The world
Biomes
The game has seven biomes. The current biome determines nearly all available content: specific enemies and bosses, which encounter types appear and how often, its own shops and item pool, themed events, and the scenery shared between hub and battle. The biome is a state independent of progress — a run can get harder without changing scenery, and change scenery without getting harder.
The race ring
Six biomes in a closed ring, each with three home races, and each race split between two neighbours — six of them bridge one biome to the next, and dwarves, goblins and demons each share a border with one of those six. The Sacred sits outside the ring: no home race, which the engine reads as “all of them”. Every run begins there, and the first travel card is the first real decision.
Biome variety is meant to come from travel — a visible player choice — not from an invisible draw at boot. Always starting in the same place gives the run a recognisable origin, against which the first journey stands out.
The Sacred is the only biome outside the ring: every race appears with equal odds. The player sees what came into their hand, and the first journey becomes the first build decision — head for the biome that is rich in what they already have.
What separates one biome from another
What changes between biomes is the probability of each encounter type appearing. The monsters already come from the biome; the strategic personality comes from how the options are drawn there. Biome identity is tabulated data, not special-cased code — adjusting a biome's character means editing weights.
| Biome profile | How it feels to play |
|---|---|
| Heavy on shops | A shopping biome: lots of gold converted into build, few surprises. |
| Heavy on Elite / Boss | A dangerous biome: high loot for a build that is ready. |
| Heavy on free events | A generous biome: cheap rebuilding after a bad stretch. |
| Heavy on specials | A volatile biome: NPC dilemmas that overturn the run. |
| Heavy on one specific shop | A biome that pushes one build archetype. |
Fixed structure per biome
Every biome in the ring — the six outside the Sacred — has, in addition to the shared events:
- A race shop: heroes only, one of each of the three home races in every tray.
- A general shop: any-race hero 50% + themed biome items 50%.
- One dungeon, always closing on a boss, and with no shop inside.
- One special battle outside the dungeon.
- Two of its own free events, and two exclusions from the shared pool, always with a fictional justification.
- Exactly two surface bosses plus the dungeon boss. The ceiling holds for all seven.
- Authored per-biome weights — the seven tables exist but are empty of personality.
- Luminous Tomb is down to two elites after the Vampire became the Deep Hold's boss: the thinnest elite pool in the game.
- Per-biome card titles — they currently come from a single list, so a forest title can appear in the desert.
Sacred Battlegrounds
The tutorial biome. It does not pull toward any race — it pulls toward a hand. Both shops and the free gift teach blade against bow, and the two bosses test it. Melee always strikes the front; a bow strikes a random target. Everything authored here exists so the player discovers that difference before deciding where to go.
| Fantasy | Home races | Excludes from the shared pool |
|---|---|---|
| Sacred field — always the starting point | All races — outside the ring | Black Hole, Weapon Shop |
| Regular | Elite | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| HellDog · Manticora · Wren Halloway · Dorin Ferrow | Elder Hippogriff · Flame Manticora · Blessed Hippogriff | Black Warewolf · Dragon Lord |
| Card | Type | ~Weight | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Muster Tent | Shop | 20 | Heroes only, any race, 3 slots. This is where the team that decides the first journey comes from. |
| Blade and Bow | Shop | 20 | 3 slots in fixed order: a blade, a bow, and a third drawn 50/50 between staff and shield. No potion or food — the tray is the lesson. |
| The Fallen Banner | Free | 4 | Choose 1 of 3, with all three slots guaranteed: a melee, a bow, and a third drawn between staff and shield. |
| The Last Stand | Special | 8 | Five bodies from five different races at 80% of a boss. Prize: three weapons, one of each hand. |
| The Siegeworks | Dungeon | 10 | Combat only, up to the Gatekeeper (Cerberus + Abyss Hound). |
Sunlit Plains
The farming and road biome. Rich in food and in people to hire — the most generous in resources and the mildest in cast.
