The Isofarian Guard

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This site is an official rules reference for The Isofarian Guard by Sky Kingdom Games.

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Guard Abilities & Stonebound Abilities

The maximum number of equipped Guard Ability Cards and Stonebound Ability Cards, in any combination, is limited by the number of slots (6) on a Guard Ability Dashboard. You may equip and swap out any number of Guard Ability Cards and Stonebound Ability Cards during the Exploration Phase.

Accessories

• Inventory

Accessories give the Guards special effects that can affect both the exploration and battle phase. Equip them to the Accessory Slot. Follow the text on the card for instructions on when these effects take place.

Accessories with limited effects for battle are noted with this icon. The numerical value indicates how many times the effect can take place in a battle. Once the effect has taken place, a purple cube is placed on the card to show that it’s been activated. Once the numerical value is met the accessory card is flipped over to indicate that it cannot be activated any more during the battle.

Accessory Card

• Accessories
• Equipment

• Front
• Back

1. Accessory Name
2. Activation Limit
3. Effects
4. Equipment Type

Action Points (AP)

• Battle
• Guard Bags
• Guard Abilities
• Enemy AI

Action Points are represented by gray or green cubes, and are used by all Guards and enemies to perform actions. For Guards, they also indicate how many chips are drawn from a Guard’s bag at the start of their turn.

Permanent AP is represented by gray cubes, whereas temporary AP is represented by green cubes. Green AP is returned to the supply after the battle during which it was gained. Each Guard and enemy may have a maximum of 5 gray AP and 5 green AP.

Active AP is gray and green AP cubes that are in the active part of the “AP Active/Exhausted Area” on the Guard and Enemy dashboards. Action points gained in battle are added to Active AP.

Adding and Removing Players

The Isofarian Guard can be played with 1–2 players. Nothing changes during solo play except that one player will control both members of each party during each campaign. Besides when the campaign dictates otherwise, there are always two members of the Guard traveling and fighting together.

When a new player joins the adventure, choose one of the Guards for them to control. Players may choose to exchange control of the Guards at any time during the exploration phase.

Aggro

• Battle
• Chips

The Guard that most recently performed an attack against an enemy target (even if it was unsuccessful) “has aggro”. The Aggro Chip is placed on top of the Guard Bust Card at the end of the Guards’ turn during a round of battle. The Aggro Chip remains on that Guard’s Dashboard until the other Guard has aggro.

If enemies use abilities listed on their AI cards that target a Guard and no condition is met (including having aggro) then the player may choose which Guard is the target of the ability.

AI Card Icon

This icon indicates an enemy AI card. Some Ability Cards affect enemy AI cards.

Ambush

• Battle

In an ambush encounter, the enemy goes first and you cannot retreat from battle. Once all enemies have taken their turn the round completes, and battle order returns to normal with the Guards going first. Ambush encounters are indicated with red text in the “Enemy Index” found in the Indexes Book, starting on page 3.

Action Point (AP) Cost Icon

This icon indicates the “Action Point Cost” to activate the Guard Ability Card. The AP Cost is shown using a gray AP cube. The AP cost can be paid using gray or green AP cubes. Next to each AP Cube is a number value indicating the amount needed to activate the ability.

Armor Card

• Equipment
• Weapons & Armor

• Front
• Back

Rarity

These stars indicate the armor’s rarity and relative power level.

Equipment Name

Some Blacksmith recipes require specific armor as an ingredient.

Unlocked Ability

Some armor unlocks a Stonebound Ability Card that may be equipped with or without the armor.

Equipment Type

This icon indicates the slot on the Guard Dashboard where the card must be equipped.

Defense Stat Bonus

Most armor includes an Defense stat bonus. As long as the armor is equipped, the Guard’s Defense stat is increased by the amount shown.

Stone Slots

Most types of armor have stone slots that grant bonuses when filled.

Equippable By

Most armor is equippable only by the Guard whose bust icon is displayed here. Armor bearing the infinity icon can be equipped by any Guard.

Attack (ATK)

• Battle
• Swords & Shields

A Guard’s or enemy’s Attack stat is used when they perform an attack. This value can be modified by various means.

Damage from an attack equals the amount that the attacker’s attack value exceeds the target’s defense value.

Attack Modifiers

The Attack Modifier icon indicates that an attacker raises their base attack stat by the value listed.

Example: Attack Modifier

Standard Attacks

A Guard may perform a Standard Attack by placing chips on the weapon equipped on their Guard Dashboard, equal to the chip cost on the weapon card. When this happens, the Guard performs an attack using their attack value on the target enemy. This can only be done once per Guard per round unless a rule says otherwise.

Battle Phase

Guards’ Turn

1. You may Retreat unless this is an Ambush or part of a Narrative.
2. Apply equipped Accessory bonuses and effects.
3. Discard any active Evasion chips and blue Defense Cubes on Guards.
4. Choose a Guard to activate.
5. Refill Guard’s chip bag if empty, or lose 1 HP to refill early.
6. Draw chips one at a time until black chips drawn equals Active AP.
   • Resolve Status Effect chips as each is drawn.
7. Take optional actions in any order:
   • Activate Guard Ability Cards.
   • Activate Stonebound Ability Cards.
   • Perform a Standard Attack on a single enemy.
   • Activate an Accessory.
   • Use an equipped Item.
8. Activate the other Guard. Repeat steps 5–7.
9. Refresh exhausted AP for both Guards.
10. Place Aggro chip on Guard that last attacked an enemy.

Enemies’ Turn

1. Discard any green Evasion chips and blue Defense Cubes on enemies.
2. Activate enemy in slot I.
3. Draw an AI card from enemy’s face down AI deck, and place face up in AI discard slot.
4. Resolve enemy actions on AI card.
5. Activate remaining enemies in order (slot II, slot III, slot IV). Repeat steps 3-4 for each enemy.
6. Refresh exhausted AP for all enemies.

Cleanup Phase

1. Discard all chips from enemies and return them to the supply except Green Evasion Chips.
2. Discard all chips from Guard Ability Cards & Weapons (including unused chips). Flip cards that indicate they flip after activation. Black and purple chips are moved to Guards’ discard areas. Green chips are returned to the supply.
3. Discard all chips from positive and negative chip areas on Guard Ability Dashboards. Purple chips are moved to Guards’ discard areas. Green and red chips are returned to the supply.
4. Move exhausted Speaking Stone Gems to ready slots, then move active Speaking Stone Gems on cards to exhausted slots (see Stonebound Abilities).

Battle: Defeat

• Battle

If both Guards are reduced to 0 Health Points in battle, they are defeated:

• No rewards are gained for defeated enemies.
• Remove all cards in satchel slots except for Wood Chopping Axe, Pickaxe, and Fishing Pole.
• Reduce Sil Dual Dial is to 0.
• Remove all green, red, and negative purple chips from the Guards’ bags.
• Move Guards to the last save point, or the Fort Istra Courtyard.
• Set both Guards Health Points to 20.

End of Battle

• Battle

The battle will end in either victory or defeat. The Guards are victorious when all enemies on the battlefield have an HP value of 0.

Rewards

Collect the rewards from each enemy card. Rewards may include Lux Essence, Sil, enemy drops, or various equipment. Record any gained “Lux Essence” in the Lux Dual Dial, and any gained “Sil” in the Sil Dual Dial. Gained enemy drop cards can be stored in any of the Guards’ open satchel slots or dropped if not desired. If a Guard already has the enemy drop card in their satchel slot, flip the card to the new quantity held. Since the max quantity is 4, any enemy drops acquired beyond that are dropped.

Fallen Guards

If the battle was victorious, but one of the Guards has fallen (has 0 HP), no rewards are lost, and the bags remain as-is. Revive the fallen Guard and set their HP to 1. If the HP of both Guards reaches 0 before that of their enemies, the Guards are defeated. In this case, return the Guards’ miniature or bust chips to the last save point (marked with the Campfire Chip when created), or the Fort Istra Courtyard. Restore the Guards’ HP back to 20 (their starting HP value), and remove all green, red, and negative purple chips from the Guards’ bags. Both Guards lose all the cards in their satchel slots except for tools (Wood Chopping Axe, Pickaxe, and Fishing Pole). All Sil in the Sil Dual Dial is lost.

Post Battle Cleanup

Return all chips on Enemy Dashboards back to the supply. Return enemy and enemy AI cards back to the card index box. Return green and red chips on both Guard Dashboards and Ability Dashboards back to the supply. Return all black and purple chips on both Guard Dashboards and Ability Dashboards back to their Guard’s bags. Return green AP cubes on Guard Dashboards back to the supply. Flip all Guard Ability Cards back to their Primary sides (P). Move all Speaking Stone gems back to their ready slots. Once the battle is over, continue playing the game in the exploration phase or narrative sequence, accordingly.

Battle: Cleanup Phase

• Battle

1. Discard all chips from enemies except Evasion and return them to the supply.

2. Discard all chips from Guard Ability Cards & weapons (including unused chips with Sword & Shield resources). Black and purple chips are moved to the discard area on the respective Guard’s Ability Dashboard. Green chips return to the supply.

   • Flip over cards that indicate they flip after being activated.

3. Remove all chips from positive and negative chip areas on Guard Ability Dashboards. Purple chips are moved to the discard area on the Guard Ability Dashboards. Green and red chips are returned to the supply.

4. Move exhausted Speaking Stone Gems to ready slots, then active Speaking Stone Gems to exhausted slots. (See Stonebound Abilities for details.)

Battle: Enemies’ Turn

• Battle

When an enemy is defeated during battle (their HP value reaches 0), flip the enemy card over. Enemies that are defeated can no longer take their turn. Rewards for the defeated enemies are collected at the end of the battle.

1. Discard any active Evasion Chips and blue cubes on enemies and return them to the supply.

2. Activate the enemy in slot I.

3. Draw an AI card from the enemy’s face-down deck. If no cards can be drawn, shuffle the discarded AI cards and place them face-down back in the slot, then proceed with the draw.

4. Resolve the actions on the enemy AI card. The enemy AI card is resolved in order from top to bottom, resolving all actions that can be performed. The enemy actions on an AI card are separated by dividers.

   Some enemies can draw more AI cards and will continue to perform abilities as long as they have the AP for it. The enemy turn ceases once you reach the words “END TURN.”

