EPIC SOLITAIRE NOTEPAD ADVENTURES!!!

Nameless Wanderer Edition Version 2.1.3a

(June 5, 2013 by Jeffrey L. Hammans)
ESNA By Scott Slomiany with help from Cameron Harris July 10, 2009

Introduction
ESNA-NW is a solitaire game in which you play the powerful and formidible Nameless Wanderer. You will roam across kingdoms, descend
into dark dungeons and fight fantastic battles in a large-scale fantasy world... and, you will do it all by starting with a pencil, an eraser, and a
blank piece of paper. You will be able to do this by using a system where you create the elements of your adventure as needed. The majority of
fantasy games provide large tomes of data, creatures, weapons, etc. to be referenced during gameplay. Since a lot of “the blanks” will be filled
in by you as you play, each game will be as different, and as creative, as you allow yourself to be.

ESNA-NW is a revised and expanded version of ESNA, that introduces concepts and rule changes that have been talked about on the internet
since ESNA's release in 2009.

If you enjoy playing ESNA-NW, these rules are not the end. Campaign Settings and Variants have been created to give players a chance to play
in specific worlds or to change and expand on these rules to give the player a different experience from the basic rules. You should be able to
obtain supplements for ESNA-NW at the same location as these rules.

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 Credits
ESNA Game Design by Scott Slomiany
ESNA-NW Expansion and reformat: Jeff Hammans
Basic Dungeon Inspiration: Cameron Harris
Additional Ideas by members of the BoardGameGeek.com website including:
Thom V, Gergo Tothmihaly, Donald Cleary, Pedro Barradas, Tinwë, Craig
Richards, John "Omega" Williams, Eli Silver, and Enlightened Wookie
License
Epic Solitaire Notebook Adventures Nameless Wanderer edition is released
under the Creative Commons license. For questions concerning alteration
and/or redistribution of these rules please review the license at:
http://http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
and
http://http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode
Availability
ESNA-NW may be downloaded from JLH Games at:
https://sites.google.com/site/jlhgameshome/collaborations/epic-solitaire-
notebook-adventures
and at the BoardGameGeek website:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/51199/epic-solitaire-notebook-
adventures
Version Numbers
The numbering scheme for ESNA-NW's versions will follow the following
format:
1.2.3
1 – Large format and major rule changes and additions.
2- Normal rule changes and major document corrections.
3 – Minor document and spelling corrections
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More ESNA
ESNA by Scott Slomiany
The original game and files that ESNA-NW is based on.
http://www.backglass.org/scotts/games/EpicAdventure/html/index.htm
ESNA Space! Edition by Jeffrey Kight (Topheth)
An updated version of ESNA completely re-themed in a Sci-Fi
setting.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/90906/esna-space
Official ESNA-NW Campaign Settings
#1 – Lord of the Rings ESNA by Eli Silver
New Races, Kingdoms and Quests based on the Lord of the Rings
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/965053/esna-lotr
Official ESNA-NW Variants:
#1 – Character Types by BGG Community
New character types with new Battle Actions. (Forthcoming)
#2 – Dungeon Cards by Enlightened Wookie
Uses a system of cards to standardize and randomize dungeon
creation in a fantasy setting. (Possibly non-extant)
ESNA Variants:
Terrain Cards by Gergo Tothmihaly
Cards that replace drawing the World Map to give ESNA-NW
more of a boardgame feel. Also requires small gaming bits to
represent settlements, building, terrains, and roads.
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1183303/epic-solitaire-notebook-adventures
and
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/1183302/epic-solitaire-notebook-adventures

Introduction...................................................1
Credits...........................................................2 Creature Creation.....................................9
License....................................................2
Availability..............................................2 Section 3 – The World Map.........................11
Version Numbers.....................................2
More ESNA.............................................2
Official ESNA-NW Campaign
Settings........................................2
Contents.........................................................3
Section 1 - Gameplay.....................................4
What You Need.................................4
A Quick Word....................................4
Overview Of The Event Cards...........4
Getting Started..................................4
Turn Overview.........................................5
1 – Inventory Phase...........................5
2 – Movement Phase.........................5
3 - Dungeon Check Phase..................5
4 - Event Check Phase.......................5
5 - Dungeons & Diplomacy Phase.....5
6 - Quest Actions Phase.....................5
7 - Settlement Actions Phase.............6
8 – Retirement Phase.........................6
9 - Keep Upkeep Phase......................6
Character Overview.................................6
The End of the Game...............................6
Retirement...................................6
Enlightenment.............................6
Epic Quest Completion...............6
Death...........................................6
Section 2 – Creatures and Combat.................7
Combat Resolution..................................7
Detailed Battle Sequence.........................7
1 - Increase Horde Size......................7
2 - Early Battle Action (optional)......7
3 - Determine Your Battle Strength....7 Section 4 - Dungeons...................................15
4 - Determine Your Opponent’s Battle
Strength.............................................7
5 - Late Battle Action (Optional).......7
6 – Compute Final Battle Strengths...7
7 – Compare & Resolve....................7
8 - Repeat..........................................7
Determining Battle Strength....................8
Early and Late Battle Actions..................8
Wanderer Battle Action Details.........8
Unconciousness, Wounding and Death....9
Damaged Limbs................................9
Contents
Death.................................................9
Creature Types.................................10
Kingdoms..............................................11
Starting Kingdoms...........................11
Creating More Kingdoms................11
Settlements............................................11
Create or Improve A Settlement.......12
Settlement Displeasure....................12
Settlement Actions...........................12
Villages............................................12
Settlement Action: Rest at Inn...12
Settlement Action: Sell Items....12
Unhappy Villages......................12
Temples...........................................12
Settlement Action: Study for
Advancement............................12
Settlement Action: Buy Healing
Potions......................................13
Unhappy Temples......................13
Castles.............................................13
Settlement Action: Build Roads.13
Settlement Action: Gain a Quest13
Unhappy Castles........................13
Buildings...............................................13
Metalmancer Lab.............................13
World Prison....................................14
Other Structures...............................14
Your Keep.................................14
Terrain Types.........................................14
Farms...............................................14
Forests.............................................14
Mountains........................................14
Deserts.............................................14
Dungeon Creation & Levels..................15
Entering & Mapping Dungeons.............15
Event Phase in Dungeons................15
Encounter Differences from the World
Map.................................................15
Dungeon Level Sizes.......................15
Dungeon Bosses..............................16
Dungeons and Injuries.....................16
Exploration and Diplomacy.............16
Repopulation.........................................16
Choosing To Not Enter A Dungeon........16
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Section 5 - Items and Inventory...................17
Inventory...............................................17
Recording........................................17
Body Locations...............................17
Inventory Phase...............................17
Loot.......................................................17
Collecting Loot from Creatures.......17
Collecting Loot for Quests..............17
Items......................................................17
Creating Magical Items...................17
Cursed Items....................................18
Healing Potions...............................18
Section 6 - Quests........................................19
General Info...........................................19
Gaining A Quest..............................19
Finishing A Quest............................19
Failing A Quest................................19
Specific Quest Types.............................20
Assault ............................................20
Defend ............................................20
Escort .............................................20
Guard ..............................................21
Return .............................................21
Negotiate.........................................21
Slay.................................................21
Section 7 - Creation Reference....................22
Kingdoms........................................22
Dungeons........................................22
Creatures.........................................22
Quests..............................................22
Items................................................22
Section 8 - Variants and Campaign Settings.23
Variants..................................................23
The Black Tower.............................23
Simplified Dungeons.......................23
Official ESNA-NW Variants.....23
Campaign Settings.................................23
Official ESNA-NW Campaign
Settings......................................23
Section 9 - Index..........................................24
Section 10 - Appendices and Tables.............25
Tables....................................................25
Turn And Phase Order.....................25
Battle Sequence...............................25
Battle Action Details........................25
Creature Types.................................26
Suggested Icons...............................26
 Section 1 - Gameplay
In this section we will be describing the basics of the ESNA-NW and how things work together. Further sections in this manual will take
specific concepts and break them down into further detail.

What You Need your opponents in Battle by using them in conjunction with the Battle
Strength Indicators.
A pencil
A notepad, or a few sheets of paper Additionally, the Level Indicators are used to determine values for
This rule guide collecting Loot when defeating Creatures in Battle and completing
The deck of ESNA-NW cards Quest, by using them in conjunction with the Loot Indicators.
A penny or some other small token to mark your current location
Generally, each Event card drawn will be used for one particular
A Quick Word action, and then discarded.

In the case you find yourself cutting some numbers in half which
result in a number that is not an integer, feel free to round the number
Getting Started
to the closest integer in your favor. Shuffle the Event cards and place them face down as a draw pile.
Cards drawn from this deck are placed face up in a neighboring
Overview Of The Event Cards discard pile. Much like any other card game, when the draw deck
runs out of cards, shuffle the discard stack and place face down to
Before you start, you should familiarize yourself with the Event create a new draw deck.
Cards. There’s a lot of information on them, and they are used for
determining many things. At this point, a lot of the way the game Your Character:
handles things won’t make much sense until you read the rest of the You will need one sheet of paper for your character, or use a copy of
rules, but this is a generalized overview of each part of the card, so the character sheet provided at the end of these rules and also
when you do get to the rules, you’ll have a good idea where to look. available separately without page numbers.
See Character Overview, below.
The Letter Reference Code
is used to determine Your Creature List:
references to names for On one sheet of paper, create a vertical list of letters, A through T.
Kingdoms on your map These will be the Creatures that you will battle throughout the game.
and for Creatures that you Each Creature will be referenced by its letter on this chart. Aside
battle. from the column of letters, you will need these additional columns:
Type, Name, +1 Terrain, -1 Terrain, Base Level, Loot, and Horde
The Terrain Type is used to Size. There is an example Creature List found at the end of this
determine the types of document and available separately with the character sheets at the
terrain in a given Kingdom same location where these rules were found.
when creating a Kingdom. See Section 2 – Combat & Creatures
The Terrain Type Icon can
also include a subset Your Quest List:
Dungeon Icon which will On a sheet of paper, create a vertical list to keep track of the quests
indicate when a new that you gain from Castles on the World Map.
Dungeon or stairs appears
on the map. Your Map:
The entirety of the map is called the World. Your World Map will be
Additional Paths Amount is used to determine how many roads or made of various Kingdoms that are created as you need them. You
doors extend out to other locations when creating a new Kingdom or can have up to 20 Kingdoms in a World, each starting with a unique
Dungeon room. letter of the alphabet, A through T.

Event Data is used to determine what type of Events happen, based The first thing you will need to do is draw your starting Kingdom.
on the types of Terrain the Kingdom has in which you currently are See Starting Kingdoms in Section 3 – The World Map.
in.

The data in the Creature Banner is used for creating new Creatures.

The data in the Quest Banner is used for creating new Quests.

The Body Location Indicator will display what part of your body has
been severely damaged when you are Knocked Out during a battle. It
is also used to determine what type of magical treasures are created.

The Level Indictors are used to determine values for yourself and

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 Turn Overview been constructed in this Kingdom. If no dungeon exists, draw a
Dungeon Icon in your current Kingdom, and give it a value equal to
A turn consists of a few actions, which are done in the order as shown your current level minus 1, otherwise increment the dungeon value
below, some of which are optional: by 1.

