The Siblings Trouble

The Siblings Trouble Rulebook

Table of Contents

Objective

The objective of The Siblings Trouble is to cooperatively play through a backyard adventure with your friends or family. During your adventure you'll explore a mysterious place (the Hillside Cave, the Ancient Forest, etc.) and have a series of story moments that lead to the final Encounter and Epic Treasure. Survive them all and the memories and treasures of your experience will be yours; fail and get sent Home. If all players are sent Home, they tell the tale of their epic escape and the game is over... no more fun, just an early dinner, bath, and straight to bed.

Narrative Play

This is your weekend adventure; make it a story worthy of being repeated through the halls or by the water cooler. As you play The Siblings Trouble each player should actively describe the story and verbalize the encounters. Don't be afraid to surprise your friends. Stand up and pump your fist in glory after defeating a foe, falling backwards into the dirt, muddied and ready for more.

All of the cards in The Siblings Trouble are meant to inspire storytelling. Feel free to embellish and extend the visuals and titles of the cards. Ugly Troll? Oh, that's Cousin Larry who just appeared. Goblin Vendor? It turns out it was the janitor from school.

Remember, encounters with creatures on your adventure don't have to be violent. Success is how you define and narrate it. Be creative, have fun!

Components

4 Character Cards, 4 Alternate Character Cards, 4 Blank Character Cards, and 1 Home Card
34 Treasure and Epic Treasure Cards
52 Location Cards
30 Path Cards
12 Big Secret Cards
12 Journey Home Cards
4 Reference Cards
24 Tokens
4 Trouble Dice, 1 Search Die and 1 Treasure Die

Set Up (First Time Play)

An Adventure in The Siblings Trouble does not include all the cards in the set. For first time play, the players will adventure to the Hillside Caves location. Use the following instructions to set up your game and begin.

Place the Home Card face up on the table. Shuffle and place the Treasure Cards, the Epic Treasure Cards, and the Path Cards in three separate piles on the table. Place the Search Die and Treasure Die next to them.
Each player then picks a Character Card. After selecting their character, each player takes that character's Trouble Die and Special Ability Token. (See Page 10 for details on Tokens.) Review your Character Card to understand your Special Ability. Deal out 1 Treasure Card to each player face down.

You are now going to build your Adventure Deck by organizing a series of Location Cards, Path Cards, the Big Secret and a Journey Home Card.

Look at the Hillside Caves Location Cards and set aside one Boss Encounter Card and the Entrance Card. Then shuffle the remaining Hillside Caves Location Cards and place them next to the Path Cards on the table. Blindly select one Journey Home and one Big Secret Card, place the appropriate Game Balance or Magic Amulet Token (See Page 10 for details.) on the table, and put the rest back in the box.

The Adventure Deck

Work your way upwards - from the bottom of the Adventure Deck to the top - layering cards as shown. Hillside Caves and Path Cards are drawn from their respective decks.

The layering order, from bottom to top, is:

Journey Home Card
Hillside Caves Boss
1 Path Card
Hillside Caves Card
2 Path Cards
Hillside Caves Card
1 Path Card
Big Secret Card
Hillside Caves Card
2 Path Cards
Hillside Caves Entrance

The Siblings Trouble game space is set up as follows: the Home Card, Treasure, Epic Treasure, and Path Card decks, and the Search and Treasure Dice are placed in the common area (1); the Hillside Caves Location Deck and Game Balance Token are placed in the common area (3); the assembled Adventure Deck and an empty Discard Pile are placed in the common area (4); and each player's Player Card, Player Token, Trouble Die, and dealt Treasure Card are placed in their own Player Space (2).

Getting Started

The player who has taken the most recent adventure goes first. Be sure to tell everyone about it before you begin!

To prepare for your journey, each player takes a turn revealing their starting Treasure Card and explaining why they brought it along on the adventure. Play continues clockwise as each player reveals the top card of the Adventure Deck and continues the story.

