Mundo Abierto: Elria
Mundo Abierto: Elria Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Goal of the Game
In Open World: Elria, you play as a hero or heroine who must face challenges and encounters to make a name for themselves on this continent.
For that purpose, you will need to fulfill all your quests before your time is up. If at any point you need to pay one or more Time cubes and you do not have enough, your time runs out and your adventure automatically ends in defeat.
You may continue playing with zero Time cubes, trying to fulfill Quests or earn extra Time cubes to extend your adventure.
Components
- 5 Character cards: Warrior, Sorceress, Rogue, Explorer, and Priest. Each card shows a Character class, Skills, and a Level track.
- 31 Quest cards: each shows a Value, a Name, Objectives, Flavor text, and a Reward.
- 45 Location cards: each shows one or more Terrains, a Cost, a Name, an Action gem, Grey spaces, and an Event area.
- 20 Landmark cards: each shows one or more Terrains and Icons.
- 13 Upgrade cards: each shows Flavor text, a Cost, and Upgrade skills.
- 2 Time cards.
- 4 Help cards: Game Modes, Quick Reference, Actions and Icons, and Other Icons.
- 70 Time cubes: these cubes represent the Time needed to travel to each Location, recover from Enemy Attacks, or prepare and execute your plans to advance toward victory.
- 2 Level markers.
Game Modes
- Solo mode: Play a standalone Adventure or a full campaign.
- Duel mode: Compete against another person in a standalone Adventure.
Note: The campaigns included in this box are only available in solo mode.
Solo Mode
Setup
Choose or randomly select a Character card and place your Level marker on the first space from the left.
Take a Time card and place 20 Time cubes on it. We recommend using the Time cards to place your Time cubes on top of them so that you do not confuse them with other markers. Form a supply with the remaining Time cubes.
Note: If you run out of cubes and need more, use anything that allows you to cover the spaces on the cards.
Sort the Quest cards by their values. Make three separate piles: one with cards of value 1 or 2, another with cards of value 3 or 4, and a final pile with cards of value 5 or 6. Shuffle each pile separately.
Choose your difficulty from the table below and draw the corresponding number of Quests from each of the 3 piles. Place them as shown in the setup diagram. These will be the Quests you must fulfill in this Adventure. Return the remaining Quest cards to the box; they will not be used in this Adventure.
| Difficulty | Values 1 or 2 | Values 3 or 4 | Values 5 or 6 | Quest total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| EASY | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| NORMAL | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| HARD | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| VERY HARD | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| EXTREME | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
This table is a reliable guide to those difficulties. You can customize them to your liking by choosing how many Quest and Landmark cards to use in your adventure, and even which specific cards to use.
Draw 4 Landmark cards at random and place them near the Time card. Return the remaining Landmark cards to the box; they will not be used in this Adventure.
Finally, shuffle all the Location cards and set the resulting deck face down within reach. Leave space next to the deck for a discard pile to place the Location cards you discard during the game.
Turn and Phases
Each Adventure consists of an unspecified number of turns, which take place until you either win or lose. Each turn consists of 3 phases, which you must carry out in order.
1. Reveal Phase
If it is the first turn of the game, reveal the first 3 cards from the Location deck face up. Otherwise, reveal as many Location cards as necessary so that there are 3. If at any point there are not enough Location cards left in the deck to do so, shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck face down.
Therefore, after this phase, there should be 3 Location cards available face up.
2. Travel Phase
Choose one of the 3 available Location cards to travel to.
Travelling to a Location costs the amount of Time cubes indicated on the banner in its upper right corner.
Each Location card features one or more Terrain symbols (Rivers, Woods, Settlements, Plains, Mountains). After the first turn, when you choose which available Location card to travel to, you can reduce the cost of travelling there. For each matching symbol between that card and the Location you travelled to on your previous turn, you reduce the cost of travelling by 1. Count each Terrain symbol only once on each card. This cost can be reduced to zero, but never less.
Pay the resulting Travel cost by returning the corresponding number of Time cubes from your Time card to the supply. After paying this cost, place the chosen Location card in your Journey column. If it is the first turn, this Location card will start the column. In subsequent turns, place it overlapped on top of the last Location card you placed in your Journey column, so that the Event area of each card in the column is fully visible.
