World of Warcraft: The Boardgame – Shadow of War Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Component Overview
  • Components
  • The SHADOW OF WAR Symbol
• Setup
• Expansion Rules
  • New Powers and Talents
  • Equipping Powers Outside the Character Management Step
  • The Spellbook Icon
  • Bonus Item Cards
    • Bonus Item Cards and Bag Limits
    • Experience Reward Cards
  • Blue Quests
    • Timing of Rewards
    • Experience Penalties and Bonuses
  • Destiny Cards
    • Revealing a Destiny Card
• Optional Rule

Component Overview

New Class cards: The new Class cards work exactly like those in the base game, and offer players more options for improving and customizing their characters.

New Item cards: The new circle, square, triangle, and special Item cards work exactly like those from the base game. The new Bonus Item cards (with a green star on their backs) are rewarded primarily by the new blue quests.

Blue Quest cards: The blue Quest cards included in this expansion form a new Quest deck of their own. These blue quests reward players for defeating independent creatures.

New Event cards: The new Event cards work exactly like those in the base game, and add more chance events to make each game unique.

Destiny cards: The Destiny cards included in this expansion are similar to Event cards, but they have a greater impact on the realm of Lordaeron.

Some Destiny cards are overlord-specific: These cards have a symbol at the base of the card corresponding to a specific overlord.

Components

This rulebook

• 90 Power cards (10 for each of the 9 classes)
• 90 Talent cards (10 for each of the 9 classes)
• 32 Triangle Item cards
• 18 Square Item cards
• 25 Circle Item cards
• 20 Special Item cards
• 103 Bonus Item cards
• 25 Blue Quest cards
• 26 Event cards
• 39 Destiny cards

The SHADOW OF WAR Symbol

All the cards in this expansion are marked with a broken shield symbol, so that you can differentiate them from the cards in the base game.

Setup

When playing with the SHADOW OF WAR expansion, include the following changes to game setup:

• When players select character classes in Step 2 of setup, they should take the 10 new Power cards and 10 new Talent cards for that class, in addition to the 24 Class cards included in the base game.
• When separating and shuffling the Item cards in step 6 of setup, shuffle the new Item cards into the appropriate decks. Note that the Bonus Item cards form a fifth Item deck.
• When setting up the Quest decks in step 10 of setup, also shuffle the blue Quest deck from this expansion. Draw the top 3 cards from the blue Quest deck and place them faceup beside the game board near the other available quests.
• When shuffling the Event deck in step 12 of setup, also shuffle in the new Event cards from this expansion.
• In a new, 13th setup step, prepare the Destiny cards included in this expansion:
  • First, include only the 6 overlord-specific cards that correspond to the overlord for the current game, and remove the other overlord-specific cards.
  • Second, shuffle the Destiny deck, reveal the top card, and put it into play faceup adjacent to the game board.
  • Finally, depending on the number in the lower left corner of the card over the hourglass symbol, either resolve the Destiny card immediately or place a hit token on the turn track (see pages 6-7 for details).

Expansion Rules

The following rules detail the elements that are new to this expansion.

New Powers and Talents

The SHADOW OF WAR expansion features 10 new Power cards and 10 new Talent cards for each of the 9 classes. These new powers and talents follow all the same rules and restrictions as those in the base game.

Equipping Powers Outside the Character Management Step

One feature of the new Class cards is that many of them enable you to equip certain powers outside the Character Management step. This makes many of the characters more versatile and adaptable, since they are able to equip certain powers as the need arises rather than only at the end of the faction turn.

When you equip a power outside the Character Management step, or "fast-equip" the power, you must still follow all the normal rules for equipping powers:

• The power must be in your Spellbook.
• If the power is an active power, you must pay its Energy cost.
• You must match the card's type with the printed icon above the card area.

In addition, when you fast-equip a power, you may unequip one power from your character sheet and equip the new power in its place.

Example: The Warrior's Tactical Mastery talent states: "Start of the combat round: You may equip one power." You are playing Grumbaz Crowsblood, the Warrior, and you have the Tactical Mastery talent. An Alliance character has just taken a Challenge action initiating PvP combat with you. You have Berserker Stance, Pummel, and Heroic Strike equipped, and you have 1 empty card area with an instant power icon. You have Defensive Stance and Revenge in your Spellbook. At the start of the first combat round, you use Tactical Mastery to unequip Berserker Stance and equip Defensive Stance in its place, paying Defensive Stance's Energy cost of 1. At the beginning of the second combat round, you again use Tactical Mastery, this time to equip Revenge in the empty "instant power" card area on your character sheet.

The Spellbook Icon

Many of the new powers in this expansion feature a Spellbook icon in the upper right corner of the card.

This icon indicates that you may fast-equip the power, from your Spellbook, at the beginning of any of your character actions (including taking a Challenge action or joining a Challenge). In other words, treat cards with the Spellbook icon as if they had the text "Start of your action: You may equip this power." The cards use an icon rather than this text so that you can more easily differentiate these "fast-equip" powers from the other powers in your Spellbook.

When equipping a card with a Spellbook icon at the beginning of your character action, you must still follow all the normal rules for equipping powers: The power must be in your Spellbook, you must pay the Energy costs of active powers, etc.

Bonus Item Cards

These are new Item cards that are primarily rewarded by blue quests. The Bonus Item cards work like the Item cards from the other Item decks, with two major differences.

Bonus Item Cards and Bag Limits

For the most part, Bonus Item cards represent small items. Therefore, they do not count toward the normal Bag capacity limit of 3 Item cards. Instead, a character may have up to 7 Bonus Item cards stored in his or her Bag, in addition to the 3 non-Bonus Item cards. If a character receives a Bonus Item card but already has 7 Bonus Item cards underneath his Bag token, he must immediately place one of the Bonus Items (either the new Bonus Item card or one of the Bonus Item cards already underneath his Bag token) in the Merchant deck without receiving any compensation.

Experience Reward Cards

There is one special type of card in the Bonus Item deck: the Experience Reward card.

When a player receives an Experience Reward card from the Bonus Item deck, he simply receives the indicated amount of experience. If a group draws an Experience Reward card, the experience is divided among the group according to the normal rules for XP rewards. Experience Reward cards are not Item cards. This is important because defeated characters cannot receive Item cards as rewards, but they are eligible to receive the XP points from Experience Reward cards.

The XP from Experience Reward cards is awarded immediately, and then the card is discarded. Experience Reward cards are not treated as Item cards for any game purpose: They may not be equipped, stored in a character's Bag, traded, sold to the Merchant, etc. If a character has 7 Bonus Item cards in his Bag and receives an Experience Reward card, he simply receives the experience and then discards the Experience Reward card.

Blue Quests

Blue quests are similar to the grey, green, yellow, and red quests, with several important differences:

• No creatures are spawned on to the board because of blue quests.
• The blue quests are not faction-specific. Either faction may complete any of the 3 available blue quests.
• Blue quests are not tied to a specific region on the board.
• Blue quests are completed by defeating independent (blue) creatures. To complete a blue quest, a character or group must simply defeat a blue creature whose type (Murloc, Ogre, etc.) matches one of the two different types of creatures indicated on the blue Quest card.

Timing of Rewards

Characters only receive the reward from a quest after combat is fully resolved. So, for example, if a blue quest involves defeating one blue Murloc, and you are in combat with a group of two blue Murlocs, you must resolve the entire combat before you receive the reward. (That is, you may not receive the reward after killing only the first Murloc.) After you complete a blue quest, you receive the rewards for that quest, then draw a new blue quest and put it into play.

It is possible to complete multiple blue quests in a single combat. If a character or group completes multiple quests, the rewards for all the quests are received after the combat is fully resolved, and new blue quests are drawn in their place after combat.

Example 1: There are 2 blue quests in play that each require you to defeat a blue Murloc. You challenge a group of 2 blue Murlocs and defeat them both. After combat is fully resolved, you receive the rewards from both blue Murloc quests. Finally, the two completed quests are discarded and 2 new blue quests are turned faceup.

Example 2: There are 2 blue quests in play that each require 1 blue Murloc. You challenge 1 blue Murloc and defeat it. You have completed 1 of the blue Murloc quests (you may pick which one). You receive the reward for that quest, then discard it and put 1 new blue quest into play.

Example 3: There is 1 blue quest in play that requires a blue Murloc. You challenge a group of 2 blue Murlocs and defeat them both. You have completed the 1 blue Murloc quest that was in play. Although you have defeated 2 Murlocs, you only receive the reward from the quest once. You discard the blue Murloc quest, then draw another blue quest and put it into play. As it happens, the new blue Quest card also features a Murloc. Although you defeated one "extra" Murloc in combat, you cannot apply that toward this newly drawn quest.

Experience Penalties and Bonuses

Blue quests have no target level, so their rewards are never subject to experience bonuses or penalties.

If you run out of blue quests, shuffle the discarded quests to form a new blue Quest deck.

Destiny Cards

These are similar to Event cards but generally have a greater impact on the realm of Lordaeron. There is always one (and only one) Destiny card in play at a time. As soon as a Destiny card is resolved, you must immediately reveal a new Destiny card and put it into play.

The hourglass symbol on the bottom left corner shows the card's Destiny Number, which indicates how many turns the card stays in play. When you draw a new Destiny card, read the Destiny Number and place a hit token on the turn track that number of spaces away from the turn marker (see diagram). As soon as the turn marker reaches the space with a hit token, the current Destiny card expires: Resolve any card text that is triggered by the card expiring, discard it (unless the card instructs you differently), and put a new Destiny card into play.

Some events have a negative effect if they are not resolved before the card expires, while other Destiny cards have beneficial effects that only last for a few turns. All Destiny cards with the word "Boss" in their title are discarded if that boss is defeated (again, unless the card instructs you differently), and many other Destiny cards may also be discarded before they expire. If this happens, remove the associated hit token from the turn track.

Some Destiny cards have a zero on their hourglass symbol. Resolve these cards immediately, then draw a new Destiny card. If a "zero" Destiny card is drawn at the end of the setup procedure, resolve it immediately and draw a new Destiny card (and repeat if another "zero" card is drawn).

If a card effect requires you to advance the turn marker several spaces, ignore the icons on the spaces that the turn marker passes over. That is, do not add any Item cards to the Merchant deck or draw new Event cards unless the turn marker actually stops on the space with the relevant icon.

When a Destiny card expires, resolve its text before performing any other actions associated with that space on the turn track (such as drawing an Event card or adding Item cards to the Merchant deck).

Revealing a Destiny Card

(Example, illustrated in the original rulebook:)

1. In the final step of game setup, the top card of the Destiny deck is revealed. The card is "Righteous Crusade."
2. "Righteous Crusade" has a Destiny Number of 4, so the players place a hit token on the turn track, 4 spaces away from the turn marker.
3. At the end of the 4th faction turn, the turn marker is advanced to the 5th space on the turn track. Since it has now reached the hit token, the hit token is removed from the track and "Righteous Crusade" expires. "Righteous Crusade" is discarded and a new Destiny card is revealed.

Optional Rule

If you draw a blue quest and none of the required creatures are on the board, you may discard the Quest card and draw a new one. You may only do this once per quest.