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COMPONENT LIST
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Below, you can find a detailed list of all components inside the Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon
Table of Contents

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core box. Please note that copies of the game with included expansions (such as the Niamh expan-
sion) will contain additional components not listed here.

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2 Credits Models Paper Components

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2-3 Component List beor
4

My dearest apprentice,
ailei
1

How I regret what little time we had

maggoT
3

My friend,
arev
2

forced to leave town before I could pass on for your education! I was
I
Beor, I would
You were always a good lad and a great help. of your
have
knowledge the to write you, Maggot, yet if you have received thisknow your secret.
even a fractionIofloathe
arms you deserve (though the fact you’d rather spend time itin means I am dead.
message, I realize you’re no farmer, and that you settled here to run
closed the forge long ago, if not for the strength the meadows, than in the temple, certainly did not help). You were right. The sagas of old are true, and our island

4 Basic Information
fromoncesomething. I know how it feels to be haunted by your past
and your resolve. I feel I owe you something. Know this: the sagas of old are true. Our island
on myimmortal powers.
eye isted, once belongedto atotwisted, immortal power. Arthur, the first ofdeeds, the to leave your old life behind. I also know a fighting man
When I told you to stay in Cuanacht to keep anlost,twjust Avalon was not belonged
property, I misguided you. The forge is already Arthur,likethe first of the kings, who landed created for humans.subdued
kings, But this realm inch by inch. With his knights and whenhis I see one, and I believe that should I fail, you are this
islandsubdued this realm inch by inch. He on these shores
true. Ourpeople, withheour Grail from the Fore-dwellers, and usedtown’sit to second-best chance.
the rest of our land. The sagas of old are It armies,
took the Grail from took the
place
was notthea Fore-dwellers
once belonged to twisted, immortal powers. kings, who and used it to bring seasons and cyclesbring from our world into this godlessKnow that Avalon once belonged to twisted, immortal powers.
of the our landed
world to this godless
known from and cycles known
seasons
It was not a place for humans. Arthur, the Once and Future
for humans. But Arthur, the fi rst place. We all thought place.
inchvillage was raised to immortalize this. The truththeis,menhir in our
by inch. druids always told us the menhir in our village wasKing, createdsubdued this realm inch by inch. He took the Grail
on these shores with our people, subdued Avalon to these ancient powers out, anchoring the island toit the
usedtoitkeep
wasYoucreated
He took the Grail from the Fore-dwellers and to this of mankind.
godless to world
immortalize this. But now I know the truth: it was createdfrom the to Fore-dwellers and used it to bring the laws of our
bring seasons and cycles known from our world Now, tothe menhirs go dark, and we will soon follow keep these ancient powers out – to anchor this island to themenhir
was raised
world
worldinto this godless place. People of the village believed their
place. We all thought the menhir in our village to keepoblivion. them
theseThus, Lord Yvain secretly gathered the five strongest
into
of mankind. was raised to immortalize this. The truth is, it was

5 Components Overview
immortalize this. The truth is, it was created wisest champions, including me. He leads us east, Well,andyou all have failed. Now, the granaries stand empty created
, theto keep these ancient powers out – to anchor Avalon to

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ancient powers at bay. Kamelot before it’s too late – before the land to seekspring help in come, and the menhir in our village darkens by
won’t thetheworld of mankind.
Now, the menhirs go dark. Something has broken. into Spring
the wyrdness. fragments and sinks
day. I admit I wanted to flay every druid until I discoveredNow, the the menhirs go dark. The laws of nature unravel one
Yvain If secretly
will not come. The animals won’t breed. Lordof Cuanacht, we do not return, or send word in but Priestess Neante claims you had nothing to do by withone.it. Lord Yvain secretly gathered five people, including me,
have failed, and the fate of Cuanacht fallsthirty
gathered the five strongest and wisest people in Kamelot
days, it reason,
means we
before to thoughtwhy I gathered five of our best people. I’m leadingandthem
to you. Yvain That’s he leads us east, to seek help in Kamelot.
including me. He leads us east, to seek help intoyou too unstable
the wyrdness. go with us, and my runes foretold youeast, find help in Kamelot before it’s too late – before the
wouldto not I wanted
land to take you with us, but the others feared the
it’s too late – before the land starts sinking return alive if you did.
the fateor of– if you But alone, you might stand a chance. Save the wyrdness. misfortune that seems to follow in your footsteps. But if we
If we don’t return, it means we have failed, and people,
our cannot – try to save yourself. fragments and sinks into

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want you with us due
And to your I did not ask you to join my reti nue, because as much don’t
as I return, it means our luck wasn’t any better. Should the
Cuanacht falls to you. Yvain didn’t always remember: to me, you were the daughter I could
lack of experience and short temper. But I’ve
always believed
never have. dislike druids, a man who betrayed even them seemed likeworst a poorcome to pass, I implore you: take up your arms once again
– try to
in you, lad. Save our people, or – if you cannot Stay safe! bet. Still, if we’ve failed, I have no one else to trust. and save our people.

6-7 Campaign Setup

save yourself. Rise, Maggot. Do what you can to save this land. This is my final
Neante,
wish. Fael,
Erfyr, Priestess of Cuanacht Master Huntsman of Cuanacht
Forgemaster of Cuanacht Lord Yvain
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8-9 Playing the Game 4 starting letters 4 adventure maps
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10-13 Basic Rules Statuses
Menhir #1
Location Dial Value
Allies of Avalon 1 2 3 4 5 Matricide Start Here!

14-17 Combat
single-player adventure
This Open & Play guide will help you set up and start your first
1 2 3 Monastery Discovered
Menhir #2 Black Cauldron
an hour of
Menhir #3 Moonring Mission in Avalon, and teach you all the basic game rules. Built for approximately
Burning Mystery 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 play, it does not include any spoilers for the main campaign.
Call from Beyond Morgaine’s Task
Location Dial Value

SAVE SHEET Mourning Song 1 2 III) Take the Blue Character Tray
Quest Dial #1 Charred Knowledge
barren fields provide little food, and crumbling
Mystery Solved They still call this place a "farmhold," even though
days of Cunanacht is its menhir, always adorned
Quest Dial #2 Cherished Belongings
walls offer no protection. The last relic of the glory
offering at its gnarled feet. As long as the menhir
Location Cold Pyre Pathfinder 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Guardian #1 Peace in Borough with red ribbons, lit by candles, and with a daily
anything.
repels the wyrdness, the townsfolk are ready to endure
Cosuil 1 2 3 4 5
Player notes: Guardian #2 before. A man was lost, following the call of his
But last night, the wyrdness came closer than ever
Deal Breaker People’s Champion
Take the blue CHARACTER TRAY (above) out of the box. You
turned inside-out, its furniture grown into a bloated
Deep Secret Pillager 1 2 3 4
future self. A house on the outskirts of town has can find the full explanation of all icons on the Character Tray
many hours the air tasted of metal and sour milk.
Reclamation outer shell, like barnacles on the side of a boat. For in the RULEBOOK, but the most important part of the Tray is
like many others all over the land.
Diplomat 1 2 3 the triple TRACK used for managing your:
Now, people say your guardian menhir is failing, ENERGY – your basic stamina consumed by Travel,

18-21 Diplomacy
wound in your side throbbed as if something tried
Diplomatic Mission 1 2 3 4 5 6 Remedy 1 2 3 4
Remnants 1 2 3 4 5 For you, the night was even worse. The festering Combat, and Exploration. It is regenerated each day
outside of town.
to tear itself free and join the rolling clouds of wyrd
Disturbing Information 1 2 3 (as long as you eat Food and Rest).

1 Beor 1 Ailei
Erfyr needs to see you! Move, you big goof!" HEALTH – your physical condition. Your Energy can
In the morning, a boy comes running to your shack. "Master
Dreams and Prophecies 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Restoring the Order 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
never be higher than your Health. Whenever your Health
When you have any six parts of this status, go to BoS, Verse 512
of a boot, and immediately start to regret it,
End of the Road You chase the brat away with a well-aimed throw reaches the red zone, you’re on the brink of death, and

model model
Riddle of the Oldsteel door. attach the “YOU’RE DYING!” card to your Character Tray.
Enemies of Avalon 1 2 3 as the boot lands in a deep puddle outside your TERROR – your creeping madness. Once it reaches
Saved by the Goddess
Escalation the top, you start to go insane, making any Actions
1 2 3
Scrounger difficult. Additionally, if your Terror is higher than

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Fael’s Legacy your Health, you panic in Combat and Diplomacy. Whenever
LOCATION: LOCATION:
Secrets of the Forest 1 2 3 4 The hooded statue is the MENHIR. Its origin and purpose will your Terror reaches the red zone, you’re on the brink of madness
NAME: NAME:
Fall of Chivalry 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 I) Unpack Your Models be revealed during your adventure, but for now, you should and attach the “YOU’RE GOING INSANE!” card to your
DIAL: DIAL: Shelter in the Storm
When you have any six parts of this status, go to BoS, Verse 525 know that: Character Tray.
Farpoint Clues Shrine Secure You can only explore parts of the island in the range of an
1 2 3 4 5
Active Menhir. IV) Set Up Your Character
Fate of the Expedition 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Something is Watching Each Menhir has a space to hold a Dial. These octagonal
tokens have several purposes: they count down to the

22 Alternative Game Modes

When you have parts 1-8 of this status, go to BoS, Verse 405 Stonemason’s Secret

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moment the Menhir fades away, they can be tossed like
Final Confrontations 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Strange Encounters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 coins, and are used by many special rules.
Final Lesson 1 2 3 4 5 In this Open & Play tutorial, you play as Beor. Beor’s high Health
Supplying the Revolt
and combat prowess can save inexperienced players from some of
To start, take your Character models, one Menhir model, and
Fortunate Meetings 1 2 3 4 5 Tangleroot Knowledge 1 2 the mistakes they're bound to make on their first journey, while
one Dial (octagonal plastic coin) out of the box
his Crafting Action provides decent starting equipment.
General Directions Tracker The four travelers are the CHARACTERS available in the game
Set Beor’s model (a man carrying a hammer), one Menhir,
– unlikely heroes, ordinary people of the island, each carrying a
Gerraint’s Successor 1 2 3 and one Dial in front of you. Put the rest of the models back Take Beor’s CHARACTER TILE shown above. Turn the Tile so
Traveling Menhir 1 2 taint that made it impossible for them to join the party of cham-
pions that recently left their hometown.
in the box. the Setup: Beor side is face up. It instructs you how to prepare
Glen Ritual 1 2 Tuathan Exploration 1 2 3 4 5 the blue Character Tray for Beor.
BEOR is the local smith, known for his short temper. He
Guest of Honor does his best to conceal a festering, unhealable wound in II) Unpack Universal Markers First, mark the starting level of Beor’s ATTRIBUTES. Place
Underfern 1 2 3 4 5
his side, received under mysterious circumstances. red markers in the Attribute slots along the left and right edge
NAME: LOCATION: NAME: LOCATION: Halfway Intrigue 1 2 3 War for Avalon 1 2 3 4 AILEI is an outcast whose entire family perished in the of the Tray, according to the instructions on the Character Tile.
DIAL: DIAL:
This means Beor starts with 2 Aggression, 1 Courage, 1 Practicali-
Helping Hand 1 2 3 4 5 6 Winds of Wyrdness wyrdness. She makes a modest living supplying healing ty, and 1 Caution.
herbs and roots to the locals. Then, find the T-shaped HEALTH MARKER in the box.
Helping the Knights MAGGOT is a renegade of the druidic order, whose innate
Red universal MARKERS are used in many different ways

23 Index
Hidden Treasures powers are curbed by his destructive addiction to halluci-
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 throughout the game. Remove some from the box and set them
nogenic mixtures and mushrooms.
aside in a pile.
Hunter’s Mark AREV is a simple farmer with not-so-simple past. He used
Removed Locations: The purple markers have the value of five red markers and
to be a mercenary who bloodied his hands one too many Place this marker in the starting Health track slot, highlighted by
Lady’s Task are used to represent large piles of Resources. Leave them in
times, and now a mysterious curse follows him. two red chevrons (slot 9 for Beor). Now, find the Energy and
the box for now.
Last Haven 1 2 3 4 5 Terror tracks on your Character Tray, situated on the left and
right of the Health track. Place universal markers in the starting
Left Behind 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 slots, highlighted by two red chevrons on these two tracks.
Lost and Fallen 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Maggot’s Redemption 1
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24 Rules Summary 30 save sheets Open & Play Guide

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Credits

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Game by: Krzysztof Piskorski, Marcin Świerkot

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Art Direction: Marcin Świerkot, Piotr Foksowicz
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Tests and Development: Krzysztof Piskorski, Paweł Samborski, 1 Arev model 1 Maggot model

Andrzej Betkiewicz, Marcin Świerkot, Łukasz Krawiec, Jan

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Truchanowicz, Bartłomiej Kalisz, Krzysztof Belczyk, Michał Lach 1

Rulebook: Krzysztof Piskorski, Paweł Samborski, Andrzej Betkiewicz, Rulebook Fall of Avalon
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Exploration Journal

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Łukasz Krawiec, Michał Lach
Illustrations: Piotr Foksowicz, Ewa Labak, Patryk Jędraszek, Trays & Tiles
Michał Peitsch, Piotr Orleański, Jakub Kaźmierczak, Andrzej
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Półtoranos, Piotr Kryński

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Graphic Design: Jędrzej Cieślak, Adrian Radziun, Andrzej Półtoranos
3D Graphics: Jędrzej Chomicki, Piotr Gacek, Agnieszka Pogan,
Mateusz Modzelewski, Jakub Ziółkowski
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Narrative Design: Krzysztof Piskorski

1 green Tray 1 blue Tray
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Writing: Krzysztof Piskorski, Andrzej Betkiewicz, Dan Morley
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1 Fore-dweller
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Editors: Matt Click, Krzysztof Piskorski model

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Proofreading: Hervé Daubert, Dan Morley, Matt Click, Łukasz

Krawiec, Jan Truchanowicz, Bartłomiej Kalisz, Krzysztof Belczyk,
Michał Lach, with the invaluable help of our community,

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including Frank Calcagno, Christi Kropf, Denis Poisson, Ricky

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Patel and others.
1 brown Tray 1 gray Tray
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Additional Testing: all who have joined us for playtests in AR-

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Bar, UK Games Expo ‘19, Essen ‘18, and other events.

