Dungeonquest Rulings and Clarifications

Most of these are rulings, by which we mean answers to questions that are truly not covered by the official printed rules.

Some are clarifications and are marked as such. These are answers to questions that might require careful reading of several disparate parts of the rules to resolve, but are, in the end, clear without us having made any decisions.

1. Basic set

Is the sneak attack with the green thing an orc or a goblin?: It's an orc. (It has a sword, not a mace.) There are only two such cards, and they are identical. There are no goblin sneak attacks.
What does the crypt card that does "D12-3 Luck" damage mean?: There is official errata for this. It means D12+3−Luck (i.e. D12 plus 3 minus Luck). The errata makes this a very deadly trap, and I would not blame you if you chose to treat it as D12−3−Luck instead.
What happens if you wake the Dragon up and are ejected from the Treasure Chamber, but all of the adjacent squares either have walls or other adventurers in them?: The Dragon is amused as you run in circles trying to escape. It then eats you.
When you wake the Dragon up, can you leave through an entrance with a Door or Portcullis?: Yes, but if you fail to open it, take an additional D12 damage from the Dragon. If you're still alive, you can try again with this same entrance, with the same consequences, or you can leave another way.
What happens, if while the Dragon is asleep, you try to leave the Treasure Chamber through a door or Portcullis and you fail to open it?: You remain in the Treasure Chamber and must draw a dragon tile to see if you wake up the Dragon but do not draw any treasure chits this turn.
Is a potion treasure for the purposes of losing it when you wake the dragon up?: No, nor is rope. (There's some weak support for this in the rules. If you look at the reference sheet, under "Golden Guineas or Necklace" it says "You have found some treasure." But it does not say this for potion or rope.)
If you run away from a monster, but that takes you back into the Treasure Chamber, what happens?: Ooh, this is a tough one. Let's say that you have to draw a Dragon chit and suffer the damage if you wake up the Dragon, but you do not get any loot.
When a character dies, what happens to their loot and other cards?: For Catacomb cards and amulets, shuffle them back into their respective decks. For other cards, put them on the bottom of their respective decks. For chits from the dragon, mix them back in. (Shouldn't treasures stay with the dead body? No, it's T'Siraman's magic at work!)
What happens if you are in a Chamber of Darkness and your random exit aims you at a door in an adjacent tile? Are you obligated to draw a door card, or can you choose to not move?: You can choose to not move, thus avoiding a potential door trap and/or time wasted going the wrong way. Same goes for a Portcullis. This also applies if your path out of the Chamber of Darkness involves any number of Corridors with a Door or Portcullis at the end. If you choose not to try to open the Door or Portcullis, you end your turn back in the Chamber.
[Clarification] How do El-Adoran's arrows work, again?: Yes, the way they write it in the rules is kinda strange. Here's what you do.

You draw a room card that says you're being attacked by a monster. If it's a sneak attack, you take the sneak attack damage as usual, but it doesn't change anything about the arrows.

Maybe want to use arrows? Pick "attack", but the player on your right should not tell you the result yet (the rules say they shouldn't draw the card yet, but it doesn't matter if they draw it or not as long as they don't tell you the result).

If you picked "wait and see" or "escape", do combat as any other character would. You can't use arrows in this combat.

So you picked "attack"? Ok, now, before the other player tells you the result on the card, you may shoot an arrow.

Now the other player tells you the result of "attack". The monster at this point might be dead, alive, or have run away. (Only maybe dead if you shot an arrow and hit, obviously.)

Now, if the monster is alive, you may shoot an arrow, whether or not you shot before.

