[ BETA RULES ]

Table of Contents [13.0] PENALTIES 16

[1.0] INTRODUCTION 3 [13.1] Wounds 16
[13.2] Losing Resources 16
[2.0] GAME EQUIPMENT 4
[13.3] Losing a Turn 16
[3.0] SETTING UP THE GAME 6
[13.4] Exhausting a Power 16
[3.1] Play Area 6
[13.5] Dying 16
[3.2] Choose Heroes 6
[3.3] Prepare the Map Deck 7 [14.0] POWERS 16
[3.4] Necromancer’s Forces 7 [14.1] Activating Powers 17

Map Subdecks 8 [14.2] Exhausting Powers 17

[14.3] Timing 18
[4.0] HEROIC RESOURCES 9
[14.4] Artifacts 18
[4.1] Grace and Secrecy 9
[4.2] Sparks 9 [15.0] ITEMS 18
[15.1] Managing Items 18
[5.0] DIE ROLLS 10
[15.2] Holy Relics 19
[6.0] SEQUENCE OF PLAY 10
[16.0] QUESTS 19
[7.0] EVENTS 11
[16.1] Starting Quests 19
[7.1] Renewal 11
[16.2] Completing Quests 20
[7.2] Necromancer Attacks 11
[16.3] Expiring Quests 20
[7.3] No Events in the Monastery 11
[17.0] VICTORY AND DEFEAT 21
[8.0] ACTIONS 12
[17.1] Slay the Necromancer 21
[9.0] DARKNESS 12 [17.2] Holy Ritual 21
[10.0] NECROMANCER MOVEMENT 13 [17.3] Monastery Overrun 21
[11.0] BLIGHTS 13 [18.0] OTHER RULES 21
[11.1] Creating Blights 13 [18.1] Reshuffling 21
[11.2] Effects of Blights 14 [18.2] Monastery 21
[11.3] Destroying Blights 14
[19.0] OPTIONAL RULES 22
[12.0] COMBAT 14 [19.1] Adjusting Difficulty 22
[12.1] Attacking a Blight 15 [19.2] Playing with Different Numbers of Heroes 23
[12.2] Battling the Necromancer 15 [19.3] Playing the Necromancer 24
[12.3] Pulling Punches 15 [19.4] Hidden Relics 25

Extended Example 25
Credits 27
[1.0] Introduction
A great shadow has fallen over the kingdom as the undead continue to multiply under the control of
a dread Necromancer. The king’s army is broken, the lands overrun, and now the Castle has fallen.
The last of the kingdom’s strength has taken refuge in the hallowed ground of the Monastery,
where the Necromancer and his dead dare not tread…yet. As he tightens his grip on the land and
builds his power for a final assault on this last refuge, a few brave souls seek a way to fight back…
Darkest Night is a cooperative game where four heroes fight a guerilla war to retake a
kingdom invaded by an evil Necromancer. All players share victory or defeat and must
work as a team to succeed.

3
[2.0] Game Equipment
• 1 Game Board
• 10 Miniatures
• 10 Dice
• 9 Hero Sheets
• 90 Power Cards (10 per hero)
• 10 Artifact Cards
• 42 Event Cards
• 50 Map Cards
• 20 Quest Cards
• 80 Blight Counters
• 41 Item Counters
• 12 Spark Counters
• 4 Holy Relic Tokens
• 5 Turn Trackers
• 5 Grace Trackers
The Game Board: The game board depicts the kingdom where the game takes place. The map shows
• 5 Secrecy Trackers the seven locations that the players can visit (the Mountains, Castle, Monastery, Village, Swamp, Forest, and
Ruins), the lines they can move along, and numbers that are used to determine the Necromancer’s
• 1 Darkness Tracker
movement. Along the bottom of the map is the Darkness Track, which represents the Necromancer’s
• 1 Clue Tracker growing power and influence.

• 12 Active Markers (6 Pairs)

• 1 Rulebook
• 1 Compendium
• 1 Player Aid
If any of these pieces are missing or damaged,
r r
please email us at: info@victorypointgames.com de
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Hero Sheets: These sheets describe the heroes and have tracks at the bottom for recording the hero’s
current grace and secrecy. On the reverse side is a player aid.

4
 Blights: These tokens
5Deca
Item y
represent centers of the
y
Deca s
no e have
ffec
ts
Necromancer’s power;
each one produces an
5 No
effe
ct
adverse effect, usually
(but not always) limited
to its location on the
Event cards represent chance encounters map (see 11.0).
the heroes may have while roaming the
Miniatures: These are used to track the Item Counters: These
kingdom (see 7.0).
current location of each hero and the tokens represent helpful
Necromancer. single-use magical objects
the heroes find during
The Cards: There are several different
the game (see 15.0).
kinds of cards in the game:
Holy Relics: These tokens
represent powerful items
that will be key to winning
the game (see 15.2).
Artifact cards represent powerful objects Trackers: These counters
that can aid the heroes; they follow the are used to keep track of
rules for powers (14.0) and also the rules game status including
for items (15.0). who has taken their turn,
Power cards represent the unique abilities heroes’ basic statistics,
or equipment of different heroes; each and the current darkness
hero has a separate set of 13 power cards. level. The game also
Power cards have a name at the top of includes a clue tracker ( ),
the card, rules text at the bottom, and a but this tracker is only
symbol in the corner if it is possible to used when playing with
begin the game with them (see 3.2). the first expansion,
The use of powers is explained in 14.0. Secrets of the Past.
Map cards are used to randomize blight
creation and search results. Each card hese tokens
Sparks: These
lists a type of blight and a search result represent reserves of
for each of the locations on the board; energy or willpower that
except during setup (see 3.4), only one of he heroes to
can spur the
these results is used each time you draw nary efforts
extraordinary
a card. The Map Deck can be customized (see 4.2).
to choose the variety of blights you will
face during the game (see 3.3). Stretch Goal
Quest cards denote additional objectives
for the players to complete around the
map, with rewards for success and
penalties for failure (see 16.0).

5
[3.0] Setting Up
The Game
[3.1] Play Area
Place the game board in the center
of the playing area.
Place the 4 Holy Relic tokens on the
board in the locations labeled
Mountains, Forest, Ruins, and
Swamp, with their “undiscovered”
sides facing up.
Shuffle all of the event cards
together to form the Event Deck,
shuffle all of the quest cards together
to form the Quest Deck, and shuffle all
of the artifact cards together to form the
Artifact Deck. Set each of these decks facedown
in reach of all players.
Set the blight, Spark, and item counters aside to form
the Stock. You will need them later.
[3.2] Choose Heroes
By default, the game is always played with 4 heroes, chosen from
among the 9 hero characters included in the game. If there are 5. Take the
4 players, each player chooses a hero to play. If there are fewer 13 power cards Shuffled
than 4 players, divide control of 4 heroes among yourselves as matching the
you choose (e.g., with 2 players, you might each control 2 heroes; if & Placed
selected hero.
playing alone, you would control all 4). Find the 5 power
If you prefer to play with a different number of heroes, there are cards with the
some optional rules for doing so in 19.2, but playing with 4 heroes symbol in the top right
is recommended. corner, read them, and
choose 3 of those powers to
Then, perform all of the following steps for each selected hero:
start with, setting them faceup
1. Take the appropriate standing character token for that hero near the hero sheet.
and place it on the board in the location labeled “Monastery.”
6. Shuffle the remaining 10 power cards
2. Take the appropriate hero sheet and set it near the player (including the unchosen powers) to form that
controlling that hero. hero’s Power Deck, and set them facedown near
3. Take a turn tracker and set it near the hero sheet, sun-side up. the hero sheet.

4. Take a grace tracker ( ) and a secrecy tracker ( ) and place Flip the remaining hero sheets to their reverse side for use
them on the default values of the corresponding tracks on the as player aids. Set aside the power cards for the remaining
hero sheet. These spaces are denoted with a decorative bracket. heroes; you will not need them unless one of your starting
heroes is killed.

6
[3.3] Prepare the Map Deck [3.4] Necromancer’s Forces
The Map Deck can be customized to change the varieties Place the standing Necromancer token on the board, in the Ruins.
of blight you will face during the game. Select one of
Place the Darkness Tracker on the Darkness Track (located at the
the “subdecks” described on the next page, then look edge of the board), in the space with a symbol to the left of “1.”
through the map cards and find all the cards with the
corresponding colored orb in the lower left-hand corner; Draw the top card from the Map Deck. For each location listed
shuffle only those cards together to form the Map Deck, and return on the card except the Monastery, take the indicated blight counter
the rest of the map cards to the box. (Note that some map cards have from the Stock and place it on the board in the corresponding
multiple colored orbs, indicating they are used in more than one subdeck.) location. You should have 6 blight counters on the board when
you are done. (Ignore the search results listed on the card.)
Then, place the map card you drew faceup next to the Map Deck,
starting a discard pile.

