Dungeon Lords: Festival Season
Dungeon Lords: Festival Season Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Setup
Changes on the Central Board
Unique Opportunities Stack. Shuffle the stack of Unique Opportunity Boards and place it face down near the Central Board. During play, the top board will always be face up, so that players can see which unique opportunity will be available in the following season.
Unique Opportunities Discard Pile. Leave space for a discard pile near the stack of unique opportunities. In the final season of the Year, these boards serve as prizes at the festival!
Five Combat Cards. Combat will now have 5 rounds, so you should randomly choose 5 Combat Cards instead of 4.
New Paladins. The new Paladin Tiles replace those from the original set. Leave the original Paladin Tiles in the box (unless you are playing the Three Paladins variant). Put the lighter pair of new Paladin Tiles side-by-side on the paladin tent. Put the darker pair side-by-side on top of them. The new paladin rules are explained in the Two Paladins section (page 8).
Changes to the Progress Board
Fifth Season. Each Year will now have a fifth round, known as festival season. Put the Progress Board Extension on the right end of the Progress Board. The background illustrations will line up.
Events. You need 4 Event Tiles for a 5-round Year. Leave the original tiles in the box and use those provided with this expansion. The new Event Tiles are the same as the old ones, except that each Year will have 2 special events instead of 1.
Pet Phase in Round 1. The Pet Phase happens once a Year. This snowman (which had no meaning in the original game) reminds you that, after Production in round 1, it is time to get a pet. (See page 4.)
New Round Phase in Round 4. Even though there are no icons here to remind you, in this phase you will turn up the next round's Event Tile and reveal the next round's adventurers, just as you do during the New Round Phase in rounds 1, 2, and 3.
Festival! This space stands out so you won't forget it. It's time for the festival! This is a chance for your imps and monsters (and even your ghosts) to go have a good time. And who knows? The imps might bring back something you can use in the upcoming combat.
Changes to Distant Lands
The Distant Lands Board is the same as before, except the stacks are taller. Put the Far Distant Lands Board near the Distant Lands Board.
Special Event Cards and Combat Cards. As usual, the Special Event Cards and Combat Cards are chosen randomly. Each Year will have 2 special events and 5 combat rounds, so this stack should be set up like this: 2 Special Event Cards, 5 Combat Cards for the Second Year, and 2 more Special Event Cards.
Improved Tunnel Tiles. This is the place for the 5 Improved Tunnel Tiles. Don't bother to shuffle them. You can leave them face up. Players can look at them at any time.
Monster (and Ghost) Expertise Tiles. This is the place for the 3 Monster (and Ghost) Expertise Tiles. Don't bother to shuffle them. You can leave them face up. Players can look at them at any time.
Pet Cards. Shuffle the Pet Cards and place them here, face down.
Pet Discard Pile. This is a discard pile for pets no one wanted. No, it's not a farm. It's simply far distant lands.
Changes to the Player Board
Fold your Player Board Extension and place it on your Player Board as shown.
Bard Step. Each Battle Phase will begin with a Bard Step before the Trap Step. The bards in the party have a chance to inspire their comrades into battle.
Space for Fourth Adventurer. You will now have to face four adventurers. (Plus the paladin, if you don't have good public relations.)
Pet Box. Here's a place where your pets can sleep (face down). After you use a pet's ability, you may leave the card here face up, so you can enjoy its cute little face.
New Adventurers, Rooms, and Monsters
Because the year is one season longer, you will need these additional adventurers, rooms, and monsters. Add them to the appropriate stacks.
The bard is a new type of adventurer explained on page 9. The new rooms and monsters are explained in the Appendix on the back of this book.
New Cards
This expansion contains new Trap Cards, Combat Cards, and Special Event Cards. Add them to the appropriate decks and expect some surprises.
Other Things
These 4 tiles are part of the bonus expansion Minions Bearing Gifts. You can find the rules at www.czechgames.com.
Gameplay
The following features have been added to the dungeon building part of the Year:
- At the end of the first season, players get pets.
- The Year has 5 seasons instead of 4.
- Special events occur twice a Year.
- In seasons 2 through 5, one of the destinations on the Central Board is replaced with a unique opportunity.
- Season 5 includes a festival!
Combat has the following new features:
- Combat has 5 rounds instead of 4.
- Each Battle Phase begins with a Bard Step.
And these features affect both parts of the game:
- There are now two paladins.
- Players can use a pet for a one-time effect.
The following sections describe each of the new features in detail. Afterward, you will find a summary of how the new features affect the phases of the game.
Pets
I suppose you are aware that it has become the fashion for dungeon lords to acquire pets and show them off to their colleagues. How they fawn over the stupid beasts! Disgraceful. In my day, dungeon lords had standards. They were cruel, unforgiving, and hard-hearted. And if they needed a loyal companion with whom they could share an evil chuckle or a conspiratorial wink, well, they had minions. Aw cheer up. Look at those little critters! Who wouldn't want one? They're so cute, so playful, so ... tasty.
Don't worry. The demon won't eat your pets. In fact, he can't eat them even if you want him to, because pets are not monsters. But before we explain what pets can do, let's talk about how you get them.
Pet Phase
In the original game, the first round of the Year was shorter because it didn't have the Event Phase and the Adventurer Phase. Instead you went from Production to the End of the Round. Well, that has changed. You see the snowman on the Progress Board? That can help you remember that after Production and Orders Retrieval, you have a Pet Phase during which you acquire a pet.
The Pet Phase happens only in the first round of each Year.
In the First Year
During Setup, you should have shuffled the Pets Deck and set it on the Far Distant Lands Board. Start the First Year's Pet Phase by dealing each player 2 cards from the Pets Deck.
Look at your Pet Cards. Choose 1 and pass the other to the left. You will get a new card from the player on your right. From these 2, choose 1 to keep and 1 to put face down on the discard pile on the Far Distant Lands Board.
Your chosen pet remains a secret until you use it. Keep the Pet Card face down in the Pet Box on your Player Board Extension.
In the Second Year
During the Second Year's Pet Phase, again deal each player 2 cards from the Pets Deck.
If you don't have any face-down Pet Cards (e.g., if you used the one you got in the First Year) then this is the same as before: choose 1, pass 1 left, pick up the one from the right, choose 1 to keep and 1 to discard.
If you have one or more face-down Pet Cards (there are other ways to get them) then you add these to the 2 you were just dealt. From this collection choose 1 to pass. It can be one you just got or one you acquired earlier. As before, you get 1 card from the player on your right. Choose one of these to discard and keep the rest.
You will end up with 1 more face-down Pet Card than you started with. The cards you started with may be still in your collection, or they may have been passed to the left or discarded.
