The Beach
Each Mastergear holder taps the button matching their name.
Storyteller
Start with a Quiet Reading Break
Take a moment to ensure each Mastergear holder is able to open this page via the QR code found inside the Encounter 1 Pack or directly via this URL (legendfall.com/encounter-1). Ensure everyone has found their section.
Each Mastergear holder needs about 5-7 minutes to read their section end-to-end quietly to themselves.
For players who don’t have Mastergear, encourage them to read both the front and back of the instruction cards they set aside earlier and take some time to read the cards they have in-play.
While Everyone Is Reading
Separate out the cards in the Encounter 1 Pack and distribute the appropriate cards to each Mastergear holder:
Beastheart: 3 Monster Cards, 2 Monster Token Cards (17 tokens), 1 Corruption card (The Obsidian Spider)
Wayfinder: 24 Encounter Tiles
Titanback: 10x Class Training Cards
The Setup Checklist
When everyone has completed reading, ensure that each of the following steps have been completed:
The Wayfinder has set up encounter tiles matching the image layout provided to them in their section (scroll down to peak at this)
The players have placed their character tokens on the map, the Wayfinder will provide guidance on who can be placed where
The Beastheart has placed monsters on the map, at least one monster should be next to the character with the Titanback
The Titanback has confirmed all the player’s cards are set up in their play areas properly
When The Setup Checklist is Complete
Ask everyone to read their “Your First Turn” Instruction card, both the front and back side (it’s also ok to have someone read it aloud, especially if the font size is too small for some players).
Read the following disclaimer: If this is your first time playing Legendfall, one or more players will very likely die in this encounter. Death is common in Legendfall. If and when a player dies, the Storyteller opens the Death Pack.
The Narrative
Water washes over you as you lay face up on a sandy beach. Your senses begin to return: the ice-cold water, the blinding sun, and the putrid smell of fish.
You (pointing to the Titanback) are the first to regain your sight as the rest of the party wipes stinging sand from their eyes. There is a half-fish half-man prying and jerking the weapon from your hands. The Merk recognizes you are awake and lashes out with its crude spear. Roll a d20. Check your skill card to see if you have any ranks in Reflex (filled in bubbles). If you do, add one to your die roll for each rank.
Read this quietly to yourself:
If the player’s roll is 10+, the player leaps to their feet, dodging the attack; otherwise, they take 3 damage (subtracting their armor). Reminder: each player starts the game with 10 HP. This is a cinematic moment; in normal combat, the player wouldn’t get to make a Reflex save to avoid an attack.
You (to the Titanback) start the round. After your turn, we will proceed clockwise. What do you do?
After The Titanback Takes their Turn
Proceed clockwise after the Titanback; when all the players have completed their turns the Beastheart acts on behalf of the monsters and then the Wayfinder takes the environment’s turn. Then start at the top with the Titanback again. For subsequent turns, the players are free to switch among themselves who acts in what order (e.g., “I’d like to act first”).
Concluding Narrative
Trigger: After all enemies are defeated or all enemies have fled.
Tips: Helping Other Roles
The Storyteller is the glue that holds everything together; in the same way, the story itself is central to everything in the game. You can help and provide support in many ways as long as you do so in a way that does not do other people’s jobs for them. You are the only role that is allowed to peak at others’ sections in order to help.
Wayfinder
As Wayfinder, you set up and control the physical world. This includes placing allies and enemies on the map at the beginning of encounters, controlling traps, and even acts of nature like the crashing waves. You are also the master of movement and the rules around movement. Rest assured, these instructions will teach you everything you need to know.
As the Wayfinder, you, as a player, will know secrets that others do not. Even your character doesn’t know what you, as a player, know—this is called the veil. Your character has a hazy sense of what you, as a player, know. You aren’t required to knowingly walk your character into a trap—the Wayfinder compass grants your character unique instincts about the world around you. It is critical, however, that you not reveal the secrets of the world to the other players. Let them be surprised, delighted, and horrified. That is part of the joy of being the Wayfinder.
Map Setup
Ask the storyteller to hand you the stack of map tiles; it’s your job to set up the map. Use the image of the tile layout included in this section to guide you. Not all of these tiles will come out immediately. In this particular map, you will hold onto 6 water tiles that will be added as the water level rises. The map starts with all sand tiles revealed.
Encounter Tiles (24x)
6x Water tiles (Visible)
6x Water tiles (Hidden, to be added as the water rises)
3x Water+Sand tiles
5x Sand tiles
3x Road tiles
1x Boulder tile
Placing Players on the Map
Tell the players to place their character tokens anywhere on the sand tiles on the map. Each card tile contains six squares, three wide and two tall. You’ll notice lightly colored lines on each card. As players place themselves on the map make it very clear to them that each tile contains six smaller squares. These squares are used for tracking movement.
Placing Monsters on the Map
After the players place themselves on the map. Tell the Beastheart to place one monster next to the character played by the Titanback, and the rest of the monsters spread out throughout the water tiles.
