Symbol is rolled on one of the dice and a Map Tile contains one or more Heroes and one or more Treasure Sites then Guardians are summoned. Move all Guardians from wherever they are located to the clearing containing the matching Treasure Site for that Guardian, even if that causes the Guardian to leave a clearing containing a Hero, another Map Tile, or the monster tray.

Moved and summoned Monsters are always placed name-side up.

In player order, each Hero that made noise this turn rolls all of the Summoning Dice again and applies the results to their clearing only.

Unblocked Heroes may choose to take a Hide reaction at the end of Monster Activation in case they wish to be hidden during Combat.

Hide reactions are important only when a Monster, Native, or another Hero is in the clearing (if playing with the optional Player vs. Player rules).

Summoning: Monster Activation Example

Monster Activation

The Enchanter is the first player, followed by the Sorcerer, Barbarian, Cleric, and Druid. The Enchanter rolls the Summoning Dice resulting in a claw symbol for the Local Monster Die, a Malevolent Mountain symbol for the Wandering Monster Die, and a 1 for both numbered dice.

Enchanter's and Sorcerer's Map Tile

The Local Monster Die matches the claw symbol on the Secret Dens.

1. Monster Move: No movement since no Monsters are present.
2. Monster Summon: The Goblins have the dual dice icon next to their symbol, so the number of Goblins summoned is equal to the sum of the two dice, two Goblins (red arrow). First, two Goblins are summoned to the clearing with the Enchanter because the Enchanter was before the Sorcerer in Turn Order. Second, two Goblins are summoned to the Sorcerer's clearing (if any Goblins remain).

Barbarian's Map Tile

Both dice match the symbols on the Lonely Mountains Map Tile.

1. Monster Move: The Griffon already in the Lonely Mountains Map Tile moves to the Barbarian's clearing (yellow arrow).
2. Monster Summon: The Monsters for the Lonely Mountains are Griffons and Juvenile Dragons. Neither has the dual dice icon next to their symbol, so one of each is summoned to the Barbarian's clearing (red arrow).

Cleric's Map Tile

The Wandering Monster Die matches the symbol on the Tri-Peaks tile.

3. Monster Move: The Juvenile Dragon already in the Tri-Peaks Map Tile moves to the clearing of the Cleric (yellow arrow).
4. Monster Summon: The symbol summons Juvenile Dragons to the Tri-Peaks tile. Since they do not have dual dice icon next to their symbol, one Juvenile Dragon is summoned to the Cleric's clearing (red arrow).

Druid's Map Tile

There are no dice symbols that match the symbols in the Druid's Map Tile so no Monsters move or summon in that Map Tile.

Combat

Combat is completed for each clearing containing one or more Heroes beginning with the clearing of the start player and proceeding in Turn Order. Clearings without Heroes are ignored. Combat can often be done simultaneously for all clearings.

Combat Occurs Even if No Monsters are Present. This allows Heroes to cast spells and perform the Cleanup step of combat even if alone in a clearing.

Ambush

Hidden Heroes may not do the Target, Hero Tactics, or Resolve steps of combat explained below unless armed with a ranged weapon or casting a spell. Using a ranged weapon or casting a spell from hiding is called an Ambush. All combat rules apply except that Monsters may not target the ambusher while hidden.

Combat Steps

The combat steps in each clearing are as follows. Should it matter, all steps are done in player Turn Order. Each circuit through these steps is called a Combat Round:

1. Challenge: In player order, hidden Heroes may choose to become unhidden. Then, each Monster challenges a random unhidden Hero in the clearing. Remember: A Monster controlled by a Hero is considered a Hero.

   • Multiple Monsters may challenge a single Hero, even if other Heroes are not challenged by a Monster.
   • A Hero that is Shape Shifted into a Monster is still considered a Hero.
   • Monsters under the control of a Hero (e.g. Elementals) are considered Heroes for all purposes during combat.
   • Monsters do not challenge Natives and vice versa. They ignore one another.

2. Activation: A Hero with inactive permanent spells may activate any matching spells of their choice by moving a Magic Cube of the spell's color from their healthy box to their wounded box. A Hero may wound any number of Magic Cubes to activate different matching spells. See Spells.

   • If a Hero is on a Map Tile enchanted with a Magic Cube matching the color of a permanent spell, the matching spell activates automatically and does not require wounding a Magic Cube.
   • A Hero may not wound a cube to activate an inactive permanent spell that is affecting another Hero.

3. Evade: In player order, Heroes may evade combat if they can place more brown Speed Cubes in their maneuver speed boxes than the highest single maneuver speed of all Monsters that are challenging them.

   • If the player cannot place enough brown Speed Cubes in the maneuver speed boxes, the Hero may not evade combat.
   • Heroes that evade take no further part in combat and are placed on a path leading out of the clearing of the player's choice (not a Gate). If there is no valid path out of the clearing, they may not evade. Next turn, they must move as their first action. Return the cubes to their healthy box.
   • Evaded Monsters do not challenge other Heroes this Combat Round.

4. Target: Heroes, and then Monsters, choose a target for this Combat Round.

   • Monsters always target the Hero they are challenging.
   • In player order, each Hero in the clearing selects a Monster to target. Place the Hero's Targeting Token on the Monster they are attacking. Multiple Heroes may attack the same Monster. Some spells may target multiple foes.
   • When targeting with a controlled Monster, the Hero selects which side of the Monster chip to place face-up.
   • If a Monster was evaded by the Hero they challenged, the Monster attacks no one, but may still be targeted by an attack from another Hero.
   • Some spells allow targeting of Heroes (for beneficial purposes).

5. Hero Tactics: In secret, each Hero places their Action Cubes on the boxes for their might, spells, attack speed, and/or maneuver speed.

   • A Hero may place up to 5 Action Cubes on their boxes. The Action Cube limit is +1 Speed Cube if the Hero performed an Alert Action during the Action Phase this turn.
   • Red Might Cubes may only be placed on red might boxes. This represents the strength that the Hero is putting into the attack.
   • Brown Speed Cubes may only be placed on attack speed and/or maneuver speed boxes (both brown). This represents the speed of the Hero's attack and maneuver. An attack or maneuver speed of 0 or less is still an attack and/or maneuver.
   • Magic Cubes may only be placed on boxes that match the color of the cube being placed. Note that some boxes accept any color of Magic Cube.
   • Each Combat Round, a Hero may only use one card that casts a spell or causes an attack to occur. A Hero may place additional cubes on other Treasure Cards, if they wish. A Hero may always place cubes on their Lineage and Class Cards.
   • A Hero may not place cubes on possessions in their backpack.
   • If a Hero is placing cubes on a card, they must fill all dark red or dark brown (mandatory) boxes on the card. They do not have to place cubes in the light red or light brown (optional) boxes on a card.
   • If the Hero is casting a spell, all boxes on the Spell Card must be filled with 1 cube of the matching color. Multi-color boxes may contain any color of Magic Cube. Exception: If the Map Tile is enchanted, any one box matching the enchanting color does not need to be filled.
   • Once all players have placed their Action Cubes, reveal all placements.

6. Monster Tactics: For each uncontrolled Monster in the clearing, roll one Monster Die. If it shows a Monster symbol, flip the Monster Chip over. These are the new characteristics of the Monster for this round of combat.

   At the end of Monster tactics, if a Monster's tactics are an attack with multiple targets (e.g. Fireball), the Monster will add random additional Heroes as targets, in addition to the Hero they originally targeted.

7. Resolve: Process all attacks in attack speed order and fully resolve one attack before proceeding to the next.

   A. Attack Order: Starting with the fastest unresolved attack speed, regardless if it is a spell or a weapon, process the attack.

   • Ties for attack speed are broken by the attack length shown on each Weapon or Spell Card (the number on top of a sword icon).
   • The attack length of Monsters is shown as a red number near the attack speed on the counter. No number indicates an attack length of 0.
   • Tied attack speeds and attack lengths strike simultaneously. If spell resolution order matters, break ties randomly.

   B. Attack Resolution: For each attack in order, perform the following steps.

   • If the attacker's attack speed is faster than the target's maneuver speed, the attack hits. Otherwise, roll the two Hit Dice.
     • If either die is blank: The attack misses.
     • If both dice are hit symbols: The attack hits.
     • If the dice are any combination of hits and equal signs: The attack hits if the attacker's attack speed is equal to the maneuver speed of the target. Otherwise, it misses.

   C. Damage: If the attack misses, ignore this step; proceed to step D.

   Golden Rule of Damage: Any time a target is hit by an attack with an actual damage one or more, it will either be killed or take one wound. Attacks with an actual damage of less than one have no effect and are ignored.

   • If the attack is a spell, apply the effects of the spell as printed on the card. Spells are explained later in these rules.
   • If a weapon, count the number of cubes on the Weapon Card or the number printed on the red cube on the Monster Chip. Add to this damage the number of sword icons covered by cubes on the Weapon Card or printed on the Monster Chip. This is the base damage.
   • A Monster or Native is armored if there is a shield icon on the counter. A Hero must choose whether an attack on them hits their head or torso. A Hero is armored if they have an armor card in the position being hit. If the Hero has a shield in a weapon position, they may choose if they want to use the shield as armor for any attack. A Hero must choose which armor to use, if any, before Ranged Attack Dice rolls.
   • If the attack has one or more sword icons on it and the target is armored, reduce the base damage by one.
   • If the attack is a ranged attack (arrow symbol on the Monster, Weapon Card, or Spell Card), the attacking Hero rolls the two Ranged Attack Dice and adjust the base damage by the worst result shown.
   • This is the damage done to the target. If the damage damage is less than one, proceed to step D.
   • The target is a Monster:
     • If the damage is greater than or equal to Monster's health, the Monster is killed.
       • Monster health: Health is the printed health value on top of a Heart/shield/undead symbol on the counter, minus any wounds on the counter (see Wounds).
     • If the damage is less than the Monster's health, the Monster receives one wound (see Wounds).
   • The target is a Hero using armor:
     • The Hero receives one wound (see Wounds).
     • If the damage is higher than the number in the shield icon of the armor card, the armor is destroyed. Removed from the game.
     • If the damage is equal to the number in the shield icon of the armor card, the armor is damaged. If the armor already has a pink cube on it, it is destroyed. Otherwise, place a pink Status Cube on the armor card.
     • If the damage is less than the number on the shield icon of the armor card, the armor is not damaged or destroyed.
   • The target is a Hero not using armor:
     • If the damage is greater than or equal to the Hero's health, the Hero is killed.
       • Hero health: A Hero's health is equal to the number of Hearts in the Hero's healthy box. Hearts in the wounded box and non-Heart Action Cubes have no impact on health.
     • If the damage is less than the health of the Hero, the Hero receives one wound.