If you have trouble remembering to play the Pet Phase, do this: When you are setting up for the Year, take two cards per player from the top of the Pet Deck and put them on the Progress Board so that they cover up the fourth space. That way, you can't go to the End of the Round until you have dealt out the Pet Cards.
Using Pets
The Pet Card tells you when the pet's effect can be used. Some are used when you are Building, some are used in Combat, and others are used during Scoring. To use your pet, announce that you are doing so, reveal the card, and proceed according to the text. A pet's effect can be used only once during the game. (Two pets, Baby Golem and Stareplant, have an effect that lasts until that Year's Combat is done.)
As I said, it's all about fashion. Everyone gets so excited about the dungeon lord's new pet, but next week, it's old news. These creatures have no lasting value. Unlike, say, a minion, who quietly and diligently carries out his duties day after day for centuries ... even though no one ever, not even once, scratches him behind the ears and asks, "Whoosa good boy?"
If a pet's effect is used in battle, it does not count as sending a monster (or ghost). Spells affecting monsters (or ghosts) do not affect pets (not even Ghosty). Priests will not heal the party unless a monster (or ghost) was sent.
Exception: This rule does not apply to Baby Golem. If you send Baby Golem into battle, he will be affected by spells, he will cause priests to heal the party, and he will count toward your monster limit (unless you send him with a big golem). However, Baby Golem cannot be used as a monster for other purposes. He cannot be fed to a demon. You cannot load him into a Monster Catapult.
After using a pet's effect, you can leave it face up in the Pet Box so you can enjoy the illustration. However, for the rest of the game, it will have no effect, not even during Scoring.
So a cold-hearted dungeon lord can just toss a used Pet Card onto the discard pile.
Pets During Scoring
Pets that can be used only during Scoring stay face down until the end of the game. Scoring starts with a big pet show for all pets that are still face down.
Start by revealing any pets with "Scoring" effects you want to use. Score those points.
Then reveal any remaining face-down pets so you can show them off. Score 1 point for each. (Note that if you chose not to use a pet with a "Scoring" effect, you will get 1 point for it when you reveal it now.) You get no points for Pet Cards that were used during the game. (Everybody has already seen them, so they cannot impress anyone at the end-of-game pet show.)
Sum it up: You get 1 pet in the first round of each Year. Each pet has an effect that can be used once during the game. If you don't use it at all, you get 1 point.
Unique Opportunities
I prefer my days to be predictable. Don't you agree? Let us skip this section. I doubt either of us will find it enjoyable. Heh. I think you've misjudged our players, minion. Anybody who buys an expansion is looking for the excitement of new possibilities.
Unique opportunities are represented by 8 boards. Each unique opportunity can replace one of the 8 places you send your minions. They are "unique" because each opportunity arises only once per game.
Transcriber's note: the Orders Card and action-space symbols are written here as the numerals printed on the board (I, II, III, from shortest space to longest space) or as words where the symbol is a resource icon.
Revealing Unique Opportunities
Unique opportunities are designed for 5-round Years. A new opportunity arises in each round except the first. Players know one round ahead of time which location will be replaced.
First Round. In the New Round Phase, you reveal the events and adventurers that are coming the following round. At this time, you should also turn up the top board of the Unique Opportunities Stack. Leave it face up on top of the stack. That opportunity will be available in the second round.
Second Round. In the New Round Phase of the second round, take the top board off the Unique Opportunities Stack and use it to cover the location on the Central Board with the corresponding symbol. The usual actions will not be available this round. Instead, players will have the actions offered by the unique opportunity.
Turn up the next board in the stack, so that players can see what is coming next round.
Third and Fourth Rounds. These are the same as the second, except that you need to remove the previous round's unique opportunity before placing the one for this round. Only one unique opportunity will be available per round. You will always be able to see the one for the next round.
Discarded unique opportunities should be kept in a discard pile.
Fifth Round. This is like the third and fourth rounds, except that you don't reveal a new opportunity (because the fifth is the last round). The fifth round's unique opportunity will be removed during the festival. All 4 opportunities used this year will become prizes in the festival! After the festival, they should be returned to the box so that they do not get mixed up with the opportunities used in the Second Year.
(For more information on the festival and its prizes, see the Festival section.)
Second Year
The Second Year is the same. You use the remaining four opportunities in rounds 2, 3, 4, and 5. Each will be available exactly once.
Using Unique Opportunities
A unique opportunity becomes part of the Central Board for that round. You can send your minion to it in the usual way: Play the Orders Card with the corresponding symbol and send your minion to the lowest-numbered unoccupied space. When executing the actions provided by an opportunity, start with the minion on the shortest space.
Don't forget that the actions go in order (in this case I, II, III). This order may determine who gets which paladin. However, the effects of each action happen all at once. For example, on the third space, the one player moves down at the same time as all the others move up.
In a two-player game, the Evil Counter in the non-player color is not affected by these actions.
Harvest Food
The villagers in our vicinity do not have easy lives. If you want to keep extorting food from them, you must occasionally give them a chance to grow some more. If your minion is a good diplomat, the reeve will invite your imps to help with the harvest. As the imps launch into their work, the villagers look on with feigned delight. They know the imps will take the best part of the harvest. From the fruit baskets, the imps take all the ripest, softest, larva-enriched specimens. In the potato fields, the imps will take the entire plant, leaving behind only the lumpy brown roots. But the villagers have to grin and bear it. As I said, they do not have easy lives.
I can't help you here. This "food" thing doesn't make any sense. Why would anyone want to eat dead stuff?
This is similar to mining gold or digging tunnels. You gain up to the indicated amount of Food by sending one imp for each Food gained, but you also have to send a foreimp. Space III requires 2 foreimps, but the villagers are so impressed by the imps' discipline that you move down one space on the Evilometer. (You can move down one space even if you send only the 2 foreimps.)
Imps used during harvesting are not available for other work this round. Put them above your dungeon to show they have been used.
Masquerade
The Adventurer's Academy Masquerade Ball is a much-anticipated event. Humans arrive dressed as monsters. Monsters arrive dressed as themselves and cheerfully accept compliments on their "realistic costumes". And minions? We like to dress up as minions of rival dungeon lords. Then we can get away with anything.
So watch out! Sooner or later, the Academy will hold their masquerade. And then you can expect to see two guys dressed up in shiny-polished armor.
The first minion steals the money from the fifty-fifty drawing. Take 1 Gold. All other players gain 1 Evil.
The second minion snoops around in the Academy files. You can look at one Combat Card, according to the usual rules, with the bonus that you can return it to any position. You tell the other players what you did. For example: "I looked at the fourth card and put it on top," or "I looked at the second card and left it in the second position." When the faculty catch your minion messing around, they think he's snooping for your rivals and all other players gain 1 Evil.
