Phenomena
Phenomena Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Preparations
Game board – Put the game board in the middle of the table.
Sherpa marker – Put the black Sherpa marker on the power track running along the border of the game board. Which space to put it on depends on the number of players:
5 players: 70, 4 players: 60, 3 players: 50, 2 players: 40
The crown of Sherpa – Put this marker on space 0 on the power track.
Character boards – Each player picks one of the 6 character boards and lays it in front of him. On each character board there are two magic cards printed, along with the experience points that the player starts with. Each player also has a special ability, described in the top left corner of the character board.
Health markers – Each player puts 3 health markers on his or her character board. Exception: Millian starts with 4 health markers.
Playing pieces – Each player takes a playing piece and places it in Sha-Ra's castle in the middle of the game board.
The magic cards – There are 32 magic cards (pink) in the game. Sort these by type and put them face-up next to the game board. There are 2 of each type, so you should have 16 small piles. It can be wise to put them in a 4x4 grid, sorted by category and type.
Treasure cards – The yellow treasure cards are shuffled and put in a stack on the designated space on the game board.
Event cards – Sort the blue event cards in two stacks, by the letter on the back. All the cards with the letter "B" will be used. Shuffle these cards and put them face-down on the designated space on the game board. Then shuffle the A-cards. How many of these that are to be used, are determined by the number of players as shown in the table below.
| Number of players | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of "A" events | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
Put these A-cards face down on top of the B-cards. You now have one stack of event cards, A-cards on the top and B-cards on the bottom. Take the remaining A-cards out of the game.
(Note: If you are only 2 players, remove the three cooperation event cards ("Sherpa angriper! Samarbeid"). Remove these from the B-cards.)
Prepare the prophecy stack
Sort the brown prophecy cards in two stacks, by the letter on the back. All the cards with the letter "B" will be used. Shuffle these cards and put them face-down on the designated space on the game board. Then shuffle the A-cards. How many of these that are to be used, are determined by the number of players as shown in the table below.
| Number of players | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of "A" prophecies | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
Put these A-cards face down on top of the B-cards. You now have one stack of prophecy cards, A-cards on the top and B-cards on the bottom. Take the remaining A-cards out of the game.
Prepare three missions
Take the three top cards from the prophecy stack and put one face-up in each of the three boxes for active prophecies on the game board. These three prophecies will be the current active prophecies. Take the top three cards from the Treasure stack and lay one treasure card face-up for each of the three active prophecies (the treasure card will be the reward for fulfilling the prophecy).
On top of each prophecy card there's written the name of a location. For each of the three active prophecies, find this location on the game board and mark it with a prophecy marker. Use the prophecy marker with the same colour as the box in which the prophecy card lies. Then you can easily see which of the prophecy markers belongs to each active prophecy card.
The main prophecies
Shuffle the Main Prophecies and deal two cards secretly to each player. Each player looks at his two main prophecy cards, and chooses one to put face-down in front of him/her. The other main prophecy card is put back in the game box. (The main prophecy is a mission that only you can complete, and it will bring you many victory points).
Magic stones
On your character board, there's room for the four different kinds of magic stones (Field, Forest, Mountain and Deser). Whenever you acquire a magic stone, place a magic stone marker in the according space. During the game, a player can have at most 10 magic stones at a time. Before the game starts, you should therefore lay 10 magic stone markers easily accessible next to your character board. This makes sure you never have more than 10 stones at a time. (Exception: Sha-Ra can have up to 12 magic stones at a time, therefore he lays 12 markers next to his board).
Agree on which player will start the game. The players are to start with a certain number of magic stones, determined by in which order they sit around the table.
The start player begins the game. Then the game will proceed clockwise around the table.
| Player | Field | Forest | Mountain | Desert |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start player | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Player nr 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Player nr 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Player nr 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Player nr 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
The game
When it is your turn, you have to do the following three actions, in the following order:
- Receive 2 magic stones (this action is skipped the first round)
- Move
- Draw event card or try to fulfil prophecy
During your turn you may also do any of the following optional actions:
- Use magic card
- Buy a magic card
- Ask the other players for magic help
- Teleport back to Sha-Ra's castle
- Try to fulfil your Main prophecy
Then the turn passes on to the player on your left.
The different actions
1 – Receive 2 magic stones
At the beginning of your turn, you receive 2 magic stones. The type of the magic stones you receive is determined by the kind of landscape you are currently in. Put two magic stone markers onto the correct space on your character board.
