Encounters: Shattered Wastes Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Objective
• Components
  • Read These First: Beginner Rules
  • Lore
• Setup
  • Character Setup
    • First Time Player Setup
  • Character Card Breakdown
  • Enemy Setup
    • First Time Enemy Setup
  • Enemy Card Breakdown
    • Enemy Strength Cards
  • Board Setup
• Playing the Game
  • Threat
• Game Phases
  • Refresh Phase
    • Refresh Phase (First Time)
  • Action Phase
    • Items
    • Action Phase (First Time)
    • Adjacent Spaces
    • Removal from the Board
    • Traits
  • Defend Phase
    • Defend Phase (First Time)
• Controlling the Enemy
  • Rage
  • Revealing Strength and Rage Cards
  • Defend Example
    • Start a New Round
• Enemy Forms
  • When Does an Enemy Change Forms?
    • A New Form?! (First Time)
  • The Last Gasp
• Attacking
  • Guarded vs. Staggered
  • Being Reduced to 0 HP
• Abilities
  • Active Abilities
  • Free Abilities
  • Cycling Abilities
  • Ties and Timing
  • Reaction Abilities
  • Passive Abilities
• Shattering
  • Resetting Stats
  • Lingering Corruption
  • Shattered Abilities
  • Succumbing to Corruption
  • Reclaiming Characters
  • Reclaiming Succumbed Characters
  • Shattering (First Time)
• Glossary of Bolded Terms
• Character Tips
• Is an Encounter Too Easy? Too Hard?
• Reference Guide
  • Round Phase
  • Actions
  • Ability Subtypes

Objective

ENCOUNTERS: SHATTERED WASTES is a cooperative board game for 1-4 players. Each player chooses one or more CHARACTERS (for a total of 2-4 Characters per game) to explore the land of untamed magic known as The Shattered Wastes.

Players will fight an enemy in a battle known as an ENCOUNTER. Players win an Encounter when both sides of an Enemy Card are defeated. To defeat an enemy, players work to reduce the enemy's STRENGTH and inflict WOUNDS. Players will need to work with their Characters' unique Abilities and attacks to weaken the enemy. This shifts the enemy's Strength from STAMINA to FATIGUE, eventually STAGGERING it, giving players the opportunity to inflict WOUNDS upon it. Enemies retaliate using both Strength and Rage cards.

Players lose an Encounter if all Characters have been removed from the Encounter by having their Health Points (HP) reduced to 0 or by fully succumbing to corruption.

Components

• 8 Character Cards
• 8 Enemy Cards
• 20 Item Cards
• 33 Affliction Cards
• 48 Relic Cards
• 8 Location Cards
• 50 Magical Strength Cards
• 50 Physical Strength Cards
• 75 Rage Cards
• 4 Character Trackers
• 20 Martial Ability Cards
• 20 Sorcery Ability Cards
• 20 Support Ability Cards
• 20 Shattered Ability Cards
• Game Board
• 8 Healthy Enemy Standees
• 8 Shattered Enemy Standees
• 8 Heroic Character Standees
• 8 Shattered Character Standees
• 12 Character Status Tokens
• 1 Enemy Status Token
• 12 Tracking Cubes (4 each of red, blue, and green)
• 3 Dice

Read These First: Beginner Rules

It is recommended that if you are playing Encounters: Shattered Wastes (E:SW) for the first time, watch the walkthrough video. To access the video, scan the QR Code or visit AlmanacGames.com.

In addition to the video, simplified instructions will be included in Red-Outlined Boxes throughout this guide (reproduced below as "First Time" boxes). If you want to start your adventure quickly, read these beginner boxes for the basic rules, and then refer to the rulebook as needed for specific rulings.

Lore

E:SW is best enjoyed when players build their own stories around what is happening with their Characters and Encounters. However, there are pieces of lore dispersed into this guide that can be read to further your enjoyment of the game and enhance your personal adventure's narrative. These are fully optional to read.

Setup

Character Setup

1. Each player chooses a Character Card for the Character(s) they would like to play and places their chosen card in front of them with the Heroic side face up. If there are fewer than 4 players, a player may opt to control more than one Character. However, there can never be more than 4 Characters in use during any Encounter.
   • Each player takes one Character tracker board and activation token for each Character and places it in front of them. Then, using tracking cubes, set starting HP (Green Cube) and MP (Blue Cube) to the maximum values on their Character Card(s). Set starting Threat (Red Cube) to 0.
   • All players take the standee matching the art on their Character Card(s) and places them in any Front or Back line space on the player board side.
2. The bottom of a player's Character Card indicates how many Ability and Item cards they draw from those respective decks. (The 4 Ability Decks are Martial, Support, Sorcery, and Shattered. There is also the Item Deck.)
   • After drawing their Ability and Item Cards, each player chooses 3 to keep and equip for use during the game. Cards that can be equipped to a Character have an Equippable symbol on the bottom left of their card. Abilities and Items are both equippable at this stage. After all players have equipped their 3 cards, shuffle the unused Abilities and Items back into their respective decks.

Setup Example: A player using the Siren draws 1 Martial Ability, 3 Support Abilities, 2 Sorcery Abilities, and 2 Item Cards. They may then choose 3 of those cards to equip, and shuffle the rest back into their decks once all other players have chosen their own cards.

First Time Player Setup

E:SW can be experienced with up to 4 players, each using a different Character, however the game can also be enjoyed with as few as 1 player controlling multiple Characters. The game should never be played with fewer than 2 Characters. For your first game, play with the following Characters and Abilities/Items drawn from their respective decks.

