Pathfinder Arena Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• The Game
• Components
• Setup
• Game Round
  • Hero Phase
  • Monster Phase
  • Summoning Phase
• Fighting
• Abilities
• Deities and Shrine Tiles
• Tiles
  • Rune Tiles
• Cards
• Items
• Element Tokens
• End of the Game
  • Scoring

The Game

Pathfinder Arena is a competitive game for 2 to 4 players. The players control heroes whose objective is to gain glory points by defeating monsters. A game is segmented into 4 summoning phases, during which heroes face dangerous foes that become more and more fearsome from each phase to the next. Luckily, heroes' power increases, too. As they level up after each phase, they can rely on new spells, feats, extraordinary items, and the increased favor of their deities.

Moreover, by rotating and shifting the Arena tiles, players can literally change the Arena's structure to gain more glory points by driving monsters to attack their opponents' heroes.

Plan your moves and your hero's growth; to win the game, you will have to defeat the monsters and find a way to obstacle your rivals. Only the player who collected the most glory points at the end of the 4th phase will be elected the Champion of the Arena.

Components

• 1 rulebook (this rulebook, split into 4 parts)
• 1 cloth bag
• 1 game board (split into 4 parts)
• 18 plastic figures (4 hero figures, 14 monster figures)
• 76 cards: 31 item cards, 20 feat cards, 20 spell cards, 5 deity cards
• 14 monster sheets
• 4 hero sheets
• 48 Arena tiles: 11 corridor tiles, 11 curve tiles, 5 crossroads tiles, and 21 special tiles. The special tiles are 8 summoning tiles (2 Fire, 2 Water, 2 Air, 2 Earth), 4 trapdoor tiles, 4 rune tiles and 5 shrine tiles.
• 45 rune tokens: 9 "+1 Damage" tokens, 9 "+1 Defense" tokens, 9 "-1 Damage" tokens, 9 "-1 Defense" tokens, 9 "-1 Action" tokens
• 168 ability tokens: 24 Strength, 24 Dexterity, 24 Constitution, 32 Intelligence, 32 Wisdom, 32 Charisma
• 24 element tokens: 6 Water, 6 Air, 6 Earth, 6 Fire
• 40 glory tokens: 20 worth 1 glory point, 10 worth 3 glory points, 10 worth 5 glory points
• 30 misfortune tokens: 20 worth 1 misfortune point, 10 worth 3 misfortune points
• 16 item tokens
• 4 initiative tokens
• 1 summoning die
• 32 marker tokens, equally split in 4 colors

Setup

1. Assemble the game board and place it in the middle of the table.

2. Shuffle the following tiles separately: 8 summoning tiles, 4 rune tiles, 4 trapdoor tiles, and place them on the game board in the positions depicted in the image below. Place the tiles randomly and then turn them face up.

   Note: Place the trapdoor tiles with the wall side on the board frame, as depicted in the image below.

3. Place the remaining 32 tiles randomly on the game board and turn them face up, leaving the central space, the Doom Area, empty.

4. Put the following ability tokens in the bag according to the number of players:

   • 2 players: 3 Strength tokens, 5 Dexterity tokens, 6 Constitution tokens
   • 3 players: 6 Strength tokens, 8 Dexterity tokens, 9 Constitution tokens
   • 4 players: 9 Strength tokens, 11 Dexterity tokens, 10 Constitution tokens

5. Place the summoning die, the item, element, rune, glory point, misfortune point tokens, and the remaining ability tokens beside the game board.

6. Shuffle the monster sheets into four different piles, according to their level, and place the piles face down beside the game board, together with the initiative tokens and the monster miniatures.

7. Place the five deity cards in a row beside the game board with the deity side facing up.

8. Each player selects a hero and takes the corresponding components: plastic figure, hero sheet, marker tokens, item cards, spell or feat cards. Next, players shuffle their item cards to form a pile and spell/feat cards to form 4 other piles (one pile per level). Finally, players place the card piles face down in front of them, together with their components.

Note: Before starting the game, players have now to fill up the arena with monsters and tokens randomly. Follow the procedure below:

12. The first player rolls the summoning die. Then, they reveal the top sheet of the 1st-level monster pile. The sheet is placed near the game board and is the first monster the heroes will have to defeat during the first phase of the current game. Next, place the number 1 initiative token on the monster sheet. Finally, place the corresponding monster plastic figure on the summoning tile equal to rolled result. As other 1st level monsters will have no use in the current game, put back all their components (i.e., monster sheets and plastic figures) into the box.

Note: When rolling the die to determine the summoning sequence, remember that the count of summoning tiles resumes from tile 1 after tile 8.

13. Take from pool and the cloth bag the number of ability tokens indicated below and randomly place 1 on each summoning tile. Start from the tile whose number follows the one where you put the first monster token coming from the pool + 2x random ability token coming from the bag.

• 2 player game: 2 Strength tokens from the pool + 2 random ability tokens from the bag.
• 3 player game: 2 Strength tokens from the pool + 5 random ability tokens from the bag.
• 4 player game: 2 Strength tokens from the pool + 6 random ability tokens from the bag.

