Dominion: Hinterlands Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Preparation
• Contents
  • 266 Kingdom cards
• Playing the Game
  • Additional terms used on the Hinterlands cards
• Additional Rules for Hinterlands
• Sample Turn
• Kingdom Card Description
• Recommended Sets of 10
  • Hinterlands only
  • Hinterlands and Dominion
  • Hinterlands and Intrigue
  • Hinterlands and Seaside
  • Hinterlands and Alchemy
  • Hinterlands and Prosperity
  • Hinterlands and Cornucopia

Preparation

Before the first game, remove the three sets of cards from their wrappings and place them in the card tray. One side of the included inlay suggests a way to organize the cards. The opposite side allows players to create an organization that fits their needs.

Hinterlands includes 26 randomizer cards (one for each Kingdom card in Hinterlands). Players will need the Treasure cards, Victory cards, Curse cards, and Trash card from either Dominion or a standalone expansion to Dominion (e.g., Dominion: Intrigue) to play with this expansion. As with previous Dominion games, players must choose 10 sets of Kingdom cards for each game. If players choose the random approach for choosing sets, they should shuffle the randomizer cards from this expansion with those of any other Dominion games they choose to play with.

Contents

266 Kingdom cards

20 Action cards (10 of each)

• Border Village, Cartographer, Crossroads, Develop, Duchess, Embassy, Haggler, Highway, Inn, Jack of All Trades, Mandarin, Margrave, Noble Brigand, Nomad Camp, Oasis, Oracle, Scheme, Spice Merchant, Stables, Trader

3 Victory cards (12 of each)

• Farmland, Silk Road, Tunnel

3 Treasure cards (10 of each)

• Cache, Fool's Gold, Ill-Gotten Gains

26 Randomizer cards (one of each Kingdom card with a blue banded back)

8 blank cards (7 standard back; 1 randomizer back)

Two new card types appear in this expansion: victory-reaction (Tunnel) and treasure-reaction (Fool's Gold). Their card layout is shown in the rulebook as: name, card ability, card type (victory-reaction, green-blue; treasure-reaction, yellow-blue), and cost.

Playing the Game

Playing Dominion with the Hinterland cards is very much like playing Dominion with the base game and any other expansion. Of course, the cards have different powers, powers which we think you will find interesting and add fun to your game. As always, you can mix and match these cards with the others.

Additional terms used on the Hinterlands cards

"In play" -- Action cards and Treasure cards played face-up in a player's play area are in play until they are moved somewhere else--usually until they are discarded during a Clean-up phase. Only played cards are in play; set aside cards, trashed cards, cards in the supply, and cards in hands, decks, and discard piles are not in play. Reaction abilities like Trader's do not put those cards into play.

In play cards are those you have played - not those set aside, trashed, or discarded. Nor are they cards in your hand, deck, supply or discard piles.

Additional Rules for Hinterlands

Many cards in Hinterlands do something "when you gain" or "when you buy" that card or another card. "When you buy" only happens when you buy a card, but "when you gain" happens both when you gain a card directly, such as with Border Village, and when you gain a card that you bought. When you buy a card, you first buy it, then gain it; so for example if you buy Noble Brigand and have Trader in your hand, you first resolve what the Noble Brigand does when you buy it, and then can choose to use Trader's "when you gain" ability. You can sometimes buy a card without gaining it, such as by using Trader to gain Silver instead, or due to the Dominion: Alchemy card Possession. You can also sometimes gain cards when it is not your turn. The player that "when you buy" things happen for is the player who paid for the card, and the player that "when you gain" things happen for is the player who actually gained the card. "When you gain this" happens directly after you gain the card; the card will be in your discard pile already (or wherever else it was put) when you resolve that ability.

Hinterlands includes three Treasure cards with rules on them. They are in the Supply if selected as one of the 10 Kingdom cards for the game; they are not part of the Basic Supply. They are just like normal Treasures, but have special abilities. They are played during the Buy phase like normal Treasures, and are affected by cards that refer to Treasures.

A player may play his Treasure cards in any order, and may choose not to play some (or even all) of the Treasure cards he has in his hand. During the Buy phase, a player must play all of the Treasures he wishes to play before he buys any cards, even if he has +Buys; he cannot play more Treasures after Buying a card.

