The old king has no heirs to the throne, and has decreed that he will pass his crown to the one who has acquired the greatest amount of mystical power (represented in pentacles) between: the Knight/Dame who kills the last dragons, and the Knight/Dame who kills the greatest number of dragons. Pentacles are awarded in specific amounts to players according to their choices, when they simultaneously choose, without knowing the other player's choice, to form or not to form alliances upon encountering each other along the game path. Pentacle color combinations of 15 pentacles, selected from 9 different colors, are offered to obtain 1 of 3 Amulets of different capabilities to kill the dragons, according to the pentacle combinations offered. In the meantime, the players must prevent the dragons from destroying any of the towns in the 9 shires, as a 13th attack on any town renders it destroyed, which forfeits the game to the dragons. Each time the dice are thrown by any player to advance on the game path in the course of regular play, the dice score numbers also indicate which of the 9 numbered shires has its towns attacked by the dragons, and any undefended towns in those shires receive a damage disc, which must not accumulate to 13 for any town. So, from the outset, an intense race begins to meet a rapid unrelenting onslaught of attacks by the dragons, which attack somewhere on every throw of the dice. A town (18 towns total) can receive a defender when landed on in the course of regular play, which prevents any further damage to that town. A player is knighted when he/she becomes defender of both of the 2 towns in a shire. Once Knighted the play becomes eligible to fight the dragons with an Amulet upon obtaining one. The object for the players is to kill the 6 dragons in a contest against each other according to the above mentioned criteria with the use of the 3 Amulet types (a player can only possess 1 Amulet at a time), but are quickly drawn into a perilous concerted drive to preclude the dragons from thwarting their opportunity with a 13th attack on an undefended town. In a dragon fight each of the 3 Amulet types ensures the defeat of any one of 4 of the 6 dragons, so each of the 3 Amulet types ensures the defeat of a different set of 4 of the 6 dragons. Therefore, an Amulet gives the player a 2 to 1 advantage over the dragon, which could kill the player if it is not one of the 4 listed on the Amulet. Players can prevent being killed if they have an escape card. Amulet features a fascinating paradox where players are compelled to cooperate and form alliances to set up an end game where they can seek to defeat each other. Failure to do so, could brings the game swiftly to and end with victory going to the dragons. —description from the designer