Dice Throne: Season One

2018

Experience Dice Throne, an enthralling 2-6 player board game! Choose your hero, roll the dice, employ strategic card play, and engage in high-stakes combat. Perfect for ages 8 and up!

40
minutes

2 - 6
player(s)

Medium

About the game

Dice Throne: Season One is a heart-pounding, fast-paced game that combines elements of tactical card play, strategy, and a dash of luck with dice rolling. This unique blend of mechanics sets the stage for an immersive experience that’s both engaging and fun.

The theme of Dice Throne: Season One draws you into a vibrant fantasy realm. Here, powerful heroes vie for dominance, each boasting unique abilities and intricate playstyles that set them apart. The game’s setting is an epic battleground, where heroes from diverse backgrounds — from Pyromancers to Shadow Thieves, Monks to Barbarians — clash in a fight for supremacy.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

‘Dice Throne: Season One’ is a competitive board game where players take on the roles of unique heroes, each with their own abilities, and battle each other to become the Dice Throne Champion. Below are the components included in the game and their functionalities:

1. Hero Boards:

Each hero in ‘Dice Throne: Season One’ comes with their own Hero Board. This board displays the hero’s unique abilities and health tracker. Players use this board to track their progress and plan their strategies throughout the game.

2. Dice:

Each hero comes with five custom dice that are used to perform actions during a player’s turn. These dice can be rolled to attack, defend, or perform special abilities. The outcomes of these dice rolls can greatly affect the course of the game.

3. Hero Cards:

These cards represent the special abilities of each hero. They are used in conjunction with the dice to perform actions during a player’s turn. They provide additional strategic options and can turn the tide of battle.

4. Combat Points Tokens:

These tokens are used as currency in the game. Players can earn Combat Points (CP) by rolling certain results on their dice or by using certain abilities. CP can be spent to play cards, upgrade abilities, or activate other effects.

5. Health Tokens:

These tokens are used to track the health of each hero. Each hero starts the game with a certain amount of health, and these tokens are removed or added to the hero’s board depending on the actions taken during the game. If a hero’s health reaches zero, they are eliminated from the game.

6. Status Tokens:

These tokens represent various conditions that can affect a hero during the game. For example, a hero might be poisoned, stunned, or on fire. These tokens are used to track these conditions and their effects.

7. Player Turn Order Cards:

These cards are used to determine the order of play. At the beginning of the game, these cards are shuffled and dealt out to determine who goes first. The turn order can have a significant impact on the game, especially in games with more than two players.

8. Dials:

The game comes with two dials – one for tracking a hero’s health and another for tracking Combat Points. These dials provide a quick and easy way to keep track of these key stats during the game.

9. Tokens:

These are used to represent various game elements, such as damage taken, status effects, or Combat Points earned.

All these components interact to create a dynamic and engaging game experience where strategy, luck, and quick decision-making are key.

Game setup Lay it out, line it up, let’s go

Dice Throne: Season One is an exciting game of dice, cards, and skill. This guide will walk you through the steps required to set up the game, highlight the player roles, explain board placement and initial resources, and outline any random elements.

Step 1: Player Roles

Each player needs to choose a character to play. There are six different characters to choose from, each offering unique abilities:

Barbarian
Moon Elf
Pyromancer
Shadow Thief
Monk
Paladin

Once players have chosen their characters, they should take the corresponding character board, dice set, deck of cards, and status effect tokens.

Step 2: Board Placement

Each player should place their character board in front of them. The board displays your character’s unique abilities and health tracker. The health tracker should be set to 50, the starting health for all characters.

Step 3: Initial Resources

For initial resources, each player should draw four cards from their character’s deck. The deck contains a mix of upgrade cards, action cards, and instant cards that players can use during gameplay. Players also start with a Combat Point (CP) count of 2.

Step 4: Random Elements

Dice Throne: Season One involves several random elements. The first player is determined randomly. This player takes the first turn and play proceeds clockwise.

During gameplay, players roll their set of five dice (which have icons matching their character’s abilities) to activate their abilities or attacks. The dice rolls introduce a random element to the game as the outcome of the dice roll determines the actions a player can take during their turn.

The cards drawn from the deck also introduce randomness to the game. Players draw a card at the start of each of their turns, adding an element of unpredictability to the game as players cannot know in advance the cards they will draw.

Step 5: Game Play

Once all the players have chosen their characters, set their boards, and drawn their initial resources, the game can begin. Players take turns rolling their dice and using their character’s abilities to attack their opponents and defend against attacks. The game ends when only one player remains, becoming the Dice Throne champion.