When two things happen to a player at the same time, that player picks the order to do them. For example, if a player plays Haggler and then buys Farmland, that player chooses whether to resolve Haggler's "when you buy" before or after Farmland's "when you buy". When two things happen to different players at the same time, they happen in turn order, starting with the player whose turn it is. For example, when a player gains Embassy, first the player to that player's left gains a Silver, then the next player, etc.

At any point in the game, if a player has to do anything regarding his Deck (draw, reveal, set aside, look at, or trash cards), and he needs more cards than are remaining in his Deck, he must do as many as he can and then shuffle his face-up Discard pile to form a new face-down Deck. Then, he does the things with the remaining number of cards from his newly shuffled Deck. If a player's Deck is empty, he does not shuffle his Discard pile until he needs to do something with cards from his Deck and cannot.

Sample Turn

At the start of Anna's turn, she has a hand of Cartographer, Scheme, Copper, Ill-Gotten Gains, and Estate. She plays Cartographer, draws a Copper, then looks at the top four cards of her deck: Tunnel, Haggler, Tunnel, and Silver. She discards the two Tunnels, revealing them and gaining two Golds, putting them into her discard pile. She puts the Haggler and Silver back on top, with the Haggler on top of the Silver. Then she plays Scheme, drawing the Haggler. She plays Haggler and is done playing Actions. In her Buy phase, she plays the two Coppers, then the Ill-Gotten Gains. She chooses to gain a Copper with it, and immediately plays that Copper. She has 6 coins to spend. She buys a Border Village. Since she bought a card, she gains a cheaper non-Victory card due to Haggler. She gains an Ill-Gotten Gains, which causes each other player to immediately gain a Curse. Then, since she gained Border Village, she gains a cheaper card due to Border Village's ability. She gains a Duchy. Now she is ready for Clean-up. She chooses Haggler for Scheme's ability. She puts Haggler on top of her deck, discards the rest of the cards she has in play and the Estate from her hand, then draws a new hand, including the Haggler that she put on top with Scheme and the Silver she put on top with Cartographer.

Kingdom Card Description

Border Village: When you play this, you draw a card and can play two more Actions this turn. When you gain this, you also gain a card from the Supply that costs less than Border Village. Normally that will be a card costing up to 5 coins, but if Border Village costs less than normal, such as due to Highway, then the card you gain will have a lower maximum cost. You only gain a card when you gain Border Village, not when you play it. You gain a card whether you gained Border Village due to buying it, or gained it some other way.

Cache: This is a treasure worth 3 coins, like Gold. When you gain it, you also gain two Coppers from the Supply. If there are not two Coppers left, just gain as many as you can. You only gain Coppers when you gain Cache, not when you play it. You gain Coppers whether you gained Cache due to buying it, or gained it some other way.

Cartographer: You draw a card first, then look at the top 4 cards of your deck. If there are fewer than 4 cards left in your deck, look at the remaining cards, and shuffle your discard pile (which does not include those cards) to get the remainder needed to look at. If there are still not enough cards, just look at as many as you can. Discard any number of the cards you looked at - none, all four, or something in-between - and put the rest back on top of your deck in any order. If there were no cards left in your deck, these become the only cards in your deck. You do not reveal the cards you put back.

Crossroads: First reveal your hand, and draw a card for each Victory card you revealed, if any. The revealed cards all stay in your hand. Cards with two types, one of which is Victory, are Victory cards. Then, if this is the first time you played a Crossroads this turn, you get +3 Actions. Subsequent Crossroads this turn will give you cards but not Actions. Using a card that lets you play a card several times (like Throne Room from Dominion) on Crossroads, you will play Crossroads multiple times, getting +3 Actions the first time but not the others.

Develop: First trash a card from your hand, if you have any cards in hand. Develop itself is no longer in your hand and so cannot trash itself (though it can trash other copies of Develop). If you trashed a card, gain two cards, one costing exactly 1 coin more than the trashed card, and one costing exactly 1 coin less than the trashed card. The gained cards come from the Supply; gain them in either order. If there is no card in the Supply at one of the costs, you still gain the other card if you can. Put the gained cards on top of your deck rather than into your discard pile. If you trash a Copper with Develop, which costs 0 coins, you will try and fail to gain a card costing -1 coin (and also try to gain a card costing 1 coin).