   D. Repeat step 7: Resolve the next attack in attack speed order until all attacks have been resolved for the Combat Round.

8. Cleanup: A quick end-of-round clean-up step occurs.

   • Adjust Equipment: A Hero that did not cast a spell or use an Item or Treasure Card this Combat Round may unequip one card and then equip one card. This card may be the same card (see Equipping).
   • Rearm: A Hero that threw a melee/ranged weapon may equip one card from their backpack to the vacated weapon position on their Hero Board.
   • Ambush: If a hidden Hero cast a spell or used an Item Card or Treasure Card this Combat Round, they must roll to stay hidden. Heroes that fail to hide are unhidden for all purposes for the remainder of Combat.

   Note: Heroes that performed a Sneak Action this turn may not ignore any Monster symbol results on this hide attempt. The Halfling's Lineage advantage may not be used to reroll a Monster Die.

   • Spell Wound: If a Hero cast a spell with a cube in a spell box containing a wound symbol, that cube is moved to the wounded box for that Hero.
   • All remaining Action Cubes are placed in the Hero's healthy box.
   • If two consecutive rounds of combat occur without any Hero or Monster taking a wound or dying, combat ends in the clearing for the turn. Otherwise, proceed to step 1 of combat and repeat these steps.

Wounds

When a Monster is wounded, place a pink Status Cube on the Monster Chip to signify that its health is lower than its printed health. A Monster may have multiple pink cubes to show multiple wounds. Each wound cube lowers the Monster's health by one.

When a Hero is wounded, the Hero must immediately move an Action Cube to the wounded box from the Hero's healthy box, Lineage Card, Class Card, Weapon Card, Treasure Card, or Spell Card. Remember: Hearts are a type of Action Cube and can be wounded. A Hero with no Hearts in their healthy box is killed.

If a wound forces a player to remove a cube on a Spell Card such that a box is now empty, the spell is canceled if it has not already occurred.

If a wound forces a player to remove a Might Cube leaving a dark red (mandatory) box empty, the weapon attack is canceled if it has not already occurred.

When removing cubes, the order of attacks or hit determination may change. Use the new number of Action Cubes to determine the next unresolved attack to occur and the resolution of all subsequent attacks this Combat Round.

Attacks that have already been resolved are unaffected due to a wound.

Monster Death

When a Monster is killed, the Hero who strikes the final blow (or as a result of a controlled Monster or spell) takes the Monster Chip and places it near their Hero Board. Exception: Elementals are returned to the pool and may be resummoned. The Hero immediately receives the Fame value printed on the Monster Chip.

Hero Death

When a Hero is killed, discard half of the Hero's Fame (rounded down). Of the remainder, for each 10 Fame the Hero can discard, they receive 1 LP. The Hero's Lineage and Class Cards, along with their LPs and left-over Fame, are set aside. A dead Hero is still eligible to win the game (depending on the scenario being played).

Discard all Mission Cards and Spell Cards from the known spells position on the Hero Board Return Hero Starting Spell Cards to the box. Place the Hero's Targeting Token in the clearing where they died. Shuffle all of the Hero's possessions and place them, face-down near the board along with all of the Hero's Gold (keep Spell Cards with their respective Spell Books and Spell Scrolls). Place the Hero Chip on top of the pile. The Hero's possessions may be searched for and looted like a normal Treasure Site. When the Hero's body is found, the finder receives all Gold on the body, but no LPs or Fame. Possessions must be looted once the body is found.

End of Combat

When combat is completed, a few things happen:

• Discard all pink Status Cubes from Monsters. Monster Chips are placed name side up in the clearing. All wounded Hearts and Action Cubes in a Hero's wounded box remain there.
• If a Hero that threw a weapon during any Combat Round is still in the clearing, and no Monsters are in the clearing, that Hero retrieves their thrown weapon for free and places it face-down in their backpack. Otherwise, remove the weapon from the game permanently.
• Heroes may retire using the rules below. After Heroes have had the chance to retire, if it is not the end of the game, continue with the Action Phase of the next turn.

Retirement

If a Hero is in a Civilization Location at the end of the Battle Phase, that Hero may choose to retire. When a Hero retires, the following occurs:

• For each 10 Fame the Hero discards, they receive 1 LP. Remaining Fame is kept as a tie-breaker.
• If the Hero is retiring on the last turn of the game, the Hero receives one LP for being a living legend.
• Roll two Monster Dice for each Outlaw Token the Hero possesses (see Outlaw Tokens).
  • If both dice show a symbol, the Outlaw gains 1 LP.
  • If one die result is a symbol and the other is a blank, they discard one 1 LP. If they have no LPs, they lose all of their remaining Fame.
  • If both dice show blanks, there is no effect.
• Set the LPs, Fame, Lineage Card, and Class Card for the Hero aside and remove their Hero Chip from the map.

Starting a New Hero

A player that dies or retires may select another Hero to begin play on the following turn. The setup for this new Hero follows the rules for setup at the beginning of the game. For their starting items search the item deck for the cards and then reshuffle. If the equipment is not available, the Hero receives the sale price Gold equivalent instead. Spell casters may choose spells from the Hero Starting Spell Cards set back in the box earlier. The new Hero begins as per the rules of the scenario being played.

End of the Game

At the end of the game, all surviving Heroes retire based on their ending location:

• Civilization location: Retire normally following the retirement rules.
• Not in a Civilization Location: The Hero loses half, rounded down, of their Fame and then retires normally as if they were in a Civilization Location.

Victory is per the rules for the scenario being played.

Combat Example

The Barbarian and Knight are unhidden and blocked in a clearing with a Juvenile Dragon, a Giant, and the Great Drake. They are both fully healthy and possess their original starting equipment as listed on the cards shown above. The Knight did not alert this turn and is limited to 5 cubes each Combat Round. The Barbarian alerted during the Action Phase and may play +1 Speed Cube per Combat Round. The Heroes' equipped weapons are also shown above.

Combat Round 1

1. Challenge: The three Monsters all challenge a random Hero. After die rolls, the Juvenile Dragon and Giant challenge the Knight and the Great Drake challenges the Barbarian.
2. Activation: Neither Hero is under the effects of a permanent spell so nothing happens during this step.
3. Evade: Neither the Knight, nor the Barbarian, can play more maneuver cubes than the Monsters challenging them so neither of them may evade combat this turn.
4. Target: The Monsters each target the Heroes they challenged. The Barbarian decides to target the Great Drake and the Knight decides to target the Juvenile Dragon since it is worth more Fame than the Giant.
5. Hero Tactics: Secretly each Hero places their cubes on their cards. The Barbarian and Knight decide to place their cubes as shown below.
6. Monster Tactics: One Monster Die is rolled for each Monster. The roll for the Juvenile Dragon and the Great Drake each show a symbol, so they both flip over to their back sides. The roll for the Giant shows a blank, so the Giant does not flip over. The new combat values of the Monsters are shown below in order of attack from left to right (note that the two dragons' attack speeds and attack length (0) are equal so their attacks hit simultaneously.
7. Resolution: The Knight's attack speed equals the attack speed of both dragons, but the attack length of the long sword is higher than the length of the dragons' attacks (10 vs. 0). The Knight will attack first.
   • The Knight's attack speed (2) is compared to the Juvenile Dragon's maneuver speed (3). It is not an automatic hit because the attack speed is not higher than the maneuver speed. The Knight will have to roll the combat dice and get lucky. The Knight rolls the dice and rolls two hit symbols! This is an automatic hit regardless of the maneuver speed of the Monster. The damage done is equal to the number of cubes played on the Knight's weapon (2) + 1 sword icon on the weapon. Because the dragon is armored one sword icon is canceled resulting in two actual damage, which is just enough to kill the dragon. The Knight places the Juvenile Dragon counter and 10 Fame near his Hero Board.
   • The Great Drake attacks next with an attack speed of two. The Barbarian's maneuver speed is also two so the Hit Dice are rolled for the Great Drake. The result is a hit symbol and an equal symbol and, following the golden rule of Dragons Down, only the worse result applies; the equal symbol. Unfortunately for the Barbarian, this is enough for the Great Drake to hit since the dragon's attack speed and the Barbarian's maneuver speed are equal. The Barbarian must immediately wound a cube. The Barbarian chooses to place their unused brown Speed Cube in the wounded box on his Hero Board. Also, the Barbarian's helmet is destroyed (the damage of the attack is 4 + 1 sword - 1 sword for the helmet, which is greater than the 2 armor value of the helmet).
   • The Giant attacks next with an attack speed of one, which ties the Knight's maneuver speed. The Hit Dice are rolled and two blanks are the result. The Giant misses.
   • The final attack is the Barbarian's attack with an attack speed of zero. All of the Barbarian's effort was put into might since that is needed to kill the Great Drake in one swing. The Great Drake has a maneuver speed of 1, so the Barbarian rolls the Hit Dice. One die shows a hit and one die shows a blank symbol, which means the attack misses.

The end of Combat Round 1 is shown on the next page. The Barbarian has lost his helmet (not shown). Two Monsters remain.

