Shadowrift
Shadowrift Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Credits
Game Design: Jeremy Anderson
Art Direction: Dann May & Jeremy Anderson
Graphic Design: Dann May
Additional Graphic Design: Cody Jones & R Jay McCarty
Art: Enggar Adirasa, Sabine van Apeldoorn, Kristen Brown, Ross Grams, Tomasz Jedruszek, Nicholas Kay, Phil X. Liu, Dann May, Jose Muñoz, Othon Nikolaidis, Grzegorz Pedrycz, Elin Pettersson, Levente Rückert, and Thomas Williams.
Executive Producer: Dan Yarrington
Testers and Design Consultants: Zachary Anderson, Robert Hetherington, Benjamin Gratch, Dorian Huynh and Jacob Lee.
Kickstarter MVPs: Chris Skelton, Victor Luchangco
Many thanks to all those intrepid heroes that have supported Shadowrift and defended New Haven!
Starting Notes
-
It's easy to assume parts of this game will work like other games you may be used to playing. However, if nothing on the cards or in this rulebook says something happens during the game, that thing does not happen during the game.
-
If a card contradicts the rulebook, the card wins.
-
If you can't do something a card says to do, you simply don't do it.
-
If you are presented a choice ("Discard a Spell or gain a Burn") and you cannot do one of the options (because you have no Spells in hand, or because the Burn stack is empty) you are required to do the other if possible. If neither option is possible, nothing happens.
-
This game (rulebook and cards both) frequently refers to "heroes." That's you!
Goal of the Game
There are two ways the heroes win:
- Find and seal all of the Shadowrifts.
- Construct all 8 Walls, building New Haven into an impenetrable fortress.
The heroes lose if:
- The Town Square contains no Villagers or Walls at the start of the Heroes Act step. Note that while Infiltrators are Villagers, they do not count as Villagers for this purpose!
- The last Corpse is added to your city, leaving the Corpse stack empty.
- A monster takes the Annihilation action and destroys the world. Some of them can do that. Don't let them!
Components
Player Cards
- 60 Starter cards. Six sets of 7 Prowess, 2 Strikes, 1 Explore, marked with a starter symbol.
- 30 Heroism. Include 5 per player in the game.
- 8 Might, 8 Strike, 4 Seal. These cards appear in every game, regardless of other setup elements.
- 40 Wounds. You'll be taking a lot of these!
- 144 Hero Cards. Loot, Attacks, Skills, and Actions.
Town Cards
- 24 Villagers (including Travelers and Infiltrators)
- 8 Walls
- 14 Corpses
Tokens
- 8 Coin tokens. These appear in every game, and cost 2 prowess. You may give a Coin token you have to another hero at any time.
- 15 1-point tokens
- 6 5-point tokens
- 1 Next Heroism Token and stand
Monster Cards
- 120 Base Monster Cards. 20 each for 6 monster factions.
- 44 Special Monster cards (Burns, Zombies, Cultists, Freezes, Tempests, and Totems). These cards have a variety of backs fitting their individual uses in the game.
- and 6... wait for it... Shadowrifts!
Also Included
- 30 Randomizer cards. See page 4.
- 1 Gameboard (not included in the Kickstarter standard edition). See page 5.
- 4 Monster Space markers. See page 6.
- 17 card dividers
Set Up
Starter Decks
Give each hero a starter deck. Starter cards are marked with a starter symbol at the bottom, where most cards have their cost listed. Heroes should receive 7 Prowess, 2 Strikes, and 1 Explore card. Each player will shuffle these cards and place the resulting deck face down on the table with space next to it for a discard pile.
Note: While it is not usually important to gameplay, keep your discard pile face up. This helps avoid confusing it with your deck. You are allowed to look through your discard pile whenever you like. You are not allowed to look through your deck.
You begin the game by drawing five cards as your starting hand.
Select Cards
Choose a monster faction (Learn more about the factions on the final pages of this rulebook) and the eight stacks of hero cards you will be using. For your first game we recommend:
Dragons!
