Rulebook

Manual

Regelbuch

Territorial disputes have just become much fiercer now that differentkingdoms hold the valuable and arcane knowledge of the

Necronomicon. Defend your castle’s Necronomicon and attack yourenemies to protect your power!

Muster your troops to storm castles, build weapons to improve yourattack, offer sacrifices to obtain the favour of the Deep Ones, call up

The Old Ones and take the Necronomicon!

FEATURESPlayers: 2 - 4Age: 9+ yearsGame time: 15-30’

QUICK STARTPlace one Castle Card and two Battlement Cards face up in front ofeach player (both of the same faction and matching color). Then dealout five Village Cards to each player, face down. At each player’s turn,a Village Card is taken, and then an action is carried out, indicated bythe icon on the top left over the flag. The flag colour indicates the typeof action (red=attack, golden=gold, blue=general actions). The aim is to gather together sufficient attack cards (swords) to beable to storm castles and steal the Necronomicon, though it should benoted that a castle cannot be taken until its battlements are destroyed(cards are attacked one by one). An attack is successful when the totalvalue of the swords is superior to the total value of shields of the cardunder attack. In addition to attacks, each player can carry out otheractions such as: bolster your defense by positioning one soldier orarcher in castles or on battlements (the color must always match theelement defended, and the number of cards added cannot be superiorto the number of original shields). Get two new cards playing one goldcard, obtain a weapon from the Siege Pack playing four workers (or incombination with a gold card), call up a monster playing three cultists(or in combination with sacrifices). Another way of obtaining extracards is by making an offering to the Deep Ones (play one to foursacrifice cards and then pick up one Sea Card. If the number of DeepOnes which appears is inferior to the sacrifices offered, you win asmany cards as indicated at the flag at the bottom). Consult the instructions manual to discover further special actionsavailable as well as different ways of playing the game.

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red Attack

golden Gold

blue Actions

thunderboltInstant

1. GAME COMPONENTS – DECKS OF CARDSThe game consists of 155 cards divided into the following decks:

• Fortress Cards (12) • Village Deck (80)

• Sea Deck (15) • Monster Deck (8*)

• Siege Deck (10) • Treasure Deck (12)

• Cultist Deck (18)*note: some cards are duplicated for language reasons.

The Fortress cards consist of Castle cards and Battlement cards whichmake up your fortress. These are dealt at the beginning of the game,and if your castle is stormed and taken, then you lose theNecronomicon, which forms part of the Castle card. Each Fortress cardhas two sides which correspond to the two factions of the game -Christians (blue sky) and Saracens (red sky). You can select either of thetwo factions in the Survival and Cult modes, and these must be dealtequally if the game is played in teams (Factions mode).

The Village Deck provides the game’s main elements: this deck consistsof Soldiers (of both factions), Archers (of both factions), Gold, Workers,

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Village Deck Sea Deck Monster Deck

Siege Deck Treasure Deck Cult Deck

Sacrifices, Cultists, the Idol, the Night, the Ambush, the Thief, theCitizen of Innsmouth and the Merchant. A card from the Village Deck is always picked up at the beginning ofeach player’s turn.

The Siege Deck consists of weapons which enhance your powers ofattack, and in some cases, allow for special attacks. These areobtained with workers and gold.

The Sea Deck allows for sacrifices to be made to the Deep Ones; if thesacrifices satisfy the Deep Ones, then further resources are obtained inthe way of additional Village cards.

The Monster Deck calls up creatures which strike fear and terror intothe enemy and thus aid the defense. These are cards which can only beused defensively and summoned whenunder attack, and can be used just once.They can be obtained with threecultists, or else by adding one sacrificefor each cultist lacking (there must be aminimum of one cultist).

The Treasure Deck represents objectsand improvements which are obtainedafter hard fought battles. A Treasurecard is obtained each time a battle iswon.

The Cult Deck is only used in the Cultmode of the game and representsCultists which you recruit to form abetter sect than your rivals.

2. PREPARATION OF THE GAME Each player begins with one Castle cardand two Battlement cards, which areplaced in front of them (all of the samefaction).

The cards are shuffled and each deck ofcards is placed at one side of the table:Siege Deck, Monster Deck, Sea Deck and

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Treasure Deck (along with the Cult Deck when playing in the cultistmode).

The Village Deck is shuffled and each player is dealt five cards facedown. The Village Deck is placed in the middle of the table, and usedcards will be discarded in a pile next to the Village Deck.

3. EACH PLAYER’S TURNThe player deemed craziest by the other participants begins the game;another way of deciding who starts proceedings is each player pickinga cult card, and the one with the highest value begins.

Each element of the fortress, battlements and the castle, has adefensive value which is indicated by shields (one shield = one defensepoint). The objective is to storm the enemy castle and capture theirNecronomicon (see the ways of playing for variations on this aim). Acastle cannot be attacked while its battlements are intact, so thatnormally the walls will have to be eliminated first.

Each turn starts with a player taking a card from the Village Deck, andthen the action of one card or several cards is carried out.

After carrying out the action, the player’s turn is finished and it is theturn of the player on their left. The main actions are attacks (cardswith a red pennant, in which each whole sword is equal to oneattacking point); all of the possible actions are described in section 5.

General Rules

• There is no limit to the number of cards each player can hold.

• An action must always be carried out at each turn.

• Only one enemy position can be attacked at a time (a battlement ora castle).

• Cards with the instant icon (thunderbolt) can be used when it is notthe player’s turn.

• When a deck of cards is finished, a new deck is formed taking theused cards and shuffling them.

• Cards placed as an additional defence must always coincide interms of color on the lower strip with the card they are defending.

• When a player is eliminated, the victorious player responsible keepsthe Treasure Cards, with all other cards being discarded.

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4. WAYS OF PLAYING4.1 Survival ModeEverybody against everybody else (2-4 players). The goal of Survival mode is to storm rival castles and capture all ofthe Necronomicon books. All players play with the same faction. Theplayer who gains possession of all of the books after storming theenemy castles wins, being the only survivor.

4.2 Faction ModeTwo players against two players (4 players).Play by factions. The factions which ends up with the rival castleswins. Faction mode works like Survival mode, with the followingdifferences:

• Two players play with one faction (Christian) and the other two withthe rival faction (Saracens), with the game proceeding from onefaction to the other and back again.

• Both sides can have soldiers or archers of the opposite faction intheir armies as mercenaries, but note that these are not loyalenough to be used in defensive positions (the color of the lower stripof the defence does not match with the opposite faction).

Players of the same faction can help each other. During their turn, eachplayer can:

• Position a soldier or an archer in defense of his team mate’s castle orbattlement instead of their own.

• Give a card to the player of his faction instead of playing itthemselves.

• Add attack cards to a battle initiated by their team mate (before theplayer under attack can react).

4.3 Cultist Mode3-4 players.The goal of the Cultist Mode is to form the sect with the greatestnumber of cultists possible. Each player can do so obtaining cards fromthe Cult Deck. Each card bears an unknown number of cultists. Toobtain a card each player must:

• Make a sacrificial offering which satisfies the Deep Ones. You win 1Cult card if you satisfy between one and two Deep Ones, and 2 cardsif you satisfy more than two.

• Calling up a creature which gets you out of an enemy attack will get

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you 1 card.

• Winning a battle by destroying one wall will get you 1 card.

• Storming and seizing a castle will get you 2 cards and bring thegame to an end.

The game ends on the storming and seizing of a castle, or when theCult Deck of cards runs out (whichever happens first). In this case, acard count takes place and the player with the most cultists wins (andin case of a draw, whomever has most cultist cards).

5. ACTIONS An action is carried out by playing one or several cards at once, whichthen go to the pile of used cards. These are the actions which you cancarry out in a turn after taking one card from the Village Deck:

5.1 Attacking actionsAll of the cards with a red flag can be used to carry out an attack, andseveral can be used at the same time to unleash a battle. The pointsvalue of an attack is measured by adding up its swords.

u5.1.1 Declaring an attackChoose your attack cards and display them on the table, indicating theenemy’s card which you wish to attack. You can choose to attack anybattlement, its position is indifferent; to attack a castle, its walls mustfirst have been breached, unless the player possesses a special weaponwhich allows for a direct attack on the castle.

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Two possible options for an attack on the battlements with a defence value of three (twoshields of the wall, and one point of the archer positioned there). The attack below uses threesoldiers and one archer, which comes to three and a half points, which wins because it issuperior to the total value of defence forces. The attack above only sees two cards beingused, one being an attack weapon worth three points, plus an archer worth half a point, onceagain beating the total defense value of three points.