The ball draws to a close. Everyone pulls out their tickets for the fifty-fifty drawing, and the organizers realize all the money is gone. Time for you to save the day. If you pay 1 Gold, you lose 1 Evil and all the other dungeon lords look so bad that they gain 1 Evil. Furthermore, you get a chance to look at one of the Combat Cards (but you have to put it back where you found it).
Whenever all other players gain 1 Evil, that applies even to players who sent no minion to the masquerade ball.
Improve Tunnels
Every so often, the tunnel permit office closes for an internal audit. While they are closed, no one can dig new tunnels. On the other hand, no one will be inspecting any improvements you make to the tunnels you have. Although these improvements are illegal, we have a tacit understanding that the office will look the other way.
Ha! They aren't looking any way. When I dropped in during last year's "audit", everyone was snoring.
Minions execute actions in order, starting with the shortest space. Note that the order here is unusual: II, then I, then III.
Each action offers multiple options (separated by slashes). You can only choose one:
- Use 2 imps to improve one unconquered Tunnel Tile. Return the unconquered tile to the Central Board and replace it with one of the 5 Improved Tunnel Tiles.
- Use 2 imps to "deconquer" one conquered Tunnel Tile. Turn it dark side up.
- Use 3 imps to deconquer one conquered Room Tile. Turn it dark side up.
If this shows up in the First Year, you probably don't have anything conquered, so you will be interested only in the first option.
Order is important, especially if everyone wants an Improved Tunnel Tile. The player on II will have the choice of all 5. The player on III goes last and can only choose improvements the other two players did not take. However, the player on III can get one or two Improved Tunnel Tiles (if he or she has enough imps).
The player on III is also the only one who has the choice of deconquering one or two Tunnel Tiles. It is not possible to combine options. For example, this player cannot deconquer one tunnel and take an improvement for another.
Imps who are sent to work on any of the three options are placed on the tile they worked on. They are not available for the rest of the round.
An Improved Tunnel Tile is still a tunnel. It gets taxed like a tunnel, you can mine gold in it, you can replace it with a room, etc. But it also has a special effect. These effects are explained in the Appendix at the back of this book.
Improved Tunnel Tiles are kept on the Far Distant Lands Board. Anyone may look at them at any time. In your first game with this expansion, it's a good idea to take them out and explain them when this unique opportunity is revealed.
Invest Gold
And sometimes it is the mining office that is closed. Do not worry. Your minion can still bring you gold. Humans have invented this thing called a bank. Instead of foraging for gold in the wild, you plant some gold in an underground vault. It grows and grows, and by the time the bankers harvest it, you have more gold than you planted. Well, the bankers say it works a little differently ... ... but they're just trying to keep their secrets for themselves. Be firm. Tell them you want a lot more gold than you started with. Mention the smoke rising from the ashes of a nearby village, and they will have no doubt that you are a "serious client".
Pay the indicated cost. You get the indicated amount of Gold, but not right away. You get it when the Orders Phase is done. In other words, you can't use this gold for other actions this round, such as recruiting imps, buying traps, hiring monsters, or building rooms.
Yeah, but it's still a quick return on investment. Just be sure you have some gold saved up so you can invest it. That's why you get to see the unique opportunities one turn ahead.
Acquire Pet
I think we've already said enough about pets. These pet shops seem to spring up overnight. Don't worry. Usually 2 or 3 appear at once and they all go bankrupt within a month.
Hey, minion, quit jabbering and get out there before they close. They've got imps who should be working in our dungeon. And I'm sure the dungeon lord would like an extra pet. Try to find a juicy one.
Pay the indicated price and take the indicated number of imps and Pet Cards. (Action I is free. It offers 0 imps and 1 Pet Card.) Draw your Pet Cards randomly from the top of the deck and place them face down in your Pet Box. Pets you get this way are no different from pets you get during the Pet Phase. (See page 4.)
Install Traps
Sometimes the trap manufacturers close up shop and take their wares to the Trap Expo. This is a most unpleasant place. Foreign imps set up booths boasting of their superior engineering. Marketers patrol the floor, pushing promotional pamphlets under one's nose. They even hire bards to sing advertising jingles.
Hey, but you can find some great deals at the Expo. For one thing, you can actually see which trap you are getting. And they'll install it for you.
In the New Round Phase when this Unique Opportunity Board replaces the Buy Traps action, you should deal 3 cards from the Trap Deck. Put them somewhere near the Central Board, face up.
When executing actions here, the order is III, II, I – the same as it is for hiring monsters or building rooms. That is because players will choose their traps from the 3 that were dealt.
Pay the cost (if any) and choose one of the 3 traps. Install it immediately. Keep the installed trap face up in front of you just below your Pet Box. Choose one unconquered dungeon tile and mark it with a yellow token from the bank to indicate where the trap has been installed. You must pay any cost of using the trap. If you install it in a room, you must pay 1 Gold. (No, you can't pay with the token you used to mark the room; that isn't yours.) If you don't pay the cost, you can't take the trap.
Note: The cost of the trap is given in the upper left corner of the card's yellow text box. If you install Kamikaze Imp, you have to immediately discard 1 imp. (Until the trap is used, he hides in a little alcove waiting to jump out.) If you use a Monster Catapult, you have to immediately discard the monster (set it on the Trap Card so you can remember if the catapult is loaded with a little monster or a big monster). For a Poisoned Meal, you pay 1 or 2 Food depending on the present Year. (So you can install it for 1 Food in the First Year even if you end up using it in the Second Year.)
The trap springs automatically during the first battle in that room or tunnel. You cannot choose to not use it. However, it does not count as your one trap for the round. You can use one of your usual Trap Cards according to the usual rules. You also get to decide the order in which the two traps go off. To reduce damage from the second trap, the party can only use as many symbols as they have left over after dealing with the first trap. (So it works like the Labyrinth. And yes, if you install a trap in the Labyrinth, you will be able to use 3 traps in one battle.)
The installed trap and the yellow token must be discarded when the trap springs. They also must be discarded if the marked dungeon tile is altered (for example, if it is replaced by a Room Tile or an Improved Tunnel Tile or if it is somehow conquered without a battle).
Hire Expert Monster (or Ghost)
Sometimes the Underground Tavern attracts a different sort of crowd. The goblin in the corner studies the minions with a mercenary eye. The Troll is laughing, but not in a nice way. And the witch is so much ... bigger. Ah, it will take more than a good meal to impress these monsters.
During the New Round Phase, monsters (or ghosts) are put on the board as usual. And like the usual visit to the Underground Tavern, the actions here are resolved in the order III, II, I. Each player may choose one of the available monsters (or ghosts). The player on III chooses first, but must pay 1 Evil – expert monsters (and ghosts) are impressed by cruel dungeon lords.
