Sheriff of Nottingham: Merry Men Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• 6th Player
  • Expansion Components
  • Expansion Setup
  • Gameplay
    • 1. Market
    • 2. Load Merchant Bag
    • 3. Declaration
    • 4. Inspection
    • 5. End of the Round
• Black Market
  • Expansion Components
  • Expansion Setup
  • Gameplay
• Laws
  • Expansion Components
  • Expansion Setup
  • Gameplay
• Special Order
  • Expansion Components
  • Expansion Setup
  • Gameplay
• Merry Men
  • Expansion Components
  • Expansion Setup
  • Gameplay

6th Player

Expansion Components

• 1 Merchant Bag (6th player)
• 1 Merchant Stand (6th player)
• 6 Deputy Cards (representing the 6 players)
• 2 Deputy Markers (to replace the Sheriff marker)
• 1 Booty Tile

Expansion Setup

As in a 5-player game, each player takes:

• A Merchant Bag and a Merchant Stand of the same color.
• Shuffle the Goods cards thoroughly and deal 6 to each player.

After the Goods cards have been dealt:

• Place the rest of the Goods cards facedown to form a draw pile in the middle of the playing area.
• Place the Sheriff marker back into the box and use the 2 Deputy markers instead.
• Shuffle the 6 Deputy cards and place them facedown in the middle of the playing area.
• Place the Booty tile next to the Deputy cards.

Important: In a 6-player game, you don't set any discard piles.

Gameplay

The Sheriff of Nottingham is recruiting and training new deputies. Each round, 2 players will act as Deputies and 4 players will act as Merchants.

The 2 Deputies will mostly work together as a team, but sometimes they can work on their own.

At the beginning of each round, 2 players will be randomly chosen to play as Deputies. Reveal the 2 topmost cards from the Deputy cards deck and deal 1 Deputy marker to each of the revealed players.

Then, the round goes through the 5 phases: Market, Load Merchant Bag, Declaration, Inspection, and End.

1. Market

The Deputies choose 1 Merchant to go first. The Merchant may exchange up to 5 cards from their hand. They do this by first displaying the cards they want to exchange faceup in front of them. Then, they draw the same number of cards from the Goods deck.

Then, going clockwise, each other Merchant may do the same. After all Merchants have had a chance to exchange cards, 1 of the Deputies takes all the discarded Goods cards and forms a Discard Pile next to the Goods deck.

2. Load Merchant Bag

All Merchants load their bags simultaneously. They can place 1 to 5 Goods cards in their bags.

3. Declaration

The Deputies call Merchants, 1 by 1, with the Merchants making their declarations, following the same rules as the base game.

4. Inspection

The Deputies work together. Like the base game, they can talk and negotiate freely with the Merchants.

There are 3 possibilities here:

• Both Deputies agree to let a Merchant pass. The Merchant opens their bag and organizes their Goods cards as usual. If the Deputies have accepted a bribe to let the Merchant pass, the bribe is placed on the Booty tile.
• Both Deputies agree to open the Merchant bag. If the Merchant was telling the truth, then each Deputy pays half of the penalty to the Merchant. If the Merchant was lying, the money received is placed on the Booty tile.
• Only 1 Deputy wants to inspect the bag, while the other is willing to let the Merchant pass. In this case, the Deputy who wants to inspect the bag acts on their own. If they settle a bribe to let the Merchant pass, they will collect it alone. If they open the Merchant's bag, they will pay or receive any penalty on their own.

At the end of the Inspection phase, the 2 Deputies evenly share all the money and Goods cards placed on the Booty tile. Any leftover money or cards must be discarded, unless the 2 Deputies agree on how to distribute them.

Note: The 2 Deputies can, if they want, inspect 2 Merchants simultaneously.

Important: It is strongly recommended that you use a time limit for this phase. We recommend 4 minutes per Merchant, as in a 5-player game.

Example: A new game is about to start, so after the initial setup, the 2 topmost cards of the Deputy deck are revealed.

Mark (Green) and Elisa (Blue) will be the Deputies this round. After a quick conversation, they decide Donald will start the Market phase, followed in clockwise order by the other players. Once they have all finished, all players fill their bags with Goods and make their declarations.

