Dungeons of Doria
Dungeons of Doria Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Game Overview
- Selecting a Game Mode
- End of the Game
- General Setup
- Table Setup
- Comparative Rolls and Target Numbers
- Critical Rolls and Fumbles
- Adjacent
- The Heroes & Heroines of Doria
- Preparing Characters
- Base Attributes
- Calculated Values
- Equipping Cards and Definition of Symbols
- Requirements of Equipment Cards
- Armor Encumbrance
- Additional Card Properties
- Phases Overview
- Phase A: Round Marker +1
- Phase B: New Shop Items
- Phase C: Roll for Initiative
- Phase D: Action Phase
- Phase E: Poison
- Phase F: Special Actions
- Phase G: Doom Counter
- Phase H: Level Up
- Phase I: Buy or Remove Shop Items
- Action Phase
- Walking (1 AP per square)
- Jumping (5 AP)
- Swap Places (5 AP)
- Reveal a Room Tile (0 AP)
- Search Treasures (1 AP or 5 AP)
- Throw Items (0 - 10 AP)
- Attack or Use Items (AP on card)
- Repair Equipment (AP on card)
- Take, Use or Repair Other Items (5 AP)
- Carry Characters (2 - 10 AP)
- Revive Character (5+ AP)
- Equip Items (4 - 10 AP)
- Wait
- Revealing a Room Tile
- Special Feature: Open Room Tiles
- Treasure Icon on a Room Tile
- Traps and Secret Doors
- Dead Ends
- Monster Icons on a Room Tile
- Additional Symbols on Room Tiles or Markers
- Monster Order
- Target of a Monster
- Fastest Way to the Target
- Monsters and Obstacles/Holes
- Attack
- Range and Line of Sight
- Defense
- Getting Hit and Armor Rating
- Additional Combat Rules
- Repairing Equipment
- Defeated Monsters
- Psi Spells
- Psi Resistance
- Enchanted Weapons
- Hit Points, Initiative Points and Psi Points
- Unconsciousness
- Death of a Character
- Character Improvement
- Hero and Monster Level
- Campaigns
- Special Rules for 1 or 2 Players
- Player Count
- Optional Rules
- FAQ
- Credits
- Quick Rules Overview
Game Overview
Dungeons of Doria is a rogue-like dungeon crawler game for 1-6 cooperative players that is played without a game master. Each player selects one or more heroes, you all decide on a quest to complete and start exploring a dungeon. The quests or scenarios can be played as single adventures in one evening or as part of a campaign over several sessions. In each scenario, the game will produce almost completely random dungeons, traps, treasures and monster encounters, and the monsters will move according to predefined rules.
Each scenario is divided into rounds, and each round the players roll for initiative. With the Dungeons of Doria initiative system, each hero can spend their initiative points for multiple actions like moving, looting, attacking or repairing equipment. As only the character or monster with the highest initiative can define the next action, each player has to decide what they want to do: use a quick action costing only a few initiative points to allow multiple actions this round, or one slow action that might prove better — possibly defeating an opponent, but costing a lot of initiative points — or a mix of them, depending on the items equipped.
All heroes must work together to succeed against the game. You either win together by completing the objective of the selected scenario, or lose together if one of the heroes should die. The players have to tactically fight the monsters, disarm traps and manage their inventory. Only if the treasures found within the dungeon are properly shared among the group and decisions are made cooperatively, you might survive.
Selecting a Game Mode
Dungeons of Doria can essentially be played in two ways: in Single Scenario Mode and in Campaign Mode. Both game modes differ only slightly from each other, and most of the rules in this book apply to both game modes basically.
Single Scenario Mode
Select one scenario from the included Single Scenarios and play it. Each scenario is a standalone adventure and contains detailed steps on setup and any special rules. This mode is great for introducing new players to the game or simply playing a short scenario for a few hours and putting the game away afterwards. Characters receive more experience points in Single Scenario Mode and as a result level up faster. At the end of the scenario, the characters are usually discarded or erased. Taking over these characters into a campaign or for further use in other scenarios is not recommended (but is theoretically possible, if hero and monster levels are kept the same).
The Single Scenario Mode can also be played without a scenario as a pure exploration game, but as there would be no end condition, the players should define one prior to the game. See the Boss Monster deck rule cards that show some possible end conditions. If you play without a scenario, it is recommended to include all optional items (Boss Monster deck, Door Event deck and Room Events booklet).
Campaign Mode
In Campaign Mode, multiple scenarios are typically played one after the other. Most campaigns contain around 8 scenarios and each scenario lasts several hours. To play a campaign, select one of the included Campaign Books. As each campaign is distinct, stands by itself and tells its own story, characters should only be used for a single campaign, after which they should retire.
Many players create their own character for campaigns instead of choosing the premade characters. Characters level up much slower in a campaign compared to single scenarios, but there are often special artifacts or rewards offered within or between campaign scenarios.
End of the Game
A scenario immediately ends as soon as one of the following conditions besides the defined goal of the scenario occurs:
- All characters are knocked unconscious at the same time – the monsters will surround and defeat the characters (no matter how many monsters are present). Note: this might also happen if all players roll a Fumble during the same initiative roll, but this is very unlikely. However, this will become more likely the more heroes have negative Hit or Psi Points (since with one die, only a 1 has to be rolled).
- One of the characters dies (at –20 Hit or Psi Points).
General Setup
See the table setup picture on the next page for an overview on the recommended setup location for each of the below items.
- Shuffle all Loot Cards and divide them evenly into three stacks (170 cards each) placed face-down (drawing Loot Cards from any of the three decks is possible).
- Shuffle all small Monster Deck cards and place them as one face-down deck.
- Place the Monster Level deck for Level 1 on the table (or higher ones if playing later scenarios of campaigns).
- Place the Initiative Board on the table and place the Initiative Markers next to it. Each player chooses a color. Place the Doom Counter, Round Marker and XP Marker on their appropriate spaces on the Initiative Board.
- Keep the dice ready and sort the rest of the markers (Dungeon-, Damaged- and Bonus-Markers).
- Each player draws 4 Loot Cards from any of the three loot decks, then chooses a Character Mat or picks a character randomly (explained in more detail in the chapter Characters).
- Place the start Room Tile (usually the stairs / A-1) in the middle of the table or on one of the sides. Most scenarios need space for roughly 8-10 Room Tiles, but needed space on the table depends on your exploration choices and the number of doors opened.
- Either pick a scenario from the Single Scenarios or choose a Campaign Book and read the story and information given for the scenario out loud to all players.
- Prepare the Scenario Deck according to the scenario and place all room cards as a face-down deck.
Attention: the initial shuffle is very important! Otherwise, you might encounter only traps, never find the right equipment, or face only monsters with modifiers. Make sure to shuffle each deck thoroughly and separately before starting the game to ensure a balanced experience.
Table Setup
Example for a full six player setup. Make sure that all players can reach the Loot Decks easily. The Room Tiles, Monster Deck, Monster Level Deck and Initiative Board can be handled by one player each.
- Initiative-Board
- Initiative Markers, Doom Counter
- Round Marker, XP Marker
- Room Tile Deck
- Character Mats & Sheets
- Character Equipment
- 3 Loot Decks
- Shop Items
- Monster Deck
- Monster Level Decks
- Current Monster in play
- Sorted Markers and Figurines
- Play area including explored dungeon, character and monster figurines
Comparative Rolls and Target Numbers
Dungeons of Doria uses ten-sided dice for all dice rolls (one die normally indicated as 1×D10). As Dungeons of Doria only uses D10, the number of dice is, for example, given as "3D", which means that three ten-sided dice are used in this case. The following types of rolls or checks are used.
Comparative rolls
For attack or defense, characters and monsters use comparative rolls. Both the character and the monster use the values of their attack or corresponding defense and compare their results. If the attacker achieved the same or more, the attack was successful. If the defender rolled a higher result than the attacker, the attack was parried. By using multiple colors, all dice for attack and defense can be rolled at the same time, making combat a bit faster.
Example: The Scoundrel attacks an Orc. She uses her melee attack roll of 3D for this: the player rolls a 5, 8 and 4 and thus reaches a total of 17 (5+8+4=17). The Orc now uses its defense skill of 2D+5 to achieve a total of only 12 (2+5+5=12). This means the Scoundrel has successfully hit the Orc.
Target numbers
Target Numbers are always used when there is no opponent, for example with healing spells. The Target Number (TN) is often indicated as "TN 35" or "Target Number against 35". The player must then reach a 35 by adding two of their base attribute values and 2 dice.
Example 1: The Warrior is about to stumble into a pit, but can still try to hold on to the edge. He must make a Target Number check with STR+AGI+2D against 35. With Strength 15 and Agility 10 he already reaches 25 and adds 2D: the player rolls a 6 and a 4 and thus barely manages to avoid the pit trap (15+10+6+4=35).
Example 2: The Priestess wants to heal another character and uses a healing spell for this purpose. This spell requires CON and PSI and has a Target Number check against 32. The player rolls 2 and 5 and adds the values of Constitution (8) and Psi (15). Unfortunately, the Priestess only reaches a 30 (15+8+5+2) – and does not meet the Target Number, the spell fails.
Critical Rolls and Fumbles
No matter how many dice are used in a roll, each zero rolled is counted as a 10 result and rolled again (so-called "exploding" dice). This enables extremely high dice results: every 10 points above a Target Number or the opponent's roll means a critical success. Similarly, 10 points below the Target Number or the opponent's roll means a critical failure.
Fumbles
An exception is the roll of two ones. This is always a Fumble, even if the character or monster would have succeeded. In Dungeons of Doria, this is also the case if you use more than 2 dice! This means the more dice you use, the more likely you are to Fumble. However, rolling a zero followed by a one counts as 11 and not 1. See the chapter Combat for more details on critical rolls and Fumbles within battle.
Adjacent
This game counts only orthogonal squares as adjacent. All units like Range or walking distance are always counted only orthogonal, never diagonal.
The Heroes & Heroines of Doria
- Warrior — This warrior from the far south of Bron is a scholar of the Tri-Anon faith. As part of the path of fighting, he is on a quest to acquire higher ranks on the other two paths of wisdom and healing.
- Shield-Maiden — A female warrior of a military order from Wastra, equipped with sword and shield. However, other heavy weapons and chain armor are also popular among the warriors of the order.
- Ranger — A warrior from the humid rain-forests of Vargari. He prefers throwing weapons, but that doesn't mean he can't handle other projectile weapons as well.
- Huntress — Native to the northern forests of Radonia, the huntress specializes in projectile weapons like bows, crossbows and light melee weapons.
- Adventurer — An adventurer like this can be found in any place of Doria. A true all-rounder, adept in both combat and magic, but not as highly skilled in these areas as other characters.
- Scoundrel — A warrior from southern Feronde. She prefers to fight with pole weapons, but is also skilled with chain weapons. She sometimes can be distracted by shiny things, but helps the group whenever she can.
- Mage — This mage from the island state of Galdana has devoted his life entirely to the arcane arts. He is familiar with all kinds of combat magic.
- Priestess — A priestess of the light, native to Tandrur, the capital of the Lightbringer religion. Specialized in healing magic and banishing undead creatures.
Preparing Characters
Every player selects a character. Alternatively, you can shuffle the 8 character cards and randomly assign a card to each player. Each standard character automatically comes with 2 cards of predefined standard equipment. More Standard Items are available. Every player can choose as many of these items as they want, but predefined characters should be given preference when choosing items.
| Character | Matching Equipment |
|---|---|
| Warrior | Combat Hammer, Tri-Anon Armor |
| Shield Maiden | Squire Sword, Squire Shield |
| Ranger | Tomahawk, Bark Bracers |
| Huntress | Hunting Bow, Hunting Boots |
| Adventurer | Side-Sword, Psi Dart |
| Scoundrel | Moon Spear, Moon Greaves |
| Mage | Psi Orb, Spell Guard |
| Priestess | Sun Staff, Small Healing Spell |
After that, every player draws additional random Loot Cards, filling up to 6 items for each character. Standard Items and Traps may be discarded and the player can refill their cards. Alternatively, Gold and XP of kept Traps will be rewarded in the first Phase H to the group.
These 6 cards are the starting equipment of the character and can be directly equipped (see chapter Equipping Cards and Definition of Symbols) or placed in the Belt or Backpack (see Character Sheet sample on next page). The items may also be freely exchanged with other players or simply discarded, not every character must possess exactly 6 cards. Finally, each player chooses a color for their character.
Optional Rule: Create Heroes
Players can create their own character, which is recommended for advanced players and campaigns. Simply distribute 50 character points to the 6 base attributes. Each character point is considered 1 level of an attribute. As a minimum, each attribute must be set to 1 and may not exceed level 13 at creation. Standard equipment may be freely distributed and used with custom characters, but each character is still only allowed to have a maximum of 6 cards at the start of a scenario. It is allowed to first draw and exchange cards before distributing attribute points.
Warning: the skills Dodge and Psi Resistance on the Character Sheet may only be used if the minimum requirement of the attributes is met (as detailed directly on the Character Sheet).
Base Attributes
The 6 basic attributes Strength, Constitution, Agility, Perception, Wisdom and Psi describe the basic abilities of a character. They determine which equipment can be used by a character. In addition, in some cases, skill checks are made using two of the basic attributes.
Strength (STR)
Strength describes the raw power of a character and is important for fighters who want to use heavy weapons and heavy armor as well as swords. Strength is helpful if you want to wear a lot of armor. The Hit Points are also based on strength.
Constitution (CON)
Constitution defines how robust a character is and how resistant to poisons they are. Heavy weapons and armor as well as chain weapons often use the constitution value. Hit Points are also derived from constitution.
Agility (AGI)
Agility describes the general flexibility of the body and the dexterity of a character. A high level of agility is especially required for fencing weapons, swords and light armor. Initiative Points are also based on agility.
Perception (PER)
Perception defines how well a character can perceive their environment. Mainly ranged weapons, but also some spells benefit from a high perception value. Initiative Points are also calculated from perception.
Wisdom (WIS)
The wisdom of a character describes how much knowledge has already been acquired and learned. Many magic attacks, but also psi resistance, light armor and magic accessories require a high level of wisdom. Psi-points are also derived from the wisdom attribute.
Psi (PSI)
The psi attribute describes the general ability of a character to use magic accessories or spells. All spells use psi, so a high psi level is essential for every mage. The psi value is also the basis for the Psi Points.
