The Final Battle Part 1: Adventure Rules

"The Everlast is being reforged. In Astifoorn, high up in the Tower of Altoth, the Mage Scion Eladrion fires up the ancient forges and begins the masterwork ritual: to restore the Everlast and drive back the hordes of darkness into the void. But, in the lands surrounding the blessed vale, the Demon Lord Zaldramas seemingly retracts his forces to the Northern-most regions of the surrounding mountainside. As the might of the heroic forces meet on the outskirts of the City, dark clouds gather in the North and a deadly stillness hangs in the air. It is the breath before the tumult, the momentary pause before the whirlwind, the calm before the storm. Then, without word or warning a great cataclysm erupts from deep within the mountainside and Zaldramas unleashes his most devastating assault on Nimbar yet: Armies of Monsters, Orcs, Aberrants and Undead - all championed by powerful commanders spew out of dark crevices with pure malice and evil intent. And behind them, Hordes of Demonic Chaos Legions under the command of the Lord of Chaos himself, come surging into the battle. Their intention is manifest to a single goal: Obliterate Astifoorn and its sacred Tower. High, above, Eladrion has begun the ancient and complex ritual of runic incantations that the Mages of Old used to bring the Everlast into being. But the enemies are closing in fast and the Forgemaster will need time to complete the ritual. The fate of Nimbar now rests in the hands of the Heroes of Might and Valor who have gathered in the Vale to hold the forces at bay. Swords drawn and Axes steady, they stand resolute and ready to defend their world last time. The final battle has begun!"

For setup instructions/ board rules, please refer to the previous post The Final Battle Part 1: Adventure Setup.

The Final Battle Part 1 is a massive tower-defense / capture-the-flag MMO type battle consisting of 6 missions, referred to as 'Objectives'. Each Objective is indicated by an Objective marker which may be claimed if the Objective is won.
In order to progress to Part 2 of the Final Adventure in the Ruin of Nimbar series, a minimum of 4 Objectives need to be won. To lower the difficulty for this adventure you may set this to a 3 Objective minimum or of you prefer a more challenging game, opt to win all 6 Objectives!
The Objectives occur sequentially and have an increase in difficulty as you progress through the game with latter Objectives having a higher difficulty than earlier ones.

The rules outlined in this adventure can be broken down into 5 categories: Objectives, Regiments, Hordes, Forgemasters and Board & Misc rules.

1. Objectives:

The 6 Objectives for this Adventure are:
1. Kobolds in the Crevices
2. The Great Goblin Gauntlet
3. Follow the Spiders
4. Buying Time
5. Hammer & Helm
6. The Cataclysm

Each Objective consists of:
* A Goal: This is what is required for the Objective.
* Starting XP requirement: The amount of XP required to begin this Objective. XP can be gained by defeating monsters/ enemies.
* Setup: Changes to the board, additional tiles/ tokens and the placement of regiments and hordes etc.
* Victory and Failure conditions.
* Regiment assignment: Which regiment to activate for this Objective (Regiment rules explained below).
* Horde assignment: Which horde to activate for this Objective (Horde rules explained below).
* Forgemasters activation: What requirements are needed for activating the Forgemasters for this Objective (Forgemaster rules explained below).
* Healing Surges: The number of healing surges allowed for this Objective (if any).
* Power Decks: The power cards applicable to the regiment for this Objective.
* Flavor text to read when you start the Objective.
* Flavor text to read if you won the previous Objective.
* Flavor text to read if you lost the previous Objective.
* Flavor text to read when you lose the Objective.
* Flavor text to read for a specific event for the Objective.

The details and gameplay for Objectives are listed in each Objective Post the post. For example, see: The Final Battle Objective 1: Kobolds in the Crevices.

Print out and refer to the Objective Table below for easy reference.

