A Guide For New Players 1.4.3 No Background

A Guide for New Players
Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................................ 3
Terms ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Your Turn ................................................................................................................................................................. 6
Turn Overview ..................................................................................................................................................... 6
Chart: The Order of Your Turn ........................................................................................................................ 7
Encounters .............................................................................................................................................................. 8
Encountering a Card Sequence .......................................................................................................................... 8
Encountering A Summoned Monster ................................................................................................................. 8
Evading ................................................................................................................................................................ 9
Attempting a Check .............................................................................................................................................. 10
Playing Cards ........................................................................................................................................................ 12
How to Read the Cards ..................................................................................................................................... 14
Example Cards .............................................................................................................................................. 14
Any Character Can Play Any Card .................................................................................................................... 16
All These Cards ..................................................................................................................................................... 17
When to Add Cards to The Pool ....................................................................................................................... 17
When to Remove Cards From The Pool ........................................................................................................... 17
Your Character Deck.......................................................................................................................................... 17
When You Start ............................................................................................................................................. 17
After the End of the Scenario ...................................................................................................................... 18
Examples ............................................................................................................................................................... 19
Example Turn : Merisiel & The Monster ........................................................................................................... 19
Example Turn: Seonis Amazing Charisma & Glibness .................................................................................... 21
Example Turn: Seonis Amazing Charisma & Glibness, Continued ................................................................. 23
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1
Example of Evading: Merisiel Only Has to Deal with What She Wants To (Mostly) ..................................... 24
Example Encounter: A Mass Encounter............................................................................................................ 24
Example Check: Linis Powers .......................................................................................................................... 27
Example Limit of Cards on Check: Harsk and a Combat Check at Another Location ..................................... 28
Example Limit of Cards on Steps of an Encounter: Harsk Has Lots of Shields ............................................... 29
2
Introduction
Welcome to PACG! Youve made a wise choice in deciding to play this game. I hope you enjoy it.
Everyone who plays this game brings in their own preconceptions about how it will play. You might have
played other card games, or have played the Pathfinder Role Playing Game. But this isnt those games.
And doing something because that is how a different game works will probably lead you to make a
mistake in this game.
So, this document exists to help introduce you to the game. The Rulebook is great, and you should follow it
over this document. In fact, if you havent read it yet, go read it now and then come back and read this
later. What this is for is more to give examples of things, so you can see some of the rule and cards in
action.
There has been a lot of discussion about the rules and the cards. This document isnt about whether the
rules or cards should be worded differently. Its about how they are intended to be understood so you can
play this great game the way it was meant to be played.
Hopefully, this guide will help you as you learn to play. Eventually, you wont need it. The game will
become more natural to you.
I want to acknowledge that none of what is in this document is really mine. All these ideas and examples
were developed on the forums at Paizo or Board Game Geek, through interactions with other forum
members and the folks from Paizo and Lone Shark Games.
This document originally appreared at the following location:
http://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/101370/a-guide-for-new-players
Version 1.4.2 5/20/14
3
Terms
PACG uses lots of unique terms. Here are some important ones to know.
Scenario: The current objective for your party. The Scenario card will define the locations, villains,
henchmen, objectives, and special conditions for your group. This is the most basic length of a game.
Adventure: A set of Scenarios. The Adventure card will mention any special conditions for the Adventure (if
any), as well as the reward for successfully completing all the Scenarios of the Adventure in the prescribed
order (and thus completing the Adventure). Most Adventures consist of 5 scenarios. The Perils of the Lost
Coast in the Base Set consists of only 3, and serves as an introduction to the game.
Adventure Path: A set of Adventures. Each Adventure Path consists of 6 Adventures. The Adventure Path
card will mention any special conditions for the Adventure Path, as well as the reward for successfully
completing all the Adventures of the Adventure Path in the prescribed order (and thus completing the
Adventure Path). The Perils of the Lost Coast is not technically part of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure
Path, but is related to it as an introduction to the basic mechanics of the game.
Traits: These are characteristics of a card. They are listed in the upper left corner of the card. The traits
matter for banes that are immune to certain traits and also checks that require a certain trait be present in
order for a particular outcome. Later you will see how traits get from a card into a check.
Skills: An ability to use. All skills reference a certain size die, either directly or indirectly. Some skills
reference another skill, which references the size die. But all skills are their own skills and not sub-skills of
another skill. If a character doesnt have a skill listed on their card, they can roll a d4 for it.
For example, Ezrens Arcane refers to his Intelligence, while Lems and Seonis refer to their Charisma.
Valeros doesnt have the Arcane skill. If Valeros was making an Arcane check, he could not use his
Intelligence or his Charisma. He doesnt have the Arcane skill, so hed have to roll a d4 as his Arcane die.
When you attempt to defeat or acquire a card you encounter, you will often use a skill to do so. If multiple
skills are all listed together above a single difficulty, then you can choose any of the listed skills which you
want to use. You may ignore any of the skills you did not choose to use.
Reveal: Show a card from your hand then put it back in your hand.
Display: Place a card faceup in front of your character, unless stated otherwise; the cards powers function
until its discarded.
Discard: Put a card into your discard pilea stack of faceup cards next to your deck.
Recharge: Put a card facedown at the bottom of your character deck.
Bury: Put a card under your character card (likely losing access to it for the rest of the scenario).
Banish: Put a card back in the box, shuffling it in with the other cards of the same type. It becomes part of
the available card pool when you are instructed to draw a random card.
4
Remove: A possibility for banished cards in the second half of the adventure path. These cards do not go
back in with the other cards of the same type, so they arent part of the available card pool. You wont
ever use a removed card again for the rest of the adventure path.
5
Your Turn
Each turn has a particular order. You have to go through it in that order. And once youve moved on to the
next step in the order, you cant go back to a previous step.
Turn Overview
1. Advance the blessings deck.

2. *Give a card to another character at the same location.
3. *Move to another location.
4. *Explore the top card of the location deck. If you perform this step the card is encountered and you
begin the Encounter a Card sequence noted as below. Check for immunities on the encountered card.
1.1. *Evade the card (optional). If you have a power or card to play that allows you to evade, you can
do so now, taking into account any immunity on the encountered card. Shuffle it back into the
deck. It is not defeated and it is not undefeated, but it still counts as encountered. If evaded,
ignore the rest of step 4 and move immediately to step 5.
1.2. Apply any effects that happen before the encounter, if needed.
1.3. Attempt the check.
1.3.1. Determine which die youre using.
1.3.2. Determine the difficulty.
1.3.3. *Play cards and use powers that affect the check.
1.3.4. Assemble your dice.
1.3.5. Attempt the roll.
1.3.6. Take damage if you lose a check against a monster.
1.4. Attempt the next check, if needed.
1.5. Apply any effects that happen after the encounter, if needed.
1.6. Resolve the encounter. If a bane is defeated it gets banished. If it is undefeated, shuffle it back
into the location deck. If a boon is acquired, put it in your hand. If a boon is not acquired, banish it.
5. *If there are cards remaining in the location and you are able to play a card, or you triggered an effect,
to explore again and choose to do so, restart step 4.
6. *Try to close a location if it doesn't have any cards.
7. Reset your hand.
1.7. First apply any end of turn effects. Even when forced to reset your hand you must apply these
effects. You may use powers or play cards, unless you were forced to reset your hand.
1.8. Discard as many cards as you wish so that you are equal to or below your required hand size.
1.9. Draw as many cards as necessary to reach your hand size.
8. End your turn.
*These steps are optional.
The next page has a chart layout of the order of your turn with some notes, as well as key words in the
Effects/Powers column that indicate when certain things are triggered. Encounters and checks can
happen virtually any time, so things that are triggered by encounters or checks happen whenever
encounters and checks happen.
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Chart: The Order of Your Turn