Combat Round 2

1. Challenge: Both Monsters randomly challenge the Knight in the Combat Round. This means the Barbarian will not be targeted this round and can put all of her efforts into attacking her target without fear of being attacked.
2. Activation: Nothing happens.
3. Evade: Neither Hero evades.
4. Target: Both Monsters target the Knight. The Knight decides to attack the Giant and the Barbarian decides to target the Great Drake again.
5. Hero Tactics: Secretly each Hero places their cubes on their cards. The Barbarian and Knight decide to place all their brown cubes in attack speed.
6. Monster Tactics: One Monster Die is rolled for each Monster and neither roll shows a symbol so the Monsters remain in their same tactics.
7. Resolution: The Knight's attack again goes first.
   • The Knight's attack speed (3) is higher than the Giant's maneuver speed (1) and does 3 damage because the Giant is not armored. The Giant is killed. The Knight takes the Giant counter and 8 more Fame.
   • The Barbarian's attack is next and is faster than the Great Drake's maneuver speed (2 vs. 1). The damage done is 4 (4 + 1 sword - 1 for armor) which is just enough to kill the Great Drake. The Barbarian takes the Great Drake counter and 20 Fame!

Combat officially ends following 2 more Combat Rounds without activity (the Heroes could rearrange equipment during Cleanup each round if they wished).

Other Rules

Statuses

There are four status effects tracked on a player's Hero Board: Alert, Sneak, Make Noise, and Hidden. Hidden status is explained below and all others are explained under their respective sections in the Action Phase rules. All statuses are reset at the beginning of each turn by removing all pink Status Cubes from Hero Boards.

Hidden Status

When a player makes a successful Hide reaction, the player places a pink cube in the hidden box on the Hero's Hero Board to signify that the Hero is hidden.

Action Phase

Hidden Heroes may take actions in the clearing as normal, including when a hide attempt is successful in the middle of their turn. Heroes lose their hidden status if they move to a new clearing or take the Make Noise action. Heroes may voluntarily reveal themselves at any time during the Action Phase.

Battle Phase

During the Battle Phase, Heroes may voluntarily reveal themselves only at the beginning of the challenge step of a Combat Round. Hidden Heroes may not be attacked, but may Ambush using spells or ranged weapons (see Combat).

Treasures and Items

Dragons Down is a land full of powerful relics that can greatly enhance your Hero. The abilities of each treasure or item are shown via iconography in the bottom half of the card. Until you get to know the iconography, you can use the alphabetical Treasure Manifest in the appendix of these rules to understand each treasure.

Items

Heroes begin the game with equipment specific to the Hero's Class as listed on the Class Card. Item card backs that say "Item" and have a wooden banner on the front of the card. The layout for Item Cards are identical to Treasure Cards.

Deep Treasures vs. Treasures

Some treasures are more difficult to loot in the Treasure Sites and are known as Deep Treasures. Deep Treasures are the same as treasures, but tend to be more valuable, and contain a higher percentage of Epic Treasures (see below).

Epic Treasures

Treasures that have a brown banner on them are common, regular treasures. Treasures that have a red banner are Epic Treasures. These are the treasures about which legends and stories are told. They are the best treasures in the game and earn Legend Points and Fame for whomever reveals them.

When an Epic Treasure Card is revealed for the first time, the revealing player earns 1 LP and 5 Fame. Rewards for each Epic Treasure Card only occurs once per game.

Treasure and Item Banners

The banners on treasures and items show information as follows:

Base Price: This is the price that a Merchant will pay to purchase this card from a Hero. This is also the base price used to calculate how much a Merchant will charge to sell this card to a Hero (the price is always base price x3)

One-time Use: This card is removed from the game after use. One-time use cards may be used at any time during a player's turn or in combat, even when first possessed without equipping. Cards with a combat effect may only be used in combat.

Armor: This card is armor with an armor value as printed in the shield symbol. Armor is explained in the combat section of these rules.

Weight: This card requires that a Hero has a number of healthy Might Cubes equal to the number shown. If not, the card is immediately unequipped to the Hero's backpack (see Equipping).

Attack Length: If two attacks have the same attack speed, weapons and spells with higher numbers are resolved before lower numbers. Some weapons have two numbers. See Melee or Ranged below.

Melee: This card is a melee weapon.

Ranged: This card is a ranged weapon. If it hits, roll the Ranged Attack Dice to modify the effects of the attack as described in the combat section of these rules.

Melee or Ranged: This weapon may be used as a melee or a ranged weapon. If used as a melee weapon, use the top attack length. If used as a ranged weapon, it is thrown; use the bottom attack length.

Weapons may only be thrown with one hand. When thrown, they are placed to the side of the Hero Board. Thrown weapons are removed from the game permanently if all Monsters in the clearing are not killed during combat this turn.

Permanent: The effects of this magic item last for the entire game.

Combat: The effects of this treasure last for the duration of the combat. Once combat is over, the effects are terminated.

Position Neck: This card is placed on the Hero's neck when active and face-down in the backpack when inactive.

Position Waist: This card is placed on the Hero's waist when active and face-down in the backpack when inactive.

Position Feet: This card is placed on the Hero's feet when active and face-down in the backpack when inactive.

Position Head: This card is placed on the Hero's head when active and face-down in the backpack when inactive.

Position Chest: This card is placed on the Hero's chest when active and face-down in the backpack when inactive.

Position Head and Chest: This card is placed on the Hero's head and chest when active and face-down in the backpack when inactive. Place the card on the white dotted lined area that covers both positions. Neither position is available for other cards.

Position One-handed Weapon: This card is placed on one of the Hero's weapon positions (does not matter which one) when active and face-down in the backpack when inactive. A Hero may not have two weapons, nor two shields, active at the same time.

Position Two-handed Weapon: This card is placed on both of the Hero's weapon positions when active and face-down in the backpack when inactive. Place the card on the white dotted lined area that covers both positions. Neither position is available for other cards. Spears may be wielded with one or two-hands. The optional might box is only available if using two hands.

Position Single Hand: This card is placed on one of the Hero's hand positions (does not matter which one) when active and face-down in the backpack when inactive.

Position Two Hands: This card is placed on both of the Hero's hand positions when active and face-down in the backpack when inactive. Place the card on the white dotted lined area that covers both positions. Neither position is available for other cards.

Position Miscellaneous: This card is placed on one of the Hero's miscellaneous positions (does not matter which one) when active and face-down in the backpack when inactive.

Position Backpack: Cards may always be placed in the backpack. Cards placed in the backpack are face-down, inactive, hidden from other players, and need not be revealed.

Position Backpack Special: This card must always be face-up. If face-down and viewed by a Hero, it becomes active and is placed face-up (Treasure Pile, Merchant, etc.). If its owner is killed, it is placed face-up in the clearing. Anyone entering the clearing immediately takes possession of the card.

Instantaneous: The effects of this treasure occur immediately. The treasure is then removed from the game.

Equipping

Treasures and items may be either unequipped (face-down in the Hero's backpack on their Hero Board) or equipped (face-up in any matching position on the Hero's Hero Board). Heroes only receive the benefit of equipped treasures unless otherwise noted on the Treasure Card. Unequipped treasures have no impact on the game and are kept face-down in the backpack. Exception: Position Backpack Special above.

Equipping is the process of moving Item and Treasure Cards to and from various positions on your Hero Board. Equipping follows these rules:

• Equipping is placing a card face-up on a position that matches the symbol on the card. A card may only be placed on a position that matches the symbol on the card or in the Hero's backpack.
• Unequipping is placing a card face-down in your backpack.
• When a Hero gains possession of a new item or Treasure Card, they must immediately choose to equip or unequip it.
• If they choose to equip the card, they unequip any card(s) already in that position. They may not equip other cards, nor unequip cards not in the position in which they are equipping the new card.
• Heroes may not equip more than one weapon in their weapon positions, nor may they equip two shields.
• Heroes can gain possession of new items or treasures in many ways, including the Loot Action, the Trade Action, and the Move Action.
• Weight: Armor has a weight as shown by the number on a red cube icon on the armor card. Weapons have a weight equal to the number of dark red/mandatory boxes on the card. A Hero may not equip armor unless they possess at least as many healthy Might Cubes as the weight of the individual armor. A Hero may not equip a Weapon Card unless they can fill all open dark red/mandatory boxes. If, at any time, a Hero does not have enough healthy cubes for the weight of an armor or weapon, it is immediately unequipped to their backpack, even in the middle of combat.
• During the Adjust Equipment step of combat, a Hero that did not place any cubes on Weapon or Spell Cards in the Combat Round may unequip one card and equip one card. This card may be the same card.
• During the Rearm step, a Hero that threw a melee/ranged weapon may equip one card from their backpack to a weapon position.
• During an Alert Action, a Hero may freely equip and unequip any cards.
• Missions are also stored in a Hero's backpack for easy reference, but Mission Cards are never equipped or unequipped.
• All face-up cards are public knowledge. All face-down cards are not public knowledge, but a Hero may look at all cards in their backpack at any time.

Haggling

A Hero may haggle with a Merchant over the price of a card they are trying to buy during a Trade Action. Place the card being haggled over apart from the Merchant's other cards so as to avoid confusion over which card is involved (a player may choose to place the card face-up or keep it secret while haggling).

Each Merchant has an attribute icon that they respect printed next to their name on the Terrain Setup Cards.

The haggle number the Hero needs to roll to successfully haggle is the sum of the number of matching attribute icons on the Hero's Lineage and Class Cards.

If the Hero possesses one or more Outlaw Tokens, the Hero suffers a penalty of -1 icon when haggling with a Merchant that respects only Wisdom and receives a bonus of +1 icon when haggling with a Merchant that respects only Cunning. The number of Outlaw Tokens does not matter. The minimum haggle number is 0.

