Ravingspire FAQ
Foes
Q: "How does a Foe token appear on the board?"
A: Whenever a CHAOS Card is drawn, a Foe token appears on the Staircase or Tower door space of the level if no Foe tokens are currently present on the level.
Q: "If there are 2 players on the same spot and the foe ends on their spot, does the foe only battle the next player? (Meaning the next player of the two on the space.)"
A: Yes, once a player faces that Foe the token will be removed, and the subsequent player will not have to face the Foe.
Q: "During the foe phase at the end of a turn... if the foe token is on a spot with an INACTIVE player, does the foe still move towards the active player, saving him from an encounter on his turn? OR is he LOCKED to that player until he has a chance to fight?"
A: That Foe is LOCKED on the inactive player's Hero token and does not move. The only way that locked Hero won’t be fighting the Foe on their turn is if another Hero moves into the Foe token on the same space and faces it in a Showdown first.
Q: “If a player has to fight a Foe and does not go Mad, does that player still have to check for Adversaries in the Encounter Ring and suffer sanity loss for each Adversary present during the Recover phase?...They never had an opportunity to encounter those cards…”
A: Yes, Adversaries on the Encounter level still impact the player during the Recover phase after a Showdown with a Foe, even though the Hero didn’t get an opportunity to defeat any Adversaries that turn. This means engaging in a Showdown with a Foe before taking out the minions on that level is a very dangerous prospect. The Adversaries will take advantage while the Hero’s back is turned!
Q: "Where does a Foe Token spawn on the highest tier, on the locked door?"
A: Yes, on the Spire level the Foe spawns on the locked Tower door.
Q: "Foes can't chase to new levels right? They only move on the Foe turn if they are on the same level as you?"
A: That's correct. Foe tokens cannot move between levels and only one Foe token can be present per level. If at the end of a player turn there are no Foe tokens on their current level then no Foe token is moved (even if the player 'Exerted' to move one space up or down the staircase during the Explore phase, and there was a Foe on the previous level they Encountered earlier in their turn).
Q: "When you acquire Loot Cards from defeating a Foe, these go right into your discard pile right?"
A: Yes, they go directly into your discard just as if you'd obtained them from the Encounter ring that turn.
Q: "If a Foe Token is already out on the board, and a Chaos Card is drawn, then the Foe Token must move toward the active Hero. If the Foe Token moved onto the active Hero's space because it was 1 space away before the Chaos card was drawn, does the hero have to have a Showdown with the Foe?"
A: Yes. If the Foe Token is present on a Hero's space at the beginning of their Encounter phase for any reason (even if it just moved onto their space because of a Chaos Card drawn during the Draw phase), then that Hero MUST have a Showdown with the Foe INSTEAD of Encountering the level. In essence, a Hero may never buy cards from the Encounter ring if a Foe is in their space during the Encounter phase for any reason, and MUST have a Showdown with a Foe instead. A very good reason to avoid starting your Draw phase standing one space away from the Foe!
Q: “If a player has to fight a Foe and loses but does not go Mad, does that player get to rotate the tower through Scrawled Maps/Cryptic Glyphs/Brute Force as well as Exert to move an extra space?”
A: Yes they may Explore the map (rotate, exert, etc), but may not Encounter the level the turn they fought the Foe in a Showdown (whether or not they won or lost).
Q: “If a player draws a Chaos Card and a Foe is already out on the board, does that Foe advance 1 space or does it depend on player count(1 space with 4+ players and 1d3 spaces with 1-3 players)?”
A: An existing Foe will always only move 1 space due to a drawn Chaos Card regardless of the number of players.
A: Whenever a CHAOS Card is drawn, a Foe token appears on the Staircase or Tower door space of the level if no Foe tokens are currently present on the level.
Q: "If there are 2 players on the same spot and the foe ends on their spot, does the foe only battle the next player? (Meaning the next player of the two on the space.)"
A: Yes, once a player faces that Foe the token will be removed, and the subsequent player will not have to face the Foe.