When you choose a monster (or ghost), you also take the Monster (or Ghost) Expertise Tile depicted on your space of the Opportunity Board. Each tile adds to its monster's (or ghost's) cost. The surcharge is:
- [yellow clever icon] for an extra clever monster (or ghost).
- [dark cruel icon] for an extra cruel monster (or ghost).
- [green large icon] for an extra large monster (or ghost).
The surcharge applies when you hire the monster (or ghost) and every time you must pay its cost (Pay Day, for example). It is as though the extra symbol were printed on the Monster (or Ghost) Tile. If you can't pay the full cost, including the surcharge, you can't hire the monster (or ghost).
Transcriber's note: the three surcharge icons are colour symbols on the printed page with no text equivalent; they are described in brackets above.
The Expertise Tile stays with its expert monster (or ghost) for the rest of the game. It is non-transferrable. If you discard the expert monster (or ghost), discard its Expertise Tile.
Each Expertise Tile has the same benefit: The expert monster's (or ghost's) first attack is at +2 strength. This only applies to one attack on one adventurer during all 5 rounds of Combat, even if the monster has multiple attacks. An expert slime will do 3 damage to the first adventurer in line, but only 1 to all the others. The expert witch's below-the-line attack is 3 on any adventurer, followed by 1 on any adventurer. (Her above-the-line attack is 6.) An expert golem attacks for 6 in its first battle, but only 4 in later battles that Year. Similarly, if you use an expert vampire's attack-and-return ability, his first attack will be for 4, but after that, your choices are the vampire's usual attacks of 3 or 2.
To remind yourself that you have used the benefit of the Expertise Tile, turn it face down. But flip all Expertise Tiles face up at the end of Combat. If you get an expert monster (or ghost) in the First Year, you can use its expertise again in the Second Year. (Whether the tile is face down or face up, the surcharge is always part of the monster's cost.)
During Scoring, expert monsters (or ghosts) are counted (or ignored) the same as regular monsters (or ghosts).
Rent Rooms
Humans never pass up a business opportunity. You would think that the dungeons in the area would dampen their economic enthusiasm, but no. They just open their cellars and rent them out to dungeon lords. Now every dungeon lord thinks his dungeon should have a downtown branch.
During the New Round Phase, rooms are put on the board as usual. But these rooms do not get built in dungeons. They are rented rooms in town.
Players rent rooms in the order you would expect: III, II, I. So the last minion gets the first choice, just like building rooms normally.
If all 3 spaces are taken, the player on III has first choice and must pay 1 Gold if he or she takes a room. Then the player on II can take a room for free. They might not leave any rooms for the player on I, but this player has a choice: If the player on II paid 1 Gold, the player on I has the option of taking that Gold instead of taking a room. (The second player does not have this option.) If no one paid 1 Gold for action III, then the player on I does not have this option (but in that case, there is at least 1 room still available for rent).
What do you do with a rented room?
- Do not put it in your dungeon. Instead, keep it in front of you below your Pet Box. You do not replace a tunnel and you can ignore the dungeon zone restriction illustrated on a First-Year Room Tile.
- Rented rooms do not count as rooms during the Event Phase. (For example, you don't pay Taxes on them.)
- Rented production rooms can be used as though they were in your dungeon, except that they can be used only once per round (even during the Second Year). They require the usual number of imps (or Troll Tokens).
- Rented combat rooms can be used in any battle. When choosing a dungeon tile for a battle, the rented combat room is always among your options. If it is conquered, it counts as a conquered dungeon tile. It gives you -2 points, and it counts against Battlelord. But rented rooms never count toward Lord of Halls.
- Rented scoring rooms score bonus points in the usual way.
- Rented rooms do not count as rooms during Scoring. You do not get 2 points for them. They do not count toward Lord of Halls.
Festival!
Festival season is the most beautiful time of the year. Monsters (and ghosts) head up to the surface where they celebrate until dawn, giving me all night to do my paperwork in peace! Best is when the master sends away the imps. Oh, they engage in all sorts of antics. They break out the shovels and start digging tunnels or building rooms. They go dancing with adventurers. And they always seem to come back with something: cotton candy, a lost coin, a pretty ring. Sometimes they bring home a relative, and once they even brought home a drunk goblin.
The Festival Phase happens only in the fifth round of each Year. (So twice per game.) It happens after the Orders Phase, but before the Production Phase.
You can send your imps to bring you a prize from the festival! Whoever sends the largest group of imps gets to choose first.
Spread out the four Unique Opportunity Boards that were used this year (including the one for round five). The symbol in the corner of the board indicates what prize it represents.
- In a 3-player game, leave out the board used in round 5. You will only choose among the first 3 boards.
- In a 2-player game, leave out the boards used in rounds 4 and 5. You will only choose among the first 2 boards.
All players simultaneously choose a certain number of available imps and put them in one hand. (You may choose 0 imps, if you wish.) Remember, imps that were used in an action (like mining gold or digging tunnels) are not available. Available imps that you want to keep available for later should be held in your other hand under the table. You don't tell other players how many you are sending, but if they ask, you do have to tell them how many you have available to send.
All players simultaneously reveal the number of imps they sent. Whoever sent the most chooses first. All other players follow in order, based on how many imps they sent. Break ties in favor of the most evil dungeon lord. (His imps have the sharpest elbows.) As usual, if players are tied on the Evilometer, play order determines which of them is the most evil. (The starting player is nicest.)
Players who sent no imps get nothing. If you sent one or more imps, on your turn you choose one of the Unique Opportunity Boards. Immediately gain a prize based on the symbol in the upper left corner:
- Gain 1 Food.
- Lose 1 Evil.
- Dig 1 tunnel (according to the usual rules, except you do not use another imp).
- Gain 1 Gold.
- Gain 1 imp. (It will be available during the Production Phase.)
- Draw 1 Trap Card.
- Pay 1 Food to hire 1 monster (or ghost) from the discard pile. Pay the monster's (or ghost's) cost according to the usual rules. (Note that if this round has a Pay Day, you will pay this cost then, too.)
- Pay 1 Gold to build 1 room from the discard pile (according to the usual rules).
Once a player has chosen a prize, it is not available to those who choose later. You may decide to choose no prize. Hiring a monster (or ghost) and building a room have costs. If you don't pay the full cost, you can't choose that prize.
If a prize lets you take a tile from the discard pile, you can use any tile that has been discarded so far. It does not matter whether it was discarded because no one chose it during the Orders Phase or whether it was discarded for some other reason. In the Second Year, you can choose First- or Second-Year Tiles. (Of course, only First-Year Tiles are available in the First Year.)