The haggling Hero rolls two Haggle Dice:

• If either die shows a closed door, the haggle attempt fails and the Merchant closes their doors to the Hero for the rest of the turn. No more trade attempts may be made with that Merchant by that Hero until the following turn.
• If the highest number rolled is higher than the haggle number, the haggle attempt fails and the Trade Action is terminated. The Hero may attempt to trade and haggle with the Merchant using subsequent actions, if they wish.
• If the highest number rolled is less than or equal to the haggle number, the haggle attempt is a success. The price to purchase the card during this Trade Action is reduced by a factor of one (from 3x to 2x or from 2x to 1x). The Hero may continue haggling as part of the same Trade Action, if they wish. The price of a card will never be reduced below 1x.

If the card is not purchased for any reason, return the card to the Merchant.

Natives

Natives represent the various civilized people that have moved back into the realm. Natives are placed at the Civilization Location listed on the Terrain Setup Card. Natives do not block or attack Heroes. Natives can be targeted like a Monster. If any Native is targeted during combat, the following occurs:

• All Natives in the clearing are treated as Monsters for all purposes during combat this turn.
• At the end of the targeting step, each Native in the clearing that is not already targeting a Hero targets a random Hero that targeted a Native this turn, even if not targeting a Native this Combat Round.

Once combat is complete in the clearing, Natives return to their prior behavior.

Undead

Some Monsters are undead as indicated by their health value being printed on top of a skull on their Monster Chip. Undead Monsters have invulnerability to some spells, and weaknesses towards other spells (both are indicated on the individual Spell Cards either in text or by a special symbol indicating that it does not affect the undead). In all other ways, undead behave like normal Monsters.

Spells

One way Heroes access magic is via spells. One deck of Spell Cards is labeled "Hero Starting Spell", and is only used when a player creates a Hero and selects their starting spells. Do not shuffle this deck. Once Heroes have selected their starting spells, this deck is set aside and not used in this game session. The setup of the deck labeled "Spell", is described in the setup procedures of these rules. Heroes may cast spells using the cards of either deck. Heroes may learn the same spell from each deck.

Spells are only cast during combat. Spells may be cast each Battle Phase even if no Monsters are present in a clearing. If the Hero was hidden when the spell was cast, they must attempt a Hide reaction to remain hidden (See Ambush). This hide attempt is not be modified by the Sneak Action or the Halfling ability.

To cast a spell, take Magic Cubes from the healthy area of your Hero Board, and cover all boxes on the Spell Card with matching colors (multicolor boxes may be covered by any color Magic Cube). If you cannot cover all the boxes, you cannot cast the spell. Exception: if the Hero is in an enchanted tile, they may ignore any one spell box that matches the color of the tile's enchantment cube.

Each spell box type is differentiated by a unique color and symbol.

You may only cast one spell per Combat Round. Spells that have a duration longer than instantaneous may not be cast again until the spell is broken or expires.

The tapestry on each Spell Card shows the spells characteristics as follows:

Price: The base price of the spell. Spell Cards cannot be bought or sold unless attached to a Spell Book or Spell Scroll. When a Hero buys or sells a Spell Book or Spell Scroll, all spells remain attached to the Treasure Card. The base price of a Spell Book or Spell Scroll is the sum of the spells attached to the Treasure Card (see the Spell Manifest for more information on Spell Books and Spell Scrolls).

Targeted: This spell must be targeted at the caster or a single target in the clearing with the caster. If there is a number in the target symbol, the caster may target up to that many targets. The spell only takes effect if the spell hits using normal attack rules. A Hero may voluntarily accept a hit from a targeted spell when cast.

Self or other: This spell may be cast on self, another Hero, or a Monster in the same clearing as the caster. The spell does not need to hit to take effect.

Self: This spell targets the caster and takes effect when cast.

Melee: The casting of this spell acts like a melee weapon. If it hits, treat it like a melee weapon attack per the explanation on the card.

Ranged: The casting of this spell acts like a ranged weapon. If it hits, roll the Ranged Attack Dice to modify the effects of the attack.

Instantaneous: The spell occurs instantly and then expires.

Combat: The spell lasts for the duration of combat or until the caster or target is killed or evades. Then the spell expires.

Turn: The spell effects expire at the beginning of the Combat Phase of the following turn. These spells are most commonly used to enhance a Hero's actions during the next turn.

Permanent: The spell is permanent and never expires. Permanent spells can be in two states: active and inactive. Place active permanent spells face-up next to the Hero Board for the targeted Hero or Monster as a reminder that the spell is in effect.

Active: When a permanent spell is active, the effects of the spell as described on the card apply. Permanent spells become active in one of four ways:

• When initially cast
• During the activation step of combat.
• Being in a Map Tile enchanted with the matching magic color.
• Being in a clearing with a source of colored magic (e.g. from a treasure).

Inactive: Active permanent spells become inactive at the start of the following turn's Combat Phase. When a permanent spell is inactive, its effects do not apply. The spell is inert. Flip the card face-down, but leave it next to the targeted Hero or Monster. If the spell is broken, the Spell Card is returned to the caster to be cast again.

Permanent spells may not be voluntarily broken nor revoked by the caster. Permanent spells are broken in one of three ways:

• The target of the spell dies.
• A Break Spells spell is cast on the target.
• A Hero in a Civilization Location may remove any number of permanent spells from a willing Hero in the clearing for a cost of 5 Gold per permanent spell dispelled.

Permanent Spell Example: An Illusionist casts Vapor Form on herself during the game. Later, the Illusionist moves into a clearing in a Map Tile that is enchanted with gray magic. The Illusionist instantly becomes vapor. The Illusionist will continue to be vapor until the end of the Action Phase in which they are not in the presence of gray magic at any point during their turn.

Undead: Some spells are marked with an undead symbol. Undead are immune to these spells in all ways.

Missions

Missions are a way for Heroes to earn Gold, Legend Points, and Fame. Heroes may take Mission Cards from Merchants during a Trade Action (see Trade Action).

A Hero may have a maximum of 2 uncompleted Mission Cards in their possession at the end of their turn. Mission Cards may be discarded face-up next to the Mission Card deck at any time during a Hero's turn, but Mission Cards in excess of the limit must be discarded at the end of the Hero's turn. Discarding a Mission Card sometimes has a mandatory reward and/or penalty as listed on the card.

Mission Types

Missions are divided into 3 types: Atrocities, Expeditions, and Quests. Atrocities are more lucrative, but also make the Hero an Outlaw. Expeditions are a way for a Hero to earn more Gold, especially the illegal ones. Quests are aligned to making the world safe for civilization and redeeming a Hero that has become an Outlaw.

Completing a Mission

To complete a mission, a Hero performs the listed tasks and then spends a Trade Action as directed on the Mission Card. Requirements can be completed by a Hero before the Quest is accepted. In this case, the mission represents recognition of past achievements. The Hero receives the Gold, Legend Points, and Fame shown on the bottom of the Mission Card.

In addition to the mission rewards, the Hero may receive additional variable rewards based on the bonus attribute of the mission. For each attribute symbol on the Hero's Lineage and Class Card that matches the bonus symbol in the lower right corner of the Mission Card, the Hero rolls one Mission Die. The Mission Dice show either Fame or Gold as additional rewards. The Hero immediately receives the sum of all die roll results in addition to the listed rewards on the Mission Card.

Some missions cause the Hero to receive an Outlaw Token (example below). When completing a Quest, the Hero may discard one Outlaw Token they already possess. Quests do not allow a Hero to discard an Outlaw Token they earn later.

Upon completion, remove completed missions from the game.

Completing a Mission Example: The Human Knight completes the Temple Defiler Atrocity shown above. The bonus reward attribute for the Temple Defiler is Cunning. The Human Knight has one Cunning attribute (red arrows). The Knight will roll 1 Mission Die and add the results of the die roll to the one Legend Point, 20 Fame, and Outlaw Token earned for the Atrocity.

Flying

Some Monsters have Flying Ability and some game effects grant Flying Ability to Heroes. Flying is already built into the maneuver speed for Monsters with Flying Ability. Flying has no specific impact during combat unless mentioned in a spell or other game effect. For example, The spell, Fiery Chasm, kills all non-flying Monsters and Heroes that it hits.

When a Hero has the Fly Ability, the Hero may choose to fly during an explore or Move Action. Exception: A Hero Shape Shifted into a flying Monster must fly.

• Flying Heroes may move to an adjacent clearing via a path or, if not currently in a Cave Clearing, to any non-Cave Clearing in the current tile for one Move Action.
• Flying Heroes may move to a randomly determined, non-Cave Clearing in an adjacent Map Tile for 2 Move Actions.
• Flying Heroes may not take a Hide reaction upon entering a clearing that already contains Monsters.

Curses

Heroes can become cursed in many ways. Curses are permanent unless removed via a treasure, Break Spells spell, or Trade Action at a Civilization Location.

Two of the curses are instant effects. Teleport sends the cursed Hero to a random clearing on the map. Roll both Summoning Dice containing symbols and a d6 to determine a location. Reroll any die rolls that do not match a revealed Map Tile.

Summon causes Wandering Monsters to summon to the Hero's clearing. Roll the gray numbered die and summon that many Wandering Monsters for that terrain pack to the clearing (even in a Civilization Map Tile, e.g., Giant Bats at the Mine).

Curses are not cumulative. If a Hero receives a curse they already have, do not reroll. Mark curses using a pink Status Cube on the back side of the Reference Card.

Outlaw Tokens

Outlaw Tokens are the way that society marks the known thieves, ruffians, and renegades in Dragons Down. Heroes gain and lose Outlaw Tokens based upon whether they live within the laws of civilized society or not. If a Hero has one or more Outlaw Tokens they are considered an Outlaw. There is no limit to the number of Outlaw Tokens a Hero may possess.

Heroes receive one Outlaw Token as follows:

• For each Native they kill in the game.
• Completing an Atrocity mission as shown on the card.
• Killing another Hero that is not an Outlaw (only allowed if playing with the optional Player vs. Player rules).

