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1 — IntroIn Quest: Awakening of Melior, you play as a character against various encounters, using Combat, Survival, and Intellect against those encounters in order to defeat them and continue your journey. Roll dice to complete combos for both you and the encounters you face, altering those statistics. Before each encounter, an event card comes into effect. Some events are Quests—complete a QUEST, and win the game. When an encounter defeats you, it reduces your hit points—run out of hit points, and you lose the game.

2 — SetupChoose your character. Shuffle together the twenty generic events, the five events in each of the three encounters’ types, and your five character-specific events to form the event deck, for a total of forty event cards. Ensure that the character-specific events of all other characters are removed.

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Shuffle the encounter deck, which contains Glowmount, Meltwood, and Shadow Caves encounters. Each encounter type has a different card back—shuffle them together anyway.

Set your character in the play area, and set the three game variables: your hit points (HP), your level, and the stage level. Your HP start at 6, which is the maximum. Your level and the stage level start at 1 each and have no maximum.

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Next, deal out the stage, which consists of four rows and seven columns. In the fourth row, deal a card to each of the seven column slots. In the third row, skip the first and seventh columns, and deal a card to each of the second through sixth column slots. In the second row, skip the first, second, sixth, and seventh columns, and deal a card to the third through fifth column slots. In the first row, deal a card only to the fourth column slot. This deal will create a pyramid shape. For space and aesthetics, have each card cover the bottom half of the card in the row beneath it.

Later in the game, when dealing subsequent stages, it is eventually possible that there will be insufficient cards in the encounter deck to fully deal out the stage because the player has so many cards in the XP. In this case, the character does not die, but neither does the character earn

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the fame or satisfaction that completing a QUEST would have done. Instead, the character lives the rest of his or her life in quiet mediocrity, and the game is a draw.

3 — EventsBefore each encounter, draw and play a card from the event deck. If it’s a persistent event, place it in the play area active until its or another card’s effect instructs otherwise. Persistent events create ongoing effects. If the event isn’t persistent, its effect applies either immediately or only through the immediate encounter, depending on the text. Once such an event is drawn, its effect is applied, and the card is put into the event discard pile. When a persistent event ends, the card is put into the event discard pile.

Some persistent events are Boons. You can only have three Boons active at a time. If you draw a fourth Boon event, shuffle one

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of them into the event deck.

Some persistent events are Quests. For more on Quests, see 7 — Quests and Winning.

If a persistent event has a combo, treat it the same as you would a combo on your character. For more on combos, see 5 — dice & combos.

In the highly unlikely event that the event deck is empty, shuffle the event discard and

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turn it face down to form the new deck.

Organizing your events in the play area can help keep track of things. One-time events can be placed in the play area until fully resolved, while Boons, Quests, and other persistent events can be separated into those groups.

4 — EncountersOnce you’ve drawn and applied an event, choose an encounter to enter and face. At the start of each stage, the only option is

Character & Encounter Breakdown GuideA. Card nameStatistics: B. Combat; C: Survival; D: Intellect

(see Applying Combo Results under 5 — Dice & combos)

E. Special ability textF. Combo(s) (and k abilities) (see Locking in

Combos under 5 — Dice & combos)G. Treasure (see 6 — XP, Treasures, & LeveLing

uP)

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the singular card in the first row (which is in the fourth column). For subsequent encounters on a stage, you may choose any one of the three encounters remaining in the row behind the one you just faced. If the stage is empty (after the fourth encounter of a stage), increase the stage level by 1 and deal a new stage in the same way the first stage was dealt in 2 — setup.

Once you’ve chosen an encounter, reveal it and enter it. Once you’ve entered the encounter, clear away excess encounter cards from the stage. There are no encounter cards to clear for the first encounter of a stage, but there will be for subsequent encounters.

To clear excess encounter cards from a stage, discard the two cards in the same row as the one you entered. Then, discard each card from the next row, relative to the one encounter you entered, that isn’t

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either directly behind the encounter you entered or adjacent to an encounter card that is. Finally, for each encounter in the row behind that one, discard each card that isn’t either directly behind a remaining encounter or adjacent to one that is. To discard an encounter, return it face down to the encounter deck.

In this way, each time you enter an encounter, you’ll be left with a new, smaller pyramid shape of encounter cards forming the stage, with the encounter you entered at the top.

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After clearing excess encounter cards, face the encounter by rolling your five six-sided dice. (Even if you could defeat the encounter with one or more statistics, you must begin by rolling the five dice.) The results of this roll, before applying any effects of abilities or events, are called your natural roll, which may be referenced by other text, such as Kralls’s Transform ability. For more on rolling and using dice, see 5 — dice & combos.

