Mini Rogue: The Council

Mini Rogue: The Council Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components

This Rulebook
1 Additional rulebook for The Council
1 Campaign book
5 Boss cards
4 Character cards
1 Combat Stance card
20 Room cards
4 Lore cards
6 Reinforcement cards
3 Overlord cards
1 Overlord's Avatar card
1 Rewards/Criminal card
2 Player Aid sheets
2 Wooden Characters
4 Character tokens
1 Black (Dungeon) die
3 White (Character) dice
1 Purple (Curse) die
1 Green (Poison) die
1 City mat
1 Character mat
1 Overlord mat
14 Wooden cubes: 3 black, 1 blue, 1 yellow, 1 brown, 2 red, 3 gray, 2 purple, 1 dark red

Setup

Choose a Character card and place it faceup to the left of your Character mat.
Set your Character's starting stats according to the values on the top right corner of your Character card. If a stat is not shown on the Character card, set it to 0. You will keep track of each stat by moving its wooden cube accordingly.

If you want to make the game more challenging, we suggest that you try these difficulty modes:
- Hard: Start with -1 Food and -1 HP.
- Harder: Start with -1 Food and -2 HP.
- Roguelike: Start with -1 Food, -2 HP and -3 Gold
Place the Rewards/Criminal reference card to the right of your Character mat.
Take one Dungeon die and one Character die and keep them nearby. You start the game with only one Character die, which will be used to resolve encounters. As you gain experience, you will gain more Character dice (see Experience Points and Levels). Keep the other dice close by.
Place the black cube on the first Area space of the City mat labelled "1". This cube is the Adventurer's cube and represents your Character's location in the City. To track a Monsters' HP, put a red cube on the skull icon. For a different experience, you may want to use the other side of the City mat, named "The Cathedral".
Set up the Area: shuffle all the Room cards, then lay the first eight cards facedown as shown in the setup illustration (a grid of three columns, the top-left card being the Start card).
The other Room cards are placed facedown to the left of the top-left card of the Area (Start card).
Place the King's Remains Boss card facedown at the bottom-right corner of the Area. Shuffle the remaining Bosses (without the Avatar), and place three of them on top of King's Remains, all of them facedown.

(Setup illustration: 1 Character card, 2 Character mat, 3 Rewards/Criminal card, 4 dice, 5 City mat with cubes, 6 Area grid, 7 unused Room cards, 8 Boss cards at the bottom-right corner, 9 revealed Start card.)

A word from the designers

Welcome to Mini Rogue, The Council! We are now nearing 10 years on this idea of a roguelike made tabletop. Our lives have changed a lot since the inception of Mini Rogue, but we still have the desire to immerse you in this dark fantasy world we came up with. We think The Council's campaign will really drive home the tone and lore we wanted to share with all the players. For best possible experience, lower the lights, put on some dark or eerie music, and turn off your electronics.

City Mat

The City you explore is unique in every game, but its core structure will always be as follows:

The City contains four Floors, to match the Dungeon in the base game. The deeper you find yourself in the City, the greater the challenges you will face. You start on the first floor (Floor 1) and will go down to the fourth floor (Floor 4). Each Floor contains a certain number of Areas.

Floor 1: The Dark Alleys
Floor 2: The Merchant District
Floor 3: The Shadow Gardens
Floor 4: The Royal Plaza

For example, the 3rd Floor, called The Shadow Gardens, contains Areas 5, 6 and 7.

Every turn, you will explore an Area comprised of eight Room cards, then you will delve deeper to the next Area (see Delving Phase).

Character Mat

Your Character possesses several attributes, which may never be greater or lower than the values indicated on the mat.

XP (Experience Points): Gaining XP increases your Character's Level, which unlocks additional Character dice.
Armor: Each Armor point reduces by 1 the damage from a Monster's attack. Armor does not protect against Traps, Poison or anything else unless explicitly stated otherwise.
HP (Health Points): These represent your Character's life. If the HP value ever reaches zero, the game is over. The HP can go over the starting value and up to 20 due to healing.
Food rations: Every time your Character delves into another Area, they will have to eat; otherwise, they starve and lose 3 HP (only during the Delving Phase).
Gold pieces: These are used to purchase various items from Merchants and make offerings at Shrines.
Potions: Your Character may carry a maximum of two Potions at a time. Potions have several effects you may want to use during combat or exploration (see Potions).

