Defenders of the Realm FAQ The Game Board What do those triangles stand for in the middle of some of the black routes? These are the routes the Generals follow on their path to Monarch City. It's clear just by looking at the cards in the deck. Or look at Example 2 at the bottom of page 12: the series of spaces Varkolak passes through on his route to Monarch City corresponds exactly to the black arrows on the board. Having them on the map just makes it to know where each General will advance next without having to memorize it. What are the Treasure Chest icons on some locations for? These icons are used by the Rogue with some of her skills. They will also be used by some of the new heroes in expansions. Is there an Inn in Monarch City? The answer is no - not in game terms that would allow players to take Rumors actions in Monarch City. Design Note: The reason there is no Inn in Monarch City is that the central location makes it too easy to gain cards through the Rumors Action. My logic in not placing an Inn there from a thematic perspective (and yes, once again, all my design work is based on how it works with the theme) is that while the city is full of Taverns and Inns, as are many of the other cities throughout the Realm, but these establishments are not out on the frontier where the trappers, hunters, and woodsmen would be coming into and sharing information of what they have seen of the enemy in the surrounding lands. So, while you can heal in Monarch City like at any other Inn, you cannot gain the valuable enemy information from Rumors that awards you Hero cards. Winning (or Losing) the Game If a Darkness Spreads card identifies minions to be placed on the board and you do not have enough minions to meet the requirements of the card – you lose correct? Correct - You can have all the minions of one or more colors on the board and have a turn to knock them back, but if the next darkness Spreads card would place 1 more and all are on the board - the players would lose at that point. If you add the last Taint Crystal to the board you also lose, so if there are 11 Tainted Crystals on the board and you place the 12th – you lose, correct? Yes - if you place the 12th Tainted Crystal on the board - the players lose immediately. Is this intentional? It seems to me that it would be simpler to describe the losing conditions if you threw away one of the Tainted Crystals. Yes - this is intentional. The minions are troops that players can defeat and therefore even if all are on the board you have a chance of removing them through combat. The Tainted Crystals are more like a clock - as the land becomes tainted (if not healed by the heroes) it is becoming too corrupted for mankind to live on. You keep the Tainted Crystals beside the board so you have an obvious count of how bad the situation is. If you get down to just 1 in reserve you know you are desperate and need to heal the land or may suffer an immediate loss should the last one be added to the board. All things considered, when you play this game it is an ever shifting balance that the players are choosing between, fighting troops, healing the land, working on Quests, and preparing for and attacking Generals. It is a tough balance and makes for interesting games whereby no two games are ever the same. The KingÊs Champion My most immediate concern is that this game has a single winner and I am curious to know if the game would work well as a straight co-op? The game can be played as a pure co-op with the players winning or losing as a group. The King's Champion individual Victory Condition can be ignored if the players choose. All game play will stay the same - no change at all. Players that land the killing blow to each General would still gain the Slayer card and the abilities that come with being the Slayer. Likewise players would still strive to complete quests for the benefits they bring. But at the end of the game, the players would not calculate the Victory Points to establish the King's Champion. They win or lose collectively. One final note, if the players lose, there is no King's Champion. That calculation would only be done if the players win. 1 Is this actually a co-op, or a "looks cooperative but really only one player wins"? The game is designed as a pure cooperative game. Like Arkham Horror’s First Citizen of Arkham, the recognition of the King’s Champion was put into the rules for people that like to recognize an overall winner of the game, but the other players remain winners also as stated in the rules. Others do not lose because 1 player is named the King's Champion - all live in the glory they achieved. This game is not about back stabbing, or taking advantage of other players to be named Champion of the Realm. Players that take that strategy will lose as there is no champion when the Realm falls (all players are losers). If you are looking for a direct confrontational game with the other players, Defenders of the Realm is not for you. If you are looking for an epic fantasy game that requires strategy and cooperation - it is. If players are using the Champion Scoring - their play in striving to be the Champion of the Realm should be like working to be the best at their professional life, working to be recognized for the extra achievement. Few (and I hope none) of us would back stab the people we work with to get a better raise or bonus. Using the Champion of the Realm rule is up to the players. It is not a tacked-on rule, nor does the rule override the victory of the other players making one a winner and the others losers - it is more like a team that wins the Super Bowl and one team member is named the MVP - all are still winners. In summation, it should be noted that the rules never state there is a single winner, the clearly state the players win or lose as a group, there is also an overall winner that is hailed as the legendary King's Champion. It is the title of Kings Champion that the individual wins, all players have won the game. It appears that some people have interpreted the King's Champion to mean there is a single winner. And some go as far as to believe there is a single winner and all others lose, but those interpretations would be incorrect. Quests If you discard a quest card for the written bonus does it still count as 1 victory point toward King’s Champion at the end of the game? Successfully completing a quest gets you a point. If you use it or not, or discard to use does not matter. The following is recommended to track Quest Rewards: Place completed Quests with outstanding rewards so the card is under your Character card with just the Reward section showing beneath the card. When a Reward is used turn the card upside down so the bottom portion of the back is showing. That way all players can know how many rewards you still have to play (also easy reference for the player) as well as how many total quests each player has completed. The player's active Quest is placed beside the Character Card. This method has worked very well in keeping track of the active Quest, Rewards, and Used Rewards that remain victory points to be named King's Champion. I recommend the same with the General Slayer Cards when taken. Slip them under the Character Card so that just the Slayer section shows. The King of the Gryphons Quest Reward states - Discard this quest card at any time to move up to 2 Heroes to any 2 locations. Must these be 2 different locations, or may both heroes be moved to the same location? The 2 Heroes may be moved to the same or 2 different locations. Are quest rewards transferable? No – Quest rewards are for the hero that gained the reward and may not be given to another player. If four players are engaged in a battle with a General and lost while one of the heroes holds the Quest Reward War Banner of Valor to ignore the wounds and other effects of losing a battle to a General, does that reward protect all four players? No - the Banner protects only the Hero that holds it. House Rule: Some of you may want to make a house rule that it protects all heroes in the battle providing the Hero with the Banner was in the battle. Under this House Rule, the Banner would prevent all damage for all players from a General. 2 Does the "Find Magic Gate" Quest Reward of add 2 dice to any combat roll, including a battle against a General work against Varkolak? Yes - These are 2 additional Dice, just like the Dice the player is using from Hero Cards, so he may use them against Varkolak. Does he "Amulet of the Gods" Quest Reward of Add +1 to all dice rolled in combat, including Generals work against Varkolak? No - The +1 Amulet is a combat bonus and the Undead Champion prevents combat bonuses against him – he is immune to any attack magic.