Event Phase
- Draw an event card and resolve its "Right Now" text.
- If it is a key moment card: advance the key moment tracker and read the key moment from the scenario.
- Repeat until you draw a card with "Battle Phase."
Action Phase
Play free action cards at any time. Perform up to 4 full actions (actions may also be saved for the Respite Phase).
Activate Class Power with "Action" timing
Discard the required ability card.
Initiate Conflict (vile champion or scenario-specific task)
- If the required ability matches your mastered ability: reduce difficulty by 1.
- Determine dice pool:
- # dice = # actions invested (min 1) + # ability cards discarded (optional).
- Roll battle dice.
- Hits >= difficulty: Success!
- If a vile champion is overkilled (hits > difficulty): gain equipment card
- Woe rolled: take 1 stress
Initiate an Encounter
- Examine an objective
- 1 action -- refer to the scenario book.
- Activate a tile's power or Refresh a shaken commander
- # actions required = value on commander or tile
- -1 action required if attribute matches hero's mastered ability
- -1 action required for each ability card discarded (optional)
Move Hero
- 1 action to move to an adjacent tile or any distance along a road.
- Stop tokens and tiles end movement for this turn unless moved by an effect.
- If leaving a tile with a vile champion: take 1 stress.
- Cannot leave the battlefield from the enemy territory side.
Put Out a Fire
1 action removes one fire token from your tile.
Transfer Equipment
1 action to give or take equipment from a hero on the same tile.
Respite Phase
If your hero is on a tile with no Dragon Army units or vile champions, you may:
- Reduce stress by 2, OR
- Return two discarded ability cards to your hand.
If actions remain from the Action Phase, you may respite again.
Battle Phase
- If the event card showed Skirmish: roll the skirmish die.
- Activate class powers for heroes on the active flank.
- Play cards with timing matching the event card: "at start of battle," "at start of skirmish," or "all-out battle."
- Activate Commander powers if "ready" and on the active flank.
- If both commanders are ready: Dragon Commander goes first.
- All-out battle: activate commanders as instructed by the event card.
- Skirmish: activate if the skirmish die showed a Commander symbol.
- Resolve fights between lines:
- All-out battle: Resolve attacks from inside out (foot, missile, mounted)
- Skirmish: Resolve attack for the line indicated by the skirmish die.
Process for each attacking line:
- Determine combat strength: units + tactic tokens for attacking side and line.
- Side with greater combat strength attacks.
- Reveal a unit card for the attacking line (if deck is empty, reshuffle discard pile).
- Heroes on active flank may play cards or activate powers "when a unit card is revealed."
- Resolve hero responses, then resolve the unit card, then discard it.
- Roll Battle Dice and apply hits according to the unit card:
- Hits on the defending line first; Woe on the attacking line second.
- Apply hits to barricades first (1 HP each).
- Ready units become shaken; shaken units are removed.
- Heroes on active flank may absorb hits as stress.
- Heroes may play ability cards in response to conditions.
- Update controlled battle tiles (controlled = no ready enemy units):
- Remove Commander and shaken enemy units.
- Move flank token and one unit of each type to the neighboring battle tile.
- No more units or effects on the controlled tile.
- When Dragon Army controls a tile: place a Stop token and check the scenario book.
Scenario End Conditions
The scenario ends when any of the following occur:
- All battle tiles are controlled.
- The final key moment is read.
- A player dies (no ability cards left when stress exceeds maximum).
- Scenario-specific end conditions are triggered.
Aftermath
If not an automatic win or loss, check the Scenario Book's Aftermath section:
- WIN: Receive the scenario's reputation card and choose a medal card.
- HOLD: Receive the scenario's reputation card.
- LOSS: Receive two equipment cards and two tactics tokens (play on any Alliance line).