Gloomhaven
845 questions players ask about Gloomhaven, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-23.
845 questions players ask about Gloomhaven, answered in plain words and graded by where the answer comes from. See also the full rulebook.
Updated 2026-10-23.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — a card used for the basic Attack 2 (top) or Move 2 (bottom) always goes to the discard pile, and everything printed on that half, including the lost icon, XP and elements, is ignored.
The rulebook's "Character Turn" section answers this directly.
No — you use the top of one card and the bottom of the other in either order, but you must finish one action before starting the other.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019, in line with the rulebook.
No — you are never your own ally, so heals and buffs that target allies (like the Tinkerer's Restorative Mist) don't affect the figure using them unless the card also says "self".
The rulebook's "Character Turn" section answers this directly.
No — you can skip any part of an action except one that harms you or your allies. If the damage would hit an ally, it must be performed; if it would hit only enemies, you may skip it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — you must finish one card's action before starting the other. Within an action, abilities are performed in the order written.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Any part except one that will have a negative effect on you or your allies, such as damage to yourself or adjacent allies. You can even skip the whole action, in which case the card is simply discarded.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Only if you perform at least some part of that action. If its attack has no target and nothing else on it is performed, you gain no element or XP from it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
They mark the spots where that ability can later be enhanced with stickers.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020, in line with the rulebook.
They count as level 1 cards, are available from the start and are fully interchangeable with level 1 cards in your hand. They cost the same to enhance.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
If you perform any part of that action, the card is lost wherever the icon sits. If you perform none of it, or use the half as a basic Attack 2 or Move 2, it is discarded instead.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Spacing and font: smaller text tucked under the attack modifies it, while a separate line with normal spacing is its own ability.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — a large standalone XP icon belongs to the whole action, so performing any ability in it earns the XP (but you must perform at least one). XP printed on a specific line, like an element bonus, needs that line.
Adjacent to the figure performing the ability, unless the card ties it to the target. For ongoing auras, adjacency is checked each time it matters, so an ally who moves away loses the bonus.
The rulebook's "Character Turn" section answers this directly.
Yes — the basic Attack 2 is always a melee attack for every class.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — "any one" means a single target; multi-target abilities say Target X or show a pattern.
A "+" bonus modifies the existing abilities — Move 1 and Attack 2 become Move 3 and Attack 4.
The rulebook's "Scenario Setup" section answers this directly.
None — you don't draw. You start with your whole chosen hand, as many cards as your hand size.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Permanent — they stay in your pool as level 1 cards, and before each scenario you choose your hand from the whole pool.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — small text under an ability modifies it, so to push you must make the attack.
The rulebook's "Character Mats" section answers this directly.
No — only one copy of each class can be in a scenario, since the class has one set of cards and one modifier deck. A campaign can have several characters of a class, just not playing together.
The rulebook's "Card Selection" section answers this directly.
No — played cards normally go to the discard pile; you only lose cards when you rest, play a lost-icon action or negate damage.
The rulebook's "Character Turn" section answers this directly.
Any figure fighting on the characters' side: other characters, everyone's summons and scenario allies — but never yourself. A monster you control temporarily isn't your ally unless a card says so.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No rules were rewritten; it incorporates errata and clarifications, and some cards were corrected.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
One — the bonus applies to the whole heal action, so a heal that affects several allies uses a single charge. Charges on use circles are spent automatically whenever the trigger happens.
No — the kill isn't an attack and deals no damage, so it gives no movement for Balanced Measure and can't be extended with attack items like the Battle Axe.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
The attacks happen only after the whole jump move is finished, and only against enemies you moved through. Each is a separate attack with its own modifier.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Invisibility wins — enemies can't target the invisible Brute, so the monster ignores the redirect and attacks normally.
Yes — it triggers at the end of each of your turns and uses a charge (gaining XP where shown) whether or not there is a valid target. If you're stunned you can't perform its attack, and if disarmed you can't attack either.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015.
Only the Spellweaver's own lost ability cards (except ones marked as unrecoverable). It doesn't return discarded cards, other characters' cards, or spent and consumed items.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
It doesn't build up: each attack that would damage you gets Shield 1 and uses one charge, until the charges run out. It only triggers when an attack would actually deal damage after other effects.
One charge per target — each target of a multi-target attack is a separate attack. Air is consumed once when you play the card, and that choice applies to every later use.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Only when it actually negates a source of damage — an attack already reduced to 0 by its modifier doesn't trigger it and uses no charge. You gain the XP printed on a slot when that charge is used, and the card is lost once its last charge is used.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — the attack is redirected to the Brute regardless of range, but only attacks: a condition ability with no attack isn't redirected. His melee Retaliate still only hits an attacker adjacent to him.
It's a persistent, lost card that stays in your active area for the rest of the scenario, letting you treat Move abilities as attacks as described; your other cards keep working normally.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015.
Pick a target within range, then trace a path of hexes from you to it — it doesn't need to be a straight line and can bend however you like. Every enemy on the path is attacked, each only once.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — it targets X enemies where X is the damage you suffered, so with no damage there are no targets. Enhancing its attack costs double as a multi-target ability.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — its attack is "-", so it never attacks on its own turn; it only moves and gets in the way.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — those are heal actions, so Potent Potables boosts them and uses a charge.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020.
The ally — they recover up to two lost cards and then lose cards from their hand as the card describes.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — Reviving Ether has the "cannot be recovered once lost" symbol.
Yes — you can skip the move and still perform the push.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — X counts every hex you actually moved, including re-entering hexes you already passed through. For the damage-based part, only damage you dealt counts; trap damage is the trap's, not yours.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Only once, when the card is played. An element on a persistent card is infused when you perform the action, not on later triggers.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — the monster still focuses on and moves toward the ally as normal; only when it attacks an adjacent ally is that attack redirected to the Brute.
One ranged attack of 3 at range 3; small text under a main ability modifies it rather than adding another ability.
Usually not — the field is an aura for allies attacking while adjacent to the Tinkerer, and the summon attacks on its own turn.
Several players agree all normal attack rules apply.
Yes — it makes a separate attack against each enemy moved through, each with its own modifier and the target's Shield.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes on both — it affects every summoned ally in range, adding to their move.
Until the end of the round, each of your attacks gains +3 against a target that is disarmed, immobilized or stunned.
It isn't an attack and deals no damage, so attack items and Balanced Measure don't interact with it. The target only needs to be stunned when you use the card, however it got stunned.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2016.
Per the FAQ, the ally still long rests (heal and item refresh) but loses no card, since nothing is in their discard pile.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020.
Yes — the attack on enemies adjacent to the moved obstacle is a ranged attack, so each target needs line of sight from the Cragheart. It already targets every adjacent enemy, so Backup Ammunition can't add an extra target to it, though it is still a ranged attack for effects that count those.
Only for placing the obstacles — that part has a range, so the hexes need line of sight. The damage to enemies adjacent to the created obstacles isn't an attack and needs no line of sight; an enemy next to several of them still takes the damage only once.
You must move along a single straight row of hexes in one of the six hex directions, without turning.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — Add Target only adds a target to an attack, and attacks can only target enemies, so it does nothing for abilities that aren't attacks or that affect allies.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Yes — a pressure plate hex counts as empty, so an obstacle can be created there. You still may never create obstacles that completely seal off part of the map.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020.
The Range 4 limits where the obstacle goes; any enemy adjacent to its new position can be attacked. You may skip moving the obstacle, but then the attack has no targets.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
No — the added target isn't a hex of the drawn area, and Dirt Tornado's muddle affects the area's hexes, so the extra target isn't muddled.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Only obstacles the Cragheart could normally destroy — any obstacle without hit points, not just ones he created. Obstacles with hit points (and ones a scenario makes indestructible) can't be destroyed this way, so they aren't valid. A multi-hex obstacle is destroyed once, for one instance of damage.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — the push is part of the attack, so there is no push without performing the attack.
No, with the current card — the second printing made the top action a melee attack whether or not Earth is consumed. The old FAQ entry calling it ranged applied only to the first-printing card.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It needs an obstacle — the attack targets enemies adjacent to the destroyed obstacle, so with no obstacle it does nothing. A flying enemy standing on the obstacle's own hex isn't adjacent to it and isn't hit, even if the obstacle covers several hexes.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No to both — consuming Earth adds +1 to the same area attack on every target (with its XP gained once), and the muddle always applies to figures in the area.
Finish the whole move first; then every ally and enemy adjacent to any hex you entered during that move suffers the damage, each only once.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — each melee attack against you triggers Retaliate 2 and uses one charge. It doesn't trigger on ranged attacks, even from adjacent enemies.
When a hex of the push can't be performed because a wall or obstacle blocks every valid hex. You can't choose to push into an obstacle while an open hex farther away is available. Extra push from a modifier card becomes part of the push and can trigger it too.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
You create as many as there are empty adjacent hexes, up to the number on the card (you can skip the whole ability). Pressure plates count as empty. Stone Charm adds one obstacle to the action, not one per obstacle.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — it heals allies, and a character is never its own ally.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020.
Only the main target needs line of sight; the adjacent damage doesn't. An extra target from Backup Ammunition copies the whole attack, including its adjacent damage, so an enemy next to both targets takes it twice.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — an active bonus must be used whenever its trigger happens, so every ranged attack while it's active spends a charge (and gives its XP), even with no second target.
Yes — the obstacle is simply placed in an empty hex within range (it isn't slid, so allies don't block it), and the attack follows only if enemies are adjacent.
You can use it as a plain Move 2, or perform the whole ability. The move and the damage are separate abilities, but the damage hits adjacent figures and can't be skipped if it would hurt an ally.
The kill and the obstacle are separate: the enemy dies either way. The obstacle needs an empty hex, so it isn't placed on traps or other overlay tiles; per Morthai, the one exception is a coin or chest the petrified monster itself drops there.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Yes, the Cragheart must be adjacent to both the enemy and the obstacle; and one obstacle can't satisfy both Explosive Punch and Stone Pummel — each needs its own.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — it gives the Cragheart himself Retaliate 3 that reaches attackers within range 3.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Use any spare single-hex obstacle token or a substitute. You may skip creating obstacles entirely, but if you create them, place as many as the card says unless legal hexes run out.
Only the second — abilities resolve in order, and consuming Earth upgrades only the ability it's attached to.
Rests on players citing the later FAQ entry; the designer's 2017 post said otherwise.
No, under the later official FAQ: the heal uses exactly the same area as the attack, and if you don't perform the attack there is no targeted area, so nobody is healed. In 2017 the designer had said you could use it just for the heal, and some groups still play it that way. The bottom heal works on its own.
No — each charge destroys one obstacle and boosts a single melee attack, and once Stone Pummel destroys the adjacent obstacle it isn't there for Heaving Swing.
One XP for each hex of the push blocked by a wall or obstacle. Its +1 applies only to the Cragheart's own ranged attacks.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Rock Tunnel affects every enemy whose hex you jumped through. Rumbling Advance is different: you finish the move first, so only figures adjacent to your final hex take its damage.
It doubles the whole attack value, including your other attack bonuses, during the attacker's bonus step before the modifier card is drawn — so a 2x modifier then doubles it again. Empowering Void-style effects that double only the printed value work differently, and the two don't double the same number.
No — it applies to your next single attack while invisible. In a multi-target action it triggers on the first attack, and the card is then lost before the remaining attacks resolve.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — the summon card stays in your active area while the summon is alive, so you can't play it again until the summon is gone. The number printed in the summon is its hit point value, not a heal.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
No — Possession doesn't grant an action, so move-action bonuses like Song of Speed don't apply. Balanced Measure only counts hexes the Brute moved on his own turn, so movement on someone else's turn (or forced movement) doesn't count.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
The monster's — the controlled monster draws from the monster attack modifier deck, as the attacker always uses its own deck.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — the target isn't entering a trap; the Scoundrel applies the disarmed trap's effects to it directly, so flying doesn't protect it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Invisible adjacent enemies count, because Pilfer doesn't target them. But the bonus only adds to a Loot that actually picks something up; with no money token in range you gain nothing.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It depends on the wording. "Attack +X" is read like a monster ability card, so it uses the figure's base attack, range and effects; a fixed "Attack X" with no range is a melee attack; "Attack X, Range +0" uses the fixed value at the figure's base range. An early answer that "Attack +0" is always melee was overruled.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
The controlled monster makes an Attack 2 (not +2 to its own value) at its own base range ("Range +0"), adding any effects from its stat card and drawing from the monster modifier deck. Forcing the monster isn't a targeted ability, but the attack it makes still can't target an invisible enemy.
Players disagree; this is the better-supported reading, with no official ruling.
Ranged, according to the designer's 2017 ruling and the FAQ — like the Cragheart's Meteor — so melee augments don't apply. Some players, and a later 2018 post by the co-designer, argued they are melee because no range is printed. The attacks use the Mindthief's own modifier deck.
Yes — placing the augment is a separate, skippable ability, so you can perform only the attack (and gain its XP) while your existing augment stays active.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
Playing the augment half puts the card in your active area as a persistent bonus that boosts your own melee attacks; playing a new augment discards the old one. Augments never apply to the Mindthief's summons or to attacks she forces enemies to make. You can play an augment even when its attack has no target.
Once, when you play the augment action — whether or not you also make its attack.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
It changes the bonus to +2 Attack for each ally adjacent to the target, and you gain the XP for consuming Dark even if no allies are adjacent.
The current card is Move 4 with Jump; Move 3 was an older printing. While the augment is active, each of your melee attacks gives you Shield 1 for the round.
No one — the official FAQ says a monster you force to attack doesn't give you the kill, whether through Submissive Affliction or Hostile Takeover. Early forum answers credited the Mindthief, but the FAQ settles it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It only applies to the Scoundrel's own attacks, and it's checked separately for each target of a multi-target attack.
Yes — the augment goes into effect first, so the card's own Attack 1 gets the bonus. The Attack 1 isn't repeated on later turns.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
One attack — the conditional lines beneath it are bonuses to that single attack.
No — only when the target is adjacent to one of your allies.