# Phase Procedure Notes Additionally, add +1 to the value of up to 3 other Dungeons that
currently exist in your world. If you have less than three Dungeons
1 Inventory Move items between inventory See Section 5 add +1 to any other dungeons that you have (do not add any to the
Optional locations. newly created Dungeon).
2 Movement Move to a new Kingdom/Room See Movement
Optional along a connecting path Phase, below. If a cleared dungeon is increased in size, it has been re-populated by
3 Dungeon Draw an Event card, and check for See Section 4. a new owner who has expanded the dungeon by another level with
Check Dungeon updates new minions to guard it's treasures.
ALWAYS!
Kingdoms may not have multiple Dungeons. See Section 4 -
4 Event Check Using the same Event card, now See Event Check
ALWAYS! check for an Event, unless moving Phase, below and Dungeons
into an existing dungeon room. Section 4

5 Dungeons Deal with Unhappy Kingdoms and See Section 3 4 - Event Check Phase
and choose to Enter Dungeons (if and Section 4
Diplomacy available)
Using the same card used to check for dungeons, look at the “Event
ALWAYS! Grid” on the right side of the card. Compare the two land types of the
Kingdom where you are currently at with the two land types in each
6 Quest Actions Perform actions based of active See Section 6 box in the Event grid. If BOTH land types match, then the listed
Depending... Quests
event that is directly to the right of those land types on the card
7 Settlement Perform actions based on See Section 3 occurs in that box. The “listed event” can be:
Actions Settlements in current Kingdom
Optional Letters
8 Retirement Retire See Section 1
Optional If the event is a letter, you are having a
Creature encounter, which means you are
9 Keep Upkeep Build/Improve your Keep See Section 3
Optional having a Battle (as described later). If the
Creature that is being referenced by this
letter has not been defined yet in your
1 – Inventory Phase Creature List, or you are five levels higher
than the monster, you will need to create it
You may move items between inventory locations on your character (See Section 2 - Creatures and Combat).
sheet. See Section 5 – Items and Inventory
Numbers
2 – Movement Phase
World Map: If the event shows a +1 or a +2, then you can Improve a
Moving is simply moving on a path from your current location to a Settlement (See Section 3 – The World Map).
neighboring location. You do not have to move if you wish to stay in Dungeons: If you draw a +1, you found a healing potion, with a +2
your current location. result, you found both a potion and a treasure. (See Section 4 –
Dungeons and Section 5 – Items and Inventory)
If the path leads to a Kingdom or dungeon room that has not been
created yet, you will need to make one before you finish your move. No Match
See Section 3 - The World Map, or Section 4 - Dungeons.
If the Event Grid does not have a set of Land Types that match your
3 - Dungeon Check Phase current location, then no event happens.

Draw the top card from the top of Events are not checked for when moving into a previously existing
the Event deck. This card will be dungeon room, unless a dungeon has been re-populated. (See Section
used to check for the appearance 4 - Dungeons)
of anew dungeon in the world,
and for possible events.
5 - Dungeons & Diplomacy Phase
In the case of a Dungeon check, Deal with Unhappy Kingdoms and choose to Enter Dungeons (if
look at the Land Icon at the top of available) See Section 3 – The World Map and Section 4 - Dungeons
the card. If there is a subset icon
of a grey Dungeon Icon, then
check the Kingdom you are 6 - Quest Actions Phase
currently in. If at least one of the Perform actions based on your active Quests. See Section 6 - Quests
land types of the Kingdom you
are in matches the Land Icon on the card, then a Dungeon level has

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7 - Settlement Actions Phase
Perform actions based on Settlements in your current Kingdom. See
Section 3 – The World Map
8 – Retirement Phase
You may quit the game and retire to your Keep when you are in the
Region with your Keep. The total score for your game is the
Impressiveness value of your Keep.
See The End of the Game, below.
9 - Keep Upkeep Phase
Build/Improve your Keep See Your Keep in Other Structures in
Section 3 – The World Map
Character Overview
A pre-made character sheet is included at the end of these rules and
available separately from the same location as these rules. If you
choose to make your own character sheet, you will need one sheet of
paper for your character. On your Character Sheet, you will need to
record these elements, so provide space for them:
Character Type: Wanderer
Race: Human
Level: Your character starts at Level 2. Yes, at level 2.
Maximum Hit Points: The most hit points you may have at a time.
This will start at 60.
Hit Points: Your current general state of health. Initially starts at 60.
Body Locations: You may suffer extraordinary wounds during your
adventures and you you must record those wounds.
Gold: Starting Gold is 0.
Inventories: You will to track what items are equipped to which
body locations and also your general inventory, usually kept in a
backback or haversack.
Battle Actions: You start with a single Battle Action: Run Away!
Remaining Spaces: And the rest of the fill-in-the-blanks are left
blank.
Advancement is achieved by gaining levels through study. Temples
are the center of learning throughout the kingdoms. You may increase
your character level by visiting a powerful temple and paying the
gold they ask for your instruction. See Settlement Action: Study for
Advancement in Section 3 – The World Map
Character Type controls which Battle Actions you may choose from
during play.
Race controls max hit points, terrain bonuses and terrain type use.
Both catagories are defaulted to the above values in ESNA-NW, but
Variants and Campaign Settings may add or change their values.
The default Battle Actions for the Wanderer character type are
described in Early and Late Battle Actions in Section 2 – Creatures
and Combat
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The End of the Game
The game may end in several different ways. Points are usually
awarded for how impressive your Keep has become.* Certain
Variants and Campaign Settings will use different scoring systems.
• Retirement
• Enlightenment
• Epic Quest Completion
• Death
Retirement
You may choose to retire on any turn that you reside in the kingdom
your Keep is located. The Keep's Impressiveness is your score for the
game.
If you have 2 damaged limbs (MetalManced limbs do not count as
being damaged, see below), you are forced to retire. If you are not at
your keep your score will be half of your Keep's current
Impressiveness.
Enlightenment
One of the hardest victory conditions to attain is enlightenment by
advancing to 11th level. At that point in your adventures you have no
more to gain from the mortal realm and ascend to a higher plane of
existence. Your score will be double that of your Keep's current
Impressiveness. You do not need to be in the kingdom of your Keep
to gain the bonus points.
Epic Quest Completion
Some Campaign Settings and Variants may include Epic Quests
which are so dangerous that completing the quest gives you victory.
No Epic Quests are included in the base rules. Usually points are not
considered during an Epic Quest, but see your Campaign Setting for
more details.
Death
If your wounds are fatal, then your game is over. In a normal game
your score will be half of your Keep's current Impressiveness. See
Unconciousness, Wounding and Death in Section 2 Creatures &
Combat
* Add one point for each prisoner delivered to justice at the World
Prison. See World Prison in Section 3 – The World Map.
 Section 2 – Creatures and Combat
In your wanderings you will encounter many dangerous creatures that you will have to defeat in order to serve the interests of the kingdoms.
Combat Resolution
A battle is typically how a conflict or encounter is resolved. The term
“opponent” is used generically, and is used to describe a single
Creature, multiple Creatures, or attacking a Settlement, or whatever.
A battle consists of a short sequence of events where you will be
comparing the Battle Strength (BS) of your character versus the
Battle Strength of your opponent. Additionally, there are a few other
optional phases where you can perform a Battle Action.
However, you may only perform one Early Battle Action and one
Late Battle Action once per an entire Battle.
A typical Battle sequence is as follows:
1. Increase Horde Size
2. Perform an Early Battle Action (optional)
3. Obtain your BS
4. Obtain the BS of your opponent
5. Perform a Late Battle Action (optional)
6. Compute your and your opponent’s final BS
7. Compare BS and resolve this battle sequence
8. Repeat steps 2-7 until the Battle is resolved
A Battle is over when:
• You have a greater or equal BS than your opponents.
• When you have reduced the amount of Creatures in the
opponent’s party down to zero, or...
• Your Hit Points drop to 0 or below, in which case, you are
knocked out.
Detailed Battle Sequence
1 - Increase Horde Size
The VERY FIRST THING YOU DO even before a Battle starts is
increase the Horde Size of the Creature you are battling by +1 on the
Creature List. The first time you encounter the Creature, there is only
one; the second time you run into it, there are two of them, and so on.
You will be fighting a variable amount of the given Creature, based
on it’s Horde Size. As you Battle, you will be reducing the Horde size
of the Creatures in Battle. However, this does not mean you are
reducing the numbers on the Creature List, you are merely reducing
the size of the “party” that is currently attacking you. As the game
progresses, Creatures that were created early on will attack in larger
groups as you keep encountering them throughout the game. While
their basic stats do not change (individually, they do not grow more
powerful), they grow in the number that they attack.
2 - Early Battle Action (optional)
You may activate an Early Battle Action at this time, following the
rules of that Battle Action. If you do this, you cannot activate another
Early Battle Action for the remainder of this Battle.
3 - Determine Your Battle Strength
Based on your Level, determine your base BS at this time as
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described below. Your base BS may be modified by an Early Battle
Action, by a Creature Type modification, by a Magical Item you are
currently carrying or wearing, or by MetalManced limbs (see
Creating Magical Items below).
4 - Determine Your Opponent’s Battle
Strength
Based on the Level of the Creature you are fighting (modified by
terrain factors), determine your opponent’s base BS at this time as
described below.
5 - Late Battle Action (Optional)
You may activate a Late Battle Action at this time, following the rules
of that Battle Action. If you do this, you cannot activate another Late
Battle Action for the remainder of this Battle. All required BS
adjustments that are required by the Battle Action are performed at
this time.
6 – Compute Final Battle Strengths
Modify both base Battle Strengths appropriately (based on Battle
Action modifiers, opponent abilities, horde size or magical items)
Creature Battle Strength * Horde Size = Creature's Final Battle
Strength
7 – Compare & Resolve
Once the final BS values are figured out, you simply compare the two
numbers. If your BS is equal to or greater than the BS of the
Creatures attacking you, you have won the battle and earned loot!
See Loot in Section 5 – Items and Inventory.
If your BS is lower than the BS of the attacking party, subtract the
difference between the two Battle Strengths from your HP. Now
subtract 1 Creature from the attacking party.
If you have beaten the attacking party down to zero horde members
through attrition, then you have won the battle, but not gained any
loot.
8 - Repeat
If Creatures remain in the attacking party, repeat step 2-7 of the
Battle sequence as described above, using the reduced horde size of
the current attackers. (The horde size on the monster list refers to
how many creatures will attack you next time and is never reduced in
size.)
Feel free to “corner up” the discard pile after every round of a Battle
sequence.
Determining Battle Strength Wanderer Battle Action Details
Determining Battle Strength (BS) involves drawing a new card and # Name Type Study Numbers Rules
placing it face up on top of the discard pile slightly askew so that the 1 Run Away! Early 2 8 Opponent BS is reduced to half.
blue arrows on the top card visibly point to a value in a pink arrow on The Battle is over after this
the bottom card. Battle Sequence. Do not collect
any treasure. In dungeons move
back to previous room.
The Level of the participant that you
are trying to obtain the base BS for is in 2 Stand Early 3 4 6 Ignore this Battle Sequence.
Your Reduce your HP by half. Divide
the blue arrow, and references a Horde Size by half.
Ground
number in the pink arrow.
3 Feint Late 4 6 You may recalculate the base
BS for yourself or your
In the example image to the right, you Opponent by drawing a new
are at Level 4. You have drawn a card, card.
and placed it on the discard pile. *
4 Dodge Early 5 7 Your base BS is 0.
Looking for the blue arrow with the 4 Opponent base BS is 1.
in it, you see that your base BS in the
pink arrow is 16. 5 Sweeping Late 6 7 At the end of the Battle
Strike Sequence, reduce the Horde
Size by 2 instead of 1.
When you need to obtain a base BS of your opponent following your Sweeping Strike is refreshed
BS, you may stack multiple cards on top of each other with enough of automatically after use. It does
not expire until end of this
an offset to see both numbers. combat.