Monster Faction: Fire Dragons
Skills: Frenzy, Holy Aura
Attacks: Spear Volley, Wild Charge, Thieving Strike
Actions: Heal
Loot: Shining Blade, Armor of Mist
There are 6 more scenarios listed with the factions on the final pages of this rulebook, but once you feel comfortable with the game we recommend using the randomizer to choose your hero cards and monster faction randomly. The game is designed to be playable (though possibly very difficult) with any monster and set of hero cards. This means there are hundreds of thousands of scenarios to play!
You can of course simply choose favorites.
Randomizer cards. For a random game, shuffle these and take the first 8 Hero cards and 1 Monster Faction card you find. Some players prefer to ensure variety, and take the first 2 of each hero card type (Actions, Attacks, Loot, and Skills), ignoring later cards of that type. However, the game functions with any arrangement.
Set Up (Continued)
Layout
You can place your cards directly on the table or use the special Shadowrift Gameboard, featuring a bird's eye view of New Haven.
The Might, Strike, Seal, Wound, Corpse and Heroism cards appear in every game. Place these 6 stacks face-up, as indicated. Use only 5 Heroism per player, leaving the rest in the box. Place the Next Heroism marker on top of the Heroism stack.
Place the Coin tokens on the gameboard or nearby.
Put your 8 Wall cards in a single stack face up. You are allowed to look through the stack and re-order it however you like whenever you want. You can buy any of the Walls there in any order.
Lay out 2 rows of 4 stacks, using the 8 Hero cards you've selected. These are the cards you can gain to help define and advance your hero - changing from a generic Adventurer into a sneaky Rogue, a clever Wizard, or a mighty Barbarian.
Note: There won't be cards that ask what your "character class" is or target the "rogue" or "wizard." Your deck represents who you are. If you have a Fireball and a Wild Charge, you are part barbarian and part wizard and that's completely allowed.
Your Traveler deck goes face down. To make your Traveler deck, shuffle the Villager cards with the subtype Traveler together (this should be 14 cards in total). There are 2 empty spaces next to the Traveler deck. These will be used for Visitors - the Villagers that can enter town on a given round.
Most monster factions have a Monster Special card associated with them (for instance the Fire Dragons' Burn or the Necromancers' Zombie). Place this stack as indicated.
Note: When a faction's special cards are all the same card, place this stack face up. If there are multiple different special cards available (like the Storm Lords' Tempest cards), shuffle them together and place them face down.
Playing solo? Also see the Solo Variant Rules below.
If you aren't using the Shadowrift Gameboard, set out the Monster Space markers (Start, 1, 2, and 3) in a row. This is the Monster Attack Area.
Shuffle the 20 cards for your monster faction face down, then split it into 2 roughly even decks. Take 1 Shadowrift card per player and shuffle half of them (rounded up) into one pile and the rest into the other. The rounded-up pile is placed on top of the other, and this is your Monster Deck. Place it face down near the Start space of your Monster Attack Area. Turn the top card face up.
On the opposite side (near the Monster 3 space) is a space designated for the Monster Power Area. Monster cards are placed here whenever they move on from the Monster 3 space.
The Town has 3 parts: The Town Deck, where the cards in Town are kept face down, the Town Square, where 5 cards are revealed each round, and the Town Discard, where Town cards go when discarded. As with your own deck, keep the Town Discard face up. Any hero may look through it at any time, but you may not look through the Town Deck.
At the beginning of the game, shuffle the ten Villagers you did not put into the Traveler Deck and place them as your Town Deck.
It is time to answer the call, and save New Haven...
Gameplay
Shadowrift is played over the course of many rounds, consisting of eight steps each. The players, as a group, play through each step before moving on to the next. The steps can be found on the Order of Play reminder card, which may be set out to help remind players of the steps and their order.
Step 1 - Draw Cards
At the beginning of the round, each player draws five cards. Some cards have "When you draw this" effects. Resolve these - drawing bonus cards for Heroism or Might cards, or taking Wounds for drawing Burn cards - before continuing to the next round. If there are many Heroism or Might cards in your deck, it is possible that your hand will be very large. This is allowed.
