Too Many Bones

#37BGG8.3RATING

Updated Sep 12

1–4

PLAYERS

60–120

MINUTES

BEST WITH

3.9

HEAVY

Ask Mira about Too Many Bones

ERRATA6

Nom Special Encounter card wordinglinked official sourcepublisher
RULING
"NOM SPECIAL ENCOUNTER: Nom got nerfed toward the end of playtesting, and we unfortunately missed this update to his Special Encounter. It should read 'If Nom has fewer than 6 HP, he immediately leaves the battle.'" Josh Wielgus confirmed the same correction in equivalent wording ("5 or fewer") and noted the card would be fixed in future print runs.
AUTHOR: CATCLAW44 (Alan Webster), quoting Chip Theory Games' official Kickstarter update; confirmed by Ghillie Gearloc (Josh Wielgus, publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(9 replies)DATE: 2017-04-23
Mulmesh Tyrant Encounter card wordinglinked official sourcepublisher
RULING
"MULMESH TYRANT ENCOUNTER: this one missed a couple words that needed deleting. It should read 'All baddies on this card are placed on top of BQ. Add Mulmesh to bottom of BQ.'"
AUTHOR: CATCLAW44 (Alan Webster), quoting Chip Theory Games' official Kickstarter updateSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(9 replies)DATE: 2017-04-23
Corrosive resolution orderdesignerpublisher
RULING
"Apply Damage, THEN exhaust Def dice that are still active!" The target defends against the incoming attack with its active Def dice first; any Def dice still active after damage is applied are then exhausted. Adam Carlson noted in the same post that the printed wording would be corrected: "We will touch up on the wording here for the next print."
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(61 replies, 17 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-03
Liquid Life in an Active slot prevents the KOdesigner
RULING
"The new text (and intent) will reflect that the KO is actually PREVENTED. If a Gearloc has Liquid Life in its Active Slot, the instant it takes KO damage, it will renew to the HP shown on the LL die (Gearloc does not lose any effects or Skills from would be KO, even negative effects)." The Gearloc therefore keeps its Active, Locked and Backup Plan contents, but retains negative effects and can be KO'd again the same round.
AUTHOR: U_jhin (Yevgeniy Cherdakov), quoting an email reply from Adam Carlson (designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(1 reply)DATE: 2018-01-12
Goblin King card omits "of 1" in the Battle Queue linedesignerpublisher
RULING
The Goblin King Tyrant card reads "BQ: Baddie Pts (party ignores this)" but should read "(party of 1 ignores this)" — only a solo party skips building the Battle Queue; all other party sizes add the Baddie Points as normal. Adam Carlson: "This is a new known issue. We have addressed it in our most recent update last night. We are working hard to correct it and get new cards out ASAP."
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(15 replies)DATE: 2019-10-08
The Goblin King's destroyed Throne is permanentdesignerpublisher
RULING
If you destroy the Goblin King's Throne with the Care Package loot bomb and then lose the Tyrant battle, the Throne remains destroyed for later attempts. Shannon Wedge: "Count it as a permanent, as opposed to a single-use Loot" and confirmed "this one will be labelled as 'Permanent' for future prints."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(7 replies)DATE: 2019-04-22

