TEXT: Base set RuleBook
  Base set RuleBook
  It’s a realm dotted 
  with the monolithic 
  relics of an empire 
  long since crumbled, 
  a rough but majestic 
  land of misty forests 
  and rolling plains 
  bordered by sharp 
  peaks and bountiful 
  seas. Its people are 
  hardy pioneers 
  and newly minted 
  nobles, all eager 
  to carve names for 
  themselves from the 
  stern landscape. 
  Beyond the settled 
  lands, beasts and 
  giants unused 
  to civilization's 
  encroachment stalk 
  the hills and woods, 
  making short work 
  of the unwary 
  and legends of the 
  bold. Yet none can 
  claim to know all 
  of Varisia's secrets, 
  and in its darkest 
  shadows an ages-old 
  evil stirs once more.
  Welcome 
  to Varisia. 
  
  2
  Base set RuleBook
  object of the Game
  In the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, your party of adventurers 
  races against time on a quest to defeat a dangerous villain. Each 
  player has a deck of cards representing her character. In most 
  scenarios, your characters explore a variety of locations as you 
  try to hunt down the villain. You need to clean out or protect 
  these locations so that you can corner the villain and defeat him 
  before time runs out. As you play more games, you will complete 
  scenarios, improve your deck, customize your character, and take on 
  more and more powerful challenges.
  a Multitude of Cards
  A stranger gives you a mysterious treasure chest. Unlock it, and 
  therein you will find a trove of wonders the likes of which the world 
  of Golarion has never seen. 
  Card sets
  The Rise of the Runelords Base Set is one of several Pathfinder 
  Adventure Card Game products. This box contains everything that 1–4 
  players need to begin the game, including the base card set for Rise 
  of the Runelords. Included in the same box is your first adventure 
  deck, Burnt Offerings, which provides the cards needed to tell the 
  first chapter of the Rise of the Runelords story. Other adventure 
  decks, available separately, continue the adventure by adding new 
  locations to explore, new villains to fight, new loot to acquire, and 
  much more. The Character Add-On Deck, also available separately, 
  adds new characters, monsters, and other cards, and also increases 
  the maximum number of players to 6.
  Each card is marked with a pair of set indicators: the top of 
  each card features the logo of its Adventure Path, and a letter or 
  number in the upper right corner identifies the specific product 
  that the card came from. This might be a letter, such as B 
  (indicating the card is part of the base set), or C (indicating that 
  it’s from the Character Add-On Deck); adventure deck numbers 
  from 1 to 6 indicate that the card is part of one of the six Rise of 
  the Runelords adventure decks.
  To the left of the letter or number, you’ll find the card type. 
  There are more than a dozen different card types in the Pathfinder 
  Adventure Card Game. Among them are character cards, roles, and 
  tokens; story cards, which include an Adventure Path, adventures, 
  and scenarios; locations; banes, which include villains, henchmen, 
  monsters, and barriers; and boons, which include weapons, spells, 
  armors, items, allies, loot, and blessings.
  For your first play session, you’ll need only the base cards, so leave 
  Burnt Offerings sealed for now. If you own the Character Add-On 
  Deck, go ahead and combine that set with the cards in the base set 
  as described in Organizing Your Cards (see page 4).
  Rules: The Golden Rule
  If a card and this rulebook are ever in conflict, the card should be considered correct. If cards conflict with one another, then Adventure Path cards 
  overrule adventures, adventures overrule scenarios, scenarios overrule locations, locations overrule characters, and characters overrule other 
  card types. Despite this hierarchy, if one card tells that you cannot do something and another card tells you that you can, comply with the card 
  that tells you that you cannot. If a card instructs you to do something impossible, like draw a card from an empty deck, ignore that instruction.
  Dark rumors 
  whisper that 
  the Runelords 
  have returned.  
  But the story 
  is not yet 
  written, and 
  only you can 
  determine the 
  ending.
  Rules sideBaRs 
  Throughout this rulebook, you’ll find a number of sidebars that 
  look like this one. These sidebars explain general rules that 
  deserve special attention—make sure you read them all!
  sTRaTeGy sideBaRs
  You’ll also find a variety of sidebars that look like this one. 
  These offer advice about game strategy. If you prefer to develop 
  strategies on your own as you play, feel free to skip these 
  sidebars—you won’t miss any rules!
  example sideBaRs
  Sidebars that look like this provide examples. Don’t miss the 
  example of an entire turn on page 20!
  
  3
  Base set RuleBook
  TRay layouT
  advenTuRe deCks
  ChaRaCTeRs, Roles, and Tokens
  villains
  weapons
  spells
  aRmoRs
  looT
  henChmen
  BaRRieRs
  advenTuRe paThs, advenTuRes, 
  and sCenaRios
  loCaTions
  monsTeRs
  ChaRaCTeR deCks
  iTems
  allies
  BlessinGs
  TaBle oF ConTenTs
  oBjeCT oF The Game 
  2
  a mulTiTude oF CaRds 
  2
  CaRd seTs 
  2
  oRGanizinG youR CaRds 
  4
  seTTinG up 
  4
  youR ChaRaCTeR 
  7
  Character Cards 
  7
  Feats 
  7
  Token Cards 
  8
  Role Cards 
  8
  playinG a sCenaRio 
  8
  Your Turn 
  8
  playinG CaRds 
  9
  Encountering a Card 
  10
  Attempting a Check 
  10
  Taking Damage 
  12
  Examining and Searching 
  12
  Summoning and Adding Cards 
  12
  Closing a Location 
  13
  Dying 
  14
  CaRd Types 
  14
  Story Cards 
  (Adventure Path, Adventure, and Scenario) 
  14
  Location Cards 
  14
  Character Cards 
  (Character, Role, and Token) 
  15
  Boon Cards 
  (Weapon, Spell, Armor, Item, Ally, 
  Loot, and Blessing) 
  15
  Bane Cards 
  (Villain, Henchman, Monster, and Barrier) 
  17
  Henchmen 
  17
  enCounTeRinG a villain 
  17
  aFTeR The sCenaRio 
  18
  Ending a Scenario, Adventure, 
  or Adventure Path 
  18
  BeTween Games 
  19
  example oF play 
  20
  suGGesTed deCk lisTs 
  21
  ThinGs To keep in mind 
  22
  ReFeRenCe sheeT 
  24
  
  4
  Base set RuleBook
  decide whether you’re playing a standalone scenario, an 
  adventure, or the Rise of the Runelords adventure path. A scenario is 
  intended for a single play session, an adventure consists of a number of 
  linked scenarios, and an Adventure Path is a series of linked adventures. 
  We recommend you begin with the base set scenario Brigandoom!; 
  you can play it either by itself or as the first of three scenarios in the 
  Perils of the Lost Coast adventure. We suggest you complete that 
  adventure, then move on to the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path.
  if you’re playing the adventure path, put the Rise of the Runelords 
  Adventure Path card faceup on the table. It lists the adventures that 
  make up the Adventure Path, starting with Burnt Offerings, as well as 
  the reward you’ll get for completing the Adventure Path. Whenever 
  you start a new adventure in the Adventure Path, add all of the cards 
  from that adventure deck to the box, sorting all of the cards by type 
  and combining them with the cards you already have in the box.
  if you’re playing an adventure, put the appropriate adventure card 
  faceup on the table. It lists the scenarios that make up that adventure, 
  along with the reward you’ll get for completing that adventure. (If 
  you’re playing the adventure Perils of the Lost Coast, put that card on 
  the table; if you’re beginning the Adventure Path Rise of the Runelords, 
  use the adventure card Burnt Offerings from that adventure deck.)
  Choose a scenario. Put the scenario card faceup on the table. The 
  scenario card describes the goals and any unusual rules for this particular 
  game session. (If you’re playing Brigandoom!, put down that card; if 
  you’re starting Rise of the Runelords, put down Attack on Sandpoint, 
  the first scenario listed on the adventure card Burnt Offerings.)
  organizing Your Cards
  The way you organize your cards is important because there are 
  times when you’ll need to quickly locate specific cards during play. 
  The box includes a special tray to keep all of the cards organized. It 
  has room for the cards from the base card set, the Character Add-On 
  Deck, and all six adventure decks.
  Each type of card has its own place in the box, so divide up 
  the cards by type as shown in the illustration. For now, leave the 
  character deck slots empty; you’ll build your first decks soon. Note 
  there are no loot cards in either the base card set or the Character 
  Add-On Deck; they’re found only in adventure decks.
  With adventures, scenarios, locations, villains, henchmen, and 
  loot, you’ll often be asked to locate specific cards; you may wish 
  to alphabetize the cards within each type to help you find them 
  quickly during play. Group the character, token, and role cards by 
  character. The other card types should have their cards shuffled, as 
  you will often be asked to draw random cards from those groups.
  setting up
  Preparation is the key to a successful adventure. The road to victory 
  is littered with the bodies of the unready.
  Choose your Character. Each player chooses one character card; this 
  represents the character you’ll be playing in the game. Locate the 
  token card that matches your character card, and place them both on 
  the table in front of you.
  Build your Character. Each character needs a character deck; if 
  you don’t already have one, build one. If you’d like to start playing 
  quickly, use the suggested deck for your character provided at 
  the back of this rulebook (see Suggested Deck Lists on page 21). 
  Alternatively, you can choose your own cards to create your deck; 
  the Cards List on your character card indicates the exact quantity of 
  each card type that you must choose from the box to make up your 
  character’s deck. You may choose only cards with the word “Basic” in 
  the list of traits underneath the card name.
  Trade Cards if you like. Before beginning a scenario, players may freely 
  trade cards from their character decks. After trading, each character deck 
  must still conform to the list of card types specified by the character card.
  Ezren’s deck 
  includes 
  1 weapon, 
  8 spells, no 
  armors, 3 items, 
  3 allies, and no 
  blessings.
  (The checkboxes 
  are for card 
  feats that he’ll 
  gain later.)
  