If you must lose a resource (Armor, Gold, etc.) you do not possess, then lose 1 HP per missing resource instead.

Dice Overview

Players can only use 1 Dungeon die, 1 Poison die, 1 Curse die and a maximum of 3 Character dice.

Character dice: These white dice represent your Character's skills. In combat, they determine the damage your Character deals. While you start with only one Character die, as you delve deeper and your Character gains experience, additional Character dice will be added to your pool.
Dungeon die: The black die will be rolled to determine outcomes when resolving various Room cards. For example, it may be used to determine the attack of a Monster, a Trap's effect or which Potion or Item you've found in a room.
Poison die: The green die will be added to your pool of dice when your Character becomes poisoned (see Effects).
Curse die: The purple die will be added to your pool of dice when your Character becomes cursed (see Effects).

Turn Sequence

Every turn, you will guide your Character through a single Area, starting from the entrance, going from left to right and from top to bottom, heading towards the exit. Each Area contains Rooms with encounters that need to be resolved one at a time before moving forward. Here is a game turn in detail:

Preparation Phase

(Skip this phase if you have just set up the game.)

Shuffle all the Room cards, and place 8 of them facedown as indicated. The unused Room cards are set aside, facedown.
Reveal the top-left (Start) Room card and place your Wooden Character/token on it. This slot is the entrance of all Areas.
On the City mat, if the current Area has a crimson and gold skull icon, reveal the top Boss card on the bottom-right corner. You will have to face it soon.

Exploration Phase

Resolve the Room card where your wooden Character/token is located (see Room Cards).
Once that Room card is resolved, reveal the two nearest Room cards if possible: the one to the right and the one below the current Room. You must now choose which one of these two Rooms you will move to. Your Character can never move diagonally, up or left.

If your Character is in the right column or the bottom row, you do not have a choice and must move to the only Room available.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you reach the bottom-right (Exit) card. If the Boss card was revealed in step 3, resolve it now. Afterwards, proceed to the Delving phase. Note: If you defeat the final Boss, no need to delve further, you have won!

Delving Phase

Consume 1 Food ration. If you have no Food at the start of the Delving phase, you starve and immediately lose 3 HP.
Flip your Character card faceup if it is facedown (see Character Classes and Skills).
Move your Adventurer's cube to the next Area on the City mat.
Remove all the Room cards from the Area, revealed or not, and add them to the unused Room cards deck. A new turn begins.

Note: Do not forget to execute the Delving Phase, even after defeating a Boss.

Skill Checks

While luck may sometimes favor the inexperienced, experts prevail even in dire situations.

Some Room encounters require you to perform a Skill Check to resolve them. To perform a Skill Check, simultaneously roll the dice pool: this consists of all your available Character dice, the Dungeon die, and the Poison die and Curse die (if applicable). If any of the Character dice shows a star icon (a Star or a Critical Star result), your attempted action has succeeded.

The outcome of the Dungeon die roll will depend on the Room your character is currently in, and whether your Skill Check was successful or not.

For example, Martha's character is Level 2 and must evade a Trap. She performs a Skill Check by rolling both her Character dice along with the Dungeon die and must get at least one star result to successfully evade it.

The Dungeon die's result will determine the type of trap triggered if her Skill Check is unsuccessful OR the reward obtained if the Skill Check is a success.

Combat

Whenever you face a Monster or Boss (see Room cards), you enter a Combat. Each party takes a turn attacking the other. Your Character attacks first, then defends themselves against the monster's attack. It is a fight to the death, and whoever loses all their HP dies horribly.

Attack Phase

You may use your Combat skill, if you want to.
Simultaneously roll the dice pool: this consists of all your available Character dice, the Dungeon die, and the Poison die and Curse die (if applicable).
Activate any Curse and Poison effects, if applicable (see Effects).
You may now reroll any Character dice that landed on a Critical Hit: For each die, add the new die roll result to its previous value. If your new roll is a Miss, set aside the die, as no damage is dealt with it. A result of Miss always cancels all other results obtained before with this die.

The re-roll sequence for Critical Hits can be done as many times as you want. For example, with a single die it is possible to achieve a streak such as this: Critical, Critical, Critical, 3, for a total of 21. It is also possible to roll Critical, Critical, Critical, Critical, Miss, in which case the total is 0.
You may now perform Feats (see Feats): For each Feat, reroll a Character die result (even a Miss), by reducing your Character's XP by 1 point or HP by 2 points. Only one Feat per die is allowed (i.e. you cannot perform multiple rerolls on the same die with Feats).
Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you are satisfied with your result or no more rerolls can happen, then add all Character dice values together, except for Misses. This is the damage you inflict on the Monster.
You may now use a single Offensive Potion available in your inventory. Once a Potion is used, set its cube aside.
Apply the damage to the Monster. If the Monster survives, continue to the Monster Attack Phase.

Monster Attack Phase

If the Monster still has HP left, consult the Dungeon die to determine the success of the Monster's attack:
- 1: the attack has missed; you take no damage.
- 2 to 5: the attack is successful; the Monster inflicts damage equal to the value on its card, minus your Armor points.
- 6: the attack is successful and pierces your armor; the Monster inflicts damage equal to the value on its card. Do not deduct your Armor points.
Apply the Monster's Effects if the attack has reduced your Character's HP (see Effects).
Repeat the Combat sequence until either you or the Monster is dead.

For example, you have to face a Monster that can cause 6 damage points. You have 10 HP and 3 Armor points. During the Attack Phase, you rolled a 6 on the Dungeon die. This means that all 6 damage points will be inflicted on you and your Armor points are ignored. You now have 4 HP.

However, if you had rolled a 2, 3, 4 or 5 on the Dungeon die, you would subtract 3 Armor points from the 6 damage points inflicted by the Monster. Only 3 damage points would get through your armor and you would now have 7 HP.

Note: The final Boss, King's Remains, is special. Look at Monster and Boss cards on page 18 to learn more about it.

Feats

With the energy of despair, your adventurer can change the outcome of an attack during combat. However, doing so has a cost.

During your Attack Phase, you may perform Feats: You may reroll a single Character die once. Each reroll has a cost of either 1 XP or 2 HP. Some Item cards offer Feats without losing XP or HP.

Once a die has been rerolled, its result is final (unless the new result is a Critical Hit, as per normal combat rules). You do not have to execute multiple Feats at once. You may always look at the result of a single rerolled die before choosing to perform another Feat with another die. You may not use Feats anywhere else than in Combat.

For example, you roll 2 dice to attack and obtain Miss and Critical. You set aside the Miss and choose to reroll the Critical. Your rerolled die lands on a Miss. This die is then set aside too. You would deal no damage, so you decide to perform a Feat by losing 1 XP to reroll a Miss. After this new reroll, you obtain a 3. You deal 3 damage points.

Effects

As you will soon discover, there is no shortage of danger in the City...

Monsters and Traps not only harm your Character with physical attacks, but also with debilitating Effects. These Effects will hinder your progress by, for example, bypassing your Armor, cursing you, or removing your ability to reveal Rooms before entering them. The Effects of a Monster's attack only apply if you have lost HP during the attack.

Curse: Add the Curse die to your pool of Character dice.

You are Cursed whenever your Curse die lands on a Curse symbol, either during Combat or a Skill Check. When this happens, subtract 1 from each of your Character dice (including rerolls). A 1 becomes a Miss this way. A Curse can be cured with a Blessing or a Holy Potion. Set the die aside when cured.

For example, in combat, a roll that lands on a Critical, 1, Miss and Curse becomes a (Critical minus 1), Miss and Miss. Or, when performing a Skill Check, a roll of Star and Curse becomes a (Star minus 1).

