TEXT: The shipping lanes of 
  Golarion are filled with 
  fat merchant vessels 
  laden with trade 
  goods… and the swift 
  pirate ships that prey 
  upon them. Under the 
  banner of the Hurricane 
  King, buccaneers sally 
  forth from the Shackles, 
  an archipelago of 
  lawless pirate ports. 
  Scoundrels plunder 
  the shipping routes of 
  countless countries 
  before vanishing into 
  the maze of islands they 
  call home.
  Now a crew of press-
  ganged strangers 
  has seized their own 
  ship. Soon, they’ll be 
  embroiled in the plots 
  and politics of the 
  Shackles, where rival 
  scalawags, enemy 
  navies, and legendary 
  sea monsters await… and 
  the infamous Hurricane 
  King is ready to watch 
  them walk the plank.
  Welcome to 
  the Shackles. 
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  
  2
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  Object of the Game
  In the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, your party of adventurers 
  races against time on a quest to defeat a dangerous villain. Each 
  player has a deck of cards representing a character. In most 
  scenarios, your characters explore a variety of locations as you try 
  to hunt down the villain. You’ll need to clean out or protect these 
  locations so you can corner the villain and defeat him before time 
  runs out. As you play more games, you’ll complete scenarios, 
  improve your deck, customize your character, and take on more and 
  more powerful challenges.
  Card Sets
  The Skull & Shackles Base Set is one of several Pathfinder Adventure 
  Card Game products. This box contains everything that 1–4 players 
  need to begin the game, including the base card set for Skull & 
  Shackles. Included in the same box is your first Adventure Deck, 
  The Wormwood Mutiny, which provides the cards needed to tell the 
  first chapter of the Skull & Shackles story. Other Adventure Decks, 
  available separately, continue the adventure by adding new locations 
  to explore, new villains to fight, new loot to acquire, and much 
  more. The Skull & Shackles Character Add-On Deck, also available 
  separately, adds new characters, monsters, and other cards; it also 
  increases the maximum number of players to 6.
  Each Skull & Shackles card is marked with a pair of set indicators: 
  the top of each card features the logo of the Adventure Path, and 
  a letter or number in the upper-right corner identifies the specific 
  product that the card came from. This might be a letter, such as B 
  (indicating the card is part of the base set) or C (indicating that it’s 
  from the Character Add-On Deck); adventure deck numbers from 1 
  to 6 indicate that the card is part of one of six Adventure Decks for 
  Skull & Shackles.
  Also available separately are a variety of Class Decks. Each one 
  includes several different versions of a specific character type (for 
  example, the Fighter Class Deck has four different fighter characters) 
  and a variety of cards that are useful for those characters. Since Class 
  Decks are designed for use with any Adventure Path, Class Deck cards 
  are marked with the name of the Class Deck instead of the logo of an 
  Adventure Path. Class Deck cards are also marked with the letter B or 
  numbers from 1 to 6 in the upper right.
  To the left of the letter or number, you’ll find the card type. There are 
  more than a dozen different card types in the Pathfinder Adventure Card 
  RULES: THE GOLDEN RULE
  If a card and this rulebook are ever in conflict, the card should be considered correct. There is one exception to this: When the rulebook uses the 
  word “never,” no card can overrule it. If cards conflict with one another, then Adventure Path cards overrule adventures, adventures overrule 
  scenarios, scenarios overrule locations, locations overrule support cards, support cards overrule characters, and characters overrule other card 
  types. Despite this hierarchy, if one card tells that you cannot do something and another card tells you that you can, comply with the card that 
  tells you that you cannot. If a card instructs you to do something impossible, like draw a card from an empty deck, ignore that instruction.
  RULES SIDEBARS 
  Throughout this rulebook, you’ll find a number of sidebars that 
  look like this one. These sidebars explain general rules that 
  deserve special attention. Make sure you read them all!
  STRATEGY SIDEBARS
  You’ll also find a variety of sidebars that look like this one. 
  These offer advice about game strategy. If you prefer to develop 
  strategies on your own as you play, feel free to skip these 
  sidebars—you won’t miss any rules!
  EXAMPLE SIDEBARS
  Sidebars that look like this provide examples. Don’t miss the 
  example of an entire turn on page 26!
  NEW SIDEBARS
  If you already know how to play the Pathfinder Adventure Card 
  Game, but you haven’t played Skull & Shackles, keep an eye out 
  for sidebars that look like this. They spotlight noteworthy changes 
  to the rules for this Adventure Path. 
  
  3
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  TRAY LAYOUT
  ADVENTURE DECKS
  CHARACTERS, ROLES, AND TOKENS
  VILLAINS
  WEAPONS
  SPELLS
  ARMORS
  LOOT
  HENCHMEN
  BARRIERS
  ADVENTURE PATHS, ADVENTURES, 
  AND SCENARIOS
  LOCATIONS
  MONSTERS
  CHARACTER DECKS
  ITEMS
  ALLIES
  BLESSINGS
  TABLE OF CONTENTS
  OBJECT OF THE GAME 
  2
  CARD SETS 
  2
  ORGANIZING YOUR CARDS 
  4
  SETTING UP 
  4
  PLAYING A SCENARIO 
  8
  Your Turn 
  8
  Playing Cards 
  9
  Encountering a Card 
  10
  Attempting a Check 
  11
  Taking Damage 
  14
  Dying 
  14
  Examining and Searching 
  14
  Summoning and Adding Cards 
  14
  Closing a Location 
  15
  Encountering a Villain 
  16
  SHIPS AND PLUNDER 
  17
  Commanding and Moving Ships 
  17
  Encountering Ships 
  17
  Seizing Ships 
  17
  Structural Damage 
  17
  Wrecked Ships 
  18
  Plunder Cards 
  18
  AFTER THE SCENARIO 
  18
  Ending a Scenario, Adventure, or  
   
   Adventure Path 
  18
  Between Games 
  19
  CARD TYPES 
  20
  Character Cards 
  20 
  (Character, Role, and Token) 
  Story Cards  
  21
  (Adventure Path, Adventure, and Scenario) 
  Location Cards 
  22
  Support Cards (Fleet and Ship) 
  22
  Boon Cards 
  23 
  (Weapon, Spell, Armor, Item, Ally, Loot,  
  and Blessing) 
  Bane Cards 
  25 
  (Villain, Henchman, Monster, and Barrier) 
  EXAMPLE OF PLAY 
  26
  SUGGESTED DECK LISTS 
  28
  THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND 
  29
  REFERENCE SHEET 
  32
  SUPPORT CARDS
  
  4
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  LEM
  FAVORED CARD TYPE: 
  YOUR CHOICE
  Illustration by Wayne Reynolds
  CHARACTER B
  MALE
  HALFLING
  BARD
  CARDS LIST
  WEAPON
  2
  ■ 3 ■ 4 ■ 5
  SPELL
  3
  ■ 4
  ARMOR
  —
  ■ 1
  ITEM
  2
  ■ 3
  ALLY
  4
  ■ 5 ■ 6 ■ 7
  BLESSING
  4
  ■ 5
  Character.indd   6
  5/8/14   2:21 PM
  Setting Up
  Preparation is essential to a successful voyage. If your crew and your 
  ship aren’t supplied with the things you need, you’ll just have to find 
  them along the way… or take them by force.
  Choose Your Character. Each player chooses one character card; this 
  represents the character you’ll be playing in the game. Characters 
  have skills, which tell you which dice to roll when you attempt a 
  check; powers, which are special things you can do before, during, or 
  after the game; and other details that make them different from one 
  another (see Character Cards on page 20). You might use some of your 
  character’s powers at the start of the game, so read them right away.
  Locate the token card that matches your character card. Then place 
  both on the table in front of you.
  Build Your Character. Each character needs a character deck; if you 
  don’t already have one, you’ll need to build one. If you’d like to start 
  playing quickly, use the suggested deck for your character provided 
  at the back of this rulebook (see Suggested Deck Lists on page 28). 
  Alternatively, you can choose your own cards to create your deck. 
  The Cards List on your character card indicates the exact quantity of 
  each card type that you must choose from the box to make up your 
  character’s deck. You may choose only cards with the word “Basic” in 
  the list of traits underneath the card name.
  Trade Cards If You Like. Before starting a scenario, players may freely 
  trade cards from their character decks. After trading, each character deck 
  must still conform to the list of card types specified by the character card.
  Game. Among them are character cards, roles, and tokens; story cards, 
  which include an Adventure Path, adventures, and scenarios; locations; 
  support cards, which include a fleet card and ships; banes, which include 
  villains, henchmen, monsters, and barriers; and boons, which include 
  weapons, spells, armors, items, allies, loot, and blessings.
  On story cards, location cards, and ships, the side with the more 
  colorful version of the artwork is the face; the less colorful side is 
  the back. 
  For your first play session, you’ll need only the base cards, so leave 
  The Wormwood Mutiny sealed for now. If you own the Character 
  Add-On Deck, go ahead and combine that set with the cards in the 
  base set as described in Organizing Your Cards (see below). If you 
  own any Class Decks, you may also add any cards from them that 
  have a B in the upper-right corner.
  We have also published a number of promotional cards; these 
  are marked with the letter P in the upper-right corner. If you have a 
  character promo card, you can use it right away, but you shouldn’t 
  add other promo cards to the game until you begin the first chapter 
  of the Adventure Path. If you have a ship promo card, as soon as you 
  have checked off any ships of the same class on your fleet card, you 
  may treat the promo card as if it has been checked off as well (see 
  Place Your Party’s Ship on page 7).
  Organizing Your Cards
  The way you organize your cards is important, since there are times 
  when you’ll need to quickly locate specific cards during play. The box 
  includes a special tray to keep all of the cards organized. It has room 
  for the cards from the base card set, the Character Add-On Deck, and 
  all six Adventure Decks.
  Each type of card has its own place in the box, so you’ll need to 
  divide up the cards by type as shown in the illustration. For now, 
  leave the character deck slots empty. You’ll build your first decks 
  soon. Note that there are no loot cards in either the base card set or 
  the Character Add-On Deck; they’re found only in Adventure Decks.
  When you use adventures, scenarios, locations, ships, villains, 
  henchmen, and loot, you’ll often be asked to locate specific cards. 
  You may wish to alphabetize the cards within each type to help 
  you find them quickly during play. Group the character, token, and 
  role cards by character. The other card types should have their cards 
  shuffled, as you will often be asked to draw random cards from 
  those groups.
  Lem’s deck 
  includes 2 
  weapons, 3 spells, 
  no armors, 2 
  items, 4 allies, and 
  4 blessings. (The 
  checkboxes are 
  for card feats he’ll 
  gain later.)
  
  5
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  ADVENTURE PATH
  DISCARD PILE
  ADVENTURE
  CHARACTER DECK
  LOCATION DECK
  LOCATION CARD
  SCENARIO
  CHARACTER CARD
  BURIED CARDS
  BLESSINGS
  DISCARD PILE
  BLESSINGS
  DECK
  TOKEN CARD
  LOCATION DECK
  LOCATION CARD
  TOKEN CARD
  TOKEN CARD
  LOCATION DECK
  LOCATION CARD
  LOCATION DECK
  LOCATION DECK
  LOCATION CARD
  LOCATION CARD
  DISCARD PILE
  CHARACTER DECK
  CHARACTER CARD
  BURIED CARDS
  DISCARD PILE
  CHARACTER DECK
  CHARACTER CARD
  BURIED CARDS
  SHIP
  CARD SETUP
  
  6
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  Decide Whether You’re Playing a Standalone Scenario, an 
  Adventure, or the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path. A scenario is 
  intended for a single play session, an adventure consists of a number of 
  linked scenarios, and an Adventure Path is a series of linked adventures. 
  We recommend you begin with the base set scenario Island Hopping; 
  you can play it either by itself or as the first of five scenarios in the 
  Plunder and Peril adventure. We suggest you complete that adventure 
  and then move on to the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path.
  If You’re Playing the Adventure Path, put the Skull & Shackles 
  Adventure Path card faceup on the table. It lists the adventures that 
  make up the Adventure Path, starting with The Wormwood Mutiny, 
  as well as the reward you’ll get for completing the Adventure Path. 
  Whenever you start a new adventure in the Adventure Path, add all of 
  the cards from that Adventure Deck to the box, sorting all of the cards by 
  type and combining them with the cards you already have in the box.
  If You’re Playing an Adventure, put the appropriate adventure card 
  faceup on the table. It lists the scenarios that make up that adventure, 
  along with the reward you’ll get for completing that adventure. (If 
  you’re playing the Plunder and Peril adventure, put that card on the 
  table; if you’re beginning the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path, use the 
  adventure card The Wormwood Mutiny from that Adventure Deck.)
  Choose a Scenario. Put the scenario card faceup on the table. The 
  scenario card describes the goals and any unusual rules for this 
  particular game session. (If you’re playing Island Hopping, put down 
  that card; if you’re starting Skull & Shackles, put down Press Ganged!, 
  the first scenario listed on the adventure card The Wormwood Mutiny.)
  Set Out the Locations. The back of a scenario card lists the locations 
  the scenario uses; a required number of players is listed next to each 
  location. Use all of the location cards listed up to the number of 
  players you have. For example, if you have 3 players, you’ll use all of 
  the location cards listed for 1, 2, and 3 players, but you won’t use any 
  of the location cards listed for 4, 5, or 6 players. Put the location cards 
  you’re using faceup in the middle of the table.
  Build the Location Decks. Each location card has its own list of card 
  types that are used to build a location deck, in much the same way 
  that a character card has a list of card types that are used to build a 
  character deck. Shuffle each card type and deal the correct number of 
  cards of each type to form the basis of each location deck. Don’t look at 
  these cards; set them facedown in a stack next to their location card.
  RULES: COMPATIBILITY WITH OTHER SETS
  Cards in the Skull & Shackles set are intended to be compatible with 
  cards from other sets. Certain cards from one set may not be as 
  effective in another one; for example, the gunslinger Lirianne will 
  not be as useful in an Adventure Path that doesn’t have firearms.
  When the same character appears in different sets, they 
  are represented with different cards having different abilities 
  and powers. For example, among other differences, the rogue 
  Merisiel has the Craft skill in Skull & Shackles and the Perception 
  skill in Rise of the Runelords. To distinguish between them, we 
  add the Adventure Path name to the card name. For example, 
  “Rise of the Runelords Merisiel” is a different card than “Skull & 
  Shackles Merisiel,” so you may not exchange feats or role cards 
  between them.
  RULES: ROLLING DICE 
  The game comes with five dice: a 4-sider, 6-sider, 8-sider, 
  10-sider, and 12-sider. When you roll the 4-sider, use the number 
  that’s upright.
  The game uses a shorthand form describing the number and type 
  of dice to roll: Xd#, where “X” represents the number of dice to roll 
  and “d#” represents the number of sides on the dice. For example, 
  if you’re asked to roll 2d6, that means to roll 2 6-sided dice and add 
  their values together. Sometimes the shorthand includes a “+” or “–” 
  and a number listed after the die, meaning that you add that number 
  to, or subtract it from, the total of the roll (not each individual die 
  rolled). So 2d4+2 means to roll 2 4-sided dice, total them together, 
  and then add 2. No matter how many penalties are applied to a die 
  roll, the result can’t be reduced below 0.
  Sometimes, the type of die that you need to roll is determined 
  by your skill. If you’re told to use your Strength skill + 1d8, and 
  your Strength die is a d10, roll one 10-sided die and one 8-sided 
  die and add them together to determine your result. 
  If a card calls for a die roll that affects multiple characters or 
  situations (for example, if it says that each character at a location 
  is dealt 1d4 damage), roll separately for each.
  
  7
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  Add Villains and Henchmen. Each scenario card lists one or more 
  villains and one or more henchmen. Make a stack of cards starting 
  with the villain(s) and then add henchmen, working from the top 
  of the list down, until your stack has as many cards as you have 
  locations. Use multiple copies of the henchman at the bottom of 
  the list as needed. For example, if you have 5 locations and your 
  scenario card lists Adaro Barbarian as the villain and Enemy Ship and 
  Hammerhead Sharks as henchmen, you’ll make a stack of 5 cards: 
  Adaro Barbarian, Enemy Ship, and 3 Hammerhead Sharks. If your 
  scenario card listed Master Scourge as the villain and Aretta Bansion, 
  Fipps Chumlett, Jaundiced Jape, Maheem, Owlbear Hartshorn, and 
  Slippery Syl Lonegan as henchmen, you’ll make a stack of just the 
  first five, leaving Owlbear Hartshorn and Slippery Syl Lonegan in the 
  box. Shuffle this stack and put 1 card on top of each location deck. 
  Then shuffle each location deck.
  Create the Blessings Deck. Draw 30 random blessing cards from the 
  box. Shuffle them together to form a deck and place it facedown on 
  the table.
  Place Your Party’s Ship. In Skull & Shackles, your party always has 
  a ship. Choose one ship that’s been checked off on your party’s fleet 
  card; that becomes your ship. When you play your first scenario, 
  only the ship Merchantman has been checked off, but you’ll gain 
  additional ships as rewards for completing certain scenarios and 
  adventures. Usually, you’ll put your ship next to the scenario card. 
  In some scenarios, your ship is anchored to a specific location; this 
  information appears under the list of locations on the back of the 
  scenario card. For these scenarios, put your ship next to that location 
  card. After you place your ship, stash 1 plunder card (see Plunder 
  Cards on page 18), placing it facedown under the ship.
  RULES: SKILLS, DICE, AND MODIFIERS
  If your character card says “Strength d10,” and the “+1” box 
  next to that has been checked, your Strength skill is d10+1, and 
  your Strength die is d10. (The “+1” is called a “modifier.”) If your 
  character card also says “Melee: Strength +3,” your Melee skill is 
  d10+4, your Melee die is d10, and the modifier is +4.
  STRATEGY: SHOULD YOU SPLIT THE PARTY?
  There’s an old saying in roleplaying games: Never split the party. 
  Is that true for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game? This isn’t an 
  RPG, so the answer is, “It depends.”
  Sometimes, it’s a good idea to have multiple characters at 
  the same location; at other times, it makes more sense to split 
  the party. A lot of your strategy depends on which characters 
  you’re playing. If you’re playing Valeros and Lem, staying together 
  makes sense; if you’re playing Lirianne and Merisiel, you may 
  want to spread out.
  The best strategy also depends on where you’re going. Valeros 
  can handle Cannibal Isle, but Lem might not be able to close it if 
  someone else runs into the villain. Sometimes you want help for 
  whatever perils await you; another time, there might be a dragon 
  that blasts everyone at the same location. Pay attention to where 
  you are in the game. If you know where the villain is, splitting 
  up so you can temporarily close open locations is a good idea... 
  unless it isn’t. Every situation is different, and thinking before you 
  move is always wise.
  Arrange Yourselves around the Table. Use any order you wish.
  Place Token Cards. Each player chooses a location and puts her 
  character’s token card near it. Multiple characters can choose the 
  same starting location. If your ship is anchored to a specific location, 
  all characters start at the ship’s location.
  Draw Starting Hands. Each character card includes a hand size for 
  that character. Draw that number of cards from your character deck. 
  The character card also lists a favored card type; if more than one 
  is listed, choose 1 type before drawing. If you didn’t draw at least 
  1 card of that type, discard that hand and draw again, repeating as 
  needed until your hand contains at least 1 card of the specified type. 
  If you discard so many cards that you can’t draw up to your full hand 
  size, draw all of the remaining cards, then shuffle your discard pile 
  into your deck, draw the rest of your hand, and shuffle any discarded 
  cards back into your character deck.
  Decide Who Goes First. Starting with whichever player the group 
  chooses, take turns proceeding clockwise (see Your Turn on page 8).
  
  8
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  Playing a Scenario
  We’ve got rough seas ahead. Your crew must hunt villains, vanquish 
  the minions who serve ’em, and punish the scurvy scum who would 
  threaten your lives… or your plunder!
  Your Turn
  Take your turn by going through the following steps in order. The only 
  required steps are Advance the Blessings Deck, Reset Your Hand, and 
  End Your Turn; the other steps are optional.
  Advance the Blessings Deck: At the start of your turn, flip the top card 
  from the blessings deck faceup onto the top of the blessings discard 
  pile. You never acquire this blessing, though some cards may refer to 
  it during your turn. If you have to remove one or more cards from the 
  blessings deck for any reason and there are not enough cards to do 
  so, the players lose the scenario (see Ending a Scenario, Adventure, or 
  Adventure Path on page 18). After advancing the blessings deck, apply 
  any other effects that happen at the start of your turn.
  Give a Card: You may give 1 card from your hand to another player 
  at your location. (Other players cannot give you cards on your turn.)
  Move: You may move your token card to another location. Moving 
  then triggers any effects that happen when you enter or leave a 
  Alahazra, 
  the Oracle
  This blind oracle can light 
  up a room with fire when a 
  monster surprises her, but 
  she’s rarely surprised. Her 
  ability to see into the future 
  lets her know what’s in 
  any location, what’s in any 
  character’s deck, or even 
  what the blessing deck 
  bodes. Alahazra can use her 
  Divine spells with versatility, 
  and she’s ready with a Cure 
  at any moment.
  RULES: TRACKING THE BLESSINGS DECK
  It’s very easy to get excited about starting your turn, so much so 
  that you might forget to advance the blessings deck. Unfortunately, 
  once you realize you’ve skipped it for the last few turns, it’s often 
  not so easy to figure out how many cards you need to flip to catch 
  up. We recommend that when each player advances the deck, she 
  should orient the card she turns over so that the text is right-side up 
  to that player. Sure, it makes for a messy-looking blessings discard 
  pile, but it makes it easy to see who remembered and who didn’t.
  STRATEGY: SHOULD YOU BE SELFISH?
  Throughout the game, your friends will ask you for help. They 
  might even beg for it. Should you ever tell them no?
  Probably not. This is a cooperative game, so sharing information 
  and setting goals as a group is wise. Think about ways you can 
  help each other, such as Alahazra recharging a card to examine 
  the top card of another character’s location deck. You might spend 
  a blessing to get a boon that you can’t use and give it to someone 
  else who desperately wants it. Some groups even play with their 
  hands faceup on the table so everyone can help make choices. 
  Other players do not share as freely, and there’s a good reason 
  for it. Your character is a living, growing entity. Your choices will 
  determine whether your character succeeds and improves. If you 
  let your friends make decisions for you, you might not be looking 
  out for yourself.
  location. (If you do not move, your character is not considered to 
  have entered or left a location.) If you are commanding a ship that is 
  not anchored, other characters at your location may be able to move 
  with you (see Commanding and Moving Ships on page 17).
  Explore: You may explore your location once each turn without 
  playing a card that allows you to explore; this must be your first 
  exploration for the turn. You may never explore on another player’s 
  turn. When you explore, flip over the top card of your current location 
  deck. If it’s a boon, you may attempt to acquire it; if you don’t, banish 
  it. If it’s a bane, you must try to defeat it (see Encountering a Card on 
  page 10). Many effects allow you to explore again on your turn, and 
  there is no limit to the number of times you can explore. 
  
  9
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  you have fewer cards than your hand size, you must draw cards until 
  the number of cards in your hand matches your hand size.
  End Your Turn: When you’re done, the turn passes to the player on 
  your left.
  Playing Cards
  Anyone can play a card whenever the card allows it. Playing a card 
  means using a power on that card by revealing, displaying, discarding, 
  recharging, burying, or banishing that card or by performing another 
  action specified by that card. If a power says using it counts as playing a 
  boon, it counts as playing a card. Doing something with a card that does 
  not use a power on that card does not count as playing that card. For 
  example, when Alahazra discards a card to use a power on her character 
  card, the discarded card does not count as being played (meaning she 
  also can’t recharge it). When a card has multiple powers, you must 
  choose one of them. A specific card’s power may only be used once per 
  check or step. Any paragraph in the power section of a boon that doesn’t 
  involve playing the card for a particular effect is not itself a power—it’s a 
  mandatory action you must take when you play the card.
  Jirelle,  
  the 
  Swashbuckler
  Jirelle is the pirate’s pirate, 
  a woman capable of 
  wielding any weapon from 
  a rapier to a cannon. When 
  she’s in command of a ship, 
  she can steer it through 
  the most dangerous waters 
  with ease. Prone to feats 
  of derring-do, she has 
  die-rolling powers that can 
  turn possible failures into 
  surprising acts of heroism.
  However, during a single exploration, no matter how many 
  different effects allow you to explore again, treat them as granting 
  one additional exploration, not a series of additional explorations. 
  For example, Seltyiel’s Spellblade role has a power that allows 
  him to explore again if he acquires a spell or weapon on his turn, 
  and the location Coastline has a power that allows any character 
  who acquires a boon with the Pirate or Swashbuckling trait at that 
  location to explore again. If Seltyiel were to acquire a weapon with 
  the Swashbuckling trait at the Coastline, he would get one additional 
  exploration from those effects, not two.
  Close a Location: If your character is at a location that has no cards 
  remaining and has not been closed, you may make one attempt to 
  close it at this time (see Closing a Location on page 15).
  Reset Your Hand: First, apply any effects that happen at the end of 
  the turn; if a power allows or directs you to not reset your hand, you 
  must still apply any effects that happen at the end of the turn. You 
  may play cards and use powers unless a power directed you to reset 
  your hand and end your turn. After resolving these effects, you may 
  no longer play cards or use powers for the rest of the turn.
  Next, you may discard any number of cards. Then, if you have more 
  cards in your hand than your hand size specifies, you must discard until 
  the number of cards in your hand matches your hand size. Finally, if 
  STRATEGY: SHOULD YOU ALWAYS EXPLORE?
  The blessings deck is a countdown timer, and it’s very unforgiving. 
  More exploration leads to more success, but there are times you 
  just want to hang out for a while.
  One reason might be the state of your hand or character deck. 
  Going to the Floating Shipyard, even when it has no cards, could 
  be a good move if your ship is wrecked.
  Another reason to slow down is to realign your party toward 
  the end of the game. If you just need someone at Holy Isle so you 
  can temporarily close it when you find the villain, don’t risk finding 
  a monster there prematurely and upsetting your whole closing 
  scheme. Take the time to get your strategy set, especially if you 
  have plenty of turns to burn.
  Of course, the biggest disasters often occur shortly after 
  someone says, “We’ve got plenty of turns left.”
  RULES: DRAWING CARDS
  Unless a card says otherwise, drawing means taking a card from 
  the specified source and adding it to your hand. If no source is 
  specified, draw it from your character deck.
  Example: The ally Fox has 2 different 
  powers: you may recharge the card 
  to add 1d4 to any Intelligence or 
  Wisdom check, or you may discard 
  the card to explore your location. 
  You can do either, but you can’t do 
  both, because once you play the 
  card one way, it’s no longer in 
  your hand for you to play it the 
  other way.
  
  10
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  When you play a card, it will usually require you to take one of the 
  following actions.
  •  Reveal: Show it from your hand then put it back in your hand. You 
  may not reveal the same card for its power more than once per 
  check or step.
  • Display: Place it faceup in front of your character, unless stated 
  otherwise; the card’s powers function until it’s discarded. When 
  a character displays a card, it is not part of that character’s hand, 
  deck, or discard pile, but it still belongs to that character.
  • Discard: Put it into your discard pile—a stack of faceup cards next 
  to your deck.
  • Recharge: Put it facedown at the bottom of your character deck.
  • Bury: Put it under your character card (likely losing access to it for 
  the rest of the scenario).
  • Banish: Put it back in the box, shuffling it in with the other cards 
  of the same type (thus losing it for good).
  If you are instructed to play, reveal, display, discard, recharge, bury, 
  banish, or otherwise manipulate a card, that card must come from 
  your hand unless otherwise specified. You may not activate a power 
  that doesn’t apply to your current situation. For example, you may 
  not play a card to reduce damage when damage is not being dealt, 
  and you may not play a card to evade a monster when you are not 
  encountering a monster. 
  If a card in your hand does not specify when it can be played, you 
  can generally play it anytime you can play cards, with the exception 
  that during an encounter you may only perform specific actions at 
  specific times.
  You can look through your displayed, discarded, and buried cards at 
  any time, but you may not change the order of cards in your discard 
  pile. You may not look through your character deck unless a card 
  specifically allows it. Don’t shuffle any stack of cards unless you’re 
  instructed to do so. A deck is a deck, a hand is a hand, and a pile is a 
  pile whether or not it has any cards in it.
  Encountering a Card
  When you encounter a card, you—and only you—can go through the 
  following steps. No one else can perform these steps for you, though 
  other players might be able to play cards to help you deal with the 
  encounter’s challenges. During each of these steps, you and the other 
  players may perform only the specified actions. Players may only play 
  cards or use powers that relate to each step (or relate to cards played 
  or powers used in that step). Each player may play no more than 1 
  card of each type during each step; for example, no one player may 
  play more than 1 blessing while attempting a check, though multiple 
  players could each play 1 blessing during that check. Each player may 
  activate any power no more than once during each step. Players may 
  not play any cards or activate any powers between those steps.
  If the card you’re encountering states that it is immune to a 
  particular trait, players may not play cards with the specified trait, 
  use powers that would add that trait to the check, or roll dice with 
  that trait during the encounter.
  After you flip over the top card of the location deck, put it on top 
  of the deck and read it. Then go through the following steps in order.
  Apply Any Effects That Happen When You Encounter a Card. If 
  any powers on the card you’re encountering say they’re triggered 
  when you encounter the card, they take effect at this time. You 
  may also use powers or cards that state they can be used when you 
  encounter a card.
  Apply Any Evasion Effects. You may use a power or card that lets 
  you evade the card you’re encountering. If any powers on the card 
  you’re encountering relate to evading the card, they take effect at 
  this time. If you evade the card, do not activate any other powers on 
  it. Shuffle it back into the deck; it is neither defeated nor undefeated, 
  and the encounter is over.
  Apply Any Effects That Happen Before You Act. If any powers on 
  the card you’re encountering happen before you act, they take effect 
  at this time. You may also use powers or cards that state they can be 
  used before you act.
  Attempt the Check. If the card is a boon, you may try to acquire it for 
  your deck; if it’s a bane, you must try to defeat it (see Attempting a 
  Check, below). If you choose not to acquire a boon, it counts as failing to 
  Lem,
  the Bard
  Lem is the master of all 
  challenges on the open 
  seas. He’s handy with 
  weapons and ready to use 
  any spell he discovers. Lem 
  is a blessing to his friends, 
  whether they’re fellow 
  pirates or allies he meets 
  along the way. His ability to 
  shuffle cards into his deck 
  means that whatever he 
  wants to do, he can do it 
  again and again.
  NEW: DETAILS OF ENCOUNTERING
  We’ve added a bit more detail to the rules for encountering a 
  card. We’ve also renamed several steps for clarity. If you’re using 
  Rise of the Runelords cards with these rules, treat any cards that 
  say “before the encounter” as if they say “before you act,” and 
  treat “after the encounter” as “after you act.”
  
  11
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  acquire it. If a card’s check section says “None,” look at the card’s powers 
  and immediately do whatever it says there. After you attempt the check, 
  deal with any effects that were triggered by the check. If any cards 
  played while attempting a check include their own checks, resolve the 
  current check in this step and the new checks in subsequent steps.
  Attempt the Next Check, If Needed. If another check is required, 
  resolve it now. For example, some boons allow you to attempt a check 
  to recharge them after you play them, and some banes require a second 
  check to defeat. Repeat this step until you have resolved all such checks.
  Apply Any Effects That Happen After You Act. If any powers on the 
  card you’re encountering happen after you act, they take effect at this 
  time. You may also use powers or cards that state they can be used 
  after you act. Do this whether or not you succeeded at your checks.
  Resolve the Encounter. If you succeed at all of the checks required 
  to defeat a bane, banish it; if you don’t succeed, it is undefeated—
  shuffle the card back into its location deck. If you succeed at a check 
  to acquire a boon, put it in your hand; otherwise, banish it.
  Attempting a Check
  Many times during the game, you will need to attempt a check to do 
  something, such as acquiring a new weapon or defeating a monster.
  Each boon card has a section called Check to Acquire. This section 
  indicates the skills that can be used in checks to acquire the boon and 
  the difficulty of the checks. If you succeed in acquiring the card, put it 
  into your hand. If you fail, banish it.
  Each bane card has a section called Check to Defeat. This section 
  indicates the skills that can be used in checks against the bane and 
  the difficulty of the checks. If you succeed in defeating the bane, it is 
  usually banished. If you fail to defeat a bane, it is usually considered 
  undefeated, and it is shuffled back into the location deck. If you fail 
  to defeat a monster, you are dealt damage (see Take Damage, If 
  Necessary on page 13). 
  Lirianne, 
  the 
  Gunslinger
  A pirate’s best friend is 
  her trusty sidearm… or in 
  Lirianne’s case, her five 
  trusty sidearms. Guns 
  may be unstable, but she 
  can manipulate her cards 
  to keep her Pepperbox 
  holstered. A great ship’s 
  captain, Lirianne helps her 
  friends with her vigilance. 
  Many a combat ends with 
  her precise shots from afar.
  STRATEGY: SHOULD YOU BURN THROUGH 
  YOUR DECK?
  Playing a character such as Alahazra or Merisiel gives you ways 
  to churn through your deck faster, discarding cards quickly to get 
  to the cards you want. While this makes you far more likely to 
  defeat your enemies and acquire what you need, it comes with a 
  cost: you might kill off your character.
  This game is all about trade-offs. Should you press your luck or 
  hold off a bit? Not taking risks will make you lose as often as taking 
  too many risks, but at least your character will be alive after you lose.
  One of the toughest choices involves shedding cards as you 
  reset your hand. You’re allowed to discard any number of cards 
  before you draw up, but that means you’re closer to death. There 
  are few things more humiliating than dying because you forgot 
  how many cards you needed to draw at the end of your turn.
  When you have too many cards in your hand, that’s a different 
  problem. If you can play some cards that can be recharged—even 
  though you might have used them much later—it’s still worth 
  playing them. Discarding cards for no gain is more painful.
  NEW: TASKS
  Rise of the Runelords had a couple of barriers that stayed faceup 
  on the location deck if you failed to defeat them. Skull & Shackles 
  has several task-oriented barriers that do similar things, so we’ve 
  expanded the rules for faceup cards in the sidebar below.
  RULES: FACEUP CARDS 
  Sometimes a card is left faceup on the top of the location deck (for 
  example, most barriers with the Task trait work this way). The card 
  is still in the deck, but it can only be shuffled into the deck when 
  the condition that caused it to be left faceup on the deck has been 
  resolved. If such a card tells you that you must encounter it on your 
  first exploration on a turn, then after that exploration, ignore it for 
  the purpose of additional explorations that turn; however, it still 
  counts as the top card of the deck for any other purpose. If multiple 
  cards are left faceup on the same deck, you may place them in any 
  order and encounter them in that order.  
  NEW: CHECKS AGAINST
  We’ve introduced a new term: checks “against” cards.
  If a card refers to a check against another card, that refers to any 
  check required by that card, whether it’s a check to defeat, a check to 
  acquire, a check to recharge, or any other check.
  If multiple checks are listed on the card with “or” between them, 
  choose one of them. If there’s a “then” between them, you’ll need to 
  succeed at both checks sequentially; you must attempt both checks, 
  
  12
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  Determine the Difficulty. To succeed at the check, the result of your 
  die roll and modifiers must be greater than or equal to the difficulty 
  of the check. In checks to defeat a bane or acquire a boon, the 
  difficulty is the number in the circle under the skill you’ve chosen. 
  In other checks, the difficulty is the number in the text that follows 
  the skill you’ve chosen. (For example, where a card’s power instructs 
  you to attempt a Fortitude 7 check, the difficulty is 7.) Some cards 
  increase or decrease the difficulty of a check; for example, if a card 
  says that the difficulty is increased by 2, add 2 to the number on 
  the card you encountered; if it says the difficulty is decreased by 2, 
  subtract 2 from the number.
  Play Cards and Use Powers That Affect Your Check (Optional). 
  Players may now play cards or use powers that affect your check. 
  Players may not do things that modify a skill unless you’re using that 
  skill, and players may not do things that affect combat unless you’re 
  attempting a combat check. Do not add traits from these cards to the 
  check; for example, playing the spell Aid on a check does not give 
  the check the Divine trait.
  Some cards and powers affect only specific types of checks, such as 
  Dexterity checks, Acrobatics checks, or non-combat checks. If, on your 
  character card, the skill you’re using refers to another skill, both skills 
  count for the purpose of determining the type of check. For example, 
  if you’re using the Arcane skill on a combat check, and your character 
  card says that your Arcane skill is Intelligence +2, the check counts as 
  both a combat Arcane check and a combat Intelligence check. Traits 
  also determine the type of check; for example, if you’re attempting a 
  combat check and you played a weapon that added the Ranged trait, 
  it counts as a Ranged combat check.
  Some cards may allow you to replace a specific die with a different 
  one. For example, Emerald of Dexterity allows you to roll your 
  Dexterity die in place of the normal die for a non-combat check—this 
  means you’ll replace the die (not the skill) you would normally use 
  with your Dexterity die (not your Dexterity skill). 
  Merisiel, 
  the rogue
  The graceful Merisiel enjoys 
  her privacy: When she’s 
  alone, no monster is safe 
  from her backstabbing 
  ways. A brilliant combatant 
  with both guns and rapiers, 
  Merisiel can also handle 
  nearly any barrier. Her 
  greatest skill might be 
  picking her fights, as her 
  ability to evade means she 
  rarely gets into a situation 
  she doesn’t control.
  NEW: DICE VS. SKILLS
  In Skull & Shackles, we’re increasing the distinction between “dice” 
  and “skills.” We’ve renamed the step below and added the Rules: 
  Skills, Dice, and Modifiers sidebar on page 7. The last paragraph of 
  Play Cards and Use Powers That Affect the Check is also new.
  even if you fail the first, because failure often has consequences. “Or” 
  takes priority over “then,” so if a card says “Wisdom 10 or Combat 13 
  then Combat 15,” you must first attempt either a Wisdom check with 
  a difficulty of 10 or a Combat check with a difficulty of 13; after that, 
  you must attempt a Combat check with a difficulty of 15. 
  Only the character who encounters the card may attempt the 
  check, save for one exception: if a card requires sequential checks, 
  the character who encountered the card must attempt at least one 
  of the checks, but other checks may each be attempted by any one 
  character at the same location.
  Many cards also require checks to use powers or to recharge the 
  cards after playing them.
  Attempting a check requires several actions that are explained 
  below. Remember that each player may not play more than 1 card of 
  each type or use any 1 power more than once during each check.
  Determine Which Skill You’re Using. Cards that require a check specify 
  the skill or skills you can use to attempt the check. Each check to 
  defeat or acquire a card lists one or more skills; you may choose any 
  of the listed skills for your check. For example, if a check lists Dexterity, 
  Disable, Strength, and Melee, you may use any one of those skills to 
  attempt your check. Even if your character doesn’t have any of the skills 
  listed for a check, you can still attempt the check, but your die is a d4. 
  Any skills you use are added as traits to the check. (For example, if your 
  character has the skill Melee: Strength +2, and you use your Melee skill, 
  both the Strength and the Melee trait are added to the check.)
  Some cards may allow you to replace the required skill for a check 
  with a different one. As part of this action, you may play only 1 card 
  or use only 1 power that defines the skill you are going to use. When 
  you play a card that does this, add that card’s traits to the check; for 
  example, revealing the weapon Dragon Pistol for your combat check 
  adds the Firearm, Ranged, Piercing, and Elite traits to the check. (This 
  isn’t the same as giving you a skill; for example, playing the spell 
  Fireblade adds the Divine trait to your check, but it does not give you 
  the Divine skill.) A few cards that can be used on checks don’t use 
  any of your skills; they instead specify the exact dice you need to roll 
  or the result of your die roll.
  Most monsters and some barriers call for a combat check. Weapons 
  and many other cards that can be used during combat generally tell 
  you what skill to use when you attempt a combat check; if you aren’t 
  playing one of those cards, you must use your Strength or Melee skill.
  
