Iron

Helm Campaign Rules Summary and FAQ (June 2020) v1.0

A big thanks to the game’s designer, Jason Glover, for his review and input.

For Reference:
Base Game – Iron Helm (You can think of this as a Level 1 Adventure)
Adventure Pack 1 – Warren of Despair (A Level 2 Adventure)
Adventure Pack 2 – Blackened Burrow (A Level 3 Adventure)
Adventure Pack 3 – Galnok’s Labyrinth (A Level 2 Adventure)
Adventure Pack 4 – Crystal Caverns (A Level 3 Adventure)
Adventure Pack 5 – Future Release (Presumably a Level 2 Adventure)
Adventure Pack 6 – Future Release (Presumably a Level 3 Adventure)

These adventures increase in difficulty as you move from the base game to Level 2 adventures and
then to Level 3 adventures.

How would I play a campaign of Iron Helm?
• A campaign consists of 3 or more adventures played in succession – the base game, followed by
one or more Level 2 adventures followed by one ore more Level 3 adventures. You use one
character from the base game or from any of the Adventure Packs for the entire campaign.

Example: I choose Ozzlo (from Adv. Pack 1) and decide to play a 3-adventure campaign consisting of
the base game followed by Galnok’s Labyrinth (Adv. Pack 3) followed by Blackened Burrow (Adv.
Pack 2.) I decide to use my starting gold to purchase the Moon Dagger (a trapping from Galnok’s
Labyrinth.)

Example: I choose Qara (from Adv. Pack 2) and decide to play a longer 5-adventure campaign
consisting of the base game followed by Warren of Despair (Adv. Pack 1) followed by Galnok’s
Labyrinth (Adv. Pack 3) followed by Blackened Burrow (Adv. Pack 2) followed by Crystal Caverns
(Adv. Pack 4.) I decide to use my starting gold to purchase the Battle Axe (a trapping from Warren of
Despair.)

• If at any point you die – you lose and your campaign is over.
• If you survive all the adventures in your campaign – you win.

What carries over between adventures?
• All your skills, loot, potions, gold, trappings and morality carry over from adventure to adventure.

What else happens between adventures and how does my character get ready for the next
adventure?
You visit the Lonely Troll tavern and inn between adventures and do the following:
• Recover to your character’s full health and full energy.
• Remove all poison from your character.
• You can use your gold acquired from your recently completed adventure (and starting gold for
your upcoming adventure) to acquire any trappings from either the base game or any of the
Adventure Packs.
• If there were any enemies you defeated in your recently completed adventure that you did not
use to acquire skills then you can sell these back as trophies for 1 gold each.
• During this “trappings acquisition phase” you still need to observe your character’s encumbrance
requirements.
As I prepare for my next adventure, do I receive the gold amount on my character card in
addition to the gold I acquired in the recently completed adventure?
Yes.

And can I combine all this gold to acquire any trappings from either the base game or any of
the Adventure Packs?
Yes.

Can I sell back any loot, potions, or trappings in between adventures?
No.
You can discard any of these items to make room for new trappings that you purchase.
Any discarded loot and/or potions from the base game are always added back into their respective
decks for all future adventures.
Any discarded loot from Adventure Packs are not added back into the loot deck for all future
adventures.

If you discard any trappings, they are gone from the campaign.

Example: I finish the base game with Azzlar (a character from Galnok’s Labyrinth) with 3 gold, 1
ration token, 2 health, 2 energy and 1 poison. I had items (loot, potions, and trappings) with an
encumbrance of 8 (Azzlar’s maximum). I had 1 defeated enemy that I had not used to acquire a skill.
In between adventures,:
• I discard my ration token.
• I reset Azzlar’s health to 14 and his energy to 11 (their respective maximums).
• I remove the poison token.
• I sell back my defeated (unused for a skill) enemy for 1 gold. Azzlar starts each adventure with 4
gold. I had 3 gold from the recently completed adventure. I have 8 gold to spend on trappings
and buy Hulnot’s Brew (from Galnok’s Labyrinth) for 2 gold. I keep 6 gold to start my next
adventure. In order to not exceed my encumbrance limit, I discard the Wooden Staff and it is
removed from the game.

After an adventure, what happens to discarded loot and potion cards that were placed in their
respective discard piles during a recent adventure?
They are all always restocked and used in the next adventure and all future adventures.

During a recent adventure, I chose to discard a trapping card during my game – is this
trapping gone from the campaign?
Yes.

Do Rations carry over?
No. Your rations tokens do not carry over and are discarded as you prepare for your new adventure.
You start each adventure with ration tokens as indicated on your character card.

If I have the Rations trappings card, does that carry over or must I discard it?
You must discard it and receive 2 rations that you can take with you on your next adventure.

Does Morality carry over or do I always start the next adventure at zero morality?
Yes, Morality carries over in all cases whether it’s positive, negative or zero.

How does scoring work in a campaign?
You don’t keep score in between adventures.
When you complete your final adventure, you compute your score according to the standard rules.

How do I mix the various Adventure Packs and the base game?
All characters, all skills, and all trappings from all Adventure Packs are available at the start of any
game whether you play a campaign or a single game.

Enemies, loot, bosses, and plot cards from each Adventure Pack are only used when you play that
particular adventure (whether a single game or a campaign.)

Follow the instructions on each Adventure Pack instruction card:
You will remove enemies from the base game (and from all other Adventure Packs) and replace them
with enemies from the Adventure Pack you are getting ready to play.

You will remove the plot cards from the base game (and from all other Adventure Packs) and replace
them with the plot cards from the Adventure Pack you are getting ready to play.

You shuffle that Adventure Pack’s loot into the loot deck.

You will always fight the boss indicated on each Adventure Pack during that adventure.

All the skills and trappings from the Adventure Pack you are getting ready to play (as well as skills
and trappings from all the Adventure Packs, whether you’ve played them yet in your campaign or
not, are available.)

I am playing a campaign and won the base game. I then played a Level 2 adventure, replacing
the base game enemies and plot cards with the appropriate enemies from my Level 2
adventure – I then won my Level 2 adventure. How do I set things up for my Level 3
adventure?
• You will remove all the Level 2 enemies that were used during this recently played adventure.
• You will remove all Level 2 loot that was used during this recently played adventure (except the
Level 2 loot you obtained during the adventure.)
• You will then add the Level 3 enemies from your upcoming adventure to the base game enemy
deck.
• You will then add the Level 3 loot from your upcoming adventure to the base game loot deck.

So any adventures beyond the base game only ever include enemies from the base game and
enemies from the particular adventure I’m going to play?
Yes.

And any adventures beyond the base game only ever include plot cards from the base game
and plot cards from the particular adventure I’m going to play?
Yes.

And any adventures beyond the base game only ever include loot from the base game and loot
from the particular adventure I’m going to play?
Yes.

I acquired a loot card during a Level 2 adventure. I then discarded this loot card either during
the same adventure or in between this adventure and my Level 3 adventure. Is this loot card
gone from the campaign or would it be reshuffled into my upcoming Level 3 adventure?
If it’s a loot card from any adventure (other than the base game) it is discarded and won’t be used for
the remainder of the campaign.

Can I play a single game of an Adventure Pack?
Yes, although it will likely be tougher than the base game.
Remember, you can use any character and purchase any trappings from any Adventure Pack.
Additionally, any skills from any Adventure Pack can be acquired during your game.