Heroes may discard one Outlaw Token they already possess as follows:

• Completing a Quest mission as shown on the card.
• Killing a Hero that is an Outlaw (only allowed if playing with the optional Player vs. Player rules).

Outlaw Tokens may impact your ability to haggle with Merchants (see Haggling).

During end game scoring or retirement, Outlaw Tokens may affect the LPs and/or Fame of a Hero prior to scoring (see Retirement).

Optional Rules

Luring

During the Challenge Step in player order, prior to Monsters challenging Heroes, unhidden Heroes may lure a single Monster in the clearing. Lured Monsters challenge the Hero that lures them. Once a Monster is lured, it may not be lured by another Hero. Monsters that are not lured will still challenge Heroes randomly.

Tough Monsters

Monsters do not take wounds. If a single hit does not kill a Monster, it does not harm the Monster. This optional rule makes for a much more difficult game.

Closing the Distance

During the first round of combat, attack length, not attack speed, determines the order of attacks. Attack speed breaks attack length ties. Attacks still hit based on the attack speed compared to the maneuver speed and/or the results of rolling the Hit Dice. On other Combat Rounds, order of attack is determined using attack speed.

Enchantment Limit

When casting a spell in an enchanted Map Tile, the spell caster ignores the rightmost solid-color spell box that matches the color of the enchantment rather than any spell box of their choice. This makes casting more powerful spells more difficult.

Wits Only

All Heroes begin the game with 0 Gold. Note that this impacts some Hero Classes more than others as all Classes have different starting Gold to account for the value of starting equipment and spells.

Shared Fame

The Fame for killing Monsters is shared by all Heroes that wound the Monster. Keep track of who placed which pink wound cubes on a Monster. When the Monster is killed, Heroes receive the amount of Fame in proportion to the number of cubes they placed up to the maximum health of the Monster (including the death blow). Round down the amount of Fame received by each player. Excess Fame remaining is given to the Hero that dealt the death blow.

Enchanted Paths

If a Map Tile is enchanted with a Magic Cube that matches the color of a Hidden Path in the Map Tile, the Hidden Path may be used freely as if it was a normal path. A Hero using the Hidden Path does not automatically discover it. Hidden Paths in enchanted Map Tiles may still be searched for by Heroes.

Enchanted Realm

Whenever the Wandering Monster Die shows a return arrow, in addition to other effects, flip over all tiles that match the symbol rolled on the Local Monster Die and place a Magic Cube matching the color of a random Hidden Path in the tile as if the tile had been enchanted by a Hero normally. Remove any Magic Cube if there is already one present.

Endless Monsters

For players looking for an additional challenge, return Monsters that are killed to the monster tray rather than placing them by your Hero Board. On future summoning results, the Monsters may return to the game. Be sure to note the accomplishment in the Adventure Journal for future reference (mission completion, posterity, etc.).

Natives and unique Monsters are not returned to the monster tray (see the Monster Reference for a complete list of unique Monsters).

Red Meat

For players who wish to make armor even more valuable in the game, whenever a Hero takes a non-fatal hit that does not strike armor, they must wound a Heart.

Player vs. Player

Heroes may block, challenge, and attack other unhidden Heroes.

Hero Block Reaction

Trigger: Another Hero has performed an action in the same clearing as the blocking Hero, or the blocking Hero is the Active Player.

Heroes may become unhidden and blocked to attempt to block any number of unhidden, unblocked Heroes in the same clearing during the Action Phase. Blocking is a reaction (does not count as an action) and follows all rules for Monster blocking. Exception: An active Hero may attempt to block Heroes in the clearing, even if those Heroes have not performed any actions yet. Targeted Heroes may choose to take a Hide reaction as normal to avoid being blocked.

Challenging

During the challenge step of combat, an unhidden Hero may challenge one other unhidden Hero by placing Speed Cubes in their maneuver box and placing their Targeting Token on that Hero. During evasion, a Hero may evade by exceeding the maneuver speed of all Monsters and Heroes challenging them. Challenging Heroes may not evade this Combat Round. Any cubes placed in maneuver boxes during the challenge step by either Hero must remain there for the entire Combat Round.

Aiming

When Heroes target other Heroes, players may choose to place one brown Speed Cube in one of the head or torso aim boxes on their own Lineage Card (but not both). This cube counts against the cube limit for the Combat Round. An aimed attack ignores armor that is not in the targeted position. Shields may always be used to block an aimed attack. Monsters do not aim and may not be aimed against.

Death Benefit

Should a Hero kill another Hero, the Fame that normally would be discarded upon death is instead given to the Hero that struck the death blow. Killing another Hero may cause a Hero to receive or discard one Outlaw Token per the Outlaw rules.

Appendix

Lineage Advantages

Dwarf (Caver) — Dwarves are very comfortable in caves. Dwarves do not lose an action for spending any part of their turn in a Cave Clearing.

Elf (Magical) — Elves are raised around magic and begin the game with an extra spell from the Hero Starting Spell deck. The selected spell must match the color of a Magic Cube they select for their Hero.

Halfling (Stealthy) — Halflings are easily overlooked due to their short stature and quiet nature. Halflings may reroll one Monster Die per hide attempt, except during the Cleanup step of combat.

Human (Adapted) — Humans are very comfortable in civilization and receive one additional free action during any turn they are in a Civilization Location.

Class Advantages

Archer (Steady) — Archers have spent a lifetime honing their targeting skills. Archers may reroll one Ranged Attack Die per attack.

Barbarian (Mountain Lore) — Barbarians grew up in the mountains. Barbarians may reroll one die during each Search Action performed in a Mountain Clearing.

Cleric (Divine Protection) — Clerics have the divine on their side. Any Summoning Die roll that would summon or move undead Monsters to the Cleric's clearing may be rerolled once per turn. The new result applies only to the Cleric's tile, with the prior result applying everywhere else.

Conjurer (Mastery) — Conjurers can control the random aspects of magic. Conjurers may reroll one die for the effects of a blue spell. For example, reroll one Hit Die for an Air Sword attack or each Tentacle attack or reroll one die for Open Gate or Teleport. Must accept the new result.

Druid (Natural Emanation) — Druids know the magic of nature. When casting spells, Druids may choose not to wound one green Magic Cube in a spell box containing a wound symbol.

Enchanter (Aura) — Enchanters are adept at enchanting the world. Enchanters enchant a tile using one action less than normal.

Illusionist (Focus) — Illusionists are focused on their targets. When casting a spell with a "Target" or "Self or Other" symbol, Illusionists may choose not to wound one Magic Cube in a spell box containing a wound symbol.

Knight (Health) — Knights are in excellent physical shape and skilled at dressing battlefield wounds. A Knight may rest one Action Cube for each Rest Action.

Rogue (Elusive) — Rogues are quick on their feet and hard to catch. When evading, Rogues that tie the maneuver speed of the fastest challenger may roll two Hit Dice and successfully evade on a hit or equal result. The Rogue is blocked on a miss result. Rogues challenge other Heroes normally.

Sorcerer (Specialized) — Sorcerers are adept at casting magic using one discipline. If a Sorcerer casts a spell using only one color of Magic Cube, the attack speed of the spell is +1.

Warlock (Blood Lust) — Warlocks heal at the expense of others. Once per round, Warlocks may immediately heal one Action Cube when the Warlock kills or wounds a non-undead enemy (even if armored).

Warrior (Adept) — Warriors have great dexterity and coordination. During the adjust equipment step of combat, Warriors may always unequip one Weapon Card and equip one Weapon Card.

Treasure Site Reference

Catacombs

Labyrinth: One side of the Terrain Pack setup card includes a labyrinth at the Catacombs. Any loot attempt die result that is higher than the Cunning attribute of the Hero automatically fails, even if the loot roll would normally have resulted in a treasure being received.

Chamber

Massive Door: One side of the Terrain Pack setup card includes a massive door on the Chamber. No Hero may loot the Chamber until it is opened. The Chamber is opened by an attack upon it during combat that causes 4 or more damage (the door is unarmored), by a Hero possessing the Skeleton Key, or at any time by a Hero possessing 4 healthy Might Cubes while no Monsters are present. Once opened, any Hero may loot the Chamber.

Secret Cache

When the Secret Cache is searched for and found by a Hero, it does not need to be looted. The Hero that first finds the Secret Cache immediately takes both the Deep Treasure Card and the Gold as if they had performed a successful Loot Action. The Hero receives the legend point and Fame reward for finding a Treasure Site.

If playing with the Dragons Down: Desolation expansion, the Bandits can be summoned to multiple locations. The red arrow near the Secret Cache indicates that the Bandit Chips might be located on another Terrain Setup Card. The Bandits always summon as a group as if they were a single Guardian.

Hidden Trap: Side 2 of the Terrain Pack setup card includes a hidden trap on the Secret Cache. The Hero that first finds the Secret Cache must wound one random Action Cube unless they possess the Skeleton Key treasure.

Shrine

Active Wraith: One side of the Terrain Pack setup card includes an active Wraith at the Shrine. After any loot attempt that results in a treasure being looted, immediately roll the Local Monster Die. If it shows a Treasure Site Symbol, the Wraith is immediately summoned to the Shrine from wherever it is located. Ignore all other results and Monsters.

Monster Reference

Unique Monsters

All Guardians, the Orc Lord, Orc Champion, Goblin King, and Kobold Rex are considered unique Monsters. Unique Monsters are immune to some game effects, such as being selected for the Shape Shift spell.

Demon

The Demon casts Fiery Chasm on the back side of the counter. If so, follow the rules of the Fiery Chasm spell as normal. Since the Demon is a flying Monster, it is immune to the effects of the spell.

Dragons

The Great Drake, Great Wyrm, and Adult Dragons may breathe fire. Dragons breathing fire follow the characteristics of the Fireball spell (including targeting up to 4 Heroes in the clearing). A dragon's fire is not a spell and is treated as a non-magical, ranged attack. Dragons will target up to 4 Heroes in the clearing (determine randomly if more than 4 Heroes are present).