  5
  Base set RuleBook
  CaRd seTup
  advenTuRe paTh
  disCaRd pile
  advenTuRe
  ChaRaCTeR deCk
  loCaTion deCk
  loCaTion CaRd
  sCenaRio
  ChaRaCTeR CaRd
  BuRied CaRds
  BlessinGs
  disCaRd pile
  BlessinGs
  deCk
  Token CaRd
  loCaTion deCk
  loCaTion CaRd
  Token CaRd
  Token CaRd
  loCaTion deCk
  loCaTion CaRd
  loCaTion deCk
  loCaTion deCk
  loCaTion CaRd
  loCaTion CaRd
  disCaRd pile
  ChaRaCTeR deCk
  ChaRaCTeR CaRd
  BuRied CaRds
  disCaRd pile
  ChaRaCTeR deCk
  ChaRaCTeR CaRd
  BuRied CaRds
  
  6
  Base set RuleBook
  set out the locations. The scenario card lists numbers of players 
  alongside the location cards the scenario uses. Use all of the location cards 
  listed up to the number of players you have. For example, if you have 3 
  players, you will use all of the location cards listed for 1, 2, and 3 players, 
  but you won’t use any of the location cards listed for 4, 5, or 6 players. Put 
  the location cards you’re using faceup on the middle of the table.
  Build the location decks. Each location card has its own list of card 
  types that are used to build a location deck, in much the same way 
  that a character card has a list of card types that are used to build a 
  character deck. Shuffle each card type and deal the correct number of 
  cards of each type to form the basis of each location deck. Don’t look at 
  these cards; set them facedown in a stack next to their location card.
  add villains and henchmen. Each scenario card lists one or more 
  villains and one or more henchmen. Make a stack of cards starting 
  with the villain(s), then add henchmen, working from the top of the 
  list down, until your stack has as many cards as you have locations. 
  Use multiple copies of the henchman at the bottom of the list as 
  needed. For example, if you have 5 locations and your scenario card 
  lists Gogmurt as the villain and Tangletooth, Bruthazmus, and Goblin 
  Raiders as henchmen, you’ll make a stack of 5 cards: Gogmurt, 
  Tangletooth, Bruthazmus, and 2 Goblin Raiders. If you had only 3 
  locations, your stack would consist of Gogmurt, Tangletooth, and 
  Bruthazmus, with no Goblin Raiders. Shuffle this stack and put 1 card 
  on top of each location deck, then shuffle each location deck.
  Create the Blessings deck. Draw 30 random blessing cards from the box. 
  Shuffle them together to form a deck and place it facedown on the table.
  arrange yourselves around the Table. Use any order you wish.
  place Token Cards. Each player chooses a location and puts her 
  character’s token card near it. Multiple characters can choose the 
  same starting location.
  draw starting hands. Each character card includes a hand size for that 
  character; draw that number of cards from your character deck. The 
  character card also lists a favored card type. If you didn’t draw at least 
  1 card of that type, discard that hand and draw again, repeating as 
  needed until your hand contains at least 1 card of the specified type. 
  sTRaTeGy: should you spliT The paRTy?
  There’s an old saying in roleplaying games: Never split the party. 
  Is that true for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game? This isn’t an 
  RPG, so the answer is, “It depends.”
  Sometimes, it’s a good idea to have multiple characters at the 
  same location; other times, it makes more sense to split the party. 
  A lot of your strategy depends on which characters you’re playing. 
  If you’re playing Valeros and Lem, staying together makes sense; 
  if you’re playing Harsk and Merisiel, it may not be so important.
  The best strategy also depends on where you’re going. Harsk 
  can handle the Treacherous Cave, but Ezren might not be able 
  to close it if someone else runs into the villain. Sometimes you 
  want backup for whatever perils await you; sometimes there’s a 
  dragon that blasts everyone at the same location. Pay attention 
  to where you are in the game. If you know where the villain is, 
  splitting up so you can temporarily close open locations is a good 
  idea... unless it isn’t. Every situation is different, and thinking 
  before you move is always wise.
  Rules: RollinG diCe 
  The game comes with five dice: a 4-sider, 6-sider, 8-sider, 10-sider, 
  and 12-sider. When you roll the 4-sider, use the number that’s upright.
  The game uses a shorthand form describing the number and type 
  of dice to roll: Xd#, where “X” represents the number of dice to roll 
  and “d#” represents the number of sides on the dice. For example, 
  if you’re asked to roll 2d6, that means to roll 2 6-sided dice and 
  add their values together. Sometimes the shorthand includes a “+” 
  or “–” and a number listed after the die, meaning that you add 
  that number to, or subtract it from, the total of the roll (not each 
  individual die rolled). So 2d4+2 means to roll 2 4-sided dice, total 
  them together, and then add 2. No matter how many penalties are 
  applied to a die roll, the result can’t be reduced below 0.
  Sometimes, the type of die that you need to roll is determined 
  by your skill; if you’re told to roll “Strength + 2d12” and your 
  Strength die is a d10, you’ll roll one 10-sided die and two 12-sided 
  dice, then add them all together to determine your result. 
  If a card calls for a die roll that affects multiple characters (for 
  example, if it says that each character at a location is dealt 1d4 
  damage), roll separately for each character.
  
  7
  Base set RuleBook
  Feats
  Character cards include a number of items with checkboxes; these are 
  called feats. After successfully completing a scenario or adventure, you 
  might be instructed to gain a feat of a specific type. After you check a 
  box of that type on your character card, your character may use that 
  feat in future scenarios. You may not use feats that are not yet checked 
  off. If there’s more than 1 checkbox associated with a skill, power, or 
  card type, you must check the unchecked box farthest to the left before 
  you can check immediately adjacent boxes. For example, if a skill has 
  boxes labeled +1, +2, and +3, you must check the +1 box before you 
  can check the +2 or +3 box, and you must have checked +1 and +2 
  before you can check +3. These boxes aren’t cumulative—that is, “+2” 
  replaces “+1,” they do not add together to make +3. 
  We recommend you use a pencil to lightly check the feat boxes, or 
  track your character with the free character sheets posted online at 
  paizo.com/pacg.
  There are three types of feats.
  skill Feats: When you gain a skill feat, check one new box in the 
  Skills section of your character card. Skill feats add a bonus to a skill 
  of your choice: you’ll add the number next to the box you selected to 
  any check attempted with that skill. So if your Charisma die is d10, 
  and you’ve checked the “+2” box for your Charisma skill, you’ll roll 
  1d10 and add 2 when you attempt a check that uses Charisma. (See 
  Attempting a Check on page 10.)
  If you discard so many cards that you can’t draw up to your full hand 
  size, draw all of the remaining cards, then shuffle your discard pile into 
  your deck and draw the rest of your hand. Shuffle any discarded cards 
  back into your character deck.
  decide who Goes First. Starting with whichever player the group 
  chooses, take turns proceeding clockwise (see Your Turn on page 8).
  Your Character
  Who will step up to challenge the evil runelords? Will the call be 
  heeded by a gallant fighter, a clever sorcerer, or a faithful cleric? 
  Character Cards
  Each character card includes the following information.
  skills: Skills tell you what type of die to roll when you attempt a 
  check (see Attempting a Check on page 10). Normally, you roll 1 die 
  of that type for a check, but other cards can add to that. 
  powers: Each character has 1 or more special powers you can use to 
  affect how the game is played. Some will be used during the game, 
  and others at the start of the game, so read them right away.
  hand size: This is the number of cards you draw to form your hand at the 
  beginning of each scenario. Near the end of each of your turns, you will 
  discard or draw cards so that you have exactly this number of cards again.
  proficient with: If your character is proficient with weapons or 
  specific types of armors, they are listed here. Some weapons and 
  armors are more useful for characters who are proficient with them.
  Favored Card Type: Your character always begins scenarios with at 
  least 1 card of this type in hand (see Draw Starting Hands on page 6). 
  Cards list: At the start of each scenario, your character deck must 
  contain exactly the listed quantity of each card type. As you play 
  through a scenario, you will add and remove cards from your deck, so 
  it may vary from this list during play. At the end of the scenario, you’ll 
  rebuild your deck to conform to the list again, although you might 
  not end up with exactly the same cards you had before.
  
  8
  Base set RuleBook
  power Feats: When you gain a power feat, check one new box in the 
  Powers section of your character card. Some power feats give you new 
  powers, such as increasing your hand size or making you proficient with 
  weapons or specific types of armors. Other power feats improve your 
  character’s existing powers. If your character has a power that allows him 
  to add 1d4 to another character’s combat check and you’ve checked the 
  “+1” box next to it, you’ll add 1d4+1 to the other character’s check. These 
  bonuses apply only when using the power on your character card; if you 
  instead play a card with a similar power, the feat bonus doesn’t apply.
  Card Feats: When you gain a card feat, check one new box on the 
  Cards List on your character card. Each card feat allows you to put one 
  more card of the type you choose into your character deck. After you 
  choose a card feat, use the new number on your Cards List whenever 
  you rebuild your deck.
  token Cards
  Each character has a corresponding token card, which you’ll move to 
  keep track of your character’s current location. Each token card also 
  includes a brief character biography.
  Role Cards
  Each character card has a corresponding role card, though you won’t 
  use it right away; role cards are part of the reward you get for 
  completing the third adventure of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure 
  Path. Role cards offer new feats for you to choose; these feats apply to 
  your character as if they were part of the original character card, and 
  your role card counts as part of your character card.
  Each side of the role card presents a different specialization for 
  your character, allowing you to choose one of two different paths 
  for your character’s continuing advancement. For example, one side 
  of the role card for the fighter Valeros presents feats that let him 
  specialize as a defending Guardian, while the other side offers feats 
  to advance him as an offense-oriented Weapon Master.
  When you are told to select your character’s role card, select one 
  of the two roles. From then on, whenever you gain a feat and choose 
  to check a box on your role card, you must always choose feats from 
  that side of the role card.
  Your role card is designed to be placed directly over the Powers section 
  of your character card. When you first get the role card, check any boxes 
  for the role you’ve chosen that match boxes you’ve already checked on 
  your character card. For example, if the “Light Armors” box was checked 
  on your character card, check the “Light Armors” box on your role card.
  Playing a scenario
  The Runelords’ plots are sinister indeed. You must track down the 
  villains, vanquish their minions, and quash their evil schemes!
  Your turn
  Take your turn by going through the following steps in order. The only 
  required steps are Advance the Blessings Deck, Reset Your Hand, and 
  End Your Turn; the other steps are optional.
  advance the Blessings deck: Flip the top card from the blessings deck 
  faceup onto the top of the blessings discard pile. You never acquire this 
  card, though some cards may refer to it during your turn. If you have to 
  remove one or more cards from the blessings deck for any reason and 
  there are not enough cards to do so, the players lose the scenario (see 
  Ending a Scenario, Adventure, or Adventure Path on page 18).
  Give a Card: You may give 1 card from your hand to another player 
  at your location. (Other players cannot give you cards on your turn.)
  move: You may move your token card to another location. Moving 
  triggers any effects that happen when you enter or leave a location. 
  (If you do not move, your character is not considered to have entered 
  or left a location.)
  explore: You may explore your location once each turn without 
  playing a card that allows you to explore; this must be your first 
  exploration for the turn. When you explore, flip over the top card of 
  your current location deck. If it’s a boon, you may attempt to acquire 
  it; if you don’t, banish it. If it’s a bane, you must try to defeat it. (See 
  Encountering a Card on page 10.) Many effects allow you to explore 
  again on your turn; if, during a single exploration, multiple effects 
  each give you an additional exploration, it counts as a total of 1 more 
  exploration, not a series of additional explorations. You may never 
  explore on another player’s turn.
  Close a location: If your character is at a location that has no cards 
  remaining and has not been closed, at this time you may make one 
  attempt to close it (see Closing a Location on page 13).
  ezren,  
  the wizard
  Ezren’s talents lie in 
  spellcasting. He’s got a 
  lot of spells, and can get 
  them into his hand quickly. 
  This also means he might 
  run out of cards before 
  he reaches the end of the 
  adventure. He also has no 
  blessings, so he might not 
  get to explore much unless 
  he acquires some allies or 
  finds some magic that lets 
  him explore again.
  