Part of Turn
EFFECTS/POWERS
Notes
Rulebook
Advance the
Blessings Deck
Give a Card
Move
Explore
Close a Location
Reset Your Hand
End Your Turn
Encounters
You can encounter a card virtually any time during your turn or someone elses turn. They most commonly
happen as a result of exploring, but they can also result from the powers of a location, a barrier, a villain
or a scenario. They can even result from a card you play, like Detect Magic. There is no limit on when you
can encounter a card, only on when you can explore. So, you can play a card that might lead you to
encounter a card during any part of the turn when playing cards is allowed.
During each step of an encounter (red below), each character can only play 1 card of each type or activate
any power only 1 time. But you can play a card/power of the same type on different steps of the
encounter. You can even play the same card/power on different steps of the encounter.
Encountering a Card Sequence

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Evade the card (optional).

Apply any effects that happen before the encounter, if needed.
Attempt the check.*
Attempt the next check, if needed.*
Apply any effects that happen after the encounter, if needed.
Resolve the encounter.
*See the later section on attempting checks for more details.
Encountering A Summoned Monster
Summoned monsters are a pretty common encounter. The encounter works just like an encounter from
your exploration, only if it is a summoned monster it goes back in the box whether it is evaded, defeated,
or undefeated. These can happen on other characters turns.
1. The card is considered encountered immediately. Check for immunities on the encountered card.
1.1. *Evade the card (optional). If you have a power or card to play that allows you to evade, you can
do so now, taking into account any immunity on the encountered card. Summoned monsters
always go back in the box. It is not defeated and it is not undefeated, but it still counts as
encountered. If evaded, ignore the rest of step 1 and move immediately to 2.
1.2. Apply any effects that happen before the encounter, if needed.
1.4. Attempt the next check, if needed.
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1.5. Apply any effects that happen after the encounter, if needed.
1.6. Resolve the encounter. (Summoned monsters always go back in the box.)
2. Follow the instructions on the summoning card to continue with the current turn.
*These steps are optional.
Evading
Evading is an important aspect of PACG. Merisiel can evade her encounter any time. (Or at least virtually
anytime, as youll see in the example later.) Other characters can play cards that allow them to evade an
encounter. So, it is important to understand how evading something works.
The first thing you should realize is that some monsters are immune to certain traits. So if you have a card
you want to play, but it has a trait that the monster you are encountering is immune to, you cant play it.
The second thing to understand is exactly when evading happens and how it relates to the other steps of
encountering a card. Remember these are the steps of Encountering a Card:
Encountering a Card
Evade the card (optional).
Apply any effects that happen before the encounter, if needed.
Attempt the check.
Attempt the next check, if needed.
Apply any effects that happen after the encounter, if needed.
Resolve the encounter.
And remember, Evade says this in the rulebook:
Evade the card (optional). If you have a power or card that lets you evade the card
youre encountering, you may immediately shuffle it back into the deck; it is neither
defeated nor undefeated, and the encounter is over.1
If you evade, the encounter ends immediately. Right then and there you stop the whole sequence. So if
you evade you don't apply any effects that happen before the encounter. You don't attempt the check. You
don't attempt the next check. You don't apply any effects that happen after the encounter. You don't
resolve the encounter. You simply end the encounter, shuffle the card back whence it came, and continue
with your turn.
But evading doesnt mean the card wasnt encountered. You did encounter the card, so anything that
triggers by virtue of encountering a card still happens. That is important at locations like the Warrens and
the Shrine to Lamashtu's, which have their powers activated even if you evade your encounter. And
Blessing of the Gods has a power that says if you encounter them, you automatically acquire them, so they
essentially cant be evaded.
Essentially, what evading does is let you not go through the other steps of the Encountering a Card
sequence. But anything that isnt flagged as being a part of the sequence still applies.
Rulebook, 2/4/14, p. 10
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Attempting a Check
One of the most common things you will do in PACG is attempt checks. These have a very particular order
of steps to follow. And remember, each character can only play 1 card of each type and may activate each
power only once during each check you attempt.
1. Determine which die youre using.
This is where you are choosing the skill you will use for the check. You can use any skill listed as an
option on the card that directed you to attempt the check. If you want to use a skill on the card that
you dont have you can use a d4. If you choose a skill that references another skill, you are
essentially using both skills.
It is possible to play a card that allows you to replace the required skill with another skill. And those
are the only kind of card you can play on this step of the check. For instance, combat checks. You
dont have a combat skill. But lots of weapons, spells, and some items say For your combat check
and proceed to tell you what skill to use when playing that weapon. Any card you play during this
step adds the traits to the check. The rulebook also allows you to use Strength or Melee for a combat
check if you do not play a card during this step of the check.
2. Determine the difficulty.
This is where you take the difficulty of the card that directed you to attempt the check. You add in
any modifiers that might come from a location, scenario, or a card you played or encountered. Add
the base difficulty and any difficulty modifiers to get the difficulty of the check. You will need to roll
equal to or greater than this number to succeed.
3. Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional).
This is where you and other characters can play cards to affect the check. For instance blessings are
played now.
This is also where cards that allow you to automatically succeed at certain checks (i.e. Thieves Tools
or Crown of Charisma) are played.
Cards played here do not add their traits to the check, unless the powers of the card specifically
instruct you to.
Any card can be played here as long as it affects the specific check being attempted.
If a card adds to a check with a certain skill, then that skill needs to be the one being used in the
check. If the skill defined in step 1 references another skill, then you can play cards that add to
the referenced skill as well. (For example, if you have the skill Divine: Wisdom + 2, then a card
that affects Wisdom checks would also affect your divine check.)
If a card adds to a check with a certain trait, then that trait needs to be in the check.
Some skills are the same names as some trait (ex: Melee and Ranged). If the card you want to
play doesnt say which one it is, then either satisfies the condition to play it.
Some cards/powers played here could change the size of the die for your skill, though they
cannot change the skill itself.
The order you play the cards in during this step is up to you, but it could be very important. If you
reveal a card it is immediately back in your hand. So if another cards power requires you to
discard a card to activate it, you can use the card you revealed, because you already revealed it
and it is back in your hand.
4. Assemble your dice.
Now, based on all the cards you have played, you assemble the dice.
All you dice will have all the traits for your check, so you do not need to remember which die came
from which card.
5. Attempt the roll.
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Roll the dice. Add any negative or positive modifiers to the roll to get the total result.
No matter what, modifiers cannot reduce the total result to less than 0.
Modifiers include skill feats, cards that added a flat amount, skill bonuses (i.e. the +2 from Divine:
Wisdom + 2), or penalties from locations, scenarios, or other cards.
If the result is equal to or greater than the difficulty, you succeed. If it is less than the difficulty, you
fail.
6. Take damage if you fail a check to defeat a monster.
If, and only if, you failed a check to defeat a monster, you take damage as a direct result of the result
of your roll. Determine the difference between the difficulty and your result. You will take that much
damage as combat damage, unless the monster tells you to take a different kind of damage.
It is combat damage, even if the check to defeat the monster was not a combat check, unless the
monster card tells you to take a different kind of damage. (i.e. You take combat damage for failing to
defeat a monster, not because you failed a combat check.)
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Playing Cards
You might be wondering when you can play cards. The most important rule is the Golden Rule.
Rules: The Golden Rule
If a card and this rulebook are ever in conflict, the card should be considered correct. If cards conflict
with one another then Adventure Path cards overrule adventures, adventures overrule scenarios,
scenarios overrule locations, locations overrule characters, and characters overrule other card types.
Despite this hierarchy, if one card tells that you cannot do something and another card tells you that
you can, comply with the card that tells you that you cannot. If a card instructs you to do something
impossible, like draw a card from an empty deck, ignore that instruction.
There are basically 4 parts to that.
First, if there is a conflict between cards and the rulebook, follow the cards,
Second there is a hierarchy to decide what instruction to follow if there is conflict between cards.
1. Adventure Path Card
2. Adventure Cards
3. Scenario Cards
4. Location Cards
5. Character Cars
6. All other cards (boons and banes)
Third, despite all that, obey the card that tells you that you can NOT do something over the card that tells
you that you can do something.
Fourth, if a card instructs you to do something impossible, like draw from an empty deck. Ignore that
instruction. Wait, you might say. What about dying? If I have to draw a card from my character deck and
there isnt one, cant I ignore that instruction? Sure. You can ignore the instruction about drawing the card.
But you cant ignore the instruction that you are now dead. In other words, ignoring the instruction means
you arent stuck sitting there waiting for a card to magically appear so you can draw it. But that doesnt
mean the effect of not drawing the card doesnt still apply.
Probably the most common place where mistakes are made is on the limit of how many cards any
character can play. Each character can play 1 card of each type on any step of the Encountering a Card
sequence or on a check. (Since checks can happen outside of encountering a card, it is important to include
that second limit.)
Here are some other important rules about playing cards from the rulebook:
Anyone can play a card whenever the card allows it. Playing a card means activating
that cards power by revealing, displaying, discarding, recharging, burying, or
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banishing that card. Doing something with a card that does not activate that cards
power does not count as playing that card.2
You may not activate a power that doesnt apply to your current situation.3
If a card in your hand does not specify when it can be played, you can generally play
it at any time, with the exception that during an encounter you may only perform
specific actions at specific times.4
Encountering a CardPlayers may only play cards or activate powers that relate to
each step. Each player may play no more than 1 card of each type during each step;
for example, no one player may play more than 1 blessing while attempting a check,
though multiple players could each play 1 blessing during that check. Each player
may activate any power no more than once during each step. Players may not play
any cards or activate any powers between these steps.5
Remember that each player may not play more than 1 card of each type or activate
any 1 power more than once during each check.6
Attempting a Check Some cards may allow you to replace the required skill for a
check with a different one; as part of this action, you may play only 1 card or use
only 1 power that defines the skill you are going to use. When you play a card that
does this, add that cards traits to the check; for example, revealing the weapon
Longsword +1 for your combat check adds the Sword, Melee, Slashing, and Magic
traits to the check.7
Cards Do What They Say. Read any card as it is encountered or played, and do
whatever it says as soon as it makes sense to do so. Let the card tell you what to do,
and dont impose limitations that arent there. You can play an armor card even if
there isnt one in your deck list. You can play a Cure spell even if its not your turn.
You can play a blessing on a check even if someone else has played one. Cards say
everything they need to say.
Cards Dont Do What They Dont Say. Each cards powers reference specific situations,
and if youre not in those situations, you cant play it. If a card says it works on a
check, you can play it on anyones check, but if a card says your check, it only
works on yours. You cant play a Cure spell to reduce the amount of damage youre
taking, because Cure isnt about reducing damage. You cant play Detect Evil to
examine a location deck that has no cards. Your weapon doesnt help you acquire
new weapons. Each card tells you what its for, and you can use it only for that.
2
Rulebook, 2/4/14, p. 9.
Rulebook, 2/4/14, p. 9.
4
Rulebook, 2/4/14, p. 9.
5
Rulebook, 2/4/14, p. 10.
6
Rulebook, 2/4/14, p. 11.
7
Rulebook, 2/4/14, p. 11.
3
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No One Else Can Take Your Turn for You. Whenever you encounter a card or make a
check, youand only youmust resolve it. No other character can evade it, defeat it,
acquire it, close it, decide what to do with it, or fail at doing any of those things. If
Sajan encounters a monster, Merisiel cant evade it for him. If Kyra encounters a
Ghoul, Seoni cant attempt the check to defeat it. If Amiri encounters a Battered
Chest, Lini cannot use Thieves Tools against it. If Valeros encounters a Spyglass, Harsk
cant attempt the check to acquire it. If Ezren defeats a henchman at the Sandpoint
Cathedral, Seelah cant discard a blessing to close the location. If the game tells you
to do something, you have to do it.8
How to Read the Cards
The cards are talking to you. When playing a card, the commands on that card are for you. When
encountering a card, the commands on that card are for you. When at a location, the commands on that
card are for you. Some of those commands might affect other characters, but they speak to you.
The cards tend to speak in the imperative. That means the subject of the card is you. Its an implied
subject, a feature of the English language. And as the subject, you have to perform the action (the verb) of
the card. The object that action effects, whether direct or indirect, will be stated by the card. You can make
most card instructions more explicit by adding You at the beginning of the cards and to allow you to
the verb. Lets look at some examples.
Example Cards
Card
Power
Explicit
Comments
Blessing of the Gods

Discard this card to add 1 die to a check.
You discard this card to allow you to add 1 die to a check.
The action you are performing is adding. The object is 1 die, and the indirect object is a check. So this
can be played to help yourself, or another character. There are no limits on the 1 die (which size or
whose it is) or the check (where it is happening or whose it is).
Card
Power
Explicit
Comments
Blessing of the Gods

