# Return to Dark Tower — Glossary Key terms and concepts for the Return to Dark Tower board game. --- ## Advantages There are six types of Advantages, linked to the six traits found on foes and dungeons: | Type | Description | | -------- | --------------------------- | | Beast | Effective against beasts | | Magic | Effective against magic | | Humanoid | Effective against humanoids | | Melee | Effective in melee combat | | Undead | Effective against undead | | Stealth | Effective with stealth | | **Wild** | Counts as **any** type | - **Automatic Advantages** (black background): Always active, no cost. - **Conditional Advantages** (grey background): Must spend a cost to gain them. - You can spend up to **10 Advantages** in a single heroic action. - Unspent Advantages are lost when the heroic action is over. - Spending Advantages is different from spending items — spending an Advantage does not return the item that created it. --- ## Warriors Warriors are an important resource for battling foes, exploring dungeons, and completing quests. Warrior tokens are **unlimited** — use a proxy if the supply runs out. ## Spirit Spirit allows heroes to move farther, gain virtues, remove corruptions, and be more effective when reinforcing. Spirit tokens are **unlimited** — use a proxy if the supply runs out. --- ## Skulls Skulls represent the growing influence of evil. They make foes and events more threatening and can destroy buildings. - When skulls emerge from the Tower (or are added due to events), they must be placed on buildings. - As Tower seals are removed, skulls emerge with greater frequency. - Each building can hold up to **3 skulls**. A 4th skull **destroys** the building. - If players ever have to take a skull from the supply and there are none, the heroes **lose the game**. --- ## Seals The Tower has **12 seals** covering its openings. As seals are removed during the game (via events), skulls emerge more frequently and **glyphs** may be revealed behind them. --- ## Glyphs As seals are removed, glyphs are revealed on the Tower. Each glyph matches a specific action: | Glyph | Matching Action | | --------- | --------------- | | Banner | Banner | | Quest | Quest | | Battle | Battle | | Reinforce | Reinforce | | Cleanse | Cleanse | **While a revealed glyph is facing your home kingdom**, you must spend 1 spirit in order to take the matching action. If you do not spend the spirit, you cannot take the action. --- ## Corruptions Penalties that weaken your hero. You gain a corruption when: - An event, battle card, or dungeon room makes you lose resources or items that you do not have. - The outcome of a failed quest instructs you to. - A building in your home kingdom is destroyed. When you gain a corruption, draw the top card of the corruption deck and place it on your hero board. It goes into effect immediately. - You cannot gain more than one corruption per event, battle card, or dungeon room. - You can only have up to **2 corruptions**. A 3rd corruption means the players **lose the game**. - Corruptions can be removed (e.g., by spending spirit at a sanctuary). Place removed corruptions on the bottom of the deck. --- ## Virtues Special abilities unique to your hero. You start with 3 active virtues and 3 inactive virtues. - Gain a virtue by spending spirit when you Reinforce at a citadel. - Flip one inactive virtue face up to activate it. It goes into effect immediately. --- ## Kingdoms The game board is divided into four kingdoms: **north**, **east**, **south**, and **west**, separated by rivers. Each kingdom has 15 spaces. - **Home kingdom:** The kingdom facing you. - **Current kingdom:** The kingdom where your hero figure is located. - **Dormant kingdom:** A kingdom that is not anyone's home kingdom (in games with fewer than 4 players). ### Terrain Types | Terrain | Icon color/description | | ---------- | ---------------------- | | Desert | Sandy | | Forest | Green | | Hills | Brown | | Grasslands | Light green | | Mountains | Grey | | Lake | Blue | --- ## Foes In each game, you face four types of foes (including the adversary). The app tells you when and where they appear. Each foe has: - **Level:** How many battle cards you draw (Level 2, 3, 4, or 5 for adversary). - **Traits:** Which Advantages apply against them and what might happen in battle. - **Strike Event:** What this foe does about once a month (only if at least one is on the board). - **Status:** How threatening their battle cards and events are. Status can escalate over time. ### Foe Status Levels | Status | Threat Level | | -------- | ------------ | | Panicked | Lowest | | Unsteady | Low | | Ready | Normal | | Savage | High | | Lethal | Highest | --- ## Companions Allies who aid your efforts. Each game has a main companion who offers beneficial quests. Some quests let you recruit additional companions who provide abilities to the hero they accompany. --- ## Monthly Quests At the start of each month (except the first), the app gives two quests: - **Companion Quest:** Provides a new companion or quest item when completed. - **Adversary Quest:** If failed, the adversary advances their plans. --- ## Dungeons Dungeons spawn as part of certain quests. Each dungeon has a trait (matching Advantage types). The goal is to find and clear the target room. Cleared rooms persist across visits by any hero. --- ## Haggle Die An optional die roll before Reinforcing. Possible results: - Reinforce normally - After Reinforcing, gain 3 warriors - After Reinforcing, gain 1 potion - After Reinforcing, gain 1 gear - Reinforce action is **canceled** --- ## Tower The central game piece with three rotating drum levels and mechanical skull-dropping mechanism. Contains 12 seal slots. Connected via Bluetooth to the companion app which manages game events, battles, and dungeons. --- ## App Icon Guide | Icon/Button | Purpose | | ----------------- | ------------------------------------ | | Battle Button | Open the battle screen | | Dungeon Button | Open dungeon exploration | | Foe Status Button | View foe information and remove foes | | Advantage Button | Spend advantages in battle/dungeon | | Event Icon | Event notification | | Companion Quest | Monthly companion quest indicator | | Adversary Quest | Monthly adversary quest indicator | | Main Goal Icon | Main goal quest indicator | | Completed Quest | Completed quest indicator | | Game Lost Button | Press when the game is lost |