Duchess: When you play this, you get +2 coins, and each player, including you, looks at the top card of his own deck and either discards it or puts it back on top, his choice. Any player with no cards in his deck shuffles his discard pile first; any player who still has no cards to look at does not look at one. When a player gains a Duchy in a game with Duchess in the Supply, that player may also gain a Duchess from the Supply. This works whether the player gained a Duchy due to buying one, or gained a Duchy some other way. Duchess does not interact in any special way with the promotional card Black Market.

Embassy: When you play this, you draw five cards, then discard three cards. The cards you discard can be ones that were in your hand and/or ones you just drew. You discard three cards if able, even if you were unable to draw the full five cards (due to not having enough cards in your deck and discard pile). If you do not have three cards to discard, you discard as many as you can. When you gain this, each other player gains a Silver. Players only gain Silvers when you gain this, not when you play this. They gain Silvers whether you gained Embassy due to buying it, or gained it some other way. Gaining Silvers is not optional for them. The Silvers come from the Supply. If there are not enough Silvers left to go around, deal them out in turn order, starting with the player to the left of the player who gained Embassy.

Farmland: This is a Victory card, not an Action card. It is worth 2 Victory points at the end of the game. When you buy it, you trash a card from your hand if able, and if you did, you gain a card from the Supply costing exactly 2 coins more than the trashed card if able. If there are no cards left in your hand to trash, you do not trash or gain a card, and if you trashed a card but there are no cards in the Supply costing exactly 2 coins more than the trashed card, you do not gain a card. This ability only functions when you buy Farmland, not when you gain it some other way. During set-up, put all 12 Farmlands in the Supply for a game with 3 or more players, but only 8 in the Supply for a 2-player game.

Fool's Gold: This is both a Treasure and a Reaction. It can be played in your Buy phase like other Treasures. When you play it, it is worth 1 coin if this is the first time you played a Fool's Gold this turn, and otherwise it is worth 4 coins. So if you play three Fool's Golds in the same turn, the first is worth 1 coin, the second is worth 4 coins, and the third is worth 4 coins. Fool's Gold is also a Reaction. When another player gains a Province, you may trash Fool's Gold from your hand; if you do, you gain a Gold from the Supply, putting it on top of your deck rather than into your discard pile. If there are no cards in your deck, the Gold becomes the only card in your deck. If there are no Gold cards left in the Supply, you do not gain one, but can still trash Fool's Gold. This Reaction is only usable when another player gains a Province, not you. It is usable whether a Province was gained due to being bought, or gained some other way.

Haggler: When you play this, you get +2 coins. While this is in play, whenever you buy a card, you gain a cheaper card that is not a Victory card. For example, you could buy a Province, and gain a Gold via Haggler. Gaining a card is not optional. The gained card comes from the Supply and is put into your discard pile. Haggler only gives you an extra card when you buy a card, not when you gain a card some other way (such as with Haggler itself). If there is no cheaper card available in the Supply (e.g., if you buy a Copper), you do not gain a card. Using a card that lets you play a card several times (like Throne Room from Dominion) on Haggler does not gain you two or more cards per card bought, as there is still only one copy of Haggler in play. The bonus is cumulative: if you have three Hagglers in play, you will gain three more cards for each card you buy. Cards with two types, one of which is Victory, are Victory cards and so cannot be gained with Haggler.

Highway: While this is in play, cards cost 1 coin less, but not less than 0 coins. This makes all cards cheaper (to a minimum of 0) as long as it is in play. When it leaves play, it stops making cards cheaper. This applies to cards everywhere - cards in the Supply, cards in hand, cards in Decks. For example if you played Highway, then Develop, trashing a Copper, you could gain an Estate, as Estate would cost 1 while Copper would still cost 0. Using a card that lets you play a card several times (like Throne Room from Dominion) on Highway will not make cards cost 2 less, as there is still only one copy of Highway in play. The bonus is cumulative; if you have three Highways in play, all cards cost 3 less (to a minimum of 0).

Ill-Gotten Gains: This is a Treasure worth 1 coin, like Copper. When you play it, you may gain a Copper. The gained Copper comes from the Supply and is put into your hand; you can immediately play it. If there is no Copper left in the Supply, you do not gain one. When you gain Ill-Gotten Gains, each other player gains a Curse. This happens whether you gain Ill-Gotten Gains due to buying it, or you gain it some other way. The Curses come from the Supply and go into discard piles. If there are not enough Curses left to go around, deal them out in turn order, starting with the player to the left of the player who gained Ill-Gotten Gains. Ill-Gotten Gains is not an Attack, and gaining it is not playing an Attack; cards like Moat from Dominion do not work against it.

Inn: When you play this, you draw 2 cards, get +2 Actions, then discard 2 cards. The cards you discard can be ones that were in your hand and/or ones you just drew. You discard cards if able, even if you were unable to draw 2 cards. When you gain this, you look through your discard pile (something normally not allowed), and shuffle any number of Action cards from it into your deck (leaving the rest of your discard pile in your discard pile). You do not have to shuffle any Action cards into your deck. You can shuffle the Inn you just gained into your deck; it is an Action card in your discard pile. Cards with two types, one of which is Action, are Action cards. You must reveal the Action cards that you choose to shuffle into your deck. It does not matter what order you leave your discard pile in afterwards. This ability functions if you gain Inn due to buying it, or gain Inn some other way.

Jack of All Trades: This card does four separate things, in the order listed; you do all of them (the last one is optional). First, gain a Silver from the Supply, putting it into your discard pile. If there are no Silvers left in the Supply, you do not gain one. Second, look at the top card of your deck, and either discard it or put it back on top. If there are no cards left in your deck, shuffle your discard pile to get a card to look at (this will shuffle in the Silver you just gained). If there are still no cards, you do not look at one. Third, draw cards until you have at least five cards in hand. If you already have five or more cards in hand, you do not draw any cards. If there are not enough cards left to draw between your deck and discard pile, just draw what you can. Fourth, you may trash a card from your hand that is not a Treasure card. Cards with two types, one of which is Treasure, are Treasures.

Mandarin: When you play this, you get +3 coins, and put a card from your hand on top of your deck. If you have no cards left in hand, you do not put a card on top of your deck. If there are no cards left in your deck, the card you put on top becomes the only card in your deck. When you gain this, you put all of your Treasures from play on top of your deck in any order. You do not have to show this order to other players. You have to put all of your Treasures on top; you cannot leave some out. You only put Treasures from play on top of your deck, not unplayed Treasures from your hand. This does not stop you from having the coins you got from playing those Treasures; for example, if you have +1 Buy and play four Golds and buy a Mandarin, you put the Golds on top of your deck, and still have 7 coins left to spend. Mandarin puts your played Treasures on your deck whether you gained it due to buying it or gained it some other way, although normally you will only have Treasures in play in your Buy phase.

Margrave: You draw 3 cards and get +1 Buy. Each other player draws a card, then discards down to 3 cards in hand. Drawing a card is not optional for them. A player who only has 3 cards or fewer after drawing does not discard.

Noble Brigand: When you play this, you get +1 coin. When you play this and also when you buy it, each other player reveals the top two cards of his deck, trashes a Silver or Gold he revealed that you choose, and discards the rest. Each of these players that did not reveal a Treasure at all gains a Copper from the Supply, putting it into his discard pile. Finally, you gain all of the Silvers and Golds trashed this way. This cannot trash any Treasures except Silver or Gold. Gaining a Noble Brigand without buying it does not cause this ability to happen. Noble Brigand is an Attack card, and when you play it, players can use cards like Moat from Dominion or Secret Chamber from Intrigue in response. However, buying a Noble Brigand is not "playing an Attack card," and so cards like Moat cannot respond to that.

Nomad Camp: When you gain this card, it goes on top of your deck rather than into your discard pile. This is true whether you gained it due to buying it, or gained it some other way. If there were no cards in your deck, it becomes the only card in your deck.

Oasis: You draw before discarding. You can discard the card you drew. If you are unable to draw a card (due to having no cards in your deck, and none in your discard pile to shuffle), you still discard a card if able.

Oracle: First, each player, including you, reveals the top two cards of his deck, and either discards both of them or puts both of them back on top, your choice. A player putting the cards back puts them back in an order he chooses, and without needing to reveal that order. Then, you draw two cards. So if you put back the cards you revealed, you will draw them.

Scheme: When you play this, you draw a card, get +1 Action, and set up an effect to happen later in the turn, at the start of Clean-up. At that time, you may optionally choose an Action card you have in play. If you discard that Action card from play this turn, as you normally do, you will put it on top of your deck. This happens before you draw cards for next turn. The Action card you choose can be Scheme itself, or any other Action card you have in play, which might have been played before or after you played Scheme. If the Action card is not discarded during Clean-up, for example due to being a Duration card from Dominion: Seaside that was played this turn, then it does not get put on top of your deck.

Silk Road: This is a Victory card, not an Action card. It does nothing until the end of the game, when it is worth 1 Victory point for every four Victory cards in your Deck (counting all of your cards - your Discard pile and hand are part of your Deck at that point). Silk Roads count themselves. Round down; if you have 11 Victory cards, Silk Road is worth 2 Victory points. During set-up, put all 12 Silk Roads in the Supply for a game with 3 or more players, but only 8 in the Supply for a 2-player game. Cards with multiple types, one of which is Victory, are Victory cards and so are counted by Silk Road.

Spice Merchant: You may trash a Treasure card from your hand. This is optional. If you did trash a Treasure card, you choose either to get +2 Cards and +1 Action, or +2 coins and +1 Buy.

Stables: You may discard a Treasure card from your hand. This is optional. If you did discard one, you get +3 Cards and +1 Action. You draw after discarding, so if you have to shuffle to get the 3 cards, you will end up shuffling in the card you discarded.

Trader: When you play this, trash a card from your hand, and if you did, gain a number of Silvers equal to the cost of that card in coins. The Silvers come from the Supply and are put into your discard pile. If there are not enough Silvers left, just gain all of the Silvers that you can. You only gain Silvers if you trashed a card. If you trash a card costing 0 coins, such as Copper, you will gain zero Silvers. You can trash Silver if you want; you will gain three Silvers for it normally. If costs are different, such as due to playing Highway, then Trader will give you a different number of Silvers, based on the current costs. For example if you play Highway and then Trader, trashing an Estate, you will only gain one Silver. If you trash a card with Potion in its cost from Dominion: Alchemy, you do not get anything for the Potion, just for the coins that the card costs.

Trader is also a Reaction. When you gain a card, whether due to buying it or due to gaining it some other way, you may reveal Trader from your hand to instead gain a Silver from the Supply. If you do this, you gain a Silver, not the card you would have gained; if something would have happened due to gaining the other card, it does not happen, because you did not gain it. For example if you buy Ill-Gotten Gains but use Trader to gain Silver instead, no-one will gain a Curse. However if something happens when you buy a card, that will still happen if you replace gaining the card with gaining Silver. For example you can buy Farmland, trash a card from your hand and gain one costing 2 coins more, then use Trader to gain Silver rather than Farmland. If the card you were going to gain was not going to your discard pile, the Silver still goes to your discard pile; if the card you were going to gain did not come from the Supply, the Silver still comes from the Supply. If there are no Silvers left in the Supply, you can still reveal Trader when you gain a card; you gain nothing instead of the card you would have gained.

Tunnel: This is both a Victory card and a Reaction. At the end of the game, Tunnel is worth 2 Victory points. Tunnel's Reaction ability functions when you discard it. You cannot simply choose to discard it; something has to let you or make you discard it. This ability functions whether you discard Tunnel on your own turn (such as due to Oasis) or on someone else's (such as due to Margrave). It functions if Tunnel is discarded from your hand (such as due to Oasis) or from your deck, or when set aside (such as due to Cartographer). If Tunnel would normally not necessarily be revealed (such as when discarding multiple cards to Cartographer), you have to reveal it to get the Gold. Revealing it is optional, even if Tunnel was already revealed for some other reason; you are not forced to gain a Gold. This ability does not function if cards are put into your discard pile without being discarded, such as when you buy a card, when you gain a card directly (such as with Border Village), when your deck is put into your discard pile, such as with Chancellor from Dominion, or with Possession from Dominion: Alchemy, when trashed cards are returned to you at end of turn. It also does not function during Clean-up, when you normally discard all of your played and unplayed cards. The key thing to look for is a card actually telling you to "discard" cards. The Gold you gain comes from the Supply and is put into your discard pile; if there is no Gold left in the Supply, you do not gain one.

Recommended Sets of 10

You can play Dominion with any set of 10 Kingdom cards, but these sets are intended to highlight some interesting card interactions and game strategies.

Hinterlands only

• Introduction: Cache, Crossroads, Develop, Haggler, Jack of all Trades, Margrave, Nomad Camp, Oasis, Spice Merchant, Stables
• Fair Trades: Border Village, Cartographer, Develop, Duchess, Farmland, Ill-Gotten Gains, Noble Brigand, Silk Road, Stables, Trader
• Bargains: Border Village, Cache, Duchess, Fool's Gold, Haggler, Highway, Nomad Camp, Scheme, Spice Merchant, Trader
• Gambits: Cartographer, Crossroads, Embassy, Inn, Jack of All Trades, Mandarin, Nomad Camp, Oasis, Oracle, Tunnel

Hinterlands and Dominion

• Highway Robbery: Cellar, Library, Moneylender, Throne Room, Workshop / Highway, Inn, Margrave, Noble Brigand, Oasis
• Adventures Abroad: Adventurer, Chancellor, Festival, Laboratory, Remodel / Crossroads, Farmland, Fool's Gold, Oracle, Spice Merchant

Hinterlands and Intrigue

• Money for Nothing: Coppersmith, Great Hall, Pawn, Shanty Town, Torturer / Cache, Cartographer, Jack of All Trades, Silk Road, Tunnel
• The Duke's Ball: Conspirator, Duke, Harem, Masquerade, Upgrade / Duchess, Haggler, Inn, Noble Brigand, Scheme

Hinterlands and Seaside

• Travelers: Cutpurse, Island, Lookout, Merchant Ship, Warehouse / Cartographer, Crossroads, Farmland, Silk Road, Stables
• Diplomacy: Ambassador, Bazaar, Caravan, Embargo, Smugglers / Embassy, Farmland, Ill-Gotten Gains, Noble Brigand, Trader

Hinterlands and Alchemy

• Schemes and Dreams: Apothecary, Apprentice, Herbalist, Philosopher's Stone, Transmute / Duchess, Fool's Gold, Ill-Gotten Gains, Jack of All Trades, Scheme
• Wine Country: Apprentice, Familiar, Golem, University, Vineyard / Crossroads, Farmland, Haggler, Highway, Nomad Camp

Hinterlands and Prosperity

• Instant Gratification: Bishop, Expand, Hoard, Mint, Watchtower / Farmland, Haggler, Ill-Gotten Gains, Noble Brigand, Trader
• Treasure Trove: Bank, Monument, Royal Seal, Trade Route, Venture / Cache, Develop, Fool's Gold, Ill-Gotten Gains, Mandarin

Hinterlands and Cornucopia

• Blue Harvest: Hamlet, Horn of Plenty, Horse Traders, Jester, Tournament / Fool's Gold, Mandarin, Noble Brigand, Trader, Tunnel
• Traveling Circus: Fairgrounds, Farming Village, Hunting Party, Jester, Menagerie / Border Village, Embassy, Fool's Gold, Nomad Camp, Oasis

Notes from the page 4 sidebar:

• Important clarification: When you Buy a card, first you "buy" the card, then you "gain" it. "When you buy" happens only when you buy a card. "When you gain" happens when you buy a card, or gain it some other way.
• The Hinterlands Treasure cards are Kingdom cards and not part of the basic supply. They are chosen for play just as other Kingdom cards.
• Playing Treasure cards is optional, but the player must play all he will use before his first buy.
• When two things happen to a player at the same time, that player picks the order to do them. When two things happen to different players at the same time, go in turn order.
• When a player needs to draw, reveal, set aside, look at, or trash cards from his deck and it is exhausted, he does what he can, shuffles the discards and continues. Shuffle to get more cards whenever needed, but not before.