Q: "During the foe phase at the end of a turn... if the foe token is on a spot with an INACTIVE player, does the foe still move towards the active player, saving him from an encounter on his turn? OR is he LOCKED to that player until he has a chance to fight?"
A: That Foe is LOCKED on the inactive player's Hero token and does not move. The only way that locked Hero won’t be fighting the Foe on their turn is if another Hero moves into the Foe token on the same space and faces it in a Showdown first.
Q: “If a player has to fight a Foe and does not go Mad, does that player still have to check for Adversaries in the Encounter Ring and suffer sanity loss for each Adversary present during the Recover phase?...They never had an opportunity to encounter those cards…”
A: Yes, Adversaries on the Encounter level still impact the player during the Recover phase after a Showdown with a Foe, even though the Hero didn’t get an opportunity to defeat any Adversaries that turn. This means engaging in a Showdown with a Foe before taking out the minions on that level is a very dangerous prospect. The Adversaries will take advantage while the Hero’s back is turned!
Q: "Where does a Foe Token spawn on the highest tier, on the locked door?"
A: Yes, on the Spire level the Foe spawns on the locked Tower door.
Q: "Foes can't chase to new levels right? They only move on the Foe turn if they are on the same level as you?"
A: That's correct. Foe tokens cannot move between levels and only one Foe token can be present per level. If at the end of a player turn there are no Foe tokens on their current level then no Foe token is moved (even if the player 'Exerted' to move one space up or down the staircase during the Explore phase, and there was a Foe on the previous level they Encountered earlier in their turn).
Q: "When you acquire Loot Cards from defeating a Foe, these go right into your discard pile right?"
A: Yes, they go directly into your discard just as if you'd obtained them from the Encounter ring that turn.
Q: "If a Foe Token is already out on the board, and a Chaos Card is drawn, then the Foe Token must move toward the active Hero. If the Foe Token moved onto the active Hero's space because it was 1 space away before the Chaos card was drawn, does the hero have to have a Showdown with the Foe?"
A: Yes. If the Foe Token is present on a Hero's space at the beginning of their Encounter phase for any reason (even if it just moved onto their space because of a Chaos Card drawn during the Draw phase), then that Hero MUST have a Showdown with the Foe INSTEAD of Encountering the level. In essence, a Hero may never buy cards from the Encounter ring if a Foe is in their space during the Encounter phase for any reason, and MUST have a Showdown with a Foe instead. A very good reason to avoid starting your Draw phase standing one space away from the Foe!
Q: “If a player has to fight a Foe and loses but does not go Mad, does that player get to rotate the tower through Scrawled Maps/Cryptic Glyphs/Brute Force as well as Exert to move an extra space?”
A: Yes they may Explore the map (rotate, exert, etc), but may not Encounter the level the turn they fought the Foe in a Showdown (whether or not they won or lost).
Q: “If a player draws a Chaos Card and a Foe is already out on the board, does that Foe advance 1 space or does it depend on player count(1 space with 4+ players and 1d3 spaces with 1-3 players)?”
A: An existing Foe will always only move 1 space due to a drawn Chaos Card regardless of the number of players.
Encounter Cards
Q:" If your card has an ability as well as a value, (example, thaumaturgic summoning: 2 charm, draw a card) can you use the ability without using the card to buy something, or does the ability only trigger when used to purchase a card?"
A: You may play the card to activate the ability first (e.g. to draw a card) and THEN choose where to use those 2 Charm. But the played card MUST be discarded, even if you end up not using the Charm.
Q: "Do abilities trigger when used outside of the encounter phase? Such as when being used to explore?"
A: No, card actions only trigger in the Encounter phase. When being spent in the Explore phase they are only counted for their power value. While this means that you wouldn’t get to draw an extra card if using Thaumaturgic Summoning to reveal Cryptic Glyphs, it also means there’s no chance of banishing the Lost Gunslinger if they simply help you decipher Scrawled Maps.
Q: "Do cards with an ability that instructs you to banish them require you to pay the banish cost from the well of souls, or is it considered part of the ability,and you can banish it for free?"
A: If a card’s ability instructs you to banish it, then you banish it for free.
