Discover the Basics of Gloomhaven

Welcome, Adventurers!

Gather ’round, fellow adventurers! Today, I’m here to introduce you to the mysterious world of Gloomhaven. So what is Gloomhaven, you ask? Well, my friend, Gloomhaven is the name of a fantastically engaging board game that will transport you to a realm of danger and excitement.

Now, allow me to share with you the key things you need to know about this game.

The Essence of Gloomhaven

Picture this: You’re a brave and cunning adventurer who finds themselves in the city of Gloomhaven. This city is a haven for mercenaries, thieves, and treasure hunters alike, and it is filled to the brim with danger and hidden secrets.

As you explore the vast city and its surrounding areas, you will encounter a variety of thrilling challenges and mysteries. With each challenge you overcome, you’ll unlock more of the story and delve deeper into the heart of Gloomhaven.

The Quest

Every great adventure starts with a quest, and Gloomhaven is no exception. In this game, you’ll embark on epic quests that will put your skills and strategic thinking to the test.

Each quest will present you with unique challenges and objectives. You’ll face off against formidable enemies, uncover hidden treasures, and make decisions that will shape the path of your adventure.

The Characters

Now, let’s talk about the characters you can play as in Gloomhaven. There are a multitude of unique and diverse characters to choose from, each with their own set of skills and abilities.

Whether you prefer to be a mighty brute who wields a massive sword, a swift and agile rogue who excels at deception, or a wise and powerful spellcaster who can bend the forces of magic to their will, there’s a character for you in Gloomhaven.

Cooperative Gameplay

Gloomhaven is a cooperative game, which means you’ll be working together with your fellow adventurers to overcome the challenges that lie ahead. Communication and teamwork are key to success in this game.

Each player will control a character and take turns performing actions to progress the quest. By coordinating your efforts, strategizing, and making use of your unique abilities, you’ll increase your chances of emerging victorious.

Uncover the Secrets of Gloomhaven

Gloomhaven is a game filled with mystery and intrigue. As you play, you’ll uncover the secrets of the city and its surrounding areas, revealing hidden storylines and unraveling the mysteries that lie beneath the surface.

With its immersive gameplay, rich storytelling, and strategic challenges, Gloomhaven is a truly captivating experience. So gather your friends, choose your characters, and embark on an unforgettable adventure in the world of Gloomhaven.

Welcome to the Party Pad! I’m here to help you find the perfect name for your party. Let’s get started, shall we?

Got your game set up and ready to go? Great! Let’s dive right in and choose our starting character class. We’ve got some fantastic options to choose from: Brute, Tinkerer, Spellweaver, Scoundrel, Cragheart, or Mindthief. Pick the one that speaks to you the most.

Once you’ve made your choice, open up the corresponding character box. Inside, you’ll find all the goodies that come with your chosen character, including a character mat, a deck of level 1 ability cards, and 5 character tokens. Make sure to keep the attack modifier adjustment cards inside the box.

Now, let’s get our character pad ready. Take a sheet of your character class’s corresponding Character pad. Write down your character’s name, and jot down the 30 Gold that every character starts with in the Gold Notes section.

Let’s get started by shuffling the 24 dark gray Personal Quest cards. I’ll deal you 2 random personal quest cards and you can choose 1 to keep. If you want, you can keep it a secret from the other players, but you don’t have to. Just pick a quest that fits well with the character you created.

Next, I’ll give you a standard 20-card Attack Modifier Deck from the game’s box (with crossed swords on the back). Each card is numbered for players 1 to 4, and you’ll find the number in the lower left corner of each card. The deck includes 6 “no change”, 5 “+1”, 5 “-1”, and 1 each of “+2”, “-2”, “x2”, and “null”.

Lastly, here’s a blue wooden Experience Tracker for you. You can use this to keep track of your current experience on the right side of your character mat. We’ll start you off at 0, and you can add to it as you progress through the game.

I’m going to give each player a red wooden Hit Point Tracker to help them keep track of their health. Place it at the bottom of your character mat and start at the number shown below the level 1 indicator.

Now, let’s gather all the red-sword-back Standard Items 1-14 and use them to create the city’s supply of available items. Any extra item cards should be put back in the box.

Before we start the game, let’s read the first half of the first page in the scenario book. If there are any stickers that need to be placed, do that now.

You have the option to buy some useful items before we begin. You can use your starting 30 Gold to make your purchases.