If you do not have enough cards in your deck to draw, draw as many as you can, then shuffle your discard pile and it becomes your deck. Then draw any more cards you needed to draw.
Note: Since there are cards that specifically deal with your discard pile, do NOT shuffle your discard pile to make a new deck early. It can be very important!
In the rare event that you are told to draw bonus cards and have no cards in your deck or discard pile, you simply draw no cards.
Step 2 - Refresh Town
At the beginning of each round, move all cards in the five Town Square spaces to the Town Discard (a few cards, such as Freezes, contradict this rule). Then refill the empty Town Square spaces from the top of the Town Deck.
As with your own deck, if the Town Deck runs out of cards and you need to draw more, draw as many as possible, then shuffle the Town Discard and place it face down as your new deck. Then continue drawing cards as needed.
Note: For purposes of when to shuffle, treat cards that look at either the Town Deck or a player's deck as if you were drawing those cards. For instance, if a card says to look at the top 2 cards of the Town Deck and there is only one present, look at that card, shuffle the Town Discard pile and make it your new Town Deck, and look at the next card.
Step 3 - Refresh Travelers
Put any cards in the Visitor spaces on the bottom of the Traveler deck in any order you prefer. Then place the top two cards of the Traveler deck into the Visitor spaces. Any Infiltrators (Travelers with an Infiltrator icon) revealed this way are immediately moved to the Town Discard and are not replaced this round.
Step 4 - Monsters Act
Each monster has 3 actions printed on its card. The numbers correspond to locations on the Monster Attack Area. During this step, any monsters on space 3 leave town (see Monster Actions below) and enter the Monster Power Area. The next monsters, on space 2, will move to space 3 and take their step 3 action. Then the monsters on space 1 will move to space 2 and take their step 2 action. Finally, the monsters on the Start space will move to space 1 and take their step 1 action.
Note: Some monsters have conditions allowing them to perform extra actions - for instance, the Zombie Lord raises the dead as Zombies every round if Corpses are available. Extra actions of this kind are considered to happen immediately before their numbered action, as part of the numbered action's text. Effects like Magic Barrier or Moat that stop the monster's action will also stop this bonus action.
Some of the actions monsters take are described in the Monster Actions section below.
Step 5 - Monsters Gain Power
Put one token (power point) per hero in the Monster Power Area. Count the faction icons on all cards in the Monster Power Area, including Shadowrifts and monsters that have left town. Add that many tokens as well.
For example, if there are three players and 5 Dragon faction icons in the Monster Power Area, 8 power points will be added.
Note: Smaller tokens are used to represent 1 point, and larger tokens are used to represent 5 points. This is true when talking about power points or damage to monsters.
If you are using the Shadowrift Gameboard, you may prefer to use the Monster Power Point track (on the right edge of the board) to track power points.
Step 6 - Add Monsters
The top card of the Monster Deck is always face up. Each card in the Monster Deck has a cost to enter play. During Step 5, you compare the points in the Monster Power Area to the cost of the top card of the Monster Deck. If there are enough points to pay its cost, remove that many points and put the card into play. If it is a Power card, put it directly into the Monster Power Area; and if it is a Monster, place it on the Start space of the Monster Attack Area.
Reveal the new top card of the Monster Deck and repeat the process. Cards continue to enter play until the power points in the Monster Power Area are fewer than the cost of the top card of the Monster Deck. (Some turns, this happens immediately.)
Note: Some cards (Shadowrifts, for instance) have a cost of 0, so even if you have no points left after bringing a monster into play, there might be more cards.
If there are power points left over but not enough to bring the next monster into play, they carry over to the next round.
Note: Monsters can occupy the same space of the Monster Attack Area. Place them in a column one above the other. When moving them forward, start at the bottom of the column so that the first monster that entered play is acting first.
Step 7 - The Heroes Act
First, make sure you haven't lost the game. If your Town Square has no Villagers or Walls (note that Infiltrators say they don't count, for this purpose) you lose.
Still alive? Great! It's time to act.
See The Hero Turn section below for details.
Resources
There are three resources in Shadowrift: Prowess, Magic, and Coin.
Prowess, Magic and Coin are used to gain and boost a variety of hero cards. How well the heroes manage these resources and work together will mean life or death for the Town.
Step 8 - Cleanup
Some cards say specifically that they remain in play (Loot, and Skills that you've paid upkeep for this round). All other cards you played this round and all cards left in your hand go to your discard pile.
Note that if you play Spells as Resources - using them for Magic - you may not keep them in play when the round ends; their text is entirely ignored. You may wish to play them at an angle (with the Magic corner at the top) to indicate they were played this way, or keep cards like Skills that you expect to stay in play separate from other cards you play.
Now return to Step 1 and continue your valiant yet almost certainly doomed defense of New Haven...
Solo Variant Rules
Can a lone hero save New Haven? Make these changes for a one player game:
- There are 8 Heroism instead of 5.
- There are 2 Shadowrifts: One shuffled into the top half of the monster deck and one shuffled into the bottom half.
- The monsters gain power as if there were 3 players.
- Negative effects that target "each hero" or "all heroes" hit the player twice.
- The player takes 2 turns per monster turn. In essence, the round order is:
- Draw Cards
- Refresh Town
- Refresh Travelers
- Monsters in Play Act
- Monsters Gain Power (Base value of 3)
- Add Monsters
- Hero Acts
- Cleanup
- Repeat 1: Draw Cards
- Repeat 2: Refresh Town
- Repeat 3: Refresh Travelers
- Repeat 7: Hero Acts
- Repeat 8: Cleanup
Monster Card Anatomy
Each Monster Card is labeled with the following elements:
- Card Title and Subtypes
- Cost to Enter Play
- Monster Health Points
- Card Type: A monster faction name is listed on all Monster Cards in the faction.
- Monster Actions: Each Monster Card has three actions, that activate at each of the three steps a Monster moves through during play. Some Monsters may also have additional rules.
- Faction Icons: Each Faction icon adds a power point to the Monster Power Area, every turn. The Shadowrift icon is considered a Faction icon, for the purpose of adding power points to the Monster Power Area. Faction icons also total the number of Heroism cards the party earns when the monster is slain.
Monster Actions
Kill/Break Wall
The most common action a monster will use is "Kill." For instance, the Hasty Creation's first action is "Kill."
If a Villager in play matches the sought color/symbol, that Villager dies. A dying villager is put on the bottom of the Traveler deck and a Corpse card is added to its space in town.
If a monster takes the Break Wall action, a Wall from in play is returned to the Wall stack.
If a monster attempts to kill a Villager or Break a Wall and its target is not present, it will Hunt - attempting to kill someone at random (see below).
Note: If there are multiple viable targets in the Town Square for a single-target effect, the monsters target the option closest to the Town Discard. For instance, if the Merchant and Prince are in play and a monster says Kill, the one closest to the discard pile dies. The heroes do not get to choose.
It is possible for monsters to be interrupted by Guards or Walls. See "Interruptions from Monster Actions" below for details.
Note: Some monsters "add a Corpse." This is not considered a "Kill" - for instance, it cannot be blocked by Stone Wall but can be blocked by Moat, and Guards will not die to prevent it.
Monster Hunt
Discard cards from the Town Deck until you reveal a Villager or Wall. If it is a Villager (including a Guard), it is killed. Place the Villager on the bottom of the Traveler deck and put a Corpse into the Town Discard. If it is a Wall, it is broken (returned to the Wall stack) if the monster has a Heroism Value of 2 or 3. If the monster's value is less than 2, the Wall is not broken but the hunt still ends.
Note: Guards interrupt a Kill or Break. Because it is possible a monster will be stopped by a Wall or other special effect, the Guard will only jump in if all else fails. This means that the Villager or Wall is still put into the Town Discard for the hunt.
Also, note that while it's nice that the monsters are willing to kill Infiltrators just like other Villagers, the Guards are also willing to give their lives for Infiltrators.
Leave Town
This is not a listed action - It is what any monster does if it would move forward and is on space 3 of the Monster Attack Area. When this happens, remove all damage from the monster and place it in the Monster Power Area. It can no longer be attacked and its text is ignored, though its influence can be countered (putting the card on the bottom of the Monster Deck) using Seal or the Priest or Shrine.
Rampage
When a monster Rampages, immediately set it aside with all its damage until all other monsters have acted; then put it on the Start space of the Monster Attack Area. On following turns it will take action as usual, based on the space it moves to. Monsters can Rampage as many times as they are able to take the action.
Note: Rampage is an action like any other. If it is canceled by Moat or Magic Barrier, the monster does not Rampage and will leave town normally.
Annihilation
The heroes lose the game if a monster takes this action. The monster instantly destroys the town, or opens a giant portal to its own realm and brings forth its endless army, or gains the ability to control the heroes' minds, or...well, whatever the case, it's Game Over.
Don't let them do it.
Interruptions from Monster Actions
Moat/Master-at-Arms/Stone Wall: These cards have a random chance of preventing a monster's effect. If a monster Hunts, what it finds on the Hunt determines what kind of defense helps. If a hunting monster would break a Wall, a Moat has a chance to block it. If a hunting monster would kill a Villager, the Master-at-Arms and Stone Wall have a chance to block it.
Guard: If all other options fail, a Guard will die rather than let another Villager or Wall be killed or broken. A Master-at-Arms or Stone Wall cannot save a Guard who is sacrificing himself, though it can save a Guard who's simply being attacked. Note that Guards do not jump in the way when a monster uses the "add a Corpse" action.
Interruptions from Town
Sometimes cards in Town Square can interrupt the Monsters' actions. The order of interruption is as follows:
Magic Barrier: If the players want to use the Magic Barrier's power to stop a monster from acting as it moves forward, they must declare they are doing so before anything else in town has a chance to try to block effects.
The Child: All Annihilation actions that would happen while the Child is in play are canceled and ignored. While the Child is in play, there is always hope.
Cards "in play"
Cards are considered "in play" when they are in one of the following areas:
- The Monster Attack Area or Monster Power Area. However, monsters (non-Powers) in the Monster Power Area are treated as if they have no text on them; only their faction symbols matter.
- The Town Square spaces. But not the Town Discard or Traveler/Visitor spaces.
- The heroes' play areas (including any unspent Coins). But not the player's hand or discard pile.
The Hero Turn
Heroes may do any of the following at any time during Step 7.
By "at any time" we mean there is no specified turn order, or even order for an individual player's turn. You can buy a card, then attack, then let another player attack, then buy another card, for instance.
Epic Actions/Attacks: Each hero may only play one Epic card per round. Any number of other cards are permitted.
Seek Aid: You may move a Villager with the Aid term on its description from Town Square to the Town Discard to gain its effect.
Example: An attacking hero may pay 1 Coin and discard the Smith to add +1 damage to their attack.
Play Actions: When you play an Action, put it on the table in front of you and do what it says. Many actions have Boosted effects. For instance, Fireball allows you to pay 1 Magic to deal 1 extra damage with it, and another to make it explode and hit all monsters in play. You may pay for either, or pay both of Fireball's boost costs and it will deal 2 damage to its primary target AND deal 1 damage to each other monster.
You must pay Boost costs for a card before you begin resolving its effects. For instance, you may not play Prophecy and then use the card you drew from playing it to pay for its Boost.
You may only gain each individual Boost effect once. For instance, you may not have Fireball explode twice.
Attacks: Attacks deal damage to monsters. Put damage counters onto the monster you are attacking.
Each set of attacks played by one hero to attack one monster is one Battle. If any of the Attacks are Melee, the hero will take one Wound when the Battle ends. Other heroes may use cards to prevent Wounds at this time.
When you are Wounded, put one Wound into your discard pile from the Wound stack. Having Wounds in your deck slows you down. The Wound card itself has the option of spending Prowess to rest and recover, returning the Wound to the Wound stack (you may do this only while the Wound is in hand). Some hero actions or helpful Villagers also heal Wounds or other Afflictions, returning them to their stack.