• LANCER: Reckless Sacrifice (Support), Forbidden Technique (Martial), Health Potion (Item)
• SEER: Reversing Teleport (Sorcery), Glacial Blade (Sorcery), Recovery Serum (Item)
• RONIN: Blade Blossom (Martial), Blurring Feint (Martial), Threshold Breaker (Item)
• MONK: Marks of the Valkyrie (Martial), Spirit Bond (Sorcery), Commune (Support)

For your first game, we recommend the cards above for their synergy and to make the setup easier. In future games, you will draft your Abilities/Items based on a number of cards drawn as instructed at the bottom of your chosen Character card(s).

Place your Characters on any space in the FRONT LINE or BACK LINE on the Character board side and set their HP and MP using the tracking cubes on the Character tracker to the maximum values on their Character card. Finally, set the red tracking cube, which represents Threat, to 0 in the Threat tracker.

Character Card Breakdown

Players use these cards to identify what Character they are playing and as a quick reference for the Character's various statistics. Like the Character Standees, these have a Heroic side and Shattered side. See Shattering for more on Shattered Characters.

• A. Character Standee Art
• B. Character Name
• C. Side Indicator
• D. Portrait
• E. Maximum HP (Health Points): This is the HP you start the game with and your maximum HP. You can never raise your HP above this amount.
• F. Maximum MP (Magic Points): This is the MP you start the game with and your maximum MP. You can never raise your MP above this amount.
• G. Number of dice rolled on a Basic Attack action.
• H. Damage Value: This is how many cards you remove from an enemy Area when you hit on an attack (See Attacking).
• I. Critical Hit Value: If the total value on your rolled dice equals this number, it is a critical success. This can matter when attacking and on recovery rolls.
• J. Character Trait Name and Description.
• K. Setup Values

Enemy Setup

1. Choose an enemy to fight from the available Enemy Cards. You may draw randomly from the Enemy Cards or select one you wish to Encounter.
2. Place the Enemy Card on its designated position on the board with the Healthy side up (See Forms). The form is indicated on the top right of the card.
3. Shuffle and place all of the enemy's Rage Cards on the "Rage" position on top of the Enemy Card. These card backs will match the art on the Enemy Card.
4. The bottom of the Enemy Card (See H) indicates how strong the enemy is by telling players how many Strength Cards per Character are used in the Encounter. The back of Strength Cards are marked with a Strength symbol and intent symbols in the center. These intents are either Physical or Magical.
5. Combine both Physical and Magical intent Strength Cards and shuffle them together to form the Strength Deck. Then place them on the board in the location labeled "STAMINA." The enemy begins the Encounter with all its strength in its STAMINA, which represents its ability to defend against your attacks.
6. Take the standee matching the Enemy Card art and place it on the board.
7. Place the circular enemy Status Token on the "Refresh" Circle with the Guarded side face up. This token will also be used to track what phase of the round players are in.
8. Shuffle and place the Affliction Deck next to the board.
9. Shuffle the remaining Strength Cards not currently in play within the Strength Deck and place 1 in each enemy Area.

Example: Four Physical and 1 Magical Strength Cards would be drawn per Character. For example, if there were 3 Characters there would be a total of 12 Physical and 3 Magical placed into STAMINA for a starting Strength of 15.

Optional: If an Enemy is too easy, choose a Location Card and apply its effects to the Encounter to provide an increased difficulty option.

First Time Enemy Setup

In your first game, choose THE GUARDIAN as the enemy. Place its card Healthy side up in the designated Area on the board. Place 1 Physical Strength Card in each of the five enemy areas. Place 1 Physical and 1 Magical card for each Character into STAMINA, then shuffle the deck. These are Strength Cards and represent the enemy's health and physical Abilities. Place The Guardian's Rage Cards on top of the Enemy Card (the backs will match the art on The Guardian's Enemy Card). Shuffle and place the Affliction Deck next to the board.

Finally, on the reverse side of The Guardian's Enemy Card is its Injured side. It has different artwork which means it has a different standee and Rage Cards. Find these and place them next to the board as you will need them later.

Enemy Card Breakdown

This card is used as a quick-reference guide for enemy statistics: Refresh Value, Area Limit, and Starting Strength.

• A. Enemy Name
• B. Enemy Form
• C. Difficulty
• D. Enemy Portrait/Rage Deck Location
• E. Refresh Value
• F. Area Limit
• G. Enemy Trait Name and Description
• H. Strength Deck Construction

Enemy Strength Cards

A selection of these are randomly drawn during Encounter setup to determine how strong the enemy is. All of an enemy's Strength must be put into WOUNDS for players to win. The back side of these cards has the intent of the attack, either Physical or Magical, as well as a number of Threat Symbols ranging from 1-5. The face of the card shows various negative effects Characters can suffer when the card is revealed. (See Enemy Attacks.)

Board Setup

• A. WOUNDS Location
• B. Enemy Card
• C. Rage Deck (Placed on top of Enemy Card). There are 5 Rage Cards for each enemy form.
• D. Phase Tracker/Enemy Status Indicator: This token is used to track the round's current phase. It also signifies whether the enemy is Guarded or Staggered.
• E. STAMINA Location
• F. FATIGUE Location
• G. Enemy Standee
• H. Enemy Areas 1-5
• I. Character Front Line Spaces
• J. Character Back Line Spaces
• K. Area Number Indicators

Character Tip (Ronin): The Item Ghost Nectar allows the Ronin to make devastating Ability attacks, such as Blade Blossom without the risk of gaining Threat. Reaction Abilities that pair with Basic Attacks, like Blurring Feint, also make use of the Ronin's Disgraced Wanderer trait, a Reaction that can be used once per activation.

Playing the Game

A game of Encounters: Shattered Wastes constitutes one Encounter against a single enemy.

