Nidavellir: Thingvellir
Nidavellir: Thingvellir Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Matériel
The expansion allows you to play Nidavellir by adding a new recruiting location: the Camp.
- 24 Camp cards, including:
- A: 12 Mercenary cards
- B: 12 Artifact cards
- 1 Camp sign.
- 10 Class tokens.
- 6 new Hero cards and 2 "Olwyn's Double" cards.
- 5 Reference cards.
- 1 Scoring pad.
The five Reference cards print a short summary of the Artifact effects. Their text is not transcribed separately, because each effect is given in full under Artifact cards below.
The Camp
Setup
Follow the setup of the base game, then:
- Place the Camp sign above the first tavern sign.
- Separate the Age 1 and Age 2 Camp cards. Shuffle the decks of cards separately and place them on either side of the sign.
- Add the 6 neutral Hero cards to one of the card holders.
New 2 Elvalands rule
All Thingvellir rules apply, however:
When resolving Taverns: If the Elvaland with the highest bet chooses a card in the Camp, he must also discard a card of his choosing from the three cards in the tavern being resolved.
The second Elvaland will then have the choice between the two remaining cards of the tavern being resolved.
Management during the game
At the start of each turn, before the Dwarves enter the Taverns:
- Reveal new Camp cards of the current Age in order to have 5 cards face up.
Note: If no Camp card was taken in the previous turn and there are 5 cards face up, do not reveal any new ones.
At the end of Age 1, after the Distinctions have been awarded, discard all remaining Camp cards.
Do not shuffle the Camp cards discard pile and the Dwarf cards discard pile.
New rules
Now, the Elvaland with the highest bid can choose to take a card from the Camp (Artifact or Mercenary) instead of taking a card from the tavern being resolved.
In the event of a tie, and to determine the highest bid on a current Tavern, refer to the gem values as in the base game.
Only the Elvaland with the highest bid can get to the Camp and take a card there. The other Elvalands must, in the order of the bids, take a card from the tavern being resolved.
The Camp is made up of Artifact and Mercenary cards.
If the Elvaland who played first chooses to take a card from the Camp, the remaining Dwarf card from the tavern must be discarded before moving on to the next tavern's Resolution.
Dear Elvaland, having the Gem 5 will give you a definite advantage in going to Camp on the first turn, however, you should not rest on your laurels because that will not guarantee you victory! Word of the King.
Artifact cards
Place them in your Command Zone unless otherwise stated in the description.
Age 1:
Fafnir Báleygr (continuous effect)
Fafnir Báleygr or Blazing Eye of Fafnir is a very ancient artifact that strangely looks like the eyes of the cursed dragon. The corruption that oozes from it can cause the Elvaland who owns it to lose their mind.
After taking possession of it and throughout the game, you can go to the Camp on your turn instead of taking a card from the tavern being resolved if the Elvaland that won the bid did not go.
Example: In the Laughing Goblin Tavern, Serge won the auction with a 10. He decides to take a Dwarf card rather than go to Camp. Valériane, who has bid an 8 must take a card from the tavern. Céline bid a 3, but has the Fafnir Báleygr. So she can go get a card from the Camp rather than one from the tavern, because Serge did not go.
Draupnir
Mythical bracelet which has the power to multiply 9 times every 9 nights. It brings great wealth to the Elvaland which will be able to make the best of the trades and transformations of coins.
At the end of Age 2, when counting points, add to your Final Bravery Value: 6 points per coin of value 15 or more owned.
Example: At the end of the game, Valériane has coins of value 24, 17, 15, 7 and 0. She therefore adds 18 points to her Final Bravery Value. (3 x 6 = 18)
Vegvisir
Symbol of protection and guidance, Vegvisir transcends the power of the Explorers.
Immediately place this Artifact in the Explorer column of your army.
Its placement can trigger the recruitment of a Hero card if it completes a rank line.
This artifact counts as an Explorer rank and adds 13 points to your Explorer Bravery Rating.
Svalinn
Shield synonymous with divine power, protector of the Earth, it adds to the bravery of your Heroes.
At the end of Age 2, when counting points, add to your Final Bravery Value: 5 points per Hero card in your possession.
Example: Camille has 3 Hero cards at the end of the game. He therefore adds 15 points to her Final Bravery Value. (3 x 5 = 15)
Megingjord
The strength belt of the God Thor, lost for years, found then protected by the singular tribe of the nomads will allow you to free yourself from the recruitment of Heroes. The strength of a God accompanies your army!
