Dwar7s Winter
Dwar7s Winter Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 24x Player Markers (6 per player)
- 4x Player Boards (25x15cm)
- 4x Music Tokens
- Game Board (48x48cm)
- Winter Token
- 1st Player Token
- 10x Disaster Token
- Starting Heroes (28 cards)
- Heroes (28 cards)
- Disasters (12 cards)
- Monsters (16 cards)
- 28 Dwarf miniatures (7 of each color)
- 16 Monster miniatures (2 of each type)
Game Designer & Artist: Luís Brüeh | Game Developer & Project Manager: Constantine Kevorque
Playtesters: Alexandros Manos, André Teruya Eichemberg, Anastasios Grigoriadis, Carlos Couto, Evellyn Brüehmüeller, Ferdinand Andrew, Fernando Celso, Igor Knop, Iriana Theoharopoulos, Jesse Galloway, Joe Sallen, Karen Soarele, Luís Francisco Coutinho, Reid Palmer, Renato José Lopes, Rodrigo Deus, Sam Fraser, Stefani Angelopoulos | Special Thanks to: Amarice, Fabio Piovesan, Darren Hsiao & Boardsheep, John Jacobs, Kei Kouji, Grizzly Overland, Patrick Stangier, Tim Hotaling.
Support at: [email protected] | Copyright: Vesuvius Media - 2017
Game Setup
Winter is upon us... We've made our preparations. Our walls are thick and their foundation run deep, but they are useless without heroes to defend them against our enemies! This battle won't be easy, but our song must endure!
A. Monsters: Shuffle Monster cards. Place the Monster deck and miniatures within easy reach of all players.
B. Game Board: Place the game board at the center of the table.
C. Heroes: Shuffle Hero cards. Place 4 cards face up to create the Hero Pool.
D. Disasters: Shuffle Disaster cards. Place Disaster deck and Disaster Tokens within easy reach of all players.
E. Player Boards: Each player takes a Player Board, 1 set of Player Markers, and 1 Music Token.
F. Player Miniatures: Each player takes a set of 7 Dwarfs of their chosen color and places them on their Player Board.
Player Board Setup: There are 4 resources in the game: Gold, Wood, Stone and Food. You start the game with 2 of each of these resources. Use your Coin Marker to track your Gold and 1 of your Crate Markers to track your Food, Stone and Wood.
Whenever you gain or lose resources, move the relevant Marker accordingly along the corresponding resource track. You can never have more than 7 of any 1 type of resource.
Place 1 Scroll Marker on the 5 spot of the Action track. Place the remaining Scroll Marker on the 7 spot of the Hand-Size track.
G. Action Deck: Each player takes 7 Starting Hero cards (1 of each) to form their initial Action deck. Keep in mind that all Starting Hero cards are worth 0 Victory Points (VPs) when scoring Heroes at the end of the game.
Each player's Starting Hero cards have a colored ribbon at the bottom of its VP icon that should match the color of their Dwarfs.
H. 1st Player Token: The youngest player receives the 1st Player Token.
I. Impending Doom: If you are playing with 3 players, place 1 Disaster card face up next to the game board. If playing with 4 players, reveal 2 Disaster cards.
J. The Defenders: In clockwise order from the 1st player, the 2nd player places 1 Dwarf on any zone of the game board. Then the 3rd and 4th players each place 2 of their own Dwarfs on any zone of the game board.
K. Winter Track: Place the Winter Token on the 1 spot of the Winter track, on the game board.
The Battlegrounds!
There are 5 different zone types on the game board: Forest, Mine, Field, Castle, Wall.
Each zone on the game board (except the Castle) bears an icon indicating its type and a number. These unique combinations of type and number are used to indicate the specific zone referred to by various cards in the game.
For example, when spawning a Disaster or a Monster with an icon showing the Mine symbol and the number 4, it refers to the MINE zone, with the number 4 on it.
Unless otherwise stated, Dwarfs can be placed and moved to any zone on the game board. You can have multiple Monsters, Disasters, and Dwarfs occupying the same zone.
