The Red Dragon Inn: Battle for Greyport
The Red Dragon Inn: Battle for Greyport Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Changes (Rules Version 1.1)
- Object of the Game
- Contents
- Component Overview
- Game Setup
- Encounter Setup
- During a Round
- Ending the Round
- Ending the Encounter
- Winning and Losing
- Other Rules
- Tips and Tricks
- Abilities
- Card-Specific Notes
- Variants
- Achievements
- The Interrupted Party (Introductory Scenario)
- Credits
Changes (Rules Version 1.1)
Added Rest Healing: at the beginning of the game, you now choose a number of hit points to heal between encounters (when you level up). For your first game, we recommend 2, and we suggest bumping that number up or down as necessary for later games. Here's the beauty part about this new rule: if you liked the game as it was before, you can simply pick a Rest Healing of 0 (now called "Hardcore Mode") and the game plays just like it did originally. See Game Setup and Ending the Encounter for more information about Rest Healing.
New Introductory Scenario: based on customer feedback, we've created a new version of the introductory scenario The Interrupted Party. This new version is a gentler introduction to the game and focuses more on teaching game concepts than on being short and challenging.
Clarifications
- Clarified that Taunt is always optional, and that the down arrow just means "if you're going to Taunt something, you need to do it right when you play the card".
- Reworked the monster damage section of the rules to make it clear that all of the steps you follow when a location is destroyed are ONLY for that case, and that you don't distribute monsters from the location at any other time.
- Made it clearer that only the defending player may recruit, discard and refill at the end of a round.
- Removed the confusing term "Encounter Cleanup" and wrote a new, more detailed section called "Ending the Encounter".
- Added a "Tips and Tricks" section with a bit of strategy advice.
- Clarified that if you shield all the damage from a monster with an ability like Slash or Cursed, the ability never happens.
- Other minor edits and wording changes.
Object of the Game
In most scenarios, the object is to defeat the boss monster at the end of the battle. There may be other objectives, as well.
If any player falls to 0 HP, the players lose!
Contents
- 304 cards consisting of:
- 120 monster cards (20 per monster deck)
- 21 monster token cards
- 98 reinforcement cards (50 heroes, 48 items)
- 45 starting deck cards (9 per player)
- 20 curse cards
- 57 oversized cards consisting of:
- 15 player hero cards (3 per player)
- 8 location cards
- 7 scenario cards
- 20 encounter cards
- 7 boss monster cards
- 7 damage dice (3 yellow, 2 white, 2 green)
- Cardboard tokens consisting of:
- 58 damage tokens
- 42 hit point tokens
- 30 recruitment coins
- 9 boss hit point tokens
- 8 shield tokens
- 1 round marker
Component Overview
This section describes the various components in detail.
Hero and Item Cards
Hero and item cards allow players to defeat monsters. Each round, each player will have an opportunity to play a hero card and equip that hero with an item to fight monsters in play. Each card has a type - either physical (red) or magical (blue). A hero may only use items of the matching type.
Player hero cards are special heroes that are never shuffled into a player's deck (and are oversized to show that). Each player hero card has three versions. Each time the players survive an encounter, their player hero card will level up!
A hero or item card shows:
- Damage: Represented as a number, a damage die or both.
- Title: Hero cards have a pale title box. Items have a solid title box.
- Type: Physical (red border with square corner) or magical (blue border with round corner).
- Text Box: Many cards have special abilities that are detailed in the text box.
- Recruitment Cost: The value of the recruitment coin required to recruit the card. Starting deck cards instead have a headshot of the character they belong to.
Locations
Throughout the game, players attempt to save various locations. These locations can provide important benefits to the player, and failing to save them often comes with dire consequences!
A location card shows:
- Title
- Ability: Defines a bonus that the players get while fighting at that location.
- Reward: Locations have unique rewards that can be attained by saving that location from the monsters.
Monster and Monster Token Cards
Monster cards represent the monsters the players will battle throughout the game. Monster cards will be shuffled together to create scenario-specific monster decks. Monster token cards will be put into play by special abilities on monsters or setup rules found on encounter cards.
A monster card shows:
- Damage
- Title
- Hit Points: The total amount of damage necessary to defeat this monster.
- Text Box: A monster's abilities are listed here. If a monster has an Ambush ability it will be highlighted in red.
- Threat: Used during Encounter Setup to determine how many monsters are revealed.
- Faction: Monsters are grouped into subdecks of 20 cards based on their faction. If a monster does not have a monster deck symbol, then it is a monster token card. (The small symbol above the faction icon is the expansion icon for the Battle for Greyport game, which appears on most cards.)
- Special Keyword Banner: The Ranged and Tank keywords are highlighted here.