| Fantasy | Home races | Excludes from the shared pool |
|---|---|---|
| Open grassland | Human · Elf · Demon | Black Hole, Abandoned Cage |
| Regular | Elite | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| Birds of Paradise · Black Bear · Boar · Wild Wolf Cub | Black Boar · Mantis · Wild Wolf | Hell Pumpkin · Sporemaw |
| Card | Type | ~Weight | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trade Caravan | Shop | 20 | One human, one elf and one demon, 3 slots. |
| The County Fair | Shop | 20 | Road goods: simple weapons, provisions and a wide curated potion selection. |
| Farmstead Table | Free | 12 | Choose 1 of 3 harvest foods (pie, eggplant, watermelon, leek…). |
| Last Wish | Free | 10 | Single gift: an undead hero. A nod to the Tomb across the ring. |
| The Wager on the Field | Special | 8 | A duel: only your champion (the highest max HP) takes the field against a knight. The prize is a promotion on them. |
| The Wolf Den | Dungeon | 10 | Fights and chests up to the Black Pack (Den Alpha + Dark Wolf + Cub), paying 2 items. |
Ancient Forest
The biome of the bow and the fae court. Excluding the sword shop is authorship: here the house hand is range, and the fae potions all stack on whoever shoots.
| Fantasy | Home races | Excludes from the shared pool |
|---|---|---|
| Primordial elven woodland | Elf · Werewolf · Goblin | Mercenary Camp, Sword Shop |
| Regular | Elite | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| Bat · Bug · Rat · Wilow | Elder Wilow · Enraged Frog · Green Frog | Bee Queen · Leech Proboscis |
| Card | Type | ~Weight | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Wild Court | Shop | 20 | One elf, one wildkin (werewolf) and one goblin, 3 slots. |
| Greenway Market | Shop | 20 | Curated elven arsenal — bows, nature staves, the Emeraldcutter. |
| The Elder Grove | Free | 14 | Choose 1 of 3 woodland heroes (elf twice as likely as wildkin or goblin). |
| Fae Ring | Free | 10 | Single gift, 100% potion — and all of them bow-facing: Quiver, Hawkeye, Archer's Delight, Thornquiver. |
| The Fae Court | Special | 8 | A fairy between two salamanders, formation locked in order. Prize: an elf joins you. |
| The Hollow Hive | Special | 8 | A swarm of five bodies at 57% of a boss. Pays 2 foods from the hive's larder. |
| Collapsed Ruins | Dungeon | 10 | Ends at the Holy Moose, which opens the armoury under the roots (2 weapons). |
Shrouded Marsh
The hostile biome: the only one with an ambush in its event list — a battle that appears at an event step, without the rhythm's warning. Its two generous gift cards were cut on purpose.
| Fantasy | Home races | Excludes from the shared pool |
|---|---|---|
| Swamp | Werewolf · Undead · Goblin | Oath Altar, Quartermaster's Table |
| Regular | Elite | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| Poison Bat · Spore · GreenJelly · Evil Flower | Corrupted Spore · Thornblade · Quiet Thornblade | Corrupted Blob · Blood Blob |
| Card | Type | ~Weight | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moonlit Stall | Shop | 20 | One werewolf, one undead and one goblin, 3 slots. |
| Bogwatch Outpost | Shop | 20 | Guard bows, curated steel and claw, antidotes. The widest-variety shop in the game. |
| Ambush | Battle | 8 | The only battle flagged isAmbush, licensed to appear among the events. |
| The Glutton Slime | Special | 8 | Five dividing slimes. Pays the swallowed cart (2 items) — and on a loss it eats an item from the stash. |
| The Ferryman | Travel | 10 | An extra passage outside the travel step. |
| The Warren | Dungeon | 10 | The only dungeon with an ambush among its nodes. At the bottom, the Brainster — pays 2× an elite's gold. |
Luminous Tomb
The biome that gives people away and charges dearly in cast. Two free undead sources, a shop that resurrects rather than sells, and the heaviest dungeon in the game — weight 12, three fights before the bottom.
