Produktbeschreibung
Shadows of Malice is a cooperative game in which 2-8 players work to unseal hidden Wells of Light to prevent the shadow demon Xulthûl from gaining a physical form and overrunning the Realm of Aethos.
The Wells are located in strongholds scattered throughout the Realm and defended by powerful Guardians. Over the centuries, many of the Wells have fallen Dark, but if the players can find and unseal the remaining Light Wells they prevent Xulthûl from gaining substance and win the game. If Xulthûl’s Shadows, however, manage to defile a single Light Well, the demon will gain a body and enter the Realm. If this happens, the players must defeat Xulthûl in battle to save the Realm.
Players control avatars, heroic champions imbued with unique masteries over Light. Each turn, the players move through the Realm, confronting their fate, battling creatures with deadly abilities, and engaging the services of cities and mystics in order to gather the potions, treasure, and soulshards they will need to defeat the stronghold Guardians and unseal the Wells they protect. The Light or Dark nature of each Well is revealed only when its Guardian is defeated.
Meanwhile, Xulthûl’s Shadows are thickening in the Shadow Realm and will enter the game at random times in random locations, seeking the one Well that will bring about the entrance of their master.
Shadows of Malice game synopsis
Structure: Shadows of Malice is a cooperative game -- either the players win together by thwarting the Shadows or the Shadows defeat the players.
Setup: players choose 1-4 terrain maps for the game. If they choose X-many maps, there will be X light wells and 2X dark wells in the game. These are randomized and hidden in the strongholds on the X-many maps (so all light wells could be on the same map).
Player objective: go to the strongholds, defeat the stronghold guardians, and reveal wells they guard. To win, the players must reveal all X-many light wells before a Shadow can reveal any one light well.
Playing the game: The game proceeds in pairs of turns: the players' turn followed by the Shadows' turn. On the players' turn, each player may have his game avatar either:
1. Rest and recover
2. Perform a special action on a revealed light well
3. Move and/or engage the service of a city or mystic
4. Move and/or engage in combat with a creature
Players engage and defeat creatures in lairs to acquire treasure items and soulshards. Players' avatars all have the same "stats" (e.g., life, movement, etc.) but each possesses a unique special ability called a "mastery" (e.g., the ability to redo die rolls, a better chance to hit an opponent). Players' avatars do not level up. Instead, treasure items and potions are used to buff up the players' avatars so they can grow powerful enough to take out a stronghold guardian and reveal it's well. Soulshards are crystallized life essences harvested from defeated creatures that the players collect and can invoke to activate mastery abilities or invoke to increase or decrease their die rolls or the die rolls of other avatars. Treasure items, potions, and soulshards may be freely traded among avatars at any time except during combat. Cards are used for treasure items and potions in the game; acrylic gems are used for soulshards.
Creatures are always encountered individually and are randomly created when encountered (because the Shadow Lord's evil mutates the natural denizens of the world in random ways). Players roll dice for each encounter to determine a creature's type (e.g., mammal, reptile), it's power level, and whether it has any special abilities (e.g., poison, death gaze). Cards are used for creature abilities. Treasure is awarded based on where the creature was encountered. Soulshards are awarded based on the creature's power level and abilities.
Combat is played out by rolling dice and modifying the rolls by creature power level and abilities, and avatar buffs and bonuses. Creatures and avatars sustain wounds and/or drains from combat. If they lose all their life to wounds and/or drains they die. Dead avatars reform new bodies and re-enter play. Dead creatures stay dead.
On the Shadows turn, Shadows in the Shadow Realm spawn and grow stronger and try to enter the game maps, while Shadows that managed to enter the game maps seek to defeat a stronghold guardian and reveal a light well.
If a Shadow defeats a stronghold guardian and reveals a dark well it will proceed to another stronghold in search of a light well. If a Shadow defeats a stronghold guardian and reveals a light well, it will render the well dark and transform into the Shadow Lord. The Shadow Lord will seek to snuff out all light wells. The players may still win the game by defeating the Shadow Lord before it extinguishes all the light wells. If the Shadow Lord extinguishes all the light wells, it conquers the world and the players lose.
Each revealed dark well increases the chance that an encountered creature will have abilities. Each revealed light well grants a random lasting buff to each player's avatar. |