  9
  Base set RuleBook
  to activate her healing power, it doesn’t count as playing that spell 
  (meaning she also can’t recharge it). When a card has multiple 
  powers, you must choose one of them. Any paragraph in the power 
  section of a boon that doesn’t involve playing the card for a particular 
  effect is not itself a power—it’s a mandatory action that you must 
  take when you play the card.
  example: The ally Soldier has 2 different powers—you may 
  recharge the card to add 1d4 to your combat check, or you may 
  discard the card to explore your location. You can do either, but 
  you can’t do both, because once you play the card one way, it’s no 
  longer in your hand for you to play it the other way.
  When you play a card, it will usually require you to take one of the 
  following actions.
  • Reveal: Show it from your hand then put it back in your hand.
  • display: Place it faceup in front of your character, unless stated 
  otherwise; the card’s powers function until it’s discarded.
  • discard: Put it into your discard pile—a stack of faceup cards next to 
  your deck.
  • Recharge: Put it facedown at the bottom of your character deck.
  • Bury: Put it under your character card (likely losing access to it for 
  the rest of the scenario).
  • Banish: Put it back in the box, shuffling it in with the other cards of 
  the same type (thus losing it for good).
  If you are instructed to play, reveal, display, discard, recharge, 
  bury, banish, or otherwise manipulate a card, that card must come 
  from your hand unless otherwise specified. You may not activate 
  a power that doesn’t apply to your current situation. For example, 
  you may not play a card to reduce damage when damage is not 
  being dealt, or play a card to evade a monster when you are not 
  encountering a monster. 
  If a card in your hand does not specify when it can be played, you 
  can generally play it at any time, with the exception that during an 
  encounter you may only perform specific actions at specific times.
  You can look through your displayed, discarded, and buried cards 
  at any time, but you may not change the order of cards in your 
  discard pile. You may not look through your character deck unless 
  a card specifically allows it. Don’t shuffle any stack of cards unless 
  you’re instructed to. A deck is a deck, a hand is a hand, and a pile is a 
  pile whether or not it has any cards in it.
  Harsk,  
  the ranger
  Harsk is the friend 
  everyone wants to have—
  as long as he’s somewhere 
  else. Ranged weapons suit 
  him best; his ability to fire 
  arrows from long distances 
  can turn the tide of many 
  a combat. He’s also great 
  in dangerous locations 
  because he can scout out 
  the threats in advance 
  and endure whatever they 
  throw at him.
  Rules: TRaCkinG The BlessinGs deCk
  It’s very easy to get excited about starting your turn, so much so 
  that you might forget to advance the blessings deck. Unfortunately, 
  once you realize you’ve skipped it for the last few turns, it’s 
  often not so easy to figure out how many cards you need to flip 
  to catch up. We recommend that when each player advances the 
  deck, orient the card she turns over so that the text is right-side 
  up to that player. Sure, it makes for a messy-looking blessings 
  discard pile, but it makes it easy to see who remembered and 
  who didn’t.
  Reset your hand: First, apply any effects that happen at the end of 
  the turn; if a power allows or directs you to not reset your hand, you 
  must still apply any effects that happen at the end of the turn. You 
  may play cards and use powers unless a power directed you to reset 
  your hand and end your turn. After resolving these effects, you may 
  no longer play cards or use powers for the rest of the turn.
  Next, you may discard any number of cards. Then, if you have 
  more cards in your hand than your hand size specifies, you must 
  discard until the number of cards in your hand matches your hand 
  size. Finally, if you have fewer cards than your hand size, you must 
  draw cards until the number of cards in your hand matches your 
  hand size.
  end your Turn: When you’re done, the turn passes to the player on 
  your left.
  Rules: dRawinG CaRds
  Unless a card says otherwise, drawing means taking a card from 
  the specified source and putting it in your hand. If no source is 
  specified, draw it from your character deck.
  Playing Cards
  Anyone can play a card whenever the card allows it. Playing a 
  card means activating that card’s power by revealing, displaying, 
  discarding, recharging, burying, or banishing that card. Doing 
  something with a card that does not activate that card’s power does 
  not count as playing that card. For example, if Kyra discards a spell 
  
  10
  Base set RuleBook
  encountering a Card
  When you encounter a card, you—and only you—can go through the 
  following steps. No one else can perform these steps for you, though 
  other players might be able to play cards to help you deal with the 
  encounter’s challenges. During each of these steps, you and the other 
  players may perform only the specified actions. Players may only play 
  cards or activate powers that relate to each step. Each player may 
  play no more than 1 card of each type during each step; for example, 
  no one player may play more than 1 blessing while attempting a 
  check, though multiple players could each play 1 blessing during that 
  check. Each player may activate any power no more than once during 
  each step. Players may not play any cards or activate any powers 
  between these steps.
  If the card you’re encountering states that it is immune to a 
  particular trait, players may not play cards with the specified trait, use 
  powers that would add that trait to the check, or roll dice with that 
  trait during the encounter.
  After you flip over the top card of the location deck, put it on top of 
  the deck and read it, then go through the following steps in order.
  evade the Card (optional). If you have a power or card that lets 
  you evade the card you’re encountering, you may immediately shuffle 
  it back into the deck; it is neither defeated nor undefeated, and the 
  encounter is over.
  apply any effects That happen Before the encounter, if needed.
  attempt the Check. If the card is a boon, you may try to acquire it 
  for your deck; if it’s a bane, you must try to defeat it (see Attempting a 
  Check, below). If a card’s check section says “None,” look at the card’s 
  powers, and immediately do whatever it says there.
  attempt the next Check, if needed. If another check is required, 
  such as if you played a boon with a check to recharge, or if your bane 
  requires a second check to defeat, resolve it now. Repeat this step until 
  you have resolved all such checks.
  apply any effects That happen after the encounter, if needed. 
  Do this whether or not you succeeded at your checks. At this time, deal 
  with any effects that were triggered by the checks.  For example, if Ezren 
  played a spell with the Arcane trait during the check, he may now use 
  the power that allows him to examine the top card of his deck.
  Resolve the encounter. If you succeed at all of the checks required 
  to defeat a bane, banish it; if you don’t succeed, it is undefeated— 
  shuffle the card back into its location deck. If you succeed at a check to 
  acquire a boon, put it in your hand; otherwise, banish it.
  attempting a Check
  Many times during the game, you will need to attempt a check to do 
  something such as acquire a new weapon or defeat a monster.
  Each boon card has a section called Check to Acquire. This section 
  indicates the skills that can be used in checks to acquire the boon and 
  the difficulty of the checks. If you succeed in acquiring the card, put it 
  into your hand. If you fail, banish it.
  Each bane card has a section called Check to Defeat. This section 
  indicates the skills that can be used in checks against the bane and 
  the difficulty of the checks. If you succeed in defeating the bane, it is 
  usually banished. If you fail to defeat a bane, it is usually considered 
  undefeated and is shuffled back into the location deck. If you fail to 
  defeat a monster, you take damage (see Take Damage, If Necessary 
  on page 12). 
  If multiple checks are listed on the card with “or” between 
  them, choose one of them. If there’s a “then” between them, you’ll 
  need to succeed at both checks sequentially; you must attempt 
  both checks, even if you fail the first, because failure often has 
  kyra,
  the cleric
  Everybody runs to Kyra 
  for help. She can heal 
  without a Healing spell, but 
  doing so keeps her from 
  exploring. She must find 
  a balance between using 
  her blessings for bonus 
  dice and spending them to 
  explore again. She’s also 
  a good combatant, and 
  shines when she tries to 
  kill something that should 
  already be dead.
  sTRaTeGy: should you always exploRe?
  The blessings deck is a countdown timer, and it is very unforgiving—
  more exploration leads to more success. But there are times you 
  just want to cool your jets and hang out for a while.
  One reason might be the state of your character deck. Spending 
  turns in the Apothecary or the Temple and just letting yourself 
  heal can be a smart move if your deck is getting thin.
  Another reason to slow down is to realign your party toward 
  the end of the game. If you just need someone at the Warrens so 
  you can temporarily close it when you find the villain, don’t risk 
  finding a monster and upsetting your whole closing scheme. Take 
  the time to get your strategy set, especially if you have plenty of 
  turns to burn.
  Of course, the biggest disasters often occur shortly after 
  someone says, “We’ve got plenty of turns left.”
  