The Water: Difficult Terrain
It’s your responsibility to teach the players about difficult terrain. Wait to do this until a player attempts to move through the water. If a player attempts to move through or out of the water, describe to them the extra effort it takes to move.
Players move more slowly when swimming, trudging, or otherwise moving through difficult terrain. These are the rules:
Moving into difficult terrain costs one square of movement (a good way to remember this: “It’s easy to get into trouble”)
Moving out of difficult terrain costs two squares of movement
Moving through difficult terrain costs two squares of movement (e.g., if you are in a water square, moving to another water square)
If a player only has one square of movement remaining, and they are in difficult terrain, they cannot move.
Secret: Rising Waters & Crashing Waves
In this encounter the players go first, then the enemies. The environment always takes its turn after the enemy’s turn.
Rising Waters: Move the shore up by one full tile during the environment’s turn. Continue to do this each round. If the water has reached the road, the water begins to recede again.
Crashing Waves: If water moves into a player's square during the environment’s turn, waves crash against them. They must make a reflex roll and get a 10+ to avoid being knocked down, a knocked-down player has a movement speed of 1 until the end of their next turn.
What is a reflex roll?
Reflex is an ability on character skill cards. Some players may have one or more ranks in reflex, this means players roll 1d20 and add +1 for each rank (filled in dot) they have on their skill card.
Your Task Checklist
Setup the map tiles matching the image, holding onto six water tiles
Ensure the player’s tokens are on the map and make sure they notice each map card contains 6 squares
Ensure the monsters are placed on the map and at least one monster is next to the Titanpack
During the players turn, if a player attempts to move through the water or out of the water, teach them about Difficult Terrain
After the enemies turn, take the environment to turn and rise the waters.
Beastheart
Everything written here is a secret, only for you to know unless it is explicitly called out as something to read to the players.
You are the master of monsters and this means you are at the center of the challenge of Legendfall. These are the basics of your job:
Think like a monster, use their strategies
Be brutal and kill the players (your instinct is likely to spare them, don’t)
Use all monster abilities every round
Keep track of damage monsters receive (a piece of paper works)
How do you read the monster card?
The Storyteller should hand you three monster cards. There are three numbers at the top of the monster card. The Shield is “defense”; any time you receive damage, you subtract this number (the Merk Littlefin has no defense but the Merk Matron has 1). The Blood drop in the middle is HP; once the Merk has lost 4 HP, they die. The Dimond at the end is movement; the Merk Littlefin can move five squares each round. Both players and enemies don’t have to use all this movement at once; they can move, attack, and move again.
Why be brutal? Why kill the players?
When it’s the monster’s turn, you are no longer yourself. You are the beast. As the Beastheart, you must be brutal. If it is in the monster’s nature, your job is to swarm a single player (even if that makes it look like you are being mean). Your job is to use that very mean and unfair monster ability right when a player is at 1 HP. Sounds intense, but Legendfall is brutal for a reason:
Be brutal so that players have to be smart, pay attention, and learn
Be brutal so that victory is earned
Be brutal because players love gaining corruption (you’ll see)
Be brutal so the players earn more XP
Monster Setup
Not all monsters start in play at the beginning of the game. Double-check the names against the cards to ensure you put out the right monster tokens at the start of the combat. At the start of the game put out the following monsters:
3 Players - 4x Merk Littlefin & 2x Merk Spawner
4 Players - 5x Merk Littlefin & 2x Merk Spawner
5+ Players - 6x Merk Littlefin & 3x Merk Spawner
Merk Spawner Strategy
Spawners swim in schools and always stay in the same square as each other if possible. When they attack, each Spawner gets their own unique attack. When they are attacked by players, each is its own unique target. Spawners are Tiny-Creatures, follow the rules below.
Special Rules for Tiny-Creatures
Tiny-Creatures may only attack when they are inside the same square as another creature. Tiny-Creatures may move into, move through, and end their turns in the same square as other creatures (both allies and enemies). Tiny-Creatures are only considered “adjacent” when they are in the same square as another creature. There may be no more than four tiny creatures in a single square at a time (regardless of whether there is another creature in that square or not).
Monster Round I
The Merk Littlefin would like to rob and eat the players. They are carnivorous fish people who typically pick off villagers by pulling them into the ocean. This is their strategy:
Pick a single character; whoever is closest to the water—four Merk Littlefin will target that same character (there is a chance this player will die, roll with it).
Each Merk will use their Swift action to try to pull them as far into the sea as possible (they can’t leave the map, but they can pull them to the farthest ocean square).
After pulling the player, they will attack with their Crude Spear
If the player dies, ask the Storyteller to open the Death pack.
At the end of the enemy turn, the Merk Matron appears in a water far from the other Merks:
A horrifying hulking fishbomination appears in the water; as it moves, water droplets seem to suspend in the air as if charged with energy.
Monster Round II
At the beginning of Round II and for each subsequent round the Merk Matron is alive, create two Merk Spawners in the same square as the Merk Matron (so long as she is in a water tile). They can move and attack immediately.