Each Encounter is a series of rounds, broken up into 3 Phases:

1. REFRESH - Strength Cards are added to enemy Areas based on numbers rolled by Characters.
2. ACTION - Players perform turns activating their Characters and performing 2 Actions.
3. DEFEND - The enemy reveals Strength Cards in Areas containing Characters.

This cycle repeats until one of the following criteria is met:

• All Enemy Strength Cards are in WOUNDS at the END OF THE ROUND. When this happens, the players WIN.
• All Characters have been removed from the board. This results in the players LOSING.
• If both of the above happen simultaneously, the players LOSE.

Threat

Threat represents how focused the enemy is against a Character, and how much the dangerous magic of the Shattered Wastes is taking hold of them. As a Character's Threat rises, the enemy defends more harshly against them. When a Character attacks, the roll must exceed their current Threat value in order to deal damage. If a Character's Threat reaches 12 the enemy will use magic of the Shattered Wastes to overwhelm the player with its corrupting presence and the Character will be forced to Shatter! (See Shattering)

Character Tip (Monk): The Marks of Banishment trait will trigger off of any action, regardless of whether or not it is the Monk's activation. This trait is excellent at managing the Monk's Threat value, but also provides exceptional battlefield mobility to attack multiple areas in a single activation. Abilities such as Finisher pair well with this trait, where the Monk can Attack, Move 1 Space with her trait, then activate Finisher to attack a third time with another Ability such as Twin Strike. If the Monk is granted an action during another Character's activation, they can still use this trait.

Game Phases

Refresh Phase

The enemy bolsters its defenses, refreshing Strength Cards to Enemy Areas on the board based on Character rolls.

1. Begin this phase by placing a Strength Card from STAMINA in any Area that contains one or two Characters and no Strength Cards.
2. Players then take turns refreshing by completing the following steps in order:
   • A. Roll a number of dice equal to the enemy's Refresh Value.
   • B. Place a Strength Card from STAMINA in each Area corresponding to the die roll, starting with the lowest Area number. If a 6 is rolled no card is drawn.

If at any time there are no cards in STAMINA:

• A. Set the Status Token to "Staggered" with the Staggered side Face Up.
• B. Players must then draw from FATIGUE while refreshing. If there are no Strength cards to draw from STAMINA or FATIGUE, continue to the Action Phase.

Refresh Phase (First Time)

Each player that controls one or more Characters takes a turn rolling 1 die per Character they control. This is because the Guardian's Refresh Value is 1. In future games, players roll dice per Character equal to the enemy's Refresh Value. Place a Strength Card from STAMINA into the corresponding enemy Area which matches the number(s) rolled. If you roll a 6, nothing happens!

After the first round, make sure you look to see if there are any empty enemy areas that Characters occupy and begin the phase by placing one Strength Card from STAMINA there.

The goal at this stage is to deplete the enemy's STAMINA, either by defending against their Attacks or removing cards in the Action Phase. Once STAMINA is empty, The Guardian will Stagger and your team's damage will send the enemy's Strength to WOUNDS.

Action Phase

Players may activate their Characters in any order. If players cannot decide which Character to activate, the Character with the highest HP activates. If there is a tie, roll a die for each Character; the highest roll will activate first.

When a Character activates they must perform 2 actions. A Character can only activate once per round. The same action may be performed twice during a Character's activation.

The actions a Character can perform are:

• MOVE - Move the Character to an adjacent space up to 3 times (diagonal spaces are not considered adjacent, see Adjacent Spaces and Areas). The final position is now the space they occupy. A Character cannot occupy the same space as another Character, but may move through them when performing a Move.
• BASIC ATTACK - Attack the enemy with the Character's Dice of Attack value. (See Attacking.)
• RECOVER - Roll 1 die. Using the value rolled do one of the following:
  • A. REDUCE THREAT equal to the value rolled. If the roll was a Critical Success value they may reduce their Threat to 0.
  • B. GAIN MP equal to the value rolled. If the roll was a Critical Success value they may raise their MP to its Maximum Value.
  • C. REMOVE 1 AFFLICTION CARD. If the roll was a Critical Success value they may remove ALL of their Afflictions.
• ABILITY - Use an ACTIVE Ability the Character has not used this round. (See Abilities.)
• SHATTER - A player may voluntarily Shatter as an action if they are not already on the "Shattered" side of their Character card. (See Shattering.)

A player MUST do the following after they complete their second action and are ready to end their activation:

• A. If a Character's HP is 0 they are removed from the board.
• B. Declare their activation complete. Flip their activated token to its red side.

Items

A Character can also use any number of equipped Item Cards during its activation. THIS DOES NOT COUNT AS AN ACTION. When a Character chooses an Item to use they apply its effects to themselves or any other Character. Once an Item has been used it must be flipped face down, unless otherwise stated.

Action Phase (First Time)

Each Character takes turns activating and taking 2 actions. (See the action descriptions above for more in-depth descriptions of the available actions than the sample here.)

Strategically, the Seer should activate first, choose the Area that contains the most Strength Cards and use her trait to reveal them. This will give you insight into how dangerous it might be. Choose one to be placed into FATIGUE, then place the remaining revealed back in any order.

Use a move action to move the Seer to an Area that contains a Strength Card. Use the BASIC ATTACK action and roll 1 die of attack for the Attack. When attacking, a Character must roll ABOVE their current Threat to deal damage. The Seer currently has 0 Threat, so any number will hit.