If the damage on a monster is ever equal to or greater than its health, it is slain. The heroes are awarded a number of Heroism cards equal to the number of faction symbols on the monster (see Heroism below). Then the monster is placed on the bottom of the Monster Deck.
Seal: If a hero plays the boosted version of Seal, it seals a Shadowrift in addition to its regular effect. When a Shadowrift is sealed, set it aside - It no longer adds points to Monster Power. If one Shadowrift is sealed per hero, you win! Also remember that sealing a Shadowrift earns the party one Heroism.
Play Loot or Skill Cards: Loot cards or Skill cards tend to have ongoing or once/round effects, but enter play the same way as Actions. You put it onto the table from your hand. Unlike Actions, you might play them early on but not use the effect until later in the round.
Skill cards have the option to pay 1 Prowess to keep them on the table for an extra round. You may pay this upkeep every round to keep the Skill in play for one more round.
Resources: You play a Resource exactly when you need it - for instance, you play 4 Prowess worth of cards when learning an Action costing 4 Prowess (buying a new hero card).
Note: When paying using a Might, the Might card goes directly back to the Might stack rather than staying in play until Cleanup. If the Might stack is empty, you can use yours to allow another player to gain one.
Spells: Spells have the Magic symbol in the corner to denote that they may be played as a resource worth 1 Magic, whether to build a magical Wall or to boost another Spell's power.
Heroism cards can also be used to pay Magic costs. When played as a resource, all other text from the Spell is ignored.
Gain New Hero Cards: You may pay resources to add new cards to your pool of cards. When you wish to gain a new card, pay its cost (listed at the bottom of the card) using your Resources and put the newly-purchased card into your discard pile. You cannot purchase a card and add it to another hero's discard pile, or use 1 of your Prowess to help another hero buy a card.
Note: When coins are purchased they sit in play in front of you, and when spent they return to the Coin stack. You are allowed to give them to one another freely, which means you can essentially buy someone a Loot card giving them the Coins to buy it themselves. However, any Prowess and Magic costs (for instance, the 5-Prowess cost of Moat or Sage) must be paid by only one hero.
Hire Villagers/Build Walls: You may pay resources to get Villagers from the Visitor Area to move into Town, or to construct walls from the Wall Stack. If you pay all costs at the bottom of a card, you may put the card into the Town Discard pile. Remember, if doing this empties the Wall Stack, you have made New Haven safe from the onslaught and won the game!
Note: You do not replace Villagers you hire now; You will refill the Visitor Area during the next Refresh Travelers step.
Player Card Anatomy
Each Player or Town card is labeled with the following elements:
- Card Title and Subtypes
- Epic Icons
- Card Type: Town cards include the types Villager and Wall. They have a grey border and blue back. Player cards include the Hero cards: Attack, Action, Skill and Loot, as well as Resource cards such as Might and Heroism.
- Card Effects: On Player cards, the effect when playing it or when it is in play. On Town cards, its Interrupt or Aid effect, or its negative effect if it's an Infiltrator or Hazard.
- Card Cost: The requirement to put the card from the stack in the center of the table into the Town discard or your own discard. Once in your discard, hand or deck, this cost is no longer important.
Heroism
Heroism is divided as evenly as possible among all heroes. When the first action that earns Heroism is completed, the hero whose action completed it (whether landing the killing blow on a monster or sealing a Shadowrift) gets the first Heroism. Thereafter, it is handed out clockwise, with the Next Heroism marker denoting who gets the next one.
For instance, if Al, Betty, Craig, and Diane are playing and Al finishes off a monster worth 3 Heroism, and no Heroism has been earned yet, then Al will get 1 Heroism, Betty will get 1, Craig will get 1, and Diane will get the Next Heroism marker. If Craig then slays a monster worth 2 Heroism, Diane and Al will get 1 Heroism each, even if they were not directly involved in slaying that monster, and Betty will get the marker.