You will need to adjust the Creature’s Level based on the Terrain in 6 Tactical Late 7 8
Advantage
your current Kingdom. If terrain exists in the current Kingdom that is
listed as the Creatures +1 Terrain, then add one to the Creature’s Base
Level. Conversely, if the Terrain exists in the current Kingdom that is
listed as the Creatures -1 Terrain, then subtract 1 from the Creatures 7 Furious Early 8 9
Base Level. Rage
Creature Terrain modifiers are cumulative, so if you are in a very
woody Kingdom (where both Terrain icons are Forest), then a 8 Time Late 9 10
Twister
Creature who has a modifier based on Forest adds or subtracts 2 from
its Base Level appropriately.
9 Protective Early 10 12
Aura
Creature Levels can never go below 1, and they can never go over 10.
In the case to the left, you quickly
obtain the base BS of your Level 5
opponent, which turns out to be 24.
You MAY select the next blue
arrow directly above the blue
arrow with your current Level
when determining your base
BS.
Draw 2 cards and obtain two
base Battle Strengths for
yourself. You can select either
one for as your Base BS.
11 No damage is done to you, and
no reduction of Horde Size is
done to your Opponent.
All damage that is done to you
is added to your HP total
instead. Your Max HP may
increase to the value of your
current HP if raised above your
current Max HP value during
the current battle, then it
returns.

10 Sided Early 11 13 Deduct 1 from your Opponent’s

An opponent’s base BS is then Fates Horde Size on your Creature
multiplied by the current number List. Horde Size in your Battle
remains unchanged.
of remaining Creatures that are in
its Horde. 11 Leech Late 12 13 Determine Leech Amount.
Leech Amount is equal to the
amount of Creatures defeated
BS value can be modified by and/or Horde Size reduced
various things. For example, Battle times the Opponent’s Level.
Add Leech Amount to your HP
Actions may alter your (or your opponent’s) BS. Additionally, the up to your Max HP amount.
Creature’s Type may adjust a BS value accordingly.
* If no discard pile exists, place a card from the draw pile into the discards as a base. 12 Fearful Late 13 2 Reduce Horde Size by the value
Gaze of your current Level. Do not
collect treasure if this ends the
Early and Late Battle Actions Battle.

13 Growing Early 2 3 Your base BS for this Battle

Battle Actions are special abilities that you learn as you increase in Strength Sequence is 0. Triple your total
Levels. Unless otherwise noted, you can only use any single Battle BS during the next Battle
Sequence in this Battle.
Action once per character level. When you advance a level, the Battle
Action is “recharged” and you can use it again. You will need to see
the Battle Action Details table for details on each Battle Action.

While a Battle may incorporate may repeated rounds of the Battle

Sequence, you may only trigger an Early Battle Action once per full
Battle. Also, you may only trigger a Late Battle Action once per full
Battle.

Page 8 of 28
Unconciousness, Wounding and Death
If at any point in the game your Hit Points drop below zero, you have
suffered a grevious blow and are considered to be Knocked Out.
When you are Knocked Out, draw an Event card. Use the Body
Location Indicator to determine where you are injured.
Body Part Location Result
Head All Fatal
Torso Dungeons Fatal unless using a healing potion.
Destroy items equipped to body & belt.
World Map Temple in same Kingdom may resurrect.
Destroy items equipped to body & belt.
Arms All Mark as wounded, destroy items
equipped to that arm.
Legs All Mark as wounded, destroy items
equipped to legs or feet.
Head wounds are always fatal. See Death, below.
If the torso is marked, you have suffered a grevious wound.
If you are on the world map and a temple is located in the same
kingdom as the Nameless Wanderer the priests there will heal you to
1/10th of your Max HP. If no temple exists in that kingdom your
wound is fatal. In dungeons, torso wounds are normally fatal, as there
are no people to help you. Only healing potions will save you in time.
Any item worn on either the body or belt is destroyed.
If an arm or leg is marked as red, mark the corresponding limb on
your player sheet as being damaged. Any item worn on the limb is
destroyed.
If you are on the World Map, move to the closest Temple or Village
Kingdom to where you are. (If there is more than one equally close,
you may choose to which one you travel to be healed). You are
resuscitated there by the kind locals (regardless of their displeasure).
They will bring your Hit Points back up to half of your current
Maximum Hit Points.
If you are wounded in a dungeon, you will be flung back into the
room you were located in previously. You may use healing potions in
the room you are knocked back into, or leave the dungeon (in case of
a limb wound) and follow the instructions above to be healed on the
World Map.
Damaged Limbs
Damaged arms cannot carry any Magical Items. If you have 2
damaged limbs you are forced to retire. See The End of the Game in
Section 1 - Gameplay
If there is a metalmancer lab located on your World Map he can
replace your damaged limb with a magical replacement.
MetalManced limbs do not count as a damaged limbs. They can still
be destroyed by the Knocked Out body part check, and thereby
replaced with a new MetalManced limb. See MetalmancerLab in
Section 3 – The World Map
Death
If your wounds are fatal, then your game is over. In a normal game
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your score will be half of your Keep's current Impressiveness. Certain
Variants and Campaign Settings will use different scoring systems.
Creature Creation
During the Event Phase if you draw a lettered event you may need to
create a new creature. If a creature of that letter does not exist or you
are 5 levels higher than the creature, you will need to make a new
creature.
It takes only a few actions to create a new or higher level Creature for
your World. When creating a Creature you are filling-in-the-blanks of
the row of a selected letter reference that has not been filled in yet.
1. Draw an Event card and look for the Type listed the Yellow
Monster Banner. This indicates the Type of the Creature
you are creating. Write this Creature Type in the
appropriate space on your Creature List. Types determine
different rules modifications that the Creature makes to the
basic rules. On the next page is a table that describes all of
the details about Creature Types; what they are and what
rules modifications you will need to make for each type. In
fact, it might be a good idea to get familiar with them now.
2. Next, give your Creature a name that starts with the same
letter as was drawn on the event card, and place it under the
Creature Name heading. “Dragon,” “Dwarf,” or “Foaming
Pig” could all work, but you may have to be mindful of the
Creature Type that is already assigned to that letter.
3. Next you will have to determine the Creature’s Terrain
Bonuses and Negatives. Draw an Event card for each, and
write down the type of Terrain shown on each card. If both
terrains match, then there are no modifiers for that creature
as they cancel each other.
4. The Creature’s Base Level is determined by your current
Level minus 1. If you are currently at Level 2, then any
new Creatures are created at Level 1.
5. To determine the Loot value of the Creature, draw an Event
card and look at the number “gold rock” icon in the Yellow
Monster Banner. Fill this number in on the Creature List
under the Loot heading.
6. Since this is the first time you are encountering this
Creature, put a single tic mark in the Horde Size column.
The Horde Size determines how many Creatures are in the
party that you are battling with during a Battle. This
number increases with every encounter of a particular
Creature.
Creature Types
This is the list of various Creature Types, and how they affect the basic rules.

Undead You are not allowed to use any Battle Actions against the
Undead.
Flying If the Opponent’s Horde Size is greater than your level, you
cannot use any Battle Actions in the first Battle Sequence, and
you have a Base BS of 0 in the first Battle Sequence.
Burrowing If you “defeat the Horde” (as if your BS is greater than the
Opponent’s BS, or you perform a Battle Action ends the
Battle by reducing more than 1 Creature from the Horde
Size), you cut the Horde size down to half instead.
Ferocious If the Opponent damages you in a Battle Sequence, you get
additional damage equal to your Opponent’s base BS.

Example: You have a BS of 12, your Opponent has a base BS

of 5, but with a Horde Size of 4. Normally, the Opponent
would do damage of 20-12, for 8. A Ferocious Opponent does
an additional 5, for 13 damage.
Swarming At the end of a Battle Sequence, deduct an addition 1 from
the Horde Size of the Battle.

At the end of the complete Battle, add an additional tick mark

to that Creature’s Horde Size on the Creature List, even in
Dungeons.
Poison If Opponent does damage, multiply the damage by 2. The
Battle then ends. No treasure is awarded.
Armored Armored Creatures can never have a Horde Size greater than
your current Level. Do not add a tick mark to the Creature
List if the Creature’s Horde Size is equal to your Level.

During the first Battle Sequence, an Armored Opponent deals

no damage. You will still have to determine its’ BS, however,
to see if it has lost the battle.

Starting with the second Battle Sequence, and all others

following it in a single Battle, you must divide your base BS
in half.
Typical No special rules affect this Creature.

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 Section 3 – The World Map
The World Map is drawn by you to map the adventures of the Nameless Wanderer. Your world map will contain many types of structures.
Terrain, kingdoms, settlements, buildings and roads are discussed in this section. Dungeons will be discussed in detail in the next section.

Kingdoms
Creating More Kingdoms
The entirety of the map is called the World. Your World map will be
made of various Kingdoms that are created as you need them. You Throughout the game, you will be
can have up to 20 Kingdoms in a World, each starting with a unique creating Kingdoms “on the fly” as
letter of the alphabet, A through T. you need them .

When you need to create a new

Starting Kingdoms Kingdom, you need to draw a new
The first thing you will need to do is draw your starting Kingdom. border area. You need to draw it in
such a way that it can be built off an
Creating a starting Kingdom is very similar to Creating More existing path from a previously
Kingdoms described below. existing Kingdom. Finally, continue
the road into that Kingdom.
Draw the border of a single Kingdom. The border can be of any
shape and size, just remember that you may have up to 20 of them on First, give the new Kingdom a name. Remember, each Kingdom
your map, so plan accordingly. name needs to start with a unique letter, A through T. Once you have
used up all of those letters, you are not allowed to create any new
Name the Kingdom and write down its name within its border. As Kingdoms. All unused roads simply fade into the sea. Or something.
you explore the World and discover new Kingdoms, each new
Kingdom will have to be given a name. The only restriction to this is Next, draw an Event card and look at the “additional paths” area in
that each name can only start with a particular letter once, A through the upper right of the card. This tells you how many additional roads
T. So, if you decide to name this starting Kingdom with the name of out of the new Kingdom you
“Alyndale,” you cannot name any other Kingdom with a name may draw. Go ahead and draw
starting with the letter A. those roads now.

As with the Creature List, the letters A-T are used as a reference Finally, draw two more Event
guide. So, in general, it is best to create Kingdoms in alphabetical cards to get the Land Types of
order as you need them. But there will be events that break this rules this new Kingdom, and draw
as you will see later. those on the Kingdom.

Draw 4 ROADS (dotted lines) that extend out to the Kingdom’s
border.
Draw an Event card and look at the LAND ICON at the top of the
card. Draw 2 of these icons in your Kingdom. Place this card face up
on the discard pile. In the starting Kingdom example below, the
Event card drawn had a Land Icon of “Forests.”
Draw a VILLAGE (looks a like a little house) with the number 1 on
it. This indicates that Village is a Level 1 village. See Settlement
Actions for more details about types of Settlements.
So now, the map of your World should
look something like the example to the
left.
Finally, place your token on your
starting Kingdom. You are all set to
wander, explore, and beat up random
semi-helpless Creatures.
In some cases, when getting
information about additional
paths, you will find that previously drawn roads will “dead end”.
These will need to be crossed out or erased.
EXAMPLE: In the example to the left here, after drawing the
Kingdom for Caldwilly, the player drew an additional path amount of
0. The road from Alyndale that would naturally lead to Caldwilly is
now forever blocked.
Settlements
When a kingdom has gained enough population and power they
create a location to consolidate their resources.
Settlements come in three types, Villages,
Castles, and Temples. There can only be
one Settlement per Kingdom.
Settlements have their own Level ratings
which can be improved throughout the
game when drawing a +1 or +2 Event
during the Event phase.