Calculated Values
The values HP, IP and PP (Hit, Initiative and Psi Points) are derived from a character's base attributes. Whenever the base attributes change (normally in level up Phase H, in case the attributes were increased using experience points), the derived values have to be recalculated (including all modifications by new equipment). All derived values are always rounded down!
Hit Points (HP)
Hit Points describe how much damage a character can take. If the Hit Points fall below 0, all negative Hit Points are subtracted from the Initiative Points. As soon as a character reaches or falls below -20 Hit Points, they die and the scenario ends for all players! Hit Points can be regenerated by healing potions or while unconscious. Hit Points are calculated as follows:
(STR+CON)÷2 (rounded down)
Initiative Points (IP)
The Initiative Points indicate how many actions the character can perform in each round and how far they can walk. Many heavy weapons and most armor will reduce the Initiative Points. The Initiative Points are calculated as follows:
(AGI+PER)÷2 (rounded down)
Psi Points (PP)
Psi Points are used to cast spells or to perform special actions with some weapons through extraordinary concentration. Each spell or special action costs a specified number of Psi Points. Psi Points can also be used to resist enemy spells. They can drop below 0 similar to Hit Points, all negative Psi Points are subtracted from the Initiative Points. As soon as any character should reach -20 Psi Points, they die and the scenario ends for all players! Psi Points can be regenerated using psi potions or while unconscious. The Psi Points are calculated as follows:
(WIS+PSI)÷2 (rounded down)
Character Mat & Character Sheet Anatomy
On the Character Mat, all cards are placed directly on the appropriate place. The green line shows the Body Zone. Here, only cards matching each of the body zones may be placed and only if the character meets the requirements of the card. All items this character cannot yet use or does not want to use at the moment can be placed in the Belt Zone (yellow). This does not count as equipped, but is faster to reach. If there is not enough room, use the Backpack (red).
All character values are tracked on the Character Sheet. Start with a character or player name at the top. The Attributes (purple) are directly written onto the Character Sheet. If the Calculated Values HP, IP or PP change due to higher attributes, they are entered directly in the field below their derived attributes (blue outline). The Warrior has equipped Plate Arms, which automatically subtract 1 point of the IP. Record these Equipment Modifiers directly below the HP, IP and PP in the corresponding field. The final values are recorded in the last row. This row can also be used to record the final values after a scenario. The same applies to the final XP count at the top right of the Character Sheet.
The current values of HP, IP, PP and XP within the scenarios can be tracked using small tokens of the same type on the large green/orange tracking area in the middle. For example, if a character currently has 13 Hit Points and loses 3, move the HP marker to 10. If any value gets below 0, the marker is moved into the orange, negative area.
Once the characters level up, a bonus can be ticked in the orange outlined area.
Equipping Cards and Definition of Symbols
Equipment Cards
All cards can be equipped on the Body or carried on the Belt or in the Backpack. In general, most weapons and spells can only be used in the hands or from the Belt and are marked with 1 Hand or 2 Hands. Armor can only be used at their appropriate zone (Head, Arms, Torso, Legs, Feet or Accessory). Other exceptions (for example potions or defensive spells that can be used on the whole Body zone) are indicated on the respective cards.
The Backpack can store an unlimited amount of items, there is no penalty or encumbrance for Backpack items.
Definition of Symbols
Each Equipment Card shows either the weapons icon, the psi icon or the armor icon in the upper left corner. These cards can only be used or equipped if you meet the corresponding requirements of the card. The requirements are fulfilled if you have the same or more level points in the corresponding attribute as indicated on the card. If the requirements are not met, the card can only be carried in the Belt or Backpack, but not on the Body or in hands and thus cannot be used.
In addition there are potions. These cards have no requirements, every character can use them and keep them anywhere (on the whole Body, Belt or Backpack).
Example: the following card has a minimum requirement of STR 6 and WIS 6, so the card can only be equipped by characters that have an attribute value of 6 or more in both strength and wisdom.
Equipment Card Anatomy
- Title of the card
- Enchanted/Magic item
- Range of weapons and spells (only on some cards)
- Psi Point cost (only on some cards)
- Set-name or weapon category
- Description
- Zone for equipping the card
- Action Point cost
- Attribute requirements
- Values of the card (attack, defense, damage, bonuses, …)
- Gold value (none, 1, 2 or 3 coins)
Requirements of Equipment Cards
Armor has an additional requirement: Strength.
Armor Encumbrance
Characters cannot wear as much armor as they want without a penalty. All Armor Rating points of the armor equipped on the Body Zone are summed up and compared to the strength (STR) of the character. For every Armor Rating point above the strength attribute, the character has to deduct one point from the Initiative Points (IP) – in addition to any existing penalties from armor. This also applies to damaged armor equipped, but armor in the Belt or Backpack is completely ignored in this evaluation.
Example: the Mage (STR 5) has equipped three armor cards: a Woolen Jacket (AR 2), Woolen Shoes (AR 2) and Tights (AR 1). All armor can be worn with the character's current strength as indicated on the cards. If the character should now additionally put on a Padded Hood (AR 3), the player has to subtract 3 points from the Initiative Points (IP) until the strength increases or armor is unequipped.
Additional Card Properties
Many of the card properties described here are found on multiple cards and may have slightly different implications there (for example, Hit Points on the equipment cards or monster cards). Some of the properties must be entered on the Character Sheet (Hit Points, Initiative Points, Psi Points), some are provided as bonus markers (for example, bonus on weapons, spells or psi resistance).
-
Melee attack [Dice+Bonus], e.g. 3D+2 — this weapon can be used in melee combat. On monster cards this means a monster with a melee attack. The opponent defends with their defense skill. The attack is specified in [Dice + Bonus], in the example 3D+2.
-
Melee combat bonus [+Bonus], e.g. +1 — on armor cards this refers to a melee combat bonus. The corresponding bonus marker can be placed on the Character Sheet and applies to all melee attacks. Multiple bonuses of the same type gained from different items can be combined.
-
Ranged attack [Dice+Bonus], e.g. 2D+5 — this weapon can be used in ranged combat. On monster cards this refers to a monster with their defense skill. The attack is specified in [Dice + Bonus], in this example 2D+5.
-
Ranged combat bonus [+Bonus], e.g. +5 — on armor cards this refers to a ranged combat bonus. The corresponding bonus marker can be placed on the Character Sheet and applies to all ranged attacks. Multiple bonuses of the same type gained from different items can be combined.
-
Magic attack [Dice+Bonus], e.g. 4D+3 — this spell can be used as a magic attack, on monster cards this refers to a monster with a magic attack. The opponent defends with their psi resistance skill. The attack is specified in [Dice + Bonus], in this example 4D+3.
-
Magic attack bonus [+Bonus], e.g. +3 — on armor cards this refers to a magic attack bonus. The corresponding bonus marker can be placed on the Character Sheet and applies to all magic attacks. Multiple bonuses of the same type gained from different items can be combined.
-
Defense [Dice+Bonus], e.g. 2D+3 — this equipment offers its own defense against melee and ranged attacks. Every monster has a defense skill. The defense is specified in [Dice + Bonus], in this example 2D+3.
-
Defense bonus [+Bonus], e.g. +5 — on armor cards this refers to a defense bonus. The corresponding bonus marker can be placed on the Character Sheet and applies to all melee or ranged defense rolls. Multiple bonuses of the same type gained from different items can be combined.
-
Psi resistance [Dice], e.g. 3D — this equipment offers its own psi resistance against magic attacks. Every monster has a psi resistance skill. The psi resistance is specified in [Dice + Bonus], in this example 3D.
-
Psi resistance bonus [+Bonus], e.g. +1 — on armor cards this refers to a psi resistance bonus. The corresponding bonus marker can be placed on the Character Sheet and applies to all psi resistance rolls. Multiple bonuses of the same type gained from different items can be combined.
Phases Overview
Once all characters are equipped and finalized, the heroes can descend into the dungeon. The game is divided into rounds. Each round follows the same principles, the individual steps are explained in detail on the next pages. Many phases might be short or might even be skipped, but the Action Phase D will always be the longest phase.
- A. Round marker +1 — move the round marker up one space.
- B. New shop items — refill the dimension shop to 3 cards (one card in front of each loot deck).
- C. Roll for initiative — every player rolls 2D, adds their character's IP, and places their Initiative Marker on the Initiative Board. Fumbles while rolling initiative will move the Doom Counter +1 field down on the Initiative Board.
- D. Action phase — depending on the number of available Action Points characters have, any number of actions can now be performed (walking, jumping, swap places, search treasure, attacking, spells, using items, repairing, exchanging items, waiting). Monsters might be activated too.
- E. Poison — each poisoned character rolls CON+WIS+2D against TN 28+ [2×ML].
- F. Special actions — all special actions are performed, e.g. Mods, Zombies multiply, Traps or scenario actions activate.
- G. Doom counter — +1 field per Room Tile with at least one player on it, +1 field if no door has been opened. Effects of the Doom Counter are activated immediately!
- H. Level up — Hero level bonus (in Single Scenarios), distribution of Group XP, Regeneration, HP / IP / PP recalculation.
- I. Buy or remove shop items — purchase or discard any number of shop items.
Phase A: Round Marker +1
At the beginning of each round, the round marker is moved up one field on the Initiative Board. At the beginning of the game, the marker is moving from square 0 to Scenarios in order to know when the heroes automatically Level Up (at the end of round 7, 13 and 18). In certain scenarios, something might happen after a certain number of rounds, otherwise the number of rounds is only important for displaying the duration of the game. The round marker should also be flipped to the door side, whenever a new door has been opened, to remind the players that this has already happened. See Phase G: Doom Counter for more information, why opening doors is important.
Phase B: New Shop Items
In this phase, new Loot Cards are made available to see what can be bought in the shop. This shop always offers up to three Loot Cards for the characters to buy. To assist in the descent into dark dungeons, each character is equipped with a magical dimension pouch. This bag is directly connected to a store from another plane, which constantly offers new random goods (dimensional magic is quite strange).
Draw new Loot Cards up to a maximum of 3 cards. Draw one card from each Loot Deck and place it in front of the corresponding Loot Deck. If there are already cards present, only refill shop slots without items. In case any Traps or cards with no gold value are drawn, they remain in place until at least Phase I, blocking their shop item slot. These represent useless items or that the shop has fewer items available this round, but any events or traps drawn are not activated, they simply block the slot. See Phase I for more information on how to buy or remove items.
Phase C: Roll for Initiative
Now all players roll 2D (only 1D if characters have negative Hit or Psi Points) and add their Initiative Points (IP, derived value on the Character Sheet including possible equipment modifiers). This results in the maximum Action Points (AP) for this round. Each player places their colored Initiative Marker on the appropriate number on the Initiative Board. If a character has rolled more than 40 Action Points, 40 remains the maximum. Any excess points are lost, the character cannot use any more this round.
Characters are placed on the starting positions of Room Tile A-1 (stairs) in the order of initiative from 1 to 6 (fastest to slowest character). Some scenarios might not use the stairs and therefore use a different setup.
If a player should fall below 1 Action Point immediately after the dice roll, then this character becomes Unconscious and cannot act. A player will also become unconscious if they roll a Fumble on their initiative – i.e. two ones on two or more dice or a 1 using only one die. Unconsciousness will be explained in more detail later in the chapter Combat.
Example 1: Player 2 (green) rolls a total of 12 with 2D and adds the character's Initiative Points of 7, resulting in 19 Action Points. The green Initiative Marker is placed on square 19 of the Initiative Board.
Example 2: Player 5 (red) rolls two 1s with 2D. With this initiative Fumble, the character is automatically unconscious and cannot participate in the game this round. The red Initiative Marker is swapped with the character figurine on the Room Tile. The player can take control of the monster movement and monster dice this round. The Doom Counter is moved one field down to square 40 on the Initiative Board.
For every character that loses consciousness at the beginning of the round, the Doom Counter immediately moves +1 field down. This does not apply to players who did not roll for initiative and decided to keep their character unconscious during the last round – the Doom Counter does not move down additionally in this case.
If a monster is not defeated within the same round it spawned, any monsters still available will be set to their Action Point value on the Initiative Board. Make sure to also include possible Monster Modifiers (like Faster).
Phase D: Action Phase
During the action phase, the player (or monster) whose Initiative Marker is highest on the Initiative Board always is the active player. This player now defines the next action for their character. Possible actions include any movement, attacking, or looting, but are explained in more detail in the chapter Action Phase. Each action costs a predetermined number of Action Points. As soon as the action is started, the player moves the Initiative Marker on the Initiative Board down by the amount of Action Points that the action requires. The desired action is executed immediately – the Action Points are the recovery time and describe how long the action lasts until the character is ready for the next action.
Example: the green player has 19 Action Points. An attack with the equipped weapon costs 15 AP, so the green marker is moved from 19 to 4 on the Initiative Board. Then the player immediately rolls the attack against the monster. As soon as the attack action is completed, the next player acts (in this case, yellow at 17).
After the last player's action has completed, the Initiative Board is checked to determine again whose turn it is: this can be the same player or any other player with the highest current position on the Initiative Board. If multiple characters should occupy the same square, the players can decide which of the characters will act first.
Whenever it is a player's turn, they can perform any action as long as they have Action Points left. The last action may also bring that player to negative Action Points (no matter how high the cost) as long as the character was not at 0 before (i.e. has at least 1 AP left). There is no penalty for going into negative Action Points. The only exception to this is the Walking Action, which is only allowed as long as the character has Action Points left.
Example: the green player is next at 4 AP, all other players have already made their move. The character attacks a monster again (with a weapon costing 15 AP), which is allowed, since negative Action Points are allowed with the last action. After that, the green Initiative Marker is placed on the gray 0 square.
The Action Points do not have to be used, the player can also wait and let Action Points expire. No Action Points may be accumulated or saved, the current player must always define and execute an action.
In addition, Monster Markers might be added to the Initiative Board representing when monsters are activated. However, they will always be activated after a player with the same number of Action Points. When it's a monster's turn, it will move and attack directly in one action. This will be explained in detail later in the chapter Monster Activation.
If there should be multiple monsters available with the same initiative, they are handled based on the Level Cards initiative letter. If there are several monsters of the same type at the same time, the monsters closer to the characters start first (distance of squares to a hero).
It can also happen that a monster is revealed after its initiative value. In that case, the monster is activated immediately.
