Dice Throne: Season One

Nate Chatellier • Manny Trembley

For a thousand years, the Mad King has sat atop his high throne seeking a worthy challenger. Each year he hosts a tournament of champions with the greatest prize a hero could ever want: The Throne.

But over a thousand tournaments the Mad King has never lost.

Heroes come from all corners of the globe, each with their own reasons for seeking supreme power.

Will you be the one bold enough to take the throne?

DICETHRONE.COM | AGES 8-ADULT | 2-6 PLAYERS | 20-40 MINUTES

OBJECT OF THE GAME

Reduce your opponent’s life to zero before they do this to you. Seems simple, but be wary, as each hero has tricks up their sleeve to put you down first!

COMPONENTS

Dice Throne comes with:

• 192 cards (32 per hero)
• 6 turn order cards (1 per hero)
• 30 dice (5 per hero)
• 6 hero boards (1 per hero)
• 6 combat point (CP) dials (1 per hero)
• 6 health dials (1 per hero)
• 72 status effect tokens
• 6 hero leaflets (1 per hero)

Each player selects their hero before the game begins. This choice has a significant impact on the strategy and feel of the game, so pick one to suit your style. But note that some heroes require more complex tactics to be victorious with.

BARBARIAN

PLAY STYLE: Hit hard, heal it up, win games.

Complexity: 1

MOON ELF

PLAY STYLE: Blind & entangle foes. Frustrate your enemies while you evade their attacks and whittle them down.

Complexity: 2

PYROMANCER

PLAY STYLE: As a classic “glass cannon,” even your defense is another offense. The long game is not your friend. Scorch the earth quickly or die trying.

Complexity: 3

MONK

PLAY STYLE: Use Chi to be more offensive or defensive. Master the balance and victory is yours.

Complexity: 4

PALADIN

PLAY STYLE: Buff your offense and defense. Stay alive even after death. Control your dice to attain the victory you deserve.

Complexity: 5

SHADOW THIEF

PLAY STYLE: Poison foes, steal resources, draw extra cards, force opponents to discard, and hide in the shadows. The longer the game goes, the stronger you get.

Complexity: 5

GET TO KNOW YOUR HERO BOARD

• ACTIVATION REQUIREMENT: At the conclusion of your Offensive Roll Phase, a single offensive ability may be activated (if the outcome of the dice sufficiently satisfies the Activation Requirement).
• OFFENSIVE ABILITY: During your Offensive Roll Phase, you may take up to 3 roll attempts to activate an ability.
  Note: Only one ability may be activated during the Offensive Roll Phase.
• ULTIMATE ABILITY: Each hero possesses a unique Ultimate Ability that is activated by rolling all 6’s. This is always their most powerful ability! Dice may be altered to prevent an Ultimate from successfully activating. Otherwise, no action of any kind (defense, cards, status effects, etc) may be performed by any opponent until the ability fully completes (this applies to both the Targeting & Defensive Roll Phases). The effects of an Ultimate may be enhanced, but they cannot be prevented or reduced.
• ABILITY DESCRIPTION: An explanation of what should be done if this ability was activated successfully.
• DEFENSIVE ABILITY: During your Defensive Roll Phase, roll the specified number of dice a single time to determine the outcome of your defense.
  Note: Some heroes, like the Shadow Thief, have 2 defensive abilities. Select which ability to use before you roll your dice.
• PASSIVE ABILITY: Passive abilities are unique hero attributes that aren’t conventionally “activated,” but rather are always available (based on the ability’s description).

Note: The middle area of the hero board is where status effects should be placed.

DIALS

HEALTH

Use this dial to track the amount of damage taken over the course of the game. Players can heal up to a maximum of 10 points beyond their starting health. When a player’s health reaches 0, they are defeated and removed from the battlefield.

COMBAT POINTS (CP)

Use this dial to track the amount of CP you have over the course of the game. Spend CP to play cards & other effects.

HERO LEAFLETS

Each hero has a companion leaflet that provides important information as you are learning the game.

• DICE KEY: A quick reference to learn the probability of rolling each kind of die face symbol.
• STATUS EFFECT DEFINITIONS: A detailed explanation of the effects of each kind of status effect, whether it is positive (something you want) or negative (something you don’t want), and what the “stack limit” is.

