Heroes of Tenefyr
Heroes of Tenefyr Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 4 Hero cards, depicting the 4 heroes
- 4 Skill cards, 1 for each hero's special skill
- 48 Basic cards: 24 Basic 0 cards and 24 Basic 1 cards
- 70 Dungeon cards, 14 for each level
- 16 Boss cards, 4 cards for each of the 4 different bosses
- 20 Reward cards, 4 for each level
- 1 Starting player token
- 1 Current Dungeon token
- 1 Boss token
- 1 Boss track
- 14 Card dividers
- 1 Achievement sheet
Set-up
The image in the rulebook shows the set-up for a 3 player game.
- Each player chooses a Hero (Barbarian, Bard, Cleric or Thief) and takes the corresponding Hero and Skill cards.
- Give each player six Basic 1 cards and six Basic 0 cards. Each player shuffles their Basic cards and their Skill card together to form their Deck of 13 cards. In a two player game, each player chooses two Heroes and takes Hero and Skill cards for both. Each player still uses one deck, with the same 12 Basic cards, but they count as both heroes. (They are exceptionally skilled heroes who have mastered two specialties) Shuffle both Skill cards into your deck.
- Sort the Dungeon cards by level (the number in the top-right corner, from 1-5). For each level, create 2 decks of 4 random cards each. Place these decks face-down in the middle of the table. This results in 10 decks total (two level 1 decks, two level 2 decks, etc). Flip the top card of each deck face up. These decks represent the dungeons filled with monsters.
- All the remaining Dungeon cards are set aside, face down to form the Reserve. Some cards, like the Thief Skill, will interact with the Reserve.
- Sort the Reward cards by level (the number in the top-left corner) and place a random face-up Reward card next to each Dungeon. (A level 1 Dungeon gets a level 1 Reward card, a level 2 Dungeon gets a level 2 Reward card, etc.) These are the rewards you get for completing a Dungeon. Place the remaining Reward cards back in the box. They are not used during this game.
- Select a Boss either randomly, or choose whichever one you want to fight. Take all 4 Boss cards associated with that Boss and shuffle them together to form the Boss deck. Place the Boss deck to the right of the Dungeons and flip the top card face up. Place the other Boss cards back in the box. They are not used this game.
- Place the Boss track next to the Boss deck, regular side up, and place the Boss token on the starting spot, marked Easy, Normal or Hard.
- Randomly decide, or choose who gets the starting player token.
Object of the Game
Players enter Dungeons to defeat monsters, and claim loot to improve their decks until the Evil Boss attacks. If you manage to defeat the Boss, everybody wins! If you don't, everybody loses.
This is a cooperative game, which means you're all working together to beat the Boss.
Your Deck
Each player has their own deck of cards, which represents their hero. Your deck starts out small and simple, but as you defeat enemies, your deck grows with the loot you collect, and your hero grows more powerful.
Each player starts with 12 Basic cards, and 1 unique Skill card. The Basic cards come in two types: Basic 1 and Basic 0. Basic 1 cards represent a hit with 1 Power. Basic 0 cards represent a miss (0 Power).
The Skill cards have powerful special abilities that can be used when drawn, and are unique for each hero.
Each player also has their own discard pile. When a player discards cards, the cards are placed in that player's own discard pile. The cards in discard piles are public information, meaning you can look through discard piles at any time, to see what cards have been used.
Your hero card simply shows which hero you are and remains in front of you on the table. It is not part of your deck.
The Basic Flow of the Game
The heroes will enter a Dungeon together and fight for several rounds against different enemies until the Dungeon is cleared, or the heroes leave the Dungeon. By defeating enemies, the players improve their decks with collected loot from Dungeon cards.
If a Dungeon is cleared, the players get a reward, which often helps improve their decks further, or gives a temporary advantage.
During the game, the Boss token will move forward on the Boss track, until it reaches the spot marked with the skull. At that point, the Boss attacks and the game comes to an end after the fight.
Dungeon Card Example
All dungeon cards are made up of two parts. An enemy part and a loot part. The enemy part (top) is used in Dungeons. When a hero defeats an enemy, they get the loot part of the card. The loot part (bottom) represents an item found, or a new technique learned, which gives the hero a new option in combat.