Transcription note: the printed step gives the Strength token as coming from the pool, and the count of random tokens as printed for each player count.

14. Take from the pool as many item tokens as the number of players and place them 1 on each summoning tile. Start from the tile whose number follows the one where you placed the last ability token.
15. Place a matching element token on each summoning tile as follows:

• Red = Fire
• Blue = Water
• White = Air
• Yellow = Earth

16. Starting from the first player and proceeding clockwise, players place their hero's plastic figure on a trapdoor tile and take their turn. More than one player can start from the same trapdoor tile. As compensation for the players who start later, give them the following resources at the end of their first hero phase:

• The second player takes 1 rune token +1 from the pool.
• The third player can choose 1 element token from the pool and puts it in play.
• The fourth player draws an item card from the hero's deck and puts it in play.

Game Round

A Pathfinder Arena game consists of a series of rounds split into player turns. A round starts with the first player's turn and ends when all players have taken their turn. Then, a new round begins.

Each player turn consists of two phases: hero phase and monster (or summoning) phase.

1. Hero phase: Players spend their heroes' actions to collect tokens, defeat monsters, move in the Arena, and change its structure.
2. Monster phase: Monsters attack all heroes within reach (including the current player's hero). As a result of these attacks, the current player can gain glory points and/or misfortune points.
3. Then, the turn ends, and the next player's turn begins.

Summoning phase: If there are no monsters left in the Arena at the end of any hero phase, a summoning phase takes place instead of a monster phase. During the summoning phase, heroes level up while new monsters come into the Arena. New monsters immediately attack all heroes within reach. Then, the next player's turn begins.

Example: In a 4-player game, if the first player rolls a 4, place the tokens as follows:

• Place the monster on the summoning tile numbered 4.
• Place the ability tokens (eight in total for 4 players) on tiles numbered 5, 6, 7, 8, 1, 2, 3, 4.
• Place the item tokens (4 for 4 players) on tiles numbered 5, 6, 7 and 8.
• Place a matching element token on each summoning tile.

Hero Phase

The hero phase consists of three segments:

1. Reset marker tokens
2. Reallocate ability tokens
3. Perform actions

Reset marker tokens. The current player takes back all marker tokens they placed on all players' hero sheets, cards, and monster sheets.

These tokens are typically assigned when, during the monster phase, monsters attack heroes. If a monster attacks a hero during a player's turn, place a marker token of the current player's color on the hero sheet of the attacked player. The marker token must be placed in the appropriate immunity slot (i.e., a space numbered from 1 to 4 on the hero sheet) whose number matches the attacking monster's initiative token. This allows keeping track of which monster attacked the hero and when. As long as there is a marker token in the immunity slot corresponding to a monster's initiative token, the hero is immune to that monster's attacks.

In addition, players can occasionally place marker tokens on cards or sheets whose effects can be activated only once per round to keep track of their use.

Example: During the monster phase of Merisiel's turn, the Minotaur attacks Valeros, who is within the monster's reach. Once the effect of the attack has been determined in terms of damage and glory, one of Merisiel's marker tokens is placed on Valeros' hero sheet. As the initiative token on the Minotaur's monster sheet bears the number 1, the marker token is placed on slot number 1 of Valeros' sheet. This means that Valeros will be immune to further attacks by the Minotaur until Merisiel's next turn.

Hero sheet layout. The hero sheet is numbered as follows:

1. Hero's name + ancestry + class: every hero has a specific set of cards.
2. Ability tracks: there are six abilities, three physical (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution) and three mental (Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma).
3. Ability modifiers: by increasing their abilities, heroes obtain benefits. For every two tokens collected, some modifiers such as Damage, Actions, Defense, Magic, Resistance, and Ego improve accordingly.
4. Element pool: here, players can stock element tokens they collect in the Arena.
5. Immunity: here, players place the marker that represents their hero's temporary immunity to monsters.
6. Deity: here, players can place the deity card they obtain.
7. Cards: here, players place their feat, spell, and item cards.

Reallocate ability tokens. During this phase, the current player can reallocate all ability tokens from their hero sheet and/or cards they have in play. This is a crucial phase to optimize the hero's chances before performing their actions, as cards usually require assigning some ability tokens to benefit their owner.

Example: On Ezren's sheet, there are 3 Intelligence tokens and 1 Strength token. Ezren has in play the item card Magic Rod on which there are no tokens, the spell card Passwall, with 1 Intelligence token, and the spell card Arcane Armor with 2 Intelligence tokens. At the beginning of his round, Ezren decides he wants to increase his weapon's power. Therefore, he moves 1 Strength token from the hero sheet to the Magic Rod. Furthermore, he moves 3 Intelligence tokens from the Arcane Armor and the Magic Passage spell cards. He assigns the first to his hero sheet, increasing his Magic, while he assigns the other 2 to the Magic Rod, which now can deal 3 damage. If equipped with 2 Intelligence tokens, the Magic Rod deals 1 damage + the Magic modifier currently displayed on the hero sheet. Now, Ezren is ready for battle.

Note: When this phase is finished, players may not change the position of their ability tokens until their next turn.

