The Roll of the GM in Cooperative Game Boarding:

The GM is in charge of Storytelling at the beginning of an Adventure, using resources on this website. But once the adventure begins, the GM transitions to one of the Heroes and goes through the Adventure with the other players, letting the Game Engine take over.  As Chambers are discovered, or when they are completed, the GM temporarily transitions back into Storytelling mode to guide the Campaign forward as needed.

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With 5 players, here is a recommended break-down of responsibilities:

• GM = Storytelling, Dungeon Tiles, Chamber Setup

• Player 2 = Monster Deck + Miniatures

• Player 3 = Encounter Deck + Traps

• Player 4 = Store Treasure Deck + Combat Rewards Treasure Deck

• Player 5 = Hero Status Tokens, XP Chips (custom made to keep track of XP), Surge Tokens

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This is how I typically run a game session:

1) Story Phase: introduce new players to the Home Page, the Introduction to the Ministry of Heroes, and the Atlas.

2) Game Overview Phase: introduce new players to the adjusted rules on this page.

3) Town Phase: Select Heroes and run the Store (separate out all the Treasure Cards that have a gold value. Pull #Players+2 Cards and let everyone pick one Card as their first Treasure before starting).

4) Adventure Phase: shuffle/stack the Tiles and setup the Starting Tile/s, read the Introduction for the current Adventure, start with Player #1...

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NOTE: if any players are interested in "deep immersion" into the Campaign Story, then send an email with a link to the Time Line on this web site, and with instructions to read all the way from the beginning to the date where the selected Adventure begins, drilling down on the links to the Stories as they go... this is not required to jump in and play any of the Adventures, but may help maximize the enjoyment of the Story itself.

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Out-of-Box Rules vs. Adjusted Campaign Rules:

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Out-of-Box: Time required 60 to 90 min.

Adjusted: Time Required 3 to 6 hours (with multiple Chambers for a single Episode).

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Out-of-Box: Each adventure is typically designed to stand alone.

Adjusted: Adventures are linked together with story line events that happen in-between.

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Out-of-Box: If a single hero dies, the adventure ends.

Adjusted: If a single hero dies, the adventure will not end. The remaining characters will try to complete the adventure.

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Out-of-Box: Each hero begins an adventure at Level 1.

Adjusted: Heroes who survive an Episode and did not jump to the next Level using out-of-box rules (Roll 20+5XP or Combat Reward) will begin the next one automatically at current Level +1.  If a Hero falls in battle s/he will return for the next Episode back at Level 1. See below for how to produce home-made Level 3,4 Tokens.

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Out-of-Box: Each hero picks a single treasure card at the start of an adventure.

Adjusted: A store will be available before each Adventure (Town Phase). Level 1 characters are free to pick 1 treasure (only).
For Episodes that allow a return to Town Phase, Level 2+ characters can spend any acquired gold to purchase additional items, or swap existing items of same or greater value. Treasures with a monetary value are separated into the Store Deck, and are only available during the Town Phase (unless a Treasure Token calls for an Item, or the Item is an Artifact that is part of the Campaign Story).

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Out-of-Box: Heroes have no limit to number of Treasure cards they can possess.

Adjusted: A Hero at Level 1 can only possess up to 3 Treasure cards at the end of the turn. Level 2 can possess 4, Level 3 can possess 5, and Level 4 Heroes can possess 6.

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Out-of-Box: Players discard defeated monster cards into a common pile to keep track of XP.

Adjusted: Defeated monsters are returned to bottom of deck as they are removed, and XP chips are placed into common pile (or keep track on paper). Unused XP are reset to 0 at the start of the next Episode.

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Out-of-Box: A set number of surge tokens are available at the start of each adventure.

Adjusted: 1 Surge token is available at the first Episode of an Adventure, and Heroes may purchase additional tokens with 10 XP, up to a Maximum of 3.

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Out-of-Box: Every tile pulled during exploration automatically pulls a monster/encounter from the top of the deck. If a new tile has not been pulled, each player begins the Villain Phase by pulling an encounter card.

Adjusted: Depending on difficultly level (which increases as the Episodes move forward in the story), a die is rolled to make a "monster check" or "encounter check".  The first Episode starts at 10+, which means when it is time to pull a Monster or Encounter Card, players rolls 1d20. If value is 10 or higher, pull the card, otherwise do nothing and continue. After that, each Episode reduces by 2 (8+, 6+, etc).

Adjusted: Stop pulling random Encounter Cards when a Chamber is revealed, unless a special Encounter Deck has been set aside for that Chamber.  If there is a special Encounter Deck, pull from the top at the start of each Villain Phase after doing an Encounter Check at the current difficulty level. Place card at bottom of deck to pull again later...

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Out-of-Box: Chamber descriptions typically call for supporting monsters to be pulled randomly from the top of the deck.

Adjusted: Chamber descriptions call for specific supporting monsters, to stay consistent with the story.

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Out-of-Box: Players cannot control multiple monsters of the same type.

Adjusted: Players can control multiple monsters of the same type.

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Out-of-Box: During Villain Phase, if there are multiple monsters of the same type controlled by other players, all monsters of the same type are activated.

Adjusted: Players only activate Villains + their controlled monsters.

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Managing Encounter Cards for Multiple Chamber Episodes:

Go through the Encounter Deck and pull out any Cards that reference a specific Villain/Boss Monster and set those aside as special Chamber Encounters when that Villain/Boss is revealed.  When there is a special Chamber Encounter Deck that can be used, switch to that Deck and pull the top Card at the start of each Villain Phase after doing an Encounter Check at the current level of difficulty (for example 10+). Then return the Card to the bottom of the Deck so it can be pulled again...

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Managing Dungeon Tiles for Multiple Chamber Episodes:

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Separate out the Start Tiles, Exit Tiles and Special Chamber Tiles (including "center" tiles with no walls, dire/horrid/cave "walls" on one side, and "corners" that can be used to setup well-defined rooms) from all the other Hall/Cave Tunnel Tiles.

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1. Select Episode Start Tile/s and Exit Tile/s (if needed).

2. Select Tiles that will represent the Entrance for each Chamber.

3. For the First Chamber, shuffle/stack Tiles into these groups:

   • Shuffle: X Random Hall/Cave (X = #Players * 2)

   • Shuffle: 3 Random Hall/Cave + Chamber Entrance 

4. For each Chamber after the First:

   • Shuffle: 3 Random Hall/Cave + Chamber Entrance

5. Exit Tile/s, if needed.

6. Shuffle: 3 extra Hall/Cave in case an Encounter/Monster card calls for tiles from the bottom. 

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When the first Chamber is complete, reposition all Heroes back into the hallway and remove all Chamber Tiles except the Entrance Tile (so they can be used again to build out the next Chamber).  Heroes must work their way back to an unexplored edge in the Random Hall/Cave Tiles to continue to look for the next Chamber.

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Hero Levels 3 and 4:

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Open an Excel file and create the following charts, or clip the images into a new file - each square should be
about 2 or 2.5 inches in width. Print 5 copies total (1 for each Hero = 5 Level-3 squares and 5 Level-4 squares).
Cut out 5 squares from a cardboard box to match the size, and attach these with tape, with Level 3 on one side
and Level 4 on the other.

When a Hero reaches Level 3, Place the Level 3 Token next to the Hero Card.
When a Hero reaches Level 4, flip the Token over, showing Level 4.
Each bonus value is relative to the stats showing on the Level 2 Hero Card.

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