  13
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  Assemble Your Dice. The skill you’re using and the cards you played 
  determine the number and type of dice you roll. For example, if 
  you’re attempting a check using your Strength skill, and your Strength 
  die is d10, you’ll roll 1d10. If another player played a blessing to add 
  a die to your check, you would roll 2d10.
  Attempt the Roll. Roll the dice and add up their value, adding or 
  subtracting any modifiers that apply to the check. If the result is 
  greater than or equal to the difficulty of the check, then you succeed. 
  If the result is lower than the difficulty, then you fail. No matter how 
  many penalties are applied to a die roll, the result cannot be reduced 
  below 0.
  Take Damage, If Necessary. If you fail a check to defeat a monster, 
  it deals an amount of damage to you equal to the difference 
  between the difficulty to defeat the monster and your check result. 
  Unless the card specifies otherwise, this damage is Combat damage. 
  For example, if the difficulty to defeat a monster is 10 and the result 
  of your check is 8, the monster deals 2 Combat damage to you (see 
  Taking Damage, below). Remember that players may not play more 
  than 1 of each card type during a check, so if you previously played a 
  spell to affect the check, you may not play a spell to reduce damage.
  Seltyiel,
  the Magus
  Others choose between 
  spells and swords. 
  Seltyiel is masterful with 
  both, often combining a 
  weapon and a spell into a 
  powerful one-two punch. 
  His spells come flying 
  back into his deck after he 
  plays them. This magus 
  combines speed, smarts, 
  and strength to take down 
  any monster that stands in 
  his way.
  STRATEGY: SHOULD YOU HOARD BLESSINGS?
  Blessings are among the most versatile cards in the game. Most 
  can be used to add to checks or to explore again, but you can’t use 
  one blessing to do both at the same time. So when you’re trying 
  to decide whether to play a blessing on your companion’s check to 
  acquire a wand, you might be wondering, “Did I just cost us a turn?”
  What is the opportunity cost of not exploring? Do you need that 
  sword more than you need to find the villain? The risk-reward 
  analysis requires some thought.
  Early in the game, you might be willing to spend a blessing 
  on a check, but when the clock is ticking down, conservatism is 
  often the wiser course. If it’s your combat check and you think 
  you might lose without the blessing, it’s likely worth playing the 
  blessing on that check. Fail badly enough, and you might lose the 
  blessing to damage anyway.
  This analysis is worth going through, but don’t let it stop you from 
  acting. There are always more turns—at least, until there aren’t.
  Example: Alahazra and Merisiel are at the Docks. Alahazra 
  encounters the ally Besmaran Priest. The check to acquire is 
  Divine, Charisma, or Diplomacy 6. Alahazra’s Charisma skill is d12, 
  and her character card says “Divine: Charisma +2,” so her Divine 
  skill is d12+2; since she does not have Diplomacy listed on her 
  character card, she would roll a d4 for that. She chooses Divine. 
  She rolls a 3 on her d12 and adds 2 for a result of 5; that’s 1 less 
  than she needed to acquire the ally. Unable to acquire him, she 
  banishes the Besmaran Priest.
  On the next turn, Merisiel encounters the monster Dire Rat. She 
  has a power that says she could evade it, but chooses to fight. The 
  Dire Rat has 3 possible checks to defeat: Combat 8, or Dexterity 
  or Stealth 6. Combat checks use Strength or Melee (unless a card 
  changes that); Merisiel’s Strength skill is d6, and since she doesn’t 
  have the Melee skill, she would roll a d4 for that. Her Dexterity skill 
  is d12, and her Stealth skill is Dexterity+2, so if she picked Stealth, 
  she’d roll d12+2 and would only need to a 6 or better to defeat 
  the monster. However, she has a Cutlass +1 in her hand, which 
  she could reveal to use Strength or Melee + 1d6+1 for her combat 
  check. Better still, Merisiel has a special power that gives her the skill 
  Melee: Dexterity +1 when she plays a weapon with the Finesse trait. 
  Since the Cutlass +1 has that trait, that makes her Melee skill d12+1, 
  and the weapon adds another 1d6+1 for a total combat check of 
  1d12 + 1d6+2. She needs an 8 or higher, and she rolls two 5s for a 
  total of 12. She defeats that pesky Dire Rat, banishing it.
  
  14
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  Taking Damage
  When you are dealt damage, you and other players may play cards and 
  use powers that reduce or otherwise affect the specific type of damage 
  you’re being dealt. If you’re being dealt Fire damage, for example, you 
  may play cards that reduce Fire damage or cards that reduce all damage, 
  but you may not play cards that reduce only Electricity or Combat 
  damage. Each player may play no more than one of each card type to 
  affect damage to the same character from the same source. If a card says 
  it reduces damage with no type listed, it reduces all types of damage.
  When you are dealt an amount of damage, choose that number of 
  cards from your hand and discard them. If you don’t have enough cards 
  in your hand, discard your entire hand and ignore the rest of the damage.
  Dying
  If, for any reason, you are ever required to remove one or more 
  cards from your deck and you don’t have enough cards, your 
  character dies. Bury your deck, hand, and discard pile. You cannot 
  take turns, play cards, move, or do anything else for the rest of this 
  scenario. Certain powerful cards allow you to return from death; if 
  this doesn’t happen before the end of the scenario, your death is 
  permanent. The other characters may use the dead character’s cards 
  when they rebuild their decks after the scenario; any cards they 
  don’t keep are then banished.
  If all of the characters are dead, the players lose the scenario (see 
  Ending a Scenario, Adventure, or Adventure Path on page 18).
  If your character dies, start a new character for the next scenario. 
  Choose a character card (it can be the same character who just died, 
  though you do not get any of the feats that character previously 
  earned) and build a new character deck as described in Build Your 
  Character on page 4, choosing only cards with the Basic trait. If your 
  party has begun the adventure Tempest Rising, you may ignore the 
  Basic trait restriction; instead, you may use any cards in the box from 
  the base set and the Character Add-On Deck, as well as any cards 
  from an Adventure Deck with an adventure deck number at least 2 
  lower than that of the adventure you’re currently playing.
  Examining and Searching
  Sometimes a card allows you to examine one or more cards—that 
  means looking at the specified card and then putting it back where 
  it came from. If a card tells you to examine a deck until you find a 
  particular card type, begin with the top card of that deck and stop 
  when you have found a card of the correct type. Put the cards you 
  examined back in the same order you found them, unless instructed 
  otherwise. If you don’t find a card of the specified type, ignore any 
  directions related to that card. (This does not count as exploring, 
  though it may happen during an exploration.)
      Sometimes a card allows you to search a deck and choose any card 
  of a particular type; that means you may look at every card in the deck 
  and choose any card of that type. Unless instructed otherwise, shuffle 
  the deck afterwards. 
  Summoning and Adding Cards
  Sometimes you will be told to summon cards or to add cards 
  to a deck. When this happens, retrieve the cards from the box. 
  However, if you’re told to summon a card that’s already in play, just 
  imagine you have another copy of that card for the new encounter; 
  this summoned copy ceases to exist at the end of the encounter. 
  Summoned cards cannot cause other cards to be summoned.
  If you’re told to summon and encounter a card, this immediately 
  starts a new encounter. If you’re already in an encounter, complete 
  the encounter with the summoned card before continuing the original 
  encounter. After evading a summoned card or resolving the encounter 
  with it, banish it unless you’re instructed otherwise. If an effect causes 
  multiple characters to summon and encounter cards, resolve the 
  encounters sequentially in any order you like, including banishing the 
  card at the end of the encounter. If the summoned card is a villain or 
  henchman, defeating it does not allow you to win the scenario or close 
  Valeros,
  the Fighter
  A heavily armored 
  warrior on a pirate ship? 
  Sure. Valeros is ready for 
  hand-to-hand combat at 
  any minute, recycling his 
  weapons into his deck and 
  never once considering 
  whether to use them 
  for maximum effect. His 
  friends appreciate him, too. 
  If he’s around when they 
  get in trouble, they get out 
  of trouble.
  STRATEGY: SHOULD YOU LOOK AHEAD?
  Alahazra and cards like Spyglass let you look at cards in location 
  decks before you must encounter them. This can be a tremendous 
  help as you race the ticking clock that is the blessings deck.
  Finding the villain early can mean the difference between 
  success and failure. A card like Buoyancy can strand a villain on 
  the top of a deck, leaving him waiting for you to return while you 
  loot and lock down other locations. 
  Of course, all that peeking ahead comes at an opportunity cost: 
  those Spyglasses could instead be cards that help you defeat 
  banes and acquire boons. If you can’t actually beat what you find, 
  there’s no point in finding it.
  
  15
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  FROM THE 
  CHARACTER ADD-ON DECK
  a location deck—ignore any such text on those cards. Cards that you 
  summon are not part of any location deck.
  The When Closing section on some locations requires you to summon 
  and defeat (or summon and acquire) a card. Summon and encounter it; 
  if you do not defeat (or acquire) it, the location is not closed.
  If you’re told to summon and build a location, retrieve the location 
  card from the box and build the location as usual; the location and its 
  deck remain in play for the rest of the scenario.
  If you’re instructed to add a card to the top or the bottom of a 
  deck, do so; otherwise, any cards added to a deck are shuffled into it.
  If you’re told to add a random card of a particular type with some 
  additional requirement, such as “having the Human trait” or “non-
  Basic” (shorthand for “not having the Basic trait”), draw cards of that 
  type from the box until you find a card that fulfills the requirement. 
  Then add that card and put the rest back in the box.
  Closing a Location
  You may earn the opportunity to close a location in a number of 
  ways. Usually you get the opportunity to close a location after 
  defeating a henchman from that location deck (the henchman card 
  will indicate if this is the case) or after that location deck runs out of 
  cards (see Your Turn on page 8).
  When you have the opportunity and want to close a location, do 
  whatever the location’s When Closing section says. Locations often 
  require specific checks to close them; otherwise, they list specific tasks 
  you must perform. (If a location says you may close it automatically, you 
  don’t need to do anything else.) If the When Closing text offers multiple 
  options separated by “or,” you must make your choice of options before 
  you make any rolls or play any cards. If you succeed at meeting the 
  When Closing requirement, search the location deck for villains. If you 
  find any, banish all non-villain cards from the location deck. The location 
  is not closed—but at least you know where the villains are!
  If you didn’t find any villains, perform the When Permanently Closed 
  effect: First, apply any effects that say “before closing.” Then banish all 
  of the cards from the location deck; it is now closed. Finally, apply any 
  effects that say “on closing” and flip the location card over. The location 
  stays closed for the rest of the scenario, so villains may not escape to 
  that location (see Encountering a Villain on page 16). Characters may 
  move to closed locations, and if there are cards there, they may explore 
  and encounter those cards as normal. (Most closed locations don’t have 
  cards to explore, but some effects can put cards there.)
  Damiel,
   the Alchemist
  Handling explosives all day 
  can make a man a little 
  unpredictable. Damiel is no 
  exception. He can turn any 
  card into a bomb, and he can 
  turn his bombs into bigger 
  bombs. By mixing spells 
  and potions into recipes, 
  Damiel can keep resources 
  that other characters would 
  banish without a thought. 
  And if you need a drink, he’s 
  your man.
  NEW: SUMMON AND BUILD, ACQUIRE,  
  OR DEFEAT
  Skull & Shackles has a few new things to do with summoned 
  cards. You’ll even build some locations during play!
  NEW: HENCHMEN AND CLOSING LOCATIONS
  In Rise of the Runelords, the rules stated that defeating a 
  henchman would allow you to attempt to close that henchman’s 
  location. In Skull & Shackles, if defeating a particular henchman 
  allows you to attempt to close a location, it will say so on the 
  henchman card. If a particular henchman card does not say 
  that defeating it allows you to attempt to close a location, then 
  defeating it does not allow you to attempt to close a location. 
  (As always, summoned henchmen never allow you to close a 
  location, because they are not part of any location deck.)
  Example: Jirelle defeats the final card in the Coastline location 
  deck. She may now attempt to close the location. In its When 
  Closing section, Coastline gives two options: Jirelle can succeed at 
  a Wisdom or Perception 6 check, or she can banish a card with the 
  Swashbuckling trait. Her Wisdom skill is d8. That’s a much better 
  choice than Perception; since it’s not listed on her character card, 
  she would roll only a d4. She could banish her Old Salt’s Bandana, 
  but she wants to keep it. She considers rolling her Wisdom die, but 
  still doesn’t like her odds. She reveals the Bandana to give her check 
  the Swashbuckling trait, then rolls the 
  die, getting a 3. That’s not enough, 
  but she has a power that allows her 
  to reroll a die on a check if it has the 
  Swashbuckling trait. This time, she 
  rolls a 7, which closes the Coastline, 
  so its When Permanently Closed 
  power is activated: each character 
  at that location gets to recharge 
  a card with the Swashbuckling 
  trait from his or her discard pile. 
  After they do so, she flips the 
  Coastline card over to show 
  that it’s closed.
  
  16
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  FROM THE 
  CHARACTER ADD-ON DECK
  Feiya,  
  the Witch
  Even the biggest dragon 
  fears an encounter with 
  Feiya, who can reduce its 
  power with a powerful 
  hex. When she comes 
  across a spell that seems 
  out of reach to most, she’ll 
  make it trivial to acquire. 
  Feiya’s familiars, such as 
  her fox Daji, can retrieve 
  her spells for her, meaning 
  the next dragon she meets 
  is going to fear her, too.
  Encountering a Villain
  Most scenarios have a villain—a big bad bane for the players to fight 
  at the end. Villains work a lot like other monsters, but since defeating 
  them is the goal of many scenarios, some special rules are used.
  Unlike monsters and henchmen, a villain doesn’t just need to be 
  defeated. A villain also needs to be cornered: you need to make sure 
  there are no open locations the villain can escape to.
  Attempt to Temporarily Close Open Locations. When a character 
  encounters a villain, each character at any other location may 
  immediately attempt to fulfill the When Closing requirement for 
  his location. If any character at a location succeeds, his location 
  is temporarily closed and the villain cannot escape there this 
  encounter (see Check to See Whether the Villain Escapes on page 16). 
  Temporarily closing a location does not trigger any of the other effects 
  of closing a location; the location opens again immediately after the 
  encounter. 
  Characters may attempt to close locations in any order they wish.
  Encounter the Villain. This encounter works exactly as it does with 
  other banes, but be careful to look for any special rules listed on the 
  villain card or the scenario card.
  If You Defeat the Villain, Close the Villain’s Location. You do 
  not need to fulfill the When Closing requirement. Examine the 
  location deck; if there are no additional villains in it, banish all of 
  the cards. The location is permanently closed, and the location’s 
  When Permanently Closed effect is triggered. Flip the location card 
  over. If any villains remain in the deck, banish everything except 
  the remaining villains and shuffle the deck; the location is not 
  permanently closed, but it is temporarily closed, and the defeated 
  villain cannot escape to it. If a scenario has multiple villains, the 
  scenario card will usually list additional conditions for winning.
  Check to See Whether the Villain Escapes. If any locations are 
  not closed, the villain escapes. If you defeated the villain, count 
  the number of open locations, subtract 1, and retrieve that number 
  of random blessings from the box. Shuffle the villain in with those 
  blessings, then deal 1 card to each open location and shuffle those 
  location decks. If the villain is undefeated, do the same thing, but 
  retrieve the blessings from the blessings deck instead of from the 
  box. (Note that if you did not defeat the villain, there is always at 
  least one open location: the one in which it was just encountered.)
  If the Villain Has Nowhere to Escape to, You Win! See After the 
  Scenario below.
  Example: Seltyiel and Jirelle are Island Hopping. Seltyiel is at the Floating 
  Shipyard. Jirelle is at Shark Island. Lonely Island and Tempest Cay are also open. 
  On Jirelle’s turn, she encounters the Adaro Barbarian, this scenario’s villain. Seltyiel 
  now has a chance to temporarily close the Floating Shipyard, using his Craft skill 
  of d8+1. He rolls a 7 for a total of 8, succeeding at the Craft 8 check to temporarily 
  close the Shipyard. Jirelle needs a Combat check of 15 to thwart the villain and pulls 
  out a Dragon Pistol, which she buries to get enough dice to bring her combat check 
  to 1d10 + 3d6. She gets a total of 19, which defeats the Adaro Barbarian and closes 
  Shark Island. Sadly, Lonely Island and Tempest Cay are still open, so the villain can 
  escape. Jirelle’s player shuffles together the Adaro Barbarian and a random blessing 
  from the box. She deals 1 of those 2 cards into each of the open, unclosed locations—
  but not the Floating Shipyard, since Seltyiel temporarily closed it. Somewhere on the 
  open seas, the Adaro Barbarian lives to fight another day.
  