- Armor: The amount of damage that is prevented each time this monster takes damage.
Boss Cards
Boss cards are special monster cards that are only added to the game by special setup rules found on encounter cards. Boss cards function just like normal monster cards, but usually have a variable amount of hit points based on the number of players. That amount will be defined by the encounter card that puts them in play.
A boss card shows:
- Damage
- Title
- Hit Point Placeholder
- Text Box
- Armor
Curses
Curses are special cards that are added to a player's deck by some monster effects. Curses have no abilities, so you definitely want to avoid them! Curses are added to the top of your discard pile unless an effect says otherwise. If the curse deck runs out of cards, players can no longer get them. Curses that are retired are removed from the game, not returned to the curse deck.
Scenario and Encounter Cards
There are seven scenario cards, and each scenario has three encounter cards associated with it. Each scenario card tells the players which game components will be used for that game and how the players win or lose.
Encounter cards describe how you set up each encounter and are explained below.
A scenario card shows a Title, Flavor Text, Difficulty and Monster Subdecks, an Encounter List, a Location List, and Win and Lose Conditions.
Recruitment Coins
Recruitment coins are spent to recruit heroes and items. Recruitment coins come in three values: copper, silver and gold.
Hit Point Tokens
Hit point tokens show how much health a player or a location has remaining. As monsters deal damage, hit point tokens are discarded.
Shield Tokens
Some card effects give the players shield tokens. Shield tokens may be spent to prevent damage dealt to any player. Each shield token prevents one point of damage.
Damage Tokens
Damage tokens are used to represent how much damage a monster or boss has suffered. As heroes deal damage, damage tokens are added to monster and boss cards.
Boss Hit Point Tokens
Most bosses have a variable number of hit points based on the number of players. These markers are used to indicate how many hit points a boss has, as defined by the encounter card that puts them in play. The 4's on the backs of the markers are for use in the scenario The Summoner Strikes.
Round Marker
The round marker provides the defending player with a special ability and reminds the players which monsters are attacking during the current round.
Damage Dice
These special dice are used by some heroes and items to damage monsters in fights. The yellow dice have sides 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4. The white dice have sides 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The green dice have sides 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8.
Game Setup
Choose a Scenario: The scenario determines the locations you will visit, the monsters you will fight at each one, and the boss you will face at the end. There are seven scenarios:
- The Interrupted Party - Introductory scenario, recommended for your first game
- The Goblin King - Easy
- Blood Moon Rising - Medium
- Attack of the Hydra - Medium
- The Summoner Strikes - Medium
- The Insidious Cult - Hard
- The Mad Dragon - Hard
After you have chosen a scenario, set aside the appropriate encounter cards, monster subdecks, locations and boss (as depicted on the scenario card).
Choose a Character: Each player chooses a character (Fiona, Gerki, Zot, Deirdre or Chronos) and takes that character's 9-card starting deck, the 3 player hero cards, and the deck divider (which has a useful round order chart on its back). We recommend choosing a good mix of physical and magical characters. Each player shuffles their starting deck and draws 5 cards from it, then adds their Level 1 player hero to their hand, for a total of 6 cards. Set aside the Level 2 and Level 3 player heroes - you will use them later in the game.
Each player takes 10 hit point (HP) tokens unless the scenario card says otherwise.
Open-Handed? Should you play open-handed? It's your choice! This is a cooperative game, so players win and lose together. If you think you would have more fun playing open-handed, do so. If you think you would like the greater challenge of limited knowledge and communication, that's fine too!
Prepare the Reinforcements: Shuffle the 50-card hero deck and reveal the top 4 cards in a row next to the deck. Set aside any card with a gold coin as its cost and continue revealing until there are 4 non-gold cards in the row, then shuffle the gold cards you set aside back into the deck. If a hero card is revealed that matches a player hero currently in the game, immediately remove that card from the game and replace it. A hero can't be in two places at once!
Repeat this process with the 48-card item deck. The 4 heroes and 4 items revealed are called the reinforcements.
Choose your Rest Healing: your Rest Healing is the number of HP each player will heal between encounters. For your first game, we recommend choosing 2. After you understand how to play, try 1 instead, then adjust that number up or down for later games. You may never have more HP than your starting HP.
Choose a Starting Player. The starting player takes the round marker and puts in front of them with the "Taunt" side up. That player is the defending player during the first round.
Proceed to Encounter Setup for your chosen scenario's first encounter.
Encounter Card Anatomy
An encounter card shows, from top to bottom: a Title, an Encounter Number, a table of setup values by Number of Players (Location HP, Location Threat, Player Threat, and Boss HP rows), the Location to place, a Monster Subdeck to add, Reinforcement Coins to give each player, any Special Setup instructions, and a Penalty (used only if the location is destroyed).