Discard this card to explore your current location.
You discard this card to allow you to explore your current location.
The action you are performing is exploring. The object is your current location. And since you are the
one performing the action, you cant use this power to let someone else explore. The object also has
the limit of it being your location. So you cant explore another location.
Card
Power
Explicit
Comments
Thieves Tools
Reveal this card to add 1 die to your Disable check.
You reveal this card to allow you to add 1 die to your Disable check.
The action you are doing is adding. But the object has a pretty serious limit: your Disable check. So
you cant play this to help someone else. Not because adding to another check isnt allowed, but
because the object from the power has to be yours.
Rulebook, 2/4/14, p. 22.
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Card
Power
Explicit
Comments
Thieves Tools
Discard this card to defeat a barrier whose highest difficulty to defeat is 11 or lower.
You discard this card to allow you to defeat a barrier whose highest difficulty to defeat is 11 or lower.
You cant play this to help another character. Why not? Because the rules prohibit you from defeating
a card for another character. So even though the object doesnt say your barrier, the action you
would perform would be illegal per the rules.
Card
Power
Sanctuary
Discard this card to choose a character at your location to evade a monster; put that monster on top
of the location deck.
Explicit
You discard this card to allow you to choose a character at your location to evade a monster; put that
monster on top of the location deck.
Comments This card can help another character as well as you, since you are a character at your location. Why
doesnt that go against the rules that you cant evade an encounter for someone else? Because the
action you are performing is choosing, not evading. Your choosing allows someone else to evade, but
they are the ones doing the evading.
Card
Power
Explicit
Lightning Touch
For your combat check, discard this card to roll your Arcane die + 2d4 with the Electricity trait.
For your combat check, you discard this card to allow you to roll your Arcane die + 2d4 with the
Electricity trait.
Comments This only works for your combat check. Why? Because it is explicit in the power that it has to be your
combat check.
Card
Power
Cure
Reveal this card and choose a character at your location. Shuffle 1d4+1 random cards from his discard
pile into his deck, then discard this card.
Explicit
You reveal this card and you choose a character at your location. Shuffle 1d4+1 random cards from
his discard pile into his deck, then you discard this card.
Comments Who can this be played on? Any character at your location, which includes you. When can you play
this card? Anytime after Advance the Blessing Deck and before Reset Your Hand, except during an
encounter or check since it doesnt apply to the steps of an encounter or a check. It doesnt have to
be your turn.9
Card
Power
Explicit
Comments
Tome of Knowledge
Reveal this card to add 1d6 to a Knowledge check.
You reveal this card to allow you to add 1d6 to a Knowledge check.
Anyone making a Knowledge check can benefit from this card. You are doing the adding but there
is no limit on the beneficiary being you, another character, at your location, or at another location.
Card
Power
Explicit
Comments
Tome of Knowledge
Recharge this card to succeed at your Knowledge check.
You recharge this card to allow you to succeed at your Knowledge check.
Only you can benefit from this. That is for two reasons. First, it has to be your Knowledge check. That
is explicit. Second, you have to be the one succeeding. And since you are prohibited from succeeding
at something for someone else, you cant use this to help someone else.
As a humorous side note: technically you are instructed to do the shuffling, since you are the subject. But its okay to let them
shuffle themselves.
15
Card
Power
Explicit
Comments
Leather Armor
Recharge this card to reduce Combat damage dealt to you by 1.
You recharge this card to allow you to reduce Combat damage dealt to you by 1.
Only you can benefit from this card, because the damage has to be dealt to you. And it can only
reduce combat damage, since the type is clearly stated.
Card
Power
Leather Armor
Banish this card to reduce all damage dealt to you to 0; if you are proficient with light armors, bury
this card instead.
Explicit
You banish this card to allow you to reduce all damage dealt to you to 0; if you are proficient with
light armors, bury this card instead.
Comments Only you can benefit from this card, because the damage has to be dealt to you. But this isnt limited
to combat damage it can reduce all kinds of damage, be it Fire, Acid, or whatever. The one exception
would be if the card dealing you damage says the damage may not be reduced. Why? Because of the
Golden Rule. While bane cards and boon cards are on the same level and dont overrule each other,
you are instructed to follow the card that says you can NOT do something. So you can NOT reduce the
damage in that case.
Any Character Can Play Any Card
Any character can play any card. Just because you dont have a card of a certain type on your deck list,
doesnt mean that if you somehow end up with a card of that type in a scenario you cant play it. You can
play any card.
But not every character can play a card for the same benefit. Besides the fact that cards often tell you to
use a skill and you might have a small die in that skill (remember even if you dont have a skill listed on
your card you can use a d4), there are some other advantages some characters will have, mostly through
proficiencies. Lots of armor cards allow those with heavy or light armor proficiency to bury the armor
instead of banish it. Some weapons will penalize those without weapon proficiency by increasing the
difficulty of the check to defeat the bane it is played against. A lot of the crossbow, shortbow, and
longbow weapons have secondary powers that allow you to add to combat checks at other locations
only if you have weapon proficiency. If you play a spell and dont have the arcane or divine trait required
by the spell, you will end up banishing it. But none of that stops you from playing the card. You just wont
get all the benefit from it that other characters might.
16
All These Cards
There is a pool of available cards for when you build a location deck or are instructed to draw a random
card from the box. That is different from the pool of cards you can use for your character deck.
When to Add Cards to The Pool
The pool of cards consists of all the cards equal to or less than the adventure number of the scenario you
are playing. The adventure number is in the upper right corner of the card. Cards from the Base Set have a
B. Cards from the Character Add-on Deck have a C. Promo cards have a P. Cards with B, C and P are equal
level, and are less than 1. So
If you are playing a scenario from
Perils of the Lost Coast (B)
Burnt Offerings (1)
The Skinsaw Murders (2)
The Hook Mountain Massacre (3)
Fortress of the Stone Giants (4)
Sins of the Saviors (5)
Spires of Xin-Shalast (6)
Your card pool will be

B, C & P
B, C, P & 1
B, C, P, 1, & 2
B, C, P, 1, 2, & 3
B, C, P, 1, 2, 3, & 4
B, C, P, 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5
B, C, P, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6
When to Remove Cards From The Pool
The instructions for removing cards from the pool (and thus from the rest of the Adventure Path) are on
the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path card:
After you begin The Hook Mountain Massacre, whenever you banish a bane with the
Basic trait, remove it from the game; whenever you you banish a boon with the Basic
trait, you may remove it from the game. After you begin Sins of the Saviors, do the
same for cards with the Elite trait.
You only get to apply that rule when you are technically banishing a card. And there are lots of times
when you are putting cards back in the box, but arent banishing them. So make sure you are really
banishing something before you try to remove it.
Your Character Deck
You character deck is the cards you have available to draw. Before you start and after you end a scenario,
it must conform to the restrictions on the back of your character card by having only the prescribed
number of each type of card for your character.10
When You Start
When you start at the beginning of the adventure path, there are suggested decks in the rulebook for each
character. But you can instead choose you own cards. They just have to have the Basic trait. The same
thing applies if you replace a character that died or a new character joins your group. After you start The
Hook Mountain Massacre adventure, "you may use any cards in the box from the base set and the
10
Rulebook 2/4/14, p. 19.
17
Character Add-On Deck, as well as any cards from an adventure deck whose adventure deck number is at
least 2 lower than that of the adventure youre currently playing.11
After the End of the Scenario
You also have to conform to the limit after the scenario ends. You can build a new character deck from the
cards in your hand, discard pile, character deck, or buried under your character card. You can also be given
a card from another character that played the scenario with you.
If, and only if, you are short a type of card and no other character has a card of that type available for you
to take, you can get a card from the box to complete you deck. But if any character has a card of that type
available, you have to take it instead of going to the box, no matter how much you might think that card
is useless to your character. If you do go to the box, you must follow the same rules as for when you build
a new character. So up until the Hook Mountain Massacre, you can only get cards with the Basic trait from
the box. After that adventure starts, you may use any cards in the box from the base set and the
Character Add-On Deck, as well as any cards from an adventure whose adventure deck number is at least 2
lower than the adventure youre currently playing.
11
Rulebook, 2/4/14 p. 14.
18
Examples
Below are some examples of play that highlight some of the different interactions between cards and the
importance of the orders of the steps in an encounter and a check. For these examples, the steps of an
Encounter will be Red. The steps of a Check will be Gold.
Example Turn : Merisiel & The Monster
This is a pretty typical turn. It highlights how to encounter a monster.