Special Thanks To:
All Kickstarter backers who helped us make this game a
reality, Michał Oracz for his guidance, Adam Kwapiński for his
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constructive criticism, all Tainted Grail community proofreaders,

and people who spent their time and effort participating in the
NN development of the game.
Finally, to Jordan Luminais for being the goodest bot there is.
4 Character Tiles
3 Menhir models

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Plastic Components

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1 regular Die
8 Time Tokens

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10 Dials 90 universal 25 large markers
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4 Quest Tokens 4 Health limiters markers 1 guardian Die

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Cards:
Standard cards (556):

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Crazed IGNORE PAIN ENTANGLING TRAP BEOR AILEI
3 farmha
nd 4 DIRE R AGE BLINDING DUST
hare TH R EAT EN I NG M ISDIRECTION
glade VOICE
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It’s hard
ep, the worl not to lose your
a she d seem
of s to have mind when
the size Rush gone insa
reach siveness. ne.
it can elu
Though wn for its Instead
it is kno 0-2 Gain for every point of the enemy Attack,
ni st 1
Opportu 3 2 , lose of received. lose and Ignore the enemy Attack,
Opportun Lose 1 Rep. Gain for each
0 If , and lose 1 Rep. a�ter the Attack.
Lose 1 ity: Run
Away 1x If you have at least 2 ,
1-2 n Away

AALL
ty: Ru Loot: 1 Foo
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portuni d 3/25 U 5/25 G

Op 2x 1x 1x 2/15 U
2x 2/15 G
5/25 U 4/25 G
Loot : 2 Food

31 green Encounters 31 grey Encounters 50 blue Basic 50 green Basic 30 Beor cards 30 Ailei cards
Combat/Diplomacy cards Combat/Diplomacy cards
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TempTaTions
FINAL BLOW WAR M AGIC AREV MAGGOT
ed 13 Visitors can
SCYTHE P ULL VICIOUS H EX
d isem bodi indulge in many
v oraC iTy
of them cheap
or safe, all vices - none EYE FOR DETAIL R HETORIC
of them enticin
g.
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came,
ibable hunger
When the indescr body.
own
it first ate its Place 1 Charge
rtunist
Defensive, Oppo on the Sowing card.

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0-3 3 Control
d an Item Yourself Gain 1 Choose an enemy
4-5 2 or discar
Lose 1 ,
lose 1 Wealth Attack one rank lower or
6-8 3 Reward: lose Lose , +1 Gain For every , instead. higher on the Attack table,
9-12 2 , lose Failure: lose 1
1
Gain for each
Rep, lose Draw 1 card. a�ter the Attack.
1 Food 2 Wealth a�ter the Response.
Opportunity: pay 2x
or 2 cards 2x
1 Magic
6/25 Y 6/25 B 3x 2x
Reward: 1 Exp, 2x 4/25 Y 1x 11/25 B
2/15 Y 6/15 B

31 Encounters 31 Encounters 50 gray Basic 50 brown Basic 30 Arev 30 Maggot

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purple blue cards cards

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Combat/Diplomacy cards Combat/Diplomacy cards
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Prepare the Event Deck:

RONT)
(bottom) to 1 (top).
1 and stack them from 6
Find all Parts of Chapter

CH
Deck and
when building the Event
good weaTher Hint: always take extra care
correctly (with Part 1 at
the top,

CHAPTER 1 SETUP (F
double-check that it’s stacked

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PA
order).
Your first Travel today costs and the rest in ascending

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example
1 less. modify the Event Deck, for
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Hint: some Event cards will

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of it. Additionally, the

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Experienced journeyme R on top

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O n know to make the Events

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by adding Random

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most c
1 1 asks you to resolve a specifi
EN
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it lasts. Exploration Journal sometimes specifi c card from
a case, take that
Part of the Chapter – in such
altering the rest of the pile!
the deck and resolve it without
s on the back of this card.
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Now, follow the instruction

1 You’re Dying card

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4 You’re Going 4 You’re Dying 8 Advancement Pool 22 Random Event cards 70 Story Event cards
Insane cards (co - op) cards divider cards

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Oversized cards (72): Small cards (143):

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113 ICON GLOSSARY

102
ORDER OF THE DAY Action Icon COMBAT OVERVIEW
Weapon
102 107  ContinuedSin the Exploration
ENCOUNTERJournal
101 TARTING Armor US
2 cards).
MONSTRO
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cards
• Draw 3a�ter
 Resolve immediately from the Combat deck (4 Characters: RUSTY SWORD
HUNTERS’ GROVE 103 entering
the Location • Check the enemy Traits.
H
FARMHOLD 104 IMPROVISED ARMOR STRENGT
CUANACHT
I) START OF THE DAY: I) PICK THE ACTIVE CHARACTER

1
WARRIOR FAIR
CHARRED CONCLAVE  Remove the expired Menhirs and discard
 Energy ALMS
range. II) CHARACTER ACTIVATION In Combat: ect
Locations that are out of the Menhir  Health Token from each card,
1) Delayed Abilities – remove 1 TimeTime Token removal. you conn
 Reduce all Time and Menhir Dials, resolve any Abilities triggered by Whenever
additional
Key, gain 1
67
 Terror Attack:
remove Time Tokens. 2) Play Cards or Receive an Opportunity a Whenever you Rest
hand.
» Play any one Combat card from your
 Reveal the next Event Card. cards (each
» Play any number of additional Combatthe Bonus icon). in a Settlement,
 Move Guardians.  Menhir additional card needs to connect with
39
RITES gain 1 Food.
Item and Secret cards. that, perform the Victory Check. R'S
 Pick active A�ter
TRAVELE
27
 Dreams
44
106 107 Opportunity attack
104 » If you didn't play any cards, resolve the 1 Combat card.
II) D THE D AY : Unfriendly card, then draw
URING  Settlement listed on the Encounter you draw
Whenever
30
103 118 or passes): on the Encounter card
101 (Until everyone runs out of 3) Enemy Attack – resolve the Attack in the Combat Pool. may
 Friendly Settlement
order. of markers Event, you
101  Players perform one Action each in any that matches the number a Random
�en, perform the Victory Check.
When your Character to discard it
III) END OF THE DAY has been Activates in Combat, pay 1 Magic
new one from

3
CHARACTER 4) Check Readiness – if each Party member
 Rest – consume 1 Food to restore 1 and to 0.
lose A
1 DVANCEMENTActivated, go to phase III (End Turn).
If not, and draw a Event deck.
other divider cards
you may gain
Exp, drop your go back to phase I (Pick the Active Character). the Random
2 GATHER FOOD: : • If you don’t have enough2Food Draw 3 Combat or Diplomacy cards from and then toss a Dial.
TOWNSFOLK If it was already at 0, lose 1 instead.
your Advancement III) END
Pool. TURN
1 CHORES FOR THE Choose one,
Party member discards Grail: nothing happens.
 Restore to Full.
A

Gain 2 Food, draw 1 green Encounter Discard

put the rest back, and• shu��le – each
per day) 4 COMBAT TRIAL: 4 points of instead. the Pool.
Skull: discard this Item. Prevent 1
Gain 1 Rep (once • If you are Exhausted, restore
2 Exp  1stExp. down to 3 Combat cards.
Lose 1 Draw
, gain 1 Exp (once per a gray Encounter when by spending
point in one of the Attribute pairsParty member draws 1 Combat card.
• Draw – each (it can’t be reduced to 0).
day)  Advance your Character 4 Exp  2nd point in one of the• Attribute Character)
In ages past, only the druids were allowed into the you enter this Location Turn – go to phase I (Pick the Active
Start Nextpairs
rd; (once per day)  Modify your decks.
its graveya
as reason, that is now forgotten. 6 Exp  3rd point in one of the Attribute
 If you're in a Location with the icon,
groveas– vast
for good pairs
Its history houses. VICTORY CHECK
empty as its With everything that has happened Pool – if
its future as read the Dream. 8 Exp  4th point in one of the•Attribute
101 warriors have become
on the island,
the long grass of this desolate pairs in the Combat
Count markers
skilled
Theawind caresses
thatof
currency their own. • If "You Are Going Insane", read the Nightmare instead. their number is equal to or higher than
the
105 highland also carries the smell
of burnt flesh. 10 Exp  5th and further points in one the Encounter.

42 Secret 65 Item 36 Skill

108  Start the next Day (go to stage I). of the Attribute pairs. Encounter Value, you win
NN 109 PANIC IN C OMBAT
• See the Panic rules whenever your
is higher than your
cards cards cards

63 Locations cards 9 Help cards

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BASIC INFORMATION

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This section of the Rulebook will give you a general overview of the game and its components. If you want to, you
may skip this part and head directly to the “Campaign Setup” section in order to start your first journey. You can

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also learn all rules by watching our instructional video at: www.taintedgrail.com/learn

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Introduction

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Tainted Grail is a story-rich survival and exploration game for At any point, you may Explore any Location you visit. This

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1-4 players, set in a grim universe that blends Arthurian legends will throw you into the middle of a non-linear, branching sto-
and Celtic mythology with the unique, dark vision of Awaken ryline, contained in the Exploration Journal that often chang-
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Realms artists and writers. es the game world around you, swapping some of the Location

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Each player controls one of four unlikely heroes who must cards for their different versions or granting you game-changing
face impossible odds, where stronger and wiser champions have Statuses or Secret cards.
failed. Chased by the encroaching, twisted power of the wyrd- At some point, your day will end. At the start of each day,
ness, fighting an uneven battle against depleting resources and a new Event card will be revealed, slowly pushing time for-

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challenging Encounters, the Characters set out to achieve the ward and providing you with new Quests.

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impossible – and die many times in the process. While playing, you will also stumble upon many random En-
The different Tainted Grail Campaigns are set apart by counters. To resolve them, you will use your Combat and Diplo-
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many years, revealing the long-term consequences of player ac- macy decks, using your tactical and deck building skills.
tions, while a deep, branching storyline allows players to tackle Rewards from these Encounters will help your Character ad-

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problems in different ways, ensuring no two games play alike. vance, letting you expand and optimize your two decks, gain in-
teresting Skills, raise your Attributes, and – eventually – reach
Simple Gameplay Overview parts of the island that you would not have reached otherwise,

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until you finally complete your current story Chapter or arrive

During a standard game of Tainted Grail, you will spend most
at the end of the Campaign.
of your time journeying across the dangerous island of Avalon.
That is unless you first succumb to death or insanity. Their
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Your Character will Travel from one Location card to another,
shadow will hang above you right from the start. After all, The
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spending Energy and revealing more Locations. To progress fur-

Fall of Avalon is not a good time to be alive…
ther, you often must activate one of the Menhir statues scattered
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When you return, you will hopefully be wiser and better prepared!
throughout the realm. These monuments go dark after some time,
and activating them requires considerable Resources, so plotting
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your course will test your planning and logistics skills.

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rd er between our reality and
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th e bo

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L oo m in g on
eant for humans. s, legendary race.
This island was never m the wyrdness, it was populated by a  mysteriou d his fellowship
as , an
the ancient power known , with their wooden ships, their ambitious king
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ay
Humans came here anyw nd piece by piece,
ey to ok th e is la
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of knig hts. d, th
ng their distant homelan e. The former masters of the
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pl ag ue ra va gi
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fr om a
Running
bo di ng sh ap e and mysterious purpos
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raising men hi rs of fo re
nd fa de d in to le ge nd . ns; th e peop le of A va lon call them the
isla ai
not even their name rem ck. The menhirs are dying, and without

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ar s la te r,

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Four hu nd re d ye
elle rs . T im es ar e ha rs h. The Red Death is ba ess. That’s why your hometown has
Fore-dw bles back into the wyrdn to find help in distant Kamelot.
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it se lf cr um
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their power , th e la nd
its stro ng es t an d wisest heroes and sent them , you watch from afar.
gathered five of to br ave the dangers of this wild la
nd
on s se t ou t
As these champi
em.
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You are NOT one of th

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Components Overview

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This page shows how Tainted Grail looks when played.
It will also give you a general idea of what each component is for. Dials

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Placed and rotated inside
Menhirs to indicate how

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much longer they are
going to stay in play. Skill

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deck
Dials may also be used A pool of Skills players may choose
Exploration Journal Secret Deck to track other values, from when advancing their Characters.
Each Location card has a corresponding These numbered cards may decipher Secrets or to
section in the Exploration Journal. contain everything from
Location cards
unique items to extra rules!
make a coin toss.
The modular board of the game. Encounter decks

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Four types of dangers,

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some solved through Combat,
Item Deck some through Diplomacy.
Menhirs
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Guardian stones of Avalon. Standard equipment, from
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They limit the number of a piece of armor to a coil of rope.

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revealed Location cards.

Guardian

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Encounter

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A powerful beast chasing
the Characters.
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Event deck
Introductory Letters, & Discard pile
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Cards that drive the sto-
Maps, Save Sheets

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Additional paper hand-outs ry forward or provide
used during the game. various random effects.
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Death and Insanity cards Active Quest
Attached to Character Trays of dying A card containing an important Quest.
or insane Characters.
Character
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models
Your Characters; each has a corresponding
Location Deck Character Trays Character Tray, Character Tile, and a set of
Contains unrevealed Trays hold the Character Tile, Resources, Combat and Diplomacy cards.
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Location Cards. Attributes and Survival Tracks.
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Health marker
A special “T”-shaped piece, placed
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in the Health track of the Character Tray.

Skill Cards

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Bought with Experience and Time and Quest Markers and
attached to Character Trays.
Tokens Large Markers
Placed on various components Large marker has the value
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or used as Dial indicators. of five standard markers.

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Help Cards
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Icon glossaries, turn order, basic Actions

and other helpful information. Combat and Diplomacy Decks
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Combat and Diplomatic Encounters.

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CAMPAIGN SETUP

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To learn the game in the simplest way possible, we strongly encourage you to use the Open & Play guide that ex-

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plains the basics in an introductory solo adventure. To set up any further Campaigns, please follow the steps below.
If you come back to a Campaign in progress, you don’t need to follow the full game setup below. Instead, go to the

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“Saving the Game” chapter in the Basic Rules section of this manual.

Character Setup

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Each player completes the following steps separately. VII) Create your 15-card Combat and Diplomacy starter decks.
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Pick the 15 basic Combat and the 15 basic Diplomacy cards with

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I) Choose your Character. Take this Character’s cardboard Tile
a banner that matches your Tray’s color (see illustration below).
and a Character Tray of the same color.
The banner is located under the card’s name. Shuffle these cards
Hint: The main difference between Characters is their Character Ac-
tion and negative trait, visible on the front of their Tiles, as well as the and place them to the left (Combat) and right (Diplomacy) of
length of Survival Tracks on their matching Character Tray, and their your Character Tray.

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unique Combat and Diplomacy cards. Characters from other Campaigns need to refer to the starter deck

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The expansion Character Niamh has a red Tile and may use a Tray lists found on the back of their Character Tile.
of any color. In the Fall of Avalon Campaign, the starter cards used in this step are
numbered 1-15/25.
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II) Mark the starting levels of your (Energy) and (Terror). Starter cards DO NOT have Character names on them!

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Find the and tracks on your Character Tray. Place univer-
sal markers in the starting slots, highlighted by two red chevrons
on these tracks.

