RULES & QUESTS

WORK IN PROGRESS MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES CHAPTERS

Inserts are in italic. Pick-Up ...... 28 Reorganize/Trade ...... 29 GAME COMPONENTS ...... 3 Resurrect ...... 29 STORY: THE LIGHTBRINGERS’ LEGACY . . . . . 5 Signature ...... 29 Why So Dark? ...... 5 Transmute ...... 29 EXPERIENCE PHASE ...... 30 SETUP ...... 6 I’d Kill That For 1 XP! ...... 30. GAME OVERVIEW ...... 10 ENEMIES’ PHASE ...... 32 Step 1 – Move ...... 32 BASIC RULES ...... 11 Step 2 – Attack ...... 32 ACTORS ...... 11 END PHASE ...... 36 ZONES ...... 12 LINE OF SIGHT ...... 13 COMBAT ...... 36 MOVEMENT ...... 14 COMBAT ROLL ...... 36 Step 1 – Rolling Dice ...... 36 . . LEVEL AND LEVEL TOKENS ...... 14 Re-rolls ...... 37 COMBAT DICE ...... 16 Two Hands! ...... 38 Three Dice Of Each Color ...... 16 Step 2 – Resolve The Enchantments ...... 38 HEROES ...... 16 Step 3 – Inflict Pain! ...... 38 HERO CARD ...... 16 MOB RULES ...... 39 HERO DASHBOARD ...... 17 ADDITIONAL RULES ...... 40 CLASS SHEET ...... 18 ARTIFACTS ...... 40 EQUIPMENT CARDS ...... 19 OBJECTIVE AND PILLAR TOKENS ...... 40 COMBAT EQUIPMENT ...... 19 SPECIAL LOCATIONS: APOTHECARY AND GUARDSROOM . . 41 ITEMS ...... 20 STUN ...... 41 CONSUMABLES ...... 20 SKILLS ...... 42 CARD SYMBOLS ...... 20 STORY MODE ...... 45 Two-Handed Equipment ...... 20 ENEMIES ...... 21 ENEMY CARDS ...... 21 Massive Darkness is a cooperative board game for Minions Amount ...... 21 one to six players, age 14 and up. As a team, players Health ...... 21 agree on a fantasy quest to undergo. Each of them Enchantments ...... 22 Enemy Combat Type ...... 22 chooses a hero, then the whole party descends into Defense Dice ...... 23 underground lairs and corridors! Prowling in the ENEMY ROLES ...... 23 darkness, the heroes beat guards and monstrosities, claim legendary weapons and earn experience until Mobs ...... 23 Agents ...... 24 they deserve to be called Lightbringers. Roaming Monsters ...... 24 Enemies of all kinds, from goblin war parties to Guardians ...... 24 . . roaming monsters, are controlled by the game itself, using a simple set of rules. Your heroes can battle PLAYING A GAME ROUND ...... 25 them in hand to hand, ranged, or even magic combat. EVENT PHASE ...... 25 Explore the dungeon, beat your enemies and claim Running Out Of Miniatures ...... 25 their potent weapons to survive the next challenge! HEROES’ PHASE ...... 26 The basic goal is to achieve the objectives set by Combat Actions ...... 26 the chosen quest. As players can keep their heroes Do Nothing ...... 26 from a quest to the next, and see them evolve, the Enter Shadow Mode ...... 27 ultimate goal is to play your own adventure over a Get Up ...... 28 series of games! Move ...... 28 Open A Door ...... 28 2 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES GAME COMPONENTS 9 GAME TILES (DOUBLE-SIDED) 6 PADS OF 20 CLASS SHEETS

Battle Wizard, Bloodmoon Nightrunner, 6 HERO MINIATURES AND HERO CARDS Nightshade Ranger, Paladin Of Fury, Pit Fighter Berserker, Shadow Barbarian. 6 PLASTIC HERO DASHBOARDS 6 HERO COLOR BASES

Sibyl Bjorn Siegfried 12 COLOR PEGS

111 TOKENS

Level token x10 Door x15

Owen Elias Whisper First Player Treasure token Shadow Mode token x1 (30x Lvl 1 & 4x Lvl 2) token x6

x20 x10 Pillar 12 COMBAT DICE Exit x1 Wound token token x6 Yellow Attack Blue Defense Lair x3 Dice x3 Dice x3

Red Attack Green Defense Artifact x2 Library x1 Dice x3 Dice x3 Dark Bridge x2 Objective token x6 3 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES

69 ENEMY MINIATURES

Dwarf Dwarf Dwarf Dwarf Goblin Goblin Goblin Goblin Defender Defender Warrior Warrior Archer Archer Warrior Warrior Minions x6 Boss x1 Minions x12 Boss x1 Minions x12 Boss x1 Minions x12 Boss x1

Orc Orc Orc Orc Dwarf Goblin Orc Flayer Flayer Enforcer Enforcer Agent x1 Agent x1 Agent x1 Minions x6 Boss x1 Minions x6 Boss x1

Troll x1 Giant Spider x1 Ogre-Mage x1 Demon x1 Hellhound x1 Liliarch x1 207 MINI-CARDS 12 Starting 164 Treasure cards 15 Event cards Equipment cards (T1 to T163) (E1 to E15) (SE1 to SE12) 33 Level 2 32 Level 4

10 Door cards 6 Artifact cards 35 Level 1 32 Level 3 32 Level (D1 to D10) (A1 to A6) 5 50 GUARD CARDS 12 ROAMING (G1 TO G50) MONSTER CARDS (RM1 TO RM12)

10 Level 1 10 Level 2 10 Level 3 10 Level 4 10 Level 5 4 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES STORY: THE LIGHTBRINGERS’ LEGACY

Once upon a time… Wait . That’s not right . No, it was not so long ago . Three generations . Roughly sixty years . I’ve seen records of it, and heard Grandmother’s tales . But you, you may still be too young . So, not so long ago, there were more people on the surface of our world than ever before . Humans, Elves, Dwarves… you know them, but Goblins, Orcs and Ratlings were there, too . You might be lucky to have seen a couple of them today, but in that time they used to form entire nations . The rules weren’t the same, things were sim- pler, yet death was part of everyday life . Everyone knew where the border was drawn between civilization and the unexplored, savage lands . Attacks during travel forced you to keep weapons by your side . It was a wild time .

Then everything changed… A mysterious someone, or something, managed to unite the so-called “barbaric” folk against the rest of us . Our foes called this new leader “the Darkness ”. Its dreaded emissar- Listen, young one . You may have heard the rumors about the de- ies, the Agents, brought with them monsters of a long, lost age . They struction of remote villages, the disappearing people, the chilling arrived and began to teach the power of Darkness to the savage noises shepherds have heard in the mountains . Our leaders have people . They firmly believed in the rule of nature over civilization, spies, and they certainly heard of them too . They are talking, trying might over law, night over day . A brutal war erupted with a clash to get a world that found its peace by ignoring its problems to stand between the royal armies in all their forms . It ended seven years up and do something about these dire omens . later with everyone, from peasants to kings, fighting for survival . And you? Do these rumors ring some bell? I’m sure they do . You have Our great-grandparents won, not on account of strength, but *that* fire in your eyes . That same spark which ignited within the thanks to dedication, cooperation, and lore . The best blacksmiths Lightbringers’ gaze . I know because I have it, too, and we’re not the allied with the best enchanters to create superior weapons and ar- only ones . Collectively we are sure these events herald the beginning mor . Once armed properly, the most skillful warriors led the final of something bigger… something maliciously familiar to this world . charge against the Darkness . The people called them Lightbringers, You can feel it, can’t you? as they brought hope, light, and a burning justice to the world . Their savage foes could do nothing against the combined might The Darkness returns . of craftsmanship and magic . The Lightbringers slayed Darkness’ Agents and their monsters borne of the deeper pits . Their victorious I’m not going to turn away from the threat . I’m not one of the silent zeal pushed them beyond the wild borders… and spared no one . Any and happy lambs, and I know neither are you . I want to find out if I remaining warriors, women, and even their offspring were chased can be the hero this time around . I don’t want the war to start again . down . The Darkness’ allied folks nearly disappeared, and their I need proof for all to see . I need glory . I need gold . homelands became our new kingdoms . It’s time, young one . Claim your legacy, and join us on the brink of Darkness . Despite the peace they brutally restored, the Lightbringers quickly became symbols of a hated war, labelled king slayers and mass murderers . Not long after the people lost faith in them, a few Light- bringers claimed the lands they purged and crowned themselves their sovereign . The kings and queens they once served silenced their claims and scattered their legendary weapons out of sight of the rabble . WHY SO DARK? Bloody hands were washed and the bad memories were shut away to Darkness is both a mysterious antagonist and an envi- be forgotten . Order was restored for everyone’s benefit, and people ronmental ally in the game, and it shows on the tiles. grew blissful in their ignorance concerning their heroes . Sixty years of Darkness plays a major role in the game: sooner or expansion saw the kingdoms rise upon the ashes of the past . later, even the heirs to the Lightbringers have to hide And here we are . in the shadows to play deadly hide-and-seeks with their dreadful foes.

5 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES SETUP

2. Place the tiles and tokens as indicated by the Quest.

Sort the game cards per type and level. Each card bears its 3. type name on the back, as well as a dedicated color. Choose a Quest. If this is your first game, we recommend 1. choosing the tutorial, then playing the Quests in the in- • Set aside the Starting Equipment cards. They have the “Start- dicated order to follow the story. Experienced players can play ing Equipment” keywords and a beige back. a past Quest again in different conditions, or create a Quest on their own using the modular tiles and various tokens.

Many items help identifying your game cards. They can prove useful to sort your cards and apply specific game effects.