This game is about telling stories. On your turn, draw the next card, follow the instructions on the card, rolling whichever dice are required, and then narrate the on-going story by revealing your drawn card to the rest of the players and giving the details of what happened. Amaze your friends with your storytelling style!

Exploration

To explore the great unknown, the first player flips over the Entrance Card and follows the directions to start the adventure.

Resolve Entrance Card: The first player tells the story of how you find your way in to the Location, a perfect opportunity to set up the backdrop for the Adventure! After this part of the story is told, the next player draws the next card.

The remaining cards in the Adventure Deck (down to the Final Boss) will be either Path, Big Secret, or Location Cards.

Path Cards: Path Cards are either Event Cards or Search Cards.
- Resolve Events: Follow the instructions on the card. Some events are good, some bad.
- Resolve Search Card: Search Cards give the player opportunities to find Treasure, a Fellow Traveler, or even an unfriendly creature. Be sure to narrate the story as you roll the Search Die.

The Search Die

When the player rolls the Search Die, one of 6 Events will occur. Be sure to continue to narrate the events!

Treasure: Draw the top card from the Treasure Deck.
Search: Follow the instructions on the Path Card.
Event: Draw a new Path Card from the unused Path Cards Deck and resolve it.
Encounter: The Player must draw a new Location Card for the active Location from the stack of unused Location Cards. This will be an extra Encounter that must be resolved.
Fellow Traveler: The player comes across a Fellow Traveler who must be described. The player draws 3 Treasure Cards and places them on the table face up. EACH player may trade 1 Treasure Card from their hand with the Traveler.
- If no player has a Treasure Card, the player who rolled the Search Die may claim one from the cards on the table.
- Afterwards, discard remaining cards and end your turn.
Fear: The player must add a Fear Counter to the Final Boss and describe what has made the Boss more frightening. If the Boss is not yet revealed, re-roll the Search Die. (See Page 7 for details.)

Anatomy of a Path Card

Path Cards with the Event icon (an exclamation mark on a green ribbon) are Event Cards.
Path Cards with the Search icon (a die on a green ribbon) are Search Cards.
The skull icon indicates that there is a Fear Counter action on the card.
The Search icon (a card marked "T" on a black tile) indicates that this event occurs if the player rolls a Search icon on the Search Die.

Anatomy of a Treasure Card

Book Icon: indicates potential bonuses and effects for incorporating different ideas into your storytelling.
Skull Icon: indicates that there is a Fear Counter action on the card.
+1 Icon: If this condition is true, receive +1 during an Encounter.
Star Icon: shows Star Bonus added to your Trouble Die roll during an Encounter IF you use this Treasure in your story.

Treasures may be traded between players, but not during an Encounter.

The Treasure Die

When the player rolls the Treasure Die, one of 5 Events will occur. Be sure to continue to narrate the events!

Treasure: Draw the top card from the Treasure Deck.
Epic Treasure: Draw the top card from the Epic Treasure Deck.
+1 Star: Take a +1 Star Token representing something good.
-1 Star: Take a -1 Star Token representing something bad.
Fear: The player must add a Fear Counter to the Final Boss and describe what made the Boss more frightening. If the Boss isn't yet revealed, re-roll the Search Die. More on Fear Counters below.

Big Secret Cards

Drawing the Big Secret card allows that player to tell the story of how the Boss was discovered, what the Epic Treasure is, and why it's so important to get it back. Whoever draws the Big Secret Card should also slide the Final Boss out of the Adventure Deck and draw an Epic Treasure Card into their hand. Think about a story that connects all three, then reveal them as you tell the story.

Then, place the Boss back where it was in the Adventure Deck (face up) and the Epic Treasure Card behind it (in front of the Journey Home Card). Lastly, add a Fear Counter to the Final Boss and the appropriate Game Balance Token for 3 or 4 player games. (See Page 10 for details.)