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VIII) Create your 25-card Combat and Diplomacy Advance-
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ment Pools. Take the 15 advanced Combat cards that have your
III) Place the T-shaped (Health) marker in the track Character’s name. Then, take the 10 remaining basic Combat
slot. It is also highlighted with two red chevrons.
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cards of the color matching your Character Tray (the ones with-
The shape of the marker will help you remember about the effect your
out the banner, that weren’t used in the previous step to create
has on the other two tracks (see: Playing the Game).
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your starter deck). Shuffle these 15 advanced cards with the 10

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basic cards. This is your 25-card Combat Advancement Pool. As
the game progresses, you will use it to buy additional cards and
improve your deck.
Now, repeat the above with the Diplomacy cards to build your
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IV) Mark your starting Attributes. You will find their starting Diplomacy Advancement Pool.
values on the back of your Character Tile. Place both Advancement Pools in one of the Save Compart-
ments in the box or cover it with the “Advancement Pool” card.
V) Mark your starting Resources. They are also listed on the
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IX) Place your Character Tile on the Character Tray. Setup in-
back of your Character Tile. Place the corresponding numbers of
formation should face down, and your Character Action should
universal markers in the Resource slots on your Character Tray.
face up.
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VI) Set aside the 80 Combat and Diplomacy cards that match
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X) Read your Character’s introductory Letter. Written by

the color of your Character Tray. There are 50 basic Combat
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your former mentor, who disappeared with the previous expedi-

and Diplomacy cards that match your Character Tray, and 30
tion, it will reveal more about your initial situation.
advanced Combat and Diplomacy cards with your Character’s
Introductory Letters also contain your unique Character
name above their title.
Number, used rarely to break ties and unresolved votes.
You may use card numbers to help you assemble this pile. For ex-
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ample, Ailei (color green) should gather Combat cards numbered 1-25
G, Diplomacy cards numbered 1-25 G, Advanced Combat cards with her
XI) Take your Adventure Map. If you have no knowledge of Ava-
NN lon, it will help you reach some important landmarks of the Is-
name, numbered 1-15 G, and Advanced Diplomacy cards with her name,
numbered 1-15 G. land. Beware though, the cartographer who created the map lived
If you’re still not sure how to tell the cards apart, see the detailed card over a century ago, and his drawing may no longer be accurate!
overviews in Combat and Diplomacy sections of this Rulebook.
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downtime. For the breakdown of a Chronicler’s responsibilities,

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World Setup see the Chronicler frame.

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IX) Set up the first Chapter. Find the Chapter I Setup card and
After all players have set up their Characters, follow the steps below.

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follow its instructions, starting from the front side, to build the
I) Set the Starting Location. The Starting Location for the Fall Event deck and Encounter decks.

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of Avalon is Location card 101. Place your Starting Location in Then, take all Random Event cards, shuffle them and place

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the middle of your play space and place all the Character models them on the side of your play space or in the box. The Event
you are starting the Campaign with there. cards will sometimes ask you to put a certain number of these
Other Campaigns use Locations 201, 301, and 401 as their starting points. Random Events on top of the Event deck. When asked to draw
an Event, you always draw from the deck, and never from the

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II) Place one Menhir model on the Starting Location and put Random Event pile!

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a Dial in the slot under this Menhir. Turn the Dial so that it After you complete each Chapter of the game, you will be asked to follow
shows the following number: 8 (for 1 player), 7 (for 2 players), a new Chapter Setup card to prepare you for another Chapter and modify
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6 (for 3 players) or 5 (for 4 players). your Encounter decks, phasing out easier cards and introducing harder ones.

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This important Dial shows how many days you have left before the
Menhir goes dark (see: Menhirs and Wyrdness).

X) The first day of your journey has started. Go to the “Play-

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ing the Game” section of this Rulebook and begin your journey!
Hint: Exploring your home Location is a good first step that will let
you check what options are available there.
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Hint: For the first several in-game days, keep your Order of the Day

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Help card handy and perform the listed steps one by one. A new player
can easily forget about important actions, such as reducing each Dial or
III) Build the starting section of the map. Check the four Di- revealing a new Event card at the start of each day.

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rection Keys on the four edges of your Starting Location. Find
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the four Location cards with the corresponding Location num-

bers and attach each of them to their matching Direction Key. Chronicler (optional)
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Example: In the Fall of Avalon campaign, you should attach Hunters’
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In cooperative games with 2-4 players, we suggest one player
Grove (102) to the top edge of your Starting Location (101), Warriors’
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volunteer as the Chronicler. Apart from playing the game, the

Fair (103) to its left edge, Charred Conclave (104) to its right edge, and
Forlorn Swords (105) to its bottom edge.
Chronicler becomes Tainted Grail’s equivalent of the Game
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Master and is responsible for:

 Reading (or re-telling) paragraphs of the Exploration
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Journal aloud to other players.

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 Performing upkeep tasks, such as revealing new Event
cards and reducing all Dials at the Start of the Day.
 Maintaining the Save Sheet, marking any Statuses gained
by players, and checking the Statuses when asked.
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 Adding new Location cards and removing Location cards
no longer in a range of an Active Menhir.
 Dealing Item and Secret cards from their decks.
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 Breaking ties and making the final decision in any con-

flicting situations.
While the Chronicler has no gameplay impact and having
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IV) Prepare the Encounter cards. Take all Encounters and sort
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one is not mandatory, choosing a single person to perform
them by color into four piles. Each pile should contain 31 cards,
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this role will reduce the time spent on upkeep and will lead
including a special Encounter marked as “Your First Encounter”. to fewer mistakes. Additionally, listening to what other Char-
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You will use these piles to build your Encounter decks in step IX. acters go though in their exploration helps to keep the rest of
V) Prepare the Secret and Item decks. Take all Item and Se- the group occupied and immersed!

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cret cards and place them in two piles next to the Encounters.

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You may want to sort the Secret cards by number in order to
find them more easily during the game. Shuffle the Item deck.
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VI) Take a fresh Save sheet.

You will use it to save your game and to mark Statuses that permanently
change the way some locations and people respond to your group.

VII) Distribute Help cards. Each player should receive one Icon
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Guide card, and one Turn Order card with the Action list on the
back. Leave the Combat / Diplomacy Help card on the table.
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VIII) Optional: pick your Chronicler. Designating one player
as a Chronicler helps to maintain the flow of the game and limits

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As you arrive in a new Location, check whether your Travel

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PLAYING THE GAME
revealed any new Location cards (see: Locations). Then, check

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whether your new Location has a lightning symbol ( ) any-
where on its face. Anything marked with this symbol needs to

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This section will teach you how to play Tainted Grail. Start by following the Order of the Day and then learn all be resolved as soon as you enter the Location.

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the Basic Rules. Example: if the Location card has a lightning icon next to “Draw a
gray Encounter” text, you must draw an Encounter from the gray deck

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immediately on arrival, before any other player has a chance to act.

Order Day
In a Party: If you Travel as a Party, any automatic Action
of the II) During the Day or Guardian Encounter triggered by your new Location must be

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The day is the most important time unit in Tainted Grail, and When this stage begins, each player performs one Action, in any resolved as a Party as well! The cost of Traveling scales to 1

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represents a full turn of the game. During the Day (stage II), order the players agree on. If the players cannot decide on the or- per Party member.
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Characters spend to perform Actions until they have no more der, then the Character with the lowest Character Number goes
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or decide to Pass. After that, players perform a short End first. Each available Action in the game is marked with a special Important: You can only move in straight lines. No diagonal

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of the Day (stage III) sequence, where Characters rest, recover, Action icon that also indicates the cost of this Action. Travel allowed!
read Dreams, advance, and optimize their decks. Then, a new
day begins, with the Start of the Day sequence (stage I) that All Actions have this icon in front of them. X de-
includes some upkeep tasks and reveals a new Event card. notes the cost of the Action. Some actions may

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In short, as you play Tainted Grail, you will continuously go have or costs instead.

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through three stages described below:
A group of two or more players sharing the same Location may
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I) Start of the Day agree to take the same Action together, at the same time, as a Par-

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ty – see the Party rules written in blue next to each Action.
1) Remove expired Menhirs. If a Menhir has no Dial in the Once every player has performed one Action or taken part in
slot of its base, it becomes inactive and goes dark right now. one Party action, or Passed, the players may once again perform

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Remove any such Menhirs from the table. Any Menhirs still on one Action each.
the table are referred to as “Active Menhirs.” This continues until everyone Passes or has no more to
spend. When this happens, go to stage III, End of the Day.
2) Remove Locations out of the Menhir range. Each Location
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Hint: To reduce downtime, a player involved in an Encounter might
card in the game should be adjacent (in a straight line or diago-
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resolve it while the other players perform their own Action. Additionally,
nally) to a Location with an Active Menhir. If there are any Loca- the players should plan how to spend their Exp or how to modify their
tion cards that no longer touch a Location with an Active Menhir,
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Combat and Diplomacy decks in advance, in order to reduce downtime

discard them now (see: Menhirs and Wyrdness). during the End of the Day stage.
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3) Reduce Menhir Dials. Reduce the Dial of each Active Menhir by 1. The six most important Actions of the game can also be found

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If a Dial was already at 1, and you can’t reduce it further, remove it on the Action side of the Help card. They are:
from under the Menhir. Please note: the Menhir itself won’t disap-
1 EXPLORE – costs 1 . Every Location card in Tainted Example: Going from Cuanacht Farmhold to Whitening will require two
pear nor become inactive until the next Start of the Day!
Grail contains plenty of lore, secrets, or tasks, and Exploration is Travel Actions, as diagonal movement is not allowed. Additionally, when
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4) Reduce Time Dials and remove Time Tokens. If there are any your primary way of discovering them. Flip your current Loca- Characters arrive in the Whitening, they need to immediately resolve the
Dials with Time Tokens on them anywhere on the table, including tion card and read the text on the back. Some cards are self-con- section of the Whitening Location card marked with the lightning symbol.
on the Secret cards or next to the Characters, reduce them by 1. tained, but others point you to specific parts of the Exploration
If a Dial can no longer be reduced, remove it from the game. Journal for more decisions and options. Continue Exploration in
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Remove one Time token from every Location card that has any. the Journal until you reach “Exploration ends.” Then, flip the Lo- ? LOCATION ACTION – see the cost on the Location card.
Only Dials with Time Tokens should be reduced in this step. Dials cation card back and continue the game. Most Location cards contain one Action, clearly visible on their
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with Quest Tokens move according to different rules. You also shouldn’t Remember to read the “How to Use the Exploration Journal” in- front. Activating this Action is possible whenever a Character is
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remove any Quest Tokens from any Location. troduction at the start of the Journal before your first Exploration! present in this Location, and is not involved in some other Action.
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In a Party: If you Explore as a Party, the cost of Exploration Location-based Actions are important, as they often let you
5) Reveal and read a new Event card. If it contains a Quest text
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scales to 1 per Party member. Most positive and negative ef- gather or exchange critical resources. Try to keep an eye on them
and a red padlock symbol , you should move it to the Quest
fects will apply to every Character in the Party. On the other and plan your Travels in advance!
pile, next to the Event deck.
hand, most rewards will not scale and will have to be shared by Please note that some Location Actions are marked as “once

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Unlike regular Events that stay active for one day, Events containing
per day”. When you perform this Action, you may cover its icon

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Quests remain on the table until the moment specified on their cards. the members of the Party. For more, see the “How to Use the
Exploration Journal” section at the start of the Journal. with a Time Token to help you remember it was already used.
6) Move Guardians. Guardians are special, roaming Encoun- Please keep in mind some locations track other rules with Time
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Hint: If flipping the card would be impractical because there are multiple
ters. If there are any Guardians on the table, roll the Direction models on it, go directly to the Exploration Journal! Every Location section in Tokens as well. It’s best not to put these other Time Tokens on
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die for each of them and move them according to the rules found the Journal starts with the same text that is on the back of the card. the Action, to avoid mixing them up.
in the Guardians section of the Basic Rules. In a Party: You may activate a Location Action as a Party.
1 TRAVEL – costs 1 . Move your Character model to
7) Discuss your plans. If you play coop, all players should take any Location card connected to your current one (see: Loca- In this case, you pay the cost only once and receive the output
time to discuss their plans. You will win or lose together, so care- tions). If two Locations are placed next to each other, but there of the Action once. However, players in the Party may help each
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ful planning and logistics are necessary! are no Direction Keys connecting them, it means you can’t Travel other pay costs, splitting them any way they want, and if they
trigger an Encounter, they resolve it as a Party too.
NN from one to the other (usually due to mountain ranges, walls,
8) Equip for your journey. Make sure your Character doesn’t
wide rivers, and other natural features).
have more than one Item with the same keyword (see: Items)
laying face-up. Flip any excess Items face down.

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Example: Two players use a Location Action that reads “ 2
III) End Day

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Hunt: gain 1 Food, then draw a green Encounter”. They split the cost
of the

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between themselves and pay 1 each. Then, they receive 1 unit of Food, The day Ends when all Characters have Passed or run out of .
reveal an Encounter and fight it as a Party. When this happens, perform the following steps for every Character:

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? CHARACTER ACTION – its fixed cost varies per Char- 1) Rest. Eat 1 Food. If you do, restore 1 and lose 1 . If you

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acter. Every Character has a personal Action on their Character don’t have enough Food (or you don’t want to eat it now), drop

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Tile. Activating this Action is only possible outside of Encounters your to 0. If your is already at 0, lose 1 instead.
and Exploration. Remember that Characters in the same Location may trade Food be-
In a Party: only your Character can use your Character Ac- tween them at any moment, as long as they are not currently involved in
tion, but Party members may help pay the cost. However, the an Action or Encounter (see: Parties and Party Actions)!

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Character performing the Action must ALWAYS pay at least 1 . 2) Restore your . Place the marker on your track back in the

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0 INSPECT A MENHIR – always free. If the Location starting slot. If you’re Exhausted (your marker is in one of
EEN
you are in has a Menhir seal next to its name (see: Locations), the red slots), restore only 4 points of . Please remember that
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it contains one of these ancient monuments. Inspecting the your marker limits your maximum - your marker can

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Menhir is free and will inform you which Resources or Secret never be moved past your marker.
cards you need to activate this Menhir. If you decide to do this,
simply flip the Location card and read the Menhir section at the 3) Advance your Character. If you have any Exp points, you
bottom. If you have the required resources and meet all other may now spend them to raise your Attributes, gain new Skills or

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criteria, you may activate this Menhir right away. add new Combat & Diplomacy cards to your deck (see: Character

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Important: please note all costs of Activating a Menhir scale up with Advancement.)
the total number of players in the game (and not only in the Party!).
4) Build your Character decks. If you want to, you can cus-
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Hint: Always keep in mind which Menhir you plan to activate next
and what are the Resources you need to do so! tomize your Combat and Diplomacy decks with any cards your

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Hint: If you don’t want to flip the Location card, you may also find all Character gained from the Advancement Pool during the game.
Menhir information in the Exploration Journal of this Location. You can also remove some cards that don’t fit your playstyle, but
Hint: Activating a Menhir requires the help of all players. Plan your remember that each deck must have at least 15 cards!