Phase E: Poison
Some monsters or Traps can poison the characters. The monster or Trap card indicates how many Poison Markers are dealt to the character. Each Poison Marker is simply placed on the Character Sheet or Monster Level Card. If the character is poisoned multiple times, simply add all the new Poison Markers to the existing ones.
Once characters are poisoned, a check is made during this phase to see how many Poison Markers are retained and how many Hit Points the characters lose. To do this, each poisoned character (even unconscious characters) makes a check using CON+WIS+2D against a Target Number of 28+[2×Monster Level].
Every character that reaches or exceeds the Target Number can put away one of their Poison Markers. If the Target Number is critically exceeded (10 points above the Target Number), the character loses 1 additional Poison Marker per critical success. In case of a normal failure nothing changes. However, in case of critical failures, the character gains 1 additional Poison Marker – and additional Poison Markers for each additional critical failure or Fumble, and the number of Poison Markers is subtracted from the character's Hit Points. Poison can only be healed with antidote potions or detox spells, apart from the above Target Number check.
Example: the Adventurer (CON 9, WIS 8) has accumulated 3 Poison Markers through multiple monster attacks. Since the monsters are still level 1, he rolls 2D against a TN of 30 and reaches a 29 (9+8+combined dice result of 12). This means the character will keep the 3 Poison Markers and lose 3 Hit Points.
Monsters can also be poisoned. They lose one Hit Point per Poison Marker during this phase, no check is performed.
Phase F: Special Actions
If necessary, all special actions are activated during this phase. This is especially the case if certain monster modifiers are in play (for example, the Necromancer) or if Zombies exist on the Room Tiles. This might include Trap activations or any scenario-related actions to be performed. Always execute all special actions in the order Monster Modifiers, Traps, Zombies, Other actions. All special actions are explained either on monster or Trap cards or within the scenario description.
Phase G: Doom Counter
During this phase, the Doom Counter is moved at least one field down. The Doom Counter may activate a Monster Level Up or Extra Activation of monsters. Players can influence how fast or slow the Doom Counter will move by adjusting their own actions:
- The Doom Counter Marker moves 1 square down for each Room Tile with at least 1 character on it. This means depending on the number of players, the Doom Counter can move 1-6 squares. The counter always moves at least 1 square (when all characters are located on the same tile). Even in larger rooms (i.e. rooms that consist of several Room Tiles), each Room Tile counts separately and is not counted as one Large Room.
- The Doom Counter Marker will move down 1 additional square in case no new Room Tile was revealed by opening a door (use the round marker as a reminder). Room Tiles revealed by Traps, secret doors, or similar do not count. Revealing multiple tiles in the same round by opening multiple doors does not provide a bonus either, the marker either moves 0 or 1 square down. A revealed Room Tile cannot be "saved" for later.
Example: the players managed to open a door and position their characters all on the same Room Tile within the first round. The Doom Counter only moves one space down to 40.
The effects of the Doom Counter are instantly triggered as soon as the marker moves onto or across an appropriate square:
- +1 Extra-Activation (includes refill monsters):
- First, the monsters are refilled to [PlayerCount]÷2 (rounded up): for each missing monster not on the game board below that number, one additional monster is drawn from the monster deck (including modifications) and the monster placed outside the stairs (or the valid entrance, depending on the scenario). When activated, it moves into the dungeon through the entrance. In case of the stairs on A-1 there are 3 possible entrance squares and the monster will choose the square that is closer to a character. If all entrance squares should be blocked for any reason, the new monsters start as near as possible to the entrance.
- After the monsters have been refilled, all monsters are activated in order of their initiative. All monsters on the game board are moved in the same way as in a normal round, but the characters can't move or attack. Defending against the attacks of the monsters is possible though.
- +1 Level (Monsters):
- All monsters will receive the next higher Monster Level as described in the later chapter Level Up. The Doom Counter Marker is then placed on the starting space of the Doom Counter again (the red monster head does not count as a space).
- In campaign scenarios, this may only apply to the first level up, all following level changes are ignored for this scenario.
If the Marker on the Doom Counter moves across multiple Extra Activations within the same round, all of the activations are played one after the other according to the normal rules. If the marker on the Doom Counter reaches square 30, it will be placed directly onto the red monster head. This means the Doom Counter marker will move continuously in a circle.
Example 1: the 5 characters have positioned themselves in an unfavorable position directly before the end of the round and scattered themselves on 3 Room Tiles. Since they also only attacked monsters and did not open a door, the Marker on the Doom Counter moves 4 spaces down from 36 to 32. Two monsters are still present on the board, which means one additional monster appears at the entrance. Afterwards, due to the extra action, all monsters move according to their rules and attack the characters directly.
Example 2: the characters still did not manage to open a door in the next round and are distributed over 2 Room Tiles. Therefore, the Doom Counter Marker moves from square 32 directly 3 spaces to square 40 (the red monster head is not counted).
Phase H: Level Up
In the Level Up Phase, players can increase their attributes by using experience points and recalculate Hit Points (HP), Initiative Points (IP) and Psi Points (PP). If the character should now have more Hit Points or Psi Points, both the maximum and the current value will increase accordingly. In addition, the characters may choose a bonus as soon as a round with a higher hero level is reached (only valid in Single Scenario Mode, not in Campaigns). More information can be found later in the chapter Level Up.
If the bonus Regeneration was selected by a character, 1 HP and 1 PP may now be regenerated.
In case a character is unconscious, that character now recovers 3 points, which may be freely distributed among the Hit Points and Psi Points. The player can now decide whether the character wakes up and will roll initiative in the next round, or whether the character simply remains unconscious.
Phase I: Buy or Remove Shop Items
Only during this phase, players can buy the revealed shop items if they have enough gold to trade. The dimensional store requires the equivalent value of an item before another item can be taken out of the pouch. Gold is directly exchanged: a Loot Card with 1 gold coin can buy another card worth 1 gold coin, a card with 3 gold coins can buy another card of the same value or 3 different cards each worth 1 gold coin. If there are no suitable cards in the store, there is no change for equipment paid with more gold!
If no player wants to buy particular cards, any number of cards can be simply moved to the discard pile to clear shop slots. However, Trap cards block a shop slot until they are bought from the shop. If the players do not pay the gold for the Trap, it simply keeps blocking this slot until the gold is paid. After payment, the Trap and the item(s) used for paying the price are moved to the discard pile. No XP are rewarded for these Traps. Cards that have no gold value can simply be moved to the discard pile.
Players can purchase shop cards together and combine gold for a more valuable item. The items used to trade may be taken from any part of the Character Mats, including the Belt or Backpack. This allows players to sell cards from the Backpack and equip the new item at another location. Once the item is acquired, it can be directly thrown (see corresponding action in the Action Phase) to any character (if done directly after buying it without any Action Point cost). Unconscious characters are able to contribute gold, but cannot receive items.
Note: items already damaged are worth 1 gold coin less when sold in the dimension store until they are repaired.
Example: a Hypno Hat (2 gold), a Dagger (1 gold) and a Log Trap (2 gold) are on display in the store. A player provides 3 gold through an item that is not yet usable and places the Trap on the discard pile, leaving 1 gold to be used. The Mage has a damaged Wizard Hat equipped (originally worth 2 gold). As the Hypno Hat seems to be better, he sells the Wizard Hat for 1 gold, which is then enough to buy the Hypno Hat. The Mage equips the new hat and places the previously equipped Wizard Hat on the discard pile. None of the players wants to buy the Dagger, so they simply put it on the discard pile.
Optional Rule: Trap Shop
Trap cards have to be removed in Phase I. To do so, the players have three options to remove any amount of Traps in the shop:
- Buy the Trap card for gold as usual.
- Move down the Doom Counter one field to remove a Trap card (this might trigger additional monster activations, see Phase G).
- Activate the Trap card on any chosen character immediately (can be disarmed/avoided, results in XP and Gold as usual).
Action Phase
Action Point cost is shown on each card and the Action Points left for each character in each round will be visible on the Initiative Board. Remember: the last action can be as high as needed and go into negative initiative.
Walking (1 AP per square)
Walking is the main movement action. Each square that a character moves requires 1 action point. However, the character can only move freely onto fields that are not occupied (see Occupied fields below). Moving diagonally (via corners) is not allowed, movement is only possible to directly adjacent squares (also called orthogonal). For diagonal movement, 2 Action Points and a way over adjacent squares to the target square are necessary.
Squares occupied by monsters cannot be entered or passed, the monster blocks the square by its presence. Conversely, this also applies to monsters – they can never pass a character figure. Squares blocked by other characters are allowed to be passed, but no two characters can ever stand on the same square after a finished action. The crossing of another character figure is counted just like a normal square.
A walking action is always performed in a single action. That means a character can move over any number of squares and sums these squares up to get the Action Points for this walking action. As soon as the player stops to later perform other actions (e.g. open a door or attack), the current walking action ends and the Action Points are deducted from the Initiative Board. A walking action can be as far as the player wants and as long as the character has Action Points.
Exception: the character can never reach negative Action Points with a Walking action. Walking is only possible as long as the player has positive Action Points.
Occupied squares
Squares are considered occupied and inaccessible if a monster or other player is standing on the square. Holes (including Holes caused by Traps) or any squares with Red Borders can never be entered, do not block the Line of Sight, weapons with a higher range can be used normally (explained in detail in the chapter Combat). These also do not stop area effects or Traps. Any other squares, even if covered by furniture like tables, chairs or other items are considered a normal square. Squares fully blocked by a Wall cannot be entered, but if the Wall is only covering a part of the square, it can be used normally. If unclear, any square without a Red Border can be used. See Difficult Terrain at the end of the Exploration chapter for additional terrain squares.
Example 1: the Huntress ignores the monsters and wants to go straight to the treasure chest. Since all other paths are blocked by monsters or Holes, she moves on the yellow indicated path. This costs 7 Action Points to get onto the treasure chest square. Now, it is checked again which player is next.
Example 2: the Huntress only has 5 Action Points left. The treasure chest 7 squares away is unreachable for her this round with a normal walking action.
Jumping (5 AP)
Jumping is considered another movement action. Each character can jump to get across squares that show a Hole or Red Borders. You can also jump over other characters or make a jump over several squares to the next Room Tile, but similar to a walking action you can never jump over a square with a monster. Jumping past a monster square is allowed. A jump action is only allowed to a square where no monster can be counted (including Holes).
Jumping can always be combined with other movement actions. The jump itself and the entire movement action will always be successful, but the character may be injured while jumping. If a character wants to jump, they move directly to the square from which they want to jump and spend the corresponding amount of Action Points. For the squares that are to be jumped over, 5 Action Points are added, no matter how far the jump is. Further Action Points are added according to the normal walking rules if the character wants to continue moving after the jump.
Through a jump action, the character may also reach negative Action Points, but they are not allowed to continue moving after the jump if they have no more Action Points available. It is also possible to combine multiple jump and movement actions.
As soon as the character has completed their entire movement including the jump(s), the player rolls a jump check for every jump with STR+AGI+2D. Depending on how far the character wants to jump, the Target Number becomes more difficult: add 10 points for each square including the target square but without the starting square. For example 2 squares will result in a Target Number of 20, 4 squares will result in a target of 40. To see if the character is able to jump over the obstacle without taking damage, the player rolls 2D and adds the character attributes STR and AGI. If the result is equal to or higher than the Target Number, the jump completed as intended.
Whenever a character fails the jumping check, the character takes fall damage. If it is a simple failure, the character receives 1 damage point for every square jumped. Equipped armor is always ignored for this type of damage. For each critical failure (10 points below the Target Number) or Fumble (rolled two 1s), the damage is multiplied. A jump that is too risky can therefore cost the character a lot of Hit Points.
Caution: the destination of the jump must be a free square, otherwise the action cannot be initiated. If the target is a different character but a square next to this character is accessible, another Action Point can be spent during the jump to move to the free square directly after the jump. This is only possible if the jumping character has at least 1 Action Point left after the jump. If no square is available after jumping, the leading character must first move aside or gain space by defeating monsters.
If there is a monster on the target field (for example, directly adjacent to a Hole), the monster must first be defeated using ranged weapons or magic spells or waited until the monster has crossed the Hole.
Example 1: the Huntress (STR 7, AGI 10, 19 AP) still wants to move directly to the treasure, but another monster blocks the way. Therefore she has to jump over the Hole. She spends 2 AP (Difficult Terrain) to get to the edge of the Hole (short yellow arrow, the action is not interrupted by this), 6 AP for the jumping check of 2 squares onto Difficult Terrain and then another 2 AP for the remaining distance to the treasure. Then the Huntress rolls the jumping check against a Target Number of 20, because she had to jump across 2 squares: STR+AGI+2D=7+10+6+8=31. She jumped over the Hole without any problems, but had to spend 10 Action Points to do so.
Example 2: the Mage (STR 4, AGI 7) now also wants to follow the Huntress across the Hole. Unfortunately, another monster has blocked the way, so the Mage now has to jump 3 squares (Target Number against 30). He spends 9 Action Points (2 to the Hole, 5 for the jump and 2 to get behind the Huntress) and then rolls STR+AGI+2D with two ones (4+7+1+1=13)! This means that the Mage already has a critical failure with his result of 13, which is lowered by another category (due to the Fumble). This means that the Mage loses 3×3=9 Hit Points at once – but at least he reached the intended target square.
Example 3: the Huntress has already jumped over the Hole, but is now surrounded by monsters. The Mage can't follow her across the Hole as there is no free square left. A monster must first be defeated to allow the Mage to cross the Hole. However, it will probably be easier to defeat one of the monsters that stand in the way and move normally to the Huntress.
Swap Places (5 AP)
Swapping places is also considered a movement action. It is possible to swap places with another character for 5 AP, if the character is adjacent the other character or if there is a free square within range 1 of the character to be replaced. It is also possible to combine this with a walking or jumping action, so it is possible to move next to the character and swap places with them in a single action. Swapping places is only possible if the moved character agrees to the action.
Reveal a Room Tile (0 AP)
By performing any movement action (walking, jumping or swap places), the character could also reach a door that is still closed. Opening a closed door does not happen automatically, the player must actively decide to reveal a Room Tile. Moving past a door or stopping on an adjacent square does not reveal the room as long as the player does not wish to do so.