The player that draws the Big Secret Card will remove the Boss Card from the bottom of the Adventure Deck and blindly select an Epic Treasure Card.
To finish their turn, the Boss and Epic Treasure Cards are slid back into the bottom of the deck face up, and a Fear Counter is added. A Game Balance Token is also added for 3 or 4 player games.

Fear Counters

Over the course of play, some Path Cards and Encounters add Fear Counters onto the Boss's pile. Fear Counters make the Bosses more formidable in different ways. Other items allow you to remove Fear Counters from the Bosses, making them less scary. If the Boss has not appeared, re-roll the die if it lands on the Fear Counter Icon.

Every time a Fear Counter is added or removed from the Boss, the active player must expand on the Big Secret or the Boss Encounter. What new detail did the party just learn making the situation more (or less) scary?

Location Cards and Encounters

Location Cards are strange beings or traps that the players need to resolve, and each has a Star Value that represents the strength of the card. In order to resolve the Encounter, the player must roll that amount or higher on their Trouble Die, (or their roll + other bonuses and Treasure). Some Location Cards have Special Ability text. Win or Lose, tell what happened and include details from all cards used.

Resolve Encounter: Taking note of the card's Star Value and any Ability Text, the player must roll their individual Trouble Die and add (or subtract) any +1 or -1 Tokens to try and beat the Encounter on the Location Card. (The Encounter Star Value Icon is a red star showing the card's Star Value.)

Trouble Dice

Each character has a color-matching six-sided die to roll against Encounter Cards. They are all different, but contain the same basic types: Star Value, Epic Fail, and Special Ability.

Star Value: Compare this to Encounter. Don't forget to use your +1/-1 Tokens.
Epic Fail: The player loses instantly and can't use any items to add Star Value. Extra effort should go into describing this colossal failure.
Character Icon: Use the Special Ability on your Character Card.

If the player rolls the Star Value or above, they are successful and can collect the reward listed on the card (which may be a roll of the Treasure Die), the Location Card is discarded, and play passes to the next player.

If a Trouble Roll is an Epic Fail or less than the Star Value of an Encounter, players can choose to spend their Special Ability Token to use their character's Special Ability.

Using Treasure Items: If the player rolls below Star Value, they may use one or more items to increase Star Value. Discard a Treasure Card after using it to add its Star Value to your Trouble Roll. Unless specified on the card, an item can be used any time it seems appropriate. Some items will provide additional Stars if specific details are included in the story.

Sibling Assist: If a player rolls below Star Value (but not an Epic Fail), that player can ask ONE other player for an Assist. The second player rolls their Trouble Die and adds the result (and any Treasure and +1 and -1 Tokens) to the first player's total. The two players work together to tell a story about how they conquered (or failed) the Encounter together.

Sibling Rescue: If any player rolls an Epic Fail, that player can call for a Sibling Rescue. This is the same as a Sibling Assist, but the player who rolled the Epic Fail cannot use any Treasure items or +1/-1 Tokens to help. Unlike Sibling Assist, you may chain as many Sibling Rescues (on multiple Epic Fails) as there are players in the game. But be careful, it could mean the end.

If the player cannot overcome the Star Value, that player is defeated and sent Home. The Encounter is returned to the top of the Adventure Deck for the next player to draw. It is possible for all players to be sent Home from a single Encounter. If all players are at Home, the game is over.

Boss Encounter: The Boss Encounter of the Adventure always involves all the players. Before anyone rolls any dice, count all the Fear Counters that the Boss has collected and follow the rules on that Boss card. Then, the player who draws the Boss rolls and starts the story. All players must roll and tell their part in the story in turn order before the Boss is finally resolved, even if the first player to roll could defeat it.

Anatomy of a Location Card

Boss Cards have a red bookmark in the upper left corner.
Book Icon gives directions on how to add to your story and power.
Fear Icon: Bosses gain strength with each Fear Token added to them.
Trophy Icon shows what is earned or found after defeating the Encounter.
Thumb's Up or Down Icons: Follow the card's instructions.
Star Icon shows the strength of an Encounter and is the number to beat to defeat the card.