5. Activate the remaining enemies in order (slot II, slot III, slot IV). Repeat steps 3–4 for each enemy.

6. Refresh exhausted AP for all enemies.

Battle : Guards’ Turn

• Battle

1. You may Retreat unless this is an Ambush or part of a Narrative.

2. Check each equipped accessory for bonuses before each round. Trigger any effects if available. Some accessories have effects which only trigger one time before the battle begins. This occurs even if the battle is an ambush.

3. Discard all active Evasion Chips and blue cubes on both of the Guards. Green Evasion Chips are returned to the supply, whereas purple Evasion Chips are moved to that Guard’s discard area of the Guard Ability Dashboard.

4. Choose a Guard to activate.

5. If the Guard’s bag is empty, refill it with all the chips that are in the discard area on the Guard’s Ability Dashboard. If the bag is not empty, you may still choose to do so by losing 1 health (HP).

6. Without looking, draw chips one at a time from the Guard’s bag. The number of chips drawn is equal to the amount of active AP at the start of the turn. Resolve any positive or negative chips as each one is drawn and place them in the positive or negative status chip area of the Guard’s Ability Dashboard.

7. The next actions may be taken in any order, or not at all.

   • Activate Guard Ability Card by paying the necessary resource cost. A Guard Ability Card cannot be activated more than once per round, unless it is activated by a Guard’s [Keyword] effect, or by another ability.

   • Activate Stonebound Ability Cards using ready Speaking Stone Gems. Stonebound Ability Cards can only be activated by a gem in a ready slot of the same roman numeral the Stonebound Ability Card is on. Stonebound Ability Cards typically have very powerful effects. Because of this, there is a one-turn cooldown to use Stonebound Ability Cards.

   • Perform a Standard Attack on a single enemy target by paying the chip cost.

   • Activate an Accessory if required resources are met.

   • Use an equipped Item. If you want to keep the battle flowing, you may flip the item over to signify that it has been used and then return it to the supply once the battle is over. Remember, each Guard may only use the item in the equipped item slot during battle.

8. Activate the other Guard. Repeat steps 5–7.

9. Refresh all exhausted Action Points for both Guards back to active.

10. Place the Aggro Chip on the Guard that last performed an attack on an enemy target (even if it missed or was blocked).

Blacksmiths

• Exploration
• Green Map Nodes

At a Blacksmith, you may choose to “Craft” or “Sell” various equipment. These actions can only take place during the exploration phase (not during a narrative event). Specifics can be found in the “City Index” in the Indexes Book.

Crafting Equipment

Each blacksmith lists various “recipes” to craft equipment. The Guards must have the required materials and Sil (Currency) in order to craft the desired equipment. Materials required must be in the Guards’ satchel slots at the time of crafting (not in the Fort Istra Stash). When the required materials and Sil have been paid to the blacksmith, the materials are discarded from the Guards’ satchel slots and returned to the supply, and the required Sil is reduced from the Guards’ supply (Sil Dual Dial). The newly crafted equipment card can be immediately equipped onto a Guard or stored on one of their satchel slots.

Selling Equipment

In order to sell a piece of equipment the equipment card must be currently equipped, or in a Guard’s satchel slot. Once a piece of equipment has been sold the card is returned to the supply, and the gained Sil is added to the Guards’ supply.

Travel by Boat

• Blue Map Nodes

The Boat Chip is used when exploring a blue node on the Isofar Map (unless the Campaign Book directs otherwise).

To travel by boat, move the Guards to a Boat Dock node. Replace the Guard’s miniature or bust chips with the Boat Chip. You can now explore Isofar using the blue nodes on the rivers and sea.

The Guards can exit the boat at any Boat Dock node. Place the Guards’ miniature or bust chips back on the board, leave the Boat Chip at the Boat Dock node, and continue the exploration phase.

To travel by boat again, the Guards must move back to the node where the Boat Chip was left.

Bolster

• Battle
• Chips

A green chip that gives a Guard +1 to their Defense Stat (DEF) for each Bolster Chip drawn. This effect lasts from the point when it was drawn until the chip is returned to the supply.

Bolster Chips are placed in the positive status area on the Guard Ability Dashboard while active. Once the round is over, Bolster Chips are returned to the supply during the cleanup phase of battle.

Boss

This icon indicates that the enemy is a “Boss” in the campaign. This icon can be found in the top-left corner of some enemy cards.

Break

• Battle
• Chips

A red chip that gives a Guard −1 to their Defense Stat (DEF) for each Break Chip drawn. This effect lasts from the point when it was drawn until the chip is returned to the supply.

Break Chips are placed in the negative status area on the Guard Ability Dashboard while active.

The effect of the Break Chip becomes active for an enemy once placed upon the enemy card by a Guard’s Ability Card or Stonebound Ability Card. Each Break Chip on the enemy card gives the target −1 to their Defense Stat (DEF).

Once the round is over, Break Chips are returned to the supply during the cleanup phase of battle.

Yellow [Burst] Cube

This icon indicates a yellow cube used to activate the [Burst] keyword which is used by Vera.

[Burst] Activated Flip Icon

This icon indicates that the Guard Ability Card flips to the opposite side during the cleanup phase of a round if it has been activated by yellow cubes this round (see Vera’s [Burst] keyword).

Campfire

• Chips
• Inns

The Campfire Chip marks the current save point. Place the Campfire Chip when you create a save point by visiting an Inn or using a Tent.

Before you place the Campfire Chip for the first time, the save point is the Fort Istra Courtyard.

Chip Colors

• Chips

A chip’s color is determined by the outer ring of the chip. A chip may be black, green, purple, or red.

Black Chips used in combat are either single or double swords or shields. Black chips are the only color chips that ever count toward the number of chips drawn. Black chips are moved to the discard area of the Guard Ability Dashboard during the cleanup phase.

Purple Chips are either Sword & Shield Chips, positive Evasion and Heart Chips, or negative status effect chips. Purple chips on Guards are moved to the discard area of the Guard Ability Dashboard during the cleanup phase. Purple chips on enemies are returned to the supply during the cleanup phase.

Green Chips are either single swords or shields, or positive status effect chips. Green chips are returned to the supply during the cleanup phase.

Red Chips are all negative status effect chips. Red chips are returned to the supply during the cleanup phase.

Chip Cost Icons

• Chip Cost

This icon indicates the “Chip Cost” to activate the Guard Ability Card. The Chip Cost is shown using either a Sword Chip, Shield Chip, or Sword & Shield Chip. Next to each Chip is a number value indicating the amount needed to activate the ability.

Chip Activated Flip Icon

This icon indicates that the Guard Ability Card flips to the opposite side during the cleanup phase of a round if it has been activated by chips this round.

Chips

• Chip Colors
• Chip Cost
• Chip Limit

• Aggro
• Boat
• Bolster
• Break
• Campfire
• Caravan
• Compass
• Corruption
• Evasion
• Fear
• Freeze
• Guard Bust
• Heart
• Narrative
• Poison
• Scroll
• Seal
• Shield
• Shield ×2
• Skull
• Skull ×2
• Skull ×3
• Strengthen
• Stun
• Sword
• Sword ×2
• Sword & Shield
• Upkeep
• Weaken

Components

• Map of Isofar
• Mini-map
• Guard Dashboard & Bust Card
• Guard Ability Dashboard
• Enemy Dashboard
• Guard Ability Card
• Stonebound Ability Card
• Enemy Card
• Enemy AI Card
• Weapon Card
• Armor
  Card
• Accessory Card
• Item
  Card
• Harvesting Card
• Mining Card
• Enemy Drop Card
• Speaking Stone Card
• Field Event Card
• Lux Essence Tracker
• Sil Tracker
• Cubes
• Gems

Components inventory

Components Inventory

• Components

• 1 Map of Isofar
• 7 Mini-Maps (1 Board, 6 Paper)
• 2 Guard Dashboards
• 9 Guard Bust Cards
• 2 Guard Ability Dashboards
• 4 Enemy Dashboards
• 16 Harvesting Cards
• 12 Mining Cards
• 29 Enemy Drop Cards
• 61 Weapon Cards
• 55 Armor Cards
• 60 Speaking Stone Cards
• 44 Accessory Cards
• 116 Item Cards
• 8 Square Card Separators
• 64 Guard Ability Cards
• 204 Enemy Cards
• 75 Stonebound Ability Cards
• 688 Enemy AI Cards
• 18 Guard Separators
• 68 Enemy Separators
• 60 Field Event Cards
• 1 Rulebook
• 1 Reference Guide
• 1 Indexes Book
• 1 Quests Book
• 5 Campaign Books
• 1 Player Aid Foldout
• Translucent Cubes and Gems
  • 30 Gray Cubes
  • 20 Green Cubes
  • 20 Red Cubes
  • 20 Blue Cubes
  • 10 Purple Cubes
  • 10 Yellow Cubes
  • 4 Red Gems
  • 4 Orange Gems
  • 4 Blue Gems
  • 4 Green Gems
  • 4 Yellow Gems
  • 4 Purple Gems
  • 4 White Gems
• 1 Lux Essence Dual Dial Tracker
• 1 Sil Dual Dial Tracker
• 5 Miniatures
  • Grigory and Alek
  • Kharzin and Vera
  • Dunamis
  • Catherine and Yury
  • Pavel and Yana
• 3 Fabric Drawstring Bags (Black, Gray, and Blue)
• 10 Black Single Sword Chips
• 10 Green Single Sword Chips
• 10 Purple Sword & Shield Chips
• 10 Red Weaken Chips
• 10 Black Double Sword Chips
• 10 Green Single Shield Chips
• 10 Purple Evasion Chips
• 10 Red Break Chips
• 10 Black Single Shield Chips
• 10 Green Evasion Chips
• 10 Purple Heart Chips
• 10 Red Fear Chips
• 10 Black Double Shield Chips
• 10 Green Heart Chips
• 10 Purple Corruption Chips
• 10 Red Seal Chips
• 1 Black Single Skull Chip
• 10 Green Strengthen Chips
• 10 Purple Freeze Chips
• 10 Red Stun Chips
• 1 Black Double Skull Chip
• 10 Green Bolster Chips
• 10 Purple Poison Chips
• 10 Red Upkeep Chips
• 1 Black Triple Skull Chip
• 2 Black Narrative Event Chips
• 1 Black Scroll Chip
• 1 Campfire Chip
• 2 Black Compass Chips
• 1 Black Caravan Chip
• 1 Black Boat Chip
• 1 Black Aggro Chip
• 1 Grigory Bust Chip
• 1 Alek Bust Chip
• 1 Catherine Bust Chip
• 1 Yury Bust Chip
• 1 Kharzin Bust Chip
• 1 Vera Bust Chip
• 1 Pavel Bust Chip
• 1 Yana Bust Chip

Conflicting Rules

When rules conflict between sources, follow the rules in this order:

1. Campaign Book
2. Cards
3. Rulebook

Corruption

• Battle
• Chips

A purple chip that prevents a Guard from using any Guard Ability Cards during the round from the point when it was drawn to the end of the round. Stonebound Ability Cards may still be used.