As soon as the player decides to reveal a new Room Tile, the character stops in front of the door and performs the steps described in the chapter Exploration. Revealing a room itself does not cost any Action Points, but the process interrupts any movement action. It could happen that the current player is no longer at the top of the Initiative Board. A character already standing at a door can open it without any Action Point cost and then decide the next action after the room was revealed (if the character is still the first).
Caution: if a character stops in front of a door and does not open it, no other player can open the door. Therefore this approach is only recommended if either no more doors need to be opened this round and the character is fast enough in the next round or the character can still act later in this round. The only way to get to the door past this character is through a Swap Places action.
Search Treasures (1 AP or 5 AP)
Whenever a character stands on a square with a Loot Marker, they can search for treasures at this location. This action costs 1 Action Point to draw one Loot Card. The player draws any Loot Card from the 3 loot decks and follows the instructions on the card (Loot Cards can contain weapons, spells, armor and potions but also events in forms of Traps or secret doors).
If the player wants to search more carefully, they may draw two Loot Cards for 5 Action Points. However, they must discard one of the cards and put it on the discard pile. This card is lost for this scenario.
In both cases, the Loot Marker is removed from the square.
Throw Items (0 - 10 AP)
Throwing items like weapons, spells, potions and armor to other characters is only possible when it is the character's turn. Depending on where the card is stored, this will cost the character varying amounts of Action Points (item is equipped on the Body: 0 AP, Belt: 4 AP, Backpack: 10 AP). Throwing objects is only possible if both characters are located on the same Room Tile or to an adjacent Room Tile, as long as there is a direct connection (door or Secret Door) to the next Room Tile. It doesn't matter how far away the other character is, there is no range limitation or Line of Sight needed.
Optional Rule: Throw Items
For a more realistic feeling and to make the game harder, throwing items to other characters is only allowed with Line of Sight to the target on the same or an adjacent Room Tile.
Caution: if an item is thrown to another character and the receiving character already has an item equipped at this slot, the removed item cannot be directly thrown to other characters. It is only allowed to move this item to another zone on the Body (if possible), into the Belt or the Backpack of the receiving character.
Downgrading cards into the Belt or the Backpack is always possible at no cost. However, only the item that has been replaced may be moved. Other items can only be moved or thrown to other characters when it is the character's turn again.
Attack or Use Items (AP on card)
Once a character is in combat range (depending on the weapon or spell used), they can attack a monster using weapons or spells. How attack and defense work is described in more detail in the chapter Combat. Each attack costs a certain amount of Action Points (usually between 5 and 25 Action Points).
You can also use weapons, spells and potions straight from your Belt as long as the item can be used one-handed. In this case, the Action Points of the Belt are directly added to the Action Points of the card (4 AP). Items in the Backpack may not be used directly and must first be taken out of the Backpack for 10 Action Points and equipped on the Body or Belt or thrown to another character. Defensive items can only be used if they are equipped at the Body Zone, not from Belt or Backpack.
Repair Equipment (AP on card)
In combat, it can happen that armor or even weapons and spells are damaged. To repair any item, the Action Points indicated on the card must be spent similar to normal use of the item.
Special feature for armor: it is possible to repair an entire armor set simultaneously by spending the highest Action Points of all involved and damaged set items. However, only the equipped parts on the Body or in the Belt can be repaired. Armor items in the Backpack must be repaired separately, even if they are part of a set.
Take, Use or Repair Other Items (5 AP)
If an urgently needed item is with a character that is currently unable to act, this item can also be taken from this character. To do this, the active character must get into range 1 of the other character on an adjacent square. It costs 5 Action Points to take any item from this character, no matter where the item is located (on the Body, Belt or Backpack). However, the other character must agree to the action.
Exception: if a character is unconscious, they cannot resist against taking items, but should at least be involved in the decision process.
An item taken from another character can also be directly used within the same action, even if the item is located in another character's Backpack (e.g. to infuse a character within range 1 with a potion, drink the potion yourself or use a weapon). The necessary Action Points of the item being used are then added to the 5 Action Points. If the item is still available afterwards (as with weapons or spells), it must be equipped in the hand of the last character to use it. Used potions are simply discarded.
If armor, a set of armor or an item of another character is repaired, 5 Action Points are added to the repair cost, but the item stays with the original owner. Even if done by another character, items in the Backpack may only be repaired separately or have to be retrieved from the Backpack first.
Carry Characters (2 - 10 AP)
Unconscious characters cannot move on their own and need to be carried by other characters. For any movement action (walking, jumping, swap place) the Action Point cost will be doubled while carrying another character, as long as they are on the same square. Simply place the Initiative Marker of the unconscious player under the figure of the player still moving. Picking up or dropping unconscious characters does not interrupt a walking action and can be combined with other movement actions.
Jumping is also possible with an unconscious character, but both characters will be injured according to the jump rules in case of a failure or Fumble.
Only one unconscious person can be carried per character. Active characters that are conscious can never be carried, as they still perform their last action. Only the swap places action can be used to move active characters.
Revive Character (5+ AP)
You can revive an unconscious character by using a Tri-Anon healing technique within Range 1 of the unconscious character. Spend any number of Action Points and roll with PER+WIS+2D against a Target Number of 24+[2×ML]. The healing character decides how many Action Points they want to give to the unconscious character: at minimum 5 AP have to be used and a maximum of half (rounded down) of the currently available Action Points. The selected number of Action Points need to be paid directly by the healer, but the revived character only receives them if the roll is successful. The revived character can directly activate if brought to the highest space in the Initiative Board.
For every critical result (10 above the target), the target character receives 1 point to be distributed to the Hit Points or Psi Points.
Equip Items (4 - 10 AP)
Items in the Belt or Backpack can only be equipped during Phase D and cost 4 or 10 Action Points depending on location. This applies even if a character raised an attribute in Phase H and now meets the requirements. Other characters can assist equipping items for 5 Action Points if within Range 1.
Items received within Phase D can be equipped immediately and without Action Point cost by any character within Throw Items range. Items bought in Phase I can be equipped immediately by any conscious character.
Wait
If a character simply cannot or does not want to do any action at all, for example because they have to wait for another character or for the activation of a monster, they can wait as long as they like, using up Action Points in increments of 1 AP until they want to act again. Action Points used for waiting are lost and cannot be regained.
Revealing a Room Tile
Whenever a player decides to reveal the next room, they have to draw the uppermost Room Tile from the deck and place it correctly. The following basic rules apply when laying out new Room Tiles:
- There must always be a direct path from the active player into the new room, other already existing Room Tiles can be ignored.
- If a Door exists on the new Room Tile, it must always be placed against the Door that has just been opened (open sides may only be used if there is no door).
- If there are multiple Doors on the new tile, the players may freely decide which Door to use. The player opening the Door has the last word on which door is used, but this should be discussed with the other players.
On Room Tiles, Doors are indicated by small door icons placed on one-square-wide passageways between walls, marking unopened exits from the room.
Example 1: the Mage moves from the starting tile (A-1) to the right and opens the door. The player draws the room shown (A-3). This room cannot be placed with the door pointing down because there is only one door. This one door must be positioned adjacent to the right door of Room Tile A-1 to make the new room accessible – the two doors shown must point to each other.
Example 2: the same situation involving a different room. Room F-1 can be placed at any of three doors.
Example 3: a bit later (3 players have already revealed 2 Room Tiles and defeated a monster) the Mage opens another door. Room C-7 can only be placed on one of two open doors, even if this blocks a previously placed door – that door can't be opened or walked through anymore.
Special Feature: Open Room Tiles
Room Tiles with one or several sides featuring openings at least 2 squares wide are called Open Room Tiles. These open sides are indicated by small triangle arrow icons, showing that the room extends further.
Whenever an Open Room Tile is placed, more Room Tiles are drawn until there are no remaining open sides. If another Open Room Tile is drawn after the first open Room Tile, an open side must be placed adjacent to the existing open side. This creates a much larger room that is not separated by Walls. These rooms connected through open sides are called Large Rooms and are considered the same room for movement (1 square). However, even Large Rooms still count as multiple Room Tiles for the Doom Counter phase (Phase G).
In case a Room Tile containing only doors is drawn following an Open Room Tile, it can be placed anywhere along the open side. New Room Tiles are drawn only as long as there are still open sides on any of the Room Tiles. If there are only doors left, the drawing of more Room Tiles stops. For all rooms placed due to an Open Room Tile, doors connecting these Room Tiles are considered connected and all doors automatically open at the time of placement.
All Room Tiles are drawn one after the other and each one is placed instantly according to the rules before the next one is drawn. It is not allowed to draw all Room Tiles at the same time and then place them as desired. New Room Tiles may block doors on existing rooms, whether on purpose or as a result of the layout, provided it follows placement rules.
Example: shortly afterwards, the Mage opens the next door and draws a Room Tile with two open sides and a door (B-7). Since this tile has only one door, he must place it at the door he opened. The next Room Tile drawn is F-5, which can be placed on either of two open sides, and the Mage decides to place it on one of them. Since there is still an open side, the player must draw another Room Tile and is given the tile B-4. This tile also has two open sides and one of these sides must be placed against the open side of the previous tile. The player chooses that option and draws the final Room Tile E-3 (placing it in any direction), thus completing the exploration of the room and placing all monsters and treasure markers immediately.
No connection to the dungeon
If an Open Side of a Room Tile isn't connected to the rest of the dungeon, no additional rooms are drawn in that direction. However, once a connection is established to these parts, additional rooms are drawn according to the usual rules.
Treasure Icon on a Room Tile
As soon as a Room Tile with a treasure icon is revealed, a treasure marker is immediately placed on top of the treasure icon. As soon as a character moves to this treasure marker and decides to search for treasure, a Loot Card is drawn by the player and the marker is removed. Further searching for treasures by the same or other players is of no avail at this location.
Example: the recently placed Room Tile has a treasure icon. A treasure marker is now placed on this square. It is removed as soon as a character has moved onto the square and searched for treasures.
Traps and Secret Doors
Traps are included in the Loot Card deck and are automatically "discovered" the moment they are revealed. If a Trap is drawn that requires a new Room Tile to be placed (for example, a Secret Door), the Room Tile is drawn as normal from the deck and is placed on the dungeon as described on the card. However, Trap events never count as revealing a room, so you may need to pay attention to the Doom Counter if a door has not already been opened this round.
Traps always become active immediately at the moment they are drawn. There are essentially three types of Traps: individual Traps that only affect one character or their current position (Person), Traps that extend to an Area around the person and therefore can target several characters, and Room Traps. Room Traps affect the Room Tile on which the triggering character is currently located. If this is a Room Tile with one or more open sides, Room Traps apply to all Room Tiles up to the nearest doors (a single square opening).
Each Trap can be disarmed or dodged, the corresponding rules are stated on each Trap card. To disarm a Trap, a character usually has to pass a check against a Target Number (using two of the character's attributes). For this purpose, the value ML is often indicated on the Trap cards: this value refers to the current Monster Level and is multiplied by the given number. As soon as the Trap is disarmed or the end condition triggered, all room effects like Blocked Doors and any movement impacts will end. The disarming character receives the trap card as gold and the experience points are attributed to the group. The rewards are also granted if the Trap was not disarmed, but the effects triggered.
If the Target Number should not be reached, all penalties like damage apply to the characters involved. Critical failures or successes while trying to disarm or avoid a trap have no special effects.
Example: two Room Tiles after a scenario has started (Monster Level 1), the area trap Boulder Trap is drawn. To avoid the boulder, a check with STR+AGI+2D against 28+[3×ML] must be made. Thus, the Target Number for this trap is 31. The Adventurer (STR 9, AGI 8) must roll at least a 14 with 2D to avoid the boulder. The Warrior faces a significantly easier challenge (STR 13, AGI 9) and only needs to roll a 9.
Secret Doors
Doors that are blocked by Traps are considered Walls, which means that you cannot exchange objects or attack monsters behind these Blocked Doors. Some Traps have special effects mentioned in their description, for example Spiked Walls or a room-sized Pitfall. Even in these Traps, all characters and monsters can still move freely on the Room Tile as long as they do not have to pass through a door that is blocked by the Trap.
Secret Doors are always placed on a side with a Wall, never on an already existing door – unless this door is closed by a Wall on the next Room Tile and this is the only option. If there is no available Wall side, the Secret Door may open in another room as close as possible to the character triggering it.
If a Secret Door event is triggered within an enclosed Trap room, the Secret Door may be placed on a Wall. The characters are lucky – they've found another way out of the Trap!
Dead Ends
As all Room Tiles are drawn randomly, it might happen that a dungeon is closed by a dead end and there are no more doors available even though the heroes have not reached their destination. If this should be the case, a Secret Door is automatically added to the last placed Room Tile in the middle of a Wall side with no adjacent Room Tile yet. If there are multiple Wall sides without adjacent Room Tiles, the players may decide where the Secret Door materializes.
If the last room placed should be surrounded by other rooms, the players can choose on which Room Tile the Secret Door opens and the dungeon continues.
This special Secret Door is treated like a normal, unopened door. The heroes have to open it first before the next Room Tile is drawn. However, all this only applies as long as there are no unopened doors left in the entire dungeon.
Monster Icons on a Room Tile
If there is a monster icon on a Room Tile, draw a monster card for each existing monster icon on this tile and place the corresponding monster figure on the monster square. The monster card itself can then be placed on the discard pile. In addition, the level card of the corresponding monster should now be revealed.
It is recommended to mark monsters with more than one Hit Point or Armor protection directly next to the figure with HP or AR markers. Each player can immediately see how many Hit Points or Armor Rating a monster has. Alternatively, the markers can be placed on the level card. Use the colored Monster Markers on the Initiative Board (when monsters activate) and next to other markers to distinguish between multiple monsters of the same type.
Example: the currently revealed Room Tile shows a white monster icon. Immediately after placing the Room Tile, the players draw a monster card due to the monster icon and receive a Slimecrawler card. The players place a Slimecrawler figure on the square with the monster icon.
Monster icon colors
On the Room Tiles there are monster icons in different colors, which are only used when a certain number of players is reached. All colors for a higher number of players are simply ignored.
- White monster icons are always used (1-6 players)
- Green monster icons from 4 players (4-6 players)
- Yellow monster icons from 5 players (5-6 players)
- Red monster icons from 6 players (6 players only)
Multiple monsters per monster icon
Sometimes, multiple monsters spawn on one icon (for example, Goblins or modifications). If this is the case, every additional monster is placed as close as possible to the first monster. If there are multiple options, the square that is closer to a character or, in the case of multiple characters, to the character with the lowest attribute matching the monster's attack skill is always used (see also the following chapter Monster Activation).
Example 1: 3 players with one character each have revealed a Room Tile with two white monster icons. One monster card is drawn for each white monster icon and the corresponding monsters are placed on these squares. For the right monster icon, a Slimecrawler was drawn, and for the left, a Colossal monster modification and then a Mummy.
Monster modifiers
It can happen that instead of a monster, a monster modifier card is drawn. If this happens, additional cards (sometimes even multiple monster modifiers) are drawn until a normal monster card is drawn. All monster modifiers just drawn will apply to that monster and are placed on the monster card or the corresponding Monster Level Card.
For monsters with modifications, it is recommended to place a Monster Marker corresponding to the figurine color on the modifier card. This makes it easier to remember multiple monsters of the same type exist.
There are also monster modifications that have an effect on the characters similar to a trap (e.g. explosion). These effects, like Traps, never affect other monsters.
Example 2: for this monster, 3 modifications were drawn first (Explosion, Horde and Fire Creature) until a normal monster card (Zombie) was drawn. The "Horde of exploding Fire Zombies" is placed as close as possible to the monster icon. Two of the Zombies are immediately placed on the squares marked red. The third Zombie is placed on the yellow marked square, because this square is closer to the hero. The green marked square is ignored, even if it is the same distance from the monster icon.
There are only a certain number of monster figures for each monster, depending on how often the monster appears in the deck and what special skills it has. As soon as an additional monster should be placed and there is no figure available for that monster anymore, one of the existing monsters of this type on the game board immediately gets an Extra Activation. If there are multiple possible monsters, they are selected according to the monster order rules as usual. This also applies to Zombies that multiply at the end of the round – but every Zombie that cannot multiply will be activated.
This Extra Activation is immediately played out as soon as another monster of this type should be brought into the game. If a new monster that cannot be placed should have received modifications, these modifications are passed to the monster that receives the Extra Activation.
Example: there are already 2 Gargoyles (the maximum of Gargoyle figures) on the Room Tiles. A character opens another door, which shows a Room Tile with a monster icon. The cards Blocker and Gargoyle are drawn from the monster deck. Since there are no Gargoyle figures left, the Gargoyle closest to a character receives the Blocker modification and is immediately activated outside the normal order. All Gargoyles additionally are activated again at their normal initiative of 10.
Current initiative for monsters
If a room is revealed near the end of the round and the revealed monster should have more Initiative Points than the current character, then that monster will activate immediately. Also, some monster modifications can cause monsters to be activated before players immediately after being revealed.
No connection to the dungeon
If a monster square has no connection to the rest of the dungeon for any reason, no monster card is drawn. However, once a connection is made, draw and set up the monster exactly as if the door had just been opened.
Additional Symbols on Room Tiles or Markers
Starting Positions
The squares marked with roman numerals on Room Tile A-1 are used at the beginning of most scenarios. All characters start in the dungeon based on their first initiative in the order from I with the highest initiative to VI for the slowest character.
Colored Runes
The runes in the colors blue, purple, orange and green can be accessed like regular squares. These runes will be used for special tasks in specific scenarios and will be described in more detail therein.
The Rune Markers share the same purpose and are also only defined in specific scenarios.
Compass
The compass provides cardinal points in the dungeon in case a specific scenario needs directions. This means that Room Tile A-1 points north from the stairs. If a scenario requires cardinal directions, but does not use Room Tile A-1, A-1 is inaccessibly placed adjacent to the dungeon for reference.
Arrows (Room F-3)
Room F-3 (intersection with bridge) is a slight curiosity: the arrows indicate that a character may walk under the bridge. This means that there are only 4 squares available on this room level, the middle square cannot be used in this passage and is simply ignored. This also applies to the Line of Sight, range and monsters. The upper passage is not visible from below, and vice versa.
Walls
Walls can never be entered by characters and block the Line of Sight. Poltergeists can move through Walls and attack from a Wall, but are visible and accessible to all characters from that point on.
Difficult Terrain
Blue or red borders around a square (both dashed and solid) mark terrain that cannot easily be traversed. Depending on the color and line style, the following rules apply:
- Blue Dashed Line — this is difficult terrain and therefore always costs 1 additional Action Point for any movement action. This also applies to monsters. Additionally, moving within multiple connected squares costs the additional Action Point for every step on a blue bordered square. However, blue dashed lines do not block Line of Sight. That means a character or monster can also decide to jump over them.
- Blue Solid Line — a square with a Blue Solid Line is considered an obstacle and uses the same movement rules as squares with a blue dashed line. Blue solid lines though hinder Line of Sight: for any attack (melee, ranged or spells) that needs to cross a blue solid line, the defender receives +1D on the Defense or Psi Resistance. This applies to both characters and monsters. Jumping over an obstacle is possible using the usual rules.
- Red Dashed Line — squares surrounded by Red Dashed Lines are considered Holes and therefore cannot be entered. They do not block Line of Sight though, so a character or monster can simply jump over these squares.
- Red Solid Line — a square with a Red Solid Line is considered the same as a Wall. This square blocks Line of Sight and figurines can never enter the square.
Dungeon Markers
- Secret Doors can be entered normally and are treated like an open door. There is a free Line of Sight onto the Secret Door square itself and into the room behind the Secret Door like a normal door would also allow. Consider the Wall on the square with the Secret Door as non-existent.
- Blocked Doors can never be opened unless otherwise specified in the rules of the scenario or trap (usually by disarming a trap). Blocked Doors block the Line of Sight and cannot be passed, neither by movement actions, weapons or spells. Both doors not opened yet (before a new room has been explored) and temporarily or permanently Blocked Doors (by Traps or scenario rules) are considered Walls in terms of the rules. If monsters have no Line of Sight through Blocked Doors and no other route is available, the monsters will move as close as possible to the Blocked Door to be nearer to the characters as soon as the door is opened.
- Hole Markers are the same as squares with Red Dashed Borders. These must be jumped over and a character cannot stand on them. A character revealing a new Hole must remain on the square until the character's next move action. Even if another character should still be standing on a Hole due to a trap, other characters still need to jump over the Hole. Gargoyles or Poltergeists possess the Flight ability and are allowed to move over Holes just like over any square with a Red Border.
- Rubble completely blocks the square on which it is located and blocks the Line of Sight as if it were a Wall. No character or monster may enter or jump over this square (exception: Poltergeists). If a character or monster has been buried under Rubble, they will remain on this square until the Rubble has been cleared. They can still be attacked, but only within range 1. Depending on the scenario or Trap triggered, Rubble can be removed with an action (this usually takes 10 Action Points, but in some scenarios a check against a Target Number might be necessary). Monsters can clear Rubble away to get to characters (see chapter Monster Activation).
- Fire, Ice and Air are treated differently depending on the scenario, but in most cases, they can be crossed while the character takes damage or special penalties on movement actions. Alternatively, they might be jumped over like a Hole. See the scenario description for detailed instructions in case one of these markers should be used. All monsters ignore these markers completely, but unconscious characters will still be affected by the marker status.
Optional Rule: Door Events
To increase the challenge in any played scenario or campaign, the optional Door Event deck can be used. However, some special scenarios might not work with the Door Event deck (for example when doors are opened automatically). The card deck contains 60 cards with 15 of them labeled No Event. To make the game even harder and trigger more events, remove as many of the No Event cards as you like.
To include the deck in a scenario, simply draw a random Door Event card whenever the Reveal a Room Tile action is triggered while opening a door. Resolve the card first, then go on with further actions (for example, reveal the Room Tile).
Monster Order
If multiple monsters are present on the game board at the same time, the monster order is determined by the following factors:
- According to Initiative Board, but always after a character if they are on the same position (for example Orc at 7, Character at 5, then Mummy at 5).
- According to priority letters on level cards (for example at 7: first A: Orc, then D: Shaman).
- Based on distance to the nearest character; closer monsters are activated first (for example the Orc in range 3 before the Orc in 7 squares range).
- Monsters with more modifications are activated first (for example, an Orc with modification is preferred to an Orc without modification if both are the same distance from a character).
- Player decision — if there are still any uncertainties, the players may decide.
A monster can attack directly after moving; multiple attack actions or movement after an attack are not possible for monsters. This is a small advantage for the monsters, because unlike the heroes, they can attack directly after moving. In exchange, the monsters can't perform any further actions after their attack, even if they had some Action Points left.
Target of a Monster
Once it is resolved which monster is activated, it must be clarified which target the monster attacks. This is decided based on the following criteria:
- Attack multiple targets — if a monster can attack more than one character, it will prefer to do so, even if it has to get closer to other characters. This criteria is ignored if the monster can only attack one character.
- Closer targets are preferred — the character closest to the monster is always attacked first. If the closest character cannot be reached, the next character is targeted. If no character is in range, the monster moves towards the nearest one. Some monsters ignore this condition (for example the Archer or the Ghoul).
- Worst attribute depending on the type of attack — if two characters are the same distance from the monster, it will choose the character with the lower attribute: STR for melee attacks, AGI for ranged attacks, WIS for magical attacks.
- Less active armor — if the two players have the same base attribute value, the character with active armor will be attacked. Only active and equipped Armor Rating points are counted, already damaged armor is ignored.
- Player decision — if there are still any uncertainties, the players may decide which character is attacked.
Example 1: in this game of 3 characters, a monster with a melee weapon (range 1) will automatically choose the shorter path between the two nearest characters – in this case, towards the Mage, who is only 4 squares away as opposed to the Huntress, who is 5 squares away. If there were 4 characters in play, the monster would move to the square with the orange rune, as another monster from the green monster icon would block the preferred square.
Example 2: this time the Adventurer (STR 9) moved past the Huntress and is now the same distance from the monster as the Mage (STR 4). The monster (still using a melee attack) will still choose the Mage because the Mage has a lower strength attribute.
Fastest Way to the Target
Once a target is selected (see the previous chapter and level card), it will attack as described in the chapter Combat. Monsters always move only as far as they need to, unless they can attack more characters at a closer distance.
If a monster can follow multiple routes to attack the same hero, it will always choose the shortest route along a Wall. In case of doubt, the path that offers the most cover and where the monster can be attacked by fewer heroes will be chosen.
Monsters with a range higher than 1 will always move to their maximum range once they have selected their target and are standing too close to their target. The monster will move as far away as possible from its selected target, even if it needs to get closer to other characters. Nevertheless, even monsters with higher range will always choose a square as far away from all other characters as possible.
Example 3: the monster in front of the Warrior (from the white monster icon) is a Slimecrawler, which the heroes have already attacked but not defeated. On its initiative, this monster with a ranged attack first chooses its target (the nearest, the Warrior standing directly in front of the Slimecrawler), then moves to its range of 5 and attacks the Warrior. The Slimecrawler moves as far away from the Warrior as possible. If it can avoid other characters in the process, it will take this direction along Walls. Since there are currently only white monsters in play with 3 characters in play, the Slimecrawler can move to the green monster field, which is farthest away from both the Warrior and the other characters and also near a Wall.
Monsters and Obstacles/Holes
If a monster can only reach a character with its movement range while another monster occupies the target square, it will push the other monster out of the way and place itself on that square. The replaced monster is placed as close as possible to the original square. If in doubt, place it along the path taken by the new monster. This also happens over Holes, the replaced monster is thrown back over the Hole. Other monsters are ignored in the process, only the replaced monster is moved. Remember, the highest priority for a monster is to attack multiple targets. If a monster is only able to attack multiple targets by replacing another monster, it will do this to attack as many targets as possible.
While this is similar to the Swap Places action of characters, monsters do not have to pay any Action Points for this action and can still attack as long as they can bring a character within their Range using their Action Points.
Optional Rule: Monster Swap
To make the game easier, you can introduce the Swap Places action for monsters (costing 5 Action Points). Only monsters that have Action Points remaining (or exactly 0 AP) after swapping may attack characters in range. Monsters will not use Swap Places if they cannot attack afterward.
Optional Rule: Monster AP
By default, monsters can use all their Action Points to move and still attack if a character is in range. To make the game easier, only monsters with positive Action Points remaining after movement may perform an attack.
The monsters will always use the shortest route to the target. However, if all paths to that destination are blocked, the monster will take the next best path, if one is available. This is especially true for monsters with melee weapons, monsters with a ranged or magic attack can often still act due to their range, even though other figures are blocking their path, but not Line of Sight.
Example: 3 of the 5 characters in play have entered room C-8 through the top door, attacked the monsters without success and are now out of Action Points. With 5 characters, all monster squares except the red ones were filled with monsters when the room was revealed.
The two Goblins in the lower right corner are the fastest monsters and go first, with the blue Goblin being nearer moving along the red arrow to the Huntress. As the black Goblin does not have a free target character, it will move along the blue line to the closest target (the Mage) and swap places with the Slimecrawler.
Next up is the Dark Mage in the top left corner. The Dark Mage will pick a target where all characters using a Leaping Lightning attack will be hit at the same time and therefore move along the yellow line and attack the Warrior (the nearest target before being activated, that also fulfills the requirement to hit as many characters as possible). The Dark Mage will move as far as possible while still having Line of Sight to the Warrior along a wall.
The Slimecrawler already has Line of Sight to the Mage, but can move further away from the other characters. It will take the initial spot of the blue Goblin, which is not occupied anymore, and attack the Mage.
Last monster is the Mummy, which now has a free target with the Warrior, as the Dark Mage moved out of the way. The Mummy will move along the green arrow and attack the Warrior.
Monsters are only temporarily blocked by Holes or other Red Bordered Squares. Every monster can cross a Hole the same way as a hero – by jumping over the Hole using 5 Action Points, but a roll check is not required for monsters. If the monster has less than 5 Action Points left, it can still complete the jump and jump over the Hole, but cannot attack during this activation. If the monster has exactly 5 Action Points before a jump, it will still attack any character in range after the jump.
If a monster has to jump, it will always jump in the shortest straight line over the obstacle, using the closest way possible. Directly behind the obstacle, the monster will move normally again.
If there is another monster on the other side of the obstacle, the monster currently activated can only cross the Hole if there is a free square behind the other monster and it has 6 or more Action Points before the jump. Otherwise, the monster must wait until the next activation.
