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Rulebookpp. 12–15

Game Setup

The recommended play area for this game is at least 3' x 4' (90cm x 120cm).

Setup Procedure​

Follow this procedure to set up the game as it appears in the setup diagram. If you are continuing a campaign, also follow the Campaign Setup steps.

1. Choose a Province​

Select a provinceProvincesEach province is represented by an overland map and gazetteer.Rulebook p. 15 for your session. Each province is represented by an overland map and gazetteer. If you are continuing a campaign, you must select the province determined by your previous session. If this is your first session of your first campaign, it is strongly recommended that you select Black MarshBlack Marsh [BM]Native Skill - Storm Seer as your starting province.

  • Overland Map: Place the province's overland mapOverland MapEach map is divided into hexes that contain the various terrain features the party interacts with, each of which has its own map icon.Rulebook p. 35 to one side of the play area. Your party's overland movement is tracked here.
  • Gazetteer: Set aside the province's gazetteer. You will need to refer to this book during play for its province effect, dungeon map, town entries, and quest steps.

2. Set Up Dice, Chips, Tokens and Pegs​

Set the dice storage trays and chip storage trays near the play area so they are easily accessible. Sort the circular attribute tokens, square stat tokens, and circular overland tokens by type. Set the pegs aside until they are ready to be placed into an adventurer mat. Place all skill line tokens in the trainer bag.

  • Solo games: It is recommended that you remove duplicate copies of each skill line'sSkill LinesAn overview of the different Skill Lines available.Rulebook pp. 21–22 circular token.

Enemy Chips: Gather the black double-sided enemy chipsEnemyAll opposing units to the party are considered enemies, regardless of their level.Rulebook pp. 54–55, 90 and separate them into stacks by level, which is the number printed in the center of the chip. Level 1 and level 5 enemies share opposite sides of the same chip, as do level 10 and level 20 enemies. Enemies with two-letter province codes under their names can only appear in the province with those initials, and are only included in a stack if you are playing in that province. Place the separated stacks into the enemy bags as described below, then place the bags near the overland map. Keep these bags in a consistent order so you can draw from the correct bag later.

  • Level 1 (black border) / Level 5 (green border) enemies are placed in the level 1/5 bag.
  • Level 10 (purple border) / Level 20 (red border) enemies are placed in the level 10/20 bag.

For your first game, it is strongly recommended you play the Jailbreak Introduction encounterJailbreak Introduction EncounterAn optional first battle that teaches the battle rules and acts as the final step of adventurer creation; what each adventurer achieves in it decides their class options.Rulebook pp. 92–94 to determine your adventurers' class choices and to learn the battle rules. If you choose to play it, place only the level 1 enemy chips it lists into the level 1/5 enemy bag and set aside all other enemy chips.

3. Set Up Card Decks​

Place all skill line reference sheets in the card tray as shown in the setup diagram. Then, prepare each of the following card decks as described and place them in the card tray. Place the card tray near the overland map. Return cards not used in a deck or set aside for later use to the game box.

  • Side Quest Deck: Shuffle all side questSide QuestsSide quests are optional opportunities for rewards that are independent of the party's guild quest. Each side quest has its own requirements for completion.Rulebook p. 48 cards together.
  • Overland Decks: There are 2 overland decks: Peaceful (Peaceful Icon) and Conflict (Conflict Icon). Each overland cardOverland CardAn overland card's story side shows its type, title and story; its choices side shows each choice's outcome icon, XP reward and instructions, plus battle info and overland icons.Rulebook pp. 37–38 is marked with the icon for its type and has a code with either the province's initials or "GE" for general. To set up each deck, shuffle all 10 general cards of that type and draw 4. Then, take the 8 cards of that type from the province you're playing in and shuffle them together with the 4 general cards you drew so that all cards' story sides are faceup.
  • Delve Deck: Each delve card is marked with either the province's initials or "GE" for general. Remove all the special cards marked with "SP" from the delve cards associated with your chosen province. Then, shuffle the remaining province delve cards with all of the general delve cards. Refer to the Delve Feature section of the province's gazetteer for any additional province-specific setup instructions, including what to do with special cards—such as Black Marsh's special Submerged Chamber card, which is set aside.
  • Item Decks: There are 2 itemItemsAdventurers 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.Rulebook pp. 28–29 decks: the Common (Common Item Icon) and the Legendary (Legendary Item Icon) Deck. Shuffle each deck separately.

4. Set Up Map Tiles, Journal and Dials​

Take the neoprene map tiles and sort them by shape. Set aside the large, double-sided clash tile and the 5-hex, light green entrance tile. The remaining tiles are delveDelveDelve battles represent adventurers navigating an uncharted, labyrinthine space.Rulebook pp. 74–75, 86 tiles; shuffle each stack facedown and place them together as shown. These tiles are used to build the map during different types of battles.

  • Campaign Journal: If this is your first session, choose a party leader. They will be responsible for recording party progress in the party's campaign journal. If players wish to name their adventurers, the party leader records them in the journal.
  • XP and Day Dials: The XP Dial tracks the party's gained 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.Rulebook pp. 12, 43 and determines the strength of the enemies drawn in battle. The Day Dial tracks the quest days that have passed during the game. Place the XP and Day Dial chips into the sockets of the magnetic chip holder (either left or right).
    • If you play the Jailbreak Introduction encounterJailbreak Introduction EncounterAn optional first battle that teaches the battle rules and acts as the final step of adventurer creation; what each adventurer achieves in it decides their class options.Rulebook pp. 92–94, set the party's XP Dial to 1. If you don't, set it to 2.
    • Either way, the Day Dial remains unset until later.

