Cavern Tavern
Cavern Tavern Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 game board
- 1 rulebook
- 6 player boards
- 76 Ingredient cards
- 6 Ambrosia cards
- 6 Beer cards
- 6 Elixir cards
- 6 Fruit cards
- 6 Herbs cards
- 6 Liqueur cards
- 6 Mead cards
- 6 Nectar cards
- 6 Rocks cards
- 6 Spirits cards
- 6 Syrup cards
- 6 Wine cards
- 4 Magic Potion cards
- 48 Order cards
- 6 Character cards
- 25 Item cards
- 15 Nasty Says cards
- 13 Secret Task cards
- 20 The Five Realms cards (only used in solo mode)
- 6 Reference cards
- 18 wooden pieces
- 6 meeples (one of each color)
- 6 Score markers (one of each color)
- 6 Time markers (one of each color)
- 25 dice (four of each color, one white)
- 18 Reputation markers (three of each color)
- 12 Meeple stickers
- 1 First Player marker
- 1 Clock
Some included components are not listed here. These are only used in the Secret Chamber expansion.
How to Win
Cavern Tavern is played over 10 rounds. At the end of the final round, the winner is the player with the most victory points. You'll gain victory points by serving Orders to customers, completing Kitchen Tasks and Chores, and completing Nasty's Secret Tasks.
Track victory points on the Score track around the board edge.
Setup
Prepare Players
- Each player chooses a color and a Character card, placed on the side showing the green icon.
- Give to each player a player board.
- Give to each player the meeple, Time marker, and 4 dice of their color, placing them on or near their player board.
- Give to each player 3 Reputation markers of their color. Place these on the symbol of the Nasty, Kitchen, and Chores tracks of their player board.
- Place all of the players' Score markers on the "0" space of the Score track.
- Give the First Player marker to whoever got into a tavern brawl most recently. If there is a tie, give it to whoever has the worst boss.
- Give the white die to the player to the right of the player with the First Player marker.
Prepare Cards
- Shuffle the Order cards into a deck and place it near the game board.
- Shuffle the Item cards into a deck and place it near the game board.
- Shuffle the Secret Task cards and deal one card face-down to each player. Return the remaining Secret Task cards face-down to the box. They won't be used in this game.
- Shuffle the Nasty Says cards into a deck and place it on Nasty the Dwarf's office.
Prepare Ingredients
- Place the thirteen stacks of Ingredient cards face-up near the game board.
- Each player rolls their 4 dice and takes 4 Ingredient cards from the Cellar spaces matching the numbers they rolled to form their starting ingredients pile.
Prepare Board
- Draw 6 Order cards and place them on the open spaces of the Mess Hall.
- Place the Clock marker on the first round (10:00 pm) of the Clock.
Important Concepts
These are a few things you'll need to understand before reading on. There are a few page references, but you won't need to read ahead.
Spaces and Slots
To work in the Tavern, you'll often need to place dice on the board's various spaces.
Some spaces require you to place a certain number of dice. These dice can have any values.
Other spaces require you to place a die or dice with a dice value. You may place any number of dice, but their total value must equal the listed dice value exactly.
To place dice on a space, it must have an open slot. When you place dice on a slot, gaining the space's benefits, you fill the slot.
Many spaces only have one slot. For example, all of the spaces in the Kitchen and on the Chore Board only have one slot.
Some spaces have multiple slots, depending on the number of players. On these spaces, each slot shows a meeple and the minimum number of players for the slot to be open.
For example, every space in the Cellar has the following number of slots:
- 2 players: 1 slot
- 3 players: 2 slots
- 4 players: 3 slots
- 5–6 players: 4 slots
Orders and Ingredients
As an employee in the Tavern, your job is to serve as many drinks as possible. To do this, you'll need to take Order cards and then complete them by spending Ingredient cards you've gathered. You can store your Order and Ingredients on their respective spaces on your player board. Orders and Ingredients are always public information.
You cannot gain an Ingredient card if its stack is empty. For example, if you would gain a Beer card, but its stack has none, you don't get one.
