by varoan
This is a variant I think might work well. One player plays as Vanestra and the various minions, while the rest of the players carry on as usual trying to, in this chapter, defeat Vanestra.To set up the game, the mice will take two tiles, and Vanestra will take two tiles. The Vanestra player then arranges the tiles in a row, with the final tile anywhere next to the last tile in the row. Put the page marker on 8, and choose 5 mice. The mice start on the first tile in the row on the flip space. They each get two ability cards, and two random search cards, shuffling back any fortune/treachery cards they draw. Then set up the encounter deck with 2 normal cards, followed by the difficult cards. Then reveal an encounter card to start the game.
Each room will have the basic rules it had in the storybook, like the alchemist chamber having searches for 1 scroll, queens chamber having webbed rules, ect....and will have an encounter card revealed for it's minions. The final room will have Vanestra in the yellow part of the tile, and the Vanestra player will choose 3 or her cards to start the encounter with, and the fourth will be a surge. Also reveal an encounter card for this room, but place the page 4 minions instead of whatever page the mice are on.
The minion player will control each minion that is on the board. every time there is a surge, in addition to the surge minions, the minion player will get a card from the search deck, and may choose to shuffle away and draw a new card if the card drawn is a treachery or fortune. Treacheries and fortunes do now need to be played right away by the minion player. They may use these cards just like the mice would, disregarding requirements like being a mouse or type needed such as archer. Mice are treated as small minions would be for all these cards. If it is an item, the minion can share it with other minions via normal sharing rules.
The Mice win if they defeat Vanestra clear the final tile before the page marker reaches the end, and the minions win if they defeat the mice or the page marker reaches the end.