  11
  Base set RuleBook
  consequences. “Or” takes priority over “then,” so if a card says 
  “Wisdom 10 or Combat 13 then Combat 15,” you must first attempt 
  either a Wisdom check with a difficulty of 10 or a Combat check 
  with a difficulty of 13, and then attempt a Combat check with a 
  difficulty of 15. 
  Only the character who encounters the card may attempt the 
  check, with one exception: if a card requires sequential checks, the 
  character who encountered the card must attempt at least one of 
  the checks, but other checks may each be attempted by any one 
  character at the same location.
  Many cards also require checks to activate powers or to recharge 
  the cards after playing them.
  Attempting a check requires several actions that are explained 
  below. Remember that each player may not play more than 1 card of 
  each type or activate any 1 power more than once during each check.
  determine which die you’re using. Cards that require a check 
  specify the skill or skills you can use to attempt the check. Each check 
  to defeat or acquire a card lists one or more skills; you may choose 
  any of the listed skills for your check. For example, if a check lists 
  Dexterity, Disable, Strength, and Melee, you may use any one of 
  those skills to attempt your check.
  Most monsters and some barriers call for a combat check. 
  Weapons and many other cards that can be used during combat 
  generally tell you what skill to use when you attempt a combat 
  check; if you don’t play such a card, use your Strength or Melee 
  skill. (A few cards that can be used on checks don’t use any of your 
  skills; they instead specify the exact dice you need to roll or the 
  result of your die roll.)
  Some cards may allow you to replace the required skill for a 
  check with a different one; as part of this action, you may play only 
  1 card or use only 1 power that defines the skill you are going to 
  use. When you play a card that does this, add that card’s traits to 
  the check; for example, revealing the weapon Longsword +1 for 
  your combat check adds the Sword, Melee, Slashing, and Magic 
  traits to the check. (This isn’t the same as giving you a skill; for 
  example, the spell Holy Light adds the Divine trait to your check, 
  but it does not give you the Divine skill.) Even if your character 
  doesn’t have any of the skills listed for a check, you can still 
  attempt the check (unless you’re trying to recharge a card; see 
  Recharge on page 16), but your die is a d4.
  determine the difficulty. To succeed at the check, the result of your 
  die roll and modifiers must be greater than or equal to the difficulty of 
  the check. In checks to defeat a bane or acquire a boon, the difficulty is 
  the number in the circle under the skill you’ve chosen. In other checks, 
  the difficulty is the number in the text that follows the skill you’ve 
  chosen. (For example, where a card’s power instructs you to attempt a 
  Fortitude 7 check, the difficulty is 7.) Some cards increase or decrease 
  the difficulty of a check; for example, if a card says that the difficulty is 
  increased by 2, add 2 to the number on the card you encountered; if it 
  says that the difficulty is decreased by 2, subtract 2 from the number.
  play Cards and use powers That affect the Check (optional). 
  Players may now play cards or use powers that affect the check. 
  Players may not do things that modify a skill unless you’re using that 
  skill, and players may not do things that affect combat unless you’re 
  attempting a combat check. Do not add traits from these cards to the 
  check; for example, playing the spell Guidance on a check does not 
  give the check the Divine trait.
  Some cards and powers affect only specific types of checks, such as 
  Dexterity checks, Acrobatics checks, or noncombat checks. If, on your 
  character card, the skill you’re using refers to another skill, both skills 
  count for the purpose of determining the type of check. For example, 
  if you’re using the Arcane skill on a combat check, and your character 
  card says that your Arcane skill is Intelligence +2, the check counts as 
  both a combat Arcane check and a combat Intelligence check. Traits 
  also determine the type of check; for example, if you’re attempting a 
  combat check and you played a weapon that added the Ranged trait, 
  it counts as a Ranged combat check.
  assemble your dice. The skill you’re using and the cards you played 
  determine the number and type of dice you roll. For example, if you’re 
  attempting a check using your Strength skill, and your Strength die is 
  d10, you’ll roll 1d10. If another player played a blessing to add a die to 
  your check, you’ll roll 2d10.
  attempt the Roll. Roll the dice and add up their value, adding or 
  subtracting any modifiers that apply to the check. If the result is 
  greater than or equal to the difficulty of the check, then you succeed. 
  If the result is lower than the difficulty, then you fail. No matter how 
  many penalties are applied to a die roll, the result cannot be reduced 
  below 0.
  lem, 
  the bard
  While most others 
  specialize, Lem wants to do 
  everything. He’s a jack of all 
  trades, capable of handling 
  most challenges. He’s great 
  at making friends, whether 
  they’re characters who need 
  a boost or allies who want 
  to join his side. He should 
  pick up as many spells as 
  he can, as he’s the only 
  character who can use all of 
  them efficiently.
  
  12
  Base set RuleBook
  Take damage, if necessary. If you fail a check to defeat a monster, 
  it deals an amount of damage to you equal to the difference 
  between the difficulty to defeat the monster and your check 
  result. Unless the card specifies otherwise, this damage is Combat 
  damage. For example, if the difficulty to defeat a monster is 10 and 
  the result of your check is 8, the monster deals 2 Combat damage 
  to you (see Taking Damage, below). Remember that players may 
  not play more than 1 of each card type during a check, so if you 
  previously played a spell to affect the check, you may not play a 
  spell to reduce damage.
  example: Seoni encounters the spell Glibness. The check to acquire 
  is Intelligence, Arcane, Wisdom, or Divine 6. Seoni selects Arcane. 
  Her character card says her Arcane skill uses her Charisma die, which 
  is d12, plus 2. She rolls a 3 and adds 2 for a result of 5, 1 less than 
  she needed to acquire the spell. Dejected, she banishes the spell.
  On the next turn, Kyra encounters the monster Ghost. It has 
  2 possible checks to defeat: Combat 12, or Wisdom or Divine 8. 
  Though Kyra could use her Strength to attempt a combat check, she 
  instead selects Divine. Her character card says that her Divine skill 
  uses her Wisdom die, d12, plus 2. In addition, she has a power that 
  gives her another 1d8 with the Magic trait against monsters with 
  the Undead trait, which the Ghost has. So she rolls 1d12+2 + 1d8, 
  resulting in a 14. That result vastly exceeds the Ghost’s difficulty. 
  The Ghost’s power says that if Kyra’s check to defeat didn’t have the 
  Magic trait, the Ghost would be undefeated, but since her power 
  added the Magic trait to her check, the Ghost is banished.
  taking Damage
  When you are dealt damage, you and other players may play cards 
  and use powers that reduce or otherwise affect the specific type of 
  damage you’re being dealt. If you’re being dealt Fire damage, for 
  example, you may play cards that reduce Fire damage, or cards that 
  reduce all damage, but you may not play cards that reduce only 
  Electricity or Combat damage. Each player may play no more than 
  one of each card type to affect damage to the same character from 
  the same source. If a card says it reduces damage, with no type 
  listed, it reduces all types of damage.
  When you are dealt an amount of damage, choose that number 
  of cards from your hand and discard them. If you don’t have enough 
  cards in your hand, discard your entire hand and ignore the rest of 
  the damage.
  examining and searching
  Sometimes a card allows you to examine one or more cards—that 
  means looking at the specified card then putting it back where it 
  came from. If a card tells you to examine a deck until you find a 
  particular card type, begin with the top card of that deck and stop 
  when you have found a card of the correct type. Put the cards you 
  examined back in the same order you found them, unless instructed 
  otherwise. If you don’t find a card of the specified type, ignore any 
  directions related to that card. (This does not count as exploring, 
  though it may happen during an exploration.)
  Sometimes a card allows you to search a deck and choose any card 
  of a particular type; that means you may look at every card in the 
  deck and choose any card of that type. Unless instructed otherwise, 
  shuffle the deck afterwards. 
  summoning and adding Cards
  Sometimes you will be told to summon a card and encounter it, or 
  to add a card to a deck. When this happens, retrieve the card from 
  the box. However, if you’re told to summon and encounter a card 
  that’s already in play, just imagine you have another copy of that 
  card for the new encounter; this summoned copy ceases to exist 
  at the end of the encounter. Summoned cards cannot cause other 
  cards to be summoned.
  After evading or resolving all checks against a summoned card, 
  banish it unless you’re instructed otherwise. If an effect causes 
  multiple characters to summon and encounter cards, resolve the 
  encounters sequentially, in any order you like, including banishing the 
  card at the end of the encounter. If the summoned card is a villain or 
  henchman, defeating it does not allow you to close a location or win 
  the scenario—ignore any such text on those cards. Summoned cards 
  are not part of any location deck.
  If you’re instructed to add a card to the top or the bottom of a 
  deck, do so; otherwise, any cards added to a deck are shuffled into it.
  If you’re told to add a random card of a particular type with some 
  additional requirement, such as “having the Human trait” or “non-
  Basic” (shorthand for “not having the Basic trait”), draw cards of that 
  type from the box until you find a card that fulfills the requirement, 
  add that card, and put the rest back in the box.
  Merisiel, 
  the rogue
  When she’s on her own, 
  sneaky Merisiel has the 
  power to burn cards to 
  boost her own deadliness. 
  She can take out just 
  about anything—including 
  herself if she’s not careful. 
  She needs to temper her 
  bonus damage with self-
  preservation. She’s talented 
  at removing barriers, and 
  at never getting into a fight 
  she doesn’t want. 
  
