⚔️ SCOUNDREL ⚔️

The Goal

• Survive all 44 cards with your health above 0
• You start with 20 HP

The Deck

• Monsters (26): Black cards (Spades 2-Ace, Clubs 2-Ace) - each deals damage equal to its value
• Weapons (9): Diamonds 2-10 - equip to reduce monster damage
• Potions (9): Hearts 2-10 - heal for the card's value (one per room only)
• Total: 44 cards (red face cards and red Aces have been removed from a standard 52-card deck)

Each Room

• Four cards are drawn
• Decide: You can Flee or Stay
• If Flee: All 4 cards go to the bottom of the deck. Cannot flee again next room!
• If Stay: Choose 3 of 4 cards to interact with (1 auto-discards)

Card Interactions (If You Stay)

• Monster: Choose to fight with weapon or barehanded. Damage = Monster Value - Weapon Value (minimum 0)
• Weapon: Equip it (replaces previous weapon). Resets any degradation.
• Potion: Heal for its value (only first potion in room works; others ignored)

Weapon Degradation

• Once a weapon is used on a monster, it can only be used on weaker monsters going forward
• Example: Use a Diamond 5 on a Jack (11) → weapon locked to maximum value 11 → next monster of value 12 appears → cannot use weapon (need value < 11), must fight barehanded
• Key Mechanic: Weapon remembers the strongest monster it fought and can only be used on monsters weaker than that
• Equipping a new weapon resets degradation (new weapon starts fresh)
• Strategy: Don't waste high-value weapons on weak monsters, and upgrade to better weapons when available

Fleeing Rules

• You cannot flee twice in a row - you must face the next room
• You can flee any other time (except the final room)
• When you stay and complete a room normally, the "fled last room" flag resets
• Final room restriction: When 4 or fewer cards remain (final room), you cannot flee - you must interact with all remaining cards

Final Room

• When 4 or fewer cards remain in the deck, the next room is the "final room"
• In the final room: Only those remaining cards are drawn (not padded to 4)
• You must interact with ALL remaining cards (not just 3 of 4)
• You cannot flee the final room
• Any card you don't select carries over to the final room (if more than 4 cards remain initially)

Card Carry-Over

• If you stay in a room, any cards you don't select are carried over to the next room
• Example: 4-card room, you select 3 monsters but skip the potion → the potion appears in the next room
• Carry-over cards appear in the same position they were in the previous room
• The next room draws fewer new cards to make room for the carry-over card

Victory & Defeat

• Victory: Defeat all 44 cards with HP remaining
• Defeat: Your HP drops to 0 or below

Strategy Tips

• Better weapons significantly reduce damage - prioritize them early
• Potions are valuable but limited - save them for critical situations
• Fleeing shuffles unprocessed cards to the deck bottom, giving you different rooms
• Weapon degradation punishes wasting high weapons on weak monsters - plan ahead
• High monsters early are deadly barehanded - focus on weapons first
• Plan for the final room: Don't save potions if you'll face it soon
• Carry-over cards let you escape bad rooms - skip a dangerous card to draw it later