Then you proceed with regular combat if the monster is still alive.
When you run away from a monster into a Corridor, can you take a different branch than the way you entered that turn?: No. You're scared and will only go back to a place of relative safety, i.e. the tile you were most recently in.
If you escape from a monster down a Corridor that has a Door at the end, do you have to draw a Door card?: No, you don't, just like when you run away and there isn't a Corridor involved. You freely pass through the doorway.
What happens if you draw a Corridor that points at a wall?: Stay where you were before you started drawing Room tiles this turn. The same goes if you draw a series of two or more Corridors that end up at a wall. However, if you draw a branching Corridor and any branch does not run into a wall, you must take one of those branches.
… points at a tile with another adventurer?: Same answer as for a wall.
If I draw a Corridor that goes into the Treasure Chamber, and I didn't want to go into the Treasure Chamber, do I have to go in?: Yes.
What happens if I search, get a secret door, and the new tile is a Corridor?: Pick a direction along it, move and reveal another tile.
And what if it ends up pointing at a wall or another adventures?: You stay in the room you started in, just like if you tried to exit a room without a secret door.
I made a Corridor loop.: That's not a question. In this extremely unlikely situation, you must choose a path through the Corridors that ends in a regular room (or a square without a tile) after a finite number of steps. It does not cause the universe to lock up in an infinite loop. The regular room that you finish your move in must be different from the one you started in, unless there is no other choice.

2. Catacombs

Entering and exiting

What does "you must exit the tile using the normal rules" mean for reappearing in a Cave In or Spider Web tile?: It means you are stuck as normal, but unlike entering such a tile as usual, there is no previous tile to retreat to. You can't move until you make the appropriate roll.
What happens if you reappear in the Treasure Chamber?: Just as when you appear in any other room, you do appear there, but nothing further happens that turn. On the next turn, you may choose to stay and try to get treasure, or leave without doing so.
What happens if all possible squares are blocked by bottomless pits, bridge tiles and/or other players when you are exiting the Catacombs?: You stay in the Catacombs instead as though your "Exit" or "Hole in the Roof" was an "Empty" instead. The Ring of Teleportation also does nothing in this case.
The rules say "If you reappear in a position you don't like, you can immediately reenter the Catacombs. On your next turn, you continue in the Catacombs as usual." Is this choice made before or after drawing a Room Tile when reappearing in an empty space? Or does it happen before even rolling for your position?: After drawing a Room Tile and placing it. If you reenter the Catacombs, leave the tile in place.
In this same case, if you reenter the Catacombs, do you shuffle in the Catacombs cards you have or keep them? i.e. is your starting position reset?: It is reset. Move your Direction of Travel Counter to the tile you would have come up on, and shuffle in your Catacombs cards as if you were entering for the first time from this tile.
The Catacombs rules modify how the Trapdoor Room card works, so that you fall into the Catacombs if you fail your agility roll. Does this replace the damage specified by the basic set, or add to it?: You both take the damage and fall into the Catacombs.
And if you fall into a Trapdoor, but then elect to try to climb out as usual instead of moving into the Catacombs, but you fail, can you decide to move into the Catacombs on your next turn?: Yes. Obviously once you start moving in the Catacombs, you can't go back and try to climb out.
Is a potion treasure for the purposes of losing it when you fall off the bridge?: No, nor is rope, as above for waking up the dragon.
So I came back up in a Corridor…: Yeah, what of it? It's weird. You stand there and T'Siraman's magic tugs gently at you from each direction, but it doesn't know what to do either. On your next turn, you can't Search (the rules say so), but otherwise, it's like standing in an ordinary room. In the unlikely case that you draw another Corridor when you move out and then run into a wall, or otherwise hit one of the odd Corridor cases covered above, you might end up standing there after trying to move. (In this case, the Corridor does not immediately spit you out the other way.)

Amulets

When the Wizard's Amulet says that you are to return the extra amulets to the deck, does that mean to shuffle them in?: Yes.
Do you have to reveal the amulet you get from the Wizard's Amulet?: No, not until it takes effect.
With the Wizard's Amulet, can I use the Amulet of Teleportation deliberately rather than when encountering a trap?: Yes, because you understand how to use it, unlike the usual way that adventurers stumble around with amulets.