This is Massive Darkness’ selection of Starting Equipment cards. Your Heroes will quickly get rid of these basic items to get much more potent toys! All cards featured in Massive Darkness’ core box bear this symbol. Each expansion bears its own symbol. • Set aside the Artifact cards. They have the “Artifact” keyword and a white back. All cards get a code with their type and number. This clari- fies any doubt on the type, and let your know immediately any card you may miss.

A: Artifact G: Guard D: Door RM: Roaming Monster E: Event SE: Starting Equipment T: Treasure

Artifacts are legendary magical items. They are usually Quest objectives. In the right hands, they are game changers.

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• Sort the Guard cards by Level and shuffle each Guard deck. They • Sort and shuffle theTreasure cards in the same way as the have the “Guard” keyword and a back color matching their Level: Guard cards.

The dark folks have stolen, forged and gathered a great amount of treasures for their nefarious goals. Claim these weapons and turn them against your enemies!

• Sort, shuffle and place theDoor , Event and Roaming Monster decks. - Door cards have the “Door” keyword and a red back.

Guards form the numerous war bands your Heroes battle Here is a door card, drawn when the Heroes in the underground tunnels. They’re made up of either open a door to explore dangerous rooms. Mob groups, with a Boss leading several Minions, or the terrible Agents. Defeat them all to get Treasure cards!

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- Event cards have the “Event” keyword and a grey back. Each player chooses a Hero Card. This is the named char- 5. acter you will play. Take the matching miniature. Take a Hero Dashboard and a set of pegs of your favorite color. Attach the colored plastic base of the matching color to your Hero’s min- iature to help identify it.

Each player chooses a Hero Class for his Hero, and places 6. a matching Class Sheet next to their Hero Dashboard in front of him. The Hero Class is your character’s job. New players Here is an Event card, drawn to know what should select the recommended Hero Class indicated on their fate has in store for your Heroes. Hero Card. Experienced players may select among the various Hero Classes to explore variations and combinations. What if - Roaming Monster cards have the “Roaming Monster” keyword Siegfried was a Battle Wizard? on a black and red back. NOTE: Heroes can’t change their chosen Hero Class along the way . The selection is definitive .

Massive Darkness comes with pads featuring sheets for the six basic Hero Classes. They can also be freely downloaded on Guillotine Games’ official website:

www . guillotinegames . com This is a Roaming Monster card. Yep, your childhood’s worst nightmare got out of the closet. Deal a Starting Equipment card per Hero. Massive Darkness 7. is a cooperative game, choose and distribute as a team! EXHAUSTING AND RESHUFFLING DECKS Place the Hero miniatures in the indicated Hero Starting Zone indicated by the Quest. Cards are drawn, played and discarded along the game. 8. Discarded cards are set in discard piles near their respec- tive decks. Once the deck is exhausted, shuffle the discard pile to create a new deck to draw from.

Guard and Treasure card piles, from Level 1 to 4, are not reshuffled. If a player has to draw from such an exhausted This is the Hero Starting Zone. pile, he draws from the pile of the immediate superior Level instead. Decide who will be the First Player, and give him the First Level 5 Guard and Treasure piles are reshuffled normally Player token. Place the unused material back in the game when exhausted, as players can’t draw from a superior Level. 9. box. Get a pencil and eraser to track your Hero’s evolution along the game. You’re now ready to play!

4. Set aside the following items.

Unlimited power! Well, almost. Combat dice First Player token This is the First Player token.

Treasure tokens Wound tokens Shadow Mode token

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HERO SETUP EXAMPLE Choose a Class for your Hero, and set a corresponding Hero Sheet here. Your Hero starts the game with Health 5. Place a peg in the 5 Health slot. Place a peg in the skull box whenever your Hero is eliminated for the first time in the game; he can be Resurrected (see. P. 29), but the game is lost if he’s defeated a second time.

Choose a Hero Card, and set it here on your Hero Dashboard. Meet Bjorn!

Get your Hero’s miniature, give it the color base matching the pegs on your Hero Dashboard, and set it on the Hero Starting Area marked on the Quest’s map. Bjorn is now ready to go deep into Darkness!

Your Hero’s Starting Equipment card goes to an “Equipped” slot (with a hand symbol) on your Hero Dashboard, right here.

9 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES GAME OVERVIEW

Massive Darkness is played over a series of Game Rounds, which go as follows: EVENT PHASE

At the beginning of each Game Round, starting with the second, the First Player draws an Event card. It is read out loud and the related game effects are applied. Don’t draw an Event card on the first Game Round! The Event Phase is explained on P. 25. HEROES’ PHASE

The First Player takes his Turn, activating his Hero. A Hero can initially perform up to three Actions per Activation. Each can be used to execute various tasks toward the Quest’s completion: moving around the board, battling Enemies in vari- ous ways, taking game objectives, exchanging equipment with fellow Heroes or hiding in the shadows. Once a player has resolved his Hero’s Activation, the player to his left takes his Turn, activating his Hero in the same manner. The Heroes’ Phase ends when all players have completed their Turn. The Heroes’ Phase is explained on P. 26. EXPERIENCE PHASE

Heroes can spend their hard-earned Experience Points (referred to as “XP”) to get new Skills. Their effects are applied from now on. Unspent Experience Points and acquired Skills are kept from a Quest to the next, allowing players to see their Hero party evolve through their own epic saga! The Experience Phase is explained on P. 30. END PHASE

The End Phase marks the end of the Game Round. Many game ENEMIES’ PHASE effects stop during this Phase. The First Player hands the First Player token to the player on his left. The latter will be the First Enemies come in all kinds and shapes, from the lower Minions to Player for the next Game Round. Another Game Round can the horrifying Roaming Monsters. Their behavior on the board then begin. is set by a couple rules used to resolve the Enemies’ Actions dur- The End Phase is explained on P. 36. ing this Phase. Enemies move around the board, patrolling or actively looking for the heroic interlopers. Of course, they also fight, using bows, WINNING AND LOSING claws, swords and even magic to make the Heroes’ lives harder. Good news: the strongest Enemies carry the precious Treasures Massive Darkness is a cooperative game, players win or lose as the Heroes are seeking to achieve their Quest. Bad news: they a team. The game is won when the Quest objectives are reached. often know how to use them. So, to get your fabled enchanted The game is lost when the Quest objectives can no longer be met. sword, you’ll first have to defeat a brute pointing it at you! Most of the time, this happens when all Heroes lie defeated. The Enemies’ Phase is explained on P. 32. The game is also lost when any of the Heroes is defeated a sec- ond time.

10 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES

Agents are the Darkness incarnate and have an influence over BASIC RULES the Event Phase by calling upon waves of enemies.

Massive Darkness features many keywords to help players resolve game effects in the easiest manner, focusing on action and coop- eration. Here are some key concepts. ACTORS

All characters in the game are Actors.

A Hero is defined by the combination of a Hero Card, Hero Dash- board and Class Sheet. His/her game behavior is defined by the Actions they take, according to the player’s strategy.

An Enemy is any antagonist to the Heroes whose behavior is defined by game rules (see Enemies on P. 21 and Enemies’ Phase on P. 30). Agents have an influence over the Event Phase by calling reinforcements (see P. 24). A Mob is composed of a Boss and its Minions. A Boss is the leader of a Minions’ group, sharing the same characteristics and game effects. AMinion is a henchman, the lowest Enemy type. Roaming Monsters are single, dangerous creatures of superior The number of Minions in a Mob varies according to the amount power. of Heroes starting the game.

This value is used to determine the amount of Minions. It scales with the number of Heroes (see P. 21).

“Will you walk into my parlour?”

Among Enemies, Guardians spawn Equipped with a Treasure card they are meant to keep at all costs. If they know how to use it, they will! This keyword may apply to Agents, Bosses and Roam- ing Monsters alike.

Goblin Warrior Minions gather around a Goblin Warrior Boss to form a Mob.

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ZONES The game features Room Zones. A Chamber is an area created by one or several Room Zones connected by openings, and delimited A Zone is an area between two linear markings, or a linear mark- by walls. Rooms separated by door tokens are considered as dif- ing and a tile’s edge. These linear markings can either be ground ferent Chambers. marks or walls. All other Zones are Corridor Zones.

The four walls mark a Room Zones are either in Light or in Shadow. Light Zones have a light Zone. There is no light source: source (most of the times, a fire or torch). Shadow Zones are in it is also a Shadow Zone. the dark.

This Room Zone features a light source: it is a Light Zone.

Here is a Corridor Zone. The torch and lighting mark The lack of light marks this it as a Light Zone. as a Shadow Corridor Zone.

These Room Zones are linked by an opening and surrounded by walls, forming a Chamber.

12 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES

LINE OF SIGHT Lines of Sight run from a Zone to the next until they meet a closed door, a wall or a tiles’ edge. Lines of Sight are straight lines running parallel to the edges of Light and Shadow may have an influence on Lines of Sight. See the board. Actors cannot see diagonally. Shadow Mode (P. 27) to know more.

Elias’s Line Of Sight expands from a Zone to the next in No diagonal a straight line, parallel Line Of Sight! to the board’s edges.

The Line Of Sight is blocked by the closed door.

Lines Of Sights run parallel to the board’s edge. They are blocked by walls, closed doors and the board’s edges. Here are Bjorn, Elias, Owen and Sibyl’s Lines Of Sight.

Sibyl’s Line Of Sight runs this far, through several Chambers and Corridors.

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MOVEMENT Using these values and colors, Level tokens are spread across the board’s various tiles according to the Quest map. Each game Actors can move from one Zone to the next as long as the first begins at Level 1 (white) as Heroes are placed on the Hero Start- Zone shares at least one edge with the destination Zone. Corners ing Zone. The game Levels up as soon as a Hero finishes a Move do not count (no diagonal movements!). Movement from a Zone Action (see P. 2 8) on a tile with a higher Level value. It is then set to another has no restrictions, other than Heroes can’t leave to the corresponding Level. Flip this tokens to its “active” side, a Zone containing an Enemy, and vice-versa. Actors must go and flip all Level tokens with another value to their “inactive” through an open door to enter or exit a Room Zone side. So, the current Level is defined by the “active” Level token! .

