Dragon Dice Sample Starter Game

Note: Before reading through the sample game, read through the rule booklet. You
may want to take out your dice and look at them as you follow the game. You may
have a different assortment of dice than those used in this sample game, but your
normal icons will all be the same, and you may have some of the same SAIs. Also,
have the pages with the icons, SAI descriptions and spells open so you can identify
units and read the exact wording when they come up in the game. There are
pictures of each of the dice rolls-see if you can figure out the results when you look
at the dice.
Rob and Stef are ready to begin their first game of Dragon Dice. They have looked
at the dice and divided them between units, terrains, and dragons. Rob takes the
Treefolk dice, and Stef takes the Firewalker dice. They divide the terrains between
them; Rob gets a Coastland Temple and Swampland Standing Stones, while Stef
gets a Highland City and Flatland Tower. Rob chooses the Swampland Standing
Stones as his home terrain, and Stef chooses the Highland City as hers. Each one
will propose to use their remaining terrain as the frontier terrain. They also each
take two dragons. (The color of the dragons doesnt matter in this game, but Rob
gets Gold and Black, while Stef gets Red and Ivory.) Since they are using the dice
from the starter set, they will each have 30 health of units in their total forces.
They need to divide their units into three armies to start the game. (An army is a
group of units at a terrain or in Reserves. Yes, you can have an army of one unit.) To
keep their first game simple, they both decide to divide their forces up by size. They
put the monster units and large units at their home terrain (this is their Home
army), the small units at their opponents home terrain (their Horde army), and their
medium units at the frontier (their Campaign army). The designation of a Home,
Horde, and Campaign army only matters at the beginning of the game. As the game
progresses, your armies may change in size and location.
They roll their hordes for initiative, and get the following rolls:
Rob

Stef

Remember that ID icons count for whatever normal result you are rolling for, and an
ID is worth the same number of points as the health of the unit it is on. (These are
all small units, worth 1 health each, so the IDs will count as 1.) Counting up the
maneuvers, Rob has 2 IDs and 2 maneuver icons for a total of 4, and Stef has 1 ID
and 5 maneuver icons for 6. Stef wins the initiative and will go first. Since Stef

chose to go first, Rob gets to choose the frontier terrain from the two proposed
terrains. He chooses the Coastland Temple as the frontier, and Stefs Flatland Tower
is removed from the game.
The numbers on the terrains represent how far the armies are from each other. As
they maneuver toward the 8th face, they will get closer to each other. When the
terrains are low, you can only use magic. As the armies close, they will get close
enough for missile attacks, then melee attacks.
After revealing their armies, Rob and Stef roll the terrains to see how far apart they
are at each. Each player gets to roll the terrains belonging to them, so Stef rolls her
home terrain, the Highland City, while Rob rolls both his home terrain, the
Swampland Standing Stones, and the frontier terrain, which is his Coastland Temple.
The terrain rolls come up like this:

You can never start a game with a terrain on face 7 or 8. Any 7s are turned down to
6, and 8s are rerolled. (This keeps the game from being won by the first player on a
lucky terrain roll.) The Swampland is turned down from 7 to 6, and the Coastland
Temple is rerolled. It comes up 4 Missile on the second roll, so the terrains will start
like this:

The starting setup is now complete, and looks like this:

Stef chose to go first when she won the horde roll, so she begins the first turn.
TURN 1-Stef
Since this is the first turn, none of the Beginning Phase events will take place.
Stef chooses to take her first march with her army at her home terrain. She decides
not to attempt to maneuver the terrain, and moves to the action phase.
The terrain is on a magic face, so Stef can roll for magic. She rolls and gets the
following results:

First she looks at the SAI. Firewalking can have an effect during any non-maneuver
roll, and she chooses to use this effect to move the Genie and the Firestormer
(worth 3 health) to Robs home terrain. Her only magic comes from the Fireshadow
ID, which is worth 4 points. Since she is on a Highland, which is red and gold, she
may double those points for red magic, so she has up to 8 points for red or 4 points
for blue, depending on how she chooses to spend the points. She chooses to use 4
points of blue to cast a Wind Walk on her army at Robs home terrain.
For her second march, Stef chooses her army at Robs home terrain. This time she
chooses to attempt to maneuver the terrain. Rob decides to oppose her attempt.
They roll and get the following results:
Stef

Rob

Wind Walk

Neither of Stefs SAIs has an effect during a maneuver roll. With her IDs and
maneuver icons she has 7 maneuver results. Rob has 6 points of IDs, so Stef wins
the maneuver roll. Stef doesnt even need to use her extra maneuvers from the
Wind Walk to win this attempt! She turns the terrain up to its 7 th face, which is a
melee face.