1. Advance the blessings deck. Merisiel flips over the top card of the blessing deck onto the blessing discard
pile. It is a Blessing of the Gods.
2. Give a card to another character at the same location. Merisiel opts not to do this.
3. Move to another location. Merisiel is at The Woods and decides to stay right there.
4. Explore the top card of the location deck. If you perform this step the card is encountered and you begin
the Encounter a Card sequence noted as below. Check for immunities on the encountered card. Merisiel
flips over the top card of her location deck. It is a Werewolf monster card. The encounter has begun.
4.1. Evade the card (optional). Though she could evade it, she opts not to.
4.2. Apply any effects that happen before the encounter, if needed. Merisiel looks at the monster card
and see if it has the words "Before the encounter" if it does, she would do whatever it says in
relation to that right now. It might tell you to take damage or make a check. This one says Before
the encounter, examine the top card of the blessings discard pile. If the card is Blessing of the
Gods, the difficulty to defeat the Werewolf is increased by 3. The top card of the blessing discard
pile is a Blessing of the Gods, so shell have to increase the difficulty by 3.
4.3. Attempt the check. Now she can attempt the check to defeat the monster. That starts another
sequence within this sequence
4.3.1. Determine which die youre using. She needs to make a combat check. But she doesn't have a
combat skill. The rulebook says she can use strength or melee, but she doesn't have the melee
skill (so that would only be a d4) and her strength is only a d8. But she does have a weapon
card in her hand that says "For your combat check, reveal this card to roll your Dexterity or
Ranged die plus 1d8." Her dexterity is d12, so that would equate to 1d12 + 1d8. That sounds
good. She decides to go with that. The die she is using is her Dexterity die. She also adds the
traits in the upper left corner of the weapon card to the check. This one says Ranged among
other things.
4.3.2. Determine the difficulty. It starts as a 13. But because of that Before-the-Encounter-Effect, it
gets 3 added to it and becomes a 16.
4.3.3. Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional). Merisiel plays a Blessing of the
Gods which says "Discard this card to add 1 die to your check." That 1 die is the die from the
skill she is using from two steps above, so that would be a d12. She plays an Archer ally that
says "Recharge this card to add 1d4 to your ranged combat check." Is she making a ranged
combat check? Yes, because the weapon card she played in 4.3.1 says Ranged on it in the
upper left corner where traits are listed and cards played in that step also add their listed traits
to the check. She decides to also user her power which says "If you are the only character at
your location, you may recharge a card to add 1d6 to your combat check, or discard it to add
an additional 1d6." She's alone at her location, so she can use this power. She picks any card
currently in her hand (it can't be the blessing or the ally she played because she
discarded/recharged them, but it can be the weapon because she only revealed it, so she still
has it). If she recharges this card she'll get 1d6 added. If she discards it she'll get 2d6. She
decides she wants to discard it.
19
4.3.4. Assemble your dice. She picks up 2d12 + 1d8 + 2d6 + 1d4.
4.3.5. Attempt the roll. She picks up the dice and rolls them. They total to 14.
4.3.6. Take damage if you fail a check to defeat a monster. Since her roll was 2 less than what she
needed she is dealt combat damage. Shell need to discard 2 cards. But the other card in her
hand is a Magic Shield armor that says Reveal this card to reduce combat damage dealt to
you by 2. She reveals the Magic Shield which is enough to reduce the damage to 0, so she
does not take any damage.
4.4. Attempt the next check, if needed. She has no more checks to attempt, so this isnt necessary.
4.5. Apply any effects that happen after the encounter, if needed. There are none.
4.6. Resolve the encounter. The bane is undefeated, so she shuffles it back into the location deck.
5. If there are cards remaining in the location and you are able to play a card or triggered an effect to
explore again and choose to do so, restart step 4. She has no cards, so she cant explore anymore.
6. Try to close a location if it doesn't have any cards. Her location still has cards, so she cant do this.
7. Reset your hand.
7.1. First apply any end of turn effects. Even when forced to reset your hand you must apply these
effects. You may use powers or play cards, unless you were forced to reset your hand. There are no
end of turn effects to apply this turn.
7.2. Discard as many cards as you wish so that you are equal to or below your required hand size. She
has nothing to discard.
7.3. Draw as many cards as necessary to reach your hand size. She draws back to her hand size.
8. End your turn. The turn passes to the next character.
20
Example Turn: Seonis Amazing Charisma & Glibness
Seoni sure is charismatic. Lets look at how her powers work and when cards can be played.
Card
Power
Glibness
Display this card and select a character. For the rest of the turn, add 3 to that character's checks that
use her Charisma die. Discard this card at the end of the turn.
If you do not have either the Arcane or Divine skill, banish this card.
Card
Power
Force Missile
For your combat check, discard this card to roll your Arcane die + 2d4 with the Force trait.
If you do not have the Arcane skill, banish this card.
1. Advance the blessings deck. Seoni flips the top blessing over. She has the spell Glibness in her hand. She
can play Glibness any time because there is no limit on the card. So she plays it now. It says: Display
this card and select a character. For the rest of the turn, add 3 to that character's checks that use her
Charisma die. Discard this card at the end of the turn. So she displays Glibness by putting it face up in
front of her. She chooses herself.
2. Give a card. She doesn't do this.
3. Move to another location. She doesn't do this.
4. Explore. She encounters the ally Sherriff Hemlock.
4.1. Evade the card (optional). She doesn't do this.
4.2. Apply any effects that happen before the encounter, if needed. There are none.
4.3.1. Determine which die youre using. She'll use Diplomacy, which is Charisma +2. She can do that
because the card she encountered calls for Diplomacy.
4.3.2. Determine the difficulty. Its a difficulty of 8.
4.3.3. Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional). She doesn't have anything to
play.
4.3.4. Assemble your dice. She grabs a d12, because that is her Charisma.
4.3.5. Attempt the roll. She rolls it and rolls a 5. She adds the +2 for her Diplomacy and the +3 from
Glibness, which is in effect. The result is 10.
4.3.6. Take damage if you fail a check to defeat a monster. This wasn't a monster.
4.4. Attempt the next check, if needed. There isn't a "next check" so it isn't needed.
4.6. Resolve the encounter. She succeeded at the check, so she adds the ally to her hand.
5. Seoni discards Sherriff Hemlock to explore her location. She encounters the Enchanter, which is combat 8
check to defeat.
5.1. Evade the card (optional). She doesn't.
5.2. Apply any effects that happen before the encounter, if needed. The Enchanters Powers say Before
the encounter, the Enchanter deals 1 Force damage to you. So Seoni takes 1 Force Damage,
making her discard a card.
21
5.3.1. Determine which die youre using. She plays Force Missile, which defines Arcane as her skill
for the combat check. And her Arcane is Charisma +2. Since it might end up getting recharged,
its sort of just in limbo for now. Not in her hand, not anywhere.12
5.3.2. Determine the difficulty. Its an 8.