Game flow Round and round we go

‘Dice Throne: Season One’ is a fast-paced, strategic game of dice and card combat. The game is played in a series of rounds, each comprised of several distinct phases. Here is a detailed explanation of how the game is structured:

Phase 1: Upkeep Phase

Each round begins with the Upkeep Phase. During this phase, the current player can use any “start of turn” effects from their cards or abilities.
Additionally, the player will regain all spent Combat Points (CP) and draw a card from their deck. CP is crucial as it’s used to play cards from your hand.

Phase 2: Income Phase

During the Income Phase, players gain one CP and draw a card from their deck. Players can use CP to play action cards or upgrade their hero abilities.

Phase 3: Main Phase 1

This phase allows players to play Main Phase action cards, sell cards for CP, and upgrade abilities. There is no set order, and players are allowed to perform these actions as they see fit.

Phase 4: Roll Phase

During the Roll Phase, the player rolls their five dice up to three times. After each roll, they can choose to keep or re-roll any of the dice.
The goal is to match the symbols on the dice to the player’s hero card abilities. Successfully matched dice can be used to activate powerful attacks or abilities.

Phase 5: Targeting Phase

In this phase, the player chooses who to target with their attack or ability activated in the Roll Phase. The chosen player is the “defender” for the rest of the round.

Phase 6: Main Phase 2

Similar to Main Phase 1, players can play Main Phase action cards, sell cards for CP, and upgrade abilities.

Phase 7: Discard Phase

In the final phase of the round, the active player must discard down to their maximum hand size if they have more cards than their maximum.

After the Discard Phase, the round ends and the next player clockwise becomes the active player for the next round. The game continues in this pattern until a player’s health reaches zero, at which point the player with the most health remaining is the winner.

Players'turn One turn to rule them all

Dice Throne: Season One is a turn-based game where players roll dice to perform actions, attack opponents, and defend from attacks. A player’s turn is structured into five phases: Upkeep Phase, Income Phase, Main Phase 1, Roll Phase, and Main Phase 2.

Upkeep Phase:

The player removes all Status Effects from their character that have the “Removal” timing.
Any abilities, upgrades, or card effects that specify an action during the Upkeep Phase are carried out.

Income Phase:

The player automatically gains one CP (Combat Point).
The player draws one card from their draw pile.

Main Phase 1:

The player can play as many Main Phase action cards from their hand as they wish and can afford, as long as they pay the necessary CP.
The player has the option to sell cards from their hand to gain more CP. Each card sold provides one CP.
The player can upgrade their abilities, paying the cost with their CP.

Roll Phase:

The player rolls their five dice up to three times, setting aside any dice they wish to keep between rolls.
The symbols rolled on the dice are used to activate the player’s abilities. The more powerful the ability, the more specific the dice roll required.
If the player chooses to attack another player, that player will have the opportunity to roll their defense dice after the Roll Phase.

Main Phase 2:

The same actions as Main Phase 1 are allowed in this phase. The player can play additional Main Phase action cards, sell cards for CP, and upgrade abilities.
At the end of this phase, if the player has more than six cards in their hand, they must discard down to six.

The strategic choices in Dice Throne: Season One revolve around managing your CP and cards, deciding when to upgrade abilities, and choosing which abilities to activate with your dice rolls. Choosing the right moments to attack and defend can also greatly affect the outcome of the game.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

Dice Throne: Season One is a head-to-head game where players take on the roles of unique heroes with different abilities. The game ends when one of the two victory conditions is met. These conditions are:

Elimination of Opponent: The most common way to win is to reduce your opponent’s health points to zero. The player who reduces their opponent’s health to zero is declared the winner.
Out of Cards: If a player cannot draw a card from their deck when they are required to, they lose the game immediately.

Once the game has ended, there are no additional scoring or actions required. The player who meets one of the victory conditions first is simply declared the winner. This is because Dice Throne: Season One is a direct combat game where victory is achieved through defeating your opponent, not through accumulating points.

It is important to note that a player can only attack during their offensive roll phase. Players can use their abilities and cards to manipulate their dice results, damage their opponent, or heal themselves. Planning and strategy are key to achieving victory in Dice Throne: Season One.

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

Dice Throne: Season One is an exciting, fast-paced combat game where players use unique heroes to battle each other. The goal is not to accumulate points but to be the last player standing by reducing your opponent’s health to zero. As such, there are no traditional points awarded in the game. However, the game involves various scoring elements reflected in the damage done to opponents, health points, and the use of combat points.

