Game Objective

In The Elder Scrolls: A Second Era Betrayal, you and your friends embark on a cooperative adventure in Tamriel, a continent plagued by war and conspiracy. You take on the roles of adventurers, agents of a specific guild, tasked with completing quests across various provinces. The main objective is to overcome the challenges presented, develop your characters, and, by the end of a campaign, defeat a dark threat looming over the continent. Victory is achieved when the group successfully completes the campaign, which involves completing quests and defeating enemies, culminating in a decisive final confrontation.

Setup

To begin your journey in The Elder Scrolls: A Second Era Betrayal, follow these steps to prepare the game:

1. Province Selection:

   Select the province where your session will take place. Each province has an overworld map and an associated compendium. If you are continuing a campaign, use the province defined by your previous session. For the first session of a campaign, it is highly recommended to choose Black Marsh.

   • Overworld Map: Place the overworld map of the chosen province in the play area. This map is used to track the group's movement.
   • Compendium: Set aside the province's compendium. It will be consulted for effects, dungeon maps, city information, and quest steps.

2. General Component Setup:

   Organize dice, tokens, markers, and standees near the play area for easy access. Separate skill markers, attribute markers, and overworld markers by type. Standees will be used later in adventurer creation.

   • Enemy Tokens: Separate enemy tokens into piles by level (1, 5, 10, 20). Enemies with two-letter codes can only appear in specific provinces. Place tokens in their corresponding enemy bags (Level 1/5 and Level 10/20).

3. Card Deck Setup:

   Organize the skill progression guides in the card tray. Then, prepare the following decks and place them in the tray:

   • Side Quest Deck: Shuffle all side quest cards.
   • Overworld Decks: There are two decks: Peaceful () and Contested (). For each type, shuffle 10 general cards and draw 4. Then, take the 8 cards from the chosen province and shuffle them with the 4 general cards.
   • Incursion Deck: Shuffle the province's incursion cards with the general incursion cards. Consult the compendium for province-specific instructions.
   • Item Decks: Shuffle the Common Deck () and the Legendary Deck () separately.

4. Map Tiles, Journal, and Counter Setup:

   Organize neoprene map tiles by shape. Separate the boss tile and the entrance tile. Incursion tiles should be shuffled and placed together. Prepare the Campaign Journal and counters.

   • Campaign Journal: Designate a group leader to record progress.
   • XP and Day Counters: Place the XP Counter and Day Counter on their stands. For the first session without the introductory encounter, the XP Counter should be started at 2.

5. Game Difficulty Selection:

   Select a difficulty level (Apprentice, Adept, or Expert) that will affect aspects such as resting, engagement actions, and the session's final battle.

6. Adventurer Setup:

   Each player prepares their adventurer. For the first session of a campaign, create a new adventurer by following the steps detailed in the "Adventurer Creation" section. If continuing a campaign, prepare the adventurer as they were at the end of the previous session.

7. Guild Quest Setup:

   Consult the compendium for the first step of the guild quest. Separate the quest unit tokens. Place the group token at the starting location on the overworld map and any overworld tokens in their designated spots.

   • First Campaign Session: Shuffle the Guild Deck, draw 3 cards, and choose 1. This card determines the guild and quest.
   • Subsequent Sessions: The next guild quest is determined at the end of the previous session.

Game Flow

The game progresses through a series of daily phases, each composed of several stages. The general structure of a day is as follows:

• New Day Phase:

  This phase marks the beginning of a new day. The Day Counter is advanced. If there are any effects that occur at the start of a new day, they are resolved here.

• Overworld Phase:

  In this phase, players explore the overworld map. The group moves across the map, encountering events and challenges. The Overworld Phase consists of:

  • Overworld Movement: Players move their adventurers across the map.
  • Encounter Phase: Upon arriving at a new location or fulfilling certain conditions, an encounter is resolved. This may involve overworld cards, city encounters, traveling caravans, etc.
  • City Actions: If the group is in a city, they can perform specific actions at the city's facilities.

• Reward Phase:

  After encounters are resolved, the group receives rewards, which may include XP, items, or other benefits.

• End of Day Phase:

  This phase marks the end of the day. Adventurers rest, recovering dice and health according to the chosen difficulty level. NPC overworld movement may also occur during this phase.

The game continues day by day until the end-game conditions are met.

Actions and How to Play

During your turn, you can perform various actions to progress in your quest and develop your adventurer. The available actions and their mechanics are detailed below:

Adventurer Actions (in Combat):

• Movement: Allows your adventurer to move across the battle map. Movement range is determined by your Stamina attribute.
• Engagement: Allows you to use your skills to attack enemies or interact with the battle environment. The type of dice you can roll and the range of the action are determined by your Combat Style and your Stamina or Magicka attribute.
• Explore: Allows you to investigate specific areas of the battle map for secrets or resources.
• Class Ability: You can activate special abilities of your class, usually by spending Resolve. Some abilities are ongoing, others are interrupts, and some can only be used in specific combat styles.
• Combat Style: You can change your combat style during your turn, which may cost Resolve and 1 Light Fatigue. Combat styles determine which dice can be rolled and which items can be used.

City Actions:

When visiting a city, you can interact with its facilities to perform actions such as:

• City Facilities: Each city has facilities that offer specific actions, such as buying items, training skills, or resting.
• Guild Actions: If you are hired by a guild, you may have access to special actions at their guildhall.

Social Tests:

Some encounters may require a Social Test. This involves rolling skill dice to overcome a social challenge. The Difficulty Value determines the success of the test.

Lockpicking:

In certain situations, you may attempt to Lockpick to access items or restricted areas. This is resolved with lockpicking dice.

Other Actions:

• Use Items: Item cards can be used to gain benefits in or out of combat. Only items in Ready-to-Use Inventory Slots can be used in combat.
• Upgrades: Throughout the game, you can upgrade your adventurer, increasing aptitudes, attributes, resolve, promoting your class, or adding skill progressions.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when one of the following conditions is met:

• Game End Trigger:

  The game ends when the group completes the main campaign quest or when all defeat conditions are met.

• Victory Conditions:

  Victory is achieved when the group successfully completes the campaign, which generally involves completing the final quest and defeating the main threat. Successfully completing a session is also a significant milestone.

• Defeat Conditions:

  The group can be defeated if all adventurers are simultaneously defeated in battle, or if they fail to meet quest objectives within a set timeframe or under other mission-specific circumstances.

• Scoring:

  The game does not focus on traditional point scoring. Success is measured by campaign completion and adventurer progression. Individual Saved XP is recorded, but the primary focus is the group's cooperative success in their quests and the overall campaign.

Tips for Winning

To increase your chances of success in The Elder Scrolls: A Second Era Betrayal, consider the following tips:

• Manage Your Recharge Track: Learning to manage your Recharge Track is crucial. It determines how quickly you can re-roll skill dice and how long conditions will affect you. Positioning dice correctly and recovering them efficiently can be the difference between victory and defeat.

• Coordinate with Your Group: As a cooperative game, communication and coordination with your companions are essential. Discuss strategies, share resources when possible, and ensure everyone is aware of each other's objectives and capabilities.

• Adapt to Combat Styles: Combat Styles influence which dice you can roll and which items you can use. Being able to switch combat styles effectively, even at a cost, can allow you to adapt to different combat situations and make the most of your abilities and equipment.