Enemy part:
- Power — An enemy's power depends on the number of players. With 3 players, this card has 5 power.
- Dungeon level — This card is in a Level 1 Dungeon.
- Name — This enemy is an orc.
- Special rules — A lot of enemies have special rules that happen before, during or after combat.
Loot part:
- Power — When a hero uses this card, it has 1 power.
- Name — This attack is a quick strike.
- Special rules — Most cards have special rules that happen when the card is played.
- Flavor text — This has no effect on the game.
Entering a Dungeon
Players decide together which Dungeon to enter. It's advised to start with a Level 1 Dungeon, but you're completely free to choose.
Dungeons contain 4 enemies to defeat. The top card is face-up, showing the first enemy, but the remaining enemies are hidden at the start.
Combat
After entering the Dungeon, it's time to fight the first enemy. Most enemies have special rules that take place at the start of or during the combat.
The power of the enemy is in the top-left of the card. An enemy's power depends on the number of players. During combat, starting with the starting player and moving clockwise, players take turns fighting the enemy.
A player's turn consists of the following steps:
Draw step
First, draw a hand of 3 cards from your deck (some enemy cards might make you draw more or less than 3). If you have fewer than 3 cards left in your deck, draw all of them.
Then, decide if you want to keep your hand or not. If you keep your hand, proceed to the Play step. If you don't want to keep your hand, place all the cards into your discard pile and draw a new hand of 3 cards. You can repeat this step as many times as you want, until you run out of cards in your deck.
Play step
During the play step, you must play all the cards from your hand, but you can do this in the order of your choice. When you play a card, you place it in front of you and resolve the effect of the card before playing the next card.
All cards have a power number in the upper left corner which is added to your total power for this combat.
Many cards have special effects that happen when the card is played. Some cards ask you to discard cards from your deck or hand. A card that has been played is no longer in your hand, so it cannot be discarded.
You must play all the cards in your hand, even if playing a card is undesirable.
All of your played cards stay in front of you until the end of the combat.
End step
Check if the enemy has been defeated. If the combined power of all players is greater than or equal to the enemy power, you have defeated the enemy and the combat ends. If the enemy has not been defeated, the next player, in clockwise order, takes their turn.
If the enemy has not been defeated and each player has already taken a turn, the players are defeated and the combat ends.
If a player runs out of cards in their deck, they become exhausted. They still take their turn like normal, but are simply unable to contribute anything.
Combat Example
This Kobold has a power of 3 in a three player game.
Bob draws and plays a basic 1 and two basic 0 cards for a total of 1 power.
Suzie draws three basic 0 cards. She decides to discard her hand and now draws two basic 1 cards and one basic 0.
Combined, Bob and Suzie have 3 power, which is enough to defeat the Kobold.
Suzie takes the loot, and Jack, the third player, doesn't have to take a turn, because the Kobold was already defeated.
End of Combat
Some enemies have effects that happen at the end of the combat.
Always move the starting player token to the next player in clockwise order.
All cards that were played during this combat are placed into the discard piles.
Combat can end in 2 ways:
- The combined power of all players is equal to or greater than the enemy's power: The heroes win!
- Each player has taken a turn, but their combined power is less than the enemy's power: The enemy wins!
Winning combat
The player in whose turn the enemy was defeated takes the enemy card, rotates it so the loot side of the card is easily readable and places it in their discard pile.
Next, the players will decide together if they wish to continue in the Dungeon or not (without looking at the other cards in the Dungeon).
- If you decide to continue: Flip the top card of the current Dungeon face up and start another round of combat.
- If you decide to stop, you will leave the Dungeon and rest. See "Leaving the Dungeon" below.
If all enemies in a Dungeon have been defeated, the Dungeon has been cleared. You leave the Dungeon and get your reward. See "Leaving the Dungeon" and "Dungeon Rewards" below.
Losing combat
If the enemy has not been defeated after each player has taken their turn, the enemy wins and the players are kicked out of the Dungeon.
- Leave the enemy card face up in the Dungeon.
- See "Leaving the Dungeon" below.