After you know you've hit (which you did because your Threat was 0) you deal Damage. The Seer's Damage value is 1, so you pick up the top Strength Card from the targeted Area, and put it into FATIGUE. This is because the enemy is "Guarded". If the enemy was "Staggered" it would go into WOUNDS. Finally, increase your Threat by the amount of Threat symbols on the card you've removed. This will make your next attack more difficult to land.

If you rolled a 4, the attack is Critical Success, because the Seer's Critical value on her card is 4. When a Critical Success is rolled on an attack, the Strength Card is placed into WOUNDS regardless of the Character's Threat level and NO Threat is gained! Next time you activate the Seer, you could try using the Glacial Blade Ability attack, following the special instructions on the card.

Adjacent Spaces

Spaces that are directly adjoining the one your standee occupies are considered adjacent.

In the example given in the rulebook, if the Arithmagician wants to move to an adjacent space he can move to space 1 or 5. He cannot move diagonally to space 2 or 6. He may only move to space 4 if he then continues his movement to another adjacent space, as he cannot occupy the same space as the Slayer.

Removal from the Board

A Character can be removed from the board in the following ways.

Heroic Characters:

• HP Value is 0 at the end of their activation

Shattered Characters:

• HP Value is 0 at the end of their activation
• When their Threat reaches 12 or higher
• When their Corruption Value reaches its maximum or higher.

Reclaimed Characters:

• HP Value is 0 at the end of their activation
• When their Threat reaches 12 or higher

Traits

All Characters have a unique TRAIT. These are powerful and individual effects. Some TRAITS have Reaction triggers, which are separated by a Reaction symbol. These specific triggers can only be used once per Character activation, or once during the Refresh/Defend Phase if applicable.

Defend Phase

The enemy reveals Strength Cards in areas that contain Characters and targets them for an attack. Starting in Area 1 and moving through Area 5, do the following:

1. If the Area's combined Threat (Threat symbols) on Strength Cards are higher than the enemy's Area Limit value, reveal the top Strength Card of that Area. This card affects all Characters on the Character board. This card is then placed face down into FATIGUE.
2. In addition to Step 1, if the Area contains one or more Characters, reveal a Strength Card in that Area. When revealing Strength Cards, always reveal the top most card (which would be the card most recently placed in that Area).
   • If there is one Character in the Area, the revealed card affects that Character.
   • If there are two Characters in the Area, Magical Strength Cards target the Character in the BACK LINE and Physical Strength Cards target the Character in the FRONT LINE.
   • If there are no Strength Cards in the Area, reveal a Rage Card instead.
3. After an Enemy Strength Card has been revealed it is placed face down into FATIGUE. After a Rage Card is revealed it is placed at the bottom of the Rage Deck.
4. Repeat this process for each numbered Area.
5. If there are no cards in STAMINA at the end of the Defend Phase, move all cards from FATIGUE to STAMINA and set the Status Token to the Guarded side.
6. End the Round.

Defend Phase (First Time)

Read through the DEFEND PHASE EXAMPLE below, using your own board state. Try using the Lancer's Reckless Sacrifice Reaction Ability to protect another Character from taking damage.

Controlling the Enemy

Rage

If there are no Strength Cards in an Area that contains one or more Characters during the Defend Phase, a Rage Card is revealed and used by the enemy instead. The backs of Rage Cards match the art on the Enemy Card. A Rage Card always affects all Characters in the Area unless otherwise stated. After a Rage Card is used it is always placed on the bottom of the Rage Deck.

Revealing Strength and Rage Cards

When a Strength or Rage card in an Area is revealed, each symbol denotes an instance that something negative happens to the Character in that Area. The effects of revealed symbols can be resolved in any order. The various symbols are explained below.

• DAMAGE: These are found on Physical Strength cards. If a card with a Damage symbol is revealed: The affected Characters reduce their HP by the number of Damage symbols (A Character's HP can never go below 0).
• AFFLICTION: Affliction symbols are found on Magical and Physical Strength cards. If a card with the Affliction symbol is revealed, the affected Characters gain one Affliction for each Affliction symbol, drawn from the Affliction deck and placed next to their Character Card, suffering its effects until the card is removed.
• THREAT: Threat symbols are found on Magical Strength cards. If a card with the Threat symbol is revealed, the affected Characters gain one Threat for each Threat symbol.
• CORRUPTION: Corruption symbols are found on Magical and Physical Strength cards. If a card with the Corruption symbol is revealed: Heroic and Reclaimed Characters: No Effect. Shattered Characters: Gain 1 Corruption.

Defend Example

At the start of the Defend Phase, the Ronin and Siren are in Area 2 and the Slayer is in Area 3.

Starting with Area 1, players see that there are a total of 11 Threat icons, which is greater than the Enemy Area Limit of 9. The top card is revealed and all Characters on the board reduce their HP by 1. The Attack Card is then moved to FATIGUE face down.

In Area 2 there are 2 Characters, but only one Strength Card is revealed because the Area Limit has not been exceeded. The Magical card will target the Siren because she is in the Back Line. If it were a Physical card, it would target the Ronin instead because they are in the Front Line.

The Strength Card revealed 1 Threat and 1 Affliction, so the Siren will gain 1 Threat and 1 Affliction. The Strength Card is then moved to FATIGUE face down.

In Area 3, the Slayer has no Strength Cards in front of him, so a Rage Card is drawn and used instead. Remember, Rage Cards can affect all Characters in an Area, but in this case only the Slayer will suffer its effects.

The enemy uses a VIRTUOUS CRUSH on the Slayer to deal a punishing 4 Damage. The Slayer reduces his HP by 4 and the Rage Card is placed on the bottom of the Rage Deck. Savvy players will be able to memorize the order these cards are played and plan for future attacks.