The extra cost that you pay for hiring a monster (or ghost) or building a room is the same as the extra cost you would pay if you tried to use action III to get it the usual way. It's the price of having more choices.
All the imps you sent to the festival are unavailable for the rest of the round, even if you did not choose a prize. Put them on the picture of the town on your Player Board.
After the First Year's festival, all 4 of that Year's Unique Opportunity Boards should be returned to the box so that they do not get mixed up with the 4 opportunities used in the Second Year.
New Paladins
Each Year has 2 paladins, one elf and one dwarf. (It has to be one of each because two dwarves won't fit in the same tent.) The 2 paladins have the same background and the same symbol in the corner. Even their abilities are the same. The only difference is that the dwarf can take more damage. (Perhaps the illustration suggests this might be the case.)
Paladins and the Evilometer
The first player whose Evil Counter lands on or rises above the paladin space on the Evilometer ...
Hey. Just say "player who reaches the paladin space". We don't have all day, here.
Um, okay... So, the first player who reaches the paladin space gets the elven paladin. This is like the original game. The elf goes to the front of the party. Even if the player drops below the paladin space, the elf will stay at that dungeon ... unless another player reaches the paladin space.
When a second player reaches the paladin space, one of three things can happen:
- If the second player is now the only one on or above the paladin space (because the player with the elf dropped below) the elf goes to the second player. (The dwarf stays in the tent.)
- If the player with the elf is still on or above the paladin space but the second player is even higher (not tied), the dwarf leaves his tent and goes to the second player's dungeon. The elf does not move.
- If the second player is on or below the same space as the player with the elf, the elf moves to the second player and the dwarf goes to the player who had the elf.
So the dwarf enters play only when two players are simultaneously on or above the paladin space.
The dwarven paladin loves to sip his ale and shout encouragement at the elf fighting evil. But if he sees more evil than the elf can handle, he sighs, puts down his mug, grabs his hammer, and sets out to fight evil, too.
From that moment on, each paladin will be at a different dungeon. They never return to the tent. The dwarven paladin will be with the most evil player. The elven paladin will be with the second most evil player.
Whenever order on the Evilometer changes, the paladins may move between dungeons:
- The dwarf moves to the most evil player. If his current player is tied for most evil, the dwarf stays. If his current player is below two others tied for most evil, he goes to the one of them with the elf. If neither has the elf, break the tie according to play order. (The starting player is nicest.)
- The elf moves to the second most evil player. Handle ties the same way, except in the following special case.
- Special case: If the players with the elf and the dwarf are tied and someone else becomes more evil than both of them, the dwarf goes to the new most evil player and the elf goes to the player who had the dwarf.
- The paladins only move to players who already have a paladin or who are on or above the paladin space. A player who currently has no paladin and who is below the paladin space cannot get a paladin, even if he or she becomes the most evil or the second most evil.
- Note that if both paladins are in play, they will always respect the order of their players on the Evilometer. The player with the dwarf will never be lower on the Evilometer than the player with the elf.
Bah, that sounds complicated. There are usually just a few simple cases:
- No one reaches the paladin space, so no one gets the paladin.
- Only one player reaches it, so the elf sticks with him until the end of the Year.
- One player gets the elf. Then he drops below the paladin space, and another player reaches it. The elf moves to the other player.
- One player gets the elf, decides he doesn't care anymore, and keeps gaining evil. Then a second player reaches the paladin space. The higher player gets the dwarf, and the lower player gets the elf. If these two players switch order on the Evilometer, the elf and the dwarf switch places.
- The only time you have to worry about the fine print is if both paladins are in play and someone without a paladin reaches the paladin space.
At the start of the Second Year, apply the same rules (except you don't worry about the special case). If one player is at or above the paladin space, give that player the elf. If two or more players are at or above the paladin space, give the dwarf to the most evil and the elf to the second most evil. Break ties according to the Starting Player Token. Second-Year paladins not assigned to a player will sit in the tent and watch, waiting for their opportunity.
Paladins in Combat
The elven paladin and dwarven paladin fight like the original paladin did.
Paladins can still change dungeons during Combat. When a paladin changes dungeons, he keeps any Damage Counters he has.
Paladins change dungeons according to the rules above, with one exception: If you eliminate one of the paladins, the other will not come to your dungeon. (Even paladins can be intimidated.) For the rest of Combat, the remaining paladin behaves as though you were not on the Evilometer. He moves among the other players' dungeons according to the rules for the paladin in the original game.
This only applies to two paladins from the same Year. Capturing a First-Year paladin does not keep Second-Year paladins from visiting your dungeon.
Originally, we thought it would be fun to let you capture two paladins in one year, but the rules got so wild that we decided to back up a bit. If you are interested, you can find the original rules for the New Paladins mini-expansion at www.czechgames.com.
Scoring Paladins
During Scoring, the reward depends on whether you captured a dwarf or an elf. As with the original game, the reward is the same for paladins from the First Year and for those from the Second Year.
- An elven paladin in your prison is worth 4 points at the end of the game.
- A dwarven paladin in your prison is worth 6 points at the end of the game.
Let's face it: The dwarven paladin is a lot more paladin to have in your prison.
Three Paladins Variant
If you don't like leaving any paladins in the box, you can play with 3 paladins.
As you may have guessed, the human paladin is between the elf and the dwarf. The first player to reach the paladin space gets the elven paladin. The human paladin enters the game if two players are at or above the paladin space. And the dwarven paladin stays in the tent unless three players are simultaneously at or above the paladin space. Paladins in play will stay in order, so the dwarf will be with the most evil, the human with the second most evil, and the elf with the third most evil. In Combat, paladins ignore dungeons that have an imprisoned paladin from the same Year.
During Scoring, the elven paladin is worth 4 points, the human paladin is worth 5, and the dwarven paladin is worth 6.
Bards
The girl with the lute seems harmless. She just stands off to the side, plucking strings. But wait till you see what the other adventurers do. They rush into battle heedless of their injuries, each trying to impress the bard with feats of heroism. They want the bard to write them into a ballad. Except the paladins. They've already sold exclusive ballad rights to the big label bards. Paladins ignore these dungeon-crawling amateurs.
Transcriber's note: the lute symbol used in the Bard Step and Mourning text is rendered here as "[lute]".
When Assigning Adventurers
The bards are mixed in with the other adventurers so they may be among those assigned to players during the Adventurers Phase.
Bards are like the opposite of warriors in that they always go last. If you are assigned a bard, she goes on the last space. Adventurers assigned in later rounds will fill in the spaces ahead of the bard (right to left), leaving her on the last space. If you are assigned a bard when you already have one or more, the new bard goes on the last space and pushes the other bards ahead.