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logistics accordingly.
5) Experience Dreams. If the Location you’re in has a Dream
0 PASS – free. Your Character decides to finish their day icon, open its section of the Exploration Journal and read the
and rest. You may Pass even if you have unspent , but this
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Dream. If your marker is on one of the red slots (the “YOU
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decision is irreversible – once you've passed, you won’t be able
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ARE GOING INSANE” card is attached to your Character Tray),

to take any more Actions until the next day! read the Nightmare instead of the Dream.
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Hint: Dreams often provide helpful tips or reveal more of the

There may be further Actions listed on your Character Tray, lore and story.
your Items, Skills or even Secret cards!
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In short, During the Day, on your turn you may take
one Action from the Action Help card, your Character Tile,
or any other cards and boards currently available to your
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Character. Other Characters in your Location may join you.

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Then, players who haven't yet acted take one Action. Repeat
this sequence until everyone has passed or ran out of .
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BASIC RULES

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- MENHIR – this Location contains a Menhir you can activate.

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During the game, the Activate Menhir Action can only be per-
formed in Locations with this symbol!
Before you start your game, you should familiarize yourself with the key concepts of the Tainted Grail de-

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- DREAMS – if you end your day in this Location, prophetic
scribed in this section. Dreams (or horrible Nightmares) will come to you in your sleep.

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- UNFRIENDLY SETTLEMENT – this Location will trigger
Survival Tracks Resources an Encounter as soon as you enter it (usually a Diplomatic one).
These three tracks on your Character Tray are especially import- There are five spendable resources that Characters can gather Look for specific rules on the Location card.
ant, because nearly everything you do in the game affects them. and use throughout their travels. – FRIENDLY SETTLEMENT – Unfortunately, they are

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quite rare...
Food – at each End of the Day, your Character should eat one

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ENERGY – your basic stamina that renews each day.
Most in-game activities (see: During the Day) deplete your . unit of Food. Without Food, you won’t be able to regenerate 5. Location Action – an Action that can be performed in this Location.
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Wounds and afflictions limit your too: when limping along (see: End of the Day). 6. Direction Keys – numbers that indicate the neighboring Locations.

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half-dead, you won’t be able to do as much as you would when 7. Location Description – short description of the Location that
healthy and rested (see: ). Wealth – gold, gems and other riches that may help you buy will often give you hints on what to expect there.
The last two slots of the track are red. If the marker life-saving Items and equipment.
reaches one of them, you become Exhausted. This will nega- As you Travel (see: During the Day), you will reveal more and
Reputation (Rep) – your fame and glory; if you have many

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tively influence your performance and make you regenerate less more Location cards. To Travel between two adjacent Location

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Rep points, people of the island will often go out of their way to cards, both must be connected to each other with Direction Keys.
(see: End of the Day). Despite that, Exhausting yourself is
help you! If two Location cards are next to each other, but there are no
sometimes necessary to avoid something even worse!
Direction Keys on their adjacent edges, then this route is blocked
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Magic – supernatural power that might help you during En- (usually by natural features such as mountain ranges, coves or

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HEALTH – your physical condition. When your runs counters, and is often required to enable Menhirs.
out, you start dying. To represent this, you will be asked to attach steep cliffs). You must find another way!
the “You Are Dying” card to your Character Tray and enable the Experience (Exp) – spent on raising your Attributes and Whenever you arrive in a new Location, always follow the
sequence below:

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additional rules found on this card.
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buying new Combat and Diplomacy cards that greatly increase

You can never have more than ( marker should your chances of survival.
never go past the T-shaped marker). 1) Reveal further Location cards. Find cards that match the
Food and Wealth may be traded with Party members or any Direction Keys on the edges of your new Location. Attach them
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If you have more than (your marker is above the
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other Characters in the same Location who are not currently in- to the corresponding Keys IF the Location card you are trying
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marker), then you Panic in Combat and Diplomacy.

The shape of the marker will remind you about these two volved in an Action. Rep, Exp, and Magic can never be traded. to attach is no further than 1 card away (including diagonally)
from an Active Menhir.
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crucial thresholds!
6
Locations
1 2
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TERROR – mental trauma, stress, and insanity. If your

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marker reaches either of the two red slots at the top of the
track, you start to go insane. To represent this, you will be asked
to attach the “You Are Going Insane” card to your Character Tray 2
1
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and follow the additional rules found on this card.

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Additionally, if your is higher than your , you Panic 3
(this will negatively impact your performance in both Combat
and Diplomacy). 4
4 5
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Character Attributes
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The six basic attributes, divided into three opposing pairs, are 3
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what define your Character. They are used during various En- 6
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counters and may open up different story events or solutions

5
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when Exploring Locations. After you raise any Attribute to 2, ev-

ery subsequent point of this Attribute provides a special, useful
Skill card that attaches to the side of your Character Tray, next

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to the Attribute (see: Character Advancement).
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Aggression ———— Empathy 1 – Your Character Model

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These oversized cards are the segments of the map of Avalon, 2 – Your Travel
depicting all places you will visit during your journey. 3 – Active Menhir
Courage ———— Caution
1. Location name 4 & 5 – Attach these Location cards as you arrive in your new
2. Location number – refers to the corresponding section of the Location (their Location Numbers match the Direction Keys on
Practicality ———— Spirituality Exploration Journal. the edges of your Location card AND they are within the range of
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3. Legacy Location number – the number of the previous version an Active Menhir).
Hint: The Exp costs of raising the Attributes are determined sepa- of this Location (some actions, events or circumstances may replace a 6 – This Location card won’t be attached! Its Location Num-
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rately for each of the three opposing Attribute pairs. This means, for ex- specific Location with its modified version). ber matches the Direction Key BUT it wouldn’t be within the
ample, the more points you have in , the more expensive your 4. Location Seals – each Location card may have up to three range of an Active Menhir.
upgrades become! special Seals next to its name:

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2) Resolve any instant rules. If a rule on the card is marked If the last Menhir on the map goes out, do not remove the

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IMPORTANT: You should consider taking notes whenever
with a Lightning symbol ( ), you must resolve it now. last remaining Location cards. The Characters may continue to

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you get a new Task. While the game provides references con-
If a Guardian is present in the Location, resolve the Encounter before play in these Locations, but they lose 2 and gain 2 at each
triggering the Location’s instant rule. cerning Quests (in the form of their cards), remembering
Start of the Day– until they die or activate one of the Menhirs. each Task you have found might be difficult.

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Special movement
Events, Quests Tasks

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Some cards and effects ask you to move your Character to the “low- and
IMPORTANT: Whenever you want to push the Campaign

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est-numbered revealed Location”, “any connected Location”, and so The Event card you reveal at the start of the game sets you out on forward, follow your Quests. Tasks are also important, and
on. This special move does not count as Travel, costs no and is your first Quest. In Tainted Grail, Quests are the main branches may be profitable, but they will not lead you to the end of
performed instantly. It does however reveal further Location cards of the story – large, important missions that always lead to the your current Chapter.
and trigger any instant Actions and Guardian Encounters. end of the Chapter and let you progress through the Campaign.

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Quests are always contained on either Event or Secret cards
Quest Tokens

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Legacy Location numbers and are marked by their special layout (see illustration) and a
Many Quests and Tasks use Quest Tokens to track their progress.
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In Tainted Grail, many Locations are transformed by the player’s symbol in the corner of their card. Whenever you draw a card
It is important to note that any Dials with Quest Tokens on them
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Actions. Sometimes your exploits will switch an entire Location containing a Quest, you should read it and place it in the Active

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(called Quest Dials) are not reduced at the Start of the Day (see:
card for its new, altered version. When Location cards change, Quests pile, next to the Event deck.
Order of the Day). Only Time Dials are reduced automatically.
their number changes as well, since they receive a new section in Example: The very first Event you draw during the game contains
the Exploration Journal. However, the original Location number a Quest that reads “Gain the Menhir Rites Secret card”. Place this Event
can still be found on the card, and is called the Legacy Location next to the Event Deck, in the Quest pile. As soon as any Character has Parties and Party Actions

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gained the Menhir Rites Secret card, follow the rules listed in the “Suc-
number. Use it when connecting the Direction Keys! In Tainted Grail, players are free to group or split as they see

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cess” section of the Quest.
Example: You enter Location that has a “190” Direction Key on its fit! You may travel, fight and negotiate as a single Party, then go
Hint: if you’re not sure where to go or what to do, always start by
right edge. You look for Location 190, but it’s not available in the game your separate ways, only for some of you to join back together to
checking your Active Quests again.
anymore. You check the Legacy Location numbers and discover that Lo-
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tackle a dangerous situation.

cation 195 has a Legacy Key 190. You place Location 195 right next to the

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Whenever any Character takes any Action, other Characters
“190” Direction Key. Place this card on top of the Active Quest pile.
The time is short! The guardian menhir that has been
in the same Location may decide to join them. If the Character
1 protecting your town since the ancient days is about performing the Action agrees, all Characters form a Party and take
ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE

to go dark. Rumour has it that there’s a secret druidic

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this Action together – the detailed rules depend on the Action.
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ritual that may help you rekindle the menhirs. You must
explore the locations surrounding Cuanacht to find it!
All Characters in a Party are always referred to as Party Members.
QUEST
• Earn a “Menhir Rites” Secret card. To do so, you will have
In a Party: Party Members can trade Food, Wealth, Items
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and Secrets at any time, as long as the Party is not currently
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to Explore the Locations surrounding Cuanacht (101).

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Success: as soon as you have “Menhir Rites”, resolve the Chapter 1

Part 5 card from the Event Deck and discard this card. Remember involved in an Encounter. Additionally, if you’re in a Party with
not to change the structure of the rest of the deck.
another Character, you may spend your or Magic instead of
1 1
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Hint: if this is your first game, try to return to Cuanacht at the

2 end of this day and spend a night there to read the Dream, as another Party member! You may even cover the entire cost of the
To sum up: when you visit any Location during the game, Dreams o�ten contain hints.
Action for all the other Party members. There’s only one excep-
you will reveal additional, neighboring Locations, provided 5
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tion: when performing the Character Action found on the Char-

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they are: a) connected with a matching Direction Key, b) acter Tray, the Active Character must always spend at least 1 .
An example of a Story Event card with a Quest.
within the Menhir range. If the Location card with a num- Hint: Traveling as a Party is safer, but when you’re pressed for
1. Title
ber indicated by the Direction Key is no longer available in time, splitting might let you cover more ground, explore more and
2. Chapter and part – they allow you to set up the Event deck gain more rewards!
game, check the Legacy Location number instead!
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correctly.

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3. Story description – story introduction to the Event that tells
IMPORTANT: Joining an Action is possible only before it be-
Menhirs and Wyrdness you what is happening.
gins. Once the Action begins, Characters can no longer form or
4. Quest – explains what you have to accomplish in order to prog-
In the land of Avalon, whenever a Menhir goes dark, parts of the disband a Party, unless specific cards or rules say otherwise.
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ress the story further.

land soon sink into the primal force of the wyrdness – except for 5. Hint – a tidbit of information that might help you to complete
small, isolated pockets of reality left around disabled Menhirs the Quest. Leaving or disbanding a Party
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and other powerful relics. To represent this, at each Start of the
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Each Party Action needs to be taken and approved by all Party
Day, you will be asked to discard any Locations that are no longer IMPORTANT: Never remove any cards containing a Quest, un-
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members. Any Character that does not want to take a specific

in range of an Active Menhir. less you’re clearly instructed to do so! Action with the rest of the Party must leave the Party before the
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All Characters present on any removed Location card imme-

Action begins. You may not leave a Party in the middle of an Ac-
diately lose 2 , gain 2 and are moved to the nearest re- Apart from the main Quests, your Party will meet a multi- tion. You may leave a Party anytime it is not resolving an Action.
maining Location card (if there are several Locations the same tude of Tasks. Those are small side missions or clues that you

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The only exception is when a Character in a Party cannot pay

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distance away, choose the lowest-numbered one). This is not may choose to pursue. Following Tasks is often profitable and the Action cost required for each Party member. In such a case,
a Travel Action! may expand your knowledge of the world, but it is technically any Character who doesn’t pay is dropped out of the Party. The
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Activating Menhirs requires Characters to use the Action possible to finish the game without completing any. Tasks have remaining Characters proceed with the Action.
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found on the back of the Location card or in the Exploration no separate cards and no defined end conditions. They are es- Example: An entry in the Exploration Journal requires each Party
Journal of this location. Both the costs and the Menhir setup are sentially road signs that point you toward interesting places and member to pay 2 . Players A and B do so, while Player C cannot. Players
covered by this Action’s text. Please note that Activating Menhirs stories. Unlike Quests, they are not tied to the Chapter and may A and B do not agree to cover the cost for Player C. Player C is dropped out
is only possible in Locations that have the Menhir seal next be completed at any point – at least until your actions perma- of the Exploration immediately, while players A and B carry on together.
to their name. nently change the Location card they are contained in. Party Members may only leave during Combat and Diplomacy if
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Characters may also extend the remaining duration of Example: When visiting Titan’s Steps (Location 115) players discov- they Escape (see: Escaping Combat / Diplomacy) from the Encoun-
Menhirs that are still Active by simply Activating them again. er that the hermits and beggars who used to inhabit the nearby caves ter or are removed due to the effect of the “You Are Dying” card.
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Any remaining “power” left on the Menhir Dial is lost at the mo- are gone. The Exploration Journal for this Location contains a line: “New
Task: discover the fate of the hermits”. If players follow the clues, they
ment of new Activation. When you extend a Menhir, do not add
will eventually find a dark secret behind this disappearance in one of the
a new Menhir model in the Location! nearby Locations…
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Statuses and Save Sheet Guardians Flipping cards
Some Items ask you to flip their card in Combat or Diplomacy to

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As you Travel, complete Quests and solve Tasks, you will often be These dangerous enemies will keep roaming the area even after indicate they have been used. When instructed to flip the card,
asked to mark or check a certain Status (or a numbered part of you Escape (see: Escaping Combat). If you fail to defeat a Guard- simply turn it face-down. At the end of your Combat or Diploma-

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the Status) on the Save Sheet. ian Encounter, place its card on the Location where you have cy, remember to flip the card back!

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Statuses are story-triggers that represent your impact upon triggered it. At the start of each day, roll a Guardian die:
the world. They are not personal. If there’s a status marked on Secrets

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a Save Sheet, all Characters have it. Smaller, personal changes Secrets are story related, numbered objects and powers that
(like being sick or having a unique magic aura) are handled with 3
personal Secret cards. 2 should never be a part of the standard Item deck. They may nev-
er be lost or sold, unless the rules specifically ask you to. They
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are also not affected by any rules that limit the number of Items

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(such as the “You Are Dying” card).
If an effect asks you to discard Item cards, omit any Secrets,
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1. Cardinal direction – move the Guardian accordingly.
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2. Nothing – the Guardian does not move. even if they have an Item-specific keyword.