Leaving the Dungeon
When you leave the Dungeon, willingly or forcefully, several things happen:
- Move the Boss token one step forward on the Boss Track if you willingly left the Dungeon -or- move the Boss token two steps forward on the Boss Track if you were kicked out of the Dungeon by an enemy.
- If there is a face-down card on top of the Dungeon, flip it face up now to reveal the next enemy.
- All players shuffle their discard piles back into their decks.
- If you left the Dungeon because you defeated the last enemy in that Dungeon, you get the Reward. See "Dungeon Rewards" below.
Dungeon Rewards
You get a reward for defeating all the enemies in a Dungeon. The effect on the reward card must be used immediately. Reward cards come in two types:
Each player chooses one
In this case, each player gets to make their own choice and each player gets their own reward.
Choose one together
In this case, the reward is chosen together, and in case the reward is a card, only one of the players gets the reward.
After clearing the Dungeon, our heroes return to the village to claim their reward. Suzie chooses to remove two basic 0 cards from her deck. Jack does the same. Bob picked up a card that he thinks might be better in Jack's deck, so he gives him that card. They've all shuffled their discard piles back into their decks and are ready to take on the next dungeon.
End of the Game
The Boss token moves forward on the Boss track whenever the heroes leave a Dungeon. When the Boss token reaches the end of the Boss Track (the spot marked with a skull), the Boss attacks and the heroes will need to fight it.
You can also choose to fight the Boss before the end of the Boss Track is reached.
Treat the Boss deck the same as a Dungeon and play out the combat as normal, except that Boss cards don't have a loot part. (But there may be normal monsters in the Boss deck that do provide loot).
Each boss has 4 different cards, representing different stages of the fight. You cannot leave, so all the cards in the Boss deck need to be defeated back to back.
If the heroes manage to defeat all the cards in the Boss deck, you win the game! If you don't, you lose.
Optional Rule
In a three player game, or when playing solo, some of the heroes will not be used. Before set-up, you can make the game slightly easier by removing any Dungeon cards with loot parts that mention these heroes. You can easily identify these cards by the Hero symbol in the top right corner.
Card Clarifications and Keywords
If a card contradicts the rules written in this rulebook, follow the card instead of the rules.
If a card tells you to do something, but you can't, do as much as you can. Unless it's a condition (see below). For instance, if a card says "You may draw three extra cards" and you only have one card left in your deck, you could simply draw that one card.
Remove
Removing a card from your deck or discard pile means the card is placed in the reserve. Removing Basic 0 cards is a good way to improve the quality of your deck.
At the start of the combat
Many enemies have an effect that happens "At the start of the combat". This happens before the players take their turns.
At the end of the combat
This happens when the enemy has been defeated.
Dungeon
When a card mentions a Dungeon, this can also be applied to the Boss deck. So for instance, if a card lets you reorder the cards in the current Dungeon, you could also reorder the cards in the Boss deck if you're currently fighting the Boss.
Conditions
When a card mentions a condition to do something, and you cannot fully fulfill that condition, its effect won't happen. For instance, if a card says "Discard the top two cards of your deck to double the total power of one other player" and you only have 1 card left in your deck, you can't use its effect. But you can still play the card and gain the power from it.
Searching
Some cards let you search your deck for cards. When you do, always shuffle your deck afterwards.
Timing
In some cases, the timing in which card effects happen matters. If this is the case, the player whose turn it is decides in what order the effects happen.
For instance, if the enemy card gives all Basic cards -1 power, and you have a Basic 1 card and a card that doubles the power of another card, you could decide to double the power of the Basic 1 first, and then apply the -1 power from the enemy.
The Reserve
The reserve consists of all the unused Dungeon cards from level 1 to level 5.
If a card tells you to take a card from the reserve and there are no cards left from that specific level, you can take a card that is one level lower than the specified level.
Difficult choices
If the heroes have to make a choice together (for instance for a reward, or deciding to continue in a dungeon) and you can't come to an agreement, the player with the starting player token has the final word.
Monsters on the move
Some enemies will move to a different Dungeon. When there is no Dungeon to move to, create a new Dungeon with that enemy, but don't add a new Reward card. Don't forget to give the starting player token to the next player, even if you didn't actually fight the enemy.