Lich

The Lich casts Vapor Form on the back side of the counter. The Lich casts the spell on their target, not on itself. The Lich may cast Vapor Form on a new target every Combat Round. Follow the rules of the Vapor Form spell as normal.

Titan

The Titan casts the Teleport Spell on the front side of the counter on their target, not on itself. Follow the rules of the Teleport spell as normal. To determine the Map Tile to which the target is teleported, roll both of the Summoning Dice to determine a terrain and a tile symbol. If either die roll is not in play, reroll that die until a tile in play is determined. Then roll a d6 to determine the clearing.

Wraith

If playing with side 2 of the woods Terrain Setup Card, the Wraith watches the Shrine carefully. Immediately after a Loot Action that loots a treasure, roll the Local Monster Symbol Die and summon the Wraith to the Shrine if it shows the site symbol. This does not summon other Monsters.

Treasure Manifest

Adamantium Blade — Melee weapon. The optional might box on this card is automatically filled and does not count against the cube limit.

Alchemist's Mixture — One-time use. Permanently replace one color of Magic Cube with another color.

Artificer's Concoction — One-time use. Ranged weapon.

Ascendant Ornament — Epic Treasure. A purple Magic Cube placed on this treasure counts as a Might Cube on any might box on an active card of this Hero. This card can have cubes placed on it in addition to other cards.

Band of Sagacity — Epic Treasure. A yellow Magic Cube placed on this treasure allows the Hero to reroll a Hit Die roll by or against them one time per Combat Round. This card can have cubes placed on it in addition to other cards.

Battle Staff — Melee weapon. The required might box on this card is automatically filled and does not count against the Hero's cube limit.

Bauble of Intelligence — Increases the Cunning attribute of the Hero by one.

Bejeweled Breastplate — Armor. Valuable.

Bejeweled Helm — Armor. Valuable.

Bejeweled Shield — Armor. Valuable.

Belt of Expansion — Gain two additional miscellaneous positions in which to carry cards.

Belt of the Beast — Epic Treasure. Receive one Might Cube while the treasure is equipped.

Bow of the Hunt — Epic Treasure. Extra sharp. Ranged weapon.

Bracelets of Finesse — May place one red Might Cube from the Hero's healthy box in an attack speed or maneuver speed box. This cube counts against the Combat Round limit.

Bracers of Vigor — May place one brown Speed Cube from the Hero's healthy box in a might box. This cube counts against the Combat Round limit.

Broche of Deflection — One-time use. Cancel one hit against the equipped Hero.

Cape of Alteration — Epic Treasure. Healthy Might Cubes may only be placed in speed boxes. Healthy Speed Cubes may only be placed in might action boxes. Remember: Might Cubes and boxes are red; Speed Cubes and boxes are brown.

Charismatic Gemstone — Increases the Charisma attribute of the Hero by one.

Clashing Ring — Placing a brown Speed Cube here increases the attack speed of the Hero by one. This card can have cubes placed on it in addition to other cards.

Cursed Treasure — Instant. Draw a Treasure Card from the pool to replace this card (if the Cursed Treasure Card is a Deep Treasure Card, draw a Deep Treasure Card from the pool). Then roll on the Curse Table to determine a curse that affects the Hero. The curse occurs even if the Hero simply viewed the treasure (e,g. Merchant, Treasure Site, etc.). Then remove the Cursed Treasure Card from the game. Multiple Cursed Treasure Cards can be drawn in succession when replacing a Cursed Treasure.

Dagger of Bite — Melee and ranged weapon. Extra sharp.

Decimation — Epic Treasure. A black Magic Cube may be placed on Decimation to increase the damage delivered.

Digger's Ruin — May reroll one Search Die once per Search Action while in a Cave Clearing.

DisEnchanter — While revealed, immediately remove any Magic Cube on the Map Tile containing the DisEnchanter. Disenchanting does not flip the Map Tile over. The Map Tile in which the DisEnchanter is located may not be enchanted for any reason. Must always be face-up. If face-down and viewed by a Hero, it becomes active and is placed face-up (Treasure Pile, Merchant, etc.). If its owner is killed, it is placed face-up in the clearing. Anyone entering the clearing immediately takes possession.

Dust of Destiny — One-time use. Reroll any one die or dice roll in which you are the active Hero, the target, or the attacker.

Earthen Cincture — Epic Treasure. Receive one green Magic Cube while the treasure is equipped.

Elemental Spherule — One-time use. Cubes may not be placed on other Weapon or Spell Cards when using this card. When this attack is resolved the Elemental spell is cast. No Magic Cubes are needed to cast this spell.

Elven Amulet — May reroll one Search Die once per Search Action while in a Woods Clearing.

Elven Slippers — Epic Treasure. A green Magic Cube placed on this treasure increases maneuver speed by one. This card can have cubes placed on it in addition to other cards.

Enchanted Treasure — Instant. Draw a Treasure Card from the pool to replace this treasure, even if the Hero simply viewed the treasure (e,g. Merchant, Treasure Site, etc.). The Map Tile is flipped over and enchanted. Place a Magic Cube in the Map Tile matching the color of Magic Cube shown in the enchantment circle on the Enchanted Treasure card. Then remove the Enchanted Treasure card from the game.

Gage of the Thief — May reroll one Loot Die once per Loot Action.

Garb of the Gate — Epic Treasure. May move to any revealed Gate clearing paying normal movement costs as if connected by a path.

Gauntlets of Brawn — Counts as one Might Cube in an existing might box on a card. Does not add a might box to the card. This cube does not count against the Combat Round limit.

Gloves of Aggression — Counts as one brown Speed Cube in an existing attack speed box. Does not add an attack speed box. This cube does not count against the Combat Round limit.

Golden Icon — Epic Treasure. Valuable.

Guard Charm — One-time use. May discard this treasure instead of taking one wound.

Hamblen's Pendant — May reroll one Search Die once per Search Action while in a Mountain Clearing.

Hawkeye — May reroll one Search Die once per Search Action while in a Plains Clearing.

Horn of the Dark Angel — One-time use. Cubes may not be placed on other Weapon or Spell Cards when using this card. When this attack is resolved the Fiery Chasm spell is cast. No Magic Cubes are needed to cast this spell.

Icon of the Dragon — Epic Treasure. Valuable. During Monster Activation, it summons as if a Malevolent Mountain summoning symbol (Juvenile Dragons) and a Sound summoning symbol (Adult Dragon) are printed on the Map Tile, if not already present. Printed summoning symbols on the Map Tile summon normally. If the Malevolent Mountain and sound summoning symbols are already printed on the Map Tile, dragons are not summoned twice. Must always be face-up. If face-down and viewed by a Hero, it becomes active and is placed face-up (Treasure Pile, Merchant, etc.). If its owner is killed, it is placed face-up in the clearing and anyone entering the clearing immediately takes possession.

Incanter's Jewel — Epic Treasure. Receive one blue Magic Cube while the treasure is equipped.

King's Pardon — One-time use. When in a Civilization Location, the Hero may discard up to two of their Outlaw Tokens. May not be used to discard other player's Outlaw Tokens.

Mace of Smiting — Melee weapon. A required might box is automatically filled and does not count against the Hero's cube limit.

Magical Bowl of Mixing — Epic Treasure. A blue Magic Cube placed on this treasure permanently converts a single Magic Cube from one color to another color, in either direction, as shown.

Mirror of Idolatry — Epic Treasure. The Hero may not take Sneak or Alert actions while possessing this card. Sneak or Alert actions taken prior to possession are not canceled. Must always be face-up. If face-down and viewed by a Hero, it becomes active and is placed face-up (Treasure Pile, Merchant, etc.). If its owner is killed, it is placed face-up in the clearing and anyone entering the clearing immediately takes possession.

Mithral Chainmail — Epic Treasure. Armor. Cancels one sword. Lighter than normal chainmail.

Mithral Plate Armor — Epic Treasure. Armor. Cancels one sword. Lighter than normal plate armor.

Mithral Shield — Epic Treasure. Armor. Cancels one sword. Lighter than a normal shield.

Potion of Energy — One-time use. One additional Speed Cube from the healthy box may be played each Combat Round until the end of combat.

Potion of Flight — One-time use. Until the end of the next Action phase, this Hero may fly.

Potion of Healing — One-time use. Move all cubes from the wounded box to the healthy box.

Potion of Maneuver — One-time use. Receive one brown Speed Cube permanently.

Potion of Might — One-time use. Receive one red Might Cube permanently.

Potion of Relief — One-time use. Remove all curses and permanent spell effects. May not be used to selectively remove curses and permanent spells.

Quick Ring — Placing a brown Speed Cube here increases the maneuver speed of the Hero by one.

Ring of Malevolence — Epic Treasure. Receive one black Magic Cube while the treasure is equipped.

Ring of Strength — The optional might box on one equipped weapon is automatically filled without using a Might Cube.

Ring of the Magi — Enchanting a tile requires one Enchant Action less to take effect.

Ring of Truth — Epic Treasure. Receive one white Magic Cube while the treasure is equipped.

Robe of the Chanter — Epic Treasure. Receive one yellow Magic Cube while the treasure is equipped.

Robust Ring — Receive +1 health while the treasure is equipped.

Satchel of a Giant — Instant. The Hero draws and keeps two Treasure Cards (not Deep Treasure Cards), then remove the Satchel of a Giant card from the game.

Scepter of the Sorcerer — Epic Treasure. Receive one purple Magic Cube while the item is equipped.

Shadow Cloak — Epic Treasure. Reroll any Hide reaction once per turn. Must reroll all dice.

Shaman's Kaftan — Epic Treasure. Any Magic Cube placed on this treasure turns it into armor. If no Magic Cube is on the kaftan, then the kaftan is ignored and cannot be damaged. This card can have cubes placed on it in addition to other cards.

Shield of Defiance — Epic Treasure. Armor. Armor value of 3. Weight of 2.