Objective Table:

#	Objective Name	XP Required	Healing Surges	Objective Goal	Defeat	Victory
1	Kobolds in the Crevices	0	0	Stop the Kobolds from creeping into the fissures and entering the City Wall: * Defeat Meerak and his army of Kobolds. * Close off the fissures.	* 7 Kobolds in the City Wall. * Regiment defeated.	* Kobold Army & Kobold Dragonlord defeated. * Fissures closed.
2	The Great Goblin Gauntlet!	8	1	Stop the Troll and its army of Goblins from breaching the outer City Wall: * Defeat the Feral Troll & the Goblin patrol. * Stop the City Wall from being breached.	* Western Wall breached. * Regiment Defeated.	* Goblins and Troll defeated. * Western Wall intact.
3	Follow the Spiders	10	2	Flood the Dark Chasm to stop the Spiders from swarming and defeat the Drider. * Place one Water Bowl token on the Dark Chasm Tile (Note: The Drider cannot be on this tile when this action is performed). * Place one Water Bowl token on the Underground River Tile (Note: The Drider cannot be on this tile when this action is performed). * Defeat the Drider & the Cult of Lolth.	* Tower Wall breached. * Regiment Defeated.	* Dark Chasm Flooded. * Cult of Lolth & Drider defeated.
4	Buying Time	12	3	Hold off the Orc Pact and their Rage Drake until Bruenor and his Forces arrive. * Defeat the Orc Pact and kill the Rage Drake. * Stop the Orc Pact from tearing down the City Wall.	* Regiment Defeated. * All City/ Tower Walls exposed.	* Orc Pact & Drake defeated.nt Defeated
5	Hammer & Helm	14	3	* Seal off the Western Passageways. * Defeat the Army of Abberants.	* Regiment Defeated.	* Western Passageway sealed off. * Aberrants & Tyrant defeated.
6	The Cataclysm	18	4	* Defeat the Undead Horde before they destroy the Everlast!	* Regiment Defeated. * Everlast destroyed.	* Army of Undead & Necrophages Defeated. * Everlast Forged.

2. Regiments:

Each Objective is played by a number of Heroes known as a 'regiment' which comprises of 5 heroes, split into teams as previously listed (see: The Final Battle Part 1: Adventure Setup). The only exception to the 5 Hero rule is the Dwarven Army which comprises 4 Heroes and 10 5HP tokens representing the army of the Dwarves (details explained later).

The rules for Regiments are explained here:

1. Regiment Activation Track:
* You may choose the order in which a regiment's heroes activate. For example, for the Warsworn regiment, our chosen order: Tarak, Alyssa, Arjan, Jarlaxle, Keylith.
* Each Objective indicates the Regiment's Power Deck lineup.
* Place the Hero's stats cards and power cards in a line on your gaming surface (i.e. The Power Deck).
* Place each Hero's power cards on their stats card.
* Lastly, place the Hero's HP tokens on their stats card.
* This forms the 'Regiment Activation Track'.

2. Regiment Activation:
* At the start of the Hero phase, roll an action die (or D6) and consult the Regiment Activation Table (see below).
* The table indicates the number of heroes that activate per hero phase (mostly 2 heroes at a time).
* Heroes activate in the order laid out in the Regiment Activation Track.
* A Hero may move and attack or move-attack-move as per the normal D&D rules.
* You may select which Power cards to use and when, as per normal D&D rules.
* If a hero is defeated, remove that hero's power & stats card from the track.
* Healing surges may only be used if the Objective indicates it.

Regiment Activation Track:

Action Dice Roll	D6 Dice Roll	Activation
2	6,2,1	2 Heroes
Action	3	3 Heroes
Action *	4	4 Heroes
Action **	5	5 Heroes

3. Regiment Inventory:
* 7 treasure cards are assigned to the regiment at the start of the objective. These cards may be 'shared' among the heroes.
* Place the 7 card inventory to the left of the Regiment Activation track.
* A maximum of 7 treasure cards is allowed in the inventory, irrespective of the number of monsters defeated.
* Treasure cards for defeated monsters are drawn at the end of the current regiment activation.
* Treasure cards may be 'swapped' out from the inventory at the end of the hero phase/ regiment activation phase.
* Discard the excess of treasure cards.
* At the end of the Objective (win or lose), you may choose to keep the current inventory or discard any amount of treasure cards and draw new ones.
* Inventory treasures may also be sold off to purchase Incantation HP (iHP - see rules below). 1 Treasure card = 2.5 iHP.
* The Inventory is NOT replenished for any iHP purchased with treasure cards.
Example: If you sold off 2 cards to purchase 1 iHP token, your new Inventory size will be reduced to a maximum of 5 treasure cards.

Regiment Activation differ between Objectives. Print out and refer to the Regiment Table below for easy reference.

