The Witcher: Old World – Wild Hunt

The Witcher: Old World – Wild Hunt Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components

The Hound miniature: Even though the miniatures present 1, 2 or 3 Hounds on each - for the entirety of this rulebook, a single miniature is referred to as: the Hound. (The number of Hounds presented on the miniature represents the Hound's level.)

4 Wild Hunt members (miniatures): Nithral, Imlerith, Caranthir, Eredin
16 Special Attack cards – 4 per each Wild Hunt member
4 Wild Hunt cards – 1 per each Wild Hunt member
6 Hounds of the Wild Hunt miniatures – 2 in each Level (I, II, and III)
6 Hound of the Wild Hunt tokens – 2 in each Level (I, II, and III)
2 Hound cards – two-sided, one side for each Player count (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5)
35 Wild Hunt Exploration cards – 20 Stage I and 15 Stage II cards
35 Wild Hunt Event cards
1 Charge/Bite token
12 Quest tokens
20 Wild Hunt Shield tokens (values 1, 5, 10, or 20)
5 Wild Hunt Help cards
3 double-sided Round Tracking boards and Tracking token

Game Setup

Game setup is similar to the standard game setup, with following changes.

Setup Changes

Players don't keep track of their Trophies as collecting them is not a victory condition. Important: Players don't suffer Fatigue after gaining a Trophy.
Players use Wild Hunt help cards instead of the standard help cards.
Players place Quest tokens anywhere near the Main Board.
Take the Round Tracking board and: a. Select one Player to manage the Round Tracking Board. b. Keep that Board near that Player. c. The Tracking token is placed on the "1" spot in the top-left corner.
Standard Exploration and Event cards are not used. Instead, use the Wild Hunt Exploration and Event cards: a. Place the Wild Hunt Event cards face-down without shuffling, on a designated spot on the Board. The topmost card should have a number 1 on its back. b. Create the Exploration deck for that game: place 3 face-down cards from the "Stage II" and 4 face-down cards from the "Stage I" on top of them.
- 4- or 5-Player game exception: place 3 cards from the "Stage I" instead of 4. c. Keep the Wild Hunt Exploration deck (consisting of 6 or 7 cards, depending on the number of Players) where the regular Exploration cards are kept in a standard game.
A Wild Hunt Movement pool is created. (Skip that Step in a 1-Player game.) Each Player places their Scoring token near the Round Tracking board, creating the Wild Hunt Movement pool. The Closed Tavern token is added to the pool. It is used in Phase IV of each Round (as explained on page 9). Put all unused tokens back in the box.
Players choose the member of the Wild Hunt that they will fight against. This character is called Wild Hunt for short in this Rulebook and in the other game components. a. Players have a free choice, but we suggest fighting them in a particular order: Nithral, Imlerith, Caranthir, Eredin. b. Wild Hunt has 1 card that is placed with the "A" side facing up, near the Round Tracking board (or anywhere visible to all Players). c. 6 Hounds of the Wild Hunt miniatures and face-down tokens are placed nearby, with 1 Hound card with the side matching the Player count face-up. d. 4 Special Attack cards for the chosen Wild Hunt are placed nearby – those are to be used in the Final Fight. e. Wild Hunt Shield tokens are placed nearby. f. Unused Wild Hunt components are placed back in the box.
The Charge/Bite token is placed near the Monster Attack cards.

Difficulty Level

Num. of Players	Just the Story! (Easy)	Story and Sword! (Normal)	Blood and Broken Bones! (Hard)	Death March! (Very Hard)
1	Level I Monster; 5 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster; 7 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level II Monster; 9 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level III Monster; 11 Wild Hunt Shield tokens
2	Level II Monster; 28 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster + Level II Monster; 31 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster + Level III Monster; 34 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster + Level III Monster; 37 Wild Hunt Shield tokens
3	Level II Monster; 54 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster + Level II Monster; 58 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster + Level III Monster; 62 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster + Level III Monster; 66 Wild Hunt Shield tokens
4	Level I Monster + Level I Monster; 77 Wild Hunt Shield tokens	Level I Monster + Level III Monster; 82 Wild Hunt Shield tokens

Gameplay

The Wild Hunt

Remember: The term "Wild Hunt" – when used in this Rulebook, or on any component – refers to the Wild Hunt member that is being used in this game.

The Wild Hunt appears on the Main Board at the start of the game. They travel and affect different aspects of the game. Players are unable to Fight them until the last Round of the game (which can be the 7th or 8th Round, depending on the number of Players, see page 6).