Shield of Mercy — Epic Treasure. This treasure may be used as a normal shield. If a white Magic Cube is placed on this treasure during a Combat Round, the Hero takes no wounds from any hits that are blocked by this shield, even if the shield is destroyed. This card can have cubes placed on it in addition to other cards.

Shoes of the Thief — May evade as if the Hero had placed three maneuver cubes. No cubes are placed and no additional cubes may be added to make it faster.

Skeleton Key — Opens the Monolith and Chamber. Avoids hidden traps at the Secret Cache, Hideout, and Wrecked Wagons.

Sparkler of Wisdom — Increases the Wisdom attribute of the Hero by one.

Spear of Piercing — Melee or ranged weapon. Extra sharp. If used two-handed, damage may be optionally increased by one.

Spell Book and Spell Scroll — Contains 1-3 spells. When a Spell Book or Scroll is revealed, draw the indicated number of Spell Cards from the deck and place them face-down under the Treasure Card. A Hero performing a Trade Action with a Merchant may reveal the Spell Book to all players in order to draw and secretly look at the spells attached to the Treasure Card. The base price of the Treasure Card is the sum of the spells remaining with the Spell Book or Spell Scroll.

The Hero possessing the Spell Book or Spell Scroll may freely look at the attached spells at any time. These spells are available for a spell caster to learn if the Hero has a Magic Cube matching the spell type.

The Treasure Card is discarded if the last spell is removed from it, typically because a spell caster learned the spell.

Summoning Marcation — Epic Treasure. Valuable. During Monster Activation, it summons as if all Local Monster Die summoning icons printed on Map Tiles in adjacent tiles are also located in the Map Tile containing the Summoning Marcation. Must always be face-up. If face-down and viewed by a Hero, it becomes active and is placed face-up (Treasure Pile, Merchant, etc.). If its owner is killed, it is placed face-up in the clearing. Anyone entering the clearing immediately takes possession.

Symbol of Alertness — May perform one Alert Action which does not count against the turn's action limit.

Symbol of Commerce — May perform one Trade Action which does not count against the turn's action limit.

Symbol of Greed — May perform one Loot Action which does not count against the turn's action limit.

Symbol of Knowledge — May perform one Learn Action which does not count against the turn's action limit.

Symbol of Magic — May perform one Enchant Action which does not count against the turn's action limit.

Symbol of Motion — May perform one Move Action which does not count against the turn's action limit.

Symbol of Rest — May perform one Rest Action which does not count against the turn's action limit.

Symbol of Stealth — May perform one Sneak Action which does not count against the turn's action limit.

Symbol of Vision — May perform one Search Action which does not count against the turn's action limit.

Talaria of the Gladiator — Counts as one brown Speed Cube in an existing maneuver speed box. Does not add a maneuver box. This cube does not count against the Combat Round limit.

Taper of Illumination — Epic Treasure. Do not lose an action when in a Cave Clearing on the Hero's turn.

Thief's Lucky Coin — One-time use. Roll one die during one Loot Action.

Time Stone — One-time use. One attack in the clearing that ties on maneuver speed hits the target.

Tome of Conjuring — One-time use. Receive one blue Magic Cube permanently.

Tome of Fay — One-time use. Receive one yellow Magic Cube permanently.

Tome of Nature — One-time use. Receive one green Magic Cube permanently.

Tome of Power — One-time use. Receive one purple Magic Cube permanently.

Tome of Righteousness — One-time use. Receive one white Magic Cube permanently.

Tome of the Black Arts — One-time use. Receive one black Magic Cube permanently.

Tome of Tricks — One-time use. Receive one grey Magic Cube permanently.

Tome of Wizardry — One-time use. Receive one Magic Cube of the Hero's choice permanently.

Trickster's Stone — Epic Treasure. Receive one grey Magic Cube while the treasure is equipped.

Tricky Ring — Epic Treasure. A grey Magic Cube placed on this treasure increases the Hero's attack speed by one. This card can have cubes placed on it in addition to other cards.

Vorpal Cutlass — Melee weapon. Extra sharp.

Wand of the Magician — Epic Treasure. When casting targeted spells, may reroll one or two Hit Dice on each Hit Dice roll.

Warblade — Melee weapon. Requires that one Speed Cube be placed on this treasure in lieu of a Might Cube.

Writ of Redemption — One-time use. The price to buy any one card from a Merchant is 1x the base price.

Spell Manifest

Universal Spells

Universal spells are accessible to all magic users and represent magic that requires no specific discipline of study. All casters of magic have access to spells from the universal arts.

Break Spells — Targeted. Instantaneous. Use any color(s) of cubes. Wound one cube. Immediately cancels all curses and spells on the target.

Black Spells

Black spells are from the realm of death and evil. Black spells tend to bring misfortune, curses, and death to those targeted by it. Black magic is not subtle.

Affliction — Targeted. Instantaneous. If the spell hits, the target immediately suffers one wound.

Curse — Targeted. Instantaneous. Wound one black cube. If the spell hits, the target receives one random curse from the Curse Table. The curse is permanent unless removed via the Break Spells spell or by paying to remove curses at a Civilization Location. Curses are not-cumulative, but a Hero can have multiple curses.

Dark Matter — Targeted. Permanent. Wound one black cube. If the spell hits a Monster or Native, swap might and attack speed and ignore sword icons. If a Monster is casting a spell, the new attack speed is equal to the number of spell boxes on the matching Spell Card and the Monster attacks with might equal to the old attack speed.

If the spell hits a player, red Might Cubes must be played on brown speed boxes and brown Speed Cubes must be played on red might boxes. Unresolved attacks swap Speed Cubes and Might Cubes immediately as the targeted Hero wishes, and may alter or cancel attacks. For example, not enough brown Speed Cubes to satisfy the mandatory might of a weapon.

Rule Undead — Targeted. Combat. Wound one black cube. If the spell hits, the targeted undead Monster is controlled by the caster for the rest of combat, or until the caster is killed, targets the Monster, or leaves the clearing. If the Monster's attack has not yet been resolved on the Combat Round in which the spell takes effect, the caster decides if the Monster's attack is canceled or continues. The caster receives all rewards for kills made by the controlled Monster. The caster receives normal Fame if the undead Monster is killed by the caster.

Fiery Chasm — Instantaneous. Wound one black cube. Attacks all unhidden, non-flying Heroes and Monsters in the clearing, including the caster. All targets hit by the Fiery Chasm are immediately killed and any possessions are removed from the game.

Blue Spells

Blue spells are from the realm of conjuring. Blue magic focuses on manifesting and controlling things in the real world. Blue spells tend to break the rules of the physical world for the caster.

Floating Disk — Self or other. Turn. The targeted Hero may have any number of active treasures in their miscellaneous positions.

Open Gate — Targeted. Instantaneous. Wound one blue cube. If the spell hits, the target is placed in a random clearing containing a revealed Gate.

Tentacles — Combat. Wound one blue cube. The caster places 4 tentacles on any number of targets, then roll the Hit Dice for each tentacle. Each double hit result lowers the target's maneuver speed by one. Each single hit result lowers the target's attack speed by one. Misses have no effect. Tentacles placed on dead targets may be placed elsewhere prior to the Hero tactics step, otherwise they remain in place and the effects continue until the target is dead or the caster dies or leaves the clearing. Roll for the effect of newly placed tentacles immediately. If the caster is hidden, they must roll to stay hidden in any Combat Round that a tentacle is newly placed.

Air Sword — Combat. Wound one blue cube. Beginning next Combat Round, in addition to any spells or attacks the caster wishes to do in combat, the caster controls a sword with a might of 2 and 1 sword icon that attacks with a speed of 2 and an attack length of 6. The Air Sword may not be targeted and is immediately removed if the caster is killed or leaves the clearing. The caster receives all rewards for kills made by the Air Sword. If the caster is hidden, they must roll to stay hidden at the end of each Combat Round while the Air Sword is in play.

Teleport — Targeted. Instantaneous. Wound one blue cube. If the spell hits, the caster chooses a Map Tile up to two tiles away. Move the target to a random clearing on that tile.

Gray Spells

Gray spells are from the realm of trickery. Gray spells often involve altering the view of the world around the caster to confuse others, obfuscate reality, or making things disappear completely.

Divination — Self or other. Turn. The targeted Hero may reroll any number of dice during one Loot Action.

Envenom — Self or other. Combat. Wound one gray cube. +1 sword icon to the next hit made by the envenomed Hero or Monster. If the hit target is not killed, it suffers +1 wound. Envenom affects the next hit regardless of whether it is made with a weapon, spell, or treasure. Envenom has no effect on the undead.

Illusion — Self or other. Combat. Wound one gray cube. All attackers targeting the Hero or Monster suffer -1 to their attack speed. The effect is not cumulative with other Illusion spells.

Anti-Magic — Self or other. Combat. Wound one gray cube. The Hero or Monster may not be targeted by any spell with the target symbol on it. Indirect effects of spells without a target symbol may still affect the Hero or Monster. Anti-Magic does not affect the Fireball of a dragon, but does affect other Monsters that cast Fireball.

Vapor Form — Targeted. Permanent. Wound one gray cube. If the spell hits, the Hero or Monster, and all possessions becomes vapor. All cubes are unavailable. All possessions are unavailable/inactive, but do not move them from their current positions on the Hero Board. The target takes no part in combat. They may not block or be blocked. They may only perform the explore and Move Actions. They may use all Hidden Paths while in vapor form, even if not found. Used Hidden Paths are not found.

Green Spells

Green spells are from the realm of nature. Green magic seeks to live harmoniously with the natural world. Green magic calls upon the wild to aid the caster.

Nature's Help — Self or other. Turn. The targeted Hero may reroll any number of dice during one Search Action.

Trail Blaze — Self or other. Turn. Wound one green cube. The Hero may move one clearing for each Move Action, regardless of the clearing type being entered.

