Game Overview

Shadows of Brimstone: Swamps of DeathTM is a fast-

paced, Cooperative, dungeon-crawl boardgame set in the
Old West, and mixed with Unspeakable Horror! Each player
creates a character, taking on the role of a classic Western Hero
Archetype, such as a Lawman, Rancher, Preacher, or Indian
Scout. Forming a posse of Heroes, the players take their
characters down into the mines in the foothills surrounding
the demonically overrun town of Brimstone. The Heroes can
embark on a variety of different missions, from finding and
sealing a gateway to another world, to rescuing a farmer’s son
By Jason C. Hill who was hauled off in the night by a horrible creature. The
It is the mid-1880s in the Southwest United States, and the small Heroes explore a dynamically generated mine, overcoming
dangerous encounters and fighting savage creatures, while
mining town of Brimstone has found Dark Stone up in the hills; a collecting up useful Gear and ancient Artifacts to help them
new precious mineral with magical properties, rarer than gold… during their adventures. Heroes can even find portals to other
and more dangerous! Digging for it greedily, prospectors came from worlds, stepping through to continue their adventure on the
all around, not knowing the consequences of their actions until it other side.
was too late! In a flash, the town of Brimstone was consumed, the Hero characters can be kept from game to game in a
epicenter of a cataclysmic magical explosion, ripping open portals to campaign system, earning experience and going up in levels
other worlds down in the mines and unleashing a great Darkness to to increase their skills and gain new abilities. The Heroes can
also visit local Frontier Towns between adventures, spending
spread across the land! their hard-earned loot and re-supplying for the next mission.
Now hordes of demons pour from the mines to ravage the So load up yer’ six shooter, throw on yer’ hat and poncho,
countryside, and the sky grows black with swarms of nightmarish and gather the posse, the Darkness is coming, and all hell’s
creatures descending on unwary travelers in the night! While most about to break loose... in the Shadows of Brimstone!
flee in terror, some heroic individuals come forward to help hold
Players
back the Darkness, fighting their way into the mines to seal these
Shadows of Brimstone: Swamps of DeathTM is a fully
gateways, and maybe find a fortune of their own along the way! cooperative game for 1-4 players. If combining this Core Set
with another Core Set, this can be increased to 5-6 players.
All of the players work together against the game itself and the
GAME CONTENTS difficulty is scaled based on the number of Heroes taking part
in an adventure.
• 1 Rulebook (40 pages) • 20 Mine Encounter Cards
• 1 Adventure Book (64 pages) • 10 Low Threat Cards GAME COMPONENTS
• 8 Small White Dice • 10 Med Threat Cards
• 8 Small Red Dice • 10 High Threat Cards Dice
• 1 Eight-Sided Die • 5 Epic Threat Cards The game comes with 16 standard six-sided dice (8 White
• 1 Peril Die • 7 Growing Dread Cards and 8 Red) that should be divided amongst the players. There
• 1 Entrance Map Tile are two colors of dice included with the intent that the Red
• 15 Darkness Cards dice can be used for Enemy attacks and the White dice for the
• 8 Unique Room Map Tiles • 10 Personal Item Cards Heroes’ rolls. Often cards will refer to the terms D6 and D3.
• 4 Standard Room Map Tiles • 11 Sermon Cards D6 is just another name for a six-sided die. D3 means to roll
• 6 Passage Map Tiles • 12 Loot Cards a six-sided die and consult the following chart:
• 18 End Cap Map Tiles • 12 Scavenge Cards
• 6 Gate End Cap Map Tiles • 15 Swamps of Jargono Encounters D6 Roll Result
• 4 Plastic Hero Figures • 12 Swamps of Jargono Artifact Cards 1–2 1
• 6 Plastic Tentacles • 18 Swamps of Jargono Map Cards 3–4 2
• 6 Plastic HellBats • 6 Swamps of Jargono Threat Cards 5–6 3
• 12 Plastic Hungry Dead • 8 Starting Gear Cards
• 3 Large Plastic Slashers • 12 Hero Starting Upgrade Cards Re-rolls
• 1 XL Plastic Harbinger • 2 World Cards There are many things in the game that let you Re-roll
• 4 Hero Character Sheets • 4 Side Bag Cards one or more dice. It is important to note though that:
• 6 Enemy Record Sheets • 6 Reference Cards
• 9 Extra Large Reference Cards • 1 Depth Track You may not Re-roll the same die more
• 18 Mine Map Cards • An assortment of Die-cut Counters than once.
• 32 Gear Cards • 1 CD Soundtrack of Original Music

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• 15 Mine Artifact Cards
 8-Sided Die Scavenged Markers
The game also comes with an 8-sided die These markers are used to show when a
which is used for some special rolls. This die is Map Tile has been successfully Scavenged by
often referred to as a D8. the Heroes for anything of value.

The Peril Die Revive Tokens

These tokens are occasionally
There is also a larger, special six-sided die used to give Heroes an extra chance at
included called the Peril Die. This die is marked survival, allowing a Hero that was just KO’d
with the numbers 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 6. It is most often to get back up without long-lasting effects.
used for determining the quantity of Enemies
during an attack, and is represented on cards as a symbol. Corpse Piles
Corpse Piles are a type of Enemy that is
Wounds and Sanity Damage immobile, but spawns Hungry Dead to attack the
Red Wound Markers are placed on Heroes.
Heroes and Enemies to keep track of how
much damage they have taken during the Depth Track
game, while blue Sanity markers are placed on The Depth Track is used to show how far into
Heroes to show how much Sanity Damage they the Mine the Heroes have ventured as well as showing the
have taken. There are individual Wound/Sanity progression of the Darkness as it grows in power and gets
Markers as well as larger markers representing 5 closer to escaping the Mine, causing defeat for the Heroes.
Wounds/Sanity each.
Ability Tokens
Some Heroes use special Ability
Tokens to trigger their more powerful
abilities, such as the Faith tokens used by the
Preacher.
Dark Stone Darkness Marker
These markers are used to keep track of Dark This marks the current position of the
Stone shards that Heroes find on their adventures. Darkness on the Depth Track and moves up
the track over the course of the game, as the
Grit Darkness tries to escape the Mine!
Grit is a resource that Heroes have that
can be used for Re-rolling dice, activating Hero Party Marker
special abilities, or adding a burst of speed This marks the current position of the
to your movement. Heroes on the Depth Track and moves down
the track as the Heroes explore the Mine.
Corruption
During the game, Heroes can gain Corruption Additional Counters
Points, slowly pushing them down the path of evil Several additional counters have been
and mutation. provided. Most of these are not needed for
the main game but can be used for house
Elite Markers rules or future official content.
These markers are used to show which Elite
Abilities an Enemy Group has when the difficulty XP and Gold
increases as the Heroes go up in Level. XP and Gold are only needed when keeping Heroes
from one Adventure to the next, and are gathered in large
Exploration Tokens quantities, so no counters are included for them. Instead, it is
These markers are placed face down in new recommended that players track their XP and Gold by keeping
rooms discovered as the Heroes explore and, a running total of each on a piece of paper.
when revealed, tell the number of exits a room Figures and Bases
has as well as if there are any Encounters or Swamps of Death comes with a variety of miniatures to
Enemies to be overcome there. represent the Heroes and Enemies for the game, as well as
Some also have a Clue Icon. plastic bases to mount them on. A full listing of the figures,
which size base they should be on, and how to assemble them
Side Bag Tokens can be found on the large assembly sheet in the box.
Each Hero has a Side Bag that can carry Shadows of Brimstone CD Soundtrack
helpful Tokens for them such as Bandages, Shadows of BrimstoneTM comes with its own CD
Sake, or Bombs. Soundtrack of original music to listen to while you play the
game. It does not affect gameplay, but enhances the experience
Poison Markers by setting the mood and immersing the players in the game.

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These markers represent the ongoing effects of
being poisoned.
 CARDS Hero Starting Upgrades
Each Hero Class also has a set of three
unique Starting Upgrades that they get to
There are many different decks of cards in the game that choose from. This helps players to start
are used for everything from dynamically generating the Mine customizing their Hero character right from
as you explore it, to the Enemies you encounter, to the cool the beginning.
Gear and Artifacts you find along the way.
Keywords
Most cards have Keywords associated with them, listed Map Cards
just below the title of the card. The Keywords usually do not The Map Deck is used to randomly
have any inherent meaning, but are occasionally referenced by generate the Mine as the Heroes explore.
other cards and rules. This allows every Mine layout to be different.
There is one Map card to represent each
Icons Map Tile in the game.
Many cards contain icons that represent various aspects
of the card. A full list of these icons can be found on the
Reference Summary at the back of this Rulebook. Darkness Cards
Powerful bonuses for the Darkness,
Remains in Play these cards cause surprise Attacks and boost
Some cards are listed as Remains in Play. As it sounds, the power level of the Enemies over the
these cards stay in play and continue to affect the game until course of the game. Many Darkness cards
the end of the Adventure or they are canceled in some way. are marked as Remains in Play, staying on
the table and having a long-lasting effect.
Discard Piles
For each deck of cards in the game there will also be a
discard pile. The discard pile should be formed face up next to Encounters
the deck and is where cards from that deck go when they have These cards represent all manner of
been used and are no longer in play. Any player may look situations that the Heroes can find themselves
through any discard pile at any time. If any deck ever runs in while exploring a Mine. They include
out of cards, shuffle the discard pile thoroughly and reform the everything from massive statues or broken
deck face down. barricades to having a run-in with a dying
Some of the card decks (such as Loot and Scavenge cards) guard or ghostly apparition.
do not have discard piles, but rather are fully shuffled every
time one or more cards need to be drawn. Threat Cards
When the Heroes are attacked, drawing
CARD TYPES a Threat card tells you what types of Enemies
and how many are involved. There are 3
different Threat Decks that are scaled for the
Gear and Artifacts number of Heroes playing, as well as Epic
Gear and Artifact cards Threats for major Fights.
are special equipment and
relics that the Heroes can
find while exploring a Mine. Loot
They represent everything Loot cards are used to generate the
from common items like hats rewards that Heroes get for winning a Fight
or bandages to ancient alien or overcoming certain Encounters. Unlike
artifacts and occult books most decks, the Loot Deck has no discard
of lore! When found, these pile and is fully shuffled before each draw.
cards stay with the Hero and give them the bonuses listed on
the card. Growing Dread
These cards are a representation
Starting Gear and of the unspeakable horrors that await
the Heroes as the Darkness grows
Personal Items in power. They are usually collected
Every Hero Class starts over the course of the game, but not
with specific Starting Gear revealed until the final Fight.
cards listed on their Hero
Character Sheet. They World Cards
also draw a single Personal These cards are used as reference
Item to give them an extra for the global effects of the world the
bonus and help define their Heroes are currently in as well as
personality and backstory a bit more. to draw a random World when the

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Heroes find a Gate.
 Scavenge Reference Charts
Scavenge cards are used to determine These large Charts show the information for Frontier
what a Hero finds when they Scavenge a Towns you can travel to between adventures, including the
Map Tile for anything useful. Much like various Town Locations you can visit, as well as an overhead
the Loot Deck, the Scavenge Deck has no Town Map, and charts for Depth Events, Injuries, and Madness.
discard pile and is fully shuffled before each
draw.

OtherWorld Decks
The Swamps of Death
Core Set has all of the cards
needed for venturing into
the Swamps of Jargono
OtherWorld. There are
OtherWorld specific decks
for Artifacts, Encounters,
Map Cards, and Threats
only found while exploring
the murky swamps.
Preacher Sermon Cards
The Preacher has access to a set MAP TILES
of Sermon cards that includes Blessings
which can be cast to help the Heroes, The game board is made up of a collection of Map Tiles
and Judgements which are cast to attack that hook together with puzzle style connections. There are
Enemies. two main types of Map Tiles, Rooms and Passages (corridors
that connect the Rooms). There are also small End Cap
pieces for blocking off Room exits that are not Doors and
Gate End Caps for when the Heroes find a portal to another
LARGE CARDS world! End Caps and Gates are not considered full Map Tiles,
they simply cap off the Map Tile they are attached to.
In addition to the regular-sized card decks, there are
several large Charts and Record Sheets, displaying the Hero
Classes players can choose from, Enemies that you will face,
and various charts for use on your adventures and while
visiting Towns between missions.
Hero Character Sheets
There are four large Hero Character Sheets, each detailing
the stats and abilities of a Hero Class that a player can choose
to play. These Character Sheets have a Male portrait on one
side and a Female portrait on the other, so players can choose
the gender of their Hero.

All Map Tiles are double-sided and have the Mine on

one side and an OtherWorld on the other side.
A Grid of squares is printed on the Map Tiles and this
Enemy Record Sheets is used for the placement and moving of models during
There are also several gameplay. Note that at every puzzle connection on a Map
double-sided Enemy Record Tile, there are two half spaces. When another Map Tile (or
Sheets showing the stats and End Cap) is connected, this adds the other half of the two
abilities of the various Enemies spaces, creating complete grid spaces, with half on each of the
that the Heroes might run into two Map Tiles.
on their Adventures. These
Record Sheets have the normal For game purposes, a model that occupies
version of the Enemy on one one of these half-and-half grid spaces on a
side (green) and the higher level, puzzle connection counts as being on BOTH
Brutal version of that Enemy on

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Map Tiles.
the back (red).
 HERO CHARACTERS
Each player must choose what type of classic Old West Hero they want to play. These different Hero ‘types’ are called
Classes. There are four different Hero Classes to choose from included in this Core Set, and each Hero Class has a unique
Character Sheet with all of its basic Skills, Abilities, and Starting Gear listed on it. Each specific Hero Class is covered in greater
detail on pages 8 and 9. Below is a list of the different elements of a Hero Character Sheet.