STATUS EFFECTS

• Status effect tokens can be gained or inflicted in various ways throughout the game.
• They are sometimes beneficial (positive status effect) and sometimes harmful (negative status effect).
• All status effects have a “stack limit” which specifies how many tokens of the same type can be on any one hero at any time (unless a card or ability increases that stack limit).
• A description of their effect can be found within the applicable hero’s leaflet.
• A status effect is Persistent if it doesn’t ever go away inherently, but instead requires some external card or ability to cause its removal.

Note: Status effect tokens that can be spent activate as if they were an Instant Action.

CARD TYPES & TIMING

HERO UPGRADE CARDS

Hero upgrade cards are identified by the icon and include Offensive, Defensive, and Passive upgrades. They are played directly onto your hero board, permanently improving a previous version of the same ability for the duration of the game. These cards can only be played during your Main Phase.

Note: A level III hero upgrade may be played before the corresponding level II upgrade. However, if upgrading from a level II to a level III, only the CP difference must be paid (rather than the full CP cost).

ACTION CARDS

Cards with a icon are played, resolved, and then placed in the discard pile.

• Roll Phase Action: Roll Phase Action cards may be played at any time during the Offensive, Defensive, and/or Targeting Roll Phases of any player.
• Main Phase Action: Main Phase Action cards may only be played during your own Main Phase.
• Instant Action: Instant Action cards may be played without restriction and at any time. The effects resolve immediately and cannot be interrupted by anything.

CARD TIMING

The icon on the top-right of a card represents when a card can be played:

• MAIN PHASE ICON: May only be played on your own turn during Main Phase (1) or (2).
• INSTANT ICON: May be played at any time regardless of whose turn it is or what is happening in the game.
• ROLL PHASE ICON: May be played on anyone’s turn during the Offensive, Targeting, and/or Defensive Roll Phase. Even after the dice have finished rolling, there is one last chance to play these cards before the game proceeds.

SETTING UP A NORMAL GAME

After selecting a hero, each player should setup their play area as follows:

• Each player shuffles their deck and draws 4 cards.
• Each player sets their starting Health to 50 and CP to 2.
• Determine who will go first by each rolling one die. Highest roll goes first.
• The player who goes first must skip their Income Phase (for their first turn only).
• The game is now played one turn at a time (adhering to the Turn Order section) until one player’s health reaches 0.

Note: When setting up the Pyromancer and Monk, create a pool of tokens that represent the current stack limit for Fire Mastery and Chi. We recommend placing the pool of available tokens below the board.

PLAYING YOUR FIRST GAME

LIKE MOST GOOD STRATEGY GAMES, THERE IS A LEARNING CURVE TO DICE THRONE. To make this process as simple as possible, here are the recommended guidelines for your very first game:

• Play 1v1.
• Each player starts with 30 health (instead of the normal 50).
• No cards or CP will be used (this means that the only game phases that apply are the Offensive and Defensive Roll Phases).
• Each player selects the Barbarian or Moon Elf (since the strategy needed to achieve victory with these heroes is more straightforward).

A game of Dice Throne is played over several rounds, each consisting of the following phases:

UPKEEP PHASE

Apply any applicable status effects during your Upkeep Phase (such as Poison or Burn).

INCOME PHASE

Gain 1 CP (as long as you are below the 15 CP maximum) and draw 1 card from the top of your draw pile.

Note: If the draw pile is empty, shuffle your discard pile to create a new draw pile.

MAIN PHASE (1)

Play Main Phase Action cards, hero upgrade cards, and/or sell cards (by placing them in the discard pile from your hand for 1 CP each).

Note: Selling cards is an important tactic in Dice Throne. A smart player will balance when to sell cards and when to keep them.

OFFENSIVE ROLL PHASE

It’s time to roll some dice and activate some abilities! All of the following steps are optional, except for the first one:

1. Roll all 5 dice (1st roll).
2. Optional: Set aside any dice that you would like to keep, then re-roll the remainder (2nd roll).
3. Optional: Set aside any dice that you would like to keep, then re-roll the remainder a final time (3rd roll).
4. Optional: Choose & activate a single ability whose Activation Requirement is satisfied by the final outcome of the dice.

Note: Doing a weak attack against an opponent with a powerful defense might not always be advisable.

TARGETING ROLL PHASE

If there are more than 2 players and the ability activated during the Offensive Roll Phase requires a target, then a single die must be rolled in order to determine that target. Follow the rules listed within the Game Variations section to determine the results of the roll.

Note: Dice manipulation cards may not be used on a previous roll phase once the game progresses past it.

DEFENSIVE ROLL PHASE

If your opponent deals damage as a result of their Offensive Roll Phase, then your Defensive Ability is activated (if multiple abilities are available, choose one before rolling). The notation “Defensive Roll X” means that X number of dice should be rolled a single time. Then refer to the ability description to resolve the defense.

After rolling, all players have one final chance to play Roll Phase Action cards, Instant Action cards, or use applicable status effects (such as Chi or Evasive).

Finally, all offensive and defensive damage is dealt simultaneously.

Note: It is possible for the game to end in a draw if both players defeat each other simultaneously.

MAIN PHASE (2)

The second Main Phase takes place after combat concludes, but is otherwise identical to the first Main Phase.

Note: Unlimited actions may be taken during both Main Phases.

DISCARD PHASE

Before your turn concludes, you must sell cards until you have 6 or fewer cards in hand.

TAKE THE THRONE!

The game continues in this fashion between the two players until one of them successfully reduces their opponent’s life to 0, thus claiming victory and the Dice Throne for themselves!

SETUP: The game type is 1v1, Moon Elf vs. Barbarian, with the standard 50 health and 2 CP to start.

Both players roll to determine who goes first:

Moon Elf rolled higher, so she goes first. They start the game by each drawing 4 cards:

MOON ELF’S TURN

She skips her Income Phase and goes directly into Main Phase (1).

Note: The player who goes first must skip their Income Phase (for their first turn only).

She wants to be able to play her Twice as Wild! card this turn, so she sells her Transference! card and gains 1 more CP.

She now begins her Offensive Roll Phase. She rolls all 5 dice and gets:

She could go for the small straight by re-rolling the 1 & 4 in hopes of getting Entangling Shot or she could re-roll the 6 and go for one more to get Covered Shot. But since she has her Twice as Wild! card available, she decides to press her luck. She keeps the and goes for her Ultimate Ability by re-rolling the other four dice.

After her second roll she has:

She could re-roll the 5 in hopes of getting one more and activating Demising Shot, which would be the safer bet, but she keeps the two and rolls one more time since she can at least activate Eclipse by using her wild card:

Unfortunately, she didn’t get that additional that she wanted. But she plays Twice as Wild! anyway and turns the two 5’s into two 6’s to activate Eclipse:

The Barbarian has a chance to play Instant Action or Roll Phase Action cards in response (like a Helping Hand! card), but he doesn’t have anything useful currently.

So her Offensive Roll Phase concludes and now the Barbarian adds the Blind, Entangle, and Targeted status tokens to the middle of his board (as instructed to do so by the Elf’s Eclipse ability):

Now the Barbarian begins the Defensive Roll Phase. He is receiving 7 damage from Eclipse + 2 more because he’s Targeted (for a total of 9 damage).

Using his Thick Skin defensive ability, he rolls 3 dice and gets:

Thick Skin heals for 2 times the number of rolled, for a total of 4 in this case. So he receives 9 damage, but also heals 4, for a net loss of 5 health.

Both players have one final chance to play Roll Phase Action cards, but neither of them choose to, so the Defensive Roll Phase concludes.

He reduces his health from 50 down to 45:

The Elf now has her second Main Phase, but she has no cards she wants to play or sell, so she concludes her turn.

BARBARIAN’S TURN

The Barbarian has 3 status effects (Blind, Entangle, & Targeted), but none have any effect during the Upkeep Phase.

For the Income Phase, he gains 1 CP and draws 1 card:

It is now Main Phase (1). He pays 2 CP to play Smack II. This card is laid over the top of Smack on his Hero Board and permanently improves that ability for the remainder of the game.

He now begins his Offensive Roll Phase. He rolls all 5 dice and gets:

Since he is Entangled, he only gets 2 rolls instead of 3. So he decides to play it safe and go for more . He re-rolls the 5 & 6 and gets:

He now removes the Entangled status effect token and is out of rolls.

He could play his Try, Try Again! card in an attempt to turn the 1 into a 3, which would result in his attack becoming undefendable thanks to his Smack II upgrade, but he decides to save the card for later.

He now has to resolve the Blind status effect, so he rolls one die and gets a 2. Bummer—his attack is a complete failure!

But luckily he hung on to that Try, Try Again! card. So he spends 1 CP to play it:

He rolls for the Blind again, and this time gets a 1. Doh! He has one last chance, so he rolls again and this time gets a 6—whew, the attack succeeds!

He now has 9 damage going at the Moon Elf and concludes his Offensive Roll Phase.