Continuous Effects
Unless stated, an enemy's effect will remain active during all players' turns. For instance, if an enemy card says "This enemy gets -1 power for each Basic 0 card in each discard pile", and a player discards a Basic 0 card during their turn, the enemy will become weaker.
Current Dungeon token
You can use this token to keep track of the current Dungeon.
Solo Mode
It's possible to play Heroes of Tenefyr by yourself with just a few changes.
Your deck
Select 2 heroes and take their Hero and Skill cards. Add 12 Basic 1 and 12 Basic 0 cards to form your starting deck.
Combat
The enemy power is the same as in a 2 player game.
You take up to 2 turns to defeat enemies and add up the power from both turns.
When a card specifically mentions other players, you can apply it to yourself.
When a card mentions the starting player, this only affects your first turn in combat.
Quick Mode
Quick mode lets you play a shortened version of the game with a few changes.
Set-up
Flip over the Boss Track to the side that says "Quick mode".
Only create one Dungeon for each level, for a total of 5 levels and don't add a Boss.
Gameplay
Treat the fifth level as the Boss deck. Clear it when you reach the Skull to win.
Each time you advance the Boss token, you get new cards from the reserve that can be added to players' decks as you choose. If you advance two steps, you get cards from both symbols.
For example, one symbol means you get to take 3 random level 1 cards from the reserve.
Credits
Game design, development, graphic design: Pepijn van Loon.
Art: Emanoel Melo, Frank Attmannspacher, Manolis Frangidis, Jimmy Nijs.
Playtesting: Nick Valk, Remco de Louw, Shannon Wijnands, Sander van der Ham, Douglas Pluijlaar, Luan Stotijn, Ronald Brans, Amber Wondergem, Alex Ottens, Gineke Tempelaars, Maurice Termorshuizen, Mitchel Voorjans, Jelle Bouman, Pim Arts, Jordi Stevens, Cor van Loon, Marco van Loon, Loek Iedema, Lars Kuijpers, Flip van Spaendonck.
Special thanks to the Founders of Tenefyr: Ghyslain Abel, Scott "Aldie" Alden, Daniëlle van Avendonk, Craig Bagwell, Phil and Kristen Bardaville, Ira Jacob Blankenship, Eric Bomer, Ronald Brans, Reed Dawley, Oren Douek, Peter Fü, Jonathan A. Gillett, Sander van der Ham & Shannon Wijnands, Dawn Hattle, Andy Hefferan, Geoffrey Hooker, Wim van Iersel, Thanaboon Jearkjirm, Romke de Jong, Jeremy Kear, Dane Kemp, Stefan Koller, Brian Pittman LoGiudice - President Gamers Association of Louisiana, Cor van Loon, Joseph Mazurek, Darin Moore, Eric "Zenofire" Ongchangco, Alex Ottens, Michael G. Palmer, Douglas Pluylaar, Hank Przybylowicz, Ben Roberts, Bill Slaughter, Bas Smeets, Snail, Kevin Spence, Frank Stewart, Max Sundeen, John and Heather Talley, Andrew Thoma, Nick Valk, Vermeille, Tim Voves, Bernard Wells, John W. Wheeling Jr, Anne Spilman White, Steven van Wissen.
© 2019 Broken Mill — www.brokenmillgames.com
Quick Overview
Choose a Dungeon together, then fight the first enemy.
Combat
When it's your turn:
Draw step — Draw 3 cards. Discard your entire hand and draw 3 new cards as many times as you want.
Play step — Play all the cards from your hand in the order of your choice.
End step — Check if the enemy has been defeated. If not, the next player takes their turn.
End of combat
Combat ends when the enemy is defeated, or when all players have taken their turn.
If the enemy was defeated, give the loot to the player in whose turn it was defeated.
Discard all played cards and give the starting player token to the next player.
If you won — Decide to continue in the dungeon or leave.
If you lost — Leave the dungeon.
Leaving the Dungeon
Move the Boss token 1 step forward, or 2 steps if you lost combat.
Flip a Dungeon card face up if you need to.
Shuffle your discard pile back into your deck.
Claim a reward if you cleared the Dungeon.
End of the game
When the Boss token reaches the end, fight the Boss.