Champions of Midgard: The Dark Mountains
Champions of Midgard: The Dark Mountains Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 Dark Mountains Board
- 12 Archer Dice
- 5 Worker Meeples
- 2 Score Markers
- 24 Bergrisar Cards
- 1 Destiny Card
- 1 Expanded Market Stall Board
- 2 Leader Boards
- 5 Rune Cards
- 1 Beggar Market Stall
- 3 Market Stall Tiles
- 1 Military (Roving Rangers)
- 2 Economic (Wandering Monk & Gossip)
- 24 Enemy Cards
- 3 Troll Lords
- 3 Seidr Draugr
- 3 Loot Hoarders
- 3 Vile Priests
- 3 Dark Shaman
- 3 Cave Dwellers
- 3 Rock Creatures
- 3 Mist Walkers
- 24 Land Journey Cards
- 1 Private Longship
- 6 100-Point Tokens
Setup
Champions of Midgard: The Dark Mountains requires some additional setup from the base game version of Champions of Midgard. The setup instructions which follow are in addition to the normal setup instructions for Champions of Midgard which should still be followed precisely except where noted otherwise.
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Many of the components in The Dark Mountains are designed to be mixed in with the components from your Champions of Midgard base game. Begin by mixing the following components in with their original counterparts before beginning setup: Rune cards, Destiny cards, Troll cards, Draugr cards, Monster cards, and Market Stalls.
All of the components from The Dark Mountains expansion are marked with the Dark Mountains mountain icon so they can be easily removed from the base game if you wish to play without them.
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Place the Beggar Market Stall in one of the Market Spaces on the main game board. The Beggar Market Stall should be used in every game in addition to the market stalls added according to the number of players. This is a visual representation (and an improvement of) the "Beg" action outlined in the original game and is always available to all players.
This new, permanent, Market tile can accommodate any number of workers. When you place a worker here, take 1 Blame and 1 other resource of your choice from the supply.
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Place the Archer dice beside the board near the other Viking Warrior dice.
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Place The Dark Mountains board next to the top right of the game board.
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Shuffle the Bergrisar cards and the Land Journey cards and place them face-down on the indicated spaces on The Dark Mountains board. The empty spaces should be filled during the setup phase of each round. Bergrisar cards are placed face-up and Land Journey cards are placed face down.
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If you are playing with 4 or more players, place the extended market board beneath The Dark Mountains board. Otherwise, skip this step.
In a 2-3 player game, place this on the space marked for 4-players. In a 4-5 player game, place it in the empty space on the extended market board.
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If you are playing with 5 players, place the additional Private Longship beside the board near the other Private Longships and use 3 Military and 3 Economic Market tiles during setup. Otherwise, skip this step.
You are now ready to begin playing!
Gameplay
New Icons & Rules
You will notice a new icon (a warrior die) on several expansion components. This icon means "a warrior die of your choice" and was needed since the old icon only depicted the original 3 dice types. The addition of Archer dice created the need for a new icon. So, remember as you play that the new icon and the original icon mean the same thing and should be read interchangeably.
The new icon (a resource) indicates "a resource of your choice" – Food, Wood, or Gold. This icon will have a number in the center showing how many resources you are entitled to (or must spend.) You may use any combination of the same or different resources.
When playing with the Dark Mountains expansion, any card or effect which references "Journey cards" applies to both the original Journey cards and the new Land Journey cards (e.g. the Sage's Hut.)
Finally, when playing with 5 players, the fifth player to activate the Worker Huts location pays 1 coin to gain their extra worker. This is not printed on the board so the players will have to remember.
Remember, these locations have new effects that are not printed on the game board!
Archers
Archers are a new and powerful type of warrior dice, as they only have 1 blank side. Additionally, they are adept hunters, as each has a 50% chance to get double food when hunting. The Archer hunting icon indicates that this hit will produce two Food when rolled at the Hunting Grounds. Archer dice are primarily gained by defeating the Bergrisar.
Archer dice have the following results (as shown on the rulebook page, left to right): three faces showing an Archer hit with the hunting icon (two Food when rolled at the Hunting Grounds), two faces showing a plain Archer hit, and one blank face.
The Dark Mountains
The Bergrisar are Mountain Giants with a nasty penchant for taking prisoners. There is nothing crueler to a proud Viking warrior than being trapped in a smelly giant's cave – confined they are unable to battle and will never find their way to Valhalla.
Combat with the Bergrisar is resolved after combat with the Draugr and before combat with Monsters. Empty Bergrisar and Land Journey Spaces are filled during Round Set-up. Bergrisar cards are placed face-up in their respective spaces. Land Journey cards are placed face-down. Bergrisar cards which are undefeated at the end of the round are not discarded and do not receive a bounty. They simply remain in place until defeated.
The Bergrisar are encountered similarly to how monsters are encountered in Champions of Midgard. Placing a worker pawn on a Bergrisar space indicates that you will fight the Bergrisar during the combat phase. As when encountering monsters, you must first encounter a Journey card – in this case, it is a Land Journey card.
During the Assign Viking Warriors phase, place any warrior dice you would like to have fight the Bergrisar on the Bergrisar card you are encountering. When it is time to resolve combat, first reveal the Land Journey card associated with your space and resolve its effect.