Regiment Table:

#	Objective Name	Regiment	Power Decks	Forgemasters
1	Kobolds in the Crevices	Warsworn: Tarak (Commander), Jarlaxle, Keylith, Arjan, Alyssa	* 2 x At-Wills, 2 x Daily Powers, 1 x Utility Powers.	* Forge, Attack (minor), Heal.
2	The Great Goblin Gauntlet!	Companions of the Hall: Drizzt (Commander), Artemis, Catti Brie, Wulfgar, Regis.	* 2 x At-Wills, 2 x Daily Powers, 2 x Utility Powers.	* Forge, Summon, Attack (minor), Heal.
3	Follow the Spiders	Stealth Squadron: Quinn (Commander), Heskan, Kat, Lolth, Aldred.	* 2 x At-Wills, 2 x Daily Powers, 2 x Utility Powers.	* Forge, Summon, Attack (minor), Attack (major), Heal.
4	Buying Time	Battle Worthy: Any 5 Heroes with highest XP remaining from any of the remaining regiments. Suggested: Drizzt, Arjan, Wulfgar, Tarak, Quinn.	* 2 x At-Wills, 2 x Daily Powers, 2 x Utility Powers.	* Won previous Objective: Forge, Summon, Attack (minor), Attack (major), Heal, Obliterate. * Lost previous Objective: Forge, Summon, Heal.
5	Hammer & Helm	Dwarven Army: Bruenor, Athrogate, Thorgrim, Vistra and five 5HP Dwarven Unit tokens. Suggested: Drizzt, Arjan, Wulfgar, Tarak, Quinn.	* 2 x At-Wills, 2 x Daily Powers, 2 x Utility Powers.	* Forge, Summon, Attack (minor), Attack (major), Heal, Obliterate.
6	The Cataclysm	Battle Worthy: Any 5 Heroes with highest XP remaining from any of the remaining regiments. Suggested: Lolth, Aldred, Quinn, Drizzt, Jarlaxle	* 2 x At-Wills, 2 x Daily Powers, 2 x Utility Powers.	* Forge, Summon, Attack (minor), Attack (major), Heal, Obliterate.

3. Hordes

Each Objective consists of a number of pre-selected enemy battalions organized into separate groups known as 'hordes' (see: The Final Battle Part 1: Adventure Setup). The number of monsters/ villains that are activated increases with each horde as the difficulty level increases.

The rules for Hordes are explained here:

1. Horde Activation Track:
* Each objective indicates the number of monsters or 'horde' tokens required for the Horde Activation Track.
* Shuffle any villain tokens required for that Objective in with the required horde tokens.
* Then lay out the Horde Activation Track as indicated previously in the the Final Battle Part 1: Adventure Setup post.
* Villains activate at the start of every villain phase, before horde activation.
* Activated Horde tokens are flipped over and placed at the end of the track.
* If a villain token is encountered in the track, the villain activates twice instead.
* Unless otherwise indicated, the 0 Monster token means no monsters activate that phase.
* If the villain is defeated before it is encountered, check if the Horde has a 'resurrect' keyword.
* If all monsters are defeated and the Horde has the 'spawn' keyword, follow the instructions indicated below.
* If the track is completed and the Horde has the 'regenerate' keyword, follow the instructions indicated below.
* If the track is completed and the Horde has the 'rage' keyword, follow the instructions indicated below.
* Else if the track is completed, the Horde is defeated. Remove all the Horde monster and villain cards and record the total XP won on the Victory Card.

2. Spawn:
* The 'Spawn' keyword indicates that a Horde will continuously spawn new monsters until the end of the activation track is reached, even if all the initial monsters are defeated.
* That horde's Monster card pile is shuffled and random (non-villain) cards are drawn and miniatures placed until X amount of monsters are able to activate where X = the activation number indicated on that token for the Horde Activation track.
* Newly spawned monsters are placed on a tile with the most monsters remaining or else 1 Tile away from the Hero with the fewest HP remaining.
* Example:
Jarlaxle of the Warsworn Regiment attacks the 5 remaining enemies from the Kobold Regiment who are on his tile. He uses his Blade Flurry and quickly dispatches all of the Kobolds and rat swarms with a single strike! He then moves onward to his fellow companions who are facing off against a single Kobold and Meerak, the Dragonlord chieftain. After Meerak's activation, a 4 Monster activation is required from the track. 3 Random monsters are drawn from the Klan Kobold's monster pile and those 3 Monsters are placed on the tile with the remaining Kobold and Meerak. All 4 Kobolds activate immediately. Then the Heroes activate, then Meerak and then the Monsters again. This process continues until the end of the Horde activation track.

