Lord of Bones Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Contents
• Description of Components
  • Hero Cards
  • Health
  • Reference Card
  • Dungeon Tiles
  • Symbols on Dungeon Tiles
  • Encounter Cards
  • Summary of Item Symbols
  • Dice
• Equipping a Hero
• Item Cards
• Crafting Items
  • Example
• Lord of Bones Cards
• Curse Tokens
• Game Preparation
• Sequence of Play
• Player Turn
  • 1. Move
  • 2. Explore
  • 3. Resolve an Encounter Token
  • Rest
• Combat
• Enchanted Crystals
• Shadows of the Lord of Bones
• Finale
  • Preparation
  • Combat
• End of the Game
• Scoring
• Game Storage

Introduction

Before your first play, punch out all cardboard tokens from their sheets. If you then remove the plastic box insert and put the punched sheets underneath, with the box insert placed back on top of them, then all the game components will fit snugly and stay in place! At the end of the instructions is a guide to arranging the components in the insert.

Contents

• 30 item cards - These are items you may craft during your adventure.
• 48 dungeon tiles - These form the dungeons which your heroes will explore.
• 12 dice tokens - These can be spent for extra dice that may help in combat.
• 4 Lord of Bones cards - These represent your main enemy, whom your heroes will confront in the final battle.
• 16 health tokens - These show how much health each hero has.
• 74 encounter cards - These reveal skeleton guards you encounter and items you discover.
• 16 encounter tokens - These mark locations in dungeons where an encounter card must be drawn.
• 4 hero pawns - These represent your heroes.
• 24 curse tokens - These make the final battle harder, but give extra victory points.
• 4 hero cards - These have information about your heroes.
• 6 dice - These are rolled when resolving combat with enemies you meet.
• 1 reference card - This summarizes the sequence of play and the locations encountered.
• Instructions - This complete rulebook.

Description of Components

Hero Cards

Each player controls the actions of one hero, each described by their own hero card. The cards are double-sided, so you can choose which side you want to play. (This choice does not affect the gameplay: both sides of a given hero card have the same attributes.)

Each hero card has the following information:

• Name - Each hero's name is in the same color as their pawn.
• Attributes - Each hero has 4 attributes, represented by 4 symbols: sword (strength), bow (dexterity), wand (magic), and mask (wit and charm). Each hero starts the game with one symbol colored like their name. During play, you will find and craft items that you can equip to increase your attributes, by sliding these item cards under the corresponding attribute of your hero card.
• Special ability - A unique ability that distinguishes your hero from the others:
  • Trixi / Thoros - Each dice token you discard adds 2 dice instead of 1.
  • Argana / Durduth - Once per turn, you may reroll 1 or 2 dice. You must accept their new results.
  • Iriel / Soveliss - In combat, after rolling dice, you may discard 2 of your dice to gain 1 additional sword, bow, wand, or mask.
  • Viola / Yoshik - In combat, you roll 3 dice instead of 2.
• Space for health and dice tokens - A hero may store as many health and dice tokens as the corresponding symbols printed here on the hero's card. During play, you may gain an item that lets you store an additional dice token.
• Sacks - These are 2 slots for additional items you find or craft, then equip, to make your adventure easier. Items that do not have one of the 4 main attribute icons will go here.

Health

While exploring the dungeons, you will encounter many enemies and traps. Each time you lose a battle or roll a skull in a trap, you lose 1 health token. If you lose all your health tokens, your turn ends immediately. On your next turn, the only action you can choose is to rest, which lets you regain all your health tokens. You can also regain health by visiting a space with a well: its life-giving water restores all your health tokens.

Reference Card

One side of the reference card has a summary of the effects of various locations you will find in the dungeons. The other side briefly summarizes a player turn and possible actions. If you have trouble keeping track of how many actions you have already done in your turn, you can track your actions by turning this card: during your first action, lay the card before you with the 1-pip side face up, and as you do each subsequent action, rotate the card 90° counter-clockwise to show 2 pips, then 3. This will help you remember how many actions you've done while you resolve more complex actions (like combat or crafting items).

Dungeon Tiles

These tiles represent Lonely Mountain's serpentine dungeons, which you will explore. Each tile has 2 spaces.

Each space has one or more corridors that each may lead to an adjacent space, if the adjacent space has a matching corridor. Each space may have a location that may be visited (e.g. a crypt or forge).