The game board is laid out as a ring of connected zones surrounding a central Castle, with Forest, Mine, and Field zones distributed around it — each bearing its type icon and number — and a Wall running along the outer edge. To the side of the board sit the Hero Pool (revealed Heroes and their Gold cost), the Revealed Monsters and Revealed Disasters decks, the Music Hall (the four musical instruments players can play), and the Winter track (spaces numbered 1 through 7 — survive all 7 weeks and count VPs to determine the winner).
Play! You are now ready to start playing! Proceed to the "Game Overview".
Game Overview
Winter grips the land in its icy clutches! The dwarfs will need to battle both terrifying creatures and the deadly elements if they are to survive. But while each clan wants to earn the most Victory Points (VPs), the only way to survive the harsh winter is for them to work together.
A game of Dwarfs Winter lasts 7 rounds, called "weeks". Each week is divided into 4 phases. After the end of the 7th week, final scoring takes place, and a winner is determined.
Phase 1: Enemy invasion | Phase 2: Preparation | Phase 3: Actions | Phase 4: Resolution
Phase 1: Enemy Invasion
1.1) Refresh Tracks
All players reset their Hand-Size to 7 and their Actions to 5 by moving their Scroll Markers to the relative positions on the corresponding tracks. They also retrieve their Music Tokens from the Music Hall.
1.2) Monsters Attack
The 1st player decides the order in which Monsters move. They choose a Monster, move it 1 zone closer to the Castle and then activate its ability. After its ability has been resolved and all effects applied, they choose the next Monster and repeat this step until all the Monsters on the game board have been moved and their abilities resolved.
If there are no Monsters on the game board, nothing happens. Proceed to 1.3 Monster Reinforcements.
To resolve a Monster's ability, apply its effect to all affected players. For example, if the Monster makes you lose an Action, then all affected players move their Scroll Marker back 1 spot on the Action track of their Player Board. Unless otherwise stated, a Monster's ability does not stack if you have multiple Dwarfs in its area of effect. So, if you have 2 Dwarfs in zones affected by a Frost Giant you do not lose 2 Actions, you only lose 1.
When you lose an Action or reduce your Hand-Size limit, you should move the relevant Marker 1 spot to the right on your Player Board. You can never have fewer than 3 Actions or a Hand-Size limit of 5.
Monster Abilities
Each Monster has its own ability that can change the course of the game. Unless otherwise stated, a Monster's ability is applied during its attack. In addition to a Monster's attack, you cannot Produce resources of any kind in a zone occupied by a Monster. Only abilities that Produce are affected by Monsters. If you do not have enough Food or Wood or Stone to pay a monster then you lose that much gold.
- If you have Dwarfs in its zone or adjacent to it, lose 1 Action.
- Choose one other Monster and move it once.
- If you have Dwarfs in its zone or adjacent to it, reduce Hand-Size by 1.
- If you have Dwarfs in its zone or adjacent to it, lose 1 Wood.
- Each player returns 1 Dwarf from this Monster's zone to their Player Board.
- When spawned, reveal 1 extra Disaster.
- If you have Dwarfs in its zone or adjacent to it, lose 1 Food.
- You cannot play the instrument that corresponds to its current zone.
1.3) Monster Reinforcements
After moving all the Monsters on the game board, spawn new Monsters (if required) based on the number of players. At the end of this phase, you should have a number of Monsters on the game board equal to the number shown below:
Monsters: 1 Player: 2 Monsters; 2 Players: 3 Monsters; 3-4 Players: 4 Monsters.
Each Monster card shows: its Spawning zone, the amount of Dwarfs needed in the zone to defeat it, the resources needed to defeat it, the VPs earned for defeating it, and its Monster ability.
To spawn a new Monster, the 1st player draws the top card from the Monster deck and places it face up in a free spot next to the game board. Then they place the Monster's miniature on the game board as indicated by its Spawning zone. It is possible to have more than 1 Monster occupying the same zone.
Some Monsters, like the Ogre King, have an ability that activates when they are spawned. You must resolve this ability as soon as their miniature is placed on the game board.
1.4) Reveal a Disaster
The 1st player draws the top card from the Disaster deck and places it face up in a free spot next to the game board. Then place 1 Disaster Token on the game board as indicated by the Spawning zone on the card.
Each Disaster card shows: its Spawning zone, the amount of Dwarfs needed in its zone to overcome it, the resources needed to overcome it, the VPs earned, and the Gold earned.
Disasters do not move. They remain in a zone until 1 player has the required number of Dwarfs present and spends the resources needed to overcome it. Until a Disaster has been overcome and its token removed, you cannot produce resources in that zone. Only abilities that Produce are affected by Disasters.
If, at the end of the week, there are 4 or more Disasters active, you will immediately lose the game.
Tip: If possible, try to avoid having all of the same kind of resources blocked by Disasters or Monsters. It may lead you into a death trap!
Phase 2: Preparation
During the Preparation Phase, players prepare a hand of Heroes from their Action deck. These cards will come into play during the Actions Phase.
Take a look at the cards in your Action deck. These are your heroes! Each player begins the game with the same 7 cards in their Action deck. As the game progresses, your Action deck will grow as the additional heroes you acquire are added to it.
Choose a number of cards from your Action deck equal to the number indicated by the Hand-Size track on your Player Board. These cards form your hand, whilst the remainder are placed face down beside your Player Board.
As you will only be able to play cards from your hand during the Actions Phase of this week, you should choose wisely when forming your strategy!
Phase 3: Actions!
The Action track on your Player Board indicates the number of Actions you can take during the Actions Phase. Any combination of Actions can be used, such as: Place a Dwarf; Move a Dwarf; Acquire a Hero; or Play a Musical Instrument (High ho! High ho!). You may also Defeat a Monster or Overcome a Disaster as free actions, provided that you have the required number of Dwarfs and resources in its zone.
3.1) Place a Dwarf
By spending 1 Action, you may place 1 Dwarf from your Player Board in any zone, but you may never place 2 Dwarfs from your Player Board in the same zone during the same turn. You may perform this Action multiple times during your turn, so long as you have the Actions to pay for it.
3.2) Move a Dwarf
By spending 1 Action, you may move 1 of your Dwarfs on the Game Board to any adjacent zone. You may perform this Action multiple times during your turn, so long as you have the Actions to pay for it.
3.3) Acquire a Hero
In order to acquire a Hero card from the Hero Pool, you must spend 1 Action and pay the corresponding cost in Gold, as indicated on the game board.
Place the newly acquired Hero face down in your Action deck. You then slide the remaining face up Hero cards to the right to fill the gap and flip a new Hero face up. You may perform this Action only ONCE in your turn.
Steps: 1) Choose a Hero (note its VPs Earned, its Hero Ability, and its Music type). 2) Pay its Cost. 3) Place it on your deck (face down). 4) Slide and Refill the Hero Pool.
Having a good mix of Heroes to choose from your Action deck is the key to achieving victory.
3.4) Play Music
Spend 1 Action to play a musical instrument that has not yet been played. Place your Music Token on top of your chosen musical instrument from the Music Hall on the game board.
You cannot choose an instrument that already has a Music Token on it. You may now play and immediately resolve any number of cards from your hand, which match your chosen instrument. You do not have to play all your matching cards.
Once you have finished playing your cards, each player (in clockwise order) may choose to play any number of cards from their own hand that match your chosen instrument.
You may perform this Action only ONCE per turn.
For example, here the yellow player chooses Drums and places their Music Token on the corresponding instrument in the Music Hall on the game board. They then play their card to Produce 1 Wood in each Forest they occupy. Since they have 2 Dwarfs in different Forest zones, they receive 2 Wood.
...then the yellow player plays another card featuring the Drum icon to move their Dwarf from Forest 1 to Mine 4.
Then, one at a time in clockwise order, each other player may follow your lead and activate any cards from their own hand.
