Vindication: Chronicles Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup
• In a Nutshell
• Character Sheet & Renown
  • Your Character Sheet — Recording Your Journey
  • Gaining Renown
  • Placing Renown Tokens
  • 4 Ways to Leverage Your Renown
• Legendary Cards
  • Using Legendary Powers
  • Leveraging Renown to Progress Legendary Status
  • Abusing Legendary Powers
• Chronicle Cards
  • Drawing Chronicle Cards
  • Resolving Chronicle Cards
  • Using Chronicles in Solo Player Mode
• Event Cards
  • Advancing Event Cards
  • Event Card Anatomy
  • Resolving Events
  • Timing Conflicts
  • Event Cards in the Setup Example
• Dark Agents
  • A Darkness Below (Event)
  • Dark Agents
• The Firewind Festival
  • Using the Firewind Festival
  • Community Investment
  • Vendor Tokens

Setup

• Setup the base game up as normal, with the following exception: the Academy, the Curio Shoppe, and the Menagerie map regions are required.
• Place the Firewind festival board to the side of the play area.
• Stack the legendary title cards by type to the side of the play area: Legendary Inspiration, Legendary Wisdom, Legendary Knowledge, Legendary Vision, Legendary Strength, and Legendary Courage.
• Shuffle and stack the chronicle cards by type to the side of the play area: Arcane Tower, Curio Shoppe, Tomb of the Ancients, Inn, Gaping Maw, and Pet Menagerie.
• Stack the event cards to the side of the play area and flip 2 of them face-up onto 2 of the event boards for up to 3 players; add a third of each for 4 or 5 players. Place the corresponding event tokens onto the top of each event board in their standees.
  • Note: For 4 or 5 players, flip a 3rd event card face-up onto the 3rd board.
• Place 6 of the Firewind vendor tokens, face-down and randomized into the 6 spaces on the festival board, and stack the rest at the top-right of the board. Then flip the 6 vendor tokens on the bottom of the board face-up.
• Each player takes one character sheet and briefly fills in the upper-right section.
• Set the renown and dark agent tokens near the play area.

In a Nutshell

The Vindication®: Chronicles expansion adds a more story-driven experience to each player's journey, documenting the interesting choices and events that occur on their path to vindication. It is played with the following components: legendary title cards, chronicle cards, event cards, dark agents, the character sheet, and the Firewind Festival board.

Character Sheet & Renown

Your Character Sheet — Recording Your Journey

Your character sheet tracks your journey's milestones, indicating your progress toward 3 reward types: renown, honor, and legendary powers.

(A–D) Gaining Renown from Your Character Sheet

Renown tokens are gained by gaining multiples of specific card types (e.g. obtaining 2 relics, gaining 2 traits, defeating 2 monsters, gaining companions of a new type, etc). Doing it once might be viewed as luck.

• How it works example: when you acquire your first relic, draw a checkmark in the first column, in the circle next to the relic card (A). When you acquire your second relic, check that circle (B), then gain one renown token. You may not gain any more renown for acquiring relics this game.
• Companions: companions work slightly differently — you are awarded renown for party diversity — having companions of different types/colors in your party.
  • You start the game with 1 companion. When you acquire a second companion, if it does not match the color of your first companion, draw a checkmark in the first column (C). If the new companion is the same color as your starting companion, do not check the circle.
  • Any time you acquire a subsequent companion, check that circle (D), if the new companion does not match the first two companions.
  • In this way you would gain one renown token when you had a companion of each color in your party, and you would not gain renown for acquiring additional companions.

(E) End-Game Honor Bonuses

At the end of the game, you will gain 1 honor for each checked circle in columns for which you have placed renown (e.g. if column 1 had a renown token placed above the honor icon, you would gain 1 honor for each checked circle above it (E)).

(F) Gaining Legendary Titles

Legendary titles are gained by completing Chronicle and Event Cards. As your story unfolds, tales of your heroism will spread, and your legend will grow. At a certain point, you will become known for specific heroic attributes, and will attain a Legendary Title, which comes with a powerful ability.

• How it works: whenever you complete an action on a Chronicle or Event card, you will progress your legendary status. When you see one of these 6 icons, check the first unchecked circle closest to that particular attribute. In this way, the 3rd circle checked in each attribute will grant a Legendary card of that type/color.
  • Example: when you get your third checkmark on the Courage track, draw a card from the Legendary Courage stack.
• Bonus Honor: Gain 1 honor each time you would place a checkmark into a track that is already filled (F).
• Placing Renown: placing renown into the center of your legendary status track (F) allows you to place a checkmark into any two circles on different tracks. You may only place 1 renown token here, and you may not gain bonus honor in this way — both circles must be unchecked.
• How it works: once per turn, as a bonus action, you may place a renown token wherever you see its outlined icon. As it relates to the honor section of this character sheet, placing it into one of the two columns awards 1 honor at the end of the game for each checked circle in the column.

