The adventure begins with each player crafting their unique section of the game map! Each player receives a set of hex tiles: 5 Water, 5 Food, 5 Wood, 5 Empty, 4 Rock, and 2 Mana. You can arrange your tiles in any shape or pattern you like, but there are a few important rules to follow:

1. Use All Your Tiles: Every hex tile must be placed.

2. Ensure Continuity: All hexes must form a continuous layout, ensuring that monsters or troops can move freely across the map without encountering isolated areas.

Once the monsters have been placed, players will establish their starting outposts. Each player has 4 outposts to place, taking turns to position one outpost at a time.

Rules for Starting Outposts:

1. Outposts must be placed adjacent to a Water tile or another of your outposts.

2. Outposts cannot be placed on Water tiles.

Tip for Strategy: While not mandatory, it’s recommended to place your 4 starting outposts near the 4 different resource types—Food, Wood, Rock, and Mana. This approach can help you balance your resource production and give you an edge as the game unfolds.

Each turn begins with resource gathering. The active player will choose whatever reseource they want, then roll a four-sided die (1d4). The result dictates which resource is gathered by all other players:

• 1: Food

• 2: Wood

• 3: Rock

• 4: Mana

Players collect resources based on the number of outposts they have on tiles of the indicated resource type. For example, if the die roll is 2 (Wood) and a player has 2 outposts on Wood tiles, they collect 2 units of Wood.

During this phase, the active player can move their troops and potentially engage in combat with monsters.

Troop Movement

• Each troop has a set number of movement spaces they can use per turn.

• The active player may choose to move each troop using all, some, or none of their available movement spaces—but troops cannot exceed their maximum movement limit.

• Paragons are the only troops that can move on Water tiles, as they have the ability to fly. No other troop can move on water.

Combat Trigger

If a monster enters the range of a troop during movement, combat can be triggered.

Combat Mechanics

1. Choose the Type of Attack: Each troop has multiple attack options. The active player selects the type of attack to use.

2. Determine Success or Failure: Roll a 1d10 to see if the attack succeeds. Each attack type has its own success threshold.

3. Calculate Damage: If the attack succeeds, roll the appropriate damage die (determined by the type of attack). The damage dealt depends on the chosen attack type and the result of the damage roll.

Combat is resolved immediately after it is triggered. 

Monster Reaction

Regardless of whether the attack was successful or failed, the monster will always react to the attack.

1. Roll a 1d8: The active player rolls a 1d8 to determine how the monster will react.

2. Monster Behavior: Based on the roll, the monster will respond according to its specific behavior.

The game concludes when a player successfully gathers 3 Renown Points. Whether through slaying monsters, completing missions or constructing Dragon Towers, the first player to reach this milestone is crowned the victor.