  17
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  FROM THE 
  CHARACTER ADD-ON DECK
  Seizing Ships
  Some cards allow you to seize a ship you defeat. If you seize a ship, 
  it replaces your current ship, which is banished. Take any plunder 
  cards that were under your original ship and put them under your 
  new ship. Seizing a ship does not allow you to check it off on your 
  fleet card.
  If your ship is anchored, and you seize another ship, that ship is 
  now anchored.
  Structural Damage
  Structural damage is a special type of damage; it does not affect 
  characters, and it is the only type of damage that affects ships. 
  Cards that reduce damage only to characters do not affect Structural 
  damage. If you fail a check to defeat a ship, it deals an amount of 
  Structural damage to your ship equal to the difference between the 
  difficulty to defeat the ship and your check result.
  When your ship is dealt Structural damage, first apply any powers 
  on the ship card or other cards in play that reduce or increase that 
  damage. Then characters may play cards or use powers that affect 
  Structural damage. Finally, any character may discard any number 
  of cards from his hand to reduce Structural damage by 1 for each 
  such discarded card. If the Structural damage is reduced to 0, the 
  ship is unaffected.
  If a ship that is not already wrecked is successfully dealt any 
  Structural damage, it is wrecked (see Wrecked Ships below); you 
  do not need to discard cards equal to the amount of damage—the 
  effect is the same regardless of the amount of damage that is dealt. 
  If a ship that is already wrecked is successfully dealt any Structural 
  Lini, 
  the druid
  Lini is one with the animals, 
  especially her faithful 
  snow leopard Droogami. 
  She’s a decent spellcaster 
  who’s ready to help as a 
  healer, since her hand isn’t 
  cluttered with Attack spells. 
  There’s a reason for that: 
  she can turn into a shark 
  to bump up her Strength 
  and Dexterity considerably, 
  especially against the 
  baleful creatures of the sea.
  RULES: DEALING WITH CARDS
  Whenever you’re instructed to randomly choose cards, shuffle the 
  cards you’re drawing from and draw from the top.
  If you’re told to do something with a certain number of cards 
  and there aren’t that many cards available, use as many as 
  there are. For example, if you’re told to draw 4 cards from a 
  deck that has only 3 cards, draw the 3 cards. (Regardless, if you 
  need to remove any number of cards from the blessings deck 
  and don’t have enough, you lose the scenario; if you need to 
  remove any number of cards from your deck and don’t have 
  enough, your character dies.)
  NEW: SHIPS
  The biggest change in Skull & Shackles is the addition of ships. In 
  addition to the Ships and Plunder section, see Place Your Party’s 
  Ship on page 7.
  Ships and Plunder
  Avast! Enemy ship off the starboard bow! Run out the guns before 
  those bilge rats get out of range! ’Tis a time for murder and 
  mayhem. Full speed ahead! 
  Commanding and Moving Ships
  Whenever it is your turn, if your ship is not anchored at a location, 
  you are commanding your party’s ship. All characters at your location 
  are on the ship; characters at other locations are not on the ship. If 
  you move or are moved while commanding the ship, other characters 
  on the ship may choose to move with you. Effects that restrict 
  movement still apply—if something prevents you from moving, you 
  can’t move; if something is preventing another character at your 
  location from moving, that character cannot move with you. Any 
  character who does not move with you is no longer on the ship.
  Whenever it is your turn, if your ship is anchored and you are 
  at the ship’s location, you are commanding your party’s ship; all 
  characters at your location are on the ship. You may not choose to 
  move an anchored ship. If your character moves or is moved from the 
  ship’s location, you are no longer on the ship or commanding it, and 
  other characters may not choose to move with you. 
  Encountering Ships
  While you are commanding a ship, you may encounter other ships. If 
  you are not commanding a ship, banish any ship you would encounter.
  Even though a ship is neither a bane nor a boon, encountering 
  a ship is much like encountering a bane: if you don’t evade it, you 
  must attempt a check to defeat it. If you succeed at all of the checks 
  required to defeat a ship, and your ship is not wrecked, stash a 
  plunder card (see Plunder Cards below). If you fail a check to defeat 
  a ship, it does not deal damage to your character; instead, it deals 
  Structural damage to your ship (see Structural Damage below). 
  Whether you succeed or fail to defeat a ship, unless you seize it (see 
  Seizing Ships below), return it to wherever it came from.
  
  18
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  FROM THE 
  CHARACTER ADD-ON DECK
  damage, discard a number of cards from the blessings deck equal to 
  the amount of damage successfully dealt to the ship.
  Wrecked Ships
  When your ship is wrecked, flip it facedown to indicate its wrecked 
  state. When commanding a wrecked ship, at the start of your move 
  step, you may attempt the check to repair the ship listed on the ship 
  card; if you succeed, the ship is no longer wrecked, so you turn the 
  ship card faceup. If you move while commanding a wrecked ship, 
  other characters cannot choose to move with you. When a ship is 
  wrecked, you can never stash more plunder cards under it (see 
  Plunder Cards below). At the end of any turn, if your ship is wrecked, 
  banish 1 random plunder card from under the ship.
  Plunder Cards
  Plunder cards commonly represent potential rewards carried on your 
  ship. When you stash a plunder card, roll 1d6 on the table below, 
  draw 1 card of the corresponding type from the box without looking 
  at the card, and unless otherwise instructed, put the plunder card 
  facedown under your ship.
  PLUNDER TABLE
  d6 
  Card Type
  1 
  weapon
  2 
  spell
  3 
  armor
  4 
  item
  5 
  ally
  6 
  choose 1 of the above 5 card types
  If you win the scenario, treat any plunder cards under your ship as 
  you do loot; if you lose the scenario, put them back in the box. You 
  don’t get to use plunder cards while they’re under your ship card, so 
  do your best to keep them safe until the end of the scenario.
  You stash 1 plunder card when you set up a scenario (see page 7). 
  You also stash 1 plunder card if you defeat a ship while your ship is 
  not wrecked (see Encountering Ships on page 17).
  If you are instructed to add a plunder card to your hand or to a 
  deck, roll on the Plunder Table, draw the corresponding card from the 
  box, and add it as you would any other card. (This does not count as 
  stashing a plunder card.)
  After the Scenario
  As the suns sets on another day of adventure, your weary crew 
  returns to their ship. After trudging below decks, they’ll heal their 
  wounds, guzzle some grog, and admire the plunder they’ve looted. 
  Rest while you can, lads and lasses, for there’s always danger over 
  the horizon.
  Ending a Scenario, Adventure, or 
  Adventure Path
  If, at any point, you need to advance the blessings deck but there 
  are no cards remaining in it, the scenario ends immediately and 
  your party of adventurers loses. You also lose if all of the characters 
  are dead at the same time (see Dying on page 14). You do not 
  earn the reward on the scenario card, and if you’re playing an 
  adventure, you didn’t complete that scenario; you will need to 
  replay it successfully before you can attempt the next scenario in 
  the adventure.
  If the players defeat the villain and prevent him from escaping, 
  or they achieve a different condition for winning listed on the 
  scenario card, your group defeats the scenario and earns the reward 
  listed on the scenario card. You may be rewarded with loot cards, 
  each of which can be given to any player in the group. If you’re 
  rewarded with a feat, choose an appropriate checkbox on your 
  character card (or your role card, if you have one) and check it. That 
  feat now applies to your character until she dies. If you’re rewarded 
  with a feat of a specific type and your character has no unchecked 
  Oloch, 
  the Warpriest
  This massive half-orc can 
  marshal blessings and 
  weapons as reservoirs 
  of power, helping others 
  succeed while retaining 
  the cards he needs to help 
  himself. Should any friend 
  need a healing word, 
  Oloch can turn his armors 
  and blessings into aid for 
  others. And if that’s not 
  enough, he can crush a 
  bear with his hands.
  STRATEGY: SHOULD YOU SEEK OUT DANGER?
  When you’re adventuring, you can go wherever you want… but 
  not all locations are created equal.
  Start by looking at the text on all of the location cards. At the 
  Docks, you could recharge an ally to explore again, but when 
  you need to close that location, will you have an ally to bury?
  A location’s When Closing requirement can guide your path as 
  well. If you can’t close the location when the henchman pops up, 
  you’ll have to burn through the whole deck to try again.
  Sometimes you’ll want to leave a location open until the villain 
  appears and you can temporarily close it.
  All else being equal, more exploration yields more fun.
  
  19
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  STRATEGY: ADVICE FOR SOLO PLAY
  Solo play is particularly good for quickly completing scenarios to 
  advance your character if you want to catch up to other players.
  Not all characters should be considered equal for solo play. 
  Valeros is particularly helpful to other characters’ combat checks, 
  but that skill doesn’t help when there are no other characters. 
  Merisiel, on the other hand, is great for solo play, because she 
  gains bonuses when no one is at her location.
  You can also play multiple characters if you like; we suggest 
  you try solo play with 2 characters. Treat each character as if 
  he were being played by a separate player (so if you’re playing 
  Seltyiel and Valeros, advance the blessings deck at the start of 
  Seltyiel’s turn and at the start of Valeros’s turn). 
  Some cards are particularly difficult in solo play. If you’re 
  playing Feiya by herself, and you’re hit by a Drowning Spikes 
  Trap, you might be caught on the spikes until you drown. When 
  you encounter a card your character just can’t deal with, remove 
  it from the game and replace it with another card of the same 
  type that roughly matches its power level but isn’t quite so 
  impossible to overcome.
  card. At this point, you can build your own adventures using the cards 
  you have, or you can create new characters and start over.
  Between Games
  After each scenario, you must rebuild your character deck. Start by 
  combining your discard pile with your hand, your character deck, 
  any cards you buried under your character card, and any cards you 
  displayed; you may then freely trade cards with other players. 
  Your deck must end up meeting the Cards List requirements on 
  your character card, along with any deck adjustments on your role 
  card, if you have one. Loot cards count as cards of their type. For 
  example, if your character’s Cards List specifies 3 items, and you 
  keep 1 loot card with the item type when your rebuild your deck, 
  your deck must contain exactly 2 other items. 
  If you can’t construct a valid deck from the cards your group has 
  available because you don’t have enough of certain card types, 
  choose the extra cards you need from the box, choosing only cards 
  with the Basic trait. After you begin the adventure Tempest Rising, 
  you may ignore the Basic trait restriction; instead, you may use any 
  cards in the box from the base set and the Character Add-On Deck, as 
  well as any cards from an adventure whose adventure deck number 
  is at least 2 lower than the adventure you’re currently playing. If you 
  have cards left over after rebuilding all of the surviving characters’ 
  decks, put them back in the box. 
  If you want to start a new character, you may, but it’s important 
  that you do not keep decks for characters you’re not actively playing. 
  Doing so would use up cards that you should be encountering during 
  play. The base set is designed to have no more than 4 character decks 
  built at one time; the Character Add-On Deck, available separately, 
  expands the maximum number of concurrently built decks to 6. If you 
  switch characters for some reason, it’s best to write down the cards in 
  the previous character’s deck  (or use the free character sheets posted 
  online at paizo.com/pacg) and return the cards to the box until you 
  want to play that character again. 
  feats of that type, you do not gain a feat. Your party may be 
  rewarded with a ship; check off an appropriate ship on the party’s 
  fleet card. You may not gain the reward from a given scenario, 
  adventure, or Adventure Path more than once. 
  Once you’ve played a scenario, whether you won or lost, rebuild 
  your character deck (see Between Games, below). Put all other cards 
  back into the box.
  If you’re playing an adventure and you successfully complete a 
  scenario, you may proceed to the next scenario on the adventure 
  card. If you’ve successfully completed all of the scenarios on the 
  adventure card, you earn the reward on the adventure card.
  If you’re playing an Adventure Path and you successfully complete 
  an adventure, you’re ready to move on to the next one. Add all of the 
  cards from the next Adventure Deck to the box; if you own any Class 
  Decks, you can add any cards from them that have the same adventure 
  deck number as the Adventure Deck cards you just added. Begin with 
  the first scenario of the new adventure.
  If you’re playing an Adventure Path and you successfully complete 
  all of the adventures, you earn the reward on the Adventure Path 
  
  20
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  Proficient With: If your character is proficient with weapons or 
  specific types of armors, they’re listed here. Some weapons and 
  armors are more useful for characters who are proficient with them.
  Favored Card Type: Your character always begins a scenario with at 
  least 1 card of this type in hand (see Draw Starting Hands on page 7). 
  Cards List: At the start of each scenario, your character deck must 
  contain exactly the listed quantity of each card type. As you play 
  through a scenario, you will add and remove cards from your deck, so 
  it may vary from this list during play. At the end of the scenario, you’ll 
  rebuild your deck to conform to the list again, although you might 
  not end up with exactly the same cards you had before.
  Feats
  Character cards include a number of items with checkboxes; 
  these are called feats. After successfully completing a scenario 
  or adventure, you might be instructed to gain a feat of a specific 
  type. After you check a box of that type on your character card, 
  your character may use that feat in future scenarios. You may 
  not use feats that are not yet checked off. If there’s more than 1 
  checkbox associated with a skill, power, or card type, you must 
  check the unchecked box farthest to the left before you can check 
  immediately adjacent boxes. For example, if a skill has boxes 
  labeled +1, +2, and +3, you must check the +1 box before you can 
  check the +2 or +3 box, and you must have checked +1 and +2 
  before you can check +3. These boxes aren’t cumulative—that is, 
  “+2” replaces “+1,” so they do not add together to make +3. 
  We recommend you use a pencil to lightly check the feat boxes, 
  or you can track your character with the free character sheets posted 
  online at paizo.com/pacg.
  There are three types of feats.
  Skill Feats: When you gain a skill feat, check 1 new box in the Skills 
  section of your character card. Skill feats add a bonus to a skill of your 
  choice: you’ll add the number next to the box you selected to any 
  check attempted with that skill. So if your Charisma die is d10, and 
  you’ve checked the “+2” box for your Charisma skill, you’ll roll 1d10 
  and add 2 when you attempt a check that uses your Charisma skill 
  (see Attempting a Check on page 11).
  Card Types
  Look at all this beauteous booty! The rewards of adventure are yours. 
  Herein, you’ll find wonders from land and sea alike: dangerous 
  missions, perilous challenges, deadly monsters, and treasures galore!
  Character Cards
  Each character card includes the following information.
  Skills: Skills tell you what type of die to roll when you attempt a 
  check (see Attempting a Check on page 11). Normally, you roll 1 die 
  of the appropriate type for a check, but other cards can add to that. 
  Powers: Each character has powers you can use to affect the game. 
  Hand Size: This is the number of cards you draw to form your hand 
  at the beginning of each scenario. Near the end of each of your turns, 
  you will discard or draw cards so you have exactly this number of 
  cards again.
  
