Trismegistus: Roll & Write
Trismegistus: Roll & Write Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Overview
Trismegistus Roll & Write is played over 5 rounds. In each round, players take 2 turns by drafting dice. Additionally each player may take one reaction per round. With their actions and reactions players gain elements, transmute them, perform experiments and prepare for their publications.
During the game players receive and track Victory Points from experiments. At the end of the game these are added to Victory Points gained from a player's Philosopher's Stone, their elements and completed publication.
Game Components
- 4 black, 3 white and 3 red dice from Trismegistus: The Ultimate Formula
- 1 main board
- 4 player boards
Note: If you do not have Trismegistus dice, you can make your own using regular dice and a sticker sheet provided with the print and play materials for Trismegistus Roll & Write.
Game Setup
Player board architecture
The player board consists of: Materials (seven material tracks, each with Transmutation spaces between neighbouring materials), Reactions (one row per round, 1 to 5), Chameleons, Elemental Tracks (Earth, Fire, Water, Air), the Alchemist, two Publications, and the Philosopher's Stone.
- Give each player one of the 4 player boards. Each player board is slightly different: it depicts a different Alchemist with a unique set of Publications.
- Place the Main Board in the middle of the table.
- Select a number of dice according to the number of players (remember that dice should be sourced from your copy of Trismegistus: The Ultimate Formula):
- With two players use 2 black, 2 white, and 2 red dice;
- With three players use 3 black, 3 white, and 2 red dice;
- With four players use 4 black, 3 white, and 3 red dice.
- Give each player a pen or pencil and select at random a starting player. The starting player should immediately mark one ♄ (Saturn) material on their player board. Second player marks one ♁ (red). Third player marks one ♃ (Jupiter). Fourth player marks one ☿ (Mercury). You are now ready to play Trismegistus Roll & Write.
Playing the Game
Round structure
The game is played over five rounds. Each round is divided into 2 phases: Roll phase and Action phase.
Roll phase
At the start of the Roll phase, determine a new first player: the player sitting closest clockwise to the current first player. Skip this in your first round. In the final (fifth) round, the first player is assigned to the player with the fewest completed Experiments (with a possible tie going to the player currently being last in turn order among tied players).
For each Experiment in the current round roll one die (reroll all ∞ results) and adjust the cost of the Experiment with the result of the die. To adjust the cost simply draw the rolled symbol (♄, ♁, ♃, ☿, ♂) next to the printed cost of that Experiment in the top left corner.
After all Experiments in the current round have had their costs adjusted, follow the same procedure to adjust the costs of unclaimed Experiments from previous rounds.
Example 1: At the start of the first round, you roll the following results ♃, ♁, ♁, ♁, adjusting the costs of Experiments like in the image below. (The four round-1 Experiments, one each of Earth, Fire, Water and Air, receive ♃, ♁, ♁ and ♁ respectively.)
Example 2: During the same game, at the start of round 2, you will adjust the cost of experiments once again. First, you must adjust the costs of Experiments of the current (second) round. You roll the following results: ♄, ♄, ♁, ♃. Then, you must adjust the costs of unclaimed Experiments from first round. For these, the results of the roll are: ☿, ♂. The final outcome of the Roll phase is reflected in the following image. (Round 1's Earth and Air Experiments have been claimed and crossed out; the unclaimed Fire and Water Experiments gain ☿ and ♂ respectively.)
Action phase
In turn order (from the first player, then going clockwise around the table) players perform one action at a time, until all players have taken 2 actions.
To perform an action, a player must do the following:
- Draft a die from the pool, and place it on their player board,
- Select one of the following 4 options:
- Use the symbol (♄, ♁, ♃, ☿, ♂) to add a material of that type to your board. For the purpose of gaining a material, you must convert an ∞ symbol into a different symbol of your choice;
- Use the die color (black, white, or red) to perform a Transmutation;
- Claim an Experiment, using any die, regardless of its color and symbol;
- Use the symbol ∞ on any die to reduce the cost of a Publication.
Adding a material
To add a material to your board, cross out the leftmost space of the material track corresponding to the symbol on the drafted die. If there are no spaces left to cross out, you must use that die for a different purpose.
Example 3: You draft a black die with this symbol: ♃. You already have two of the same material, so you mark the leftmost empty space.
Transmutations
Transmutations allow you to gain one new material and to advance your position on the elemental tracks. You may transmute a material into the one right below it (♄ into ♁, ♁ into ♃, ♃ into ☿, etc) if three conditions are met:
- You must have strictly more of the original material than of the transmuted one;
- There must be an empty transmutation space between the original material and the transmuted material;
- You must use a die color corresponding to one of the empty transmutation spaces.
Example 4: In the image below, you may NOT transmute ♁ into ♃ because you have the same amount of both materials.
Finally, after the Transmutation is complete, you advance one level on a chosen elemental track (Earth, Fire, Water, Air), by crossing off the next lowest empty spot.
Example 5: You want to transmute ♃ into ☿ and the situation on your player board is as shown in the image. You may perform the transmutation using either a white or a red die. You can ignore the symbol on the die, as it won't affect the transmutation. You draft a white die, then you cross off the transmutation spot, and the new material. Finally, as you may advance on any of the 4 elemental tracks, you choose to get one level higher on the Fire track.
Strategy tip: Transmutations allow you to gain a material as well as advancing on an Elemental track. They are a very powerful tool, especially during early game.
