Overview
This is a guide into the basic 4 classes of the game “Journey Into The Beyond” board game being developed by “HandsomeMonkey” on Steam!
Intro
Hello everyone, welcome to your “Journey Into The Beyond”
Journey Into the Beyond is a 2 – 4 player fantasy combat game. The goal of the game is to be the first champion to defeat the boss at the north end of the map. Players move around the map, collecting Essence, items, and discover their hidden potential in this high pace competitive race to the death.
In Journey Into the Beyond, players take on the role of champions who have died and shuffled off this mortal coil. They find themselves in a strange crypt like structure known as the Mausoleum. This peaceful structure provides safety for those not brave enough to challenge the surrounding forest. When a champion eventually falls prey to one of the wide variety of dangers this world holds, they always wake up back at the Mausoleum. There is only one way to escape this purgatory… Slay the guardian of this world and pass into the Beyond.
Keywords
A list of keywords used in the game
AWAKEN: The effect with the statement of Awaken is done whenever someone completes an event/situation (Such as a player kill for The Criminal (Being used as the example image) For how someone wakes up depends on the character.) you do the effect how many times you are suppose to do. For example, The Criminal awakens 
The Map
The Map is simple to understand! The Keywords may take a bit of seeing it in action but the map is quite clear and very easy to understand
Map
First to note are the multi-colored tiles. Green, Blue, Red, Purple, Yellow, the “Bridge” in the center, and the “Rune stone” like objects. Along with a sort of starting gate on the bottom… Of course the two skulls as well which represent a boss (The big skull on top is the main boss) and the mini-boss on the bridge in the water.) Some of them also have a number on them (this will interact with the “Avarice” dice in the mechanics section of the guide! Along with later down on this section)
Let’s start with the most common tiles
I. Red Spaces – Creature Encounter spaces. A player who ends their movement phase on this space draws the top card of the Creature Deck and proceed to combat. If the creature is killed, it is placed face up in the discard pile next to the Creature Deck.
II. Orange Spaces – These are Event spaces. Players who end their movement phase here draw the top card of the Event Deck and proceeds to resolve it. A player must be able to fully resolve an effect on an Event Card. Once an encounter resolves, place it in the discard pile next to the Event Deck.
III. Blue Spaces – These are Mana Reservoir spaces. If your character uses mana, they fully restore their mana.This may happen either after movement, or after an encounter (In the case of Feral Paragon fighting her trails!) In addition, any player may also take a Potion Shop encounter. During a Potion Shop encounter, players may search the Potion Deck for any number of cards and acquire them by paying their value in Essence (noted on the bottom right corner). Players may also sell Item cards for half their printed value. Instead of taking a Potion Shop Encounter, the Feral Paragon may take a Trial Encounter as well.
Now the more uncommon spaces
IV. Spirit Stone, The light tinted yellow space – When a player ends their movement phase on the yellow stone space, they may take a Spirit Stone Encounter. Which you may either pay 5 Essence in order to heal up to your full health value, or pay 10 Essence in order to increase your max HP up by 5+ (6 MAX health boosts. You may go over this with items, but you can only have 6 max health containers). You can do both of these at the encounter time
Player vs Player combat encounter cannot occur on this space. If a card effect or ability would result in initiating combat, it will still resolve normally.
V. Dungeon Spaces, The mountains with a green circle – When a player ends their movement on a Dungeon Space, they take a Dungeon Encounter.
VI. The Blacksmith (Purple Anvil) – Players who take a Blacksmith Encounter Phase may do any of the following:
Pay 10e and place a Sharpened token onto their weapon. A weapon with a sharpened token has an additional +2 attack value. Each weapon may only be sharpened once. You may sharpen any number of weapons you control during this encounter phase.
Look at the top 4 cards of the Loot deck and purchase a card for it’s printed value. (Bottom right for printed value!)
Now the more rare and unique spaces!
VII. Boss Space – Players who end their movement on this space challenge the boss. The giant red skull space where you during set up will put a boss you’ve selected on! Good luck!
VIII. Bridge – The Bridge is the movable, straight piece in the center of the board used as a shortcut across the board. At anytime during their turn, a player may spend 5g to turn the bridge any amount of times in 45 degree increments. A player who ends their movement on the center of the bridge may also choose to fight Khag Nox, the bridge’s guardian. If successful, that player draws a Mythical Item and now controls the bridge. Players who control the bridge do not spend gold to turn it, nor can they challenge Khag Nox a second time. Anytime another player would pay 5e to turn the bridge, that gold goes to the player who controls the bridge. Any other player may challenge Khag Nox to take control. A player may also forgo their Encounter Phase and discard the item named “The Key” to instantly take control of the bridge. They do not draw a Mythic Item.
Its confusing at first, but once you do it a few times it all makes sense!
Lastly the spaces with blue numbers interacts with the “Avarice” dice that is rolled after every single turn. In the lore, the avarice implies the death of someone in the physical world. You drop 5 “Essence” onto the number on the board. If I roll 7, I go to 7 on the board and put 5 Essence there. If you were to be on a tile and the number rolled is yours. It goes “above” you and you must re-walk onto the space to collect the Essence
NOTE: Essence on the board does not mean you have to stay on that space in order to collect it, you may walk right past it and grab it as you go. This will be mentioned again during the movement section
Movement
Each character, unless stated otherwise by a card, item, or effect. Has 5 movement they can use however they wish to on the board. One movement is going from one circle space to another (Including on and off a bridge) on the board. So I can move 3 north, and move back 2 south if I wanted to, or any combo inbetween. I do not even have to use all 5 movement. I can move 2 and stop, hell, I don’t have to move at all if I want to re-encounter the space I am on!
When entering a space, there are a number of effects that can occur. These occur in this specific order:
1. Essence and Items are picked up.
2. Traps are triggered
3. Player vs Player combat Encounter can be initiated
For PvP combat Encounter. Refer to Combat rules about “Priority” to understand how this works. If you ever have a question feel free to go to the Discord (Linked in FAQ) and ask us there!
The Four Classes (You start with!)
The four classes as stated above are
1. The Criminal
2. The Lore Keeper
3. The Feral Paragon
4. The Wanderer
Each one has their own unique style, cards, and skills to work with.
The Criminal has her own unique special skills in order to dominate, surprise, and get sudden bursts of utility in order to destroy her enemies.
The Lore Keeper is a master of magics, using his spells in order to annihilate his enemies
The Feral Paragon can take form of animals, using their abilities to her advantage! Unlocks more by defeating “Ancients”
The Wanderer is a lost monk, exploring the land in order to practice his marital arts and forms on his enemies after a bit of training
The Criminal
The Criminal
The concept of The Criminal is pretty clear and clean. She Awakens from Events, Dungeons, and gets to awaken THREE TIMES from killing her enemies. Out of the first four, she is the most complicated one to fully understand how to use her PROPERLY.
Her Awaken is to draw a card, her deck is completely specialized for what a criminal would do. Tools of the trade giving her advantages in fights, potions and traps to throw at enemies or on the map, and many many more!
Now you may have noticed her “Pay 10g: Turn a profession card facedown.” As a Criminal, she had a life of crime long before she came here. She has four skills based off of it, professions. Each one having their own effects STUNT, basically the effect of having flipped the card. Then a downside (Or upside!) for having the card face up. By paying 10g, you can turn them facedown and use the STUNT effect again!
NOTE: 10g in the future will become 10e, as the currency in the game is going to swap from gold to essance! They also start off with 10g/e right at the start of the game.
Her Professions are the following: Assassin, Burglar, Desperado, and Brigand
We’ll start with Assassin first!
The quickest one to explain, when you use this (By simply flipping it in combat) you will deal 5 damage (Or in other words, when a profession is flipped, you do it’s “Stunt”). However, as long as it is face up (OR as it says on the card “Exposed”!). You will deal -1 physical damage with your weapons (Of which you can just pay 10 Essence(Gold) to flip it over!)
Burglar
As it says on the card. This card (and its stunt effect) can ONLY be flipped face up when you the criminal draw cards. THIS INCLUDES ANY CARDS FROM ANY DECK. IF you draw an Item card, flip this and draw 2 extra. If you awaken you flip and draw 2 extra cards alongside the one you would get from awaken. The downside, the “Exposed” effect is -2 Movement on the map. Which can be quite bad!
Desperado
Desperado is the definition of a clutch card. The Stunt effect either heals you for 5(or 10 if below 5 HP) and draws you 3 cards if you have no Essence. Which can get you key criminal cards you can use, or heal you in a tight pinch. However, the “Expose” effect is quite bad for you. In fact, when you draw the cards from this card. It WILL hurt you for each card you draw. So… I ask you, do you feel lucky?
Brigand
Brigand is both the most unique effect and the most useful as a Criminal. The stunt effect allowing a stun and silence (Of which will be explained in the combat section!) While the “Expose” effect is VERY good for the Criminal. More cards she plays the more counters she’ll get. WIth 3 she is able to flip A profession card down (INCLUDING Brigand) and she can then FLIP THAT PROFESSION AGAIN! To do the stunt effect AGAIN!
The Lore Keeper
The Lore Keeper
The Lore Keeper is a bit special compared to the other four classes. He can “Memorize” spells as his awaken. Of which “Memorizing” means you draw the top 5 cards, choose one, shuffle the rest in, OR remove all 5 from the game and create a mana mox. Mana mox increases your max mana by 5 (which starts at 20!)