During the rest of the game, you can no longer recruit a Hero card by making rank lines. So making rank lines has no effect for you.
At the end of Age 2, when counting points, add 28 points to your Final Bravery Value.
Note: Gjallarhorn allows you to recruit a Hero card if you have Megingjord.
Vidofnir & Vedrfölnir
The feathers torn from Vidofnir the rooster and Vedrfölnir the falcon, perched atop Yggdrasil, will give you a great advantage in managing your gold coins.
Immediately reveal the coins from your pouch and transform one of these coins with a +2 and the other with a +3 (see Converting a coin, basic rules p. 11).
If one of the coins on the trade is the Trading coin (the 0 or the Special Hunter 3) then apply a +5 transform to the other coin.
Perform coin transformations in any order you want.
Example: Céline reveals the coins from her pouch. There is a 3 coin and a 2 coin. She decides to make a transformation to 3 + 3 and takes a coin of value 6 and 2 + 2 to take a coin of value 5 (because there is no coin of value 4 in the Royal Treasure).
Example: In the event that she revealed a coin with a value of 3 and a Trading coin, she would have transformed the coin with a value of 3 to +5 to obtain a coin with a value of 8.
Age 2:
Brísingamens
The Elvaland with the Brísingar necklace, which belonged to the goddess Freyja, becomes irresistible. Years after Loki stole it, the necklace re-emerged in the wandering caravan.
Immediately look at all the cards in the discard pile and choose two (Royal Offering cards and / or Dwarf cards). In the order of your choice:
- perform coin transformation if you have chosen Royal Offering cards.
- place the Dwarf cards in your army. This can result in a Hero card being recruited.
At the end of Age 2, before counting points, discard a Dwarf card of your choice from your army. This card can be taken anywhere, in any column, but it cannot be a Hero card.
Example: Rémi is the lucky owner of Brísingamens. Before the final scoring, he discards a card from his army.
Mjöllnir
Thor's hammer, the most powerful weapon of the Gods, symbol of protection of the Universe, slayer of Giants, is now yours. Increase the bravery of your troops!
At the end of Age 2, when counting points, add to your Final Bravery Value: 2 points per rank in the class of your choice.
Example: During the final scoring, Serge has Mjöllnir and 10 Hunter ranks. Since this is the column where he has the most ranks, he applies the power of the Artifact to that column and therefore gains an additional 20 Bravery points. (10 x 2 = 20)
Höfud
Sword of the god Heimdallr, allowing Warriors to gain a decisive advantage.
Immediately, each other Elvaland chooses and discards a Warrior card from their army.
The discarded card can be any card in the Warrior column except a Hero card.
Hrafnsmerki
Odin's own Raven Banner! No one knows how the nomads got their hands on this. Only unfailing wisdom and humility would have enabled them to see it entrusted to them.
At the end of Age 2, when counting points, add to your Final Bravery Value: 5 points per Mercenary card in your possession.
Example: Céline has 2 Mercenary cards at the end of the game. She therefore adds 10 points to her Final Bravery Value. (2 x 5 = 10)
Járnglófi
Thor's gloves are a great source of bravery, but they put greed to sleep. With their eyes riveted on the battle ahead, gold is of no interest to you.
Immediately discard your Trading coin (0 or Special Hunter 3).
Warning! If this coin was placed on an unresolved tavern, your bid will not be present when it is resolved, and you will not take any cards.
At the end of Age 2, when counting points, add 24 points to your Final Bravery Value.
Gjallarhorn
Horn of the god Heimdallr, harbinger of Ragnarök and the last war of Nidavellir. At his call, one Hero will stand up to join you.
Immediately recruit a Hero card regardless of your rank line number. To recruit your next Hero card, you will need to validate the golden rule: to have a number of rank lines greater than your number of Hero cards owned.
Example: Camille takes Gjallarhorn and recruits Ylud. At this point in the game, he has no rank line in his army. He will therefore need to create 2 of them to be able to recruit a second Hero card.
Note 1: Gjallarhorn allows you to recruit a Hero card if you have Megingjord.
Note 2: It is not possible to recruit a Hero card if its requirements cannot be respected. For example, it is impossible to recruit Dagda if you cannot discard two Dwarf cards from two different columns.