Siegfried is on The Dwarf moves his way to reach first to this Zone, Whisper started the the Objective token going through game on this tile. the open door. The Level 1 token was on its “active” side from the start.

Then to this Zone, on a second movement

No diagonal movement!

And his third movement leads him to destination The Level 2 token is through the open door. on its “inactive” side. However, Whisper is about to move from the Level 1 to LEVEL AND LEVEL TOKENS the Level 2 tile.

The Level defines the evolution of Enemies, Heroes and Equip- ment cards as the game progresses. The higher, the deadlier! It ranges in five Levels and colors:

The Level tokens mark the danger rising along the game.

The Level 3 token is on its “inactive” side.

Here is a Level 1 token, on its active side, then on its inactive side.

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• Roaming Monsters (P. 24). Roaming Monsters spawn on the Zone holding the Level token matching their own Level, as writ- ten on their Roaming Monster card. Whisper moves on the tile holding the Level 2 NOTE: Artifacts and Treasures can be used regardless of the current token. The latter is flipped Level . Heroes can use them as soon as they find them! to its “active” side. The Level 1 token is no longer active and is flipped to The game is at Level 2. Heroes can its “inactive” side. use their Skills up to Level 2. Whisper opens a door, revealing a Chamber with three Zones. A Door card is drawn for each Zone, one after the other

Guards! Players draw a Level 2 Guard card (the current Level), The game is now at Level 2, revealing a Goblin exerting an influence over Warrior Mob. numerous game effects. Should Whisper choose to go back to the Level 1 tile, the game would still be at Level 2, the highest the Heroes reached so far.

Roaming Monster! Players draw a Roaming Monster card, revealing a Level 3 Giant Spider. Its miniature is set on the Zone holding the Level 3 token.

The Level 3 token is inactive until a Hero reaches its tile. Guards! Players draw a Level 2 Guard card (the current Leavel), revealing a Goblin Warrior Mob. The current Level and Level tokens exert their influence on: • Hero Skills (P. 18). Heroes can only use Skills of the current Level and below. • Mobs (P. 23). The current Level is the minimum Level used to spawn Mobs. If they spawn on a lower-Leveled tile, use the current Level. If they spawn on a higher-Leveled tile, use their tile’s Level. • Patrols. Spawned by Event cards (P. 25), Patrols spawn on the Zone holding the Level token matching the current Level, plus one (Max 5). If several Zones holds a Level token of the corre- sponding value, players choose on which the Patrol appears.

15 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES COMBAT DICE HEROES

Hazardous situations, especially Combat, are resolved using unique Combat dice.

Attack dice come in yellow and red. They feature Hit symbols . A Hero is defined by the combination of a Hero Card, featuring his name and Special Skills, a Hero Dashboard tracking his cur- rent inventory and status, and a Class Sheet, listing the Skills he can acquire all along his career as an adventurer. HERO CARD Here are yellow and red Attack dice. Red is better! Special Skills: The Hero can freely Defense dice come in blue and green. They feature Shield symbols . use these Skills as soon as the game reaches the indicated Level.

Here are blue and green Defense dice. Green is better!

Along Hits or Shields, Combat dice also feature Bam and Diamond symbols. Bams and Diamonds are used to trigger specific game effects calledEnchantments , added to the indi- cated Hit or Shield value. Bams and Diamonds are usually linked to a dice type (Attack or Defense), to determine the moment their related game effects are triggered (see P. XX). Attack : A Bam obtained with a yellow or red Attack die. Attack : A Diamond obtained with a red Attack die. Defense : A Bam obtained with a blue or green Defense die. Recommended Class: Free Class Skill: If the Defense : A Diamond obtained with a green Defense die. The Hero has natural chosen Hero Class features synergies with the the indicated Skill, the Hero indicated Hero Class. gets it for free at creation, It is a good choice whatever the chosen Class, for starting players. Experience cost and Skill Line THREE DICE OF EACH COLOR Experienced players prerequisites. The matching may ignore this and try Level still has to be reached for A dice roll can include up to three dice of each color. Any wild combinations! this Skill to be used, though. exceeding amount is lost.

16 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES HERO DASHBOARD

Use the pegs attached to your Hero Dashboard to track your Hero’s current Health and Experience! Body slot. Used to Equip Health. Your Hero’s Health an Armor or a weapon and resurrection amount Put your Hero Card here. featuring the Body icon. are tracked here.

Hand slots. One-handed and Two-Handed Equipped weapons Experience. Keep track of are placed here. Your Hero can hold two Two-Handed your Hero’s Experience here. weapons, but can use only one of them at a time!

Health and Resurrection: This section is used to keep track Experience Points: Use this area to keep track of the Experience of the Hero’ Health value. It starts at 5, and can be raised to 7 points the Hero earns during the game. Adjust this amount ac- by spending Experience Points in the Health Skill Line. The cordingly as XP is earned and spent. It’s very useful to keep track Health amount is lowered by 1 for each Wound the Hero suffers, of progression from a game to the next! with a minimum value of 0. At Health 0, the Hero is defeated: lay his miniature down and place a peg in the skull box on his Equipment cards: Equipped cards are placed in the correspond- Dashboard. ing areas. Unequipped cards are placed next to the Hero Dash- • Until he is Resurrected, a Hero is ignored for all game effects board. Several methods can be used to sort them along the game: but Minion spawning (P. 23). by type, by usefulness, or by Level to ease the Transmute Action • Defeate d Heroes can be targeted by game effects healing He- (see. P. 29). Use your favorite method! roes. In that case, they Resurrect and stand up with a Health amount corresponding to the healing game effect. From now on, the Resurrected hero can play again, in Activation order. • If the same Hero is defeated twice, the game is lost.

17 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES CLASS SHEET

Signature. A daring attack, requiring Levels. A Hero can use the Skills he acquired as soon Experience expenditure to be used. as the game reaches the corresponding Level.

Skill Line. Skills are acquired Experience cost. Spend this number of Skill. A powerful ability to unlock following the line’s order. Experience points to acquire the Skill! using Experience points.

Level: During the game, the Hero can use all the Skills he ac- quired, as long as they are equal or below the game’s current Skill Line: Each Hero Class possess various Skill Lines represent- Level. It means your Hero can use the Level 1 Skills he acquired, ing the Class specialties. Skills must be acquired in the reading right from the start of the game. The game has to reach Level 5 order shown on the line (Free Class Skills listed on the Hero Sheet for the corresponding acquired Skills to be used. being the exception). Each acquired Skill replaces the previous one in its own Line. Signature: The Signature is a flashy, cinematic Action triggered by spending Experience Points (see P. 29). It matches a Level 5 Skill: The new abilities and powers your Hero can acquire by Skill’s power, and can be called upon right from the start. The spending Experience Points. See Skills on P. 42 for the game Signature can be used an unlimited amount of times per Activa- effects. tion, as long as the Experience cost is met. Skill Price: The Hero has to spend this amount of Experience Points to acquire the Skill. It then can be used for the rest of his career, across multiple games.

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• Ranged weapons display Combat dice allocated to the Ranged EQUIPMENT CARDS symbol . They can fire at any Actor outside of their owner’s Zone, no matter how far, as long as their owner has a Line of Sight to it (Range 1+). They are used with Ranged Actions (P. 34).

The short bow is a Ranged weapon. Massive Darkness features many Equipment cards of various kinds and created for the same purpose: combat! A Hero can acquire an unlimited amount of Equipment cards, but they are all discarded at the end of each game.

Equipment cards with the Body , Hand or Two-Handed symbols need to be Equipped to be used: a Hero can only Equip • Magic weapons display Combat dice allocated to the Magic sym- one Body Equipment card and up to two Hand (or Two-Handed) bol . They can fire at any Actor outside of their owner’s Zone, Equipment cards at a time. A Two-Handed Equipment occupies but up to two Zones away, as long as their owner has a line of Sight a single Equipped slot. Swapping them requires a Reorganize/ to it (Range 1-2). They are used with Magic Actions. Trade Action (see Heroes’ Phase P. 26). Other Equipment cards are automatically Equipped and can be used whenever the Hero needs them. Remember: Equipment cards can be used as soon as they are found, regardless of the current Level. The staff is a Magic weapon. Equipment cards fall in three categories: Combat, Items and Consumables. COMBAT EQUIPMENT

Combat Equipment cards feature a row of symbols linked to Combat Actions and resolution, as well as the amount and type • Defensive Equipment has Combat dice allocated to the Defense of Combat dice to use. The keywords used, along with the way the symbol . Whenever Equipped, they can be used to cancel in- dice are allocated, show their category: Melee, Ranged, Magic or coming Hits (P. 37). Their effect is passive: there is no need to Defense. In turn, the category determines the Range the weapon spend Actions to use them. can be used. A Combat Equipment card can belong to several sub-categories • Melee weapons display Combat dice allocated to the Melee sym- at once! bol . Being close combat weapons by nature, Melee weapons can only hit Actors in their owner’s Zone (Range 0). They are used with Melee Actions (P. 33).

The Mace is a Melee weapon.

Featuring dice in both Melee and Defense, the short sword is both a Melee weapon and a Defensive Equipment. 19 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES

ITEMS Body . The Chainmail Armor needs to be put on the Body to be used. An Actor can Equip Item cards don’t display Combat symbols, but have game effects only one of them at any time. on their own. They come in various shapes, from pagan trinkets to bewitched clothes and even preciousss magic rings. Their de- scription details the way to use them. Body . The Shadow Orb can also be put on the Body to be used. An Actor can Equip only one Body Equipment at any time.