Once you’ve rolled at least once, locked relevant combos, and decided to stop rolling, check whether one or more of your statistics is equal to or higher than any of the encounter’s matching statistics. If any of them is, you may defeat the encounter with that statistic. If more than one of your statistics are higher than the encounter’s corresponding statistics, you may choose with which of the statistics to defeat the encounter (though this choice is often irrelevant). For more on defeating

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encounters, see 6 — Xp, treasures, & LeveLing up. Note that if an encounter doesn’t have a particular statistic, it can’t be defeated with that statistic.

If none of your statistics is higher than any of the encounter’s corresponding statistics, but at least one of them is equal, you may tie the encounter. When you take a tie, you defeat the encounter (and gain the benefits of doing so), but the encounter also deals you 1 damage. If more than one of your statistics is equal to the encounter’s matching statistics, just as when they are higher, you may choose with which statistic to take the tie. (Again, this choice is often irrelevant.)

If all of your statistics are lower than the encounter’s corresponding statistics, the encounter defeats you and deals you damage. Find the highest difference between the encounter’s statistics and your corresponding statistics to determine the

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number of damage.

For example, if your Combat is 3 and the encounter’s is 4, and your Survival is 6 but the encounter’s is 8, the encounter deals you 2 damage—even though your Survival is higher than your Combat, the encounter’s Survival is high enough that its Survival minus yours yields a larger difference (2) than its Combat minus yours (1).

To take damage, reduce your HP by the number of damage. If your HP are reduced to 0 or lower, your character is eliminated, and you lose the game. Remember when taking damage that its value is always reduced to the stage level if the damage number is higher. (So in the above example, you would be dealt 2 damage if you were on stage 2 or higher, but if you were only on stage 1, the damage would be reduced to 1.) For more on stage levels and being defeated by an encounter, see 6 — Xp, treasures, & LeveLing up.

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5 — Dice & CombosYou start facing an encounter by rolling your five six-sided dice. (Even if you could defeat the encounter with one or more statistics, you must begin by rolling the five dice.) Once you’ve done, so, begin locking dice. Locking dice works differently whether it’s with beneficial combos or enemy combos. After locking results (see below), you may reroll all unlocked dice any number of times, locking relevant results between each reroll.

Locking in CombosDice-sized dice icons on cards indicate combos. If a combo is on your character or a Boon, it is a beneficial combo. Otherwise, it’s an enemy combo. As you roll results that match the icons of beneficial combos, you may lock those matching dice into the combos. If the combo is completed, you may begin completing a second instance of it; however, if a combo is incomplete, you may not lock redundant dice.

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For example, Zebra Amelior has a combo that requires 456. If you roll two 4s, a 5, and a 6, you can lock all four of those dice into the combo. One 4, the 5, and the 6 will complete the combo, and the extra 4 will begin the second instance of the combo. You’d need six total dice to actually complete the second instance of the combo, but you may still lock dice into it. However, if you had two 4s but no 5s or 6s, you would only be able to lock one 4 into the combo because you can’t begin locking dice into a second instance of a combo until the first is completed.

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If you have multiple beneficial combos that use the same dice, you may choose into which combo a given die is locked.

In the previous example, you had 456 locked into Zebra Amelior’s combo and had an extra 4 locked into a second instance of that combo. If you also had the Crystal Sword Boon event, which has the beneficial combo “4: +1C,” you could lock the extra 4 into that combo instead.

With beneficial combos, you also have the option to unlock dice at any time. You may lock dice into a combo early to prevent that die from rolling a detrimental result only to find out a few rerolls later that you need that die to try to roll a different number.

For example, if you rolled two 4s but no other helpful results, you may have locked one into Zebra’s combo and the other into the Crystal Sword combo. A few rerolls later, you’ve rolled a 5 and locked it

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into Zebra’s combo along with the 4, but the other two dice have locked into enemy combos, and you need Zebra’s combo completed to defeat the encounter. In this case, you may unlock the 4 from Crystal Sword’s combo and begin rerolling it in hopes of rolling the 6 you need.

Enemy combos most frequently appear on encounters—a given encounter’s combos are in effect while you are facing that encounter. Dice lock automatically into enemy combos as matching dice results are rolled, and unlike beneficial combos, you may not unlock dice from enemy combos. Enemy combos follow the same rules as beneficial combos in terms of dice multiples and combo instances.

For example, the Bear of Squirrels encounter has a combo “1: +1C,” so a 1 will complete its combo, and every further 1 can complete another instance of that combo. If you roll five 1s, they will lock into Bear of Squirrels’s combo and complete

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it five times. Contrariwise, the Twisted Townsfolk encounter has a combo “13: +1CI,” so if you roll five 1s, only one will lock into the combo. If you rolled four 1s and a 3, two 1s will lock into the combo because one 1 and the 3 will complete the combo, allowing another of the 1s to lock into the second instance of the combo. The other two 1s will remain unlocked.

