Chimère
Chimère Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 1 circular Contest board with the 4 seasons.
- 20 Season Boards (5x4 seasons).
- 15 Main Contest tiles.
- 15 Secondary Contest tiles.
- 15 Queen's Award tiles.
- 40 Animal Head tiles.
- 40 Animal Body tiles.
- 40 Animal Tail tiles.
- 1 People's Champion sand timer (30 seconds).
Setting Up the Game
- Put the Contest Board in the center of the table.
- Each wizard takes 4 Season Boards, one for each season. These are placed in front of the player.
Tip: place them coherently with the way you see the Contest Board is presented below.
- Shuffle the Main Contest Tiles and the Secondary Contest Tiles separately in order to create a pile of each.
- Shuffle the Queen's Award Tiles and create a pile next to the two Contest Tiles.
- Shuffle the Animal Tiles by type: Head, Body and Tail. To make the drawing easy for all the players, split the tiles to make one pile of each type in front of each player. The tiles must be face down so each player can see a complete sheep.
An example of animal piles placed in front of each player: one pile each for Tail, Body and Head.
Example setup for 4 players: the Contest Board is located in the center, with the 4 contests of the year. The Main Contest tiles pile, Secondary Contest tiles pile, Queen's Award pile, sand timer and animal tile piles (Head, Body, Tail) are placed next to the board.
Each Season Board has three spaces: Tail, Body and Head. A face-up Animal tile shows its Symbol and Name, the Part of the Animal, and its Skills (shown as icons at the bottom of the tile).
The Year
A. Start the year by creating the four contests of this year, one for each season:
- Place on each season of the Contest Board a Main Contest Tile and a Secondary Contest Tile (as shown on the following page). Together, these two tiles form the contest rules: its name, skill requirement and rewards for the two best chimeras.
To win a contest, you will have to create a chimera with a maximum of the skills shown on the Contest Tiles. The five skills are: Aggression, Beauty, Weight, Protection and Speed.
Example of a contest: Name: Violent Dance. Skills: Aggression and Beauty. Victory points: 5 VP for the 1st chimera, and 2 VP for the 2nd one.
In this example, the 4 contests of the year are:
- Spring: Deadly Feast
- Summer: Titan's Dance
- Autumn: Violent Joust
- Winter: Bloody Sprint
B. Create your chimeras in 3 Phases:
- Research Phase: find the most fitting animal parts and give the unsatisfactory ones to your opponents.
- Creation Phase: merge these parts together and summon the most powerful chimeras.
- Contest Phase: fight your opponents, win the contests and the Queen's Award.
The Research Phase
To build their chimeras, the wizards will have to search in their spellbooks for animal parts' spells.
There are 3 piles, one for each part of the future chimeras (Tail, Body, or Head).
Each Season Board also has 3 spaces matching these parts of the animals: Tail, Body and Head.
- All together, the wizards say: "1, 2, 3, Chimera" and begin drawing animal tiles from any pile on the table.
- If the tile suits you, place it on one of the empty spaces of your Season Boards.
Beware: respect the type of the animal part!
- If it does not suit you, place the tile on an empty space of your opponent's Season boards.
- If you still have empty spaces in your boards, draw a new tile and continue to fill your Season Boards until they are complete.
Tip: you should be quick in this phase to avoid poisonous gifts from your opponents and give them the tiles you don't want.
Beware: all the tiles placed on a Season Board cannot be moved until the next phase!
- At your own rhythm, fill all your Season Boards and respect the Research Rules.
Research Rules
- You can draw from any pile you want on the table, even in front of an other player.
- You can draw a tile of any type (Head, Body or Tail) provided that you have at least one empty space of that type on one of your Season Boards. If you draw a tile without a space for it, put it back in the pile you have drawn from.
Example: If I have filled the heads of my 4 Season Boards, I cannot draw a new head tile!
Beware: If your four Season Boards are full, you cannot draw new tiles to place it on your opponents' boards.
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You cannot draw a new tile as long as you have one tile in hand.
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Once a tile is placed on a board by you or one of your opponents, you cannot move it until the next phase: the Creation Phase.
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As soon as all Season Boards of all the wizards are full, the Research Phase is over. Now it's time to move onto the Creation Phase.
The Creation Phase
Once the wizards have all the spells they need, it is time to use them to summon wonderful chimeras.
- Start the phase by turning over the sand timer.
- Now, all the wizards can move the animal parts of their Season Boards.
Swap different parts of your chimeras to find the best combination. Make sure that each chimera always has one Head, one Body and one Tail.
Example: You can take the Head of your spring chimera and switch it with the Head of your summer chimera.
Figure: Swapping Heads between the chimeras of Spring and Summer.
Beware: You cannot swap with an opponent. You can only swap between your 4 Season boards!
Creation Rules
These swaps allow you to find the chimeras that best fit the skills required for each contest.
- The 3 parts of the same chimera must come from 3 different animals.
- A contest requires one or two different skills. The sum of these skills will determine the winner.
- If you play with the advanced rules: The Extraordinary Gifts are valid only if the chimera does not have a point of the forbidden skill.
The People's Champion
- The first wizard content with his creations takes the sand timer in front of him and thus become the "People's Champion". He can no longer change his chimeras.
- If the time is not yet up, he must wait. As soon as the sand timer is empty, the People's Champion turn it over again to give his opponents 30 more seconds to finish their chimeras.
- After the People's Champion turns it over, he draws the first tile of the Queen's Award pile and places it on his chimera that best fits the tile's description. The Queen's Award election will be held at the end of the Contest Phase.
- As soon as the second sandtimer is over, the wizards can no longer move or change their chimeras. If a wizard still has tiles in his hand, they are placed randomly on empty slots. The Creation Phase is now over. Move on to the Contest Phase.
Figure: the Queen's Award tile "Ridiculous Chimera" (worth 2 victory points).
The Contest Phase
The time of competitions has come. The wizards now compare their creations in front of the King, Queen and People.
You will now compare your chimeras for each contest.
- First, you must check that all the chimeras respect the Rules of Approval.
- Once all the chimeras have been checked, compare them by following the season's order: SPRING, SUMMER, AUTUMN, WINTER.
In each seasonal contest, compare the power of the competing chimeras. To know the power of a chimera, add up the number of symbols that correspond with the required skills of the contest.
Example: the contest "Violent Dance" requires Aggression and Beauty. The power of the chimera "Lamse" is 5: 5 = 3 Aggression + 2 Beauty.
- The wizard with the most powerful chimera wins the Main Contest tile, the second one wins the Secondary Contest tile.
- If two chimeras have the same power, the chimera with the most of the main skill wins (the skill on the Main Contest Tile).
Example: Aggression in the "Violent Dance".
If they are still tied, the People's Champion (the player who has the sand timer) chooses the winner.
- Wizards who earn tiles keep them face down.
Example: In the Contest "Violent Dance" between the Lamse, the Snalon and the Chamamon:
- The winner is the Snalon, Power 7 (3 Aggression + 4 Beauty), and its owner receives the banner.
- The 2nd is the Chamamon, Power 7 (2 Aggression + 5 Beauty) because it has less of the main skill, Aggression. Its owner receives the second banner.
- The Lamse with a Power of 5 (3 Aggression + 2 Beauty) is last, and its owner receives nothing.
Note: the source spells some creature names inconsistently ("Lamse" and "Lamon"; "Chamamon" and "Camamon"). They are transcribed as printed.
Rules of Approval
- A chimera must have a Head, a Body and a Tail.
- A Chimera must be composed of 3 different animals. Use the symbols on the top of the animal tiles to help you.
Example: Lion and Shark.
If a chimera has two tiles of the same animal, his owner must turn one of the problematic parts to the sheep side, which weakens the chimera.
Figure: Here, the Lamon have two lion parts. It thus loses one of them and becomes a Shamon (Shamon him).
The Queen's Award
- The Queen's Award is given at the end of each year.
- Its theme is described by the Queen's Award tile, which was bestowed upon the People's Champion during the Creation Phase.
- Each wizard presents their chimera in the season chosen by the People's Champion for the Queen's Award.
Example: if the People's Champion has chosen his summer chimera for the Queen's Award, each wizard must present their summer chimera to one another.
- The wizards are asked to speak in favor of their chimera to explain why it best suits the given theme (for instance, using its appearance, name or anything else. Be creative!).
- After each wizard has made their decision, count "1, 2, 3... For the Queen!" and point at the chimera you want to vote for (who best fits the adjective.)
Beware: You cannot vote for your own chimera - you must choose an opponent's!
- The chimera with the most votes wins. Once again, the People's Champion picks the winner from the tied chimeras. He can choose his chimera. The owner of the winning chimera receives the Queen's Award tile (2 victory points).
- The year is now over. All wizards put their animal tiles underneath the sheep piles in front of themselves, or their neighbour's. Now you can start a new year!
- If you have reached the end of the third year, the tournament is over. It is time to count your points and determine the final winner.
End of the Tournament
The King bestows the title "Royal Wizard" to the winner, and entrusts him with the paramount task of creating the new mascot of the kingdom.
The wizards count the victory points with the Main and Secondary Contest tiles and of the Queen's Award tiles they earned.
The wizard with the most points is declared winner of the tournament and best wizard of the realm. If two wizards have the same total of points, the one with the most Queen's Award is the winner. If they are still in a tie, the one with the most tiles of any kind is the winner.
Rules for 2 Players
- The game also takes place in three years of four contests; each year has the same 3 phases.
- The Queen's Award is removed.
- The setup is slightly different: put two neutral Season Boards next to the Contest Board.
- During the Research Phase, you can place the animal tiles on your boards, your opponent's boards or the two neutral boards. All the Season Boards must be filled during the phase, even the neutral one.
- This will create two neutral chimeras that cannot be moved during the Creation Phase. These chimeras will compete in all the contests and you will have to beat them!
- If a neutral chimera wins a tile in a contest (first or second position), discard the tile it won.
Advanced Rules (for the experienced player)
The Extraordinary Gifts
Some animal tiles have Extraordinary Gifts in addition to their skills: Cute, Dreadful, Flying, Furry and Camouflaged.
Each gift is linked to a forbidden skill, shown by the crossed-out icon on the gift's seal. The forbidden skills are: Cute, Aggression; Dreadful, Beauty; Flying, Weight; Furry, Protection; Camouflaged, Speed.
The extraordinary Gift is valid if none of the three tiles that compose the chimera bears that Forbidden Skill.
For each different and valid Extraordinary Gift, the chimera's power is increased by 1. This bonus is applied to the Main Skill (to resolve a draw).
Example:
- The Dragise has the Extraordinary Gift "Hairy" on its Head, but has Protection on its Tail. The Gift is therefore not valid.
- On the other hand, it has the Gift "Flying" on its Tail and no Weight anywhere. This Gift is thus valid and the Dragise can fly!
- Its main skill, Aggression, is increased by 1 and reaches a total of 4. Its Power is 5 (4 + 1) for the Contest "Violent Dance".
Note: the example names the gift "Hairy", which is not one of the five gifts listed above; the gift on the Dragise's Head is the one whose forbidden skill is Protection, i.e. "Furry". It is transcribed as printed.