Perform actions. During this phase, players can spend action points to perform actions. Every action, regardless of its type, costs 1 action point, and players can perform the same action more than once in a single turn as long as they have action points to spend. All heroes begin the game with 4 action points (i.e., their action points allowance per turn) and can increase their Actions modifier (i.e., their action points allowance per turn) by collecting Dexterity tokens. The Actions modifier increases by 1 for every 2 tokens placed on the hero sheet. An Air element token also grants 1 extra action point to spend during the current turn. Below is a list of the possible actions:

• Stride: By spending 1 action point, players can move their heroes from an Arena tile to an orthogonally adjacent one (vertically or horizontally). Heroes cannot move diagonally or traverse walls or the Doom Area. Any number of heroes can stay on a tile at the same time.

  Trapdoor tiles: Trapdoor tiles are not only the heroes' starting tiles but also offer an alternative way to move through the Arena. They are all connected, and it is possible to move from one trapdoor tile to any other by spending 1 action point.

• Rotating a tile: By spending 1 action point, players can magically rotate the Arena tile where their hero is located by 90°, either clockwise or counterclockwise. This creates various opportunities to move within the Arena.

• Changing the Arena's structure: By spending 1 action point, players can magically change the Arena's structure. They can choose any Arena tile orthogonally aligned with the Doom Area and shift (or drag) all tiles between the chosen tile and the Doom Area toward the latter (see example). With this action, players can shift multiple tiles by spending only 1 action point. After the shift, the Doom Area replaces the chosen tile. This can be useful to create movement opportunities, block other heroes, bring monsters within a hero's reach, or bring other heroes within a monster's reach.

  Note: Changing the Arena's structure always costs 1 action point, regardless of the number of shifted tiles.

  Example: Changing the Arena's structure (before): 1. Chosen tile, 2. Doom Area. Changing the Arena's structure (after): 1. New position of the Doom Area, 2. New position of the shifted tiles.

• Strike: By spending 1 action point, players can attack a monster in the same Arena tile they occupy. Check the "Fighting" section further in this rulebook for more details.

  Note: Players cannot attack other heroes.

  The strike action, a simple attack without using any card, is also known as an unarmed attack. This attack always has 0 reach and deals damage based on the hero's Strength.

When players collect element tokens (water, fire, air, earth), they can stock them on the element area of their hero sheet. Players can play the element tokens anytime during the game, even during other players' turns.

Note: The six ability tracks differ for every hero, as they represent the maximum number of ability tokens a hero can collect during a game. For instance, Valeros can collect up to 8 Strength tokens, while Kyra can collect only up to 6 Strength tokens. It does not matter how Valeros distributes his Strength tokens among the hero sheet and cards; he cannot exceed the total of 8 Strength tokens shown on his ability track. If a player already gained the maximum number of tokens for a specific physical ability, they can't collect any more tokens of that ability from the tiles.

Note: When heroes are on a tile occupied by a monster, if they do not attack the monster, the latter makes an attack of opportunity against them. See the detailed explanation in the "Fighting" section.

Note: Players can modify the allocation of ability tokens only at the beginning of their round. Once they start to perform actions, they cannot make any more changes. Tokens on cards do not count for calculating modifiers connected to the ability tracks on hero sheets.

Monster Phase

During the monster phase, the current player gains glory points when monsters attack other heroes. As they don't move, monsters usually stay on the summoning tile where they first appeared. After every hero's phase, they attack all heroes within their reach. When more monsters are in play simultaneously, they attack in initiative order from initiative 1 to initiative 4.

The Arena's monsters always protect the tile they are summoned onto. Therefore, even though they virtually leave their tiles during attacks (you can consider the Minotaur's ranged attack as a charge), they always regain their position at the end of the monster phase.

Monster card layout:

1. Monster's name
2. Monster's level
3. Monster's description
4. Attack 1: This entry describes the monster's melee attack. It always includes values for reach, damage, and critical damage. Sometimes this entry features special attacks and abilities.
5. Attack 2: If present, this entry describes the monster's ranged attack. It always includes values for reach, damage, and critical damage. Sometimes this entry also features special effects and abilities.
6. Special abilities: These abilities do not directly relate to attacks.
7. Life points: This is how much damage is required in a single turn to defeat the monster.
8. Initiative: Players use this value to assign the initiative tokens to the monsters in play.
9. Glory points: This value represents the number of glory points the hero gains at the end of the game for defeating this monster.

All monsters attack following the same procedure:

• Attack: Monsters attack all heroes within their reach, except heroes already immune to them. More details about monster attacks are included in the "Fighting" section below. To check a hero's immunity from a specific monster at a given time, see if there are any marker tokens in the immunity slots of their sheet. When a monster attacks a hero, after resolving the attack, a token of the current player's color is placed on the immunity slot of their hero sheet that corresponds to the attacking monster. During the monster phase, monster attacks inflict critical damage.
• Monster special abilities: Besides their regular attacks, monsters can have special attacks and abilities. While special attacks allow attacking under special conditions, such as through a wall, special abilities activate after successful attacks and affect either the heroes or the attacking monster. A unique icon represents every special attack or ability. All icons are described in detail below. Special abilities that influence heroes are marked with a number representing the difficulty class to avoid the effect. When affected by a special ability, heroes need a resistance modifier equal or higher than the special ability's difficulty class. If heroes don't have enough resistance, they suffer the adverse effect. If a special ability has no difficulty class, it means heroes cannot avoid its effect. If they have not enough resistance to block all damages caused by it, heroes suffer special abilities' effects, even if they have enough defense. On the other hand, immunity from a specific monster due to a marker token makes a hero immune from its special attacks and abilities, too.