Others

If you find the Cave Troll and have one of the D12×100 treasure chests, what happens?: You can offer him the chest, and then roll to see how much it is worth (or if it explodes). This value is then locked in.
Can you use the Ring of Blinding on the Cave Troll?: Yes. This ring, from the basic set, says that it works when you are attacked by a monster on a room card. By a strict reading, you might say that being attacked by the Cave Troll happens on a Catacombs card, not a room card, but since Catacombs cards are the equivalent of room cards for the Catacombs, we're saying that it works. You must use it immediately upon drawing the Cave Troll, not after failing to bribe him, just like how you can't use it in the middle of combat.
The Catacombs reference sheet says that El-Adoran can fire his bow at the Cave Troll, but can he fire it twice as in a regular combat, even though there's no Monster card?: Yes. Given that he can fire it twice after being sneak attacked ("snuck attack"?), he ought to be able to manage it after attempting to bribe the Cave Troll.
Clarify the timing of the Ring of Teleportation.: That's not a question. Anyway, it says "whenever you wish", which is pretty dang broad. You may use it in the middle of combat, for instance. The only question is whether when you use it "just after you have drawn a Catacomb card you wish to avoid", do you have that card for purposes of determining where you reappear? Yes.
Does entering a tower room count as "leaving Dragonfire Castle" for the purposes of the Doomshadow?: Yes.
There's a card that says "Giant Ruby 350GP", but the reference sheet says there's a card called "Gigantic Diamond" worth 5,000GP. Which is it?: For sanity's sake, the Giant Ruby's value is as written. Obviously you may keep this card when you leave the Catacombs, as the reference sheet says for the non-existent Gigantic Diamond.
If affected by the Vampire, and also losing turns from Poison Gas or Explosion, do you lose an LP when your turn would be?: Yes, because you are "infected with the curse of the undead" from the vampire that "flies off before you can defend yourself". The infection keeps working while you are incapacitated. (There's no question about whether the vampire is affected by the gas or explosion, because it isn't there anyway.)
What does "get out of Dragonfire Castle" mean for the Vampire?: It means reaching one of the tower rooms in a corner. You are free to re-enter without the Vampire once you have done this.
What does "get out of Dragonfire Castle" mean for the Chest treasure counter?: For consistency with our ruling on the Vampire, it means reaching one of the tower rooms, which means it is possible to find out how much money you have before the end of the game. You also may open it on any turn when you are in a tower room (without moving) or at the very end of the game.
If one player has the Chest treasure counter and another has the Chest treasure card at the end of the game, both unopened, in what order are they are resolved?: This matters because the player with the counter may choose not to open the chest since it could explode. Resolve this, and any other similar effects, in turn order, starting with the player who advances the Sun. If a single player has both, they may choose the order.
[Clarification] When you find a Passage Down in a Cave-in room tile, do you have to make the agility roll for the cave-in before entering the Catacombs?: This looks like a case that they would have forgotten to cover, but in fact the answer is in the Catacombs rules! In this case, you can go into the Catacombs immediately after drawing the Passage Down card, but you do not place the Catacombs Entrance Tile, thus avoiding the question of what happens when someone comes across the Cave-in later.
[Clarification] Is Rope good for anything when using Catacombs?: Yes, because although the rules modify Trapdoor to say that when you fail your Agility roll you fall into the Catacombs, they also say that you can try to climb out as usual, which includes not having to roll your Agility to do that if you have Rope.

3. Heroes

Does Farendil have 10 LP or 11?: The Heroes rules say that Farendil (Elf Ranger) has identical stats to El-Adoran Sureshot (The Ranger), yet his character sheet shows him having only 10 LP to El-Adoran's 11. Treat Farendil has having 11 LP. Or, you know, just don't use him. This is the only error in the set of characters duplicating those in the base set; the rest of them are identical as printed.
[Clarification] Rildo's dagger ability is really hard to understand.: That's not a question. But yes, it is written really badly. Here's a rewriting of it which we are almost sure is what they meant with no rulings from us:

You have four daggers. You may throw your daggers only against Goblins, Trolls, Death Warriors, Orcs, and Champions of Chaos.