A) Hero Class H) Abilities

A character’s Hero Class is the Old West archetype that Every Hero Class has one or more special Abilities that
the character falls into and is the main thematic defining factor are an important part of being that Hero Class. These Abilities
for their Skills and Abilities. are not always beneficial, but fundamentally effect how the
Hero plays.
B) Keywords
A Hero’s Keywords are traits of that character. They do I) Starting Items
not have any inherent meaning, but are referenced by other Gear that any character of that Hero Class always starts
cards and Abilities (often as restrictions for certain Items). their adventuring career with.
C) ‘To Hit’ Values J) Health
What the Hero needs to roll on their dice to hit Enemies A representation of the Hero’s physical well being. Health
when making an Attack. There are two different To Hit values, is reduced by taking Wounds. If your Health is ever reduced
one for Ranged Attacks and one for Melee Attacks. to 0, you are KO’d.
D) Combat K) Defense
The base number of dice that the Hero gets to roll when Any time the Hero takes one or more Hits, they may
making a Melee Attack, even if they have no weapons. use their Defense as a saving roll against each Hit to prevent
taking Wounds.
E) Max Grit
The max number of Grit the Hero can have at one time. L) Sanity
Sanity is just like Health, but for the Hero’s mental well
F) Skill Attributes being. Sanity is reduced by taking Sanity Damage. Just like
There are 6 different Skills that every Hero has, Agility, Health, if your Sanity ever reaches 0, you are KO’d.
Cunning, Spirit, Strength, Lore, and Luck. These Skills are
used for making tests during the game. M) Willpower
Just like Defense is to Health, Willpower is a saving roll
G) Initiative for Sanity to prevent taking Sanity Damage or Corruption.
Initiative determines how quick a character is and how
early in the turn they get to Activate. Each turn models are

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Activated in Initiative order, from highest to lowest.
 GRIT CREATING A NEW HERO
Grit is a resource that represents a Hero’s Creating a new Hero is fast and easy. It is often just as fun
ability to tough out difficult situations and pull to start a fresh new Hero as it is to keep one Hero from game
off amazing feats; dodging a fatal blow at the to game, over a series of Adventures. To create a new Hero,
last minute, scoring a particularly difficult hit, just follow these simple steps:
or activating a powerful special ability to save
the day. In short, it allows Heroes to be heroic! Choose Hero Class
Every Hero has Grit (they wouldn’t be much of The most important choice for a new Hero is what Hero
a Hero without it). Class you want to play. Each Hero Class has its own unique
stats and Abilities, and a fairly different play style. Choose
Using Grit which Hero Class your new Hero will be. If you are new
A Hero may use a Grit to do one of three things: to the game, each different Hero Class in this Core Set is
described below on pages 8 and 9.
- Use 1 Grit to Re-roll any number of dice that your
Hero just rolled. Get Starting Items
- Use 1 Grit to add an extra D6 to your Hero’s Every Hero Class has a small list of Starting Items printed
Movement. on their Character Sheet that they get for free. Find these
Items for your Hero amongst the Starting Gear cards. It is
- Use Grit to activate a Special Ability or Item that important to note that, in many ways, the Starting Gear of a
requires it. Hero is just as important a factor as their Abilities and stats.
Note that Heroes may NOT trade or give their Starting Items
Re-roll Limits to other Heroes.
Grit can be very useful for Re-rolling dice when you need
to, but it is important to remember that no single die may ever Draw a Personal Item
be Re-rolled more than once. So, for example, you CANNOT Every Hero starts their adventuring career with one
Re-roll all of your misses with a Grit, and then use an ability or Personal Item that not only gives them a powerful bonus,
spend another Grit to Re-roll the ones that still missed. but can help to define the backstory of that Hero. Draw one
Grit may only be used to Re-roll dice that have been Personal Item card for your Hero.
rolled for your Hero (not other Heroes, Enemies, etc).
Choose Your Starting Upgrade
In Addition, Grit may not be used on any roll on a Chart When creating a brand new Hero you get to choose one
or the roll to Hold Back the Darkness (more on that later). of the three Hero Starting Upgrades available to your Hero
Class. This is one of three unique abilities that helps to define
Recovering Grit your Hero right from the beginning. Choose wisely though
Grit is a very powerful resource, but is limited. Each as the two Upgrades you don’t pick will not be available later.
Hero starts every Mission with 1 Grit, but more can be gained
throughout the Adventure. The most common way to Recover
a Grit is by rolling a 1 for your Move roll. This is covered in Select Any Class Specific Cards
greater detail later in the section on Hero Activation. Some Hero Classes allow you to draw special cards that
are unique to that Class, as noted on the Hero Character Sheet
Max Grit (such as a Preacher’s Sermons). The Core Set Hero Classes
Every Hero Class has a Max Grit listed on their Character are covered in greater detail below.
Sheet. This is generally Max Grit 2 for most new Heroes.
Max Grit is simply the most Grit your Hero can have at one Get a Side Bag
time.
If you are already at your Max Grit and you would get to and Free Token
Recover a Grit, though you can’t hold onto it, you are allowed Take a Side Bag card
to immediately spend that new Grit instead of just losing it. for your Hero. Every
This is most often used to activate an ability that costs Grit or Hero has a Side Bag that
to gain the extra D6 to your Move for the turn. can hold up to 5 Tokens
in it. A New Hero also
gets to choose one Token
ABILITY TOKENS to start with for free.
Choose from Whiskey,
The term Ability Token is used to refer Bandages, Dynamite, or
to any of the various special tokens used by Tonic.
Hero Classes to trigger their unique abilities. Name Your Hero
This includes Tokens such as Faith for a Lastly, you should choose a
Preacher or Dead Eye Shot special ammo fitting name for your Hero. And pick
for a Gunslinger. The specific use of each something good, you never know if that
type of Ability Token is covered in the name will become legendary throughout
special rules for the individual Hero Class the West!

7
that uses them.
 OLD WEST HERO CLASSES
There are 4 unique Hero Classes to play in the Swamps of Death Core Set - the Lawman, Rancher, Indian Scout, and
Preacher. Each Class of Hero has their own set of abilities and equipment, as well as their own strengths and weaknesses. This
section provides an overview of each of these Hero Classes as well as the rules needed to use any special Class-specific bonuses,
such as the Lawman’s Badge or Preacher’s Faith and Sermons!

Lawman Rancher
The small town Taming the wilds
Sheriff on the frontier is of the frontier is no easy
one of the quintessential task, and Ranchers make
figures of the wild west. their homes among the
With nothing but a sweeping plains and
peacekeeper pistol and deserts of the West.
a polished tin star, these Long Range Hunter
legendary lawmen bring With a long range
justice to a chaotic world. Hunting Rifle that gets
With the constant +2 Damage when it hits,
threat of demonic attacks the Rancher can pick off
and undead hordes Enemies at a distance.
overrunning their town, In addition, the Evasion
the Lawman is on the ability allows the Rancher
front lines in the battle to escape from adjacent
against the Darkness that Enemies, enabling her to
consumed Brimstone. get out of danger and far
enough away to pick her
Natural Leader targets more effectively
A dashing figure of law and order, the Lawman is a natural when she fires.
leader, forming posses to ride out from town, hunting down
beasts and organizing search parties for folk that go missing. Rapid Shot
Keeping a town on the frontier safe requires a cool head and Combining the power of the Hunting Rifle with her Rapid
a steady hand. These traits make the Lawman the ideal leader Shot ability, the Rancher can take extra Shots each time she
for a posse headed down into the mines. kills an Enemy, giving her the potential to drop several smaller
Enemies a turn, if she can get on a roll!
Laying Down the Law
With a sturdy Peacekeeper Pistol that gets 3 Shots per turn, Indian Scout
and the Laying Down the Law ability to Re-roll a miss when With an intimate
firing, the Lawman can unleash a hail of gunfire on the foul understanding of the
creatures that lurk in the shadows and would threaten his posse. local lands, many Native
Americans have joined the
Sheriff Badge fight against the Darkness.
One of the most powerful tools of the Lawman is his Offering their service as
Sheriff Badge. In addition to being the symbol of his authority, guides and trackers, these
it allows him to give a special bonus to all Heroes, once per tribal warriors bridge
Adventure, granting each Hero +2 Shots with a Gun or +2 the gap between western
Combat for a Melee Attack, during their next activation. If warfare and the spiritual
used at just the right time, this understanding of their
bonus for the whole posse ancestors.
can mean the difference Versatile and Fast
between surviving a Fight, or A ‘jack of all trades’,
succumbing to the Darkness. the Indian Scout is armed
If there are more than with both a Carbine rifle
one Hero in the Posse with a for fast-firing long range
Badge, each Hero may only attacks, as well as an
gain the benefits of one Badge Indian Hatchet for cutting
per Fight. down foes up close. And with +1 Move for his Fast ability, he
often scouts ahead to find the best path forward.
Tracker
A master scout and hunter, the Indian Scout’s Tracker
ability allows him to discard and re-draw an Encounter card
or an Exploration Token, once per Adventure. This helps
the Hero Posse avoid the most dangerous pitfalls and aids

8
in finding the mission objectives faster, before the
Darkness grows too powerful.
Preacher Performing Sermons
A devoutly religious A Preacher may Perform any number of Sermons during
man, the Preacher wields the turn, but each individual Sermon may only be performed
his faith as a shield and once during a turn.
a weapon, performing Most Sermons may be Performed at any time during the
powerful Sermons to turn; they do NOT have to be Performed during the Preacher’s
smite his foes! Activation. Sermons that have a restriction on when they can
The Preacher Hero be Performed are listed as such on the card, such as ‘at the start
Class is a little different of a Turn’ or ‘ as a Ranged Attack’.
than the other Hero
Classes in that he has the For all game effects, Sermons count as Spells.
ability to cast Sermons as
spells, blessing his fellow XP for Successfully Casting
Heroes, and bringing Some Sermons have an XP value listed at the bottom of
fiery judgement down on the card. This XP is earned by the Preacher whenever that
his Enemies. Sermon is successfully Cast (though some Sermons only
generate XP the first time they are Cast per Adventure). A
Sermon may only be Cast if it will have a game effect (for
instance a Sermon that Heals Wounds may only be Cast if
there are Wounds to Heal).
Faith (Ability Token) Faith Cost
Preachers have a pool of Faith Tokens that they use to pay Every Sermon has a Faith Cost listed on the card. To
the cost to Perform thier Sermons. The amount of Faith that a Perform a Sermon, the Preacher must pay an amount of Faith
Preacher has available directly determines how many Tokens equal to the Faith Cost of that Sermon. It can be
Sermons they can Perform in a turn, as well as how helpful to place the spent Faith Tokens on the Sermon card
likely they are for those Sermons to be successful. itself to show that they have been spent as well as to show that
Faith Tokens may be used for two things: that particular Sermon has been Performed this turn.
- Paying the Faith Cost to Perform a Sermon. Casting Roll
- Adding +1 to a Casting Roll you just rolled. Once the Faith Cost has been paid, the Preacher makes a
Casting Roll. Roll 2D6. If the total rolled is equal to or higher
All Faith Tokens spent are Recovered by the than the Casting Number listed in the upper right corner of
Preacher at the start of each turn, returning him to his the Sermon card, the Sermon is successfully Performed and its
full Faith level. card text immediately takes effect. If the total rolled is less than
the Casting Number, the Sermon is failed; the Faith Tokens are
Sermons wasted and the Sermon may not be attempted again this turn.
The Sermons that a Preacher has access to are represented As noted above, Faith Tokens may also be spent to add
by Sermon cards. Sermon cards come in two types - Blessings +1 each to the Casting Roll total, even after the dice have been
which have life-saving healing and defensive effects, and rolled.
Judgements which have powerful offensive effects to increase
a Hero’s attack power or directly do damage to one or more Dangerous Sermons
Some Sermons are marked with the Dangerous
Enemies. Icon, on the upper right side of the card. These
As noted Sermons are especially powerful, but also a bit
on his Hero dangerous to use, as they leave the Preacher
Character Sheet, momentarily open to the energies of the Void.
the Preacher starts Whenever a Preacher makes a Casting Roll to Perform a
out with the Faith Dangerous Sermon, and rolls doubles on the dice, the Sermon
Healing Blessing still succeeds or fails as normal, but the Preacher also takes 1
Sermon, as well Corruption Hit, as they are tainted by the Darkness that is
as one additional unleashed.
Random Blessing Note that this roll of doubles only counts based on the final
Sermon card and Casting Roll, so if one or more of the dice is Re-rolled, no Corruption
one Random Hit is taken, unless the Re-roll also results in a double.
Judgement Sermon
card. Spell Boosts for Hero Level
When drawing a Random Some Sermons have boosts to their effectiveness listed at
Sermon card like this, the Preacher is allowed to draw 2 the bottom of the card, based on the Hero Level of the Preacher
cards and choose which to keep (discarding the other). This that is Casting it. These are free bonuses that a Preacher gets
may be done for both the Random Blessing and the Random as they go up in Hero Level, making their existing Sermons
Judgement he starts out with. more powerful along the way.

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 GAME SET UP
To Set Up for an Adventure, complete the following steps in the order listed. This covers everything needed to start the
basic Mission ‘A Fistful of Dark Stone’, and includes preparing the card decks, shuffling up the Exploration Tokens, placing the
Mine Entrance, and getting the Heroes ready to go. Some later Missions have a slightly different Set Up as noted in their entry
in the Adventure Book.

1) Number of Players/Heroes 5) Select Mission

Decide on the number of Heroes that will be taking part Select a Mission to play. For your first game, this will
in the Adventure. Usually this is one Hero per player, but be the ‘A Fistful of Dark Stone’ Mission described below. For
sometimes it is fun to play a game controlling two Heroes future games, you can choose a Mission from those listed in
each, for a fewer number of players. the Adventure Book. Note that some Missions have special
Set Up instructions.
2) Shuffle Card Decks
Thoroughly shuffle all of the card decks and place them
around the table as shown above. 6) Prepare Depth Track
Place the Depth Track where all players can see it, and
3) Prepare Exploration Tokens position the Darkness marker on the Darkness Start space and
Shuffle up all 12 Exploration Tokens and create a stack of the Hero Party marker on the Mine Entrance space.
them face down that players can draw from when they find a
new room. 7) Place Entrance Map Tile
4) Ready Heroes Set the Entrance Map Tile in the center of the table,
Prepare each Hero that will be taking part. If these are where all players can reach it.
new Heroes, make sure each of them is ready to go using the
steps of Creating a New Hero, as detailed on page 7. 8) Place Heroes
One Hero gets the Old Lantern card in addition to his Lastly, each Hero model is placed on the Entrance Map
other Gear. The players may choose who will take it at the Tile in one of the 8 Starting Area spaces (as shown below).

10
start of each Adventure.
 The Starting Area on the Entrance Map Tile includes all
8 spaces in the back two rows (marked here in blue). The
Heroes can be positioned in any of these eight spaces, and
should be placed on the board in Initiative order, from highest
to lowest.

YOUR FIRST GAME

Basic Game
NUMBER OF HEROES For your first game, a couple of the slightly more
advanced elements will be left out to make it easier to get the
The number of Heroes taking part in an Adventure hang of the things. Epic Threat boss Fights and Gates to
determines the difficulty and quantity of Enemies you will Other Worlds will not be used. Note, it may be tempting to just
be facing. This is scaled in two ways - with Low, Med, use everything right away, but there is enough to wrap your mind
and High Threat Decks for Enemies as well as with Revive around with getting the basics down that it really is worth playing
Tokens to help fewer Heroes survive a little longer. a game or two before diving into the deep end.

Difficulty Scaling ‘A Fistful of Dark Stone’

The chart below shows the Threat Deck that will be The introductory Mission is called ‘A Fistful of Dark
used as well as how many Revive Tokens the Heroes have Stone’. The Heroes have heard rumor of a vast deposit of
available to them, based on the number of Heroes playing. Dark Stone buried down in one of the local mines and have
come to find their fortune.

Heroes Scaling Mission Goals

To find the Dark Stone deposit, the
1 Low Threats, 2 Revive Tokens
Heroes must explore the mine and find 2
2 Low Threats, 1 Revive Token Exploration Tokens with Clue Icons on
them. The first Clue lets them know they
3 Med Threats, 1 Revive Token are on the right track, while the second
Clue is the actual deposit itself!
4 Med Threats
The Objective Room
5 High Threats, 1 Revive Token When the second Clue Icon is revealed, ignore
any Encounter or Attack on the token, as well as any Door
6 High Threats Icons. The Objective Room has no exits. Instead, the Heroes
must draw a High Threat card (Red) to fight, as a large group
Both Threat Decks and Revive Tokens are covered in of creatures has been attracted by the Dark Stone.
greater detail a little later.
Reward
If all of the Enemies in the final room are
defeated, the Heroes have completed the Mission
and may collect as much of the Dark Stone as
they can find. Each Hero gains 25 XP and D3

11
Dark Stone.
 THE DEPTH TRACK

Depth Track Blood Spatter and Growing Dread

The Depth Track represents the general path of the Mine Spaces on the Track
and tracks how deep the Hero Party has journeyed and how There are two special types of spaces on the Depth Track,
close the Darkness is to escaping the Mine and wreaking havoc Blood Spatter spaces and Growing Dread spaces.
on the countryside (resulting in failure for the Heroes). At the
start of the game, the Hero Party marker is placed at the Mine
Entrance space on the far left of the track, while the Darkness Blood Spatter spaces - When the Darkness marker moves
marker is placed on the Darkness Start space on the far right. onto a Blood Spatter space, the Heroes must immediately
draw a Darkness card as the Darkness has grown stronger.
During the course of the game, the Hero Party marker
moves down the track every time a new Map Tile is placed, Growing Dread spaces - When the Darkness marker
as the Heroes travel deeper and deeper into the tunnels. The moves onto a Growing Dread space, the Heroes must draw a
Darkness marker moves the opposite direction, up the track, as Growing Dread card as the deadly nature of the Hero’s mission
the Heroes fail to hold the Darkness at bay. sinks in (see Growing Dread cards on page 16 for more on this
later).
Stages of the Track
The Depth Track is broken into 3 Stages, and each Stage
has a value printed at the bottom (7+, 8+, 9+). As the Hero
Party marker moves down the track, it passes through these These special types of spaces on the Depth
different Stages, making it progressively harder for the Heroes Track only matter for the Darkness marker,
to Hold Back the Darkness. Generally these Stages only NOT the Hero Party marker.
matter for the current position of the Hero Party marker, not
the Darkness marker.
Holding Back the Darkness Depth Events
Any time the Hero with the Old Lantern rolls natural
At the start of each turn, the Hero with doubles for the Hold Back the Darkness test, a Depth Event
the Old Lantern must roll the Hold Back has occurred! Even if the roll would normally have failed,
the Darkness test. The Hero rolls 2D6 instead of moving the Darkness marker, consult the Depth
and adds them together. If the number is Event Chart to see what has happened (the Depth Event Chart
equal to or greater than the value needed can be found on one of the large reference cards).
(listed at the bottom of the Stage that the There are 6 possible results on the chart, and the Event
Hero Party marker is currently in), the that has occurred is the one listed for the double number that
Darkness has been held and the marker was rolled (double 1s = 1 on the chart, double 2s = 2 on the
does not move this turn. If the roll is less chart, etc). This is usually something bad that has happened.
than the value needed, the Darkness moves
one step forward on the track (closer to the Mine Entrance).
Grit may NOT be used to Re-roll a Hold Back the
Darkness test.

12
 THE GAME TURN
Each Game Turn has four steps that are completed in the
following order:
1) Hold Back the Darkness
2) Models Activate in Initiative Order
3) Room Exploration
4) End of the Turn
Once all four steps are complete, a new Game Turn
begins.
Hold Back the Darkness
As noted above, at the start of each turn, the Hero that
has the Old Lantern must roll the Hold Back the Darkness test
to prevent the Darkness marker from moving forward on the
Depth Track. This test occurs at the start of every turn (even
during a Fight), and the longer the Adventure goes, the harder
it is to hold the Darkness back.
Models Activate in Initiative Order
After the Hold Back the Darkness test is complete, each
model is Activated in order of Initiative, from highest to lowest. HERO ACTIVATION
A model’s Initiative can be found in the upper right corner of
their Hero Character Sheet or Enemy Record Sheet. When a Hero is Activated, they may Move and then
either Search or make an Attack. Searching may NOT be
During most turns of the game, only Heroes will be on done during a Fight (as the Hero is a little busy).
the board as they explore the Mine. During a Fight however,
Activations will often be intermixed between Heroes and Hero Movement
Enemies, based on their relative Initiative scores (more on At the start of a Hero’s Activation, the first thing they
Enemies and Fights later). should do is to roll a single die for Movement. The Hero may
Move a number of spaces up to the amount rolled on the die.
Heroes that are tied for Initiative may decide Models have no facing and may move forward, back, side
between them who will go first, and this may be to side, and even diagonally. Models may NOT move through
changed from turn to turn. other models or through Walls, and may only move into valid
spaces on the board (it must be at least 50% of a full space, to
be considered a valid space).
Room Exploration
When the Heroes discover a new Room Map Tile, it has The two half-spaces of an open-ended puzzle connection
an Exploration Token placed on it. Exploration Tokens like on a Map Tile are considered to be Doorways and models
this are revealed and resolved during the Room Exploration MAY move into these half-spaces. (For players that do not like
step. Roll for Movement style games, an optional rule for Fixed Hero
Movement can be found on page 38).
End of the Turn
After all models have been Activated and any new Rooms
have been explored, anything that occurs at the End of the If a Hero rolls a 1 on their Move roll, they
Turn happens. If there are multiple effects that trigger at the are allowed to Recover one Grit. This is the
End of the Turn, the Heroes may decide what order to do main method for Heroes getting Grit during
them in. the game. If a Hero is already at their Max
Grit, they may immediately use the new Grit
on the spot, usually to add an extra D6 to their
Movement.
Note that using Grit to add an extra D6 to your movement
does not let you Recover another Grit if you roll a 1 on that
D6, as it is simply extra movement, not a Move roll.
Map Tile Puzzle Connections
It is important to note that a Hero standing in a puzzle
connection space (between two Map Tiles) counts as being on
both of those Map Tiles. This can be important for Abilities

13
or effects that target every model on a specific Map Tile.
 Through a Door) while there is an unrevealed Exploration
Token on that Tile (more on Exploration Tokens later).
Scavenging
Any Hero that ends their Move on a Map
Tile (Room, Passage, or the Entrance) that has
not yet been fully Scavenged may attempt to
search the area for anything of value.
To Scavenge a Map Tile, roll 3 dice. If any of
the dice roll a 6, you have successfully Scavenged the area and
found something! Place a Scavenged marker on the Map
Tile. Then draw one card from the Scavenge Deck for each
6 rolled.
As noted before, there is no discard pile for the Scavenge
Deck. Each time a Hero needs to draw one or more Scavenge
Hero Movement Example - Hero A starts cards, shuffle the entire Scavenge Deck to draw the number of
his Activation and rolls a 4 for movement. cards needed. Note that the Scavenge Deck is approximately
He can move up to 4 spaces in any 1/3 good, 1/3 bad, and 1/3 nothing, so Scavenging may not
direction, but may not move through a always end up being a benefit to your Hero (but it’s usually
space with another model. fun to try).
Each Map Tile may be Scavenged a number of times,
Walls Blocking Diagonal Movement based on how many Heroes are in the Hero Party, before it is
As noted above, models may not move or see through considered fully Scavenged (and may not be Scavenged again).
Walls (the thick black border around every Map Tile). 1-2 Heroes 1 Scavenge
Sometimes a Wall will extend into a Map Tile, covering over 3-4 Heroes 2 Scavenge
the grid cross point between spaces (as shown below).
5-6 Heroes 3 Scavenge
Looking Through a Door
Open-ended puzzle connections on a Map Tile (not
blocked off with an End Cap) are considered to be Doors. A
Hero that ends their Move on one of these open-ended puzzle
connection half-spaces may Search by Looking Through the
Door, seeing into the next Map Tile.
Draw a Map Card and place the Map Tile shown as the
next piece of the board, connected to the Door that the Hero
is looking through. The green arrow on the card shows the
‘Entrance’ to the new Map Tile that should be connected to
the Door.
Walls like this prevent models from moving diagonally If the new Map Tile cannot be placed because it would
across that Wall. In addition, because the Wall extends between overlap an existing Map Tile, rotate the tile to use one of the
these diagonal spaces (covering the cross point of the spaces), other exits as the Entrance. If the tile still does not fit, discard
the two spaces are NOT considered to be adjacent to one it and draw a new Map Card to repeat the same process. If the
another. Walls like this block Line of Sight for Ranged Attacks, second Map Tile also does not fit, this exit is not a valid Door
prevent diagonal Melee Attacks across them, and prevent other and should be blocked with an End Cap. Any exit that clearly
things like Fear or Dynamite explosions affecting models cannot fit a Map Tile should not be counted when determining
diagonally across the Wall. which exits from the Room are Doors (as described in the
section on Exploration below).
The Old Lantern and Voices in the Dark Whenever a new Map Tile is placed, move
The light from the Old Lantern is the only safety from the
shadows. It illuminates the entire Map Tile that the Hero the Hero Party marker one step forward on the
carrying it is currently on, as well as every adjacent Map Depth Track, showing their progression deeper
Tile. into the Mine.
Any Hero starting their Activation on a Map Tile that
is not within the Old Lantern’s light (on the same or adjacent Any time a Hero Looks Through a Door and places a
Map Tile as the Lantern) begins hearing ‘Voices in the Dark’, new Map Tile, that Hero gains 5 XP for exploring.
slowly driving them mad. That Hero immediately takes D6 The Hero Party marker will no longer move if it ever
Horror Hits (see Horror Hits and Sanity on page 17). reaches the Darkness Start space of the Depth Track.
Note that Heroes may not look through Doors while
Searching there are Enemies on the board as Searching cannot be
There are two different types of Searching a Hero can do at performed during a Fight.
the end of their Movement, when not in a Fight - Scavenging
or Looking through a Door. Note that you may do either of Hero Attacks
these things, not both. During their Activation, after moving, a Hero is allowed
A Hero may not Search on a Map Tile (Scavenge or Look to make one Attack. This is covered later in the section on

14
Fights.
 Encounters and Attack!
EXPLORATION Exploration Tokens will always lead to Encounters or an
Attack, both of which are covered a little later on.
Exploration is a big part of Shadows of Brimstone, and
allows the Heroes an element of discovery as they pick their Growing Dread Exploration Token
way through the dark halls and rooms of the dark Mine. As noted above, one of the Exploration
Tokens adds a Growing Dread card to the
Rooms and Exploration Tokens stack, in addition to being an Encounter.
There are two types of Map Tiles, Passages and Rooms.
Passages are short pathways that simply connect different areas Clue Icons
of the Mine. Rooms, on the other hand, often hold Encounters Many of the Exploration Tokens
or Enemies that the Heroes must face. have Clue Icons on them, representing
important bits of information that help the Heroes
on their Mission. Clue Icons have different meanings based
Whenever a Room Map Tile is placed, draw on the particular Mission being played, as described in the
an Exploration Token without looking at it and Mission entry of the Adventure Book (some Missions do not
place it face down on that Map Tile. Passages do use Clue Icons at all).
not contain Exploration Tokens and are labeled Finding the Objective
as such on their individual Map Cards. When the final Clue Icon needed is found (or whatever
the particular Mission calls for is discovered), the Heroes have
found their Objective!
Once the Map Tile is placed, the Hero that looked through
the Door will be standing in a puzzle connection space that is This usually means that the Heroes ignore any Door
half on each Map Tile. As noted above, a Hero on a puzzle Icons and Encounters/Attacks on the final Exploration Token
connection space like this is considered to be on BOTH Map (Note that the Growing Dread Exploration Token still adds a
Tiles. This means that during the Room Exploration step of the Growing Dread card). Instead, the Heroes have reached their
turn (after all Heroes have Activated), this Exploration Token goal and must face a final fight with a larger or meaner group
will be revealed as there will be at least one Hero on the Map of Enemies. In the Advanced Game, this comes in the form
Tile with it. of an Epic Threat boss fight. In the introductory Mission,
‘A Fistful of Dark Stone’, it means fighting a High Threat card
Revealing Exploration (Red) of Enemies.
Tokens
When an Exploration Token is revealed,
flip it over so that all players can see what WINNING AND LOSING
has been discovered! An Exploration Token
has three important pieces of information – To Win a Mission, the Heroes must find the Objective and
Door / Gate Icons (showing the Number of defeat any Enemies guarding it, as detailed in the particular
exits the Room has), Encounters or Attacks!, Mission being played. For the basic ‘A Fistful of Dark Stone’
and if there are any Clues for the Heroes’ Mission, the Heroes simply need to find the Objective room
current Mission. There is also one particularly at the second Clue Icon and defeat a High Threat card of
evil Exploration Token that adds a Growing Enemies.
Dread card to the stack (more on Growing There are two main ways for the Heroes to Fail any
Dread later). Mission - if all of the Heroes are KO’d or if the Darkness
Escapes the Mine.
Door/Gate Icons
At the top of the Exploration Token you All Heroes KO’d
will find one or more Door Icons. Each Icon If all of the Heroes are ever KO’d at the same time,
represents an exit from the Room. So if there the Mission immediately ends in failure. The Heroes are
are 2 Door Icons on the Token, there will be 2 considered to escape, but must all still roll for Injury/Madness.
Random puzzle connection ‘Doors’ left open on
the Room. On the Map Card for the Room, each Darkness Escapes
potential exit is marked with a set of numbers to If the Darkness marker ever reaches the Mine Entrance
help randomly determine where the Doors are to be left open. space on the Depth Track, the Darkness escapes the Mine and
For each Door Icon, roll a die and consult the Map Card lays waste to the countryside. The Mission is failed and the
to determine where that Door will be (roll again if there is Heroes must head home in defeat.
already a Door there). Each puzzle connection exit that is not Running Away
a Door should be closed off using an End Cap piece. Sometimes things look pretty grim. If all of the Heroes
Note that some Exploration Tokens have a Gate agree (at least all those that are not yet KO’d), at the start of
Icon amongst the Door Icons. In the Basic Game, treat any turn, the Hero Party may elect to Flee from the Mine! This
these as normal Doors in every way. In the Advanced must be done before anything else in the turn happens. All of
Game, these Gate Icons represent a portal to an Other the Heroes (including those that are KO’d) escape the Mine
World that has opened and the Heroes can step through and the Mission is considered to have been failed. Any Heroes
and continue to explore on the other side! that were KO’d still need to roll for Injury/Madness.

15
 DARKNESS AND THE GROWING DREAD
Darkness Cards whenever a Growing Dread card is drawn, it is placed face
Darkness cards are evil events that can cause Enemies to down, without looking at it, in a stack near the Depth Track.
leap from the shadows, ceilings to collapse, supernatural events Growing Dread cards are always added to the top of the stack,
to occur, or allow the Darkness to steadily grow in power with and can be fanned out a little so that players can see how many
cards that Remain in Play. Darkness cards are pretty much cards are in the stack. In this way, it creates an impending
always bad for the Heroes. feeling of doom over the course of the game as more cards get
added to the stack, with each being potentially deadly!
There are two main ways for Darkness cards to be drawn
during the game, whenever the Darkness marker reaches a Resolving Growing Dread
Blood Spatter space on the Depth Track, and whenever a When the Objective is found for the current Mission, but
card’s game text instructs the players to do so (this is usually before any Threat cards are drawn or Enemies placed, the
caused by Scavenge or Encounter cards). cards in the Growing Dread stack are revealed and resolved,
When a Darkness card is drawn, it is read aloud to all one at a time, starting from the top of the stack.
players, starting with the card title, and then its game effect is
resolved. Once complete, the card is discarded (unless it is Canceling Growing Dread
marked as Remains in Play at the bottom of the card). The Heroes are not helpless though. A Growing Dread
card may be canceled if all of the Heroes in the Party collectively
Growing Dread Cards use 1 Grit each (not including Heroes that are KO’d). This
Growing Dread cards are dark and powerful events that may be done while a Growing Dread card is still face down
can spell doom for the Heroes. Unlike Darkness cards, they (cancel the top card of the stack), or once it has been revealed
are usually not played immediately when drawn. Instead, (before it takes effect).

16
 HEALTH, SANITY, AND CORRUPTION
There are many ways that a Hero can get hurt while fighting their way through a dark Mine (or even just while walking
through the demon-infested deserts). Every Hero has Health, that measures their ability to take physical damage before being
knocked out, and Sanity, that covers their ability to take mental strain before going mad. It is also possible to be corrupted by
dark influences and even start to mutate from it.

Armor and Spirit Armor

TYPES OF HITS Armor helps to protect a Hero, even
after their Defense or Willpower has failed
There are 3 types of Hits that a Hero can take - Hits, them. Armor protects against Wounds
Horror Hits, and Corruption Hits. while Spirit Armor protects against Sanity
Damage. Neither one helps against
Hits Corruption though.
Hits represent physical damage and cause Wounds if not
prevented. If a Hero has Armor/Spirit Armor,
whenever they are about to take a number
Horror Hits of Wounds/Sanity Damage, roll a D6 for
Horror Hits represent mental strain and cause Sanity each point of Damage they are about to take. For each die
Damage if not prevented. roll that is equal to or better than their Armor/Spirit Armor
save, that point of damage is prevented. For example, if a Hero
Corruption Hits has Armor 5+ and takes two Hits past their Defense that do 3
Corruption Hits represent dark influence and cause Wounds each, the Hero rolls 6 dice. For every 5 or 6 rolled,
Corruption Points if not prevented. a single one of the individual Wounds is prevented.
Defense and Willpower Some Enemies can also have Armor as an ability. This
Each Hero has Defense and Willpower marked on their works just like a Hero’s Armor.
character sheets. Both of these are saving rolls that allow the
Hero to try and prevent incoming Hits from doing damage. Being KO’d
Defense is used to prevent Hits while Willpower is used to If a Hero ever has Wounds equal to their
prevent both Horror Hits and Corruption Hits. Health or Sanity Damage equal to their Sanity,
they are immediately KO’d (Knocked Out),
Anytime a Hero takes one or more Hits, they may make and no more Wounds/Sanity Damage will be
a Defense roll against each, needing to roll equal to or higher applied (you cannot fall below 0). Remove the
than their Defense value to prevent the Hit. For example, if Hero model from the board and place a KO’d
a Hero has a Defense of 4+ and takes 3 Hits, they would roll Hero marker in their space. Other models may freely move
3 Defense dice with each roll of 4, 5, or 6 preventing one of into and through a space with a KO’d Hero.
the incoming Hits. For each Defense roll that failed, the Hero
would take damage from that Hit. Recovering
Willpower works exactly the same way, but is used for At the end of any turn when there are no Enemies
incoming Horror Hits and Corruption Hits instead. anywhere on the board, a KO’d Hero may Recover. That
Hero places their model back on the board, removing the
KO’d Hero marker and pushing any model that was in their
TYPES OF DAMAGE space to an adjacent space. They then roll once on the Injury
Chart if their Health was reduced to 0 or the Madness Chart
if their Sanity was reduced to 0. They also get to Heal 2D6
Wounds Wounds/Sanity (any mix). This Healing must bring their
Wound markers are placed on a Hero’s Health and Sanity back to at least 1 each.
Character Sheet (or Enemy) to show that they
have taken damage against their Health. Each If a Hero was reduced to 0 in both Health and Sanity at
Hit that is not prevented does 1 Wound unless the same time, they must roll once on each Chart, but then get
stated otherwise. to Heal 2D6 Health and 2D6 Sanity.

Sanity Damage Revive Tokens

Sanity Damage markers are placed on Revive Tokens are a special bonus that
a Hero’s Character Sheet to show that they allow the Heroes to overcome otherwise
have taken damage against their Sanity. Each dire situations. Usually Revive Tokens are
Horror Hit that is not prevented does 1 Sanity held by the entire Party as a whole rather
Damage unless stated otherwise. than by an individual Hero. Whenever a
Hero is KO’d, if the Party has one or more
Corruption Points Revive Tokens, one Token is discarded and that Hero is
Corruption Point markers are placed on restored to Full Health and Full Sanity, and they may Recover
a Hero’s Character Sheet to track how much 1 Grit. The Hero does NOT need to roll for Injury or Madness
Corruption they have gained. Each Corruption when using a Revive Token.

17
Hit that is not prevented does 1 Corruption Point.
 HEALING Rolling for Mutation
The Mutation Chart can be found at the back of the
Healing Health and Sanity Swamps of Death Adventure Book, on page 58.
Whenever a Hero is allowed to Heal Health or Sanity To roll on the Mutation chart, a Hero must roll a ‘D36’.
Damage, they simply remove that number of damage markers To roll a D36, roll two dice of different colors, where one
from their character. When a Hero is allowed to Fully Heal of them is the ‘10’s digit and the other is the ‘1’s digit. For
Wounds or Sanity Damage, they get to remove all damage Example, if your rolled 3 and 5 the result on the chart would
markers of that type from their character. be 35.
Healing Other Heroes Mutation Death
Any time a Hero Heals Wounds or Sanity Damage from If a Hero ever rolls a Mutation on the chart that they
another Hero (regardless of the method), they gain 5 XP for already currently have, they have instead mutated beyond
each Wound/Sanity healed. recognition and have become little more than a writhing mass
Tokens like Whiskey and Bandages may be used to Heal of tentacles and goo. That Hero is considered to be Dead
other Heroes that are adjacent to you during a Fight, or even (though they may still be Resurrected at the Church in Town,
just on the same Map Tile while there are no Enemies on the between Adventures).
board.

CORRUPTION & MUTATION A RANDOM HERO

Fighting nightmarish creatures and working around Dark There are many things in the game that require you to
Stone can be hazardous, not just to your health and sanity, determine a Random Hero. There are two simple ways to do
but to your soul! As Heroes gain Corruption Points, they this - use the Hero Tokens provided to draw one
will begin to mutate and change over time. A Hero’s ability to randomly, or simply roll a die.
withstand these effects is called their Corruption Resistance. A Hero Token for each Hero in this
Core Set has been provided and these can
Corruption Resistance Value be used to draw from without looking to
Every Hero starts with a default Corruption Resistance determine a Random Hero.
value of 5. This means that a Hero may only ‘hold’ up to 4
Corruption Points at a time without any ill effect. As soon as Alternatively, it is often faster and easier to
the Hero has 5 Corruption Points (Corruption equal to their simply point to the different Heroes or Players and assign
Corruption Resistance value), those Corruption are removed each a number set, then roll a die to see which is selected.
and the Hero must immediately roll once on the Mutation For instance, if there are 3 Heroes you could say Hero A is
chart. 1-2, Hero B is 3-4, and Hero C is 5-6, then roll a D6. Keep
A Hero’s Corruption Resistance value may be modified by in mind that the D8 also works great for this if there are 4
Items they acquire, events they encounter on their Adventures, Heroes (1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8).
and any number of other things in the game, causing that
Hero to be able to ‘hold’ more or fewer Corruption Points
before they mutate.

18
 ENCOUNTERS AND SKILL TESTS
Often times Heroes will come across aspects of the environment or situations that they need to try to overcome or deal with
using their Skills. These are called Encounters and are most often found as part of an Exploration Token while investigating a
room. Encounters can range from a blazing fire to a ghostly apparition, or anything in between.

A HERO’S SKILLS that the Heroes must overcome

to continue on their Mission.
Usually Encounters will have
Every Hero has a set of six Skills that they use to interact one or more Skill tests that the
with Encounters, overcome dangerous challenges, and that Heroes need to perform.
define the Hero’s mental and physical prowess.
A Hero’s Skill values range from 1 to 6. Each of these Encounters affect all
values may never be modified to go below 1 or above 6. Heroes in the Mine, not
just those that are currently
in the same room (though
some Encounters are listed
specifically as only affecting
Heroes that are on the Map
Tile).
Who Takes the
Test
Skill tests on an Encounter are marked
with an icon to show who must take the test.
One Hero - One Hero is chosen to make the
Skill test. The Heroes must decide amongst
Agility themselves who will take it.
Used for running, jumping, diving, and rolling, Agility is
tested for challenges that require physical dexterity and stealth.
All Heroes - Every Hero must make the Skill test.
Cunning
The ability to understand technology, to outwit opponents, One Random - One Hero, chosen randomly,
and to solve puzzles, Cunning is used for challenges that must make the Skill test.
require the Hero to think their way past a problem.
Spirit Making a Skill Test
Used for interacting with the supernatural and the Void, To make a Skill test, the Hero rolls a number of dice
Spirit determines how good the Hero is at overcoming equal to their value in that Skill. As long as any one of those
demonic and ghostly Encounters as well as mental fortitude. dice is equal to or greater than the target number, the test is
successfully passed.
Strength For example, if a Hero needs to make a Lore 5+ test, they roll
Physical brawn and brute force, Strength determines how a number of dice equal to their Lore Skill. As long as one of those
good the Hero is at overpowering things and influences how dice rolls a 5 or higher, the test is passed. If not, the test is failed.
far they can throw an item or how much weight they can carry.
Lore Skill Tests Outside of an Encounter
Sometimes Heroes will be called on to make a Skill test
Knowledge of myth and legend, Lore determines a Hero’s outside of an Encounter. This most often occurs between
ability to decipher ancient languages and riddles as well as to Missions, while Traveling, or while in a Town. These Skill
tell stories and read occult tomes. tests work the same way, and it should be clear by the Event
Luck or card text who needs to make the test (usually the Hero that
One cannot underestimate the power of being lucky. Of rolled the Event).
course, this has just as much to do with a Hero’s ability to Multiple Encounters
minimize the effects of bad luck while capitalizing on any Sometimes an Exploration Token will call for multiple
good fortune that comes their way. Encounters (For Example - Encounters x2). When this occurs,
draw all of the needed Encounters and resolve them in any
ENCOUNTERS order you like. The only important thing to note is that any
Enemies that Attack as a result of an Encounter will not be
placed or start the Fight until all of the other non-Enemy
When the Heroes find an Exploration Token that says aspects of the Encounters have been completed (so all Skill
Encounter on it, they must draw a card from the Encounter tests, etc. must be taken before Enemies are placed on the
Deck to see what they have found. Encounters are situations

19
board). This can result in multiple Enemy Attacks at once.
 GEAR AND ARTIFACTS
Gear and Artifact cards represent different items and pieces of equipment that a Hero can collect and use to help them on
their adventures. Gear are more common items that can be found in a Mine and are often a bit more disposable. Artifacts are
more rare and powerful items that usually have occult or magical origins, or come from another world altogether.

ITEMS Clothing Items

Occasionally an Item will have the
There are a few limiting factors that restrict how many Keyword Clothing followed by another
Items that a Hero may carry and use at any given time. Keyword that tells the Clothing Slot that
the Item fills (Torso, Shoulders, Gloves,
Hands Coat, etc). These Items can be very
Each Hero has 2 Hand slots that they can assign Items powerful, but a Hero is limited to only
to each turn. This can be up to two different Single-Handed a single Clothing Item for each unique
Items or one Double-Handed Item. Clothing Slot. So a Hero may only have
one Clothing - Gloves equipped at any
Single-Handed given time, as well as one Clothing -
This Item requires one of the Hero’s two Hand Coat and one Clothing - Hat, etc.
slots to have equipped during the turn.
Items with Limited Use
Double-Handed Some Items are limited in how often they can be used.
This Item requires both of the Hero’s Hand slots These Items are marked as ‘Once Per Turn’, ‘Once Per Fight’,
to have equipped during the turn. ‘Once Per Adventure’, etc. When a Limited Use Item like this
is used, rotate the card or flip the card over to Exhaust it
At the start of a Hero’s Activation each turn, the Hero (show that it has been used). You may Ready that card (un-
may decide what Items they want to assign to their two Hand rotate or flip it back over to show that it may be used again)
slots. Any of the Hero’s other unassigned Items that require when the time frame of its limitation is complete.
one or two Hands to use, do not give the Hero any benefit
from their card text. So for instance, a ‘Once Per Turn’ Item should be
Exhausted when used, and then be Readied at the end of the
Note that assigning Items to your Hand slots ‘at the start current Turn, while a ‘Once Per Fight’ Item would be Readied
of your Activation’ is usually only important during a Fight at the end of the current Fight.
and it is assumed that the Hero can swap different Items into
and out of their Hands when there are no Enemies on the This teminology is also used for some Abilities.
board. You may still only ever use two Hand slots at any given
time though.
Weight and Carrying Limit
PERSONAL ITEMS
Many Items have one or more small Weight Personal Items are very powerful and characterful cards
icons on them to show that they are limited. that are unique. Every new Hero character gets to draw
one Personal Item to give them a special bonus as well as
A Hero may only carry 5 + their Strength to thematically help fill in the backstory of the character. If
in Weight icons at any time. a Gunslinger gets the Pocket Watch, perhaps he is obsessed
with time, never knowing when ‘his time’ might run out! Or
perhaps he engages in so many high noon duels that he always
Keyword Restrictions has his trusty watch to know when it’s time for a showdown.
Some Items have a red restriction bar that requires a Hero Personal Items may never be traded, lost, sold, or
to have a certain Keyword to be able to use the Item. For discarded in any way. They help to define who the Hero is
example, if an Item says Outlaw Only, the Hero must have

20
and the Hero will carry it till the day they die.
the Keyword Outlaw to use the Item.
 DARK STONE ICONS
Some Items have a Dark Stone Icon on them,
usually in the upper left corner. This means that
the Item is charged with Dark Stone energy in
some way and counts as one Dark Stone when
considering how much Dark Stone a Hero is carrying.

TRADING ITEMS
Sometimes a Hero will find an Item that they either don’t
want or can’t use because of restrictions or the carrying limit.
Heroes may give, trade, or even sell Items to other Heroes
in the Party (the Gold sell value of most Items is listed in the
lower right corner). A Hero may transfer an Item (or Side
Bag Token) to another Hero adjacent to them (or on the same
Map Tile if there are no Enemies on the board). The only
restriction is that the text or ability of an Item may not be used
by two different Heroes in the same turn.

ITEM UPGRADES
Many Items have the capacity to be upgraded to give
SIDE BAG
them extra benefits or abilities. These Items have one or more Each Hero has a Side
Upgrade Slots on them, shown at the bottom left of the card. Bag that is used to carry
helpful Side Bag Tokens
Upgrade Slots like Whiskey, Bandages,
An Item can have up to 3 Upgrade Slots Dynamite, Tonic, etc. A
on it, with each Slot represented as an empty Side Bag may hold up to
circle. Upgrade Slots can be filled with an 5 Tokens on it at a time
Upgrade Item or with a Forged Dark Stone Upgrade added and these can be any
to the Item by the Blacksmith in Town. These Upgrades will mixture of different Side
have one or more Slot Requirements (filled in black circles) Bag Tokens.
to show how many Upgrade Slots they occupy
when attached to an Item. Side Bag Tokens
Side Bag Tokens are generally small
Attaching an Upgrade ‘discard to use’ objects that a Hero may have more than one
As noted above, Upgrades come in two forms, either as of. A Side Bag Token can be identified by its parchment
a card that the Hero finds during an Adventure, or as Dark background and green title bar for the name of the Token.
Stone that is forged directly onto the Item in Town.
An Upgrade card lists on it
what it can be attached to as well Bandages
as if it takes any resources to attach Discard to Heal D6 Wounds.
it to an Item (usually Dark Stone).
When an Upgrade card is Whiskey
attached to an Item, it fills in a Discard to Heal D6 Sanity Damage.
number of Upgrade Slots equal
to its Slot Requirement and gives
that Item the listed Bonus.
Upgrade cards attached to Tonic
an Item can be removed at any Discard to Recover a Grit.
time so that they can be attached
to a different Item, sold, etc.
The resources used to attach the Dynamite
Upgrade originally are lost. Discard to throw as a Ranged Attack. Explodes
with an area of effect to Damage all models in the
Dark Stone that is Forged same and adjacent spaces to its final position. When
directly onto an Item in Town is thrown, if the To Hit roll is failed, the Dynamite
a permanent change and may not be removed. It is now part will Bounce one or more times in Random directions
of the Item. This is covered in more detail in the Visiting a (for details on throwing Dynamite, see page 27, as well as the

21
Frontier Town section of the Adventure Book. Bounce diagram on the back of this Rule Book).
 ENEMIES
Every Enemy Type is represented by a large Enemy Record Sheet that lists its stats and abilities. The Record Sheets are
double-sided and have the normal (green) stats on one side, and the Brutal (red) stats on the other. The Brutal Enemy side is
generally only used for groups of Heroes that are quite experienced and have been through many Adventures.