Example: During Ezren's monster phase, the Frost Giant is on the summoning tile next to the one occupied by Valeros. Since Valeros is within the giant's reach, the giant attacks him. This happens during the monster phase, so the giant's attack inflicts critical damage, 9 points. Valeros can block damage thanks to his defense modifier. First, on Valeros' sheet are 4 Constitution tokens, which means +2 defense points. Second, Valeros has in play item card Adamantine Plate Armor. Since Valeros equipped it with 2 tokens, the plate armor grants 2 additional defense points. Furthermore, Valeros also has in play the item card Wooden Shield, which is equipped with 2 Dexterity tokens and grants 2 further defense points. On Valeros' sheet, there is also a previously obtained +1 defense rune token. Lastly, Valeros has a water token to spend that reduces by 2 a monster's damage or critical damage. Valeros blocks all damage. As a consequence, Ezren does not obtain any glory tokens. Even though Valeros blocked all damage, the Frost Giant's attack-related special ability activates nonetheless. Since Valeros has not enough resistance, he must discard his Flaming Longsword, which has the lowest priority number among the items he has in play. Finally, Valeros' player places a marker token of Ezren's color on Valeros' hero sheet. This token goes in the immunity slot that matches with the Frost Giant's initiative token. It means that Valeros is immune from the giant's attacks until Ezren's next turn.

Critical damage. Monsters attack heroes on 3 occasions:

• Attack of opportunity
• Summoning phase
• Monster phase

When making attacks of opportunity and when they attack during a summoning phase, monsters inflict normal damage. Conversely, during the monster phase, they inflict critical damage against all heroes.

When monsters attack other heroes during the monster phase of a hero's turn, the current player earns glory points.

The current player's turn ends after all monsters had a chance to attack, and a new hero phase begins. Turn after turn, the game proceeds until all monsters in play are defeated. Then, a summoning phase takes place instead of the monster phase, restocking the Arena with creatures and tokens. After the summoning phase, another hero phase begins.

Monster special attacks. Below is a list of all monster special attacks:

• Curve attack: This attack can hit a target behind corners within the reach.

  Example: During the summoning phase, the Erinys appears on the Summoning tile number 1. Thanks to the Erinys' ranged attack, both Valeros and Ezren are within reach.

• Diagonal attack: This attack can hit only diagonally within the reach. Moreover, it passes through walls.

  Example: The Chimera can attack Kyra with its melee attack. Ezren and Merisiel are out of its melee's reach. However, the Chimera can attack them with its ranged attack, as it is a diagonal attack. Valeros is out of reach of all the Chimera's attacks. This means that Merisiel gets 3 glory points. After the attack, one of Merisiel's immunity tokens is placed on Kyra's hero sheet in the slot matching Ettin's initiative order.

• Wall breaker attack: Walls are not an obstacle for this attack within the reach.

Monster special abilities. Below is a list of all special abilities:

• Double attack: The monster can attack heroes two times a row in the same turn, as long as they are within the reach of both its attacks. Attacked players place immunity tokens on their hero sheet after the second attack. Apply melee attack effects before the ranged attack ones. If a hero is within the reach of only one attack, only this attack affects them.

  Example: As the last action of Merisiel's turn, the player decides to change the Arena's structure. Therefore, as a result of this move, Kyra's tile becomes adjacent to the Ettin's. Since the Ettin can make a double attack during Merisiel's monster phase, it can attack Kyra both with its melee and its ranged attacks. Since it is the monster phase, the Ettin deals critical damage. The monster's melee attack inflicts 4 critical damage and its ranged attack inflicts 3 critical damage. Thanks to her 2 defense points, Kyra can block some damage. As the defense applies to both attacks separately, Kyra suffers 2 damages from the melee attack and 1 damage from the ranged one. Although there is 1 water token on Kyra's sheet, there is no reason to use it, as Ettin is also energy resistant.

• Explosion: When the monster is defeated, all heroes on its tile receive 2 misfortune points.

• Hero teleport: After the attack, roll the summoning die. Then move the hero on the summoning tile that matches with the result. If the hero moves within reach of a monster that didn't attack them already during the current turn, the monster attacks the teleported hero normally.

• Item destroyer: When the monster attacks a hero, the player must discard their item in play with the lowest priority number.

• Mesmerizing: The attacked hero takes 1 rune token -1 damage and 1 rune token -1 defense from the pool.

• Monster teleport: After the monster attacked all heroes within its reach, roll the summoning die. Then move the monster on the summoning tile that matches with the result. If another monster is already occupying the tile, then the monster does not teleport. After teleporting, if the monster finds other heroes within its reach, it attacks them and teleports again.

Summoning Phase

If there are no monsters left in the Arena at the end of a hero phase, a summoning phase takes place instead of a monster phase. During this phase, heroes level up, while the Arena is restocked with new tokens and monsters. Every summoning phase follows the same procedure:

1. Reset marker tokens: All players take back all marker tokens of their color currently in play.

2. New monsters: Players reveal new monster sheets from the deck of the level players are going to face, according to the following procedure:

   • Reveal 2 monster sheets from the level 2 deck.
   • Reveal 3 monster sheets from the level 3 deck.
   • Reveal 4 monster sheets from the level 4 deck.

   During a Pathfinder Arena game, players face only 10 of the 14 monsters of the core set. For every level, a monster sheet remains unrevealed. Put it back in the box, as unrevealed monsters play no role in a game. This makes every game slightly different, requiring players to come up with various tactical combinations.

   Place the revealed monster sheets beside the Arena in ascending order according to their initiative. Then, place one initiative token on each monster sheet in ascending order. When more monsters are in play, the ones with a lower initiative number attack first. Initiative tokens also correspond to immunity slots on hero sheets.

   Once the new monsters have been revealed, the player who defeated the last monster of the previous phase rolls the summoning die. Next, players place the new monster figures on the rolled summoning tile, beginning with the monster with the lowest initiative token. Other monsters are placed on the next summoning tiles in ascending order.

   Example: After the Minotaur has been defeated, players reveal two new monster sheets from the 2nd-level deck. They draw the Ettin and the Ankhrav, which have initiative 38 and 25. Next, players place the Ankhrav's sheet to the left of the Ettin's beside the Arena. Then, they place initiative token number 1 on the Ankhrav and initiative token number 2 on the Ettin. Finally, players put the unrevealed 2nd-level monster sheet (Fire Elemental) back in the box.

3. Ability tokens: Draw from the cloth bag a number of tokens equal to two setup times the number of players. As during setup, place 1 token on each summoning tile, starting from the tile after the one where you put the last monster.

4. Item tokens: Take from the pool as many item tokens as the number of players and place one of them on each summoning tile, starting from the summoning tile after the one where you put the last ability token.

Fighting

During a game of Pathfinder Arena, heroes and monsters fight each other repeatedly. They can attack in many ways. Each attack has a specific reach. Both heroes and monsters can attack only if the target is within the reach of their attack. The reach is always followed by a number meaning the range of the attack in tiles.

Note: No attack can pass through the Doom Area.

Reach is the range of a specific attack (i.e., the number of adjacent tiles counted from the attacker's tile). When the reach is 0, which is the range of a hero's unarmed attack, an attack can only reach a target in the same tile.

Note: Keep in mind that all monsters' attacks inflict critical damage during this phase.

There are 4 types of fighting actions:

1. Hero attacks monster: This happens when heroes attack monsters during the hero phase to obtain glory points. Defeated monsters are worth a given amount of glory points as depicted on the monster sheets. Heroes can attack either using their strike action or activating the cards they have in play. When they strike, their reach is 0, as they attack without weapons. Unarmed attacks always inflict damage based on the number of Strength tokens they have on their hero sheet. When they activate cards to attack, heroes use the reach and damage values depicted on the card instead.

   As monsters have no defense, they cannot block any damage inflicted on them. When, as a result of one or more attacks during the same turn, a hero manages to inflict a number of damages equal to or higher than the monster's life points, the monster is defeated. Put the defeated monster's plastic figures back into the box and award its sheet to the defeating player. Each defeated monster grants glory points at the end of the game.

2. Monster attacks heroes during the monster phase: In the monster phase, monsters attack all heroes within the reach of their attacks.

   Note: Most monsters can make different attacks with different reach. During the monster phase, all monsters make all their attacks against as many heroes as possible. Generally, heroes cannot be within a single monster's both melee and ranged attacks' reach. However, it may happen due to the double attack special ability.

   To determine the outcome of a monster's attack, check the critical damage value on the monster sheet and confront it with the attacked hero's defense. Once the difference between a monster's critical damage and a hero's defense has been determined, the current player gets from the pool as many glory points as the damage the hero didn't block. When attacking, monsters may also use some special attacks and abilities. In this phase, if monsters attack the current player's hero, they inflict critical damage, and the hero gets as many misfortune points as the unblocked damage they suffered.

   Example: As Valeros cannot defeat the Minotaur in a single turn, the current player decides to use the Minotaur to attack Ezren. Therefore, during Valeros' turn, the player uses the action Change the Arena's structure twice to move Ezren within the Minotaur's reach. As a result of this action, during the monster phase of Valeros' turn, Ezren is within the Minotaur's ranged attack (reach 2-4) and suffers 4 critical damage. Since Ezren's defense is 0, Valeros gains 4 glory points. After the attack, one of Valeros' marker tokens is placed in the immunity slot of Ezren's hero sheet matching with the Minotaur's initiative token.

Glory and misfortune tokens. In the game, glory tokens are available in sizes 1, 3, and 5, while misfortune tokens are available in sizes 1 and 3. When players get glory or misfortune points, they take from the pool one or more tokens totaling the points they received. Players keep these tokens beside their hero sheets face down. As a result, players cannot know exactly how many points other players collected in most cases.

