Narrative Play
There are many warbands that venture forth into the darkness of the Gnarlwood in search of the treasures of Talaxis. Most do not last their first few nights before they are consumed by the horrors that lurk beyond. Do you have what it takes to survive in the Gnarlwood?
Although playing one-off battles of Warcry is always fun, for many players, the true challenge of the game is to play through a campaign. In a campaign, each of your warband's battles are linked in an ongoing narrative where the outcome of one battle directly impacts the next. The story of your warband is told through each glorious victory they earn and stinging defeat they suffer as they explore the depths of the Gnarlwood in search ofTalaxis.
In this section you will find rules to take you through every step of playing through an exciting campaign yourself. First it will explain how to complete a warband roster. This records all the details of your warband, from the fighters that make it up through to the location of your encampment and what powerful artefacts they may have uncovered.
As you play through the campaign, you warband will evolve and change from battle to battle, and you will need to constantly update your warband roster to record their progress. Your fighters may earn heroic traits and discover artefacts of power, making them even more powerful in battle - but this only scratches the surface of the host of exciting rules your warband will unlock over the course of its campaign.
Great reward does not come without risk, however. Fighters taken down in a campaign battle will have to roll on the Injury table, and might find themselves with an injury that they carry with them into the next few battles - or even worse, they might succumb to their wounds and die, meaning they are permanently removed from your warband roster! As you will discover, life as a warrior in the Gnarlwood is harsh and unforgiving, but for those who survive, they will each grow in power and carve out a bloody legend for themselves.
A Warcry Campaign
Over the following pages, you will discover in more detail how your warband can embark on its campaign into the darkness of the Gnarlwood. For now, here is a summary of the different elements involved in a Warcry campaign.
Warband Roster
The first step is to complete a warband roster. This contains a list of all the fighters in your warband and also other bits of information, such as where their encampment is, how much glory they have (a currency used in the campaign to upgrade your warband in various ways), and any artefacts of power they have gained. Each time you fight a Warcry battle, the fighters that you include in your warband will be drawn from your warband roster.
The Aftermath Sequence
After each campaign battle, you must resolve a series of steps called the aftermath sequence. Here, you will earn glory based on how your warband fared in battle, and you will determine if any of your fighters have suffered injuries or been killed. You will also be able to send fighters forth deeper into the Gnarlwood in search of treasure or a new location for your encampment.
Quests
As you fight campaign battles, you will have the chance to complete quests. There are many different quests to choose from, and each offers a unique reward once completed. For example, you might be able to find an artefact of power, a mighty relic or magical weapon to use. Some quests have unique quest battleplans too, including one that involves tracking down a monster and defeating it in battle before you can add it to your warband roster.
Campaign Arcs
Lastly, campaign arcs are optional layers players can add into their campaigns to further enrich the narrative. Some campaign arcs cater for just 2 players, while others cater for 3 or more. During a campaign arc, the warbands involved will battle each other in a series of linked campaign battles.