The Goal of the Game

In the Wild Hunt Expansion, the Goal of the game is to defeat the Wild Hunt during an epic Fight that takes place after the last Round.

Before that, Players complete Quests, fight Hounds of the Wild Hunt, and the usual Monsters.

At the end of the game, Players try to win a Fight against Wild Hunt together, after the last Round. If they manage to kill the Wild Hunt, before all Witchers are Knocked-Out, they win the game together.

If all Players are knocked out in the Final Fight with the Wild Hunt, they all lose the game.

Round Tracking Board

Players use the Round Tracking Board and the Tracking token during the game.

During Game setup, the token was placed on the "1" spot (representing the First Round of the Game).

Each row has a "Phase II" spot, showing which Wild Hunt Exploration card is drawn; during the first four Rounds, a Stage I card is drawn; during the final 3 Rounds, a Stage II card is drawn.

Each row also has a "Phase IV" spot, showing what happens at the end of each Round. (New Monster and/or Hound appears, and Wild Hunt Moves.)

At the end of the 8th round (7th round for 4- and 5-Player games), Players fight the Wild Hunt during Phase IV.

Fighting the Wild Hunt is explained at the end of the Rulebook (see page 11); gameplay changes are described next.

The Round Tracking board rows, as printed:

Round	Phase I: Movement and Action	Phase II: Fight, Mediation, Exploration	Phase III: Drawing and gaining cards	Phase IV: Add Hound and/or Monster
1	Movement and Action	Exploration I	Draw and gain cards	Level I Hound
2	Movement and Action	Exploration I	Draw and gain cards	Level I Monster
3	Movement and Action	Exploration I	Draw and gain cards	Level I Hound + Level II Monster
4	Movement and Action	Exploration I	Draw and gain cards

On the board, the Wild Hunt Movement column carries the note "Wild Hunt moves up to 2 Locations to randomly chosen Player: activate the Wild Hunt's Special Ability." (It is printed as a callout beside the middle rows of the column, not as a separate row.)

Wild Hunt and Hounds Strengthen Monsters

The Monsters are affected by the Wild Hunt and/or Hounds that are located on the same or neighboring Location as the Monster.

For each Hound and/or the Wild Hunt on the same or neighboring Location as a Monster, the Monster's Life Pool is increased by 1.

The Monster's Life Pool cannot exceed 20.

Example card (Caranthir, "Teleportation"): When Caranthir enters the Location with any Player(s), each Player on that Location draws 1 Location token (of any Terrain Type) and discards all their Potions. If they do not have any Potion, they lower their any Attribute level by 1. After, each Player moves to the drawn Location. They do not perform the Location Action.

Caranthir and Hounds Strengthen Monsters: For each Hound and/or the Wild Hunt on the same or neighboring Location as a Monster, the Monster's Life Pool is increased by 1.

For example: The Monster is neighbored by the Wild Hunt and a Hound. Additionally, there is another Hound on the Location occupied by the Monster. The Monster has its Life Pool increased by 3.

Wild Hunt Shields

The Wild Hunt begins the game with a set number of Shields. These represent its defense that will absorb Damage received in the Final Fight.

Wild Hunt Shield tokens are kept on its card (or beside it).

Some Wild Hunt Exploration/Event cards make the Wild Hunt lose 1 or more Shields. In such a case, put the Shields lost back in the box.

The Wild Hunt may also lose Shields when any Player successfully Fights a Hound (see page 10) or Defeats the Monster (see page 9).

If the Wild Hunt has 0 Shields, any additional Shield loss that it might suffer before the Final Fight is ignored.

Turn Sequence

The Turn sequence in the Wild Hunt Expansion changes in many ways. It's best to take things slowly at first and get to know gameplay basics in the first few Rounds.

All of the Phases play out differently, and there is an Additional Phase IV when the Wild Hunt is activated.

Phase I

Players perform Movement and Actions during Phase I in any Player order.
Players may freely discuss the order of their Movements and Actions. Each Player may complete all of their Actions in a row, or alternate taking Actions with other Players as they see fit.
Phase I ends when all Players collectively decide to end it (or they can't perform any more Movement or Actions).

Wild Hunt / Hound on the Location

You can not take a Location Action if a Hound and/or the Wild Hunt is currently placed there; however, you may freely enter and leave such a Location. (Keep the Wild Hunt and Hounds on the Location Action to remember that they 'block the Action'.)

Fighting a Hound of the Wild Hunt

When Hounds appear during the game, you can Fight them!

