Sherwood Forest Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• BASIC RULES
  • Setup
  • Object of the Game and Sequence of Actions
• PREPARATION PHASE
  • Preparation Actions
    • 5.1 Preparing a simple attack
    • 5.2 Preparing a joint attack
  • End of Preparation
• ATTACKS
  • Successful attack
  • No attack takes place
• END OF THE ROUND
• END OF THE GAME
• ADDITIONS
  • Before the Game
  • Preparation
  • Attacks (with the additions)
  • End of the Round (with the additions)

Components

• 1 board
• 1 starting player card
• 6 camps of different colours
• 48 outlaws, 8 of each colour: blue, purple, green, yellow, red, black
• 18 markers (3 of each colour)
• 12 alliance tokens (6 pairs)
• 42 bags of gold
• 1 starting player figure
• 1 coach
• 55 "traveller" cards (including 10 "sheriff" cards)
• 24 equipment cards (including 6 special item cards)

BASIC RULES

Setup

1. Place the board in the middle of the table.
2. Each player chooses a colour and receives one camp, four outlaws and three markers of that colour, as well as two bags of gold (place them in the camp).
3. The remaining outlaws (four figures of each colour) are placed in the reserve under the big oak.
4. Each player places one marker on the "road to fame", space 0/30.
5. The remaining bags of gold are placed in the money pit on the board.
6. Separate the 10 "sheriff" cards from the "traveller" cards -- the sheriff is not needed in the game by the simple rules.
7. Divide the "traveller" cards into two decks according to the letter on the back (A or B). Shuffle each deck and take a number of cards blindly. How many cards to take depends on the number of players:

Number of players	3	4	5	6
Number of A cards	12	15	18	18
Number of B cards	12	15	18	18

Put the remaining traveller cards in the box face down.

8. Lay out the required number of A cards next to the board face down and right up against each other:

Number of players	3	4	5	6
Unrevealed cards	4	5	6	6

• Turn one of them face up.
• Stack the remaining A cards in a closed pile (the cards lie with their backs up) next to the board. Place the B cards, likewise face down, right under the pile of A cards.

9. Separate the "forest cloak", "messenger's clothes" and "provisions" cards from the equipment cards. They do not take part in the game by the basic rules. Shuffle the remaining equipment cards and place them in a closed pile on the board (on the equipment space; the board also has a space for the discard pile).
10. Decide who will be the starting player and give him the figure.
11. Place the starting player card next to the board together with the alliance tokens and the coach figure.

Object of the Game and Sequence of Actions

The game lasts 6 rounds. Each round consists of two phases: preparation and attacks.

• In the first phase you place your outlaws on the board. They carry out your assignments, gaining fame, information, equipment, new outlaws, or attacking careless travellers: you only have to decide whether your lads will manage on their own or whether to call on rival neighbours for help.
• In the second phase the travellers begin their journey through Sherwood. If the strength of the outlaws in ambush is at least equal to the strength of the traveller, the attack succeeds: the participants of the attack receive loot (gold and new comrades) and become famous. Fame points are marked on a special scale -- the "road to fame".

The player who has gone furthest along this road by the end of the sixth round wins the game.

PREPARATION PHASE

The starting player acts first in this phase -- the special figure stands in front of him. Then his left-hand neighbour acts, and so on clockwise. A turn in the preparation phase consists of the player performing one of five possible actions, sending outlaws out of the camp to get to work. Players take turns performing one action each until their camps are empty. The player acting on his turn is called the "performer".

Preparation Actions

On his turn the performer can take one of five possible steps. If more than five bags of gold have accumulated in his camp, the performer must give the gold to the poor at the church (the first step). In any other case the step can be chosen freely.

1. Gold for fame (donations at the church): you place one outlaw at the church and discard any number of bags of gold into the money pit. Then move your marker along the "road to fame" one space for each discarded bag.

2. Choosing a target (gathering information at the inn): send one outlaw to the inn. Then secretly look at any laid-out "traveller" card and put it back without showing it to the others. Place your marker on this card. You may look at it again at any convenient moment.

• Several players can mark the same card.
• If you have no free markers left, you will have to remember which card you looked at.

3. New things (buying equipment from the merchant): place one outlaw with the merchant and take a bag of gold to the money pit. Now you may take an equipment card blindly from the deck into your hand. This cannot be done if you already have three equipment cards in your hand.

4. Replenishment (hiring desperate daredevils at the market): one outlaw must be placed on the market, and two bags of gold must be thrown into the money pit. For this, one outlaw of your colour from the reserve under the oak is placed on the market next to your recruiter. However, you will be able to use both outlaws -- the recruiter and the recruit -- only in the next preparation phase.

