Shock! Knights & Poisons

Setup

• Place the Round Track Board in the center of the table and set the Round Marker on the first space of the round track (p. 3).
• Create a general supply of Gems and give each player a Treasure Bag (p. 3). Shuffle all Chest Cards to form a face-down Chest Deck next to the board (p. 3).
• Remove specific Number Cards based on player count (e.g., remove 1s and 11s for 3 players, or 11s for 4 players) (p. 3). Shuffle the remaining Number Cards and deal hands of 9 cards for 3-4 players or 8 cards for 5 players (p. 3).
• Place the remaining Number Cards face down as the Dungeon Deck, reveal its top card, and slide it under the Round Track Board to establish the trump suit (p. 3, 10). The player with the most allergies becomes the first leader (p. 10).

How a Turn Works

• A game is played over 5 rounds, with each round consisting of multiple turns called tricks (p. 5).
• Starting with the leader and proceeding clockwise, each player plays one card face up from their hand, and subsequent players must follow suit if possible (p. 5). If a played card has a transparent gem icon, place a transparent gem from the supply onto that card (p. 5).
• Determine the trick winner: the highest trump card wins, or if no trump cards were played, the highest-ranking card in the lead suit wins (p. 5, 17). The winner collects transparent gems from the trick onto their Treasure Bag (not inside) and must perform a Chest Challenge by revealing the top Chest Card (p. 13, 15, 17).
• Players may also encounter poisons or potions, risk an Anaphylactic Shock if poisoned twice by the same type, or choose to withdraw from the trick to secure their gems (p. 8, 10).

How the Game Ends

• The game ends at the end of the fifth round (p. 12).
• Players remove the Gems from their Treasure Bags and total their values, and the player with the highest total value of Gems wins the game (p. 12).