Two-Handed . Two-Handed Equipment cards occupy a single Equipped slot. They cannot be paired with an Equipment bearing the Hand or Two-Handed to add together CONSUMABLES their Combat dice. See Combat P. XX. Note that having an Equipped Consumable cards have a single-use effect. To use it, apply the Two-Handed card does not prevent effect then discard the card. you from also Equipping another Consumable Treasure cards are never drawn alone: if a Consum- Hand or Two-Handed card. able is drawn, draw an extra card from the same deck.

NOTE: Some Equipment simultaneously display the Body and Hand/ Two-Handed symbols . In that case, they can be Equipped either as Body OR Hand/Two-Handed Equipment .

CARD SYMBOLS Level . This Fire Hand . The Fire Sword Sword is Level 1. needs to be Equipped in Hand to be used. An Actor can Equip up to two Hand Equipment cards at any time (even if the miniature shows more “hands”!). TWO-HANDED EQUIPMENT A Two-Handed Equipment occupies a single inventory slot. A Hero can thus equip two different Two-Handed Equip- ment at the same time. They just cannot be paired, so only one of them can be used at a time.

Enchantment (Bam/Diamond) . This is an Enchanted Equipment. It triggers the described game effects whenever the corresponding symbol is obtained when the Actor attacks with it. Apply the related game effect once per symbol obtained. Some Equipment cards trigger Enchantment when the Actor uses it for defense See Combat P. XX.

20 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES ENEMIES Minions Amount ENEMY CARDS

Most Enemies roam the board as Mobs: an Enemy Boss along its Minion escorts. The amount of Minion miniatures spawning along the Boss directly depends on the amount of Heroes who began the Quest. Use the indicated value as a multiplier: 2: Spawn two Minions per starting Hero. 1: Spawn a single Minion per starting Hero.

Health

Health defines the Wound amount the Enemy can endure before elimination. Each Wound lessens this total by 1. The Enemy is eliminated upon reaching 0 (or below), and its miniature is re- Enemy cards look similar to Equipment cards in many aspects. moved from the board. They bear Combat symbols paired with Combat dice amounts. Some Enemies even use Enchantments of their own! Each member of a Mob (Boss and Minions) gets its own Health amount, managed on an individual basis.

Level: These Goblin Minions: Spawn a Goblin Archer Archers are Level 1. Boss, plus 2 Goblin Archer Minions per Hero who began the Quest.

Health: A Goblin Archer can endure a single Wound before elimination.

Enchantment: Apply this effect Defense: Use the Defense dice whenever the Goblin Archers get to prevent Wounds inflicted the indicated result when they to the Goblin Archers. defend against Hero attacks.

Melee Combat: Use this Magic Combat: Goblin Archers dice type when the Goblin don’t use Magic. If they did, this Archers fight in Melee. part would show the related dice.

Ranged Combat: The highlighted part shows Ranged Combat is the Goblin Archers’ favorite Combat mode. It defines their game behavior.

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Enchantments

The described game effect is applied whenever the Enemy gets the indicated symbol(s) (Bam or Diamond) on a Combat roll in- cluding either its Attack dice (triggering Attack Enchantments) or Defense dice (triggering Defense Enchantments). Apply the game effect once per matching symbol obtained. These Enchant- ments are cumulative with any Equipment card the Enemy may use for Combat rolls. Some Enchantments don’t require dice results, and are active as soon as the Enemy spawns. Read the card to know about the game effects to apply.

Enemy Combat Type The Combat section of an Enemy card shows the dice type and amount used whenever the Enemy goes into battle. The highlighted Combat symbol shows the Enemy’s favorite attack method. It primarily defines the Enemy’s Behavior during the Movement Step of the Enemies’ Phase (P. XX).

• Melee Enemies show a highlighted Melee symbol . During the Enemies’ Phase, they move as close as possible of their target’s Roaming Monsters have a dual Health characteristic. The first Zone, and engage it in Melee Combat if able. value is used when the game started with 1 to 3 Heroes. The sec- ond value is used when the game started with 4 to 6 Heroes.

Orc Flayers are Melee Enemies. Obviously! 22 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES

• Ranged Enemies show a highlighted Ranged symbol . Dur- Defense Dice ing the Enemies’ Phase, they move to fire on their target as soon as possible, but at the longest distance available.

Enemies use the indicated Defense dice to deflect incoming at- tacks and avoid Wounds. See Combat P. XX.

ENEMY ROLES

Massive Darkness features many Enemy Roles, with various abilities and characteristics. Whatever their origin, all Enemies share sets of common rules, defined by their Role.

Mobs

Goblin Archers use their bows to harass the Heroes. Coward tactics!

• Magic Enemies show a highlighted Magic symbol . During the Enemies’ Phase, they move to fire on their target as soon as possible, but at the longest distance available. Magic range is short (from 1 to 2 Zones away) but often triggers debilitating Enchantments! This symbol states the Minion amount to spawn per starting Hero.

A Mob is formed by a Boss surrounded by a variable amount of Minion escorts. • Upon spawning a Mob, check the Minion value of the card and place as many Minions per starting Hero. • A Boss and its Minions share the same characteristics and En- chantments, as shown on their Enemy card. The Health of each of them is managed on an individual basis. • A Mob can never be split up in smaller groups. Ignore any game effect that would split them. • A Boss cannot use its Defense dice or be Wounded as long as at least one of its Minion escorts stands beside it in the same Zone. Game effects affecting all Actors or Enemies in the Zone they Never underestimate ogres as being stupid. stand, affect them as well. Some of them are smart enough to use magic. • Bosses are Guardians (see below).

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Agents Guardians

Guardians guard and often use potent treasures on the Darkness’ behalf. Whenever a Guardian (Agent, Boss or Roaming Monster) • Agents spawn in the Zone holding the Level token matching spawns, players draw a Treasure card of the Level immediately their own Level (be it activated or not). If several tokens of the above that Guardian’s Level (max 5) and equip the Guardian indicated Level are available, players choose. with it. • Event cards (see P. XX) can’t be drawn as long as an Agent is on the board. Instead, draw a Guard card of the Agent’s Level, then NOTE: Discard with no effect any Treasure card with the “Trap” key- spawn its contents in the Zone holding the corresponding Level word, and draw another . token. The Agent calls for reinforcements! - If several Level tokens of the indicated Level are avail- • Guardians can use Combat Equipment: the Equipment’s Com- able, use the one on which the Agent appeared. bat Dice are added to any Combat category (Melee, Ranged, - If several Agents are on the board, players choose one Magic or Defense) the Guardian already has dice in. In other of them at each Event Phase to set the Reinforcements’ words, Guardians cannot use Combat Dice displayed in Combat Level and spawning location. categories they don’t already have. • Agents are Guardians (see below). • Guardians also get the Enchantment(s) of any Combat categories they get dice from: Melee, Ranged or Magic for Attack Enchant- Roaming Monsters ments, Defense for Defense Enchantments. These Enchantments are granted even if some or all the dice granted by the Equipment go unused due to the “three dice of each type” limit. • A Guardian is considered as the Hero using the Equipment cards it wields and, in return, the Heroes are considered its Enemies for Enchantment purpose. Whatever the game effects described on it, an Equipment held by a Guardian cannot inflict Wounds, elimination, or penalties to other Enemies. Only posi- tive effects apply. • Guardians use the Two-Handed and pairing Equipment rules. In case several Equipment cards grant dice to the same Combat category and cannot be paired, the Guardian will use the one get- ting its dice pool closer to three dice of each type. • Guardians cannot use Items and Consumables. • The Guardian’s Equipment card(s) is given to the Hero dealing it the killing blow, whatever the distance separating them. The Hero can then immediately reorganize his Inventory, for free (see P. XX). Remember: Equipment cards can be used regardless of • Roaming Monsters spawn in the Zone holding the Level token the current Level. matching their own Level (be it activated or not). If several to- kens of the indicated Level are available, players choose. EXAMPLE: Opening a door to a Chamber, a party made of Elias, • Roaming Monsters are Guardians (see below). Owen and Sibyl steps on a Level 1 Goblin Warriors Mob . Players place a Goblin Warrior Boss’ miniature in the Zone, as well as its Goblin Warrior Minions, and draw the Treasure for the Boss .

24 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES PLAYING A GAME ROUND

A Game Round is split into five Phases, resolved in the order below: 1– Event Phase 2– Heroes’ Phase 3– Experience Phase 4– Enemies’ Phase 5– End Phase EVENT PHASE

The Goblin Mob’s card, along their Boss’ Treasures . The Goblin War- rior Boss receives a Level 2 (Level 1, +1) Treasure card: A Healing Po- tion . As a Consumable, this card specifies an additional Treasure card of the same Level has to be drawn: an Ice Sword is drawn!

During the Event Phase of each Game Round, starting with the second, the First Player draws an Event card. It is read aloud and the related game effects are applied, in reading order. Remem- The Goblin Warrior Enemy card shows a Minion value of 2, meaning ber: No Event card on the first Game Round! 2 Minions per Hero . Since this game has 3 Heroes, 6 Goblin Warrior miniatures are placed with the Goblin Warrior Boss . Events are linked to the following keywords: • Blessing. This is an Event of good omen. Enjoy! • Curse. Something bad is happening. Too bad four-leaf clovers don’t grow in such places. • Patrol. Patrols spawn on the Zone holding the Level token matching the current Level plus one (Max 5). If several Zones holds a Level token of the corresponding value, players choose where the Patrol appears. • Trap. Someone falls into it. This is not a brave way to die.

The Ice Sword Melee weapon features Combat Dice in both the Melee and Defense sections . The Goblin Warrior Boss already has Combat dice in these sections as well: the Ice Sword’s dice are added to its own . RUNNING OUT OF MINIATURES The Boss also adds the Ice Sword’s Enchantments to its own, and can now Stun Heroes . Event cards, as well as opening doors (see P. XX) often lead to spawning Enemies across the board. In case there would The fight begins: the Heroes have to kill all Goblin Warrior Minions not be enough corresponding Enemy miniatures, ignore and before being able to wound their Boss . Until then, the Goblin Warrior discard the Enemy card (don’t place any miniatures), then Boss cannot use its Defense dice, but can still Attack the Heroes . draw a Roaming Monster card instead and spawn it in the Zone holding the token matching its Level. If all Roaming The fight ends as Elias kills the Goblin Warrior Boss . It could not use the Monsters are on the board at this point, the game is lost. Healing Potion to save its hide, as Bosses cannot use Items . Despite being two Zones away, Elias immediately receives the Healing Potion and Ice Sword Equipment cards . He can reorganize his Inventory for free .

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HEROES’ PHASE Combat Actions

Each player activates his Hero, starting with the First Player and going clockwise. Once a player has resolved his Hero’s Activa- tion, the player to his left takes his Turn, activating his Hero in the same manner. The Heroes’ Phase ends when all players have completed their Hero’s Activation. Each Hero can execute up to three Actions during his Activation, not counting any additional Action he may gain thanks to Equip- ment, Skills or other game effects. The possible Actions are listed below, in alphabetical order. Most Actions have prerequisites to be met in order to be resolved. Some Actions are free, and can be executed an unlimited amount of times per Activation. A Hero cannot execute Actions of any kind outside his Activation. Melee Action, Ranged Action, Magic Action

Action cost: 1. Prerequisites: Having an Equipped weapon of the corresponding type (Melee, Ranged or Magic). The Hero executes a Combat Action with an Equipped weapon. Combat Actions use all types of combat-oriented Equipment cards. There are three types of Combat Actions: Melee, Ranged or Magic. Combat Equipment is detailed on P. XX. Combat rules are explained on P. XX.

• Melee Action: The Hero uses an Equipped Melee weapon to at- tack Enemies standing in his own Zone (Range 0). • Ranged Action: The Hero uses an Equipped Ranged weapon to attack Enemies within Line Of Sight, and at least 1 Zone away (Range 1+). • Magic Action: The Hero uses an Equipped Magic weapon to attack Enemies within Line Of Sight, and standing 1 to 2 Zones away (Range 1-2).

Do Nothing Action cost: All remaining Actions. Prerequisite: None. The Hero does nothing and prematurely ends his Activation. All remaining Actions are lost.

26 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES

Enter Shadow Mode As long as the Hero is in Shadow Mode: • The Hero is ignored when tracing Enemies’ routes (see Enemies’ Phase, Move Step P. XX). • Enemies can’t trace a Line Of Sight to a Hero with a Shadow Mode token and standing in a Shadow Zone. • Enemies have one less Defense die (player’s choice, but before any Combat roll) when being attacked by a Hero with a Shadow A key Action of Massive Darkness, Mode token and standing in a Shadow Zone (see Combat, P. XX). Entering Shadow Mode can save your party if used to evade mighty monsters. A Hero immediately exits Shadow Mode and loses his Shadow Action cost: 1. Mode token as soon as: Prerequisites: Must be the first Action of the Hero’s Activation. No • He stands in a Light Zone and an Enemy has a Line of Sight to Enemy in the Zone. No Enemy with Line Of Sight to the Hero (if the him during the Move Step of the Enemies’ Phase (P. XX). Hero is already in Shadow Mode from his previous Activation, it • He stands in the same Zone as an Enemy at any time during the still affects Line of Sight). The Hero is not Stunned (P. XX). Enemies’ Phase. While no Enemy is watching, the Hero starts his Activation by • He doesn’t spend the first Action in his Activation to Enter Entering Shadow Mode, doing his best to act in a stealthy man- Shadow Mode again. ner. Put a Shadow Mode token next to the Hero miniature. For obvious reasons, a Stunned Hero cannot Enter Shadow Mode. He has to Get Up first (see below)! The Troll has no Line Of Sight to Siegfried. The Hero can Enter Shadow Mode, regardless of the Bjorn is already in Shadow Mode and Here are the Troll’s Light Zone he stands in. in a Shadow Zone. The Troll doesn’t Lines Of Sight at see him despite the proximity! The the beginning of Hero can Enter Shadow Mode again Heroes’ Phase. at the beginning of his Activation.

Elias is in Shadow Mode Despite standing in a in a Light Zone which Shadow Zone, Owen is The Troll doesn’t see the Troll has a Line not in Shadow Mode and Sibyl. She can Enter Of Sight to. The Hero is within the Troll’s Line Shadow Mode during can’t keep his Shadow Of Sight. The Hero can’t her Activation. Mode at the beginning Enter Shadow Mode of his Activation. during his Activation.

The Troll has a Line Of Sight to Whisper’s Zone. The Heroine, however, is in Shadow Mode in a Shadow Zone, standing unseen at the beginning of her Activation.

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Get Up Action cost: 1. Prerequisites: The Hero is Stunned (see P. XX). A Stunned Hero can spend 1 Action to shake off the effect. Put the miniature up and resume his Activation.

Move Action cost: 1. Prerequisite: No Enemy in the starting Zone. The Hero moves from a Zone to the next, but cannot move through closed doors or walls. Moving is not allowed if an Enemy is in the Zone the Hero stands in.

Open A Door

Here are Apothecary and Guardsroom Special Door cards bear the Door symbol and are Locations, found across the tiles used when the Heroes explore Chambers. Special Locations are places of interest on the board (see P. XX). Action cost: 0. It’s free! Don’t draw a Door card for these Zones: draw a Guard card of Prerequisite: None. the tiles’ Level instead. There will be Enemies! The Hero opens a door in his own Zone. Opening a closed Cham- ber for the first time reveals who – and what – lies inside each of Pick-Up its Rooms. Don’t draw Door cards for Chambers that are opened at the start of the game. Once opened, doors can’t normally be closed.

REMEMBER: A Chamber is an area created by one or several Room Zones connected by openings, and delimited by walls . Rooms separated by door tokens are considered as different Chambers .

Players indicate each Room of the Chamber, one after the other in any order they choose. The First Player draws a Door card for each of them. As the Rooms are designated successively, players place the indicated amount of Treasure tokens, then resolve the indicated game effects. • Location. The party discovered a location tied to specific game effects. Place the Door card on the Zone to mark it. • Trap. Brace yourself and resolve the game effect. • Spawn. Spawn the corresponding Enemies, in the indicated conditions. Please note Agents (P. XX) and Roaming Monsters Objectives and Treasure tokens are (P. XX) spawn in the Zone holding the token matching their the most common items to pick-up. Level (be it active or not). A Door card can feature several of these game effects at once. In Action cost: 1. that case, resolve them in reading order, from the first to the last. Prerequisite: None. The Hero takes an Objective or Treasure token standing in his own Zone.

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• Taking a Treasure token immediately gets the Hero a Treasure Resurrect card of the corresponding Level. After drawing the Treasure card and applying the potential game effects, the Hero can reorganize his Inventory for free. The Treasure can be used immediately, regardless of the current Level. A Hero can Pick-Up a single Treasure token per Zone during each Activation. • Objective tokens are linked to Quest achievements. The game effects are explained in the Quest’s description. • The Pick-Up Action can also be used in conditions described by the Quest, like interacting with the environment. In that case, follow the Quest’s description.

Elias can only Pick a single Treasure in this Zone. A Health Potion or a healing Equipment is However, he can then Move to needed to Resurrect a defeated Hero. the next and Pick another. Action cost: 0. It’s free! Prerequisites: The Hero has at least a Health Potion in his Inven- tory. A defeated Hero lies in his Zone. The Hero discards a Health Potion and Resurrects a defeated Hero lying in the same Zone. Get the Resurrected target’s minia- ture up, with Health 2. From now on, the Resurrected Hero can play again, in Activation order. Remember! A Hero can only be Resurrected once per game. Make sure to place a peg on the Skull slot of his Dashboard when he’s defeated. If he’s defeated again, the game is lost.

NOTE: Defeated Heroes can be targeted by game effects healing He- roes . In that case, they Resurrect and stand up with a Health amount corresponding to the healing game effect .

Signature Action cost: 0. It’s free! Prerequisite: Spend the Experience Points amount written on the Signature section of the Class Sheet, and follow the instructions. Signatures are Classes’ secret techniques. Being as potent as Level 5 Skills, they can be used right from Level 1. Using them requires the spending of Experience Points. Read the Signature’s description to know the condition and game effects to apply. Signatures can be used multiple times during the Owen can Pick both the Bjorn can Pick the same Activation, as long as the Experience cost is paid for each use. Artifact and the Treasure Treasure, despite (one Action each). being in the same Transmute Zone as an Enemy. Action cost: 0. It’s free! Prerequisite: The Hero owns at least three Equipment cards of Reorganize/Trade the same Level. Action cost: 1. Discard three Equipment cards of the same Level from the Hero, Prerequisite: None. then draw a Treasure card of the immediate superior Level. Re- The Hero Reorganizes the cards in his Inventory. This is espe- member: an Equipment card can be used regardless of the cur- cially important as Reorganizing allows you to change the rent game Level. Equipment cards the Hero is Equipped with. In the same Action, the Hero can also exchange any number of NOTE: Heroes can transmute three Starting Equipment cards to get a Equipment cards with one other Hero standing in the same Zone Level 1 Treasure card . To help players remember this, Starting Equip- (even a defeated one). This other Hero Reorganizes his Inventory ment cards are Level 0 . for free. A Trade Action doesn’t have to be fair: a Hero can trade everything for nothing, if both parties agree!

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EXPERIENCE PHASE

Heroes earn Experience Points by defeating Enemies or picking up Objective tokens (the amount can vary). Experience can be spent during the Experience Phase to acquire new Skills and get your party one step closer to greatness!