Start a New Round

When you've finished your first Defend Phase, return to the Refresh Phase. Keep an eye on your Threat and Magic Points (MP) levels. You may want to use the Recover Action to roll a die and reduce your Threat or gain MP by the amount rolled. The Enemy most likely won't be Staggered until next round. You may focus on Abilities that deal Critical Damage, or choose to prepare for when the STAMINA Deck is depleted.

Remember:

• Damage dealt by your Characters while the enemy is Guarded (Strength cards remaining in Stamina) is sent to FATIGUE.
• Damage dealt by your Characters while the enemy is Staggered (Stamina is Empty) is sent to Wounds.

Enemy Forms

Just like Characters exploring the Shattered Wastes can be pushed to their limits, so too can enemies. This is represented by the Enemy Card being flipped over and gaining new skills!

The Enemy has two forms: Healthy and Injured.

When Does an Enemy Change Forms?

The first time the enemy is given a WOUND and there are no cards in STAMINA or FATIGUE it changes forms. When an enemy changes from its Healthy form to its Injured form:

1. Flip the Enemy Card so the Injured side is face up.
2. Move all Strength Cards from WOUNDS to STAMINA. Strength Cards in Enemy Areas remain where they are.
3. Look at the bottom of the Enemy Card.
   • If there is a up-arrow symbol, add the number of indicated Strength Cards per Character on the board to the Enemy's Strength Deck in STAMINA, then shuffle.
   • If there is a down-arrow symbol, remove the number of indicated Strength Cards per Character on the board from the Enemy's Strength Deck in STAMINA, then shuffle. If players cannot remove a type of Strength Card because its occupying Enemy Areas move on to Step 4.
4. Set the Status Token to Guarded.

A New Form?! (First Time)

Once you've dealt enough damage, The Guardian will have no cards left in STAMINA OR FATIGUE. When this occurs, the first damage dealt triggers a form change in The Guardian. Its Enemy Card flips over to its Injured side. Be sure to place the new Rage Deck you set aside earlier on the Injured Enemy Card, replacing the old one, then swap out the enemy standee. All Strength Cards in WOUNDS are put back into STAMINA. In future Encounters you may need to add or remove cards from this deck during the form change as indicated on the bottom of the Enemy Card.

If you can survive long enough to get all the enemy's Strength Cards into wounds again, you will have defeated the enemy and won the game...as long as you survive its Last Gasp (see The Last Gasp)!

The Last Gasp

During the final Defend Phase of the Encounter, after all Strength Cards have been put into WOUNDS, the Enemy will reveal one Rage Card. This will effect ALL Characters, regardless of where they are. If your Characters are Heroic, then it shouldn't be a worry, but if all Characters are Shattered, then this can be very dangerous.

A useful tip is to try and memorize the enemy's Rage Deck, so that you are not surprised by its final attack!

Character Tip (Arrowmancer): Choose at least 1 Ability Attack when drafting your starting abilities, such as Aim or Tempest Blitz. This offers you the opportunity to deal wounds to the enemy even if it isn't staggered. When the Arrowmancer Shatters, remember that due to their unique trait any Strength Card on the player board side can be targeted.

Attacking

A player can attack the enemy using either the Basic Attack Action or by using a specific Ability. Players cannot target and Attack an Enemy Area with no Strength Cards in it.

When attacking:

1. Target an Area to Attack. A Character must target their current Enemy Area unless an Ability notes otherwise.
2. Create the dice pool to roll. The number of dice rolled for a BASIC ATTACK is available on the Character card. For non-BASIC ATTACKS, the number of dice will be on the selected Ability Card.
3. Roll dice.
   • If the combined value on the face of all dice rolled is equal to the attacking Character's Critical value on their Character Card it is considered a Critical Success!
   • If the number rolled is a Critical Success or exceeds the Character's current Threat the attack hits, proceed to Step 4. Otherwise, the attack misses.
4. Deal Damage. When dealing damage, start with the top most Attack Card in the targeted Area. Remove Attack Cards equal to the attacking Character's Damage value and place those cards in one of two piles:
   • FATIGUE: If the enemy is Guarded
   • WOUNDS: If the enemy is Staggered or a Critical Success was rolled
5. Gain Threat. The Character gains Threat equal to the total number of Threat symbols on the cards' backs that moved to the FATIGUE or WOUNDS piles. Characters only gain Threat in this way as a result of Damage being dealt. If an ability instructs a Character to "place" Attack Cards on FATIGUE or WOUNDS then no Threat is gained.

If the attack was a Critical Success no Threat is gained.

Character Tip (Arithmagician): With enough MP, the Arithmagician has the highest chance to roll their Critical Hit value of any Character in the game. With a Critical value of 2, if the Arithmagician rolls a 1, they can use their Mutamancy trait to change the die face to a 2 to make it a critical success! This works on both Attack and Recover actions.

Guarded vs. Staggered

The enemy's status is either "Guarded" or "Staggered" depending on whether or not there are Strength Cards in its STAMINA. This is tracked using the Status Token. When damage is dealt while the enemy is "Guarded," all damage is put into FATIGUE and Characters gain Threat for the Strength Cards placed there. When the enemy is "Staggered" all damage dealt is put into WOUNDS and Characters still gain Threat for the Strength cards put there. If at any time during any game phase there are no cards in STAMINA, set the Status Token to "Staggered" with the side Face Up. If there are no cards in STAMINA at the end of the Defend Phase, move all cards in FATIGUE to STAMINA. Flip the Status Token to the "Guarded" side.

