Choose Your hero
There are six unique heroes in Terrors of Tahgrem
Each hero has a portrait card, a reference card, and a small deck of ability cards with silhouette artwork. Every player must choose the hero they want to play starting with the youngest and then progressing in age order.
Portrait card
The portrait card lets you see what your hero looks like, but doesn't serve any other purpose. This card exists strictly for the fantasy art lovers out there.
reference Card
The reference card tells a little about the hero's background and personality and also lists a special ability that may be useful throughout the game without needing to play an ability card. Along the left side are five numbered shields that track your hero's defense. Along the right are ten numbered hearts that track your hero's health. (see Combat)
Ability Deck
The ability draw deck is made up of 20 cards: 2 copies each of 10 distinct abilities. Each ability is marked by a small icon to the right of the title that tell when the card is used. Cards with crossed swords are used during encounters. Cards with a campfire are used at the end of an encounter before another encounter is drawn. And lastly cards with both a campfire and a sword may be used either during or after an encounter.
(see Abilities)
- Shuffle the ability deck and place it face down in front of you on the table to use as your ability draw deck.
- Draw five ability cards and place them in your hand.
- Leave a place next to the draw pile to discard abilities as you use them.
- Place the portrait and reference cards face-up in front of you.
- Slide the plastic arrow markers to point to your current defense and health on your reference card. You begin at zero defense (shields) and ten health (hearts).
Lastly, remove any unused heroes from the table.