Too Many Bones

Chip Theory Games

Dice-driven adventure: encounters by day, battles on a grid, skill trees per character. The day loop and battle rounds are modelled, with open questions listed.

1–4 co-op vs Tyrant · cooperative

An adventure is a loop of days against a clock: each day one encounter, peaceful or as a battle, then reward and recovery, until the party has enough progress to challenge the Tyrant. Battle is a subflow with an initiative meter. New for the metamodel: dice are entities with their own faces that you add to your pool through training, and Dex is a single budget for both moving and the number of dice you roll.

Base game, one Tyrant. Picket is fully modelled as data in the content layer, from his official reference card: 14 skill dice and 2 consumables with all faces, 15 face types with effects, backup plan and innate. The standard Atk and Def dice, the other Gearlocs, Baddies, encounters and the Tyrant are still in code.

Goal and end of the game

  • Win Tyrant defeated
  • Loss the Tyrant's last day passed without a win

How the game goes

Follow the track from top to bottom. ↻ repeats, a side track is a branch; under every step: what you decide there. Tap a step for what you decide there.

start↻ Adventureuntil Tyrant defeated, or the day counter past the Tyrant's limit1. New day: daycounter +12. EncounterDraw an encounter, orchallenge the Tyrantby partyPick an option:peaceful or battleby partychoiceif peacefulCarry out the cardtext; succeeds unless…if battle or tyrantBattle'Before battle'effectsBaddie queue: day ×number of Gearlocs…Up to 4 Baddies on themat, roll initiative,…↻ Roundsuntil all Baddies defeated, or all Gearlocs KOFrom round 6: allunits −1 HP, cannot be…↻ Turnsper units on the initiative meter · Tie between Baddies: lane 1 first. Tie between Gearlocs: the party chooses.unit.kindif GearlocEffect dice on thechipMove: 1 Dex perposition, orthogonalby GearlocPick one target(melee: adjacent)by GearlocPick dice up toremaining Dex and roll…by GearlocAtk as damage, Def toactive slots, skills,…by GearlocUse the backup plan(1× per turn, 1–6…by Gearlocif Baddie or TyrantEffects on the chip(bleed, poison,…Determine target:nearest, then weakest…Up to 2 positions, notif already adjacentRoll Def; Atk only ifthe target is in rangeDamage, Bones skills,Tyrant dieEnd of round: refillfrom the queue up to 4Clean up: remove dice,return skills, settle…encounter_resultif successGain progress,training points and…↻ Trainingper GearlocsPer training point:HP, Dex or skill for…by Gearlocif failureNo reward4. RecoveryTrade or discard lootfreelyby party↻ Per Gearlocper GearlocsOne lockpick attempton Trove Loot…by GearlocRest, search forbetter loot, or scoutby Gearlocend of the game
All steps in words
  1. Adventure until Tyrant defeated, or the day counter past the Tyrant's limit
    1. 1. New day: day counter +1

      Skipped on day 1.

      Allowed if day > 1.

    2. 2. Encounter
      1. Draw an encounter, or challenge the Tyrant by party

        One of:

        • draw encounter
        • challenge tyrant

          Allowed if progress ≥ progress_required.

      2. Pick an option: peaceful or battle by party

        Allowed if no Tyrant challenge.

      3. Resolve choice
        • If peaceful
          1. Carry out the card text; succeeds unless the card says otherwise
        • If battle or tyrant
          1. Battle
            1. 'Before battle' effects
            2. Baddie queue: day × number of Gearlocs points, highest first
            3. Up to 4 Baddies on the mat, roll initiative, place Gearlocs
              • Choose grey positions matching the form
            4. Rounds until all Baddies defeated, or all Gearlocs KO
              1. From round 6: all units −1 HP, cannot be blocked

                Allowed if round > 5.

              2. Turns per units on the initiative meter · Tie between Baddies: lane 1 first. Tie between Gearlocs: the party chooses.
                1. Whose turn is it? unit.kind
                  • If Gearloc
                    1. Effect dice on the chip
                    2. Move: 1 Dex per position, orthogonal by Gearloc

                      One of:

                      • move

                        Allowed if dex_left ≥ 1.