Being Reduced to 0 HP

When a Heroic Character is reduced to 0 HP all is not lost! That Character still gets one more activation to try and stave off the hand of death. Accepting the power of the wastes and taking the Shatter action will allow that Character to stay alive by flipping their Character card to its Shattered side and resetting all of their Character stats. Items such as Healing Potions can also bring a Character back above 0 HP. Keep in mind however, that if you are already either Shattered or Reclaimed you no longer have access to the Shatter Action.

Abilities

The Shattered Wastes are full of untamed magic, some of which you can harness to make yourself more powerful. Martial, Sorcery, and Support Abilities cost MP to use. There are 3 types of Abilities that are marked under the Ability's name. (If the Ability of a card conflicts with the rules in this guide, the card Ability takes precedence.)

Active Abilities

Active Abilities require a player to expend one of their two actions during their activation to use. When a player uses an Active Ability, they must first pay its MP cost, then follow the instructions on their Ability card. Many Abilities allow you to attack the enemy. These Abilities will be marked with the ATTACK header, along with how many dice you roll. All attacks deal damage equal to a Character's damage value unless otherwise stated.

The example in the rulebook shows an Active Ability (Terra Strike). If a player wishes to use this Ability while activating, they must use one of their two actions and reduce their current MP by 2. Terra Strike is an attack which rolls 2 dice. If the attack hits they deal their normal Damage. However, if the Terra Strike attack hits while the attacking Character is in the Front Line, they deal 1 additional Damage. Smart players could choose to use the Ability in the Back Line if they want to just have a two die attack but do not want to deal the extra damage for strategic purposes.

Free Abilities

Some Abilities are "Free Actions." These do not expend an action to use and are marked with FREE under the Ability name. Free Abilities still have an MP cost, though some cost 0 MP to use, as listed on their cards. A Free Ability can only be used once per activation.

Cycling Abilities

Some Abilities have a Cycle symbol. When forced or given the option to Cycle an Ability card, the player places it at the bottom of its respective Ability deck, then draws a new card from that deck.

Ties and Timing

If two triggers have the same timing, the player controlling the active Character may decide in which order the triggers take place.

If there is no active Character, such as during the Defend Phase, all players may agree on what the timing should be. If the players cannot agree, they each roll a die. Whoever rolls the highest decides the order. In cases of a tie, reroll until there is no tie.

Reaction Abilities

Reaction Abilities can be optionally used at any time, even outside of that Character's activation. The only requirement to trigger a Reaction Ability is that the Reaction requirements are met and that the Character can afford its MP cost. Reaction Abilities are broken up into two sections, divided by a Reaction symbol. The top section is the condition that must be met to trigger the bottom section.

During the Action Phase, Reaction Abilities can only be used once per Character activation, but potentially multiple times per phase as long as their conditions are met and the player can afford its MP cost. In other phases Reaction Abilities can only be used once.

Some Character Traits also contain the Reaction symbol, indicating they may be used optionally as Reactions once per activation.

The example Reaction Ability in the rulebook: when the top portion of the card is met (in this case, an enemy targets an adjacent Character) the player with this card may spend 2 MP to trigger the bottom portion of the card. In this case, the Enemy would instead target this Character. (A second example: when the top portion of the card is met, the Character with the card may spend 1 MP to trigger the bottom portion, in this case allowing them to perform a MOVE ACTION outside of their normal Activation. This can then be combo'd with other Reactions, such as the Lancer's Divine Leap trait, or the Monk's Marks of Banishment trait.)

Passive Abilities

Passive Abilities are the most rare. They are a bonus or a buff and do not require any MP to use. Passive Abilities are always considered in effect and most importantly, unlike Reaction Abilities, are mandatory.

In the example Passive Ability, if the combined die faces for the Character's roll equals their current Corruption, the attack is considered a Critical Hit. This is in addition to their normal crit value and is not optional. Many Shattered Abilities are Passive.

Shattering

The magic of the Shattered Wastes is powerful, and the longer a Character spends in them, the greater risk they have of losing themselves to corruption. The reverse side of a player's Character Card shows the Shattered version of their Character.

A Character can Shatter in two ways:

• Any time their Threat value reaches 12 while in their Heroic state.
• Voluntarily while active as an action.

When a Character Shatters:

1. The Player flips their Character card to its Shattered side and swaps their standee to match.
2. The Player flips their stat tracking board.
3. The Character's Threat is reduced to 0 and all Afflictions are removed.
4. The Character's corruption value on their tracker is set to 0.
5. The Character's HP is set to match the value on their Shattered Character Card.
6. All Abilities and Items are discarded and placed at the bottom of their respective decks. The Character draws a number of Shattered Abilities equal to the number shown on the bottom of their Character card.

Resetting Stats

When a Character Shatters all of their stats reset and all Afflictions are removed. Note that Shattered Characters do NOT have MP. Instead they have a Corruption stat, which begins at 0.

Lingering Corruption

A Shattered Character cannot reduce Corruption by using the Recover action.

Shattered Abilities

Shattered Characters do not have access to MP; instead they power their abilities using Corruption. When a Character uses a Shattered Ability, they add Corruption equal to its cost to their Corruption tracker. When using a Shattered Ability, it is possible for a Character to go above their Corruption limit. When this occurs, fully resolve the ability, then the Character succumbs to Corruption and is removed from the board.

Succumbing to Corruption

A Shattered Character can Succumb to Corruption in 3 ways.

• Immediately when their Threat reaches 12.
• Their Corruption value matches or is above the Corruption limit on their Character Card. If this happens as a result of using an Ability, fully resolve the Ability's effects.
• When a Shattered Character succumbs to Corruption, they are removed from the board.

(The rulebook's list as printed; the glossary also lists ending an activation at 0 HP as a way to succumb.)