You can Fight a Hound alone or together with other Witchers, if you all share the same Location with the Hound.
Fighting a Hound is considered to be a part of Phase I and does not end Phase I (see page 10).
When the Hound Fight is over, each Player on the Location may decide to take the Location Action and continue their Turn, if they are able to.

Exchange Action – two or more Witcher meet

When two (or more) Witchers are at the same Location, at any time during Phase I, any of them can perform Exchange Actions.

Each Witcher (sharing the same Location) may freely exchange (or simply give away) any of the following between themselves, any number of times each: Gold, Potions, Bombs (Monster Trail Expansion), Trail tokens, and Trail Quests (that have 1 Gold on them). (Each Witcher still has a 4-Potion and 4-Bomb limit.)

Location Actions – Dice Poker

The only Location Action that is different while playing the Wild Hunt Expansion is Dice Poker. You cannot play Dice Poker against other Players during the Wild Hunt expansion.

The Player choosing to take the Dice Poker Location Action pays 1 Gold, rolls 5 dice, and they may perform 1 reroll (of any number of dice). Then, the Player compares the result with the table on the "Wild Hunt help card" to gain Gold (possibly 0).

Your Result	Reward
Nothing	0 Gold
Pair	0 Gold
Two Pairs	1 Gold
Three of a Kind	2 Gold
Straight	3 Gold
Full House	3 Gold
Four-of-a-Kind	4 Gold
Five-of-a-Kind	5 Gold

(The printed table shows each result with its dice faces.)

Phase II

Phase II begins when all Players decide to end Phase I (or they can't perform any Movements or Actions).

First, all Players who want to, perform a Fight. Players are not allowed to Fight each other.

Players resolve their Fights in any order.
If two (or more) Players are at the same Location, they decide together which one of them actually Fights the Monster (alone).
- The other Player(s) (sharing the same Location) may Support the Player fighting the Monster.

Supporting a Witcher

Any number of Players sharing a Location with a Player fighting a Monster may choose to Support them.

Players may Support the fighting Player only if they have at least 1 card in their hand.

Supporting is optional; some, all, or no Players need to do so.

To Support a Witcher:

Discard any number of cards from your hand.
Decrease the Monster's Life Pool by the number of cards discarded.
After creating the Life Pool, the Player Fighting the Monster draws a number of cards (from their deck) equal to the number of cards that were discarded.
When you Support a Player (by discarding any number of cards), you get the Witcher Trophy from the Player Fighting the Monster.

You may only have 1 Trophy from each other Player.

You may Fight any Monster (that you share a Location with) following the standard rules, with some exceptions:

For each Hound and/or the Wild Hunt on the same or neighboring Location as a Monster, the Monster's Life Pool is increased by 1.
The Monster's Life Pool may not exceed 20 cards.
The choice for Charge/Bite is done by flipping the Charge/Bite token after the card is revealed.
If the Monster is Defeated or Driven Away: Do not draw a new Monster (new Monsters only appear as an effect of the Wild Hunt's activation, see page 9).
The rewards and consequences of Defeating, Driving Away, or being Defeated are the same as the base game with two exceptions:
- You do not suffer Fatigue if you kill a Monster.
- If the Monster is Defeated or Driven Away, the Wild Hunt loses a number of Shields equal to the Level of the Monster.
  
  For example: When Player defeats a Griffin (Level 2), they discard 2 Wild Hunt Shields.

Then, any Player that did not Fight a Monster may Meditate; but remember, you do not suffer Fatigue when playing the Wild Hunt Expansion.

You can Meditate regardless if you Supported a Fight or not.

After all desired Fights and/or Meditations are done, any Player draws the top Wild Hunt Exploration card from the Exploration deck (it may be a stage I or stage II card, as shown on the Round Track).

Exactly one card is read (regardless of the number of Players in the game).

The entire card is read by any Player; it may contain a:

Quest (to be completed by one or more Players during the following rounds).

Follow the card's instructions and keep it face-up near the Main Board. (If you have other active Quests, these remain in play.)

Choice (to be made collectively by the group of Players).

Discuss the options together and come to a common decision. (If there is a need to break a tie, the youngest Player at the table makes the final decision.)

Location tokens

When drawn due to an Exploration card's effect, keep them beside the card.
Return them face-down to the pool when their associated Quest is resolved.

Quest tokens

Use them on the Map as a reminder for ongoing Quests. (Remove them when their Quest is resolved.)

Remember: As with the standard Exploration cards, the used ones should be kept in the game box and shuffled back only after the Players have used all of them once during multiple play sessions.

After reading one Wild Hunt Exploration card (and possibly the Event card connected with it) Players move to Phase III.