  21
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  Power Feats: When you gain a power feat, check 1 new box in 
  the Powers section of your character card. Some power feats give 
  you new powers, such as increasing your hand size or making you 
  proficient with weapons or specific types of armors. Other power 
  feats improve your character’s existing powers. If your character has 
  a power that allows him to add 1d4 to another character’s combat 
  check, and you’ve checked the “+1” box next to it, you’ll add 1d4+1 
  to the other character’s check. These bonuses apply only when using 
  the power on your character card; if you instead play a card with a 
  similar power, the feat bonus doesn’t apply.
  Card Feats: When you gain a card feat, check 1 new box on the Cards 
  List on your character card. Each card feat allows you to put one more 
  card of the type you choose into your character deck. After you choose 
  a card feat, use the new number on your Cards List whenever you 
  rebuild your deck.
  Role Cards
  Each character card has a corresponding role card, though you won’t 
  use it right away. Role cards are part of the reward you get for 
  completing the third adventure of the Skull & Shackles Adventure 
  Path. Role cards offer new feats for you to choose; these feats apply 
  to your character as if they were part of the original character card, 
  and your role card counts as part of your character card.
  Each side of the role card presents a different specialization for 
  your character, allowing you to choose one of two different paths 
  for your character’s continuing advancement. For example, one side 
  of the role card for the oracle Alahazra presents feats that let her 
  specialize as a visionary stargazer, while the other side offers feats to 
  advance her as an offense-oriented tempest.
  When you are told to select your character’s role card, select one 
  of the two roles. From then on, whenever you gain a feat and choose 
  to check a box on your role card, you must always choose feats from 
  that side of the role card.
  Your role card is designed so you can place it directly over the 
  Powers section of your character card. When you first get the role card, 
  check any boxes for the role you’ve chosen that match boxes you’ve 
  already checked on your character card. For example, if the “Light 
  Armors” box was checked on your character card, check the “Light 
  Armors” box on your role card.
  Token Cards
  Each character has a corresponding token card, which you’ll move to 
  keep track of your character’s current location. Each token card also 
  includes a brief character biography.
  Story Cards (Adventure Path, 
  Adventure, and Scenario)
  Story cards define the game session you’ll be playing. You always 
  have a scenario card, which tells you what to do and where to go 
  in the current game session. You may also have an adventure card, 
  which lists the scenarios you must finish to complete the adventure, 
  and perhaps an Adventure Path card, which lists the adventures you 
  need to finish to complete the Adventure Path. 
  The front of each story card includes powers for playing it. Some 
  are used during play, and some are used as you set up a particular 
  scenario, so make sure you read them right away. Story cards also 
  
  22
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  NEW: SUPPORT CARDS
  Skull & Shackles introduces two new card types: fleet and ship.
  list a reward—something you get to do once you complete the task 
  provided by the story card (see Ending a Scenario, Adventure, or 
  Adventure Path on page 18).
  The front of each scenario card lists the villains and henchmen in 
  the scenario; the back of each scenario card includes a list of locations 
  used in the scenario (see Set Out the Locations and Build the Location 
  Decks on page 6). If your ship is anchored at a specific location during 
  the scenario, this is listed on the back of the scenario card (see Place 
  Your Party’s Ship on page 7).
  Location Cards
  Location cards represent the places your characters will visit during the 
  scenario. If any character is at a location, it is considered occupied. The 
  front of each location card has the following features.
  Deck List: This tells you the quantity of each card type you need to 
  set up the location deck (see Build the Location Decks on page 6).
  At This Location: These are special powers that are in effect while the 
  location is open. Some of these remain in effect when the location is 
  permanently closed; in that case, they also appear on the back of the 
  location card.
  When Closing: When you have the opportunity to close a location 
  and want to do so, you must perform this task. Usually you get the 
  opportunity to close a location after a henchman is defeated there 
  (when this is the case, the henchman card will say so) or after the 
  location deck runs out of cards (see Closing a Location on page 15). 
  When you close a location, flip it over. The villain can no longer 
  escape to this location, though characters can still move there.
  When Permanently Closed: When a location is permanently closed, 
  the powers listed here go into effect.
  Support Cards (Fleet and Ship)
  The fleet card belongs to your party of adventurers, not to an 
  individual character. It provides a list of ships that your party may use 
  as you progress through the Adventure Path (see pages 7 and 19).
  Ship cards represent seagoing vessels that you may pilot or 
  encounter on your adventures. Ships enter play faceup. The front of a 
  ship card contains the following information.
  Class: When you complete a scenario or adventure, you may be 
  rewarded with a ship of a particular class. 
  Check to Defeat: This is the skill check needed to defeat the ship. If 
  you fail a check to defeat a ship, your ship is normally dealt Structural 
  damage (see Structural Damage on page 17).
  When Encountering This Ship: This power is triggered as soon as you 
  encounter a ship; this occurs before you have the opportunity to evade it.
  When Commanding This Ship: If the ship belongs to your party, this 
  power is in effect during your turn (see Ships and Plunder on page 17).
  When a ship is wrecked, it is placed facedown. The back of a ship 
  card contains the following information.
  Check to Repair: This is the skill check needed to repair the ship when 
  it is wrecked (see Structural Damage on page 17).
  When Commanding This Ship: If the ship belongs to your party, this 
  power is in effect during your turn.
  
  23
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  deck, not when drawing it from your deck or playing it from your 
  hand. Loot cards do not have a check to acquire; instead, you earn 
  them as a reward for completing a scenario.
  Powers: Powers are special rules for a boon. In general, if a card lists 
  multiple powers, you can do any of them; however, if you play a card 
  in such a way that it leaves your hand, that action can trigger only 
  1 power. For example, if a card says you may discard it to add to your 
  die roll or discard it to explore your location, you may discard it to 
  trigger either effect, but not both.
  The following are general descriptions of each type of boon.
  Weapon: Weapon cards often require you to do something (such as 
  reveal the card) to modify your combat check. If a weapon’s power 
  refers to characters who are proficient with weapons, look in the 
  Powers section of your character card to see if you’re proficient.
  Spell: Spell cards have a wide variety of effects. Spells always have 
  the Arcane or Divine trait or both; characters with a matching trait 
  will be able to make the best use of a given spell. 
  Armor: Armor cards help you by reducing damage. Armor powers 
  specify which types of damage they reduce; if a power refers to “all” 
  damage, that applies to all damage of all types. If the armor doesn’t 
  reduce the type of damage you’re being dealt, you can’t play it to 
  reduce the damage. For example, if you’re dealt Fire damage, and 
  an armor card doesn’t say it reduces Fire damage or all damage, you 
  can’t play it to reduce the damage.
  Item: Item cards have a wide variety of effects. Many of them help 
  with barriers and non-combat checks.
  Ally: Ally cards often help you with checks you attempt, and many let 
  you discard them to explore again on your turn.
  NEW: NO MORE RECHARGE BOX
  In Rise of the Runelords, many boons had a Recharge section that 
  explained how you could recharge the card after playing it. In Skull & 
  Shackles, the necessary information appears in the Powers section.
  Boon Cards (Weapon, Spell, Armor, 
  Item, Ally, Loot, and Blessing)
  Boons are cards you may be able to acquire and put into your hand 
  or deck for future use. Weapons, spells, armors, items, allies, loot, 
  and blessings are all boons. Each player may play only one of each 
  type of boon on a single check. The following information appears 
  on boons.
  Type: This is the boon’s card type.
  Traits: Many effects use a card’s traits for some effect; for example, 
  some monsters become harder to defeat when you play weapons that 
  have the Piercing trait.
  Check to Acquire: If you encounter a boon while exploring a location, 
  you may attempt a check to acquire the card. If you succeed at the 
  check, put the card in your hand; if you fail or choose to not attempt 
  the check, banish the card (see Playing Cards on page 9). You only 
  attempt the check to acquire when encountering a card in a location 
  
  24
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  STRATEGY: SHOULD YOU ACQUIRE BOONS YOU 
  WON’T USE?
  The short answer is “absolutely.” At minimum, a boon is something 
  you can give up as damage when some pirate cracks your skull 
  open. But there’s another reason: your fellow adventurer might 
  want you to give it to him.
  This is sometimes trickier than it looks. To give a card to 
  someone, you must start your turn at that character’s location. 
  That character might have to come to you to get it, assuming 
  you even still have it in your hand when he does. Coordinating a 
  timely rendezvous can lead to a villain’s untimely demise.
  This situation is a lot easier, of course, if a character who’s 
  good at acquiring a type of boon gets it herself. If you’re able 
  to look ahead in the location deck or evade cards, you can tell 
  another player about a useful card. Then she can spend her turns 
  trying to get it, and you can get on with your own goals.
  Loot: Loot cards are unique in a couple of ways. The other boons can 
  be found by exploring locations, but loot cards are only given out as 
  rewards for completing scenarios. They are automatically acquired, 
  and so they have no check to acquire. Also, loot cards list a type, 
  such as “weapon”; apart from the way loot cards are acquired, they 
  behave just like other boons of that type and count as cards of that 
  type. If a loot card is returned to the box, put it back with the other 
  loot cards. If a loot card ends up in a location deck, you automatically 
  acquire it when you encounter it.
  Blessing: Blessing cards often allow you to explore or add dice to 
  checks attempted by any player, including yourself, at any location. 
  The dice added are normally of the type associated with the skill the 
  character is using for the check; if a card instead specifies the exact 
  dice to roll for the check, the added dice are of the type specified by 
  that card. For example, if Merisiel is making a Charisma check with her 
  Charisma of d8+1, Blessing of the Gods adds a d8.
  
  25
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  Bane Cards (Villain, Henchman, 
  Monster, and Barrier)
  You must defeat bane cards or suffer their consequences. Barriers and 
  monsters appear randomly in location decks, while most scenarios 
  call for specific villains and henchmen.
  Type: Most banes are either monsters or barriers. Most villains and 
  henchmen have the “monster” type and count as monsters; a few 
  henchmen have the “barrier” type and count as barriers.
  Traits: Many effects use a card’s traits for some effect; for example, 
  the Shackles Pirate Ship is easier to defeat if your check has the 
  Swashbuckling trait.
   
  Check to Defeat: This is the skill check or combat check needed to 
  defeat the bane. If the check is listed as “None,” the bane cannot be 
  defeated. You normally take damage if you fail a check to defeat a 
  monster (see Take Damage, If Necessary on page 13).
  Powers: These special rules apply when you encounter the bane.
  RULES: MAKING YOUR OWN CARDS
  You can make your own story cards—simply follow the format 
  on the ones in the box, choosing villains and henchmen that 
  are appropriate for the power level of your characters. Be 
  careful when setting rewards; you don’t want to give out too 
  much for success.
  You can also make your own character and role cards. To balance 
  them with the ones in the box, each character should start with 
  15 cards on her Card List, no more than 1 d12 in her skills, and no 
  more than 5 different skill bonuses. She should have 15 skill feat 
  checkboxes, 10 card feat checkboxes, 4 power feat checkboxes on 
  her character card, and 12 power feat checkboxes on her role card. 
  Expanded guidelines can be found at paizo.com/pacg.
  STRATEGY: JOIN THE COMMUNITY
  To get the most out of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, 
  please visit paizo.com/pacg. You’ll find FAQs, rules updates, 
  character sheets, links to videos of people playing the game, the 
  latest Pathfinder Adventure Card Game news, and more. You’ll 
  also find the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game messageboards, 
  where you can interact with other players and the people who 
  made the game.
  