Example: The previous Location card ("Grove") has 1 forest symbol, and the card chosen this turn ("Mist Forest") has 2 forest symbols. The Time cube cost is reduced by 1, as each symbol is counted only once, even if it appears more than once. If both cards had 2 forest symbols, the cost of travelling would be reduced by 2.
During the Travel phase, only the top half of the Location card you are travelling to matters, i.e. the Terrain symbols and the banner with the Time cost, whether red or black. Therefore, the bottom half, with the action gem and the Event area, is not taken into account and does not affect your Travel phase.
Finally, if the Location card chosen this turn shows a red Enemy Attack banner, it means you have had to overcome a dangerous situation. Pay as many Time cubes as there are Enemy icons visible in the Event areas throughout your Journey column, not counting those on the Location card you travelled to this turn.
Example: The Location card chosen in the previous example ("Mist Forest") shows a red Enemy Attack banner. Thus, the player has to pay 1 Time cube, as there is an Enemy icon visible in their Journey column.
3. Action Phase
Choose one of the two remaining available Location cards to perform its action. You must choose one of the cards and discard it, but performing its action is optional.
The action of each Location card is located inside its yellow gem, above the card's name.
Performing actions helps you fulfill Quests and makes your journey easier.
Resolving an action
To perform an action, you need to spend an action gem to cover an icon of the same type. By covering it, you benefit from its associated effect (see the Action Types section below). To cover an icon, take a cube from the supply and place it on top of the grey space that contains the icon, covering it.
When you spend the action gem from the chosen Location card, the card is discarded. To perform an action, enough icons for that particular action must be available (i.e., not covered). These can be in the Event area of your Journey column and/or on the Quest cards you have already fulfilled.
Sometimes you won't be able to perform the action due to not having the necessary icons available, and other times you will strategically decide not to perform it.
Optionally, you may perform one bonus action per turn, from the available actions on your Character card or from Quest cards you have already fulfilled. This bonus action may be performed at any time during the action phase: either before or after your main action.
Important notes when performing actions:
- Only visible icons, i.e., those that are not covered, are available.
- When you have to cover an icon with cubes, always use cubes from the supply, never Time cubes on your Time card.
- Covered icons remain covered throughout the Adventure.
- Your Character Level determines the maximum number of icons you can cover with each action.
- Remember to discard the card you have chosen, regardless of whether you have performed its action or not.
The different actions are explained in the Action Types section.
End of Turn
The Location card that you have not used to travel or perform an action remains on the table and will be available in the next turn. Start a new turn, performing all phases in order.
Actions
From now on, when reference is made to "cover an icon", this may be any icon of that type that is available (i.e., visible and not covered) in one of the following places:
- Event areas in your Journey column.
- Landmark cards you have discovered.
- Fulfilled Quest cards.
To get the benefits of performing an action, you need to spend an action gem (yellow) and cover an icon (grey space).
Besides, you can also come across a grey space with a yellow gem below. These are called hybrid icons. You can use them either as an icon (to cover) or as an action gem.
Action Types
Combat — "Any combat technique is good if it keeps you alive."
It represents the battles you fight during your Adventure. It allows you to defeat Enemies. This is useful for not paying Time cubes when travelling to Locations with a red Enemy Attack banner and for fulfilling Quests that require you to defeat Enemies.
When performing the combat action, cover a combat icon, then you may cover an Enemy icon visible in your Journey column. Note that with this action you cannot cover an Enemy icon unless you have covered a combat icon first.
After that, you may cover as many Enemy icons on your Quest cards as you have covered in your Journey column with this action.
Example: Ulq performs the combat action this turn. Since he is a Level 1 Character, he may cover one combat icon and then one Enemy icon. Since he has defeated an Enemy, he may also cover one Enemy icon on his Quest cards.
Search for Treasure — "Not all that glitters is silver."
For each treasure icon you cover by spending its action gem, you can choose between earning 1 Time cube or covering a treasure icon on your Quest cards.
Encounter — "Do not underestimate the power of folklore."
For each encounter icon you cover, you may choose to either cover an encounter icon on your Quest cards or discover a Landmark card.
Landmark cards also show one or more Terrain symbols. The chosen Landmark card must have Terrain symbols that match the last Location card you travelled to. Count each Terrain symbol only once.
Once you discover a Landmark card, place it beside the Location card you travelled to this turn. The Landmark card is considered an extension of that Location card. Therefore, it is considered part of the Journey column, and the icons in its Event area are available.
Some Landmark cards show a number followed by the Time icon. When you discover them, you immediately earn the number of Time cubes indicated.
