Dungeon Saga Origins is a thrilling board game of classic fantasy adventure, fast-paced action, and beautiful miniatures.
Set in the dungeons of the fantasy world of Pannithor, players have a number of quests with different win conditions, all connected to the game's story.
This game has been designed with a wide audience in mind. The rules are intuitive enough for family gaming (from 10 years and up), but also support clever synergies by experienced players. Suggested difficulty modifiers are also included for those wanting a high level of challenge. While very playable and accessible, success will come from good decisions and teamwork, rather than just through good luck.
There are two ways to play the game:
1. With a traditional human Overlord, who controls the dungeon, traps and enemies. They can decide whether they want to run a game that is more challenging, or more casual, depending on the player group.
2. With an Overlord controlled by the game rules, and all the heroes controlled by human players.
Mission setup is very fast due to pre-assembled miniatures and large numbered dungeon tiles. Variety comes from changing the numbered tiles, their side/orientation, door placement and furniture placement. The tiles have a square grid to simplify measuring distances, defining line of sight, and item positioning.
The game is played in Rounds. In each Round, all the Hero players will each take a Turn with a single Hero, and then the Overlord player will take their Turn.
When a player takes a Turn with a Hero, they may both Move and take an Action (act) with their Hero.
Aside from movement, players can take the below actions:
- Fight
- Shoot
- Cast Spell
- Use a Feat
- Explore
- Revive
- Trade
Some actions are resolved automatically, and others use dice rolls. Combat actions use opposed dice rolls and a dice matching mechanic.
Exploration is a key theme in the game, and the heroes may discover loot (including legendary items), find secret passages or activate deadly traps. Exploration is driven by a shuffled card deck, which creates unpredictability on repeat play-throughs.
There are post-game sequences for campaigns. Hero players are free to trade items, equipment and even gold between games if they wish as they prepare for their next adventure.