Default values
are shown on
the character Blight Placement
Placem
sheets with
Built & a decorative
Example:
Shuffled bracket as
shown.
(See 3.3)

Choose 3 of 5
starting powers

7
Map Subdecks
Subd Map Card Anatomy:
y:

Simplicity (top
(top-right position) — 16 cards — 12 blights 2 3 4
ha the smallest variety of blights and search results; recommended for your first game.
This subdeck has 1

Crows 5 Enigma 4 Evil Presence 4 Nexus 3 Omen 6 Shades 5

Shroud 5 Skeletons 5 Taint 5 Unholy Aura 4 Webs 5 Zombies 5

Overrun (bottom-right position) — 20 cards — 16 blights

Face the teeming hordes of undead in this subdeck with an emphasis on monster blights.

Crows 5 Curse 5 Decay 5 Lich 5 Oblivion 4 Revenants 5 Shades 5 Shroud 5

Skeletons 5 Specters 4 Stigma 5 Taint 5 Terror 4 Vampire 6 Wraiths 4 Zombies 5

Hunted (bottom-center position) — 20 cards — 16 blights

Everything is out to get you in this subdeck filled with traps and detection.

5
Confusion 4 Corruption 5 Crows 5 Dark Fog 5 Desecration 4 Flux Cage 6 Gate 5 Omen 6

Revenants 5 Specters 4 Spies 5 Stigma 5 Terror 4 Void 7 Webs 5 Wraiths 4

Entropy (bottom-left position) — 20 cards — 20 blights 1. Quest Symbol

The world has fallen into shadow in this subdeck including every kind of global-effect blight.
2. Location Column
Confusion 4 Corruption 5 Curse 5 Dark Fog 5 Decay 5 Desecration 4 Enigma 4 Gate 5 Nexus 3 Oblivion 4
3. Blights Column
4. Search Column
Omen 6 Shades 5 Shroud 5 Skeletons 5 Spies 5 Stigma 5 Taint 5 Vampire 6 Void 7 Zombies 5

5. Subdeck Key
Spiritual Warfare (top-left position) — 20 cards — 20 blights
Enter a battle of wills in this subdeck containing NO monster blights.
A note about keys:
Confusion 4 Corruption 5 Crows 5 Dark Fog 5 Decay 5 Desecration 4 Enigma 4 Evil Presence 4 Flux Cage 6 Gate 5

Nexus 3 Oblivion 4 Omen 6 Shroud 5 Spies 5 Stigma 5 Taint 5 Unholy Aura 4 Void 7 Webs 5

Both blue (Mystery) and red (Clue)

Classic (top-center position) — 20 cards — 15 blights key icons will provide you with a
This subdeck uses the blights and search results from the original release of Darkest Night. key counter in the base game. The
blue and red colors will come into
Confusion 4 Corruption 5 Curse 5 Dark Fog 5 Desecration 4 Evil Presence 4 Lich 5 Shades 5 play in the Mysteries of the Past
game expansion.
Shroud 5 Skeletons 5 Spies 5 Taint 5 Unholy Aura 4 Vampire 6 Zombies 5

Everything — 550 cards — 30 blights

You can also play with the entire Map Deck at once, for maximum variety.

8
 beyond the maximum value specified in the [4.2] Sparks
[4.0] Heroic Resources instruction to gain, if any).
Sparks represent
represe reserves es of energy or
[4.1] Grace and Secrecy If a card instructs you to lose or , willpower tha
that can spur a hero to
Each hero sheet has a grace track ( ) and move the marker down the track, but do extraordinary eefforts. Heroes
roes can spend
a secrecy track ( ) at the bottom. not reduce it below zero (any loss beyond Sparks before m
making any die roll to gain
zero is ignored). extra dice on that roll (1 extra die per
Grace represents the mysterious power
If a card instructs you to spend or , Spark spent).
that allows heroes to survive in situations
where normal men would perish. If you then you may not use that effect unless Unlike and , Sparks are not
are about to die, you can spend to save you have at least that much or represented by a track; instead, take one
yourself (see 13.1); however, running out available to spend. Spark token from the Stock whenever
of is not inherently fatal, it just leaves Remember: You cannot spend what you you gain a Spark, and return one Spark
you vulnerable. do not have, but when you have nothing token to the Stock when you spend
to lose, then losses are ignored. (or lose) a Spark.
Secrecy represents how well the hero’s
movements are hidden from the The minimum value for both and Each hero can have a maximum of 3 Sparks
Necromancer and his minions; it affects is zero (represented by moving the token to an excess Sparks
at one time; any parks must be
the odds of being detected by the the symbol printed to the left of “1,” or removing imme
discarded immediately d without effect.
and
Necromancer and the severity of certain the token from the track). Neither nor Sparks do nott count as items
tems (see 15.0)
event cards. If your reaches zero, the has an absolute maximum, but most things ong heroes.
and cannot be traded among
Necromancer will be able to attack you that raise or will only do so up to
during your event phase (see 7.2). some threshold.
Stretch Goal
The bracketed values are each hero’s
default and , and are the amounts
available to the hero at the start of the
game (not the maximum). Place markers
on these numbers.
If a card instructs you to gain or ,
move the marker up the track (but not

Increases When You:

COMMON GAINS AND LOSSES
• Perform the pray action (up to default)
Increases When
W You:
no limit)
• Discover forgotten shrines while searching (no
tra or hide actions (up to 5)
• Perform travel gains are negated if a Taint blight is present
All
• Spend your entire turn in the Monastery (up to default) Decreases When You:
Decreases When You:
• Spend it to survive a wound ( ) (typically after failing a combat)
b
• Attack any blight (regardless of success)
• Spend it to avoid various negative effects
tu at the Necromancer’s location
• Start your turn
tu carrying a Holy Relic
• Start your turn Additionally, many events and powers can influence
and , as described on the respective cards.
Ho Relic from another hero
• Receive a Holy

9
 spending your whole turn in the
[5.0] Die Rolls
Resource Ex
Examples:
es: Monastery (see 18.2)
Generally, when a die roll is called for, you
The Seer enters a location
on with a Curse • The Necromancer takes a turn
will roll several dice and compare them
blight, which causes
cau heroesroes to lose 1 individually (not added together) to a target – Darkness: Advance the Darkness
djusts her from
when they enter. She adjusts number. Any die that is greater than or Track (see 9.0)
zero
1 to zero. equal to the target number is a success; – Quest Timers: Place one time
Next turn, the Seer enters a new location the die roll as a whole is considered a marker ( ) on every quest in play
with another Curse blight. Since the success if at least 1 die succeeds. Some (this may cause quests to expire; see 16.3)
Seer’s is already zero, the Curse has rolls give an extra reward for multiple
no effect on her. successes, but usually all that matters is – Movement: Roll a die and move the
whether you have any successes or not. Necromancer (see 10.0)
The Rogue has the Eavesdrop power, The roll as a whole is only considered a – Blight: Create a blight at the
which allows him to spend 1 to search failure if none of the dice succeed. Necromancer’s current location
with 2 dice. However, his is currently Various effects may increase or decrease (see 11.0)
zero, so he cannot use this power until he the number of dice you roll. There is no At the start of a round, flip each hero’s
gains some . upper limit to the number of dice you turn tracker to the sun side. The players
might roll; if you do not have enough select a hero to go first; that hero takes
The Druid has 6 and travels from the physical dice, roll what you have, make their turn, then flips their turn tracker to
Monastery to the Village. Heroes gain a note of the results, and then reroll enough the moon side to indicate that their turn
1 (up to 5) when traveling, but since to bring your total up to the correct is complete. The players then select a hero
the Druid already has more than 5 , amount. Conversely, regardless of all to go next, repeating the process until all
his remains at 6. penalties, you always roll at least one die. heroes have taken a turn.
Once all heroes have completed their turns,
The Valkyrie has 4 and prays, rolling
5 and 3. This result allows her to gain 2
[6.0] Sequence Of Play the Necromancer takes a turn, and then
a new round begins. This continues until
(up to default), but her default is 5, The game consists of a series of rounds. the victory or defeat conditions are met
so her only increases to 5 (not 6). During each round, each hero will take (see 17.0).
a turn, and then the Necromancer will
The Valkyrie has 4 and searches, also take a turn.
uncovering a forgotten shrine, which • In any order, each hero takes a turn
allows her to immediately gain 2 .
– Start: Resolve start-of-turn effects Note that heroes can choose to take their turns in
Since no limit is specified on this gain,
Common effects: losing when the a different order each round.
her increases to 6.
Necromancer is in your location (see 10.0); Turn order is sometimes very important, but a lot
losing secrecy for carrying a Holy Relic of the time it doesn’t matter. If you are not sure who
(see 15.2) should go next, try going in seating order (or whoever
knows what they want to do).
– Event: Draw one event card (see 7.0)
– Action: Perform one action (see 8.0)
– End: Resolve end-of-turn effects
Common effects: defending against
monsters spawned by blights in your
location (see 11.2), gaining for

10
 Many blights will involve a combat (see 12.0) [7.2] Necromancer Attacks
[7.0] Events or bring a new quest into play (see 16.1).
Events represent chance encounters that During the event step of your turn, if the
the heroes experience while roaming the [7.1] Renewal Necromancer is in your location and you
realm. The Necromancer’s influence has have zero , then do not draw an event;
The Event Deck includes a special card
turned the kingdom into a dangerous instead, the Necromancer has caught you
called Renewal. When you draw Renewal,
place, and so events are usually harmful and you must engage him in combat
immediately reshuffle the Event Deck
to the heroes, but you may occasionally (see 12.2).
(including Renewal and all of the discards)
obtain a positive outcome. The fate on and draw another card instead. [7.3] No Events in the Monastery
an event card (number in the top corner)
gives a rough idea of how bad an event is Renewal is not considered an event, and Never draw an event card while in the
(higher numbers being worse). cannot be ignored or discarded by other Monastery.
game effects; you should always resolve
When you experience an event: draw a it immediately when you draw it (even in
card from the Event Deck, resolve its effect, the middle of another effect).
and then discard it (regardless of the outcome).
Some event cards have a variable effect
depending on your current circumstances,
such as your level of secrecy (see 4.1), the
number of blights in your location (see 11.0),
or the current value of the Darkness
Track (see 9.0).

Event Card Anatomy

tomy
1 2 1. Title
2. Fate Value
3. Image
3 4. Special Text
5. Card Back Image

5 Event Card Example:

When you draw the Dead Servant card
pictured here, you will encounter one of three
different enemies based on your . If your
4 is 5 or higher, you encounter a Scout; if
your is 3 or 4, you encounter
unter an Archer;
if your is 2 or less, you encounter
ncounter a Dread.
Each of these opponents has different statistics
(listed on the card) that will be used to
resolve a combat (see 12.0).).

11
[8.0] Actions • Pray (Monastery Only): Roll 2 dice against [9.0] Darkness
a target number of 3. Gain 1 (up to
Each hero may typically perform one default; see 4.1) for each success (i.e., each There is a Darkness Track ( ) printed on
action on their turn, selected from the die that rolls a 3 or higher). Then, refresh the game board. Darkness represents the
following list: all of your powers (see 14.2). amount of power the Necromancer has
gathered, and increases gradually
• Travel: Move to an adjacent location, and • Meditate: Gain 1 Spark (see 4.2).
also gain 1 (up to 5). throughout the game.
• Retrieve a Holy Relic: Discard 3 keys to
• Hide: Refresh all of your powers (see 14.2), Each time the Necromancer takes a turn,
claim an undiscovered Holy Relic at
then gain 1 (up to 5). he increases the by 1. (Some cards and
your location. Flip it to the discovered
blights also add or remove .)
• Attack: Choose a blight (see 11.0) in side; it is now treated as an item (see 15.0).
The heroes will need to retrieve at least At specific thresholds, the Necromancer
your location and fight it following the
1 Holy Relic in order to win the game. gains certain advantages, as indicated
combat rules (see 12.0). If you win, the
on the track.
blight is destroyed and returned to • Card: Use the “action” effect from any
the Stock; otherwise, you suffer the available card, such as a power card in • 10+ : When the Necromancer is in
blight’s defense. Succeed or fail, you lose your possession (see 14.0) or a quest card a location with no blights on his turn,
1 for revealing yourself. in your location (see 16.0). he creates 2 instead of 1.
You can also attack the Necromancer Some cards allow you to perform a free • 20+ : When the Necromancer rolls
in the same way as a blight (see 12.2). action: This means you can do that action a 1 or a 2 during his movement step, he
in addition to your normal one-action- creates an extra blight that turn.
• Search: Roll a die and compare to the
search difficulty listed on the board for per-turn. Free actions can be performed • 25+ : All blights have +1 might
your location. If your result equals or either before or after your regular action (making them harder to destroy).
exceeds the difficulty, draw a map (if allowed by the card in question), but must
be completed during the action step of • 30 : Any effects that would increase
card and take the search result for the beyond 30 instead create a blight
your location. your turn (they cannot be performed at any
other time). in the Monastery.
If you roll multiple dice (e.g., using a All of these advantages are cumulative;
power), draw one Map card for each You are not required to perform an action
during your turn (though you will usually e.g., at 20 , if the Necromancer rolls a
success (i.e., each die result that is greater 1 or 2 for movement and moves to a
than or equal to the search difficulty), then want to).
location with no blights, he creates a total
choose one card to resolve and ignore of 3 (the normal one, a second for the 10+
the others. effect, and a third for the 20+ effect).
If you do not have enough game tokens also changes the severity of some event
to take the search result indicated by cards (see 7.0).
one of the cards, discard that card and
draw a replacement. In the rare event
that you draw 3 cards and do not have
enough tokens for any of them, you may
either draw 1 power card from your
deck (see 14.0) or take any item token
with a green back (see 15.0). In the
extremely rare event that you cannot do
any of those things, you receive nothing.
The Monastery cannot be searched.

12
[10.0] Necromancer [11.0] Blights Blight Anatomy
atomy
Movement Blights represent the unholy magic spells
Roll a die for the Necromancer, and the Necromancer has worked upon the 1 Omen

compare the result to every hero’s current realm. Each blight has some harmful 2 Higher-fate
H te
events
. If the die roll is greater than that hero’s effect it produces as long as it is in play
, the Necromancer detects that hero, (described in the included player aid and also
summarized on each blight token). 3
unless that hero is in the Monastery. If
the die roll is less than or equal to that [11.1] Creating Blights
hero’s , the Necromancer does not detect 4 6 Event
5
that hero. The Necromancer creates a new blight
every turn (sometimes more than one, due Back
Notice that heroes succeed on die rolls if to darkness effects; see 9.0).
they exceed or equal the target number, but the
Whenever a new blight is created, draw
N
Necromancer only
ly detects
d h iff his
a hero hi rollll exceeds
d
their . You can remember this as “heroes win ties.” a card from the Map Deck and find the Lich
blight type listed on that card for Fail: 8
6 5 5
If the Necromancer detects any heroes, he the relevant location. Take a token 7
moves one space towards the closest hero corresponding to that blight type from
that he detects by the shortest possible the Stock and place it in the affected
route (or stays in his current space, if he detects location. Then, discard that map card
a hero there). If there is a tie for closest hero (ignore the other information on the card). 4 5
or shortest route, resolve it randomly. If there are no more counters in the Stock
Otherwise, the Necromancer follows the for the indicated type of blight, discard Monster Spawning
arrow shown on the board in his location that map card and draw another. In the Blight Back
that matches the number he rolled rare event that you draw 3 consecutive
(circular arrows cause him to remain where map cards and you are out of tokens for
he is). Note that this is not a separate roll; all of them, create any blight of your choice.
use the same result that you already If any effect would create a new blight in 3
compared to heroes’ . a particular location, but that location
The Necromancer may never enter the already contains 4 (or more) blights, create 6 4
1 Omen
Monastery for any reason. He ignores heroes the blight in the Monastery instead.
located there, and if trying to move from If any effect would create a new blight in
the Mountains to the Forest (or vice versa), Front
the Monastery, but the Monastery already
he must always go by way of the Village, contains 4 (or more) blights, the heroes 1. Title
not via the Monastery. immediately lose the game (see 17.3). 2. Blight Effect
If the Necromancer moves to a location
containing heroes, nothing special 3. Image
happens at this time. However, during g Might
4. Blight
heroes’ individual turns, they each lose
De
5. Blight Defense
1 at the start of their turn (see 6.0) if
the Necromancer is present (as he searches S gth
6. Monster Strength
for them), and if this leaves them with no F Effect
7. Monster Fail ffect
remaining he can attack them during
their event step (see 7.2). A ness
8. Monster Awareness