Page 11 of 28
Create or Improve A Settlement
While on the world map, you may create or improve settlements
when you draw a +1 or +2 during the Event Phase.
When you draw a +1 event, you can do any of the following:
1. Increment the level value of any Settlement in the World by
1. Or Increment the level value of any MetalMancer by 1.
The MetalMancer can have a larger level than the Temple
or Village he lives in.
2. Build a new Level 1 Settlement in any Kingdom that does
not currently have a Settlement or your Keep. See
Settlement Actions for more details on the types of
Settlements.
3. Place a new building in any Kingdom that matches its
requirements. See Buildings and Other Structures, below.
If you have a +2 improvement, you may do any of the actions
described above twice, or divide your actions up any way you see fit
across the different actions.
When drawing a new Settlement, keep in mind that you will also
need some space to keep track of the Settlement’s displeasure (two
additional icons) with you.
Settlement Displeasure
All settlements will have a “displeasure” rating of how they feel
about you. All settlements will be indifferent to you to begin with.
Their displeasure with you is based on how many unhappy faces are
drawn in their kingdom.
Generally, Settlements can get displeased with you by failing Quests
(or making certain decisions during Quests), or by letting Dungeons
in their Kingdom grow and fester. You are, after all, a hero and you
are expected to do public service kind of things.
Conversely, you can remove displeasure from Settlements by
completing Quests, defeating creatures during creature encounters,
and valiantly entering Dungeons. That’s the spirit!
Settlement Actions
If you are in a Kingdom with a Settlement, you can perform one of
two Settlement Actions per turn based on that Settlement type, if the
Settlement has less than 2 unhappy faces associated with it. See
Settlement Displeasure, above.
Villages
If you are in a Kingdom with a Village settlement, you may REST to
reclaim Hit Points or SELL items.
Settlement Action: Rest at Inn
You may rest to reclaim Hit Points back up to your maximum HP
amount, this is accomplished by spending a certain amount of gold
from your inventory (deducting it from your current Gold amount).
The cost to do this is based on the formula below:
Paid X Gold * Level of Village = HP Gain.
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You may do this as many times as you wish during a single turn. You
cannot exceed your Max HP value.
Example: You may pay 10 Gold at a level 2 Village to gain 20 HP.
Settlement Action: Sell Items
You may also sell a Magical Item at a Village (See Section 5 – Items
and Inventory). Remove the item from your Inventory (or your body)
when you sell it. You gain gold based on the formula below:
Gold = 10 * (the +X value of magic of item) * (Level of Village)
The “+X value of magic of item” is essentially the level of the magic
item. Unknown items are only worth 1/10th value when selling.
Example: Selling a +3 Hammer of Undead at a level 2 Village gains
you 60 gold. (60 = 10 * 3 *2). If unknown it would be worth 6 gold.
Villages can also remove a cursed item if you pay to have it removed
and destroyed. Figure the price as if selling the item but pay 10x the
price instead and remove the item from your inventory. See Cursed
Items, in Section 5 – Items and Inventory.
Unhappy Villages
If you are in a Village, you must battle the Village Militia. The
amount of Village Militia you must fight is equal to the amount of
unhappy faces the Village has. The level of the Militia is 1 less your
current level.
Regardless, you cannot do any special Village actions at an unhappy
Village.
Temples
If you are in a Kingdom with a Temple settlement, you may BUY
POTIONS or STUDY
Settlement Action: Study for Advancement
Temples are the locations that allow you to study, which increase
your Level by 1.
You may only advance your Level by +1 per turn.
Advancing to a new Level increases your Current HP and Maximum
Hit Points by 10 times your new Level.
A Temple can only advance your Level as high as the Temple’s
Level.
The cost to do this is equal to 1000 times your target Level (the target
Level being the desired new Level you are studying towards).
Example: To increase your Level from 2 to 3, you must be in a
Kingdom with a Temple that has a Level of at least 3, and pay 3000
gold (1000 * level 3).
By doing a STUDY action you also “refresh” your Battle Actions.
Battle Actions, when used, cannot be used again until you “level up.”
All of your acquired Battle Actions are then refreshed and ready for
use again. Battle Actions are special abilities you can play during a
Battle. Generally, once used, they become inactive and you cannot
use them again until you STUDY UP to the next Level. See Battle
Actions in Section 2 – Creatures and Combat.
As a further reward for studying, you gain a new Battle Action. Each
Battle Action has a list of numbers known as “Study Numbers.” You
can add a new Battle Action to your arsenal of actions by selecting
one of these Study Numbers, and referencing that as your new Battle
Action.
Example: At the beginning of the game, you start with the Battle
Action known as Run Away! Run Away has Study Numbers of 2 and
8. The first time you advance to a new level, you can add either
Battle Action 2 (Stand Your Ground) or Battle Action 8 (Time
Twister) to your list of actions.
The next time you advance a level, you can now use the Study
Numbers on both Run Away! And the action you selected.
See Character Overview in Section 1 - Gameplay
Settlement Action: Buy Healing Potions
Temples are also where you may buy a healing potion. Subtract 100
gold for each potion and add the purchased potions to your general
inventory. See Section 5 – Items and Inventory
Unhappy Temples
If you are in an unhappy Temple, you may attempt to defeat a Master
to regain your honor, and erase all unhappy faces from the Temple
Kingdom.
The Master’s level is equal to your current level plus the amount of
Unhappy Faces the Kingdom currently has. Defeating the Master
removes all unhappy faces from the Temple.
You cannot perform any special Temple actions at an unhappy
Temple.
Castles
Roads may be built, Quests may or may not be thrust upon you, or
you may request a Quest, depending on how displeased the King in
that Kingdom is with you. These are some basic requirements about
the interaction of Quests and Castles. See Section 6 - Quests
Settlement Action: Build Roads
Kingdoms with Castles may buy additional roads in their territory up
to a maximum of 4 roads.
• Each road costs 250 gold for each existing road in the
territory plus another 250 gold for the road itself. ie 500 for
a second road, 750 for a third and 1000 for a fourth.
• Each level of road requires that the previous road level
exist already. You may not build more than one road in a
territory per turn.
• Each level of road requires a castle of the same level or
higher. ie to build a fourth road, a castle must be level 4 or
higher.
• Building a road requires your presence in the kingdom.
• If a road connects to another kingdom, it is completed in
both kingdoms. However, a road may not be built into
another kingdom that already has 4 roads connecting to
other kingdoms. If the other kingdom has a surplus used
road, then it must be used. (If it was inconveniently drawn
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just erase it and move it appropriately.)
Settlement Action: Gain a Quest
Kings in their Castles will have a “displeasure” rating of how they
feel about you. Like all Settlements, Castles with be indifferent to
begin with. However, they can also be “mildly displeased” or
“severely displeased” with you. This is done by drawing “Unhappy
Faces” near the Castle. A King who is mildly displeased with you
will only have 1 unhappy face near his Castle, and severely
displeased King will have 2. (Kings are never, ever “pleased”).
Displeasure with Kings is determined through various results of
Quests, how they are offered to you (if you should accept them), and
how you completed them. Types of Quests in Section 6 describe in
detail how unhappy faces are earned.
You may only be on one Quest at a time for any particular Castle. If
you have not fulfilled your duties for a Quest for a particular Castle,
you cannot get a second one to start. Other than that, the rules in
Section 6 – Quests describe how to obtain Quests and the rewards
they offer
Unhappy Castles
If it is a Castle Kingdom, and you have only 1 unhappy face there,
the king will AUTOMATICALLY give you a new Quest to regain
your honor (see Gain a New Quest, above). Successfully completing
this Quest will erase one unhappy face from this Castle, but you do
not gain any loot from it.
Failing this new Quest, once again, adds an unhappy face to this
Kingdom.
If you are in a Castle Kingdom with 2 or more unhappy faces, you
must battle 3 Royal Guardsmen, each with the same level that you are
at currently.
If you are victorious against the Royal Guard, you may then request a
quest to restore your honor and remove a single unhappy face. Royal
Guardsmen have no Loot.
Buildings
Buildings are useful additons that may be added to kingdoms. Unlike
settlements, buildings are not improved as time goes by. Each
building has certain requirements for its construction.
Metalmancer Lab
If you draw a +1 or +2 event you may build a metalmancer lab in one
of your kingdoms. MetalMancer labs may only be placed in
Kingdoms with either a Village or Temple. Draw the lab as an Anvil
or a Hammer, with a starting value of 1. MetalMancers are magicians
who work in the questionably dark art of combining magic metals
with flesh. They are more than happy to attempt their experiments for
free on unsuspecting heroes who are knocked unconscious and
therefore have no ability to have a say in the matter.
When you are Knocked Out and wounded in either arm or leg, if you
journey to a metalmancer lab, the MetalMancer in that
Village/Temple will attempt to replace your damaged limb with a
limb composed of magical armor. To determine how the surgery
went, draw a new Event card for every MetalManced limb you
currently have. If any of these cards show a damaged head as the
Body Location Indicator, you did not survive the surgery, and you are
dead. Terrain Types
Kingdoms all contain two terrains of land that determine both how
Otherwise, good news, you survived the surgery! The MetalMancer the inhabitants use their land and how events are handled in their
has successfully replaced your limb with a magical armored limb, kingdom and dungeons that lie in that kingdom.*
with a level strength equal to the value of the Anvil. Your
MetalManced limb is now treated as an overreaching magical item, in
that its level is added to all Battle Strengths for you. Your Farms
MetalManced limb cannot be cursed, however, it also cannot carry a Agricultural and farmlands resting in large plains.
magical item.

MetalManced limbs do not count as a damaged limbs. They can still Forests
be destroyed by the Knocked Out body part check, and thereby Both deciduous and conifer forests are home to many
replaced with a new MetalManced limb. peoples and creatures.

World Prison Mountains

The kingdoms have combined to create a prison to send the worst of
The daunting heights often hide abandoned mines
the criminals that have been caught by their guards and militas.
and denizens alike.
You may build a Settlement, or your Keep in the Kingdom with the
Prison. The World Prison is usually created when you gain the Quest: Deserts
Guard, but you may use a +1 or +2 event to place the World Prison in
Remote and inhosptiable to all but most hardy.
a specific kingdom if it has not been created yet. There may only be
Temples are often found in deserts,
one World Prison on the world map.
* Land use is a game mechanic used by some Campaign Settings.
When you create the World Prison place a small zero next to the icon.
Increment the number next to the Prison each time you escort a
prisoner to indicate how many Villains you have delivered to the
Prison. Each prisoner is worth 1 point at the end of your game.

Other Structures

Your Keep
As you adventure you may find you need a place to relax and
meditate over your great deeds. Besides, as a Wanderer, you need
solitude once in a while. You may spend Gold in order to build your
Keep, making it more luxurious and impressive to the Kingdoms
around you. Your Keep is important enough to warrant the Keep
Upkeep phase of the turn sequence. See Turn Overview in Section 1 -
Gameplay

You may not build a Keep until all three types of settlements are
represented on your world map. To build a Keep, you must select a
Kingdom with no Settlements on it, and Draw a Shield there. This is
free to do, and put a 0 in the middle of it. Your Keep currently has an
Impressiveness rating of 0; that’s ok, it’s just a plot of land right now.

To add to the Impressiveness of your Keep, add up the Levels of all

Settlements in your World and add your current Impressiveness level.
The sum total of this amount is the amount of Gold you need to spend
to increase your Keep’s value by 1 (castles are competing for the
same quarries and resources as your Keep supplies). You may only
increase impressiveness to the total amount of castle levels on your
world map.

