Treasure chest

Each treasure chest consists of two parts: the trap (located in the lid) and the treasure (located in the chest). Some changelings also pass as treasure chests, but only in appearance.

## The Trap

The trap dial is a tumbler containing six positions of information. Five positions are traps, and the starting position is blank. The numbers on the dial represent various powers of the trap.

### Exposing the Trap

All treasures may have traps. Before the Hero can gather the treasure, he must face the trap. It costs 0 speed points to expose a trap, and a Hero can be in any square adjacent to the treasure chest to expose the trap. The player exposes the trap by rolling 1 six-sided die and clicks the trap tumbler clockwise a number of clicks equal to the result.

The trap that appears must be encountered before the Hero can gather the treasure. If the trap space is blank, the Hero has lucked out and found a trapless treasure! If the treasure chest has a trap, it must be disarmed.

### Disarming the Trap

The Hero must be standing in the front arc of the chest to disarm the trap and gather the treasure. The Hero can disarm the trap quickly or slowly.

To disarm the trap quickly, the Hero spends 3 speed points and rolls 2 six-sided dice, adding the results. If the total is equal to or greater than the disarming number, the trap has been disarmed. If the total is less than the disarming number, the trap is sprung. To disarm the trap slowly, the Hero spends 6 speed points and uses the rules for disarming the trap quickly, adding 2 to his dice roll result. Certain special abilities can affect this action. If the Hero is successful, the chest may be opened without facing the effect of the trap.

### Springing the Trap

If the Hero has failed in his attempt to disarm the trap, the trap has sprung. First, the player’s opponent consults the trap dial to see if numbers appear in the slots under Total Mage Spawn Appearing and Maximum Mage Spawn in Points. If numbers appear in these slots, place Mage Spawn according to the rules for placing Mage Spawn in "Converting Tokens to Mage Spawn". If these slots are blank, then no Mage Spawn appear. The next four slots indicate the damage the trap can inflict. The letter in the slot for the type of attack indicates one of three types of attack.

An **H** in this slot indicates that the damage is only applied to the Hero working with the trap. Resolve this attack as a close combat attack; the player’s opponent makes the attack dice roll. A **T** in this slot indicates that the trap has an area of effect attack that affects all Heroes and Mage Spawn on the same tile or chamber as the treasure chest, as if the trap had belched out a cloud of gas. This attack ignores line of fire.

If the Hero is on a different tile than the treasure, this attack affects all fi gures on both tiles. The player’s opponent makes the attack dice roll and adds the result to the attack value. Compare the result to each Hero and Mage Spawn on the tile(s). Each fi gure hit takes the damage indicated on the trap.

An **R** in this slot means the trap has a ranged attack. The range is measured through the front arc of the treasure as if darts were shooting from the chest. The player’s opponent makes the attack dice roll. Use all rules for ranged attacks against multiple targets, except that every figure hit takes the damage indicated on the trap. Heroes and Mage Spawn can block line of fire, though the Hero opening the treasure chest never blocks line of fire in a ranged attack.

An area-effect (**T**) or ranged (**R**) attack from a treasure chest trap takes effect even if other Heroes or Mage Spawn are standing in squares adjacent to the treasure.

### Wandering Monster Tokens

If a wandering monster token is located so as to take damage from a sprung treasure trap, the token is converted. Place the Mage Spawn using the standard rules, then compare each Mage Spawn’s defense value to the treasure trap’s attack value. If the attack value is higher than the defense value, the Mage Spawn take the damage indicated. This damage can eliminate Mage Spawn as they are placed.

## The Treasure

The treasure inside the chest also appears on a tumbler. There are six positions of treasure. Treasures give individual figures new powers through magic items, gold, or both.

Treasure is what you need to win the game. Treasure is almost never free. You must deal with the traps, Mage Spawn and opposing Heroes before you can gain the gold and win the game. The maximum number of treasure chests a player can possess at any time is equal to twice the number of Heroes he currently has in the dungeon. No member of a player’s Heroic Team can exit the dungeon until the Team has gathered at least one treasure chest.

### Gathering the Treasure

Once the trap has been disarmed or sprung, the Hero can open the chest. It costs 2 speed points to open the chest and gather the treasure. Treasure chests contain special abilities, gold and magic items. If a colored circle or square appears in the first three slots, the Hero can gain the corresponding special ability.

### Maximum Treasure

Players who have collected their maximum allowed number of treasure chests cannot expose new traps, disarm traps, voluntarily abandon treasure, or swap treasure with another player.

### Traps!

Some treasure chests are nothing more than a devious trick. Instead of treasure, it’s another trap. The word **T R A P !** will appear in the treasure slot when the chest is opened.