Encounter Setup
Prepare Components: Find the appropriate encounter card and place it in the center of the table. Put the indicated location card nearby. You will use the setup column that matches the number of players in the game.
Prepare Monster Deck: If the encounter card specifies a monster subdeck, shuffle that subdeck into your monster deck. (If it doesn't, just keep using your existing monster deck.) At the beginning of the game, there is no monster deck, so you will shuffle the indicated monster subdeck to use as your starting monster deck. In later encounters, you will add the specified subdeck to the unused monsters from the previous encounters and shuffle them together.
Location HP: Give the location the specified number of HP by placing HP tokens on the location card.
Location Monsters: Reveal monsters from the monster deck next to the location card until the total threat of the revealed monsters meets or exceeds the number in the location threat row on the encounter card. This is the location monster group.
Example: in a 4-player game, the players must reveal 5 threat of monsters onto the location. They reveal Frenzy Goblin, Mad Bomber, and Firespitter. Since they have now revealed a total threat that meets or exceeds the required 5, they stop revealing location monsters and move on to revealing player monsters.
Player Monsters: Next, starting with the defending player, reveal monsters from the monster deck in front of that player until the total threat of the revealed monsters meets or exceeds the number in the player threat row on the encounter card (the row below the location threat row). Repeat this process for each player. This creates each player's monster group.
If the monster deck runs out when revealing monsters, shuffle the monster discard pile and use that as the new monster deck.
Special Setup: Follow any instructions in the encounter card's setup box. If setup includes a boss with variable HP, find the appropriate boss HP token for the number of players in the game and place that token on the purple heart icon in the upper right of the boss card.
Recruitment Coins: Give each player the recruitment coins indicated on the encounter card.
Resolve Ambush Effects: If any revealed monsters have an Ambush effect, players resolve all Ambush effects in the order of their choice.
Cover Encounter Card: After completing encounter setup, place the location card on top of the encounter card so that only the penalty at the bottom of the encounter card is showing.
During a Round
During a round, the player with the round marker is referred to as the defending player and the monsters in front of that player are the active monster group. Each player may play cards to help save the defending player and the location.
On each round, players may take any of the following actions, in any order:
- Play a hero (limit one hero per player per round)
- Play an item on one of their heroes of matching type (physical or magical - limit one item per hero)
- A played hero may fight an active monster (or a location monster, if there are no active monsters)
- Use the round marker to Taunt a monster (defending player only - limit once per round)
Playing Cards
To play a card, place it on the table in front of you. If it is an item, place it so it partially overlaps the hero you are playing it on. You may not play an item if you don't have a hero of matching type to play it on. You may not play an item on another player's hero. You may not play an item on a hero if that hero has already fought this round.
When you play a card with an ability that is marked with the immediate-ability icon, resolve that ability before any player takes any other game actions.
Some abilities are marked with the anytime icon. This icon indicates an ability that you can use anytime this round.
Combat abilities marked with the fight icon resolve when that hero fights a monster.
Fighting Monsters
To have one of the heroes you played fight a monster, first turn it sideways, but leave it in front of you. This is to remind you that you have already acted this round, and that your hero has fought.
Next, choose an active monster to fight. (If there are no active monsters, you may fight a location monster instead.) Then, if any card involved in the fight involves a die roll, roll the appropriate dice. Your attack does the indicated damage to the targeted monster. Use damage markers to mark the damage dealt to that monster. If the total damage dealt to a monster is greater than or equal to its hit points, the monster is defeated - discard it.
Example: Deirdre plays a Clergyman and equips him with a Freezing Staff. She uses the Clergyman to fight an active monster. She turns the cards sideways, declares which monster she is fighting, then rolls a yellow die and a white die (as indicated in the upper left of the two cards she is using to fight). She rolls a total of 6, so she puts 6 damage tokens on the monster she fought.
When all monsters in play are defeated, proceed to the steps listed under "Ending the Encounter" below.
Monsters can have many different abilities. These are described under "Abilities" below. Two abilities, Tank and Ranged, affect the way players can fight monsters.
Tank: a hero may not fight a non-Tank monster in a monster group unless that hero is also fighting all Tanks in that monster group.
Example: The active monster group includes an Armored Wyrm (Tank) and a Giant Boar. Deirdre plays a Holy Templar, then decides to fight with it. The Holy Templar must fight the Armored Wyrm. He may not fight the Giant Boar.
Ranged: a hero may not fight a Ranged monster in a monster group unless that hero is also fighting all non-Ranged monsters in that monster group.
Example: Fiona has Cleave, which allows her to fight two monsters at once. The active monster group consists of a Goblin Archer (Ranged) and a Frenzy Goblin. She may fight both monsters. If there were a second Frenzy Goblin in the group, though, Fiona would not be allowed to fight the Goblin Archer, since she would then not be fighting all non-Ranged monsters in the group.
The Tank and Ranged abilities are indicated with large banners along the bottoms of monster cards to ensure that they are easily visible from across the table.
Taunt and the Round Marker
Some cards have the Taunt ability, which allows you to optionally take a monster that is not in your monster group and move it to your monster group. Once per round, the defending player may Taunt a monster by flipping over the round marker. This can be very useful for taking the pressure off the location or your fellow players!
The Taunt ability on the round marker may only be used by the defending player, and only once per round.
If, at the beginning of a round, there are no active monsters and no location monsters, the defending player must immediately use the round marker to Taunt a monster. No fair standing around when there are still monsters to fight!
Action Order
Players may play cards and fight monsters in any order, and may intersperse their actions however they like. Plan carefully! The order of your actions in a round can make the difference between victory and defeat!
Example: Gerki is the defending player. He plays a Rogue. Rogue has an immediate ability (indicated by the down arrow), so he chooses to Taunt one of the location monsters to his monster group. Deirdre then plays a Clergyman and uses its immediate ability to make Fiona draw a card. Fiona then plays her player hero card (which counts as her hero for the round), then plays a Mace on it and uses it to fight two of Gerki's monsters with her Cleave ability. She rolls a yellow die and gets a 2. She adds 5 to it from her Mace, so she places 7 damage tokens on each of the two monsters she fought. This defeats one of those monsters, so Gerki discards it. Then Gerki plays a Kite Shield on his Rogue, places a shield token in front of him from the Kite Shield's ability, then fights a monster. Gerki then uses the round marker to Taunt a monster away from Deirdre by flipping over the round marker and moving the monster to his own group. Finally, Deirdre gives her Clergyman a Freezing Staff and uses him to fight one of Gerki's monsters. Since each player has now taken all of the actions they are allowed, they decide to end the round.
Saving the Location
If the location has 1 or more HP and there are no more monsters on the location, because the last monster was either defeated or Taunted away, the players get the location reward. This happens immediately, so it can be in between player actions.
Example: Fiona plays her Level 2 player hero and uses it to Taunt the last monster away from the Dwarven Ruins. Before the round continues, players get the reward for saving the Dwarven Ruins. They reveal the top 5 cards of the item reinforcement deck. Among the revealed cards is a Claymore. The party chooses to have Fiona recruit the Claymore, so she takes it into her hand. She then plays the Claymore on her player hero and uses it to Cleave two of the active monsters.
If a location reward causes players to gain HP, that is separate from your Rest Healing. Remember that a player may never have more HP than their starting HP total.
Ending the Round
When the players cannot or do not wish to take any further actions, follow these steps in order:
- Monster Damage
- Cleanup
- Recruit
- Discard
- Refill
- Pass Round Marker
1. Monster Damage
The active monsters and the location monsters deal damage. First, the defending player loses HP equal to the total damage of the active monster group. If that player is reduced to 0 or fewer HP, the players lose the game. Next, the location loses HP equal to the total damage of the location monster group.
Some card effects give the players shield tokens. These may be discarded to prevent damage to any player (not just the defending player). They may not be used to prevent damage to the location.
Destroyed Locations: If the location is reduced to 0 or fewer HP, it is destroyed. Follow the instructions listed in the penalty section of the encounter card. Next, if there are any bosses on the location, they move to the active monster group. Then, beginning with the defending player and proceeding clockwise, each player takes one of the location monsters and adds it to their own monster group until there are no location monsters left. (Monsters moving to player monster groups do not deal damage until the next round, since they just dealt damage to the location.) Finally, discard the location card. Its bonus and reward are no longer available.
2. Cleanup
If any player played a card with the cleanup icon, those players resolve all cleanup effects.
Players then discard all of the cards they played this round. If you played a card, but did not fight with it, it is still discarded. If you played your player hero, set it aside near your discard pile. You will get it back during the Refill step when you are the defending player.
If there are any remaining unused shield tokens, discard them. They may not be saved for later rounds.
3. Recruit (Defending Player Only)
If the defending player has any remaining recruitment coins, that player must spend one to recruit a card from the reinforcements. A recruitment card's cost is indicated in its bottom right. Recruitment coins may be used to "buy down," so a silver coin may be used to recruit a copper or silver card, and a gold coin may be used to recruit anything. Coins may not be combined to get more powerful cards, nor can they be transferred to other players.
In the unlikely event that you cannot afford anything in the reinforcements, you may temporarily treat your copper coins as though they were silver. If you still cannot afford anything, you may temporarily treat all of your recruitment coins as though they were gold.