The forced attack is an extra action — the monster still takes its normal turn. Disarm only stops the Mindthief's own attacks, so she can still force a monster to attack.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — once Dark is consumed, the kill replaces the attack, so attack items no longer apply.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — conditions from the attack land after the damage, so only conditions the target already had count (including for Perverse Edge with a Poison Dagger).
No — when a new augment comes into play, the previous one is discarded. Other kinds of active cards can be in play together.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — the controlled actions are still the monster's own, and monsters always perform what they can.
Wherever the card says — Thief's Knack disarms one adjacent trap, so you must be next to it.
Right away during the Mindthief's turn, using the ally's own modifier deck; the ally chooses how to perform it.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — using any part of an action with the lost icon loses the card.
No to both — it still follows monster AI, treating its allies as enemies, and monster loot never picks up treasure.
Two, as long as both targets qualify — each target is a separate attack. A Null still uses the charge, since it's spent when the attack is made.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — it doesn't restrict the enemy type, so any adjacent enemy at that threshold dies.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Yes — the bear is a summon in every respect. Effects that boost summons apply to it, it follows normal summon AI, it can't loot or use items, and it is removed if the Beast Tyrant becomes exhausted.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — the bear is placed during setup, so it acts from round one. As the first summon on the board it acts before the Beast Tyrant's other summons and is focused on first when equally close.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — the basic Attack 2 and Move 2 are performed by the Beast Tyrant himself, never by a summon.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — Doom isn't one of the conditions defined in the rules, so effects that count or prevent negative conditions ignore it.
Immediately when the monster dies, before any later targets of the attack are resolved. If two death effects trigger on the same monster, you choose their order.
Yes — the damage comes from the Doomstalker's own active card, so the kill is his, unlike Wound damage.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
You give up your whole top (or bottom) action for the turn to give the bear the bonus for the round; you then use either card for your remaining action. You can trigger it any time before the bear acts.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
It can affect any figures, enemies included, but with no Attack listed it only applies its effects and deals no attack damage.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
You do — a commanded action is performed by the bear with you controlling it, and it can be performed out of your line of sight. On its own turn the bear otherwise follows normal summon AI.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
On an invisible monster, yes — placing a Doom isn't targeted. On obstacles, objectives or altars, no: the designer ruled they can't be Doomed.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — Dooms can only be on one enemy at a time, so playing a new Doom moves the old ones (and their tokens) to the new target, unless a card says otherwise.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — the added target must also meet the attack's targeting requirement, so it has to be another Doomed enemy.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It's a persistent Doom with no end condition, so it stays until the target dies or you move it; the round tracker resets whenever the Doom moves to a new enemy, and the kill comes when the track is complete.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — Command abilities are performed only by the bear. The Tyrant can still use those card halves as a basic Attack 2 or Move 2.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — abilities that affect figures without a Target or Range requirement need neither, so they can swap any two revealed figures that aren't immune to forced movement.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
The bear can't be dismissed — it doesn't come from an ability card. Its conditions wear off at the end of its own turn, which comes just before the Tyrant's.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — it can only target characters, and a summon isn't a character.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
On your turn you rearrange damage already taken by you and your summons; you can't give a figure more than would kill it. Moving damage isn't suffering damage, so it doesn't break Regenerate or let you lose cards to negate it.
Yes — performing any part of the commanded ability earns the XP.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — swaps follow teleport rules, so each figure's destination must be a hex it could legally occupy.
No — only attacks against the Doomed enemy get it, since each target is a separate attack.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — a figure immune to a negative condition can't be given it, so the Plagueherald can't poison that ally or gain the benefits of poisoning them.
No — summons have no hand or active area, so they can't receive these cards, and Medical Packs are given to allies rather than used by the Sawbones. If the Sawbones exhausts, an ally keeps a card already given to them.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Only the printed value of the main-line Attack abilities on the card, not bonuses from modifiers, items or persistent effects. Its move bonus can be used without performing the attack.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — they sit in a separate supply, not your hand, and never enter your discard pile, so they can't be lost to rests or other effects.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
At any point during an action containing a move, including one granted by another card or item, since that move action is yours.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No modifier is drawn — the attack is replaced by a heal before it's performed. Abilities with a stated range keep it, otherwise the heal is self or adjacent as the FAQ describes, and top and bottom convert separately.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — it heals all of the adjacent ally's damage, up to their maximum hit points.
Just one — per the designer and the FAQ errata, pick one of your summoned allies and the effect applies to enemies adjacent to it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
No — the self-wound is the price of adding the bonus effects; skip it and you just skip the bonus. Under the later ruling, you can pay it even while immune to Wound, but at least one figure must actually be wounded to get the bonus.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Allies adjacent to you — your heals that round also heal you and your adjacent allies; it doesn't let allies perform heals themselves.
Yes — the whole attack ability has a range, so every attack in the chain is ranged, and bonuses to the ability (like consuming an element) apply to each attack.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — place two summon tokens of the same colour with different numbers; each wolf uses the card's stats.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
One — the English card stuns a single adjacent enemy, and the Stun is its own line, so only the bonus needs Light consumed.
No — it means up to two different summons.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — the rest becomes a long rest in every respect, so you choose which discarded card to lose.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2021.
No — a kill ability isn't an attack, so melee-attack modifiers and items such as Long Spear, Battle Axe or Add Target don't affect it. Once you consume the elements to turn an attack into a kill, the whole attack becomes a kill effect.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
It has no attack, so on its own turn it only moves as if it had a melee attack; its value is in the abilities that use its position.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — it boosts any Retaliate your character has, whatever its source.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Any item used during the attack action — items that affect attacks or movement within it, including "during your turn" items. A potion used as its own action separately doesn't, and Proficiency can't be enhanced for +Attack.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — with no condition written, the persistent heal is performed each time, using its charges.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — it resolves top to bottom, so the heal first removes the Poison with no healing, and then the other conditions are removed.
Yes — players report that the official ruling was changed so that an effect whose cost is suffering damage still works when that damage is prevented.
At the start of each of your turns while the song is in play, not on the turn you play it.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
You do — the summons aren't taking their own activation, so you pick the order.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — the charge is used whenever you perform a move while invisible.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — the kill comes from the character's ability, just like Retaliate.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — an obstacle with hit points is a valid target, and if it is undamaged it meets the condition.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — effects resolve in printed order, so you decide how much damage to take before the move.
Only if you have 2 movement left — difficult terrain always costs 2, and the penalty isn't rounded.
To the heal's target — they sit under the heal and apply to whoever it affects.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — the heal happens once when played; only the raised maximum hit points persist.
No — it lasts only until the end of your turn.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
You and each adjacent ally may recover up to the listed number of discarded cards; it still works with no allies adjacent, recovering only your own.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020.
No — handing out a med pack isn't a heal action, and the ally's later use isn't the Sawbones' heal.
It's Light with the consume symbol — consume Light to get the bonus.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes, that loop is legal — it costs tempo, since you spend actions on it.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — effects resolve in order, so you're strengthened only after that attack.
Your current maximum for your present level.
No to both — wound damage happens at the start of your turn before you can use items, and a potion can't interrupt an ability in progress.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — it happens before your turn ends, so it counts for anything that applies during your turn (and end-of-turn bonuses still apply to it). You still can't consume elements you infused earlier that turn.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It recovers only discarded cards, never lost ones. Cards you played this turn count once they're resolved, so you can drink it after playing both cards to get them back; a card in your active area can be recovered only if it would go to the discard pile.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — no character can own more than one copy of any item. Two characters in the same party can't both own an item unless there are enough copies of its card.
No — items can only be equipped between scenarios, so an item looted from a chest goes to the looter but can first be equipped in the next scenario.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It depends on the wording. Items that boost an "attack action", like the Power Potion or War Hammer, apply to every attack on that card half; items worded for a single attack, like the Poison Dagger, apply to just one target.
One attack action — every attack on that card half, but not the other card's attacks. You must use them before drawing the modifier, and they cancel out with any disadvantage.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
No — summons can't use items, and items that boost your attacks (Power Potion, weapons) don't affect attacks made by your summons, including commanded attacks by the Beast Tyrant's bear.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Items that say "on your turn" can only be used during your turn, or during an action you take outside your turn when the item's wording allows (for example an "on your attack" item when another player grants you an attack). Items that react to something, like armor when you're attacked, are used when that happens.
No — the item works like an active summon card. Refreshing it ends the existing summon, so you never have two at once.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — using an item isn't an action, so it can be done at any time its own text allows, including partway through a move. Items that grant their own action (like the Doomed Compass) are used before, between or after your abilities instead.
Yes — items have no timing limits beyond their own text, so an item you refresh can be used again in the same turn, even twice in the same action, if you refresh it in between.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — effects showing the small-item symbol only refresh small items, and they refresh consumed items only if the text says so. The updated Utility Belt can't be refreshed at all.
Spent or consumed items without charges are optional: decide before the attacker draws its modifier, and they apply to that one attack. Items with use circles, like Hide Armor, are active from the start and must be used whenever they trigger.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — an item with use circles only becomes spent once its last charge is used; only then can it be refreshed, getting all its charges back.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — all items refresh at the end of every scenario. Consumed items just can't be used again in that scenario unless an ability refreshes them; only specific scenario effects ever remove an item for good.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — they boost a single move ability (keeping its Jump or other effects), then are spent. Boots of Striding add +2 to an existing move rather than granting a separate Move 2.
You can own any number of items (one copy of each) and swap them between scenarios; the slot limits — including small items equal to half your level, rounded up — only apply to what you equip.
No — a stunned character can't use items, including activated defensive items like Heater Shield, unless the item says otherwise.
The rulebook's "Visiting Gloomhaven" section answers this directly.
No — characters can't trade or give items or gold to each other.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — resolve one, then the other; each grants its own extra play.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
It changes only how monsters treat your initiative when focusing: between a character wearing the shawl and a long-resting character, a monster focuses on the shawl wearer. The shawl's effect is always on and can't be switched off.
No — an attack action that could target more than one enemy as written, including one with several attack lines or an area pattern, isn't single-target. If another effect adds targets later, you choose the order in which to apply them, so the item can go first.
Yes — every target gets all the conditions and effects attached to the attack.
Only on your turn — summon kills on the summon's own turn aren't yours for items. Each kill gives its own separate heal.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
At the beginning of the round, after all cards (including monster cards) are revealed — not later when a room is revealed.
A flying figure can never spring traps, and equipped passive effects can't be turned off. Flying doesn't matter for pressure plates, which trigger by occupying them.
No — every figure, summons included, gets only one turn per round.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — it adds to every instance of range in that attack ability.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
The other copy is in the random item design deck; drawing it adds that copy to the supply.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Exactly like "Heal X, Self" — it removes Poison and Wound like any heal, and counts as a heal action for effects that boost heals.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — you can combine any number of applicable items, such as two one-handed weapons or two potions, on the same attack ability.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes, if the item can be used then — items can be used at any time during your turn when their conditions are met.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — keep the items that aren't available yet in a separate deck. They are numbered on the back, so you can find one without seeing it, and the game tells you when to move them into the available deck.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
After moving the required hexes on your turn you get +1 on a single melee attack that turn; moving farther doesn't add more, it doesn't carry over, and any qualifying movement counts, even back and forth.
It's a passive effect for the whole scenario that applies automatically whenever its condition is met; you can't choose to skip it, and there's no timing decision.
Yes — it only requires a single-target melee attack. It replaces the attack's targeting with exactly its pattern, and element bonuses or effects on the whole attack apply to both targets, while single-attack items affect only one.
Yes — they make you immune to forced movement from enemies.
Only once you have finished moving 1 hex or fewer on your turn; it doesn't protect you before your turn. Players read it as lasting from then until the end of the round.
It lets your single-target melee attacks hit an enemy up to two hexes away instead of only adjacent.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
It lets you carry up to two additional small items, and as a passive item it counts as used at the start of the scenario.
No — kill abilities aren't attacks, so attack-triggered items don't fire.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — with no damage to reduce there's nothing to trigger, so no charge or use is spent.
Yes to both — the item explicitly works during an ally's attack.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — it's a reaction to an enemy, used right before the enemy's ability.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — they adjust initiative by exactly the printed amount.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Each icon adds a -1 card to your attack modifier deck while the item is equipped for a scenario; take them from the supply kept with the Bless and Curse cards. The "ignore negative item effects" perk removes them.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — ability cards don't need weapons; items only add bonuses.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — per the FAQ, items can't be used after end-of-turn effects; use them before your turn ends. A Ring of Haste can only be used at that single end-of-turn moment.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
It's used in addition to your two actions, but it can't be used in the middle of an ability card action.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — opening a door only pauses your move, and the boots can be used partway through it.
No — some translations changed the number of cards it recovers; use what your printed card says.
The rulebook's "Monster Statistic Cards" section answers this directly.
Always — traits printed on the stat card, like Flying, are permanent.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — only the number of standees limits monsters; if you run out of bases, use proxies. A dead monster's standee is available again for later spawns or summons.
The rulebook's "Monster Turn" section answers this directly.
The monster moves up to its stat-card move minus 1; if that reaches 0, it doesn't move.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
The Ooze still suffers the damage from the split, but no new Ooze appears.
Isaac's later answer as relayed by the FAQ maintainer, with other players agreeing; the designer's earlier post said otherwise.
They use the same drawn ability card at the same initiative. If the scenario doesn't specify the order between the types, the players choose, as long as it stays consistent each round; activating all of one type, then all of the other, is simplest. An earlier designer post instead had the type that was on the board first act first.
No — leave the deck and its current card as they are. Monster ability decks are only shuffled at the end of a round in which a card with the shuffle symbol was drawn; newly revealed monsters of that type in the same round use the card already drawn.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2016, in line with the rulebook.
One per monster type on the board each round, covering normal and elite alike; every monster of that type performs it on its own turn.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
All guards (Bandit, City, Inox) share the Guard deck, archers the Archer deck, shamans the Shaman deck, and every boss uses the universal Boss deck.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Consume the first to gain the effect of the second — the consume slash on the left element is just hard to see.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Use only the standees you have, giving priority to the monsters nearest the character who opened the door; the rest simply don't appear. A killed monster's standee can be reused later.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — it's added to every attack the monster makes, on top of any conditions from its ability card. Curses stack, so a target can get one from each.