If you’re not sure what to buy, the scenario book has some recommendations for each class. Remember, you can’t trade money or items with other players. It might be a good idea to keep some Gold for City or Road events. You can wear one Head item, one Body item, one pair of Feet items, and a total of two Hand items. The number of Small items you can use is equal to your Character Level divided by 2, rounded up. Some items require you to add extra -1 cards to your Attack Modifier Deck. Tapped cards can refresh during a long rest.

Consumed cards can only be refreshed using a special ability or between scenarios.

To set up the City Events, take out City Events 1-30 from the City Events deck, shuffle them, and put the rest back in the box. Draw the top card of the City Event deck and read and resolve the front side.

To start, I want you to grab the first 30 Road Event cards and separate them from the rest. Give those a good shuffle and put the rest away for now. Now, draw one of the Road Event cards and read what it says. Take care of whatever it asks you to do, but remember that you don’t do anything if you’re replaying the same scenario or moving between linked locations.

Next, let’s set up the game board. Use the hex tiles as shown in the scenario book, including the door hexes. Each hex tile has a different label on each side, so keep that in mind. As you open doors to rooms during the game, you’ll populate those rooms with what you find.

Now, let’s bring out the Elemental Infusion board and put all of the elemental discs in the inert column. These discs will come into play later.

Lastly, grab the Monster attack modifier deck. It looks just like the player deck, but you’ll notice it has an “M” in the lower left corner. Get that ready, and we’re good to go!

Alright, let’s get started on setting everything up for the scenario! Here’s what you need to do:

First things first, we need to find the Monster Ability cards for each Monster mentioned in the scenario. Look for the monster deck that has any part of the monster’s name in it, like “Guard” or “Shaman”. This is the deck you’ll need for that monster.

Next, we need to find the Monster Statistics Card for each Monster in the scenario. Make sure to rotate it so that it is set to Level 1. Once you’ve done that, place it in a Monster Sleeve to keep it safe.

Now, let’s find the Standees for each monster. These are the little cardboard cutouts that represent the monsters on the board. Make sure to follow the rules for placing monsters depending on the number of players. For now, just place them in the first room. Oh, and don’t forget to randomly select the standees when placing them – their numbers determine when they act.

Great, we’re almost there! Draw 2 Battle Goal cards – these have a grey brick back. Take a moment to read both of them and choose one to keep. Remember, this is your secret goal for the scenario, so don’t share it with anyone else. Return the unchosen card to the deck and give it a good shuffle.

That’s it! You’re all set up and ready to dive into the scenario. Good luck!

When you visit Gloomhaven, you have the opportunity to make a special donation to the Sanctuary. Every player can contribute 10 gold, and in return, you receive a powerful benefit for the next scenario — 2 Bless attack modifier cards are added to your attack modifier deck.

If, unfortunately, you fail a scenario, there is still a silver lining. You get to keep all the experience and loot you collected during the scenario; the only thing you don’t get to keep are the checkmarks you earned.

Starting a Battle

When it’s time to begin a battle, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. First, each player will have a choice between selecting two cards from their hand, placing one on top of the other, or declaring that they are taking a Long Rest Action with an Initiative of 99. The Long Rest is necessary if you have only 0 or 1 card in your hand. If you also have only 0 or 1 card in your discard pile, or if you have 0 Hit Points, you are exhausted and cannot continue participating in the Scenario. You can find more information about this on page 28 of the guide.

If you have more than 1 card in your hand and more than 1 card in your discard pile, you can choose which card from your discard pile you want to move to your lost pile. Additionally, during this time, you will also heal 2 Hit Points and all of the items you had previously used will be refreshed, ready to be used once again.

Next, let’s begin by drawing Ability Cards for all the active Monsters and establishing the Initiative Order. If two or more players have the same Initiative, we’ll compare their non-leading cards. If the tie persists, the players can come to a mutual agreement. If there’s a tie between a player and a monster, the player will go first.

Now, it’s time for each player and monster to take their turns, starting with the one with the lowest Initiative. During a turn, you get to perform one top action from one of your played cards and one bottom action from the other card. It’s important to note that the leading card is no longer significant. For example, instead of using the top action for an Attack of 2, you can choose to use it for something else, like attacking. Similarly, the bottom action of Move 2 can be used for other purposes as well.

Hey there! Let’s talk about moving characters and monsters in a game. Allies can move through each other freely, but they can’t go through enemies or obstacles. When it comes to jumping, you can ignore the terrain while moving, but not when you reach your final destination. And if a character has the ability to fly, they can completely ignore any effects of the terrain. Pretty cool, right?