Mercenary cards
Place them in your Command Zone.
At the end of Age 1, before the Distinctions are awarded, and at the end of Age 2, before the final scoring, you must put them in your army:
- Each Elvaland announces the number of Mercenary cards owned in the Command Zone.
- The Mercenary cards are laid out in descending order, starting with the Elvaland that has the most to the one that has the least.
The Elvaland with the most Mercenary cards in the Command Zone has an advantage!
He or she can decide:
- to place their Mercenary cards first, or
- to pass and place their Mercenary cards after the other Elvalands have done so.
Ties are resolved by the value of the gems as usual. The highest value wins, but this does not result in a gem trade.
- When placing them, you choose the class of the card from the two listed on it.
- On your turn, place all of your Mercenary cards in any order you want before passing to the next Elvaland in the order of play.
Placing them can trigger a recruitment of Hero cards.
If so, stop placing your Mercenary cards, recruit a Hero card, then resume placing them. Once placed, Mercenary cards can no longer be moved.
For any timing questions between the effect of the Brísingamens, the Ylud pose, the Thrud removal and the Mercenaries pose, see End of Each Age (p. 24).
The rulebook page shows each Mercenary card with its two class options, grouped by Age (the Age 1 and Age 2 cards are shown as separate sets):
Age 1
- Warrior 6 / Explorer 8
- Warrior 6 / Blacksmith
- Hunter / Explorer 8
- Hunter / Miner 1
- Blacksmith / Miner 1
- Warrior 9 / Explorer 11
Age 2
- Hunter / Blacksmith
- Warrior 6 / Miner 1
- Blacksmith / Explorer 8
- Warrior 6 / Hunter
- Explorer 8 / Miner 1
- Warrior 9 / Explorer 11
Example (end of Age 1):
At the end of Age 1, Serge has 2 Mercenary cards, Céline has 1 Mercenary card, Valériane has 1 Mercenary card, and Léo has no Mercenary cards.
Serge has the choice of placing his Mercenary cards first or pass and place them last. He is the only one with this choice. Céline then places her two cards to create a rank line and recruit a Hero card. Valériane places her Mercenary card in the Hunter column to try to steal the Distinction from Serge. Léo has no Mercenary cards to place. Finally, Serge places his Mercenary cards, gains the Miner Distinction and ties with Valériane on the Hunter column so that no one earns this Distinction.
Class tokens
If a column contains just one Mercenary card, place a token of the chosen class on it to remember it.
You can remove this token when you have added Dwarf cards of the corresponding class in this column.
Hero Abilities
Neutral Heroes
Place them in your Command Zone unless otherwise stated in their description.
Andumia the Necromancer
Mysterious, haunting and ... disturbing, are the adjectives that come to mind when you first meet Andumia. Her origins are mysterious and there were wild rumors about her, almost as much as they were about Skaa, then it all came to an abrupt halt when her powers appeared. Waking up the dead, making guts talk and transforming gold coins, that'll shut'em all up! Andumia will always come in handy for increasing your bravery with a lonely dwarf or increasing your wealth.
Adds 12 points to your Final Bravery Value.
When you recruit her, immediately look at all the cards in the discard pile and keep one (Royal Offering card or Dwarf card).
- If it is a Royal Offering card, its effect is immediately applied, then the card is returned to the discard.
- If it is a Dwarf card, place it in your army. Its placement can trigger the recruitment of a Hero card.
Holda the Minstrel
Found as a child at the edge of the Thingvellir waterfall, with a lyre by her side, she very quickly developed abilities for music and art in general, reminding people of an ancient legend. The latter tells of the birth of a child, daughter of a dwarf and Bragi, god of poetry and music. As soon as her fingers touches her lyre, she gives you the bravery you need to follow and help her. It is said that in battle, she can even use her lyre as a weapon! Even if your coin values don't allow you to go to camp, count on her to do it.
Adds 12 points to your Final Bravery Value.
When you recruit her, immediately choose a Mercenary or Artifact card available at the Camp.
Khrad the Beggar
Exuberant and unique, Khrad likes to show his cowardice or feign madness to deceive anyone in front of him. Often underestimated, he always manages to get away with it. One could easily forget that he is Queen Dagfid's cousin and Jarika's right-hand man. His arrival at the castle triggers Grid's wrath. Their abilities may seem very close, but the timing and purpose of their use is far from it!
