Beastman - Fantasy Flight Games

UnactivatedBreath TemplateGlyphsActivatedGlyphs allow heroes to travel instantly betweenthe dungeon and the town. A hero must activate a glyph by walking across it before it canbe used. Monsters may not end their movementon a glyph.resist the effects of traps, curses, and other effects triggered by the overlord player.Monsters with the Breath ability (seepage 22) use this cardboard template todetermine the spaces affected by theirattack.Effect TokensStaircasesThese tokens are used to track lingering effects such as poison, stunning,and burning (see “Lingering Effects,”page 15).Staircases allow rapid movement acrossthe board.Hero Turn TokenThese double-sided tokens are used to keeptrack of which hero players have takentheir turns and which have not. After aplayer resolves his turn, he flips his heroturn token from its green side to its red side.These tokens are important because the heroplayers can take their turns in any order theychoose each round.Wound TokensHeroes and monsters both use woundtokens to keep track of injuries. When amonster or hero suffers its final wound,it is killed (see “Monster and HeroDeath,” page 16).Treasure Tokens andMarkersThese tokens and markers representtreasure found in the dungeon, including potions, piles of money, and chestsfilled with magic artifacts (see“Treasure,” page 18).Fatigue TokensHeroes use fatigue tokens to keep track ofhow tired they are. By exerting themselves,heroes can temporarily enhance their attacksor movement (see “Spending Fatigue,” page17).Money TokensHeroes use money tokens, called coins, totrack their current wealth. Money can bespent in town for goods and services.Hero Order TokensThe heroes use these tokens to take specialactions, such as aiming, dodging, guarding, orresting.Threat TokensThe overlord uses these tokens to pay foroverlord cards that he wishes to play from hishand. These cards can trigger events andtraps, summon new monsters to the dungeon, oreven grant permanent powers to the overlord.Conquest TokensThe players use these tokens to keep track ofhow well the heroes are doing on the quest.If the heroes ever run out of conquest tokens,they are defeated.DiceThe red, blue, white, green, and yellow dice are combatdice. Together with the black power dice, they are usedto make attacks in Descent: Journeys in the Dark. Thenumber on each die face represents range, while the“heart” icons represent damage. Finally, the red, blue,and white dice each have a miss result die face: If a missresult is rolled during an attack, the attack fails completely, regardless of what the other dice show.Power DiceThe black power dice are added to attacks to representexceptional talent or exertion. Each face of the powerdie is of one of the three following types:Power Enhancement: Some faces of a powerdie show a power enhancement. For each powerenhancement he rolls, a player may increaseeither his attack’s range or his attack’s damage by one.Power Surge: If one or more power surge iconsare rolled during an attack, the attacking playermay spend these power surges to activate thespecial abilities of any items the hero has equipped.Note that surge icons are also found on some sides ofthe combat dice.Blank: A power die has one blank side: a sidewith no icons or numbers. A blank result on apower die simply means that the hero earns neither enhancements nor surges for that die. Heroes mustalso sometimes roll “blanks” on the power dice to avoid orTraining TokensThese tokens may be purchased byheroes in town in order to increaseone of their traits (see “Town,” page18).Miscellaneous MarkersThese markers serve several purposes in thegame, usually to represent animal companions that the heroes have brought with theminto the dungeon. Cards will indicate whenand how these markers should be used.CardsThere are several types of cards included in yourDescent: Journeys in the Dark board game. These areskill cards, item cards, overlord cards, and monster reference cardsSkill CardsThe hero players each draw threeof these cards at the beginning ofthe game. Skill cards are dividedinto three decks: fighting, subterfuge, and magic. The decksfrom which a specific hero draws are determined by thehero’s starting skills, as listed on his character sheet. Forexample, Red Scorpion draws one card each from thefighting, subterfuge, and wizardry decks. For moreinformation on skill cards, see page 20.Item CardsThese cards represent usefulequipment and treasures theheroes acquire during their adventures. Item cards include shop items, copper treasureitems, silver treasure items, gold treasure items, and relics.For more information on item cards, see page 20-21.5