Effects that say "The Heroes earn a Heroism" mean that one Heroism card is handed to the hero who has the Next Heroism marker, and the marker passes to the next player.
Corpses
Whenever a Villager is killed, put a Corpse where it was (replace it in Town Square if no Hunt was involved, or replace it in the Discard if it was found during a Hunt). If a Monster simply "adds a corpse", it is put into the Town Discard. If a Corpse is removed from Town by a card effect, move it from Town Square back to the Corpse stack.
Important Note: Corpses in play move to the Town Discard during the Refresh Town step!
Wounds
Heroes who get into melee with monsters gain one Wound per monster they fight up close. Wounds may be removed using their own card text or various healing effects. Healing a Wound puts it back onto the Wound stack.
Interruptions from Monsters or Powers
Sometimes monsters in play will react to actions the heroes take, due to abilities listed at the top of their text box.
Power cards can also take effect during the Heroes Act step. They can respond to actions heroes take – for instance, each time a hero builds a Wall or hires a new Villager from the Visitor area, that hero will gain a Burn if Rain of Fire is in the Monster Power area.
Monsters in the Monster Attack area or Power cards in the Monster Power area that list a condition for an effect will perform that effect every time the condition is met. Lava Sprite causes a hero to gain a Burn when that hero plays a Spell. It will provide one Burn for every Spell cast, not one per round. Likewise, if a hero manages to hire both Visitors in one round during a Rain of Fire, that hero will gain two Burns.
Effects from monsters end as soon as they leave the Monster Attack Area. For instance, if you defeat a Lava Sprite, or it leaves town (losing all damage counters and moving to the Monster Power area), you can then play Spells without gaining Burns.
Monster Factions
There are some differences in setup and mechanics between the different monster factions.
Drow
The Drow construct stony Totems, which empower their kind. When they Add a Totem, put it into the Monster Power Area. Totems do not add Monster Power Points, but once damaged can be removed using Seal, Priest, or Shrine. When removed, return them to the Totem stack (which should be in the Monster Special slot).
Drums Beneath the Earth
Monster Faction: Drow
Skills: Brawler, Flanking
Attacks: Leading Strike, Fireball
Actions: Prophecy, Resurrect
Loot: Lightning Daggers, Shining Blade
For eons uncounted the Drow have dwelt deep beneath these lands. All our stone and metal craft is but a pale and passing shadow of their ancient mastery over the powers of the Earth. A Mastery that has now torn open pathways to the world above, and the treasures of conquest.
Necromancers
The Necromancers frequently return Corpses from Town to the Corpse stack for you. Don't get too excited though. Instead you get Zombies, who will quickly produce still more Corpses.
Zombies are worth 0 Heroism and return to the Zombie stack (in the Monster Special slot) when slain.
If you would Add a Zombie and there are no Zombies in the Zombie stack, put the rightmost Zombie from in play on top of the Monster Deck, removing any damage that was on it.
Board the Doors... and Coffins
Monster Faction: Necromancers
Skills: Bamboozle, Brawler
Attacks: Blessed Smite, Wild Charge, Thieving Strike
Actions: Revitalize, Rousing Speech
Loot: Elixir of Life
This last moon, a foul enemy was driven back from our walls, and we buried our dead. That night we slept, safe in the knowledge our courage had once again bought us a measure of peace in these dark times. Yet, even before dawn, our dead rose to take up the fight against us, and to swell the ranks of our enemy!
Glacien
The Glacien want to freeze New Haven solid. Place the Freeze stack in the Monster Special slot. Freezes can be attacked like Monsters (and are subject to area damage, such as the explosion of a Fireball), but do not deal Wounds in battle and are not worth Heroism.
Note: Killing a Zombie (Necromancers) is worth 0 heroism, which can be raised to 1 or more with Bard or Prophecy. Breaking up a Freeze is simply not worth Heroism at all. When broken, Freezes return to their stack.