At the start of the game, you do this 4 times, giving you a list of spells to work with! Then also pick a “Starting Spell” These are 4 special spells “Blood Surge, Tip the Scales, Frozen Tomb or Living Inferno” which help define what kind of Lore Keeper you’re going to be!
NOTE: These special spells, the 3 you have left (After picking one of the four) get shufffled back into the deck for you to memorize and find.
Now, under his Awaken, whenever he kills a player or a creature, he gets 2 mana back to work with. This applies during a fight as well, not after!
Below that, “Once you reach 12 “Affinity, flip this card”
Affinity is a bit complex, so let us start by stating the “houses” of magic for The Lore Keeper
Fire, Ice, Death, Life, Arcana.
The houses that would “counter” each other stop each other from gaining affinity.
So if I have 5 Fire spells, and 2 Ice spells, I have 3 Affinity. As 5 Fire – 2 Ice = 3 total Fire affinity. The opposite is true as well. If I had 5 Ice and 2 Fire, it’d be 3 total Ice affinity. However Arcana counts ALL Affinity for it, AND houses that wouldn’t counter each other count towards The Lore Keeper’s Affinity.
If I had 6 Fire, 4 Death, and 2 Arcana. I’d have 12 total ARCANE, 6 FIRE, and 4 DEATH affinity. Since I have 12 Arcane Affinity. We flip The Lore Keeper over to the other side.
The starting Lore Keeper will memorize quite often! He gets to do it for creatures he kills, events he does, players he kills, and dungeons! You want to flip over as soon as you can, it changes awakens only to player kills and dungeons, but the effect of it is so strong!
The Feral Paragon
The Feral Paragon
The Feral Paragon is the least “Luck” based character out of the four. Every thing you will do with her will be planned. At the start of the game she picks an “Aspect” to use (Ox, Raven, Fox, or Badger) each one specialized in their own small way
Ox = Tanky and healing
Raven = Magic power and defenses against magic
Badger = Damage to self, or whenever she takes damage, to gain more
Fox = Adaptable
She may only have ONE of Ox, Raven or Badger Aspect active, as the Fox Aspect states you are allowed to have more than one Aspect active along side the fox one! You will then pick TWO of the “X: Mantle, Crown, Greaves” where X is the aspect you have chosen. Usually they have a special ability or stats that will state on the card what they do. You may and should have all three pelts of any aspect you have chosen. You earn from from fighting ancients (Just a bit further explains that!)
After she picks that, her awaken says to “Create an idol” or “Learn a spell” first the spell
That one is quite simple, she’ll have a pile of spells near her that she can open up and pick a single spell to use.
While the “Create an idol” is used for her ancient fights (which are done at the blue mushroom spots, so happens to be the same space she will regain all her mana at the end of her turn!) her idols have many abilities from healing, damage, and CC effects like stun and silence. THEY CAN ONLY be used while fighting an ancient UNLESS you have a card that says otherwise!
Idols
Ancient fights? On the blue mushrooms for her encounter she can choose to fight an ancients instead of a shop. She draws one of three possible ancient and fights it. If she wins, she can gain another pelt ability or an entire new aspect + 1 pelt for that aspect. She may fight as many ancients as she wants to, and will gain a new pelt per one she kills. She does not however gain a special “Metamorphosis” pelt unless she does a special trial
NOTE: She DOES NOT awaken from an ancient fight! Nor does it count as a “Creature Kill” for the Badger Aspect (BADGER ASPECT: After killing a creature, restore 5 HP)
She can also use THREE IDOLS, burning them basically in order to do a harder trial and gain a special type of pelt. An Ancestral trial is fighting two ancients at the same time and pick a pelt from the “Metamorphosis” deck (Which can be used along side any aspect you have)
She can also burn all 6 to draw a mythic item, she cannot use equipment so she keeps drawing until she gets a special card called “Nether Pact” which unlocks a shadow form of The Feral Paragon. Of which is a more advanced version of her. For this guide I will not be explaining what it does, nor will I explain anyone’s Nether Pacts.
She might sound overwhelming compared to The Lore Keeper and The Criminal, but she is by far the most simple to pick up first!
The Wanderer
The Wanderer is a lost soul, you as the player choose one form, or disciple, for the lost Wanderer to follow. You pick one of the three decks, each one with 15 cards to pick from.
1. Disciple
Finding a balance between knowing when to use abilities and when not to. A style of methodical thinking, knowing what your enemy WANTS to do, and knowing what you can do to STOP them from doing it.
2. Kensai
Marital prowess, focuses on having advantages (Such as higher attack value) over their enemy in order to overpower them. Using physical weapons and abilities able to double his damage when combined together.
3. Berskerer
High risk high reward, all or nothing play style, throws regard to the wind. Focusing on “last stand” moments and giving into “his rage” in order to defy death.
