Merchants of Qultah Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Goal of the Game
• Game Components
• The Merchant Cards
• Game Setup
• How to Play
  • Turn Overview
  • Choose a Merchant Card
  • Roll and Re-roll
  • Activate Merchant Actions
  • Settle the Negotiation
  • Negotiating with Two Dice
• Merchant Actions
  • When Is the Action Triggered?
  • What Does the Action Do?
  • Which Dice Are Affected?
• Additional Rules
  • Chain Reactions
  • Continue an Active Negotiation
  • The Saboteur Card
  • End of a Round
  • Setup for the Next Round
• The End of the Game
• Game Variants
  • Variable Game Board
  • Crazy Negotiations
  • Score Points
  • Hide Your Supply
  • Different Amount of Merchants
  • Lucky Days
  • 2 versus 2

Goal of the Game

A game is played over two rounds. Each round represents one day on earth.

Each player tries to reach deals with different merchants whilst manipulating the negotiations of their opponents.

After the deals have been reached, the players collect their acquired goods, the player with the highest total value wins the game.

Game Components

• 31 Merchant cards / Saboteur cards (29 x merchants, 2 x saboteurs). These cards represent the merchants that you encounter.
• 28 Dice (7 x dice in 4 different colors). These dice are your personal supply. You will use them in trade for intergalactic goods.
• 45 Gemstones (10 x turquoise, 15 x purple, 20 x orange). These gems symbolize the intergalactic goods. The different colors indicate their value:
  • Turquoise: 3 points
  • Purple: 2 points
  • Orange: 1 point
• 4 Reference cards. These reference cards show you all the different actions.
• 1 Rule book

The Merchant Cards

Transcriber's note: the individual goods, rewards, dice areas and action symbols printed on each of the 29 merchant cards and 2 saboteur cards are shown only in the card artwork of the rulebook (pages 4 and 5), not as text. They are not transcribed here; the reference cards and the action legend below describe how to read them.

Goods and rewards. These are the goods the merchant trades with and also other rewards that you receive when reaching a deal with them.

During the game setup, you place all the shown intergalactic goods onto the merchant card. If the merchant offers more than one good, place all of them on the card.

Dice. This area shows you whether you are allowed to use one or up to two dice, when trading with a merchant.

Merchant actions. Depending on the number you roll, each merchant offers certain actions. Further details are explained on page 9.

Race and reference number. These reference numbers are not necessarily relevant during the game but help you to preset the combinations you're playing, to share it with friends or to remember it for the next time.

Each merchant has a specific race, which name is written here.

Game Setup

Lay out the merchant cards with the indicated reference numbers and the saboteur card according to the chart below. Every player should be able to see and reach all cards. We recommend using 5 merchants for 2 players and 7 merchants for 3 to 4 players. There is always only one saboteur per round.

• 2 players: M_01, M_02, M_03, M_04, M_05, S_01.
• 3-4 players: M_01, M_02, M_03, M_04, M_05, M_06, M_07, S_01

Put the intergalactic goods on the merchant cards like shown in the section before. Every player gets six dice of the same color and a reference card. Create a general supply for the remaining dice and goods.

How to Play

As explained in the section Goal of the game, all players try to reach deals with as many merchants as possible and collect their intergalactic goods.

To reach your deals, your dice have to be on the merchant cards at the end of the round. A round ends once every player runs out of dice. Be aware that your opponents will try to steal your deals during their turns and that you should do the same.

Turn Overview

Starting with the first player, take turns in a clockwise order. You are not allowed to skip turns if there are still dice in your personal supply.

1. Choose a merchant card
2. Roll and re-roll
3. Activate merchant actions
4. Settle the negotiation

Choose a Merchant Card

The first thing you have to do, is to choose a merchant you want to trade with. It's up to you which one you pick.

Roll and Re-roll

You take at least one of your dice and roll it to initiate the negotiation. The higher the result, the better your argument. Like in real life, a deal is not normally settled within the first few words. That's why in Merchants of Qultah you can re-roll your die as long as your result increases.

Example: David rolls a 2. He decides to re-roll his die. This time he rolls a 4. The new result is higher than the previous one, so he has the option to re-roll once more. David takes his chances and rolls a 3. Since the result did not increase this time, David has to stick to the 3.

Activate Merchant Actions

If your rolled result triggers an action, you have to execute it. Look at the merchant's action area on the card. If your result is shown there, it triggers the following action.

