On the top row, on the left-hand side, we have the Blessings deck. This deck functions primarily as the timer. At the beginning of each player's turn, the player flips over a card from this deck. If the deck runs out of cards, the game is over and the players lose. In the middle is the scenario card, which describes the plot of the scenario and the various locations that I'll need to visit. On the right is the token card for my hero, the human fighter Valeros, and the deck containing cards for his weapons, armor, and other goodies. The three locations for this scenario -- the woods, the waterfront, and the farmhouse -- are shown in the bottom row. Each location contains the monsters, traps, treasure, and other cards that might be discovered at that location.
The setup takes a while. For each location, I need to draw a specified number of cards from various decks and combine them into a location deck. Cards are drawn face-down and shuffled together, so although I would know from the location card that a given location must include, say, four monsters, two allies, two blessings, and so forth, I have no idea which monsters, allies, and blessings I'll encounter, or in what order. Each turn, I can explore a location and reveal one or more cards from the location deck. If it's a monster, I need to fight it. (Fortunately, Valeros is very good at fighting!) If it's an item, I can roll to try to acquire it.
Mixed in with all this stuff are cards for the main villain and his henchmen. For my scenario, the plot is to wipe out the bandits who have been plaguing the town. There's a main bandit leader as well as two unnamed bandit henchmen. To insert these foes into the decks, I mix them up and shuffle one into each location deck. I know that each deck will include one of these foes, but until I encounter them, I won't know which foe will be found in which location.
Now it's time for Valeros to venture out in search of the bandits! How did he fare? That will be the subject of my next post!
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