Note: Glory and misfortune tokens are a limited number. Therefore, if, for instance, there are no more glory tokens in the common pool, to get more points, players can only rely on alternative methods, such as defeating the monsters in play, flipping deity cards, collecting ability tokens, collecting rune tokens.

Abilities

In Pathfinder Arena, abilities play a crucial role both during the game and at the end, when ability tokens are worth glory points and players get 1 extra glory point for each 3 ability tokens they have on their hero sheets and cards in play.

By increasing the number of ability tokens they have on the 6 tracks of their hero sheets, players increase their hero's might. For instance, a higher number of Dexterity tokens increase the action modifier and grant more actions to spend per turn, while a higher number of Constitution tokens increase the defense modifier and allow to block more damage inflicted by monsters.

Players also need ability tokens to activate the effects of cards. Below is a more detailed explanation of the six ability tracks:

1. Strength: Represents the hero's muscle. By adding more tokens to the Strength track, the damage modifier improves, which means inflicting more damage.
2. Dexterity: Represents the hero's agility. Adding more tokens to the Dexterity track, the action modifier improves, which means more actions per turn.
3. Constitution: Represents the hero's robustness. Adding more tokens to the Constitution track, the defense modifier improves, which means suffering less damage.
4. Intelligence: Represents the hero's magical ability. Adding more tokens to the Intelligence track, the Intelligence modifier improves, which means more powerful spells.
5. Wisdom: Represents the hero's resilience. Adding more tokens to the Wisdom track, the resistance modifier improves, which means better resistance to special monster abilities.
6. Charisma: Represents the hero's appeal. Adding more tokens to the Charisma track, the ego modifier improves, which means more deities' favor.

Example: At the beginning of the game, Merisiel has only 1 Dexterity token. She collects 1 more Dexterity token from the Arena during her first turn. This action allows her to take 1 mental ability token of her choice from the pool as well. After adding both tokens to the corresponding tracks, since she has 2 Dexterity tokens, Merisiel's action modifier becomes 5. It means she can spend 5 action points per turn. Therefore, she can perform her fifth action during the current turn already.

The ability tracks on the hero sheets of Pathfinder Arena are asymmetrical. For instance, Merisiel can collect more Dexterity on her hero sheet, and Valeros has a longer Strength track than any other hero. However, the Charisma track is the same for all. This means all players benefit from the deity's special powers in the same way.

Deities and Shrine Tiles

When heroes have at least 2 ego, they can use shrine tiles to obtain a deity's favor. There are 5 different shrine tiles: Sarenrae, Desna, Iomedae, Cayden Cailean, and Torag.

When a player is on a shrine tile and meets the ego requirement, they can take from the pool the deity card that matches the shrine tile they are on and place it near their hero sheet with the deity side face up. Each deity card grants a special power. Moreover, deity cards also have a marker token slot, as players can only activate their special powers once per turn. No actions are needed to activate a deity's special power.

Deity cards are double-sided. They have a first (deity) side and a second side. When they obtain a deity card, players always place it beside their hero sheet with the first side face up. Once players meet the specific ego requirement depicted on the card, they can flip the card on the other side, which shows the second side. From now on, players have access to the second side's special power that replaces the first side's power. Furthermore, the second side (only) also grants a glory point per ego at the end of the game.

Example: After adding the 4th Charisma token on Kyra's sheet, Kyra's ego is 2. Kyra is on Iomedae's shrine tile and decides to take Iomedae deity card. The player places the card on their hero sheet with the first side face up. Now, thanks to Iomedae's power, Kyra can replace one of her spells. Later during the game, Kyra's ego increases to 3. Then, the player flips Iomedae's deity card on the second side. Kyra has another special power at her disposal, which replaces the first one. At the end of the game, since Kyra's ego increased further to 4, Iomedae's deity card grants the player 5 glory points.

Note: Each player can only have 1 deity card. Once they receive one, they cannot change it for the rest of the game.

Iomedae deity card (both sides, as printed on page 19):

• Hero's Readiness (first side): When reallocating ability tokens, you can replace 1 feat or spell card in play. The new card must be of the same level as the replaced one.
• Hero's Mastery (second side): During the hero phase, you can replace 1 feat or spell card in play. The new card must be of the same level as the replaced one. You may also assign tokens on the new card, as long as they are available on the hero sheet.

Tiles

Rune Tiles

Among the mysterious tricks of the Arena are the rune tiles. When heroes are on or pass through one of these tiles, they automatically get the rune token depicted on it.

Note: Rune tokens are automatically assigned to a hero, whether they want it or not. It is impossible to have more than one rune token of the same type simultaneously unless this happens due to some special monster ability.

Below is a list of the rune tokens:

• Positive +1 Damage: The next time you hit a monster, you inflict 1 extra damage.
• Positive +1 Defense: The next time a monster hits you, your defense increases by 1.
• Negative -1 Damage: The next time you hit a monster, you inflict 1 damage less.
• Negative -1 Defense: The next time a monster hits you, your defense decreases by 1.