Q: "If I am overwhelmed and can't make room for the new Encounter Card, and this new Encounter Card has the highest Brute Force value (higher than the others that are currently on the Encounter Ring), do I discard the new card or am I only looking at the cards currently on the Encounter Ring."
A: The newly drawn card always makes its way into the Encounter ring when the Hero is overwhelmed, even if it has the highest Brute Force value of the bunch. You only evaluate the existing five cards on the ring when determining which card will be banished (and in the case of two cards on the Encounter ring having the same Brute Force value, you may choose which to banish).
Q: “If a player goes Mad on their turn, do you refill the Encounter Ring? Do any of the actions listed in the Explore/Recover/Foe phase happen at that point?”
A: An Encounter ring is always full before another player starts their turn. If a player goes mad they skip the rest of the Encounter, Explore, and Foe phases. They refill the Encounter ring before drawing a new hand of cards as normal during the Recover phase, however since their Sanity is already at zero they are not impacted by any Sanity loss from Adversaries or Chaos Cards (but other players may be). At the very end of their turn they will set their Sanity up to 10 before passing to the next player. They will not move the Foe on the turn they go mad.
A: You may play the card to activate the ability first (e.g. to draw a card) and THEN choose where to use those 2 Charm. But the played card MUST be discarded, even if you end up not using the Charm.
Q: "Do abilities trigger when used outside of the encounter phase? Such as when being used to explore?"
A: No, card actions only trigger in the Encounter phase. When being spent in the Explore phase they are only counted for their power value. While this means that you wouldn’t get to draw an extra card if using Thaumaturgic Summoning to reveal Cryptic Glyphs, it also means there’s no chance of banishing the Lost Gunslinger if they simply help you decipher Scrawled Maps.
Q: "Do cards with an ability that instructs you to banish them require you to pay the banish cost from the well of souls, or is it considered part of the ability,and you can banish it for free?"
A: If a card’s ability instructs you to banish it, then you banish it for free.
Q: "If I am overwhelmed and can't make room for the new Encounter Card, and this new Encounter Card has the highest Brute Force value (higher than the others that are currently on the Encounter Ring), do I discard the new card or am I only looking at the cards currently on the Encounter Ring."
A: The newly drawn card always makes its way into the Encounter ring when the Hero is overwhelmed, even if it has the highest Brute Force value of the bunch. You only evaluate the existing five cards on the ring when determining which card will be banished (and in the case of two cards on the Encounter ring having the same Brute Force value, you may choose which to banish).
Q: “If a player goes Mad on their turn, do you refill the Encounter Ring? Do any of the actions listed in the Explore/Recover/Foe phase happen at that point?”
A: An Encounter ring is always full before another player starts their turn. If a player goes mad they skip the rest of the Encounter, Explore, and Foe phases. They refill the Encounter ring before drawing a new hand of cards as normal during the Recover phase, however since their Sanity is already at zero they are not impacted by any Sanity loss from Adversaries or Chaos Cards (but other players may be). At the very end of their turn they will set their Sanity up to 10 before passing to the next player. They will not move the Foe on the turn they go mad.
Battlemat
Q: "When slotting cards, if you replace an already slotted card, does the already slotted card go back into your hand, or is it discarded?"
A: The card goes back into your hand when swapped in this way. Note that slotted Dungeon cards that have been spent and turned over are locked into place, and cannot be swapped between your hand and the battlemat until your next turn.
Q: "Marcus the rune lord has the ability "slotted charm cards generate one fight". If, on my turn, I use a slotted charm to generate a fight in order to buy a card, can I then, on the same turn, use the same slotted card for its face value, un-slotting and discarding it? Or is the card considered "spent" for that turn and flipped over like a dungeon card would be?"
A: When a slotted Relic card is used to ‘generate’ power by a Runelord then it is turned over and considered ‘spent’ that turn, just as if it were a Dungeon card. This also means it cannot be swapped out to your hand, spent, or replaced with another Relic in the battlemat until your next turn.