A recruited card goes to your hand (not your discard pile). Replace the purchased card in the reinforcements with the top card of the appropriate deck.
You may not recruit more than one card during this step. If you have any recruitment coins, you must spend one.
4. Discard (Defending Player Only)
The defending player sets aside their player hero, then discards down to their hand size (the default hand size is 5), then may discard additional cards if they choose. If a card affects your hand size, you will discard down to a number other than 5.
5. Refill (Defending Player Only)
The defending player draws cards to refill their hand to their hand size (default 5), then returns their player hero to their hand, for a total of 6 cards. As before, if a card affects your hand size, you will refill to a number other than 5.
If you ever need to draw a card, but there are no cards left in your deck, shuffle your discard pile and use that as your new deck. If you have no deck and no discard pile, then you don't draw. Your player hero is never shuffled into your deck.
Only the defending player recruits, discards and refills at the end of a round. This means, in particular, that if you play your player hero when someone else is the defending player, you won't get that card back until the end of the round where you are the defending player.
6. Pass Round Marker
The defending player passes the round marker to the player to their left and places it so that its "Taunt" side is up. If any monsters in the active monster group have the Ferocious ability, those monsters move to the new defending player along with the round marker.
Ending the Encounter
When all monsters in play are defeated, the encounter is over. Follow these steps in order.
- Cleanup - Resolve cleanup effects, discard all cards played this round, and discard any remaining shield tokens.
- Recruit - In any order, players must spend all of their remaining recruitment coins to recruit cards from the reinforcements. As usual, recruited cards go to your hand and are immediately replaced in the reinforcements by the next card in the appropriate deck. Players may intersperse their recruitment. So, for example, Zot could recruit a Freezing Staff, then Gerki could recruit a Townsfolk, then Zot could recruit the Fire Mage that appears after the Townsfolk is replaced.
- Discard - After players have spent all of their recruitment coins, each player sets aside their player hero, then discards down to 5 cards. They may then discard additional cards.
- Refill - Each player refills their hand to 5 cards.
- Level Up - Each player takes their next level player hero into their hand, for a total of 6 cards.
- Heal - Each player gains HP equal to the Rest Healing number chosen at the start of the game. Remember, a player may never heal beyond their starting HP.
- Pass Round Marker - Pass the round marker to the left and place it so that its "Taunt" side is up.
After these steps are finished, proceed to Encounter Setup for the next encounter!
Winning and Losing
Each scenario card defines the win and lose conditions for that scenario. In most scenarios, you must defeat the boss(es) and avoid letting any player drop to 0 HP, but be sure to check the scenario card carefully for alternate win or lose conditions!
Other Rules
Some monsters refer to "the player this is in front of". If a location monster has an ability that is worded this way, that ability does nothing.
Some item abilities refer to "this hero". This means "the hero wielding this item".
If a hero appears in the reinforcements and that character is already in the game because a player is playing as that character, retire that hero from the reinforcements and replace it with the next card in the hero deck.
Some effects cause you to retire a card, removing it from the game. If you would retire your player hero, instead you "level down". Set aside your current player hero card and put the card corresponding to the next level down near your discard pile. You will take the lower-level version into your hand during your own Refill step, as normal. If your player hero is Level 1, just set it aside near your discard pile instead. You do not need to level down if you are already at Level 1.
Tips and Tricks
Help your friends! You can't win without a healthy dose of cooperation. Remember that everyone may play a hero on each player's turn, and should do so unless it will cause bigger problems on later turns.
Taunt wisely! Using cards to Taunt monsters away from the defending player is a critical way to "kick the can down the road" and avoid damage until later in the game (when your friends will have recruited better cards to help you!)
Keep everyone's HP similar! Remember that you lose if any player runs out of HP, so if one player is trying to be the "party tank" and take all the damage, that could be a problem. Finding a way to keep everyone at roughly the same HP is better.
Abilities
Ambush: after dealing out monsters to the location and to players, resolve all revealed Ambush effects in the order of the players' choice. If a card effect like Baelfire's causes a monster to be revealed at a time other than the beginning of the encounter, resolve its Ambush effect at that time. Ambush effects never trigger a second time. For example, if a player Taunts a monster with an Ambush effect, the Ambush effect does not trigger again.
Armor: some monsters have a shield icon on the right edge of their card. Armor X means "each time this monster would take damage, that damage is reduced by X". Note that fights from multiple heroes count as multiple instances of damage, so damage from each fight would be reduced by X. A fight that includes a hero and one or more weapons counts as a single instance of damage (not one per card used to fight).