Reclaiming Characters

Some Abilities instruct a player's Character to Reclaim Themselves. When this occurs:

1. Return the Character card from its Shattered side to its Heroic side.
2. Return all Shattered Abilities to the bottom of the Shattered Ability Deck.
3. Flip the Character tracker and set the HP and MP values to the Character's Maximum and their Threat to 0.
4. Draw 3 total Ability cards from any deck. (This can include the Shattered Ability Deck. Reclaimed Characters use MP to trigger these Abilities instead of Corruption.)
5. Change the standee on the board to match the Character card.
6. Change your Activated Token to match your Reclaimed status.

Reclaimed Characters cannot Shatter again. A Reclaimed Character can be removed from the board in one of two ways:

• As soon as their Threat reaches 12
• Their HP is 0 at the end of their activation

Reclaiming Succumbed Characters

If a Character is given the option to Reclaim another Character, they may choose any Shattered Character, even one who has succumbed and has been removed from the board during the Encounter. This Character is placed by its controlling player in any unoccupied space, then follows the Reclaiming Characters step as normal.

Shattering (First Time)

It's doubtful you will become so desperate against The Guardian that you feel compelled to SHATTER. However, here are a few reasons why you would take the Shatter Action:

• Your Health Points (HP) are at 0 and you want to survive
• Your Threat is too high and you don't want to waste multiple Recover Actions
• Shattering is risky, as it makes you both more powerful and closer to board removal. It's up to you whether or not you save this choice for when you absolutely must use it to survive or embrace the corrupted power and Shatter early to overtake the Enemy.

Glossary of Bolded Terms

ABILITY: A unique mechanic Characters can use by spending MP or gaining Corruption, depending on the type. There are four Ability types: Martial, Sorcery, Support, and Shattered. There are four Ability subtypes: Active, Reactive, Free, and Passive.

ACTION: Something a character can perform during their activation. The action choices are: Move, Basic Attack, Recover, Shatter, Use Active Ability. A character can only perform a maximum of two actions during their activation.

ACTION PHASE: The second phase of a round. Characters take turns activating their characters and performing 2 actions.

ACTIVATION: A character's turn during the Action Phase where they can perform a maximum of two actions.

ACTIVE: Ability Subtype. Requires an action during a Character's activation to use. Active Abilities can only be used by a Character once per round.

AREA: A section of the player board. There are five Areas that contain a Front Line Space, Back Line Space, and an Enemy Space where Strength Cards can be placed.

ATTACK: A Character targets an enemy Area, rolls dice, and attempts to deal Damage to the enemy. A Character's roll must be higher than their current Threat in order for the Attack to hit, or roll a Critical result.

BACK LINE: A section on the player board. There is a Back Line space in each Area. During the Defend Phase, if two Characters occupy the same Area, Magical Strength Cards target the Back Line space.

CHANGE: Setting a value to a new one, such as the Arithmagician changing a die face from a 1 to a 2. The die is picked up and set so that the new value is shown.

CRITICAL SUCCESS: A specific value that when rolled during an attack or Recover yields a special result. On an attack, the attack automatically hits and all damage is placed into WOUNDS on the Enemy Board side. On a Recover, the player may set their MP to Maximum, Reduce their Threat to 0, or remove all Afflictions.

DEFEND PHASE: The third phase of a round. The Enemy reveals Strength Cards in Areas containing Characters.

EQUIPPED: A card your Character has access to use that contains additional gameplay elements. This can be an Ability, Item, Relic, or other equippable card. Equippable cards have the Equippable Icon in the bottom left.

FATIGUE: A location on the Enemy Board. If the Enemy is Guarded, Strength Cards are put here after a Character deals Damage. During the Defend Phase, after an Enemy reveals a Strength card it is placed on the top of the pile.

FREE: Ability subtype. Does not expend an action to use.

GAIN: Setting a cube on the Character tracker to a higher number increasing its value.

GUARDED: An enemy status when it has Strength Cards in its STAMINA location. Damage dealt to the enemy whilst it's in this status is put into FATIGUE.

HEROIC: The way Characters start the game, denoted with a Heroic Symbol. Heroic Characters are only removed from the board if their HP is 0 at the end of their activation.

HP: Health Points. Tracked with a red cube on the Character tracker.

MOVE: Action type. Characters move into spaces on the Character board.

MP: Magic Points. Tracked with a blue cube on the Character tracker.

MUST: An effect that is not optional.

PASSIVE: Ability Subtype. These Abilities are always in use and are mandatory.

PLACE: When instructed to Place a Strength Card it is put into the location specified and the Character gains no Threat from the change.

RAGE: A special type of Enemy Card unique to the Encounter. A Rage Card is revealed during the Defend Phase when there are no Strength Cards in an Area that contains Characters.

REACTION: Ability subtype. A player may spend the Ability's MP cost to use the Ability whenever the trigger above the Reaction symbol occurs. Reaction Abilities and Traits can only be used once during the Refresh/Defend Phase, and once per activation during the Action Phase.

RECLAIMED: A state a Character can be in where they have returned to their starting card side after previously Shattering. Reclaimed Characters are removed from the board when their HP reaches 0, or their Threat reaches 12.

RECOVER: Action type. A player rolls a die, then chooses to either gain MP or reduce Threat equal to the value rolled or remove one Affliction. If a player rolls a Critical result they may set their MP to Maximum, Reduce their Threat to 0, or remove all Afflictions.

REDUCE: Setting a cube on the Character tracker to a lower number decreasing its value.

REFRESH PHASE: The first phase of a round. Players take turns rolling dice equal to the enemy's Refresh Value, and adding Strength Cards to the corresponding Enemy Area.

REMOVE/REMOVED: A Character is taken off the board and can no longer be played.