The rulebook's "Monster Statistic Cards" section answers this directly.
On the back of each monster stat card — rotate or flip it to the needed level.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Shield 1 — the stat card has a typo.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Yes — you track damage dealt, so if its maximum drops to that or lower (as when an altar is destroyed in scenario 22), it dies.
No — monsters have no elemental immunities or weaknesses; some simply fly over hazardous terrain.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Each monster with its own stat card is a different type, and every boss is its own type.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015, in line with the rulebook.
They carry over toward the next perk — two checks plus two more gives a perk with one left over.
No — battle goals are checked before the completion bonus is awarded, so only XP earned during the scenario counts. Every participating character, exhausted or not, still gets the bonus XP afterwards.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2016, in line with the rulebook.
No — battle goals pay out only if the scenario is won. If it is won, an exhausted character still earns them.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015.
Count the cards in your hand plus your discard pile at the end of the scenario and compare with the goal. Exhaustion sends every card to the lost pile, so an exhausted character can complete Zealot but not Streamliner. Whether non-lost cards still in the active area count has been answered both ways, so move them to the discard pile beforehand if it matters.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Each time an item's effect is applied — each Hide Armor charge, each Iron Helmet trigger. A passive always-on item like Boots of Levitation counts as used once at the start of the scenario, so it breaks a "use no items" goal.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2016, in line with the rulebook.
Immediately on earning the third checkmark, even away from town. A retirement perk is separate and doesn't count as checkmarks.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — all battle goals, kept or discarded, completed or not, go back into the deck, which is shuffled before dealing. You never keep an unfinished goal.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Yes — deal two battle goals to each character. For retirement perks, treat each character lineage separately.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2016.
No — after the six perks from checkmarks, further battle goals give nothing.
Yes, as long as the party wins — unless the goal says you must survive or not exhaust, ending at 0 hit points counts as 2 or fewer. Summons can't become exhausted (they just die), so a summon dying doesn't count as an exhaustion for other goals.
Springing a trap on your turn counts. A treasure tile that hurts you is still treasure, not a trap, so it doesn't.
Probably, if you caused it and the room is revealed on your turn; with plates that open at the end of a turn the strict wording is doubtful.
Until the end of the round — a Shield or Retaliate gained from an attack modifier card works like a round bonus.
The rulebook's "Attack Modifier Cards" section answers this directly.
Keep drawing until you draw a non-rolling card, then add all the drawn cards together. A Null at the end still cancels the damage, even after rolling +1s. The curved-arrow symbol marks a rolling card.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — each target is a separate attack with its own modifier draw, and each can have its own advantage or disadvantage.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — every monster draws from the single monster (M) deck, so a curse or bless on one monster can be drawn by any of them, and it stays in the deck if that monster dies.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
Yes to both — items that affect an attack are used before the modifier is drawn, so that item is already spent or consumed and can be refreshed. An unqualified refresh works on spent or consumed items.
The rulebook's "Attack Modifier Cards" section answers this directly.
Yes — a drawn BLESS or CURSE always leaves the deck and returns to its supply, used or not. Likewise a drawn 2x or Null triggers the end-of-round shuffle even if it wasn't the card used.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
It works like a Null: the attack deals no damage, but its conditions and other effects still apply, and the curse is removed from the deck.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019, in line with the rulebook.
The 20 curses are split into 10 for player decks and 10 for the monster deck, and there are 10 blesses; you can't exceed the components. When a scenario hands out more than exist, the players split what's available and the rest is lost. The diamond-shaped tokens are a printing leftover and aren't needed.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Shuffle the discards into a new deck right away and keep drawing; remember any card already drawn for the advantage or disadvantage comparison.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Every character starts with one of the standard 20-card decks (numbered 1–4; M is the monster deck): one Null, one 2x, and the rest. The cards in the class box are perk cards, added only when you take the matching perk. A new character after retirement starts fresh.
The attacking figure's own: a character uses theirs, a summon its owner's, and a monster the monster deck, even when you control the attack.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
No — the symbol on the 2x and Null cards is the shuffle icon, not the rolling arrow. A 2x is worth the attack value at the moment it's applied, after all the attacker's bonuses; Shield and Pierce come afterwards.
The figure that drew it — the summon. Heal modifiers (including the Beast Tyrant's and Sawbones' perk cards, which should read "Self") heal whoever made the attack, and two rolling heals combine into one heal.
The rulebook's "End of Round" section answers this directly.
At the end of the round, not right away, and only for Null and 2x (cards with the shuffle icon). Drawing a Bless or Curse never triggers a shuffle.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Apply the card's own value to the current target (on the Tinkerer's perk card it's +0). After finishing that attack, you make a separate attack against another enemy in range, drawing new modifiers; rolling effects from the first draw never carry over to the new attack. Monsters and summons can use it too.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
Yes — added effects on modifier cards are optional, like other beneficial parts of your attack. The numeric modifier can't be ignored, though.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — immunity only stops attacks on the boss from adding curses. Curses already in the shared monster deck still apply when the boss draws one.
The rulebook's "Finishing a Scenario" section answers this directly.
No — only BLESS and CURSE cards leave when drawn. Scenario -1 cards (often marked with a star) stay until the end of the scenario.
The rulebook's "Attack Modifier Cards" section answers this directly.
It infuses that element at the end of your turn, exactly as if it were printed on your ability card.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — only the Sanctuary donation is limited to two. Blesses from other sources keep being added until the supply of 10 runs out.
No — shuffle it into the undrawn part of the deck only and leave the discards alone.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — modifier decks are only reset at the end of the scenario, so they stay in that deck until then.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — place standees without looking at their numbers, so the numbers end up random; they only set the activation order within a monster type.
Only the starting room is populated at the start; monsters, coins and treasure in other rooms are placed when their door opens. You can lay out all the tiles and check which monster types you'll face, but the contents of unopened rooms are meant to stay hidden.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
After the battle goals are dealt and after any road event is read: set up the map, read the introduction, deal battle goals, then pick items and your hand, and finally apply lingering event effects.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Use the part of each placement symbol for your character count (top-left for 2, top-right for 3, bottom for 4): black is none, white normal, gold elite. Draw standee numbers at random.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — every room not behind a door is set up at the start, and those monsters act from round one. Fog overlays in outdoor maps work like doors.
It depends on the scenario level: 2 gold at levels 0–1, 3 at 2–3, 4 at 4–5, 5 at 6 and 6 at 7. Money tokens are converted at the end of the scenario whether you won or lost.
Take the average character level, divide by 2 and round up — not the total. Lower it by 1 for Easy, raise it by 1 for Hard or 2 for Very Hard. Solo play adds 1 to monster level and trap damage.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
Your own move ends immediately — stun stops every ability, including the one you are in the middle of, and you lose the rest of your turn. Forced movement is different: a pushed or pulled figure keeps going through a stun trap for the full distance.
No — a hex cut off by the edge of a map tile counts as wall, both for movement and for line of sight, unless a corridor or other tile covers it.
The rulebook's "Move" section answers this directly.
Yes — the last hex of a jump is entered normally, so landing on a trap springs it. A figure already standing on a trap or hazard doesn't trigger it again by staying.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015.
Yes — a trap isn't an enemy attack, so it affects invisible figures normally, and taking its damage doesn't end invisibility.
Several players agree, one quoting the FAQ.
Yes — a trap keeps no memory of who placed it, so any figure, monster or character, that enters it springs it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — a figure suffers hazardous terrain damage once for every such hex it enters, by normal or forced movement.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — unnumbered goal treasure tiles reset on every attempt and give no reward beyond the scenario objective. Only numbered treasures are looted once for good.
Several players agree traps and obstacles are different tiles.
No — traps aren't obstacles. Only abilities that specifically disarm or destroy traps remove them.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019, in line with the rulebook.
No — a trap does only what its type says. Only damage traps (or traps marked with both) deal damage; a plain stun or poison trap just applies its condition.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019, in line with the rulebook.
No — flying figures ignore traps and hazardous terrain entirely, even when pushed into them. A figure that loses Flying while on one triggers it at that moment.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — if you run out, use substitutes; the component count isn't a limit on traps placed by abilities.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — traps created by abilities deal exactly the damage printed on the ability. Only scenario damage traps use 2 + the scenario level.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — destroying an obstacle always removes the whole tile; you can't partially destroy one, and being adjacent to any of its hexes is enough. Obstacles with hit points, or with special scenario rules, are exceptions.
Yes — tables work like boulders: they block movement but not line of sight, and can be jumped, flown over or destroyed. Features merely printed on map tiles (like the busted chest art) have no effect; check the colored outline in the scenario book for a tile's terrain type.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — the last hex of a jump is normal movement, so entering difficult terrain there costs 2. Each difficult hex you enter costs 2, while leaving one costs nothing extra.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — hazardous terrain only damages a figure when it enters the hex.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
An empty hex has nothing in it at all — no figures, coins, obstacles, difficult terrain or other overlay tiles; the only thing allowed is a corridor tile. A coin makes a hex non-empty but not occupied, so figures can still move onto it.
Yes — every map tile edge and partial hex counts as wall unless an overlay tile like a corridor or door covers it. Printed art (chests, shadows, torches) has no game effect.
General intentions only — "I'll go early", "I'll attack that group", pointing at hexes — but no exact numbers like initiative values or card names. Once cards are revealed, you can discuss plans and look at each other's cards freely.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Your leading card is locked once cards are revealed, but on your turn you may play the two cards in either order and use either for its top or bottom.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — each round you must play two cards or long rest; persistent cards in your active area don't change that. You can, however, play cards and skip their actions.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
A character playing a 99 card acts, and is focused, before a long-resting character, because their second card breaks the tie. Two long-resting characters tie, and the players choose who goes first. If a monster's focus comes down to that tie, the players decide at that moment; the order chosen at the start of the round doesn't bind it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
A character beats a monster type on a tie; between two monster types the players decide.
Players disagree; this is the better-supported reading, with no official ruling.
Yes — nothing caps it, so items can push initiative past those values. A long rest happens at 99, not at a separate later slot.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — nothing changes when a room is empty: each round you still play two cards or rest until the scenario ends.
Yes — wound damage comes at the start of your turn, before the long rest's Heal 2, which then removes the Wound and restores hit points.
Yes — a non-lost card in your active area can be moved to its discard pile at any time, so it can be recovered by the rest.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015, in line with the rulebook.
Both short and long rests need at least two cards in your discard pile. With two or more there, you can long rest even with no cards in hand. If you have fewer than two cards in hand and fewer than two in your discard pile, you can neither play nor rest, and you're exhausted.
The rulebook's "Resting" section answers this directly.
Yes — stun specifically allows a long rest, and its Heal 2 still happens. But a long rest must be declared during card selection; you can't switch to one when you find out you're stunned. A stunned player who didn't declare one still plays two cards and loses that turn.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Yes — the only mandatory part is losing one card from your discard pile. The heal is a normal heal, so it removes Poison instead of restoring hit points if you're poisoned.
Yes — a long rest is still your turn at initiative 99, so you can use items before or after the rest refreshes your spent ones.
Yes — a long-resting character stays on the board and can be targeted; long resting only puts you at initiative 99 for turn order and focus.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — active cards can stay in play. You may choose to move a non-lost active card to your discard pile first so the rest recovers it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
A short rest happens during end-of-round cleanup, not at the end of your turn. A long rest is declared during card selection and resolved on your turn at initiative 99, when you lose a card, heal and refresh items.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
There are no free rounds — you still play two cards or rest every round, and each rest loses a card — but resting before opening the next door is legal and a common tactic.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It's real damage (not attack damage), so effects that negate damage, like Frost Armor, can stop it — but you can't lose cards to negate it if you have no other cards to lose.
One experienced player's reading, with no official ruling or wider agreement.
No — your hand has no order; you just pick up the recovered cards.
No — teleports don't need line of sight in general; you just place the figure in a valid hex within the teleport's range.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2021.
Yes, as long as the door borders a room that is already revealed — doing so opens it and reveals the room beyond. You can't teleport into unrevealed parts of the map.
You must follow one of the six hex directions from your starting hex without ever changing direction; moving back and forth doesn't count.
Teleport places the figure in a destination hex within range without tracing a path, ignoring walls, figures and terrain in between. It isn't a move, so the 2019 ruling allows it while immobilized; the destination must be a legal hex in a revealed area, and entering a trap there still springs it.
Yes — Jump is a beneficial part of the ability, so you may skip it, but the choice applies to the whole move rather than hex by hex.
The rulebook's "Move" section answers this directly.
Yes — you can always move through allies, and invisibility doesn't change that. Invisible figures are treated as obstacles only by their enemies.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — you can spend move points however you like, including stepping onto a door to open it and moving back, as long as each hex you enter is legal.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — there are no attacks of opportunity or engagement rules, so you can move away from adjacent enemies freely.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — Move X lets you move up to X hexes, so moving 0 still counts as performing it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015.
No — unless a scenario says otherwise, only characters open doors. For monsters and summons a closed door is a wall, so they won't move onto it or path through it.
The rulebook's "Revealing a Room" section answers this directly.
After you finish your whole turn. Draw an ability card right away for any new monster type; revealed monsters whose initiative is lower than yours act immediately after your turn, the rest act at their normal initiative. Newly revealed monsters of a type that already acted this round still get a turn after yours.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
No — the round is already over, so the room is set up and its monsters first act in the next round.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
No — you may never completely cut off any part of the map, so an obstacle can't seal a closed door unless there is already another open path to the area behind it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — when a scenario effect reveals a room, every door between that room and rooms already revealed opens too, so its monsters can reach you and act normally.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2016, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — opening the door doesn't end your move or your turn. Set up the room, then finish your movement and the rest of your turn.