The Moon Elf begins the Defensive Roll Phase.

She uses her Missed Me defensive ability by rolling all five dice and gets:

She rolled , successfully preventing ½ damage (rounded up), which means she prevented 5 of the 9 damage, and takes 4.

Note: When an ability like the Moon Elf’s Missed Me is activated “On “, it does not provide additional benefits to roll more beyond the requirement. That is, she could not cut the damage in half twice with a roll of .

The Barbarian now has his second Main Phase, but he doesn’t wish to play any additional cards, so he concludes his turn.

Dice Throne plays best 1v1 or 2v2. However, we have included rules for additional variants to cover a broad range of game nights!

OUR FAVORITE WAYS TO PLAY!

1v1:

• Both players start with 50 health.
• Targeting Roll Phase is skipped.

2v2:

• Each team shares a single health pool, starting at 50.
• Targeting Roll Phase:
  • 1-2 targets the opponent on your left.
  • 3-4 targets the opponent on your right.
  • 5 allows the opponents to choose which of them you will target.
  • 6 allows you to choose your target.

Note: Teammates should sit next to each other, view each other’s cards, and strategize accordingly.

MULTIPLAYER VARIATIONS

3v3:

• Each team shares a single health pool, starting at 50.
• Targeting Roll Phase:
  • 1-2 targets the opponent on your left.
  • 5-6 targets the opponent on your right.
  • 3-4 targets the opponent in-between them.

2v2v2:

• Each team shares a single health pool, starting at 35.
• Targeting Roll Phase:
  • If the outcome is 1-4, count around the table moving clockwise starting with the closest opponent on your left.
  • 5-6 allows you to choose your target.

Note: Turn order alternates between teams, zigzagging across the table.

FREE-FOR-ALL

This variant is one of the most volatile ways to play the game. Games can be over in a heartbeat, but they can also be filled with fun negotiations and politics!

In all Free-for-all variations the “What the…?” rule applies:

• If a player is defeated before their second turn, they immediately discard their hand, draw 4 new cards, reset their CP to 2, and reset their Health to 10.
• All status effects and hero upgrade cards are removed from the defeated player’s board.

3 PLAYER FREE-FOR-ALL:

• All players start with 30 health.
• Targeting Roll Phase:
  • 1-3 targets the opponent on your left.
  • 4-6 targets the opponent on your right.

4 PLAYER FREE-FOR-ALL:

• All players start with 25 health.
• Targeting Roll Phase:
  • 1-2 targets the opponent on your left.
  • 5-6 targets the opponent on your right.
  • 3-4 targets the opponent in-between them.

5 PLAYER FREE-FOR-ALL:

• All players start with 20 health.
• Targeting Roll Phase:
  • If the outcome is 1-4, count around the table moving clockwise starting on your left to see who you will target.
  • 5 allows you to target the opponent on your left or your right.
  • 6 allows you to freely choose your opponent.

6 PLAYER FREE-FOR-ALL:

• All players start with 20 health.
• Targeting Roll Phase:
  • If the outcome is 1-5, count around the table moving clockwise starting on your left to see who you will target.
  • 6 allows you to freely choose your opponent.

GAME MODIFICATIONS

SIMPLIFIED:

This variation can be used to play with children or anyone else who prefers a simpler version of Dice Throne:

• Play 1v1.
• Each player starts with 30 health instead of 50.
• No cards or CP will be used in this game. This means that the only game phases that apply are the Offensive and Defensive Roll Phases.
• Each player selects the Barbarian or Moon Elf (since the strategy needed to achieve victory with these heroes is more straightforward & since these heroes do not need cards or CP to play successfully).

HERO UPGRADE DECK:

This variation may be added to any other game type. It involves separating all hero upgrade cards into their own draw pile. Whenever a card is to be drawn, the player may choose to draw from their hero upgrade deck or their action deck. This variation slightly reduces the random-factor of the game and increases the strategic choices that can be made.

This is a very fun variation for advanced players, but it is not recommended unless all players have a deep understanding of the game.