Game Tokens

Special Ability Tokens: Once per game, a player may use their Special Ability Token to re-roll their Trouble Die even in the case of an Epic Fail. Make sure to include this heroic feat in your story!

+1 and -1 Star Tokens: These represent temporary effects, like gaining courage, or being sickened. A player's +1/-1 Tokens must be used if they roll any Stars on their Trouble Die. These are discarded after use.

2, 3 & 4 Player Tokens: For a 2 player game, use the Magic Amulet Token. It can be used by any player to re-roll any Epic Fail, but only once per game. For 3 or 4 player games, add a Game Balance Token to the Final Boss to increase its Star Value by +5 or +9 respectively. As your adventure group grows, the Bosses need to get harder, too!

Remember, +1 and -1 Star Tokens represent something that has happened to you like an injury or being encased in sludge, or something you've gained like courage, telekinesis, or a new item. Carry it through your story. When the Token is used or resolved, explain what happened.

Ending the Adventure

Being Sent Home

When players are defeated by an Encounter or some Event Cards, they are sent Home. When at Home, players may not participate in any Events, Encounters, or share in any Treasure. Any player sent Home must spend their next turn describing how they got away from their parents and back to the adventure. They do not draw from the Adventure Deck this turn.

If all players are at Home at the same time, the game is over. Each player should describe how they made their Great Escape!

The Journey Home

The Journey Home is the last card in the Adventure Deck. When drawn, each Sibling in turn order does two things: first he or she chooses a Treasure or Epic Treasure, even from the discard pile, to keep for the next adventure. Then they describe a part of the Journey Home, tying together the story from the Journey Home Card, the selected Treasure, and any other loose plot threads from earlier in the story. Congratulations on a successful adventure!

Playing Again

Now that you've completed your adventure, you can take on new Locations. The game plays identically with the following adjustments.

Select 1 new set of Location Cards to adventure in. Select one of the two Final Boss Encounters (randomly or not) to place at the bottom of the new Adventure Deck. Any other Boss Encounters go back in the box. They won't be used this game. Set aside the Entrance card and shuffle the remaining cards of that Location.
If a player carried Home a special Treasure or Epic Treasure in their last adventure, they may bring it along on this one instead of the initial drawn Treasure Card. The player should still describe why they brought it.

For More Difficult Adventures

Place BOTH Final Boss Cards at the bottom of the Adventure Deck with a Path Card between them.
Add an additional Epic Treasure Card at the bottom of the deck. If players win both Epic Treasure Cards, both can be brought into the next Adventure.
When a Big Secret exposes the Final Boss, expose BOTH, and explain why they are working together. Set aside TWO places for Fear Counters to be added, one for the first Final Boss, and one for the second.
- If a Fear Counter is added to the Final Boss, do the same for the second Boss. If a Fear Counter is removed from the Final Boss, you may choose which Boss to remove it from.
When you defeat the first Final Boss, each player rolls the Treasure Die.

Examples of Play

Putting It All Together

The following Examples of Play are a Mini-Adventure that shows what players might say or do when drawing different types of cards. We start with Danger finding the Entrance to the Hillside Caves.

The Entrance

Danger is the first player. He begins the adventure by drawing the Hillside Cave Entrance Card. Details on Page 4.

"We climb up to look for a cave in the hills above town that I heard about. We are scrambling all around in the underbrush when I pull on a vine and the ground opens up and we fall in. We found the cave, just not how I had intended!"

Meeting Someone Along The Way

Mayhem has drawn a Search Card. She rolls a Fellow Traveler icon on the Search Die and meets a Fellow Traveler. She then draws the top three cards from the Treasure Deck, has nothing to trade, so chooses the Chrome Lug Nut to take, and then continues the story. Details on Page 5.

"Inside a Dark Alcove of this weird tunnel inside the caves, I see a ghostly but nice old man. He said that this had been his home long ago, but he can't touch many things in it anymore on account of his being dead. He offered to trade a few things with me that he couldn't use: a Shiny Stone, an Old Comic Book, and a Chrome Lug Nut. I didn't have anything to trade, so he just gave me the Lug Nut!"