13
 Blight Effec
Effect Example: [12.0] Combat
Combat represents a hostile encounter
Shades between a hero and an armed opponent.
3 Fail:
5 It can occur as a result of blights or events,
when the Necromancer catches a hero
5 during the event phase, or when a hero
performs certain actions (usually an attack).
In combat, the hero can choose to either
fight the enemy (an attempt to subdue the
opponent) or elude them (an attempt to
disengage and escape). To do so, the hero
can utilize one (and only one) tactic from
a power card (see 14.0). If the hero has no
The Prince mov
moves to the Mountains, where the Necromancer has previously sly created a tactics, or does not wish to use any, they
Si the Prince ends his turn there, he gets attacked by a Shade
Shades blight. Since de (3 , 5 ) can fight or elude with 1 die.
and must fight oor elude it. He fights it and wins, but the blight is unaffected.
ed. Next turn,
he can spend his action to attack it and try to destroy it, but he will need too roll a 5 or If using a tactic, roll dice as instructed by
more to do that (the blight’s might), even though the Shades only have 3 . the power card; otherwise, roll 1 die (in
either case, you may add extra dice from other
sources). If the hero is attacking a blight,
the target number for this roll is the blight’s
[11.2] Effects of Blights the whole map, these blights can only be
might; otherwise, the target number is
attacked in the location where they reside,
Blights with a yellow border fill their the opponent’s strength
and thus heroes may need to hunt down
location with dangerous monsters. Any ( ) if fighting or the opponent’s
and destroy these blights in order to
hero ending a turn in the affected location awareness ( ) if eluding. If the monster
escape their effects.
will encounter one of those monsters, and has a dash (-) in place of one of these
must defend themself in combat (see 12.0). [11.3] Destroying Blights values, that combat option is not
Notice that this is different from available against that monster.
Heroes can destroy blights by performing
combating the blight itself; spawned Regardless, compare the result of each
the attack action and making a successful
monsters use separate stats, and defeating die (separately, not added together) to the
fight roll against the blight’s might (see 12.1).
one of them does not destroy the blight. target number; each die that rolls greater
(Destroying a blight typically requires an When a blight is destroyed, remove the than or equal to the target number is
attack action; see 12.1.) corresponding token from that location considered one success. If the hero rolls
and return it to the Stock. at least one success, they win the combat;
Blights with a blue border have other
effects — typically weakening or restricting Heroes may attack and destroy any type otherwise they fail (see 5.0).
the heroes in some way, making them of blight. A failed combat roll will usually inflict a
less effective. These blights do not trigger penalty (see 13.0). A success during an
combats against the heroes (but heroes attack action can destroy a blight or
can still fight and destroy them using the (under the right circumstances) even win
attack action). the game, but at other times a success
Blights with a red border are especially often has no effect, representing only
dangerous, because they have global effects that the hero escaped unscathed.
covering the entire kingdom, not just
their own location. Though they affect

14
[12.1] Attacking a Blight [12.2] Battling the Necromancer Failing any combat with the Necromancer
results in a wound (see 13.1). Successfully
When performing an attack action, a hero A hero can battle the Necromancer eluding has no effect.
must always fight (rather than elude). The directly under two circumstances: The
target number for the fight roll is the hero can initiate combat with an attack If there are any blights in the location,
blight’s might, shown in the corner of action, or the Necromancer can initiate successfully fighting the Necromancer
the blight token. combat during the hero’s event phase if will entice him to sacrifice one of them so
the hero’s is zero (see 7.2). Both of he can escape; destroy one of your choice.
If the fight roll succeeds, the blight is
these are only possible when the hero and Successfully fighting the Necromancer
destroyed, and its token is returned to
the Necromancer are in the same location. when there are no blights in the location
the Stock.
The Necromancer has a of 7 and an slays him and wins the game — but only
If the fight roll fails, the hero suffers the if you are holding a Holy Relic when you do
of 6.
blight’s defense, shown on the blight token. so (see 17.1). Otherwise, there is no effect.
Regardless of the result, the hero always Rolling a 7 on a six-sided die is, of course, rather
loses 1 , since the attack draws attention. difficult.
diffi Winning
lt Wi i a fight
fi ht against
i t ththe Necromancer
N is
i [12.3] Pulling Punches
rarely possible without a Holy Relic (15 (15.2).
2) In rare cases, a hero may prefer not to
resist a foe. In this case, they may choose
to accept the result of a loss without rolling
any dice.

Combat Examples:

A Scout (on the Dead Servant event card) The Valkyrie draws an event card and As a result of an event card, the Valkyrie
lists its stats as – , 5 . This means the encounters a Fearful Demon (4 , 3 ). encounters a Scout. She sees that the result
Scout cannot be fought (this represents the Since the Ghoul’s is lower than its of losing this combat would be to lose 1 .
fact that the Scout will flee on sight, and , eluding it would normally be easier At this moment, the Valkyrie wants the
that killing one would reveal nearly as much than fighting it, but the Valkyrie has a Necromancer to detect her (see 10.0) in
about your location as if it spotted you). tactic power called Skewer that lets her order to lure him into combat, so lower
The Scout can still be eluded as normal. fight with 2 dice, so she chooses to use that. would actually be to her advantage.
She rolls a 1 and a 2. Since neither of the Therefore, the Valkyrie chooses to let herself
dice meet the target number (the Fearful be seen by the Scout. She rolls no dice and is
Demon’s ), the Valkyrie fails the combat. considered to have lost the combat.

15
 [13.4] Exhausting a Power The new hero does not do anything
[13.0] Penalties during the round they appear, but may
As a result of an event card, a failed combat Some effects will force the hero to exhaust act normally starting the following round
roll, or various other effects, a hero can one or more power cards (see 14.2). The hero (which will be 2 rounds after the death).
suffer various penalties that deplete their chooses which cards to exhaust, but cannot
resources or reduce their effectiveness. choose cards that are already exhausted.

[13.1] Wounds [13.5] Dying [14.0] Powers

When a hero receives a , they either Each hero has several cards representing
The most important penalty is a wound ( ), that hero’s unique abilities, which are
which means the hero dies (see 13.5) unless spend a to negate the or they die.
called powers. Keep a hero’s current powers
they spend 1 to negate the effect. faceup near their hero sheet. Powers are
Remember, you cannot spend a resource permanent and can be used as often as
you do not have (see 4.1), so if a hero is Technically, you can choose to let a kill you
even if you have
h remaining,
i i but
b thithis is
i generally
ll a player desires (subject to the conditions
already at zero before taking the wound, described on the cards themselves).
not recommended.
recommended
they will not be able to spend to escape,
and will die (unless another effect prevents it). Each hero begins the game with any 3 of
You do not automatically die when you have his 5 “basic” powers (those marked with a
[13.2] Losing Resources zero . You merely cannot spend that symbol), and the remaining powers are
Other penalties may cause the hero to lose you do not have (see 4.1), which means the shuffled to form their Power Deck, from
and/or (see 4.1). Remember, any next will kill you. But you can survive which new powers are drawn during the
loss beyond zero is ignored. with zero indefinitely as long as you game (generally after searching; see 8.0).
do not suffer a . Each power card describes its own
[13.3] Losing a Turn effects. Most effects fall into one of
Dying does not directly end the game, but
When a hero loses a turn, tip the hero’s it carries some hefty penalties. these categories:
character on its side. • Actions provide more options that can
When a hero dies:
The next time that hero would begin a turn, be used during the action step of the
stand the character back up, flip their 1. Their turn ends immediately. hero’s turn (instead of taking one of the
turn tracker to the moon side, and skip Remove that hero and all of their standard actions; see 8.0).
all parts of the turn (both good and bad); for powers from play, and give their
items to other heroes in the • Tactics provide more options for
instance, do not draw an event, and do resolving a combat (see 12.0).
not lose for being in the same location location (see 15.1).
as the Necromancer. 2. Raise the by 1 (see 9.0). This may • Bonuses simply do whatever they say, and
indirectly end the game; see 17.3. may be used as often as they are relevant.
“Losing a turn” always refers to the hero’s
next turn. If you are in the middle of a On that player’s next turn, he selects a • Active effects can be used only after
turn (which is usually the case), always new hero to play (one that has not already the power has been activated (see 14.1).
finish the current turn as normal. appeared in the current game, if possible). • Inactive effects can be used when the
If a hero is already tipped on their side Perform setup for the selected hero as power is not activated (see 14.1).
when instructed to lose a turn, there is normal (see 3.2), except that the new hero
no additional effect. You can only lose begins with 1 less power card (2 instead of 3),
your next turn; as with resources, if you and their default and are both
have nothing to lose, then any further reduced by 1 for the entire game (place the
loss is ignored. dead hero’s character near the new hero’s sheet
as a reminder).