DESIGNER CLARIFICATIONS65

Break exhausts only damage-dealing attack dicecommunity high-engagement
RULING
"Break - only attack dice used to lower HP are exhausted - so any used to remove Def Dice are not. Also you can choose not to apply an attack die in order to save it and try to roll higher later!"
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; hired by Chip Theory Games as its resident rules expert in August 2018, and publicly endorsed by CTG staff at the time)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(61 replies, 17 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-02
Dive destination is the attacker's choicecommunity high-engagement
RULING
"Dive - you choose which spot beside the weakest unit the diving baddie moves to."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(61 replies, 17 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-02
Flight and Untargetable block targeting, not all damagedesignercommunity high-engagement
CONTEXT
Players asked whether a Baddie in Flight is fully immune, and what happens on a turn where the Baddie makes no attack.
RULING
"the Baddie cannot be targeted while in flight, but can still take damage if you have something that allows you to do damage to units beside your target, for example. Units only gain flight and lose Flight if they attack, since flight activates after an attack." Untargetable works the same way. A Baddie that does not attack neither enters nor leaves Flight — as Adam Carlson confirmed in the same thread, "No Atk means no Flight."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance), confirmed in the same thread by Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(61 replies, 17 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-02
Hardy reduces damage to 1, not by 1community high-engagement
RULING
"Hardy - unit can only take 1 HP of damage per turn (not round - so each Gearloc can attack and reduce by one HP on their turns). This includes True Damage. Remember this is different than Thick Skin - damage is reduced TO 1, not BY 1."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(61 replies, 17 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-02
Inspire moves and buffs the next Baddie in initiativecommunity high-engagement
RULING
"Inspire # - the next baddie in initiative moves to right beneath this Baddie on initiative (so above any Gearlocs that might be in between). Whatever the # is, the next Baddie gets that many more Attack Dice (even if it didn't move in initiative)."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(61 replies, 17 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-02
Lashback only hits adjacent unitscommunity high-engagement
RULING
"Lashback # - can only Lashback at adjacent units - ranged units do not suffer the Lashback unless they are adjacent to their target. Doesn't happen after the killing blow."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(61 replies, 17 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-02
Mischief requires the unit to attackcommunity high-engagement
RULING
"Mischief # - only happens if the unit attacks, as it has to have a Target in order to do the skill. Occurs before the attack."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(61 replies, 17 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-02
Poison does not stackdesignercommunity high-engagement
RULING
"Poison - does not stack. If you are hit by a Poison effect and are already poisoned, you take the most recent # Poison on your Gearloc." Adam Carlson confirmed in 2018 that this has never changed between editions: "Set or reset it - The new poison will reset the die to the new value."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance), later confirmed by Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(61 replies, 17 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-02
Signal adds exactly one Baddie per roundcommunity high-engagement
CONTEXT
Signal was one of the skills Chip Theory Games flagged as most commonly misplayed, because groups were adding one Baddie *per point* of Signal each round.
RULING
"Signal # - only one Baddie is added to the BQ every round (per Baddie that has signal). The # refers to the number of rounds this occurs. So a Signal 3 on a 5 point Baddie would add one 1 point Baddie to the BQ for the first 3 rounds of battle."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(61 replies, 17 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-02
Terrify blocks targeting opposing units onlycommunity high-engagement
RULING
"Terrify - cannot Target opposing units with Skill Terrify, but you can still Target other Baddies. Effect is removed at the end of your turn." Note that this quotes 1st-edition wording; see EC6 for the 2nd-edition revision.
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(61 replies, 17 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-02
Thick Skin reduces total attack value, after Def dice are removedpublishercommunity high-engagement
CONTEXT
Chip Theory Games identified this as one of the most commonly misplayed skills, and warned it was skewing players' perception of the game's difficulty.
RULING
"Thick Skin: Reduces TOTAL Atk value by # (if no number, use '1'). Remove DEF Dice first." It does not reduce the *number* of attack dice. Equivalently, "the Baddie gets to ignore that # of damage each turn (not round)."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance); Ghillie Gearloc (Josh Wielgus, publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(61 replies, 17 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-02
Taunt on Troll Enforcerdesignerpublisher
RULING
"If Troll Enforcer rolls a Bone, he triggers 'Taunt'. Place Taunt Effect Die on Troll Enforcer to show this. Until the start of Troll Enforcer's next turn, any opposing units (wishing to make an Attack) adjacent to this unit must attack it!"
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(61 replies, 17 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-13
Attack dice are only rolled when there is a valid targetdesignerpublisher
RULING
"Def Dice are always rolled and Atk Dice are only rolled if there is a valid target. (Even a Gearloc may not roll Atk a dice without a valid target)"