The Search Is On

Adventure has drawn a Path Card called "Goopy Slimy Area". He rolls a Search icon on the Search Die and follows the directions on the card. He then draws a Treasure Card. He tells why the item is better because of the slime, so it gains +1 Star! Details on Pages 4 and 5.

"I slipped and fell into huge hole filled with something slimy. All of that slime made me a little sick, but I'm Adventure, so I stuck my hand all the way to the bottom and felt around and found this old 1928 penny! The slime has cleaned it so it's really shiny. That means it's worth even more!"

Help! I need a Sibling Assist!

Mischief has an Encounter with The Gnarly Spider which is a +4 Star Encounter. She rolls a 2, so asks big sister, Mayhem for a Sibling Assist. Unfortunately, Mayhem rolls an Epic Fail, so Danger steps in to save the day through a Sibling Rescue! He rolls 4 Stars and continues the story. Details on Pages 8 and 9.

"After we yelled and screamed and drove the Bats away, something else skittered out of the darkness to find out what all the noise was about. It was a Gnarly Spider! Ouch! I must have slipped on more of the slimy ground and fallen right under it! I'm stuck! Mayhem, help me, or I'm gonna tell Mom and Dad!"

"I'm coming, hold your horses! This cave floor sure is slippery! As I'm running toward you, I totally wipe out and slide head first into a gigantic spider web! The webs are super slimy and sticky, and now my hair is a mess! Where is a hair brush when you need one? I need a Sibling Rescue! Help us, Danger!"

"What would you guys do without me?! I guess I'll just climb way up on this jaggedy rock and jump on it! So I leap off the rock land on the Spider's back and squish it! Now that's how to kill spiders!"

The Big Secret

Danger draws the Big Secret Card giving us a hint at why the Final Boss is so scary. He pulls the Boss from the back of the Adventure Deck and blindly draws an Epic Treasure, then describes how he found out about The Dark Troll. Details on Page 7.

"It turns out, I didn't tell you why I wanted to come up here today. Early this morning I heard our dog barking like crazy, so I crept out of the house to go see what was up. At the end of our street, I saw Sparky barking at this big Dark Troll that was climbing up the hill. It had Mayhem's Book wrapped up in an old towel. It hissed at Sparky and then it saw ME! Me and Sparky ran away as fast as we could. But I knew it was going up to the old cave."

The Burial Ground

Mayhem draws The Burial Ground. She rolls the Search Die and gets a Search icon, so she follows the directions on the card. She needs 3 Stars to win the Encounter, but she only rolls 1. She adds a Treasure Card to her story (Old String of Beads) and describes how she is victorious. Details on Pages 5 and 8.

"We just came into an area that has a little more light. There are cracks in the ceiling of the cave. I look on the ground and can see bones coming up out of the dirt and gravel. This is where The Dark Troll buries whatever it eats ~ like us kids! He's scarier now that we've found this place! Oh no! One of the bones is standing up! It wasn't a pile of dirt, it's a ZOMBIE! It reaches a bony finger toward me, and I see that it wants my Old String of Beads! "Is this what you want?", I ask, and it nods so I give it the Beads. Then it holds out its hand and gives me an old tooth. "Uh, thanks?", I say as it lumbers off."

Going Home ~ For Now...

Adventure draws an Event Card that sends him Home. Since the Boss has been revealed, he adds a Fear Counter to it. Details on Pages 9 and 10.

"We are getting close to the lair of The Dark Troll but I tripped in one of it's traps and a big rock falls on me! I'm mega-scared, and since I'm hurt, I have to go Home for bandages! I'll be back before you meet The Dark Troll."

A Quick-Thinking Rescue

Mayhem brings her little brother back to the adventure with the Family Pet Card. Details on Pages 7 and 10.

