Variants

A faster teaching game, a table full of players, or a night tuned to exactly the difficulty you want.

These are just summaries of the different modes available in the full rules

FASTER & SIMPLIER

Onslaught

Onslaught scores points instead of imposing lose conditions. There are no waves, so no resting or looting and no mentors. New monsters replace defeated ones, and armour must be destroyed in order. It is a great way to teach the basics before jumping into co-op.

Track Differently

Use the health track board to track amount of damage taken (with the red health token) and the number of combat rounds (with the black health token).

Stack The Armour

Deal each monster's armour in a stack with the last dealt on top. Only the top armour can be damaged, though you may look through the stack.

Reinforce

At the end of each monster phase, follow the Summon Wave steps for any monster deck with face-down cards and no face-up monster. No mentors are dealt.

Beat Your Personal Best

When every Monster is defeated you win. Your score is total damage received multiplied by combat rounds taken, where lower is better.

UP TO 8 PLAYERS

Co-operative Play

Each player needs their own copy of the game, or subsitutes for cards, dice and a way to track health and armour damage. Everyone sets up and summons their own monsters, plays combat rounds simultaneously, rest together and lose together if any one player falters.

Help Each Other

You may target armour on a monster attacking another player once you have defeated at least one of your own monsters this wave.

Trade

A new step during a rest, between full recharge and heal: players may trade any items in their inventories with each other.

Shared Threats

Dangerous also deals 2 damage to all other players. Imposing adjacency extends across the table: your left-most Monster is adjacent to the right-most Monster of the player on your left and visa-versa.

Items and Carriers

Most Items only affect their carrier, but some can help your team mates (other than being traded with them first). Check out the full rules

TUNE THE NIGHT

Difficulty Tweaks

Use the following tweaks to fine tune the game to match your prefered difficulty

Starting Health

The lower your starting current and maximum Health, the harder the night. Can you still win on 20 or less?

Attack Dice & Reserves

Rolling fewer dice per player phase raises the difficulty sharply. Counter it with larger reserve slots, or invert both for an easier game.

Scarier Skills

Repair: +4 defence to remaining brittle armour each monster phase.
Amplify: all of the monster's armour is enchanted.
Protect: armour must be destroyed in the order it was dealt.

Terrorising Traits

Regenerating: 2 new armour per monster phase.
Resistive: re-deal 5 armour.
Imposing: affects non-adjacent monsters too.
Dangerous: another +2 damage.

Wave Timer

Five minutes per Wave. Run out and you are Overrun, unless a Bottle of Smoke resets the clock.

Round counter

Clear all 4 waves in 20 combat rounds, or allow 6 rounds per wave. Count down with a damage token on the health track.

Infinite Health & No Overruns

For a casual run, just count the damage you take and reshuffle the Armour Discard whenever the deck runs dry.

Enrage triggers

Enrage on matching suit colour rather than exact suit for more pressure, or drop Enraged entirely for less.

Some modifiers may need extra dice or tokens that aren't in the box, use whatever you can find!

Lich's Horde

A solitaire / co-operative card & dice game in the Larkspur series. Can you survive the night?

Credits

Game & Character Art : Jim Wilding
Concept Art : KileyKidnap
Icons : A-ravlik Studios
Editor : Robin Williams (not that one)

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