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Example: Disembodied Voracity eats two of your Items, and you
3. Discard – remove the Guardian from play, returning its card to
have only one regular Item and one Secret card (that’s also a Weapon). In
the bottom of its Encounter deck.
Exploration Journal that case, discard only the regular Item card.
Players are free to trade Secret cards between their Charac-
Most Exploration Actions will direct you to the Exploration Jour-  If the Guardian should move to an unrevealed or uncon-
ters whenever they are in the same Location and not involved in

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nal – a thick book full of stories and interactions necessary to nected Location, move it to the highest-numbered connected

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Location instead. an Action. The only exceptions are the cards with the “Personal”
progress through the game. Before using it for the first time, be keyword. They may never be transferred to another Character!
sure to read the “How to Use the Exploration Journal” chapter at  If the Guardian stays in the same Location and there are
any Characters present there, immediately start the Encounter
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the start of the Journal!

(all Characters present in this Location have to fight together).
Character Advancement

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 If the Guardian enters a Location with any Character, it im- Experience points (Exp) are the primary means of Character
Encounters mediately triggers the Encounter. Once the Guardian is defeated, Advancement. You can spend them at each End of the Day to
There are four types of Encounters found in the game: put its card on the bottom of its deck. raise your Attributes, gain additional Combat or Diplomacy

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 If a Character or a Party enters a Location with a Guardian, cards, or gain Skills.
immediately trigger the Encounter. If there’s more than one Guard- Advancing Combat or Diplomacy Decks
ian there, players may choose which Encounter to trigger first.
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Pay 2 Exp. Take three cards from the top of your Advancement
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 If a Character or a Party enters a Location with a Guard-
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Pool. Pick one of them and add it to your deck. Shuffle the two
ian and an instant Action (denoted by the lightning icon), trig- remaining cards back into your Advacement Pool.
ger the Guardian Encounter first and then resolve the rules on
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Your Combat and Diplomacy decks should always contain at

the Location card. least 15 cards each.
The Monsters of Avalon expansion contains one unique, dedicated
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You can swap cards you own in and out of your deck at each

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model for each Guardian Encounter. In very rare situations, there might
be more Encounters of a certain type on the board than available models. End of the Day. The cards that are not in your deck at the moment
In such case, use cards to represent any excess Encounters. DO NOT return to the Advancement Pool. Place them next to your
Character Tray or in the Save compartment of your Character.
Items and Equipment
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Advancing Attributes
The GREEN deck is mostly used in the wild and contains nat- Some of the Item cards available in Tainted Grail bear one of the The cost of raising Attributes depends on the total value of the
ural threats such as wild animals or legendary beasts. Many of following keywords: Attribute pair (for more on Attribute pairs, see Attributes).
these Encounters grant Food when defeated.  Weapon
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The GRAY deck contains dangers related to the world of men, 2 Exp: 1st point in a pair of opposing Attributes.
 Armor
such as brigands, rogue knights, or people driven to insanity. 4 Exp: 2nd point in a pair of opposing Attributes.
 Shield
Many of these Encounters grant Items when defeated. 6 Exp: 3rd point in a pair of opposing Attributes.
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 Companion
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The PURPLE deck contains mysterious and supernatural 8 Exp: 4th point in a pair of opposing Attributes.
 Relic
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threats. You will have to discover its significance yourself. 10 Exp: 5th and any further points in a pair of opposing Attributes.
You can have any number of Items, but you may never use
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The BLUE deck is a special, non-combat deck. It is used most- more than one Item or Secret with a single keyword at the Example: If your is 2 and your is 0, raising your to 1 is
ly when you visit an unfriendly Settlement and it contains dan- same time. At the Start of the Day, if you have several Items or going to cost 6 Exp (the total value of this Attribute pair would be 3).
gerous situations, as well as personal and diplomatic challenges. Secrets with a certain keyword, decide which one you use and If your is 2 and your is 2, raising your to 3 is going to cost

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Cards in each of these decks are divided into four difficulty turn the others face down. Do the same thing each time you get 10 Exp (the total value of this Attribute pair would be 5.)

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levels, making the game harder as it progresses. a new Item or Secret bearing the same keyword as another of Buying Skills
Drawing an Encounter immediately launches you and your your face up Items or Secrets. That way, you can only have one
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Whenever you earn a 3rd (or any subsequent) point in any single
Party into Combat or Diplomacy, depending on the Encounter Weapon, one Shield, one Armor, one Companion and one Relic
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Attribute, attach a Skill card bearing this Attribute to the appropri-

card (see: Combat and Diplomacy sections of this Rulebook). active at any given moment. ate edge of your Character Tray. Skill card are double-sided, con-
Colorblind players can use the quarter-circles in the corners of the Some Items also contain a “C” symbol – these are the Craft-
card backs to differentiate the decks: lower left - gray, lower right - green,
taining two mutually exclusive Skills. Whenever you gain a Skill,
able Items, the only ones that may be manufactured by player you must choose one side and forfeit the other. All 72 skills in the
upper right - purple, upper left - blue.
Characters. If a Crafting Action or an Encounter Reward asks game are unique, so be sure to discuss the Character advancements
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you to “draw a Craftable Item”, keep drawing cards from the with other players to maximize your team’s potential.
Item deck until you find the first Item with the “C” sign. Take it Remember that every Skill card has a point of its Attribute printed
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and shuffle the rest of the Item deck. The same applies for draw- on its face. This means, if you have two markers in the slots of your
ing a “Companion Item”, “Weapon Item” etc. Character Tray, and two Skill cards, your total is 4.
Characters may freely trade Items when they are in the same
Location and they’re not involved in an Action or Encounter.
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Death and Insanity Saving the Game Discarding & Removing

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We recommend that you save your game and store it only after Cards from the Game
At Death’s Door completing a Chapter, when the Journal or Event card gives you Most cards in Tainted Grail have no separate discard piles.

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If your falls to 0 at any point of the game, attach the “You such an option. Otherwise, you may forget various details of the Whenever you are asked to discard a Location, Random Event,

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Are Dying” card to your Character Tray, immediately Escape any Quest or interaction you were in the middle of, and “once-per- Encounter, Secret or an Item card, put this card back at the bot-
current Encounter, and resolve all additional rules found on the day” Actions might refresh more often than planned. However,

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tom of its deck.
“You are Dying” card. From now on, every Action might turn out in emergency situations, you may save the game at any moment. Combat and Diplomacy cards, discarded or destroyed during
to be your last! The “You Are Dying” status gives your Character To save the game, simply follow the instructions below: the Encounters, should be shuffled back into your Combat or
additional time to recover, but at some point you will finally give Diplomacy deck as soon as the Encounter ends.
up your ghost. I) Each player saves the state of their Character:

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However, the Event deck does have its own discard pile – it
1) Pick one Character Tray diagram on the Save Sheet. Sign

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helps you track time and ensures a proper use of the deck.
Death it with your Character’s name. Then, use a pencil to mark your
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In single-player mode, the game ends when your Character dies. Attributes, the numbers of your Resources, and the state of your
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Removing from the game
That’s why the single-player “You Are Dying” card is more le-

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Survival Tracks on the diagram. Sometimes, instead of discarding a card, you will be asked to
nient, giving you more chances to recover. 2) If you have any Skills, write their unique numbers next to remove it from the game. In such a case, put the card back in
In cooperative mode, your death does not end the game. In- the Attribute they attach to. the game box, outside of Save Compartments. It is no longer
stead, follow the steps below: 3) Write down any additional info you deem important, such a part of this Campaign and should not return to any deck,
 If there’s an unclaimed Character left in the box, you may as the state of the Quest Dials or Secret card Dials (if you have

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unless you’re specifically asked to bring it back.

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claim this Character, perform standard Character Setup, then any).
place their model in the lowest-numbered revealed Location.
 All Items that are left by the dead Character are placed on
4) Remove all markers from your Character Tray and store
them in the box.
General Game Tips
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the Location where the Character has died. They may be picked 5) Put all your Items and Secrets in one of the four Save com-  Explore around. Most valuable finds and many storylines

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up by any other players until the Location disappears. partments in the box. are only available through Exploration. Sometimes you will need
 All Secrets belonging to the dead Character are split be- 6) Stack all your Diplomacy cards with all your Combat cards. to explore the same place multiple times.
tween the other Characters – in any way the owner of the dead Put the “Advancement Pool” separator cards on top of your Com-  Try to always keep enough Food and resources for the next

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Character wishes, with one exception. Some rare Secrets with a bat and Diplomacy Advancement Pools and stack them together. couple of days.
“Personal” keyword (see: Secrets) disappear forever when their Put both stacks in your Save compartment.  Inspect all Menhirs on revealed Locations, and prepare
owner is killed! a plan to activate your next Menhir early. Any Encounter gone
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II) The Chronicler or all players save the state of the world: awry or a bad decision may set you back a day or two!
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If all other Characters are either in use or dead when a Charac- 1) Use your Save Sheet to note the current Location of all  Resolving Encounters or exploring dangerous Locations to-
ter dies, the game ends in failure, even for Characters who are Character models, Guardian models, Menhir models, and special gether can really boost your odds. On the other hand, the more
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still alive. This gives players an additional incentive to save each Dials, as well as the current value of each Dial. of you there are, the quicker you need to move! Parting ways
other at all costs! 2) Remove all models, Dials and tokens, and place them in may sometimes be necessary to cover more ground.
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If your game ends in failure, you can use the Allmother’s Mer- the box.  Remember that Characters in the same Location can assist

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cy described below to salvage it. 3) Stack all revealed Locations into a pile and place the “Re- each other, helping them pay any cost.
vealed Locations” separator card on top of them. Then, add the
Insanity unrevealed Locations to the pile, facing the other way. Place all
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If your reaches the two top red-colored slots of the track,

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Location cards in the oversized cards compartment of the box.
attach the “You Are Going Insane” card to your Character Tray IMPORTANT: make sure that any Locations you’ve re-
and follow its instructions. This will open the way for destructive moved from the game are stored separately, in the other,
Nightmares and makes Exploration or Travel harder and riskier. smaller compartment!
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4) Store all four of your current Encounter decks in the box,

Allmother’s Mercy behind the “Saved Encounters” separator card.
5) Store your Event deck and any Active Quests in the box,
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If you and your Party perish and do not wish to start again, you
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may decide that the intervention of the Allmother herself saved behind the “Saved Events” separator card.
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you. In that case, mark status ‘Saved by the Goddess’ on your 6) Place any remaining cards (unused Secrets, Items, En-
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Save Sheet and go to Verse 500 in the Book of Secrets. This will counters or Events) in the box.
restart you at the beginning of the Chapter with some pre-de- To restore a saved game, reverse this process.
fined resources, but will let you continue your game.

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Adding or Removing Players

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Every time you set up a new game session, you may add or remove
IMPORTANT: Relying on higher powers to keep you alive players and Characters at will (within the 1-4 Characters limit).
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is not an intended way to play! If you keep requesting the Make sure you distribute any Secret cards in possession of
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Allmother’s Mercy, consider restarting the game using the any removed Characters to Characters who remain in the game.
Story Mode (see: Alternative Modes & Appendix). Secrets should never be removed from the Campaign in progress
unless you are specifically asked to do this.
Place any fresh Characters in the same Location as one of
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the veteran Characters. They are the reinforcements you receive

from Cuanacht and begin the game with their standard starting
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Resources and decks.

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COMBAT
Starting Combat

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Combat in Tainted Grail starts whenever the game asks you to
draw or pick a card from any of the following Encounter decks:

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Refer to this section of the Rulebook whenever you enter a Combat Encounter. If you’ve never played Tainted Grail gray, green, purple, and the card you draw has at least one open

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Combat before, you should start with one of the Encounter cards marked as “Your First Encounter”. You can also Key on its right edge.
learn Combat by watching the instructional video at: www.taintedgrail.com/learn After drawing an Encounter card, set it in the play area,

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ensuring you have plenty of space to the right - you will build
your Sequence there.
Basic Combat Overview If the enemy has any Trait, check it now, as some Traits can
take effect during this step (see: Encounter Traits).

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Combat in Tainted Grail is a turn-based confrontation between In a Party: if an Active Character decides to Escape from Com-

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a Character (or a Party of Characters) and an enemy, represent- bat, the Character triggers the Opportunity attack and leaves the Then, all Party members make sure they’re not using more
ed by the Encounter card. Together, Characters build a long line Combat, as described above. The rest of the Party remains in the than one Item with each of the following keywords: Weapon,
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Shield, Armor, Companion, Relic (see: Items and Secrets). Party
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(Sequence) of cards, with the aim of gaining enough markers in Encounter and proceed to step 4 – Check Readiness. When all play-

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the Combat Pool to defeat the Encounter. These markers repre- ers Escape, place the Encounter card on the bottom of its deck. members may also decide not to use some of their Items in this
sent the total progress Characters make against their opponent, Encounter. Set these unused Items aside for the duration of this
such as their tactical advantage, wounds they cause, and the op- Run Away Combat. No Items may be added once you enter Combat!
ponent’s exhaustion. Characters are not the only ones who may flee from Combat. After confirming their equipment, each Party Member draws
a number of cards from their Combat deck:

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Some Creatures have a special “Run Away” attack – when it trig-

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The detailed rules of Combat are described further down, but in gers, immediately end the Encounter and put the Encounter card  3 cards if there are 1-3 Characters in Combat.
general, most Combat Encounters play out like this: at the bottom of its deck. Characters receive no Loot or Reward.  2 cards if there are 4 Characters in Combat.
For the purpose of any rules, forcing the enemy to Run Away
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 All Party members draw their initial hands of cards (see

Starting Combat). doesn’t count as winning the Encounter. If you don’t like your starting hand, you can discard it and

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 Party members pick a Character who becomes Active and draw a new hand with one fewer card. You may repeat this
until you only have one card left in your hand.
goes first (Combat Turn, phase I). 1 4
 The Active Character may play one Combat card, adding it

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to the end of the Sequence (Combat Turn, phase II, step 2). When all Party members have their starting cards, go to phase I
2 3 of the Combat Turn, described on the next page.
 The Active Character may play as many additional Combat
cards as allowed by the rules (Combat Turn, phase II, step 2).
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 The enemy makes an attack against the Active Character
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(Combat Turn, phase II, step 3).