A Winter Shade of Pale
Monster Faction: Glacien
Skills: Brawler
Attacks: Spear Volley, Blessed Smite, Leading Strike
Actions: Heal, Resurrect
Loot: Lightning Daggers, Armor of Mist
The Lord of Winter and his host are the stuff of legend. If I had not seen him with my own eyes I would not have believed. But see him I did, and he is coming! The bridges to the Lands of Eternal Winter have been built anew, and the great rifts between his world and ours are open.
Storm Lords
The storm is wild and unpredictable. Place the ten Tempest cards face down in the Monster Special Card slot. When an effect calls for Tempest, you draw the top card and perform its effect. Then put that card on the bottom of the Tempest deck. During Cleanup each round, if a Tempest effect happened, shuffle the Tempest deck.
Tempest cards that declare they Kill a Villager or Break a Wall do not hunt.
Weather the Weather
Monster Faction: Storm Lords
Skills: Frenzy, Holy Aura
Attacks: Thieving Strike, Blessed Smite
Actions: Heal, Revitalize
Loot: Elixir of Life, Armor of Mist
Every storm begins with a single drop of rain. Every hero begins as a man or woman willing to step out into the storm and brave whatever comes. Our town has seen dark times, but we could always guess at the mind of our enemy. Not the Storm Lords, their plans and origins lie beyond our reckoning, like flashes of light behind their impenetrable black clouds.
Fire Dragons
The Fire Dragons cause Burns. For a slightly greater challenge, if you would take a Burn and can't, you take a Wound instead. Either way, place the Burns in the Monster Special Card slot, and get ready to take a lot of both!
Endless Fire
Monster Faction: Fire Dragons
Skills: Frenzy, Bamboozle, Brawler
Attacks: Wild Charge, Leading Strike, Spear Volley
Actions: Rousing Speech
Loot: Lightning Daggers
"Dragons were once common in these parts." That is a story we tell to make ourselves feel as though we've conquered and subdued these lands. Unfortunately, the truth is different. Dragons are born in the fires of the Elemental Realms, and our land is but a feeding ground. A place for them to consume in fire and feast on before moving on to another pasture.
Demons
The shadow queen Mar'Zosé commands her loyal cult. There is no card in the Monster Special Card slot. Instead, replace the 4 Infiltrators with the Demons' special Cultists. Or, for an advanced challenge, simply include the Cultists as 4 extra Infiltrators!
Paranoia
Monster Faction: Demons
Skills: Bamboozle, Flanking
Attacks: Thieving Strike, Fireball
Actions: Prophecy, Revitalize, Resurrect
Loot: Shining Blade
Our people are brave, and our people are loyal to each other. But the forces of evil wield a power of deception and temptation beyond mortal comprehension. We must be vigilant in weeding out demonic influences from among us, and trust in heroes whose uncorruptable natures will never bow down to demons.
Order of Play Reference
-
Draw Cards. Each player draws 5 cards. Resolve "When you draw this" effects.
-
Refresh Town. Discard all cards in Town Square, then refill Town Square from the top of the Town Deck.
-
Refresh Travelers. Put any cards in the Visitor spaces on the bottom of the Traveler Deck in any order, and draw and place two new cards. Any Travelers revealed this way are placed in the Town Discard.
-
Monsters Act. Monsters in space 3 move into the Monster Power Area. Monsters in space 2 move into space 3 and perform their 3 Action. Monsters in space 1 move into space 2 and perform their 2 Action. Monsters on the Start space move onto space 1 and perform their 1 Action.
-
Monsters Gain Power. Put one power point per hero in the Monster Power Area. Count the Faction icons in the Monster Power Area and add that many power points as well.
-
Add Monsters. Compare power points with the cost of the card on top of Monster deck. If there is enough to pay its cost, remove that many power points, and the Monster enters play on the Start space. Continue to add Monsters until their power point cost is no longer met.
-
Heroes Act. Acting in any order: Seek Aid, Play cards (Resources, Actions, Attacks, Skills and Loot), Gain new Hero cards, Hire Villagers, Build Walls.
-
Cleanup. Played cards and cards left in hand are placed in your discard pile.