...as they cannot produce resources in zones occupied by Disasters, the red player decides to start by playing their card to move from Forest 2 to Forest 1.
...then the red player plays a 2nd card to produce 1 Wood.
...finally the red player plays a 3rd card to gain 1 Stone.
Remember: Producing resources is tied to your presence in a specific zone type and may be blocked by Disasters and/or Monsters.
Heroes Abilities
Each Hero card belongs to a musical instrument (Forest/Drums, Field/Flute, Mine/Horn, or the moneybag instrument), costs Gold to acquire, and shows a star value indicating its VP worth at game end. The abilities are:
0 VP:
- Produce 1 Wood per Forest you occupy.
- Produce 1 Food per Field you occupy.
- Produce 1 Stone per Mine you occupy.
- Gain 1 Gold.
0 VP:
- Move any Dwarf (yours or another player's) in a Forest by 1 zone.
- Move any Dwarf (yours or another player's) in a Field by 1 zone.
- Move any Dwarf (yours or another player's) in a Mine by 1 zone.
1 VP:
- Pay 2 Gold to acquire any card from the Hero Pool.
- Gain 1 Food, 1 Stone and 1 Wood.
- Place or Move up to 2 of your different Dwarfs.
2 VP:
- Gain 2 Wood.
- Gain 2 Food.
- Gain 2 Stone.
- Gain 2 Gold.
"If something is broken, my hammer can fix it. If not, my axe can fix it. If not again, mead will fix it."
2 VP:
- Gain 1 Wood or 1 Food.
- Gain 1 Wood or 1 Stone.
- Gain 1 Food or 1 Gold.
- Gain 1 Stone or 1 Gold.
2 VP:
- Move any 2 different Dwarfs (yours or another player's) in Forest zones by 1 zone.
- Move any 2 different Dwarfs (yours or another player's) in Field zones by 1 zone.
- Move any 2 different Dwarfs (yours or another player's) in Mine zones by 1 zone.
- Place or Move 1 of your dwarfs.
2 VP:
- Remove 1 of your Dwarfs from the game board to gain 3 Gold.
- Spend 1 Wood to gain 3 Food.
- Spend 1 Stone to gain 3 Gold.
3 VP:
- Gain 1 Wood.
- Gain 1 Food.
- Gain 1 Stone.
- Gain 1 Gold.
3.5) Free Action: Defeat a Monster
On your turn, if you occupy the same zone as a Monster and you have the required number of Dwarfs and resources, you may defeat it. Return the Dwarfs used to defeat the Monster to your Player Board, adjust your resource tracks accordingly and remove the defeated Monster's miniature from the game board. Finally, place the defeated Monster's card face down near your Player Board. It will count toward your VPs at the end of the game.
3.6) Free Action: Overcome a Disaster
On your turn, if you occupy the same zone as a Disaster and you have the required number of Dwarfs and resources, you may overcome it. Return the Dwarfs used to overcome the Disaster to your Player Board, adjust your resource tracks accordingly, claim the Gold reward and remove the corresponding Disaster Token from the game board. Finally, place the overcome Disaster's card face down near your Player Board. It will count toward your VPs at the end of the game.
Phase 4: Resolution!
If, at the end of the week, you have 4 Disasters active or a Monster inside the Castle, then you all lose the game!
If this is NOT the 7th week and you are still alive, then move the Winter Token 1 spot to the right on the track and pass the 1st Player Token to the next player (clockwise).
If this is the end of the 7th week and you managed to not lose the Castle to Monsters or become overwhelmed by Disasters, then you survived the Winter! As the first signs of Spring finally appear, you should count your Victory Points to determine the winner.
Winning the Game
At the end of the game, the player with the most Victory Points (VP) wins. You score Victory Points from all of the following:
Defeated Monsters: Each defeated Monster awards the number of VPs shown on its card.
Overcome Disasters: Each overcome Disaster awards the number of VPs shown on its card.
Acquired Heroes: Each Hero in your Action deck awards you the number of VPs shown on its card.