5
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 If there are Characters who were not Active this Turn, one
of them becomes Active (Combat Turn, phase II, step 4). If not, 10 1
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the Turn ends and a new Turn begins. 6

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Hint: you need to be careful when approaching various Encounters
during your travels. Some of them might be particularly difficult for your 2
Character. If that’s the case, you may always Escape from an Encounter 7
(see: Escaping Combat).
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8

9 3
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Encounter Card 5
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This card represents the enemy the Characters will face during
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the whole Combat Encounter. It consists of several parts:

1 – Encounter Difficulty. Each Encounter falls into one of four 4
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difficulty categories.
2 – Guardian icon. See Guardian in the Combat Encounter Traits. 6
Combat Card

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Combat Sequence Example 3 – Encounter Value. The resilience of this Encounter – to win, the

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number of markers in your Combat Pool needs to reach this number. This is an example of a Combat card.
A Sequence consists of Combat cards played during a Combat
4 – Card Name. 1 – Attribute Keys. Each of them is open and may connect to one
Encounter by all Party members. Every Character plays their
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5 – Flavor text. Bonus Key on the next card in the Sequence. Icons in the Attribute Keys
Combat cards, adding them to one, shared Combat Sequence. correspond to Attributes on the Character Tray. If you do not have the
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Cards always form a single straight line. The bottom Keys always 6 – Enemy Traits. Special modifiers that remain active throughout
required level in a given Attribute, the Attribute Key won’t connect!
join together, and no Keys are ever obscured. this Encounter (see: Enemy Traits).
2 – Bonus Keys. Each of these Keys may connect to one Attribute
7 – Combat Table. Determines which Attack the enemy will per-
Key on the previous card in the Sequence.
Escaping Combat form according to the number of markers in the Combat Pool.
3 – Magic Key. This Key connects if you join its left part with its
8 – Opportunity. Describes what happens should the enemy use
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A player may Escape at any time during their Activation – they right part AND spend 1 point of Magic.
lose 1 and trigger the Opportunity attack listed on the En- their Opportunity attack.
4 – Free Key. This Key always connects for free and grants you a
NN 9 – Reward & Loot. What you get for defeating this enemy. Rewards
counter card. Then, they place the Encounter card on the bottom bonus, specified in the second part of the Key. Each Bonus is explained
of its deck, reshuffle their Combat deck and set it aside. apply to each player, and Loot needs to be shared between Party Members.
in detail in the “Combat Bonuses” frame. If the second part of this Key is
10 – Attribute Keys. Connecting these Keys grants various bonus-
empty, you don’t receive anything.
es if you have the required level of an Attribute.

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5 – Ability. The text part of the card containing special rules, with a) Play one Combat card. When playing the very first Com-

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various timings. Only Abilities that are visible (and are not covered by
Combat Turn bat card during your Activation, you don’t need to fulfill any

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other cards in the Sequence) are considered active. Passive cards (see be- special requirements! This card doesn’t have to connect any
low) are never covered, so their Abilities remain in play throughout the Keys. It just needs to line properly with the previous card in the
A Combat usually consists of several Combat Turns, with each

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Encounter.
Turn going through the following phases: Sequence (see: Combat Sequence Example), which will cause its
6 – Card Number. To make sorting through cards and building

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bottom Key to join with the bottom Key of the previous card.
decks easier, each Combat and Diplomacy card has a unique number. The
I. Pick Active Character After you play the card:

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letter next to the number identifies the card’s deck and color (U - blue, the
G - green, B - brown, Y - gray).  Check if any Attribute Keys connect to Bonus Keys. Apply
these Bonuses. Remember that in order for them to connect, you
Passive Combat Cards The Party members decide who will be the next Active Charac- need to have this specific Attribute level.
Unlike regular Combat cards, Passive ter. They can select any Characters who have not been Activated  If both parts of a Magic Key join, you may connect this Key

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cRippling stRike

this Combat Turn (they have no Time Token on their Character by paying 1 Magic and gain its bonus.

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Combat cards have their Ability always
visible when in Sequence. To facilitate Tray). If the Party members can’t reach an unanimous decision,  Connect the bottom, Free Key and gain its bonus.
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that, their Keys are on the opposite edg- the Character with the lowest Character Number becomes Active.  Check the Ability, and if it triggers now, resolve it (see Abil-
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Place a Time Token on the Tray of the Character that became

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es of the card. ity Triggers).
Charges: Some cards instruct you to Active. It will remind you this Character cannot be Activated b) Play additional Combat cards. Each Turn, every Combat
Gain 2 Charges. gain Charges – use universal markers again until the next Turn. card you play after your first one MUST connect with a Key.
Pay 1 Charge:
and place them on the card. You can use Keep in mind that any gameplay effects ( , gain, Ability penalties) If you have no cards that have this Bonus Key, or you can find no
lose less, draw 1 card.
that happen during the Character Activation apply only to the Active Character! way to connect it, you may not play any additional cards! Resolve
“Pay x Charges” Abilities any time you

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1x

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14/25 U
want (unless their text restricts them to any cards you play just like above.
one of the phases). II. Character Activation
In a Party: only the Active Character can use Charges from
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Please note: the icon must appear on the card you want
cards, but the owner of the card must agree. 1. Delayed Abilities to play (not the one before), and become connected.

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Remove one Time Token from each Combat card in the Sequence
that has any. If you’ve removed the last Time Token from a card, c) Check for Opportunity attack. If you haven’t played a sin-
immediately resolve its Ability with the Time Token trigger (see: gle card this Activation, the enemy immediately makes an Oppor-

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“Combat Card Triggers”). These abilities trigger only once! tunity attack (see: Opportunity). Afterwards, draw a card.
d) Perform the Victory Check. See the Victory Check
Combat Card Triggers & Icons
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frame for details.
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Most Combat cards have an Ability. Abilities usually start with a

Trigger icon that clearly indicates when you should resolve them.
Victory Check
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Count the number of markers in the Combat Pool. If it’s higher

On Placement – resolve this Ability after placing the than or equal to the target Value printed on the Encounter card,
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card in the Sequence. you win! Receive any Rewards, share any Loot, and place the

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Encounter card on the bottom of its deck; reshuffle your Combat
Delayed – put a Time Token on this card as you play it. deck, including any played and discarded cards, and set it aside.
The Ability is triggered after removing the very last Time Token Otherwise, go to the next step.
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from the card. The Ability does not trigger on subsequent Turns,
and the Time Token does not return! 3. Enemy Attack
If you put another card on a card with a Time Token, and you  Find the Attack on the Encounter card that matches the
cover the Ability, the Time Token is lost and the Ability won’t trigger. number of markers in the Combat Pool. Apply the result of this
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Attack to the Active Character.

 If the enemy’s Attack removes any markers from the Com-
On Enemy Attack – this Ability remains active through-
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bat Pool, and the Combat Pool doesn’t have enough markers to
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out the entire step 3 of your Activation,, usually modifying the
cover the loss, see the Negative Combat Pool section.
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enemy’s Attack.
 After modifying the Combat Pool, perform the Victory
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Check (see the Victory Check frame).

Damage – this icon means your Character has to lower
their by the indicated amount. 4. Check Readiness

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 Check if all of the Party Members have been Activated

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Connected Attribute Key – this icon means the during this Turn (and have Time Tokens on their Character
number of connected Attribute Keys of this specific type in the Trays). If there are no Characters left to Activate, go to the End
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entire Sequence. Turn phase (III).

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 If there are still Characters who haven’t been Activated, go

2. Playing Cards back to “Pick the Active Character” phase (I).
This is where you execute your plan, playing cards from your
hand and adding them to the Sequence. If you fail to play even
III. End Turn
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a single card, the enemy will benefit from your inaction (see:
Opportunity). You may also be forced to play a card if you’re  Discard. Discard down to 3 cards in your hand.
NN  Draw. All Party members draw 1 card from their decks. Do
affected by Panic (see: Panic).
To complete this step, follow the list below: not draw if your Character Panics (see: Panic). If there are no
cards to draw, see: No Cards in Deck.

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 Clear Activations. Remove all Time Tokens from the Charac-

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Opportunity
ter Trays. This does not affect any Time Tokens left on Combat cards!

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If you play no cards in step 2 of your Activation (Playing Cards),
 Start new Turn. Go back to the start of phase I (Pick the your enemy immediately performs the Opportunity attack listed
Active Character)! on their card, and you draw 1 extra card. Then, proceed to step 3.

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Connected Keys No cards in deck

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For any Key to be connected, both halves of the Key need to Whenever your Character has to draw any Combat cards and
physically join. Additionally: their Combat deck does not have the required number of cards,
you are forced to Escape. Apply the standard Escape rules.
- Your Character must have the appropriate Attribute level.

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You Are Dying!

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Whenever your Character’s drops to 0, your Character gets a
- You must spend 1 point of Magic if you want to con-
“You Are Dying” card. Among other rules, the card immediately
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nect it. Place this point on the Magic Key to indicate it is active.
removes your Character from the current Encounter – see its
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If you have to discard a card with a Connected Magic Key, you

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text for more details.
discard the Magic point used to Connect this Key.

- Always connects! Free Keys often contain multipliers, Discarding from an empty hand
making them even more potent! Whenever you have to discard a card from your hand, but you don’t
have any cards, discard a card from the top of your Combat deck.

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Combat Bonuses Negative Combat Pool
The Combat Pool can never become negative. Whenever an en-
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– Place that many markers in the Combat Pool. emy Attack or another effect asks you to remove a marker from

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the Combat Pool, but there are not enough markers, the player
– Draw a card. controlling the Active Character discards a card from their hand
for every excess point instead. If there are no cards to discard,

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see: “Discarding from an empty hand” above.

– This Bonus Key allows you to play additional Combat
Example: a player has 2 markers in their Combat Pool and one card
cards during step 2 of your Activation (see: Playing Cards). Ignore in their hand. The Attack causes them to lose 4 markers. They discard two
this Key when playing your first Combat card in the Activation.
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markers from the Combat Pool, one card from their hand and one card
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This Bonus does not multiply – if it’s next to the multiplier, from the top of their deck.
ignore the multiplier.
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Combat Encounter Traits

– Discard the last card of your Sequence. Ambush – the first Character Activated in this Combat dis-
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cards down to 1 card in hand immediately after being Activated.

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2x – Multiplies the next icon. Rush – the first Character Activated in this Combat receives
For example, 2x + means you receive 2 markers. 2 immediately after being Activated.
Defensive – each first Combat card played during step 2 of
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– Voids the next icon. your Activation (Play Cards) adds 1 less marker to the Combat Pool.

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For example, + means you don’t draw. Fast – each Character can play a maximum of 2 Combat
cards per Activation.
Feint – any inflicted during step 3 (Enemy Attack) can’t
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be prevented in any way.

Other Guardian – if not defeated, this Encounter will roam the

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map (see the Guardians section of the Basic Rules).

Combat Rules
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Horde – during each Enemy Attack step, the Active Charac-
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ter discards 2 Combat cards from the top of their Combat deck.
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Opportunist – if a Character doesn’t play at least 2 Combat

Panic cards in step 2, trigger the Opportunity attack.
Panic takes place anytime your is higher than your current
Rage – during this encounter, resolve step 3 (Enemy At-

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( marker is higher than the wings of the T-shaped limiter).

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tack) twice.
When that happens:
Robber – when all Party members drop to 1 or less during
 Instead of playing the first card of this Turn from your
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this Encounter, they lose all their Wealth and discard all their Items.
hand in step 2 of your Activation (Playing Cards), play a card
AKK

Then, end the Encounter and place it on the bottom of its deck.
from the top of your Combat deck. Then, you may play any addi-
tional cards from your hand, according to the standard rules. Shatter – at the end of the Encounter, all Party members
 Do not draw a new card at the End of Turn. Any bonus or discard any Items (not Secrets) bearing the Weapon keyword
extra cards gained from Bonus Keys, Skills or Abilities are still they were using during the Encounter.
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drawn as normal. Slow – at the start of Combat, each Party member draws
an additional Combat card. During the End of Turn phase, each
NN
Party member draws an additional Combat card.

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Combat Example

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Beor draws a gray Encounter – it’s a Vagabond. This enemy has
the Fast Trait – it means the player can only play up to two Com-

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bat cards per turn.

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EEN
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The player looks at the Attack table of the Encounter card. The

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current value of the Combat Pool is 2. This means the enemy Then, the player plays an Enrage card, paying 1 Magic to connect
deals 2 and removes 1 marker from the Combat Pool. Howev- the Magic Key – this Bonus was required for them to play the
er, the Defend card modifies the Attack, reducing by 2. In the additional card. No other Keys connect. Due to the card’s Ability
end, the Vagabond’s Attack only removes 1 Combat Pool marker. that triggers on placement ( ), the player loses 1 and adds

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1 marker to the Combat Pool for each connected key. There

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Turn 1 The player draws 1 card. are 2 connected keys of this type in the entire Sequence, so the
The player controlling Beor draws 3 cards from their Combat player places 2 more markers in the Combat Pool. There are now
deck and plays an Attack card. Turn 2
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6 markers in the Combat Pool – it exceeds the Value of the En-

Beor has 2 points of , so the Key connects to a Bonus The player removes a from the Defend card and draws 1 card. counter. Beor wins!

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that adds 1 marker to the Combat Pool. The Free Key also connects Then, the player plays a Throw card. It’s the first card this The player gains the Loot and Reward listed on the Encoun-
– the player places another 1 marker in the Combat Pool. Turn, so the player doesn’t need the bonus. ter card and puts the card on the bottom of the gray Encounter
deck. All Combat cards used or discarded during Combat are re-

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turned to the Combat deck. Then, the player shuffles the deck
and places it back on the left of Beor’s Character Tray.
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Then, remembering they can play only two cards (due to the Fast The Key and Free Key connect (the player wants to save
Trait of the Vagabond), the player plays a Defend card and con- Magic, so they don’t connect the Magic Key). The card adds
nects its Magic Key by paying 1 Magic. Connecting the Magic Key a total of 3 markers to the Combat Pool – 1 from the Key and
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activates the Bonus ( ) required to play any additional cards. 2 from the Free Key (it has a x2 multiplier). The Ability of
There’s also a symbol on the card, so the player places the card allows the player to throw Beor’s weapon or shield,
but Beor doesn’t have one.
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a Time Token there. Now, it’s time for the enemy Attack.
EN
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7 – Stages. Each stage requires you to “win” the Affinity track tug-

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DIPLOMACY
of-war, following different rules.

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8 – Diplomacy Table. Use it to determine which Response the
opponent performs during the Response step.

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Refer to this section of the Rulebook whenever you enter a Diplomatic Encounter. If you’ve never played Tainted 9 – Failure. The cost of losing the Encounter. Applies to each
Party member.