3. Resurrect:
* If the villain token is encountered and the villain is defeated, the villain is 'resurrected' with the indicated number of HP remaining. The villain activates as per normal at the start of the villain phase.
* A villain may only resurrect once, even if the Horde Track has regenerate.

4. Regenerate:
* If the Horde Track is completed but there are still monsters remaining, flip over the Horde tokens one at a time and activate monsters until all the monsters are defeated.
* If the Horde has the 'regenerate' and 'spawn' keywords then spawn new monsters if needed as indicated by the horde token.

5. Rage:
* If the Horde Track is completed but there are still monsters remaining, ALL of the remaining monsters activate in step 2 of the villain phase.

Horde Activation differs between Objectives. Print out and refer to the Horde Table below for easy reference.

Horde Table:

#	Objective Name	Horde Name	Horde	Horde XP	Horde Tokens	Horde Ability
1	Kobolds in the Crevices	Klan Kobold	1 x Meerak Kobold Dragonlord. 3 x Kobold Dragonshield. 3 x Kobold Skirmisher. 3 x Rat Swarms.	14	* 1 each of: 0, 1, 2, 3 monster tokens. * 1 each of a 4 monster token. * 1 x Kobold Dragonlord villain token.	* Spawn*: X Kobolds until Horde Track complete. * Resurrect*: Meerak: 3HP
2	The Great Goblin Gauntlet!	Goblin Garrison	Goblin Champion, 3 x Goblin Cutters. 3 x Goblin Archers. 1 x Feral Troll. 3 x Hunting Drakes.	16	* 2 each of: 0, 1, 2, 3 monster tokens. * 1 each of 4 monster token. * The 1 x monster token is used to designate the Feral Troll activation.	* Spawn*: X Goblins until Horde Track complete. * Resurrect*: Troll: 4HP * Regenerate*
3	Follow the Spiders	Cult of Lolth	1 x Dinin Do'Urden, Drider, 3 x Spiders, 3 x Spider Swarm, 3 x Drow Duelists.	22	* 1 each of: 0, 2, 3 monster tokens. * 3 each of 1 Monster tokens. * 1 each of 4 Monster token. * The 1 x monster token is used to designate the Drider activation.	* Spawn*: X Spiders until Horde Track complete. * Resurrect*: Drider: 4HP * Regenerate*
4	Buying Time	Orc Pact	1 x Kraash, Orc Storm Shaman, 3 x Orc Archers, 3 x Orc Smashers, 3 x Snakes 1 x Rage Drake	22	* 2 each of: 1, 2, 3 monster tokens. * 1 x 4 monster token. * 1 x 0 monster token. * 1 x Rage Drake villain token. * 1 x Orc Shaman villain token	* Spawn*: X Orcs until Horde Track complete. * Resurrect*: Orc Shaman: 4HP * Rage*
5	Hammer & Helm	Abberant Ambush	1 x Chaos Legion Death Tyrant, 1 x Otyugh, 3 x Grells, 3 x Gibbering Mouthers, 2 x Water Elementals	29	* 1 each of: 1, 3, 4 monster tokens. * 3 each of: 2 monster tokens. * 2 each of 0 monster tokens. * 1 x Otyugh villain token.	* Spawn*: X Aberrants until Horde Track complete. * Resurrect*: Otyugh: 4HP, Death Tyrant 4HP * Rage*
6	The Cataclysm	Undead Horde	2 x Chaos Legion Necrophages 1 x Zombie Dragon, 3 x Zombies, 2 x Hypnotic Spirits, 2 x Blazing Skeletons, 2 x Wraiths, 2 x Ghouls.	24	* 2 each of: 1, 2, 3 monster tokens. * 1 x 4 monsters token. * 2 x 0 monster tokens * 1 x Zombie Dragon villain token.	* Spawn*: X Monsters until Horde Track complete. * Resurrect*: Zombie Dragon: 4HP, Necrophages 4HP * Rage*

4. Forgemasters

As per The Final Battle Part 1: Adventure Setup, the Mage Scion Eladrion and the Eladrin Wizard Immeril are placed on the Throne Room tile. This tile represents the Tower of Altoth wherein the Everlast is being reforged. 6 beads/ gems are placed on the Stone Altar to represent the forge & the starfire crystals needed to reforge the Everlast. For the purposes of this Adventure, Eladrion and Immeril are known as the "Forgemasters".

A special track consisting of six 5HP tokens are placed next to the Altar token/ forge. These represent the 'Incantation HP' (iHP) and constitute the "Forgemasters Incantation Track".
In addition to reforging the Everlast, Forgemasters have special unique abilities that may be used to benefit your Heroes during the adventure. The basic incantation types are explained here:

1. Forge: Spend 5 iHP at the end of the current Objective to smelt a crystal for the forge.
2. Summon: Spend 5 iHP to execute Summoner's Call.
3. Attack: minor: Spend 5 iHP to execute a Wizard At-Will attack. This attacks must be within
line-of-site of Immeril.
   Attack: major: Spend 10 iHP to execute a Wizard Daily attack. This attacks must be within line-of-site of Immeril.
4. Heal: Spend 5 iHP to heal up to 3HP on any one Hero. The Hero must be within 1 tile of the City/ Tower Wall.
5. Obliterate: Spend 10 iHP to execute "Fury Of The Elements".

* You begin the game with 30 iHP (i.e The six 5HP tokens in the Incantation Track).
* Flip over the iHP token when executing an Forgemaster incantation.
* Additional iHP may be purchased spending 5 XP points (5 XP = 1 iHP token) or selling off treasures from a regiment's inventory (1 Treasure = 2.5 iHP).
* iHP may ONLY be purchased at the START of an Objective.

Forgemaster Incantations may differ between Objectives. Print out and refer to the Objective Table below for easy reference.

Forgemasters Table:

#	Objective Name	Forgemasters
1	Kobolds in the Crevices	* Forge, Attack (minor), Heal.
2	The Great Goblin Gauntlet!	* Forge, Summon, Attack (minor), Heal.
3	Follow the Spiders	* Forge, Summon, Attack (minor), Attack (major), Heal.
4	Buying Time	* Won previous Objective: Forge, Summon, Attack (minor), Attack (major), Heal, Obliterate. * Lost previous Objective: Forge, Summon, Heal.
5	Hammer & Helm	* Forge, Summon, Attack (minor), Attack (major), Heal, Obliterate.
6	The Cataclysm	* Forge, Summon, Attack (minor), Attack (major), Heal, Obliterate.

5. Board & Misc Rules:

Objective XP:
* All Objectives apart from Objective 1 have an Objective XP. In order to start a new Objective you need to meet the minumum XP requirement. XP is gained by defeating monsters or villains or from special treasure cards that count as XP points. When moving on to a new Objective, 'spend' the required XP and adjust your XP tracker dice.
* You may start a following Objective irrespective of whether or not your lost the previous one. You simply need to pay-in the required starting XP and you may begin playing. Note: This rules only applies if you have not lost more than the minimum number of Objective wins required for this Adventure.

Forging the Everlast:
* Keep track of how you utilize your iHP. You will need to have forged at least 3 of the crystals by the time you reach Objective 6: The Cataclysm.

Encounter Cards:
* Encounter cards are drawn according to the Horde Activation rules (example: 0 Monsters = 1 Encounter).
* The Encounter cards are sourced from the Wrath of Ashardalon game and are selected as explained in The Final Battle Part 1: Adventure Setup.

Narrow Passages:
* Unless indicated otherwise, the -4AC penalty of Narrow Passages have no effect on any of the Hordes. Narrow Passages ALWAYS have an effect on Heroes.

Activation:

* Unless otherwise indicated, the activation order for each Objective is: Heroes first then Horde.

Summoner's Call:
* Summoned Elementals are placed outside of the Tower, anywhere on the Drow Glyph Tile.
* For the 'Otherwise' condition on the Elemental Ally, all summoned Elementals move 1 Tile towards the closest monster.

House Rules:
* While I have done my best to try to ensure that the rules are clearly laid out, feel free to house-rule any of the Objectives where the rules are perhaps unclear.