In Battle
The bard inspires the party to feats of courage. Her ability is resolved in the first step of battle, even before the Trap Step. The Bard Step is denoted on your Player Board Extension by a lute.
The Bard Step in Round 1
In the Bard Step, bards give the adventurers courage. Each bard can give 1 point of courage for each [lute] symbol on her Adventurer Tile. Represent each point of courage with a yellow token from the bank. Put the first token on the first adventurer in line, the second on the second, and so on. (These are now "Courage Tokens". They are not gold, and you must return them to the bank after Combat.)
The bard cannot give courage to a paladin. If there is a paladin at your dungeon, skip him and put the first token on the next in line.
To make planning easier, you can give the adventurers their Courage Tokens during the Planning Phase if you want.
Each bard assigns courage independently, from front to back. So it is possible for the foremost adventurers to have multiple tokens even when those behind have none. A bard can assign courage to another bard or even to herself if she is close enough to the front.
Courage
Courage shields adventurers from damage. When an adventurer with Courage should receive a Damage Counter for any reason, remove 1 Courage Token instead. Each Courage Token removed cancels one Damage Counter. For example, if an adventurer with 2 Courage Tokens receives 3 Damage Counters, you remove the 2 Courage Tokens and assign only 1 Damage Counter.
Courage is only removed if the adventurer would actually receive damage. When a trap deals damage, for example, the thief abilities are applied first and courage can only be applied to the remaining damage (if any).
Example: If you use the Rolling Stone to deal 3 damage to the warrior, the thief will reduce the damage to 1. The warrior will lose 1 Courage instead of gaining 1 Damage Counter.
If you use the Poisoned Meal instead, it tries to deal 5 damage (Courage Tokens are not hit points). The thief prevents 2, and 2 more are canceled by removing both Courage Tokens. The warrior will get 1 Damage Counter.
What if you use the Cursed Ring? It tries to deal 1 damage to each adventurer. The warrior and the thief are protected by the thief's ability. They take 0 Damage Counters and lose 0 Courage Tokens. The two bards in the rear each get 1 Damage Counter because nothing is protecting them.
Look at him show off for the ladies.
Heh. That last example shows the best way to neutralize the bard's effect next round. Let me know if you want my help.
The card texts used in these examples read:
- Rolling Stone: "Yeah, I hear the rumbling, but I think that's normal underground." The first adventurer takes 3 damage (in the second year, 4 damage).
- Poisoned Meal: "Oh boy! Chicken in mushroom gravy! Lying right here on the floor!" Pay 1 Food (2 Food in the Second Year). The first adventurer takes damage equal to his remaining hit points.
- Cursed Ring: "I saw it first!" "But I grabbed it first!" "Well, I have the biggest axe." Pay 1 Gold. Each adventurer takes 1 damage. Skip the Conquering Step (and fatigue) this round.
Courage Is Temporary
The inspiring effect of the bard's song lasts most of the battle. It continues through the Trap, Fast Spells, Monsters (and Ghosts), Slow Spells, and Healing Steps. During this time, Courage Tokens are removed only to cancel out Damage Counters. They remain on the adventurers even if the bards are eliminated. (It's a catchy tune.)
But then the adventurers get tired. Remove all Courage Tokens before the Conquering Step (even if you are skipping that step). Damage received during Conquering (and after – e.g., from a cockatrice or Poisoned Dart) will hit the adventurers after their courage has left them.
So now you've got them tired and scared, and maybe even a little bit wounded. Well, don't celebrate yet, because the bards will be singing again next round. You need to defeat a few adventurers if you really want to weaken morale.
Mourning
Courage works the same way in later rounds except that bards' effects are reduced by the number of adventurers you have captured from their party. (The bards like to sing about those who have fallen in battle, and that's not so encouraging to the ones still fighting.) Each bard loses 1 [lute] for each adventurer you have captured in this Combat, not counting paladins. (These bards can't mourn his fall because he has an exclusive contract, remember?) You can tell how many adventurers this is by counting the empty spaces (not the paladin space).
Second-Year Rules
We've got a few details to work out so that the new features don't break the old rules.
Starting Player in the Second Year
In a 5-season Year, the Starting Player Token ends with the player who has it during festival season. At the start of the Second Year, it is passed like this:
- In a 4-player game, the Starting Player Token should be given to the player opposite the person who started the First Year. (So it moves 2 places, left or right.)
- In a 3-player game, the Starting Player Token should be given to the player to the right of the person who started the First Year. (So it moves 1 place to the left.)
- In a 2-player game, the Starting Player Token should be given to the player who did not start the First Year. (So it is passed to the other player.)
Evilometer for Two Players
In a two-player game, start the Second Year by moving the non-player Evil Counter 3 spaces down the Evilometer instead of 2. Even so, the non-player Evil Counter will reach the paladin space at the beginning of the Adventurers Phase in the last round of the Second Year.
- Treat the non-player dungeon as a player and assign it a paladin according to the new paladin rules. (It won't get either paladin if the players are both more evil.)
- If the non-player dungeon is assigned a paladin, immediately remove that paladin to Distant Lands. Do not assign it another paladin.
- Whether the non-player dungeon was assigned a paladin or not, remove the non-player Evil Counter from the Evilometer at the beginning of the Second Year's Combat. The paladins ignore the non-player dungeon during Combat.
Combining Variants
The elements of this expansion are designed to work together. But it is possible to leave out some new features while keeping others.
Four Seasons
You don't have to play 5 seasons if you don't want to. You can leave the new cards and tiles in the game. They will increase the variety (but also the randomness) of your game. If you are playing with bards and using the Player Board Extension, you will have to remember that one of the spaces for adventurers is always empty and it doesn't count as a captured adventurer that reduces the bards' effect.
But we recommend the five-round game for experienced dungeon lords. The game is more interesting, your dungeon is more extensive, and the battles are more impressive.
Unique Opportunities and Festival
Once you are used to the unique opportunities, you can try the game without them. It can be fun to see what you can do if you are limited to the good old standard actions.
If you leave out the unique opportunities, you should also leave out the festival. However, you can play without the festival and leave the unique opportunities in, if you want.
Paladins
If you miss the old (singular) paladin, you can use him instead of the new paladins. Just be warned that you might get a special event that brings them into the game anyway.
Another way to use the original paladin is to try the Three Paladins variant explained in the New Paladins section.
Pets
We most assiduously recommend that you not play with pets! Be aware that the foul little beasts can still sneak into the game via a unique opportunity, so ideally, you should leave those out, too. All of them. Isn't it better to have things be regular and predictable?
Editor's Note: The reader is advised that the preceding paragraph may not be from the official rules. We tried to check it against the drafts that were prepared before the text was submitted to the demon and the minion for comment, but those earlier drafts have mysteriously disappeared.
Beginners' Variant
If you would like to introduce players to an easier game, you can play 5 seasons of dungeon building, but only 4 rounds of combat, with fewer adventurers. The result is a game more forgiving than the original Dungeon Lords.
Boooring.
In this variant:
- Set up only 4 Combat Cards for each Year.
- Don't set up adventurers for round 2. Players will not start receiving adventurers until round 3.
- Don't use the Player Board Extensions. The fourth adventurer space would just confuse beginners.
- Use the Progress Board Extension when building dungeons, but not during Combat. Combat has only 4 rounds.
- If you want to keep Combat simpler, leave out the bards. (You don't have the Bard Step symbol on your board anyway.) You can still use the new monsters and rooms, though.
- If people are playing for the first time, consider leaving out the unique opportunities.
- In the single paladin variant, it is easier to see how the paladin moves between players.
- It is up to you to decide if you will include pets and/or the festival!
Expansion Rules Summary
Here's a quick summary of the expansion rules, with no jabbering.
Good boy.
Setup
- Set up everything according to the original rules, with the changes noted on pages 2 and 3.
Dungeon Building
New Round Phase
- In rounds 2 through 5, replace one location with a unique opportunity.
- If it is the Install Traps Board, deal 3 Trap Cards.
- In rounds 1 through 4, reveal the unique opportunity for the next round.
Orders Phase
- Actions go in order, from shortest space to longest space.
- New icons:
- All other players gain 1 Evil.
- Look at one Combat Card and return it to any position.
- Use two imps to deconquer 1 Tunnel Tile.
- Use three imps to deconquer 1 Room Tile.
- Use two imps to replace 1 Tunnel Tile with an Improved Tunnel Tile.
- Gain this reward after the Orders Phase.
- Draw the top Pet Card and keep it.
- Take one of the offered traps. Install it in 1 dungeon tile. (Mark the tile with a yellow token.) Pay the cost of the trap (which may include the cost of installing a trap in a room).
- Hire 1 monster (or ghost) and take the indicated Expertise Tile. The tile is a permanent part of the monster's (or ghost's) cost.
- Rent 1 room and place it beside your Player Board.
- Take 1 Gold, but only if a player acting earlier paid 1 Gold.
Festival Phase, in Round 5 Only
- Set out the unique opportunities that arose this Year (no more than 1 per player).
- Each player takes a secret number of his or her available imps in one hand. These imps are now in use. Whoever sends the most chooses first. Break ties in favor of the most evil player.
- In turn, each player may use (and discard) one Unique Opportunity Board.
- You get 1 of the thing pictured in the upper left corner.
- With rooms, you choose from the discard pile. You must pay 1 Gold.
- With monsters (or ghosts) you choose from the discard pile. You must pay 1 Food in addition to the hiring cost.
Production and Orders Retrieval Phase
- Rented production rooms (off your board) can only be used once (even in the Second Year).
Pet Phase, in Round 1 only
- The Pet Phase is after Production and Orders Retrieval.
- Everyone draws 2 Pet Cards.
- Pass 1 to the left (even an unused card from the previous Year).
- Discard 1 (even from the previous Year) and keep the other(s) face down.
Event Phase
- Don't forget the Expertise Tile cost on Pay Day.
- Ignore rented rooms during this phase.
Adventurer Phase
- Bards move to the back of the party.
No Change to the End of the Round
Two Paladins
- Each Year has two paladins.
- The elf enters play when a player reaches the paladin space on the Evilometer.
- When the elf is the only paladin in play, he moves like the original paladin.
- The dwarf enters play when 2 players are simultaneously on or above the paladin space.
- The dwarf always moves to the most evil player, the elf to the second most evil, as indicated by the Evilometer.
- Consider only players currently above the paladin space and players who currently have a paladin.
- Before moving the paladins, break ties as follows:
- Among tied players, the one with the dwarf is most evil.
- Among tied players, the one with the elf is more evil than anyone except the one with the dwarf.
- Among tied players without a paladin, play order determines who is most evil. (Starting player is nicest.)
- This means:
- The dwarf will not move unless a player under consideration is higher on the Evilometer.
- If the players with the elf and dwarf become tied for highest, the paladins will not move.
- If the players with the elf and dwarf are tied and a player rises above them (and to or above the paladin space) the dwarf will go to the new most evil player and the elf will go to the player who had the dwarf.
- In Combat: a player who eliminates a paladin is ignored by the other paladin.
- In a two-player game:
- If the non-player color gets a paladin, discard that paladin.
- Paladins will not go to the non-player during Combat.
Combat
- Flip over the Progress Board and its Extension. Deal out all 5 Combat Cards face down in order.
- Planning Phase
- You can choose to fight in a rented combat room.
- If a dungeon tile has a trap from the Install Traps opportunity, you can, in addition, use another trap there in the usual way.
- Battle Phase
- Bard Step
- Each bard gives 1 Courage (yellow token) to as many adventurers as she has [lute]. Assign courage front to back. Skip the paladin.
- For each adventurer (except the paladin) captured so far this Year, each bard has 1 less [lute].
- Trap Step
- An installed trap must be used; discard it after use.
- The player chooses the order in which traps take effect.
- After the [grey ball icon] ability reduces damage, each adventurer receiving Damage Counters will discard Courage Tokens to prevent those Damage Counters (one-for-one).
- Monsters (and Ghosts) Step
- A monster (or ghost) with an Expertise Tile has +2 on its first attack. Use this bonus no more than once per Year.
- Each adventurer receiving Damage Counters will discard Courage Tokens to prevent those Damage Counters (one-for-one).
- Bard Step
Second Year
- In a two-player game, move the non-player Evil Counter 3 spaces down.
- Move the Starting Player Token:
- Two players left in a 4-player game.
- One player left in a 3-player game.
- One player left in a 2-player game.
Scoring
- Begin with pets:
- Each player can use pets usable during Scoring.
- Then players reveal their remaining face-down pets and score 1 point for each.
- Captured paladins:
- 4 points for each elf.
- 6 points for each dwarf.
- Rented rooms do not count as rooms.
- Do score bonus points generated by rented point-scoring rooms.
- Conquered rented rooms do count as conquered dungeon tiles (but not as rooms).
- The Secret Passage does not count for anything, even if it is conquered.
- Other Improved Tunnel Tiles are counted as tunnels.
- Expert monsters (or ghosts) are counted as normal monsters (or ghosts).
Appendix
Transcriber's note: the appendix and summary icons are small colour symbols with no text equivalent. Where the text needs one, it is described in brackets (for example [grey ball icon], [heart icon], [blue crystal icon], [lute]).
New Monsters (not Ghosts)
Cockatrice. The cockatrice is easy to care for. Of course, if you don't feed him, he'll shriek a lot, but then he calms down and forgets about it. So you can either pay 1 Food or pay 1 Evil when paying his cost. You can choose differently each time you pay. (An Expertise Tile will add to whichever cost you choose to pay.)
In battle, the cockatrice can attack anyone for 1. His bite seems weak, but it is poisonous. At the end of the round, the poison deals 1 more damage to the adventurer attacked (even if the original damage was prevented by a Courage Token). This is analogous to Poisoned Dart.
Evil Eye. It's not really that evil. But it's hard to look sweet when your face (and most of your body) is a giant, hypnotic eye.
The evil eye can hypnotize any adventurer in line. That adventurer moves to the front, even in front of the paladin. Then the evil eye attacks that adventurer for 3.
The hypnotized adventurer stays in front (if not eliminated). So he or she can be hit by another monster with a standard attack. (And a ghost might finally get a chance to attack a paladin.) At the end of the Monsters (and Ghosts) Phase, any paladin or imaginary adventurer created by Illusion will run in front of the hypnotized adventurer, but he or she will remain at the front of the normal adventurers.
Elderbeast. The elderbeast used to spend his time infiltrating other dimensions and inspiring cults. He's slowing down in his old age, and now he'd rather putter around a dungeon.
The cost of the elderbeast includes 1 available imp. Let's call him a personal assistant. Whenever you pay this cost, you must return 1 available imp to the bank. Don't think about it too much. The elderbeast requires a fresh imp. Ah, that is, he doesn't want a personal assistant that has done other work this round. If you have no available imps, you cannot pay the cost.
The elderbeast knows all the tricks. If you send him into battle, you skip the Fast Spells Step. No matter how many [grey ball icon] the party has, they can't cast a fast spell. Slow spells can be cast as usual. By that time, the elderbeast is sleeping in his lair.
The elderbeast first attacks the first adventurer for 3. Then he attacks all adventurers (including the first) for 1.
Production Rooms
Bakery. In this useful room, the imps make cakes, pies, and other goodies from ingredients they find around the dungeon. (Don't ask.) You can feed these delightful products to your monsters or you can freely distribute them in a nearby village.
Keep the bakery on the upper two floors, because you don't want your entire dungeon filled with smoke. Each time you use it, you decide whether you gain 1 Food or whether you lose 1 Evil. If you use it twice in the Second Year, you can take either benefit twice, or both benefits once.
Training Room. Imps love their dungeon and they admire the monsters who defend it. (Ghosts scare them.) Now those puny little imps can become fighting machines! Or at least, slightly tougher imps. Keep this room on the edge of your dungeon. Training is noisy.
During each Production Phase you may do one of the following: send 1 available imp into the training room or take 1 imp out of the training room. When you take an imp out, he immediately becomes an available imp, so you can use him elsewhere. In the Second Year, you can send in 1 or 2 or take out 1 or 2. Imps in the room do not return to the Imp Den at the end of the round, but you can send an imp to the room even if others are still there from previous rounds.
In battle, these armed and trained imps defend your dungeon. Whenever the party accumulates fatigue, you can remove 1 imp from the training room and return him to the Imp Den. His diversion causes the party 1 extra point of fatigue. This effect is not doubled or halved by other effects (such as A Scout at the Entrance! or Dark Tunnel).
You can only remove 1 imp this way each time the party accumulates fatigue – in other words, only once per round unless fatigue happens more than once (as in Song of Courage). If fatigue is skipped that round, you can't remove any imps that round. Imps remaining in the room at the end of Combat will start the next Year in the room. Imps still in the room at the end of the game are counted normally. Troll Tokens cannot be used in this room. If the room is conquered or discarded, immediately return all imps inside it to the Imp Den.
Scoring Room
Violet Lounge. Purple is in this year. Sorry, "violet". Invite a few of your friends over for drinks and then casually mention your new monsters, who just happen to be violet. You gain 2 points for each elderbeast and 1 point for each cockatrice or evil eye.
Combat Room
Hall of Chaos. Maybe you already have one of these – a room where chaos has utterly defeated order. In this room, the adventurers become a bit confused and their skills suffer. The party has 1 [grey ball icon], 1 [heart icon], and 1 [blue crystal icon] less than usual. (No effect on [lute] because bards don't think the room is any worse than a noisy tavern.) During conquering, the party gains 1 extra fatigue. This effect is not doubled or halved by other effects. (But you can add it to adding effects, like that of the training room.)
Improved Tunnels
An Improved Tunnel Tile is still a tunnel. It gets taxed like a tunnel, you can mine gold in it, you can replace it with a room, etc. But it also has a special effect.
Tool Shed. The tool shed makes all adjacent production rooms require 1 less imp. Each room can use this discount only once per round. For example, when using a room that requires 3 imps in the Second Year, you can send 2 imps to use it once or 5 imps to use it twice. You may use the discount in multiple rooms in the same round. You cannot use the tool shed to give you a discount on the training room. (But it works on the magic room. Don't ask.)
Foyer. An elegant easy chair and an exotic rug lend a touch of class to every neighboring room. At the end of the game, score 1 point for the foyer, plus 1 point for each adjacent unconquered room.
Dark Tunnel. "Hey, who blew out the torches?" "Ow!" "What was that?"
Yes, the party will have some difficulty conquering this tunnel. When they try, treat it as though the Combat Card had twice as many symbols. This doubling only applies to the value printed on the card, not to other bonuses, such as fatigue added by trained imps or Bubl.
Secret Passage. It's just a tunnel. But it's seeeecret. And that means no one knows it's there. Most importantly, the Ministry of Dungeons doesn't know it's there, so it is immune to Taxes. In fact, any card or rule or effect that counts your tunnels or dungeon tiles ignores your secret passage.
Adventurers can still find it during Combat (they are experts at finding secret passages) but it doesn't matter if they conquer it because it doesn't count during scoring. It doesn't count against Battlelord. However, it also does not count toward Tunnellord.
Note: This is the only improved tunnel that has an effect even if it is conquered. (That's why its icon is on both sides.) The others lose their effect when conquered.
Mithril Vein. You've struck it rich! When you use a Mine Gold action, you can send 2 imps to this tunnel. (Each gets you 1 Gold.) Imps mining in this tunnel do not count toward the limit imposed by your permit. (Mithril mining didn't become popular until a couple of centuries ago, and the Ministry is not going to update their regulations for a passing fad.)
For example, if you use Mine Gold action [I], you can send 2 imps to mine in 2 other tunnels and also send 1 or 2 imps to mine here. Each imp mines 1 Gold for you.