Master the Art of Combat in Too Many Bones

In the world of Too Many Bones, combat is an essential part of survival. Knowing the combat rules is crucial if you want to come out on top. Let me guide you through the intricacies of combat so that you can evolve into a formidable warrior.

Understanding the Stats

Before diving into the heat of battle, it’s important to familiarize yourself with the stats that define your character’s abilities. Each hero has a unique set of stats, such as attack power, defense, and health. These stats determine how effectively you can dish out damage or withstand enemy assaults.

Attack power indicates the damage you can inflict on enemies. The higher your attack power, the more devastating your blows become. However, remember that enemies also possess their own defense stats, which can reduce the impact of your attacks. So, it’s not just about swinging hard but also finding the right balance between offense and defense.

Making Use of Skills

Skills are what set heroes apart from ordinary fighters. They are powerful abilities that can turn the tide of battle in your favor. Skills vary among heroes, allowing you to adopt different strategies based on your preferred playstyle. Some skills focus on dealing massive damage, while others enhance your defensive capabilities or heal your wounds.

During combat, you’ll have the opportunity to use your skills strategically. Assess the situation and identify which skill to employ in each specific scenario. This adaptability will prove vital in overcoming the challenges you’ll face.

Exploiting the Battle Mat

The battle mat is your playground during combat. It presents you with a grid-style arena where tactics come into play. You can maneuver your hero, take cover, and position yourself strategically to gain an advantage over your enemies.

Pay attention to the terrain and its effects. Some areas may provide defensive bonuses, while others could impede your movement or restrict your actions. Utilize your understanding of the battle mat to outmaneuver your foes and gain the upper hand.

Deploying Battle Gear

To further enhance your combat prowess, you can equip your hero with battle gear. These items grant additional stats and special abilities that can turn the tide of battle in your favor. Battle gear includes weapons, armor, and accessories, each offering unique benefits.

Strategize your loadout based on the enemies you expect to encounter. The right gear can provide essential advantages that help you overcome challenging opponents. Experiment, adapt, and find the perfect combination for your playstyle.

Adjusting the Encounter Difficulty

Too Many Bones offers various levels of difficulty for encounters. When it comes to combat, you have the power to adjust the difficulty to suit your preferences. If you’re craving a challenge, you can increase the enemy AI or add more foes to the battlefield. On the other hand, if you prefer a more relaxed experience, you can tune down the difficulty accordingly.

Remember, combat in Too Many Bones is not just about brute force. It’s a delicate dance of strategy, skills, and adaptability. Mastering these elements will allow you to conquer even the most formidable opponents and emerge victoriously.

In most of the Adventures I embark on in TMB, I find myself engaged in battles of various kinds. Sometimes, the specific enemies I face are mentioned on the Encounter Card, while other times, the Encounter will only provide a value called “BQ: Baddie Pts” as part of the battle setup. If the battle choice does not mention any specific enemies, I default to using this value. Let’s dive deeper into this.

The Battle Queue (BQ)

Before any battle can commence, I have to create a Battle Queue. This queue comprises the lineup of Baddies I will be facing during the fight. To create the queue, I refer to the Encounter Card and gather a stack of Baddie chips from my Baddie Active Stacks.

When it comes to building the queue for battle, it’s important that I assemble it face down, with the Baddies remaining unknown until the fight begins. Unless I have scouted specific Baddies and turned them face up, they should all be kept hidden. Additionally, I need to make sure that higher-point Baddies are placed higher on the stack than lower-point Baddies.

If the battle queue specifies a particular Baddie or type, I should first search my Baddie Active Stacks. If I can’t find what I’m looking for there, I should then check the out-of-play Baddies.

Baddie Points

Creating your Battle Queue, or BQ for short, is an important step in the game. Let me break it down for you!

Step 1: Multiply the current day by the number of Gearlocs in your party. For example, if it’s Day 4 and there are 3 Gearlocs, you would get 12 Baddie Points (Baddie Pts). Step 2: Use the Baddie Points to draw Baddies. Start with the highest Pt Baddies available. With 12 Baddie Pts, you could have 2 5Pt Baddies and 2 1Pt Baddies. Step 3: Time to stack ’em! Arrange the Baddies from top to bottom. In our example, it would be: 5, 5, 1, 1.

Easy, right? But don’t forget to consider any other Encounter requirements or Skill modifications that might impact the number of Baddie Pts. It could make a big difference in the types of Baddies you’ll face. So be sure to factor that in before drawing your Baddies. Have fun battling!