16
[14.1] Activating Powers Power Ca
Card Anatomy:
Some powers can have a lasting effect;
when this happens, the power is said to
be Activated. Place an activated power card 3 4
on top of your hero sheet as a reminder 1
that it is active. (Or, if you prefer, use one of
the included active/inactive tokens to track 5
its status.)
Once a power has been activated, its active
effect becomes available (and its inactive
effect becomes unavailable) until the power 2 6
is Deactivated.
Some powers also Target a particular
location, hero, or other entity when they
are activated; in this case, place the power
card on or near the target as a reminder.
Unless otherwise specified, any active
effects apply only to the target.
Action, tactic, and bonus effects on a
power card are still available to its owner
while that power is active (even if they are 1. Hero Symbol 4. Title
separated from the target); you do not “lose” 2. Hero Image 5. Power Image
the normal use of the power. However,
a power can only be active on one target 3. Starting Power 6. Rules Text
at a time; activating it again effectively
just “moves” the power to a new target.
Power cards are intended to be self-explanatory, Do not exhaust a power unless instructed (including active effects), but when the power
but some of the more subtle ones are described to do so. Most powers do not become is refreshed it will automatically become
in further detail in the Compendium. exhausted and can be used repeatedly active again (on the same target, if any).
[14.2] Exhausting Powers without a rest. Suppressed powers do not count as being
Any power can be exhausted by an outside “active” (if another card checks their status),
Some powers will instruct you to Exhaust but they can still be deactivated (after
them when they are used. Flip an force. If a card or a blight tells you to
exhaust a power, you can exhaust any of which they are simply exhausted).
exhausted power facedown.
your powers, even if it is not normally
Exhausted powers cannot be used again exhausted when used. While a power
until they are Refreshed, which normally is exhausted, you cannot use any of
happens when the hero performs the that card’s effects.
hide or pray actions (see 8.0). Flip a
refreshed power faceup again; it now In the event that a power is exhausted
works as normal. while it is currently active, that power
becomes suppressed. It counts as exhausted
and none of its effects can be used

17
 [14.3] Timing capabilities; they are still only used
Power Examples: once, but their effects are permanent
[14.3.1] Simultaneous Effects
• Keys are basic items. They are used
The Druid chooses to use Wolf Form on Whenever two effects appear to take place
only when you discard 3 of them for the
his turn, a power that can be activated at the same time, the affected player may
“Retrieve a Holy Relic” action (see 8.0).
as an action. He places the power card choose the order in which to resolve them.
on top of his hero sheet as a reminder. He Artifacts are represented by cards from
[14.3.2] “Any Time”
now rolls 1 extra die on fight and elude the Artifact Deck. They function exactly
rolls, as described in the active effect. When an effect says “at any time,” that like power cards (see 14.0), but they also
This effect continues until Wolf Form is means literally any time. count as items and may be traded
deactivated, which only happens when a You can use it on someone else’s turn. among heroes.
card specifically says so (for example, if You can use it after making a die roll Holy Relics are very special and powerful
the Druid uses the action on Wolf Form or drawing a card but before resolving items; you will need at least one to win the
again and chooses not to activate it, or if its effects. You can use it between two game. They can only be obtained with
he uses another one of his Form cards). “simultaneous” effects. Any time you like. the “Retrieve a Holy Relic” action (see 8.0),
which requires 3 keys (usually obtained
[14.4] Artifacts by searching).
The Prince chooses to use Inspire on his
Artifact cards represent ancient magic
turn, an action power that is activated [15.1] Managing Items
items of legendary power.
targeting any hero at his location when
Each hero may carry an unlimited number
used. He opts to target the Crusader, so Artifacts count as powers and follow all of
of items.
he places the power card on top of the the same rules; anything that affects
Crusader’s hero sheet as a reminder. The powers also affects artifacts. For example, A hero may give any item to another hero
active effect allows the Crusader to choose artifacts can be exhausted when something at the same location. A hero in the
to roll 3 extra dice on any future roll at the tells you to exhaust a power. Monastery may also store an item there
cost of deactivating the power. for safekeeping, or retrieve any item
However, artifacts also count as items, and
currently stored there. All of these things
follow all of their rules as well (see 15.0).
are free, and may be performed at any
If the Prince chooses to use Inspire again
time — even during another player’s turn,
next turn, he can target a different hero
[15.0] Items or in the middle of a combat.
at his location (including himself),
but then the Crusader will no longer be Items are useful objects that the heroes
targeted and will lose the opportunity to can carry around with them and use to Basically, you do not need to worry about who
use its active effect. produce various beneficial effects. They is holding an item until you decide to use it or the
heroes split up. Just assume that everyone at the same
fall into three categories: location has access to all the items until someone
The Seer is in the Forest, and there is Basic Items are represented by tokens. actually decides to use one.
a Dark Fog blight present. Since the They can only be used once each. Their
search difficulty is so high, she decides effects are described on the included
to use Dowse, an action power that can player aid. However, whenever a hero uses an item,
be exhausted to automatically search • Basic items with green backs have a that item becomes locked and may not be
successfully. Next turn, she cannot Dowse one-time, instantaneous effect given away or stored until the next turn
again, because the power is already of the hero carrying the item. A hero can
exhausted, so she performs the hide action • Basic items with gold backs give heroes always choose to refuse the benefits of an
in order to refresh it. access to new or improved powers, item in order to be able to trade it later.
permanently increasing their

18
 the result of a single die after it is rolled.
Basically, you cannot pass the item around in a
You can refuse this benefit if you plan
[16.0] Quests
circle and all use it in the same round, unless the item
explicitly
p y benefits f all heroes at the location.
location Once someone to give the Holy Relic to someone else, Quests represent specific problems
uses it, no one else can grab it until they are done with it. but must do so before making the roll. besetting the heroes or the kingdom. They
appear at particular locations, and describe
steps that heroes can take to resolve the
Note that this is the only way for most heroes problem. Quests that the heroes complete
If a hero dies while carrying items, those to roll a 7,
7 which is necessary to win a fight against
will yield rewards, while quests the heroes
items must immediately be given to the Necromancer.
N
ignore will eventually expire and
another hero at the same location (even
inflict penalties.
if the items have been locked by use and could
not normally be traded). If there are no • You lose 1 at the start of your turn [16.1] Starting Quests
other heroes at the location, the items go while carrying a Holy Relic. This does
to the next hero to arrive at that location. not count as using the Holy Relic — it is Quests enter play when called for by certain
not optional, but it also does not prevent event cards. When told to draw a quest,
An artifact can be traded even while take the top card from the Quest Deck
exhausted; the artifact remains exhausted you from giving the Holy Relic away the
same turn. and place it on the map.
until the hero currently carrying them has
an opportunity to refresh their powers. • You lose 1 if another hero gives you The hero placing the quest determines the
a Holy Relic. This only applies when quest’s location by rolling a die and
[15.2] Holy Relics receiving the relic directly from another comparing it to the Necromancer’s
hero, not when initially discovering one movement arrows printed on the map
Holy Relics have several special rules:
or picking up a Holy Relic stored at in the Village (this gives an equal probability
• Each hero can only carry one at a time. for all locations except the Monastery).
the Monastery.
If you already have a Holy Relic, you
If the hero uses powers, Sparks, or other
cannot get another one until you give it
effects to roll multiple dice, they choose any
away or store it at the Monastery.
one of the results rolled. They may draw the
• Holy Relics add 1 to your highest die in quest card and read it before choosing.
fights. Note that this is different from
This die roll is considered part of the
most fighting bonuses, which give you
event card, so the Shaman’s Balance
additional dice — Holy Relics improve
power applies.

Items: Example:
Example If the die roll is a 3, the quest appears
ppears in
the Forest.
Fores

Bottled Charm Soothing Vanishing Tome of Key

Magic Lyre Dust Retraining

Cursed Skull Waystone Psion Treasure Holyy

Ashes Token Stone Chest Relic

19
[16.2] Completing Quests For each earned (following the quest’s [16.3] Expiring Quests
instructions), place a counter on the
Each quest card includes instructions quest card. It is often possible to earn On each Necromancer turn, after raising
for how a hero can make progress ( ) multiple with a single action. When the but before movement, add one
towards its completion. A hero must be the number of tokens equals or exceeds token to each quest card in play. (Quests
in the quest’s location to attempt it. the number shown next to the symbol may also accumulate tokens as a result of
on the quest card, the quest is completed: certain event cards.)
Some quests have an “action” heading,
which describes a special action (see 8.0) The quest card is discarded, and the hero If the number of tokens on a quest card
that can be taken to advance the quest; that added the last token earns the ever equals (or exceeds) the number shown
other quests do not require an action, reward listed in the middle of the card next to the symbol on the quest card,
but will require an expenditure of other under “Completed.” the quest is expired: The quest card is
resources. Regardless, quests can only If you are unable to collect a quest reward discarded, and the heroes suffer the
be attempted during the action step of because there are not enough game pieces, penalty listed at the bottom of the card
a hero’s turn. you may choose any green-backed under “Expired.” Any tokens on a quest
item instead. when it expires are wasted.
Many quests require a hero to attempt a
combat (see 12.0). Failure on this combat
roll has no effect unless noted on the
quest card.

