Tyrants of the Underdark: Your Guide to Drow Domination!

Welcome, aspiring Drow House leader, to the cutthroat world of Tyrants of the Underdark! Prepare to delve into the dark, treacherous depths of the Underdark, where only the most cunning and ruthless will rise to power. As an editor at BoardGameBot, I'm here to guide you through the shadows and help you conquer this fantastic game. Let's get started!

Objective of the Game

In Tyrants of the Underdark, you embody the leader of a Drow house, vying for ultimate power in the subterranean realm. Your ultimate goal? Ascension! You'll achieve this by accumulating the most Victory Points (VP). How do you earn these coveted points? By recruiting powerful minions to your cause and seizing control of vital locations across the Underdark map. The player with the most VP at the end of the game is crowned the true Tyrant of the Underdark!

Preparation (Setup)

Before you can begin your conquest, let's get your domain in order. Follow these steps to set up your game:

1. Place the Game Board: Position the main game board within easy reach of all players. The size of the playable map depends on your player count:
   • 2 Players: Use only the center section of the board.
   • 3 Players: Choose one of the two outer sections and play on that section plus the center section.
   • 4 Players: Unleash chaos on all three sections of the board!
2. Assemble the Market Deck: Choose two of the market half-decks (each has 40 cards). For your first game, we recommend the Drow and Dragon half-decks. Shuffle these two chosen decks together to form the main market deck and place it face down in its designated spot on the board.
3. Set Up Core Minions: Place the Priestess of Lolth and House Guard cards face up in their marked spaces on the board.
4. Insane Outcasts (if applicable): If you're playing with the Demons half-deck, place the Insane Outcast cards face up in their marked space.
5. Fill the Market: Draw the top 6 cards from the market deck and place them face up in the market area.
6. Deploy Unaligned Troops: Place white (unaligned) troop pieces in all troop spaces marked with a white circle on the portion of the game map you're using. These unaligned troops are your initial obstacles!
7. Site Control Markers: Place the site control markers in their marked spaces on the game map with the "total control" side face up.
8. VP Tokens: Place the VP tokens in their marked space on the board.
9. Choose First Player: Randomly determine who will take the first turn and give them the First Player Token.
10. Player Setup (Each Player):
    • Choose a Drow house and take its corresponding playmat, inner-circle board, and all player pieces of that house's color. Place them in front of you.
    • Take 7 Noble cards and 3 Soldier cards to form your personal starting deck. Shuffle your deck thoroughly and place it face down in the marked space on your playmat.
    • Draw 5 cards from your newly formed deck to create your starting hand.
11. Initial Troop Deployment: Starting with the first player and proceeding clockwise, each player deploys one of their troops into any starting site on the game map that hasn't already been claimed. Starting sites are easily identifiable by their black boxes.

You're now ready to begin your quest for dominance!

The Turn of Play

Tyrants of the Underdark is played over a series of rounds, with each player taking a turn clockwise, starting with the first player. Your turn is where the magic (and mayhem) happens!

Your Turn: A Symphony of Schemes

During your turn, you can perform the following actions any number of times and in any order you choose:

1. Play Cards from Your Hand:
   • To play a card, place it face up in front of you.
   • Follow all instructions on the card in the order they're presented.
   • Add any Power () or Influence () resources the card grants to your resource pool. Remember, these resources are temporary – use 'em or lose 'em by the end of your turn!
   • Cards can have special abilities:
     • Abilities with Costs (▶): If you see an arrow, it means there's an optional cost. Pay the cost on the left to get the effect on the right. If you don't pay, no effect.
     • Focus: Found on Elemental half-deck cards. If you play another card of the same aspect this turn, or reveal one from your hand, you get the bonus effect after the dash!
2. Expend Resources for Basic Actions: Use the Power () and Influence () in your resource pool to take these crucial actions:
   • Assassinate a Troop: Expend 3 Power (). You must have Presence where you assassinate. Take an enemy troop from a troop space and place it in your trophy hall. You can't assassinate your own troops!
   • Deploy a Troop: Expend 1 Power (). You must have Presence where you deploy. Take one of your troops from your barracks and place it on an empty troop space. If you have no troops left in your barracks when you take this action, you gain 1 VP instead! If you have no troops on the map, you can deploy anywhere.
   • Recruit a Card: Expend Influence () equal to the card's cost. Take a House Guard, Priestess of Lolth, or a card from the market and place it in your discard pile. If you recruit from the market, immediately replace it with the top card of the market deck.
   • Return an Enemy Spy: Expend 3 Power (). You must have Presence where you return the spy. Return an enemy spy from a site to its owner's barracks.