Example: Ulq performs the encounter action this turn, so he can cover the encounter icon on the card he just added to his Journey column ("The Desert of Yril"). This allows him to choose one of the Landmark cards that were prepared at game setup. Since the Terrain symbols on the card he just added to his Journey column ("The Desert of Yril") are Plains, Ulq must choose a Landmark card that matches this Terrain type to place next to it. The chosen Landmark card provides him with an additional treasure icon that he will be able to cover, as well as 2 Time cubes that he earns immediately.
Level Up — "Some went further... and never returned."
Levelling up allows you to cover more than one icon when performing a single action. The higher your Level, the more spaces you will be able to cover.
To level up, you must cover as many level up icons as your current Character Level in just one action. You cannot cover them in separate turns; you must cover them all at the same time to level up.
Once you have leveled up, covering all the required icons, move your Character's level marker to the next level space on its card, and then earn as many Time cubes as your new level number.
Example: Ulq is a Level 2 character and performs the level up action, covering 2 level up icons in his Event zones. Since Ulq goes from Level 2 to Level 3, he earns 3 Time cubes. He will now be able to cover a maximum of 3 icons of the same type when performing actions.
Character level: Your Character level represents their experience and knowledge. Levelling up allows you to get more out of each action, which will be essential for facing more difficult challenges in your Adventure.
Your Character level determines the maximum number of icons you can cover when performing an action. At Level 1, you can only cover 1 icon per action; at Level 2, up to 2 icons per action, and so on.
You can always cover fewer icons than your level, either because you don't have enough icons of that type available or because it is more beneficial to cover fewer than your maximum at that moment.
Wild Card — "Versatility is a double-edged sword. Sometimes, even a triple-edged one."
The wild card icon can be used as any of the aforementioned icons (combat, search for treasure, encounter, level up).
Other Icons
Map — "Getting lost is the fastest way to find oneself again."
During your travel phase, before placing your chosen Location card in your Journey column, you may cover 1 map icon that you have available to reduce the cost of travelling by as many map icons that are visible. You cannot use map icons from the Event area of the Location card you are travelling to, but you can use any other map icons that you had available among your Journey column, fulfilled Quests, Character card and Upgrade cards.
Example: The warrior Ulq wants to travel from "Daarak" to "Denarian", which costs 4 Time cubes, but since both Locations share a Mountain symbol, the cost is reduced to 3. Ulq decides to cover a map icon from the Event area of the Location card visited on the previous turn, "The Citadel", to further reduce the cost. Since, apart from that map icon, he has another one visible in his Journey column, the total cost of travelling is reduced by 2 more Time cubes. Therefore, Ulq pays only 1 Time cube to travel and will still have 1 map icon available in future turns.
Shelter — "Survival is not about withstanding more wounds, but about receiving fewer."
When resolving an Enemy Attack, if you have a shelter icon available, you can cover it to completely prevent losing Time cubes to that Enemy Attack. You cannot use the card of the Location you just visited as a shelter.
Example: Since Moghr the explorer has 6 Enemy icons visible in her Journey column and must resolve the Enemy Attack when travelling to "Tesart", she decides that this is the best time to cover the shelter icon available in The Citadel card's Event area. She has avoided losing 6 Time cubes. Good turn!
Combined Icons
Linked Icons
When two or more icons appear inside a grey space with dotted lines around it, you must cover all the linked icons with a single action. Therefore, it is not possible to cover them in separate turns. Remember you will need to level up to be able to cover more than one icon per action.
Example: Moghr is Level 1 and wants to perform the search for treasure action to cover the linked treasure icons that will allow her to fulfill the Quest "The Two Coins". But she can't, even if she has 2 treasure icons available in the Event areas of her Journey column, because she must cover both linked icons with just one action, and her current level only allows her to cover 1 icon per action. Once she reaches Level 2, she will be able to do so.
Guarded Icons
When 2 or more icons appear combined with Enemy icons, separated by vertical dotted lines, you must defeat all those Enemies to make the other icons in that grey space available. They become available as soon as you defeat those Enemies.
Note: You don't have to defeat all these Enemies in a single action; you can do it over several turns.
Quests
Quest cards you fulfill bring you closer to your victory and can provide you with useful resources during the Adventure.
