Belaad: The Land of Swords and Quills
Belaad: The Land of Swords and Quills Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Section One: Game Components
- Section Two: Game Setup
- Section Three: Playing the Game
- Section Four: Game Rules
- Section Five: Using Swords
- Section Six: The Order of Hashashin
- Section Seven: Game End and Scoring
- Description of the Kingdom Characters' Abilities
- Description of the People Characters' Abilities
- Description of the Order Characters' Abilities
- Counting the Scholars Points
- Description of Hashash Cards
- Quick Reference to Primary and Secondary Actions
Section One: Game Components
Character Boards (14 Boards)
Each of the Kingdom (5 Boards), People (5 Boards), and Order (4 Boards) teams have characters with unique abilities. The information about these characters is provided on separate boards with three distinctively colored marks.
The marks on the boards for the Kingdom, People and Order team are blue, green and red respectively. The empty diamonds at the top (1) of each board are for placing white and orange tokens, and the one at the bottom (2) is for placing orange tokens. Each character's image is printed in the middle of the board (3) and its specific symbol is shown at the top (4). The character's special ability is written on a scroll under the character's image, next to the character's name (5).
The immediate-effect symbol (6) shows that the character's special ability has an immediate effect.
The ongoing-effect symbol (7) shows that the character's special ability has an ongoing effect. This abilities remains active as long as an orange token is placed at the bottom of that character's board.
Action Cards (57 Cards)
Action Cards make up the general course of the game. Each Action Card has three sections. The upper sections of action cards (1) show the Primary Actions, and the lower sections (2) show the Secondary Actions available by playing them.
The middle section (3) shows the cost that players must pay to perform the secondary actions.
Scholar Cards (30 Cards)
The objective of the game is to employ the most valued scholars from among these cards. Each scholar's image is shown in the middle of the card (1) and the points scored by scholars are next to the scholar's name on the bottom ribbon (2). The top ribbon (3) shows the cost of employing each scholar for the players of the Kingdom or People team. Note that some of the top ribbons contain symbols (4) that are exclusive to the Order team.
Battle Cards (24 cards)
These cards are used during battles and are categorized into three general groups:
- Green cards (1), which increase military strength (16 cards).
- Red cards (2), which decrease military strength (4 cards).
- Gray cards (3), which result in the defeat of one player and end the battle immediately (4 cards).
Tokens (70 Pieces)
White tokens (50 pieces) are placed at the top of each character's board and increase the power of that character's ability.
Orange tokens (20 pieces) are placed at the bottom of each character's board to activate their special ability.
- Gain Income (12 pieces) [Gold coins]
- Attain Influence (7 pieces) [Handshake]
- Recruit (7 pieces) [Scroll]
- Increase Military Strength (13 pieces) [Swords]
- Steal (11 pieces) [Grabbing hand]
- Orange tokens (20 pieces)
Swords (5 Swords)
Swords are one of the game's deciding components and are used for three purposes:
-
In battles
-
To employ some of the Scholars
-
Negating [Skull] Symbols
-
The number of swords is limited and if you run out, they cannot be substituted.
Coins (50 Pieces)
The game has gold coins worth 3 units (1) and 1 unit (2) and red coins worth 1 unit (3). Coins are the main assets of players to achieve victory. Scholars are employed with gold coins. Red coins are generally used to perform secondary actions.
- Both red and gold coins are unlimited. If you run out of coins, you can find a substitute for them.
Gold coins worth 3 units (13 coins), gold coins worth 1 unit (12 coins), red coins worth 1 unit (25 coins).
Hashash Cards (14 Cards)
Hashash cards are for the exclusive use of the Order team. The team can gain extra abilities by playing these cards.
Bag (1 Bag)
The white and orange tokens are placed in the bag and players randomly draw them out during the game.
Game Rules (1 Booklet)
This rulebook is your guide to learn how to play the game. You can also use the QR code printed on the first page to watch the tutorial video.
The Scholars Guidebook (1 Booklet)
This guidebook contains brief information about the Scholars and their inventions and discoveries.
- Reading this guidebook is not necessary for learning the gameplay.
Reference Cards (7 Cards)
These cards provide a summary of the game rules and help you remember them throughout it.
Section Two: Game Setup
- Place the character boards of each team in the middle of the play area separately.
- Shuffle the Scholar cards, randomly remove 10 cards and return them to the box without seeing them. Place the remaining 20 cards face down in a corner of the play area and reveal 5 cards.
- Shuffle the battle cards and place them face down in a corner of the play area.
- Place the red and gold coins and the swords in the Pool (at a designated corner of the play area) where everyone can reach them during the game.
- Place all the white and orange tokens in the bag and place the bag in the middle of the play area where everyone can reach it during the game.
- Give each player one gold coin, one red coin, and four action cards.
- Split all the remaining action cards into three decks so that the number of cards in each deck is roughly the same. Place each deck face-up separately in the middle of the play area. Also, designate a space in the play area for the discard pile.