The Land Journey cards have a variety of effects which often require you to spend gold. There is a gold icon printed on The Dark Mountains board, next to the Land Journey spaces, as a reminder of this fact. Gold spent to resolve Land Journey cards comes from your personal supply; you do not need to commit it ahead of time. Some Land Journey cards have an effect you must resolve; others offer you a choice. A complete description of each Land Journey card appears on page 9 (as printed; the Land Journey card list is on the page numbered 10). Defeating the Bergrisar is the primary way to get the new dice type: Archers.
Example of Combat with Bergrisar
Gylfir places a worker pawn on a Bergrisar space during the Worker Placement Phase, indicating he will encounter a Bergrisar.
During the Assign Viking Warriors phase, he places 4 Viking warrior dice on the Bergrisar card.
When it is time to resolve combat, he flips the Land Journey card to discover that his warriors were caught in a blizzard. He must pay 1 coin for each of his warrior dice and lose the ones he doesn't pay for.
As Gylfir only has 3 coins available, he chooses to pay them all and lose 1 die. Now he can combat the enemy as normal. He rolls 1 shield, 1 blank, and 2 hits.
Gylfir wins the combat, loses 1 die, and claims his reward – 8 Glory and 1 Archer die.
Land Journey Cards
- All Quiet (x8): No effect.
- Avalanche (x2): Lose 1 Viking Warrior die from those committed.
- Bandits (x2): Pay 2 Coins or fight the Bandits (1 attack, 2 defense). Glory may only be gained by fighting.
- Blizzard (x2): Pay 1 Coin for each committed warrior or lose them. Any warriors you cannot pay for (or choose not to pay for) die from exposure and are returned to the supply.
- Blocked Path (x2): Pay 2 Coins (to hire a guide) or give up. If you give up, return all committed dice to your longhouse.
- Lone Warrior (x2): Pay 1 Coin to hire 1 Viking warrior of your choice (add to party).
- Lost (x2): Pay 1 Coin (for a stranger's map) or Lose 2 of your committed Viking warriors.
- Thief (x2): Lose 1 Coin, if possible. If you have no gold, lose nothing.
New Enemy Cards
There are several new enemies to face in The Dark Mountains expansion, each with new effects to keep Viking leaders on their toes.
- Cave Dweller: Enemy of the traveler, the Cave Dweller preys on those seeking shelter from the elements. Defeating one of these nasty creatures allows you to discard 1 Blame and also raid his stores, claiming food and gold to bring home with you.
- Dark Shaman: These practitioners of dark magic draw on the powers of the underworld to attack their enemies with unavoidable spells. Shield result block no damage when fighting these enemies.
- Loot Hoarder: These dreadful beasts collect the spoils of shipwrecks and the possesions of fallen warriors and hoard them in their lairs. Defeating them is easy but finding their wealth is another story. Any hit defeats the Loot Hoarder. Gain 1 Gold for each hit you roll against him in combat.
- Mist Walker: The most vengeful of the monsters of Midgard, the Mist Walker slays any Viking Warrior who dares to hit him.
- Rock Creature: Stone is mighty and these beasts have no love for the weak. Each round of combat, the Rock Creature slays any Viking warrior that rolled a blank. Shield results may still be used to negate these losses.
- Seidr Draugr: These nasty undead creatures carry an air of corruption with them. If they are not disposed of quickly that corruptive force can spread to you. The Seidr Draugr never kills Viking Warrior dice. Instead, you gain 1 Blame token at the start of each round of combat while fighting the Seidr Draugr.
- Troll Lord: The most powerful trolls out there. When defeated, this troll allows the victor to discard 1 Blame, and then all other players receive 1 Blame from the supply.
- Vile Priest: As the Dark Shaman uses magic to kill, the Vile Priest uses it to heal himself, draining power from his enemies. At the start of each round of combat, the Vile Priest heals 1 combat damage previously dealt to him.
Appendix
I. Viking Leaders
- Jorunn the Traveler: Jorunn enjoys sharing the story of her adventures almost as much as she enjoys undertaking them. Whenever you reveal a Journey card (Land Journey or Sea Journey) if the effect is not "All Quiet" you immediately gain 2 Glory. No glory is gained from simply looking at a Journey card, regardless of the effect (e.g. with the Sage's Hut or Journey Rune effects).
- Ragnhild the Adviser: Ragnhild is well versed in many different kinds of weaponry and demands her followers are too. When you activate the Jarl's Longhouse location you may choose a Swordsman die, Spearman die, or Axeman die (instead of being obligated to take a Swordsman die), in addition to the Start Player marker. If you already have the Start Player marker and you activate the Jarl's Longhouse location, you still must pass it to the player on your left.
II. Rune Cards
- The Hunt: Use when hunting. Collect 1 Glory for each hit rolled. The number of Glory can exceed the number of Food collected (e.g. If you roll 10 hits, you collect just 6 Food but gain 10 Glory). Archers do not produce 2 Glory when hunting – they get extra food but don't score extra hits.
- Patience: Clone the effect of a face-up rune belonging to another player or in the supply. The Patience Rune always has priority. If you attempt to clone a rune, an opponent may not use their rune in response to prevent your cloning of it. Additionally, you may use the rune immediately when another player decides to use their rune in order to clone the effect before it is flipped face-down.
- Friendship: When activating this Rune, choose 1 other player. You and the chosen player each discard 1 Blame token. You may not choose yourself. You may choose a player who does not have a Blame token.
- Awareness: Look at the top 3 cards of either the Journey Deck or the Land Journey Deck. You may reorganize these cards and place them back on top of the deck in any order.
- Training: Exchange any 2 of your Viking Warrior dice with any 2 Viking Warrior dice from the supply.