Setup

Step 1: Picking your Lanista

• Lanista Cards

Each player selects one (1) lanista card. Each card features a different pre-generated lanista along with their own influence, deception, and command values. You will find that there are eight (8) pre-generated lanistas to choose from.

• Lanista Stats

Each of the eight (8) Lanista Cards feature a pre-generated lanista with the following statistics Influence, Command and Deception.

INFLUENCE

This represents the number of Influence Cards you will be able to keep beginning the bout. Influence cards represent the bribes, cashed in favors, and extortion attempts that occurred before the bout began. Consult the individual influence cards for descriptions of their effects and rules for their use.

DECEPTION

This stat represents the number of times you can dictate your opponent’s Movement/Action Ratio instead of them. Opponents may spend (2) Deception to block your Deception; This also prevents you from using another Deception against your opponent during this Command Round, even if you have another available.

COMMAND

This represents expendable bonus Command Points that may be used to increase MP or AP during your own Command Rounds over the course of the bout. Once used, these tokens are discarded.

Step 2: Selecting Your Helot

• Motivation Cards

Each player selects one (1) helot card. Each card features a different helot motivation along with its own trait bonuses, unique trait abilities, and a special talent. There are four (4) different motivations to select from, each with their own inherent strengths and special abilities.

• Helot Traits

Each helot has the following traits: Willpower, Instinct, Physicality, Deftness, Swagger and Cunning. The helot’s trait advantage value will increase the corresponding trait counters before the start of the bout.

• WILLPOWER - Mental and Physical Fortitude (Hit Points)
• INSTINCT - Combat Intuition (Defense)
• PHYICALITY - Physical Presence and Size (Damage)
• DEFTNESS - Agility and Dexterity (Striking)
• SWAGGER - Personality and Charisma (Fame)
• CUNNING - Intelligence (Trickery)

• Helot Health

Each helot begins with fifty (50) Overall Condition and varying Location Condition values.

OVERALL CONDITION

This is your helot’s overall health and endurance. If this value is brought to zero (0), your helot will collapse due to exhaustion. Each helot starts with fifty (50)

BODY LOCATION CONDITION

Each location has its own health value along with its own consequences upon reaching zero (0). These consequences range from attacking and defensive penalties to unconsciousness or death.

• Helot Special Abilities

Each helot has its own set of special defensive maneuvers, attacks and abilities that are inherent or may be utilized at the cost of Trait Reserves. These reserves are tracked by each player’s Trait Advantage Counter.

Step 3: Distributing Infleunce Cards

• Influence Cards

Influence cards represent the bribes, cashed in favors and extortion attempts that occurred before the bout began. Consult the individual influence cards for descriptions of their effects and the rules for their use.

• Take the deck of Influence Cards and shuffle them thoroughly.
• Keeping the cards face down, distribute all (24) cards evenly to each player.
• Without revealing any of the cards to their opponent, each player keeps the number of cards equal to their lanista’s influence and places the remaining cards into a discard stack.

Step 4: Setting Up the Barge

• Selecting a Barge to Host the Bout

The players can select a schematic from page 38 of this rulebook, they can agree on thier own barge setup, or they can visit https://d-verse.com to view or download additional schematics for an unsanctioned barge to host the bout. Each barge is unique with its own obstacles and hazards for helots to contend with.

• Placing Helots

(2) players sit across from one another at the north and south ends of the game board, with additional players sitting in an available east or west position. Each players’ helot enters the barge arena in that player’s closest leftmost square with the helot’s Forward-Facing Direction (FFD) facing away from the player.

• Placing Barge Obsticles

Refer to a barge’s arena schematics for the placement of barge Obstacles.

• Placing Barge Hazards

First, check the barge’s arena schematics for the placement of barge hazards, you will find barge-specific hazard locations there on occasion. More likely, you will find information regarding the placement of barge hazards under that particular hazard’s rule entry in the Barge Hazard section of the manual.

• Randomly Placed Objects (RPO's)

Randomly Placed Objects (RPOs) are determined by rolling one (1) Green and one (1) Orange eight-sided die. The resulting numbers are then used to place the object. The ORANGE die is used to determine the East/West location of the object, with one (1) being the West most square and eight (8) being the East most square. The GREEN die is used to determine the North/South location of the object, with one (1) being the North most square and eight (8) being the South most square. Refer to each specific object’s rules for information about handling already occupied squares.