- Shuffle the Hashash cards and place them next to the boards of the Order team face down.
The setup is done. Next, decide on the teams and the starting player before beginning the game. If the number of players is even, half the players become the Kingdom team and the other half play as the People team. The players of each team must be seated alternatively, in other words, each player must be seated between two players of the opposing team. If the number of players is odd (3 or 5), one of the players plays as the Order team and the rest of the players are split between the Kingdom and People teams as described before. Accordingly, the players should be seated in a way so that they have players of opposing teams on each side (the Order player must have a player of the Kingdom and People team on each side).
The youngest member of the Kingdom team will be the starting player. In 2 and 3-player games, the Kingdom team player begins the game.
Players must not reveal their action cards.
If the number of players is even, return the Order team character boards and the Hashash cards to the box.
Section Three: Playing the Game
Belaad is very easy to play. Each player has 4 Action Cards, and by turn, players must play 1 card from their hand and then replenish their hand by drawing 1 card from any of the 3 decks in the play area (step 7 of the game setup). Players would have 4 cards in their hands at any time.
The game is played in 4 generations. In each generation, 5 Scholars appear (Step 2 of the game setup) and the players in the Kingdom and People teams attempt to attract and employ these Scholars. The Order player tries to assassinate the Scholars. The players will have to gain gold coins to employ more Scholars by the end of the 4th generation and the end of the game.
As mentioned before (Step 2 of the game setup), at the beginning of the game, 5 Scholar cards are revealed and the 1st generation starts. As the game progresses, the players obtain Scholars. When three Scholars from the 1st generation have been employed/assassinated, the remaining 2 cards are discarded and the game moves on to the next generation. Again, 5 Scholars are revealed and as soon as 3 of them are employed/assassinated, the remaining cards are discarded and a new generation starts. The game continues as so and is over at the end of the 4th generation. The team with the most points will be the winner.
The Order team comes in play in 3 or 5-player games and follows a different goal. To win, the Order must assassinate a certain number of Scholars by the end of the game (end of the 4th generation). If they succeed before the end of the 4th generation, the game ends immediately and the Order team wins. If the Order cannot assassinate enough Scholars by the end of the 4th generation, they lose and the points of the Kingdom and People teams determine the winner.
Section Four: Game Rules
The Kingdom team starts the game and turns continue clockwise. In their turn, each player chooses 1 card from their 4 Action Cards and plays it. To play the card, the player reveals it and places it in the middle of the play area face up (discard pile) and performs the actions on the card. Then the player picks the topmost card from any one of the 3 decks in the play area and adds it to their hand.
If after drawing your card any of the 3 decks are depleted, shuffle the discarded cards together with the cards in the remaining 2 decks, and once more, split the cards into 3 decks which are roughly the same number (place the decks face up so that the topmost cards are visible).
You must have 4 action cards in your hand at all times during the game.
Description of Actions
Each Action Card has two actions:
Primary Actions
The primary actions can be performed as soon as the card is played.
Secondary Actions
To perform the secondary actions, first, the cost must be paid (red and/or gold coins). If paid, each player can perform both the primary and secondary actions in their turn. The order of the actions is up to the player.
In this section, different types of actions are explained and a summary is also provided on the last page of this rulebook.
Collecting Gold Coins
By playing this Action Card the player collects the same number of gold coins specified on the card from the pool.
Collecting Red Coins
By playing this Action Card the player collects the same number of red coins specified on the card from the pool.
In 4 to 6-player games in which the Kingdom and People teams have 2 or 3 players, each player's coins are kept separately. If a player does not have enough coins to pay, they can use their teammate's coins with their permission.
Drawing Tokens
This Action Card allows the player to randomly draw the specified number of tokens from the bag and place them on their team's character boards.
White tokens must be placed at the top of the character board determined by the symbol on the token. If all of the allocated spaces at the top of the character board are filled, the token is discarded without use and returned to the bag.
In this example, all of the 3 tokens drawn from the bag are white and should be placed at the top of character boards. The two [Tokens] tokens are placed on the character board of the «Folk Hero». But the [Token] token is discarded and returned to the bag because no free spaces are available on the «Preacher» character board.
Orange tokens are usually placed on bottom of the character boards to activate their ability. Orange tokens can also be placed on the top of a character board (same as white tokens).
Orange tokens are placed at the bottom of the character boards to use that character's ability. They stay in that space and that character's ability cannot be activated again as long as the token is there. Once all designated spaces for the orange tokens at the bottom of the character boards of one team are filled, remove all orange tokens and return them to the bag. Now, you can activate the abilities of the characters of your team again by placing orange tokens at the bottom of their character board.