If you start your round in Sha-Ra's castle, you don't receive any magic stones. Instead you can heal yourself for up to two health markers. You can not exceed the limit of 3 health markers (Exception: Millian can have up to 4 health markers).
Note: As the players start the game in Sha-Ra's castle, they will not receive any magic stones the first round. And as they all have full health, you can not take any health markers either. Simply pass on to the next action; Movement.
You can never have more than 10 magic stones at a time. You may, however, at any time voluntarily choose to rid yourself of a magic stone, and remove a magic stone marker from your character board in order to be able to receive a magic stone of another type.
2 – Move
Now you can move your playing piece a number of spaces equal to the number of health markers you have. You can also choose to move less or not to move at all.
(Sha-Ra says: "You move on the spaces defined by the light or red lines. Rivers and roads do not affect your movement in any way. When the game starts you have 3 health markers and therefore you can move up to 3 spaces (if your name is Millian, you will have 4 health markers – and will be able to move 4 spaces). You can move in any direction you like, but it might be wise to move in the direction of one of the prophecy markers.")
3 – Draw event card or try to fulfil a prophecy
After you have moved, you usually have to draw an event card. If you stand on a space with a prophecy marker, you can instead choose to try to fulfil the prophecy.
Note: If you stand on a space with two or more prophecy markers, you have to choose one of them. You can not try to fulfil more than one prophecy each round (and this also includes your Main prophecy).
3 a) Draw event card
Draw an event card from top of the event stack. Some of the events have text telling you what to do, while others will have you face a Challenge.
(Sha-Ra says: "Most likely your event card will show a challenge. Look below for what you then have to do")
Option when drawing event card type "B"
When the game starts, there are "A" cards at the top of the event pile. After a while, the "B" cards will come into play. When you draw an event type "B" you have one option: Either accept this card, or throw it away and draw a new one. If you choose to draw a new one, you have to accept the new card.
The challenge
Most event cards and prophecy cards are in the form of Challenges. They have the following elements:
- Middle of the card: The challenge (What you must achieve on the dice to overcome the challenge).
- Lower right corner: Success (reward if you overcome the challenge).
- Lower left corner: Failure (what happens if you fail the challenge).
Sha-Ra says: "Not all challenges have an effect for failure"
[Illustration: In this example you need to achieve 7 in friendship and 7 in fighting. If you fail the challenge, you lose 1 health marker, and if you overcome it, you will gain 2 freely chosen experience markers and 2 Victory points.]
Most challenges require one or more of the abilities Fight, Wisdom or Friendship. The number is the minimum you must achieve on the dice in order to overcome the challenge. If the challenge requires more than one ability, you have to take on one ability at a time. You can choose in which order.
This is what you can do in a challenge (you can do these things in whatever order you like):
- Throw 1 die for each experience point you have in the ability being tested
- Sacrifice 1 health marker to throw 1 extra die (only once per challenge)
- Use magic
- Use rerolls from your treasures
You can also ask the other players for magic help (this is described later, under Optional actions).
[Illustration: Re-rolls from treasures – This treasure gives you 2 re-rolls if the challenge tests the Fight ability.]
[Illustration: Use of magic – This magic spell gives you 4 extra dice towards a challenge testing Wisdom. To use it, you need to pay three magic stones: 1 Field, 1 Forest, 1 Mountain.]
Throw 1 die for each experience point you have in the ability being tested
(The dice have six sides, showing: "0, 1, 1, 2, 2, 3")
Example: If the challenge requires Wisdom, you throw 1 die for each experience point you have in Wisdom (Note that you keep all your experience points. They are not "used up").
Sacrifice 1 health marker to throw 1 extra die
This can only be done once per challenge (even if the challenge requires several abilities), and is of course optional. Remove one health marker from your character board, and throw 1 extra die.
Use Magic
Each player starts with two magic cards printed on his character board, and you can acquire more magic cards during the game. You can also find special magic cards among the treasure cards (Magic of heaven) and these cards are used just like regular magic cards. Each magic card shows an effect and a price. When you wish to use a magic spell, pay the price in magic stones that is noted on the bottom of the card, and then carry out the effect.
Some magic can give you extra dice at a challenge, but only if the challenge tests the ability shown at the magic card. A magic that for instance gives you four extra dice in wisdom can only be used towards a test of wisdom. Note that each magic card can only be used once per challenge, but that you keep the card so that it can be used again later.
(Sha-Ra says: "Remember to pay the cost in magic stones when you use your magic cards!")