5.3.3. Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional). She plays a Blessing of Pharasma
to add 2 die to the check since she played a spell on the check.
5.3.4. Assemble your dice. She grabs 3d12 and 2d4.
5.3.5. Attempt the roll. She rolls them and gets an 11. She adds +2 for her Arcane skill and +3 for
Glibness to the result. It is a 16 total.
5.3.6. Take damage if you fail a check to defeat a monster. She didn't fail. No damage.
5.4. Attempt the next check, if needed. She is may now attempt the check to recharge Force Missile.13
5.4.1. Determine which die youre using. Recharging Force Missile calls for Arcane.
5.4.2. Determine the difficulty. Its 7.
5.4.3. Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional). She activates her power to
automatically succeed.
5.4.4. Assemble your dice. No need to.
5.4.5. Attempt the roll. No need to.
5.4.6. Take damage if you fail a check to defeat a monster. No need to.
5.5. Apply any effects that happen after the encounter, if needed. The Enchanter says After the
encounter, the enchanter deals 1 Fire damage to you. Seoni takes 1 Fire damage by discarding a
card.
5.6. Resolve the encounter. She banishes the Enchanter.
6. Close a location. She can't.
7. Reset your hand. Now she has to do end-of-the-turn-effects. Glibness gets recharged at the end of the
turn. She'd attempt the check just like Force Missile.
7.1. End of turn effect: Recharge Glibness
7.1.1. Determine which die youre using. Recharging Glibness calls for Arcane or Divine. She chooses
Arcane.
7.2. She draws however many cards she need to get back to her hand size.
8. End your turn. She passes the turn to the next character.
12
From Rulebook, 2/4/14, p. 15: If, while attempting another check, you play a boon that you may be able to recharge, resolve
the current check before attempting to recharge the card. The boon is in play (and does not count as being in your hand, in your
deck, in your discard pile, or elsewhere) during the intervening time.
13
From Rulebook, 2/4/14, p. 10: Attempt the Next Check, If Needed. If another check is required, such as if you played a boon
with a check to recharge, or if your bane requires a second check to defeat, resolve it now. Repeat this step until you have
resolved all such checks.
22
Example Turn: Seonis Amazing Charisma & Glibness, Continued
But the previous example isnt the only way to play Glibness. Lets pretend Seoni is at a location that only
has 1 monster listed. While she has Glibness in her hand, shed rather hold on to it.
1. Advance the blessings deck. Seoni flips the top blessing over. She has the spell Glibness in her hand, but
she opts to not play it.
2. Give a card. She doesn't do this.
3. Move to another location. She doesn't do this.
4. Explore. She encounters the ally Ameiko Kaijitsu.
4.3.1. Determine which die youre using. She'll use Diplomacy, which is Charisma +2. She can do that
because the card she encountered calls for Diplomacy.
4.3.3. Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional). She plays Glibness. She can do
that because it applies to the check she is making since the check uses her Charisma.
4.3.4. Assemble your dice. She grabs a d12, because that is her Charisma.
4.3.5. Attempt the roll. She rolls it and gets a 5. She adds the +2 for her Diplomacy and the +3 from
Glibness, which is in effect. The result is 10.
4.3.6. Take damage if you fail a check to defeat a monster. This wasn't a monster.
4.4. Attempt the next check, if needed. There isn't a "next check" so it isn't needed.
4.6. Resolve the encounter. She won, so she adds the ally to her hand.
5. Close a location. She can't.
6. Reset your hand. Now she has to do end-of-the-turn-effects. Glibness gets recharged at the end of the
turn. She'd attempt the check just like Force Missile.
6.1. End of turn effect: Recharge Glibness
6.1.1. Determine which die youre using. Recharging Glibness calls for Arcane or Divine. She chooses
Arcane.
6.2. She draws however many cards she need to get back to her hand size.
7. End your turn. She passes the turn to the next character.
23
Example of Evading: Merisiel Only Has to Deal with What She Wants To (Mostly)
Lets look at Merisiel at the Warrens, so we can see how evading a card would work.
The Warrens At This Location power says, When you encounter monster, put a random monster from
the box on top of another random open location deck.
On her turn she explores and encounters the Enchanter, whose power section includes this: Before the
encounter, the Enchanter deals 1 Force damage to you. After the encounter, the Enchanter deals 1 Fire
damage to you." Merisiels encounter would look like this:
1. * Evade the card (optional). Merisiel uses her power to evade her encounter and shuffles the enchanter
back into the location deck.
2. Apply any effects that happen before the encounter, if needed. Merisiel does not apply the 1 Force
damage "before the encounter" effect from the Enchanter, because she evaded and the Enchanter is no
longer in front of her for this step.
3. Attempt the check. Merisiel does not attempt the check because she evaded and the Enchanter is no
longer in front of her for this step.
4. Attempt the next check, if needed. Merisiel does not attempt the next check, because she evaded and
the Enchanter is no longer in front of her for this step (and there isn't one).
5. Apply any effects that happen after the encounter, if needed. Merisiel does not apply the 1 Fire damage
"after the encounter" effect from the Enchanter, because she evaded and the Enchanter is no longer in
front of her for this step.
6. Resolve the encounter. Merisiel does not resolve the encounter, because she evaded and the Enchanter
is no longer in front of her for this step. (And there was no check to defeat the bane, so there was
nothing to resolve. Remember, this step is either that she banishes a defeated bane or shuffles the
undefeated bane back whence it came, but she's already shuffled away the evaded card.)
7. Warrens Location Power: Merisiel does place a random monster on top of another random open
location, because she did encounter a monster. She just decided to evade it once she encountered it.
Example Encounter: A Mass Encounter
Lets see what happens when a character encounters a barrier that requires other characters to encounter
monsters. It is Seonis turn. Harsk is at a location he just closed on the previous turn. Merisiel is at Seonis
location, and Ezren is at another location.
1. Explore. Seoni encounters the barrier Skeleton Horde, which says, Check to Defeat: None. Each
character at an open location summons and encounters an Ancient Skeleton henchman; banish this
card.
1.3. Attempt the check. There is none. Instead she complies with whatever the card tells her to do. 14
That basically puts this encounter on hold and starts a whole new encounter. So who has to
summon and encounter an Ancient Skeleton henchman? Seoni, Merisiel, and Ezren. Harsk is at a
closed location, so it doesnt apply to him. Who goes first? You can decide the order.
14
Rulebook p. 10: If a cards check section says None, look at the cards
powers, and immediately do whatever it says there.
24
1.3.1. Seoni opts to go first. She summons an Ancient Skeleton henchman from the box and
encounters it.
1.3.1.1. Evade the card (optional). She doesn't do this.
1.3.1.2. Apply any effects that happen before the encounter, if needed. There are none.
1.3.1.3. Attempt the check.
1.3.1.3.1. Determine which die youre using. She plays Force Missile, which defines Arcane as
her skill for the combat check. And her Arcane is Charimsa +2. Since it might end up
getting recharged, its sort of just in limbo for now. Not in her hand, not anywhere.15
1.3.1.3.2. Determine the difficulty. Its an 8.
1.3.1.3.3. Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional). She plays a Blessing of
Pharasma to add 2 die to the check since she played a spell on the check.
1.3.1.3.4. Assemble your dice. She grabs 3d12 and 2d4.
1.3.1.3.5. Attempt the roll. She rolls them and gets an 11. She adds +2 for her Arcane skill. It
is a 13 total.
1.3.1.3.6. Take damage if you fail a check to defeat a monster. She didn't fail. No damage.
1.3.1.4. Attempt the next check, if needed. She may now attempt the check to recharge Force
Missile.16
1.3.1.4.1. Determine which die youre using. Recharging Force Missile calls for Arcane.
1.3.1.4.2. Determine the difficulty. Its 7.
1.3.1.4.3. Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional). She activates her
power to automatically succeed.
1.3.1.4.4. Assemble your dice. No need to.
1.3.1.4.5. Attempt the roll. No need to.
1.3.1.4.6. Take damage if you fail a check to defeat a monster. No need to.
1.3.1.4.7.
1.3.1.5. Apply any effects that happen after the encounter, if needed. There are none from the
Ancient Skeleton henchman.
1.3.1.6. Resolve the encounter. Summoned monsters always go back in the box.
1.3.2. Merisiel opts to go second. She summons and encounters an Ancient Skeleton henchman.
1.3.2.1. Evade the card (optional). She uses her power to evade her encounter. The encounter
ends immediately. Summoned monsters always go back in the box.
1.3.2.2. Apply any effects that happen before the encounter, if needed. She evaded, so she
doesnt do this.
1.3.2.3. Attempt the check. She evaded, so she doesnt do this.
1.3.2.4. Attempt the next check, if needed. She evaded, so she doesnt do this.
1.3.2.5. Apply any effects that happen after the encounter, if needed. She evaded, so she
doesnt do this.
1.3.2.6. Resolve the encounter. She evaded, so she doesnt do this.
1.3.3. Ezren opts to go third. He summons and encounters an Ancient Skeleton henchman.
1.3.3.1. Evade the card (optional). He doesnt do this.
15
From Rulebook, 2/4/14, p. 15: If, while attempting another check, you play a boon that you may be able to recharge, resolve
the current check before attempting to recharge the card. The boon is in play (and does not count as being in your hand, in your
16
25
1.3.3.2. Apply any effects that happen before the encounter, if needed. There are none.
1.3.3.3. Attempt the check.
1.3.3.3.1. Determine which die youre using. He plays Force Missile, which defines Arcane as
his skill for the combat check. And his Arcane is Intelligence +2. Since it might end
up getting recharged, its sort of just in limbo for now. Not in his hand, not
anywhere.17
1.3.3.3.2. Determine the difficulty. Its an 8.
1.3.3.3.3. Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional). Seoni plays a Blessing
of Pharasma to, which adds 2 die to the check if a spell was played on the check.
Ezren played Force Missile, which is a spell, so that power applies..
1.3.3.3.4. Assemble your dice. Ezren grabs 3d12 and 2d4.
1.3.3.3.5. Attempt the roll. He rolls them and gets an 11. He adds +2 for his Arcane skill. It is
a 13 total.
1.3.3.3.6. Take damage if you fail a check to defeat a monster. He didn't fail. No damage.
1.3.3.4. Attempt the next check, if needed. Ezren is may now attempt the check to recharge Force
Missile.18
1.3.3.4.1. Determine which die youre using. Recharging Force Missile calls for Arcane.
1.3.3.4.2. Determine the difficulty. Its 7.
1.3.3.4.3. Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional). He plays a Sage ally to
add 1d6 to his non-combat Intelligence check. Since his Arcane is based on his
intelligence, adding to his Intelligence adds to his Arcane.
1.3.3.4.4. Assemble your dice. He grabs 1d12 + 1d6.
1.3.3.4.5. Attempt the roll. He rolls. The dice add up to 10. He adds 2 for his Arcane skill for
total of 12.
1.3.3.4.6. Take damage if you fail a check to defeat a monster. This wasnt a monster.
1.3.3.5. Apply any effects that happen after the encounter, if needed. There are none.
1.3.3.6. Resolve the encounter. Summoned monsters always go back in the box.
1.4. Attempt the next check, if needed. You are back to dealing with the Skeleton Horde barrier at this
point. There isn't a "next check" so this step isn't needed.
1.6. Resolve the encounter. The Skeleton Horde barrier instructs you to banish it, so Seoni does so.
17
Rulebook, 2/4/14, p. 15: If, while attempting another check, you play a boon that you may be able to recharge, resolve the
current check before attempting to recharge the card. The boon is in play (and does not count as being in your hand, in your
18
26
Example Check: Linis Powers
Lini has some powers that really emphasize exactly what is happening in a check. The two that are of
particular interest are:
When you play an ally with the Animal trait, you may recharge it instead of discarding it.
You may reveal an ally with the Animal trait to add 1d4 your check.
You may discard a card to roll d10 instead of your Strength or Dexterity die for any check.
Lets go through a combat check with Lini to see how those powers do and dont work. Well pretend she
needs to attempt a combat 8 check. She has no weapons or attack spell or any other cards to use for a
combat check, so shell have to use her strength, as allowed by the rules. In fact, all she has in her hand is
a Crow, and she wants to see if she can somehow use all her powers. She does have a skill feat of +1 in
her strength for our example. So, here it is:
1. Determine which die youre using. She is going to use strength. It doesn't matter what the size of the
die is yet, just where its coming from.
2. Determine the difficulty. Its 8.
3. Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional).
3.1. Lini reveals her Crow ally to add 1d4 to the check.
3.2. Since reveal means she puts it right back in her hand, Lini also discards the Crow to activate her
"strength of a bear" power. Lets pretend we still don't know what size the die is yet, because it
still doesn't matter at this point.
3.2.1. Isnt there a limit of only playing one card of each type by each player during a check? Yes,
but Lini actually hasnt played her Crow at all. To play her Crow, she would have to activate
the powers written on the Crow card. And she hasnt done that. She used the Crow to activate
the powers on her character card. And there is no limit as to how many times you can use a
card, just how many times you can play a card.
3.2.2. Can Lini recharge the Crow, via her first power? No, because that power is for when she plays
an ally with the animal trait. And again, she hasnt played it.
3.3. Someone plays a Blessing of the Gods to add 1 die to the check.
4. Assemble your dice. Now Lini looks down and sees that, because of the power she used, she has a d10
for strength now. So she picks up a d10. And someone played that Blessing of the Gods, so she grabs a
second d10 because that is her strength. And she gets a d4 because she also activated that power as
well.
5. Attempt the roll. She rolls the 2d10 + 1d4 and gets a 7. She also now has to "add any modifiers that
apply to the check." Well, she has a strength feat modifier of +1, and she used her strength skill, so she
adds that and gets an 8.
6. Take damage if you fail a check to defeat a monster. She doesn't need to take damage because she did
not fail.
That really highlights a few things. It shows when the size of the die actually matters during a check,
which isnt until you assemble the dice. It also shows when modifiers get added, which highlights why
blessings dont add additional modifiers, only additional dice. And it shows the importance of you deciding
the order. Lini could reveal her ally before discarding it because she can decide the order of what to do in
that step.
27
Example Limit of Cards on Check: Harsk and a Combat Check at Another Location
Harsk is a great guy to not have around. Hes got this power:
You may recharge a card to add to a combat check at another location.