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(61 replies, 17 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-14
Using a skill die exhausts itcommunity high-engagement
RULING
"using a skill die always exhausts it, unless otherwise stated."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(32 replies, 9 thumbs)DATE: 2017-05-10
Dex is spent to roll dice, not to use themdesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
Players noticed that Tantrum's Rage die in the Active slot did not seem to cost Dex.
RULING
"Unless otherwise stated, you generally spend Dex to roll dice, not to use them. Tantrum's Rage die is never rolled, and therefore doesn't require any Dex to use."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(32 replies, 9 thumbs)DATE: 2018-12-11
Professions and Consumables are both Skill Dicedesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
Encounters that restrict the use of Skill Dice raised the question of whether Consumables are exempt.
RULING
"Professions and Consumables are both types of Skill Dice!"
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(26 replies)DATE: 2018-02-26
Callous is immune to True Damage but not Fatiguedesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
Bleed deals True Damage, so players asked whether a Callous Baddie loses HP to a Bleed die.
RULING
"Callous is immune to True Damage, but not to Fatigue. Nothing is immune to it unless it specifically says so."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(10 replies)DATE: 2018-09-15
Active Baddie Def dice are not re-rolleddesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
A Baddie that already has Def showing on its chip takes its next turn — does it re-roll that Def die?
RULING
"The Def die is 'in use' and will not be rolled again until it is 'available' again."
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(4 replies, 5 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-02
Def dice may be downticked instead of removeddesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
A Baddie has active Def dice showing 2, 2 and 1, and takes 2 damage — must a die be removed, or can values be reduced?
RULING
"You may downtick each of the '2' value Def Dice to '1'. This is a great strategy to help mitigate or prevent some skills to be triggered or their total Defense value to improve!"
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(4 replies, 5 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-14
"BQ: Baddie Points" means build a normal Battle Queuecommunity high-engagement
RULING
"Anytime a Tyrant (or Encounter) says 'BQ: Baddie Points', that indicates a normal BQ (adventurers x day). Most of the Tyrants say this - a couple outline a different setup, but it's outlined on their cards pretty clearly."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(9 replies)DATE: 2017-04-30
Fighting Mulmesh without having drawn his Encounter cardcommunity high-engagement
CONTEXT
Mulmesh's card refers to "All Baddies on this card", which is meaningless if his Encounter card never came up during the adventure.
RULING
"Since you didn't come across his Encounter card, you'd ignore that part of the instructions (since you have no Baddies on the card). So you'd just build a normal BQ and then put Mulmesh on the bottom."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(9 replies)DATE: 2017-04-30
Dice used from the Backup Plan return differently by typedesignerpublisher
RULING
"In general, you should put all Atk/Def dice that roll bones here, as there's no consequence for doing so. When they are used from the Backup Plan, they go back to the supply. However, Skill Dice that are placed in your Backup Plan, go to your exhausted area once used. So you are giving up using the die for its skill, if you use it in the Backup Plan." The exception is Picket's Captain (red) profession: those bones carry an arrow icon, which means they return to Picket's mat instead of being exhausted.
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(16 replies)DATE: 2021-12-20
Gearlocs keep their Def in Active Slotsdesignerpublisher
RULING
"Gearlocs keep their Def in their Active Slots while Baddies put their Def on their chips." Dice in the Active Slots are exhausted when used, except for skill dice whose text states they remain active while they stay in the slot.
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(16 replies)DATE: 2021-12-20
Locked Slots persist between battlesdesignerpublisher
RULING
"Locked Slots are a lot like Active Slots. However, they aren't cleared after battle, so anything you put there and keep there" carries over to the next battle.
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(16 replies)DATE: 2021-12-20
Boomer's Boom Counter economydesignerpublisher
RULING
"each full set of Element, Casing, and Fuse allows you to increase the Boom Counter by 1." Element, Casing and Fuse dice each show values 1-3 and are spent one point at a time, ticking down (and exhausting when fully used). To throw a grenade, "When you select one of those dice to roll, like for example the Frag die, you have to decrease the Boom Counter by 1. If the Boom Counter is at 0, you simply cannot select a grenade to throw."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(16 replies)DATE: 2021-12-20
Melee-Ranged Gearlocs and skills that require a targetcommunity high-engagement
RULING
"Melee-Ranged Gearlocs must attack melee, but can use their skills ranged (unless otherwise noted). The tricky part comes in for skills that require a target... if you're targeting a Baddie with Atk dice (which must be melee) then your target for the skill has to be the same Baddie."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(27 replies, 22 thumbs)DATE: 2017-04-27
Gearlocs may only Target Baddiesdesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
An Adam Carlson comment on Facebook listing "Obstacles, Baddies, Allies, Gearlocs" as targeting options was read as opening up targeting far more widely than intended, and the dispute spread across several threads.
RULING
"Gearlocs may only target Baddies, unless the Encounter's success requires that another type of unit be Targeted. We will ensure the wording in future versions of the rulebook is clarified and consistent."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher), posting an official Chip Theory Games positionSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(14 replies)DATE: 2018-10-12
Adjacent always means orthogonally adjacentdesignerpublisher
RULING
"Adjacent is always orthogonally adjacent in this game. Even during fatigue rounds, when you can move diagonally, that doesn't change the definition of adjacent to include diagonals - only orthogonally adjacent is adjacent."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(14 replies)DATE: 2025-08-08
Definition of a "Hit"designerpublisher
RULING
"A 'Hit' is a successful Atk (Atk Dice doing at least 1 Dmg)."
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(18 replies)DATE: 2017-04-22
All damage in a turn lands simultaneouslydesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
Players disputed whether damage reduction skills applied separately to each source of damage in a turn.
RULING
"All 'sources' of Damage are actually part of a single turn and are treated as Damaging the Baddie at the 'same time'. Boomer: Grenade + Atk Dice + Throw Odds = Total Damage applied to Baddie(s). Skills such as Thick Skin or Hardy are applied once against that Total Damage number."
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(21 replies)DATE: 2017-11-03
Thick Skin only applies during turnsdesignerpublisher
RULING
"Thick Skin only applies during turns. Damage dealt outside of a turn bypasses Thick Skin."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(4 replies)DATE: 2024-11-20
Hardy does not prevent own-turn effects or Fatiguedesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
D4 establishes that Hardy caps damage at 1 per turn; players asked what that means across a full round.
RULING
A Hardy Baddie takes at most 1 damage on each Gearloc's turn, and can take a further point on its own turn from an effect such as Poison or Bleed. Adam Carlson added that Fatigue is unaffected: "in the Fatigue rounds, Hardy does not protect against this either."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance); Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher) in the same threadSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(11 replies)DATE: 2017-11-08
Nothing is True Damage unless it says sodesignerpublisher
RULING
"Basically it's not True Damage unless it specifically says so!" Poison, Bleed and Fatigue are True Damage; Lashback is not.
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(12 replies)DATE: 2017-10-23
The Gearloc turn sequence cannot be rewounddesignerpublisher
RULING
"There is a Gearloc Turn Sequence to follow. Once a step is advanced, you cannot go back to the previous step. 'Move Gearloc' is step 2. It is true that, without exceptions, you cannot move after you roll dice." The exception is skills that themselves move or displace a Gearloc, which may occur during and after rolling and applying dice.
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(8 replies)DATE: 2019-07-31
"Anytime" skills interleave with movement, but nothing simultaneous can be interrupteddesignerpublisher
RULING
"It is allowed to move 1 position, resolve an 'anytime on your turn' skill, and then move another position. Since moving is resolved 1 Dex at a time, that is valid. What you can't interrupt is anything that happens all at once. The best example is if you roll a 2 on an Atk die, you can't resolve 1 Dmg, tick up your Rage, Execute, and then resolve the 2nd Dmg. Both Dmg are on the same die so happen together."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(8 replies)DATE: 2019-04-03
Attack dice may be resolved one at a timedesignerpublisher
RULING
"You can resolve Atk dice individually. Which means you can apply 1 Atk die, use [a] BP, and then apply another Atk die." Separate dice may be split apart; the two damage shown on a single die may not (see D35).
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher), correcting her own earlier answer after consulting Adam CarlsonSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(7 replies)DATE: 2018-10-08
Resolve-the-Roll steps repeat freely, but the Backup Plan fires once per turndesignerpublisher
RULING
"all of these steps can be done multiple times per turn, with the exception of using your Backup Plan which can only be done once per turn. So you can resolve some Atk dice, then use a Skill, then use a BP, then resolve more Atk dice, then another Skill, etc."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(13 replies)DATE: 2018-10-24
Any Backup Plan option may be chosen, and Bones shift leftdesignerpublisher
RULING
"You don't have to resolve the BP that the rightmost Bone is sitting in. You can have 5 Bones in your BP and choose to resolve the 3rd Bone spot. The rest just shift to the left to fill the vacated spaces." Using a 1-Bone option removes only the leftmost Bone, leaving the remainder for future turns.
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(13 replies)DATE: 2018-10-24
A Backup Plan "Extension" grants no extra Bonesdesignerpublisher
RULING
"A Backup Plan 'Extension' is simply an additional Backup Plan option. This does not grant you extra Bones... This counts as using your Backup Plan for this turn (you may only use the Backup Plan once per turn)."
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(3 replies)DATE: 2017-04-13
Dice may be exhausted during the Recovery Phasedesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
The rulebook says all exhausted dice are unexhausted after battle (p. 12) and that a player may exhaust a die any time during their turn (p. 14), which appeared to conflict.
RULING
"Technically, all player's are on their own turns after battle during the Recovery Phase, doing their own thing (even though we don't explicitly state this)... Go ahead and exhaust what you need to after battle, then reset all the dice after that." Clearing unwanted dice out of Locked and Active slots before the reset is therefore legal.
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(8 replies)DATE: 2018-04-23
Scouting always offers the cycle, but the choice is finaldesignerpublisher
RULING