Use rerolls from your treasures
Many of the treasures will give you re-rolls - the option to re-roll a die if you're not satisfied with its result. Note that most treasures will only give you rerolls towards certain abilities. A treasure that gives you 2 re-rolls in Fight, can only help you if the challenge requires the ability Fight. Also note that there is a difference between throwing "an extra die" and a "re-roll" (When using a re-roll, you generally throw the die with the lowest result and hope to get a better result). The treasure card is not used up – you keep it and can use it again during a later challenge.
If you fail a challenge
If you don't manage to overcome the challenge, you will lose health if this is indicated in the lower left corner of the card. "-" means that you lose one health marker. If it was an event card, put the card in the discard pile. If it was an active prophecy, leave the card in the active prophecy box.
If you overcome a challenge
If you manage to achieve at least the number indicated on the challenge (remember that if there are several categories you have to overcome them all), you get your reward. On most of the challenge cards, there's a reward indicated in the lower right corner:
- Put 1 experience marker in the Fight box on your character board.
- Put 1 experience marker in the Wisdom box on your character board.
- Put 1 experience marker in the Friendship box on your character board.
- You can put 1 experience marker in any one of the three abilities Fight, Wisdom or Friendship.
- The card is worth as many Victory points as stars shown. Move the Sherpa-marker the same number of spaces down along the power track.
- You keep the card until the end of the game: Put it face-down in front of you.
- Take as many treasure cards as the number of treasure symbols shown. Chose one of these cards to keep. Lay this one card face-up in front of you. Put the rest of the treasure cards back on the bottom of the treasure deck.
Some of the treasures are worth Victory points. If you chose such a treasure card, you must move the Sherpa marker a number of spaces down the power track, equalling the number of Victory points. (Sherpa says: "Remember to only keep one of the cards when drawing treasure cards! … also remember to move the Sherpa-marker when you score victory points!")
Note that your treasure cards are always kept face-up in front of you. Challenge cards and Prophecy cards that are worth victory points, are kept in a stack face-down in front of you.
If you bring the Sherpa marker down to 0, you pick up the "Sherpa's crown" and put it together with your Victory points. Then the game enters the last turn (see below).
Example of a challenge
Let's go through a typical challenge.
You draw the event card "Wujudzer". It shows a challenge requiring 7 in Wisdom.
[Illustration: Delivery mission: In order to fulfill this prophecy, you need to deliver 3 desert magic stones to the place "Hebachfjellene".]
Since the challenge requires wisdom, you get to throw as many dice as you have experience points in Wisdom. You have 2 experience points, and get to throw 2 dice. They show "1" and "1". You still need 5 more to overcome the challenge. Time to use some magic? You have the magic "The fire's light". This magic gives you 2 extra dice in Wisdom if you pay one Desert magic stone. You remove the magic stone from your character board, and roll 2 more dice. They show: "1" and "2". You now have thrown 4 dice that show a total of 5. Can your treasures help you? You've got "Phenomena" which gives you 1 re-roll in Friendship and 2 re-rolls in Wisdom. The re-roll in Friendship doesn't help you but the two re-rolls in Wisdom might come in handy. You re-roll one of the dice showing "1". It lands on 2, so now you have 4 dice showing 6 in total. You have one more re-roll, and choose one of the other dice showing "1". It lands on 3, so now you have more than enough to beat the challenge. If you hadn't made it with the last re-roll, you could have sacrificed 1 health marker to get one extra die, or you could have asked the other players for magic help.
In the lower right corner of the challenge is your reward: +2 experience points in Friendship, and 1 victory point. You put 2 experience markers in your Friendship box on your character board. The card is also worth 1 Victory point. You move the Sherpa-marker 1 space down the power track, and you put the event card face-down in front of you. You keep this to the end of the game, whence it will be worth 1 victory point.
3 b) Fulfil a prophecy
If you stand in a space with a prophecy marker, you can try to fulfil the active prophecy that lies in the box with the same colour as the prophecy marker. There are two kinds of prophecies: Challenges and Delivery missions.
Challenges work just like the challenges you meet on event cards (see above how to resolve a challenge).
Delivery missions is typically on the form like: "Deliver 3 mountain magic stones in Balam". To fulfil such a prophecy you naturally have to be on the correct space, and then give up the indicated type and numbers of magic stones (In this example: remove 3 mountain magic stones from your character board).
If you fulfil a prophecy, take the prophecy card and the belonging treasure card. Move the Sherpa-marker a number of spaces equalling the total victory points on the prophecy card and on the treasure card. Put the prophecy card face-down in front of you. This card is kept until the end of the game, whence it will be worth victory points. Put the treasure card face-up in front of you.
