Campaigns

The Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era is best played as a campaign taking place across 3 game sessions. A session ends after the party either succeeds or fails at its guildGuildsLearn about the different guilds. quest. The rules for connecting these sessions together are explained below.

Campaign Journal

As the partyPartyThe party can include both adventurer and companion units. proceeds through the campaign, it uses its campaign journal to write down information that cannot be tracked on the adventurers' mats. The journal records each session's events on a single sheet for reference later, especially at the start of future sessions.

Journal sheets are provided on the included pad or can be printed from the Chip Theory Games website.

Successfully completing a Session

During the day the party succeeds at its guild quest, the players complete the Reward PhaseReward PhaseThe party gains any rewards from the encounter it resolved during the previous phase. but skip the End of Day PhaseEnd of Day PhaseActivation of any province effect on the overland map is resolved. Then, the party rests and may trade items.. Then, the session ends.

When your party completes a campaign session, the players need to record their progress and store their adventurers following the steps below. Do this before packing up the other components. Follow these instructions even if proceeding directly to the next game session.

1. The party reads its guild quest's epilogue step. This step wraps up the story of the current session's quest and gives the party instructions for choosing the provinceProvincesEach province is represented by an overland map and gazetteer. and quest for its next session. These instructions vary based on which session the party just completed.
   • Session 1: Choose 1 of the available guild quest options from this session's epilogue. Note this choice in the party's campaign journal in the Session 2 Quest section; this will determine the province map and gazetteer used in the next session.
   • Session 2: Read the Session 2-specific lore text that introduces the endgame in Session 3. The endgame always takes place in the same province as Session 2.
2. The party leader records any other relevant session information, including the party's XPXP (Experience Points)The party's total gained XP is tracked by the XP dial. An adventurer's unspent saved XP is tracked on the Saved XP track on the adventurer mat. Dial value, in the campaign journal.
   • All of the party's uncompleted side quests must be discarded.
   • DiscardDiscardCards are discarded to a separate discard stack. Dice return to the supply. Defeated enemy chips go to a defeated enemy stack. Other chips go to the appropriate draw bag or supply. all set-aside cards with persistent effects on them (such as overland cards), and cross out all persistent effects logged in the campaign journal. Persistent effects last only for the session in which they are gained unless specifically stated otherwise.
3. Each adventurer does the following:
   • Return all of your adventurer's HP chips, including bonus HPBonus HPBonus HP chips are not added to the stack beneath the adventurer's chip, but instead are placed near their battle form tracker on the adventurer mat., to the supply. Adventurers will start the next session healed to full HP and with no bonus HP. RecoverRecoverAn adventurer may only recover a die from their cooldown track. A drained die can only be recovered by an ability that specifically affects drained dice. all skill dice and discard all fatigueFatigueThese dice are placed in your adventurer's cooldown track when they gain fatigue. There are 2 types of fatigue (light fatigue and overfatigue). or status dice from your cooldown trackCooldown TrackDice are placed here as the adventurer exhausts their skill dice or gains fatigue and status effect dice. The Cooldown stat determines the number of dice that are removed from the track each turn..
   • Keep your saved XP and CooldownCooldownThe number of dice removed from your cooldown track during the Recovery step of each of your turns in battle. stat at their current values. Reset your tenacityTenacityA resource tracked using the peg slots at the bottom right side of your adventurer mat. Accumulated tenacity remains until it is spent to trigger a class ability or reduced by another effect. to 0.
   • Keep your class sheet on its current side (if your class has been promoted, it remains so). Discard any class-related additional effects or components, such as the Necromancer's Necrosis Stack or the Warden's companionsCompanionA companion is a unit that is under the ongoing control of either the entire party or a specific adventurer..
   • Discard all expended itemsItemsAdventurers can gain useful items along their way. Each item card takes up 1 space in an adventurer's inventory, whether it is in a ready slot or the pack area. There are 2 types of item cards, common and legendary. and any PetPets protect adventurers from a number of harmful effects in Tamriel. However, each time the adventurer resolves a Pet ability, they must add an HP chip on top of the Pet card. A Pet with HP chips on it must be discarded after its HP limit is reached or the session ends. item with HP chips. Discard any active EnchantmentEnchantment items can augment or reshape the rules of the game. When its ability is triggered, the card is placed near or partially tucked under the affected component. The Enchantment ability then affects that component until the card is discarded as described by its effect or the session ends. item cards. You retain your other item cards.
4. Each player places their sheets and cards on their adventurer mat and stacks their mat into their individual storage tray.
   • Each player who has a deluxe adventurer inventory accessory can store their sheets and cards in the accessory on top of their adventurer mat.
   • The party leader stores the campaign journal together with their adventurer.
5. Disassemble the other components and place them back in their storage trays, separating province- or quest-specific components from the general components.

Continuing a Campaign

The campaign experience is designed so that you can properly record your progress and store the components away between sessions, smoothly resuming the campaign when you are ready.

Campaign Setup

To continue a campaign, follow these steps:

1. Choose Difficulty: It is possible to choose a different game difficulty levelDifficulty LevelsLearn about the game's difficulty levels. from previous sessions.
2. Set Up Adventurers: Each player takes their adventurer's mat, sheets, and cards from the storage tray and sets up their adventurer. Each adventurer starts at their full HP, with their saved XP, with no tenacityTenacityA resource tracked using the peg slots at the bottom right side of your adventurer mat. Accumulated tenacity remains until it is spent to trigger a class ability or reduced by another effect., and with all of their skill dice in their attribute rows. If the adventurer has promoted their classClassesYour adventurer's class adds special class abilities you can use, typically by spending a resource called tenacity that you accrue over the course of the game., they place their class sheet master side up.
   • The previous session's party leader places the campaign journal and sets the XP Dial to the correct position.
3. Set Up Components: Refer to the journal from the party's last session to determine the province and quest for this session. Refer to the province'sProvincesEach province is represented by an overland map and gazetteer. gazetteer for the rest of this procedure, starting with its gazetteer page. Follow any additional setup instructions for the chosen quest or endgame. Then follow the setup procedure as normal, but leave the party XP Dial set at its stored position from the previous session (the Day Dial is reset to 1). Choose a party leader to fill out the journal for this session. That player will keep the same campaign journal page that was used in the previous session and add new information to it as needed.

Losing the Campaign

Failing a session's guild quest (or campaign endgame) means your party has lost both the session and the campaign. To avoid this fate, your party can use its guild assistGuild AssistOnce per campaign, the party may trigger its guild assist, either during a battle at the end of a round or during the End of Day Phase's Adventurers Rest step. A guild assist can be triggered only during Sessions 1 or 2 and cannot be triggered during the Session 3 endgame quest. ability once per campaign. This powerful ability can rally adventurers during a battle or quickly move the party across the overland map in time for a crucial encounter.

If you truly lose the campaign, disassemble the components and store them as described in Successfully Completing a Session.