More types of buildings may by created by variants and campaign

settings. The Black Tower is one example to be found in Section 9 –
Variants and Campaign Settings

Page 14 of 28
 Section 4 - Dungeons
Just as your Keep is the bastion of your strength and power, Dungeons represent the strongholds of the evil creatures that would overrun your
world if there was no one to fight them. Luckily, the world has produced a force of good to combat these monsters in their very lairs: the
Nameless Wanderer.

Dungeon Creation & Levels

During the Dungeon Check
phase of the game you will
need to look at the Land Icon
at the top of the card. If there
is a subset icon of a grey
Dungeon Icon, then check If the same card also has the dungeon symbol, then there are stairs
the Kingdom you are down to the next level. There may be only one set of stairs down per
currently in. If at least one of level. Stairs may be blocked if the dungeon is not deep enough level
the land types of the yet.
Kingdom you are in matches
the Land Icon on the card,
then a Dungeon level has
been constructed in this
Kingdom. If no dungeon
exists, draw a Dungeon Icon in your current Kingdom, and give it a
value equal to your current level minus 1, otherwise increment the
dungeon value by 1.

Additionally, add +1 to the value of up to 3 other Dungeons that

currently exist in your world. If you have less than three Dungeons,
than just add +1 to any others that you have (do not add any to the
newly created Dungeon).

If a cleared dungeon is increased in size, then it has been re-
populated by a new owner who has expanded the dungeon by another
level with new minions to guard it's treasures.
Kingdoms may not have multiple Dungeons.
Dungeons will have as many levels to be mapped as the the rank of
the dungeon itself. ie a 1st level dungeon has one level, and a 3rd
level dungeon would have three levels.
Entering & Mapping Dungeons
If you are in a Kingdom with a Dungeon, you may enter it, in the
hopes of defeating all the creatures within.
Draw an event card to determine if the new room contains a monster.
Because of time-scale differences, when moving to a previously
created room an event is not drawn. (Unless the dungeon has been re-
populated.) All dungeons territory types match the kingdom they lie
within. If you draw a +1 then you have found a healing potion and
may add it to your inventory. If you have drawn a +2 then you have
found a potion and a magical item of the same level as the dungeon.
See Creating Magical Items in Section 5 – Items and Inventory
Encounter Differences from the World Map
Unlike a normal creature encounter, you DO NOT add to the
creature’s Horde Size when encountering it in the dungeon.

Entering a Dungeon is a lot like creating

kingdoms on the world map. Use a separate
piece of paper for each kingdom's dungeon.
Start with a square room with the exit stairs on
one wall and a door in each of the other walls.
Each door opens to a hall to a new room. This room will not contain
an event encounter. Rooms with up stairs never contain creatures.
Dungeon Level Sizes
Dungeon levels are are only extended until the first stairs down to
next level are drawn. Once the stairs have been created as a result of
the event check, all unused doors are extended into rooms without
exits and marked with question marks to show they are unexplored.
Further draws of stairs are ignored on this level. If the dungeon
becomes sealed without any exit doors due to card draws then the
stairs down should be drawn in the last room created.

When you exit the room, draw a hallway extending from the door to a
new room at the end of the hallway and draw a card. Look at the
additional paths to determine the number of exit doors.
The stairs in the bottom-most level of a Dungeon are still drawn on
the map when the they appear on the event cards. The stairs are
considered under construction and non-functional until the
dungeon is re-populated and the next level down is constructed by
a new boss creature.

Page 15 of 28
Dungeon Bosses
The bottom-most level of the dungeon also contains one extra Boss
level monster that automatically has a +1 bonus in addition to any
other bonuses. Boss monsters always have both treasure and loot.
Boss treasures always have a +2 bonus in addition to the dungeon
level from which it is acquired. (A boss defeated on the fourth level
of a dungeon would produce a +6 item.) Bosses are automatically
placed in the last room placed by as player in a dungeon without
doors, see above.

Dungeons and Injuries

If you are Knocked Out in the Dungeon, or use the Run Away! Battle
action, you move back to the previous room occupied and write the
letter reference of the monster with a number representing the size of
the horde remaining in the room you were kicked out from. For
example, B3 or F2

See Section 2 – Creatures and Combat

Exploration and Diplomacy

When you exit the Dungeon, erase one unhappy face that may, or
may not be in that Kingdom if you defeated any monsters. If you
defeated the boss then you may erase two additional faces.

If you “run the gauntlet” and defeat all of the creatures, do not erase
the Dungeon from the kindom map, instead place a small letter C
above it on the world map to indicate that the dungeon is currently
cleared. Then erase all unhappy faces in the kingdom.

If you enter the dungeon and defeat no monsters then add an

additional unhappy face for cowardice.

Repopulation
Any time a dungeon has been incremented, the creatures inside are
reset. All previously drawn rooms should be marked with a question
mark and events WILL be drawn during the event phase.

Choosing To Not Enter A Dungeon

If you choose to NOT enter a Dungeon in your current Kingdom, and
there is a Settlement in the Kingdom, add unhappy faces equal to the
number of levels in the dungeon residing in the Kingdom.

Monks, villagers, and kings don’t like it when heroes pass through
without getting rid of the frequent bands of creatures that bother
them, who are based in the dungeons.

Dungeons marked with a "C" to indicate that they have been cleared
do not cause unhappiness in a kingdom.

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 Section 5 - Items and Inventory
Magic item creation, healing potions and inventory control
Inventory
Recording
You will be using your character sheet to keep track of items that you
are carrying with you during your adventures. See Character Sheet in
Section 10 – Appendices and Tables
Body Locations
Your character has several specific locations that you may store/use
items. Some suggestions for items would include:
Head – Helmets, crowns, tiaras, etc
Body – Body armor
Belt – Belts of Undead Defeat, etc
Right Hand/Arm – Rings, bracers, swords, shields, etc.
Left Hand/ Arm - Rings, bracers, swords, shields, etc.
Right Leg – Usually combined with left leg for armor or boots
Left Leg – see right leg, above
General/Backpack – Where everything goes that you are currently no
using.
Inventory Phase
Items may be moved between body locations only during the
Inventory Phase of the game.
Loot
Throughout your adventure, you will be collecting loot by being
victorious in battles, and performing valiant quests for kings of your
realm. In both cases, each has a Loot value.
Collecting Loot from Creatures
Determining the base loot value is similar to determining a Battle
Strength. Simply draw another card, and line up this card with the top
card on the discard pile in such a way that the blue “level” arrows
line up next to the column of gold nuggets. Cross reference the Gold
Value with the unmodified Level Number of the Creature Level to get
the Base Gold Value. You must Defeat the Horde to receive any loot.
Now, multiply this number with the Creature’s Loot value to get the
total amount of Gold pillaged from the dead Creatures(s).
Take the total amount of Gold collected from the cards, and multiply
that amount by the Horde Size of defeated Creatures.
Base Gold Value x Creature Loot Value x Horde Size = Gold received
If a *T* comes up, you have won a Magical Treasure instead, equal
in Level to the Creature’s Level ((see Creating Magical Items,
below).
Page 17 of 28
Collecting Loot for Quests
Determining the base loot value is similar to determining a Battle
Strength. Simply draw another card, and line up this card with the top
card on the discard pile in such a way that the blue “level” arrows
line up next to the column of gold nuggets. Cross reference the Gold
Value with the Quest Level to get the Base Gold Value.
Now, multiply this number with the Quest Loot multiplier to get the
total amount of Gold from the quest.
Base Gold Value x Quest Loot Modifier = Gold received
If a *T* comes up, you have won a Magical Treasure instead, equal
in Level to the Quest’s Level (see Creating Magical Items, below).
Items
Creating Magical Items
Creating Magical items is pretty straightforward. A Magical item is
defined something like this:
“+2 Hat of the Undead”
The modifier (a +2 in this case) is typically defined by the level of the
Quest or dungeon level on which the item was found. So if the Quest
is a Level 2, the magical item will have the power of +2.
You will need to draw an Event card to determine the type of Magic
the item is. Use the Creature Type directly below the Yellow Creature
Banner. So, if you are wearing the Hat of the Undead, and you are
battling an Undead Creature, your level is increased by 2 when doing
Battle Strength checks.
The type of the item is defined by drawing a card and looking at the
Body Location Indicator, and creating a magical item for the body
part indicated. If the torso is indicated then you may pick either Body
or Belt. Things like Hats and Helmets can only be worn on the head,
and you can only wear one thing at a time on your head. Each hand
can only hold one thing, as can your body and belt. Most items for
your legs will be one item, such as leg armor or boots.
Items that aren’t being currently worn are kept in your inventory for
selling later, but you do not gain the bonuses afforded to you by those
items.
You may move items between body locations during the Inventory
Phase.
When an item has been created but not equipped in the proper
location it is considered an Unknown item and should be marked
with a U after its name. See Cursed Items, below.
Cursed Items
When an item is equipped for the first time in its proper location you
need to check to see if it it cursed or not. Simply draw a card and
look in the monster banner. If the type matches the type of your item
it is a cursed item. Change it's + value to a – value instead. So a "+2
Hat of the Undead" becomes a "Cursed -2 Hat of the Undead".

Cursed items may not be removed normally. You must go to a village

and pay to have it removed and destroyed. Figure the price as if
selling the item but pay 10x the price instead and remove the item
from your inventory. (See Settlement Action:Sell Item in Section 3 –
The World Map.)

Healing Potions
Healing potions may be purchased at Temples and are found in
dungeons throughout the world. To determine the healing effect of a
potion, use the same method as determining your Battle Strength,
(see below) but heal your character by the amount shown on the card.
The wanderer may never have more HP than his current Max HP.

Using a healing potion is considered a free action that may be

performed at any time.

To determine the healing

effect of a healing potion,
draw a new card and place
it face up on top of the
discard pile slightly askew
in such a way that the blue
arrows on the top card
visibly point to a value in a
pink arrow on the bottom
card.

Locate your level number

in the blue arrow, and
reference the number in the
pink arrow to which the
blue arrow is pointing. The
number shown in the pink arrow is the amount you are healed and
may be added to your current HP (not to exceed your Max HP)