Mark and Elisa are now ready to investigate them! They take a good look at Cathy and both decide she can pass without a bribe. Roger is causing both Deputies some doubts. Mark wants to investigate him, but Elisa think he's clean. They wait a little. Donald seems really suspicious and neither Deputy trusts him! When confronted, Donald starts to negotiate and the 3 of them agree on a Bribe of $12. All the coins are placed on the Booty tile.

Maggie also seems suspicious, but Mark wants to let her pass. Elisa disagrees and wants to investigate her.

So now, Elisa is dealing with Maggie while Mark is dealing with Roger. Roger doesn't accept Mark's request for a bribe, so Mark opens his bag! Surprisingly, all the Goods are legal, and Mark now pays the penalty to Roger. Maggie and Elisa keep negotiating until they reach a bribe value of $8. Elisa receives the full amount. The round is over, so Mark and Elisa now share the amount collected on the Booty tile, each receiving $6.

5. End of the Round

Players that acted as Merchants draw cards from the Goods deck until they have 6 cards in hand.

After the 5 phases, a new round starts: draw the 2 topmost cards from the Deputy deck and perform the 5 phases as described earlier.

After 3 rounds, each player will have acted as Deputy once.

Shuffle the Deputy cards, create a new deck, and start a new round.

The game ends when the Deputy deck has run out for the third time. At this point, each player will have acted as Deputy 3 times and as Merchant 6 times.

Deal the King and Queen bonus as usual. Then, each player adds up all their Gold. The richest player is the winner!

Black Market

Expansion Components

Black Market includes:

• 6 Black Market Cards (Contraband Goods)

Expansion Setup

Sort the 6 cards by type (you will have 3 pairs of cards).

Place the 3 pairs of cards out for everyone to see, with the higher-value card on top of the lower-value one.

Gameplay

During the Inspection phase, players can claim and take a Black Market Card. Black Market cards allow players to trade in smuggled Contraband for additional Gold!

To claim a Black Market card, a Merchant must have 3 of a kind in their Contraband pile (e.g. To take the Pepper Black Market card, the Merchant must have 3 Pepper cards in their Contraband pile). They must show that they have the 3 Contraband cards in order to take the Black Market card.

Players can smuggle the Contraband over the course of several rounds until they have 3 of a kind in their Contraband pile.

The claimed Black Market card goes to the player's Contraband pile. The Contraband cards they used to claim the Black Market card are removed from the game.

The first player to collect a set of 3 Contraband cards takes the higher-value Black Market card of the corresponding good, while the second player to collect 3 of the same Contraband cards takes the lower-value card.

The same player can claim both Black Market cards for the same Contraband, provided they smuggle 6 cards of the same type.

There is no limit to the number of Black Market cards that a player can claim.

At the end of the game, score points for all Black Market cards you have in your Contraband pile.

Example: A new Inspection phase is about to start. Donald claims a Black Market card! He shows that he has 3 Pepper cards that he smuggled in earlier rounds.

Donald now collects the topmost card from the Pepper Black Market pile and removes the 3 revealed Contraband cards from the game.

Laws

Expansion Components

Laws includes:

• 24 Law Cards

Expansion Setup

Shuffle the Law cards and place them facedown as a draw pile.

(If playing with 3 players, remove Law cards marked with the "4+" players symbol. If playing with 5 players, remove the Sheriff's Private Stash Law card marked with the "5-" symbol.)

Gameplay

The first player to act as Sheriff in the game draws 3 Law cards and chooses 1 to discard. They can show the other players the cards before making their decision, allowing the other players to influence which Laws are chosen.

The 2 chosen Laws are placed next to the Law deck. The discarded Law is placed facedown on the bottom of the deck. The 2 Law cards create a line: the Law closer to the Draw pile is in Position 1, while the other is in Position 2. The face up Law cards act as game rules that must be obeyed!

Starting in the 2nd Round, the new Sheriff draws the top 2 Law cards from the deck. They choose 1 of those Laws, returning the other to the bottom of the Law deck. The Sheriff discards the current Law in Position 2 and moves the Law from Position 1 to Position 2. The new Law for the round will be placed in Position 1.

