Pagan: Beyond the Palisades
Pagan: Beyond the Palisades Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Game Overview
Pagan: Beyond the Palisades is the first expansion for Pagan: Fate of Roanoke. Pagan is an asymmetrical card game for two players taking on the roles of Witch or Witch hunter. The Witch tries to carry out a ritual of renaturation before being exposed and eliminated by the Witch hunter. Nine villagers are under suspicion and only the Witch player knows who the real Witch is. Each turn, the players use their action pawns on active villagers to draw cards, play cards, gain influence and manage the Gloom. Moreover, the Witch can brew powerful potions, improve their familiar, and cast enchantments and charms, while the Witch hunter enlists allies, claim strategic locations, and ruthlessly investigates the villagers.
Object Of The Game
In Pagan, two players compete to be the first to complete their individual objective. As the Witch, your objective is to collect enough secrets to perform a ritual so potent, that the entire region will fall under your spell and Mother Nature will reclaim the colony. As the Hunter, you gather all the allies and support you can muster, to bring the Witch to justice before its fatal ritual comes to fruition.
Disclaimer: Wyrmgold wants to make it abundantly clear that we as a company and as persons do not condone violence against people, witches or animals of any kind. This is a work of fiction and not meant to be disrespectful of any historical figure, ethnical or religious group.
Component Overview
Hunter — 50 cards (4 different types):
- Events
- Allies
- Locations
- Investigation
Witch — 50 cards (4 different types):
- Charms
- Brews
- Familiars
- Enchantments
Gloom Tokens — 30 Gloom (yellow)
Scenarios — 4 cards
Villagers and Overview — 9 cards (3 double sided) and 3 cards
Suspects — 9 cards
All tokens are limited to the amount in the box. If you are about to receive or place a token, and there is none left in the supply, don't place a new token. You are, however, allowed to move a token of the same type already in play.
New Mechanics
Gloom and Cleanse
The unnatural mist covers the land beyond the palisades, imbuing the Witch with great power. However, the bold folk of the new frontier are fighting back and are slowly driving away the darkness. Once cleansed, the gloomy wild lands will be a tremendous boon to the colony.
Beyond the Palisades introduces two new mechanics to Pagan: Gloom and Cleanse.
Gloom is a new resource that benefits the Witch player as long as it is in play. It symbolizes the Witch's symbiotic relationship with the lands. Gloom enters the game through the play of Gloom-cards and can be reduced or increased during a game. Some cards can even break the natural limits of the Gloom on the cards.
With sufficient effort and focus, it is possible to cleanse the Gloom encroaching on the village. Cleansing a card is done by removing every last bit of Gloom. Once a card is cleansed it is discarded.
A Gloom-card cannot be voluntarily removed by the owning player. Once a Gloom-card is in play, it will stay there until cleansed.
Example: The Witch has "Tinted Moon" in play, with only 1 Gloom token remaining. They really want to remove the card to make room for a new enchantment and deny the Hunter the benefit of the Cleanse-effect. Since "Tinted Moon" is a Gloom-card, however, they are not allowed to remove it.
New Villager Mechanics
Some colonists are already feeling the effects of the Gloom. Their behavior changed, their mood dampened. It is the task of the Hunter to bring them back to the righteous light again.
These villagers are all in the Green Faction ("The Tainted"/"The Household"). As stated on the Scenario cards 12 and 13, these villagers start with a certain amount of Gloom and can be cleansed. When cleansed, the villager does not get discarded but turned over to the other side instead. The two factions ("The Tainted"/"The Household") count as the same Green Faction for cards affecting villagers.
Note: You can never spend your opponent's assets, the Hunter can only spend clues and the Witch only secrets when visiting a villager of the Craftsmen faction.
Gloom
Gloom Cards
All Gloom-cards feature Gloom-symbols in a yellow ribbon in the upper middle and a Cleanse-effect at the bottom. They behave like any other card of that type, but have an added Gloom-mechanic.