If a result would cause you to gain a Curse when you are already cursed, ignore it (i.e. if your dice pool already contains a Curse die, you do not gain a second Curse die).
Poison: Add the Poison die to your pool of Character dice.

You are Poisoned whenever your Poison die lands on a Poison symbol, either during Combat or a Skill Check. When this happens, you immediately lose 1 HP. Poison can be cured with a Blessing or a Holy Potion. Set the die aside when cured. If a result would cause you to be Poisoned when you are already poisoned, ignore it.
Blindness: Only reveal a Room card once you have entered it. Lay your wooden Character on its side (or flip your Character token over) until your Blindness is cured with a Perception Potion, a Holy Potion or a Blessing.
Ignore Armor: The damage dealt to you ignores your Armor points. Your Character does not need to have lost HP during the attack for this Effect to apply.
Weaken: Immediately lose 1 XP, then update your pool of Character dice, if necessary.
Regeneration: The Monster heals itself and gains as many HP as indicated inside the icon.

Potions

Old elixirs and witches' brews thought lost to time. It's curious to find them here in this bustling city...

Potions are of great help when you are in danger. Here are the six different Potions you may carry with you:

Fire: Inflict 7 damage on the Monster.
Frost: The Monster does not attack this turn. Do not resolve the Dungeon die.
Poison: Inflict 4 damage on the Monster at each of your Attack phases, including the present one.
Healing: Gain 6 HP.
Holy: Cure all Poison, Curse and Blindness Effects simultaneously, whether you are afflicted by one or any combination of them.
Perception: Automatically succeed a Skill Check (just roll the Dungeon die and consult the Success result), and/or cure Blindness.

Offensive Potions (Fire, Frost and Poison) can only be used during the Attack phase, and only one may be used per Attack phase.

Defensive Potions (Healing, Holy and Perception) can be used at any time.

All Potions are single use items. You can only carry a maximum of two Potions at any time. You may carry two Offensive Potions, two Defensive Potions or one of each. Place a cube on the appropriate space of the Character mat to keep track of the Potions you are carrying.

You cannot carry two identical Potions in your inventory at a time. You can always discard a Potion to make room for a new one.

Items

An experienced adventurer never lets a tool go unused.

Items are Room cards that you will obtain through successful Skill Checks, by spending Gold, or by other means. You may carry only one Item at a time. If you find another Item, you must discard one of them.

Items can have one or more uses. If an Item has multiple uses, its uses are tracked with a wooden cube on the Item card itself. When an Item is spent, it is discarded and put back into the Room deck.

Experience Points and Levels

As you gain experience, your combat and survival skills grow.

Experience Points (XP) are gained in a variety of ways, such as defeating Monsters, reading a codex, resting or dodging traps.

By acquiring XP, you will gain Levels and additional Character dice. The more dice you unlock, the better you become at dealing damage to Monsters, dodging traps, unlocking chests and finding items.

Your XP will be tracked on the Character mat. Whenever the XP value crosses a Level threshold (indicated by a special square, with a Level label), immediately adjust your number of available dice. The number of unlocked Character dice is equal to the Level number on the XP track.

However, be careful of XP loss. Losing XP might make you lose Character dice if you go below a Level threshold.

Once you've reached the maximum XP, any gained XP is converted into HP instead.

For example, after defeating Floor 4's Monster Ravenous Rats, you normally gain 3 XP. If your Character is at the maximum XP value on the Character mat, you gain 3 HP instead.

Character Classes and Skills

Nobles, students, soldiers, and scholars - adventurers from all backgrounds and upbringings - converge to the City-State...

Each Character has unique Skills. Once any Skill is used, flip the Character card facedown to indicate it is used. A Character cannot use their Skills while their card is facedown (exception: Passive Skills always apply).

There are four types of Skills:

Exploration Skills can only be used after revealing the next Room cards, but before choosing one to resolve.
Combat Skills can only be used at the start of the Attack phase.
Preparation Skills can only be used immediately before laying the Area grid (see step 1 of the Turn Sequence).
Passive Skills modify the game's rules. They are not used; they apply at all times, even if the card is facedown.

