Elden Ring: Nightreign

A Fan Boardgame

This started as a fan project with no clear destination and somehow became a complete-enough game that people can actually play. It's unpolished in places and unfinished in others but the bones are solid, the cards work, and the ruleset holds together. Consider this an open beta. If something's broken, that's a feature. Probably.

Limveld

Setting for our head-long sprint towards death. Each region is assigned a number between 1-20, and a d20 roll determines where on the map Vestiges (points of interest!) spring up, populated with monsters.

Roaming field bosses are treated similarly, and the odd treasure trove if you’re nasty

Easy Start Rules

Pick a Character
- Choose who you’ll play. Track Health and Focus (your resource).
- Set up your starter equipment.
Gather Your Party
- This game is built for three players.
- You’ll need everyone covering their role if you want to survive.
Seed the Map
- Draw a set of Points of Interest (Vestiges).
- Roll d20s for each to see where they appear on the map.
- Your party drops in on any one Vestige and immediately clashes with its denizens.
The Dice
- Dice are d8s and color-coded to what they do:
  - 🔴 Red → melee attacks, physical force.
  - 🔵 Blue → cleverness, magic, direct damage.
  - 🟢 Green → defense, armor, survival.
  - ⚪ White → support, healing, rare utility.
Combat
- All players pick a strategy, spend resources, and roll their dice pools at the same time.
- Each boss has a Threat number (on a d8) that you need to roll over to hit.
- Blue hits deal direct damage.
- If the boss survives, it immediately counterattacks — damage goes to whoever the party agrees takes the hit.
- Green and Red dice can block or mitigate incoming damage.
- Any leftover Red hits after defense become a second wave of damage against the boss.
- Repeat until somebody is dead.
Rewards
- Clear a Vestige to earn Runes and draw from its equipment pile.
- You can hold six armaments; arrange their passive and active abilities for best effect.
- Even if you’re stacked, clearing Vestiges grants latent passive powers, so progress is always worthwhile.
The World Timer
- The world closes in as you play:
  - At Turn 5, the rains begin.
  - By Turn 10, only one safe spot remains on the map. Roll randomly to find it. Get there or die.
- Survive long enough to face the Real Bad Creature at the safe spot. If you live through it, a new day begins.
Events
- Sometimes world events trigger.
- Sometimes luck deserts you and you must tread carefully.
- Other times the dice land your way and you crush the place.
Winning
- Make it to the Nightlord at the end of the third day and defeat it to win.
- Victory unlocks permanent relics that you can equip on your next run.

Slow-Start Rules

What follows are the cards that make up the meat of the game — equipment, abilities, spells, and the rest. In theory you could print them and arrange them into their intended decks. In practice, Foundry VTT handles all of this for you.

Equipment confers dice: a weapon marked RRB adds two red dice and one blue to your pool. R/B means you choose which — blue is usually stronger (blasting is good), but red adds a layer of physical protection worth considering.

Cards have rarities; each rarity gets its own deck so reward scales with risk. Other signifiers are guidance, not hard limits — a Wylder can carry a Staff, but without INT investment the spells won't connect.

Ashes, Sorceries, and Incants all cost Focus. Standard weapon attacks are free, provided the armament is in your lane. You can swap an attack for a dodge or parry — dodge is more forgiving, parry is more rewarding. Bosses trigger their abilities every turn. Nightlords will ruin your day.