Before combat:

Unless it is a sneak attack, you can throw daggers before combat. This is before the Monster card is drawn, so you don't yet know how many LPs the monster has. Once you have finished throwing, begin combat as normal with "attack".

To throw a dagger, you pick two Combat cards and your opponent picks one; you reveal them all simultaneously. If any match, the dagger deals D6 damage (but only D6−2 damage to a Death Warrior). Otherwise, you lose 1 LP (yes, you take damage even though you aren't in combat yet).

During combat:

During combat you pick each round whether to throw a dagger (using the same rules as above) or fight as normal. You may not throw daggers two rounds in a row. In normal combat, Rildo only does 1 damage when picking Mighty Blow against the monster's Slash.

If you lose all four daggers you must fight using unarmed combat; see page 2 of the Heroes rules.

After combat:

Check to see if you are able to retrieve your daggers. Roll a D6 for each. On an even number, you recover it. Otherwise, it is lost. You only recover daggers in the combat that has just taken place, not any that were lost earlier in the game, so remember how many you have thrown this turn.

Serellia

The rules for Serellia and Flame Bright are particularly underdetermined. However, note that some interactions are covered in the Catacombs rules, e.g. how to deal with the Bridge tile.

On a note irrelevant to game play, the Heroes rules call her Sarellia (with an 'a'), but her character sheet calls her Serellia (with an 'e'). In each case, the name appears exactly once, making it impossible to determine which one is the mistake. Since the character sheet is more visible during game play, we're going with "Serellia".

Similarly, Serellia's character sheet and Flame Bright's character sheet both say "Bright Flame", while the Heroes rules say "Flame Bright" many times. We'll very arbitrarily choose "Flame Bright" since it's in the majority.