Important: If playing with the 6th player expansion, the 2 Deputies decide together which Law they want to add.

Example: For the first round of the game, Roger is the Sheriff. He draws the top 3 Law cards and picks 2, placing them next to the Law deck.

After Roger's round as Sheriff is over, it's Maggie's turn. She draws the top 2 cards and chooses 1 of them.

Next, she discards the Law in Position 2 and moves the one from Position 1 down, making room to place the new Law in Position 1.

Maggie's round as Sheriff is ready to start!

Special Order

Expansion Components

Special Order includes:

• 15 Special Order Cards (with 1 Contraband and 1 Legal Good on each card).

Expansion Setup

Shuffle the Special Order cards.

Draw 4 and place them faceup where everyone can see them. At the end of each round, if necessary, draw new cards so there are 4 Special Order cards faceup on the table.

Gameplay

During the Inspection phase, players can claim a Special Order card from the set of 4.

To fulfill a Special Order, the Merchant must have the required cards in their current Merchant Bag, and manage to smuggle them into Nottingham.

The Merchant must announce that they are filling a Special Order and show everyone that they have the required cards in their bag.

They immediately take the corresponding Special Order card from the group and place it, along with the required Goods and Contraband cards, underneath their Merchant stand.

Note: Any Legal Goods used to fulfill a Special Order will not count for a King and Queen bonus. Other cards may be in the Merchant's bag when they fulfill a Special Order, and they are placed in their corresponding spots around the Merchant stand.

There is no limit to the number of Special Order cards that a player can claim.

At the end of the game, add up your final score using all the Goods, Contraband, and Special Order cards that you have collected under your Merchant stand.

Example: Before the game starts, the players draw 4 Special Order cards and place them faceup on the table. Maggie is the Sheriff this round. After the negotiations, Donald and Mark pass through inspection without having to open their bags. After opening his bag, Donald announces that he can fulfill a Special Order! He shows the required cards and takes the corresponding Special Order card:

Donald places the 2 used cards below his Merchant stand, together with the collected Secret Order card. (The source prints "Secret Order" in this example; the card is a Special Order card.)

After that, Donald reveals another Special Order card to replace the 1 collected from the center of the table.

Merry Men

Expansion Components

Merry Men includes:

• 18 Merry Men Cards (each card shows its Gold Value, Penalty Amount, and Instant Effect).
• 1 Sherwood Tile (this is where the Merry Men deck is placed).

Expansion Setup

Shuffle all the Merry Men cards and deal 2 to each player.

Place the remaining cards facedown on top of the Sherwood tile as a draw pile.

Each player looks at their Merry Men cards and chooses 1 to keep, discarding the other.

Discarded cards are placed on the bottom of the Merry Men deck.

Gameplay

Merry Men must be smuggled into Nottingham during the Inspection phase.

Whenever a Merchant succeeds in smuggling a Merry Men card into Nottingham, they reveal it and receive Gold from the Bank equal to the total on their card. They also perform the indicated Instant Effect.

Then, they discard the Merry Men card, placing it on the bottom of the Merry Men deck. Finally, they draw 2 new Merry Men cards, choosing to keep 1 and placing the other on the bottom of the Merry Men deck.

If the Sheriff opens a Merchant's bag and finds a Merry Men card, the Merchant pays the Penalty Value indicated on the card, in Gold, to the Sheriff. Then, the Merry Men card is placed on the bottom of the Merry Men deck.

To get a new Merry Men card, the Merchant will have to successfully smuggle a Contraband card on any future turn. If they succeed, they regain the Merry Men's trust and can immediately draw a Merry Men card.

A player can only have 1 Merry Men card in their hand at a time. If they have 1 and successfully smuggle a Contraband card, they cannot take another Merry Men card.

Example: Donald is the Sheriff, and he's engaged in a discussion with Mark. After a few words, and a bribe of 8 Gold, Mark manages to pass through the investigation. After the Investigation phase is over, Mark opens his bag and shows a Merry Men card:

Besides gaining 10 Gold for having smuggled Robin Hood, Mark also steals 6 Gold from Donald, keeping 3 for himself and distributing the rest as he wishes. He chooses to give 2 Gold to Elisa and 1 Gold to Roger.