Customers from all five realms come to taste the drinks and try the local food. But the customers don't want to wait for their order for hours, and Nasty doesn't want unsatisfied customers. So you must complete the Orders as fast as possible. The more rounds you wait, the fewer points you'll get—and if you take too many rounds, you'll lose points!
Reputation
It's important to keep up your good name in the Tavern. Your reputation is tracked on your player board with your Nasty, Kitchen, and Chores tracks.
Advancing on the Nasty track is bad! When you reach the marked spaces, you'll be called to Nasty's office to draw a Nasty Says card. Also, at the end of the game you'll lose points for how much you've advanced on the Nasty track.
It's good to advance on the Kitchen and Chores tracks, though, since they'll make Kitchen Tasks and Chores easier and more valuable to do.
Characters
Every player gets a character, and every character has their own ability.
You can use your character's ability twice throughout the game. The first time you use the ability, flip over your Character card so it shows the red icon. The second time you use the ability, discard your Character card.
Running a Round
First, everyone rolls their dice. Everyone will roll the 4 dice of their color, and one player will also roll the white die.
Then, starting with the player with the First Player marker, each player takes a turn in clockwise order. Players cannot pass.
Play continues until everyone has placed all of their dice or cannot place dice. The moment when no more dice could be placed, the round ends immediately. Do the following:
- Advance the Clock marker to the next round.
- Any player with an open Order moves one space down on their Nasty track.
- Any player with a forgotten Order loses victory points equal to the right number in the Order's red field, discards the Order card, returns their meeple to their player board, draws an Order card, and places it on the empty space in the Mess Hall.
- Each player returns their dice to their player board.
- Give the white die to the player with the fewest victory points. If there is a tie, give the die to the player going later in the turn order.
An open Order is a face-up Order card, not yet completed, on a player board. Orders on the Mess Hall are not open Orders.
A forgotten Order is an open Order that has been open for the number of rounds shown by the left number in the Order's red field, comparing the player's Time marker and the Clock marker. The customer has given up on waiting, so the player loses points. Customers with difficult Orders are willing to wait a bit to be served, but they won't wait forever!
If you were 7 rounds late with the Hopping Gnome Order, the customers would leave the Tavern; you would lose 28 points, discard the Order, and place a new one on the open Mess Hall space.
Running a Turn
During your turn, you can perform these actions:
- Take Order
- Play Item Card
- Place Dice
- Complete Order
You may perform actions in any order. However, if you began the round without an open Order, you must perform Take Order on your first turn as your first action.
If you have any dice that you can place, you must perform Place Dice during your turn. If you have no dice to place, you may still use the other three actions.
You may perform these actions any number of times, except for Place Dice, which you may only perform once per turn.
Take Order
Take any Order card from the Mess Hall and place it on your player board. Then, place your meeple on the open Mess Hall space, and place your Time marker on the current round of the Clock.
You can't hold more than one Order.
Instead of taking an Order card from the Mess Hall, you can draw one from the Order deck. If you do, draw one card from the deck and then discard one card from the Mess Hall. Then, place your meeple on the open Mess Hall space and place your Time marker on the current round of the Clock.
Play Item Card
Choose an Item card from your hand, resolve it, and then discard it.
You can't hold more than three Items.
Place Dice
Choose a Tavern space and place the required dice on it, then gain the benefits of the space. You'll find detailed descriptions of the Tavern spaces in Parts of the Tavern.
To place dice on a space, it must have an open slot. When you place dice on a slot, you fill the slot.
For a detailed review of spaces and slots, read Spaces and Slots.
Complete Order
To complete an Order, spend all of the Ingredients listed on the Order card, returning the Ingredient cards to their stacks. When you complete an Order, do the following.
Gain Points. Check how many rounds have passed since you took the Order, comparing the Clock marker to your Time marker on the Clock.
- If no rounds have passed, you gain the points listed at the top of the Order card.
- If any rounds have passed, you instead gain the points listed on the right side of the Order card. The left number is the number of rounds passed, and the right number is the number of points you gain.
Advance Track. If the Order has a Kitchen symbol or Chores symbol, also move your Reputation marker down once on your Kitchen track or Chores track, respectively.
Replace Card. Turn the Order card face-down and place it on your player board. You'll keep it until the end of the game. Return your meeple and Time marker to your player board, and place a new Order card on the empty Mess Hall space.
