Champions of Midgard: The Dark Mountains — Rules Manual

The Dark Mountains
The Archer Clans of the North have come to lend their bows to the brave leaders fighting the enemies of Midgard! Unfortunately, the mountain giants known as Bergrisar have awakened too and are capturing archers before they arrive.
In the first expansion for Champions of Midgard, players will undertake new journeys over land to defeat the Bergrisar and win the archers to their cause. Increase your power with new runes, defeat new enemies, and add new warriors to your ranks as you head into The Dark Mountains.

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3
Components
12 Archer Dice
5 Worker Meeples
2 Leader Boards
1 Expanded Market Stall Board
1 Beggar Market Stall
24 Bergrisar Cards
5 Rune Cards
24 Land Journey Cards
1 Destiny Card
1 Private Longship
6 100-Point Tokens
2 Score Markers
3 Market Stall Tiles
1 Military (Roving Rangers)
2 Economic (Wandering Monk & Gossip)
24 Enemy Cards
3 Troll Lords
3 Seidr Draugr
3 Loot Hoarders
3 Vile Priests
3 Dark Shaman
3 Cave Dwellers
3 Rock Creatures
3 Mist Walkers
1 Dark Mountains Board

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Champions of Midgard: The Dark Mountains requires some additional setup from the
base game version of Champions of Midgard. The setup instructions which follow are in
addition to the normal setup instructions for Champions of Midgard which should still be
followed precisely except where noted otherwise.
Place the Beggar Market Stall in one of the Market Spaces on the main game board. The
Beggar Market Stall should be used in every game in addition to the market stalls added
according to the number of players. This is a visual representation (and an improvement of)
the “Beg” action outlined in the original game and is always available to all players.
Many of the components in The Dark Mountains are designed to be mixed in with
the components from your Champions of Midgard base game. Begin by mixing the
following components in with their original counterparts before beginning setup: Rune
cards, Destiny cards, Troll cards, Draugr cards, Monster cards, and Market Stalls.
All of the components from The Dark Mountains expansion are marked with so
they can be easily removed from the base game if you wish to play without them.
Place the Archer dice beside the board near the other Viking Warrior dice.
Place The Dark Mountains board next to the top right of the game board.
Shuffle the Bergrisar cards and the Land Journey cards and place them face-down on the
indicated spaces on The Dark Mountains board. The empty spaces should be filled during
the setup phase of each round. Bergrisar cards are placed face-up and Land Journey
cards are placed face down.
If you are playing with 4 or more players, place the extended market board beneath The
Dark Mountains board. Otherwise, skip this step.
If you are playing with 5 players, place the additional Private Longship beside the board
near the other Private Longships and use 3 Military and 3 Economic Market tiles during
setup. Otherwise, skip this step.
You are now ready to begin playing!
This new, permanent, Market tile can accomodate any number
of workers. When you place a worker here, take 1 Blame and 1
other resource of your choice from the supply.

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In a 2-3 player game, place this on the space marked for 4-players. In a 4-5 player game, place it in the empty space on the extended market board.

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6
You will notice a new icon on several expansion components. This icon means “a warrior die of your choice” and was needed since the old icon only depicted the original 3 dice types. The addition of Archer dice created the need for a new icon. So, remember as you play that & mean the same thing and should be read interchangeably.
The new icon indicates “a resource of your choice” – Food, Wood, or Gold. This icon will have a number in the center showing how many resources you are entitled to (or must spend.) You may use any combination of the same or different resources.
When playing with the Dark Mountains expansion, any card or effect which references “Journey cards” applies to both the original Journey cards and the new Land Journey cards (e.g. the Sage’s Hut.)
Finally, when playing with 5 players, the fifth player to activate the Worker Huts location pays 1 coin to gain their extra worker. This is not printed on the board so the players will have to remember.
Remember, these locations have new effects that are not printed on the game board!
Gameplay
New Icons & Rules

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7
Archers
Archers are a new and powerful type of warrior dice, as they only have 1 blank side.
Additionally, they are adept hunters, as each has a 50% chance to get double food when
hunting. The icon indicates that this hit will produce two Food when rolled at the Hunting
Grounds. Archer dice are primarily gained by defeating the Bergrisar.
Archer dice have the following results:

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8
The Bergrisar are Mountain Giants with a nasty penchant for taking prisoners. There is
nothing crueler to a proud Viking warrior than being trapped in a smelly giant’s cave –
confined they are unable to battle and will never find their way to Valhalla.
The Dark Mountains
Combat with the Bergrisar is resolved after combat with the Draugr and before combat
with Monsters. Empty Bergrisar and Land Journey Spaces are filled during Round Set-up.
Bergrisar cards are placed face-up in their respective spaces. Land Journey cards are placed
face-down. Bergrisar cards which are undefeated at the end of the round are not discarded
and do not receive a bounty. They simply remain in place until defeated.
The Bergrisar are encountered similarly to how monsters are encountered in Champions
of Midgard. Placing a worker pawn on a Bergrisar space indicates that you will fight the
Bergrisar during the combat phase. As when encountering monsters, you must first encounter
a Journey card – in this case, it is a Land Journey card.
During the Assign Viking Warriors phase, place any warrior dice you would like to have fight
the Bergrisar on the Bergrisar card you are encountering. When it is time to resolve combat,
first reveal the Land Journey card associated with your space and resolve its effect.
The Land Journey cards have a variety of effects which often require you to spend gold. There
is a icon printed on The Dark Mountains board, next to the Land Journey spaces, as a
reminder of this fact. Gold spent to resolve Land Journey cards comes from your personal
supply; you do not need to commit it ahead of time. Some Land Journey cards have an effect
you must resolve; others offer you a choice. A complete description of each Land Journey
card appears on page 9. Defeating the Bergrisar is the primary way to get the new dice type:
Archers.

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9
Example of combat with Bergrisar
Gylfir places a worker pawn on a Bergrisar space during the Worker Placement Phase, indicating he will encounter a Bergrisar.
During the Assign Viking Warriors phase, he places 4 viking warrior dice on the Bergrisar card.
As Gylfir only has 3 coins available, he chooses to pay them all and lose 1 die. Now he can combat the enemy as normal. He rolls 1 shield, 1 blank, and 2 hits.
Gylfir wins the combat, loses 1 die, and claims his reward - 8 Glory and 1 Archer die.
When it is time to resolve combat, he flips the Land Journey card to discover that his warriors were caught in a blizzard. He must pay 1 coin for each of his warrior dice and lose the ones he doesn’t pay for.

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Thief x2

Lose 1 Coin, if possible. If you have no gold, lose nothing.
Lone Warrior x2

Pay 1 Coin to hire 1 Viking warrior of your choice (add to party).
Lost x2

Pay 1 Coin (for a stranger’s map) or Lose 2 of your committed Viking warriors.
Blocked Path x2

Pay 2 Coins (to hire a guide) or give up. If you give up, return all committed dice to your longhouse.
Blizzard x2

Pay 1 Coin for each committed warrior or lose them. Any warriors you cannot pay for (or choose not to pay for) die from exposure and are returned to the supply.
Bandits x2

Pay 2 Coins or fight the Bandits (1 attack 2 defense). Glory may only be gained by fighting.
Land Journey Cards
Avalanche x2

Lose 1 Viking Warrior die from those committed.
All Quiet x8

No effect

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Dark Shaman

These practitioners of dark magic draw on the powers of the underworld to attack their enemies with unavoidable spells. Shield result block no damage when fighting these enemies.

Cave Dweller

Enemy of the traveler, the Cave Dweller preys on those seeking shelter from the elements. Defeating one of these nasty creatures allows you to discard 1 Blame and also raid his stores, claiming food and gold to bring home with you.

Mist Walker

The most vengeful of the monsters of Midgard, the Mist Walker slays any Viking Warrior who dares to hit him.

Loot Hoarder

These dreadful beasts collect the spoils of shipwrecks and the possessions of fallen warriors and hoard them in their lairs. Defeating them is easy but finding their wealth is another story. Any hit defeats the Loot Hoarder. Gain 1 Gold for each hit you roll against him in combat.

New Enemy Cards

There are several new enemies to face in The Dark Mountains expansion, each with new effects to keep Viking leaders on their toes.

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Rock Creature

Stone is mighty and these beasts have no love for the weak. Each round of combat, the Rock Creature slays any Viking warrior that rolled a blank. Shield results may still be used to negate these losses.

Vile Priest

As the Dark Shaman uses magic to kill, the Vile Priest uses it to heal himself, draining power from his enemies. At the start of each round of combat, the Vile Priest heals 1 combat damage previously dealt to him.

Seidr Draugr

These nasty undead creatures carry an air of corruption with them. If they are not disposed of quickly that corruptive force can spread to you. The Seidr Draugr never kills Viking Warrior dice. Instead, you gain 1 Blame token at the start of each round of combat while fighting the Seidr Draugr.

Troll Lord

The most powerful trolls out there. When defeated, this troll allows the victor to discard 1 Blame, and then all other players receive 1 Blame from the supply.

New Enemy Cards (Cont.)

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13
Appendix
I. Viking Leaders
Jorunn the Traveler - Jorunn enjoys sharing the story of her adventures almost as much as she enjoys undertaking them. Whenever you reveal a Journey card (Land Journey or Sea Journey) if the effect is not “All Quiet” you immediately gain 2 Glory. No glory is gained from simply looking at a Journey card, regardless of the effect (e.g. with the Sage’s Hut or Journey Rune effects).
Ragnhild the Adviser - Ragnhild is well versed in many different kinds of weaponry and demands her followers are too. When you activate the Jarl’s Longhouse location you may choose a Swordsman die, Spearman die, or Axeman die (instead of being obligated to take a Swordsman die), in addition to the Start Player marker. If you already have the Start Player marker and you activate the Jarl’s Longhouse location, you still must pass it to the player on your left.

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14
Appendix (cont.)
II. Rune Cards
The Hunt - Use when hunting. Collect 1 Glory for each hit rolled.
The number of Glory can exceed the number of Food collected (e.g.
If you roll 10 hits, you collect just 6 Food but gain 10 Glory). Archers
do not produce 2 Glory when hunting – they get extra food but don’t
score extra hits.
Awareness - Look at the top 3 cards of either the Journey Deck or
the Land Journey Deck. You may reorganize these cards and place
them back on top of the deck in any order.
Training - Exchange any 2 of your Viking Warrior dice with any 2
Viking Warrior dice from the supply.
Friendship - When activating this Rune, choose 1 other player.
You and the chosen player each discard 1 Blame token. You may
not choose yourself. You may choose a player who does not have a
Blame token.
Patience - Clone the effect of a face-up rune belonging to another
player or in the supply. The Patience Rune always has priority. If
you attempt to clone a rune, an opponent may not use their rune in
response to prevent your cloning of it. Additionally, you may use the
rune immediately when another player decides to use their rune in
order to clone the effect before it is flipped face-down.

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Game Design: Ole Steiness
Development: Joshua Lobkowicz & Shane Myerscough
Art: Jakub Politzer, Alberto Moldes, Victor P. Corbella, and Andre Garcia
Graphic Design: Nick Banjai
Rulebook Layout: Nick Banjai
Editing: Joshua Lobkowicz, Owen Reissmann, Dawn Lobkowicz
Playtesters: Ben Whiteman, Hal Moore, Charlie Theel, Matthew Roberts, Connie Roberts, Rebecca Barr, Vincent Gasperson, Bunny Burn, Jimmy Joe, Dawn Lobkowicz, Owen Reissmann, Joseph Reissmann, Pedro Mendoza, Aaron Belmer, Thomas Steiness, Adel Hadi, Simon Gjerloev, Christian Engelbrecht, Daniel Skjold Pedersen, Morten Weilbach, Johannes Sjolte, the customers and crew at Pieces STL Board Game Cafe ... and many more.
Special Thanks: All of our Kickstarter backers for their help and support!
Thank you all for helping to make our game shine!
Credits
New Icons
- Archer Die
- Any Die
- Any resource (number indicates how many)
- Dark Mountains Expansion

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