Iron Helm: Iron Chest
Iron Helm: Iron Chest Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Iron Chest Overview
Iron Chest contains four companion booster packs and a Random Encounters expansion. Each booster pack has its own instruction card, which carries the rules for that pack.
If you flip each of the four cover cards over, you will find the instructions for each of the four booster packs. In the upper left and right corners you will see an icon. This icon is on all the cards that belong to that particular booster. Above the instructions are the four icons, shown below the booster pack they belong to. Go through the rest of the cards and separate them based on this icon. Each booster pack has 18 cards, including the cover/instruction card. The green 12mm die that is included is for use with the henchman cards in The Lonely Troll Inn booster. You should now have all your booster packs in order.
Next you will find 4 jumbo map cards and the instruction card for Random Encounters. The 3 plastic minis are used with this expansion. Random Encounters adds events that will occur in between each level of the dungeon.
Lastly, this expansion comes with 15 divider cards meant to be used in the box for the base game of Iron Helm. There are 4 new card type dividers (black), 4 new companion booster dividers (light grey), and 7 replacement adventure pack dividers (red).
How to Use Iron Chest
Using any of the booster packs or the Random Encounters expansion is as simple as reading the instruction card and deciding if you want to add the feature to your adventure. You can add a single aspect of a particular booster, like the henchmen in The Lonely Troll Inn, and ignore everything else in this expansion. You can also add everything! It is up to you. Most of this content raises the difficulty a bit, and this is noted on the instruction cards.
Iron Chest also includes the final adventure pack, The Spire of Zogar. This is a level 4 dungeon and requires you to beat the base game and a level 2 and a level 3 dungeon first.
If you have further questions on gameplay, you will find a detailed tutorial video that breaks down everything on the Game Crafter page for Iron Chest.
Random Encounters
Random Encounters adds a new mechanic to Iron Helm. It answers the question of what happens to your character between one level and the next of a dungeon. Draw the random encounter map card that matches the difficulty level of the adventure you are on (the level is shown on the adventure card itself).
If you are playing with the Iron Helm base game, the adventure level is 1.
Place a miniature (or any marker) on level number 1 of the map card and you are ready to play. When you finish a dungeon level and move down to the next level of the map, look at the icon shown between each level of the map card. Then consult the list of icons below and resolve it.
- Trap: Roll a d6 and apply the result: (1 = gain 2 poison tokens), (2–4 = gain 1 poison token), (5–6 = gain 0 poison tokens).
- Enemy: Draw an enemy card and resolve the combat. Enemies get no bonuses to their health or to the amount of initial damage they inflict.
- Mushrooms: Roll a d6 and apply the result: (1 = gain 1 poison token), (2–5 = gain 1 ration), (6 = gain 2 rations).
- Treasure: Gain 1 random loot card.
- Potion: Gain 1 random potion card.
- Random Encounter: Roll a d6 and apply and resolve according to the dice icons on this card. If you roll a 6, roll the d6 again and apply the following result:
- (1 = Rockfall. Lose 3 life.)
- (2 = Poisonous Spines. Gain 1 poison token.)
- (3–4 = Spring. Gain 2 life or 2 energy.)
- (5–6 = Corpse. Gain 1 equipment card.)
Translator's note: each icon on the card is paired with a die face (the Trap icon with a die showing 1, Enemy with 2, Mushrooms with 3, Treasure with 4, Potion with 5, Random Encounter with 6), as printed on the card; the list above follows the card's order.
The Lonely Troll Inn (Companion Booster)
Translated from the Spanish instruction card, "Posada del Troll Solitario".
If you add this expansion to the base game, you can hire henchmen at the Inn. The cost of hiring a henchman is shown by a number of gold coins next to the die icon in the lower left corner of its card.
Once you have hired a henchman, place a die on its card, above the die icon, making sure that the value of the die matches the one shown on the card. This value gives the henchman's starting morale, which can never become higher than its starting value. The text in red shows how the henchman can lose morale. The text in white shows the abilities the henchman offers during games and how it will interact with the Camp dungeon card.
You can restore a henchman's lost morale by paying it gold. Each gold coin raises its morale by 1.
This expansion also includes several Equipment cards and a new character you can choose, Mizlak the Beggar. He is a weak character, since he starts with no abilities, equipment or food. Completing an adventure with Mizlak will not be easy, but if you do, you will gain 10 additional points during the final scoring.
Translator's note: the Spanish name is "Mizlak el Mendigo"; the English form is given as translated here.
Terreno y Reliquias (Realms & Relics) (Companion Booster)
Translated from the Spanish instruction card, "Terreno y Reliquias".
If you add this expansion to your adventures, you can use the environment deck it includes. Environment cards make each level of a dungeon unique and different from the others. At the start of each dungeon level, draw an environment card and read it to see how it changes the level.
Text in red refers to negative aspects for the character, for example that certain enemies inflict more damage. Text in white refers to positive aspects for the character, for example extra bonuses when at the camp.
Adding environment cards raises the overall difficulty of the dungeon.
This expansion also includes an artifact deck. Artifact cards are more powerful and valuable loot cards, so it will be difficult for the character to collect a high number of them.
When you are told to draw a loot card during the adventure, you may instead pay blessing tokens to draw from the artifact deck. The first artifact costs 1 blessing token, the second costs 2 blessing tokens, the third costs 3, and so on. Artifact cards are always drawn at random.
Bestias y Trabas (Beasts & Burdens) (Companion Booster)
Translated from the Spanish instruction card, "Bestias y Trabas".
If you add this expansion to the base game, the difficulty of the game will increase considerably. To use the expansion, shuffle the new enemy and plot cards into their respective decks. Shuffle the affliction cards and form a new deck, face down, from which you will draw when the time comes.
The new enemies add variety and make the enemy deck more difficult. The three new plot cards are in fact mini-bosses. They are not easy to defeat, but they grant you three eye icons, which bring you closer to facing the final boss.
Afflictions are diseases or disorders that will affect the character as the adventure goes on.
You will gain a random affliction:
- If you run out of food. If you cannot feed your adventurer at the end of a level, you gain an affliction.
- From poisoning. At the moment you gain your third poison token, you gain an affliction.
- From enemies. Some of the new enemies in this expansion will cause you to gain an affliction.
A single affliction can be cured by drinking a Health Potion. All afflictions can be cured by drinking an Antidote.
El Torreón de Zogar (The Spire of Zogar) (Adventure Pack, Level 4)
Translated from the Spanish instruction card, "El Torreón de Zogar". The card's flavour text is omitted.
The final adventure of Iron Chest is a level 4 dungeon. It requires you to have beaten the base game and a level 2 and a level 3 dungeon first.
To play it, remove the following cards from the base game and replace them with the cards of this adventure expansion:
- Enemies: Skinklings, Goblins, Wolves and Winged Serpents.
- Plots: The Prisoner, The Old Woman and Hidd's Inn.
In addition, add all the cards of the Beasts & Burdens expansion, including the affliction cards (see the Beasts & Burdens section above).
The final boss of this adventure is Zogar.
Level 4