Overlord CardsThe overlord player draws these cardseach turn. He can play them to spawnnew monsters, take special actions, orgain permanent powers that last throughout the game.For more information on overlord cards, see page 21.Monster Reference CardsThese cards list the game rules and statistics for the different monsters in thegame. There is a unique set of monsterreference cards corresponding to the number of playersin a given game: The monsters are more dangerous andchallenging for the heroes the greater the number ofplayers in the game. For more information on monsterreference cards, see page 21.Game SetupFollow the steps below to prepare for the Into the Darkquest. Other quests may have special setup rules of theirown, as described in the Quest Guide.1. Choose Overlord PlayerSelect one player to be the overlord. It is recommendedthat the most experienced player take the role of theoverlord, but you may choose at random if you prefer.The other players are the heroes. The heroes should seatthemselves around the table in any order. The hero play-Map Pieceser to the left of the overlord player is referred to as thefirst hero, even though he will not necessarily take thefirst turn every round.In addition to buying cards from the shop deck, heroesmay purchase healing or vitality potions for 50 coinseach at this time.Note: The overlord should complete steps 2B through5B while the hero players complete steps 2A through6A.Once the hero players have purchased the items theywant, the shop deck is returned to the play area. Shouldthe heroes later return to town, they may again purchaseitems from the deck.2A. Choose HeroesThe first hero shuffles the cardboard hero sheets, andthen deals one randomly to each hero player, startingwith himself and continuing clockwise. Alternately, ifthe overlord player agrees, the hero players can simplychoose the heroes they will play, again starting with thefirst hero and continuing clockwise.Exception: In a two-player game, the hero player controls two heroes.3A. Set Up Hero MarkersNext, each hero player receives the number of woundand fatigue tokens indicated on his hero sheet. Each heroplayer also receives 300 coins (three money tokens, eachwith a value of 100 coins), one set of order tokens (1aim, 1 dodge, 1 guard, and 1 rest), and one hero turntoken. These tokens should be placed in the play areanext to each player’s hero sheet.4A. Deal Starting Skill CardsThe hero players separate the three skill decks (subterfuge, fighting, and wizardry) and shuffle each of themindividually. Then the hero players draw their skillcards, each player drawing the number and type of skillcards indicated on his hero sheet. Each hero player maythen choose to trade in one (and only one) of his skillcards for a new card from the same deck. The hero players do this one player at a time, starting with the firsthero and continuing clockwise. Discarded skill cardsshould be shuffled back into their respective decksimmediately after the player discarding them has drawnhis replacement skill card.Important: Skill cards are placed face up in front of theplayer that owns them and can be used at any time forthe duration of the game. Skill cards are never used up,discarded, or replaced once this step is completed.5A. Purchase Starting EquipmentEach square depicted on the map is one space.Every other space that touches a given space (evendiagonally) is said to be adjacent to that space. Forinstance, in the example above, all of the red spacesare adjacent to the yellow space.6The hero players may look through the town shop deckand use their money to purchase items from it. Eachitem has its cost listed at the bottom of the card. To purchase an item, the player returns the indicated money tothe pile of unused money tokens, making change if necessary. A player may not purchase an item if he does nothave sufficient money to pay for it.Important: The store’s stock is limited: there may not beenough of each item for all players to purchase one. Ifthe hero players cannot come to an agreement on whogets to purchase a particular item from the shop, thenthe first player to the left of the overlord who wants theitem may purchase it.6A. Collect Conquest Tokens andPlace Hero FiguresFinally, the heroes receive a number of conquest tokensas indicated by the quest they’ve agreed to play. ForInto the Dark, they receive five conquest tokens tostart. Conquest tokens are shared by the entire group ofheroes and represent how well the heroes are performingtheir quest. The hero players gain additional conquesttokens by activating glyphs, opening chests, and completing other tasks. They lose conquest tokens each timeone of them is killed and each time the overlord shuffleshis deck of cards.After collecting their conquest tokens and waiting forthe overlord player to set up the map, each hero playerreceives the plastic figure representing his hero. Startingwith the first hero and continuing clockwise, each heroplayer places his figure on the map on or adjacent to anactivated glyph, with no more than one figure in eachspace.2B. Choose a QuestThe overlord player looks through the Quest Guide andselects a quest to play. For the purposes of these rules,we assume that you’ll be playing the Into the Darkquest.3B. Randomize the Chest Markers andLay Out Monster Reference CardsThe overlord player separates the chest markers intotheir three types and then randomizes each type, makingsure to keep the markers’ number side down. Then, heselects the set of 12 monster reference cards that corresponds to the number of players in the game and laysthem out face up near the playing area where all playerscan easily see and reference them.4B. Create the Game BoardThe overlord player now assembles the map pieces asshown on the quest map for the selected quest. He

First Game Preparation and SetupFind the arm and wing piecesfor the Demon. Assemble thepieces so the Demon appears asshown on the left. Then find thewing pieces for the Dragon.Assemble the pieces so theDragon appears as shown on theright. If a figure does not staytogether, you may apply a smallamount of epoxy glue.Hero SetupOrderTokensGame Setup:Into the kensSkillCardsshould only assemble map pieces he should not placeany doors, figures, props, etc. on the map at this time.The overlord player places the compass rose token andthe town marker near the board as well.5B. Put Starting Pieces on the BoardFinally, the overlord player places any monster figures,doors, or markers indicated in the start area of the quest.If a chest is indicated, the overlord draws a randomchest Makers from the appropriate pile, looks at its back,and then places it face up in the indicated space on theboard. Play now begins

monster or hero suffers its final wound, it is killed (see “Monster and Hero Death,” page 16). Fatigue Tokens Heroes use fatigue tokens to keep track of how tired they are. By exerting themselves, heroes can temporarily enhance their attacks or movement (see “Spending Fatigue,” page 17). Money Tokens Heroes use money tokens, called .