When you see the Refresh icon, for example, on the Bonfire cards and on the back of the Boss cards, refresh your Character Skills by flipping your Character card faceup to indicate that the Skills are available again.

Difficulty

We've added difficulty modes to alter the game's challenge to your liking.

Hard: Start with -1 Food and -1 HP
Harder: Start with -1 Food and -2 HP
Roguelike: Start with -1 Food, -2 HP and -3 Gold

Applying these modes might make the starting values of Food or Gold go below 0. Simply set them to 0, and play as usual.

Additionally, the choice of Character class will change the game's difficulty. Some of them are more challenging than others. It is part of the experience to find the one which suits your playstyle.

Room Cards

Each Room card encounter is resolved differently. Most cards have icons in their top banner: They are a reminder of the actions you must (or may) take to resolve them:

-1 Food: Remove 1 Food ration from your inventory.
Skill Check icon: Perform a Skill Check.
Skill Check +/-1 icon: Perform a Skill Check. If successful, you may modify the result of the Dungeon die by +1 or -1.
Dungeon die icon: Roll the Dungeon die only.
Gold icon: Make an offering of 1 Gold piece to add +1 to the Dungeon die.
Gold/Item icon: You may Buy and Sell.
Refresh icon: Refresh your Character Skills.
Item icon: This is an Item. You may pick it up if you meet the conditions indicated before the icon, such as paying Gold, paying Food rations or succeeding at a Skill Check.
Slash: You must choose one of the options.
Parentheses: Optional.

Item Cards

Broken weapons, rusty armor, split shields... This weapon cache offers nothing of value. But upon closer inspection, you might be able to find something worth retrieving...

To resolve an Item card, look at the icons on its banner. If you meet the conditions, you can take the Item and put it next to your Character card. A player may only carry one Item at a time. Once used, discard the Item card and put it back into the Room deck.

For example, to resolve the Dark Codex (Skill Check, Item), decipher it by succeeding the Skill Check, or lose sanity reading its mesmerizing glyph and lose 1 XP. If you succeed the Skill Check, take the card and it will remain by your side until you use one of its skills or exchange it for another Item.

Monster and Boss Cards

The Watch enforces curfews in the City. Still, you are determined in your quest for the Og's Blood.

Whenever you face an enemy, you have to fight it. Each party takes a turn at attacking the other. It is a fight to the death, and whoever loses all their HP dies horribly.

Set the enemy's HP on the City mat with its cube. The value changes according to the current Floor as indicated on the Monster's card. If playing coop, use the second value. You must have the base game to play coop (see p. 24).
Perform the Combat sequence (see Combat).
If you have defeated the enemy, consult the Reward column. Your reward depends on the current Floor. Update your Stats accordingly. If you defeated a Boss, discard it and consult the Rewards reference card, then proceed to the Delving Phase.

Note: King's Remains has two combat phases. You must complete the first phase by bringing his HP to 0 before beginning a new combat phase. Any leftover damage, Poison or Frost Effects are not applied to phase 2. The two phases are essentially different Combats.

Trap Cards

Many adventurers perish not in combat, but due to a lack of scrutiny.

To resolve a Trap card, perform a Skill Check. If the Skill Check is successful, earn the reward in the Success column corresponding to the Dungeon die roll. Otherwise, update your Character stats according to the Failure column.

Tomb Cards

You care not about defiling cemeteries nor taking what isn't yours, as you may stumble upon items of great assistance.

To resolve a Tomb card (Skill Check +/-1), perform a Skill Check. If successful, you may modify the result of the Dungeon die roll by +1 or -1. Otherwise, you must accept the result of the Dungeon die.

Bonfire Cards

Everyone needs respite now and then, for death could come at any time. Sharpening the blade helps you focus.

When resting at a Bonfire, if your Character card is facedown, flip it faceup to mark the skills as available again (Refresh icon). Then choose only one of the available actions on the card. Update your stats accordingly.

Merchant Cards

Not all stalls are closed and you might find merchants willing to help you out... At a cost.

When you encounter a Merchant, you may buy and sell at will, if you have enough Gold. Doing business with the Merchant is never mandatory, you may skip the card if you wish.

Treasure Cards

On your journey, you may find stashes of loot in various quantities. But guards, wild animals and judiciously placed traps still protect the most valuable treasures in the City.

When you resolve a Treasure card, you will find Gold pieces and also have a chance to find special items.

You will always gain at least 1 Gold piece. If you have encountered any Monsters or Traps in this Area, gain the highest amount of Gold pieces instead, as indicated on the card.

Let's say you are resolving a Treasure card. If you fought a Monster (or Criminal) or encountered a Trap in this Area, you get the highest Gold reward. If not, you get 1 Gold. Then, you perform a Skill Check. If you fail, you obtain nothing more, but if you succeed, you get the reward corresponding to the Dungeon die's result.

Shrine Cards

What profanities the corruptors of this altar did, no one will ever know. Maybe an offering will steer the Gods in your favor?

To resolve a Shrine card (offering, Dungeon die), roll the Dungeon die and consult the table. Before rolling, you may make an offering of 1 Gold piece to modify the die roll by adding 1. Once you have made the offering, the +1 modifier is mandatory (except if you rolled 6).

Reference Card: Rewards

Alleys, alcoves and derelict buildings hold tools and passages for the courageous. Will you know how to wield them?

Whenever you see the Treasure icon in the result column of a card, refer to the Rewards side of the reference card. Roll the Dungeon die and decide which of the two options to choose as a reward. Unlike the Treasure cards, you do not have to perform a Skill Check to get the reward, the chest is already open. Do not forget, you always get either 2 Gold pieces or draw a Lore card in addition to the reward.

Reference Card: Criminal

The dark alleys of the City are ideal to make strange - and deadly - encounters.

Whenever you see this Monster icon in the result column of a card, refer to the Criminal side of the reference card. Resolve this card just like the other Monster cards.

Room Card Resolution

When resolving Room cards, the bottom section of each card will tell you what resources and/or stats you will gain or lose. In case there are multiple icons, you must resolve them from left to right.

For example, if you see "Criminal icon, +2 Gold", you must survive the fight against the Criminal before collecting the Gold pieces.

If you see "-Floor HP, Poison", you must lose as many HP as the current Floor number, and then add the Poison die to your dice pool.

Table of Resolutions

+1 XP: Gain 1 XP.
+1 Armor: Gain 1 Armor point.
+1 HP: Gain 1 HP.
+1 Food: Gain 1 Food ration.
+1 Gold: Gain 1 Gold piece.
Fire Potion icon: Gain a Fire Potion.
Frost Potion icon: Gain a Frost Potion.
Poison Potion icon: Gain a Poison Potion.
Healing Potion icon: Gain a Healing Potion.
Holy Potion icon: Gain a Holy Potion.
Perception Potion icon: Gain a Perception Potion.
Any Potion icon: Gain a Potion of your choice.
Refresh icon: Refresh your Character Skills.
Blessing icon: Blessing: Cure Poison, Curse and Blindness simultaneously.
Player icon: A player.
Cure Poison icon: Cure Poison.
Cure Curse icon: Cure Curse.
Crossed Holy Potion icon: Prevents the usage of Holy Potions.
Crossed Blessing icon: Prevents the usage of Blessings.
Crossed Fall icon: You cannot fall.
Lore icon: Draw a Lore card.
Up-arrow 10 HP: Set your HP to the indicated value if it was below it.
-1 Item: Discard an Item you own.
Criminal icon: Fight the Criminal reference card.
Nothing icon: Nothing happens.

If you get a -1 HP, you have to lose 1 HP, and the same goes for every item listed above.

Turn Example

Let's pretend you are playing a Rat Catcher, on normal difficulty (10 HP, 5 Gold, 3 Food, and a Poison Potion). You start on the first Area of the first Floor of the City. You've done the Preparation phase (p. 8) and can now reveal the first Room as part of the Exploration phase (p. 8).

You are on the Church (p. 20). The banner reads (offering) Dungeon die, which means you roll the Dungeon die only, and you can pay 1 Gold to add 1 to the result of the die. You don't pay, and roll a 2. It seems you are cursed by the Old Gods: you gain the Curse die. The Church is resolved. Now it's time to reveal the next two cards. On the right, a Monster, and beneath, a Trap.

You choose the Monster (p. 18) as you want to gain XP. You move your token to the City Guard card. You set the enemy's HP on the City mat and you start fighting (p. 10). After a couple of rounds, you emerge victorious (+1 XP, +1 Gold) with a few bruises (-2 HP). The Monster is resolved. Reveal the next two cards. On the right is another Monster, beneath are abandoned Prison Cells.

You choose the Tomb room (p. 18) as it seems less risky. The banner reads Skill Check +/-1 which means you'll have to perform a Skill Check (p. 9) in addition to rolling the Dungeon die. You roll a 1, a Star and the Curse. Due to the Curse, the Star becomes a lower result and you fail the Skill Check (p. 12). As you have failed the Skill Check, you cannot change the Dungeon Die's result and gain the Blindness effect (p. 13). Flip your token.

Until cured, you can't reveal the next rooms before choosing them. The Prison Cells are resolved. You pick the next Room randomly.

Unfortunately, you chose a Trap (p. 18). The banner reads Skill Check which again means you will have to perform a Skill Check and roll the Dungeon die to resolve the Room. You roll 4, 3 and a further die result, so you fail the Skill Check and must fight the Criminal (p. 20).

You want to end this as fast as possible, so on the first combat turn, you opt to use your Combat Skill: Rat Bait. You flip your Character card (p. 16), lose 1 Food, and roll your Character die plus the extra Character die. You continue the fight as usual, and prevail. You get the Criminal's reward (+2 XP). Thankfully you dispatched it easily, and only lost 2 HP.

The Criminal card has been resolved, and so is the Trap card. The only possible next location is the last card, and you move your token onto it. The Area is done. Initiate the Delving phase (p. 9).

By now, you are at 6 HP, 5 Gold, 3 XP and 1 Food since you have consumed 1 Food for delving. Also, you are Blinded and Cursed.

For the next fights, try to find some Armor (p. 6). You will be able to spend XP to make Feats (p. 11) to mitigate bad rolls. Now, get XP, level up (p. 15) and get to the last Area! Good luck!

End of the Game

If your HP falls to 0, your Character has succumbed to their injuries and you have lost the game.

If you reach the last room of the City and defeat the final Boss, the fabled Og's Blood is yours! Victorious, you may finally pick it up and leave this cursed place. Congratulations!

Why is it that you were so drawn to this gemstone? It feels like it is not the first time that you weigh it in your hands.

2 Player Cooperative Rules

(only if you own the base game)

Mini Rogue can also be played with another player, or in solitaire mode with one player controlling two characters.

Setup

Each player picks a Character card.
Set up a Character mat for each player, and a shared City mat, following the normal setup rules.
Randomly determine the first player, who is now the Party Leader.

How to Play

Each turn, you will guide your party through a single Area, as in the standard rules, starting from the entrance to the exit. Both wooden Characters/tokens are placed on the first Room card of the Area. Starting with the Party Leader, you will both resolve the Room card you are currently on. Once the first card of the Area is resolved, both players are free to move to different Rooms (following normal movement rules restrictions).

When players are in different Rooms, each player resolves the required action on their own (perform a Skill Check to dodge Traps or unlock a Treasure chest, etc.). Both players must wait for each other, which means a player cannot enter a new Room until the other has finished resolving their own Room card. They must move from their respective Room cards at the same time.

When both players are in the same Room, they resolve the card one after the other, starting with the Party Leader. The outcome or choices of action can be different for each player.

For example, the first player might succeed at a Trap Skill Check, whereas the second player might fail the check. In this case, the first player obtains the reward associated with the Trap and the second suffers the consequences of failure. Here is another example: Both players succeed at opening a Treasure chest; in this case, both get the rewards corresponding to their own roll.

In case a player really wants to resolve a card before the other, if both players agree, feel free to do it. The essential part is to agree on the decisions as a team.

After resolving a card and if both players are on the same card, they may now trade or give to each other any number of Gold pieces, picked up Items, Food rations, Potions or Armor. Each player must comply with their Inventory limits at the end of the trade.

When a Room card is resolved and any trade has occurred, you may now choose between two new Rooms. The players discuss together the best course of action. When the players reach the Area Exit and enter a new Area, the Party Leader role is given to the other player, and both players place their Character tokens on the new Area Entrance.

If one of the Characters dies, the game is over, and both players have lost.

Item cards: When resolving an Item room card together (Dark Codex, Weapon Cache, etc.), if both players want the card, they need to resolve it. If either of the two players succeeds, that player picks up the card. They may then give the item to, or trade it with, the other player. Each player may carry a maximum of one Item.

Fall: In the case of a Fall, if one player falls, then the other player does too (as in the standard Fall rules) regardless of the Room that the other player is located in (the other player must still resolve their Room card beforehand).

Monster or Boss cards: When resolving a Monster or Boss card with both players on the same card, always use the Monster's second HP value. Then, starting with the Party Leader, the Combat sequence will be resolved as follows:

The Party Leader performs their Attack phase, then the Monster Attacks the Party Leader.
The second player performs their Attack phase, then the Monster Attacks the second player.

Repeat the combat sequence until the Monster or one of the players is dead. Both players earn rewards (XP, Treasure, etc.) from defeating a Monster or Boss.

Note: If you are facing a Monster alone, use its first HP value, as if you were playing a solo game.

Potions: Potions are used the same way as in a solo game. Poison damage is applied to a poisoned Monster in every Attack phase. A poisoned Monster cannot be poisoned twice.

Delving Phase Rules: Both players must eat, refresh their Character cards and change Area together.

Combat Stances Card Variant

This is a solo or multiplayer variant. Combat Stances are simply a way to interpret the Character dice during combat. Choosing one Stance over another means trading the damage dealt versus the damage received.

There are 3 Stances: Aggressive, Balanced and Defensive. Use a Character token or wooden Character to select Stances.

When starting Combat, you always start with the Balanced Stance. During Combat, at the start of the Attack Phase, you may choose to keep your current Stance, or move the token along the axis to an adjacent Stance (Aggressive - Balanced - Defensive). The Balanced Stance is the usual way of playing Mini Rogue. The Aggressive Stance is riskier. The Defensive Stance removes Misses and Critical Hits but adds an Armor bonus for the current Combat turn.

Icons

Effects

Lose 1 XP (Weaken).
Cure Poison, Curse and Blindness (Blessing).
Don't reveal next rooms (Blindness).
In Combat, lose 3 HP on 5.
Damage ignores Armor.
Face 3 enemies.
Regenerate Monster HP.
Enemies immune to Poison Potion.
Add Curse die to dice pool.
Lose 1 Food.
Add Poison die to dice pool.
Enemies attack first.
Fall 1 Floor to area below.
In Combat, miss on 5.

Potions

Fire: Inflict 7 damage.
Healing: Gain 6 HP.
Frost: Monster skips turn.
Holy: Cure Poison, Curse and Blindness.
Poison: Inflict 4 damage per turn.
Perception: Succeed Skill Check and cure Blindness.
Any Potion.

Card

Room card.
Current Floor number.
Nothing happens.
Feat.
A player.
Perform Skill Check.
Roll Dungeon die only.
Offering adds 1 to Dungeon die.
Choose one.
Optional.
Refresh Character Skills.
Draw a Lore card.
Pick up if conditions are met.
Trade with Merchant.
If skill check successful, can modify Dungeon die by 1.

Others

Resolve Criminal reference card.
Resolve Reward reference card.
Cancels or prevents usage.
Up-arrow 10 HP: Set HP to indicated value if it was below it.

Room Card Anatomy

Card type
Card name
How to resolve the Room card
Flavour text
Possible roll results
Consequences