No — each door tile opens separately when a character enters it, unless the scenario says both open. A 2018 designer guess that a pair counts as one door was replaced by the FAQ ruling, confirmed again in 2024.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — when a destructible door is destroyed, the room behind it is revealed even though no one stepped through.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — no new card is drawn; they use the card already revealed for their type and act after the revealing character's turn, as a separate activation that can infuse or consume elements again.
The rulebook's "Special Scenario Rules" section answers this directly.
A door locked by special rules is a wall until its condition is met. A normal door opens when a character enters the door hex itself, from any adjacent hex.
Neither — a figure on a door hex counts as being in no room and on no tile. It can attack and be attacked normally; once opened, the door is an ordinary open hex.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
No — open doors can't be closed unless a scenario's rules say so.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — each target of an area attack, melee or ranged, is a separate attack and needs line of sight from you. Enemies in the pattern but out of line of sight aren't hit.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — each Attack line is its own attack ability, so both can target the same enemy. The no-repeat rule only applies within a single attack ability, such as a Target 2 or an area pattern.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020, in line with the rulebook.
Every attack, melee or ranged (including each hex of an area attack), and any ability that targets a figure at a range, such as a ranged heal or condition. Effects that don't target, like "all allies" or "all adjacent figures suffer damage", need no line of sight. Only walls (and closed doors) block it; figures and obstacles don't.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
No — range is counted hex by hex around walls, never through them, so two hexes on either side of a wall aren't adjacent and a target just past a wall may be out of range even if it looks close.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
No — the line may not touch a wall at all, and a hex corner that lies on a wall line can't be used as the start or end of the line. You need at least one line from a corner of one hex to a corner of the other that stays clear of every wall.
No — added effects resolve after damage, so a target killed by the damage isn't pushed, cursed or given conditions. Each hex of a push is resolved in order too, so a target killed by the first trap isn't pushed into the second.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
First all of the attacker's bonuses and penalties (card bonuses, items, +1 for Poison) in any order you like, then the drawn attack modifier (a 2x doubles everything so far), then the target's Shield.
Pierce X ignores up to X points of the target's Shield for that attack; it adds no damage on its own and does nothing against a target with no Shield. It is applied while damage is calculated.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — only walls (including closed doors and partial hexes at tile edges) block line of sight. Other figures, invisible ones included, obstacles and difficult terrain don't, so you can shoot past them.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — any attack on a character's card without a Range value is a melee attack, even if its area pattern reaches beyond adjacent hexes (as with the Spellweaver's Inferno). Monster ability cards are different: an attack there without a range uses the monster's range from its stat card.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015.
Yes — an open door doesn't block anything, so if a clear line passes through the doorway you have line of sight (and range is counted through the door hex).
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
An attack is one target and one modifier draw. An attack action is every attack made by one action (the top or bottom half of a card), so effects that apply to the attack action apply to each of those attacks.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
No — two hexes separated by a wall line aren't adjacent, so a single-target melee attack can't reach across it.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — an attack with a Range is ranged wherever the attacker stands, so effects that trigger only on melee attacks ignore it.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — a single-target attack deals all its damage to its one target. Hitting more enemies takes a Target value or an area pattern.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Before you draw the attack modifier — any active choice to boost an attack (items, element consumption, card effects) must be made first.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — "any range" removes only the range limit; every attack still needs line of sight.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Generally yes — it is your attack, so your persistent bonuses and conditions on the target apply. A figure with no deck of its own, like Hail, uses the granting character's deck.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes to both — any attack that lists a Range is a ranged attack, including Range 1, and it gains Disadvantage against an adjacent target. It stays ranged for every other purpose too.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — only the attack against the adjacent target has Disadvantage. Each target of a multi-target or area attack is a separate attack, so distant targets are attacked normally.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Both conditions stay, but advantage and disadvantage cancel out, so the figure draws a single modifier card. If it is also disarmed, it can't attack at all.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Draw two cards. If neither is rolling, use the better one. If one is rolling, add it to the other card (so a rolling +1 with a Null is still a Null). If both are rolling, keep drawing until a non-rolling card appears and add them all together.
Rolling modifiers are ignored entirely, effects included. Draw two cards: if neither is rolling, use the worse; if one is rolling, ignore it and use the other; if both are rolling, keep drawing until a non-rolling card appears and use only that last card.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Treat every added effect (condition, element and so on) as positive but of undefined value. If one card is clearly better, for example +1 Stun over +1, use it. If it's ambiguous, such as +0 Stun against +2, use the first card drawn.
The rulebook's "Advantage and Disadvantage" section answers this directly.
Advantage comes only from Strengthen or abilities and items that grant it; disadvantage from Muddle, specific effects, or a ranged attack against an adjacent target. Any advantage plus any disadvantage cancels to a normal draw.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It adds one extra single target, not a second copy of the area. The extra enemy must not already be targeted by the attack and must be within the attack's range — for a melee pattern with a grey hex, that means adjacent to you. It doesn't have to be connected to the area.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015, in line with the rulebook.
No — attacks only ever target enemies, even when an ally stands in the pattern. Only abilities that explicitly say they affect allies or all figures touch them.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — you pick the order, resolving each target fully (its own modifier draw) before moving to the next.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — a single attack ability can target a given figure only once, even if it fills several hexes of the pattern (like a large obstacle with hit points) or the card has an Add Target effect.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — Target X means up to X different enemies. You may choose fewer, and you choose each target before drawing its modifier.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Melee, as a rule — the grey hex marks the attacker's position, so a monster that normally has range makes a melee attack with that pattern. The designer made one exception: if the action still specifies a Range for that attack, it counts as ranged.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
No — only one hex of the pattern needs to be within the attack's range, and that hex can even be empty. You still need line of sight to each enemy you attack, and the pattern can be rotated freely.
Yes — each target that is hit and survives adds its own CURSE to the monster modifier deck. A target killed by the attack's damage isn't cursed.
No — an attack with no valid target can't be performed, so its element, XP and other effects (like Dirt Tornado's muddle on allies) don't happen. You can still play the card and skip the action entirely, which sends it to its normal pile.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — effects listed with an attack apply to every target of that attack. On cards with several separate attack lines, an effect belongs only to the line it's printed on, and the targets of Target X can be anywhere within range.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — each target is a separate attack, so a conditional bonus (and an item that adds targets) is checked and applied per target.
No — a "target all" effect applies to every valid enemy, so you either use it on all of them or skip it entirely. Only Target X lets you choose fewer targets.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
No — each target is a separate attack resolved one after another, including its modifier draw, effects and any Retaliate, before you move on to the next.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Only if you have line of sight to that enemy's hex and it fits the pattern; the pattern itself may overlap walls, but every target still needs line of sight.
The hex used to measure range can be empty, but at least one enemy must be in the pattern for the attack to be performed; an area that hits no one earns no XP.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Two in total — you attack up to two different enemies. Add Target, by contrast, adds one target on top of what the attack already has.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — any rotation or mirror image of the pattern is allowed, but you mirror the whole pattern including the grey attacker hex, not just the red hexes.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — each attack is resolved one at a time, so if the attacker is killed (for example by Retaliate), the remaining targets aren't attacked.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
No — a closed door is a wall until a character willingly enters it, so forced movement can't put any figure onto it or through it, and being pushed never opens a door. A character who jumps or flies onto the door hex does open it, since that is a voluntary move.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — forced movement springs every trap the target enters along the way, one after another (unless the target is flying).
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
No — you can push or pull a flying monster into a trap hex, but flying figures are never affected by traps or hazardous terrain, even when moved there by forced movement.
One experienced player's reading, with no official ruling or wider agreement.
Yes — flying applies to forced movement as well, so a flying figure can be moved across obstacles and other figures, as long as it ends in an empty hex.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — the attacker moves the target, so it doesn't need a move value of its own. Such monsters can also be immobilized as normal.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — push and pull are applied by an attack to its targets, and attacks can only target enemies, so you can't use them on allies.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — you choose each hex separately; every hex of a push just has to move the target farther from you, and every hex of a pull closer to you.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Through its own allies (other monsters), yes, but not ending in an occupied hex. It can't be moved through your characters or summons, since those are its enemies, unless it is flying.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — you can skip the push or pull entirely, but if you do it you must move the target as far as you are able, up to the full value.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Only within the rules for each step: at every hex of the push, if there is a valid hex farther away you must move the target into one, but you may pick a hex from which the push can't continue. You can't stop early against a blocked hex while a valid hex is available. An early designer reply allowing any direction was replaced by this FAQ wording.
The players — monsters make no choice here, so the ambiguity rule applies and the players pick among the legal hexes.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — swapping is forced movement, so figures immune to forced movement can't be swapped.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
By proximity — hexes counted around walls but ignoring obstacles. So you can push a monster around a corner, but a hex that is only "farther" because an obstacle lengthens the path doesn't qualify.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
No — a pull printed as part of the attack applies to the attacked target.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — Poison simply adds +1 to the attack, and the target's Shield is subtracted afterwards like any other attack. For example, Attack 2 against a poisoned monster with Shield 1 becomes Attack 3, then the modifier card is applied, then Shield 1 is subtracted: 2 damage on a +0.
The rulebook's "Conditions" section answers this directly.
No — Poison only adds +1 to attacks against the figure. Wound, trap and hazardous terrain damage and Retaliate aren't attacks, so Poison doesn't affect them.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
Yes, if the Retaliate is already active. Retaliate on the stat card always applies, and Retaliate from an ability card stays up if the monster performed it before being stunned. A monster stunned before its turn never gains its ability card's Retaliate. Disarm doesn't affect Retaliate at all, since Retaliate isn't an attack.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
Nothing — a stunned figure performs none of its abilities, including move, attack, infusing elements or shields on its ability card. If it was stunned after it already acted, it skips its turn in the next round instead.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — a Null or a fully shielded hit is still an attack, so its conditions, push/pull and other added effects still apply, and XP for the action is still earned.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — every enemy in an area attack is targeted, and invisible figures can't be targeted by enemies, so they are skipped even when the pattern covers their hex.
The players decide. A 2017 designer answer put the wound damage first, but the designers later ruled that simultaneous start-of-turn effects resolve in the order the players choose, and the official FAQ follows that.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — Immobilize only stops a figure from performing move abilities, and Stun stops it from performing abilities at all. Push and pull are performed by the attacker, so they still work.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Until the end of its next turn, which is its turn this same round — so it loses this round's turn and acts normally next round. Stun applied after it has already acted lasts through its turn next round.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
It takes effect immediately and lasts until the end of your next turn, so it covers the rest of this turn and all of your next one.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — conditions on an attack are applied after its damage, whether they come from the card, an item or a modifier, so that Poison only boosts later attacks. If an ability poisons the target as a separate step before its attack, the +1 does apply.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — healing a wounded figure removes the Wound and still restores the heal's full value. If the figure is poisoned, though, the heal removes the Poison (and any Wound) but restores no hit points.
The rulebook's "Conditions" section answers this directly.
Yes — CURSE is a negative condition, so immunity prevents new curses being added. Curses already shuffled into the deck stay there.
The rulebook's "Conditions" section answers this directly.
No — they stay on the figure until a heal removes them (or the scenario ends). Only Immobilize, Disarm, Stun, Muddle, Invisible and Strengthen expire on their own.
The rulebook's "Character Turn" section answers this directly.
Yes — a condition on an enemy is a beneficial part of your action, so you may skip it. Only parts that harm you or your allies are mandatory.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — invisibility only stops enemies from focusing on or targeting the figure; allies can affect it normally.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — the matching condition token is removed right away. For CURSE, immunity only stops new cards; those already in the deck remain.
No — invisibility only blocks being focused on or targeted by enemies. Effects that simply make figures in an area suffer damage still hit invisible figures, and Shield doesn't reduce them either.
The rulebook's "Conditions" section answers this directly.
Yes — a figure can't hold two copies of one condition, but reapplying it refreshes its duration.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — each ability fully resolves before the next, so the Poison is already on the target. The same-turn restriction only applies to elements.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — Disarm only stops attacks. Kill effects, placing traps and abilities like "Immobilize all adjacent enemies" that aren't attacks still work.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — those effects are part of the attack, and without the attack there is nothing to attach them to.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Only abilities that say Target or are attacks. Invisibility blocks enemy attacks and targeted pushes, pulls and conditions, but non-targeted effects, including kill abilities like Petrify that don't target, still work on invisible figures.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
Yes — they prevent the matching abilities at any time, not just on the figure's turn, so a stunned or immobilized character can't use a move granted by an ally. The "on your turn" wording was removed by errata.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
At the end of the affected figure's next turn. Each monster takes its own turn, so a monster strengthened by an earlier one keeps it through its turn next round; a summon you strengthen keeps it through the summon's next turn.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015.
At the end of the character's next turn, which is the long rest turn at initiative 99.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
No — anything you infuse, whether from an ability card, an item like a Mana Potion, or an attack modifier, only moves to Strong at the end of your turn. Extra actions taken during your turn (such as from a Ring of Haste) can't use it either.
Yes — you consume the element that is already on the board for its bonus, and your own infusion of it still lands in Strong at the end of your turn.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — an element is used up the moment one ability consumes it, so only one of them gets the bonus unless the element is somehow made available again.
Before — any bonus added to an attack, including consuming an element, must be declared before you draw the modifier card. You must also actually perform the ability to consume for it.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — at the end of your turn it simply moves (or stays) in Strong. Each element has only one token, so infusing it again just refreshes it.
It depends on how the element is printed. An infusion that is an effect of an attack can be skipped like any other attack effect. A stand-alone infusion in the action must be performed if you perform any part of that action. Using the card for the basic Attack 2 or Move 2 creates no element.
Yes — the consumed element modifies the whole attack ability, so every target of that area or Target X attack gets the bonus, including targets added by items like the Battle Axe.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
At any point — before you start moving or after any hex of the base movement.
Yes — the summon's infusion lands at the end of the summon's own turn, which comes just before yours, so you can consume it. The same-turn restriction applies only to elements you infuse yourself.
Yes — once you pay the element you gain the XP, and you may skip the added effect, since it's beneficial. You must decide to consume before resolving the attack.