Page 18 of 28
 Section 6 - Quests
Throughout the game, you will hopefully be performing mighty Wanderer duties by going on Quests, which are obtained at Castle Settlements.
These quests include deedss such as escorting a princess to another Kingdom (preferably, without her getting killed), slaying a particular
Creature in a particular Kingdom, or negotiating a contract between two Kingdoms.
General Info
You may only be on one Quest at a time for any particular Castle. If
you have not fulfilled your duties for a Quest for a particular Castle,
you cannot get a second one to start from the same Castle. The
displeasure of the King in your current Kingdom will affect how
quests function.
1) If the King is indifferent (no unhappy faces), you may request a
Quest, if you wish. If so, follow the directions as described below.
2) If the King is mildly displeased (one unhappy face), he will
demand you go on a Quest to regain his indifference with you. See
Gaining a Quest for details.
3) If the King is severely displeased (two or more unhappy faces), he
will have no interactions with you whatsoever, and instead have his
Royal Guardsmen out and about searching for you. See A Failed
Quest for details.
As a side note, you can ask for another Quest on the same
turn that you have completed a Quest for a particular
Castle; finishing a Quest is a Quest Action, which occurs in
the Phase before Settlement Actions.
Gaining A Quest
A Quest has information that will need to be recorded on the Quest
Tracking Sheet provided at the end of this set of rules. You may want
to review the Quest Types as described later on at this point, because
each Quest type is slightly different and may require a different
amount of information. But in general, this is the overall list of things
you need to do when setting up a Quest. Quest data on the Event
cards are shown in the Castle Banner.
A Quest has a HOME, which is the Kingdom that you are in
currently. Most Quests require you to go off, do something, and then
return to it’s home. So write down the Kingdom you are in.
A Quest has a LEVEL, which is the level rating of the Castle. Write
that down.
Draw an Event card,
and look at the Quest
type next to the
Castle Icon. Each
quest type has
different actions to
do. Write this down.
Draw another Event
card. Look at the
Letter Reference to
determine what
Region you must travel to (if any, as described by the Quest type
drawn). Write this down as your destination. If this destination
Kingdom has not been created yet, you must create it anywhere in the
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World, as long as it conforms to the standard Kingdom Creation rules
as if you were moving to a new Kingdom. See Creating More
Kingdoms in Section 3- The World Map
When adding a new Kingdom to the World for the purposes of a
Quest, you may build a free Level 1 Castle or Village in it (no
Temples). If no additional roads exist when a quest requires one, then
a player may create one at least three steps away in cases where the
wanderer must travel.
Depending on the Quest, you may have to draw another card to
determine an Alternate Destination.
Finally, draw another card to determine how much Loot the king will
give you if you succeed in your daunting task. Look at the number in
the Castle Banner. Write down the resulting number as the Quest
Loot value multiplier.
Finishing A Quest
When you have finished the required goals of a Quest, you may be
paid by the King which sent you on your daunting mission. Getting
paid off is not an action, and it occurs automatically in the Quest
Actions Phase when you are in the Kingdom with the Castle that
triggered the Quest, as long as you have completed it. See Turn
Overview in Section 1 - Gameplay
Match Quest level to the loot column and then multiply by the castle
loot multiplier. If the Quest’s Loot is *T* type, then you can create a
magical item at the level of the Quest. See Collecting Loot for Quests
in Section 5 – Items and Inventory.
Finishing a Quest successfully for a King is a good thing, and erases
all unhappy faces associated with that Castle. The King is now just
indifferent to you.
Failing A Quest
In some cases, you may put off completing the Quest indefinitely. In
these cases, the only detriment to not completing the Quest is that
you have locked out a Castle for future Quests.
However, in some cases, refusing to perform the Quest, or not
finishing it in time will result in a Failed Quest. The Quest is
considered to be finished, but you do not receive any Loot. In fact,
the King is pretty mad at you!
If you have failed a Quest, draw an unhappy face near the Castle that
assigned the quest.
 Specific Quest Types
This list describes the various differences between the different Quest
types, and what you need to do to perform them.
Note that in the cases of Quests that involve battling Creatures, the
term “Creature” does not indicate a single “unit” of the Creature, but
instead the amount derived from its Horde Size value, as if it were a
normal Battle.
Assault
Description: The King has had enough with another Kingdom!! Go
forth and destroy a Settlement that the King decides.
Refusal: Refusal of this quest adds one unhappy face to this Castle.
There is no time limit penalty.
Requirements: If the Destination Kingdom does not include a
Settlement, create one, at a level of your current level minus 1 in the
Destination Kingdom.
When arriving at the Destination, Assaulting the Settlement follows
similar rules as if you are battling a Creature during a Creature
Encounter (see Section 2 – Creatures and Combat).
When Assaulting a Settlement, consider the Settlement to be a
Creature with a Level and Horde Size equal to the Settlement’s Level.
Unlike a Creature, Settlements are not simply beaten in one fell
swoop. After each Battle Phase, whether you have taken damage or
not, reduce the Settlement’s Level and Horde Size by one.
Once Settlement has been reduced to 0, erase it from the board.
Feel free to pillage the Settlement’s remains, using the Settlement’s
starting Level value as its Loot value.
Check for Settlements in neighboring Kingdoms. All Settlements in
neighboring Kingdoms that are of the same type as the one you just
Assaulted gain one unhappy face.
Reward: Upon returning to the Kingdom that sent you on this dire
Quest, collect your Loot.
Defend
Description: The castle is under attack! The King wishes your help
in defense from the attacking Creature. Draw a new Event card, and
look up the Letter Reference code for the Creature that is attacking. If
this Creature doesn’t exist yet you must create it now (See Creature
Creation in Section 2 – Creatures and Combat). You do not draw a
card for a destination. You still draw for Loot amount for this Quest.
Refusal: You may refuse to defend the Castle, but the Castle
immediately gets 1 Unhappy Face, and you immediately move to a
neighboring Kingdom along any connecting path of your choice.
Also, the Castle loses a Level. If the Castle is reduced to 0, the Castle
is erased from the World.
Requirements: If you decide to honor the King’s request, perform a
Battle as normal against the Creature.
Reward: If you successfully kill the Creature (or horde of Creatures),
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you still gain the Loot from the Creature as if it was a regular
Creature encounter, plus the King’s Loot amount for the Defend
Quest. Also, successfully defending the Castle erases a single
Unhappy Face from that Castle.
Escort
Description: You have been asked to escort the King’s daughter to
another Kingdom to be married. Quite the honor!
Refusal: You may refuse this Quest without penalty.
Requirements: In this case, you will need to draw 2 Destination
locations instead of one. The first Destination is the Kingdom that the
King would like you to take the Princess. The second Destination is
the Kingdom of the King’s Arch-Enemy, who would like nothing else
than to get their hands on the King’s daughter!
If one or both of these Kingdoms don’t exist yet on your map, please
create them (see Creating a Kingdom in Section 3 – The World Map).
Each Destination also needs a Settlement for the Princess to be taken
to; if a Destination does not have a Settlement in it, you may choose
to add either a level 1 Castle or level 1 Village to the destination
Kingdom.
The princess who you are escorting can take damage. She starts off
with half of your current Hit Point total.
If you take any damage during the Escort, you may apply it to her
instead. Sweet Princess Shield! Every time you do this lowers the
value of the Quest’s Loot by one. However, if she dies, the Home
Castle gets two Unhappy Faces, and the Destination Settlement gets
one Unhappy Face.
You may move through each of the Destination Kingdoms without
“delivering the package”. In the case of an Escort, you get paid off at
the Destination of your choosing. Feel free to erase all unhappy faces
at the Settlement you delivered the Princess to.
Reward: If you hand over the Princess at the King’s desired
Destination, your Quest is complete. See Loot in Section 5 – Items
and Inventory. In this case, you may also remove an unhappy face at
both the Home and Destination Castles.
Alternate Reward: If you hand over the Princess to the Enemy
Destination, draw a new Event card, and multiply the number in the
Castle banner by the Loot value of the Quest (In this case, a *T*
counts as “10” for the multiplication.). See Collecting Loot. Remove
all Unhappy Faces from the Enemy Destination. The enemy King is
most pleased.
However, the King at the Home Kingdom is not! This Castle gets 2
Unhappy Faces.
Guard
Description: You have been assigned to escort a dangerous villain to
the World Prison.
Refusal: You may refuse this Quest without penalty.
Requirements: If the Kingdom where the Prison has not been
defined yet, draw an Event Card and use the Reference Letter to draw
a Prison Icon in that Kingdom. If the Kingdom does not exist yet, you
will have to create it.
The Prison is not a Settlement. You may build a Settlement, or your
Keep in the Kingdom with the Prison.
You will have to create a Villain! Give him a name, and a level that is
one less than your current level. The villain is not a Creature, in the
sense that he is listed on your Creature sheet! Keep track of him on
the Quest sheet.
On every turn that you are escorting the Villain, you will need to
perform a single Battle Sequence with him. The Villain does not die,
but he can damage you. So if your BS is greater than his, nothing
happens; otherwise, subtract you BS from his BS and deduct this
amount from your HP. See World Prison in Buildings in Section 3 –
The World Map
Reward: Deliver the Villain to the Prison to collect the Quest’s Loot
at the Prison’s Kingdom. Add a tic mark near the Prison to indicate
how many Villains you have delivered to the Prison.
Alternate Reward: However, you may let the Villain go. If you
choose to let him go, he will offer you Loot equal to the Quest’s Loot
amount times the Villain’s Desperation. To determine the Villain’s
Desperation, subtract the amount of Kingdoms away you are from the
Prison’s Kingdom from the Villain’s Level. The number of Kingdoms
away from the prison is determined by the shortest path you can take.
If the Villain’s desperation is 0 or less, he does not offer you any
money.
However, releasing a Villain to the wild will also add an unhappy
face to the Home Castle.
Low level Villains will not be offering much loot, if any, to let them
go.
Example: You are 3 Kingdoms away from the Kingdom that the
Prison is in. The Villain’s level is 4. So his Desperation is 1 (4 – 3).
Return
Description: A relative of a member of the King’s Court is dying.
Unfortunately, that court member is off on important King’s business.
You must go and send word, and bring him back to the Kingdom.
Refusal: You may refuse this Quest and gain one Unhappy Face at
the Castle.
Requirements: Once you get to the Destination, you “pick up” the
court member, who has Hit Point equal to half your current amount.
You may apply damage to the Court Member instead of your self.
Every time you apply damage to the Court Member, reduce the value
of the Quest’s Loot by one.
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Reward: Picking up the court member removes one Unhappy Face
from the Destination Settlement.
A dead Court Member gains one Unhappy Face at the Home Castle.
A living delivered Court Member erases one Unhappy Face.
Negotiate
Description: You have been asked to negotiate a treaty between this
King and the ruler of another Kingdom.
Refusal: You may refuse this Quest without penalty.
Requirements: When you arrive at the Destination, draw an Event
card and determine your Negotiation skill as if it were a Battle based
on your Level. Then do the same for the Settlement’s Level you are
negotiating with. If your battle/negotiation value is equal to or higher
than the Settlement’s, congratulations, you have struck a deal. Go
back to the Home of the Quest and collect your Loot (see Collecting
Loot).
If you failed the negotiation check, the Destination has counter-
offered. Go back to the Quest’s Home, and perform the same
negotiation check against the Home Castle’s Level.
Again, if your value is equal to or higher than the Castle’s, you have
completed your Quest. Otherwise, it’s back on the road again to the
Destination for another Negotiation.
Reward: Completing a Negotiation removes all Unhappy Faces from
both Settlements.
Slay
Description: A terrible Creature is blocking trade routes in the
World, and you have been requested to stop it. After drawing the
Destination for the Quest, draw a new card, and use the Reference
Letter to determine which Creature that you have been appointed to
slay in that destination. Make a note of this. If the Creature has not
been defined yet create the Creature (See Creature Creation in
Section 2 – Creatures and Combat). If the destination has a dungeon
then the quest is to kill the boss of the dungeon in that kingdom.
If you accept this Quest and the Destination does not have a
Settlement, add one of your choosing, with a Level of your current
Level minus 1.
Refusal: You may refuse this Quest for a single unhappy face. Also,
the Creature damages the any Settlement in the Destination Kingdom,
and reduces the Settlement’s Level by 1. If this reduces the
Settlement to 0, erase the Settlement from the World.
Requirements: The goal of this Quest is to go to the Destination
Kingdom, and after performing the standard Event check and actions,
you then Battle the Creature as listed in the Quest. The rules for
battling a Quest Creature are the same as if it was a regular Event
Creature Encounter (see Section 2 – Creatures and Combat).
Reward: Defeating the Creature in the destination Kingdom removes
all unhappy faces on the Settlement in that Kingdom, if any.
After defeating the Creature, return to the home of the Quest and
claim your Loot as your reward.
 Section 7 - Creation Reference
ESNA-NW is, at its heart, a create-as-you-go game. In this section are concise, step by step, instructions for creating all of the gaming
mechanics of ESNA-NW. For detailed explanations of these rules, please see the appropriate sections.

Kingdoms 5. Draw an Event card and look at the number “gold rock”
icon in the Yellow Monster Banner. Fill this number in on
1. Draw a new border area. Continue the road into that the Creature List under the Loot heading.
Kingdom.
6. Put a single tic mark in the Horde Size column.
2. Name the Kingdom starting with a unique letter, A - T.
See Section 2 – Creatures and Combat
3. Draw an Event card and look at the “additional paths” area
in the upper right of the card. Draw those additional roads.
Quests
4. Draw two more Event cards to get the Land Types of this 1. Draw an Event card, and record the Quest type next to the
new Kingdom, and draw those on the Kingdom. Castle Icon.

See Section 3 – The World Map 2. Draw another Event card. Use the Letter Reference to
determine what Region you which you must travel, as
Dungeons described by the Quest type. Write this down as your
destination. If this destination Kingdom has not been
1. Draw a square room with the exit stairs on one wall and a created yet, you must create it anywhere in the World,
door in each of the other walls. conforming to rules in Section 3 – The World Map.

2. When you exit a room, draw a hallway extending from the
door to a new room at the end of the hallway and draw a
card. Look at the additional paths to determine the number
of exit doors of the new room.
3. If the same card also has the dungeon symbol, then there
are stairs down to the next level. There may be only one set
of stairs down per level. Stairs may be blocked if the
dungeon is not deep enough level yet. Once stairs are
created all unused doors have a hallway drawn to a room
with no additional doors.
4. Draw an event card to determine if the new room contains a
monster. If you draw a +1 then you have found a healing
potion and may add it to your inventory. If you have drawn
a +2 then you have found a potion and a magical item of
the same level as the dungeon.
Items
See Section 4 - Dungeons
Creatures
When adding a new Kingdom to the World for the purposes
of a Quest, you may build a free Level 1 Castle or Village
in it (no Temples). If no additional roads exist when a quest
requires one, then a player may create one at least three
steps away in cases where the wanderer must travel.
Depending on the Quest, you may have to draw another
card to determine an Alternate Destination.
3. Draw a card to determine the Loot the king will give you if
you succeed in your daunting task. Look at the number in
the Castle Banner. Write down the resulting number as the
Quest Loot value multiplier.
See Section 6 - Quests
1. Draw an Event card to determine the type of Magic the
item is. Use the Creature Type directly below the Yellow
Creature Banner.

1. Draw an Event card, record the Type listed the Yellow 2. The type of the item is defined by drawing a card and
Monster Banner. looking at the Body Location Indicator, and creating a
magical item for the body part indicated. If the torso is
2. Name the Creature starting with a unique letter, A - T. indicated then you may pick either Body or Belt.

3. Draw an Event card for each, and write down the type of 3. When an item is equipped for the first time in its proper
Terrain shown on each card in the Creature’s Terrain location you need to check to see if it it cursed or not.
Bonuses and Negatives. Simply draw a card and look in the monster banner. If the
type matches the type of your item it is a cursed item.
4. The Creature’s Base Level is determined by your current Change it's + value to a – value instead.
Level minus 1.
See Section 5 – Items and Inventory

Page 22 of 28
 Section 8 - Variants and Campaign Settings
ESNA-NW is a great game unto itself, but sometimes you may find yourself wanting something a little bit different. Variants usually change a
rule or two but keep the general storyline the same as the origianl. Campaign Settings provide new storylines, quests, monsters and sometimes
include variant rules as well.
Variants
Variants include some type of change to how the rules work.
The Black Tower
Although ESNA was designed as an open-ended game to be finished
when a player wishes, sometimes an adversary is desired. The Black
Tower provides a nemesis who sits is his keep plotting your downfall.
The Black Tower is created when your keep is created. Draw a new
card and use the Reference Letter to determine the location of the
Black Tower. Draw another card if the letter happens to be the one
you have built your keep in.
Any existing settlement on the kingdom drawn is destroyed as your
nemesis uses their resources to build his keep. Draw a tower and
write a 0 next to it. If a settlement was destroyed use the number of
the devastated settlement as the number for the tower.
Each turn, your nemesis will reach out with his forces and attempt to
destroy the innocents of your world. When drawing the card for new
dungeons and events, if the reference letter refers to any kingdom that
lies adjacent to the Black Tower, then any settlement in that kingdom
is reduced by one level and the Black Tower's impressiveness is
increased by 5. If the settlement is destroyed then the Black Tower's
impressiveness is increased by 10.
If the reference letter lists the kingdom of the Black Tower, then your
nemesis has hired monsters and built a new dungeon. The dungeon
may be placed in the kingdom of the Black Tower or any adjacent
kingdom the player desires.
The player may not voluntarily attempt to kill his nemesis but Quests
are altered when the Black Tower is in play as follows:
Slay/Assault Quests
Any quest to slay or assault that the cards send you to the Black
Tower's Kingdom are really a mission to slay the owner of the Keep.
When the wanderer arrives in the kingdom, create a new monster two
levels higher than the wanderer. This is the owner of the tower and
lives at the top floor of his tower. Create a series of "dungeons" that
represent the ascending levels of the evil one's tower. There are as
many tower levels as the level of the boss monster. You battle your
way up the tower to the owner. If you are knocked out in combat with
him you lose, and considered dead. If the you win, you win the game.
Note: The tower and your nemesis continue to gain levels and power as you do
throughout the game.
Escort Quests
Any quest to escort to the Black Tower are actually reversed. If the
player delivers his charge to the Black Tower, the original kingdom
will be dissappointed. The alternate destination is the real destination.
Negotiate Quests
Any quest to negotiate with the Black Tower are destined to fail at the
Page 23 of 28
Black Tower end of the quest.
Other Quests
The remaining quests are un-modified.
Winning
The first stronghold (Keep or Tower) to gain 30 impressiveness
points wins.
Simplified Dungeons
Note: This variant effectively replaces Section 4 - Dungeons
Some players may wish to use the original, simplified dungeons from
the original ESNA to save time and paper.
When a dungeon is created, it's value is the wanderer's level plus one.
Kingdoms may have multiple dungeons. If you are in a Kingdom
with a Dungeon, you may enter it, in the hopes of defeating all the
creatures within.
When you first enter the Dungeon, erase all unhappy faces that may,
or may not be in that Kingdom.
Entering a Dungeon is simply completing a series of Battles. The
series of Battles that you must complete (before dying) is the value of
the Dungeon. For Each Battle, you will need to draw a new card to
determine what creature you are encountering. Use the reference
letter to determine that creature. You may need to create a Creature,
with a Horde Size of 1, if the reference letter has drawn an empty
letter.
Unlike a normal creature encounter, you DO NOT add to the
creature’s Horde Size when encountering it in the dungeon.
Additionally, all Loot earned in the Dungeon is multiplied by 2. If
you are awarded a Magical Item, add +2 to its level.
If you “run the gauntlet” and defeat all of the creatures, erase the
Dungeon. If you are Knocked Out in the Dungeon, you may subtract
from the Dungeon level the amount of Creatures you defeated.
Official ESNA-NW Variants
See More ESNA in Credits for more ESNA-NW Variants.
Campaign Settings
The amount of additions included in a Campaign Setting are beyond
the scope of this section. Look for Campaign Settings in the same
place that you acquired these rules.
Official ESNA-NW Campaign Settings
#1 – Lord of the Rings ESNA by Eli Silver
New Races, Kingdoms and Quests based on the Lord of the Rings
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/965053/esna-lotr
 Section 9 - Index
Additional Paths..................................................................................4
Advancement.......................................................................................6
Battle Actions..................................................................................6, 8
Battle Sequence...................................................................................7
Battle Strength.....................................................................................8
Black Tower.......................................................................................23
Body Location Indicator......................................................................4
Body Locations..........................................................................6, 9, 17
Build Roads.......................................................................................13
Buildings............................................................................................13
Buy Healing Potions..........................................................................13
Campaign Settings.............................................................................23
Castles...............................................................................................13
Character Level....................................................................................6
Character Overview.............................................................................6
Character Type.....................................................................................6
Combat................................................................................................7
Combat Resolution..............................................................................7
Contents...............................................................................................3
Create or Improve A Settlement.........................................................12
Creating Magical Items......................................................................17
Creation Reference............................................................................22
Creature Creation.................................................................................9
Creature List........................................................................................4
Creature Types...................................................................................10
Creatures............................................................................................22
Credits.................................................................................................2
Cursed Items......................................................................................18
Damaged Limbs...............................................................................6, 9
Death...............................................................................................6, 9
Deserts...............................................................................................14
Dungeon Bosses.................................................................................16
Dungeon Check Phase.........................................................................5
Dungeon Creation..............................................................................15
Dungeon Level Sizes.........................................................................15
Dungeons.....................................................................................15, 22
Dungeons & Diplomacy Phase............................................................5
Dungeons and Injuries.......................................................................16
Dungeons, Simple..............................................................................23
End of the Game..................................................................................6
Enlightenment......................................................................................6
Epic Quest...........................................................................................6
ESNA..................................................................................................2
ESNA-NW...........................................................................................2
Event Cards.........................................................................................4
Event Check Phase.........................................................................5, 15
Exploration and Diplomacy...............................................................16
Farms.................................................................................................14
Forests...............................................................................................14
Gain a Quest......................................................................................13
Gaining A Quest.................................................................................19
Gameplay.............................................................................................4
Getting Started.....................................................................................4
Gold.....................................................................................................6
Healing Potions............................................................................13, 18
Hit Points.............................................................................................6
Impressiveness.....................................................................................6
Introduction.........................................................................................1
Page 24 of 28
Inventory........................................................................................6, 17
Inventory Phase.............................................................................5, 17
Items............................................................................................17, 22
Keep...............................................................................................6, 14
Keep Upkeep Phase.............................................................................6
Kingdom Creation..............................................................................11
Kingdoms.....................................................................................11, 22
Loot...................................................................................................17
Loot for Quests..................................................................................17
Loot from Creatures...........................................................................17
Mapping Dungeons............................................................................15
Maximum Hit Points............................................................................6
MetalManced limb.............................................................................13
Metalmancer Lab...............................................................................13
Mountains..........................................................................................14
Movement Phase..................................................................................5
Points...................................................................................................6
Quest Actions Phase.............................................................................5
Quest List............................................................................................4
Quest Types.......................................................................................20
Quest, Assault....................................................................................20
Quest, Defend....................................................................................20
Quest, Escort......................................................................................20
Quest, Failing.....................................................................................19
Quest, Finishing.................................................................................19
Quest, Guard......................................................................................21
Quest, Negotiate................................................................................21
Quest, Return.....................................................................................21
Quest, Slay.........................................................................................21
Quests..........................................................................................19, 22
Race.....................................................................................................6
Repopulation......................................................................................16
Rest at Inn..........................................................................................12
Retirement...........................................................................................6
Retirement Phase.................................................................................6
Roads...........................................................................................11, 13
Scott Slomiany.....................................................................................2
Sell Items...........................................................................................12
Settlement Actions.............................................................................12
Settlement Actions Phase.....................................................................6
Settlement Displeasure.......................................................................12
Settlements.........................................................................................11
Starting Kingdoms.............................................................................11
Structures...........................................................................................14
Study for Advancement......................................................................12
Temples..............................................................................................12
Terrain Types.................................................................................4, 14
Turn Overview.....................................................................................5
Unconciousness...................................................................................9
Unhappy Castles................................................................................13
Unhappy Temples..............................................................................13
Unhappy Villages...............................................................................12
Variants..............................................................................................23
Villages..............................................................................................12
World Map...............................................................................4, 11, 15
World Prison............................................................................6, 14, 21
Wounding............................................................................................9
 Section 10 - Appendices and Tables
Most of the tables of the game have been placed here for ease and convenience.