Quest Ca
Card Anatomy:
Example: The Zombie Horde rde quest is in
the Village and has 1 token. ken. The Druid
2 is in the Village and choosesses to spend his
action attempting this quest.est. He makes an
t ti tto rollll 4
elude roll, using his Vines tactic
3 4 5 dice. He rolls 5, 3, 1, and 1. The 5 and 3 are
successes, so he adds 2 tokens to the quest
(and exhausts Vines, as instructed by the
1 6 Vines card). The quest now has 3 tokens,
so it is completed; the Druid discards it,
7 and as a reward he gets a supply cache.
8
9

Example: The Zombie Horde quest

appears in the Swamp. On the fifth
1. Card Back Image 6. Progress Requirement Necromancer turn after its appearance,
it gains its fifth token and
nd expires. It is
2. Title 7. Completion Reward discarded, and a Zombies blight is created
Completion Requirement
3. Comple 8. Time Expired Consequence in the Swamp.
4. Image 9. Flavor Text
5. Time to Complete Quest

20
[17.0] Victory [17.3] Monastery Overrun [18.2] Monastery
And Defeat The Monastery is a sanctuary that repels The Monastery has several special rules.
evil, but nothing lasts forever. If any These are all mentioned elsewhere, but
There are two possible ways for the heroes effect tries to create a blight in the to summarize:
to win the game and one way for them Monastery when there are already 4 (or
to lose. • Heroes in the Monastery do not draw
more) blights present, its defenses will
events (see 7.3)
[17.1] Slay the Necromancer shatter and the kingdom’s last light will
be snuffed out, plunging the land into • The Monastery is the only location where
If you can slay the Necromancer, most darkness. All the heroes lose. heroes can perform the pray action
of his magic will be undone, and the (see 8.0)
remaining undead will lose direction,
Remember that any effect that would create • The Monastery has no search difficulty
making them easy to defend against.
a blight in a location that already has 4 blights and cannot be searched (see 8.0)
To kill the Necromancer, a hero wielding will instead create a blight in the Monastery. Thus,
blights in the Monastery will begin to build up faster • A hero who spends their entire turn in
a Holy Relic must fight him and win.
as the rest of the kingdom is overrun. the Monastery gains 1 (up to default)
However, the Necromancer is pitiless
(see 6.0)
and will mercilessly sacrifice his minions Additionally, any effect that would increase the
to save himself. If there are any blights beyond 30 will also, instead, create a blight in the • The Necromancer can never enter the
Monastery. Thus, blights will begin to accumulate
present when you defeat the Necromancer, Monastery and ignores heroes there
rapidly in the Monastery if the game goes on too long.
you may destroy one blight of your choice, (see 10.0)
but the Necromancer will escape. • You can store or retrieve items at the
He can only truly be killed if he is beaten Monastery (see 15.1)
in a fight by a hero with a Holy Relic, [18.0] Other Rules
• When an effect tries to raise the
when there are no blights in the location. [18.1] Reshuffling beyond 30, it creates a blight in the
If this is achieved, all the heroes win. Monastery instead (see 9.0)
If any deck runs out of cards, reshuffle the
discards to create a new deck (this will • When an effect tries to create a blight
This will generally require the concerted effort of usually only happen with the Map Deck). in any location that already has 4 (or
several heroes to clear the area so that you can get a
In the very rare event that a deck runs more) blights, it creates a blight in the
clean shot
shot. Monastery instead (see 11.1)
out of cards and there are no discards,
players cannot draw from that deck • If you gather 3 Holy Relics at the
anymore. Ignore any instructions to Monastery, you win the game (see 17.2)
[17.2] Holy Ritual draw from that deck until more cards
• If any effect tries to create a blight in
If you gather enough of the Holy Relics, become available.
the Monastery when there are already
you can combine them in a ritual that 4 (or more) blights there, the heroes
will release a great cleansing power and immediately lose the game (see 17.3)
scour the land of the undead. The
Necromancer’s power will be broken.
To perform the ritual, the heroes must
find 3 Holy Relics and gather them all
at the Monastery. All the heroes win as
soon as there are 3 Holy Relics in the
Monastery simultaneously.

21
 • Creating extra quests during the When you win a fight against the
[19.0] Optional Rules Necromancer turn (see 19.1.2) Necromancer, if there are any cards in
The following rules can be used his pall, you remove one card but do not
The table below shows some recommended
separately or in combination to adjust gain the normal benefit for winning
combinations.
the game to taste. (that is, you do not slay the Necromancer or
[19.1.1] The Pall of Suffering destroy a blight). Thus, the new procedure
[19.1] Adjusting Difficulty when you win a fight against the
The Necromancer has always been merciless,
You can make the game easier or more but lately he’s become gratuitously cruel. Necromancer is:
difficult by changing any of the following: Rumors say he’s found a way to draw power 1. If there are any cards in his pall,
• Starting the Darkness Track at a from suffering and misery, and to wear it like remove one.
different value a shield...
2. If there are no pall cards to remove,
• Starting each hero with additional When a quest expires, instead of destroy a blight in his location.
powers and/or Sparks discarding it, place it next to the Darkness
Track. These cards form the Necromancer’s 3. If there are no pall cards to remove
• Selecting heroes and/or starting powers pall, which protects him from attacks. and no blights to destroy and you
at random, rather than by choice are wielding a Holy Relic, you slay
Whenever you successfully complete a the Necromancer and win the game.
• Placing a different number of blights quest, you may immediately remove one
and/or quests on the map during setup card from the Necromancer’s pall (this
• Giving the Necromancer extra protection has no effect if the pall is already empty).
via the Pall of Suffering (see 19.1.1)

Difficulty Character Starting Starting Quests Darkness Special Rules

Level Options Powers Blights Start Level
Page All Choose 4 1 in Ruins +2 to time zero Start with 1 Spark each
h
limits
Squire All Choose 4 1 per +1 to time zero Start with 1 Spark each
location limits
Adventurer All Choose 3 1 per No Change zero No Change
(Standard Rules) location
Champion 2 Random 3 1 per Setup: 1 in 5 Pall of Suffering
location Village
Heroic 2 Random 3 2 per Setup: 1 in zero Pall of Suffering
location Village
Legendary 1 Random 3 2 per Setup: 2 in 5 Pall of Suffering
location Random
Create extra Quests
Locations
Options: Shuffle the hero sheets and deal each player this many to choose between (if “All,” players simply pick whichever
Character Opt er heroes they like).
Starting Power ns (those with the
Powers: Each hero starts with this number of power cards. If “Choose,” players may pick from among the available options
symbol). If “Random,” players shuffle the available options for each hero and select the indicated number at random. Regardless,
s, all unselected
powers are shu
shuffled into that hero’s Power Deck.

22
 [19.1.2] Extra Quests [19.2.2] Three Heroes 20 cards). This is the Power Deck you will
To increase the number of quests in the To compensate for the disadvantage of draw from during the game.
game, apply the following rule: The first having only 3 heroes, consult the difficulty Power cards show their related hero on
time on each Necromancer turn that table in section 19.1, and play at a level the back. To avoid knowing anything
you draw a map card, if that map card two steps easier than you usually do. For about the card that you will be drawing
has a on it, draw a quest card and instance, if you usually play at the standard next, always draw from the bottom of your
place it in the location with the . “Adventurer” level with 4 heroes, then Power Deck. Any time you would normally
(This is in addition to whatever you would try the “Page” level when playing with place a card on the bottom of the deck
normally do with that map card, and it does only 3 heroes. (such as after using a supply cache), put it
not matter whether the indicated location is on top instead.
[19.2.3] Two Heroes: Dual-Class Variant
otherwise being used.)
Significant changes are required to play Place two turn trackers (sun/moon tokens)
[19.2] Playing with Different with only two heroes. In this variant, the near your hero sheet.
Numbers of Heroes players collectively control only 2 heroes Take an extra grace tracker and an extra
against the Necromancer; however, secrecy tracker and keep them handy.
Darkest Night is balanced to work best
each hero combines the powers of TACTIC LIMITATIONS
when playing with 4 heroes. However,
2 regular characters.
if you want to try playing with other You may not use the same tactic in two
numbers of heroes, you can use the SETUP consecutive combats (see 12.0).
following rules: Each player chooses a primary class:
Whenever you use a tactic, place your
[19.2.1] Five Heroes take the hero sheet, standee, and power
spare grace tracker on the tactic you used.
cards for the selected hero. Each player
To compensate for the advantage of having You may not use that tactic again while
also chooses a secondary class: take only
a fifth hero, apply these changes: the counter remains on it.
the power cards for this hero.
• The first Holy Relic you retrieve costs When you use a different tactic, move the
(Note: Some classes with a focus on group
5 keys instead of 3 grace tracker to the newly-used tactic.
support may be less effective in this variant.)
The previous tactic is now available to
• Create an extra blight at the Place your standee in the Monastery. Place use again (subject to all the normal limitations,
Necromancer’s location at the start your hero sheet in front of you, and place like exhaustion or costs).
of the game and also the first time grace and secrecy trackers on the default
the Darkness Track reaches each new If you resolve a combat without using any
values indicated on the sheet.
multiple of 4 (i.e., the first time it reaches tactic at all, remove the grace tracker
4, the first time it reaches 8, the first time From your primary class Power Deck, and set it aside. All of your tactics are
it reaches 12…) find all the cards with a symbol in now available for use in the next combat.
the corner (there should be 5). Choose 3
Note: Do not create an extra blight a second The grace tracker is only moved when you
of these powers to start with, and place
time if the decreases and then increases again resolve a combat. Exhausting, refreshing,
them face-up in front of you.
activating, or deactivating a card has no
• At the start of the Necromancer’s turn,
Do the same with your secondary class effect on the grace tracker. The grace
if the is already at 30 (before increasing
Power Deck, so that you have a total of 6 tracker persists across turns and may
it), create an extra blight in the
powers in front of you. remain in place for multiple rounds if you
Monastery (in addition to the one you
Take all the remaining power cards from do not get into any combats.
would create normally for trying to increase
the past 30) both decks (including the powers you did Exception: When any effect allows a
not choose) and shuffle them all into a tactic to be used by heroes other than the
single combined pile (which should contain original owner (for example, if you attach
a Psion Stone to the tactic), usage of that

