Monsters & Maidens
Monsters & Maidens Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 9 Dice (3 orange Hero dice and 3 green Monster dice and 3 purple Maiden dice)
- 2 Character Cards (1 Hero card and 1 Monster card)
- 60 Victory Point cubes (30 pink 1VP cubes and 30 purple 5VP cubes)
- 6 Epic Fail Bonus Chips
- 1 Game Rules Sheet
Game Setup
The youngest player decides who goes first.
Put the Hero card and Monster card in front of the starting player.
Place a total of 20VP per player of cubes on the table where all players can reach them, and leave the rest off to the side in reserve.
- 2 players – use 30 pink 1VP cubes and 2 purple 5VP cubes (40 total VP)
- 3 players – use 30 pink 1VP cubes and 6 purple 5VP cubes (60 total VP)
- 4 Players – use 30 pink 1VP cubes and 10 purple 5VP cubes (80 total VP)
- 5 players – use 30 pink 1VP cubes and 14 purple 5VP cubes (100 total VP)
- 6 players – use 30 pink 1VP cubes and 18 purple 5VP cubes (120 total VP)
Standard Game Rules
In the standard game, all players assume the role of a Hero trying to rescue Maidens.
Monsters and Maidens is played over a series of turns, divided into 6 phases that are completed in order:
- Roll
- Rescue Maidens
- Battle
- Continue (optional)
- Score
- Cleanup
Phase Details
Roll
The active player rolls all 9 dice.
- The 3 orange Hero Dice have faces of 3 Heroes/2 Monsters/1 Maiden
- The 3 green Monster Dice have faces of 3 Monsters/2 Maidens/1 Hero
- The 3 purple Maiden Dice have faces of 3 Maidens/2 Heroes/1 Monster
Rescue Maidens
Any Maidens rolled are automatically rescued. Rescued Maidens are placed on the Hero card. Maidens are never re-rolled.
Battle
After rescuing all Maidens, compare the number of Heroes and Monsters on the remaining dice. Each Hero battles one Monster and they cancel each other out. Set aside all cancelled Heroes & Monsters.
If Monsters remain:
- 1 Maiden is captured for each remaining Monster. Move that many rescued Maidens from the Hero card to the Monster card. If there are too few Maidens on the Hero card, then move them all.
If Heroes remain:
- 1 Maiden is rescued for each remaining Hero. Move that many captured Maidens from the Monster card to the Hero card. If there are no Maidens on the Monster card, then do nothing. If there are too few Maidens on the Monster card, then move them all.
Continue (optional)
As long as none of the automatic end turn conditions have been triggered (see below), you may choose to return to the Roll phase by re-rolling all dice not showing Maidens. However, you may stop rolling at any time after the Battle phase and score your turn (see below).
Score
Your score is the number of rescued Maidens on the Hero card. Take that many VP of cubes. The pink cubes count as 1VP and the purple cubes count as 5VP.
Cleanup
Collect all dice, and pass them and the character cards clockwise to the next player.
Automatic End Turn Conditions
- If you roll Maidens on all 9 dice, you score the Maidens and your turn ends.
- After the Battle phase, if you have no rescued Maidens on the Hero card, your turn ends.
- After the Rescue Maidens phase, if the REMAINING dice show ALL Heroes or ALL Monsters, your turn ends.
Epic Fail Bonus
It is possible that your turn will end with your first roll. If your turn ends on your first roll because of having no rescued Maidens, you receive a first roll bonus on your next turn. Take the bonus chip and discard it on the next turn when you use it.
On the first roll of your next turn, after rolling all the dice, you may use the bonus chip to change the face of any 1 die to any other face. This bonus is not cumulative. You may not save it to combine it with another bonus later.
Game End
The game ends after all of the starting VP cubes have been claimed. If there are not enough cubes to complete your score, take enough from the reserve cubes to do so. The first time cubes are taken from the reserve, finish the current round (using the cubes taken from the reserve), and then the game is over. If the last player of the round is the one to exhaust the starting VP cubes, the game is over.
All players add up the value of their VP cubes. The pink cubes count as 1VP and the purple cubes count as 5VP. The player with the most VP is declared the winner.
Monsters and Maidens: Adventure Die Expansion
Components
- 1 black Custom Adventure Die
- 1 Expansion Rules Sheet
Roll the Adventure Die at the start of your turn when you roll all nine of the other game dice.
Depending on which die face you roll, perform the following actions.
- 2 Maidens – Counts as 2 Maidens (The Expansion Die is not re-rolled).
- 2 Heroes – Counts as 2 Heroes (The Expansion Die is re-rolled if player rolls again).
- 2 Monsters – Counts as 2 Monsters (The Expansion Die is re-rolled if player rolls again).
- King – Takes all currently rescued Maidens to the castle so they can't be captured. (Resolve AFTER all the other dice this roll. Set King and all rescued Maidens aside. These Maidens will score as rescued Maidens. Future Maidens rescued on this turn will be placed on the Hero Card as usual. The Expansion Die is not re-rolled if the King took some Maidens. If there were no Maidens for the King to take, the player's turn is over because an Automatic End Turn Condition has been met).
- Dragon – Takes all currently captured Maidens so they can't be rescued. (Resolve AFTER all the other dice this roll. Set Dragon and all captured Maidens aside. These Maidens remain captured and cannot be scored. Future Maidens captured on this turn will be placed on the Monster Card as usual. The Expansion Die is not re-rolled if the Dragon took some Maidens. If there were no Maidens for the Dragon to take, the Expansion die is re-rolled if the player continues rolling).
- Re-Roll – The player MAY re-roll ALL dice just rolled, including the Expansion Die. (If the player chooses not to activate the Expansion Die, it is still re-rolled if, after completing the Battle phase, the player decides to Continue the turn by returning to the Roll phase).