During the 8th Round (7th round for 4 and 5 Players) no Exploration card is read.

Phase III

Players play Phase III as in a standard game in any order. They may discuss the cards that they wish to get with one another.

After a Player gets a new card, the pool is moved to the right and a new card is drawn.

After each Player has completed Phase III, move to Phase IV.

Phase IV

Follow the Round Tracking board and perform two steps:

1. New Monster and/or Hound appears

When a Hound appears, take one Hound (from the supply) and place it at the Wild Hunt's Location (covering the Location Action).

If there is already a Hound there, place it at a neighboring Location with no Hound, chosen by the Players.

The Hound card (on the side of the board) shows the basic information about Hounds, depending on their level.

If a new Monster appears, do the following in order:

Draw a random Monster token (from the pile with the Level shown on the Round card).
Draw a Location token. The Players choose which Terrain type, but each Terrain type can only ever have one Monster on it.

For example, if there is a Monster on a Mountain Location, Players may only choose a Forest or Water token to draw.
Reveal both tokens; then: a. Place the Monster token (that was drawn during step 1) near the Location on the main Board, that corresponds to the Location token drawn in step 2. b. Place the matching Monster card and the Location token in the Monster section of the Game Board.

If there are 3 Monsters present on the Board, and you must draw a 4th, the Monster is not drawn. Instead, add Shields to the Wild Hunt equal to the Level of the Monster that was supposed to appear multiplied by 2.

For example, if Players were supposed to add a Level 2 Monster, and there are 3 Monsters in the game, they add 4 Shields to the Wild Hunt instead.

2. Wild Hunt Movement

If there are any Players on the Wild Hunt's Location, it performs no Movement. Proceed to step 3.

Otherwise, one Player takes all the tokens in the Movement Pool and randomly draws one of them.

If it is a Player's Scoring token, the Wild Hunt moves up to 2 Locations towards that Player, using the shortest way. If there are two shortest ways, Players choose one of them together.

The Wild Hunt immediately ends its Movement when:

It enters a Location with any Player, and/or
It moved 2 Locations.

If it is the Closed Tavern token, the Wild Hunt moves up to 2 Locations towards any Player (chosen collectively by all Players).

Solo Mode: While playing the Wild Hunt solo, you don't draw a token from the Pool, but the Wild Hunt always moves 2 Locations towards your Location.

Wild Hunt builds up its power

If the Wild Hunt enters the Location with 1 (or more) Witchers, the Wild Hunt's Special Ability is activated.

Players follow the Special Ability description on the Wild Hunt card.

Example card (Imlerith, "Mark of the Spectre"): When Imlerith enters the Location with any Player(s), choose any 1 Monster on the Game Board and place 1 Quest token (if available) on its card, per each Player on Imlerith's Location. Fighting this Monster, after creating the Life Pool: the fighting Player takes Damage equal to the number of Quest tokens on Monster's card. When the Monster is Defeated or Driven Away, discard Quest tokens from its card.

Imlerith and Hounds Strengthen Monsters: For each Hound and/or the Wild Hunt on the same or neighboring Location as a Monster, the Monster's Life Pool is increased by 1.

Phase IV End

Move the Tracking token to the next row on the Round Tracking board, and begin the next Round.

Fighting Hounds

Players that occupy the same Location as a Hound may decide to Fight it together.

This does not count as a "Monster Fight" (as you would perform during Phase II); it's completed immediately during Phase I.

Players may try to Fight each Hound once during Phase I.

Fight preparation

Based on the information shown on the Hound's card, according to the Hound's level, each Player who chooses to Fight does the following:

draws a number of cards from their deck to their hand, and
lowers their Shield level.

Hound Level	Shield level lowered by	Cards drawn	Life Points
I	1	1	5
II	2	2	7
III	3	2	8

Attacks

Each Player fighting the Hound creates a card Combo to try to deal as much Damage as possible. Each Player who chooses to Fight have to play at least 1-card Combo.

Damage symbols deal Damage to the Hound.
Shield symbols raise the Player's Shield level (up to their Defense Level).
All other symbols are ignored.

Result

After each participating Player played their card Combo, check the total Damage done to the Hound:

If greater than its Life Points (as shown on the Hound card):

The Wild Hunt loses Shields equal to the inflicted Damage exceeding the Hound's Life Points.
Reveal a random Hound token of level matching the level of the killed Hound - and each Player (that participated in this Fight) gains the bonus. (After, return the token to the box.)
Players gain the Bonus in any chosen order.
Remove the Hound miniature from the Main Board.