The success or failure of an attack is decided by adding up the total valueof the attacking swords and the total value of the defensive shields; if thepoints value of the attack in swords is superior to the points value of theshields of the defence, then the attack wins and the defence cards areremoved (the attack cards also go to the discarded pile).

Nevertheless, after an attack is declared, the defensive player can usea special defense card if they have one, which has an “instant” icon, orelse call up a Monster in their hand, thus changing the points value ofthe defence or the attack. These cards are also discarded once used,whether they manage to fend off the attack or not. If the attack is finally successful, all of the used cards are discarded, aswell as the card which has been beaten, and the winner obtains aTreasure card, his turn now having come to an end.If the defending player wins, all of the used cards go to the used cardpile, no harm is done and the player’s turn is over.

u5.1.2 Siege WeaponsSiege weapons are obtained using workers, either with four workers orelse with a combination of workers and gold (with a minimum of oneworker required). The weapons provide added value to the attack (insome cases to defence too) and there are two special weapons:

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On the left (A) an attack is declared worth four and a half points against a defense worth fourpoints (B), the attack therefore being victorious. However, the player under attack can play the“shield” card obtained from the Treasure Deck, because it has the thunderbolt icon andtherefore can be used at any moment. It brings half a point of value to the defense, the gameending in an attack of four and a half points against a defence of four and a half points. Theattack fails because the attacking forces are not superior to the defense. In this situation, the defending player could equally have called up a monster he had in hishand, for example, an Elder Thing (D), which, in this case, would have eliminated a rival archer,reducing the attack to four points of value against a defence of four with the attacking playerlosing because his points are not greater than their opponent’s.

A

B

C

D

• Battering Ram: Battlements can be knocked down with thebattering ram (if the walls are defended by archers, other cardsmust be used to get rid of these, otherwise the battering ramcannot be deployed).

• Cthulhu Trick: Outwit your enemy and get past his walls using theCthulhu Trick. Leave the Trick in his Castle and you can attack hiscastle on your next turn, without needing to knock down hisbattlements first of all. A castle which has the Trick can onlyeliminate it with a card which destroys siege weapons (Nightgauntor Mi-Go). If you send the Trick at night (with a night card) you canattack the Castle on the same turn.

u5.1.3 Night AttackA night attack can be carried out using the Night Card. In this case, therival cannot see the attack and his defence will take place in darkness. All of the attack cards are placed face down under the Night Card andthe attack is announced, but without the card under attack beingspecified. If other players join the attack (in Factions mode), they alsoplace their cards face down, hidden from view. The player underattack can choose whether to react using a defense card, but withoutknowing which cards make up the attack. Once his defense cards havebeen placed on the table, the card attacked is indicated, everything isrevealed and the success or failure of the attack is decided.

5.2 Defensive Actionsu5.2.1 Defending a positionPlayers can opt to bolster their defense when it is their turn. An archeror a soldier can be positioned to improve the defense of a battlement orcastle. Only one archer can be deployed on each turn, the card beingplaced under the Fortress card, its left side sticking out to reveal thetotal value of its shields; the color must always match (soldiers whichare not of your faction can be used to attack, but they are not loyalenough to defend a castle which is not theirs).The number of defensivecards which can be added is limited to the same points value as oforiginal shields (a battlement has two shields, and so two more cardscan be added). The color of the cards which are added to a defensive position mustalways match the color of the defence.

The inverse action can also be carried out, which is to say, a cardpreviously placed for defensive purposes can be recovered on a player’ssubsequent turn.

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Note: Defensive soldiers and archers can be attacked without any needto attack the fortress itself.

u5.2.2 Defending oneself during an attackYou can use certain cards to fend off an enemy attack; these cards arediscarded automatically when used and include:

• The cards with the thunderbolt icon, like those which come in theTreasure Deck.

• The monster cards you are holding, which can be called up duringbattle.

Some of the treasure cards with the thunderbolt icon have defensivecapabilities:

• Shield Card: this adds the value of ½ shield to your defense during abattle.

• Stone Card: this represent a trap made of stones which can add oneshield of value to your defense during a battle.

The monster cards can be used during a battle to frighten off theenemy:

• Elder Thing: eliminates 1 archer of the enemy attack.