Stef then chooses to attack. Rolling for melee, she gets:

Wind Walk

Stef gets a pretty good melee roll. Since this is an action, Galeforce has an effect.
Rob will now have to subtract 4 saves and 4 maneuvers from all rolls until the
beginning of Stefs next turn. With the rest of her results, Stef is inflicting 9 points of
melee damage on Robs army. He rolls for saves:

Galeforc
e

This looks bad for Rob. Choke has no effect during a save roll. Fortunately, his
Counter SAI does have an effect, and results from an SAI cannot be affected by
other SAIs, so the saves he gets from the Counter cant be affected by the
Galeforce. He gets a total of 4 saves, and the Counter inflicts 4 melee hits back at
Stef. She doesnt have any magical saves, so she takes 4 points of damage.
Stef sends 2 Explorers, a Shadowchaser, and a Firestarter to her DUA.

Rob must take as much damage as possible, but not more than the 5 points he
suffered after saves. He cant choose to kill off a 3 point unit and leave the
monsters, since that wouldnt be the most damage he could take. He must send a
monster to his DUA, but the last point of damage isnt enough to kill any of his other
units. He sends the Satyr to his DUA.

Rob chooses to counterattack. He rolls:

Galeforc
e
Rob gets 4 points of melee. Stef rolls for saves.

Wind Walk

Seven points of ID give her more than enough saves to survive.

Since she has no units in reserves, Stef skips the Reinforce step. She then Retreats
her units from the frontier to reserves. Her turn ends. The game looks like this at the
end of her turn:

TURN 1-Rob
None of the Beginning Phase events are in effect this turn. Rob chooses to take his
first march at the frontier. He decides to attempt to maneuver the terrain. Since Stef
doesnt have an army there, he is unopposed, and can move the terrain one face.
He moves it up to 5, which is still a missile face. He chooses to take a missile action.
He has no target at the frontier, but he can shoot either of Stefs other armies from
the frontier. He selects her army at his home terrain. He rolls for missiles:

He gets 2 points of missile, so Stef rolls for saves:

Stefs 4 saves are plenty. Since this is a missile attack, she cant attack back. (She
couldnt attack back against a missile attack even if she was at the same terrain.)
For his second march, Rob decides to try to capture the 8 th face at his home. He
attempts to maneuver the terrain, but Stef opposes him. They both roll for
maneuvers:
Rob

Stef

Galeforc
e

Wind Walk

Rob has 4 maneuver icons to Stefs 1 ID and 1 maneuver icon. However, Stef still
has her Wind Walk in effect, and Rob is still under the effect of the Galeforce. So
their final maneuver totals are:
Rob: 4 maneuvers-4 (Galeforce)=0
Stef: 2 maneuvers +4 (Wind Walk)=6
Stef wins the maneuver, and stops Rob from changing the terrain. (Note that Stef
cant change the terrain herself. You can never move a terrain when you are
countering a maneuver roll, only when you are the acting player making the
maneuver attempt.)

Rob is starting to get a little steamed, so he decides to launch a melee attack. He

rolls:

Galeforc
e
Since this is a melee attack, Choke will have an effect after Stef rolls for her saves.
She rolls:

Wind Walk

Choke affects up to 4 health of units rolling IDs, but Stef only has 2 health of units
that rolled IDs, so both of them are immediately killed. Since the Choke SAI resolves
before the save roll is finalized, those two IDs wont count as part of the save roll! (If
an SAI takes a unit out of an army, that units results are not counted.) However, her
2 saves are enough against the 2 points of melee damage Rob rolled.
Since she lost 2 of her units and has already been hit by Counter once, Stef decides
not to risk a counterattack. (The counterattack is always optional.)
Rob has no units in reserves to Reinforce, so he moves to the Retreat phase and
retreats all of his small units from Stefs home.

At the end of Robs first turn, the game looks like this:

EDITED TO HERE-NEED TO RETAKE THAT SHOT WITHOUT A PEN

TURN 2- Stef
In the Beginning Phase, the Wind Walk on Stefs army at Robs home and the
Galeforce on Robs army at his home both expire.
Stef takes her first march at her own home. She maneuvers the terrain up to 2
(since she is unopposed there, she doesnt have to roll), which is still a magic face.
She rolls for magic:
Stef: 4h Cantrip, 3 Ma
During a magic action, Cantrip counts as normal magic results. Since this Cantrip is
on a monster, it counts for 4 points of magic. She has a total of 7 points of red or
blue magic to spend. She chooses to spend all 7 to summon a dragon to the frontier.
She places her own Red dragon from her summoning pool next to the frontier
terrain die. (In the quick start rules, the color of the dragon doesnt matter. Stef just
thinks its appropriate.) Rob gives her an icy stare, knowing what to expect when its
his turn.
For her second march, Stef chooses her army at Robs home. She attempts to
maneuver the terrain (hoping to capture it, although she doesnt say whether she
wants to move it up or down). Rob isnt about to let her have it without a struggle,
so he opposes her attempt. They both roll:
Stef: 3 Mv, 1 Mv, 4 Sv, 1 Ma

Rob: Double Strike, Wild Growth, 4 Mv

Neither of Robs SAIs has an effect during a maneuver roll, so he has his 4
maneuver icons. Stef also has 4 maneuver icons, so their rolls tie. When a
maneuver roll is tied, the acting player wins, so Stef can turn the terrain. She moves
it up to 8 and captures the terrain. She points the tip of the terrain toward her to
indicate that she controls the terrain. Her army at that terrain will now have double
maneuvers and double saves as long as she maintains control. She will also get to
use the Standing Stones terrain effect.
Since she controls the terrain, Stef also gets her choice of which action (melee,
missile, or magic) she wants to perform at that terrain. Fortified with those double
saves, she decides to go for a melee attack.
She rolls:
Stef: Galeforce, 3hID, 1 Sv, 1 Ma
Rob glares at the Galeforce, which affects his army again. He also is facing 3 melee
hits. He rolls for saves:
Rob: Rend, 4 Sv, 2 Mv
Rend has no effect during a save roll. He has 4 save icons, but must subtract 4
saves due to the Galeforce. With no saves, he must take the full 3 points of damage.
He chooses to send his Lady Nereid to his DUA.
Robs DUA
Despite having just two dice left, Rob sees that they are his big ones, so he chooses
to counterattack, hoping to maybe get one of his SAIs:
Rob: 2 Me, 4 Mv
He manages just 2 melee icons. Stef rolls for saves:
Stef: Firecloud, 1 Sv, 4 Mi, 1 Ma
Stefs Firecloud is no help on a save roll, so she just has 1 save icon. However, since
she controls the terrain she doubles her saves and ends up with 2, just enough to
block Robs damage.
During the Reinforce phase, Stef sends her Watcher and Nightsbane to her army at
Robs home, and her Adventurer and Firemaster to her own home. She does not
Retreat any units.
At the end of Stefs second turn the game looks like this:
Picture of entire game
TURN 2-Rob

