Toil & Troublez
Toil & Troublez Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
It's the witching hour in the Enchanted Forest. You have come to search for Talismans. These mystical items will empower you to become a great magician. In the woods you will meet mighty witches and wizards, the Master Magicians. The spells they cast will help or hinder your quest.
As you search, choose between playing it safe or pushing your luck. But be wary! While fortune favors the bold, it may also turn into your greatest foe. Go forth young mage! May luck be with you as you toil through the troublez ahead!
Terms and Card Counts
- The Enchanted Forest: The playing area at the center of the table.
- Talismans (60 cards): The magical items to search for in this game. Toads, Flowers, Crystals, Mushrooms, and Ravens.
- Master Magicians (23 cards): Expert witches and wizards that each perform a specific spell or action. Vanish, Summon, Poison, and Cloak cards.
- Collections: 1 of each of the 5 Talisman cards OR 4 of the same Talisman card.
- Magic Marks: The points earned for collected Talismans.
- Trove: The area in front of each player where they collect Talismans.
Game Play
The goal of this game is to collect the most Magic Marks. You collect Magic Marks by gathering sets of Talismans into your Trove.
Setup
Thoroughly shuffle all cards to create a draw pile. Place it face down in the Enchanted Forest where all players can reach it. Leave space next to the draw pile for a discard pile. Play starts with the person who last ate mushrooms.
Taking Turns
Each turn you must draw at least one card and try to place it in the Enchanted Forest. Drawing additional cards will depend on how far you are willing to push your luck. After your turn is over, all other players have the opportunity to draw a card from the Enchanted Forest.
On your turn:
- Draw a card from the draw pile. Place that card into the Enchanted Forest following the placement rules in the next section.
- Choose to either draw another card (repeating Step 1) or pass. You may continue to draw and place cards until you decide to pass, or until you draw a card that cannot be played. If you draw a card you cannot play, your turn immediately ends; discard that card and skip to Step 4.
- Once you pass, choose one of the rows in the Enchanted Forest. Perform the actions of any Vanish, Summon, or Poison cards in that row, then discard those cards along with any Cloak cards.* Finally, place all Talisman cards from that row into your Trove. This completes your turn.
- After your turn is completed, every other player takes a card from the Enchanted Forest in clockwise order.
- They must choose cards on the outside of a row, not from the center.
- If a Vanish, Summon, or Poison card is picked up, they perform that action before the next player picks up a card. If a Cloak card is picked up, it is discarded and the Talisman underneath is placed in the player's Trove.*
- Proceed even if there are not enough cards in the Enchanted Forest for all remaining players to pick up a card.
- If there are no more cards in the Enchanted Forest at all, this step is skipped.
- The next person in clockwise order begins their turn.
*See the Master Magician section for more info about Vanish, Summon, Poison, and Cloak cards.
Enchanted Forest Placement Rules
- The Enchanted Forest consists of a maximum of 3 rows.
- Rows are horizontal and are not affected by the rows above or below them.
- Cards can only be placed on the ends of rows, on the left or right side, or can be used to create a new row (up to a maximum of three), but not between other cards.
- Each row can contain only one of each of the Talismans, Vanish, Summon, or Poison cards.
- Talisman cards must be placed in ascending order, with lower numbers on the left and higher numbers on the right. Numbers may be skipped.
- Talisman and Master Magician cards can be placed next to each other.
- Cards with the same background color cannot be placed next to each other. (Does not apply to the Cloak cards.)
The three symbols: Sun, Moon, and Star, correlate with the color of each card. This is to aid play in low light conditions as well as for those with difficulty identifying colors.
Completing Collections
As you collect Talismans, you store them in your Trove. They should be sorted face up by number.
A Collection is either 1 of each of the 5 Talismans OR 4 of the same Talisman (regardless of color). Collections may be completed at any point in the game, even between your turns.
Each time you complete a Collection, place one of the cards in the Collection face down next to the other cards in your Trove and discard the rest. This becomes a Collection marker card. It cannot be stolen.
Each Collection marker card is worth 10 Magic Marks.
Master Magicians
These characters are action cards. The powers of the Vanish, Summon, and Poison cards are used when they are picked up from the Enchanted Forest. The power of the Cloak card is used when it is placed in the Enchanted Forest.
- Vanish: Choose and call out one of the 5 Talisman cards. Any other players who have at least one in their Trove must discard one. If they do not have any of that card, they do not discard.
- Summon: Allows you to move a Talisman card of your choice from another player's Trove into your own. Does not apply to Collection marker cards.
- Poison: You must discard a Talisman card of your choice from your Trove.
- Cloak: Cloak cards are not required to follow the color placement rules the other cards adhere to. There may be two Cloak cards in the same row and they may be next to each other.
Cloak Placement Rules
- When you draw a Cloak card, place it on top of any Talisman card in the Enchanted Forest.
- Once a Cloak card has been placed, no peeking underneath it!
- Because it is an invisibility cloak, the color and number of that Talisman are now hidden. This may reset which cards can be played in that row.
- If you draw a Cloak card and there are no Talismans in the Enchanted Forest, discard the Cloak card to end your turn.
Example of Cloak Placement
A Cloak card is placed on the #5 in a row. A #4 could then be placed after the #3.
Ending the Game
The game ends when the draw pile has been depleted according to the following rules based on the number of players.
- 2-3 players: The game ends when the draw pile is depleted for the first time.
- 4-5 players: Reshuffle the discard pile after the draw pile is depleted. The game ends when the draw pile is depleted for the second time.
- 6 players: Reshuffle the discard pile after the first and second depletion of the draw pile. The game ends once the draw pile has been depleted for a third time.
Once the last card has been played or discarded, complete the remaining steps to finish a turn.
Scoring
All players count their Collection marker cards and Talisman cards. Each Collection marker card is worth 10 Magic Marks. Remaining Talisman cards in a player's Trove are each worth 1 Magic Mark.
The Magician with the most Magic Marks wins! In the case of a tie, the player who completed the most Collections wins. If there is still a tie, the victory is shared.