Tactician's advice: it may seem that the services of the merchant and the inn cost too much. However, one does not usually economise on this -- equipment and recruits can change the balance of power in Sherwood. The inn will give you information, and you will no longer rely on luck alone when choosing the target of an attack. The merchant will supply you with equipment, without which it is simply foolish to attack a well-armed group!

5. Forming a band for an attack (going into ambush): this is the main action of the game. The outlaws set up an ambush (see the picture) and wait for the travellers to approach. They hope to profit (take gold from the coaches and win new comrades over to their side) and to become famous.

The attack will succeed if the strength of the outlaws in the ambush is not less than that of the traveller.

• Each ambush has a leader's place.
• Each traveller card shows: the strength of the traveller (a value from 1 to 14), the number of fame points, the number of bags of gold, and the number of new comrades.
• Each outlaw has strength 1; an outlaw can be strengthened with an equipment card, which adds from one to three points of strength. The strength of the equipment is shown on the card.

An attack carried out alone often cannot succeed. Then you have to conclude an alliance with other players.

5.1 Preparing a simple attack

If you think you can take the traveller on without allies, simply send any number of outlaws to any unoccupied ambush. You become the leader of the outlaws in this ambush until the end of the round or until a successful attack. Until the end of the round you cannot add outlaws to this ambush or withdraw them from it.

Equipment cards: to strengthen your outlaws you may use equipment cards. However, remember that no more than one such card may be played on one outlaw.

5.2 Preparing a joint attack

a) Negotiating an alliance

The performer offers one or several players to join the ambush. Negotiations can begin even before the outlaws are sent out: in that case all allies can influence the choice of the place for the ambush. If the performer has information about a particular traveller, it can be used to draw players into the alliance. Potential allies can be told:

• how many fame points each participant of the alliance will receive, and/or
• what loot can be obtained if the business succeeds.

Example: one fame point per participant of the attack, nine bags of gold and one new comrade. (The example card shows traveller strength 12, 1 fame, 9 gold, 1 comrade.)

Note: in negotiations the performer only reveals the size of the loot, not how it is distributed.

• The performer is free to ask an ally for exactly as many points of strength as he thinks he needs. If a player helps not only with outlaws but also with equipment cards, it is important to remember how these cards are played.
• Other players have the right to tell the performer where and with what forces they would like to join his ambush.
• The other players cannot agree on anything among themselves: the performer is the main party to any agreement.

b) Alliance agreement

When the performer has settled the details of the joint ambush and has received the consent of the other players, the allies place their outlaws from their camps into the ambush. One of the performer's outlaws is placed on the square leader's space. Now everyone sees who is in command. The leader status in this ambush stays with the player until the end of the round or until the job is done.

If an ally has promised to send an outlaw with equipment, he now reveals and places the equipment card in front of himself. To remember what the card is reserved for, the player marks the card and the ambush with alliance tokens bearing the same letter.

If the allies' forces are insufficient, the performer may give up this action and take another step.

Remember: once you have organised an ambush, you cannot take outlaws and equipment cards out of it. The exception is cards played during the attack, but there is no time to change one's mind then (see "Attacks").

End of Preparation

• Fame point and starting player card: the one who is first to send all outlaws out of his camp on assignments receives a fame point as a reward, and the one who gets rid of the idlers in his camp second is rewarded with the starting player card.
• Tie: sometimes the allies' camps become empty simultaneously, and then the fame and the card are awarded clockwise starting from the one who acted during another player's turn.
• End: the preparation phase ends when all camps are empty.

ATTACKS

Here we go! The starting player acts first, then his left-hand neighbour, and so on clockwise. The performer plays a "traveller" card, that is, reveals one of these cards, and the rich man rides through Sherwood. The players in turn drive the travellers along the forest paths to their ambushes, until the laid-out cards run out. If fewer than six people are playing, the starting player will have to lead two travellers through the forest.

Playing a traveller: choose one of the traveller cards laid out by the board -- either face down or face up. You cannot take a card from the deck!

Movement of travellers: the chosen traveller (more precisely, his coach) travels through the forest along the route indicated on the card (see the picture; the card shows a departure point and a destination, e.g. "Lincoln -> Derby"). Put the coach figure in the town the traveller departs from and move it along the arrows to the destination. As the traveller advances, the outlaws attack him from their ambushes.

Equipment cards: only when it comes to the attack does the player choose which equipment cards he will play and in what order (and whether at all). Remember -- one card per outlaw, no more!

• If the ambush was organised by allies, the players must use the equipment they promised.
• Each equipment card is discarded after use. Exception: if for a successful attack none of the promised equipment cards is needed, the players take them back into their hands.

Successful attack

If the total strength of the ambush (taking into account the equipment cards promised by allies) equals or exceeds the strength of the traveller, you must attack. Because of this the outlaws may attack not at all the traveller whom the leader intended to rob.