None of the Beginning Phase events apply this turn, so its on to the next phase:
Dragon Attack. Rob must face the dragon attack against his army at the frontier.
Since the dragon belongs to Stef, she rolls for its attack. (The owner of a dragon
rolls it. Yes, if you have the right magic you can summon your opponents dragon
and make them roll the attack against their own army!)
Dragon: Claw
The dragons claw does 6 points of damage. Rob makes a combination roll against
the dragon attack. This roll is for saves against the dragons damage and for return
hits to try to kill the dragon. He is looking for save, melee, and missile results:
Rob: 2hID, 3 Sv, 2 Me, 3 Mi
The ID can count as saves, melee, or missile results as the player chooses. Since it
takes 10 points of melee or missile damage to kill a dragon, adding 2 points to his
melee or missile results wont give him enough of either to kill the dragon, so Rob
counts the ID as saves. This gives him a total of 5 saves, so he takes 1 point of
damage. Since all of his units are medium with 2 health, that isnt enough to kill any
of them, so they all survive the dragons assault. The dragon is still there, waiting
for its next victim.
Rob now takes his first march. He chooses to take a magic action with his reserves:
Rob: 2 Ma, 1hID, 1 Mi, 1 Mi, 1 Mi, 1 Me, 2 Sv
He has 2 magic icons and 1 point of ID. That gives him 3 points to spend on magic.
He can only purchase spells that are marked as castable from reserves. He spends
the 3 points as green magic to cast Wall of Ice on his army at his home terrain.
Rob decides to try to maneuver Stef off the 8 th face at his home. If he can win the
maneuver roll, he can move the terrain back down to 7 and take away her control
(although he cant gain control until he wins another maneuver roll to move it up to
8 himself). Stef obviously chooses to oppose this attempt. They both roll for
maneuvers:
Rob: 2 Mv, 4 Me
Stef: Bullseye, 2hID, 4 Me, 2 Sv, 2 Me, 1 Ma
Rob has 2 maneuver icons, and Stef has 2 points of ID. Since Stef gets to double her
maneuvers, she has 4 points of maneuver to Robs 2. She wins and keeps him from
moving the terrain.
Since he can only perform a melee action and is outnumbered in health, Rob
decides to skip his action phase on this march.
Rob Reinforces all of his reserve units to the army at his home, and Retreats his
units facing the dragon at the frontier.

At the end of Robs second turn the game looks like this:
Picture of entire game
TURN 3-Stef
The Galeforce on Robs army at his home expires during the Beginning Effects
phase.
Stef chooses her army at her home terrain for her first march. She turns the terrain
up to 3; since Rob has no army there, she is unopposed and can move the terrain
one face. This is still a magic face, so Stef rolls for magic.
Stef: 3 Ma, 2 Me, Smite, 3 Mi
With 3 points of magic, Stef chooses to cast a Resurrect Dead spell. She can choose
to use red or blue magic, but the spell only requires that all the points are the same
color, not that they be any particular color. Stef chooses red magic just to make it
official. She brings back a Sunburst from her DUA and adds it to the army at her
home since that was the army that cast the spell.
With her second march, Stef chooses to act at Robs home. She skips the maneuver
phase, since she already controls the terrain and doesnt want to lose that control.
She again chooses to take a magic action.
Stef: 2h ID, 1h ID, 1 Ma, Bullseye, 4 Sv, 3 Me
Bullseye has no effect during a magic action. Her 3 points of ID cant be doubled
since they do not match either of the terrain colors, so she has 4 points of magic.
However, since she controls this terrain with a Standing Stones, she can change any
her magic results to match one of the terrains colors. She chooses to convert all of
her magic to gold, and uses the 4 points to cast a Path spell. She targets the
Fireshadow at her home terrain, and moves it to her army at Robs home. (She cant
move it to the frontier, since she doesnt have an army there.)
Stef has no units in reserves, so she skips the Reinforce phase. She chooses to also
skip the Retreat phase and leave all her units where they are.
At the end of Stefs third turn the game looks like this:
Picture of entire game
TURN 3-Rob
The Wall of Ice on Robs army at his home ends during the Beginning Effects phase.
Rob decides to try to help his army at his home in their effort to wrest control of the
terrain away from Stef. He takes his first march with his reserve army and rolls for
magic.