Symbols on Dungeon Tiles

These symbols appear on some dungeon tiles:

• Ladder - Descent to the dungeons: this is where you start the game.
• Campfire - Transport your pawn here after visiting the crypt or when resting.
• Trap - When you enter this space, roll a die. If the result is a skull, lose one health token.
• Encounter - Put an encounter token onto this symbol. Encounter symbols are always in corridors between spaces. Some tile edges have a half-symbol: when 2 half-symbols form a completed symbol in a corridor across 2 tiles, place a token onto the newly completed symbol.
• Dark gate - When a player discovers the dark gate, they complete their turn, and then the final battle begins.

Additional objects like torches, palisades, puddles, etc., are simply atmospheric decoration with no practical effect on the game.

Lonely Mountain's dungeons also conceal many mysterious places that can help heroes on their mission. When entering a space with these symbols, you may choose to use their help:

• Dice - Add a dice token to your hero card, if you have space for another.
• Mirror - Transport your pawn immediately to any other space with a mirror.
• Crypt - Draw the top encounter card from any encounter pile. If it is a skeleton, you must fight it (see Combat on page 12). If it is an item, you may keep it. Then your turn ends (even if you have unused remaining actions), and you transport your pawn immediately to a campfire of your choice.
• Forge - Craft any number of item cards.
• Well - Restore your hero's health to maximum.
• Lever - Rotate any empty dungeon tile (no tokens or pawns on it) 180°. If the new layout creates an encounter symbol from two halves, do not place an encounter token.
• Merchant - Exchange any number of your acquired encounter cards for the same number of any cards from the encounter discard pile.
• Teleport - Transport your pawn immediately to any other space. Resolve that space's action as if you moved into it.

Encounter Cards

Encounter cards represent the troops of the Lord of Bones. They hinder your exploration of the dungeons. Sometimes in the corridors you will also find scattered items that will help you in your further journey.

Encounter cards are divided by difficulty level, which is shown on the card backs. Level I cards have the weakest skeletons, but the rewards for defeating them are not great. Level II cards have somewhat tougher challenges, with better rewards. Level III cards have the most powerful champions of the Lord of Bones; to defeat them, you must be suitably prepared, but they give the greatest rewards. When you defeat enemies and gain items, place their cards next to your hero card. There is no limit to the number of encounter cards you can gain and keep.

Card layout (as shown in the manual's illustration):

• Picture of skeleton.
• Required symbols that the fighting player must have.
• Materials that can be spent to craft an item (bottom of the card).
• Reward for having this card at the end of the game (crown points, bottom of the card).

Item card layout (as shown in the manual's illustration):

• Additional symbols a player gains when equipping this card.
• Picture of item.
• Materials that can be spent to craft an item.

Summary of Item Symbols

• Sword, bow, wand, or mask (coloured attribute icon) - During combat, add a symbol of this attribute.
• Skull - During combat, add a skull to your symbols.
• Lightning (additional action) - In your turn, you may do an additional (fourth) action.
• Dice token - You may store 1 additional dice token on your hero card.
• Attribute icon on a potion - During combat, after rolling dice, add a symbol of this attribute, then discard this card.
• Star (joker) on a potion - During combat, after rolling dice, add a selected symbol (sword, bow, wand, or mask), then discard this card.
• Purple orb on a potion - Transport your pawn to any space, then discard this card.

Dice

Often during your adventure, you will roll dice to determine your fate. Each die has these symbols:

• Sword, bow, wand, and mask - The same attributes (sword, bow, wand, and mask) as on your hero card.
• Star - A joker symbol that can be used as a selected symbol from the 4 above. It cannot be a skull.
• Skull - A skull is needed to succeed in some harder combats. But rolling a skull in a space with a trap causes the loss of 1 health token.

Equipping a Hero

Equip a hero by sliding cards under the appropriate space of your hero card. Slide weapons under the left side of your hero card, and slide boots, rings, and potions under the sacks on the right side. Each space - an attribute or a sack - can hold only 1 card (exception: Enchanted Crystals, page 13). You can only change your inventory during your turn - at the start of your turn, or when you acquire a card with an item.

Note: a hero cannot have 2 of the same item equipped!

Item Cards

Items can be crafted in forges found in the dungeons. This way, your hero will acquire the equipment needed to face stronger skeletons and the Lord of Bones himself. Items are divided into 3 groups (marked I, II, III on the card backs). Level I items are simple weapons that increase 1 of your attributes by 1. Level II items increase your attributes by 2. Level III items give you a skull, needed in combat with stronger enemies.

Item card layout (as shown in the manual's illustration):

• A hero equipped with this item gains the indicated attributes (left side).
• Picture of item.
• Materials required to craft this item (right side).
• Points gained for having this item at the end of the game (crowns on the right edge).

Crafting Items

To craft an item card, do the following steps in order:

1. Enter a space with a forge.
2. Check your gained encounter cards; on the bottom of many are materials that you can spend to craft items.
3. Compare the materials you have with the required materials for the item cards available on the table. You can craft any item for which you have the required materials.
4. If your cards that you spend have some excess materials not needed for an item you are crafting, you can use those materials to craft another item. If you cannot (due to lacking other required materials) or choose not to, the excess unused materials are simply lost.
5. Discard the encounter cards that have materials you spent. Then take the item card (or cards) you crafted. Do not discard cards that you did not use for any required materials.
6. After crafting items, you may immediately equip them. You can now reequip all your items as desired. You can also keep items next to your hero card without equipping them.

During a visit to a forge, you can craft as many items as you wish, as long as you can spend their required materials.

Example

1. Trixi enters a forge space.
2. Trixi has these encounter cards (the manual shows six of them; the materials on their bottoms are the ones that matter).
3. Therefore, she has these materials available: 3 metal, 3 wood, 2 rope, 2 scrolls.
4. The sword she wants requires 2 wood, 1 rope and 2 scrolls. There will still be 3 metal, 1 wood and 1 rope left unspent. So she decides to craft these boots, which require 1 each of metal, rope, and wood. Trixi still has 2 metal left, but no item can be crafted with only these materials, so she loses them.
5. Trixi used all her cards and discards them to the discard pile.
6. She decides to immediately equip her newly crafted items (sword and boots), sliding them under her hero card. The boots give her an additional action this turn.

Lord of Bones Cards

Four cards represent the eponymous Lord of Bones - a huge skeleton who rules the Lonely Mountain dungeons. During most of the game, these cards remain face down (with the Lord's dark shadow visible). When all 4 cards are revealed, the endgame is triggered, with a final battle against the Lord of Bones.

Each Lord of Bones card shows: points gained for having this card at the end of the game (crowns), and the icons needed to defeat this Lord of Bones card.

Curse Tokens

During the game, you will find enchanted crystals that can significantly increase your hero's skills. But using their powers is costly: each crystal will make the final battle more difficult for you. This difficulty is represented by curse tokens, which you will use to mark additional requirements in the final battle. But each curse token gained is worth 1 victory point at the end of the game.

Game Preparation

1. Lay out the Lord of Bones cards to show his dark shadow.
2. Set the curse tokens aside for now - they will not be needed until the finale.
3. Put the dice tokens, encounter tokens, and dice in easy reach of all players.
4. Sort the item cards by their backs into 3 face-up groups. You don't need to shuffle them; all the item cards can be viewed at any time.
5. Sort the encounter cards by their backs into 3 face-down decks. Shuffle each deck. These decks cannot be viewed.
6. Near the 3 encounter decks, leave space for the encounter discard pile (all 3 levels of encounter cards go to the same single discard pile).
7. Put the starting dungeon tile (with the ladder) in the center of the table.
8. Prepare the pile of dungeon tiles. Set aside the dark gate tile. Turn the other tiles face down and shuffle them into a pile. Draw 4 tiles (without looking at them), shuffle them with the dark gate tile, then put those 5 tiles on the bottom of the pile.
9. The oldest player draws 3 dungeon tiles from the stack and places them as desired, each touching a different exit of the ladder space. If a complete encounter icon appears, place an encounter token onto it.
10. Each of you takes a hero card and matching pawn. Put as many health tokens as shown on your hero card onto the corresponding spaces on your card. Return leftover health tokens to the box.
11. Put the reference card where everyone can access it during their turn.
12. Put all players' pawns on the ladder space.

Sequence of Play

Players take turns in clockwise order, starting with the youngest player. Player turns continue until the finale is triggered. This happens in 1 of 2 ways:

• one of you discovers the dungeon tile with the dark gate,
• all 4 Lord of Bones cards are revealed.

When a player triggers one of these conditions, that player may finish their turn, then they start the final battle.

Player Turn

At the start of your turn, you may change which items you have equipped, possibly equipping other items you possess. Then you can do up to 3 actions (or 4 actions, if you have equipped (in one of your sacks) boots that give an extra action). After your turn, the player to your left starts their turn.

During your turn, each action you do can be any one of the following 3 actions (you can do the same type of action multiple times if you like):

1. Move.
2. Explore.
3. Resolve an encounter token.

Alternatively, you can spend all your actions to rest for a turn.

1. Move

Move your pawn to an adjacent space, if the two spaces are connected by a corridor, and there is no encounter token in the corridor. If the new space has a printed location picture, you CAN resolve it. (Exception: you MUST resolve traps.)

2. Explore

If your pawn's current space has any open corridors (i.e. corridors leading to empty space instead of a tile), draw one dungeon tile from the stack for each open corridor. Reveal them, rotate them as you like, and place them as you like. Each new tile must touch a different open corridor on your space. As many new tiles as possible should match their own open corridor to an open corridor on your space. No tile can ever cover any part of another tile.

Note! In some cases, you will not be able to extend an open corridor with a new tile, because the corridor leads to a single square space with no room for a tile, as shown in this example illustration. In such cases, ignore this open corridor: treat it as if it were not open, but a dead end.

Then place encounter tokens onto all new complete encounter symbols.

Example: Viola is on a space with 3 open corridors around her. She uses 1 of her actions to explore. Viola draws 3 new dungeon tiles and reveals them. Now she decides how to place them all adjacent to her current space. She must make corridor connections to all three, if possible. Then she must place encounter tokens on the 4 new complete encounter symbols: 2 are fully printed on 2 new tiles, and 2 are formed by half-symbols joined across adjacent tiles.

3. Resolve an Encounter Token

If your space is adjacent to an encounter token, you may resolve it as an action. If there are several adjacent encounter tokens, then you choose 1 of them for 1 action.

Then choose one of the encounter decks (I, II, or III) and draw the top card. Next:

• If the card has an item, take the card (you can equip it if you like), then remove the encounter token.
• If the card has a skeleton, you must fight it (see the next page for combat details). If you successfully defeat the skeleton, take the card and put it next to your hero card, then remove the encounter token. If you lose the fight, discard 1 health token from your hero card; put the skeleton card face down on the bottom of its encounter deck; leave the encounter token on the map.

Rest

Resting takes a full turn: you cannot do any other action while you rest. Recover all health tokens and transport your pawn to any space with a campfire. If you have no health tokens, you must rest.

Combat

Many dangers lurk in the Lonely Mountain dungeons. To emerge victorious, you will often have to confront undead warriors blocking your way.

To defeat a skeleton you have drawn, you must have all the symbols shown on the right side of the skeleton card. You get symbols from:

• 1 printed attribute on your hero card,
• attributes from all equipped items under your hero card,
• your dice roll result.

Normally, you roll 2 dice during combat. (Exception: Yoshik and Viola roll 3 dice.) Additionally, before rolling, you may discard any number of dice tokens from your hero card to roll that many more dice. (Exception: Trixi and Thoros roll 2 more dice for each discarded dice token.) After rolling, if you now have all the necessary symbols to defeat your enemy, then take the enemy card. If you fail, then you lose 1 health.

Example: Durduth is fighting a skeleton on a level II encounter card. He needs 3 symbols to win: sword, bow, mask. His hero card has a sword, and he has a mask from an equipped item. He needs to get the bow by rolling dice. He discards 1 dice token to roll an extra die, so he rolls 3 dice. But the result is skull, mask, sword. Fortunately, he can use his hero skill to reroll up to 2 dice. So he rerolls 2 dice, getting a star and a sword. A star is joker, so Durduth uses it as a bow and defeats his opponent. As a reward, he gains the card. Later, he can spend the card's metal and wood when crafting new items in a forge.

Example: Thoros is fighting a skeleton on a level I encounter card. He needs 2 bow symbols. His hero card has 1 dice token and a potion with a bow symbol. He discards the dice token to roll 4 dice instead of 2 (his hero ability gives him 2 extra dice instead of 1 for each discarded dice token). Unfortunately, Thoros did not roll any bows or stars, so he loses the combat! There's no reason to discard his potion to get 1 bow, because he needs 2 bows to win. He loses 1 health token, and the skeleton returns face down to the bottom of its deck (encounter deck I).

Enchanted Crystals

While exploring the Lonely Mountain dungeons, you will sometimes find enchanted crystals. You can equip these particularly powerful items to enhance your attributes: slide crystals under your hero card just like items. A red crystal can go under your sword space, green under your bow, blue under your wand, and yellow under your mask. A crystal gives an additional symbol of its corresponding attribute. Each of your attribute spaces can have a maximum of 1 crystal. Each attribute can have a crystal with an equipped weapon at the same time. Once you equip an enchanted crystal, you cannot unequip it! Crystals make your hero stronger, but they draw their power from the Lord of Bones himself, which will make the final battle more difficult for you.