Corruption Chips are placed in the negative status area on the Guard Ability Dashboard while active. Once the round is over, Corruption Chips are moved to the Guard’s discard area during the cleanup phase of battle.

Cubes

Gray cubes represent Action Points that are used by all Guards and enemies to perform actions.

Green cubes are Temporary Action Points that last for one battle.

Red cubes are used to track Health, Attack, and Defense stats.

Blue cubes track current Defense when it has been temporarily increased.

Purple cubes are counters on Field Event decks, mark a Guard’s max Health when it is above 20, and keep track of Accessories with limited activations.

Yellow cubes are used with Vera’s [Burst] keyword.

Damage

• Battle

Damage is the amount of Health Points reduced. Damage from attacks is calculated by taking the value of the current Attack, including applicable modifiers and subtracting the value of the target’s Defense, including applicable modifiers.

( + ) − ( + ) = Damage

Defense (DEF)

• Battle

A Guard’s or enemy’s Defense stat is used when they are attacked. This value can be modified by various means.

Damage from an attack equals the amount that the attacker’s attack value exceeds the target’s defense value.

Defense Modifiers

The Defense Modifier icon indicates that an defender raises their base Defense stat by the value listed.

Blue Defense Cube

This icon indicates that the target’s defense is temporarily increased by 1. A blue cube is placed on the target’s defense track while active.

Difficulty Levels

The Isofarian Guard offers three levels of difficulty for you to choose from.

Story Mode (Easy)

This mode offers a streamlined experience with a decreased level of difficulty for those that want to enjoy the story with minimal challenge.

• Decrease enemy stats as follows for all battles: DEF −1.
• Inns restore HP and remove all negative chips from the Guards’ bags.
• Narrative Events do not have to be started from the beginning if the Guards fall in battle.

Standard Mode (Normal)

This mode offers the standard level of difficulty and is the recommended mode for most players.

• Use stats and rules as printed on cards and in books.

Tenebris Mode (Hard)

This mode offers a challenging experience with an increased level of difficulty.

• Increase enemy stats as follows for all battles: ATK +2, AP +1.
• All non-narrative encounters are ambushes (you cannot retreat from any battle).

Speaking Stone Elements & Gems

These icons indicate the element type of the Stonebound Ability. When equipping a Stonebound Ability Card the corresponding colored Speaking Stone Gem is used on the Guard’s Ability Dashboard. Any color gem can be used for a “Rainbow” Stonebound Ability Card.

• Fire
  (red)
• Earth
  (orange)
• Water
  (blue)
• Wind
  (green)
• Neutral
  (yellow)
• Darkness
  (purple)
• Light
  (white)
• Rainbow
  (any color)

Enemies

Enemy AI Card

• Enemy Card
• Enemy Dashboard

• 
• 1. Enemy Name
  2. Special AI Icon (Cards 7–8)
  3. AI Abilities Text
  4. AI Card Icon
  5. AI Card Number (1–8)

Enemy Card

• Enemy AI Card
• Enemy Drop Card
• Enemy Dashboard

• Front
• Back

1. Rarity Star
2. Name
3. Attack Value (ATK)
4. Defense Value (DEF)
5. Action Point Value (AP)
6. Health Value (HP)
7. Lux Essence Reward
8. Enemy Drop

Enemy Dashboard

There can be up to four enemies in battle at any time. Each Enemy Dashboard is modular and can be added to the battlefield at any time if additional enemies join the fray. The Indexes Book or Campaign Books will inform you of how many enemies are in a battle and how they are placed.

Enemy Card Slot

Enemy cards are placed in this slot during battle. If an enemy is affected by a status effect chip, it is placed on top of the card in this slot. If an enemy’s HP reaches 0, that enemy is defeated and the enemy card is flipped over to determine what rewards will be collected at the end of the battle.

Enemy AI Draw Slot

Enemy AI cards are placed in this slot during battle. Each enemy has an AI deck of eight cards. These cards are shuffled and placed face down at the start of the battle. When an enemy starts its turn, flip over the top AI card in this slot and place it face up in the enemy AI discard slot. Once all cards have been discarded from the enemy AI deck, it is shuffled again and returned face down to the enemy AI draw slot.

Enemy AI Discard Slot

Enemy AI cards are discarded face up to this slot during battle. When an AI card is visible in this slot, it is considered an active AI card and its effects apply. Once all cards have been discarded from the enemy AI deck, it is shuffled again and returned face down to the enemy AI draw slot.

Health Point (HP) Icon and Tracks

Health points are tracked with red cubes. An enemy’s HP may only reach a maximum of 109. Two red cubes are used to indicate the HP value of an enemy, one on each track.

Attack (ATK) Icon and Track

Attack is tracked with red cubes. An enemy’s base attack may only reach a maximum of 10. Enemy AI abilities may modify the enemy’s attack temporarily over 10 for an attack.

Defense (DEF) Icon and Track

Defense is tracked with red cubes. An enemy’s base defense may only reach a maximum of 10. Enemy AI abilities may add additional defense that’s tracked with blue cubes. Blue defense cubes are not discarded during the cleanup phase of battle. Instead, blue defense cubes are discarded at the start of the enemies’ turn.

AP Active/Exhausted Area

Action points are stored in this area of the Enemy Dashboard. When an enemy uses an AI ability that requires AP, the player moves the required AP cubes from the active area to the exhausted area. At the end of the enemies’ turn, AP in the exhausted area is refreshed and the cubes are moved back to the active area.

Enemy Drop Card

• Enemy Card

• Front
• Back

1. Rarity Star
2. Resource Name
3. Resource Quantity (1–4)

Enemy Grid

• Battle
• Summon

Unless otherwise stated, enemies enter battle following the order of their enemy slots (I-IV). Each enemy has an enemy card and a deck of 8 AI cards. Shuffle the AI deck of each enemy in battle separately and place each deck on their Enemy Dashboard, along with the enemy card. Set the enemies’ stats for their health (HP), attack (ATK), and defense (DEF), using red cubes, and action points (AP) using gray cubes.

Enemy Dashboards are normally setup on the table like the example below, but you may arrange them however you prefer as long as the enemy turn order is followed from 1–4 (I–IV). The enemy placement as shown below is called the “Enemy Grid”.

The “Front Row” of the battlefield in the Enemy Grid consists of enemies in slot I and slot II, and the “Back Row” consists of the enemies in slot III and slot IV. Guards may only target enemies in the front row of the battlefield unless an ability says otherwise. Once enemy targets in slot I and slot II have been defeated (HP = 0), enemies in slot III and slot IV can be targeted. An ability that states “attack all enemies” would target enemies in all slots.

Evasion

• Battle
• Chips

A green or purple chip that allows a Guard or enemy target to evade an incoming attack (which includes the attack modifier icon).

When this status effect chip is active, the next attack performed against the target misses, but still counts as an attack. Any effects associated with the attack also miss.

Evasion Chips are placed in the positive status area on the Guard Ability Dashboard while active. After an incoming attack, the Evasion Chip is removed from the dashboard. Green Evasion Chips are returned to the supply, while purple Evasion Chips are moved to the Guard’s discard area.

Each time an Evasion Chip is added to an enemy, place the chip on the enemy card. After an incoming attack, the Evasion Chip is removed from the enemy card and returned to the supply.

If they are not activated by an incoming attack, green and purple Evasion Chips are cleaned up at the start of the next Guards’ or enemies’ turn. Green Evasion Chips are returned to the supply, while purple Evasion Chips are moved to the Guard’s discard area.

Event Bag

• Exploration
• Yellow & Blue Nodes

Draw one chip from the Event Bag when you resolve a yellow or blue map node during the Exploration Phase. The result may be a Battle or a Field Event. After resolving its outcome, immediately return the chip to the Event Bag.

This black bag contains:

• 1 Single Skull Chip
• 1 Double Skull Chip
• 1 Triple Skull Chip
• 2 Compass Chips

If one of the Skull Chips is drawn, match the value in the corresponding Enemy Index in the Indexes Book and begin the Battle Phase.

If a Compass Chip is drawn, immediately place a purple cube on the current region’s Field Event deck — to a maximum of 3 cubes. Then choose one of the following options:

• If there are now three purple cubes on the current region’s Field Event deck, you may draw and resolve a card from it. or…

• You may choose any one of the battles for the current node from the Enemy Index. (This can be very helpful if looking for a particular enemy to obtain their drop card.) or…

• You may return the chip without effect, and continue exploring.

Exhaust

• Battle

Exhaust refers to:

• Moving Action Points from the active area to the exhausted area on the Guard Dashboard.
• Moving a Speaking Stone Gem on the Guard Ability Dashboard from its card to its exhausted position.

Exploration Phase

Exploration is everything that happens outside of Battle and Narrative Events. During this phase you may:

• Travel to Map Nodes
  • Craft equipment at a Blacksmith
  • Buy & sell materials at Marketplaces
  • Rest at an Inn
  • Trigger Narrative Events
  • Begin Side Quests
  • Harvest & Mine resources
  • Go Fishing
  • Experience Field Events
• Customize your Guards
  • Manage Inventory
  • Change Abilities
  • Advance their Skill Trees
• Rebuild Fort Istra
• Use Items
• 

Living FAQ

Can a Guard perform a Standard Attack multiple times during their turn?