E) Abilities
Most Enemies have one or more Special Abilities that
affect how they fight the Heroes.

F) Move
This is the number of spaces that the Enemy can move in
a single Fight Round. Unlike Heroes, Enemies have a fixed
move which makes them predictable and easier to move in
large groups.

G) Escape
When a Hero is adjacent to the Enemy and wants to move
away, they must first pass an Escape test using this Escape
value (more on this a bit later).

H) ‘To Hit’ Values

Just like Heroes, Enemies have a To Hit value for Ranged
Attacks and Melee Attacks.

I) Combat
The number of Combat dice the Enemy gets to roll against
a Hero when making a Melee Attack.

J) Damage
The amount of Damage a Hero takes for each Enemy
Combat Hit they fail to block with their Defense.

K)Defense
Unlike a Hero’s Defense (which is a roll to block
Damage), an Enemy’s Defense is a fixed amount of Damage
that is prevented from each Hit the Enemy would take.

L) Health
The number of Wounds that it takes to kill the Enemy.
A) Enemy Type M) XP Value
This tells the name of the specific Enemy Type, such as
Tentacles, Night Terrors, or HellBats. Every Enemy is worth XP to the Hero that kills it.
Many larger or tougher Enemies give XP to a Hero just for
Wounding it.
B) Keyword
All Enemies have one or more Keywords that define the
category they fall into (Demon, Myth, Void, etc). Generally N) Elite Chart
these Keywords don’t have any built-in meaning, but are often Every Enemy Type has an Elite Chart of six extra Abilities
referenced by other cards or abilities. that make it harder to defeat or more deadly in a Fight. When
a group of Enemies is Elite, they get to roll on the Chart to
see what extra Ability or Abilities that group of Enemies has.
C) Size
The Size of the Enemy - Small, Medium, Large, Extra
Large, or even XXL. Brutal Enemy Side
The back side of each Enemy Record Sheet has the Brutal
version of that Enemy Type, displayed with a red background.
D) Initiative These Brutal Enemies are generally only encountered by higher
Just like Heroes, every Enemy has an Initiative that tells level Heroes that have played many Adventures. This is a way
when they get to Activate in the turn order. of scaling the Enemies that the Heroes have to fight over the
course of a campaign.

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 FIGHTS
When the Heroes come across a group of Enemies, their exploration of the Mine takes a back seat to fighting for their lives.
These engagements are called Fights and cover the time from when Enemies appear until the last Enemy is defeated and the
Fight is over. Fights make up the bulk of the action in the game and are an exciting way for the Heroes to get XP and Loot,
though they can also be quite dangerous.
Attack! Attacks by Specific Enemies
The most common way for a Fight to When a card or event calls for an Attack by a specific
begin is by finding an Attack Exploration Enemy Type, there is no need to draw a Threat card. Instead,
Token while Exploring a Room. When the Type and number of Enemies is pre-set and listed in the
an Attack occurs, the Heroes must draw a text for that card/event.
Threat card to see what has attacked them.
Attacks can also be caused by other things Number of Enemy Models
as well, such as Darkness cards, Encounters, a Sometimes the number of Enemy
Depth Event, etc. models that will be taking part in the Fight
is simply listed on the card. Many times,
Drawing Threat Cards however, it will be a variable number of
When a Fight begins, Enemies that the players must roll for, using
the first thing that the the Peril Die.
players need to do is find The Peril Die is a special 6-sided die that has
out what Enemies are faces marked 3, 3, 4, 4, 5, and 6. This allows for a
actually attacking them. variable number of Enemies to show up, but never
Usually, this means drawing less than 3 at a time.
a Threat card (though
sometimes the Attack will The Peril die is represented on cards and text as
call for a specific Type of the symbol:
Enemy as listed on the card
or Event that caused the
Attack in the first place).
To draw a Threat card, Sometimes multiple Peril Dice will be used to find
you simply take the top card the number of Enemies for an Enemy Type that favors
from the Threat Deck of the larger groups. For instance, Hungry Dead often show up
appropriate Threat Level. This with up to 12 models at a time, and will frequently be
is based on the number of Heroes in the Party. listed on a Threat card as:
1-2 Heroes use the Low Threats (green), 3-4 Heroes use the
Med Threats (yellow), and 5-6 Heroes use the High Threats
(red). Hungry Dead
In these cases, the Peril Die should be rolled twice and the

23
two numbers added together to find the total.
 Placing Enemies on the Board Not Enough Models
Once you have determined what Types of Enemies are If you are called on to place more Enemies of a particular
taking part in the Fight, and how many there are of each Enemy Type than you have models available (for instance, you
Type, it is time to place them on the board. Enemies from an must place 4 Tentacles, but you only have 2 models as the rest
Attack Exploration Token are placed on the Map Tile where are already on the board), place all of the models that you do
the Token was revealed. have available, and ALL Enemies of that Type gain a free Elite
ability for the duration of this Fight.
Enemies are placed on the board in reverse
order of Initiative, from lowest to highest. So Elite Enemies
Sometimes the Heroes will encounter a particularly
the slowest Enemies are always at the back of nasty group of Enemies that are stronger, tougher, or more
the group. dangerous than normal. This is represented by Enemies
having one or more Elite abilities.
Starting with the lowest Initiative Enemy Type, models
are placed on the Map Tile in every other space, forming a When a group of Enemies is Elite, you must roll once on
checkerboard pattern starting in the row farthest from the Map the Elite Chart at the bottom of the Enemy’s Record Sheet to
Tile Entrance, all the way to the back left (as shown in the see what extra ability they have. This Elite ability is applied to
diagram below). This includes any puzzle connection half- ALL Enemies of that Type for the duration of the Fight (so
spaces. if you have 4 Tentacles on the board and 2 more show up that
are Elite, all Tentacles on the board will get the Elite
Once all of an Enemy Type has been placed, continue ability rolled). Place one of the numbered Elite
on to the next lowest Initiative Enemy Type, until all Enemies markers on the Enemy Record Sheet to keep
have been placed on the board. If more than one Enemy track of which Ability they have gained (1-6).
Type shares the same Initiative, roll randomly between them
for which is placed first. It is possible, especially as Heroes gain
experience and go up in Hero Level, that a
Skip over any spaces that are not valid map spaces (less group of Enemies may have more than one Elite
than 50% of a space) as well as any spaces that already have ability (double Elite or even triple Elite, etc). This just
a model in it. means that you must roll multiple times on the Elite Chart to
see what abilities those Enemies have. If the same Elite ability
is rolled more than once, Re-roll.
There is a bonus to fighting Elite Enemies, however, in
that Elite Enemies are worth +5 XP for each Elite Ability they
have.

AMBUSH ATTACKS
Sometimes an Enemy Attack will be listed as an Ambush
Attack. This means that the Enemies have surprised the
Heroes and are able to spring from the shadows to attack.
In an Ambush Attack, instead of being placed in the
standard checkerboard pattern at the back of a room, Enemies
are placed directly adjacent to the Heroes! If there are different
Initiatives with the Enemies being placed in an Ambush Attack,
the Enemies with the highest Initiative are placed first (so that
So for example, if you the faster Enemies have priority on selecting targets).
needed to place 2 Night
Terrors and 4 Void Spiders,
the Night Terrors (Initiative Ambushing Enemies are placed adjacent to
3) would be placed first on the Heroes and gain +2 Initiative during the first
spaces 1 and 2, while the turn of the Fight.
Void Spiders (Initiative 6)
would be placed on spaces If a new group of Enemies is placed by Ambush while a
3, 4, 5, and 6. Fight is already going on, the new Enemies get the +2 Initiative
during the first turn of the Fight they are involved in, as do any
If there are more Enemy models to place than will fit in other Enemies already in the Fight that are the same specific
the checkerboard pattern on the Map Tile, return to the back Type as the Ambushers (Tentacles, HellBats, etc).
row and begin placing models to fill in the spaces between.
Enemy Placement
If there are more models than will fit on the Map Tile, To determine exactly where the Ambushing Enemies are
even with every space filled (which is rather rare), overflow placed, start with the highest Initiative group of Enemies and
models should be placed onto the Map Tile connected to place one model in any space adjacent to a Random Hero.
the Entrance of the Room (most likely filling in around the That Enemy is said to be targeting that Hero to attack.
Heroes) until they have all been placed.

24
 The next Enemy model is placed in any space adjacent All Enemies of a specific Type (such as Tentacles or Night
to a Random Hero with the least number of Enemies of that Terrors) are Activated at the same time, as a group. If more
Type targeting it and has at least one open space adjacent to than one Enemy Type have the same Initiative, roll randomly
it. In this way, the Enemies are placed to be evenly spread, between them each turn to see which gets to Activate first.
targeting all of the different Heroes (though some Heroes will
likely have more Enemies placed adjacent to them than others, When a Type of Enemies is Activated, they will get to
due to limited open spaces). This process continues until all of Move and Attack just like a Hero would; they just get to do so
the Ambushing Enemies are placed targeting Heroes. as a group. This is covered in detail below.
Any Enemies that cannot be placed adjacent to a Hero,
due to lack of open spaces, are placed as close to the Heroes
as possible. These Enemies are not considered to be targeting
any specific Hero, yet.
FEAR, TERROR, AND
UNSPEAKABLE TERROR
Some especially scary creatures will cause Horror Hits
on Heroes just for being near them! These Enemies have an
Ability called Fear (x), Terror (x), or Unspeakable Terror
(x), and are defined on the Enemy’s Record Sheet.
Fear does Horror Hits to adjacent Heroes, Terror does
Horror Hits to Heroes that are on the same Map Tile as it,
and Unspeakable Terror does Horror Hits if the Hero is on the
same or even adjacent Map Tile to the creature. The (x) is the
number of Horror Hits done.
Ambush Enemy Placement Example - There These abilities can be very effective at reducing a Hero’s
are 3 Heroes that stumble across an Enemy Sanity, as they stack up for each Enemy that causes them, and
Ambush. The first 3 Enemies get placed they do the Horror Hits every turn as long as the Enemy is
adjacent to and targeting a different Hero each. alive.
The next 2 Enemies are placed next to Random
Heroes to continue spreading them evenly. At
this point, there are no more adjacent spaces to
the Heroes and the last 2 Enemies are placed as HERO MOVEMENT DURING A FIGHT
close to the Heroes as possible.
Heroes move normally during a Fight, with one exception.
If a Hero ever has an Enemy in an adjacent space to them,
Enemies Appearing Mid-Turn the Hero must first try to Escape before starting or continuing
On rare occasion, a new group of Enemies will Ambush to move.
Attack during the Models Activate in Initiative Order portion of
the turn, usually by way of a Hero Scavenging and finding a Escape Tests
Darkness card. When this happens, the Enemies are placed Every Enemy has an Escape value listed on their Record
and the current turn immediately ends! A brand new turn Sheet. When a Hero is adjacent to that Enemy and wants to
begins, starting the Fight. Note that this is not the case if move, they must first roll an Escape Test.
Enemies Ambush during the Hold Back the Darkness phase, as To make an Escape Test, roll a D6. If the result is equal
the Activating of models has not yet started. to or higher than the Enemy’s Escape value, the test is passed
and the Hero may move for the rest of this turn ignoring any
adjacent Enemies that have that Escape value or lower.
TURNS DURING A FIGHT For example, if a Hero is adjacent to an Enemy with a 4+
Escape value, they must roll a 4, 5, or 6 on a D6 to be able to move.
Turns work much the same during a Fight as they do Once they do, however, for the rest of the turn, that Hero may move
when Enemies are not on the board, the main difference is past any adjacent Enemy with an Escape value of 4+, 3+, or 2+.
that the Enemies get to Activate as well as the Heroes. Also, If the Hero becomes adjacent to another Enemy with a
the Heroes will actually be attacking during their Activation, higher Escape value (ie - 5+ or 6+ in the previous example),
instead of just moving and exploring. they must stop their move and make a new Escape Test with
the higher difficulty to keep going.
Initiative Order
Models still Activate in Initiative order, from highest to No Searching or Room Exploration
lowest, but this now includes the Enemies as well as the Heroes. As noted in the section on Hero Movement, Searching
and Room Exploration may not be done during a Fight (this
Enemies get to Activate first if their Initiative includes Scavenging as the Heroes are a little busy).
is tied with a Hero.

25
 greater than their appropriate ‘To Hit’ value counts as one Hit.
Any dice that rolled a 6+ counts as a Critical Hit and gets a
special bonus when rolling for Damage.
Assigning Hits
After all of the Hero’s dice have been rolled and the
number of Hits determined, the Hero is allowed to assign
those Hits, one at a time, to any Enemies within Range.

Hits may always be assigned and resolved

one at a time, or in groups. It is your choice.

For Melee Attacks, Hits may only be assigned to adjacent

Enemies.
For Ranged Attacks, Hits may be assigned to any Enemies
within the Range of the Weapon and within the Hero’s Line
of Sight. However...

If there are Enemies adjacent to you, you

must always assign and resolve Ranged Hits
against them first.