Example: Lena's result is a 3. She takes a look at the merchant's action area and sees that her 3 has triggered an action, which allows her to increase any given die in the game by 1. She chooses to increase her 3 to a 4.

All the merchant actions are listed on your reference card. In addition, there is a detailed list of all the actions on page 9, Merchant actions.

Settle the Negotiation

The final step is to move your die onto the merchant card's left dice slot. This indicates that you are negotiating with him.

When you choose a merchant who is already in an active negotiation with an opponent, compare the results. Active negotiation means that there's at least one die placed on top of the merchant card.

If your result is higher, remove all of the opponent's dice and place them into the general supply. The final step is to move your die onto the merchant card's left dice slot. There may never be dice from different players on one merchant card.

If your result is equal to or lower than your opponent's, remove your die. Keep in mind that you have to execute all triggered actions before comparing results and placing dice.

Negotiating with Two Dice

When using two dice, your result counts as a decimal number. It's [higher number] point [lower number]. A 2 and a 5 for example would be a '5.2'. Place the higher number on the left dice slot.

When re-rolling, you always have to do it with both dice. In the example above, you would need to at least roll a 5.3 to be able to re-roll again.

The highest result you can get is doubles. A double means that both dice show the same number. Due to that, a result of 1.1 is higher than a 6.5.

Be aware that both results can trigger actions. You can decide the order in which you want to activate them.

Merchant Actions

Triggered merchant actions always have to be executed, if possible.

A merchant action is always structured in the same way:

• When is the action triggered?
• What does the action do?
• Which dice are affected?

When Is the Action Triggered?

Die result: If your result matches with the symbol shown on the merchant card, it triggers that action.

Beginning of your turn (shown as "<"): Actions showing this symbol are triggered at every beginning of your turn, so before you choose a merchant. These actions are only triggered if there is at least one of your dice on the merchant card. It is not triggered if you have no dice left.

End of your turn (shown as ">"): Actions showing this symbol are triggered at every end of your turn, so after you settled your negotiation. These actions are only triggered if there is at least one of your dice on the merchant card. It is not triggered if you have no dice left.

What Does the Action Do?

Roll again (shown as "w"): Take the indicated die and choose a merchant card. It can either be the one you took the die from or another one. Roll the die to start the negotiation.

Remember: This "resets" your dice, so you are allowed to re-roll as you normally could.

Turn over (shown as "u"): Turn over the indicated die to its opposite side.

Increase (shown as "o"): Increase the result of the indicated die by one. It is not possible to raise a 6, as this is the highest result.

Decrease (shown as "p"): Decrease the result of the indicated die by one. It is not possible to reduce a 1, as this is the lowest result.

Swap (shown as "="): Choose the indicated dice from two different merchant cards or from the same one. Swap their position. You always have to choose dice of the same color. If you swap the position of dice from the same card, their value changes. E.g. a 5.2 turns into a 2.5. Beware that you don't necessarily place the higher number on the first slot when swapping dice.

Important: Since you only swap the position of the dice, no further chain reactions are triggered.

Remove (shown as "x"): Remove the indicated die and put it into the general supply. You can only remove dice which are already in the game, so either the ones which are placed on merchant cards or the ones you just rolled. If you remove a die from a merchant card with two dice on it, place the remaining one on the left slot.

Get (shown as "+"): Take the indicated good from the general supply and put it in front of you. These are either intergalactic goods or dice.

Lose (shown as "-"): If you lose a die or an intergalactic good, you have to take it from your personal supply.

A player of your choice (shown as "j"): This symbol indicates that you choose whether it's you or an opponent who gets/loses goods or dice.

And (shown as "&"): If a merchant offers you more actions at once, these actions are connected by this symbol. You always have to execute them in the shown order of the card. Execute all stated actions before executing further chain reactions.

Which Dice Are Affected?

This die (shown as "a"): "This die" is always the one that triggered the action. See example on the next page.

Example: David rolled a 6. The result triggers the following action: 6: "x a" – "Remove this die". David has to remove his die.

If an action that is triggered at the beginning or at the end of your turn refers to "this die", it affects all your dice on the merchant card.

Example: At the end of Lena's turn she has to execute the action of an active negotiation with the Gaaz. Since two of Lena's dice are on top of the merchant card, both of them are affected by the action. She decreases their results by one.

Your die (shown as "s"): "Your die" refers to one of your dice in game. This can either be the one that triggered the action or another one of your dice in game. The ones from your personal supply are not considered in game.

Any die (shown as "d"): "Any die" can be any die in game. This can either be the die that triggered the action, another die of your color or an opponent's die.

A die from the supply (shown as "0"): You can either lose or take "a die from the supply". If you lose one, you have to remove it from your personal supply in front of you and put it to the general supply. If you take one, you have to take it from the general supply and put it in front of you.

Additional Rules

Chain Reactions

As the game progresses, a lot of dice will be placed on the different merchant cards. A good way to manipulate more than just one die per round are chain reactions.

Here's a little example to show you how they work.

It's David's turn and he chooses to trade with the Palaquin. Lena is already negotiating with it, so to steal her deal, he needs a higher result than her 4. He rolls a 4 as well.

Since his result isn't higher, he can not make a deal. He could re-roll his die, but chooses another option. He decides to take the result to trigger the merchant action. It lets him turn over any die in game. He could simply turn over Lena's die and steal the deal, but he has a better idea.

Since the action lets him turn over a die of his choice, he takes the black 4 at the Wrontz and turns it into a 3. Here comes the cool part. The black 3 triggers another action that lets him increase the result of a die by one. He chooses to increase his 4 to a 5.

Afterwards he compares the results and since his 5 is higher than Lena's 4, he removes her die and puts his on the card instead.

As explained in the example, all triggered actions during your turn are also executed by you, no matter the color of the die.

If you trigger more than one action at the same time, you can decide the order in which they are executed. Always execute all actions and chain reactions before settling your negotiations.

Continue an Active Negotiation

At the beginning of your turn you are also able to continue an active negotiation.

There has to be a free space for a second die, though. After rolling, possibly re-rolling and activating triggered actions, put your die next to your first one onto the merchant card. The higher result is placed on the first spot.

The Saboteur Card

The Saboteur card is a little different than the others. A saboteur offers you no rewards and brings no goods with him. This is indicated by the closed dice area. You can still use up to two of your dice while negotiating with him. His role in the game is to sabotage deals, because he hates these strange extraterrestrial merchants.

At the end of your turn your dice are also not placed onto the card, but are removed, except if a triggered action says otherwise. It is important to know that you can negotiate with the saboteur only once per turn.

End of a Round

Turns are played clockwise. A round ends once every player runs out of dice. If you are out of dice earlier than the others, your turns are skipped.

At the end of the round players reach their deals and receive their intergalactic goods.

Starting with the first player, everyone takes their acquired goods and removes their dice from the cards. Once everybody's done that, the round is over.

Some merchants offer you different goods depending on your results. The Araffi, for example, gives you the turquoise good if you have a 4 and the orange one if you have a 5. For any other result you receive no goods at all.

Other merchants offer you rewards, which are triggered at the end of a round. The Arakys, for example, lets you choose a player who starts the next round with one die less.

Setup for the Next Round

The setup for the next round is similar to the initial one.

The player with the least points draws two new merchant cards, chooses one and swaps it with a merchant from the previous round. Then the second to last player draws a new merchant card and swaps it with an old one.

Place the indicated goods on the merchant cards and give every player six dice. Be aware that some actions may have changed the amount of dice a player starts with.

The player who has the goods with the lowest total value decides the new starting player. If there's a tie, roll for it.

The End of the Game

A game is played over two rounds. The player who has the goods with the highest total value by the end of the game wins. If there's a tie, the player who received the goods with the higher total value in the last round wins. Otherwise they share the victory.

Game Variants

Variable Game Board

At the beginning of the game you can either choose the merchant cards beforehand or place them randomly.

Crazy Negotiations

This variant allows players to freely trade their intergalactic goods with each other. In return they can offer to manipulate a negotiation of an opponent or offer an advantage triggered by a merchant action. The only goods that can not be traded are dice.

Score Points

Normally a game ends after two rounds. Before the game starts you can decide to play until one player scores at least 10, 12 or 15 points.

Hide Your Supply

Usually, all players put their dice in front of them at the beginning of a round. This variant allows you to hide your dice from the other players. If it's your turn, however, you still have to play. For this variant, players shouldn't be able to look into the game box.

Different Amount of Merchants

You can decide to play with more or fewer merchant cards. Keep in mind that reaching deals becomes easier or harder that way.

Lucky Days

Whenever one of your dice is removed by another player, you have a saving throw. Take the removed die and roll it. If you roll a six, put it in your personal supply.

2 versus 2

You can also play in teams of two. Team members always sit opposite to each other. Every player gets 6 dice and the points are shared between team members.