Manufacturer: For each resource that has reached the 7 spot of its track, you gain the number of VPs displayed on your Player Board.
Militia: At the end of the game, if all of your Dwarfs are back on your Player Board, you gain 3 VPs.
Tie Breakers: If a tie occurs, victory is given to the player with the most Dwarfs on their Player Board, then to the player that has the most VPs from Hero cards, then the most Gold in their treasury, then the most Food, then the most Stone, then the most Wood, then to the player that overcame the most Disasters, and finally the player who defeated most Monsters. If there's still a tie, then the players share victory!
Scoring Example
By having 7 Gold at the end of the game, the yellow player earns 3 VPs.
By having 7 Stone at the end of the game, the yellow player earns 2 VPs.
By having 7 Dwarfs on their Player Board at the end of the game, the yellow player earns 3 VPs.
The yellow player also scores points from the Hero Cards acquired during the game. In this example the total is: (3+2+2+2+1+3) 13 VPs.
And finally, they earn VPs for all Disasters overcome (3+3) and Monsters defeated (5+3). Total: 14 VPs.
Final Score: The yellow player's final score is: 3+2+3+13+14 = 35 VPs!
Solitaire Variation
In a solitaire game, play proceeds exactly as it does for a regular game, but with the following changes:
- The player starts with 4 Gold and 4 of each resource.
- Instead of receiving 1 Music Token, the player gets 3 Music Tokens. In a solitaire game, placing 1 Music Token is considered a free action.
- You may spend as many Actions as you want (up to your Action limit) to acquire heroes from the Hero Pool.
Should you survive the winter, compare your score with the following chart to measure your success:
- The Survivor: 25 VPs and have overcome 4+ Disasters.
- The Beast Hunter: 30 VPs and have defeated 5+ Monsters.
- The Knight of the Round Table: 35 VPs and have acquired 7+ Heroes.
- The Frost King: 40 VPs and have at least 1 of your Player Board's resource tracks at 7.
- The Legend: 50+ VPs and have defeated 7+ Monsters and overcome 7+ Disasters.
Nightmare Variation
If you want an even harder game, on weeks 3, 5 and 7, reveal 2 Disasters, instead of 1.
Bloodlust Variation
For each different type of Monster you defeat, add 1 extra VP at the end of the game.
In this example, the player would get 18 VPs by defeating these Monsters and also 3 Extra VPs for their Bloodlust.
The Legendary! Expansion
The wrath of the Ice Queen is proving to be more than our Heroes can take. It is time to descend into the depths of the crystal caves and call upon the Legends of Earth, Thunder, and Ice!
Components: 12 Disasters; 8 Monsters (cards and miniatures); 4 Starting heroes; 12 Legendary Dwarfs.
Any additional content belonging to this expansion is marked with the Legendary expansion icon.
The Snowball Effect
If you reveal a disaster that is on the same zone as another disaster and you have 3 active disasters or less, spawn one extra disaster.
Legendary Monster Abilities
- If there are Dwarfs in its zone or adjacent to it, move it one more step closer to the castle.
- If you have Dwarfs in its zone or adjacent to it, lose 1 Gold.
- If you have Dwarfs in its zone or adjacent to it, lose 1 Stone.
- If you have Dwarfs in its zone or adjacent to it, lose 1 Food, 1 Stone and 1 Wood.
The Legendary Classes
During Setup, all players receive one sage hero card. The sage allows you to upgrade one of your regular workers on your playerboard into one legendary dwarf (see below) at a cost of 2 gold, replace one of your workers on your player board (campfire) miniature with a legendary class miniature of your color. Put the replaced worker miniature back in the box. You may have all 3 of your legendary dwarfs in play. All Legendary dwarfs are worth 2 VPs at the end of the game.
The Ice Warrior: It counts as 2 dwarfs for the purpose of defeating monsters.
The Earth Guardian: If your guardian is on a disaster zone, you pay 1 less resource in order to overcome it.
The Thunder King: Placing your king on the game board from your Player Board is a free action.