"During Scouting (Recovery phase included), you look at the top unrevealed Baddie from the stack, and 'may cycle Baddie to bottom of Active Stack.' - this is from the Gearloc Adventuring Reference Guide. So you always have the choice to cycle the Baddie you revealed to the bottom. If you choose not to do so, it stays on top until it goes into play - you can't later use a Scout to cycle it to the bottom, having already chosen to leave it on top previously."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance), quoting the Gearloc Adventuring Reference GuideSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(12 replies)DATE: 2017-10-23
Locked skills still count as skillsdesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
Encounters that forbid the use of skills raised the question of whether dice already sitting in Locked slots are exempt.
RULING
"Locked skills are still skills and cannot be used in these situations." Consumables in the locked position are covered by the same restriction.
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(18 replies)DATE: 2019-06-07
Active Def dice do not cost Dexdesignerpublisher
RULING
"Active Def does not count against Dex."
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(4 replies)DATE: 2021-08-24
Locked Def dice do not count against the Def statdesignerpublisher
RULING
"Def Dice in Picket's Locked slot do not count against his Def Stat!"
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(26 replies)DATE: 2017-04-22
Buff HP clears at Battle Results but survives peaceful encountersdesignerpublisher
RULING
"Buff HP should be cleared during Battle Results, whether the Battle is Successful or Unsuccessful." Buff HP gained from a peaceful (non-battle) Encounter persists: "After a peaceful encounter, you don't go through the Battle Results phase - so you keep the Buff HP until you come across a Battle Encounter (unless the card/Skill gives you different stipulations for how long you keep the Buff HP)."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(9 replies)DATE: 2018-10-04
Consumables return to the dice tray and cannot be unexhausteddesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
Players asked whether a spent Consumable such as Liquid Life could be recovered with Utility Parts, which unexhausts a die.
RULING
"Consumables are not eligible to be unexhausted via Utility Parts. You can only unexhaust from the exhausted area. You can't unexhaust a Consumable because it goes straight back to the dice tray." A Consumable placed in an Active Slot but never used is also cleared at the end of the Battle and returned to the tray.
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(34 replies)DATE: 2019-02-04
Reshuffle the Loot discard when the deck runs outdesignerpublisher
RULING
"Yes, you should reshuffle the discard if the draw pile of loot runs out."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(5 replies)DATE: 2019-06-07
Only arrows are skill-tree prerequisitesdesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
A coloured line runs between Napalm and Big Boom on Boomer's mat, which players read as an alternate unlock path.
RULING
"The color lines on the mat are connecting similar Professions. Other than this, there is no real function here. It's all about if it has 'Innate', a 'star icon', or an 'arrow pointing' at it. In the case of the Big Boom, the Frag must be learned first."
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher); brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge) in the same threadSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(9 replies)DATE: 2018-07-07
Inspire does nothing from the bottom of the Ini Meter, and never stacksdesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
Extends D5 with the two cases that recur most often.
RULING
Adam Carlson: "Inspire has no effect if there are no Baddies after it!" — the skill does not cycle back to the top of the Ini Meter. Shannon Wedge: "Inspire is not cumulative. The Inspired Baddie moves up one spot (if able) and gains 1 Atk die on it's turn. The next turn, it will still gain just 1 Atk die."
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher); brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(8 replies)DATE: 2017-04-17
Melee Baddies pursue the closest targetable unitdesignerpublisher
RULING
"The spirit of the rule is that a Melee Baddie pursues the closest Targetable opposing unit." Untargetable units are skipped when determining the closest opposing unit. Shannon Wedge noted the rulebook wording would be cleaned up.
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(7 replies)DATE: 2018-10-08
Engulf damages a Callous Baddiedesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
Callous restricts a Baddie to taking damage from attack dice, so players asked whether an Engulfing Baddie's splash damage reaches an adjacent Callous Baddie.
RULING
"a Callous Baddie would take damage, if in range of an Engulfing Baddie."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(8 replies)DATE: 2018-12-13
Baddies with Return must be defeated simultaneouslydesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
If two Baddies with Return are the last units on the mat, killing them one at a time means each returns.
RULING
"by the game's rules, you'd have to defeat them at the same time. There are many skills and items that will let you do this by dealing damage to multiple enemies at the same time. One popular strategy that any Gearloc can use, is to get them both down to 1 HP and then let them be taken out by fatigue."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(4 replies)DATE: 2026-07-23
Boomer's grenades must use their rolled resultdesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
D1 establishes that a Gearloc may decline to apply an attack die and save it. Boomer's grenades are the exception.
RULING
Boomer's reference sheet, under "Tailoring and Using", states that unlike other skill dice, once a grenade is used you MUST use the rolled result and exhaust the grenade — the Boom Counter cannot be ticked back up. Adam Carlson: "Boomer has a different set of rules for her Grenades! After all, they are already thrown at the position... time to find out how effective they were!"
