Board Game Gloomhaven - Jaws of the Lion

Plot Summary

Chronologically, the events of the new board game, dedicated to the world of "Gloomhaven", take place several years before the events of the main game. This is a standalone game that offers a lower entry threshold for beginners, but remains just as interesting for experienced board game players.

Something is wrong in the city. People are disappearing from the evening streets. This happens regularly, but it is impossible to trace any connection between those who have disappeared. What is this? The antics of another hungry monster that has appeared in the city slums? Or did all these people disappear for a reason? This is what our heroes - a company of mercenaries from the most famous tavern in the city, "Jaws of the Lion" - will find out!

Game Features

• The game is independent and at the same time fully compatible with the large edition of "Gloomhaven";
• The entire plot text and the field with locations for scenarios, as well as instructions for placing monsters, are printed on separate spreads of the story book, which greatly facilitates preparation for the game;
• The game features 25 scenarios with several plot branches, 4 new heroes, 16 types of monsters and 3 bosses.
• Alternative paths to completing the campaign and developing heroes make the game replayable. In order to replay the story campaign, you may need a set of special stickers.
• In addition, you can play individual missions from the game separately from the campaign.
• The tactical gameplay is almost the same as the larger game, but differs in the absence of some legacy mechanics, namely character retirement, contributions to the Great Oak Temple, and the ability to exchange items between missions. The game also has refined mechanics for focusing enemies on heroes, advantage and obstacle checks, field of view, and treasures.

Gameplay

The core of the gameplay is tactical card combat with dynamic initiative.

Key features:

1. Modifier improvements. The game`s checks are made thanks to a deck of modifiers, which you can improve with cards with different values ​​or even special effects by reaching a new character level or by completing special combat tasks that you receive secretly from the rest of the participants at the beginning of the mission.
2. Universal cards. The cards in your hand will have a lower and upper half with different available actions. Each turn you will play two cards, on one you need to choose the upper ability, and on the other - the lower. Most often, the upper ability is an attack, and the lower one is movement. But in addition to the synergy of these cards, they are also your stamina and health: to return cards from the discard pile, you must take a rest and remove one of the cards from the game before the scenario ends. In addition, you can remove cards from the discard pile or from your hand to avoid damage.
3. Mission card selection. As you reach new levels, new cards will become available for your heroes to choose from, which you can add to your deck. For each mission, you can select a different set of cards depending on the scenario task. The number of cards is always limited, but you don`t have to use the same set every time!
4. Dynamic initiative. At the beginning of the round, all players secretly select two ability cards from their hand and designate one of them as the initiative card. Then, players reveal these cards and at the same time reveal an ability card from a separate deck for each enemy type. The numbers on these cards will determine the initiative of the turn: the character with the lowest initiative will go first. Due to the dynamic initiative, the drawing of your cards will be very situational, because with changes on the field, some planned effects will no longer be relevant.