Rules of Play Components Game Setup • 9 Dice (3 Hero dice and 3 Monster dice and 3 Maiden dice) • 2 Character Cards (1 Hero card and 1 Monster card) • 3 Epic Fail Cards • 1 Rules Sheet The youngest player decides who goes first. Put the Hero card and Monster card in front of the starting player. Use a pencil and paper to keep score. 2 Standard Game Rules Battle In the standard game, all players assume the role of a Hero trying to rescue Maidens. After rescuing all Maidens, compare the number of Heroes and Monsters on the remaining dice. Each Hero battles one Monster and they cancel each other out. Set aside all cancelled Heroes & Monsters. Monsters and Maidens is played over a series of turns, divided into 6 phases that are completed in order: 1. Roll 2. Rescue Maidens 3. Battle 4. Repeat 1, 2, 3 (optional) 5. Score 6. Cleanup Phase Details Roll The active player rolls all 9 dice. Rescue Maidens Any Maidens rolled are automatically rescued. Rescued Maidens are placed on the Hero card. Maidens are never re-rolled. If Monsters remain: 1 Maiden is captured for each remaining Monster. Move that many rescued Maidens from the Hero card to the Monster card. If there are too few Maidens on the Hero card, then move them all. If Heroes remain: 1 Maiden is rescued for each remaining Hero. Move that many captured Maidens from the Monster card to the Hero card. If there are no Maidens on the Monster card, then do nothing. If there are too few Maidens on the Monster card, then move them all. Repeat 1, 2, 3 (optional) As long as none of the automatic end turn conditions have been triggered (see Automatic End Turn Conditions), you may choose to (A) stop rolling after the Battle phase, score your reused Maidens, and end your turn, or (B) return to the Roll phase by re-rolling all dice not showing Maidens. (see Score) 3 Score Epic Fail Bonus Your score for this turn is the number of rescued Maidens on the Hero card. Add this number to your accumulating tally of rescued Maidens, then check to see if the total of all player scores has triggered the game end (see Game End). It is possible that your turn will end with your first roll. If your turn ends on your first roll because of having no rescued Maidens, you receive an Epic Fail Card. Cleanup Collect all dice, and pass them and the character cards clockwise to the next player. On the first roll of your next turn, after rolling all the dice, you may use the bonus card to change the face of any 1 die to any other face. This bonus is not cumulative. You may not save it to combine it with another bonus later. Automatic End Turn Conditions • If all dice show Maidens, you score the rescued Maidens and your turn ends. • In the Battle Phase, if the non-Maiden dice are all Heroes or all Monsters, move Maidens from card to card as usual then score the rescued Maidens and your turn ends. • After the Battle phase, if you have no rescued Maidens on the Hero card, you score zero and your turn ends. 4 Game End When the total of all player scores meets or beats 20 times the number of players, the game end is triggered (example: with three players, the game end is triggered when the total of all three scores is 60 or higher (20 x 3 = 60). Finish the current round so that all players have had an equal number of turns, then award the title of King's Champion to the player who rescued the most Maidens. Sample Turn David is the active player. He places the character cards on the table to his left and right, leaving room to roll the dice between them. David starts his turn by rolling all 9 dice. The results are 2 Heroes, 3 Monsters, and 4 Maidens. David moves the 4 Maidens to his Hero card. He then looks the 5 remaining dice to see how the battle goes. The 2 Heroes battle with 2 of the Monsters and, while they’re occupied, the 1 remaining Monster captures 1 of the Maidens. David moves 1 Maiden from his Hero card to the Monster card. David could decide to end his turn here and score 3 points for the Maidens left on his Hero card. But he wants to roll again. Maidens are never re-rolled, so David takes the 5 Monsters and Heroes and re-rolls them. With those 5 dice, David rolls 2 Maidens, 2 Heroes, and 1 Monster. As before, David moves the 2 Maidens to his Hero card (there are now 5 Maidens on his Hero card) then checks out the battle happening with the remaining dice. The 1 Monster fights with 1 of the Heroes, allowing the 2nd Hero to sneak into the Monster’s camp and rescue 1 Maiden. David moves 1 Maiden from the Monster card to his Hero card. David must again decide if he wants to end his turn and score 6 points for the Maidens on his Hero card, or if he wants to keep rolling. David’s feeling lucky, so he re-rolls the 3 available dice (remember, Maidens are never re-rolled). This time David’s roll comes up 3 Monsters. Uh oh! With no Heroes to keep them busy, the 3 Monsters raid the Hero’s stronghold and carry off 3 Maidens. David moves 3 Maidens from his Hero card to the Monster card. There are only 3 Maidens on the Hero card now and, because David rolled all Monsters, his turn must end. David adds 3 rescued Maidens to his score, then passes the Hero card, Monster card, and all 9 dice to the next player. 5 Credits 6