Move Earth — Instantaneous. Wound one green cube. The caster may permanently rotate their current Map Tile or an adjacent Map Tile, to any orientation and may also choose to flip the chosen Map Tile over. Any enchantment is unaffected. All edges must match adjacent Map Tiles: paths to paths and non-paths to non-paths.

Calm — Targeted. Instantaneous. Wound one green cube. If the spell hits, the caster may return the Monster to the appropriate monster tray. The spell has no effect on Heroes, Guardians, or the undead.

Elemental — Combat. Wound one green cube. Randomly select one of the Elemental Monster Chips and place it in the clearing. Next Combat Round, the Elemental participates in combat controlled by the caster. A caster earns no Fame for killing their own Elemental, but earns Fame for kills made by the Elemental. The spell expires if the Elemental is killed, the spell caster is killed, or the spell caster leaves the clearing.

Purple Spells

Purple spells are from the realm of sorcery. Purple magic is about the raw power of magic calling upon sorcery to create energy and control it in the real world. Purple spells create, change, and destroy.

Iron Skin — Self or other. Combat. A hit against this target that does not strike armor follows the rules for armored Monsters (removes one sword icon).

Strength — Self or other. Combat. Wound one purple cube. The target's next hit during this Combat Phase causes +1 base damage, then the spell expires. Strength spells are not cumulative.

Fly — Self or other. Turn. Wound one Purple cube. The Hero has Flying Ability until the end of the Action Phase next turn (see Flying).

Fireball — Targeted (up to 4 targets). Ranged Attack. Instantaneous. Wound one Purple cube. Each target the spell individually hits is attacked by a separate ranged attack with a base damage of 2 + 1 sword. If only one target is selected, the spell has a base damage of 2 + 2 swords. Note: A dragon's fire has the effect of a Fireball spell, but is a normal ranged attack, not a spell.

Shape Shift — Self. Permanent. Wound one Purple cube. When this spell is cast the caster selects any non-undead, non-unique Monster Chip (no Guardians or leaders, e.g., Kobold Rex) from the monster tray and replaces their Hero with it. The caster may choose either side of the Monster Chip to be face-up during Hero tactics each Combat Round and ignores the Monster tactics step. The Hero fights as a Monster using the face-up Monster characteristics, ignoring their own cubes and possessions. All Monster wounds are healed at the end of combat.

While Shape Shift is active, the Hero may perform Sneak, Make Noise, Move, Search, and Loot Actions. Action Cubes are unavailable. All possessions are inactive (as if in the backpack). Possessions gained while Shape Shifted are placed in the backpack.

When inactive, place the Monster Chip near the target's Hero Board. If the spell is canceled, return the Monster to the appropriate monster tray.

White Spells

White spells are from the realm of life and good. White spells tend to heal, promote life, and bring peace. White magic targets the undead as an abomination.

Soul Save — Self or other. Combat. Undead that attack this Hero or Monster must reroll the most favorable single Hit Die result rolled, unless both die results were blank.

Heal — Self or other. Combat. Wound one white cube. If the target is a Hero, move any two cubes currently in the wounded box to the healthy box. If a Monster, remove 2 wounds. May only be cast once per turn.

Life Armor — Self or other. Combat. Wound one white cube. If the target is a Hero, they are protected by weightless armor of strength 2. The armor created by this spell must always be hit first by attacks on this target. It can be damaged and destroyed. It does not prevent wounds. If the target is a Monster, it gains armored status.

Turn Undead — Instantaneous. Wound one white cube. All undead in the clearing are killed.

Peace — Instantaneous. Wound one white cube. Combat immediately ends in the clearing. Do not finish the Combat Round.

Yellow Spells

Yellow spells are from the realm of enchantment. Yellow spells tend to enchant, befuddle, and mesmerize. Yellow magic is subtle, but powerful for the caster who wields it well.

Hesitation — Targeted. Combat. If the spell hits, the target suffers -1 to their maneuver speed the next time this target is attacked. The spell expires immediately after resolving that attack. Hesitation is not cumulative with other Hesitation spells.

Confuse — Targeted. Combat. Wound one yellow cube. If the spell hits, the target may not cast spells. Spells already cast are unaffected. If the target is casting a spell that has not yet been resolved this Combat Round, it is canceled.

Charm — Self or other. Turn. Wound one yellow cube. All attributes are +2 for all mission reward die rolls and haggle attempts.

Disorient — Targeted. Combat. Wound one yellow cube. Any unresolved attacks this round made by the target are canceled. The target may not attack in future Combat Rounds unless targeted or hit. Once targeted or hit, they may choose a target normally. The attack speed of the next attack performed by the target is at -2 speed. Disorient is not cumulative with other disorient spells.

Discord — Targeted (2 targets). Combat. Wound one yellow cube. The spell must hit two Monsters in the same Combat Round to take effect. If the spell hits two Monsters, cancel their current attacks this Combat Round. On future Combat Rounds, both Monsters will challenge and target each other until one of them is dead or combat ends in the clearing. The caster does not control the Monsters, so they are not targeted by other Monsters. The caster earns Fame for any kills made by these Monsters while the spell is active. The spell expires if, at the end of a Combat Round, one or both Monsters are killed.

Icon Reference

The Icon Reference pages of the rulebook restate, alongside the printed symbols, the same explanations given earlier in the rules for the treasure and item banners (Base Price, One-time Use, Armor, Weight, Attack Length, Melee, Ranged, Melee or Ranged, Permanent, Combat, all of the Position symbols, and Instantaneous — see Treasure and Item Banners above) and for the spell tapestry (Price, Targeted, Self or other, Self, Melee, Ranged, Instantaneous, Combat, Turn, and Permanent — see Spells above).

The Icon Reference wording of the Permanent spell entry adds: Permanent spells can be in two states: active and inactive. When initially cast or activated, the spell remains active until the start of the following turn's Combat Phase, then becomes inactive.

Turn Sequence Reference

Action Phase

Turn Start

• Clear all Hidden, Alert, Sneak, and Make Noise statuses.

Actions

• Determine the active Hero.
• Active Hero performs all of their actions.
• Repeat until all Heroes have taken a turn.

Battle Phase

Monster Activation

• Roll the Summoning Dice.
• Monsters may move and/or be summoned.

Combat

• Heroes cast spells and/or participate in combat.

Monster Activation

First player rolls the Summoning Dice. Monsters move and summon only in Map Tiles with Heroes. Monsters in Map Tiles with Heroes may return.

Wandering Monster Die (gray)

1. If an arrow, return all Monsters in tiles without a Hero to the monster tray. Monsters in tiles with Heroes move to Heroes. No Monsters are summoned.
2. If die matches symbol on Map Tile, all Monsters in tile move to Heroes.
3. If die matches symbol on a Map Tile, Wandering Monsters are summoned.

Local Monster Die (black)

1. If die matches symbol on Map Tile, all Monsters in tile move to Heroes.
2. If die matches symbol on Map Tile, summon Monster shown on Map Tile.
3. If die shows a site symbol, summon Guardians to their Treasure Site.

Combat Sequence

1. Challenge
2. Activation
3. Evade
4. Target
5. Hero Tactics
6. Monster Tactics
7. Resolution
8. Cleanup

Legend Points and Fame

• Possess and Reveal an Epic Treasure: +1 LP + 5 Fame.
• First to Find a Treasure Site: +1 LP + 5 Fame.
• Reveal the Forgotten City / Dwarven Ruins: +1 LP + 5 Fame.
• Learn a Castable Spell: +1 LP + 5 Fame.
• Kill a Monster or Native: Variable (shown on counter).
• Missions: Variable (on Mission Card).
• Titles: Variable (on Civilization Cards).
• Kill a Hero (Optional Player vs. Player Rule): Half of the dead Hero's Fame (rounded down).
• Retirement/Death:
  • If a Hero dies or ends the game outside of a Civilization Location, the Hero loses half of all Fame (rounded down).
  • +1 LP per 10 remaining Fame spent.
  • Roll the Monster Dice for each Outlaw Token:
    • +1 LP for each double symbol rolled.
    • -1 LP for each single symbol rolled (lose all Fame if no LPs).
• Living Legend: +1 LP if the Hero is on the map at game end.

Credits and Acknowledgments

Game Design and Development: Scott DeMers

Additional Game Design Concepts: Samuel DeMers

Producer: Sean Brown

Artwork: Marco Morte & Scott DeMers

Graphic Design: Michael Smyjewski & Scott DeMers

Rules: Scott DeMers

Rules Editing: Ed Bryan, Scott DeMers, and the entire Dragons Down Discord community (I am very grateful for this group).

Game Icons: Dragons Down uses icons from Game-Icons.net and the great work done by Lorc, Delapouite & other contributors. In some cases, edits were made to some icons.

(C) Copyright 2024 Active Magic Games and Mr. B Games, all rights reserved. No part of this product may be reproduced without specific written permission. The Dragons Down and Active Magic Games logos are a trademark of Active Magic Games. The Mr. B Games logo is a trademark of Mr. B Games.

Actual components may vary from those shown. Made in China.

This is a hobby gaming product and not a toy. It is not intended for use by anyone under 14 years of age.

Final Thoughts

Thank you for your support! In a game of this scope, there are bound to be oversights or errors. Please forgive me if I fell short of what you deserve as my customer. If a Question arises during game play, make a fair judgment call and get back to the fun of the game. Later, check for an answer online or share your Question so everyone can benefit. Most importantly, have FUN and make Dragons Down your own!

Be sure to read aloud the story of your Hero. "He was Boromin Longbow, Human Knight, redeemed Outlaw, wielder of Decimation, wearer of the Elven Slippers and the Symbol of Stealth, Blood Offerer, slayer of the Great Drake and Orcs too many to count, deliverer of Food & Ale to the Keep, Spelunker, Bat Hawker, and Goblin Blight... became ogre soup on the 29th day of his arrival".

This game is dedicated to Richard Hamblen, the greatest board game designer in my view. He provided more joy to my childhood than he could possibly know.