Sometimes, the Baddies can be added to my Battle Queue (BQ) after I’ve already created it. The Encounter card will explain how this works, so I need to pay close attention to it!

The Battle Setup Process

1. First, I need to activate any “before battle” effects and Skills, like Tantrum’s ‘Rage’ Skill.
2. Next, I’ll follow the instructions on the Encounter Card to create my BQ.
3. Then, I’ll place the top Baddie from the BQ in the correct Lane and Battle Mat position. I’ll also set its HP, Lane Marker, and Initiative Die. I’ll keep adding Baddies until there are 4 on the mat or the BQ is empty. If I need more information on placing Baddies and determining Initiative, I can check pages 12-13.
4. I’ll roll the Initiative Dice for my Gearlocs and add the results to the Initiative Meter.
5. Now, I’ll move my Gearlocs from their Prep Area to the Battle Mat, making sure to place them in the correct positions and maintaining their existing HP.
6. Before I start the battle, I’ll set the Round Counter Die to R1.
7. At the beginning of a battle, certain effects and skills are activated. For example, Picket’s ‘Shield Wall’ innate ability.

During a Battle

Baddie BQ – During a Battle

During a battle, you might still have some Baddies in your BQ (that’s short for Bad Query) because you started off with more than 4 Baddies or because of special Skills like “Signal” that bring in more Baddies during the fight. But don’t worry, these Baddies won’t join the battle until there are less than 4 Baddies on the Battle Mat.

If that happens, once the round is over, the top Baddie(s) from the BQ will come into play and take up the first available Lane Marker(s) and Initiative Dice (you can read about Initiative Dice on page 13 in the ‘Initiative Dice During Battle’ section).

Simply place the Baddie in the Lane that matches its Lane Marker and in the Attack Form position that it corresponds to.

If the position is already occupied, the Baddie will find the next available Baddie position (starting with Lane 1-4) that matches its Attack Form. If there are no available positions, it will then try lanes of the other Attack Form.

Now It’s the Baddie’s Turn

Baddie Skills

When it comes to battling Baddies, you need to understand their unique Skills and when they come into play. Take note of the Skills listed on the Baddies currently on the Battle Mat so you can anticipate their effects.

If a Baddie Skill requires a target, make sure that target is within range for the Skill to take effect. For example, Poison or Corrosive Skills need the target to be within attack range.

How Baddies Move and Choose Targets

Baddies stay in one spot on the Battle Mat but can target any enemy unit. They can move up to 2 spaces per turn, choosing the path that gets them closest to an opposing unit with the fewest number of spaces to move.

If there’s a tie for who’s closest, the Baddie will use its to decide which unit to go after. It will always pick the shortest route to get next to its target.

If there are no open spots next to any targets, the Baddie won’t move. Or, if it’s already next to an enemy, it won’t move either.

What the Baddie does on its turn:

1. Effects Trigger: First, I resolve any Effect Dice on the Baddie chip, like Bleed, Poison, or Disable.
2. Determine the Baddie’s Target(s): Then, I figure out who the Baddie is going after.
3. Move: If I’m not already next to an enemy, I can move up to two spots closer to the closest enemy. But only if and when there’s a in play.

Hey there! Let’s talk about this baddie’s skills. So, any skill that doesn’t have a specific time mentioned should happen right now, if possible. Easy peasy, right?

Next, it’s time to roll some dice. Roll all of the baddie’s inactive defense dice, and if the target is within attack range, also roll its attack dice. If the baddie can target multiple units and they’re in range, roll its attack dice for each of them. Woah, that’s a lot of dice rolling!

Once we’ve got the rolls, it’s time to resolve them. Put the rolled defense dice on the baddie, apply the total rolled attack dice to the target, and take care of any triggered skills on the gearloc mat. Keep an eye out for those skill triggers!

Oh, and don’t forget about the gearlocs! They have their own skills too, so make sure to trigger them if they apply. Teamwork makes the dream work!

Moving and Targeting as a Gearloc

When I play as a Melee Gearloc, I can use my Dex stat to move a certain number of spaces and target one nearby Baddie each turn. Similarly, if I’m a Ranged Gearloc, I can also use my Dex stat to move a certain number of spaces, but I can target a Baddie anywhere on the Battle Mat. The best part is that I don’t even need line of sight to do this!