Dividing loot and fame:

• Fame points. Each participant of the ambush receives as much fame as is indicated on the "traveller" card.
• The leader of the ambush receives the loot -- takes from the reserve as many bags of gold and new comrades as are indicated on the card.
• Allies share the loot: the leader distributes the gold and comrades (one share of loot = one bag of gold or one new comrade).
  1. If the number of shares in the loot equals the number of outlaws in the ambush, each outlaw brings his player one share of the loot.
  2. If there are fewer shares than outlaws, the leader gives one share of the loot to each ally (if possible), each part being laid next to the figure of the next outlaw taking part in the division. The procedure is repeated until all the loot has been handed out (see page 5).
  3. Of course, the leader can give a new comrade only to a player who still has outlaw figures under the oak.

Example: Anna is the leader, and in this ambush she has 5 outlaws. Boris has joined the ambush with 1 outlaw, Vasily brought 6 fighters. The loot: 9 bags of gold and 1 comrade. First, each player receives 1 share of the loot: since Anna clearly lacks outlaws, she takes the comrade for herself, and Boris and Vasily get the first bags of gold. For Boris the first bag is also the last: his lone outlaw may receive only 1 share of the loot. Then Anna distributes 3 bags of gold each to Vasily and herself. She may take the remaining bag of gold for herself or give it to Vasily as thanks for his help. What will she choose?

After a successful attack:

• All allies lead their outlaws from the ambush back to their camps.
• All played equipment cards are discarded.
• The card of the robbed traveller is removed from the game.

No attack takes place

If the outlaws who set up the ambush are weaker than the traveller, there will be no attack.

• The traveller passes the ambush and goes on along the route.
• The outlaws in this ambush wait for the next coach.
• Even if nobody attacked the traveller and he finished his journey safe and sound, the card is removed from the game all the same.

Ambushes at forks: if the traveller turns at a fork, it is possible that he will pass the same ambush twice. And it is possible that (the outlaws who let him pass will now attack), since the leader will dare to play an equipment card from his hand.

END OF THE ROUND

The round ends as soon as the playing out of the last laid-out "traveller" card is finished. After that the following must happen:

1. Outlaws return to the camps: except for those resting under the oak, all the forest brothers go "home".
2. New "traveller" cards: take from the pile from four to six new cards and lay them next to the board (see "Setup", page 2). Turn one card face up.
3. Starting player figure: the participant with the smallest stock of gold in his camp receives this figure.
   • The starting player does not take part in the dispute over who is poorer, since nobody can hold this status for two rounds in a row!
   • In case of a tie the figure goes to the one sitting to the left of the previous starting player.

Each new round begins with the next preparation phase.

END OF THE GAME

The sixth round marks the end of the game.

The gold received in the sixth round is turned into fame by the following scheme:

• Each new bag of gold becomes one fame point.
• For each new comrade taken from under the oak you receive two fame points. If there are no more outlaws under the oak, no fame can be earned from this.

The game ends as soon as the last "traveller" card laid out in the sixth round has been played.

• The player who has advanced furthest along the "road to fame" wins.
• If during the game you gained more than 30 fame points, continue moving, simply adding 30 points to the current position of your marker.
• In case of a tie, the player with fewer outlaws left under the oak wins. If a new tie arises, the one with more bags of gold wins.

ADDITIONS

When you have got used to the game after three or four games by the basic rules, introduce new elements to make negotiations and robberies even more interesting. So, the additions:

• 10 sheriff cards and 6 special item cards;
• open negotiations and a flexible system of loot distribution.

With the appearance of the new cards the level of difficulty rises, and the free scheme of negotiations will add fun and communication between the players and give more room for the display of your strategic talents.

Before the Game

Shuffle the "sheriff" cards into piles A and B according to the letters on the backs. Shuffle the special item cards into the pile of ordinary equipment cards.

Preparation

Steps one through four are carried out by the basic rules. Only the attacks are done differently.

Negotiating an alliance:

The leader (performer) asks who is interested in an alliance for an attack. If there are those who wish, they discuss the details of the attack with the leader, finding out who will serve the common cause with what and what reward he will receive.

Scheme of negotiations. Strictly speaking, there are no rules for negotiations -- the players communicate freely and decide how many of their outlaws to place in the ambush, who will help with equipment, how to divide the loot.

• The leader has the right to conduct negotiations as he likes. In particular, he may forbid "separate" negotiations between other players.
• During negotiations the leader may decide that it is easier for him to do the job alone. In that case he simply places his outlaws in any ambush and ends his turn.

Exchange:

An exchange of gold and shares of future loot between players is possible, as is trading information, the use of equipment cards, the choice of a particular traveller, etc. Outlaws, fame points and equipment cards cannot be exchanged or simply given away.

Agreements

Consent to an alliance: an alliance is formed only with the consent of all its participants. All items (outlaws, alliance markers, gold, etc.) are laid out in the places agreed in advance (see the next section "Binding agreements").