No, a Guard may only perform a single Standard Attack per round in a battle.

Can a chip with multiple resources be used to activate multiple abilities? (Double Sword, Double Shield, Sword & Shield Chip)

No, you cannot split the resources from chips to activate multiple abilities. Chips must be placed on the Guard Ability Card they are activating.

Can a Guard activate the same Guard Ability Card multiple times during their turn?

No, a Guard Ability Card cannot be activated more than once per round, unless it is activated by a Guard’s [Keyword] effect, or by another ability.

Can green AP be used to pay for abilities that have a gray AP cost?

Yes, this is true for Guards and enemies.

What happens with the Aggro Chip during the first round of an ambush battle?

The Aggro Chip is only placed on a Guard once they perform an attack on an enemy target (even if the attack misses or does no damage). Since the Guards skip their turn at the start of an ambush, no Guard would have aggro yet. If the enemy AI cards cannot target one of the Guards with the conditions listed, the player chooses the target of the enemy attacks.

Can you lose 1 HP to fill a Guard’s bag if the result will bring them to 0 HP?

No, this would result in the Guard falling in battle before the draw action takes place.

If you run out of chips after you have started a draw action, can you then choose to lose 1 HP to refill a Guard’s bag?

No, you must choose to lose 1 HP to refill a Guard’s bag before a draw action begins.

Can an enemy heal above their starting HP value?

Yes, if an enemy AI ability states that the enemy heals, and this would take the enemy over their starting HP value, then the enemy heals that amount above that value, up to the maximum of 109 HP.

What happens when an enemy begins their turn and has no AI cards left to draw?

If no AI cards can be drawn, shuffle the discarded cards and place them face down in the enemy AI draw slot and proceed with the draw. This also applies if the enemy attempts to draw a new AI card in the middle of their turn and runs out of AI cards to draw.

When an attack is evaded, are additional effects listed on the card also evaded?

Yes, when an attack is evaded both the attack and its effects are evaded. Note that an ability must use an attack modifier to be considered an attack. If an ability of any kind does not have an attack modifier, it cannot be evaded.

Can fallen Guards be targeted by an ability or effect?

No, an enemy may not target fallen Guards and anything that would affect “all Guards” would only apply to the other Guard. If the targeted Guard falls and the AI Card has additional actions remaining that would target them, the target does not change. Continue performing any actions that remain if can be performed.

When do I execute the actions on an enemy AI Card, and what abilities are always in effect?

Actions on AI cards are only executed if the card is drawn during the enemies’ turn, but any card visible in the Enemy AI Discard Slot is considered to be active. Any effects that say “while this card is active” apply at any point during battle, and if this effect only triggers when specified conditions are met the card will feature a Reactive/Passive Icon.

If a chip is removed from a Guard Ability Card that has been activated by a chip, will it flip during the cleanup phase at the end of the round?

The Guard Ability Card flips to the opposite side only if there is a chip activating it at the start of the cleanup phase.

What happens when an Enemy AI Card states to “discard” a chip from a Guard’s bag?

The chips are discarded from the bag, and their effects do not trigger. Unless the card text specifies otherwise, discard black and purple chips to the discard area of the Guard Ability Dashboard. Green and Red chips are returned to the supply.

If an enemy summons another enemy into a battle, do you obtain rewards from the summoned enemy once defeated?

Yes, all enemies defeated in battle grant rewards.

What if the Guards are victorious in battle but there are still actions or effects of Guard or enemy abilities that have not been fully applied?

The Guards are not victorious until all the text on the card has been applied in full.

Fear

• Battle
• Chips

A red chip that immediately stops the player from drawing more chips during this draw for the current Guard. Some abilities allow a player to draw additional chips after Fear has been drawn.

Fear Chips are placed in the negative status area on the Guard Ability Dashboard while active. Once the round is over, Fear Chips are returned to the supply during the cleanup phase of battle.

Field Events

• Exploration
• Event Bag

Field Event Cards are random events that you encounter as you travel the land of Isofar. These events are mostly non-battle oriented and focus on the day-to-day activities of the inhabitants of Isofar. Field Events offer you multiple choices in how to respond to a particular event and utilize various mechanics that may interact with the Guards’ Chip Bags, satchel contents, or other components. All Field Event Cards are put into play at the start of a new campaign.

Field Event Cards are split into three decks of twenty cards each. The node in which the Guards are currently located determines which deck to draw from.

Nodes 1–23: Mountainous Region. These cards are numbered 1–20 and the bottom-right corner on the front of the card is blue. (Note: The “Ice Caves” and the “Frozen Wastes” mini-maps are also considered a part of this region).

Nodes 24–77: Plains Region. These cards are numbered 21–40 and the bottom-right corner on the front of the card is yellow.

Nodes 78–108: Forest Region. These cards are numbered 41–60 and the bottom-right corner on the front of the card is red.

When drawing a Field Event Card

1. Return the three purple cubes on the Field Event deck back to the supply.
2. Read the presented narrative.
3. Choose a path without looking at the back of the card.
4. Once a path has been chosen, flip the card over, read the outcome, and follow the instructions listed on the card.
5. Once the outcome has been resolved, return the card to the supply (unless the card instructs you to return it back to the deck).

Field Event Card

• Field Events

• Front
• Back

1. Event Name
2. Narrative
3. Path Options
4. Card Number & Region Color

Fishing

• Exploration
• Blue Map Nodes

The “Fishing” action is unlocked at Fort Istra during Campaign 1 when you obtain the “Fishing Pole” unique item. This unique item is noted by the satchel icon on the card back. This action can be performed on any blue node, so long as the unique item is in one of your Guards’ satchel slots. Full details on fishing can be found in the “Fort Istra Index” in the Indexes Book starting on page 66.

To fish, reveal a single chip from one of the Guards’ bags to determine the fish caught.

• Black Chip: 1× Dusk Tuna (item)
• Green Chip: 1× Emerald Koi (item)
• Red Chip: 1× Foxtail Carp (item)
• Purple Chip: 1× Amethyst Trout (item)

You can only fish once per visit to a blue node.

Fort Istra

Fort Istra is the main hub for Guards during the Campaigns, providing a place to rest, train, and grow stronger. The Fort starts in ruins and requires rebuilding for new content and mechanics to be unlocked. You’ll use the special Fort mini-map to track its reconstruction. Full details can be found in the “Fort Istra Index” in the Indexes Book starting on page 65.

After visiting the Fort in Chapter 1, you may refer to the following notes.

Forteller

Bring the Guards of The Isofarian Guard to life, as you listen to high-quality narration on the Forteller Platform.

Download the App

• Apple App Store
• Google Play Store

Purchase the Narration

• Forteller Store: The Isofarian Guard

The interactive app lets you listen to the story in the Guards’ own voices, instead of reading the narrative yourself. You’ll be treated to a narrative experience by a carefully curated team of professional voice actors, with realistic sound effects and incredible music that sets the scene as you play.

Using Forteller is easy! Just choose which scenario you want to hear come to life by using the appropriate narration bundle. Any time the story branches, you’ll be prompted to choose a story path. From there, you’ll hear the effects of your choice on Forteller.

The app saves previous sessions, so you don’t lose your place during breaks. It has an option to enable a spoiler-free experience as you browse. It offers gameplay tracking that shows your completion of each narrative campaign. It offers a truly unique cross-platform play experience, so you can use any officially supported platform with just one account and one purchase! Forteller is also building new tools all the time!

Freeze

• Battle
• Chips

A purple chip that immediately returns 1 green action point (AP) from the Guard’s Dashboard to the supply when drawn (if available). The removed green AP does not change the draw amount for the Guard for the remainder of that turn.

Freeze Chips are placed in the negative status area on the Guard Ability Dashboard while active.

When Freeze is added to an enemy, the chip is placed on the enemy card and 1 green action point (AP) is removed and returned to the supply (if available). The effect occurs for each Freeze Chip added to the enemy target. The Freeze Chip is added to an enemy even if the target doesn’t have any green AP to remove.

Once the round is over, Freeze Chips are moved to the Guard’s discard area during the cleanup phase of battle, whereas Freeze Chips on enemies are returned to the supply.

Gain

Guards and enemies receive chips which are “gained” to the appropriate area of their Dashboard immediately. Conversely, a Guard may have a chip “added to bag”, which will only take effect when it is drawn.

Guard Abilities

• Abilities
• Guard Ability Dashboard
• Swords & Shields

Guard Abilities are acquired by unlocking them on the Guards’ Skill Trees, through side quests, and through other special events.

Equipping

When equipping a Guard Ability Card, make sure to place this card with the Primary side facing up (Noted by a “P” icon in the top-right corner). At the start of every battle, Guard Ability Cards must be on their Primary side. If an Ability Card does not have a Primary or Secondary side it remains the side it ended at from the previous battle.

Activating

Activate Guard Abilities in battle by paying the necessary resource cost. When you pay the cost of an ability, you place the required chips on the card being activated, and exhaust the AP required to perform that ability (sliding the AP cube from active to exhausted on the Guard’s Dashboard). You may activate as many Ability Cards as you can pay the resource cost for. A Guard Ability Card cannot be activated more than once per round, unless it is activated by a Guard’s [Keyword] effect, or by another ability.

The effect of the Guard Ability Card is listed on the bottom of the card. Resolve the effects of the Ability Card. Guard Ability Cards have a Primary effect and a [Keyword] effect. [Keyword] effects have special conditions to activate.

Guard Ability Dashboard

This dashboard is used to equip each Guard’s Ability Cards and Stonebound Ability Cards, as well as serve as the area where most chips will be placed during battle.

Positive Status Effect Chips

This area is used during battle to store active positive status chips that are currently benefiting the Guard. These chips may be:

• Bolster
• Evasion
• Evasion
• Heart
• Heart
• Strengthen

Negative Status Effect Chips

This area is used during battle to store active negative status chips that are currently hindering the Guard. These chips may be:

• Break
• Corruption
• Fear
• Freeze
• Poison
• Seal
• Stun
• Upkeep
• Weaken

Chip Discard

This area is used during a battle to store chips which have been discarded and will eventually return to the Guard’s bag. All black and purple chips (except purple Evasion Chips) are moved to the discard area during the cleanup phase at the end of a round. If the Guard’s bag is empty at the start of their turn, refill it by taking all the chips in this area. If the bag is not empty, you may still choose to do this by losing 1 HP.

Guard Ability and Stonebound Ability Cards (I–VI)

This area is used to equip Guard Ability Cards and Stonebound Ability Cards to a Guard. Players may equip an Ability Card to any open slot of this dashboard, but are limited to a total of six Ability Cards.

Speaking Stone Gem Ready

When equipping a Stonebound Ability Card, the corresponding colored Speaking Stone Gem is also placed in the ready slot with the matching numeral. Gems always start in their ready slot when a battle begins.

Speaking Stone Gem Exhausted

Speaking Stone Gems move onto their associated Stonebound Ability Card, and then to their exhausted slots when used during battle. (See Stonebound Ability activation)

Guard Ability Card

• Guard Abilities
• Guard Ability Dashboard

• Front
• Back

1. Chip Activation Flip Icon
2. Ability Name
3. Primary/Secondary Side
4. Chip Type & Cost
5. Action Point Cost
6. Ability Effects

Guard Chip Bags

• Battle
• Action Points

During a Guard’s draw at the start of their turn, the player will draw chips one at a time from the Guard’s bag without looking, equal to the amount of Active AP — gray and green AP cubes that are in the top part of the “AP Active/Exhausted Area” on the Guard Dashboard.

Black chips are the only chips that count toward the draw number. A player’s draw stops if there are no more chips remaining in the bag. Note that a player may look in the Guard’s bag to see how many chips are remaining before the draw begins and may lose 1 HP to refill it if they wish. This must happen before the drawing begins.

When new black or purple chips are unlocked from the Guard Skill Trees, or obtained from equipment or Speaking Stone cards, you must place them from the supply into the Guard’s Chip Bag.

Guard Bust Chips

Guard Bust Chips each represent individual guards. They can be used instead of the Guards miniatures if you prefer.

You may also discover additional uses for them as the Campaigns progress…

Guard Bust Icon

This icon indicates the Guard that is able to equip the card it appears on. Each of the eight Guards has their own unique Guard bust icon.

Guard Classes

These icons indicate a Guard Ability Card that is unlocked through the Guard’s Skill Tree. Each Guard has their own unique class icon. This icon can be found below the Primary and Secondary icon of the respective Guard Ability Cards. The icon can also be found on each of the Guard’s Skill Trees.

• Tactician (Grigory)
• Apothecary (Alek)
• Remnant (Catherine)
• Marauder (Yury)
• Sentinel (Kharzin)
• Vanguard (Vera)
• Watchman (Pavel)
• Prophet (Yana)

Guard Dashboard

• Inventory
• Stats

See Guard details for starting stats.

Guard Bust Card

Each Guard has a unique Guard Bust Card which is snapped into the Guard Dashboard when in use. These cards stay inserted throughout a campaign and are only switched when a new campaign begins, or when a Campaign Book instructs players to do so.

Health Point (HP) Icon and Tracks

Health points are tracked with red cubes. A Guard’s HP may only reach a maximum of 30. If a Guard’s HP is increased over 20, two red cubes are used, and a purple cube should be used to mark the maximum HP value of the Guard.

Attack (ATK) Icon and Track

Attack is tracked with red cubes. A Guard’s base attack may only reach a maximum of 10. Guard Abilities and Stonebound Abilities may modify the Guard’s attack temporarily over 10 for an attack.

Defense (DEF) Icon and Track

Defense is tracked with red cubes. A Guard’s base defense may only reach a maximum of 10. Guard Abilities and Stonebound Abilities may modify the Guard’s defense temporarily over 10 for additional defense. In addition, some abilities may add additional defense that’s tracked with blue cubes. Blue defense cubes are not discarded during the cleanup phase of battle. Instead, blue defense cubes are discarded at the start of the Guards’ turn.

Weapon Equipment Slot

Weapon cards are placed in this slot to equip a Guard. When a weapon card is placed in this slot, the Guard immediately gains any bonuses found in the Stone Slots shown on the back of the card. Bonus chips are added to the Guard’s bag, and bonus stats are increased on the Guard’s Dashboard. When the card is removed from this slot, the Guard immediately loses these bonuses. Only one weapon card may be equipped at any time.

In addition, weapon cards may feature open stone slots on the back. Place Speaking Stone Cards in these slots to give the Guard additional bonuses. If there is an open stone slot available, place the Speaking Stone Card in the weapon slot, underneath the weapon card. When the weapon card is removed, the Speaking Stone Cards underneath are also removed. Therefore, a weapon slot will only ever contain a number of Speaking Stone Cards equal to the number of open stone slots on the back of the weapon card on top. Players may freely change the weapon and Speaking Stones they have equipped during the exploration phase.

Armor Equipment Slot

Armor cards are placed in this slot to equip a Guard. When an armor card is placed in this slot, the Guard immediately gains any bonuses found in the Stone Slots shown on the back of the card. Bonus chips are added to the Guard’s bag, and bonus stats are increased on the Guard’s Dashboard. When the card is removed from this slot, the Guard immediately loses these bonuses. Only one armor card may be equipped at any time.

In addition, armor cards may feature open stone slots on the back. Place Speaking Stone Cards in these slots to give the Guard additional bonuses. If there is an open stone slot available, place the Speaking Stone Card in the armor slot, underneath the armor card. When the armor card is removed, the Speaking Stone Cards underneath are also removed. Therefore, an armor slot will only ever contain a number of Speaking Stone Cards equal to the number of open stone slots on the back of the armor card on top. Players may freely change the armor and Speaking Stones they have equipped during the exploration phase.

Accessory Equipment Slot

Accessory cards are placed in this slot to equip a Guard. When an accessory card is placed in this slot, the Guard immediately gains the bonuses found on the front of the card. Bonuses from accessories might be persistent effects which are always active, or they might grant additional actions for a Guard to perform during a round of battle. When the card is removed from this slot, the Guard immediately loses these bonuses. Only one accessory card may be equipped at any time. Players may freely change the accessory they have equipped during the exploration phase.

Item Equipment Slot

Item cards are placed in this slot to equip a Guard. In order to be available during battle, an item card must be placed in this slot beforehand. The item may be used at any time during a Guard’s turn once chips have been drawn from their bag. When the card has been used, it is immediately returned to the supply. Only one item card may be equipped at any time. Players may freely change the item they have equipped during the exploration phase.

Satchel Slots

Guards store the various possessions acquired during their journey in these slots. Each Guard has four satchel slots and each satchel slot can hold one card. Any square card can be placed into a satchel slot. While only one card may be stored in a satchel slot, some cards may have a numbered quantity printed in the bottom-right corner. In this case, the equipped card is flipped to show the quantity of that material being stored in a single slot.

Action Point (AP) Active/Exhausted Area

Action points are stored in this area of the Guard Dashboard. When a Guard uses a Guard Ability Card that requires AP, the player moves the required AP cubes from the active area to the exhausted area. At the end of the Guards’ turn, AP in the exhausted area is refreshed and the cubes are moved back to the active area.

Guard Details

Grigory

Grigory uses the [Chain] keyword. Activate one of Grigory’s Guard Ability Cards by paying its required cost. Each subsequent card that is activated this round will trigger its [Chain] effect in addition to its main effect.

Tactician

HP

20

ATK

3

DEF

2

AP

2

Alek

Alek uses the [Empower] keyword. Activate Alek’s Guard Ability Card “Combine” by paying its required cost. This gives the player the option to trigger the [Empower] effect from one of his potion Ability Cards. The potion Ability Card does not need to be activated in order to use the [Empower] effect listed on the card.

Apothecary

HP

20

ATK

2

DEF

1

AP

2

Catherine

Catherine uses the [Harmonize] keyword. Activate Catherine’s Stonebound Ability Card “Harmonize” by moving the gem onto the card. If Catherine’s ally has a Primary or Secondary card active, trigger the [Harmonize] effect of one of Catherine’s Guard Ability Cards. If the ally activated both a Primary and Secondary card this round, trigger the [Harmonize] effect of the same card again.

Remnant

HP

20

ATK

2

DEF

1

AP

2

Yury

Yury uses the [Surge] keyword. Activate one of Yury’s Guard Ability Cards by paying its required cost. Trigger the [Surge] effect of the activated card by paying its green action point (AP) cost. [Surge] effects cannot be triggered with gray AP.

Marauder

HP

20

ATK

3

DEF

1

AP

2

Kharzin

Kharzin uses the [Inspire] keyword. Activate one of Kharzin’s Guard Ability Cards by paying its required cost. Trigger the [Inspire] effect of the activated card by spending any additional Sword or Shield chips equal to the # indicated in the brackets [Inspire #].

Sentinel

HP

20

ATK

3

DEF

2

AP

2

Vera

Vera uses the [Burst] keyword. Each time you activate one of Vera’s Guard Ability Cards by paying its required cost, place a yellow cube on any of her other Guard Ability Cards. Once the required yellow cube count is met, trigger the effect of that card immediately. If the [Burst] effect was triggered, that card flips to the opposite side at the end of the round during the cleanup phase. Yellow cubes are returned to the supply.

Vanguard

HP

20

ATK

2

DEF

1

AP

2

Pavel

Pavel uses the [Endure] keyword. Activate one of Pavel’s Guard Ability Cards by paying its required cost. Now draw 3 chips from his ally’s bag. For this draw action, all chip colors count against the draw count. Negative chips drawn are gained by Pavel and placed in the negative area of his Guard Ability Dashboard. For each negative chip drawn, trigger the [Endure] effect of the activated card immediately. Return the remaining chips back to the ally’s bag. If Pavel’s ally has fallen, the [Endure] keyword is not triggered as chips cannot be drawn from the ally’s bag.

Watchman

HP

20

ATK

3

DEF

2

AP

2

Yana

Yana uses the [Awaken] keyword. Activate one of Yana’s Guard Ability Cards by paying its required cost. If the Speaking Stone element listed by the [Awaken] effect has been activated by any Guard, trigger the [Awaken] effect.

Prophet

HP

20

ATK

2

DEF

1

AP

2

Harvesting and Mining

• Exploration
• Green Map Nodes

The “Harvesting” and “Mining” actions are unlocked at Fort Istra during Campaign 1 when you obtain the “Wood Chopping Axe” and the “Pickaxe” unique items. These unique items are noted by the satchel icon on the card backs. These actions can be performed on special green nodes, indicated by the icons to the right, so long as the required unique item is in one of your Guards’ satchel slots. When you land on a green node with one of these icons, you may choose to perform the indicated action.

• Wood chopping axe
• Pickaxe
• Back of card indicating it’s stored in satchel slot

If you decide to harvest or mine from a green node, you gain wood or ore respectively and place it on a Guard’s satchel slot, up to the maximum amount. The maximum amount of each type of wood or ore that may be held by a party at any time is 4. Harvesting and mining resource cards are numbered 1–4 to indicate the amount carried by the Guard. The type of wood and ore found in these nodes are listed in the “Harvesting and Mining Index” in the Indexes Book.

Harvesting & Mining Cards

• Harvesting & Mining

• Harvesting Card
• Mining Card

1. Rarity Star
2. Resource Name
3. Resource Type
4. Resource Quantity (1–4)

Health Points (HP)

“Health Points” (HP) are a Guard’s or enemy’s remaining life. All Guards start with 20 HP, and this may be increased to a maximum of 30 HP through various means. Enemies have various HP values stated on their enemy cards, and may have a maximum of up to 109 HP.

HP is tracked by red cubes on the Guard and Enemy Dashboards.

If a Guard’s HP reaches 0, that Guard has fallen in battle and can no longer take their turn. If the surviving Guard is victorious, the fallen Guard is revived with 1 HP at the end of battle.

Heart Chips

• Battle
• Chips

A green or purple chip that immediately causes the Guard to heal 1 HP before the next chip is drawn.

Heart Chips are placed in the positive status area on the Guard Ability Dashboard while active.

Once the round is over, green Heart Chips are returned to the supply during the cleanup phase of battle, whereas purple Heart Chips are moved to the Guard’s discard area.

Heart Icon

This icon indicates healing, health loss, or current health depending on the text listed on the card.

Icons

General icons are found on various components

These icons can be found on Guard Ability Cards.

These icons can be found on Guard Ability Cards or Stonebound Ability Cards.

These icons can be found on Stonebound Ability Cards.

These icons can be found on the Map of Isofar.

• Health
• Attack
• Defense
• Action Point
• Temporary AP
• Forteller
• Rarity
• Rarity ×5
• Aggro
• Boss
• Compass
• Limited Activation
• Stone Slot
• Attack Modifier
• Defense Modifier
• Defense Cube
• [Burst] Cube
• Heart
• Reactive / Passive
• AI Card
• Special
  Enemy AI
• Primary side
• Secondary Side
• Chip Activated Flip
• [Burst] Activated Flip
• Chip Cost
• Chip Cost
• Chip Cost
• Action Point Cost
• Infinity
• Guard Bust
• Fire
• Earth
• Water
• Wind
• Neutral
• Darkness
• Light
• Rainbow
• Tactician
• Apothecary
• Remnant
• Marauder
• Sentinel
• Vanguard
• Watchman
• Prophet
• Yellow Node
• Orange Node
• Green Node
• Blue Node
• Red Node
• Blacksmith
• Inn
• Marketplace
• Harvesting
• Mining
• Boat Dock
• Point of Interest

Immune

Some accessory cards grant the effect of “Immune” against various negative chips. Immune prevents the listed negative chip from activating once drawn. However, the listed negative chip could still be added to the Guard’s bag.

Infinity Icon

This icon indicates that any Guard is able to equip the card it appears on.

Inns

• Exploration
• Green Map Nodes

When visiting cities across Isofar, players will discover various Inns that the Guards can visit and rest from their adventures.

Resting

Inns each have a fee to rest that is paid in Sil, and this information is listed in the “City Index” (see page 25 of the Indexes Book). At these locations, the Guards’ HP is restored back to the max value. (Starting HP for all Guards is 20, but has a range of 20–30). When resting at an Inn, the Guards’ bags remain unchanged.

After resting at an Inn a “Save Point” is created, and the Campfire chip is placed on the Inn. At the end of a game session you will record this location in the “Save Index” by writing down the location under the campfire icon. This can be found on page 117 of the Indexes Book.

Inventory

• Exploration
• Guard Dashboard

During the Exploration Phase you can freely equip, move, or drop belongings. This includes transferring property between Guards at the same location.

Equipment includes weapons, armor, accessories, and items. The Guard Dashboard has slots to equip one of each at a time.

Each Guard also has four Satchel slots that hold one card apiece. Any square card can be placed into a satchel slot. While only one card may be stored in a satchel slot, some cards may have a numbered quantity printed in the bottom-right corner. In this case, the equipped card is flipped to show the quantity of that material being stored.

You can make room in your inventory by using the Fort Istra Stash when you're there.

Dropping Cards

You may choose to drop cards from your inventory at any time during the exploration phase. Once dropped, the card is returned to the supply and is lost forever.

Item Card

• Equipment
• Items

• Front
• Back

1. Item Name
2. Item Effects
3. Equipment Type

Items

• Inventory

An item can only be used in battle if it is equipped in the Item Slot. Equipping must be done during the exploration phase before a battle begins.

Some items have a compass icon in the top-right corner of the item card. These items can be used at any time during the exploration phase, directly from the Guards’ satchel slots.

All items are single-use only, and are returned to the supply once used.

Limits

The maximum number of any type of chip there can be in a Guard’s bag at any time is 5. In this case, “type” here refers to chips with the same symbol and color.

If a chip would be added to a Guard’s bag that would go over the limit of 5 chips, discard the chip to the supply.

A player may look in their Guard’s bag at any time to verify chip counts, but may not look in the bag during a chip draw action.

Resources (chips, cubes, dials, etc.) are limited by the available components for this game.

Lux Essence

• Guard Skill Trees

The experience gained from battles and through completing objectives throughout the campaigns. Players may hold up to 99 Lux Essence in the Lux Dual Dial at any one time. Lux Essence can be used to unlock various nodes on the Guard’s skill trees, and in a variety of ways in Fort Istra.

Map of Isofar

• Map Nodes
• Mini-maps

Full Map (opens in new tab)

1. Movement Path
2. Yellow Node
3. Orange Node
4. Red Node
5. Blue Node
6. Blue, Boat Dock Node
7. Green, Mining Node
8. Green, Harvesting Node
9. Location Name

Map Nodes

• Exploration
• Map of Isofar
• Mini-maps

Exploring Isofar is done by traveling along a series of nodes on the map. When moving the Guards, you will either move their corresponding miniature or Guard bust chips. You may only move to a node on the map that’s connected with a path (indicated by the art).

Yellow “Exploration” Nodes

Yellow nodes are the primary type of node on the main map. You always draw a chip from the Event Bag when you move onto a yellow node.

Orange “Mini-Map” Nodes

Orange nodes are nodes that link to a “zoomed-in” area in Isofar, like a city or a cave. When you move to an orange node, you either move onto the associated mini-map, or to an adjacent node. Then continue with the exploration phase.

Red “Impassable” Nodes

The Guards may not land on red nodes, unless the narrative in the Campaign Books directs otherwise.

Blue “Water” Nodes

You’ll find blue nodes on the rivers and seas of Isofar. Whenever you travel to blue nodes, you draw from the Event Bag, similar to yellow nodes. However, when you draw on blue nodes, all battles are Ambushes.

In order to explore blue nodes the Guards will need a boat to sail between them. Sometimes the narrative will direct you to these nodes (and a boat will be provided). You’ll also have the opportunity to build a boat and sail whenever you’d like later in the story.

Green “Safe” Nodes

When you land on a green node no chip is drawn from the Event Bag. Instead, you may choose to perform an action granted by the node if possible. Green nodes may indicate:

• Blacksmith
• Inn
• Marketplace
• Harvesting
• Mining
• Point of Interest

Marketplaces

• Exploration
• Green Map Nodes

At a Marketplace, Guards can buy and sell materials used to craft equipment. These materials can also be won in battle as Enemy Drops.

Different Marketplaces value these materials differently, so it’s beneficial to explore various cities for the best deal. You can also buy beneficial items like potions and food, some of which are unique to certain Marketplaces.

Marketplace transactions can only occur during the Exploration Phase. Purchased materials are stored in the Guards’ Satchel slots, and the cost is subtracted from the Sil Dual Dial. When materials are sold, add to the Sil Dual Dial and return the cards to the supply.

Item	Buy	Sell	City
Health Potion	5–10	2–5	Any
Heal 5 .
Golden Potato	5	2	Mir
Add 2 Bolster chips to bag.
Mir Bread	5	2	Mir
Heal 3 and gain 3 .
Clayhorn Steak	5	2	Razdor
Add 2 Strengthen chips to bag.
Amethyst Trout	25	15	Ryba
Heal 5 and draw 2 purple chips from bag.
Dusk Tuna	15	10	Ryba
Heal 3 and draw 3 chips.
Emerald Koi	20	10	Ryba
Heal 3 and gain 1 .
Foxtail Carp	20	10	Ryba
Heal 3 and remove up to 2 red chips from bag.
Ryba Blue Fins	10	5	Ryba
Heal 7 .
Tent	20	10	Silny
Create a save point at current node and heal both Guards by 10 .
Tent	30	15	Strofa
Create a save point at current node and heal both Guards by 10 .

Mini-maps

• Map Nodes
• Map of Isofar

1. Orange Node
2. Green Node
3. Green, Blacksmith Node
4. Green, Marketplace Node
5. Green, Inn Node
6. Location Name

Narrative Event Phase

• Side Quests

As players explore the country of Isofar, the narrative will prompt you to place a Narrative Event Chip on the various maps on certain nodes. The Narrative Event Chip is used for the main story events. The Scroll and Caravan chips are used for Side Quests. These chips indicate where the next narrative trigger takes place.

When a player moves the Guards’ miniature (or Guard Bust Chips) onto the Narrative Event Chip, the narrative event immediately triggers. Players then either read or listen (using Forteller) to the narrative before progressing. Players may avoid triggering narrative events by not landing on the chip.

Battles that occur as a result of a narrative event are inescapable (cannot Retreat), and usually more difficult than those encountered in the wild. Players may not equip anything or engage in Guard customization during a narrative event or narrative sequence. This may only be done during the exploration phase. Once the narrative sequence triggers, players are locked into it until they emerge victorious or are defeated in battle.

Negate

Some accessory cards grant the effect of “Negate” against various negative chips. Negate prevents the listed negative chip from activating once drawn. Immediately return the chip to the supply.

Example: Orange Nodes

• Map Nodes

Point of Interest

Points of Interest are green nodes that have a scroll with the location’s name. When the Guards land on one of these nodes no action is taken. You’ll visit these locations during the campaigns through the main storyline and side quests.

Poison

• Battle
• Chips

A purple chip that causes the Guard to lose 1 HP before the next chip is drawn.

Poison Chips are placed in the negative status area on the Guard Ability Dashboard while active.

Each time a Poison Chip is added to an enemy, place the chip on the enemy card and reduce their HP by 1 immediately.

Once the round is over, Poison Chips are moved to the Guard’s discard area during the cleanup phase of battle, whereas Poison Chips on enemies are returned to the supply.

Primary Icon

This icon indicates the “Primary” side of a Guard Ability Card. Guard Ability Cards always start on the Primary side when a battle begins.

Rarity

The Rarity Star Icon indicates the rarity and relative power level of either an enemy, harvesting & mining material, enemy drop, weapon, or armor.

Enemy Cards may have a 1–4 Rarity Stars. The higher the star value, the higher the stats listed on the Enemy Card.

Rarity Stars listed on Harvesting and Mining Cards indicate the distance needed to travel in order to obtain the material, and also the rarity of equipment that can be crafted with the material. Weapon and Armor Cards may have 1-7 Rarity Stars. The higher the star value, the higher the stats and additional bonuses listed on the back of the card.

Reactive/Passive Icon

This icon indicates a persistent effect while the card is active. The effect will trigger when specified conditions are met.

Example: Red Nodes

• Map Nodes

Refill

Taking all of the chips in the discard area on a Guard’s Ability Dashboard (black and purple chips) and returning them to that Guard’s bag. This can be done for free if the Guard’s bag is empty at the start of that Guard’s turn. Otherwise, it costs that Guard 1 HP to refill their bag.

Refresh

• Battle

“Refresh” refers to moving action points (AP) or a Speaking Stone Gem from the exhausted position to the active or ready position, respectively.

This is done on the Guard and Enemy dashboards for AP, and the Guard Ability Dashboard for gems.

Retreating From Battle

• Battle

When you retreat from battle:

1. Guards forfeit all actions.
2. Enemies still take their turn.
3. After cleanup phase, battle is over.
4. No rewards are obtained.
5. Begin exploration phase.

This action can be taken at the start of a round only. If one Guard retreats, and the other has fallen, revive the fallen Guard with 1 HP and continue the exploration phase.

Saving Your Progress

Since The Isofarian Guard is a game that spans dozens of hours, and possibly even more depending on how much of the world the players explore, sessions of gameplay can be as long or short as players desire. When players have decided that their session is complete, they can save the progress of the Guards quickly and easily.

To save the game, you must travel to a nearby Inn. For the Sil cost to rest at each Inn, see the “City Index” starting on page 25 of the Indexes Book.

If you have a “Tent” item in one of your Guards’ satchel slots, you may also save your game at any yellow node. Tents can be crafted at various areas in the game. When using a Tent, the player discards the item card and places a Campfire Chip on the node the Guards are currently situated. Both Guards heal 10 HP, and their bags remain unchanged.

If defeated in battle, Guards always reset back to their most recent save point (the node containing the Campfire Chip), or the Fort Istra Courtyard if they have not made a save point so far during this campaign, unless the Campaign Book specifies otherwise.

You can keep track of important information on the provided save sheets in the “Save Index” in the Indexes Book on page 117, as well as in the provided Game Trayz. These will store the Guards’ current chips, materials, equipment cards, Ability Cards, Lux Essence and Sil in an organized fashion and provide quick access and setup when players are ready to continue their journey across Isofar!

The save sheets are also available on the game’s website for those who don’t want to mark in their books.

Seal

• Battle
• Chips

A red chip that prevents a Guard from using any Stonebound Abilities during the round from the point when it was drawn to the end of the round. Guard Abilities may still be used.

Seal Chips are placed in the negative status area on the Guard Ability Dashboard while active. Once the round is over, Seal Chips are returned to the supply during the cleanup phase of battle.

Secondary Icon

This icon indicates the “Secondary” side of a Guard Ability Card. Secondary sides are on the reverse of the card and can only be accessed by flipping the card from its Primary side.

Starting a New Game

In The Isofarian Guard, the Campaign Books will inform you which pair of Guards you will be controlling at the start of each campaign. Place the “Campaign 1 Book” on the table and turn to page 1. Play the track using the Forteller application or read the scene, then turn to page 3 and follow the instructions printed there.

The “Campaign Overview & Setup” section on page 3 of Campaign 1 will indicate the starting stats for Grigory as well as his equipment cards, Guard Ability Cards, Stonebound Ability Cards, and starting chips. You may use the blue or gray fabric bag for his Chip Bag. The black fabric bag will be used as the Event Bag. Find the following black chips from the chip trays and place them in the “Event Bag”: 1 “Single Skull Chip”, 1 “Double Skull Chip”, 1 “Triple Skull Chip”, and 2 “Compass Chips”. Keep the Indexes Book nearby for reference. Set the Sil and Lux Essence Dual Dials to “0”. Shuffle the three Field Event Decks and place them face-up (each deck is 20 cards, and the top is indicated by the colored bottom-right corner) anywhere on the table where they are easily accessible for players.

When starting your adventure for Campaign 1 you’ll begin by placing the following components on the table:

• Map of Isofar (6 Panel Board)
• Chips in Chip Trays
• Guard Dashboard with Grigory Bust Card
• Guard Ability Dashboard
• Enemy Dashboard
• Field Event Card Decks
• Dual Dial Trackers
• Event Bag
• Guard Bag

You will add more components to the table as they are called for by the Campaign Books.

Side Quests

• Narrative Event Phase

Side Quests are optional, but provide helpful rewards when completed.

To begin a Side Quest, place a Scroll Chip on the Map Node as directed by the books. When the guards move there, you may either ignore the chip and encounter the node as normal, or proceed with the Side Quest.

Side Quests cannot be repeated. Also note that no Bounty Quest, Caravan Quest, or Side Quest may be in progress to begin a new Side Quest.

Some Side Quests have multiple parts. The text will instruct you to move the Scroll Chip to additional locations if required.

Caravan Quests

This special type of Side Quest is available in every chapter starting in chapter 2 of each Campaign. When available, place the Caravan Chip on the map as directed. When the guards move there, you may either ignore the chip and encounter the node as normal, or proceed with the Caravan Quest.

Once the Caravan Quest is underway, you’ll use the Scroll Chip to track its progress.

Bounty Quests

These Side Quests are posted at Inns across Isofar and provide a multitude of unique rewards for defeating very challenging enemies.

When the Guards move to a node that has an Inn, the Bounty Quests listed there for the current campaign are unlocked.

Sil

• Blacksmiths
• Marketplaces

Sil is the currency of Isofar. It is gained from defeated enemies, selling at Blacksmiths and Marketplaces, and through various side quests. You may hold up to 99 Sil in the Sil Dual Dial at any one time. Sil may also be stored in the Fort Istra Stash in unlimited quantities (see “Fort Istra Stash” in the Indexes Book on page 95).

Guard Skill Trees

As your Guards journey across Isofar and defeat various enemies, they will gain Lux Essence — a party’s communal experience pool used to gain new bonuses. Lux Essence is spent to acquire upgrades on each Guard’s Skill Tree. At the start of each campaign, the starting upgrade of each Guard is unlocked by default. Every “node” on each Skill Tree has a required Lux Essence cost to unlock it. Details on these unlockable upgrades are listed in the “Skill Tree Index” in the Indexes Book starting on page 108.

Players may unlock upgrades above or orthogonally adjacent to upgrades they have already unlocked. This means that players will be able to decide which upgrade to unlock and when, for more player agency over Guard customization. Upgrades are labeled by either chip icons or stat icons. These tell players what is unlocked at each space. Some may add a new permanent chip to the Guard’s bag, while others may increase a Guard’s maximum health, attack, defense, or AP permanently. Note that if it has a “+” icon, it is a stat increase.

The Class Icons on the Guards’ Skill Trees unlock new Guard Ability Cards for the Guard. These are unique to each Guard and may only be used by that Guard. Once unlocked, players have the option to add these new abilities to their Guard’s Ability Dashboard at any time during the exploration phase of the game. These unique cards can be identified on the Guard’s Skill Trees by using class icon and named scroll.

You may also unlock new Stonebound Ability Cards for your Guards on their Skill Trees. These abilities are identified using the Speaking Stone element icon and the name of the ability in a scroll. Just like the Guard Ability Cards from the Skill Tree, these are unique to each Guard and may only be used by that Guard.

Unlocking Nodes on the Skill Tree

When using Lux Essence to unlock a new bonus or ability from a Guard’s Skill Tree you’ll reference the tracking sheet in the Indexes Book in the “Skill Tree Index”. Each unlockable node has a Lux Essence cost and chapter requirement in order to be unlocked. Lux Essence requirements increase as the story progresses and enemies grant more experience to the Guards. This system prevents you from over-leveling in the game and paces you with the story.

Speaking Stone Card

• Speaking Stones

• Front
• Back

1. Stone Element
2. Speaking Stone Name
3. Guard Bonus
4. Bonus Quantity

Speaking Stones

• Stone Slots

Speaking Stone Cards can be gained by equipping Stonebound Ability Cards, and may also be acquired via battle rewards, narrative events, side quests, and other special events. Equipping Speaking Stone Cards is the primary way to build the Guards’ Chip Bags in The Isofarian Guard.

A Speaking Stone Card gained from a Stonebound Ability Card must be attached to a weapon, armor, or accessory card with an open stone slot, and both must be equipped to an equipment slot. The Speaking Stone Card is placed beneath the equipment card it's attached to, occupying the same equipment slot, and the Guard receives any bonuses specified on the back of the Speaking Stone Card immediately. The Speaking Stone Card must remain equipped for as long as its associated Stonebound Ability Card is equipped. When the Stonebound Ability Card is unequipped, the Speaking Stone Card and any bonuses are also removed.