  13
  Base set RuleBook
  Rules: dealinG wiTh CaRds
  Whenever you are instructed to choose random cards, shuffle the 
  cards you’re drawing from and draw from the top.
  If you’re told to do something with a certain number of cards, and 
  there aren’t that many cards available, use as many as there are. For 
  example, if you’re told to draw 4 cards from a deck that has only 3 
  cards, draw the 3 cards. (Regardless of this, if you need to remove 
  any number of cards from your deck and don’t have enough, your 
  character dies; if you need to remove any number of cards from the 
  blessings deck and don’t have enough, you lose the scenario.)
  Dying
  If, for any reason, you are ever required to remove one or more cards 
  from your deck and you don’t have enough cards, your character 
  dies. Place any cards in your deck, hand, and discard pile under your 
  character card. You cannot take turns, play cards, move, or do anything 
  else for the rest of this scenario. Certain powerful cards allow you 
  to return from death; if this doesn’t happen before the end of the 
  scenario, your death is permanent. The other characters may use the 
  dead character’s cards when they rebuild their decks after the scenario; 
  any cards that they don’t keep are then banished.
  If all of the characters are dead, the players lose the scenario 
  (see Ending a Scenario, Adventure, or Adventure Path on page 18).
  When a card summons a card for you to encounter, this starts a 
  new encounter, triggering any “before the encounter” and “after the 
  encounter” powers at the appropriate time. For example, the location 
  Garrison summons more of the monster you’ve encountered for any 
  characters at your location to fight; if that monster is a Hell Hound, 
  which deals 1 Fire damage to every character at the location after 
  the encounter, that Fire damage will be dealt after each Hell Hound is 
  encountered. When you’re done encountering the summoned cards, 
  continue resolving the original encounter. 
  Closing a location
  You may earn the opportunity to close a location in a number of ways. 
  Usually you get the opportunity to close a location after a defeating 
  a henchman from that location deck (see Henchmen on page 17), or 
  after that location deck runs out of cards (see Your Turn on page 8).
  When you have the opportunity and want to close a location, do 
  whatever the location’s When Closing section says. Locations often 
  require specific checks to close them; otherwise, they list specific tasks 
  you must perform. (If a location says you may close it automatically, you 
  don’t need to do anything else.) If the When Closing text offers multiple 
  options separated by “or,” you must make your choice of options before 
  you make any rolls or play any cards. If you succeed at meeting the When 
  Closing requirement, search through the location deck, take out any 
  villains, and banish the other cards. Any villains you found become the 
  entirety of the location deck, and the location is not closed—but at least 
  you know where the villains are! If you didn’t find any villains, perform 
  the When Permanently Closed effect and flip the location card over. 
  The location stays closed for the rest of the scenario, so villains may not 
  escape to that location (see Encountering a Villain on page 17). Characters 
  may move to closed locations, and if there are cards there, they may 
  explore and encounter those cards as normal. (Most closed locations don’t 
  have cards to explore, but some effects can put cards there.)
  example: Harsk acquires the final card in the Mountain Peak 
  location deck. He may now attempt to close the location. In the 
  When Closing section, Mountain Peak says Harsk must succeed 
  at a Wisdom or Survival 6 check. Harsk selects Survival. On his 
  character card, his Survival skill is his Wisdom die of d6, plus 2. 
  Harsk rolls a 5, for a total of 7, and closes the Mountain Peak, 
  flipping the card over to show it is closed.
  seoni,
  the sorcerer
  Seoni blows stuff up. Even 
  if she doesn’t have a spell 
  in her hand, she can invoke 
  a fire blast whenever she 
  meets an unfriendly sort. 
  She doesn’t have many 
  spells to start with, but 
  since she has an explosive 
  power, her spells don’t 
  have to be Attack spells. 
  And since she always 
  recharges her spells, she’ll 
  be seeing them a lot.
  sTRaTeGy: should you Be selFish?
  Throughout the game, your friends will ask you for help. They 
  might even stoop to begging. Should you ever tell them no?
  Probably not. This is a cooperative game, so sharing information 
  and setting goals as a group is wise. Think about ways you can 
  help each other, such as having Kyra forgo exploration to heal 
  another character. Spend a blessing to get a boon that you can’t 
  use and give it to someone else who desperately wants it. 
  Some groups even play with their hands faceup on the table so 
  everyone can help make choices.
  But many people do not, and there’s a good reason for it. Your 
  character is a living, growing entity. Your choices will determine 
  whether she succeeds at her goals. If you let your friends make 
  decisions for you, you’re not looking out for number one.
  
  14
  Base set RuleBook
  If your character dies, start a new character for the next scenario. 
  Choose a character card (it can be the same character who just died, 
  though you do not get any of the feats that character previously 
  earned) and build a new character deck as described in Build Your 
  Character on page 4, choosing only cards with the Basic trait. If your 
  party has begun the adventure The Hook Mountain Massacre, you may 
  ignore the Basic trait restriction; instead, you may use any cards in 
  the box from the base set and the Character Add-On Deck, as well as 
  any cards from an adventure deck whose adventure deck number is at 
  least 2 lower than that of the adventure you’re currently playing.
  Card types
  The spoils of adventure are yours! Herein you will find the wonders of 
  the world: dangerous missions, perilous challenges, deadly monsters, 
  and treasures galore!
  story Cards (adventure Path, 
  adventure, and scenario)
  Story cards define the game session you’ll be playing. You always 
  have a scenario card, which tells you what to do and where to go 
  in the current game session. You may also have an adventure card, 
  which lists the scenarios you need to finish to complete the adventure, 
  and perhaps an Adventure Path card, which lists the adventures you 
  need to finish to complete the Adventure Path. 
  The front of each story card includes powers for playing it. Some 
  are used during play, and some are used as you set up a particular 
  scenario, so make sure you read them right away. Story cards also 
  list a reward—something you get to do once you complete the task 
  provided by the story card (see Ending a Scenario, Adventure, or 
  Adventure Path on page 18).
  The front of each scenario card lists the villains and henchmen in 
  the scenario; the back of each scenario card includes a list of locations 
  used in the scenario (see Set Out the Locations and Build the Location 
  Decks on page 6). 
  Valeros,
  the Fighter
  Valeros is bristling with 
  weapons. While most 
  characters must discard 
  them for their most 
  powerful effects, Valeros 
  just puts them back into 
  his deck. That means he 
  shouldn’t be afraid to take 
  damage or discard to get to 
  the cards he wants. Valeros 
  is effective when he’s using 
  up his cards, not when he’s 
  safeguarding them.
  sTRaTeGy: should you look ahead?
  Harsk, Seelah, and cards like Augury let you look at cards in location 
  decks before you must encounter them. This can be a tremendous 
  help as you race the ticking clock that is the blessings deck.
  Finding the villain early can mean the difference between 
  success and failure. A card like Augury can strand a villain on the 
  bottom of a deck, leaving him waiting for you to return while you 
  loot and lock down other locations. 
  Of course, all that peeking ahead comes at an opportunity cost: 
  those Spyglasses could instead be cards that help you defeat banes 
  and acquire boons. If you can’t actually beat what you find, there’s 
  no point in finding it.
  location Cards
  Location cards represent the places your characters will visit during the 
  scenario. The front of each location card has the following features.
  deck list: This tells you the quantity of each card type you need to set 
  up the location deck (see Build the Location Decks on page 6).
  at This location: These are special powers that are in effect while the 
  location is open. Some of these remain in effect when the location is 
  permanently closed; in that case, they also appear on the back of the 
  location card.
  when Closing: When you have the opportunity to close a location 
  and want to do so, you must perform this task. Usually you get the 
  opportunity to close a location after a henchman is defeated there, or 
  after the location deck runs out of cards (see Closing a Location on page 
  
  15
  Base set RuleBook
  from the 
  CharaCter add-on deCk
  13). When you close a location, flip it over. The villain can no longer 
  escape to this location, though characters can still move there.
  when permanently Closed: When a location is permanently closed, 
  the powers listed here go into effect.
  Character Cards (Character, Role, 
  and token)
  See pages 7–8 for details on character cards.
  Boon Cards (Weapon, spell, armor, 
  Item, ally, loot, and Blessing)
  Boons are cards you may be able to acquire and put into your hand or 
  deck for future use. Weapons, spells, armors, items, allies, loot, and 
  blessings are all boons. Each player may play only one of each type of 
  boon on a single check. The following information appears on boons.
  Type: This is the boon’s card type.
  Traits: Many effects use a card’s traits for some effect; for example, 
  some monsters become harder to defeat when you play weapons 
  with the Piercing trait.
  Check to acquire: If you encounter a boon while exploring a location, 
  you may attempt a check to acquire the card. If you succeed at the 
  check, put the card in your hand; if you fail, or choose not to attempt 
  the check, banish the card (see Playing Cards on page 9). You need 
  only attempt the check to acquire when encountering a card in a 
  location deck, not when drawing it from your deck or playing it from 
  your hand. Loot cards do not have a check to acquire; instead, you 
  earn them as a reward for completing a scenario.
  power: These are special rules for the boon. In general, if a card lists 
  multiple powers, you can do any of them; however, if you play a card 
  in such a way that it leaves your hand, that action can trigger only 
  1 power. For example, if a card says you may discard it to add to your 
  die roll or discard it to explore your location, you may discard it to 
  trigger either effect, but not both.
  Recharge: This explains circumstances under which you may recharge 
  the card—put it on the bottom of your deck—after playing it; it usually 
  amiri,
  the barbarian
  Amiri is a scrapper. The 
  strongest character in the 
  game, she can also unleash 
  her deadly rage, tossing 
  cards to get boosts to her 
  physical checks. This is a 
  bit dangerous, but Amiri 
  is a daredevil. She’s never 
  going to be stuck anywhere 
  she doesn’t want to be. 
  When a barbarian enters 
  the room, she leaves when 
  she wants to.
  appears on cards that you would otherwise be required to discard. 
  Usually, recharging requires a skill check; if you don’t have at least 
  one of the skills listed for the check, you cannot attempt to recharge 
  the card. If, while attempting another check, you play a boon that you 
  may be able to recharge, resolve the current check before attempting 
  to recharge the card. The boon is in play (and does not count as being 
  in your hand, in your deck,in your discard pile, or elsewhere) during 
  the intervening time. (This check applies only after you have played a 
  card—when a card’s power directs you to recharge it as part of playing 
  it, and does not specify a check, you don’t have to attempt a check to 
  recharge it.) You cannot recharge a card you are forced to discard, or 
  one that you choose to discard as part of taking damage or resetting 
  your hand at the end of your turn. 
  The following are general descriptions of each type of boon.
  