Adds 4 points to your Final Bravery Value.
When you recruit him, immediately add +10 to your lowest value coin (except the Trading coin, see Converting a coin, basic rules p. 11).
Jarika the Rogue
A highly respected aristocrat, Jarika owes her nickname to her talents as a speaker and a merchant, which has enabled her to significantly increase the wealth of her county. Some even say she might have greater wealth than Grid and Astrid combined! Anyway, if you start talking exchange and trade with her, she will always find a way to come out on top! As in negotiation, her power will increase in strength as the game goes, allowing you to gain a large fortune and recruit the best Dwarfs!
Adds 8 points to your Final Bravery Value.
As a neutral Hero, place her in your Command Zone.
During a coin transformation or a coin trade (Royal Offering, Warrior Distinction, Grid), increase the value of the desired sum by +2.
Example: Cécile quickly recruited Jarika. She then plays her coin of value 0. At the end of her turn, she reveals the two coins of her pouch: 3 and 4. She discards her coin of value 4 and should take a coin of value 7 from the Royal Treasure. But since she owns Jarika, she takes a coin of value 9 because she adds 2 to the sum of the trade.
Later in the game, Cécile chooses a Royal Offering +3 card which she applies to her coin of value 2. She should therefore take a 5 in the Royal Treasury, but she takes a 7 (5 + 2).
Olwyn the Illusionist
Artist and entertainer, Olwyn puts his gift of ubiquity at the service of the King. The son of a lifelong wanderer, this family power has developed over generations. Some claim that Thingvellir's water is the cause and that he fell into it when he was a child. Either way, he is an interesting ally on the battlefield. Usable in many ways, its ghostly doubles can do uncommon things. Try to figure them out.
Adds 9 points to your Final Bravery Value.
When you recruit him, also take his two doubles whose Bravery value is 0 and then place each of these cards in two different columns of your choice.
Their placement may result in the recruitment of a Hero card.
"Olwyn's Double" cards are considered Dwarf cards of the class in which they are placed and can be destroyed by the powers of Dagda, Bonfur, Brísingamens, and Höfud. They are not considered Hero cards.
If there's no card other than "Olwyn's Double" cards in a column, place a Class token on it to identify this column.
Zolkur the Greedy
Formerly guardian of the Royal Treasury, exiled from Nidavellir for trying to scam the King, Zolkur returns to do penance. Not being physically able to face Fafnir's monstrous troops, he offers his greatest powers: scheming and greed. Such great powers require impeccable synchronization. You have to calculate well to max out your gain!
Adds 10 points to your Final Bravery Value.
When you recruit him, immediately place him on the coins of your pouch. During your next trade, you trade the lower value coin instead of the higher as in a standard exchange.
Then return Zolkur's card to the Command Zone.
Example: Leo recruited Zolkur. He reveals his Trading Coin, he recruits a card in the tavern being resolved, and then he reveals a 10 and 2 coins. So he discards the coin 2 and takes a coin of value 12 in the Royal Treasure.
Glossary
Exploring the discard of Age 1 and 2 (symbol: X)
This symbol designates an effect permitting to look at the discard Dwarf cards of Age 1 and 2 in order to take one or more depending on the power activated. The discard of Age 1 and 2 consists of the Royal Offering cards played, the Dwarf cards discarded by the powers of Dagda, Bonfur, the Brísingamens and, as well as all the untaken and discarded cards from each tavern.
Camp cards are not part of the discard pile that can be explored by this effect. The discard pile is freely available to Elvalands during the game.
Continuous effect (symbol: circular arrow)
This symbol designates an effect that takes place throughout the game when the conditions are met. This symbol is present on Jarika and on the Fafnir Báleygr.
End of Each Age
End of Age 1
- Enlistment of Mercenaries: the Elvaland who has the most chooses to place them first or last.
- Ylud place.
- Troop assessments (Distinctions).
End of Age 2
- Enlistment of Mercenaries: the Elvaland who has the most chooses to place them first or last.
- Ylud place.
- Departure from Thrud.
- Discard power of Brísingamens.
- Final scoring.
If the placement of a Mercenary card results in a recruitment of Hero cards, proceed with the recruitment before continuing to place the Mercenary cards.
If placing Ylud or a Mercenary card causes Holda to recruit and you choose a Mercenary card in Camp, place that Mercenary card immediately into your army.