Each one having their own “Masteries” adding more to the playing style each one has. Masteries are passive or active effects that you can do usually during combat for an effect.
The Wanderer awakens by doing anything, he draws 2 cards and picks one to keep. If any effect would allow him to draw more than one card. He only needs to put one back ON THE BOTTOM OF THE DECK! this allows the Wanderer to “Keep Track” of whats in his deck and what he could draw next!
After he would place all three masteries down
(NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED TO PLACE A MASTERY DOWN WHEN YOU DRAW IT. YOU MAY KEEP IT IN YOUR HAND IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO FLIP OVER TO THE OTHER SIDE YET!!!)
He flips over to the other side. Where you pick another one of your decks to work with. Allowing synergy bonuses and another set of masteries and tools to work with. His awakens becomes DRAW a Wanderer card, while he only Awakens from kills and dungeons! Thus is a more “Late game” flip to do after you’ve drawn all or most of the deck you start with!
Boss
Likely this boss will be the one to start with, as she is the easiest boss to understand, and has no serious mechanics besides her little babies she spawns. Her name is Jerger Mor, The Broodmother
With her children, “Scrap Chasers”
As Jeger Mor’s card states. When this boss is picked, shuffle in 10 of her “Scrap Chaser” babies into the deck. Her “Encounter” is she draws all of her children out of the creature deck (NOT the Discard deck)
She also has this mechanic
Malevolence: On Disengage, Deal (X) damage to ALL participants in combat. Where X in this case is 5.
She’ll also deal double damage to all characters with poison (Meaning her children give you poison then she deals double!)
Combat Phases, and how Stuns and Silences work!
Combat is broken up into three phases; Approach, Clash and Disengage.
Approach – This is where most abilities are activated, and spells are cast. Players may only activate abilities if they currently have Priority (described in detail below). Players may only cast one spell per approach phase. All damage during this phase is considered to be Magic Damage. If someone would to give swords during this. It is dealt during the Clash phase.
Clash – In this phase, damage is totaled up and assigned simultaneously. If either party has the effect “Advantage”, that party assigns their damage first. Each party deals damage to each other equal to their attack value minus their opponents Armour value. Combat ends the moment either party has no more hit points.
NOTE: “Attack value” are the Sword Icons on items, abilities, spells and “Armour” value is equal to the shield icons on items, abilities, and spells
Along with all damage in Approach being Magical damage, the small purple orbs are “Repression” which reduces magic damage the same way armor reduces physical clash damage.
Disengage – This is where effects end, final effects resolve before the next combat round, and any Maneuver cards played are shuffled into their respective decks. Effects that would do something on this phase, do not happen if a creature is killed on Clash.
During combat, players may have keywords such as “Stun” and “Silence” during combat. Each one has their own effects for combat of course.
STUN: Skips, or stops, all PHYSICAL COMBAT from the player. Basically, skip THEIR clash phase.
SILENCE: Silence the enemy, any ABILITIES are silenced. Meaning no spells, no abilities can activate, and most items cannot be used.
There is PREVENT effects that exist in the game. Such as potions. Which you are allowed to do even if an enemy has “Priority”
Wait, what is “Priority”?
When PvP combat starts, whoever initialized the combat has “Priority” meaning they can use all their spells and abilities first in approach. HOWEVER all damage during CLASH is done at the same time. Usually.
So if Player 1 goes to Player 2. Player 1 Says “I don’t wanna fight you. I am friendly!” Player 2, who is on the space Player 1 is heading to. Can choose to say “Sure, I am friendly as well!” and no combat happens.
If Player 1 wanted to move past player 2, they must also ask friendly and unfriendly. If either side says unfriendly they start with “Priority” and PvP combat starts!
Q&A (Taken from Discord)
Q1. Do silenced abilities still retain their stats (ex: attack value/armor etc)?
Silence blanks any writing/special effects on the card, however stats remain untouched. The Exception is cards that grant X as a value are treated as if X equals zero.
Q2. As the Criminal, when can I flip my Profession Abilities?
They can be turned face up anytime you have priority, except Burglar, which can only be flipped when drawing Item or Criminal cards
Q3. When can I use Prevent Effects?
Anytime the effect that you are preventing is activated, you may prevent it. If an Item or Ability says it can be used as a Prevent Effect, you may play it at anytime.
Q4. What’s the difference between Reduction and Prevention?
Damage Reduction is a static resistance that reduces either Magic or Physical damage via Armor/Repression. Prevention is used via abilities to entirely negate any source of damage.
Q5. I am encountering a “Minimum Wage Sentry” room during a Dungeon Encounter. One of the creatures is Goblin Rattleshaker. Does it’s encounter ability resolve?
Yes. Encounter means when it enters play, regardless of how it got there.