Shadow of the Sun Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Set Up
• The Cards
  • Minion Cards
  • District Cards
  • Day Cards
  • Reminder Cards
  • Supremacy Card
• Playing Shadow of the Sun
  • Days
• Legion Hierarchy
• Player Turns
  • Draw
  • Bonus
  • Special Ability
  • Action
    • Bolster
    • Usurp
    • Preen
  • Draw
• The Struggle
• Ending the Day
• Ending the Game
• Scoring

Set Up

Place the 4 District Cards in the middle of the play area.

Shuffle together the 8 Day Cards and place them in a face down pile, forming the Day Deck, to the side of the play area.

Shuffle together the Minion Cards, deal 3 cards to each player, and place the remaining cards in a face down pile, forming the Minion Deck to the side of the play area.

Each player chooses a color, and then takes all 12 House Markers of that color and places them in his play area.

Give each player a Reminder Card.

The oldest player takes the Supremacy Marker Card, and the first Day begins.

The Cards

Minion Cards

There are 5 different types of Minion Cards. Each Minion Card has a name: Darkened, Ghoul, Courtesan, Alchemist, or Masqued. Additionally, each Minion card also states what District the Minion is from: either The Courtyard, The Boneyard, The Alley Maze, or The Spires. All cards of the same name hail from the same District, for example, all Ghouls come from The Boneyard. Note that Masqued cards are Wild cards, and have "Wild" listed for their District.

District Cards

There are 4 different District Cards. Each District has a name: The Courtyard, The Boneyard, The Alley Maze, or The Spires and also a reminder of what Minions call this District Home.

Day Cards

There are 8 different Day Cards. Each Day card features the picture of a District, the name of the District, and states either 1 or 2 Markers.

Reminder Cards

These cards explain the game's Special Abilities on one side, and on the other, offer a brief summary of the turn sequence.

Supremacy Card

There is 1 Supremacy Card. This card is given to the Start Player for the current Day. It changes ownership at the end of each Day.

Playing Shadow of the Sun

Shadow of the Sun takes place over 8 (or sometimes fewer) Days (or Rounds). During each Day, a Day Card is revealed, each player receives a turn, and then there is a Struggle over the District on the revealed Day card.

Each player's Markers represent his House's level of influence across the 4 Districts of Hemloch. Through the use of Minion Cards, players are able to add and remove Markers.

The game ends at the end of any Day when there are no Day cards remaining in the Day Deck, or 1 or more players have no Markers left to place.

Days

At the beginning of each Day, the Supreme Player (indicated by the player with the Supremacy Card) reveals the top card of the Day Deck and places it face up in the middle of the play area.

Legion Hierarchy

Several events and actions in Shadow of the Sun revolve around each player playing a group of Minion cards face down from his hand in attempts to have the strongest Legion (a group of 2-4 facedown Minion cards). There is a hierarchy for determining Legion Strength. That hierarchy is as follows (from weakest to strongest):

1. 2 Different Minions
2. 3 Different Minions
3. 2 Identical Minions
4. 2 Identical Minions plus 1 additional Minion
5. 4 Different Minions
6. 2 Identical Minions plus 2 additional Minions
7. 2 Identical Minions plus 2 Identical Minions
8. 3 Identical Minions
9. 3 Identical Minions plus 1 additional Minion
10. 4 Identical Minions

In the event of a tie, the Supreme Player selects the winner. The Supreme player may never select himself.

Player Turns

Each Day, beginning with the Supreme Player, and continuing clockwise, each player takes 1 turn. Each player's turn is broken up into several steps, taken in this order: Draw, Bonus, Special Ability, Action, and Draw.

Draw

The player draws 2 cards from the Minion deck and adds them to his hand.

Bonus

The player may draw 2 additional cards OR he may add 1 of his Markers to any District that does not have 1 of his Markers on it.

Note: The Minion Cards in a player's hand are kept secret from the other players. There is no maximum handsize. If there are no Minion cards remaining in the Minion Deck, the discard pile is shuffled to form a new Minion Deck.

Special Ability

The player has access to 4 different Special Abilities. In order to use a Special Ability, the player must discard the appropriate cards from his hand. A player may use 1 Special Ability per turn. A player does not have to use a Special Ability.

• The player may discard 2 Ghoul cards from his hand to force each other player to discard 1 Minion Card, and the player draws 1 card.
• The player may discard 2 Darkened cards from his hand to remove any 1 Marker from any 1 District.
• The player may discard 2 Alchemist cards to move 1 of his Markers from 1 District to another District.
• The player may discard 2 Courtesan cards from his hand to add 1 of his Markers to any District.

Note that a single Masqued card may be used in substitute for any other card when using a Special Ability.

Action

The player has a choice of performing 1 of the following 3 Actions. He may Bolster, Usurp, or Preen. The player may only perform 1 action per turn.

Bolster

When the player chooses to Bolster as his action, he may add 1 of his Markers to a District that already has at least 1 of his Markers on it. To do this, he must first discard the appropriate type and number of Minion cards from his hand.

The type of Minion he must discard is noted on the District he wishes to add a Marker to. The number of cards he must discard is determined by the number of Markers he already has on the card. He must discard 1 Minion card of the appropriate type plus 1 additional Minion of the appropriate type for each of his Markers already on the District.

Note that a Masqued card may be used in place of any number of the appropriate/required Minion cards.

Bolster Example: Jon is the Green player and he wishes to Bolster in The Boneyard. He must discard Ghoul cards from his hand to do so (since Ghouls are noted on The Boneyard District). He already has 2 Markers on The Boneyard. To Bolster, he would need to discard 3 Ghoul cards from his hand.

Usurp

When a player chooses to Usurp, he attempts to replace an opposing player's Marker with 1 of his own Markers in a District where both players have Markers.

To do this, the player announces the opposing player he will attempt to Usurp. The opposing player draws 1 card, and then creates a Legion. The player may then abandon the Usurp action, and the opposing player returns his Legion to his hand.

If the player does not abandon the Usurp action, he then creates a Legion. Each player then reveals his Legion.

The player with the highest Legion Strength removes the other player's Marker from the District and replaces it with 1 of his own Markers. The Legions are discarded.

Note that if a player abandons his Usurp action, he does not get to select another action for his turn.

Usurp Example: Jeb is the Red player and he wishes to Usurp LBJ's Marker in The Courtyard.

LBJ draws 1 card and creates a Legion of 3 cards. Jeb creates a Legion of 4 cards. Legions are revealed.

LBJ has a stronger Legion, so he removes 1 of Jeb's (red) Markers and places 1 of his (blue) Markers on The Courtyard.

Preen

The player may choose to Preen for his action. To Preen, the player chooses and discards any number of cards from his hand. He then draws a number of cards equal to the number of cards he discarded, plus 1.

Preen Example: Jeb chooses to Preen for his action. He chooses and discards 3 cards from his hand. He draws 4 cards.

Draw

After the player has selected and completed his Action for the turn, he draws 1 card and his turn is over. The player to his left takes the next turn.

The Struggle

At the end of each Day, after each player has taken his turn, there is a Struggle. The winner of the Struggle will be able to place a Marker, or Markers, on the District indicated on the current Day card. The number of Markers the winner of the Struggle will be able to place is indicated on the current Day card.

Each player, beginning with the player to the left of the Supreme Player, and continuing clockwise chooses to participate in the Struggle or pass.

Each player who participates in the Struggle, plays a Legion. Once all participating players have played a Legion, Legions are revealed. The player with the highest Legion Strength takes the current Day card and places it in his play area. He then places a number of his Markers indicated on the Day card on the District indicated on the Day card. All Legions are discarded.

Remember, the Supreme player may never select himself in the event of a tie.

Ending the Day

After the Struggle, if 1 of the game ending conditions is not met, each player chooses and discards cards from his hand until he has 3 cards in his hand, or draws cards until he has 3 cards in his hand. The discard pile and the Minion deck are shuffled together. The Supremacy Card is passed to the player to the left, and the Day ends and a new Day begins.

Ending the Game

The game ends at the end of any Day if: there are no Day cards remaining in the Day deck, or if any player has no Markers left to place. Players score points based on the placement of their Markers. The player with the highest score wins.

Scoring

For each District, each player's Marker is worth a number of points equal to the total number of his Markers on the District, up to a maximum of 4 points each. Each player gains 1 point for each District that has at least 1 of his Markers on it. Each player gains 2 points for each District that only has his Markers on it.

In the event of a tie, the player with the most Day cards wins the tie. If a tie still exists, the players will share control of the city in the coming darkness.

Scoring Example: The Red player scores 1 point for each Marker on The Courtyard, 1 point for each Marker on The Spires, 4 points for each Marker on The Boneyard, and 4 points for each Marker on The Alley Maze for a total of 38 points. He gains an additional 4 points for having a Marker in each District.