  26
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  Example of Play
  Setting Up
  Lily, Sam, and Amber are playing Lirianne, Seltyiel, and Alahazra in 
  the scenario Dangerous Waters. After setting up locations, adding 
  the villain and henchmen, and creating the blessings deck, they’re 
  placing the party’s ship. The only ship checked off on their fleet card 
  is the Merchantman, so they put that card next to the scenario card. 
  Next, they stash a plunder card, so Lily rolls on the Plunder Table and 
  gets a 2. She draws a random spell from the box without looking at it 
  and places it facedown under the ship.
  Lily puts Lirianne’s token card at Cannibal Isle. Sam and Amber 
  choose to put Seltyiel and Alahazra at the Fog Bank, leaving Raker 
  Shoals, the Shipwreck Graveyard, and Tempest Cay unoccupied. 
  They all draw starting hands. Lirianne’s 4 cards include a Pistol, 
  so she has the weapon her favored card type demands. Alahazra’s 
  6-card hand contains a blessing, her favored card type. For Seltyiel’s 
  favored card type, Sam can choose either weapon or spell. He 
  chooses spell, but doesn’t get one in his starting draw. He discards 
  them and draws another 5, getting a Force Missile. He shuffles his 
  discards back into his deck, and everyone is ready to go.
  Lily’s First Turn
  It’s Lily’s turn, so Lirianne is commanding the ship. Lily discards the 
  top card of the blessings deck: a Blessing of Abadar. She decides to 
  move Lirianne to Raker Shoals. Raker Shoals damages any ship there 
  at the start of the turn; since it’s not the start of the turn, the ship 
  isn’t dealt damage.
  Lirianne explores and encounters Dead Man’s Chest, a barrier that 
  can get her some swag. For her check to defeat the barrier, she can 
  choose Dexterity or Disable 11 or choose Strength or Melee 13. Her 
  Strength skill is d4, and since she has neither the Disable nor the 
  Melee skill, choosing either of those would mean rolling a d4 as well. 
  That leaves Dexterity, which is a d8. She can’t roll 11 on a d8.
  But Amber plays a Blessing of Abadar from Alahazra’s hand to help 
  Lirianne. It gives 2 additional dice to a character making a check to 
  defeat a barrier, so now Lily has 3d8, and reaching 11 is possible. 
  She rolls a total of 16, defeating the Dead Man’s Chest, so she gets to 
  draw a random weapon, item, and spell from the box: Cat-o’-Nine-
  Tails, Rum Bottle, and Speed. That’s a fine haul.
  Normally, Amber would have to discard the Blessing of Abadar she 
  played, but because the top card of the blessings discard pile is also a 
  Blessing of Abadar, she recharges it, putting it at the bottom of her deck.
  Lily has 7 cards and her hand size is 4, so if she chose to reset her 
  hand and end her turn now, she’d have to discard 3 cards. Instead, 
  she discards the ally Master Gunner to explore her location. Lirianne 
  encounters a Buccaneer henchman, and the Dangerous Waters 
  scenario card has a nasty shock in store for Seltyiel and Alahazra: 
  since Lirianne encountered a Buccaneer, and they’re not at her 
  location, they must each summon and encounter one as well.
  Alahazra encounters her copy of the Buccaneer. She plays the spell 
  Fear to evade it. Normally, Fear would shuffle an evaded monster 
  into an open location deck, but the summoned monster didn’t come 
  from a location deck, so it’s banished instead.
  Next, Seltyiel encounters his copy of the Buccaneer. He has a Force 
  Missile and a Longsword in his hand, so he activates a character power 
  that lets him use both cards.  He uses the Force Missile for his combat 
  check, which adds 2d4 to his Arcane skill of d8+3, and recharges 
  the Longsword to add 1d6. Now Sam rolls 1d8+3 + 2d4 + 1d6, but 
  manages a measly 7, which doesn’t beat the Buccaneer’s difficulty 
  of 8. Sam must now discard 1 card (the difference between the 8 he 
  needed and the 7 he rolled). He discards the ally Quartermaster, and 
  the Buccaneer he summoned is banished. Now he must succeed at an 
  Arcane 6 check or banish the Force Missile instead of recharging it; he 
  beats that handily and puts the card under his deck.
  Now Lirianne encounters the original Buccaneer. She has to make 
  a combat check, which would normally mean she rolls a d4 for either 
  Strength or Melee. But she has a Pistol, so for her combat check, 
  she rolls her Ranged skill, d8+3, plus 1d6. She chooses not to bury 
  the Pistol and rolls her dice, getting a 10. That’s enough to beat the 
  Buccaneer’s difficulty of 8, so she defeats it. Since she’s proficient 
  with weapons, the Pistol requires her to roll better than 2 on 1d12 to 
  avoid shuffling it into her deck; she rolls a 9, so it stays in her hand.
  Because the henchman she defeated came from the location deck, 
  Lirianne can now attempt to close her location. Raker Shoals doesn’t 
  require a check to close; instead, her ship is dealt 4 points of Structural 
  damage. To mitigate the damage and stop her ship from being wrecked, 
  Lily discards the Rum Bottle, Speed, Cat-o’-Nine-Tails, and Pistol, closing 
  the location—and Raker Shoals makes her discard yet another card. She 
  discards her Leather Armor. The remaining cards in the location deck are 
  put back in the box, and Raker Shoals gets flipped over. Lily resets her 
  hand, drawing 3 cards to get back up to her hand size.
  
  27
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  Sam’s First Turn
  Now it’s Sam’s turn, so Seltyiel is commanding the ship. First, Sam 
  advances the blessings deck, revealing a Blessing of Cayden Cailean. 
  Alahazra is at Seltyiel’s loctaion, and he decides to give her a Blessing 
  of the Gods.
  Then he moves to the Shipwreck Graveyard. Since he’s commanding 
  the ship, Alahazra can move with him, which she does. He explores 
  the new location, encountering a Cutlass +1. The check to acquire it is 
  Strength or Melee 8. His Melee skill is d8+3, which is okay, but not great. 
  So he plays the last card in his hand, a Blessing of the Gods, using its 
  power to copy the Blessing of Cayden Cailean’s power to add 2 dice to 
  any non-combat Strength check. (Because his Melee skill uses Strength, 
  his Melee check is also a Strength check.) Rolling 3d8+3, he gets 14 and 
  acquires the Cutlass +1, putting it into his hand. With no other options, 
  he draws 4 cards to bring his hand back to 5 cards, and he ends his turn.
  Amber’s First Turn
  Amber takes her turn, so Alahazra is commanding the ship. First, 
  she advances the blessings deck, discarding a Blessing of the Gods 
  from it. Because she’s starting her turn at the Shipwreck Graveyard, 
  she must make a Wisdom or Survival 5 check to avoid the ship being 
  dealt 1d4 Structural damage; she rolls a d8 and gets a 2, failing 
  the check. She rolls a 3 for the damage, which everyone agrees is 
  important enough that each player discards a card to reduce it to 0.
  Then she uses her power to recharge a spell with the Divine trait 
  in order to examine the top card of the Shipwreck Graveyard. It’s a 
  Sea Drake, something she does not want to deal with right now. She 
  puts it back, then moves to Cannibal Isle—Seltyiel chooses to stay 
  behind—and Alahazra explores the new location.
  It’s Jemma Redclaw, the villain! This means everyone else has a 
  chance to temporarily close their locations to narrow Jemma’s paths 
  of escape. Lirianne’s location is already closed. Seltyiel, though, 
  can temporarily close the Shipwreck Graveyard. He rolls a 4 on the 
  Plunder Table and must summon and acquire a random item. He pulls 
  a Pearl of Wisdom from the box, and he has to make a Wisdom check 
  of 7 to acquire it. This is not Seltyiel’s strong suit, as his Wisdom die 
  is a d4. He does have a Topaz of Strength, though. He recharges it to 
  substitute his Strength die, rolling a d8 and getting a 7. He acquires 
  the Pearl of Wisdom and temporarily closes the Shipwreck Graveyard.
  Now Alahazra begins her encounter with the villain. Before 
  Alahazra acts, Jemma requires her to recharge a card, so she 
  recharges the ally Jinx Eater. Then Alahazra must summon and 
  encounter the Shackles Pirate Ship. 
  To defeat this ship, Alahazra must succeed at a Dexterity or Disable 
  8 check or a Wisdom or Survival 6 check. The only one of those that 
  isn’t a d4 for her is Wisdom, which is a d8. She rolls a 4, failing the 
  check by 2, so her ship is dealt 2 Structural damage. The group could 
  discard 2 more cards to reduce it to 0, but they need those cards 
  to beat Jemma, so the Merchantman is wrecked. Amber flips the 
  Merchantman over.
  At last, it’s time to fight Jemma. Alahazra unloads an Inflict spell 
  that adds 1d6 to her Divine skill of d12+2, and one of her character 
  powers adds +2 because Inflict has the Attack trait. Lily decides to 
  use one of Lirianne’s character powers as well, so she shuffles her 
  Light Crossbow into her deck to add 1d4 to Alahazra’s combat check. 
  Alahazra discards the Blessing of the Gods she got from Seltyiel to 
  give herself another d12. Now she’s rolling 2d12+4 + 1d4. Alahazra 
  gets a 21, vastly more than Jemma’s difficulty of 11.
  This has a number of effects. First, Cannibal Isle closes, and its 
  cards are banished to the box. Since Cannibal Isle, Raker Shoals, and 
  (temporarily) the Shipwreck Graveyard are closed, Jemma has only 
  two potential destinations: the Fog Bank and Tempest Cay. Amber 
  takes a random blessing from the box, shuffles it with Jemma, then 
  shuffles one of the two cards into the Fog Bank; the other is shuffled 
  into Tempest Cay. The Shipwreck Graveyard reopens. The players now 
  know the villain is in one of only two locations.
  Because it’s the end of the turn and the ship is wrecked, Amber 
  must banish the plunder card underneath it. Amber peeks at the 
  plunder the party lost: a Find Traps spell that she sorely wanted. She 
  draws back up to her hand size and ends her turn.
  Lily’s Second Turn
  It’s Lily’s turn again, so Lirianne is once more commanding the 
  ship. After she advances the blessings deck, she tries to repair the 
  Merchantman. She needs a Craft check of 6, and since she doesn’t have 
  the Craft skill, she’ll roll a d4. She does have the ally Carver, though, so 
  she plays it to add 1d8. She rolls a fortuitous 8, repairing the ship and 
  restoring its ability to stash plunder cards and transport characters.
  With two locations permanently closed and the villain in either 
  Tempest Cay or the Fog Bank, the party of seafarers is ready to rid the 
  oceans of Jemma Redclaw. Time to set sail!
  
  28
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  BASE SET CHARACTERS
  Alahazra
  Jirelle
  Valeros
  Seltyiel
  Lem
  Damiel
  Lirianne
  Feiya
  Merisiel
  Oloch
  Lini
  CHARACTER ADD-ON DECK CHARACTERS
  Spell: Black Spot, Cure, Fireblade, Inflict, Strength
  Item: Caltrops, Rum Bottle
  Ally: Captain, Jinx Eater, Swab
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (5)
  Weapon: Cutlass (2), Rapier (2)
  Armor: Leather Armor
  Item: Conch Shell, Eye Patch
  Ally: Boatswain, Master-at-Arms, Sailor
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (5)
  Weapon: Boarding Axe, Boarding Pike, Longsword, Mace, 
  Short Sword
  Armor: Buckler, Chain Shirt
  Item: Potion of Fortitude, Potion of Glibness
  Ally: Boatswain, Captain, Master-at-Arms
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (3)
  Weapon: Dagger, Shortbow
  Spell: Arcane Armor, Cure, Force Missile
  Item: Bracers of Protection, Potion of Fortitude
  Ally: Lookout, Quartermaster, Sailor, Swab
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (4)
  Weapon: Pistol
  Spell: Cure, Phantasmal Minion
  Armor: Leather Armor
  Item: Alchemist’s Fire, Blast Stone, Noxious Bomb, Potion 
  of Lucubration, Powder Horn, Rum Bottle
  Ally: Quartermaster
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (4)
  Weapon: Dagger, Pistol (2), Sap
  Armor: Buckler, Leather Armor
  Item: Potion of Glibness, Powder Horn
  Ally: Deckhand, Lookout, Master Gunner
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (4)
  Spell: Arcane Armor, Buoyancy, Confusion, Detect Magic, 
  Frostbite, Phantasmal Minion
  Item: Potion of Lucubration, Rum Bottle
  Ally: Carver, Sailor, Turtle
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (4)
  Weapon: Dagger, Pistol, Shortbow
  Armor: Leather Armor
  Item: Amulet of Life, Conch Shell, Eye Patch, Thieves’ Tools (2)
  Ally: Cabin Boy, Master Gunner
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (4)
  Weapon: Quarterstaff
  Spell: Cure, Detect Magic, Fireblade, Strength
  Armor: Wooden Armor
  Item: Noxious Bomb
  Ally: Dwarf Caiman, Fox, Master-at-Arms, Turtle
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (4)
  Weapon: Boarding Axe, Cutlass, Longsword, Mace
  Spell: Buoyancy, Force Missile, Frostbite, Magic Weapon
  Armor: Chain Shirt
  Item: Eye Patch
  Ally: Carver
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (4)
  Weapon: Belaying Pin, Boarding Axe, Boarding Pike, 
  Longsword
  Spell: Cure, Magic Weapon
  Armor: Buckler, Chain Mail, Wooden Shield
  Item: Potion of Fortitude
  Blessing: Blessing of the Gods (5)
  Suggested Deck Lists
  Here are optional starting card lists for the seven characters in the base set and the four 
  characters in the Character Add-On Deck. All of these characters start with only cards that 
  have the Basic trait. Note that while all of these characters are buildable with any others, 
  they can’t all be built at once because you might not have enough cards left in the box to 
  play the game.
  