A Class Sheet shows various Skill Lines representing the exper- tise fields linked to the chosen Class. Each Skill is linked to a Skill Line and can spread across several Levels.

• Skills are bought following each Skill Line’s progress. A Hero buys the first, then goes on until he can buy the last. Tick the squares to track the Skills your Hero acquired!

NOTE: Free Class Skills (P . XX) are an exception . They are acquired regardless of the Skill Line’s progression . They can still only be used once the game reaches the indicated Level, though!

All Classes have the Health Line. Level 1 must be bought first, then Level 2, and finally Level 4. • Purchased Skills unlock and can be used as soon as the game reaches the corresponding Level. I’D KILL THAT FOR 1 XP! Eliminating an Enemy earns 1 Experience Point/XP, no matter the type and Level. A Hero can stock up to 30 Ex- perience Points at a time. Any excess amount is lost. If you think your Hero has too much Experience to spend, use his Signature (P. XX)! These Skills can be used when the game reaches Level 4.

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• Skills may improve along the game: a Hero always uses the high- est available Skill in each Skill Line.

At Level 1, the Hero gets +2 Max Health. As the game reaches Level 2, the “Spend 1 Action: Regeneration 1” Skill is unlocked. Finally, the “Spend 1 Action: Regeneration 2” kicks in at Level 4, improving from the previous step.

• Heroes can only use Skills they have acquired (either by spending XP, or as a Free Class Skill). If the game reaches a Level that would unlock a new version of a Skill, but the Hero has only bought the previous version, he keeps on using that lower-level version. • Experience and Skills are kept from a game to the next. Keep your Hero and create a story of your own!

This Special Skill can be The Free Class Skill used at Level 3 and higher. is acquired for… free! It unlocks at the corresponding Level.

This Skill is bought for 15 Experience Points and can be used at Level 3 and higher.

EXAMPLE: Sibyl chose the Nightshade Ranger Class . She has The game progresses to Level 2 . Sibyl earned 15 Experience Points . “Ranged: +1 re-roll” listed as a Free Class Skill on her Hero Sheet . As The player chooses to spend them all during an Experience Phase to the Nightshade Ranger Class features it, she acquires it right from the acquire the “Ranged: +1 Attack die” Skill (Level 3) . The game is still at start, for free . Level 2, however, and the new Skill can’t be used yet .

The game begins at Level 1, and Sibyl can use all her Level 1 Skills The game reaches Level 3 . Sibyl can now use her Level 1, 2 and 3 Fea- and Special Skills: “Ranged: +1 re-roll” (Skill) and “Ranged: +1 Hit” tures and Skills! (Special Skill) . The “+1 Zone per Move Action” is shown as a Level 3 - The “Ranged: +1 re-roll” Skill can still be used (Level 1) . Special Skill, and will be available as soon as the game reaches Level 3 . - The “Ranged: +1 Attack die” Skill (Level 3) replaces the “Ranged: +1 [Yellow]” Skill (Level 1) set at a previous Level in the same Skill Line . Still at Level 1, Sibyl kills five Enemies and thus earns 5 Experience - The “+1 Zone per Move Action” Special Skill can now be used (Level 3) . Points . During an Experience Phase, the players spends them all to acquire the “Ranged: +1 [yellow] Skill (Level 1) . The Skill can be used from now on, as the game starts at Level 1 .

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Step 2 – Attack ENEMIES’ PHASE Once the Move Step has been resolved, each Enemy gets one Ac- tion to attack Heroes. Enemies represented by a single Enemy Heroes have done their job and spent their Experience. Now it’s card attack together and simultaneously (see Combat P. XX). time for fiends to come out. Enemies play by their own rules, Resolve Enemy attacks one after the other, Enemy card by Enemy performing the following steps in order. card, in any order you choose. • Melee Enemies Attack the most experienced Hero in their own Step 1 – Move Zone. Each Enemy has two Actions to spend on Move Actions. They all • Ranged Enemies Attack their target Hero. If they don’t have move simultaneously, one Move Action at a time, following this a Line Of Sight on him, they attack the most experienced Hero order for each Move: within Line Of Sight instead. If they can’t use their Ranged At- tack, they resolve a Melee Attack instead. 1 . Enemies try to spot Heroes. Check their Lines Of Sight. Re- • Magic Enemies Attack their target Hero. If it’s out of Range move the Shadow Mode tokens from all Heroes standing in the (Range 0 or 3+), they attack the most experienced Hero within same Zone as an Enemy, and from Heroes standing in a Light Range and Line Of Sight. If they can’t use their Magic Attack, Zone to which an Enemy has a Line of Sight. they resolve a Melee Attack instead.

2 . Enemies define their target Hero: the Hero with the highest If the Enemies form a Mob (Boss + Minions), allocate Minions amount of unspent Experience points across the board. If several in this order: Heroes share the highest amount, players choose (regardless of (1) One Minion joins the Boss in attacking the target Hero. distance). Defeated Heroes and Heroes in Shadow Mode (P. XX) (2) One Minion for each additional Hero within Range and Line are ignored. Of Sight, regardless of Experience. If there aren’t enough Min- If all Heroes are ignored (either defeated or in Shadow Mode): ions in the Mob to attack all eligible Heroes, players choose. • Enemies in Room Zones don’t Move. (3) Any remaining Minions are set aside. They bring support to • Enemies in Corridor Zones move toward the Hero Starting their Boss for its Attack roll (see P. XX). Zone. Remove their miniatures and discard their cards as soon as they reach it: they exit to wreak havoc in the open world. The Enemies’ Phase ends as soon as all Enemy attacks have been resolved. 3 . Enemies move up to 1 Zone, in the same way as Heroes (see P. XX). The Move direction depends on the Enemy type (see below), but always by taking the shortest available path. Moving is not allowed if a Hero stands in the same Zone. If there are several routes of the same length, players choose. • Melee Enemies do their best to engage their foes in close com- bat. They move toward their target Hero. • Ranged Enemies fire from as far as possible. They move in order to be at maximum Range of their target Hero, and within Line Of Sight of it. • Magic Enemies get to a safe range to unleash magic on their tar- gets. They move in order to be at maximum range (up to 2 Zones away) from their target Hero, and within Line Of Sight of it. In case there would be no open path to the target Hero, Enemies move toward as if all doors were open. Closed doors still stop them.

4 . Enemies try to spot Heroes once again, as in step (1).

After all Enemies have gone through their first Move Action, they resolve a second Move Action, going through all the Move resolution again.

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Melee #1/3 . The Troll, a Melee Enemy , checks its Lines Of Sight and sets its course before its first Move Action. The Troll defines its target Zone with the more experienced Hero on the board, excluding those that are defeated or in Shadow Mode. Being defeated, Elias is ignored despite having the more Experience Points. Whisper has 24 XP, but is ignored as well as she is in Shadow Mode. Owen and Siegfried are both eligible targets, but Siegfried is the more experienced! The Troll sets its course to get to Siegfried.

Melee #2/3 . The Troll’s Lines Of Sight are checked as it ends its first Move toward Siegfried. The Roaming Monster cannot spot Bjorn and Whisper, as they are both in Shadow Mode in Shadow Zones.

Melee #3/3 . Performing its second Move Action, the Troll lands on Bjorn’s Zone. Its Lines Of Sight are checked for a last time. Bjorn, standing in the same Zone, is revealed. Sibyl, despite having a Shadow token, stands in a Light Zone within the Troll’s Line Of Sight. Both lose their Shadow tokens and exit Shadow mode. The Troll is a Melee Enemy. It didn’t reach Siegfried, its intended target, but will nonetheless fight in Melee Combat in its own Zone if a target is available. Bjorn, prepare for a whack! 33 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES

Ranged #1/2 . Ranged #2/2 . Goblin Archers are Ranged Enemies . They resolve For their second Move Action, the Goblin Archers do

their first Move Action to get within Line Of Sight of their best to go as far as possible from Owen’s Zone, while the most experienced Hero on the board: Owen! keeping Line Of Sight to it. They Move one Zone farther from him, then prepare for the Attack Step. Sibyl is also within Line Of Sight, and will be caught in the fire! Elias, in Shadow Mode in a Shadow Zone, is ignored altogether.

Magic #1/3 . For its first Move Action, a Demon – Magic Enemy – It then sets its target Zone on Siegfried’s, the most experienced Hero on the board.

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Magic #2/3 . The Demon’s Lines Of Sight are checked at the end of its first Move Action. It has a clear view on Elias. The Roaming Monster doesn’t unveil Bjorn, who stands in Shadow Mode in a Shadow Zone. The Demon is still set for Siegfried, the most experienced Hero on the board. It ignores Elias, and resolves its second Move to get Siegfried within Line Of Sight. Siegfried is about to endure a Magic attack during the ensuing Attack Step.

Magic #3/3 . A Magic Enemy , a Demon cannot see Bjorn, standing in Shadow Mode in the next Zone. The Roaming Monster performs its first Move toward the most experienced Hero on the board: Sibyl. As the Demon ends its Move Action, it unveils Bjorn (his Shadow token is lost and he exits Shadow Mode) and gets Line of Sight on Bjorn, of course, but also Owen, Elias and Sibyl. Standing in the same Zone as a Hero, the Demon cannot perform a second Move Action. During the ensuing Attack Step, the Demon won’t be able to blast Sibyl, its intended target, as the Heroine is out of Range (Magic Range: 1-2). The Roaming Monster will blast the most experienced Hero within Range and Line Of Sight: Elias!

Mob allocation . 6 Goblin Archers Minions led by a Boss – Ranged Enemies – shoot at Heroes standing in a corridor.

Owen is the most experienced Hero within Range and Line Of Sight. He is attacked by the Goblin Archer Boss, along with a Minion. Whisper is attacked by a single Goblin Archer Minion. Elias is outside Line Of Sight, and cannot be targeted. The four remaining Minions bring support to their Boss against Owen (see P. XX).

35 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES COMBAT

COMBAT ROLL

Combat rules apply when an Actor, called the Attacker, performs an Attack on another, called the Defender. A Combat roll is re- END PHASE solved following these steps, in order. Step 1 – Rolling Dice The End Phase marks the end of the Game Round. Take the Attack dice of the Attacker, then the Defense Many game effects last until the End Phase: they end in any order dice of the Defender. Group both the Attack and Defense of the players’ choosing. dice in a single roll. The First Player hands the First Player token to the player to his REMEMBER: A dice roll can only include up to three dice of each left. The latter will be the First Player for the next Game Round. color (yellow, red, blue or green) . Any exceeding amount is lost . Another Game Round can now begin! To know the dice amount a given Hero gets in a specific Combat The game ends as a victory when all the Quest’s objectives are type (Melee, Ranged, Magic or Defense), simply add together met, and as a defeat if they can no longer be met, or if any Hero is the dice of the related Combat type among the Equipped cards defeated two times. Remember,Massive Darkness is a cooperative he possess. Add any bonus dice the Hero may get through Skills, game: players win and lose as a team. Items, Consumables or Events.

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The process works the same way for Enemies: check the re- lated Combat type’s indicated dice on the Enemy card. Guardians (Agents, Bosses and Roaming Monsters) may get additional dice and Enchantments if the Equipment card they possess is a Com- RE-ROLLS bat Equipment featuring dice in the related Combat type. Many game effects allow re-rolls. They stack with each other, allowing multiple re-rolls in a row. Only the final result is kept.

EXAMPLE 2: Elias is being attacked . The player gathers his Defense dice . Elias has the following Defense means: • A Level 2 Chainmail Armor (1 blue and 1 green) Equipped on Body . • A Level 2 Staff Of Defense (1 blue and 1 green) Equipped in Hand (Two-Handed) EXAMPLE 1: The game is at Level 1 . Bjorn is about to perform a • A Level 1 Round Shield (1 blue) Equipped in Hand . Melee Attack against a Level 1 Orc Flayer Boss . • A Level 1 Dwarven Ring (1 Blue) . As an Item, it doesn’t need to be Equipped to be active . Bjorn gets these Attack dice: • The Defense: +1 Skill . • 2 yellow dice for his Equipped Mace (Melee weapon held in Hand) Being a Two-Handed Equipment, the Staff Of Defense can’t pair with • 1 red die for his Equipped Axe (Melee weapon held in Hand) the Round Shield . • 1 additional yellow die for his Level 1 Melee: +1 Skill On the other hand, Elias can get a maximum amount of three dice of For a total of three yellow (the maximum amount for this color) and any kind . So, the player chooses to use the Chainmail Armor, the Staff an red dice . Of Defense and the Defense: +1 Skill . The total is 3 blue and 2 green dice. The Orc Flayer Boss gets these Defense dice: • 1 blue die for his Defense value . • 2 blue dice for his Equipped Treasure card: a Level 2 Plate Armor (Equipment can be used regardless of the current Level) . For a total of 3 blue dice .

Bjorn’s player then gathers three yellow, a red and three blue dice to resolve Bjorn’s Melee Attack .

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TWO HANDS! Actors are considered as having two hands, whatever the model may show. This has an impact on the way Combat dice are added for Combat rolls. Hand. Actors can add together the dice of up to two Equipped cards bearing the Hand symbol. Two-Handed. Dice from Equipped cards bearing the Two-Handed symbol cannot be added to dice from Equip- ment cards bearing the Hand and Two-Handed symbols. EXAMPLE 2: Siegfried is Equipped with an Axe Of Healing and an Combat dice gained from other sources (Special Skills, Ice Sword . Both are Hand weapons and their dice can be combined . Skills, Items, Consumables or Events) are added normally. Performing a Melee Action, Siegfried gets a and a on his At- tack dice, triggering the Enchantments of both Melee weapons . With the Axe Of Healing, Siegfried heals 3 Wounds (1 with the , 2 with the ) . Step 2: Resolve The Enchantments At the same time, Siegfried Stuns 3 Enemies with the Ice Sword (1 with Resolve first the game effects related to the Defense’s Enchant- the , 2 with the ) . ments . Then resolve the game effects related to the Attack’s Enchant- Step 3: Inflict Pain! ments . Add together all Hits on the Attack dice, then subtract all Shields on the Defense dice. Inflict on the Defender as many Enchantments are shared between all equipped Equipment cards Wounds as the final result (min. 0). Place the corresponding the Actors use for the Combat roll. Rolling a single or can amount of Wound tokens next to it to mark the Actor’s remain- then trigger multiple Enchantments from different Equipment ing Health. cards! Enchantments can be triggered as long as the related The Defender is defeated when its Health amount drops to 0 or Equipment card is Equipped and matches the Combat type used below. If it was a Guardian (Agent, Boss or Roaming Monster), by the Actor. This rule applies even if the Actor doesn’t use the the Attacker gets its Equipment cards and immediately reorga- Equipment’s dice due the “3 dice of each type” limit. nize his Inventory for free. Remember: Attack Enchantments are triggered by Attack dice, REMEMBER: Eliminating an Enemy earns 1 Experience Point/XP, when the Actor is the Attacker. Defense Enchantments are trig- no matter its size and Level . gered by Defense dice, when the Actor is the Defender.

EXAMPLE: Equipped with a Fire Sword, Whisper executes a Melee Action against a Dwarf Defender . The Combat roll gets: EXAMPLE 1: Performing a Magic Action with a Staff Of Final Blow • For the Attack dice: 4 and an Attack . Whisper has the Melee: +1 against a Wounded Troll, Silas obtains a on both his own Attack Special Skill, and the adds 2 Hits from the Fire Sword . 7 total . dice and the Troll’s Defense dice . As Defense Enchantments trigger • For the Defense dice: 3 and a Defense . The triggers the first, the Troll fully regenerates before the Staff Of Final Blow’s- En Dwarf Defender’s Enchantment for an additional 1 . 4 total . chantment kicks in . Don’t mess with trolls . The Enchantment also deals 1 Wound to Whisper . The Dwarf Defender endures 3 Wounds (7 – 4 ) .

38 MASSIVE DARKNESS - RULES MOB RULES

REMEMBER: A Boss cannot use his Defense dice or be Wounded as long as at least one of its Minion escorts stands along it in the same Zone . Game effects affecting all Actors or Enemies in the Zone they stand, affect them as well .

Henchmen of a dangerous and tyrannical Boss, Minions can Attack in three manners. This has an impact on the way their Combat dice are used. • Against a single Hero, along their Boss. The Minion’s Attack dice are simply added to the Boss’ pool. • As support to their Boss (see P. XX). The Boss’ Combat roll gets an additional Hit per supporting Minion. • Alone, against a single Hero. Resolve Combat rolls normally.

Hero Attacks affect all Minions represented by a single Enemy EXAMPLE 2: Sibyl is attacked at range by a Goblin Archer Boss and card and standing in the targeted Zone. a Goblin Archer Minion . The Enemies’ Attack dice are cumulative . Use the Defense dice indicated on the Enemy card to resolve The Combat roll is resolved with 2 and 2 , against Sibyl’s Combat rolls against a whole Minion group, whatever their Defense dice . number. The Minions use their own pool for defense, as the Boss cannot use his Defense dice. Players deal the Wounds as they see fit among the Minion targets.

EXAMPLE 3: Owen stands alone in Melee combat against 4 Orc Enforcers Minions and their Boss . The Boss and a single Minion join EXAMPLE 1: Bjorn executes a Charge in a Zone with four Level 2 their Attack dice (4 , reduced to the maximum of 3) against Owen’s Goblin Warrior Minions led by a Goblin Warrior Boss . The Combat Defense dice . However, the remaining three Orc Enforcer Minions roll is done with Bjorn’s Attack dice against the Defense value of the Gob- support their Boss, each of them adding a to the Combat roll . So, lin Warrior Minions: 1 [blue] . The Boss’ Defense dice are not accounted . the Orcs roll 3 and add 3 against Owen’s Defense . Tough time . Obtaining 4 against 1 , Bjorn inflicts 3 Wounds to distribute as the player sees fit among the Goblins . The Boss can’t be selected, as his Minions still stand in the Zone . A first Minion receives 2 Wounds, which is enough to kill him (Health 2) . A second Minion endures the last Wound: a Wound token is placed near its miniature . On a second Melee Attack, Bjorn inflicts 4 more Wounds and kills two more Minions . Only the wounded Minion remains, along with the Boss . On a third Melee Attack, Bjorn inflict 3 more Wounds . One is enough to kill the last Minion . The other two are overkill and lost, as the Boss’ Defense dice were not accounted . On the other hand, the Boss can now be Attacked!

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ADDITIONAL RULES OBJECTIVE AND PILLAR TOKENS

Artifacts, Lair and Map tokens are key components to Quests’ ARTIFACTS creation.

These are Objective tokens: Artifact, Lair and Map, respectively.

This is a Pillar token. Artifacts are ancient items of tremendous power, the reason why Heroes go against the Darkness to claim the Lightbringers’ leg- Pillar tokens are usually described as being structural flaws the acy. Such treasures cannot be found on your average Guardian, Heroes can use to their advantage and win the game. and are usually linked to a Quest achievement (Artifact token or In both cases, the Quest’s description details the special rules to Quest objective). While they are game changers, Heroes bring use whenever such a token is used. Artifacts back to safety once they found them. Artifact cards are discarded like any Equipment as usual at the end of the game.

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SPECIAL LOCATIONS: APOTHECARY AND GUARDSROOM Massive Darkness’ underground tunnels hold places of interest called Special Locations. Don’t draw Door cards when discover- ing Special Locations: directly draw a Guard card of the tile’s Level, and place the corresponding Enemies.