Once all of the spaces for orange tokens at the bottom of the character boards are occupied, all of those orange tokens must be removed and returned to the bag at the end of the player's turn. For example, if you draw 2 orange tokens from the bag and there is only 1 free space at the bottom of your character boards, you can place 1 of the tokens in the allocated space and the other token at the top of one of the character boards, otherwise it is returned to the bag. After placing 1 orange token on the last free space at the bottom of the character boards, you cannot return the orange tokens of your team to the bag and then place the other token in the newly vacant spaces. In this situation, you must place the second token on a free space at the top of one of your character boards or return it to the bag.
Activating Character Symbols
Action Cards showing a character's symbols allow you to activate that character's ability in your team.
If there are 2 or 3 symbols on the Action Card, you can only select one and play it.
Next, activating each of the five symbols is explained.
Treasurer / Trustworthy / Hashash — An Action Card with this symbol activates the Treasurer/Trustworthy/Hashash and allows the player to collect gold coins from the pool. The number of collected coins through this Action Card is the same as the number of the [Gold coins] symbols shown on that team's character board.
All of the character boards have at least one designated symbol. By placing tokens drawn from the bag during the game, the number of characters' symbols increase. In other words, the [Gold coins] and [Golden coin token] symbol are the same.
By playing this card and selecting the [Gold coins] symbol, the Treasurer is activated and you collect 4 gold coins from the pool.
Sheriff / Altruist / Spy — This Action Card allows the player to steal the same number of gold coins from one of the opponent players as the [Grabbing hand] symbols on the Sheriff/Altruist/Spy character board.
If the number of gold coins owned by the player you want to steal from is less than the number of the [Grabbing hand] symbols of your team's character, you can only steal those coins. You cannot collect the remaining coins from another player or the pool.
In this example, the number of the [Grabbing hand] symbols of your team determines that you can steal 3 coins, but you can only steal 2 because your opponent player owns only 2 gold coins.
Vizier / Preacher / Sect Leader — An Action Card with this symbol activates the Vizier/Preacher/Sect Leader and allows the player to draw the same number of tokens from the bag as the [Scroll] symbol of your team's character and place them in their permitted spaces on the character boards (same as the rules for the [Tokens] action).
Employing a Scholar — By playing this Action Card, the player can employ a Scholar for their team. The player which has played the Action Card containing this symbol chooses one of the revealed scholars and pays the required cost (gold coins) to the pool. After paying the cost, the player collects the chosen Scholar card and places it by their board.
If you do not have enough coins to employ a Scholar, you can collect the rest from your teammates' coins.
The [Handshake] symbols on the Sultan and Bahlool characters make it possible to pay less for employing Scholars. The coins required for employing Scholars are reduced by the number of [Handshake] symbols of the team's character.
You can employ one Scholar by playing this Action Card and selecting the [Handshake] symbol. For example, you must pay 10 gold coins to the pool to employ Khayyam; however, because there are 4 [Handshake] symbols on the Bahlool character board, you pay 4 coins less and employ Khayyam by paying 6 coins.
Battles
Playing this Action Card initiates a battle. After playing this Action Card the player chooses an opponent and places the Battle Cards face down in front of that player.
In 4 and 6-player games, you can only initiate a battle with the player on your left. In 3 and 5-player games, you first select the opposing team of your choice (Kingdom/People/Order) and then initiate the battle with the opponent player closest to you (on your left).
Before starting the battle, both sides have a certain amount of military strength. The military strength of each player is determined by the number of [Swords] symbols on the Commander/Folk Hero/Assassin character boards. After calculating the initial military strength, players then start revealing the Battle Cards. The goal is to increase military strength since, in the end, the player with the higher military strength prevails.
The player with less military strength starts the battle and may reveal cards until they have more military strength than their opponent. Then, the other player which now has less military strength plays their battle turn and the battle goes on in this order. Each player can decide to take one of these two actions in their battle turn:
1. Admitting defeat and forfeiting the battle: The battle ends with the decleration of defeat. In this case, the opponent is the winner of the battle and receives the spoils of war as a reward. The spoils of war are explained on page 16.
2. Revealing a Battle Card: If the player with less military strength does not intend to admit defeat, they must reveal the topmost card of the battle deck. The number written on that card is added to or subtracted from the military strength of that player's team (the numbers on the Battle Cards can be positive or negative). After revealing cards and determining the new military strength of the other side, the battle turn goes to the player with the less military strength. This player can decide to take one of the two actions.
In the case of a draw in military strengths, the strength of the aggressor (the player who has played the Action Card containing the [Swords] symbol) is considered less than the defender and must proceed with their battle turn.
The Battle continues in this way and ends at one of the following 3 events:
1. If one of the parties admits defeat in their turn. The winner collects the spoils of war.
2. If one of the parties reveals a battle card with a [Skull] symbol in their turn. The player revealing this card loses the battle regardless of their military strength. In this case, the winner not only collects the spoils of war but also picks one of the characters of the losing team and removes all tokens (white and orange) on that character's board and returns them to the bag.