  16
  Base set RuleBook
  from the 
  CharaCter add-on deCk
  lini,  
  the druid
  Lini commands animals to 
  do her bidding—a humble 
  dog will serve her better 
  than most humans will. 
  She’s a good spellcaster, 
  and can serve as a 
  healer if Kyra’s occupied. 
  If all else fails, she can 
  even turn into a bear to 
  bump up her Strength or 
  Dexterity considerably. 
  That lets her collect a lot of 
  non-Attack spells.
  sTRaTeGy: should you seek ouT danGeR?
  When you’re adventuring, you can go wherever you want. But not 
  all locations are created equal.
  Start by looking at the text on all of the location cards. A 
  common strategy is to clear out the “positive” locations first. The 
  Academy practically helps you close it, letting you explore again 
  as often as not. But that strategy leaves the “negative” locations 
  for when you’re the most beaten up. You can probably handle the 
  Bandits at the Guard Tower early, but having them around late in 
  the game can be very annoying.
  A location’s When Closing requirement can guide your path as 
  well. If you can’t succeed at a Survival check to save your life, stay 
  clear of the Woods, despite its positive effect. If you can’t close the 
  location when the henchman pops up, you’ll have to burn through 
  the whole deck to try again.
  Sometimes you’ll want to leave a location open until the villain 
  appears and you can temporarily close it. Churning through the 
  Shrine to Lamashtu can hurt, but if you forgo your explorations 
  there and just hang out, you might just close it before a blessing 
  burns your brain.
  All else being equal, more exploration yields more fun.
  weapon: Weapon cards often require you to do something (such as 
  reveal the card) to modify your combat check. If a weapon power 
  refers to characters who are proficient with weapons, look in the 
  Powers section of your character card to see whether you are.
  spell: Spell cards have a wide variety of effects. Spells always have 
  the Arcane or Divine trait, or both; characters with a matching trait will 
  be able to make the best use of a given spell. 
  armor: Armor cards help you by reducing damage. Armor powers 
  specify which types of damage they reduce; if a power refers to “all” 
  damage, that applies to all damage of all types. If the armor doesn’t 
  reduce the type of damage you’re being dealt, you can’t play it. For 
  example, if you’re dealt Fire damage and the armor card doesn’t say it 
  reduces Fire damage or all damage, you can’t play it.
  item: Item cards have a wide variety of effects.
  ally: Ally cards often help you with checks you attempt, and many let 
  you discard them to explore again on your turn.
  loot: Loot cards are unique in a couple of ways. The other boons can 
  be found by exploring locations, but loot cards are only given out as 
  rewards for completing scenarios. They are automatically acquired, 
  and so have no check to acquire. Also, loot cards list a type, such as 
  “weapon”; apart from the way loot cards are acquired, they behave 
  just like other boons of that type and count as cards of that type.
  Blessing: Blessing cards often allow you to add dice to checks 
  attempted by any player, including yourself, at any location. The dice 
  added are normally of the type associated with the skill the character 
  is using for the check; if a card instead specifies the exact dice to roll 
  for the check, the added dice are of the type specified by that card. 
  For example, if Lem is making a Strength check with his Strength of 
  d4+1, Blessing of the Gods adds a d4.
  Bane Cards (Villain, Henchman, 
  Monster, and Barrier)
  Banes are cards you must defeat or suffer the consequences. Barriers 
  and monsters appear randomly in location decks, while most scenarios 
  call for specific villains and henchmen.
  sTRaTeGy: should you aCquiRe Boons you 
  won’T use?
  The short answer is “absolutely.” At minimum, a boon is something 
  you can give up as damage when that Hill Giant cracks your skull 
  open. But there’s another reason: your fellow adventurer might 
  want you to give it to him.
  This is sometimes trickier than it looks. To give a card to 
  someone, you must start your turn at that character’s location. So 
  that character might have to come to you to get it, assuming you 
  even still have it in your hand when he does. Coordinating a timely 
  rendezvous often spells a villain’s end.
  It’s a lot easier, of course, if a character good at acquiring a 
  type of boon gets it herself. If you’re able to look ahead in the 
  location deck or evade encounters, you can tell another player, “I 
  just found something in this deck that you probably want.” Then 
  she can spend her turns trying to get it, and you can get on with 
  your own goals.
  
  17
  Base set RuleBook
  from the 
  CharaCter add-on deCk
  Type: Most banes are either monsters or barriers. Most villains and 
  henchmen have the “monster” type and count as monsters; a few 
  henchmen have the “barrier” type and count as barriers.
  Traits: Many effects use a card’s traits for some effect; for example, banes 
  with the Goblin trait may be harder to defeat in a particular scenario.
   
  Check to defeat: This is the skill check or combat check needed to 
  defeat the bane. If the check is listed as “None,” the bane cannot be 
  defeated. You normally take damage if you fail a check to defeat a 
  monster (see Take Damage, If Necessary on page 12).
  powers: These are special rules when you encounter the bane.
  Henchmen
  Henchmen are a special type of bane. You may encounter henchmen as 
  you explore locations, and some locations may require you to summon 
  and defeat a different type of henchman to close them.
  When you defeat a henchman from a location deck, you may 
  immediately attempt to close that location by fulfilling that location’s 
  When Closing requirement (see Closing a Location on page 13).
  Some cards may summon a particular henchman card into play 
  temporarily. Since this summoned henchman doesn’t come from the 
  location deck, defeating it doesn’t allow you to close a location.
  encountering a Villain
  Most scenarios have a villain—a big bad bane for the players to fight at 
  the end. Villains work a lot like other monsters, but since defeating them 
  is the goal of many scenarios, some special rules are used with villains.
  Unlike monsters and henchmen, villains don’t just need to be 
  defeated—they also need to be cornered, meaning you need to ensure 
  there are no open locations for them to escape to.
  attempt to Temporarily Close open locations. When a player 
  encounters the villain, each player at any other location may 
  immediately attempt to fulfill the When Closing requirement for 
  his location. If any player at a location succeeds, his location is 
  temporarily closed and the villain cannot escape there this turn (see 
  Check to See Whether the Villain Escapes on page 18). Temporarily 
  closing a location does not trigger any of the other effects of closing 
  a location; the location opens again immediately after the encounter. 
  Players may attempt to close locations in any order they wish.
  sajan, 
  the monk
  Sajan has nary a weapon, 
  armor, or spell, but that 
  doesn’t mean he’s a lesser 
  combatant. He churns 
  through blessings to pump 
  up his unarmed attacks, 
  and to explore as much 
  as he likes. Sajan’s lack 
  of armor means he can 
  quickly get into trouble, 
  though, so he wants feats 
  and items that can soften 
  the sting of bad luck.
  sTRaTeGy: should you BuRn ThRouGh  
  youR deCk?
  Playing a character such as Seelah or Merisiel gives you ways to 
  churn through your deck faster, discarding cards quickly to get to the 
  cards you want. While this makes you far more likely to defeat and 
  acquire what you need, it comes with a cost: you might kill yourself.
  This game is all about trade-offs. Should you press your luck or 
  hold off a bit? Not taking risks will make you lose as often as taking 
  too many risks, but at least your character will be alive after you lose.
  One of the toughest choices involves shedding cards as you 
  reset your hand. You’re allowed to discard any number of cards 
  before you draw up, but that means you’re closer to death. There 
  are few things more humiliating than dying because you forgot 
  how many cards you needed to draw at the end of your turn.
  When you have too many cards in your hand, that’s a different 
  problem. If you can play some cards that can be recharged, even if 
  you might—in the long term—be better off if you saved them, it’s still 
  worth playing them. Discarding cards for no gain is even more painful.
  
  18
  Base set RuleBook
  from the 
  CharaCter add-on deCk
  encounter the villain. This encounter works exactly as it does with 
  other banes, but be careful to look for any special rules listed on the 
  villain card or the scenario card.
  if you defeat the villain, Close the villain’s location. You do not 
  need to fulfill the When Closing requirement. Examine the location 
  deck; if there are no additional villains in it, banish all of the cards 
  and flip the location card over. The location is permanently closed, 
  and the location’s When Permanently Closed effect is triggered. 
  If any villains remain in the deck, banish everything except 
  the remaining villains and shuffle the deck; the location is not 
  permanently closed, but it is temporarily closed, and the defeated 
  villain cannot escape to it.
  Check to see whether the villain escapes. If any locations are 
  not closed, the villain escapes. If you defeated the villain, count 
  the number of open locations, subtract 1, and retrieve that number 
  of random blessings from the box. Shuffle the villain in with those 
  blessings, then deal 1 card to each open location and shuffle those 
  location decks. If you did not defeat the villain, do the same thing, but 
  retrieve the blessings from the blessings deck instead of from the box. 
  (Note that if you did not defeat the villain, there is always at least one 
  open location: the one in which it was just encountered.)
  if the villain has nowhere to escape to, you win! See After the 
  Scenario below.
  example: Lem and Merisiel are in Black Fang’s Dungeon. Lem 
  is at the Throne Room, Merisiel is at the Desecrated Vault, and 
  Temple and Shrine to Lamashtu are open as well. On Merisiel’s 
  turn, she encounters Black Fang! Lem now has a chance to 
  temporarily close the Throne Room, and he easily succeeds at his 
  Diplomacy 6 check. Merisiel now encounters and defeats Black 
  Fang, banishing all the cards in the Desecrated Vault. But since 
  the Temple and Shrine to Lamashtu are open, Black Fang has 
  somewhere to escape to. Merisiel’s player shuffles together Black 
  Fang and a random blessing from the box and deals 1 of those 
  2 cards into each of the open, unclosed locations—but not the 
  Throne Room, since Lem temporarily closed it. The hunt for Black 
  Fang continues!
  after the scenario
  Now the time of adventure has passed. Return to the inn, heal your 
  wounds, and divide the treasures you’ve unearthed. Rest while you 
  can, for the runelords’ plans will not be halted for long.
  ending a scenario, adventure, or 
  adventure Path
  If, at any point, you need to advance the blessings deck but there 
  are no cards remaining in it, the scenario ends immediately and your 
  party of adventurers loses. You also lose if all of the characters are 
  dead at the same time (see Dying on page 14). You do not earn the 
  reward on the scenario card, and if you’re playing an adventure, you 
  didn’t complete that scenario; you will need to replay it successfully 
  before you can attempt the next scenario in the adventure.
  If the players defeat the villain and prevent him from escaping, or 
  they achieve a different condition for winning listed on the scenario 
  card, your group defeats the scenario and earns the reward listed 
  on the scenario card. You may be rewarded with loot cards, which 
  each can be given to any player in the group. If you’re rewarded with 
  a feat, choose an appropriate checkbox on your character card (or 
  your role card, if you have one) and check it. That feat now applies 
  to your character until she dies. If you’re rewarded with a feat of a 
  seelah, 
  the paladin
  Seelah can wield swords 
  and spells with equal 
  skillfulness, and excels 
  when on the defense. 
  She turns blessings into 
  damage, and her armors 
  can handle most assaults. 
  Seelah can also scope 
  out the locations she’s 
  exploring, but don’t 
  expect her to hang on to 
  treasure—she’s looking for 
  evildoers to smite.
  sTRaTeGy: should you hoaRd BlessinGs?
  Blessings are among the most versatile cards in the game. Most 
  can be used to add to checks or to explore again, but you can’t use 
  them to do both at the same time. So when you’re trying to decide 
  whether to play a blessing on your companion’s check to acquire a 
  wand, you might be wondering, “Did I just cost us a turn?”
  What is the opportunity cost of not exploring? Do you need that 
  sword more than you need to find the villain? The risk-reward 
  analysis is complex here.
  Early in the game, you might be willing to spend a blessing on 
  a check, but when the clock is ticking down, conservatism is often 
  the wiser course. If it’s your combat check and you think you might 
  lose without the blessing, it’s likely worth playing the blessing on 
  that check. Fail badly enough, and you might lose the blessing to 
  damage anyway.
  This analysis is worth going through, but don’t let it stop you from 
  acting. There are always more turns—at least, until there aren’t.
  