Can Helena the Swift run into a tile with a Passage Down and then down that passage in the same turn?: Yes, since the Passage Down is already placed and acts like a tile. This means that she draws one Catacombs card in the turn she does this. But she cannot run in the Catacombs.
Can Helena run across a face down tile placed by Serellia?: Yes, she can try, anyway. If she attempts it, flip the tile over. If it's one that she can run through, she does. If not, she has to deal with it as though she weren't running.
Does Helena trigger Trap tiles that she runs across?: No, for consistency with the rule that she does not draw a Room card in regular rooms she runs across.
What does "go into combat" mean for Fyhll Madaxe?: When the result of your choice on a monster card is combat, or if you draw a monster card and choose to fight, even if the result isn't combat, or immediately when you are sneak attacked. In the last case, first take the sneak attack damage, then see if you go berserk.
When Fhyll Madaxe is berserk, in combat, and chooses "leap aside" at the same time as the monster (known in our group as "dancing damage"), does it do double damage to the monster? If it's damage caused by each fighter flinging themselves past the other and running into the wall, it's not damage that Fhyll is doing, right? And if it does double damage to the monster, shouldn't it do double damage to Fhyll also?: Oh boy. No, see, the monster takes double damage because it had to leap twice as fast in its attempt to avoid the berserk dwarf. Fhyll does not take double damage, because even in his berserk state, he only dodges at normal speed. (The question you really should be asking is how a berserker can choose to dodge in the first place!)
What about when Fhyll chooses "leap aside" when the monster chooses "mighty blow"? I guess the monster overextended and pulled a muscle or something. That's also not Fhyll doing damage, right?: The monster takes double damage because it pulls a muscle and Fhyll gets in a normal-damage hit in the same round since he's so fast while berserk.
Can Azoth use Warp Door right after encountering Snotlings to escape from them?: No, because you couldn't ordinarily run away from Snotlings, so you can't run away through a wall either.
In general, what's the timing of Warp Door? When can you use it?: You can use it when you would ordinarily take the "Move" action, so not in response to getting attacked, or while falling down a bottomless pit, or anything like that. (This is our interpretation of "[it] works in exactly the same way as finding a secret door".)
Can Azoth use a potion?: Yes. The underlying question here is whether drinking a potion is using magic, since Azoth's rules say that he can't use any forms of magic other than his spells, and specifically lists that he can't use rings or amulets. We rule that he can, since there is nothing that describes the potions as magical. Indeed, they skew towards being poisons, which certainly doesn't require magic. The Potion of Healing+4 might strike you as magical, but could just be some good medicine. Anyway, even if they are magic potions, drinking a potion is much less like casting a spell than using a ring or an amulet.
Can Azoth re-enter the castle after using Warp Door to escape through an outer wall?: Yes. Treat the outside of the castle as having an extension of the square grid inside. Azoth must travel, at one square per turn (travel outside is also difficult; you're on Wyrm's Crag!), to the square diagonally adjacent to a tower room (where the stairs are shown on the board) in order to re-enter the tower room, and then, on the turn after that, the dungeon. Draw no room cards for travel outside the castle.
Can other characters walk around the outside of the castle like that?: Sure, but they are unlikely to find it useful, as it takes 13 turns out of the game's total of 26 just to walk around the outside from one entrance to another.
[Clarification] Could you explain the timing for Azoth's Stasis spell?: Yes. When you start your turn, after resolving any mandatory effects (Torch Goes Out, Vampire, etc.), and before taking the voluntary part of your turn (usually moving or searching), you may cast Stasis. This puts your normal turn on hold and inserts one or more extra turns.
[Clarification] Is Azoth totally screwed if he meets a Ghoul from the "Surprise!" Search card?: No, because in the Catacombs rules, it adds to Fireball the ability to use it against the Ghoul (also Cave Trolls, Snotlings and Spider Webs). Otherwise, he'd have to fight using the special Ghoul fighting rules (not unarmed combat, which wouldn't be especially bad for Azoth). With his strength of 1, he has only a 10% chance of a hit in each combat round, so he would typically die even if starting at full strength. For fun, let's do the odds, which would be relevant in the rare case that you find a Ghoul on the second-to-last turn of the game while in a room adjacent to the exit. Overall, you have a 25.9% chance of surviving the Ghoul when starting at full health. If the Ghoul starts with 1 LP, you have a 77.1% chance, but for a 6 LP Ghoul, only 0.9%. Obviously if Azoth starts with 1 LP and the Ghoul with 6 LP, it's a literal one-in-a-million, as you must roll 6 consecutive ones on D10.
If Serellia dies, but Flame Bright is still alive, can you keep playing as just Flame Bright?: Sure. Treat it as a normal character with all the loot that Serellia had. Flame Bright has a Luck of zero. (With Serellia, he does not ever encounter Luck-based effects, so it is marked with a dash on his card.)
What happens when they go through a Corridor with regard to Flame Bright's tile-checking ability?: Flame Bright checks every every tile placed, including the second (or subsequent) one in the turn caused by the first (or subsequent) being a Corridor. As with a regular tile, if you chose not to go into the next one placed after the Corridor, you can choose a different exit if it's a branching Corridor, but not the one you came in through. If you choose not to go into that one either, or there was no second exit to try, return to the tile you started on this turn, as if you did not move at all.
Can Flame Bright put on Amulets instead of Serellia?: Yes. Pick who is putting it on. They can each have one.
Will the Amulet of Teleportation or the Amulet of Dragonfire transport both of them?: No, only whoever is wearing it.
Will the Amulet of Death kill both of them?: No, only whoever is wearing it.
Will the Amulet of the Spider God or Amulet of Command work for both of them?: Yes, in each case the monster doesn't care that there's someone else present.
What happens with the Amulet of Destruction?: If it goes off on Serellia, Flame Bright automatically waits for her. If it goes off on Flame Bright, Serellia may choose to abandon Flame Bright, as with a Trap Door.
The Amulet of Escape?: It has no effect. (One of you is still visible, so the monster still attacks if it would otherwise. If Flame Bright is invisible, it will still fight to defend Serellia.)
What happens when Serellia and Flame Bright meet the Vampire?: The Vampire tests and potentially attaches to Serellia only, in the same way that Vampire Bats affects only Serellia and not Flame Bright.
What happens when they meet the Doomshadow?: It attaches to, and potentially kills, only Serellia.
How about poisonous gas?: The waiting provisions apply as per Amulet of Destruction.
Will the Ring of Teleportation transport both of them?: Yes.
What about the Cave-In room card?: It is not a trap, so Flame Bright can't avoid it using its ability. Resolve it independently for the two of them.
The Cave-In tile?: Resolve it independently for the two of them. If Serellia makes it across but Flame Bright doesn't, she can wait for it if she wants to, or abandon it as with Trap Door. It dies if she does this. If Flame Bright makes it across and Serellia doesn't, Flame Bright automatically waits for her. On a subsequent turn, if Serellia decides to go another way instead of trying to climb over again, she may; this is abandoning Flame Bright and it dies.
How about the Scorpion you find when you search a corpse?: Treat it as a crypt trap, i.e. it affects only Serellia.
Snotlings?: They fight Flame Bright until it's dead, and then move on to Serellia
Giant Centipede?: D12 damage to Flame Bright, with excess damage beyond what is needed to kill it applied to Serellia.
Can Flame Bright check Room Tiles using using a Secret Door?: Yes, just like usual, even though that the card says "Secret Door", singular, and this means you could place tiles in two squares. It's magic. (Obviously magic, since even without Flame Bright, you get to pick where the door is.) (One could argue that since you're not allowed to escape back from the new room if you encounter a monster in it, nor should Flame Bright be able to back out. But we've decided he can because the type of room is less sneaky than a monster.)
Does Flame Bright's trap-avoiding ability work on Trap cards, i.e. is a Trap card a "card with a trap"?: Yes.
For Hole in the Roof, do both Serellia and Flame Bright have to roll?: Yes, for consistency with trap door and bottomless pit.
Who takes damage from Snotlings when Serellia and Flame Bright encounter them?: Flame Bright, until he is dead, and then Serellia.
Go through all possible interactions with the Book.: Ok… On "Alarm", both Serellia and Flame Bright are killed. On "Curse", Serellia takes the damage. On "Spell of Vitality", both regain all their LP. On "Spell of Teleportation", both are teleported out.
Can Flame Bright run from a Giant Spider?: No, he must fight. (The rules say "If you encounter a monster, Attack or Wait & See are your only combat options." This doesn't quite make sense for the Giant Spider encounter, but the flavor is clear.)

