Casting Shadows - Solo Rules of Play

"Shadow Boxing" Solo Variant

INTRODUCTION

This game variant is compatible with the Casting Shadows Base Game and is intended for use with the standard 7-Hex Map setup.
A typical game takes 15-30 minutes to play.

SETUP

Refer to your Base Game rule book for setup instructions, but keep in mind the following adjustments that differ slightly from the standard setup procedure:

• After you choose your Character (and grab the corresponding components), the 3 remaining Characters will play the roles of the enemy "Bots" that are trying to eliminate you. Make sure each Player Board has its Base Form face up, then set each Bot's HP Tracker to 6 HP and Shadow Tracker to 0.
• Search for the following cards before shuffling the Main deck:
  • Add these cards to your Spell Book before starting the game:
    • Spectral Slap [Attack Spell]
    • Curse Void [Conversion Spell]
  • Add one of these cards to each Bot's Spell Book before starting the game:
    • Heavy Hand [Attack Spell]
    • Feeding Frenzy [Attack Spell]
    • Fatal Fronds [Attack Spell]
• Place the Bots' Meeples on their respective Home Hex tiles (because the Bots can't do this themselves)
• The solo player always takes the first turn

HOW TO PLAY

Your turn functions no differently in Shadow Boxing than it does in a standard Casting Shadows match. Refer to your Base Game rule book for How to Play instructions. Your goal is to eliminate all 3 Bots before they eliminate you.

THE BASICS OF BOTS

After you have taken your turn, each Bot will take its own turn. The Bot with the Fatal Fronds Attack Spell in its Spell Book always goes first, with the others following in clockwise rotation.

Bots have 2 different Action options:

• [Cast] the Attack Spell in the Bot's Spell Book.
• [Travel] to move across the Map.

On behalf of the Bot whose turn it is, take all 5 dice and roll them in front of you:

• If the Bot rolls GEMS... check to see if these Gems can activate the Bot's Attack Spell. If so, the Bot will use its [Cast] action to deal DMG to you.
• If the Bot rolls ORBS... check to see how many Orbs are rolled. For every 2 Orbs rolled, the Bot will use a [Travel] action. For each Travel action, the Bot moves 1 Hex tile towards you on the Map.

• If the Bot rolls SHADOW FRAGMENTS... the Bot will gain 1 HP at the end of its turn for each Shadow Fragment rolled.
  Note: Bots' HP can exceed their starting 6 HP.
• If the Bot rolls CURSED CRYSTALS... the Bot will take 1 DMG at the end of its turn for each Cursed Crystal rolled.

Note: Bots do not benefit from Hex tile effects.

In addition to these Actions, a Bot’s roll can also grant it a free Counterspell card (regardless of where the Bot is positioned on the Map). This happens each time a Bot rolls 4 of the same Resource type (4 Shadow Fragments, 4 Cursed Crystals, 4 Orbs (any combination of colors), or 4 Gems (any combination of colors)). Before resolving any other Actions, add the top card from the Counterspell deck to the Bot’s Spell Book face down. The next time you try to deal DMG to a Bot with a Counterspell card in its Spell Book, flip that Bot’s Counterspell card face up and resolve its effect, then move the Counterspell card to the bottom of the Counterspell deck.

Order of Resolution

During a Bot’s turn, [Cast] and [Travel] actions are always resolved before their HP is modified by rolled Shadow Fragments and/or rolled Cursed Crystals. Any time a Bot rolls both a [Travel] action and a [Cast] action, check for the following to determine the order in which these two actions are taken:

Are you in range of the Bot’s Attack Spell? If so, the Bot uses its [Cast] action first, then uses its [Travel] action second. If not, the Bot uses its [Travel] action first, then uses its [Cast] action second.

If a Bot’s HP would be modified by both Shadow Fragments and Cursed Crystals in the same turn, it gains HP from Shadow Fragments before losing HP From Cursed Crystals.

Special Cases

• Each time a Bot travels onto your Hex tile, that Bot deals 1 DMG to you.
• Each time a Bot would travel but it is already on your Hex tile, the Bot deals 1 DMG to you instead of moving to another Hex tile.
• Each time a Bot would cast an Attack Spell but you are not in range of the Bot’s Attack Spell, that counts as a miss and you take 0 DMG.
• Each time a Bot would travel but the Bot has 2 equally valid movement options, you may choose which Hex tile the Bot travels to.

Bot Health and Elimination

If at any point a Bot’s HP reaches 0, it is immediately eliminated from the game; remove its Meeple from the Map, then move all the cards in its Spell Book to the discard pile.

Eliminate all Bots to claim victory!