  19
  Base set RuleBook
  Rules: makinG youR own CaRds
  You can make your own story cards—simply follow the format 
  of the ones in the box, choosing villains and henchmen that are 
  appropriate for the power level of your characters. Be careful when 
  setting rewards; you don’t want to give out too much for success.
  You can also make your own character and role cards. To balance 
  them with the ones in the box, each character should start with 15 
  cards on her Card List, no more than 1 d4 and 1 d12 in her skills, 
  and no more than 5 skill bonuses. She should have 15 skill feat 
  checkboxes, 10 card feat checkboxes, 4 power feat checkboxes on 
  her character card, and 12 power feat checkboxes on her role card.
  specific type and your character has no unchecked feats of that type, 
  you do not gain a feat. No character may gain a reward from a given 
  scenario, adventure, or Adventure Path more than once.
  Once you’ve played a scenario, whether you won or lost, rebuild 
  your character deck (see Between Games, below). Put all other cards 
  back into the box.
  If you’re playing an adventure and you successfully complete a 
  scenario, you may proceed to the next scenario on the adventure 
  card. If you’ve successfully completed all of the scenarios on the 
  adventure card, you earn the reward on the adventure card.
  If you’re playing an Adventure Path and you successfully complete 
  an adventure, you’re ready to move on to the next one. Add all of 
  the cards from the next adventure deck to the box and begin with 
  the first scenario of the new adventure.
  If you’re playing an Adventure Path and you successfully complete 
  all of the adventures, you earn the reward on the Adventure Path card. 
  At this point, you can build your own adventures using the cards you 
  have, or you can create new characters and start over.
  Between Games
  After each scenario, you must rebuild your character deck. Start by 
  combining your discard pile with your hand, your character deck, and 
  any cards you buried under your character card; you may then freely 
  trade cards with other players. Your deck must end up meeting the 
  Cards List requirements on your character card, along with any deck 
  adjustments on your role card, if you have one. Loot cards count as 
  cards of their type; if your character’s Cards List specifies 3 items 
  and you keep 1 loot card with the item type when your rebuild your 
  deck, your deck must contain exactly 2 other items. 
  sTRaTeGy: adviCe FoR solo play
  Solo play is particularly good for quickly completing scenarios to 
  advance your character if you want to catch up to other players.
  Not all characters should be considered equal for solo play. 
  For example, Lem is quite good at helping other characters—but 
  when there are no other characters, he’s a lot less useful. Ezren 
  doesn’t have any blessings, so when no one else can give him 
  any, his progress might be inhibited. Merisiel, on the other hand, 
  is great for solo play, because she gains bonuses when no one is 
  at her location.
  You can also play multiple characters if you like; we suggest you 
  try solo play with 2 characters. Treat each character as if he were 
  being played by a separate player (so if you’re playing Sajan and 
  Valeros, advance the blessings deck at the start of Sajan’s turn and 
  at the start of Valeros’s turn).
  Some cards are particularly difficult in solo play. If your character 
  can’t ever get out of the Treacherous Cave, your scenario will grind 
  to a halt. When you encounter such a card, remove it from the game 
  and replace it with another card of the same type that roughly 
  matches its power level but isn’t quite so impossible to overcome.
  If you can’t construct a valid deck from the cards your group has 
  available because you don’t have enough of certain card types, 
  choose the extra cards you need from the box, choosing only 
  cards with the Basic trait. After you begin the adventure The Hook 
  Mountain Massacre, you may ignore the Basic trait restriction; 
  instead, you may use any cards in the box from the base set and 
  the Character Add-On Deck, as well as any cards from an adventure 
  whose adventure deck number is at least 2 lower than the adventure 
  you’re currently playing. If you have cards left over after rebuilding 
  all of the surviving characters’ decks, put them back in the box.
  If you want to start a new character, you may, but it’s important 
  that you do not keep decks for characters you’re not actively playing; 
  doing so would use up cards that you should be encountering during 
  play. The base set is designed to have no more than 4 character 
  decks built at one time; the Character Add-On Deck, available 
  separately, expands the maximum number of concurrently built 
  decks to 6. If you switch characters for some reason, it’s best to 
  write down the cards in the previous character’s deck and return the 
  cards to the box until you need to use it again.
  
  20
  Base set RuleBook
  example of Play
  Edward and Monica sit down to play their 
  third session of the Pathfinder Adventure 
  Card Game, using the scenario Black Fang’s 
  Dungeon. Edward has opted to play the 
  mighty wizard Ezren, and Monica plays 
  Merisiel, the rogue. After setting up the 
  location and blessings decks, Edward and 
  Monica decide to start their characters 
  together in the location Throne Room, so 
  they put their token cards near the Throne 
  Room card. Both players draw their starting 
  hands, but since Monica’s hand doesn’t 
  include any item cards—Merisiel’s favored 
  card type—she has to discard her hand and 
  draw again. This time, she gets an item—a 
  Blast Stone—so she keeps her new hand and 
  shuffles the old one back into her deck. 
  Edward begins play by advancing the 
  blessings deck, and then chooses to have 
  Ezren explore the Throne Room. He flips the top 
  card over to reveal the spell Acid Arrow, which 
  has a check to acquire of Intelligence or Arcane 
  4. Edward looks at his character card and sees 
  that Ezren’s Arcane skill is d12+2, better than his 
  Intelligence skill of d12. He rolls a 7 and adds 
  2 for a total of 9, which exceeds the difficulty. 
  Edward adds the Acid Arrow to his hand. 
  Since he has just acquired a card with the 
  Magic trait, one of Ezren’s special powers 
  triggers, allowing him to immediately explore 
  again. Edward flips over the next card of the 
  location deck to discover an Ancient Skeleton 
  henchman! Monica and Edward are excited 
  because they know that defeating the henchman will allow them to close the Throne 
  Room and move one step closer to completing the scenario and winning the game. 
  The scenario’s special rule is “When any character encounters an Ancient Skeleton 
  henchman, each other character at that location must summon and encounter an 
  Ancient Skeleton henchman.” This means Merisiel must encounter one too, but 
  Monica’s not worried—Merisiel has a power that allows her to evade her encounter, so 
  she banishes her summoned Ancient Skeleton right away.
  To defeat his Ancient Skeleton, Ezren must attempt a combat check. Edward opts to 
  play the Acid Arrow spell he just acquired, which lets him roll his Arcane die—d12+2—
  plus 2d4 for his check. The difficulty of the check is 8, and Edward wants to make 
  absolutely sure he’ll succeed, so Monica plays her Blast Stone to add another 1d4 to 
  the check.  Edward assembles 1d12 and 3d4, and rolls a total value of 12, then adds 2 
  (the “+2” from his Arcane skill) to get a result of 14. Now Edward can try to recharge 
  his Acid Arrow. The card says he must succeed at an Arcane 6 check, so he rolls d12+2 
  and gets a 9. He puts the card at the bottom of his deck. Playing the Acid Arrow spell 
  triggered another of Ezren’s powers: after he plays a spell with the Arcane trait, he can 
  examine the top card of his character deck, and if it’s a spell, he can add it to his hand. 
  The top card is the spell Levitate, so he puts it in his hand. Best of all, because Ezren 
  succeeded at the check, the Ancient Skeleton is defeated; Edward banishes it.
  Edward can now immediately attempt to close the Throne Room. To do so, he must 
  attempt a Charisma or Diplomacy check with a difficulty of 6. Ezren doesn’t have the 
  Diplomacy skill, and his Charisma die is just d6, so the odds aren’t in his favor. Monica 
  sees that her friend could use some help, so she plays a Blessing of the Gods on Ezren’s 
  Charisma check. Though Monica has 2 blessings in her hand, she can only play 1 card of 
  any given type on a particular check, so she keeps the second blessing for later. Edward 
  rolls 1d6 for Ezren’s Charisma die and another 1d6 for the blessing, and gets exactly 6. 
  The Throne Room is now closed, and Ezren and Merisiel are one step closer to defeating 
  Black Fang’s Dungeon. 
  Edward still has a problem, though. He gained 2 cards and played only 1, so if he 
  resets his hand now, he’ll need to discard down to his hand size of 6. Instead, he plays 
  his new Levitate spell to move to the Desecrated Vault; he needs a 6 on his recharge roll 
  for the Levitate, and rolls a 5, so he discards it. Since he played a spell, his power lets 
  him look at the top card of his deck, which is a Codex. That’s not a spell, so he puts that 
  back on his deck, and the turn passes to Monica. Black Fang’s days are numbered!
  