A Quest is considered fulfilled when you have met the condition written on it or covered all the icons at the top. Remember that there may be groups of icons linked together on Quest cards, you must cover all of them with a single action. If performing an action would make you fulfill a Quest, you may choose not to fulfill it. It is then not considered fulfilled, and you will have to fulfill it later.
If the fulfilled Quest does not specify a reward at the bottom, turn it face down to indicate that it has been fulfilled.
However, if there is a reward at its bottom, rotate it 90º to indicate that it has been fulfilled but that the reward is still available.
Rewards can be expressed in text, which are resolved immediately upon fulfilling the Quest card, or with icons, which can be either:
- Immediately earn the amount of Time cubes indicated next to the hourglass and turn this Quest card face down.
- A hybrid icon (yellow gem and grey space). Remember these can be used as either a grey space to be covered as a result of an action, or as a yellow action gem to perform an additional action. In any case, it is a one-time use icon. Once you use it in either of these ways, turn the Quest card face down.
Duel Mode
In Open World: Elria, two players can compete to see who is the best at exploring the continent of Elria. The goal is the same: fulfill all your Quests before you can no longer pay the required Time cubes, and do so before your rival fulfills theirs.
Each player will have their own set of Quest cards and will play cards in their own Travel column. You cannot directly interact with your opponent's Time or Journey, but you can make decisions that affect theirs, giving them a harder time.
Setup
Each player picks a Character (chosen or at random), a Time card, and 20 Time cubes. Decide who will play the first turn of the game.
Reveal 6 Landmark cards and place them within reach, they will be available to both players.
Prepare the 3 piles of Quest cards as you would for a solo Adventure (see the Solo Mode Setup section). Choose a difficulty level and draw twice as many cards as indicated in the difficulty table.
Example: Sor'yah and Moghr are going to play a game in duel mode. Since they have chosen Normal difficulty, they each get:
- 2 Quest cards of value 1 or 2.
- 1 Quest card of value 3 or 4.
- 1 Quest card of value 5 or 6.
For a total of 8 Quest cards.
Return the unchosen cards to the box. Turn the chosen Quest cards face up, pile by pile. Taking turns, each player will choose a Quest card from a pile, alternatively, until they are all taken.
Repeat the following process for the three decks, in order:
- For the first pile (cards of value 1 or 2), the player who won't play the first turn chooses first.
- Then, for the second pile (cards of value 3 or 4), the player who will play the first turn chooses first.
- And for the third pile (cards of value 5 or 6), the player who won't play the first turn chooses first.
Example: Sor'yah and Moghr are playing a Normal difficulty game. Sor'yah will play the first turn. This means Moghr will start by choosing a card from the first pile of Quest cards, and both players will take turns taking cards until the first pile is empty. For the second pile, they follow the same process, but it is Sor'yah's turn to choose first. Finally, for the third pile, Moghr starts choosing again, and Sor'yah will play the first turn of the game.
Turn and Phases
Reveal 4 cards (5 if it is the first turn of the game) from the Location card deck, face up. If there are not enough cards left to do so, shuffle the discarded cards to form a new deck face down. If there are fewer than 5 cards in the discard pile before shuffling, the game ends immediately, and the person with the most points among their fulfilled Quests wins.
Whoever didn't go first when choosing Quests starts playing on the first turn. For the rest of the game, whoever has the fewest Time cubes goes first. If they are tied for the same amount of Time cubes, whoever didn't go first on the previous turn will go first.
Turns are taken in the same way as in solo games, alternating as follows:
- Whoever plays first this turn performs their Travel phase,
- the other player then performs their Travel phase,
- after which the first person performs their Action phase,
- followed by the other player performing their Action phase.
Fulfilling quest cards and performing bonus actions works the same as in solo games.
Note: You can only use and cover icons on your cards, never on your opponent's cards.
Example: Sor'yah, the priest, begins to play. On his first turn, he chooses the Watchtower card as his destination, pays 2 Time cubes, and places it in his Journey column. Next, Moghr, the explorer, decides to travel to "Victory Glade". She pays the cost and initiates her Journey column. After doing so, it is Sor'yah's turn to choose a card to perform his action. Then Moghr will do the same.
End of the Adventure
If someone cannot fully pay for a Time cube cost or if someone manages to fulfill all their Quest cards, play out the current turn. Then, the game ends. The outcome of the Adventure will depend on:
- If only one of the players is unable to pay a Time cost because they don't have enough Time cubes, the other player wins, regardless of how many Quest cards each player has fulfilled.