Shadows of the Lord of Bones

The level III encounter deck has 4 cards that will bring you closer to the final battle. When you draw a card with the shadow of the Lord of Bones, take it and turn one Lord of Bones card face up. As each of these shadows appears, the Lord of Bones prepares and draws nearer for the final battle with your heroes. Each of these cards also has an enchanted crystal, which you keep and can equip under its corresponding attribute of your hero card. When the 4th Lord of Bones card is turned face up, after this player's turn, you proceed to the final battle (just like when the dark gate dungeon tile is drawn).

Finale

Preparation

When one of you reveals the dark gate or the 4th card with the shadow of the Lord of Bones, you proceed to the final battle. The current player finishes their turn. Then you may set aside the map of the dungeons you have built; you're done exploring! Place the Lord of Bones cards face up in the center of the table, with the (previously set aside) curse tokens nearby. Everyone restores their health and dice tokens to their maximum. (Remember an equipped ring increases a hero's dice token limit by 1.) You can also change your equipped items. To defeat the Lord of Bones, you must win 4 duels with him, represented by the 4 Lord of Bones cards. The player who triggered the finale starts the final battle.

Like Skeleton cards you have already fought, the 4 Lord of Bones cards also each show the symbols needed to defeat the Lord in each duel.

Combat

The player who triggered the finale chooses one of the Lord of Bones cards to duel. That player rolls as many dice as the number of enchanted crystals equipped under their hero card (possibly up to 4 dice). Place curse tokens corresponding to the dice results next to the chosen Lord of Bones card. These are additional requirements that the player must meet to win this duel. Enchanted crystals strengthen not only their bearer, but also the Lord of Bones!

The player then attacks as usual, rolling the dice. If their hero and items and dice results have the required symbols, they win the duel and take that Lord of Bones card and its curse tokens. If they fail, the player loses 1 health token, and that Lord of Bones card stays, waiting for another challenger; return the curse tokens to the supply - they will be randomized anew for each duel. Curse tokens are unlimited; in the rare case they run out, improvise additional ones as needed.

Note! The curse token showing a star (joker) symbol means that you need this specific symbol on your dice result. This symbol is not on any item cards, except for a potion with a star symbol. Be careful!

Regardless of the duel's result, the next player in clockwise order fights the next duel.

End of the Game

The game ends when none of you have any health tokens, or when all 4 Lord of Bones cards are defeated.

Example: Soveliss just drew the dungeon tile with the dark gate, so he will begin the final battle after finishing his turn. He can reequip. He restores all his health points and dice tokens (taking 3 dice tokens, thanks to his equipped ring).

Soveliss is equipped with these cards (an axe with a sword and skull, a crossbow, a wand, a lute, a ring with an enchanted gem, and a potion).

So his total attributes are: 1 x sword (2, if he decides to discard the potion after rolling dice), 3 x bow (1 from his hero card, 1 from an item, and 1 from an enchanted gem), 1 x wand and 3 x mask. Additionally, he has 2 x skull.

Soveliss selects this Lord of Bones card to duel. He already has all the necessary symbols printed on the Lord of Bones card, but Soveliss has equipped 2 enchanted crystals, so he must roll 2 dice to determine 2 additional required symbols. Soveliss rolls a wand and a bow, so he places curse tokens with these symbols on the Lord of Bones card. He already has 3 x bow, so he is missing only 1 x wand. He discards 1 dice token to roll 3 dice instead of 2. The result is a wand, a skull and a sword, so he got his missing wand and wins the duel! Soveliss takes the Lord of Bones card and the 2 curse tokens. Together, this is worth 7 victory points!

Then Trixi takes her turn. Later, when it is Soveliss's turn again, he will select another Lord of Bones card (from those remaining) to duel.

Scoring

Regardless whether you defeated the Lord of Bones or you all died trying, you all add up your victory points. Each crown on your cards is 1 point, so:

• each item card you own (equipped or not) is worth 1, 2, or 3 points,
• some skeletons gained from encounter deck III are worth 1 point,
• each Lord of Bones card is worth 5 points,
• each curse token is worth 1 point.

The player (dead or alive) with the most points wins! In case of a tie, the tied player with the most Lord of Bones cards wins. If there is still a tie, the tied players share their victory.

Game Storage

Here is our suggested way of organizing the game components in the box. This will make it even easier to set up next time!

(The storage guide is a diagram of the box insert and is not reproduced as text.)