5. Choose Game Difficulty​

Select a difficulty levelDifficulty LevelsLearn about the game's difficulty levels.Rulebook p. 13: ApprenticeApprenticeThis is the easiest difficulty. Adventurers remove 2 dice from their cooldown track and heal for 2 HP during the Adventurers Rest step at the end of each day. Quest steps also occasionally contain modified rules for Apprentice difficulty level.Rulebook p. 13, AdeptAdeptThis is average difficulty. Adventurers remove 1 die from their cooldown track and heal for 1 HP during the Adventurers Rest step at the end of each day.Rulebook p. 13 or ExpertExpertThis is the hardest difficulty. Adventurers gain 2 fatigue for each additional engage action taken in battle. To resolve their individual Adventurers Rest step, an adventurer must discard an item. Adventurers remove 1 die from their cooldown track and heal for 1 HP during the Adventurers Rest step at the end of each day.Rulebook p. 13. Difficulty affects the Adventurers Rest step of each 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.Rulebook p. 45, the fatigue gained for extra engageEngageAdventurers may engage multiple times per turn but are limited by the dice they can roll and fatigue they can gain. You may perform a move action before or after you perform an engage action, but not both.Rulebook pp. 59–61 actions, and the enemy pool of each session's final battle (End of Session EPEnd of Session EPThe enemy pool is calculated using an XP goal value set by the chosen difficulty level instead of your party's XP Dial.Rulebook p. 56).

6. Set Up Adventurers​

Each player takes an adventurer matAdventurer MatYour adventurer mat holds everything that makes up your adventurer, from race and class sheets to the cooldown track, active slots and inventory.Rulebook p. 18 and sets up their adventurer.

  • First Session of a Campaign: Each player creates an adventurer as described in Adventurer CreationAdventurer CreationEach player creates a unique adventurer at the outset of the first session of a campaign.Rulebook pp. 19, 26–27. If this is your first game, it is strongly recommended that you also play the Jailbreak Introduction encounterJailbreak Introduction EncounterAn optional first battle that teaches the battle rules and acts as the final step of adventurer creation; what each adventurer achieves in it decides their class options.Rulebook pp. 92–94 to help acclimate you to battle mechanics and the overall story. Then, return here and proceed to the next step.
  • Continuing a Campaign: Set up your adventurer as they were at the end of the previous session. See Continuing a Campaign.

7. Set Up Guild Quest​

To set up your questQuestsQuests are the goals your party is tasked with completing. Quests that your party has accepted but not completed or discarded are active quests.Rulebook pp. 46–48, refer to its first quest step in the gazetteer. Set aside any quest unitQuest UnitQuest units (white chips, brown border) are not mixed into draw bags at setup or after battles. Quest units cannot gain status effects from abilities or rules unless explicitly stated.Rulebook p. 54 chips described there. Place the party token (Party Token) in the starting location on the overland map. Also place any overland tokens in their starting locations.

  • First Session of a Campaign: Shuffle the Guild Deck and draw 3 cards from it. Then, choose 1 of those cards (see Choosing a Starting Quest). This card determines the guildGuildsLearn about the different guilds.Rulebook pp. 13, 46 you are contracted with; each guild has 1 quest in each province of the game. Each guild card contains a brief description of the guild and includes a special town action that can be taken by visiting a town'sTownThese encounters are described in the gazetteer and are triggered when the party ends its overland movement in a town or rolls a Town Icon result on the unstable die while at an unstable landmark (see Traveling Caravans).Rulebook pp. 38–41 guild kiosk. Return the unchosen guild cards to the box and place the chosen guild card with its guild kiosk effect faceup near the overland map.
  • Later Sessions of a Campaign: Your next guild quest is determined at the end of the previous session, as described in Successfully Completing a Session.

After completing setup, proceed to the first day and begin playing your session, starting with the New Day PhaseNew Day PhaseIncrease the Day Dial by 1 day. If the dial is at 12, the quest will be failed at the end of this day if it is not completed.Rulebook p. 34.

Choosing a Starting Quest​

Your party is not in control of which guilds offer you work at the campaign's start, but you do choose a quest from the opportunities available. Before choosing, read each quest's session snapshot, which is listed above the quest's first step (marked with "A") in the province gazetteer. Also consider the quest's complexity rating, which ranges in increasing complexity from 1–3 (see Guild Quest Step AnatomyGuild Quest StepEach guild quest step in the gazetteer has a step code, title and guild, story text, setup instructions, a quest objective with a recommended day, ongoing step effects, XP rewards and any battle info.Rulebook pp. 46–47).

The party must make this choice together. By selecting your guild quest, you align the party with that guild and commit to succeeding (or failing) at your chosen quest. Your choice of starting quest also influences which quests are available for your second campaign session (see Continuing a Campaign).

Setup Diagram​

The diagram on pg. 14 of the rulebook shows the recommended play area after setup.

Example​

Worked example from the rulebook: