Hey Gang! Glenn is back with another reader-submitted set of custom rules for a new game mode: Underworlds Highlander. This is a mode that is somewhat like the old Arena Mortis (a huge favorite of mine) from First Edition. This is also yet another Multiplayer option, this time for 2-4 players. It also comes with some variant rules to further spice things up.

Today’s special article is part of the Custom Rules series. Click here to see other custom rules we’ve put together!

I’ll paste the pdf for you here to read through:

And now for the text straight up:

Who is the greatest of the leaders of the warbands of the Underworlds? There can be only one! Enter the arena, defeat your opponents, and experience the power of the Quickening!

Requires

• Emberguard base game
• The leader miniature, fighter card, and warscroll from a warband for each player
• A standard Nemesis 32-card objective and power deck per player

Scoring/Winning

• Up to four players will fight with warband leaders attempting to defeat the others. The last leader standing is the victor.
• Variants: Blitz Highlander, Highlander Tournament (see below)

Setup

• Each player selects the leader of a warband to serve as their competitor in the Highlander arena fight, and collects the associated fighter card and warband warscroll.
  • If the leader selected is worth fewer than 3 Glory points when defeated, the player may attach Upgrades to the fighter worth the difference in value between 3 and the leader’s Glory value – so for example a 2 Glory leader can have a 1 Glory upgrade added at start. This upgrade does not count against the player’s Power deck card count. Zero Glory upgrades cannot be used in this way.
• Players build normal Nemesis objective and power decks constructed from two Rivals decks.
• Each player rolls four dice for the initial roll-off; the player with the most critical results wins (followed by hammers, swords, flanked, and surrounded results if there are ties). That player selects the board and board orientation, and then places the first treasure token which must go in neutral territory.
• Players continue clockwise placing one treasure token each until there are five objective tokens placed. Player may optionally continue in rotation to place two Aqua Ghyranis tokens, one in each non-neutral territory.
• Once objectives have been placed, starting with the player who won the roll-off and proceeding clockwise, players place their fighter in a starting hex. Fighters must be placed range 3 or greater from other fighters, if able.
• The territory a fighter is placed in at start counts as friendly territory for the duration of the game. The opposite non-neutral territory is enemy territory.
• Players then roll off again; the winner chooses who will go first that round, and play proceeds clockwise. Repeat this procedure at the start of each new round.

Special Rules

• Play. Game play is largely as normal – each player has four activations per round, with players alternative activations with a power step after each activation. Core actions and tokens work as normal, as do warband actions and power cards except where their conditions cannot be met (e.g. requiring other friendly fighters). Abilities and cards whose conditions cannot be met do not function.
• Inspiration. Fighters begin the game Inspired.
• Length. Game play continues until only one fighter is left standing. The game immediately ends when the last opponent is defeated.
• Opponents. Other fighters are always considered to be enemy fighters to a player’s own fighter.
• Quickening. When a fighter defeats another fighter, before the Power step for that activation, the Quickening is triggered. Take the following steps:
  • Remove the defeated fighter from the board
  • The winning player scores the Glory value of the defeated fighter.
  • For each upgrade equipped to the defeated fighter, the winning player chooses to either:
    • Equip that upgrade to the winning fighter for free, or
    • Heal 1 and earn Glory equal to the value of the upgrade; then destroy the upgrade.
    • Push all other fighters on the board up to two hexes away from the winning fighter.
    • Shout “I have the Power” (optional).
• End Phase. End Phase actions occur as in a normal Underworld game after all players have had four activations. Players then roll off again to determine the first player for the next round.

Alternate Formats

Blitz Highlander:

In Blitz Highlander, the game lasts three rounds. The winner is the player who has the sole surviving fighter at the end of three rounds. If multiple fighters survive three rounds, the player with the highest Glory score at the end of the third End Phase is the winner. If all fighters survive and have earned equal Glory, the game is a draw.

Highlander Tournament:

• In a Highlander tournament, players compete in matches of two-player Blitz Highlander. Each match is a single game. Players are paired via Swiss pairings and the number of rounds is set such that there will be a clear winner at the end of the tournament (e.g. 3 rounds for 5-8 players, 4 rounds for 9-16 players, etc). The tournament organizer may also opt for a top four cut where the final match is a four-player game played until there is only one fighter remaining.
• Player ranking is determined by (1) points for wins (3 points per win, 1 point per draw, 0 points per loss), (2) total Glory scored, (3) strength of schedule. Intentional draws are not allowed; games must be played.
• Fighters who survive to the end of their match retain any attached upgrade cards into the next match. If a fighter is defeated, that fighter begins the next match with only the upgrade cards attached at the start of the tournament, if any.

Wrap

Man, I want to give another huge round of thanks to Glenn for cooking this up and sharing it with me. I hope people are able to have loads of fun with this! Arena Mortis was so cool, and this has the potential to be just as awesome.

Today’s special article was part of the Custom Rules series. Click here to see other custom rules we’ve put together! If you have a custom game mode or a set of expansion rules you’d like to share with the world, I am always willing to help spread the word.

However you play, in whatever format, I hope you enjoy Spending your Glory!