Claiming an Experiment
To claim an Experiment, you may draft any available die. This die can be of any color and can display any symbol. However, there are a few conditions you need to meet to claim an Experiment:
- You may only select an experiment that corresponds to the current round of the game or to any of the previous rounds;
- You may only select an experiment that has either not been claimed yet or has been claimed during the current round;
- You must have on your player board all the materials printed or drawn on the top left side of that Experiment;
- You must have reached the required level on the elemental track printed on the top right side of that Experiment.
After claiming an Experiment, you gain all of the following:
- A number of points which you must write down on your player board;
- An elemental symbol which you must write down on your player board;
- Any bonuses printed at the bottom of that Experiment, which you must use immediately. Bonuses are explained in the Bonuses Chart section of the rules.
When you are trying to meet the prerequisites of an Experiment, the following rules apply:
- ☽ (Moon) may be used to reduce the required level of an elemental track as follows: every 2 ☽ reduces the required level by 1.
Example 6: Your player board looks as shown in the image. The game is in its second round, and the situation on the main board is as shown in the image. You choose to perform the fire experiment from the current round (second row from the top). You have the required materials, but your level on the fire elemental track is only 1, while the experiment requires level 2. You're in luck, as you can use your 2 ☽ to reduce that requirement by 1. You perform the experiment, crossing it out, then you add (draw) on your player board 7 points and gain (draw) one fire elemental symbol.
Note that materials used for claiming Experiments are not lost. In fact, materials gained in this game are never lost. Using them simply means counting them for specific requirements. The only restriction is that you can only count any material once per action.
Reducing the cost of a Publication
To reduce the cost of a Publication, you must select a die with this symbol: ∞. If the die color is:
- black, you may cross off one of the two elemental symbols on the top row;
- white, you may cross off one of the two elemental symbols on the middle row;
- red, you may cross off one of the two elemental symbols on the bottom row.
Strategy tip: Focus on a single Publication. Meeting the requirements, and scoring points from both Publications is extremely difficult.
Example 7: You decide to reduce the cost of your Publication and select a white die with the correct symbol (∞). You immediately cross off the leftmost elemental symbol of the middle row of the Publication cost.
Elemental Symbols
You gain elemental symbols by claiming Experiments and by reaching the very top spot of an elemental track. In the latter case, you may either circle the elemental symbol at the top of the track or draw it next to your other elemental symbols.
Remember that as an effect of performing a Transmutation you cross off a space on your elemental tracks, allowing you to eventually reach the top level and gain elemental symbols.
Elemental symbols serve two purposes:
- to unlock parts of your Philosopher's Stone (see below);
- to score points from your Publication at the end of the game.
Philosopher's Stone
Every time you gain 1 ☉ (Sun) or a new elemental symbol, you must select one of the seven parts of the Philosopher's Stone to cross off and gain its benefits. These benefits must be applied immediately. All benefits are explained in the Bonuses Chart section of the rules.
Furthermore, for each completed row and column of your Philosopher's Stone you also gain points at the end of the game.
Reactions
During an opponent's action you may spend a reaction to use that opponent's die. You may do one of the following:
- Use the symbol (♄, ♁, ♃, ☿, ♂) to add a material of that type to your board;
- Use the die color (black, white, or red) to perform a Transmutation;
- Use the symbol ∞ of a die of any color to reduce the cost of a Publication.
You may not claim an Experiment as a reaction.
To spend a reaction, you must immediately cross off a reaction spot corresponding to the current round (1, 2, 3, 4, or 5). You may never spend reactions corresponding to an earlier or a later round. Unused reactions from earlier rounds are lost.
A few bonuses in the game allow you to gain new reactions. When you gain a reaction, draw an extra reaction space on your player board. You may draw that extra reaction space in the row corresponding to the current round or to any future round.
Example 8: As a bonus, during the second round of the game, you gain a reaction. You choose to draw the extra reaction space for round number 4, as you assume you will need more reactions during that round.
Chameleons
During your action, you may spend a Chameleon to change the color of your drafted die. To do that, cross out one of your Chameleon spaces.
You start with one Chameleon, but various abilities provide additional Chameleons. When you gain a new Chameleon, draw an extra Chameleon space on your player board.
Bonuses Chart
- Lightning bolt: Gain 1 reaction (draw it on your player board) for the current round or any future round.
- Up arrow: Advance on an elemental track of your choice, by crossing out the lowest empty spot on that track.
- Triple chevron: Perform one Transmutation of your choice, as if you had chosen a die of any color.
- Chameleon: Gain 1 chameleon (draw it on your player board).
- Question mark: Gain 1 material of your choice with the exception of ☽ or ☉.
- Numbered circle: Gain points.
Game End
The game ends after 5 rounds. Each player should now receive:
- Points from Experiments, written down on their board.
- Points from their Philosopher's Stone:
- every completed line provides the points at its top and every column provides the points depicted on its right.
Example 9: In the example, you gain 3+5=8 points from completed columns and 3+3=6 points from completed rows.
- Points from collecting 4 or 5 materials of the same type, as depicted on your player board.
- Points from your Publications:
- Check the scoring condition: having the required elemental symbols. If this has not been met, skip next step.
- Gain 3 points per elemental symbol as depicted in the bottom part of your Publications.
Example 10: In the example, you have reduced the cost of your right-most Publication by 2 Water and 1 Earth. You have also collected 2 Earth and 2 Fire to cover the requirement. Therefore you score 3 points for each Air you collected, for a total of 9 points.
The player with the most points is the winner!