Then draw the top prophecy card from the prophecy stack and the top treasure card from the treasure stack to replace the cards you just took from the active prophecy box. Remember to do this every time you fulfil a prophecy, so that there always are three active prophecies available. The place indicated on the new prophecy card is marked with the belonging prophecy marker on the game board.
Optional actions
Use magic card
All magic cards have an effect and a price. The price is printed on the bottom of the card and indicates which magic stones you need to sacrifice in order to activate the effect. Most magic cards are used during a challenge, but some will be used in other situations. You can use each magic card only once during your own turn. See the previous section for a more thorough description of how to use magic.
Buy a magic card
Any time during your own turn you can buy a magic card by giving up 4 different magic stones (one of each type: field, forest, mountain and desert). Choose one of the available magic cards lying next to the game board, and remove the four magic stones from your character board. You can never buy a second copy of a magic card that you already have.
Teleport back to Sha-Ra's castle
At any time during your turn, you can move your playing piece back to Sha-Ra's castle. You can do this before you have started moving, after, or at the end of your turn. If you teleport to Sha-Ra's castle right before you're supposed to receive 2 magic stones, you will instead regain 2 lost health markers (up to your maximum of 3 health markers).
Try to fulfil your main prophecy
To try to fulfil your main prophecy, you need to be in the place indicated on the top of your main prophecy card. Trying to fulfil your main prophecy is done instead of drawing event cards or trying on another prophecy. The main prophecy is a challenge that you need to overcome, and you do this like you would in a regular challenge – with one exception: You can not ask the other players for magic help. You're all on your own when you try to fulfil your main prophecy.
When you have a try at your main challenge, turn the card face-up for all to see. If you overcome the challenge, put the card face-down together with the rest of your victory points and move the Sherpa marker down the power track.
If you fail at your main prophecy, you lose 1 health marker (as indicated on the card). You then turn the main prophecy face-down again. You can try to fulfil your main prophecy again in some later round.
Ask the other players for magic help
Each round you can receive magic help from one other player. The other player can (if he/she wants to) help you by using one of his/her own magic spells. This can be a magic card printed on his/her character board, a magic card acquired during the game, or a Magic of Heaven (which are magic spells found among the treasures). The helping player has to pay the cost for the use of the magic card, while you will get the effect from the card.
If a player helps you in this way, he/she will be rewarded with an experience point in Friendship. The helping player puts one experience point in the Friendship box on his/her character board.
Note that the other players can only help you by using their magic cards. They can not use the effects of their treasures or their character's special ability, and they can not give you magic stones. They may, however, very well use a magic spell that they used during their own turn.
Note that you can not get magic help from other players when attempting to fulfil your main prophecy.
Sha-Ra says: "It's common to ask the other players for help when you have difficulties overcoming a challenge on your own, but remember that you can also ask the other players to help you by healing you or letting you move extra spaces (if they have such magic cards). Also remember that it is generally a privilege to get to help others, as you will receive an experience point in friendship. And the player helping you will get his experience point even if you ultimately fail the challenge."
Use the special ability of your character
All the characters have a special ability printed on their character board. This ability can be used several times through the game.
Game end
Every time a player wins a number of victory points (by fulfilling a prophecy or overcoming certain challenges or winning certain treasures), the Sherpa-marker is moved the same number of spaces down the power track. The player who brings the Sherpa marker down to 0 receives the "Crown of Sherpa". This is worth another 2 victory points for that player. The other players then get to complete one additional turn each, and then the game ends.
Note that you can score victory points the last turn, even if the Sherpa marker is at 0.
Then the victory points are tallied:
Count your victory points from your Treasure cards, your prophecy cards and your event cards. Then add 1 point for each magic card you have.
The player with the most points wins the game.
Special cards and situations
Event card: Duel
If you draw such an event card, you may choose to challenge one of the other players in a duel. The opponent has to accept your challenge. You choose the ability in which you will duel: Fight, Wisdom or Friendship. Both you and your opponent can use your own experience points, magic and treasures, but no-one can receive magic help from other players. Both of you can also choose to sacrifice a health point to get an extra dice. The winner of the duel is the one who gets the highest result on the dice in the chosen ability. If there's a tie, your opponent wins.
You start by throwing as many dice as you have experience in the chosen ability. Then it's always the player who's about to lose that has to either act or admit defeat. Remember that you lose on a tie.
The player who wins the duel gets to choose one treasure from the loser. The winner also has to pick one of his or her own treasures to give to the loser as compensation.
