Game Objective

In Fate: Defenders of Grimheim, each player takes on the role of an aspiring hero from the village of Grimheim. Together, the heroes must defend the town against waves of monsters that grow increasingly larger and come from all directions. The main objective is to protect the Freya's Well, which is one of the Village Pieces. If Freya's Well remains intact when the goddess Freya returns at the end of the game, all players win. If the village is completely destroyed (i.e., all Village Pieces are removed), all players lose.

Setup

1. Place the monsters in their respective reserves on the board.
2. Place the Village Pieces (including Freya's Well) in Grimheim according to the number of players:
   • 1 player = 4 pieces
   • 2 players = 6 pieces
   • 3 players = 8 pieces
   • 4 players = 10 pieces
3. Place three damage tokens in the Troll Caves (in the specified area).
4. Place 3 mana tokens in Naglfar (in the specified area).
5. Place 3 gold tokens in Naglfar (in the specified area).
6. Choose a time track (short or long) on the edges of the board. Place the Rune Stone on the first space of the chosen track.
7. Shuffle the yellow and red Monster Cards into two separate decks, face down. Each player draws one yellow monster card and places monsters according to the card's instructions.
8. Each player takes a Player Board and places it in front of them.
9. Each player chooses one of the heroes, takes their deck and miniature, and places the miniature on the game board in Grimheim.
10. Place the Hero Card, Starting Equipment, and Starting Ability next to your Player Board. These are your active cards.
11. Place a player marker on the starting green space of the upgrade cost track.
12. Place 2 player markers on the empty "Actions" spaces.
13. Shuffle the remaining 5 Ability Cards and place them in the Abilities space (with Level I face up). Only the top card should be visible.
14. Shuffle all remaining Equipment Cards and place them face up in the Equipment space. The top card represents your current quest. Only the top card should be visible.
15. Shuffle all Event Cards and place them face down in the Event Deck space.
16. Add 2 gold to your Player Board and 1 mana to your Starting Ability Card. Draw 1 card from the Event Deck (skip this step for a harder game).

Game Flow

Players collectively decide who will be the starting player. Turn order does not change during the game. The game progresses in a sequence of player turns, followed by a Monster Turn.

Player Turn

On their turn, a player may perform 2 actions, moving their action markers from the empty spaces to two of the available action spaces. A player cannot move both markers to the same space. In addition to main actions, the player may perform any number of available free actions. After performing actions, the turn ends, and the next player begins their turn.

End of Player Turn

When a player finishes their actions, do the following in order:

1. Return the action markers to the empty spaces.
2. Upgrade your hero if you have enough experience to do so.
3. Add mana to all cards that have the Mana Generation icon. These cards only add mana to themselves.
4. Draw 1 event card. If you already have 4 cards in hand, you cannot draw another unless you discard a card first (without executing its effect).
5. You may place the top equipment OR ability card from its respective deck at the bottom of the same deck. You cannot look at the next cards before deciding.

Monster Turn

After all heroes have taken their turns, the monsters take their turn, following these steps:

1. Move the Rune Stone: Move the Rune Stone one space along the time track.
   • If it lands on a reinforcement space ( / ), you will draw new monster cards during the Reinforcements step.
   • If it lands on a skull space (), all monsters perform a Charge.
   • If it lands on the last space, players win if Freya's Well remains on the game board at the end of this Monster Turn.
2. Roll Monster Die (Optional): Roll the Monster Die and execute its effect. This step is optional to increase difficulty.
   • Maneuver: All monsters adjacent to a hero simultaneously rotate clockwise around the hero (if possible).
   • Attack: All monsters gain +1 attack strength () this turn.
   • Charge: All level 1 monsters charge this turn.
   • Maneuver: Same as above, but monsters rotate counterclockwise.
   • Push: Each hero adjacent to a monster is pushed one area toward Grimheim, if possible.
   • Ambush: All heroes must place a new Goblin adjacent to their characters. If a player is in Grimheim, they ignore this effect.
3. Monsters Move:
   • Monsters adjacent to heroes NEVER move during this phase.
   • Monsters ALWAYS follow the path toward Grimheim. The arrows on the edge of the board show the direction. They move in this direction until they reach Grimheim or a road. Once on a road, the monster will follow it to Grimheim.
   • Starting with the monsters closest to Grimheim and ending with the farthest, move each monster 1 area forward, if possible.
   • Monsters cannot move if they are adjacent to a hero or if the area ahead is already occupied.
   • If 2 monsters would enter the same road area, the monster already on the road moves first.
   • Charge: A monster performing a charge moves 1 additional area toward Grimheim.
     • The Monster Die may cause level 1 monsters to charge.
     • On turns with a skull (), all monsters perform a charge.
     • If a monster cannot attack after its normal movement but can attack after a charge, it performs the charge.
   • Legends swap places with monsters ahead if their movement is blocked.
   • If a monster moves into Grimheim, remove it from the board and take away one Village Piece. If it is a Legend, remove 3 Village Pieces.
4. Monsters Attack: In an order decided by the players, all monsters attack if able. If a monster can attack 2 different heroes, the players decide which one is attacked.
5. Reinforcements: If the Rune Stone is on a reinforcement space ( / ), each player draws 1 monster card and places monsters on the board according to the card's instructions.

Actions and How to Play

Players may perform 2 main actions per turn and any number of free actions.

Main Actions

• Attack: Sum the attack strength () indicated on all your active cards. Roll the corresponding number of attack dice against any monster within your range. Each or (if the defender has no cover) counts as a hit. is a hit unless the defender has cover (is in the forest). is a miss, but some effects may trigger.
• Prepare: Draw 1 card from your Event Deck. You cannot have more than 4 cards in hand but may discard cards at any time to make room.
• Repair: Remove 2 damage () from your hero. If in Grimheim, damage can also be removed from Equipment Cards, and you may remove up to 5 damage instead of 2.
• Move: Move your hero up to 3 areas on the board. Each area can only hold one character. You cannot move through occupied areas, even by other heroes. Heroes cannot move into mountains. Moving into an area costs 1 movement. When moving into Grimheim, your movement ends. When leaving Grimheim, you may enter any adjacent area (except mountains).
• Focus: Add 1 mana () to one of your abilities or equipment that uses mana.
• Practice: Add 1 experience () to your Player Board.

Free Actions

Free actions do not count toward the 2 main actions per turn. If a card allows a specific action, it is a free action.

• Use Equipment: Your equipment cards may be used once per turn, except damage-preventing cards, which may be used once per instance of damage. Equipment with resistance () cannot be used if they already have maximum damage.
• Use Ability: Your Ability Cards may be used once per turn, except damage-preventing cards. Many abilities require spending 1 or more mana () from the card itself.
• Play Event: Play an Event Card from your hand. Execute its effect and place the card in your discard pile. Cannot be played mid-action unless the card specifies "this attack action." Cannot play cards outside your turn unless the card specifies or prevents damage.
• Share Gold: You may give or receive gold () from any adjacent hero. Both players must agree to the exchange.
• Undo Actions: Consult the manual for details on this section.
• Upgrade: Consult the manual for details on this section.
• Add Mana: Consult the manual for details on this section.
• Draw 1 Card: Consult the manual for details on this section.
• Swap Card: Consult the manual for details on this section.

Quests and Equipment

The only way to obtain new equipment is by completing quests. The top equipment card in your deck shows the quest to be completed. If you complete the quest, move the card to your other active cards. A new equipment card is revealed. You may have any number of equipment cards in play but only 1 Main Weapon. If you obtain a new Main Weapon, place it over the previous one.

Experience, Gold, and Upgrades

Gold and experience () are the same resource. You gain experience by killing monsters:

• 1 for level 1 monsters (Fairies, Goblins, Imps).
• 2 for level 2 monsters (Elementals, Brutes, Skeletons).
• 3 for level 3 monsters (Jötunn, Trolls, Draugr).
• More experience for killing a Legend (see specific card).

At the end of each turn, a hero may be upgraded if they have enough experience for the next step on the upgrade cost track. To perform an upgrade, move the upgrade cost marker to the next step and pay the experience printed on it. Then, choose an upgrade:

1. Gain a new ability: Move the top Ability Card from the deck to your active cards.
2. Enhance a card: Flip one of your active Ability Cards or your hero card to its upgraded side.

A player cannot perform more than one upgrade per turn. When reaching the red square on the upgrade track, all future upgrades cost 10 .

Knocked-Out Heroes

If heroes are