Speaking Stone Cards acquired independently of Stonebound Ability Cards may be stored in a satchel slot, but only provide their bonuses when equipped to an open stone slot as with any other Speaking Stone Card.

Speaking Stone Cards can be equipped and swapped between open stone slots freely at any time during the exploration phase.

Special Enemy AI Icon

This icon indicates a special enemy AI card. Some Ability Cards affect enemy AI cards, or are activated by AI conditions. There are two special enemy AI cards in each enemy AI deck.

Stats

• Enemy Dashboard
• Guard Dashboard

The following values may be referred to as “Stats”.

• Health Points
• Attack
• Defense
• Action Points

When a stat is increased, move the corresponding red cube to the new value of the stat. This applies for health, attack, and defense. If action points are gained add a new gray cube to the AP pool.

Status Effects

• Battle
• Chips

The following chips are all “Status Effect Chips”.

Positive

• Evasion
• Heart
• Strengthen
• Bolster
• Evasion
• Heart

Negative

• Weaken
• Break
• Fear
• Seal
• Stun
• Upkeep
• Corruption
• Freeze
• Poison

Stone Slots

• Speaking Stones

“Stone Slots” are used for attaching Speaking Stone Cards to the Guards’ weapons, armor, and accessories. These cards may have multiple stone slots and you may only attach Speaking Stone Cards equal to the number of available open stone slots. Some cards have stone slots which are permanently occupied by chip bonuses. These occupied slots may not be used to equip Speaking Stone Cards.

Stonebound Abilities

• Abilities
• Guard Ability Dashboard

Stonebound Ability Cards are powerful abilities that come with special Speaking Stone Gems that are required to activate them, and a Speaking Stone listed on the back.

When you remove a Stonebound Ability Card from a Guard, remove the card, the Speaking Stone Gem, and the Speaking Stone Card listed on the back. Bonus effects given from the Speaking Stone Card are also removed from the Guard. This could include bonus chips in the Guard’s bag, or bonus stats. Be sure to keep this in mind when swapping out Stonebound Ability Cards and equipment cards.

Equipping

When you equip a Stonebound Ability Card, place its Speaking Stone Gem below it in the ready slot on the Guard Ability Dashboard. Stonebound Abilities are always ready at the beginning of a battle.

Activating

These abilities are so powerful that there is a turn of cooldown before they can be used again. When activating, the player moves the Speaking Stone Gem from the numbered ready slot on the Guard Ability Dashboard to the Stonebound Ability Card. During the cleanup phase, the gem is moved from the Stonebound Ability Card to the numbered exhausted slot, then back to the ready slot the following cleanup phase.

• Ready
• Activated
• Exhausted

Stonebound Ability Card

• Guard Ability Dashboard
• Stonebound Abilities

• Front
• Back

1. Equippable By
2. Ability Name
3. Stone Element
4. Ability Effects
5. Speaking Stone

Strengthen

• Battle
• Chips

A green chip that gives a Guard +1 to their Attack Stat (ATK) for each Strengthen Chip drawn. This effect lasts from the point when it was drawn until the chip is returned to the supply.

Strengthen Chips are placed in the positive status area on the Guard Ability Dashboard while active. Once the round is over, Strengthen Chips are returned to the supply during the cleanup phase of battle.

Stun

• Battle
• Chips

A red chip that immediately causes the Guard to exhaust all green action points (AP) when drawn. The exhausted green AP does not change the draw amount for the Guard for the remainder of that turn.

Stun Chips are placed in the negative status area on the Guard Ability Dashboard while active.

When Stun is added to an enemy, the chip is placed on the enemy card and the enemy target immediately exhausts all green action points (AP). The Stun Chip is added to an enemy even if the target doesn’t have any green AP to exhaust.

Once the round is over, Stun Chips are returned to the supply during the cleanup phase of battle.

Summon

• Battle
• Enemy Grid

“Summon” is the act of one enemy adding another enemy to the battle. Newly added enemies go into the lowest slot available on the Enemy Grid.

An available enemy slot has no enemy currently occupying it, including defeated enemies. If an enemy attempts to summon another enemy and all enemy slots or cards of that type are in use, heal the enemy in battle that currently has the lowest HP value back to their maximum HP, as indicated on their enemy card. In the case of a tie (including enemies at 0 HP), heal the one in the lowest numbered slot.

If the Guards are victorious, rewards are gained for each summoned enemy.

Swords & Shields

• Battle
• Chips

Sword and Shield resources are used to pay the chip cost for Standard Attacks and Guard Ability Cards.

A “Sword Chip” is defined as a chip that exclusively has swords on it.

A “Shield Chip” is defined as a chip that exclusively has shields on it.

A purple Sword & Shield Chip produces one sword resource and one shield resource.

Chip Cost

When paying chip cost, two shields can be used in place of a sword, and two swords can be used in place of a shield.

For example, you could pay the single sword cost of this Standard Attack in any of these ways:

• One sword
• Two shields
• Two shields
• One sword (the shield is wasted)

Target

A “Target” is the recipient of an attack or effect.

Players choose the targets of Guards’ attacks and effects.

Enemy AI cards specify the enemy’s target for each ability on the card. If no targeting condition is met (including having aggro), then the players may choose which Guard is the target of the ability.

Campaign 1 Starting Guide

This guide has been created to assist new players through some of the early content of Campaign 1 in The Isofarian Guard. Isofar is a very dangerous place, and you’ll need to prepare accordingly while progressing the narrative. Let’s go over some general tips that are always useful throughout your adventures!

1. During the tutorial section of the game you’ll control Grigory solo. Once the tutorial is completed, Alek will join him. This starting section of the game is intended to teach the general mechanics of the various phases used in the game.

   Once Grigory reaches Silny you’ll be presented with a choice that will lead you to two possible “mini-boss” type battles. Both of these battles are quite challenging, and it’s normal to fall in battle a couple times while learning the battle mechanics. If you do fall during the tutorial, the Campaign Book instructs you to “Restore Grigory’s HP back to 20. Remove all negative chips from Grigory’s bag, and begin the Battle Phase again.”

2. At the end of Chapter 1:11 the Campaign Book states the following:

   Place a narrative chip on Node 102.

   Tutorial is now Complete. Begin exploration phase.

   Upon arrival at Node 102, place the Fort Istra mini-map on the table. Remove all building pieces from the board and place them to the side. Move the Guards to Fort Istra: North Gate. Proceed to page 19 and read Chapter 2:1.

   END OF CHAPTER 1

   Exploration Phase now uses Enemy Index Chapter 2. See page 7 in the Indexes Book.

3. On your journey down to Fort Istra, take some time to explore the nodes and battle some enemies to obtain enemy drops and Lux Essence (this is an open-world game of exploration, battle, and crafting, after all). It’s a good idea to unlock some nodes on both of the Guards’ Skill Trees before advancing the story.

4. If you’d like a quicker start, head to Node 77 just west of Ryba and attempt the 1 Skull Chip battle for that node listed in the Enemy Index for Chapter 1, either by drawing the 1 Skull Chip or a Compass Chip on entering that node (a Compass Chip can allow you to pick any battle for that node from the Enemy Index). You’re looking to battle against a 1 Star Falmund Scout who drops “Metal Fragments”, as these sell for a whopping 10 Sil each at the neighboring city of Mir to the west, and defeating a few of these enemies and selling what they drop will yield a sizeable amount of Sil that will come in very useful for crafting equipment early in the game (though make sure to stash some for later too). There are a handful of nodes around this area where Metal Fragments can be obtained, but this location is closest to Mir.

5. Shortly after the Guards arrive at Fort Istra, they are given the materials and items listed below and Chapter 2 begins. Store all of these materials in the “Fort Istra Stash” except 2x Iron Ore and 4x Pine, leaving these materials in the Guards’ satchel slots, as you will use them at the start of the chapter 2.

   Obtain:

   • 2x Smoke Bomb (Item)
   • 2x Purifying Seed (Item)
   • 4x Iron Ore (Mining)
   • 4x Metal Fragments (Enemy Drop)
   • 4x Pine (Harvesting)
   • 2x Rough Leather (Enemy Drop)

6. Each time you advance a Chapter in The Isofarian Guard, the entire map of Isofar refreshes and new enemies appear on each node! This means enemies will have higher stats and will be more difficult to defeat in battle. When Chapter 2 begins, it is recommended that players begin by exploring east from Fort Istra to visit the city of Razdor. Upon arrival, check out the Blacksmith and craft Grigory’s 2 Star “Volk Blade” weapon. This single upgrade will help you survive the tougher battles that lie ahead in Chapter 2. This upgrade will require 15 Sil, which you should have from defeating enemies on your way down to Fort Istra in Chapter 1. Once you’ve crafted Grigory’s new weapon, you can harvest more Pine from Node 98 and begin rebuilding Fort Istra, starting with the Lumbermill.

7. Now that you have reached Chapter 2, prioritize working toward unlocking the Stonebound Ability Card “Purification” on Alek’s Skill Tree. This ability is very useful for removing negative chips from the Guards’ chip bags, and it comes with the bonus of a purple Heart Chip for Alek. Since Heart Chips heal a Guard by 1 HP each time they are drawn, and since this is a purple chip that will return to the bag each time it is refilled in battle, Alek will gain a consistent means of healing himself.

8. If you would like stronger armor (and don’t mind exploring a bit!), journey back north toward Silny, where you began your adventure. Here, you can encounter a Mountain Bear on Nodes 28, 30, and 31. This enemy drops a “Bear Pelt”, which is used to craft the “Bear Tunic” at either Silny or Strofa. This armor is an excellent starting choice as it increases the Guard’s defense, and more importantly has two open stone slots. Stone slots allow you to equip Speaking Stone Cards, which are invaluable as they add chips and bonuses to the Guards.

Hopefully these tips help to further ease novice players into the world of Telios. From this point on, the options for how you could continue your adventure across the land of Isofar are practically limitless.

Tracker: Campaign 1 Campaign 2 Campaign 3 Campaign 4 Campaign 5

• Backup/Restore