Transcription note: the component list also names −1 Action rune tokens (9 of them), but the draft's rune list above does not describe that token, so no effect is transcribed for it.

Example: On Valeros' sheet are 2 rune tokens -1 damage. The first comes from a rune tile, and the second is the result of the Vampire's special ability. This means that the next two times Valeros attacks a monster, he inflicts 1 damage less.

Note: At the end of the game, unused rune tokens are worth either glory or misfortune points, depending on if they are positive or negative.

Rune tokens are applied automatically as soon as the occasion presents itself. Players can't choose whether to use them or not. However, when players happen to receive more rune tokens of the same type, instead of applying both of them at once, they apply them one at a time (e.g., 1 token per fight in the next two fights).

Cards

Cards are of critical importance in Pathfinder Arena. They give heroes a broader and more effective range of special attacks and actions. At the beginning of the game and every time they level up, heroes get one more spell/feat card from their deck. Valeros and Merisiel rely on feat cards, while Ezren and Kyra have access to spell cards at their disposal. All heroes also can rely on item cards, which players can draw when they collect item tokens in the Arena.

Generally, heroes place cards beside their hero sheets. Cards usually require ability tokens to trigger their effects. Sometimes, players can activate different effects of the same card by assigning additional tokens on the card. While some effects have no limitations, others can be activated only once per turn. When a marker token icon is present on a card, place a marker token on the card to remind players that the effect cannot be reused until the next turn. Some effects activate automatically, while others require action points to be activated.

Note: Players can modify the allocation of ability tokens only at the beginning of their round. Once they start to perform actions, they cannot make any more changes. Tokens on cards do not count for calculating modifiers connected to the ability tracks on hero sheets.

Example: if Valeros has only 2 Strength tokens and places both of them on his hero sheet, his unarmed strike inflicts 1 damage. However, if Valeros moves those 2 Strength tokens onto the Flaming Longsword he has in play, his attacks with the sword inflict 2 damages. This happens because the sword, when equipped with 2 Strength tokens, inflicts 2 damages plus the damage modifier, which is 0 as Valeros moved all his Strength tokens from his hero sheet. Therefore, to use the Flaming Longsword during its turn, Valeros has to spend 1 action.

Example: Ezren's spell Lightning Bolt, if equipped with 3 Intelligence tokens, allows spending 2 actions to attack several monsters on a line of tiles (reach 1-4). Each attacked monster suffers 3 damages. As the spell card doesn't show any marker icon, Ezren can use it more than once in the same round. In the example pictured below, Ezren spends 4 actions to attack with his Lightning Bolt both the Medusa and the Troll (not the Velstrac, who is on the same row of tiles, but not on the line emanating from Ezren toward his targets) twice in the same turn. Since they both suffer 6 damages, they are defeated. The player receives both monster sheets, which grant glory points at the end of the game.

Example: Valeros' feat Shield Block, if equipped with 1 Constitution token, protects against a single attack each round. When Valeros uses this feat, the player places 1 marker token on the card to indicate that Valeros cannot use the feat again until the beginning of his next turn.

Example: Ezren's spell Mage Armor grants protection as long as it is equipped with 2 Intelligence tokens.

Card layout:

1. Card name
2. Class + level
3. Artwork
4. Actions required (some cards do not show this requirement)
5. Tokens required (some cards do not show this requirement)
6. Effects
7. Card back: color, class, type, and level

Heroes have their unique card sets. Each set is split into 4 parts, according to the cards' level. At the beginning of the game, heroes start with their 1st level feat/spell card in play. Later on, they can choose to reveal another card coming from the next deck every time they level up. After revealing a new feat/spell card, players cannot change it for the rest of the game.

To activate their effects, players must equip cards with ability tokens during the initial phase of their turn (i.e., reallocation of ability tokens). Players do not have to assign all necessary tokens at once. However, they cannot activate the effect of a card as long as they don't meet the requirements. After assigning enough tokens, players can spend the required number of action points to activate the effect of a card.

Note: If players change a feat or item card in play thanks to Iomedae's power, any tokens currently assigned to it return to the hero sheet.

Items

Items have different effects, as described on the cards. However, to activate these effects, heroes need to assign some ability tokens to the cards, meeting their requirements. In addition, players can have in play only one item per type, except for special items, which do not have this limitation.

Item card layout:

1. Item's name
2. Class
3. Typology
4. Artwork
5. Actions required + reach (some cards do not show this requirement)
6. Base requirements + effects (some cards do not show this requirement)
7. Advanced requirements + effects (some cards do not show this requirement)
8. Magic requirements + effects (some cards do not show this requirement)
9. Priority
10. Card's back: color, class (see on the card's back)

Example: A player cannot simultaneously have in play 2 melee weapons, but it is possible to have in play a melee weapon and a reach weapon at the same time. Similarly, a player can simultaneously have in play 2 consumable special items.