REROLL: Roll a die again, ignoring the initial result. A die can only be rerolled once per individual effect.

REVEAL: When an Enemy Strength Card is flipped to its opposite side to show what effects it contains. During the Defend Phase, the Enemy reveals Strength Cards to attack Characters.

SEARCH: Look through the deck or pile of cards for a specific card.

SHATTER/SHATTERING: 1) Action Type. Flip a Character card to its Shattered card side. 2) What occurs when a Heroic Character reaches 12 Threat. The Character is flipped to its Shattered card side.

STAMINA: A location on the Enemy Board. If there are Strength Cards here, the Enemy is Guarded. If there are not, the Enemy is Staggered.

STAGGERED: An enemy status when it has no Strength Cards in its STAMINA location. Damage dealt to the enemy whilst it is in this status is put into WOUNDS.

STATUS MARKER: Indicates whether the Enemy is Guarded or Staggered.

SUCCUMB: One way a character is removed from the board. It occurs when a Shattered Character's Corruption value on their character tracker is at or above the Corruption Limit value on their character card, their Threat value reaches 12, or they end their activation at 0 HP.

TAKE: Reduce an amount from one Character's Character tracker. Gain the same amount in the Character tracker of another.

TARGET: The place that is to be the subject of an attack. Characters target the Enemy Space of the Area they are in. The Enemy Targets Character spaces of the Area the revealed Strength or Rage Card occupies.

TRAIT: A part of a Character card that describes a gameplay mechanic unique to that Character.

WOUNDS: A location on the Enemy Board. If the Enemy is Staggered, Strength Cards are put here after a Character deals Damage. Strength Cards can also be placed here after a Character deals damage resulting from a Critical result.

Character Tips

Lancer: Use support Abilities that take advantage of the Lancer's high health pool and excellent battlefield mobility such as Reckless Sacrifice or Wind Run.

Seer: Making optimal use of the Seer's Broken Visions trait is key to her success. Activating the Seer early in the round to test which enemy area is most dangerous allows her allies to be more flexible in their activations. Moving Strength cards that are high in Threat allow you to more easily keep an Area's total Threat below the Enemy's Area Limit.

Slayer: The Slayer's trait Reclaimed Blade makes Staggering an enemy during the middle of the Action Phase possible. Make sure your allies are ready to jump on this opportunity to inflict wounds.

Siren: It's important to remember that the Siren's trait Blackpowder Ballad allows them to target adjacent enemy Areas. This can be used to regenerate MP and make their spells more affordable. This means Sirens also work as excellent Support Ability users. Inspiring Verse allows them to transfer their large MP pool to another Character who could make better use of it.

Is an Encounter Too Easy? Too Hard?

• Is an Encounter too easy? Try using a Location Card and applying its effects to the Encounter to provide an increased difficulty option.
• Is an Encounter too hard? Experiment with Relic Cards to give them additional useful abilities during the battle. You can even randomly give one to each player before the Encounter for fun.
• Want more structure and story? Try out Journey Mode, a narrative way to play Encounters where your Characters fight each Encounter back-to-back. They gain powerful rewards, but at the cost of not being able to reset their HP, MP, and Threat between fights. The rules for Journey Mode are included in the box.

Reference Guide

Icon key: Affliction; Dice of Attack; Guarded Status; Physical Strength Card; Sorcery Ability; Corruption; Enemy Area Limit; Heroic Character; Reaction; Staggered Status; Critical; Enemy Healthy Form; Item; Reclaimed Character; Strength Cards; Cycle; Enemy Injured Form; Magic Strength Card; Refresh Value; Support Ability; Damage; Equippable; Martial Ability; Shattered; Threat.

Round Phase

Refresh Phase

• Add Strength Cards to empty Areas containing characters.
• Each character takes turns rolling dice equal to the enemy Refresh Value.
• Strength Cards are placed in the Area rolled (6 ignored).

Action Phase: Each character activates and performs two actions.

Defend Phase: Starting with Area 1, do the following for each Area:

• If the combined Threat icons of all Strength cards are greater than the enemy's Area Limit, reveal the top Strength Card. This affects all characters on the board.
• If there is one character in the Area, reveal the top Strength Card targeting the character. It suffers the effects of the revealed symbols shown.
• If there are two characters in the Area, reveal the top Strength card: Physical targets the Front Line character; Magical targets the Back Line character.
• If there is at least one character, but no cards, reveal the top RAGE card, which affects all characters in the Area.

When Damage Is Dealt

• If the enemy is Guarded: Strength cards go to FATIGUE. Threat is gained.
• If the enemy is Staggered: Strength cards go to WOUNDS. Threat is gained.
• If a Critical is rolled on the ATTACK, Strength cards are placed into WOUNDS. No Threat is gained.

Actions

• MOVES: Move your character to an adjacent space up to 3 times.
• BASIC ATTACK: Target your current enemy Area for an ATTACK using your character's Dice of Attack value.
• USE ACTIVE ABILITY: Use an ACTIVE ABILITY, this can only be used once per activation.
• RECOVER: Roll one die then choose to gain MP, Reduce Threat or remove an Affliction.
• SHATTER: If you are Heroic, flip your character to their Shattered side resetting their stats and removing all Afflictions. Only Heroic characters can perform this action.

Ability Subtypes

• ACTIVE: Requires an action on a character's activations to use. Can only be used once per activation.
• FREE: Does not require an action on a character's activation to use. Can only be used once per activation.
• REACTION: Can be used whenever the criteria on the card above the Reaction symbol is met. Can only be used once per activation during the Action Phase, or once during the Refresh or Defend Phase.
• PASSIVE: Always is used and is non-optional.