Tables
Battle Action Details
Turn And Phase Order # Name Type Study Numbers Rules
1 Run Away! Early 2 8 Opponent BS is reduced to half.
# Phase Procedure Notes The combat is over after this
Battle Sequence. Do not collect
1 Inventory Move items between inventory See Section 5 any treasure. In dungeons,
Optional locations. move back to previous room.

2 Movement Move to a new Kingdom/Room along See Section 1 2 Stand Early 3 4 6 Ignore this Battle Sequence.
Optional a connecting path Your Reduce your HP by half. Divide
Ground Horde Size by half.
3 Dungeon Draw an Event card, and check for See Section 4
Check Dungeon updates 3 Feint Late 4 6 You may recalculate the base
ALWAYS! your BS or your Opponent's by
drawing a new card.
4 Event Check Using the same Event card, now See Section 1
ALWAYS! check for an Event, unless moving and Section 4 4 Dodge Early 5 7 Your base BS is 0.
Opponent base BS is 1.
into an existing dungeon room.
5 Sweeping Late 6 7 At the end of the Battle
5 Dungeons Deal with Unhappy Kingdoms and See Section 3 Strike Sequence, reduce the
and choose to Enter Dungeons (if and Section 4 Horde Size by 2 instead of 1.
Diplomacy available) Sweeping Strike is refreshed
ALWAYS! automatically after use. It does
not expire until end of this
6 Quest Actions Perform actions based of active See Section 6 combat.
Depending... Quests
6 Tactical Late 7 8 You MAY select the next blue
7 Settlement Perform actions based on See Section 3 Advantage arrow directly above the blue
arrow with your current Level
Actions Settlements in current Kingdom when determining your base
Optional BS.
8 Retirement Retire See Section 1 7 Furious Early 8 9 Draw 2 cards and obtain two
Optional Rage base Battle Strengths for
yourself. You can select either
9 Keep Upkeep Build/Improve your Keep See Section 3 one for as your Base BS.
Optional
8 Time Late 9 10 11 No damage is done to you, and
Twister no reduction of Horde Size is
done to your Opponent.
Battle Sequence
9 Protective Early 10 12 All damage that is done to you
1. Once per World Increase horde size on Creature List. Does not Aura is added to your HP total
instead. Your Max HP may
Map Battle apply to Dungeon encounters. increase to the value of your
2. Optional, once Perform an Early Battle Action current HP if raised above your
current Max HP value during
per Battle the current battle, then it returns
3. ALWAYS! Obtain your base Battle Strength 10 Sided Early 11 13 Deduct 1 from your Opponent’s
Fates Horde Size on your Creature
4. ALWAYS! Obtain your opponent’s base Battle Strength
List. Horde Size in your Battle
5. Optional, once Perform a Late Battle Action remains unchanged.
per Battle 11 Leech Late 12 13 Determine Leech Amount.
Leech Amount is equal to the
6. ALWAYS! Modify base Battle Stengths appropriately (based amount of Creatures defeated
on Battle Action modifiers, opponent abilities, or and/or Horde Size reduced
magical items) times the Opponent’s Level.
Add Leech Amount to your HP
Compare and resolve the Battle Strengths up to your Max HP amount.

7. Depending Repeat Battle Sequence if Battle is not finished 12 Fearful Late 13 2 Reduce Horde Size by the value
Gaze of your current Level. Do not
collect treasure if this ends the
Battle.

13 Growing Early 2 3 Your base BS for this Battle

Strength Sequence is 0. Triple your total
BS during the next Battle
Sequence in this Battle.

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Creature Types
This is the list of various Creature Types, and how they affect the basic rules.
Suggested Icons
This is a list of various icons for use on the World and Dungeon maps.

Undead You are not allowed to use any Battle Actions against the
Undead. Wanderer (When pausing a game)
Flying If the Opponent’s Horde Size is greater than your level, you
cannot use any Battle Actions in the first Battle Sequence, and
you have a Base BS of 0 in the first Battle Sequence.
Burrowing If you “defeat the Horde” (as if your BS is greater than the
Opponent’s BS, or you perform a Battle Action ends the
Battle by reducing more than 1 Creature from the Horde
Size), you cut the Horde size down to half instead.
Ferocious If the Opponent damages you in a Battle Sequence, you get
Road Dungeon
additional damage equal to your Opponent’s base BS.

Example: You have a BS of 12, your Opponent has a base BS

of 5, but with a Horde Size of 4. Normally, the Opponent
would do damage of 20-12, for 8. A Ferocious Opponent does
an additional 5, for 13 damage.
Swarming At the end of a Battle Sequence, deduct an additional 1 from Farmland Metalmancer
the Horde Size of the Battle.

At the end of the complete Battle, add an additional tick mark

to that Creature’s Horde Size on the Creature List, even in
Dungeons.
Poison If Opponent does damage, multiply the damage by 2. The Mountain Keep
Battle then ends. No treasure is awarded.
Armored Armored Creatures can never have a Horde Size greater than
your current Level. Do not add a tick mark to the Creature
List if the Creature’s Horde Size is equal to your Level.

During the first Battle Sequence, an Armored Opponent deals

no damage. You will still have to determine its’ BS, however,
to see if it has lost the battle. Desert Black Tower

Starting with the second Battle Sequence, and all others

following it in a single Battle, you must divide your base BS
in half.
Typical No special rules affect this Creature.

Forest World Prison

Village Stairs Up

Temple Stairs Down

Castle Door

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Name: # Own Used Battle Action Rules
1 Run Away! (Type: Early) (Study Numbers 2, 8)
Type: Wanderer Level: 2 Opponent BS ½. The Battle is over after this Battle Sequence. Do
not collect any treasure. In dungeons move back to previous room.
Race:
2 Stand Your Ground (Type: Early) (Study Numbers 3, 4, 6)
Gold: End this Battle Sequence. Reduce your HP by ½. Horde Size by ½.
3 Feint (Type: Late) (Study Numbers 4, 6)
Max HP: HP: You may recalculate the base BS for yourself or your Opponent by
drawing a new card.
4 Dodge (Type: Early) (Study Numbers 5, 7)
Head: Your base BS is 0. Opponent base BS is 1.
Body: 5 Sweeping Strike (Type: Late) ( Study Numbers 6,7)
Belt: At the end of the Battle Sequence, reduce the Horde Size by 2
instead of 1. Sweeping Strike may be re-used. It expires at the end
Right Hand/Arm: Maimed? Replaced? of this combat.
Left Hand/Arm: Maimed? Replaced? 6 Tactical Advantage (Type: Late) (Study Numbers: 7, 8)
Right Leg: Maimed? Replaced? You MAY select the next blue arrow directly above the blue arrow
with your current Level when determining your base BS.
Left Leg: Maimed? Replaced?
7 Furious Rage (Type: Early) (Study Numbers 8, 9)
Backpack: Draw 2 cards and obtain two base Battle Strengths for yourself.
You can select either one for as your Base BS.
Healing Potions: ______
8 Time Twister (Type: Late) (Study Numbers 9, 10, 11)
Turn Overview No damage is done to you, and no reduction of Horde Size is done
to your Opponent.
# Turn Phase Procedure Notes
1 Inventory Move items between inventory See Section 5 9 Protective Aura (Type: Early) (Study Numbers 10, 12)
locations. All damage that is done to you is added to your HP total instead.
Your Max HP may increase to the value of your current HP if
2 Movement Move to a new Kingdom/Room See Section 1 raised above your current Max HP value during the current battle,
along a connecting path
then it returns.
3 Dungeon Draw an Event card, and check for See Section 4.
Check Dungeon updates 10 Sided Fates (Type: Early) (Study Numbers 11, 13)
Deduct 1 from your Opponent’s Horde Size on your Creature List.
4 Event Check Using the same Event card, now See Section 1 Horde Size in your Battle remains unchanged.
check for an Event, unless moving and Section 4
into an existing dungeon room. 11 Leech (Type: Late) (Study Numbers 12, 13)
Determine Leech Amount. Leech Amount is equal to the amount
5 Dungeons and Deal with Unhappy Kingdoms and See Section 3
Diplomacy choose to Enter Dungeons (if and Section 4 of Creatures defeated and/or Horde Size reduced times the
available) Opponent’s Level. Add Leech Amount to your HP up to your Max
HP amount.
6 Quest Actions Perform actions based of active See Section 6
Quests 12 Fearful Gaze (Type: Late) (Study Numbers 13, 2)
7 Settlement Perform actions based on See Section 3
Reduce Horde Size by the value of your current Level. Do not
Actions Settlements in current Kingdom collect treasure if this ends the Battle.

8 Retirement Retire See Section 1 13 Growing Strength (Type: Early) (Study Numbers 2, 3)
Your base BS for this Battle Sequence is 0. Triple your total BS
9 Keep Upkeep Build/Improve your Keep See Section 3 during the next Battle Sequence in this Battle.

Quest Home Level Type Destination Alt Dest. Loot Data/Info Done

Quest Loot: Base Gold Value x Quest Loot Modifier = Gold received

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 Creatures
Ref. Creature Type Creature Name +1 Terrain -1 Base Level Loot Horde Size
Terrain
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
Battle Sequence Creature Types

1 Horde Increase Increase horde size on Creature List. Once per World
Map Battle. Does not apply to Dungeon encounters.
2 Early Battle Perform an Early Battle Action, optionally, once per
Action battle.
3 Battle Strength Obtain your base Battle Strength.
Draw a card and line up with the top card in discards
pile. Find your level in the blue arrow. It is pointing at
your base battle strength in the pink arrow.
4 Creature Battle Obtain your opponent’s base Battle Strength modified by
Strength terrain. (Base strength + Terrain Modifiers)
Draw another card and line up with the card used for
your battle strength. Repeat procedure above.
5 Late Battle Perform a Late Battle Action, optional, once per battle.
Action
6 Compute Final Modify base Battle Strengths appropriately (based on
Battle Strengths Battle Action modifiers, opponent abilities, horde size or
magical items)
Creature Battle Strength * Horde Size = Creature's Final
Battle Strength
7 Compare & If your Battle Strength is higher you have Defeated the
Resolve Horde, and you will receive loot.
If the horde's battle strength is higher you will take
damage equal to the difference between strengths.
Reduce the Horde size by one. If this drops the horde to
zero, the battle is over. You do not get loot.
Undead You are not allowed to use any Battle Actions against the Undead.
Flying If the Opponent’s Horde Size is greater than your level, you cannot use
any Battle Actions in the first Battle Sequence, and you have a Base
BS of 0 in the first Battle Sequence.
Burrowing If you “defeat the Horde” (as if your BS is greater than the Opponent’s
BS, or you perform a Battle Action ends the Battle by reducing more
than 1 Creature from the Horde Size), you cut the Horde size down to
half instead.
Ferocious If the Opponent damages you in a Battle Sequence, you get additional
damage equal to your Opponent’s base BS.
Swarming At the end of a Battle Sequence, deduct an addition 1 from the Horde
Size of the Battle.
At the end of the complete Battle, add an additional tick mark to that
Creature’s Horde Size on the Creature List, even in Dungeons.
Poison If Opponent does damage, multiply the damage by 2. The Battle then
ends. No treasure is awarded.
Armored Armored Creatures can never have a Horde Size greater than your
current Level. Do not add a tick mark to the Creature List if the
Creature’s Horde Size is equal to your Level.
During the first Battle Sequence, an Armored Opponent deals no
damage. You will still have to determine its’ BS, however, to see if it
has lost the battle.
Afterwards, you must divide your base BS in half.
Typical No special rules affect this Creature.
Creature Loot: Base Gold Value x Creature Loot Value x Horde Size = Gold received

You must “Defeat the Horde” to receive loot from a combat.

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