Q: "When can I slot things onto my Battlemat? It mentions in the back of the rulebook that you can do it over people's turns, but it specifically mentions it during the Encounter Phase in the beginning of the rulebook. So is it possible...whenever?"
A: Yes, you can slot cards from your hand into your Battlemat (or swap them from Battlemat to hand) whenever you like, even during other player's turns. But if a Chaos card is drawn (during anyone's turn) that impacts your hand or Battlemat, you must stop and deal with its effects immediately, even if you just slotted a card that's about to be impacted ("no takebacks").
Q: "Can I unslot/swap a card from my Battlemat freely? Seems that is the case."
A: Yes, Heroes can swap cards between their hand and Battlemat freely, unless the card on the Battlemat they'd like to swap was already used/turned over that turn but doesn't get discarded (i.e. Dungeon cards or Relics used by Runelords to generate power).
A: The card goes back into your hand when swapped in this way. Note that slotted Dungeon cards that have been spent and turned over are locked into place, and cannot be swapped between your hand and the battlemat until your next turn.
Q: "Marcus the rune lord has the ability "slotted charm cards generate one fight". If, on my turn, I use a slotted charm to generate a fight in order to buy a card, can I then, on the same turn, use the same slotted card for its face value, un-slotting and discarding it? Or is the card considered "spent" for that turn and flipped over like a dungeon card would be?"
A: When a slotted Relic card is used to ‘generate’ power by a Runelord then it is turned over and considered ‘spent’ that turn, just as if it were a Dungeon card. This also means it cannot be swapped out to your hand, spent, or replaced with another Relic in the battlemat until your next turn.
Q: "When can I slot things onto my Battlemat? It mentions in the back of the rulebook that you can do it over people's turns, but it specifically mentions it during the Encounter Phase in the beginning of the rulebook. So is it possible...whenever?"
A: Yes, you can slot cards from your hand into your Battlemat (or swap them from Battlemat to hand) whenever you like, even during other player's turns. But if a Chaos card is drawn (during anyone's turn) that impacts your hand or Battlemat, you must stop and deal with its effects immediately, even if you just slotted a card that's about to be impacted ("no takebacks").
Q: "Can I unslot/swap a card from my Battlemat freely? Seems that is the case."
A: Yes, Heroes can swap cards between their hand and Battlemat freely, unless the card on the Battlemat they'd like to swap was already used/turned over that turn but doesn't get discarded (i.e. Dungeon cards or Relics used by Runelords to generate power).
Miscellaneous
Q: "Why is there a Battle Matrix on the Hero Card?"
A: The Battle Matrix on the Hero card outlines the power capability of the Hero's starting deck. You may use this measure to help you choose which Hero to play at the start of the game, but is not used or generally referenced after gameplay begins. Other than that, the Hero card’s Battle Matrix is only referenced during one particular final Spire Card Challenge.
Q: "Can you move backwards through the rings, to lower levels? Say for example, a card you want apears on a lower level, can you go back down and get it? Or can you only go up?"
A: You can absolutely go back downstairs if the portal is still aligned, and it may be advisable to do so depending on what you run into on the higher levels!
Q: "This is about a specific Chaos card...'Reshuffle all cards that are not Adversaries from the Encounter Ring'....so I replace them after I do that...or do I leave a big part of the Encounter Ring empty right now?"
A: They are reshuffled and replaced immediately.
A: The Battle Matrix on the Hero card outlines the power capability of the Hero's starting deck. You may use this measure to help you choose which Hero to play at the start of the game, but is not used or generally referenced after gameplay begins. Other than that, the Hero card’s Battle Matrix is only referenced during one particular final Spire Card Challenge.
Q: "Can you move backwards through the rings, to lower levels? Say for example, a card you want apears on a lower level, can you go back down and get it? Or can you only go up?"
A: You can absolutely go back downstairs if the portal is still aligned, and it may be advisable to do so depending on what you run into on the higher levels!
Q: "This is about a specific Chaos card...'Reshuffle all cards that are not Adversaries from the Encounter Ring'....so I replace them after I do that...or do I leave a big part of the Encounter Ring empty right now?"
A: They are reshuffled and replaced immediately.