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher), endorsing a citation of Boomer's reference sheetSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(3 replies)DATE: 2018-04-23
Bomb parts cannot be converted and thrown on the same turndesignerpublisher
RULING
"you actually can't roll frag or any other bomb the same turn as your bomb parts if you don't already have a bomb, because you have to tick down the bomb counter before rolling. So you'd have to already have the parts from a previous turn and have converted them to bombs before you can roll a bomb die."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(10 replies)DATE: 2018-07-27
Component dice exhaust only once ticked to zerodesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
Refines D25 — players disagreed over whether Element, Casing and Fuse dice exhaust on first use.
RULING
"Component dice ARE exhausted when used. They are just not considered used until they have been ticked down to zero (or you choose to remove it from your Locked Slots for any reason)."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(5 replies)DATE: 2018-10-15
Tantrum's Rage dice swap in and out of the Active slotdesignerpublisher
RULING
"You start with the 1st Rage die in your active slots and the 2nd and 3rd in their spots on the mat (if you've trained them). When you Advance, you swap - the 1st die goes into its spot on the mat and the 2nd moves to Active, etc. If the 2nd or 3rd Rage dice get exhausted, you can put the 1st die back in your Active slot, provided it hasn't been exhausted."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(8 replies)DATE: 2018-09-22
Rage may be advanced between damage sources, not within onedesignerpublisher
RULING
"If Tantrum is taking 2 Dmg from the same source (i.e. Poison), he cannot interrupt this to Advance his Rage die after taking 1 Dmg. He needs to take both Dmg together. If the Dmg is from two different sources (i.e. 1 from Poison, 1 from Bleed), he could in that instance resolve Poison, then Advance, then resolve Bleed."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(9 replies)DATE: 2018-10-05
Rage can be triggered before Start of Turn effectsdesignerpublisher
RULING
"You can trigger Rage at any time during your turn - so you can do so even before resolving Start of Turn effects like Bleed and Poison. You just can't interrupt an effect in the middle of it."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(9 replies)DATE: 2018-10-05
Execute needs no target and fires any time in Tantrum's turndesignerpublisher
RULING
"Some Skills may be triggered outside the 'Resolve' phase. Execute specifically may be used ANYTIME during Tantrum's turn (per back of ref sheet). Tantrum does not need a target to carry out this Skill."
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(8 replies)DATE: 2019-07-31
Patches' Revive during a Tyrant battledesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
Tyrant battles that Gearlocs enter one at a time raised the question of whether Revive can pre-emptively restore a downed party member.
RULING
"Patches Revive still works because its played on a KO'd Gearloc. It just doesn't allow them to enter the battle again until the current Gearloc is KO'd (due to the Tyrant Battle restrictions). However, buffing a Gearloc that is not on the Battle mat is not possible."
AUTHOR: Takeoutdinner (Josh Carlson, lead designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(57 replies)DATE: 2017-04-27
Mulmesh's Howl moves each Baddie up one, resolved from the top downdesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
Howl moves all units friendly to Mulmesh up one position on the Ini Meter but no higher than Mulmesh himself. The thread laid out three readings that differ substantially in difficulty, and went unresolved for nearly seven years before Chip Theory Games answered.
RULING
Chip Theory Games confirmed "Solution 3": each Baddie improves its initiative by exactly one position, resolved starting with the highest-initiative Baddie and working down, pushing Gearlocs down as they pass. No Baddie may move above Mulmesh. Shannon Wedge: "Happy to confirm, solution 3 is correct."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(7 replies)DATE: 2024-01-30
Hendricks' Orbs are treated as targetable Baddiesdesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
Chip Theory Games first ruled that the Orbs were neither Baddies nor Units and could only be damaged by attack dice, then reversed that ruling one day later after community feedback that it made the battle harder than intended. The later post is the current ruling.
RULING
"You should treat the Orb like a targetable Baddie. You can do anything to it that you could do to a Baddie. It can Bleed, it can be Poisoned, and it suffers from Fatigue. Note, that it is not a #Pt Baddie, so it cannot be Stunned/Disabled etc."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(4 replies)DATE: 2018-11-14
Destroying an Orb cancels its damage that turndesignerpublisher
RULING
"If you defeat the Orb, you do not have to apply the damage from it that turn."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(10 replies)DATE: 2019-08-06
Nom is fought alone solo, and after the Battle Queue in multiplayerdesignerpublisher
CONTEXT
Adam Carlson posted a contradictory answer early in this thread and retracted it: "Nom is NOT one Baddie at a time. I was thinking of something else."
RULING
Shannon Wedge: "In a solo campaign - no other Baddies, just Nom vs. your Gearloc." Adam Carlson, for multiplayer: "Gearlocs face the BQ one at a time. Once the BQ is cleared, Nom will come out... Nom may arrive during the first Gearloc, maybe somewhere in the middle, or perhaps the last Gearloc will finally get Nom to the Battle Mat."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance); Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(57 replies)DATE: 2017-04-30
Fatigue hits units that have just entered the matdesignerpublisher
RULING
"Once Fatigue rounds start, everything on the mat takes an unavoidable damage at the start of the round - even if they just entered."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge — posting as a player; see D1 note on provenance)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(57 replies)DATE: 2017-04-30