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Grail Diplomacy before, you should start with one of the Encounter cards marked as “Your First Encounter”. You 10 – Reward. The reward for winning the Encounter. Each Party
can also learn Diplomacy by watching our instructional video at: www.taintedgrail.com/learn

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member gains the reward listed here (you don’t need to share it).
In Tainted Grail, not all Encounters end in Combat. There is also a separate, blue Encounter deck for diplomatic challenges and so-
cial confrontations your Character might need to navigate. They play similarly to Combat, so if you’re already familiar with it, learning Starting Diplomacy
Diplomacy should be easy.
Diplomacy in Tainted Grail starts whenever the game asks you

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to draw or pick a card from the blue Encounter deck, and the

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Basic Diplomacy Overview card you draw has at least one open Key on its right edge.
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Escaping or Avoiding Diplomacy After drawing an Encounter card, set it on the board, ensur-
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Diplomacy in Tainted Grail is a turn-based confrontation A Party may always Escape a Diplomatic Encounter – simply ing you have plenty of space to the right - you will build your

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between a Character (or a Party of Characters) and an oppo- apply the penalty listed in the “Failure” section of the card to Sequence there.
nent, represented by the Encounter card. Together, Characters each Party member. Then, all Party members make sure whether they’re not us-
build a long line (Sequence) of cards, with the aim of pushing a If the card has an “Avoid” section at the bottom, you may ing more than one Item with each of the following keywords:
marker on the Encounter card’s Affinity track to the top. In the decide to bypass the Encounter. In that case, you need to pay all Weapon, Shield, Armor, Companion, Relic (see: Items and Se-

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meantime, the opponent will push the marker in the opposite costs and meet all requirements stated in the “Avoid” section. crets). Party members may also decide not to use some of their

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direction while performing various Responses. Then, put this Encounter card at the bottom of the Blue Encoun- Items in this Encounter. Set these unused Items aside for the
The detailed rules of Diplomacy are described further down, ter deck and continue the game. duration of this Encounter. No Items may be added once you
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but in general, most Diplomatic Encounters play out like this: You can only Avoid an Encounter before you start it! Once enter Diplomacy!
 All Party members draw their initial hands of cards (see Diplomacy begins, you are no longer allowed to Avoid.

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After confirming their equipment, each Party Member draws
Starting Diplomacy). In a Party: When Avoiding, always check the highest Rep or a number of cards from their Diplomacy Deck:
 The Party members pick a Character who becomes Active Attribute levels (do not sum them up). The cost of Avoiding or  3 cards if there are 1-3 Characters in the Encounter.
and goes first (Diplomacy Turn, step I).

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Failure applies to each Party member separately. If Party mem-
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 2 cards if there are 4 Characters in the Encounter.

 The Active Character may play one Diplomacy card, adding bers can’t reach a unanimous decision about Avoiding or Failing
it to the end of the Sequence (Diplomacy Turn, step II). the Encounter, they must resolve it. If you don’t like your starting hand, you can discard it
 The Active Character may play as many additional Diplo-
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4 and draw a new hand with one less card. You may repeat this
macy cards as the rules allow (Diplomacy Turn, step II).
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until you only have one card left in your hand.

 The opponent Responds to the Active Character (Diploma-
When all the Party members have their starting cards, Diploma-
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cy Turn, step III).

 If there are Characters who were not Active this Turn, one of 1 2 cy begins - place a marker in the gray slot of the Affinity track and
go to phase I of the Diplomacy Turn, described on the next page.
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them becomes Active. If not, the Turn ends and a new Turn begins.

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Some Diplomatic Encounters allow for two alternative ap- 3 6
proaches or have several numbered Stages, each of them requir-
ing you to “win” the Affinity track mini-game a second (or even
1
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third) time in a row, under different conditions.
Example: when surrounded by an enraged crowd that accuses you of 8
murder, you might first be asked to calm them down using your , and 2
then prove your innocence with your .
10
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Hint: Apart from Escaping them, some Diplomatic Encounters give 7

you an option to Avoid them altogether, provided you have enough Rep
9
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or Resources (see: Escaping or Avoiding Diplomacy).
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5 3
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Encounter Card 5

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This card represents a typical Diplomatic Encounter. It consists

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of several parts:
1 – Card Name.
4
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2 – Flavor text.
6
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3 – Affinity Track. Many effects can push a marker on this track

up or down. Some Abilities also check whether the marker is currently on Diplomacy Card
green or on red.
This is an example of a Diplomacy card which you will use to
4 – Encounter Difficulty. Each Diplomatic Encounter belongs to
one of the four difficulty categories, from the easiest to the hardest. defeat your opponent during a Diplomatic Encounter.
1 – Attribute Keys. Each of them is open and may connect to one
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Diplomacy Sequence Example 5 – Avoid. The cost and requirements of Avoiding the Encounter
A Sequence consists of Diplomacy cards played during a Diplomatic En- (see: Escaping or Avoiding Diplomacy). Bonus Key on the next card in the Sequence. Icons in the Attribute Keys
NN counter by all Party members. Every Character plays their cards, adding correspond to Attributes on the Character Tray. If you do not have the
6 – Attribute Keys. Connecting these Keys grants various bonuses,
them to one, shared Sequence. Cards always form a straight line. The if you have the required level in a given Attribute. required level in a given Attribute, the Attribute Key won’t connect!
columns of Keys always align, so that no Key is obscured. 2 – Bonus Keys. Each of these Keys may connect to one Attribute
Key on the previous card in the Sequence.

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3 – Magic Key. This Key connects if you join its left part with its

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right part AND spend 1 point of Magic.
Diplomacy Turn

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4 – Free Key. This Key always connects for free and grants you a Please note: the icon must appear on the card you want
bonus, specified in the second part of the Key. Each Bonus is explained in to play (not the one before), to become connected.
A Diplomatic Encounter usually consists of several Turns, with

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detail in the “Diplomacy Bonuses” frame. If the second part of this Key is
empty, you don’t receive anything. each Turn going through the following phases:

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5 – Ability. The text part of the card containing special rules, with c) Perform the Affinity Check. See the Affinity Check frame
for details. Then, go to step 3.

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various timings. Only Abilities that are visible (and not covered by other
cards in the Sequence) are considered active. Passive cards (see below) I. Pick the Active
are never covered, so their Abilities remain in play throughout the En- Character
counter.
The Party members decide who will be the next Active Charac-
Affinity Check
6 – Card Number. To make sorting through cards and building Check the position of the marker on the Affinity track.

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ter. They can select from any Character who has not been Ac-
decks easier, each Combat and Diplomacy card has a unique number. The

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tivated this Turn (they have no Time Token on their Character  If it’s on the lowest slot, you lose the Encounter – apply
letter next to the number identifies the card’s deck and color (U - blue, the Failure rules to each Party member, and put the Encounter
Tray). If players can’t reach a unanimous decision, the Character
EEN
G - green, B - brown, Y - gray). on the bottom of its deck. Then, reshuffle your Diplomacy deck.
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with the lowest Character Number who was not Activated yet

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this Turn becomes Active.  If it’s on the highest slot, you win the current Stage of the
Passive Diplomacy Cards Encounter. If this was the last Stage, you win the entire Encoun-
Unlike regular Diplomacy Cards, passive Place a Time Token on the Tray of the Character who became
ter – receive Rewards, place the Encounter card on the bottom
gathEr cluES

Diplomacy cards always have their Abili- Active. It will remind you this Character cannot be Activated
again until the next Turn. of its deck, then reshuffle your Diplomacy deck. If this wasn’t the
ty visible when in Sequence. To facilitate last Stage, begin the next Stage – move the marker to the gray

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that, their Keys are on the opposite edges Keep in mind that any gameplay effects ( , gain, Ability penalties)

MM
that happen during the Character Activation apply only to the Active Character! slot on the Affinity track, place a marker on the completed Stage,
of the card. and go to the Check Readiness step.
Charges: Some cards instruct you
II. Character Activation
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Gain 1 Charge.
to gain Charges – use universal markers
3. Opponent’s Response
Remove all Charges:

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for each removed Charge.
and place them on the card. You can use
5/25 G
1x “Pay x Charges” Abilities any time you 1. Delayed Abilities On the Encounter card, find the Response for the current Stage
want (unless their text restricts them to Remove one Time Token from each Diplomacy card in the Se- of this Encounter. Apply this response to the Active Character.

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Then, perform the Affinity Check (see: “Affinity Check” frame).
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one of the phases). quence that has any. If you’ve removed the last Time Token from
In a Party: Only the Active Character can use Charges from a card, immediately resolve its Ability with the Time Token trig- Go to step 4.
cards, but the owner of the card must agree. ger (see: “Diplomacy Card Triggers” frame). These abilities trig-
4. Check Readiness
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ger only once!
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Go to step 2.  Check if all of the Party Members have been Activated

during this Turn (and have a Time Token on their Character
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2. Playing Cards Trays). If there are no Characters left to Activate, go to the End
This is where you execute your plan, playing cards from your Turn phase (III).
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hand and adding them to the Sequence. You may also be forced  If there are still Characters who haven’t been Activated, go

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to play a card if you’re affected by Panic (see: Panic). back to “Pick the Active Character” phase (I).
To complete this step, follow the list below:
a) Play one Diplomacy card. When playing the very first card III. End Turn
during your Activation, you don’t need to fulfill any special re-
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 Discard. Each party member discards down to 3 cards
quirements! This card doesn’t have to connect to any Bonuses or in their hand.
Keys. It just needs to line properly with the previous card in the  Draw. All Party members draw 1 card from their decks. Do
Sequence, which will cause its bottom Key to join with the bottom not draw if your Character Panics.
AA

Key of the previous card. After you play the card:  Start new Turn. Go back to the start of phase I (Pick the
 Check if any Attribute Keys connect to Bonus Keys. Apply Active Character)!
these Bonuses. Remember that in order for them to connect, you
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need to have the Attribute level specified by the Key.
Connected Keys
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 If both parts of a Magic Key join, you may connect this Key
by paying 1 Magic and gain its Bonus. For any Key to be connected, both halves of the Key need to
W

 Connect the bottom, Free Key and gain its Bonus. join. Additionally:
 Check the Ability. If it triggers now (see Ability Trig- Your Character must have the appropriate Attribute level.

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gers), resolve it.

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b) Play additional Diplomacy cards. Each Turn, every Di-
plomacy card you play after your first one MUST connect with You must spend 1 point of Magic if you want to connect
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a Key. If you have no cards that have this Bonus Key, or you it. Place this point on the Magic Key to indicate it is active. If you
AKK

can find no way to connect it, you may not play any additional have to discard a card with a Connected Magic Key, you discard
cards! Resolve any cards you play just like above. the Magic point used to Connect this Key.
Always connects! Free Keys often connect with multi-
pliers, making them even more potent!
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Diplomacy Card Triggers & Icons
Other

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Most Diplomacy cards have an ability. Abilities usually start with
a Trigger icon that clearly indicates when you should resolve them.
Diplomacy rules

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On Placement – resolve this Ability after placing the
Panic

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card in the Sequence.
Panic takes place anytime your is higher than your current
( marker is higher than the wings of the T-shaped limiter).
Delayed – put a Time Token on this card as you play it. When that happens:
The Ability is triggered after removing the very last Time Token  Instead of playing the first card of this Turn from your

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from the card. The Ability does not trigger on subsequent Turns,

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hand in step 2 (Playing Cards), play a card from the top of your
and the Time Token does not return! Diplomacy deck. Then, you may play any additional cards from
EEN
If you put another card on a card with a Time Token, and you your hand, according to the standard rules.
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cover the Ability, the Time Token is lost and the Ability won’t trigger.

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 Do not draw a new card at the End of Turn. Any bonus or
extra cards gained from Bonus Keys, Skills or Abilities are still
On Opponent’s Response – this Ability remains ac- drawn as normal.
tive throughout the entire step 3, usually modifying the oppo-
No Cards in Deck

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nent’s Response.

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Whenever your Character has to draw any Diplomacy cards and their
Diplomacy deck does not have the required number of cards, you Fail
Damage – this icon means your Character has to lower the Encounter. Apply the Fail rules from the Encounter card.
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their by the indicated amount.

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You Are Dying!
Connected Attribute Key – this icon means the Whenever your drops to 0, your Character gets a “You Are
number of connected Attribute Keys of this specific type in the Dying” card. Among other rules, the card immediately ends the

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entire Sequence. current Encounter – see its text for more details.

Discarding From an Empty Hand

Diplomacy Bonuses
N
N
Whenever you have to discard a card from your hand, but you
W

don’t have any cards, discard a card from the top of your Diplo-
/ – Move the marker up or down the Affinity track.
macy deck instead.
W

– This Bonus is determined by the Encounter card and the

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Attribute it attaches to. Go to the description of the current Stage

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on the Encounter card and see if it contains a rule corresponding
to the Attribute this Bonus is connected with.
Example: In a stage called Reveal a Forgery, Keys might move
the track up.
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– Draw a card.
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– This Bonus Key allows you to play additional Diploma-

cy cards during step 2 of your Activation (see: Playing Cards).
N
Ignore this Key when playing your first Diplomacy card in the
EN
Activation.
W

This Bonus does not multiply – if it’s next to the multiplier,

W

ignore the multiplier.

– Discard the last card of your Sequence.

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2x – Multiplies the next icon.
AA

For example, 2x + means you move the marker on the Affinity

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track twice.

– Voids the next icon.

For example, + means you don’t move the marker on the
Affinity track.
A

NN
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Diplomacy Example

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Arev draws a Weeping Orphan blue Encounter. This Encounter
has two Stages. The player has to complete Stage 1, and then

M
Stage 2 in order to win. The player places a marker on the gray

M
slot of the Affinity track.

RR

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EEN
N
Turn 2 Now, the player spends 2 Charges from the Bleak Joke card to play

A
The player plays a False Promise – they want to gain the bonus an Eye for Detail card as if it was connected with . The Key
from the Magic Key, so they spend 1 point of Magic. The player connects, and it has the symbol. The player consults the table
additionally gains bonuses from connected and Free Keys. on the Encounter card, then moves the marker 1 slot up on the
The player draws a card and moves the marker two slots up the Affinity Track.

REE
Affinity track. It’s the last slot on the track, so the player decides

MM
Turn 1
It’s the first round of the Encounter, so the player draws 3 cards to end their Turn.
from their Diplomacy deck. Then, the player plays a Simple During the “Affinity Check”, the player advances to the next
KK

Truth card. Arev has 1 point of , so he gains the bonus from Stage of the Encounter and moves the marker on the Affinity track

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the connected Key – it’s a symbol. back to the gray slot. The Turn has ended, so there is no Response.
The player checks the meaning of the symbol on the Encounter The player draws 1 card.
card – for Stage I, any moves the Affinity marker two slots

AALL
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up on the track. The Free Key of the Simple Truth card also con-
nects – it contains a symbol, so the player moves the marker
another slot up.
N
N
WW

It’s time for the opponent’s Response. Arev loses 1 and de-
stroys the last card in the Sequence. The Eye for Detail card is
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discarded along with its Time Token. Now, the last card in the
Sequence is the Bleak Joke card. The Encounter continues until
Arev manages to push the marker to the top of the Affinity track
and completes the Second stage.
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Turn 3
The player plays a Bleak Joke. It’s the first played card, so the
player ignores the symbol. Then, the player draws 1 card be-
AA

The player doesn’t have any cards with symbol, so they cause of the connected Key. Finally, the player checks the .
can’t play anything more and end their Turn. The Affinity is not green, so the player loses 1 Rep.
The marker is not on the last slot on the track, so it’s time for Then, the player places 2 Charges on the card, because
N
EN
the opponent’s Response – it moves the marker 1 slot down. Arev Arev has 2 .
W

also gains 1 point of .