"We need you NOW, Adventure! I'll send Sparky to bring you back! Sheesh! You ARE a BABY!"

Taking On The Final Boss

Mischief has drawn the Final Boss Card, The Dark Troll, but all Siblings participate. The Dark Troll has 3 Fear Counters and a +9 Bonus Star Token used for 4 player games. The Fear Counters give The Dark Troll +3 Stars, making his Star Rating a total of 7+9+3 = 19 Stars! With Bonuses for using sunlight in her story and an amazing trick-shot, Mischief reduces the Troll's Star Rating to 13. Then Danger rolls 4 Stars and uses a Treasure to bring The Dark Troll's total down to 8 Stars. Mayhem's Epic Fail doesn't help to the defeat The Dark Troll, but she adds to the story anyway. Adventure rolls a 4, then uses his 1928 Penny and gets a bonus for adding in a detail from history. Details on Page 9.

"This is it! The Dark Troll ! This is going to be tough! We all have to help, but I'm going in first. I can use my Bow and Arrow to shoot down the curtains the Troll uses to keep out the light! I'm making an elaborate trick shot by bouncing my arrows off the stalactites in the ceiling, and they perfectly loop through the curtain hooks before ripping them to the ground! Awesome shooting skills, if I say so myself!"

"I'm going to jump off this precipice and try to wrestle him to the floor! He's way bigger than I am, but since I'm the captain of our school wrestling team, I know what I'm doing! I've pinned him and I'm going to tie his feet up with this Garden Hose I found!"

"Oh no! I tried to help you Danger, but the Troll swung you around in circles and used you like a weapon and knocked me out! Now it's up to you, Adventure! I'm really glad I sent Sparky to get you back with us! Sorry for calling you a baby!"

"It's okay, I got this! I still have my lucky 1928 penny I found at the bottom of that slimy pit, and it is so shiny from the slime eating all the tarnish off of it! I'm going to use that penny to reflect the last light of day right into The Dark Troll's eyes! While he's clutching his burning eyes, Apollo, the sun god, flies past the windows on his chariot and the super-bright flames in his wheels burn the Trolls eyes even more! Then The Dark Troll stumbles back into one of his own traps! No way he's getting out of there any time soon!"

Continued... The Dark Troll has still got 2 Stars, so Adventure uses his Pocket Knife and the Rusty Nails to finish the Encounter!

Since the Siblings have defeated the Final Boss, they get to claim the Epic Treasure. They let Mayhem have it since it is most valuable in her hands. Details on Pages 8 and 9.

"I brought my Pocket Knife from Home, so I'm going to use it to cut the Troll's old curtains into strips - Let's weave a net out of them so we can trap the Troll for good! We've got to make sure the net stays put, so I'll use my Rusty Nails and hammer them into the cave floor!"

"There's the old towel Danger saw The Dark Troll carrying this morning! Let's open it! Tell me! Tell me! What's inside?!!!"

"It's The Book of Mayhem! It stole my book for some eeeevil purpose, but now I have it back."

The Journey Home

Mischief draws the last card in the Adventure Deck: The Journey Home Card called The Surprise At Home. They each get to keep one item from the Adventure and tell the story of going Home. Details on Page 10.

"I think it's right that Mayhem gets her book back, don't you guys? On our way Home, we see that ghost again and he gives me the Weird Contraption we used. I think he fixed it!"

"Oh cool! I get my Gnarly Stick that I found near the Cave Entrance! Hey, wasn't there supposed to be a surprise for us at home tonight? We should get back and see what it is!"

"Yeah, I'm keeping my book, and when we get out of the cave, we can see our house down the hill and there are lots of lights and stuff around our house. I wonder what's happening?"

"I hope it's not the police! Remember that one time? OK, I'm keeping the shiny 1928 penny! To get Home, we sneak around the back way so they don't see us, and then when we get in, we surprise THEM! They were all hiding behind couches and doors, and we were all like, 'Hi Mom, Hi Dad,' all nonchalant."