Q&A4

How does Trove Loot lockpicking resolve across its three locks?designerpublisher
QUESTION
A Trove Loot has three locks. What dice are available for each lock, what happens to dice that were spent, and how many attempts do you get?
ANSWER
Adam Carlson: "Attempting a Lockpick always uses the Intuition Die. Any dice that were used to open a lock (there are 3 locks on a Trove Loot) are exhausted (unless Intuition Die allows it to be saved). Advance through each of your locks using the same dice, or what's left of them. Should you fail to advance past the first lock on your first try of the day, you get just one more try!" Shannon Wedge described the same flow: "Whenever you move on to a new lock, you roll the dice you have remaining (along with the white die) to try to open it... As long as you succeed, you can continue to keep trying until you've opened all 3 locks. It's possible to open all 3 in one attempt (depending on the luck of your rolls and the difficulty of the locks)."
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher); brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(15 replies)DATE: 2018-03-01
Does a Tyrant Encounter loot card count toward the four-Loot limit?designerpublisher
QUESTION
The Goblin King's Care Package Encounter says to place the card in a Gearloc's Loot Area on a successful lockpick. Does it occupy one of that Gearloc's four Loot slots, and is there still a battle if the lockpick succeeds?
ANSWER
Yes on both counts. "This card counts as one of your Loot, and you'll need someone in the party to carry it to the Tyrant Battle to get the benefit of it." On the battle: "Do the lockpicking thing first, but there's a battle afterwards, either way."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(6 replies)DATE: 2018-12-06
Is Trove Loot also "Loot"?publisher
QUESTION
Encounter cards refer to "Loot" — do those effects reach Trove Loot as well, and do the two share a carry limit?
ANSWER
They are separate categories for card effects: abilities and Encounters that target Loot affect only Loot, not Trove Loot. The four-card carry limit, however, is a combined total across both. Josh Wielgus confirmed the combined limit directly: "Yep, total."
AUTHOR: Ghillie Gearloc (Josh Wielgus, publisher), confirming the thread's conclusionSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(16 replies)DATE: 2017-04-18
When do you choose your three Dangerous Darts dice?designerpublisher
QUESTION
Do you select three dice once before the Dangerous Darts mini-game begins, or choose fresh dice for each roll within it?
ANSWER
Once, before it starts. "You choose 3 dice before DD starts, and those are the 3 you play through with."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(14 replies)DATE: 2018-10-07