The rulebook's "Elemental Infusions" section answers this directly.
Inert — consuming uses the element up completely, whether it was Strong or Waning.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015.
One — it stands for any single element of your choice, including the one the card creates.
Yes — on those cards the XP is part of the element bonus, so you earn it only by consuming. "Attack +1" there adds damage, not an extra attack.
No — each consumption line is its own optional bonus, so you can consume any of them, all, or none, as available.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — "you may" makes the consumption optional, and the card's own wording takes precedence over the general rule that persistent bonuses must be used.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No to both — there's one token per element, and every figure takes its own turn.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — you may move a card out of your active area at any time. It goes to the pile it normally would (lost for summons and lost-icon cards, otherwise discard).
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — the current turn counts as the first, and a charge is used (and XP gained) each turn even if there's no valid target.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — the XP is gained once when the card is played; only use slots that show XP icons give more. Likewise an enhancement like Strengthen on a persistent card applies once when played, not every round.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
They're auras centred on you for the rest of the round: any ally adjacent to you when making an attack gets the bonus.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — a charge is used whenever the card's own trigger condition is met, whether or not the effect helps. The designer ruled that the Cragheart's "Retaliate on the next melee attacks" is spent on any melee attack, even one where the Retaliate can't reach the attacker. If the card's condition isn't met, no charge is used, and when it is met you must use it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — "the next time" triggers only once.
The rulebook's "Active Bonuses" section answers this directly.
When you perform it on your turn; it lasts until the end of the round.
The rulebook's "Active Bonuses" section answers this directly.
Place the token on the first space when you play the card and advance it each time the effect triggers. XP on a space is gained when that charge is used, that is, when the effect triggers and the token moves off it; you don't get it just for playing the card.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Only when the scenario ends or you choose to remove it. Until then it stays active in your active area, and you can move it to the lost pile at any time.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
It depends on the symbol next to it: with a round bonus symbol it lasts until the end of the round and applies against every attack in that time, and with a persistent symbol it lasts until the card's charges or condition run out. Unless the card says "next attack" or uses charges, a Shield is not used up by the first hit. Shield or Retaliate printed on a monster's stat card is permanent.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — Shield only reduces damage from attacks. Retaliate, Wound, traps, hazardous terrain and other "suffer damage" effects aren't attacks, so they ignore Shield (and attack-only armor such as Hide Armor).
The rulebook's "Shield, Retaliate, Heal, Summon" section answers this directly.
Only if the attacker is within the Retaliate's range. Plain Retaliate has range 1, so it hits any adjacent attacker whether the attack is melee or ranged; Retaliate with a listed Range (like the Flame Demon's) reaches further.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — Shield values from cards, items and stat cards add together, and so do Retaliate values, each Retaliate applying only if the attacker is within its own range.
No, if the push is part of the attack — Retaliate triggers after all of the attack's effects, so if your push moves the target out of its Retaliate range it doesn't retaliate, and if you pull it into range it does. A push printed as a separate ability after the attack comes too late: the Retaliate has already triggered.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015.
No — Retaliate isn't an attack, so it deals exactly its printed value with no modifier draw.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — Retaliate doesn't target, so it still damages an attacker who is invisible.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015.
No — both are plain damage, not attacks, so no modifier card is drawn and Shield doesn't reduce them.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — a figure is within range of itself, so a plain "Heal X, Range Y" can target you unless it says allies only.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — Retaliate only triggers on attacks, so an ability that just applies a condition doesn't set it off. Area attacks do trigger it when you're in range.
One experienced player's reading, with no official ruling or wider agreement.
No — Self means only the figure performing it. To heal a summon you need a heal with a range.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — the healer may choose not to heal you, but as the target you can't decline it.
Yes — abilities resolve in order, and Retaliate resolves as part of the attack, before the heal that follows it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
You choose the order. Once the damage is reduced to 0, the remaining charge-based effects aren't used.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — you may heal someone at full health and still gain the XP for performing the heal, or you may skip the heal entirely (losing its XP).
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015, in line with the rulebook.
No — Retaliate triggers after the attack, so a figure killed by that attack never retaliates.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
After — the attack resolves fully first, including its effects and the Retaliate damage, and then the heal applies.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — healing never raises a character or monster above its maximum; the excess is lost. A monster summoned with fewer hit points can, however, heal up to its type's normal maximum.
The rulebook's "Shield, Retaliate, Heal, Summon" section answers this directly.
No — character summons and monster-summoned monsters never take a turn in the round they appear. From the next round on, a character's summon acts directly before its summoner.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
Each summon acts immediately before its summoner, at the summoner's initiative — including 99 when the summoner long rests. Multiple summons act in the order they were summoned.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
A summon always acts like a monster with "Move +0, Attack +0": it focuses, moves, then attacks, never attacking first. You only control it when an ability explicitly says so.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
No — summons follow monster rules, so with no valid focus (for example, no enemies revealed) they stay where they are instead of following you.
Yes — character summons are allies, so any heal that can affect allies can heal them, up to their maximum hit points.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — only characters can open doors, and summons never loot unless an ability specifically grants them Loot. For a summon a closed door is a wall.
The rulebook's "Shield, Retaliate, Heal, Summon" section answers this directly.
They are removed along with the character. Monsters summoned by monsters are unaffected by anything like this.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
The CURSE or BLESS card goes into the summoner's attack modifier deck, because summons draw from their owner's deck.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — a summon must be placed in an empty hex, and a trap hex isn't empty, flying summon or not.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
The summon never attacks on its own turn, and "+X Attack" bonuses do nothing for it. A character ability can still order it to perform a specific attack.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — on-death effects only trigger when the summon is killed by losing all its hit points; removing the card or exhausting just removes it.
At the end of the summon's own next turn, which comes just before its summoner's turn — not at the end of the summoner's turn.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — another player's summons are your allies, so ally-affecting abilities work on them. Cards that say "your summoned ally" only affect your own.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015, in line with the rulebook.
They draw from and share their summoner's attack modifier deck, but they don't benefit from the summoner's own active bonuses unless a card says it affects summons.
It uses monster focus rules: the one earlier in initiative order wins, which for one monster type means elites before normals, then lower standee numbers.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — summons use monster AI, so they treat traps and hazardous terrain as obstacles unless that is the only way to reach their focus.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Once, when you play the card — not each round or when the summon dies.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — you may remove any card from your active area at any time. A summon card then goes to the lost pile, and you can't return it to your hand.
Its Attack — Wound is an attack effect applied to the summon's targets.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
One per figure summoned — Living Night places two and Endless Spikes three, each a separate summon with the card's stats.
No — summons have no hand, discard or lost pile, so it does nothing for them or their owner.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — end-of-turn looting is for characters only. Summons and monsters only pick up coins with an explicit Loot ability (and monsters only take money tokens, never treasure).
The rulebook says a character must loot any tokens in their hex at the end of their turn.
Yes — end-of-turn looting is mandatory, even if a battle goal or other reason makes you want to leave it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — experience is a byproduct of performing the ability, not an option. The only way to avoid it is to not perform the ability that grants it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — experience comes only from XP icons on the abilities you perform (and persistent-bonus charges), plus the bonus experience for completing a scenario.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — you can skip any part of an action except a part that harms you or your allies, and you still gain the XP for the part you did perform.
The rulebook's "Recover, Refresh, Loot, and Experience" section answers this directly.
No — without a Loot ability you only pick up tokens in the hex where you end your turn. Passing through a hex leaves the coin behind.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Look up the number printed by the chest on the scenario map in the treasure index at the back of the Scenario Book; goal treasure tiles are explained in the scenario's own text.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2016.
Yes — each card goes to its pile as soon as its action is finished, so the first card is already in your lost pile when your second action recovers.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — hexes separated by a wall aren't adjacent; that hex is at least range 2 (counted around through the door), even if you can see it.
No — a Loot ability needs something to loot. With nothing in range you can't perform it, so its element and XP don't happen (you can still use the card as a basic Move 2).
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
In the obstacle hex where it died. You need a Loot ability to reach it there.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — rounds continue normally with no monsters around, so you can keep playing cards to collect coins before opening the next door, at the cost of cards.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Loot range works like a ranged ability: you need line of sight to each hex, and range is counted around walls, but monsters and obstacles don't block it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
An action granted "at the end of your turn" (such as from a Ring of Haste) happens before end-of-turn looting, so you can't loot and then use the item to move away.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — a flat XP value is gained once for the ability, unless the card says you gain it per target.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — a card isn't in the discard pile until its action finishes, so it can't recover itself. Recover and refresh only work on the state they name: a lost-card recover can't take discards, and a consumed-item refresh can't refresh spent items. Summons have no cards to recover.
Yes — when the card grants XP for each enemy targeted, an added target counts. A flat XP value is still gained only once.
Yes — you can use it on fewer targets; a flat XP value is still gained, and "1 XP per enemy targeted" counts every target, including the first.
The rulebook's "Overlay Tiles" section answers this directly.
No — numbered treasures can be looted only once across the campaign (even in casual play, if never looted before). Treasure gold isn't multiplied by the scenario level; only money tokens are.
The rulebook's "Recover, Refresh, Loot, and Experience" section answers this directly.
No — end-of-turn looting takes only what is in your own hex. To open a chest from a distance you need a Loot ability that reaches it.
The rulebook's "Finishing a Scenario" section answers this directly.
Only if someone loots it before the scenario ends — the rest of the round is still played out, so characters who haven't acted can still reach it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — it goes straight onto your character sheet and isn't multiplied by the scenario's gold conversion.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Check the box next to the treasure's number in the treasure index at the back of the Scenario Book. The checkbox on a map sticker is for marking the scenario as completed.
The rulebook's "Character Damage, Healing, Exhaustion, Items" section answers this directly.
Yes — whenever you would suffer damage, you may lose one card from your hand or two from your discard pile to negate all of the damage from that single source, however large. It works on attacks, traps, hazardous terrain, Wound, Retaliate and "suffer damage" effects alike, and you can do it as often as you have cards to lose. Conditions and other effects of the attack still apply.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — only cards in your hand (lose one) or your discard pile (lose two) can be used to negate damage. The two cards you selected this round aren't in either place until you play them. A card in your active area doesn't count either, but if it isn't a lost card you may move it to your discard pile at any time, and then it does.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Only once it has been fully resolved — each played card goes to its pile as soon as it is finished. With end-of-turn looting both played cards are already in your discard pile and can be lost; with a Loot action, the card performing the loot isn't resolved yet, so it can't be used.
No — the designer ruled you may lose a card to negate the damage before using other defensive effects, so the charge on an item like Hide Armor or a persistent bonus is kept. Some players argue shields must apply first, but the ruling lets you choose the order.
Several players agree, one citing the official FAQ's item-use entry.
No — an attack reduced to 0 damage isn't a source of damage, so "next source of damage" charges (and similar armor) aren't spent on it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
Whoever lands the killing hit gets the credit, so if your ability lets an ally attack, the ally gets the kill. For a trap, credit goes to whoever caused it to be sprung (for example by pushing the monster in), not whoever placed it; a monster that walks into a trap on its own is nobody's kill. A monster that dies from Wound is nobody's kill either.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
No — unless the ability says "attack", a kill effect is not an attack, and the monster simply dies regardless of its hit points; if you consume an element to turn an attack into a kill "instead", it stops being an attack. The ruling doesn't address objectives, but players agree that obstacles and objectives with hit points can only be destroyed by damage, so instant kills don't work on them.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — the damage done is the full amount after modifiers and shields, even beyond the target's remaining hit points.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
You still draw ability cards for them, but with no path to an enemy they have no focus, so they don't move or attack — they only perform abilities that need no focus, like shields or heals. Summons likewise can't focus through a closed door.
No — focus ignores line of sight. A monster focuses on the enemy it could attack using the least movement, assuming unlimited movement along a valid path; line of sight only matters for the attack itself.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019, in line with the rulebook.
The summon — summons act just before their summoner, so they win the initiative tiebreak. If two long-resting characters tie, both at 99, the players decide.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2016, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — disadvantage plays no part in choosing focus. If several enemies can be attacked without moving, the closest one is the focus, even an adjacent one. The monster then steps away if its card lets it; if it can't (immobilized or no move), it attacks that focus with disadvantage.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019, in line with the rulebook.
First the enemy it can attack using the fewest movement points; then proximity (fewest hexes away, counted around walls but ignoring obstacles); then the earliest in initiative order. If still tied, the players choose. A 2017 designer reply briefly put initiative before proximity but was retracted the same day.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — a monster needs an open hex it could attack from (even with unlimited movement). If none exists, that character can't be its focus, so it focuses on someone else or doesn't move.
Mostly no — it picks its focus before acting and keeps it through the turn. The exception is when its focus dies or is exhausted partway through: then it picks a new focus for its remaining abilities.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — a monster with a single-target attack only attacks its focus. If it can't attack the focus this turn, it moves toward it and its attack (with any attached conditions) doesn't happen.
They can't find a focus, so they neither move nor attack. They still perform abilities that need no focus, like shields, heals or elements.
It finds a new focus for its remaining abilities.
Yes — each monster determines its focus fresh at the start of every turn, so it may switch targets from one round to the next.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — each monster focuses on the closest enemy by the focus rules, regardless of who was already hit; there's no rule against attacking the same character again.
Yes — it only considers enemies it could attack from some reachable hex, then applies the card's special focus among those.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — monsters treat invisible characters as obstacles, so they can't pass through them, and may end up with no path to anyone.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
Only if there is no other way. Monsters treat traps and hazardous terrain as obstacles while any trap-free path (of any length, assuming unlimited movement) leads to a hex they could attack their focus from. If every path crosses one, they take the path through the fewest negative hexes. Flying monsters ignore traps entirely.
No — avoiding traps and hazardous terrain takes priority over avoiding disadvantage and over adding targets. It only enters a trap when that is the only way to attack its focus at all.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — monsters plan their path as if they had unlimited movement and can move through their allies, so if any trap-free path exists, they follow it even if that means not reaching their focus this turn.