- If both players are unable to fully pay a Time cost, the player with the higher total value of fulfilled Quest cards wins.
When at least one player has fulfilled all of their Quest cards, the player with the highest total value among their fulfilled Quest cards wins. There is a 2-point bonus for players who have fulfilled all of their Quests. If there is a tie, the player with the most Time cubes on their Time card wins. If the tie persists, both players win the game.
Campaigns
There are two types of campaigns: open, explained below, and narrative, found in the other booklet. They can only be played in solo mode. The specific rules for each campaign take precedence over those previously explained for solo Adventures.
Open Campaign
An open campaign consists of 7 consecutive Adventures, called Stages. The complete campaign will use all Quest and Landmark cards, so a Character who completes an open campaign will have travelled Elria extensively, a remarkable achievement.
Setup
Choose your Character, which you will use throughout the entire campaign. You will have access to 31 Quest cards and 20 Landmark cards. With all these options at your disposal, you can freely choose how to plan each of the 7 Stages of the campaign, deciding specifically which Quest and Landmark cards you want to play in each Stage.
Before each Stage, refer to the table that follows to see how many Quest and Landmark cards you should choose to design this Stage of your campaign. The cards you use in a Stage will be discarded once you leave the Stage behind and will no longer be available for the rest of the campaign, so choose wisely how to set up each Stage.
You begin each Stage at Level 1 and with the amount of Time cubes shown in the table.
| STG | QV1* | QV2* | QV3* | QV4* | QV5* | QV6* | Landmarks | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | - | 1 | 10 |
| 2nd | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 10 |
| 3rd | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | - | 2 | 15 |
| 4th | 2 | - | 2 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 15 |
| 5th | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | - | 4 | 15 |
| 6th | - | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 20 |
| 7th | - | - | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 20 |
*QVX = Quest of value X (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6)
Completing a Stage and Score
When you successfully complete a Stage, count the remaining Time cubes on your Time card. You earn that same amount of Campaign Points (CP). Write them down. At the end of the campaign, your final score will be the sum of the CP you earned from each Stage.
Experience and Upgrades
When you successfully complete a Stage, you earn as many Experience Points (XP) as your Character's Level. You can spend your XP on Upgrades for your Character, which you can use in the following Stages. You can purchase any number of Upgrade cards as long as you can pay their XP cost. Place the Upgrade cards you purchase to the right of your Character, showing the spaces and gems on them. Any XP you don't spend between one Stage and the next is lost forever.
During a Stage, you can use the spaces and gems on your Upgrade cards the same way as the ones on other types of cards, covering them with a cube from the supply when used.
After each Stage, any Upgrade cards that have been completely spent (meaning all its spaces are covered and all its gems are spent) are discarded and won't be available for the rest of the campaign. If an Upgrade hasn't been completely spent, you retain it for the next Stage, keeping any cubes on it where they are.
Example: Sor'yah, the Priest, completes a Stage at Level 3, thus earning 3 XP. He may purchase a Level 3 Upgrade, or a Level 1 Upgrade along with a Level 2 Upgrade, or even three Level 1 Upgrades. Any XP not spent now will be lost at the start of the next Stage.
Failure
If you are unable to successfully complete a Stage, you have 3 options:
- Accept defeat and start the campaign from the beginning.
- Retry that Stage, choosing again which Quest and Landmark cards to use from those that were available before your failed attempt to complete the Stage.
- Abandon the Stage and continue with the next one. This option forces you to discard all your Character's Upgrades, regardless of whether they were completely spent or not, does not give you XP, and causes you to score 5 negative CP towards your campaign.
Campaign's End
If you manage to complete all seven Stages of the campaign, you've succeeded! Add up the CP you earned at each Stage, your Character Level, and the total cost of the Upgrades in your possession at Stage 7 (unused, partially spent, or completely spent). Compare the total with this table to find out which Achievement you get.
| Final score | Achievement |
|---|---|
| 10 or less | Survival is the main goal! |
| 11 to 15 | It was tough, but next time it will be easier. |
| 16 to 22 | The world is vast, and you have only just begun to discover all its bounties. |
| 23 to 29 | You are celebrated as a great hero in your homeland. |
| 30 to 37 | Kings from all regions now know of your deeds. |
| 38 to 46 | Your enemies fear your name and bards sing of all your adventures. |
| 47 or more | An immortal legend for all eternity. |