During round 5 (11:20 pm) you picked up the Hopping Gnome Order, placing your Time marker on the current round of the Clock. You complete the Order during round 7 (12:00 am), so you are two rounds late. The Hopping Gnome Order card says +2/15, so because you were two rounds late in completing the Order, you gain 15 points instead of 28.
When you complete an Order, you don't have to take another until the beginning of the next round. Part of the strategy is knowing when to pick up an Order, so you can complete it quickly. You could take another Order after completing one, but if you don't complete it on the same round, you won't gain as many points. Plan your moves wisely!
Ending the Game
The game ends after 10 rounds. At this point, each player gains and loses victory points as follows:
- Lose the points shown on your current space on your Nasty track.
- If you don't have an open Order, you gain 1 point for each Ingredient you have. If you have an open Order, discard it. You don't lose points for this Order, but you don't receive any points for the Ingredients you have.
- If you have an uncompleted Nasty Says card, you lose 10 points.
- Gain any points for completing your Secret Task cards.
If there is a tie, the player who lost fewer points from their Nasty track wins. If there is still a tie, the player who served more Orders wins. In the unlikely event that there is still a tie, both players win.
Example Round
First, everyone rolls their dice. Jamie rolls "2, 3, 5, 5". Christine rolls "1, 1, 3, 4, 6". Lily rolls "1, 3, 4, 5". Thomas rolls "1, 3, 6, 6". Christine rolled the white die because she had the fewest points at the end of the previous round.
Because he has the First Player marker, Jamie goes first. He already has an open Order card, so he can't take another. He puts his "2" die on the "Syrup or Rocks" Cellar space to take one Syrup card. The Syrup was the only Ingredient left to complete his Order, so he does just that. First, he returns the Ingredients to their stacks. Because he took the Order during the previous round, he's one round late, so he gains the points shown in the card's +1 space. He then returns his meeple and Time marker to his player board, turns the completed Order face-down, draws an Order card from the deck, and places it on the open Mess Hall space.
Christine also has an open Order card. She's missing many Ingredients to complete it, so she places her "4" die on the "Wine or Elixir" Cellar space to take one Wine card.
Lily also has an open Order card. She places her "5" and "1" dice on the "Liqueur or Spirits" Cellar space to take one Liqueur card. She then plays the Item card Glass of Strongcliff to steal an Ingredient, taking 1 Ambrosia from Jamie.
Thomas doesn't have an open Order card, so his first action must be Take Order. He takes an Order card from the Mess Hall, places his meeple on the open Order space, and places his Time marker on the current round of the Clock. Then he places all of his dice (1+3+6+6=16) on the "Fix the roof" Task. He gains one Wine and 6 points. He also can force a trade of one Ingredient with another player, so he chooses Lily, giving her one Wine to take one of her Ambrosia.
Thomas finished his turn, so play will go clockwise to Jamie, who has three more dice, then to Christine, and so on. After a while, Lily places her last die, and everyone else has placed their dice, so the round immediately ends.
Parts of the Tavern
The Tavern is divided into six locations: the Mess Hall, Cellar, Kitchen, Chore Board, Nasty the Dwarf's Office, and Wizard's Workshop.
Except for the Mess Hall, these locations require you to place dice to gain the benefits of their spaces.
Mess Hall
The Mess Hall is where the guests sit and have fun. It has six table spaces that hold Orders.
Cellar
To use a Cellar space, you must place the listed dice value, given below in parentheses.
When you use a Cellar space, you gain one of the listed Ingredients. You could not, for example, take both Syrup and Rocks from the second space by placing dice once.
Each Cellar space has a different number of slots, based on the number of players.
- Fruit or Herbs (1): Gain a Fruit or Herbs card.
- Syrup or Rocks (2): Gain a Syrup or Rocks card.
- Mead or Nectar (3): Gain a Mead or Nectar card.
- Wine or Elixir (4): Gain a Wine or Elixir card.
- Ambrosia or Beer (5): Gain an Ambrosia or Beer card.
- Liqueur or Spirits (6): Gain a Liqueur or Spirits card.