And he tends to carry crossbows and longbows. Which tend to have a power like this:
Card
Power
Light Crossbow
For your combat check, reveal this card to roll your Dexterity or Ranged die + 1d8.
If you are proficient with weapons, you may discard this card to add 1d4 to a combat check at
another location.
So what does that mean? Well lets look at just a single step of Attempting a Check when someone else is
making a combat check and Harsk is at another location.
Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional).
Harsk can use his power once and a weapon once on a check. So, he can recharge some card in his hand
(say an item) and he can also discard a weapon with a power like the one above. That means he can add
2d4 to a combat check at another location. Their effects are the same, but his power doesnt count as
playing a weapon, even if he recharges a weapon card to activate it, so he can do both on the same check.
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Example Limit of Cards on Steps of an Encounter: Harsk Has Lots of Shields
In this example, well highlight the rule of 1 card of each type on each step of an encounter, and see how
some cards allow you to break that rule. Harsk will have to have Snakeskin Tunic and 2 Magic Shields in his
hand for this example.
Card
Power
Snakeskin Tunic
Reveal this card to add 1 to your Dexterity check.
Recharge this card to reduce Combat or Poison damage dealt to you by 1.
Banish this card to reduce all damage dealt to you to 0; if you are proficient with light armors, bury
this card instead.
Card
Power
Magic Shield
Reveal this card to reduce Combat damage dealt to you by 2. If you are proficient with light armors,
you may play another armor on this check.
If you played a weapon with the 2-Handed trait on this check, you may not play this card.
If you are proficient with light armors, you may recharge this card when you reset your hand.
Lets have Harsk encounter a hypothetical monster that says:

Check to Defeat: Combat 10 THEN Combat 12
Before the encounter, the monster deals 2 combat damage to you.
After the encounter, the monster deals 1 poison damage to you.
1. Evade the card (optional). Harsk doesnt have a card to do this.
2. Apply any effects that happen before the encounter, if needed. The monster deals 2 combat damage.
Harks reveals one of his Magic Shields to reduce that damage by 2.
3. Attempt the check.
3.1. Determine which die youre using. Harks plays a Light Crossbow, which defines the skill as Ranged,
which references his Dexterity.
3.2. Determine the difficulty. It is 10.
3.3. Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional). He reveals the Snakeskin Tunic to add
1 to his dexterity. He can play an armor card again because this is different step of the encounter.
3.4. Assemble your dice. He grabs 2d8.
3.5. Attempt the roll. He rolls the 2d8, adds 3 for his Ranged skill and 1 for the Snakeskin Tunic. The
result is an 8.
3.6. Take damage if you fail a check to defeat a monster. Harsk will have to take 2 damage. He already
played an armor on this part of the encounter, and even though he might have a Magic Shield that
says, If you are proficient with light armors, you may play another armor on this check, he would
have had to play that armor before the second armor. So he has to take the damage, and discard 2
cards.
4. Attempt the next check, if needed.
4.1. Determine which die youre using. Harks plays a Light Crossbow, which defines the skill as Ranged,
which is references his Dexterity.
4.2. Determine the difficulty. It is 12.
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4.3. Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional). Harsk doesnt play any cards.
4.4. Assemble your dice. He grabs 2d8.
4.5. Attempt the roll. He rolls the 2d8, adds 3 for his Ranged skill. The result is a 9.
4.6. Take damage if you fail a check to defeat a monster. Harsk will have to take 3 damage. He reveals
the first Magic Shield to reduce that by 2. And the Magic Shield says, If you are proficient with
light armors, you may play another armor on this check. So he reveals the second Magic Shield to
reduce the damage by 2 more. Together the two armors reduce all the damage, so he wont have
to discard any cards.
5. Apply any effects that happen after the encounter, if needed. Harsk is now dealt 1 poison damage. Since
this is a new step of the encounter, he can play any type of card again. He still has his Snakeskin Tunic
in his hand, so he recharges it to reduce the Poison damage by 1. He wont need to discard any cards.
6. Resolve the encounter. The bane was undefeated, so Harsk shuffles it back into the location deck.
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A Guide for New Players

Version 1.4.2 5/20/14

1. Advance the blessings deck.

Chart: The Order of Your Turn

Reset Your Hand

End Your Turn

Encountering a Card Sequence

Evade the card (optional).

*See the later section on attempting checks for more details.

Encountering A Summoned Monster

How to Read the Cards

Blessing of the Gods

Blessing of the Gods

Rulebook, 2/4/14, p. 22.

Any Character Can Play Any Card

All These Cards

When to Add Cards to The Pool

Your card pool will be

When to Remove Cards From The Pool

Your Character Deck

Rulebook 2/4/14, p. 19.

Rulebook, 2/4/14 p. 14.

Example Turn : Merisiel & The Monster

This is a pretty typical turn. It highlights how to encounter a monster.

Example Turn: Seonis Amazing Charisma & Glibness

Example Turn: Seonis Amazing Charisma & Glibness, Continued

Example Encounter: A Mass Encounter

Example Check: Linis Powers

You may recharge a card to add to a combat check at another location.

Example Limit of Cards on Steps of an Encounter: Harsk Has Lots of Shields

Lets have Harsk encounter a hypothetical monster that says:

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