Note: A Gloom-card is cleansed if it has no more Gloom-tokens on it. Cleansed cards are discarded afterwards.
- When a Gloom-card enters play, add Gloom tokens to it according to the amount listed. The amount listed on the card is also the Gloom-limit, which can only be exceeded if specifically stated by a card.
- Several cards and effects will instruct you to add Gloom-tokens to a card. You can only add Gloom-tokens to Gloom-cards, and only if doing so won't exceed the Gloom-limit on the Gloom-card. If you can't add the required amount of Gloom, you can't play the card or use the effect.
Note: If there are not enough Gloom-tokens available a Gloom-card cannot be put in play.
The card diagram in the rulebook labels the parts of a Gloom-card as follows:
- Name of the card.
- Influence cost to play this card.
- Card type — there are 4 card types per player.
- Maximum Gloom tokens which are put on the card when it is first played.
- Card effect.
- Cleanse effect — this effect takes place when there are no Gloom tokens on this card.
Cleanse
As soon as all Gloom-tokens are removed from a card it counts as Cleansed. The Cleanse-effect at the lower half is triggered and the card is discarded afterwards.
Lifting Gloom-Card Enchantments
Gloom-card enchantments differ from regular enchantments in the way they are lifted. When the Hunter spends an action to lift a Gloom-card enchantment, they remove 1 Gloom token from the card instead of discarding it. The Gloom symbol in the costs banner of a Gloom-card enchantment is a reminder to remove a Gloom token, not an additional cost for the action as on other enchantments. If this causes the last Gloom token to be removed from the enchantment, the enchantment is cleansed.
Example: The Hunter plays the "Willow Shrub"-card. It is a location, and will therefore come into play on an available location spot on the Hunter's player board. Since "Willow Shrub" shows 2 Gloom in the yellow ribbon, the Hunter player now adds 2 Gloom tokens to the card.
Scenarios & Factions
Villager Set, Factions and Scenario Cards
Besides the 50-card deck, each player also selects one of the factions for the game. A faction consists of three like-colored villagers that share a common faction name and can be easily identified with the Villager Overview Cards.
The Witch selects the Red Faction, the Witch Hunter selects the Blue Faction, while the Green Faction is determined by the Scenario used for the game.
The Green Faction used for Beyond the Palisades is "The Household"/"The Tainted".
Scenario Cards
Scenarios are optional additions to a game of Pagan. They change the premise and/or goals of the game. Four scenarios are included in Beyond the Palisades.
When using a scenario card, use the Green Faction listed on the Scenario card, and follow the unique rules associated with the Scenario. These rules supersede the standard rules where applicable.
Scenario: Beyond the Palisades (Card 10)
Background: Even the Hunter's concerted efforts don't seem enough to keep the gloom at bay. No sooner has it evaporated than it settles anew.
Villager Set: The Household
- Witch: When you play a Gloom card, add 1 additional Gloom to the played card.
- Hunter: During your upkeep phase, you may remove 1 Gloom in play.
- Both: During your upkeep phase, if you have no Gloom cards in play, you may return 1 Gloom card from your discard pile to your hand.
Editor's note: in the printed scenario text the "during your" phrase is followed by an upkeep symbol; it is rendered here as "upkeep phase" to match the term used in the Hunter's Turn example below. The rules of Scenario cards 11 to 13 are printed on those physical cards only and are not reproduced in this rulebook PDF, which shows only Scenario 10 in full.
Example of Play
The example of play is shown on the rulebook's board diagram, with the steps numbered 1 to 8 on the board. The steps are written out below.
Hunter and Witch Turns
Witch's turn (Daniel plays the Witch)
- With his first action, Daniel visits "Trapper Judy" with his Familiar. He removes one Gloom from "Triangulate" and then converts the 3 Clues into another favor. Daniel puts 1 Secret on "Mother Grace". He gains 4 Influence - 2 because of two Action pawns (the owner is not important) on Green Villagers twice (because of the 2 favors). He uses "Blur" to play "Vapors of Disarray" for free, using the Empowered Familiar Skill to add 2 Secrets by removing 1 Gloom from "Peat Bog".
- With the second action he visits "Woodcutter Oswald". He adds 1 Secret to "Vapors of Disarray" and spends 1 Secret from "Prospector Ashley" to draw 3 cards. ("Perplex", "Lost in Plain Sight", and "Emit").
- With the final action Daniel visits "Houndskeeper Willam" adding 1 Secret to Willam. He shows Selma "Perplex" and "Lost in Plain Sight". Selma tells him to discard "Perplex". Daniel now plays "Lost in Plain Sight" with 2 Gloom tokens on it on "Willow Shrub". "Willow Shrub" is now no longer considered to be in play. Daniel would like to use "Houndskeeper Willam"'s skill again since he has 2 Favors, but cannot since Daniel only has 1 card left in hand.
- As a free action Daniel consumes "Vapors of Disarray". He targets the Green Villagers. He may add 1 Gloom from the consumed Brew. He can't place it on "Tinted Moon" or "Lost in Plain Sight" as they are at their Gloom-limit, so instead he chooses to add 1 Gloom to "Mirage".
Hunter's Turn (Selma plays the Hunter)
- Upkeep phase: Selma pays 1 Influence Upkeep for "Guild Leader".
- First action: Selma visits Mason Hazel. Due to the "Tinted Moon" enchantment, she doesn't get to distribute any clues. She decides to spend 1 clue from "Woodcutter Oswald" to gain 3 influence.
- With her second action, she visits "Mother Grace". She still doesn't get to distribute any clues because of "Tinted Moon". Since there are 2 Action pawns on Green Villagers, she may play up to 2 cards. First she plays "Expose" to remove "Tinted Moon". Since "Tinted Moon" was removed while it still had Gloom tokens on it, the Cleanse-effect doesn't trigger. Then the Hunter plays "Frontier's Man", spending their last 2 influence to do so.
- With her final action she uses the "Peat Bog" location. She adds 1 Clue to "Miller Blossom", then removes 1 Gloom token from "Peat Bog". As this was the last Gloom token, "Peat Bog" is cleansed and she gets to choose the Cleanse effect of any other Gloom-card in play. She cannot choose "Willow Shrub", because of the "Lost in Plain Sight", so she decides to use the Cleanse effect of "Triangulate" to add 3 Clues to all Green Villagers. Then "Peat Bog" goes to the discard pile. Since a card was cleansed, the "Frontier's Man" triggers, and the Hunter gains 2 Evidence tokens.
Note: Daniel groans inwardly as he realizes his mistake. Had he paid for the Empowered "Blur" with the last Gloom on "Triangulate", the "Tinted Moon" enchantment would have caused the nasty Cleanse effect to fizzle.
Standard Deck
Hunter (50)
| Card | Type | Number | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fisherman | Allies | 0051 | 2 |
| Herdsman | Allies | 0052 | 2 |
| Candle Maker | Allies | 0053 | 2 |
| Guild Leader | Allies | 0054 | 2 |
| Frontiers Man | Allies | 0055 | 2 |
| Tactician | Allies | 0056 | 2 |
| March at Dawn |
Witch (50)
| Card | Type | Number | Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elixir of Hiding | Brews | 0076 | 2 |
| Bottle of Swamp Water | Brews | 0077 | 2 |
| Dark Honey | Brews | 0078 | 2 |
| Swamp Snake Venom | Brews | 0079 | 2 |
| Encroaching Fog | Brews | 0080 | 2 |
| Vapors of Disarray | Brews | 0081 | 2 |
| Dematerialize |
Note: the printed deck list shows each card type as a symbol; the Type column above names the type that symbol stands for, using the type names of the Component Overview.