• Gug: eliminates 1 soldier of the enemy attack.

• Mi-Go: eliminates 1 siege weapon from the enemy attack.

• Nightgaunt : destroys the Cthulhu Trap, thus invalidating a directattack made with this card.

• Flying Polyp: removes 3 points of the enemy attack, of any card (itdoesn’t eliminate weapons, just the total points value of the attack).

• Shoggoth: bolsters the total points value of the defense by one point.

• Spawn of Cthulhu: knocks out 3 archers from the enemy attack

• Yithian: knocks out 2 soldiers of the enemy attack.

5.3 General ActionsSacrificial offerings to the Deep OnesOffer sacrifices to satisfy the Deep Ones of the Sea and obtain newresources. Choose between one and four victims to sacrifice so that theDeep Ones rise to the surface, lifting a card from the Sea Pack when thesacrifices have been placed on the table. You will only get a reward ifthe Deep Ones are satisfied, in such a way that there is at least onesacrificial victim for each Deep One which appears on the card. If the

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Deep Ones are satisfied, you will get as many Village Cards as isindicated at the bottom of the card as a reward.

Buy cards with goldGold can be used to buy resources from the village. You can play onegold card and obtain two village cards with it (you can only use onegold card in this action). It can also be used in combination with othercards in different actions.

Build a Siege WeaponIn order to build a weapon, it is necessary to have four worker cards(gold can be combined with these, provided there is at least one workercard of every four). The siege cards serve to carry out moredevastating attacks. In the Siege Pack there are also special weapons, the use of which isexplained in attack section 5.1.2.

Call Up MonstersThe Cultist can read the Necronomicon and invoke creatures which canthen take part in the battle. Using 3 Cultists (or offering sacrifices foreach cultist which you need) you can take a Monster Card. This can beused to react to an enemy attack, calling it up when under attack: eachcard indicates its effect on the battle (eliminating soldiers, archers,weapons…). The cultists are eliminated from the pack after being usedonce.

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In this action, two Sacrifice cards are laid on the table first of all, and then the first card ispicked from the Sea Deck. On the Sea card, two Deep Ones appear. As all of the Deep Ones whichappear have a victim, they are satisfied and you get a reward, in the form of Village Cards inthe amount indicated by the Sea Card (3). If three or four Deep Ones were to have appeared onthe Sea Card, the Deep Ones wouldn’t have been satisfied and there would be no reward.

The IdolWhen you play the idol everybody worships you, and you can carry outtwo actions in a row. These can be whatever you like, even takingVillage Cards (for example, you can take one card and then play a gold,which gets you two more cards; or play a gold and then carry out anattack; or carry out two attacks in a row; etc).

AmbushIntercept a normal enemy action invalidating his move (cancel any“general action” —never an attack—, like trying to get a Siege Card, aMonster Card or an offering to the Deep Ones. The opposition playerloses the cards they were intending to use in said action),

MerchantThe merchant allows you to use gold when it is not your turn: you canuse the Merchant Card at any time, along with one or several GoldCards, taking two Village Cards for every Gold Card played.

Citizen InnsmouthUse Citizen Innsmouth at any time (whether it is your turn or not) tocarry out any action which isn’t an attack (you can play cards with theblue or gold flag, but not the red ones).

ThiefUse the thief at any time in the game, whether it is your turn or not, tosteal the gold another player uses to carry out an action (for example,buying a siege weapon). You will carry off the gold with this move(though it doesn’t invalidate the action of another player).

Card SwapYou can swap one card from your hand for a new card of the VillageDeck.

5.4 Special Actions (Treasure Cards)Barricade: The barricade is the last line of defence which can take theplace of the Castle when this comes under attack, allowing the playerto stay in the game with one point of defense value (place the card onthe Castle which was going to be taken).

Shield: This adds ½ defense point during a battle.

Sword: This adds 1 attack point in any battle (you can use it in the

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battle of another player too).

Arrows: Rain arrows down on any defensive position, killing all of thesoldiers and archers that happen to be there (eliminate defenders of thebattlements or castle on which they are fired).

Guardroom: Add an additional layer of defense as if it were an extraWall, with a defense value of half a point. It doesn’t allow defense cardsto be added.

Gold: Additional gold to buy cards etc.

Stones: Add one defense point in a battle.

* * *

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