Etherfields

To set up Etherfields, lay out the central dream board and organize the massive decks of dream, item, and event cards nearby. Each player selects a character, takes their corresponding miniature, player board, and starting deck. Populate the board with initial tokens, threat markers, and scenario-specific elements as dictated by the current campaign book to begin your journey into the surreal.

Etherfields is a cooperative, narrative-driven campaign game set in a bizarre dream world. Players act as Dreamers trying to piece together their lost memories and identity while navigating shifting dreamscapes. The core goal is to explore various scenarios, solve puzzles, defeat nightmarish entities, and progress through a deep, branching storyline that reacts to your choices.

During a turn, players spend stamina points to perform actions such as moving across dream hexes, interacting with the environment, playing cards from their hand to overcome obstacles, and fighting enemies. Card management is crucial since your hand also represents your health pool. After the players take their actions, the dream fights back during the threat phase, introducing new dangers and advancing negative conditions.

There is no traditional point-scoring system in Etherfields. Instead, success is evaluated by campaign progress, unlocking new secret envelopes, discovering lore, and permanently upgrading your character's abilities and deck over a series of connected scenarios.

A scenario ends either in victory when the primary objective is accomplished, or in defeat if the players run out of time, exhaust their decks, or succumb to overwhelming trauma. Depending on the outcome, the campaign branches out, guiding players to different chapters and consequences.