W

The player draws 1 card.

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AA

AAKK

NN
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ALTERNATIVE MODES

M
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& APPENDICES

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This section of the Rulebook contains non-standard game modes and additional player help.

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Story Mode Character Advancement

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Surviving Avalon isn’t easy! If you or your friends want a more Instead of standard Experience costs, use the list below:
EEN
relaxed experience and would prefer to simply enjoy the story
N

A
without the fear of failing, perform setup and resolve any scal- 5 Exp: Combat or Diplomacy deck advancement (draw 2
able events as if you had one less person in your Party. cards and pick 1)
Example: Three players light up a Menhir and see the following text: 5 Exp: 1st point in a pair of opposing Attributes.
“Set the Dial to 8 (-1 for each player)”. Since they decided to play on an 10 Exp: 2nd point in a pair of opposing Attributes.
easier setting, they set the Dial to 6 instead of 5. 15 Exp: 3rd point in a pair of opposing Attributes.

REE
You may stop this at any point, if you feel you have a good

MM
20 Exp: 4th point in a pair of opposing Attributes.
grasp of the situation! 25 Exp: 5th point in a pair of opposing Attributes.
For an easier solo experience, you cannot tune the scaling 30 Exp: 6th point in a pair of opposing Attributes.
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any lower. Instead, remove the limiter plastic piece from Any further point in a pair of opposing Attributes costs 5 Exp

R
the game, and mark with a regular marker instead. Your more than the last one.
will no longer limit your and you won’t Panic in Combat
or Diplomacy. Resources & Items

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1) You can have at most 20 of each Resource (except Exp).

Challenge Mode 2) You can carry up to 5 Items (Secrets do not count to-
If your group wants an extra challenge and already knows the wards that limit).
N
N
game well, you might want to increase the difficulty further.
W

In that case, use the rule modifications listed below that lead Allmother’s Mercy
to a more unforgiving and challenging experience. Remem- There’s no mercy in the Challenge mode! If you die, the cam-
W

ber: for an intermediate experience, you may decide to apply paign ends in failure.
only some of these changes!
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Free Play

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Setup At the start of the game, each player may place any Character tile
1) Each player should flip the limiter plastic piece up- in any Character Tray – including characters that would be un-
side down so that the top of the heart icon points to the bot- available in the current campaign. Then, each player picks any
K

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tom of the track. color of Combat & Diplomacy decks.
This will make all players more susceptible to Panic and loss caused This leads to many new exciting combinations and deck
by damage, making wounds even more realistic. It will also limit self-recov-
building strategies.
ery, requiring better teamwork and risk management from the players.
AA

2) Take Secret card 42 at the start of the game.

People of the island distrust you, making all Diplomatic engagements harder.
IMPORTANT: Players who pick a Character from a different
N
time period / campaign will not be able to progress through
EN
Escaping Combat
this Character’s personal story! Additionally, special Abil-
W

You may try to Escape only once per your Character’s Activation.
ities of Characters designed for a specific campaign might
W

To initiate an Escape, lose 1 . Then, receive an Opportunity

make some parts of other campaigns they were not designed
attack and toss a Dial:
for easier than intended.
Skull: You remain in Combat!

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Grail: You successfully Escape from Combat. Place the En-

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Example: When playing the Fall of Avalon story, Duana’s “Demonic
counter card on the bottom of its deck, and reshuffle your Com- Pact” makes the first crucial Chapters easier, as access to the potent “Ter-
bat deck, including any discarded cards. ror Heal” near the starting Location reduces the risk of using this Ability.
AA

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Menhirs & Events

1) When activated, all Menhirs have their duration reduced
by 1 day.
You have less time to explore and gather resources!
A

2) When the game requires you to place any Random Event

cards, place 1 less than instructed.
NN Negative consequences will come faster.

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INDEX

M
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M
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Action (page 8) Run Away (page 14) Magic (page 10, 16, 19)
Character Action (page 9) Victory Check (page 15) Menhir (page 8, 9, 11)
Explore (page 8) Combat card (page 14) activating Menhirs (page 10)

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Inspect a Menhir (page 9) Combat Pool (page 14, 16) Inspect a Menhir (page 9)

AL
Location Action (page 8) Components (page 5, 23) Menhir range (page 8, 10)
EEN
Pass (page 9) Connecting Keys (page 16, 19) Time Dial (page 8)
N
Travel (page 8) Courage (page 10) no cards in deck (page 16, 20)

A
Activating Menhirs (page 11) Damage (page 15) Opponent’s Response (page 19)
Active Character (page 15, 19) Death (page 13, 16, 20) Opportunity (page 16)
Advancement Pool (page 6) Diplomacy (page 18) Order of the Day (page 8)
Advancing Character (page 9, 12) Active Character (page 19) Action (page 8)

REE
Adventure Map (page 6) Affinity Check (page 19) End of the Day (page 9)

MM
Affinity Check (page 19) Avoid (page 18) Rest (page 9)
Aggression (page 10) Bonus (page 20) Start of the Day (page 8)
KK

Allmother’s Mercy (page 13) Charges (page 19) Panic (page 10, 16, 20)

R
Attack (page 15) Connecting Keys (page 19) Party (page 11)
Attributes (page 10, 12) Damage (page 15) Pass (page 9)
Aggression (page 10) Diplomacy card (page 18) Practicality (page 10)

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Caution (page 10) Discard (page 13, 20) Quest (page 11)
AA

Courage (page 10) Escape (page 18) Quest Token (page 11)
Empathy (page 10) Opponent’s Response (page 19) Remove (page 13)
N
Practicality (page 10) Reward (page 18) Reputation/Rep (page 10)
N
W

Spirituality (page 10) Diplomacy card (page 18) Resources (page 10)
Avoid (page 18) discard (page 13, 16, 20) Experience/Exp (page 10)
W

Basic Combat/Diplomacy cards (page 6) Dreams and Nightmares (page 9) Food (page 10)
Bonus (page 16, 20) Empathy (page 10) Magic (page 10, 16, 19)
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Caution (page 10) Encounter/Encounter card (page 12, 14, 18) Reputation/Rep (page 10)

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Challenge Mode (page 22) End of the Day (page 9) Wealth (page 10)
Character Action (page 9) Enemy Attack (page 15) Response (page 19)
Character Tile (page 6) Energy (page 10) Rest (page 9)
Character Tray (page 6) Escape (page 14, 18) Reward (page 14, 15, 18)
K

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Character Action (page 9) Event card (page 8, 11) Run Away (page 14)
Character Tile (page 6) Exhausted (page 9) Save Sheet (page 12)
Health (page 10) Experience/Exp (page 10) saving the game (page 13)
Health Marker (page 6) Exploration Journal (page 12) Secret/Secret card (page 12)
AA

Negative trait (page 6) Explore (page 8) Sequence (page 14, 18)

Resources (page 10) Food (page 10) Settlement (page 10)
N
EN
Survival Tracks (page 6, 10) Free Play (page 22) Setup (page 6, 7)
W

Terror (page 10) Guardian (page 12) Skill (page 12)

Charges (page 15, 19) Health (page 10) Spirituality (page 10)
W

Chronicler (page 7) Health marker (page 6) Start of the Day (page 8)

Combat (page 14) Insanity (page 13) Status (page 12)

RRE
Active Character (page 15) Inspect a Menhir (page 9) Story Mode (page 22)

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Bonus (page 16) Items (page 8, 12) Survival Tracks (page 6, 10)
Charges (page 15) Key (page 14, 16, 18, 17) Task (page 11)
AA

Combat card (page 14) Location (page 10) Terror (page 10)
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Combat Pool (page 14, 16) Inspect a Menhir (page 9) Time Dial (page 8)
Connecting Keys (page 16, 19) Location Action (page 8) Trait (page 16)
Damage (page 15) Location Seals (page 10) Travel (page 8)
Discard (page 13, 16, 20) Menhir range (page 8, 10) Victory Check (page 15)
Enemy Attack (page 15) Remove (page 13) Wealth (page 10)
A

Escape (page 14, 18) Settlement (page 10)

NN Loot (page 14, 15) Location Action (page 8)
Opportunity (page 16) Location Seals (page 10)
Reward (page 14, 15) Loot (page 14, 15)

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RULES SUMMARY

M
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Order of the Day  If the Guardian stays in the same Location and there are  Clear Activations. Remove all of the from the Charac-

M
any Characters present there, immediately start the Encounter ter Trays. This does not affect any left on Combat cards!

RR
I) Start of the Day (all Characters present in this Location have to fight together).
 Remove expired Menhirs. Victory Check (Combat)
 If the Guardian enters a Location with any Character, it im-
If a Menhir has no Dial, remove it now. Count the number of markers in the Combat Pool. If it’s higher
mediately triggers the Encounter.
 Remove Locations out of Menhir range. than or equal to the target Value printed on the Encounter card,
 If a Character or a Party enters a Location with a Guardian,

L
Menhirs have a range of 1 Location card. That means you re- you win! Receive any Rewards, share any Loot, and place the
immediately trigger the Encounter. If there’s more than one Guard-

AL
move each Location not adjacent (in a straight line or diagonally) Encounter card on the bottom of its deck; reshuffle your Combat
ian there, players may choose which Encounter to trigger first.
to a Location with an Active Menhir. deck, including any discarded or played cards.
EEN
 If a Character or a Party enters a Location with a Guardian and
N
 Reduce Menhir Dials by 1. an instant Action (denoted by the ), trigger the Guardian Encoun- Affinity Check (Diplomacy)

A
If the Dial was already at 1, remove the Dial instead (do not ter first and only then resolve the rules on the Location card.  Check the position of the marker on the Affinity track.
remove the Menhir!)  If it’s on the lowest slot, you lose the Encounter – apply
 Reduce Time Dials and remove . Once the Guardian is defeated, put its card on the bottom the Failure rules to each Party member, and put the Encounter
If the Dial was already at 1, remove the Dial instead. of its deck. on the bottom of its deck. Then, reshuffle your Diplomacy deck,

REE
Remove 1 from every Location card that has any.
Combat/Diplomacy including any discarded or played cards.

MM
Do not decrease any of the Dials with Quest Tokens!  If the marker is on the highest slot of the Affinity track, you
 Reveal and read a new Event card. Starting Combat/Diplomacy win the current Stage of the Encounter.
KK

 Move Guardians.  Draw an Encounter card.  If this was the last Stage, you win the entire Encounter –
Roll the Guardian die for each Guardian present on the board

R
 Check the Traits of this Encounter. receive Reward, place the Encounter card on the bottom of its
and move it according to the Guardian rules.  Check your equipment. deck, then reshuffle your Diplomacy deck, including any dis-
 Discuss your plans.  Draw 3 cards from Combat/Diplomacy deck (1-3 Charac- carded or played cards.
It's a cooperative adventure after all!

AALL
 If this wasn’t the last Stage of the Encounter, begin the next
AA

ters in Party) OR draw 2 cards from Combat/Diplomacy deck

 Equip for your journey. (4 Characters in Party). Then, you may discard your cards and Stage – move the marker to the gray slot on the Affinity track,
II) During the Day draw new hand with 1 less card. place a marker on the completed Stage, and go to the Check
N
N
Each player performs one Action, in any order. After all play- Readiness step.
Combat / Diplomacy Turn
W

ers have performed one Action, they may once again perform  Pick the Active Character Panic
one Action each. A group of Characters in the same Location may Place a on this Character's Tile to remember they were Panic takes place anytime your is higher than your current
W

decide to take an Action together, as a Party. Actions continue Activated this Turn. (marker on the track is above the wings of the T-shaped
until all players Pass or have no more to spend. limiter). When that happens:
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Character Activation
 Instead of playing a card from your hand in step 2 (Playing

E
III) End of the Day  Delayed Abilities
 Rest. Cards), play a card from the top of your Diplomacy / Combat
Remove 1 from each Combat / Diplomacy card in the Se-
Eat 1 Food. If you do, restore 1 and lose 1 . If you don't, deck. Then, you may play additional cards from your hand, ac-
quence. If it was the last on the card, resolve the Ability with
drop your to 0. If your is already at 0, lose 1 instead. cording to the standard rules.
the trigger.
K

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 Restore your to full.  Do not draw a new card at the End of Turn. Any bonus or
Abilities are resolved from the first card in the Sequence (left)
If you are Exhausted, restore 4 points of instead. extra cards gained from Bonus Keys, Skills or Abilities are still
to the last card (right).
If you are not Exhausted, place the marker in the starting slot of drawn as normal.
the track, as long as this marker does not go past the marker. Playing Cards
No Cards in Deck
AA

 Advance your Character.  Play one Combat / Diplomacy card.

Whenever your Character has to draw cards and their Combat / Di-
If you have any Experience points, you may now spend them.  You may play additional Combat / Diplomacy cards after
plomacy deck does not have the required number of cards, you are
the first one, but they MUST connect with a Key.
N
 Build your Character decks. forced to Escape (Combat) or you fail the Encounter (Diplomacy).
EN
You can now add or remove cards from your Combat / Diplo-  If in Combat, check for the Opportunity attack.
W

 Perform Victory / Affinity Check. You Are Dying!

macy deck (minimum deck size: 15).
W

Whenever your drops to 0, attach the “You Are Dying”

 Dream Enemy Attack / Opponent’s Response card to your Character tray. Among other rules, the card im-
If the Location you are in has a , open the and read Apply an appropriate (depending on your Combat Pool / mediately removes you from your current Encounter – see its
the Dream. Diplomatic Encounter Stage). Perform Victory / Affinity Check.

RRE
text for more details.

E
If “You Are Going Insane”, read the Nightmare instead of
Check Readiness Discarding From an Empty Hand
the Dream.
 Check if all Characters have been Activated (they have Whenever you have to discard a card from your hand, but you
AA

Guardians a on their Encoutner Stage) and perform the Victory Check/

AKK

don’t have any cards, discard a card from the top of your Com-
Affinity Check. bat / Diplomacy deck instead.
These dangerous enemies will keep roaming the area even after
 If all Characters have been Activated, go to the “End
you Escape (see: Escaping Combat). If you Escaped from a Guard-
Turn” phase. Negative Combat Pool
ian Encounter, place its card on the Location where you have trig-
 If there are any Characters who haven't been Activated yet, Whenever you should remove a marker from the Combat Pool,
gered it. At the start of each day, roll a Guardian die, and move the
A

go to the “Pick the Active Character” phase. but there are not enough markers, discards a card from your
Guardian accordingly.
 If the Guardian should move to an unrevealed or uncon- End Turn hand for every excess point.
NN
nected Location, move it to the highest-numbered connected  Discard. Discard down to 3 cards in your hand.
Location instead.  Draw. All Party members draw 1 card from their decks. Do
not draw if your Character Panics (see: Panic). If there are no
cards to draw, see: No Cards in Deck.
24