                        • Choose orthogonal positions within dex_left
                      • stay
                    3. Pick one target (melee: adjacent) by Gearloc
                      • Choose units in range (melee: adjacent, ranged: all)
                    4. Pick dice up to remaining Dex and roll them together by Gearloc

                      Allowed if dex_left ≥ 1.

                      • Choose subset of Atk, Def and unexhausted skill dice, size ≤ dex_left
                    5. Atk as damage, Def to active slots, skills, Bones to the backup plan by Gearloc
                      • Choose use or ignore rolled skill faces
                    6. Use the backup plan (1× per turn, 1–6 Bones) by Gearloc

                      One of:

                      • use backup plan

                        Allowed if Bones in backup plan ≥ cost of a backup plan skill.

                        • If this Gearloc's backup plan is modelled as data in the content layer: choose backup plan skills with cost ≤ Bones
                        • Choose affordable backup plan skills
                      • skip
                  • If Baddie or Tyrant
                    1. Effects on the chip (bleed, poison, disabled)
                    2. Determine target: nearest, then weakest or strongest
                    3. Up to 2 positions, not if already adjacent
                    4. Roll Def; Atk only if the target is in range
                    5. Damage, Bones skills, Tyrant die
              3. End of round: refill from the queue up to 4
            5. Clean up: remove dice, return skills, settle the outcome
    3. 3. Reward encounter_result
      • If success
        1. Gain progress, training points and loot
        2. Training per Gearlocs
          1. Per training point: HP, Dex or skill for certain; Atk or Def with a roll by Gearloc

            One of:

            • train hp

              Allowed if training point left.

            • train dex

              Allowed if training point left.

            • train skill

              Allowed if training point left and required skills learned.

              • Choose available skill dice in the skill tree
            • train atk

              Allowed if training point left.

            • train def

              Allowed if training point left.

      • If failure
        1. No reward
    4. 4. Recovery
      1. Trade or discard loot freely by party
        • Choose split of loot across Gearlocs, or discard
      2. Per Gearloc per Gearlocs
        1. One lockpick attempt on Trove Loot (optional) by Gearloc

          One of:

          • lockpick

            Allowed if locked Trove Loot in the party, no attempt yet today.

          • skip
        2. Rest, search for better loot, or scout by Gearloc

          One of:

          • rest
          • search loot

            Allowed if at least 1 loot.

            • Choose revealed loot
          • scout

On the table

23 zones and piles
  • encounter deck face down · shuffled — days − 3 general + 1–3 Tyrant encounters shuffled; specials 001–003 fixed on top
  • encounter revealed open
  • progress cards open — under the Tyrant card
  • loot deck face down · shuffled
  • trove deck face down · shuffled
  • loot revealed open
  • loot discard open
  • gearloc loot per player · open — max 4
  • baddies 1 face down · shuffled
  • baddies 5 face down · shuffled
  • baddies 20 face down · shuffled
  • baddie queue face down — BQ: face down, highest points on top
  • battle mat open — 4 lanes, melee and ranged positions on both sides
  • ini meter open — highest initiative first
  • prep area open
  • defeated open
  • skill tree per player · open — skill dice not yet learned, with prerequisites
  • dice pool per player · open — Atk, Def and learned skill dice
  • rolled per player · open
  • active slots per player · open — rolled Def
  • locked slots per player · open — stay between battles until used or KO
  • backup plan per player · open — max 5 Bones, left to right
  • exhausted skills per player · open

Cards and components

effect dice 2 items · structure only

dice 2 items · structure only

gearlocs 1 items · structure only

Under the hood

These rules are read straight from the game's model: the same data the engine plays with. For the exact expressions, the rules diagram and the model source:

Rules diagram

Fan model of a game by Chip Theory Games: only the rules structure is shown, in our own words. Cards, scenarios and play are not published without the publisher's permission. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher.