Game Objective

In The Witcher: Old World – Monster Trail, you take on the role of a witcher on a perilous journey. The goal is to face fearsome creatures, such as the Troll Monster or the Sibilant, to collect their Trophies. Upon defeating a monster, the player gains its Trophy, which is placed under their Player Board.

Setup

Setup depends on the variants you choose to use. If you are using the Monster Trail expansion, follow these instructions for the specific variants:

• Manticore School Witcher: Use the corresponding Player Board, Witcher Miniature, Wooden Shield Token, and Troll Trophy Cards.
• Troll Monster: Add the Troll Monster (with its Miniature or Troll Token) to the other monsters.
• Mutagen Cards: Assemble the Mutagen Deck by shuffling all Mutagen Cards and place it face down next to the Potion Deck.
• Bomb Cards: Shuffle all Bomb Cards together to form the Bomb Deck, and place it face down next to the Potion Deck.
• Advanced Action Cards: Choose the types of cards you wish to add and shuffle them with the Action Deck before setting up the Action Card Area.
• Monster Weaknesses and Special Attacks:
  1. Use the Large Monster Cards instead of the normal-sized cards.
  2. Keep the Special Attacks side facing up.
  3. Shuffle the Monster Weakness Tokens (18 in total) and place them face down in a separate pile.
  4. Place Location Tokens corresponding to the monsters on the map and then place a random Monster Weakness Token face down on each location. If a location has a witcher, discard the token and draw a new Location Token.
  5. Create the Monster Combat Deck by shuffling the remaining 12 Monster Combat Cards with the 4 Monster Special Attack Cards.
• Unique Action Cards: Add one Unique Action Card to each witcher's starting Player Deck (and to each mage, if you are using the Mages expansion).

Game Flow

The game follows the turn and round structure of the base game. However, the introduction of new variants alters the course of the match:

• During Combat: If you are using the Weakness and Special Attacks variant, the monster may reveal a Monster Special Attack Card during its attack. If this occurs, the effect is activated regardless of the player's choice. Additionally, if a Monster Special Attack Card is revealed as a result of Damage caused by the player, the controller of the Monster Hit Point Deck momentarily stops discarding cards to resolve the Passive Attack Ability.
• Interaction with Weaknesses: Upon entering a Location with a Monster Weakness Token, it must be revealed immediately.
• Use of Bombs: During combat, a player may use a combined amount of Potion Cards and/or Bomb Cards equal to or less than their Alchemy Level.

Actions and How to Play

Actions vary according to the cards and abilities acquired:

Witcher and Combat Actions

• Manticore Specialty: Once per Combat, during your Combat Turn, you may discard 1 unused Potion (or 2 Potions at level 1) to deal Damage (if at level 3 or higher, draw 2 cards).
• Use of Mutagens: Upon reaching a new Witcher Level, you gain a Mutagen Card. Upon reaching level 4 or 5, gain two. Each Mutagen Card can be used once per Combat.
• Use of Bombs: When drawing a Potion Card, you may choose to draw a Potion normally or discard 1 Potion or 1 Gold to draw a Bomb Card.
• Advanced Actions: Include mechanics such as Dodge (play a card to the Discard Pile to acquire the action), Critical Hit (do not draw cards on the last step of the combat turn), and Evasion (increases the Shield Level if discarded by an attack).
• Unique Actions: Cards that are added to the starting Player Deck.

Monster Actions

• Special Attacks: Can deal Damage, alter the Shield Level, or force card discarding.
• Passive Abilities: Can be activated during the monster's Combat Turn or as a result of Damage caused by the player.

End of Game and Scoring

The provided guide does not detail the global end-game condition (the trigger that ends the entire match), focusing instead on combat mechanics and variants. However, scoring during the match occurs as follows:

• Trophies: Upon defeating a monster, the player gains its Trophy, which is placed under their Player Board.
• Weakness Tokens: If the monster is killed or driven away, the Monster Weakness Tokens related to it are returned to the pile and reshuffled.

Tips for Winning

Consult the manual for details regarding this section.