Merk Matron Strategy
The Merk Matron focuses her attacks on players who come into the water, she has to protect her Merklings.
The Obsidian Spider
The Matron herself has the Obsidian Spider Corruption Card and 2 corruption. The first time she is hurt by the players, she heals 2 damage cinematically:
As you strike your blow you notice something moving beneath the Merk Matron’s skin, in a gruesome display an obsidian spider emerges and begins to stitch together her wounds.
When the Merk Matron Dies / Moving the Obsidian Spider
When the Matron dies, the Obsidian Spider will leap to the nearest player or enemy, there is no d20 roll to avoid this. If there are two targets, choose at random. Give that player the Obsidian Spider Corruption card.
The Obsidian Spider leaps and digs into you in a horrifying display, there is a sharp crushing pain and then a surge of strength… it’s a part of you now.
Titanback
As the Titanback, you are the master of logistics and operations for the Raven, you also have the unique role of being a teacher and trainer. You will do three things in this encounter (1) Confirm everyone’s play areas are set up correctly, (2) Teach by being the first player to take their turn, (3) Give out XP and help players level up at the end of the encounter.
Double Check to Ensuring Players are Setup
Each player should have…
Skill card that has both character name and four skill bubbles filled in
Ancestry card is in play and their Background, Trait, and Corruption card are put away into their deck
Two weapons and an armor card in play and their Ravenhand is not visible (it should be tucked under their skill card)
A face-down deck
One twenty-sided die to roll for their abilities
One twenty-sided die to track their HP (players start with 10 HP)
Two six-sided die to be used to track “counters” on cards (everyone’s ancestry card starts with zero counters, but you will add and increment counters over time).
Optionally, you as the Titanback can help track HP for everyone via an app (iOS App | Android App).
Your First Turn
When the Storyteller has completed the Setup Checklist, they will narrate an opening scene between you and an attacking Merk. After this opening scene is complete, they will give you the signal to be the first player to take their turn.
Your Swift Action
Each player gets one standard action, one swift action, and one immediate action every turn. These refresh at the start of your turn. Take a look at your Ancestry card to see if you have a Swift action that makes sense to be used now. If not, don’t worry about it.
Making your first attack
Choose an enemy and choose a weapon. Roll a d20 (twenty-sided dice) to attack using that weapon. Follow the instructions on your weapon card based on the value you rolled on the die. For example:
10+: Deal 3 damage
Else: Deal 1 damage
If you rolled 10+ you would deal three, otherwise you would deal 1 damage.
Movement
Look at your armor to see how many squares you can move, in the very middle of the card you should see something like “Move 6”, you can move in any direction including diagonal (there is no difference in movement cost). It is generally wise to move away from an enemy after attacking.
Pass Turn & Draw a Card
When you’ve completed your turn say “Pass Turn” and then draw one card. Keep this drawn card in your hand. If you are lucky you might draw an Immediate action. These cards may be used during ally and enemy turns. You may interrupt others’ actions by saying something like: “Before they move..” or “Before that 6 damage is dealt”.
After your turn, the next player goes (rotate clockwise).
When A Player First Takes Damage
Players have a few ways to deal with incoming damage. First, if their armor has a defense value (e.g., Defence 1) then they subtract that amount of damage from a hit. Second, every player has an equipment card that can be used “once” to prevent the damage of a single attack. This is a Free Immediate action, what that means is that it can be used even if the player has already used an Immediate Action this turn.
When The Encounter Ends: XP & Leveling Up
When the Storyteller has read the closing narrative, you get the pleasure of XP and Leveling up. Get the XP cards ready to go so that you can hand them out to the players immediately after the closing narrative.
Normally, in each encounter, you would ask players: “Was that brutal”. If the majority says yes, then everyone gets 300xp. Otherwise, everyone gets 200xp. In this first encounter, ask the question, “Was that brutal,” but the players will earn 300xp regardless (we want everyone to level up).
Leveling Up
At the end of this encounter, each player has 300xp to “spend”. As quickly as they get it, they will hand this XP back to you to “buy” their next level. At 1st level, characters get to choose their class.
You have a total of 10x Class Training cards (just in case two players want to choose the same class, that’s ok). Give players some time to choose their class. When they do, they will immediately gain three skill ranks (choosing three out of the five listed on the class card).
you lick your wounds and shake off the encrusting sand. Merks, the fishbominations… awful creatures. You catch your breath and for a moment there is almost silence…
In the distance, a rowdy bellow cuts through the crashing waves.
Outlined against the setting sun is a man… no an ork… precariously clinging to the back of a monstrous crab, twisting and turning to toss him loose—but to no avail.
The ork is your friend and comrade, a fellow Raven. the audacious fool is somehow riding this demon of the deep, his fingers clinging to the creature's spiky chitin. His cries cascade into echoes as the monstrous crustacean disappears around the corner, the silence descending once more upon this twilight theater.
Before proceeding to the next encounter, the Titanback will read the instructions at the end of their section to help players level up to level one!