A Hero can spend a Pick-Up Action to activate an Apothecary. Remove a Wound token from him.

STUN

The Stun game effect temporarily disables an Actor. Lay down his miniature to keep track of the effect. - A Stunned Hero must spend an Action to get up (see P. XX). If he can’t, he does nothing and keep on being Stunned. - A Stunned Enemy spends its next Activation getting up, losing both its Move and Attack Steps in the process. - Stunned Enemies are ignored to determine whether or not a Hero can leave a Zone. - A Stunned Minion cannot protect its Boss: Stunned Minions are ignored to determine whether or not Heroes can perform Combat Actions against their Boss.

Guardsroom spawns Enemies as normal and may be used to NOTE: All members of a Mob (including the Boss) are Stunned as soon trigger additional game effects. Read the Quest’s instructions to as half of them (round up) endure the Stun effect at the beginning of the learn about them. Enemies’ Phase . Until then, they keep on performing the Attack and Move steps normally .

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Combat: +1 – Add a whenever the Hero performs a Com- SKILLS bat Action.

Being part of Skill Lines of growing power, Skills define and Combat: +1 Attack die – Add an Attack die (player’s choice) enhance the Heroes. Their effects are described in this section. whenever the Hero performs a Combat Action. • In case of conflict with the general rules, Skill rules have priority. Combat: +1 Defense die – Add a Defense die (players’ choice) • In the same way as Enchantments, Skills affecting Defense are whenever the Hero is the Defender on a Combat roll. resolved before Skills affecting Attack. • Any Guardian possessing a Skill described below is considered Combat Attacker: + [X] Wound – Whenever the Hero performs as the Hero in the Skill’s description, and the Heroes are then a Combat Action, inflict [X] additional Wounds to the Defender considered the Enemies. after the Combat roll is resolved. • The effects of the following Skills are immediate and can be used on the Game Round they are acquired. Combat : Stun – Whenever the Hero with this Skills gets a while performing a Combat Action, Stun an Enemy of your +[X] Magic Action – The Hero has the indicated amount of free choice within the Attack’s Range. Magic Actions each Activation. Command: Select another Hero during your Hero’s Activation. +[X] Melee Action – The Hero has the indicated amount of free The selected Hero immediately performs a free Action of his Melee Actions each Activation. owner’s choice. Command cannot be activated during an Action’s resolution. +[X] Move Action – The Hero has the indicated amount of free Move Actions each Activation. Counter-Attack – Any exceeding obtained over the amount on a Melee Combat roll against the Hero becomes a +[X] Ranged Action – The Hero has the indicated amount of free Wound inflicted to the Attacker. Ranged Actions each Activation. Defense: +[X] – Add the indicated amount of whenever +1 Enter Shadow Mode Action – The Hero has a free Action to the Hero is the Defender on a Combat roll. Enter Shadow Mode each Activation. Defense: +1 – Add a whenever the Hero is the Defender +1 Reorganize/Trade Action – The Hero has a free Action to on a Combat roll. Reorganize/Trade each Activation. Defense: +1 – Add a whenever the Hero is the Defender +[X] Zone per Move Action – The Hero can Move through the on a Combat roll. indicated amount of extra Zone(s) each time he performs a Move Action. Defense: +1 Defense die – Add a Defense die / of your choice whenever the Hero is the Defender on a Combat roll. +2 Max Health – The Hero’s maximum Health value becomes 7 instead of 5. Acquiring this Skill doesn’t raise the Hero’s current Defense: +1 re-roll – This Skill can be used whenever the Hero Health amount, only the maximum amount. is the Defender. All the dice, including the Attack dice, can be re-rolled an additional time. Re-rolls stack. Keep the final result. Aggro: +[X] Defense die – Add the indicated amount of Defense dice / (any mix, your choice) whenever the Hero is the De- Magic [Bam]: +[X] Wound – Add the indicated amount of fender on a Combat roll AND has the most Experience Points on Wounds to the Defender whenever the Hero gets a [Bam] on a the board (ignore defeated Heroes and Heroes in Shadow Mode). Magic Action. This Skill can’t be used if the Hero is in Shadow Mode. Magic [Bam]: Heal [X] – Whenever the Hero gets a [Bam] on a Charge – Spend 1 Action with the Hero. He moves up to 2 Zones, Magic Action, heal the indicated amount of Wounds from any to a Zone containing at least one Enemy, then performs a free Hero within Line Of Sight (including the casting Hero himself). Melee Action. Charge can’t be declared if Enemies stand in the This Skill can be used to Resurrect a defeated Hero. Hero’s Zone (save if they are all Stunned). Magic [Bam]: Regeneration [X] – Whenever the Hero gets a Combat: +1 – Add a whenever the Hero performs a Com- [Bam] on a Magic Action, heal the indicated amount of Wounds bat Action. from him. Regeneration is a Healing, but cannot be used to Resurrect.

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Magic : Stun – Whenever the Hero gets a on a Magic Ac- Melee: +[X] – Add the indicated amount of whenever the tion, Stun an Enemy of your choice within the Attack’s Range. Hero performs a Melee Action.

Magic: +[X] – Add the indicated amount of whenever the Melee: +[X] Wound – Add the indicated amount of Wounds to Hero performs a Magic Action. the Defender whenever the Hero performs a Melee Action.

Magic: +[X] – Add the indicated amount of whenever the Melee Attacker: -1 [Blue]: Whenever the Hero is the Attacker Hero performs a Magic Action. in Melee Combat, subtract 1 blue die from the Defender’s pool (if available) before the Combat roll is resolved. Magic: +[X] – Add the indicated amount of whenever the Hero performs a Magic Action. Melee Defender: -[X] Attack die – Whenever the Hero is the Defender in Melee Combat, subtract [X] Attack dice from the At- Magic: +[X] Wound – Add the indicated amount of Wounds to tacker’s pool (player’s choice) before the Combat roll is resolved. the Defender whenever the Hero performs a Magic Action. The Combat roll is cancelled if no Attack dice remain.

Magic: +1 – Add a whenever the Hero performs a Magic Ranged: +1 re-roll – This Skill can be used whenever the Hero Action. performs a Ranged Action. All the dice, including the Defense dice, can be re-rolled an additional time. Re-rolls stack. Keep the Magic: +1 Attack die – Add an Attack die / (player’s final result. choice) whenever the Hero performs a Magic Action.

Magic: +1 re-roll – This Skill can be used whenever the Hero per- forms a Magic Action. All the dice, including the Defense dice, can be re-rolled an additional time. Re-rolls stack. Keep the final result.

Magic Assault: The Hero can perform a free Magic Action right before performing any Melee Action. The Melee Action is spent even if the free Magic Action leaves no valid target for it.

Magic Attacker: -1 [Blue]: Whenever the Hero is the Attacker in Magic Combat, subtract 1 blue dice from the Defender’s pool (if available) before the Combat roll is resolved.

Melee: +[X] – Add the indicated amount of each time the Hero performs a Melee Action.

Melee: +[X] – Add the indicated amount of each time the Hero performs a Melee Action.

Melee [Bam]: +[X] Wound – Add the indicated amount of Wounds to the Defender whenever the Hero gets a [Bam] on a Melee Action.

Melee : Stun – Whenever the Hero gets a on a Melee Ac- tion, Stun an Enemy of your choice within the Attack’s Range.

Melee: +1 – Add a whenever the Hero performs a Melee Action.

Melee: +1 Attack die – Add an Attack die / (player’s choice) whenever the Hero performs a Melee Action.

Melee: +1 re-roll – This Skill can be used whenever the Hero per- forms a Melee Action. All the dice, including the Defense dice, can be re-rolled an additional time. Re-rolls stack. Keep the final result.

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Ranged: +[X] Wound – Add the indicated amount of Wounds to Shadow Combat: +1 re-roll – The Hero can re-roll one more time the Defender each time the Hero performs a Ranged Action. all the dice (including the Defense dice) each time he performs a Combat Action while in Shadow Mode. This Skill can be used Reach: The Hero’s Melee Actions have a 0-1 Range. whether or not the Hero is in a Shadow Zone.

Regeneration [X] – Spend 1 Action with the Hero. Heal the indi- Shadow Mode: +[X] Magic Action – The Hero can use the indi- cated amount of Wounds from him. Regeneration is a Healing, cated amount of free Magic Actions whenever he is in Shadow but cannot be used to Resurrect. Mode. These Actions may only be used to perform Magic Actions.

Shadow Combat: Defender -[X] Defense dice – Whenever the Shadow Master – The Hero can perform Shadow Actions while Hero has a Shadow Mode token and Stands in a Shadow Zone, Enemies are in his Zone or have a Line Of Sight on him. Enter- Enemies he attacks lose [X] Defense dice (player’s choice) before ing Shadow Mode still must be the first Action of his Activation, the Combat roll. This replaces the standard 1 Defense die the though. target would normally lose in this situation. Slippery – The Hero can leave Zones with Enemies while per- forming Move Actions.

Stunned Defender: +[X] Wound: Whenever the Hero performs a Combat Action against a Stunned Defender, add the indi- cated amount of Wounds to the Defender after the Combat roll is resolved. In case of a Mob, all remaining Enemies have to be Stunned.

Taunt – This Skill can be used at the beginning of Enemies’ Phase. The Hero is considered as having the most Experience Points on the board, whatever the real values, until the End Phase.

Teleport [X] – Spend 1 Action with the Hero. Put his miniature up to the indicated amount of Zones away from his current Zone, and within Line Of Sight of his starting Zone. This is not a Move Action. This Skill can be used to leave a Zone containing Enemies.

Wounded: +[X] – Add the indicated amount of to any Combat Action made with the Hero, whenever has suffered 1 Wound or more.

Wounded: +[X] – Add the indicated amount of whenever the Hero is the Defender on a Combat roll AND has suffered 1 Wound or more.

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