When players collect an item token, they put it back to the pool and draw three item cards from their set. Then, they immediately reveal one card and reshuffle the other 2 in the pile. Remember that players can't have more than one item of the same type in play at a time. To activate an item's effects, players must assign the necessary ability tokens to the item card at the beginning of their turn. If an item card does not require any ability token, it means that it's always active. The effects of some cards combine with modifiers on the hero sheet, while others grant some benefits regardless of them. Some cards have more than one effect. Usually, there are two alternative physical effects and one magic effect to choose from. Each effect needs a certain amount of ability tokens for activation.

Example: Flaming Longsword (melee weapon, priority 2). By assigning Strength tokens to the Flaming Longsword, it is possible to attack a monster in the same tile the hero is occupying. With 1 Strength token, the base effect of the Flaming Longsword increases the damage modifier by 1. It means that the hero inflicts as much damage as their damage modifier +1. With 2 Strength tokens, the advanced effect of the Flaming Longsword increases the damage modifier by 2. Players know they must add the Flaming Longsword's damage to the modifier on their hero sheet since the card shows the "+" symbol. Moreover, by assigning 1 Intelligence token, a hero can activate the Flaming Longsword's magic effect, which cancels the effect of a water token, played during Valeros' monster phase. However, since this effect shows the magic icon, it can be played only once per round. Place a marker token on the card after use to keep track of this. The marker token stays until the beginning of the hero's next turn.

The Arena provides many item tokens the heroes can collect to increase their power. Each hero has a unique item card set.

Items are split into 6 types (transcription note: the draft says 6 but lists the 7 types below, as printed):

• Melee weapon
• Reach weapon
• Ranged weapon
• Armor
• Consumable special item
• Permanent special item
• Shield

Note: Unlike other item types, players can use special consumable items only once. Put back those cards in the box after use.

Note: If an item card is destroyed, put the card back in the box. Any ability tokens on it are immediately returned to the hero sheet. If a hero's item card needs to be removed (e.g., as a result of the Item destroyer special ability), take the one that shows the lowest priority.

Example: Telekinetic Longspear (reach weapon). By assigning 1 Dexterity token to the Telekinetic Longspear, it is possible to make an attack that inflicts 1 damage. In this case, players do not have to add the Telekinetic Longspear's damage to the damage modifier of their hero sheet, as there is no "+" symbol on the base effect. Alternatively, by assigning 2 Dexterity tokens to the Telekinetic Longspear, a hero can activate its advanced effect, which increases the damage modifier by 2. Thus, the advanced attack inflicts 2 damage. The card also carries the text: "When on a summoning tile without a monster, you can collect an element token without using an action."

Element Tokens

By spending 1 action, players can collect element tokens in the Arena like other tokens. Collected element tokens are placed on the appropriate section of the hero sheet.

Note: Players can't keep more than one element token of the same kind simultaneously.

Players can spend these tokens anytime, even during the turn of other players, to trigger the following effects:

• Fire: A monster gets +2 damage / critical damage until the end of the current monster phase.
• Water: A monster gets −2 damage / critical damage until the end of the current monster phase.
• Air: A hero gets an additional action point (+1 action) in their current hero phase.
• Earth: A hero's action points total is reduced by one (−1 action). Players must play this token at the beginning of other players' hero phase.

Note: As explained below, players can also spend elemental tokens to discard misfortune points at the end of the game.

End of the Game

The game ends immediately when a player defeats the last 4th-level monster. When this happens, players sum up all the glory points they obtained and subtract their misfortune points from the total. The player who received the most points is declared the Champion of the Arena and wins the game.

The various components owned by players at the end of the game are worth glory points as explained below.

Scoring

(The draft prints this scoring text under a "Credits" running head on page 23. The running head is a layout label; the content is the end-of-game scoring rules and is transcribed here.)

Add:

• Glory points represented by glory tokens.
• Glory points on the defeated monster sheets.
• Glory points on a deity card flipped onto its second side: add the charisma tokens required to meet the requirements to the charisma tokens assigned to the card.
• Ability tokens: every 3 collected ability tokens of any type are worth 1 glory point.
• Positive rune tokens: each rune token with a bonus adds 1 glory point.

Subtract:

• Misfortune points represented by misfortune tokens.
• Negative rune tokens: each rune token with a malus subtracts 1 glory point.

Finally, each element token cancels 2 misfortune points.

In the case of a tie, the winner is the player who (in tiebreaking order):

1. Defeated more monsters.
2. Obtained more glory points.
3. Obtained fewer misfortune points.
4. Collected more ability tokens.

Miscellaneous:

• When players collect a physical ability token from the Arena's tiles, the player can take a mental ability token of their choice from the pool.
• When attacking during the monster phase, monsters inflict critical damage. Monsters inflict normal damage:
  • When making an attack of opportunity.
  • During a summoning phase.
• In general, a deity's special power doesn't require any action points. Players can activate it only during their turn.
• Players can obtain glory points in several ways, such as defeating monsters, making monsters attack other heroes during the monster phase, collecting ability tokens, and flipping a deity card on the second side.
• Players can get misfortune points when attacked by monsters, either during the summoning phase, the monster phase, or when they suffer an attack of opportunity.
• Players can spend element tokens anytime during the game. They cannot stock more than one token per kind. Unspent tokens can be used at the end of the game to cancel misfortune points.