Rob: 2 Ma, 4 Sv, 3 Sv, 2 Mi

Rob has 2 points of magic to spend, and can only choose spells castable from
reserves. He casts a Watery Double on his army at his home. Its not what he hoped
for, but it will help with what hes planning to do.
He takes his second march with his army at his home. He attempts to maneuver the
terrain, and Stef opposes his attempt. They both roll for maneuvers.
Rob: 1hID, 1hID, 1hID, 1hID, Choke, 4 Me, 1 Me, 2 Mi, 2 Sv, 2 Ma
Stef: 2hID, 1hID, 1hID, Smite, 4 Mi, 2 Mi, 4 Sv
Neither of the SAIs rolled has an effect during a maneuver roll. Neither Rob nor Stef
gets any maneuver icons, but they both get 4 points of maneuver from the IDs they
rolled. Stef doubles her maneuvers since she controls the 8 th face, and wins the roll
8-4. The terrain stays on the 8th face with Stef in control.
Despite losing the maneuver roll, Rob looks at his roll and sees that he generated a
lot of melee, so he decides to take a melee action, even though Stef can double her
saves. He rolls:
Rob: Rend, Wild Growth, 1 Me, 2 Mi, 1 Mi, 2 Sv, 2 Ma, 2 Mv, 1 Mv, 1 Ma
Both of Robs SAIs have an effect during a melee attack roll. He can choose to apply
them in the order he chooses, and does so before counting his regular results. He
chooses to use one of the Wild Growth icons to promote his Oak Lord to a Satyr. He
places the Oak Lord in his DUA, and places the Satyr in his army at his home (where
the Wild Growth was rolled). Rob cant promote any other units, since he doesnt
have any that are exactly one health smaller than a unit in his DUA. (You can use an
SAI to affect the die that rolled it unless the description specifically says you cant.)
Since the Satyr comes into his army before he counts his regular icons, he can roll it
in this attack during the SAI resolution.
Rob: Hoof
Hoof doesnt have an effect during a melee attack roll, so it doesnt add to his
melee results. He still has to resolve the Rend SAI. He will count the Rend as 4
points of melee, plus whatever else he rolls. He rerolls the die.
Rob: Rend
Rob smiles, Stef scowls. Rend adds 4 more melee results, and gets rerolled again.
Rob: 4 Me
The Strangle Vine has done a great job this turn! With 8 points from the two Rends
and 5 additional points of melee, Rob is inflicting 13 points of melee damage on
Stef. She rolls for saves.

Stef: Cantrip, Fly, 3 Me, 3 Mi, 2 Mv, 1 Mi, 1 Ma

Stef also gets two SAIs that have an effect, this time during a save roll. Cantrip
allows her to cast immediate magic, with 4 points of either red or blue. She casts a
Resurrect Dead spell on a Guardian. Since this die comes into her army before she
counts her normal results, she can roll it.
Stef: 1 Me
The Guardian is no help stopping the damage. Her Fly from the Genie is worth 4
points of save, which she doubles to 8 since she controls the 8 th face. She still has to
take 5 points of damage. She sends a Nightsbane, 2 Guardians, and a Sunburst to
her DUA. Notice that the Guardian she brought back from the DUA can be taken as a
casualty.
Stefs DUA
Despite her losses, Stef decides to counterattack. She rolls for melee.
Stef: Create Fireminions, 3 Me, 4 Mi, 2 Sv
The Create Fireminions SAI can count as melee, missile, magic, saves, or maneuvers
during any roll made by the army it is in, and will count as 4 points since it is on a
monster. Stef counts it as 4 points of melee. She has a total of 7 points of melee to
inflict on Rob. He rolls for saves.
Rob: Rend, Hoof, 1hID, 2 Sv, 1 Me, 1 Me, 1 Ma, 1 Mi, 1 Mi, 1 Mv
Rend has no effect during a save roll, but this time the Hoof roll helps, since it can
count as saves and counts as 4 on a monster. Added to his save results and ID, Rob
totals 7 saves, and avoids any damage from Stefs attack.
He Reinforces all of his reserves to Stefs home terrain, and skips the Retreat phase
to leave his other units where they are.
At the end of Robs third turn the game looks like this:
Picture of entire game
Stef still controls one terrain, but Rob has more health in play, and a new threat at
Stefs home terrain. The dragon is still menacing the frontier. Who will come out
ahead in this battle and ROLL TO VICTORY?