But what if I’m a Melee/Ranged Gearloc? Well, in that case, I can still use my Dex stat to move and target adjacent Baddies, just like a Melee Gearloc. However, I can also use the Gearloc Reference Sheets to figure out how to target non-adjacent Baddies on the Battle Mat.

Oh, and here’s a cool thing: Some of my Gearloc Skills might let me choose non-target Baddies, Battle Mat positions, or even multiple Baddies! Talk about versatility!

Here’s how my turn as a Gearloc usually goes:

1. Loot: If I have any Loot, I can use it anytime during my turn, unless there’s a special rule saying otherwise. It’s a great way to get some extra benefits!
2. Effects Trigger: I always make sure to check if there are any Effect Dice on top of my Gearloc chip. These can give me additional powers or abilities during my turn.
3. Moving Gearloc: You can use Dex to move to positions adjacent to you, but not diagonally.
4. Determining the Target when Attacking: Before you roll, choose your target if your roll requires Attack Dice or Skill Dice with a target.
5. Selecting and Rolling Your Dice: The number of dice you can roll is determined by your remaining Dex. The dice you can choose from depend on your current Attack Stat, Defense Stat, and available Skill dice. For example, if my Attack Stat is 2, Defense Stat is 1, and I have 3 available Skills, I can choose from 6 dice to roll. However, if my Dex is 3 and I haven’t moved this turn, I can only choose 3 dice out of the 6 options.
6. Resolving the Roll: Refer to the next section for further instructions.
7. Baddies React: Sometimes Baddies have Skills that activate after they have been attacked.

Resolving the Roll

Hey there Gearloc! Just a quick heads up – you don’t have to use the result of any dice you roll unless the Profession or rolled icon rules specifically say so.

Let’s say you successfully roll some Attack Dice, but then you realize you’re up against a Dire Wolf with Lashback and you’d rather not hit it just yet. No problem, you can hold onto that result and save it for later.

And here’s another example: if you roll a Med Pack (Patches) Skill Die and the result is a 1HP heal instead of 3HP, you have the choice to not heal and put that Skill Die back in its slot on your Gearloc Mat (but don’t worry, your Dex still counts for the roll).

Once your dice are rolled, you’ve got a few options to choose from:

• Resolve Target Damage & Effects: Add up all the Damage, as well as any other Damage results or effects from your Skills, and apply them to your target.

Getting Familiar with Too Many Bones

When you’re playing Too Many Bones, there are a few important things to keep in mind. Let’s go over them together.

• Resolve Non-Target Damage & Effects: Some of your Skills may affect enemies directly, while others might not. You can use these Skills however you like.
• Allocate Active, Locked & Backup Plan Dice: Put any dice you want to use in the open Active slots. You can also put applicable Skills in your Active or a Gearloc’s Ally Active, as well as the Locked slots. If you want, you can even place dice in the Backup Plan slots.
• Use your Backup Plan: You can only use your Backup Plan once in a turn. To use a Backup Plan Skill that costs a certain number of dice, remove that number of dice from your Backup Plan.

Getting Started with Too Many Bones

Embarking on a mission to conquer The Ebon is no walk in the park. Even seasoned Gearlocs may find themselves struggling to achieve victory by Day 2 of their grand adventure! But fret not, my friend. TMB was designed to pose a considerable challenge.

When we say that newcomers should seek assistance from the guards (on Day 2), we genuinely mean it! We understand that comprehending the intricacies of TMB and each individual Gearloc can be a time-consuming process. That’s why we’ve introduced three different play modes to help you ease into the game.

You might want to begin your expedition in the first mode, gradually ramping up the difficulty until you reach a level that feels just right for you.

Greenhorn Adventurer – This mode is perfect for beginners who are still getting the hang of the game.

• Boost your Gearloc’s HP Stat by 2 before embarking on Day 1.
• Receive 1 Training Point before embarking on Day 1, giving you an extra edge in your training.

If you get knocked out during your Adventure, don’t worry about losing any dice in your Locked Slots.

Hey, if you have a basic understanding of the game, go ahead and choose the Casual Adventurer mode. It’s perfect for you!

In this mode, you’ll start Day 1 with an extra point added to your Gearloc’s HP Stat, giving you a little boost. And not only that, you also get 1 Training Point to help you out.

But if you’re feeling up for a real challenge, Seasoned Adventurer is the way to go!

In this mode, there are no easy wins. No freebies. It’s just pure, unadulterated Too Many Bones.

So, make your choice and get ready for an epic adventure!