Monsters can move through other monsters, since they are allies, but not end in their hex. They can't move through characters or summons, and an invisible character counts as an obstacle to them.
The rulebook's "Monster Turn" section answers this directly.
Yes, if its card has a move and it can reach a hex where it attacks its focus without disadvantage — it moves only as far as needed. It doesn't switch to a different target; if it can't escape disadvantage, it stays and attacks its focus anyway.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
No — a muddled monster has disadvantage wherever it attacks from, so stepping away gains nothing; a disarmed monster can't attack, so it moves as if it had a melee attack.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
It finds its focus and moves as if it had a single-target melee attack, getting as close as it can, whatever its normal range. A heal or loot on the card doesn't change where it heads.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
No — monsters only do what their ability card shows. Without a Move it stays put (even to avoid disadvantage), and without an Attack it doesn't attack.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Yes — it moves as far as it can along the path toward a hex it could attack from, even if it still can't attack this turn. Disarmed or ranged-but-out-of-range monsters do the same.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019, in line with the rulebook.
It first secures the best attack on its focus (avoiding disadvantage if it can), then, using the least movement, adds as many other targets as possible. It always attacks its focus.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
The players — once focus and the best attack are settled, ties between equally good destination hexes are decided by the players.
Players disagree; this is the better-supported reading, with no official ruling.
It moves as if it were making a melee attack, since it can't attack. Conditions attached to its attack are lost, but separate abilities on the card (shields, heals, stand-alone elements) still happen.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015.
Neither — it uses the least movement needed. If it can already attack its focus without disadvantage, it stays put.
It doesn't recalculate — its destination is fixed before it moves. Stun ends its turn at once; if disarmed, it finishes the planned move but can't attack.
No — a monster only moves if it ends closer to a hex from which it can attack its focus. If no attack hex is reachable even with unlimited movement, it has no focus and doesn't move.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It still heads for the hex that gets it closest to attacking its focus; it doesn't detour into traps or hazards while a trap-free path exists, and with little movement it may end up not moving.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
For that turn it ignores obstacles, figures and traps along the way, planning its path as if it keeps Jump, but its last hex follows normal rules — it can't end on an obstacle, and landing on a trap springs it. It still won't choose a trap as its destination if a trap-free option exists.
No — difficult terrain isn't a negative hex. Monsters simply count it as two movement points when finding the shortest path.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Only from that monster's turn until the end of the round — it does nothing before the monster acts, even though the card is revealed earlier. A monster stunned before its turn never gains it that round. Shield or Retaliate on the stat card is always on.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019, in line with the rulebook.
No — only monsters placed at setup or revealed when a room opens drop a money token where they die, however they are killed (bosses included). Summoned and spawned monsters never drop one. Monsters a scenario simply places mid-game, without spawning them, do drop money.
Players disagree; this is the better-supported reading, with no official ruling.
No — players quote the official FAQ as saying allied monsters don't drop money. Morthai said in early 2018 that they did, since they're still monsters, and some players still read the rulebook that way.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
They are placed in an empty hex adjacent to the summoner (closest to an enemy), use normal standees and the scenario level, and act from the next round using their type's ability deck. They stay on the board when their summoner dies, and they drop no money.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
Yes — monsters of a type activating together consume the element once, as a group, and all of them gain the benefit. Monsters of that type revealed later in the round activate separately and can only consume it if it's still available.
The players — if several elements are available, they choose which one the monsters consume.
A stand-alone infusion happens as long as at least one monster of the type isn't stunned, even if none of them can move or attack. If every monster of the type is stunned, nothing is infused or consumed.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — monsters never loot treasure tiles; their Loot only takes money tokens, and coins they take are gone for good, even if you kill them.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — they share an initiative but take separate turns one after another: elites first, then normals, each in ascending standee number. Each attack draws its own modifier.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Yes to both — a monster with a range on its stat card uses it for every attack unless the card says otherwise, and a melee monster whose ability card lists a Range makes a ranged attack that round.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
In the hex where it died — it is removed as soon as it takes lethal damage, before any push. A hex can hold any number of money tokens.
Yes — the card stays out until the end of the round, so newly revealed or spawned monsters of that type later in the round still use it.
No — every attack must go to the same enemy, so once it dies the remaining attacks are lost.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
The range printed with the heal, or the monster's base range if it has one; otherwise it heals only itself. It heals the most wounded ally in range, with ties decided by the players.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Each line is a separate single-target attack with its own modifier draw, all made against the monster's focus where possible.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — monster abilities resolve in printed order, so the Strengthen only applies to later attacks.
Yes — monsters always consume an available element when they perform the ability it's attached to, even if disarmed or the bonus is useless, unless no monster of the type can perform that ability.
Yes — any attack with a Range is ranged, so targets adjacent to the monster are attacked with disadvantage. The monster still picks its focus normally and positions for it first.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Target 2 works like Add Target: the monster makes the area attack and then one extra single target outside it, not a second area.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
The monster attack modifier deck, unless the scenario says they use a character's deck.
Yes — the attack is still performed and draws a modifier, so a positive card or effects like conditions can still apply.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
In an empty hex next to the monster using the ability, choosing the one closest to the nearest enemy; players break ties.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It shuffles one BLESS into the shared monster deck, and whichever monster draws it benefits.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — every monster that drops a coin drops a single money token; its value comes from the scenario level's gold conversion.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
It only becomes active once the Cultist has performed that line of its card this round — so a Cultist killed by Retaliate before reaching it doesn't explode, while one stunned after its turn still does. It triggers immediately on death, the grey hex is where it died, and like any attack it only hits its enemies.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — with no target there's nothing to summon next to, so that part doesn't happen.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — an element printed as part of an attack is only consumed when the attack is actually performed. With no valid target, the attack isn't performed and the element stays.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Yes — the self-damage is a separate ability, not part of the attack or summon, so it happens whenever the monster performs its card (but not if stunned).
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — they stack. The stat-card Shield is always on; the ability-card Shield adds to it from the monster's turn until the end of the round.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — the card is missing the word "instead": with Light consumed it heals all allies in range, and as it isn't its own ally, it doesn't heal itself.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Text in smaller font belongs to the ability above it and is part of that attack; a separate full-size line is its own ability. So a separate "Poison, all adjacent enemies" line applies even without the attack, and a disarmed monster loses only the effects nested in its attack.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — the only thing that can be attached to a move is Jump; other effects on the card are separate abilities.
It's not a typo — the monster makes two separate attacks, one after the other.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — the scenario book just explains the special in more detail; the boss still performs everything on its ability card.
They're the conditions the boss is immune to, not effects its attacks inflict. On a normal monster's stat card, a condition listed with its attributes is instead added to every attack it makes.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — the boss does only what the card shows. The Inox Bodyguard's area pattern applies only to Special 1.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — C is the number of characters who started the scenario and stays fixed.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
The stat card; the two don't stack.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
You keep the experience from abilities, the gold from looted money tokens and any treasure you looted; you lose only the conclusion, rewards, bonus XP and battle goal checkmarks. There's no other penalty, and you can retry or go elsewhere — but scenarios it would unlock stay locked until you win.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
No — the rest of the round is played out, including turns of characters and monsters who haven't acted yet, and the scenario ends in success at the end of that round, as long as not every character has become exhausted by then.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — you must survive to the end of that final round. The designer said in early 2017 that a triggered result couldn't change, but he ruled in December 2017 that the scenario is lost if everyone exhausts before the round ends.
The rulebook's "Finishing a Scenario" section answers this directly.
No — at the end of every scenario, won or lost, remove all BLESS, CURSE and scenario-added -1 cards from every deck, even if you retry right away.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019, in line with the rulebook.
No — you keep only what was picked up before the scenario ended; anything still on the board is lost.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — the party wins together, so exhausted characters keep their gold and XP, get the completion bonus and earn completed battle goals.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
At the end of every scenario, win or lose: all lost and discarded cards and consumed items return, and characters reset to full hit points with no conditions. During a scenario only specific recover abilities return lost cards.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — you only become exhausted for lack of cards at the start of a round, and the scenario ends at the end of the current one, so you win.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Summoned monsters must be killed too. A mind-controlled monster is still an enemy, so controlling it doesn't complete the goal.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017; the stricter no-monsters condition is a later Cephalofair ruling.
Yes, unless you play with permanent death. The designer is fine with a party giving up before the failure conditions are met; it simply counts as a failed scenario, so you keep the experience and loot you collected but earn no completion rewards. Morthai later gave a stricter version — you may abandon only when no monsters are present in the revealed rooms — which players connect to permanent-death play, where retreating saves characters from dying.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — the scenario is complete once every character is either standing on an exit hex or became exhausted while standing on one.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — it's set up from scratch, with new battle goals, except numbered treasure already looted. An immediate retry skips the road event.
The rulebook's "Finishing a Scenario" section answers this directly.
Each character converts their looted coins to gold, earns bonus experience of 4 + twice the scenario level (added once), and gains checkmarks for completed battle goals.
No — a monster spawned at the end of a round first activates in the next round.
The rulebook's "Special Scenario Rules" section answers this directly.
Yes — they activate as if just revealed: if their initiative has already passed, they act right after the current figure's turn. Monsters spawned at the end of a round wait until the next one, and monster-summoned monsters always wait a round.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
In the nearest empty hex, however far away that is; it doesn't have to be adjacent to the spawn point. If several hexes are equally near, the players decide.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019, in line with the rulebook.
They count as enemies for all your abilities, so characters and summons can target them, and summons focus on them at initiative 99. They are immune to all negative conditions and can only be destroyed by damage, not by other abilities such as instant kills. Monsters treat them as neither ally nor enemy and won't attack them unless a character ability forces it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — a monster spawns only in an empty hex, and a hex with a money token isn't empty, so it spawns in the nearest empty hex instead.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — any enemy that dies counts toward the scenario objective, whether spawned or summoned and however it died, unless special rules make it an ally.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
It treats its destination like a monster's focus. Per the FAQ ruling for scenario 38, if it can't find a viable path to its goal, for example because revealed monsters block it completely, it doesn't move.
Yes — if the scenario says the door opens, it flips and the room is revealed normally. Whether it stays open when the character steps off depends on that scenario's rules; some only unlock the door.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020, in line with the rulebook.
No — named monsters and bosses are neither normal nor elite, so kill effects like Euthanize or Lethal Injection and normal/elite-only abilities can't target them.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2024.
The figure takes trap damage and is moved to the nearest empty hex; a money token there is removed from the board.
Yes — the moment the character leaves the plate, even by forced movement, the door closes.
One experienced player's reading, with no official ruling or wider agreement.
No — summons aren't characters, so they don't need to escape or count for character-based goals.
No — monsters aren't characters, so only the characters' decks get them.
The rulebook's "Special Scenario Rules" section answers this directly.
C is the number of characters and L is the scenario level.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Only if the scenario's wording allows it — most plates require a character, and a summon isn't a character.
One player's answer; no ruling cited on this exact point.
No — they remain obstacles in every way until destroyed.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Walls — they block line of sight and can't be jumped or flown over.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Not in campaign mode — those scenarios require The Merchant Flees to be incomplete, so once the achievement is gained they're only available in casual mode.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — the town stays under his minions' rule; the later scenario to kill him doesn't reverse that.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Scenarios 11 and 12 are on a mutually exclusive branch, so not in campaign mode. Temple of the Seer (13) intentionally has no requirement tied to Jekserah, so it stays available.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — they're the same achievement.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
On his turn, when his drawn boss card shows the special, he goes straight to the next door in order (A to D) and opens it, however far away it is — effectively a jump, one door per special. The Living Bones he summons are normal monster summons that must also be killed to win.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No and yes — the goal is based on the number of characters who started, and spawned Inox count toward it. The totems are plain obstacles unless the rules say otherwise.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
A character adjacent to a pump forgoes the bottom action of a card to cleanse it. C is the number of characters who started the scenario and doesn't change when someone exhausts.
The altar is an ordinary obstacle with hit points, so it is immune to all negative conditions, and per the FAQ, obstacles with hit points can't be Doomed. The designer also confirmed the demon spawn labels are wrong; the correct spawn order from a to f is Wind, Night, Earth, Flame, Sun, then Frost. Players believe the Prime Demon itself can still be targeted even though it can't be damaged, but whether healing it restores the shared hit points is disputed.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It's missing from both books; it works like special rule 2's summoning, as described in the FAQ.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It's a misprint — the treasure in scenario 10 should be number 11.
Unsettled. Morthai, who maintains the official FAQ, said that personally he would increase every range value on the monsters' abilities, including the Earth Demon's range 4 immobilize. Other players read the special rule as changing only the range values on the stat cards.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — the hex with the blue outline between the two tiles is a door, as the colour codes on page 14 of the rulebook indicate.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Yes, Hail counts as an ally figure for abilities. She treats the altar as her focus, so if it is moved (for example by the Cragheart throwing it), she heads to its new location.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
It's map tile M1, the large oval tile listed in the setup. The goal still means killing every revealed enemy, on the M tile or elsewhere.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes, you can end up with both. The designer said he overlooked this when making the stickers. Because The Rift Closed has little purpose once you have The Demon Dethroned, he suggests not placing its sticker, or placing it off to the side, so The Demon Dethroned stays visible.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — when you play the Drake boss scenario you should lose The Drake's Command, so the two are exclusive.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
No — the Ancient Artillery in scenario 49 can't be displaced by push, pull, switching places or any other forced movement. The printed special rules left this out; it was added to the official FAQ.
It needs either The Voice's Command or the Drake's Command. If the achievement is lost later, you can no longer play it in campaign mode.
No — nothing in the requirements blocks them, even if the story fits awkwardly; the Drake and Voice questlines are separate.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
It can't be pushed or pulled, and though it can be targeted through any of its hexes, one attack hits it only once. Its zephyrs can't be affected by anything, and its breath attack lines up with a side of its perch.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
They're neither allies nor enemies, so attacks and ally effects don't touch them. An adjacent character frees one by giving up one of their two actions; summons like the bear can't free them.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2021.