EDGE CASES10

Cycling a Baddie in the "Hello Darkness" Encounterdesignerpublisher
SITUATION
The Encounter cycles a Baddie at the end of each round and says not to adjust HP. It is silent on initiative, existing effects, and whether the incoming Baddie's entry text fires.
RULING
"Effects and Initiative remain the same - you are swapping the Baddie chip for a new one and leaving everything else as is." Replacement Baddies do not re-trigger entry text: "After the initial batch of Baddies, don't resolve any further 'when entering the Battle Mat' text for replacements."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(5 replies)DATE: 2018-10-08
"Gearlocs Need Food Badly" uses stats onlydesignerpublisher
SITUATION
The Encounter fills the mat with 1 HP critters and alternates turns, without stating whether Skills and Backup Plans are available or how adjacency is measured for stacking.
RULING
"No Skill dice for this encounter. Adjacent is vertical and horizontal." Gearlocs take normal starting positions and earn HP using Dex and Atk stats and their natural attack form only — no Skills, no Backup Plans.
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(14 replies)DATE: 2017-10-05
"Trust Your Gut" free movement is Gearloc-only and indivisibledesignerpublisher
SITUATION
The Encounter grants a move of up to 3 positions after attacking, ignoring Dex. Players asked whether allies share it, when in the turn it can be taken, and whether it can be split.
RULING
"First, the 'you' refers to the Gearloc - Allies associated with that Gearloc are not also granted the movement. And then to answer your question... Yes, you could move after resolving your Atk dice and before resolving other dice, as it's worded. But keep in mind, you cannot change your Target. You can't split up that movement by other actions, either, you must use it all at once."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher), correcting her own 2017 answer in the same threadSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(5 replies)DATE: 2018-11-12
"Beaten and Sold" sets counter consumables to maximumdesignerpublisher
SITUATION
The Encounter's reward text was read as either refilling counter dice or granting new consumables.
RULING
"Counter consumables (which will already be on your mat) are set to their max, and noncounter consumables are acquired as normal - put them in their spot in the skills area, unless their instructions tell you to do something else with it such as roll when acquired and put it in your locked slots."
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(5 replies)DATE: 2019-04-17
The Tewaren Gem costs no actionpublisherlinked official source
SITUATION
Players were unsure whether claiming the loot the Tewaren Gem grants consumes an action.
RULING
It does not. Josh Wielgus: "Just added this to the website FAQ, it does *not* cost an action."
AUTHOR: Ghillie Gearloc (Josh Wielgus, publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(11 replies)DATE: 2017-04-22
Terrify was reworded between 1st and 2nd editiondesignerpublisher
SITUATION
D10 quotes an April 2017 clarification stating that a Terrified Gearloc "cannot attack opposing units", while 3rd edition rulebooks state that the Gearloc cannot attack Baddies that have the Terrify skill. Players asked which is current.
RULING
The skill changed. Shannon Wedge: "Indeed, this ability was tweaked slightly between 1st and 2nd edition." From 2nd edition onward the restriction is specifically on targeting Baddies that possess Terrify; other Baddies remain valid targets.
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(38 replies)DATE: 2018-10-05
Extra attack dice do not require a matching Atk statdesignerpublisher
SITUATION
Loot that grants bonus attack dice raised the question of whether a Gearloc needs the Atk stat to support them, or whether Atk and Def counts must stay balanced.
RULING
"Atk Die is not required to be able to add additional Atk Dice. 4 Atk Dice and 4 Def Dice is fine."
AUTHOR: Dewdundency (Adam Carlson, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(12 replies)DATE: 2018-12-21
Companions and Allies cannot auto-attack an Untargetable unitdesignerpublisher
SITUATION
A companion's auto-attack has no declared target of its own, so players asked whether it can strike a unit in Flight or otherwise Untargetable.
RULING
"Companions/Allies require a Target for their auto-attack. They cannot hit something Untargetable with their auto-attack." (Base-set Gearlocs have no companions; this applies when playing with Gearlocs or Allies that do.)
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(14 replies)DATE: 2018-10-25
Units occupy every position they move throughdesignerpublisher
SITUATION
Skills that trigger on a unit "moving" onto a position needed a ruling on whether only the destination counts or every position crossed.
RULING
"Yes, it is correct that Baddies occupy every position they move into and through, turning them to lava if they have Lava Flow." A unit is therefore treated as having occupied each intermediate position, not only where it ends its move.
AUTHOR: brighterthanthesun (Shannon Wedge, designer + publisher)SOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(7 replies)DATE: 2023-06-22
Backup Plan skills on Baddies trigger once per turncommunity high-engagement
SITUATION
A Baddie or Tyrant with multiple targets rolls a Bone and triggers a Backup Plan skill such as Hendricks' Limit — does it apply to every target it is attacking?
RULING
No. Per the rulebook, p. 14 under §8 BP Skills: "If a triggered Skill requires a target and the Baddie has multiple targets, party may choose. These Skills can only be triggered once per turn." Ordinary (non-BP) skills such as Corrosive or Poison do hit every targeted Gearloc; BP skills apply once, and the party picks who takes it.
AUTHOR: Community thread, quoting the rulebook p. 14 §8 verbatimSOURCE: boardgamegeek.com(7 replies)DATE: 2017-04-27

Last researched: 2026-08-10

Not an AI guessing rules. A curated archive.

Every answer Mira gives is grounded in an official rulebook — not in what a language model thinks the rules probably say. Our team reads, structures, and curates each game's rulebook before Mira can answer a single question about it.

An opponent's settlement blocks your road network — your road cannot be built through or past an occupied intersection.

◆ Catan — Roads & Building, p. 7

At the end of each round, the player with the most of the goal trait scores points equal to their amount; the player with the second most scores fewer.

◆ Wingspan — End of Round, p. 11

Null cards deal 0 damage regardless of base value or any bonuses applied.

◆ Gloomhaven — Attack Modifier Deck, p. 23

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