Daimyo: Rebirth of the Empire
Daimyo: Rebirth of the Empire Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Objective
In Daimyo you are the leader of a clan, striving to become emperor. At the end of the 5th round, the player who has accumulated the most popularity points (PP) will be proclaimed emperor.
There are 4 major ways to gain popularity points:
During the Game
Influence: At the end of each round, each player earns popularity points according to their level of influence on each island.
At the End of the Game
Relics: Each player earns popularity points according to the number of relics they have restored.
Buildings: Each player earns popularity points according to the number of buildings of each type they have constructed.
Heroes: The players with the greatest total of hero values and (crown icon) earn popularity points.
You also gain popularity points at the end of the game if you have the Mighty Helmet, and for each group of 5 resources (water, gold, tech) you still have.
Contents
- 1 main board
- 4 Clan player boards
- 8 Construction mini-boards
- 32 Bonus Action tiles
- 13 dice (5 red, 5 green, 3 blue)
- 72 Relic tiles + 1 storage bag
- 3 Villager tiles, 1 Mighty Helmet token, 1 Round marker
- 21 Solo cards
- 40 Hero cards
- 12 Clan Hero cards (3 per clan)
- 4 Player Aid cards
- 32 Governor meeples (8 per clan)
- 12 Shadow meeples (3 per clan)
- 4 Scavenger meeples (1 per clan)
- 16 Radio Tower meeples (4 per clan)
- 16 Techno-Farm meeples (4 per clan)
- 24 Relic pawns (6 per clan)
- 36 Clan pawns (9 per clan)
- 16 Goal tokens (4 per clan)
- 4 +50PP tokens (1 per clan)
- 118 Resource tokens (32 water, 32 gold, 27 tech, 27 influence)
- 12 Goal cards
Setup
Main Board
- Place the main board in the middle of the table. Use the side whose symbol in the lower-right corner matches the player count.
- For a 1-player game, only use the blue, red, yellow, and purple islands.
- For a 2-player game, only use the blue, red, yellow, and purple islands. See 2-Player Game, p. 15 for the additional rules.
- For a 3-player game, only use the blue, red, yellow, purple, and green islands.
- For a 4-player game, use all of the islands.
- Place the resources (water, gold, tech, and influence) near the board.
- Place the Round marker on space 1 of the Round track.
- Shuffle the Hero cards to form a face-down deck; place it beside the board. Then lay the first 5 cards of the Hero deck face up to form the Hero market. Also flip the top card of the deck face up.
- Place the 3 Villager tiles in the village of the central island. The "Move 1 governor and collect the resource" side should be visible. The other tiles can be on either side.
- Place dice on the central island according to the player count (return the unused dice to the box):
- 1-player game: 2 blue, 3 red, 3 green.
- 2-player game: 3 blue, 4 red, 4 green.
- 3-player game: 2 blue, 4 red, 4 green.
- 4-player game: all the dice.
- Put Relic tiles in the bag according to the player count (only use tiles matching the colors of the islands in play for your player count); return the unused tiles to the box.
- 1-/2-player game: remove the green and black Relic tiles.
- 3-player game: remove the black Relic tiles.
- 4-player game: use all of the Relic tiles.
- Draw 3 random Relic tiles for each island and place them crate side up in the spaces of no man's land on each of the islands you are using.
- Leave a small area for the black market beside the board, and place 3 random Relic tiles there face up.
- Draw 4 random Goal cards (3 green and 1 orange), and place them near the board.
- Choose a start player, who takes the Mighty Helmet.
Anatomy of an Island
Each island comprises a production zone, a rough neighborhood, a no man's land, 3 altars on which restored relics will be placed, and an Influence track.
Production Zone: Each production zone has 5 production sites.
Production Site: Each production site can produce 1 type of resource, and has 1 space for a governor and 1 space for a building.
- Space for a governor
- Space for a building
No Man's Land: An area reserved for scavengers, in which they will find Relic tiles. Spaces for 3 Relic tiles.
Rough Neighborhood: Spaces for shadows.
Altars for restored relics.
Influence track: Each time you gain or lose influence, move your Clan pawn accordingly to keep track.
Each Player Chooses a Clan
- The Nature clan, focused on collecting resources.
- The Tech clan, fascinated by relics.
- The Nomad clan, experts in mobility.
- The Noble clan, rich and striving for unity.
Once You Have Your Clan, Take the Following
A. Your Clan board.
B. Your 3 Clan Hero cards. Shuffle them to form a face-down deck, and place it to the left of your board, leaving sufficient space for a discard pile beside it. Draw 2 cards from your deck as your starting hand.
C. Your 9 Clan pawns. Place one on space 0 of the Influence track of each island with which you are playing (you will place 1 pawn fewer in a 3-player game, and 2 pawns fewer in a 2-player game). Place one on space 0 of the Popularity Point track on the main board, one on the first space of the Recruitment track on your Clan board, and one on space 3 (the first space) of your Storage track. Return any unused pawns to the box.
D. 6 Relic pawns of your color.
E. 4 techno-farms and 4 radio towers of your color.
F. The 12 units of your clan:
- 8 governors
- 3 shadows
- 1 scavenger
Setting Up Your Clan Board
Take 1 Techno-Farm Construction mini-board and 1 Radio Tower Construction mini-board. For your first few games, use the basic versions (showing empty shapes on the lower-left corner of the tiles, such as circle, square, ...). When everyone knows the game well, you can draft the advanced versions (showing filled shapes such as filled circle, filled square, ...). To draft, place the 8 mini-boards in the middle of the table, advanced side up. Starting with the start player and going clockwise, each player takes 1 mini-board. Then, starting with the last player and going counter-clockwise, each player takes a 2nd mini-board.
- Add the 2 Construction mini-boards (one for techno-farms, one for radio towers) to the right of your Clan board.
- Place each Bonus Action tile on its space on the Construction boards (check the shape, the color, and whether the symbol is empty or filled).
- Collect your Starting resources indicated at the bottom of your boards, in the white area.
- Cover each tile with a building matching the tile's Construction mini-board.
Setting Up Your Units
- The start player chooses an island and places a governor there on a production site, and places their scavenger in this island's no man's land. Then each player in clockwise order does the same on a different island.
- Starting with the start player, each player places a second governor on any available space at a production site.
- Advance your Clan pawns on the Influence track of each island where you have governors (+2 influence per governor of your color).
Example: Capucine places her governor on the purple island, then advances her Clan pawn 2 spaces on the island's Influence track.
Available space at a production site: Each production site has 1 space for a governor and 1 space for a building. When a space is occupied, you cannot place anything else in that space. If a space is empty, the space is available.
You can place a governor at a production site where there is already a building, EVEN IF IT BELONGS TO ANOTHER PLAYER; and you can place a building in a production location where there is already a governor.
Playing the Game
A game of Daimyo lasts 5 rounds. Each round comprises 3 phases:
- Roll the dice
- Players' turns
- End of the round
Roll the Dice
The start player rolls the dice, then arranges them in columns by value in the middle of the main board where everyone can see them.
Players' Turns
Everyone takes turns in clockwise order, starting with the start player (the player who finished the previous round with the Mighty Helmet).
On your turn, choose a die and place it on an available Main Action space on your Clan board that is the same color as the die you chose.
You can perform your main action and bonus actions in whatever order you like. You can even perform bonus actions before your main action.
You must completely finish each main/bonus action before starting another.
When you have resolved your main action (and possible bonus actions), the player to your left takes their turn.
When everyone has taken 3 turns (i.e. each player has placed 3 dice), move on to the End of the Round phase.
Main Actions
Your Clan board contains 5 main actions (1 blue, 2 green, and 2 red). During a main action, consider only the color of the die; the die's value makes no difference. When you start a main action, you must perform it in its entirety before starting another action.
Blue – Help from Villagers
Accept the services of villagers to aid your clan.
Perform the following 4 steps:
- Increase your storage capacity by 1. Your storage capacity is the maximum total number of Relic tiles and restored relics you can keep. If you have reached your maximum capacity (9), gain 1 popularity point for each further increase, rather than increasing it further.
- Draw 1 Hero card from your Hero deck, and add it to your hand. If your deck is empty, shuffle the cards from your discard to form a new deck.
- If you are the first player this round to take a blue die, take the Mighty Helmet. The turn order will not change until the next round.
- Activate 1 Villager tile, applying the effect of its visible face, then flipping it over, which reveals its other face for the subsequent players.
The Villager tile effects are:
- Obtain 1 gold or 1 tech.
- Obtain 1 water and 1 influence.
- Increase your storage capacity by 1.
- Move 1 governor, and collect the resource produced at the new location.
- Obtain 1 Relic tile from the no man's land where your scavenger is.
- Draw 2 cards from your Hero deck.
Example: Capucine chooses the Help from Villagers action. She increases her storage capacity by 1, then she draws a Hero card, and then activates a Villager tile to obtain 1 tech, and flips it over. Because Greg has already taken this action this round, she does not take the Mighty Helmet.
Green – Production
Use your governors and techno-farms to collect the resources produced in the locations you control.
- Obtain the resource from each production site where you have a governor.
- Obtain the resource from each production site where you have a techno-farm.
Note: If you have a governor and a techno-farm at the same production site, you indeed obtain 2 of the resource.
An opponent's governor or techno-farm at the same production site does not prevent you from collecting the resource.
Green – Relic
Scavenge no man's land, looking for relics of the old world.
- First, you must move your scavenger to the no man's land of another island. Then take 1 of the 3 Relic tiles available there, and place it in your storage (see Storage below). Immediately draw a new Relic tile from the bag to replace the one you took.
- Do this twice. The second time, you can either return to the island from which you moved the first time, or move to yet another island.
Attention: You cannot have 2 copies of the same Relic tile (same number and color), unless the 1st copy is part of a relic you have already restored.
- In addition, after moving, but before or after collecting the Relic tile, you can perform either or both of the following actions once per no man's land: "Search no man's land", "Shop at the black market".
Search no man's land (once per no man's land)
By spending 1 tech or 1 gold you can discard up to 2 Relic tiles from the no man's land where your scavenger is. Place the discarded tiles in the black market (beside the board), then draw 2 Relic tiles from the bag to replace them.
Shop at the black market (once per no man's land)
By spending 1 influence, you can buy 1 Relic tile from the black market, and place it in your storage.
Attention: You can only shop at the black market during a Relic action. Finding a Relic tile via any other means (Hero card, Villager tile, etc.) does not allow you to shop at the black market.
Example: Capucine moves her scavenger to the yellow no man's land and takes the "2" tile there, then draws a new tile to replace it. She then pays 1 influence to discard the "1" and "3" tiles to the black market, and draw two new tiles to replace them. Then she spends 1 influence to buy the "3" tile from the black market. For her 2nd scavenger move, Capucine moves her scavenger to the purple no man's land, collects the "1" tile and draws a new tile to replace it.
Storage
On the left side of your Clan board, you have a track representing your storage capacity (which is 3 at the beginning of the game). You can increase this capacity in different ways: by using the Help from Villagers action, by using a Hero card, or even by using a clan ability or Bonus Action tile (see p. 20).
When you take a new Relic tile, place it in your storage near your Clan board. You cannot store more Relic tiles than the storage capacity that is indicated on your Clan board.
If you are already at your storage capacity, you must first discard a Relic tile to the black market before taking the new tile. If you get a tile directly from the bag due to a Hero ability, draw it, then send one of the tiles you already have to the black market to make room for the new one, or send the new one to the black market.
In order to take your 4th Relic tile of a color, thus restoring a relic, you must be able to store it before you can restore the relic. If you don't have enough storage capacity, you can take it, but as usual, you must discard another Relic tile first.
Restore a Relic
If you have the 4 different pieces of a relic, immediately restore the relic of the corresponding color.
- Place one of your Relic pawns on an available altar of the island the same color as the relic you just restored. On that island, gain the influence indicated on the altar on which you placed the relic (3, 2, or 1 influence).
- Stack the 4 tiles of the restored relic in a single stack with the back of the 1 tile visible on top. This indicates that your restored relic now only takes 1 space in your storage (rather than 4).
You are allowed to restore several relics of the same color.
Example: Capucine collects her final green Relic tile. She stacks the 4 tiles with the back of the 1 on top, then places one of her Relic pawns on the green island. The 3 altar is already taken, so she places it on the 2 altar, and advances her Clan pawn 2 spaces on the green island's Influence track.
Red – Recruitment
Recruit one or more governors and/or shadows.
For each unit you recruit, perform the following steps in this order:
- Spend a number of gold equal to your current recruitment cost (the number of gold symbols indicated by the Clan pawn on your Recruitment track).
- Advance the Clan pawn 1 space on your Recruitment track.
- Choose a unit (governor or shadow) available in your supply, and place it on an empty space of the main board.
- Resolve the recruitment effects of this unit.
Note: (unlimited) You can recruit as many units as you wish with a single Recruitment action, as long as you have sufficient gold to keep recruiting.
Recruitment Track
Each time you recruit a unit, whether by a Recruitment action, by a Hero card's effect, or by using a Bonus Action tile, you must advance your pawn 1 space. Recruitment cost increases with each unit you recruit.
When you reach the last space of the Recruitment track (lock icon), you can pay 2 influence to start a new recruitment cost cycle, so you don't have to spend as much gold. You can pay the 2 influence at any moment in your turn, provided that your Clan pawn is on the lock space. If you do not wish to pay, your pawn stays on the lock space of the track, and further recruitments will cost you 3 gold until you pay the 2 influence to reset the track.
Recruitment effect of a governor
Place a governor on an available space at a production site.
- Gain 2 influence on the island where you place the governor.
Note: The governor does not collect the resource there during recruitment.
Recruitment effect of a shadow
Place the shadow on an empty space in a rough neighborhood.
- Gain influence equal to the value indicated in the chosen space.
- Gain 1 influence on the island where you placed the shadow.
- Eliminate 1 enemy governor from this island, and reduce that player's influence there by 2. The governor returns to its owner's supply, and in compensation, the owner receives 1 gold from the general supply.
Attention: You can only recruit 3 shadows per game. You can neither move nor retrieve them.
Example: Jeremy chooses the Recruitment action and recruits 2 governors and 1 shadow. His 1st recruitment costs 2 gold (A), his 2nd recruitment costs 3 gold (B), and then he pays 2 influence (C) to reset his Recruitment track so his 3rd recruitment only costs 1 gold (D). He places his 2 governors on the red island and increases his influence there by 4.
He then places his shadow on the purple island on the 3-gold space. He receives 3 gold from the general supply and 1 influence; he eliminates a governor belonging to Capucine, which makes her lose 2 influence there and gain 1 gold in compensation. Jeremy has taken the lead on this island.
Red – Construction
Construct one or more buildings.
For each building you construct, perform the following steps in this order:
- Spend the required resources for the type of building you wish to build PLUS the surcharge for each building of the same type you have already constructed (shown on the exposed spaces of that mini-board).
- Place the building (techno-farm or radio tower) on an available space at a production site.
- Place the Bonus Action tile you just uncovered on an available space of your choice on your Clan board. Note that the 6 gray tiles go on your main actions and Clan ability, and the 2 yellow tiles go on your End of the Round phase spaces, which are in the yellow area of your Clan board.
Note: (unlimited) You can construct as many buildings as you wish with a single action as long as you have the necessary resources to build it. If you build several buildings of the same type, you must adjust the surcharge for each new one.
Construct a techno-farm
Each techno-farm will give you the resource of its production site when you trigger the Production main action.
Construct a radio tower
Immediately gain 2 influence on the island where you place it.
Colorless – Tax
Place a die of any color on this action.
Immediately gain 2 gold from the general supply.
Example: Greg takes a red die and chooses the Construction action. He decides to construct 1 techno-farm: he pays its basic cost of 2 tech and 1 water + its 2 tech surcharge because he had already built 2 techno-farms on earlier turns. He places his techno-farm on a water production site. Then he places the newly exposed Bonus Action tile on his Clan ability. He decides to stop there, but he could have built further buildings, assuming he had the resources. His next techno-farm will have a basic cost of 2 tech and 1 water + a surcharge of 3 tech.
Summary of Main Actions
Help from Villagers (blue):
- Increase your storage capacity by 1.
- Draw 1 Hero card from your deck.
- Take the Mighty Helmet (start player).
- Activate a Villager tile, then flip it over.
Production (green): Each of your governors collects 1 resource. Each of your techno-farms collects 1 resource.
Relic (green): Your scavenger moves 2 times. Each time, the scavenger can:
- Collect a Relic tile from the destination island,
- Discard up to 2 Relic tiles from the no man's land to the black market by paying 1 tech or 1 gold,
- Buy a relic from the black market for 1 influence.
Recruitment (red): Recruit as many units as you wish. Each time you recruit a unit, pay its gold cost, then advance your pawn to the next gold cost. When you are at the lock space, you can pay 2 influence to reset the pawn to the initial cost (with a red dot on its space); until you do, each new recruit still costs 3 gold.
Construction (red): Construct as many buildings as you wish. For each building, pay the cost... and any exposed surcharges for that type of building.
Tax (colorless): Gain 2 gold.
Bonus Actions
You can perform bonus actions before or after a main action. Certain bonus actions depend on the total value of your dice.
Attention: You can only perform each bonus action once per turn, with the exception of the Discard a Hero action.
Hero Ability (Once per Turn)
You can play 1 Hero card from your hand if you have the right "strength" available.
This strength comes from the dice on your Clan board (not all of them, not just the last one played). You can play a card if you have one or more dice whose total is exactly the same as the strength of this card.
You can only play 1 Hero card per turn. Once you have it, place the card in your discard.
A Hero card shows its Strength in the top-left corner, its Cost to buy in the top-right corner, and its Ability text at the bottom.
Note: Several Hero cards bear a red exclamation mark "!" at the bottom-right. This means that the Hero ability is aggressive toward your opponents. You may include or exclude this type of cards during setup, depending on your likings.
Discard a Hero (Unlimited)
You can discard 1 or more Hero cards from your hand to increase or decrease a die on your board by 1 per card discarded. You can modify several dice on your board this way, and you can do it multiple times per turn.
You cannot decrease below 1 or increase above 6.
Clan Ability (Once per Turn)
Each clan has a unique ability. You can activate your Clan ability if the sum of the dice on your Clan board is at least 13.
- The Tech clan: Increase your storage capacity by 1, then draw a card from your Hero deck.
- The Nomad clan: Move one of your governors, then collect 2 of the resource from the new production site. Remember to move down 2 influence on the departed island, and up 2 on the new island.
- The Noble clan: Play a Hero card from your hand, even if you do not have the dice to match its strength. This allows you to play 2 Hero cards in the same turn: 1 using this ability, and 1 matching the strength as usual.
- The Nature clan: Collect any 2 resources of your choice among tech, gold, and water.
Bonus Action Tile (Once per Turn)
You can activate the Bonus Action tile associated with the main action on which you have placed your die. You can also activate the Bonus Action tile associated with your Clan ability if the sum of the dice on your board is at least 13.
Example: Greg places his die on the Production main action. First, he collects 1 gold, 2 tech, and 2 water with his governors and techno-farms. Then he decides to activate his Bonus Action tile that allows him to recruit one unit for 1 gold less.
Example of a Turn Using a Bonus Action
Example: In her first two turns, Capucine took a 6 and a 5; for her last turn, she takes a 3 and places it on Production Main Action space.
The sum of her dice is at least 13 (6 + 5 + 3 = 14), so she can trigger her Clan ability and the Bonus Action tile associated with it: She increases her storage capacity by 1, draws a Hero card, and finally collects 2 gold thanks to the Bonus Action tile.
Then she performs her main action, on which she has placed her die, and her governors and techno-farms collect resources from their respective production sites.
Finally, she discards 1 card from her hand to decrease her 5 to a 4. Adding that to her 6 allows her to play her Hero card with a strength of 10.
She activates its effect, placing one of her Relic tiles in the black market, then collecting 2 Relic tiles of her choice from the board, then discards the card.
Goal Cards
The first player to fulfill the condition of the orange Goal card places a Goal token on it. No one else can achieve this goal. Score the popularity points immediately (move your Clan pawn on the Popularity Point track on the main board).
The first player to fulfill the condition of a green Goal card places a Goal token on the card's gold space. For a 3- or 4-player game, a 2nd player can still attempt to fulfill the condition. If they succeed, they place a Goal token on the card's silver space. No one else can achieve this goal. Earn your popularity points and bonuses immediately.
End of the Round
Perform the following actions in order:
Determine Influence on the Islands
For each island, verify everyone's influence by looking at the order of the pawns on the Influence track there.
Remember: You gain influence by placing things there:
- Each governor there provides 2 influence. You lose the 2 influence if the governor is moved or eliminated.
- Each shadow there provides 1 influence.
- Each radio tower there provides 2 influence.
- Each Relic pawn provides 1–3 influence.
The player with the most influence on the island earns the popularity points depicted on the gold standard.
The player with the 2nd most influence on the island earns the popularity points depicted on the silver standard.
Break ties with shadows. The tied player with more shadows on the island wins the tie.
If the tie persists:
- If the players are tied for 1st place, add the points on the two standards, then divide them amongst the tied players, rounding down. There will be no 2nd place.
- If the players are tied for 2nd place, divide the points indicated on the silver standard amongst the tied players, rounding down.
When you earn popularity points this way, move your Clan pawn on the Popularity Point track on the main board. If you exceed 49, take a +50PP token and reset your Clan pawn back to space 0 of the track.
Revenue
Each player gets automatic revenue and takes the following from the general supply:
- 1 resource of your choice: 1 water, 1 tech, or 1 gold.
- 1 influence.
- Gains from your Bonus Action tiles (yellow background). Resolve each Bonus tile associated with your revenue.
Determine the Start Player
Attention: Skip this during the 5th round.
The player who has the Mighty Helmet can give it to any other player, or keep it.
The player who now has the Mighty Helmet is now the start player.
Hire Heroes
Attention: Skip this during the 5th round.
In turn order (clockwise, starting with the Mighty Helmet), each player can hire one or more heroes from the Hero market by paying the corresponding cost in influence.
Add each hero you hire to your hand, and immediately replace it in the market with the visible one from the top of the deck, then flip the new top card face up. You can hire the new hero.
Once each player has hired heroes or passed, each player draws 1 card from their Hero deck and adds it to their hand.
Advance the Round marker 1 space to begin a new round, unless this was the 5th round, in which case move on to the end of the game.
End of the Game
The game ends after Revenue of the 5th round.
Proceed to a final scoring of popularity points for each player in order to designate the new emperor.
Final Scoring of Popularity Points
Relics
Score popularity points according to the number of relics you have restored.
| Relics restored | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Popularity points | 3 | 7 | 12 | 18 | 25 | 33 |
Buildings
Score popularity points according to the number of buildings of each type you have constructed:
| Techno-farm | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Popularity points | 1 | 4 | 7 | 12 |
| Radio tower | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Popularity points | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
Heroes
Score popularity points according to the value of your army of heroes in comparison to the other players' armies.
Total the cost in influence of all of your Hero cards (in your hand, deck, and discard). Add your remaining influence tokens to this to determine your total army value.
The number of heroes does not matter; only consider the influence cost of each of your heroes.
| Army value (2-/3-/4-player game) | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Popularity points | 10 | 5 | 2 |
| Army value (1-player game) | 1st | 2nd |
|---|---|---|
| Popularity points | 10 | 2 |
If there is a tie, the tied player with fewer heroes is considered to have the more valuable army.
If the tie persists, the tied player with more value-5 heroes, then value-4, then value-3, then value-2 is considered to have the more valuable army.
Example: In a 2-player game, Jérémy has the following Hero cards: values 5, 4, 5, 3, 2, 3, 5. That's an army of value 27. He adds his remaining 3 influence to this for a total of 30.
Capucine also has a total of 30 on 7 Hero cards, but only 2 value-5 Hero cards. So Jérémy earns 10 popularity points, and Capucine gains 5 popularity points.
Mighty Helmet
Gain 2 popularity points if you have the Mighty Helmet.
Resources
Gain 1 popularity point for each lot of any 5 resources you have left, excluding influence tokens (the resources in a lot do not need to be identical).
The player with the most popularity points at the end of final scoring is declared emperor, and wins the game.
If there is a tie for most, the tied player with the most resources remaining (excluding influence tokens) is declared the victor.
If the tie persists, the tied players must share the empire.
2-Player Game
Play using the Mercenaries module printed on the left of the 2-player side of the main board. In this mode, you can call on mercenaries to hinder your opponent.
After the normal setup, perform the following additional setup:
- Take the 12 units, 6 Relic pawns, and 4 radio towers of an unused clan, and place them near the main board.
- Place the Clan pawns of this color on the purple, yellow, red, and blue Influence tracks.
How It Works
The mercenaries will perform actions using 3 of the dice from the players' portion each round. For the first 3 turns of each round (so, start player, second player, then the start player again), before you take your turn, you must choose a die from the middle of the main board and give it to the mercenaries.
When you assign a die to the mercenaries, place it on an available space of the Mercenary module. The space must be the same color as the die. Immediately resolve this action for the mercenaries.
Mercenaries' Actions
Green – Relic (mercenaries)
This location can accommodate 2 dice. Each space gives you the choice between two actions:
- Remove a Relic tile from an island, and draw a new one from the bag of Relic tiles to replace it, then finally return the removed tile to the bag.
- Choose 2 Relic tiles from an island and place them in the mercenaries' spaces, then draw 2 Relic tiles from the bag to replace them.
If the mercenaries manage to restore a relic this way, immediately place one of their Relic pawns on the best altar space of the island in question, and give them the appropriate influence. Stack the 4 Relic tiles in a single space as usually.
You can buy Relic tiles from the mercenaries by giving them 2 of your influence tokens per tile. This action is only available when you perform the Relic main action. If you use this action, you do it in place of the "Shop at the black market" action. Therefore, during a Relic main action, you can only buy a maximum of 2 Relic tiles, whether they come from the black market or the mercenaries.
Blue – Radio Tower (mercenaries)
You must place one of the mercenaries' radio towers on an available production site. The mercenaries immediately gain 2 influence on that island.
If all of their radio towers are already placed, this action moves one of their towers (remember to adjust their influence if the radio tower changes islands).
Red – Governor (mercenaries)
You must place one of the mercenaries' governors on an available production site. The mercenaries immediately gain 2 influence on that island.
Red – Shadow (mercenaries)
You must give 2 of your influence tokens to the mercenaries, then place one of the mercenaries' shadows on an available space of a rough neighborhood. The mercenaries immediately gain 1 influence on that island, and you remove one of your opponent's governors from this island (which gives your opponent 1 gold in compensation).
Neither you nor the mercenaries gain the influence from the space the shadow occupies.
If you cannot pay 2 influence to recruit the shadow, you cannot place a red die here.
If all of the mercenaries' shadows have already been placed, this action moves one of them, but it does not remove another governor (remember to adjust their influence if the shadow changes islands).
End of the Round
When you award popularity points for 1st and 2nd place on each island at the end of a round, take the mercenaries' Clan pawns into consideration. Don't track the mercenaries' popularity points on the score track (their influence only serves to affect who gets 1st and 2nd place).
At the end of each round, if the total of the mercenaries' 3 dice is 13 or more, give the mercenaries 2 influence tokens from the supply.
Then at the end of the Hire Heroes phase, give the last Hero card from the market to the mercenaries for free. Place the card face down in a stack, which by the end of the game will be an army of 5 Hero cards.
End of the Game
The mercenaries will have no popularity points to tally.
Count your popularity points as usual, but to award PP for the largest army, take the mercenaries' army and their influence tokens into consideration.
Solo Mode
In this mode, you play against the empire, who has Solo cards divided by round (rounds 1 & 2, then 3 & 4, then 5). The empire will play 3 cards per round.
Setup
Remove the Hero cards with a red exclamation mark in the lower-right corner, as well as the Hero card with the ability "Activate an opponent's clan ability".
Perform the usual setup; however, skip step 10 (you are playing without Goal cards).
Choose your clan. The empire does not use a clan, per se, and thus needs neither a Clan board, Construction mini-boards, nor Clan Hero cards. Instead, the empire will use the Governor, Shadow, Techno-Farm, and Radio Tower meeples of an unused clan, as well as its Relic pawns.
At the beginning of the game, you are the start player.
Choose a difficulty level from the following list, and place the empire's meeples accordingly:
- Easy: 1 governor on one island, and a 2nd governor on a different island.
- Normal: 2 governors on the same island, a 3rd governor on another island, and a 4th governor on yet another island.
- Difficult: 2 governors on the same island, a 3rd governor on another island, and a 4th governor on yet another island, and 1 radio tower on the final island. The empire collects 2 different random Relic tiles drawn from the bag.
Example: Martine has chosen the Nature clan, so she takes the green meeples and Relic pawns. She gives the empire the orange meeples and Relic pawns. She wishes to play at normal difficulty. She places 1 of her governors on a water site of the blue island, and her 2nd governor on the tech site of the red island. For the empire, she chooses to place the governors on two sites on the yellow island, on a site on the purple island, and on a site on the blue island.
Draw a random Hero card from the deck without looking at it, and give it to the empire face down.
Place the Empire Abilities card beside you.
Empire Abilities
| Dice total | Effect |
|---|---|
| 3–5 | The empire places 1 governor. |
| 6–8 | The empire gains 1 Relic tile. |
| 9–12 | Discard 1 resource or 1 Hero card. |
| 13+ | No effect. |
Take 6 random 1-2 cards, and shuffle them to make a face-down deck. Return the other 1-2 cards to the box.
Do the same to make a 6-card deck of 3-4 cards, and a 3-card deck of 5 cards.
Reveal the first card of the 1-2 deck.
Anatomy of a Solo Card
Each card depicts 3 spaces, each of which can accommodate a die of the indicated color. Each space corresponds to one action that the empire will perform if the space does not contain a die. Each card can only accommodate a single die.
Each solo card shows: the applicable rounds, and for each color of die space, an action the empire performs if that space is left empty.
Playing the Game
You play as usual.
The empire has the following peculiarities:
- It has unlimited storage capacity.
- There is no limit to the number of governors, shadows, techo-farms, radio towers, and Relic pawns it can place (use other unused clans' components if necessary).
- It never draws and never plays Hero cards.
- It never receives water, gold, and tech tokens.
- It does not have a scavenger.
- It pays no cost to recruit and build.
For the empire's turns, choose a die, and place it on one of the three spaces on the most recently revealed Solo card.
Perform the actions on the 2 other spaces, from top to bottom. When there are several ways to resolve an action, you choose the way you want. When an action cannot be fully completed, do whatever is possible and give the empire 1 popularity point.
Certain actions indicate "to its advantage". This means:
- Finish a relic for the empire if this is possible.
- Make the empire more influential than you on an island if this is possible.
If these actions are achievable, even if they do not let the empire complete a relic or surpass your influence, they are still considered fully completed, and thus the empire does not get a popularity point for an incomplete action.
If the "to its advantage" indication is absent, play for the empire however you like.
When an action indicates collecting a Relic tile, if it does not specify the island from which it should come, take it from any no man's land or from the black market.
It is possible that the empire restores more than 3 relics of the same color. After the 3rd relic on the same island, the additional pawns do not provide influence, but they will count toward the final count of relics restored.
Once both actions have been performed, draw a new card from the Solo deck for the round in progress. The empire will use this card for its next turn.
Example: Martine is the start player. She takes her turn as usual, claiming a die and placing it on her Clan board. Once her turn is done, it is the empire's turn. Martine chooses a red die, and places it on the red space of the Solo card for this turn. She therefore resolves the blue and green actions on the Solo card. The blue action says: "The empire places 1 governor on the red or purple island, to its advantage". The empire is already more influential on the red island. On the purple island, Martine is 4 influence ahead, so it's impossible for the empire to gain the lead there. So, it's Martine's choice; she chooses to place the governor on the red island. The action has been fully completed, so the empire does not gain a popularity point. Then, the green action says: "The empire collects 2 Relic tiles, to its advantage". This time around, the empire can collect a tile that would finish a relic. So, she must give the empire this tile, as well as another tile of her choice. Finally, she draws a new Solo card for the empire's next turn.
Just before the end of a round, sum the 3 dice placed on the Solo cards. Perform the action from the Empire Abilities card that corresponds to that sum.
Example: Over the course of the 3 empire turns this round, Martine has placed dice of value 2, 6, and 4 on the Solo cards. With a total of 12, Martine resolves the corresponding empire ability, and chooses to discard a resource.
End of the Round
Determine influence on the islands as usual.
Gain your revenue as usual. The empire gains none.
Determine the start player as usual. If the empire has the Mighty Helmet, it always chooses to keep it.
When it is the empire's turn to hire heroes, it takes the rightmost card from the hero market for free.
Discard the 3 Solo cards played this round, then draw the Solo card for the first turn of the next round.
At the end of the 4th round, return all of the empire's Relic tiles to the bag.
End of the Game
Count your popularity points as usual.
Do the same for the empire, taking the following into account:
- It scores its army value as usual.
- It never gains resources, so it cannot gain popularity points for lots of 5 resources.
- It can make several series of techno-farms and of radio towers.
Example: At the end of the game, the Popularity Point track indicates 51 for Martine and 45 for the empire. Martine has placed 2 Relic pawns (7 PP), and the empire has placed 3 (12 PP). Martine has placed 3 techno-farms (7 PP) and 3 radio towers (4 PP). The empire has placed 6 techno-farms (12 + 4 = 16 PP) and 1 radio tower (1 PP). Martine has an army worth 20; the empire has an army worth 18 (Martine gains 10 PP; the empire, 2 PP). The empire has the Mighty Helmet (2 PP). Martine has 6 resources (1 PP). Martine wins the game with 80 PP to the empire's 78 PP.
Masterful Achievements
Put an X in the table below for each of your victories, according to the constraint and difficulty level. Will you be able to complete the table?
| Easy | Normal | Difficult | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Play as the Tech clan | |||
| Play as the Nomad clan | |||
| Play as the Nature clan | |||
| Play as the Noble clan | |||
| Restore 6 relics | |||
| Construct all of your buildings | |||
| Recruit all of your units |
FAQ
Governors
Can I place a governor on a production site that has an opponent's building?
- Yes.
Shadows
Can a shadow eliminate a scavenger or another shadow?
- No, shadows only eliminate enemy governors.
Scavengers
Can a scavenger go to an island already occupied by an opponent's scavenger?
- Yes, each no man's land can accommodate any number of scavengers.
Can I collect a Relic tile from my scavenger's island before moving the scavenger?
- No, the Relic main action very clearly states that you move, and then take a Relic tile from this second island; then move again, and take a Relic tile from this third island (which could be the first island, where your scavenger started the turn).
Can I perform the "Search no man's land" or "Shop at the black market" action on the scavenger's starting island, before its first move?
- No, you must first move the scavenger, then you can perform either or both of these on the destination island.
Heroes
Can I discard as many Hero cards as I like to modify my dice as much as I need?
- Yes. For example, if you discard 4 Hero cards, you can adjust one or more dice a total of 4 (+ and/or −).
If both my deck and my discard are empty, and I play a hero who makes me draw, do I just pick the hero up again immediately?
- No. First, you must complete your hero ability. As you apply its effects, your Hero card is not yet in the discard, so you simply draw nothing.
Can I play the same Hero card twice in the same round?
- Yes, you can replay a Hero card during the same round, but not during the same turn, because you can only play 1 Hero card per turn. But you will have 3 turns each round.
Relic
Can I take 1 Relic tile more than my storage capacity allows if that tile finishes a relic for me?
- No. You must have enough storage for the tile; however, you can still take it if you discard another Relic tile to the black market to make room.
Recruitment
When my pawn is on the lock space, can I continue to pay 3 gold, or must I pay 2 influence to reset it to the starting space?
- You can choose: Continue to pay 3 gold to recruit, or pay 2 influence to reset the price to 1 gold.
Can I pay 2 influence to reset my Recruitment track even before I have reached the lock space?
- No.
Construction
Can I place a building at a production site that has an enemy governor?
- Yes.
Can a building be destroyed?
- No, buildings are indestructible.
Bonus Action tiles
Can I move my Bonus Action tiles between turns?
- No, once you have placed a Bonus Action tile, it stays in its space for the rest of the game. When you gain a new Bonus Action tile, you can cover a Bonus Action tile you have already placed, but you lose the old one's ability.
Don't hesitate to visit laboitedejeu.fr/daimyo if you have other questions.
Don't Forget
- When you place a governor, immediately gain 2 influence on that island. The governor does not collect the resource from the production site when recruited.
- You cannot place 2 dice on the same action, but you can take the same action twice in the same turn thanks to another source of that action (Hero ability / Bonus Action tile…).
- As soon as you move a unit or building, adjust the affected Influence tracks.
- You can recruit several units (different or identical) in a single Recruitment main action.
- You can construct several buildings (different or identical) in a single Construction main action; however, notice that the surcharge increases each time you build a building of the same type.
- Yellow Bonus Action tiles go only in the End of the Round area of your board; the gray ones never go there.
- Heroes you hire go directly to your hand.
Bonus Action Tiles
Here are the meanings of the symbols on your Bonus Action tiles (similar tiles with different resources work otherwise identically).
- During the Revenue phase at the end of the round, gain whatever is indicated on the tile.
- You can recruit ONE unit, paying 1 gold less than required.
- You can build ONE building, paying its normal cost.
- You can move your scavenger 1 time, and retrieve one Relic tile from the destination.
- During the Revenue phase at the end of the round, gain whatever is indicated on the tile.
- Gain whatever is indicated on the tile.
- Increase your storage capacity by 2.
- Discard a Hero card to build ONE building, paying 1 resource less than required.
- Hire a Hero card, paying 2 influence less than required.
- Pay 1 influence to move your scavenger and retrieve up to 2 Relic tiles from the destination.
- Pay 1 influence to immediately place your Clan pawn on the starting space of your Recruitment track.
- Discard one Hero card to hire a hero, paying 3 influence less than required.
- Retrieve 2 Relic tiles from the board, then discard 2 of your Relic tiles to the bag.
- During the Revenue phase at the end of the round, gain whatever is indicated on the tile, and draw a Hero card from your deck.
- Discard a Hero card to activate a Villager tile.
- You can recruit ONE unit, paying exactly 1 gold. This affects your Recruitment track.
- Gain 1 influence, then you can build ONE building, paying its cost exclusively in influence.
- Gain 1 water and draw a Hero card from your deck.
- Increase your storage capacity by 1 and retrieve 1 Relic tile from the black market.
- One of your radio towers collects the resources at its production site 2 times.
- Pay the struck out resource to gain the 3 resources indicated.
- Increase your storage capacity by 1, and then 2 times, increase the value of one of your dice by 1.
- One of your governors collects the resource at its production site 2 times.
- Gain a number of tech equal to the number of shadows you have deployed.
- Pay 1 gold to perform 2 of the 4 steps of the Help from Villagers action.
Credits
Designer: Jérémy Ducret Illustrators: Dimitri Chappuis and Anthony Wolff Project Chief: Grégory Oliver Artistic Director: Igor Polouchine (Origames) Rules: Origames and La Boite de Jeu English translation: Nathan Morse Packaging: Origames and La Boite de Jeu
Thanks from the designer: Enormous thanks to all the early playtesters, who played through so... many... versions: Pat & Jo, Bastien, Pauline, Olivier, Jean-Mi, Julien, Laure, Greg, Justine, Emilie, Julien, Blandine .... Thanks to Martine who pushes and encourages me in my gaming delusions every day. And an immmmmmense thank you to la Boite de Jeu, who has done a remarkable job, without whom the game would not have been "brilliant comme un diamant!"
Daimyo: Rebirth of the Empire is a game published by La Boite de Jeu. ® and ™ 2020 - La Boite de Jeu.