Schatten der Macht
Schatten der Macht Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Spielziel (Game Goal)
- Spielmaterial (Components)
- Vorbereitung (Preparation)
- Die Spielrunde (The Game Round)
- Phase 2: Aktionsphase (Action Phase)
- Aktionen (Actions)
- Abenteurer anheuern (Recruit Adventurers)
- Schiffe bauen (Build Ships)
- Abenteurer / Schiffe bewegen (Move Adventurers / Ships)
- Bewegung von Schiffen (Movement of Ships)
- Bewegung über Schiffe (Movement across Ships)
- Organisationen erwerben (Acquire Organisations)
- Organisationen stärken (Strengthen Organisations)
- Helden nutzen (Use Heroes)
- Phase 3: Entscheidungsphase (Decision Phase)
- Ende des Spiels & Wertung (End of the Game and Scoring)
- Sonderregeln (Special Rules)
- Erläuterung von Kartentexten (Explanation of Card Texts)
Spielziel (Game Goal)
In Schatten der Macht, the players struggle for influence and power on the continent of Aventurien, each on behalf of their factions. Underground, they hire adventurers and acquire ships for swift crossings, in order to secure their influence in the individual regions. Whoever has infiltrated a region can use its resources. Whoever skilfully builds up their influence over churches, magical circles and great noble houses secures a good starting position from which to support their adventurers in combat against competitors and the unknown, and to impress with the most brilliant heroes of the age.
And, not least, every secret society pursues its own agenda of intrigue in the shadows of power.
Each player controls one Aventurian faction (e.g. an agent network or a secret society) and competes with the factions of the other players for influence. At the end, control over regions and organisations, captured trophies, and completed hero quests and secret plans are rewarded. The player who is ahead in these areas at the end wins the game.
Victory conditions: Regions, Organisations, Trophies, Hero Quests, Secret Plans.
Spielmaterial (Components)
The following components are used in Schatten der Macht:
Game board: The game board depicts the continent of Aventurien and the surrounding seas. The land area is divided into 35 regions and the water area into 4 seas. Players struggle over these areas during the game. Organisation markers and other special markers are placed in the lower left of the board.
4 faction boards: Each player receives their own faction board, which shows the information and special rules of their faction and on which they keep their supply of ships and adventurers. (The faction boards are double-sided: the front shows the supply and the back shows the faction's starting advantage.)
59 resource cards: Resource cards are used to carry out and pay for actions during the game. The 35 region cards belong to the owner of their region on the game board. Of the 12 Grey Eminence cards in total, each player has 3, which are in their draw pile at the start of the game. The 12 improved Grey Eminence cards can be acquired during an ongoing game.
Grey Eminence (resource card), Region (resource card).
30 organisation cards: Each of these cards depicts an Aventurian organisation. Organisations can be acquired by players during the game and then provide additional resources and special rules.
24 hero quests: These large tarot-sized cards depict famous heroes of Aventurien who appear during the game and can be courted by players to gain special advantages.
8 beginner hero quests: These hero quests are used in the beginner game. See the leaflet "Einsteiger-Spiel" (not included in this transcription).
21 secret plans: At the start of the game, each player receives a secret plan, which lists special victory point conditions that apply only to that player and which they keep secret from the other players.
20 conflict / mission markers: The conflict markers can be used to illustrate conflicts – see the box on page 12. In later expansions of Schatten der Macht these markers come into play as mission markers and are numbered on their reverse.
62 organisation markers: Each organisation has its own marker, which is placed on the game board in the region where the organisation is located. The printed sheet in the base box also contains the 32 organisation markers of the organisations from the expansion box "Verborgene Mächte" (Hidden Powers). They are not used in the base game, only when playing with the "Verborgene Mächte" expansion box.
Start player marker: The player with this marker is first in turn during the action phase. If that player passes first in this phase (see page 11), they may take the start player marker.
Figures: In total there are 18 adventurers and 6 ships in four different colours available for this game, as well as 15 black (neutral) adventurers, 1 Djinn and 1 magic ship (Zauberschiff).
Trophies and special units: These markers represent trophies (Black Eyes, Magical Artefacts) and special units (Dragons, Demon Arks). They are described on page 14.
Explanation of card texts (illustrated on the rulebook page): Name of the organisation; name of the resource card; faction; resources provided; location of the region; number of keys = maximum number of organisations in the region; type of Grey Eminence (chess piece); name of the secret plan; name of the hero quest; hero action (above the dividing line); condition (below the dividing line); number of points = level of the hero quest.
Vorbereitung (Preparation)
Before the game begins, the following preparations must be carried out:
The hero quests. The hero quests are sorted by level. There are levels 1 to 3, indicated by 1, 2 or 3 points at the bottom left of the card.
The level-2 hero quests are shuffled into one pile and then 4 or 6 cards are drawn from it face down. With 4 cards it is a short game, with 6 cards a long game.
The 4 level-1 hero quests and 4 level-3 hero quests are likewise each shuffled into a pile. A large, face-down hero quest pile is then formed, with the level-3 cards at the bottom, the level-2 cards above them, and the level-1 cards on top. The pile must now consist of 12 cards for a short game, or 14 cards for a long game.
The factions. Each player chooses a player colour (other than black) and takes the adventurers and ships of their chosen colour. They place 6 adventurers and 2 ships in their supply. The remaining adventurers and ships of all players count as the reserve and are collected in one shared pile.
Now each player may choose a faction. They place the corresponding faction board in front of them.
Each player receives the 3 Grey Eminence cards belonging to their faction.
The starting regions. The region cards are shuffled into one pile. Then, depending on the number of players, 6 region cards (4 players), 8 region cards (3 players) or 11 region cards (2 players) are dealt to the players.
Each player now selects one of the region cards in their hand and places it face down in front of them. They pass the remaining cards face down to the player on their left. From the cards received from their right-hand neighbour, the player again selects one and passes the rest on to the left. This is repeated until each player has placed 5 region cards (with 4 or 5 players), 7 region cards (with 3 players) or 10 region cards (with 2 players) face down in front of them. These are their starting regions. The remaining region cards are shuffled back into the region card pile.
| Number of players | Region cards dealt | Starting regions |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | 6 | 5 |
| 3 | 8 | 7 |
| 2 | 11 | 10 |
Each player now places one adventurer from the reserve into each of their starting regions. They now have the 6 adventurers and 2 ships in their supply, plus the adventurers already on the game board in their starting regions. They then shuffle their region cards together with their 3 Grey Eminence cards and form their own, face-down draw pile.
In each region that is not a starting region of any player, 1 neutral adventurer (black) is placed.
Example: Alrike randomly receives Al'Anfa, Andergast, Khunchom, Nostria, Brabak and Paavi. She decides on Al'Anfa, places the card face down in front of her and passes the remaining 5 cards to Bedrik on her left. All other players do the same simultaneously and pass their cards on. In the next selection round Alrike receives only 5 cards from her right-hand neighbour, chooses one of them, etc. In the last selection round she receives only 2 cards. The card not chosen returns to the region card pile and is therefore neutral at the start of the game. This is the same for all other players.
Carry out starting advantages. Now the players carry out the starting advantages of their factions, which are given on their faction boards. For some factions (KGIA, Cult of the Nameless One) this takes place at a different time. This is specified in the description of the starting advantage.
Set up the rest of the play area. The organisation cards are shuffled into one pile. Then 3 cards are drawn from this pile and placed face up in a row next to it. All organisation markers are placed on the spaces reserved for them on the game board.
The improved Grey Eminence cards are placed next to the game board in 3 piles, sorted by the symbol at the bottom left.
The secret plans are shuffled into one pile. Each player draws two cards from this pile. They choose one of them for themselves and place it face down in front of them. The other is returned, together with all undrawn secret plans, face down into the box.
The trophies are placed on their reserved spaces on the game board. The Djinn and the magic ship are also set aside.
Determine the start player. The player who has been denounced by everyone as the "most shady" receives the start player marker and begins the game.
Im Spiel verwendete Symbole (Symbols used in the game):
- Adventurer (figure)
- Ship
- Inhospitable region (see page 9)
- Island region (affects secret plans)
- Key (the number is the maximum number of organisations in the region)
- Sword & Staff resource (recruiting adventurers)
- Anchor resource (building ships)
- Boot resource (movement of adventurers and ships)
- Gold resource (acquiring and strengthening organisations)
Die Spielrunde (The Game Round)
Rundenablauf (Round Sequence)
The game is divided into a variable number of rounds, each consisting of 3 phases:
- Replenishment phase (Nachschubphase): The players receive new cards into their hand, increase their supply of adventurers and ships, or improve their Grey Eminences. In addition, new hero quests are revealed, which the players can now fulfil from this point on.
- Action phase (Aktionsphase): The main part of the game. Players, beginning with the start player, take one action each in clockwise order until the phase ends.
- Decision phase (Entscheidungsphase): Conflicts between adventurers or ships formed on the game board are resolved here (combat takes place). Afterwards it is checked which hero quests have been fulfilled.
Phase 1: Nachschubphase (Replenishment Phase)
Neue Heldenquesten aufdecken (Reveal New Hero Quests)
Draw a new card from the hero quest pile and place it face up next to the pile. All hero quests revealed in previous rounds remain in place.
If at the beginning of the replenishment phase no hero quest is revealed (e.g. at the start of the first round, or if in the previous round all quests were fulfilled), then two new cards are drawn from the pile and revealed.
Handkarten nachziehen (Drawing Hand Cards)
First, each player may discard any number of the cards still in their hand onto their discard pile. (This step is skipped in the first round.)
Then each player draws cards from their draw pile until they have their hand limit (normally 6 cards) in hand. If they must draw more cards than remain in their draw pile, they first draw the remaining cards of the draw pile, then shuffle their discard pile and form a new draw pile from it, from which they draw the remaining cards.
If at the beginning of the replenishment phase a player has more cards in hand than their current hand limit, they may not draw any additional cards, but they also do not have to reduce their cards to the current hand limit.
In rare cases it may happen that a player has 6 or fewer cards in total (draw pile, discard pile and hand taken together). In this case they begin the round with all their cards in hand.
Example: Alrike has 2 cards left in hand from the last round. She discards one she does not like. She may now draw up to 6 hand cards. She also takes 1 adventurer of her colour from the reserve.
Example: Bedrik has only 1 card left in hand. To begin the next round with 6 cards he would have to draw 5 cards. However, there are only 3 cards left in his draw pile. He draws the remaining ones, shuffles his discard pile and draws 2 more cards from the new draw pile, so he begins with 6 cards. He also takes 1 ship of his colour from the reserve.
Example: After refilling his hand, Cedrike holds "Zadig von Volterach" (Springer) and would like to exchange it for "Cordovan Galotta", which provides more resources. She removes "Zadig von Volterach" from the game and takes "Cordovan Galotta" into her hand. In this round she receives no new adventurer and no new ship.
Graue Eminenzen aufwerten oder Einheiten erhalten (Upgrade Grey Eminences or Receive Units)
Note: In the 1st round this step is skipped!
In turn order, beginning with the start player, each player may take 1 ship or 1 adventurer of their colour from the reserve into their supply, or upgrade 1 of their Grey Eminence cards. A player may decide differently in each round.
To upgrade a Grey Eminence card, the player must currently have it in hand. A player may not upgrade a Grey Eminence card that is in their draw pile or discard pile. The upgraded card is removed from the game, and in its place the player may take from the pile of improved Grey Eminence cards a card that shows the same symbol at the bottom left. The new card replaces the old one. Each Grey Eminence card can be upgraded only once.
If in the later course of the game no new adventurers, ships or cards remain, they can no longer be selected.
Phase 2: Aktionsphase (Action Phase)
Übersicht (Overview)
Beginning with the start player, the players, in clockwise order and one after another, perform one action each. The following actions are available:
- Recruit adventurers (with Sword & Staff)
- Buy ships (with Anchor)
- Move adventurers / ships (with Boot)
- Acquire organisations (with Gold)
- Strengthen organisations (with Gold)
- Use hero (with adventurers)
- Pass (free)
Bezahlen von Aktionen (Paying for Actions)
The actions "Recruit adventurers", "Buy ships", "Move adventurers / ships", "Acquire organisations" and "Strengthen organisations" each cost one of the four different resources: Sword & Staff (Schwert & Stab), Anchor, Boot (Stiefel) or Gold.
Resources are paid by playing resource cards from the hand and placing them on the player's discard pile. Each action always costs only one kind of resource; there are no mixed costs. Some cards provide different resources – the resources not used are then lost.
The more resources a player pays for an action, the more extensive the action is: they may recruit more adventurers and ships, carry out more movements, or acquire more organisations, etc.
| Number of resources paid | Scope of the action (adventurers, ships, movements, organisations) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 |
| 10 | 4 |
| 15 | 5 |
The cheapest execution of an action costs 1 resource. With this, the player can place an adventurer or a ship, carry out a movement, or acquire or strengthen an organisation. If the player wants to place 2 adventurers or ships at once, carry out 2 movements or acquire or strengthen 2 organisations, this costs them 2 additional resources. If they want to place 3 adventurers or ships, carry out 3 movements or acquire or strengthen 3 organisations, this costs them a further 3 additional resources. The costs therefore rise exponentially (see also the table shown above).
If a player pays more resources than necessary, but not enough for the next higher step, the surplus resources are lost.
The rules for the various actions, from the next page onward, are explained with many examples.
Example: Alrike has 2 adventurers on the organisation card "Kirche des Praios". For one action she takes both adventurers down and receives the stated resources (2 Gold each) twice, a total of 4 Gold.
Bezahlen mithilfe von Ressourcenorganisationen (Paying with Resource Organisations)
If a player has adventurers on their resource organisations (more on this later under "Action: Acquire organisations"), they may use them in addition to resource cards to pay for their actions. For each adventurer that they take from the organisation card and return to their supply, they may use the number of resources shown on the organisation card once. The adventurers returned in this way can (if necessary) also be used immediately for the action.
Aktionen (Actions)
Abenteurer anheuern (Recruit Adventurers)
With this action you can place new adventurers on the game board.
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Play one or more region cards from your hand. The region cards indicate where you may place your adventurers.
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Pay any amount of Sword & Staff resources by playing resource cards from your hand and/or unloading resource organisations. See also the section "Paying for actions" on page 7 and the table next to it.
Note: A region card that provides a resource serves at the same time as a region card and as a resource card!
- Take the corresponding number of adventurers from your supply or from organisation cards you own and place them in the regions whose region cards you have played. The adventurers may be distributed freely among the available regions.
Note: Adventurers already on the game board, on hero quest cards or still in the reserve cannot be used for this action!
| Number of Sword & Staff resources paid | Adventurers to place |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 |
| 10 | 4 |
| 15 | 5 |
Action: Recruit adventurers
- Play one or more region cards
- Pay Sword & Staff
- Take adventurers from the supply or from organisation cards and place them on the game board
Example: Alrike wants to recruit 2 adventurers in Garetien. She must therefore play the card "Garetien" as a region and 3 Sword & Staff. She also plays the card "Aranien" (2 Sword & Staff) and "Salpikon Savertin" (1 Sword & Staff).
Example: Bedrik wants to recruit 1 adventurer in Paavi. He plays the card "Paavi" which, because it provides a Sword & Staff resource, can be used simultaneously for two things: as a region and as 1 Sword & Staff. The recruitment therefore costs him only a single card.
Schiffe bauen (Build Ships)
With this action you can place new ships on the game board.
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Play one or more region cards from your hand. The region cards indicate in which seas you may place your ships. From the four seas available, those may be chosen to which the coastlines of the played region cards are adjacent. If a region card is adjacent to two seas, both seas are available.
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Pay any amount of Anchor resources by playing resource cards from your hand and/or unloading resource organisations. See also the section "Paying for actions" on page 5 and the table next to it.
Note: A region card that provides a resource serves at the same time as a region card and as a resource card!
- Take the corresponding number of ships from your supply and place them in the seas adjacent to the region cards you have played.
Note: Ships that are already on the game board or still in the reserve cannot be used for this action!
| Number of Anchor resources paid | Ships to place |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 |
| 10 | 4 |
| 15 | 5 |
Action: Build ships
- Play one or more region cards
- Pay Anchor
- Take ships from the supply and place them on the game board
Example: Alrike wants to buy 1 ship in the Southern Sea. She plays as coastal regions "Trahelien" and "Bernsteinbucht" as 1 Anchor.
Example: Bedrik wants to buy 2 ships in the Pearl Sea. That will cost him 3 Anchor. He plays Darpatien, which borders the Pearl Sea, and provides 2 Anchor. In addition he unloads 1 adventurer from the Efferd church in his possession (2 Anchor), so that he does not have to play any further cards. He now has a total of 4 Anchor, of which one is lost.
Example: Cedrik wants to buy 3 ships at once (requires 6 Anchor) in different seas and plays Thorwal (as region and 2 Anchor), the Bernsteinbucht (1 Anchor), Al'Anfa (2 Anchor) and Salpikon Savertin (1 Anchor). He places 2 ships in the Sea of the Seven Winds and 1 in Ifirns Ozean.
Abenteurer / Schiffe bewegen (Move Adventurers / Ships)
With this action you can move adventurers and ships around the game board.
- Pay any amount of Boot resources, by playing at least 1 resource card from your hand. You may also unload resource organisations. See also the section "Paying for actions" on page 5 and the table on the next page.
Note: For the action "Move adventurers / ships" you do not have to play region cards. The movements may take place at any point on the game board.
- Carry out the corresponding number of movements.
Each individual movement allows you to move any number of your adventurers from one region into an adjacent region. If you have several movements available, you may combine them to move the same adventurers several times.
For a movement, the number of adventurers moved does not matter, only the number of regions entered. The group may be split up or may pick up further members during the movement.
If adventurers move into a region in which units of another colour stand, there is no immediate conflict – these are resolved in the decision phase (see page 12).
If you move all adventurers out of a region, this has no effect on the control of the region. The corresponding region card stays with its owner.
| Number of Boot resources paid | Movements available |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 |
| 10 | 4 |
| 15 | 5 |
Mountain ranges (white stripes between regions) cannot be crossed. Regions separated by mountains do not count as adjacent.
Inhospitable regions (marked with a mountain symbol and hatched): When a group of adventurers moves into such a region, 1 adventurer of the group is immediately returned to the supply. This also means that a single adventurer cannot move into inhospitable regions, as alone in the dangerous environment it would perish.
Retreat of adventurers: When a group of adventurers is moved out of a region in which adventurers of another colour are also located, 1 adventurer of the group is immediately placed back into the supply.
Example: Alrike wants to move 2 adventurers from the Khom to Almada. For this she must pay 1 movement (1 Boot). She plays the "Svellttal" (2 Boot, one of which is lost) and moves her adventurers. Bedrik wants to go from the Horasreich to the Khom. He takes the land route and must pay 3 Boot for 2 movements. He plays "Horasreich" (2 Boot) and "Trahelien" (1 Boot). He moves his 3 adventurers from the Horasreich across the Kalifat into the Khom. Because enemy adventurers are in the Kalifat, he loses 1 adventurer on leaving the region. The Khom is inhospitable, so he loses 1 further adventurer, so that he reaches the Khom with 1 adventurer at the end. Cedrik splits his previous group and leaves the Kalifat with 2 adventurers for Selem and with 1 for Khunchom. This costs him 2 movements and therefore at least 3 Boot.
(The map on the rulebook page shows the movements of Alrike, Bedrik, Cedrik, Dedrik and Edrik in this example.)
Example: Dedrik wants to move from Al'Anfa with 4 adventurers to Tuzak. He has a ship in the Southern Sea and plays Tobrien (2 Boot, 1 of which is lost). He may now transport his adventurers with one movement across the ship.
Example: Edrik plans a large-scale invasion and pays 10 Boot for it, so that he has 4 movements available. With his first movement he moves 1 adventurer from Mhanadistan to Aranien. With his second movement he moves 1 ship from the Pearl Sea into the Southern Sea. With his third and fourth movements he moves his 3 adventurers from Aranien via the Pearl Sea and the Southern Sea to the Waldinseln.
Achtung (Note)
When performing "Move adventurers / ships" the rule regarding retreat of adventurers does not apply to ships. They may move out of seas with enemy ships without suffering losses.
Bewegung von Schiffen (Movement of Ships)
Ships use the same rules as adventurers with regard to seas, i.e. for each movement the player may move any number of their ships from one sea into an adjacent sea. Movement of ships is also paid for with Boot resources. In the same action you may move both ships and adventurers (provided you have at least 2 movements).
Bewegung über Schiffe (Movement across Ships)
Adventurers can be moved across seas with the help of ships, but may never come to rest on a sea.
Two regions connected by a sea in which at least one of your ships is located count for your adventurers as adjacent to one another. Several movements across ships may also be combined, if at least one of your ships is present in each of the seas involved. In this way a group of adventurers can be moved across 2 seas with 2 movements, across 3 seas with 3 movements, and so on.
Organisationen erwerben (Acquire Organisations)
With this action you can acquire new organisations and place them on the game board.
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Play one or more region cards from your hand. The region cards indicate where you may place the acquired organisations.
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Pay any amount of Gold resources by playing resource cards from your hand and/or unloading resource organisations. See also the section "Paying for actions" on page 5 and the table next to it.
Note: A region card that provides a resource serves at the same time as a region card and as a resource card!
-
You receive the corresponding number of organisation cards, by selecting one or more of the three organisation cards lying face up at the edge of the game board and/or drawing face-down cards from the organisation card pile. The acquired cards are placed face up in front of you – they do not count as resource cards!
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For each acquired organisation, take its corresponding marker from the edge of the game board and place it in the regions whose region cards you have played. The organisations may be distributed freely among the available regions.
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Next, you may strengthen each newly acquired organisation, by taking 1 adventurer each from your supply or from other organisation cards and placing it on the newly acquired organisation cards (this costs no additional Gold resources).
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Finally, refill the number of organisation cards lying face up at the edge of the game board to 3 cards, if necessary, by drawing them from the organisation card pile.
Note: Each region can only accommodate a limited number of organisations, indicated by the key symbols on the region cards and in the regions themselves. A region with one key can accommodate at most one organisation, a region with two keys two organisations, and a region with three keys only three organisations. Once this maximum is reached, no further organisations can be placed in the affected region for the rest of the game.
If you carry out the action "Acquire organisations", you must play enough different region cards to be able to accommodate all the organisations you newly acquire.
| Number of Gold resources paid | Organisations acquired |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 |
| 10 | 4 |
| 15 | 5 |
Example: Alrike wants to spread the belief in Praios in Jergan. She plays "Jergan" as a region and "Tuzak" (2 Gold, 1 of which is lost), and takes the organisation "Kirche des Praios" lying face up at the edge of the game board and places it in front of her. She places the marker with the god symbol on the game board in the region Jergan. Finally she places an adventurer from her supply on the card "Kirche des Praios". This can be used later in the game to make the Gold reserves of the Praios church available to Alrike's service.
Example: Cedrik boasts of his wealth and pays 6 Gold (Bornland, Andergast and Nivesenlande) for 3 new organisations at once. He would like to place them all in the Bornland, but since he already has an organisation there, he places only 2 new ones there. The Nivesenlande are already full (1 organisation is already there) and in Andergast he does not want to acquire an organisation, so he plays as the fourth card the "Ehere Schwert", in order to place his third new organisation there.
Organisationen stärken (Strengthen Organisations)
With this action you can strengthen organisations that are already in your possession with additional adventurers.
- Pay any amount of Gold resources by playing at least 1 resource card from your hand. You may also unload resource organisations. See also the section "Paying for actions" on page 5 and the table next to it.
Note: For the action "Strengthen organisations" you do not have to play region cards. The strengthenings may be made on any of your own organisations.
- You receive the corresponding number of strengthenings. For each strengthening you may take 1 adventurer from your supply or from an organisation card in your possession and distribute these freely onto your own organisation cards of your choice. More than 1 adventurer may be placed on the same organisation.
| Number of Gold resources paid | Strengthenings |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 2 |
| 6 | 3 |
| 10 | 4 |
| 15 | 5 |
Note: Adventurers already on the game board, on hero quest cards or still in the reserve cannot be used for this action!
Action: Strengthen organisations
- Play one or more resource cards
- Pay Gold
- Take adventurers from the supply or from other organisations and distribute them onto the organisations to be strengthened
Example: Bedrik pays 4 Gold to use the action "Strengthen organisations" to place 2 adventurers on his Aves church. Since he has only 1 adventurer left in his supply, he takes the other from the organisation "Bund des Weißen Pentagramms", whose services he does not currently need.
Typen von Organisationen (Types of Organisations)
There are two types of organisations:
- Resource organisations (Ressourcenorganisationen): These provide the resources shown on them. If the corresponding resource type is needed for an action, you may take 1 or more adventurers from the card and, for each adventurer "unloaded" in this way, pay the number of this resource shown on the card. This can be combined with playing resource cards, or even take the place of such cards, so that for example movement actions that are possible with the Boot symbols of resource organisations alone can be paid for.
- Advantage organisations (Vorteilsorganisationen): These provide the advantage described on them, as long as at least 1 adventurer is on them. Further adventurers on the card have no additional effect. Using the advantage does not consume the adventurer. If the last adventurer is taken from such a card, its effect ends at the end of the current action, until the organisation is strengthened again.
Note: Adventurers placed by you remain on the hero quest card until the decision phase, unless they are outbid in the meantime.
Helden nutzen (Use Heroes)
With this action you can use the hero action of a face-up hero quest card at the edge of the game board and at the same time lay claim to this card.
Note: In contrast to all the actions described so far, no resource cards are used with the action "Use heroes"! With each action "Use heroes" only one face-up hero quest card may be used!
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Choose a face-up hero quest card at the edge of the game board and place from your supply and/or from your own organisations a number of adventurers on the card that equals the number of adventurers currently there plus 1. If no adventurer is yet there, you thus place a single adventurer. If there are already adventurers on the card (even if they are adventurers of your own colour), you must place their number plus 1 in new adventurers on it.
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The adventurers that were previously on the hero quest card return to the supply of their owner. They have been outbid.
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Carry out the hero action shown on the hero quest card (the area above the dividing line) once. You may also choose to forgo carrying out the hero action.
Example: Alrike wants to use the face-up hero quest card "Asleif Phileasson". No adventurer is on it yet, so she places 1 of her adventurers on it and carries out the associated hero action. Bedrik wants to take possession of the card "Asleif Phileasson", so he places 2 of his adventurers on it, but does not carry out the associated hero action. Alrike's adventurer returns to her supply.
Example: Cedrik has taken a liking to the hero action of the card "Vrak", so that at the moment 2 of his adventurers lie on it. He is on turn and uses the card as an action once again by outbidding himself with 3 fresh adventurers from his supply. The 2 old adventurers then return to his supply and he may carry out the hero action.
Passen (Pass)
With this action you can initiate the end of the current action phase. Passing is free.
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The first player who passes in this action phase takes the start player marker.
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All other players are then still due exactly one more turn, and then the action phase ends.
Note: After the first player has passed, other players may also pass as their action, but they do not receive the start player marker! It remains with the player who passed first.
The player who has passed is not themselves due any more turns.
As soon as the other players have each carried out their last action, the action phase ends and the decision phase begins.
Phase 3: Entscheidungsphase (Decision Phase)
In the decision phase, conflicts are resolved and hero quests are evaluated.
Konflikte (Conflicts)
Conflicts arise wherever units of different colours face each other in a region or a sea. More than 2 conflict parties may take part in one conflict.
Beginning with the start player (who may have changed since passing), each player selects a region or sea with a conflict and resolves it. In player order, all conflicts are thus resolved. Each conflict may be chosen only once per decision phase!
Schiffsunterstützung? (Ship Support?)
If the selected conflict is a conflict in a region, to which one or two seas are adjacent, in which there are ships of one or more conflict parties that are not tipped on their side (see below), ship support must be determined first.
To do this, beginning with the player who chose the conflict, each player for whom the above is the case decides whether, and how many of their ships they want to draw in to support the conflict. After this has been resolved, the actual conflict begins.
The current player order is Alrike (start player), Bedrik, Cedrik and Dedrik. Alrike is on turn to choose a conflict and decides on Brabak. There 3 adventurers of Alrike, 4 adventurers of Bedrik and 2 adventurers of Dedrik stand opposite each other. In the Southern Sea Cedrik and Dedrik each have 3 ships, while Alrike has 1 ship in the Sea of the Seven Winds. Ship support is therefore possible.
Alrike must speak first and decides to move her ship from the Sea of the Seven Winds to Brabak. Next, Bedrik is on turn, who however has no ships within reach and is skipped. Cedrik is also skipped, since although he has ships within reach, he is not involved in the conflict. Dedrik must decide last, since he is both involved and has ships within reach. He decides not to send ships in support.
Der Konflikt (Resolving the Conflict)
For each conflict party, the total strength is calculated. Adventurers and ships each have a strength of 1. Special units (Dragons, Demon Arks, Djinn, Magic Ship) each have a strength of 2.
For each conflict, one of the following situations may arise:
a) There is a strongest conflict party: A player (including the neutral black player) has the highest total strength. In this case, all units of all losing parties in the conflict are completely removed from the region and return to the supplies of their owners (adventurers, ships) or to the general reserve (special units).
Then half (always rounded up) of all units of the winning faction are removed and likewise return to the supply of their player or to the general reserve. If the victor's army consisted of different units, these must be removed in the following order: 1) special units, 2) ships, 3) adventurers. Despite their strength of 2, special units also count as a single unit.
If a neutral special unit (e.g. a dragon) was defeated, its marker is turned over. It is now a trophy (e.g. Karfunkel).
Afterwards, the winner receives the region card of the corresponding region from the current owner (so long as they are not the owner themselves) and places it on their discard pile. If the card is in the draw pile of the losing player, it is taken out from this and the draw pile is then shuffled.
If organisation markers are located in a conquered region, the corresponding organisation cards also change their owner. Adventurers on such organisation cards return to the supply of their player.
Note: The last region card owned by a player cannot be conquered, even if they lose a conflict there. Organisations in such a region are likewise safe from conquest.
b) There is no strongest conflict party: In the case of a tie in total strength between the strongest conflict parties, the conflict is not resolved in the current round but carried over to the next round. The conflict counts as unresolved. Units of uninvolved third factions also suffer no losses and remain in the region.
Example 1: Bedrik is the previous owner of the region Selem and has the organisation "Kirche des Kor" there with 1 adventurer on it. Alrike moves her 2 adventurers into the region and wins the conflict that follows. Bedrik places his adventurer back into his supply and Alrike returns one of her adventurers to her supply. Bedrik must find his region card "Selem" (it is in his draw pile, so he thoroughly shuffles this afterwards) and hand it over to Alrike. She places the card on her discard pile. Next, Bedrik takes his adventurer from the organisation card "Kirche des Kor" and places it in his supply. Then he hands the card over to Alrike, who places it in front of her.
Example 2: Alrike has 2 adventurers and the Djinn (strength 2) in Al'Anfa, Bedrik 3 adventurers. Alrike has three units, half of which (rounded up) is 2. Alrike is the winner of the conflict. Bedrik must therefore remove his adventurers from the game board and place them in his supply. Alrike halves her 3 units and loses (rounded up) 2 of them. She must therefore first remove the Djinn and then one adventurer from the game board. The Djinn goes back into the general reserve. The conflict has been fully resolved and 1 adventurer of Alrike's remains in Al'Anfa.
Surviving ships: If ships were involved in a conflict and survived the conflict, the affected ships are tipped on their side. This shows that they were already active and no longer take part in the ongoing decision phase. They do not fight in conflicts on seas and cannot be drawn in to support other conflicts. For the same reason they also cannot be destroyed in the current decision phase.
Konflikte auf Meeren (Conflicts at Sea)
If ships of different factions stand opposite each other in a sea, they are likewise automatically in a conflict. It is handled exactly like a conflict on land (see above), except that no region or organisation cards change owner during it. Land units cannot be drawn in to support ship conflicts.
Please remember that in this case surviving ships are also tipped on their side (see above).
Konfliktmarken (Conflict Markers)
To illustrate conflicts and peaceful conquests, you can use conflict markers. These markers are placed in the action phase, after movement actions, in regions in which hostile adventurers face each other, or when an adventurer has moved into a region belonging to another player.
Kampflose Eroberung (Peaceful Conquest)
After all conflicts have been resolved, it is checked whether in this round regions are conquered without a fight. This is the case when the units of a player are located in a region that is not owned by that player. The region card and any organisations present pass into the possession of the conqueror, but the conqueror does not lose half of their units, since no combat took place.
Heldenquesten auswerten (Evaluating Hero Quests)
If adventurers of a player are located on the face-up hero quest cards, then for each card it is checked whether the condition (the text below the dividing line) of that card has been fulfilled by the corresponding player in this round. If this is the case, the card passes into the possession of the player and they place it face down in front of them – their adventurers return to their supply.
If the condition is not fulfilled, the hero quest remains where it lies – in this case too, the player's adventurers return to their supply.
If during the current decision phase one or more level-3 hero quests (note "Spielende" at the bottom left of the card) have been fulfilled, the game ends after this phase.
Ende des Spiels & Wertung (End of the Game and Scoring)
When after a decision phase one or more level-3 hero quests (note "Spielende" at the bottom left of the card) have been fulfilled, the game ends and scoring takes place.
During scoring, the players receive victory points according to the majorities in the following categories:
Kontrollierte Regionen (Controlled Regions): Here the region cards are counted that a player owns in total (draw pile, discard pile and hand).
Kontrollierte Organisationen (Controlled Organisations): Here the organisations are counted that a player has lying in front of them. It does not matter whether the organisations have adventurers on them or not.
Kontrollierte Trophäen (Controlled Trophies): Here each player counts the trophies (Black Eyes, Magical Artefacts, Karfunkel, Splinters) located in regions and seas in which they are the only player to have adventurers or ships. In the event of a tie (unresolved conflict), all strongest parties involved count as owners of the trophy.
Gewonnene Heldenquesten (Won Hero Quests): Here the hero quest cards are counted that a player has obtained during the game, regardless of their level.
The player with the largest number in a category receives points equal to the number of players. The player with the second-largest number in a category receives points equal to the number of players minus 1, the player with the third-largest receives points equal to the number of players minus 2, and so on. In the event of a tie in a category, all those involved share the points of the lower place. Players who have none of the required targets in a category (organisations, trophies, hero quests) receive 0 points in that category.
Geheimplan (Secret Plan): In addition to the majorities mentioned above, each player receives 1 point for each fulfilled condition of their secret plan. (Important: please note that regions separated by mountains do not count as adjacent!)
Gesamt (Total): Each player adds up their victory points. The player with the most points wins.
In the event of a tie, the player who has fulfilled more conditions of their secret plan wins. If there is still a tie, the players share the victory.
Beispielwertung (Example Scoring)
| Category | Alrike | Bedrik | Cedrik | Dedrik |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regions | 8 regions = 2nd place = 3 points | 9 regions = 1st place = 4 points | 4 regions = 3rd place = 2 points | 3 regions = 4th place = 1 point |
| Organisations | 6 organisations = 1st place = 4 points | 2 organisations = 4th place = 1 point | 2 organisations = 4th place = 1 point | 4 organisations = 2nd place = 3 points |
| Trophies | 2 trophies = 2nd place = 3 points | 0 trophies = 0 points | 1 trophy = 3rd place = 2 points | 4 trophies = 1st place = 4 points |
| Hero quests | 1 hero quest = 4th place = 1 point | 4 hero quests = 2nd place = 3 points | 4 hero quests = 2nd place = 3 points | 2 hero quests = 3rd place = 2 points |
Sonderregeln (Special Rules)
Trophäen (Trophies)
Trophies are represented by special markers. They come into play within certain hero quests.
Black Eyes (Schwarze Augen): There are five Black Eyes in total. They come into play as soon as the hero quest "Ephraim O. Ilmenblick" is revealed. Draw 5 random cards from the region card pile to determine the neutral regions in which one Black Eye marker is placed each. The region cards are then shuffled back into the pile. If at the time "Ephraim O. Ilmenblick" is revealed there are fewer than 5 cards in the region card pile, then only as many Black Eyes are distributed as there are neutral regions.
Each Black Eye counts as 1 trophy and remains in the region in which it appeared until the end of the game. At the end of the game, the owner of the region counts as the owner of the Black Eye located there.
Magical Artefacts (Magische Artefakte): There are three magical artefacts in total. They come into play with the hero quest "Khadil Okharim" and otherwise use the same rules as Black Eyes (see above).
Besondere Einheiten (Special Units)
Special units are represented by special markers and figures. They come into play within certain hero quests.
Demon Arks (Dämonenarchen): Demon arks come into play with the hero quest "Vrak" and use the same rules as dragons (see below), but they are placed in seas. To do this, draw cards from the region card pile until you have drawn either a coastal region with two adjacent seas, or two coastal regions each with one different adjacent sea. The two demon arks must be placed in two different seas. Through an unlucky draw it may happen that suddenly 3 seas are available to choose from – in this case the start player decides on 2 of them.
Like dragons, demon arks count as neutral special units with a strength of 2. If a demon ark is part of the strongest conflict party, its faction suffers no losses (in contrast to a normal victorious faction, which loses half of its units). After a demon ark has been defeated, its marker is turned over to become a splinter (Splitter) and remains in its sea until the end of the game. The splinter counts as a trophy like Black Eyes (see above). At the end of the game, the player with the most ships in the corresponding sea counts as the owner of the splinter. If there is a tie, all players involved count as owners.
Dragons (Drachen): There are two dragons in total. They come into play as soon as the hero quest "Rakorium Muntagonus" is revealed. They are placed like Black Eyes in two random neutral regions (see above) and count as neutral special units with a strength of 2. In a conflict, a dragon can form a faction together with other black units. The total strength of a dragon plus a neutral adventurer is 3.
A dragon can only be defeated by belonging, in a conflict, to a weaker of the conflict parties involved. If it is instead part of the strongest conflict party, its faction suffers no losses (in contrast to a normal victorious faction, which loses half of its units). A defeated dragon is turned over and then counts as a Karfunkel (carbuncle), for which the same rules apply as for Black Eyes (see above).
Djinn (Dschinn): The Djinn is a special unit that comes into play on a player's side when that player uses the hero action of the hero quest card "Ruban ibn Dhachmani". It has a strength of 2 and may be moved by its owner as part of a group that must also consist of at least 1 adventurer.
If a player uses the hero action of "Ruban ibn Dhachmani" while the Djinn is already in play, the Djinn immediately passes into their possession (and is moved on the game board if necessary).
Magic Ship (Zauberschiff): The magic ship is a special unit that comes into play on a player's side when that player uses the hero action of the hero quest card "Khadil Okharim". It has a strength of 2 and may be moved by its owner as part of a group that must also consist of at least 1 ship. The magic ship may, like normal ships, be used for movement across ships and for ship support in conflicts.
If a player uses the hero action of "Khadil Okharim" while the magic ship is already in play, the magic ship immediately passes into their possession (and is moved on the game board if necessary).
Erläuterung von Kartentexten (Explanation of Card Texts)
Vorteilsorganisationen (Advantage Organisations)
Bund des Weissen Pentagramms: The winner, if they are not the card's owner, may keep at most 1 unit.
Grosse graue Gilde des Geistes: All other movement rules (e.g. for mountains) apply normally.
Qabalya: Ships of the player could, with this advantage, for example move with a movement from Ifirns Ozean into the Pearl Sea, and vice versa.
Rohalswächter: This advantage applies in all conflicts in which at least one neutral unit (neutral adventurer, demon ark, dragon) is involved and in which the player wins the conflict.
Heldenquesten (Hero Quests)
Aldare Firdayon: The player may move an organisation marker of an organisation in their possession on the game board into another of their own regions, in which at least 1 organisation may still be placed.
To fulfil the condition for acquiring this hero quest, the player must own a region corresponding to each of the 4 resource types and have an organisation in it.
Asleif Phileasson: To fulfil the condition for acquiring this hero quest, 1 ship in each of 2 different seas is sufficient. Note that conflicts take place before the hero quests are evaluated.
Avesius Marcian: For this, the player chooses a group of 1 or more of their own adventurers in one region and moves it as often as they like (the movement rules apply normally here), optionally also as a "movement across ships". The player may end the movement whenever they wish, but this applies to the whole group of adventurers. At the latest when the group enters a region with an adventurer of another colour, the movement of the group ends.
Beorn der Blender: To fulfil the condition, the player may name a sea. If they have regions in at least 4 regions adjacent to this sea, the condition is fulfilled.
Brin von Gareth: All (enemy and own) adventurers are removed from the region. Any Djinn present is taken from the game board, but a dragon is not.
Ephraim O. Ilmenblick: This action applies to an adventurer on the game board, not in the supply or at any other place outside it. The adventurer is moved, without movement rules (e.g. for mountains) applying.
Finnian ui Bennain: If a player carries out this action, it additionally counts automatically as passing. They immediately refill their hand to 8 resource cards, within the current action phase. Other players may also carry out this action in order to receive 8 resource cards. They pass by doing so as well, but do not receive the start player marker.
Gwynna die Hex': The player may immediately acquire an organisation, as if they had carried out the action "Acquire organisations", but without having to play a region card or Gold resource for it.
Hagrobald vom Großen Fluss: With this, also the player's own adventurers may be removed from another hero quest. Inland regions are all regions that do not border at least one sea.
Khadil Okharim: Whenever a player uses this hero, the magic ship is immediately moved to the sea desired by them and becomes a member of their faction, even if it was previously in the possession of another player.
Khydaka Eisblüte: When moving (relocating), no movement rules (e.g. for mountains) apply. The player's own adventurer does not need to be located in one of their own regions.
To fulfil the condition for acquiring this hero quest, the player must have at least 1 adventurer in each region that borders one of the 4 seas. Regions that border two seas can fulfil this task twice.
Linara Fuxfell: This refers to the 3 organisation cards lying face up next to the organisation card pile. For the newly acquired organisation, enough space must be available in the chosen region.
Phanta: To fulfil the condition for acquiring this hero quest, the player must have at least 1 adventurer in each of two regions, each of which is either an island region and/or a mountain region.
Ruban ibn Dhachmani: The same applies to the Djinn as to the magic ship (see Khadil Okharim).
To fulfil the condition for acquiring this hero quest, the player must have at least 1 adventurer in each of 5 adjacent regions (island regions do not count as adjacent).
Scanlail ni Uinin: For this, the player may search their discard pile. Afterwards this pile is shuffled.
To fulfil the condition for acquiring this hero quest, the player may have any number of adventurers on the game board, but in at most 4 different regions.
Skar Shr Shzinth: To fulfil the condition for acquiring this hero quest, all of the player's adventurers that are located in different regions must have at least one region without the player's own adventurers between them. Island regions do not count as adjacent in this context (except Tuzak and Jergan).
Tar Honak: When relocating, no movement rules (e.g. for mountains) apply.
To fulfil the condition for acquiring this hero quest, the player must have at least 1 adventurer in one region bordering 2 seas.
Vrak: For carrying out this action, the player must have at least 1 ship in their supply.