Kitchen
To use a Kitchen space, you must place the listed dice value, given below in parentheses.
Whenever you use a Kitchen space, move your Reputation marker down once on your Kitchen track.
Each Kitchen space has only one slot.
- Make lunch for Nasty (7): Gain Herbs, the First Player marker, and 2 points.
- Roast the meat (9): Gain Syrup and 3 points.
- Cook dragon eggs (11): Gain Nectar and 4 points.
- Wash the dishes (13): Gain Elixir and 5 points.
- Cut the meat (15): Gain Beer, return one of your Ingredient cards to its stack, take one Ingredient card from any stack except the Magic Potion, and gain 6 points.
- Serve dinner (17): Gain Mead, steal an Ingredient card of your choice from any player, and gain 7 points. You cannot steal the Magic Potion.
Chore Board
To use a Chore space, you must place the listed dice value, given below in parentheses.
Whenever you use a Chore space, move your Reputation marker down once on your Chores track.
Each Chore space has only one slot.
- Wipe the tables (8): Gain Fruit and 2 points.
- Mop the floor (10): Gain Rocks and 3 points.
- Prepare the rooms (12): Gain Ambrosia and 4 points.
- Chop wood (14): Gain Liqueur and 5 points.
- Fix the roof (16): Gain Wine, give one Ingredient to another player to take one Ingredient from that player, and receive 6 points.
- Entertain the guests (18): Gain Spirits, any one Ingredient from the Cellar, and 7 points.
Nasty the Dwarf's Office
To use the Nasty the Dwarf's Office space, you must place the listed number of dice.
- Talk to Nasty: Place any 1 die to move your Reputation marker up once on your Nasty track, and choose an opponent to move their Reputation marker down one space on their Nasty track.
Wizard's Workshop
To use a Wizard's Workshop space, you must place the listed number of dice.
- Replace Order: Place any 1 die to discard 1 Order card from the Mess Hall and replace it by drawing 3 Order cards, placing one on the open Mess Hall space, and placing the other two on the bottom of the Order deck.
- Item: Place any 2 dice to draw 3 Item cards, keep one, and shuffle the other two back into the deck. If the Item deck is empty, shuffle the discarded cards to form a new deck before drawing.
- Magic Potion: Place any 3 dice to gain a Magic Potion card and draw an Item card.
While completing an Order, you can return a Magic Potion card to its stack to fulfill an Ingredient in the Order. You may return any number of Magic Potion cards at once.
An Order requires two Beer Ingredient cards. To complete the Order, Tim returns one Beer card and one Magic Potion card to their stacks.
Nasty's Secret Task Cards
When he retired from digging gold, Nasty the Dwarf opened the Tavern in the very same cave. Adventurers from all five realms come to the Cavern Tavern to try the special drinks served there. The success of the Tavern depends on Nasty's management, assigning tasks to the employees to keep the place at top shape.
Each Secret Task grants you victory points at the end of the game if you met certain conditions. Keep this card secret! You don't want the other players to sabotage you.
Some Secret Tasks will ask you to complete Orders from customers of a certain race, which is shown on each Order card.
Reputation Tracks
Nasty Track
The Nasty track shows your reputation in the eyes of Nasty, the owner.
There are two ways to move on the Nasty track:
- Whenever you begin a round with an open Order, your Reputation marker moves down once on your Nasty track.
- If you place dice on Nasty the Dwarf's Office, your Reputation marker moves up once on your Nasty track, and the player you badmouth moves their Reputation marker down once on their Nasty track.
At the end of the game, you'll lose the points listed on your current space on your Nasty track. But that's not all. From time to time, you'll be called out to Nasty's office—and those visits won't be so pleasant.
Nasty Says Cards
If you reach the 3, 6, or 9 space on your Nasty track, you'll be called to Nasty's office: draw a card from the Nasty Says deck and read it aloud, then place it on the Nasty Says slot on your player board.
While you have a Nasty Says card on your player board, you can only place dice on the Cellar, Wizard's Workshop, and Nasty the Dwarf's Office. When you accomplish Nasty's demand on a Nasty Says card, discard it.
Don't draw a Nasty Says card if you enter a marked Nasty space you have already entered, or if you enter a marked Nasty space during the 10th round.
Kitchen Track
The Kitchen track represents your experience in managing in the Kitchen, whether by washing dishes, serving dinner, or making breakfast. The more experienced you become, the more benefits you'll gain.
- Space 3: Whenever you do a Kitchen Task, you gain 2 more points.
- Space 6: Whenever you do a Kitchen Task, you gain 3 more points, and you can increase or decrease one die you're placing by 1 (for example, turning a 3 into 2 or 4).
- Space 9: Whenever you do a Kitchen Task, you gain 4 more points, and you can increase or decrease one die you're placing by 1 or 2 (for example, turning a 3 into 1, 2, 4, or 5).
You do not gain these benefits when you complete an Order with the Kitchen symbol.
Chores Track
The Chores track represents your experience in doing chores, whether chopping wood, mopping the floor, or wiping the tables. The more experienced you become, the more benefits you'll gain.
- Space 3: Whenever you do a Chore, you gain 2 more points.
- Space 6: Whenever you do a Chore, you gain 3 more points, and you can increase or decrease one die you're placing by 1 (for example, turning a 3 into 2 or 4).
- Space 9: Whenever you do a Chore, you gain 4 more points, and you can increase or decrease one die you're placing by 1 or 2 (for example, turning a 3 into 1, 2, 4, or 5).
You do not gain these benefits when you complete an Order with the Chores symbol.
The Secret Chamber — Expansion
With the ongoing war in the Five Realms, the Cavern Tavern plays host to many shady meetings. Some customers don't want to conduct their business out in the open—they want a more private place.
Here comes Mrs. Nasty to save the day and join Cavern Tavern! She'll be running the Secret Chamber and you just got another boss. But don't be shaking in your boots yet. Nasty is the only one who's afraid right now, because she can sure keep him on a tight leash.
She'll be giving you new opportunities to earn your paycheck, help you when you are in trouble with Nasty, and give you a hand in fulfilling your orders and tasks!
Components
- 1 Secret Chamber board
- 21 Task cards
- 30 Modifier tokens
- 24 Drink tokens
- 21 Mrs. Nasty tokens
Setup
Mix the Drink tokens and Mrs. Nasty tokens face-down to form the Secret pile. If you wish, you can place them in an opaque cup or bag.
Place the Secret Chamber board face-down near the main board.
Place the Modifier tokens near the Secret Chamber board.
Shuffle the Tasks cards into a deck and place it near the Secret Chamber board.
How to Play
When the fourth round (11:00 pm) begins, the Secret Chamber opens: flip the Secret Chamber board face-up, draw 3 Task cards, and place them on the empty spaces of the Secret Chamber. Then, draw 3 tokens from the Secret pile and place one face-up on each Task card.
Each Task card shows the dice value needed to complete it, its type (Kitchen, Chore, or none), and its rewards. You'll complete these Tasks just like Chores and Kitchen Tasks. Task cards only have one slot.
When you complete a Task card, gain its rewards and take the token on it.
When a round ends, place any Task cards you completed on your player board. If you have more than 3 Task cards, you must discard down to three. Then, draw Task cards and place them on the empty spaces of the Secret Chamber, placing face-up on each card one token from the Secret pile.
While you have a Task card on your player board, you may place dice on it to complete it, as normal. Nobody else can place dice on it.
Modifier tokens
By discarding a Modifier token, you can increase or decrease the value of one die by 1. You cannot turn a 6 into a 1, or a 1 into a 6. You may discard multiple Modifier tokens to change the value of dice multiple times.
Drink tokens
Drink tokens are like Orders, but completing one gives you a fixed number of 2 victory points, and they don't have a time limit.
When you complete a Drink token, return the listed Ingredient card, gain the listed points, and then discard the Drink token. Drink tokens don't have an effect on Secret Tasks.
Christine has a Beer token. By returning one Beer card to its stack and discarding the Beer token, she gains 2 points.
Mrs. Nasty tokens
If you would draw a Nasty Says card, you can discard 3 Mrs. Nasty tokens to avoid doing so.
At the end of the game, you gain 1 victory point for every Mrs. Nasty token you have.
Nasty Says Cards
While you have a Nasty Says card, you may still place dice on spaces in the Secret Chamber.
Mrs. Nasty Space
To use the The Mrs. Nasty space, you must place the listed number of dice.
- Talk to Mrs. Nasty: Place any 1 die to gain 2 Modifier tokens.
Solo Play
Set up the solo game exactly like a multiplayer game, except with the following changes:
- Do not use the Secret Task cards or Character cards.
- You'll use the black components—meeple, dice, and markers.
- Set aside one die of each other color: white, yellow, blue, green, red, and purple. These are the Automa dice. (Only use the purple die if you are playing with the Secret Chamber expansion.)
- Remove Sand Clock, Hammer, Bracelet, Dragon's Claw, Glass of Strongcliff, Dwarven Mug and Clover from the Item deck.
Playing the Solo Game
Ignore any rules that refer to another player. If you must give, steal, or trade Ingredients with another player, do so instead with the supply.
When a round begins, roll all of the Automa dice, and then place each die as listed in the next section, blocking those spaces from all other dice.
After placing the Automa dice, roll your dice and perform actions as normal.
At the end of the round, discard the Order under the white Automa die and draw one to replace it.
Placing Automa Dice
White die: Block an Order in the Mess Hall, where "1" is the top-left and "6" is the bottom-right. If the rolled Order space holds your meeple, place the die one space to the right; if it is the rightmost, place it one space to the left.
Yellow die: Block a Cellar space, where "1" is the leftmost and "6" is the rightmost.
Blue die: Block a Kitchen space, where "1" is the leftmost and "6" is the rightmost.
Green die: Block a Chore space, where "1" is the bottom-left space and "6" is the top-right space.
Red die: Block a space on the Wizard's Workshop or Nasty the Dwarf's Office.
- 1–2: Block the Item space of the Wizard's Workshop.
- 3–4: Block the Magic Potion space of the Wizard's Workshop.
- 5: Block the Replace Order space of the Wizard's Workshop.
- 6: Block Nasty the Dwarf's Office, and move your Reputation marker down once on your Nasty track.
Purple die: Block a space on the Secret Chamber. If the Secret Chamber hasn't opened, don't roll this die.
- 1–3: Block one Task card in the Secret Chamber, where "1" is the leftmost and "3" is the rightmost. After the round is over, discard the blocked Task card along with the tokens on that card and draw a new one.
- 4–6: Block the Mrs. Nasty space.
Victory Conditions
You can play Cavern Tavern solo in either Standard Mode or Story Mode.
Standard Mode
It's a quiet night in the Tavern, and you and Nasty are the only ones tending to the guests. You'll have to meet your daily quota or else Nasty will find someone else to fill your spot.
In Standard Mode, you win if you accumulate at least 80 victory points by the end of the game.
Story Mode
Wizard's Dream
A ray of hope appears through the dark sky over the Five Realms. There's a whisper of a chance for peace in the air. The wizard had glimpsed the future in his crystal ball, and he knows just what must be done to bring it to pass.
But the idea of peace is not happily accepted by everyone. There are some who live off the misery of others—like Nasty the Dwarf, who made his fortune thanks to the ongoing war. Fortunately, the workers in Cavern Tavern are all on the Wizard's side. They have to help him achieve this mission, and do it right under Nasty's nose.
Will they make it…?
Story Mode is just like in Normal Mode, except for the victory conditions.
At the start of the game, you'll shuffle the Assignment cards (The Five Realms Cards) and draw one. This card will prompt you to serve guests of specific races, serve dinner for them, tend to their needs, and help the Wizard under Nasty's radar. The objectives on the cards shown are the minimum requirements needed to complete the Assignment.
Credits
Game design and development: Ivana Krstevska, Vojkan Krstevski, Toni Toshevski, Maja Matovska
Illustration: Mihajlo Dimitrievski – The Mico
Graphic design: Vojkan Krstevski
Rulebook editing: Joshua Yearsley
Rulebook design: Bojan Ivanovic (brigada.mk)
Want to learn more about the world behind Cavern Tavern? Visit finalfrontiergames.com and read the story of The Five Realms.