Informant: the informant is the player who has information about a certain traveller and insists on forming an alliance to attack that traveller. The informant may also become the leader, although this is not obligatory.

Leader. As in the ordinary game, the leader places one of his outlaws on the square space of the chosen ambush and gathers other outlaws next to it. His allies place in this ambush the outlaws they promised when concluding the agreement.

The promised equipment cards are revealed only at the wish of their owners and are not marked in any way (see "Non-binding agreements" below).

Binding agreements:

The informant uses a pair of identical alliance tokens to mark the ambush and the chosen traveller card (face up or face down).

Promised loot: now the informant takes the loot (gold from the pit and comrades from under the oak) and hands out the agreed shares to the allies. We advise laying the figures of comrades on their sides so that they can be told apart from the outlaws in the ambush.

Non-binding agreements:

• All agreements that do not belong to the binding agreements listed above are not marked. This applies to agreements about equipment cards or about sharing fame.
• Sometimes a traveller whom the leader did not want to rob falls into the ambush; then the attack takes place spontaneously. In this case, neither alliance tokens nor promised loot are laid out on the board before the attack.

Attacks (with the additions)

You may begin negotiations right during the attack phase. Any agreements relating to future actions (that is, not connected with the current round) are not binding.

Planned attack: a traveller with an alliance token falls into an ambush with the same token.

• Equipment cards: if the allies made agreements about using equipment cards, the time has come to find out whether the obligations will be fulfilled. If there are doubts, the leader says in what order the allies must confirm this agreement or renounce it.
• No attack: the planned attack is called off if the equipment cards are not applied in full. Cards already played go to the discard pile, and the traveller continues his journey.
• Successful attack / division of loot: first the informant must fulfil the requirements of the binding agreements, and only then divide the remainder of the loot among the allies.
• Shortage of loot: if there are not enough bags of gold in the loot to hand out the promised shares, the informant pays with money from his own camp. If he has no gold in his camp either, the allies may leave empty-handed. The informant cannot pay with outlaws.

Spontaneous attack: if an ambush attacks a traveller without a token or with the token of another alliance, the leader divides the loot as evenly as possible (by the basic rules).

"Sheriff" cards: the Sheriff will be subjected to attacks from every ambush he passes, until he is defeated.

Successful attack: each player receives as many fame points as is indicated on the "sheriff" card (the white number). Players should pay no attention to the red number (see the picture at the top right). The "sheriff" card is removed from the game, and the outlaws must return to the camps.

Defeat by the Sheriff:

• Loss of fame points: each player who has at least one outlaw in the defeated ambush loses as many fame points as is prescribed by the red number on the "sheriff" card (the larger number, only on the B card). One cannot fall back further than zero on the "road to fame".
• Loss of outlaws: each player in the ambush loses as many outlaws as is indicated on the "sheriff" card -- the small red number. However: a player cannot lose more outlaws than he had in this ambush, and in a player's band (these are the figures of his colour in the camp or on assignments, but not under the oak) there must be at least four outlaws, "men of knife and axe", at any moment of the game.
• Movement of the Sheriff: if the Sheriff is not defeated, his band continues moving until the guardian of the law is defeated or leaves the forest. Thus the Sheriff can crush several ambushes.
• Return of outlaws to camp: after defeat by the Sheriff the outlaws from the crushed ambush must return to their camps.

(The two sheriff cards pictured: Sheriff from deck A and Sheriff from deck B.)

Special item cards:

Provisions: by playing the "provisions" card you may leave your outlaws in the ambush after a successful attack. Return them to camp only after a second successful robbery or at the end of the round.

Forest Cloak: by playing this card you lose neither outlaws nor fame points if your ambush is defeated by the Sheriff. The "forest cloak" does not protect allies -- it helps only your own people and only in clashes with the Sheriff.

• You may leave your outlaws in the ambush. You become the new leader if you do not already hold that position (in the ambush), or
• you may return your subordinates to camp.

Messenger's Clothes: as soon as anyone has chosen and revealed a "traveller" card, you may play this card and choose a new destination town (new place of arrival) for this traveller.

• You may play this card even if the traveller has already passed one or even several ambushes, provided he does not have to move back along the path already travelled to reach the new destination.
• You may play only one "messenger's clothes" card on one "traveller" card.

End of the Round (with the additions)

1. New outlaws: the player with the greatest number of outlaws in the four red-circled ambushes at the forks receives an additional outlaw of his colour from under the oak. In case of a tie, each contender for the win obtains a new outlaw.
2. Clearing the ambushes: promised shares of loot that were not collected are returned to the money pit or under the oak.
3. Outlaws go to their camps, new traveller cards are laid out on the table, the starting player figure looks for a new owner: see "End of the Round" (basic rules) on page 5.