Beyond these basic actions, cards you play might also grant you additional, more specialized actions like Devour a Card, Move a Troop, Place a Spy, Promote a Card, Return a Troop or Spy, or Supplant a Troop. Always follow the card's instructions!

End of Your Turn: Housekeeping

Once you've finished taking actions, perform these steps in order:

1. Promote Cards: If any cards you played this turn instructed you to promote them at the end of the turn, do so now. Promoted cards move to your inner-circle board and are no longer part of your deck!
2. Gain VP for Site Control: For each site control marker you possess, you gain an effect based on your degree of control (control or total control). Flip the marker to the appropriate side to reflect your current status.
3. Discard: Discard all cards you played this turn, along with any cards remaining in your hand, into your personal discard pile.
4. Draw New Hand: Draw 5 new cards from your deck. If your deck runs out, shuffle your discard pile to form a new deck.

Key Concepts for Map Interaction

• Presence: Many map actions require you to have Presence. You have Presence at any site where you have a spy, a troop, or a troop in an adjacent space. You also have Presence at any troop space on a route if it's adjacent to a site or space where you have a troop.
• Control: You control a site if you have more of your troops there than any other single color.
• Total Control: You have total control of a site if all its troop spaces are filled *only* with your troops, and no enemy spies are present. This often grants bonus VP!
• Site Control Markers: When you gain control of a site with a marker, take it. If control becomes tied, return the marker to the board.
• Enemy: Refers to both white troops and other players' troops.

Ending the Game and Scoring

The game of Tyrants of the Underdark is a race to the finish, but it doesn't end abruptly. The end of the game is triggered when one of these conditions is met:

• A player deploys their last remaining troop from their barracks.
• The market deck becomes empty.

Once either of these conditions occurs, play continues until the end of the current round, ensuring everyone gets an equal number of turns. Then, it's time for the grand tally!

Final Scoring: Who is the True Tyrant?

Grab those scorepads and let's count up the VP!

• Site Control: Add the VP value of each site you control.
• Total Control Bonus: Score an additional 2 VP for each site under your total control.
• Trophy Hall: Gain 1 VP for each enemy troop you've assassinated and placed in your trophy hall.
• Deck VP Value: Count the deck VP value of every card in your deck, hand, and discard pile.
• Inner-Circle VP Value: Count the inner-circle VP value of every card you've successfully promoted to your inner circle.
• VP Tokens: Add any VP tokens you've collected during the game.

The player with the highest total VP wins! In case of a tie, all tied players share the victory. Congratulations, Tyrant!

Tips for Winning

To truly dominate the Underdark, consider these strategic insights:

1. Balance Your Deck and Map Presence: Don't neglect either aspect of the game! While a powerful deck of minions is crucial for generating resources and actions, controlling sites on the map is a direct source of VP and can unlock powerful effects. Look for cards that synergize with your map control efforts, or vice-versa.
2. Target Key Sites for Total Control: While controlling many sites is good, achieving total control of even a few high-value sites can give you a significant VP boost at the end of the game, plus immediate benefits during your turn. Prioritize clearing out enemy troops and spies from these lucrative locations.
3. Refine Your Deck Ruthlessly: The ability to promote and sometimes even devour cards is a powerful tool. Don't be afraid to remove less effective cards from your deck to make it more consistent and powerful. A lean, mean, Drow machine of a deck will serve you well!

Now, go forth and claim your rightful place as the supreme Tyrant of the Underdark!