The player whose Hero is opening the trap shuts the treasure chest, rolls 1 six-sided die and turns the trap tumbler a number of clicks equal to the result. That Hero now faces the new trap. The Hero does not get an opportunity to disarm the new trap. It is automatically sprung. Roll to attack, or place Mage Spawn as normal. Once the encounter with the trap has ended, the treasure chest is removed from the dungeon. No additional experience is gained from the second trap.

### Using the Treasure

Once a Hero has gathered the treasure, the player removes the treasure chest from the dungeon and places the treasure chest in front of him. The player must show the treasure to the other players to prove it is not a trap. At the start of each player’s turn, he or she can assign a treasure’s magical abilities to his or her Heroes.

To assign magical abilities to a Hero, the player places the open treasure chest near the Hero on the board. For the remainder of that player’s turn, the Hero (and only that Hero) may use the bonuses the treasure grants. Each Hero can be assigned a maximum of two treasures. A Hero cannot have two of the same type of magic items at the same time.

The items’ effects last until the beginning of the player’s next turn, at which point the player can reassign the treasure items. The effects of items can be used multiple times, with the exception of Potions.

If the word Potion appears, the effects of the treasure can only be used once. An item with the word Potion on it lasts until the beginning of that player’s next turn. Once the potion is used, close the lid of the chest until the end of the game. This treasure chest cannot be assigned to a Hero for the rest of the game. The gold in the treasure is still used to determine victory.

### Magical Special Abilities

If a treasure grants a special ability, this magical ability replaces the special ability in that Hero’s stat slot. For example, if a Hero has the Weapon Master special ability (the red square over the Attack value) and a treasure offers Sweep (the black circle over the Attack value), Sweep replaces Weapon Master for that turn. A Hero without a ranged attack cannot use a special ability that would affect a ranged attack ability; any other bonus (to speed, attack or defense) can still be used.

If any conflict occurs in special abilities affecting the same action, only one can be used. Attack and damage resolution are considered to be two separate elements of the same action, so a special ability that affects the Damage value and one that affects the Attack value can be used in the same action. For example, Weapon Master and Berserk can be used together, but Magic Blast and Magic Freeze cannot.

### Losing Treasure

When a Hero is eliminated before he or she can exit the dungeon, check to see if the player will exceed the treasure chest limit when the Hero is removed from play. If the limit is exceeded, the extra treasures are placed back in the dungeon.

The player shuts all of his treasures and mixes them up. His opponent randomly chooses as many as needed to restore the two-treasure-per-Hero ratio. The player whose Hero was eliminated places the first treasure on the square from which the Hero was eliminated. The second treasure (if applicable) must be placed in the same tile.

All treasure chests returned to the dungeon are reset to the blank trap space. Do not reset the treasure dial. The next Hero who attempts to gather the treasure must attempt to disarm it according to the Disarming the Trap rules.

### Stealing Treasure

You can also acquire treasure by stealing it from an opposing Hero. To steal a treasure from an opposing Hero, your Hero must have the target in their front arc. First, declare that the Hero will make a theft maneuver. A theft maneuver costs 4 speed points. Roll 2 six-sided dice and add the result to your attack value. Compare the result to the defense value of the target, adding 2 to their defense value. If the number equals or is greater than the revised defense value, the theft is a success.

If the targeted Hero has a treasure chest assigned to him, your thief must take that chest. If the targeted Hero has two treasure chests assigned to him, the player of the thief chooses the treasure. If the targeted Hero does not have a treasure chest assigned to him, the player of the thief chooses a treasure chest at random from his opponent’s unassigned treasure chests.

The targeted Hero can make a counterattack, except if the thieving Hero has one of the following special abilities: Nimble, Limited Invisibility, Stealth or Quickness. If the counterattack inflicts damage, the thieving Hero drops the treasure on the tile in the legal square nearest the attacker. Reset the trap. A theft maneuver does not end a figure’s movement. If the treasure contains a potion that has already been used, the potion is still gone but the gold still counts toward winning the game.

### Storing Treasure

As soon as one Hero exits the dungeon, the owning player can store two of his gathered treasures with that Hero. Those treasure chests cannot be stolen (using the theft maneuver) or lost if another Hero is eliminated. If the treasure chests are stored with a Hero, the magic items cannot be assigned to a Hero still in the dungeon. A player can store treasure chests at the beginning of his turn. Once stored, the treasure chests cannot be brought back into play.

1. ↑ https://www.mageknight.net/wp-content/uploads/Mage-Knight-Pyramid-Rules-2003.pdf