  21
  Base set RuleBook
  Base set CHaRaCteRs
  ezren
  Harsk
  Valeros
  seoni
  kyra
  amiri
  lem
  lINI
  Merisiel
  sajan
  seelah
  ezren
  CHaRaCteR aDD-oN DeCk CHaRaCteRs
  weapon: Quarterstaff
  spell: Arcane Armor, Detect Magic, Force Missile, Invisibility, 
  Levitate, Lightning Touch (2), Sleep
  item: Blast Stone, Bracers of Protection, Codex
  ally: Night Watch, Sage, Standard Bearer
  weapon: Light Crossbow (2), Shortbow (2), Sling
  armor: Leather Armor
  item: Amulet of Life, Crowbar, Holy Water
  ally: Crow
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (5)
  weapon: Dagger, Longsword (2), Mace, Short Sword
  armor: Chain Mail, Wooden Shield (2)
  item: Mattock, Potion of Hiding
  ally: Night Watch, Standard Bearer
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (3)
  weapon: Mace, Quarterstaff
  spell: Cure, Guidance, Mending
  armor: Chain Mail, Wooden Shield
  item: Holy Water
  ally: Guard
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (6)
  weapon: Longspear, Longsword, Quarterstaff, Short Sword (2)
  armor: Leather Armor, Wooden Shield
  item: Mattock, Potion of Hiding
  ally: Guide, Standard Bearer
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (4)
  weapon: Sling
  spell: Cure, Levitate, Sanctuary, Strength
  item: Codex, Thieves’ Tools
  ally: Burglar, Sage, Troubadour
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (5)
  spell: Cure (2), Detect Magic, Guidance, Sanctuary, Strength
  item: Potion of Fortitude, Sage’s Journal
  ally: Crow, Dog (2)
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (4)
  weapon: Dagger, Dart
  armor: Leather Armor
  item: Caltrops, Crowbar, Potion of Glibness, Potion of Vision, 
  Thieves’ Tools (2)
  ally: Burglar, Guard
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (4)
  item: Amulet of Mighty Fists, Caltrops, Potion of Glibness, 
  Potion of Vision
  ally: Guide, Sage, Troubadour
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (8)
  spell: Arcane Armor, Force Missile, Invisibility
  item: Blast Stone, Bracers of Protection, Potion of Fortitude
  ally: Guard, Guide (2), Troubadour
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (5)
  weapon: Longsword, Mace, Short Sword
  spell: Cure
  armor: Chain Mail (2), Wooden Shield
  ally: Night Watch, Standard Bearer
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (6)
  suggested Deck lists
  Here are optional starting card lists for the seven characters in the base set and the four 
  characters in the Character Add-On Deck. All of these characters start with only cards 
  with the Basic trait. Note that while all of these characters are buildable with any others, 
  they can’t all be built at once, because then you may not have enough cards left in the 
  box to play the game.
  
  22
  Base set RuleBook
  things to keep in Mind
  If you’ve played other card games, board games, or roleplaying games, 
  you may find a lot of familiar concepts in the Pathfinder Adventure Card 
  Game. However, bringing in assumptions from other games—including 
  the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game—can potentially trip you up. Here are 
  some guidelines you might want to keep in mind.
  Cards do what They say. Read any card as it is encountered or played, and 
  do whatever it says as soon as it makes sense to do so. Let the card tell 
  you what to do, and don’t impose limitations that aren’t there. You can play 
  an armor card even if there isn’t one in your deck list. You can play a Cure 
  spell even if it’s not your turn. You can play a blessing on a check even if 
  someone else has played one. Cards say everything they need to say.
  Cards don’t do what They don’t say. Each card’s powers reference specific 
  situations, and if you’re not in those situations, you can’t play it. If a card says 
  it works on “a check,” you can play it on anyone’s check, but if a card says 
  “your check,” it only works on yours. You can’t play a Cure spell to reduce the 
  amount of damage you’re taking, because Cure isn’t about reducing damage. 
  You can’t play Detect Evil to examine a location deck that has no cards. Your 
  weapon doesn’t help you acquire new weapons. Each card tells you what it’s 
  for, and you can use it only for that.
  no one else Can Take your Turn for you. Whenever you encounter a card 
  or make a check, you—and only you—must resolve it. No other character 
  can evade it, defeat it, acquire it, close it, decide what to do with it, or fail 
  at doing any of those things. If Sajan encounters a monster, Merisiel can’t 
  evade it for him. If Kyra encounters a Ghoul, Seoni can’t attempt the check 
  to defeat it. If Amiri encounters a Battered Chest, Lini cannot use Thieves’ 
  Tools against it. If Valeros encounters a Spyglass, Harsk can’t attempt 
  the check to acquire it. If Ezren defeats a henchman at the Sandpoint 
  Cathedral, Seelah can’t discard a blessing to close the location. If the 
  game tells you to do something, you have to do it.
  Cards don’t have memories. Cards forget they’ve been played after 
  they’ve done whatever they do. So if you reveal an item to reduce 
  damage dealt before an encounter, you can reveal that item again 
  during the encounter. A monster isn’t affected by anything you did 
  in a previous encounter with it. Even though you’ve played a card to 
  explore again, after that exploration you can play another. Don’t ask 
  your cards to remember what happened, because they’re just cards.
  Finish one Thing Before you start something else. You do many 
  things in a specific order, and you need to finish doing each thing 
  before you do the next thing. You move before you explore, not after. 
  If a spell used in a check can be recharged, finish the first check before 
  you begin your check to recharge it. If a villain requires two sequential 
  combat checks, finish the first before starting the second. Don’t start a 
  new process until you’ve finished the last one. (That said, if the game 
  doesn’t specify an order for things, you decide the order.)
  if it isn’t Called something, it isn’t That Thing. Every term described 
  in the rules and on cards has a specific definition. The Goblin Warchanter 
  has the Goblin trait, but the Goblin Dog doesn’t, even though it has 
  Goblin in its name. A Potion of Healing may sound like it’s magical, but 
  it doesn’t have the Magic trait. A Ghost deals Combat damage when 
  it damages you, even if you failed a Divine check to defeat it. Detect 
  Magic doesn’t use the word “explore,” so you can play it at times when 
  you can’t explore. Don’t make assumptions—just read the card.
  add only what you are Told to add. If a card adds another die, that’s 
  all it gives you: a die. It doesn’t give you your bonuses again. It doesn’t 
  give you the skill associated with that die. It doesn’t give you the ability 
  to recharge an Arcane spell if you don’t have the Arcane skill. When 
  you play a Longbow to add your Strength die to a Combat check, you 
  don’t get to play a Blessing of Gorum to add 2 dice, because you’re not 
  attempting a Strength check. You just get a die.
  allow for abstractions. Sometimes the story you imagine can get in 
  the way of playing the game. Despite their aquatic nature, Bunyips 
  can be encountered in the General Store. Caltrops work against Ancient 
  Skeletons, even if they don’t have flesh on their feet. Harsk can fire a 
  Heavy Crossbow from the Mountain Peak into the Deeper Dungeons. 
  Don’t force the cards to fit your story; let the cards tell you their stories.
  Choices matter. Your choices have consequences. Once you choose cards 
  for your character, you can’t trade them for other cards whenever you like. 
  If a location makes you choose between attempting a check or banishing 
  a card before closing it, you can’t attempt the check and then banish the 
  card if you fail. If you roll too low on a Combat check, it’s too late to play 
  a Strength spell to improve your result. Once you choose a side of a role 
  card, you can’t switch to the other side. If something kills your character, 
  your character dies. Every choice matters—take your choices seriously.
  
  23
  Base set RuleBook
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  Reference sheet
  turn overview
  advance the blessings deck.
  Give a card to another character at the same location (optional).
  move to another location (optional).
  explore the top card of the location deck (optional).
  Try to close a location if it doesn’t have any cards (optional).
  Reset your hand—apply end-of-turn effects, then discard any number of cards; finally, 
  discard down to or draw up to your hand size.
  end your turn.
  encountering a Card
  evade the card (optional).
  apply any effects that happen before the encounter, if needed.
  attempt the check.
  attempt the next check, if needed.
  apply any effects that happen after the encounter, if needed.
  Resolve the encounter.
  attempting a Check
  determine which die you’re using.
  determine the difficulty.
  play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional).
  assemble your dice.
  attempt the roll.
  Take damage if you fail a check to defeat a monster.
  Playing a Card
  Reveal: Show it, then put it back in your hand.
  display: Place it faceup in front of your character, unless stated otherwise; the card’s 
  powers function until it’s discarded.
  discard: Put it into your discard pile.
  Recharge: Put it at the bottom of your deck.
  Bury: Put it under your character card.
  Banish: Put it back in the box, shuffled in with the other cards of the same type.
  draw: Unless otherwise specified, take a card from your character deck and put in 
  your hand.
  encountering a Villain
  attempt to temporarily close open locations.
  encounter the villain.
  if you defeat the villain, close the villain’s location.
  Check to see whether the villain escapes.
  a Few Rules that are easy to Forget
  • While encountering a card, each player may play no more than 1 card of each type 
  during each step. 
  • When blessings add dice to a check, the dice are of the same type that the character is 
  already using for the check. 
  • If recharging a card requires a check and your character doesn’t have any of the skills 
  listed, you cannot attempt to recharge that card. 
  • For any other type of check, even if your character doesn’t have any of the skills listed, 
  you can attempt the check using a d4.
  • In the case of a bane that requires sequential checks, any character at that location can 
  attempt one or more of the checks, as long as the character who encountered the 
  bane attempts at least one of them.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Pathfinder/1st Edition/Society/Adventure Card Game/Season 02/Adventure Card Game Adventure 2-0 Basic Set Rulebook.pdf