Each player starts with 50 health points, and the objective is to reduce your opponent’s health points to zero. Various actions in the game can affect these health points. For instance:

Attacking: When a player rolls their dice and lands an attack, they can deal damage to their opponent, reducing their health points.
Defending: When attacked, a player has the opportunity to roll their dice for a defense action. Depending on the roll, they can mitigate some or all of the damage dealt and sometimes even counterattack.

Another scoring element is combat points (CP). These points are used to upgrade abilities or play action cards. Players start with 2 combat points, and they can gain more during the game. The usage of combat points doesn’t directly impact the opponent’s health but can give strategic advantages, allowing for more powerful attacks or defenses.

Tie-Breaking Rules

In the rare event of a tie – that is, both players’ heroes reaching zero health simultaneously – the game has a specific rule to determine the winner. The tie-breaker rule is as follows:

The player who initiated the attack that resulted in the tie is declared the winner.

This rule maintains the fast-paced, combat-centric nature of the game, providing a clear and decisive end even in the closest of matches.

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

Dice Throne: Season One is an engaging and strategic game that requires a keen understanding of its rules. However, there are a few rare, special rules, and exceptions that players need to be aware of:

Off-turn abilities: Dice Throne: Season One introduces the concept of off-turn abilities. These are special abilities that a player can use when it’s not their turn. However, remember that you can only use one off-turn ability per opponent’s turn.

Instant Abilities: These abilities may be used anytime, during your turn or an opponent’s turn, unless the card specifies otherwise. Note that you can use multiple instant abilities in a turn.

Upgrading Abilities: Players can upgrade their abilities by spending Combat Points (CP). However, once an ability is upgraded, it cannot be downgraded again. Players must also remember that they cannot upgrade the same ability more than once during a single turn.

Roll Phase: A player can re-roll their dice up to two times during their roll phase. However, they can choose to keep as many dice as they want from each roll. They are not required to re-roll all the dice each time.

Income Phase: During the income phase, players automatically gain 1 CP and draw 1 card. However, if a player’s deck is empty when they need to draw a card, they do not shuffle their discard pile to create a new deck. They simply continue the game without drawing a card.

Special Rules for Different Characters: Each character in ‘Dice Throne: Season One’ has their own unique abilities and play style. These special rules can often override the basic game rules. For example:

Shadow Thief’s ‘Shadow Ability’ can be used to steal CP from other players.
Monk’s ‘Chi’ ability allows him to build up Chi tokens over several turns and then spend them for powerful effects.
Barbarian’s ‘Frenzy’ ability lets him make additional attacks when he rolls certain combinations of dice.

These are just a few examples of the special rules in ‘Dice Throne: Season One’. Always remember to read your character’s ability card carefully and follow any special instructions.

Tips and tricks Play smarter, not harder!

Advanced Strategies for Dice Throne: Season One

Know Your Character: Each character in Dice Throne has unique abilities. Understanding these abilities and how they interact with those of other characters can give you a strategic advantage.
Manage Your Resources: You need to carefully manage your combat points and cards. Don’t spend them all at once, but save them for strategic moments.
Optimize Your Rolls: You can reroll your dice up to two times. Use these rerolls wisely to get the best possible outcome.

Beginner Tips for Dice Throne: Season One

Learn the Basics: Start by understanding the basic rules and gameplay before diving into the more complex strategies.
Practice with Different Characters: Each character has a different play style. Try out different characters to find one that suits your strategy.
Use Your Cards: Don’t forget about your cards. They can be used to enhance your abilities or disrupt your opponent’s plans.

Common Mistakes to Avoid in Dice Throne: Season One

Ignoring Defense: Defense is just as important as offense. If you neglect your defense, your opponent can easily take you out.
Forgetting to Use Abilities: Your character’s abilities can turn the tide of the game. Remember to use them when it’s most beneficial.
Not Adapting Your Strategy: If your current strategy isn’t working, be willing to change it up. Adaptability is key in Dice Throne.

Ways to Optimize Gameplay in Dice Throne: Season One

Plan Your Moves: Don’t just react to what your opponent does. Have a plan and stick to it, but be flexible if the situation changes.
Manage Your Health: Keep an eye on your health. If it gets too low, you’ll be in a vulnerable position.
Communicate: If you’re playing in teams, communication is crucial. Work together with your teammate to coordinate your strategies.