Cleave: this hero may fight two monsters. It deals full damage to both. Note that a hero may never fight two monsters in different monster groups. If a hero somehow gets multiple instances of Cleave, they still fight only two monsters, not three or more. You must declare both fight targets before rolling your fight dice. Cleave damage is dealt to both monsters simultaneously, then any monsters that took lethal damage are discarded.
Example: Torglesnarf says "If Drog, Troll General is in play, Torglesnarf takes no damage." Fiona decides to Cleave Drog and Torglesnarf. She deals lethal damage to Drog and simultaneously attempts to deal damage to Torglesnarf, which is prevented. Then Drog is discarded. Torglesnarf takes no damage from Fiona's Cleave.
Cursed: when this monster deals damage to a player, that player gains a curse card, putting it in their discard pile. If the monster deals more than one damage to a player, the player only gains one curse. Preventing all of a Cursed monster's damage with shield tokens also prevents you from gaining a curse.
Dual Wield: this hero may use two items. If a hero somehow gets multiple instances of Dual Wield, they still may only use two items, not three or more.
Ferocious: if this monster is not on the location, then it moves with the round marker and is active every round. If an effect would move this monster to a group other than the active monster group, it moves to the active monster group instead.
+Hero: if a player plays a card with +Hero, that player may play another hero this round. Remember that you may play an item on each hero you play in a round.
Immune to Splash: this monster takes no damage from Splash effects.
Immune to Snipe: this monster takes no damage from Snipe effects.
Immune to Taunt: this monster can't be moved with Taunt effects.
Pierce X: this hero ignores X points of monster armor when it fights. If a hero has multiple instances of Pierce, sum the Pierce values, then ignore that many points of monster armor. Pierce applies to any kind of damage, including fight damage, Splash, Snipe, etc.
Ranged: a hero may not fight a Ranged monster unless that hero is also fighting all non-Ranged monsters in that monster group.
Retire: to retire a card, remove it from the game. If a game effect would cause your player hero card to be retired, level it down and discard it instead.
Shield X: put X shield tokens on the table in front of the defending player. Each shield token may be used to prevent 1 damage that would be dealt to any player this round. You may choose which monster's damage is prevented. If a monster has an ability that triggers when it deals damage to a player (such as Cursed or Slash), then preventing all of that monster's damage also prevents the ability. If multiple players would be damaged, the players choose how to divide their shield tokens. Shield tokens do not carry over to later rounds. Shield tokens may not be used to prevent damage to the location.
Slash X: when this monster deals damage to the defending player, it also deals X damage to each other player. Preventing all of a Slash monster's normal damage with shield tokens also prevents the Slash damage from happening.
Snipe X: deal X damage to any monster in play. Since Snipe is an immediate ability, multiple instances of Snipe happen sequentially. This means that monster armor will apply to each instance individually. Sniping a monster does not count as fighting it. A hero with Snipe may also fight an active monster as normal after resolving its Snipe ability.
Splash X: when this hero fights, it deals X damage to each creature that it isn't fighting in that same monster group. If a hero has multiple instances of Splash, sum the Splash damage before applying monster armor. Splashing a monster does not count as fighting it.
Example: Fiona has Cleave, and there are four active monsters. She uses a Claymore as her item, so she gains Splash 2. She fights two of the active monsters, rolling a total of 8 damage. She deals 8 damage to each of the active monsters she is fighting, then she deals 2 damage to each of the two active monsters that she isn't fighting. She does not deal any Splash damage to either of the monsters she fought, nor does the Cleave cause her Splash damage to happen twice.
Tank: a hero may not fight a non-Tank monster unless that hero is also fighting all Tanks in that monster group.
Taunt: you may take any monster not in your monster group and move it to your monster group. A Taunt ability on a card is always optional. Since Taunt abilities always have a down arrow, if you choose to Taunt something, you must do so immediately when you play the card. You may not wait until later in the turn, then choose to use the ability.
Vengeful: if this monster is on the location and any location monster takes damage, this monster immediately moves to the active monster group.
Card-Specific Notes
Armored Wyrm: if you don't have an item to discard, you don't have to discard anything. If this monster is on the location, no one needs to discard anything.
Baelfire the Summoner: the purple boss HP tokens have 4's on the back. Use these tokens to replace a monster's HP when that monster is summoned by Baelfire's ability.
Brewmaster Phrenk: "you" means "the player who played this card", so everyone may draw a card, but only the player who played Phrenk may retire a card.
Brother Bastian: you may choose yourself as the player to retire a card.
Chronos the Time Mage (player hero): the reroll ability only applies to a fight by Chronos himself. The ability may not be used to allow another hero to reroll.
Cultist: players may still play Shield effects and gain shield tokens. However, those tokens may not be used to prevent damage to any player with a Cultist in their monster group.