Now, there is a rule that states movement must end in an empty spot. So, no squeezing into occupied hexes. And speaking of hexes, if a player triggers a door, that means they open it up and reveal the room next to it. As for monsters, when a new room is revealed, they draw new cards to figure out when they’ll go in the initiative order. But don’t worry, they won’t move until after the current player finishes their turn. Phew!

Let’s talk about elements now. Players have the power to infuse elements like fire or wind to enhance their abilities. However, keep in mind that you can’t use an element and then consume it in the same turn. Other players can benefit from the element you infused, so teamwork is key!

Now, there are two columns of elements: strong and waning. Any element in these columns can be consumed. But beware, monsters will always consume any elements they can get their hands on. They love those elements!

Time to Fight

You have the freedom to choose whether or not to perform any part of your action (but you must do so in order from top to bottom). However, you must carry out any part that would have a negative impact on yourself, an ally, or a summoned figure.

Range X attacks hit enemies within X hexes, as long as there is a clear path from any corner of the attacker’s hex to any corner of the defender’s hex, without touching any part of a wall.

If you make a ranged attack against an enemy adjacent to you, you will have a disadvantage when attacking that enemy. Essentially, you draw 2 attack modifier cards and use the one with the worse result.

A Target X value indicates that you can target X number of enemies within the range of your attack.

So, when it comes to the Attack Value on a card, there are a few things to keep in mind. Let me break it down for you.

Firstly, the Attack Value can be changed in a few different ways. One way is through bonuses and penalties from activated cards, items, and other sources. These can give you an extra boost or a hindrance when you attack.

Next, we have the Attack Modifier Card. This is a card that you draw for each target, and it can modify your attack in different ways. It adds a layer of unpredictability to the mix.

Finally, we have the target’s defensive bonuses and shields. These can reduce the damage you deal, so you have to take them into account when planning your attack.

Now, here’s something interesting. When you kill a monster, they don’t stick around for long. They die immediately, and to mark their passing, you place 1 Money Token on the hex where they died. It’s a little reminder of the victory you just achieved.

Now, all attack effects and conditions apply regardless of whether the attack caused damage or not. So even if you didn’t manage to land a hit, you may still have some effects that come into play.

So there you have it. That’s how the Attack Value works and how it can be modified. Just keep these things in mind when you’re planning your moves, and you’ll be well-equipped to take on any challenge that comes your way.

Monster Actions: Who Goes First?

Alright, let’s talk about how the enemies make their moves. First up is the fancy Elite monster, followed by the regular ones. They all take turns based on the number on their standee.

Now, here’s how they decide who to attack. The monsters want to target the player they can get to with the fewest moves. If there’s a tie, they’ll go for the player with the lowest Initiative. Makes sense, right? The monster will try to get as close as it can to the player, unless it’s planning a ranged attack. In that case, it just moves within attack range. To be extra clever, the monster will even move away if it helps it avoid a disadvantage.

Oh, and here’s a fun fact: if a monster card doesn’t mention a range, it defaults to doing a ranged attack. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

Now, when a player gets hit, they’ve got some choices. They can take the damage like a champ, that’s one option. Or they can pick a card from their hand to get rid of, if they’re feeling strategic. But wait, there’s more! They can even choose to part ways with two cards from their discard pile. Just remember, the two cards they played during their turn are off-limits for being discarded this way. Gotta use them wisely!

End Of Combat Round

Hey there! Let me walk you through what happens at the end of a combat round.

Now, pay close attention to those Monster Cards with a reroll icon in the bottom right corner. If you see one of those, we need to reshuffle its respective Monster Deck. It’s like giving it a fresh start.

Next, let’s talk about those Modifier Decks. If anyone drew a standard 2x, Null, or Reshuffle during the round, we’ll reshuffle that Deck too. We want things to be fair, right?

Alright, now for your own cards. You have two played cards, and here’s what can happen to them. They can either be discarded, which is the normal case. Or, if you see a Consume icon, they’ll be lost. But don’t worry, if you spot a Persistent or Round Bonus icon, your cards will be activated. Pretty neat, huh?

Feeling tired? No problem! If you have at least two cards in your discard pile, you can take a Short Rest. Just let me know, and we’ll shuffle your discard pile. Then, you’ll randomly pick one card to lose and put it in the lost pile. But remember, if you don’t like the card you picked, you can take a bit of damage and randomly lose a different card. Just once though, okay?