GENERAL GLOSSARY

• 2/3/4/5-OF-A-KIND: A roll qualifies as a 4-of-a-kind (etc) when the required number of dice faces all show the same numerical value (e.g. 3-3-3-3). Having the same symbol does not qualify; it must be the same number.
• ATTACK: An “attack” occurs when a player’s Offensive Roll Phase targets another player with at least 1 dmg.
• BATTLEFIELD: This is the area that contains all players within the game. When a player’s health reaches 0, they are removed from the battlefield (i.e. only players with at least 1 health are eligible battlefield targets).
• COLLATERAL: Damage that is received indirectly (i.e. an Offensive Roll Phase did not directly target an opponent). Collateral damage is always undefendable.
• CP: “Combat Points” (CP) are spent to play cards & other effects. 1 CP is gained at the start of every turn (except for the first player’s first turn of the game). CP may also be gained by selling cards (discarding them for 1 CP each).
• GAIN: Add the specified token or CP to the hero who “gained” it (i.e. this token cannot be given to any other hero at the time that it is gained).
• HEAL: Increase health by the specified amount. Players can heal up to a maximum of 10 points beyond their starting health.
• HEALTH: The amount of damage a player can withstand before they are defeated. When a player’s health reaches 0, they are removed from the battlefield.
• LARGE STRAIGHT: A roll qualifies as a Large Straight when the numerical values of all five dice are in sequence (e.g. 1-2-3-4-5 / 2-3-4-5-6).
• MAIN PHASE ACTION: An action card that may only be played during your own Main Phase.
• ON [SYMBOL]: If a card or ability reads “on [symbol]…” (e.g. On / On / On / On ), this implies that at least those symbols must be rolled to receive the benefit. No additional benefit is gained by rolling more symbols of the same type beyond the initial requirement.
• PERSISTENT: A status effect is Persistent if it doesn’t ever go away inherently, but instead requires some external card or ability to cause its removal.
• ROLL PHASE ACTION: A card that may be played during any portion of any player’s Roll Phase (including Offensive, Defensive, & Targeting Roll Phases).
• SELL: During your own Main Phase, any number of cards may be sold (discarded without effect) to gain a single CP (regardless of the card’s CP cost) per card.
• SMALL STRAIGHT: A roll qualifies as a Small Straight when the numerical values of four dice are in sequence (e.g. 1-2-3-4 / 2-3-4-5 / 3-4-5-6).
• SPENT/SPEND: To spend a token means to discard it and then receive the benefit.
• STACK LIMIT: All status effects have a “stack limit” which specifies how many tokens of the same type can be on any one hero at any time (unless a card or ability increases that stack limit).
• STEAL: A player who steals CP from another player removes CP from the targeted player while increasing their own CP by an equal amount. Unless the ability specifies otherwise, the targeted player must have the CP in order for it to be stolen (i.e. this ability has no effect if the targeted player has 0 CP).
• THEN: When an ability contains the word “then”, it implies a sequence of events (note that Instant Action cards may be played inbetween this sequence).
• ULTIMATE ABILITY: An opponent may play dice-altering cards to prevent an Ultimate from rolling successfully. Otherwise, the effects of the ability happen in full and no opponent may take any action of any kind in response.
• UNDEFENDABLE: No defensive roll abilities may be made against an attack that is undefendable. However, other means of prevention (cards, status effects, etc) may still be utilized.

SPECIAL THANKS & CONTRIBUTIONS

Lisa Trembley, Jasper, Jared, Megan Chatellier, Ty, Adele, Ivy, Aaron Hine, Daniel Tolczyk, Eduardo Baraf, Hannah & Richard McLeod, Shaun Carlson, Charlie Kaminsky, Aaron Waltmann, Kriston Broxson, James Eik, Ken Farr, John O’Rorke, Matt Riddle, Peter Marchesini, Dallas Crockett, Ryan & Tori Baldwin, Chris Marrazzo, Jason Talley, Chris Schwartzenberger, Gavan Brown, Gonzalo Aguirre Bisi, James Hudson, Mike Houston, Brian Johnson, Ben & Angie Stiers, Joseph Chen, Jerry Holkins, Mike Krahulik, Joe Moore, Carl Damerow, Dan Arey, Bob Kelley, Eric Lieberman, Guido Teuber, Jonathan Herrera-Thomas, John William H. Roberts, Josh “Ghost” F, James S. Avant, Kristian Carlson, Robert Bower, James Davey, Thane Lopez, Frank Chaustowich, Richard Stroop.

Thank you to all of our amazing kickstarter backers who helped bring this project to life! Dice Throne would not exist without you.

WANT ADDITIONAL HEROES?

Many new heroes are coming to the Dice Throne universe in the near future! Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date with the latest developments.

Dice Throne™ is © copyright 2017 Mind Bottling Games, LLC. • dicethrone.com