Deirdre the Priestess (player hero): you may choose yourself as the player to draw a card.
Eagle Eye Sniper: if your player hero is in your hand, you may discard it to this ability.
Fleck the Bard: if your player hero is in your hand, you may discard it to this ability.
Gerki the Sneak: "Gerki may fight any monster" means that he may fight any monster in any monster group, regardless of who is currently the defending player. It also means that he ignores Tank and Ranged. If Gerki somehow gains Cleave, the two monsters he fights must be in the same monster group. He may not fight two monsters in two different groups.
Grand Square: if the top card of the hero deck is recruited or used to refill the reinforcements, immediately reveal the new top card of the hero deck.
Hydra: the defending player gets a Hydra Head monster token card anytime the Hydra takes damage. Hydra Heads have Tank, so after hitting the Hydra, you will have a new threat to deal with before you can go back to bashing the Hydra itself!
Ice Wyvern: Splash and Snipe damage do not count as fighting a monster, so Ice Wyvern's ability does not apply in that case. Ice Wyvern is defeated if it takes 18 total damage, or if a single fight deals 10 or more damage to it.
Ironscale Drake: Splash damage and Snipe damage do not count as fighting a monster, so Ironscale Drake's ability does not apply in those cases.
Magma Drake: Splash damage and Snipe damage do not count as fighting a monster, so Magma Drake's ability does not apply in those cases.
Market District: if the top card of the item deck is recruited or used to refill the reinforcements, immediately reveal the new top card of the item deck.
Mercenary Mage: your hand size only affects you during your Discard and Refill steps when you are the defending player. You do not need to discard down when Mercenary Mage enters play. If a card effect makes you draw, you could end up with more cards than your hand size. You do not need to discard extra cards until your own Discard step.
Mordigar the Tyrant: if a player Cleaves Mordigar and the last dragon part monster token card at the same time and deals lethal damage to the dragon part, Mordigar still cannot be reduced below 1 HP from that fight.
Ohava, Grand Cleric: a "non-player hero" is a hero that isn't your player hero.
Orc Warlord/Mordigar's Wing: this ability applies to cards you would draw from card effects and cards you would draw during your Refill step. Recruiting a card from the reinforcements and returning your player hero to your hand during your Refill step do not count as drawing, so you may still carry out either of those actions.
Ripsnarl: Ripsnarl's retire effect triggers during the Cleanup step. If you retired a hero to Tainted Wand or Tainted Blade during the round, you may not choose to retire that hero a second time to Ripsnarl. Ripsnarl's retire effect triggers if he dealt any damage to a player or to the location. If all damage from Ripsnarl was shielded, the effect does not trigger.
Ruthless Zealot: if you don't have a hero to discard, you don't have to discard anything. (But remember, your player hero is a hero!) If this monster is on the location, no one needs to discard anything.
Scepter of Illusions: "another hero" means "a hero other than the one wielding this item". You may use this item's ability to return your player hero, if you played that hero this round and it did not wield the Scepter of Illusions.
Scythe: if there are no active monsters, Scythe gets no bonus, even if there are location monsters that you could fight.
Serena the Pious: this ability does not prevent Serena from using physical items. She may use either! Serena is still a physical hero, even when she uses a magical item. This can be relevant for cards like Diamondscale Drake.
Skeleton Mage: the damage taken when you Taunt this monster may be prevented by a shield token.
Spiked Drake: any type of damage from a hero that defeats this monster will cause its ability to trigger. This includes fight damage (with or without an item), Splash damage, Snipe damage, etc. The damage taken when you defeat this monster may be prevented by a shield token. The phrase "player's hero" refers to any hero here, not just your player hero. (This wording will be clarified in future printings. We apologize for any confusion.)
Torglesnarf Duncleton: if a player Cleaves Drog and Torglesnarf at the same time and deals lethal damage to Drog, Torglesnarf still takes no damage.
Valeria: if a player Cleaves Valeria and the last remaining Cultist on the location at the same time and deals lethal damage to the Cultist, Valeria still takes no damage. If Valeria flips over, her hit points remain the same, and any damage tokens on her remain.
Wyrm: if you don't have an item to discard, you don't have to discard anything. If this monster is on the location, no one needs to discard anything.
Zombie: the damage taken when you Taunt this monster may be prevented by a shield token.
Variants
Try these variants to spice up the game or make it more challenging! Note that you may combine as many variants as you like within a single game, so mix and match to your heart's content!
Hardcore Mode
Only for the bravest of adventurers!
In this variant, players play with a Rest Healing number of 0. (Note: all scenarios in the game are beatable in Hardcore Mode!)
Different Monsters
Monsters are invading (again), and this time, they've brought their friends!