Infinity icon: The infinity icon indicates that the action can be repeated. If this icon is not present, only 1 renown can exist here.

Gaining Renown

Renown is a new resource in Vindication. It is primarily gained by either resolving Event cards, or by acquiring card sets. Renown can be gained wherever the token is shown in full color.

Placing Renown Tokens

You leverage your renown by permanently placing your renown tokens in one of the 4 ways listed below. You place renown whenever the token's outline is shown.

4 Ways to Leverage Your Renown

Leveraging renown will grant you access to 4 special perks:

• End-game honor bonuses on your character sheet.
• Progression toward legendary status on your character sheet.
• Access to special vendors at the Firewind Festival board.
• The ability to use legendary powers on legendary title cards.

Legendary Cards

Once you have filled all 3 progression circles on a track for a particular attribute (on your character sheet) you may draw a Legendary card for that type/color, gaining 7 honor in the process.

Using Legendary Powers

Legendary powers can be used on your turn as bonus actions, but are limited. You may only use a legendary power:

• Immediately when you gain the legendary card.
• When you place a renown into the space on the bottom of the card.

Example card — The Immortal Spark, Banisher of Shadows (Legendary Inspiration): "Having the capacity to see everyone's infinite potential, your inspiring light expunges any shadows of doubt that your companions carry with them. Wherever you go, you leave a trail of effectiveness in your wake." When you use this legendary power: Move up to 3 influence from companions you control to your conviction sphere.

Leveraging Renown to Progress Legendary Status

When the circumstances allow, you may continue to leverage the power of your renown. Each time you do, add the renown to the leftmost open space at the bottom, gaining the honor at the time you activate your legendary power (e.g. using renown to activate your power in the final space would earn you 5 honor). In this way, you may only activate a legendary power a maximum of 4 times: once when you gain it, and 3 additional times using renown. Unless of course, you choose to abuse your power…

Abusing Legendary Powers

Your power is yours alone, and you have every right to abuse it, should it prove beneficial to you in the moment. If your own legendary card has all 3 of its spaces filled, you may still opt to use the power.

Doing so will require you to flip one of the renown tokens on the card to its reverse, resulting in an immediate honor loss of 2.

Chronicle Cards

In Vindication, you do a great many things. The Chronicles expansion unfolds the layers, textures, and details of how you've done those things — how you've interacted with the various characters and mysterious objects on the island, hopefully on your way back to a more honorable status. Over the course of the game, your chronicles will build a history of your journey right in your tableau, reflecting the stories and deeds that led you on your quest to vindication.

Whenever you gain one of the primary 6 card types (relics, loot, traits, companions, monsters, and exotic pets) you'll draw a chronicle card and the player to your right will read the story and options to you aloud; this will force you to make choices based on your own instincts. Once made, the result of your choice will impact your progression towards legendary status.

Drawing Chronicle Cards

When you gain a card into your tableau, the player to your right will draw a Chronicle card from the associated stack. Each card stack denotes which map region it is associated with:

• Arcane Tower
• Curio Shoppe
• Tomb of the Ancients
• Inn
• The Gaping Maw
• Pet Menagerie

Resolving Chronicle Cards

• The player to your right will read the card's title and story to you aloud, along with the 2 bold-text options (A) and details (B) for how you may respond. They will not read the results (C) until you've made your choice.
• After you've made your choice, read the details and results, then turn the card 90° and place the appropriate result beneath the card you just acquired in this process (C).
• You may now place a checkmark in the circle associated with the choice you made. In this case, you would advance in the legendary strength track on your sheet.

Example: Had you chosen to "Stagger back, covering your ears," you'd have progressed 1 mark toward legendary strength on your character sheet. This chronicle details your journey toward acquiring the patience trait.

Bonus: You'd gain 3 honor each time you would place a new checkmark into a track that is already filled with 3 checkmarks.

Using Chronicles in Solo Player Mode

When playing solo, you will use the "shroud" — the cardboard sleeve designed to obscure the details (B) and results (C) of the card until you've made your choice for the option (A).

• When drawing a chronicle card, keep that card face-down.
• Place the card face-down in the shroud so that you can't see the text side.
• Once placed, reveal, and choose your response.
• After you've made your choice, read the details and results, then turn the card 90° and place the appropriate result beneath the card you just acquired in this process (C).

Example: Had you chosen to "Push the door open," you'd have progressed 1 mark toward legendary vision on your character sheet. This chronicle details your journey toward acquiring the patience trait.

Sample chronicle card — Echoes of the Consumed (A3): "You sit alone at the end of a long corridor. Voices whisper to you from under a barred door, and you can't tell whether the feeling that arises in you is terror of death or the soft release of homecoming." Options: (A) "Push the door open." or "Stagger back, covering your ears." (B) "Whomever the voices belong to, they're certainly calling your name." or "You run. All that matters is keeping the whispers from reaching your mind." Result text (C): "A thousand mouths spoke, and then my spirit spoke: I am driven by ___ above all else." / "To safeguard my sanity, I've resolved to focus on growing my ___."

Event Cards

Our world is wondrous and filled with opportunity. At times, it is also dark and full of pain, sadness, and injustice. You know this firsthand, due to your history of scars and shadows — but those are, of course, in your past. The event card timeline reflects a constant stream of 2–3 opportunities that exist on the island — chances for you to perform heroic deeds that will drive away those shadows and set the stage for a better world. These cards will affect the game state for all players — everyone should familiarize themselves with them as they are revealed.

Advancing Event Cards

• Event cards exist in a timeline (with the newest event on the left and the oldest event on the far right) until a player resolves one of them or an end-game trigger token is reached.
• When a player resolves an event, that player takes the event card into their tableau and the empty event board moves to the front. The remaining event boards advance (left-to-right) and a new event card is placed on the leftmost event board. All relevant event tokens would be returned, then distributed as outlined on the new event.
• Example: This is the default state of the timeline (with 4+ players): boards 1, 2 and 3 hold Miara, Music, and Mead; A Darkness Below; and Trial and Error respectively.
• If a player would resolve the event on event board 2 ("A Darkness Below"), that card would go into their tableau, board 2 would move to the front and reveal a new event, board 1 would advance to the right, and board 3 would remain unchanged. New events are always revealed (flipped) onto the leftmost board.
• Time and missed opportunities: When an end-game trigger token is reached, the rightmost (oldest) event is placed on the bottom of the stack and replaced, the remaining event boards advance. In this case, board 3 would move to the front, and boards 2 and 1 would advance to the right.

Event Card Anatomy

• A — Title and story. Understanding the nuances of the situation will provide insights as to how you might handle it.
• B — Setup and clarifications. Visuals and descriptions of how to alter the play space for the event.
• C — Requirements. You may choose 1 of 2 options when meeting the requirements for resolving an event. The left column (F) shows a flat attribute cost. However, having specific card types can sometimes make your party particularly well-suited to handle some events. The right column (G) offers a more efficient option to resolve the event if your party qualifies (in this case, a relic).
• D — Rewards. Generally, this will be a renown token and progression towards legendary status, but may include other reward types.
• E — Reward area of the card.

Resolving Events

One player should read event cards aloud as they are added to the timeline so that everyone is familiar with them.

At any time on their turn, players can resolve an event card as a bonus action, if they meet the requirements and are adjacent to the event location. When this occurs, the player:

• Uses attributes and pays costs.
• Removes any event tokens or danger blocks.
• Updates the event timeline (see above).
• Gains the rewards.

Timing Conflicts

• If there is a conflict between an event card and any other card type, the event card always takes precedence.
• If a new event card directly conflicts with an existing one, the older one is discarded and the events advance.

Event Cards in the Setup Example

• Miara, Music, and Mead (4+ players, board 1). Setup: Place an event marker on every revealed inn. If a player visits an inn, the player to their left must move the visiting player 3 spaces in any direction they choose (without doubling back). Heroic deed: As a free action, a player adjacent to an inn may join Miara's troupe in her grand finale, closing out her tour with a bang! Reward: a −2 icon and a further icon (described from the card art).
• A Darkness Below (board 2). See the dedicated section below.
• Trial and Error (board 3). Story: Sages of the Arcane Tower have plastered flyers all over inns and village squares looking for "willing participants" to try out a new "travel aid." Why don't they just come out and say it, "we want you to try this weird yellow potion and tell us if it does anything." Marketing… Setup: Locate the Arcane Tower and place an event marker there. Heroic deed: A player adjacent to the Arcane Tower may slosh back one of the peculiar potions and roll the white die — or — roll the black die. Reward: Portal (icon as shown on the card art).
• Hostile Negotiations (first-revealed event card on the green board). Story: An entire inn full of patrons has been taken hostage by a band of barbarians. They have not harmed anyone, but they have one demand: "Bring us your relics so we can survive in the bitter wilds!" Setup: Locate the first-revealed inn and place an event marker there. This inn may not be visited until this event is removed. Heroic deed: As a free action, a player adjacent to this inn may hand over a relic, freeing the inn and gaining a barbaric favor (the cost is shown on the card art as "abandon 1 relic"). Reward: Immediately gain control of any uncontrolled region.
• Mysterious Anomalies (second board). Story: Rumors held for weeks that something terrible had occurred in the Arcane Tower. Now, something sinister is causing strange disruptions in the vicinity. Someone must investigate and disperse whatever evil lies within… Setup: Locate the Arcane Tower. Place black blocks in all unoccupied adjacent intersections. Players who move into a space with a black block must dilute 1 power. Heroic deed: As a free action, an adjacent player may investigate the tower to gain the reward. Advantage: The experience of a blue companion would prove useful here.

The card-art reward icons in these examples are described rather than reproduced; see the physical card for the exact symbols.

Dark Agents

A Darkness Below (Event)

Story: Several monks have reported a disturbing presence somewhere in a chain of subterranean passageways connecting the monasteries. Until today, we didn't even know the tunnels existed at all. Nothing surprises us anymore about those monks.

• Setup: Place event markers and 2 dark agent tokens on each of the monasteries. Players may not visit monasteries until this event has been removed.
• Heroic deed: A player adjacent to this monastery may vanquish 1 dark agent to gain the reward. When none remain, remove this event.
• Reward: Shown on the card art as icons (a renown token and a further reward); the icons are not reproduced here.

Dark Agents

The Twilight Brotherhood wants to serve mankind by ending its existence and sending everyone to the paradise that awaits after death. Not everyone appears ready for this transition, including you.

Dark agents will occasionally appear in various places through global events, and will need to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

• If any dark agent tokens are on a region, they must be vanquished before that region can be visited.
• Vanquishing a dark agent simply requires using 2 of any attributes in any combination as a free action.
• Players who vanquish dark agents will gain honor for doing so, keeping the tokens in their tableau for end-game scoring of 1 honor each.

The Firewind Festival

As you gain renown, you may find that certain opportunities and perks become available to you at the festival that might not otherwise have presented themselves. Such is the power of renown and heroism.

Conceptually, the festival is filled with games, contests, tournaments and other challenges that players can engage in. These challenges are both wonderful and sometimes dangerous.

Using the Firewind Festival

• Anytime you are on the shoreline at the edge of the map (indicated by the numbered spaces), you may use your visit action and place 1 renown to attend the Firewind festival and take an action on the festival board.
• Any number of renown can be placed on the Firewind festival board, as indicated by the infinity icon.
• Choose one vendor token for which you have the prerequisite attribute (you may not choose a perk in a sphere for which you don't have an attribute on the main board). Gain the selected token to your tableau — it can be used at any time on your turns.
• Optionally, you may also invest 1 conviction into the top portion of the board to make a community investment and mingle with the attendees — this activity will enhance your future visits. You may only have a maximum of 1 conviction at the festival at any time (you may not both benefit from and invest conviction on the same turn).
• After selecting a perk, put it into your tableau for use at any time on one of your turns (then replace the empty space on the board from the extra tokens at the top of the board).
• When you use a perk from your tableau, shuffle the token into the stack of tokens at the top of the Firewind festival board.

Community Investment

There are 2 primary benefits to investing in the community at the Firewind festival:

• Once during your visit, as a bonus action, you may remove your conviction to draw 2 perks instead of 1. You must qualify with appropriate attributes for both.
• Once during your visit, as a bonus action, you may remove your conviction to randomize any vendor tokens on the board for which you have attributes, and replace them as done in game setup.

Vendor Tokens

The festival board's vendor tokens are described from the card art:

• A wild token that clones the effect of any other vendor token.
• Roll the white die and gain that attribute; if you didn't already have it, roll one more time.
• Augment 2 influence to conviction.
• Augment any 2 power.
• Augment 2 potential to influence.
• Gain 2 crystal tokens.
• Teleport to any unoccupied space.
• Take the top face-down loot card (no honor gain).
• Take the top face-down pet card (no honor gain).
• Return up to 4 influence from companions.
• Gain 3 honor.
• Upgrade your mount.

Twice per year, in the seasons of planting and reaping, a vast gathering of people from everywhere move to the island's edges to connect in a human ring around the island. Here, as a community of one mind and heart, they light great bonfires on the windy beaches at twilight to salute the endlessness of the ocean, and to celebrate the gift of life. Paper lanterns, colorful tents, and a great chorus of voices fill the spirit for days on end. They call it Firewind: the Festival of Breath.