| Fantasy | Home races | Excludes from the shared pool |
|---|---|---|
| Luminous tomb of the undead | Undead · Merfolk · Dwarf | Mercenary Camp, Hunters' Post |
| Regular | Elite | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| Black Spider · Doomskull · Skullcrusher · Ghoulmaw | Cryptwalker · Grim Reaper · Dragon | BoneLord · Lich |
| Card | Type | ~Weight | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Drowned Court | Shop | 20 | One undead, one of the drowned (merfolk) and one dwarf. “No one is sold here. You pay the waking rite.” |
| The Ossuary | Shop | 20 | Curated bone weapons (Death Scythe, Skull Wand) and the largest mortuary potion stock. |
| Mass Grave | Free | 14 | Choose 1 of 3 undead. |
| Bone Witch | Bargain | 3.5 | The rarest card in the game. A trade — neither gift nor shop; she names a steep gold price (178–210) and takes all you have if you can't pay in full. |
| The Restless Dead | Special | 8 | Three of five possible dead. Prize: one of them rises on your side. |
| The Deep Hold | Dungeon | 12 | Two medium nodes against one easy, plus the open crypt. Bottom: Vampire + Renegade Ghoul. |
Enchanted Shallows
The densest biome in cards (seven) and the only one with two free hero sources beyond the shop. Its dungeon is the most varied in the game — five node types, including both gifts and a special battle.
| Fantasy | Home races | Excludes from the shared pool |
|---|---|---|
| Enchanted waters | Merfolk · Lizard · Dwarf | Sword Shop, Abandoned Camp |
| Regular | Elite | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| Duck · Neural Fish · Squiq · Tentacle | Earth Golem · Enhanced Duck · Tortoise | Celestine, The Nagasiren · Maribel, The Nagasiren |
| Card | Type | ~Weight | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tide Market | Shop | 20 | One merfolk, one reef lizard and one dwarf, 3 slots. |
| Driftwood Market | Shop | 20 | Curated sea weapons, fish provisions and tide remedies. |
| Tide Pool Camp | Free | 14 | Choose 1 of 3 merfolk. |
| Pearl Divers | Free | 14 | Choose 1 of 3 divers (merfolk twice as likely as lizard or dwarf). |
| The Mirror Tide | Special | 8 | Mirror: the cast is your own team, renormalised. Prize: a copy of one of your heroes — the merge currency. |
| The Ferryman | Travel | 10 | An extra passage outside the travel step. |
| Sunken Vault | Dungeon | 10 | Five node types. Bottom: the Drowned Digger — 2× an elite's gold. |
Arid Wasteland
The biome of scarcity: its two exclusions cut precisely free food and a free recruit. In exchange, it is the only one with three bosses and the only one whose special card charges a toll on defeat.
| Fantasy | Home races | Excludes from the shared pool |
|---|---|---|
| Arid badlands | Lizard · Human · Demon | Meal, Hunters' Post |
| Regular | Elite | Boss |
|---|---|---|
| Cobra · Fire Salamandra · Scorpion · Pink Pig | Brawn Spider · Fire Cobra · Brown Pig | Ashhorn, Wasteland Tyrant · The Wasteland Bull |
| Card | Type | ~Weight | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sunscale Stall | Shop | 20 | One lizard, one human drifter and one demon, 3 slots. |
| The Dust Bazaar | Shop | 20 | Curated fire weapons (Fire Wand, Dragonic Wand, Flame Staff, Flame Bident) and dust elixirs. |
| Basking Rocks | Free | 14 | Choose 1 of 3 (lizard twice as likely as human or demon). |
| The Mirage | Free | 8 | A half-buried weapon or caravan remains — and the mode is drawn: sometimes a single gift, sometimes 1 of 3. |
| The Bandit Toll | Special | 8 | Two bandits. Pays elite gold ×1.5 — but losing costs half your gold. The only wealth penalty in the game. |
| Ember Caves | Dungeon | 10 | Bottom: the Magma Golem alone, guarding a hoard of fire potions (2 items). |