For a different experience, try using different monster subdecks than the ones specified on your scenario's encounter cards. Alternatively, you can increase variety by using the specified subdeck plus one or more additional subdecks. You could even have a Battle Royale by using all six monster subdecks!
Here are the six subdecks and their relative difficulties:
- Goblins - Easy
- Beasts - Easy
- Brutes - Medium
- Cultists - Medium
- Aberrations - Hard
- Dragons - Hard
The Aberration and Dragon subdecks are difficult, so we recommend that you don't add them to your monster deck until the second encounter of a scenario. They're not completely impossible, though, so if you're feeling particularly brave, go ahead and try shuffling them in for the first encounter!
Different Locations
You feel like you've fought this battle before, but maybe that was somewhere else...
Instead of using the location card specified on each encounter card, choose a location at random.
Starting Hit Points
Your party hasn't fully recovered from your last adventure, but the invading monsters aren't gracious enough to wait for you...
In this variant, the players start the game with something other than 10 HP. 8 HP is tough, 6 is brutal! Remember, a player may not heal above their starting HP.
The Wounded Warrior
Your last adventure didn't go well, and one party member is seriously injured. You would never shirk your duty as city defenders, however, so when the battle begins, everyone pitches in.
At the beginning of the game, after choosing who goes first but before revealing monsters, pick a player. That player starts the game with 3 HP. They may still heal (for example, through Rest Healing) up to the normal starting HP defined by the scenario.
Silent Play
The monsters have gotten a little more clever this time around. At the start of their attack, they cast a Silence spell over the entire city!
In this variant, you play the game without any verbal or written communication, and without revealing any of the cards in your hands.
Achievements
| Achievement | How to Earn |
|---|---|
| The First Step | Defeat Drog in the scenario The Interrupted Party |
| Wipe that smile off his face! | Defeat Drog and Torglesnarf Duncleton |
| Bark at the moon | Defeat Ripsnarl |
| And stay down! | Defeat the Hydra |
| The party's over, demon! | Defeat Baelfire |
| Refusing the Kool-aid | Defeat Valeria |
| We are the champions! | Defeat Mordigar the Tyrant |
| Double digits are for chumps! | Defeat a Medium or Hard scenario with each player starting at 8 HP instead of 10 |
| Relentless | Defeat a Hard scenario with the Wounded Warrior variant |
| Splashapalooza! | Defeat 6 monsters in a single fight |
| Silent but violent | Win a game with the Silent Play variant |
| That was too easy! | Defeat a Medium or Hard scenario where no location is destroyed and each player ends the game with 6 or more HP |
Each achievement may be earned in Normal or Hardcore mode.
The Interrupted Party (Introductory Scenario)
You and your adventuring companions have just arrived at the Red Dragon Inn to celebrate the success of your latest heroic adventure. Your celebration will have to wait, though, because the evil Drog has brought a small army of marauding monsters to attack the city!
Difficulty: Easy
Encounters:
- City Under Siege - Greyport City Hall
- Melee at the Market - The Market District
- Save the Ale! - The Red Dragon Inn
Win: Defeat Drog and all other monsters.
Lose: Any player is reduced to 0 HP or fewer.
Encounter 1 - City Under Siege (Greyport City Hall): Each player loses 1 HP.
Encounter 2 - Melee at the Market (The Market District): Each player loses 2 HP.
Encounter 3 - Save the Ale! (The Red Dragon Inn): Setup: Add Drog, Troll General to the location. Each player loses 3 HP.
Credits
The Red Dragon Inn: Battle for Greyport, Rules Revision 1.1
Game Design: Nate Heiss, Sam Waller and Jeff Morrow
Art: Erin Wong. Additional Art: Megan Langan, Drew Morrow, ColdFuzion Studios, Beth Trott
Published by SlugFest Games West, LLC. Made in CHINA.
Package and Contents © SlugFest Games West, LLC. 2016-2017
The SlugFest Games logo, the Red Dragon Inn logo and the Battle for Greyport logo are trademarks of SlugFest Games West, LLC.
SlugFest Games would like to thank all of our playtesters, with special thanks to Justin Brackin, Randy Buehler, Sean ConroyDey, Adam Conus, Greg Cost, Joey Exley, Louis Fernandes, Sara Gaucher, Ian Gilmore, Bree Heiss, Oliver Homann, Seth Johnson, Michael Kearney, Kellie Kruse, Greg Marques, Dylan "Exobyte" Mayo, A.J. Murray, Jesper Myrfors, Christopher Nixon, Paul Peterson, Mike Pollard, M. Craig Stockwell, Richard Svoboda, Mike Turian, Steve Warner, Gale Wichmann, Erik Wintz.