There is an exception to the rule that you cannot unlock dice from enemy combos. If one or more dice could lock into more than one enemy combo, they first lock into the combo that can be completed and that requires the most dice. If (after rerolls, for example) another combo later meets these criteria, unlock necessary dice and lock them in the new combo.

For example, the Diamond Knights encounter has two combos: “1: +1C” and “13: +3CI.” If you roll a 1 but no 3s, that 1 locks into the first combo because it can complete it. However,

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if after rerolling, you roll a 3, the 1 will unlock from the first combo and lock into the second combo with the 3, completing that combo instead.

Some encounters, such as Field of Maws, have combos within frames and have the text “Level 4+”. These combos only have any effect if the stage level is 4 or higher.

Applying Combo ResultsOnce you’ve decided not to reroll dice further, all completed combos take effect. Incomplete combos have no effect. Resolve each combo a number of times equal to how many instances of that combo were completed.

Most combos indicate addition of a value and one or more statistics, represented by small, colored icons in the same relative positions as the statistic icons appear along the left-hand side of character and encounter cards. The top, red icon is

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Combat; the middle, green icon is Survival; and the bottom, blue icon is Intellect. Add the value indicated by the combo to all listed statistics of the character or encounter, as appropriate: If the combo is beneficial, add the value to your character’s statistic(s); if the combo is an enemy combo, add the value to the encounter’s statistic(s).

For example, Zebra Amelior has the combo “456: +3CSI.” If the combo is completed, add 3 to Zebra’s Combat, Survival, and Intellect. Kralls has two combos: “46: +2CI” and “5: +1S.” Completing his first combo once will add 2 to both his Combat and his Intellect, while completing his second combo once will add 1 to his Survival.

A character or encounter’s base statistics are printed in the colored icons on the left-hand side of the card. The top, red icon is Combat; the middle, green icon is Survival; and the bottom, blue icon is Intellect. A

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star (t) within an icon refers to its level, for a character, or the stage level, for an encounter. A star icon with text on it has the modification applied to t (level).If Zebra Amelior, as before, completes her combo, the +3 will apply to her Combat of t (her level). If she is level 1, her Combat will be 4 with the completed combo. Her Survival is also t, so it will be a total of 4 with the completed combo. Her Intellect is t with “+1” on top, so its base value is currently 2, and her Intellect will be 5 with the completed combo. Kralls has t Combat, t+1 Survival, and t Intellect, so if he completed each of his two combos (“46: +2CI” and “5: +1S”) once while he is level 1, his Combat will be 3, his Survival will be 3, and his Intellect will be 3.

For combos that contain text, perform the instructions of the text once for each time the combo was completed.

Once you’ve finished applying combos, check whether you’ve defeated the

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encounter. See 4 — encounters. Once you’ve determined whether you’ve defeated the encounter or been defeated by it, see 6 — Xp, treasures, & LeveLing up.

6 — XP, Treasures, & Leveling UpAfter rolling dice and completing and applying combos, you’ve checked whether you defeated the encounter or were defeated by it. (If you tied the encounter, after being dealt 1 damage for the tie, you have defeated the encounter.)

If the encounter defeated you, you were dealt damage (see 4 — encounters). Now discard the encounter card, and you are ready for the next encounter, starting with drawing a new event (3 — events). To discard an encounter, shuffle it into the encounter deck.

If you defeated the encounter, instead add the encounter card face up to your

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XP (experience-points pile). If the encounter card has an XP icon (“XP” in a circle along the right-hand side of the card), instead take an XP token card face up into your XP, and discard the defeated encounter card. Encounter cards with XP icons represent the higher-profile encounters of the world and, though rare, can be encountered again and again.

If the defeated encounter card has treasure, as indicated along its right-hand side on the top half of the card, perform the instructions of the text. If it was the last encounter of the stage (in the fourth row),

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you may wait to perform the treasure’s text until you’ve dealt the next stage.

For example, one copy of the Field of Maws encounter has the Sightlines treasure, which reads, “Reveal three Meltwood encounters on this stage.” Normally, you would perform that text when you first gained the encounter as XP, but if Field of Maws was the last encounter of the stage, you may wait until the next stage is dealt and then reveal three Meltwood encounters from among those.

Whenever you have three face-up cards in your XP, turn them face down and increase your level by 1. Changing level has no other effect than to increase your character’s t, thus raising its statistics.

If you’re forced to discard a face-down XP, your level doesn’t change, but you will have to compensate with additional XP the next time you level up.

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7 — Quests and WinningSome persistent events are Quests. Quests are beneficial persistent events, and each Quest event has a QUEST ability that outlines criteria that can be met. If those criteria are met, you win the game.