  29
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  Things to Keep in Mind
  If you’ve played other card games, board games, or roleplaying games, 
  you may find a lot of familiar concepts in the Pathfinder Adventure 
  Card Game. However, bringing in assumptions from other games—
  including the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game—can potentially trip you 
  up. Here are some guidelines you might want to keep in mind.
  Cards Do What They Say. Read any card as it is encountered or played, 
  and do what it says as soon as it makes sense. Let the card tell you what 
  to do, and don’t impose limitations that aren’t there. You can play an 
  armor card even if there isn’t one in your deck list. You can play a Cure 
  spell even if it’s not your turn. You can play a blessing on a check even if 
  someone else has played one. Cards say everything they need to say.
  Cards Don’t Do What They Don’t Say. Each card’s powers reference 
  specific situations, and if you’re not in those situations, you can’t play it. 
  If a card says it works on “any check,” you can play it on anyone’s check, 
  but if a card says “your check,” it only works on yours. You can’t play a 
  Cure spell to reduce the amount of damage you’re taking, because Cure 
  isn’t about reducing damage. You can’t play Spyglass to examine a deck 
  that has no cards. Your weapon doesn’t help you acquire new weapons. 
  Each card tells you what it’s for, and you can use it only for that.
  No One Else Can Take Your Turn for You. Whenever you encounter a 
  card or make a check, you—and only you—must resolve it. No other 
  character can evade it, defeat it, acquire it, close it, decide what to 
  do with it, or fail at doing any of those things. If Seltyiel encounters a 
  monster, Merisiel can’t evade it for him. If Alahazra encounters a Zombie, 
  Valeros can’t attempt the check to defeat it. If Lini encounters a Large 
  Chest, Merisiel cannot use Thieves’ Tools against it. If Lirianne defeats 
  a henchman at the Sea Fort, Valeros can’t banish an armor to close the 
  location. If the game tells you to do something, you have to do it.
  Cards Don’t Have Memories. Cards forget they’ve been played after 
  they’ve done whatever they do. So if you reveal an item to reduce 
  damage dealt before an encounter, you can reveal that item again 
  during the encounter. A monster isn’t affected by anything you did 
  in a previous encounter with it. Even though you’ve played a card to 
  explore again, after that exploration you can play another. Don’t ask 
  your cards to remember what happened, because they’re just cards.
  Finish One Thing Before You Start Something Else. You do many 
  things in a specific order, and you need to finish doing each thing 
  before you do the next thing. You move before you explore, not 
  after. If a spell used in a check can be recharged, finish the first 
  check before you attempt your check to recharge it. If a villain 
  requires two sequential combat checks, finish the first before 
  starting the second. Don’t start a new process until you’ve finished 
  the last one. (That said, if the game doesn’t specify an order for 
  things, you decide the order.)
  If It Isn’t Called Something, It Isn’t That Thing. Every term described 
  in the rules and on cards has a specific definition. The armor Buckler Gun 
  can be used as a weapon, but it is not a weapon. A Potion of Healing 
  may sound like it’s magical, but it doesn’t have the Magic trait. A Ghost 
  deals Combat damage when it damages you, even if you failed a Divine 
  check to defeat it. Don’t make assumptions—just read the card.
  Add Only What You Are Told to Add. If a card adds another die, that’s 
  all it gives you: a die. It doesn’t give you your bonuses again. It doesn’t 
  give you the skill associated with that die. It doesn’t give you the 
  ability to recharge an Arcane spell if you don’t have the Arcane skill. 
  When you play a Longbow to add your Strength die to a Combat check, 
  you don’t get to play a Blessing of Gorum to add 2 dice, because you’re 
  not attempting a Strength check. You just get a die.
  Allow for Abstractions. Sometimes the story you imagine can get in 
  the way of playing the game. Despite their aquatic nature, Bunyips can 
  be encountered in the House of Stolen Kisses. Caltrops work against 
  Skeletons, even if they don’t have flesh on their feet. Jirelle can fire a 
  Pistol from Shark Island to Pinnacle Atoll. Don’t force the cards to fit 
  your story; let the cards tell you their stories.
  Choices Matter. Your choices have consequences. Once you choose 
  cards for your character, you can’t trade them for other cards whenever 
  you like. If a location makes you choose between attempting a check 
  or banishing a card before closing it, you can’t attempt the check 
  and then banish the card if you fail. If you roll too low on a Combat 
  check, it’s too late to play a Strength spell to improve your result. Once 
  you choose a side of a role card, you can’t switch to the other side. 
  If something kills your character, your character dies. Every choice 
  matters—take your choices seriously.
  
  30
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  Paizo Publishing, LLC 
  7120 185th Ave NE, Ste 120
  Redmond, WA 98052-0577
  paizo.com
  Game Design • Mike Selinker
  Based on a Game Concept By • Rian Sand
  Game Development • Chad Brown, Tanis O’Connor, Paul Peterson, and Gaby Weidling
  Project Lead • Vic Wertz
  Flavor Text • F. Wesley Schneider, James Jacobs, and Rob McCreary
  Story Development • Rob McCreary
  Based on Skull & Shackles By • Matthew Goodall, Tim Hitchcock, Jason Nelson, Richard Pett,  
  Neil Spicer, and Greg A. Vaughan
  Editing • Judy Bauer, Brian Campbell, and Vic Wertz
  Art Direction and Graphic Design • Sarah Robinson
  Layout • Emily Crowell, Ben Mouch, Sonja Morris, and Andrew Vallas
  Cover Illustration • Daryl Mandryk
  Card Illustrators • Joewie Adheres, Alexandur Alexandrov, Mike Allen, Dave Allsop, Alex Aparin,  
  Eric Belisle, Banko Bistrovic, Eric Braddock, Dmitry Burmak, Sven Bybee, Jeff Carlisle,  
  Michele Chang, Nicholas Cloister, Concept Art House, Alberto Dal Lago, Ivan Dixon, Matt Dixon, Vincent 
  Dutrait, Simon Eckert, Emrah Elmasli, Jason Engle, Nadia Enis, Mattias Fahlberg, Jorge Fares,  
  Taylor Fischer, Gonzalo Flores, Mariusz Gandzel, Allen Geneta, Yuriy Georgiev, Francesco Graziani, Fabio 
  Gorla, Paul Guzenko, Suzanne Helmigh, Jon Hodgson, Andrew Hou, Imaginary Friends, Michael Jaecks,  
  Ivan Kashobu, Tim Kings-Lynne, Mathias Kollros, Alan Lathwell, Ian Llanas, Mikaël Léger, Chuck Lukacs, 
  Fares Maese, Melanie Maier, Damien Mammoliti, Daryl Mandryk, Diana Martinez, Brynn Metheney,  
  Jim Nelson, Andrew Olson, Hector Ortiz, Mary Jane Pajaron, Victor Perez Corbella, Miroslav Petrov,  
  Emiliano Petrozzi, Michael Philippi, Roberto Pitturru, Ryan Portillo, Paolo Puggioni, Scott Purdy,  
  Jason Rainville, Jean-Bapstite Reynaud, Wayne Reynolds, Dan Scott, Kyushik Shin, Mac Smith,  
  Bryan Sola, Firat Solhan, Craig J Spearing, Dean Spencer, Matteo Spirito, Matthew Starbuck,  
  Florian Stitz, Christophe Swal, Xia Taptara, Udon, Carlos Villa, Tyler Walpole, Ben Wootten, Kevin Yan,  
  Kieran Yanner, Serdar Yildiz
  Publisher • Erik Mona
  Paizo CEO • Lisa Stevens
  Chief Operations Officer • Jeffrey Alvarez
  Director of Sales • Pierce Watters
  Sales Associate • Cosmo Eisele
  Marketing Director • Jenny Bendel
  Finance Manager • Christopher Self
  Staff Accountant • Ashley Gillaspie
  Chief Technical Officer • Vic Wertz
  Senior Programmer • Gary Teter
  Campaign Coordinator • Mike Brock
  Project Manager • Jessica Price
  Licensing Coordinator • Mike Kenway 
  Playtesters: David Altz, Jamie Ansell, Will Ansell, Andrew Atramor, 
  Ben Bachman, Chris Ballowe, Douglas Balzer, Kelly Bancroft, Alex 
  Barnett, Sara Barnett, Tyler Beck, Sean Becker, Sheilah Behrens, Doug 
  Benson, Zach Benson, Nema Bezak, Kathy Bishop, Jon Blom, Scott 
  Bolton, Howard Branch, Doug Broadway, Lisa Broadway, Savannah 
  Broadway, Ryan Brunette, Lael Buchanan, Curtis Chen, James Clark, 
  Allen Clover, Rachel Collier, Joe Crislip, Terry Cromwell, Jonathan 
  Culler, Aaron Curtis, James Dart, Lane Daughtry, Blake Davis, Don 
  Dehm, Jonathan Duhrkoop, Sonya Duran, Rich Edwards, Christopher 
  Everett, Martin Everett, Parker Everett, Ryan Falls, Scott Flatness, 
  Scott Forster, David Frahm, Mike Fehlauer, Jonny Gonzales, Emmanuel 
  Greene, Alex Greig, Mark Grimwood, Aimee Hall, Heather Halpin, 
  John D Halpin, James Hampton Jr., Gregory Hanigan, Justin Harris, 
  Brian Hevlin, Brian Ho, Jerry Holkins, Matt Hope, Farrell Hopkins, 
  John Hughey, Sam Hymen, Michael Ingalls, James Irick, Scott Jenkins, 
  Dennis Jewell, Adam Johnson, Heath Johnson, Matt Kimmel, Adrian 
  King, Cortney Kinman, Megan Kinman, Tim Kiser, David Klepk, Rob 
  Klug, Mike Krahulik, Joseph LaMothe, David Levi, Jonathan H. Liu, 
  Amanda Lucas, Chris Lucas, Ron Lundeen, Stephanie Lundeen, David 
  Lyons, Robert Lyons, Aaron Marks, Petréa Mitchell, Christian Morgan, 
  Neil Morrell, Joseph Muennich, Stephen Murray, Jerry Murry, Erin Lee 
  Newburn, Wai Ho Ng, Corey O’Connor, Edgar Orozco, Joshua Palmer, 
  Bruce Paulson, Luke Perdue, Jason Peterson, Ben Phillips, David Poe, 
  Tim Poirier, Marie Poole, Mike Powell, Jeremy Puckett, Aaron Rabold, 
  Desirae Rabold, Boyan Radakovich, Tyler Reid, Tony Reynolds, Matt 
  Roberts, Keith J. Scherer, Sarah Scherer, Chuck Scholz, Alan Sheffield, 
  Kaley Siegel, Jarrett Sigler, Jesse Slater, Scott Smart, Liz Smith, Miles 
  Smith, DeeAnn Sole, Matt Sparks, Nathaniel Sparks, Jeff Stanislawski, 
  Charles Sykora, Joshua Sykora, Russ Taylor, Sandra Teixeira, Jason 
  Thomas, David Trew, Justin Turner, Andreas Turriff, Kimberly Turriff, 
  Chad Wagner, Chuck Wahl, Darren Walter, Andrew Warner, Mark 
  Weathersbee, Steve Weathersbee, Aubrey Webber, Larry Weddle, 
  Ryan Wheaton, Wil Wheaton, Laura Woods, Luke Woods, Frank Zado
  Paizo, Paizo Inc, the Paizo golem logo, and Pathfinder are registered trademarks of 
  Paizo Inc. Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, Pathfinder Beginner Box, Pathfinder 
  Campaign Setting, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Pathfinder Tales, Rise of the 
  Runelords, and Skull & Shackles are trademarks of Paizo Inc. © 2014 Paizo Inc. 
  First printing August 2014. Printed in USA.
  Editorial Team • Logan Bonner, Jason Bulmahn, 
  Christopher Carey, John Compton, Adam Daigle,  
  James Jacobs, Justin Juan, Ryan Macklin, Rob McCreary,  
  Mark Moreland, Stephen Radney-MacFarland,  
  Patrick Renie, F. Wesley Schneider, Matthew Simmons,  
  Owen K.C. Stephens, and James L. Sutter 
  Customer Service Team • Erik Keith, Sharaya Kemp, 
  Katina Mathieson, and Sara Marie Teter 
  Warehouse Team • Will Chase, Mika Hawkins, 
  Heather Payne, Jeff Strand, and Kevin Underwood
  Website Team • Christopher Anthony, Liz Courts, 
  Crystal Frasier, Lissa Guillet, and Chris Lambertz
  
  31
  BASE SET RULEBOOK
  
  Reference Sheet
  Turn Overview
  Advance the blessings deck.
  Give a card to another character at the same location (optional).
  Move to another location (optional).
  Explore the top card of the location deck (optional).
  Try to close a location if it doesn’t have any cards (optional).
  Reset your hand—apply end-of-turn effects, then discard any number 
  of cards; finally, discard down to or draw up to your hand size.
  End your turn.
  Encountering a Card
  Apply any effects that happen when you encounter a card.
  Apply any evasion effects.
  Apply any effects that happen before you act.
  Attempt the check.
  Attempt the next check, if needed.
  Apply any effects that happen after you act.
  Resolve the encounter.
  Attempting a Check
  Determine which skill you’re using.
  Determine the difficulty.
  Play cards and use powers that affect the check (optional).
  Assemble your dice.
  Attempt the roll.
  Take damage if you fail a check to defeat a monster.
  Playing a Card
  Reveal: Show it, then put it back in your hand.
  Display: Place it faceup in front of your character, unless stated 
  otherwise; the card’s powers function until it’s discarded.
  Discard: Put it faceup into your discard pile.
  Recharge: Put it facedown at the bottom of your deck.
  Bury: Put it faceup under your character card.
  Banish: Put it back in the box, shuffled in with the other cards of the 
  same type.
  Draw: Unless otherwise specified, take it from your character deck 
  and add it your hand.
  Encountering a Villain
  Attempt to temporarily close open locations.
  Encounter the villain.
  If you defeat the villain, close the villain’s location.
  Check to see whether the villain escapes.
  A Few Rules That Are Easy to Forget
  • While encountering a card, each player may play no more than 1 
  card of each type during each step. 
  • When blessings add dice to a check, the dice are of the same type 
  that the character is already using for the check. 
  • If your character doesn’t have a skill listed for a check, you can use 
  a d4 for that skill.
  • In the case of a bane that requires sequential checks, any 
  character at that location can attempt one or more of the checks, 
  as long as the character who encountered the bane attempts at 
  least one of them.
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Pathfinder/1st Edition/Society/Adventure Card Game/Season 00/Adventure Card Guild Adventure 0-0 Basic Set Rulebook.pdf