Only damage dealt directly by the character holding the Staff counts — not summons, traps, wounds or attacks granted by allies. Overkill damage counts toward the charge as usual.
The wall sections can't be destroyed (per the FAQ errata) but are obstacles, so line of sight passes over them; the map is one room. A demon focuses on the door only if it could move within range to attack it.
In this scenario any character may use the bottom action of any card as Loot 1. The rule applies only to scenario 52, and its central obstacles can't be moved or teleported past.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Move, attack, then summon its eggs. Despite the story, its stat card has no Flying, so it doesn't fly.
No — there are only two spawns, a Lavaflow and an Icestorm, each triggered once as the special rules describe.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — scenario 42 should also require The Voice Freed to be incomplete.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — the restriction only applies when a move takes a figure from one room's level to another.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020.
Treat it as spawned: remove the guard and place the Infester at full health. Only one coin drops between the guard and its replacement.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Yes — each bone pile is a separate heal for it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
No — it isn't an attack, so Shield and Retaliate don't apply and invisibility doesn't protect against it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020.
Before card selection.
It isn't an achievement — it simply asks whether your group dares to attempt it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — they're immune to forced movement. The Cultists move to the victim and then carry it toward the altar; if both are killed, the victim stops moving. Obstacles can block access to the altar.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020.
It can't leave its room under any circumstances, including teleports or swaps. It isn't a boss: it's a named Stone Golem that uses the Stone Golem ability deck.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
The forced movement at the start of the boss's special is a teleport. The mind-controlled character then behaves like a monster, following monster focus and movement rules and performing the top action of their card as written. If that character has already acted this round, the mind control has no effect. The boss's abilities do affect invisible characters. With no official ruling on cards that would go to the active area, Morthai's best guess is that they are discarded too.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Not with obstacles — the designer's errata says the guards must always have a path. Figures may stand on the plates, since the scenario is lost only when a City Guard occupies one.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
Yes — the damage applies to every figure that ends its turn there, flying or jumping included, and monsters treat those hexes as negative hexes.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
It isn't a boss — a monster is a boss only if it uses the boss ability deck. Its hit points are the elite Living Bones value at your level multiplied as the scenario states.
Yes — if one of the two possible hexes is blocked, you may choose it and not move.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — once all plates are occupied at the same time they activate for good. Before that, nothing (including item effects) can affect them.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Yes — a wall blocks line of sight to other hexes but not to its own hex, so a destructible wall can be targeted under the normal line-of-sight rules. Wall 3 is the exception: the designer said it isn't targetable until one of the other walls has been destroyed. When a wall is destroyed, the stun hits the monsters, not the characters.
Both can be offered, but only one per turn. The boss's specials don't depend on elements: only the summoning part requires consuming the element, while the heal, shield or invisibility part always happens.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes, according to the designer — the doll carrier doesn't have to end the turn next to the well.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — once the second set takes effect, it replaces the first.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It's a mistake. With four players, leave out the final-room Night Demon and Sun Demons that are only set up at four players (shown black for two and three players and white for four).
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Nothing beyond counting for the objective — all five must be looted, and like all goal treasures they reset on a replay.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — they're placed only when their rooms are revealed.
Yes — in casual mode you keep gold, XP and treasure looted, and progress on personal quests counts. A numbered treasure already looted is gone for good, though.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Draw a card from the small random side scenario deck (not the random dungeon deck); that scenario is immediately unlocked, so place its sticker and you can play it next.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2016, in line with the rulebook.
No — once any party completes a scenario in campaign mode, it can only be replayed in casual mode by anyone. Party achievements belong only to the party that earned them.
Yes — a party can include any number of characters, and for each scenario you choose which two to four go. Scenario level scales to whoever plays.
The rulebook's Campaign Overview says a completed scenario can't be redone in campaign mode and casual mode disregards rewards.
No — a completed scenario can only be replayed in casual mode, which gives no conclusion rewards, achievements or unlocks; you keep only gold, XP and loot earned during play.
The rulebook's "Campaign Overview" section answers this directly.
No — any unlocked scenario whose requirements you meet can be played at any time, including ones a personal quest unlocks.
Yes — casual scenarios simply don't affect the campaign, so town activities work normally, but casual play gives no scenario rewards and no road or city events. If you never return to town, you can't level up, shop, donate, enhance or retire.
The scenario can only be played while you don't have that achievement; once it's gained, the scenario can no longer be played in campaign mode.
The rulebook's "Campaign Overview" section answers this directly.
Only in casual mode — you can play any revealed scenario casually regardless of achievements, keeping XP, gold, checkmarks and quest progress, but not its rewards.
The rulebook's "Campaign Overview" section answers this directly.
Yes — a failed scenario isn't completed, so you can retry it in campaign mode as often as you like. Only completed scenarios are limited to casual replays.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
If it's already unlocked, nothing happens. Treasure looted in a failed scenario is still kept, so its unlock stands.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
The city state: prosperity, the shop, global achievements and unlocked scenarios. Reputation and party achievements belong to each party.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Each time you earn one you mark another instance, and some effects trigger on reaching a certain count. They can come from events as well as scenarios.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — the designer said you may look at a scenario before deciding to attempt it. The usual flow, though, is to pick a location on the map, resolve any road event, and then read the introduction.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — place a sticker for every location listed under New Locations. Unlocked doesn't mean playable: you still need each scenario's requirements. A number merely mentioned in the text doesn't unlock anything.
Only if a scenario's requirements say so. When the conclusion explicitly makes you choose (as scenario 13 does), you unlock only the location you pick; otherwise both stay available.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
No — it means remove the card from the game by setting it aside; you don't need to destroy anything.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Whenever you like — no scenario or event triggers it.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — coins and goal treasures are set up on every play; only numbered treasure tiles you've already looted stay gone.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — there really is a fourth sealed envelope hidden in the box; you'll find out how to open it during play.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019, in line with the rulebook.
No — only scenarios listed under New Locations are unlocked. Circled numbers in story text are just references to scenarios affected by an achievement. When New Locations lists several, all are unlocked.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes, and it's intended. Each party has its own sheet and achievements, while global achievements, the map and the city are shared — so one party's choices can lock the other out of scenarios.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — the main storyline has an ending, but the campaign carries on if you want to explore other plot threads: side scenarios, personal quests and unlocks remain, you can replay scenarios with new character combinations, and the random dungeon deck offers more.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — casual play and random dungeons don't advance the campaign, so they don't give city or road events or Sanctuary donations.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — a Jaws of the Lion character brought into Gloomhaven gets a personal quest when created and retires normally when it's completed. JotL classes have no event cards to add, so skip that step. Strictly, JotL items don't belong in a Gloomhaven campaign, though one player sees no harm in letting them come along.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
They have no direct effect — scenario requirements and some events check them to decide what you can play.
Yes — nothing is destroyed: removed cards are set aside and stickers can be covered or tracked separately, so the game can be reset. Finishing the campaign doesn't make any scenario unplayable.
Yes — any unlocked scenario can be played as a standalone game in casual mode, and every scenario scales to the party's level.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — you can retry right away with no road event. If you go back to Gloomhaven and do things there first, you'll need a road event to travel back to the scenario.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — after any scenario you may return to town or go directly to another scenario. Going to a linked scenario (or replaying the same one) needs no road event; any other scenario requires one. The conclusion text doesn't force you back to town.
No — a scenario linked to Gloomhaven needs no road event when you travel there from town. Links aren't transitive, though: two scenarios that are each linked to Gloomhaven aren't linked to each other.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019, in line with the rulebook.
Only when travelling to a scenario that isn't linked to where you are. Never when returning to Gloomhaven, when going to a scenario linked to Gloomhaven (such as most Misty Sea scenarios), when going straight on to a linked scenario, when retrying the same scenario, or in casual play.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Once per visit to Gloomhaven, so at most one between campaign scenarios. Playing a casual scenario doesn't start a new visit, so it doesn't give you another city event.
The rulebook's Events section covers the starting decks and shuffling in new cards.
The campaign starts with events 01–30 in each deck, shuffled. Cards added later are shuffled into their deck. After resolving an event, the icon on the card tells you whether to remove it from the game or return it to the bottom of the deck.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Under the original rules, lose what you can, even nothing, and still resolve the rest of the outcome, so you can get the reward without paying. The designer called this an oversight he would tweak in the reprint, and said playing it thematically (no reward unless you pay) is fine.
No — summons aren't characters, so event effects that apply to characters don't touch them.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
To each character individually, unless the outcome says "collective". Only characters present for the event are affected.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — the road event applied only to that first attempt. An immediate retry needs no new road event; going back to town and out again means a new one.
No — just set it aside; nothing in Gloomhaven has to be destroyed.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — ignore the flavour text and do only what the outcome says: the party gets a single copy.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Ability cards — lingering event effects apply after scenario setup, once you've chosen your hand.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — you can only buy item cards that are physically available in the shop; once all copies are bought, that item is gone until someone sells one back or retires. Other items enter the shop through prosperity, item designs and other unlocks when the game tells you.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
No — draw a card at random from the random item design deck and add all copies of that item to the city's available supply, where anyone can buy them. Any other reward called a "design" works the same way.
Each character may donate 10 gold once per visit to Gloomhaven, for two BLESS cards in the next scenario. A retiring character and their replacement can each donate in the same visit. You can keep donating after the prosperity checkboxes are full.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — all BLESS and CURSE cards are removed when any scenario ends, won or lost, and "next scenario" effects last only for that one attempt.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2016, in line with the rulebook.
No — gold and items never change hands between characters; the only way to move an item is to sell it to the shop, where anyone can buy it. A retiring character's items go back to the shop.
It's a flat gold adjustment to each item's purchase price, not a percentage: a −1 modifier makes a 10-gold item cost 9. It applies only to buying items, not to enhancement costs or selling prices.
Yes — items held by characters outside the current party count as part of the city's available supply.
The rulebook's "Gloomhaven Prosperity" section answers this directly.
No — +1 prosperity fills one checkbox on the track. You reach the next level only when the marked box under that level number is checked; the shaded boxes still have to be earned.
The rulebook's "Visiting Gloomhaven" section answers this directly.
Yes — sell any item for half its price, rounded down, and it goes back into the supply. Unlike donating, buying and selling have no once-per-visit limit.
The rulebook's "Reputation" section answers this directly.
No — reputation belongs to the party and carries over through retirements; new characters simply join the same party.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — you gain one copy for one character, and the remaining copies stay unavailable. Only an item design adds all copies to the shop.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
It continues the Sanctuary donation track; only its donation boxes are used. Donations keep giving two BLESS cards, but prosperity is gained only when a donation fills one of the specially marked boxes.
Yes — the second-printing track needs one fewer checkmark at some levels, so use the track on your board.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — the time before and after the scenario count as separate visits to town.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
The party takes one copy right away and gives it to a character of its choice; the remaining copies stay where they are. If the item is already in the shop, take it from there — and if no copies are left anywhere, the reward is simply lost.
Prosperity checkmarks can be lost, but never below a prosperity level already reached.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
It can start at any level up to the city's prosperity level. It begins with the minimum XP for that level and 15 × (level + 1) gold, and goes through each level-up in turn: one new card of that level or lower per level, plus a perk per level.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Exactly one card of your new level or lower is added to your pool for each level gained, along with one perk. Your hand size never changes.
No — checkmarks can't drop below a perk you've already earned, so you keep the perk and nothing else happens.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
Yes — each time a player retires a character, every future character of that player starts with one extra perk, cumulatively, on top of the perks from levels.
No — leveling up in town and taking the perk are mandatory. Each level from 2 on gives one perk; level 1 characters start with none except retirement bonuses.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017, in line with the rulebook.
No — XP is cumulative and the thresholds (45, 95, 150 …) are totals. You can keep gaining XP after level 9, but it no longer does anything.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
After a city event, yes — you're in Gloomhaven, and leveling up there is mandatory. After a road event you're away from town, so you play the scenario at your current level and level up on your next visit.
Yes — prosperity only sets a level you can jump straight to; normal leveling from experience has no cap except level 9.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019, in line with the rulebook.
Only effects the scenario explicitly calls scenario effects, and only for the character who has the perk, not their summons. It doesn't stop other special rules, such as the damage for ending a turn in scenario 95's water.
Their XP is raised to the minimum for the new level. Scenario XP and rewards are applied at the end of the scenario, and leveling then happens in town.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It ignores the -1 cards (and similar penalties) that items like armor add to your attack modifier deck — for all your items, not just one.
The rulebook's "Visiting Gloomhaven" section answers this directly.
No — hand size is fixed for the class; leveling up only grows the pool of cards you choose your hand from.
Yes — enhancement stickers are permanent and stay on that class's cards, so any later character of the class gets them.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — a summon ability doesn't target, so summoning two figures doesn't make it multi-target. If only one empty hex is available, you place as many summons as fit.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019, in line with the rulebook.
Enhanced cards — a class's deck can have as many enhanced cards as the prosperity level, and a card with several stickers counts once.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It can only go on an ability that already has a Target value (multiple targets), so its cost is always doubled as a multi-target enhancement.
No — those enhancements only go on abilities that target or affect figures, and Move doesn't. An enhancement belongs to its line, so it happens once when that ability is performed (skip the ability and you skip it), not each time a Retaliate triggers.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
All of them — every ability card of that class counts, including higher-level cards you haven't unlocked yet, and the number of enhanced cards can't exceed the prosperity level.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
When the enhanced ability targets or affects multiple figures as printed. An ability that only gains extra targets by consuming an element is priced as single-target, and summoning several figures doesn't count as multi-target.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
No — stickers aren't meant to be a limited component; if you run out, use replacements. A card can have several enhancements, within the prosperity limit on enhanced cards.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
The first, larger-font line of an ability, like "Attack 2" or "Move 3"; smaller modifier text beneath it isn't a main line. Summon stats are enhanced with their own +1 options on the summon.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2021.
No — the dots mark exactly where enhancements can go and how many. Each dot takes its own sticker, so a Heal 3 with two dots can be raised to Heal 5 with two +1s.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2016.