If equal to its Life Points:

Reveal a random Hound token of level matching the level of the killed Hound - and each Player (that participated in this Fight) gains the bonus. (After, return the token to the box.)
Players gain the Bonus in any chosen order.
Remove the Hound miniature from the Main Board.

If less than its Life Points:

Each Player fighting the Hound discards all the cards that they have.
The Hound remains on the Main Board.

Bonuses (the bonus icons printed beside the Result section):

Gain any 1 Trail.
Draw the top 1 card from your deck to your hand.
Add any 1 of the revealed Action cards of cost 0 to your discard pile. (If there are no 0-cost cards available, reveal cards one by one from the top of the pile until one is found. All other cards are shuffled back.) After Player gets a card, the pool is immediately moved to the right, and the pool is replenished.
Add any 1 of the revealed Action cards of cost 1 to your discard pile. All other rules apply, as described above.
+1 Raise any Attribute by 1 Level.
+1 Raise your lowest Attribute by 1 Level.

Wild Hunt Fight

Wild Hunt Fight Preparation

1. Players prepare for the Fight

Each Player keeps their hand of cards and shuffles their discard pile with their deck.
The Wild Hunt card is turned over on side "B" to show the Abilities it has during the Fight.

Side B example card (Wild Hunt Terror): Before creating the Life Pool: each Player lowers the level of any Attribute by 1 per each Quest token on the Game Board and on Monster cards. The Player may lower levels of one or multiple Attributes.

2. The Wild Hunt Life Pool is prepared

Shuffle all 20 Monster Attack cards and discard 4 of them back into the box. Then shuffle the 16 cards with 4 Wild Hunt Attack cards. That is the Life Pool for the Wild Hunt.

Wild Hunt Fight General Rule: If the Wild Hunt has any Shields, Players must remove them first: for each Damage dealt to the Wild Hunt while it has any Shields, reduce its Shields by 1. (Once all Shields are removed, immediately start dealing Damage as normal to the Wild Hunt, with remaining Damage, if any.)

Fight Structure

All Players that are at the same Location as the Wild Hunt each perform a Fight Turn (in any order).
- When a Player performs a Fight Turn, they perform all steps as they would during a regular Fight.
All Players not at the same Location as the Wild Hunt are directly moved to the Wild Hunt's Location (they do not perform a Fight Turn).
The Wild Hunt performs a Fight Turn.
All Players (that are not knocked-out) take a Fight Turn (in any order).

Repeat steps 3 and 4 until any of the following is true:

The Wild Hunt is defeated,
all Witchers are Knocked-Out.

Player's Fight Turn

Players choose the order in which they perform their Fight Turn.
Each Player must complete their full Fight Turn before the next Player can start their Fight Turn.
Damage dealt to the Wild Hunt always removes Shields first. When the Wild Hunt has no Shields remaining, the Damage discards cards from the top of their Life Pool deck.

Passive Ability on Special Attack cards

If one or more of the Wild Hunt's Special Attack cards are discarded during a Player's Turn (by dealing Damage or any Ability), then the "Passive Ability" on each of those cards is activated.

Example card (Freeze, with its Charge/Bite icons at the top and its Passive Ability at the bottom): "Freeze" – All Players take 4 Damage. During each Player's next Fight Turn: they cannot raise their Shield level (Mages cannot gather Protection, they can raise their Energy level).

Passive Ability on the example card (Frost Armor): Before the next Player's Fight Turn: Imlerith gains 1 Shield per each Player.

Wild Hunt Fight Turn

When the Wild Hunt performs their Fight Turn, any Player discards the top card from the Wild Hunt's deck face up; if it's a:
- Special Attack card:
  - Each Player applies the same effect (as shown on the top part of that card).
- Standard Attack card:
  - Each Player flips the Charge/Bite token separately and applies the corresponding effect.

Being Knocked-Out

If a Witcher has 0 cards in their hand and deck, they are Knocked-Out.

They don't perform any further Fight Turns, nor apply Wild Hunt Attack effects.

The remaining Witchers continue the Fight.

Winning / Losing

If all Witchers are Knocked-Out, all Players lose the game.

If the Wild Hunt Life Pool deck is empty, and there is at least one Witcher standing, the Fight is over and the Witchers win!

The Witchers that were Knocked-Out during the Final Fight have also done their part; and therefore all Players are considered Winners.

Wild Hunt and other Expansions

The Wild Hunt Expansion may be combined with some other Expansions. During the first game with this Expansion, we suggest not to use any other Expansion. When Players are familiar with this Expansion, they may use the Wild Hunt Expansion with:

Mages Expansion
Monster Trail Expansion