If your initial Hits kill all Enemies adjacent to you, you

HERO ATTACKS may then begin assigning subsequent Ranged Hits to other
Enemies.
After a Hero has moved, they are allowed to make one
Attack. This can be a Melee Attack using their basic Combat Line of Sight
or a Ranged Attack using a Ranged Weapon like a Pistol or To be able to see an Enemy and assign Hits to them,
Shotgun. you must be able to draw a straight line from the center of
the Hero’s space to the center of the target’s space without
Melee Attacks it crossing a Wall (the thick black border of the Map Tiles).
Every Hero has a built-in Melee Attack available to them Only Walls block Line of Sight; other models have no effect
in the form of their Combat value. This represents the Hero on it.
punching, kicking, or using simple improvised weapons. A
Melee Attack uses the Hero’s basic Combat value, which is
usually 2, as well as any bonuses they may have from Items or
Abilities. A Melee Attack may only target adjacent Enemies,
so you will need to get up close to use it.
A Hero’s Combat value is the number of dice
they get to roll when making a Melee Attack.
A Hero can use any number of Items and Abilities they
have to add bonuses to their Melee Attack as long as they
observe all restrictions (such as using no more than 2 worth
of Items, etc).
Ranged Attacks
Ranged Attacks are provided by a Ranged Weapon the
Hero has, such as a Pistol or Shotgun. These Items are listed as
having a Range as well as a number of Shots.
Range is the number of spaces away that an Enemy can
be and still be hit by the Attack.
Shots is the number of dice the Hero gets to roll for a
Ranged Attack made with that Weapon.
Roll ‘To Hit’
Every Hero has two different ‘To Hit’ values listed on
their Character Sheet - Melee To Hit and Ranged To Hit. Melee
To Hit is used when making a Melee Attack and Ranged To Line of Sight Example - To see an Enemy, the Hero must be able
Hit is used when making a Ranged Attack. to draw a straight line to it, from the center of his space to the

26
The Hero rolls their dice and each roll that is equal to or center of the target’s space, without that line crossing a black Wall.
Rolling for Damage allows all of the Heroes to get XP for doing their part in
Each successful Hit that the Hero scored on an Enemy helping to take down a larger creature.
does D6 Damage to that Enemy. These Damage rolls are During a Hero’s Attack, the Base XP is gained once if the
made separately for each Hit (though all Damage rolls for Hits Hero does any Wounds at all to the Enemy model, and the ‘+5
assigned to a single target may be rolled together so that the Each’ is gained for each Wound done to that Enemy model
Hero may use 1 Grit to Re-roll any number of them). across all of the Hero’s Hits during the Attack.
Enemy Defense For example, if a Hero scores 2 Hits on a large Enemy with
Enemy Defense works a little bit differently than Hero ‘10XP +5 Each’ as its XP value, and those Hits do 2 Wounds and 4
Defense. Instead of being a saving roll that Wounds after the Enemy’s Defense, the Hero would gain a total of
the Enemy gets (which would be a little 40 XP (10 XP for Wounding the target as well as +5 XP for each of
cumbersome), an Enemy’s Defense value is the six Wounds actually caused: 10+30 = 40 XP).
simply subtracted from the Damage that each
incoming Hero Hit would do. The remaining As noted earlier, Elite Enemies are worth +5 XP per Elite
Damage after Defense is the number of ability they have. This is only added to the base XP value for
Wounds actually done to that Enemy. larger Enemies that give XP per Wound.
So, for example, if a Hero scores 2 Hits and rolls a 3 and a 5 for Free Attacks
Damage, an Enemy with Defense 3 would take a total of 2 Wounds Some cards and abilities
(Damage 3 - Defense 3 =0 and Damage 5 - Defense 3 =2). give a Hero a Free Attack. A
Free Attack is a special type of
Critical Hits Attack that a Hero may use
As noted above, any Hero To Hit rolls of 6+ count as during their Activation, and
Critical Hits! These special Hits allow you to ignore an is in addition to their normal
Enemy’s Defense and apply all of the Damage that Hit does Attack. It can be made either
directly to the Enemy’s Health. This can be very powerful, before or after making a
allowing you to wound or kill an Enemy, even if it has a fairly normal Attack.
high Defense value.
Wounding and Killing an Enemy No more than 1
When a Hero does one or more Wounds to an Enemy, Free Attack may be
Wound markers should be placed by that Enemy model to made by a Hero in a
track how much damage it has taken. These Wounds stay on
that Enemy until it is killed. single turn.
An Enemy is killed as soon as it has a number of Wounds
equal to its Health. When an Enemy is killed, it is immediately A Free Attack is Exhausted when used (unless discarded)
removed from the board and the Hero that caused the last and lists in ( ) how often it may be used (that is, when the
Wound gains XP. player may Ready the Item or Ability that grants the Free
Attack). This is usually Once per Fight or Once per Aventure.
Enemies With Armor Free Attacks are always listed as either a Ranged Attack
Some Enemies have an ability that gives them Armor (Note or Melee Attack.
that the ‘Armor’ ability is different from normal ‘Defense’).
Applying damage to an Enemy with Armor requires an extra Ranged Free Attacks have a Range as well as number of
step. After you have determined how much Damage a Hit has Shots used for the Attack.
done to the Enemy, and subtracted the Enemy’s Defense value, Melee Free Attacks have a listed Combat value that is
you must then roll an extra D6 for each individual Wound you used instead of the Hero’s Combat value. They do NOT gain
are about to cause. For each roll that is equal to or higher than any Combat bonuses or modifiers that would normally affect
the Enemy’s Armor value, that Wound is prevented. the Hero’s Melee Attacks, such as those granted by other Hand
For example, a Hero does 2 Hits to an Enemy model that has Weapons that are equipped.
Defense 4 and Armor 5+. The Damage rolls for those 2 Hits are 5
and 6. This would normally cause 3 Wounds total to the Enemy (5 - Throwing Dynamite
Defense 4 = 1 Damage, and 6 - Defense 4 = 2 Damage, for a total A Hero may throw a Dynamite Token as a Ranged
of 3 Damage). But before the Damage is applied, the player must Attack. The Range of the throw is up to the Hero’s Strength
roll 3 dice for the Enemy’s Armor (one for each individual point of +3 and it may be thrown at ANY space in Range as long as
Damage). For each roll of 5 or 6 (Armor 5+), that individual Wound the Hero has Line of Sight to that space (even if Enemies are
is prevented by the Armor. adjacent to the Hero).
Roll once To Hit. If successful, the Dynamite lands
Collecting XP in the targeted space and explodes. If the To Hit roll was
Every Enemy has an XP value listed on its Record Sheet, missed, the Dynamite will instead Bounce D3 times in
just below its Health. For smaller Enemies, this XP value is Random Directions before exploding. The chart for direction
the amount of XP gained by a Hero that kills it (causes the last of Bounce can be found on the Dynamite Reference card
Wound which removes it from the board). and in the Reference Summary on the back of this Rule Book.
For larger Enemies, this XP value works a bit differently When the Dynamite explodes, it does D6 Wounds,
and is marked as a Base number of XP ‘+5 Each’. For these ignoring Defense, to each model in the same and adjacent

27
larger Enemies, Heroes gain XP just for Wounding them. This spaces to it. Roll the Damage for each model separately.
 ENEMY MOVEMENT
When a Type of Enemy is Activated, they get to Move and
then Attack as a group.
Activating an Enemy Type
As discussed above, all of the Enemies of a specific Type
are Activated together when their Initiative comes up in the
turn order. When Activated, the first thing that the Enemies do
is to Target Heroes and move towards them to Attack.
Targeting Heroes and Movement
Though all of the Enemies of a specific Type are Activated
together, they choose their targets and move one at a time,
starting with the Enemy model that is closest to the Heroes. If
more than one are at equal distance to the nearest Hero, you
may choose the order that they are moved in.
The first Enemy model targets a Random Hero that they
can reach - within their Move distance (printed on the Enemy
Record Sheet) and with a clear path to get there. That Enemy Enemy Movement Example - All three Enemies are equal distance
is said to be targeting the selected Hero to Attack and is moved to the Heroes, so they may decide what order to move the Enemies
as far as it can be to a space adjacent to that Hero. This will in. Moving Enemy 1 first, it randomly selects Hero B to target as
usually have the Enemy move to the far side of the Hero, all four Heroes are within its Move distance and have a clear path
getting in behind them and making way for other Enemies. to reach them. Enemy 1 moves as far as it can to reach its target.
Next, Enemy 2 randomly selects Hero D to target (ignoring Hero
It is often a good idea to have the Enemy models physically B that already has an Enemy of that Type) and moves as far as it
turned to face the Hero they are targeting so that it is very clear can to reach him. When it is time for Enemy 3 to select a target,
where each Enemy is placing its Attacks. there is only one choice, Hero C. (the path is blocked to Hero B
Then, the next closest Enemy model will target a different and A by Enemy 2, and Hero D already has an Enemy of that
Random Hero with the least number of Enemies of that Type Type targeting it, whereas Hero C does not). Once Enemy 3
targeting it and is within reach. In this way, the Enemies are moves up to the space in front of Hero C to target him, any other
moved to be evenly spread, targeting all of the different Heroes Enemies in that room will only be able to reach Hero D.
(though some Heroes will likely have more Enemies reach
them than others, due to paths being blocked or not enough Staying on Target
movement). This process continues until all of the Activating Once an Enemy targets a Hero, it will continue to target
Enemies have been moved. and attack that Hero until they are KO’d or until the Hero is
no longer adjacent. Enemies do NOT change target based on
Any Enemies that cannot reach a Hero will move as far who is attacking them.
as they can toward the nearest Hero. These Enemies are not
considered to be targeting any specific Hero yet. Choosing a new Target
If the Hero being targeted by an Enemy moves away or
is KO’d, the Enemy will select a new Hero using the same
process described above.
In this way, if a Hero is feeling overwhelmed, they can
always try to Escape and run away in the hopes that the
Enemies targeting them will choose a new and different target
during their next Activation.
Large Enemies
Large Size Enemies have a special built-in ability to brush
aside and push past smaller Enemies to reach the Heroes.
Whenever a Large Size Enemy (or bigger) is selecting a
target Hero, they may move through other Enemies that are
Medium or Small Size that would normally block their path.
As the Large Enemy moves, it may enter a Medium/Small
Enemy’s space, displacing that smaller Enemy into the space
that the Large Enemy just left. In this way, the Large Enemy
swaps places with the smaller one to push past it and get closer
to the Hero.
Large Enemies may displace any number of Small/
Medium Enemies like this during their move to reach their
target Hero. They may not, however, displace other Large

28
Size Enemies or Heroes to reach their target.
 ENEMY ATTACKS
Once all of the currently Activating Enemies have targeted
a Hero and been moved, it is time for each of them to Attack!
Rolling ‘To Hit’
Rolling To Hit for Enemy Attacks works just like it does
for a Hero Attack. The only difference is that Enemies DO
NOT get Critical Hits on rolls of 6+. Some Enemies do,
however, have special Abilities which might be triggered by
To Hit rolls of 6+ (such as Tentacles with their Smash Ability).
Each Enemy rolls a number of dice equal to their Combat
value against the Hero it is targeting. Every die that successfully In the event that both a
rolls equal to or greater than the Enemy’s ‘To Hit’ value causes Hero’s Health and Sanity were reduced
one Hit on the Hero. to 0 at the same time, they must roll
an Injury and a Madness, but they are allowed to Heal 2D6
Note that as the game itself is playing the Enemies, it is Health and 2D6 Sanity.
up to other players to actually roll the dice for the Enemies’
Attacks. A player should not roll the Enemy Attacks on their Drawing Loot Cards
own Hero (that would be bad form). Instead, one of the other After a Fight, the Heroes get Loot for their hard work.
players should roll the dice for the Enemy Attacks against you.
It is usually good to simply always roll the Enemy Attacks At the end of a Fight, every Hero is allowed
against the player to your left, or to just exchange (“I’ll roll the
Enemy Attacks on you and you roll the Attacks against me”). to draw one Loot card for each Threat card that
added Enemies to the Fight (to a max of 3 Loot
Hero Defense Rolls Cards each).
For each Hit a Hero takes, they must make a Defense roll
to attempt to block it. Generally a Hero wants to roll all of This also includes each instance of Enemies that were
their Defense rolls from the current Enemy Attacks together added to the Fight by other means, such as a Darkness or
so that if they need to, they can use a Grit to Re-roll all of the Encounter card, or the Depth Event chart.
dice that just failed.
The Loot Deck has no discard pile and should be fully
Taking Damage shuffled before the Heroes draw one or more cards from it.
For each Hit that the Hero failed to block with their All of the Heroes draw from the Loot Deck at the same time
Defense, they take a number of Wounds equal to the Enemy’s so if a group of 4 Heroes get the max of 3 Loot cards each,
Damage value. that would use all 12 cards in the Loot Deck. If you had more
than 4 Heroes, the Loot Deck would need to be shuffled
COMPLETING A FIGHT before the remaining Heroes could finish drawing.

Once all of the Enemies on the board have been defeated, Dark Stone and Gold
the Fight immediately ends and it is time for the Heroes to Dark Stone and Gold are
Catch Your Breath, Recover from being KO’d, and collect Loot the two currencies of the game
for the Fight. and are the most common
reward that can be found in the
This immediately ends the current turn, as Loot Deck.
well as the Fight itself. Gold represents a mixture of
coins and paper money as well as
Catch Your Breath nuggets of gold (hence the gold
Each Hero is allowed to Catch Your Breath at the end of coin and dollar sign as the icon).
every Fight, Healing D3 Wounds/Sanity (any mix). The Gold prices listed on Items
If the Fight ended before the Hero got to Activate, or take are meant to reflect the abstract
any Actions (such as casting a Spell), they instead get to Heal nature of having a generalized
D6 Wounds/Sanity (any mix) or Recover 1 Grit. This is an ‘money’ currency and the over-inflated
extra bonus for each Hero that didn’t get an Activation in the economy of a region engulfed in chaos, where
last Fight round. equipment is in short supply.
Gold is really only used when keeping Heroes from
Recovering From Being KO’d game to game and can be spent when visiting Towns between
Any Hero that was KO’d during the Fight now gets to Adventures. Dark Stone is mainly used for the Campaign
Recover, placing their figure back on the board and Healing game as well, for forging at the Blacksmith, though several
2D6 Wounds/Sanity (any mix) They do, however, also need Items and abilities are fueled by Dark Stone even during an
to roll once on the Injury Chart or Madness Chart (Injury Adventure.
if their Health was reduced to 0, Madness if their Sanity was
reduced to 0). This represents any long-lasting effects of being

29
KO’d.
 STATUS EFFECT MARKERS CORPSE PILES
Sometimes an Encounter or Enemy Attack will continue Corpse Piles
to affect a Hero for some time after the intial event. These One of the Enemies that the Heroes can
effects are represented by Status Effect markers which are encounter is the Corpse Pile. This pile of
placed on a Hero and have on ongoing effect. rotten bodies acts as a Spawner for Hungry
Dead, and is most often found at the same
Poison time as a group of Hungry Dead Enemies.
Poison is a deadly and long lasting effect that can wear a
Hero down over time. A Hero may gain 1 or more Corpse Piles are represented by die-cut
Poison markers from Encounters, Enemy attacks, or counters that are placed on the board and are treated
even environmental effects; such as moving through as Enemies in every way. As noted on their Enemy Record
a cloud of toxic gas. Sheet, Corpse Piles are Immobile and cannot be moved in
Every turn in which a Hero has one or any way.
more Poison markers on them at the start of their Though they do not have a Melee Attack, Corpse Piles
Activation, they must roll a D6 for each Poison marker they are Spawners that roll to attempt to place a new Hungry Dead
currently have. On the roll of 1 or 2, the Hero takes 1 Wound, Enemy onto the board each turn (as detailed on their Enemy
ignoring Defense. On the roll of 3, 4, or 5, there is no effect Record Sheet).
for that marker. On the roll of 6, the Poison has worn off and
the marker is discarded. If a Hero is KO’d (or at the end of A Spawner that successfully spawns a new Enemy when
the Adventure), all Poison markers on them are automatically there are not enough models to place the Enemy on the board
removed. does NOT generate an Elite ability for those Enemies.
In addition, while there is an Enemy Spawner (like a
Corpse Pile) on the board, any Elite abilities on the Enemy
Type that can be spawned by it remain in effect for the duration
of the Fight, even if there are points when there are none of
that spawnable Enemy model Type currently on the board.

30
 ADVANCED RULES
The following are Advanced Rules that are meant to be integrated into the game after you are comfortable with the basics
and want to add in the rest of the game features. These mainly include the Epic Threat boss enemies, the Campaign system of
keeping Heroes from game to game, and stepping through gateways to OtherWorlds!

EPIC THREATS
Epic Threat cards represent much larger
and deadlier boss Enemies that are rare to
come across and hard to defeat. These are
most often used only for final Objective
Room fights as noted in the details of each
individual Mission.
1 or 2 Heroes
With Hero Parties of only 1 or 2
Heroes, anytime an Epic Threat would be
needed, draw a High Threat card instead. Fighting the
massive boss Enemies often found on Epic Threats can be
overly difficult for only 1 or 2 characters to handle. Of course,
if you are ambitious, you can use Epic Threats anyway, but
you have been warned!

IMMOBILE ENEMIES
Though not very common, some Enemies have an Ability
that makes them Immobile, meaning that they cannot move.
Immobile Enemies usually will either have a Ranged Attack
to use against the Heroes, or be a Spawner, generating new
Enemies for the Heroes to fight until the Spawner can be
destroyed.
Ambush with Immobile Enemies
When placing Immobile Enemies during an Ambush
Attack, roll a Random Hero’s Map Tile and place the Immobile
Enemies on that Map Tile in spaces that are as far from any
Heroes as possible (not in the standard Checkerboard fashion).
It is assumed that they were already there and that the Heroes IMMUNE TO...
did not see them until it’s too late.
Ambushing Immobile Enemies should be placed before Sometimes a model will be Immune to a certain type of
any other Enemies. Damage, Critical Hits, or even particular types of Status Effect
markers.
Escaping From Immobile Enemies Immune to <Keyword>
While Immobile Enemies are the only Enemies on the If a model is Immune to a certain Keyword (such as Fire
board, Heroes may Explore (Look Through Doors and or Weather), that means that the model may ignore all of the
Scavenge) during the Fight. At the start of any turn, remove effects and Damage from any Source that is using an ability or
any Immobile Enemies from the board that are not within 18 Item with that Keyword.
spaces of a Hero. These Enemies do not count as having been
defeated and no XP or Loot card is gained from them. Immune to Critical Hits
In this way, the Heroes may decide to escape from Some Enemies have the Tough ability, making them
Immobile Enemies rather than stay to fight them. Immune to Critical Hits. For these models, Critical Hits from
Note that, because many Immobile Enemies are Spawners, a Hero count as normal Hits (they do not ignore Defense,
as soon as an Enemy model is Spawned onto the board that though any other special bonuses triggered for rolling a Critical
is not Immobile, the Heroes lose the option to Explore and Hit may still take effect).
escape like this until that new Enemy model is defeated.
Immunity and Status Effect Markers
If a model is Immune to a certain type of Status Effect
marker, that means that markers of that type are never placed

31
on that model.
 EXTRA LARGE ENEMIES ENEMY RANGED ATTACKS
Some Enemies are so large and menacing that they take Some Enemies have Abilities that give them a Ranged
up multiple spaces on the game board! These are usually boss Attack to battle the Heroes with.
creatures and are part of an Epic Threat Fight.
Targeting Heroes and Movement
Extra Large Base Size Enemies with a Ranged Attack will target a Hero as
Extra Large Size Enemies actually take up four spaces on normal, however they will use the Range of their Ranged
the board in a 2x2 square. When one of these Enemies is being Attack, rather than their Move value, to choose their targets.
placed on the board, it uses a single one of its four spaces as This means that they will target a Random Hero based on the
the anchor space for placement and should be positioned so Range of their Attack and Line of Sight rather than on their
that the rest of the base is placed into spaces that are viable and Move and a clear Path, like a normal Enemy would. If there
have no other models in them. are one or more Heroes adjacent to the Enemy, it will attempt
to target those Heroes first.
Movement Another aspect of this is that Enemies with a Ranged
When moving, once again the Enemy uses a single one of
its four spaces as an anchor space for counting movement and Attack will re-target each turn instead of staying with a single
distance to a Hero. target that they keep attacking.
Just like Large Size Enemies, an Extra Large Enemy may These Enemies will generally not Move unless there are
brush aside and push past any Small or Medium Size Enemies no viable Hero targets for them to Attack. When this is the
in its way, swapping spaces with them as it goes (it just usually case, the Enemy will move toward the nearest Hero until they
moves them two spaces back, instead of one, to account for its are in Range and Line of Sight, then select a target.
larger base size). Ranged or Melee
Overflowing the Board If an Enemy has both a Ranged Attack and a Combat
In some cases, the only way for an Extra Large Enemy value, it will only make a Melee Attack if there is an adjacent
to reach a Hero is to smash through the walls to get to them. Hero to it (the Enemy will not move to make a Melee Attack).
This is called Overflowing the Board and allows the Enemy to When choosing a target each turn, the Enemy will first select
hang off the edge of the Map Tiles to fit into a smaller space a Random target from any adjacent Heroes, and if there are
than their base would normally allow. The Enemy must keep none, it will then select a target at Range.
at least half of its base on the board at the end of its move. Extra Ranged Attacks
Area Effect and Extra Large Bases Some Enemies have a Ranged Attack as part of a special
Even though an Extra Large Enemy takes up multiple ability that they perform in addition to their normal Melee
spaces on the board, they are only ever affected once by Attack (usually at the beginning of their Activation or at the
weapons and abilities that target an area (like a Bomb for end of their move). These extra Ranged Attacks do not change
instance). Even if the explosion would cover two or more the Enemy’s normal behavior and do not effect how the Enemy
spaces that the Enemy base is in, the Enemy is still only Targets and moves to make its normal Melee Attack.
affected by it once.

Extra Large Enemy Movement Example - This Extra Large Extra Large Enemy Overflow Example - In this example, the
Enemy could randomly select to target either of the two Heroes Extra Large Enemy randomly selects Hero B to target. The only
shown. If targeting Hero B, the Enemy moves as far as it can, way to reach him is to Overflow the board and smash through the
while keeping its full base on the board at the end of its move. If wall leaving half of its base off the board. It moves as far as it can
targeting Hero A, it will stop in front of him so as to keep its full to reach him and ends in the spaces on the far side of the Hero.

32
base on the board.
 HELPING A KO’D HERO
When a Hero gets KO’d during a Fight, it can often be
a slippery slope to defeat for the rest of the party. There are
some ways though that the other Heroes can try to help the
fallen get back into the fight!
Recovering a KO’d Hero mid-Fight
A Hero that is adjacent to a KO’d Hero marker may give
up their Attack to help that Hero Recover. This may only be
done as long as there are no Enemies on the same Map Tile
as the KO’d Hero marker. The KO’d Hero immediately rolls
on the Injury/Madness chart as appropriate and Heals their
2D6 Wounds/Sanity (any mix) as normal. Their figure is
placed back onto the board, but they do not get an Activation
in the same turn that they Recover (they are still a bit dazed).
Dragging a KO’d Hero
Any Hero in the same or adjacent space to a KO’d Hero
marker may drag that Hero with them while they move. To
do so, simply use 1 extra movement point for each space you
want to move while dragging the KO’d Hero (so 2 move per
space).
HERO ATTACK DICE LIMIT
The KO’d Hero marker will be moved along with you as There is a limit on the number of dice a Hero may roll
you go and left in your space (if you started dragging them for a single Attack. This is called a Hero’s Attack Dice Limit.
while in the space with the marker), or the last space you Heroes have an Attack Dice Limit of 8, which means:
moved from if you were adjacent to them. This can be useful
for getting a KO’d Hero to the safety of a Map Tile with no A Hero may not roll more than 8 Combat or
Enemies so that you can try to help them Recover. 8 Shots for a single Attack.
This includes extra Combat or Shots gained during the
Attack, through Abilities and Items.
PLAYERS Abilities that let a Hero do a number of Combat/Shots to
specific Enemies (such as ‘all Enemies adjacent’, etc) do not
count against the Hero’s Attack Dice Limit.
Shadows of Brimstone can be used for Solo Adventures
or can even be expanded to support up to 5 or 6 Heroes.
A 5 or 6 Hero Game DUAL WIELDING RANGED WEAPONS
A 5 or 6 player game can be achieved by getting a second Normally a Hero is only allowed to make a Ranged
Core Set or additional Hero Classes to play as. This works Attack with a single Ranged Weapon. However, a Hero that
the same as all of the rules detailed so far, and the difficulty has two Single-Handed Ranged Weapons may fire both as
scaling is already listed for the higher player count on page 11. a single Ranged Attack! This is called Dual Wielding. (Note
It is not recommended that you try playing with more than 6 that the term Dual Wielding only applies to using two Ranged
Heroes as the difficulty scaling does not work very well with Weapons, NOT for a Melee Attack with 2 Hand Weapons).
that many Heroes, and the game will start to drag with so There is a penalty to Dual Wielding though:
many players.
Solo Game The Attack may NOT get Critical Hits for
The game can easily be played Solo and is fun whether either of the two weapons.
controlling a single Hero or a full party of your own! One Rolls of 6+ count as normal Hits, though they may still
Hero makes for an exciting, albeit deadly, game. This method trigger special abilities or effects.
makes use of the Revive Tokens to keep you going and can be
looked at almost as extra lives. Does your Hero have what it In addition, the Hero must choose one of the Ranged
takes to go it alone? Weapons as being fired with their primary hand. The other
Ranged Weapon is considered to be in the Hero’s Off-Hand.
Multiple Heroes of the Same Class
One thing that can be very fun is to play a Hero Party Dice rolled for Off-Hand Ranged Weapons
with more than one of the same Hero Class, or even a Party need to roll 1 higher than normal on To Hit rolls.
where all of the Heroes are the same Hero Class. Having a
Party of Gunslingers battle their way through a Mine on a So shots that would normally need a 4+ To Hit would
quest of vengeance or a group of Marshals setting out on a need to roll 5+ with an Off-Hand Weapon. Natural To Hit rolls
mission to eliminate a difficult target can create a lot of cool of 6+ may still trigger special effects.
gameplay and story moments! It is a good idea to roll two different colors of dice for a
Dual Wielding Ranged Attack, where different colors of dice

33
are used for the Shots from each weapon.
 GATES TO ANOTHER WORLD be face up near the Depth Track to show that it is a World
that Heroes are currently in. When a Hero looks through
Finding a Gateway to another World can be a very an unexplored Gate, they must draw a World Card randomly
exciting and dangerous event. This usually happens through from those not currently in play. Because this Core Set only
an Exploration Token with a Gate Icon or an Encounter that includes one OtherWorld, the Swamps of Jargono, this will
adds a Gate to a Room. always be the World that you find on the other side of a Gate.
The newly drawn World Card should be placed face up on
Gate Icons the table near the Depth Track as well. There should be one
Gate Icons on Exploration Tokens work World Card in play for each World that one or more Heroes
just like Door Icons, but instead of leaving the is currently in. When there are no Heroes in that World any
puzzle connection open, a Gate End Cap is longer, the card should be returned to the World Cards Deck.
placed there.
OtherWorld Map Tiles
Gate End Caps The OtherWorld Map Tiles are printed on the reverse
Gate End Caps work very similar to Doors. Rather than side of the Mine Map Tiles. There is also a full Map Deck for
standing in one of the puzzle connection half-spaces to look the OtherWorld that represents each of the Map Tiles for that
through the Doorway though, the Hero stands in the half- World (just like the Mine Map Deck).
and-half connection space adjacent to the blue swirling Gate Once you have determined the OtherWorld that is through
(half on the Map Tile and Half on the Gate End Cap) to look the Gate, you should draw a Map Card for that World and
through the Gate. put it into play. Then place a Gate End Cap for that World
attached to the Entrance of the newly placed OtherWorld Map
Looking Through a Gate Tile. These two Gate End Caps are connected.
When a Hero looks through a Gate, they are seeing
through the portal and into another World, across space and Break in the Map
time...maybe even into another dimension! The Hero must To represent the distance through time and space that the
draw a World Card to see where the Gate leads. Gate spans, there is a break in the map whenever the Heroes
find a Gate. One side of the map ends in a Gate End Cap and
Drawing a World the other side begins with a connected Gate End Cap. These
Card two sections of the board do not need to touch and can be
Each World Card positioned anywhere on the table relative to one another.
represents a different World
that is available to the Heroes
to explore. The Swamps The two spaces on one Gate End Cap are
of Death Core Set comes considered to be adjacent to the two spaces on
with the Mines and one the other Gate End Cap.
OtherWorld. While in a
Mine, the Mines World Card should

34
 to be an adjacent Map Tile. This works the same for other
effects that reach to adjacent Map Tiles such as Unspeakable
Terror, Belly of the Beast Passage Encounters effects, etc.
An Enemy with Terror will affect Heroes in the two spaces
directly on the other side of that Gate, even though they are
not technically on the same Map Tile.
Encounters, Depth Events, and
Ambush Attacks with Two Worlds
When an Encounter is drawn, only the Heroes that are
currently in the same World as that Encounter are affected by
its game text and involved with taking the tests on that card.
Similarly, when an Ambush Attack occurs, the Enemies
will only be placed adjacent to and target Heroes that are in
the same World as the Ambush. If the Ambush was caused by
something that is not located in one World or another (such
as a Darkness card), select a Random Hero and the Ambush
takes place in the same World as that Hero.
Depth Events are always assumed to take place in the
Gate Placement Example - When a Gate is found, a Gate End same World that the Old Lantern is in and will only affect
Cap is attached to the Map Tile and an OtherWorld Gate End Heroes that are in that World with it. Note that each Other
Cap is placed to represent the other side of the Gate.. This creates World has its own unique Depth Event Chart to be used when
a visual break in the board, but remains connected by way of the the Hero with the Old Lantern is in that World.
Gate itself. In this example, spaces A and B are considered to be
fully adjacent to spaces C and D.
OTHERWORLDS
Exploration Tokens on the Other Side Each OtherWorld is intended to have a distinct look and
If the Other World Map Tile placed on the far side of feel to it as the Heroes explore and find new, wondrous, and
the Gate is a Room, it will get an Exploration Token placed sometimes deadly things there. This is achieved through
on it as normal. Unlike finding a Room in the World you having a unique set of Map Tiles as well as Global Effects for
are already in though, the Hero is simply looking through anyone in that World. There is also a small set of card decks
the Gate, not actually standing on the new Map Tile (he is that are unique to that World. Each Core Set focuses on all of
standing on his own side of the Map Tile/Gate End Cap, not the details of one of these OtherWorlds (as described in the
on the new Map Tile/Gate End Cap). Adventure Book). More OtherWorlds can be found in other
Because of this, the Exploration Token will not be revealed Shadows of Brimstone Core Sets and Expansions.
until a Room Exploration phase in which a Hero is actually on
the Map Tile with it. So a Hero will actually have to step World Cards and Global Effects
through the Gate to Explore the Room on the other side. Every World (including the Mine) is represented by a
World Card. This World Card lists the Name of the World as
Movement Through a Gate well as any Global Effects that apply to any Heroes currently
Because the two spaces on each side of the Gate are in that World.
considered to be adjacent to each other, models may move
through the Gate just as though the spaces on either side were Map Cards, Encounters, Artifacts, and
directly next to one another. OtherWorld Threats
Each OtherWorld has unique card decks for Map Cards,
Seeing/Attacking Through a Gate Encounters, Artifacts, and OtherWorld Threats. While in
This works the same way for Attacking. Because the that OtherWorld, these card decks should be used in place of
spaces on either side are considered adjacent, a model may the normal Mine versions of these decks. When a card would
Attack through the Gate. So if you are standing on one side of be drawn from one of these decks, simply use the OtherWorld
the Gate, you may target Enemies on the other side. version of that deck instead. This is a relatively obvious switch
Line of Sight for Ranged Attacks, however, may not be for each of these decks, with the exception of the OtherWorld
traced through the Gate unless you are standing on the Gate Threats.
End Cap itself looking directly through. This means that you OtherWorld Threat cards represent Enemies that are
cannot stand back and just shoot across the room into another unique to the alien world you are in (though the Wandering
World, but you can move up to the Gate and look through to Enemy card represents other creatures finding their way through
start taking shots. a portal into that world). Unlike the normal Threat Decks that
are split into Low, Med, and High Threats, there is only one
Adjacent Map Tiles OtherWorld Threat Deck and each card in it lists the result
If the Hero with the Old Lantern is standing on a Map for Low (Green), Med (Yellow), and High (Red) Threats.
Tile with a Gate End Cap, the light from the Lantern will cover Normal Epic Threats are used for Other Worlds as well, but
the Map Tile on the other side of the Gate, as it is considered any additional Threat cards they have you draw should be

35
from the OtherWorld Threat cards.
Loot Cards for Gear and Artifacts
You will likely have noticed that the Loot cards that allow CAMPAIGN PLAY
a Hero to draw a Gear card or an Artifact card have a special
note on them. While in an OtherWorld, these card effects are Creating new Heroes and playing a single Adventure can
actually reversed, so the Loot card that normally lets you draw be a lot of fun, but keeping your Hero from game to game and
a Gear will give you an Artifact and vice versa. This is because watching them grow over several missions in a Campaign is
there are twice as many cards that let the Hero draw Gear as an extremely rewarding process that allows the story and game
there are for drawing an Artifact and is meant to represent that world to really shine. This also allows you to Travel between
Artifacts are more common in a strange alien environment Adventures and visit Frontier Towns, as well as go up in Hero
than finding a piece of Gear would be. Levels and get new Abilities and gear as you go!
At the End of Each Adventure
When playing a Campaign with your Heroes, at the end
SWAMPS OF JARGONO of each Adventure, every Hero must do the following, in order:
- Recover if KO’d (rolling on the Injury/Madness Chart)
Every OtherWorld has a set of unique Encounters,
Artifacts, Map Cards, and OtherWorld Threat cards, as well as - Fully Heal your Health and Sanity
one or more Global Rules that make adventuring in that world - Remove any Status Effect markers
more distinct. The Global Rules are listed on the World Card
for each OtherWorld. - Resolve any Reward/Failure results of the Mission
In the Swamps of - Roll for Corruption from Dark Stone
Death Core Set, the - Re-set your Hero Ability Tokens (if any)
Other World featured is - Re-set your Hero to 1 Grit for Traveling/Town Stay
the overgrown Swamps
of Jargono. There you
will find a hot and Rolling for Dark Stone Corruption
humid swampland, At the end of an Adventure, each Hero must roll a D6
with knee-deep murky for every Dark Stone they are currently carrying (including
water and massive Items with a Dark Stone Icon). For every roll of 1, 2, or 3,
bundles of roots and that Hero takes 1 Corruption Hit from the dark influence of
vines erupting from the Dark Stone. Willpower saves may be used to prevent these
the marshy ground and dangling from the Corruption Hits as normal.
dense canopy overhead. Tribal drums can often be heard in
the distance and the wild roar of massive predators stalking Traveling and Town Stay
the half-sunken ruins for their next meal. The thick bog is One exciting element of Campaign play is having the
also infested with slithering serpents, poisonous BogBats, and ability for your Heroes to Travel to a Frontier Town to re-stock
carnivorous plants. and re-supply between each Adventure. Traveling and Town
Stays are covered in detail in the Adventure Book on page 28.
Global Rules The Travel Chart can be found at the end of the Adventure
Due to the dense swamp trees and thick Book on page 56.
jungle canopy above, any Attack in the
Swamps of Jargono will be treated as At the Start of Each Adventure
an Ambush Attack on the D6 roll of After Traveling and completeing any Town Stay
1, 2, or 3. This should be rolled for in a Frontier Town, the Heroes will be ready to start
separately for each instance of Enemies their next Adventure. To do so, the Heroes must do the
appearing (roll once for each card or following steps, in order:
event that adds Enemies to the Fight). - Select the next Mission to be played
While in the Swamps of Jargono, Heroes - Re-set your Hero Ability Tokens (if any)
can also take advantage of the thick surrounding
plant life, allowing them to momentarily hide - Re-set your Hero to 1 Grit for the new Adventure
from sight and gain +2 on all of their Catch - Note that any Wounds and Sanity Damage taken
Your Breath rolls. This includes when a during Traveling and Town Stay remain with the
Hero Recovers from being KO’d. Hero for the start of the next Adventure.

36
 INJURIES/MADNESS/DEATH Both Locations also offer ways to remove Corruption before it
turns into a full blown Mutation.
As noted previously, any time a Hero is KO’d during an
Adventure, they must roll on the Injury or Madness chart to Death of a Hero
determine how bad off they really are (depending if they were On rare occasions, a Hero will actually be killed. This is a
KO’d by loss of Health or Sanity). The results on these charts harsh reality in the Old West, especially when you are fighting
range from getting the wind knocked out of you to being torn off demons and madness at every turn. When a Hero is killed,
to pieces and killed. it is assumed that the rest of the party brings their body back
to Town to try to get them resurrected (or at least for a proper
Healing Injuries and Madness in Town burial). A Dead Hero may not be looted for their Items and
Injuries and Madness can have significant effects on a equipment.
Hero’s ability to keep Adventuring. Good news though, there
is a way to try to Heal or remove most of these long-lasting Resurrection at the Church in Town
effects by traveling to a Frontier Town between Adventures and One of the options available to a party that has lost one of
visiting the Doc’s Office or the Church in Town (see Traveling their own is to go to the Church in Town and pay to have that
to Town on page 28 of the Adventure Book for more details on Hero Resurrected. It can be quite expensive though!
getting to a Frontier Town after an Adventure). Any or all of the other Heroes in the party may contribute
At the Doc’s Office you can get Surgery to attempt to Gold toward the cost for the Resurrection, including the Dead
repair an Injury or have an unwanted Mutation removed. Hero himself (selling his Items if need be to pay for the cost).
This can be somewhat expensive and there is no guarantee Resurrecting a Dead Hero is not time-sensitive (though
that it will work, but hey, if you want to keep adventuring they may start to smell a bit), and if need be, you can even start
into demonically overrun Mines with a Broken Leg or a Void a new Hero and try to build up enough Gold to pay for your
Infection, that’s up to you. other Dead Hero’s Resurrection after some time.
Much like the Doc’s Office, visiting the Church in Town
allows you to try to Exorcise Madness that plagues your mind.

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 OPTIONAL RULES
This section covers Optional Rules that can be added to the game as long as all of the players agree before the game begins.
These Optional Rules are all independent of one another and should each be considered on an individual basis. The rules for
Fixed Hero Move and Hard-Core Mode are not recommended, but are made available for players that want them.

Hard-Core Mode
(Makes the game Much More Difficult)
For players that want a truly Hard Core experience, you
may play Hard-Core Mode. In Hard-Core Mode, any time
a Hero would be KO’d they are instead killed unless they
Recover before the start of the next turn.
This is a very unforgiving play style and will likely lead
to one or more players having to sit out the remainder of
the game while the rest of the group keeps adventuring (not
generally very fun). It is also especially dangerous for higher
Fixed Hero Move level Heroes, as one bad situation can kill the character you
(Makes the game Less Difficult) have been playing for months. Ouch!
As an option for players that do not like the idea of rolling For a slightly softer version of Hard-Core Mode, you can
for movement each turn, they may use the Fixed Hero Movement use the above, but allow Heroes to still be Resurrected at the
Optional Rule. With this rule, all Heroes are allowed to move Church in Town.
4 spaces each turn (plus any bonuses or negatives for Items,
Abilities, or Injuries/Mutations they may have). Themed Threat Decks
As many aspects of the game are based on your Movement (Can make the game More or Less Difficult)
roll each turn, it is still necessary to roll a die at the start of each As more Enemy Types become available and players start
of your Hero’s Activations. This roll becomes the Roll For making their own Missions, one fun way to create a Themed
Grit (as that is the most frequent use of the move roll other Adventure is to tailor-make your Threat Decks to only include
than actual movement). Any rule or game element that refers cards with certain Enemy Types. In this way, you could make
to a Heroes move roll now uses the Roll For Grit instead. a Mine that is overrun with nothing but Night Terror Demons
The Roll For Grit each turn is mandatory, even if your Hero or perhaps have a theme of only Void creatures that have spilled
is already at Max Grit. out of a portal and are pouring out of the Mine.
Advanced Encounters This can be done with just a single Core Set, but really
opens up once you have more Enemy Types available to you.
(Makes the game More Difficult) It is also very simple to do as the Threat Decks are all card
Every Unique Room Map Tile based and can easily be Themed or shuffled back together at
has a specific theme to it, and there the start of each Adventure.
is a matching Encounter card in the
Encounter Deck that shares that Dangerous Dynamite
theme. At the bottom of each Map (Makes the game More Difficult)
Card that represents a Unique Room
is a red band that lists the specific Dynamite can be a very powerful tool to take out groups
Encounter associated with that room. of Enemies or do some damage against high Defense targets.
Thematically though, Dynamite is a dangerous thing to just be
When using the Advanced carrying around in your Side Bag with you, as it is notoriously
Encounters Optional Rule, any unstable.
time a Unique Room is Explored, To represent this extra element of danger,
the listed Advanced Encounter is you may elect to use the Dangerous Dynamite
added to that Exploration. Search Optional Rule. Any time a Hero takes 10 or
the Encounter Deck (and discard more Wounds from a single source, they must roll
Pile if needed) to find the listed Encounter card a D6 for each Dynamite Token they have in their
(shuffle the deck afterwords). This is in addition to any other Side Bag. For each roll of 1 or 2, that Token
Encounters or Attacks listed on the Exploration Token. Also, immediately explodes, centered on the Hero’s
Advanced Encounters like this cannot be canceled or re-drawn. space.
Note that this only includes Dynamite
Below the Darkness Tokens in a Hero’s Side Bag, so if they
(Makes the game More Difficult) are carrying Dynamite in a different
One way to make the game more deadly is to use the way (such as a Dynamite Satchel),
Below the Darkness Optional Rule. Whenever the Darkness that Dynamite is considered to
marker passes the Hero Party marker on the Depth Track be safely stored and does not
(positioned on a higher numbered step than the Hero Party need to be rolled for.
marker), from that point forward, all Enemies get a free Elite

38
Ability as the Darkness has grown ever stronger!
 CREDITS
Game Design - Jason C. Hill Special Thanks -
Graphic Design and Layout - Jack Scott Hill Jack and Rosa Hill, Sadie, Doctor Edwards,
Kayla, Gael Goumon, Matthew Dudley, Alice Wu,
Music Composition - Mary Beth Magallanes Shadows Of Brimstone Community Group on
Map Tile Illustration - Matthew Morgaine Facebook, BoardGameGeek.com, The Army Painter,
Art Direction - Jack Scott Hill Trick or Treat Studios, all of the Kickstarter Backers
and Brimstone fans that supported this project and
Illustrations - Brian Snoddy, Ralph Horsley, Morano, take part in the fantastic community surrounding
Ben Wootten, Matthew Morgaine, Jack Scott Hill, the game, as well as all of the fans who have helped
Mike Wilcox, Brandon Gillam, Kory Hubbell, Mariusz support Flying Frog over the years.
Gandzel
Box Cover Illustration - Ralph Horsley
Rules - Jason C. Hill
Miniature Concept Art - Brian Snoddy
Miniature Sculpts - Daniel Samuelsson
Miniature Painting - Aaron Lovejoy
Miniature Painting Guides - Jack Scott Hill

Kickstarter Logistics - Rolfe Bergstrom

Chief Fabricator - Ellian Opheim

Kickstarter Content Contributors -

Arzhakov Ivan Aleksandrovich
Phil “Bainweed” Bain
Benjamin Barton
Adrian Boddice
Andrew Burk
Andrew J. Cowen
Leo G.R. Dumas
Chiara Luna Gregor
Isis Shade Greyson
Mark Griffiths
Raoul of Hedge and Brook
Mike Hollingworth
Tom Landy
William Larberg
Frank “Mr Skeletor” La Terra
Gregg Lestina
Hector Manuel Lopez
Erik Piechotta
Chris Saxton
Brian Scroggs
Witold Siatkowski
Ron Sparks
Marvin Leo Thomas III
Robert J. Thomson
Wayne Weiler
Mike Wilshin
Jerry Wood
Contact Info / Website
Playtesters - Ellian Opheim, Rolfe Bergstrom, Jeremy W W W. F L Y I N G F R O G . N E T
Hill, Lisa Konopacki, Sharon Adler, Mary Beth
Magallanes, Bobbie Hyde, Marivic Gozum, Karl Shadows of Brimstone: Swamps of DeathTM is Copyright
McLain, Chris Kemnow, and many others. ©2014-2020, Shadows of Brimstone® is Copyright ©2014
Flying Frog Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Digital Soundtrack Available online: Manufactured in China. This is only the beginning! Beli’al
shall rise again from the Caverns of Cynder!

39
www.youtube.com/user/flyingfrogprod
 Reference Summary SIDE BAG TOKENS
Difficulty Scaling
Heroes Scaling Bandages - Discard to Heal D6
Wounds.
1 Low Threats, 2 Revive Tokens
2 Low Threats, 1 Revive Token
Whiskey - Discard to Heal D6
3 Med Threats, 1 Revive Token Sanity Damage.
4 Med Threats
5 High Threats, 1 Revive Token Dynamite - Discard to throw
as a Ranged Attack. Range:
6 High Threats Strength+3, Does D6 Wounds,
Using Grit ignoring Defense, to each model
in the same and adjacent spaces.
A Hero may use a Grit to do one of three things:
- Use 1 Grit to Re-roll any number of dice
that you just rolled (not including Hold Tonic - Discard to Recover 1 Grit.
Back the Darkness or any Chart roll).
- Use 1 Grit to add an extra D6 to your
Movement.
- Use Grit to activate a Special Ability or Flash - Discard to make all Enemies
Item that requires it. -2 Initiative until end of the turn.

The Game Turn

1) Hold Back the Darkness Herbs - Discard to Heal 2D6
Wounds.
2) Models Activate in Initiative Order
3) Room Exploration
4) End of the Turn Swamp Fungus - Discard to Heal
D6 Wounds and D6 Sanity
Icons
Peril Die Brimstone Ash -
Weight Free Attack: (At Any Time)
Discard to do 1 Wound to
every adjacent Enemy, ignoring
Dark Stone Item Defense.
Single-Handed Dark Stone Shiv - (Performer Only)
Free Attack: Discard to do D6
Double-Handed Wounds to an adjacent Enemy,
ignoring Defense.
Clue Icon
Door Icon
Dynamite Bounce
Gate Icon If the To Hit roll misses, the
Upgrade Slots Dynamite will bounce D3 times.
For each bounce, roll a D8 for
Upgrade Slot Requirement direction and move the Dynamite
Skill Test - All Heroes 1 space.
If the Dynamite would move into
Skill Test - Choose One Hero
a wall, instead cancel that bounce.
Skill Test - One Random Hero