Interactions between Heroes and Catacombs

[Clarification] Is the Cave Troll a Troll?

It never matters. This question comes up for for attacks and other abilities that only work against a specific list of monsters. In each case, the answer about whether something can be done to the Cave Troll is given in the rules, although you may have to read several disparate sections.

To list cases explicitly: The text for "Heroes & Catacombs" in the Catacombs rules say that Tori-Jima can't any of his abilities against the Cave Troll. Likewise it says Thargrim can't use his Helm against it, and Helena can't use her slingshot. Azoth's Fireball can be used. When Flame Bright fights it, it uses a D10 (which implies that it is not a Troll, since they use D6, for whatever that's worth).

[Clarification] What happens with Serellia and Flame Bright when they encounter a spear trap?

It is not a Door Trap nor a Crypt Trap, so it independently affects each of them. Does that make sense flavorwise? No, but that is what follows from the rules.

Revised 2018-10-09 to add stuff about Serellia and Helena. Revised 2018-11-25 to rule on coming out of the Catacombs into the Treasure Chamber, the timing of Fhyll Madaxe with sneak attacks, and more about Serellia. Further updates noted in title text for the questions — probably revealed by hovering with your mouse cursor (touchscreen users, you're on your own). Last updated December 2024 or maybe more recently.

Dungeonquest Rulings and Clarifications

1. Basic set

Corridors