For example, the Meltwood event Fresh Footsteps is a Quest event, and its Metlwood Delver QUEST ability has the text, “Defeat Field of Maws or Flintmeld Saurian while the other is in your XP.” If you defeat an event named Field of Maws or an event named Flintmeld Saurian, if an event card with the other name is in your XP (experience-points pile), you complete the QUEST and win the game.

QUEST abilities can appear on other cards than Quest events. As long as the card is active, its QUEST is eligible for completion. In Quest: Awakening of Melior, the Zebra Amelior character has a QUEST ability that reads, “Reach level 7.” If her

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level becomes 7, you win the game.

8 — CustomizationQuest: Awakening of Melior is a standalone game that is built to be forward-compatible with possible future Quest-titled games. Characters are already interchangeable—at the start of each game, choose your character and swap out the character’s five character-specific event cards from the event deck. However, the event deck is more flexible than just the character cards.

Glowmount, Meltwood, and Shadow Caves are the three types of encounters that comprise the encounter deck, and each comes with five encounter-type-specific event cards that go into the event deck. With future encounter types, these could be mixed and matched. With multiple copies of Quest: Awakening of Melior, one could even play an all-Glowmount—for example—experience, though this is

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not recommended, as doing so would imbalance the QUEST diversification and detract from variety of play.

Apart from character and encounter-type “modules” of five events each, the event deck can be further modified. Each event card has a positive, negative, or neutral value in its lower-right corner. Yellow circles with positive values indicate helpful event cards, with the helpfulness ranging from +1 (somewhat helpful) to +3 (very helpful, including QUEST-granting cards, which allow for winning the game). Red circles with negative values indicate harmful event cards, the harmfulness ranging from –1 (somewhat harmful) to –2 (detrimental). A gray circle with a 0 indicates a neutral event.

The sum of the event values in Quest: Awakening of Melior is 0, creating an overall neutral experience—some events are good, and some are bad, but all together, they

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even out. Future event cards could allow players to modify their event decks on a card-by-card basis, while still maintaining a balance (or lack of balance, if they prefer it). A player’s event deck need not consist of exactly forty cards, though it should stay within the thirty-five- to forty-five-card range.

It is recommended that a player not alter the five cards of each of the encounter types included or of the player’s character.

9 — Multiplayer VariantsThough Quest: Awakening of Melior was designed as a single-player game, there are ways to play with friends.

These rules have not been thoroughly tested! Please share your feedback, questions, and problematic cards and scenarios to improve these variants.

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CooperativeTo play on a team with one or more players, give each player a character, and shuffle all used characters’ events into the event deck.

Players share 6 hit points and XP but have their own sets of dice. All players’ dice can be shared in order to complete combos; however, all players’ dice mix and match to complete enemy combos as well.

Characters’ statistics are combined, and the stage level is always multiplied by the number of players.

eXtreme: To play a harder version, remove players’ ability to share dice. Players must only use their own dice for their own combos, but the enemy combos still mix and match from all players’ dice.

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CompetitiveTo play against one or more friends, you can simply set each player up with a separate copy of the game: Each player plays one encounter at a time, and the first to complete a QUEST—or the last remaining after others are eliminated—is the winner.

To play with a single copy of the game, shuffle all players’ characters’ events into the event deck. Each player is affected by drawn events, except for character-specific events, which apply only to the matching characters.

Each player faces the same encounters, though unlike in cooperative play, different players’ dice are kept separate. Players take turns choosing encounters to enter, with the first player being chosen randomly and selection rotating clockwise around the table. For the first encounter of each stage,

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no player chooses.

Each player who defeats an encounter gains it as XP, so the number of earned XP for each player will have to be individually tracked.

Treasure only directly affects players who defeated the encounter with the treasure, though other players may be indirectly affected (such as when encounters on a stage are revealed).

In this variant, players share Boons except for character-specific ones. If a fourth non-character-specific Boon is drawn, the player whose turn it is to choose the encounter also chooses which to discard. A player can have any number of character-specific Boons.

The first to complete a QUEST—or the last remaining after others are

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eliminated—is the winner. If there’s a tie, whoever has the most HP wins. If that’s a tie, the game’s owner wins.

Artwork by Anton Magdalin, Ivy Cave, Juan Paulo Mananita, Jojo Leong, Andrei Sitari, and Jesse Blok. Graphic

and game design by Andrew Wilson.All © 2015 Silent7Seven Games.

Example screenshots generated with Tabletop Simulator.

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Quick Guide1. Deal out the stage.2. Play an event.3. Enter an encounter. (Clear away the extra cards.) A. Roll five dice. B. Lock dice into combos. C. You may reroll unlocked dice any number of times. (Lock applicable dice on each reroll.) D. Determine the victor; take damage or gain XP (and resolve treasure).4. Repeat 2 and 3 for the second, third, and fourth encounters of the stage.5. Repeat all until you have 0 HP or you complete a QUEST.