No — only character ability cards can receive enhancement stickers.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — the one-of-each-condition rule doesn't apply to CURSE and BLESS cards, so two such enhancements add two cards.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
The base cost is divided by the number of hexes the attack already has, rounded down.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Yes — you may add gold you already have, but you can't sell items for it, and the reward must be spent right away before returning to town; if you can't use it, it's lost.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020.
Yes to both — kills where you or your summon dealt the lethal damage count, and personal quest progress counts even when the scenario is lost, unless the quest specifically requires completing a scenario.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Kills and similar progress made in them count, but quest requirements that name scenarios refer to campaign scenarios, so a random dungeon doesn't count as completing a scenario for them.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
You still complete the quest and retire, but instead of the class you gain a random item design and a random side scenario. You still add the retired character's events to the decks, and you choose your next character from the classes already available.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — while in Gloomhaven you can create a new character of any available class at any time. The shelved character keeps its items, gold and personal quest and can be played again later.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — you retire the character, not the class. Any unlocked class nobody else is playing, including the one just retired or a starting class, is available.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — only kills credited to your character (or your summons) count, including monsters you force into traps. Kills by other party members don't.
No — only scenarios completed by that character after drawing the quest count. You can replay completed scenarios in casual mode to make progress.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Only other party members becoming exhausted count, not your own exhaustion. They count even if you are already exhausted yourself.
Yes — retirement happens during the town visit, so before announcing it you can sell items, enhance cards and donate. The exception is a quest like Seeker of Xorn that ends in a scenario, where the character retires without those town activities.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
Not after 52 — following the quest to its conclusion means playing the whole chain through its final scenario, and the character then retires without returning to town first.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Yes — completing any personal quest retires the character, including any scenario chain it unlocks. Opening a box or an envelope for a class both just mean that class is unlocked.
The character draws as many as remain; with none left it has no personal quest and can never retire. Completed quest cards are removed from the game, not shuffled back.
No — retiring and creating a new character are separate steps; you can create one any time you're in Gloomhaven.
Scenarios numbered 52 and higher; 1–51 are main scenarios. Random dungeons have no number and don't count.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes — each kill must come from actually using the axe on the attack. Living Bones, Corpses and Spirits all count toward one total, and the quest isn't impossible if the axe was already found.
The gold is lost and every item returns to the city shop's supply; nothing passes to the new character.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018, in line with the rulebook.
Yes, when you next return to Gloomhaven with the quest fulfilled. Until then, after any scenario you can choose to go on to another scenario instead of returning to town. A few special quests retire the character outside Gloomhaven.
No — unlike battle goals, the rules don't make them secret; share them or not as your group prefers.
Each different monster stat card is its own type, so Bandit Guards and Bandit Archers are different, and every boss counts separately.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Only scenarios with "Crypt" in their title; a mention in the story doesn't count.
Per the FAQ, the Seeker's items go back to the shop as usual, but the player's new character of the class unlocked by the quest can take the staff.
Yes — the scenario is unlocked the moment you meet the condition written before "then". It can only be unlocked that way, and only the character with the quest can play it.
Yes — for many quests you control when you meet the condition, so you can hold off to level up. Once it's met while you're in town, though, you must retire, and the condition must still be met at that moment.
No — boss quests count boss scenarios completed, not bosses killed, and you don't need the killing blow. A replay counts only if that character hadn't already completed it, and Goliath Toppler needs different bosses (casual wins count).
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
If the party still completes the final scenario, you get the rewards and unlock the new class, but that character failed to retire, so you get no retirement benefits, and the quest card goes back in the deck. If the character dies before the last scenario, the unlocked chain stays unlocked for the next holder of that quest.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
No — two quests, including 513, don't unlock a class; their rewards are different.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Scenarios located in the zoomed-in Gloomhaven city inset on the map, not just any scenario.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
It's a misprint — mirror the Crossroads setup, entrance and exit so it connects.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Immediately when the door is opened — a stun works like a stun trap, ending the opener's turn.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015, in line with the rulebook.
Always two to four characters, even when one person plays alone: a solo player controls at least two characters and uses the solo difficulty adjustment.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2015, in line with the rulebook.
Raise the monster level and trap damage by 1, but not gold conversion or bonus experience, because a solo player has full information about every character's cards.
"Replace" means substitute: when the door triggering the penalty opens, up to that many normal monsters still alive in the previous room are swapped for elite versions, keeping their damage and conditions. It doesn't bring back monsters you've already killed.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019, in line with the rulebook.
It fails once every character is exhausted or dead; play out the round. Existing conditions like Wound keep working on an unconscious character. Without the variant, exhaustion never kills a character permanently.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2021.
The Diviner can be played as a starting class at any time. The Forgotten Circles campaign, with its scenarios and events, is meant for after you complete base scenario 51. In the second printing the Diviner's events are unlocked through the book sections rather than numbers on her character mat.
Yes — continuing with the same party is intended, though not required; the new scenarios extend the campaign and you visit town as usual. A character you set aside to play the Diviner is simply shelved, not retired.
The rules say so, since the campaign is the Diviner's own story, and the designer stresses her presence. He has also said the original intent was that she's mandatory only in scenarios whose map sticker has a portal border, which are the few that truly need her teleport.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2023.
No personal quest is drawn — the Forgotten Circles Diviner is a unique character tied to the story. She retires in town after the campaign's conclusion under the usual rules, and that retirement counts as fulfilling a quest.
Not when you open the box. Keep them out until you begin the Forgotten Circles campaign and create its Diviner; added events are shuffled in unless the text says otherwise.
Yes — unlike the base game, they end immediately, as the expansion's rules page says, so multiple endings can't be triggered.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020.
Allies within range when you perform the action gain the move. Other characters decide for themselves whether and where to move. For summons and NPCs, Morthai, who designed the card, says you may control their movement, restoring the card's original intent.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2023.
Portal hexes with the same identifier count as adjacent for movement and for finding focus, so monsters and summons can focus and move through them; entering a portal hex reveals the linked room. The green-bordered dark corridor in the frozen cave is a misprint — treat it as a portal corridor.
Each negative modifier the enemy draws (-1, -2, Null or Curse; +0 doesn't count) deals 1 damage immediately, so a muddled enemy drawing two negatives takes 2. If that kills the monster mid-attack, its attack never deals damage, and the kill is the Diviner's.
The Diviner — attacks always originate from her, so Retaliate hits her only if she's within its range, and range, line of sight and disadvantage are measured from her position.
The enhancement reward lowers the per-level surcharge for enhancing level 2+ cards (from 25 gold to 20 gold per level). You can visit town before playing it, but the next scenario you choose must be 114.
Yes — "kill all enemies" means every enemy in the scenario, revealed or not, so you must open the rooms they're in; "kill all revealed enemies" covers only rooms you've opened. Morthai adds that unrevealed monsters count only if their map tile appears on the scenario's map overview.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020.
L in the table is the scenario level. Bonuses from abilities, augments and items that raise attack or heal values add to the check, but each attack or heal ability is a separate attempt, and the value must exceed the table value — equal fails.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2021.
Plates can be triggered repeatedly (an earlier contrary answer was corrected), and all wall moves on a plate happen at once. No teleport may pass through walls in this scenario, per the second-edition errata.
It's in the Forgotten Circles scenario book but must be unlocked during that campaign. Rifts use the Diviner's initiative and are treated like summons for focus, and keep their normal abilities alongside the special damage.
No — they use the generic Scout ability deck, like the Vermling Scouts.
Monsters don't avoid rifts the way they avoid traps: they can move through and end in them, and flying doesn't protect them from active rift effects. A monster immobilized on an immobilize rift counts as an obstacle for other monsters.
Players agree the large Wound is a printing slip.
No — it's attached to the attack; treat the card as a normal attack that also wounds its target, despite the large print.
The right plate always rotates clockwise and the left counterclockwise; the gears next to the board set how far (90, 180, 270 or 360 degrees). Read only the sections you're directed to.
No — all riddles are optional bonus content with alternative routes.
Rifts go in hexes within range and line of sight, and a rift hex isn't empty, so summons can't be placed there. Rifts aren't figures, so when an ability moves them you just count the hexes — they ignore terrain, figures and even walls.
The bottom teleport only needs the enemy within 5 hexes, even through walls. For the attack, you pick one rift to attack from, so each enemy is attacked once.
Teleport counts hexes on the underlying grid, ignoring walls and gaps (count gaps as if they held hexes), and needs no line of sight. Teleporting or swapping a monster is forced movement, so immune monsters can't be teleported.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2022.
Regenerate is a Heal 1 at the start of the figure's turn, so it also removes Wound; it ends when the figure suffers damage, including attack damage that gets past shields. Any class can take the Regenerate enhancement on main lines that target self or allies.
Instead of one monster ability card it draws two of its own cards as a pair, using the bottom action of the first and the top action of the second. Only the first initiative counts for ties.
Whenever it would make its attack, it instead places one damage token on the ship. Looting the scroll is enough to win — the goal doesn't require you to leave the ship.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2019.
No — elite abilities are added on top of the regular abilities.
Yes — Morthai suggests giving a first-printing Diviner +1 hand size, which roughly matches the second-printing changes. He also noted that originally only the scenarios with portal-bordered map stickers forbade her from exhausting.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020.
Remove the fewest obstacles needed to clear a path to the new door; the players choose which.
After — scenario effects come last in setup, once items are chosen.
Unresolved. The co-designer first said a curse-immune character can't gain curses from any source, then suggested "gain a curse" may bypass immunity and deferred to the designer. Agree on a reading at your table.
The card replaces only the first focus step: it focuses on the lowest-HP enemy it could attack from some reachable hex, then moves and attacks normally.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020.
Yes — each ally next to the elite Savage gets +2 on its attacks, and bonuses from two Savages stack.
A seal takes damage up to its threshold (7 tokens) and then can't take more until the other seals reach the same threshold — but if you destroy a seal in a single hit, the threshold doesn't matter. The Warden is a named Stone Golem using the elite Stone Golem's stats.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020.
The aura's Shield adds to an ally's own Shield, and the redirect works like Provoking Roar, so a multi-target attack redirected to him can hit him more than once. The named monsters have no immunities by default.
The intended way is to use a Loot ability (Loot 1 to 3) while standing next to the barrels; Morthai would also accept looting them by jumping or flying over them with Swift Bow. When the boulder is on the pressure plate at the end of a round, read section 64 at the start of the following round.
The Hound and Cave Bear stat cards, with one random 43 and one random 58 Giant Viper card in the shared deck.
Walls — white-bordered overlays count as walls here and in later scenarios.
Banners with the same shape share a space on the map, so place the new sticker over the matching earlier one. Forgotten Circles also contains additional Ancient Technology achievements.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2020.
No — it unlocks an item design you must buy in the shop; you don't need to own it beforehand.
Yes — some scenarios have campaign consequences, so a plain win can lock you out of others, such as 106 and 107.
Yes — "start with" applies to every character. Rift Event 11's checkboxes can be checked in any order.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
Prosperity 3 and two retired characters (across the campaign), plus a character of that class at level 5 or higher. Each scenario is for one specific class and is played by a single active character of it.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
No — the +1 solo adjustment is for one player running regular scenarios with several characters; class solo scenarios use the normal scenario level for that single character.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
They don't affect the story or which scenarios are available. The character keeps the XP and gold collected, as in any scenario, and the reward item works like any other item: it isn't exclusive to that class, so it can be sold and then bought by anyone, and it returns to the shop on retirement.
One player's reading of the rules as written; no official ruling.
As written, yes — any newly created character draws a personal quest.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — the order doesn't matter. You can kill some or all enemies before looting; you win once the treasure is looted and no enemies remain. The wording reflects that your ally turns into an enemy when the chest is looted.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2018.
No — that special rule was in an early PDF; per the errata, monsters use the normal scenario level.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — the allied guards act like monsters using normal monster AI, and a modifier they draw (like your Heal card) affects the guard that drew it.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
They don't block line of sight — the rules only stop movement through them — and they can't be destroyed with items like the Resonant Crystal.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Psychic Knife, the Mindthief's reward, adds +1 only when you perform an Augment action, such as the top of Parasitic Influence or The Mind's Weakness, turning its Attack 1 into Attack 2; it doesn't add +1 to every attack for each active augment. The Cloak of the Hunter's muddle is a one-time effect when the Doom is placed, not each time it activates.
The designer answered this directly on BGG in 2017.
Yes, under the normal rule — only if the sole path to an attack position goes through a trap.
One experienced player's reading, with no official ruling or wider agreement.
No — apart from entering a rift hex, monsters can't be damaged there in any way.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — they are spawned, and spawned monsters drop no money.
One experienced player's reading, with no official ruling or wider agreement.
Yes, except there's no requirement of two prior retirements.
One experienced player's reading, with no official ruling or wider agreement.
No — they are extra items; the base prosperity items remain available.
One experienced player's reading, with no official ruling or wider agreement.
Yes — the official Crimson Scales FAQ says Oak's Gift cards count as Bless cards.
One experienced player's reading, with no official ruling or wider agreement.
Yes, as in Gloomhaven, and the campaign starts with the achievement that allows donating.
One experienced player's reading, with no official ruling or wider agreement.
When the attack resolves — projectiles are ranged attacks, so they check adjacency at that moment.
You become sated only after the attack resolves, so effects that modify that attack itself (such as Caustic Claws or Fight or Flight) don't get the sated bonus. A separate ability line after the attack, as on Easy Prey, Burning Bile or Fatal Frenzy, comes after you're sated and does benefit. The perk's move after Rupture happens once, after the whole ability.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
Per party — only one number token and one water tile can be removed each round. If no hex next to a removed water tile is empty, monsters are summoned in the closest valid empty hex.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
He pays the hex's normal cost, so 2 for difficult terrain or water. When the Chieftain is mounted and invisible, the mount, like his other summons, stays visible.
One experienced player's reading, with no official ruling or wider agreement.
No — the visor is only needed to bring the extra orbs into the scenario.
Several experienced players agree; there is no official ruling.
No — monster type is defined by the stat card, and Vermling Experiments use the Scout's.