3. When there are no more battle cards. At this time, the player with the higher military strength is the winner (in case of a draw, the defender is the winner) and collects the spoils of war.
Spoils of War
There are two types of spoils of war depending on whether the winner is the aggressor or the defender.
If the aggressor is the winner of the battle: The player secretly takes a look at the next battle card (on the top of the battle deck) and places it face down next to their play area (the card should not be revealed). At the end of the game, this card gives the team the number of victory points written on the top of the card.
If the defender is the winner of the battle: If there are any swords in the pool, the player collects one and places it next to their play area (using sword is explained on page 22).
In any case, at the end of each battle, the discarded battle cards must be shuffled into the remaining battle deck to form a new deck which is used in future battles.
Example of a Battle
An example of a battle between the Kingdom and People teams. The table below is explained on the next page.
In this example, the player of the Kingdom team has one sword from the beginning of the battle and can use it.
| Step | Battle Turn | Military Strength of the Kingdom Team | Military Strength of the People Team | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kingdom | 3 | 5 | +2 in favor of the People |
| 2 | Kingdom | 5 | 5 | +0 in favor of the People |
| 3 | Kingdom | 6 | 5 | +1 in favor of the Kingdom |
| 4 | People | 6 | 4 | +2 in favor of the Kingdom |
| 5 | People | 6 | 9 | +3 in favor of the People |
| 6 | Kingdom | 6 | 9 | +3 in favor of the People |
| 7 | Kingdom | 11 | 9 | +2 in favor of the Kingdom |
| 8 | People | 11 | 9 | +2 in favor of the Kingdom |
The player of the Kingdom team initiates a battle with the player of the People team (the player on his left) by playing an Action Card containing a [Swords] symbol. First, according to the symbols of the Folk Hero and Commander character boards, the initial military strength of the two players is 5 to 3 (in favor of the People) (1). The player with less military strength (the Kingdom) reveals a Battle Card from the top of the battle deck {+2} and the kingdom's military strength increases to 5 (2). Once again, the player with less military strength reveals the next Battle Card. Now, that the strengths are equal {5 to 5}, the aggressor (the Kingdom) must reveal a card. Remember that instead of revealing a card, any of the battle participants can admit defeat and end the battle. The battle goes on in this way (3, 4, 5) until the player of the Kingdom team who is at 6 opposed to 9, reveals the [Skull] card and loses; however, by discarding a sword, this card's effect is negated and the battle continues (6) (the uses of swords are available on page 22).
Then, the Kingdom team's player reveals another card {+5}, which changes the results to 11 to 9 in their favor (7). Finally, as the People team's player reveals the [Skull] card and has no swords to negate the effect, the battle is concluded and the Kingdom team emerges triumphant (8).
Because the battle has ended by revealing the [Skull] card, all white and orange tokens of one of the defeated team's characters are removed (any character the winner desires). The winner collects the spoils of war and takes the next battle card on the top of the Battle deck, secretly takes a look at the card and places it face-down next to their play area. The number at the top of this card is added to the victory points of the Kingdom team at the end of the game.
Activating Any Character's Symbol
The Action Card with this symbol allows the player to activate the symbol's ability of any one of their team's characters ([Scroll] / [Grabbing hand] / [Gold coins] / [Swords] / [Handshake]) and play with the same rules of the corresponding section for any of the characters.
Eliminating Opponent Tokens
This action allows the player to choose one of the opponent's characters and remove all white and orange tokens placed on that character's board and return them to the bag (Same as the [Skull] symbol on the Battle Cards).
The Treasury
After this action is done, all gold coins belonging to you and your teammates will be transferred to the Treasury. The Treasury of each team is controlled by the Treasurer/Trustworthy/Hashash characters. The [Golden coin token] symbol on the bottom of their character boards is a reminder of this.
To transfer coins to the Treasury, you just need to place the coins on the character board of your team that has the [Golden coin token] symbol.
The coins deposited into the Treasury cannot be stolen.
If you want to spend coins (for any purposes), you must first withdraw the coins from your team's Treasury, then you can use your coins and if necessary, those of your teammates' afterward.
Increasing Symbol Strength
This action, which is a secondary action, increases the strength of the characters' symbols (until the end of this action). For example, an Action Card with the [Gold coins] symbol allows the player to collect the same number of coins from the pool equal to their team's character [Gold coins] symbols. Now, if you decide to use the secondary action simultaneously, the number of [Gold coins] symbols of that character is considered to be two more at that moment and 2 more coins are collected from the pool.
(The military strength of the Folk Hero in this case is 7)
By playing this card and choosing the [Swords] action, you initiate a battle. If you pay two red coins to perform the secondary action, 2 more [Swords] symbols are added temporarily to the Folk Hero so that you would have 2 more military strength in this battle.
Using a Top Card of the Action Decks
By performing this action, the player can instantly choose one of the three Action Cards on the top of the three Action Decks and perform that card's action(s).
While performing this Action, you only perform the actions (primary and secondary) of one of the top cards from the three decks. You don't pick up or remove that card from the deck.
After performing the action of the selected Action Card at the end of your turn, you can add that card to your hand if you like.
This Action Card allows you to activate the ability of any of your team's character symbols. But in this case, before performing the primary action, you have performed the secondary action (by paying two gold coins) and now you can choose one of the cards from the three decks. By choosing the card on the left and performing the primary action, you first draw 4 tokens from the bag (because there are 4 [Scroll] symbols on the Preacher's board) and place them on the corresponding character board. Now considering the number of symbols on the Altruist's board, you can choose the primary action of your card and steal 6 gold coins from an opponent player (instead of the previous 3 gold coins).
Combos
By performing this action, you may create a combo by selecting an Action Card with this same action. Note that in this way, you may only use a specific Action Card once in your turn.
By playing this Action Card you first collect 4 gold coins from the pool (1). Then, by paying 2 gold coins to the pool (2) you activate the secondary action and you are allowed to perform the actions of one Action Card from the top of the three action decks. By choosing the card on the left and selecting the primary action of [Handshake], you can employ one Scholar; however, before doing so, you first perform the secondary action of this card by paying 2 red coins (3). Now, you can once more select one of the action cards on the other two action decks and perform it. This time, by selecting the middle card you collect 3 gold coins from pool (4). Now that you have enough coins to employ «ibn Hayyan», you perform the primary action of [Handshake] on the card on the left action deck. Because the Sultan has 3 [Handshake] symbols, the player must pay 7 coins to the pool to employ «ibn Hayyan».
Section Five: Using Swords
Using a sword does not count as an action and can be used in one of the following 3 ways:
- Negating the effect of the [Skull] symbol on Battle Cards (preventing the elimination of tokens of one of your team's characters) and resuming the battle normally.
- Negating the effect of the [Skull] secondary action played by the opponent (preventing the elimination of tokens of one of your team's characters).
- Employing a Scholar by spending swords. On some Scholar cards, there is also a picture of swords (such as [Swords/Gold coins/Handshake]) in addition to the gold coins. To employ this scholar, you may spend swords instead of gold coins.
To employ a Scholar by spending swords, you don't need an entire turn. Each player may pay one or two swords to the pool (according to the number on the Scholar card) and get the Scholar before or after playing an Action Card.
Some of the Scholars cannot be employed by spending swords (as there are no swords on their cards).
You can only employ one Scholar in each turn. For example, if you employ one Scholar by using the [Handshake] Action Card, you cannot employ another Scholar by spending swords in the same turn.
Each player's sword are kept separate from other players' swords and cannot be used by their teammates. For example, you cannot use your teammate's swords to negate the [Skull] Battle Card. Also, you cannot employ a Scholar by spending your teammate's swords in your turn.
Section Six: The Order of Hashashin
«The Order» gameplay is the same as other teams, except for some minor differences. The Order play rules are reviewed in this section.
- When the Order team player draws a white token with the [Grabbing hand] symbol from the bag, since there is no character in Order team with this symbol, the token is discarded immediately and returned to the bag.
- In 5-player games, the number of Action Cards in the Order team player's hand is 5 throughout the game (instead of 4). The player must also play two Action Cards in their turn. Then, they select two cards from the three decks and add it to their hand. Both cards are drawn one after another and the player can select both cards from one deck.
- One of the tools that are only available to the Order team are the «Hashash Cards». There is one of the ([Scroll] / [Swords] / [Grabbing hand] / [Gold coins]) symbols marked on the back of each Hashah Card and when the card is drawn, the Order team must place that card at the bottom of the corresponding character board (visible to all of the players). Each Hashash Card has a unique ability which the Order team player can use in addition to Action Cards in their turn. Each of the Hashash Cards can be used only once per turn.
- The descriptions of Hashash Cards are available on page 34.
You can put these cards into play by activating the Hashash character's ability at the bottom of its board.
To use the abilities of Hashash cards, you just need to pay the specified number of coins to the pool and there is no need to use orange tokens unlike the abilities written at the bottom of the other teams' character boards.
In this example, the [Swords] symbol is on the back of both selected cards, and therefore, the cards should be placed face up at the bottom of the Assassin's character board.
After performing the [Tokens] action and drawing an orange token from the bag, you can place it at the bottom of the Hashash character board and use this character's abilities. By activating this ability, you draw 3 cards from the Hashash Card deck and select two of them. Then, place the selected cards at the bottom of your team's character boards. Discard the third card by placing it at the bottom of the Hashash deck. There is a symbol of one of the characters on the back of each Hashash Card, which determines where that card should be placed.
- If because of the effect of the [Skull] symbol (defeat in a battle or a secondary action of an opponent's card) the entire tokens on one of the Order team's character are removed, the cards placed at the bottom of that character board are also discarded and placed at the bottom of the Hashash deck.
- The Order player cannot gain any swords throughout the game.
- If the Order player wins a battle, they receive different spoils of war. The prize of the Order team is not a sword or points gained from the next Battle Card. In this case, the Order player assassinates one of the opponent character's symbols (one token). At this event, a token of choice is removed from the top of any of the character boards of the defeated team and placed next to the Order player. These tokens remain there until the end of the game and are considered an assassinated character.
- The Order player must activate the ability of the Sect Leader to assassinate a Scholar (by placing an orange token at the bottom of this character's board). This ability allows the player to removes his preferred Scholar (from the revealed Scholars) by paying 4 gold coins and placing it next to their play area. These cards remain with the Order player until the end of the game and are considered assassinated Scholars.
Section Seven: Game End and Scoring
The game ends in two ways:
A) As soon as the Kingdom or People team employs the third Scholar from the revealed Scholars of the 4th generation. In this case, the Order team (if in play) loses unconditionally, and counting the points between the Kingdom and People teams determines the winner.
The final score of the Kingdom and People teams is the sum of Scientific and Military points.
Scientific Points
The scientific points of each team are the sum of the scientific symbols ([Scientific symbol]) on Scholars cards, which have been employed by that team during the game. Each Scholar Card has some Main Scientific Points (immediate points) and Auxiliary Scientific Points (extra points).
The main scientific symbols are always calculated as immediate points.
The auxiliary scientific symbols are only calculated as points on certain conditions; therefore, they are called extra points.
The extra points, which are added according to the bottom section of the Scholar cards, have 2 types:
- Pay gold or red coins to receive points equal to the number of scientific symbols:
- There are three special scientific specialties represented by the following symbols [Specialty A], [Specialty B], and [Specialty C]. Scholars with identical specialties score extra points. The numbers of these points are determined according to the number of Scholars with identical specialties (as shown in the table).
| Number of Scholars with an Identical Specialty | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The sum of Extra Points | 0 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
In other words, if you have one Scholar with a [Specialty] symbol, at the end-game scoring you receive no extra points. But if you have more than one Scholar with identical specialty symbols, you receive extra points based on the table aboved.
Military Points
Military points are gained from the Battle Cards collected as the «Spoils of War». Points gained from Victory in Battles.
Next, an example of the final scoring for the Kingdom and People teams is reviewed.
The game is concluded by employing the third Scholar in the last generation and the winner is the team that has collected the most points (scientific & military). To count the scores, you first place all of your team's Scholar cards on the table and count their immediate points. As you can see, the sum of the points gained by the main scientific symbols (immediate points) is 16. To count the extra points, the conditions at the bottom of each card must be met separately. The first card (1) grants 1 point in exchange for 3 red coins. The second card (2) grants 1 point in exchange for 3 coins (any combination of red and/or gold coins). The third card (3) grants 1 point in exchange for 2 gold coins. The fourth card (4) has no extra points. Based on the table on page 27, the last 3 cards (5) which have identical specialties grant a total of 5 points. Assuming that the entire remaining coins of your team at the end of the game are similar to the above example (6), you should allocate your coins to each card to gain the extra points of the first three cards (1, 2, 3). In such a case, you can assign 3 red coins to card (1) and 2 gold and 1 red coin to card (2). As you will have only 1 gold coin left, you can not gain extra points from card (3). Therefore, by counting the extra two points from cards (1) and (2), and also the 5 points from the last 3 cards (5), you have gained 7 extra points and your total scientific score is 23. Considering the [Battle symbols] on the battle cards, the military points of this team is a total of 4. Ultimately, the final score of the team sums up to 27.
In the case of a tie between the Kingdom and People teams, the winner is the team with the most swords. If there is still a tie, the team with the most gold coins is the winner. If there is still a tie, both teams share victory.
B) The second circumstance which ends the game is when the Order team meets all their victory conditions. In such a case, the game ends immediately and the Order team is the winner of the game. There is no need for scoring.
The victory conditions of the Order team are completely different and can only be achieved before the end of the game (the end of the 4th generation of Scholars). If the game ends without the Order team meeting the conditions, they lose unconditionally and the winner would be one of the Kingdom or People teams. The Order team wins only if it can assassinate enough Scholars until the number of their scientific symbols ([Scientific symbol]) collectively is 6. Next, an example of the end of the game by the Order team and their victory is presented.
Main scientific symbols at the top row are counted as points for the Order team. The auxiliary scientific points at the bottom row of the Scholar cards are not counted.
As the Order team's player, you end the game in your favor by assassinating and taking the fourth Scholar (Zahrawi). In this case, you have obtained 9 scientific symbols, but only 7 of them are activated, and therefore, counted. To activate the scientific symbol of a Scholar, you must also assassinate white tokens containing symbols identical to the symbols at the top of the Scholars cards. In other words, after assassinating a Scholar, you must have the tokens assassinated during the game (or those you are going to assassinate later), with the identical symbols of that Scholar so that the scientific symbols of those cards are counted. Ultimately, you need at least 6 scientific symbols (active). In this example, Firnas, Ibn Haytham, and Zahrawi are activated (because the required symbols are collected) but Rasis is not active because the player does not have the [Token] token, and therefore, the 2 points from Rasis are not counted towards the Order team victory. In this case, the moment the Order player takes Zahrawi, they have obtained 7 (active) scientific symbols and wins the game immediately.
The information at the bottom row of the Scholar cards does not apply to the Order team.
An assassinated [Token] token can be used as a white token of any symbol to activate the scientific points of Scholars.
If the Order player assassinates the third Scholar from the Scholars of the 4th generation, the game ends and by this assassination, they acquire the minimum of 6 required scientific symbols, then the Order team is the winner of the game and there is no need to count the points of Kingdom and People teams.
Description of the Kingdom Characters' Abilities
Sultan: Choose one action out of the following and perform it: 1. Collect 3 gold coins from the pool. 2. Draw 2 tokens from the bag. 3. Perform only 1 action from a card on top of the 3 Action decks.
Vizier: Each player of the Kingdom team (you and your teammates) collects 3 red coins from the pool.
Treasurer: Collect the same number of gold coins from the pool as the number of symbols of the character of the opponent team with most symbols (the default symbol on the board + tokens placed at the top of the board) and place them in the Treasury of your team. (Treasuries cannot be robbed.)
Sheriff: Steal all of the gold coins of one of the opponent team's players and place them next to your coins.
Commander: Collect one Sword from the pool (if there are any available in the pool). The Commander is the only character that has two spots allocated to orange tokens. As a result, his ability can be used twice (before all of orange token spots are filled and are returned to the bag).
Description of the People Characters' Abilities
Bahlool: Discard all [Tokens] placed at the top of your team's strongest character's board (at least 2 tokens) and employ 1 Scholar without paying the cost. Discard all tokens placed at the top of the strongest character of your team (the character with the highest number of tokens at the top of the board), and instead, employ one Scholar (without paying the cost). If the tokens of two or more characters are equal, pick any character of choice. This ability can only be used if the strongest character of your team has at least 2 tokens at the top of their board.
Preacher: Copy the ability of a character from the Kingdom or People team. Perform the ability written at the bottom of the board of your character of choice (from the Kingdom or People team, except the «Folk Hero»). To do so, you only need to place an orange token at the bottom of the Preacher's character board and not on the board of the character of choice.
Trustworthy: Place all [Red coins] and [Gold coins] of your team's players on this board. Place all red and gold coins of your team's players inside the Treasury. This is the only way to place red coins in the Treasury. (Treasuries cannot be robbed.)
Altruist: Swap all the [Red coins] and [Gold coins] of two players. Swap all coins (red and gold) of two players. You can be one of these two players. If one of the players does not have any coins, you can still swap another player's coins with them. In this case, the second player gives all their coins to that player but receives none.
Folk Hero: Military strength as aggressor [3] and as defender [4]. (This ability cannot be copied.) As long as there is an orange token on the Folk Hero's board, this character provides a certain amount of military strength for the People team, in addition to the [Swords] tokens. The military strength of the People team in aggressive battles is increased by 3 points and in defensive battles, by 4. (This ability cannot be copied.)
Description of the Order Characters' Abilities
Sect Leader: Pay 4 [Gold coins] to perform an assassination. A Scholar or token. Pay 4 gold coins to the pool to immediately perform an assassination. The target can be either a Scholar or a token. Take one of the revealed Scholar cards or any desired token from the top of the character board of an opposing team and place it next to you.
Hashash: [Scroll] / [Swords] / [Grabbing hand] / [Gold coins]. Draw 3 cards from the Hashash deck, select two, and place them at the bottom of your character boards according to the specified symbols (on the back of the cards). Discard the third card by placing it at the bottom of the Hashash deck.
- If all tokens of a character of this team are removed because of a [Skull] symbol, in addition to the tokens, all Hashash cards placed at the bottom of that character's board are also discarded and placed at the bottom of the Hashash deck.
Spy: Choose one action from the following and perform it:
- Steal 3 coins (any combination of red and gold) from opponents. You can steal from one or both of the teams; however, you cannot steal the coins inside their Treasury.
- Remove 3 tokens from the top of an opponent's character board and return them to the bag. You can take the tokens from one or several character boards.
- Discard one sword in the possession of opponent players and return it to the pool.
- Draw two tokens from the bag.
Assassin: Assassinate a [Token] in the bag randomly. Assassinate a token. This assassination does not cost anything and you only need to draw a token from the bag randomly and place it next to your hand. This token is considered an assassinated character, in order to activate Scholars' scientific points.
Counting the Scholars Points
| Scholar | Main Points | Auxiliary Points |
|---|---|---|
| 9/30 | 2 | 1 in exchange for 1 red coin |
| 17/30 | 1 | 1 in exchange for 4 gold coins |
| 12/30 | 1 | None |
| 2/30 | 1 | According to the Table on page 27 |
| 3/30 | 1 | 1 in exchange for 1 red coin |
| 5/30 | 1 | None |
| 1/30 | 1 | According to the Table on page 27 |
| 19/30 | 1 | 1 in exchange for 2 red coins |
| 16/30 | 4 | None |
| 29/30 | 3 | According to the Table on page 27 |
| 13/30 | 1 | 1 in exchange for 3 red coins |
| 27/30 | 1 | 1 in exchange for 1 gold coin |
| 21/30 | 3 | According to the Table on page 27 |
| 11/30 | 2 | 1 in exchange for 2 gold coins |
| 4/30 | 1 | 1 in exchange for 3 gold coins |
| 24/30 | 3 | 1 in exchange for 2 red or gold coins in any combination (For example, 1 red and 1 gold coin) |
| 6/30 | 2 | According to the Table on page 27 |
| 30/30 | 1 | 1 in exchange for 1 red coin and 2 gold coins |
| 10/30 | 1 | According to the Table on page 27 |
| 22/30 | 2 | According to the Table on page 27 |
| 28/30 | 1 | 1 in exchange for 1 red coin and 2 gold coins |
| 14/30 | 2 | According to the Table on page 27 |
| 23/30 | 2 | 1 for employing at least 6 Scholars, including this one |
| 26/30 | 2 | 1 in exchange for 2 red coins and 1 gold coin |
| 20/30 | 2 | According to the Table on page 27 |
| 15/30 | 2 | 1 in exchange for 3 red or gold coins in any combination (For example, 1 red coin and 2 gold coins) |
Description of Hashash Cards
| Card Symbol | Description |
|---|---|
| [2 gold coins → top card] | Pay 2 gold coins to the pool to perform 1 Action from one of the top cards of the three Actions decks. |
| [3 gold coins → repeat turn] | Pay 3 gold coins to the pool to play one more turn after this turn. |
| [2 gold coins → two symbols] | Pay 2 gold coins to the pool to temporarily add 2 symbols to one of your team's character symbols. |
| [4 gold coins → negate] | In your opponent's turn, pay 4 gold coins to the pool to negate the effect of the Action card which is played, so that the opponent cannot play anymore. (only once between every two of your turns) |
| [6 gold coins → Hashash card] | Pay 6 gold coins to the pool to draw one Hashash card from the deck (randomly) and place it at the bottom of a character board. |
| [4 gold coins → assassination] | Pay 4 gold coins to the pool to assassinate 1 Scholar or 1 token of choice (from the top of an opposing team's character boards). |
| [2 gold coins → remove token] | Pay 2 gold coins to the pool to remove 1 orange token from a character board (yours or opponents) and return it to the bag. |
| [2 gold coins → draw tokens] | Pay 2 gold coins to the pool to draw 2 tokens from the Bag. |
| [2 gold coins → military +3] | Pay 2 gold coins to the pool to increase your military strength in a battle by 3 points. |
| [skull → 3 gold coins] | As long as this card is in play, the cost of employing Scholars increases by 3 gold coins (if employed by coins) or 1 sword (if employed by swords). |
| [red coins ↔ gold coins] | Pay 2 gold coins to the pool in exchange for 3 red coins or pay 2 red coins to the pool in exchange for 3 gold coins. |
| [3 gold coins → military +5] | Pay 3 gold coins to the pool to increase your military strength in a battle by 5 points. |
| [3 gold coins → negate skull] | Pay 3 gold coins to the pool to negate the effect of a [Skull] card. |
Quick Reference to Primary and Secondary Actions
Description of Secondary Actions
- Collect the specified number of gold coins from the pool.
- Collect the specified number of red coins from the pool.
- Draw the specified number of tokens from the Bag.
- By performing this action, two symbols are added to the symbols of one of your team's characters temporarily.
- Transfer you and your teammates' gold coins to the Treasury (The Treasury cannot be robbed).
- Eliminate all white and orange tokens on an opponent team's character board.
- Perform the actions of only one of the top cards of the 3 Action decks.
- Activate one symbol of choice from your team's characters.
Description of Primary Actions
- Collect the specified number of gold coins from the pool.
- Collect the specified number of red coins from the pool.
- Draw the specified number of tokens from the Bag.
- Collect gold coins from the pool. (Equal to the number of [Gold coins] symbols of your team's character)
- Steal gold coins from an opponent player. (Equal to the number of [Grabbing hand] symbols of your team's character)
- Draw tokens from the bag. (Equal to the number of [Scroll] symbols of your team's character)
- Initiate a battle with an opponent player. (closest player on the left)
- Employ a Scholar. (the employment cost is reduced by the number of [Handshake] symbols of your team's character)
- Activate one symbol of choice from your team's characters.