23
tactic is no longer limited; you may use it HOLY RELICS he chooses, but he may not move to any
as often as the regular rules would allow. location with a hero. If all adjacent
Each hero may carry up to 2 Holy Relics
ACTION LIMITATIONS locations contain heroes, he does not
at a time.
move (but he must move if possible).
You may not spend two consecutive actions If you are carrying one relic, that relic
using the same Action effect from a If there is a Gate blight in effect, the
only affects your second turn during each
power card. Necromancer treats all locations as
round. During your first turn, the relic
adjacent. If he detects any heroes, he
Whenever you use an Action effect from is completely inert and has no effect on
moves to any location containing a
a power card, place your spare secrecy gameplay (but may be traded, if you wish).
detected hero, regardless of distance. If he
tracker on the Action you used. You may During your second turn, you lose
does not detect any heroes, then he may
not use that Action again while the counter for the relic at the start of your turn and
move to any location that does not contain
remains on it. add 1 to the result of your highest die in
any heroes (but must still move, if possible).
fight rolls, as normal.
When you use a different Action from a The Necromancer may still never enter the
power card, move the secrecy tracker to If you are carrying two relics, you
Monastery and never detects heroes there.
the newlyused Action. When you use experience all of the usual effects for
any of the standard actions that do not carrying 1 relic, but on both turns. The movement numbers on the board have
require a card (travel, hide, attack, search, no effect on movement in this variant.
You should never apply the effects of
pray, meditate, or retrieve a relic), remove 2 Holy Relics during a single turn. [19.3.3] Creating Blights
the secrecy tracker and set it aside.
[19.3] Playing the Necromancer Whenever a new blight is created, instead
TURN SEQUENCE of drawing a card from the Map Deck,
With at least 2 players, assign 1 player to the Necromancer plays a card from his
Each character takes 2 turns each round. control the Necromancer. This player
At the end of your first turn, flip one of hand to determine the type of blight.
works in opposition to the heroes and When his hand is empty, he draws a new
your turn trackers to its moon side. At tries to make them lose. The game plays as
the end of your second turn, flip your hand of 4 map cards.
normal, except for the following changes:
other turn tracker to its moon side. If the heroes would normally draw
[19.3.1] Setup multiple map cards and choose one, the
Heroes may take their turns in any order,
and may choose a different order each The Necromancer draws 4 map cards to Necromancer must play an appropriate
round. (For example, you could alternate form his initial hand. Do not show these number of cards and let the heroes pick
turns, or you could take both of your turns cards to the heroes. among them.
before the other player takes any.) [19.3.2] Necromancer Movement The Necromancer may not play a card
Each turn follows the full, normal turn that calls for a blight for which all tokens
Roll for Necromancer movement are already in use. If he has no legal card
sequence: Resolve start-of-turn effects as normal.
(including the Necromancer, if you are in his to play, he reveals and discards his hand,
location); draw an event; perform an action; If the Necromancer detects any heroes, he draws a new hand of 4, and plays one of
and resolve end-of-turn effects (such as chooses one to pursue (regardless of distance), those cards. If he still has no legal cards to
blights in your location). This means that and moves towards them by the shortest play, the heroes choose the type of blight.
blights (and the Necromancer) that can available route (Necromancer’s choice in case of
attack you during your turn may do so a tie). If the Necromancer detects a hero in
twice in a single round. his own location, he may choose that hero
and remain where they are.
Once both players have finished both turns,
the Necromancer takes a turn as normal. If the Necromancer does not detect any
heroes, he moves to any adjacent location

24
[19.4] Hidden Relics potentially retrieve a relic, determine new relic tokens to the board in this
the relic’s location randomly in the way each time the heroes obtain
Do not place any Holy Relic tokens on same manner as a quest (roll a die and enough keys to retrieve another.
the map during setup. Instead, once the compare to the Necromancer’s movement
heroes have obtained enough keys to arrows for the Village). Continue adding

Extended Example
le of Playy
VALKYRIE’S TURN
The Valkyrie goes next. She drawsaw
ws
an event card, Rescue (5 , 4 ))..
Her Skewer power allows her to t
Unholy Aura 4 Shroud 5 Skeletons 5 fight with 2 dice, so normally sshe
he
would have better odds fighting n
ng -1 -1
this event despite the higher target
g
get
number; however, the Unholy oly
l VS. VS.
Aura blight takes away one of her
dice in fight rolls, so she chooses
to elude instead. Unfortunately, Unholy Aura 4
she only rolls a 2. Since the rescue
failed, she increases the by 1 +1
(as instructed by the event card), Event Action
then discards the event.
For her action, the Valkyrie attacks the Unholy Aura. She uses her Skewer tactic
to fight with 2 dice, and also deactivates the Inspire power the Prince just gave
her for +3 dice, giving her a total of 5 dice. Sadly, all of the dice roll 1s. Since none
of the dice is individually 4 or higher, the attack fails; the blight remains in play,
and the Valkyrie suffers its defense (lose 1 ). She also loses 1 for making the
PRINCE’S TURN attack, regardless of the result, which lowers her from 4 to 3.

The Prince elects to go first. SEER’S TURN

He draws an event card, Meanwhile, the Seer is in the
Dead Servant. Following thee Monastery, trying to recover
instructions on the card, he her . She does not draw an
checks his , which is 4, soo event card, because she is in the
he faces an archer (4 , 4 )).. Power Monastery. For her action, she
His Loyalty power card gives VS.
prays, rolling the standard 2 dice
him an extra die on elude and getting a 3 and a 6. Since both
rolls, so he decides to elude +2 +1
of the dice rolled 3 or higher, she
the archer and rolls 2 dice, has 2 successes, and can gain 2 Pray
getting a 3 and a 4 as results. (but not higher than her default of
The 4 is greater than or equal 4), so she raises her from 1 to 3.
to the archer’s , so he wins Event Action
the fight and disca
discards the event At the end of her turn, since
without effect. she spent her entire turn in the Action n & End
Monastery, she also gains 1 ,
For his action, the Prince uses his power card Inspire, choosing to activate raising her from 5 to 6 (but she
it on the Valkyrie. After that, his turn is over. can’t raise her higher than default in this way, so she won’t gain more on her next
turn unless something changes).

25
 -1 -2
VS. Search
Se
S
Sea
ear
earc
eaarc
rch
h VS.
S..
S
Zombies 5 Evil Presence 4

Shroud 5

Event Action End Darkness Quests Blight

CRUSADER’S TURN NECROMANCER’S TURN

The Crusader is in the Castle facing the Necromancer, wielding a Holy Relic. Now that all the heroes are done with their turns, the Necromancer takes a turn.
A Skeletons blight and a Shroud blight are also there.
First, he raises the by 1.
At the start of the Crusader’s turn, he loses 1 because the Necromancer
Next, he adds one marker to every quest currently on the board. The Ill
is in his location and another 1 because he is carrying a Holy Relic.
Weather quest card in the Swamp gets a marker and so does the Tribute
He reduces his from 2 to 0.
quest in the Village. That makes 5 markers on Tribute, which matches
Since the Crusader’s is 0 and the Necromancer is in his location, the rating on the card, so the quest expires; the Tribute card is discarded,
he does not draw an event card; instead, the Necromancer attacks him. and the penalty listed under “expired” on the card is applied. In this case,
The Crusader chooses to fight using his Wrath tactic, which requires him the penalty is a blight, so the players draw a map card and find the blight
to spend 1 (lowering him from 3 to 2), but lets him roll 4 dice. His initial roll listed in the Village row, which happens to be Zombies. They take a Zombies
gives him a 2, 3, 5, and 6, but the Holy Relic adds 1 to the result of his highest blight token from the Stock and place it in the Village.
die, turning the 6 into a 7, which fortunately is just enough to beat the
Then, the Necromancer rolls for his movement and gets a 4. No possible
Necromancer.
roll could detect the Seer, because she is in the Monastery. The Prince is not
The Necromancer sacrifices a blight to save himself. The Crusader would detected either, because he has 4 (though a roll of 5 or 6 could have detected
like to destroy the Skeletons blight, but the Shroud is protecting it, so he him). However, the Valkyrie and the Crusader both have less than 4 , so
selects the Shroud. they are both detected. Since the Necromancer detected multiple heroes, he
chases the nearest one, which in this case is the Crusader, who is already in
Now that the event step of the Crusader’s turn is done, he gets to perform
the same location as the Necromancer, so the Necromancer does not move.
an action. He chooses to search, and rolls 1 die, getting a 2. Since the search
difficulty in the Castle is 2, he succeeds and draws a map card to see what he Finally, the Necromancer creates a blight in his location, so he draws a
has found. The map card lists a supply cache for the Castle, so the Crusader new map card and finds the blight listed in the Castle row, which is an
draws 2 cards from his Power Deck, chooses one to keep, and puts the other Evil Presence, so he takes an Evil Presence blight counter from the Stock
at the bottom of the deck. and places it in the Castle.
At the end of the Crusader’s turn, the Skeletons blight generates a monster NEXT ROUND
for him to fight, and he has to defend himself. Though he could use his
Wrath power again, that would require spending g a , and since the worst After the Necromancer’s turn, a new round begins. Each of the heroes can
possible outcome for this fight would only be a , that is not worth the take a new turn, and they can go in any order (they do not have to go in the
cost, so he chooses to fight with no tactic. He rolls a 3, which the holy relic same order as last round).
which is enough to defeat the Skeleton (4 ). The blight
modifies to a 4, wh
itself is unaffected
unaffected, but the particular skeleton that the Crusader ran into is
now dead, so he is safe for this turn. (There will be another skeleton to face next
round, unless somet
something changes.)