If a character stands on the other side to block the path, the monster will be able to attack across the Hole. Melee attackers in this case have enough range to strike exactly over the Hole (even Holes that are 2 or more squares wide), but no further. The monster can therefore only attack a hero directly on the other side in a straight line, but not a hero standing diagonally on the other side of the Hole.
If the obstacle should be Rubble, the monster will move as close as possible to the Rubble and then clear it away for 10 Action Points (or the rest of their Action Points). In most cases the monster will not be able to attack after this, so the faster monsters will clear the way for the slower ones.
Attack
In order to attack monsters, the player must first decide whether they want to perform a melee or ranged attack and which weapon or spell will be used. The character can use all items that are equipped in the hands or in the Belt (exceptions see Additional Combat Rules within this chapter). Once it has been decided which item will be used, the player rolls the number of dice indicated for the attack on the card.
Example: the Warrior attacks a monster with his Longsword (melee attack with 3D+5). The player rolls 3+4+0 and re-rolls the 0 (counted as 10) to receive an additional 6 (resulting in a total of 16 for that die). This achieves an attack of 28.
Range and Line of Sight
The range of any attack is always counted in adjacent squares, never diagonally – same as a movement action. However, there must exist a Line of Sight to the target of the attack. A Line of Sight exists when a straight line can be drawn from any part of the attacking square to any part of the opposing target square (if in doubt, use a ruler).
Walls block the Line of Sight, even parts of a Wall such as protruding edges and corners can reduce the field of view. Holes, Red Dashed Lines or Occupied squares do not block the Line of Sight (exception: Red Solid Lines and Rubble markers). This means that it is possible to attack an enemy farther away through both other characters and enemies. Only the target is affected, unless the weapon or spell card mentions something different such as multiple hits.
Example 1: the Huntress carries a ranged weapon with range 6, but has no Line of Sight on any monster from her current position. The Huntress would have to advance at least 2 squares towards the Mage to see the Mummy on the right. From the current position, she can see all green squares. The Mage has a spell with range 4 and does have Line of Sight to the Mummy. However, another spell that could hit both the Mummy and the Zombie at once can only be used from the door, where both monsters will be visible.
Example 2: the Huntress owns a bow with range 6 and is able to reach all squares within A-1. However, from her current position, the Huntress could only reach the monster directly at the entrance – the green line touches the monster square, so Line of Sight exists. If the Huntress would possess the hero bonus Range×2 (resulting in a range of 12), she could easily attack all squares touched by the green field and therefore all monsters from her current position. However, the red fields are never visible without movement.
Each Monster has only one attack type: either melee, ranged or magic attack. Monsters can never use multiple attack types. Instead, monsters have the advantage of both movement and attack in one action (see Monster Activation).
Some Monster Level Cards show a vulnerability despite having an Armor Rating of 0. Vulnerabilities only apply if the monster has armor, whether from its Level Card or gained through Modifiers. If a monster has no armor at all, the vulnerability has no effect and can be ignored.
Level Card Anatomy
- Name of the monster
- Monster Level of this card
- Range of the monster attack
- Action Points of this monster
- Monster category/overview
- Description text and abilities
- Attack type, Attack and Damage values
- Defense and Psi Resistance values
- Armor Rating and armor sensitivity
- Hit Points of the monster
Defense
The defense or parry works similar to the attack. First of all, the player decides which weapon is used for defense. All weapon attacks (melee and ranged combat) are parried with the same defense.
If no weapon is present or the player does not want to risk damaging the weapon, the standard defense Dodge on the Character Sheet can be used. Exactly like attacking, the defender rolls the number of dice indicated on the weapon or spell card.
Afterwards, the rolled attack value is compared with the defense value. If the attack value is higher or the same, the attacker was successful, otherwise the attack was fended off. Since a tie indicates a hit, the defender must always counter the attack roll+1.
Example: the Warrior had attacked an Orc with an attack value of 28. This Orc defends with 2D+5, which yields 8+6+5=19. This means the Orc was hit, but not critically.
Important: a character may roll for Defense against every incoming attack, even during Phase G when monsters receive an extra activation. There is no limit to the number of Defense rolls, and no Action Point cost is required, characters with 0 Action Points may still defend. As long as an item is equipped and not damaged, it can be used for Defense.
Getting Hit and Armor Rating
If a character was hit by a monster, the monster's damage indicated on the card for that Monster Level (plus any modifications) applies. The player now has the option to mark one of their armor items with a Damaged Marker. Only one armor card can be used per damage, but this one armor item can be freely chosen. All damage points above the Armor Rating of the armor used for protection will be deducted from the character's Hit Points. It is irrelevant whether a melee, ranged or magic attack was used, armor can generally be used in any case. Only the armor part of the equipment is damaged, other bonuses of the card stay intact and can still be used.
After a monster was hit, the player inflicts the damage indicated on the weapon or spell card. This damage is reduced by any existing Armor Rating of the monster. Monster armor is never damaged; in return monsters have lower armor values compared to characters. The rest of the damage is deducted from the monster's Hit Points until the monster's Hit Points drop to 0, at which point it is defeated. For monsters, it is best to place Hit Point markers with the remaining Hit Points next to the monster figure or on the Monster Level Card if necessary.
Example: the Warrior (defense roll 21, two armors with AR 3 each) could not defend against an Ogre attack (attack roll 29, damage 4 points). The player decides to use an armor to prevent 3 points of damage. He deducts one Hit Point on the Character Sheet and writes the remaining 12 into the HP table. He was not allowed to use the second armor for the same attack.
Armor vulnerability
Almost all armor (whether character or monster armor) is vulnerable to a specific element. These armor pieces are completely ignored if the attack uses the same element. However, the armor is not damaged, but simply ignored.
Example: the Ranger (defense roll 14, two armors with AR 3 each) defends against a Gargoyle (attack roll 17, damage 2 points). The player could now damage one of the two armors – but unfortunately the Gargoyle attacks with earth damage and both armor items of the Ranger are vulnerable to earth. Therefore the damage fully ignores all armor. The player subtracts 2 Hit Points of damage from their current Hit Points and marks or writes down the resulting value.
Critical hits
Critical success in combat (that is, for every 10 points above the defense) means that the attacker has hit exceptionally well. Each critical hit adds one extra point of damage. This applies to all melee, ranged and magic attacks.
Example: the Mage (defense roll 8, one armor with AR 2) defends against a Mercenary (attack roll 36, damage 3 points). The Mercenary has landed a double critical strike, which now deals 5 points of damage. The player damages the armor and subtracts 3 Hit Points of damage from the HP.
Additional Combat Rules
Fumbles in combat
If two ones are rolled by a character during an attack or a defense (Fumble), then the weapon or spell used is damaged and a corresponding marker is placed on the equipment card. Rolling a Fumble always adds one critical result.
A critical failure without two ones on a character defense already means that more damage is inflicted by the monster. A critical failure on an attack (due to an extremely high defense of the monster) has no additional effect – the monster just defended against the attack.
Example: the Warrior defends against a magic attack of 18 and rolls 2 (1+1) using the 2D of Psi-Resistance. This results in 2 additional points of damage, +1 for a critical hit (10 below the target) and +1 for the Fumble.
Monsters are only affected by Fumbles when defending, receiving more damage accordingly (one additional critical result). When attacking, monsters simply miss their target, but the monster will attack as usual the next time it is activated.
Optional Rule: Critical Fail
To increase the game's difficulty, weapons or spells can also be damaged by a Critical Failure, defined as a difference of each 10 between the Attack and Defense roll. Such a failure can occur when a character attacks and the monster rolls a very high Defense, or when a character rolls poorly while defending against a powerful monster attack.
Using weapons and spells from the Belt or Backpack
Weapons and spells may only be equipped in the hands (exceptions are described on the cards). However, a one-handed weapon or spell can also be used from the Belt, even if both hands are already occupied. To do this, the player simply spends 4 Action Points more (for the Belt) than indicated on the weapon or spell card and directly performs the attack or spell. The card remains in the Belt. Two-handed weapons can never be used from the Belt, these always must be taken into the hands (which costs 4 Action Points). The items previously held in the hands can be placed in the Belt or Backpack as desired.
If the item is in the Backpack instead, it must be taken out of the Backpack for 10 Action Points, which results in the end of the current action. The item can then be equipped at any suitable place (Belt or hands). As soon as it is the character's turn again, they can use the item according to the normal rules.
Utilizing both hands
It is not possible to attack with both hands at the same time. The player can only decide with each attack or defense which weapon to use. As equipment also might get damaged while defending by rolling a Fumble, it is always good practice to have a separate defense weapon.
Ranged combat ammunition
Ranged weapons do not require ammunition. A character can throw weapons or use projectile weapons as often as they like. Imagine this as having multiple items to throw or the weapon magically returning after being thrown. Bows and slings, in particular, are assumed to include enough ammunition for an entire scenario.
Damaged equipment
Damaged equipment can no longer be used for its primary function. Weapons and spells cannot be used to attack, and defensive items or spells can no longer be used for Defense. In the case of armor, the protection is lost and cannot absorb further damage. However, any passive bonuses or penalties provided by the item remain active, only the main function is disabled.
Area effects by characters
Spells and weapons with area effects can target Traps (e.g., Vine Tendrils) or Scenario elements. If this effect affects friends, it hits all characters within the area, each must roll a successful defense or take the same damage. Some spells, like Chain Lightning, can target such elements without affecting others.
Damage from other monsters and traps
Monsters are immune to damage from other monsters' area effects and traps. Area attacks (such as those from Shamans, Trolls, or Ogres) do not affect other monsters. Monsters instinctively coordinate with one another and are familiar with the dungeon environment, allowing them to avoid friendly fire and trap effects.
Repairing Equipment
Any equipment damaged in combat (for example weapons, spells or armor) can be repaired. During their turn, a player spends the Action Points indicated on the card and removes the Damaged marker from the repaired item.
A special feature are Armor Sets: these sets can be repaired completely at once. The highest Action Point value of all involved and damaged set parts is used for this purpose. It applies to items equipped on the Body or in the Belt (an additional overall cost of 4 AP), but not in the Backpack.
Example: the Ranger (24 Action Points) is equipped with 3 damaged armor items (Leather Armor / 8 AP, Leather Helmet / 9 AP, Padded Boots / 7 AP). He can repair the two leather set items together for 9 AP, the padded boots must be repaired separately for 7 AP.
Damaged items remain damaged, even if they are exchanged with other characters, packed into the Belt or Backpack. If damaged items are sold, they are worth 1 gold less than usual until they are repaired.
Defeated Monsters
Treasures
Once a monster is defeated, the player who defeated the monster must immediately draw 1 Loot Card. If the monster was augmented by monster modification cards, the number of Loot Cards drawn might increase. If multiple monsters were defeated within the same action, the Loot Cards for all these monsters are drawn at the same time. If a Trap is part of the treasures, this is considered to be a curse of the killed monster or the character stumbled into the trap during combat. The trap is played out immediately. All Traps and Loot Cards are played in the order in which they were drawn.
Optional Rule: Stop Loot
To make the game a bit easier, only draw Loot Cards until a trap has been triggered. After that, the player can decide whether to draw the remaining Loot Cards or to stop.
Experience Points
For each monster defeated, the group gets 1 experience point (XP) and any additional XP mentioned on monster modification cards. All XPs are collected on the Group XP track (on the Initiative Board) until they are distributed. Experience points are distributed as described in the chapter Level Up.
Psi Spells
Psi Points must be spent immediately for each spell cast. It doesn't matter if the spell succeeds, the Psi Points are lost in any case.
A magic attack (or psi attack) is performed like a normal melee or ranged attack. Spells normally can only target a monster square and inflict damage like a weapon, but some spells have additional special effects or exceptions (described on each card). A magic attack can only be repelled by Psi Resistance, but any armor can be used normally to block the damage. Similar to weapon attacks, spells with a specific element might ignore armor. The caster is always exempt from the effects of their own spell.
Example: the Mage attacks with a strong Thunderstorm (psi attack with 4D+2). The player rolls 6+2+8+4 and adds the +2 of the attack. This results in a magic attack value of 22. The attacked monster may not use its armor if it is vulnerable to air.
Target numbers
Spells with Target Numbers are always rolled using 2D and use the current level of the character's two attribute values that are listed on the card as requirements. Add the attributes to the roll and compare the result with the Target Number. If the result is below the target, the spell failed.
Example: the Priestess (CON 10, PSI 12) casts a Dense Hide on herself (requires CON and PSI, TN 28). The player rolls an 8 and a 5 with 2D and adds CON and PSI. This results in 35 (10+12+8+5), the spell is successful.
Critical successes when using Psi
Each critical success on spells with a Target Number (i.e. 10 more than the Target Number) reduces the Psi Point cost by 1 PP for each additional success. This is explicitly not the case for attack spells, which automatically gain 1 point of damage similar to normal attacks – even if they do not inflict damage normally.
Monster Psi attacks
Monsters have an unlimited number of attacks available for magical attacks, no Psi Points are counted or deducted.
Psi Resistance
Psi attacks can only be fended off using Psi Resistance, which can be improved or replaced by certain equipment. In addition, it is possible to increase any Psi Resistance using Psi Points. Each Psi Point invested results in an additional point to the dice roll. This can also be useful to avoid critical hits. Psi Resistance follows the same rule as normal defense: the defender must surpass the attack roll by 1 point.
Example: the Mage's equipped spell is damaged, leaving him with no items at all that allow him to have a higher psi resistance. He is attacked by a Dark Mage (psi attack roll of 19). The Mage protects himself with his default Psi Resistance skill of 2D and rolls 9+8=17, which does not reach the attack value. But he can use 3 Psi Points to reach a 20 instead and still avoid the attack.
Rolling Psi Resistance with an equipped spell never costs Psi Points when a character protects themselves. Spells that defend others or block Melee or Ranged attacks may still cost Psi Points as indicated on the card.
Enchanted Weapons
Some weapons, both enchanted and certain non-magical ones, allow the use of Psi Points to trigger special effects. These weapons can be used normally without spending Psi Points, but activating their special effects requires spending psi. Any character meeting the weapon requirements may use it. Typically, Psi Points must be spent before the attack unless the card explicitly allows spending them afterward.
Weapons can be enchanted with multiple elemental effects. However, the wielder can only activate one element effect per attack, usually at the cost of 1 Psi Point. An enchanted weapon's element damage does not change its fundamental type: it remains non-magical and cannot be used against Poltergeists. However, the element enchantment allows the weapon to be effective against monsters vulnerable to this element, such as the Mummy.
Hit Points, Initiative Points and Psi Points
As long as a character has positive Hit, Psi or Initiative Points (including 0), they can act without problems. As soon as a character falls below 0 points, that character may become unconscious and receives penalties.
Negative Hit Points or Psi Points
Once a character has negative Hit Points or Psi Points, that character must use one die less than usual for the initiative roll, the character immediately becomes unconscious. Additionally, either the negative Hit Points or the negative Psi Points are deducted from the character's initiative roll. Only the lower of the two values is deducted from the initiative roll. This means that the character will become slower and slower the more they are injured or the more they have magically exhausted themselves.
Example: the Mage (IP 9) was attacked several times and urgently needed to cast an attack spell in the last round, resulting in –6 Hit Points and –3 Psi Points. His next initiative roll is now rolled with only one die. Additionally, he subtracts 6 points from his initiative. He now rolls his initiative with 1D+3.
Negative Initiative Points
If a character is overloaded with heavy armor or weapons, the initiative penalty may exceed their normal Initiative Points and the character will receive a penalty on their initiative roll until the armor or weapons are unequipped. Basically the same restrictions apply as for negative psi or Hit Points (roll 1 die less for the initiative), but the negative points are of course not subtracted additionally from the initiative.
Unconsciousness
Any character that does not reach at least 1 Action Point on the initiative roll at the beginning of the round is rendered unconscious. The character then has to sit out this round completely until the next initiative roll, when they hopefully roll better. The other characters have to take care of this character getting back to their feet.
Two ones (Fumble) or a 1 with one die on the initiative roll automatically leads to immediate unconsciousness – the character probably stumbled over a floor tile and bumped their head.
Attention: for each character that becomes unconscious at the beginning of the round, the marker on the Doom Counter is immediately moved down one space. This may also trigger an Extra Activation of the monsters at the beginning of the round!
Unconscious characters become a mere shadow of themselves: on the game board, the figure is removed and the player's colored Initiative Marker is placed on that location on the Room Tiles. The character is ignored by any monsters and is immune to group Traps and direct attacks of any kind. However, unconscious characters are still affected by ongoing environmental effects on the Room Tiles such as Fire, which also usually still apply.
Unconscious characters do not occupy a square, so monsters and characters can move normally onto these squares. Should the unconscious character wake up again in one of the following rounds and their square is occupied, they are allowed to simply crawl to the nearest free square (shortest distance, if there are multiple possibilities, the player can decide). However, unconscious characters still count as occupying a Room Tile for Phase G with the Doom Counter.
Unconscious characters can be carried to move them to other squares or take them to other Room Tiles if needed. See the Carry Characters action in the chapter Action Phase for more information.
Since unconscious characters are just lying around, they regenerate 3 points at the end of the round in Phase H (Level up), which they can freely distribute between hit and Psi Points. In Phase H, the player can also decide whether their character should remain unconscious or attempt an initiative roll next round. If they decide to make the next initiative roll (with the usual risk that the Doom Counter will move forward), they may rejoin the game. If the player decides the character should remain unconscious, the player is not allowed to equip any cards in Phase I (Buy items). However, an unconscious character may contribute gold to a purchase. On the initiative roll, the Doom Counter will not advance for that character.
Example: the Mage (–10 Hit Points, 5 Initiative Points) rolls a 4 with one die on the initiative roll, resulting in only -1 Action Points. He becomes unconscious for this round and cannot act, but regenerates 3 points in Phase H (Level up), which the player adds completely to the Hit Points. In addition, the Marker on the Doom Counter is moved 1 space directly in Phase C – which might trigger Extra Activations or a Monster Level Up!
Death of a Character
If any character should reach –20 Hit Points or –20 Psi Points, they die immediately. This means an instant end of the current scenario for all players, so players should help each other as good as they can!
Character Improvement
The experience points (XP) that all characters gain by defeating monsters or through Traps can be converted into attribute points in every Phase H (Level Up).
As soon as the Group XP track has reached the number of characters present, the Group XP can be redeemed. For each character, one XP is removed from the Group XP track and each character receives 1 Attribute Point (in Single Scenarios). In Campaigns, the Group XP cost is tripled.
The Attribute Points can be saved as long as desired, but can only be spent in Phase H. As soon as the player has increased the desired attributes this round, the calculated values (Hit Points, Initiative Points, Psi Points) are checked again. If a calculated value has changed, the maximum and the current values are both increased respectively.
Example: the Adventurer (STR 9, CON 9, current Hit Points 6, maximum of 9) has saved 2 Attribute Points and increases both STR and CON to 10 in Phase H. This increases his maximum Hit Points to 10 and his current HP to 7. If the Adventurer had only increased his Constitution, nothing would have changed, since the result is always rounded down. Additionally, the Adventurer has a Leather Shield (STR 9, CON 10) in his Belt, which he may equip for 4 AP in the next round.
Example 1: at the end of a Single Scenario round, the 5 players have accumulated 7 Group XP. All of them will get 1 Attribute Point each in Phase H and the group track is reduced to 2. The players can directly increase one attribute of their characters.
Example 2: in a Campaign, 4 players have to accumulate 12 Group XPs before they can be redeemed. As soon as 12 Group XP are reached, each character can increase one attribute.
It is possible that a character can now equip items located in the Belt or Backpack using the new attribute values. However, these items may only be equipped using Action Points when it is the character's turn again – that is, in the next round.
It is also possible to enter ongoing games or to continue playing with fewer players. The current round should be completed and all Group XP should be distributed as good as possible. After that, the character and equipment of the player leaving the game can simply be removed. When a new character joins, the new player draws 4 Loot Cards and the Standard Items for their character, then creates the character according to the normal rules. Afterwards, they get the same amount of additional XP compared to all other characters, which the player may freely distribute. The new character starts from the entrance into the dungeon. From the next round on, the XP are simply distributed according to the normal rules with the new [PlayerCount].
Hero and Monster Level
On the Initiative Board, green Hero Level squares are indicated as well as an orange Monster Level Up within the Doom Counter track. As soon as the respective spaces are reached on the Initiative Board, the following rules apply.
Monsters
When the Monster Level is increased, the Hit Points and Armor Rating of existing monsters are immediately updated based on the new Level Card. This means a monster can suddenly have a better Armor or higher Hit Points. However, only the difference of these two values to the previous level is adjusted. All other values (like attack or defense) are effective immediately. All new monsters that are revealed from this point on directly use all new level stats.
Monster Level Cards are available up to level 4. The Monster Level can also increase beyond level 4, but the monster stats will stay on level 4. For every level above 4, the monsters will simply receive 1 additional Hit Point.
Characters
At each Hero Level Up (in Single Scenarios in Phase H of rounds 7, 13, 18 on the Initiative Board, in Campaigns usually after every second scenario) players may choose a Hero Bonus for their character. This bonus applies to all weapons, spells and other equipment used. The bonus cannot be changed afterwards, it is permanently set for this character from now on. The player can simply tick the box for the selected bonus on the Character Sheet, but Bonus Markers for each hero bonus are additionally included.
Rules for selecting a hero bonus:
- One bonus per hero level above level 1 can be selected
- Every bonus may only be selected once per character
Description of all hero bonus markers
- Melee Bonus — the character is allowed to roll 1D extra on every melee attack. Warning: slightly increases the chance for Fumbles of the weapons used.
- Ranged Bonus — the character is allowed to roll 1D extra on every ranged attack. Warning: slightly increases the chance for Fumbles of the weapons used.
- Magic Bonus — the character is allowed to roll 1D extra on every magic attack. Warning: slightly increases the chance for Fumbles of the spells used.
- Damage Bonus — the character deals 1 additional damage with every weapon or spell used.
- Defense Bonus — the character is allowed to roll 1D extra on every defense and psi-resistance. Warning: slightly increases the chance for Fumbles of the defenses used.
- Regeneration — the character automatically regenerates one Hit Point (HP) and one Psi Point (PP) in each Phase H up to their current maximum.
- Initiative Bonus — the character is allowed to roll 1D extra (3D) on the initiative roll. This also applies if the character is only allowed to use one die due to negative Hit or Psi Points (thus the character still has 2D available). Warning: slightly increases the chance for Fumbles on initiative rolls.
- Efficiency — every item the character uses or repairs will cost 3 Action Points less. This is the same for weapons and spells, when repairing items and using potions, or when retrieving an item from the Belt or Backpack – even if the item is in another character's Belt or Backpack (reaching into another player's Backpack costs only 2 Action Points instead of 5). Does not apply when disarming Traps or similar Target Number rolls.
- Range×2 — every item the character uses can be operated with doubled range. Applies to all weapons (melee and ranged combat) and all spells (including defensive and healing spells) used by the character with this bonus. Special effects of spells are excluded from range extension. This means a fireball can be thrown further, but on the target field it still only extends 1 square. Spells with range 0 (meaning all spells that originate directly from the character) may be cast using the bonus within range 1 and with any orientation (if this affects the spell).
Campaigns
Campaigns in Dungeons of Doria usually consist of 8 scenarios that are played one after another. However, some campaigns may contain more or less scenarios and in return include special rewards or adjust the amount of XP received.
For campaigns, it's best to create characters from scratch before the first scenario. Draw up to 6 Loot Cards per character and freely replace any with Standard Items. Each character may start with up to 6 total items, in any combination. Characters don't need to carry exactly 6 items, as long as the group's total number of starting items does not exceed 6 per character on average. Items can be exchanged between characters at any time, even before finalizing builds. Customizing characters to match their gear greatly improves their chances of survival!
Basically, all the usual rules apply equally in campaigns and individual scenarios, with the following exceptions already mentioned in the chapters earlier:
- More Group XP are needed to gain 1 Attribute Point: 3 times [PlayerCount]. This means that a group of 3 characters will gain 1 Attribute Point whenever 9 Group XP have been collected.
- Characters do not get a hero bonus within scenarios of a campaign. Instead they get some bonus after each completed scenario (mentioned in the description after completing a scenario).
- The monsters can only gain one Level Up within each campaign scenario. The general Monster Level of the campaign is determined by so-called Monster Points.
For this additional information, a special Campaign Overview sheet is available, which should be filled out by a player after each scenario and thus contains all Campaign information. The Character Sheets of all players are then placed with the Campaign Overview. Players should also note which Loot Cards were picked after the last scenario on the back of the Campaign Overview. If these Loot Cards cannot stay with the Character Sheet, they must be retrieved from the loot decks before the next scenario.
XP in Campaigns
In campaigns, characters level up slower since more Group XP are needed for 1 Attribute Point. If there are XP remaining on the Group XP track at the end of a scenario that cannot yet be converted, they must be noted on the Group XP track at the beginning of the following scenario.
Campaign Sheet Anatomy
- Campaign name
- Scenario numbers and name
- Notes from scenario or equipment received
- Group XP left from last scenario
- Monster Points from the scenario
- Total Monster Points accumulated
- Additional notes, for example characters participating in the Campaign
After each scenario is completed, the characters must discard most cards that have a gold value – after all, upkeep between scenarios costs gold, and not everything found in a dungeon can be reused for a longer period of time. At the beginning of a Campaign scenario, the inventory is always refilled to 6 Loot Cards. Players may use any amount of Standard Items at the beginning of scenarios to replace random or kept Loot Cards. The following rewards are common in a Campaign:
- After odd numbered scenarios (1/3/5/7), the characters may keep one additional treasure card each (i.e. 1 card after the 1st scenario). The cards do not always have to be the same, the player may choose again after each scenario.
- After even numbered scenarios (2/4/6/8), the heroes must select a hero bonus on the Character Sheet. This bonus remains for the rest of the Campaign and cannot be changed.
Optional Rule: Campaign Loot
Instead of taking 1/2/3/4 cards into the next Campaign scenario, the players can take items worth 3 gold per card. This allows to take along 3 items each worth 1 gold or 1 item worth 3 gold or 1 item worth 2 gold/1 item worth 1 gold.
Monster level in campaigns
The threat level over the entire Campaign is indicated by Monster Points. These increase in Campaign scenarios via the Doom Counter: the Doom Counter is used as usual within scenarios, with the exception that monsters can only rise one level above their current main level within the scenario. All further Level Ups within the currently running scenario are ignored, so the monsters can only reach level 2 in the first scenario. However, at the end of the scenario, all +1 Extra Activation squares (red on the Doom Counter) and +1 Level squares (orange) crossed by the marker add 1 point each to the Monster Points.
It is also recommended to add additional Monster Points for each Hero Level Up (i.e. in Campaigns after the 2nd/4th/6th scenario), if the players have a higher level than the monsters at that time. In simple Campaigns, this should be +1 Monster Point for the respective level up. Campaigns can also define conditions for Monster Points within scenarios, these will then be added on top.
For every 10 Monster Points accumulated, the Monster Level will permanently increase to the next level. The Monster Points usually cannot be reduced again and are valid for the entire Campaign.
Example: at the end of the first scenario, the marker on the Doom Counter has landed on 38 for a second time after a full round via the Monster Level Up. Thus, the monsters have collected 5 Monster Points in the first scenario.
At the end of the fourth scenario, a total of 18 Monster Points have been collected. The heroes now advance to level 3 (and receive another hero bonus). The monsters are currently still in level 2 and therefore receive a bonus of +1 Monster Point. However, with 19 points they still remain barely in level 2 for scenario 5.
After each Scenario, the Monster Level resets to the current minimum based on total Monster Points (e.g. 10 Points equal Level 2). Temporary increases from the Doom Counter do not carry over to later Scenarios.
Escaping a campaign scenario
If you feel you are overwhelmed by monsters or the scenario seems to be too tough, the characters can escape most of the scenarios at any time. Some of the scenarios specify that escape from this scenario is not possible, this will then be noted in the Scenario Setup section.
To escape a Campaign scenario, play until the end of the current round. It does not matter if the characters are in the middle of a fight with monsters, but the characters need to be able to access the entrance of the current scenario. That means, if a trap has been triggered, the players need to resolve the trap first!
The group keeps all XP collected up to this point, but also all Monster Points. Keep only items according to the rewards of the last successful scenario, but any items found during this scenario can also be kept instead of the items kept in the last scenario, as long as the characters do not exceed their reward level.
Death of a character in campaigns
As soon as a character dies within a Campaign scenario, the current scenario ends immediately, the Room Tiles are cleared away and the equipment of the character that died is lost (except special Campaign items). The surviving players may keep their cards of their characters for now. The Monster Points of the current scenario accumulated up to this point are added to the total number of Monster (Group) XP gained in the scenario.
The players will then have to decide together how to proceed. The Campaign could be continued without this character (i.e. with a reduced number of players going forward). The more common option is that the player in question draws 6 new Loot Cards and creates a completely new character based on this fresh equipment. Afterwards, the new character receives the same amount of XP and hero bonuses as the other characters and is allowed to distribute them freely before the next scenario.
In addition, players must decide how to proceed with the current scenario. It is recommended to replay the scenario if the character died towards the beginning of the scenario. In this case, the Monster Points will remain the same. Alternatively, if the scenario was nearly completed, players can simply continue to the next scenario – however, 5 Monster Points will be added to the total before the next scenario starts. If there were Campaign rewards at the end of the last scenario though, all characters will receive those automatically as well.
Create your own campaigns
A very simple Campaign can easily be created by stringing together 8 Single Scenarios. However, these scenarios might be unbalanced and the scenarios can get either very tough or very easy towards the end of the Campaign, depending on the order of the selected scenarios. Additionally, it is recommended to give all scenarios of a Campaign a small central story arc that runs through all scenarios and tells the players a story why they should descend into various dungeons repeatedly. It is also good practice to incorporate familiar names or enemies into the scenarios regularly.
It is also possible to create Campaigns that allow players to decide how they want to proceed. For example, it is possible to decide after a scenario which scenario will be next, thus making subsequent scenarios a bit easier or more difficult. Alternatively, it is possible to skip scenarios completely or to omit them if another path is chosen. But even in Campaigns like these it is strongly suggested to only play 8 scenarios if possible, since from scenario 9 forward the heroes may become too powerful and do not have enough opportunities for further character progression.
Special Rules for 1 or 2 Players
Dungeons of Doria is ideally played with 3-6 players. Always remember: it's dangerous to go alone – in a larger group the game is just more fun! Nevertheless, it is also possible to play the game alone or with two players. The easiest option: each player controls two or more characters and the game is played according to the standard rules depending on the number of characters. This is also possible with the following minimal adjustments: 1 or 2 characters always use the same monster icons as would be used for 3 players (the white monster icons). However, any scenario reference for [PlayerCount] is used according to the actual number of characters.
2 Players
With just two characters, the following rules apply:
- Both players draw 2 more Loot Cards prior to each scenario (refill to 8 cards instead of the usual 6).
- Each character can select a hero bonus before starting the first scenario. That means these characters start on hero level 2.
- Experience points are distributed as usual, so 2 players must only defeat 2 monsters (Single Scenario) / 6 monsters (Campaign) to get 1 Attribute Point each.
1 Player
The pure solo game is considered very risky, since there are no distinct characters for situations like Traps or special checks, making everything a bit more dangerous. If playing with only one character, the following rules apply:
- The character can never become unconscious, not even with a Fumble while rolling initiative. Negative HP or PP are never subtracted from the initiative, but the character still uses 1 die less for initiative. The Doom Counter can therefore never move due to unconsciousness. The drawback: the monsters will attack until the character is dead…
- In Phase G, the player can invest 1 XP to prevent the Doom Counter from advancing 1 field if no door was opened. Still, the Doom Counter moves at least 1 space (as the character occupies one Room Tile).
- The player draws 4 more Loot Cards prior to each scenario (refill to 10 cards instead of the usual 6).
- The character can select a hero bonus before starting the first scenario.
- Experience points are distributed as usual, so the player must only defeat 1 monster (Single Scenario) / 3 monsters (Campaign) for 1 Attribute Point.
Player Count
[PlayerCount] is often mentioned in Scenarios and for the Group XP track. [PlayerCount] always refers to the number of players, assuming one character per player. If one player controls multiple characters, replace [PlayerCount] with the total number of characters instead.
If characters leave the dungeon, the player count only changes if this character or player leaves the game entirely. In that case, finish the current round, then remove the character(s) and items, and begin the next round with the reduced [PlayerCount]. If a character leaves through a Scenario's end condition, [PlayerCount] usually remains unchanged.
Optional Rules
Dungeons of Doria is a game system and closer to a Tabletop RPG than a board game. This game system can be made easier if you think it is too complex for your group (for example by leaving out Encumbrance or Line of Sight) and extended by optional rules to make the game more complex. Play the game how you like it best and select any optional modules like Room Events and Door Events to make the game easier or harder as you like. The goal is to have fun and make this your game!
Dice Rolling
To avoid having to roll both the monsters and your own hero, it's possible to replace each monster die with the mathematically expected value of 6. So 3D+2 will automatically result in a 20 on each roll for that monster. However, the character dice should still be rolled to retain some degree of randomness. Most importantly, this method results in monsters no longer rolling any (critical) failures, which makes the game even more dangerous in advanced levels.
No Fumbles
If you do not like the Fumble mechanic, you can also easily leave it out of the game. However, keep in mind that monsters with more dice for their Attack or Defense (especially the ones with Modifiers) will also roll more ones statistically and will therefore overall be harder if the Fumble mechanic is not used!
Fumbling Initiative
Characters will not become unconscious when rolling a Fumble during initiative Phase C. The Doom Counter will still move down when rolling an initiative Fumble. Characters also still get unconscious when they do not reach at least 1 Action Point.
Critical Trap Rolls
Traps will deal more damage, if the character rolls a Critical Failure (10 below the Target Number) or a Fumble. Every critical result will add one point of damage. If the trap only adds Poison Markers, this rule should be ignored.
Monster Difficulty
If you want to increase monster difficulty, simply give them 1 more Hit Point or directly start with Monster Level 2. If you need easier monsters, replace 1 point of Armor with 1 or 2 Hit Points.
Dominance
If you are struggling to defeat certain monsters, you can introduce a Dominance Rule: when a monster is surrounded by two or more characters, each gains either +1D on their attack or +1 damage with a hit.
Alternatively, apply dominance by Room Tile: if more characters than monsters are present on the same tile, the bonus applies. To balance this, you can also let monsters benefit from the same rule when they outnumber characters.
Fate Points
Instead of losing the Fumble mechanic, it might be better to introduce Fate or Fame Points. Add one point per Hero Level and character in each Scenario, allowing a complete re-roll per point spent. This could be a character or a group resource. Decide what you like more.
If you don't want to replenish these points after each Scenario, you could also use other factors to trigger getting such a point back (for example, when the character rolls a Fumble, when a character triggers a Trap Event or when they spend any amount of Gold, for example items worth 3 Gold).
Easier Overall Game
If your group thinks the game is too hard, the easiest way of making the game easier is to start with one additional Hero Level Bonus. Make sure to consider the +1D attack or +1 damage bonus to be able to defeat monsters with armor more easily, especially for characters that only deal one damage.
Limit Modifiers
To make the game easier, you can limit the modifiers per monster to the current Monster Level. If you draw more modifiers, keep the modifier for the next monster. However, this might deprive you of some ludicrous modifier combinations.
Close Quarters Combat
To differentiate Melee and Ranged combat, you can require Ranged Attacks to have at least one square of distance between attacker and target. If a Ranged Attack is made at range 1, the attacker suffers a –1D penalty.
Combat Modifiers
To add more tactical depth, you can introduce combat modifiers that apply on top of the normal combat rules. Here are some examples:
- Large/Normal/Small size target: +3 / 0 / -3 to attack
- 3 squares/5 sq./8+ sq. distance: +3 / 0 / -5 to attack
- Using higher ground: +1D on the attack
- Target is immobilized: +5 to attack
Use only as many of these as suit your group. Each added rule increases complexity and may slow down gameplay.
FAQ
There can be conflicting rules between some cards — which one takes precedence? If there are conflicting rules within a Scenario, the Scenario description always takes priority. For cards, equipment (Loot Cards) have the highest priority. Monster abilities (noted on Monster Level Cards) come next, unless otherwise specified by modifiers. After that, any monster modifications apply. Standard rules are considered last.
Is the Female Zombie considered another normal Zombie? No, the Female Zombie is similar to the two Dragons and should only be used for special Scenarios or the Boss Monster Deck. If you want to use the Female Zombie as a normal Zombie standee, that means one more Zombie might be resurrected in Phase F and therefore have more Zombies in play. This makes the game a bit more dangerous.
What happens if a Secret Door must be placed on Room Tile E-8? Place the Secret Door around the middle square of E-8, connecting the smaller room with the larger room. This might add more Room Tiles due to the open sides of E-8.
What options does a character have in traps that do not allow movement anymore? An immobilized character will still be able to use or repair items and attack monsters. This might be a bit weird for Traps like the Water Pit, but allows consistent rules for all Traps with similar effects.
At the same time, monsters will always be able to attack any character normally, even if the character is within the Water Pit for example. Only a character under Rubble is not visible and the monster will clear the Rubble first and attack in a later activation.
Example: the Dark Mage uses the lightning attack to hit as many targets as possible. The lightning will branch after the first target (range of 6 to the Dark Mage) to any target within range 2, creating multiple branches if necessary. The lightning is not limited to one continuous chain.
Credits
Design, Development & Rules: Viktor Ahrens. Campaigns & Scenarios: Viktor Ahrens, Ernst-Joachim Preussler, Harald Grimm, Thomas Farr. Graphic Design: Mohamed "SaltyBot" Bellafquih, Viktor Ahrens. Character Illustrations, Covers: Nathan Park. Item Illustrations: Jes Cole, Eric Quigley, Nicoleta Stavarache. Dungeon Tiles, Initiative Boards: Jes Cole. Doria World Map: Tim van der Meulen (www.mapperman.nl). Proofreading: Tanja Ahrens. Icons: uses icons by Lorc, Delapouite and others from www.game-icons.net under CC-BY license.
Quick Rules Overview
Select Game Mode
- Single Scenario Mode for standalone adventures.
- Campaign Mode playing over multiple sessions.
- Random Dungeon Mode using Door Events, Room Events and the Boss Monster Deck.
All modes share most rules, but differ slightly in character progression and Scenario structure.
Select Scenario
Based on game mode, select a Scenario from the Single Scenarios book or one of the Campaign books. If playing a Random Dungeon, select the conditions. Prepare the Scenario Deck and read at least the Scenario Rules and End of Scenario conditions. Read the initial story to all players.
Table Setup
Place the Initiative Board with its various counters (Doom Counter, Round Marker, XP Marker, Initiative Markers). Shuffle the Loot Card (divided into 3 stacks) and Monster Card decks. Place the Monster Level 1 deck, as well as monster figurines and markers on or near the table.
Create Character(s)
Select or randomly assign a hero per player. Place the Character Mat and the Character Card in front of each player. Copy the 6 attributes to a character sheet and determine calculated values. Gather the matching Standard Items for each character and draw 4 random Loot Cards per character. Equip the items to each character or trade items.
Game Phases
- Phase A: move the Round Marker one field up.
- Phase B: place new shop items (fill up to 3 cards).
- Phase C: roll for initiative (2D+CharacterIP), place all Initiative Markers on Initiative Board (Monsters and Characters). Fumble or Character unconscious: +1 Doom Counter step.
- Phase D: Action phase with Standard Actions, Exploration, Monster activation, Combat (see all below).
- Phase E: Poison checks if a character is poisoned (roll CON+WIS+2D against TN of 28+[2×ML]).
- Phase F: Special Actions (Mods, Traps, Zombies, Other).
- Phase G: Doom Counter (+1 per Room Tile with characters on it, +1 if no Door was opened), possible extra monster activations.
- Phase H: Level Up (see below, additional Regeneration if character is unconscious or has the Hero Bonus).
- Phase I: buy or remove Shop Items.
Level Up
Accumulated [PlayerCount] Group XP can be converted into 1 Attribute Point per character (in Single Scenarios) during Phase H. Recalculate and increase maximum HP, IP, and PP. Gain 1 Hero Bonus in certain rounds in Single Scenarios or after specific Scenarios in Campaigns.
Standard Actions
Walking (1 AP per square), Jumping (5 AP), Swap Places (5 AP), Reveal a Room Tile (0 AP), Search Treasures (1 AP or 5 AP), Throw Items (0 - 10 AP), Attack or Use Items (AP on card), Repair Equipment (AP on card), Take, Use or Repair Other Items (5 AP), Carry Characters (2 - 10 AP), Revive Character (5+ AP), Equip Items (4 - 10 AP), Wait.
Exploration
Reveal rooms by opening Doors. Draw next Room Tile. New Room Tile has at least one Door: place new Door next to the Door that has just been opened. Room Tile has only Open Sides: place room in any direction connecting Open Side to the door that has just been opened. If sides are still open: draw additional Room Tiles until all open sides are closed! For all rooms, check scenario description and place all Loot Tokens. Populate active Monster Squares with random monsters (white always used / 1-6 characters, green 4-6 characters, yellow 5-6 characters, red 6 characters only).
Monster Activation
Monster order: AP on Initiative-Board (after characters), letters on the Level Cards (A to D), monsters closer to characters, monsters with more modifiers, Player decision. Target of a monster: hit multiple targets (if possible), closer characters, worst attribute (Melee: STR, Ranged: AGI, Spells: WIS), characters with less active armor / AR, Player decision. Monsters will always use shortest route along walls and will move to their maximum range.
Combat
Roll Attack and Defense, higher result wins. Critical Hits (10 above defender) equal +1 damage. Fumbles always a failure and equipment damaged. Psi Resistance: result can be boosted with Psi Points. Armor: one armor per damage allowed, choose freely. Damage selected armor and reduce incoming damage by the Armor Rating (lose rest from HP). Monster armor is never damaged. Elemental Damage can ignore some armor. Unconscious: if below 0 HP/PP, roll 1 less initiative dice and subtract negative HP/PP from result. If initiative is below 1, unconscious.
Line of Sight / Range: counted orthogonal. Visible if a line can be drawn from any origin point to any target point. Figures are ignored for Line of Sight.
Campaign Mode
3×[PlayerCount] Group XP needed for 1 Attribute Point. For every red or orange field passed on the Doom Counter, add +1 Monster Point. Each 10 Monster Points increase the Monster Level permanently. Within a Scenario, monsters can only gain 1 Monster Level over the permanent one. Keep a specific amount of Loot Cards after each Scenario, discard the rest.