The winner of the duel then keeps the duel card (it's worth 1 victory point). The Sherpa-marker is moved 1 space (because of the 1 VP) and if it reaches 0, the player whose turn it is takes Sherpa's Crown.
Event card: Cooperation
If you draw one of these cards, you can ask one of the other players to join you in the challenge. The other players may refuse to join you. If so, you have to try alone.
If another player accepts to join you, you have to try to overcome the challenge together. The challenge will require two abilities, and together you must choose which ability to try first. Collectively you throw dice for your combined experience points. You may then both use magic, use re-rolls from your treasures, and each of you may sacrifice 1 health point to get an extra die. You can freely exchange magic stones during the challenge. You may not, however, receive magic help from a third player during the challenge.
If you overcome the challenge, you get the rewards as marked on the card. The player whose turn it is (the player who drew the card) keeps the event card (and the victory points). Move the Sherpa-marker down the power track for the victory points on the event card. Note: You do not move the Sherpa marker for victory points that your helper would receive from the treasure, as the Sherpa-marker is only moved when you win victory points on your own turn.
Event: Dragon riders
If you overcome the challenge of the Dragon riders, you can move your player piece wherever you like on the game board. If you choose to land on a space with a prophecy marker or on the space where your Main prophecy can be fulfilled, you can try to fulfil the prophecy if you want. If so, the prophecy counts as a new challenge, so you may use magic cards used during the Dragon rider challenge again.
Treasures and Ilke's special ability: Medallion
Among the treasures there are some medallions. These come in function when you are to receive two magic stones at the start of your turn. You may then choose to change the type of one of those two magic stones to the type indicated on the medallion. If you have several medallions, you can choose to combine these and change the type of both the magic stones.
Example: Ilke's special ability: Ilke has a frost medallion that makes her able to choose to receive a mountain magic stone instead of another magic stone whenever she receives magic stones. If she for instance starts her turn in Desert, she'd usually receive 2 desert stones. Ilke can, however, choose that one of the stones is a Mountain stone, and therefore receive 1 Desert stone and 1 Mountain stone (note that she can not choose that for both the magic stones).
Treasures and Azur's special ability: Extra moves
Among the treasures there are some cards that will give you extra moves if you after your regular movement stand in the indicated landscape type.
Example: Azur's special ability: "Azur can move one extra space if he lands in Desert". This means that Azur has to move his regular moves first, and then he may move one additional space if he now stands in Desert.
If you have several treasures that can give you extra spaces, you may combine these. Azur may also combine his special ability with the extra moves from treasures.
Example: Azur has an Ahmel that will give him an extra space if he lands on Field. Azur performs his regular movements and lands in Desert. Since he landed in Desert, he can use his special ability, so he moves one extra space and lands on a Field. As he now landed on Field, his Ahmel will give him another extra move.
Alk's unique magic card: "The language of animals"
Alk starts with the unique magic card: "The language of animals". If he is to use this magic card, he has to announce that before he draws event cards. He then pays the cost for the use of the card and gets to draw three event cards, from which he chooses one. Put the other two cards back at the top of the stack!
Questions
Can a magic card be used several times?
Yes, but you can only use each of your magic cards once during your own turn – and you have to pay the cost in magic stones. Note that even if you have used a magic card when it's your turn, you can still use this card to help other players if they ask for magic help during their turns.
What happens if you run out of health points?
The only thing that happens is that you can no longer move. You can still use special abilities like the extra moves from treasures or the magic card "The paws of the forest", but it might be wise to consider teleporting back to Sha-Ra's castle to regain two health points, or to get some healing through the use of the magic card "Healing hands".
Variants
Easier game
If you want an easier game, you could choose to start the game with some more Event cards in the event stack.
Longer/shorter game
If you want a longer or a shorter game, you can start with the Sherpa marker further up or down the power track than is indicated. Note that it will become easier to fulfil the main prophecy if the game lasts longer, so you might want to agree that all requirements on the main prophecies are increased by 1.
Expanded magic help (recommended variant for advanced players)
These rule changes make the negotiation around magic help a bit more interesting:
- When you ask for magic help, you can offer magic stones to the player who helps you. These magic stones are transferred after the challenge is over.
The magic stones being transferred after the challenge means that to be able to help you the helper must have the necessary magic stones when the challenge starts. The helper can not use the magic stones that you offer him as payment.
- You can receive magic help from more than one player during your turn, but only one player can get the friendship experience point (The free friendship experience point will be part of the deal, and you will probably have to offer magic stones to get help from the other players).
Trade
If you land on the same space as another player, you can agree to trade treasures and/or magic stones. This must be done before an eventual event card is drawn.