26
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27
 When you draw a mystery card,
[25.0] Mystery Cards immediately gain the number of
Mystery cards are a new game mechanic indicated at the top of the card and Mystery Card Anatomy:
atomy:
introduced in this expansion that place the card in the specified location.
changes how the heroes acquire Holy If the location is listed as “Random,”
Relics (see 15.2). 5
determine its location by rolling a die 1 4 6
and comparing it to the Necromancer’s
[25.1] Modified Setup movement arrows printed on the map in 2
When setting up the play area (see 3.1), the Village (this gives an equal probability 7
shuffle all the mystery cards together to for all locations except the Monastery).
3
form the Mystery Deck and set it in reach
of all players.
Exampl If the die roll is a 5, the
Example:
Place the clue tracker at the zero mystery appears in the Swamp.
wamp.
position on the Darkness Track. 8

[25.2] Clues:
[25.4] Pursuing Mysteries
Clues ( ) are a new resource obtained
from mystery cards and shared in Each mystery card offers one or more
common by all heroes. When the heroes objectives the heroes can pursue to obtain
obtain , adjust the clue tracker upwards additional (and possibly other rewards).
1. Title
along the Darkness Track to indicate the If a section of the card is labeled Action,
new number of . then any hero in the card’s location can 2. Image
The Retrieve a Holy Relic action (described spend their action to trigger that effect. 3. Flavor Text
in 8.0) now requires a hero to spend 10 If a section of the card has the icon of a 4. Clues Acquired
instead of discarding 3 keys. key, that section will list some reward
5. Location
If you wish to make the game harder, you and a condition for receiving it. Each
can increase the number of required such reward can only be obtained once; 6. Location Symbol
bol
to retrieve a Holy Relic. Place a key token place a key token over the outline once it 7. Effect Tex
Text
on the track at the cost you choose as a has been completed.
8. Card Back Image
age
reminder. If a section of the card is labeled
“Permanent,” then the mystery remains
[25.3] Discovering Mysteries in play forever and the heroes may utilize
Keys no longer exist. Any time that a hero the effects of that section as many times as
would obtain a Red Key (for any reason), they wish.
gain 3 instead. Any time that a hero If a mystery card has key outlines but
would obtain a Blue Key, draw a mystery no permanent effects, then it should
card instead. be discarded once all of its key outlines
have been covered.
Gain 3

Draw a
Mystery Card

28
Example: The Mesmer is in a location with the Defiled Shrine Example: The Contemplation mystery appears in the Swamp,
mystery. He chooses to spend his action to use the mystery card, causing any hero who gains an epiphany there to also gain 3
which calls for him to make a fight roll; he uses his Consume . This card remains in play for the entire game, and will
Dreams tactic to fight with 3 dice, rolling a 2, 3, and 5. continue to trigger every time a hero gains an epiphany
while in the Swamp.
Because he rolled a 4+, he gains 1 and places a key token over the
f outline on the card. Because he also rolled a 5, he also gains a
first
treasure chest aand places a key token over the second outline on the
th both rewards are earned from the same die.)
card. (Notice that
If the Mesmer ((or another hero) spends another action to make
another roll for this mystery, they can no longer earn rewards for
5+ but are still eligible to earn 3 more for rolling 6+.
rolling 4+ or 5+,

Darkness Ca
Card Anatomy: [31.0] Darkness Cards
Darkness cards are a new game mechanic introduced in this
1 Last Gasp expansion. They work similarly to hero power cards, except
they benefit the Necromancer rather than the heroes.
2
Note that the Monastery does not protect against the effects of
4 any darkness cards, except where specifically noted.

3
When any hero destroys a blight,
they suffer that blight’s defense. [31.1] Modified Setup
When setting up the play area (see 3.1), shuffle all the darkness
cards together to form the Darkness Deck and set it in reach of
all players.
In the rare event (requiring multiple optional rules) that you
1. Title draw a darkness card during setup that causes you to
2. Image immediately lose the game, draw a different card and shuffle
the original card back into the Darkness Deck.
Text
3. Effect Tex
4. Card Back Image

29
[31.2] Drawing [32.0] Adjusting Difficulty [32.2] Darkness Cards and the
Darkness Cards With Darkness Cards Recommended Difficulty
Darkness cards are drawn when the The number of darkness cards drawn
Table
Darkness Track (see 9.0) reaches certain (and their timing) can be adjusted to If you are using the difficulty table from
thresholds; place the card faceup in change the difficulty of the game. rule 19.1, then when the table tells you
view of all players. Once drawn, they to start the Darkness Track at 5, start it
remain in play for the rest of the game, Adding 2 extra darkness cards (using
at 0 but use 1 additional darkness card
and the instructions on the cards apply the schedule below) is similar in overall
over the course of the game (with the
whenever relevant. difficulty to moving 1 row down on the
timing described on the previous page).
difficulty table from rule 19.1.
Draw one darkness card the first time
you reach 10 on the Darkness Track, and [32.1] Darkness Card Timing [32.3] Darkness Cards
another the first time you reach 20. (If the with Five Heroes
Depending on the number of cards you
decreases and increases again after reaching If playing with 5 heroes using the optional
choose to use, it is recommended you
a threshold, do not draw an extra card for that rule 19.2.1, instead of creating extra blights
draw the cards at these levels:
threshold; only draw 2 cards total.) periodically, draw 1 darkness card during
2 cards: 10, 20 setup (in addition to whatever darkness cards
Ignore the normal effects for 10+
(each 10) you would normally use). For instance, if you
darkness and 20+ darkness (as described in
rule 9.0); the darkness cards replace them. 3 cards: 7, 14, 21 normally draw darkness cards at 10 and
The usual effects for 25+ and 30 still (each 7) 20, then instead draw them at 0, 10, and
apply as normal. 20.
4 cards: 5, 10, 15, 20
[31.3] Activating (each 5) You still need extra keys for the first
Holy Relic, as described in 19.2.1.
Darkness Cards 5 cards: 4, 8, 12, 16, 20
(each 4) If you draw the darkness card Eclipse
Some darkness cards can be activated; during setup while playing with 5
this works just like activating power 6 cards: 2, 6, 10, 14, 18, 22
heroes, draw a different darkness card
cards (see 14.1). (each 4, starting at 2)
instead, and shuffle Eclipse back into
7 cards: 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24 the deck.
(each 4, starting at 0)
8 cards: 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21
(each 3, starting at 0)

30
 Credits
Designer: Jeremy Lennert
Developer: Noelle Le Bienvenu
Art: Clark Miller
Graphic Design: Barry Pike III
Proofreaders: Noelle Le Bienvenu, Petra Schlunk, Ian Wakeham,
Karen Wolterman
Playtesters (second edition): David Boeren, Aaron Cohen, Corey Close,
Scott Godine, Bryan Graham, Jeffrey Hagen, Michael Massimilla,
Robert Norse, Jake Peck, Karl Petterson, Richard Romero, Brent Ur,
Greg and Jillian Wriston
Playtesters (first edition): Orion Anderson, Brad Bernstein, Deon Carrico,
Devon Chenoweth, Nick Cuneo, Paul Fell, Chris Ferguson, Bill Fisher,
Justin Fuhrmann, Catharz Godfoot, Nathan Hansen, Jason Allen Jackson,
Stephanie Newland, Barry Pike III, Otmar Schlunk, David Spangler, Sean
Young