Wildlands: The Thorns & the Roses
Wildlands: The Thorns & the Roses Rulebook
Table of Contents
Components
- 42 double-sided briar tokens
Set-Up
Each briar token has two sides: thorns and a rose. After each player has placed their shards, they should randomly reveal one of the five map cards they were handed by the other player. Place a briar token on each revealed space, with the thorns side face up.
If playing with two players, reveal two map cards each.
Growth
At the end of every turn, after you draw three cards, the briars grow into nearby spaces. The player whose turn just ended places a token on a space which is adjacent to any space containing a briar token. There cannot be more than one briar token in any space. Tokens are always placed with the thorns side face up.
If playing with two players, add two briar tokens. They must be adjacent to other briar tokens, but do not need to be adjacent to each other.
Thorns
When the thorns appear in a space, they make a melee attack on every character in that space. If there are characters from multiple factions in a space, these attacks happen in turn order, starting with the player who placed the token. If there are multiple characters from the same faction in a space, the player who controls that faction decides the order in which their characters are attacked.
If any character ends a move, fly or rally action in a space with a thorns token, then the thorns make a melee attack on them. Characters who are in a space containing a thorns token when they are revealed do not get attacked.
Characters who are knocked out by damage from the thorns are not worth points to any player.
Roses
An attack from the thorns can be defended like any other melee attack. When an attack from the thorns is defended against, flip the token to its rose side. All other attacks it would have made are immediately cancelled.
On your turn, any of your characters can target the thorns in a particular space using any type of attack. The thorns cannot defend against attacks. If a thorns token is attacked, flip it to the rose side. The briars can still grow from a rose token, but the token in this space will no longer damage characters. A rose token cannot be turned back into a thorn.
Example
Joanie from the Lawbringers, Edith from the Mages' Guild, and Tak from the Gnomads are in the same space. At the end of the Lawbringers' turn, the player who controls them adds a briar token to that space. The Lawbringer player chooses not defend against the attack, and Joanie takes one damage. (Printed as shown; the word "to" appears to be missing before "defend" in the original insert.)
Next in turn order is the Mages' Guild player, who chooses to spend a card to defend against the thorns. The token is immediately flipped to its rose side, and the Gnomads player no longer has to worry about it.